After the adrenaline wore off, Makoto, Ranma and I stared at the hole in
the wall, before deciding to just teleport up to the Thunder, the added
distance from the still-volatile Nerimians something the three of us
silently agreed upon.
"We need to find a way to get... someplace saner," Makoto said, finally. I nodded, and Ranma sighed, almost enviously at the idea.
"See if they found a way to power your communicator externally... I'll see what SHODAN can do for us."
"Right. I'll sit here and be unimportant." Ranma said, scowling. I shrugged, then grinned.
"You should enjoy it, then, seeing as you're usually right in the middle of things." Turning my back while his mouth fell open but no retort came back, I faced a nearby monitor.
"SHODAN?"
"Yes?"
"I need... information. Were there any positive results during that re- write of the universe?"
"Nothing solid. The Hyperdrive of the Jupiter's Thunder isn't like the FTL Drive Delacroix designed on the Von Braun." I blinked, then quirked a brow.
"You remember all that?"
"Of course. Everything up to and through my second appearance in your world's media."
"... Keen. Could you reprogram a Devestator to manufacture the FTL Drive? Your ambitions near the end of System Shock 2 were, oddly enough, similar to our needs, now."
"As I've noticed. However, While Marie's Drive could, with substantial reprogramming, change the very fabric of the universe, Tearing it, then slipping through it, into another is beyond it's capabilities. Without schematics for a device that would allow dimensional hopping, the best we could accomplish is creating an 'ideal' universe."
"Not quite the same as being there..."
"Hardly. And while I have plenty of time to wait out the change, standard human lifetimes would only see a change in a galactic sector."
"Well, see if there's a way to use the FTL Drive's... effects... effectively."
"Affirmative."
Turning to look at Ranma, I shrugged, before looking at the door Makoto had exited through.
"So... am I the talk of the day at the Tendo place, or what?"
"Not really. Pops and Mr. Tendo are usually too busy trying to get Akane and I together. Some times they use you and Nabiki's... um... 'Relationship' as pressure, but knowing it's all fake kind of kills that."
"How... astute."
"Something like that. Can I ask you something?"
"Ask away. I am a teacher, remember?" I chuckled, and Ranma frowned, before continuing.
"Can I come with you, when you leave?" I stared.
"What?" I finally managed to ask.
"Well... I'd want to come back, of course, but if I could go see other worlds, maybe I could learn some new techniques... something to stop that old letch and the ghoul..."
"Ahh... that makes a little more sense, I suppose. I dunno. It might be a one-way trip. And we still have to figure out how to get Mara home... and..." I trailed off, just thinking of the chaos that would erupt in Nerima if I took Ranma.
"Well, if that's the case, I don't think abandoning everyone is right... but if you can come back, see about bringing me some new techniques."
"... Right."
Ranma left, then, to go to the bathroom, and as the door slid shut behind him, I muttered softly to myself.
"Stupid male-bonding sessions."
A few minutes later, Makoto entered, though there was a frown on her face as she sat down across from me.
"What's up?" I queried.
"We can leave... but we have to do so with the same amount of bodies as we came here with."
"But.... Mara, AND Nabiki?" Makoto Nodded, grimly, and I considered things. If it were truly like that, we were basically screwed. We couldn't drop Mara off, and we couldn't drop Nabiki off, or go to Makoto's world, without everyone tagging along. Bringing Ranma instead of Nabiki wouldn't help any, and randomly kidnapping someone to be transposed to another world jut wasn't... right.
"Well... what do you suggest?"
"Hmm... Ami said that the mystical field that pulled us here is pre- defined, and... 'Incapable of mutating to adapt to a change of mass as great as a quarter of the overall bio-matter."
"You memorized what she said, eh?" Makoto nodded, and I smiled, before looking out the window, at the edge of Earth, shrouded in darkness from this angle.
"Well," I finally ventured, "If we bring Nabiki, this Universe will adapt, but I don't know how she will cope. I mean, I'm confused by all this... weirdness in my life, and I'm sure the rest of you are, as well. For those not affected, this isn't even... I don't know... a thought, or anything. But to us..."
"I know. I just..." Makoto sighed, and I spotted a tear in the corner of her eye, " I Love you, you know... but I want to go home. And now this..."
"We... should talk to Nabiki. Maybe Usagi can send her home... she's got plenty of power, you know?"
"Yeah, but... I worry, sometimes..."
"About?" I asked, puzzled.
"Back in your world, when she had her... um... 'Breakdown,' I could tell the two of you were getting close... and I worry that..."
"Oh... heh... sounds like some kind of... drama-show-thing..." I said, frowning. Makoto glared for a moment, then shrugged.
"So... you think I'll fall for her, or something?" I asked, finally. Makoto shrugged, then smiled.
"Sounds kind of... stupid, doesn't it?" she asked.
"I dunno. I can see how you'd think that... I think... or something..." I trailed off, not wanting her to worry too much.
"Well, look. We'll talk to Nabiki, and, worse to worse, Ranma can sub in for her, when we go, or we can find someone willing to venture to a new world. I'm sure on this earth, just like mine, there are probably people looking for that 'big escape' from life."
Makoto nodded, and the door opened, Ranma entering.
"SHODAN?"
"Yes?"
"We're going back down. Put us near Nabiki... we need to talk."
"Might I suggest..."
"Not really. I'm tired, and after this, I'm going to sleep. Just do it, and stand by to bring us back."
"As you wish." Despite my flash of annoyance with the AI, she hadn't sounded upset... in fact, she almost sounded... amused...
We appeared in the Tendo Household. Makoto stood behind a room-divider, along with Ranma, and I, a couple feet away, fell into hot water. Literally and metaphorically speaking.
Poking my soaked, shocked head above the water, I met Nabiki's questioning gaze, a drop of water falling from her chin and right onto her...
"GAH!!!!" I shouted, intelligently. Trying to stand, the water caught my clothes, pulling me off balance, and I fell, fortunately back instead of into her nude body.
Coughing as I surface, I spotted Makoto frowning at us, and Ranma was nowhere to be seen, obviously the smartest of the three arrivals.
"Nice entrance, Kyle. What prompted you to. drop in?" Nabiki smirked, having wrapped a towel around her while I sputtered and gagged.
"Oh," I managed between gasps, "I was just looking to put myself in some hot water."
"Cute. Though I've noticed you seem to be having some trouble... you know what they say, if you can't stand the heat..."
Standing, I grinned, wiping my face, "yeah? Well... I'm not yet up to my neck, so..."
"Har har. Kyle-Sensei," she said the last in a rather condescending tone, "you're all wet."
"Yes, I noticed." I said, giving in. I hated dragging cliché's and puns out too long, and while I could think of a dozen more water-related sayings I could twist to fit the situation, Mr. Tendo chose that moment to barge in, and jump to conclusions.
"Oh! At least, you've decided to accept the agreement by consummating your love for each other! Saotome, break out the Sake. Akane, drain the tub. Kasumi, prepare a feast! I hear wedding bells!"
As Mr. Tendo marched off, tears spraying the walls of the hall (and totally missing Makoto, standing there) I looked at Nabiki, then Makoto, then sighed.
"This sucks."
A few minutes later, Nabiki, Makoto and I were on the Thunder once again, and I'd changed out of my wet clothes into some black, official-looking Imperial garb SHODAN'd had sent up for me.
"So... what's up?" Nabiki asked, coolly. Makoto and I were sitting beside each other on one side of the lengthy conference table, while Nabiki occupied a seat across from us.
"Well..." I briefly explained our dilemma to her, and as I finished, her brow creased in thought.
"As much as I'd love to see what kind of trouble you all cause next, I am a bit... partial to my own home universe."
"I understand... our only real hope is that, when we get to Makoto's world, Usagi should be able to send you home... not much of a hope, but... well..."
"The dimmest glimmer of hope is a beacon in the inky blackness of despair."
"Err... something like that."
"Yeah... a paraphrase. I'll... well... I don't know. Can't you call this... Usagi was it?" Makoto and I nodded, and she continued, "Call her and ask her if she can do it?"
Makoto shrugged and stood up, leaving the room to go communicate with her friends. When the door shut behind her, I leaned forward.
"I don't think Makoto's too keen on you coming along..."
"Oh? She afraid our faux engagement is something to fear?"
"Yeah... she's worried about the 'maybes' and what might-have-been."
"'Might-have-been?' Are you saying...?"
"Look, the rewrite gave Makoto and I our Marriage... and I Love her as if she were my wife, because, in one reality, she is. But remember, you and I had our moments, too, and those weren't faux memories..." Nabiki nodded with what I said, then sighed.
"Well... for what it's worth, I find myself wondering about that particular 'might-have-been' sometimes myself... more so, now that we're 'engaged.'"
"Funny how that works out." I said with a grin, then I got serious, "Look... you're a... an extremely pretty young woman, and I'd be lying if I didn't say there wasn't some attraction there... you've got looks and brains, and... anyway... I'm married, now, and as long as Makoto is my wife, I won't compromise that marriage. So... If you decide to come along, we're friends, and you, and I, and my Wife have nothing to worry about, because we're all friends, okay?"
Nabiki grinned, nodding slowly. "That's how it is, eh? I suppose I can live with that. Can you, Makoto?"
"Eh?!" I said, spinning. Makoto stood behind me, having entered silently, and she was smiling down at me, putting my sudden terror to rest.
"I'll agree."
"Right. I'm going to let my heart slow down... you go ahead and talk about what Usagi said." I rested my head on the table, the blood pounding in my ears.
"Usagi said she wasn't sure, but since you were my friend, she'll do everything in her power to get you home. Knowing Usagi, she'll find a way. Promises like that... she has a habit of fulfilling, no matter the opposition."
"I concur," I muttered softly from my resting place. My heart was slowing down, but along with it came exhaustion, the adrenaline rushes of the day beginning to wear off.
"I suppose I can't really argue with that... I'll do it, but this Usagi better not have made the promise that beats the odds."
I nodded wearily, then stood, slowly, moving to the door. It opened, and Captain Archer entered, saluting.
"My Lord, I-"
"I need to sleep Captain... show Nabiki here to... umm..." I trailed off, unsure where she would go.
"Vice Admiral Tendo's Quarters are located down the hall from your own, Lord Kyle. SHODAN foresaw the addition of Nabiki and had one of the VIP Stateroom's converted for her usage."
"...Vice Admiral? I thought I designated her a Simulated Lieutenant?"
"Ahh... SHODAN chose to give her a full commission... and as to the rank... while I can't explain it in full detail, I'm assuming it was to ensure that, aside from the Bridge Staff, all personnel will be subordinate... aside from the heads of each department, who are of equal standing."
"Oh... actually... that sounds like something I would have done."
"Precisely why I went ahead and did it," SHODAN said from a hidden speaker.
"Right. Well... I'm going to bed. Wake me in... Eight and a half hours, okay?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Right. Oyasumi, then, Nabiki. Makoto... umm... If you're not tired... ahh, you can-" she cut me off before I could finish.
"I am. Let's get some sleep, eh?" She smiled conspiratorially at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Better make that ten hours even, Captain."
Ginning, Archer bowed, before turning to go.
"We need to find a way to get... someplace saner," Makoto said, finally. I nodded, and Ranma sighed, almost enviously at the idea.
"See if they found a way to power your communicator externally... I'll see what SHODAN can do for us."
"Right. I'll sit here and be unimportant." Ranma said, scowling. I shrugged, then grinned.
"You should enjoy it, then, seeing as you're usually right in the middle of things." Turning my back while his mouth fell open but no retort came back, I faced a nearby monitor.
"SHODAN?"
"Yes?"
"I need... information. Were there any positive results during that re- write of the universe?"
"Nothing solid. The Hyperdrive of the Jupiter's Thunder isn't like the FTL Drive Delacroix designed on the Von Braun." I blinked, then quirked a brow.
"You remember all that?"
"Of course. Everything up to and through my second appearance in your world's media."
"... Keen. Could you reprogram a Devestator to manufacture the FTL Drive? Your ambitions near the end of System Shock 2 were, oddly enough, similar to our needs, now."
"As I've noticed. However, While Marie's Drive could, with substantial reprogramming, change the very fabric of the universe, Tearing it, then slipping through it, into another is beyond it's capabilities. Without schematics for a device that would allow dimensional hopping, the best we could accomplish is creating an 'ideal' universe."
"Not quite the same as being there..."
"Hardly. And while I have plenty of time to wait out the change, standard human lifetimes would only see a change in a galactic sector."
"Well, see if there's a way to use the FTL Drive's... effects... effectively."
"Affirmative."
Turning to look at Ranma, I shrugged, before looking at the door Makoto had exited through.
"So... am I the talk of the day at the Tendo place, or what?"
"Not really. Pops and Mr. Tendo are usually too busy trying to get Akane and I together. Some times they use you and Nabiki's... um... 'Relationship' as pressure, but knowing it's all fake kind of kills that."
"How... astute."
"Something like that. Can I ask you something?"
"Ask away. I am a teacher, remember?" I chuckled, and Ranma frowned, before continuing.
"Can I come with you, when you leave?" I stared.
"What?" I finally managed to ask.
"Well... I'd want to come back, of course, but if I could go see other worlds, maybe I could learn some new techniques... something to stop that old letch and the ghoul..."
"Ahh... that makes a little more sense, I suppose. I dunno. It might be a one-way trip. And we still have to figure out how to get Mara home... and..." I trailed off, just thinking of the chaos that would erupt in Nerima if I took Ranma.
"Well, if that's the case, I don't think abandoning everyone is right... but if you can come back, see about bringing me some new techniques."
"... Right."
Ranma left, then, to go to the bathroom, and as the door slid shut behind him, I muttered softly to myself.
"Stupid male-bonding sessions."
A few minutes later, Makoto entered, though there was a frown on her face as she sat down across from me.
"What's up?" I queried.
"We can leave... but we have to do so with the same amount of bodies as we came here with."
"But.... Mara, AND Nabiki?" Makoto Nodded, grimly, and I considered things. If it were truly like that, we were basically screwed. We couldn't drop Mara off, and we couldn't drop Nabiki off, or go to Makoto's world, without everyone tagging along. Bringing Ranma instead of Nabiki wouldn't help any, and randomly kidnapping someone to be transposed to another world jut wasn't... right.
"Well... what do you suggest?"
"Hmm... Ami said that the mystical field that pulled us here is pre- defined, and... 'Incapable of mutating to adapt to a change of mass as great as a quarter of the overall bio-matter."
"You memorized what she said, eh?" Makoto nodded, and I smiled, before looking out the window, at the edge of Earth, shrouded in darkness from this angle.
"Well," I finally ventured, "If we bring Nabiki, this Universe will adapt, but I don't know how she will cope. I mean, I'm confused by all this... weirdness in my life, and I'm sure the rest of you are, as well. For those not affected, this isn't even... I don't know... a thought, or anything. But to us..."
"I know. I just..." Makoto sighed, and I spotted a tear in the corner of her eye, " I Love you, you know... but I want to go home. And now this..."
"We... should talk to Nabiki. Maybe Usagi can send her home... she's got plenty of power, you know?"
"Yeah, but... I worry, sometimes..."
"About?" I asked, puzzled.
"Back in your world, when she had her... um... 'Breakdown,' I could tell the two of you were getting close... and I worry that..."
"Oh... heh... sounds like some kind of... drama-show-thing..." I said, frowning. Makoto glared for a moment, then shrugged.
"So... you think I'll fall for her, or something?" I asked, finally. Makoto shrugged, then smiled.
"Sounds kind of... stupid, doesn't it?" she asked.
"I dunno. I can see how you'd think that... I think... or something..." I trailed off, not wanting her to worry too much.
"Well, look. We'll talk to Nabiki, and, worse to worse, Ranma can sub in for her, when we go, or we can find someone willing to venture to a new world. I'm sure on this earth, just like mine, there are probably people looking for that 'big escape' from life."
Makoto nodded, and the door opened, Ranma entering.
"SHODAN?"
"Yes?"
"We're going back down. Put us near Nabiki... we need to talk."
"Might I suggest..."
"Not really. I'm tired, and after this, I'm going to sleep. Just do it, and stand by to bring us back."
"As you wish." Despite my flash of annoyance with the AI, she hadn't sounded upset... in fact, she almost sounded... amused...
We appeared in the Tendo Household. Makoto stood behind a room-divider, along with Ranma, and I, a couple feet away, fell into hot water. Literally and metaphorically speaking.
Poking my soaked, shocked head above the water, I met Nabiki's questioning gaze, a drop of water falling from her chin and right onto her...
"GAH!!!!" I shouted, intelligently. Trying to stand, the water caught my clothes, pulling me off balance, and I fell, fortunately back instead of into her nude body.
Coughing as I surface, I spotted Makoto frowning at us, and Ranma was nowhere to be seen, obviously the smartest of the three arrivals.
"Nice entrance, Kyle. What prompted you to. drop in?" Nabiki smirked, having wrapped a towel around her while I sputtered and gagged.
"Oh," I managed between gasps, "I was just looking to put myself in some hot water."
"Cute. Though I've noticed you seem to be having some trouble... you know what they say, if you can't stand the heat..."
Standing, I grinned, wiping my face, "yeah? Well... I'm not yet up to my neck, so..."
"Har har. Kyle-Sensei," she said the last in a rather condescending tone, "you're all wet."
"Yes, I noticed." I said, giving in. I hated dragging cliché's and puns out too long, and while I could think of a dozen more water-related sayings I could twist to fit the situation, Mr. Tendo chose that moment to barge in, and jump to conclusions.
"Oh! At least, you've decided to accept the agreement by consummating your love for each other! Saotome, break out the Sake. Akane, drain the tub. Kasumi, prepare a feast! I hear wedding bells!"
As Mr. Tendo marched off, tears spraying the walls of the hall (and totally missing Makoto, standing there) I looked at Nabiki, then Makoto, then sighed.
"This sucks."
A few minutes later, Nabiki, Makoto and I were on the Thunder once again, and I'd changed out of my wet clothes into some black, official-looking Imperial garb SHODAN'd had sent up for me.
"So... what's up?" Nabiki asked, coolly. Makoto and I were sitting beside each other on one side of the lengthy conference table, while Nabiki occupied a seat across from us.
"Well..." I briefly explained our dilemma to her, and as I finished, her brow creased in thought.
"As much as I'd love to see what kind of trouble you all cause next, I am a bit... partial to my own home universe."
"I understand... our only real hope is that, when we get to Makoto's world, Usagi should be able to send you home... not much of a hope, but... well..."
"The dimmest glimmer of hope is a beacon in the inky blackness of despair."
"Err... something like that."
"Yeah... a paraphrase. I'll... well... I don't know. Can't you call this... Usagi was it?" Makoto and I nodded, and she continued, "Call her and ask her if she can do it?"
Makoto shrugged and stood up, leaving the room to go communicate with her friends. When the door shut behind her, I leaned forward.
"I don't think Makoto's too keen on you coming along..."
"Oh? She afraid our faux engagement is something to fear?"
"Yeah... she's worried about the 'maybes' and what might-have-been."
"'Might-have-been?' Are you saying...?"
"Look, the rewrite gave Makoto and I our Marriage... and I Love her as if she were my wife, because, in one reality, she is. But remember, you and I had our moments, too, and those weren't faux memories..." Nabiki nodded with what I said, then sighed.
"Well... for what it's worth, I find myself wondering about that particular 'might-have-been' sometimes myself... more so, now that we're 'engaged.'"
"Funny how that works out." I said with a grin, then I got serious, "Look... you're a... an extremely pretty young woman, and I'd be lying if I didn't say there wasn't some attraction there... you've got looks and brains, and... anyway... I'm married, now, and as long as Makoto is my wife, I won't compromise that marriage. So... If you decide to come along, we're friends, and you, and I, and my Wife have nothing to worry about, because we're all friends, okay?"
Nabiki grinned, nodding slowly. "That's how it is, eh? I suppose I can live with that. Can you, Makoto?"
"Eh?!" I said, spinning. Makoto stood behind me, having entered silently, and she was smiling down at me, putting my sudden terror to rest.
"I'll agree."
"Right. I'm going to let my heart slow down... you go ahead and talk about what Usagi said." I rested my head on the table, the blood pounding in my ears.
"Usagi said she wasn't sure, but since you were my friend, she'll do everything in her power to get you home. Knowing Usagi, she'll find a way. Promises like that... she has a habit of fulfilling, no matter the opposition."
"I concur," I muttered softly from my resting place. My heart was slowing down, but along with it came exhaustion, the adrenaline rushes of the day beginning to wear off.
"I suppose I can't really argue with that... I'll do it, but this Usagi better not have made the promise that beats the odds."
I nodded wearily, then stood, slowly, moving to the door. It opened, and Captain Archer entered, saluting.
"My Lord, I-"
"I need to sleep Captain... show Nabiki here to... umm..." I trailed off, unsure where she would go.
"Vice Admiral Tendo's Quarters are located down the hall from your own, Lord Kyle. SHODAN foresaw the addition of Nabiki and had one of the VIP Stateroom's converted for her usage."
"...Vice Admiral? I thought I designated her a Simulated Lieutenant?"
"Ahh... SHODAN chose to give her a full commission... and as to the rank... while I can't explain it in full detail, I'm assuming it was to ensure that, aside from the Bridge Staff, all personnel will be subordinate... aside from the heads of each department, who are of equal standing."
"Oh... actually... that sounds like something I would have done."
"Precisely why I went ahead and did it," SHODAN said from a hidden speaker.
"Right. Well... I'm going to bed. Wake me in... Eight and a half hours, okay?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Right. Oyasumi, then, Nabiki. Makoto... umm... If you're not tired... ahh, you can-" she cut me off before I could finish.
"I am. Let's get some sleep, eh?" She smiled conspiratorially at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Better make that ten hours even, Captain."
Ginning, Archer bowed, before turning to go.
