Hi Scott,

Scott Jamison wrote:

Been way behind on my commenting, sorry.  I'm sending this to the list to
help bolster the public C&C level.

No problem.

Chapter 7 - Lies and Revelations

But are some of the revelations lies?

A few are when it came to what Nabiki was told.

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.

        Considering all the wackos that are due to show up soon, good
idea.

They're just socially challenged. :)

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?*

        Well, secondhand, more martial arts than is really good for his
health.

Heh.  It will give his life more complexity than he might be able to
comfortably deal with, but then he's absorbed a little of Martial-Ranma's
karma along with his skills. :)

    "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.

Unbelievable!  A world where people actually *listen* to Ranma's
explanations!

In a multiverse of inifinite possibilities, anything can happen. :)

    "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.

Will have to introduce the concept of earloops...

Who did invent the earloop idea for glasses?

    "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

Thus, "Half Moon" or "Thy Outward Part" aren't going to make guest
appearances...

Probably not.  I have my hands pretty full just dealing with the worlds
I've mentioned in the fic so far, without adding too many more. :/

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

        "Well, I now have a expert knowledge of how to dress in women's
clothing... "

Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that one.  I guess he also knows makeup too
now.

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?*

        Hehehehheehh.

It was QUITE a revelation to him, wasn't it? :)

    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.*

        A new virtual fighting game!

Yeah... that's the ticket.... :)

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

        "Yes, we've found forty more women to engage to Ranma..."

My goodness, Nodoka never realized her little Ranma could be such a
valuable commodity. :)

    Genma sat there in amazement.  "You used a device like this
while you were alone?  That was very careless, son."  Genma

        Well, yes.

Poor Ranma...

nothing less than brilliant.  Genma lost himself in reading.  *My
son is even more brilliant that I dared hope.*

        "Truly a man among men!"

Exactly!

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

        Sense of impending doom...

Bwahahahaha.... :)

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

        Umm, this is a little confusing, unless this is a world where
Nabiki is the primary fiancee.  Remember, she's short-haired too.

Sorry.  I was just using that little change to show that Nabiki could be a
strong possibility to become Ranma's fiancee as well.

    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?*

        Do you want a list?
        This is a very nice scene, by the way.

Thank you.  It changed AltGenma a little too, in the following chapters.

    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."

Wow.

They have a much better father-son relationship.  It makes for some
poignancy when they compare themslves to the band 16 versions.

    "It's a virtual reality generator," Ranma lied smoothly before

        You used it!  Cool!

It was a good idea.  It makes a lot more sense than the truth. :)

    "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?"

        Actually, that's not the only thing he wants to see how it reacts
with a woman :-)

Oohhh... hentai... :)

    "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?"

        Only mild personality corruption...

It might end up being an improvement for her.  :)

    "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."

        More physical Nabiki then...

Yep... gives me an excuse to introduce a Nabiki who can fight.

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.*

        Apparently AltNabs hasn't met him yet...wonder what this will do
when she meets him back in AltVerse?

That meeting is coming up...

    *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.*

        Probably, unless she loses.

        Random thought:  Should AltRanma land in a world where "he" was
born female, his/her first objective will be getting hot water, much to
everyone's confusion....

Heh.  I can see a few potential scenes now. :)

Jurai Knight