by Greylle
DISCLAIMER: Original series belong to someone else.
NOTE: As mentioned earlier, this is one of the threads me and Kender Sci wrote over at the Anime Addventure. There will be slight changes to better fit the different format. This catches up with our current episodes, so things will slow down because the scenes are written on a rotation and weekly basis along with several other threads we juggle.
Chapter Twelve: Send In The Clones, There Ought To Be Clones...
A ribbon lashed out. AT field met AT field.
Makie faced off against a red pair of panties.
"The core has an AT field, she can't cut through it!" declared Shigeru from the auxiliary control room.
"Dude, chill, it's just us three," said Makoto.
"Sorry, force of habit," apologized Shigeru.
"Besides, Makie's on our side, and she doesn't give up that easy," pointed out Makoto.
Makie frowned at her nemesis. "I won't let you hurt them any more."
The panties merely dodged another stream from a water gun and circled in the air, looking for an angle of attack.
"Maybe you need to call out your special attacks?" asked one of the Section Two people armed with super-soakers.
"Why?" asked Makie, sending her ribbon out to cut off an attack from the panties.
"Well, you're an..." The Section Two operative bit off the part about her actually being an angel that transformed into a fictional human girl. "You're sort of a magical girl, I guess."
"Oh, okay," said Makie, deciding to humor the guy. "Makie Sasaki, Special Attack! Ribbon Bind!"
Makie's ribbon seemed to lengthen, wrapping itself around the errant pair of panties, then contract itself.
"You've got it?" said the agent, genuinely surprised that had worked but not going to argue with success. "Oh. Well done. Now you need a finishing move."
"I suppose," said Makie, who was now thinking the agent apparently DID know what was going on as that had seemed stupid but it had worked. 'Stupid' + 'It Worked' = 'Not Stupid.' "Slice Of Life!"
It took some effort, but she broke through the panties' AT field and the ribbon sliced the panties up a moment later.
Deep in Terminal Dogma:
BAMF! went the air as space curved.
"This doesn't look right," said Mihoshi as she looked around the room. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
The little doll perched on a shoulder opens its mouth. "Mihoshi. Pay attention. Now turn slowly around so I can see what the room's like. Okay. Now go over to that computer terminal and set me down."
"Are you sure about this, Little Washu?" asked Mihoshi. "I fixed all sorts of things before I left."
"Trust me, the situation you left Ranma in will most likely end up with him killed by one of the two groups," said the doll as the computer apparently turned itself on and didn't finish a bootup sequence before something seized control of it. "As long as you still retain some of those genie-powers like traversing alternate realities - we can tweak at least SOME of your disasters."
"Well..." said Mihoshi, losing interest as Washu was doing something too fast for her to really understand it. Oh, what did THIS switch do?
"Just don't touch anything," said the doll. "Uploading. Uploading. Uploading. File complete! Okay Mihoshi."
A rumble sounded in the room.
"Mihoshi?" said the doll in a voice so dry it approached dessicated. "What did you do?"
Mihoshi backed into the desk, then reached around to pick up the doll and face it towards the wall.
"Okay," said the Washu-doll. It might have been a rushed together device with an imprint of Washu's mind and personality, only designed to last for a day or so, and with limited capabilities. However it DID have an imprint of Washu's personality. Which would have been quite concerning for those involved if they'd had any sort of clue. "This is kind of creepy. But I think we can do something here."
All across Tokyo-3, panties fell to the ground. Most of them immediately went splurt as they turned into LCL. Some remained, having apparently gained more solidity.
"AGH! WHY AM I A GIRL?"
As Kensuke was discovering, some effects were more persistant.
The first thing that Ritsuko recognized after her senses cleared was that the top of her head was being squashed by some sort of cloth. Feeling rather uncomfortable with what seemed like cotton pressing her nose down, she was glad that it came off of her head pretty easily. With the lack of pressure on her skull, she had a sense of relief that she hadn't had since Misato had taken her drinking in college. At the very least, it did seem that things had quieted down, though she did need to get to work.
But as she went to take her first step, she almost tripped as her heels started to wobble on her feet. Confusion set in, since she'd brought the heels only recently, and hadn't had problems with walking in such shoes for years. Wondering if there were some aftereffects from what had gone on, she looked down... and immediately saw that her shoes didn't fit on her feet any more.
As she began to realize that something odd was going on, she stepped out of her shoes, and didn't get away from having to deal with something ill fitting. Everything seemed to be falling off of her, and the problem was that she hadn't been dieting. Still, the waistband of her skirt was trying to go around her hips, her bra was drooping, and her blouse was like her lab coat.
"What the hell is..." she began to say... and then put a hand to her mouth as she found that her voice didn't sound right.
"Doctor Akagi?" started an agent asked as he stepped into the command center. "Is that you?"
"Of course it is. Who else would I be?"
"Well..."
"What is it? What has you incapable of talking?" Ritsuko snapped.
Instead of answering, he pointed right back at her.
Annoyed by this point, she growled under her breath, and whirled about to face the console for the security feeds. Using one hand keep a hold on her clothing, she used the other to tap in some commands. Immediately she got a response from the equipment, and an image came up from a camera pointing at her.
What she saw left her blinking for just a moment... until she recognized what it was showing. From the youthful features, to the body with the promise of appealing curves to the clear fact that it was her made her know what had happened to her. Just how it had come about wasn't quite clear yet, but then she was still dealing with the situation as it stood right now.
"Umm... are you alright?" the security officer asked.
"In all the ways that matter... somewhat. Of course, I seem to be fourteen years old again, at least in body. So I'm not quite myself right now. But there is something very important that overrides most of everything else," she ground out as she tried to march off.
"And what's that?"
"Getting some new clothes to wear before I give you idiots a show."
Misato looked over at Ranma as she tried to shift her position. "It sounds like it's all quiet now."
"True. Probably means that things have settled down," Ranma answered.
"Then maybe we could get out of here now."
"Yeah, but we probably should wait for an 'all clear' first. Don't want to get attacked by flying panties, right."
"Now that I'll agree with. But I'd want to get out of here as soon as we can," she suggested.
"Why?"
"Do you want to be here when Ritsuko comes around?"
"You've got a point there," Ranma allowed with a wince.
Although she wasn't quite sure as to why she had been relegated to the task, Kaede Agano merely waited outside the door that she'd come to about ten minutes earlier. As far as she was concerned, she had no reason to stay once the package that she'd brought had been handed in to the occupant of the stall, but she'd been told to stay. Something about it made her want to get away, but she also had a feeling that she could get into trouble if she wasn't there.
So the short haired young woman was present to jump a little when the door swung open, and a feminine figure stepped out.
"Now this is better," a fully and properly dressed Doctor Ritsuko Akagi murmured as she tugged on her new lab coat. "I should be able to work like this."
"Are you sure that you should? I mean, we don't know what you are who you are supposed to be..." Kaede began.
"Of course I am myself. If you don't remember, I still had the codes for access, and if necessary, we can match DNA samples. Other than the fact that I am apparently been... rejuvenated back to being a fourteen year old, I am fine... and I'm a natural blonde now."
"How do you know that?"
The responding glare that the new teenager gave was dark and foreboding.
"Never mind..."
"Fortunately all that's over and we can settle back down to normal operations."
"Doctor Akagi?" the relief operator murmured. "Isn't that tempting fate?"
"Absolutely not! It's getting back to doing what we're supposed to," Ritsuko snapped as she stalked off.
Distant thunder rumbled.
The 'Little Washu' doll was a very complex device built by 'The Greatest Scientific Genius In The Universe.' It was only supposed to last a day or so.
Mihoshi, still with genie powers for a day in her home universe, had listened to Washu explain the problems that had been left behind by Mihoshi's time as a wish-granting genie. Not that she remembered all the details. One thing though, had been to carry the Little Washu Doll using her current ability to move from dimension to dimension. The Little Washu Doll was to fix some errant details that Washu herself had noticed that apparently had NOT been addressed by either Mihoshi or the Djinni responsible for her little quest.
The download had completed, her task finished with virtual-life still remaining.
Faced with several Rei Ayanami floating in LCL tubes, the doll with an imprint of Washu's knowledge and personality considered the possibilities in front of her.
"I am concerned about this boy Ranma's special abilities, especially now with this Angel having defected to our side," said Gendo in his office to Fuyutsuki.
CLICK! went something in the office.
An image flickered into place on a computer screen. Both individuals in the room immediately recognized the person showing on the screen.
"If you are viewing this recording," said Yui Ikari's image, "that means that Ranma has manifested the genetic upgrades I put into place and is now fighting the beings dubbed 'Angels.'"
The three bridge personnel, and their back-ups, stared at the computer screen.
"Isn't that...?" asked Satsuki.
"Uh huh," said Shigeru.
"So THAT'S what you've done Ikari," mused Lorenz Kihl as a little spy-feed showed him the same imagery.
"Facing the Angels with a single plan to defeat them and have our race survive was less than ideal," confessed the Yui-image. "So much depends on everything going exactly off, one detail meshing with the next, that anything at all could collapse the whole chain of events. Therefore this project, Project WaShu, my backup to the main scenario."
Images flashed by at high speed, showing DNA and RNA sequences - breakdowns of proteins and less easily identifiable graphs and displays.
"Ranma Ikari is genetically engineered to be human, but human plus," said Yui. "I had to use my own son for this, as secrecy in the early stages was paramount. The upgrades themselves might never manifest, so this message was hidden unless certain key elements occur."
Yui Ikari's image frowned. "I can only hope Ranma can forgive me for this."
The screen dissolved into static, finally ending with a "file not found" message.
Gendo's mouth hung open as he stared at the now-blank screen.
"Okay, that makes sense," said Fuyutsuki. "Why did we go with a single scenario?"
"Why didn't she tell me?" asked Gendo eventually.
"She kept it secret," said Fuyutsuki, speculating. "Obviously she realized that no one could get the answer out of her after her 'death' even with the methods of chemical interrogation currently available to SEELE. Once Ranma manifested those abilities, he'd be harder for SEELE to turn to their own agenda."
"But why is it named 'Washu'?" asked Gendo.
"The 'feather of an eagle'?" asked Fuyutsuki. "A feather is a part of a wing, like an angel's wing. An eagle is a raptor - and frequently used in military squads and banners."
"So that Ranma would be like an angel, and better able to fight them," mused Gendo. "Yui. You were always fond of little secrets."
Illness wasn't something that Rei had much experience with. Her life was one that was usually free of the sicknesses that her classmates would tend to suffer from time to time. There were certainly reasons for that, but, as with many things, she didn't tend to dwell on it unless she had to. However, she could be injured, as human flesh was not immortal, and so she had spent some time in the medical wing at NERV that didn't have to do with normal tests.
Right now though, she was sitting on a bench in the girls' locker room with her legs spread, and her head trying to not dip between her thighs. Even she knew that this was an awkward position, but the dry heaves pushing her stomach at the moment wouldn't listen to reason. Instead, all that she could do was to try to keep her body out of the line of fire, and feel some sort of... sympathy for the janitorial staff.
"Are you feeling okay?" the operator sent to check on her asked, almost reaching out to pat her back.
Rei's head tilted up a bit. "I will be fine. Captain Katsuragi assures me that this experience is... limited."
"Oh... okay. But do you really have to go with all this?"
"What do you mean?" the pale girl asked.
"Well, do you really want to drink this stuff?" the older woman commented, glancing at the bottle that she was holding. "And I really don't think it's healthy to take all this Excedrin."
"Satsuki Ooi."
"Yes?"
"Give me the pills."
A frown crossed Satsuki's features. "But it looks like you're going to go over the recommended dosage."
"Give them to me."
"Still..."
The look in Rei's eyes were as still as they usually were, but there was something behind that red stare that somehow felt like the edge of a blade.
Satsuki gave a small shiver and meekly handed over the bottle.
Although she wasn't meant to do much beyond acting as an extension of her originator's plans, Little Washu couldn't help but turn her attention back to the pale girls floating in the tank near her. As it stood, she almost felt a kinship with them, though her creator was cheerful about her presence. However, they were quite obviously different than her, and not in the way that had to do with physical build.
Pursing her lips, she considered what she could do about them, as there was a great deal of possibilities. None of them had been given a chance on their own, and were being left like some sort of ... spare parts. Well, as the shadow of the Greatest Scientific Mind Ever, she could certainly cobble something together with them. The question was just what she should do with them.
"Oooh," Mihoshi murmured. "Little Washu, these lights are blinking so prettily."
"That's what happens when science hits its stride sometimes," the mini-Washu commented.
"Yes, but what do they do?"
Somehow, the doll construct got a chill down her spine.
The plasteel retracted, causing the oxygenated nutrient-water to flood the floor. Mihoshi leapt into the air, where her remaining genie powers allowed her to stay up. Plastered against the ceiling, she watched.
One of the red-eyed girls moved slowly forward, regarding the little doll shape.
"Now just calm down," said the doll. "Mihoshi didn't mean any harm."
The girl cocked her head to the side in a birdlike mannerism, making an odd trilling noise that sounded like some sort of question.
"That's right," said the doll. "Now I don't have any-"
Rei then shoved the doll into her mouth, choking and hacking as she forced the thing within her - her body distorting in order to take the toy in.
"M-m-mecha-Washu?" asked Mihoshi in a trembling voice before she abruptly vanished, heading back to her own universe to inform the real Washu of this event.
The Rei which had moved forward splashed around in the fluid on the floor, in a manner very reminiscent of an epileptic fit. After a few minutes it ended, and the Rei slowly pulled herself to a seated position next to a chair where she could keep her head above the flood.
"Well now," said the Rei, speaking for the first time and blinking green eyes as she observed the world around her. "Verrry interesting. Very interesting indeed. These primitive devices are just toys, at least when you're the Greatest Scientific Mind In This Universe! Bwahahahahahahaha!"
A weak splash sounded from elsewhere in the room.
"Oh yeah," said the green-eyed Rei. "I probably ought to do something about you guys."
Ritsuko Akagi was handling things pretty well, all things concerned.
She HAD dyed her hair blonde. Now she was a natural blonde. She HAD been 30 years old. Now she was 14. Mind you, she would have liked having this figure back then - she estimated the differences were only a few centimeters here and there - but it was definitely not a perfect reproduction of her first time at this age.
"S-sempai?" asked Maya, staring.
Ritsuko Akagi raised an eyebrow at her subordinate, took a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, and tapped the box in a familiar gesture that should have advanced the top one enough that she could casually pluck it free. She'd done it a thousand times after all.
Instead she ended up with six cigarettes littering the floor.
"Great," said Ritsuko in a voice that indicated she thought this was nowhere near great actually.
Pluck!
"I'm sorry, Doctor Akagi," said Maya, holding the cigarettes. "But you're a minor now and shouldn't indulge in such things."
"Maya," said Doctor Akagi. "Give me back my cigarettes."
"It should at least wait until a full medical exam," came the unexpected statement from Fuyutsuki.
"But that'll take at least two days for the lab tests," noted Ritsuko, who then froze. "You're not serious."
"You should stay away from strong drink too," said Maya.
"You're NOT serious," stated Ritsuko again.
"Since you're the same age as the pilots, perhaps we should test..." Fuyutsuki speculated.
"No. No. Absolutely not," declared Ritsuko Akagi.
"But Doctor Akagi," said Maya, puppy-eye-no-jutsu going.
"Absolutely, positively NOT," said Ritsuko Akagi. "Not going to happen. No. Never."
"Wow, I'm so glad that's all over," said Misato in relief as she and Ranma left the Entry Plug finally.
"I s'pose," said Ranma, attempting to look in all directions.
"Aw c'mon, we got the all-clear," said Misato. "What could happen?"