[FFML] Quantum Destinies 22

[DB Sommer]

On 3/1

*** Heaven 0.000, 0.000


She called up the master index to take another look at the Class One 
Probability Nodes, and she was startled to see that another person had 
been recently upgraded from Class Three to Class Two and then to Class 
One status in rapid succession. And this one was near the other two. To 
have multiple spontaneous upgrades occur within close proximity to each 
other was a rare event, to say the least,


% I'd ax "to...least' useless and cliche



He abruptly stopped as the figure raised one gloved hand and waved it 
once sharply, abruptly cutting off his welcoming speech. A female figure 
emerged from the vehicle behind the trench-coated figure, coming into 
the illumination provided by the spotlights pointed towards the tarmac. 
She was an attractive Japanese woman with her hair worn long and pulled 
into a single loose braid that fell to the middle of her shoulders, 
dressed in a finely-tailored business suit with a modest skirt and 
carrying a thin, metal briefcase. A professional look of disdain was 
seemingly permanently etched upon her otherwise lovely features.

% nice description


“And you are?” Gaido turned to face the woman. He was not used to being 
spoken to in such a way.

“I am Moreau-sensei’s attaché. You will call me Silk.


% Nice to see her



Silk shivered a moment, recalling Keel and her fortunate escape from one 
of his abandoned labs in Thailand over five years ago, her memory blank 
of so many things. She was grateful to Moreau-sensei for liberating her 
from that facility, for helping an amnesiac woman without an identity to 
find a place for herself. She owed him so much.

% Hmm. Didn't remember that bit. Part of the revision, or did I simply 
forget?


It was for the best. Both he and the products of Germany’s own attempt 
at eugenics, their Human Instrumentality Project,

% Right. Almost forgot about that. I had an idea of Shampoo having to 
fight one of the survivors of the project in the Arena in a fight to the 
death. But I don't know if it's interesting enough.



Somewhere out there, wandering in that darkness were the prototypes for 
Moreau’s greatest creation, the Mark-II Newtypes, the next stage in the 
evolution of humanity. But where were they now? Why had they escaped? 
And what were they doing?

% Oh, is that what Herb and company are?


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A hand seized his wrist, suddenly and painfully.

“<What do you think you’re doing, you idiot?>” came Herb’s voice, her 
eyes now open and glaring at him.

% Mint: Tempting death.




“Stop trying to build the suspense,” Director Kasuga said a bit tartly, 
waving his hand slightly. “A name. Give me a name.”

His aide immediately replied, “It was Ranma Saotome, sir.”

% It's difficult to fool a telepath



  “No!” the older man said sharply, waving him to sit down. “No, don’t 
do anything of the kind. In fact, I want you to remove the guards from 
the premises until I say otherwise. All of them. And uncover every vat.”

% Nice. Now we know what is about to happen




“Oh, Nodoka, having a daughter is so troublesome sometimes,” Achika 
sighed. “When Ryoko’s only contact with boys was beating them up, I 
never felt this concerned, but now she’s brought a young man home with 
her from her last training trip. His name is Ryoga Hibiki.” She picked 
up her teacup and drank from it briefly. “You’re lucky you only have a 
son to raise. Boys are much less worrisome, like my Tenchi is. He never 
gives me cause for concern.”

% That's because he's a weenie




“Oh, Ranma is becoming such a fine young warrior,” Nodoka said with a 
proud smile. “He trains so hard now, and Genma and I are both deeply 
honored that a living legend like Master Jun Fan Lee has taken him on as 
a student.

% I would hope so.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He sighted down the barrel at some of the pictures on the wall for 
several moments before quickly re-holstering it. Right up until that 
final mission, those had been good days, days of service to the Empire 
to be proud of. He sighed rather wistfully, remembering past escapades 
and last-second victories, but he shied away from any thoughts of the 
occasional beautiful woman his counterpart had been involved with on 
missions, not wanting to betray Kimiko’s memory.

% That is consistent, at least.





Mikado blinked. “What? He did what?”

% How dare Ranma poach on his territory



Kinnosuke went back to kissing with Panther as the conversation in the 
next booth continued on, hearing her purr softly with pleasure into the 
kiss, but his thoughts were more on what he had just heard. So Ranma had 
feelings for the Kuno girl and had acted on them, he mused. That could 
be potentially useful, and it seemed the two imbeciles in the next booth 
did not care for what Ranma had done. Perhaps his search for allies to 
crush the pigtailed boy would be much easier than he had imagined.


% That does have potential




Gosunkugi waited for the metal to cool before touching the gate, and he 
pushed it open and shut it behind him. He whispered the words of a 
spell, setting it in place here at the gate, a subtle glamour that would 
draw the Saotome boy within. The storage facility was on the path that 
Ranma normally traveled. Gosunkugi was so focused on his need for 
revenge against the pigtailed boy that he did not think to question how 
he knew such magic, drawing on it by instinct alone.

“Ranma Saotome,” he muttered. “The day of your doom is here.”


% Or something, yes it is.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx










There was something quite tantalizing about the girl in front of him. He 
shrugged, shouldering his rifle and sighting in on her leg. Perhaps he 
had seen an analog of her on another world somewhere.

% Methinks we'll be seeing him again at some point from all the 
background provided



*** Earth 0.000, 0.000

  “Could I finally be home?” Ranko wondered aloud.

% Close, but no cigar




Nabiki sprang up when Ranko finished her maneuver, coming into the room 
in an acrobatic flip and landing with feet spread, her knees soaking up 
the shock of landing. When Yohko came at the redhead in retaliation, 
Ranko ducked under the other girl’s strike and threw an uppercut to 
Yohko’s jaw in reply, knocking her to the ground again when the Devil 
Hunter’s knees promptly buckled. A second hard punch across Yohko’s face 
knocked her completely out. Ami just sat there, amazed at the sudden 
intrusion.

% Yay! An ally, though not for long.


Out in the hallway, Ukyo nearly lost her grip on the ducting she had 
been clinging to. Did that girl just say she was a Kuonji? Ukyo’s mind 
whirled for several moments and then the answer suddenly came to her.

Something had happened in the past with her Aunt Yumi, something that 
the rest of the clan would not speak of. A child born out of wedlock 
made sense, and the girl seemed to be the right age.

% Heh. That might cause problems




Nabiki moved to bar their way. “You’re not going anywhere until I get a 
few answers out of you.”

% Ranko: 34. Now that I gave you an answer, I'm out of here





“Oh, let me buy you some lunch!” Ami replied quickly. “It’s the least I 
can do for you helping me out like that.” She took Ranko by the hand and 
started leading her down the hall, smiling at the redhead. “You were 
very brave to stand up to Tendo-senpai like that. Are you a new transfer 
student?”

“Something like that.” Ranko smiled nervously

% Definitely


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“You!” Ryoga snarled, recognizing the pigtailed boy as a friend of 
Ukyo’s here. “Tell me where Ukyo is!” He let Hiroshi go as an 
afterthought and stalked towards Ranma, dramatically cracking his 
knuckles to throw a scare into the other boy. “You’d better tell me 
where Ukyo is, and you’d better tell me right now,” he growled.

% That one could get messy




Spotting his pigtailed nemesis leaving the grounds of the Imperial 
Academy, Mikado emerged from the limousine he had been waiting in. With 
a grim look on his face, determined to make Ranma pay for his assault on 
Kodachi, he headed over to where his target was apparently being 
confronted by another boy. Not that it mattered to Mikado. If the boy 
wearing the bandanna had a grudge against Saotome, he’d have to wait in 
line.

% Yes, that happens when Ranma's around.




Up on the rooftop of the Institute’s storage facility, Gosunkugi watched 
a small parade of people that were apparently chasing after Saotome, two 
boys and two girls.

% All about to get cursed, if memory serves



The figure watched in puzzlement at the sight below. This was wrong. 
Where was Ukyo? Where was the Tendo girl? They were the ones expected 
for this scenario. She turned to eye the vat of Nannichuan (Spring of 
Drowned Man) water under one of the catwalks.

% Man Makes Plans, and God Laughs.

  “Now I’ve got you!” Mikado cried out as he came running into the 
warehouse next. Ranko had just barely turned around, and Mikado managed 
to get in the first blow, a punch that rocked the pigtailed girl back on 
her feet. She leaped aside as Mikado tried to follow up with a side kick 
that just barely missed.

% Might be at least a little bit of a fight



“Stand still a moment, and it won’t be a problem anymore.”

% Heh

Ryoko aimed a roundhouse kick at Ranko’s midsection, but it missed, 
shearing clean through one of the support posts holding up the catwalk. 
It lurched to one side as the post gave way, and both girls quickly 
hopped up on the remaining rail and continued their duel without a 
single moment’s pause.

A recovered Mikado had just started out across the catwalk when it 
suddenly pitched violently to one side, propelling him off it. “Wha- 
Ahhh!” He tumbled headlong into one of the vats of water below and 
vanished with a noisy splash.

% And in a moment we'll find out what he just got dunked into.



Below them, the water in one vat stirred as first a stream of bubbles 
and then a small black piglet suddenly broke the surface. It gasped for 
breath as it struggled to stay afloat.

“Bwee!” the piglet called out fearfully, paddling as best it could with 
little cloven hooves. “BWEE!”

% Well, he is quite the pig

Ranma caught a brief glimpse of a pipe behind him that he could use to 
land on, and he twisted his body around to spring off it. Ryoga was 
about to get a surprise.

Ranko and Ranma slammed into each other full force, their foreheads 
colliding and knocking Ranko away to one side to crash down loudly into 
a pile of empty crates even as he plummeted into the vat of water below 
him. Half-conscious from the impact, they gazed at each other in stunned 
confusion. Ranma vanished beneath the surface with a large splash.

% Hmm. Probably best Ranko avoid such a fate




He could see nothing but orange light around him. Random memories began 
appearing in his awareness as he felt his consciousness fading away, 
guttering out like a dying candle flame.

...the feeling of success at his first use of the resonator.

...discovering his ability to fight using the downloaded skills of his 
analogs.

...the file on Project Phoenix and what had been done to him.

...his savage battle with Kinnosuke and being beaten by the other boy so 
easily.

...Nabiki unleashing the Amaguriken into him, easily beating him in a 
duel with it.

...his recent scuffle with Ryoga, a far tougher fight than his memories 
said it should be.

...that world where Shampoo was cursed to turn male and was a strong 
fighter.

...Shampoo was the only girl missing from his present life.

...in his current state, he could never defeat someone like Shampoo.

...if only he was stronger, like his analogs.


% Hmm. Let's see what happens this time



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scrambling from the wreckage, her thoughts still confused but knowing 
this was somehow important, she swiftly ran from the warehouse to find a 
clear enough area to activate it. When the timer abruptly cleared, it 
now showed only seconds remaining. She vaguely recalled that meant she 
was supposed to get ready to hit the button. The last seconds ticked 
down. When they reached zero, she triggered the device. The portal 
yawned open, and she leaped into it.

% Hmm. Probably for the best, though I suspect we'll see her again at 
some point. I like this outcome, methinks.



“I have spent all afternoon preparing a very nutritious dinner for you, 
Airen,” she said with a serious look. “You will come home and eat it 
now.” With that, she grabbed him in a hug and flew off.

% Well, he'll find out soon enough



A few moments later, in the tank where Ryoko fell, the surface of the 
water began bubbling, and then a small cat with greenish fur suddenly 
broke the surface, looking panicked.

“Meow! MEOW!” the cat cried out, struggling to stay afloat.

% Nice


“BWEE! BWEE!” added the piglet, still trying to keep his head above the 
surface.

% Oh? Ryuoga's a pig too



In the back of the warehouse, Ryoga pulled himself free from the vat of 
water he had fallen into and collapsed on the pavement, breathing 
heavily. He coughed up a quantity of fluid. His lungs panted like a 
bellows. He’d nearly drowned!

% Oh, that was Mikado



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Earth +0.001, +0.002

Stumbling free of the portal that swiftly collapsed behind her, Ranko 
rested for a moment in the alleyway she found herself in before getting 
up and dusting herself off. Her device automatically began calculating 
the remaining time to the next window as she stood there. Her head felt 
like mush, and she was having trouble thinking. She felt woozy.

“R-Ranko... chan?” suddenly asked a voice behind her hesitantly.

% Ah, and she's home. How nice



Nice chapter. Glad I could get it to you