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			Oh My Goddess! META-MATICS

			CHAPTER FOUR: ALL FALL DOWN 


    "BELLDANDY!!!!"
    Keiichi's distress wended its way throughout every room in the temple,
eventually invading the domain of Urd who, not aware of her sister's
dissapearance and not eager to leave her growing collection of empty
bottles, grudgingly scrambled to Keiichi's side, sake firmly in hand.  
    "Shh. Yer hurtin' my ears," she slurred.
    "Belldandy's gone!" said Keiichi in a panic.
    "Nah, she's not," she said, pointing over her left. "Nearly tripped 
on her'n the hall."
    "What?"
    "Think she's takin' a nap on th' floor," Urd mused.
    Moving towards the bedroom Keiichi found Belldandy unconscious, packed
bags and a stark Kosuke weeping at her side. "Mommy's sick, Keiichi."
    "Keiichi?" his father said. 
    The child sneered.  "That is your name, isn't it?"
    His father was unable to speak, as he was completely dumbfounded by his
son's bizarre behaviour.
    Before his eyes, Kosuke began to shimmer inside a pale verdant glow, 
and within moments the boy's physique contorted and stretched upwards,
acquiring additional mass as it did so.  Gradually, the liquid features
hardened within the glow like a newly cast mold, reforming into an adult
male with sandy brown hair and other features remeniscent of its former,
juvenile frame.
    Keiichi, despite seeing many preposterous occurrences during his time, 
was still unable to endure.  "Who are you? What have you done to my son?" 
    The man towered over him and spoke with a voice long fettered and 
buried, his words flowing off his tongue like lava from an erupting
volcano.
    "Born of a goddess will, borne now my own."
    Urd resisted the urge to tip over. 
    "Why did you have to hurt her," cried a distraught Keiichi.
    No further did it reply, only blasting him and Urd with pure 
energy, it left without further deliberation.
    Struggling, Keiichi pulled himself up to follow the creature but Urd, 
blocking his path, refused to budge. 
    "No, no use followin'im," Urd intoned with some concern for her
brother-in-law.  "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!--here, have the rest."  She handed
him her sake bottle.  It was empty.
    Keiichi, sobered by soul-wrenching events, wasn't interested. "But 
that bastard hurt Bell."
    "S'okay. She's just sleeping," Urd chimed in, placing a sedative spell 
on him, and she giggled as his limp form fell to the floor next to his 
wife. Urd thought about how cute they looked together.  "Goodnight, 
sweet prince. Perchance to--oh, fuck it."



    From his bed Keiichi awakened, his head groggy, and saw Belldandy 
beside, back facing him. They were stark naked. Still mischievious, Urd 
must've done this, Keiichi realized.  He habitually moved his arm to 
affectionately comb his wife's hair, but her eyes opened and she swiftly
turned to face him.
    "Don't touch me," she said, her eyes seething with anger. She shifted 
an inch away from Keiichi. "How could you?"
    Keiichi  "What makes--?"
    "Your girlfriend," she said coldly.  "She told me all about it."
    What was Kikuko up to?  Keiichi wondered if it was one her plans to get 
her way, even if she had to break up a marriage to do so. Feeling guilt,
he sighed before trying to explain. "I've been so stressed out from work
that my defenses were down."
    "After all I've done for the family. I can't believe it."
    "I can't help being attracted to other people."
    "It isn't just attraction we're talking about here!"
    "It is," he said.
    "You were only attracted to her?"
    "Yes! I swear to you, Belldandy."
    "But you kissed her," she added.
    "Is that what she told you?" he deposed. "She kissed me but I swear 
I didn't kiss back."
    Belldandy, having enough of his gall, got out of bed.
    Feeling desperate, Keiichi reproached her. "Why are you willing to 
believe whatever a stranger tells you?"
    The goddess halted but her back lingered.
    "You once told me that you could not lie," he continued.
    "That is true."
    "And because of this, I cannot lie to you." He leaned forward, 
directing his head to her as an offering. "You have my permission to read 
my memories."
    Belldandy stood there wordlessly for a moment before sitting back on 
the bed. She turned her head and looked him in the eye and espied his 
sincerity. "That is unnecessary as the offer is proof," she said, feeling
sick and relieved at the same time.  She thought desperately for an answer.
"Where did we go wrong?"
    "My work. I let stress at work affect us.  I shouldn't have kept it 
to myself."
    "I'm sorry, Keiichi," Belldandy amended.  "If I had tried 
communicating instead..."
    "Remember that day when I asked about your contract?" her husband 
asked.
    "Before we got engaged? Oh, yes."
    "Well, now that we've been married doesn't mean that I don't have my
obligations. A contract is still a contract, even for a mortal."
    "And would you still be here with me even if there was no contract?"
she asked, smiling about the time when he had asked her the same thing.
    "I would still be here even without it," he said softly as he caressed 
her cheek.
    "Oh, Keiichi," was her reply as she moved forward, lips trembling as 
she kissed him. But before her husband could react, she shoved him down as 
she slid on top, letting her golden hair flow over his anxious flesh.
    Keiichi was surprised with his wife's impetuous change in spirit.  It 
had been so long since when they were previously physical that he had 
nearly forgotten how she could behave like a veracious whore in bed. Blushing,
he felt like a shy schoolboy.
    The sensuous goddess stopped momentarily. "Still nervous after all 
this time?" she laughed, resuming her onslaught.
    Giving in, he clutched her breast lasciviously; she moaned in 
pleasure before kissing him, violently now.  Keiichi deftly tubmled her 
over so that he was now on top. As the osculation got heavier, so did 
his desire to thrust his manhood into her fervid orifice.
    "Please stop" Belldandy spoke unexpectedly.
    "Why?  What's wrong, Belldandy?"
    "I..." she hesitated, "...I can't."
    Keiichi, disappointed after being worked up, was reticent.
    "I've been a fool," she continued. "You must stop him."
    "Stop who?"
    "He is at the conference. Stop him, Keiichi," the goddess pleaded.
    "Do you mean Kosuke?" he remembered. Damn Urd and her stupid hexes, 
he thought.  He just remembered that his son had gone AWOL, and he now felt
like an idiot for neglecting far important concerns.  "How do you know?"
    "A mother knows these things," she explained, her energy 
suddenly depleted as she slipped once more into unconsciousness.
    Giving Belldandy a soft, affectionate kiss, he gently placed the 
blanket over her peaceful body as he got out of bed.  Now dressed, he went to 
the kitchen where he encountered bed-wraggledSkuld, unruly hair invading her 
tired face, hacking up the gunk in her lungs while fumbling for a lighter. 
Urd, energized and with no sign of a hang-over, was making breakfast.  She was 
making a mess of it, though.
    "Instructions!  Why can't the eggs come with instructions?" Urd sighed
to herself as she whipped the eggs, shells and all.  "How does she strain 
out the damn shells afterward? Aargh."
    Keiichi wasn't in the mood for breakfast. "Why, Urd?"
    "There was no way Bell could make breakfast this morning, did you
think?" she smirked while Skuld, finally sucking in tobacco smoke, coughed 
in disapproval.
    "I mean, why did you make me sleep?"
    "There was nothing else we could do, because what would we do? No, we 
can face him now that we are refreshed, ready for battle."
    "Belldandy has reason to believe he is at conference," Keiichi added.
    "Then he must be," Urd re-assured.  Her younger sister did have a knack
for compassing any situation.
    "What happened to my son?"
    "I don't know, Keiichi. I just don't know. Perhaps Bell could answer 
that."
    Nearby, Skuld piped in, "I wonder if it's the result of the bugs? I'm
sure there's a connection."
    Urd nodded. 
    "But why would it be at the conference?" wondered Keiichi.
    "Hmm," Skuld continued, strangling some of her hair until she could 
hook it over her left ear. "The Yggdrasil has been going haywire recently
and, if the conference has any significance, then I'd say the two are 
connected."
    "This being may be a bug given flesh," Urd added.  "It might know about
something that is affecting reality."
    Keiichi thought about this and frowned. "Could the FTIC be doing 
something that would cause the Tree to malfunction?"
    "Well, that settles it then. Let's go," said Urd.
    "I'm not going," declared Skuld. 
    Urd raised an eyebrow. "We must put an end to this madness."
    "I don't care."
    "You're the one with the de-bugging talent."
    "I've got more important things to worry about than some wayward 
bastard," Skuld said defiantly.
    Keiichi appended, "Kenji is the test-pilot."  He knew it struck a 
nerve.  Skuld had given the game away with her startled expression.
    The youngest goddess adjusted her pyjamas before speaking, looking
not at the other two but at her extinguished cigarette.
    "Alright. We'd better do something," Skuld finally said to them. "But 
it's not for Kenji, got it?"



    Silent trees yearned towards the sky where a red sun, struggling to
remain buoyant above the horizon, promised salvation while staying beyond 
the tendrilled rinds. Below, a two-storey building complex imposed its
sombre facade before the cold, black iron gate.  Endless vines climbed the
brownstone walls, threatening to mask the man-made structures with its
omnipresent green; some of it stabbing into the cement barrier and 
accelerating its erosion.  The main building of Fujishima Technology and
Industry Corpaoration valiantly headed off its natural oppressor.
    Inside its beseiged walls, a showcase of the newest innovation, a 
technology separated from the natural world which gnarled at the doorstep,
was being presented to a number of prominent business people.  Thousands 
all over the world were logged on the internet via their VR chairs, all 
awaiting this historic event.  Everyone physically present, except the 
president, was seated in a VR chair, also logged in.  One super chair 
presided at the front of the conference room; it was still empty.  
    The company president, standing beside the main attraction, patted it 
with affection as if it were a pet dog.
    "Currently the VR chairs allow manipulation of software, but today 
our beta tester will show that the newest software--Portal 02--will 
allow direct mental connection into the 'net."
    The packed room gasped in awe.



    Arriving at FTIC, Urd, Skuld and Keiichi ran into Kenji who looked
smart in his business suit.  He smiled when he saw them.
    "Skuld?" he said.
    "Uh, Kenji?" Skuld faltered.  
    Urd gave Keiichi a knowing wink before grabbing his arm, dragging him 
off with her. "We'll meet you guys there, okay?" Urd grinned before 
turning her head back to face her destination.  Keiichi smiled sheepishly.
    Pointing in their direction, Kenji beamed, "Oh, coming to see the 
demonstration?"
    Skuld became jumpy. "Um, Kenji?  Can we talk a moment?"
    "It's revolutionary!" he joyfully proclaimed. "Why don't you join me?"  
    "No!"
    "What?" he said in trepidation, not sure what was coming next.
    "Why couldn't you wait for me?"
    "Sorry, I don't have time for this." Kenji turned to leave.
    "Kenji!" Skuld yelled then softened her voice. "Please, tell me why
you couldn't wait two years."
    Kenji became irritated. "Two years!  How could I wait for you for two
years when it seemed to me you didn't want to see me anymore. You dumped 
me, remember?  Then you come back begging.  What was I supposed to do?"
    "Urd was nowhere and even Big Sister was distant from me.  I was lonely
but afraid of being hurt again. I didn't want you to suffer the way I did."
    "Pretty merciful," Kenji said sarcastically. "Then why did you come 
back?"
    "But I missed you!  I didn't know how much until you were gone."
    "Missed me?  You spent two years having a great time, screwing around 
with anyone who asked!"
    "It was against my will!"
    "That's not the point!  Don't you care about people's feelings?" 
    Skuld stopped for a moment, fighting tears. "I had mixed feelings 
about being with a mortal, since one took my sister away from me. The
only one true friend I could rely on was Banpei-kun--and even he betrayed 
me."
    "But I was there for you; I was your friend." Kenji protested. "Did I 
let you down or something, or were you too good for me?"
    "Kenji..." It hurt so much to even say his name.
    "Or were you blind or too self-absorbed to even notice?"
    "I was so excited to do what my sister used to do, I didn't realize I 
hurt you." Her eyes were shining from overloaded tear ducts.  She 
wanted to reach out to him but knew he'd only pull away.
    "A little late, don't you think?" Kenji rationalized. "And before you
went to Iceland--"
    "I was confused! When I saw you with Miki, I decided she was a 
better choice. I gave in.  But when I got the wedding invitation from you,
something inside..."
    "I don't know why I invited you," Kenji said as he stormed off, "so 
please don't come."
    "And why would I want to go to your stupid wedding!" Skuld shouted
defiantly to his back.  
    Kenji was gone.  
    "How could you be so selfish?" she said to no one in particular as 
the tears, finally released, cascaded from her hand-covered eyes.



    Urd and Keiichi arrived at the conference; Keiichi expected his 
erstwhile son to have already arrived, but he was nowhere to be seen. 
Barging through the doors, Urd and Keiichi witnessed the president press 
some buttons. The aged goddess widened her eyes. 
    "Rohki! That explains it!"
    "Ah, Urd. My, you look just like Mother," he said suggestively. "Did 
not expect you here. No matter--you are too late to stop me." 
    A room of people, strapped prisoners of their chairs, writhed in pain.
    "What have you done?" Urd demanded.
    Rohki gloated. "With our new interface software, the VR chairs have 
linked up via the Internet, creating an enormous organic/sentient 
computer--a planet sized-brain.  Thousands on the 'net have been honoured
with the privilege of becoming part of history!"
    "That's monstrous," cried Keiichi, unable to believe that this was what 
he was working on. "Don't you have a conscience?"
    "Conscience is really the same thing as cowardice," laughed 
Rohki. "Conscience is the registered trade mark. Now, once the driver sits 
in, the computer will allow me to bypass the Yggdrasil and create a reality 
of my design and control!"
    "You were always chasing after the wind," Urd remembered. "But why?"
    "I don't want to be _a_ god.  I want to be THE God! I was never 
worshipped by mortals, who insisted on sombre deities.  That will change 
today.  Gods should have fun with mortals, unlike our present policy
that forbids gods to partake in unsolicited intervention.  What is 
power if it is not exercised?  I like to have fun without hindrance of 
those stupid bureaucratic regulations--signed in triplicate.  Besides, 
these pathetic mortals don't know how to look after themselves."
    "That doesn't give you the right.  Stop interfering with the destinies 
of the people here on Midgard."
    "Interfering?  What about you, Ms. Righteousness?" Rohki taunted. 
"You're no different than I, except I'm not a hypocrite."
    Urd, stung by the remark, refused to lie down.  "But you have to stop; 
your experiments keep putting the Yggdrasil off-line."
    "Hmm?" he replied. "Besides, we won't need it once I control 
the world computer..."
    "You idiot, Yggdrassil keeps entropy at bay," protested Urd.  She was
worried that Rohki wasn't taking the threat seriously. The Yggdrasil
prevented the gradual increase of sub-atomic chaos by adding energy back 
into the universe, itself a closed system, and restoring order. "When the 
tree is cut off from humanity it withers and dies."
    "Not my problem," he flippantly replied.
    Kenji walked in and Urd tried to warn him by firing a lightning 
bolt towards the master chair.  Rohki jumped in-between to absorb the 
blast, injuring him.
    "Glad you could make it, Kenji," weazed the president, ushering him to 
the chair. "Please, sit down."
    Utterly weakened from expanding much needed energy reserves, Urd was 
unable to attempt a second shot. 
    "Kenji, get away from there!" yelled Keiichi, himself incapable of 
action.
    "But, wh--"
    "I insist," said Rohki, pushing the confused Kenji into the chair 
and locking him in place.  "Comfortable?" 
    Rohki pressed a few buttons and the master chair hummed to life, 
causing Kenji to moan. Rohki smiled. "Feels good, doesn't it?"
    "You bastard!" Keiichi shouted helplessly. He looked to Urd. "What do 
we do now?"
    Urd was concerned since she wasted her energy on Rohki. "We need to 
disconnect the chair somehow."
    "Oh, I wouldn't do that," he laughed.  "The shock would probably kill 
him."
    Damn, where's Skuld? Keiichi thought.



    "Kenji can go to Hel."
    Wading her way through the labyrinth of corridors, Skuld made her way
out of the building, away from the conference, away from Kenji.  What was
happening back there had nothing to do with her, she supposed.  It wasn't
her fault that there were bugs in the Yggdrasil, nor was it her job to
rectify that problem; that was the onus of her replacement.  Skuld refused
to carry that mantle of responsibility.
    Most of all, Skuld was mad that Kenji, a mortal, would accuse her of
callousness.
    Escaping the oppressive gloom of fluorescent lighting, Skuld embraced
the crimson luminosity of the sun. The sensation of sunlight irradiated
her entire body which sweltered from the accumalation of heat. Vapours
distorted her vision, making the cityscape before dance and shimmer. 
Sensing something amiss, she dropped her eyes to see that the smoke was
in fact exiting her body.  She was gradually sublimating into gas.
    The bugs had proliferated and, in their irrespressible orgy of havoc,
have eroded the web strands linking all the dimensional planes, causing	
matter to break down to its simplest, most chaotic state.



    Reality warps were not localized--they occured everywhere.  Being
a goddess who would be sensitive to these things, Belldandy awakened and 
decided that she must head to the site.  In the bathroom, she reached 
toward the mirror, placing her hand on the reflective surface but froze
when she saw the icon that reached out for her.  The shock of seeing the
image of herself compelled her to ponder.
    The goddess had considered leaving this plane althogether, returning 
to her home in the heavens--no, her place of birth; this temple, her life 
with Keiichi, was her real home.  The sad face that appeared before 
her, pleaded with her to go to Keiichi.  Belldandy hadn't been totally 
truthful to him.
    But she didn't think she could tell him; she couldn't bear to face him, 
to tell him the truth.  He was hurt enough already.  The chaos about her
was her fault.  
    Their life together was a lie.


END OF CHAPTER FOUR
 





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