Brian Randall wrote:

   Ooh, C&C! Like sweet nectar. :)

Sasami yawned as she was tucked in.  "Washu?"

"Hmm?"

With Ayeka, Tenchi, and Ryoko off on some "official business" on Jurai,
the house seemed a lot quieter now.  Fortunately, the redhaired
scientist had agreed to take care of Sasami...almost like she needed
someone to mother, with her own daughter far away.  But what Sasami
had seen...  "Were you really scared?"

"What?"

"You know, earlier, when you took me to the zoo and we passed the
hummingbirds.  You seemed a little scared."

"..."

"Were you?"

"No, no, not really."

"You're lying.  I can hear it in your voice."

"No, seriously.  I wasn't *scared*, not exactly.  I was...remembering."

"Oh?  Remembering what?"

Washu smiled, though she wanted to frown.  Sasami was supposed to be
going to sleep now, but the obvious interest on her face indicated that
sleep was unlikely until this issue was explained to her satisfaction.
Even if Washu begged off, Sasami would stay up, thinking up all kinds
of possibilities.  She would know the truth someday anyway...  "Someone
I once knew."

"You knew a hummingbird?"

"Well...yes and no.  She didn't used to be a hummingbird, you see.  She
was one of the brightest stars in the universe, a pleasure to work
with, and one of my best friends.  Give her any mystery, and she would
lap up every nuance, every hidden detail, faster than that 'Sherlock
Holmes' you've been reading about.  Hers was a gift; the only mystery
she couldn't explain was how she did it, for even she did not know."
Washu cast her glance to the floor, her voice following.  "If she
had...if she'd known...maybe I could have saved her..."

Sasami tried to sit up, but Washu's gentle touch guided her back down.
"What happened?"

"She...wasn't satisfied with what she was.  It wasn't entirely her
fault: her species had a natural drive to improve oneself, an instinct
encoded in her genes.  She kept solving problems in greater and greater
detail.  I tried to persuade her to pursue the sciences like I did, but
she tought police work would make better use of her skills.  I...I
think, if confronted with the mysteries of the universe instead of
mundane stuff like 'where is the thief', she wouldn't have..."

"Yes?"  Sasami pulled one arm free of her blanket, and wiped away the
tear rolling down Washu's cheek.

"Thanks.  Anyway, eventually there were no more details to solve.  She
could recreate the crime exactly, fitting the facts with such accuracy
that no one could deny her word.  But still there was the desire to
improve...and if she couldn't do *better*, she could do *more*.
Faster."  Washu looked at Sasami.  "Has Ayeka told you about
speedstims?"

"No, but Ryoko has.  She says they're poison, and sometimes when she
smuggled them, the person she was delivering them to would kill
themselves with them before she'd even turned her back.  They're
supposed to make you faster so you can get more stuff done, but I don't
see how you can do anything if you're dead."

Washu smiled.  "They don't kill in small doses.  But eventually your
body gets used to them, so you need larger and larger doses,
until...well, like you said, they're poison.  Anyway, this person
wasn't actually using speedstims, but it looked like she was.  Faster
was the only way to improve, so she sped up her procedures, encoded
some of her thoughts into programs the Galaxy Police still uses today,
and..."

"And?"

"And didn't see what this was doing to her.  Her attention to detail
started to slip...not just in her work, but in all aspects of her life.
And because she wasn't looking that closely, she did not see the slow
erosion of herself.  I...I can still remember the day I told her I
didn't know her any longer...that I didn't love..."

Feeling Washu's crying fit come on even before she heard her sobs,
Sasami sat up and hugged her.

---

"Are you sure you don't have a cold?"

Mihoshi blew her nose as Kiyone keyed up the autopilot for the last leg
of their patrol.  "Yeah, I'm fine.  Maybe there was a gansa nut in that
chocolate bar; I'm allergic to those.  Or maybe someone's talking about
me."

Kiyone shook her head.  "I told you to check the ingredients on those
candy bars."  She idly cycled through her to-do list, noting that she
would have to ask Washu about the photo of her and Mihoshi that Kiyone
had found while cleaning up Mihoshi's room.  The photo appeared old,
older than Mihoshi's first - literal - contact with Earth, and thus any
possible chance they could have known each other, but Kiyone could
think of half a dozen reasons for the appearance of age.  What really
bugged her was that Washu seemed to be enjoying Mihoshi's company.
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