RanCubed06

Realities Cubed

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi, Buronsan, Tsutomu Isomata, Hiroki Hayashi, Ryde Tsukimono With ideas and characters supplied by Trella and Others)

Chapter Six.

Crosswinds of Destiny

Continuum # 73542196

Senzenin Muku Dori enjoyed the summer months when her Uncle let her work in the construction yard, mastering equipment that technically should have required a more seasoned Labor Pilot, not that the work was all that difficult as Muku had a great affinity for machines and knew how to work one as good as any fully licensed worker. Being an apprenticed Technical Laborer with her Vocational Careers Outreach program, she enjoyed the special dispensation this status granted her so that she could earn some money between school breaks and buy herself some nice clothes and other things she normally couldn't afford on her allowance. It was a great experience overall, and nothing quite satisfied Muku as much a piloting a construction labor, savoring the feel of great power at her fingertips as she bonded with her machine in a way few humans could manage.

It was a knack, of course, her affinity with working in Labors. The twenty-foot tall robot mechs were like an extension of the limbs of her own body and she relished the overwhelming sense it gave her of being in control of something that expanded her natural abilities to such an extent that she truly felt like a one-woman construction crew, able to move heavy objects with ease and lift them several stories high to where other Mech Pilots could receive such payloads. Muku liked building things with her hands, had enjoyed playing with blocks and erector sets as a kid, and she looked forward to the day when she could receive her license to do this sort of thing full time. In another year she could earn her technical rating and then apply for Union membership. Her uncle expressed a willingness to take her on as a regular salaried employee, which would give her the independence she so desperately needed.

It was not so much that she minded working for her parents at the Health Spa, but getting out on her own and making her own mark in the world was the sort of adult recognition that she was after, and besides which living on her own was less likely to drive her crazy than continuing to share a roof with her mother, who regarded construction material as just something to physically reduce into rubble. They tended to get in each others way a lot and it was all Muku could do to remain a dutiful child while resisting the not-so-subtle pressure her mother kept exerting to try and convince Muku to carry on the other family tradition.

After all, the last thing Muku wanted to do with her life was to chain herself eternally to living in and out of some stupid dojo!

Muku huffed as she forced herself to pay attention to the work at hand rather than lose herself in thoughts that were entirely too distracting. It would not do to lose focus when one was lifting five metric tones of pre-cast Polysteel to the third floor of the current building project. Besides...it wasn't as if her mother could force her to love the martial arts the way she did. Muku was proficient enough in the art that she could handle herself in most matters, but she just was not as driven to achieve great things as her mother, Senzenin Akane.

Besides which, Muku had something else going on in her life right now and did not need any further distractions, not that she could confide in her great secret with either one of her two parents...

The whistle blew, signifying that it was time for everyone to go on a lunch break. Muku smiled as she parked her Labor then reached for her bento, intent on filling her face as food was her natural "drug" of choice for taking her mind away from her problems. Few who knew her were able to understand the kind of bottomless appetite that she was cursed with, nor could they account for where she hid all those extra calories that they swore up and down that she must carry on her slender body, and "Oh how unjust it was to be gifted with such a metabolism," yadda-yadda-yadda. As if Muku enjoyed having to eat twice as much per day as other girls in her age group. All that training definitely burned the calories right out of her, and not must the Martial Arts kind either...her other training was pretty draining in its own sense, and compared to it she much preferred piloting a Labor.

Not that her other job didn't have its fair share of...interesting compensations...

She was just in the process of shoveling down the last half of her meal when a peculiar prickling sensation traveled the length of her spine, an all-too-
familiar sense that eyes were watching her, and from very close by. Muku slurped down some tea to wash down the rice she had just eaten, then she turned on her external monitors and did a peripheral sweep until she found the party whom she was after.

"Kuso," Muku breathed, "Don't tell me an emergency has cropped up again...?"

Her bracelet jewel pulsed in silent confirmation of her suspicions, and Muku cursed under her breath as she opened the hatch to her labor and vaulted from the control deck to a relatively clear patch of ground, then straightened up and turned to regard her partner, Kano Rhea, who greeted her warmly with her eyes before staring at the ground and coloring slightly, just like a regular human.

Of course regular humans did not have the pointed ears or unusually large eyes that distinguished her partner and gave her a somewhat Elven appearance. Rhea had dark amber hair and reddish brown eyes and was just a little bit taller than Muku in spite of her demure behavior. Her friend eyed her demurely with a soft half-smile before staring at their feet and did not immediately look up again when Muku addressed her directly.

"What's the deal this time?" Muku asked, "Another attack on the city?"

"No...not exactly," Rhea shyly raised her eyes to meet Muku's questioning gaze, and then the wonder and exhilaration of their shared contact briefly filled both young women until Rhea managed to look away again and add, "Mother instructed me to bring you to her. She says we are facing a crisis of unknown character and she wants us to stand ready with the others."

"That's just swell," Muku sighed, "And today was supposed to be my day off from training. I hope you guys realized that this is gonna cost me points with my new boss."

"I know," Rhea said demurely, "And I'm sorry...to inconvenience you..."

Muku found it impossible to get irritated with her partner, nor could she stand to see her friend like that, so she spoke up more positively, intending to cheer the other girl as she said, "What have you got to be sorry about? It's not like it's your idea to create these emergencies, they just happen. Of course I'll come with you, just give me a moment to clear things up with Chusu-san."

"Of course," Rhea agreed, "Take your time, I'll be ready."

In spite of being annoyed at having her day once again be disrupted by the Hidden Agenda, she found herself smiling at Rhea right before she caught sight of her immediate supervisor and called out to him, "Hey, Chusu-san! Something's come up and I need to take off for a while. Okay if I go home early?"

"Again?" her supervisor reacted, "That's the third time this week! How do you expect to get your technical rating if you're always ducking off to spend time with your girlfriend?"

"Sorry," Muku clapped her hands together in apology, "I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

Her supervisor grumbled sourly, "Well...all right, but I swear, if you weren't the Boss's niece I'd report you for this..."

"Thanks!" Muku called out as she grabbed Rhea by the hand and started running, "See you!"

They ducked around the nearest isolated corner of the construction yard and then Muku said, "Do it."

"Hai," Rhea agreed, and all at once they were surrounded by the brief coruscating effect of a trans-warp jump through the Subspace Fold that the amber-haired girl created with her powers, and then they remanifested again at Earthstation Alpha, the underground complex that was the center of C'thuwulf activity on Terra. Here was the Hidden Agenda's secret headquarters located far beneath the Tokyo region, the home away from home of the Earth based Colonial project that enabled Terrans and C'thuwulf to interact on a more-or-less amicable basis.

It was also Rhea's home, having been born here as one such successful mating of a Terran with a C'thuwulf, and one of her mothers was the Unit Project Director herself, Kano Nagisa. Her other mother, of course, was the unit's near-
legendary defender and the savior of her people.

Neither one of them was there on duty to greet them, however, instead it was deputy unit director Sepia who appeared to be on monitor duty, along with her partner of many years, Major Cobalt Astura.

"Hey, what's up?" Muku asked as she glanced around the battle-ready complex, seeing swarms of technicians and operators manning (or, to be more accurate, WOMAN-ing) their posts in the highly advanced nerve central, "Where are your folks at if this is supposed to be a crisis?"

"Ah well..." Rhea replied a bit awkwardly.

"Matrix Commander Prime was undergoing her regeneration cycle when we first had an inkling of the crisis," reported Captain Kagusa Kawaii of the Iczellion Corps Mobile Forces, "Director Kano was with her at the time and it seemed...less than prudent to wake them until we had a better understanding of our current situation."

"I asked your Partner to summon you, Cadet Senzenin," Vice Director Sepia turned to inform her, "This crisis may not turn out to be as serious as first indicated, but I thought it necessary to put all of our forces on immediate alert, just in case. As a junior initiate in the Iczer program it is only courtesy to have you and your partner prepped and on standby in Unit Gamma Theta, just in case your services might be needed as back-up."

"What?" Muku reacted, "You called me in to put me on standby? Do you have any idea what my Uncle is gonna do to me if he thinks I'm not taking my Labor Pilot training seriously?"

"We know we may have inconvenienced you, Cadet," Cobalt spoke up, "And we will take steps to cover for you with your Uncle. The problem facing us is very grave, however, and we cannot afford to take any chances. We have been monitoring seismic activity in the Temporal Field surrounding Terra Prime and believe it may signify yet another attempted invasion."

"We don't know yet that it might be Gold related," Sepia cautioned, "But it would not be wise to leave any avenue unexplored in that respect. Please be ready to do your part in the defense of your world, which is now our world as well. I know that you and Rhea will do your utmost..."

"Like there's any doubt we'll try?" Muku asked, then hesitated as she glanced towards her partner, who again looked shyly down at the floor, which prompted Muku to say, "If it's all the same with you people...I'd like to talk to the Unit Director and her wife. I have...a question I want to ask...it's personal, you see..."

"The Director is with the Defender Prime," Cobalt calmly repeated, "And it would not be wise to disturb them before they have completed their regenerative cycle..."

"I wasn't thinking about disturbing them," it was Muku's turn to be hesitantly shy before adding, "But I was wondering...if you could link me up to their Unit...?"

Sepia and Cobalt exchanged looks, then Kawaii said, "I don't see that it would be a problem, Sir. I can manage the link myself so it's non-intrusive to the Robo-systems."

"Make it so," Sepia nodded, then returned the focus of her attention towards the various monitor screens keeping the C'thuwulf updated on all major Terrestrial systems.

"This way you two," Kawaii encouraged the younger pair with her usual cheerfulness, "But I just hope for your sakes that you don't catch your parents in the proverbial shower."

"Oh," Rhea blushed slightly, "Do you think that's likely?"

"Knowing your parents?" Muku rolled her eyes, "More than likely, but oh well...like you guys are always telling me...it's a crisis, get over it."

Rhea took Muku's hand and teleported them both into Gamma Theta, and once again the young Earth girl marveled at the way she could suddenly go from breathing air to total immersion in the highly Oxygenated fluid that filled the abdominal cavity of the massive Iczer Robo. She also took note of the various tubes and sensor-connectors that attached themselves to her naked skin without feeling all that intrusive about the intimate contact. She did wonder, though, why it was that her clothing always seemed to mysterious disappear when she did this, but doubted very much if Rhea would know the answer to that, let alone admit it without blushing like a radish.

Of course for Rhea this sort of environment was second nature...after all she had been grown in a tube rather than a human womb and birthed partially grown, allowed to mature in time from a stage of young adolescence to the present. Being the product of advanced C'thuwulf genetic science and recombined with the qualities of both a human and an Iczer, what was normal for her would have at one time seemed inhuman to someone like Muku...not that there was any way that Muku could bring herself to define her partner as less than fully human...

Nothing to be done for it, though, having already committed herself to this situation, so she lay back and floated in her protective capsule while waiting for the link to be established, allowing her mind to fill as images intruded over normal conscious awareness...

Slowly those images resolved into the form of a curiously alien setting, an open field surrounding a copse of trees in what seemed like either a garden or an arboretum, a starry nightfield taking shape as the fading rosy light of a setting sun gave rise to the most romantic of settings that Muku had ever personally witnessed. It was with only mild surprise that she found Rhea manifesting in the space beside her, and then the two of them shared a moment of awed wonder before she heard the young Iczer say, "How beautiful...it's the C'thuwulf homeworld! These images must have been recorded just prior to our world's destruction..."

"So, this is where your people hail from, eh?" Muku softly murmured.

"Many years before my creation," the young Iczer replied, "But the memories are stored within me. This is what our world was like before the evil Virus program known as Gold arose to contaminate our systems. This is the world my mother fought for and lost so very, very long ago, and I know the memory of it still haunts her. This is also where she lost her first partner..."

Muku silently acknowledged this with implicit understanding of what losing a partner could mean to an Iczer. Iczer One had suffered grievously in loss and remorse while leading a colony ship full of C'thuwulf survivors from the ruins of their homeworld on a century-long voyage that eventually brought her people to the fringes of the Earth star system. It was not until Iczer One found an Earth Girl whose biosignature she could bond with that the valiant Bioroid had learned to love again and achieve synchronization. The Gold program had briefly overtaking the C'thuwulf and came close to destroying everything, but in the end Iczer-One had prevailed with the love of Kano Nagisa inside her, and with that power she had literally remade the history of their planet, making it seem as if the curse of Big Gold had never been allowed to happen.

Or at least that was the story as Muku had heard it retold. It was decided by the C'thuwulf leader, Sir Violet, that the Earth could provide a haven for their exiled race without the need of a full scale invasion, preferring instead to establish friendly ties with the various Terran governments, who could be persuaded to see them as allies rather than adversaries. Over the past twenty years the C'thuwulf had been quietly establishing a presence upon the Earth, integrating members of their society into the various host nations that would agree to provide a home for this legal immigration, in exchange for covert technology and logistical support and no press involvement...after all, wouldn't do to set off a world-wide general panic.

The C'thuwulf were biologically close to identical with human, the major difference being that they were entirely female and reproduced by artificial means. The problem was, for this all-female society, that there turned out to be certain social difficulties that arose from interacting from a humanoid species that had two Sexes. Men were a curiosity to many C'thuwulf, and some even found men oddly threatening in their way, though more than a few were intrigued enough to adapt to a bisexual system. That was why colonization was occurring at such a slow and measured pace, requiring orientation for the new arrivals sent down from the World Ship in order to psychologically prepare them for Earth culture. To say the least it was not always a very smooth and problem-free transition...

Of far greater concern to the rulers of Earth, however, were the Iczers, the C'thuwulf ultimate Final Defense weapons, living machines capable of harnessing vast destructive forces and charged with the defense of the C'thuwulf people. Though few in number a single Iczer contained the raw power of a full battle cruiser and were the most lethal warriors on the planet. Iczer One had been powerful enough to single-handedly change the flow of time in order to repair the damages caused by Gold and his minions, the parasitic Venomoids, effectively wiping them out from reality and leaving the way clear for Humans and C'thuwulf to peacefully live together.

They did not come any more formidable in this world than an Iczer, and three of them comprised a triumvirate that were the central core of the C'thuwulf defenses.

By contrast Rhea was powerful in a way that you would hardly even suspect, given her shy and deferential nature. The biological construct that combined human and Android DNA, she was an experiment in breeding a whole new line of C'thuwulf defender, one who owed her loyalties to both people. The experiment was successful, but it did have one critical flaw in that she needed to totally bond with her partner to an extent that went well beyond even the requirements of her mother.

And that was where Muku came in, the one human in the entire world whose Biorhythms most closely matched those of this particular Iczer. They had bonded and synchronized almost from the instant of their first meeting, and now it was as if Rhea were an extension of herself rather then a free and independent person. She was human in all the ways that truly mattered except that she was artificial in construction and embodied tremendous the tremendous potential of an Iczer, who by nature were like Emotional Transducers that could convert human willforce into the greatest of all power matrices, Rhea's other half, Iczer Robo Gamma Theta.

Her musings in that area came to an abrupt halt as her companion drew her attention to one particular area in the field of the mind that they jointly experienced as though it were a physical place and not a mere construct. There were the pair that they had come in search of peacefully laying together on a spread-out blanket, evidence of a recently enjoyed picnic scattered all around them in no particular order.

"I might have guessed," Muku mused to herself, earning a silent nod from her comely Bioroid partner.

Kano Nagisa was enjoying the warmth of the golden-haired woman at her side as she combed her fingers through the lustrous hair of her beautiful wife, who was known to many only by her code name, Iczer One. To Nagisa she was Unos, the First and Prime of all her sisters, a private name they shared like a trust between them signifying everything else that they meant to one another. Large crimson eyes regarded her softly as Iczer-One studied fondly the ageless beauty of her human lover and partner of so many years. The two seemed to be so much literally into a world of their own making that they hardly even acknowledged the approach of Muku and Rhea until the former said, "Don't you guys ever get tired of doing that?"

"Eh?" Nagisa instinctively reached for the edge of their blanket to cover herself up, but her wife stilled her with a hand and smiled at her reassuringly, then turned towards Muku and said, "Is that any way for you to address yourself to a superior officer, Cadet?"

"It might be," Muku smiled slyly, enjoying this rather vivid reminder of how close in form and function an Iczer was to a human, "If I was dating her daughter. I came to ask you guys something kind of personal...and to let you know that while you two old-timers are screwing around the rest of us happen to be facing another crisis."

"What?" Nagisa sat upright, "Again? So soon after the last one? But why wasn't I informed of it...?"

"Mother's repair cycle isn't yet fully completed, Mother," Rhea replied, "Vice Director Sepia decided to give you a moment before recalling you to external reality."

"Yeah, and besides," Muku added with a tart expression, "Looks like you two had something else on your mind just as important."

"I'll ignore your impertinence, Cadet," Iczer One noted dryly, "What is it that you wanted to ask?"

"Ah...well..." Muku glanced down and sought to compose her thoughts before she answered, "It's...about your daughter...Rhea-chan. Ah...well...you see...I've been thinking it over ever since you guys brought me in on the Agenda, and given how important you say it is for the future of humanity if we...continue to combine into one people..."

"You want to propose to her, is that it?" Nagisa grinned, "And you want our blessings for a full Partnership union."

"Mother!" Rhea cried in obvious embarrassment, proving that certain things between mothers and daughters were nearly universal.

"Well, well," Iczer One sat up and regarded her prospective "Daughter-in-law-to-
be," "Of course I approve, but I'm wondering what prompted you to make this decision. As I seem to recall you were not entirely happy about being a part of the Agenda when first approached on this subject."

"Ah...yeah...well..." Muku felt along the metaphysical back of her head with an equally metaphysical hand, never minding that everything always seemed one hundred percent real when mentally submerged into the Matrix, "It's just...during that last big fight when you got...hurt pretty bad, Commander...I had a real good look at how you and the Director cared for each other and it...kind of made me think about what's really at stake here. I mean...over the last few months I've had a really good look at the kind of a Universe we live in, which few other girls my age even know exists, and...well...it seems more than anything this war is about preserving the things that are important to humanity. Your people lost a world to the enemy, and we damned near came close to losing mine before I was even conceived! You people are totally committed to bringing about a peaceful and prosperous future that we all can share as one people, and I kind of think that's worth fighting for. I know Rhea feels the same way, and she was born to be a soldier in this war, and since we seem to be stuck with one another, I guess...I guess I could make a go at declaring it official."

"You mean that?" Rhea suddenly declared, turning to Muku with that oddly luminous look in her eyes that could blot out the stars and replace them with entire new constellations.

"Ah...yeah...I think I do at-" Muku got no further as the Bioroid girl suddenly threw her arms around Muku's body, all shyness and hesitation at once banished as a joy beyond words suffused her artificial being. Her lips pressed down upon the human girl with a gentle strength that momentarily blotted out all awareness that said kiss was only mental and not physical, the recreation in Virtual Space of what Rhea would unquestionably do if she and Muku were back in their real bodies.

It was an amazing discovery that Muku arrived at when conscious thought returned to her an eternity later, how much Virtual French Kissing felt like the real thing, minus the sharing of saliva...

"Hmm," she heard Director Nagisa muse from a million miles away, "I guess that makes it official."

"Young people do seem to do it with great enthusiasm these days," Iczer One agreed in her usual sardonic manner.

Muku reluctantly broke off from the kiss and said, "You're both fine ones to talk...but anyway, Vice Director Sepia was saying something about a disruption in the Timefield. Would you guys have any idea what she means by that?"

"A disruption in the Timefield?" Nagisa slowly repeated.

"It could mean several things," Iczer One murmured softly, "C'thuwulf technology is largely based on our ability to interact with the Subspace field that exists outside of normal Timespace. Whenever we merge or re-emerge from Subspace it causes a minor ripple in the Timefield, though so slight that it can barely be measured. The enemy is a little less casual about when it causes a disruption in the Timefield, so Sepia is completely justified in her concern. I will have to consult with her once my regeneration cycle is fully completed."

"I'll go on ahead and consult with her myself," Nagisa gave her wife an affectionate peck on the cheek, "Keep the home fires burning for me, will you, Lover? I'll only be a moment."

"Of course," Iczer One squeezed her wife's virtual hand, and then Nabiki's form briefly shimmered and vanished.

"I guess that's our cue to leave," Muku noted with some reluctance.

"No, you can stay for a while if you like," Iczer One rose to her feet, and now her naked body was clad in her usual space armor, making her look considerably more impressive, "I've wanted to have the opportunity to congratulate you on the progress that you have been making in your studies. I know that it has not been an altogether easy time for you making the transition from a normal Earth Girl to a full part of the Hidden Agenda, but you are making excellent strides, and not just because you have won the affections of my daughter."

"Mother..." Rhea blushed in modesty.

"Well..." Muku also felt her cheeks color, though whether this phenomenon was real or just an effect of the Matrix she would have been at a loss to discern, "I won't say it's always been a ball of laughs, but I understand what you're trying to do here, and you've made me into a believer. I trust Rhea-chan and I know that she would never be a part of anything that was wrong or hurtful..."

"Your concerns are understandable," Iczer One replied, "And indeed, my numerous interactions with the leaders of the human world have often shown me the best and the worst your race has to offer..."

"How odd..." Rhea glanced away.

"What is it?" Muku looked at her partner with concern.

"I'm picking up disturbing sine waves surrounding Gamma Theta," the Iczer responded, "The Subspace field surrounding us is destabilizing."

"Say what?" both Muku and Iczer One said in unison.

"I can't account for it, Mother," Rhea said a bit apologetically, "We're shifting out of focus with normal Timespace and I can't seem to get a fix on the problem..."

"Try shifting the quantum frequency and see if that can help you maintain a constant balance," Iczer One directed.

"I'm trying that, Mother, but...I don't seem to be..."

All at once Muku felt as though she were being sucked out through a long tunnel, and the Virtual field all around them made a sudden Doppler shift to the red end of the spectrum, then everything went black, and with a sudden jolt she found herself back in her cockpit fully submerged in a saline-like solution.

"What...what just happened...?" she started to ask before remembering why it was a bad idea to try gasping in liquid. Then happened to she glance outside of the translucent shell that contained her current living environment, her mouth moving as the words formed from liquid rather than air, "What the hell...?"

The shimmering void that surrounded the massive Iczer Robo Gamma Theta was altogether familiar and well known to her as the Subspace field that was like a second home to an Iczer, only before they had been resting in the giant robot's cradle back at Command Central. This sudden transition, coupled with the concern that she had heard in Rhea's voice, did not inspire a great deal of confidence in the young Iczer pilot.

"We shifted to Subspace," Rhea announced, "But I can't get a fix on our dimensional readings, and no trace of the home signal that should be able to lead us back to Earthstation Alpha. We seem to be somewhat cut off at the moment, but I am unable to determine the reason for our involuntary translocation."

"Japanese please?" Muku pleaded.

"We were drawn out of the Matrix," Rhea responded, "And physically transported to these coordinates, though I am unable to determine just where we are at the present. It is rather like we were grabbed up by some unknown force and taken to a portion of subspace that does not align with our own world...though how such a thing could even be possible..."

"That's bad, huh?" Muku replied, wondering not for the first nor last time why things like this just seemed to keep happening to a nice girl from the Nerima district, and what story she was going to have to concoct if this particular emergency kept her out so late that even her parents might take notice.

Of course to look on the plus side as least she wouldn't be there to clean up in case her mother once again got it into her head to do the cooking, but then even the worst crisis was bound to have an upside...

Continuum #32145896

Roll Call:

Shanma Saotome-Eldest daughter of Shampoo and Ranma, can change into a Were-cat.
Mace Saotome-Shanma's little brother, also has the same ability.
Ganymede Kuonji-Hermaphrodite offspring of Ukyo and Makoto Kuonji, has Senshi abilities.
Kinko Kuonji-Daughter of Ukyo and Akane from a near-parallel dimension.
Kachima Tendo-Daughter of Ranma and Nabiki, Lore Master in Training.
Kokaku Tendo-Kachima's twin sister and an Apprenticed Healer.

"Well, young lady, that certainly is quite a story you've got there."

"It's the truth, Aunt Nabiki," Kinko insisted, "You've got to believe me..."

"Actually," Nabiki replied as she studied the young girl, who-like the others-
-had transformed back from her cursed form to that of a normal-seeming teenager, "As a matter of fact I do. I've had some experience dealing with parallel world phenomenon, and I once found myself trapped in a world whose history diverged at certain key points, and it certainly was a very...enlightening experience."

"Heh," Ranma snorted from where he stood at one corner of the room, "That's putting it mildly."

"The other Nabiki was very much like what I remember when we first met," Shampoo noted with a sly expression, "It would have been fun if she had stayed around a little longer and showing her the ropes, the way I did with you..."

"Oh my," Nabiki smirked, "I don't know whether to be jealous or worried."

"If this girl is really my sister from a parallel dimension," Ganymede spoke up, "Then what is she doing in our world, and how do we get her back to where she belongs?"

"That's what I want to know," Kinko agreed, "When those Time Police sent me back home I was supposed to arrive back where I started here in the Tendo yard...instead I wind up landing on top of Honsamu...ah...I mean...what did you say your name was again?"

"Ganymede," her paratime sibling responded.

"Ah...right," Kinko turned back towards Nabiki, "Do you think you can help me, Aunt Nabiki? Maybe you know something like a spell you can use to get me back to my real family?"

"It's definitely worth investigating," Nabiki replied, "Stick around and I'll see what I can come up with."

"Okay," Shanma spoke up, "So she's from another world...what I want to know is why Aunt Akane is her mother? I mean...no offense, but I just don't follow this business about Aunt Ukyo marrying her instead of Makoto."

"I could just as well say the same thing about him," Kinko replied with a shrug towards the she-male, "But then again, I've met alternate siblings of mine who've had even weirder origins."

"I'm not sure I wanna even ask," Ranma shuddered, "You say that this pendant wound up in the hands of a daughter of mine by AKANE? Now that's my idea of weirdness!"

"I agree that it does sound rather unlikely, Father," remarked a lovely girl by the name of Kachima, Apprenticed Lore Master and understudy to her mother, Nabiki, "But I confess to being intrigued to learn more about these other children by you from a multiple dimensions. Imagine Aunt Kodachi providing you with a daughter named Watazashi."

"I'd rather not, thanks," Ranma said with another shudder.

"It sounds like we could all be entertained and horrified with the implications of the sort of people we might have married," Shampoo added, "But it brings us no closer to solving your problems, young lady."

"Quite so," replied Kachima's twin sister, Kokaku, an apprenticed Healer, "But it also seems quite intriguing that at least some of us have exact parallels on your world, Kinko-san. You seem to know a good deal about us without prompting..."

"Yeah, well...you're family on my world," Kinko replied, "Of course we share stuff together."

"Doesn't sound much different than with me and Europa," Ganymede softly noted, "But I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising."

"Are we really going to take it for granted that this dweebazoid is the Hentai's sister from another dimension?" Mace complained, "Sure she looks and acts a lot like Sheba, but other than the wings what proof do we have that she's anything like that Harpy?"

"Harpy?" Kinko rounded on the younger Saotome, "Who are you to talk, Fur-face? And just because my mom wound up with somebody else doesn't mean I've gotta take any verbal abuse from a Tom-Cat wannabe like you!"

"Easy you two," Nabiki urged, "This isn't helping us to resolve the situation..."

"Well he started it," Kinko growled.

"That doesn't matter," Kachima said, "Little brother...you of all people should know better than to start a word fight with a guest in our house. Besides, I can vouch for mother's appraisal of this girl as being not of our frame. She obviously knows much about us to which no stranger could possibly be privy, and yet the differences she outlines are internally consistent and seem compatible with the premise of Aunt Ukyo selecting a different mate than Gany-san's mother. Sure it is not so much beyond question that Aunt Akane could have married Kuonji Ukyo and shared with her a child very like our world's Sheba."

"Hey," Ranma spoke up, "For a while there it was even looking like Ucchan might wind up with the both of them, taking a page from Sham-chan, your mother and me."

"Indeed," Nabiki agreed, "And perhaps there is yet another world where this did indeed happen..."

"Especially with the way your Celestial mother way always trying to hook them up together," Shampoo added sweetly.

"Ah...yes," Nabiki smiled a bit awkwardly, "That was indeed Mom's basic intentions..."

"Really?" Ganymede asked with some surprise, "This is the first time I've ever heard of this."

"Oh, you know Grandma Peorth, right?" Kinko said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "She's always trying to be helpful like that. You just have to take it in stride when she sometimes gets a little too carried away..."

"Don't I know it," Nabiki murmured with a mildly exasperated expression.

"Hey, wait a minute," Shanma spoke up, "If she's the daughter of Aunt Akane, then that would make her..."

"Your cousin," Ganymede finished for her, "As well as my virtual sister."

"That would mean that this Honsamu of her world is also our cousin," Kokaku noted, "Oh my...then if Aunt Akane had married Ganymede-san's father..."

"You mean he'd be our cousin?" Mace winced, "Gross!"

"Don't act as if the thought gives me any greater thrill than you, Kid," Ganymede duly noted, "If so then my desire to court your sister might constitute a clear case of incest."

"Hmph," Shanma narrowed her eyes, "As if that would improve your chances."

"What have you got against him?" Kinko rounded on Mace, "Are you upset just 'cause he wants to date Shanra?"

"Shanma," the eldest Tendo daughter corrected.

"Whatever," Kinko shrugged her slender shoulders while continuing to focus her gaze upon the younger Saotome.

"I ain't got nothing against the Hentai," Mace said rather adamantly, "I just don't think he's good enough to marry a Saotome."

"And what the hell makes you so damned perfect?" Kinko stormed as she got up off of the floor and planted a fist on top of the blue-haired boy's thick skull.

"OW!" Mace backed away to the wall rubbing his head and complaining, "Violent maniac Harpy Tomboys...!"

"Serves you right for dropping your guard around her, little brother," Kachima replied with a slight air of smug satisfaction.

"Mace-kun," Kokaku urged, "What you are saying isn't very nice, and you should hardly be surprised if you upset her. After all she is related to us and is of the house of Tendo."

"You're damned right I am, you Jackass," Kinko made a fist, "And I'm twice the martial artist that you are, so watch your tongue around me or you're gonna get a fat lip, and that goes double for any cracks you make about Honsamu!"

"Hah!" Mace rallied, "Just try it, you dumb birdbrain!"

"Children," Nabiki urged with a wagging finger, "You know the rules, not inside the house. If you are going to play rough, then take it to the dojo."

"Actually," Ranma spoke up, directing himself towards Kinko, "It just occurred to me that your folks are probably related to us on more than one angle, since according to you Ucchan and Akane are co-married to my half-brother Ryoga."

"Hiyaa, that's right," Shampoo remarked, "This Honsamu would be both a Saotome, Hibiki, Tendo and Kuonji..." she paused before adding, "Aiyaa...all four families rolled into one person...!"

"One could almost be moved to pity," Nabiki added sweetly.

"Hey!" their mutual husband protested.

"Then how come this Honsamu guy looks like the freak over there but obviously has only one gender?" Mace persisted.

Kinko's fist backhanded the boy through the wall, leaving a big hole in passing as she stood there looking as mad as the proverbial wet hen, "I warned you about the name-calling, Jackass!"

"Definitely takes after your little sister, Nabs," Ranma noted dryly.

"Tell me about it," Nabiki sighed, "And I can't even send the repair bill to her for this one..."

"Since when have you been bothered about my being a she-male, Kid?" Ganymede asked the groaning Saotome youth.

"Say what?" Kinko rounded on the boy who was so much like her older brother.

"I guess there's no point in hiding the truth from you," Ganymede sighed, "I was born with both sex organs, I'm a Hermaphrodite, and no doubt that's partially the reason why the kid there is having such a problem taking me seriously as a potential in-law."

"Hmph," Shanma pouted.

"You what?" Kinko blinked, "You're kidding!"

"I wish I were," Ganymede sighed, glancing down, "It's been a source of great embarrassment all of my life, but I've tried never to let it keep me down...and besides, it's the way I was born, the way I was meant to be, the way the Kami have shaped me. I don't expect you to understand, but it does sound as if this Honsamu guy had it a lot easier if he was born with only one gender..."

"Hey, don't say that," Kinko protested, "You're not a freak...in fact I just met a guy who has a condition just like you by the name of Ranmaru, and he's a pretty cool dude, if you overlook the fact that he's got a dick that's at least twenty centimeters long and has a pair of boobs that look like watermelons..."

"Ranmaru?" Ranma reacted, "What kind of a name is that...and-WAITASECOND! Just how do you know his measurements, kid?"

"Ah...well..." Kinko said sheepishly, "I just asked his daughters. Geez...you don't think I'd have sex with the guy just 'cause he's hung like a bull and stacked like a brick wall? He's much too old for me...why he's gotta be at least thirty!"

"Suddenly I'm starting to feel my roots," Nabiki noted with a faintly dismayed expression.

"Aiyaa," was all her co-wife could contribute.

"Anyway," Kinko turned back to Ganymede, "The point is that I think it's pretty cool that you've got the equipment to do it both ways, and you're not a freak in my book, Big-Bro, and anybody who says otherwise is gonna hear it from me," she turned and glared accusingly at the pair of legs still protruding from the new exit.

"You mean that?" Ganymede sounded surprised, "You really don't mind that I'm...part female?"

"Hey, if the stuff you got works then more power to you," Kinko turned to Shanma and said, "You ask me, you'd be a fool to let this one go, if you take my meaning, Shanra."

"Shanma!" the purple haired girl reacted, "Xian-MA, not RA, and what business is it of yours who I hang around with?"

"No business of mine, obviously," Kinko waved her hands in a disarming manner, "But since he's practically my Oniichan, then I see it as my family duty to put in a good word for a fellow Kuonji."

"Ah...thank you," Ganymede said with a somewhat bemused expression.

"You will forgive me for seeming a bit impertinent," Kachima spoke up, "But you seem very much on the ball about a lot of things. Personally I find it very refreshing...your counterpart could obviously take lessons from you on certain matters."

"But I think she should learn to restrain herself a bit more," Kokaku sighed as she saw Mace sitting up and rubbing his head with a wince, "And I think a little patience with our little brother would also be a nice recommendation."

"Point well taken," Ganymede stood up, "I do appreciate you feeling the need to stand up for me, Kinko-chan, but I've known Mace nearly all of my life and I don't take it personal if he has issues with my mixed gender, to say nothing of my petition for the hand of his sister..."

"You keep talking as if I wanted to be a part of this," Shanma snorted.

"I would never presume to make your mind up for you, my love," Ganymede assured her, "But I have stated my intentions and I am willing to wait however long it takes until you accept my undying pledge of devotion."

"Before you two get into this episode from a Shouja romance novel," Nabiki interrupted, "Perhaps we should return to the point of how we are to help our dear Ms. Kuonji-san get back to her own world. After all few people know better than me what the disruption can mean to someone's life, being taken from a world that seems normal to you and placed in a world where everything is not quite as you think it should be."

"Really Mother?" Kachima said with a speculative gleam, "I confess that I would find such a prospective experience...intriguing."

"Be careful what you wish for, Kid," her father cautioned, "You could very well get it."

"That might literally be the case," Kinko remarked, "Me and a bunch of other guys were being sucked out of our realities and transported elsewhere without so much as a 'By Your Leave.' Sure it's been a fun experience so far...well...mostly fun anyway, but sooner or later you wanna to go back to your old life and not get bounced around everywhere. Of course if I haven't been grabbed along for the ride in the first place I'd never have gotten to enjoy two trips to the house of the Miroku..."

"The Miroku?" Kokaku asked with curiosity, "Who are they?"

"Ah..." Kinko regarded the innocent-looking girl before her and reluctantly replied, "Never mind...let's just say that they're hospitality was first rate and leave it at that..."

"How intriguing," Kachima purred once again before raising an eyebrow, "By the way...did you know that you are becoming somewhat transparent?"

"That ain't the word I was gonna use, Sis," Mace groaned softly as he felt along the side of his bruised chin.

"Oh my," Kokaku blinked her eyes, "She's right...you are becoming transparent, little Brother, and so are Oneechan and Ganymede-san."

"What?" Kinko glanced down at herself then softly moaned, "Ah, not again...!"

"What the hell?" Shanma looked at her own hand and saw that it was indeed becoming translucent, even as Ganymede made the same discovery and said, "Fascinating..."

"Aiyaa!" Shampoo exclaimed even as Ranma called out, "Nabiki-do something!"

"I'm trying, Ran-kun," Nabiki said with an unusually focused regard in her expression, "But I can't seem to get a handle on whatever it is that is causing this to happen..."

"I can feel the force drawing them out, Mother," Kachima announced, "How odd...they are being taken but not me or Kokaku...I wonder why that is...?"

Even as she spoke Shanma, Ganymede, Mace and Kinko all vanished from the chamber, fading out as though they had literally been erased from existence, to which Ranma called out, "What the hell is going on here!"

"I think I may have a clue, Father," Kachima turned and bowed to Nabiki, "Mother...I must act now before I lose their trace. Sister...you must remain here and serve as my anchor...possibly even my lifeline."

"But...what do you mean to do, Neechan?" Kokaku regarded her twin with confusion.

"I do what befits my training as a Lore Master, of course," Kachima replied as she started to move forward, only to fade out from view before anyone could even think to stop her.

"Kachima-chan!" Nabiki and Ranma both called out simultaneously.

"AIYAA!" Shampoo suddenly had a sword in her hand and was seeing crimson, "Somebody took our children! I won't stand for this! We must get them back, Airen!"

"I'm game," Ranma replied, "But what can we do, Nabiki?"

"I...don't really know," Nabiki chewed on her lip and thought for a moment, "I could feel the power building up around them but I was powerless to prevent it from happening. It was as if whatever was doing this casually brushed me aside like my power was nothing...and that does not bode well. I can sense that they're still alive, but they're no longer on this timeframe...and I can only barely discern the lifeline that Kachima left behind with Kokaku."

"Then what are we going to do, Mother?" Kokaku herself asked with her concern plainly written in her expression.

"There's only one party I know of that can deal with energies of this nature, and may even be willing to help us," Nabiki said with a thoughtful expression, "I could call upon Mother, but her help is often...problematic...but the one we all know who can do the job usually has a hidden price to her actions...but for the most part we all know that she has the power and can be trusted to use it wisely."

"You don't mean?" Shampoo gasped.

"You know she does," Ranma groaned softly then slumped his shoulders, "Well...nothing to be done for it, we might as well hell on out because it's a sure bet she'll already know we're coming."

"Who'll know, father?" Kokaku blinked then answered her own question with another question, "You don't mean...Great-Godmother?"

"I'm afraid I do, Dear," Nabiki replied grimly, "We're going to see your great-
godmother, Ganglot..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cyber-Dreams of Electric Sheep: shadowmane

Things enter an interesting phase as the players (and pawns) enter the field of contention and compare notes with their paratime rivals. What is the goal of this great game of probabilities and chances, and who could hope to gain from manipulating such beings of power like pieces of a chessboard? Heck if I know, but I think it's worth sticking around to find out in the next exciting chapter, "Hare there be Dragons," or "For Whom the Gods would Destroy they First Throw a Party!" Be there!

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