You know if this had just been another Ranma fic, I would have
deleted it without reading because of the line length. But since
SMJ adds novelty value.
Strangers in a Strange Land
Chapter 2
Later, back at their meeting place, Akane entered the room at a
run, and sighed in relief to find Nabiki and Ranma already there. "I'm
sorry Nabiki, I know you said not to do anything to give away our
plans, but...." Akane took a second look at her fianc�. "Ranma! What
are you wearing?"
Ranma shrugged. "I borrowed Yusaku's shirt. I didn't want to wear
that kimono again. Too restrictive, if we got into a fight."
Akane glanced down at the long expanse of leg Ranma was showing
off, but decided not to complain. At least Ranma borrowed his shirt,
and not just his pants. <I swear, that boy just has no sense of
feminine modesty.> Akane's memories flashed back to all the times
Ranma had forgotten to wear a shirt, much less a bra, after getting
changed into a girl. <He nearly gave dad a heart attack a few
times....>
Strictly speaking, there's no reason Ranma's brain can't be transferred
into a male simulacrum. All he'd have to do is find someone capable of
and willing to design such a chassis.
Nabiki cleared her throat. "Alright, what did you do, Akane? Ranma
here decided to knock out Yusaku."
Ranma frowned. "Hey, I was out of options! He kept on telling me I
wasn't functioning right, and he'd have to reprogram me, every time I
tried to ask him stuff. All he was interested in was getting me in
bed!"
Nabiki sighed. "Did you really have to knock him cold?"
Ranma glared angrily at her. "It was that or sleep with him!
Anyway, I figured I could tie him up and interrogate him." She
shrugged sheepishly. "Only I kinda hit him too hard. He's still out
cold for all I know, so I grabbed his shirt and got here just now."
Honestly Ranma, you could have just wrestled him into submission.
Akane shook her head. "There wasn't anything else you could do.
Anyway, it doesn't matter. We should get out of here right away."
Nabiki sighed, muttering under her breath. "She could have just
done it...." She sighed again and spoke up. "Never mind. What did you
do, Akane?"
Akane chewed nervously on her lip. "Well I kind of. broke their
stray period
master computer."
Nabiki looked incredulous. "You what?"
Akane hurried on. "Well, Kasumi said that household marionettes
have a radio that's only a radio, but combat models have a remote
control device. So I asked her which one I was and she didn't know. SO
I asked her where the device was and she said it was in the master
computer. So. I asked Kasumi where the master computer was and.."
Nabiki rolled her eyes. "And you smashed it, eh?"
Akane shrugged sheepishly. "Well. yes. Anyway, I think we're
combat models. I smashed the computer really easily. I'm pretty sure
I'm a lot stronger than Kasumi.."
I don't think that Akane would call the Kasumi marionette just Kasumi.
Maybe, "that Kasumi thing"
Nabiki sighed. "Oh well, so much for subtlety. With you and Ranma,
we're going to have to run for it, alright. I hope they don't have a
I think the comma after "it" shouldn't be there.
backup for that computer."
Ranma looked worried. "Do you think they can. control us?"
Nabiki shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe not with their computer
smashed. Anyway, I figured you two might do something like this, so
I've come up with a plan." She brought out a sheaf of papers she had
tucked into her obi. "I've got a map of the city we're in, and a
couple of recent newspapers. I had a hunch, and I looked up everything
I could find on Lorelei." Nabiki held out a newspaper. Its front page
had a large shot of a beautiful, willowy, lean woman with long, light
reddish blond hair. "According to this article, Lorelei is some kind
of... Martin Luther King for Marionettes. Pretty controversial
actually. Apparently she helped to create the marionette technology,
or at least part of it, three hundred years ago. She apparently has
been speaking for 'Marionette rights'. It hasn't gone over really
well, as you might have guessed, but since she's the only living
female on the planet, she carries a bit of weight. "I figure, if
anyone can help us, it's her."
Akane looked hopeful. "If she helped create the marionettes,
maybe she could take out our remote control circuits. if we have
them."
Nabiki nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Now, we've really
got to go. I'm surprised no one's started looking for us already."
Akane grinned. "Well, actually, speaking of that, I think we might
have an easier time with getting away then you would think. Kasumi
told me that Yusaku and Godai have around a dozen or so combat
marionettes for security. A couple of them ran into the room when I
started trashing the computer, but I managed to break it before they
reached me and they collapsed. I don't think any of them will be able
to come after us for awhile."
Nabiki nodded with a relieved look. "Good! Still, we'd better get
out of here before the local police or whatever show up."
Ranma nodded in return, back in familiar territory. Tactics, she
could handle. "Alright, I'll lead. Akane, you take up the rear. Which
way once we get out, Nabiki?"
Nabiki shrugged. "I'll tell you once we get outside. I'll need to
get my bearings."
Ranma nodded again in understanding. "OK, lets go." The petite red
head moved quickly out of the room, followed by Nabiki and Akane. They
found the front door in moments and exited at a run, steadily
increasing speed as Ranma realized that Nabiki was easily keeping pace
without effort. In fact, Ranma noticed all three of were running
almost without effort. For her, that wasn't so unusual, being used to
heavy exertion as a highly skilled martial artist, but normally she
would expect to feel a least a hint of fatigue. <Must be these robot
bodies.> Ranma mused. <I wonder if we ever get tired?>
As they passed through the front gate, Nabiki stopped looking
around and opened her map. "Alright. I need a landmark to get my
bearings. The Imperial palace is supposed to be the tallest building
in the city.."
Ranma pointed to the top of a nearby three-story building. "Let's
get a better view."
Nabiki frowned. "How am I going to get up there? I'm not an
absurdly skilled martial artist like you two."
Ranma looked at her encouragingly. "I'd bet you are as strong as
Akane and me now, Nabiki. Come on, we'll help you." The red head
turned to Akane. "You feeling up to some roof hopping?"
Akane nodded. "I'm easily twice as strong as before, if not more.
No problem." She and Ranma got on either side of Nabiki and took a
hold of an arm at the shoulder.
"OK, Nabiki." Ranma said confidently. "Bend your knees, and get
ready. We'll jump on three. One, two, three!" Nabiki grit her teeth,
bent her knees, and jumped as hard as she could. Despite Ranma's
assurance, she was startled to find herself flying over the lip of the
roof. They ended up landing near the peak of the roof's slanted
surface almost effortlessly.
Nabiki whistled. "Oh. Oh wow. I could get used to this."
The three girls looked around at the city in wonder. It looked
like something from their history books, the buildings and roads
reminding them all strongly of the Japanese Feudal period. The
slanted, tiled roofs, the finely cobblestoned roads were just slightly
too perfect to be from the past.
Ranma finally broke Nabiki out of her astonished reverie. "Hey,
Nabiki-san, why does this place look like it's five hundred years in
the past, instead of the future?"
Nabiki shook her head. "Who knows. I suppose they simply wanted to
do it this way. It is pretty though, isn't it?"
Akane nodded, smiling. "I like it. Although they didn't have
skyscrapers in the feudal period...." She pointed to some tall
buildings off in the distance, around eight to ten stories in height,
although otherwise matching the shorter building around them.
"Well," Nabiki looked thoughtful. "I have seen some pretty big
buildings that existed back a few hundred. no make that over a
thousand years ago, now. They're not too out of place."
Ranma spoke up. "Nabiki, I have another question." She pointed out
across the city. "Is that the Imperial palace?"
Nabiki turned to look and followed Ranma's arm. "Hmm, yes. I'm
pretty sure it is."
Ranma nodded. "OK, so, where can we find this Lorelei?"
Nabiki shrugged, and pointed. "Actually... at the Imperial palace.
Convenient, isn't it?"
Akane raised an eyebrow. "Something makes me think this isn't
going to be as easy as walking up to the front gate and asking to see
her."
Nabiki shrugged again. "I'd have to say you're probably right."
"Nothin to do but try, right?" The red headed former boy grinned.
"Come on, let's go!"
The three girls moved slowly at first. Roof hopping was a new
experience for Nabiki, and she was cautious in the beginning, taking
one leap at a time. Despite her new speed and strength, Nabiki had no
desire to slip and fall at the height they were at. Akane and
especially Ranma had no trouble, regardless of their increased
strength, but for Nabiki, the change was much greater. Judging the
distances properly and landing correctly were skills she had never
acquired. Several times Nabiki nearly did fall from the rooftops,
saved only by Ranma's quick reflexes. By the time they finally reached
the outskirts of the imperial palace, however, she was finally
starting to get the hang of it.
They came to a halt on a rooftop just across a large open area in
front of the palaces outer wall. The wall was around twenty feet in
height. No obstacle to them, but impressive enough. The palace itself
lay forty to fifty yards from the wall. It had several smaller
buildings arranged around it in a regular, evenly spaced, though
pleasant looking pattern. The palace itself towered over three hundred
feet in height.
Ranma glanced at Nabiki. "OK, we're here. Now what?" How do we
find this woman, Lorelei?"
Nabiki pursed her lips. "Well, the article only said she was
staying here, not exactly where she was in the palace grounds. So
we'll just have to look for her."
Akane gestured down at the large gates off to their right that led
into the grounds. "I know what I said before, but why don't we just go
up to the main gate, and ask to see her?"
Nabiki shook her head. "I don't think so. From everything we've
learned so far, I get the impression that rogue marionettes wouldn't
be welcomed at the palace. I mean, everyone thinks of marionettes as
machines here, robots. The thought of robots as strong as we are, with
free will, uncontrolled.. That is going to scare people."
Ranma frowned. "Hey, it's not like we're going to hurt anybody. A
martial artist doesn't attack the weak."
Nabiki looked dubious. "Sure, WE know that, to them, however,
you're not a martial artist, but an uncontrolled marionette. We've got
to figure out how to do this without creating more problems than we
solve."
Akane sat down, frowning. "OK, Nabiki. What do you think we should
do?"
Pose as gifts?
*****************************
Yusaku woke gradually, acutely aware of his aching jaw and the
lump on the back of his head. He realized suddenly that he was lying
on his bed, while someone pounded loudly at his door.
"Yusaku? Yusaku are you in there? Are you alright?" Godai's
worried voice came through clearly and the young man groaned to
himself.
Yusaku rose slowly to answer his door. "Yes. yes! I'm here."
The door burst open and Godai came in. "Yusaku, something terrible
has happened! Our new prototypes have run off. They destroyed the main
computer and ran off!"
Yusaku rubbed his jaw, then felt the lump on the back of his head.
"She hit me?" He frowned angrily. "She hit me!"
Godai looked concerned. "Have you heard what I have been saying?
The new marionettes have run off, and destroyed the main computer!"
Yusaku glared at him. "I heard you, old man! The red head, Ranma,
hit me! Without warning, she struck me! I'm lucky to be alive!"
Godai nodded. "Yes, it's as bad as I feared. I believe I
miscalculated the power of their maiden circuits. According to the
reports, a maiden circuit should have made them intensely loyal to us,
but I saw no sign of it. Instead they were emotional and
uncontrollable. There must have been some degradation of their memory
storage devices over the centuries. They are not at all as Tatewaki
Kuno described in his memoirs."
Yusaku sniffed angrily to himself and glared at his father.
"Godai, I told you. We should have programmed restraints into them!"
Godai shook his head. "That would have changed their memories. I
wanted them as realistic as possible.."
Yusaku laughed bitterly. "Well, if this was what "real women" are
like, I want no part of them! Why haven't you sent the house sentries
after them?"
Godai glared back at Yusaku. "I told you, the main computer was
destroyed! I've started up the backup, but it's not up to running the
full sentry program. Either it can run half the sentries at full
efficiency, or all of them at fifty percent. Either way, I don't want
to try recapturing the prototypes until the whole group is fully
active."
Yusaku blinked. "We have over a dozen fully operative "Cherry
Blossom" T sentries, and you hesitate? As you said, the prototypes
have not had any external programs put in. The Cherry Blossoms are
programmed with the finest combat software. Despite the quality of the
prototypes hardware, those three marionettes should be no match for
"prototype" or "prototypes'"
twice their number of combat marionettes."
Godai shook his head. "I have done more research into their
histories than you, Yusaku. Tatewaki Kuno reported that Akane Tendo
was dan ranked in Kendo, Jujitsu, and was a master of her family's
school of Indiscriminate Grappling. While records of the red haired
girl are spotty at best, Tatewaki reported that she was even more
skilled than Akane. The only records of a "Ranma", who was recorded as
a male, say that he, or she, was the recognized grand master of the
Indiscriminate Grappling style, and ranked very high in almost a dozen
different schools of martial arts outside his, or her, own school.
While Nabiki Tendo was not noted for her martial skills, she WAS
renowned for her intellect, and she did live at her father's dojo for
most of her young adult life."
Yusaku frowned. "The bodies you constructed, were those of
"Sabers" correct? The top of the line combat models?"
Godai nodded soberly. "Correct. I felt the benefits of having
loyal, intelligent consorts, able to serve as bodyguards against
nearly any threat, outweighed any possible risk."
Yusaku groaned. "Well, it looks like you've made one too many
errors, old man. How are we going to get them back?"
Godai gazed at the younger man calmly. "I have already taken
steps. Did you notice, during dinner, the Akane marionette's interest
in Lorelei? I believe they may seek her out. I have notified the
Imperial palace of a trio of rogue marionettes, with faulty maiden
circuits. The castle's guards should be more than capable of handling
them."
********************************
Nabiki hesitated, looking down at the front gates. "We could claim
to have a message for Lorelei, from our "masters", and see if they'll
let us give it in person.."
Ranma and Akane started at a sudden faint noise. They stood and
looked in the direction it came from. Two tall women stood
threateningly facing them from the edge of the rooftop. The woman on
the left had long, white purple hair in a long ponytail, and wore a
red kimono. Her companion had dark green bluish hair, and wore a green
kimono with a black obi. Both woman were tall, taller than any of the
girls, fierce and noble looking. The woman on the left carried a long
"bisento" spear, and her companion had the long hilts of swords
peeking over both her shoulders. Ranma went into a subtle defensive
stance immediately, and she sensed Akane doing the same.
The woman in red spoke commandingly. "Identify yourselves! What is
your purpose here?"
Ranma stepped forward, partially shielding her own companions with
her body. "I am Ranma Saotome, and we're here to see Lorelei."
The tall bisento wielder pointed her spear in their direction and
spoke again. "Lorelei is expecting no visitors. Surrender yourselves
now."
Ranma frowned. "Surrender? Why? What have we done?"
The white and purple haired marionette answered promptly. "You
have destroyed property and endangered the populace. You must
surrender to us now."
Nabiki grimaced, speaking quietly. "Damn, Godai must have called
ahead."
Akane looked worried. "What are we going to do?"
Ranma kept his eyes on the two marionettes across the roof. "We
gotta get out of here, now, before they call in backup or somethin."
She whispered fiercely to the two Tendo sisters.
Once again, the red clad marionettes spoke. "Remain where you are.
You will be taken into custody and returned to your owners. Do not
resist."
Ranma snorted. "To heck with that. Akane, get Nabiki outta here.
I'll stall these two and follow ya." Akane nodded quickly, and before
Nabiki could protest, she scooped her older sister up and leaped from
the rooftop, bounding toward the horizon in long, parabolic arcs. The
two tall, weapon-carrying marionettes moved to intercept, but Ranma
got in their way. Her delicate looking hands beckoned to them almost
welcomingly. A cocky smile appeared on Ranma's face. "Uh, uh, uh."
Ranma shook her head. "I'm your dancing partner tonight."
Could be tricky. Ranma hasn't really had a chance to learn all the
fine points of her body so her timing could be off.
The two amazonlike warriors didn't hesitate, charging to the
attack. Ranma leapt over a low sweep from the bisento, while the
marionette in green drew both of her swords from their sheaths at
once. Ranma was surprised when the two blades crackled with highly
visible energy, but didn't let herself become distracted. The short
red head was too busy dodging her amazonian opponents ever increasing
offensive to waste time in speculation.
<I've got to stay away from those swords.> Was the only coherent
thought Ranma could manage as her body took over, evading like a
butterfly before a hurricane. As time passed, Ranma became aware that
Akane was getting out of sight, and knew it was time to act.
The few initial seconds of combat had given Ranma a good idea of
her opponents' abilities. They followed classic patterns of attack for
their weapons, practically without flaw. This left their defenses
strong, but in every pattern, there was a weakness. In the palace
guards' case, Ranma realized the weakness was in the pattern itself.
The sentries' attacks seemed varied at first, but to a large degree,
they followed the same form. All she had to do, she realized, was to
anticipate the next moves they would make ahead of time, and exploit
them.
Dodging a downward swipe by the bisento, Ranma spun to the left,
putting the spear wielder in the way of the woman with two swords.
Before they could reorient themselves so that they both could attack
again, Ranma had found her opening. Moving in, even as the tall,
red-clothed woman brought her bisento up in a high sweep, Ranma slid
between her legs before the marionette could reverse her swing. Ranma
kicked out at both of her legs simultaneously, and brought the tall
woman down, falling toward her companion. Before the marionette in
green could get out of the way, Ranma pushed up with her hands,
planting both feet in the stomach of the falling amazon, and launching
her toward her companion with every muscle in her body. Unable to get
clear, the green-haired marionette was carried along with her
white-haired ally as Ranma's thrust knocked them both off the rooftop.
Even before they started to fall, Ranma had flipped to her feet
and was sprinting in the direction Akane had gone. Ranma left the
rooftop with a powerful leap, arcing forward in a shallow parabola,
reaching the next roof in a moment, then leaping onward with
increasing speed. By the time the two palace sentries had recovered
from their fall and regained the rooftops, Ranma was out of sight.
After carefully surveying the nearby area, they glanced at each other,
then took off toward the palace to report.
******************************
Half a mile away, Ranma had slowed down her breakneck pace and was
scanning the rooftops and streets around her as she bounded along low
to the surface of the roofs. Ranma heard something whistling through
the air at her and spun, breaking the flying piece of roofing tile
into pieces with a downward block. She tracked along the flight path
of the hurled object and spotted Akane and Nabiki in a nearby
alleyway. With a grin, Ranma leapt down to join them.
Akane moved forward with a worried look, and started checking
Ranma for damage. "What happened? Are you alright?"
Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothin I couldn't handle." She
frowned slightly. "And don't mother me, I ain't hurt."
Akane stepped back, looking annoyed. "Not that you'd admit it if
you were, you stubborn jerk."
Ranma snorted. "Like I'd want you to help? You're so clumsy,
you're more likely to pull one of my arms off then to fix anything."
Akane's brow knitted in anger and she was about to reply heatedly
when Nabiki interrupted. "I hate to break up your lover's quarrel, but
this isn't really the time or place."
Ranma and Akane both turned to face her. "We're not.! Why would
I.?"
Nabiki grinned. "I've heard that before too. You're not fooling
anyone, you know." Ranma and Akane both hesitated uncertainly and
Nabiki continued. "I know you two too well. You don't have to fight
the engagement anymore, you know. Daddy and Mr. Saotome are long gone,
and we're on another planet! You don't have to pretend anymore."
Akane and Ranma blinked, then spoke as one again. "Hey I'm not.!
What do you mean, pretending.?" They stopped, glanced at each other,
and blushed in embarrassment, then spoke up a third time as one. "No
really! Why would you.?"
The former fiancees' stopped yet again and Nabiki laughed. "Oh
yes, I can tell how much you don't care. You two even protest like
you're joined at the hip!" Ranma and Akane looked ready to protest
again, but Nabiki cut them off. "Never mind, just... calm down, OK? No
one's going to make you guys get married. We've got other problems
now, and no time to deal with your usual bickering." The two younger
girls nodded finally, a bit shame-faced, and Nabiki took a breath.
"OK, now that that's settled, what do we do next?"
Let's go to Disneyland!
******************************
The two palace sentries made their way into the inner palace, then
down into the laboratories beneath it, where Lorelei was working. The
willowy scientist was hunched over a computer when they found her
running simulations on the reconstruction of a broken maiden circuit.
Tiger, one of the six active saber marionettes known to exist, had
been damaged a few weeks before Lorelei had been rescued from her
hibernation on board the colony ship. Most of the damage was readily
repairable, but the damage to her maiden circuit was not. The maiden
circuit contained all the emotional data collected by the marionette
in her lifetime. To simply replace the damaged circuit would be to
eliminate all that data, all the emotions and feeling she had
experienced.
Lorelei couldn't do that to Tiger. Although they had never met,
Lorelei knew that Tiger was an individual with great potential and a
history of experiences that was vital to who she was. To simply get
rid of all that would be like killing her. As it was, however, Tiger
was barely alive. The damage to her maiden circuit left her lost in
the past, remembering events from decades before, but nothing from the
present. Tiger was unable to interact normally with the world around
her, as she equated everything with those past experiences, unable
somehow to tell the difference.
Lorelei had been trying for weeks to reconstruct the lost data,
and repair the circuit without losing anything more, but so far she
had not gotten very far. When the two main palace sentries came into
her lab, Lorelei almost welcomed her distraction. "Tamasaburo, Baiko,
what's happened? Why are you here?"
Baiko, the marionette with blue/green hair and a green and black
kimono, spoke. "We have encountered a group of saber marionettes
outside the palace. We received a report of three escaped marionettes
with faulty maiden circuits. Their owners informed the palace guard
that they might be headed this way."
Lorelei interrupted. "Maiden circuits? These marionettes had
maiden circuits? I wasn't aware that any existed, outside of those
that were created. to rescue me. Who created them?"
Baiko shook her head. "We were not informed. The head of the house
of Kuno, Godai, informed the guard of three rogue marionettes,
claiming that they had destroyed his master computer and some other
property, and they were dangerously unstable."
Lorelei nodded. "I see. He said that their maiden circuits were
faulty? Perhaps they were an older model of the device." She looked
interested. "You said you encountered them?"
Baiko nodded in affirmation. "We encountered three marionettes
fitting the description we were given, on a rooftop overlooking the
palace wall. Apparently, they were discussing how to enter the
compound. They seemed to wish to find you."
"They did?" Lorelei questioned. "Why? Did they say why they wanted
to see me?"
Baiko shook her head. "Just that they were here to visit you."
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "What happened? Where are they now?"
Baiko shook her head again. "Unfortunately, they escaped. We were
knocked from the roof and lost sight of them for 9.4 seconds, during
which time they got out of sight."
Tamasaburo nodded at Tiger. "I would estimate them to be on a
threat level equivalent to Faust's sabers. Normal methods will not be
sufficient to capture them."
Lorelei blinked. "I see. Perhaps we should request Otaru's help."
The two sentries stood silently, waiting for a command, and Lorelei
cleared her throat. "Please ask Otaru and company to come by. Tell
them I will need their help yet again." The two tall marionettes bowed
once then retreated, leaving Lorelei to her thoughts. <Otaru.> She
pictured the brash and impulsive young man in her mind's eye and
sighed. <Brash and impulsive he may be.> Lorelei admitted to herself.
<But there is no finer man in all of Japoness.>
Not that there is much competition.
Lorelei smiled sadly at the memories that called up, memories of
Otaru, and of another. <Faust spent all of his life trying to save me.
The rest of that life, and the lives of his next ten clones. Why? Why
did he drive himself so hard?> Lorelei sighed and started toward the
stairs. It really wasn't difficult to understand Faust's obsession. He
had been very much in love with her. Lorelei shook her head sadly. <He
was so much in love that he would do anything to save me, even go to
war.> As she walked up the stairs toward the main section of the
palace, Lorelei fought back a wave of guilt. <It was my fault. It was
all my fault.> Intellectually, Lorelei knew that in reality, she had
no control over Faust's actions. She had gone into suspended animation
to begin her long wait for rescue long before any of the events that
would lead to the war came about.
Lorelei herself had been still sleeping in hibernation when it had
happened, but she still blamed herself for their deaths. <Ieyasu died
because of me. He and his chancellor died to save me. twice.> The sole
human female currently living on the planet let a tear run down her
face as she came to the top of the stairs. Lorelei tried to distract
herself from thoughts of remorse. <I've been down in the lab for
hours. I completely forgot to eat.> Her stomach growled as she turned
to go toward the kitchen. As Lorelei entered the palace kitchen, she
recalled the chain of events that had led to her revival.
At first, Lorelei had thrown herself into cloning a new generation
of women from her genes, using the sophisticated technology beneath
the Imperial palace of Japoness to create a large diverse female
population. That task had finally gone beyond any need for her help.
The clones were maturing nicely, and in less than a year, just under a
hundred baby girls would go to the best families on the planet. It
wasn't very many, compared to the full population of men, but it was a
secure start. The cost, however, for Lorelei's rescue had been great.
Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry had sacrificed themselves in order to save
her.
Everybody loves a clone.
Otaru had gone into a severe depression at the loss of his beloved
family. Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry had been like his children, his
siblings, and his girlfriends all at once. He would have rather died
than not see them again. Otaru's friends, especially Hanagata Mitsuru,
an aristocratic young man who believed he was Otaru's destined love,
tried to cheer him up, but to no avail. Lorelei as well had tried to
comfort Otaru, feeling primarily responsible for the pain he was going
through. Lorelei had no more success in cheering Otaru up than anyone
else, but she had succeeded in doing one thing, falling in love with
him.
Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry had been designed to emulate the three
aspects of Lorelei's personality. Specifically, they were living
embodiments of her innocence, her charity, and her desires as a woman.
The three marionettes had done more than that. Each of them had grown
a fully realized personality, the whole becoming much more than the
sum of its parts. They had matured from being Otaru's loyal servants,
into simply loving him with all of their artificial hearts. They could
gladly sacrifice themselves in order that he and his world live. They
could do this not because they were programmed to, but because they
loved him.
As the three aspects of her personality had fallen in love with
him, Lorelei found it easy to do the same. Otaru, however, was in too
much grief to accept a substitute, and Lorelei hadn't tried to become
one, respecting the young man's need for time. She could understand
what he was going through, perhaps, better than he himself could.
Months had passed, and Otaru started to come back to life, when
miraculously, Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry returned!
The colony ship had suffered too much damage in the battle to free
Lorelei, and had finally broken down entirely. Otaru's three
marionettes had found an escape pod and managed to get back to the
planet intact. The reunion had been joyous but it forced Lorelei to
give up any thoughts of a relationship between Otaru and herself. She
had thrown herself back into her work, which was, in fact, nearly
complete.
With her most important work complete, and with all the guilt over
the suffering that had been caused, indirectly or not, by her
failures, Lorelei had fallen into a suicidal depression. Thankfully,
Otaru and his marionettes had realized something was wrong before
Lorelei could 'accidentally' kill herself. During that darkest of
nights in Lorelei's life, Otaru had convinced her that the world still
needed her, that she still had much to live for.
Lorelei found herself in front of her bathroom mirror and blinked
at the sight she found there. <Oh my! I look dreadful! And Otaru and
company will be here soon.> She hesitated, sighing. <But why should I
bother to clean up? I'm not trying to impress him anymore.> Lorelei
forced herself to smile. <He's happy now, and I should be glad for
him. I am glad for him, it's just....>
Lorelei stared into the mirror for several long moments, taking in
her bloodshot eyes and tear stained cheeks. <I really should clean up,
unless I want Otaru to worry about me without reason.> She smiled
wryly as she picked up a washcloth and started to fill the sink. <I
won't be competing with Lime and the others after all. I couldn't do
that, after all they did for me, for everyone.> Lorelei smiled with
genuine fondness as she thought of the three marionettes. She really
did like them tremendously. Despite their original design, they had
turned out to be much more than simply aspects of her. They were
living, breathing people, as worthy of respect and life as any human,
at least in her eyes.
Essentially, they are her daughters.
After cleaning herself up a bit, Lorelei went to her closet to
find something to change into. She passed over the dresses and more
feminine apparel that she had tended to wear before the three
marionettes return, and selected a checkered work shirt and a pair of
jeans that she tended to wear around her rooms and for gardening.
Lorelei finished dressing and checked her appearance in the mirror.
Sufficiently healthy looking but not too provocative. Lorelei
seriously doubted that Otaru could be drawn from his family by her
'feminine charms' but it wouldn't be right to test that theory. She
smiled and nodded in satisfaction, then headed down to wait for her
guest in the palace's entranceway.
A thought struck her as Lorelei started walking. <Perhaps these
new marionettes with maiden circuits will provide me with a new
perspective on Tiger's problem.>
**********************************************
Down in their alleyway, Ranma, Akane and Nabiki had come up and
rejected half a dozen plans for sneaking into the palace. The one
problem they couldn't see a way around was getting past the two
sentries that had stopped them before. While Akane and Nabiki leaned
against the alley wall, Ranma paced agitatedly. "Arrgh! This shouldn't
be so difficult! We just have to get them out of the palace, and sneak
past them."
Akane glanced at Ranma, then past the red head, her eyes going
wide. "Um. Ranma?"
Ranma continued pacing. "That's it. We just gotta set up a
distraction or something."
"Ranma.." Akane cleared her throat, looking smug.
"What is it?" Ranma looked around at her ex-fiancee in mild
irritation. "Can't you see I'm trying to think?"
Akane nodded. "Uh huh. You were just saying we should get them out
of the palace?"
Ranma nodded back. "Right. So?"
Akane pointed toward the rooftops a hundred feet away. "Well they
are. They just ran by up on the rooftops, heading that way." She
pointed away from the palace.
Ranma blinked. "Are you sure?"
Akane looked slightly annoyed. "Positive, the same two. Something
tells me there aren't another two exactly like them."
Nabiki had a thoughtful look on her face. "It's likely you're
correct, but we can't be sure."
Waving her hand in dismissal, Ranma disagreed. "No, no, it had to
be them! They're probably out looking for us. Now is our chance to get
into the palace!"
Akane nodded. "Right, we'd better hurry, so we can get out of
there before they return." As one, both Akane and Ranma hesitated and
glanced at Nabiki.
"There will probably be more guards.." Ranma began.
"It's not safe, Nabiki.." Akane broke in.
Nabiki shrugged. "Get going. I'll wait for you two here. Daring do
was never my style anyway."
"Derring do"...I think.
Akane smiled gratefully. "Don't worry big sister. We'll be back as
soon as possible.
Ranma jerked her head toward the street. "Come on, Akane. Time's a
wasten.."
"wastin'" Although perhaps it's silly to correct bad grammar to more
standard forms.
"Coming!" Akane shot over her shoulder then turned to go. Ranma
led the way, leaping out of the alleyway to a nearby rooftop with
Akane following just behind. They were out of sight in moments.
Nabiki sighed to herself. "Be careful."
End of Chapter 2