"U-chan...?!"
Ataru blinks, then gazes intently at Ukyou for a moment before he relaxes. "Normal," he calls out in that metallic-tinged voice before reverting to his normal tone. "You haven't been imprinted, I take it."
"Fortunately, no," Ukyou gazes briefly at him, then turns back to her Ranma, her cheeks awash in shamed tears. "I'm so sorry, Ran-chan. I..."
She stops, then reaches down to the cut skin around her navel. Ranma remains frozen in place as Ukyou literally pulls AWAY that skin, revealling something straight out of Star Trek: The Next Generation! Dark grey synthetic musculature, several pulsing energy tubes, more circuits and wires than you could shake the proverbial stick at...!
"You're a robot!!!" Ranma gasps, dropping to her knees in shock.
"To be precise, she's an android," Ataru walks over, kneeling beside the trembling Ranma, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. Ranma jolts at that contact, but doesn't brush it away. He turns, waving the cyberneticized chef up to kneel in front of her transformed fiance. "An android created by a nanovirus which was injected into your fiancee's body sometime ago, literally transforming her into a machine much like those ponds at Jusenkyou transformed you from a guy into a girl!"
Ranma blinks, still quite overwhelmed from what her eyes, still locked on Ukyou's exposed circuit hatch, were feeding directly into her mind. Ataru and Ukyou remain silent, giving the martial artist time to absorb what had just been revealed to her. As this happens, the Tomobiki native glances around, making very sure they weren't interrupted by any of the other loons who normally plagued Ranma Saotome's life.
Finally, Ranma lightly shakes her head before a hand reaches out to Ukyou. Sensing that, the android chef gently takes the hand, then shifts it to her opened circuit hatch, allowing Ranma to touch one of the main energy conduits which kept her alive and fully functional. Ranma seems to freeze for a moment, then relaxes as her finger makes contact with that pulsing tube. Before the martial artist could voluntarily make the choice, her own chi senses go active, reaching out into the android before her. Concentrating for a moment, she then relaxes. "Oh, U-chan..."
"Ran-chan..." Ukyou opens her arms as Ranma embraces her.
Both weep, holding each other tight. Ataru remains respectfully silence; what now happens before him was no different from the many times this ugly truth had been brought into the open in Tomobiki. Finally, they pull apart before Ukyou leans in to give Ranma a gentle kiss. For once, the transformed martial artist doesn't resist the show of affection. Finally, they break away, Ranma glancing anew at Ukyou's exposed innards. "Um, I think you oughta..." she sputters to a stop, her cheeks flaming.
Ukyou chuckles, then slides the skin section into its proper place. A soft click! is heard, then her skin instantly seals. Once that is done, the android quickly makes herself decent before standing. Turning to Ataru, she asks, "How'd you know about all this, anyway, sugar?!"
"It's happened in Tomobiki," Ataru replies as he and Ranma straighten themselves. "Almost every woman from 14 to 45 were hit by the nanovirus in the two months after the Second Tag Race." He glances at Ranma. "Far as we can figure out, this was done in response to all the weird things that hit Tomobiki since the day Lum decided to move to Earth. I..." he closes his eyes, shaking his head. "I can only assume that someone -- from where, I've just NO idea -- decided that Nerima would get the same treatment!"
Ranma blinks, then starts to shudder. "Oh, damn...!" she turns away, her arms moving to hug herself. "Then that means..."
Ataru sighs.
(Posted Tue, 07 Jan 2003 06:14)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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