Quantum Destinies
A Ranma fanfic
by Steven Thesken (jurai-knight@home.com)

This idea occurred to me after I finished the science-fiction novel 
"Paths to Otherwhere" by James P. Hogan.  Ranma and all other 
associated characters are owned by Kitty and the ever-creative 
Rumiko Takahashi.  Any new characters are the property of the 
author.  This is purely a work of fanfiction done for fun, so please 
read and enjoy.

Notes: Thoughts will be bracketed by a * on each end.  Any 
speech other than Japanese will be bracketed by < and >.



Chapter 7 - Lies and Revelations

    Akane felt the light of the morning sun slide across her face 
through her window.  She twitched her nose, grumbled for a 
moment, and then woke up with a dainty yawn.  The yawn caused 
a sudden burst of pain from her lower ribs, and she stifled a small 
groan.  She gingerly pushed back the covers on her bed.

    She rolled into a sitting position, taking care not to aggravate 
her injuries.  She noticed a glass of water and a couple of small 
pills set out on a tray on her desk, but she ignored them for now.  
She gathered a change of underwear from her dresser, and headed 
for the bathroom.

    "Mornin', sis," mumbled Nabiki in her usual morning spirits 
when Akane entered the bathroom.

    "Morning, Nabiki," chirped Akane as she made her way to the 
other sink.  She slipped off her nightshirt over her head and tossed 
it into the hamper.  She eyed the bruises up and down her torso 
with a critical eye.  *It's going to be weeks until I'm in fighting 
shape again,* she thought miserably.

    "Nice bruises, Akane," said Nabiki in a mildly sarcastic tone.  
"Are you going to be okay at school today?  You _can_ take a few 
days off, you know."

    "I can't," replied Akane.  "I have a reputation to maintain."  
She unwrapped her bandages with a slight whistle of pain, before 
she sat down on the bathing stool.  She filled the bucket that sat 
next to it with water from the tap and dumped it over her head 
with a faint shiver.  Nabiki just watched her younger sister with a 
slight smile.

    *Oh, Akane,* thought Nabiki with a tolerant look.  *You take 
after mother more than any of us.  I think she would be proud of 
how you've grown.*  Nabiki paused in brushing her teeth and 
remembered her mother as she had been, before illness had stolen 
her strength and eventually her life.  Father had even chosen to 
use her picture from when she was in the Imperial Special Forces 
for her shrine.  "To remember the strength that she had so much 
of," he had once said.  *You used to be so strong mother, and 
Akane has your strength now.*

                    ******************************

    Ranma woke up when he imagined his alarm began ringing.  
He peered at his clock, bleary-eyed, and he saw that it read 6:01.  
He stumbled out of bed, over an hour earlier than he normally got 
up.  The only thought on his sleepy mind that he could seem to 
focus on was that he had to train.  In a mental daze, he put on a T-
shirt and a pair of shorts, and crept downstairs to the yard.  The 
morning was still.

    When he got down to the yard, his thoughts cleared and 
focused a little more.  He picked out a large, open area to begin 
his workout.  *Now my training begins,* he thought seriously.  
The brutally rigorous physical training at the Academy had added 
a significant amount of muscle to his frame, and given him a solid 
core of physical excellence, but now he felt a deep-seated need to 
try to surpass his current abilities.  Where this need came from, he 
wasn't sure.  He knew that his body possessed the seeds of the 
skills from the other Ranma in his brain, in his nerves, and in his 
reflexes.  It was now clamoring for him to bring those skills to full 
bloom within himself.

    When Nodoka came downstairs to fix breakfast, she heard 
strange sounds coming from the backyard.  Curious, she looked 
out the kitchen window to see her son doing the most amazing 
performance.  She watched in surprise as Ranma did flips and 
tumbles like an acrobat.  His movements lacked complete grace, 
like he was practicing skills that had grown rusty.  *What did 
Genma teach Ranma while they were gone?*

    Ranma fell to the ground, his lungs were gasping for air after 
the heavy exertion he had put himself through.  Nodoka began 
cooking, but her eyes were never far from watching Ranma.  She 
kept wondering why he was putting himself through such a level 
of effort.  When his breath finally slowed, she watched as he got 
up and began again.  The process repeated again and again.

    Ranma fell to the ground, one last time.  What felt like rivers of 
sweat were running down his face and neck.  *That's enough for 
the first day.*  He wandered over to the garden hose, and turned 
on the faucet.  A stream of cold water spewed forth from the end 
of the hose.  Ranma held it to his mouth and drank until his thirst 
was satisfied.

    "Son," asked a voice behind him.  "What are you doing?"

    Ranma turned around to see his father Genma standing behind 
him, a puzzled expression on his face.  "Your mother thought that 
you and I needed to have a talk."  Genma sat down on a chair on 
the back porch.  He tossed Ranma a towel.

    "I guess I have been acting rather strange the last few days, 
pop," he said as he caught the towel.  Ranma dried his face, and 
laid the towel across the back of his neck.  Genma was watching 
him with a thoughtful expression.  He gestured for Ranma to join 
him in the chair next to him.

    "The sudden change in your manner of speech is one of the 
things that has your mother concerned," observed Genma as he 
watched a flock of birds that suddenly flew overhead.

    "My speech?"  Ranma paused as he went over what he had just 
said.  "Oh," he said quietly.  He sat down in the chair and rubbed 
the towel against the back of his neck.  "There's actually a very 
good explanation for that, as well as the other changes."  Ranma 
looked at his father.

    "Go on," said Genma.

    "I want to start off by telling you the good news, father."  
Ranma broke out into a large grin.  "I did it."

    "Did what," asked Genma in a puzzled tone.  He pushed his 
glasses up the bridge of his nose from where they had slipped 
down to.

    "I've proven your theory of parallel worlds," said Ranma a little 
more excitedly.  "I've _seen_ them!  Pop, you were right."

    "Slow down, Ranma.  Do you mean that resonator device you 
were working on?"  Genma sat back in his seat.  Genma had 
always prided himself on his ability to know people.  The 
mannerisms of the boy before him kept shifting back and forth 
from the son he knew to someone he didn't.

    "Yes," said Ranma happily.  "I was finally able to work out the 
last bugs in the system earlier this week.  It's still pretty crude.  I 
think I can only tune into the most probable worlds of the 
potential worlds that exist on each quantum band."  Genma sat 
there in stunned silence as Ranma began to dance around.  "Don't 
you see, pop?  I proved you right.  The parallel worlds _do_ exist."

    "You're telling the truth," said Genma in an amazed tone.  He 
began to chuckle.  He got up and gathered Ranma into a hug.  
"My son... Your father is proud of you."  He felt a tear at the 
corner of each eye as he hugged Ranma.  "Your father is so 
proud."

    "There were some unexpected side effects," said Ranma in a 
muffled voice.  Genma didn't hear him at first.  Visions of the 
honors that he and his son would earn in the Ministry of Science 
for this accomplishment filled his mind.  Ranma began to 
struggle.  Genma let him go with a smile.

    "Pop!  I said that there were some unexpected side effects."  
Ranma backed up a step as Genma blinked.

    "Side effects?  What sort of side effects, son?"  His tone of voice 
was filled with concern.

    "I was overconfident in my first full-power experiment," said 
Ranma quietly.  "I spent an hour in the mind of one of my 
quantum counterparts.  It left me... changed."

    "In what way, son?"  Genma sat back down.  His expression 
spoke only of worry for his son.

    "I gained some of his personality, and I also absorbed a fair 
measure of his skills in the martial arts."  Ranma began doing a 
kata to demonstrate.  Genma sat stunned as Ranma went through 
the complex sequences of motions flawlessly.  Ranma's body was 
tired, but the movements were already becoming second nature to 
him.

    "So you got into a fight the other day," asked Genma quietly.  
"To test your new abilities?"  His eyes studied the ground.

    Ranma blinked, and stopped what he was doing.  "No, pop, it 
wasn't like that at all.  The fight was an accident.  I was doing 
better at sparring in physical education, and A... one of my fellow 
students decided to challenge me after school."

    "I see," said Genma, nodding.  "That would also explain your 
speech patterns changing back and forth, your manners at meals 
that your mother has told me about, and even the way you're 
standing now."  Genma kept nodding as his brain processed the 
possibilities.

    Ranma suddenly realized that his posture was one of relaxed 
readiness.  He put his hands behind his head and laced the fingers 
while he chuckled nervously.  "Sorry... father."  It was actually 
taking a minor amount of effort to control his speech.  "It wasn't 
just the one hour exposure that did this to me.  There was a power 
failure in the lab yesterday while I was running another one of my 
experiments, and it left me trapped in my alternate for about seven 
hours."

    "That was foolish, son.  Didn't you have any safeguards set up 
for that?  I thought I taught you better than that."  Genma stood 
up and began to pace a bit.

    "I did have a capacitor set up for emergencies, but... it was 
discharged when I had visitors at my lab.  I had to wait in my 
other self for the trickle charger to rebuild the charge in the 
capacitor.  I'm afraid that I was so distracted that I simply forgot 
to recharge it before activating the experiment."  Ranma stared 
miserably at the ground.  His father was always a careful man, 
and Ranma could feel his disappointment.

    "Well," said Genma after he thought for a few moments.  "The 
damage doesn't appear to be as serious as I thought.  I think you 
might have come out ahead in the deal.  I want to look over your 
equipment for myself.  That is, unless you think your old man 
can't offer you any pointers anymore?"  Genma smiled as Ranma 
looked up in surprise.

    "Sure, pop!  I'd love your help!"  Ranma smiled.

    "Does your counterpart have a Genma Saotome for a father?"

    "Yes," replied Ranma with a sudden grin.  "I think you might 
find him to be... interesting."

    "Hmm... I think I will have to see what you've accomplished for 
myself," said Genma with a smile.  "Have you determined if there 
is a lower limit before personality integration begins?"

    "Well," said Ranma thoughtfully.  "I did do a series of five 
minute sessions that didn't seem to have any lasting effects.  I 
haven't narrowed the time frame any further than that."

    "I think I will go with you to the Academy today," said Genma 
as he nodded in thought.  "I confess that you've awakened an 
unexpected curiosity in me, son."  Genma got up and walked with 
his son into the house.  *A chance to see how my life could have 
been if circumstances had been different.  I wonder if I'm a good 
father in this other world that Ranma spent so much time in?*

                    ******************************

    Kodachi walked to school slowly.  Her injuries were starting to 
heal, but it would only be a week or two before she was back to 
full strength.  *I at least have the satisfaction of knowing that 
Akane Tendo must feel worse than I do,* she thought smugly.  
*The doctors told me that my injuries were all strained muscle 
and deep bruising damage.  A few weeks of taking it easy, and I'll 
be able to deal with anything.*

    She noticed Akane and her sister Nabiki step out of a side street 
in front of her.  Akane hadn't noticed her, but Nabiki sent a cool 
look in her direction before turning to walk with her sister.  The 
two of them slowly drifted ahead of her as she slowed her pace a 
little bit.  Kodachi's mission today was to try and get some time 
alone to talk with Ranma.

                    ******************************

    Nabiki strolled along next to Akane.  Her thoughts weren't on 
her sister though.  Nabiki found herself wondering about Ranma 
Saotome.  It was strange to her, since she's never given him much 
thought before.  The last couple of days had changed that opinion.  
*There's something strange going on with you lately, Mister 
Saotome.  My sources have told me that you were in your lab all 
day, despite a full power failure on the lower levels yesterday.  I 
think it's about time I found out what you've been hiding down 
there.*

    Nabiki fingered the small lockpick set she habitually carried 
around in her pocket.  *You represent a mystery to me, Ranma 
Saotome.  The fighting skills you suddenly demonstrated against 
the new girl, Kodachi Kuno, aren't recorded in your file.  That 
level of ability doesn't just spring out of thin air.  I intend to find 
out what you could be hiding.*

                    ******************************

    After breakfast, Genma had called his assistant to take over 
teaching his classes for the day at the University.  With that minor 
task quickly taken care of, he had said his good-byes to Nodoka 
before leaving.  She was puzzled as to what had him so excited 
this morning.

    "Did you have that talk with Ranma like I asked you to, 
Genma," she asked.  She stood in the front hall as Genma and 
Ranma were putting on their shoes.

    "I did," he replied.  His thoughts were on the few schematics 
that his son had show him over the last several months.  "Ranma 
is just going through a phase of sorts.  He'll be fine.  I'm going to 
be at the school with him for the day if you need me."

    "Don't forget your lunches then," she said with a smile.  *It 
sounds as if Genma has the situation under control,* she thought 
with a smile.  *I guess I was worried over nothing.*  She handed 
two wrapped boxes to the two men in her life, and waved good-
bye as they went down the street.

    When they were gone, Nodoka went back into the house.  She 
busied herself with the beginnings of her chores for the day.  She 
wanted to be done early so that she could get in some target 
practice at the archery range, as well as a session at the kendo 
club.  Ranma's little workout that morning had reminded her that 
she was getting behind in her training.  *I must remember to ask 
Mrs. Nakagi how she does that reverse disarming stroke of hers,* 
she thought as she began to clean up the breakfast dishes.

    The telephone rang as she was cleaning up the breakfast dishes.  
Nodoka placed the dishes in the sink, and picked up the phone.  
"Hello, Saotome residence," she said cheerfully.

    "Good morning, Mrs. Saotome," said a female voice over the 
phone.  "This is Otsu Mituma calling."

    "Good morning, Mrs. Mituma," said Nodoka as a smile broke 
out on her face.  "I assume you have some good news for me?"

    "Yes, I do," Otsu replied.  "I have been in contact with the 
Kuonji family, and they are overjoyed at the prospect of their 
daughter meeting Ranma.  I sent them the information on your 
family, and Mr. Kuonji was on the phone to me within the hour to 
confirm a date for the meeting.  Would tomorrow be too soon?"

    *Tomorrow?*  Nodoka thought about it for a moment.  "I 
suppose that will be all right.  My son is a little nervous about 
this, but he's agreed to meet all of the girls.  What time should I 
expect Mr. Kuonji and his family?"

    "Mr. and Mrs. Kuonji will be bringing Ukyou by bullet train 
tomorrow, so you should expect them by six for dinner and the 
preliminary discussions.  I'll tell them that you've agreed.  Bye 
now."

    "Good-bye, Mrs. Mituma," said Nodoka.  She hung up the 
phone.  *I better go to the kendo club now if I'm going to get any 
practice in at all today,* she thought as she began heading for the 
bedroom.  *I have so much to get ready for tomorrow.*

                    ******************************

    Genma and Ranma walked along at a brisk pace.  The gates to 
the Academy grounds were in front of them, and Ranma was 
starting to feel a little nervous.  He kept a wary eye out for Akane 
and Nabiki, especially Akane, in case they showed up early before 
he could get to his lab.  Fortune smiled on him for once lately, and 
neither were to be seen.

    Ranma led his father downstairs, and they stopped at the door 
to his lab.  He searched around in his pockets for his key for a 
moment while his father looked around the hallway.  Ranma 
finally found the key, and unlocked the door.  He reached around 
the corner and flipped the light switches on.

    "Your lab space is rather out of the way, son," said Genma as 
he walked inside.  His eyes lighted upon the tarp sitting next to a 
couch on the far side of the room.  He pointed at the mysterious 
pile.  "Is that it?"

    Ranma smiled as he uncovered the equipment.  Genma eyed the 
devices as they were revealed.  Next to the computer case was a 
small casing roughly half its size, with a series of switches and 
small lights in the front.  Genma recognized a neural induction 
headset wired into the front of the case.  The workmanship was 
clean and simple, and he nodded his approval.

    "How does it work?"  Genma sat down on the couch and looked 
over the equipment more closely.

    "Well," Ranma sat down on the chair by the couch and began to 
describe how it all worked.  "Inside the small case is a series of 
sensors that take a reading on the brain hooked up by the neural 
induction headset at a quantum level of resolution.  That provides 
an electromagnetic signature that is used as a model for the 
system to conduct a search for a match on through the various 
quantum bands.  The resonator at the core of the system sends out 
scanning pulses until it finds a match.  The system then is able to 
essentially transmit the personality of the person scanned into 
their quantum counterpart.  A continuous stream of pulses is then 
maintained by the system to maintain a lock.  When a reverse 
pulse is sent, the personality is pulled back."

    Genma sat there in amazement.  "You used a device like this 
while you were alone?  That was very careless, son."  Genma 
picked up the headset and examined it.  "It's a stunning 
achievement you've managed to accomplish though."

    "Would you like to try it, father?"  Genma thought for a 
moment, then nodded.  Ranma began powering up his system, and 
he watched the checklist as it scrolled by.  Genma occupied 
himself by picking up Ranma's notebook and flipping through it.  
The applications of his theories that Ranma had used were 
nothing less than brilliant.  Genma lost himself in reading.  *My 
son is even more brilliant that I dared hope.*

    "It's ready, father," said Ranma after a few minutes.  Genma 
looked up, and read the monitor.

*SELECT QUANTUM BAND FOR SCAN:

    "Why don't I try band sixteen, son?"  Genma looked over at his 
son.

    Ranma looked at his father in surprise.  "Are you sure about 
that, father?  It's a rather significant change from our world since 
it's so distant on the quantum bands."

    "I'm curious to see what sort of father I would have been on this 
other Ranma's world," replied Genma with a smile.

*SELECT QUANTUM BAND FOR SCAN: 016

*SET CYCLE INTO ACTIVE MODE:  YES

*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST:

    "How long do you want to try it," asked Ranma.  "I wouldn't 
recommend as long as I did, but it's your decision."

    "Set it for fifteen minutes," replied Genma.  "That should be 
safe enough to avoid personality contamination like you have 
experienced."

*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST:  15.00 MINUTES

*WAITING FOR SIGNAL FROM NEURAL HEADSET

    "You're all set, father.  All you have to do is lie back and put on 
the headset.  The system will take care of the rest."  Ranma put 
his hand on the headset before his father could put it on.  "Are you 
sure about this father?  Some of my other lives weren't pretty."

    "Your father will be fine, Ranma," said Genma with a smile.  
"Let me see what sort of man Genma Saotome could have been."  
Genma rested his body back on the couch, and put the headset on.

    "Good luck, father," said Ranma quietly.

    In the background, the soft computer-generated voice began its 
repetitive statement, "Searching... Searching... Searching...."

    Suddenly, "Quantum signature found.  Activating cycle."

                    ******************************

    There was a moment of dislocation.  Genma suddenly found 
himself seated at a breakfast table.  People he didn't know were 
seated around him.  He blinked his eyes, and noticed Ranma 
seated next to him, eating like a starving man.  He openly stared 
at the strange Ranma next to him.

    Ranma paused in his eating when he noticed his father 
suddenly staring at him in a creepy sort of way.  "What's the 
matter, pop?"

    Genma shook his head for a moment to clear it.  The situation 
was actually exhilarating.  *Fascinating,* he thought, as the 
identities of the people around him began to surface in his 
awareness.  He looked at the short-haired girl across the table 
from him, who he suddenly knew was his son's fiancee here in 
this world.  She looked up when his eyes paused on her.

    "Something wrong, Mr. Saotome?"  Nabiki paused in eating 
her breakfast.

    "No," he replied.  "I was just thinking."  He set his bowl down 
to Ranma's pleasure.  Ranma emptied his father's bowl in 
moments.

    "Are you sure, my old friend," asked a man to his right.  *Soun 
Tendo,* he realized a moment later.  *My best friend.*

    "I just suddenly felt the need for some contemplation," Genma 
said with a smile.  "I'll be back in a few minutes."

    "I'll have the game pieces waiting for you when you're ready, 
Saotome," said Soun with a smile.

    Genma nodded and went outside.  *Even the air smells 
different from home,* he noticed.  *This seems like such a 
peaceful life.*  He sat on a rock by the carp pond.  *I guess I'm 
some sort of martial arts teacher,* he thought as he studied the 
worn, white gi he was wearing.

    All of a sudden, a torrent of memories from a life not his own 
surged through him.  It was both intriguing and more than a little 
bit frightening.  This Genma had traveled for over ten years with 
his son to teach him martial arts.  He saw places that they had 
been, and felt the pride for his son's achievements.  Then he 
frowned as the stupid mistakes made by this Genma were revealed 
to him.  More of them than he would have believed possible.

    *This Genma is not as I pictured myself as ever being like,* he 
thought sadly.  He cringed mentally as he saw in his mind's eye 
the Cat Fist training inflicted on Ranma, again and again.  The 
feelings of sheer determination to make Ranma the best washed 
over him with that memory.  The terror from his promise to 
Nodoka to make Ranma a 'man among men' followed.  He also 
witnessed the fate of himself and his son at Jusenkyo.

    Genma looked into the heart of his quantum alternate, and he 
was seized with remorse.  He had been so stupid, so focused on 
making Ranma a supreme martial artist that he had lost his honor.  
Ranma had been the one good thing he had done with this life, 
and he had almost destroyed it.  It made Genma feel sad.  *Oh, 
my quantum brother,* he thought.  *What have you done?*

                    ******************************

    Ranma watched the timer count down to zero.  He kept his eyes 
on his father's face as the computer-modulated voice spoke, 
"Activating recall pulse."

    Genma suddenly took a deep, shuddering breath.  He opened 
his eyes to see the plain ceiling of his son's lab space over his 
head.  *That was amazingly unpleasant,* he thought.  He 
removed the headset from his head and rested it in his lap.  He 
pulled his glasses off, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the 
other hand.

    "Father?"  Ranma pulled the headset away from his father.  
"Are you all right?  What did you see?"

    "A life I never expected," he replied solemnly.  He looked up at 
his son and put his glasses back on.  He reached out and grabbed 
Ranma gently by the arms.  "Ranma... do you consider me to have 
been a good father?"

    Ranma looked into his father's eyes and saw pain there.  "Yes, 
father," he said softly while he nodded.  "You were always a good 
father to me."

    Genma breathed deeply, and he sighed in relief.  "Thank you, 
my son.  After what I've just seen, you can't know how much of a 
relief that is to hear."

    "Genma Saotome was pretty bad on that alternate?"  Ranma sat 
back down in his chair.

    "I can't believe that somewhere out there across the quantum 
barrier is a man wearing my face who could be so unutterably 
stupid and reckless with his own son," Genma said with another 
sigh.  "The man sold his own son for food, repeatedly.  He threw a 
young boy into a pit of starving cats to teach him a new fighting 
technique."  Genma shook his head.  "I may have nightmares 
about that world for weeks."

    "Yes, pop," said Ranma quietly.  Genma looked up sharply at 
Ranma.  "I mean, yes father," he amended.  "I assume that you 
don't want to try it again?"

    "Give me a minute to rest and gather my thoughts," replied 
Genma.  "I can tell you that fifteen minutes has not appeared to 
generate any sort of change in personality, so I think any further 
experiments would be safe if you kept the exposure below that 
level."

    "You want to try it again?"  Ranma couldn't keep the 
amazement out of his voice.  "Aren't you afraid of what you might 
see?"

    "I've always told you, Ranma, that the boundaries of science are 
not places for fear, but of wonder," said Genma solemnly.  "In this 
lab today, you've shown me something marvelous.  A new frontier 
of scientific exploration was opened by you, my son.  I can't 
express how proud of you I am."

    Ranma blinked, a little overwhelmed by his father's praise.  
"Thank you, father.  I was afraid that you might forbid me to use 
it after your own experience with it just now."

    "Nonsense, my boy," said Genma.  "The potential for learning 
that you've already shown from your other self is staggering.  In a 
couple of sessions, you picked up a lifetime of fighting skills.  I 
can only imagine what else might be available through this 
device."

    Ranma grinned at his father.  He didn't notice the door opening 
behind him, but his father did.  Genma looked past him in 
surprise.  "Nabiki," Genma asked in surprise.  "What are you 
doing here?"

    Ranma whirled around.  Nabiki Tendo stood there with a cool 
smile on her lips.  She put something away in her pants pocket.  "I 
came down to see what you were working on down here, Ranma.  
My curiosity got the better of me, I'm afraid.  Despite his knowing 
my name, I don't believe the gentleman with you is anyone I've 
ever met though."

    "Genma Saotome, at your service Miss Tendo," said Genma as 
he rose and executed a polite bow.  "I was assisting Ranma here 
this morning."

    "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Saotome," replied Nabiki.  "So 
what _is_ Ranma working on down here."

    "It's a virtual reality generator," Ranma lied smoothly before 
his father could speak.  Genma looked at Ranma in surprise as his 
son continued to speak.  "The computer scans your mental 
patterns by means of a neural headset.  It then uses that to create a 
very realistic random model of events based on your own mental 
patterns.  There are some side-effects though."

    Nabiki studied Ranma doubtfully.  "How does that explain your 
performance the other day, Ranma?  You expect me to believe that 
your new abilities to fight that I've been hearing about are the 
result of some sort of simulation?"

    "Well, yes," replied Ranma.  Nabiki blinked.

    "If that's true, then would it be possible for me to try it?"  
Nabiki stepped closer to Ranma, her curiosity aroused.

    "I still have some bugs to work out in the system," Ranma 
began to protest.  Nabiki laid a single finger against his lips, and 
his protest died mid-stream.

    "I'm volunteering to try it out," she said in a cool tone.  "Aren't 
you curious to see how it reacts with a woman?"

    Ranma looked at his father.  Genma shrugged.  Dealing with 
women was not one of his strong suits, Nodoka being the 
exception.  Ranma sighed, knowing that he had been 
outmaneuvered.  Nabiki smiled, knowing before Ranma spoke 
that victory was hers.

    "Just lie down on the couch while I set up the equipment," said 
Ranma.  Genma moved out of the way, and Nabiki sat down on 
the couch.  "I have to warn you that the events will be random, 
based on your own mind.  Once the parameters are established, 
the simulation will feel like real life."  Ranma turned the monitor 
to face himself, conveniently preventing Nabiki from seeing the 
text scrolling up the screen.  Ranma thought for a moment before 
entering the first parameter himself.

*SELECT QUANTUM BAND FOR SCAN:  002

    *That should give a world near enough to our own to match the 
lie I just told her,* Ranma thought with a smile.  *It should also 
be far enough away that she shouldn't encounter an alternate who 
might know the truth about what I'm really doing.*

*SET CYCLE INTO ACTIVE MODE:  YES

*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST:

    "How long would you like the session to run?"  Ranma leaned 
over to look at her.  Genma stood behind Ranma, his arms folded 
as he watched what was happening.

    "I have no problems with skipping my morning class," replied 
Nabiki.  "Why don't you set me up for thirty minutes?"  She 
smiled at Ranma sweetly.  "Unless you think that there might be a 
problem with that?"

    "As you wish, Nabiki," said Ranma, pausing to wipe a small 
bead of sweat from his temple.  Ranma felt his father's hand on 
his arm for a moment.  Nabiki laid back and closed her eyes.

*SET TIME DURATION FOR TEST:  30.00 MINUTES

    *If she locks onto a world where her alternate knows the truth, 
then the lie was all for nothing,* thought Ranma as he helped her 
place the neural headset on her head.

    "I'm ready, Ranma," said Nabiki cheerfully.  "Show me what 
your machine can do."

    "Searching," said the computer-generated voice a single time 
only.  It was immediately followed by, "Quantum signature found.  
Activating cycle."

                    ******************************

    Nabiki found herself standing inside the Academy grounds.  
She was holding a boy she didn't know up by the collar with her 
left hand.  Her right hand was cocked back and ready to strike.  
His nose was streaming blood, and it looked as if he had taken a 
couple of good hits to the face already.  This was such a surprising 
scene that she dropped the boy.

    "I'm sorry, Nabiki," moaned the boy from where he lay.  "I'll 
have the information you want by tomorrow.  Please don't hit me 
again."

    Nabiki looked down at him for a moment, and then she just 
turned and walked away.  *This is so strange,* she thought in 
wonder.  *Ranma was right about one thing though.  It _does_ 
feel like real life.*  She studied her hands as she walked, and 
noticed the calluses on them.  *These are the hands of a fighter.*

    She was so engrossed in the realism of what she thought was a 
simulation that she walked into the back of another student 
wearing gray like herself.  She stumbled back, and the other 
student whirled to face her.  A name suddenly surfaced in her 
memory, Tatewaki Kuno.  *Nice effect, Ranma,* she thought 
sincerely.  *This machine of yours is impressive.*

    "Who dares to strike me from behind?"  The boy thundered his 
question until he got a good look at her.  His face fell into a frown.  
"Oh... it's you, Nabiki Tendo.  Come to beg forgiveness for the 
insult you gave me the other day?  If you sound sincere, then I will 
forgive you."  The boy stood a little taller than she did, and he 
used his height to good effect as he struck a proud pose.

    Nabiki suddenly paused as a flash of memories went across her 
mind's eye.  She was Nabiki Tendo, only daughter of the Tendo 
family.  Her mother, now a widow, was a former Arena fighter 
before she met Soun Tendo.  The barehanded fighting skills that 
her mother had learned in the Arena were taught to Nabiki since 
she was a child.  She had used them like a tool to advance herself 
for her whole life.  Her nemesis at the Academy was Tatewaki 
Kuno, and they had been rivals for supremacy for over a year.  
She hated his guts as much as he hated hers.

    "I don't think so," she said with a haughty flip of her hair as she 
walked past him.

    "Do _not_ turn your back on me, woman!"  Kuno was beside 
himself with rage.  The arrogance of this woman constantly 
astonished him.  He screamed a battle cry, and leaped for her 
back.

    Nabiki let a smile cross her lips.  *This should be fun,* she 
thought.

                    ******************************

    *I wonder where Nabiki wandered off to,* wondered Akane as 
she made her way to her class.  All that she had told Akane was 
that she had a mystery to solve, and that it might take her part of 
the morning.  The teacher began his lecture.  *Wherever she is, I 
hope that it's more fun than this.*