Choices Made, Roads Taken
Chapter 9: Day one.
What has happened so far: Ranma has gone to America with retired superhero Jeff Anderson to get his life in order. His absence from Nerima might be causing more changes than his presence. Today, Ranma plans to make his first costumed appearance. Or course, we know how well plans and Ranma mix.
-----
Ranma reached out and shut off his alarm clock. Normally since arriving in America, Ranma slept until his body told him to wake up. Since he wanted to go with Jeff to deliver the hoversled to MATRIX HQ, he needed to get up early and so had actually set his alarm clock. This explains why he was only semi-conscious when he opened the bathroom door. It also explains why Anne was drying her hair with a towel while being otherwise undressed.
There was a brief pause before Anne reached for a bathrobe and Ranma closed the door. It wasn't the first time he'd been in such a situation, and with his luck it wouldn't be the last. Truth be told, what Ranma noticed most was some extensive scarring across Anne's mid-section. His hand was still on the doorknob when Jeff padded up wearing a pair of sweats.
"Problem?" Jeff inquired.
"Your wife is in there," Ranma replied.
The bathroom door was pulled open from the other side and Anne, with robe tied, said, "Ranma, it was an accident."
"What was an accident?" Jeff asked.
"Ranma walked in on me before I put my robe on. I forgot to lock the bathroom door," Anne explained.
"Oh."
Ranma closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pounding. When it didn't come, he opened them and saw his hosts starting breakfast. Not knowing what else to do, Ranma hit the shower. Afterwards, he walked out to the kitchen and bowed to Anne and said, "I am very, very sorry about that."
Anne handed Ranma a plate of blueberry pancakes and replied, "If I thought you had done it on purpose, it would be a different story. But it was a mistake. Apology accepted. Heck, a couple of months ago I was still breast feeding Bill. You'd have seen my boobs every day."
Ranma blinked and added this to his ever growing list of differences between America and Japan. "It just reminded me of day I met Akane. She was naked and walked in on me in bathroom. Then she hit me with table. Later I accidentally walk in on her. She punch me. It took long time for us to get past bad start."
Jeff wasn't sure that they had, but kept his mouth shut. After some small talk, Jeff finished eating and went to take his own shower. Ranma heard the water start and asked Anne, "How did you get those scars?"
"A mutant dinosaur tried to bite me in half," she replied before the intercom buzzed interrupting further explanation. Keying the switch, Anne asked, "Who is it?"
"It's Robert. I need to use the phone."
"C'mon up." Anne then pressed the button next to the remote lock and went to the apartment door. Ranma was busy stuffing his face but noticed Anne ticking off fingers. Upon reaching ten, she opened the door a little bit and closed it almost immediately. "Hi Robert."
"Hi sweetie," came the reply. "I need to call in a untraceable tip."
Ranma didn't see anyone and it sounded like that voice came from the floor. Curious, he stood up and what he saw caused a mental shutdown far worse than seeing a naked woman.
"C-C-C-CAT!!" Ranma shouted as the bars of fear clamped down upon his mind. It was the biggest damn house cat he'd ever seen.
"WHERE?!" Robert the Talking Cat yelled back while jumping up and swapping ends. Since Robert was about the same size as Ryoga's dog Checkers, this was a lot of feline in motion. Ranma began to yell wordlessly.
Anne couldn't really be blamed. Robert was a special auxiliary member of MATRIX and with his enhanced senses, you couldn't hide a secret identity from him unless you wore full environment armor. She knew Jeff was taking Ranma to meet the team and thought, 'Why not get one out of the way early?' Neither Ranma nor her husband had ever mentioned Ranma's extreme aurilophobia.
Jeff heard Ranma's first yell and leapt out of the shower, barely pausing long enough to wrap a towel around his midsection. The noise was enough to wake Little Bill, who added his cry to the rising decibel level.
When Ranma inhaled to take another breath so he could continue screaming, the excessive weirdness circuit in his brain triggered. Suddenly calm, he said in his native tongue, "Wait a second. Cats can't talk."
Shampoo was sometimes a cat, and she couldn't talk when her curse was active. Neither could his father, Ryoga or Mousse when their curses were active. The evidential conflict between his eyes and ears prevented the Neko-ken training from kicking in long enough for Robert to get out of the line of sight.
Robert had, of course, bolted when Ranma started screaming, and Jeff was in route to Ranma. Therefore, of course, Jeff tripped over the extra large tabby. He and his towel parted company somewhere along the way.
"MRROOW! FFFT!!"
"OW! @^*%! ROBERT!"
"WAAAAHHHHHH! WAAAAHHHHH!"
"Cats can't talk. Cats can't talk. Cats can't talk."
Eventually, order was restored. Eventually that is.
-----
"All right, there is c-c-cat that can talk," Ranma stated from the passenger seat of the rental van. He was wearing his costume under his clothes, his mask and gloves a small bundle tucked in his front right pocket.
"I've seen four. Then there was when Mirage got turned into a cat, but that doesn't count," Jeff said from behind the wheel. He hated driving, but sometimes it was necessary.
"Four?"
"For crying out loud, two of them were in Japan."
"No way."
"It was when me and Kasumi were out shopping a few hours before I took everybody to dinner. One black cat, one white cat. Heard them plain as day." Jeff waited for the light to change before turning right onto Moonachie Avenue. The new hoversled was crated up in the back of the van.
"No. Way."
"Ranma, what possible reason would I have to lie," Jeff replied as they reached the driveway to MATRIX headquarters.
"Well, only talking c-c-cat I've seen was demon or ghost or something, it not look like normal c-c-c-c..."
"Cat?" Jeff offered, as he pulled the van around to the north side of the building.
"Thank you. I'm sure Robert is nice guy, but I just can't..."
"Ranma, you can't stand cats, I can't stand telepaths. Let's call it even."
"You go crazy when you see telepath?" Ranma asked, sure that nothing was worse than entering the Neko-ken.
"No," Jeff replied as he backed the van toward a set of double doors. "But hearing a voice inside your head that isn't your own is pretty bad. Especially one that can _make_ you do things. Like almost kill your teammates. Read the 'Red Queen' case files sometime."
Conversation was suspended while Jeff got out of the van, swiped a card through a security reader and entered a long access code. Jeff got back into the van and told Ranma it was time for him to get into costume. Ranma climbed into the back of the cargo van, pulling on his gloves and mask while peeling off his outer layer of clothing.
It was almost a minute before the dual doors slid barely far enough apart for Jeff to back the van through. Ranma saw an empty room 10 meters wide and almost that deep that extended through both floors of the building. After Jeff killed the engine, he told Ranma to wait a moment.
The thin outer doors closed and a red light changed to amber in room not far away. Slowly, the more than meter thick, super reinforced concrete inner door rose from the floor. It took thirty seconds for the hydraulic lifts to put the massive barrier back into place. To some beings, that wall would be about as effective as tissue paper, but it served well enough. After a few seconds to verify the door was properly closed, the amber light changed to green and the holographic projector turned off.
Ranma could now see the room as it really was. There were three doors opposite the double doors through which they had entered. A large hatch with some weird machinery around it was in the middle of the ceiling. There were three hoversleds in marked off sections of the floor. One was significantly larger than the other two.
Ranma let himself out of the van and looked around some more. Along the east wall were large scale maps of Manhattan and the New York City region. The west wall had racks of hand tools and a few things he couldn't readily identify. A door in the southwest corner of the room hissed opened, and Ranma whirled around in time to see the current membership of MATRIX enter.
He noticed Big Tex first. A good two meters tall, he was well muscled, but not what anyone would call bulky. At least from the neck down. Dressed in blue jeans, a red T-shirt, a blue jean vest with lots of pockets, cowboy boots and a ten-gallon hat on top of a head like a giant smiley face. Bright yellow, two large black dots for eyes and a black slash for a mouth. No visible ears or nose at all.
The file Jeff had on him indicated he could bench press twenty tons, eat almost anything and was bulletproof to conventional firearms. Sort of a bigger, tougher version of Ryoga.
Next was Sparx. She was about as tall as Anne, but curvier. Her hair was a reddish purple or a purplish red, but Ranma had seen odd hair colors before. She wore pink compression shorts and a matching custom sports bra that left nothing of her excellent figure to the imagination. Ranma guessed her to be in her early to mid twenties.
She could fly, create smoke and control any smoke around her, even if she hadn't created it. Which didn't sound like much to Ranma. Her file also said she generated electricity, but he didn't see any evidence of that. The fact that her eyes resembled a cat's was somewhat disquieting to Ranma.
On the left was FreeFall. He looked almost stereotypical to Ranma. Early thirties, tall, broad-chested, narrow waisted, square-jawed, muscular, forearms like bread loaves. His costume, boots and all, was in various shades of blue. Ranma could see the stock of a rifle peeking over his right shoulder. Ranma didn't like guns and felt some contempt toward those who relied on them.
FreeFall was the only member of MATRIX who carried a Federal DS-6 sanction. He could legally kill in the line of duty under certain circumstances. It was something he'd done at least once. His powers involved dissipating kinetic energy and something Jeff referred to 'partial gravity polarization'. Whatever that meant. In practice, it made him very difficult to move against his will. Ranma noticed the well defined calluses of a practicing martial artist on FreeFall's hands.
Behind Big Tex was Limelight. Limelight wore a lime green bodysuit with a complicated matte-black harness and a solid looking green helmet. Ranma noted the harness crossed most of the major muscle groups with bands of various thickness. There was a chest assembly that could emit green light or a blast of concussive force strong enough to shatter steel. The suit also allowed him to fly, lift three tons, absorb energy, see in the dark, take digital photographs and do other things that Jeff hadn't figured out yet.
To Ranma, he moved all wrong. The 'muscles' were obvious fakes to his eyes, but they might fool someone who didn't know what to look for. Limelight was currently the field leader of MATRIX, so Ranma would have to learn to work with him despite the fact he showed a false front.
He almost missed Sunray standing behind FreeFall. She was in her 'civilian' form, which was that of a thin 12 or 13 year old girl with shoulder length blonde hair, dressed in a white sleeveless blouse with a blue knee length skirt. Her 'powered' form was the same, only appearing four years older and in a yellow and white costume.
Ranma was no stranger to people having more than one body. The concept of a 'magical girl' was one that was very familiar in anime. Say the magic word, costume appears out of nowhere, girl blasts monster du jour, tune in again next week. He'd heard there really were some 'magical girls' running around Tokyo, but he'd never crossed paths with any. So magical girl is what he thought of when he'd read the file.
Her true nature was a matter of some conjecture. That she could levitate and run over 400 kilometers in 24 hours were solid facts. MATRIX still hadn't found the limits to her light projection abilities. They simply couldn't afford the tools to make proper measurements.
MATRIX spread out so that everyone could get a look at who their director emeritus had brought. Male, short (in comparison), well muscled, dressed in a tight blue costume with a red and gold dragon emblazoned upon it.
FreeFall decided to give Jeff, and therefore the newcomer, the benefit of a doubt. He'd known Jeff longer than anyone on the current roster and had worked closely with him for a couple of years. If Jeff said this guy had what it took, FreeFall was inclined to believe him.
Big Tex knew better than to judge by appearances. After all, consider his own. Tach had pulled him out of the quagmire of despair he'd fallen into once his head had changed into its current... state. He'd given an outcast a place where it didn't matter what he looked like or what his past was. A place where he could be accepted. He'd wait and see what the new guy was like. Might have to have a little fun with him though.
Sparx's first thought was 'Nice bod. Wonder what he looks like under that costume?' This tells you a lot about Sparx.
Limelight's emotions were well hidden behind the high tech hardware of his helmet. MATRIX was his team now. How dare Anderson exercise his charter given rights and bring in new talent without clearing it with him first. As various sensors scanned the young man and encrypted data channels flared with information, Limelight glanced at the preliminary readouts. There was something about the newcomer that his sensors weren't equipped to identify. Limelight's hostility switched over to curiosity. He'd get rid of this loser -after- he figured him out.
Sunray simply made her way past the rest of the group, walked up to Ranma, stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Sunray. What's your name?"
Trying hard to disguise his accent, Ranma answered "Wild Dragon" as he took the young girl's hand.
'Wild Dragon?' Jeff thought. 'Oh well, it's not as if I'd come up with anything.'
Introductions were made and impressions were garnered. Sparx made a preliminary pass, but Jeff warned her off. After a comment on martial arts, FreeFall asked Ranma for a sparring session. Big Tex didn't say anything, but then again, he couldn't. Limelight observed minutely, but since Ranma wasn't doing anything special, he was unable to get any decent readings from him. Sunray had appointed herself ambassador and was dragging Ranma around the room, explaining how to do this, that and the other.
To Ranma, Sunray was throwing herself into 'little sister' mode as much as he'd done when he had pretended to be Hibiki Yoiko. It was nice. Sparx on the other hand, was a chilling reminder of home and the fiancee problems he'd left behind. Big Tex seemed friendly enough, as did FreeFall despite the fact he felt the need to carry a gun. The bad blood between Limelight and Jeff was almost a tangible force to Ranma. There would be some questions to ask after they got back home.
As Ranma was led off to the Dining Room for a welcoming brunch, FreeFall motioned to Jeff.
Jeff told Ranma to "have fun" and went to talk to his former teammate.
"Another one of your strays?" FreeFall asked.
"Sorta. It's a long story," Jeff said to the larger man.
"You really think he's ready for this? I mean, I've never heard of this guy before."
"Honestly? I'm not sure. He's easily the best martial artist I've ever seen. But he plays by his own rules and it's almost too easy to use those rules against him."
"Want I should rough him up a bit when we spar?"
"You can try," Jeff laughed. "You can try."
"He's that good?" FreeFall knew how good a hand to hand fighter he was. A brown belt in Judo and Okinawan Karate before he'd got his powers, he was downright dangerous now.
"Yep. You won't believe it until you see him."
"You ever go all out against him?" FreeFall knew Tach had been a decent fighter. Not in his league, but surprisingly effective.
"No," Jeff stated calmly. "That part of my life is over. Besides, it would wreck the apartment if we tried it."
"Thusly annoying 'She Who Is Thy Wife'," FreeFall quipped.
"No, thusly annoying me."
"So what all can this kid do? And don't tell me he ain't a kid. I may not be a certified genius like you and Lamelight, but if he's 18 or over, I'll eat my rifle."
"Lamelight?" Jeff laughed. "Bet he loves that. As for Wild Dragon, just wait until you spar with him. You'll find out."
The two men parted company, FreeFall to his day job and Jeff to see MATRIX's civilian coordinator and money manager Kyle Blackburn. Time to get Ranma's MATRIX access card and to get him officially on the payroll.
-----
After brunch, Limelight, Sparx and Sunray went their separate ways. As Ranma got up to look for Jeff, Big Tex held up his hand, index finger extended. Ranma guessed that he wanted to show him something, so he stopped before leaving the dining room. It was amazing how well Big Tex could get meaning across without actually saying anything.
Tex poked his extended finger into his right eye, well past the surface. With a squeaking noise, Tex dragged his eye completely around his head until it was next to his left eye which hadn't moved much. Ranma was pale underneath his mask as Big Tex pulled his finger free.
Big Tex held his hand up again, index finger extended once more. Suddenly, he turned his wrist and thwapped himself on the 'forehead' with his middle finger. The stretched eye released itself and whipped around Tex's head. Both eyes bonged together repeatedly before settling to their normal positions. Ranma fought hard to keep his equilibrium.
Jeff's voice called from the hall, "Tex, quit scaring the new guy."
-----
Jeff showed Ranma into the Medical Room and introduced him to his new doctor. "Wild Dragon, meet Dr. Reginald Murchison, MATRIX staff physician and all around decent human being." Jeff stuck around in case he was needed.
The man was maybe a meter fifty, maybe fifty kilos and dressed like he bought his clothes in the kid's department of a second hand store. He showed a firm grip when the two shook hands. Ranma couldn't really make a guess at his age.
The physical was as thorough as any he'd received from Tofu-sensei. More so really. Although he'd have given up on the endurance test a lot earlier if Murchison-sensei hadn't mentioned that Sunray had lasted over 6 hours in her 'civilian' form.
"Any medical or non-medical conditions I should be aware of?" Reg asked his blue-clad patient. So far, Wild Dragon hadn't said much other than "Yes" or "No". But he hadn't been giving the doctor any arguments. Which was better than his average patient.
"Just one." Ranma peeled his left glove off and went to the sink. Sticking his arm under the faucet, he triggered his curse.
The doctor blinked once, cast a quick look at Jeff who was leaning against the wall next to the diagnostic display and inquired as to which was Ranma's natural form. Ranma switched the tap to hot and reverted to normal.
"This", Ranma stated simply.
"All right," Reg responded while noting in his chart, 'warm or hot water irrigation for wounds is indicated for this patient.' After finishing the examination, he thought 'Sure beats the hell out of working at St. Vincent's.'
-----
Ranma and Jeff were sitting in the MATRIX conference room when the door slid open to reveal a handsome dark haired man in his mid forties.
"Hello Tach," he said nodding to Jeff. To Ranma he began, "You must be Wild Dragon. I'm Kyle Blackburn, MATRIX civilian liaison. My job is to make your job easier." He quickly sat down, set his briefcase on the long table and opened it with precise motions.
Ranma nodded without speaking.
Kyle pulled a bundle out of the briefcase, removed the rubber band and starting handing things to Ranma.
"Here is your MATRIX access card. Tach will show you how to activate it. Use it to enter and leave the facility. I take it you are aware of the entrances as well as the restrictions of where you can and cannot be in costume. Here is your debit card. Unlike most debit cards, ours contains a display showing how much money is left. Activate the feature by pressing on the corner like so. We don't keep track of where or how the card is used, just the amount on it."
Ranma pressed the readout on his debit card. Fifteen hundred dollars?! Ranma's eyes got wide under his mask as he showed the balance to Jeff.
"You've been on apprentice wages for the last six weeks," Jeff explained. "Don't worry about taxes either."
Mr. Blackburn continued, "As a member of MATRIX you will receive a stipend of $500 per week credited to your account. You will also have access to MATRIX facilities for any lawful use that does not compromise MATRIX security. If needed, you can draw a special stipend of up to $2000 per month for rent assistance as the local cost of living is quite high indeed. We also maintain living facilities here."
"That won't be necessary at this time," Jeff stated. Ranma nodded in agreement.
A thin, metallic card was handed over next. "This is your MATRIX comm-link. Don't lose it. Tach will explain its use and activate it for you." Kyle concluded with, "If there is anything else you need, or any non-operational questions you have, please don't hesitate to call on any internal secured comset. My extension is 1089." After Ranma didn't say anything, Mr. Blackburn closed his briefcase and left the room.
Jeff waited until the door/airlock tell-tale glowed green before switching on the Conference Room's security field.
"OK," Jeff said as he swept up the debit card, access card and comm-link. "Now I can tell you how everything _really_ works."
END CHAPTER 9
Chapter 9: Day one.
What has happened so far: Ranma has gone to America with retired superhero Jeff Anderson to get his life in order. His absence from Nerima might be causing more changes than his presence. Today, Ranma plans to make his first costumed appearance. Or course, we know how well plans and Ranma mix.
-----
Ranma reached out and shut off his alarm clock. Normally since arriving in America, Ranma slept until his body told him to wake up. Since he wanted to go with Jeff to deliver the hoversled to MATRIX HQ, he needed to get up early and so had actually set his alarm clock. This explains why he was only semi-conscious when he opened the bathroom door. It also explains why Anne was drying her hair with a towel while being otherwise undressed.
There was a brief pause before Anne reached for a bathrobe and Ranma closed the door. It wasn't the first time he'd been in such a situation, and with his luck it wouldn't be the last. Truth be told, what Ranma noticed most was some extensive scarring across Anne's mid-section. His hand was still on the doorknob when Jeff padded up wearing a pair of sweats.
"Problem?" Jeff inquired.
"Your wife is in there," Ranma replied.
The bathroom door was pulled open from the other side and Anne, with robe tied, said, "Ranma, it was an accident."
"What was an accident?" Jeff asked.
"Ranma walked in on me before I put my robe on. I forgot to lock the bathroom door," Anne explained.
"Oh."
Ranma closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pounding. When it didn't come, he opened them and saw his hosts starting breakfast. Not knowing what else to do, Ranma hit the shower. Afterwards, he walked out to the kitchen and bowed to Anne and said, "I am very, very sorry about that."
Anne handed Ranma a plate of blueberry pancakes and replied, "If I thought you had done it on purpose, it would be a different story. But it was a mistake. Apology accepted. Heck, a couple of months ago I was still breast feeding Bill. You'd have seen my boobs every day."
Ranma blinked and added this to his ever growing list of differences between America and Japan. "It just reminded me of day I met Akane. She was naked and walked in on me in bathroom. Then she hit me with table. Later I accidentally walk in on her. She punch me. It took long time for us to get past bad start."
Jeff wasn't sure that they had, but kept his mouth shut. After some small talk, Jeff finished eating and went to take his own shower. Ranma heard the water start and asked Anne, "How did you get those scars?"
"A mutant dinosaur tried to bite me in half," she replied before the intercom buzzed interrupting further explanation. Keying the switch, Anne asked, "Who is it?"
"It's Robert. I need to use the phone."
"C'mon up." Anne then pressed the button next to the remote lock and went to the apartment door. Ranma was busy stuffing his face but noticed Anne ticking off fingers. Upon reaching ten, she opened the door a little bit and closed it almost immediately. "Hi Robert."
"Hi sweetie," came the reply. "I need to call in a untraceable tip."
Ranma didn't see anyone and it sounded like that voice came from the floor. Curious, he stood up and what he saw caused a mental shutdown far worse than seeing a naked woman.
"C-C-C-CAT!!" Ranma shouted as the bars of fear clamped down upon his mind. It was the biggest damn house cat he'd ever seen.
"WHERE?!" Robert the Talking Cat yelled back while jumping up and swapping ends. Since Robert was about the same size as Ryoga's dog Checkers, this was a lot of feline in motion. Ranma began to yell wordlessly.
Anne couldn't really be blamed. Robert was a special auxiliary member of MATRIX and with his enhanced senses, you couldn't hide a secret identity from him unless you wore full environment armor. She knew Jeff was taking Ranma to meet the team and thought, 'Why not get one out of the way early?' Neither Ranma nor her husband had ever mentioned Ranma's extreme aurilophobia.
Jeff heard Ranma's first yell and leapt out of the shower, barely pausing long enough to wrap a towel around his midsection. The noise was enough to wake Little Bill, who added his cry to the rising decibel level.
When Ranma inhaled to take another breath so he could continue screaming, the excessive weirdness circuit in his brain triggered. Suddenly calm, he said in his native tongue, "Wait a second. Cats can't talk."
Shampoo was sometimes a cat, and she couldn't talk when her curse was active. Neither could his father, Ryoga or Mousse when their curses were active. The evidential conflict between his eyes and ears prevented the Neko-ken training from kicking in long enough for Robert to get out of the line of sight.
Robert had, of course, bolted when Ranma started screaming, and Jeff was in route to Ranma. Therefore, of course, Jeff tripped over the extra large tabby. He and his towel parted company somewhere along the way.
"MRROOW! FFFT!!"
"OW! @^*%! ROBERT!"
"WAAAAHHHHHH! WAAAAHHHHH!"
"Cats can't talk. Cats can't talk. Cats can't talk."
Eventually, order was restored. Eventually that is.
-----
"All right, there is c-c-cat that can talk," Ranma stated from the passenger seat of the rental van. He was wearing his costume under his clothes, his mask and gloves a small bundle tucked in his front right pocket.
"I've seen four. Then there was when Mirage got turned into a cat, but that doesn't count," Jeff said from behind the wheel. He hated driving, but sometimes it was necessary.
"Four?"
"For crying out loud, two of them were in Japan."
"No way."
"It was when me and Kasumi were out shopping a few hours before I took everybody to dinner. One black cat, one white cat. Heard them plain as day." Jeff waited for the light to change before turning right onto Moonachie Avenue. The new hoversled was crated up in the back of the van.
"No. Way."
"Ranma, what possible reason would I have to lie," Jeff replied as they reached the driveway to MATRIX headquarters.
"Well, only talking c-c-cat I've seen was demon or ghost or something, it not look like normal c-c-c-c..."
"Cat?" Jeff offered, as he pulled the van around to the north side of the building.
"Thank you. I'm sure Robert is nice guy, but I just can't..."
"Ranma, you can't stand cats, I can't stand telepaths. Let's call it even."
"You go crazy when you see telepath?" Ranma asked, sure that nothing was worse than entering the Neko-ken.
"No," Jeff replied as he backed the van toward a set of double doors. "But hearing a voice inside your head that isn't your own is pretty bad. Especially one that can _make_ you do things. Like almost kill your teammates. Read the 'Red Queen' case files sometime."
Conversation was suspended while Jeff got out of the van, swiped a card through a security reader and entered a long access code. Jeff got back into the van and told Ranma it was time for him to get into costume. Ranma climbed into the back of the cargo van, pulling on his gloves and mask while peeling off his outer layer of clothing.
It was almost a minute before the dual doors slid barely far enough apart for Jeff to back the van through. Ranma saw an empty room 10 meters wide and almost that deep that extended through both floors of the building. After Jeff killed the engine, he told Ranma to wait a moment.
The thin outer doors closed and a red light changed to amber in room not far away. Slowly, the more than meter thick, super reinforced concrete inner door rose from the floor. It took thirty seconds for the hydraulic lifts to put the massive barrier back into place. To some beings, that wall would be about as effective as tissue paper, but it served well enough. After a few seconds to verify the door was properly closed, the amber light changed to green and the holographic projector turned off.
Ranma could now see the room as it really was. There were three doors opposite the double doors through which they had entered. A large hatch with some weird machinery around it was in the middle of the ceiling. There were three hoversleds in marked off sections of the floor. One was significantly larger than the other two.
Ranma let himself out of the van and looked around some more. Along the east wall were large scale maps of Manhattan and the New York City region. The west wall had racks of hand tools and a few things he couldn't readily identify. A door in the southwest corner of the room hissed opened, and Ranma whirled around in time to see the current membership of MATRIX enter.
He noticed Big Tex first. A good two meters tall, he was well muscled, but not what anyone would call bulky. At least from the neck down. Dressed in blue jeans, a red T-shirt, a blue jean vest with lots of pockets, cowboy boots and a ten-gallon hat on top of a head like a giant smiley face. Bright yellow, two large black dots for eyes and a black slash for a mouth. No visible ears or nose at all.
The file Jeff had on him indicated he could bench press twenty tons, eat almost anything and was bulletproof to conventional firearms. Sort of a bigger, tougher version of Ryoga.
Next was Sparx. She was about as tall as Anne, but curvier. Her hair was a reddish purple or a purplish red, but Ranma had seen odd hair colors before. She wore pink compression shorts and a matching custom sports bra that left nothing of her excellent figure to the imagination. Ranma guessed her to be in her early to mid twenties.
She could fly, create smoke and control any smoke around her, even if she hadn't created it. Which didn't sound like much to Ranma. Her file also said she generated electricity, but he didn't see any evidence of that. The fact that her eyes resembled a cat's was somewhat disquieting to Ranma.
On the left was FreeFall. He looked almost stereotypical to Ranma. Early thirties, tall, broad-chested, narrow waisted, square-jawed, muscular, forearms like bread loaves. His costume, boots and all, was in various shades of blue. Ranma could see the stock of a rifle peeking over his right shoulder. Ranma didn't like guns and felt some contempt toward those who relied on them.
FreeFall was the only member of MATRIX who carried a Federal DS-6 sanction. He could legally kill in the line of duty under certain circumstances. It was something he'd done at least once. His powers involved dissipating kinetic energy and something Jeff referred to 'partial gravity polarization'. Whatever that meant. In practice, it made him very difficult to move against his will. Ranma noticed the well defined calluses of a practicing martial artist on FreeFall's hands.
Behind Big Tex was Limelight. Limelight wore a lime green bodysuit with a complicated matte-black harness and a solid looking green helmet. Ranma noted the harness crossed most of the major muscle groups with bands of various thickness. There was a chest assembly that could emit green light or a blast of concussive force strong enough to shatter steel. The suit also allowed him to fly, lift three tons, absorb energy, see in the dark, take digital photographs and do other things that Jeff hadn't figured out yet.
To Ranma, he moved all wrong. The 'muscles' were obvious fakes to his eyes, but they might fool someone who didn't know what to look for. Limelight was currently the field leader of MATRIX, so Ranma would have to learn to work with him despite the fact he showed a false front.
He almost missed Sunray standing behind FreeFall. She was in her 'civilian' form, which was that of a thin 12 or 13 year old girl with shoulder length blonde hair, dressed in a white sleeveless blouse with a blue knee length skirt. Her 'powered' form was the same, only appearing four years older and in a yellow and white costume.
Ranma was no stranger to people having more than one body. The concept of a 'magical girl' was one that was very familiar in anime. Say the magic word, costume appears out of nowhere, girl blasts monster du jour, tune in again next week. He'd heard there really were some 'magical girls' running around Tokyo, but he'd never crossed paths with any. So magical girl is what he thought of when he'd read the file.
Her true nature was a matter of some conjecture. That she could levitate and run over 400 kilometers in 24 hours were solid facts. MATRIX still hadn't found the limits to her light projection abilities. They simply couldn't afford the tools to make proper measurements.
MATRIX spread out so that everyone could get a look at who their director emeritus had brought. Male, short (in comparison), well muscled, dressed in a tight blue costume with a red and gold dragon emblazoned upon it.
FreeFall decided to give Jeff, and therefore the newcomer, the benefit of a doubt. He'd known Jeff longer than anyone on the current roster and had worked closely with him for a couple of years. If Jeff said this guy had what it took, FreeFall was inclined to believe him.
Big Tex knew better than to judge by appearances. After all, consider his own. Tach had pulled him out of the quagmire of despair he'd fallen into once his head had changed into its current... state. He'd given an outcast a place where it didn't matter what he looked like or what his past was. A place where he could be accepted. He'd wait and see what the new guy was like. Might have to have a little fun with him though.
Sparx's first thought was 'Nice bod. Wonder what he looks like under that costume?' This tells you a lot about Sparx.
Limelight's emotions were well hidden behind the high tech hardware of his helmet. MATRIX was his team now. How dare Anderson exercise his charter given rights and bring in new talent without clearing it with him first. As various sensors scanned the young man and encrypted data channels flared with information, Limelight glanced at the preliminary readouts. There was something about the newcomer that his sensors weren't equipped to identify. Limelight's hostility switched over to curiosity. He'd get rid of this loser -after- he figured him out.
Sunray simply made her way past the rest of the group, walked up to Ranma, stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Sunray. What's your name?"
Trying hard to disguise his accent, Ranma answered "Wild Dragon" as he took the young girl's hand.
'Wild Dragon?' Jeff thought. 'Oh well, it's not as if I'd come up with anything.'
Introductions were made and impressions were garnered. Sparx made a preliminary pass, but Jeff warned her off. After a comment on martial arts, FreeFall asked Ranma for a sparring session. Big Tex didn't say anything, but then again, he couldn't. Limelight observed minutely, but since Ranma wasn't doing anything special, he was unable to get any decent readings from him. Sunray had appointed herself ambassador and was dragging Ranma around the room, explaining how to do this, that and the other.
To Ranma, Sunray was throwing herself into 'little sister' mode as much as he'd done when he had pretended to be Hibiki Yoiko. It was nice. Sparx on the other hand, was a chilling reminder of home and the fiancee problems he'd left behind. Big Tex seemed friendly enough, as did FreeFall despite the fact he felt the need to carry a gun. The bad blood between Limelight and Jeff was almost a tangible force to Ranma. There would be some questions to ask after they got back home.
As Ranma was led off to the Dining Room for a welcoming brunch, FreeFall motioned to Jeff.
Jeff told Ranma to "have fun" and went to talk to his former teammate.
"Another one of your strays?" FreeFall asked.
"Sorta. It's a long story," Jeff said to the larger man.
"You really think he's ready for this? I mean, I've never heard of this guy before."
"Honestly? I'm not sure. He's easily the best martial artist I've ever seen. But he plays by his own rules and it's almost too easy to use those rules against him."
"Want I should rough him up a bit when we spar?"
"You can try," Jeff laughed. "You can try."
"He's that good?" FreeFall knew how good a hand to hand fighter he was. A brown belt in Judo and Okinawan Karate before he'd got his powers, he was downright dangerous now.
"Yep. You won't believe it until you see him."
"You ever go all out against him?" FreeFall knew Tach had been a decent fighter. Not in his league, but surprisingly effective.
"No," Jeff stated calmly. "That part of my life is over. Besides, it would wreck the apartment if we tried it."
"Thusly annoying 'She Who Is Thy Wife'," FreeFall quipped.
"No, thusly annoying me."
"So what all can this kid do? And don't tell me he ain't a kid. I may not be a certified genius like you and Lamelight, but if he's 18 or over, I'll eat my rifle."
"Lamelight?" Jeff laughed. "Bet he loves that. As for Wild Dragon, just wait until you spar with him. You'll find out."
The two men parted company, FreeFall to his day job and Jeff to see MATRIX's civilian coordinator and money manager Kyle Blackburn. Time to get Ranma's MATRIX access card and to get him officially on the payroll.
-----
After brunch, Limelight, Sparx and Sunray went their separate ways. As Ranma got up to look for Jeff, Big Tex held up his hand, index finger extended. Ranma guessed that he wanted to show him something, so he stopped before leaving the dining room. It was amazing how well Big Tex could get meaning across without actually saying anything.
Tex poked his extended finger into his right eye, well past the surface. With a squeaking noise, Tex dragged his eye completely around his head until it was next to his left eye which hadn't moved much. Ranma was pale underneath his mask as Big Tex pulled his finger free.
Big Tex held his hand up again, index finger extended once more. Suddenly, he turned his wrist and thwapped himself on the 'forehead' with his middle finger. The stretched eye released itself and whipped around Tex's head. Both eyes bonged together repeatedly before settling to their normal positions. Ranma fought hard to keep his equilibrium.
Jeff's voice called from the hall, "Tex, quit scaring the new guy."
-----
Jeff showed Ranma into the Medical Room and introduced him to his new doctor. "Wild Dragon, meet Dr. Reginald Murchison, MATRIX staff physician and all around decent human being." Jeff stuck around in case he was needed.
The man was maybe a meter fifty, maybe fifty kilos and dressed like he bought his clothes in the kid's department of a second hand store. He showed a firm grip when the two shook hands. Ranma couldn't really make a guess at his age.
The physical was as thorough as any he'd received from Tofu-sensei. More so really. Although he'd have given up on the endurance test a lot earlier if Murchison-sensei hadn't mentioned that Sunray had lasted over 6 hours in her 'civilian' form.
"Any medical or non-medical conditions I should be aware of?" Reg asked his blue-clad patient. So far, Wild Dragon hadn't said much other than "Yes" or "No". But he hadn't been giving the doctor any arguments. Which was better than his average patient.
"Just one." Ranma peeled his left glove off and went to the sink. Sticking his arm under the faucet, he triggered his curse.
The doctor blinked once, cast a quick look at Jeff who was leaning against the wall next to the diagnostic display and inquired as to which was Ranma's natural form. Ranma switched the tap to hot and reverted to normal.
"This", Ranma stated simply.
"All right," Reg responded while noting in his chart, 'warm or hot water irrigation for wounds is indicated for this patient.' After finishing the examination, he thought 'Sure beats the hell out of working at St. Vincent's.'
-----
Ranma and Jeff were sitting in the MATRIX conference room when the door slid open to reveal a handsome dark haired man in his mid forties.
"Hello Tach," he said nodding to Jeff. To Ranma he began, "You must be Wild Dragon. I'm Kyle Blackburn, MATRIX civilian liaison. My job is to make your job easier." He quickly sat down, set his briefcase on the long table and opened it with precise motions.
Ranma nodded without speaking.
Kyle pulled a bundle out of the briefcase, removed the rubber band and starting handing things to Ranma.
"Here is your MATRIX access card. Tach will show you how to activate it. Use it to enter and leave the facility. I take it you are aware of the entrances as well as the restrictions of where you can and cannot be in costume. Here is your debit card. Unlike most debit cards, ours contains a display showing how much money is left. Activate the feature by pressing on the corner like so. We don't keep track of where or how the card is used, just the amount on it."
Ranma pressed the readout on his debit card. Fifteen hundred dollars?! Ranma's eyes got wide under his mask as he showed the balance to Jeff.
"You've been on apprentice wages for the last six weeks," Jeff explained. "Don't worry about taxes either."
Mr. Blackburn continued, "As a member of MATRIX you will receive a stipend of $500 per week credited to your account. You will also have access to MATRIX facilities for any lawful use that does not compromise MATRIX security. If needed, you can draw a special stipend of up to $2000 per month for rent assistance as the local cost of living is quite high indeed. We also maintain living facilities here."
"That won't be necessary at this time," Jeff stated. Ranma nodded in agreement.
A thin, metallic card was handed over next. "This is your MATRIX comm-link. Don't lose it. Tach will explain its use and activate it for you." Kyle concluded with, "If there is anything else you need, or any non-operational questions you have, please don't hesitate to call on any internal secured comset. My extension is 1089." After Ranma didn't say anything, Mr. Blackburn closed his briefcase and left the room.
Jeff waited until the door/airlock tell-tale glowed green before switching on the Conference Room's security field.
"OK," Jeff said as he swept up the debit card, access card and comm-link. "Now I can tell you how everything _really_ works."
END CHAPTER 9