[FFML] Re: [FFML][Ranma] The Assassination of Nabiki Tendo

I'd have to agree with whoever it was that doubted Nabiki Tendo's hacking skills.  Of
course, I also have to disagree as well.  Unless you pay a certain amount of time, she's
not going to be very good at all.  However, if she did learn from a pro, and had at least
regularly practices her skill, then she could be very decent at it, without having to
devote a significant amount of time to it.  She won't be great, but decent.

I did dislike as to how she accesses the computer network.  She gains the location and
password to this central computer.  How does she access it, through the internet?  Through
a dial-up connection to the central computer?  What about a username?  A password is
useless without a username to identify the level of security needed for the one trying to
enter.  However, her discovering hidden firewalls that protects certain portions of the
computer system, is very unbelieavable.  However you spell that.  There are many reasons
for it, but since I'm not an expert on internet, computer network, and mainframe security,
I'm not going to try and list all of the reasons I believe for it to not work.  Who knows,
maybe it's real, and if it is, the reason nobody heard of it is because it's a SECURITY
precaution.  I know that computer networks have security systems to ensure privacy, but I
don't know what they are.  It's the same thing with the White House, I know that there are
guards and security systems, but I don't know what they are.  So I'm not about to go off
and say as to what is and is not possible, even if I don't believe it.  In such cases, I
just ignore it, and enjoy the story.


----- Original Message -----
From: "allyn yonge" <ayonge@yahoo.com>

I found the entire assassination scenario implausible,
as written. Frankly if someone wanted to kill Nabiki,
they could just push her in front of a train, or stick
a knife in her while she's jammed in a train-car, run
her down in the street. I'd like a little something
more to justify using this much fire-power against one
girl. And why use multiple shooters at all, when for
less effort they could plant a bomb in her cell phone.
(A little trick the Isralies came up with.) Put about
three ounces of C-4 in the phone, call Nabiki up, when
she says hello, the assassin says good-by and pushes
the button.


Now hopefully Kenneth Payne has actually watched up to at least episode 20 of Noir, or
else you're going to be so lost on the storyline of that series.  Now in Noir, there is a
very good reason as to why groups of gunnmen are going around and trying to kill the
Yuumura Kirika and Mirielle Bouqet. Or however you're supposed to spell their names.  At
any rate, there could be a very similiar and valid reason as to why such a group was sent
after Nabiki, especially since it seems that Ranma himself was supposed to have killed
her.  After all, if Ranma was to have killed her, why the gunnmen?  Of course, the gunnmen
could have been sent after it was found out that Ranma won't kill her, or it could have
been a different group then the one that sent Ranma.  However, there seems to be a good
reason as to why the gunnmen was sent, especially since there is a some evidence of some
sort 'secret' 'SEELE' like group working in the background.

I do NOT think anyone in their right mind would hand a
pistol to an untrained person in the middle of a
firefight. Nabiki was more likely to shoot _Ranma_
than one of the bad-guys.  IF this is an integral part
of the story (and I don't think it has to be) you need
to modify the story just slightly to show that 'Ranma'
realized this, but the danger TO Nabiki outweighs the
danger FROM Nabiki. He might also advise her to stay
put, out of sight, and only shoot at muzzle-contact
range. (which is probably the only way she could hit
anything under those circumstances)


Of course, giving a gun to her could be seen as creating a diversion and warning system,
as it would be very doubtful that she could hit anything.  And having her try to hit
something could easily distract the attackers or cause them to move back.

I _do_ think that Nabiki recovered much too quickly
from the trauma of having someone try to kill her. You
loose fine motor control under stress, for instance.
Yet she's very quickly pulling out a cell phone and
punching buttons, a _fine_ motor skill.  IMO, you need
to show more of the stress she must be under, physical
and mental.  She seemed much too calm for someone who
just had a gun put to her head.

With this, it's more a question of the type of person that she is. Some people could
easily recover from such an ordeal rather quickly, while others would be a hysterical
mess. For example, and this is a real life event, I was riding a bicycle and nearing an
intersection. I stood up and checked for a vehicle over this big bush that was in the
corner, and since I didn't see any I continued across without slowing down or even
stopping beforehand.

Once I rode off the curb onto the street, I found myself on the ground trapped underneath
a truck. Of course the truck backed up, allowing me to actually stand up and get off the
bike. I wasn't harmed at all, just a scratch on the knee. The bike's handle on one side
was bent down vertically. I was in fact perfectly and, after talking with owner of the
truck to make sure everyone was alright, I would have just rode on home as if this thing
happens to me everyday.

Of course a cop saw the thing and he called in more cops, and the entire thing turned into
this big deal, espcially with them calling my mom, but if it wasn't for the cops, I would
have gone home as if nothing had happened, and not tell my mom as well. Especially
because it would have saved me the trouble of listening to her yell at me for a couple of
hours. At any rate, other then the fact of some uncontrollable shivering, a side-effect
of having large quantities of adrenaling released into a body that isn't used to it (I
think), I didn't suffer anything more then a scratch from the entire ordeal. No shock, no
trauma, no irrational fear of riding my bike or street corners, no nothing. Other then
being incredibly annoyed and pissed off about not being able to ride my bike. You try
riding a bike where half the handle is bent so that it's pointing to the ground.

Of course, that was more traumatic then seeing my dog run into a busy street, get hit by a
car, and see the body spin along the ground a couple times. Call me cold hearted, or a
psycho, but I really didn't care that I just saw my dog die. Same thing with the
accident, I didn't really care (just annoyed about how I can't ride my bike until I can
get it fixed.) And no, that dog was a pet of mine for a couple of years, and no, I didn't
hate my dog, and no, I didn't suffer from nightmares. AT any rate, none of this is
anywhere close to killing people and having people die right in front of me, but still,
some people can recover very easily from such trauma, while others can't. It all depend
upon the person.

--CCMax