------Sorry for the wait, everyone. [-Troy]
Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover
Chapter Seven
Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams)
Begun on: 10-25-99
Revisions made on: N/A
Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel
and to the patient members of the FFML.
Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which
apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters
unless otherwise noted.
All previous chapters are archived at www.sofaspud.org.
Got comments? Let's hear em'!
Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dammit, Dad! Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Because that's your name, and stop calling me dad."
"But da-..." the girl stopped herself and sighed
in relent. "Why not?"
"I already told you." the fatherly man answered.
"You haven't told me anything!" the girl retorted. "I
haven't got time for this! I should be helping my cousins!"
"Don't worry about them. They can take care of
themselves."
"I know that, but-... I mean, c'mon! She's my sister,
dammit! I should be there when they rescue her!"
"Would you please just listen to me, Ranma?! She's-..."
"I said stop calling me that! Why do you keep calling
me that name?!" Ranma shouted. "Who is this 'Ranma'
anyway?!"
Morpheus held his face in despair as he left the question
unanswered. For well over an hour he locked himself in
Ranma's quarters in hopes of reasoning with the girl.
Morpheus had no idea that Ranma would end up so mentally
traumatized by the ordeal he made her relive, and the
results he got from having her face it head on had a
completely opposite effect than what he was expecting.
Regardless of the case, now in Ranma's place was a
brave girl who seemed all too ready to accept Morpheus,
Neo, and the crew as her family, something that Morpheus
was hoping Ranma would eventually progress to in time.
Small things like Ranma's brash attitude still shone
through, but it was as if Ranma had simply 'let go',
and rewrote her own existance.
Morpheus wished it were that easy.
He wasn't sure if Ranma really was shattered to
the brink, or if this was simply Ranma's own way of
dealing with the crushing weight of ordeals that Ranma
was forced to shoulder. If it was an act, Ranma certainly
was playing her part flawlessly. Whichever the case,
Morpheus didn't totally disapprove, but was quite
concerned that Ranma, someone who never ran from a battle
of any kind, would cower at this one. On top of that, the
last thing Morpheus wanted was a daughter... ...or did he?
Morpheus quickly attempted to squash the longing he
still felt for his own daughter... and failed miserably.
-Knock- -Knock-
Morpheus unlocked the door and opened it, allowing
Neo to step inside.
"Back already, eh' cousin?" Ranma smugly muttered.
"I take it you didn't have much luck finding Akane?"
Neo shook his head. "I'm sorry, not yet, Ranma."
Ranma scowled. "For the umpteenth time, would you
all quit calling me-...!"
"Shut it!" Morpheus ordered, silencing Ranma amid
sentence.
"She's still delusional?" Neo inquired.
Morpheus nodded.
"HEY!" Ranma yelled. "I am NOT delusional! It ain't
like I'm not in the room, you know!"
"Yeah, whatever." Neo muttered. "Morpheus, do you
remember that identity search I was running on the guy linked
with the AI?"
"Yeah. Any luck?" Morpheus inquired.
Neo grinned. "Lady luck and I 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."
As Morpheus left Ranma's cramped room he took a
moment to wonder if Ranma was actually better off this way.
Sometimes a fresh start was the best way to go. Morpheus still
wondered whether or not the Ranma he knew was still there, and
silently vowed to salvage as much of her old self as he could.
~~~
On the main control deck, several computer monitors
flashed with spurts of random information. It was mostly a
jumble, left to the operator to make sense out of it and
recommend a proper course of action.
The person sitting in the operator's chair wasn't Tank,
nor was it anyone else from the Nebuchadnezzar for that
matter. It would also be interesting to note that the control
deck in question wasn't even on the Nebuchadnezzar.
Regardless of those facts, the person sitting at the
station in question was just as capable and attentive as Tank.
As she noticed a proximity warning, she quickly sprang into
action. Fortunately, the sensors indicated that it was a friendly
vessel that was approaching.
The female operator quickly switched on the comlink.
"This is the hovercraft 'Escaflowne' requesting IDENT
confirmation from unidentified Zion craft."
A reply came almost immediately. "Escaflowne, this is
Tank, operator of the Nebuchadnezzar. Are you receiving?"
"Tank?" the voice replied over his headset.
"Tone?" he echoed back.
"Aww shit..." Tone cursed to the ceiling. "Hey God, are
you up there? Is this your idea of some sick joke? The last
friggin' thing I wanna see out here in this piss hole is my
gawdamn ex!" Tone groaned.
"Missed you too, and that silky sweet voice of yours."
Tank wistfully replied. "I think you've been reading that
storybook too much though. What's it called... the Bible,
or something like that?"
"At least I can read something other than computer code."
Tone retorted.
"That was low." Tank winced. "So, you running ops on
that bucket?"
"This bucket can kick your can any day, boy."
"Yeah...? Well this 'can' can get around."
"I can see that. What are you doing out here in the
Nihon cluster?" Tone inquired with a twinge of bitterness in
her voice. "Last I heard, your ship was stationed somewhere
in the San Angeles gulf... far away from ME."
"We're out here on a whim, more or less. Long story,
not so happy ending. Right now we're trying to pull a rescue
op on one of our crew." Tank answered, trying to sound
hopeful. "Is Paragon still running the show over there?"
"Damn straight. Runs a tight ship he does." Tone
replied. "I suppose you'll wanna to dock. Is your docking
thing-a-ma-jig working?"
"It's called a docking 'jig', Tone." Tank kindly
corrected.
"That's what I said!" Tone snapped back. "By the way,
not to open any more old wounds or anything, but I told
Paragon that you were a little short in there and-..."
"You disgusting little...!" Tanks face turned beet red.
"What have you been telling them?!"
"What the...?! I meant crew, Tank!"
"Oh." Tank grimaced and turned an even -brighter-
shade of red.
"No wonder I divorced you! What I was TRYING to say
was that Paragon is offering you an extra hand if you need,
and don't you DARE twist that around or I'll beat you down!"
Tank's face discovered a new spectrum of red. He
quickly decided to change the subject. "Sit tight for a
second and I'll get the dock program running..."
"We're prepped for hard-dock whenever you are."
Tone replied. "Your mind better be out of the gutter by the
time I get over there or I'll break my foot over your ass."
"By the time I divorced you I was surprized you still
had a foot." Tank quietly grumbled.
"I heard that!"
~~~
"Hey there." Trinity gave a kind smile as she stepped
into Ranma's quarters. "How you doing?"
"Fine!" Ranma cheerfully answered. "I'm fine, really!
Why's everyone so concerned about me?"
Trinity nervously rubbed her forehead. "Well, uhm,
that is, you see..."
"Y'know, I wish I knew what you guys were fussing
over." Ranma folded her arms and gave an impatient scowl.
"You guys are really starting to worry me."
Trinity sighed. "Tell me something... When you were
in the construct with Morpheus, do you remember what you
two were doing?"
"Training. Duh!" Ranma flatly answered.
"Oh come on." Trinity chided. "That's a little vague.
You can do better than that."
"Hey! You know training sessions are private!" Ranma
retorted.
Trinity gave Ranma a skeptical look. "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." Ranma nervously
shuffled her feet.
"Care to tell me what -kind- of work?" Trinity probed.
"Hmph." Ranma grunted in response and ignored the
question, deciding that it was time for a change of subject.
"Speaking of training, are you ready for today's lesson,
student?"
Trinity paused for a moment as she contemplated
whether or not to continue her previous subject. She
eventually relented, deciding that she got all she was going to
get out of Ranma.
"Yes, sensei. Ready as I'll ever be." Trinity replied.
"At least you haven't forgotten about teaching me..." she
muttered with a subtle twinge of sarcasm.
"Excuse me?!" Ranma shouted. "That was pretty damn rude!
I hardly would expect that to come from my own cousin!"
"Cousin?!" Trinity echoed in bewilderment. "When
did I become-..."
"Trying to talk your way out of it, are you now?"
Ranma questioned. "Just for that, I have an -extra special-
lesson for you."
Moments later, Trinity found herself standing outside
Ranma's quarters holding three overfilled buckets of water.
One bucket in each hand, and one balancing on her head.
~~~
Morpheus opened an old, creaky hatch that revealed a
docking tube made out of crumbling rubber and rusting metal.
Docked at the end of the tube was a similarly tarnished hatch
with the word 'Escaflowne' in a gallant font, perhaps the most
appealing aspect of the entire scene.
The Escaflowne's hatch slowly creaked open, and four
of it's crew stepped through it. They cautiously walked
through the tube on board to the Nebuchadnezzar.
"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. "Good to see you, Parry. I believe you know Tank,
our operator..."
"Yup. Never met him, but I know him well." Paragon
shook Tank's hand. "So you're Tone's ex, eh'? She never
stops talking about you, ya' know." Paragon chuckled.
"Yeah... I'll bet. All of it bad, right?" Tank inquired.
"You got it." Tone wistfully muttered.
"No, not really." Paragon muttered. He cringed when
he heard Tone give an exaggerated cough. "Uhm, well...
actually, yeah..." he added.
Tank sighed.
"...Except when the conversation becomes X-rated."
Paragon remarked with a straight cringe. "No thanks to her, I
know WAY too much about your sex life."
"TONE!!!" Tank shot a fiery glare at Tone as his face
blushed beet red.
"Parry, I told you NOT to go there!" Tone warned.
"Hey, you go there late every night while the rest of the
ship is trying to sleep!" Paragon retorted with a convicting
glare.
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 asked 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
rouge's gallery. First off, this is Tone, my operator..."
"Howdy." Tone smiled.
"Zipper, ship's navigator..."
Zipper, a blonde, mustached man in his late twenties,
simply nodded upon his introduction. As Neo took notice to
the man, he couldn't help but swear that he'd seen him before.
"Have we met before?" Neo inquired.
"Yup." Zipper slyly replied.
"Uhh huh. Hoo-kay..." Neo blankly nodded. "Could
you, uh... refresh my memory?"
"Perhaps you need to unplug, man. You know, get
some R & R?" Zipper replied as if reciting a script.
"What're you talking about?" Neo questioned.
"You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus
Christ." Zipper recited.
"Choi?!" Neo amazed. "No way! I've known you since
forever, man! I didn't recognize-... wait a second, don't tell me
you've been with these guys since-..."
Zipper interrupted Neo to explain. "Parry's
headhunters gave me the holy unplug about a month before
you met Morpheus. Heh... that's a long story in and of itself
and, well..." Zipper trailed, throwing a subtle glare at Paragon.
"To make a long story short, after helping Morpheus get you
unplugged, the Esca got stationed here in the Nihon cluster.
Don'cha think I'd have said a hello or something if I could?"
"No, you wouldn't." Neo chuckled as he grasped
Zipper's hand in a firm handshake. "I'm glad you're around,
man."
"Ahem." Paragon gave an exaggerated cough.
"Finishing the introductions, this is Bouncer."
"My name's MAKOTO!" the woman shouted.
Makoto, a very 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.
"Named after the sound Parry's head made when she
first met him." Tone said with a chuckle.
"And whenever he calls me that stupid nickname."
Makoto added as she cracked her knuckles.
"Anyway, we can't stay long." Paragon explained,
cutting straight to the point. "There's a sentinel dispatch node
that we're trying to take out. We heard you were in the area
and figured we'd drop off someone to help you navigate
around this hell hole."
"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to steal your
navigator." Morpheus glanced at Zipper.
"I was talking about Makoto." Paragon patted
Makoto's shoulder, much to her annoyance. "She knows the
territory well enough. I think you'll find her to be a handy thug
to have around in the matrix too. You know what she was
doing before we released her?"
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 twit." Makoto corrected. "And I
lost."
"To some guy named Ryu, if I remember correctly.
Real close fight though." Paragon inquired. "That's where we
met."
"Yeah... I remember mopping my blood off the street
with your face after you mouthed off." Makoto recalled.
Paragon nervously chuckled. "Uh, heh heh... long story
behind that."
Makoto noticed Neo and Tank staring at her a little -
too- intently.
"You two got a problem or something?" Makoto
snapped.
"I'm not sure yet." Tank muttered with a skeptical
glare. He leaned over to Neo and quietly whispered something
in his ear.
"Yeah..." Neo muttered. "You're right. She does.
They're exactly alike. I wonder..." He abruptly wandered off
to the interface room.
"Where's he going?" Tone muttered.
Morpheus shrugged. Moments later, Neo returned.
"Makoto, I think there's someone you need to meet."
Neo muttered.
~~~
"Ranma will pay, dammit!" Akane screamed as she lay
on a small operating table. She was bound to it in restraints,
unable to wipe tears of anger from her face.
"I want to help you do that, Akane." The scientist
kindly wiped Akane's tear soaked face with a towel. "I'm not
as cold hearted as the agents you may have dealt with."
"What's it to you?" Akane questioned with skepticism.
"I want to see people happy in my creation, this
'matrix' of mine." the scientist answered.
"Too bad!" Akane retorted "I don't want any part of
your matrix!"
The scientist sighed. "Regardless, you're trapped in it
at the moment while your body is aboard that ship of theirs.
They've probably even given up on rescuing you."
"So what? I don't need their help." Akane grumbled.
The scientist waved a cautious finger. "Alas, 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. They may not be willing to
risk more of their crew just to save one person." The scientist
sat down on a small chair and meticulously folded his hands
one finger at a time. "You see, 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. A mutually beneficial
deal."
"Kill?!" A shocked look washed over Akane's face. "I
didn't say I wanted to kill them...!"
"We can discuss it after you take your medicine." the
scientist prepared a needle with a heavy dosage of a silvery
serum. Akane didn't bother to struggle, and merely grunted as
the needle impaled her. She started to relax as the serum took
effect.
"Mmm... that stuff really -does- work." A satisfied grin
formed across Akane's face as she could feel the pain wash
away from her healing bruises and bones.
"I'm glad it's working so well for you. Some people
try and fight it. It works best if don't."
"Why would I?" Akane questioned, the serum starting
to haze her judgement. "Now where we're we...?"
"We were talking about killing Ranma, Morpheus, and
his crew.."
"Oh yeah, that's right!" Akane sweetly smiled. "Just
tell me when, where and how, doc!"
"Atta' girl." the scientist smiled as he disposed of the
needle. "Now, about those 'means'..."
~~~
I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'.
It would be greatly appreciated if you would take
a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus)
telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential
errors or typos.
The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address,
can be found at www.sofaspud.org.
Thanks for reading!