Major Motoko Kusanagi, ranking field agent and second in command of Public Security Section 9, awoke to an utterly shocking message being displayed in her cyber-brain interface.
"Warning: Fetal nutrient levels low. Replenish fetal nutrients as soon as possible to prevent damage to child," the message read as the border flashed red and yellow.
"What the..." Motoko wondered, checking the time and then the security video of her apartment.
According to her internal clock, there hadn't been time between when she had gone to bed and now for someone to have implanted a child in her artificial womb and the security vids displayed nothing out of the ordinary. So begged the question, just how the &$%@ did she wake up pregnant?
While most female prosthetic bodies were equipped to bring a child to term, it was a function she never imagined herself using; at least not any time soon. During the early stages of prosthetic body replacements, it was quickly discovered that many woman were reluctant to take the full prosthetic option because they would be unable to bear children. Some that did receive the full prosthetic bodies became dangerously depressed when they were unable to reconcile their maternal instincts with their inability to bear children. Researchers quickly addressed this need and developed the artificial womb.
Eggs harvested from the woman's original body could be fertilized with the selected father's DNA, or sperm if available, and then implanted in the woman's womb where the zygote would be fed with the appropriate nutrients growing as if it were in a natural womb. The woman would only need to consume the nutrients each day and in nine months, she would give birth to her child. Usually, though, she was aware of how she got pregnant and who the father was...which was a marked difference from Motoko's case.
"Chief, I've got a problem," Motoko reported to her superior, Chief Aramaki, as she sat up in bed.
"What is it, Major?" Aramaki replied, his image coming up in a communications window.
"It seems I've somehow been impregnated without my knowledge," Motoko reported.
"What?" Aramaki blinked in surprise.
"I'm pregnant, Chief," Motoko clarified.
"Battou!" Aramaki growled.
"Hey, don't look at me," Battou said defensively as his image appeared in another window. "The kid ain't mine."
"I didn't think it was, Battou," Aramaki replied dryly. "But we need to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. I want you to get over to the Major's apartment and begin an investigation as to how this could have happened. Major, I want you to get to a medical facility and find out as much as you can about this child and why it might have been implanted."
"Roger," Motoko and Battou acknowledged.
In the end, the investigation turned up absolutely no answers as to how Major Kusanagi had become pregnant. It was presumed that whoever was responsible had been incredibly efficient at covering their tracks so the questions of who, how, and why went unanswered. Divine intervention was never even considered.
What Motoko did find out was that the child was biologically hers. It carried her DNA and that of an unknown male (which was actually Ranma's). Motoko was forced to do a lot of soul searching to decide what she would do about this.
On the one hand, having a child would certainly put a crimp in her lifestyle and she would have to reprioritize her life. However, the ability to bear children was an expensive option on her body, given that it was a combat model and didn't ordinarily come with those parts, so she couldn't deny that it was something that she might not have wanted later on. There was also the fact that her ghost was whispering to her to keep the child.
In the end, she did as she normally did and listened to her ghost. She would keep the child and become a mother.
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(Posted Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:19)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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