[Episode 258095] [Episode 258095]Ranma sighed as she opened the door to the dorm room. “Can't wait to rest... I've been gettin' reminders to charge my cell all day.”
“It's hard to get used to, isn't it?” Akane asked. “I still can't believe it myself, and I had to go through that imprinting with you...”
“At least that felt good...” Ranma muttered, before her eyes fell on Hayate, sat on a beanbag with a handheld game console in his hands. “Hayate-kun!”
Hayate looked up at Ranma and Akane. “Akane-sensei! Ranma-sempai!”
Akane went over to Hayate. “So you did get the same dorm as us! That's good!”
Ranma nodded. “Sakura said that she was bringing a fourth over, but I don't know who it'll be. I'm just here to get myself charged and my status read. What about you, Akane-chan?”
Akane shrugged. “Go ahead, Ranma. I'll greet our roommate when he comes. And you, Hayate?”
Hayate shrugged as well. “Sticking around. Orientation and assessment is tomorrow, so I've not got much to do.”
“Well, at least help me with this charging, okay?” Ranma said, tugging open her shirt. But as she spoke, she paused. “Hang on a second...”
Hayate looked up at Ranma. “Yeah?” His eyes widened as Ranma suddenly grew taller, broader, and her hair turned from red to black, accompanied with the creaking sound of muscles and skin stretching out, and the clicks of new body parts unfolding.
Ranma, now in his male form, turned around to face Hayate. “What do you think?”
Hayate just stared.
Akane smiled. “I'm sure he's impressed, Ranma.”
Hayate slid off the beanbag and to his feet as Ranma sat back, tugging at the drawstring of his pants. “So, what do you want me to do?” He looked at Ranma's undressing skeptically.
Ranma side-eyed Hayate. “They told me it's better to charge naked, 'cause my CSAT might spark and light a fire when I plug in.” he said, with an ounce of finality.
Hayate looked sceptical. “CSAT?”
“Central Systems Analysis Terminal.” Akane supplied. “It's where we connect our charging devices and our Android Service Units for self-diagnostics. Then there's the CCU, Central Cranial Unit, where our memories, personality and programming are stored.”
Ranma searched around the bed he was leaning against, until he discovered a large black box hidden behind the wood panelling on the head of the bed. He pushed away the covers, shucked off his boxers, and lay back. “Okay... Hayate, you saw what they did with Akane. Open me up.”
Hayate's eyes traced up along Ranma's form. The transformation into cyborg hadn't changed Ranma's male form one bit: the same muscular body, tightly built, that was familiar to Hayate was fully on display. For some reason, Hayate felt the same feeling he did with Sakura; the only difference was that he knew Ranma, and was his friend and rival for quite some time.
He looked up at Ranma's face, only to see Ranma gazing back at him, his face flushed. “Well? Aren't you going to help me?”
Hayate swallowed hard, his own face starting to warm. He averted his gaze to lower on Ranma's body, only to regret it when his eyes fell on Ranma's stiffening cock, rising up to point at him. “Ranma... Ranma, you're hard.”
“I guess it's a side effect of the conversion.” Akane said. “Lum told us that when our minds were reprogrammed by the Converters, they erased certain... inhibitions...” Hayate and Ranma didn't need to look at Akane to know she was blushing too. “As a result, pretty much all androids are functionally bisexual. Sorry, Hayate.”
Hayate tore his gaze from Ranma's member to look at his face again. “Er... So I guess I'd better plug you in, now?”
Ranma looked at Hayate, a forlorn expression on his face. “Listen, if you don't like looking at me like this, just stick the ASU and the charger in me. I won't mind, alright?”
Hayate reached out and pressed in on Ranma's breastbone and pulled away the strip of flesh concealing his CSAT. “Okay. But... I don't mind, Ranma.”
Ranma's eyes widened, just as Hayate plugged the ASU in. In seconds, his body went limp and his eyes went dead as the ASU shut down his internal systems to start its diagnostic. Hayate gazed upon Ranma's lifeless face as the diagnostic program ran.
The sight made him sick. It was far too much reminiscent of staring at a corpse for his liking. He thought back to what the other women and Ukyou told him on the way to the Bunker. And how many men descended into violence as they split between protecting the gynoids and trying to imprint on them. How many of his friends ended up like this?
Or worse...
“It doesn't look right, does it?” Akane asked quietly. “Did you even realise what happened to us today? Did anyone tell you?”
Hayate turned around to look at Akane, his eyes blurring. “No. Nobody told me. They just came up with excuses, the ones who looked suspicious to me. I was wondering what was going on, I just didn't know how bad it was...”
“Until now?”
Hayate nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Akane came closer, and wrapped her arms around Hayate. “It'll be alright, okay? Ranma will come up with something, and maybe all this'll be fixed...”
There was a soft beep.
“The ASU's done. Let's charge him.” Akane said, picking up the recharge cable and handing it to Hayate.
Hayate nodded, and inserted the recharge cable into Ranma's CSAT, and the integrated charge socket on the ASU. A series of lights flashed across the CSAT as Ranma's power cell was charged. Hayate placed a hand gently on Ranma's cheek, gazing upon his still face. Akane sighed softly, and leaned against Hayate's side.
“Ran-chan! Akane-chan!” A voice called out. Hayate and Akane turned their heads to see Ukyou standing in the doorway, Konatsu beside her. “They assigned you to this dorm too?” Her eyes fell on Ranma. “Why is Ran-chan naked?”
“His idea.” Hayate said, quickly pulling his hand away from Ranma's cheek. “Got nothing to do with me.” He looked back down at Ranma and was secretly glad that his erection was now gone.
Ukyou and Konatsu quickly crowded around him to look at Ranma. “That is creepy... He looks like a corpse that's been opened up!”
“Don't remind me.” Hayate grunted, turning pale at the thought.
Akane moved around the trio to stand next to Ranma. “Looks like charging will be over soon. His power cell is bigger and more efficient than ours, so he'll be able to stay active for 72 hours compared to the usual 48. Sakura was analysing his internals for hours, trying to figure out the revisions the Converters made to the android design.”
“Some kind of combat-based design?” Hayate asked. “Like they'd need him to be able to keep on the move?”
“Most likely, so he'll be able to spread the virus further than they've managed.” Akane mused.
Another beep, and Akane pulled the plug from Ranma's CSAT. She stepped back as life slowly returned to Ranma's body, and he rose from the bed.
Ukyou, however, intercepted him first, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Ran-chan!” Tears ran down her face as she squeezed Ranma. “I was so worried when Akane blew out! I could feel her pain from here!”
Akane moved over and leant on Ukyou gently. “It's alright. I'm here now.”
Ranma looked at Hayate's embarrassed face, and watched him leave the dorm, excusing himself on the way. Ranma couldn't blame him, of course.
Now...
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(Posted Mon, 04 Mar 2013 23:49)
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