Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Hand Maid May Fan Fiction / Gatekeepers Fan Fiction ❯ Retake ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 9, Retake

Pain.

Lots of Pain.

Gradually he stirred and became aware of something other than pain. He was in a now-partially buried cavern with fresh air now swirling about him. Eyes creaked open to confirm this.

Apparently he had thrashed about while undergoing all that pain. Sufficient that the cavern now looked as if had taken heavy mortar fire. Eyes opened the rest of the way and Greylle began carefully moving.

He didn't drink. It seemed awfully darn unfair to have a hangover. Though his chest hurt too. Right where a glimmering stone had buried itself?

Greylle craned his neck around to stare at his own chest. Yup, recessed there in his central breast scale was a teeny tiny glimmer of something that looked an awful lot like the Ginzuishou.

As there was no other glimmer or trace of magic present, that left one conclusion, even through all the layers of pain. Turning his attention inward he examined his mana stores and its flow.

Yup. The Ginzuishou had responded in the manner of a primitive AI. That is: in an efficient manner without considering the potential consequences. It had determined that its current best bet of serving its mistress (that would be Neo Queen Serenity) was to insinuate itself into this intruder. That left what the heck had happened to Usagi & Friends.

Greylle considered, and the last thing he could sort of vaguely remember was trying to just bull ahead and cast Reincarnation through the Crystal. There were no bodies of Senshi or anything else nearby, so it clearly had not worked. The Crystal had ties to the Senshi and sufficient power. Conclusion: not the dead Senshi.

Of course, he *was* high enough level to try a Speak With Dead. It required a corpse, however. So details had to be determined by other means.

Crawling out of the cavern, Greylle buried his head briefly in the snow to help clear it. Using the power enhancing function of the Crystal, he could try something else. Divination wasn't the primary thrust of Healer priests, but they weren't prohibited from that area either. There was only one spell he could think of that might do the trick.

Legend Lore. It often gave cryptic results, and the casting time was a royal pain, and his store of incense strips wasn't that great. Four were required to cast the spell. Well, he *had* told everyone that this might take awhile.

Climbing down into the cavern again, Greylle prepared to cast the spell.

--------

Akane tried to ignore Ranma's attempts to start a conversation. They always followed the same pattern anyway. He'd talk around the subject he was trying to get to, getting lost in the process, and finally make some stupid remark. Akane would respond in kind. He'd insult her. She'd hit him. Back to square one. Childish really.

The youngest Tendo saw Ami and Usagi talking to Nabiki and eagerly walked toward them. Waitaminute, why were Yuka and Sayuri (Yuka looking chipper, Sayuri looking as if she expected to be shot) speaking with them?

"Not now, Ranma, I've got to talk to my friends." Akane brushed off the stammered reply from Ranma, as well as the muttering about "uncute tomboy" - neither had any import to her at the moment.

"More fun with your fiance, Akane?" Nabiki smirked at Akane's approach.

"I don't understand that baka at all," grumbled Akane, who wanted to get on to more interesting subjects like why Yuka and Sayuri were here instead of waiting in their classroom for her.

Ami considered for a moment. "Based on observation of subject: Ranma Saotome and my study of psychological data, I have compiled a general theory."

"Oh?" Akane was fairly sure she knew what the superhero would say. Ranma was a jerk.

"It appears he suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder, possibly from maltreatment as a child. Have you met his parents to determine if they were competent to raise a child?" Ami blinked at Akane.

Akane was about to give a quick and nasty answer when she thought about it. Genma as a parent? Not something that *she* would have wanted, that's for sure.

"Actually, Ami," put in Nabiki, "I'm pretty sure that he grew up with only his father as an example of affection. Considering how Genma treats Ranma, I'd think that he'd use insults and fighting as terms of endearment simply because he doesn't know any better." That Nabiki had her own agenda (getting Ranma + Akane together) was beside the point.

Akane went into deeper thought as *that* registered. Did he insult anyone else like he did her?

"Oh well, see you all at the concert, we've got to get to class!" Yuka bowed to her new friends and turned away.

"'Concert'?" Akane blinked, tabling that thought for later.

"We're having a debut concert immediately after school," indicated Ami, herself walking away to class. "There are signs near the school exits."

"It was Minako's idea," apologized Usagi over her shoulder.

Akane continued to ponder until the school bell let her know that the time for such things had passed.

--------

"They came to caverns dark and cold,
Eight Soldiers strong and bold,
In battle did they fall one by one,
Though at the end, they had won,
Last was left the Princess Of Light,
Who focussed forth her arcane might,
To rewrite their time was her intent,
Yet at the end her thoughts were bent,
Between today and tomorrow they rest,
Eight Soldiers bold who did their best,
Their sands suspended now in place,
Until they're brought about to face."

Greylle scowled. Typically cryptic results to a Legend Lore spell. Still, it confirmed some of what he knew. The Sailor Senshi - the soldiers. They came here to fight Beryl and her minions who were a lot better prepared for the Senshi due to Uranus and Neptune being a much more credible threat.

Sailor Moon won after a long battle and seeing the rest of her team fall. Pretty much what he'd seen in a typical Sailor Moon timeline. As in the anime or most of the SM series timelines, she'd tried to give everyone back their normal pre-Beryl lives.

Something had gone wrong. Thoughts bent? Resting overnight? Suspended in sand? Until brought to face? Face what?

He hurt. Not only his head and chest but everwhere else as well. Nor had he been able to get the blasted Ginzuishou to get out of his chest. Changing form to human had revealed a glimmering bit of crystal about halfway up the sternum. So removing the source of his pain - the Silver Crystal wasn't likely to happen anytime soon.

Greylle finally climbed out of the cavern, spread wings, and began flying back to the ship. Sleeping on the trip back *might* help him get a handle on this. It was doubtful he could learn anything more here at any rate.

------------

Mamoru Chiba and Artemis had chosen different approaches to Furinkan High School as part of a plan. By seperating they covered more ground.

Doctor Kumori Mizuno didn't know anything about Mamoru or the cat also being after the same thing. She just noted the boy looked vaguely familiar and continued looking for a sign of her daughter.

Mamoru asked directions from one of the girls, if she had seen one "Usagi Tsukino" - he was directed towards the auditorium where she herself was heading.

Doctor Mizuno did the same with the same results.

All three ended up, therefore, at the same auditorium at the same time. Just occupying different parts of the crowd. And it was a crowd, practically everyone from students to faculty was there.

"Hi, everybody!" A girl with a pageboy haircut held a microphone as she stood on the edge of the stage. "This is just a debut and sort of a practice as they get an idea of how best to package themselves! I'm Nabiki Tendo (as if none of you knew) and the group still is working out a name for their band. Here we go!" Nabiki leapt off the stage, easily clearing 30 ft to land with precision in a small cleared area held by her friends.

Doctor Mizuno blinked at that impossible leap. How had she managed that? Theatrical magic or wires?

A girl's voice began from the darkened stage.
"Time, time, time...
See what's become of me..."

A lone electric guitar began playing, fast and furious. A single spotlight shone on the player.

Mamoru blinked. That was Minako?! Playing an electric guitar and playing it very well.

"Time, time, time, see what's become of me."
While I looked around for my possibilities,
I was so hard to please,
Lookaround
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter."

As they played a faster and more metallic version of "Hazy Shade Of Winter", spotlights came down to illuminate each of the girls on stage in their turn until the whole stage was lit.

Usagi was on drums, oddly enough. Makoto playing the bass. Ami on a synthesizer. Rei had a trumpet in her hands but was currently just singing with the others. That looked sort of like Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Pluto in the back. Minako was apparently content with lead guitar.

If Artemis' jaw could drop any further it would have disengaged entirely from his face.

Doctor Mizuno's gaze never left her daughter. That looked *exactly* like Ami, dressed like Ami, but the song was definitely *not* Ami's style. Ami also looked preoccupied though it could be because this was some sort of debut: their first time playing in public?

They finished "Hazy Shade Of Winter" then cut to Rei being the primary singer.

Ami began by playing the synthesizer as a piano. Minako then went with the guitar. Usagi set up a simple beat.

"One two three c'mon,
You're not the only one who's lonely,
Try sitting on the crescent moon,
The dreams we had as children
Are still bright, like shining stars,
Ride on and never give up,
No matter how sad or difficult things become,
Ride on!
Wind, kiss me,
Sky, hold me,
And protect us always..."

A few in the crowd recognized a song from "Bubblegum Crisis" and shared that information with their neighbors. Naturally not with either Mamoru, Artemis, nor Doctor Mizuno.

Minako returned to the front and addressed the crowd. "Thanks everyone! We're just getting started! What did you think?"

Cheers responded, brightening Minako's smile and causing her to bounce around a little.

"They like me! They really like me!" Minako finished bouncing around and cued the group to begin another song.

"Goddess on a mountaintop,
Burning like a silver flame,
The summit of beauty and love,
And Venus was her name..."

The marionettes were briefly joined by two members of the crowd (one enthusiastically, the other quite obviously very reluctant) after they finished "Venus" and began Aerosmith's "Rag Doll".

Artemis began making his way through the crowd towards the stage area.

"Everyone! Thank you for coming!" Minako bounced around a little more while waving. "Thank you!"

Both Mamoru and Ami's mother began making their own way towards the backstage.

--------

Most beagles would not be able to pilot a trans-sonic aircraft.

Most beagles did not have ways of directly accessing on-line systems so as to dim the lighting for their exhausted passengers.

Snoopy, being an android beagle with several skill templates, was not like most beagles.

There was the WWI Flying Ace (who could also operate anything from a hang glider to an X-Wing, but who insisted that all one really needed was a Sopwith Camel), there was Joe Cool, there was the Soldier of Le Legion Etranger, and quite a few others.

Because he was *not* a typical beagle, he could register the presence of a forming dimensional aperature.

Lights came back up. "Wurf wuf."

Greylle groaned. "You know, i gave you a full speech synthesizer, you don't have to remain in character."

"Greylle Shard, Penitent Dragon, Silver Breed," came a voice into the vehicle.

"Yeah," Greylle said after a moment. "Peorth?"

"Dang, this must be a *really* bad connection. No, it's Ed. You're not exactly paying any attention to the mission, are you?"

"C'mon. Play Akane Tendo's boyfriend in a near-mainline Ranmaverse that has Sailor Moon subelements? With the Senshi missing and the timeframe about where the Doom Tree story starts?" Greylle rolled his eyes. "And everyone knows darn well that i can't STAND Akane Tendo."

"...she's not *that* bad."

"Look, ignore the fact that she's flatchested and a tomboy. You know darn well that neither matters to me one whit. Or that pairing up an emotionally retarded abused child like Ranma with a rage disorder violence prone girl who ignores everything that might make her uncomfortable but unable to target her usual victim is just plain wrong. Ignore those for the moment. This is someone who responds to affection with violence, this is someone with zero capacity for trust, a hair trigger temper, a near infinite wellspring of denial, and who demands that the world cater to HER whims. My lord, she goes into jealous rages and then misdirects the target!"

"...she's not *that* bad," repeated Ed.

"Ed, i'm a dragon and therefore not exactly Hikaru Gosunkugi. How long do you think i'd last in an actual relationship with her?" Greylle waited a moment. "How long before she blew up at me one time too often and i responded with a dragonrage?"

"Before after Ryouga kills her?"

Greylle blinked. "What? This connection is really bad."

"Well, it's just that while you're setting up the Cyberdyne Corporation and building those Cyberdolls, and while you're running around with ersatz Senshi and the Ginzuishou, you've put a few extra ripples in the timeline. Well, so has Amaterasu but she's just raising Hotaru right now."

"Hotaru? That was on my 'to do' list," remarked Greylle. "Snoopy, will you mark through that one?"

"Woof!"

Greylle addressed the rippling pinpoint of light. "What kind of ripples? Other than Genma apparently turns into a monster, Ranma turns into a catgirl, and the Senshi are apparently dead."

"Well, they're not dead. You've got the clues. I can't give you all the details. Just wanted to warn you that without your intervention, in fifteen minutes Ryouga will start fighting Ranma again, and Akane Tendo will be killed in the battle."

Greylle twitched. "The logical thing would be for me to let her die. That way she wouldn't be a problem, and i could concentrate on the more important things."

"Except that you won't," the voice sounded amused. "I've done all I can. Ed out."

Watching the pinpoint flare out, Greylle muttered to no one in particular. "I think I prefer it when all he's saying is 'pika pi pikachu' or something to that extent."

"Woof."

"Snoopy, how long before we reach Tokyo?"

"Rrrr-woof." [One hour, forty seven minutes.]

Greylle sighed deeply and sat down at the co-pilot's area. Picking up a handset he punched a button. "Workspider? Oh, hello, Rei. Need you to prep that healing tank, prepare it for a critical case in fourteen minutes. Contact Ami, tell her to look for a battle. There's going to be at least one casualty."

----------

A section of the school's outer wall collapsed and a figure strode through. "RANMA! AT LAST!"

Ranma was not happy. The last time Ryouga had crossed paths with him, someone *had* died. "RYOUGA! PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Huh?!" Ryouga stopped in his rush forward. Wasn't that *his* line?

"BECAUSE OF YOU, I HAVE SEEN HELL!"

"What?" Ryouga shook off this odd feeling of deja vu. "Waitaminute!"

"Excuse me! Ranma! This is *my* fight."

Ranma blinked. Ryouga blinked.

Nabiki walked forward, smirking. "Ryouga. Thanks to *you*, I died. I didn't like it. It hurt a *lot*. Even if it wasn't permanent and I gained some serious insights into the nature of reality."

"Huh?"

Nabiki engaged Flight Mode to shoot across the intervening distance, smirk still in place. She was Nabiki the Supergal!

Ryouga was uncertain of how to handle this situation. A girl attacking him? He wasn't sure how to even handle a girl *talking* to him!

*Kick!*

Ranma watched Ryouga go flying off, propelled by one of Nabiki's kicks.

Nabiki was grinning. "Uncouth. Unsubtle. But enormously satisfying. I'll be sorry to give this up."

Ranma considered the grinning girl. "That augmentation stuff is kinda handy, but it ain't real."

"Well, it's actually pretty real. Just temporary." Nabiki went silent for a moment. Her current cyborg parts had been just altered from existing spares and thrown together at the spur of the moment. What could they have accomplished if they'd had more time?

Ranma eyed where Ryouga had gone. "If I don't put an end to this, he's just gonna come back."

"True enough." Nabiki shrugged. "Better resolve this today, Saotome."

---------

Cologne stared. The boy fit the description of one of Shampoo's airen. Bloodlines being important: Shampoo could only keep one, but she'd been young once herself and Cologne could understand her great granddaughter's desire to keep both.

The *girl* however. Flying girls were uncommon to say the least and her ki flows were quite odd.

The Amazon matriarch started following the pigtailed lad. She'd check into the mysterious girl (who didn't move like a martial artist but obviously had some serious strength) later.

Oh, and that was interesting. There was some other girl following the pigtailed boy as well.

---------

"Usako!"

"My name is Usagi Tsukino," corrected Usagi.

Mamoru caught his breath and examined the girl before him. She *looked* like Usagi. Except for being slightly taller, more developed in the chest, and carrying herself a *lot* different. "Don't you remember me, meatball-head?"

Usagi cocked her head slightly to regard him. She searched datafiles looking for a matchup. Nothing. "No. Are you a Furinkan student?"

"No... What happened in the fight with Beryl, Usagi?"

"I have not been briefed on that yet," responded the marionette. "You know about that?"

"Yes, I was left behind with the cats."

Usagi considered. She had not been briefed on cats either. "I will have to consult with the Master before further information can be given."

Mamoru reacted as if struck. "...'master'?!"

"Yes, the Master has requested that I not give potentially classified information out without verification from him." Usagi nodded and smiled at the strange fellow.

Steam could not possibly have come jetting out of Mamoru Chiba's ears. "A... master?!"

"Excuse me, I've got to get going, I've just received a Recall signal," Usagi said, wondering what this stranger's problem was. Then she just kicked in her Flight mode and accelerated from 0-60kph in 3 seconds.

The sometimes Tuxedo Kamen's jaw dropped as Usagi flew away at a high rate of speed. FLEW not jumped or ran.

One thing was obvious to Mamoru Chiba, however. He had to find this Master and free Usagi (and the other Senshi) from his nefarious mind control.

Now why did he have this sudden urge to grab a bokken?

--------

Artemis stared as Minako flew away, then wandered off himself while thinking about their odd conversation.

Minako had not mangled lyrics or sung badly. In fact, she'd been quite good even if Artemis normally preferred his music less loud and of a slower tempo.

She had been calm and polite even while surprised to see a talking cat. She had not recognized him in the slightest. She had wondered aloud how he could speak Japanese so well with feline mouth parts, which she apparently did not think suited to the task.

He had been thinking some evil form of mind control up until she flew away.

Evil mind control he could see. The Dark Kingdom had done that thing to Endymion's Generals after all, and more recently to Endymion/Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru himself. He hadn't detected any evil energies or darkness taint, however. He also hadn't detected much of anything like a Senshi identity. There had been *something* of that latter, but it was so elusive he couldn't be sure.

Empowering her to be able to effortlessly fly like that?! And at that speed?

Maybe it wasn't Dark Kingdom but some other enemy? But then why had Minako seemed so peaceful and content? He'd expect her to be suffering under mind control.

The mooncat started looking for Mamoru. Better that he spy on things before they went off half-cocked.

-------

With Ami it had gone a little different.

Doctor Mizuno had approached the girl with some confusion. On some levels this *was* her daughter, but a lot of nagging details said this was a stranger. "Ami, don't you recognize your own mother?"

Ami considered the woman who had pursued her. Engram recordings didn't provide much data, but there was a physical resemblence. The hospital tag read "Mizuno" and there was something in her file about the Original's mother being a doctor. Therefore there was a good chance that this was the original Ami Mizuno's mother. Secondary evidence was a physical map between her own structure and that of the woman questioning her. Allowing for different ages and the male genetic donor's influence, there was a good result.

Ami smiled and bowed. "Honored sensei. I am not the Ami Mizuno whom you parented."

Doctor Mizuno stopped at that. The wording was quite odd. "Then you are?"

Ami checked protocols and determined a high probability that permission would be granted. One of the operational protocols did not require further revelations regarding the Moon Kingdom or hidden underground bases. "I am a decoy, Mizuno-sensei. It is believed that your daughter was specifically targetted by one of the youma operating in the Azabu Juuban district along with her friends?"

The doctor nodded, that had been supposition which had been floating about though nobody had come up with a likely reason for some of the students targetted. Then her eyes widened as she made connections. "You're to draw them out when they come after you?"

Ami nodded, glad to be dealing with someone slightly more mentally agile than those she normally associated with (ie: high school girls). "If these forces are still operating. Current data indicates that they may not but we are still investigating leads."

Doctor Mizuno nodded, fitting more together. This girl looked almost identical to Ami. She was a little older though, maybe 16 or 17, and there was something "off" about the eyes. Possibly she was wearing contacts. Since she'd stated that she was involved in an investigation, and something of her manner indicated that she was a professional of some kind, it was easy to fill in the blanks. The investigation at the level of the police had died out, as far as public information was concerned. They were still investigating it at a higher level, obviously.

What the pediatrician *said* however was: "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Ami considered that for a moment. "May I contact you at your hospital? I have to check with my Commander but it may be useful to relocate into your area briefly. I'm sure there are details that have yet to be entered into my database."

The doctor nodded. "Yes. I work a variety of shifts but I can usually be contacted or messages forwarded. Just ask for Doctor Mizuno."

"Thank you," said Ami before turning to walk away.

The doctor watched her daughter's double walk off, turn a corner under a fire escape, and then apparently vanish. Walking swiftly, she checked out the corner. No exits. No place to hide. Examining closer found a set of seams which didn't quite fit and a single emblem hidden away where a casual search couldn't find it.

"AEGIS?!" Doctor Mizuno breathed. "They're still operating? Oh, Ami, what *were* you involved in?"

-----------

Akane Tendo, Heir of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, knew how to find Ranma & Ryouga.

Plume of dust and smoke: check.
Sounds of extreme violence: check.
Old mummy roof hopping: che... say what?!

Akane blinked, not really sure if she'd seen that.

Nonetheless there was the sound of flesh meeting flesh, one body being thrown through a wall, followed by more flesh-on-flesh and then the sound of items not normally considered fragile being reduced to rubble.

Which led Akane directly to where a sopping-wet Ryouga was pulling himself out of a canal in order to go at his opponent once again.

"You two stop it!" Akane yelled, running forward. "Look at all the damage you're doing!"

"But Akane..." Ranma turned to deal with the girl running up to him.

Ryouga saw the opening. His belt was stiffened with a snap, then hurled forward. Ranma would pay for the insult of the bread, all the time Ryouga had spent in China, and the problems that had occurred when he had accidently found that women's bath in that quaint little Chinese village!

Ranma used Iron Cloth on a previously thrown bandana to deflect the belt. "Get out of here, stupid! It's dangerous!"

"You two have to stop this!" Akane pointed to the gas station. "What do you think is going to happen if you two continue to fight like this? Don't you remember what happened when you fought at the school?"

"You want to convince RYOUGA of that?"

Akane was convinced that there was only one way to stop the fight now. Knock Ranma out. It was her privledge as a fiancee right? Akane picked up a piece of canal railing that had been cut free by flying bandanas and strode forward. Ranma stepped back.

*SCHLUK!*

"Oh HELL," said Ranma with a great deal of feeling. Not only was this disgusting, but he just KNEW how Mister Tendo would deal with this latest development.

Ryouga stared. Ranma was *still* getting innocent girls involved in their fights! That cad!

Akane managed to blink. She was aware to some extent and had heard the stories about how during the French Revolution some of the guillotine victims had been aware for over a minute before the blood loss finally caused them to die.

Cologne shook her head. Terrible loss, but there was only so much that even a Chinese Amazon could do. Restoring the girl's head to her body wasn't possible.

Ranma finally got his brain in gear, unfortunately the wrong one. He rushed Akane's body towards the gas station, intending to call an ambulance. Also unfortunately, Akane's head bounced off and into the canal.

"RANMA! YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY!" Ryouga tried to go around the section of canal keeping him seperated from Ranma. Unfortunately, that involved losing direct line of sight with Ranma. "Where the heck did you go, you coward?!"

Usagi Tsukino flitted down, touching lightly on the waters of the canal as she pulled something out, then flew off with it.

Ranma came back, aware that the girl's head was missing now. "Akane?! Oh... shit."

Cologne watched the flying girl disappear in the distance. Now THIS was getting interesting. She had had no idea that life outside the village had changed so much. Hmmmm.

-----------

Looking around the school, Kumori Mizuno reviewed what she knew about the hidden organization.

AEGIS (Alien Exterminating Global Intercept System) had operated from just after WWII (some whispered that WWII had actually been instigated by the Invaders) until the 70s. A hidden organization whose purpose had been to stop alien invasions in the same tradition as its predecessor with the turn of the century demonic forces had done.

This made sense. Now it was *this* generation's turn, and AEGIS was now handing off to a new group of defenders. The "Floral League" gave way to the "Gatekeepers" who gave way to the now vanished "Sailor Senshi" and now some new group.

Her own involvement with AEGIS had been minor. In tests she'd been able to access Gate power, but only with difficulty and briefly. Not enough to become a Gatekeeper. It'd helped get her into college though, so it *had* worked out for her to associate with AEGIS at the time.

So Ami's double was working for AEGIS and the precursor of the American "Men In Black" (she had seen the movie and thought it a clever way for those same people to prove they didn't actually exist by depicting themselves as merely cinematic fancy) was involved in the youma and the missing girls.

Whether Ami was alive or not, neither they nor she knew. She did know one thing on the subject. These people were trying to draw the kidnappers out, therefore Doctor Mizuno would assist as best she could.

Though it was curious, the girl she'd spoken to had some of Ami's mannerisms down exactly, and others had completely escaped her. More, the impression she had gotten was of "nesting dolls" as if there was truly her daughter there but behind layers of someone else.

Still, there was one more thing to do. Secrets or not, she had made promises. Any information she received would be shared with some of the other parents and guardians. She would just have to avoid naming AEGIS and mention only that it was a high level and secret government operation that she'd stumbled upon.

Kumori looked up as a yellow submarine flew overhead and began its descent towards the pool. Maybe she ought to consider a brief vacation from work, she had enough accrued time.

----------

The Yellow Submarine entered through the pool access (the Tokyo Canal access tunnels were still under construction) despite picking up a few hitchikers in the process.

Nabiki had taken one look at Ranma, heard of the loss of Akane's head, and had high-tailed it to the pool to try and figure out how to contact Greylle. If he could bring *her* back, then surely he could bring Akane back.

Kasumi had accompanied Nabiki. Partly out of concern for Akane, partly because her father had gone completely bonkers on finding that not only had Ranma managed to get into fights that had killed two of his daughters but that during an odd moment Akane's body had vanished from the dojo, and partly because Mister Saotome had been eyeing her in his cursed form again. Nabiki had had to grab Kasumi with one arm and anchor herself to the sub with the other as Kasumi could not make the leap that was necessary.

Ukyo, on the other hand, had other concerns. She'd pursued Ranma for years. However the thought of making friends with the gaijin who'd called her cute and gaining access to other markets (an important consideration for a fledgling businesswoman - selling okonomiyaki outside the baseball stadiums would make her a tidy profit even allowing for the kickback to the franchise) was fairly compelling.

Shampoo was following her great grandmother.

Cologne was fascinated by this whole thing and packed an old fashioned bathing suit when it became obvious how they would access this hidden base. Which meant that she was the only one of the group of hitchhikers who was actually prepared for what came immediately thereafter.

Nabiki and Kasumi had both been quite distracted by the image of the headless Akane and failed to realize until the water hit that Nabiki still hadn't managed to access her forcefield capabilities. Fortunately, she *was* waterproof to depths of 250ft. Ukyo just tried to get inside but found the door was locked and simply braced herself for the rush of water when it was obvious that her plan had not worked out. Shampoo was still trying to figure out a way she could claim both airen despite Amazon Laws meant to keep track of family lines.

*SPLOOOSH!*

The chamber was filled with water for 1.5 minutes.

Nabiki's oxygen cell kicked in and she had no problems other than Kasumi shaking her frantically.

Kasumi had taken a deep breath but her usual calm was getting a bit shaky before the air pumped in and the water pumped out of the chamber. Okay a lot shaky. Especially as she had just realized where Akane's body had disappeared to and hadn't been able to suppress an "oh my" even while underwater.

Ukyo and Shampoo weathered the time without air even more panicked than Kasumi. This was mainly because Shampoo had let go of the sub and had gotten sucked into one of the drainage pipes, grabbing Ukyo as she went.

Cologne watched her great granddaughter yank that chef girl off the sub with her and get lodged in a mass of flailing limbs and hair inside one of the tubes. Tsk. Well at least Shampoo got along with these outsiders as odd as *that* was.

The waters receded despite one of the three tubes being clogged.

"...check on that rattling noise, will you?" Greylle exited the hatch and flipped to the walkway, then ran for the doors which hissed open in front of him and then shut behind him.

"..." Kasumi managed to evoke an image of a nearly drowned kitten.

"Spatula girl get leg out of Shampoo's sleeve!"

"Ugh! Don't flail like that! And get your hair out of my face!"

Cologne was en route to keep either from hurting themselves trying to untangle when the door opened again and even a 300 year old Amazon Elder could be forgiven for taking a step back in alarm at the figure that entered the room.

The giant mechanical spider trundled over to the plugged drainage tunnel and seemed to consider the two "foreign bodies" lodged within.

Cologne edged to the side to regard the thing before her. A machine, definitely. Something in its body language seemed puzzled, which was unexpected.

"Workspider," said Nabiki, sloshing (her clothes were rather sodden) up. "That *is* you, isn't it?"

"Identity: Nabiki Tendo. Confirmed. Identity: Kasumi Tendo. Confirmed. Identity: Shampoo. Confirmed. Self-Identification: Workspider-03. Please identify others."

"This is a machine and not a remotely operated device?" Cologne had thought just being a remote had numerous applications, but if it was an independently operating machine the mind boggled at the possibilities. She spotted several breaking points, and so wasn't worried *that* much, but could see where a few of these things could take on most of her village and raze it to the ground. Or become nearly unstoppable guards FOR the village.

"Self is a Type III Artificial Intelligence. Remote operation is possible but not required."

"The girl with Shampoo is Ukyo Kuonji. I don't know the elderly lady." Nabiki decided against charging Workspider-03 for the information. She could always explain the concept of relative value and price later. Of course, by *that* definition she was already in the red by a considerable margin just for bringing her back from the dead.

"I am Shampoo's great-grandmother, Cologne. Elder Matriarch of the Amazon Tribe of the Nichieju Village." Cologne began looking over the machine in greater detail now. Buzzsaws, welding apparatus, pincers, what looked like drilling and excavating ends, each "leg" terminating in something resembling a Swiss Army Knife. "You are not a combat model primarily are you?"

"Negative. Workspider series are noncombat models. Primary purpose: construction/repair." The machine paused briefly as it scanned bodies and transmitted their dimensions to the central computers. "Dry clothes are being manufactured. Welcome to Cyberdyne Corporation."

--------

Greylle had been preoccupied to such a degree that he hadn't noticed the presence of the girls other than to dispatch a Workspider to check into the drainage problem.

He *did* notice the extra tunnels and extra marionettes running about, along with a few extra robots and that one of the Automatic Response Neural Intelligence Enforcers (ARNIE units) had been nearly finished and was on a "guard" position.

"Ve haff visitors," said the ARNIE in a thick Bavarian accent as Greylle stopped and looked inquiringly at him.

Greylle nodded and dashed into the room which housed the healing chamber that had been used for Nabiki.

Seeing Akane's bodiless head floating in the tank with a crewcut was indication of how badly things had gone in his absence. "Status?"

Ami looked up from a display. "Brain activity is at minimal level despite nutrients and oxygen being supplied directly. Artificial blood is being circulated to replace that lost prior to rescue. We have been unable to locate the body."

"In other words she's dead and the body is missing," Greylle summed up. "Even though you've got her living neural tissue. Her soul probably went out, Nabiki's did after all. So i'll need to bring it back so that she shows at least what passes for higher functions for her." He frowned then, he didn't usually intend cruelty but this *was* Akane. Just because he didn't see her ghost wandering around didn't mean she might not be around still. "Okay. Keep her stable. i'll contact her spirit and guide her back."

"What of the visitors?"

"i'll have to change clothes and return. Show 'em around, i suppose. And DON'T show them my hoard area!"

------------

The device they had been led to was *very* odd. Workspider-03 had explained that it was based on the standards of beauty shown in movies, advertisements, and television - forming a comparitive database that then scanned the individual and used various technologies such as matter transfiguration to perform an "instant day spa" and would even clothe the individual to specification.

Everyone had been nervous about it, but eventually Kasumi's decided lack of enthusiasm for remaining in sopping wet clothing forced her to be the first.

Fifteen seconds later, she got up out of the "coffin" and managed a weak "Can I go again?"

Everyone else gawked (except Workspider-03 of course) at the change.

Kasumi's hair shone. Split ends had been repaired. Her hair had been treated down to the molecular level to make it clean, healthy, and add a shine and "spun silk" texture that the household budget's cheap shampoos and conditioners could not begin to approach. Her skin likewise had been defoliated, cleansed, repaired, smoothed, softened, and moisturized. She'd gotten a manicure, a pedicure, a health checkup and minor ills repaired down to the genetic level. As it had been Japanese TV and movies scanned: the makeup was subtle enough to be largely overlooked if one wasn't examining her in minute detail.

The eldest Tendo daughter had been aware of all this, and the feeling of hundreds of invisible hands grooming and massaging her had been quite... interesting. At the moment she felt more pampered and glamorous than she ever had in her life.

Everyone else was aware that Kasumi practically glowed with health and had a mysteriously pleased smile on her face. She was also wearing a very nice and expensive looking kimono.

Her original clothing was ejected from another section of the machine a moment later, looking laundered and repaired.

"Well, uhm, I guess I'll give it a try," said Nabiki, only to find her path blocked a moment later.

"Nah, sugah, Ah think those cyborg parts of yours might gunk this here machine up. I'll just give it a spin first."

"Shampoo think Spatula Girl must have hit head. Is only right for Chinese Amazon go next."

Cologne sighed as the three started bickering. She didn't particularly trust the gadget herself and was content to wring out her Matriarch robes by hand.

---------

She had made a mistake early on in confronting the birds. She had made another mistake by looking them in their eyes.

Their wings were black and diseased, foul and oily. Bits of skeleton showed on their main body and in their legs, but the most horrible thing was their heads. To be more precise it was that they wore her face.

The birds circled, the others darting in and slashing at her as she tried to confront one.

Akane was feeling weak and hurt, and knew that she couldn't keep dodging for long.

"ENOUGH!"

A presence strode up to her and caused the birds to back up. Akane looked up and saw that it was the gaijin. "Y-y-you?!"

"Akane, these are your own personal demons, they can only harm you if you let them."

"What?! But I..." Akane looked out at the *things* with her face. One of them snapped teeth that belonged on a shark or similar predator.

"Everyone has them," continued Greylle. He had been tempted to leave Akane, knowing full well that eventually she would notice that they were trying to keep her from noticing the Light. Once she entered the light, she would Pass On. However, he had to give her that option, he couldn't just leave her to suffer. "Everyone has their little inner demons. Well, most of us. Self-doubt, pride, hate, that big one over there is your jealousy and that other one is your rage, that smaller one is fear. They are simply keeping you from the Light."

"The Light?" Akane asked, puzzled, but then realized that there was something *there*. Once she looked for it, it was hard to see how she had missed it before.

"Akane, are you sure you want to enter the Light?"

Akane stopped and realized she'd been moving towards it. "I... it's just that..."

"i know. And there is peace and tranquility in the Light. i am here to offer you an alternative." Greylle held out a hand.

"...but I'm dead."

"So was Nabiki," pointed out Greylle to the translucent Akane. "You can go into the Light and pass from the living. There is joy and peace and tranquility in the Light if you embrace it and leave your personal demons behind. In life there is both joy and pain, suffering and contentment, love and hate. They don't even always balance out. Yet if you want to return to the living, i am here to guide you back."

Akane looked up at the figure of the baseball player, noting that he was wearing an odd sort of priestly vestment. While she was... "EEEEEEK!"

Greylle manifested a spectral sweatdrop simply because he could and felt it was appropriate. "Akane, that is your astral body. You don't have to be naked. Just imagine yourself clothed."

Akane flickered in and out of several outfits as she tried to concentrate on something.

"Oh for crying out loud. We don't have time for this, Akane. If you don't return soon, you might as well go into the Light or go back to fighting THEM."

"But my body... I mean, my HEAD was cut off! How can I... a cyborg body?"

"That's one option, yes. It's not the only one." Greylle sighed. "The equipment to fastclone and regenerate a normal human body isn't there, but it appears Minako and Usagi ran across a record for a genetic reconstruction chamber."

Greylle finished pointing the way, watching the indecision in Akane's face, then glanced over to the side.

Here between Life and Death he could sense something. More than one something. Over there was a presence, though muffled. Over there was a spark of light. And over there was Power.

Lots of Power. Something way beyond most of the beings he'd met or associated with recently. More Power than the gem currently burning in his chest beneath the hakama. Concealed but still there.

Greylle marked the locations as best he could without landmarks and turned back to where Akane was still wrestling with her decision.

--------

Hotaru wasn't sure about all this "shrine priestess" stuff.

It was better than being possessed by a daimonic bring that was trying to bring about the Silence. That wasn't the problem.

All these Zen koans and riddles and prayer and sweeping steps and things of that nature made it all a bit strange to say the least.

But then, she also had to admit that most miko likely didn't come under *quite* the amount of scrutiny she did. Hotaru suspected that most shrine priestesses didn't end up with their sacred mirror advising them to wash behind the ears and take better care sweeping those stepping stones leading to the shrine.

Nor did they generally arrange for their miko to be engaged to gaijin.

Of course, the up side of this was that they also generally didn't start teaching their miko spells.

It felt sort of "off" but was becoming easier as she practiced. So far all she could do was these "orisons" but she could do them pretty well.

The promise of advanced weapons training and martial arts practice, however, was concerning.

--------

Greylle went to take a shower. He didn't feel the cold the way he had prior to being a transformed dragon, but it always let him feel a little refreshed at least. Besides, it looked like Akane was still vacillating on what she wanted to be until the regenerator was finished.

He had to admit the bathing area was *nice* if a little strange. He'd have to find out which marionette had handled the design (all he'd done was a basic floorplan and label areas as being bath, repair bay, medical facility, cafeteria, power plant, and such) and compliment her.

The bath couldn't decide if it was trying to be Japanese or Greco-Roman. Maybe when it was finished. Areas had been marked for statues and the tiling hadn't nearly been finished.

Which was why he was using a private shower stall off his smaller human-sized living quarters. It was getting late though and he had a lot to think about. Those odd bits of power he'd glimpsed. One a distant large lump of cotton, or so it had felt. Then the spark as if hot from a forge, but he'd understood that one a bit better- someone had a line access active to the Heavenly Planes. That was close and probably the safest of the three to investigate.

Then that big lump of Power. Hidden: one could only sense it from the known as Tweenspace. (Which was to say that it was in between everything, not even fully in the Astral Plane or Ethereal, a thin slice of nowhere.) Even there it had been like viewing it through a diffraction grating, had he been any further out he wouldn't have been able to sense it at all.

He just had so bloody much to do!

*Shooosh!*

"...and here we have Shard-sama's private shower stall. You may notice by the control dial that it is capable of putting out any temperature from boiling to near-freezing. And over here..."

Greylle hung his head for a moment.

"Oh my!"

"Hmmmm. I wonder if I've got a record function with these bionic eyes. Let's see..."

"Shampoo, you're drooling. Comport yourself like an Amazon."

"Comport?"

"Ain't no way, sugah, Ah've seen those leaping glomps you've done on Ranma-honey. We ought to give the man some dignity."

"Spatula Girl staring pretty hard herself."

Greylle decided to rest his forehead against the cool tile, incidently turning his back towards the voyeurs.

"Gotta say, he's got a cute butt."

"Better than boys in village. Don't you think, great grandmama?"

"Perhaps, child. Though it is his ki level that intrigues me."

"Hmmm. Thermal scan. Ultraviolet. Infrared. Nope. No recording. Pity. Oh. That's neat, I can filter out the mist from the shower. Hmmmmm!"

"Oh my. Oh my. This isn't proper."

"Nice girl say that but Shampoo notice she still here."

"Excuse me," came a new voice. Ami squeezed through the crowd and tapped on Greylle's shoulder. "Excuse me. I have a report here regarding recent developments dealing with a hyperdimensional summoning spell which had white band markings and... what is that?"

Greylle momentarily glared at Ami. "Access your files on basic male anatomy. It's in there!"

Ami glanced over the boy. Hmmm. Some comment was probably needed at this point. "Yes, very nice. I was referring to the gemstone imbedded in your chest."

"Later. AND WOULD SOMEONE CLOSE THAT DOOR!"

----------

Akane drifted ghostlike through the walls. This was interesting. She could see lots of machines, whose purposes she didn't understand at all.

There were eight androids who seemed to have special glows about them. Then there were some non human non female robots. None of which interested Akane that much. Why couldn't he build any cute and fluffy androids?

She didn't understand a lot of things about this place.

It was weird how calm she was while floating without a body. Well, maybe it was just plain weird.

Why was Kasumi wearing a formal kimono and why was she all made up like that? She also seemed happy but distracted. Pretty much normal though a bit more intense on both.

Why was Nabiki wearing such very odd clothing? A maid's outfit, including the frilly little cap. Like Kasumi she looked expertly made up for a night on the town. Maybe there was a costume party? Though that seemed more Nabiki's speed than Kasumi's.

Akane thought Shampoo's clothing was a little more normal, well, normal for Shampoo. Skin tight black leotard-like outfit, including long sleeves, under a red happiko. A belt of rope that flared into a bow in the back. Two earrings that looked suitable as Christmas ornaments. Also sporting cherry-red lipstick and an otherwise understated makeup job.

As for Ukyo, she could not currently be mistaken for a guy. That big spatula of hers hadn't been touched, but she was currently wearing a white blouse. A pair of dark shorts and matching suspenders. Long boots and karate style gloves.(1) Like the others, she was wearing makeup and her hair had been lightly styled and she looked *very* good, if a bit uncomfortable with her current garb.

Oh and there was some kind of muppet-on-a-stick accompanying them. Very powerful aura.

She left the tour group after floating around them and the only one who'd apparently sensed something different was the muppet. Something had told Akane that this was a dangerous situation, so she'd quietly left. No telling what would happen if she were exorcised or something.

Akane flowed through one wall, slammed her nose into another wall (and made a note that some walls were more solid than others), and ducked through a third wall shortly thereafter. Finally she found who she was looking for. "Hey you! Why did you leave me..."

Greylle looked around as he felt *something* that indicated his second attempt at a nice hot shower was being interrupted but he didn't see anything.

Akane blushed so much that she resembled a neon sign briefly and tried to focus on something *besides* what she had just seen. Imagine the nerve of that pervert! Taking a shower in his own room where innocent girls could walk... Uhm. Nevermind.

Still, *something* hadn't seemed right about that picture. Slowly Akane stuck her head back through the wall.

Head up, eyes closed, letting the water strike the area between the shoulder blades. Greylle was trying to get in a private moment of relaxation.

Akane stared. She'd taken the courses and knew the anatomy. Though she'd been extremely uncomfortable in the classroom with the subject and especially with the whispered comments around her. It looked *different* here, possibly because Shard-san was a gaijin? What was it? He was hairier, though the blonde hair tended to blend in with the skin a bit more than with the Japanese model. And apparently they'd picked a scrawny model for some reason. Taut waist, nice muscles, smooth tanned skin. This didn't look much like the model at all.

Maybe it was that glimmer of white in the center of his chest?

Greylle turned around and let the water slam into his chest, stretching his shoulders as he let the heat penetrate his front this time.

The youngest daughter of Soun Tendo continued to stare for a moment, then briefly fled again. Not due to any hormonal fluctuation. She felt as calm and collected as the next person currently without hormones (or occupying what was left of their body) could be. That didn't mean you couldn't be heavily embarassed.

Akane watched the little R2 unit roll across the corridor then stuck her head back in. Now it was safe and she could tell the inventor what she had decided to do.

Except he was apparently asleep on the bed. Great.

Akane reached out, intent on shaking this exasperating boy awake.

(Contact)

----------

It had begun the first day of their trying to build the base.

Greylle had been working on Workspider-01 (with 02 through 04 being developed) when Ami had shown that her developing AI was capable of working out problems more difficult than getting a TV working.

She had asked what Greylle's long term goals were. The short-term was already on the planning board with the hidden base and hangar for a starship, their own construction to fill in for these Sailor Senshi while he looked for the original, and some other mission that he wouldn't reveal because it was "just so stupid" that he wouldn't talk about it. So Ami had tried the direct approach. What *were* the long term goals to accomplish?

She'd later used their hand-connection ability to have a conversation with Usagi who had come up with an idea. The idea of Christmas and birthday presents had been developed from television, and apparently the surprise factor was an important part. A plan developed. When Rei had been built, she was given the initial task.

Just as Akane was being beheaded, a large metal object that someone might have recognized as a set of three rusty truck trailers welded together by connecting pipes slowed to an orbit around a dusty red planet.

Explosive bolts fired and one trailer remained in orbit where it would slowly fall towards the moon Deimos, which itself was a captured asteroid from a period three billion years past when Mars had been hammered by rather large rocks.

The other two trailers, still linked, touched down on the Martian surface in a maze of canyons and cracks in the surface known as the Vallis Marineris. At which point the two AI within those trailers activated, opened the doors and began checking their surroundings.

Workspider-02 checked servos and that the dust filtering outer covering had no rips or tears. Sealed latex and polycarbonate plating to keep dust from freezing joints.

By the time Kasumi went in for her makeover, Mole-01 (not even as intelligent as a Workspider) had been unpacked and was happily digging a ten foot wide tunnel into the ground. Its internal furnaces were not yet at proper heat, so it was not smelting down the iron-rich soil into useful metal ingots which could then be turned into useful metal structures.

By the time Akane had ducked back into the living quarters, Workspider-04 had already unpacked most of the fabrication equipment. Workspider-02 had just finished scouting nearby areas and had picked just the perfect area for where the greenhouses would sit. Tectonically stable, plenty of sand nearby to fuse into glass, and break-winds could be constructed to help protect them from the 300mph storms that could build up in the area.

By the time that Akane had realized that she was currently bodiless and that trying to shake someone was going to be futile, Mole-01's tunnel had collapsed on top of it but that was only a temporary problem. What would be a slightly bigger problem was water.

Due to volcanic action and lots of meteor and comet strikes during that long ago period, there had been water and an atmosphere on Mars. The planet had been too small to sustain it, the distance from the sun to great to keep things flowing, and the water had frozen. Some had outgassed, molecules wandering off over the ages with much of the atmosphere. Some had accumulated at the massive glaciers of the poles. Vast frozen underground lakes accounted for the rest.

Unfortunately, while the area they had chosen didn't get quite the problems with ultrafine dust or some of the worst storms, there was also no river or aquifer nearby. Hence there would be a need for a mining operation that would seek and transport ice from the nearest available source, over 20miles away.

Their AI worked it out and between the two of them, the Workspiders acheived a compromise. This could be the base camp. A second camp could be developed closer to the water source. Eventually they could tap the reservoirs at the poles, and seperate out frozen CO2 from H2O, but for now this would be workable if not elegant.

A set of camps, and then the airlocks and main dome could be built.

Meanwhile, a trailer on Deimos opened up and began unfolding communications equipment.

Unfortunately, Ami had not discovered the files on hyperspatial tunnels and mass transporters prior to the ship being launched. Nor was there any communication between Japan and Mars. Otherwise the priorities would have been different.

--------

"Mah Fahn You" suggested Shampoo.

"I am *not* a troublemaker," insisted Kasumi.

"You is one who wanted to talk to stupid Terminator."

"Well it was Nabiki who started making fun of him," said Kasumi thoughtfully.

"How was I to know he had *no* sense of humor?" Nabiki grumped.

"So now what do we do?" Ukyo sighed and snapped her suspenders. Then made a note to never do that again.

Cologne sighed but knew quite well that teenage girls were prone to thinking they knew it all and not quite grasping how little that actually was. "Never mind, children, this is only a temporary setback. Once that robot ascertains that Nabiki's jest was just that, we'll likely be out of her shortly." She hadn't bothered to fight the robot as it had been quite polite and there had been no immediate gain in using a Breaking Point to disable it. Besides, she had learned a few things because of where they had chosen to put them in the meantime.

"My goodness, what strange food," commented Kasumi as she examined their temporary holding cell. Which happened to be a kitchen and cafeteria area that looked new and largely unused.

"What did you expect, Miss Tendo?" Cologne raised an eyebrow as she examined the freezer room herself before gently moving the kimono-clad Kasumi to the side and closing that door. "Everyone here, save ourselves and Shampoo's backup airen, are robots. From what Shampoo told me, that potential son-in-law is American. Hence the preponderance of non-Japanese foods."

"Looks like mainly he gets by on sandwiches," tsked Ukyo as she checked out the oven. "What, no grill?"

Shampoo checked. "It look like only thing get used is these three pans, funny looking teapot, and this thing. What is?"

"That's a crockpot," noted Kasumi, lifting the lid and sniffing. "Vegetable soup? Oh and the teapot is an old tetsubin design."

Nabiki poked around but her interest in kitchens was in what could scrounge out for eating. Though there was a little doll house-like structure on one table that she couldn't figure out immediately.

"Shampoo think this good time to make big dinner for airen!"

"It's beginning to get late, Shampoo," said Cologne looking over the place thoughtfully. Obviously one of Shampoo's airen would be a good choice for opening the restaurant. This one, however, seemed of completely different nature and a radically different approach was called for. "Shampoo. Choose one. You could not possibly be able to keep both."

"But Shampoo *want* both."

(bonk) "Amazons should *not* pout. Particularly to their Elders."

Shampoo had seen some Japanese TV lately. She quickly went into a dramatic declaration stance. "One airen is strong and give Shampoo many chances to show off Amazon lore and knowledge in saving Earth from menaces from beyond!"

"There's only been *one* menace from beyond, Shampoo," pointed out Nabiki.

"I gotta side with Shampoo on this one," Ukyo jerked a thumb towards the door. "None of that stuff we saw are like tanks or jets or stuff, but there's a lot of activity for just *one* mutant moose critter."

Cologne looked over the equipment and wondered why there wasn't a cook-robot. Everything was built for *human* proportions and usage.

--------

Akane stared in disbelief. She'd wanted to try shouting in Shard-san's ear. Instead she'd entered his head and was now surrounded by flickering globes, like being in a soda where the bubbles were flourescent. Shapes flitted across these spheres, brief images showing within.

Akane was curious enough, and reached out to touch one of those spheres.

(CLICK)

"You look fine, Morisato." Akane felt her lips move to say the words, though she didn't know who the short guy was and the voice sounded vaguely like Shard-san?

"I don't know about this, maybe we should come back later. What if He's busy?" The shorthaired boy saying this looked *very* nervous.

Akane felt herself, no, *him*self snort good-naturedly. She was a guy?! What was this? "It's by your own customs, Keiichi Morisato. You went through the Gate Of Judgement with Belldandy, you want to take your relationship further, you have to ask her father permission to court his daughter."

"I don't know how you talked me into this," said Keiichi.

"Don't look at this as meeting the Almighty," said the body Akane was currently occupying. "Look at it as just meeting the father of the girl you love."

"I'm having a little trouble forgetting that aspect of this," Keiichi said with a gesture at their surroundings.

"Yeah, well, i've never actually *met* Him," admitted Akane's current host. "i arranged this meeting through Peorth."

"Peorth?! I'm outta here!"

Akane was shocked as an armored arm caught the boy by the collar. "Do you want to disappoint Belldandy?"

Keiichi seemed to deflate a little. "You don't fight fair, do you?"

"Most of the time," said the other. "Come on now. *You* have got a clearance. Just that you got permission is a good sign."

(CLICK)

Akane stumbled back into the "room" of all the bubbles. Had that been a dream? Something of it clicked, she'd apparently been *Shard-san* in that little scene. What had it meant? Who was Peorth? Or Keiichi Morisato? Or Bellcandy? Or Almighty?!

Akane looked at the bubbles a bit more closely. That one had a light golden tint, others were red or dark looking or shining brightly.

Eyes flicking around, and with the usual tendency of ghosts to get sidetracked, Akane checked out that darker sphere over there.

(CLICK)

He cradled her as best he could in his arms, ignoring the cold rain except to try and shelter her as best he could. Closing his eyes and trying to give her as much comfort as he could in these last minutes.

"...Basalt-san..."

A feather-light touch along one cheek caused his eyes to open and he looked down into those blue eyes shrouded in pain. "Don't talk. Save your strength."

There was a faint hint of a smile there as she looked up at him. "I know anatomy, Basalt. I go Beyond. Don't cry, my love. You can't face Ares alone, so leave now. There'll be..."

He reached with trembling fingers to close those eyes one final time and set her gently down on the cold stones. Not that she could feel it anymore.

Basalt raised his head and howled grief and rage at the clouds overhead.

(CLICK)

Akane shook slightly from the raw emotion she'd felt in that memory. That had been that short haired android, Ami, but the blood had indicated that that was *not* an android.

Understanding something now, Akane looked around. The number of bright spheres were not very great. Some were even darker than the one she'd just observed.

The Japanese, as a whole, were not very religious in a Western sense. They tended to be born Shinto and die Buddhist. They *did* go in for elaborate ceremony and so wrapped themselves in some of the aspects of Shintoism much of their lives. Still, the idea of past lives was very much a part of the Japanese cultural mindset.

Under that concept, Akane decided that what these spheres indicated were past lives. She wondered if Shard-san remembered any of these. She looked over and saw what looked like her own image flitting across the surface of a sphere. Curiousity moved her closer.

(TUG!)

"HEY!" Akane startled as she felt a pull on her being. It was that way, towards where her head was bobbing around in that tube.

(TUG!!)

"LET GO! I JUST WANT TO SEE THAT ONE!" Akane tried to pull back but it was like she was on the end of a fishing line and being reeled in.

(TUG!!!)

Akane found herself speeding through the various rooms, heading for what was left of her body. She fought, feeling that she'd been on the verge of finding out something important. There was something that... hmmmm. What was this? They were building her a new body? Well, in that case she had some suggestions.

----------

"You are not on list of allowed visitors," Arnie said in a thick Bavarian accent.

"Nonsense, I'm Akane's father!"

[That's right! Let us in!]

Arnie-01 shook his head. "You are Soun Tendo. Disciple of Happosai. Mine datafiles indicate you have a high gullibility rating, are obsessive, and display little in the sense of personal honor. You may not pass."

[Well then, I'll just go visit for him.] Genma thought of all the potentially salable items he might be able to find.

(CLICK CLAK) That being the sound of bars sliding shut behind the massive android. "Nein. You are Genma Saotome. Disciple of Happosai. Mine datafiles indicate you have a high gullibility rating, are obsessive, display no personal honor, and are a weakminded fool with delusions of adequacy."

"We didn't come here to be insulted!" Soun began summoning up the chi for his Demon Head Attack. No overmuscled Bavarian, even a seven foot tall one, would thwart his will.

"Nein, you came here to turn around and go home. Your daughters are fine. Nabiki has vouched for Kasumi and Akane's identity matrix is currently being placed in an experimental body until the regeneration facilities are online."

Soun unleashed his Demon Head. There was no way some gaijin could stand against it.

"Is this supposed to impress me?" Arnie asked. "Aura projection technique manifesting emotional wave effect, also a minor holographic effect. I correct my earlier summation. You are a little girly man."

"Huh?" Soun said, not entirely sure why it had no effect on this gaijin.

Arnie activated a sound effect generator so he could crack his knuckles. "I am going to pump you up!"

"Huh," repeated Soun.

(WHAM!) Soun slid to a stop on the grass.

Genma-snorlax smiled, turned around and began running. He was grabbed and his considerable bulk thrown.

Soun Tendo opened his eyes, looked up, and saw Genma about to make a one-Soun landing.

(WHUMP!)

Arnie dusted his hands, frowning. "You are *both* little girly men."

------------

"Master?"

Greylle struggled awake to find that his intended brief rest had apparently become a nap. "Huh?"

Ami checked her clipboard. "A delegation from the Diet is here. Akane is being fitted into one of the synthoid experimental bodies. Outer hull plating of Arcadia's forward area has begun, rear areas will be much later after minimal shipworthy equipment has been moved aboard. Two trespassers deemed 'Security Risk A' were turned away by Arnie. There have also been four abortive attempts by unauthorized personnel to access security lifts which have not required confrontation. The first tour group was determined to have potential for destructive behavior. Nabiki and the others are being held in the kitchen. A Doctor Kumori Mizuno was able to access a security panel by utilizing an old AEGIS code, and has requested an appointment to see you tomorrow at 4:30pm."

Greylle blinked. "How long was i out?"

"Eight minutes thirty-seven seconds," responded Ami. "Which do you want to do first?"

Letting out a deep breath, Greylle considered. "Okay, send a reply to Doctor Mizuno that that sounds fine, and remind me tomorrow morning about her. Stimulate a REM pattern in Akane to keep her asleep until i see what you're doing. Tighten security protocols on the lifts just in case. Have Usagi, Rei, and Makoto show Nabiki and the others to the outer door explaining that things have come up and that i will have to speak to them later. i will have to meet the Diet myself. Oh, and have someone make a large pot of tea: green, high grade. Sufficient for myself and all the members of the delegation as well as a cup for each."

Ami blinked, transmitting the data through the comm-net. "Anything else?"

"Find my shirt. Then lead me on to these delegates."

-----------

"If you will please accompany us," Usagi said, bowing. "There have been some difficulties. We are currently experiencing a state of emergency. If you would please accompany us to the nearest exit, we'll make an appointment for you to meet our Master tomorrow."

Cologne looked over the three robots. They had some chi? "Tell me, child, are you alive?"

"By commonly agreed to definition, life requires three things. The ability to reproduce, the ability to alter one's environment, and the ability to sense and thereby react to one's environment."

"Got it wrong again, UsaGI," said Rei. "Being alive includes things like chi and ki. The nature of the soul and independent thought."

Makoto scratched the back of her head. "Actually, isn't life defined by love."

"You guys are completely off base: what about micro-organisms?" Usagi lectured her friends. "Bacteria, virii, algae and other single celled organisms. These qualify as life under a typical biological paradigm. Since we fit two of three categories, but cannot currently reproduce without special outside equipment, we are only provisionally alive."

"I don't count some micro-phage or other virus as being really alive." Rei countered. "To be alive is more than just making copies of yourself, otherwise a *computer* virus counts as alive! Come up with a better definition!"

"To be able to love is indication of being alive," argued Makoto. "If you know what it is to love, then you must know what it is to live!"

"No you guys!"

Cologne closed the door behind her on the argument. "Now to find this 'Master'."

--------

They were in the tradition of politicians everywhere: stuffed shirts. Bureaucrats, deal makers, lawyers, big businessmen.

No, not a fun group.

"So, what did you want to see first?" Greylle asked, hoping to keep this positive. Also hoping the Universal Translator was working.

"How much money did you spend on this boondoggle?" One overweight Japanese businessman sniffed as he looked around. "And why have you only hired young girls? These sorts of discriminatory practices will lead to misery."

"He's actually paid for the land," responded Haruhiko. "What he's arranged for is silence."

"Paid? How?"

Greylle looked over the speaker, noticed that the others were reluctant to say anything, and figured that it was time to show off a bit. It worked for others, after all. "Speaking of payment, part of my arrangement was for security upgrades for you, Emperor-san. This way please."

They followed, the one protestor hmmphing and with a sour expression etched on his face.

One of the others spoke for the first time. "This complex took how long to build?"

"It's a work in progress," indicated Greylle as he opened a door into an ampitheatre. "So far it's been a little over two weeks. Computer! Status of guard units earmarked for Imperial Palace?"

The voice coming out of midair startled two of the businessmen. "Units One through Seven complete. Units Eight through Eleven are mostly finished, requiring outer shell to be woven. Unit Twelve developed problems and is being rebuilt."

"LADDIE Units One through Seven. Report for inspection," said Greylle, winking to the Japanese Emperor.

A small door opened and a German Shepherd trotted out.

"Your security upgrade are dogs? Bah, how pathetic."

"Ogata-san, you might want to watch this," said Haruhiko who had no idea what was coming but saw the grin on the gaijin's face and therefore had a clue.

The dog blinked a couple of times then turned towards the opening. "ALL RIGHT LADS, IT'S SHOWTIME! MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!"

"SIR! YES, SIR!" Six other German Shepherds filed out and *marched* in perfect unison around the outside of the room.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"TO GET FROM THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT!"

"Sound Off!"

"One Two!"

"Sound Off!"

"Three Four!"

"Sound Off!"

"One two THREE FOUR!"

"Stand at atten SHUN!" The lead dog looked over the six others. "PRIVATE FIDO! THAT MEANS EARS AT ATTENTION TOO!"

"Sir! Yes Sir!"

Ogata's jaw had dropped.

The lead dog stepped in front of Greylle. "SIR! Bravo Company, present and accounted for SIR!"

"At ease Sergeant," Greylle requested. He pointedly ignored Ogata to speak directly to the Emperor. "A full dozen as soon as they're finished. Full sensor systems that can be used to detect weapons or contraband material. Their jaws are capable of exerting a per square inch force of roughly six tons. They're strong, fast, fearless, and capable of independent action."

"They look just like real dogs," commented Haruhiko, having difficulty suppressing the impulse to pat one on the head.

"SIR, permission to speak, SIR!"

"Go ahead Sergeant," indicated Greylle.

The Sergeant moved to face Haruhiko and bowed credibly for someone with such different physiology. "We are capable of a great many tasks and independent thought and action. According to mission briefing we are to supplement your own security force and to be used in a variety of different environments. Let me just say that we're ready!"

A few of the other dogs nodded at this.

"Robot... dogs?!" Ogata twitched.

"Android," corrected the Sergeant. "We have data on a variety of duties from assisting airport security to defense mode at the Imperial Palace. We are quire capable of protecting your family from over 10,000 different threats."

"What would you not be capable of protecting me from?" Haruhiko wondered aloud.

"Sergeant, return to barracks. Give your men a Scooby Snack while you're at it." Greylle lost the grin. "If you want dangers, gentlemen, then lets head to the briefing room. Computer, is the hologram system up in the briefing room?"

The same androgynous voice as earlier spoke again from mid-air. "Negative. There *is* a full holodisplay working in the cafeteria."

"If you want dangers that i personally know about that i couldn't defend against, the best way is to show you I guess." Greylle said, again leading the way.

-----------

Cologne, Shampoo, Ukyo, Nabiki, and Kasumi saw a lot of obvious VIP types and Greylle and naturally followed. Though Cologne had to bonk Ukyo over the head once to keep her from trying to introduce herself.

Ami and Minako noted the line of individuals heading for the cafeteria and decided that they should as well. Ami clicked a relay.

"What?! WHAT?!" Akane stared at her hands, then was up in a flash to check a reflective surface on a paper towel dispenser. "WHAT?!"

"We had this mostly ready, it fit the parameters you requested." Ami raised an eyebrow at the young girl.

"WHAT IS THIS?! Why did you have this in the first place?!" Akane blinked as she checked herself out. Well, she *had* wanted a slightly bigger bust. It was the rest of the package that was disconcerting. Still, the reflection did resemble her, if you made allowances for the fur and coloration and slitted eyes and stripes and clawed fingers and the tail jutting from the bottom of her spine and...

"The potential for encountering extraterrestrial species is increasing. Having evident nonhumans among the crew is a potential way of reducing tensions," Ami explained.

"Huh?!" Akane looked up from where she still pulling on her gums and baring teeth. It didn't *look* like she was a cyborg. Then again, Nabiki looked pretty normal unless you looked for seams around her access panels.

"She means that if there are nonhumans on *our* side, the nonhumans on *their* side would be more at ease." Minako translated.

"Oh, I guess." Akane checked out her backside and wiggled her tail. "Hmmm. This is temporary, right?"

"Yes," agreed Ami, wondering what about her explanation hadn't been clear.

Akane shrugged and smiled at her reflection, watching her ears flicked back. Well, she could have a little fun with this. Heh. Let Ranma call her flat-chested *now* or try to tell her that she was "unsexy" - this looked like her but with the dangerously sexy cranked up.

Ami noted that the panic and anger suppression routines were working, inducing a sense of calm and acceptance. It had been either this or a completely nonhumanoid form like an R2 unit modified to be a cyborg housing. This was also a synthoid frame, artificial tissues, and the process had needed to be tested.

Akane found herself purring as she considered the possibilities of this form.

"If you would, Akane, please follow and remain silent, we have a briefing to attend to."

---------

Two robots straight out of Miyazaki's "Laputa/Castle In The Sky" guarded the exits. Arnie guarded the door. Snoopy kept an eye out for red triplanes.

"Okay, gentlemen, Emperor, err," Greylle noticed the extra people in there and debated whether he should have them jettisoned or not. Spotting Cologne he decided that it would be *way* too much effort. "You asked about potential menaces. There's a LOT of potential menaces."

"Such as?" Ogata was still trying to recover from seeing what were obvious robots roaming the halls.

"Besides the occasional meteor or comet, besides the Sailor Senshi being out and still having menaces that will come for them, besides Phoenix Mountain and Saffron, and neglecting the potential for either a viral or environmental agent ruining the ecosystem?" Greylle suggested. "Well, there's a 98% chance of this world being invaded within the next 100 years."

"By you?" One of the other business types waved a hand at the doorway. "It's pretty obvious that you're not just some American high school student."

Remembering his *other* cover identity, Greylle shook his head. "Nope. Have no interest in invading anybody. Otherwise i wouldn't be working on bolstering defenses."

"Bah," said Ogata. "Then why are you restricting access to your technology?"

"You ever hear of a guy named Nobel? Developed dynamite for its use in construction? Except that after that he'd let the genie out and people used dynamite for significantly different purposes than he had planned. Any technological advancement is a two-edged sword. Right now you have the capability for terrorists to make nerve gas or high explosives just from what can be learned in High School Chemistry. There are parts of the world where that happens. You don't have defenses or the social development to handle the technology you've got."

"And so only you have the access or wisdom to dispense this technology," sneered Ogata.

"Yes!" Greylle resounded. "Though actually, if you could find either a Keiichi or Megumi Morisato, a Tenchi Masaki, Kazuya Saotome, or a Kumori Mizuno, I'll consult with them about such things."

"Invaders?" Haruhiko pressed, not wanting to get too divergent from the original purpose of this meeting.

"Oh yeah. Information on hand indicates one of these may become a problem in the near future. Computer: Display. Alien Species: Swarm."

Light shimmered and bloomed and formed a shape that wasn't quite there.

"This, gentlemen, is a member of a species known as the Swarm. You can't see it clearly because it isn't composed of matter but energy. It's about as intelligent as a single bee by itself, damn near indestructible, and absorbs nearly any force it comes into contact with. There are ways to defend against it, but with what i have it would take over two hundred years to develop a planetwide blackhole generating network. Next picture: Gardener."

This at least formed a solid image, a blue furred form that gave the impression of being ponderous. With three eyes and a vaguely hippo-like appearance, it definitely fit the alien description.

"The Gardeners, if *they* show, would quietly conquer the world all the time believing it was for your own good. They're not bad people, sort of missionaries in some respect, but they would regard humanity as a race of children to be protected and nurtured. And not capable of making their own decisions due to lack of maturity as a species. You certainly provide enough evidence of *that* just in news broadcasts. i wouldn't build a defense against them because they're technology is quite advanced and frankly you'd have a better time convincing them by words. Next picture: Pharoah 90."

A tentacled globe replaced the hippo-man.

"The scale makes this one problematical. i can and probably will fight, but if Pharoah 90 shows up then it would be wise to be able to evacuate the planet. Likewise with any other of the sentai opponent sorts of invaders. Having the capability to evacuate at least *some* people from the war zone. Pharoah 90 is about half the size of Earth's moon, and a lot of the other menaces of that type have troops to exhaust the resources or overwhelm a single defender. Computer, show the following in quick succession: K'ti, Mortijin, Serakei, Oni, Wolven, Mechanoids, Sun Eater, the Nashtiir, Spiradi Voor, C'tarl, Minbari, Big Gold, the Greys, Nilborin."

"...and these are?" This from a suit who looked like he'd just graduated from business school and had coincidently just found himself in deep water without a shark cage. Which was appropriate as the Nilborin still showing bore a strong resemblence to a Klingon/shark hybrid.

"Just a few of the nearby species who could either be interested in destroying the planet, conquering it, or setting up a colony. You'd have to determine which it is without any prior warning, and some would be in these three categories unless you happen to be able to put a warship in orbit. Then you'd have three who'd change that to 'seeking allies'." Greylle looked around. Some of these weren't going to be in this universe. He was kind of hoping the Swarm wasn't. Each of the species were sufficiently common that any given universe would likely have one even if they never came near Earth for over 10,000 years. He was *relatively* sure that Galactus, the Chulthoids, Klingons, or Sith weren't going to show up.

Goto looked up at him but didn't say anything. Just the hologram technology was way beyond anything Japan could put together. The robots could have been fakery - remote controlled, but what about the catgirl whose tail was twitching in the back of the room?

---------

Despite the fact that it was humanly impossible for anyone bigger than a cat to fit down any of the ventilation shafts, a large Snorlax had stuffed (with the help of an overemotional but enthusiastic outraged father) a smaller but still too big (and quite uncooperative) catgirl into Ventilation Shaft #8. Where she had become lodged of course.

After determining that the obstruction was alive and injured, a robot sent to clear the obstruction ended up widening the shaft to levels sufficient to free her, then sealing the shaft until better repairs could be made.

Ranma awoke, found herself in an infirmary, and reacted by trying to sneak out. After a brief chase sequence in which she found herself being chased by large robots with what looked like really large guns, Ranma had found a decent hiding place.

A coffin-like gadget with a lid, and so Ranma had gotten in and pulled the lid closed until the searchers would leave.

Cursing her father (hardly a new thing), Ranma wondered what exactly this gadget was anyway.

----------

The reactions among those in the back were more varied than those Diet representitives.

The members of the Diet had come expecting to do audits and find out if Ogata's ascertations about boondoggles and misappropriated funds on pipe dreams were correct. They left, stunned, their worldviews turned about like a snowglobe and their thoughts skittering about like those same snowflakes.

Shampoo was frittering back and forth. She *wanted* both airen. Great-Grandmother had said no, however. She understood that the pathetic fighter Akane was supposed to be her rival, though the buxom Amazon felt that in a contest in practically any arena between the two of them would see the Japanese girl flattened. As everyone was confused about their roles and who got who, there hadn't been quite the hostility there might have otherwise have been. Did she want the skilled fighter that she thought she could at least understand (Ranma) or the possibility of even better fights and greater glories by associating with the alien (Greylle.)

Cologne's eyes had narrowed on seeing the blond boy, knowing there was a taint of alien on him. Power. Lots of power associated with the boy. Not just the power of his connections here, nor the machines that he had building each other. She thought she knew his secret now, in which case she'd have to see if there was anything to the old lore.

Ukyo was wondering what the heck was going on as she had been lost in a series of pleasant daydreams involving: herself, Ranma, a hot tub, and hot oil rubdowns.

Nabiki's hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. She was mesmerized by the amounts of money, turned off by the prospect of alien invaders going after her bank account, and had missed some of the dialogue by appraising the worth of the business suits the visiting delegation had been wearing.

Kasumi checked a few corners was nervous and upset, and as it was her way of centering herself and thinking things over, was asking Ami if there was anything she could clean or perhaps she could fix something in that kitchen? Though Akane now being a tigress was also quite strange and merited thought of its own.

Akane was wondering why her sisters were wearing such strange clothing, but was also concerned about her boyfr... ahem. About Shard-san being an alien. How horrible. She was going to be abducted by a space alien... errr. Actually he hadn't made any such gestures. Akane wondered how she felt about that and why she felt so bloody calm and centered about the whole thing.

---------

Meanwhile, going through a set of status messages, Greylle had found something indicating a communication line to a microwave generating station on Phobos had been established. After making a few inquiries into *why* and *how* they had such a thing on a moon of Mars, Greylle had a perfectly understandable if somewhat cranky response.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

==============

(1) Nabiki is dressed as May from "Hand Maid May", Shampoo as Bloodberry from "Sabre Marionette J", and Ukyo as "Tifa" from Final Fantasy VII. In case anyone was curious.