[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 16:
Voltaire's Prayer
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1/2, Neon Genesis Evangelion,
Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these stories. And I'll
put them back when I've finished with them.
C&C , MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Semp
er-Morituri
(these are the original versions)
What has gone before:
About Book 11, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma out of the house,
Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet EVA pilots Shinji
Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffery Davis.
The Scholarly Dragon meets with Asuka. The pilots are attacked, Nancy
Thompson is killed, Asuka is slightly injured. The goal was to capture, not
kill the pilots. Maya confront that she may be next. Nabiki admits her
fear for Ranma as the cause of her anger with him. Rei saves all the pilots
from an assassination attempt. Ranma and the Scholarly Dragon save her.
There is a traitor at NERV, one who doesn't know Ranma and Ranko are
the same person.
Cultists transform the pilots into their animal personality. Ritsuko
and Rei try to make peace, Rei tries to understand her feelings for Shinji
by comparing them to the feelings of Nabiki and Ranma for each other.
Jeff reveals his dream to Ranko, as well as some of the effects. Ranko
discovers she has been manipulating ki, and gets instructions how to
investigate further.
Hiroko reveals she has strong feelings, Nabiki interprets this means
feelings for Ranma, not for towards her.
Dr. Akagi and Maya attend school with the kids. Ranma starts running
experiments based on what Ranko learned from Raccoon.
Ranko arranges to teach Raccoon Martial Arts. The Pilots and their
friends see a money together.
The tensions peak in a fight between Asuka, Rei, Nabiki and Raccoon.
Raccoon ends up giving Asuka a spanking, although he reveals part of it was
an operation against Misato.
Ranko looks after Raccoon during a treatment for his condition. Rei
recruits Asuka to save Shinji from his nightmares. The three are finally
driven from Shinji's dreamscape, they must retreat to Rei's dreamscape.
The being known as Wondergirl is speaking I believe, it's not easy trying to
tell her, that I shortly have to leave.
Why don't you yell at me?
Why don't you stop and see?
Why don't you hate who I hate?
Kill who I kill to be free?
Randy Scouse Git, Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees
Chapter 16: Voltaire's Prayer
Asuka wanted to announce to the Heavens what a _dump_ this place
was, but anywhere free of Shinji's little, furry nightmares was welcome.
The place looked like many things had been started, and _nothing_ had been
finished. Or they're all exploded view drawings of things, Asuka thought.
There was no rhyme or reason to the context. Pieces of watches were mixed
willy-nilly with pistols and wrenches, and with their parts in disordered or
neat piles, even the partially assembled/disassembled six story buildings,
and in the far distance, even a partial Eiffel Tower, the left half. All
either completely or partially disassembled. Even the road was excavated in
places, to examine the pipe and cables beneath.
Asuka leaned down to examine a pile of watches. Many were similar,
all in differing states of disassembly. Some whole, some with just the
backs or crystals off, some were merely a pile of parts, the oddest were the
ones disassembled that had little red strings tying the parts to the place
in the structure they'd been removed from. Something about that tantalized
her mind, beyond that, in Wondergirl's literal view of things, the choice of
a red string would have to be intentional. She couldn't place the missing
piece of this puzzle, yet.
The pistols were another question, she found a LeMat, just like the
one Raccoon used, it was one solid piece, the cylinder didn't rotate, nor
did the break open release work. But a perfectly functional Schofield was
sitting right next to it.
It occurred to Asuka, that maybe, Wondergirl didn't understand that
the components were parts of a greater whole, but the parts and the
integrated whole, were essentially the same thing. That, and that similar
structures, had a similar function. It was the only explanation she could
come up with, for what she was seeing, these bits and pieces that Wondergirl
had scattered all over the place, each new item, each new device or
experience was disconnected from any similar experience/device, and was
treated as a new set of data, to be analyzed meticulously, with no
correlation to previous data.
That frightened Asuka, she hadn't the faintest idea how to deal
with that. Leave it to Raccoon, she finally realized, If he can teach me to
how to wield a sword, he can teach anybody _anything_.
She stood, and continued walking around the base of the hill, where
Wondergirl and Spineless were. Wondergirl was in her usual `quiet, ashamed`
mode, staring at her feet. Asuka hated her for that, she _knew_ it was a
pose. An attempt to draw someone closer, then assassinate. Asuka kept her
in view, but never got close. Spineless, of course, went up to her like a
puppy happy to see his mistress. Wag your tail and lick her face, while
you're at it, the sight and thought turned Asuka's stomach. She didn't need
any excuse to patrol the area, to see if any of those things had followed
them.
Not just to get away from the blooming of robot love. "They are not
here," she called to the pair.
Wondergirl stepped out in front of her, a slightly younger
Wondergirl. Asuka looked over, Wondergirl was still with Shinji. Asuka
noticed the regular pattern of bloodstains on the younger girl's smock,
Asuka tightened her grip on the saber-halberd.
"I'm doing my job," she told this apparition, she doubted anything
short of an Angel or an EVA, could get past the Dragon.
"You are safe here," the second Wondergirl tried to reassure her.
Asuka didn't want to believe her, she wanted to hit her and get
away. Instead she stepped past the second Wondergirl, and walked away, not
taking her eyes off her, while she was in reach. She wondered how
Wondergirl could manifest a second version of herself. Asuka knew the
Meliorist was her second self, but 'she', Asuka Soryu Langley, couldn't
coexist in a dreamscape with her. They'd merge and the Meliorist would
dominate, because of her greater affinity for dreams. It wasn't a loss for
Asuka, she'd learn most, if not all that the Meliorist would learn or do.
Wondergirl as a little girl, stepped out in front of Asuka, "Will
you play with me?" the little girl smiled.
Almost like a real kid, Asuka thought. One Wondergirl was with
Shinji, the other, almost a teenager, stared at her from where she'd first
confronted Asuka. Three? How many of them are there? Asuka looked around,
the little one acted almost normal. Rocking back and forth heels to toes,
and smiling at her while she awaited an answer. This creature who haunted
her nightmares, since she was this thing's apparent age, was asking to play.
She had no reason not to, other than utter revulsion. It took a step
towards her, Asuka froze, wondering if this was an attack, Would killing it
unleash this place's true nature?
"Tag," she slapped Asuka's bloody hand and ran off.
Asuka shook herself, she'd been jumping at shadows, assuming the
worst about Wondergirl because . . . Because she was always following you
around, and never moved in. She looked at the Wondergirl who had confronted
her, "Come on you, help me look."
She didn't like the idea of a kid, even a baby Wondergirl, running
around the place. The buildings were all incomplete, as was everything, but
some had been started at the top, and only the most tenuous structure
supported them. She'd never forgive herself, if she let someone get
squashed in this madhouse. She knew death in the Dreamlands was real death,
she didn't know if that also applied to dreamscapes, especially this weird
one, populated by Wondergirls.
The other Wondergirl followed her, rather than searching on her
own. Asuka soon had a total of five Wondergirls of different ages, in
different clothing, hunting for the littlest one.
It bothered her that only the youngest had any spunk, taunting and
teasing the 'old hag' as she called her, or maybe all of them. Asuka
actually wished the real one showed some of the little one's sparkle.
"You two circle that way," Asuka told the two 8-10 year old
Wondergirls, "You two head the other way," Asuka told the two 11-12 year old
Wondergirls, she kept the 6-8 year old with her as she headed straight in.
The youngest Wondergirl squealed with delight as Asuka hemmed her
in and caught her. She squirmed uselessly and giggled in Asuka's iron grip.
Asuka tossed her over her shoulder and marched straight up the hill towards
the Original Wondergirl and Spineless.
Asuka stood before a stunned Spineless and a very worried
Wondergirl, with a trail of other Wondergirls following. Asuka tried to set
the littlest one down, only to discover she wouldn't let go. She'd wind up
with a Baby Wondergirl backpack, or the little one would wrap her legs
around Asuka's waist and both arms around her leg. Getting her loose took a
surprising amount of strength, and during the effort to pry her loose, she'd
just latch on somewhere else. Asuka was very mindful she'd only been able
to wipe her bloodstained arms off, not get them clean. She was getting it
all over the little girl, and she was then transferring back to Asuka's
clothes, her face, her hair.
Spineless looked like he would have laughed, but understood she'd
kill him if he did. Wondergirl looked confused, horrified and amused by
turns.
Asuka knew simply belting the kid would solve the problem, but
considering what had already happened today, she didn't want to find out
what would happen if she did that. "Don't you have any place to get cleaned
up, Wondergirl?" she asked in a controlled tone, when she really wanted to
scream and punch all eight of them.
Wondergirl pointed at another half-finished building. Asuka
hobbled along, a firmly gripping, gleefully laughing Baby Wondergirl hanging
on.
Asuka entered the building through the unfinished wall, and
realized the other Wondergirls were still following her. Except they had to
go through the front door, she thought disgustedly, Do you _always_ have to
follow the rules? Even when they don't apply?
"Don't you have something better to do?" Asuka shouted at them as
they filed in, trying to stay balanced as Baby Wondergirl suddenly shifted
position.
They formed an orderly line, and a chorus of 'no's told her that
she was really in Wondergirl-land, she was the only interesting thing here.
"Find me some soap," Asuka commanded, to her disgust, all five of
them headed off in the same direction. I'm in Hell, Asuka thought, Shinji's
little things killed and ate me, and I'm in Hell.
There were showers here, Asuka had heard of public baths, this one
looked like an oversized version of the girls' locker room at school, except
for the huge pool at one end of the room. Asuka had never been in a public
bath, she knew she'd use a bucket of cold water, a rag and a sink, before
she'd go parading around naked in front of a crowd of strangers. She didn't
intend to take off her clothes here either, since they were filthy too.
She'd wash them and herself simultaneously, and hopefully, wash off the
giggling limpet.
The icy water made her want to shriek as much as Baby Wondergirl
was, although hers wouldn't have the happy undertones. Turning to give the
little one a blast of ice water, only caused her to crawl somewhere else.
Finally, Asuka gave up trying the freeze her off, adjusted the
water to a comfortable temperature and thoroughly soaked both of them, then
started washing herself, and Baby Wondergirl.
When both of them were too soapy/slippery to get a decent grip
anymore, Asuka resisted the urge to just toss the little one in the huge
pool, and make a run for it. It would take too long to get the other
Wondergirls, who were all still standing around watching, to go rescue her.
Asuka couldn't bring herself to do that, no matter how uncomfortable it made
her.
Making me uncomfortable is not a capital crime, she laughed at
that. That, and she vaguely remembered what a terror she'd been when her
mother had given her a bath, acting a lot like Baby Wondergirl did.
As pleasant as the memories were, they made her very melancholy.
When you're being smart or assertive, you can forget how much mama loved
you, she cast that thought aside.
Finally she was done, she knew she'd never rinse both of them off
adequately, so there was only one alternative. And to Hell with Japanese
proprieties, she picked up the still soapy Baby Wondergirl, who was clinging
tightly to her. She pinched the little girl's nose closed, and jumped into
the deepest part of the pool.
This water is _freezing_!_ As she broke the surface, sputtering,
"What is it with you and cold water? Huh, Wondergirl?"
The others simply stared at each other. Baby Wondergirl was a
_bit_ more subdued now. Asuka showered both with hot water to drive off the
chill, there were no towels to dry off of course, so she marched off to
locate Spineless and Wondergirl. They hadn't moved.
She marched up the hill, carrying the little one on her shoulders,
with a trail of Wondergirls following.
"Spineless you're certainly safe here. I'm getting out of here,"
she told him, set the little one in front of him, There's _one_ dreamscape I
want to see.
----------------------------------------
The little one watched her new playmate vanish. She sadly walked
back `home`, nobody wanted to play with her, not now, not before, maybe
never.
----------------------------------------
Coming Clean
Ranko was glad Raccoon was finally resting quietly. They hadn't
said anything for an hour. Ranko had felt the tension in him, nothing
seemed to erase it. She was weary, both from the effort, and from her own
tension. Her mind started focusing on minutia, anything to stay awake. She
glanced at her hands, then her charge's hands. They were both smooth. She
didn't think Akagi-sensei had done anything special to the water. Both of
them should be wrinkled up like prunes, but they weren't. She wondered why
that was, it had to be something to do with the creatures they absorbed, or
something else. She nodded off for an instant.
Ranko looked down at her resting charge, she'd expected some useful
information. Not the wild tale Raccoon had told her. Since Gendo had been
there too, it would be easy to verify what they'd experienced. So she
doubted he was lying to her. It has to be a parody, Ranko thought, How
could anybody be that stupid. Then she realized she didn't know if she was
referring to the arrangement of the fiance-go-round, or the opponents who
would get beaten, then charge right back to get another beating, never
acknowledging that, just maybe, Ranma was the best.
Ranko had to admit that she'd never consider turning them against
each other, the way Raccoon had, but Raccoon evidently wanted peace and
quiet, A quiet home and family, Ranko realized, The thing he was finally
allowed to build, then have stripped away.
Ranma would see the constant invasion as a possibility to better
his skills, new challenges and techniques, but had never considered a wife
and family, and the effect the destruction would have on them. Maybe that
was another difference between the two: Ranma lived now, for Raccoon, now
was only the moment for analyzing the past and planning for the future, the
future was the time when he could finally do as he wished. Ranko thought it
was a sad way to live. Ranma's life was the Art, and while that cut him off
from some things, it also freed him from such worries, about the future,
about the past, about other people.
Somewhere between the two lies the truth, Ranko realized. Her head
nodded again, she was having trouble staying awake. Taking the temperature
reading a little early helped perk her up, but that just meant 20 minutes,
of doing nothing, before she had to take the next one. Her head snapped up,
and she blinked, she was dozing off. Raccoon was awake, but she didn't want
to disturb him. Especially after he'd gotten all torn up inside,
remembering the dream, his dream, where he'd finally gotten what he wanted.
"So what do I want?" she asked.
"Excuse me?" Raccoon asked back.
"Sorry, thinking out loud," she replied softly, Do I even want a
family? I mean ever? then she smiled, And as who, Nab-chan's husband, or
Raccoon's wife? she smirked at that. She doubted it would ever happen,
Ranma might eventually settle down enough to teach what he had learned, but
he'd probably never settle down enough to have a family, if he/she, Raccoon
and Nab-chan were any indication, kids were a _lot_ of work. So no more
training, no chance to travel to study under other masters, or challenge
them. Just another stay-at-home who slaved away to keep a roof over his
head, food and clothes for his children. That kind of life held _zero_
appeal for Ranma.
She woke again with a start, tried to work out some of the tension
in her arms and back, without shaking Raccoon too much. She quietly
realized that bringing a timer, instead of a clock, had been a mistake: she
had no idea how far away or how close dawn was. The conversation had felt
like it had gone on all night, but that didn't mean anything, really.
Wasn't that what Asuka said about time being relative?
Ranma found himself in the dream dojo, "Oh GREAT, I'm asleep, I
really blew it!"
He tried the various tricks that allowed escape from nightmares,
but none of them worked, he changed to Ranko, and still none of them worked.
He returned to Ranma, and stared at the door to the dojo, the door to the
`outside`. "Maybe you have to be _in_ a nightmare, for them to work." He
sighed, decided he really didn't have a choice, unless he wanted to explain
how he fell asleep 'on duty'.
He walked outside, onto a barren, rocky landscape, Weird! he looked
around, he'd expected all kinds of fears and monsters, windswept stormy
seas, or something more exciting. He saw nothing except the terrain, sand
and little rocks up close, boulders in the distance. No plants, no clouds,
no sky, not even black, it just wasn't there. It was tremendously boring.
A shadow appeared, slashed at him, he felt the tearing of his flesh
across his chest, as its claws cut deep into him.
He jumped back, looking for the enemy, bracing himself. He risked
a glance down at his ruined shirt, the wounding had hurt terribly, but now
it was only a tingle. His shirt was torn, his breasts were unmarked,
"BREASTS?!" he was appalled.
The shadow attacked again, he barely blocked, it felt like his
entire forearm was torn off. But his hand and arm were unmarked, except the
missing sleeve. And my hands aren't the same size anymore, he realized his
sleeveless forearm was his girl-form's, like his exposed chest.
The shadow's next attack, he tried to dodge, but the shadow was
nearly as good as he was. It clawed him across the face. The agony of
having his face torn off, and the shock of seeing a Ranma-skin mask looking
up at him, let the shadow tear the rest of his arm clear off. Ranko's voice
made the scream, as he danced out of range, trying to understand what was
happening. The shadow stopped and stared at him some distance away. It
reached down to pick up the pieces it had flayed from Ranma, it brought
Ranma's 'face' to its head, mocked him with it, and ate it.
"HEY!" Ranma heard himself in Ranko's voice, "That's mine!"
The shadow braced for the attack, the leap kick Ranma aimed at the
shadow's head. Its claws caught in his extended leg, and the force of the
blow ripped the whole leg loose. Ranma rolled as he landed, looked at the
unmaimed leg, Ranko's leg. Suddenly he realized that the creature was
tearing off the outer, `Ranma` layer.
He considered for a moment, as he watched the shadow consume the
leg piece, he knew he couldn't beat this creature. None of the tricks to
awaken from a nightmare were working here either.
So he turned and ran for the dream dojo, It isn't there anymore! he
turned to face the shadow, as it ate more of `Ranma`, it began taking on a
definite round form. Ranma was off-balance, because part of him was Ranko,
and part was still Ranma.
With his legs and arms of different lengths, he was at a tremendous
disadvantage, in fighting, and in running away. The shadow caught him
across the back, ripping it all loose, he turned to counter the attack, and
caught a kick in the groin.
I didn't think girls could get hurt from that, Ranko was slowed by
the pain of the blow, she was also deeply ashamed of her weakness. She
tried to shake it off as the creature ripped the rest of `Ranma` off. She
attacked, the shadow simply let the blow land, and Ranko passed through. As
she passed through, she felt cold hands touching her and mocking laughter
about the 'pretty, little tramp'.
"Pervert!" she shouted and attacked.
"Useless girl!" the shadow spoke, Ranko felt a blow across her
breasts, "Weak." A kick in the groin, "Pretty, but only a decoration." The
slap across the face. More words, more insults translated into physical
blows.
The humiliation of the insults and the effect of the strikes on her
more intimate regions were too strong to be anything except enhanced by the
shadow, every time she'd tried to raise up, the insults/blows would rain
down on her until she collapsed and wanted to die.
She watched the creature eat the rest of the flayed loose Ranma
pieces, sections of the shadow lightened to white, others remained black.
A panda bear? Ranko wondered if this had anything to do the dream
Raccoon had described, Probably, "Father . . . "
That initiated the most savage beating, physical blows, insults and
degradations. Ranko curled up into a ball, trying to protect herself, tried
to ignore the words which bypassed her defenses, and hurt worse than the
impacts.
The panda marched off, laughing at her the whole way.
Ranko lay there, the ache she felt was not physical, she couldn't
see a scratch or bruise on the parts she could see without moving. She
reasoned it must be ki or mana based, her unwillingness to move, It's
depression, I just don't _feel_ like moving. She knew she should get up and
pursue the creature who'd stolen `Ranma`, but she could barely convince
herself to sit up.
She checked herself over, Not a bruise, not a scratch, then she
found the sticky blood between her legs, she couldn't find the wound that
would have caused it, There's not that much, but where did it come from?
"Ranko-san?"
She heard the voice, she turned, expecting Raccoon to penalize her
for being out here, for getting beaten, for . . . for being Ranko, and not
Ranma.
"Ranko-san, temperature reading."
----------------------------------------
Nabiki walked along the top of the rail, through the night sky, in
her gi and soft shoes. The entire city of Tokyo, modern 1992 Tokyo, was
laid out below her. Thousands of feet below, she thought, as she walked
along. The rail extended to infinity before and behind.
The faint breeze plucked at her hair and clothes, even that weak
wind threatened to hurl her off the edge.
"Jump."
Nabiki pivoted easily, As good as Kodachi, she thought, now facing
the Amazon Rei. Nabiki stepped back, and bumped into another figure,
glanced over her shoulder at Belldandy.
"Okay, I screwed up again," Nabiki told her, "So you toss me off,
and we discuss the mistakes while I hurtle towards the pavement?"
"No," the goddess pushed her slightly, causing Nabiki to windmill
her arms to avoid falling.
"What's that about?" Nabiki shouted.
"Stand aside," Rei told her.
"Who, Hiroko?" Nabiki asked, "Is that what all this is about? Who
gets Ranma? I thought you jerks were beyond that!"
"You aren't beyond it. You have much to learn," Rei approached.
Nabiki knelt, grabbed the rail and swung beneath and behind
Belldandy, then pulled herself back up.
And she ran.
All that pursued her was their laughter, Belldandy's tinkling
mirth, Amazon Rei sounded like Cologne's bullfrog croak. Nabiki burned with
frustration. They could pursue her as they chose, she was arrogant to think
she could get away.
She stopped, turned, she could still see them clearly, "You want me
to step aside? How's this?" she dove off the rail, sailing through the air.
"Yeah, I showed them," she said sardonically, as the ground rushed up
towards her, Why do I do these things?
----------------------------------------
Rei looked on, as Shinji-kun played with the littlest version of
her, the first and best version of her. He'd volunteered to play, when the
Second had dropped her off and left. He held the little one's hands and
spun her around, as she delightedly shouted for him to go faster.
Rei wondered why that game, why hide-and-seek, as opposed to any
other games she'd seen others playing. No catching or throwing games,
despite the availability of balls and bats. A cold lump had started in her
stomach, first that Shinji-kun had seen her dreamscape, and so had the
Second, and that neither had raised any serious complaints or insults. Both
had automatically played with the little one, grudgingly for the Second,
with joy for Shinji-kun.
Even the little one, and the other hers, had little interest in
being with Rei, the others had remained to watch Shinji-kun play, not
interfering, not interacting. Rei felt ashamed that she hadn't, couldn't,
join in. Not with the Second, not with Shinji-kun.
Why do I need permission to? she wished Shinji-kun would ask her
to, to be part of the joy, to be able to laugh and play and be silly,
because she was too afraid to ask herself if she could join in.
---------------------------------------- Ranko blinked, looked at
Raccoon's concerned face.
"You okay?" he asked, sitting up, staring at her.
"I'm so sorry," she said, she couldn't understand why she was near
tears over forgetting to take the water temperature, she could see Raccoon's
neat handwriting he'd entered the value, it humiliated her, "I'm . . . I
can't be trusted. I'm worthless."
"For dozing off?" Raccoon was incredulous, "You've only got a half
hour to go. Your real job was to make sure I didn't fall sleep, or break my
neck going to the bathroom. You did that."
"I did okay?" she asked in a small voice, she couldn't figure out
why she so desperately needed the reassurance.
"You did very well, and - " he must have been shocked at the
intensity and desperation of her hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she buried her face in his
chest, suddenly she felt safe again, "Please don't hate me."
"I don't, I won't. Why would I hate you?" he put his arms around
her shoulders.
She wished he'd put his arms around her tightly, then worried about
those kinds of thoughts. Now she was glad he was being friendly, or
fatherly, instead of a more romantic approach.
She released him, he instantly did likewise.
"I think I need to use the bathroom," she told him shyly.
"Oh, that does my ego a lot of good, I excite your bladder."
She felt a stab of dread that he hated her because . . . then she
realized he was just teasing, and she hadn't shaken the effect of the dream.
"What about you men? You wake up, the poor girl thinks you were
thinking of her, and all you want to do _right_now_ is take a pee."
He smiled and blushed as she climbed out. She wondered where on
her his eye was lingering. As she walked to the toilet and closed the stall
door, she wondered how much the dream had shaken her up for her to be
thinking like this.
----------------------------------------
Laughable Cries
Ranko's scream woke the entire household. Nabiki was glad of it,
she'd been about an inch off the pavement when she, then Ranko screamed.
Ranko was still screaming, so no one had noticed Nabiki's, when
Nabiki charged into the bathroom, ahead of Ritsuko. Maya came in through
the hall door. Raccoon was blinking furiously, because he had put the
lights on.
Ranko was at the nearer toilet stall, she came out, the swimsuit in
hand, instead of wearing it, "I'm bleeding!" she showed everyone the tiny
bloodstains on the suit panties.
Nabiki noted with distaste that she seemed the most disturbed by
Ranko's nakedness, She's only spotting, then she realized Ranma didn't
remember the last time this happened.
"It's perfectly natural," Ritsuko said soothingly.
"And normal," Raccoon added, "I can - " he started getting out of
the furo.
"Stop!" Ritsuko commanded.
He settled back in, turned his back to the frantic girl, tossing
her a towel from the wall rack.
"It happens to all women," Maya added as Ranko twisted the towel in
her hands until Nabiki worried it might disintegrate.
"It's never happened before!" Ranko wailed.
"It happens monthly, the woman's body builds up a blood rich layer
in the uterus to accept a fertilized egg. If no fertilization occurs, the
blood layer is shed. That's the source of it." Raccoon's clinical
explanation helped calm Ranko down.
"Where were you when my sister was fumbling through her
explanation?" Nabiki asked.
"Wyoming, on the ranch, learning all this stuff," Raccoon replied.
"I'll get some hot water," Nabiki said, "That - "
----------------------------------------
"_NO_!_" Ranko told Nabiki, she didn't know why, but she didn't
want to risk returning to Ranma-form, for fear that the dream had `done`
something to him.
"Well, I'm out," Ritsuko admitted sheepishly, "Misato forgot, and
almost had an accident."
"I used my last one," Nabiki added.
"I don't have any with me," Maya admitted.
What are they talking about? Ranko wondered.
"Since I can't leave, Maya, can you go get my medical kit, right
hip pocket of my suit coat," Raccoon said.
Nabiki and Ritsuko stared at him open-mouthed, Maya headed to get
the kit. Ranko still didn't understand what they were talking about.
"Ranko," Rit-chan said, "At least cover yourself with that towel."
Ranko looked down and then looked at Raccoon, who had been trying
to look anywhere else in the room, and mostly succeeding. Ranko quickly
covered herself and blushed ashamedly.
Predictably, Nabiki thought it was funny.
Maya returned with a white metal box emblazoned with a red
plus-sign on the top, a bit smaller than a textbook.
"I want to know," Nabiki told Raccoon.
"So do I, I'll start first. My aunt is a nurse, she claimed her
medical kit could deal with any physical problems, that didn't require a
doctor or major surgery. When I decided to carry a medical kit, I
duplicated hers, exactly."
"So how old are these?" Maya looked inside the kit.
"About two months. Like you, girls realized I always carried them
and was willing to sell. I went through about a box a year. Now," he said,
"How are you going to show her how to use them?"
"I'm not, you are," Nabiki smiled. She and Raccoon stared at each
other.
Ranko thought she could hear the crickets outside, eight floors
below.
"I'm leaving," Raccoon was out the door before Rit-chan could
protest.
"Would someone tell me what's going on?!" Ranko demanded.
----------------------------------------
Asuka walked out of her room, she quietly started making breakfast.
She decided _never_ to go through Misato's dreamscapes again. She had
walked into what looked like a Roman party, low couches, jugs of wine,
tables full of food, except everyone was in traditional Japanese dress. The
pilots and senior staff all eating, drinking and copulating, willingly and
unashamedly.
Occasionally, the central pillar that held up the roof of the hall,
would make a sound. Everyone would stop _whatever_ they were doing, and
surround the pillar, and spend a few minutes bowing to it, then they'd go
back to continue on, or on to another activity.
Asuka had been confused about the mechanism that caused this, so
she investigated: inside the pillar was Misato. Clear water and plain,
white rice instead of the much richer food and drink on the tables, and
alone instead of the sensual delights abounding outside. Even Asuka was
embarrassed by the ingenuous and enthusiastic pairings going on outside.
Asuka had listened to Misato's pleas to be freed, be included, until Misato
was furious, frustrated or tearful enough to pound on the walls of the
pillar. Whereupon all the participants would 'show proper obeisance'.
Then they returned to their activities without any thought, although some of
the people would 'demonstrate' their joy right in front of the pillar: food,
sex or simply touching each other or the pillar.
While Misato's assumption, that her fellow NERV employees were such
wanton libertines, embarrassed Asuka, Misato's desperate and pitiful
reaction really disturbed her. She felt guilty about the way she'd treated
her commander. It struck her as vaguely terrifying, that their commanding
officer and chief tactical officer, was basically 'all broken inside.' She
knew she was, so was Raccoon, but neither of them could 'fix' the other.
Now I have to repair my commanding officer, she thought
despairingly, she wasn't any good at coddling people, you were either good
enough, or you got out of the way for someone who was. She sighed, "I'm the
kid, why do _I_ have to do this?"
----------------------------------------
Ranko accepted the breakfast dishes, she kept glaring at Nabiki,
she wasn't the only one. Raccoon mimed hitting Nabiki on the head, as he
walked behind her.
"You'd make him do that?" she was disgusted.
"I saw how you were looking at him," Nabiki teased.
Ranko was not comfortable with that, nor with the `solution` to her
problem. Although Nabiki, Maya and Rit-chan had assured her it was
ordinary.
The whole thing grossed her out, "Isn't there a better way?"
"A polyvinyl alcohol polymer in a nylon sheath, but that would be
worn externally," Raccoon set his own plate down.
"How do you know about this stuff?" Nab-chan demanded.
"Some of the sillier girls at Radcliffe, thought it was `cute` to
try to embarrass me. If you've ever been around animals, especially
breeding stock, you discover mammals are mammals, and what happens to one,
happens to all of them. Having an aunt who's a nurse, and has a very -
mechanical - view of certain things, also helped."
Ranko hid her smile at the description of the 'silly girls', and
the impossibility of embarrassing Raccoon if he didn't care about you.
Although what Ranko really wanted to ask about, was the dream, and what had
happened. She doubted she'd get a chance on the walk or ride to school.
----------------------------------------
Asuka watched Misato drag herself out of her bedroom to the
breakfast table, while she and Shinji were half-done with breakfast.
Bloodshot eyes, half-falling out of the few clothes she was managing to
wear, hairdo by Alfred Nobel. Rather than coffee and breakfast, which Asuka
believed she needed, Misato got a beer, guzzling it down and screaming, as
she usually did.
Asuka refused to let her usual disapproval show, Shinji seemed to
be following suit.
"What are you two so grumpy about?" Misato asked.
"Actually, Captain," Asuka saw Misato wince, "That's what I was
going to ask you. Perhaps if you didn't wall yourself off from the rest of
us, decided to join the fun _we're_ having, instead of demanding we do what
you want, maybe you wouldn't feel so lonesome. Maybe you wouldn't be so
jealous of Ritsuko and the 'Second Three'." Asuka watched Misato's frown,
as if Asuka had just told her a horse had relieved itself in all her beer
supply.
"Now, Misato, would you kindly explain why a college graduate
should care about retaking junior high school?"
Misato squirmed.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko answered the phone, "Hello, Asuka."
"Skip school to go shopping?" Ritsuko asked, she glanced at the
dining room as the kids were clearing the breakfast dishes, "I think Nabiki
needs to go to school, but I think Ranko will be willing to go with."
Ranko was about to protest, when both Nabiki and Jeff clamped their
hands over her mouth, both standing just out of Ranko's shorter reach.
"Have you considering asking Rei along?" Ritsuko asked, "You can
tell her I authorized it. Well, I have some tests to run on Jeff, I'll have
Maya and Ranko meet you at Rei's apartment."
Ritsuko hung up the phone, "Asuka and Misato are going shopping,
together." Ritsuko felt confused, considering how the pair had been
fighting lately. "Anyway. Ranko needs to replace Nabiki's swimsuit, and
get a few of her own, and other things," she gestured for the pair to
release Ranko. Ranko looked defiant.
"You owe her," Ritsuko said firmly, "Maya knows what else you'll
need."
Ritsuko turned to her assistant, "You did volunteer." Maya
shrugged.
"Why aren't I going on this trip?" Nabiki asked.
"You're the only one who enjoys running the school, and Hiroko
would kill you, besides, someone needs to tell the teachers that this was an
excused absence, and get the homework. Jeff is going back to the lab, for
more tests, which would you rather go to?"
"Shopping with Ranko, Asuka, and Misa-chan; medical tests with
Raccoon, or going to school . . . is there going to be rectal or urological
work?"
"Probably."
"Well, Raccoon, can you fix me a lunch, while I get ready for
school?" Nabiki chirped as she headed back to the bedroom.
"That's dirty pool," Jeff headed for the kitchen.
"Sempai, aside from the obvious, what do you think we need to get.
Feminine hygiene, some underwear - "
"I ain't wearin' no bra!" Ranko growled.
Ritsuko left that argument for later, as big, and physically active
as Ranko was, she'd understand the necessity soon enough.
----------------------------------------
Asuka was wondering about the wisdom of letting Misato drive,
bouncing around in the tank had been only slightly worse. Spineless looked
like he was going to expire any second. Only the joyous contemplation of
seeing his beloved once again, kept the mighty Prince of NERV from swooning
dead away, Asuka thought, she shook her head, I've got to kill something,
_REAL_ soon.
She was amused that Maya and her jeep had beaten Flash Katsuragi to
Wondergirl's apartment, as had their Greyhound armored cars escort. The
cars' machine gunners watched Misato's sliding stop with some concern.
Horseface waited for them. Asuka wasn't eager to go into Wondergirl's
apartment alone, she felt better when Maya and Horseface fell in with her
and Spineless as they bailed out of Misato's car.
As they reached the stairs, Asuka noticed that Misato was hanging
back, "You, too, our Brave Captain," Asuka told her, when she didn't move,
"Horseface, how much time would you need to get to the apartment, throw out
all the beer, and get back here?"
"Say fifteen minutes," Horseface assured them.
"Okay, Maya, Spineless, remember, don't tell Wondergirl we've got
Dr. Akagi's approval, for fifteen minutes, agreed?"
Spineless, Maya and Horseface all agreed. Misato was right behind
as they climbed the stairs.
----------------------------------------
As they entered Wondergirl's apartment, Asuka was glad to see
Wondergirl was dressed. Misato was disgusted by the filthy conditions.
Spineless seemed embarrassed by it.
"Wondergirl, we're going shopping, instead of going to school."
She stared at her, Asuka already had some questions, she'd get
Wondergirl to agree through logic, she'd hold the orders back until, and
unless, she needed them. Hopefully, Misato will also get the lesson I'm
trying to teach, Asuka thought, "Do you know what percentage of soldiers
lost in World War One were lost to disease and infection, versus those lost
to battle wounds?"
"Yes."
Of course you do, "Then you understand why your bedding and bath
towels need to be changed occasionally, and washed?" Asuka asked and watched
Wondergirl make a conclusion she hadn't considered before.
I actually managed to surprise her, Asuka was pleased, "We need you
to accompany us, to pick out the color, texture, style, et cetera, you
prefer." What's got her so rattled? Asuka looked at the shocked Wondergirl
staring pleadingly at Spineless, Come on Spineless, don't crumble now!
Shinji nodded, Wondergirl relaxed.
"I will accompany you," Wondergirl glanced at her then at
Spineless.
Asuka thought she actually looked grateful to both of them, "We
would have brought him anyway, we need someone to carry everything," Asuka
told her. Wondergirl nodded. Asuka closed her eyes, sighed inwardly, This
is going to be a _looonng_ day.
---------------------------------------- Nabiki entered the
classroom, she'd expected the grounds to be full, except she couldn't find
Hiroko or any of her class at all. She found them all in the class room,
clustered around Toji, Kensuke and Hiroko.
"I tell you, being a pilot is _so_ cool!" Kensuke said.
Someday, Nabiki thought, I'm going to find the CD he has that on,
oh, sorry, the record, no CDs yet.
"They live in a palace!" Kensuke said.
That deterred Nabiki from announcing her presence, she stepped back
through the door, so she could hear, but not be seen. Yeah, it's okay, but
I'd rather give up the second bathroom for a little more space.
"I mean they have a furo of their very own!" Toji said, as if that
were shocking.
Nabiki realized from the amazement of the others, it was.
"No going to the public baths?" one of the girls asked, "No
perverts peeping on you!?"
Hiroko shook her head, "The bathroom doors, they lock, from the
_inside_."
She said it as if the Emperor came by regularly to play cards and
discuss fish, Nabiki thought, Well, Doctor Akagi and Raccoon would probably
be willing to do that, she smirked, but she couldn't fathom their amazement.
"Did I tell you how much food they brought to the first picnic?!"
Hikari said breathlessly, "Five dollars' worth! Asuka actually bought
steak, two pounds of _steak_!_"
"I heard they can shop at the PX if they want," Hiroko added, "All
those dresses, all that chocolate, sodas, fresh meat and fish. If I could
buy there, it would be like Christmas every day."
"Hey!" Toji had a thought, "Since they're all richer than all the
Kamis, why do they need our money, what for?"
"To keep you under control," Nabiki entered, glanced around, the
little discussion group dissolved, the usual cliques taking over. Nabiki
sat down next to Hiroko, fingered her uniform. "With all the money I'm
paying you, you should be able to have better clothes."
"Boss, you show me the tree they're growing on, and I'll pick you
one too."
"Oh good grief, I saw some perfectly good ones just yesterday.
Since Asuka's taking the rest shopping, and Raccoon's getting his sanity
tested . . . "
She let the others laugh at that, the fight yesterday had terrified
a lot of the students, it had frightened her and Ranma, Until he got that
calculating look on his face. That had scared Nabiki more than the fight,
he'd looked almost like she did, when she figured the angles to a situation.
"Well, we can get bolts of cloth, or finished clothes," Nabiki
said, noted Hiroko's stunned look, and the envious glares from the others.
I never considered the power just having access to a shopping center gave
you, she thought, she'd gotten used to no electronics, there were
substitutes to most electronic/electrical gadgets, so life wasn't too hard
here, compared to the future. She'd never realized how far above, just a
little bit below 1992 levels, that put her and the other pilots above their
classmates.
I'm going to actually go into Hiroko's apartment, and see how they
live `back here`, Nabiki thought guiltily, then she shook her head, 'Since
you obviously don't know how to properly use the power you do have,' boy was
he right. $150 a month spending money, and a place to actually _buy_
anything the world had to offer with the money. I'm a dunce! That's real
power, and I didn't even know I had it.
----------------------------------------
Brown Hates You Too
Ritsuko and Jeff headed into the secure lab storage. Ritsuko moved
through the racks of steel shelves of labeled samples that turned the huge
room into a maze, and towards the heavy refrigerators at the back. The
sights and smells were familiar to her, she enjoyed `Raccoon` rubbernecking
to try and take it all in. Something finally surprised him, she thought.
"This is where it's stored," she told him, opening a particular
brown refrigerator. She was alarmed when he stooped over, "Jeff!"
"Doctor, don't touch the jar," he stared at the floor of the
refrigerator.
"What do . . . that's not right," she caught herself reaching for
the sample jar, "The material was brown." The gallon jar was clear, as if
it were empty and the glass had grown hazy. "What are you looking at?"
"A hole in the floor of the refrigerator. Through the enamel, and
that's stainless steel?"
"Silicon phosphor bronze, I think. More chemically resistant than
steel," Ritsuko was getting worried.
Jeff stood up, looked at the hazy glass jar, "There's a hole in the
back of the jar."
"I need to make a phone call," Ritsuko moved rapidly through the
maze, to the phone.
"Doctor, what's that on top of the jar, beneath the lid?"
"Bakelite," she told him, as she dialed the Commander's office,
"Commander, we need to check the security of the pump room."
"What's wrong?" Ikari asked.
"The L.C.L. samples escaped. Dissolved, bored, or melted their way
out."
"Understood, I'll see to it myself."
She hung up the phone, felt a cold dread. She looked around,
wondering if the samples were out there, waiting.
Jeff had carefully cleared the shelf of everything except the jar,
then removed the shelf and carefully set it on a nearby examination table,
"The hole is only about 2 mm in diameter, same as the hole in the bottom of
the refrigerator," he indicated the tiny hole, "The walls of this jar are
almost gone, the hazy appearance is due to uneven attack. Doctor, there are
almost no chemicals that affect glass, enamel, and metal, but don't affect
thermoset plastics. Maybe sodium hydroxide, but I doubt it. That leaves
directed action, it didn't _want_ to attack the bakelite."
"We'll have to check on the other samples," Ritsuko said.
"We have a bigger problem, Doctor," Jeff told her, "Do you have a
really _strong_, armored room? Somewhere you can hermetically seal from the
outside, and monitor what's inside?" He removed his jacket, setting it on
an empty tray, added his .45 auto and knife, his boots.
----------------------------------------
"You're taking this rather well," Ritsuko glanced from Jeff to the
three Marines armed with flamethrowers, as they walked through the
whitewashed concrete halls to the secure cells. He was barefoot, wearing
only his shirt and slacks, somehow the missing coat, tie and hat made him
more naked than Ranko had been this morning.
"That's because you're thinking like a loving mother, I'm thinking
like a paranoid scientist."
She frowned at the compliment, and te smiles of the marines.
"Frankly, I'm rather relieved. I physically assaulted a good
friend, because I was angry. The possibility that I was under external
influence, or had a temporary chemical imbalance, both of which can be
corrected; versus permanent insanity, or a reaction to the stress of the
last few weeks, which would be permanent; well which would you choose?"
"You're right," she watched the forklift remove the heavy door.
She watched Jeff walk inside, and signal for the door to be replaced. She
watched as the door was bolted shut.
Ritsuko knew that Captain Ramsey and Dr. Samuels were monitoring,
she had an appointment with the Commander. She hadn't told Jeff, but the
Navy med lab had checked the blood samples she'd taken from him yesterday.
The material in his blood had reduced the glass slides to tiny balls of
black, vitreous material. Until they knew what was happening . . . Why is
it that I'm not acting like a scientist? She headed off. She hoped that
the idea of flushing his blood would have some effect. She wished there was
a machine available to filter his blood. Yeah, artificial kidneys, she
thought, How about rockets to the moon while you're wishing.
----------------------------------------
Ramsey turned to Dr. Samuels, as they sat behind the armored
one-way glass, watching down into the cell, "I know why I volunteered for
this, why did you?"
"My specialty has become battle fatigue, people suffering from what
they called 'sunstroke' from the Civil War, were what made the Wild West so
wild," he chuckled, "I often wish I could have been in that tent in Sicily,
when ole 'Blood and Guts' slapped that soldier, I would have told him to his
face, _he_ was suffering from battle fatigue."
"Patton would have shot you, Doctor, right then and there."
Samuels smiled, "It still would have been worth it."
Ramsey sighed, he knew why they were here, aside from the
'specials', they were the most able to deal with this problem, if it turned
out to be mythos related, "What are we going to do?"
"Break the tension somehow. They've been 'on the line' for nearly
six weeks, more like 10, there has to be something that gives them a break."
"Another talent show? I don't think we can manage that," Ramsey
admitted, "I mean, they went to a concert, and came under attack in dreams
and in the Waking World," Ramsey still didn't know how the Admiral knew
about the dreams, the kids hadn't breathed a word of it to anyone, "I'm
beginning to think Colonel Stedman's idea of letting them run through a few
hundred rounds of tank ammo, isn't so far off the mark."
"It is, unless the violence breaks down the important barrier,
getting them to talk about what is bothering them, what happened, that's the
first and most important step," Samuels explained. "The more they bottle
up, the more force it has. Analysis won't help, it's a trauma, as real as
any physical wound, and just as dangerous if left untreated. Saotome hasn't
had an adequate chance to mourn Captain Everett, according to his medical
and action reports. Langley never mourned her mother, none of them are the
kind to just open up and let things out. While that's the kind of people
who make good pilots, it makes them vulnerable to exactly this sort of
thing."
"What do you suggest? And don't forget, Doctor, the Japanese are
petrified of psychiatry, shying away from the merest hint of `abnormality`."
"You don't need a psychiatrist, all you need is to get them
talking, call it a security debriefing, call it a philological interview,
anything. If they don't let it out, we'll have an explosion on our hands."
Ramsey nodded, "Speaking of explosions, did you hear about that
muckraking reporter, who snapped all those pictures of the kids?"
"He was raising some stink about the kids being radioactive or
something, because all his film was fogged."
"Probably just had a light leak in his camera," Ramsey said,
"Considering they were out of focus too, I don't put too much stock in his
story."
Samuels nodded, they might have a long wait, Davis had set himself
in the corner, not moving since he arrived, "I don't think we have anything
to worry about from him," Samuels spoke his doubts aloud, "I'll stick by my
diagnosis of battle fatigue."
"You want to go down in there with him?" Ramsey asked.
Samuels shook his head, "I'm not _that_ certain."
----------------------------------------
"There is no evidence it came here," Gendo told Ritsuko, as the
pair walked along the catwalk over a pulsing mass of gray, it and they were
surrounded by humming machinery. "The L.C.L. production has not been
affected. All samples of the contaminated L.C.L. have escaped."
Ritsuko nodded, if it had come here to rejoin, the situation would
have been far easier. "Have we been able to track any of it?"
"Once it reached the ventilation system, it ceased burning through
the material, and seemed to take a more conventional escape route," Gendo
stared down through the grating, at the greatest piece of `technology`
scavenged from Antarctica, the core of the EVA system.
"Your patient?" Gendo asked.
"We're starting with chelation treatments, the medical staff
suggested large quantities of fluids. Considering they're talking several
gallons a day, we may have to lock him in a bathroom, we'll check the
mineral content of his urine, to prevent serious side effects."
"I'll leave it to you, Doctor," Gendo seemed to be meditating on
the slowly roiling gray mass below, "Are you aware that SEELE didn't know
the identity of the blue-eyed redhead who used martial arts to rescue Rei?
Curious don't you think?"
"Oh, no!" Ritsuko was astounded, "Have you informed the Americans,
or Captain Katsuragi?"
"Our last set of orders came from the Americans. As for the
Captain, and the pilots, better we don't tell them for the moment. Agreed?"
Ritsuko knew he wasn't really asking for her approval, "Yes.
Considering the security screening they put the rest of us through, you'd
think they'd have caught that."
"No, not if procedures are circumvented. I think you should see to
your patient, Doctor."
"Yes, sir," Ritsuko hurried away, she wasn't sure how to deal with
this, If our security has been penetrated to this extent, what _else_ are we
vulnerable to?
----------------------------------------
"You caught it?" Jeff asked as they led him towards `his` hospital
room at the med center. He was leaning heavily on his cane, a couple hours
sitting unmoving had stiffened him up.
Ritsuko had returned his coat, hat and boots, but not his knife or
pistol. She wanted him to feel more at ease, but unarmed. She'd been
shocked to learn the Navy and ONI knew about the weapons he carried, even
approved of them.
"Not really," Ritsuko told him, "We just think you aren't in any
danger, and frankly our treatment regimen will be easier, if you have access
to a bathroom."
"Hot Barium Sulfate enemas, oh joy."
Ritsuko frowned, "You forgot the leeches and burning incense."
"Not to minimize your efforts, for which I'm grateful, but how do
you know this will work? I'm not worried about being _in_ danger, I'm
afraid of being _of_ danger."
"Well don't, but we can run tests to check our progress. Don't
worry," I'm worrying enough for both of us, she didn't tell him.
----------------------------------------
Asuka looked around the Navy Post Exchange, the shelves and racks
of `whites`: towels and wash clothes, etc. She took a deep breath,
"Wondergirl, you do know those are brown too?" Asuka was _trying_ to be
patient, But these people are _so_ frustrating!
"Yes."
Asuka couldn't understand what was wrong with these people.
`Ranko` she could understand, Horseface was uncivilized as a boy, as a girl
he was Maya's problem, and Asuka had her hands full. Misato and Wondergirl
were driving her _CRAZY_!_
Wondergirl seemed to grasp that she was allowed towels of different
weights and textures, Spineless was actually fairly helpful with that. And
Wondergirl managed to spontaneously pick out a dress, all on her own. It
could even be worn with a blouse underneath or as a sundress, clever of
Wondergirl, but the color!
Wondergirl looked at the current bath towel she had, compared it to
the other four she'd picked out that Spineless was carrying, and her dress,
"They are not exactly the same color."
"Yes," Asuka acceded, "But they're all shades of brown." Even the
plaid dress only had the tiniest amount of blue or yellow, but three shades
of brown or green-brown. And now she stares at me as if _I'm_ the stupid
one, Asuka thought. "Spineless, you explain it to her," Asuka walked off
through the wooden shelves and metal racks, towards Misato, before she had
to resort to violence, her other charge was going off in the wrong
direction, again.
"Misato," she said sweetly, "You already have a couple of outfits
like that." And you look like a cheap French whore while you're wearing
them, she didn't add. She picked a dress off the rack, "Why don't you try
one of these dresses that aren't so," Sluttish, "Flamboyant."
"But I like these," Misato countered.
You're as stubborn as Wondergirl, Asuka fought to keep a smile on
her face without gritting her teeth, But she doesn't whine. "Variety,
Misato, variety," Asuka counseled, This isn't a trip to go shopping, this is
a trip into Hell, at least Dante got Virgil. All I've got is Spineless.
Seeing that Misato was getting the idea, for the next five minutes,
Asuka returned to Wondergirl, Patience, Asuka, patience, she counseled,
"Wondergirl, is there a reason all these sheets, towels, wash cloths, and
dresses," Spineless picked out three more dresses in just this time, Asuka
thought, He's not as useless as I thought, "Are all brown, or mostly brown?
This is not a yes or no question, I would like to know the reason."
Wondergirl stared at her, considering, "I like brown."
Hence the walls of your apartment. Clear, concise, and as answers
go, completely useless, "I still think you should pick out a few of other
colors as well. Are there any other colors you like, except brown? How
about a nice red or blue, to match your eyes or hair?"
"I dislike red."
And I love you too, Wondergirl, Asuka forced herself to ignore the
implied insult, She's just trying to be factual. "That's red, there are
other colors. You have to be able to tell them apart, or you could get
something that's mostly brown," Asuka picked two towels out of a bin, "But
they have a pattern or a border of different color." Asuka stood there
sweating while Wondergirl considered.
----------------------------------------
Maya was quietly wondering who was going to explode first, her or
Asuka. Normally she would have looked forward to this, she'd actually
expected to have to play ` big sister` for the girl pilots, but someone like
Ranma, she hadn't prepared for.
"Ranko, you need to get at least one," Maya noted Asuka's efforts,
the pair of them had been leading the confused and the unwilling, through
half the shopping district of Tokyo, only to discover that there was nothing
either Ranko or Rei wanted.
Then Asuka to the rescue, she'd remembered the post exchange at the
Naval Base. The place still reminded Maya of the tales of the magic caves
full of Oni or dragon treasure. Here they found the variety that would
allow them to convince their skittish charges, to actually buy something
they needed.
It also shocked Maya, the profusion of goods here. Technically,
she couldn't shop here, neither could Captain Katsuragi, only U.S. Military
and their dependents, but that included all the pilots. She'd found a
couple of things she'd been searching for _for_ages_. Asuka had already
agreed to buy them, and Maya would reimburse her later.
She glanced over piles and racks and shelves of merchandise, to
Asuka, and wondered if Misato was consciously sabotaging Asuka's efforts, or
if she was just trying to be `fun`. Maya could have gleefully strangled
Captain Katsuragi, over her last bit of `fun`. Maya, with the help of a
nice lady Marine, who was about as 'girly' as a heavy tank, had finally
convinced Ranko to buy one bra.
Sempai is either going to laugh herself sick, or have me locked up
as a pervert, when I tell her how I got Ranko fitted, Maya fumed as she
remembered Misato wandering over and saying 'How cute.' Ranko balked, an
embarrassing and nerve-racking hour of work, gone in an instant, and no
chance of recovering it today, Ranko was now adamant about 'No girly stuff.'
Not fully remembering, that was exactly why they were out here. So Maya
slipped the one bra they'd managed to get, into the stuff Asuka would buy
for her.
"Whether you want anything or not," Maya reminded Ranko, "You do
owe Nabiki a new suit."
"Yeah, okay, but none for me," Ranko said.
If I had your figure, I'd want to show it off in a swimsuit, Maya
felt a bit jealous of the shapely fourteen-year-old, But then I'm not 'I'm a
GUY!' Maya chuckled, then attacked the problem from a different direction,
"Then get some for Ranma, something you wouldn't be uncomfortable wearing."
This girl was running around naked earlier this morning, in front of men and
woman, and she's embarrassed over a swimsuit? Maya left the perversity of
the universe to deeper thinkers, and concentrated on trailing the teen, then
it hit her, Ranko got naked in front of us girls, and _Raccoon_, she's
skittish about Toji and even Shinji . . . "I have to warn sempai about
this," Maya was getting a headache, "I almost prefer people shooting at me,
as long as they miss."
----------------------------------------
Lunch came none too soon for Maya. Ranma and Shinji had teamed up
to lead the entire crew in the same direction. The two armored cars
following, she could almost ignore, while they walked. Maya couldn't ignore
the mast rising in the shortening distance, it was a clever advertising
gimmick, fortunate that no tall buildings were there to obscure it.
"Haven't you had enough of ships and navy?" Misato was trying to be
witty, Maya and Asuka were trying not to be homicidal. "It's the best -
" the two boys agreed that the best could be found there, only disagreeing
on what was the best food.
Rei looked uncomfortable.
"I'm sure you'll find something to eat there too," Asuka reassured
her.
Maya smiled at that, Asuka was definitely on her 'best behavior',
Maybe a spanking was what she needed. Something concrete she could safely
put all her anger on.
The two found a table outside. It was pleasant enough, but during
the rainy or winter season, it would be more comfortable inside. Maya had
never thought of the idea of clustering restaurants around a central plaza.
The bustle of people coming and going was such a contrast to the last time
she'd gone back home to her parent's house, half her luggage had been
necessities that she could get in Tokyo, especially from the Americans, but
were rare, nearly treasures, elsewhere in Japan. She'd felt guilty about
it, she'd spread them around as welcoming gifts, to nearly every family in
town, but there was so little she could do, due to constraints in time and
resources.
Misato went with Ranma, Rei with Shinji, leaving her occupying the
table with Asuka.
"We can't kill them," Maya teased.
"Not even a little?" Asuka asked morosely.
"Think of it as redeeming karma," Maya told her. Asuka glowered at
her, Maya smiled back.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki walked into the post exchange, I am an idiot, for not
thinking of this before. The place was like a modern supermarket and
department store combined. Hiroko was looking around, she obviously
couldn't decide where to go first.
"We don't have a time limit," Nabiki told her factor, "You were the
one who reminded me that I have access to advanced communications. So your
parents know you're going to be a little late."
Nabiki hadn't ever considered admission to sources of goods would
be power, money didn't matter, if the goods weren't there to buy. Even the
old school mafia couldn't match this, I could hold the others up for nothing
more than a bolt of cloth, some chocolates, a basket of Washington apples.
It shocked Nabiki, that the town where you could buy anything, could ever
had been this bad off.
"Where should I start?" Hiroko asked.
A girl who doesn't know how to shop? Nabiki smiled at that,
"Consider if you want your mom to make the clothes, or if you want to buy
them already made. Then what you want to bring your father, and maybe
something for your sisters and brothers." It was funny watching her
consider it.
"Thank you for bringing me here," Hiroko looked around, "I could
never afford all the things I'd want to get."
"Consider it a bonus," Nabiki said, "For stepping in and taking
care of the operations and the 'eyes and ears', plus $20 cash, from Raccoon
and me." Nabiki started wondering how she was going to justify that to her
roommate. The clunk from Hiroko brought her attention back.
"Hiroko, HIROKO!" she patted the fallen girl's cheek, trying to
wake her, I've got to remember the exchange rate, that's not four days'
pilot's wages! It's four MONTHS' wages for a female factory worker! Nabiki
you idiot!
---------------------------------------
Asuka was glad they'd dropped off Wondergirl, Horseface and Maya
before returning home. Right now, she wanted a bath and a nap.
Being nice to idiots, is hard work, she wondered why she'd decided
to do this. Misato had been her usual self, and it took both her and Maya
to keep things on track. For once, she wished Ice Princess had come with,
as a third person, a rational person, someone else to ride herd on that mob.
"Asuka," Misato chirruped, "Don't forget, it's your turn to fix
dinner."
Asuka nodded, God _hates_ me, that's what it is, I should never
have tried to be nice to these . . . people.
"Ah, would you be willing to trade?" Spineless asked, "I'd like to
see if I can cook this ba . . . baratawo . . . "
"Bratwurst?" Asuka asked, He couldn't mean that? Could he?
"You just sort of . . . boil it?" Spineless set the bag down:
bratwurst, potatoes, sauerkraut.
Asuka couldn't believe it, "Where did you get that?" she'd been
looking all over Tokyo, fish sausages were fit only for cats, and mixes just
wouldn't do. And forget finding a potato on this island!
"At the PX," Spineless said, "When you and Ranma were talking about
lunch, Ayanami-san said I could get these, since I was there." Spineless
shrugged.
Asuka was shocked, Wondergirl thought of that?! Asuka would have
thought that was impossible, "Yes, but you're just heating it in the water."
"Oh, you've got to use beer!" Misato said, "And I've got this chili
sauce that will go with it."
"We can't get decent beer, in Japan," Asuka smiled, "So, stick with
water."
"Well, the clerk said this mustard is supposed to go with it,"
Spineless offered Asuka the jar.
Misato snatched it out of his hand, "How can mustard - ?" she
opened the jar and scooped some out with her finger, "Compared to a decent -
" her finger went in her mouth . . . and Misato turned bright-red.
Asuka ran to the bathroom to get the door open and the shower
running, Misato was about three screaming steps behind her. As Asuka
returned to the dining room, she and Spineless heard the shower continue.
"You don't do that with German mustard," Asuka warned Spineless, who nodded.
"Thank you."
Spineless nodded again. "It was Ayanami-san's suggestion,"
Spineless reminded her.
That's almost terrifying, Asuka thought, "What did she really tell
you?"
"Well," Spineless temporized, "She said she was concerned about
what to eat, and that you hadn't said anything."
"And you got buying German food out of that?" Asuka was
flabbergasted.
"Well, that's what she meant."
Asuka shook her head to clear it, "You two scare me sometimes,"
Asuka headed for her room to get ready for a shower.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko heard the voices coming out of the EVA bay. The language
was Japanese, she headed in quickly. She saw her patient, walking on the
walkway surrounding the EVAs, declaiming poetry. Ritsuko glanced around,
there was no one in the bay, except her, and Jeff.
He spotted her, nodded, but continued reading aloud.
She didn't recognize the poem, it spoke of flight and birds and
sunlight. Finally finishing, he closed the book.
"Can I help you, doctor?" Jeff asked her.
"What was that?"
"Greek poem, translated into Japanese, I hope my translation wasn't
too bad."
"I'm going home, you should head back to the med center and get
some rest," she told him.
"Well, I haven't done this in a while, I thought it was important
to remind them I wasn't gone," Jeff gestured to the EVAs.
Ritsuko didn't rise to the bait, she'd had this argument before.
The EVAs weren't alive, but like Ranma's curse, there were somethings she
couldn't convince Jeff of no matter how she argued, Because he can outargue
you, she thought, "Let me walk you back."
"Are you going to tuck me in, mom?"
She froze, there'd been no sarcasm, only a little hesitation, she
shook her head, I'm imagining things.
----------------------------------------
Ranko Teaches
Ranko was thoroughly frustrated. She wanted to scream, she wanted
to hit something. With the tousling of her hair and the hands on her
shoulders, she calmed down considerably.
"Easy, Ranko-san," his chin also touched her shoulder, Raccoon gave
her as much of a hug as she was comfortable with, "You don't have to be good
at _everything_ related to martial arts."
She wanted to shrug him off, but she also wanted reassurances,
after her abject failure. She'd found that anger seemed to draw away with
the soothing touch, his, Nab-chan's, Rit-chan's. She felt the anger drain
away, "But I wanted to teach you!" she complained bitterly.
"Ranko-san," he turned her to face him, "Teaching is a skill like
any other, there's no shame that you can't do it automatically." He paused,
"If Ranma-san is the same, it explains part of why he turned his teaching
into pummeling, at least _you_ quit before you became violent."
She punched him as she frowned at him, neither was very heartfelt.
He'd insisted she try to teach in dreams first, so no one else would see.
Saving my honor, Ranko was grateful. Her failure humiliated her, but if
Rit-chan, or worse, Nab-chan or Asuka had watched that disaster . . . she
didn't think she'd _ever_ live it down.
"Let's analyze what isn't working."
"You aren't learning!" she complained.
"You learn when someone merely shows you a move, once or twice?" he
waited for her to nod, "You have a kinesthetic eidetic memory. Stop. Let
me explain," he didn't let her interrupt, "It's a photographic memory of
body movements. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, it explains a lot. Why can't I teach you, if it's so easy
for me?"
"That's exactly why, the rest of us have to work at it, we don't
understand it all instantly and instinctively. Like you and scholastics,
you aren't good at them, because you have to work so hard at it. You
probably aren't working much harder than the rest of us, but what matters to
you: Martial Arts and body movement, are easy. I studied makeup for years.
You picked up the basics of application in a few hours, and with a little
study, you could be better than me. You can't match the theory, but putting
on an existing design . . . "
Ranko writhed and blushed pure scarlet at that.
"You might consider Noh, or acting."
Those are girly things, Ranko thought.
"Take a look at the Three Stooges, they have wild, almost
insignificant plots, to set up displays of their stylized fighting
techniques. I don't know if a full-length movie of that kind would ever
become popular, but you might consider that."
"Now, you're being silly," Ranko said.
"Think about how you taught me to breathe, you weren't teaching a
single skill, you were teaching a procedure, a series of linked steps. You
didn't learn it all in one step, you didn't teach it all in one step, and
you still had to touch me yourself to verify if I was doing it right. You
couldn't just watch, or trust I was. You had to physically feel it to be
sure."
Ranko considered, nodded, "So, I have to break the moves into
steps, pieces."
"Right, then teach the step."
"But Martial Arts are supposed to flow!" Ranko complained, "That's
the entire point!"
"Teach the flow, later," Raccoon cut her off, "Ranko-san, I learned
to teach martial arts when I was you, and Ranma-san. I have 13 years
experience, here in dreams, I can use it, all of it. And I'm still not even
in your league. I learned about the ki attacks you were talking about, and
chi manipulation."
"You can do them?! You can teach me?!" Ranko brightened.
"I don't know how to explain it," Raccoon admitted, "And I can't do
them anymore, even here."
Ranko frowned, then chuckled at the disappointment and disgust on
Raccoon's face, "Do I have to die to understand?" Ranko dodged the angry
grab from Raccoon.
"No, but if I start talking about ley lines, differential vector
fields, generating negative pressure fields, I'd lose you in ten seconds."
"You lost me already," Ranko sat down, gestured for Raccoon to do
the same, "They couldn't have taught you using those words, right?"
"Oh, I could parrot back what they said about emotional energies,
karmic centers, et cetera, but I wouldn't know if I was making any sense to
you, or if you were making progress, and if you weren't, why. Besides, it
wouldn't help what you were really concerned about. A ki attack would have
no effect on most of the things we fight." He gestured, a bowl of water
appeared.
"Imagine my hand over a bowl of water. How hard would you have to
hit my hand's reflection in the water, to hurt my hand?"
Ranko considered, "Pretty hard."
"It's more difficult if my hand is moving in one dimension,"
Raccoon moved his hand left and right.
"Yeah, and adding front and back, it gets harder."
"What about adding up and down, still never touching the water?"
Ranko watched his hand move in three-dimensions, "Yeah, it would be
tough, but I could do it."
"Blindfolded?"
Ranko frowned, "No chance."
"That's what the ki attacks are, 4-dimensional: height, length,
width and duration, they'd only affect the surface of the water."
"Okay," Ranko nodded, "I got that. AT fields, what, reach out of
the water? Raise the basin?"
"Very good, raising the basin is effectively what it does. Now if
you were Asuka, we could talk about superimposing Newtonian mechanics on a
Quantum Mechanical reality, DON'T ask!"
Ranko eagerly nodded. She understood the simpler explanation, but
when Raccoon talked to Asuka, Ranma didn't understand most of it, even
though they were speaking _his/her_ native tongue.
"But, and hold your ears, your brain is going to come running out.
Great Old Ones operate in an existence that has some things that are always
dimensions, like moving left and right, some are half-dimensions, say you
can only move forward in time, and some that could be a dimension or a pair
of half-dimensions depending on how you test for them."
Ranko pushed her jaw back into place, "_WHAT_?_!_"
"Simply put, they can be elsewhere, when any attack hits, even a ki
attack."
"I still want to learn," Ranko replied.
"I still have to figure out how to teach you," Raccoon replied, "I
think I can simulate the pattern in mana, let you see or feel the flows."
"Okay, let's start breaking the moves into pieces," Ranko said.
"No," Raccoon said, "That you'll have to do yourself. Because you
have to understand them. I think we need to investigate something you do
understand, consider it a form of martial arts."
That got Ranko's instant attention, "Okay."
She stared at his expression, considered, "That looks like Shinji.
You're trying to look like Shinji, right?"
"Exactly, now?"
Ranko looked and thought, "Rei."
Another. "Nabiki."
"That's easy, Asuka."
"You need to steeple your fingers for that one."
"Actually I was trying to do Misato," Raccoon said, contemplated,
"That's something I hadn't considered. The expressions are similar, when
they're both being serious."
"You mean," Ranko scrunched her face into 'Angry Misato', and then
'Gendo staring someone down'. They do feel the same, she thought.
"Now you understand, you can mimic how someone looks, with a little
voice work, you can duplicate their voice and speaking patterns," Raccoon
told her, "It's all about body control. Listening to the pattern of speech
and tone." Ranko stared at him, thought carefully, "I had not
considered this use."
"Not bad, Ayanami-san."
Ranko stood up, a fist in the air, "I'm the best of the best, and
I'll pound anybody who disagrees, even you Spineless."
"Ranma-san's voice isn't that high, Ranko-san," Raccoon said, Ranko
frowned.
"We'll also need to get you some ballet exposure."
"BALLET!!" Ranko's complaint exploded, "That's all girly stuff!"
"It's all about communicating with your body," Raccoon gestured, a
life-sized image of a woman in a ballet costume appeared.
Ranko watched her movements with some initial interest, to humor
Raccoon. She started fidgeting uncomfortably, as the woman continued her
`dance`, it was uncomfortable, Ranko couldn't put her finger on exactly why.
"Just stop it!" Ranko demanded.
The image vanished, Ranko rubbed her arms, she felt cold.
"What's wrong?" Raccoon asked neutrally.
"It was like watching a dying bird," Ranko realized what it
reminded her of.
"Death of a Swan," Raccoon said.
"Swan's a bird isn't it?" Ranko shot back.
"Could you do what you just saw?"
"If I wanted, yeah, but I don't want to," Ranko was irritated by
Raccoon's calm tone and 'vaguely pleased' expression. If that's what he
wants me to `communicate`, Ranko thought, I could learn more burning ants
under a magnifying glass.
"You just compared yourself to one of the prima ballerinas of all
time, doing her signature piece. My point is, that it isn't just martial
arts you can master, _anything_ physical, as long as whoever you're learning
from is good enough. That's a rare talent you're wasting, by _only_
learning martial arts," Raccoon told her, "There's more to life than hitting
people," he paused, "Is there anything physical you've ever wanted to do,
and don't worry, you'll never be much of a ballerina."
"Why not!" Ranko demanded, I can do that stuff, it looks easy!
"Your proportions are all wrong, leg's too short, and you're
already too busty, and you aren't even full-grown."
Ranko blushed, pulled her gi tighter over her chest. "What about
baseball?" Ranko asked.
"You don't need me to teach you that, but that's a good example.
Don't limit yourself. Start thinking about what you're good at. In the
`other world` all `you` were supposed to be, was a martial artist,
eventually teaching at a dojo. I think that's a waste of your talents and
abilities. But that's all they tried to `let` me be. By the way, you got
one thing wrong, that little cat is supposed to be pink and purple, not
black and white."
"Whoever heard of a pink and purple cat, and all those loonies,"
Ranko replied, "I think you're right, it was all a distortion. I mean,
eight fiances, Chinese Amazons? That makes as much sense as saying my fear
of cats came from martial arts," Ranko scoffed.
"Actually, during the Taiping rebellion, there were Amazon
Battalions fighting for the rebels. Maybe the training is some deep dark
secret," Raccoon said, "Chasing mice to learn speed!"
Ranko manifested a shinai, "I'd rather beat Raccoons unconscious."
"Oh my!" Raccoon held a hand over his mouth.
It struck a chord in Ranko, she dismissed it and attacked.
----------------------------------------
Ranko groggily hit the inside of the door of the safe, that had
landed on and engulfed her, until the shriek of metal indicated the locking
bolts had given up the ghost. She opened the door and looked across the
dojo, the ruins of cream pies and kitchen sinks, among other things,
littered the floor. Fallout from their `battle`. A battle she'd been
losing since she started it. She stepped out of the safe, dodged the
falling, little table.
Little black table!!!! and dove back into the safe as a grand piano
landed, with a distinctly musical crash, right where she'd been standing.
She pulled the door closed and created some earplugs, as anvils rained down
on everything. The noise inside the safe was bad enough, she smelled the
faint odor of cinnamon as she tried to comb the crud out of her hair.
I'm going to get you for the exploding chickens, Raccoon! she
thought, then something hit the safe, bending the roof towards her, Later.
She tied a newly created piece of white cloth to the end of the shinai,
waved it desperately outside the safe, before stepping out. A German U-boat
laid atop the safe, crushing it to half it's original height.
"Where'd you get a submarine?" Ranko demanded of her unseen
opponent.
"Same place I got the battleship," Raccoon indicated the IJN
Yamato, stuck bow first in the floor, like a dart.
"What was this supposed to prove?" Ranko looked in horror at the
pieces of various odd things all over. One wall was covered by tomato
sauce, or what looked like, but definitely didn't smell like, tomato sauce,
the tusks were a dead giveaway.
"Elephant splash," Ranko decided even a Great Old One couldn't
out-weird Raccoon. It really worried her that she could figure it out so
easily.
"So, are you calmed down, Ranko-san?" Raccoon asked with a grin.
"If you can't win, you cheat," Ranko accused carefully. She
watched for other falling things.
"If the fight really matters, there are no rules," Raccoon
snickered, "I wonder if Ranma-san understands that now."
"Why would - ?"
Raccoon pantomiming a bite, ended Ranko's question.
Yeah, he didn't have a chance against a tiger, so he cheated, she
fought the urge to cover the affected area, girls didn't have them anyway.
"I just needed him to know I was there, and in control of the
situation. Of course it was a complete stalemate, I couldn't really attack
without being destroyed, nor could I release him without being destroyed,
and he had no way to tell me if I let go, he wouldn't hurt me. That segues
into yesterday's lesson on World War I."
"We went over that before dinner," Ranko complained.
"And you didn't get it at the time," Raccoon countered, "Do you
now?"
Ranko was about to deny she did, when the situation resolved
itself, the parallel mobilization, the fear on all sides. Nobody trusted
anyone to just walk away. Ranma wouldn't have walked away, and coyote
versus tiger had a predictable outcome.
"Yeah, I guess," she frowned at him.
----------------------------------------
Rei looked at the telephone they'd installed in her apartment while
she was out shopping with the others. It meant she could contact the
Commander, Shinji-kun, Nabiki-kun, or Roku-kun whenever she wanted, whenever
it was important.
She felt an intense anxiety about that, and that they could
likewise contact her. The intrusion was in someways unwelcome, because they
weren't the only people who could contact her, others could force her to
talk to them.
She wasn't ready for that, Why would anyone want to have to do
that? she wondered, A radio would be preferable. She finished dressing for
school, looking at the intruder in her apartment, this _thing_ that would
force her to react in a certain way, this trespasser that would force her to
deal with it.
She wished she could ignore it, let someone leave a message, then
she could decide if she wanted to deal with them or not. Perhaps a wire
recorder could be attached, make a recording to play back later, she
considered, she could amuse the Second and Roku-kun with her suggestion,
'Only you would want such a device, Wondergirl', she could hear the Second's
loud assertion.
She was tempted to use this for communicating with Ikari-kun, the
anonymity would make it attractive, as would the ability to retreat, to
severe the communication the instant it became uncomfortable. Except she
wanted to see his face as they talked, if she saw his face, she could at
least guess what he was feeling, how he was reacting. With just words, she
would never know. The nuances of his gaze, his posture, a glance or a smile
`spoke` so much more clearly than clumsy words did. So it was a temptation
she did not want, a system she did not want to use. No, it was not an
advance, it just masqueraded as one.
And she needed to talk to him, soon, and privately.
Why did he choose those games? Instead of any others he knew, he
has to know more than just those three or four, she thought, "Is he
remembering?" she asked the empty room.
"Please, don't let him remember," she prayed.
---------------------------------------- Nabiki looked across the
classroom at Ranma. Normally she'd assume he was fidgeting, moving
seemingly randomly. Except now he would move, get a look of intense
concentration, and either shake his head, make the same movement, or smile
and make a completely different move.
Then there was Rei, Ranma couldn't be as nervous as she was, in a
room full of water-spitting cats. Rei kept glancing at Shinji and looking
away whenever he looked at her. Or she'd look at Asuka. Nabiki couldn't
read her look, except Asuka would look back, frown and look away.
----------------------------------------
2d Briefing
Jeff wandered out of the `gift shop` in the hospital with his
purchase, and walked out to sit on a bench near a little pond. He'd been
going out there for several days when he was last here, as cover for such a
meeting. He also enjoyed having the sun on his face, and the idea he could
actually walk around under his own power without shattering, as Dr. Akagi
seemed to believe. Security watched carefully, knowing he was out of
effective mortar range.
He sat on the bench, and watched the wind driven ripples in the
water. He saw the macaque examining the various trees, and peering in the
water to look at the fish. Jeff didn't think macaques came this far south,
but he was no expert on these 'old men of the forest'. This one, bold as
brass, walked over to him, and examined the bag of writing tools and drawing
materials he'd brought with him.
"Hey!"
The macaque studiously looked at him, carefully revealing the scrap
of paper concealed in its hand, as it dropped it in the bag.
Jeff opened the tin of sweetened rice crackers he'd purchased at
the gift shop. The creature jumped off the bench and scrambled to the other
side to take the cracker. Jeff wondered at the strange instructions to
purchase them, surely his contact knew him on sight.
"Autism, Asperger Syndrome, you ask for some weird stuff," the
macaque said.
_That_ surprised Jeff, he knew his contact could shape change, but
this kind of playacting was beneath his `dignity`.
"I asked for what I need. You aren't . . . "
"No, idiot got himself killed, and half his staff," the monkey
accepted another rice cookie, munched contentedly.
"So you are the new station chief. Third Empire?"
"Good lord no!" the macaque let out a screech and shied back. Only
to be lured back with another cookie. "Let you monkeys build the roads,
grow the food, keep the peace. We shall move through the upper circles,
discussing literature, art, philosophy, as is our right. We shall dispense
our wisdom with those who have the wit to appreciate it, and use it for our
good, and theirs." The creature paused halfway through stuffing his face
with cookies to stare at him, "You must really be out of it, if you haven't
recognized me yet."
"I've been sick."
Rather than take the proffered cookie, the macaque sniffed at his
hand, "You've got some problem there." He sat back and munched on the
cookie. "So what do you need to know?"
"What's the connection, between the worms and their prey? What's
so interesting?"
"Fourth floor, versus sixth or eighth, deserted location?" the
macaque shrugged, "Didn't Alwyk tell you?"
"Nothing that makes sense, I'll have to step up my activities."
"When you are well!" the creature said sternly, "While you're here,
check around Dr. Akagi's lab. We'll arrange the `miscommunication`. Are
you aware that SEELE doesn't know who Ranko is?"
"Oh, great, that narrows things down nicely, right into a dead-end
I can't do anything about, yet. Any word on Tendo or Saotome?" Jeff asked.
"No, except Saotome doesn't seem connected to anyone, we haven't
had any luck with Tendo's patrons. That means a _lot_ of muscle, both pelf
and poof."
Jeff recognized the Camilenn Order catch phrase for money and
magic, usually ill-used. So he's part of my Order, Jeff considered his
fellow mage.
"Terrific, if it is somebody who changes into a panda while wet, or
a haiku-spouting samurai wannabe, I do not want to know. I've got a
shopping list." The next cookie had a slip of paper beneath it. "I need to
deal with a troublesome problem."
"Yeah, I know how that is," the macaque licked the now empty tin
and looked hopefully, then mournfully at him. It hopped down and wandered
away, soon lost from sight.
Jeff checked his writing supplies, as if to make sure they were all
right, then he headed back. He could read the reports later, he wondered if
it was a coincidence that such similar mental difficulties had been
discovered in the same general region, roughly a year apart.
Who was pushing that research, and why is it so conveniently
available to me _now_? He didn't like coincidences.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki was glad lunch had finally arrived. The insanity of the
others was beginning to get to her. Rei approached Asuka, the redhead did
everything short of throwing desks at her, to keep Rei away.
These people are going nuts right before my eyes, Nabiki thought as
she headed outside.
"Say, Boss. Bad day?" Hiroko was sitting outside, under the trees,
with Natsumi of the Chemistry club, "Can we interest you in some
tranquilizer darts?" As they made room for her on the bench.
Nabiki frowned as she sat down, remembering her last encounter with
tranq darts, "Why do they always shoot you in the butt?" Nabiki asked.
"High fat and muscle content, plus lots of blood vessels, Hiroko
smiled, "It isn't the size of the target. I bet Ranma thinks yours is just
perfect."
Nabiki frowned at that. After the incident in the bathroom, Ranma
had gotten a good look at it, and all the rest of her, it hadn't piqued his
interest. If anything, he seemed more afraid of her now, than he was
before. "You probably know better what's going on in his head than I do."
"Sorry," Hiroko admitted.
"What are you two talking about?" Natsumi asked.
"The Boss has the same disease as most of the girls in school,"
Hiroko sighed, blinked dreamily, "Ranma."
"HIM?!" Natsumi shook her head, "What does anyone see in that dumb,
inconsiderate jock?"
"Hear, hear," Hiroko applauded.
"Boss Tendo, I understand that you believe you can overcome
_anything_, if you put your mind to it. But unless you can convince him
hugging and kissing are a martial arts technique, forget it," Natsumi
considered while she had Nabiki squirming on the grill, "Of course if you
can do that, you'd be able to teach him to take out the garbage without
being asked."
"I can do one better," Nabiki replied, trying to change the
subject, "Raccoon already has him trained not only to put the seat down, but
close the lid as well, on the toilet."
"Western style toilets," Hiroko explained to Natsumi.
"Seat and lid?!" Natsumi said, "That Raccoon is a scary guy. Now
Shinji . . . " Natsumi said in a tone, and with an expression Nabiki had
only seen aimed at Ranma, usually by the fiance-brigade. "He's just too
yummy for words. Too bad he's tied up with Ayanami."
"You could still ask him out," Nabiki suggested.
"And have Ayanami tear me in half?" Natsumi asked, "Not all of us
are as brave as you are, Boss Tendo."
"Well, she knows Martial Arts, she's almost as good as Saotome."
"We mere mortals can't compete," Natsumi said.
Again Nabiki had the gulf between the pilots and non-pilots thrust
in her face, she found she didn't like it one bit.
----------------------------------------
Lab Sabotage
"What are you doing?!" Ritsuko shouted as she entered her lab.
Jeff looked up sheepishly from the chemicals he was working on, and
pointed at the blackboard: 'Check the chemicals in' along with the tests for
each, was written there.
"That wasn't why I asked you here," Ritsuko calmed down, walked
over to the lab bench he was working at.
"Well, I'm glad I did before you used these," Jeff told her,
lowered the hygrometer in the beaker, "Isopropyl alcohol should not have a
specific gravity of 1.05. I started an acid hydrogen sulfide series," he
gestured to the exhaust hood, "And discovered mercury in the residue, in
several of the chemicals." Ritsuko went cold. She needed these
chemicals, desperately. Getting them had been difficult and time-consuming,
she didn't have enough time to get more before her supplies ran out.
"Doc, are you okay?" Jeff's voice penetrated her mind.
"Yes, fine," For the next few days, then what?
"You need this stuff replaced, it's not usable as is."
"It's not that simple," Doctor Akagi lamented, looking around,
feeling trapped in her own lab, for the first time in her life.
"I'm sure the budget can afford the chemicals."
"That isn't the problem," she was feeling the walls and time
closing in, a few more days, and then . . . she barely heard Jeff's request
for a jeep.
"What?" she forced herself to return to the here and now.
"I said, 'If you can get me a jeep and driver, I can get some
replacements.'"
"How is that possible?" she asked.
"Mysterious and inscrutable are the ways of we Americans," he told
her.
"I need these chemicals," she wasn't expecting him to be able to
procure replacements, in anything less than two months.
"Oh, why _did_ you want me down here, in the first place?" Jeff
asked.
"Oh, I need to do a complete gastrointestinal work up, including
Barium Sulfate, for x-rays, so don't eat or drink anything after 4:00 p.m.
today."
"Lovely," Jeff headed off, "I knew Barium Sulfate would enter into
this eventually."
Ritsuko realized he must have gotten a list of the chemicals as he
was processing them, "Mercury," she wondered what else had been sabotaged,
and by who. Now it was getting personal. She'd test some of the bottles
that were still sealed, to see if any of it was still salvageable.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki got back to her seat after lunch, early. She noted the
envious looks from the other girls when Hiroko walked in, they heartily
resented her status as `beta` wolf. Although who was the male alpha, was
still up for grabs. Neither Ranma nor Raccoon seem eager to claim the
position, and the few who tried to take it, soon ran afoul of one or both,
and were cast down. She wondered if the two boys even realized they were
doing it.
"What are you smirking about?" Hiroko asked quietly.
"Trying to figure out the best way to `thank` you for lunch. Do
you enjoy dragging me over the coals that way?"
"Oh," she leaned close and whispered, "Bind me with silk ribbons
and beat me with roses."
Nabiki felt as if all the blood had left her body, She _CAN'T_ know
about Kodachi!! She can't!
"Easy, Boss, it's a joke. Do you need to go lie down?"
"No, I'll be fine," When the world goes back to the way it belongs,
Nabiki thought.
----------------------------------------
The phone call three hours after Jeff left, shocked Dr. Akagi.
"I can have a quart of each chemical tomorrow, the balance of the
shipment in a week," he told her.
"A week?! That's not possible," she was utterly astonished.
"Yes, a week, that's what I said, that's what I meant."
"I'll have to check on the purity, when they get in."
"I understand, Doctor. I don't think I or my suppliers will take
offense." The line cut off.
Ritsuko stared at the phone, it just wasn't possible. Some of that
material was rare, unobtainium, she'd heard it called. But even a few drops
of some of the compounds would stave off disaster for a week or two.
----------------------------------------
Jeff turned to Oyabun Shimurata, "I thank you for your prompt
handling of this crisis," Jeff bowed.
"Your gifts to my family, and allowing us to serve, do us great
honor," the oyabun bowed lower. "There is no evidence of who made this
ghastly attack on the pilots?" The man gestured for Jeff to kneel at the
table.
"None, I may be too suspicious, but I don't believe in coincidence,
the timing is too convenient for our enemies," Jeff replied as he sat.
"What of the stories of that monster, that some have called a
dragon?" the oyabun's wife served tea to her husband.
Jeff politely refused, citing Dr. Akagi's orders.
"If it hasn't attacked yet, I doubt it will be a threat," Jeff left
them, returning to the NERV med center, he was not looking forward to more
of Dr. Akagi's tests.
----------------------------------------
>From the Journal of Nabiki Tendo
When I got home, I discovered sanity hadn't broken out. Ritsuko
was giving Raccoon the same kind of weird looks Rei had been giving Shinji
and Asuka all day.
Raccoon was the most disturbing, I'd teasingly asked him if he'd
seen Ranko, and the poor boy did a credible impersonation of Dr. Tofu
suffering from a severe case of Kasumi-madness, retreating from our
mystified group, leaving the rest of us to eat dinner, for some reason he
wasn't eating either.
'What got into him?' Ranma had asked, a little more offended than
confused. That confused me.
What's gotten into all of you? That's what I want to know.
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