Chapter 46 - Disenthralled From Inadequate Dogmas
[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.
C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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per-Morituri
(these are the original versions)
What has gone before:
About Book 11 of the Tankoubon Manga, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma
out of the house. Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet
EVA pilots Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffrey
Davis.
With the aid of a narrow board and two sawhorses, Asuka begins
teaching Ranma both sword fighting, and how to teach. Only he believes his
first class with the others was an unmitigated disaster.
Asuka contracts Keiichi and his sister to construct several bicycles
for the pilots. She shoots a bug and has her second clash with Skuld.
All four senators from Wyoming and Massachusetts begin investigating
the Boston incident and Misato's part in it. Admiral Simson scrambles to
begin his own investigation of what has been happening in NERV before and
after the war. Shinji and Rei console and watch over Misato.
Asuka and Ranma wash each others hair, Shinji washes Rei's. They
discuss children while doing this. Asuka doesn't want the responsibility,
Rei appreciates her advice.
Aboard the Bennington, Jeff meets with one of his patrons and receives
an update on Sharon. Nabiki is coming to realize the differences in the
way the military treats her and the other pilots.
Major ggreg and Adam Smith arrive, to cover their `spying` on NERV,
they will teach Nabiki and Jeff about explosives. Ritsuko investigates the
unusual way Jeff syncs with the EVA, she is terrified by the contact.
Later she realizes the spirits power the EVAs. Nabiki and Maya train to
operate firearms.
Jeff and the Scholarly Dragon teach Nabiki about control of her
dreams, the Scholarly Dragon prevents a dream attack by Usagi and company.
Admiral Simson asks about Jeff siccing the Senators on Misato, he did
so because the Navy stonewalled his investigation.
Nabiki adds hand-to-hand training with the rifle.
Nabiki discusses Hiroko's death with several of her instructors.
Ritsuko looks over Jeff and Nabiki as Nabiki comes under dream attack.
Joma and Ritsuko discuss the desires of made things for their
creators/users.
The pilots and guards reminisce about the events of the previous weeks
with Belldandy, Sora and Megumi while taking a cooking lesson. The day
ends with a bug attack on Keiichi's home being destroyed by the pilots and
their guards.
Usagi and company summon a strike force of Dark Young, dholes,
shantaks and Hunting Horrors. For a short time the EVAs and the pilots are
caught off stride. Once they regained the upper hand they never released
it. Ranma used baseball techniques, Shinji uses Ranma's accidental attack
on him to lure the enemy in close. Rei guides Asuka to restrain one dhole
until the Navy, Shinji and Ranma can arrive to finish it and the other one
off.
The Twins watches the summoning and draws its own plans against the
EVAs, pilots and NERV.
The pilots go over Misato's head to participate in rescue operations.
Ranma begins teaching the others the insult techniques that are part
of his art. He also senses Asuka growing injuries, cause by ignoring her
own limitations and trying to keep up with him. He disobeys her demand,
and heals her injuries. She accuses him of using his Code of Honor to
justify any action he cares to take. Ranma attempts to discover a way make
things right, while Rei tests methods of returning Asuka to normal.
The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The
occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the
occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We
must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this
administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal
significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery
trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to
the latest generation.
Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress -- Concluding Remarks December
1, 1862
The Truth Can STAY Out There
Asuka was angry. More than that, she was furious. Lying in bed being
angry, especially _this_ angry, was better than lying here with the
helpless crawling feeling she'd had the last couple of days.
It was _why_ she felt angry that really infuriated her, and that
Wondergirl would heartily approve of her being this angry. Being angry
felt better, felt right. It gave her the clarity to see how messed up and
stupid the world was, and still have the energy to go and fix it, instead
of lying down in despair and giving up. That Wondergirl had figured that
all out, without a Ouija board and a set of stone tablets from Mt. Sinai,
and that Asuka hadn't, frustrated her no end. And being frustrated made
her mad, which fit into Wondergirl's plan, which made Asuka even more
angry, which enhanced Wondergirl's plan even more . . . and so on and on
and on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
I don't mind being out-thought, and being manipulated by an expert
just rankles a little, Asuka admitted, that part didn't hurt, she knew the
next would, But that _WONDERGIRL_ of all people managed both in one fell
swoop! Asuka screamed about the intolerable state of the universe into her
pillow. She knew she should have been shouting it from the rafters. All
that restrained her was that was _exactly_ what Wondergirl wanted, that was
_exactly_ what her carefully crafted plan called for.
Asuka raised herself off the bed and screamed. "AUUUUGGGH!" Then she
pummeled her pillow into submission and buried her face in it again.
Outsmarted by Wondergirl, she lamented silently, My life is over!
"Just kill me now, Lord!" she shouted at the ceiling in German.
"Hello Asuka," Spineless said as he entered her room, without
knocking. "Rei-san said you were feeling better and that I - " He took on
a Wondergirl-like pose. " 'Thanks to your revelation, she is recovering.
You should go, see, and talk with her, to verify this.' I can hear you're
feeling much better."
Asuka glared at him, but she didn't have the strength to back it up.
"You figured all this out?" she asked anemically.
"Well part of it," Spineless admitted, as he shifted on his feet and
chuckled nervously.
Asuka stared at the ceiling again, shook her fist at it. "Couldn't
you have come up with a faster way than this?!"
Spineless outsmarted me, Asuka thought as she flopped down, The way my
luck is running, if I threw myself off the building, I'd catch my collar,
or probably my skirt, on a flagpole and just hang there for hours. Giving
the perverts a free show.
"That was German," Spineless said, "I've heard you've been helping
Ranma with his German. Rei-san suggested you could help me with mine. She
taught me to count to ten: eine, zwei, dritter, vier, f�nfzig, sechs, elf,
schnitzel, lyoner, �rgerlich," he said proudly.
Asuka had winced at the mispronunciations and each wrong word, every
one like a spike being driven into her brain through her ears. She
wondered if the wrong words had been Wondergirl's idea, or an innovation
Spineless had come up with on his own. I really don't want to know, she
thought. "Don't ever speak that to me again. I don't know what that was,
but it wasn't German!"
Spineless stood there smiling, bathed in the light of her best glare,
seemingly immune.
Maybe he stole some of Little Miss Happy's pills, Asuka silently
grumped as she rolled off the bed, stood up and closed the range. She was
delighted when his smile faltered as she approached. Spineless was
sweating a bit now from the effort of holding the smile. She closed to
within a few centimeters, switched from a glare to a bright, happy smile,
just like the one Spineless had been wearing. Spineless was _really_
sweating now, the ends of the smile twitching, his eyes darting
occasionally to either door in the room.
As if escape to the outside or locking yourself in the bathroom would
help, Asuka thought. "HA!" Asuka smiled as Spineless jumped. He hastily
recomposed himself, but Asuka had seen the truth.
"Maybe with Yumiwashi, we could get together and play some chamber
music," Spineless suggested with a nervous laugh, "We'd have the three
violins and my cello."
Asuka brightened at that. "That's not a bad idea, except I'm
grounded. Remember?"
"Well, Rei-san did suggest I remind you that you haven't been
practicing lately," Spineless told her as he edged towards the door, "Now
you can take all the time you need to practice."
He dashed out the door before Asuka could retort. She stood there
fuming, silently screaming her frustration at being outmaneuvered by
Spineless, working to Wondergirl's plan. She threw up her hands in
frustration. "The world is coming to an end."
Spineless stuck his head inside again. "I'm glad you're feeling
better, back to normal," Spineless said, "Well, almost." He got his head
clear and the door closed before Asuka could throw something at him. "Some
room for improvement." He called through the door.
Now Wondergirl is insulting me by remote control, she thought, shook
her head, I've really got to pull myself together. Wondergirl arranged all
of this. _I'd_ have a hard time arranging all of this.
"I can't believe she played, is playing - me!" Asuka shouted, then
realized her anger was all part of Wondergirl's plan, which frustrated her
all the more, which . . .
----------------------------------------
Rei knew this was 'bearding the lion in its den', but with Shinji-kun
and Tomiyo-san waiting for her in the jeep, she felt confident. Besides,
she wasn't here to see _them_, Megumi was her target. The girl got off
work and came here at this time.
As Rei walked through the gates of the temple, she saw the crews.
Navy CB's and Army Engineers were filling the hole, the footprint, with
cement. She still didn't understand how it had happened. Without any
tread on the bottom, it couldn't have been on EVA's footprint, and only she
could generate an AT field outside of an EVA powerful enough to create such
an artifact.
Perhaps those who summoned our foes also created that, she thought,
she knew that the pressure to compact the dirt, rock and macadam driveway
exceeded the ground pressure of an EVA, or several.
Rei didn't see any of the nonhumans, and she could hear the activity
in the shed some distance away from the main house. That was where she
headed. Inside, Megumi and her brother Keiichi were hard at work. The
bicycle frames were there, in pieces. The elements of the drive train were
no where in evidence.
"You have a problem," she told them from the doorway.
Both of them jumped, along with the youngest of the trio, who had been
concealed by the door.
"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked in horror.
Rei paused to look across the courtyard at the footprint, then she
spoke, "Checking your progress." It was the truth and it also made them
slightly nervous. "The footprint could not have been made by an EVA.
There were no tread marks. Perhaps I grew to immense size and stepped
down." She raised her shoe to show she was wearing flats without tread or
even the slightest heel. Then she showed her teeth, a poor parody of a
smile, but enough to tell the two humans that she was joking.
The other one was not willing to leave it at that, as Rei had
intended. The Fourth's techniques seemed ludicrously effective, "You did
it?!" she shouted.
Rei silently stared at her, a tactic that had infuriated Mein
Grossfeldmarschall. She suspected it would also work here. "There is a
problem," Rei repeated herself.
"Yes," Megumi answered, "We need some welding supplies."
"I told you I can take care of it!" the young one protested.
Rei covered her mouth, said and did nothing. If what the Fourth and
Mein Grossfeldmarschall had taught was correct, this should automatically
be interpreted as an insult.
"You don't think - " she shouted, then quieted down, "You don't think
I can do it."
"I said nothing," Rei said truthfully as she dropped her hand.
Amazing, Rei considered, she was shocked at the effectiveness of the
techniques, and the rapidity of the effect. She turned to Megumi. "I
require your assistance."
"What can I do?"
"Follow," Rei told her.
The little one raced around, blocking the way. "What do you think you
are? Coming in here?!"
"A monster, an aberration, an offense to Man and God," Rei said, the
insults she expected would be thrown at her, another of the odd techniques,
this one Tomiyo-san had pioneered.
The little one glared with impotent rage. Tomiyo-san had explained,
taking the weapon away was often as disruptive as laughing, as an effective
attack.
"I'm sure she wouldn't say those things," Megumi told her. Her
gestures seemed an attempt to placate them.
Rei needed no placating. "We must go," Rei said as she stepped around
the little one. Megumi followed her to the jeep. "Please tell Shinji-kun
what supplies you require," Rei told her, as she helped Megumi aboard. Rei
was glad that Shinji-kun had survived his confrontation with Mein
Grossfeldmarschall, not just that neither had hurt the other, nor that her
plan seemed to be sound, and working. But that Shinji-kun had gained
confidence in himself.
Tomiyo started the jeep and headed out.
----------------------------------------
Megumi followed Ayanami-san from the jeep to the apartment building,
it seemed almost like magic. The pilots could get almost anything it
seemed. The price was to sacrifice their lives, their sanity, for the
world. It was not an exchange Megumi would have been comfortable with.
She wanted a home, a husband and kids. The pilots gave up any real chance
of that, so everybody _else_ got that chance. Could I have made that
decision? she wondered as she headed up the stairs after Ayanami-san, If I
was in their place? She considered herself brave, but not _that_ brave.
"I'm sure that she didn't mean those things."
"She objects to my relationship with Ikari Shinji."
"Oh . . . " Megumi couldn't think of anything else to say. They were
both such sweet kids, more like K-1 and Bell than anyone else Megumi had
ever met.
"I was raised by his father and his mother."
"So, you aren't really related."
"Not by blood," Ayanami-san told her as they walked up the stairs.
It makes sense that some people would make the wrong assumptions,
Megumi thought, But Bell never seems to be one of those. She always seems
to think the best of everybody.
"I'm sure if you explained it . . . "
"Her relationship with your brother has no problems?" The flat way
Ayanami-san said it, made it sound so hopeless.
"Uh," Megumi said as they reached the corridor. Megumi concentrated
on what Ayanami-san had told her about Asuka-san. That she needed a
friend, an engineer who was also a woman. Megumi could only speculate, and
she was also a little intimidated. If the stories floating around the
University are correct, Megumi thought, Asuka Soryu Langley had designed
the sonic glaives the EVAs use. That's some engineering well beyond my
work with K-1. She had no idea what she could offer the girl, and
Ayanami-san was not the most communicative person. She spoke too precisely
and concisely to really call it conversation. Each word selected for
maximum effect and precision.
She reminds me of K-1, both try to do right, Megumi thought, And it
tears them up when they can't. She realized she was guessing about the
pilot, but it seemed to fit. "I suspect you expect me to fix something you
can't"
"No," Ayanami-san said, "I could fix this." She stopped walking,
looked at the floor, then over the balcony edge. "I could not fix it as
well or easily."
"What really happened?" Megumi asked, after a few moments of
Ayanami-san's explanation, Megumi wished she'd never asked. "I . . doubt
that's all of it."
"You are correct. There are still secrets," Ayanami-san told her.
Megumi gulped. "What do you expect me to do?"
"Who you are is sufficient," Ayanami-san assured her, and began
walking again.
I wonder if Bell knows how much I _hate_ when _she_ does that, Megumi
thought of the 'I have faith in you' attitude, It always seems like a dodge
to my question, no matter how good it makes me feel.
The scream that sounded out, changed the girl instantly. Ayanami-san
rocketed forward to the door. Megumi remembered how stout that door was.
As the petite, frail-looking girl lowered her shoulder, Megumi's shouted
warning to Ayanami-san died as the petite pilot smashed through the heavy
door as if it were tissue paper. Megumi ran after her.
Now the scream became understandable as 'I can't change!' Repeated
over and over with greater desperation. Megumi ran to the destroyed door.
Inside she saw Ayanami-san, pistol at her side, and another girl, a redhead
about as tall as Ayanami-san.
The redhead was naked, only a few soap suds adorned her, and they did
nothing to protect her modesty.
On impulse, Megumi checked the door. It was locked and bolted, but
Ayanami-san had torn it and the door jam loose when she'd hit it. Megumi
wondered how strong the small girl really was. If it had been unlocked . .
. that would have been embarrassing, Megumi thought as she stepped into the
room the redhead was racing around in.
"I can't change!" the redhead shrieked in terror.
Asuka-san poked her head out of her room and turned distinctly green
when she saw Megumi. Asuka-san rushed to the other redhead, then Megumi
realized the little one was Ranko Saotome. She does look a lot like her
brother, Megumi thought as she wondered what to do. I can imagine how much
some of the guys at the University would pay to be in my place right now,
she thought, while she sincerely wished to be elsewhere.
Ayanami-san had taken off her own shirt and was trying to put it over
the girl who was still racing from one place to another, crying all the
while about not being able to change.
Suddenly, Saotome-san made a break for the stairs.
"_STOP_HER_!_" Asuka-san shouted as she took after the girl climbing
the stairs. Ayanami-san again moved so fast Megumi wondered if she was
hallucinating after a long night shift, but even Ayanami-san could barely
restrain the girl. Asuka-san closed in on the pair at the top of the
stairs, with Megumi barely a step behind her.
Samantha-san had caught Ranko-san, while Ayanami-san dashed away to
the kitchen. Impossibly, the huge woman couldn't seem to keep a decent
grip on the petite redhead. As Ranko-san squirmed free, Asuka-san hit her
with a flying tackle, Carter-san joined the one-sided wrestling match.
Megumi grabbed a leg and held on for dear life. It was like holding onto a
grease-covered snake, powered by a locomotive.
Nothing could be that strong, Megumi thought as she got another grip
she knew she couldn't hold, Or that slippery! As Ranko-san squirmed free
again, Megumi glanced at Ayanami-san in the kitchen, in front of the stove
after dumping out the tea kettle. The blue-haired girl looked like she
expected to face the entire Leyte invasion force single-handed, and wasn't
planning to lose. Megumi dove back in the pile and grabbed whichever limb
presented itself first.
Ranko-san finally quit struggling, dissolving in sobs instead. Thank
the kamis, Megumi thought, I don't think more than two of us had a decent
grip at any one time. Megumi checked herself over, she thought she should
have been one big bruise from head to toe, but for all the girl's frantic
movement, she hadn't actually hit any of them.
Asuka-san helped Megumi to her feet. She looked utterly exhausted by
the battle. Megumi guessed she looked the same.
"I was supposed to help you," Megumi said.
Asuka-san glared at Ayanami-san, then smiled tiredly at Megumi. "You
did, thank you," Asuka-san said as Megumi helped her to a dining room
chair. Megumi hadn't been as `engaged` as Asuka-san had.
Ayanami-san walked out of the kitchen and glanced at Ranko-san, who
still crying and being held by the two older women. Neither Samantha-san
nor Carter-san seemed likely to be releasing the small redhead they held
any time soon. Ayanami-san continued to the dining room, buttoning her
shirt as she approached, then sat down across from Megumi and Asuka-san.
"I don't suppose you want to tell me what's happening." Megumi looked
from one pilot to the other, and laughed nervously.
Asuka-san was about to tell her something. Probably about security or
keeping quiet, Megumi thought, when Ayanami-san spoke up.
"Have you ever seen Pilots Saotome Ranma and Saotome Ranko together?"
she asked.
Megumi hadn't, in fact she'd only heard of them being together once.
"Only that publicity still from the Coral Sea."
"They are standing far apart, with Pilots Tendo and Davis near them,
correct?" Ayanami-san asked.
That was the one Megumi had seen, she nodded. She glanced at
Asuka-san who had clammed up completely, after muttering 'Wondergirl'.
"Can you guess what that means?" Ayanami-san asked quietly, then
stared at her until she came up with an answer.
Megumi didn't make her wait long, and it all made perfect sense now.
"They're both telepaths! That's why both of them are the Fourth Children,
you don't see them together. What one sees, the other sees, what one knows
the other knows. So when Ranko was bathing, she suddenly thought she was
Ranma and . . . had her episode," Megumi said and saw the matching stoic
expressions on Asuka-san and Ayanami-san, "Pilots Davis and Tendo can block
it out, but they're both off on a mission," Megumi added. It all makes
sense, Megumi thought, No wonder they had to leave the ball game.
Ranma-san must have had a similar episode when he caught that ball. They
must be able to draw on each other's energies. That's how they can both do
such amazing things. Megumi glanced at the two silent pilots, virtually
mirror images of each others coloring, but exact duplication of their
expressions. I wonder who _else_ knows? Megumi considered.
Asuka-san opened her mouth, shut it again, glared at Ayanami-san.
"They are not telepaths," Ayanami-san said levelly, "I can neither
confirm nor deny the rest of your speculation."
Asuka-san looked like she was about to have an attack of apoplexy.
"I know, I can't tell anybody," she assured them, "You'd probably
shoot me and anyone I told," she said, tried to laugh to lighten the mood,
it didn't work. She didn't want to lose her link to the pilots. That they
were rich and didn't mind sharing was a tiny part of it. They were all
genuinely nice kids, as odd as they all were, she liked being around them.
As much as they argued they seemed like a family. Also Megumi had seen
more than enough of the Angels, anything she could do to help the `war
effort` she do welcome eagerly.
"Poison is preferred," Ayanami-san said, "Quieter, harder to trace.
Others might torture you for what you believe you know."
"I understand," Megumi said. She glanced at Ranko-san. "Poor thing,"
she said with real sympathy, "I dreamt I was a car once, the dream seemed
_so_ real." She frowned at the memory. "I must have cried out in my
sleep, because my brother, or maybe Skuld, made tire tracks in the tea
room. That wasn't the least bit funny. Has this happened before?"
"It isn't happening now," Asuka-san warned, friendly-like, with all
the teeth of NERV and the U.S. military lurking behind it.
Megumi nodded, she got the message loud and clear. "Well, you're
partially recovered," Megumi joked, "Ayanami-san suggested that you might
need to talk to someone."
"Really?" Asuka-san asked, stared at Ayanami-san the way Skuld
sometimes stared at Urd. Megumi could practically see the lightning bolts
passing between them as Ayanami-san stared back.
Yep, Megumi thought, Just like sisters.
"What page and section is that from?" Asuka-san asked, smiling all the
while.
Smiles like that, Megumi thought, Should come with evacuation routes
attached.
"It was a synthesis from several sections and subsections,
specifically the bicycles," Ayanami-san replied smoothly, then considered,
"You should thank me properly, would you prefer a cleaver, or a baseball
bat?"
"I think I'll feed you some of Misato's sushi," Asuka-san said
sweetly. Megumi started edging her chair back out of the away.
"I dislike meat," Ayanami-san replied. Then she clasped her hands
together and placed them against her cheek. "She is so cute when she's
angry," she said in her unexcited voice. Megumi wondered when the
explosion was coming, diving out the window was becoming an attractive
option.
"Believe me," Asuka-san continued in a thoroughly disgusted tone,
"After she gets through with it, it isn't meat, or fish. It's charcoal."
"Uh . . . Asuka-san," Megumi said carefully, she didn't want to set
off either girl, "Sushi is served raw."
"Yes," Asuka-san said calmly, "I know."
"oh," Megumi said in a small voice, adding that to the list of things
she really didn't want to know. She noticed the byplay had calmed
Ranko-san down, and that Samantha-san had left to get Ranko-san a shirt or
something to cover up. Carter-san remained close and on guard.
"She is having welding problems," Ayanami-san reminded her as she left
the table.
"Oh, welding's easy," Asuka-san said with real enthusiasm, as
Ayanami-san returned with paper and several pencils.
Megumi got a lecture on welding she suspected was better and more
thorough than anything K-1 or the motor club ever got from their teachers
at the college.
----------------------------------------
Fire Burn And Cauldron Bubble
Samantha-san and Carter-san finally released and finished clothing
Ranko-san. Megumi's head was still spinning from all the facts about
welding Asuka-san had poured in there.
"Hi, Megumi-chan. Sorry about this," Ranko-san told her as she bowed.
"I can imagine. I've had . . . a few weird experiences myself. Some
that couldn't possibly have happened, but they seemed really real while I
was in the middle of them," Megumi told Ranko-san, smiled at her, "I'm glad
to have finally met you. I can't wait to meet Tendo-san and Davis-san, I
bet they're special to you."
"Uh, yeah," Ranko-san responded, blushing furiously and completely
flustered.
Big sister and a lot more than a big brother, Megumi thought and hid
her smile. She didn't want to further embarrass the girl. Megumi
remembered her first schoolgirl crush.
"Oh, they are so scary," Ayanami-san said in a flat tone, as if ready
for a speech, then she stared intently at the far wall.
Megumi started laughing, the others joined in. "Okay, I get it
Ayanami-san. That's pretty funny. I think you and Ikari-san should ignore
what people say. I'll tell Belldandy the truth."
"Please don't," Ayanami-san said, it wasn't a plea, but it might be
like one.
"I don't understand," Megumi admitted.
"Someone else is handling it," Ranko-san said.
"Oh," Megumi said, not really understanding at all, but understanding
she didn't _want_ to know.
With Shinji and Tomiyo arriving back with the supplies, Megumi left
with them to work on the bicycles at her brother's shop. A construction
team had already replaced the door.
----------------------------------------
Asuka watched Megumi leave, and Wondergirl returned. Asuka wasn't
sure what part of her plan asking Megumi over had been, but she had felt
better after helping the girl with a solvable technical problem.
Asuka walked over to Horseface. "If this is some stupid trick to play
on my sympathy," she told the distraught martial artist, "It's a cheap
ploy, and it won't work."
"You think I'm doing this on purpose?" Horseface shouted, as she stood
and confronted Asuka.
"It proves you aren't a girl," Asuka said coldly, "You should be happy
about that. If you were a girl, getting stuck as one for a little while
wouldn't be such a hardship."
"I didn't do this!" Horseface insisted.
"I didn't step on anyone's yard," Asuka replied, "And I got a week's
house arrest for making a joke. Don't tell _me_ there's no justice in the
world." Asuka turned and started to walk away. She stopped and said in a
strange voice, "Nyogtha ever-fluid, ever-changing, possessed of such
characteristics . . . the host embodied these peculiarities already." She
shook her head, turned back to the others as if ready to speak, then ran
down the stairs to her room.
----------------------------------------
Ranma stood there staring, Asuka had changed for a moment. Ranma had
always recognized people by how they moved. The person had been Asuka, but
. . . more. As the Meliorist was Asuka but more, this person had been a
thousand kilometers down that same road. Then Asuka had returned, and was
terrified by the sudden change.
"I said, 'What have you tried'?" Sammi asked, shaking Ranma out of her
analysis.
Ranma looked at Sammi, there she saw something, something not human.
Ranma shook herself, it had been nonhuman, but not whatever Ranma had felt
when Asuka had spoken. Ranma didn't quite know what either had been, but
she knew neither were completely what a human was. She wished that
Nab-chan and Raccoon were here, she wanted to be with them. Somehow they
could get her out of this mess, get her some answers. "Never mind, it's
not important," Ranma said, "Sorry to bother you." The redhead walked
away, headed down the stairway. She had so much to think about. Both what
Asuka had said, and all that happened to both of them when she said it.
"Answer my question."
"I'm sure I can still pilot," Ranma told her. She suspected that
Sammi would charge after her.
Instead she overheard Erin's whisper. "We blew it a few days ago.
Now _we_ have to prove we can be trusted . . . unless you want to go
Misato's route."
Even Ranma shuddered at that.
"Okay, we blew it," Sammi said as Ranma eavesdropped, "Who do we hit
to make it right?"
Ranma frowned at that.
"I've always wanted an excuse to beat up Ikari senior," Erin joked,
"Okay, right after lunch -."
Ranma lost the rest when she closed the door to her room. Her head
hurt from all the weird stuff going on.
----------------------------------------
The ringing phone interrupted the two women's discussion. "Yes,"
Sammi said into the hand set.
"Good, Miss Kraznyzamok," Captain Ramsey, "If Miss Carter is there,
please relay this to her as well. We have some VIPs who want to meet with
the pilots this evening. Have the pilots at the shooting range at 20:00
hours. It might be a late night, so have them get some rest during the
day."
"Are you sending over any drums of sedatives?" Sammi asked.
"No, just concrete and hammers," Ramsey replied.
"I hope they don't want to meet Ranma, Ranko won't tell us where he's
gone."
"I see," Ramsey said, "I'll send some people over. I knew things were
going too smoothly." He broke the connection.
Smoothly he says, Sammi complained silently. "Nothing's gone
smoothly," she added.
"Relax," Erin told her, "Being tense won't help. Besides, Nabiki and
Jeff are going to get that Angel, or are getting it as we speak. If we're
having `bad luck`, once that tension is relieved, maybe things will start
going smoothly for us. Remember, neither Ranma nor Asuka will admit it,
but their best friends, both untested warriors, are out there doing
something both Asuka and Ranma privately feel they could do better. Once
they get word those two are safe and on their way home, things will get
better."
"From your mouth to God's ears. Although I doubt it."
----------------------------------------
Asuka walked into Horseface's room with a tray of equipment, and
Wondergirl following. She set the tray next to the bed `she` was in. The
ersatz girl was sprawled face down in it, watering the pillows.
"Don't you knock?" Horseface asked without lifting her head off the
pillows.
"Sure, 'knock, knock; Megorofeld-chan go away!' I just didn't feel
like going through all those steps." She set up the stand she'd carried on
the tray, then the alcohol burner, a collection of thermometers and a
clipboard, then she left again with the tray. She noted Horseface's glance
at all the thermometers as Wondergirl examined them closely, one at a time.
Asuka headed to the kitchen to get the pot of water that was gently boiling
on the stove. She nodded to Miss Carter, but said nothing. She wasn't in
the mood to talk to her, and since the conversations invariably turned to
the subject of the 'incident', which she didn't want to talk to _anyone_
about. She had more than ample reason to get her burden and get out. She
carried the pot back downstairs and headed into Horseface's room. The
he-in-she's-clothing was running `her` hand over the flame while Wondergirl
watched closely.
Typical, Asuka thought, Give him a destructive opportunity, and he
takes it.
"I thought it had to be wet to have any effect," Asuka said. She was
surprised she'd surprised Horseface.
"Oh - it's - just - I - thought - "
"Alcohol has a hydroxyl group, so you might get some hot water from
the flame, but not enough." She set the pot on the burner's stand and took
the lid off, releasing a cloud of steam.
"I don't want to parboil myself!" Horseface retreated off the far
side of the bed.
"Relax, stupid, water is the easiest way to get _a_ high, uniform
temperature. Boiling water is 373 K, and stays there until all the water
boils away. Besides, I bet you only tried water." She removed a pair of
tongs from her skirt pocket. She didn't want to admit to Horseface what an
intriguing problem this was. She knew that Horseface had probably done
something dumb. Now it was up to her to a) figure out what it was, and b)
fix it. She doubted anyone except Dr. Akagi or Raccoon could do as good a
job. She also strongly suspected that Horseface was doing this to get
attention. She disliked the manipulation, but she also figured that
Horseface had messed up whatever he had originally planned to do. She
could get plenty of revenge by rescuing him from his own stupidity.
I hate to admit it, Asuka thought, But Wondergirl was right, being
`nice` to him while he's expecting me to destroy him _is_ a lot of fun.
She extracted a jar from the slowly boiling pot. "Finger here, now,
quick in and out, it's very hot. Wondergirl get a cup of cold water to
cool off . . . its finger to prevent burns."
Wondergirl headed off to the bathroom while Horseface made a quick
stab, long enough for the transformation to occur, if it was going to
occur.
"Okay, no effect vegetable oil. Next is salt water," she told
Horseface as she removed another jar.
"What did you do?" Asuka asked Horseface after Wondergirl had seated
herself next to him/her/it on the bed, she held out a cup of cold water.
"Water - coming out of the tap - it was actually hot," Horseface said
as her, definitely her, composure cracked, she added in gasps, "I checked -
I really did!"
"What happened?" Wondergirl asked quietly, "Exactly and in order."
"Well," Horseface sniffled, "I woke up as a girl, and decided to
change back. But the hot water didn't work!" she ended in a wail. "I'm
stuck this way!"
It was all Asuka could do to keep her teeth from grinding. Once
again, Horseface was beating them all over the head with the inferiority of
girls, the tragedy of the `curse`. Maybe Raccoon treating it as only a
joke we were playing on him, Asuka thought, _Is_ the best way. He takes
serious discussion of it with forced politeness. Rather than taking
offense.
"Hypothesis: the Fourth's actions demand punishment. He retreated
into female form to avoid criticism," Wondergirl told them.
"Well, if Horseface is feeling persecuted, then why take `Ranko's`
form which he hates?" Asuka asked Wondergirl, while she pulled the jars out
of the hot pot and held them out for Horseface to stick a finger in. "The
punishment doesn't fit the perceived crime."
"Guilt results in strange actions," Wondergirl added, "Without escape
or admission of error, while criticism remains. Retreat. The punishment
becomes self-inflicted. No one else judges."
Asuka wasn't dismissive of the whole idea. It made sense. Horseface
refused to admit the error, and kept the punishment internal.
"So, I'm doing it to myself?" Horseface asked.
"If that's the case, then it's psychosomatic," Asuka said.
"I didn't do anything somatic!" Horseface shouted back.
Asuka had no idea what `she` meant. "Maybe you should just stay that
way! Learn what it feels like!" Asuka shouted back at `her`. I'm losing
my temper, but . . . , Asuka thought, glanced at Wondergirl staring at her
instead of Horseface, But, he makes me so mad. Fine you win, Wondergirl,
again!
"Well, I don't want to disagree with you two," Asuka said, "Having
Wondergirl on the warpath is bad enough without also adding Horseface.
It's no wonder Ranma's hiding."
"I'm not afraid of anything," Horseface stood up and announced
"Except cats," Asuka and Wondergirl chorused.
Horseface shivered at the word, his ailurophobia was less, but not
gone. "Yeah, well maybe . . . cats," she sheepishly admitted, shuddering
at the dreaded word.
"Well, at least that's something," Asuka said quietly. As she held
out another pot of hot liquid for Horseface to dip into.
----------------------------------------
Several minutes later they were done. "Bleach: no, three kinds of
cooking oil: no, motor oil: no, salt water: no, ammonia: no, ethyl alcohol:
no, methyl alcohol: no, fish oil: no, beef tallow: no, paraffin: no,
gasoline: no. Well, if it was a chemical change in what triggered your
curse, I can't find a new trigger with just household chemicals. So, do we
go back to bed, or continue with this glorious day?" Asuka asked,
Wondergirl and Horseface glared at her.
"Well, that answers that question." She made a show of burnt fingers
as she collected the jars and thermometers.
"I'm going back to bed." Horseface laid back and covered her head
with a pillow. "Thanks," Horseface murmured.
"I'm trying my best," Asuka shot back angrily, yanking the pillow
away, "How am I expected to accomplish anything under these conditions?!"
"I was trying to say _THANK_YOU_!_"
"Who _wants_ your thanks?! I'm trying to do my job!" Asuka shouted in
Horseface's face as she gripped her collar and shook the martial artist,
"Without Dr. Akagi here, who else is going to make sure you are still
combat capable?"
"Is now the time to kiss and admit your love?" Asuka didn't know who
looked more nauseated by Wondergirl's question, her or Horseface.
"No Wondergirl, here's where I give him a tanto, a white robe and tell
him to do the honorable thing. Since girls are weak and helpless, little
things who are only good for birthing sons. Horseface must end the pain of
her tortured and useless existence."
"You're choking me!" Horseface croaked. Asuka dropped `her` back on
the bed.
"I will get paper and brush for the death haiku, before you kill -
her," Wondergirl said as she left.
"See, we all just want to help." Asuka left Horseface to his/her
troubles, leaving the room with the pot and burner. She headed back to the
kitchen with them. While she dumped out the jars into the kitchen sink,
she thought about the possibility that Horseface was doing this to punish
himself. It's a good play, she thought, Only a few people know Ranma is
Ranko. The pilots know and so does the staff. But the offense took place
among the pilots, _to_ a female. The problem is, that this requires a
certain amount of magical manipulation. I don't think he could manage.
And Raccoon isn't likely to do something like this. She glanced around at
the two guards at the table. Then comes the problem of how to reverse the
situation, she thought. She rinsed her hands and headed back downstairs.
If this is to get me to forgive him . . . or is he hiding because he
is just feeling picked on, his denials not withstanding, she considered,
They don't tell us what the truth is. Asuka sighed. More problems, she
thought.
"So what _are_ you here for?" she asked Wondergirl, who waited at the
base of the stairs. Wondergirl consulted her notebook.
Oh God in Heaven! Not her _PLAN_ again! Asuka thought. "Wondergirl I
- "
"Major Katsuragi suggested mad, passionate sex," Wondergirl told her,
"Should I bring Shinji-kun here, or should I use the Major's toys?"
Wondergirl stared at her, as if expecting an answer anytime in the next
century.
Asuka suddenly realized that while Misato _might_ have suggested such
a thing, especially in her drunken state, Wondergirl was _not_ seriously
suggesting carrying out the advice. I _pray_ she's not serious, Asuka
thought hopefully. "How do you come up with this stuff?" Asuka asked.
Wondergirl flipped through the pages. Asuka wondered if running away
was even an option, considering how fast Wondergirl could run. Wondergirl
examined an entry, decided against it and selected another. "I like to
watch."
Asuka decided that she wanted no more to do with this conversation,
its implications or its initiator.
"Are you aggravated?" Wondergirl asked, as Asuka walked away.
"No, terrified," Asuka said, more frantic page flipping. Asuka headed
for her bedroom, Wondergirl walked beside her.
"A selection of German drinking songs?"
"No, Wondergirl."
"The complete history of bird watching?"
"No, Wondergirl."
"Selected passages from the Book of Numbers." Wondergirl peered at
the entry. "You enjoy math."
"The Book of Numbers is not about _math_!_" Asuka stopped and shouted
at Wondergirl.
"It is about multiplication."
Asuka threw up her hands in frustration. "Yes! I'm aggravated! Are
you happy?" Asuka shouted at Wondergirl, she was considering punching the
girl.
More page turning. "That is my line."
"Is that whole book dedicated to 'making me angry so I can be happy'?"
Asuka asked, she could barely restrain herself from grabbing the book from
Wondergirl, and tearing it into confetti.
"And this one, and this one, and this one, and half of this one,"
Wondergirl said as she removed other notebooks from her skirt pocket.
"And you've covered every possibility?" Asuka was horrified.
"I believe so."
Asuka pinned Wondergirl against the door to her room, pressing her
body against Ikari's robot. She was a little disgusted that Wondergirl
blushed and wriggled at the contact. "So if I say I want you. I've never
seen a girl so perfect and beautiful." She stroked Wondergirl's hair.
"That my lips hunger for yours." She ran a finger down her neck. "That my
soul longs for perfect union with you," Asuka said as quietly and tenderly
as she could manage while being thoroughly disgusted by Wondergirl's
reactions to it all, "What would you say to that?" She slipped her arms
around Wondergirl's waist, as the robot stared first into her eyes, then
over her shoulder.
Flip. Flip. Flip. Suddenly Wondergirl dropped all the notebooks and
grabbed Asuka's head with both hands and pressed their lips tightly
together. Asuka struggled to break lose before Wondergirl did something
really weird with her tongue. Behind her she heard Horseface's door slam.
OH CRAP! Asuka thought as Wondergirl released her, she was embarrassed
by how she'd felt with Wondergirl kissing her. She had never considered
Wondergirl could react to anything with that kind of passion.
"It was that, or 'take a number'," Wondergirl explained, "Was that the
correct selection?"
"Don't do that again!" Asuka wiped her mouth. She wondered if
Wondergirl had ever done that with Spineless, and if so, how he survived.
Wondergirl pulled yet another notebook from her pocket, and a pencil
stub. "Subject extremely agitated by openly expressed affection." She
underlined it after she'd written it and crossed off several other entries.
Asuka was about to tell Wondergirl that _girls_ didn't act that way,
but remembered some Japanese schoolgirls did. She shook her head. "So
what if I told you I wanted to watch you and Spineless perform?"
"According to the Major, I would make sexual suggestions, I believe,
instead, I should return here with Shinji-kun, Yumiwashi and our
instruments."
Asuka narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "You didn't look at your
notebooks," Asuka commented as neutrally as she could, the books scattered
behind her. She was still intensely uncomfortable both with Wondergirl's
impassioned kiss, and her own reaction to it. She was glad it wasn't her
first kiss. That would be _too_ embarrassing, she thought, If I was
suspicious, I'd say Wondergirl set this all up, just to have an excuse to
kiss me. But this is _Ikari's_robot_ I'm talking about!
"I have memorized all the contingencies and the decision trees
involved."
"Then why were you referencing the pages all the time?" Asuka was
mystified.
"Because - "
"Because it aggravates me." Asuka completed the thought and hung her
head. "Thank you, Wondergirl. I am thoroughly angry now. Excellent work
as always."
Wondergirl leaned down and picked up one notebook and flipped through
it. She looked up from her squatting position. "Then can I have a kiss?"
Anyone else would have made it sound plaintive, not Wondergirl, she sounded
like she was reading.
Asuka shoved Wondergirl over with her foot, then walked through her
door and slammed it behind her. She quickly slipped a chair under the knob
to block it closed.
"Is that a yes?" Wondergirl quietly called through the door.
"AUUUGGGH!" Asuka screamed at whoever or whatever had set Wondergirl
to piddling on her entire existence. That Wondergirl's plan was working
well, made her angry which . . .
"This hurts me more than it hurts you," Wondergirl called quietly
through the door.
Asuka wondered if strangling the girl and throwing her off the
building was a viable option.
----------------------------------------
The Magnificat Is Not A Feline
Ranma walked through the streets of Tokyo, as a girl. Nothing he'd
been able to do had returned him to his male form. That Asuka and Rei
thought it was all some kind of trick, galled him. As if I'd do something
like that, he fumed.
But water so hot it burned and ice had no effect on anything, nor had
anything Langley-the-Brain had tried. He stayed looking like a girl, he
wondered if there was some higher force specifically messing up his life
just to amuse itself. Come down here where I can get my hands on you, he
thought, We'll see how funny it all is. The infuriating thing was that it
_had_ had one good effect. Asuka no longer ran away from him at every
opportunity. Although is getting beaten up and yelled at _really_ an
improvement? he wondered. Sadly, he thought it was. The idea of Ranma
trapped as a girl had pried the other redhead a little way out of her
shell. Although all she admitted was . . . Ranma abandoned that thought,
it was too painful.
"Saotome-san!" Ranma heard, he turned to see Hiro, Misato's
boyfriend, walking towards him in a nice suit, carrying a briefcase. "I'm
glad I caught up with you. I want to tell you the good news, well, I've
got some great news and I'd like to share it with someone."
Ranma was pleased that _anyone_ had anything to be happy about. One
reason he'd left the apartment to go walking was all of them had gotten so
grim, it was as if all the light and laughter had been sucked out of their
lives.
"Takemono-san - "
"You can call me Hiro," the man said, smiled, more than his usual
scar-induced grin, "Everybody does, when they aren't calling me fat-head,
lazy-bones, ash-sniffer, or just plain stupid."
Ranma smirked at that. "What do you know about Ranma?"
Hiro considered as they walked. "Well, there's his official
biography, but much beyond that is all speculation. I don't even know
exactly whether you're his sister, his cousin, or if you aren't blood
relatives at all. But I did do a fair amount of digging, heaped on top of
some speculations." He stopped and opened the briefcase he'd been
carrying. "One thing I did, was from the way both of you speak, there's a
lot of Chinese and Korean influences to your word choices and phrasing."
"How'd you know that?" Ranma asked. He'd also noticed that `she`
wasn't getting the lewd glances from Hiro that `Ranko` often got from most
males. That at least was reassuring.
"I was a radio expert, I could decipher accents, even do them myself.
Trying to sound like an American or British soldier or officer, I got
pretty good at hearing the accents of their troops, and ours. So, I figure
either you two grew up around Japanese speakers in China, which isn't
really likely. Or you two grew up on the coast near the Tsushima strait
where there's a lot of fishing villages and trade going on. From your hair
color and both of your eye colors, I would guess you've both got foreigners
somewhere in your bloodlines. Probably back to the Tokugawa era, rather
than the time after Commander Perry and the Meiji Restoration, because it
was more looked down on than back in the Tokugawa era. So that also points
to sea coast or trading port ancestry. Your name: Saotome, means
Rice-Planting Girl, that would mean farms. So I and a few agents of mine -
"
"Agents?" Ranma asked.
"People hired to do a job, a show business term from the States,
sorry," Hiro explained, "They aren't cloak and dagger spies, although they
were spying on someone." He located what he'd been looking for in his
case. "Take a look at this." He handed Ranma a photo, a 3"x5" color print
of a man, who could have been Ranma's older brother, except he had the
deepest green eyes Ranma had ever seen.
"Who is this?" Ranma was fascinated.
"Saotome Eiji, he's a fisherman in Fukuoka. Before the surrender, he
used to help occasionally at his brother's dojo, where they taught Kempo."
Ranma couldn't breathe, he almost couldn't see, the blood seemed to be
rushing around him, doing little good for either his muscles or his brains.
I might have family, these might be my family, I might have family, these
might be my family, I might have family, these might be my family, I might
have family, these might be my family, I might have family, these might be
my family, I might have family, these might be my family -
"Ranko!" Hiro had his shoulders and was shouting at him. "Breathe
occasionally. Good, I thought I'd lost you."
Ranma was breathing, the enormity of what Hiro had just told him
dwarfed everything else that had happened lately. Everything around him
was still spinning.
"I thought I lost you there for a second," Hiro said, releasing him.
Ranma noticed he hadn't tried to grope `her`, as some others would.
I'm getting as fearful as Asuka! he thought. "That could be my family!" he
insisted.
"Ranko," Hiro said soothingly, "These are just speculations. I could
be wrong about it, about all of it. From what I've been able to get out of
Admiral Simson and Commander Ikari, nobody knows who your family is, who
you are."
"Then why'd you look into this?" Ranma asked. It has to be them, it's
just too perfect, it's just so right! It feels right! It _sounds_ right!
he thought desperately, felt the world shifting beneath him, as if some
great machine was offering to offset everything bad that had happened, as
if the scales of his karma were balancing. He'd done something bad, now he
was sincerely trying to make up for it, and they awarded him with something
good. All those thoughts raced through his mind.
"That's what I wanted to celebrate about," Hiro said as he replaced
the photo in the briefcase and closed it up. "I got permission from the
Admiral and the Commander to put a team together to do a documentary about
you pilots."
"Us?" Ranma asked, he'd never heard anything more ridiculous in his
life. "Who'd want to hear about us? Fighting the Angels, yeah, my Martial
Arts, yeah. Asuka's college, maybe her engineering, but that's it."
"That isn't it," Hiro assured him, "They want to know all about you,
how you feel about what you're doing. What your home lives are like, how
you get along with your fellow pilots, that kind of thing," he spoke
rapidly as though he'd never get the words all out in time.
Ranma could see how excited he was. "Uh, now might not be the best
time," he admitted.
"I said they'd let me assemble a team. I know, I know, they'll censor
and massage anything I put together. That's okay, at least we'll show the
world the Japanese film industry isn't completely dead, that we have
directors that could stand up to Ford, or DeMille."
"Yeah?" Ranma asked, he was beginning to think Hiro-san was pulling
his leg, "Who?"
"Well, the director we're going to have lunch with is my first choice.
He did a version of the 47 Ronin during the war, and he actually managed to
make it a protest against the policies and the censorship of that time. If
anyone can slip the real story out, while not appearing to, it's him."
Hiro stopped, took a breath, "So, are you up for lunch? My treat?"
"Sure," Ranma said, he never turned down free food, and if this
director was so smart, maybe he could help unravel the problems Ranma was
having at home.
----------------------------------------
Shinji watched the Senators `grilling` Misato-san. He hoped he'd
never have to remember any of his missions in this kind of detail. He did
notice it was more like a final exam than anything else. They were
relentless, but they were drawing out answers, then they would ask the same
question a different way a few minutes later. They would pounce on any
inconsistencies and mercilessly question which statement was accurate.
While it was confrontational, they seemed to be searching for the facts,
rather than getting ready to trying to prepare a case against her.
He did wonder where Rei-chan was, she'd told him she had some
'reinforcing' to do. He still didn't understand what she meant, but after
the incident with Ranma being stuck as a girl, it could mean anything.
He wondered if it had anything to do with the questioning Rei-chan had
given him and Tomiyo about Asuka, then she'd asked Misato-san similar
questions about Asuka. She'd written down all the answers and gone home.
He didn't know if he should warn Asuka about it, especially Misato-san's
advice, which was universally lewd, or just ignore it. Rei-chan seemed to
be acting very strange about Asuka lately.
When will things ever get less crazy? he wondered as the Senators
called a recess. Misato looked close to tears as she sat with her counsel.
He hated seeing her like this. Something Hiro had said kept coming back to
him. 'Does someone push you away to avoid pain, or because they need to
know you'll stay with them?' He also thought of all the questions about
Asuka being angry or irritated that Rei-chan had asked both of them. He
decided he should walk down to Misato and . . . say or do . . . something.
He just didn't know what.
Don't' be so spineless, Spineless! Just _do_something_!_ Anything!
You'll screw it up anyway, so it doesn't matter what! Asuka's voice in his
mind shouted at him. Thanks for the vote of confidence, he thought back.
"What are you sorry about? Are you all right?" Tomiyo asked him, "You
looked like you'd been shot, then you apologized."
"I heard Asuka yelling at me," Shinji admitted.
"So you apologized by reflex. I think you're imagining things. She's
loud, but not that loud," Tomiyo assured him.
"Where's the coffee?" Shinji asked, he'd made a decision about what to
do. Well, Rei-chan's asking about angering Asuka, he thought, smirked at
that, She even asked me to help aggravate Asuka. And I survived, would
Misato-san be any worse?
----------------------------------------
Ranma had enjoyed the lunch, and the conversation. The director that
Hiro had been so enthused about had been useful. Ranma wasn't sure he was
happy about his new abilities to talk about and around a subject. Using
`Ranko` as an independent and third-person reporter of events had also been
useful. "Does the universe hate me or something?" he asked.
"Just because someone spilled ice water and hot tea on you . . .
doesn't really mean the universe is out to get you," Hiro said, then
stopped, "At least I don't think so. Why didn't you just dodge them?
Supposedly you can dodge arrows, a little water shouldn't be a problem."
"I can't dodge water! Okay!" Ranma shouted at him, more angry at his
failures than at Hiro. You'd think now that I'm stuck as a girl, he
thought, This problem would go away.
"It's okay," Hiro said, backing away, "It makes you a more interesting
character. Perfection is boring. Too bad you and Ranma don't do anything
really weird, that would be great. Asuka's got her problems and
weaknesses, Davis has a boat load of them, Nabiki watched her family die,
and Ayanami-san, she's got to have a lot of secrets."
"But I'm perfect," Ranma said despondently. Why does the idea of
people thinking I'm perfect _bug_ me so much? he asked himself.
"Aside from the manners and the water, and the fact you act more like
a boy than a girl," Hiro said, "No offense."
"None taken," Ranma said, relaxed a bit. At least _somebody_ thinks I
act like a boy, Ranma enjoyed that thought, reveled in it.
"If you're worried about the truth of who you are getting out," Hiro
said, "If it doesn't make it into the documentary, he'll probably put it in
a movie."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"Maybe he'll make a western. Or maybe make a samurai movie."
"With all _SEVEN_ of us?" Ranma asked, not hiding his disbelief, "I
can't imagine that." Ranma started walking again.
"Well, if any director could pull it off, Akira-san can." Hiro headed
off in another direction.
----------------------------------------
"Hello Misato-san," Shinji said, as he approached with a tray and
several coffee cups. He could feel Tomiyo's eyes boring a hole in the back
of his head. What's she going to do? Kill me? he silently asked his
guard, You're supposed to prevent that. He set two of the three coffees he
carried before Misato-san and her counselor.
"What are you doing here?" Misato-san stammered.
"The hearings are open to NERV personnel, and I wanted to see what was
happening," he admitted.
"Thank you," Misato-san's legal counsel, a man from the JAG office,
said in English after sipping the coffee, "This is delicious."
"Has anyone else come?" Misato-san looked around in a panic.
"Rei-san," he said, then added in a disapproving tone, "The others
aren't interested. I'd think Nabiki-kun and Raccoon would insist on being
here to support you." He smiled. Misato-san seemed confused, the JAG
officer just rolled his eyes and savored the coffee.
"I wish you hadn't come." Misato-san picked up the coffee, took a
sip. Shinji kept his smiling expression as Misato-san reacted to the cold,
too sweetened, battery acid tasting coffee. "Dulack phagh!"
"I could add more sugar," Shinji offered. But I don't think any more
would dissolve, he didn't add. He was sweating as Misato-san stared at
him, but he kept smiling. "See, there are things worse than being
questioned by the Senators," Shinji suggested, "I think they are looking
for something. As soon as you can give it to them, they'll go home and you
can return to your duties."
Misato-san was still trying to get her tongue to respond to the
assault Shinji's coffee had laid on it. Shinji picked up the coffee he'd
given to Misato, set down the other cup in front of her. This one was the
same as the JAG Officer's, drinkable. He smiled and walked away, Tomiyo
fell in behind him.
"Walk faster," Tomiyo warned, "As soon as she can speak again, she's
going to tell everyone you tried to poison her."
"I didn't," Shinji protested, but picked up the pace anyway. He
wondered if he could duplicate that coffee for when Misato-san returned
home tonight and was drunk again. He suspected he could get
Megorofeld-chan's help and possibly Rei-chan's in the `proper` formulation.
----------------------------------------
Sammi knew that lunch would have drawn Ranko back out of her room, but
she had slipped out before lunch and hadn't been found until the late
afternoon. This late arrival led to a discussion about how to deal with
the possibility of Ranko being female for a while: Clothes, feminine
hygiene, etc. Sammi could see Rei was quietly enjoying listening in. She
also noted that Asuka was actually being fairly kind and supportive of the
neo-girl. Although she did look like she was doing herself an injury by
not pounding `Ranko` or mercilessly teasing the hapless Martial Artist.
Sammi didn't eavesdrop, and while Asuka never said it openly, she
deflected any comment from either Sammi or Erin. Oh so politely, Sammi
thought, I don't have to guess about that. My senses are good enough to
pick up all the whispered comments without appearing to eavesdrop. Sammi
knew she probably deserved that anger, but the sudden complete lack of
confidence in both her and Erin, not just from Asuka, but from Rei and
Ranko as well, it hurt. Sammi felt very alone in the room. Asuka had been
learning too, she'd mastered the Japanese tactic of the infinitely polite
brush off.
"The problem is the Fourth does not know these behaviors," Rei
commented, "And must understand the underlying purpose. I find this
curious."
"I'm glad you are being entertained, Wondergirl," Asuka said sweetly,
"But you really are saying to me, that I have to tell _him_ how to wipe his
- nose."
"Among other things." Rei nodded. Ranko looked like she wanted to
crawl _under_ the rug.
"Look," Asuka said tiredly, "It's a question of keeping things clean.
Surely Dr. Akagi explained this to you."
"Yeah, I just didn't listen too much. I figured I'd be a guy again
soon enough. So . . . I . . . " Ranko fell silent at the force of Asuka's
glare.
"You - mean - you - already - know - all - of - this?" Asuka asked so
carefully, Sammi could practically hear the mayhem that was coming.
"Uh, um," Ranko said while desperately glancing around for some escape
route, "I sorta forgot, but you reminded me."
"Do you want to remember how eating all your meals through a straw
feels?" Asuka asked as she stood up. Her politeness had all been used up.
Rei stood up and moved, apparently to be out of the path of
destruction. Except she brushed her hip against Asuka's. "There are
Misato's toys," Rei offered.
All the color momentarily drained from Asuka's face as she stared at
Rei, who stared back for a moment.
"Run," Rei said to Ranko, then stared at Asuka again.
Ranko didn't pass go or collect $200, she probably did pass the sound
barrier and collected the land speed record.
"The Fourth is necessary for the Commander's plan," Rei explained, "Do
you no longer fear `him`?"
Asuka drew a breath to shout, then paused with a confused look on her
face. Rei stood and stared, and waited, apparently content to remain that
way until the sun went out. The only sign she hadn't been petrified on the
spot, was the occasional blinking of her eyes.
Asuka's face on the other hand, was more then mobile enough for both
of them. Her expression changed from confusion to fury to sadness, the full
gambit of emotions she usually displayed, and a few she rarely did. All a
symptom of the debate raging inside.
Finally, Asuka threw her hands up in the air. "Wondergirl I hate
you!" she shouted as she stormed down the stairs and into her room,
slamming the door to remind everyone she was angry.
Rei stood rooted to the spot for a moment. The ghost of a smile
flickered across her face as she turned to follow Ranko.
"Do you have any idea what just happened?" Erin asked.
"I think `Wondergirl` just plumbed the depths of Mein
Grossfeldmarschall, and really likes what she found."
"God help them both," Erin said. Sammi hoped that would be enough.
----------------------------------------
Trust Is Stronger Than Friction
Ranma, Ranko, she corrected herself, was seated on top of the
apartment. She'd come up here for evening practice, not just to get away
from a furious Asuka, but she didn't feel like practicing Martial Arts.
That was a new experience. Martial Arts was always the one thing that
Ranma, and Ranko, could turn to to gain comfort and stability in a
seemingly insane world. Except Asuka said that my always referring to
Martial Arts is why they don't trust me. They figure I can beat them up,
or steal their money . . . or other things . . . anytime I give myself
permission, Ranko thought, It's not fair. Raccoon's a killer, `Wondergirl`
too, if she ever got the chance. Why isn't anybody afraid of them? Why
aren't I?
The crunch of the gravel behind her drew her attention back to the
here-and-now. "Yes, Rei, what do you want?"
"To see the Commander's plan for this war through to success. To
marry Shinji-kun, raise many healthy children and grandchildren with him as
we grow old together. I have come here to demonstrate Mein
Grossfeldmarschall's favorite game, in hopes that you will understand her
better. It is called catch."
Ranko was too stunned, by the long and heartfelt speech, to keep Rei
from tossing her off the building. Ranko quickly reasserted control, only
to realize Rei had thrown her _UP_ rather than out, and she was still
moving up. Seventy-five meters easy! Ranko thought as she slowed, Okay, 90
meters, plus the eight stories, not enough for me to go splat when I hit,
but enough it is really going to hurt when I hit. I thought catch was a
game played with softballs, she thought, then she landed on a smooth,
invisible surface. She slid along the slope as she tried to get a purchase
on the slippery, featureless and invisible surface. She'd long ago figured
out that a major part of the Art she knew was staying in the air as long as
possible. She doubted this was what was intended. She reached a wall,
made of the same invisible substance, which stopped her slide, rather
abruptly. With her head ringing from the impact, she noted the entire
article was tilting downward. Ranko searched her memory, she'd seen an
object moving like this, and Rei had been with Ranma when he'd seen it.
"PINball!" Ranko cried as she accelerated upward, the sudden force
making movement or shouting almost impossible. She more than made up for
the last as she sailed free of the `flipper` and sojourned through the
upper airs, at a continuously diminishing speed. She knew it would only be
a matter of too short a time, before small became negative, and she headed
_down_ again.
As the down started, she encountered a long curving slide that twisted
this way and that. But it was still heading generally down. The end
curved sharply up, and although Ranko clawed at the edges, she couldn't get
a decent grip. She flew unsupported through the air, she glanced down and
spotted Rei standing on the roof, staring at her.
Must be Rei's AT field, Ranko realized, Now I have to wonder if Rei's
as mad as I think she is. Sheesh! Even her eyes are glowing red!
The soaring, swooping ride continued to be punctuated by moments of
extreme terror. The worst was what Ranko was sure was going to be the end.
Rei had arranged Ranko to be descending and spinning. As the rate of
descent slowed, the rate of the spin increased, until Ranko realized
_anyone_ could survive the impact of the landing, and the only thing that
was clear was straight down: the waiting mouth of a chimney. Ranko knew
that with the heat, no one was burning any coal in the building's furnace,
but getting out of the chimney, after falling down head-first, was going to
be a long and dirty job.
Feeling the surface underneath her that wasn't Rei's AT field or a
soot filled chimney relaxed Ranko. She squeezed her eyes shut, because
they were reporting that she was slowly traveling in a straight line, while
all her other senses were reporting that she was still spinning like a top.
"I also want to torment you," Rei said, "That is Mein
Grossfeldmarschall's favorite game. It is entirely about trust. You are
no good at it."
"Waruhunitsu!" was all of the protest that managed to get from Ranko's
still spinning brain to her mouth.
"Mryow," came the reply. Ranko cringed for all she was worth, to get
away from one of those things. The world was still spinning, and she felt
sick and disoriented.
'Mrrooowrft.' She heard it, it was close, but she couldn't focus on
anything. If the world would stop spinning for a moment, if she could get
her bearings, she'd know where to escape from, if not where to escape to.
But she continued along in a straight line, while still seeming to spin.
----------------------------------------
Rei was as good as her word, Ranko thought sourly. Her first thoughts
as some semblance of consciousness and control had returned. Next, a body
inventory she'd hoped would tell her where she was and where the floor and
ceiling were. Instead they'd reported, in order, 'Bra', 'panties', 'slip',
'dress'. This wasn't a report of what she was seeing, but what she was
wearing. She leapt up to get out of Asuka's bed, and made a mental note to
the inventory team to tell her things like that _FIRST_!_
Her progress to and through the door was blocked by an absolutely
mouth-watering knockout standing in Asuka's doorway. For an instant she
thought it was Asuka, same hair and eyes, but Asuka never had that fire and
determination. This girl was beyond beautiful, this girl -.
The effect was spoiled by Asuka and Hikari, sitting together in the
far corner of Asuka's room, absolutely splitting themselves with laughter.
Ranko glanced over and saw even Rei was smiling, an actual grin with teeth
showing, measurable in seconds and still continuing.
"I think she got a nosebleeeed!" Hikari honked between gales of
laughter.
Ranko glanced back at the door, saw it was closed and the looked at
frame surrounding the girl. "A mirror," she said as she looked closely.
Asuka, Rei and Hikari had really gone to town. Her long, lustrous hair was
loose and brushed out with a little curl at the tips. The makeup was
understated but it enhanced her natural beauty. The dress was plain, and a
bit sexy in an elegant way. Ranko stared at this beautiful girl, who
stared back equally intently. She saw the girl's `friends` laughing at her
confusion, saw the sadness in her eyes than only served to enhance her
beauty, giving her a look of vulnerability along with the determination
she'd seen earlier.
Ranko could understand why Asuka had said Ranko wasn't a girl.
`Ranko` didn't look anything like what this girl looked like. Ranko had to
beat amorous jocks off with a stick. This girl would demand the attention
of gentlemen, and could drive the ruffians off with a disdainful sniff or a
coquettish glance at her suitors. Ranko stared at the image, was secretly
glad the girl behind the glass looked happier.
She ignored the laughter of the children behind her. She'd take their
`gift` and turn the world on its head with it. She opened the door and
marched out with her head held high. Ranko Saotome didn't lose either.
The elegant gentlemen waiting outside were a shock, especially the
shortest one who bowed, formally.
"Shinji-kun?" Ranko asked in a stunned tone, he looked as stylish as
Raccoon usually did. Ranko wondered whose closet he'd raided to get the
tuxedo. "Wow," she said softly.
"Wow yourself," Shinji replied, he offered his arm for her to take.
"Isn't he adorable?" Misato said as she walked up and tousled his
hair. Ranko had never wanted to kill a girl so badly in her life. Shinji
looked like he agreed, as he stepped away and tried to restore some order
to what had been nearly perfect.
Misato's advance on Ranko was halted by the arrival of reinforcements.
Ranko didn't know what the three girls' expressions were, but Misato
blanched and retreated. All that Ranko saw when she turned around were
pleasant smiles from Hikari, and alarmingly, Rei, Asuka actually looked
penitent.
"You left before we could give you your handbag and fan," Asuka
explained, desperately hiding her smile, trying to look merely contrite and
not to burst out laughing again. The purse was a _lot_ heavier than it
looked, and the strap was a thin, but strong, metal chain. The ribs of the
fan were hard metal, nearly 2 centimeters wide and sharp as razors at the
end. Asuka stood there, looking superior and all-knowing.
Ranko snapped the fan open and fluttered it in front of her face. "A
lady must not be without her fan?" she asked coquettishly. Hikari looked
furious, Asuka looked sick, Rei merely looked. Ranko was glad the fan hid
her triumphant grin.
"So who are we meeting with?" Ranko asked charmingly, fluttering her
fan. She smiled at Asuka. Turned it back on you, didn't I? she thought.
"General MacArthur, his Imperial Majesty, some people from Pearl
Harbor and the United States," Asuka replied equally charmingly.
Ranko's smile froze. The Emperor wants to see . . . me? she thought,
panic forming, And I look like _THIS_?_!_ Ranko wanted to be sick.
----------------------------------------
Rei aimed carefully. Fired, recocked, aimed and fired. It was
relaxing, the simple, repetitive action. She was slightly jealous that
Mein Grossfeldmarschall was so close to Shinji-kun. It was a similar
exercise, except her pistol was empty, Shinji-kun was 'dry firing' to
practice. Aim, squeeze the trigger, recock. Mein Grossfeldmarschall was
standing in front and to one side of him, watching his eyes, to see when he
blinked. If it was after the gun fired, that was acceptable.
Standing in a corner, out of sight and seemingly out of mind, was the
Fourth. Rei had to admit that Hikari and Mein Grossfeldmarschall had done
an excellent job. She was truly beautiful, and elegant. Rei had wondered
about the Fourth, _she_ seemed to drop into the role of an elegant and
charming young lady, as if she'd always been one. Yet, when male, the
Fourth insisted on being crude and insulting. `He` seemed to be proud of
how abrasive he could be, yet `she` was kind, cultured and even a bit
demure, every bit a cultured lady, a match for Mein Grossfeldmarschall at
her best. Rei could not understand it. If hauteur was desired, they had
all seen the newsreels of the Panama Canal crossing. Whatever Roku-kun had
told that officer had frozen his target in place, even those Captains and
Admirals around him reacted to the calculated insult. No sound was
provided, so Rei had no idea what the exchange involved, but she knew it
had been devastating to the target. Yet the Fourth, as a male, never
attempted to duplicate Roku-kun's demeanor.
But `Ranko` could, Rei considered, Confusing. She filed the entire
line of thought away for later study. She had been correct, the Fourth had
expected to be forced to participate in the shooting practice. Now they
left her alone. Previously they had pressured the Fourth to use and master
firearms, now that was not the case. Rei wondered what was going through
her mind. Was the Fourth relieved, or did she realize she was being
ostracized? It seemed an ironic turn that they were punishing the Fourth
by _not_ forcing her to do something she hated. Rei was confident that
this plan was succeeding.
"Weapons down," Captain Kuroda, one of the Search and Rescue divers
who had remained in Tokyo, called out. She set her Schofield down on the
stand in front of her, carefully pointed it down range. Shinji-kun and
Mein Grossfeldmarschall had set her Peacemaker down the same way, and
stepped away. Like Rei, they removed their hearing protection.
"I just got the word," Kuroda told them, "It's absolutely official,
Tendo and Davis got the Angel. It's safely aboard the Bennington, and
they'll start running tests on it as they return to Boston. They are
getting checked out by the doctors, but nothing serious to report so far."
Rei noted Mein Grossfeldmarschall's relaxation at the news, as well as
the Fourth's. All of them had been worried about the success or failure of
the mission.
"Any word on when they'll be back?" Shinji-kun asked.
"I don't think the plan's changed," Kuroda explained, "They'll drop it
off in Boston, pick up another carrier, and be back here sometime between
the 12th and the 20th, depending on how fast they go."
"They'll miss the first weeks of school," the Fourth commented archly,
"That will just break their hearts."
"No, they will enjoy the escape," Rei corrected her.
"Rei-san," Shinji-kun said, "I think that's what he meant."
"No," Rei said firmly, "Too sophisticated for Ranma." But not for
`Ranko`, Rei thought, as confused by this as by her other recent
revelations.
"Hey!" the Fourth complained, "I'm as sophis - ticated - as anybody."
It appeared that `Ranko` had reverted to being the Fourth.
"Of course you are," Mein Grossfeldmarschall said in soothing tones,
"Rei was merely trying to be amusing."
"I meant no disrespect," Rei piled on, seeing the discomfort in the
Fourth's posture and on her face, "It was cruel of me to suggest such a
thing."
Rather than stoking the fires of the Fourth's overweening ego, the
girl actually looked disturbed at the groveling. Which is what was
intended, Rei didn't say. Instead she bowed, noting that Mein
Grossfeldmarschall was doing the same. That seemed to affect the Fourth as
if the floor had suddenly become too hot to stand on, she shifted nervously
from foot to foot.
"Okay that's enough," Kraznyzamok-san told all the pilots, "You can
kill each other after they leave. In the me - mean - "
Rei felt as if her head had been placed in a tightening vice and
simultaneously someone was screaming in both her ears. Rei watched as the
floor raced up towards her. Nothing she could do could arrest its
approach, cushion her from the inevitable collision, or call out a warning
to the others. Her voice, arms and legs were failing to function. She was
dimly aware that the others were falling as well. The screaming, a sound
of raw rage, continued. It repeated the same phrase over and over again.
Rei idly wished she knew what it meant. What would make it stop?
----------------------------------------
The Cat Can Be Alive, Dead, Or Bloody Furious
The blow hit all of them. The female-within flees from the call of a
predator/power greater than she.
Just as the he-within had fled from what he had done to the sorrel
tabby. Idiots, I think, Surrender, and submit to her for punishment, she
will forgive, once she believes she has some power again.
I listen carefully to the cry that felled the others. There is
another note, far weaker, despite being a chorus of two. A cry of despair
rather than anger.
_NO_!_ I shout as I race along the `terrain` of the shout, a strong
solidity for a concept. Let the others analyze, I remind myself, The
pursuit! Onward, towards the weaker cry, distance slips away, nothing else
matters. The tabby and the tom were in danger, the tabby's voice stills
and the tom's increases in anguish.
The predator turns its attention towards me. I lash out with all my
strength. The predator retreats, it is much more powerful, but I've made
it understand a battle would cost far too much to win. The sound of the
cries draws me away. Neither I nor my foe remain where the battle was
fought. The cries have become the mewling of kittens, so lost, so
frightened, so hurt. I overtake them and gather them in. All of us are
now falling, I purr to them, hold them to me, let them know I am here. But
they are too far gone, too far elsewhere although much of them is still
here. I pursue the missing piece, that which the enemy would have sent too
far away.
I - will - not - FAIL.
----------------------------------------
Rei heard the shout, was amazed it resolved itself. Not into words,
but the implications were very clear. What had been done, would have to be
undone, and there would have to be a reckoning/offering to compensate.
Rei hated the idea of submitting to anyone or anything, except the
Commander. But I must consider it, she thought as she lifted herself on
her hands and knees. She looked around at the others, who remained on the
floor. She heard the muffled calls from the guards for medical teams. She
suspected that without Dr. Akagi, the medical response would not be as
effective. Rei felt the footsteps of one of them approaching her. She
stood hurriedly, she did _not_ want to be touched right now. Her senses
were too raw, her emotions too jumbled. She needed time away from the
noise and confusion to reorient herself. To quiet her mind and regain full
control. She walked after the medical teams carrying the other pilots.
She ignored the offer of a stretcher, she hated the canvas that abraded her
skin even through her clothes.
She passed a number of officers and civilians, all in fancy dress.
She remembered her manners, despite her desire to be away from here and
alone. She curtsied rather than bowed, and followed her fellow pilots to
the medical wing.
She wondered why all the sounds seemed so muffled, why everyone seemed
to be moving so strangely, why the ground felt so unsteady under her feet.
Her ears tickled in a most unpleasant fashion. She reached up to brush her
hair away from them, and her hand came away wet.
Not water, she thought as she stared at the red liquid on her hands,
Blood. I hate this color. I hate what it represents, what I can never be.
It changed to gray as she watched.
Rei noted that the room had darkened sharply, she could only see in
steadily darkening shades of gray. As it went black, something struck her.
----------------------------------------
Sammi was beside herself. She'd heard the cry, but had been able to
screen out most of it. Then the kids had all dropped like flies, and there
was nothing she could do except apologize to the VIPs and rush the kids to
the hospital ward.
Now she waited. She had no more idea what to do than the man on the
moon.
"Report from the Bennington, Tendo and Davis are down, and they're in
the middle of an honest-to-God hurricane," Kuroda said as he arrived, while
Tomiyo handed out tea to those who waited, Sammi and Erin.
"Thanks," she said numbly. She'd noticed that Asuka had been referring
to her and Erin as Miss Kraznyzamok and Miss Carter, respectively. Ranma's
transformation into Ranko, at least temporarily, had reduced the friction
between Asuka and Ranma. She couldn't fix that either, although she
preferred the pilots get along with each other, rather than get along with
their guards and hate each other.
She had a feeling about the `sound`, that something _very_ powerful
was extremely unhappy. She wondered why she and Rei had been affected so
little, while Asuka, Shinji and Ranma stayed down.
"We should take shifts," Erin suggested, "It won't do any good if we
are all exhausted and they need us."
"Then I'll take the first shift," Juri arrived in the infirmary
waiting room, "I've had a chance to rest, while you've been dealing with
this."
Sammi stood, she didn't want to leave, but she was asleep on her feet
as well. "Tell us the - "
"I will," Juri assured them, "Just go."
They trooped out. Marines, grim sentinels, stood guard at regular
intervals. Sammi could almost feel the disapproval radiating off them, in
response to the guards' failure. The fact their brother Marines couldn't
guard Nabiki or Jeff didn't help her mental state. She entered a room and
lay down on the bed, but as exhausted as she was, sleep did not come. She
lay there, restless, exhausted, all her insecurities and failures marching
through her mind for inspection and analysis, followed by all the second
guesses, hindsight and recriminations.
----------------------------------------
Captain Ramsey walked through the streets of Tokyo. The `temple` he
was looking for he hoped would give him the answers he needed. In
deference to the fact the man had come to see him first, he was headed
towards Nabiki's temple, 'Kernal Sustained'. They might have information
the Navy and their `specials` didn't have. He removed his hat as soon as
he entered. Being in civilian clothes seemed strange, considering he was
_on_ government business.
What he walked into, felt like a funeral. Not exactly wailing and
gnashing of teeth, but it was pretty close. One of the acolytes recognized
him and escorted him off to the side, and into the offices upstairs.
The aura of the `bishops` here was as funereal as the regular
worshipers down below.
"Captain, you come at a time of crisis we cannot . . . we cannot feel
her," the high priest told him tearfully.
"She and Davis were in the Azores to capture one of our enemies. We
don't know all of what happened," Ramsey told him.
The high priest nodded sagely, "I suspect someone overestimated their
strength, or underestimated the strength of their foe."
"Probably the latter," Ramsey admitted, "You don't know what happened
to her?"
"She is beyond our range. We can only hope, and pray," the high
priest said, "I know you don't believe as we do. But whatever you believe,
prayers are all we can offer now."
Ramsey excused himself and left. Perhaps one of the others might have
answers to some of the questions of the day, Ramsey thought, he also
considered the wisdom of bringing the hierarchies together to see what they
could come up with together. But for the moment I'll let them stabilize
themselves, he thought.
----------------------------------------
Sarah woke to the odd ceiling of the infirmary. In the distance, she
heard Arty and Morgan arguing with someone. Adam Smith and her father,
Major ggreg, were still aboard the carrier, so it couldn't be either of
them they were arguing with.
She sat up slowly, checked herself over. She was still wearing the
St. Michael's School jumper with the crest embroidered on it. She smiled
at that. Since the schools' Motto was 'Who Dares Wins', and the initials
were S.M.S., everyone in the village joked that they were a branch of the
SAS. The usual response was that since the Special Air Service jumped out
of airplanes to blow up things, often other airplanes, and the SBS, Special
Boat Service, jumped out of boats to blow up other boats, what did the M in
the school's initials stand for. Or what would they jump out of to blow
up?
She thought of her two friends, Arty and Morgan, the brother and
sister pair, although they couldn't have been more different. One was even
more petite than Sarah, which was saying something, and the other was as
big as some full grown men. The two mismatched siblings had adopted 'Snow
White', her, soon after she arrived at the school, which actually was
everything the locals joked about. She'd earned her nickname because of
her blood-red lips, pale skin and jet-black hair, as well as her marvelous
singing voice. She remembered explaining her and the school's camouflage
to Rei-chan, on one of their infrequent meetings, that it was possible to
lie without saying one untrue thing, and that you could misdirect someone
by simply not refuting their mistakes strongly enough. Sarah doubted the
other girl would ever really understand. She is _so_ literal-minded, Sarah
thought as she sat up.
The medical officer came in, his face lined with concern.
"It seems I let the side down," Sarah said, "All ready to score the
winning goal and I go down."
"I think allowances can be made," he said, glanced over his shoulder
at Arty and Morgan, standing in the doorway and practically straining at
unseen leashes to get in. "You two may assist me, as long as you stay
quiet."
The two were at her side as if they'd used a travel spell. "So what
happened?" the officer asked.
"I heard a shout, and collapsed," she said, considered the thermometer
the man stuck under her tongue.
He asks me to talk and sticks this in my mouth? she thought she'd
never understand doctors.
"Woke up h'r," she finished, without dropping or biting through the
thermometer.
"That isn't very helpful."
"S'rry, s'r."
The doctor removed the thermometer and checked the reading, then took
her pulse, he seemed to think everything was acceptable. "You may return
to classes when you're ready."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," she said as he left.
"I bet it had something to do with the Azores Mission!" Arty said
excitedly.
"You have quite an imagination," Morgan said, the dark and mysterious
voice of reason. Quite odd considering the only mage Sarah had ever met
who was more skilled than Morgan, was Roku-kun.
I guess once you reach a certain power level, you quit being eccentric
and become too normal to be believed, Sarah thought. Morgan eschewed all
the mystic airs, and candles, and wands, and black clothes that even some
of the teachers seemed to wear as a uniform. Morgan did carry a
quarterstaff, and was good enough with it that Arty quit trying to spar
with Morgan. If it was magical, no one knew, and Morgan wasn't telling.
Sarah wondered how Arty and Morgan would stack up against Asuka or Roku-kun
as weapons users. Ranma could take on the entire student body and faculty
in hand-to-hand, and never break a sweat.
"This time . . . " Sarah paused as the world seemed to spin for a
moment. "I think Arty may be right, I should check up on them. See what's
happening out there."
She was glad both Morgan and Arty helped her to her feet, with her
mismatched `crutches`, she had a reason to believe the whole world was out
of kilter.
----------------------------------------
Rei woke slowly, her head was still ringing and she felt dizzy. Her
ears were bandaged, she could feel no other bandages, casts or other such
things, just I.V.s. She glanced up, the bottles fed blood and fluid into
her. From past experience she had learned to stand and move without
breaking the needle off in her arm. With her free hand, she carefully
pulled the I.V. stand out of the bracket and walked unsteadily out of the
room.
She walked to Shinji-kun's room, she knew where it was, they always
put the pilots in the same rooms. 'So they'd wake up with a familiar
ceiling.' She wished they would have picked a different color for hers,
the gray made her feel ill, even if she'd felt fine before looking at it.
She vaguely heard someone call her name. She ignored it. She entered
Shinji-kun's room. She walked over to his bed, and set the IV holder in
the bracket there. They hadn't given him any IV's yet, which meant they
were holding out hope that he would recover soon. She idly wondered if he
would be all right. She had a way to check on him, except she knew if she
fell asleep here, they would put her back in her room. She just wanted to
be with him for a while, to assure herself that he was alive, that he was
not lost to her.
----------------------------------------
Next Step, No Illusions
"Any luck?" Admiral Simson asked an exhausted Captain Ramsey, still in
his civvies.
"If you mean bad, sir? Yes, sir, lots. All they could tell me is
that Tendo and Davis are far away, Saotome is tracking his packmates, makes
him sound like some kind of wolf, sir. Young Ikari's people were
rejoicing, saying 'The Great Battle has arrived' and they agreed to pray
for the safe return of the others. Seems they aren't worried. Ayanami's
people . . . I couldn't _find_ them. Even the ones in military service,
they all applied for three day to one week passes and are gone. I haven't
the faintest idea what they are doing. Maybe they had a prophesy like
Ikari's people, maybe they are all going on a retreat . . . who knows."
"I was afraid of that. Did the rioting give you any trouble?" Simson
asked, waved his subordinate to a chair.
Ramsey gratefully sat down, almost collapsing in the chair. "No, but
I think I had shadows from all the temples to keep my path clear.
Considering how loud the rioters were, it was easy to avoid them."
"Well, we've got the city on complete lock down, dusk-to-dawn curfew,
armed patrols in the streets, looters to be shot. It's as bad as when we
first got here. It seems the pilots weren't the only ones affected. I
feel sorry for the people in New Delhi. The rioters there . . . well the
Indian Army has its hands full, and is refusing any help from the British,
the religious wars have broken out. Peace and Goodwill to All my ass."
"That's what you get for not believing in evil," Ramsey replied, "The
main thing the Japanese are mad about is we didn't clamp down _sooner_,
they understand evil and insanity. As for any good news, we watch, and we
wait."
"At least we aren't aboard the Bennington. They and the entire group
are caught in a hurricane. CINCLANT ordered the escorting carriers and
cruisers to break out, and the battleships are having a devil of a time
trying to keep station. The Brits have the French under tow back to port,
and the Spanish took one look at that hurricane, sent their condolences and
hightailed it back to port as well. Can't say I blame any of them."
Admiral Simson noted Ramsey hadn't moved a muscle since he sat down.
"Must have been a shock to Admiral Adams."
"Why's that?" Simson asked, "I never met him."
"Imagine General Tomlinson, then multiply him about a dozen times.
The only reason he's commanding Bennington and her group, is that he's an
excellent group navigator and he has some experience with the Spanish and
Portuguese governments. He's not a very - flexible - thinker. Angels and
EVAs and instant hurricanes probably have him scared shitless right about
now."
"At least Dr. Akagi is there to advise," Simson replied, "She's got a
good head on her shoulders. And she's been at this longer than you and I
have, that's for sure."
"I'd prefer if Davis were there," Ramsey said, "I've never met a
slipperier mind than his."
"What about Tendo?" Simson asked.
"I think she's too much of a realist." Ramsey stood. "She believes
in what she's seen and felt. She can play on others' fears and imaginings,
but she's still rooted to the world."
----------------------------------------
Rei found herself in the dark. It was clammy and cold, as if she were
in deep water rather than air. Something darker but warm rested on her
shoulders. She vaguely recognized those telephone pole-sized fingers.
"Gently, Little One," came the gravelly rasp, "He's hurting too."
Another figure resolved itself as a different patch of darkness.
Vaguely humanoid, only the eyes were visible. They glowed faintly with
power and intelligence. Even with their EVAs and the Scholarly Dragon to
back them up, they would stand no chance against the one who stood before
her. She could not speak his name, the word stuck in her throat, but she
realized where she was standing.
"R'lyeh," she breathed. This was not a dream shade, or an illusion,
she was _here_. She didn't know how she wasn't frozen or crushed or
suffocated by the tons of icy water all around her. The Lord of R'lyeh was
making sure she understood who was the power here. Even the `goddesses`
are not strong enough to reach me here, Rei thought, Should I even mention
this to them?
Another figure appeared, this one glowing brightly with an inner
light. She recognized it, him, immediately.
"Shinji-kun!" Only the dragon's restraining hand kept her from
rushing forward.
"Only a seeming," the dragon counseled, "As you see him."
She blinked away tears, he was so beautiful. She could see all her
hopes and dreams adorning and embodied within him, the true heir to the
Commander's plan, the best hope for all of them. She forced herself to
relax, tried to calm her whirling mind and raging emotions. Neither of the
two titans, who awaited her return to equilibrium, seemed eager to rush
her.
The Lord of R'lyeh raised an arm, pointing upwards. High above
faintly glowing was the moon, a great black stain spread across its face.
Rei squirmed as the seething mass further befouled the silvery surface.
The `kingdom` of the Moon represented an enemy of both humanity and the
`people` of R'lyeh. That she understood. Something would have to be done,
that she understood and agreed. She didn't like the implication that
Shinji-kun was threatened, unless this was done. Suddenly, the huge
creature gestured and Shinji-kun flew straight at the moon, Rei watched him
arrive/impact a moment later and the stain abated and vanished as they
stood watching it.
"Thereby concluding this simulated testing of our latest weapon," the
Scholarly Dragon rumbled, "The boy will know enough to return what was
taken. Back to status quo ante. It's up to you and young Ikari to offer
recompense. I'd take the deal if I were you."
"It isn't a command?" Rei asked the massive reptile behind her.
"He _isn't_ that powerful, but as a first offer, it's not out of
line," the dragon replied.
"Then we will do it . . . If we can discover a way . . . " Rei added
despondently, she had no idea how to accomplish what needed doing.
"That's something I wanted to talk to you about," the dragon said.
Rei turned to look at him, and the all-knowing smirk he wore.
----------------------------------------
Sarah waited, she and . . . I hate thinking of her or any of them as
Rei number X, Sarah thought, They are individuals, not pieces off an
assembly line! The girl who had been the dummy plug, and Sarah, had
assembled and corralled all the other Reis, although holding them there
hadn't been much of a chore.
Maybe they knew, maybe they're waiting, Sarah considered. She had
felt she needed to be here, so she had skipped school. Considering her
`attack` and the fact her father was in grave danger, everyone took it as a
good idea she was staying home and in bed.
Rei, the currently active Rei, arrived and glanced around with a
thoroughly mystified expression. Although few others would have been able
to read the deep confusion on her face. "The blood is the key," she said,
as if only understanding the words, and not the meaning behind them. "All
of us together are stronger than any of us apart."
"So what are we to do?" the girl from the dummy plug asked.
Rei approached the girl. "Where there were many, there will be just
one. Where there is a 'we', there will be only an 'I'. I do not believe
that the 'I' will remain."
"Are you suggesting we all commit suicide, or consume each other the
way the EVAs do the Angels?" Sarah asked. That is not what I signed up
for, she thought.
"No," Rei continued in her mystified tone, "Our memories and all
associated with them will remain here, safe, separate. What moves us, what
truly matters, will continue on together."
"You do realize you aren't making much sense," Sarah told her.
"Yes . . . wonderful isn't it?" Rei replied in a dazed voice.
Sarah decided Rei wasn't going to be able to _tell_ them, and make it
clear, it was better if she let the other girl demonstrate.
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