Ch.2
  
    Uncrossing his arms and joining Gohan on solid ground, Piccolo thought about how far the young half-saiyan had come since he'd begun teaching him. The namek remembered how, only a few short years ago-three to be exact-the boy had been nothing but a whiny weakling. But...that's all changed, hasn't it, Gohan? Under Piccolo's rough but skilled guidance, the son of Goku was on his way to unheard of levels of power.
    "Well, I'd say we're progressing." Piccolo remarked, fondness tempering the naturally harsh tone of voice.
    "Yeah!" Gohan replied with fervor. To say the least, his technique, speed, and stamina had improved drastically since he'd started training under Piccolo again.
    Frowning at Chi Chi's lack of tolerance for fighting, not to mention the keeping of oneself in shape on the good odds that a battle would become necessary; the green, antennaed rival-turned-friend of Goku's headed inside to get some water.
    Gohan followed him step for step, trying hard to match the tall namek's stride, but failing pitifully, his legs not being quite long enough as of yet. He idolized Piccolo, and wanted more than anything to be just like him when he grew up. This desire surpassed even the wish to please his mother; for now, anyway.
  
   ***
  
    17 looked thoughtful as he pulled the pink ice cream truck he'd been driving over, parking at a roadside rest stop. 18 raised a questioning eyebrow, never having gotten the answer to her query, but he reassured her with a look that said he would answer when he had the inclination to do so.
    He'd better answer...or at least tell me why he can't. 18 sighed as she turned to the view outside yet again.
    Noting the absence of a few varieties of plants and trees that she'd become accustomed to, especially the durable, fragrant evergreen cryptomeria japonica-Japanese cedar, in the vernacular-the female android wondered if they were traveling into a different region; one which could prove to be inhospitable to the flora and fauna she found herself beginning to enjoy observing.
    The possibility was distasteful to her, for she saw that she was growing attached to certain kinds of plant and animal life in the surrounding area. This realization made her uncomfortable, since she'd been programmed by Gero not to take pleasure in anything besides causing other beings pain. 18 was reluctant to deviate from her programming. It was, after all, what made her who she was.
  
   ***
  
    "I wonder what the androids are doing right now." Krillin said in a thoughtful tone of voice, as Piccolo and Gohan walked into Kame House. Piccolo glanced at the short, bald, so-called monk tolerantly, having gotten used to him being around as of late. "There's really no way to know, Krillin." he said matter-of-factly.
    Quickly putting in his two cents, the scarred fighter Yamcha jumped to his feet dramatically and added, "Probably killing people and destroying stuff! I mean, that's what they do, isn't it?"
    Krillin, Gohan, Piccolo, and Master Roshi-everyone who was in Kame House at the moment, in fact-blinked at the outburst, but not for long. Yamcha was known for his loud mouth and quickly formed opinions, many of which turned out to be mistaken. Master Roshi thought about the quasi-question momentarily, then replied.
    "Well now, I don't know about that, Yamcha. It seems to me that there's more to those two than we first thought," he said cryptically.
    Piccolo stared at Roshi, surprised, as he often was, by the depth which seemed unlikely in the somewhat shallow and perverted ex-warrior. Kame Sennin-the Turtle Sage-had once been the strongest man on earth. The most skilled in the martial arts as well, for he had even invented the deadly Kamehameha Wave. Now he was a three hundred and something years old lazybones who offered advice and read Playboy.
    "What do you mean, Master Roshi?" Gohan asked, surprised as well, but for a different reason than Piccolo. The canny namek had surmised what Roshi had, but thought himself to be the only one; Gohan simply didn't understand what Roshi meant.