They'd been given little "flu shots" and after their eyes had gone blank they'd gotten a full physical checkup before being placed under the hood.
In this world, slavery had a long tradition and had been rigorously defined over a great many years. Similar to the Ottoman Empire in some respects, there were free and there were slaves. The laws of the various parts of the world defined slaves as being born or contract. Contract slaves were for a set period, while those born to it would have it for life.
Many posts were held by slaves traditionally. Bureaucrats were typically slaves.
The reason for the three daughters being slaves was simple. During the training journey under Happosai, Soun had been caught. His daughters had been born as slaves and upon finding that Ranma was coming - Soun had done the humane thing by the standards of his culture and arranged for them to be adjusted so that they would be happy with their new status.
As such, there had been minimal tampering with their identities.
"Uhm, well, I'm Ranma Saotome, err," said Ranma uncertainly, trying to figure out what to do. "Sorry about this."
"Hmph," said Akane, not looking happy but not looking terribly angry either.
"My name, as father said, is Kasumi," said the eldest. "I am skilled as a maintainer of the household and graduated high school two years ago. I have some skill in first aid as well."
The middle girl sat back and eyed him warily still. After a few moments she shrugged. "Nabiki's my name, finance is my game. I should have suspected something when my talents for numbercrunching were encouraged, as accounting is a slave profession. I am, or was, in my senior year at Furinkan High School. I know some dancing routines too and have skills in gaming and sales."
"Dance?" asked Ranma.
"Oh yes," answered Kasumi. "As part of our adjustment therapy some of our skills were developed through hypnotraining. All three of us received a basic package useful for a variety of roles."
"Ah," said Ranma, not understanding that but willing to let it slide for now. "And you?"
"Akane," said the youngest.
Ranma waited but she didn't volunteer anything. "So tell me about yourself."
Akane winced as she felt herself respond to the order. "I'm Akane. I trained in the martial arts for several years and am a sophomore at Furinkan High School. I'm now essentially a mamluk or bodyguard-slave. Your mamluk. I..."
"We're still getting used to the idea," inserted Kasumi gracefully. "Akane is adjusting to the idea of not being a slave owner."
"I wanted to buy Yuka and Sayuri, and then train them as mamluk," agreed Akane. "There's a good market for slavegirls who can fight."
Ranma scratched his head. "And ya can't now."
"Slaves can't own slaves," pointed out Nabiki. "She could be appointed their mistress or trainer, she could be their sensei or their slavemaster, but she can't be their owner or master."
Ranma decided:
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(Posted Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:26)
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