Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Fri, 6 Dec 2002 14:51:00 EST Starrngr@aol.com wrote:
Muck gave the youngster a stern look, but shrugged. �If you say
so, kid. That�s what {your : you're} doing up here in the mountains then? More
training?�
Because of this, both human passengers breathed a mental sigh of
relief as Thunders-sama (Call me �Muck�, please,) as Highway 8 merged
with the streets of the Nerima ward of Tokyo. Muck was about to ask
Ryouga for directions, even though he KNEW what was going to happen,
when the point was solved for him. He slammed on the brakes as a black
haired martial artist in red and black bounded across the street in
front of him. Chasing Ranma Satome were all the usual suspects; in
order, Akane, still in her school jumper, Shampoo, Ukyou, Kodachi Kuno,
Mouse, and {Tatawaki : Tatewaki} Kuno. Ryouga, seeing this, instantly leapt from
the car and joined the tail end of the chase, bellowing at the top of
his lungs about Ranma making Akane chase him.
�That was what I was about to tell you. This {fica : Fica} is still in a
state of flux; I can�t get solid readings to plot a new jump until it
settles.�
You capitalized Fica in most of the other uses. Either is fine by me as
long as you pick capitalized or not.
Muck was quiet for a long moment, then sighed. �I still don�t
like this, FRED. But if you�re right and I�m gonna be stuck in the
central role of what feels to me like a particularly bad piece of fan-
fiction, we�d best see about getting ourselves established around here.
And FRED?�
Truth in advertising? :}b
�You can stop playing {music track of :} �The Impossible Dream� now.�
Muck leaned back and stretched before returning his attention to
the web page in front of him. He�d guessed right, because the Nerima
Public Library did, in fact, have public access to this fica�s version
of the Internet. And the study carrels the computers were in allowed
him to surreptitiously connect the data-link from FRED�s remote into
the back. So, while he appeared to be browsing some random web pages,
FRED was hacking through the back alleys of the �net, quietly creating
the needed entries to establish them as legal residents. Muck had
wisely included a number of jewels in the things he carried from fica
to fica, so getting cash was a simple matter of finding a jeweler and
selling a couple. The ongoing cost of life in this city would put a
strain on that, though, so a job was an imperative; that meant getting
into the right computers to forge the documents he�d have had if he�d
come to Japan in the normal way. Even with FRED doing the real work,
it was still taking forever, though. It looked like Muck was probably
going to have to find a {Hotel : hotel} for tonight and find a room in the
morning. He scanned the links at the bottom of the web page, before
deciding on one called �Tales of the Wanderer�. As the page came up on
the screen, he felt his jaw drop. Only the hastily remembered fact
that he was in a library kept a shout of shock from his lips as he took
in the page.
The pair drove in silence, taking random turns, for about a half
an hour when a sign caught Muck�s eye. �The Tea Fleet {bar : Bar}?� he thought
to himself, �now there�s an interesting pun for you.� He was still
shaken (and a bit stirred up) and there was parking nearby, so he
decided it was as good a place as any other.
A rainstorm had passed through, and the clean spring air helped to
clear his head as he and FRED sorted their way through the streets of
the nearby town of HigashiKurume to the rooming house Akemi had
mentioned. It was an older building, probably pre-WWII, yet Maison
Ikkoku had a nice homey feel about it; and its managers, a couple
around thirty, were very nice. Room 5 was a touch on the small side,
only 4.5 tatami mats in floor area, but the price was right and the
building itself wasn�t that far from the train station; promising easy
access to wherever it was he found work. Once the paperwork was filled
out, though, Muck�s energy began to drop. He was barely able to get
the futon out of its storage space before sagging onto it, deciding to
bring in his things in the morning.
So it's not Ranmaverse, but Takahashiverse. Will we see Lum?
�Oh? What did you do, join the fire brigade?�
�Nothing quite so {dangerous : safe}. I�m a high school teacher.�
:})