I was elbow deep in the guts and wiring of one of the medical chambers in Vegeta's ship when Novem spoke up. "He's entered the ship. Would you like me to incapacitate?"
"...Just focus on downloading the data, Novem." I replied after a moment, gritting my teeth in annoyance as I carefully ripped a bit of metal from the side of the container to use as a makeshift wiring relay.
"Data infrastructure eighty percent downloaded. Sixty-four viruses and twelve system exploits discovered so far. All successfully isolated." It replied.
"So, basically, this computer's swiss cheese, plugged with spyware instead of ventilated with air." I noted. Novem nodded in silent, annoyed agreement. If it wasn't for all of the spyware and the viruses, some designed to attack intruders, some designed as deeper worms that sent most of the system's data elsewhere, it'd have been done with the download before I'd even showed up.
However, the fact that the spaceship's computer was specifically designed to be easily hacked by any administrator with the right codes was incredibly useful for gaining entry into the system to bypass most of the bugs. At least that was a plus.
We worked in silence. I slowly attacked the medical pod, trying to figure out how they worked, in order to improve our own medical technology, while Novem worked on the software side of the ship, processing it into something that could later be analyzed in order to give us access to the Frieza Force's entire software infrastructure.
Both projects were grueling in their own ways, and would take at least several days to finish up, but both projects were rather interesting, and genuinely needed to be done.
"...I knew it was you… That I'd find you here." When the voice sounded through the medical bay, I didn't even look up from my project.
"...Hello, Vegeta. How did you find this planet?" I asked, working on patching the tank's mechanic system so that I could analyze the way it adapted to differing biological systems.
"I followed you. Did you honestly think that a Saiyan as strong as you could cross the universe without catching my eye, little brother?" He replied, leaning against the door frame, "To think, the first Super Saiyan in centuries would be somebody like you, a disgrace who abandoned the pride of his race."
"Like our species had any room for pride under the weight of their massive egos. Besides, you didn't follow me, you followed a chain of events that would've destroyed this entire planet if I hadn't been here to stop it." I told him without even blinking.
"Even as a child, you acted like you could see everything except what matters, Tarble. The superior blood of a Saiyan Prince is wasted on the likes of someone weak like you." He told me, shaking his head disappointedly. "Tell me the secret of the Super Saiyan."
I'd expected that.
I already had an answer lined up for him. "No."
I set the tool in my hand against the metal plate that I was trying to get around and began pulling gently. There was a loud CREEAK as the plate instantly started warping the exact wrong way, causing me to drop the tool instantly, annoyed.
"Supreme power is wasted on the likes of you, Tarble. Show me how to break the limit."
"Your questions sound a lot like orders, Vegeta." I told him, placing my hand on the plate in order to saturate it with ki. "You have no idea what you're talking about." I pulled my hand back. The plate followed, peeled away from its attachments like liquid. I tossed it away, finally exposed to the heart of the machine.
"They are orders. I'm not leaving without the secret to becoming a true Super Saiyan." Vegeta told me, "And you're too weak to kill me. I can tell."
I shrugged, pulling out the thing inside the machine that was clearly the source of whatever weird liquid the Frieza Force used to heal people. It was a small box, small enough that I could carry it with one hand.
From what I could gather, the machine somehow altered this source goop based on the patient's medical scans, then diluted it with water. "Vegeta, I'll admit it. I know about the Super Saiyan, and I won't kill you." I told my brother, standing and gesturing for Novem to help me pull the rest of the machine's chassis out of the wall, since it wasn't useful as anything more than a distribution mainframe now that I had the goop and the system architecture. "But you're not getting what you came for. You won't pry it out of anyone, I won't suddenly decide to tell you, you won't ever become strong enough to beat Novem as you are, and even if you learned what the Super Saiyan means, it wouldn't suddenly make you strong enough to withstand the shockwaves of that fight that just killed you yesterday, Vegeta, much less make you strong enough to actually fight at that level."
"Screw you." His ki exploded outward, warping the door around him. He was somewhere in the mid ten-thousands. Around Cynder's level, maybe a bit below. Impressive, but compared to Vegeta's actual potential, he was basically at Tommy's level.
If I said the right things to Vegeta, he could probably rapidly break his limits. Some version of Super Saiyan would be easily grasped for him, relatively speaking.
Which was why I muscled past Vegeta, tucking the container of goop under my arm. "I'm stripping this ship. Consider the technology payment for your revival. You can stay on this island until the new ship is built. I'll make it bigger than this one, free of charge, or whatever. Faster, too. Go wherever you want in it, just don't stay on Earth. Also, don't leave the island. I'm automating the defense." I explained.
He grabbed my arm. Without hesitation, I responded by sinking a knee into his gut and leaving him there, vomiting on the floor of his own spaceship.