C&C appreciated, especially regarding the technobabble. I haven't
technobabbled in a long time, and I feel horribly out of practice.

	---intermission---

	"...stabilized..."
	"Can we be sure this thing's 100% reliable?"
	"Nothing's ever 100%. What we can be sure of, is that it's stable at
the moment."
	"So you're saying--"
	"I'm saying that it's working the way we hoped it would."
	"At the moment."
	"It should remain stable as long as it's operational."
	"In other words, as long--"
	"--as he's alive, yes."
	"The other one's going to be a problem--"
	"Not so. In fact, he'll probably be quite pleased with
the...alterations the bionics allow for."
	"Alterations...? ...oh. Yes, that's much better than what he had
before...will that be able to hold up against mallet blows?"
	"It shou--mallet blows?"
	"Trust me."
	"Hn. I imagine when this settles down, I'd like to have a talk with
you, or these two boys. I'm sure the anecdotes would be...most
entertaining."
	"Heh. They'd make a wonderful manga, at any rate."
	"Hn. Well, everything's functional. Let's close up...set those
monitors. We'll want to know when they regain consciousness."
	"Right. You know, I've never been too well-versed in this sort of
thing--"
	"In that case, you're a very quick study...I've had trained
apprentices who wouldn't have lasted through this."
	"--thanks. Anyway, I think I'll have to brush up on my studies in
this area when I get a chance."
	"Che...don't waste your energies. Science is a wonderful thing, but
your kind are a dying breed. You shouldn't turn your back on the
traditional ways of medicine...far too many doctors in the Western
world are foresaking the old in favor of the new. The end result?
Things like this."
	"Without this, though--"
	"Yes, yes, don't misunderstand. I wouldn't forsake science--wouldn't
forsake cybernetics--for anything. Not even after what's happened.
Just keep in mind--science should help human beings, not become part
of them."
	"That's a surprising thing to hear a cyberneticist say."
	"Che...we're not all blind fools. Why do you think I specialize in
creating *artificial* beings?"
	"..."

	CHAPTER TWO

	"Oh man...my head's killin' me..."
	Ranma groaned as he groggily awoke. "Man, that was a horrible
nightmare." He tried to open his eyes, but winced and quickly shut
them again when the light only served to intensify his headache. 
	"How are you feeling, young man?" spoke an accented, elderly voice.
	Ranma frowned. "Who--?"
	"My name is Dr. Light. You've been through a terrible ordeal,
Ranma," he said. 
	"My head feels like...like Akane's been using it as a practice
dummy," Ranma groaned.
	"Ran...Ranma no baka," Akane's voice said softly. Her tone puzzled
Ranma...she sounded relieved--and shaky, like she'd been crying?
	"A--akane?"
	"Oh, Ranma..." she said again. Yes, definitely tears in that voice.
Ranma opened his eyes, and immediately raised his hand to shield them
from the light...	
	The light glinted brightly off his hand. Ranma blinked at it.
	He had on some kind of blue metal glove. How had that gotten there?
	"Ranma," Dr. Light's voice began again. Ranma found the owner of the
voice--an old gaijin in a lab coat. "Tell me...what do you remember
about the battle with the robots?"
	Ranma's eyes widened. "That--that wasn't a dream!?"
	Tofuu, who was standing behind Light, shook his head grimly. "It was
no dream, Ranma."
	Ranma frowned. "But--how--I mean, when that Vulture thing went
down...the Grudge Wing..."
	Ranma noticed that a lot of people were gathered in the room they
were in--and that the room looked like some cross between an
operating room and one of those computer rooms on the sci-fi shows
he'd seen on TV. There was Dr. Light, and Tofuu-sensei. There was the
entire Tendou family, all looking at him with varying expressions of
relief. His parents were weeping in each other's arms, and hadn't
blinked since he'd opened his eyes. Shampoo looked rather pale.
Mousse's expression was unreadable, and Cologne looked vaguely
fascinated with him. Ukyou was fighting to keep her composure, but it
wasn't working.
	"What--what happened?" Ranma asked. "Where am I?"
	"Ranma, I want you to listen to me, because I have something
important to tell you," Light said. Ranma nodded. Light took a deep
breath, and said, "What do you remember about the Vulture robot's
attack, before you lost consciousness?"
	"Pain," Ranma said. "I tried to get out of the way, but that thing
was too fast...and razor sharp..." He frowned. "Felt like getting hit
with a katana...is that why I'm in an operating room?" he asked,
looking up at everyone. "It cut me up bad or somethin'? How bad was
it?"
	The occupants of the room displayed various reactions. Light and
Tofuu grimaced. Genma scowled, while Nodoka began weeping. Akane,
Shampoo, and Ukyou turned green. Mousse bowed his head. Soun began
wailing. Nabiki shook her head sadly, and Kasumi looked more subdued
than Ranma had ever seen her. "What's goin' on?" Ranma asked.
	Tofuu stepped forward. "Ranma, this is going to be hard for you to
hear...that robot's attack dismembered you."
	Ranma blinked. "Huh!?"
	"Your arms, legs, and a good bit of your abdomen were severed
completely," Light said. 
	"What're you talkin' about?" Ranma smirked. "I got arms, see?" he
flexed his fingers. "I got legs...I can feel 'em..."
	Tofuu nodded. "You do...now. Thanks to Dr. Light."
	"Will someone stop beatin' around the bush and tell me what the hell
everyone's talkin' about?" Ranma asked. "I got a bad enough headache
as it is."
	"You nearly died, Ranchan," Ukyou said. 
	"Son..." Genma said, pushing his glasses onto his nose, "maybe you'd
better take a look at yourself."
	Ranma looked down. His arms were encased in that same blue metal as
he'd seen earlier...as were his legs. He was wearing more of the same
on his body, only much lighter in color. "What's this metal stuff
anyway?" he asked after a moment.
	Light looked him in the eyes. "It's your body, Ranma. Your own arms
and legs were lost to you. Please understand...you would have died,
if we had not done this."
	"And what exactly did you do?" Ranma asked, a sinking feeling
growing in his stomach...at least, he hoped it was his stomach.
	Light looked at Tofuu, who seemed lost in thought for a moment. "How
best to put this," Tofuu mused, before meeting Ranma's gaze. "You've
been mechanized," Tofuu said.	
	Ranma blinked. "Mechanized?"
	"I don't know if that's the word I'd have chosen," Light said, "but
basically...yes. Your arms, legs, and abdomen have been replaced with
bionics which I designed. Currently, about 50 percent of your body is
artificial," he finished.
	"Arti...ficial...I'm a machine?" Ranma asked.
	"Partially," Light said. "An energy supplication system has been
added to take place of your digestive and excretory systems, which
were mostly destroyed. You have fully functional bionic arms and
legs, as well as hardwired nerve interfaces to allow you to control
everything the same as you would control your natural body. Your
circulatory system has been rerouted and reinforced, to make sure all
the blood stays in your organic parts, and circuitry has been added
to your bionics to account for your curse."
	Ranma made no response for several long moments. "This is a dream,
right? Or a joke?" he said at length.
	Light sighed sadly, and shook his head. Tofuu stepped closer, and
laid his hand on Ranma's shoulder...Ranma assumed he did, anyway. He
didn't actually feel any such contact.
	"This is going to be hard for you to accept, and deal with," Tofuu
said, sadness and weariness in his voice. "It was the only way we
could keep you alive...and to give you a reason to want to live," he
finished.
	"A reason to want to live..." Ranma echoed.
	"Had you lived somehow, in your condition," Tofuu continued, "you
would never again practice martial arts. It will take some time to
get used to, as the nerve interfaces settle in, but once you've
adjusted to your new situation, you'll be in top fighting form
again." 
	Ranma blinked, and looked at Tofuu. "I...I can still do martial
arts?" he asked.
	Tofuu nodded. He smiled gently. "It's better than nothing, ne?"
	"H...hai..." Ranma answered shakily. He shook his head. "I...I need
time to deal with this..." he said.
	Tofuu nodded. "That's understandable. To be honest, we were afraid
of what your reaction to this might be," he admitted.
	Ranma looked at him grimly. "I haven't reacted yet," he said in a
warning tone. "When I do, you'll know it."
	Everyone in the room...even Cologne...gulped.
	Ranma blinked. "What happened to Ryouga?" he asked.
	Light and Tofuu shared a glance, and the gaijin scientist pointed at
a bed across the room. "We just finished up with him a few hours
ago," he said. 
	"He wasn't injured anywhere near as badly as you were," Tofuu said,
"but he was burned almost beyond recognition, and most of his
internal organs were irreparably damaged. We gave him bionic
supplication systems," he added, "and fully replaced his skin and
most of his muscle tissue with artifical materials."
	Ranma looked at the form on the bed. It was Ryouga alright, although
his face now had the coloring of a caucasian. The rest of his body
was encased in red metal. His black hair was less unruly, and much
more stiff, than usual, but...Ranma blinked. That damn bandana of his
was *still* there.
	Light noticed what he was looking at, and chuckled. "Amazingly, that
piece of cloth survived everything unscathed. We couldn't get it off,
so we had to work around it."
	Ranma shook his head. "At least some things are normal around here,"
he said. 

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"Kakeru-niisama? Bathe."
--Shidou Hikaru, Onna: Red Side chapter 20
---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/9502

I get my kicks *above* the waistline, sunshine.
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