Subject: [FFML] Re: Matrix 0.5 (Was: [Ranma/Matrix] New fanfic idea.)
From: David Smith
Date: 10/24/1999, 7:28 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

David Johnston wrote:

Thomas Hood wrote:

----- Original Message -----
From: Jay Kominek <jay.kominek@colorado.edu>
To: <ffml@fanfic.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 1999 5:34 PM
Subject: [FFML] Re: Matrix 0.5 (Was: [Ranma/Matrix] New fanfic idea.)

I can't believe anyone has yet to call Ranma the Two, or the Half (though
the former sounds better).

Someone suggested that Nannichuan/Nyannichuan exist to justify/whatever people
whose Matrix-gender doesn't match their physicial gender.

What if, instead, it was used somehow to adjust/fix valuble (read massive ki
generators) people who suffered from some sort of mental problem? By binding
together two people who have some sort of mental condition, it allows them
to get one functioning person.



Of course that runs into the problem that in order to make the concept work,
P-Chan would have to be a pig that mentally identifies with humans, and
Mouse would have to be a duck with the same problem.  How you'd explain
Genma is beyond me.



    My 2 cents:  Jyusenko isn't part of the Matrix, per se.  At least, not part of the machines' Matrix.  It's something inserted by the people of Zion, along with other "unexplainable phenomena" to a) keep the idea of magic alive, and b) keep people questioning, wondering about the world and just what they know about it.  To put it in terms of White Wolf's Mage RPG, the machines are the Conventions, and the people of Zion are the Traditions, trying to get people to "wake up" from the dream.  However, the Conventions control reality (literally, in this case), and the Traditions have to be very circumspect about how much they stretch reality.  Now, since this isn't a Mage/Matrix crossover, throw out that terminology, and just look at it as inroads the humans are trying to make into the Construct.  The more willing people are to believe that "the truth is out there", the easier it will be to bring them back into the real world.
    In the case of Ranma and crew, their ki levels represent their ability to manipulate, stretch, and maybe break the rules of the Construct.  Cologne is obviously a counterpoint to Morpheus and the Oracle, teaching the youngsters as much as possible, trying to ready them for waking up.  Jusenkyo in particular is a means both of keeping people wary about reality, and as a psychological program, made to confront the individual with their greatest weakness or psychological hangup.  And probably created by some bored hacker on Zion's mainframes who'd had too much beer and pizza ;)  
    As for why those particular individuals aren't caught by the machines, I'd speculate that the Jusekyu program actually coopts the normal program interface, making the humans' minds run through Zion before getting to the Construct.  That would give Zion the means to mask those people that it's training from the machines.  However, it also adds the risk that if the machines ever did find those individuals, they'd provide a direct link into Zion's mainframes, rather than just passcodes.  I remember reading a story comparing Ranma and Bruce Lee, indicating Bruce Lee might have been learning some of the same speed techniques as Ranma, but his body couldn't handle it (or something like that), which is why he died so young.  In this case, it could be that he was being trained by Zion, but was found out by the machines, so Zion had to disconnect him.
    Now, once they awaken Ranma and crew, would they still have to pass through Zion when they plug in?  I'd guess not.  But if not, would they still be cursed, since they wouldn't be running through the Jusenkyo program?  If there's the possibility of getting rid of the curse, you know Ranma would be jumping on it with both feet.  Perhaps a variant on the machines' ability to take over another person and morph to their own form is that the Jusenkyo-cursed people have learned to modify their own form (to a limited extent) once they plug in directly. <shrug>  I'm sure there are other holes to fill in with this idea, but I like it.

David



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