The sky over the lake tore open, forming a huge black apeture from which dendritic sparks of energy flashed red, yellow, and orange. However, no one really seemed to take notice of this because, for the people living in the house beside the lake, this was a fairly common occurance. However, what wasn't common was the cry they heard from the person descending from the apeture.

i"Holy crap!"/i Aneurysm, in his holographic form and wearing his spare emitter, cried as he fell from the hole which promptly shut when Aneurysm had completely exited it. He continued to fall and scream rather loudly, partly because his very jarring experience, but mostly because there was a rather large body of water coming towards him very fast. i"I don't want to get wet! My programming doesn't cover swimming!"/i And, with a splash that extended high into the air, Aneurysm plunged into the depths of the lake.

He thrashed and failed about on the surface, trying desperately to paddle ashore, but this was futile. Computers aren't meant to swim for obvious reasons, but Aneurysm, being smarter than the average computer, thought he could learn new skills fairly quickly. Unfortunately, he learned by watching, not by doing.

"Help me!" Aneurysm shouted between his pathetic attempts at keeping his head above water. "Somebody help me!"

"Wait a second," he thought and stopped failing about and sank slowly. "I'm a hologram. I don't have to breathe." However, once his head was completely submerged, he felt a distinct tingling senation in the back of his right leg. When he looked down to investigate, he noticed that it was fading and he immediately scrambled for the surface again. "I forgot! My holographic matrix isn't waterproof!"

But, before Aneurysm could say another word, he felt the sensation of flight. Dazed, he looked down and saw the lake far below him with an arm in the crook of his neck. He swiveled his head around, following the arm to its source at a shoulder. The shoulder was, in turn, attached to a torso which was attached to a head adorned with long, cyan hair. The owner of the head also possessed rather striking feline eyes, bright yellow and also had a slight connivance to them. Thin lips surrounded a thin mouth while the rest of this person had the anatomy of a female human, however, the last time Aneurysm checked, humans hadn't mastered the power of flight without some form of an appartus or LSD.

"Who are you?" Aneurysm asked her.

"I was about to ask you the same question," she retorted.

"Well, I asked you first," Aneurysm replied snippily.

"My, aren't we the pleasant type," she muttered. "Fine. You'll bound to find out sooner or later." They began to descend, her feet first and touched the ground softly. "I am Ryoko."

"Pleasure to meet you Ryoko," Aneurysm said absently, preoccupied with ringing out his holographic clothing and hoping that his matrix hadn't suffered extreme damage.

"Well?" Ryoko uttered, tapping her foot on the ground with crossed arms.

Aneurysm was confused. "What?"

"Aren't you going to thank me for helping you?" Ryoko snapped.

"You helped an advanced life form in distress," he replied proudly. "That should be rewarding enough."

Ryoko made the dirtiest face ever recorded in the history of this universe. "What that's supposed to mean?! Who the heck are you?"

"I am Aneurysm," he greeted. "Advanced computer from far beyond the multiverse."

"That didn't help much," Ryoko chided.

"Well, my origins would be very difficult to explain."

"Try me."

"It's a very confusing story involving psychopathic villians, arrogant princes, powers that involve you being surrounded by a yellow flame, the collapse of the multiverse, and bean dip which happens to be the secret of the entire universe. At least, one of them."

Ryoko's face scruntched up like a crumpled, paper ball in confusion. "What?" she whispered pathetically.

"I told you that you wouldn't understand," Aneurysm replied.

"Ryoko! Did you save him?" shouted a voice belonging to a small, blue- haired young girl with ravishing, pink eyes and wearing a simple robe and apron while carrying a spatula.

"Yeah, but I wished I hadn't," Ryoko said, aloof and then vanished into air.

Aneurysm stared at the space Ryoko had occupied a few momemts earlier, completely dumbfounded. "Am I seeing things or did she just . . . ?"

"Oh, she does that all the time," this little girl said and smiled a grin from ear to ear.

"Really?!" Aneurysm exhaled like a burst tire. "This is an interesting universe."

The girl laughed. "You're funny. Come in, I bet you're hungry."

"A little, yes," he replied, rubbing his stomach. "You are?"

"I'm Princess Sasami," she said, grabbing Aneurysm's hand. "I cook for everyone."

"That explains the apron with the lobster on it and spatula," he observed. "But, the title 'princess' . . . ?"

"Oh, I'm the Second Princess of Planet Jurai's Royal Family," Sasami explained, leading Aneurysm into the house.

"Fascinating," Aneurysm replied. "Is this planet we're on Jurai?"

"Oh, no," she said. "This is Earth, but I don't think you heard of it."

"Oh, I've most defintely heard of it," he said. "At least, one incarnation of the place."

She giggled again. "You're silly. What's you're name?"

They entered through a sliding, glass door into a dining room area where, by the lack of chairs and the lowness of the table, Aneurysm surmised that he had landed somewhere in Japan where these things were common. A flat screen television hung from the wall and there was a door with a porthole window on the other side of the room. Otherwise, the room was rather plain and not much seemed to decorate it that especially stood out. Except, that door. Aneurysm seemed to detect some odd readings from it, like that it wasn't entirely in this dimension of sp . . .

"What's your name?" Sasami asked more urgently, becoming fed up.

"Oh," Aneurysm uttered, being snapped from his reverie. "I'm sorry, Sasami. My name is-"

"Hold that thought!" came a high-pitched and most annoying voice from the door which was now swung wide open. Standing in the doorway was a short woman, a little taller than Sasami, with inordinately-long, neon pink hair and wearing a simple three piece oufit with the jacket and high knee socks. She came rushing towards Aneurysm with some sort of scanner in hand and quickly waved it all about in Aneurysm's general direction, stopping after about thirty seconds. After stopping, she simply stood there, pressing random control on that scanner.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, turning towards the hologram. "You're not from this universe, are you?"

Aneurysm stood there with his jaw on the floor and the cat playing with his uvula. "How did you . . . ?"

"It's simple," she said. "I am Washu, the greatest genius in the universe." "I know a person who could challenge that title."

"And who is that?" Washu snapped back, although she was so overjoyed, she practically laughed.

"My creator, Professor Tim Osborne," Aneurysm replied.

"I see," Washu replied absently.

"Unfortunately, he's somewhere off in the mulitverse."

"What is your name?!" Sasami demanded, placing her hands on her hips and looking directly up at Aneurysm.

"Keep getting interrupted with your question, don't I?" Aneurysm said. "well, my name is Aneurysm and I'm-"

"A holographic matrix composed of photons as controlled by his central processing unit and projected with a tiny moblie hologram emitter," Washu explained, typing away on a computer that appeared from thin air.

"What?" Sasami asked.

"I'm a hologram, Sasami," Aneurysm began simply, "which is like a movie, only you can see all sides of a hologram, but you can't on a movie screen."

"Oh," Sasami uttered, seemingly understanding.

"But, he is only tangible by a magnetic field composed of electrons surrounding his matrix," Washu continued.

"You're not helping you know," Aneurysm chided at Washu. He looked down and saw that Sasami was confused again. So he bent down on one knee, looking Sasami in the eyes, and explained again. "Holograms can't feel or be felt by people."

"But, I can touch you," Sasami said, holding Aneurysm's hand again.

"Here, let me show you." Aneurysm reached over and pressed a few buttons on his emitter located on his shoulder and Aneurysm breifly phased out of focus and came into focus just as quickly. Sasami had held his hand throughout the entire ordeal, but, when Aneurysm had switched off his magnetic field, Sasami's hand slipped straight through his which made her gasp slightly.

"See, you can't feel me," Aneurysm said. "Now, if you'll press the two top buttons on my emitter, I'll become tangible again." Sasami complied and Aneurysm blurred and unblurred again. Sasami took his hand once again and, lo and behold, she could feel him again.

"Wow," she said in awe.

"Is something going on in here?" A slightly British voice emanted from an adjacent room. A tall, stately, and dignified woman entered with straight violet hair swept back and down all the way to her knees. She was clad in a lengthy, carnation pink kimono and she also possessed large, pink eyes, but they were a darker shade than Sasami's. Her eyes searched the room briefly until they rested upon Aneurysm, catching her ever so slightly off guard.

"Oh," she said and bowed a bit in his direction. "I am Princess Ayeka, the First Princess of Jurai's Royal Family. I don't believe we have met."

Aneurysm was about to introduce himself, when Sasami did it for him. "This is Aneurysm. He's a computer."

Ayeka was in mid-courtsey when Sasami said "computer" which caught Ayeka off guard. "Computer? In a humanoid form?"

"Not exactly, Ayeka," Washu stated, continuing to clatter away at her floating and transparent laptop. Washu's laptop faded away into the air and she stood estactically with a very scheming look in her eyes. "I think more research is needed!"

"What do you mean by that?" Aneurysm said skittishly as, unbeknownst to him, a box came into existence behind him. Straps shot out from the box that surrounded Aneurysm and constrained him tightly. Aneurysm tried to wriggle himself out of the straps, but to no avail and what was worse was the straps progressively wore themselves deeper into Aneurysm's matrix.

"Show me your true form," Washu partially demanded.

"Do you always treat your guests like this?" Aneurysm rasped.

"Only the ones that are interesting to me," Washu replied.

"Washu, stop hurting him!" Sasami implored.

"Miss Washu, please," Ayeka also interrupted. "You are obviously causing him pain."

"Computers are incapable of feeling any discomfort," Washu stated.

"Says you," Aneurysm grunted. He breathed heavily and gritted his teeth. Beads of sweat rolled down his brow as the straps inched ever deeper into his holographic exterior.

"Fascinating," Washu said, amazed. "He's exhibiting human responses to pain. This is most unusual.

"Is she the Torquemada of the group here?" Aneurysm said sarcastically.

"Washu! Stop!" Sasami cried.

Washu sighed and lessened the binding of the straps. "I will still need to examine you Aneurysm."

The box slowly accelerated forward, taking Aneurysm in its grip with it, through the wooden door and into the darkness it contained. The door slammed behind them, leaving Sasami distraught and Ayeka slightly puzzled.

"I hope Aneurysm will be all right," Sasami said worriedly.

"Sasami," Ayeka began, "Miss Washu wouldn't purposely cause harm anyone."

"You're right, Ayeka. Tenchi always comes back after Washu has done some experiements on him."

"Right, Sasami." Ayeka gave a reassuring smile to Sasami who returned the gesture. Sasami then sniffed around a bit, searching for the source of a rather strong odor. Her eyes finally came to rest on a stove with an inordinate amount of smoke billowing out of the cracks between the door and the remainder of the stove.

"Oh no!" Sasami screeched. "Dinner!"

Aneurysm, still held in check by the most bothersome straps, moved in the darkness for some time. There was no visibility and this Washu person had seemed to disappear from all wavelengths of light. Infrared, ultraviolet, microwave, radio, radar, everything said the exact same thing: Washu was most definitely not in front, or anywhere else near for that matter, of Aneurysm. Not only that, but there didn't seemed to be anything around him, with the exception of a floor some two or three inches below where his helpless feet dangled. For the first time in his computerized life, Aneurysm felt apprehensive, even scared.

A rustle occurred in the darkness to the right of him and his eye darted to origin of the sound. "Hello?" he cried out. "Is anyone there?"

Aneurysm checked his auditory sensors and found that there hadn't been a sound. "What?" he uttered, then exhaled deeply. "I've been in a human form too long. I'm becoming falliable."

"And you weren't falliable before?" rang out that familiar voice belonging to Washu. A light abruptly flared into life and, inside the beam, stood this very irksome young lady who has been causing Aneurysm all this grief.

"What do you want anyway?" Aneurysm spat.

"I simply want to examine you inside and out and figure out what makes you tick," the professor replied, flashing Aneurysm that colluding look once again. "You are a very interesting life form, Aneurysm; one that I have not met nor have I seen any living being that could compare to you."

"I'm glad I'm so special," Aneurysm replied, showing his endless amount of sarcasm.

"That you are!" Washu exclaimed. She snapped her fingers melodramatically and the whole room was completely illuminated. It reminded Aneurysm of an inquistorial dentist's office with very imposing instruments of torment jutting every which way possible near Aneurysm, but not one touching him. All of these instruments were attatched to a grand apparatus that Aneurysm now seemed to be attatched to; the box seemed to have locked itself into a notch in the machine.

Washu took her place behind a console of sorts that was, of course, connected to this machine that would have made Torquemada, the leader of the Spanish Inquistion, blush. Like a pianst in a concert, Washu interlaced her fingers with palms facing outaward and extended her arms, cracking her knuckles. Her quickly wiggled her finger, warming them up, and then proceeded to activate the machine.

"Hey!" Aneurysm shouted as pincer extracted his mobile emitter from his shoulder and plopped it into a glass bowl. Aneurysm's matrix blurred and completely vanished, leaving his CPU bare for Washu to see.

"Fascinating," Washu said as the sraps that held Aneurysm's holographic form quickly tightened to hold the CPU in place so it would not crash to the floor.

"You wanted to see my true form, correct?" Aneurysm said, lights blinking on and off as he spoke. "Well, this is it. Happy?"

"Amazing." Washu strolled from around her console and walked up to Aneurysm. "What is this unit you are in?"

"It's my Central Processing Unit," Aneurysm explained. "It contains my core memory and my sensors to light, sound, temperature, and balance."

"Hmmm. Who did you say was your creator again?"

"Professor Timothy Osborne," Aneurysm stated. "Arguably, the most intelligent mastermind of science in his universe."

"iProfessor/i Osborne?!" Washu half-yelled. "Him?! He invented you?!"

"Yes?" Aneurysm replied uncertainly. "Heard of him, have we?"

"You bet!" Washu snapped. "I met him while we were captrured by these extradimensional beings who claimed that we had disrupted the fabric of time and space in the multiverse."

"Oh, do you travel between universe as well?" Aneurysm asked.

"No, but he certainly does." Washu crossed her arms. "He almost caused the destruction of the multiverse with that quantum drive of his."

"Been there. Done that. Got the T-Shirt." Three rows of lights flashed along Aneurysm's exterior. "Do you have anything against him?"

"He's a debasement of science," Washu chided. "He's reckless and annoying."

"Are you sure you're describing Tim or me?" Aneurysm joked.

Washu stared menancingly into Aneurysm optical sensor and shouted, "Most definitely Professor Osborne!"

"All right, all right," Aneurysm said, failing to calm her down. "Don't get your knee socks in a twist. I prefer to call him inventive rather than reckless."

"He performs actions before learning all the facts."

"Sometimes that's the only way to act, Washu." Aneurysm was pensive for a moment. "I have an inkling that this is not the reason that you loathe Professor Osborne."

"Inkling? You're a computer. How can you have an inkling?"

"I've been around humans a bit long and I've developed a few of their habits. Sadly a few of their more annoying ones as well."

"What's your point?"

Aneurysm made a throat-clearing sound. "I think that you think he's smarter than you."

i"What?!"/i Washu blurted. "How absurd! He just thinks smarter than me. I, of course, am far more intelligent than a million Professor Osbornes."

"Yeah, of course," Aneurysm sighed.

"I've never met a man more arrogant in my entire life than him," Washu continued.

Aneurysm digitally yawned. "Uh huh."

"It makes me so angry to think that there are people out there in the multiverse like him."

"You know, for someone who hates him so much, you seem to babble on about him a lot."

Washu raised her eyebrow and redirected her attention to Aneurysm. "What are you implying?"

Aneurysm's tone became increasingly wistful. "There's a fine line between love and hate, you know . . . "

bi"What?!"/b/i Washu squawked.

"Washu and Tim, sittin' in a tree. K I S S I N-"

b/i"Shut up!"/b/i Fire blazed in Washu's eyes.

"Oh, you're so passionate about him, aren't you?"

"How could anyone put up with you for more than two minutes without igoing completely insane?!"/i

"You seem to be doing rather well."

Washu remained quiet, but stormed to the console and pounded her fist on a large button. Several of the implements on the apparatus activated, several of them long and sharp.

"What are you doing?" Aneurysm asked, slightly apprehensive.

"I'm going to take you apart, microchip by microchip," Washu replied threateningly.

"Oh please," Aneurysm said, unabated. "I always have a trump card."

"Hmmm?" Washu said, but, before she could say "E = mc²," Aneurysm's CPU flashed brilliantly and a green light traced along all of the electrical relays in the appartus containing him. As the machine fell dead, the green light spread outward, following all of the pathways in the floor and the walls of Washu's laboratory. The overhead lights flared into life as Aneurysm stretched his electrical legs to the far corners of this building inside a carved out piece of the space time continuum, illuminating the vastness of the structure and the endless array of corridors leading to other parts of it all.

"Ahhh, that's much better." Aneurysm's voice reverberated from every nook and cranny in Washu's laboratory. "That CPU can be most confining."

The professor wasn't the least bit startled or effected. "I excepted that you my attempt a stunt like this, so I took the liberty of adding some precautions while you were waiting for me."

"Such as?" Aneurysm asked.

"Such as this." Washu pressed several buttons upon her console and another large button. Aneurysm suddenly had the feeling of being claustrophobic, but, this just wasn't a neurosis. He was actually being confined again into his CPU as Aneurysm's electrical energy was being rushed back into the appartus and locked away from whence he originated.

i"Hey!!!!!!!"/i Aneurysm yelled, sounding as if he was on a speeding train. But, there was nothing he could do about it. Within a matter of second, he found himself inside his CPU again.

Washu stepped up to him once more. "Feeling like being cooperative now?"

"You know, you are really bothersome," Aneurysm snapped back.

"That makes two of us," Washu replied.

"Okay! I'm dione/i!" Washu exclaimed as the door to her laboratory sharply swung open. Aneurysm, reintialized in his holographic state, somersaulted several feet before finally unfurling himself on the floor.

"Ow," Aneurysm sighed pathetically, but his only response was a soft, feline utterance.

"Meow," was the reply and it came hopping over to Aneurysm. The creature that produced these sounds came into view, obscuring most of Aneurysm's view of the ceiling as it peered into his eyes. Aneurysm continued to stare at the ceiling for a second or two, then turned his attention to the creature.

Oversized, catlike, lemon yellow eyes gazed cheerily back at him and a tiny mouth, embroidered with minute fangs on both lips at the corners, smiled happily. Rabbit-like ears hung from its head and brushed against Aneurysm's face as if two, brown washrags were being suspended over Aneurysm's forehead and chin. Aneurysm maintained his air of self-pity, even though this obvious product from a botched rabbit-cat cross-breeding experiment began to lick his face playfully.

"Cute," Aneurysm said sarcastically, but made no effort to halt the licking.

"Ah, Master Aneurysm," replied the familiar parody of royal, British accents. Aneurysm shifted his gaze toward the entrance to the den and saw Princess Ayeka standing there. "Did Miss Washu treat you well?"

"Oh sure," Aneurysm began. "After we agreed that we were both the most annoying person in the multiverse, we got along just great. She also upgraded my holographic matrix so I can stand being in water and such . . . "

"And do you like Ryo-ohki licking your face?"

"Oh, so that what it's called?" Aneurysm redirected his gaze to Ryo-ohki. "Do you mind?"

Ryo-ohki persisted with the sloppy scraping of her abrasive tongue across Aneurysm's cheek.

"Help," Aneurysm yelped piteously.

"Ryo-ohki," Ayeka said firmly. "Look what I have." Ayeka disclosed a carrot from underneath her sleeve.

i"Merow!"/i Ryo-ohki exclaimed to scampered to Ayeka. She chucked the vegetable out the open door and watched Ryo-ohki bounce away, following the treat.

"Thank you," Aneurysm said gratefully and then jabbed his arm into the air, palm open. "Princess, be a dear."

"Of course," Ayeka replied obligingly and clasped her hand with Aneurysm's and help him to his feet.

"I'm in your debt," Aneurysm said, wiping away Ryo-ohki's salvia from his cheek.

"Oh, distracting Ryo-ohki is easy," Ayeka replied. "Just always make sure you have a carrot handy."

"I'll remember that," Aneurysm said, smiling idiotically. He quickly changed the subject. "So, are you, Sasami, Ryoko, Ryo-ohki, and Dr. Jekyll in there the only people here?"

"Oh no," Ayeka replied quickly. "There's my guardians, Azaka and Kamidake. Oh, there they are." Ayeka gestured to two, talking, wooden cylinders out a nearby window, one with a red eye of sorts and an inscription of some form down the length of the cylinder underneath the eye. The other had more or less they same decorations, except the inscription of a little different and the eye was a deep navy. Ayeka mentioned that the one with the blue eye was Kamidake and the other was Azaka.

"Ah, talking logs," Aneurysm said concisely. "Makes perfect sense. It goes well with the woman who can disappear at will."

Ayeka was not amused and growled softly. "I suppose . . ."

"What else is here?" Aneurysm inquired. "This is begining to sound like a carnival."

"Well, there's also Mihoshi, a Galaxy Police Detective, First Class."

"So, she's your Sherlock Holmes? Does she solve your mysteries, like where's your other sock?"

"Actually, I wouldn't trust her with an open flame," Ayeka replied frankly. "She's is most definitely dull. There she is."

Aneurysm followed Ayeka's pointing finger and he laid his eyes to rest on a tall woman with a comical amount of blonde hair and clad in a pink sweater and slacks. She was staring blankly at a broom with her large, blue eyes and holding it in various positions, but not have much luck with the trying to sweep up the rusty red leaves that lay strewn about the patio.

"You have igot/i to be kidding," Aneurysm articulated.

"I'm afriad I'm not," Ayeka replied morbidly. "She's been at that now for two and a half hours and not one leaf has been swept."

"Great, the bimbo," Aneurysm stated. "Anyone else, Princess?"

"Well, I've saved the best for last," Ayeka said, her demeanor changing radically. She cupped her hands around her mouth and directed them at staircase in the other room the Aneurysm saw and called out a name. "Oh Tenchi!"

"Tenchi?" Aneurysm echoed.

"Coming Ayeka!" called back a male voice. A figure of a handsome young man appeared bounding down the staircase. He had black hair, closely cropped in a buzz cut with the exception of a vestigial pony tail dangling on the back of his head. He turned his head so his brown eyes met with Ayeka's which she seemed to enjoy inordinately and, strangely, biologically as Aneurysm's sensors told him. Ayeka's pulse quickened and her breath became more shallow. It was almost as if Ayeka was in love with Tenchi, but Tenchi wasn't expressing the same for Ayeka.

"A crush, eh?" Aneurysm muttered to himself. "This proves to be more interesting as time ticks by."

During the time that Aneurysm had spent contemplating, Tenchi had arrived at Ayeka's side and she was in the process of introducing him to Tenchi.

"Uh, hello," Tenchi replied and bowed slightly.

"My pleasure," Aneurysm replied and inclined his head.

"Tenchi," reverberated a voice from mid air. A figure phased in around Tenchi's neck, floating parallel to the floor. As it happened, it turned out to be Ryoko with her arms slung around Tenchi's neck and she fingered his chest with her index finger on her right hand. Aneurysm most certainly detected Tenchi to be extremely uncomfortable, but anyone could see that, with or without infrared sensors.

"Ryoko!" Ayeka said in a shrill voice. "What are you doing to Lord Tenchi?"

"Showing how much we are destined to be together," Ryoko replied casually.

"Hey, now why do you keep saying that Ryoko!" Tenchi protested, squirming for freedom in Ryoko's grip.

Ayeka growled in and undignified manner. "Why do you keep declaring such things!?"

"Because it's true," Ryoko said. "Is that right, Tenchi?" She blew in his ear.

"Yag!!!" Tenchi yelped and flailed about wildly about in her grasp.

Aneurysm burst out laughing, clasping his gut with his right arm and shaking his left to try and stop the scene unfolding in front of him.

"This is too much," Aneurysm chuckled and he wiped a tear from his eye. "This is better than any soap opera I've ever seen."

"What?" Ryoko and Ayeka replied simultaneously, but Aneurysm continued to guffaw.

"Ah," Aneurysm sighed, calming down. "The love triangle. How classic." He wandered out to the patio where Mihoshi was now slumbering.

"You are a very strange individual, Master Aneurysm," Ayeka said frankly.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," he replied and opened the sliding, glass door to the outside.

"I think you're just rude," Ryoko said.

"Can I leave now?" Tenchi pleaded.

Aneurysm began laughing once more.