On Sun, 04 Oct 1998, David Johnston <rgorman@telusplanet.net> wrote:

Chan Wei Lik wrote:

Another solid episode. Well done!
I'm glad you decided to have default-Ranma try to build a dimension-jump
device instead of using ridiculous martial-arts technique. One question, our
scholar-Ranma sees martial-Ranma in his sleep. What does martial-Ranma see
in HIS sleep? A lecture on quantum physics by scholar-Ranma?
Seems like 5 minutes wasn't enough for you, once refugee-Ranma settles in I
suppose he'll continue his research right? Also, it seems inappropriate for
him to state the following:

Not the Ranma of this timeline, and not the Ranma of his old timeline.

He would simply be Ranma, a fusion of two lives. <<

I take it that this was his only d-jump from his native dimension? In that
case how could he know about the mental contamination issue? Neither of the
other jumpers we know of knew about this until they spent more than an hour
in another's body. With the limited resources at his disposal, I doubt he
could have seen this possibility. I believe you want to justify
jumper-Kodachi's actions but this isn't the way to go about it. It's just
not realistic, I'm sorry.

I believe he wants to justify _Ranma's_ action in this case.  After all, 
this Ranma deliberately went on a one-way trip.  Kodachi's was more more
or less an accident since she thought she'd be able to get back somehow.  
Ranma-refugee needs a rationalisation for his course of action, unless he's
slime.  I still don't know what his problem was in giving the technology
to his country, though.  

	Say rather Genma's problem with giving the technology, Ranma's problem 
is that The Empire decided that since Genma wasn't giving them what they 
wanted, they were perfectly justified to lock up Ranma and use any ammount of 
force and coersion to "Inspire" him to complete the technology and give it to 
his country.  After which he would have been a security risk of course, and 
execution would have been more practical than imprisionment.

So can either martial-Ranma or refugee-Ranma put together their own jump
devices? Since their universes are based on ours, they can get their hands
on better computer technology than their counterpart. Of course this is
based on my personal assumption that computer tech hasn't been around as
long in the Imperial universe as it has in ours.

	Plus, in part six, there's the way Ranma is able to use an incredibly 
simple sounding trick to hack a government computer, which to me seems an 
indication that the internet in the imperial world is incredibly underdeveloped 
compaired to ours.  This would make network security in the empire be based 
more on theory than on practice.  Like the alien's computers in Independance 
day.
	And of course every spot where the technology is assumed to be really 
advanced has it's questionable points.  After all most technological advances 
which would replace or make easire job done by slaves would be implimented real 
slowly.  Rome knew about steam power and didn't develope it because it's 
obvious applications would do jobs slaves were already doing.  And of course if 
Genetic engineering weren't so integral to the storyline I'd have a few 
questions with it since it requires that the theory of evolution was accepted 
when it was proposed.  Or that it would have been created from studying 
Jusenkyo, but the scientists don't really understand it.

Last but not least I can suggest an 'improvement' in the device. Although I
consider a physical transfer out of the question, it seems to me that a
mind-swap with a transdimensional counterpart is conciveable. Set it up so
that the transfer can take place as long as one party is in a jump device
and it be just cool. What do you think?