Disclaimer; This fanfiction uses existing ideas, characters and or worlds, but is an independent work of art. I own nothing, hence the reason for publishing my writings here instead of in real books where I could make some money.
"Okay," started Ranma after things had settled down some from the shocking revelation of Beebee suddenly having experienced Pinocchio's greatest wish, only with a different gender and age. "I have a theory about how it was possible for Beebee to change into a real woman. It doesn't make a lot of sense, and may be entirely inaccurate, but here goes …
"After Brianna installed a chi-tech chip in Beebee to act as an energy source, energies from all over has passed through her. With her AI and memory drives becoming more human in behaviour, these energies started to slowly knot together, forming a sort of soul … though I haven't tested the water from Jusenkyo, I think that it is required for its victims to be alive, to have a soul that it can latch onto or else inanimate objects such as the clothes a victim was wearing or any of the things they carried with them would also change into the cursed form. This is what allowed the Instant Spring water and the Locking Ladle to change Beebee from an android to a human being, because it doesn't care about what form the container of the soul has, as long as it has a soul.
"Now, I think, based on Kasumi's diagnosis, that the sudden shock of getting a body so vastly different internally, combined with the sudden sensation of receiving all five senses and a reduced physical prowess was enough to cause her now human brain to temporarily shut down, or rather, making Beebee pass out. This is also the reason she isn't as graceful as she was before … she is learning how to walk again, and how to do a lot of things herself.
"That's it," finished Ranma with a deep breath. He wasn't used to going into lengthy theoretical explanations, especially in fields of science he had little knowledge in.
Looking around the room, Ranma carefully gauged the reactions to his explanation.
Nodoka was cooing over the egg containing her first grandchild, having been introduced to it while most were still calming down from the news of Beebee being alive, and did not seem upset, nor did she appear to have a different theory of how the curse was able to latch onto Beebee's mechanical body, though she seemed extra excited … probably contemplating the fact that she now had so many sources of future grandchildren.
Kasumi was alternating between cooing over the egg with Nodoka and blushing as she looked at Ranma. She did not appear to have another explanation for Beebee's body, either.
Gina was staring into space, but with a frown usually associated with deep thought, meaning she was pondering the mechanics of Ranma's theory in the many different sciences she was aware of … of course, magic was never her strong point, preferring to take those matters to her father.
Brianna was alternating between copying Gina and lifting various limbs on Beebee to make sure she had everything a woman was supposed to and that everything worked properly.
Lydia was grumbling about having another woman to share Ranma with and not really caring about the hows and whys of Beebee's transformation … the former peebo had acted so human it was hardly that big a leap for her to accept that she now really was one. Lydia was more annoyed about Kasumi joining in …
Sheila was okay with the explanations and the theory, but was more occupied with trying to converse with the small people sitting inside the box on the table along the wall … the problem was that they ignored her in favour of each other … and where was that roaring laughter and applause coming from?
Charlotte was sipping the tea and eating the snacks brought out before Beebee had entered, humming a little song to herself while casting worried glances at her egg every now and again to make sure it was safe and warm.
Beebee had not made any protests, and was carefully lowering herself to the ground so she wouldn't lose her balance during the examinations Brianna performed. She would occasionally giggle and say she felt strange during the examinations, and had to explain how those feeling s were so Brianna could tell her what caused them.
Nabiki, however, was completely unaffected by the theory and news, trying instead to explain to Sheila the mechanics of Television.
With no protests to his theory, Ranma sat back down and did as Charlotte, helped himself to snacks and tea, waiting for the others to snap out of what they were doing … maybe he should force them out of it by hinting at Beebee's lack of proper clothing and how a shopping trip might cure that condition ...
After everyone had come to terms with Beebee's change, and let the theory sink in without objections, it had been agreed upon that they would relax for the rest of the day so they could catch up with the time zone.
Nabiki suggested Ranma come with her to the Office the next day, so he could take a look at some of the projects they were working on. This idea was agreeable to Ranma, and he suggested Brianna and Gina come with to give their opinions on the projects … and he could not invite just the two without extending the invitation to the others. Only Beebee wanted to come in addition to the Diggers sisters, so the others agreed to spend the time in the artificial hot springs on the property while Ranma was away … Nodoka immediately offered her services as a babysitter for the egg so it wouldn't get boiled in the hot water.
And so it was that on his first night back in Japan, Ranma went to bed with seven women, and did not get much sleep at all, because not only did the other women feel Kasumi deserved to be properly initiated into the "Harem," but Beebee needed to be introduced to the pleasures of the flesh, something she had not truly been given due to the sensors that previously ran through her body were replaced by nerves, metal replaced by muscles, cartilage and bone, and synthetically produced skin replaced by proper skin … every sensation was new to her, which made the night very memorable to her.
When morning returned, Ranma found himself tired, and buried in a delightful pile of feminine flesh.
Not wanting to wake the group of women for fear of having to spend the day recuperating from another bout of pleasurable activities, Ranma created a shadow clone next to the bed, and replaced himself with it. There were a few unfeminine snorts, sighs, grunts and shifting from the pile of women, but thankfully none of them awoke from the exchange.
As it was still early, Ranma decided to go to his dojo to train.
As he silently wandered the hallways, through rooms and across the garden, he couldn't help but feel at peace with the knowledge that he had done a good job in building this place by hand and that if all went well, the property would be enjoyed for generations to come, even long after he had passed on … that he had secured a small bit of immortality by leaving behind something solid for his children and their children to point at and proudly say he had made.
The dojo looked different with the large metal ring along one of the short walls … not in a bad way. Combined with the written tenets of his new school of Martial Arts, the practice weapons hanging on racks and the dummies also lined along the wall, the dojo looked almost well used, even if to date only he, his mother and possibly Lydia had used it as it was meant to be used.
Every surface of the dojo was clean, and strong enough to withstand even Ranma's strongest hits without damage courtesy of a little chi-tech shield coating the surfaces, protecting it from damage and preventing dirt and such from setting, but with the option to be turned off, should modifications to the structure be needed. This little shield made cleaning very easy, and it was not possible to see it unless one had very good senses for energy.
As his bare feet slid across the surface of the floor during one of his kata, Ranma almost sighed. It had been far too long since he had been allowed to do any training in a proper dojo, and knowing that this dojo was his own only increased his enjoyment of the moment.
The feeling he got while training couldn't come close to spending time with his girlfriends, new or older, but it was still special to him.
He almost felt sad when he finished his kata, knowing the others would be up and about by now and probably none too pleased to discover that he had snuck off again … he would not have time to do another kata without being interrupted, so Ranma instead decided to go check the mail … his mother might have forgotten to bring it in during all the excitement of yesterday.
Even the feel of the grass planted in his garden felt good under his feet as Ranma crossed it for the front gate, where the mailbox was situated.
Just as he opened the gate, there was a man on the other side, fist raised in preparation for a knock, carrying a plain, brown envelope in his other hand.
Ranma was as surprised as the man, but recovered faster.
"Can I help you?" he asked curiously.
"Koki Ranma?" asked the man, finally returning to his senses from the surprise.
"That would be me," confirmed Ranma, suddenly glad he hadn't been in hybrid form for his morning training … it would have been difficult to prove he was who he said with a layer of black fur covering his body and a black tail swishing back and forth from the end of his spine.
"Special delivery for you, Koki-san," the man declared, then presented an electronic clipboard. "Sign here to receive the delivery, please."
Accepting the electronic clipboard and the pen that belonged to it, Ranma signed on the dotted line the delivery man had indicated and handed it back to him.
"Excellent," stated the man cheerfully. "Here you are," the envelope was handed to Ranma, and the hand remained extended even after Ranma had accepted the thing. "It is customary to tip the delivery man, Koki-san," the man hinted after a polite cough. The look in his eye clearly told Ranma that he was expecting something large, based on Ranma's fame and obviously large estate.
"Okay, I'll give you a tip," agreed Ranma, seeing the greed flash in the man's eyes. "Don't ask for money from a man wearing only boxer shorts, have a good day!"
As soon as Ranma had closed the gate, ignoring the angry muttering from the other side, he realised that he had not activated his mage suit yet, and sincerely hoped some of the more prudish neighbours hadn't seen him on the street in his current state of undress.
Shrugging it off, Ranma activated the mage suit as he walked inside, covering the boxers in its malleable, black material as well as the rest of him, bar his hands and head.
Due to the number of people currently in the house, breakfast was served in the living room, as it seated more, and was a little less formal than the tea room. The sounds coming from the living room were of the good natured kind, mild laughter and excited conversation.
"What are you going to name it?" Ranma heard his mother ask.
"I don't know," Charlotte replied in deep thought. "I thought of naming the baby Charlotte, but Penny said it might not be a girl, and that boys don't like being called names like that …"
"She's right," agreed Brianna. "Boys with girl names most often end up very violent, trying to prove that they aren't weak sissies … and they usually hate their parents for giving them a girls' name …"
"But, then, why aren't girls with boys' names extra feminine?" Beebee pondered aloud just as Ranma entered the room.
"Maybe girls don't care as much as boys do," Ranma suggested, and placed the envelope unopened on the TV before sitting down with the women in his life. "Besides, there's always a chance for giving flattering pet names to those who might feel slighted by their real names. That would not be true for boys … Good morning, by the way …"
"Where were you?" asked Sheila curiously. Nodoka, Kasumi and Nabiki snickered at the idea that one of Ranma's girlfriends wouldn't know where to find Ranma first thing in the morning if he was awake … it was almost common knowledge that Ranma would, after using the proper facilities, head for a place to do his morning kata, which on this property would be the dojo or garden, but as they hadn't seen him in the garden, he had definitely been in the dojo.
"Morning exercise," Ranma explained offhand, accepting the bowl of miso soup from Kasumi, and taking a bite out of the mushrooms in it. "I also needed to work out a few kinks I got during the night …"
Kasumi and Charlotte blushed, remembering what they all had done. Beebee got a faraway look as she was reliving it in her mind. Lydia, Gina, Brianna and Sheila purred as they recalled it, and any other night they had spent with Ranma. Granted, the purring occurred in different manners, depending on the vocal cords and species of the four of them …
Nabiki, however, looked somewhat annoyed … this combined with the slight colouration just under her lower eyelid told Ranma that she hadn't gotten much sleep … perhaps soundproofing the Master Bedroom would be a good idea.
Nodoka was pleased, as opposed to Nabiki, over having lost a little sleep … after all, it was proof of her son's manliness that he was able to satisfy so many women in one night, and it was music to her ears rather than noise to finally have complete proof of how Manly her son was.
"Don't change the subject," interrupted Nodoka before the topic of conversation could turn to other things. "We need to at least have some ideas for a baby name … after all, we don't know how long it will be until this egg hatches and we need to have some names ready!"
"Ooh! How about Candy?" Charlotte suggested enthusiastically. "Or Pecan! Or Hazel! Or Maya!"
" Charlotte, I know you love nuts and sweets, but I don't think naming a baby after them would be a good idea," commented Gina. "Children can be very cruel, and any odd-sounding name will make that child the victim of teasing unless the child has managed to gain some sort of respect or fear from other children …"
"If it's a girl, how about Usagi?" suggested Nodoka with a similar excitement to Charlotte.
"Mom, I'm not giving my children names that they feel they have to live up to," interrupted Ranma before any other similar names could be offered. The mere thought of any daughter of his feeling they had to live up to the name "Rabbit" created a knot in his stomach and hatred for whomever tried forcing them to live up to their name.
"Then I guess Ranma junior is out of the question …" sighed Brianna.
"Not to mention Ranko," added Kasumi.
Ranma shuddered at the idea of any daughter of his having the name given to his girl side, and how certain individuals reacted to it.
"How about Rei?" suggested Nabiki. "Or Asuka … maybe Setsuna, Makoto, Lina, Ami, Minako, Sakura, Ino, Anko, Hinata, Tsunade, Hotaru, Haruka or even Michiru? Or if it's a boy, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji-"
"Stop naming Anime characters," interrupted Nodoka sternly. Then her expression softened. "Though I do like them …"
"I could agree to Rei, or Hinata … maybe even Sakura," commented Ranma. "But I don't like the boys' names …"
"How about Charles?" suggested Lydia. "Sounds dignified, and can be made into Charlie or Chuck for a nickname …"
"Better …" agreed Ranma. "Well, it was a lovely breakfast, as always. Thank you, mom, Kasumi … maybe we should think about leaving if we want to be at the office by standard opening hours …"
Nabiki quickly checked her watch, and let out a squeak as she realised what time it was.
With a desperate determination, Nabiki quickly got up, rounded the table and grabbed Ranma, dragging him off much in the same way Akane used to when they were late for school. So as not to get lost or left behind, Brianna, Beebee and Gina followed closely after offering their thanks for the meal as well.
As he was being pulled along outside, Ranma decided to at least be somewhat presentable –showing up at the office in only a skin-tight suit would not give the greatest first impression- and thus pulled an extra pair of pants from stuff space, which he then put on while moving and without slowing down. The original pair was still on the bedroom floor, having been discarded the night before.
This feat of acrobatics was lost on Nabiki who had her back to it, but the three girlfriends of Ranma who followed were impressed, even if they had seen him perform greater acts.
The bus was just pulling into the stop when Nabiki and her entourage arrived, making the brunette sigh in relief … she did not like being late for things … especially things that earned her as much money as the job she had appointed herself to in the company she had founded in Ranma's name, with his money.
The ride was uneventful, aside from the numerous offended looks Ranma got from elderly women when they saw him hugging three women in an intimate manner not usually performed by mere friends or relatives. The appreciative looks some younger women cast his torso and arms, not nearly hidden enough by the mage suit, also caused some disturbance as they forgot everything else and only realised their stops had been a few minutes ago. Some men and boys were jealous at the attention Ranma got from the very attractive trio of women, and barely managed to conceal their glares.
The bus-driver was very relieved when the five of them left the bus, as this would mean less disturbances and flustered people getting off at the wrong stop.
Only a few blocks from the bus stop was a nondescript office building, reaching about twenty storeys into the air.
"This is it," declared Nabiki proudly. "The temporary Headquarters for Wild Horse Inc … five entire floors just for us and our research. To save money, I do the accountancy."
"What do you mean by temporary?" asked Beebee. Having five floors of offices and labs was pretty impressive for a newly launched business without outside backing.
"Security," Nabiki clarified. "Or rather, the lack thereof … this place is less secure than the bank Ranma keeps his blueprints in was before the robbery, and to make sure nothing falls into the wrong hands, we need to look for a more secure, defensible location."
"Makes sense," agreed Ranma.
"Then let's get to your office, Ranma," declared Nabiki and once more pulled Ranma as she started to walk, this time into the building, past the slumbering security guard in the lobby, into one of the two elevators, then pressed the button for the top floor.
The elevator quickly got to the top, and immediately across from the elevator was a desk, behind which sat a young woman chattering into the microphone on the hands-free telephone. Behind the woman, and on the front of her desk, was the golden silhouette of a rearing stallion in front of a rising sun, with the caption Wild Horse Inc cut out from the ground the horse stood on … the company logo, apparently.
"-I'm sorry, Koki-sama is not available at the moment," Ranma heard her say. "I'll make a note of it … thank you …"
The woman was about to answer another call when she looked up and saw the group that had just arrived.
"Oh my!" she gasped. "The President!"
For a brief moment, Ranma was unsure if she was referring to him or someone else, but then he remembered that this was his company, making him the President of it, and the receptionist had clearly not expected to see him.
"Hana, could you please call the project leaders and tell them that they have to make a presentation in Koki-kun's office within the next few minutes, thanks!" announced Nabiki before dragging Ranma off to his office down the hall, followed by Brianna, Gina and Beebee.
Ranma's office was very Spartan … no decorations of any sorts, apart from a desk, fully stocked, and a comfortable chair. It was large, though … easily fitting Ranma's car, as many as six of it, placed next to each other in two rows of three. Or perhaps two busses standing side-by-side. The view from the windows wasn't much to speak of … this wasn't the busiest area of Tokyo, so there wasn't much to see, and the other buildings around it were about the same height, so little of the horizon could be seen.
"If you plan on spending any time at the office, you should make it a little more pleasant," suggested Nabiki. "I kept from doing so myself, because with how much it turns out I didn't know about you, I didn't want to chance missing completely on your tastes."
"Okay," Ranma looked around, and spotted two doors that did not lead into the hallway, located on opposite walls with the exit between them. "Where do those doors lead?"
"Oh, the one to the right is for your private bathroom, equipped with a toilet, sink, mirror and hand dryer, not to mention a cubby with toilet paper and soap.
"The one on the left leads to my office … I thought it best to have one near your office in case you did something horribly wrong and needed help."
"What about me?" asked Beebee, looking around in confusion. "Do I get an office? Or a desk?"
"Why would you?" Nabiki asked smugly. "You weren't hired by the company."
Before an argument or tears could start up, Ranma interrupted.
"If memory serves, I never hired you, either, Nabiki …" he pointed out. "But if we lack space, Beebee can share my office with me … we only need a little desk along the wall with a computer and a comfortable chair."
Having understood the barely veiled threat in Ranma's statement, Nabiki made a note in her planner about getting another desk in, along with the other requested items. Even if it technically was her that founded the company, she had done it in Ranma's name, with his money and invention … his name was on all the paperwork, so there wasn't much she could use as leverage to get her way.
" The teams are here, Koki-sama, " an intercom on Ranma's desk announced. The receptionist still sounded a little shaken at having met the boss, a man reputed to have beaten one of the more notorious criminals of the country single-handedly … and the criminal was his own father.
"Send them in," replied Nabiki on Ranma's behalf. She then gently pushed Ranma into his chair, an event that was followed by Gina and Brianna seating themselves on either arm of the chair, leaning against Ranma, and Beebee reclining across their collective laps. Of course, Beebee wasn't nearly as graceful as the Diggers sisters in her act, but she got comfortable after a little wriggling that was both pleasant and unpleasant to Ranma.
It was quite a sight, one that momentarily froze the gaggle of people entering the office … one man being in such an intimate situation with three beautiful women at once.
" Iwo?" Ranma was somewhat surprised to see the former President of the Furinkan Science Club in the group, along with several other former, graduated, members that Ranma had either helped with projects in school, or gotten tips from in his own work. In fact, not a face among the large group had not been seen as a student at Furinkan.
"Good, everyone knows everyone," interrupted Nabiki sternly. "Then we can proceed to the presentation of the projects. To make it easier to distinguish between projects, the scientists have been assigned to five groups of different fields, with the possibility of taking up subjects close to their field. These groups are Commercial, Medical, Military, Agricultural and Environmental Research & Development.
"First off, we'll see what our Medical Research Team has to offer, and please skip the boring parts, such as your names and background … we have a lot to cover and I have little patience for pleasantries."
Ranma cast a mildly annoyed look at Nabiki for scaring their employees like that, but had to admit that listening to attempts at impressing him with their background in science would be as dull as watching paint dry in slow motion.
A timid young man with thick glasses and unevenly cut black hair stepped forwards and coughed to clear his throat.
"Based on what could be accomplished with the technology you invented," the man started slowly. "We have looked to various sources of fiction for ideas of what could be accomplished in the medical field of science.
"Our first idea was to make a pill composed of energy that once introduced to the system, would spread and repair any injury from mild acne scarring and deformations caused by malnourishment to hereditary heart and brain disorders, and replace any lost organs or limbs. To accomplish any of this, it has been theorised that nanobots would be required, but simply by tuning the energy contained in the pill to the body it is introduced to, it will try to fix or improve the body over a period of forty-eight hours at best, making the body reach its top potential physical state. We've examined what side effects this could cause, and only came up with two … a temporarily reduced immune system, because the white blood cells will not really take kindly to the intrusive force, and a possibly prolonged life-span … the pills would of course have to be strictly regulated, because if not, people would kill for a supply of those pills to become more or less immortal …"
"And how serious must an injury be for the pill to be prescribed?" asked Ranma … the idea was good, but he was uncomfortable about the individuals who would do anything to live forever … and he didn't like the weakened immune system side effect … a lot of serious illnesses could be contracted during the time it would take for the body to return to its normal state of alertness.
"We had not exactly thought of allowing people with a headache simply walking up to the apothecary counter and asking for them," laughed the man. "The team has agreed to the limit being serious cases … such as liver or kidney diseases normally not treatable by conventional medicine … or a severe stroke or cardiac arrest, or even a burst vessel in the brain."
"That sounds acceptable," Ranma agreed. "How long would it take to produce a prototype?"
"Well, first we would have to figure out how to make energy into pill form, and how to get it to do what it's supposed to without adding body parts to a normally healthy body or sever the connections between the brain and healthy organs …" muttered the man. "It could take as much as two years for a finished product, and even that would be the most optimistic estimate I can give you."
Ranma contemplated this information, then nodded to himself.
"I already have an invention with healing qualities," he started. "When I get a tour, I'll see about finding the plans so you can use it as a starting-off point. Anything else?"
"There is the Diagnostics Machine," the man continued after taking a moment to compose himself. "It is a machine similar to both the CT apparatus and the sonar, using the Chi-tech to give a complete analysis of the patient in it, creating a complete three-dimensional image of the patient, both internal and external, allowing for a better diagnosis by doctors because x-rays can either miss something, cause sterility, or give misinformation if someone should touch the x-ray images before they are ready. With the Diagnostics Machine, none of these dangers show up, and because there's no magnetism involved, metal instruments will not be affected or disturb the readings. The body will appear in a holographic display, and the doctors will be able to select where they want to examine the patient closer without the patient needing to be undressed, shy or uncomfortable."
"Impressive," said Ranma. "And you could get a working prototype ready by …"
"A year, most likely," the man admitted. "But if this invention of yours can help the pills, maybe it could help in our Diagnostics Machine …"
"Possible," Ranma agreed. "Anything else?"
"Nothing more from Medical," the man stated and stepped back into the crowd.
"Okay, then," continued Nabiki in a commanding tone. "Next up, Military Research."
A frazzled-looking young woman with bleached hair tied in a tight bun on her apex stepped forwards.
"Taking the same direction as the Medical Research team, we got our inspiration from various sources of fiction," she opened. Pulling out a sketch drawn on a legal pad, she showed to him a stick-figure with a black helmet holding what looked like a sword with a squiggly line surrounding the blade. "Our first project is this sword … it is made up of energy and-"
"I've already made one of those," interrupted Ranma as politely as he could, given the situation. "So has Gina, here, only her version was mainly a stun-weapon."
The woman gaped for a moment, shocked not only at having been interrupted when her presentation was starting off so much better than that of the leader of the Medical Research team, but also at hearing that someone had managed to do something they hadn't completely worked out the kinks for.
"I'll share the blueprints for them later," Ranma added as a form of consolation. "Anything else?"
"Well, we thought of making cannons-"
"Done it," Ranma interrupted again. "I also attached a pair to my car, and Beebee here has two bigger ones in stuff space once she figures out how to access it again. I also made a gun … again, I'll share blueprints … maybe you can find a way to improve on them without blowing up the lab …"
"Have you made any suits of armour?" the woman asked desperately. At Ranma's shaking head, she brightened some. "In that case, we have thought up the super armour, capable of not only surviving a storm of armour-piercing bullets, but also capable of withstanding the devastating effects of a bomb up close … granted, the armour won't keep the person inside from being tossed around from the blast, but the damages to the armour and wearer would be minimal."
Ranma thought he recognised the image the woman had brought up, but it wasn't until the end of the last sentence he realised that the image was from the cover of a video game he had heard so much about … the title eluded him, but he knew it contained alien attacks, big ring space stations with large masses of land and water on the inner rim and a nasty parasitical creature that would occupy living or dead creatures alike and was obsessed with infecting other creatures … the armour he was being told about was the armour of the lead character in the game. He didn't blame the research team, however … he himself got a lot of his ideas from various sources of media fiction … they would just have to alter the design enough not to be directly copying it, which would help avoid costly lawsuits by the producers of their inspiration.
"The armour would have shielding capabilities that, while gradually losing integrity during successive hits, would regenerate back to full integrity after about twenty seconds of rest from any assault. There is a possibility of cloaking as well, but we are still working on how to make not only the armour without restricting the movements of the wearer, but how to make the armour strong enough to withstand the expected force when the shield is down-"
"Oh," interrupted Ranma. "I already figured out how to make cloaking and shielding … and my car could probably crash through a brick house without a dent …"
The woman was now starting to look very confused about whether to demand to know all her boss knew before she made an even bigger fool of herself or if she should continue with the presentation in hopes that she wouldn't be interrupted again.
She chose the last.
"The Heads Up Display will be able to track multiple targets even out of sight, and can keep track of evacuation points or designated mission locations, even having a counter displaying distance from those points, and an internal communications system within the helmet will keep anyone but those authorised to be on the frequency to listen in on the chatter. A recording system would of course store any video feed and communication and send it to the designated Head Quarters instantly, should something happen that would require documentation, such as the death of the armoured person, or an accusation of something the armoured person was supposed to have done."
"Any downsides to this armour?" asked Brianna eagerly … this sounded almost better than her own armours.
"The weight," the woman deadpanned. "We estimate that the weight of this armour, including an oxygen tank, power supply, and a compartment for medical supplies, gadgets and spare ammo would be about half a ton … there is a possibility of building in some robotics to help keeping the armour from crushing the person wearing it and keeping it from collapsing to the ground, but this would only make it even heavier and more difficult to manoeuvre … not to mention we would have to make custom personnel transport vehicles for the armoured persons, because it would be wasteful only having a single person per helicopter or car …"
"Those problems could be solved somehow, I'm sure," Ranma consoled. "Most of the equipment could be stowed into a Stuff-Space Generator, which would cut down on weight and storage space … and we could possibly coat the armour itself with another shield just barely off the surface, which would mean we could make the armour itself out of paper if we needed to and it would still be able to live up to your expectations … anything else?"
Baffled over how easily her boss had overcome the problems her entire team had not found a solution to, the woman barely managed to pull herself together.
"There was a request from the American Department of Defence for missiles-"
"No," Ranma interrupted immediately and passionately. "No explosives on that scale will be made by us. A missile made of chi-tech would be too unstable to control and could possibly result in a black hole, or worse, a Big Bang at the point of impact, tearing this galaxy apart in an instant … tell anyone who asks that we will not make those kinds of weapons, understood?"
All in the room nodded, almost scared of the sternness of Ranma's speech.
"Good, anything else from the Military Research team?"
"No, Koki-sama," the woman squeaked and stepped back into the crowd.
"Then bring on the next team," Ranma sighed. He hated it when he made others fear him … he didn't like those who knew him to be afraid of him.
After the intimidating display Ranma had put on, there were few volunteers eager to step forward.
"Agricultural," Nabiki called out just to get a move on things. "You're next!"
The girl that most recently had caused Ranma to "hide" in Science Club by entering unannounced stepped forward, and was struggling to raise her eyes from the floor to meet her employer's.
"W-we have d-de-vised a way t-t-to f-feed-"
"Stop," interrupted Ranma. "Mio, you know me … there's no reason for you to stutter or be afraid. I'm not going to bite your head off. You introduced me to a few manga that have given me inspiration … come on, you sound like I'm the devil here to claim your soul!"
Snickering at how she had behaved in front of a tentative friend, Mio straightened up and took a deep breath.
"During the time since we divided into Research Teams, Agricultural Research has come up with a few ideas," Mio started. "We have figured out a plan for cycling elemental energy from air, light, moisture and pollution in the air into dirt or sand, making it more fertile than before … if we can make this thing, land that has until now only been wasteland, such as deserts, can be made into farmland. Our calculations have also pointed out that with the device active, the growth cycle of crops on that land will grow at an accelerated rate, bringing in as many a three times the normal harvest during a year.
"We suggest the purchase of a patch of land of no use to anyone, and using it to grow crops, as well as opening a shop or restaurant where what is grown can be sold.
"To sweeten the deal, we have already come up with an alternative to almost all known food additives and preservatives, that not only tastes good, but contains only vitamins and minerals that are good for the body. This means that any food produced by our company would sell at unimaginable rates, because nowadays people are very paranoid about what they eat causing cancer and whatnot. When the additives get the approval of the Department of Agriculture and Food, we will be able to legally market our products with the promise of no cancer produced by them."
"Excellent," complimented Ranma. "Do you have anything else?"
"We are cooperating with the Environmental Research on a project, but I'll let them explain it … if you wouldn't mind?"
"Okay … and the next team would be?"
"Let's keep ourselves in suspense about the joint project, and go to the Commercial Research team," suggested Nabiki.
Iwo stepped forward, adjusting his lab coat to look more important.
"Seeing as you've already confessed to making a car, we'll just hold off on announcing that one until we see the thing …" Iwo opened. "So we'll just skip along to the Game Console we were thinking of, based on chi-tech and ki-tech abilities.
"We haven't come up with a name for it yet, but the gist of it is a device that can project the gamer into a Virtual Reality through the use of a helmet connected either by cable or wireless to the game console … almost like the virtual world created in the movies about those machines that had taken over the world and used humans as batteries ...
"No controller will be needed on the outside, because everything the gamer is capable of doing, every movement and so on, the gamer can perform in the game … of course, any additions to skills may vary from game to game, and each game would of course include a tutorial to allow the gamer time to adjust to any changes from other games. Any injury the gamer is inflicted with is felt to a weaker degree, and -"
"Wouldn't this be dangerous?" asked Gina. "I mean, if the gamer died in the game, wouldn't there be a danger of the brain believing the body had died as well?"
"No, we already thought of that, and a lot of other dangers when facing gaming," Iwo countered.
"Go on," Ranma encouraged. It was always good to know what possible dangers could show up.
"Well, there have been cases where gamers forget to eat or sleep, and subsequently die of starvation or exhaustion," Iwo delicately stated. "To prevent this, each console will be connected to the helmet, and keep track of the vital statistics of the gamer … should the gamer not be in any physical condition to continue playing without bringing harm to themselves, it will shut down the game … should a gamer try to start a game while in a severely weakened state, the helmet will only display the message for the gamer to perform the tasks it registers that the gamer needs. And to prevent people dying in the real world after they are killed in the game, or that they get injuries in the real world where they get them in the game, the mind is not fully drawn into the game, and while the gamer will feel impact as they occur, they will see a health metre in one corner of the HUD, much like most first-person games. This thing could also have military applications as training simulators, saving a big chunk of any Defence Budget because they won't waste ammo or explosives during training.
"For those who aren't that big fans of sitting still, there is a portable version that will project a semi-solid hologram of a creature, made mostly after the gamers' wishes, that can fight other similar gamers … sort of like one of those popular card-games kids play. The creatures will be able to physically interact with their surroundings, but their attacks and falls will not, meaning they could, in theory, perform tasks for their gamers as they will of course have a small amount of sentience and intelligence. The console for this type of game would be nothing more than a wristwatch, with time-keeping capabilities in addition to relaying orders to the creature …"
"Wouldn't it cause mass hysteria if one of the battles were in public between giant monsters?" asked Beebee. "Those who aren't aware of the games would think it was an invasion of some sort and either do something stupid like attempting to attack them, or run away screaming like little girls, causing others to do the same … and how can you guarantee that the attacks of those holograms won't cause any damage when you said that the holograms could interact with the real world?"
"Firstly, the AI of the hologram creature will be programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics, so it will not attempt to injure any living being, or allow them to be hurt either by action or inaction," Iwo started. "Secondly, a worldwide ad campaign will make sure that anyone with a TV or internet connection will know of the game. Thirdly, there will of course be certain restrictions for how big the creature is allowed to get, or else someone could make one as big as a mountain and use it as a private means of transport. The biggest would be as big as a bear, the smallest would be the size of a hamster."
"Then what's to stop some sick bastard from making a human creature and use it for a sex toy?" asked Nabiki, her expression clearly showing that she had not been briefed on this thing earlier.
"There isn't," Iwo admitted. "We would just have to trust the moral and ethic sense of the gamer, and if someone is caught using their creature in such a manner, there is little that could be done without passing a law against such sexual deviance and placing a monitoring device in each console to keep track of it. Many would claim the last is an invasion of privacy, so such a law would not pass on a worldwide scale no matter how influential you are …"
"Understandable …" sighed Ranma. Free will could be such a pain, sometimes … "Anything else?"
"We could make a form of Paintball game for the portable console instead of a "Partner" game, but other than that, not anything independent of the team, no …"
"Then we'll move on to Environmental Research," Nabiki cut in.
Iwo stepped back into the group of scientists, and out stepped a woman of modest build, normal hair-colour with her hair braided into a dragon-tail reaching her behind, with cherry blossoms sticking from every intersecting rope of hair visible on the outside and while she wore make-up, she also wore a t-shirt under her open lab coat with the text: My Make-Up is Animal Friendly.
Ranma's opinion of her was that she certainly fit into the Environmental group.
"Oil spills are, and have been a big problem for as long as boats have carried it, or wagons transported it," the woman started. "One of the first ideas our group came up with was that of a device that could absorb the spilled oil, either by sucking it into a Sub-Space generator, or converting it to energy or something else, like water or air."
"Is this the project you are cooperating with the Agricultural team on?" Ranma interrupted.
"No, Koki-sama," the woman denied patiently. "I'll get to that later. As I was saying … the energy possibly produced by this could be used to help power rescue vessels with getting the crashed vehicles to proper places for repair or scrapping.
"This matter aside for now, chi-tech and ki-tech present a wonderful alternative to fossil fuel … the car I've heard so much about from the challenge Kashima-san apparently presented you would make a good base for a new line of cars, but I'll hold off on that until the car you said you had is better inspected.
"Chimneys of almost any factory are also a big problem, but my team has come up with a solution … a filter with chi-tech that converts the pollutants into energy for the factories to run on, saving them huge electrical bills, and sparing the environment for nasty smells, toxic waters and so on … this could also be altered for other uses, such as sewage, filtering out pure H2O molecules from other foul substances, letting the water or the living creatures that live in the sewers, such as rats, pass through while of disposing the waste, harmful bacteria and parasites, possibly for energy, or to do as the Agricultural team suggested, and feed the energy into the soil … pollution would become a thing of the past if this company manages to pull through to its fullest potential, and Mother Earth would be able to start the healing process again!"
Iwo coughed politely from the crowd, shaking the woman from what promised to become a righteous rant, ending in a demand for Ranma to fund her projects.
"Sorry," she apologised. "The environment is a subject I'm very passionate about."
"Nothing to worry about," Ranma assured. "Please, continue."
"Okay," the woman stated. "This technology could be applied for other things … for instance the production of a less bulky, clumsy or intimidating Biohazard Suit that creates a protective, absorbent shield around the wearer, turning toxins, parasites, viruses or radiation in the air into fuel for the shield, or it could be used to neutralise those harmful elements if the shield was on long enough, turning dangerous areas into liveable space … nuclear waste could be disposed of without harming the environment or any unfortunate individuals … medical personnel could move about an area of infectious disease without worry of spreading it, carrying it or being infected by it …"
"I'm guessing this isn't the project you're cooperating with the Agricultural team on …" Ranma sighed. This meeting was starting to become boring … couldn't Nabiki have gotten them to prepare some illustrations, charts and so on in addition to their speeches just to make them more interesting?
"I'm getting to it now," the woman replied as patiently as any interrupted scientist could. "The planet is starting to grow overpopulated … in two hundred years or so, our current food production capabilities will not be sufficient. Granted, the devices you've been informed of thus far could extend that number by ten times as much, if entire apartments, shops and offices were made from Stuff-Space generators, and farms started building vertically as well as horizontally, but why go to so much trouble when we have at least three planetary bodies available for terraforming and subsequent colonisation?
"With the help of a large supply of seeds, a large supply of water, and a machine that would enrich soil to promote growth, we could send a barrage of this kind of package across the surface of our chosen planet, create an atmosphere around it suitable for sustaining human life, and with the seeds and machine, create breathable air and drinkable water!"
"How do you plan on getting all of this to the selected planet?" asked Ranma. "We don't have any rockets to use, and even if we did, any unscheduled launch would send up a red flag all over the world, thinking it was a nuclear launch, which could lead to World War three before the first stage of the launch was complete."
"That is the only snag we've hit," the woman admitted. "Until we have everything in order, we won't dare mention this to any space program, because they might order it put on ice to get to the solution before us, or they would claim the credit for it and be renown as the nations that propelled our world to new greatness …"
"We might know someone who could deliver the equipment …" Gina hinted, mouthing the name Stryyp to Ranma and Brianna. "And no International Space Program would find out about it until the package has been delivered and a positive feedback has returned. That way, Wild Horse Inc will get the glory, and would be able to start making Mankind's dream of spreading across the solar system a reality."
Ranma sat in silence for a moment before nodding. He was impressed with the amount of ideas his scientists had come up with during their short employment with his company … some of the ideas were even halfway to finished products, something very few other fresh companies would be able to boast.
"Right," he finally stated. "Why don't you all return to your jobs, and while Nabiki gives me a tour we'll see about getting closer to finishing some projects … okay?"
Getting a general noise of agreement from the scientists, Ranma watched as they left his office.
"Okay, girls," Ranma said. "Where do we start?"
And so the group spent the day, touring the various Research Teams and helping them figure out what few kinks they had run into with their ideas.
A few of the problems would take time to work out, but several projects were almost completely cleared out of the way, and Beebee had gotten her desk and chair … a computer would be put in during the week.
The five of them were tired when they returned to the Koki estate.
Upon entering the living room, the quintet discovered the elder Diggers, the parents of the two that were part of Ranma's "Harem," and they were having tea with Nodoka.
To make things worse, the mothers were discussing their future grandbabies, while Dr Diggers was making a heroic effort to appear interested and not sulk over his latest student befouling his daughters and the possibility of them having to carry babies for him.
He was the first to spot the arrivals.
"Ranma, student, we need to review your skills so that I know what more to teach you!" Dr Diggers hurriedly declared as he got to his feet.
Ranma, catching the man's need to get away, excused himself from his girlfriends and directed his sensei to the dojo.
"So, what would you want me to start with?" Ranma asked politely.
"The basics," Dr Diggers suggested distractedly, looking through the sliding door at the living room to make sure he couldn't hear the conversation most likely taking place within. "Let's start with telekinesis … while you do that, you can tell me where you took my daughters today …"
There was a very obvious suspicious tone in Dr Diggers' tone as he ended his sentence.
Nodding, Ranma sat down in the classic meditation style, and levitated himself a foot above the ground. Around him, the training weapons left their racks and started dancing around. Then he told about his day from breakfast 'til return from the office.
On the TV, a plain, brown envelope lay forgotten.
Author's Notes; I would like to apologise at once for the horrid mistake I made in the last chapter. As CatOnFire pointed out to me, it is the VAULTRON force, not VOLTRON … there was apparently some sort of play-on-words that I somehow missed, and (to make excuses) the site I got my information from is terrible in its volume of information … As I said, only a few characters has anything more than their names, and it is very difficult to find out anything else without reading through every issue for every chapter. Again, I'm sorry for those I may have offended with this grievous error.
PS: No, I am not being sarcastic …
I know this chapter isn't very active, but some filler chapters are needed … if things had been action all the time, it would have gotten monotonous. We all knew that a chapter being nearly fully a filler had to show up again sooner or later, and probably will again. And I apologise for the ending of the chapter, I know it's rushed, but I couldn't think of anything to fill in the space with, so it will have to wait until I get to it in the rereading.
For those who should be interested, I have reread and reposted " A Place of Belonging," a Pokémon crossover I posted sometime in 2004. Should someone be curious about why the same has not happened to this story yet, it is because the other is barely a tenth of the length this one is currently, and this one is not yet done, but rest assured, I am making slow but steady progress.
While I'm at it, I might as well ask, what is the proper suffix for an employee to use while addressing their employer? I used –sama because it is a formal version of Mr or Mrs, but am uncertain of its accuracy in this context.
