____ ___ _ ___ / | \ | \ /\ | | /\ /\ | \ / /\ | \ | \ . | \ | |. / \_/ \ | \ \ / \ | __ \ | _ \ | | | | | | | _ \ /\ \/ / | | \ \ | | \ \ .| | | |.| | | | \ \ / \ \ / | | / / | |__\ | | | \| | | |\ /| |.| |__\ |/ /\ \/ | | / / | | | |\ | |.| | | |.| | | |\ / \ | |/ / .| ___ |.| |.| |.| |.| | | | | ___ /\ \/ / | |\ \ | | .| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| | ./ |\ / | | \ \ .| | | |.| |..\ |.| |.| |.| | | | /| | \ |_|. \__\ |_|. .|_|.|_|...\/..|_|.|_|.|_|.|_|. \|_| \ /\ \ / Written by Christopher 'Ratiko' Willmore. / \ \ / / \/ Based on a story by Rumiko Takahashi and / Developed by C. Michael Schumacher / / [Kensu: cschumac@waun.tdsnet.com], \ / with the aid of Animax Enterprises \/(Logo:Armakuni) [formerly TAAC]. ======================================================================= A RANMA 2096 SIDE STORY: WINTER, PART ONE ======================================================================= For Zeitgeist, who couldn't wait until the next legitimate episode, and Kunoichi, to show her what happens when I try to write something serious. Just to show you HOW alpha this is, I typed it up in the last twenty minutes... I _do_ have it all plotted out, though, and the second part should be out by tomorrow. This was written to answer two questions: First, What ever happened to Nabiki? Well, I wasn't originally going to include her, but I got too many requests to pass up... Secondly, how on earth did the HIBIKIS ever get rich enough to own the largest security company in Japan? This won't be answered until part two of 'Winter', but it _will_ be cleared up. Many thanks to Ryouga@RanmaMUCK. An IC conversation between him and my 'Ratiko' was the seed for this story. As always, and C&C, flames, etc. are very much appreciated. -Christopher Willmore A.R.S.E. C.A.S.K.E.T. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tokyo, December 2095 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Nabiki Tendo awoke, or so she thought... The world around her half-closed eyes was puzzling, a swirling eddy of blurred and unfamiliar images, in which she floated stationarily. She tried to turn, to gather more of where she was, but none of her limbs would recognize her mind's authority. Even her eyelids would not budge from their current state, but chose instead to stay ajar, and taunt her with the fragments of that she would have whole. "Sire; the subject is awake." "Already? Very well. Sedate her, and then prep her for interrogation." "As you will, sire." Sounds... Voices? She couldn't be sure... What had happened? How had she come to... Where? Nabiki strained herself, and tried to think, and to remember. In this, at least, she did not fail. Recall Nabiki did, and wished that she had not. ; she thought. . Before a tear could form, the chemicals took hold, and 'the subject' once again lapsed into darkness. "You've checked the brain?" "Aye, Sire." "Enough of the original so that we may say this is THE Nabiki Tendo?" "Over ninety-five percent, Sire, and none of the lost areas are in the mnemonic regions." "Good. How are her muscles? She hasn't moved in a few decades, after all..." "Her own are rather weak; I doubt she can manipulate them unassisted. However, once we initialize the bionics, she should be fully operational." "Perfect. Drain the tank, dress her, and have her in my office by 2100. Leave the dampers on. I want her revived only at the beginning of our interview." "As you will, Sire." With practiced motions, three men in identical white uniforms moved to the tank where the reconstructed body of Nabiki Tendo was floating in an electrolytic soup. One pressed a button, and a harness wrapped itself around her. A flip of a switch, and the fluid oozed out through a grate. Then, the tank's clear plastic walls came down, and the functionaries took the woman to the room where she'd be clothed. At 21:59:59, Nabiki was seated in a chair opposite the desk of the director of the Kuno Foundation. A second later, she came back to consciousness. "Nabiki Tendo?" The voice was gruff, but cultured. "Where am I?" "First, you will answer me. Your name?" "Ten... Tendo Nabiki... You just said it... Why..." "What do you last remember?" "I... I..." Nabiki began to cry. The memories were painful. And the last ones... She had finished all of this, had she not? Then why? She started, and looked wide-eyed at the director. "I killed myself. That's the last thing I remember." The man smiled. "Not quite. You can't get away THAT easily, you know." "I don't..." "Oh, but you DO. We know all about your crime, Ms. Tendo. And you DO realize, that if you ARE guilty, something of that magnitude demands the death penalty." "H-hai... But... I thought I had destroyed myself. Why am I still alive?" "We couldn't let you get away THAT easily! The guilty MUST be punished. Granted, your little bomb made it a nightmare for our squad to put you back together, but we managed it." Another smile. "Eventually." "You mean... I _did_ die?" "Clinically, yes. But we got to your brain before it had a chance to even begin to decompose. Well, we got to ninety-five percent of it, in any case." "Ninety-five? I am not understanding much of this..." "The other five percent has been replaced by microcomputers." Nabiki blinked. This was surreal... The director sighed. "I suppose I'll have to spell it out for you. It's too bad, in a way... With your reputation for intelligence, I felt sure you would figure it out." Before Nabiki could protest, he continued. "I am sure I have no reason to go over your crime. You know it well enough, and the Consistency Trial will be sure to extract all the gruesome details... I've been following your case for decades..." Nab raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Decades. It's 2095. December, 2095." The other eyebrow. "Don't look so surprised! You think we could have brought you back with your own time's technology?" "Why bring me back? If I am guilty of that crime, and if its penalty is death, why not just leave me be?" "My dear Ms. Tendo," smiled the director, "we are not barbarians, who simply dole out merits and demerits according impersonal behavioral codes set down in a book... Our 'laws' are now much more humane... Even in your time, I am sure, you would have heard of the 'Consistency Movement'?" Nabiki's face, already grim, sank even lower. "Not that... Anything but that..." "I'm afraid you do not have a choice. That is how we deal with criminals in 2095. You are only guilty of a crime if your actions violate your own behavioural ethic." "I am... I am..." 'Ms. Tendo' said softly, tears streaming down her cheeks. "To establish that is beyond my jurisdiction. The Consistency Trial will deal with it... Even if you _are_ guilty, we do not have 'set' punishments... We apply use what YOU believe to be an appropriate reprisal... Now, far more than in Dicken's time, 'You wear the chains you forged in life'." "But I TOLD YOU! I KILLED MYSELF! I'll even tell you how I did it! I..." "Oh, we know all about the bomb, Ms. Tendo. One cannot work on you for eighty years and not know what it was that caused the trouble in the first place." "Isn't it OBVIOUS? I KNEW what I'd done, and I KNEW that the only appropriate penalty was DEATH! Why didn't you just let me BE?" "It seems you would prefer to be stone-cold right now, instead of facing me." A smile, and twinkle of his eyes. "Oh, deity, yes!" "Then, clearly, it is not half the punishment you are trying to convince me that it is. If you are guilty, Ms. Tendo, you deserve to suffer. And suffer A LOT. I will be frank, and tell you that I find you utterly despicable. Were you another person, with a different history, I would have long ago stopped the project short and leave you dead. But, as the saying goes, 'Death is too good for you'. You will pay for what you did, Nabiki Tendo. And, what is more, you will be put through pain that only you yourself can contrive the likes of. Once THAT is done, I'll think well-spent the years and funds that went into your reconstruction. The guilty WILL be punished." Halfway through the speech, Nabiki had lost whatever control she had, and had become a sobbing, pulsing mass. "Why do you hate me so?" she asked through salty lips. "I know that I've done wrong, but why do THIS? Why take me even from the GRAVE?" The director looked at his watch. "Only four minutes before the trial. Very well, I will humour you." A pause. "I detest you, Nabiki Tendo. I, Tanaro Ono, hate you." "Ono... You are..." Wide eyes from her, a nod from him. "For having destroyed the life of Kasumi Tendo, you will pay." ======================================================================== Next: The Consistency Trial - Crime and Punishment ========================================================================