A basic DNA test would be a good start, assuming that it doesn't fool masques. Pretty much anything more than the virtually nothing in favor and massive piles of circumstantial and statistical evidence against we currently have. Ruling her out as a Saiyan at least would be easy. Establishing that she actually is nothing more than a random spontaneous mutation of an ordinary human would be considerably harder, because, again, the starting point is a <0.00000001% chance that she is.
Dragon Ball: After the End
A basic DNA test would be a good start, assuming that it doesn't fool masques. Pretty much anything more than the virtually nothing in favor and massive piles of circumstantial and statistical evidence against we currently have. Ruling her out as a Saiyan at least would be easy. Establishing that she actually is nothing more than a random spontaneous mutation of an ordinary human would be considerably harder, because, again, the starting point is a <0.00000001% chance that she is.
Bakkasama
There is always a greater fool
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Pronouns
- He/his
Not necessarily. She is so strong that it defies logic without any training but so are mutants like those in the Ginyu forcé or frieza. As unlikely as it sounds to us that a random mutation could produce such a power level, that kind of thing actually happens in the dragon ball universe. As low at the chances of her developing a mutation that strong, we actually have precedents. As low a chance as it is that she was born in that city, it makes sense in a quest or story since otherwise we would never had met. So while it would be more unlikely for her to be human instead of saiyan if this were real life rather than a story, the chance is not so low as to discard it. We should discard theories based on facts that refute them like how her ki feels with the snipped tail theory instead of odds since both leading theories are unlikely.
That said, if she is a saiyan under a masque then it is extremely unlikely that she was actually lost. For starters, a sorcerer would have to be involved. Then, if the child went missing, her parents would look for her. If they are unavailable, then her House since the saiyans don't tend to leave them. A renegade saiyan might exist but then they would need to be or have access to a sorcerer and there would need to be a reason to hide her. In which case, it is unlikely to be Dandeer practising her masques since the time would likely be prior to the sundering.
If she is indeed saiyan then we might be able to take it as indication of her being deliberately hidden but that is it. We can't know if who did it chose this city because of Berra. We can't know if she was abandoned out of care. We can't know if any masque she has is a custom job rather than a normal child masque that was not taken off... actually, let me get back to you on that. @PoptartProdigy masque affinity increse as you get used to the form and can access more of you PL. How does that work with child masques? They grow up in a human body and if they are born with a high power level wouldn't they be eventually able to access part of it?
Masques turn you human. Sincé they are sorcery and that Works on concepts, a masqued saiyan would probably read as human to dna análisis. Easiest way to check if she is masqued would be donating a chunk of energy since that is how they are normally broken.
Erm, they did have external enforcement. They were high middle ages 200 years ago, saiyan came, introduced new technologies and now they are modern society. The exiles injected the technological advancement but they didn't introduce the cultural innovations we experienced that accompanied them in our world. There was a forced culture change due to new technologies but for them to change to an innovation focused society they would have needed philosophical movements with adherents that promoted innovation and investigation. Sincé most of the advancements were introduced by saiyans and saiyans tend not to interact that much with Garenhulders sabe for rare cases like the Senzus... the technology advanced faster than the culture since a lot of early scientists and men of progress tended to also be philosophers and in this case the advance was mostly dueto saiyans, who didn't like to involve themselves in the culture and, in fact, would have found easier to keep the masquerade with the Garenhulders as they are.
I am not saying that there is not a biological disposition but if there were then it wouldn't be all of it and culture would have an important role to play; otherwise our actions would be predetermined by genetics. While there is some of that given that pureblood saiyans were so violent, we do have outliers like Tarble, those who can change over time like Vegeta... and then there is Goku. What I am trying to say is that Maya being curious does not necessarily mean a lack genetic inclination to stagnation, much less an entirely different species when said inclination is still hypothetical, we don't know how strong it would be if real since there are other factors, we have an IC explanation about what might have made her start wondering more about the world and there are always outliers in these kind of things.
I mean, I am willing to consider that she is indeed masqued and there is more here going on since there would have to be for her to be one but let's try to avoid creating evidence out of thin air or creating theories with so little backing as her being placed here by Dandeer. Healthiest thing here is to keep supositions to a mínimum. Before trying to figure a motive, let's first see if there is a crime and then who the victim is if there is? Just, one at a time.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Those are far more restrictive given the intent of their design. It's actually impossible to really acclimate to a child's Masque. Most children spend their first week after being released bouncing off the walls from finally feeling right for the first time in their lives.
That or just finding an excuse to put them in front of a Sorcerer for five minutes. Masques are very obvious to magical practitioners.
300, but now I'm quibbling.
A Secret For Now
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Ask Maya what's wrong.
-[X] In fact, hug her again. Couldn't hurt.
--[X] We thought she was keeping it a secret because no-one else could do this, and told us because we can, so we figured she'd be happy to tell Dad since he can do it too.
---[X] But if she doesn't want to tell him, that's fine. It's completely up to her./---[X] If she insists, then we won't insist...
----[X] ...But now we've told her that Dad can do it too without him knowing, so she has to keep that a secret too! It's a secret to everyone!
-----[X] If everything is said, done, and resolved, tease her. "So...you think I'm pretty?"
-[X] In fact, hug her again. Couldn't hurt.
--[X] We thought she was keeping it a secret because no-one else could do this, and told us because we can, so we figured she'd be happy to tell Dad since he can do it too.
---[X] But if she doesn't want to tell him, that's fine. It's completely up to her./---[X] If she insists, then we won't insist...
----[X] ...But now we've told her that Dad can do it too without him knowing, so she has to keep that a secret too! It's a secret to everyone!
-----[X] If everything is said, done, and resolved, tease her. "So...you think I'm pretty?"
I appear to have quietly passed a thousand posts in-thread a short time ago. Huh.
A Secret For Now
Snapping out of your shock, you pocket your phone again and step forward. "Hey, it's okay!" you say, wrapping your arms around Maya again. "I won't call him, promise."
She doesn't respond.
"I thought you wanted to tell me because I can do this too," you say, flaring your aura in demonstration. "Since my Dad can too, I thought you'd want to talk to him too."
Her breath hitches. "...could've asked."
You wince and tighten the hug a bit. "You're right. I should have. I'm sorry."
"Don't want to tell anybody else yet," she says, still not turning to face you.
"That's fine," you say. "Up to you." She doesn't respond for a moment, and you nudge her, smirking. "But now you know that my Dad can do it, so now you have another secret you have to keep. It's a secret to everybody!"
You catch the edges of a smile on her face, and she at last turns around and returns the hug, burying her face into your jacket. "Thank you, Karen. I promise I'll keep it secret."
"Thank you, Maya," you say, holding your friend close.
The moment stretches, and neither of the two of you move.
And then, nudging her again, you say, "So...you think I'm pretty?"
"...eep!" She goes stiff as a board and pulls back to stare at you, eyes wide. She flushes bright red, and when she opens her mouth to try to say something she just babbles wordlessly.
You laugh gaily and start tugging her back towards the house. "Oh Maya, do you have a crush on me?"
She finds her voice for just long enough to shriek, "Kareeeeeeeeeeeeen!"
All is well.
* * *
So, human mutant or hidden saiyan? you think, eyeing Maya as the two of you trek back towards Sophie's.
The case is surprisingly even, all things considered. On the one hand, human mutants are rare -- one in billions rare. On the other, her being a saiyan requires a very Byzantine plot involving lost or deliberately hidden saiyans who have access to children's' Masques. In fact, the very fact that her power level is as high as it is indicates that if she is under a child's Masque, it's broken and letting more power through than it should. Could be a normal Masque, though. But hasn't she met Lady Vegeta? She's friends with his son, wouldn't they have met at least once? Lady Vegeta wouldn't have missed a Masque...
Back on the first hand...billions to one odds.
In fact, her power level in and of itself is something problematic. At age ten, with poor training and without really knowing what she was doing, Maya is more powerful than your sister Fasha -- near a thousand units.
If human mutants are rare, ones on that scale are nearly unheard-of. Unless you miss your guess, Maya with even just wider-galaxy-quality training will someday be strong enough to beat the historic Recoome, easily, and he's the most powerful human ki mutant your people have records of.
With your people's training?
You have no idea. But towards the end of his life, Tenshinhan was easily a match for Buu's power level as it was when the entity was first released from his prison, and Tenshinhan was no mutant. That lets you know quite a bit about the true extent of your friend's potential.
But then, you can't be sure. Even the comparison to Recoome is more guesswork and ball-parking than anything substantive. The only thing that you're certain of is that if Maya is a human ki mutant, she will some day be a power in her own right -- the kind of power that redefines a galaxy. A power like a Super Saiyan, or Freeza. You are...uncertain of how to deal with that.
Because despite your promise to Maya, if you don't outright sabotage whatever training the two of you do, it won't be a year before Dad starts sensing her, and then he'll have some rather pointed questions for you. You can't help but feel as though you've backed yourself into a corner here. Hopefully you can convince Maya to let you talk to Dad later. You don't relish the thought of breaking your word to her, or of Dad realizing you've kept this from him.
But all of this presumes that Maya is in fact a human ki mutant, which you still don't know. Even if she's a saiyan, her power level has a potential of 15 million, and Dad will still notice a human ki signature with a power level of 15 million.
A part of you wonders if Lady Vegeta didn't miscarry her third child after all, and Jaffur's little sister is standing next to you. You give it a lot more consideration than you normally would.
Maya nudges you, dragging you out of your fugue. "Karen? Are you okay?"
You blink. "Oh! I'm fine, just thinking."
She nods, and silence falls for a moment. "So, um...you said your Dad taught you about your powers?"
You nod. "Yeah. Everything I know."
She hums, and says, "So...could you teach me? I mean, if you know more...maybe show me some things you can do?"
Your stride stutters for a moment. In hindsight, you might have seen this question coming.
Now that it's come up, what will you do with it? The following two votes will be counted separately. Please note that for this vote, write-ins are disallowed. Votes featuring write-ins will be discarded. If you have an idea, ask, but don't count on it being accepted.
Will you teach Maya the secrets of ki?
[ ] Yes ("Nosy Little Girl" action is re-purposed into "Training Maya" action for the remainder of the year. You will teach your friend in ki, likely causing her power level to skyrocket and inevitably bringing her to the attention of your father. You will be open with Maya about that, but as you have elected not to reveal saiyan society to her as of yet, will remain mum on the wider implications of such a discovery. If you want to convince her to let you tell your Dad, you have until her power grows too great to be missed to do so)
-[ ] (x0.5) But sabotage her training. The risk of discovery and the possible consequences are too great. It will likely hurt her a great deal to fail as comprehensively as you need her to, but Maya cannot come to your father's notice. (Vote weighting from "Ally" relationship)
[ ] No ("Nosy Little Girl" is abandoned entirely and Maya is not taught what you know. You don't want this to come to your father's attention, and have other plans in mind depending on which of the two following sub-options you pick. You will explain this to Maya, but she will likely feel hurt by your rejection nonetheless). Additionally, if you take this option you must select one of the following:
-[ ] And find something else to do with your time (pick a one-action option from the Year 3 options list to do. Be aware that different actions chosen will split the vote)
-[ ] And enjoy the feeling of your schedule opening up (action slot is closed entirely in exchange for a large mental health bonus from relaxation time. Bonus will persist past the scout's arrival, and any...unpleasantness...that may occur)
More short-term, will you give her a demonstration of your abilities? Low power, naturally, both out of consideration of collateral damage and to avoid notice.
[ ] Yes (Show off for your friend)
[ ] No (You should be getting back to the party)
THESE VOTES ARE NOW CLOSED.
* * *
You're making them choose between productivity, friendship, and anti-PTSD measures?
I never claimed to be a nice person.
Social crisis resolved, but now it's time to face up to the question of what you all want to do about this.
Kakara has learned Maya's secret, although many questions remain regarding the source of Maya's strange strength. Now Kakara faces the question of what to do with the knowledge. Will she train her friend in the arts of ki? Will she choose to focus on the upcoming invasion? Will she decide to put the problem off down the line and prepare herself for the scouts' arrival? Or will the pressures of the Masquerade drive her to betray her friend's trust, and sabotage Maya's development? Next time, on Dragon Ball AE!
VOTING WILL REMAIN CLOSED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE UPDATE GOES LIVE. I'LL MAKE A POST WHEN IT OPENS. VOTES SUBMITTED BEFORE THAT DEADLINE WILL BE IGNORED IN THE FINAL TALLY.
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Khona Moshr
Pink Flamingo Cabal Healer(they/them)
- Location
- Alabama
- Pronouns
- They/Them
It was at this moment when Maya realized she had fucked up and would be teased for weeks to come
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
The chance will happen, down the line but before the issue is forced for you. At least one, maybe two, depending on how quickly Maya learns. But given your initial screw-up in leaping into calling Dad so forcefully, she'll be a bit sensitive on the topic. You'll need to tread carefully. You may or may not need to reveal the saiyans.
It all depends.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Absolutely possible. You've only given your word, not signed a magically-bound contract. In fact, that's the reason behind the update's title.
- Location
- Australia
Recoome wasn't a human, he was an alien. This kind of alien, specifically, in the same vein as Jeice only with fair skin instead of red skin, or like Saiyans but without the tails. It's not said by anyone in the manga, anime, or games that he's a human, as far as I know, and the wiki says that he's an alien.
Recoome's raceDB Wiki said:
DB Wiki said:
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Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
The Dragonball Wiki is still a Wiki and thus completely inaccurate.
Unless you've got any proof from one of the data books hes an alien, its quite likely hes a non-earth human.
Remember they are usually refereed to as Earthlings, not humans!
- Location
- Australia
Your logic is crap and wrong.
No it isn't, and in fact you have it the other way around. Unless you've got any proof from one of the data books that say he's a human, it's quite likely he's just a human-like alien like the Saiyan's or Jeice's race.
Humans are called Earthlings in DB because that's just what they're called in DB.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I did see that page, but upon seeing that the only citation that specifies that Recoome is an alien is a random video game's strategy guide (not even the game, the strategy guide), I decided to discard it. That's as non-canon as it gets. If Toriyama wanted me to conclude that Recoome isn't human, he should have put the slightest artistic effort into indicating such. At least Jeice had red skin; at least saiyans have tails. Hell, even Star Trek managed to slap elf ears on the Vulcans.
I have no idea of what that is! On the other hand, I once read an author who had never been exposed to Halo yet independently came up with SPARTANS, their armor, and the AI's, so possibly! What is it? When I search I only get Alexandre Dumas quotes.
KnightDisciple
Love God. Do Right. Fear No Man.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
I'd say our best bet is just to build trust, and try to establish how it's going to be unavoidable at some point.
- Location
- Australia
He did, though. As the wiki says, Recoome has no eyebrows. That and no one ever called him a human in Toriyama's writings, nor did anyone mention that there are humans outside of Earth.
Hmm? This sounds interesting.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
But Krillin has no nose and is human.
- Location
- Australia
Yes but it's been explicitly said that he's an Earthling, and Earthling=human in Dragon Ball.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
I find that questionable just from all the dragon/din/whatever people running around earth. In any event, a normal human can lack eyebrows (shaved off, at least) while Krillin having no nose is a bit farther a deviation, so I question whether that's enough artistic evidence in context.
- Location
- Australia
Toriyama uses human-like aliens and the only difference between Jeice and humans is a different skin tone. That's your context.
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
.png/revision/latest?cb=20110826120317)
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
No eyebrows is...I don't have eyebrows. As in I, IRL, lack them. That's not alien; that's a minor genetic disorder. Or waxing. And honestly, when something is visually presented as human and serves in an army containing multiple beings that look identical to humans as presented, I'm going to need the burden of proof to be on the side claiming that they're aliens; a proof that I don't consider satisfied by video game sources that Toriyama probably hasn't ever seen, let alone written.
Plus honestly, even if it was proven, I'd just go back and insert some random OC mook's name. The Z Fighters could have met them off-screen or something, and it would be perfectly internally consistent. But unlike my hypothetical OC, people know who Recoome is, and given that his only value in this story is as a yardstick for Maya, that's more important.
The fic in question is "Mass Effect: The First War," by (I shit you not) the user "ProfFartBurger," and hosted on Fanfiction.net. Mind you that in the start it's very rough, grammatically, and more than one person has found the author's insistence that the convergences with Halo (which are more numerous than the ones I specified earlier) are coincidences to be suspect. Additionally, there are some very unlikable characters. I believe this to be intentional, but that's not everybody's cup of tea. It also is a very long-term deconstruction of the whole, "Humanity, F*ck Yeah!" type of Mass Effect fic, and thus is indistinguishable from the real thing for a disturbing amount of its opening parts, and necessarily involves a lot of its characters being genre-blind on the whole topic. Ultimately I think it's worth the read, but there are definitely issues to be had.
- Location
- Somewhere I shouldn't be
Goku explicitly calls himself an Earthling, even after his Saiyan heritage is known. He introduces himself as an Earthling to Freeza, even.
So you have to also remember who is saying things and what their motives might be, you can't just take everyone at face value.
It's like in Harry Potter, when someone says Voldemort can't be killed. From their point of view, it's likely true. That said, it is objectively false.
Or in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Sweet (the Dancing Demon from the musical episode) says "I don't make the rules," or "You beat the bad guy," - he's blatantly lying. Yet I've seen people take his words at face value, despite knowing that he is a manipulative liar. Who tells lies. And is dishonest.
</rant>
In any case, when someone is visibly indistinguishable from a human in appearance (lack of eyebrows isn't enough if Krillin's lack of nose isn't enough, since eyebrows are a purely cosmetic item) then you should assume they're human (within DragonBall) unless a reliable source says otherwise.
- Location
- Australia
On what to do with Maya, I think we should lay the options out bare for her.
1. We train her, she inevitably gets powerful enough that Dad will definitely, and we might get in trouble for training her.
2. We train her under the point where Dad will definitely sense her but Dad might still one day find out, and if he does we might get in trouble for training her.
3. We don't train her, but we still hang out with her and have fun using our powers against each other in secret.
4. She tells Dad.
These are the choices we've thought of. She can choose which one she wants to take, including the ones where we have to put ourselves at risk. If she has another idea, we can hear her out.
1. We train her, she inevitably gets powerful enough that Dad will definitely, and we might get in trouble for training her.
2. We train her under the point where Dad will definitely sense her but Dad might still one day find out, and if he does we might get in trouble for training her.
3. We don't train her, but we still hang out with her and have fun using our powers against each other in secret.
4. She tells Dad.
These are the choices we've thought of. She can choose which one she wants to take, including the ones where we have to put ourselves at risk. If she has another idea, we can hear her out.