"Good," said Ranma, sitting back and hitting the switch under an arm rest. He leaned back and let the heating pads he had hidden under the chair's padding ease some of the tension in his shoulders.
Then Ranma switched displays while his server network did a series of diagnostics with the Dobermax active.
He had many injuries and while he might have insisted that this was who he was - he wasn't satisfied by a long shot. Oh sure, he was a robotics genius and had developed things like the "waldo" arms that he could utilize from his chair. On the other hand, it would just be oh so satisfying if he could GET UP and get something himself under his own power.
So the display was of artificial extensions for the limbs that were short. Exoskeletal braces which would help support him until he had redeveloped the muscles that had little to do. He tried exercising his body as much as possible in anticipation of the day that would be possible - yet there was only so much he could do.
He tended to put people off. "The nail that sticks out gets pounded down" - and he could not help but stick out. He was grumpy and irritable and sullen much of the time.
Hotaru had changed that. Seeing her getting picked on had been enough for Ranma to get involved. Finding out that she wanted to be a nurse had further intrigued Ranma. A lot of nurses were cold, dispassionate, mercenary witches. Some were not. To some it was a sort of calling, and a different focus as a caregiver than being a doctor.
Somehow a fellow sufferer with aspirations had gotten inside his crusty shell, and Ranma was uncertain how it had happened. Now here were Hotaru's friends trying to go save the world and seemed to be genuinely nice people. Well, except for that one.
"Heralding in a new age, I am Sailor Uranus!"
"Protecting the new millenium, I am Sailor Neptune!"
Ranma sighed and minimized the screen and brought up another one. "Hey, you must be Haruka and Michiru, Hotaru's guardians, right?"
The two Senshi lost their dramatic poses as things failed to go in the usual groove. Uranus spoke. "We heard a menace to time was here and... is that a motorcycle design?"
"Yeah, haven't had the chance to build it. I was thinking that you Senshi don't seem to have any flashy transportation so what are you gonna do if a Menace From Beyond shows up in Kobe? I don't have the funds to build it right now, but something like this would help."
"Uranus?" asked Neptune, sounding a little concerned.
"Ooooh, V-Twin? Missile launchers?"
"Smoke grenades," explained Ranma. "Help to disperse crowds of bystanders while blinding the bad guy."
"Uranus?" repeated Neptune, feeling that their groove had been definitely derailed at this point.
"Hmmmm, looks fast," said Uranus.
"It should blow anything nonmagical off the road," answered Ranma. "You'll need to be in Senshi mode though, as the uprated strength and agility will be needed for using it."
"I see," said Uranus, a distracted smile on her face.
"Uranus! Remember what Pluto-san said!" Neptune scolded.
"How about braking?" asked Uranus.
"Similar to truck brakes, but scaled down while in cycle mode. This is what it looks like in flight mode," said Ranma, triggering an animation sequence.
"I see, so this other section could be latched on quickly and it's an autogyro effect with the rotors providing the wing surface," said Uranus. "Special location?"
"Yeah, haven't figured a way around that," admitted Ranma. "Here's the engine specs."
"Hmmmm," said Uranus.
"Oh! Har- Uranus-san, Neptune-san," said Hotaru as she entered. "What are you doing here with Ranma-sempai?"
"Can you bring up detail on the transmission? Ah HA! See this, now try changing it like so," said Uranus, moving the mouse and shifting the display.
"Interesting," said Ranma, peering at the changes.
Neptune rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. "This is going to take awhile. Pluto-san mentioned something about your sempai trying to take advantage of you and Uranus wanted to come down here and straighten things out."
Hotaru frowned ever so slightly. "Pluto-san doesn't like the idea of sempai associating with any of the Senshi. Something about the purity of Crystal Tokyo."
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(Posted Wed, 05 May 2004 09:37)
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