"Could you help me carry that part over here? Sorry for the trouble."
Bulma finished her cigarette, then crouched beside the aircraft again and picked up a wrench.
"Uh, sure!"
Xia Le lifted the oversized nut-like part with both hands and carried it over.
"Ever since the Artificial Humans appeared, everyone's been trying to find a way to stop them."
"At first, Gohan and the others wanted to settle it by fighting them, but unfortunately..."
"They all died."
"Now there are only three of us left, hiding in this base."
Bulma sighed.
None of this was a secret. She could tell him.
"Are you building a Time Machine?"
Xia Le looked at the outline of the machine before him and suddenly asked.
Bulma froze. She stopped working and turned to him, puzzled. "You can tell?"
"No."
"Just a guess."
Xia Le smiled.
"Oh."
Bulma turned back to her work.
Xia Le stood there, looking around.
He passed screen after screen and studied the scattered tools and papers on the tables. Most of the papers held theoretical formulas and design plans for the Time Machine.
When he reached a corner, he stopped.
"You've researched Artificial Humans too?"
Xia Le pulled a stack of papers from beneath the others. He studied the rough diagrams, formulas, and theories written on them as he spoke.
"I don't have the kind of strength Gohan and the others had."
"But I tried to do my part."
"Artificial Humans were Dr. Gero's specialty, though. I'm an amateur by comparison."
Bulma smiled as she answered, still tightening a screw.
"I worked through the calculations carefully. Even if I managed to build one, it wouldn't be a match for Android 17 or Android 18."
"Besides, as you can see, our resources are limited."
Bulma sighed.
"Gohan and the others