The Grand Pursuit of Knowledge

Yatapi had recently become disillusioned with the idea that Plant was particularly worth fixing now. How could he think otherwise? How could he think positively if so few others even showed some modicum of effort like he and his closest associates did? If they were of the few that had so far bothered to try outside of some now absent outliers... What was the point in any of this?

Even if Yatapi and his associates hypothetically managed to completely rejuvenate planet Plant— not return it to what it was, rather improve it for the future— who’s to say that it would last given the sheer amount of people that just didn’t care, or worse, wanted to ruin it further? Those that wanted to do good for this planet were outnumbered.

Logically, as far as Yatapi was concerned, this meant Plant was a lost cause, at least for now. He had made some sort of dent in the problem, he had shown proof that the planet could be fixed in removing Destron from the Lost Metropolis. Nobody that he didn’t already know to be his ally in this seemed to care.

Then again, why would they? The insidious malice and arrogance shown by the vast majority of Plant’s inhabitants had shown that they were more interested in doing more harm than good for some meagre serotonin boost, for a sense of false superiority.

It wasn’t going to be Yatapi’s problem for much longer, so he stopped caring. Now, he had moved onto collecting all that he owned, every resource that he ever wanted or needed, as well as all of his research and whatever else was related to it and began loading it into a special ship of his own creation; ‘PGA-S: Cosmic Pegasus’. It was a ship large enough to house a lot of people and supplies, and as such, Yatapi gathered all those that he cared about; close friends and family, as well as extra passengers as dictated by those very people. They understood the reasoning behind what he had offered, and agreed themselves in one way or another that leaving this hellhole behind was a solid choice.

Effectively, with the absence of Yatapi, his technology, and anyone closely connected to him, his presence would soon be lost from Plant entirely.

Except perhaps for one thing. Once everyone was settled or otherwise seeing to tasks relevant for the exodus, Yatapi had some spare time now. There were a few things that he needed to personally manage...

Yatapi ventured to where he had stored ‘PHN-X: Iyokan MK.II’ the android recreation of Satsuma’s daughter that he had freed from the old bastard’s control. The area was stripped of any identifiable trace to Yatapi and heavily reinforced otherwise. All that remained here was the sleeping android in a stasis pod.

There was still a sense of pride that Yatapi felt, having annihilated Satsuma personally in every way. It would be something he would remember forever. Anyway, he had retrieved a standard issue message recorder and small portable data drive in order to record a message and upload it into Iyokan’s info-banks.

> POWER ON . . .
> SELECT RECORDING TYPE . . .

> AUDIO.
> AUDIO RECORDING SELECTED. BEGIN RECORDING?

> BEGIN.
> RECORDING COMMENCES IN . . .
> 3 . . .
> 2 . . .
> 1 . . .

Shortly after the tone, Yatapi began speaking. “PHN-X: Iyokan MK.II. Or, as is more appropriate, casually speaking, Iyokan. This is Doctor Yatapi speaking. I leave you this recording, programmed to play upon your full functionality being activated. First things first, the one that constructed you, Satsuma, is dead. Killed by my hand.” Yatapi still had no remorse for that, and rightfully so. “With his death, his vicegrip on your autonomy is no more, as I have reconfigured your core programming to give you a will that is nothing less than your own. I do not expect gratitude or thanks for this, in fact I do not expect anything at all. Do what you wish with the chance now available to you. Secondly, your namesake, I have reason to believe that she is alive. I have collected evidence for you to research should you see fit. It will be included in your infobanks. Lastly, I am leaving Plant. With everything going as I calculate, none shall be able to follow me unless I allow them to, even you. This is goodbye, if not forever, then for now.” The recording ceased promptly after, then stored as Yatapi had said it would be.

---

There was more work to be done still, even after leaving a message for the reborn android.

Yatapi, when he had made his way into Otherworld some time ago, intended to record the research outing— as any good scientist would. That said, the chance encounter with Lottus of all people was... A lot. Even with the confirmation on what (thankfully limited) impacts Destron had on a soul after death, something else had been on Yatapi’s mind. Reviewing the footage at a certain point, Yatapi had effectively seen Rapini’s final death over a hundred times. Though, he figured it would pale in comparison to the event burning in Lottus’ memory; the event that truly caused him to break— not only break, but shatter. Shatter, then reform into something that many had already marked him as. A monster. A destroyer.

The Tuffle knew, logically, that it was only this way because nobody bothered to help Lottus for one reason or another until it was probably too late. It was tragic really, and Yatapi was trying to figure out what exactly to do with the information provided to him by the event in Otherworld.

If he went radio silent without telling anyone, then a piece of information that could possibly stop Lottus’ destructive rampage would ‘die’ with him. If he told the wrong people or it got to the wrong people, it could make things much worse.

Alas, doing nothing at all was not in the scientist’s nature. Ultimately, Yatapi weighed the myriad of possibilities against each other and concluded that at least three people would need to be given some information directly.

First off, Vocado and Cato— they were deserving of this knowledge one way or another. Whether or not the former would use it correctly compared to the latter remained to be seen. In any case, Yatapi messed with some scouter functions until he managed to connect to their frequencies. It didn’t take long, and all he needed was the ping information from having been close to their scouters at least once before; which he had done.

To both of them, Yatapi sent the following portion of the message to the two on a private wavelength that would be difficult to trace if not impossible.

Greetings. This is Yatapi, you and I had met only briefly a few times, but I have something that I must send to you.

It was followed by a full recording of his point of view of this entire event, encrypted for sake of safety with passcodes that only the two could guess.

This is a recording of an encounter that I had with Lottus; whom I know to be familiar to you, one way or another. The recording will of course speak for itself.

This was where the contents of the message would be different for each of them. First of all, Vocado’s message continued thusly.

With this, Vocado, you know how far gone Lottus really is. Remember your stories of loss? This is his. Burn it into your mind. It is because of this event that mere wordplay and pleasantries will never put an end to his rampage. Open your eyes; this is what Plant’s society creates at its worst; both the Saiyan war machine and Tuffle intellectual arrogance. If you want prosperity for your people, prove it. Stop scheming. Stop playing around, prove it. Stop Lottus by any means necessary before he drags the very concept of a Saiyan to hell with him. Don’t let him be right, nor content in calling you a failure.

Cato’s message on the other hand continued in a different way.

It was only moments after I had encountered you in the old city that I realized who you were. He mentions you directly in this encounter. If I had to guess, there was a purpose in what you did to set him off, as boneheaded as it may have been. He harbours something beyond hatred and resentment towards you for what he saw as betrayal. I’m sure you knew this already, but this should prove it without a doubt. If he sees you, I have no doubts that he will intend to kill you where you stand, and annihilate the world beneath you to do it. Tread lightly, Cato, but go with purpose.

In both cases, the messages would end with one last statement.

Good luck, wherever you may be.

Then, the connections were cut, Yatapi had said what he needed to say to the two, the rest was up to them.

The next person to be contacted by Yatapi would be Nasu— an individual that had earned the Tuffle’s respect with his moral compass and conviction; and gratitude due to going out of his way to also try and give Plant a chance even if he didn’t really have to. Nasu’s scouter was easier to link up to since the two had actually exchanged contact information. After doing so, Yatapi immediately launched into his message while also sending the same recording that he had sent Vocado and Cato.

Hello Nasu. this is Yatapi. I hope this message finds you well my friend. I will keep it brief, but I am sending you a recording of an encounter that I had with Lottus— this recording will likely prove valuable to you in some sense, whatever that may be. It is highly dangerous information though, as much as it will give you insight into the condition of Lottus’ mental health and the reasoning behind who he is at this moment, I would not weaponize it against him if you cannot ensure the safety of the world you stand on if you choose to do so. My advice is to simply let it inform your actions.

There was also the other two that had turned up to defend Plant after Lottus went ballistic most recently. If they were allies of Nasu, perhaps they should know as well. Unfortunately, Yatapi didn’t know how to contact them, so it might have to be left to Nasu.

If you deem it necessary, it may be worth showing this recording to the other two that showed up. Those non-Plant Saiyans that showed up on your side. I would do so myself but I do not know them beyond what I saw.

Well, that and the educated guess that they weren’t tied to Plant.

In the event that you bring this information to them, do also bring them my warning. It is not something to take lightly. Do not weaponize it against him if you cannot ensure the safety of the world you stand on, simply let it inform your actions.

There was one more matter to bring up to Nasu though, Yatapi had not forgotten their first meeting after all.

Regarding the Sadala Restoration Project. It will have to progress without me. There are personal matters that I must attend to, as I am leaving Plant without a trace. I believe that you were very fiercely serious about making the project a reality, so my advice to you is this: seek out those that once called that world home. Scientifically speaking, there is a non-zero percent chance that there are true Sadalans still out there; those that have not forgotten their ancestry and ended up like the Vegetans. I will not lie to you and say that it will be easy, but I have no doubts that you will overcome such a hurdle. This is goodbye, Nasu. If not forever, then for now. I wish you prosperity, and the best of luck.

With that last message sent, the connection was cut. Everything that needed to be done was done, all relevant tasks were completed. Yatapi made one last trip around the planet to completely ensure without error that he had accounted for everything.

Of course, he had, as expected.

Finally, it was time to leave this kai-forsaken world. Yatapi would take all that was connected to him off into the sea of stars searching for another world that would welcome him and the grand ideals of his ancestry. Such was the grand pursuit of knowledge.

In some ways, it was sad, to know that this world was not ready for the vision that started with one of his great grandparents; Argondturif.

Plant was not ready for the ultimate reward of science.

Plant was not ready to understand. Not today, at least...