Rei Prime had been injured in an explosion in the Sea Of Japan, when boarding a vessel used by pirates. Misato had been present thereafter and had seen Rei as the skin had started blistering and the normally calm girl had been screaming.
This last was particularly noteworthy as Misato had been present when Rei had been injured four other times. Bullet or stab wounds had been quietly endured with little reaction. At first, Misato had diagnosed it as some kind of acid. Maybe aqua regia - she'd heard of such things being used before.
When Rei had been convalescing, Misato had seen her eye only a few times since then. It was a pearl - without visible pupil or iris. The skin around it burned as if by acid.
It hadn't been acid though. Only a few knew of what the explosion had been, and they certainly weren't going to tell any authorities. It had been magic. The eye didn't respond to light, but other than the surface seemed to be healthy. Lacking one eye limited her ability to determine range and use firearms so she was "retired" from her previous profession of soldier.
She was one of the SOLDIER units, Ayanami subtype. Rei Prime. Codename: Death Angel. Now 2015017A, maid assigned to Ranma Saotome.
She was now permanently owned by Ranma Saotome. At first she regarded him as a superior officer in a new hierarchy. All she'd ever known had been military life, and trying to find her way in this new lifestyle was proving difficult. Fortunately, a search of the available library under the appropriate parameters had turned up a series wherein a similar situation had occurred. She could therefore use this as a guideline, adjusting for a 'baka oyaji'.
"Ecchi is very bad.""I must rescue my magazines!"
Rei cocked her head and regarded the antics onscreen. Ecchi was not very bad, which must have been one of the comic elements this video was intended to portray. Comedy was not something she understood. It had no military or practical value that she could detect. However, she DID know that 'ecchi' was a necessary function for males. She knew that male soldiers often had to go off and perform such things on leave, otherwise their performance in the field eventually deteriorated.
In fact, she knew that in at least one case - a male soldier in the field too long had suffered a condition that the other soldiers had confided was a result of not being able to acquire leave for an extended period, and apparently he had a designated mate who had terminated their relationship due to his absence. The soldier had not survived.
Other than that, and the supposed superhuman abilities of the maid Mahoro, there seemed to be a parallel that could be drawn between her current situation and the one portrayed in this series.
"Rei?" came an unfamiliar voice.
"Yes?" asked Rei, glancing up from the TV to see who had entered. She did not stop jogging on the treadmill however. This was not someone she recognized as having rank over her.
"Rei, your Master is currently acquiring supplies and filling out paperwork, but if you'll sign for him, we can get his new slave taken care of."
Rei paused the video and followed the clerk. "This is the 'adult guardian' that has been arranged to act as legal representation?"
"Yes, that's right," said the clerk, glancing back. "You read the documentation?"
"I read it and summarized the salient points to my Master," said Rei. She noted silently that they were not apparently leaving the medical wing.
"Here we go," said the clerk, stopping before a door. "She's just recently gotten through some extensive reconditioning. Apparently some heavy psych trauma so her brain's a little scrambled at the moment. Still, better she should spend this recovery time around her Master - so if you'll sign for her?"
Rei glanced at the woman on the bed, then took the clipboard and signed using the signature-stamp that her Master entrusted to her. Her expression didn't betray any hint of familiarity. "If you'll assist me in taking her back with me, I desire to continue the workout."
Maya Ibuki had no particular talent for violence, conspiracies, or sneakery. The consequences of being caught were now evident, and the character of her "sempai" fully realized.
Maya therefore wrote the program at home, on a computer that she had made herself. Her talents were in biotechnology and her field of specialty was in the very sort of computer technology that were the three MAGI quantum biotech computers. Her hiring by NERV and assignment under Doctor Ritsuko Akagi had been because of her genius in those fields, though from the moment she'd met Doctor Akagi she'd felt as if she were completely outclassed in terms of ability.
The difference today was that Lieutenant Maya Ibuki knew that if she failed to safeguard against it - she might end up in a VERY bad situation. Hence the development of a "safety net seed" that she'd worked out. It might take a few days to finish, but once it did the little subroutine would sit unnoticeable until certain conditions were met. Those conditions being that a certain Lieutenant Maya Ibuki found herself where a Captain Misato Katsuragi had been the previous night.
If THAT happened, the subroutine would activate and set in motion some guardian routines that were work-once-then-self-delete. IF she finished it in time, and IF it were necessary.
There were worse things than being a maid working for a martial artist boy, and Maya had no desire to explore those avenues. None at all.
Rei went back to the video and working on the treadmill, though her eyes flicked often to the woman watching her with glassy eyes.
She'd met Misato Katsuragi years ago as she had been a member of Project SOLDIER and Katsuragi had been the trainer. Several times they had met, quite often when Rei herself was recovering from some mission. Katsuragi was a good shot and a fair soldier by what Rei knew of her. She'd worked with her in the firefight at Zebra Station, and again in the aftermath of Macho Grande.
Psych trauma? Katsuragi HAD seemed to be a little shaky during that encounter. Perhaps men were not the only ones to suffer from the lack of leave?
There were little differences in Katsuragi's appearance that were not so easy to explain. She looked younger. Were her eyes a different color? The drooling was new too, but she'd seen other newly processed slaves showing motor control deficiencies.
Turning her attention back to the video, Rei thought that her time working with Katsuragi had not been unpleasant. Perhaps...
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(Posted Mon, 29 Jan 2007 08:40)
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