On Wed, 26 Nov 1997, Ranma Al'Thor wrote:
Opening Shot: The earth slowly revolves, revealing a shining sun. On the
earth, we can see a city which looks vaguely like a pentacle. Silence
ensues.
SHEILA: Hey! Isn't someone going to say something?
The image freezes. The caption, Experts of Fanfic Review: The Text File
appears.
Cut to the usual theatre, with RITSUKO, RYOUKO, HIROE, and MiSA sitting in
the usual seats. SHEILA comes walking back from the entrance with a puzzled
expression.
RITSUKO: She's not up there?
SHEILA: Nobody's up there. Not even that Nameless Avenger twit who showed
up that one time. Very strange. <beat> Ryouko, did you do something?
RYOUKO: Why, exactly, would you automatically suspect *me*?
MISA: <bland> Because you're a psycho?
HIROE: Misa-san! Please don't fight with oneesan!
SHEILA heads over to sit beside MISA.
SHEILA: Well, it's not such a big deal. I think we should just get
started, this is one *huge* story!
RITSUKO: Yes, and --
Suddenly the theatre is bathed in pink light. Above the Experts, a circle,
seemingly made of a pink metallic substance, forms. It is the source of the
pink light. Four figures drop from the circle, landing immediately behind
the experts. They are almost twins of SHEILA, HIROE, RITSUKO, and RYOUKO.
HIROE and the "other" HIROE stare at each other for a moment.
HIROE & "OTHER" HIROE: Seventy! Green! Eisner! Bacchalo!
HIROE nods slowly.
HIROE: Min'na, these are future versions of us.
RYOUKO: WHAT? Hiroe, how'd you --
MIRAI NO HIROE looks a bit more mature than HIROE, but still seems much
younger than any of the others.
MIRAI NO HIROE: Oneesan, when I was a little younger than *she* is now, I
worked out what I'd do if I ever met someone I thought was me in the future.
I'd call out a code that only I knew. And I responded to her code exactly.
RITSUKO: That makes sense. I wish I'd thought of it.
MIRAI NO RITSUKO has put on some weight, and seems somewhat maternal.
MIRAI NO RITSUKO: It is a good idea, even though when I found out about it,
it seemed fairly silly to prepare for something that wasn't likely to
happen.
RITSUKO seems a bit confused by that remark, and opens her mouth to reply.
MISA: So, if you're us ... when are you from?
MIRAI NO SHEILA seems to be trying to hold back a deep sadness as she speaks
to MISA.
MIRAI NO SHEILA: Fifty years from now, 3005. We're testing some equipment
for the Time Patrol that will be just getting started then.
MISA: <whistle> Quite a ways. <beat> So ... where am I?
M. SHEILA: ... you couldn't make it.
MISA: Oh. I was busy with something else?
M. SHEILA: Kind of. <beat> We probably shouldn't tell you too much about
how things will be then. This is sort of an experiment. If I recall
correctly, you're reading John Biles' "Black Moon Rising"?
SHEILA: Yep! Would you like to start it rolling?
M. SHEILA: Start the film rolling.
SHEILA: What, no battle cry --
It was quite simple, really. The mana level was rising.
Ever since the event in 2034 that was still referred to simply as
The Miracle, the level of magic in the world had begun to rise
sharply. Ancient arts which had long yielded no results had
begun to flourish once more. By the mid 2050s, most
universities had established departments of magic, following
the lead of Tokyo University, which had established its
department, the first in the world, in 2043 AD.
SHEILA: Now this *is* interesting ... "The Miracle" is probably the
conclusion of "Dance of Shiva", but this was a spin off that wasn't
discussed in the epilogue.
M. SHEILA: Reminds me a bit of Shadowrun, I think.
SHEILA: <blink> Wow, I'd completely forgotten that! How'd you --
M. SHEILA: Time travel, dear. Time travel.
What had hampered understanding of the process was the
failure to understand that the revival of magical energies had
begun BEFORE the miracle. The Sailor Senshi were the key.
Most people believed that the Senshi had been a myth before
the Miracle and that the energies released had actually created
them from raw belief, the same way in which such entitites as
'John Bull',' Uncle Sam'', Justice', a'nd Br'er Rabbit' were
now sometimes encountered in the material world.
M. HIROE: There's --
HIROE: -- an --
M. HIROE: -- extra --
HIROE: -- single --
M. HIROE: -- quote --
HIROE: -- there.
They grin at each other.
RYOUKO: <disgusted> Cut it out.
M. RYOUKO: <soft> Leave them be.
RYOUKO: <blink>
A combination of detective work and magic, however,
had uncovered enough proof for Henry J. Wise to conclude
that the Senshi had in fact been real, which meant that the
magical energies had not simply begun with a bang, but that
they had been rising for longer than anyone thought.
RITSUKO: Hm. Evidently magic follows a cyclical pattern in the "Dance"
ficton, which makes sense given its references to cycles of creation and
destruction.
M. RITSUKO: <nods>
RITSUKO: Of course, you knew that I'd say that.
M. RITSUKO: Not really, no.
You had to earn it. Magic always carried a price, anyway.
M. SHEILA: That's true, no matter which universe you're in.
SHEILA: Which?
M. SHEILA: Both.
Without the orb, he would have had to
spend days gathering this much power, but with the time orb,
it was easy. Too easy, he thought. There were rumors,
rumors of creatures who hunted those who tampered with time
too much. He didn't want to learn the truth of the rumors.
HIROE: Hounds of Tindalos?
M. HIROE: Langoliers?
"Yes. It seems to work quite well, except that the spells
still have to be renewed far too often. Dr. Weissman gave me
a tour a few weeks ago. It has a lot of potential." Janet
Weissman is quite a brilliant scientist, he thought. I'm not
surprised she's risen so fast in our profession. I certainly
wouldn't have been heading any projects like that at that age.
She's only...28? He tried to remember.
SHEILA: Um ... Sheila? Why are you so tense.
M. SHEILA: A long and painful story that I hope I'm not going to see
repeated here.
SHEILA: ... Right.
MISA: Excuse me. I have to make a trip to the washroom.
They began heading for the post office. Hotaru said,
"The Cronus project is an effort to creating living magical
weapons. It may look like a particle acclearator, but it's
actually used to weaken dimensional barriers and bind various
kinds of spirits into people to try to turn them into superhuman
beings like the Sailor Senshi."
RITSUKO: Or the youma, in Mr. Biles' most recent Sailor Moon Z.
M. RITSUKO: Elements of this seem to be drawn from the same tradition as
the film "Escape Horizon" -- magic masquerading as sufficiently advanced
technology.
RITSUKO: I'm not familiar with that film yet.
M. RITSUKO: Be glad.
"This is a MAGICAL experiment. You can't just do
magic anywhere you want. Even with your Time Orb, you'd
have a lot harder time doing what you've done," she pointed
around at the still seemingly 'slowed' world, "outside of a
major ley line nexus point. That's why Tokyo, Rome,
Boston, Canton, Lhasa and New Dehli are magical research
centers, while places like New York or London are not. They
could do the simpler stuff anywhere, but for what they've got
planned next..." She shuddered. "It could only be done in a
handful of powerful nexi, thank the heavens."
RITSUKO: Hmph. Ley lines. That theory was exploded --
M. RITSUKO: And reintegrated thirty four years from now, when the process
to *build* them was finally rediscovered. The principles used are different
from what Mr. Biles seems to be describing, however.
RITSUKO: <beat> Oh.
"You fool! You have not summoned a spirit! You've
opened a HIGHWAY for them!" Saturn's face was livid with
rage. "You thought you could use the powers of darkness,
but those who truck with the powers that hunger for souls all
eventualy feed that hunger!"
HIROE: That would probably work better as "You have not summoned A spirit.
You've opened a HIGHWAY for them!"
The voice echoed in their heads. It sounded almost
artificial, like a demonic speak and spell. I WILL SCOURGE
THIS WORLD. YOU CANNOT STOP ME.
RYOUKO: Ah, it's KALI, the SHIVA backup, then.
DID YOU THINK THIS WAS THE ONLY PLACE
WHERE FOOLS TRIED THIS EXPERIMENT? I THINK
THIS TIME...I'LL TRY AN ICE AGE. OH, DR. WISE.
THANKS FOR THE ORB. MY CHILD WILL MAKE
GOOD USE OF IT.
M. SHEILA: ... dammit, dammit, dammit ...
Earth, Ruins of Crystal Tokyo, SY 1532 (4524 AD, 5276
Years after the founding of Rome, Juraian Year 24688,
Federal Year 538)
<A long, low whistle comes from each of the present day Experts.>
RYOUKO: This, I take it, is why you're here?
M. RYOUKO is wearing dull gray civillian clothing, in contrast to RYOUKO's
normal sharp gray uniform. She has an expression which is about two stages
short of desperation.
M. RYOUKO: ... that and other reasons.
Arcadia had grown up rich, but she hadn't grown up in
an ivory tower. Even on Sirius, a rather wealthy world, you
hadn't had to go very far from her neighborhood to find
poverty and hunger. She had studied history, and it was a
trail of backstabbings and betrayals, murder, hatred and death.
It didn't matter if you studied the history of the now collapsed
Solar or Juraiian empires or the history of her homeland, the
Federal League. Lust, wealth, and power were what drove
human history. It made her sick.
SHEILA: Cynical, innit she?
M. SHEILA: Relax. It's a Biles story. She'll learn better.
She tossed her head, and long shoulder-length purple
hair whipped about.
SHEILA: Oooooh ...
M. SHEILA: <angry> Cut it out. You've got a wonderful girlfriend, there's
no damn cause to go chasing after everything in the universes that has that
hair colour ... or *her* eye colour.
SHEILA: Hey!
MISA returns.
MISA: What'd I miss?
Arcadia was proud of her hair, but in the
heat of summer, it got to be an annoyance at times, trapping
heat and getting into her eyes. Realizing she was falling
behind, she sprinted ahead, being glad she was wearing pants
and a shirt rather than the dresses that her mother constantly
tried to force on her.
M. HIROE: Given what's revealed a few pages down, I think that should be
"that her mother had constantly tried to force on her."
One of them, a tall portly man with an ugly, honest face
turned and smiled at her. "I hope you stay long enough for
the Fall Races, Arcadia. I think you'd win easily." His name
was Makoto Gelbenwald,
HIROE: "Honest Yellow-forest"?
Rita sighed. "Well, causing their sun to go nova wasn't
exactly a good idea either." She shuddered. "No wonder they
called Serenity XVIII the mad queen."
SHEILA: <appalled> Good Goddess. This is like something out of the Nameless
Idiot's paranoid rants.
She was wrong. A tall skinny woman with short white
hair cut like a boy's was hugging Rita, who was blathering
incoherently about strangling people who made her drop
things. Her hair sparkled like Rita's in the sun, and her skin
was pale, far paler than Arcadia was used to. She released her
embrace of Rita, then hugged Makoto, who laughed.
"Marcus, you're getting to be as strong as your mother."
Marcus, Arcadia thought. Why would anyone give a
girl a boy's name? Marcus grinned at Makoto and said, with a
boy's voice, "Mom will still boot me into the atmosphere
when we get home, though." Marcus stepped away from
Makoto and Arcadia finally got a good look at him. Marcus
was clearly male, or else a rather skillful cross-dresser. For
one thing, he had facial hair, namely a rather feeble attempt at
a mustache. Still, with a little work, he probably could have
passed as female.
RYOUKO: Excuse me. I think we need a little more description to understand
*why* Ms. N'goya thought this fellow was a woman.
Her imagination restored the surrounding buildings to
their splendour and filled them with people. Vehicles,
animals, humans, and aliens bustled through the streets. And
through it all was the beautiful music, the song that was the
soul of Crystal Tokyo. Sweet scents filled the air with the
memory of her mother's perfume, of ripe fruit, of the
fragrances she had worn on her first date with Tony. That
memory shattered her imaginings. Tony had died. She
couldn't afford to love anyone. It would only be a death
sentence.
M. SHEILA: <tear trickles down cheek>
SHEILA: ...
"Anyway, he didn't inherit my knack for making
machines do my bidding," Makoto said. "I'm looking at
expanding into the Bismollian market. I know they'll eat
anything,
SHEILA and all the future Experts (except M. RYOUKO) groan loudly.
Arcadia was stunned. This was the sort of thing you
normally went to college before you started doing. He met me
twenty days ago and he's going to trust me to do this? Maybe
he's dumber than he looks. Of course, he can trust me to do
my best, she thought, but he has no way of knowing that.
"I...I'll do my best." She paused. "My magical aptitude is
earth, by the way, but I'm not very good at magic. I was
hoping to be a professional athelete, anyway, and they banned
magic use in that." Not many Sirians were good at magic.
Sirius was a low-mana world, and most Sirians couldn't do
much more than make small palm flames or move a wrench
across the shop to their hand. The height of Arcadia's abilities
had been to shatter bricks, and she knew some of that was
actually her martial arts abilities.
M. HIROE: I think it might have been better to put the "I...I'll do my
best." at the end of the speech, rather than the beginning, considering how
Rita replies.
Some of the leylines moved, while others did not.
Certain planets seemed linked in a stable fashion, while others
crept through space. Five hundred years ago, 200 hundred
leylines connected to Earth. She stared at the floating stars
and purple lines connecting them or weaving between them.
There wasn't a world in the galaxy with 200 leylines now.
RITSUKO: Definitely cyclical.
M. RITSUKO: Are you certain of that? Perhaps this world operates by other
rules entirely. Perhaps "The Miracle" did create a mana surge, and mana in
this world acts as any other resource -- if used, it is depleted.
RITSUKO: I ... I suppose that's possible.
The taller dark-haired man spoke again. "I'm Steven,
Arcadia, and this is my wife, Minako." He pointed to the
rowing woman, who nodded and smiled. He pointed at the
other couple. "This is Ryo and Ami." He paused. "Hmm.
You look seasick."
SHEILA: Um, one problem. How does she understand them? Hasn't there been
any linguistic drift in 1400 years? That'd be like us going back to the
Sengoku period and expecting to understand the language spoken then.
M. SHEILA: Off-hand, I'd say ... magic?
SHEILA: ... oh. Yeah.
Steven wasn't so sure of that. After all, if the future
couldn't be changed, what would have happened if Urawa had
just kept quiet after his vision? Minako wouldn't have reacted
fast enough to catch the girl. He wasn't going to argue,
though, because Urawa was stubborn as stone on this issue.
RITSUKO: So can the future be changed?
M. RITSUKO: ... let's just say that's one of the things we're here to find
out.
"Demand the II bombed it to tiny bits a little over fifty
years ago. Serenity XVIII somehow escaped and managed to
tow a N5 bomb into his home system and caused its sun to go
nova, wiping him out and most of the Black Moon Cult. Two
days later, her head exploded for reasons 'never clearly
explained' as Dr. Anderson would put it. The last remnants of
the Solar Empire collapsed or joined the Federal League after
that. Serenity XIX tried to take the throne, but the new Solar
Republic government exiled her to Deimos. I think she's still
there. She may actually be of Serenity's bloodline. They all
live a long time, I've heard. Twenty years ago, it joined the
^^
Federal League and just about all of the worlds that had held
out thirty years ago joined us." She stared at the city. You're
supposed to be a ruins! "Enough history." A faint tune began
to drift out from the city, echoing across the waters. The
palace was singing. She shivered. "It's two o'clock?"
HIROE: That "it", which seems to be referring back to Deimos, should
probably be Deimos, and the "and" which comes soon after should probably be
"when".
They're probably just saying that to look good, Arcadia
thought. I mean, even Councilman Estevan never publicly
proclaimed he didn't pay his tickets. Rulers always put
themselves above the law. Power corrupts, yatta yatta yatta.
SHEILA: Uh-huh. Very cynical.
M. SHEILA: The full form of the aphorism should be "Power without
sufficient enforced responsibility corrupts, and percieved absolute power
without *any* responsibility corrupts absolutely."
MISA: Thanks for the philosophy.
<MISA notes that M. SHEILA doesn't want to meet her eyes.>
Steven lightly noogied Minako. "Becoming an idol singer
kinda does that, you know."
SHEILA: Too true, too true.
With effort, Arcadia resisted the urge to scream at Sailor
Pluto. "Did you bring me here?"
M. SHEILA: You should never reist that particular urge. It does no good at
all, but it does make you feel better.
"Okay." She seems nice, Arcadia thought. I bet she and
Professor Anderson would get along great. They're both
smart AND nice. I guess I'm going to find out if all those
legends are true. "I'm gonna need some clothing."
RYOUKO: Huh. Guess it's nice to know that mom's still alive fourteen
hundred years from now --
M. RYOUKO: Yes, isn't it a pity that she -- never mind.
RYOUKO: Excuse me?
M. RYOUKO: <soft but firm> Never mind.
talent, which she hated, which led her here. The Archetypes,
as many magi called them, sought her out. They were the
spirits which incarnated highly powerful ideas, such as Truth,
Justice, Hate, Death, and other abstractions, such as Gaia,
Uncle Sam, or in Dr. Ransom's case, "Australia". You saw
them as you expected them to appear. Australia had appeared
to her as a woman garbed like Britannia, but armed with a
boomerang, instead of a spear, and wearing a wide-brimmed
hat.
RITSUKO: Given that these Archetypes appear as they are expected to appear,
Australia's appearance tells us more about Dr. Ransom than it does about
Australia. Chiefly, that she essentially considers Australians to be
Britons with a few changes of dress. I don't think that's quite the case.
"Die? Is a meteor going to squash the entire continent or
something?" And how could I stop this?
RYOUKO: Y'know, it might be nice to have her say "a space station going to
fall on the continent", like in --
M. RYOUKO: NEVER. JOKE. ABOUT. THAT.
RYOUKO stares at her future counterpart with a *very* worried expression.
SHEILA: Well! This was a very interesting story, and I think we're
definitely looking forward to reviewing future chapters. Are ... you guys
gonna hang around to do that with us?
M. SHEILA: No. I don't think so. Ryouko?
M. RYOUKO: <dull> No changes. None at all. <beat> Ritsuko, please ...
M. RITSUKO gives M. RYOUKO a look of contempt that has RITSUKO blinking.
M. RITSUKO: Go ahead. It can't possibly make a difference if I'm right.
M. RYOUKO: ... Ryouko, would you mind giving up your seat for a moment.
RYOUKO blinks, then wordlessly stands and steps away -- coming close to M.
RITSUKO, who steps away from her without expression. M. RYOUKO sits down,
breathes deeply for several moments, and turns to look at RITSUKO, who is
perplexed.
M. RYOUKO: Ritsuko ... you ... I think you should know that ... Ritsuko, I
love you.
RITSUKO: <blink> Well ... yes, of course you do. <beat> We're sisters,
Ryouko, and I'm glad that you're starting to realize it, and --
M. RYOUKO: No. <beat> Ritsuko, I *love* you.
She kisses her. RITSUKO jerks back. RYOUKO's jaw hits the floor.
RITSUKO: Uh ... Ryouko, as I said, we are *sisters*, and --
M. RYOUKO: <desperate> Half-sisters --
RITSUKO: We're still sisters! <beat> Ryouko, I didn't know, I never
realized ...
RYOUKO: Because it's not TRUE! Whoever this is, she's NOT --
M. RITSUKO: SHUT. UP.
RITSUKO: But even if I had ... Ryouko, I don't love you like that. I'm
sorry. But I don't.
M. RITSUKO nods, grabs M. RYOUKO by the hair, and yanks her out of her
chair, startling the present day Experts. M. SHEILA and M. HIROE are
gazing with sad expression.
M. RITSUKO: Satisfied? Satisfied that I would never have loved you, even
if I hadn't known what a loathesome excuse for a human being you are? ARE
YOU SATISFIED?!
M. RYOUKO cringes.
RITSUKO: EX-cuse me --
M. RITSUKO: You have *no* idea what this *person* has done. NONE. She is
contemptible beyond words. <beat> I apologize in advance for what is to
come. Ladies, this mission was intended to demonstrate that the past could
not be changed by time travel, that any actions taken by time travellers
into the past had already been accomplished. Somehow, this specimen mangaed
to persuade the chairman of the mission planning board to let the test case
be her attempt to tell me of her feelings before I learned of certain things
which she had done, in the belief that I would return those feelings. She
was, of course, mistaken. However, since the only one of us who has perfect
recall -- her -- has no remembrance of this conversation, it is clear that
those memories were ... edited. Again, I'm sorry. Hiroe.
M. HIROE sadly lifts a hand on which is a red stoned ring.
M. HIROE: Sleep. And forget.
The red ring pulses, and the modern day Experts collapse where they are.
M. RITSUKO releases her grip on M. RYOUKO's hair, pulls off the glove that
was covering that hand, pulls a pocket pistol out of nowhere, and
disintegrates the glove. Her face does not vary in expression as she does
so. M. HIROE silently sets RYOUKO's limp body back in her seat.
M. RITSUKO: Very well. Let's go.
M. SHEILA: Ritsuko ... could you give me a moment to ... say goodbye?
M. RITSUKO's face softens for a moment, and she nods.
M. RITSUKO: Only a few moments, however. The command won't last much
longer than ten minutes. Hurry.
The pink arc opens up in the air above them. M. RITSUKO leaps up, as does
M. HIROE, supporting M. RYOUKO. M. SHEILA turns to look at MISA, and for a
moment, the sorrow overpowers her.
M. SHEILA: I'm sorry. I'm ... I just had to see your face one more time.
MISA's eyes open, and she produces a blaster which is rather larger than the
one used by M. RITSUKO.
MISA: Be a shame if it was the last face you ever saw, wouldn't it? Start
talking.
M. SHEILA: <stunned> HOW?
MISA: Command rank officers of the PDF are issued anti-psi equipment to
foil just that sort of interference. <beat> I could have told you that in
your time ... but it's not that I couldn't make it from there. It's that I
*didn't* make it to there. Isn't it?
M. SHEILA nods, not trusting her voice.
MiSA: How long?
M. SHEILA: I ... thirty one years, approximately. You die during --
MISA: I don't need to know that. <beat> Thirty one years ... well, I'll
just have to make the most of them. <beat> I presume we're still together
at the end.
M. SHEILA: Yes. <beat> And there has been no one --
MISA: Then you're a bloody idiot. <beat> I give you permission to date
other women in the event of my death. Happy?
M. SHEILA: But --
MISA: Go home, Sheila. Just ... go home.
M. SHEILA turns away, and prepares to leap.
M. SHEILA: I love you.
MISA: <soft> I know.
M. SHEILA leaps, and the hole in the air closes in her wake. MISA holsters
her blaster, and looks down at SHEILA's sleeping face beside her. She
leans down to rest her head against SHEILA's.
MISA: "Go not gentle into that good night; rage, rage, against the dying of
the light." <beat> But he died a drunkard in the gutter, so what did he
know? <beat> It's a good night. A ... beautiful night.
She closes her eyes.
Fade out.
Chris Davies.