After a small tour, Ranma was taken to what were the medical facilities on his new ship. Despite everything, he knew that this facility would probably see him the most, aside from the galley.
“This place sure is busy,” he commented, seeing the Drones mulling about, working quickly.
‘Nabiki’ had explained to him that the Drones were not like her, but extension of the ship: crew without a crew. They maintained the ship in absence of a normal crew, did chores that were too dangerous or too time-consuming for a regular crew, and were the basic work horses for the ship.
“They are dealing with a mild medical issue,” she replied.
“What issue?” he asked.
She led him towards a sealed room. “Master, when I first located your signature, I teleported everyone within the small area to the ship, as at that distance, I could not denote which signature belonged to you. You were in fact the second person I tested to see if you were my Master.”
“Huh?”
Sighing, she tried to dumb it down a little without sounding insulting. “Only a select few can be pilots of vessels like me,” she said. “And I am capable of scanning for such beings.”
“Why don’t you Captain yourself?” he asked.
She just shrugged. “We weren’t made that way, and besides, I like the company. A few ships that have gone without a Captain by choice usually end up insane and have to be destroyed, lest they try and destroy everything.”
He just nodded at that, getting the basics of what she meant. If this ship could destroy entire systems, it certainly wasn’t a power you wanted in the hands of the insane.
“So I brought the small group up and began to scan them in detail to find out which of you was my true Master,” she said.
Ranma just nodded. “And you said I was the second one you scanned.”
She nodded.
“Who was the first?”
“A nosy girl who wandered into a restricted area and did severe damage to her body,” she replied as she opened the door, revealing the room to Ranma.
He could only stare and blink at what he saw. “Oh my,” he said.
“Saotome!”
Ranma just blinked at what he saw before him, before he turned slightly towards ‘Nabiki’. “Um … is that a brain floating in that jar?” he asked.
“You’ll pay for this, Saotome!” cried a familiar voice from a device on the jar in question. What he assumed was a mechanical eye was narrowed and focused solely on him. “And get my hand off of that!” it bellowed once more, noticing ‘Nabiki’s’ hand was on Saotome’s stomach.
He blinked at that. “Nabiki?” he asked.
“Who does it look like?” yelled the brain.
“Her body was destroyed,” said ‘Nabiki’. “As such, we were forced to remove what you see before you before her life readings terminated. We are currently constructing a new body to transfer her into. But she has been most difficult.”
“Why do you look like me?” yelled Nabiki. “And why are you hanging off Saotome like that?”
“He is my Master,” said the smirking brunette. “And what few cells were not contaminated by your mistake were deemed necessary for producing a bioroid to assist him.”
“… What?”
Ranma just twiddled his fingers nervously. Oh, he knew no good would come from what was about to be discussed.
‘Nabiki’ was still smiling as she explained all that had occurred since apparently the real Nabiki had exposed herself to something called an ‘unshielded anti-matter reactor that was undergoing repairs’.
“So Ranma-baby now has a starship,” the brain replied. He could almost envision the plotting smile on her face … if she had still had one.
“Yes, he does,” smirked ‘Nabiki’, almost as if she could read the original’s mind.
It was true in that she could read the original Nabiki’s mind. Unlike the scans that had been taken of Ranma, this Nabiki was plugged directly into both the ship and the systems that gave her limited sensory feedback to know what was going on.
“And if you don’t stop devising plots to take advantage of my Master, we can simply leave you as you are,” ‘Nabiki’ responded. Even then, she designated a few Drones to research possible additions to Nabiki’s new body that was being developed to enforce her loyalty to Ranma. She didn’t want a rogue element out their threatening her new Captain if she could help it.
“I was doing no such thing,” quickly replied Nabiki. “And I am insulted you would think I was capable of such.”
“You do realize your mind is plugged into my systems,” said ‘Nabiki’, as she continued to cuddle her new Master. “I can literally read your thoughts.”
Ranma blinked at that, trying to ignore the friendly bioroid currently holding onto him. “Hey, can you find out how much I owe her?” he asked quickly.
“She actually owes you twenty thousand yen,” the bioroid replied quickly. “You paid off your loan over three months ago, she just didn’t tell you, and you never asked.”
All of the sudden, Nabiki didn’t like her chances at winning her battle for control.
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(Posted Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:18)
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