]] Thank you! First "Cats Have No Tears" was (sort of) concluded,
]] now this...
]]
]] I was actually thinking of writing about some thoughts
]] I had on the Nabiki situation, but you released two new chapters
]] before I could type something up. Anyway...
]]
]] Also, I must preface my comments by admitting that I only know
}} SM J from what I could find on websites (a search motivated by
]] your story, of course. :)
Heh, I once read the entire series synopsis for Hime-chan's Ribbon, just
because she was a minor character in Jeff Hosmer and John Biles' Sailor Moon
Z, so I know where you're coming from. (Plug! Hey guys, write more Z!)
Akane shook her head, moving her broken arm's shoulder
experimentally. "No, it hasn't changed. I still can't feel it, or move
it. Actually, I kind of wish it did hurt... at least then I'd know it
was real...."
]] Now there's a fine kettle of fish... What is 'real' it is certainly
]] not 'real' in the human sense, but it is an arm...
Akane "But its some icky robot's arm! Oops."
Ranma winced again. "I understand. Don't worry, Akane, we'll get
your arm fixed up, I promise."
]] I hate to ask 'how do you propose to do that, BUT... HOW do you
]] propose to do THAT?
Ranma "Err...."
"I'm not really sure what I'm looking for." Ranma groused after
several hours of fruitless search. "I mean, I'm not looking for a
doctor's office... what do you call a marionette repair man anyway?"
]] Well, don't call him or her stupid... if you want to get fixed.
Ranma "You stupid repairman! I bet you can't even fix a flat tire!
Oops... um... can I take that back?"
<...>
Hours passed before Ranma found her opportunity to enter the palace
unobserved. A particular
]] A particular or peculiar? And, in either case, why is it so?
Peculiar. Imagine a palanquin... crossed with a car.
looking car pulled up to the front gates and
Ranma jumped down and stealthily followed it inside when the gates were
opened to let it drive in. She was careful not to get too close and
broke away from the vehicle as it neared the front of the main building
inside the compound.
<...>
Now THAT'S high security!
After all the break ins they've had in the last year or so, I'd hope so!
Ranma took a threatening step toward Lorelei, genuinely angry now.
"Where is she!" She hissed the last word loudly, remembering to keep
her voice down at the last second.
]] Always jumping to conclusions. (Like she's supposed to)
Ranma. "Oh no! Don't tell me pops engaged me to you too!"
Lorelei's fear started to fade again as the small marionette in
front of her visibly went from anger to worry. Such a range of
emotion. This marionette's maiden circuit is incredibly advanced!
]] Okay, here is a good place to advance the argument I mentioned
]] earlier (in the e-mail about Nabiki I never sent).
]] Could it be that these three marionettes actually have the SOULS
]] of Ranma, Nabiki, and Akane? In the film "Tron", the human
]] character, though reduced to data like all the other inhabitants
]] of the computer world, had amazing powers BEACAUSE he was
]] human... Might there be something like that in action here?
*Finger to mouth* "Its a secret!"
]] Don't worry, I'm not fishing for spoilers... Really. But if
]] it is something you haven't considered, please do.
Definitely a spoiler.
]] The way this relates to Nabiki is that I was going to suggest
]] that possibly her soul might allow her to, in time, break Kunou's
]] reprogramming...
Not going to say.
She's worried about her friend.... Lorelei blinked at her own
thoughts. Friend, yes. She's worried about this Nabiki very much.
She's acting in a completely human manner.
]] I wonder why?
who knows?
Ranma shook her head, confused. "Why do I...? It's my name, OK?
Ranma Saotome, just like my mom and dad. I guess I'm the last
Saotome... unless mom and dad had another kid after I...." Ranma looked
confused. "Wait, I didn't die... well I did... but Kuno's machine
didn't kill me... just copied my memories... so maybe Akane and I had
kids."
]] No alarm bells over the 'kids' comment?
Perhaps later... of course, no one said Ranma and Akane had to have had kids
with each other.... If Lorelei thinks they're both girls, then she'd just
assume she was talking about herself and Akane as mothers.
Lorelei interrupted, looking shocked. "Iago? Iago Ikari,
]] Of the Tokyo 3 Ikaris? :^)
NO! Wild coincidence! No way! OK... fine, I admit it.
<...>
Godai Kuno's voice came from outside the kitchen, surprising both of
them. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Miss Lorelei." Ranma and
Lorelei spun to face him, but before Ranma could do anything else, she
was racked by a horrible jolt, and went down, limbs flailing out of
control.
]] Ranma: Godai Kunou! I thought that I smelled your foul stench in
]] the hallway.
]] Kunou: Ah, my fair Ranma... charming to the last.
<...>
The brown haired marionette stepped forward obediently. "Yes
master."
]] Shudder. First Nabiki, then Ranma?
************************************
]] A flashback, it would seem.
Nabiki woke up, finding herself feeling an intense deja vu. She was
in the same place she had woken up the day before.
]] Is 'the day' before needed? Does Nabiki really have a sense of
]] time like that? Or is it some intrinsic time-sense in the
]] marionette circuitry?
The only difference
was that this time she couldn't bring herself to move.
"Nabiki, get off the table and stand up please." Nabiki found
herself doing so before she could think. In a moment she found herself
standing in front of the speaker, Godai Kuno. Belatedly, Nabiki
realized that she was naked, but again found herself unable to act as
she wished. Instead of covering herself up, she just continued to
stand. Nabiki couldn't seem to even blush or close her eyes. Her gaze
rested firmly on Godai's face.
Godai walked around her once, inspecting her while Nabiki struggled
inside her head. As far as she could tell, she had lost all control
over her body's actions.
]] Scary, but at least it's still NABIKI inside. At first I thought
]] this was poetic justice, Nabiki as Kunou's great great ... great
]] grandson's puppet, but her fate is far more terrible than that.
When the older man finished his inspection he
turned to face her, then nodded to a pile of clothing on a nearby
table. "Get dressed."
Nabiki rushed to obey, and found motion restored to her. The
sensation was an incredible relief, and Nabiki got dressed quickly...
then found herself standing paralyzed again. "Come over here." Godai
commanded, and Nabiki turned t face him, then tried to stop, refuse his
]] to face him,
command, but to no avail. Her body kept moving, except now she was no
longer in control of it. Nabiki found herself moving entirely against
her will, and she was powerless to do anything about it.
Godai waited for her to reach him and looked into her eyes
enquiringly. "So, how do you like your new program, Nabiki?" Nabiki
frowned, not speaking, and Godai smiled. "I see that you've discovered
the fact that you no longer have control of your body... unless you are
following my instructions." He shrugged. "The command protocols I
inserted are quite sophisticated, but they cannot express an opinion...
which you can."
]] Does he really want to hear it?
]]
]] Nabiki: Hey, he's Kunou! Of course he wants to hear it, but
]] it might not be what he expects!
Nabiki spoke. "My opinion isn't fit for human ears... but for you
I'll make an exception...."
]] Shouldn't there be a paragraph break here?
"Shh." Godai put his finger to his lips. "It wouldn't do to hear such
words from such an exquisite creation as you, my dear. Keep your words
polite, or do not speak."
Nabiki glared at him, finding that his command did keep her from
expressing anything "not polite" through her words, but didn't restrict
her expression. "Turn it off." Nabiki said finally. "I'll do what you
want, just turn it off."
]] Yeah right!
]]
]] Nabiki: Hey! A girl's gotta try!
Godai. "Very well, I see you're awed by my genius, I'll just turn that off
now...."
Nabiki. "Thanks... sucker." *WHAM! CRUNCH! FOLD! SPINDLE!"
Godai shook his head. "I think not. I do not wish a repeat of your
earlier actions. You are my property, and you will remain my
property." He turned towards the stairs. "Come with me, I have a few
tests to perform."
]] This opens up a whole moral can of worms. Of course it can be argued
]] that both the mental recordings and bodies ARE his possession. But,
]] since the three have shown indications of emotions and thought
]] patterns beyond other marionettes, it can also be argued they are,
]] essentially, human slaves. Scary situation. It will be interesting
]] to see how this plays out.
That is, of course, the point.
Nabiki thought about blocking one of the marionettes spear thrusts,
and found herself in control of her body once again. Rapidly however
she found herself on the defensive. Oh no! It's been too long since I
practiced. I haven't done any real martial arts since I was a kid....
]] If (and I hope it's the case) Nabiki gets out of here somehow, I
]] hope she'll practice a little more.
I'd bet on it, myself.
She watched in horrified fascination
as she spun through the Cherry Blossoms defenses like they weren't
moving, and knocked them both off their feet. Grabbing a spear away,
and snapping the second one's weapon with a snap kick, Nabiki's body was
about to finish the fight when Godai shouted again. "Halt!"
Both she and the two Cherry Blossoms stopped moving at his command.
]] Hmmm... nit time. If they were all moving, Newton decrees that they
]] should keep moving, which would probably result in all three
]] falling down, as their immobile bodies would not be able to
]] compensate.
]]
]] Of course, the scenario might be instead that 'Halt' means stop ASAP,
]] which requires a certain combination of actions to first stop
]] the motion, assume a stable position, then freeze in place.
And the official No Prize goes to Kevin!
"Now, all I have to do is identify Lorelei's position. The men of
Japoness have been ordered about by a woman for the last time." Godai
nodded at a point on the screen. "That's her. It's the only human on
that level of the palace, which is near her private chambers." He
frowned. "From this I can read one marionette in the area with her...
and its not one of the palace sentries, all of those are accounted
for...." He spun away, heading for the door. "Come, we must hurry."
]] I wonder if he suspects who it is?
Ranma. "No one suspects the Spanish Inqui... er.. Ranma Saotome!"
]] Extremely effective use of a flashback. We get the shock of seeing
]] Nabiki show up and take Lorelei... THEN the shock of seeing
]] WHY she did it.
Thank you, thank you. *bows*
Godai interrupted, clearing his throat for emphasis. . "I'm afraid I
can't let you do that, Miss Lorelei." He brought a small device out of
his pocket and pointed it at Ranma, and the red head went down
instantly, limbs thrashing.
Nabiki felt a slight tinge even standing behind Godai and winced.
Oh no! That thing again! How can Ranma fight if I she can't even stand
up? Ranma... come on, get up... you can do this!
Lorelei looked shocked. "An EMP caster? What are you going to do
with her?"
Godai shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid it's not what I'm going to
do with her, but what I'm going to have to do with you, Miss Lorelei,
that you should be concerning yourself with." He nodded to Nabiki and
she stepped forward against her will. "Nabiki, capture Lorelei for me."
Nabiki found herself answering automatically. "Yes Master." Her
body once again out of her control, Nabiki stepped forward to do her
master's bidding.
]] An idea came to me here... might it be more correct to say "Nabiki's
]] body" instead of Nabiki (this time around, at least) since we now
]] KNOW Nabiki doesn't do it willingly.
Lorelei stepped back but Nabiki was on her in a flash, pinning her
arms behind her. That combat program is still on. Nabiki realized.
There's nothing I can do! Nabiki pressed a spot on Lorelei's neck with
precisely calculated force and after a few seconds Lorelei fainted dead
away in her arms.
Nabiki cradled the woman carefully in her arms, finding herself
temporarily back in control of her body. She suddenly noted with a
surge of hope, that Ranma had managed to get to her feet, and was headed
for Godai. <Come on, Ranma, get the box!>
Godai stepped back; keeping his device firmly pointed at Ranma.
"What's wrong with this thing? I increased its output by fifty
percent... it should be working." He waved to Nabiki. "Hurry up, get
away from there and get behind me with Lorelei."
]] Paragraph break here, perhaps?
Nabiki found herself obeying automatically for a moment before she
resisted the command. No! What am I doing? I can't help him kidnap
Lorelei. Her inner protest was unheard as her body continued to follow
Godai's instructions, carrying the woman out of the kitchen and around
behind Godai Kuno. He continued to back up as Ranma came for him.
"Damn." Godai looked extremely annoyed. "I wanted to get Ranma
back as well... drop, damn it, drop!
]] Ranma: Thank the Kami for small favors!
You should be shutting down by
now!" Running footsteps interrupted him. "Now what? Guards? No more
time." He hurried down the hall, stopping at a panel at the corner.
"Hmm, there should be a passageway... here." Godai pushed a spot on the
wall, which promptly caused a ten by six section of it to open up.
"Hurry, go through here. I can't be seen here."
]] Are there any security cameras that might show what happened,
]] perhaps?
Well, Kuno did say he took over the security system... and I think he's not
quite as dumb as his ancestor.