DB Sommer wrote:
And here we go. End notes and Omake left. The deluge never ends sometimes:
I could write less, if you would prefer. If it would make the next
chapter of Avenging come out any sooner, I might, too. ;)
through the area that his camp sat in, rustling the tall, leafy grasses.
It was a forest, he knew. Or at least, it would be someday.
Yeah. If it's full of grass, it's not a forest. :)
Yet, anyway.
"Maybe a promising iron deposit a few kilometers north, and possibly a
deposit of gold somewhere west of here, sir. There's a pretty deep
aquifer underneath this whole area, though," one of the men answered,
flicking his headset into a pocket. "Jeddah thinks the area is too rocky
for farming,
Nonsense. That just means you farm rocks. Lots of rock farmers out there. :)
Rock soup, eh?
and Kenshiro says the land's not useful for much else,
unless the ore deposits are good."
It's like 'Outpost' isn't it? Except there's atmosphere. :)
Well, the atmosphere is a big help, I'm sure....
Ah, giving her some beefcake shots, I see.
Heh!
"And... how do we deal with the outsiders? Saffron...."
"Saffron can't guide us anymore.
Kiima; It's that whole 'Encased in ice on another planet thing.' that's the
problem
Hotaru: It seems to be going around.
"You're angry because he doesn't care about you?" the girl asked,
surprised. "My, I didn't know that your... allergy... affected you that
much!"
"It's not that!" he protested. "And you know it, too!"
"Yes," she admitted, giggling. "But I think you're thinking
believe you're thinking (sounds better to me)
Alrighty.
"Purely for political purposes, I assure you, my princess," Herb said,
chuckling quietly.
"Of course," Rei said, giggling along with Herb's laughter.
heh. Cute touch.
Thanks! I had fun with these segments. Lighthearted and mostly empty fluff.
"Well, come in!" the younger man insisted, grabbing the bag before he
could be stopped. "Are you going to be a teacher? We've started to
establish this area as a potential district for building a good school,
and Seta-san's already been put in charge of that project.
Already up to his old tricks, I see. :)
Yep.
"I was," Norris said frankly. "And I think I've got a lot of writing to
do before I'm ready to rejoin a service -- any service."
Makes sense. For some it gives life purpose.
I can only agree.
"Feh. Fine, fine. But the odds of this lady looking for someone either of
us knows are pretty damn unlikely, I think," he grumbled, striding
through the crowd. For the crowd's part, people parted
part... parted. I think you can rephrase that.
Done.
--For the crowd's part, people separated before him without seeming to be
aware that they did so, until he was standing before her, the girl
directly behind him when he halted.
The woman blinked, eyes widening as they fixed on him. Something...
something in those eyes was not quite right, though, and it unnerved him
very faintly. "I'm... looking for my son," she said quietly. "He... he
left on a ship from Earth. I... I lose the papers that said which one,
but it was before the Juraian people came to Tokyo," she answered slowly.
Ah, so Nodoka came to her senses. Interesting, if probably a bit late.
Weeeell....
"His name was Ranma. I... a monster... or maybe some space creature tried
to convince me that he was my son once," the woman sobbed. "But I know
he left! He left with Akane! Tendo Akane, he'd be with her -- he's not
some monster!"
Oh, still off the deep end after all. Too bad. But I guess everything can't
be happy for everyone.
Nope.
"Well, whatever," he grumbled. "I like to think I know Ranma pretty good.
I trained with him on the fleet to Shanghai -- Ranma's a hero, and a
hero deserves better than some woman who's going to call him a monster
for a mother."
Cold. But it fits Ryu's personality.
Thanks. :/
"Hello, I was wondering if you've seen a girl I'm looking for I'm--
for. I'm
Eeep!
It wasn't Earth, and it never would be
It will be to the next generation.
Indeed.
Yakumo opened his mouth to protest the lack of answer, but his jaw merely
hung open, as his eyes fixed on the girl over Yosho's shoulder, dressed
in shinto shrine maiden attire, and blushing at him shyly. "You win this
round," he said, finally finding his voice. "Pai!"
Heh. What an evil man he is, teasing Yakumo like that.
:p
"Understood. If they do spread?"
"Then it's a big paperweight."
Voice: Can I put it on my desk, then?
Ami: ... I suppose....
"I have a friend with connections, if it gets to that," she said quietly.
"But we'll try not to bother him at the moment. Now if you'll excuse me,
I need to monitor Selene's functions before we move on to the new core."
Any particular reason for that name?
It's one of the old names associated with the moon, if I remember correctly.
She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I suppose Mamoru got
lucky, just going into hibernation," Ami reasoned. "Higurashi got worse,
after all.... I hope I live long enough to see you wake up, Usagi.
And... when the Earth thaws enough for him to wake up, you will, too."
Hmm. Usagi elected to get frozen with him. I can see that,
I thought so.
"Do you? How interesting," Luna responded. "But I don't suppose anyone
here would be overly concerned with that information, do you?"
Unable to resist smiling, Setsuna shook her head. "I never spent any time
with him like that," she asserted. "But... maybe now would be a good
time to start...."
Oh? I didn't think she indicated any inclinations to him. Interesting.
It should have been more subtle, really.
And thusly is concluded book one of Process of Elimination.
Interesting way to tie things up. Don't have any idea which course you'll
take in continuing it, but it should be interesting to see. This was
certainly an epilogue. Excellent work and I'm glad I took the time out to
read it. Moving in the right places, nice mix of action and character
interaction while keeping things from being obvious in what would happen
next. Certainly a work I've enjoyed from start to finish
Ah, that's very high praise from the author of Shampoo 1/2. ^_^;;
Thank you _very_ much for all the time spent C&Cing this story for me,
Mr. Sommer.
D.B. Sommer