Saturday, April 27, 2002, 6:34:39 AM, Brian Randall wrote:
BR> He snorted, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm up here," he called out. "Didn't
BR> think that you were going to be dropping by."
BR> A heartbeat later, a blonde girl leapt up to the roof beside him,
BR> clasping her hands behind her back, and leaning forward to smile at him.
BR> "Thought you would be here!" she exclaimed.
Is Minako in senshi form, or has she become a martial artist too? All
things considered, I'd vote for the second.
BR> He shook his head. "You found me," he said, adjusting his glasses
BR> slightly, and returning her smile.
BR> "You know, with the money you make, you could afford to get your eyes
BR> fixed," she said. "Then you wouldn't have to wear your glasses anymore."
BR> "Maybe," he said dubiously. A lifetime of poor sight had lent him better
BR> knowledge of spatial relations, and his job of assisting landings in the
BR> starport was one that required a keenly analytical mind. "
Not to mention a year of trying to hit a certain fast moving object
with chains. ^_^
BR> "Oh?" Keitaro asked, cocking his head to one side curiously. "What will
BR> you be doing until then? I read that you were... ah... there for the
BR> final conflict."
BR> "I was," Norris said frankly. "And I think I've got a lot of writing to
BR> do before I'm ready to rejoin a service -- any service."
I can't imagine any of the other characters being a better choice to
chronicle the events of the war. Norris is probably the only one at
the center of things that wasn't emotionally connected to Ranma. Of
course, he did miss the final play.
BR> "Feh. Fine, fine. But the odds of this lady looking for someone either of
BR> us knows are pretty damn unlikely, I think," he grumbled, striding
BR> through the crowd.
And the moment he said that, I expected something bad.
BR> For the crowd's part, people parted before him
BR> without seeming to be aware that they did so, until he was standing
BR> before her, the girl directly behind him when he halted. "Yo!" he said,
BR> raising his hand. "We're helping people look for lost relatives and
BR> friends. You here looking for someone in particular?"
Winces. Not big on diplomacy, is he.
BR> The woman blinked, eyes widening as they fixed on him. Something...
BR> something in those eyes was not quite right, though, and it unnerved him
BR> very faintly. "I'm... looking for my son," she said quietly. "He... he
BR> left on a ship from Earth. I... I lose the papers that said which one,
BR> but it was before the Juraian people came to Tokyo," she answered slowly.
Should that be "lost" or is she not speaking a language she knows
well?
BR> "Yeah, okay, I can understand that," he said, nodding. "What's his name?
BR> And your name, for that matter?"
BR> "I... I'm Saotome Nodoka," she said, bowing politely.
As I said. Bad.
BR> Ignoring the sudden chill running down his spine, he returned the bow.
BR> "Okay, and, uh, who was your son?" the girl behind him asked nervously.
BR> "His name was Ranma. I... a monster... or maybe some space creature tried
BR> to convince me that he was my son once," the woman sobbed. "But I know
BR> he left! He left with Akane! Tendo Akane, he'd be with her -- he's not
BR> some monster!"
BR> "Oh, well, we'll keep that in mind," the girl said uneasily. "I, uh,
BR> don't know--"
BR> "The only Ranma I know is way too good to be your son," he overrode her
BR> suddenly. "So, sorry about that." Not waiting to allow her to reply, he
BR> spun, grabbed the girl that had been behind him, and leapt upward,
BR> landing atop a nearby light post and staring down at the crowd.
Not sure how, I'd react, but I imagine it couldn't be much better.
BR> The girl cradled in his arms sighed, shaking her head. "Ryu-chan, I don't
BR> think that was the best way to handle that," she chastised. "Even...
BR> even if...." She trailed off, sighing, and clutching her clipboard to
BR> her chest.
BR> "Well, whatever," he grumbled. "I like to think I know Ranma pretty good.
BR> I trained with him on the fleet to Shanghai -- Ranma's a hero, and a
BR> hero deserves better than some woman who's going to call him a monster
BR> for a mother."
I know it's Ryu speaking, but that last sentence was really clumsy.
Maybe "better than a mother who's going to call him a monster."
BR> "Maybe you're right," Makoto said weakly. "I don't know if she could
BR> handle the truth anyway. Still, Ryu-chan, you could have been polite
BR> about it."
BR> "I'll be polite next time," he said, shaking his head, and leaping down,
BR> towards the gates of the starport, sill within the cloak of the
BR> Umisen-ken. "Until then, there are other people to help."
Next time? What next time? When you encounter another Nodoka Saotome
who insists Ranma is a monster? Hehe.
BR> ***
BR> "Hello, I was wondering if you've seen a girl I'm looking for I'm--" He
BR> broke off, sighing, as the man he was trying to ask wandered off. He had
BR> been searching since the moment he landed, only pausing to contact...
BR> his friends. Yes, that's what they were. People who had no issue with
BR> his strange immortality, and people who remembered the long fight on
BR> Earth before everyone left.
Wow. There are some rude people. Then again, I imagine that kind of
question is asked a lot. Still...
BR> "Hell," he grumbled, as everyone wandered off. "I don't even have a
BR> photograph anymore. Stupid reavers."
BR> He considered something for a moment, then pulled a map from his pocket,
BR> sparing a glance towards the bright sky before scanning the folded and
BR> much abused paper in his hands. "The old man lives around here
BR> somewhere. I'll drop in and say hello before I start looking again."
I can't imagine who the old man is. He's about the only character I
guessed right when he was first mentioned.
BR> Course decided, the map was folded up and tucked away, and he began
BR> marching down the street. The town was small, having no starport of its
BR> own. It sat near the southeastern edge of the ungainly splotch of
BR> habitation that had formed from the initial landing site on Terra Two. A
BR> slight breeze picked up a faint layer of dust, and he couldn't help but
BR> grin at the ambiance.
BR> It wasn't Earth, and it never would be... but it was home anyway. A
BR> blessed home away from the memories of constant violence that occupied
BR> his mind when he thought of the old Earth. Maybe being put to sleep for
BR> a thousand years would serve it better, in the end.
BR> He scratched his head, walking up a set of stairs in the side of a hill.
BR> "Old man must not like guests much," he grumbled, staring upwards. They
BR> stretched out of sight, occasional torii crossing overhead. Shrugging,
BR> he set about climbing the stairs, welcoming the faint burn of exertion
BR> over time. It was so nice to feel those subtle pains of everyday life,
BR> not the overbearing pain of constant strife.
BR> Musing over that, he topped the final step, and peered about. The hilltop
BR> was covered with a shrine, obviously newly built -- like everything else
BR> -- though the trees on either side of the path seemed far older than
BR> they should have been. "Huh," he said, turning to regard one closely.
BR> "This looks like it should be about twenty years old... old man."
Someone's been cheating. I guess knowing the goddess of Jurai
personally has its perks.
BR> A chuckle sounded behind him, as he turned back to face the courtyard
BR> before the shrine. "You heard me coming?" the man standing there asked,
BR> adjusting his spectacles slightly.
BR> "Nah, just guessed. If you weren't there, I'd still look pretty slick,"
BR> Yakumo said, grinning. "What have you been up to, Yosho? I would have
BR> thought that you'd do something else with your time than run a shrine."
BR> The old man winced slightly, and shook his head. "Call me Katsuhito," he
BR> insisted. "I... I trust my grandson to manage his empire well enough.
BR> This is not the Earth I intend to live out my days on, but I imagine
BR> I'll be here for a long time... and being a shrine priest is something I
BR> enjoy doing more than other things I can do."
I wonder if he realises that without Ryoko's gems, he going to start
growing old. Or is Tsunami feeding energy to Funaho. Hmm...
interesting questions.
BR> "You still haven't told me why these trees are so much older than the
BR> other ones," Yakumo accused, grinning. "Dodging the question, eh?"
BR> "I would never dodge an important question like that!" Katsuhito said
BR> indignantly. "But I took in a wandering girl a while back as a shrine
BR> maiden -- you should meet her."
BR> Yakumo opened his mouth to protest the lack of answer, but his jaw merely
BR> hung open, as his eyes fixed on the girl over Yosho's shoulder, dressed
BR> in shinto shrine maiden attire, and blushing at him shyly. "You win this
BR> round," he said, finally finding his voice. "Pai!"
BR> "Yakumo? It _is_ you! Yakumo!"
I feel sorry for Pai. Now she'll never be human. All the artifacts
that could do it were probably destroyed on Earth. Not that it really
matters, since being human isn't as special as it once was.
BR> ***
BR> Padding across the cleanly polished floor of the great mausoleum,
BR> terminal in hand, a young woman brushed a stray strand of blue hair from
BR> her eyes. Her computer chirped softly, and a voice called to her on a
BR> headset, warning, "There's some instability in the new memory block you
BR> assigned to temporary archival, Mizuno-san."
BR> "It's a hardware fault, probably," she returned, snapping her laptop
BR> shut. "They said it might not survive transit.... How much backup do we
BR> have available?"
BR> "Ah... three petabytes to spare."
Ah. Wow, that's a lot.
BR> "Okay, put everything on temporary backup, and eliminate the bad sectors
BR> from the new core. Then copy everything from backup onto it, and compare
BR> it to the backup once it's transferred. If there's a one hundred percent
BR> correlation, then the damaged sectors won't spread."
BR> "Understood. If they do spread?"
BR> "Then it's a big paperweight."
BR> A chuckle came across the connection, and there was a moment of silence.
BR> "Beginning transfer now, Mizuno-san. This is likely going to take
BR> several hours. Do you have any other instructions?"
BR> "Let me think," she said, pausing her walk and pursing her lips. "Steal
BR> some storage space and processor time from the orbital mapping system."
BR> "Mizuno-san! We can't do that, we need that survey data--"
BR> "Have a little more faith in the people who are mapping on foot. And I
BR> didn't say all, just their own functions. We want to keep adding the
BR> incoming packets to the database, after all, but they can fill in for
BR> some of the missing persons identification database functions, until the
BR> new core is verified."
I wonder what her bosses are going to say about that. Personally, I
think its a good choice, but... Then again, Cologne is probably one of
those people.
BR> "Understood," the reply came, much subdued. "What do we do if the core is
BR> not salvageable?"
BR> "I have a friend with connections, if it gets to that," she said quietly.
BR> "But we'll try not to bother him at the moment. Now if you'll excuse me,
BR> I need to monitor Selene's functions before we move on to the new core."
BR> "Okay, Mizuno-san. Stealing processor cycles from the satellite network now."
BR> She shook her head, removing the headset, and tucking it into a pocket.
BR> Striding across a few more steps of the black marble beneath her feet,
BR> she approached a large crystalline sarcophagus. Her laptop slid into a
BR> small pocket on one side of the structure, as lights began to blink on,
BR> brightening the interior of the large room.
BR> "Good morning, Selene," she whispered as her laptop opened connections to
BR> a very important computer, the one that maintained the environmental
BR> functions of the crystalline formation before her. She took a few steps
BR> to one side, leaning across the flat top, and brushing aside a layer of
BR> ice crystals, peering within. "And hello to you, too."
BR> She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I suppose Mamoru got
BR> lucky, just going into hibernation," Ami reasoned. "Higurashi got worse,
BR> after all.... I hope I live long enough to see you wake up, Usagi.
BR> And... when the Earth thaws enough for him to wake up, you will, too."
Interesting. I was wondering what was going to happen to Mamoru.
Everyone seemed to forget about him after a while.
BR> ***
BR> "Will you be going outside today?"
BR> That, of course, was the question, and one she wasn't certain she was up
BR> to answering.
BR> Outside was so bright and cheerful....
BR> "No," she whispered. "I... I think I'll stay inside today."
BR> "You... you can't stay inside forever, you know. I.... I don't know what
BR> I would have done if Haruka had... had.... I have sympathy for you, but
BR> you can't stay inside forever. Do you really think it would make him
BR> happy to see you so sad?"
BR> "No," she whispered again, eyes brimming with tears. "I know he wouldn't
BR> be happy. He would want me to be happy. To go outside and enjoy what he
BR> won for all of us... and whenever I go outside I'm reminded of him
BR> again, and it hurts."
BR> There was a moment of silence then, her hands carefully clutching a
BR> carefully preserved silk handkerchief and dabbing at her tears.
BR> "Maybe... maybe tomorrow I can go outside, but not today. Please,
BR> Michiru, not today."
BR> "Okay, Hotaru. I.... We'll go for a walk tomorrow. Maybe we'll look at
BR> some of the new parks they're building."
BR> "That... that would be nice," Hotaru said quietly. "I.... I will try."
BR> Michiru smiled softly. "I know you can do it."
Ouch. Poor Hotaru.
BR> ***
BR> Sitting beneath a short sapling, a woman allowed herself a moment of
BR> reflection. "So much lost, and at the same, so much gained," she mused,
BR> one hand resting atop a book in her lap. "You'd think I would be more
BR> resentful, but for some reason, I'm not."
BR> "Resentful?" a small black cat asked slyly. "I never took you for the type!"
BR> "Oh, hush," she chastised the cat. "I was saying that even though the
BR> future has been changed beyond anything I ever knew, I can't help but
BR> think that maybe it's better for it. That's all that I meant."
BR> "Of course," a small white cat said, yawning widely as he did so. "Which
BR> is why you're on your political fact finding mission...."
BR> "... by reading books of poetry," the black cat concluded.
BR> Narrowing her eyes slightly, the woman grumbled, "I don't need to listen
BR> to you two."
So why are you?
BR> "You know, I think I know where that man -- Yosho, was his name? I think
BR> I know where he lives," Artemis commented.
BR> "Do you? How interesting," Luna responded. "But I don't suppose anyone
BR> here would be overly concerned with that information, do you?"
BR> Unable to resist smiling, Setsuna shook her head. "I never spent any time
BR> with him like that," she asserted. "But... maybe now would be a good
BR> time to start...."
For a lonely shrine, Yosho's place is going to be very busy.
BR> -----------------------------
BR> Author's notes:
BR> And thusly is concluded book one of Process of Elimination.
And my first reaction to this was: "BOOK ONE! ALL OF THIS AND ITS ONLY
BOOK ONE!"
I'd take that as a compliment.
Still, I can't help but feel there are a few characters you missed out
in the wrap up.
I can see why the Washuu and Tsunami where left out, I'm willing to
bet we'll see more of them in Book 2 as well as Ran-oh-ki and
Nuku-Nuku. Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo maybe as well (or was interlude 3
their ending). But what about Nabiki and Kasumi?
Anyway, Book 2 should be interesting. I can't wait.
-----------
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz katsuhito@planetjurai.com
"I wonder, I wonder. Do you know what I wonder?"
- The Shadow Play Girls, Revolutionary Girl Utena
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'