Ladies and gentlemen, lemmie start by thanking each and every one of you who
had sent me responses of incredable praise during my initial release of this
way back in October. I know that I responded to so few of you, and please
don't feel hurt if I never got around to replying. Please do know that I
really appreciate it.
Secondly, I want to thank Kevin Hammel, my sole prereader. I figured early
on that posting continuous updates to the FFML would cheapen the story (or
that people would get sick of it). It also allowed me a chance to correct
things early on. I've been working on this nearly EVERY DAY since I first
started it, and it shows. If you've read this before, reread this story from
start to finish. A lot has changed.
Third, IT IS STILL NOT FINISHED!!! Indeed, it's grown MASSIVELY. I will be
splitting it into chapters, but I need a huge influx of C&C and praise to
get keep me motivated. I reread this story and I'm VERY PROUD of this work,
and I hope you enjoy what I have thus far, and you should know that more is
coming. I thought this would be a great way to start off the New Millenium
(hmm... is there any way that we can get it officially named the Silver
Millenium? <grin>)
~~~
Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover
Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams)
Begun on: 10-25-99
First draft completed on: Unfinished
Final draft completed on: Unfinished
Revisions made on: N/A
Special thanks to prereader Thomas A. Kinnen.
Notes to RAAC/TASS: This, for now, may be categorized as a
one-shot story. There may, however, be sequels and/or
sidestories...
The Matrix is the creation of the Wachowski brothers.
The Ranma 1/2 series is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi.
No infringement or disrespect for their creativity is intended.
I assume no ownership to any of the characters listed herein.
This fanfic has been rated (R) by the Motion Picture Fanfic
Association of America. Otaku guidance is suggested.
For continuity purposes, this takes place after volume 38 of the
original Ranma 1/2 series, and before Matrix 2, which is in
production as of the time of this writing. This was originally written
under the assumption that there wasn't going to be a Matrix sequel.
Note: Scene transitions are noted with a ~~~. You'll notice that in
later scenes I will often start a scene with little or no description of
the situation or people until much further (if at all) in that scene.
This is done by design to give a more cryptic feel. Less is more.
Send comments to xstylus(at)hotmail,com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call trans opt: Received 13:04:18. REC: Loop
Trace program running.
TTY output enabled.
Male voice: "It starts here."
Voice identified: Perp 7b098bf - "Neo"
Female voice "They're listening, you know."
Voice identified. Perp a1f61d2 - "Trinity"
Neo "I want them to. Don't worry... they're not that clever."
Trace failure. Diagnostic program running.
Neo "See?"
Trinity "Showoff."
Silence period noted. 3.7 seconds.
Trinity "Why here?"
Neo "Because they already see and accept."
Trinity "Why them?"
Neo "The matrix isn't perfect, Trinity. There are glitches."
Trinity "Having another deja vu? (humor reaction: chuckle)"
Neo "I don't mean the construct program. There's glitches
in the interface..."
Interface protocol: Level 7 diagnostic running.
Neo "...glitches they can't fix..."
Diagnostic halted. Aborting...
Neo "...which they might try to exploit if they knew about
them."
Diagnostic reinitialized.
All available resources allocated.
Processor overclock subroutine for diagnostic server enabled.
Trinity "What kind of glitches?"
Neo "I can't describe them for you. You have to see them
yourself."
Trinity "We better cut this short. There's civilians around."
EYEinEYE protocol active. Output file stored to tn130418.ini
Neo "I've got you covered."
Call termination.
EYEinEYE protocol: This program has executed an illegal
operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, please
contact the program vendor.
File corrupt: tn130418.ini. Abort, Retry, Fail?
~~~
Downtown Nerima Japan, early morning. Trinity parked
her motorcycle alongside the wall to the Tendo dojo. The doors to
it's entrance were wide open, so she took a small step inside. No-
one had noticed her yet, but she could see a dark haired woman
with her empty hands above her head as if she were carrying an
invisible weapon of some kind chasing some boy across the
premises.
Her weapon wouldn't be invisible for long.
"Raaaaaanmaaaaaaaaa!!!" Akane screamed as her 3.7 ton
wooden -thing- known respectfully as "Mallet-sama" materialized
in her hand.
"YAAHHH!!" Ranma quickly headed in the direction of
'anywhere but here', a direction once known only by a certain
yellow-bandana wearing rival of his. He made his exit with one of
his patented twenty meter leaps over the fence and onto a nearby
roof, followed in pursuit by Akane.
Trinity's dark glasses concealed her reaction, but had she
not been wearing them her eyes might have fell out in shock. She
just witnessed a regular person -create- a rather LARGE weapon
and hoist it as if it were a feather. There is no mallet... there is no
mallet... there is-...
"Go get em', Akane! Beat em' good!" Happosai cheered.
"What did my boy do this time?" Genma inquired.
"He let Akane discover my new hiding place for some of
her unmentionable treasures that I kindly appropriated just
recently!" Happosai raged.
"Dare I ask, where might that be?" Genma inquired.
"Ranma's underwear drawer." he answered.
"Master, how could you do that to my son?!" Genma yelled.
"Ah, but Genma, it is all but essential training for young
Ranma! That ingrate! After all I've done for him..."
"Just what kind of training do you have in mind?"
"Well, I was hoping that he'd find dear Akane's brazier
and panties and try them on for me..."
Trinity BLINKED.
"Oh. THAT kind of training. Well, I'm sure my SON is quite
grateful, master. Allow me to express MY gratitude!" Genma
exclaimed as he attempted to crush Happosai with a nearby tea
kettle.
Happosai, in one swift move consumed the entire contents
of the tea kettle, grabbed Genma's wrist, hurled the kettle into
the air, flung Genma into the pond, balanced the falling kettle on
one finger, then eventually set it gently on the table. The whole
move took place in approximately four seconds, the bulk of that
being the balancing act. Genma remained underwater for quite
some time.
A sign and a tiny white flag emerged from the water.
"Forgive me, master!" The sign read.
Trinity face-faulted. "How could anyone move that fast?!"
She face-faulted again when Genma emerged from his pond as a
panda.
"That is one MAJOR glitch..." Trinity silently muttered.
"Pretty lady!!!" Happosai exclaimed, seeing Trinity standing
at the front entrance. Trinity caught a glance of the small piece of
living beef jerky, and then he disappeared. Strangely, she now felt
this strange shriveled piece of -something- adhered to her chest...
She glanced down and saw the strange man groping her.
0.01 seconds. She extracted him from her chest...
0.03 seconds. ...drop kicked him...
0.06 seconds. ...straight upward into her fist...
0.09 seconds. ...knocking him downward into Trinity's
kick again...
0.1 seconds. ...and repeated this process 10 times, totaling
one complete second of rapid-fire, turbo button triggered, super
rave with finishing move comboed pain. The gun might've been
more merciful... but then again, a dose of good ol' fashioned pain
never hurt anyone...
Trinity quickly left the premises in pursuit of Akane and
Ranma. On the way she whipped out her cell-phone and vigorously
punched in a phone number.
"Hello, this is Neo. Sorry I can't come to the phone right
now Trinity, but if you'll leave your message, the time you called,
and a few choice words reminding me of how much you love me,
I'll gladly return your call at my earliest convenience, or until you
calm down, whichever comes last. -BEEP!-"
Trinity used some -very- choice words indeed, all quite loving.
~~~
The Nebuchadnezzar operator room. Neo, Tank, and
Morpheus were staring at a screen of small bits and characters
scrolling across it. To the untrained eye, they would look like
perhaps an entirely new language. To them, it was more vivid than a
picture.
"You chose well, Neo..." Morpheus assured. "...but be
careful. I don't want another Cipher incident."
"Tank, prep up an extraction room about a block away
from Trinity's location."
"Already done." Tank smiled.
"Shall we?" Neo motioned to the interface couches.
"Oh, just so you know, Neo..." Tank called. "Trinity left a
(cough) message. She wasn't quite happy with you. You might
wanna try to stay on her -good- side... and I don't mean her
backside."
"You'd think she never spoke to an answering machine
before..." Neo mused as he plopped down into one of the interface
couches.
"Tell her to meet us there with the 'kids'." Morpheus said,
just before he slipped into the matrix.
~~~
"I am called Trinity."
"Akane Tendo." she replied with a bow. "That fool under
the mallet over there is Ranma."
"Akane and Ranma Tendo, eh? Nice to meet you. Tell me how
you-..."
"Ranma SAOTOME, not Tendo! We ain't related...!"
Ranma carefully removed himself from under the heavy mallet.
"...yet." he silently whispered.
Trinity remained unfazed. "I was watching you two a few
moments ago. How did you learn to leap like that?"
"Huh? Oh, that. Training. Lots. Don't try it at home."
Ranma brushed some debris off his shirt.
"And you, Akane. Where did that mallet come from?"
"Well, uhm... I dunno. It's just always there when I need it.
I never really thought about -where- it came from..."
"GUN!" Ranma yelled, pointing to a man in a dark suit and
tie wearing sun glasses standing at the other side of the alley of
which they were in. The man held a Colt 45 pistol leveled straight at
Trinity's head.
-Click-.
0.01 seconds. Akane pushes Trinity to the ground, both
narrowly missing the bullet.
0.15 seconds. Ranma launches a concentrated Moko
Takabisha blast.
0.27 seconds. Blast hits it's intended target, the gun. The
bullets inside it explode, blowing up the agent's hand.
0.34 seconds. Ranma charges up to the distracted man.
0.50 seconds. Kachu tenshin amaguriken!!!
1.00 seconds. Man is incapacitated and collapses to the
ground. After a moment, it abandons the body it possesses and
morphs back to the form of it's original owner, an office secretary,
still unconscious with a pulped hand.
"NO! I wasn't trying to kill... wait a-..." Ranma looked
closer at his vanquished opponent. "Where'd this girl come from?!"
"An agent moves from body to body. If only you -had-
killed him... You're in danger now." she turned to Akane. "...and I
think I owe you one."
"But... but... I just... KILLED someone!" Ranma flustered.
Trinity shrugged, then calmly pulled out her cell-phone and
made a call.
"But... but... but...!" Ranma pointed to the corpse as he cringed
with a nervous twitch.
"Morpheus, we got problems. Agents know we're here." a
pause. "Yea, we're fine for now. You'll love this... the boy just
took one out." another pause. "You heard me."
"I didn't mean to...!!! I... I... " Ranma yelled.
"...Morpheus, we've got to protect these two."
"We don't need anyone's protection!" Akane yelled.
"...what's your location? We've got to get them out NOW."
"Out of what?" Akane questioned.
"...I know it's their choice, but they just attacked an agent!
They're dead if they remain, no matter how good they are. You
can forget that blue pill."
"HELLO?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Akane
questioned.
"...I understand. We'll meet you there." Trinity closed the
flap on her cell-phone. "They'll be after you now. We need to get
you out.
"Out of -what-?!" Akane shouted.
"Come with me and I'll show you -what-."
~~~
"Are those two 'them'?" Neo questioned as he adjusted
several settings on a small terminal.
"Yes. This is Akane and Ranma." she answered.
"Ranma SAOTOME and Akane TENDO. Show some
respect!" Ranma shouted.
"In reality, names don't matter." Morpheus ominously stated.
"What do you mean?" Akane questioned.
"I don't have a lot of time to explain." Morpheus replied.
"Actually, you do. I still need a few more minutes to get
things set up." Neo interjected.
"(Ahem) I'm all ears." Ranma impatiently muttered.
"(Sigh) Have you ever felt a strangeness in your daily life?
A strangeness that felt like a dream you couldn't wake up from?
Something that felt... off? Something that felt like it couldn't
possibly be real?" Morpheus questioned.
"Oh...hell...yes." Ranma replied with conviction.
"That is the matrix."
"Say what?" Ranma muttered.
"What is the matrix?" Akane inquired.
"Look around you. There it is. It is the world around you. It is
everything. It is the wool pulled over your eyes to mask you from
the truth."
"What truth?" Akane inquired.
"That it's not real."
"HA! I wish!" Ranma exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Akane asked.
"You are trapped in a computer generated reality. Need an
example? Try your mallet, Akane. That's one of many glitches
caused by an incompatibility between you and the Matrix... glitches
that might come in handy against the machines." Trinity explained.
"You mean, I'm in a virtual reality right now?" Akane asked.
"Yes."
"And you want to wake us up?" Ranma inquired with a chuckle.
"Yes."
" THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE WE WAITIN' FOR?!"
Ranma yelled. "C'mon, man! Beam me up or whatever the hell it is
you do!"
"Not so fast. I'm being totally honest here, so I must tell
you that there's no turning back once we do this. I offer you one
last chance. Take the blue pill, and life as you know it continues.
Take the red pill, and I show you just how big of a nightmare
you've been living, and what you can do about it." Morpheus held
a pair of each pill out to them.
"Nightmare...?" Akane muttered.
"There's a string attached, however." Morpheus added. "I
can't guarantee that life outside this 'reality' is any better, but it will
be -real-. All I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Then what's to stop me from taking the blue pill if it's not
any better?" Akane inquired.
"Are you nuts, Akane?! The way our lives are, anything's better
than this!" Ranma exclaimed.
"If you take the blue pill, then the story ends here. But keep
in mind, you two fought against an agent a short time ago."
"What's so special about them?" Ranma inquired.
"How can I describe this..." Morpheus mumbled
"Think of them as video game henchmen using cheat codes."
Neo stated.
"Cool! Can't wait to see the bosses..." Ranma chuckled.
"If you remain here, they'll hunt you down, and there's little
that they -can't- do to you." Trinity added.
"Are you trying to frighten me?!" Akane yelled.
"The truth tends to have that effect." Morpheus answered.
Akane gave a questioning glance at Ranma.
"Don't look at me, Akane. I don't know what to tell you."
Ranma grabbed the red pill.
"You believe them?" Akane asked.
"Ha! Not really, but hey, I'll try anything if it'll get my life
back to an acceptable norm. I've tried damn near everything
else..." Ranma replied.
"FINE! See if I care!" Akane vented as she grabbed the
blue pill.
Morpheus offered Ranma a glass of water to drink the pill
down. After taking a small sip, the glass was offered to Akane. She
remained motionless as she stared carefully at the blue pill.
"What are you waiting for? Take the pill, Akane." Morpheus
said.
Akane remained completely silent, staring ominously at the
pill held in her open palm.
"You're curious, aren't you?" Morpheus inquired.
Akane's reply was shattering silence, continuing to stare at
the dark, sickly greenish blue pill.
"You know what they say about curiosity." Morpheus
muttered. "Ignorance is bliss. What you don't know can't kill you."
Akane remained silent, continuing to stare at the strange pill
in her palm. Her eyes blinked in nervousness. Once... twice... on
the third time, the pill was no longer blue, but red.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Akane popped
the red pill in her mouth without hesitation, and took a small sip
from the large, overfilled glass of water.
"Have a seat."
Ranma and Akane sat in the two chairs as Trinity placed
several small monitoring devices on them.
"Try to relax. You're in for quite a ride." Neo said.
Morpheus pushed a button on his cell-phone. "Tank,
anything yet? ... We're gonna need a signal soon."
"Akane...?"
"Yea, Ranma?"
"Could this really have been just a dream all this time?"
Ranma nervously inquired.
"I doubt it, but... we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"
Akane replied, trying to keep a tone of optimism.
"What if-... what if you're just another part of my dream?"
"I was just about to ask you the same question..."
"For what it's worth, Akane... I hope not." Ranma smiled as he
grasped Akane's hand.
"I got a lock on the girl." Neo announced.
"Things might get a little freaky from here. Whatever
happens, just keep calm." Trinity suggested.
"Freaky? What do you-..."
"Do it." Morpheus ordered.
"HUAAAAAGGGHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!!!"
"AKANNNEEEEEE!!!" Ranma yelled as Akane digitally
dematerialized in front of his own eyes. "What happened to her?!"
"She woke up. You'll be with her shortly." Morpheus
calmly answered.
"You... you tricked me! You killed her!"
"Calm down. She's out of the machine. She'll be fine."
Trinity said.
"Bring her back NOW!"
"Is he restrained?" Morpheus asked out of forethought.
In a swift move, Trinity strapped a thick restraining belt
over Ranma's torso just as he was making a move to get up.
"Let me GO!" Ranma yelled.
"Got a lock!" Neo announced.
Ranma flailed his arms around trying to grip -anything- that
he could use as a weapon. He knocked the glass of water,
shattering the glass and spilling the liquid on him. No-one noticed
Ranma change forms, all of them more concerned with their task at
hand.
"Shit! I lost him!" Neo exclaimed. "Wait... got him again!
What the...? What's up with these readings?"
"What's wrong?" Trinity asked.
"Never mind that now. Hit it, Neo!" Morpheus ordered.
~~~
"A-a...kane... where are you...?" Ranma quietly muttered,
staring up at a ceiling with a rather bright medical light looming
above, lying on an operating table, impaled with several
acupuncture needles.
"She's resting. She had quite a shock. Are you... Ranma?"
a vaguely familiar voice inquired. Seeing with blurred vision, it was
impossible to make out a face.
"Yeah..." Ranma struggled to answer with weak and raspy
vocal cords.
"Jesus..." the familiar voice muttered.
"What?" Ranma weakly inquired.
"I just thought... uhm... that you were a guy."
~~~
The walls... a sickly yellow with a greenish hue. These were
the walls of an interrogation room. The table... stainless steel, with
firm utilitarian chairs around it that were rough, but ergonomically
comfortable. At them, a boy sat opposite of another man who was
wearing a lab coat. Unlike most lab coats which were usually white,
this one was a mysterious dark grey, and since when does a
scientist wear sunglasses indoors?
"...and all that we're asking in return is your cooperation in
a small experiment we're conducting." the man spoke.
"Yeah... well that sounds like a really good deal." the boy
muttered. "But I think I got a better one..."
The man leaned forward to closely hear the boy's counter
offer.
"How about you give me my cure, and -then- you can have your
guinea pig."
"Hmm... Mister Hibiki..." the agent in the lab coat
muttered.
"You can't screw me around. I know a fake when I see it!"
Ryoga vented.
The agent presented Ryoga a green pill along with a glass
of ice water.
"Do you now?"
Ryoga snatched the pill and analyzed it carefully.
"Do we have a deal, Mister Hibiki?"
Ryoga inspected the pill further. "You know... I know this
is too good to be true. I know that when I put this in my mouth my
mind is telling me 'This is it! I'm gonna be cured!' After a mess of
false miracles, you know what I realize?" Ryoga questioned.
The agent patiently awaited the forthcoming answer as
Ryoga ingested the pill, and then splashed himself with the ice
water.
"Miracles really do happen!" Ryoga ecstatically concluded.
"Then we have a deal."
"When do we start?" Ryoga inquired.
"We're already done." the lab-coated agent said.
~~~
"Where am I?"
"You're on board our ship, the Nebuchadnezzar... in the
real world." Trinity explained.
"Real world? Where the hell do you think I've been all this
time... KANSAS? Where's Ranma?!"
"Resting. So should you."
"I want answers NOW." Akane demanded.
"No, you don't." Trinity muttered.
"Don't you-..."
"Trust me, you don't." Trinity interrupted. "Get some rest.
The answers are coming."
"I want to see Ranma."
"Yeah... listen, about Ranma......"
~~~
"Did you ask her, Trinity?" Neo inquired.
"She said something about a curse. Cold water supposedly
makes Ranma female, and hot water makes him male."
"The machines must be getting sloppier than I thought."
Neo mused.
"This could get ugly though... she assured me that Ranma's
actually a guy." Trinity said.
"I WANT TO SEE AKANE!" a female voice yelled from
another room.
"It already IS ugly." Neo commented as he and Trinity rushed to
Ranma's room. Morpheus was already in the room when a certain
-subject- turned matters from bad to worse.
"What happened?" Trinity inquired.
"What happened?!" Ranma mocked "Something -ain't-
happening, that's what happened!" she exclaimed as she dumped a
pot of hot water on herself.
"Ohhhhh shit." Trinity mumbled as she rushed out of the
room heading for Akane's.
"What's the problem?" Tank inquired as he rushed into the
room.
"You'll be sorry you asked..." Neo muttered.
"What in the hell did you do to me?!" Ranma shouted.
"Just calm down, Ranma." Morpheus said.
"I will NOT calm down! I... I will... not... ooogg..."
"Easy now sweets..." Tank said as he caught Ranma as she
fell unconscious..
"WHAAAAAAT?!" Akane screamed from another room.
Morpheus sighed. "Enough of this. Tank, load them up."
~~~
"Ooog..." Ranma woke from his unconsciousness to find
himself on a comfortable bed, and back in his male form. As he
looked around he found... nothing. Totally and completely nothing.
"Do you feel better?" Morpheus asked.
"Wha...?! Where am I?" Ranma inquired. "Where are the
walls?"
"You're inside a computer program, in we call the construct. I
decided that we should talk in here while your body rests, and so
that you could be back in your male form."
"While my body-... that wasn't all a dream?" Ranma
nervously inquired.
"That, my friend, was real. If anything could be called a
dream, it's this." Morpheus waved Ranma's attention to the empty
space of the construct.
"Where's Akane?" Ranma inquired.
"She's in another construct, talking with Trinity."
"Please tell me hat in the hell is happening...! Have I gone
crazy?"
"(Sigh) We have a lot to talk about, my friend."
~~~
"...I've heard enough!" Akane sobbed, sitting in a room
devoid of -anything-, similar to Ranma's construct with Trinity
sitting opposite of her. "That can't possibly be-... machines using us
for-... (sob)"
"I really wish it were, Akane. I really do. That's why we're here.
We fight for a future without the machines." Trinity explained.
"Why Ranma and I?" Akane inquired.
"You know that mallet of yours?"
"What about it?"
"You're the first person we've -ever- met who can
spontaneously create an object. Do you know how valuable a skill
like that can be?"
"So that's it, huh? You want us to be your SOLDIERS?!"
Akane ranted.
"That's a pretty rough way of looking at it, Akane. Would
you rather live in a fake world, or would you rather fight for a real
one?"
"My friends... my family..." Akane muttered.
"They're not your real family, Akane."
Akane began to glow a slight tinge of red.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Akane fumed.
"It's the truth, Akane! If I were to free them out of the
matrix right now and do a DNA test it would show that you're
totally unrelated to them. They're all random souls grouped to form
a family. It's all part of the illusion. None of it is real, Akane.
NONE of it." Trinity elaborated.
"None of it... none of it... not even my fiancee..."
"Fiancee?"
"Ranma's my... my fiancee." Akane tearfully muttered.
"Oh my god..."
"AND ALL THIS TIME HE WAS A GIRL DAMNIT!
Why couldn't the damn machine have gotten THAT right?!"
~~~
"I don't care if I'm -actually- a girl or not! I was raised a
guy and I'm gonna BE a guy! I ain't gonna act like no damned girl!"
Ranma shouted.
"Trinity's a woman. Does she act any differently than anyone
else?" Morpheus asked.
"Huh? Uh, no... but that's not my point!"
"I hope not, because I don't get it."
"Picking flowers, acting cute, wearing dresses..."
"Picking flowers...? What are you... OH!" Morpheus burst
a roaring laugh. "Ranma, (chuckle) I just look forward to the day
when we can -grow- flowers. I'm sorry for misunderstanding.
There's a few things I forgot about life in the matrix."
"Uhh... now -I'm- lost." Ranma muttered.
"We're a little too busy fighting for humanity to be worried
about things like flowers or dresses, my friend. You've got nothing
to worry about. I don't think anyone really cares."
"But still...! I was raised a guy and... uhm..."
"Weren't you listening? There's no real difference. Here when a
person looks at you, they see -you-. The rest is details." Morpheus
explained.
"I... I don't want guys coming on to me."
"Oh... so that's it." Morpheus mused. "Then when they
ask, you politely tell them no."
"No-one I've ever met took no for an answer."
"Then you politely -deck- them until they do."
"Sounds like something my father would say..." Ranma
muttered.
"On this ship, I'm everyone's father. We are a family, and
you and Akane are the newest additions to it." Morpheus patted
Ranma on the back. "Just so you know... you, uhm... -do- have a
second option."
"And that is...?" Ranma inquired.
"You can politely accept."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"Or don't. It's your option. No one will think any different
of you either way. The only person who will care is you, but before
we worry about that, there's two facts you need to wise up to first.
Fact one, you're a girl. Fact two, there's nothing wrong with fact
one."
"You better make sure everyone knows I'm -already-
engaged." Ranma muttered.
"That was in your life in the matrix, Ranma. That's something
you'll have to let go."
"I will NOT! I... I... ...I love her." Ranma paused for a moment
to contemplate her words. "Dammit, I really do..."
"The woman you love is in the matrix. You can't go back
to her."
"Wrong. She's right here."
Morpheus was silent for a moment.
"Akane?" Morpheus inquired.
Ranma nodded.
Morpheus clasped his hands and looked upward as he
consumed himself in thought.
~~~
"Well, you love her, right?"
"HIM!" Akane shouted.
"HER." Trinity retorted. "And you'd better get used to it."
Akane remained silent, but reluctantly nodded.
"(Sigh) I'm sorry." Trinity muttered. "Look, I grew up in
the matrix, and I remember how strange a woman in love with
another woman was. Let me just tell you that here in the real world
love is rare... too rare to let 'details' spoil it."
"But... if Ranma and I still... I mean... what will everyone
think?"
"Do you really want the brutal truth?"
Akane nodded.
"They'll think that you two are the luckiest people alive."
~~~
"You mean that?" Ranma inquired.
"I envy you, Ranma. When you left the matrix you were able to
take with you the only real thing you had."
"And that is...?"
"Something you and Akane share. Something that's rather rare
in the real world. It'd be a shame if you lost it."
A tear trickled down Ranma's cheek.
"If you hope to build a future with her, you have to let go of
the fake life you've been living. Now I ask you, are you ready for
that?"
~~~
"No..." Akane answered. "But I'm ready to try."
"Are you ready to take the one piece of your life that you
two have left? Are you ready to take it before you lose it?" Trinity
asked.
~~~
"Yes!" Ranma and Akane both shouted as they awoke
from the construct.
"...Ranma?"
"...Akane?"
They looked at each other for the first time since being
freed from the matrix. They both had very short hair which,
although growing quickly, left them looking slightly unfamiliar to the
other at first.
"Akane... I... I..." Ranma nervously muttered.
"Shut up..." Akane tearfully replied with a loving smile. "Just
shut up you dummy."
Ranma and Akane ran to each other and hugged, which
was but only a prelude to a passionate kiss that brought them both
to tears, complemented with applause by an audience of Neo,
Trinity, Tank, and Morpheus.
"I can arrange for you two to be alone for a while..." Tank
said.
"We're doing just fine, thank you." Akane smiled as she
wiped her face.
~~~
"They've been locked in that room for an hour. What
are they doing in there?" Tank inquired.
"Talking... playing... who knows? It's none of my business."
Neo muttered.
"Is it me, or do you sound a bit bothered?" Trinity inquired.
"It's not you." Neo replied. "The matrix doesn't normally
make a gender glitch like that."
"A girl who can make objects from thin air, a man who
changes into a panda, people who jump twenty meters or more...
I'd say the matrix is having a rough day." Trinity mused.
"A man who changes into a panda?!" Tank questioned.
"You had to be there." Trinity muttered.
"There's another thing. Remember when we were getting
Ranma out of the matrix I lost the lock at first? I got it back, but it
wasn't the same."
"Didn't Ranma get splashed with water just before?" Trinity
inquired.
"I dunno. I wasn't watching." Neo answered. "Tank,
establish a link with the matrix informational node. Let's see what's
on the news."
"You got it. Let's see... ah. Here's the sports section..."
"Can it, Tank."
"You're no fun."
"Stop! That... right there. I remember those. That might
have been the first lock."
"What's the rest of it say?" Trinity asked.
"More coordinates, a project in progress, mentions the loss
of a supplemental component... a replacement... hmm. Maybe this
is a status report."
"Sounds like they're building something." Neo muttered.
"In a populated cluster of the matrix?" Trinity inquired.
"I guess so." Neo affirmed.
"Coincidence?" Trinity asked.
"What do you think?" Neo inquired.
Trinity grinned.
"Tank, you think you can get us into that cluster?"
"It'll be tight..."
"Plan it out. Let me know when you're ready." Neo ordered.
"Until then, I've got some kids to train..."
~~~
"Just be quiet." Akane softly muttered.
"Akane, I..."
"Shhhhh."
"No, Akane. I..." Ranma flustered.
"No words, Ranma. Just accept it." Akane said. "You
always were and always will be the man I love."
"Please, Akane! I..."
"Quiet, you dummy!" Akane kindly chided. "You don't
have to mmmphhhh!!"
Ranma put her hand over Akane's mouth.
"Would -you- be quiet so I can say just THREE words
please?"
Akane reluctantly nodded.
"I...love...you." Ranma said as she released her hand.
Without hesitation, Akane burst into tears and hugged
Ranma.
"Y-you're... you're all I have left, Akane." Ranma added.
"Thank you for not leaving me." she kissed Akane's forehead.
"I will never, never leave you, Ranma."
Ranma smiled. "Which one of us is the tomboy now?"
Akane's tears ceased as she glared at Ranma.
"Ah. There we go. That's my Akane!" Ranma chuckled.
Akane's glare slowly disappeared into a slight grin.
"Dummy."
"Macho chick."
"Pervert!"
"Careful... Technically you can be hit with that one yourself!
Ranma replied with a chuckle.
Akane scowled. "Tomboy!" she shouted.
Ranma flinched, caught off guard by the new insult that
strangely now applied to her.
"Gotcha!" Akane exclaimed victoriously. "I'm real good
with double edged swords, Ranma."
"And tables, and mallets, and frying pans..." Ranma
chuckled.
-Knock- -Knock-
"It's open."
Neo opened the door and walked in.
"If you two lovebirds are done..." Neo said.
"As a matter of fact, we're not." Ranma muttered. She
took hold of Akane and planted a deep kiss, her lips on hers.
"Now we're done."
"Oooo... very nice. I give it an eight." Neo commented.
"So... Trinity tells me that you two -think- that you know martial
arts."
"HEY!!!" Akane and Ranma shouted in unison.
"Don't like hearing that?" Neo inquired.
"No, we DON'T." Akane curtly replied.
"Want to do something about it?"
"Honor demands it!" Ranma fumed.
"Good. I look forward to getting my ass kicked. Load up in
the construct. Akane, you'll fight Morpheus. Ranma, you'll fight
me."
~~~
"This is a sparring program, similar to the programed reality
of the matrix. It has the same basic rules, rules like gravity.
What you must learn is that these rules are no different from
the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent.
Others can be broken." Morpheus explained.
"Or rewritten." Neo added.
"Sorry, I'm not in the practice of cheating." Ranma said.
"-They- are." Morpheus replied.
"Enough." Akane muttered.
"Indeed. You and I shall go first." Morpheus said. "Hit
me, if you can."
Thus, the battle began. Akane's first attack, a gorilla
strength forward thrust, was easily dodged. She continued with a
series of powerful attacks, however her defense was quite lacking
and Morpheus had managed to get in several hits.
"Good."
"Good?! I haven't even gotten a hit on you yet!" Akane
shouted.
"Don't be so critical on yourself. You haven't even had any
training yet."
"I've had a lot more than you!"
Akane launched another flurry of attacks, all of them again
just as easy to block as they were the first time. She now added a
few kicks and foot sweeps into the mix, some which Morpheus
wasn't expecting, but was still able to dodge or block.
"Am I too fast for you?" Morpheus questioned, blocking a
two fisted strike, returning the favor with a knee to her stomach.
"How...?" Akane mumbled.
"Fight with your mind. Know that your strike will hit."
More punches, more kicks. Akane tried a grappling
maneuver in an attempt to throw Morpheus across the dojo. She
was a little confused when she found it was -her- being thrown.
"You seem to focus more on strength and power than
speed. That's fine in the real world." Morpheus explained. "You
forget that this isn't the real world. Use that fact to your advantage."
Morpheus leapt high into the air, intending to make a
descending strike. Akane countered by leaping into the air with him
before he could even execute the strike. Into the air they hung as
the moments in time slowly passed. An unsuspecting Morpheus
caught off guard by the surprise attack, and Akane in the air
meeting her attacker with a clear advantage. -KAPOW!-
0.1 seconds...
0.2 seconds...
0.3 seconds...
0.4 seconds...
Akane fell roughly to the ground gasping for air, the wind
knocked out of her lungs. Morpheus landed at the opposite side of
the dojo unharmed. He walked over to Akane and offered her a
hand to help her up.
"Your defense is lacking. You'll have to work on that.
You're quite confident of your own strength. That's important.
That means we're halfway there. Now you need to find your
speed."
"(Cough) -Find- my speed?" Akane questioned.
"You'll do better once you learn how to use your skills more
efficiently in the matrix." Morpheus explained.
"Me and you, young lady." Neo said to Ranma.
"Let's go." Ranma thrust a fist at her palm.
"By the way, how come you're in female form?" Neo
asked.
"Don't ask me, ask the machine." Ranma replied.
"All the machine does is interpret your self image. Are you
starting to see yourself as a girl?"
Ranma remained silent.
"Have you ever fought as a girl before, Ranma?"
"Now and then."
"You'll get plenty of practice, I promise you. Go!"
Ranma launched the first attack, a short leap towards Neo,
her fist straight on target for Neo's head. Just millimeters away from
connecting, Neo dodged. Ranma, wasting no time, launched a
spinning kick which was easily ducked. Neo returned the favor with
several kicks, a cheap thrust to Ranma's stomach, and an even
cheaper foot sweep...
...all of them blocked or dodged.
"Very good!!" Neo praised.
"You're holding out on me."
"So are you."
Thus, as they battled on, the stalemate continued. Neither had
managed to register a hit on the other, each attack either having
been blocked or dodged. Neo was definitely holding out on the
boy. He knew every attack Ranma was going to pull at precisely
the same time the computer managed to translate Ranma's
command of the attack.
"You're still holding out!" Ranma yelled.
"C'mon, Ranma! Show me what you can do!"
"FINE!" Ranma flared.
"Sweet Jesus! What the-...?" A shocked expression painted
Neo's face. The command Ranma's mind was executing to the
construct was unreal.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
Neo managed to block every punch, but barely.
"How... how did you block those?!" Ranma questioned.
"Phew... not easily. That was an -incredible- move, but I hope
you weren't expecting it to bring you an easy win."
"Maybe if I was a guy..."
"I figured you'd say that." Neo spoke to the sky. "Tank, a
little magic please."
Ranma's image fuzzed in a ball of static for a moment, and
then rematerialized into male form.
"Let's try that again."
~~~
"Congratulations, Ranma." Morpheus said as they awoke
from the construct.
"I'll be honest... I didn't think you could do it." Neo stated.
"You were still holding back. Don't deny it." Ranma
muttered.
"That's because I programmed his interface that way."
Tank explained as he unplugged Morpheus.
"Why?"
"He's untouchable without them."
"No-one's untouchable."
"I saw your moves the moment the construct interpreted
them. My interface in the practice construct attenuates the
processes that let me respond to them." Neo explained as Tank
unplugged him.
"How come you can... I mean... how do you see his
moves before he even makes them?" Akane asked.
Neo chuckled and shook his head. "I'm hungry, Morpheus.
How about you?" Neo inquired.
Morpheus motioned to the mess hall.
"Hey! Answer my question!" Akane yelled.
"Unplug us! I'm hungry too!" Ranma added.
"After your training." Morpheus said as he left with Neo for
the mess hall.
"Training?" Ranma questioned.
"Uh huh." Tank affirmed. "First, I think we should see a
replay of your fight with Neo. I think you'll find it interesting."
Tank keyed up the fight on a nearby view screen. Ranma
had just rematerialized into male form, and another fight had just
begun.
"Let's fast forward to the moment of triumph, shall we?"
Tank muttered.
Ranma and Neo were standing at opposite ends of the
dojo. Neo was in a defensive stance, and Ranma was preparing for
an all out offensive. Confident of success, Ranma charged at Neo
just like the first time.
"KACHU..."
Ranma noticed the image of himself on the screen beginning to
flicker.
"TENSHIN..."
On the screen, Ranma changed to female form.
"AMAGURIKEN!"
Neo managed to block all of the punches... except one.
One was all Ranma needed, and Neo was down for the count.
"Good fight, huh?" Tank asked as he turned off the view
screen. "Special effects complements of yours truly."
"NO WAY! I beat him while I..." Ranma exclaimed.
"Yup, while you were a girl. You knew you could do it,
and you did. You knew you had the power to take him out, and
you did. Now tell me... how was that different from the first time?"
Tank asked.
"I... I don't know..."
"Bingo. You didn't know. Did you think you could beat him as
a girl?"
"I thought I could... I wasn't too certain..."
"There's half of your problem. You think too much. Knowing is
better. You knew you could do it as a guy, right?"
"I knew I could get at least one punch in... and I knew if I
placed it right and put enough into it I could take him out."
"And that's precisely what you did."
"How? Because I knew I could do it?"
"Now you're getting it." Tank answered. He walked over
to his console and shuffled through a few disks.
"Okay, then what happens if I -know- I can get a hit in, but
my opponent -knows- he can block it?" Ranma asked.
"That's where skill and creativity comes in. If you're matched for
skill in there as well though, then you're in for a long fight.
Confidence wears down eventually though, just like stamina. It's all
a matter of who tires out first." Tank explained.
"Gee, you're awfully quiet, Akane." Ranma muttered.
"I'm still thinking about how many hits he got on me. Come
to think of it, I never worked on defense much..." Akane mumbled.
"Oh I can fix that reeeaaaal quick." Tank said as he pushed
a button.
"HUAAAH!!!" Akane shouted as information was being
shunted into her mind in a disorienting manner that can only be
described as a painless headache. "What was that?!"
"That was a refresher course on some of what you already
know." Tank said as he held up a disk labeled 'Kempo'.
"Did you... no... no way! That's no way to learn martial
arts!" Akane yelled.
"DO NOT use that on me, do you hear?!" Ranma shouted.
"Huh?"
"You DON'T learn martial arts by simply loading it into
someone's mind like a program!"
"This is stuff you need to know!" Tank argued.
"Maybe those disks can teach the moves, but not the spirit.
It doesn't teach the -art-." Ranma said.
Tank remained silent for a moment, then eventually
conceded.
"Fine. If you have enough confidence in your own skills
then that'll be enough. There are other things you have to learn
though, and for the moment I have you held captive in that chair
there so you're gonna learn em' whether you want to or not!
Welcome to kindergarten, sweets."
"(Sigh) Fine, but no martial arts." Ranma agreed. "And
don't call me sweets."
"Whatever. Here we go..." Tank winked at Ranma.
"Hey! I saw tha-... HUAAAGH!" Ranma yelled as a
flood of information surged her brain.
"Is she always that easy to tease?"
"Afraid so..." Akane answered.
Finished with Ranma's first lession, Tank ejected the disk
labeled 'Rand McNally's Matrix Atlas'.
"So, Miss Ranma... are you ready for junior high?" he
asked as he held up another disk labeled 'The idiot's guide to really
really nifty GUNS'.
~~~
Ranma was in her room practicing her kata. She chided
herself several times as her body, weak and out of shape, had
difficulty performing what was once an easy kata.
-Knock knock-
"Come in." Ranma shouted as she continued.
"How was training?" Trinity inquired as she walked in.
"Can you say information overload?" Ranma muttered.
"Ah. One of those headaches." Trinity payed closer attention to
Ranma's kata. "What'cha doing?"
"Making a mockery of the art, it seems. I can't even perform a
simple kata!"
"We were only able to rebuild your muscles to a point.
Time will have to finish where we left off. They have quite a few
years of catching up to do." Trinity explained.
Ranma sighed. "I guess my art got left in the matrix too."
Trinity smiled. "Do it again."
Trinity observed as Ranma carefully went through her kata
once again. Ranma grunted as she made a few mistakes, fewer than
the first time, but still annoying considering that this was once such a
basic kata to her. As she finished, she noticed that Trinity had been
trying to imitate her.
"That's one the training program didn't teach." Trinity
commented.
"I've been training most of my life. I doubt those programs
have even half of what I learned."
"What martial art is it?"
"The Saotome School of Anything Goes martial arts."
"'Anything goes'?" Trinity skeptically commented. "You
made that up."
Ranma glowed in fury.
"I...did...not." Ranma viciously said.
"Sorry! I didn't mean..."
Ranma waved her hand, dismissing the subject.
"You know, considering what we do, the name is fitting."
Trinity commented.
"So what brings ya'?"
"I got bored. I figured I'd drop by to talk. Akane's been
making herself scarce practicing with Morpheus all day. She's quite
determined..."
"Stubborn is more like it." Ranma chuckled.
"How did you two meet?"
"An arranged marriage between her parents and mine. (Sigh)"
"So... you love her out of obligation?" Trinity inquired.
"No! I love her because I... I... actually -love- her. Had our
parents not forced our relationship and just let things be..."
"Why the arrangement?"
"To join our martial arts houses together, inherit the Tendo
dojo, carry on the Saotome school of martial arts... that sort of
thing." Ranma replied. "I wonder what their thinking now. Their
two heirs... gone for good."
"Were you looking forward to carrying on the school?"
Ranma sighed. "Yeah, actually." A tear formed in her eye.
"Once I got rid of that damned curse I was-..."
"You're crying." Trinity observed.
Ranma shook her head in regret. "I've always been afraid that
one day I'd end up stuck as a girl forever. I-... my father would be
ashamed, I'd lose Akane, I'd... I'd have to live as a -woman-..."
More tears flowed down her cheeks.
"Jesus, Ranma... is it that bad? I don't see what your problem is.
I know -I- don't have any regrets. As for your emotional baggage,
you should have left that in the matrix, and believe me, I don't think
you'll be losing Akane anytime soon." Trinity comforted.
"C'mon. Big girls don't cry."
Ranma chuckled. "Gee... thanks." she sarcastically commented,
tears drying from her face. "It's just that... in... in there it -was- a big
deal. Out here... it's not so bad. Everyone treats me as just another
one of the guys..."
"We're all just another one of the guys. Some of them like to
play a little though. I noticed Tank's taken a hobby of using you
a few various pet names and gestures here and there."
"I'll rip him a new airway next time he does."
"He's just playing, Ranma. Try playing back. Maybe you'll
get back at him a couple..."
"Oh please." Ranma muttered with a sarcastic glance.
"Get used to it, spoil sport. C'mon now... Ms. high-and-mighty
martial artist can't take a little tease?" Trinity chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah... yuck it up why don'cha.."
"So tell me about this martial arts school of yours. Did you
have any students?"
"Not really."
"You do now, sensei."
~~~
"The matrix is a system, Akane."
Morpheus walked across a crowded crosswalk in the
opposite direction of an oncoming flurry of people. Akane struggled
to follow close behind, bumping carelessly into several people along
the way.
"That system is our enemy." Morpheus waded through the
crowd effortlessly. The people were giving him a wide berth. "You
look inside and what do you see? Businessmen, teachers,
carpenters, doctors..."
"My friends..." Akane interrupted, still bumping into
people.
"Are you sure?" Morpheus questioned
Akane bumped into a rather familiar doctor.
"Dr. Tofu!" Akane exclaimed, looking behind to the familiar
doctor continuing onward.
"Look at me, Akane. Are you paying attention?" Morpheus
questioned.
"But that was-...!"
"Look again."
The man she looked behind to see wasn't Dr. Tofu, but
instead an agent looking much like the one Akane and Ranma had
fought.
"Freeze it." Morpheus ordered to the sky. The people in
the construct froze accordingly, as did the agent who had his gun
leveled right at Akane's forehead.
"What the hell...?!" Akane shouted.
"That was a friend of yours, wasn't it?"
"How did you know-...?"
"I know enough to emphasize a point. You need to let go,
Akane. Your friends, your family... all of it."
"Why and how in the hell would you expect me to do that?"
"Because so long as they're still connected to the matrix,
they are your enemy. If you expect to survive, you'd better steer
clear of everyone you can. One moment you could be talking to
your best friend..."
"And the next...?"
Morpheus tapped on the gun in the agent's hand. "There is
no next. Allow me to introduce you. This is a sentient program.
They can move in or out of any part of the matrix. They can be
anyone, and yet they are no-one."
"Ranma and I fought one of them... and it's body changed
into-..."
"...Into the body's original form. That is how they move
throughout the matrix. They possess a body and they do not leave
that body unless it becomes damaged. Consider a body taken over
by an agent to be as good as dead."
"Then what do we do?"
"We run."
~~~
"Tank..."
"I'm ready, Neo. It'll be tough trying to fly this barge through
that shaft..."
"We're not going to stay. Just get me a look."
"Let's get this over with."
Tank carefully piloted the Nebuchadnezzar up a cramped
shaft which led to the matrix habitat, a cluster filled with people all
wired into the matrix.
"Easy does it baby..." Tank muttered as the ship escalated
up the shaft, narrowed by thousands of rows of body vats.
"What's that up there?" Neo asked, pointing to what
appeared to be a rather normal body vat, with the exception of a
large amount of wires and tubes interconnected into it and to the
empty vat to the left of it.
"That must be the experiment." Tank informed.
"That empty vat to the left with all the wires... Was that
Ranma's?"
"Yep."
"Why's the vat to the right of it empty too?"
"Let's see..." Tank mumbled as he scrolled through several
files. "That was Akane's."
"This is no coincidence. Get us in closer."
Tank keyed in several commands into the computer, and
the ship responded accordingly as it moved closer to the vats in
question.
"Didn't we get a list of coordinates from the matrix info
node?" Neo asked.
"Hang on..." Tank keyed up another view screen which
recalled a small amount of data.
"A project in progress at-... Neo, these coordinates match
these vats here." Tank read. "It lists a critical component lost...
more coordinates..."
"Yeah, yeah... what component?" Neo impatiently asked.
"Cool it, will ya? I'm working on it!" Tank stressfully
shouted. "There we go. Let's see... wait a-... these are coordinates
Ranma's vat!"
"Huh? Ranma was part of some experiment?"
"Hold up a sec, there's coordinates for a replacement here...
and it's that guy right there." Tank pointed to the vat above the
'experimenal' vat.
"Looks like they haven't rewired their 'replacement' yet.
Think we can find him?" Neo asked.
"Heh... good luck. You don't even know who you're
looking for."
"The proverbial needle in a haystack, right?" Neo questioned.
"Let's get the hell outta here."
"I hear that."
Tank quickly plotted a return course down the habitat.
"Patch me into the matrix info node again. I want to know
what this damned experiment is about." Neo said as he sat in an
interface chair.
"You got it." Tank replied. "Hey Neo... should we tell
Ranma about this?"
"Let's not give her anything else to worry about. Work on
figuring out what we're dealing with first." Neo answered. "I
wonder what Akane's part in this is though..."
"She could be a farm body."
"What's that?"
"You don't know?"
~~~
"We know you to be an acquaintance of this perpetrator.
Any help you could give us would be... ...appreciated."
"You can have what's left after I'm done with him."
"I'm sorry?"
"I never would have believed that Ranma would go so low
as to conspire with terrorists..."
"He needs to be brought to justice, along with his terrorist
co-conspirators."
"I'll see to his 'justice' personally. Please, don't be harsh
on Akane. Ranma must have pressured her into-..."
"I can't make any guarantees. Tell me, Mister Hibiki, am I
correct in assuming that you have a dispute with the perpetrator?"
"You could say that. If I ever come across him... ...he's good as
dead."
"I see..." the agent mused. "You're enrolled with our
experimental program, are you not?"
"I think so... why?"
"One of my associates was recently lost in the line of duty."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"Would you be interested in a job?"
~~~
"Okay... they're in." Tank said as he activated a special
sparring construct exclusively for Ranma and Akane. "They won't
be out for a while."
"Good. This is stuff they don't need to hear quite yet."
Morpheus muttered. "Now... what's this I hear about a weapon?"
"I haven't seen all the data yet, but from what I do know,
Ranma was a surrogate mind for a human weapon they're
constructing. They were using her mind to keep the body alive
while they engineered an AI mind for it." Neo
"Wait a minute... how did they do that without killing
Ranma's real body?" Trinity asked.
"Her mind controlled the vital functions of both bodies. It
looks like they went to some trouble to keep her alive." Neo
explained.
"Why?"
"Simple... why waste a perfectly good farm body?" Tank
answered.
"A farm body?! That's the LAST thing we need." Trinity
remarked.
"Akane's in the same boat too." Tank muttered.
"Two of 'em?! Aww shit..." Trinity cursed.
"What's the problem?" Neo asked.
Trinity glanced at Neo with a haunted look.
"He doesn't know, Trin." Tank muttered.
"Know what? Someone please tell me what the hell I'm missing
here!" Neo exclaimed.
"I think I left a program running..." Tank said.
"I'm gonna go grab some food..." Trinity added.
"I think it's time for Ranma and Akane's next lesson." Morpheus
mumbled. The three quickly departed Neo's company.
"Aww c'mon!"
~~~
"Ranma would never dishonor our family and our art by allying
himself with terrorists!" Genma ranted.
"Your son has already committed a murder, Mister Saotome.
An office secretary, an innocent bystander, was killed by them
during our attempt to apprehend a known terrorist." the first agent
explained.
"Akane Tendo obstructed our agent just as we were about
to arrest the terrorist, and Ranma Saotome launched an attack at
our agent. His attack missed and struck the bystander instead." the
second agent elaborated.
"I don't believe you! There's something you're not telling us!"
Soun retorted.
"We have told you all that you need to hear." the first agent said.
"Should they return, you are expected to contact us
immediately. We will be in the area." the second agent added.
"Get out. GET OUT!" Soun raged.
As the two agents made their way to the exit, they caught a
glance at Nabiki and Kasumi. The agents stared at them for several
moments, assessing the two for purposes known only to
themselves.
~~~
Morpheus, linked into the interface chair along with Ranma
and Akane, coughed a small amount of blood.
"Morpheus!" Tank, who was previously distracted,
focused his attention on his console as he quickly pushed 'abort'.
Within moments Morpheus, Ranma, and Akane awoke from the
practice construct.
"(Cough) Ugh... do you feel better now?" Morpheus
asked.
"No... I do NOT!" Ranma bitterly answered as Tank unplugged
her interface.
Tank noticed a baneful sneer on Akane's face as he unplugged
her from the construct interface.
"Get over it."Morpheus said as Tank unplugged him as
well.
"What happened in there?" Tank asked.
"The jump program." Morpheus answered.
"Okay, that might explain why they're pissed... but what
happened to -you-?" Tank inquired.
Morpheus walked over to Tank's console and placed a
password on the record of what happened in the construct.
"Don't tell me -you- fell..." Tank pondered the thought for a
moment. "C'mon, it can't be that embarrassing."
Morpheus remained briefly silent, a silence to be broken by
an order to Ranma and Akane.
"Keep quiet about it." Morpheus redirected his attention to
Tank. "We're just letting out a little healthy frustration, Tank. It's
long story. I'll tell you later."
"But..."
"Bring us up to broadcast depth. We're going in."
~~~
C:> Zion datacore juncture three online. Access code?
"Neo, one seven beta zero nine gamma."
C:> Recognized. Awaiting authorization code.
"Spoon."
C:> Accepted. Command?
"Search data retrieved from MIN regarding experiment
2501."
C:> Parameters of search?
"Incorporate all information available about experiment
2501 and compile a report."
C:> Standby... ... ... report completed.
Experiment 2501. No description available.
Objective: Zion/Human command ship infiltration via placement
of AI hidden operative.
Equipped with weaponry and defense immune to known human
counterattack weaponry such as static cannon and EMP.
Progress: Several previous attempts at this experiment were
unsuccessful, due to the experiment body rendering itself 'brain
dead' during the mind reconstruction procedures.
In later experiments this was resolved by binding a normal
human mind with the experimental body while the AI mind was
being constructed separately in the background. Steps can be taken
to prevent the 'brain death' of the donor mind's body during this
procedure with minimal difficulty. This is a preferred method, as it
eliminates the need to painstakingly purge the experiment body of
the donor mind since it is easier to simply transfer the mind back to
it's original body. This also does not waste valuable human
resources. However, this leaves the link between the donor mind
and experiment body vulnerable to interference.
One such vulnerability was encountered when the donor
mind interacted with another project. At that time the AI mind was
at a sufficient state that it could maintain the experiment body during
the interruption, however further construction on the AI mind could
not continue until the link was reestablished. The link was eventually
reestablished shortly, but from that point on the link was subject to
random interruption.
The donor mind was eventually removed from the matrix,
causing further delays of the experiment. However, a new donor
mind was shortly found, and progress resumed. At the current rate
of progress, completion is expected within two cycles.
C:> Command?:
"Search for identity information on the new donor."
C:> Standby... ... ... initiating M.atrix I.nformation N.ode back-
orifice protocol... completed. Searching... ... ... search successful.
Warning, search parameters are under encryption. Decryption
protocol initiated. Estimated time: 23.1 minutes.
"Search for more information related to the other project."
C:> Searching... ... ... search successful.
Project 1701 (Abandoned): The Jusenkyo Project...
~~~
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Matrix
express. Please fasten your seatbelts, we shall be departing the
station shortly. All aboard!" Tank initiated the Matrix interface,
linking Morpheus, Ranma, and Akane into the world they once
called their life.
The three ended up at a small lobby payphone at a closed
hotel in local Nerima. The phone, the only thing without multiple
layers of dust, rang as the three got their bearings on their location.
Morpheus, wearing his usual super-formal 'gonna-change-
the-world-and-be-home-in-time-for-cornflakes' attire, donned his
dark glasses and answered the phone.
"We're in." He answered.
Ranma and Akane inspected their attire and found
themselves wearing something that was rather different than their
normal day wear. Akane looked like she had took 'dress for
success' lessons from Trinity. Ranma's attire on the other hand was
light red, accenting her blazing red hair accordingly, yet stayed clear
away from the color spectrum of pink. The entire ensemble looked
professional, yet sexy. It conveyed the message 'Corporate
Mercenary'.
"Uhm... what am I wearing?" Ranma calmly asked.
"Consider it your work uniform. Dignified, professional, yet
easy to fight in and conceals weapons well." Morpheus answered.
"I had another of my crew who dressed like that. She preferred
white though."
"Hey, I didn't say there was anything wrong with it... yet.
It's just... different."
"You should have taken some time to choose then." Akane
donned her sunglasses.
"I could have arranged for a combat leotard..." Morpheus
muttered.
"Har, har. This is just fine thank you." Ranma took a
moment to assess her attire in better detail. "Hmm... not bad. It's
decent." Ranma reached behind to feel her hair. It was just a little
longer than shoulder length as it usually was, with one small
exception... no pigtail. "Hey-...! The hair! What's up with the
hair?!"
Akane reached into Ranma's jacket pocket and pulled out
a pair of Oakley mirrored sunglasses.
"Put em' on and let's go already."
~~~
"Whatcha doing, Neo?" Trinity asked.
"Homework." Neo typed a few more commands into his
terminal as it continued it's search.
"Learn anything?"
"A little. I learned a few things about that curse Ranma had.
Check this out..."
Project 1701 (Abandoned): The Jusenkyo Project.
Objective: An experimentation of human adaptation through
temporary radical modification of a human's appearance.
Progress: Abandoned. No useful data was yielded from this
experiment. Experiment continues to function for entertainment
purposes.
"Okay... so what?" Trinity questioned.
"Crazy stuff, huh? Makes you wonder..." Neo muttered.
"Whatever the machines are smoking, it must be expensive."
"Machines don't smoke."
"Ever spill your drink in a computer power supply?"
Trinity thought for a moment.
"Huh... that would be expensive." Trinity chuckled.
"Point for me, Trin." Neo grinned. "Anyway, that's the
experiment that caused Ranma's little water problem. There's more
to it, though. You heard that Ranma's mind was linked to support
the AI body, right?"
"Yea, yea... go on."
"Ranma was pretty much a life support tool for that body
while they tinkered with it's mind. Apparently, the AI body is male,
and a side effect to the link was that Ranma was perceived in the
matrix as a guy."
"Then what?" Trinity muttered, harboring a slight tinge of
disinterest.
"Fortunately for Ranma, he got caught up into this other
experiment and ended up with a curse that changed Ranma into a
girl, hence, her normal form. That consequently messed up the link
between her and the AI body." Neo explained.
"So... how is this information useful?" Trinity questioned.
"It's isn't. I just thought it was interesting..." Neo bluntly
answered.
"Jesus... Try finding out something useful, will ya'?"
"I am! I'm trying to find out the identity of the new body the
AI body is linked with."
"Oh." Trinity absently muttered. "Uhm, okay... yes, I suppose
that would be a good thing."
"And speaking of which..." Neo typed a few functions on
his console. "There we go. 'Bout time it finished. Let's see, his
name is..."
~~~
"Hello, Ranma. Have a seat. Akane, could you wait outside,
sweetie? I'll see you in a moment." the oracle kindly said as she lit
up a cigarette. Akane left the room so that Ranma and the oracle
could chat privately.
"Uhm... I'm..."
"No need for introductions, Ranma. I had a nice long trip across
the Pacific just so I could meet you. I don't do that for just any
stranger, you know." she sat down opposite of her. "Nice clothes."
"I wasn't the guy who picked them." Ranma replied. "What
should I call you?"
"Grandma sounds appropriate."
"I'm sorry...?" Ranma questioned.
"Eh... maybe it's a little early for that." the oracle mused. "So
tell me, son, how's life?" the Oracle asked.
Ranma flinched. "How'd you know I was a-..."
"Don't ask questions, dear. Just accept. Cookie?" she offered
Ranma a tray of freshly baked cookies.
"Thanks..." Ranma replied as she took one and ate it in her
hurried eat-cuz'-you-might-not-get-to-later style. "(Sigh) Life is
hell."
The oracle laughed. "Heh, heh... yes, that it can be. Was it
any better here?"
"At least in here I was a guy..."
"But son, you aren't a guy."
Ranma flinched again, then glared at her.
"If the matrix hadn't existed and if all was right with the world,
do you know what you'd be doing right now?" the Oracle asked.
"I'd probably be at home training with Akane."
"Heh. Bridal training, maybe... tea ceremony training,
maybe..." she chuckled. "You'd have been raised a wonderful,
beautiful girl and you wouldn't have given it a second thought."
"Well I -wasn't-, so I try not to give it ANY thought."
Ranma grumbled.
The oracle flicked some ash off her cigarette as she assessed
Ranma's appearance.
"If only I had a daughter like you." she added. " I'd have
made sure you were brought up right and got set up with a loving
husband."
"Hey now...! Do you mind?!" Ranma yelled.
"Heh, heh... you're no fun." The oracle chuckled. "Son, I
don't think you know how close something like that came to being
a reality. The only reason you were a boy was because of the
matrix."
"Should I be upset or happy about that?" Ranma muttered.
"Eh... none of it matters anymore, really..." she took
another puff of her cigarette. "...except when it comes to Akane."
"What about her?" Ranma asked.
"Well... what about her?"
"I... I -do- love her."
"Why did you stutter?"
"I... I... I..." Ranma flustered.
"Calm down. I'm just kidding with you, son." she puffed
her cigarette some more. "But still... she's your last tie to your life in
the matrix. Your family, your art, your life... it's all gone except for
her, am I right?"
Ranma thought carefully about her words. "Yeah..."
"What does Morpheus and the gang think of your
relationship?"
"Well... they don't seem to mind. They kinda think I'm lucky."
"So you're saying they approve?" the oracle asked. "Hmm.
They should know better."
"Excuse me?!" Ranma raged. "I don't care for your opinion! I
love her, and I don't want to lose her! I'll... I-I'll just have to
accept life as a... l-le-lesbi-..."
"Whoaaaa, don't go there son. That's not at all what I meant."
"Then what DID you mean?" Ranma inquired.
"You'll understand later." the oracle answered. "What you
really want is to keep a piece of your life from the matrix." she took
yet another puff of her cigarette. "You don't always get what you
want, you know."
"You're starting to sound like a certain pesky old ghoul I
used to know..." Ranma remarked.
"Neither of you would openly admit your love back when
you were in the matrix, yet here you are, both women no less,
willing to charge blindly forward together."
"Damn right!"
"Notice my use of the word 'blindly', son. You better watch
where you're going."
"Is there anything wrong with..."
"With Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo being in love?
Nope, nothing wrong with that. That was their destiny in the matrix.
But... those two lives died... or -should have- died when you left
the matrix."
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't let go, Ranma. The ship is sinking, and you're
using Akane as a life raft."
Ranma took a moment to let her words set in. He was
unsure of how to respond, until he thought of Akane's own water
'problem'.
"Akane doesn't know how to swim."
"Precisely my point." The oracle muttered.
"Then what's keeping me afloat?" Ranma inquired.
"What makes you think she's jumped the ship yet?"
The oracle placed her cigarette in an ashtray. It was still
burning, but it was still at full length as if it had just been lit.
~~~
"We have a problem."
The head agent turned his attention to his scientific peer
who was sitting at a small workstation, wearing a dark grey lab
coat.
"The AI mind has developed an anomaly. We will have to
restart from scratch." the scientist informed.
"Why?!"
"The companion mind linked with it has an incompatibility
which has transferred to the AI mind. Mister Hibiki apparently has
navigation difficulty within the matrix."
"That's your problem to fix. Besides, the AI mind won't be
in the matrix. It'll only be used in the outside."
"The anomaly will cause the AI mind to also have navigational
problems on the outside as well."
"WHAT?! Damn you, we have invested too much time in
this! The bioelectronic defense systems have already synchronized
with the body! Find a way to work around this 'problem'!"
"Indeed, there is always another option..."
~~~
"C'mon in, sweetie. Sit wherever you like." The Oracle
instructed. Akane obeyed the request accordingly.
"What exactly am I doing here?" Akane asked.
"No real reason. Morpheus just thinks that it's important
that I talk with some of his crew now and then. I care for them like
children, you know."
"Oh really now...? Does that mean you're going to start calling
me 'daughter'?" Akane pessimistically asked.
"Heh, heh... I'm nobody's mother, sweetie. Grandmother,
perhaps. She poured herself a cup of coffee while Akane
contemplated her words. "I think 'sweetie' will do you for now."
"I'll bet you got pet names for everyone else too..." Akane
mused.
"Just you." The oracle grinned. "So... what shall we talk about?"
"Hey, you're the Oracle. You tell me."
"Hmm... good point. Alright then, how does it feel?"
"How does what feel?"
"You decide." A cheshire-cat grin formed on her face.
"I don't get it..." Akane's frustration was slowly building.
"Think of something."
"Think of what?!" Akane raged. "How does -what- feel?
How does it feel to have lost everything? How does it feel to love a
girl? Is that it? Gimmie some hints here!"
"You just gave yourself two of them." The Oracle calmly
sipped her coffee, unfazed by Akane's fit of rage. "Have you
always been so quick tempered?"
Akane flinched, then scowled.
"Dear me... Yes, yes I can see you are." she shook her head
sympathetically. "Please continue. Try the second one. That oughta'
be gooooood."
"Which one...? 'How does it feel to love Ranma'?"
"No... how does it feel to love a -girl-? Nice dodge though."
"Ranma's not a girl!"
"Yes he is."
"No she's NOT!"
"You called him a 'she'." The Oracle observed.
"You called her a 'he'!" Akane retorted.
"So I did. You can't say that I threw you off then." she
took yet another sip of her coffee. "Plus, you just called him a her."
"But-... awwww damn you!!!"
"Gotcha." the oracle chuckled. "Tell me, sweetie... do you think
you'll work it out?"
"There's nothing to work out! I love HIM!"
"Of course you do. Unfortunately he's dead. Want a cookie?"
she said so matter-of-factly, smiling as she offered her guest a tray
of cookies.
"Wha-...?! No, I do NOT want a cookie, you old hag!"
The oracle chuckled.
"What's so funny?!"
"'Old hag'... I like it."
"It -wasn't- a complement!"
"I know."
"Wait, back up the truck... DEAD? What do you mean?!
She's standing right outside in the hall!"
"Do you mean the charming girl I was talking to just a moment
ago? I'm talking about the young man you knew in the matrix."
"They're the same person!"
"Indeed they are."
"(Sigh) You're not making any sense!"
The oracle took yet another sip of her coffee. "You've heard the
rule "You can't take it with you", right?"
"Yeah..."
"You've been caught cheating, sweetie."
"Excuse me?"
"Ranma and Akane are gone." she took another sip of her
savory coffee. "You two took your emotional baggage with you,
and that's where you cheated. You still love him or her or whatever,
and because of that you are having trouble letting go of your life
from the matrix.
"I don't HAVE to let go."
"No, you don't. The captain of the Titanic sure didn't..."
"Huh?
"Don't die with the sinking ship, sweetie."
Akane took a moment to ponder the Oracle's words.
"I don't know how to swim." Akane muttered.
"That's because you were angry at anyone who tried to teach
you." The oracle replied. "Sink or swim, Akane. Curb that rage of
yours, and I'll bet you'll find someone who's still willing."
The oracle set down her cup of coffee that she had been
nursing sips from for the length of the conversation. Akane hardly
noticed that it was still filled to the brim.
~~~
"We have your first assignment."
"I'm ready."
Two agents stood face to face with each other, both
wearing the attire fitting to their occupation. The younger put on a
discrete earpiece, donned a pair of sunglasses, and adjusted his
yellow and black bandanna. The older agent removed a thirty-eight
caliber automatic from inside his vest, slammed a full cartridge into
it, and aimed it at his apprentice's forehead.
"My colleagues question my idea of inviting someone like
you into the ranks." the agent muttered.
The agent spun the gun so that the handle was in an offering
position to the understandably nervous trainee. "You'll need this.
This weapon was made custom, since you have some...
...limitations that we do not. We'll find a way around those, but you
must first prove yourself capable of the job. Complete your
assignment successfully, and the job is yours." the agent explained.
"That won't be necessary." The trainee refused the pistol.
"Yes, it will. It's required for your assignment."
"What IS my assignment?" the trainee questioned.
"Your assignment is to use this gun."
"On... on Ranma?! I'm a martial artist, not a marksman!"
Ryoga exclaimed.
"You are a secret service agent. This weapon is your
badge, and your job requires that you carry and use it. Do so, or
I'll find someone who will."
After a moment of contemplation, Ryoga reluctantly accepted
the gun and placed the gun it in his vest.
"Wise decision, Agent Hibiki. You will be working with
Agent Jones and Agent Williams. I recommend you get going."
"Aren't they going to escort me?"
"You will provide your own transportation."
"Uh..." the trainee big-sweated. "I might need a little bit of
help getting there."
"That won't be a problem."
"Where am I going anyway?"
"If I tell you, there -will- be a problem. Just head for
somewhere. You'll get there in time."
~~~
"There's some people I want you to meet."
"Where are you taking us?" Morpheus questioned. His
question was quickly answered as they found themselves standing
at the doors of Nerima's frequent epicenter of chaos.
"Home..." a homesickness entranced Akane muttered as she
stood outside the gates to the Tendo Dojo and residence.
"No. NOT home. We're leaving." Morpheus commanded.
"Wait! I was going to introduce you to everybody!" Ranma
took off her sunglasses, allowing her eyes to accent her words.
"Can't you get them out too?"
Morpheus remained rock firm. "We can't simply go about
releasing anyone we feel like. You have to let them go."
"I've had enough of people telling me to 'let go'! I'm going to go
see them! They'll at least be glad to know I'm okay..."
"Ranma, listen to me... all it's going to do is make both them
AND you hurt more when you have to say goodbye to them, not to
mention the dan-"
"Shut up, okay? Just shut up." Ranma gritted, cutting
Morpheus' speech short. Akane proceeded through the entrance
gate, followed by Ranma.
"This is not a bright idea..." Morpheus warned.
"...Hello?" muttered a kind voice standing just outside the
household. "Oh! Father, we have guests!"
"Dammit to hell, don't do this...!" Morpheus gritted. He stayed
out of view just outside the gate, but in a position where he could
observe.
"Kasumi! It's me!" Akane yelled. She took off her sunglasses,
revealing the tears shed for her joyful reunion.
"Hey pops! C'mon out, ya' old freak!" Ranma joked.
"Shit." Morpheus cursed.
Nabiki joined Kasumi outside a moment later.
"Is that... Ranma?" Nabiki questioned. "Ha! Check this out
everybody, Ranma here actually grew some fashion sense! Love
what you did with the hair."
"Aw come ON, Nabiki!" Ranma whined.
"Oh my, Akane! When did you start dressing like that?"
Kasumi gently inquired.
"Yeah, really. You've -got- to tell me where you got that from."
Nabiki added.
"Uhh, well..." Akane bigsweated.
A split second later, an elated Soun and Genma whisked
past the two girls, tearfully shouting their child's name as they
hurried toward their children.
"Akane!" "Ranma!"
"Dad!" "Pop!"
-Click.- -Click.-
~~~
"What was that?!" Ryoga questioned. "Gunshots...? In
Tokyo?!"
Ryoga, the boy with the navigational skills of a chia pet, had
been wandering the streets aimlessly when he had heard the
gunshots. Like a revelation, he realized -where- the gunshots
were coming from.
Ryoga may not have been any good at reading maps or
directions, but he had no trouble homing in on sound.
~~~
The unanticipated click of a trigger was an experience that
Morpheus was all too familiar of.. It created a horrible feeling of
uneasiness, the first time always being most traumatic. It tended to
jolt the mind into slow motion in which, during that moment, every
second elapsed a lifetime. Such was the case for Ranma and
Akane, this being their first time.
0.1 seconds: First bullet impacts Genma Saotome in the
back of his head with precision accuracy.
0.7 seconds. Morpheus withdraws his gun on instinct and
searches for the originator of the gunshot.
1.4 seconds. Second bullet impacts Soun Tendo in the
same location.
2.0 seconds. Genma and Soun slowly stumble downward.
Their bodies previously obstructing Morpheus' view, as they fall
their assailants become within perfect view..
In those two seconds, two lives elapsed and expired. Now
standing in Kasumi and Nabiki's place were two agents, their guns
still smoking from their most recent use.
"NOOOOOO!!!" Akane crumbled to her knees.
"DAAAAAAD!!!" Ranma shrieked at a deafening pitch in
unison with Akane's cry.
"Get down!" Morpheus yelled, his powerful forty-five caliber
leveled straight for the two assailants.
-KLACK.- -Thwop.-
-KLACK.- -Splurch.-
"What the-...?!" Morpheus amazed as the two agents collapsed.
"How did I hit?!"
"Holy hell!!!" Ranma shouted as the two agents dematerialized
out of their host's bodies.
"NO! Kasumi! Nabiki!" Akane shrieked as she watched
her sisters appear in the agents' place. She rushed over to her fallen
siblings, as did Ranma.
"WHY, DAMMIT?!" Akane yelled to Morpheus.
Morpheus took off his glasses and stroked a hand down his
sweat soaked face. Some of that sweat started to mix with tears.
"I tried-..." he whispered. "I tried to warn you..." His voice
grew louder. "Mother fucking damn you, I TRIED!"
"Why did-... what did they ever-... how could-..." Ranma
mumbled in bewildered devastation.
Morpheus threw his gun in frustration, then withdrew his
cell-phone and crushed the speed-dial.
"O-operator...?" Tank's voice nervously muttered over the
phone.
"Get... us... out of here." Morpheus gritted.
"You're not going anywhere." a new voice said from behind.
The newcomer cautiously walked through the gate, his gun
leveled at Morpheus' motionlessly petrified back.
"A restaurant shop, two blocks south and one block east." Tank
informed. "By the way, you're new friend is alone, and human. You
can take 'em." He quickly disconnected.
"Keep facing forward. You make a move and you're cheese,
got it?" the man ordered.
"Who are you?" Morpheus calmly asked, his back still turned to
the man in question.
"Ryoga...?" Ranma queried.
"Nice clothes, Ranma. It matches the blood on your hands,
murderer!" Ryoga shouted.
Ranma turned red with rage. "Why you-... do you actually
THINK that I'd-..."
"Un-for-giveable." Ryoga interrupted, stressing every syllable.
He leveled his gun at Ranma. "You have NO heart. NONE, you
disgraceful COWARD!" -Click.-
0.1 seconds. Predicting the outcome of Ryoga's rage, Akane
makes a dive to push Ranma out of the line of fire.
0.5 seconds. Ryoga fires at Ranma.
0.7 seconds. Shot hits Akane through the upper left torso.
Her fall is more damaging than the shot as she takes a hard hit to
the ground, rendering her unconscious in a growing bath of blood
next to her siblings.
"AKANE!" Ranma and Ryoga both yelled.
"Run, Ranma!" Morpheus yelled.
"I... I s-sh-shot-..." Ryoga flustered.
Ranma headed for cover indoors, but not before grabbing
the guns left by the two agents which were at Kasumi and Nabiki's
feet. Morpheus, taking advantage of Ryoga's distraction, turned
around and charged at Ryoga.
"Mistake!" Ryoga sneered. "SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
The resounding crash of concussional emotion knocked
Morpheus back, crashing through a wall and landing right beside
where Ranma was taking cover. Morpheus dropped the cell-phone
in his hand, its screen and sliding keyflip breaking as it crashed to
the floor.
-Riiiiiiiing...- It still worked.
Ranma picked up the phone. "H-hello?"
"Ranma...? Ranma are you there? Use your gun, dammit!
Take down that bastard and get everyone outta' there!" Tank's
voice yelled, muffled by the phone's severe damage.
"But... but..."
"...are you there? Ranma? Ranma?! Say something!"
"I'm a MARTIAL ARTIST, DAMMIT!" Ranma threw both
guns across the room.
"NO! Jesus Ch-..." Tank paused for a moment. "(Sigh) There's
a phone at a restaurant two blocks south and one block east. Get
there... preferably ALIVE. -Ka-clik-"
On a quick surge of adrenaline and rage, Ranma chucked the
phone and made a lunge toward her unconscious love.
Ryoga wouldn't have it.
"Bastard! Keep your filthy hands OFF her, you murderer!"
Ryoga raged as he fired a glancing shot.
Ranma wisely reconsidered. Rather than remain target practice,
she retreated back inside. Ryoga had made it clear that he wasn't
going to permit her any opportunity of getting near her.
"R-ranma..." Morpheus moaned. "Just go... quickly. Leave
me..."
Ranma glanced outside at Akane, then at Morpheus.
"Come out, coward!" Ryoga yelled.
Had Ryoga not been using a gun, Ranma would have gladly
obliged. This was an unequal battle, and as painfully horrific as it
may be, the time came to cut her losses. On this day, Ryoga would
finally win a fight against Ranma.
"Forgive me, Akane..." Ranma mumbled. "I'll be back for
you... I swear it!"
Ranma, running on adrenaline and dimming confidence, picked
up Morpheus and carried him out the back exit.
"I'm sorry..." Ranma muttered, a chant she repeated all the
way to the extraction point.
~~~
Ryoga clutched his earpiece and shouted into it. "Agent Hibiki
requesting emergency medical, Tendo dojo. Quickly!" He rushed
over to Akane and looked over her injuries.
"Akane, bless your misguided heart, why did you do that?! Oh
god... please be alive..." Ryoga felt for a pulse.. ...and found one.
"Thank heavens!"
The whine of an ambulance howl heralded it's arrival. The
medical team quickly rushed through the entrance.
"God in heavens, what the hell happened here?! A war?" An
EMT asked.
"Over here!" Ryoga shouted. "She's still alive!"
The EMT crew loaded the unconscious Akane onto a
stretcher and carried her to the ambulance just as two agents pulled
up in a black Ford Crown Victoria. They hastily got out of the car
and flanked Ryoga.
"Mister Hibiki, you were given specific orders." Agent Jones
said.
"Bullshit!" Ryoga retorted. "I wasn't told squat!"
"I want an explanation." Agent Williams muttered.
"Your explanation is THIS!" Ryoga brandished the weapon
right in front of the agent's face. "I use it ONE time and I nearly
killed someone I care for! You can have it 'cuz I don't want it!"
Ryoga threw the gun on the ground and headed for the
ambulance.
"Where are you going?" Agent Jones asked.
"I'm going with Akane." Ryoga answered.
Another man got out of the agent's car. The man was wearing a
dark gray lab coat.
Ryoga recognized the scientist. "Hey... weren't you the guy who
cured my-..."
"You can thank me later. Go with Agent Williams and Agent
Jones." the scientist instructed. "I shall accompany the ambulance."
~~~
Ranma was laying on her bed staring at the ceiling and
contemplating her thoughts. From merely looking at her, one would
see an entranced young woman. When merely looking at a person
one could usually see what was on that person's mind. Not so with
Ranma, but one could take guess... ...and have a half chance at
being right.
-Knock- -Knock-
Ranma gave no answer.
-Knock- -Knock- -Knock-.
Silence.
"Ranma..." Morpheus' voice bellowed from behind the
door. "Can I come in?"
Still more silence. After several moments of it, Morpheus
entered. He shut the door behind him, and sat at the foot of
Ranma's bed.
Thus began a duel of silence. Morpheus sat for ten whole
minutes simply staring at Ranma. If this was how Ranma wanted to
play, Morpheus was up for it.
It would be Ranma who would cave in first, being the second
battle she'd lost today. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Nothing."
Ranma sat up. "Nothing?"
"I find that life has a way of giving it's own punishment."
"Ain't that the hard truth..." Ranma agreed.
"Your concern for whether we'll rescue Akane, for one. I'm
sure you're punishing yourself more than I ever could..."
"Did you find where they took her?" Ranma asked with
concern.
Morpheus nodded. "They have her at local hospital under heavy
guard. Neo and Trinity are planning a rescue right now."
"I have to go with them!" Ranma insisted.
Morpheus shook his head. "They can handle it. They're good at
rescues. I would know." Morpheus' reassurance was followed with
a glare. "Besides, we need to have a little chat, you and I."
~~~
"I must say that I'm disappointed, Mr. Hibiki. You let them
escape."
"I did what I could. At least I rescued Akane."
"Hmm. I understand my colleague's logic now." the agent
mused. "You let your emotions sway your judgement. That is a
critical flaw."
"What do you mean?" Ryoga questioned.
"If you couldn't capture them, you were to kill them." the agent
answered. "Akane as well."
"K-k-kill my Ak-..." Ryoga flustered. "F-fortunately it didn't
come to that."
"Fortunately?!" the agent questioned. "The next time you see
them, I expect you to -eliminate- them. Understood?!"
"Y-y-yes sir!"
"Ms. Tendo is being treated at Tokyo General Hospital. You
have been assigned to guard her room. Should her friends show up,
I expect you not to make the same mistake twice. Get going.
You're already late."
~~~
"Okay... so why did you want to talk in here?" Ranma
inquired, drawing attention to the blank whiteness of the construct.
"I might need visual aides." Morpheus answered.
Ranma sighed.
"Always understand, Ranma, that there is a reason behind
everything I will ever ask of you. I'm sure you understand now that
I wasn't refusing your reunion because I was trying to be mean."
Ranma remained silent.
"Let's not play that silent game again, Ranma." Morpheus
chided. "I know it's hard, but you MUST let it all go. You are no
help to us if you carry your emotional baggage with you like an
anchor."
Ranma bit her lip.
"Do you have any friends?" Morpheus asked.
Ranma nodded.
"If you care for them, you'll stay away from them. The further
away you are from them, the less likely that an agent will decide to
use their body." Morpheus explained.
"But... what about-..."
"There's no buts about it." Morpheus interrupted. "Knowing that
your friends are alive and looking for you hurts a lot less than
knowing your friends are dead because you looked for them."
"You mean, if we hadn't gone to see them-..."
"It's a lesson I learned the hard way too, Ranma, one that I
hoped I could spare you. Eventually, I had to learn to face what
happened." He whipped out his cell-phone from his pocket. "Tank,
load it."
~~~
"...Where am I? Why's it so dark in here?"
"You're recovering from surgery. Just relax." a voice answered.
"SURGERY?!"
"You were shot, Ms. Tendo." the voice spoke again, as the man
possessing it stepped out from the shadows. "However, you're
recovering quite nicely, I'm pleased to say."
"Who are you?" Akane asked.
"Why, I'm your doctor, of course!" The man grinned as he
dusted off his dark gray lab coat.
Akane bit her lip.
"So... How's life outside of our humble paradise, hmm?" The
doctor asked with a devilish grin.
Akane gasped. "How do you know about the-...!"
The doctor grinned wider as he intercepted Akane's question.
"The interface protocols used by the matrix were designed by me,
Ms. Tendo. No-one knows how the matrix works better than I do.
Please, answer my question. I'd like to know what people think of
my work."
"It's horrible..." Akane answered. "Utterly horrible... and now
you tell me that you're responsible for it?!"
The scientist laughed. "I'm afraid I can't take -that- much credit.
I just designed the interface."
"WHY DID YOU KILL MY FAMILY?!" Akane screamed.
"Now let's set the record straight, young lady..." the scientist's
tone became a scolding one. "...that wasn't me, that was the
agents. That's an entirely different department from mine. I'd like to
think that my field is a little less anal..."
"I don't care! You're all butchers to me!" Akane shouted.
"That hurts, Ms. Tendo. It really does." the man appeared
visibly shaken. "(Sigh) That's quite alright. I can play that way too.
Tell me, were they really your family?"
"Yes-... er, No-... I mean... DAMMIT they were people I
CARED for!"
"Intriguing." the scientist mused. "Understandably, you have
every right to be angry, Ms. Tendo. I encourage you to vent your
fury if it makes you feel better, but let's give your anger a proper
target, shall we?"
"I already GOT a target... and I'm looking straight at 'em!"
Akane fought with the restraints keeping her chained to the bed.
"Please don't overexert yourself. You could make your wounds
worse. I do care about the well being of my patients." the scientist's
comments bordered on sincerity and sarcasm.
"Dammit... dammit, dammit, dammit! Why'd Ryoga shoot me?!"
"He was aiming for Ms. Saotome, I believe."
"Why was he shooting at EITHER of us?! I'll never forgive
him!" Akane yelled. "Oh no... Ranma! Where's Ranma?!"
"Ms. Saotome and Morpheus fled before we arrived." the
scientist answered.
"At least-... at least she's safe." Akane muttered.
"Hmm. Doesn't it upset you that they left you behind?"
"Wha-...? No... there had to have been a reason. They'll come
back for me!"
"Are you sure?" the scientist gave an evil grin. "They saw you
on the ground in a bloody mess and left you for dead."
"No! Ranma wouldn't leave me like that!" Akane yelled.
"Your mere presence here is proof enough."
"No...! NO!" Akane thrashed on the restraints holding her to
the bed.
"Perfect..." the scientist whispered as he grabbed a needle
out of a small case and filled it with a silvery serum.
"WHY, RANMA?!" Akane shrieked as the scientist injected
her with the serum.
"Very good, Akane... now you have your target." he muttered
as he injected her in the neck. "That's it, good girl. Don't hold back,
let it all out."
~~~
"Shut it off." Morpheus bitterly gritted. At his command,
the simulation terminated.
"That was-..." Ranma muttered.
"My wife, my daughter, and my brother." Morpheus
finished.
"They-... they did that intentionally?! But why-... why did
they-..."
"Apparently you've never heard of psychological warfare."
Morpheus answered. "I'll give them this much... it almost worked."
Morpheus took off his sunglasses to wipe the tears from his
eyes.
"I thought you learned to deal with it." Ranma muttered.
"I have." Morpheus answered. "That doesn't mean that it no
longer hurts."
"So... how did you learn?"
"The only way you can. I faced it head on. I spent hours,
sometimes days in this simulation. Sometimes I would freeze it and
hug my lifeless wife and daughter, other times I would take a full
arsenal along and shoot a few pot shots at the agents they
became..." more tears dripped down Morpheus' cheek. "...but one
thing I did not do was break. I refused. I... would... not... be...
broken."
"Then what?" Ranma inquired.
"I let go." Morpheus answered.
"You 'let go'? You can't expect me to simply LET GO of my
family!" Ranma shouted.
Morpheus sighed. "You can let go and take control of life, or
you can hold on and die with it."
Ranma glared at Morpheus.
"One of the ways I got through it was to start a new family.
That family is everyone on this ship and I care for and protect
everyone in it, including you and Akane." Morpheus donned his
glasses once again. "You're in for a long walk ahead, young lady.
The start of your path lies right over there."
Ranma looked over to the area where Morpheus motioned
his attention to. In that area was the entrance to the Tendo Dojo
with simulated versions of Akane, Ranma, and Morpheus standing
right outside just as before.
"When you reach the end of your path, your family will be
waiting."
"Which family? Yours or mine?" Ranma asked.
"That depends on which family you consider yourself a part
of." Morpheus answered.
"Don't make me do this... please..."
"I'm not making you do anything, Ranma. I can only show
you the path. It's up to you to walk it." Morpheus preached. "Tank,
whenever she's ready."
Ranma took a deep breath as she prepared for what would feel
like barrels of salt being poured on an already festering wound.
"Start it." she mumbled.
~~~
"Excuse me..."
Trinity and Neo shuddered as they looked at the man
calling their attention who looked just a tiny bit too much like an
agent. They simply stared at the man as if nothing was wrong, their
sunglasses hiding their true expression.
"I was wondering if you could tell me where Tokyo General
Hospital is." the man inquired.
Trinity and Neo exchanged a curious glance.
"You're there." Trinity said, pointing to the entrance behind him.
"Oh! So sorry... thank you so much." the man quickly
proceeded inside.
"C'mon. Akane's in room 710." Neo muttered as he and
Trinity proceeded inside. Once inside, they headed straight for the
elevators which were across the hall from the front desk where the
man was asking the clerk for directions once again As Trinity
pushed the button and waited for the elevator, Neo was disturbed
by the conversation he was overhearing.
"...you'll find Ms. Tendo in room 710. Take the elevator behind
you to the seventh floor and make a left." the clerk answered.
Trinity and Neo froze.
-Ding!- As the elevator doors opened, the dark suited man
walked past Trinity and Neo onto the elevator.
"Are you getting on? The elevator won't wait forever." the man
muttered.
Trinity and Neo glanced at each other, then cautiously stepped
onto the elevator.
~~~
"Freeze it." Ranma said. At her command, the simulation of
Ranma and Akane's reunion at the Tendo dojo halted just moments
after Ryoga fired a warning shot at Ranma as she made an attempt
at rescuing Akane.
"What's wrong, Ranma?" Morpheus inquired.
Ranma ignored Morpheus as she walked over to the bodies of
Soun and her father.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tendo." Ranma whispered. She rubbed her
hand across her fake father's wound. "Pop, I-... I forgive you... for
everything."
Not sparing another moment, Ranma gently walked over to a
blood drenched Kasumi and Nabiki.
"Nabiki, you didn't deserve this. I'm-... I'm so very sorry
for dragging you into my mess. I would give all the money in the
world if it would make things right for you." Several of Ranma's
tears fell from her soft cheek onto Nabiki's mortal wound as she
rubbed her clean hand across it.
"And Kasumi, I... I couldn't be more sorry. You gave so much
to me, and asked for nothing in return." Ranma's lip trembled. "At
times I almost thought of you as-... as my mother."
Ranma continued to the fallen Akane, who was also drenched
in blood, but from a much less severe wound.
"My Akane..." Ranma sobbed as she grasped her limp body in
her arms. "...you crazy tomboy... why did you have to dive in front
of-... in front of... (sob)" she paused for a moment to attempt to
compose herself "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm so sorry
to... ...to have... ...to have left you... "
Ranma released Akane and tried with great effort to compose
herself. Standing ramrod straight, she faced her new mortal enemy.
She would show no weakness in the presence of the one person
she refused to forgive. She trudged over to that person and clasped
both of her blood soaked hands on their shoulder, pulled the
person's face closer to her's, and in a move that would make any
amazon (including Cologne and Shampoo) shudder, gave a lifeless
kiss on the cheek to signify an undying promise to see that person
dead... ...or die trying.
An eerie calm washed over her as she retrieved both of the guns
that had been thrown across the room. She sighed as she leveled
the first weapon at the person in question, her eyes reflecting the
epitome of cold emptiness.
-KLACK!- "Die..."
-KLACK!- "Please die..."
-KLACK!- "You need to die..."
-KLACK!- "I want you to die..."
-KLACK!- "I beg you to die...."
-KLACK!- "Why can't you die?"
She didn't raise her voice once, nor show the slightest hint
of rage. Her target offered no resistance and no reaction. Several
holes appeared in her target, yet remained defiantly standing. She
threw the first gun across the room and leveled the second one at
her target.
"Ranma! What are you doing?!" Morpheus shouted.
Ranma, a tranced look on her face, silently fired a shot at her
target. Another shot. The rage she had stored up in her was
smoldering, begging for release from her icy containment. Another
shot. A glint of it shone to her surface. Another. Another. Another.
"Ranma! Get a hold of yourself!"
Her teeth were starting to grind. Another. Each forthcoming
shot filled her rage further. Another. Another. Click. The ammo
chamber was empty, yet she continued to pull the trigger anyway.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Each click progressed her
frustration a level further.
-Click.- To Ranma, it sounded more like -snap-.
"Ranma!" Morpheus yelled.
"AAAAAARRRRRRRAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!"
Ranma screamed as she dropped the gun and fell to the ground
unconscious.
"Tank! Get us out!" Morpheus quickly rushed to her.
As Morpheus waited to be released from the construct, he
examined Ranma's target a bit closer.
For a copy, Ranma's simulated double bled realistically
enough. Each and every shot she took was perfectly aimed at one
place... the heart.
~~~
"What do you mean she's gone?!" the agent yelled.
"As I told you, Ms. Tendo has been relocated to my laboratory
for further observation." the gray coated scientist explained.
"But I was assigned to watch over her!"
"You were assigned to watch over her ROOM, and you are
more than welcome to do that."
"I don't care! I want to see her!"
"I'm sorry, that is not possible. Now if you please, I have work
to complete. I suggest you grab something from the cafeteria.
You're scheduled to be here a while."
Ryoga simmered in rage as he stormed out of hospital room
710. Standing beside room 709 was Trinity and Neo, who had
overheard the entire conversation.
"(Ahem) In case you were wondering, the elevator's this way."
Trinity muttered, pointing to the elevator at the end of the hall.
"Huh? Oh... yeah. Thanks." the dark suited man replied.
"Just didn't want you to get lost again." Trinity kindly muttered.
The man arrived at the elevator and mashed the button to
summon it. He was later joined by Trinity and Neo.
"Something bothering you?" Neo asked.
"Nothing you can fix. Mind your own business."
"(Cough) Would it have something to do with the person who
was in room 710?" Neo inquired, drafting a short bluff in his mind.
"Wha-..?! What do you know of her?" the man questioned.
"We're private investigators. We're investigating her
disappearance. We thought we'd finally found her here and... well,
thought wrong. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"
"My job prohibits me from talking to outside investigators..."
"Really? Who do you work for?"
"The secret service." the man replied.
Trinity and Neo slowly turned their heads to meet each other's
gaze, then slowly turned again to face the man. Thank goodness for
mirrored sunglasses...
"Y-y-you're an agent?" Trinity asked.
"(Sigh) Trainee, actually." the man replied.
Trinity and Neo, again, gave each other a perplexed gaze.
"Uhm, do you know who we are?" Trinity inquired.
"Never seen you before in my life."
"Hmm. I see." Neo replied.
"Why are you looking for her? Is she in trouble?" the man
inquired.
"If we don't find her, she probably will be." Neo replied.
"You're not going to hurt her if you find her, are you?"
"Of course not. We're trying to protect her, provided that we
can find her first." Trinity answered.
"Oh really now?" the man answered. "(Sigh) Well, I trust you a
hell'va lot more than I trust that doctor. That's not saying much,
seeing as I just met you."
"I thought your job prohibited-..."
"I trust my employer even less." The man interrupted. "I'm
thinking about quitting. It's because of this job that I ended up
hurting her in the first place."
"Wha-...? How did you hurt her?" Trinity inquired.
The man sighed. "I was the one who shot her."
"YOU?!"
"Please... I... I already feel bad enough about it."
"Who are you?" Neo asked.
"Hibiki. Ryoga Hibiki."
"Ho... ly... shit..." Neo quietly whispered.
"What's wrong?" Ryoga inquired.
"Mr. Hibiki, take my cell phone. I'll be in touch, so keep it with
you. We -really- need to talk, but I have to... uhm, get to a staff
meeting. Oh, and don't quit your job just yet."
"How do I get in contact with you?"
"You don't." Neo answered.
"Don't call us. We'll call you." Trinity added.
~~~
"Dammit, Dad! Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Because that's your name, and stop calling me dad."
"But dad, I-..." the girl sighed in temporary relent. "Why?"
"I already told you."
"You haven't told me anything! I haven't got time for this,
dammit! I should be out rescuing my sister!"
Morpheus sighed. "Ranma, she's not your-..."
"Dammit, quit calling me that!" Ranma shouted.
-Knock- -Knock-
"Come in." Morpheus shouted to the door. Upon the
command, Neo entered.
"Neo! Did you get Akane?" Ranma inquired.
"Not yet, Ranma." Neo answered.
"For the umpteenth time, quit calling me-...!"
"Shut it!" Morpheus ordered, silencing Ranma amid sentence.
"She's still delusional?" Neo inquired.
Morpheus nodded.
"I am NOT delusional!" Ranma yelled.
"Morpheus, we have a LOT to talk about." Neo stated.
"Remember that identity search I was running on the guy linked
with the AI?"
"Any luck?" Morpheus inquired.
"Lady luck and I must've got it on REAL good."
"Let's talk outside, Neo." Morpheus raised a gesturing finger at
Ranma. "And as for you, missy, stay put. We'll finish our talk
later."
~~~
"This is the hovercraft Escaflowne requesting IDENT
confirmation from unidentified Zion craft."
"Escaflowne, this is Tank, operator of the Nebuchadnezzar.
Are you receiving?"
"Tank?" the voice replied over his headset.
"Tone?" he echoed back.
"Jesus, the last thing I wanna see out here is my ex!" Tone
groaned. "Long time no see."
"I thought that was your silk voice I heard, girl! You running
ops on that bucket?"
"This bucket can kick your can any day, boy!"
"Yeah...? Well this 'can' can get around."
"So I noticed. What are you doing out here in the Nihon
cluster? Isn't your ship stationed in the Angeles gulf?"
"We're out here on a whim. Long story, not so happy ending.
Right now we're trying to pull a rescue op on one of our crew. Is
Paragon still running the show over there?"
"Damn straight. Runs a tight ship he does. Hey, is your docking
thing-a-ma-jig working?"
"It's called a docking 'jig', Tone."
"Yeah, that's what I said. Listen up, Paragon's offering ya' an
extra hand if you need. Not to open old wounds or anything, but he
kinda heard you were a little short over there."
"HEY! What have you been telling them?!" Tank's face turned
beet red.
"I meant crew, Tank."
"Oh." Tank grimaced. "Ya' blew it, but yeah, we could use the
help. Sit tight for a second and I'll get the dock program running..."
~~~
"Hey there." Trinity greeted with a smile. "How you doing?"
"Fine!" Ranma cheerfully answered. "Just fine, really! Why's
everyone so concerned about me?"
"Well, uhm, that is..."
"Frankly, I don't know what all the fuss is about. You guys are
really starting to scare me, you know." Ranma muttered.
"Tell me something... When you were in the construct with
Morpheus, do you remember what you two were doing?"
"Training. Duh." Ranma flatly answered.
"You're being a little vague, don'cha think?."
"C'mon, Trin. You know training sessions are private."
"From what I heard, it wasn't any sort of training that -I- ever
had to go through."
"So? We each have different weaknesses. Some require...
...more drastic work than others."
"What -kind- of work?" Trinity probed.
"Hmph." Ranma grunted, ignoring the question. "So, student,
are you ready for today's lesson or not?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, sensei" Trinity replied. "At least you
haven't forgotten about teaching me..." she muttered quietly.
"Excuse me?!" Ranma shouted. "That comment is insulting! I
will NOT tolerate that, not even from my cousin!"
"Cousin?! When did I become-..."
"For you, I have an -extra special- lesson." Ranma interrupted.
Moments later, Trinity found herself holding three overfilled
buckets of water just outside Ranma's quarters. One bucket in
each hand, and one balancing on her head.
~~~
"It's been too long, old friend." Paragon greeted as he stepped
aboard with Tone and two others following.
"Far too long." Morpheus replied, grasping a firm handshake
from Paragon.. "Good to see you, Parry. I believe you know Tank,
our operator..."
"So you're Tank, 'eh?" Paragon shook Tank's hand. "You're
Tone's ex, right? She never stops talking about you, ya' know."
Paragon chuckled.
"Yea... I'll bet. All of it bad, right?" Tank inquired.
"You got it." Tone chuckled.
"No, not really. (Cough) Uhm, well... actually, yeah..."
Paragon nodded.
Tank sighed.
"...Except when the conversation becomes X-rated." Paragon
remarked with a straight cringe. "Ya' wanna know something? No
thanks to her, I know -WAY- too much about your sex life."
Tank's face turned beet red, mixed with a glare he shot at
Tone.
"Parry, do NOT go there." Tone warned.
"Hey, you go there late every night while the rest of the ship is
trying to sleep!" Paragon quietly remarked.
It was Tone's turn to blush bright shades of red.
Morpheus coughed. "Moving right along, I'm sure you've
heard of Neo."
Paragon walked up to Neo and shook his hand as well.
"You're Neo?" Paragon muttered as he visually assessed him.
Neo nodded.
Paragon grunted a cough. "Got a lot riding on you, kid. I hope I
get the chance to see your stuff one of these days."
Neo's only response was a wry grin.
"Gentlemen, lemmie introduce you to my half of the rouges
gallery. First off, this is Tone my operator..."
"Howdy." Tone smiled.
"Zippy, ship's navigator..."
Zippy, a young asian boy with intelligence shining in his eyes
bowed in a formal greeting.
"And Makoto, AKA Bouncer."
Makoto, a muscular yet beautiful woman in her youthful thirties
with short cut raven hair stepped forward. She ominously projected
a sense of strength, power, and control.
"'Bouncer'?" Neo inquired.
"You mess with her, you get -bounced-."
"Oh come on, Parry." Makoto chided as she cracked her
knuckles. "The only person I bounce around is you whenever you
call me that silly nickname."
Paragon ignored the comment. "Anyway, I figured you could
use a guide while you were around my turf."
Morpheus glanced at Zippy. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't
want to steal your navigator."
"I was talking about Makoto." Paragon patted Makoto's
shoulder. "She knows the territory well enough. Plus she's handy to
have around in the matrix too. I gave her the nickname 'Bouncer'
for a reason. You know what she was doing before she got
released?"
Makoto rolled her eyes and sighed. "Here we go again..."
"She was handing a guy his own ass in some street brawling
competition."
"Street -fighting-, you idiot." Makoto corrected. "And I lost."
"To some guy named Ryu, right? Real close fight, let me tell
you." Paragon inquired. "I was there. That's where we met."
Makoto noticed Neo and Tank staring at her a little -too-
intently.
"Got a problem?" Makoto snapped.
"You bear a perfect resemblance to someone..." Neo muttered
with a skeptical glare.
"Yeah..." Tank muttered. "You're right. She does." He
abruptly wandered off to the interface room.
"Where's he going?" Tone muttered.
Morpheus shrugged. Moments later, Tank returned.
"Makoto, there's someone I think you should meet." Tank
muttered.
~~~
"Ranma will pay dammit!"
"And I want to help you do that, Akane. You realize that I'm
not cold hearted like the agents you may have dealt with. I care."
"What's it to you?" Akane questioned.
"I want to see people happy in my creation, this 'matrix' of
mine." the scientist answered.
"I don't want any part of your matrix!"
"*Sigh* Regardless, you're trapped in it at the moment while
your body is aboard that ship of theirs. They've probably given up
on rescuing you."
"I don't need their help."
"But you do need mine. You see, they probably think that I'm
trying to interrogate you for information."
"I haven't got any to give."
"That's beside the point. If they unplug you while your mind is
still in the matrix, both you and your body will cease."
"They wouldn't...!" Akane gasped.
"They'd do it to their own leader if they had to." the scientist
added. "I, however, have a solution. It will protect you, and it gives
you the means to exact your retribution... the means to kill Ranma,
Neo, and Morpheus, and the means to resolve a perpetual problem
of mine. Mutually beneficial."
"Wait a sec, I don't know if I really need to -kill- them..."
Akane muttered.
"Time for your medicine." the scientist injected Akane in her
neck with a small needle.
"They will DIE... PAINFULLY."
"Atta' girl." the scientist smiled. "Now, about those 'means'..."
~~~
"So this 'daughter' of Makoto's is a farm body, eh'? How
ironic. I was wondering why you hadn't pulled the plug yet."
"Pulled the plug -yet-?!" Neo amazed.
Paragon shot Neo a haunted look.
"Yeah. You know, cut your losses, death with dignity, merciful
retirement, whatever you want to call it."
"Wha-...?! You make it sound like it's no big deal!"
Paragon cringed. "Sometimes it's necessary! I don't know how
long you've been out, but I've had to pull the plugs of seven
captured crew members since I've been in command. What's one
supposed to do? Go after them?!"
"Yeah, you WERE!" Neo retorted. "-I- did so for Morpheus,
and I'm doing it again for her! It's the job of the leader to -protect-
those under his command! Jesus, I'm glad I'm not on your ship...!"
"Don't you DARE tell me how to run a command, boy! You
got lucky with Morpheus. Don't let it go to your head! I think you
and I are gonna have words in the sparring program later on..."
"I'll make sure you -choke- on every one of them."
"All right now, CHILDREN..." Makoto chided.
"Hey Zippy, why are you so quiet?" Tank whispered amidst the
dispute.
"I found that If I keep my mouth shut, my life expectancy
triples." Zippy answered.
"That's advise you should'a learned with me, Tank." Tone
muttered.
Morpheus stepped forward between Neo and Paragon.
"Parry, that'll be enough for today if you don't mind. I should
get my ship underway." Morpheus said.
"Yeah..." Paragon replied. "You and me, Neo. Don't forget it.
C'mon gang, let's go."
"Well, wish I could say it's been fun, Tank." Tone muttered.
"I can't say that life with you was ever boring..." Tank replied.
"Zippy, do me a favor..." Makoto requested, far from earshot
of Paragon.
"Yeah?"
"Staple Parry's damn mouth shut, will ya'?"
"No can do." Zippy replied. "But I can ask Tone to
accidentally -forget- to digitize a mouth for him in the construct..."
"Good enough." Makoto chuckled. "Take care bud."
"Be sure to send me a postcard when you get to Angeles. I
hear Disney Ditch is quite a spectacle." Zippy grinned.
Paragon, Tone, and Zippy at last made their eventual depart.
"*Sigh* So who do I bunk with?" Makoto inquired.
"Don't need to." Morpheus answered. "There's plenty of
vacancies here if you hadn't heard already. Go down the hall and
you'll find several empty quarters. Pick one and call it home."
~~~
"Trin, look... I'm sorry I lost my top earlier. I mean, everyone's
treating me like I've lost my mind or something and your comment
didn't help, but... I over-reacted."
"It's no problem, Ranma. It's just that-..."
"Son of a...! I keep TELLING everyone-..." Ranma didn't
bother to finish her sentence as she stormed out of her quarters.
"Would everyone on this damned ship QUIT calling me Ranma?"
she yelled.
"Then what do you want to be called?" a woman inquired.
Ranma quickly turned around to face the familiar looking
stranger she hadn't realized was standing behind her. A look of
total shock washed over her face.
"Who are you?" Trinity asked as she stepped out of Ranma's
quarters.
"Makoto." she answered. "I've been 'volunteered' for the job
of navigator."
"Don't tell me I missed a dock..." Trinity inquired.
"That and a brief immaturity contest between my ex-cap and
boy 'one'der."
"You... you look..." Ranma mumbled, barely able to continue
the sentence. "...just like Ak-... Ak-..."
"Like Akane? Yeah... the child I never had." Makoto finished.
"What do you mean?" Trinity inquired.
"It's been a fun first day, lemmie tell you. Switch ships, tell off
the old captain, meet the daughter the never knew you had...
barrels of fun. I wonder what other surprises are waiting for-...
OOF!" Makoto wheezed as Ranma latched onto her in a tight hug.
"Mother!"
Trinity blinked.
Makoto blinked. Twice.
"I-I'm sorry?"
Ranma said nothing as a fountain of emotional tears welled in
her eyes.
"Look young lady, I am NOT your mother."
"You have to be." Ranma replied bluntly as she hugged tighter.
"Urggg! No I don't, because I'm not! Now let go of me."
"You HAVE to be!" Ranma insisted.
"Look, enough is enough, okay?"
Ranma slowly released Makoto from her embrace.
"Mom, please... You -HAVE- to be." Ranma said, stressing
the word -have- just a little too much.
Makoto gave a perplexed glance.
"PLEASE!" Ranma begged.
After a moment of thought, Makoto gave a relenting sigh.
"Aww whatever. What difference does one more make?"
"Oh god yes... thank you!" Ranma managed to mutter as the
dam holding her tears back finally broke.
"We're finally a family, Akane... all that's missing now is you."
a repressed voice whispered silently in Ranma's mind.
"What in the hell have I gotten myself in to?" Makoto
wondered silently.
~~~
"I still don't understand. How can Makoto be Akane's
mother?" Neo inquired.
"Simple. Egg plus sperm equals kid." Tank answered bluntly.
"You know what I meant." Neo retorted.
"*Sigh* Certain individuals are harvested for reproductive
purposes. Makoto was probably one of them."
"Harvested?" Neo questioned.
"I'll spell it out for you. The matrix injected her with sperm and
extracted the fertilized eggs from her where they are grown in the
harvest fields and later grow up to become wonderful upstanding
members of the matrix community. Akane is a prime example.
Understand now?"
"Whoa." Neo muttered.
"Yeah. Lots of fun when you extract someone like that out of
the matrix too."
"Why's that?" Neo questioned.
"Because most likely when you do, there's usually some
fertilized eggs still in the womb that didn't get extracted." Tank
explained. "Take my brother Dozer for example. When mom was
extracted from the matrix he arrived nine months later. The crew of
the ship she was on at the time had a hell of a blast trying to care
for her and my brother..."
"And you?"
"I came about the old fashioned way. You know, one girl, one
guy, semi-private room... you know the bit."
"I see." Neo muttered.
"We have a name for people like Makoto and my mom, you
know."
"What would that be?" Neo inquired.
"If you haven't figured it out by now..." Tank mumbled.
~~~
"No way. You're full of it!" Makoto shouted.
"Shhh! Quiet... she's sleeping." Trinity quietly replied. "And I'm
not making it up. Ranma was a guy in the matrix."
"The family trauma causing her to forget who she is... well,
that's believable enough, but... well, how could the matrix screw up
like that?"
"We have an idea..." Trinity answered. "...and it's just as
screwed up."
"Poor girl..." Makoto mumbled. "It must suck to be her."
"She just couldn't handle it anymore." Trinity muttered. "It's
like her life was rewritten. You saw how she acted. She thinks
you're her mother, her fiancee is her sister, I'm her cousin..."
"Wait, did you say fiancee?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, Akane was her fiancee in the matrix."
"I wonder..." Makoto mumbled.
"What?"
Makoto hesitated for a moment. "Hmm. Nah, nothing."
Trinity shrugged.
"You know, I had a child shortly after I got out of the matrix."
"Really? How old is she?"
"I don't know. I didn't want anything to do with her at the
time." Makoto muttered. "I haven't seen her since she was born."
"Maybe you should find her."
"Too late for that. I have no idea where she is. Probably for the
best. She should be almost two years old by now..."
"Any regrets?"
"You bet." Makoto bluntly answered. "I would've liked a
daughter to train in the martial arts... other than through brain-tapes
that is."
"Ranma and Akane know martial arts." Trinity informed. "It's
their family's own unique style."
"Really? My father in the matrix had a dojo where we practiced
the art." Makoto stated. "I only wish I could have restored the
dojo's honor."
"What happened?" Trinity inquired.
"I... I don't want to talk about it." Makoto answered. "That
was in the matrix. Let it stay there."
Trinity nodded.
Makoto moved to a seat closer to Ranma's bed.
"Why did she want to be my daughter so badly?" Makoto
questioned.
"Let me know if you ever find out." Trinity mumbled.
"*Sigh* Well, spirited nameless one, I think we've got some
training ahead of us." Makoto gently stroked her daughter's hair. "I
need to learn how to be a mother, and you need to learn who you
are."
~~~
"Neo, call up your 'friend' in the matrix. Let him know we'll
meet him in one hour." Morpheus ordered.
"'We'? As in you and me?" Neo questioned. "He'll recognize
you, Morpheus."
"I want to meet him myself."
"I don't think that's too hot an idea..." Neo muttered. "Why an
hour?"
"In ten minutes I have an appointment with someone. I'd hate
to have to make two trips." Morpheus answered. "Tank, load us
up."
~~~
"Mister Hibiki..."
"Yes sir?" Ryoga answered.
"I don't think you're allowed to carry non-official cellular
telephones on duty." the scientist agent informed.
"It... uh, it was a gift."
"From whom?"
"From a friend."
"I see."
-Ring!- -Ring!-
Ryoga was nervously sweating buckets.
-Ring!- -Ring!-
Ryoga glanced at the phone, then at his boss.
"I think it'd stop ringing if you answered it." the scientist
muttered.
Ryoga pushed a green button on the phone and spoke.
"Hello?" he nervously mumbled.
"Hello, Mister Hibiki." Neo greeted.
"We'll whaddya know?! It's my friend." Ryoga nervously said.
"I, uh, I'll ask him not to call while I'm at work..."
The scientist gave an eerie grin. "I wasn't complaining."
"Did I call at a bad time?" Neo inquired.
"Uhh, no! Not at all! Uhm, what's up?" Ryoga asked.
"We're on our way to meet you. One hour."
"Where at?"
"Given your navigational abilities, just find a place and stay
there. I can home in on your phone."
"Okay."
Neo hung up the phone without so much as a formal goodbye.
"Mister Hibiki, I doubt Ms. Tendo's associates will be showing
up here. I suggest you take the rest of the day off." the scientist
suggested.
"Really? Perfect! See ya'!" Ryoga hastily departed.
The scientists grin grew wider.
~~~
"I'm disappointed in you." The oracle chided. "Why were you
encouraging them?"
"Encouraging what?" Morpheus inquired.
"You know what I'm talking about." The oracle grabbed a
cookie from a nearby tray. "Trying to salvage from their lives what
little they brought with them from the matrix. You know what that
does."
"*Sigh* You're right. I wasn't paying attention. I... I was about
to create another Cipher incident, wasn't I?"
"It was in the making. It's painful, I realize, but you were
supposed to help them let go."
"Yeah... well, she let go alright." Morpheus rested his chin
against his fist in 'the thinker' pose.
The oracle plucked several chocolate chips off of the freshly
baked cookie. "So what do you plan to do now?"
"We'll try to restore her memory." Morpheus answered.
"That's pretty much all we can do."
"Oh really now?" the Oracle took a small nibble of her cookie.
"Do you want to know what -else- I told them?"
"That's for them to know. It's none of my business."
"Well tough cookies because I'm tellin' you anyway." the
Oracle popped one of the plucked chocolate chips in her mouth. "I
told them that Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo are dead."
"Jesus, why the hell did you say something like that?!"
Morpheus questioned.
The oracle would have scowled at that remark had she not
seen it coming. She gingerly took another nibble of her cookie.
"Well at the moment it ain't far from the truth, dear." the oracle
took a sip from a nearby glass of milk. "Tell me... you remember
Thomas Anderson, don't you?"
"That would be Neo."
"Tommy's dead, ya' know."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. He died in the matrix. I'm sure you remember
it. An agent killed him as you were trying to help him find an exit."
"Wait wait wait... Neo -survived-." Morpheus replied.
"No, Morpheus. That's where Neo was born."
Realization struck Morpheus. "I get your idea, but what does
this have to do with Ranma's problem?"
"Think about it." the oracle answered.
Morpheus took several moments to think of an answer.
"Okay, if we're going to look at it that way... In the construct,
you could say Ranma died by her own hand-..."
"-HIS- own hand." The oracle interrupted.
"Whatever. She becomes delirious and-..."
"Try again." the oracle interrupted.
"Alright, HE became delirious and-..."
"Still wrong." the oracle interrupted again.
Morpheus remained silent in deep thought for a short moment.
"Ranma died by HIS own hand, and a strange young woman
takes his place." Morpheus muttered. "I get it now."
"And if you want my two cents about it, I think her memory is
just fine." the oracle added.
"Well... then I don't know what I can do to help her."
"You're familiar with my sign above my door, aren't you?" The
oracle pointed to a wooden sign which, in latin, said "Know
thyself."
"Know it well." Morpheus answered.
"That poor girl has no idea who she is."
"She's not the only one." Morpheus returned to his 'thinker'
pose.
"There's three people who can help her find out." the oracle
took another nibble of her cookie. "Her mother, her father, and
Akane."
"Akane's a little preoccupied, in case you hadn't heard."
Morpheus winced. "She won't be talking to her dad anytime soon
unless it's in the construct... I think her mother is still alive though."
"That's Ranma's parents, Morpheus. Ranma's dead,
remember? We're talking about someone else."
"Then do you mean Makoto?" Morpheus inquired. "She's not
her mother."
"That depends on your definition of a mother." the oracle
ricocheted one of the plucked chocolate chips off Morpheus'
forehead.
"I'd appreciate it if you'd not do that."
"I'm hoping I can wake up that slab of gray matter in there."
she bounced another off his forehead. "A new soul has been born
from the ashes of an old one. Someone needs to step forward and
claim parentage."
"She drafted Makoto for that job."
"Makoto will make a fine mother." the oracle shot another
chocolate chip at Morpheus, and missed as he dodged. "You,
Morpheus, will make a fine father." She shot again, and this time hit
him in the eye.
"Ow!" Morpheus winced. "What do you mean 'father'?"
"Are you not up to the job?"
"Truth be told...? Not really."
"Then why are you commanding a ship if you can't handle just
one child?"
"Wait a second, there's a difference between-..."
"Neo, Trinity, Tank... they're not just crew to you, Morpheus."
the oracle plucked some more chips off of another cookie.
Morpheus hesitated, then sighed.
"No... they're not."
"Will one more really make that much of a difference in the
family?" the oracle inquired..
"No, it won't."
The oracle flung another at Morpheus. This time, he was ready
for it. Instead of dodging, he caught it in his mouth... ...then quickly
spit it out.
"Raisins?! I thought they were chocolate chips!"
The oracle grinned evily. "I know. You know better than to
think." She bounced another chocolate chip off his forehead.
~~~
--Still in progress, to be continued.
Okay... ten red herrings to the guy who can tell me which Street Fighter
game Makoto is from! Nope, I didn't simply create Makoto out of the blue. I
was playing one of the latest incarnations of Street Fighter one day and
noticed this one character that looked a LOT like a grown up Akane, and her
story background even sounded familiar, soooooo... she fit PERFECTLY for a
role I needed in this story. I'm trying to prevent the
annoying-new-character effect though.
Also, I remember a while back that there was a bit of a dispute about
whether or not I could get Ukyo to fit in this story. Well, I tried (you can
ask Kevin... I really tried.) and it just didn't work, as I predicted.
Please don't offer suggestions on how she would fit. She ain't goin' in, and
that's final. However, in case anyone asks, the restaraunt where the
extraction phone was located after the 'reunion' scene is -unofficially-
Ukyo's diner. The directions that Tank gave Ranma are in keeping with Jim
Lazar's map of Nerima for his story 'Childhood of a Modern Dynasty'.
And speaking of the 'reunion' scene... I realize that I had started this fic
off somewhat humorously, and I know this is going to sound sick, but I've
always wanted to write a story where Kasumi dies tragicly and senselessly.
Don't get me wrong... I think Kasumi is a cool character. I just thought
that since she's such a nice and sweet character that her death would be
that much harder of a blow. I realize that Kevin had to take a huge dose of
peptol after reading it... I promise you, however, that it's uphill from
here on. I have no intentions of turning this into a darkfic.
-Troy