____ ___ _ ___ / | \ | \ /\ | | /\ /\ | \ / /\ | \ | \ . | \ | |. / \_/ \ | \ \ / \ | __ \ | _ \ | | | | | | | _ \ /\ \/ / | | \ \ | | \ \ .| | | |.| | | | \ \ / \ \ / | | / / | |__\ | | | \| | | |\ /| |.| |__\ |/ /\ \/ | | / / | | | |\ | |.| | | |.| | | |\ / \ | |/ / .| ___ |.| |.| |.| |.| | | | | ___ /\ \/ / | |\ \ | | .| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| | ./ |\ / | | \ \ .| | | |.| |..\ |.| |.| |.| | | | /| | \ |_|. \__\ |_|. .|_|.|_|...\/..|_|.|_|.|_|.|_|. \|_| \ /\ \ / 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]. ======================================================================== Interlude: Little Reiraku *ALPHA* ======================================================================== [Note: I reccomend reading 'The R-Files, Vol I: Reiraku' (recently posted to the ML) before starting this story. If you do, this'll make a lot more sense. ^_^] If you want to catch up on the story, or see pictures of the characters, the Ranma 2096 home page can be found at: http://qlink.queensu.ca/~4cw6/2096a.htm (NOT .html) Foxtrot was prodding me for another R2096 story, so here it is! Enjoy, all! -CW This story is dedicated to Foxtrot, for whom it was specifically written. ======================================================================== [Tokyo, 2080] ======================================================================== "Enjoy your day, Master Hibiki." "I will!" shouted Reiraku, as he grabbed his satchel, sprang from the car's back seat and bolted towards the playground. He was oblivious to the fact that the vehicle whose paint he'd just chipped was a vintage luxury model (a REAL automobile; not a hovercar), or that the person he'd just so casually dismissed was a private chauffer earning more than all his teachers put together. All that his six-year-old mind could focus on was that, at least for the next eight hours, he was FREE. The teachers might make him do work, but that was fun... Their stories would take him all over the world (he'd often suprise them by telling them how many of those sites he'd actually BEEN at), and even the math, and the words... Even those were better than... It just didn't FEEL right. Since obaasan had moved in, everything was much DARKER, much more SERIOUS. Okaasan would sit around, and look sad, and stare at him, and she would hold him anymore, and she'd warn him, not ask him about school, and... and... And then there was chichi. He'd just ignore everyone, and keep his head in those books of his. Okaasan, otaasan, they BOTH paid attention to him. ALL the time. Just not in the right way; in the way they had before. He felt like one of the animals on the road that get hit and then everyone goes out during recess to see them. It was the same. You look at them, you talk about them, you poke it, but you never talk TO it, 'cause it's dead, and dead things don't answer, and they're cold, and... "Reiraku! Over here!" Toshi. The black-haired boy grinned. He was always good for a laugh. "Konnichiwa, Toshi!" He tossed his bookbag aside and sprinted to meet his friend. "Whaddya have planned today? Another turtle?" "Nah. I think I'll stay quiet a while. Miss Ika's STILL angry 'bout the last time." "Then whaddya call me for?" Reiraku grinned and punched his friend in the shoulder. "Actually," said Toshi, adjusting his glasses. "I *DO* have somethin' to... Well... It's not ME..." His eyes got THAT look. It meant trouble for someone, and right now it seemed to the Hibiki that he was the target. "Not YOU?" Was that a smirk or a smile? "BATYA wanted to talk to you." "BATYA?!? But... She's... She's a... I mean... I never... I can't..." A short pony-tailed figure stepped out from behind a tree. "Girl?" she asked. "A... G... Gi... Gir... I... uh... ah..." Now he was SURE it was a smile. A BIG one. "Go on, Batya. I got 'im ready. You finish the deal." "Deal? But I... I..." The FEMALE walked up to him. And hugged him. Reiraku felt a trickle of blood run down his cheek, and then nothing at all, as he fainted. * * * * * "Told ya he'd do a nosebleed AND a faint. You owe me a lollipop, Toshi." "C'mon, Yuko! I got the fainting part right!" "It was all or nothin', sweetums. An' Batya gets her cut, too." "I thought she was doing this because she lost that OTHER bet to you!" "Hey; even SHE needs to be rewarded for doin' somethin' THAT disgustin'." "How much?" "Three biscuit sticks. The strawberry-coated kind. I think she's allergic to chocolate." "Aaaaaaaaaawww..." Reiraku slowly rose from his involuntary sleep. He mustn't have been out for long... Looked like school still hadn't started... And those voices. Figured. Of COURSE Kurenai Yuko would be involved in this. Let ONE tiny thing about yourself slip, let ONE tiny rumour slip out on the jungle gym, and she'd take profit of it, you could be sure. Funnily enough, she was the only g... The only non-boy he DIDN'T have trouble with. Probably 'cause she acted so tomboyish-like. "He's awake." A scowl was his answer. "I think he's mad," said Toshi. "It's not like he wasn't EXPECTING it. Geeze, even the NURSE had a call from 'is parents to warn 'er 'bout it. Right, 'Raku?" Silence. "Oh, well. Time for school, anyway. You've made at least one GIRL very happy, Hibiki." She waved her lollipop proudly. "And after today, you'll have tons more giggling. For WEEKS." Yuko was lucky he didn't hit girls. Especially girls who were hree years older than he was, and trained in karate. If it weren't for that, she'd be in trouble. The school bell rang. Toshi grabbed him by the arm, to pull him up, and let go with a yelp. "Somethin' wrong?" asked Kurenai. "He's HOT again." "When he gets steamed up, he's not kiddin'... Otta be a law 'bout runnin' fevers that high." "I'm FINE." "Sure you are. Anyway.... Just be sure to calm down before you get to class, 'kay? Unless you WANT to be sent to the infirmary. You know who they have as helpers THERE all the time." "Nani?" "Sure. An' they get to look you over REAL carefully. They'll take your pulse, and your heartbeat, and..." There was a barely audible 'pop' in the middle of his face, and a slight crimson streak streamed down to his upper lip. "Knew it." "You're cruel, Yuko." Toshi pushed his glasses back up and put his hand to Reiraku's forehead. "An' you're only makin' him hotter." "That's none of MY business. I already HAVE my lollipop." She winked, and then darted off to the higher years' section of the school. The monitor strolled up. "You're going to be late for Assembly, young men." "I.. Uh..." "Move. NOW." Hands on her hips. That meant business. "Hai, sensei!" the two boys said in unison. Reiraku pulled himself up and dusted off his clothes as best he could, picked up his satchel and ran to the meeting hall. "Wait up!" shouted his companion. At least he had THAT going for him. No matter how much they teased 'im, he was the fastest runner in the first five years. Which came in awful handy a lot of the time. * * * * * Not bad, so far. Boring, but not bad. The Assembly had dragged on like all the others... An oath of allegiance to the principles of the Global Saviour, then singing that 'Hymn to Sacrifice', an' finally Tendo Memorial's own school song. That one was nice. The girls were starin' at him the WHOLE time, but he didn't let it bother him. He blushed a little, ok, but that was IT. Nothing else. Really. As for class... It was geography. Usually, his favorite, but today they were just talkin' bout all these different places in Japan, and he'd BEEN to most of them already. Osaka, Yokohama... "So, Reiraku," started the teacher. Again. "You've been THERE, as WELL?" "Told ya. Many times. There's this ramen stand in the middle of a park, and..." "On a trip with your parents?" "Nah. I usually get there when I'm at someone else's house an' I look for the bathroom." The whole of the classroom giggled. Why'd they never BELIEVE him? It's not like he MEANT to end up in all those places... "I've told you time and time again, young man," said his teacher, now sporting an angry look, "That it is MOST improper to lie in that fashion. Regardless of whether you ARE a HIBIKI or not, I'm afraid I'll have to..." A knock at the door. Fuman-sensei cleared his throat and opened it. "Yes?" he asked the visitor, who was invisible to the class. During a brief, inaudible exchange, the teacher paled by several shades. "Yes. Of COURSE I will. No... No problem at all..." He turned back to his pupils. "Reiraku? It's your mother. She needs to take you for another blood test." * * * * * The hovercar ride was silent. Reiraku was buried against the soft leather of the back seat, keeping himself busy by playing with his thumbs, while his mother kept her eyes firmly on the road, her thin brown hair never swaying, never moving, just staying still. She only spoke once, when they reached a red light. "You WILL remember your training," she intoned, not looking back at him. "Hai, okaasama." "You have STUDIED for this test. I have prepared you. You must not fail." A pause, as she shifted gears. "You must be STRONG, Reiraku." Every syllable of his name was pronounced crisply and clearly; it gave him the same feeling he got when he bit into celery straight out of the fridge. When okaasan said it, it never sounded like a name; more like a promise. "I... I'll be strong, okaasan." "Good." "The automobile started up again, and threaded its terrestrial way through the rows of slowly-moving hovercars. At the clinic, the doors opened for them automatically. He'd often asked why he couldn't be taken with a regular hospital, but the only answer he'd ever gotten from any adult was a cold glare. It only took a few of THOSE to teach him that it was better to stay silent, and not make too many questions. ESPECIALLY to obaasan. "So glad to see you, Penelope." Ono-oji-san was there to meet them. "The kid's already been poked this month, Tanaro. Why the second test?" "We... Need to ascertain certain things, and..." "And Kyoofu's up to his looney ideas again, isn't he?" "Penelope!" "ENOUGH, ANI! Everyone KNOWS he has you tied around his little finger; if he asked you to bark like a dog, you'd be in the pound the next day." It was always like this. Whenever he came, the two would fight, saying words he didn't want to hear, and arguing about things he didn't understand. "Gosunkugi has kept this company together for this long, imooto." Oji-san calmly cleared his throat and smoothed his blue-grey suit. "If it weren't for him, Onocorp would...." "Onocorp is no longer my concern. I'm a HIBIKI now." "Oh, no?" Oji-san smiled, and ruffled Reiraku's hair. "I'm not doing this for Onocorp." "Just for the Onos? To serve one is to please the other." "Gosunkugi's in his seventies. How can you still think that that.. That that withered... That prune... How could you think that he's still..." A light came on down the hall. "Ah," said Tanaro. "I see Sakuin is ready for us." She was. Light reflected from the perfectly polished white walls of the room, making it impossible to make out most details, but SHE was one thing that Reiraku could see in PERFECT clarity. She wore a surgeon's pastel green gown, cap and mask. White latex gloves and thick-lensed goggles covered the rest of her human features, with the exception of a bun of wispy black hair sticking out in the back. She was eerie; supernatural. She never spoke, and merely did what she was told, silently, efficiently, without complaint... When they walked in, she took the boy by the shoulders and propped him onto a metal chair, then placed restraining straps around his arms and legs. "You don't have to lock him in." "We do, after the last time. When it comes to enduring pain, your child has proven QUITE the disappointment." Today, he wouldn't fail them. He'd had training. He knew what to do. It wouldn't hurt. It COULDN'T. That didn't mean he couldn't fear it. Sakuin opened a chest of drawers, the same type found all over the clinic, and searched through its contents, finally plucking from the frame a long, silvered tube. "Tanaro! That's not a syringe! What are you going to?!?" Oji-san put his right hand on his mother's shoulder, and his left over her mouth. Reiraku remembered this device. He remembered it well. The boy began to scream. Penelope tore away from her brother's grip and hunched over her son. "Don't... Don't make a sound... Be quiet, or..." "If the boy can't even stand the SIGHT of the sample collector, how is he EVER going to accomplish his primary goal, imooto?" "He'll go through with it," she said to him, then whispered to Reiraku, "You MUST be strong. For both our sakes. And obaasan's." Obaasan... To upset her would be bad. On the best of days, she was grim, and uncaring, and scary. When she was upset... "I'll try, okaasan." "Good..." "Let Sakuin do her work, Penelope." She moved back, somewhat reluctantly, and watched as the attendant finished the sterilisation of the instrument. That done, she wiped the target area on Reiraku's arm with an alcohol swab, and pressed the machine to the site. A trigger was pulled, and he could feel the metallic claw digging into his flesh, ripping out a chunk of meat, and vein, and blood. He grit his teeth, and closed his eyes, but did not make a sound. Okaasan's eyes widened as she looked at the resulting wound. "You MONSTER! What did you do?!?" "This is an advanced test. We needed a segment of one of his main veins, along with blood, lymph and meat." "DO SOMETHING! He'll BLEED to death!" Tanaro smirked. "He'll have to heal from a lot worse than this before we're through with him." Sakuin ignored the commotion, and merely placed the sample into the appropriate test tube, using a tongue depressor to get every last bit off the collection claw. "You can't just LEAVE him like that!" Penelope undid her scarf, preparing to tourniquette the site. "No need to get that dirty. Sakuin! Tend to the boy!" The green-clad robot (she wasn't human, no matter WHAT they asked him to believe), nodded, and placed a patch of medicated Nu-skin on the target area. "That should do it... Now... Now we'll have to ask you to leave." "WHAT?!?" "We have to conduct more tests. Alone." "Tanaro!" "Listen to him. You are not needed here. Or wanted." A new voice. An old man had walked into the room, supporting his wizened, white-haired frame on two wooden canes. He'd seen him once or twice before. Ono oji-san bowed. "Gosunkugi-san." "It's Kyoofu to you, Tanaro. We work closely enough for that." "Hai, Kyoofu-san." The old man turned his wrinkled face to okaasan. "We regret this, Madame Hibiki, but we really CANNOT let you stay." "Why not? I have alpha plus clearance." "For Project R." "Yes. For project R. And I want to stay with my Reiraku." "We will be dealing with things OTHER than project R." A pause. "NANI?" "I have already said too much. You must leave, HIBIKI-san. If you choose to disobey me, I will be forced to call in security." He grinned, looking for all the world like one of the skulls in the science classroom. "And you KNOW how good a job the KF does of that." "Why can't okaasan stay?" No one answered. They just stared at each other. Okaasan at Kyoofu, Ono oji-san at okaasan, and Sakuin at empty space. "I'll go," his mother said finally, then turned to her brother. "With HIM in the room, I _know_ you won't listen to me. I am your sister. Perhaps he is MORE to you?" Oji-san's face was made of stone. "We'll deliver the child to the mansion this evening," said Tanaro. "You need worry about nothing." * * * * * Once his mother had left, they'd taken him into a different room, with yet ANOTHER metal chair. This time, they'd attached tubes and wires to his head, arms, and chest. He didn't complain. He had to be STRONG. Okaasan was gone, and he had to show them that he COULD stand it, that he WOULDN'T be in pain. The needles dug in all around him, and they stung, but he didn't tell them. He couldn't let them know. "Sedate him. No use having the muscles tensed when we're trying to get a reading." "Hai." He felt a cool liquid enter his right arm, and branch out towards the rest of his body. As it was warmed by his hot blood, the frigidity that left it rose to his head, making him dizzy, and sleepy, and... He felt nothing now. No pain, no touch. Nothing. Floating... Kind of dizzy... Movement around him, but not quite registering... Who? "Sakuin; check the acupuncture pathways." "Onscreen." "Compare with SABLE." "Running comparison check." Voices. He knew them from somewhere... From someplace... Was there any place but here? "Strength peak as expected, R-zero SE-one point oh increase." "And the others?" "Ki channeling reversed, R-two point five increase, SE-point nine decrease." "I don't see why we keep this first one, Tanaro." "He is my sister's son, and Tofu-sama's..." "I know all that! I WORKED with your grandfather, but Project R is a FAILURE!" "He can still accomplish what he was made to do." "Not likely." "Wait and see." "I HAVE waited, for SIX years. All I see is a snivelling nosebleed of a boy who can't go to bed by himself without getting lost!" "He was never designed for your purposes, Kyoofu. All he needed were the ki-peaks, and in THAT the project has succeeded admirably." "What good are those, with all his OTHER disabilities?" The white blur swung up a cane. "They are good enough for the goal of the project." A brief pause. "I'll be handing Onocorp to you soon, Tanaro. I don't have a choice. If you wish to waste your time with this... With this... With this half-formed mistake, go ahead." The voice grew deeper. "Just remember to pay equal attention to the more IMPORTANT aspects of your work." The words hit, but did not register. The fluid that'd gone into him coated his mind with a teflon shield, letting everything slide off, unprocessed, leaving no impression. Just as well. The part of Reiraku that DID understand, that DID have a clue as to what was happening, did not WANT to know. And so, it forgot, gave up, and sent the whole into a long, deep, dreamless sleep. He was secure. He had not failed his mother. He had not shown his weakness. He had felt pain, but he had buried it. If no one could see it, it did not matter that it hurt. * * * * * They took him back home in time for dinner, before the drugs had completely worn off. He sat in a haze, mechanically eating the creamed salmon soup and spiced chicken breast, but it did not matter that he did not speak. His mother did not, and neither did his father. Okaasan simply looked at him, eyes full of tears, all during supper. He tried to ask her why, many times, but just as he'd make up his mind to do it, the butler would come over, and refill his glass of juice, and that would spoil his concentration, and he'd forget, and things would spin around him, and... Chichi was no better. He just kept his nose stuck in that book of his all the time, and didn't notice ANYTHING. At least obaasan wasn't there. Not then. Not yet. She was, however, at his side when he was ready to be tucked into his bed. "Your mother's had a difficult day, today..." she said, in a shaky, yet powerful voice. "Do you know why, Reiraku?" She was the only one who pronounced his name more distinctly than okaasan. The boy nodded. "Of course you do. It is because she is AFRAID. She is afraid that you will not be STRONG. But you WILL be strong, won't you?" She pulled the covers to his chin, and the thumb out of his mouth. "I will be, obaasan." He'd say ANYTHING, agree to ANY terms, to have her leave him. She never hurt him... Not THAT... But it was WORSE. The way she LOOKED at him, the way she SPOKE to him, like a snake talking to a mouse, and asking it to help her... "You know what happens if you are not." Here it came. Every night, she reminded him, and every night, he dreaded it. "She'll come." "WHO'LL come, Reiraku?" "P... Perdita will come." "And she'll take you away, and eat you, and throw your bones to the dogs, just like she did to your great-grandmother." "NO!" "Unless you are strong." "I will be strong." "You MUST be, to fight her." "I... I can run away..." "She'll catch up to you, no matter WHERE you go, or how fast you run, little one." "I'll KILL her! I'll destroy her!" Perdita would NEVER get to him. If he couldn't escape her, he'd.. "You will not." "Why not, obaasan?" "She will come to you, in time, as she did to me, and to my mother. And, she will try to ruin your life, BEFORE she kills you. THAT is worse. Once you are dead, nothing hurts." Nothing hurts when you are dead. Or does it? No one can tell. No one speaks to dead things, because dead things don't answer. And even if they hurt... If no one else can SEE the pain, it does not matter. Then, the dead are strong? "What must I do?" "You must make HER suffer, child. You must make sure she feels the pain that she has caused the others of your line; and yet you must PRESERVE her life. She cannot be allowed to escape THAT easily. The guilty MUST be punished." "The guilty must be punished..." Reiraku repeated the phrase like a prayer. The guilty cause pain... But... Kyoofu... And Sakuin... They caused pain... Must they be punished, also? "Where is she now?" "She is hiding, but she will come for you, in due course. You can be sure of that." "I will be strong, obaasan." "I know you will, Reiraku. I KNOW you will. Never forget who you are; a Hibiki of the Ono's lineage. Let Perdita know your name. When you meet her, let her know its meaning. You are Reiraku; 'Downfall'. You are HER Downfall." "HER downfall." Her voice assumed a snappier, more commanding tone. "And remember! Never forget this! You must NEVER falter, or she will come for you, with her glowing eyes, and sharpened teeth, and tear you into pieces! You must be ALWAYS strong, or she will come BEFORE you are ready for her!" "I *AM* ready!" He could take her on. He could punish her. He could be strong. Obaasan smiled. "In spirit, at least." She lowered her aged head and kissed him on the forehead, sealing their compact. "Good night, little one. Remember what I have said." "I will..." said the black-haired boy, and drifted into sleep. * * * * * END * * * * *