Okay, here is the story some of you have been waiting for.  This is the
sequel to the teaser "Cracked Foundations" I sent to the FFML a little
while back.  If anyone needs a copy of this, I can forward one to them.  
PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
Cracked Foundations
Part One (Rough Draft)(Comments wanted)

	Koremoto Kusanagi stood at the top of the platform, overlooking the entire
operation.  He was rather proud of the installation he had been put in
charge of.  It was just the break he had been waiting for.  After repeated
failed attempts to gain backing in any way for his research, he had finally
found the help he required.  
 	The Daikotabuji Financial Group had been very responsive to his work.  It
only took an hour to sell them on it.  Piece of cake, as he liked to say. 
Now, he could just relax as his life's dream was played out before him.
	Bioengineering was a youthful art, having been around less than a century.
 He was on the leading edge in the field, not so impressive given the small
amount of people actually in the field.  However, he was proud of himself,
for what he had done, and what he hoped to do.  He was on the border of
something amazing, something that would change the world as we all knew it.
	
	"Kusanagi!"  Cried one of the lab personnel.  A one Katsuragi Akira if I
wasn't mistaken.
	I turned to the young man, quite ready for any problem that may have
arisen.  At least, I thought I was ready.  "Yes?"  I asked him with as much
authority as I could muster.  Not very impressive, actually.  It's hard to
seem larger than a person who is, in reality, older than you.
	"Well, it seems there's a big problem brewing down in RC-27."  He
explained, a little worry seeping into his voice.
	Okay, this was bad.  The Reaction Chambers were the most delicate parts of
my operation.  If even one broke down, the results could be catastrophic. 
 	I instantly broke into a run, Akira right on my tail.  We bolted down the
stairwell at speeds that would be considered dangerous.  However, I was a
man on a mission.  Nothing was going to keep me from my goal.  
	Or so I thought.  About ten meters from the RC, I stumbled on a wire. 
Something that would be completely harmless, if not hilarious on a normal
day, was devastating in a situation such as this.  
	My error in judgment cost the lives of fourteen crew members.  The
Reaction Chambers went after that, one by one.  Huge balls of gas, of all
kinds, spread about the area.  Some deadly, some harmless, and some... some
could have interesting effects.
	The mess that Akira and myself got caught up in was a new project I had
just begun.  It was an experiment in Genetics that shouldn't have been
ready for testing for years, if not decades.  
	Well, Akira and I, it seemed, were to be premature test subjects.  I can't
quite explain how it felt, but it was as if my body was being torn asunder.
 In other words, it hurt like all hell.
	I tried to see what was going on around me, but my world was just pain. 
There was just my mind, on fire, ready to break free at any moment. 
However, just as I thought I would give up, everything returned to normal.
	I use the term 'normal' very loosely.  In fact, things couldn't really be
any worse.  The first thing my eyes fell on was Akira.  I won't even go
into any detail about him, rest his soul.
	The next thing I noticed was how calm the lab seemed.  The explosions
weren't violent by any means, so there was little structural damage at all.
 Mostly, just some holes here and there in pipes and containers.  People
were laying about on the floor, unmoving and hopefully unfeeling.  For some
of the chemicals had unusual effects on them.  
	Let's just say I was rather glad most didn't survive.  I tried to bring up
anything in the computer to explain what just happened.  It seemed there
was a violent reaction in one of the chambers while the safeties were off,
due to removal of materials.  After the explosion, the Automatic
Containment and Removal System kicked in, thus saving my sorry butt.
	Speaking of my butt, I soon found out that it was not the one I was born
with.  It seemed that the prototype experiment in the cloud that assaulted
me had a very peculiar effect on my physiology.  In short, it turned me
into a woman.  Took me about an hour just to believe it myself.  Might have
taken longer if I wasn't the one who invented what was in that tank to
begin with.  First thing I pledged was to never make that again.  To this
day I'm not sure why Akira reacted so violently to it.  Must have been
rejected by his system or something.
	After the police got through with me.  Which was a bear, I can tell you. 
How does one explain oneself when one is now a different gender than one
woke up as?  Just take my word for it, it's hard.
	Yet, the police ended up being the easy part.  The really trying time came
when my family and friends found out.  I didn't realize how stuck up my
folks were till then.  My mother promptly disowned me, as if all those
years of being proud of her son were all lies.  
	Her 'son'.  That's what it all came down to.  They just couldn't accept
me, because I was no longer, in their eyes, their son.   I was a freak
pretending to be their son.
	Rejected, I tried to confront my friends.  It was a lost cause.  I was no
longer able to hang with the guys, since I wasn't a guy anymore.  They
tried to get used to it, they were good friends.  However, in the end, it
was too much for them.  I can't really blame them, I would have had the
same problem probably.
	The next day was filled with even more grief.  That was the day I had to
confront Makoto, my fiancee.  Beautiful though she was, flexible she was
not.  She simply refused to believe I was her Kusanagi.  I was unwelcome in
her home, or anywhere near her if she noticed me.
	This was the last straw for me.  Dejected and defeated I wandered through
the night, not sure of where I was going.  I couldn't go back to the hotel,
it was too expensive.  I had nowhere to go.  So, I went to the place where
all people who don't have anywhere to go, go.
	
	"Here."  Ranma states with a knowing voice.
	I nod slowly, my head protesting the action with a very loud voice.  I
never drink this much, and I now know why.
	"Well, as much as I sympathize with you my friend.  I'm afraid we're in
the same boat."
	Confused, and not quite sure I heard correctly, I turn a questioning
glance to my red hared companion.
	She looks at me for a second, then turns her gaze to her drink.  She
starts with, "Have I got a story to tell you."
	Boy, she was not kidding!
END FOR NOW.
Okay, this should answer any questions the original left.  I, of course,
plan to continue this.  I know not to what end, but it shall be done. 
Please send comments my way.  Thank you.
PMasters