/ ____ ___ _ ___ / | \ | \ /\ | | /\ /\ | \ / /\ | \ | \ . | \ | |. / \_/ \ | \ \ / \ | __ \ | _ \ | | | | | | | _ \ /\ \/ / | | \ \ | | \ \ .| | | |.| | | | \ \ / \ \ / | | / / | |__\ | | | \| | | |\ /| |.| |__\ |/ /\ \/ | | / / | | | |\ | |.| | | |.| | | |\ / \ | |/ / .| ___ |.| |.| |.| |.| | | | | ___ /\ \/ / | |\ \ | | .| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| | ./ |\ / | | \ \ .| | | |.| |..\ |.| |.| |.| | | | /| | \ |_|. \__\ |_|. .|_|.|_|...\/..|_|.|_|.|_|.|_|. \|_| \ /\ \ / Written by Christopher 'Ratiko' Willmore. / \ \ / 4cw6@qlink.queensu.ca / / \/ Based on a story by Rumiko Takahashi and / Developed by C. Michael Schumacher / / [Kensu: cschumac@waun.tdsnet.com], \ / with the aid of Animax Enterprises \/(Logo:Armakuni) [formerly TAAC]. ======================================================================= A RANMA 2096 SIDE STORY: A WINTER'S TALE FANFIC ML BETA ======================================================================= *NOTE: THIS IS A 'CLEANED-UP' VERSION OF THE R2096 ML GAMMA* Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Charles K. Hurst, Chris Davies and Wayne Pillion for their extensive, helpful and accurate C&C, Marisa Price for her moral support and enthusiasm, Mike Koos for his input and FANTASTIC illustrations, and the rest of the Ranma 2096 ML for letting me stuff their mailboxes with unfinished products. NOTE: To avoid spoilers, full acknowledgements for specific scenes, quotes, plot twists, etc. will be given at the end of the story. To my fellow conspirators: (You know who you are.) 'Certain contributions' won't be acknowledged until after the CS release, to avoid hinting at anything. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "I wear the chains I forged in life; I made them, link by link." -Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol" "Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are the pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange." -William Shakespeare, "The Tempest", Act I Scene 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tokyo: The Kuno Foundation - December 14, 2095 - Friday ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Nabiki Tendo awoke, or so she thought... The world around her half-closed eyes was puzzling, a swirling eddy of blurred and unfamiliar images, in which she floated stationarily. She tried to turn, to gather more of where she was, but none of her limbs would recognise her mind's authority. Even her eyelids would not wander from their current state, but chose instead to stay ajar, and taunt her with the fragments of that she would have whole. "Sire; the subject is awake." "Already? Very well. Sedate her, and then prep her for interrogation." "As you will, sire." Sounds... Voices? She couldn't be sure... What had happened? How had she come to... Where? Nabiki strained herself, and tried to think, and to remember. In this, at least, she did not fail. Recall Nabiki did, and wished that she had not. ; she thought. . Before a tear could form, the chemicals took hold, and 'the subject' once again lapsed into darkness. "You've checked the brain?" "Aye, Sire." "Enough of the original so that we may say this is THE Nabiki Tendo?" "Over ninety-five percent, Sire, and none of the lost areas are in the mnemonic regions." "Good. How are her muscles? She hasn't moved in a few decades, after all..." "They're rather weak; I doubt she can use them without help. Once we initialise the bionics, though, she should be fully operational." "Perfect. Drain the tank, dress her, and have her in my office by 2100. Leave the dampers on. I want her revived only at the beginning of our interview." "As you will, Sire." With rehearsed motions, three men in identical white uniforms moved to the tank where the reconstructed body of Nabiki Tendo was floating in an electrolytic soup. One pressed a button, and a harness wrapped itself around her. A flip of a switch, and the fluid oozed out through a grate. Then, the tank's clear plastic walls came down, and the functionaries took the woman to the room where she'd be clothed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tokyo: Kuno Hall December 15, 2095 - Saturday, 5:32 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Childra Jansen checked herself over once more in the washroom mirror. Her dyed blonde hair had been put back in a bun, her eyelids were done in a faint purple, and the only lipstick she'd dared put on was a dull red. Apart from that, only a little blush. Overall, the effect was rather... proper... She hoped she'd done it right. This wasn't how she usually went out. She looked at the clothes. They should be sombre enough. A prudish black dress covered her from neck to heels, and an equally dark cloak was over her shoulders to protect her from the cold. It would do. She always felt awkward doing this... Never mind that all her friends EXPECTED her at these events; Childra always felt out-of-place, like a self-invited guest at a private party. Oh, well. No more time for whining. Someone was waiting for her, and it wouldn't be polite to delay her departure any longer. Smacking her lips together one last time to make sure the gloss held, she closed her cosmetics bag and opened the door into the hallway. Kim Thompson was there, reclining against a wall and poring over what looked like some dreadfully difficult mathematical work. Kim looked up from her studies as she noticed her neighbour's emergence. "Going somewhere?" she asked. Childra just smiled at her. Thompson smacked herself on the forehead. "Silly me. Saturday night. Of COURSE you're going out. Who is it this time?" "You don't know her." Kim blinked. "HER? Childra, I never knew you..." Jansen sighed. "I CAN do something other than a rendezvous with my nights, you know." "Sorry..." Childra grinned. "But TOMORROW night, it'll be that guy from Archaeology." "I knew it! Anyway, have fun!" "I will..." With that, she stepped into her room to pick up her purse and drop off her make-up, then left for the main entrance to Kuno Hall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tokyo: The Kuno Foundation December 14, 2095 - Friday ------------------------------------------------------------------------ At 21:59:59, Nabiki was seated in a chair opposite the desk of the director of the Kuno Foundation. A second later, she came back to consciousness. "Nabiki Tendo?" The voice was gruff, but cultured. "Where am I?" "First, you will answer me. Your name?" "Ten... Tendo Nabiki... You just said it... Why..." "Good. Now, to answer your question, I am the director of the Kuno Foundation, of whom you are a 'guest', at present." "Kuno Foundation? But..." The director waved a hand to silence her. "That's all you need to know, for now. But _I_ still need to know a few more things... You've gone through some rather interesting... experiences... I need to ascertain that all is well. Let's start with your memories. What do you last remember?" "I... I..." Nabiki began to cry. The memories were painful. And the last ones... She had finished all of this, had she not? Then why? She started, and looked wide-eyed at the director. "I killed myself. That's the last thing I remember." The man smiled. "Not quite. You can't get away THAT easily, you know." "I don't..." "Oh, but you DO. We know all about your crime, Ms. Tendo. And you DO realise, that if you ARE guilty, something of that magnitude demands the death penalty." "H-hai... But... I thought I had destroyed myself. Why am I still alive?" "We couldn't let you get away THAT easily! The guilty MUST be punished. Granted, your little bomb made it a nightmare for our squad to put you back together, but we managed it." Another smile. "Eventually." "You mean... I _did_ die?" "Clinically, yes. But we got to your brain before it had a chance to even begin to decompose. Well, we got to ninety-five percent of it, in any case." "Ninety-five? I'm not understanding much of this..." "The other five percent has been replaced by microcomputers." Nabiki blinked. This was surreal... The director sighed. "I suppose I'll have to spell it out for you. It's too bad, in a way... With your reputation for intelligence, I felt sure you would figure it out." Before Nabiki could protest, he continued. "I am sure I have no reason to go over your crime. You know it well enough, and the Consistency Trial will be sure to extract all the gruesome details... I've been following your case for decades..." Nab raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Decades. It's 2095. December, 2095." The other eyebrow. "Don't look so surprised! You think we could have brought you back with your own time's technology?" "Why bring me back? If I'm guilty, and the crime has the death penalty, why couldn't you just let me be?" "My dear Ms. Tendo," smiled the director, "we are not barbarians, who simply dole out merits and demerits according impersonal behavioural codes set down in a book... Our 'laws' are now much more humane... Even in your time, I am sure, you would have heard of the 'Consistency Movement'?" Nabiki's face, already grim, sank even lower. "Not that... Anything but that..." Written rules she could deal with. She'd always gotten ahead in life by twisting, bending and re- interpreting the legal codes to suit her purposes. That was easy. They were generalisations, meant to cover many misdoings by many people, making it easy for a single person to weasel her way out of a single crime. But THESE - These were different. " That is how we deal with criminals in 2095. You are only guilty of a crime if your actions violate your own behavioural ethic." Individual rules, tailored for and by the accused. There was nowhere to hide, no way to modify or capitalise on ambiguity when the rules were the ones that you had written in your heart. And right now, those rules screamed out her guilt. "I am guilty... I am..." 'Ms. Tendo' said softly, tears streaming down her cheeks. "To establish that is beyond my jurisdiction. The Consistency Trial will deal with it... Even if you _are_ guilty, we do not have 'set' punishments... We apply use what YOU believe to be an appropriate reprisal... Now, far more than in Dicken's time, 'You wear the chains you forged in life'." "But I TOLD YOU! I KILLED MYSELF!" She HAD inflicted her own punishment upon herself. An eye for an eye, that's what she' always thought, and when the time came, that'd been what she'd applied. :I'll even tell you how I did it! I..." "Oh, we know all about the bomb, Ms. Tendo. One cannot work on you for eighty years and not know what it was that caused the trouble in the first place." "Isn't it OBVIOUS? I KNEW what I'd done, and I KNEW that the only appropriate penalty was DEATH! Why didn't you just let me BE?" "It seems you would prefer to be stone-cold right now, instead of facing me." A smile, and twinkle of his eyes. "Oh, deity, yes!" That much she couldn't deny. ANYTHING was better than to have to face... THIS again. Cripes. Even in her THOUGHTS, she couldn't bring herself to think directly of it. Yes, death was certainly better than a living hell. "Then, clearly, it is not half the punishment you are trying to convince me that it is. If you are guilty, Ms. Tendo, you deserve to suffer. And suffer A LOT. I will be frank, and tell you that I find you utterly despicable. Were you another person, with a different history, I would have long ago stopped the project short and left you dead. But, as the saying goes, 'Death is too good for you'. You will pay for what you did, Nabiki Tendo. And, what is more, you will be put through pain that only you yourself can contrive the likes of. Once THAT is done, I'll think well-spent the years and funds that went into your reconstruction. The guilty WILL be punished." Halfway through the speech, Nabiki had lost whatever control she had, and had become a sobbing, pulsing mass. "Why do you hate me?" she asked through salty lips. "I know what I've done, and I hate MYSELF for it, but why do THIS? Why take me from the GRAVE, when I don't even KNOW you?" The director looked at his watch. "Only four minutes before the trial. Very well, I will humour you." A pause. "I am not only the Director of the Kuno Foundation." Nabiki arched an eyebrow. "I am also Ono Tanaro, president of Onocorp." "Ono... You are..." Wide eyes from her, a nod from him. "For having destroyed the life of Kasumi Tendo, you will pay." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tokyo: Nerima Graveyard December 15, 2095 - Saturday, 6:11 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Akane sat on a bench and looked at the setting sun. Childra should be here soon. She was looking forward to that. She still didn't know why she had asked her to come... It wasn't like anything was going to HAPPEN... Still, it made her feel better to have company tonight. It made her feel better to have company ANY night, but particularly on this one. It was so FRUSTRATING, to be able to wander around at leisure, see what happened to everything and everyone, but not be able to interact with it. She could rant, or laugh, or cry, or scream, and it would have less of an effect on those surrounding her than the falling of a leaf. Of course, there were the other spirits, but they were all so melancholy... So was she, when she thought about it. It's a wonder Childra spent any time with her at ALL, the way she whined, and even more of one that she usually came for at least an hour a day. Not only that, but she'd given her something of a home. She was always welcome to visit Jansen in her room, and even ENCOURAGED to follow her around to all her lectures... She used to go to a lot more of those. They were nice; it was pleasant to hear all those stories from history... Unfortunately, she'd had to give up on quite a few of them when Gosunkugi Skeride showed up. Imagine, having a descendant of Hikaru's actually being able to do magic that WORKED. That idea was enough to send chills down the spine of anyone who knew the original five-inch, but the worst part was that she was dead-set on putting ghosts 'to rest'... Her current state might not be much, but it was certainly better than the nothingness she felt that heaven had in store for her, should she be exorcised. Exorcised. She'd never thought that'd she'd be scared of the word. Things change. A lot. The sun had fallen to a mere sliver above the horizon, and the red and orange hues of sunset were giving way to twilight's blue and purple haze, the darkness driving Akane back into reality from her meditations. She looked in front of her. Two collective tombs: the Tendos and Saotomes, side by side. Somewhere under the memorial on the right, her own ashes were buried in a ceramic urn, while the one on the left... "Oh, Ranma..." She cried as fully as a ghost can cry, with luminous tears of pure vital essence replacing the salt water of the living. "Started without me?" A voice from behind her. A familiar one. "Childra?" "Who else, lass? Unless Nutkin's showed up, I doubt anyone else would be addressing you." They smiled. "Hai," said Akane. "Thank you for coming." "I wouldn't miss it," said Childra softly. She pulled a white tube from under her cloak. "What's that?" asked Akane. "A memorial for you, on your death-day." "Childra... I..." Jansen took the top off the cardboard cylinder, and pulled out a single, perfect black rose. "It's a Hampton clone. I thought that..." Akane shuddered. "What is it, girl? Is something wrong?" The ghost smiled weakly. "No... It's just... I... I've had bad experiences with black roses." "I'm sorry... I had no idea..." "It's all right. I'm glad you thought of it. Really." "Well... If you're SURE it's all right... Shall we?" Childra offered her arm. "Just a minute," grinned Akane. "I've got to change into something more appropriate." She closed her eyes and shimmered slightly, then her blue-and-yellow pastel dress turned into black mourning clothes, complete with veil. "Now." She took Childra's arm - very slowly, to make sure she didn't go through it - and the two walked carefully together to the Tendo monument. They knelt in front of the obelisk, and Jansen placed the rose in front of Akane's name. The sun finished setting, and the sky grew black. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tokyo: The Kuno Foundation December 14, 2095 - Friday -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nabiki examined Director Ono. He had Dr. Tofu's eyes, now that she thought of it, and Kasumi's general features. She probably hadn't noticed it before because she had been too busy trying to make sense of his grandiloquent speeches. Being the director of the Kuno Foundation seems to have taken its toll... They continued to look at each other, motionless and silent. The lack of conversation was not due to want of content, but rather, to its excess... How could she possibly explain to this man why she had acted as she did? How could she summarise and cram into some scant four minutes thoughts, debates, and judgements that'd been swimming in her mind for what were relatively aeons? How could she justify herself to him when she had not yet done that for herself? There were far too many questions for one answer to be made... A buzzer rang, and then a voice came from a hidden speaker. "Sire, the trial room is ready." "Excellent. We will be there shortly." He turned to Nabiki. "Get up, Ms. Tendo, and follow me." Nabiki tried to stand, but couldn't. "My legs..." "Oh, dear! I'd QUITE forgotten! Tsk, tsk... Such an oversight...." He pressed a button on the desk. "Activate the bionics for Ms. Tendo." "Aye Sire," came the reply. "Bionics?" "Come, now, you don't think we reconstructed you with ORGANICS, do you? We might have made a lot of progress in these eighty years, but we still can't regenerate nerve tissue, and cloned eyes are EVER so unreliable..." "How much?" "The monetary figures would mean nothing to you, but let's just say you couldn't have afforded it even in your prime." Nabiki scowled. Would her reputation follow her even HERE? "I MEANT, how extensive are the replacements?" "I wouldn't worry about it. If all goes as planned, you won't be using them for long." she said to herself. She put away the thought. She had already shown far too much weakness. The only thing left to do was confess, get this over with as quickly as possible, and go back to her eternal rest. If she was going to die a second time, it was going to be with dignity, not tears. "But, to answer your question..." The director smiled. "As I've already mentioned, five percent of your brain has been replaced by microcomputers. Not to worry, it's mostly the primordial areas having to do with simple motions, habitual actions, and the like... THOSE we replace quite routinely now, actually, thanks to the research we've done on you... You've been quite a boon to medical science, Ms. Tendo." Nabiki arched an eyebrow. "Yes... I wouldn't expect a ruthless entrepreneur like yourself to think we'd let all that R&D go to waste... Onocorp is now one of the three largest prosthetics companies in the world." Nabiki snorted. "It'd better be, with the amount of cash it must've taken to gather me up and stitch me together. Who DID it, anyway? The consistency movement wasn't THAT big eighty years ago..." Tanaro smiled. "Your antics made my grandfather quite angry, Ms. Tendo. Dr. Tofu Ono paid for all the expenses himself, after his wife's death... It sent him into debt and penury, but assured my mother and myself the places in high society which we now enjoy. Of course, he couldn't do it ALL on his own.. When Kuno-sensei first became politically prominent, my honourable ancestor was quite influential in establishing the Kuno Foundation, as well as laying the basis for what would become Onocorp. Ironic, that all this should come about from hatred of yourself." Another one of those disconcerting grins. thought Nabiki. He just didn't seem like the type... "The Dr. Tofu _I_ knew was sweet... Rather crazy at times, but certainly not the kind of person to help found a thing like this... I... I just find it hard to believe that..." Tanaro's face hardened. "Ono Kasumi's death was an incredible blow to him, and changed him utterly..." he said. "You KNEW him, and presumably were aware of his infatuation." He raised a questioning eyebrow. Nabiki nodded in assent. "After the death he became a changed man... I remember him only as bitter, cold, silent, and determined...." "Determined?" "To make you pay for your crime. He LOVED Kasumi. She was the most important thing in his life. Together with my mother, they WERE his life. And YOU.. YOU took that away from him." Nabiki turned away. "So you understand... The only mention I have of ojiisan being warm is from old-timers, like yourself. Anyone who met him AFTER the incident would never use that word in the same sentence as his name." The director chuckled. "Other children's grandparents taught them how to fish; mine taught me how to hate. Both he and my mother would drill me, day after day, in the need to have you punished, to make you FEEL their pain, and that of Kasumi-sama. (Author's note: What is the correct mode of address for naming an honoured ancestor? I couldn't find a reference for it...)" A ring from the intercom. "Yes?" "Sire, bionics will be operational in two minutes. I apologise for the delay." "Quite all right; quite all right... I've waited all my life; a few more minutes won't hurt. Carry on." "Aye, Sire." "Now, where were we?" "Hate," said Nabiki. She still couldn't believe it. The Doctor - cold and bitter? And all due to her... For the first time in her life, she was experiencing true regret, and she wasn't enjoying it. "That will be MORE than aptly covered at your trial, I am sure," said the director. "I would LOVE to go on," thought Nabiki, "but we don't have much time. I suggest we focus on the technical aspects of the situations. Do you have any questions about the implants?" "The brain," said Nabiki. She had to know exactly how much they'd tampered with her. "What have you changed in my brain?" "Oh, yes... THAT... There's no reason to complain about it. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many people come to us to have that kind of surgery... Pilots, surgeons, anyone who needs to do things accurately and precisely, in fact... The new habitual motion areas allow for the creation of what we like to call 'physical macros', and the others let one do wonderful things with speed reading, and... Oh, but I haven't the time to go into that... Maybe I'll have one of our sales reps explain it to you before your execution." "What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?" "That only applies if you are innocent, ne, Mademoiselle Tendo?" "Touche." A weak smile. "Anything ELSE I should know about?" "Not much. Your eyes, nervous system, most bones, right arm, left leg, and heart have all been replaced. Your innards have been cloned from your genetic material, and engineered to be in sync with your prosthetics... Oh, yes! Your biochem's synthetic... Apart from that, nothing I can think of." "I see..." A red light blinked to life next to the desk. "They're ready for us. Get up, Ms. Tendo." She did, and was mildly surprised not to hear the sounds of whizzing gears and expanding pistons. Tanaro Ono also stood, and motioned to the door. They left. The corridors looked like a hospitals'. White. Antiseptic. Cold. Nabiki had a fundamental distrust of things that seemed this clean and pure, but she had to admit it was an appropriate setting for her final judgement. "How far?" she asked. "Just a few more doors." When they finally arrived, the dreaded portal ended up being just another innocuous-looking standard-make door. The only thing that distinguished it from any other was its number: 416. The director pulled a keycard out of his breast pocket and slipped it into the appropriate spot. The door slid open with a soft hiss. The interior of the room was nothing like what Nabiki had expected. There were no juror's benches, no audience chairs, no television cameras, advocate's boxes... In fact, all there was, was a desk, a computer terminal, two old wooden chairs and one plastic-and-metal chair-like contraption. As for people, only one young man in a white lab-coat stood in a corner, holding a medical bag. "Is this IT?" "I'm afraid so, Ms. Tendo." "I don't understand... Where are the lawyers? Jurors? JUDGE?" The director's eyes twinkled as he smiled. "Have you been paying attention? We ARE a consistency court. You are your own advocate, prosecutor and judge. I am merely here as... Court stenographer. Yes, that is quite the proper analogy." "Sire," the man in the lab coat spoke up. "Is she ready to be prepped?" "Go ahead." The underling nodded. "What? 'Prepped'? I don't..." "You may explain, Jonathan. I'm sure you'll do a better job than I could." "Thank-you, Sire." A bow. Then, to Nabiki. "It used to be that consistency trials took a long time... A speciality team would spend months, or years doing research into every aspect of the accused's life to come up with an accurate picture of hir moral code, and would then determine in an old-fashioned trial whether the plaintiff was guilty according to said code.*" thought Nabiki to herself. "Thanks to the technology developed for your reconstruction, we can now do away with the Consistency Squads. We merely put the appropriate machinery into the accused's head, and link them directly to a computer. As the subjects speak, their thoughts are displayed in visual format on the monitor, as seen by 'the mind's eye'." "You've rehearsed this, haven't you?" Nabiki asked. "Many times, Ms. Tendo." he answered. "You frighten me..." She took a deep breath. The sooner they started... "Plug me in, then. I want this finished." The attendant motioned to the metallic chair, and Nabiki sat on it. Straps were tightened over her wrists and ankles, and then... "A syringe? What's that for?" She grimaced. "Don't tell me they give the lethal injection BEFORE the verdict's out, now." "Lethal injection?" The director looked at her. "We wouldn't be that lenient. That would cause at most a moment's pain, after all... No, Ms. Tendo, this is just some valium and Demerol... To loosen the tongue." "I'll talk anyways. No need to prick me." The attendant paused. "We want to make sure. Proceed, Jonathan." Jonathan nodded and began to inject the serum into Nabiki's left arm. The needle bent. "That's her prosthetic, Jonathan. I'm sorry. I should have warned you." "It's quite all right, Sire. I have replacements." He tossed the used syringe into a nearby waste-bin, and took a new one from his bag. This time, the solution went into Nabiki's left arm without incident. It was only a short time before she began to feel disoriented and light-headed. "The drugs are quite strong, so I doubt you'll be able to keep track of the outside world. Don't worry about it... Just concentrate on my questions, and your memories." Nabiki nodded. Her vision was beginning to blur... "Jonathan?" "Yes, Sire?" "She seems to be going under. Connect her." "Yes, Sire." He reached for the back of Nabiki's head and pulled loose a hair-covered panel. To the now-exposed circuitry, he hooked up one end of the cable, and connected the other end to the computer. "Done, Sire." "Good." Nabiki frowned. The voices were sounding... Strange... More or less like when she woke up from a Saturday afternoon nap, in the early evening, and heard her sisters speaking around her... Her sisters... "Sire? The subject is crying." "She must be thinking about the crime in question. Onscreen." Jonathan flipped a switch. The monitor flickered for a few seconds, then showed shifting pictures of Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi... All three of them at the beach, three young girls with their mother... The screen zoomed into Mrs. Tendo's face, which morphed into that of Kasumi. "Interesting... This puts quite a new slant on the case..." Then, a sudden shift to a graveyard scene. The Tendo family was standing in the rain around a freshly-dug grave. The perspective moved to the front of the memorial stone, where the name of Nabiki's mother was clearly visible. Another pan-out from the tombstone, to a changed scene. It was still a burial, but this time, it was the youngest Tendo.. Akane? Who was being laid to rest. Nabiki was beside the coffin, crying... She lifted the lid, and inside was Kasumi Tendo's body. Nabiki screamed. She screamed, as on the screen her elder sister's corpse reached out to hug her... Always forgiving her... Even for THIS... The screams grew louder. "Sire? What shall I do?" "Direct mike, please." "As you will, sire." Jonathan handed Director Ono a microphone which was also connected to the computer. "Is it on?" "Hai." Jonathan blushed. "I mean... Yes, Director Ono." Tanaro smiled. "No need to be so formal when it's only the two of us." He winced as another scream erupted from the chair. Clutching the mike, he spoke: "Nabiki? Can you hear me, Nabiki Tendo?" Silence. Then, a nod from 'Ms. Tendo'. "Good. I will guide you, Nabiki. I will ask you questions, and you will answer me. Do you understand?" Nod. "Very well." The director opened a manila folder on a nearby monitor-top, and leafed through its contents until he found the information he was looking for. "First, I will ask you to remember something. Think back to just after the death of your younger sister's fiance... The death of Ranma." The director's voice transported Nabiki, sending her back through the years, back to the dismal winter following Ranma's death. THAT is what had started it all. Her mother's passing had been traumatic, but at least she had been left with FAMILY. Kasumi, Daddy, and Akane... But after that BAKA got himself killed... What business of his was it anyway, to go to China on some macho 'training trip'? If it wasn't for that curse of his, Chia would've never come back looking for his mate, and then... Nabiki STILL couldn't believe here sister had LOVED that pile of muscle. Sure, they'd joked about it often enough, but no one actually believed it. Except perhaps for Daddy. And then, she up and threw herself off that bridge when Ranma died. Always picking a fight. That's what had gotten him into trouble. Men... As if it wasn't enough to get HIMSELF killed, he had to drag OTHERS down into the abyss with him! Typical male reaction. Selfish. Unthinking. Nabiki laughed to herself. MALE reaction? Even as a WOMAN, he caused trouble... Jonathan stared at the pictures forming n the screen. "Sire? That boy... He's... Turning into a girl... Isn't he?" The director nodded. "Jusenkyo curse. We have references for it." "The legends are TRUE?" "Only within these walls, if you want to stay alive." "H-hai.." She'd finally found SOMEONE she had a chance with - a man who actually CARED for her, FAWNED on her... Sure, he was a bit... dense... but that was a minor fault when put against his other charms. But, of COURSE Kuno-baby had to fall in love with the 'pig-tailed goddess'. Feh. Some goddess. More like a demon in disguise. When he heard of his beloved's disappearance, and of Akane's death, his other little quirk kicked into place. When he wasn't drooling over some girl or another, he tended to slobber over HIMSELF. Naturally, he assumed the two had killed themselves independently of each other, so he wouldn't have to choose between them. And of COURSE his Samurai code just HAD to point out to him that the honorable thing to do was to become a monk, and live in quiet reflection of the 'nobility' of those two. Darn those vows of chastity. She'd been so close, until that baka got himself slaughtered... "Sire, who IS this? I thought she was just some criminal, but... She was Tatewaki Kuno's GIRLFRIEND? I don't see how we can still go on, if that's the case." Director Ono frowned. "Why not?" "Permission to speak freely, Sire?" Tanaro nodded. "Granted." "Kuno-sensei is a hero! He brought peace, started the consistency courts... And we ARE the Kuno Foundation. How can we kill one whom he cared for? With all due respect, sire, should we really go on with this?" "We WILL go on, Jonathan. With you, or without you. If you value your job, and your well-being, you will stay mum and follow orders." The assistant trembled. "As... As you will, Sire." The next big blow was Daddy's death. He didn't last too long, with both heirs to the 'Anything-Goes' school gone. With all those passings, and Kasumi's marriage to Dr. Tofu, Nabiki was once again left alone. Of course, 'oneechan' would never turn her away, and would always be ready with a tray of cookies and a listening ear when she needed one, but it wasn't the same... Nabiki had lost her home. She'd tried to replace family life with entrepeneuring, but even THAT couldn't fill the gap she felt inside... She'd lost her family to death, and the only member who remained had started one of her own. Kasumi had a daughter, already. It always cheered Nabiki to see her... Little Bell was so sweet... The perfect combination of her older sister's tenderness and Dr. Tofu's rugged handsomeness... Not that she was so little, anymore. Bell had turned into quite the young woman... Quite a fortunate one, too, with a set of caring parents and a stable home. "Hmm... She seems to be slipping back INTO the time, rather than just remembering it..." Ono stroked his chin. "Good. We can probably get more information that way." Having the doctor's household so close to her only served to remind Nabiki of her loss, and she devoted herself heart and soul to her enterprises. "Yes, Nabiki." spoke the director into the mike. "That's it... Tell us about your business..." Business... The money she had made over the years, selling pictures of her sister to Kuno and blackmailing others had allowed her to buy some very profitable stocks. In just a few years, she had risen to the ownership of a large Security company. She always found that amusing... Her securities were what had allowed her to take control of Universal Security Equipment, Inc... The director twisted a few knobs on the computer's controls. He'd better log this. They were getting close to the target. "And how did that company do?" he thought to himself. The company did well... For a time... While it was expanding, taking care of it filled Nabiki's vacant hours, and occupied her thoughts, which would otherwise be filled with depression and loss... Once it stabilised, however (and it stabilised SOON. Nabiki was too adept at business for her own good), it ceased to keep her busy, and she needed another project. Real estate... "Real estate? What real estate?" In response to the question, a fuzzy picture of about twenty Tokyo city blocks appeared on the computer screen. Nabiki held the deeds to all the land around the abandoned Tendo Dojo for a radius of two kilometres. She had bought these while the property was worthless, but as Nerima grew, it had transformed (as she had predicted all along, of course) into prime real estate. Even the Ono clinic/residence belonged to her, at least technically... When the doctor had run into some monetary difficulties, she had 'bought' the property off of him and covered its mortgage, leaving him with live-in rights, and everything, in fact, but actual ownership. "My, my... That was unusually kind of you, Ms. Tendo. You took control of his property, and didn't even kick him out on the street? Most kind." The comment made Nabiki frown, even in her delirious state. thought Tanaro. "I apologise for the interruption. Go on... You had plans for that land, did you not? Tell me about them..." Plans... Of course she had plans! Great ones... Nerima had a lot now. Lawyers, doctors, dentists and such found it an optimal area to set up their practices, but as of yet there wasn't much in the way of shopping malls, or recreational complexes... With the land she had, and the money from USE, she could build one... It would help everyone, make life more pleasant... But... "But?" Most of the land was no problem. Only Nabiki ever used the dojo, so demolishing it would not present a difficulty. As for the rest, in planning this she had allowed her tenants' leases to expire, then had refused to renew the contracts... No one lived there now, except... "Jonathan, take secondary notes. We're almost there." "Aye, Sire." The Tofu clinic, still booming, was right in the middle of the property. She had approached the couple (subtly, of course) about moving to a more luxurious location she would pay for, but they had refused, arguing that the clinic had always been their married home... It looked like the plan would have to be given up, but if she gave up... thought Tanaro, If she could find an excuse to demolish the place while they were gone, and then relocate them... It wouldn't harm them; she'd set them up in a beautiful condo... There wasn't a way, though. She couldn't destroy the property without their consent, or knowledge. "But you DID, didn't you? How, Nabiki? How did you do it?" In the chair, Nabiki shifted uncomfortably. "Tell me, Nabiki. It is important." She had... She had gotten an idea when she went to visit Ukyou in the Sanatorium... The poor girl had gone mad after giving birth to Ryouga's son... He reminded her too much of Ranma, and the fact that they'd been rivals... The nurse had been telling Nabiki about how the ex-okonomiyaki chef had demolished half the town in her insanity, using only a spatula... Then, she had commented on how they were fortunate it was the wife that had gone crazy, and not the husband... If Ryouga was ever _that_ depressed, his Shi Shi Houkodan or the 'Blasting Point Technique' would have probably inflicted a lot more damage. But Ryouga was still sane, wasn't he? "And the Blasting Point Technique reminded you of something at USE, did it not?" Ono hated to prompt, but the drugs would begin to wear off soon, and they had to be through by then... The Blasting Point Technique... At the security company, they would test new equipment by detonating small, government-approved bombs next to them in a desert area... Whenever she was present at one of those trials, Nabiki couldn't help but think of Ryouga's special attacks... The effects were nearly identical... On the screen, a picture of a bomb exploding, and the smoke clearing to reveal a spent Ryouga. "I see..." said the Director. "You intended to frame Ryouga for the destruction of the clinic?" Nabiki nodded. She would frame him, yes, but it was for the better good of Nerima... Besides, she could pay him back for any legal fees or bail charges after the profits started rolling in, and maybe even add a generous compensation bonus... "And how, exactly, did you manage this?" On the chair, Nabiki began to sweat. It had been all too easy... With his wife incarcerated, Ryouga had been an easy target for seduction. Nabiki smiled. The poor boy had been no match for her, when she tried to be appealing... One night was all she needed... She had the... 'genetic material' she had gathered cloned at the USE labs, until she had enough to legally place Hibiki at the blast site. The final touch was to fake a note, purportedly from Akane, blaming her suicide on her hatred of Ryouga. The director turned his eyes away from the monitor. These were pictures he did NOT want to see... "Oh, deity..." he muttered. He had known she was sick, but THIS... Nabiki had waited until a day when Dr. Tofu and Kasumi had scheduled a trip to the beach, then she had set the cloned material, bomb and letter in Akane's old room at the dojo. In the early afternoon, she detonated the explosive... But... She hadn't known... She hadn't... WHY? WHY? WHY did Kasumi have to come back? On the monitor, Kasumi returning for a forgotten item. Picnic basket? Beach towel? No one knew, and after the incident she was in no condition to tell... Then, a cycle of imagined pictures of 'oneechan' dying a thousand horrible deaths, as the walls of the clinic collapsed onto her, and the shock-wave burnt her flesh... Oh, deity. She hadn't known... When she found out, it was too much... To lose KASUMI. To lose her MOTHER, her FAMILY... She'd killed her... She'd... Nabiki began to cry. After doing such a thing, she could not allow herself to live. How would she, after destroying everything that she lived FOR? She settled on a suicide - via bomb; it was the only proper way. Before that, of course, she left her affairs in order. All outstanding debts were paid, a luxury condominium was signed over to Dr. Tofu and Bell, and ownership of USE was transferred to Ryouga Hibiki. Hopefully, its wealth would be enough of a compensation for having put him in his present unfortunate position... The director looked at the monitor. She HAD been thorough in settling her accounts, spiritually and otherwise... That was a problem... She had paid Ryouga back to the best of her ability, and submitted herself to the same fate she had put her sister through... "Sire, the drug are wearing off." Tanaro turned to face the attendant. "It doesn't matter. We have enough. In point of fact, wake her up completely. There's been a... development..." "Aye, Sire." He pulled another syringe out of the bag, and injected the sobbing Nabiki. She promptly stiffened up, and tried to mask her tears. "You know?" she asked. Ono nodded. "We know." "When is the execution? I would like it done as soon as possible, please." "Execution?" The director smiled. "I'm afraid not, Ms. Tendo. There will be no execution." "WHAT? But you said..." "We can't kill an innocent person, Ms. Tendo, no matter how vile they may be." "Innocent?!? I thought you'd seen... What I just... Didn't you say you could see what I was thinking?" Another nod. "We can. We did. You passed. You are not guilty, by your own moral code." "I don't understand..." "The crimes you were accused of were the incapacitation of Kasumi Tendo, and..." "Incapacitation?" Nabiki smirked. "I haven't heard THAT used as euphemism for death before. Just say I killed her." "Oh, but you didn't..." "WHAT?!?" "Not quite." Ono smiled. "She lived. For six moths, she lived. She was paralysed, blind, and mute, but her mind still worked, and she was kept alive through intravenous feeding." "Oh, deity..." She looked at herself, then Tanaro. "If that happened to Kasumi, why didn't you just bring HER back? Rebuild her, like you rebuilt ME. Why put me through all this, and let her die?" "Oh, we TRIED, my dear Ms. Tendo," said the director. "But thanks to her daughter, that was QUITE impossible." "Her daughter? Bell-chan?" "Yes. She couldn't stand seeing her mother in that position, so after half a year of visiting her every day, and seeing her just LIE there, she... Pulled the plug. Quite literally. Disconnected her from all the life-support equipment..." "Deity..." Nabiki cried. "I'm so sorry..." The director looked amused. "There seems to be an uncharacteristic amount of compassion in your voice," he said. "Could it be that you're actually WORRIED that the incident might have hurt her?" The woman nodded. "Don't worry. She got over THAT pretty quickly. Now, the cleaning fluid was another matter entirely..." "Cleaning fluid?" "To make sure no one would try to reconnect her, or keep her alive artificially, she injected her mother with a strong basic solution while the heart was still beating. I'm afraid the organs were QUITE unsalvageable after that... I suppose we could have duplicated most of the body, but as you well know, 'The brain cannot be cloned'..." "That can't be true!" "But it is, and I have photocopies of the psychiatrist's bills, and the court stenographer's notes to prove it." Tanaro noticed Nabiki's arched eyebrow. "Don't look so surprised! Of COURSE there had to be a trial. Fortunately, she opted for consistency, and was found completely innocent. In her pure heart, she found death to be a preferable fate for Kasumi than the living hell you'd sent her to." "I didn't know..." "Precisely. You didn't know. Invincible ignorance has been your saviour. By your own moral code, you took all necessary precautions, and would provide the Onos with ample compensation... You wronged Ryouga, yes, but transferring the ownership of USE paid him back in full, since it covered his bail and legal costs, AND left him and his descendants... How does the phrase go? 'Set for life'..." "What happens now?" "You live." "You realise, I'll only kill myself. I can't live in this world...Wouldn't YOU rather have the pleasure?" Director Ono's eyes twinkled. "Oh, so you'll kill yourself?" "Yes. As soon as you let me go, I will kill myself. If you try to rebuild me again, I will simply commit suicide a third time." Without warning, Tanaru slipped a small dagger out of his jacket and threw it straight at Nabiki's head. Unthinkingly, she plucked it out of the air with her thumb and forefinger. "What?!?" She could not understand... "I'm afraid, Ms. Tendo, that we can't afford to let you die... You will find that you now have a very well-developed self- preservation instinct... This, combined with your mechanical reflexes, leads to some interesting effects, as you have so kindly demonstrated." "If you were ready to kill me anyway, why do this?" "Come now, Ms. Tendo! If you'd been guilty, we'd have wanted to kill you OURSELVES, via the most painful, torturous mean your own imagination could devise. If you ended it all with just a relatively painless thrust of a knife, or something akin to it, that wouldn't do at ALL, now, would it? Never mind that, though. It still applies now that you've been found innocent. If you destroy yourself, how will you ever pay us back?" "PAY YOU BACK?!?!?!?" "Of course! You may be innocent of the crimes, but this is still a consistency court... In your first life, you never gave anything for free..." Nabiki glared at him. "Well.... Seldom... In any case, why should you expect US to give you a second chance, and not charge for it?" The woman sighed. "I admit I might have been a bit... persuasive at times," she said, "but I never sold anyone ANYTHING without their having asked for it, first. I _know_ I didn't ask for a resurrection, and my setting off that bomb should have made that abundantly clear, in any case." "Oh, no?" "No." "What if I told you that we could prove it otherwise?" "Huh?" The director reached into his jacket and pulled out a minidisc, then handed it to his assistant. "Jonathan? Play track 4730." He turned to Nabiki. "That disc has the mnemonic information we recorded while you were unconscious." Jonathan took the disc, and slipped it into the appropriate slot on the main computer terminal. "You're bluffing," said Nabiki. "Wait and see." The screen came to life once more. This time, a red-haired girl wearing a yellow shirt and a bow-tie was sailing through the air. As soon as she landed, a young Nabiki poured hot water onto her from a tin kettle, promptly turning the girl into a black-haired, pig-tailed boy. "Hey, watch it!" said Ranma. "I figure two thousand yen should cover it," said Nabiki. "Stop the recording, Jonathan. That's all we need." "Yes, Sire. That morph... was that?" "We have already discussed this. If you value your safety and your solvency, you will keep quiet." "Hai." "What do you say NOW, Ms Tendo?" said Tanaro, once again turning towards her. "If I hadn't done that, Shampoo would've killed him," she said. "It was pretty clear that he would've asked for the water, if he could've. Besides, he paid me for it voluntarily. Eventually." "Well, then," smiled the director. "We seem to be in agreement. If WE hadn't done what WE did, you would have remained dead, and you clearly want to live..." "Just a minute!" exclaimed the woman. "I think that my suicide kind of shows that I DON'T want to live. I STILL didn't ask for this, and you STILL don't have a legal claim. There is no WAY you can hold me here. Good day!" She turned to leave. "You're absolutely right, Ms Tendo," said the director. "Huh? I... I am???" "If it is clear that you indeed wished to die, then we cannot keep you here against your will. However, I don't think you'll want to leave without your WALLET." "My wallet?" "We found it at the blast site, and kept it for you." "Thanks. I think." Tanaro pulled a small leather item from his trouser pocket, and deliberately dropped a slip of paper from it onto the floor as he handed it to Nabiki. "Oh, dear," he said. "How clumsy of me. Now, I wonder what THAT could be?" He picked up the paper. "Hmm... Seems to be a life preservation card..." "What?!?" No. It couldn't be. Could it? Nabiki snatched the piece of carboard from the man. It was. "All right, I suppose you can keep it, if you like. We have plenty of copies, and I have the main text memorised, in any case. Let's see... How did it go?" A pause. "I, Nabiki Tendo, hereby declare that if there should come a time when I am unable to use my reasoning faculties, I am to be kept alive for as long as is medically possible, using whatever means are necessary. I forget the exact date and place of signing, I'm afraid. Am I right?" Nabiki nodded. That was it, verbatim. With the organ-donation queues as long as they were, it was five to one against that the medical ghouls would pull the plug on you too soon, just to recycle your body. She'd thought it best to fill this out, just in case... Deity, what irony. "So, you see, Ms. Tendo, the evidence closest to the time of your 'accident' suggests that you wished to live, regardless of what you may now believe, and hence you are in debt to us for services rendered." Nabiki sighed. "Point taken," she said. "How, exactly, am I supposed to pay? I _did_ sign over my company to Ryouga, after all..." "That you did. In fact, the Hibikis are now one of the richest, and most respected, families in Japan... But, don't worry... We've found a way... You will work for us." "Work? What kind of work?" "Not the kind you'll enjoy, I'm afraid... Onocorp has no need for financiers, deity knows we have enough of them... Instead, you'll be working for the Kuno foundation, as part of the government of Nerima." "Which part?" "The computer control centre." "But... I don't really know how to handle a computer..." "I don't think you understand, Ms. Tendo. You will BE the computer control centre." "WHAT?!?!?" "Your cerebral bionics, added to your natural intelligence, make you perfect for the job. You'll be hooked up to the main computer system, just like you were hooked up to this computer," he waved at the monitor, "and with a little conscious effort, you'll take care of everything from traffic lights to food supplies." "That's insane! How will I keep track of it? And I'll need time to eat, and sleep, and..." The director interrupted. "Don't worry. We have others in roughly the same position, and they all do an admirable job... As for eating and sleeping, well, you'll get the minimum government requirement, but that's only to comply with regulations... Thanks to your modifications, you don't really need to sleep, though you can, if you like, and eating shouldn't take up more than half an hour a day." "Minimum government requirement?" "You'll work for us sixteen hours a day, six days a week." "I take it there's nothing I can do about it." "Absolutely nothing." "When do I start?" "Today is Friday, so we will give you tomorrow off. Let Saturday be your rest day." "What about accommodations? Lodging?" "Don't worry... All that was taken care of long ago." Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "We _did_ prepare for this eventuality, Ms. Tendo. Remember; none of us alive now knew you personally; we had no idea what your moral code was like... Congratulations. You're sicker than I gave you credit for." "Thanks. I think..." "Oh, yes... One more thing before I let you go." "Hm?" "Your name." "Tendo Nabiki." "Exactly. You can't use that anymore." "Why not?" "To the world at large, she's been dead for eighty years. Plus, your little antics left quite a stain on that name..." "Then what..." "You will now be known as Perdita." "Perdita?" "Latin. Feminine for 'Lost One'." Nabiki gave him one of her patented 'looks'. "You _must_ be joking. There is _no_ way I am being called 'Lost One' in Latin. I'm a TENDO, not a HIBIKI." "Too late. You're already registered." He turned to the attendant. "Jonathan? Take Perdita to her quarters." "Aye, Sire." "And, brief her on her new stats, will you? Birth date, parentage, and so on..." "As you will, Sire." With that, Jonathan unhooked Nabiki from the terminal, replaced her head panel, unstrapped her and led her out the door. Tanaru Ono was satisfied. Perhaps, he thought, perhaps it was BETTER, after all, that she had been found innocent. It seemed to him that she CRAVED death; that she couldn't stand to face the consequences of her actions. To Live... Now, THERE was her worst nightmare. To be alive in a world where she had killed her sister... Not only that, but one she thought of as a second mother... He shook his head. It was poetic justice that she would now know more about that very part of the world that so concerned her, thanks to her new- found employment... A smile. Nabiki Tendo... Pardon. PERDITA had paid in full. Whistling airs from Beethoven's ninth, the director smoothed his jacket and went out the door. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Epilogue: Nerima Graveyard December 15, 2095 - Saturday, 6:42 PM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Nabiki walked up the dirt path to the hilltop, dressed in black, and with a thick veil hiding her face. Soon, she was in sight of the marble slab that marked the Tendo tomb. The cemetery's artificial lights were designed to be discrete, but their pinpoints of blue gave an eerie effect, and made it difficult for even her mechanical eyes to read the inscriptions on the plaque before the marker. Nabiki shivered, and it wasn't from the evening winter breeze. she thought. She'd checked the records beforehand, so she knew what to expect, but her mind wasn't quite strong enough yet to face the fact concretely. Not strong enough, by far. Besides... Someone else was at the graveside. A woman? Yes... That much she could tell from the chest... But the black, and the dark, made little else distinguishable. Probably some descendant of Kasumi's... She was fooling herself. Of course she was going to. She thought of little else. Her crime, her family, and death were all that occupied her mind, roughly in that order. The figure stood, then turned and walked towards the exit gate. With a deep breath of cold air, she gathered resolution and went towards the memorial. Once there, she knelt before the stone, and looked at the names inscribed on it. She ran her fingers lightly over the indentations in the marble. The fingers of her organic hand. The first name was her mother's. Then came Akane's, Daddy's, and before Kasumi's... Her own. She had no right to be there, next to them. No right at all. She'd outlived them, though they were the ones who deserved life; not she. It wasn't fair! They'd left, and she'd stayed. Now she was alone, confused, and lost. Lost. Nabiki laughed bitterly. Perhaps the name the foundation had chosen for her wasn't THAT inappropriate, after all. Perdita. "Lost one". Fitting. She might not scrap it QUITE as soon as she'd first planned... The night birds were beginning to sing their songs, and the barking of dogs and noise of catfights was gradually replacing the whirr of the hovercars. The sky was dark; thick clouds made sure that even the full moon could not be seen. It was time to leave. The atmosphere and memories were getting to her. Better do what she'd come for, and go back to the hospice. She reached into her robe, pulling out a bundle of incense sticks and a minilight. Hands shaking, she separated one of them from the rest, then carefully heated it. In seconds, the dull red rod began to glow, letting off grey-blue smoke which curled upwards, fading abruptly into the surrounding darkness. Even when one could tell the chemical composition of the soot at a glance, or the temperature of the flame, it was still a touching sight. Tears flowing liberally, she set the offering down next to Akane's name. It was with some some surprise that she noticed the flower left by an earlier visitor. A cloned rose - in black, and still fresh. She allowed herself to smile. At least SOMEONE in this future world still remembered... No more. She had to stop living in the past, and begin to think of her future. Nabiki was dead and buried; she had been reborn, whether she liked it or not, and it was best that she remember that hers was now a different life from the one she'd left. With a sigh, Perdita stood and trudged back to the main path through the neatly-cut grass, pausing only briefly to note with disgust that the Saotome tomb was mere inches away from her family's. She started on the trail, and headed home. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- End Side Story -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *[Author's note: This is a brief description of a non-fanfic series of mine, which I'm hoping to tie into my R2096 universe with this story.] ======================================================================= A while ago, someone else did this... I thought it was a neat idea, so here goes... This is a list of the music I listened to while writing the gamma: (along with some extra quotes... They seemed so influential to my writing, that I couldn't bear to leave them out...) * Alan Menken's musical version of "A Christmas Carol" RoboNabs: ["Lead me to the future, / I don't know what hells await me, / but I know I have to go there to return! / Tear me into shreds and re-create me! / Tell me that it's not too late to learn! / I can feel the shiver / of a shadow passing over / And I have a premoniton it's for me! / Lead me to the future! / Show me everything I'm terrified to see!"] * Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and "Night on Bald Mountain" * Danny Elfman's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" * Highlights from Mussorgsky's opera, "Boris Gudonov" (If you haven't heard it, do so! It's dark, but beautiful...) * Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades" * Philip Glass's opera, "La Belle et la Bete" (this might as well be the R2096 soundtrack... I listen to it continuously while I write the eps...) * Philip Glass's "Itaipu" * Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" * "Classics from the Crypt", an RCA Victor anthology * "The Secret Garden" - Original Broadway Cast Album Tofu:["Someone's died, and someone's left alone, and can't abide it..."] Tofu:["Where in the world, tell me, where in the world, / can I live without your love? / Where on the earth, tell me where on the earth, / can I stay now that you are gone?"] RoboNabs: ["And then I longed to join them / Know the peace they feel, / Then I woke once more / Without them / Knew I must wander on and on."] * "Les Miserables" - Original Broadway cast Recording Hopefully, this will help explain the tone of the story... ^_^ And now, for the full acknowledgements... (If I miss anyone out, please tell me.... I'm pulling all this info out of the file in which I've saved all the AWT C&C emails...) Credit goes to Charles K. Hurst for raising the question of why Nabiki wasn't recreated, instead of Nabiki. This led to having the situation she was in be so painful that Bell-chan, their daughter, decided on definitive euthanasia rather than see her mother stay in that state. (Remember, even in 2096, nerve tissue can't be regenerated, so she would have been at LEAST slightly crippled, even with all the medical advancements...) Wayne Pillion inquired as to the how and whys of Nabiki's resurrection, asking who would have had the interest, means, and money in 2025 to put her back together again (or keep her in storage until the appropriate technology was developed). He also asked about Kuno-sensei. To clear this up, YES, Kuno is a national hero. In fact, he's a GLOBAL hero. His efforts brought world peace, standardised Consistency trials as the method of justice favoured internationally, and renovated the Japanese government. Thanks to him, I inserted that minor change, clearing up the fact that Onocorp and the KF are two separate entities, though they ARE run by the same person (a fact which, it'll be revealed, is known to very few...) Many others contributed with minor corrections, and I am indebted to Mike Koos and Marisa Price for their constant encouragement. In addition, Monsieur Koos has also been kind enough to create, scan, and e-mail to me what have become the definitive character sketches for Childra, Kim and Ratiko. Many thanks!