"Never Give A Short Red-Haired Scientist Too Much Free Time"

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are copywrite
Pioneer/AIC

BOOK 1: CHAPTER 1

Washu examined the contents of her bio-generation chamber very
carefully. "Okay," she decided. "Now, what form shall I give you?
You're not not being brought back as you were. The last thing we
need is you blowing the place up."

Ryo-ohki walked in, in her accustomed humanoid child form,
miya'ing one of her little songs.

Washu watched her for a moment, then smiled, tapping a few of the
buttons on panel of her device.

"There." She said. "Just right." She permitted herself a grin.
"I'm such a genius!"

"Miya?" Ryo-ohki tilted her head quizically as the machine
hissed open in a manner that would've had Steven Spielberg's SFX
crew weeping with awe.

What stepped out of the device could roughly be described as a
little boy.

He was the same height as Ryo-ohki when she was in her child
form, and looked roughly the same age.

Washu smiled as she quickly bathed him, dried him off, and got
him into some clothes.

Ryo-ohki jumped and skipped about the lab, excitedly. At last,
she had a playmate. Sasami sometimes played with her, but most of
the time, the little princess spent her time cooking and helping
with the housework. Ryo-ohki tried to help, too. But she never
seemed to stay out of trouble for very long.

After Washu finished drying and dressing the boy, Ryo-ohki tried
to get him to play with her. But he was exhausted. He'd just be
born after all, and he wasn't at his full strength yet.

Washu stroked one of his bat-like ears, gently, smiling as it
twitched. "Shhh," she told Ryo-ohki. "He's sleeping." She looked
down at the reborn Draalthi child who now lie upon her lap, sound
asleep.


BOOK 1: CHAPTER 2

Ryo-ohki was in her humanoid child form, miya'ing an
approximation of laughter as she watched a remarkably silly show
with Mihoshi.

Mihoshi herself was giggling up a storm. She grabbed a handful of
chips and gobbled them down, wiping the grease on a napkin.

Ryo-ohki herself had managed to obtain a stack of carrots...
...which has lasted her all of 15 seconds.

The door to Washu's lab openned and Washu backed out, leading the
Draalthi child and holding both of his hands.

The boy seemed to be having as much trouble walking as Ryo-ohki
had when she'd first gained her humanoid form. In his case, he
knew how.He simply didn't have the strength.

"That's right." Washu told him. "You're doing fine. Good boy."

The small child beamed, proudly.

Washu was glad she'd decided not to let him have his old memory
when she'd remade him. Had she done so, she'd be listening to him
gripe about her treating him like a baby right now.

Ryo-ohki turned and saw them . "Miya!" She hopped down off the
couch and went to join them.

The boy stumbled and fell as he tried to hide behind Washu. Then
he started to cry.

"Oh my!" Mihoshi exclaimed. "That poor little creature!"

"It's okay." Washu soothed the child as she pulled a box of
band-aids out of a subspace hole and placed one on a small cut
the boy had got where his muzzle had hit the coffee table.

The boy looked, cross-eyed, at the band-aid, then held his arms
out to Washu. "Mamma!" he pleaded.

It was all Washu could do not to cry as she hugged the child.

"Miya!"

"Yes, Ryo-ohki." Washu nodded. "You can play with him." She let
go of the boy and pointed to Ryo-ohki. "That's your big sister."
She told him. Okay, so they were different species, but she had
created Ryo-ohki and she was responsible for this boy's being
alive in his current form, so technically.

"He's so cute!" Mihoshi smiled. "What's his name?"

"Um..erm..." It suddenly dawned on Washu that she hadn't thought
of one. "Gee, I don't know." She grinned guiltily, "any ideas?"

"Hmmm..." Mihoshi pondered. "Nope."

"Why am I not surprised." Washu sighed.

Sasami walked in. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Well," Mihoshi hedged, "we're trying to think of a name for this
little fellow here." She nodded toward the small boy.

"Wow!" Sasami smiled. "I bet he and Ryo-ohki are going to be
really good playmates."

Washu smiled. "I think you're right, Sasami. But we need to
think of name for him. We can't just call him "hey you" all the
time."

"What's the local language for 'Pain In The Ass'?" Ryoko asked as
she walked in.

"Ryoko! Such language!" Washu scolded. "And in front of your
little brother, too!"

"He's not my little brother!" Ryoko hollered.

The volume of Ryoko's shout set the Draalthi child off on
another crying jag.

"Ryoko!" Mihoshi pointed out, nearly in tears herself from
watching the child crying. "You've made him cry! That was mean of
you!" And then she could hold it back no longer.

Sasami already had a kleenex ready. She held it out to Mihoshi,
beaten by a split second by those proferred to the delicate
detective by Washu and Ryoko.

Ryoko, who knew her mother would keep hounding her until she did
so, apologized, begrudgingly, to the little boy.

The boy sniffled and wiped away his tears. He blinked up at
Ryoko, who was smiling. Then, he hugged her.

Ryoko sighed. 'Oh well,' she told herself, 'it can't get any
worse.'


As if on cue, Ayeka stormed into the room, the recent victim of
one of Ryoko's practical jokes, this one involving a bucket of
mud placed strategically over her bedroom door.

She looked like the victim of a mad cosmetologist.

"RYOKO!" She shouted at her tormentor.

The Draalthi toddler was so startled by her appearance and her
shout,that he let out a whimper of fear and clung tightly to
Ryoko, digging his fortunately short fingernails into her and
trembling as he tried to bury his muzzle under her arm.


"Washu!" Ryoko shouted, leaping up with the child still clinging
to her "Come back here and take this little brat with you!"


A small rock hit the back of Ryoko's head. She turned and
glared, but there was no one there. She bent down, still holding
the child, and picked up the note that was attached to the rock:

 'I think you can watch your baby brother for a few minutes.'

Ryoko tossed the note into a subspace void and was about to toss
the child in after when Washu poked head out of nowhere.

"Don't even *think* it." Washu warned. "I can't believe you'd do
that to your baby brother."

"He's not my brother!" Ryoko's words overlapped Washu's as she
blurted them out. "Just because you remade him in your lab,
doesn't make you his mother."

"Mamma!" The child called out, reaching for Washu.

"And don't *you* start." Ryoko scolded the child. She looked up
at Washu. "Just out of curiosity, what made you decide to remake
the little brat anyhow?"

Washu shrugged.

Kiyone walked in at that moment. She was soaked to the bone,
despite the fact that it was a nice and sunny day.

"Oh my!" Mihoshi gasped. "Kiyone?"

"I asked for the standard landing procedure." Kiyone muttered,
turning to glare at Mihoshi. "For some reason the ship thinks
that means crashing into the lake."

"Oh.. Um... Sorry, Kiyone." Mihoshi was sincere about this,
but all the same, there was a humorous side to Kiyone's choice of
words that gave her a severe case of the chuckles.

Kiyone managed to look cross for a few more seconds, then
Mihoshi's chuckles became contageous and she joined in.

Kiyone was nearly rolling in the aisles when she spotted the
newest member of the Masaki household out of the corner of her
eye. She spun around and stared at him.

"What the...?!" She turned to Washu, "your doing, I assume?"

Washu nodded. "Cute isn't he?"

"He was one of our best operatives!" Kiyone exclaimed.

"Oh, so that's why he got killed." Ryoko remarked,
sarcastically.

"Kain was just too much for him." Kiyone replied. "Besides, at
least he died fighting. I'd like to go out in an act of bravery
like that myself. But I suspect I'll probably be the victim of an
accident."

"But most accidents happen in the home," Mihoshi tried to
reassure her partner, "and you're almost never home because
you're off on duty with me."

"That's very reassuring." Kiyone replied, sarcastically.

"Thank you." Mihoshi beamed.

"I can't believe you turned him into a baby." Kiyone told Washu.

"I didn't." Washu explained. "This is a genetic duplicate of
him."

"A clone?"

Washu nodded.

"So, it's not really him?"

"Actually, it is." Washu replied.

"But you just said."

"I regenerated his body from a single cell."

Kiyone walked back out of the house with her head spinning,
trying to clear it.

Kiyone stood near the doorstep, leaning against the house and
thinking about what she'd just seen. How the heck was she going
to report this? Why did Washu always have do stuff like this to
her? Pulling her out of the bath had been bad enough, but
this...!

"Oh well," she sighed, "I guess I should be grateful it wasn't
Mihoshi." She smiled, weakly, to no one in particular.

She stood there for a bit more. Then, a sense of curiosity
overcame her, and she went back into the house.

"Oh, Kiyone," Washu waved to her, "welcome back."

Kiyone nodded, then turned her attention to the two furry
toddlers who were playing, happily, together.

"Aren't they cute?" Washu cooed.

As she watched them, Kiyone had to admit that they were.

Kiyone's Galaxy Police watch twittered. She pressed it. "Yes?"

"One of our sensors is picking up Operative A's DNA patterns.
They're a bit weak, so we think he may be injured. I want you to
find him as quickly as possible."

"He's right here, sort of." Kiyone hedged, trying to think of how
to tell them what had happened.

"Well, tell him to to report to me at once. I have an assignment
for him."

"But..."

"AT ONCE" Kiyone's superior ordered, disconnecting before Kiyone
could get any further.

"Why don't you bring him to your commander," Washu suggested,
nodding toward the Draalthi toddler.

"That's not a bad idea." Kiyone smiled. "Once he sees that..."

"Ryomitsu." Washu offered helpfully.

"Ryoko, Ryo-ohki, Ryomitsu..." Kiyone mused. "I'm starting to see
a pattern here..."

"That's just your imagination." Washu grinned. "You were
saying?"

"Once the commander sees that Ryomitsu is just a toddler, he'll
probably send him right back here."

"Of course he will!" Washu laughed.

Washu went over to where Ryo-ohki and Ryomitsu were playing. She
picked up the latter of the two and handed him to Kiyone. "Hurry
back." She told the First Class Detective. "I don't want him to
miss supper."


BOOK 1: CHAPTER 3

About an hour or so later, despite the fact that the walls in the
new Galaxy Police Headquarters were thick enough to be
effectively sound-proof, persons walking by heard the voice of
the commander blurting out the word: "WHAT?!" in a very
astonished tone.


Inside the office in question, the Commander was staring at
Kiyone who was standing across the desk from him with a small
Draalthi in her arms.

"We'll just have to speed-grow him," the Commander sighed.

"Sir" Kiyone replied, "given the nature of his regeneration, not
to mention its source, I don't think that's a good idea, or even
possible."

The Commander would not be deterred, however and Kiyone soon
found herself watching as the toddler lie, was placed in one
speed-growing compartment after another.

"We can't get a cellular lock, sir." The scientists finally gave
up after a dozen or so tries. "I don't understand it."

"Sir," Kiyone said, quietly, "with all respect, I'd like to take
this child back to Earth now."

The Commander sighed. "Very well. He's certainly not going to be
a very effective Operative for a few years. Assuming he becomes
one at all."

Inside the office in question, the Commander was staring at
Kiyone who was standing across the desk from him with a small
Draalthi in her arms.

"We'll just have to speed-grow him," the Commander sighed.

"Sir" Kiyone replied, "given the nature of his regeneration, not
to mention its source, I don't think that's a good idea, or even
possible."

The Commander would not be deterred, however and Kiyone soon
found herself watching as the toddler lie, was placed in one
speed-growing compartment after another.

The only result of this was that Ryomitsu was getting very
scared. He started to cry.

"We can't get a cellular lock, sir." The scientists finally gave
up after a dozen or so tries. "I don't understand it."

"Sir," Kiyone said, quietly, "with all respect, I'd like to take
this child back to Earth now."

The Commander sighed. "Very well. He's certainly not going to be
a very effective Operative for a few years. Assuming he becomes
one at all."

The Commander nodded to the chief scientist, released the
toddler from the last compartment they'd tried.

The toddler made his way over to Kiyone as quickly as possible
and hugged her leg. He was trembling.

Kiyone bent down and stroked his hair. "I'm sorry,honey." She
told him, soothingly. She blinked. "What am I doing?!" She picked
up the child and brought him back to the Yagami.

BOOK 1: CHAPTER 4

"Do you really think Kiyone will bring Ryomitsu back?" Ryoko
asked. "Won't the Galaxy Police just force grow him to adulthood?
They must have that much technology!"

"They have it, but in this case they can't use it." Washu
replied. "I deliberately engineered his cells so they can't be
altered in any way by any type of machine."

"What did you go and do that for?" Ryoko demanded, hearing and
ignoring the knock at the door.

"If I'd wanted him to be an adult, I would've made him one."
Washu replied with a shrug. She went to the door and opened it.

"Of course." Ryoko gave up.

Kiyone walked in an set Ryomitsu down. The toddler immedeately
went into the living room and began playing with Ryo-ohki, happy
to be back home.

"What did you do to him?" Kiyone asked. "We couldn't force grown
him at all. Couldn't even get a lock."

"I want him to have a normal life..." Washu explained,

"Fat chance of that around here." Ryoko remarked.

Washu ignored her, "...and I don't intend to let anything
interfere with that. Besides, I didn't go through all that just
so he could turn around and get himself killed again two minutes
later."

Washu turned to the two toddlers and started to tell them it was
time for them to take a bath.

Like most fur-bearing lifeforms, Draalthi and humanified
Cabbits don't enjoy being given baths that involve water, and the
minute Washu began to suggest that such a thing was shortly
forthcoming, both Ryo-ohki and Ryomitsu took off in opposite
directions.

"But, Washu," Ayeka pointed out, "it's only two o'clock in..."
she remembered the trick Washu had pulled on Ryoko just after her
remergence with Zero. "Oh." She giggled, quietly, to herself.

A moment later, she heard a shriek from the kitchen, followed by
loud batlike cries of pain.

Washu rushed in as fast as she could, fearing that her trick had
backfired and that somehow, her newest creation had managed to
hurt himself.

When she got into the kitchen, she found that her fears were
unconfirmed. There were no overturned pans, no mislaid knives.
Just a small child wailing and crying for apparently no reason.

"What's wrong, little one?" Washu asked.

Ryomitsu was standing there, stiff as a statue. He had just
stopped screaming and he looked like he had fainted standing up
and Washu was pretty sure that the skin under his fur had gone
white. He was staring at a picture in a coloring book he'd been
given just moments ago by Tenchi, who had just come home a few
minutes ago.

"Let me see, honey." Washu took the book from Ryomitsu. She
examined the book, and found the picture that had disturbed him.

It was an image of a kabuki no danyu. Just the face. No big deal
in and of itself. Except...

...it looked like Kain!

"No wonder." Washu nodded. "Tenchi, look at this."

"Now that's a very strange coincidence." Tenchi muttered. "But, I
thought you said he had no memories of his past."

"Some racial memories are too strong to be destroyed." Washu
replied. "It's like knowing how to understand words and later
speak them."

"Will it trigger other memories?"

"No, Tenchi, " Washu explained, "this isn't as much a memory as
it is an instinctive fear."

Washu ran the book through a device she pulled out of subspace,
altering the picture to one of cherry blossoms. "Here you go,"
she told the frightened child. "See. Bad scary picture all gone."

Ryomitsu looked at it, reluctantly, as if not fully believing
Washu. When he saw the new picture, he stopped crying. He
instantly grabbed the book and crayons and went off to play.

Washu started to reach for some ingredients.

"Um, Little Washu," Tenchi suggested, "I think I'm going to
order take-out."

"Something wrong with my cooking?" Washu wanted to know.

"Um, no it's... ummm... it's not that..." Tenchi stammered, "its
just we've all been working extra hard taking care of Ryo-ohki
and Ryomitsu here, so I thought we could all use a break from
cooking."

"Oh!" Washu exclaimed, going all kawaii and bug-eyed. "I didn't
realize you loved me that much!"

"Huh?!" Tenchi felt cold sweat running down his back.

"Ryomitsu, honey," Washu called "come over here and give your 
new daddy a hug."

"But... but..." Tenchi stammered.

"Dadda!!" Ryomitsu cried out as he hugged Tenchi.

"Why me?" Tenchi moaned, resignedly.