"You two know each other?" Sean asked as he watched
the two women staring at one another. The Commander's face
was pale, eyes wide with shock and confusion. The red-head,
the one she called Ranma, wore a mask of intense
concentration as if she was trying to recall something.
"Commander," one of the men said, "what is this?
Who's that girl?"
"You're... not really Ranma," Shampoo muttered softly.
"Huh?" Ranma said, "Do I know you?"
"No," Shampoo said quietly as she rose fully. Sean
had to admit, she was in excellent condition for her age. Her
body beneath the purple jumpsuit was lithe as any athlete or
cat could want. "No, I suppose you don't. I am Shan Pu."
"Shampoo?" the red-haired girl asked.
"Close enough," she concented with a small chuckle.
She turned to Sean, who had been watching the proceedings
with a puzzled look that mirrored the other two men. "Where
did you find her?"
"On the street, ma'am," he replied in a no-nonsense
voice, "she was having trouble with a fruit vendor."
"And you brought her here because of that?!" said the
other man, a balding overweight nuisance named Sekiya.
"No," Sean replied through gritted teeth, "I brought
her here because Ryo and two of his goons were after her.
They stopped us on the street."
Um, didn't -she- stop them? Rather effectively, I might add? :)
<snip>
"So, what's the story Sato?" Sean asked.
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.... :)
"Well, she is healthy," Sato replied. "Physically,
she's probably in better condition than you."
Probably? I'd lay money on 'definitely', myself.
<snip>
"I have no idea," he replied. "It could be days,
weeks, months, or even years before her memory returns.
There's also the chance that it will not come back fully, if
at all. The only thing we can do is wait."
"I understand, doc," Sean said, apparently sated.
Er... I don't think sated is the proper word. Generally, 'sated'
refers to food, or an appetite for -something- (not just information,
although it can mean that too). Perhaps 'satisfied' would be a better term?
"You have to do anything else?"
"No, the physical exam is finished for now," Sato
said. "I just have to run a few blood tests. The results will
be finished by tomorrow."
"Okay," Sean said with a grin. "I'm gonna take her to
the shower room. She needs one."
Ack!
"Y'know," Sean said as the two walked through the
brightly lit tunnel leading to the showers, "we need to give
you a name. Until you remember your old one, that is."
"Shampoo called me Ranma," she said.
"She confused you for someone else," Sean returned,
memories of the Commander's reaction to the red-haired girl
playing back briefly. "Maybe we should pick another one, just
to avoid any confusion."
Oh, man, I -know- where this is going...
"All right," she conceeded, albeit a little reluctantly.
"How about... Yohko?"
"No..."
"Well then, Miyabi?"
"Ugh, no!"
"Ayeka? Minako? Asuka?"
"Ranko," she said suddenly.
"Ranko?"
"Yeah. It just popped in my head."
D'oh! Yup, I got it. :)
(like it would have been anything else, huh?)
"All right, then," Sean said in a light voice, "from
now on, your name is Ranko." The two walked in silence for a
few seconds before coming to a bricked-over entryway to a
tunnel, a lone door in the center of it.
"Girl's showers are in there," Sean said. "There're
some clothes in there for you, but don't get mad if they
don't fit right. We had to guess at the sizes."
Hmm... lessee... she's tough enough to take out the baddies at
three-to-one odds, determined enough to wear vomit- and alchohol-encrusted
clothing, and he thinks that she's gonna through a hissy fit if her clothes
don't fit? :)
Get with the times, Sean! ;)
"Thanks," Ranko said before entering the showers.
Sean stood there for a moment, staring at the door. Ranko
reminded him so much of... He squelched that thought
violently. He hated to think about that. The pain was still
fresh, as though the intervening five years hadn't happened
at all. He took a seat by the door, leaning against the cool
tunnel wall. Best get comfortable, this may take a while.
The last sentence is somewhat odd... it works, but it doesn't (to
me, at least) flow right. I think it'd work better if you replaced 'may'
with 'might'... or, revise the whole sentence to make it more apparent that
it is Sean's thought.
Ranko stood alone in the shower room, which was
little more than a tunnel blocked off completely at one end
with a door at the other. Two long metal pipes ran along the
ceiling, additional pipes snaking down to single nozzles
aimed at the floor. The shower stalls were on her left,
separated by wooden partitions that reached from the floor to
almost her chin. Along the wall to her right were three sinks
with surprisingly clean mirrors over each one. Resting on the
hamper by the door was the bundle of clothing Sean had told
her about, with a pair of black boots atop them.
Standard MilSpec issue: One-Size-Fits-None.
Ranko immediately began stripping off the clothes she
had stolen in the alley, glad to be rid of the foul-smelling
things. She left them in a pile on the floor, striding
straight for the nearest stall.
The jets of hot water stung her skin for the first
few seconds after she turned the valves. She stood there
beneath the needles of liquid, staring down at herself as
another strange sense of deja vu came over her. She didn't
know how, or why, but she felt that something was supposed to
be happening. Something that involved her body somehow. As
quickly as it came, the feeling passed but a lingering sense
of something forgotten remained. Ranko hoped her memories
would return soon. She couldn't stand much more of these
weird feelings.
<snarf!>
Ranko plucked a bar of green soap from the small
shelf in front of her, lathering up the rag as the water
rained down. She started on her arms, scrubbing the right one
first. She started on the left one when she finally saw the
tattoo on the inside of her forearm. It wasn't any sort of
design, just a few numbers and letters.
//R-014-F?\\ she thought as she stared at the
markings. What the hell did that mean? Just another mystery
added to the ones already piling up.
Hmm... just curious, mind you, but wouldn't the Doc have noticed
these during the exam, and mentioned them to Sean? I mean, serial numbers
on a person aren't all that common...
Then again, in this universe, they may be... :)
<snip>
//Well, at least I'm closer than I was yesterday,\\
Closer to what?
//What the...\\ she thought as she gazed at the white
panties in her hands. As she looked them over, she debated
whether or not to put them on. Some part of her was against
the idea, though she had no idea why.
I think I'm starting to see what's going on - partially, at least.
I like that the male Ranma's instincts seem to be coming through.
That is what's happening, isn't it?
<snip>
And them, her friends from Nerima, who had come to help. So
far as Shampoo knew, she was the only survivor.
Whoa! Now THAT was an unexpected twist...
<snip>
"So, you remembered your name?" she asked in a
surprisingly steady voice. Might as well stay in character.
"No," Ranko answered as she eyed the plate of
sandwiches, "I just picked another name. Ranko sounded best."
"It suits you," Shampoo repiled. "Please, sit. Have
something to eat." Sean and Ranko took the other two seats,
Ranko practically diving into the food. //She even eats like
Ranma!\\ she thought as one sandwich after another
disappeared into Ranko's mouth. If she didn't know better,
Shampoo would have sworn that this was Ranma come back from the grave.
Well, after a fashion, it is. Sort of.
"Now that we're through eating," Shampoo said after
the plate had been cleared, "let us get down to business.
What's the last thing you remember?"
"Well..." Ranko said, "the last thing is waking up in
some weird room with a bunch of things around me. Then some
guy dressed in black shows up and sets off a bomb after
trying to kill me."
//X,\\ Shampoo thought. "Nothing before that?"
"I already said it before, no!" Ranko shouted angrily.
Hmmm... why's she so angry? Programmed reaction?
"It's okay, Ranko," Sean said, "we believe you."
"Well, then," Shampoo said, "it seems you have a lot
of catching up to do. Let's start with Kuno Industries."
"Why them?" Ranko asked.
"The building in which you awoke was their corporate
headquarters," Shampoo replied.
"But what was I doing there?" Ranko asked, confusion
in her eyes.
"I do not know," Shampoo lied. She knew perfectly
well what Ranko had been doing there, but now was not the
time to say. "In any event, Kuno Industries is a world-wide
manufacturer of mech and armored units."
"Of what and what?" Ranko asked.
I see what you meant by gaps in the programmed knowledge.
"K.I. makes all sorts of mechanical devices for use
in construction, business, and law enforcement," Sean
explained, "but that's not all."
"Kuno Industries is also the leading arms
manufacturer in the world," Shampoo went on, "you can find
their weaponry equipped on just about every organized
military unit in every nation."
"If these guys just make and sell weapons, why do you
guys hate them so much?"
Good question. Guns Are Our Friends.
(well, maybe not always) :)
<snip>
"It is also rumored that Kuno Industries is engaging
in illegal experiments," Shampoo said.
"What kind of experiments?" Ranko asked. Shampoo
could see that the girl was having a hard time understanding
everything she was being told, but she would learn.
"Unfortunately, we do not know," Shampoo replied.
"The fact is that Kuno Industries is involved in nearly
everything vile and illegal. They are, unfortunately,
powerful enough to cover everything up and keep it from public view."
"If they're so powerful," Ranko asked, "then what
makes you think you can stop them?"
"Because if we don't," Sean said, "who will?"
"Everyone here has suffered at the hands of Kuno
Industries," Shampoo said. "If they are not stopped, then the
entire planet will suffer."
Ouch... that last line sounds like something from the Captain Planet
cartoons.
She had not told everything, of course. She had lied
when she said that nobody knew what K.I.'s experiments were
about. She knew, as did a few others in the Resistance, but
the time to disclose it to her troops wasn't yet right.
Besides, one of those experiments was sitting right in front of her.
And would probably object to being called an experiment...
Brian Payne
sofaspud@ior.com
brianp@nhspokane.com
Silver bells... silver bells... it's fanfic time, at the Couch...
http://www.ior.com/~sofaspud (new domain coming soon!)