(disclaimer in next email)

================================
RPML-2025: A War of Shadows

By: Peter "Petes-kun" Detenbeck
================================

        "Ah! The plot thickens!"
	-?

	The streets were filled with gunfire coming from the windows above.
On each side was a different gang, hoping to annihilate the other in this
barbaric fire fight. But the only casualties seemed to be those unlucky few
in the street below that were caught in the crossfire.

        Among the unlucky were two familiar persons dressed in black. One of
these two was cursing throughout the entire trek.

        "Ah-!" *BLAM!* "Fu-!" *BUDDA BUDDA!* "God-!" *FWOOM!* "Da-!" *BLAM 
BLAM BLAM!*

        He was quickly ushered into a nearby store on the corner with a
statue of two Greek style goddesses wielding M-16s, called 'Twin Goddess
Gunshop'. He seemed to stay rattled although.

        "GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!"

        "Seth! SHUT UP!" Annie said to her companion and shook him by the
shoulders. "We're out of the streets already! We're not caught in the
blockwar. So calm down."

        "You know, a simple 'hi' would suffice," said the pretty black
haired woman behind the counter. "Hi Annie." She said smiling. She then
turned to Seth and her smile faded. "Hello Seth."

        "Always glad to brighten a girl's day," Seth replied smirking and
leaned on the counter.

        "Well, mission accomplished, Sethy," another girl said as she came
from the door behind the counter.  Her hair was long and dark brown with a
few braids in it, and a box of shotgun shells were in her arms.

        "Hiya Nyx.  You too, Cardessa," Annie said to the two owners of the
gunshop. "Nasty little blockwar out there. You two sell them those guns?" she
asked with a joking tone in her voice.

        "Natch. Course, you can only tell that they're using ours since some
of 'em actually kill people," the brown haired one, Cardessa, said as she
tucked the box under the counter.

        "The ones that don't are probably made by Tendou Enterprises, and that
means that brains are required to use 'em," the black haired one, Nyx,
chuckled.  She lifted a part of the counter so Seth and Annie could come in.

        "Lovely how SCG Munitions stays with the less complicated 'point and
shoot' system, rather than TE's 'program the firing mode, activate the
computer targeting system, and pray if you don't have professional training'
system." Annie laughed a little at Cardessa's joke and whacked Seth when he
began to drool over the vintage MP5Ks.

        "C'mon into the back," Nyx said while unlocking the door to the store
room. "I have some hardware for you two, like I promised." Seth slapped his
hands and giggled like he was a child that was given a shopping spree at
Toys R Us.

        Annie stayed behind though.

        "So Cardessa, have you figured out a way to-" Annie said.

        "Bring _him_ back? Yeah." Cardessa wiped some fingerprints off one
of the display cases. "And, like you said, the book is a key element."

        "So then we'll definitely need the Codexius," Annie muttered to
herself and lightly hit her hand on one of the cases.

	"Damn." Cardessa just lightly smiled, the three runes that were on her
face almost seemed to dimly glow, but Annie just blew it off as a trick of
lighting. <Yeah, just think that. But if you don't, you could always just
wish for the book, and she'd do some magic and the next thing you know, it's
in your hands. Heh.>

        "Still don't believe that I am what I say, do you?" Cardessa asked as
she put away the Tendou Enterprises brand window cleaner.

        "Sorry no. Not in this world."

        "Yeah. I can see what you mean."

                                * * * * * *

        Minister Hinako was mad.

        She was mad for a few reasons.

        The first was that several Sables were MDKed by a pair of punks.

        The second was that said punks got away.

        Another was that she was still at work, and there was a half eaten
dinner, getting cold and spoiled back at her home.

        But at the moment, only the latter and a new one counted.

        The new one was that there was a blockwar going on in the western
section commonly referred to as the 'slums'.

        "Um, Minister Hinako?" asked one of the officers, waiting for her
order of action on the current problem. "Should we send in a team of Yuros?"

        <Send in a team of berzerker behemoths to get slaughtered in the
cross fire of a blockwar? What is this idiot thinking?> "No," said Hinako
finally. "No, I think that I'll have to call in some special aid for this
situation..." she pulled out her cel phone and hit one of the speed dial
numbers labeled 'Prime Minister Akai'. "Hello? Prime Minister? I do
hope I haven't caught you at a bad time..."

                                * * * * * *

        "No, I was on my way to my evening meal. Hmm? Oh well then, I'm ever
so sorry that _you're_ missing your dinner too. So what is it that you wish
to bother me wi-- What? Ah, I see. Yes... Yes I'll send him right over to
assist the Ministry of Tactical Operations. Good evening. Yes. I will enjoy
my dinner."

        Akai turned off his cel phone and grumbled to himself. He hated to be
bothered when he is on his way to dine. Especially since he was dining with 
the Empress of Japan and he hated to be deprived of precious time with his
lady.

        "Zobel." A slight movement in the shadows could be seen as Akai
called out to it. "Zobel, I have a job for you..."

        "Yes, my lord. I am fully aware of the situation in the slums. I shall
take care of it," a vile, cold voice in the shadows said.  With that, his
presence disappeared as quickly as it was sensed.

        "Good.  Good, loyal Zobel..." Akai chuckled to himself and walked down
the hall towards the dining room.

                                * * * * * *

        "Stronger than never ever before... KMFDM is a drug against war..."

        "Speaking of which, want a beer?"

        "Yeah, sure." Nyx left Seth as he browsed through the countless
aisles of weapons and ammo. His breathing seemed to go erratic from being
giddy, and he nearly felt choked up. "Beautiful. Simply beautiful," he
said with joy as his eyes fell upon a LSMK5 special edition.

        "Here." Nyx handed Seth a black beer can with the words 'KEIN MEHRHEIT
F�R DIE MITLEID' in big red letters on it. "I see that you like this little
baby." Nyx picked up the bulky pump-action shotgun and held it in the correct
firing position. Seth meanwhile opened his beer and chugged down the lager
that even a Canadian would water down to save his health. "It's cocked by a
separate handle on the shaft so you don't have to move up or down to pump..."
Nyx continued. She turned on the laser sight and aimed it around. "The sight
uses a battery that lasts a year, but is a bitch to find a replacement for..."
Nyx turned off the sight and pulled a box of ammo from a nearby shelf. "The
ammo is 20mm armor piercing rounds, you could punch a hole in a Yuro with
these."

        "Yuros? As in those--?" Seth asked with wide eyes.

        "The same, don't ask me why the KCF uses them, how they're made, or
even WHERE they're made, we have no idea."

        "Ah jeez... Well then I'll take it. How many rounds per box?" Seth
asked as he took the gun from Nyx.

        "28 shells per box."

        Seth grabbed 5 boxes and an ammo belt. "Might as well keep fully
stocked..."
        "Just a sec'," Nyx went back to the crate the shotgun was taken from,
all the while Seth restrained himself from watching her bend over. "Here." She
handed him a holster for the gun. "Might as well put this on the belt."

        Seth strapped the belt around his waist and mounted the holster on his
left hip, feeling for weight. "Good god. I don't think I'll use my fireballs
again!" Seth grinned and took the belt back off.

        "Oh yeah, there's a locker over by the door that has a dismantled mass
driver for you. Figured you might want some heavy support." Nyx grinned and
stuck her thumb towards the metal box next to the door.

        "Thanks. My meals go down better if they're in pieces..."

                                * * * * * *

        Sachiko and Shichi were sitting at a booth in Ucchan's.

Ukyou recently hit Shichi for not giving her notice that he was
going to take one of his working days off. That was just before Oniko left to
go home.

        "Shichi, don't act like that actually hurt. You know that it takes
more than her hitting you with a spatula to cause pain," Sachiko said as she
tried to pull Shichi's hand off from the place that Ukyou hit him.

        "It's not a matter of pain." Shichi moved his hand and placed it down
on the table.

        "Oh no?" asked Sachiko.

        "No. It's a matter of feeling guilty."

        Sachiko facefaulted against the table. <Of course...> She thought to
herself.

        "Well it serves you right, sugar. I told you when I hired you that
you're supposed to give me at least 12 hours notice."

        Sachiko and Shichi turned to see their employer.

        The years hadn't changed much with Ukyou.

        She still had her looks, albeit they'd changed to fit her age of
around forty years.

        She even still wore that style of okonomiyaki uniform from when the
restaurant first opened.

        "Yes, Miss Kuonji."

        "Now get your apron on and help me with the evening rush."

        Sachiko half waved a goodbye to Shichi as he headed towards the
backroom, and went on her way home.

                                * * * * * *

        "YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Take that, you mother fuckers!!!" The
tattooed ganger shouted as he unloaded another magazine of 'cop killers' at
the building across from his window.

        "Hey!" called his friend as he took a SCGM Zakk-gun from a fellow
ganger.

        "Wut?"

        "Did you notice that they're not firing back?"

        The ganger stopped firing and hid behind the window.

        There was nothing from the other side.

        "You think we nuked those fuckers?"

        "I dunno'..." *Clink* "Hey wut was that?"

        The gang of 10 turned towards where the noise came from. A beer can
rolled out from the shadows.

        "Pah! Only a can!" The one with the Zakk-gun snickered. "Bunch of
puss-- EAAAAAAGH!!!" Suddenly his chest was ripped open from the inside.

        The gangers stared in horror as he was lifted off the ground by an
invisible force. An image of a long claw formed from the blood it was coated
with. The apparition pulled its weapon from the ganger's chest and let the
body slump to the ground.

        Before they could react, another was struck down by the invisible
attacker, his head torn clean off the by the bloody, disembodied claw.

        "What the hell? AAAAAHHHH!!!" One pale ganger cried out before his
was pulled into the shadows.

        "Kill that fucker!" One shouted out and the remaining 7 fired
everything they had left in their machine guns and rifles.

        As they ran out of ammo everything went silent.

        "You think we got him?" asked one of the gangers to another.

        Suddenly a body flew out from the shadows, and the gangers looked in
fear as they saw that they wasted all their worth on the torn corpse of the
latest fallen man.

        "And he said onto thee, that he shall strike a GREAT vengeance!" A new
and blood lust filled voice shouted as they saw a brief shimmer that seemed
to be their attacker.

        But beyond that was nothing more than the glitter of steel and the
splatter of blood.

        They never had a chance.

                                * * * * * *

        "...And this is the-- Hey, do you hear that?"

        Seth stood silently as Nyx gestured him to not speak. He looked at
her like she went nuts and spoke up. "I don't hear anything."

        "Exactly. The shooting stopped. They bought enough ammo to shoot
until the Armageddon..."

        "Well... Maybe they finished the other guys off..." Seth felt to
nervous from the way Nyx was acting about this to even swear.

        "No. No, they're only a bunch of scummers and couldn't shoot turds..."
Nyx said, possibly not even to Seth but to herself, and walked out to the
entrance room. Seth followed and saw Annie and Cardessa looking out the
window. Nyx soon joined them and Seth stood there, half in confusion, half
trying to get to look at their almost bending over behinds.

        "Well? What happened then?" He asked.

        "There were a lot of screams... Some gun fire going on inside, and
then silence. I guess you two heard them stop too, huh?" Cardessa said as she
turned toward Seth.  Fortunate for him he stopped leering at them in time.

        "Yeah," was all Nyx could say, and continued to look out the window.

        If they knew what happened to those gangers... If they found out that
the KCF had a much more powerful weapon against nuisances...

        They still would do what they did later.

        And none of it would make a difference.

                                * * * * * *

        "Is something wrong with your soup, my lady?" Akai asked the
elegantly dressed woman at the other end of the dining table in KCF palace
dining room.

        "Oh," she said, obviously her mind was wandering as she was stirring
her spoon in the bowl absently. "No. It's all right. I just--"

        *BEEP BEEP BEEP*

        "Excuse me a moment my lady, I have to take this call. After all,
Japan doesn't run itself, as you know..." Akai got up and answered his cel
phone. "Yes," he said into it in a hushed tone, "what is it?"

        "Akai-sama, Zobel has reported the operation a success and we're now
sending a team of Sables to clean it up," came the voice of Hinako.

        "Good. Tell Zobel he may have 3 hours of personal time. That is all."
Akai said and turned off his phone. He straightened his shirt and sat back
down at the table. "Now then. As you were saying?"

        The woman looked down at the entree and thought over what to say.

        "I'm sorry. I just don't seem to have an appetite for soup tonight."
She said and laid down her spoon.

        "It's quite alright." Akai said smiling. "I'll tell the chef that
you'd like to have the main course now." With that he got up and headed
towards the kitchen.

        The woman pulled aside some of her dark purple hair that was over her
shoulder and lightly picked up her wineglass. She stared at it for a while,
observing the beauty of the thin glass, and the clear, yellow-white liquid
inside it.  It lightly swishes from side to side as she moved the glass
around in her hand.

        "Mr. Mathews?" she finally said, referring to the NSIA agent standing
by the door.  His hair was silver gray, and his clothes were jet black. 
Although he looked like the perfect image of undeath, she knew perfectly that
he was more than alive.

        "Hai?" he replied, the glint of light from the candles on the table
reflected off his small narrow sunglasses.

        "Call Professor Carr, and tell him I'd like to see him later tonight."

        Mathews merely nodded and left the room.

        She stopped staring at her glass and lightly sipped some of the white
wine. A look of determination and hope replaced the despair and sadness.

        Tonight, she would bring her hopes and plans into completion.

                                * * * * * *

        Nyx looked away from the window and walked over to the others. "Looks
like the KCF sent by some Sables to clean things up..." she said as she sat
down. "Funny. Never seen Sables with blue jumpsuits before..."

        "They're SP series. We did some hacking before we headed over to
Japan and found out that tonight they were beginning to replace the old C
series Sables..." Annie said as she examined the AP shell between her fingers.
"They say that these ones are better at handling guys like us... Having a
sense of self-preservation... The C series was designed to just do the job,
and not know that they could be killed by that big gun in their face..."
Annie snickered a bit and put the shell back into the magazine. "They should
thank us for disposing some of those old C series earlier tonight..."

                                * * * * * *

        It was nearing closing hours for Ucchan's as the sound of a
hypercycle pulling into the parking spaces in front of the restaurant could be
heard.

        The door slid open and a man, in his early twenties, short black
hair, wearing a plaid green jacket, strutted in.

        "You're just in time." Shichi said as he began to mix up some
okonomiyaki batter.

        "Shi-kun, what're you doing here? I thought you had tonight off?" The
guy asked as he took up a normal posture and sat at a chair near the counter.

        "Hah!" Came Ukyou's voice from inside the kitchen.

        "Didn't give my 24 hours notice so I have to do the night shift
tonight to make up for missing the afternoon... Plain pork as usual?" Shichi
asked.

        "You know it. And no jokes about how you saw a bandanna in the bowl
of chopped pork..."

        "Can't help it if I have to find something to lighten my life, 'Suke."
Shichi said ginning and began to make Rakusuke's order.

        "Yeah well..." Rakusuke said and looked out the window.

        Shichi went along making the 'yaki for Rakusuke, and gave him a cup
of tea along with it.

        "Oniko's been looking for you by the way..." Shichi finally said.

        Raku' put down his tea and looked up at Shichi.

        "Really? How come?

        "Well... I guess she just... Just wanted to talk to you I guess..."
Shichi stuttered as he cleaned off the grill, closing time was near so he had
to get into closing up for Ukyou. Just one of her punishments for him.

        "Well I guess I'll have to catch her tomorrow... Say uh, you need a
lift back home?" Rakusuke offered.

        "Nah. I have to close up, and you know how long that'll take."

        "Heh," Rakusuke snickered. "Yeah. I have to close up at the video
store every other week... Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow too. Later man!"
Raku got up, left his money plus Shichi's tip and once again strutted out
jokingly.

        "'There goes Rakusuke... He's a berzer--' Why the heck am I singing to
myself?" Shichi asked himself and then turned off the grill. "I hate it when
my mind wanders..."

        At that moment Ukyou came out from the kitchen, putting on her jacket
over her uniform. "Okay, sugar, you closed for me before so you know what to
do."

        "Yeah," Shichi sighed. "Clean up, put the chairs on the tables, put
away the ingredients, count the money twice and put it in the safe."

        "Well then, oyasumi sugar!" Ukyou said and left.

        "Eh heh... Ja."

                                * * * * * *

	"Hi, just thought I'd stay over tonight!" Oniko called out as she
closed the door to her aunts' apartment. "Aunt Lin, Aunt Ran?"

	"Oh, nihao Ko-chan!" Lin-lin greeted her niece, Oniko, as she walked
out of the living room and into the hallway.

	"As the growing tension between Japan and the Republic of Joketsukozu
increases, the KCF has shut off all trade with more than just the young
Republic, but with China itself. The Matriarch of the Republic, Tendou Akane,
had this to say--" *CLICK*

	Ran-ran, Oniko's other aunt, came into the hallway to greet her,
after turning off the TV.

	"Lemme guess..." Oniko said after saying hi. "Foster went back to the
office to work, ne?"

	"Hai, he have last minute update to do before the company began
assembly of new project," Lin-lin said.

	"Aunt Lin, Aunt Ran, I'm saying this to you two as your loving
niece... Please take some Japanese classes."

	"What we know is good enough, it still get us by," Ran-ran said and
went into the kitchen.

	"Yeah... I'm sorry."

	"Is okay."

	"So Foster is workin' late, eh?" Oniko said to herself. "The guy is
still a tightass like I always..."

	*CLICK*	"--And avoiding conflict is our number one procedure, even
though we don't have to worry. That was the comments of the General of the
UN Peace Corps, General Justin Tylor." The TV came to life again as Oniko sat
next to Lin-lin and turned it on. "And now for the weather. Yamamoto?"

	"Why it'll be a lovely day for the Festival of Souls tomorrow! With
zero chances of a storm..."

				* * * * * *

	The research and development department of Tendou Enterprises was
completely dark and empty except for one lone office belonging to a Mister
Ran Foster. Inside, the room is illuminated by the white blue glow of the
monitor light, and the office was filled with the sounds of keys typing. And
to top off these signs of occupation, Foster was sitting at the computer
desk, hard at work.

	"And here's the hardest working employee besides myself... Good
evening, Ran." Foster turned to see the shadowed image of his employer, Nabiki
Tendou. And much like Ukyou, she hadn't changed much.

	"Hmm... I don't recall hearing the door open..." Foster said with a
grin. Nabiki smirked at his comment.

	"That's because you were too absorbed in your work." Nabiki sat down
on the edge of his desk. "You should... take a break." Slowly she leaned
forwards and kissed him deeply on the lips.

	"Gomen," Foster quietly said as he broke off the kiss. "It's just
that--"

	"You've been waiting a very long time for this project to finally go
into production, I know."

	"Hai."

	"Well then, just remember that you'll be owing me after that. And I
think going back to my old way and getting dinner out of you would be nice..."
she said and winked at him. "Get some rest. The last thing I want to happen to
you is to end up looking all pale and tired from these late hours, it's not
something I
look for in a... 'silent partner'." Nabiki gave him a 'if you catch my
meaning' look, and got up. "Well, goodnight Ran-baby."

	"G'night Nabs."

				* * * * * *

	"Minister Hinako, the clean up has been completed and all offenders
have been reported as deceased."

	"Excellent." Hinako grinned at that bother being eliminated. "Now
lets begin on researching the possible perps on that last multiple Sable MDK
incident... Give me the files on ANYONE who could do what those two did."

	*RING RING*

	The vidphone on the left side of Hinako's command station sprung to
life with ringing. Hinako leaned over and pressed the answer button, the
image of her caller came onto the screen.

	It was a cold faced man with a long brown ponytail, wearing a black
suit and an earpiece.

	"Chief Director Essix," Hinako said, trying to hide the surprise in
her voice. "What have you called me about?"

	"Minister..." Essix took a short breath as he looked away from the
camera briefly. "It's about the technique using pair your department
encountered earlier tonight... The NSIA will be handling it from now on, so
the Ministry of Tac' Ops' doesn't have to."

	"But sir--"

	"That's my order, Minister,

				* * * * * *

	and that's final. Good bye, Hinako." Essix said and turned off his
vidphone. <Humans are too easily tired and often miss details, they can't be
trusted to an operation like this.>

	Essix adjusted his tie, took out his sunglasses, and put them on.

	"Never send a human to do a Sable's job..."

				* * * * * *

	"1..."

	"2..."

	"3! JANKEN!"

	The NSIA agent with the long dark blue bandanna and gray trenchcoat
grinned at his co-worker, a Chinese woman in a black suit. "I do believe my
paper covers your rock, Shayn-san."

	"Argh! Stupid gaijin cheat!" Shayn Tsu, a young woman in her mid 20s
with long black hair, a dead ringer for the long since missing Xian Puu,
growled at her partner.

	"Now now... leave my nationality out of this, besides, you shouldn't
be one to talk." The man, known as agent Alik San, grinned. "Another game?"

	"With you? I not think so! You too too cheap."

	"I'm sorry for keeping you two waiting, that is, I believe you're the
agents Riven-san said he'd send..." came a voice of a man with odd blue hair
hurrying over to the car where Shayn and Alik stood by. He was carrying a
metal case with the label 'fragile: handle with care' on the sides.

	"Yep, Mr.-- Erm, Professor Carr, I'm agent San, and this here is my
lovely assistant Heather." Alik said with a chuckle.

	"You no listen to stupid Alik. I agent Tsu." Shayn said and whacked
Alik in the back of the head.

	"Say, Tsu-san... have we met before?" Carr asked as he stepped into
the right back door of the car.

	"Ah... er... No no. Eh heh. You be thinking of someone else, ne?"
Shayn suggested nervously and sat in the drivers seat.

	"Hmm... I suppose so... Well I guess we should be off to KCF Palace
so I can do business with the Empress."

	"Right away Prof.'!" Alik said and sat in the seat next to Shayn. "By
the way, do you like retrothrash?"

	"Why, no."

	"Aw, too bad." Alik popped in a JPunk, Live at Skydome CD and pressed
play. "Then you might not enjoy the ride that much..."

	The CD player began to spout out the heavy beat/retrothrash music,
much to Justin Carr's displeasure, and Alik San's enjoyment. "WE'RE HALF PAST
EXTINCTION! YEAH! KISS DEMOCRACY GOODBYE DIPSHIT!"

				* * * * * *

	<I am cute... Too bad it won't last long...> Annie thought as she
looked at herself in the mirror. Nyx and Cardessa gave her and Seth a room to
stay the night in. She was now dressed down to her panties and a long T-shirt.
Annie slowly caressed her hands over her shirt, making it briefly show her
figure underneath as she passed down. With a small smile she arced her
shoulders back and looked into the mirror again. <Would you have liked to
have made love to me? I can feel how you got a little... 'excited' from how I
looked just then.> Slowly a look of rejection and embarrassment came across
her face. <I'm sorry... I forgot about her.> Annie turned away from the mirror
and crawled into her bed. <Well I guess this is where you chew me up for
gettin' hentai with ya'...> And with that, Annie shortly fell asleep.

				* * * * * *

	"Always the same..." Annie said to herself as she looked around the
grounds of Jusenkyo, the scenery she always had in these dreams, these
visions.

	"Well I'm sorry, but this is as much your old home as it is mine."
Annie turned to where the voice in her dreams always came from, the nearby
cavern with a faint blue-pink glow emitting from it. "And as for your body...
Yes, it is a desirable one, but I don't go much for incest..."

	"Incest, eh? Well I guess if you want to get technical..." Annie said
with a grin.

	"Sigh. Why wasn't Seth's mind more open to this..? He wouldn't try to
seduce me... He'd just plain ignore me..."

	"I wouldn't be surprised... So what's the plan?"

	"Tomorrow's the Festival of Souls... It's a worldwide Mardi Gras, as
you know." 

	"Yep. And lemme guess, we strike during the celebrating."

	"Not until night, it may be a big party, but people could still see
you and Seth. ...Besides, people are more drunk in the evening, so more
Sables will be out trying to control the crowds."

	"Sounds good." Annie smirked. "So you sure the book'll work?"

	"If not, it WILL be a good catalyst for our plans."

	"Right. So if we're all done here, I'd like to have a death-free
dream please." Annie chuckled at her joke, but there was a truth to it, she
was tired of the same dream everynight for 5 years. "How about one featuring
you and me."

	"I'm sorry, Annie, but it's not happening."

	"Sigh. I figured as much."

				* * * * * *

	The bedroom of Japan's Empress was rather elegant, with wall to wall
Chinese carpets, silk drapes, and furniture that'd be worth a king's ransom.
But as the cliche always goes, she was still a prisoner in a beautiful
cell.

	She had never been allowed to venture beyond the Palace, and whenever
she was to go anywhere besides the level that was designated as her
'home', that being where her bed room, dining room, bathroom, and living room
are, about 2 NSIA agents would escort her.

	It wasn't until she persuaded Chief Director Essix to assign agent
Mathews to the evening shift, that she actually felt comfortable. The other
agents were just looking out for their jobs, Riven Mathews was looking out
for the Empress.

	But besides the cold faces and the guilded cage, the one thing that
had bothered her all these years is one thing.

	An empty life.

	And tonight she would make herself complete.

	"Ms, Justin Carr is here," Riven said as he stepped in.

	"Thank you Mr. Mathews, send him in."

	Professor Carr slowly walked into the living room where the Empress
sat on her couch. "Good evening," he said and was about to bow, but stopped
when he saw the look she gave him. "Now, I was only able to acquire the DNA of
the secondary party... Your first choice has disappeared from genetic data as
well... I'm sorry."

	"Don't be, he'll have to do. But how come you were able to get the
other DNA sample?"

	"Let's just say... It was taking up some shelf space..." Carr said as
he opened his case and took out a vial containing a white fluid, followed by
a metal device with a smooth round end and a small slit.

	"I don't like how you refer to the future father of my soon to be
child as 'wasted space', Carr-san." The Empress said and looked at him
angrily. "That man had my respect, even if I didn't display it to him when he
was alive."

	"I'm sorry Shampoo-dono, I just remember a 'different' version of
him." Carr said with a small smile on his face, which soon faded and went
back to a serious look. "Now then, are you positively sure about the
insemination?"

	"Yes, I am." Empress Xian Puu said. "And it's Xian Puu, not Shampoo,
please."

	"Alright then." Carr loaded the vial of sperm into the insemination
device and handed it to Xian. "Here. You can do the procedure yourself, it's
made to be just a simple 'insert and press' so you won't have to feel
uncomfortable with me being so close to your... well..."

	"Thank you." she said as she accepted it. "If you'll excuse me then."
And Xian got up to go to the bathroom.

	"Oh, before I leave... Congratulations." And with that, Carr gathered
his things and left.

	<Oh great grandmother... I know it's not Ranma's... But I will have a
strong child like we hoped.>


~End episode 2#~