"Just one question," Ranko said, "why are you doing
this? What did Kuno Industries do to you?"
My name is Shan Pu. You killed my Elder; prepare to - naah, doesn't
work. :)
"That, Ranko," Shampoo replied tiredly, "is a long
and painful story, one which we don't have time for now. Sean."
"Yes, Commander?" Sean asked.
"Show Ranko around the compound, give her the grand
tour. Tell her as much as you can about her new world."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ranko, feel free to ask him any question you like.
You need to learn as much as you can if you are to survive here."
"What makes you think I'm gonna stay here?" Ranko
asked defiantly.
"Because the only people who can help you find your
past are here," Shampoo replied, a statement that wasn't too
far from the truth. "Dismissed." Sean and Ranko rose from
their seats, the former leading her out of the room. After
the door closed, Shampoo cradled her head in her hands,
fighting the tears that seemed bent on escaping.
That's gotta be torture for Shamps. Ouch.
"Was that proof enough for you?" came a mechanical
voice from behind. Shampoo started violently, knocking the
chair to the floor as she whirled about to face the speaker.
"How long have you been there, X?" she snapped to the
back wall.
"Long enough," came his reply as a portion of the
wall moved. Her eyes involuntarily locked on the patch of
distorted space as he stepped closer. In an instant, the
warped air that vaguely resembled human contours snapped into
clear focus, revealing the black-clad warrior. "Shampoo, you
know what that thing is."
"Yes," she replied, "I did not want to believe it at
first, but..."
"So what will you do?" X asked, his luminous red eys
betraying no emotion from behind his faceplate.
"I... do not know," she said sadly.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this," X said in
disgust, "you're letting your feelings cloud your judgment."
"What?!" Shampoo exclaimed, insulted.
"You're still carrying a torch for Ranma," X replied,
"but you're beginning to confuse him with that clone you just let go!"
"How dare you!" Shampoo hissed, her eyes narrowing to slits.
"That thing is an abomination, and it must be
destroyed!" X exclaimed, anger radiating from his inhuman
eyes. Shampoo remained silent, glaring daggers at the shadowy
fighter before her. "If not out of respect for Ranma's
memory, then out of common sense! It is a creation of Kuno
Industries! It may be here to infiltrate and destroy your resistance!"
What bug crawled up this guys ass?
<snip>
"The Frankenstein chip," Yuu said. It had been given
that name due to its purpose; preventing a "Frankenstein
Scenario" in which Juggernaut would attack and kill its
creators. "Fortunately, that's not a software program or a
behaivior directive. It's the one safeguard hard-wired
behavior
<snip>
Well, that's part two! Hope you all like it!
Jeezus, man - this is getting complex! I'm starting to wonder if
ANY of my assumptions are correct... :)
Great work, as usual. I'm finding less and less problems with every
fic you put out, and more cool stuff. Keep it up!
Jed
Brian Payne
sofaspud@ior.com
brianp@nhspokane.com
It's beginning to look a lot like fan-fics, o-ver at the Couch
http://www.ior.com/~sofaspud (new domain coming soon!)