After getting ready, the group were led to one of the ground floor rooms in the mansion where, thankfully, Ukyou was waiting for them, standing next to Ryuunosuke and Shinobu, and several other Sagussan women that Ranma recognised from the day before. Inside was a orderly row of chairs, sat in front of a large screen, LED projector sat in front between the chairs.
As Ranma and the others sat down, Megane -- one of the men Ranma had met the day before, the one with the glasses -- stepped out to stand in front of the screen. He was wearing a school uniform that Ranma had presumed came from Tomobiki High School, smartly buttoned up and pressed. It almost reminded him of Kuno, in a way, with slightly less pomposity.
"I don't have to ask you what you're here for today," Megane announced as he stepped up. "You might have gotten hints here and there, so today we're going to give it to you straight. Saotome, you met somebody you claimed to be Ataru Moroboshi, didn't you?"
All eyes fell on Ranma. "Yeah? He told me about all this. How Nerima's women have been hit by some kind of virus by some aliens called the Shouzouki, and that I had to..." She shuddered slightly as a thought passed through her mind, of Ataru somehow monitoring his imprinting of Ukyou, watching the pair of them going at it. "That I had to do that kind of stuff."
Megane's eyes narrowed through the lenses of his glasses. "And by 'that kind of stuff', you mean sexual intercourse?"
Ranma felt heat prickling her cheeks. "Yeah." She heard a couple of the Sagussan women behind him giggling like schoolgirls.
"In any case..." Megane continued. "That Ataru might've said some things that were true. This nanovirus, as far as we know, has spread mostly up to the limits of Nerima Ward, and it did originate from the ultra-patriarchal alien race known as the Shouzouki. What he didn't tell you is that the Shouzouki that created that virus is long gone. All either killed or converted by their own creation, the Converters, into robotic beings."
The projector switched on, Megane stepping aside for the image of a map of Nerima and it's surroundings to appear on the wall.
"Around a few months ago, following that incident people around here refer to as the Second Tag Race, these Converters subtly infiltrated Nerima Ward, starting within the district of Tomobiki. We don't know exactly when they managed to gain a foothold here, but when we realised it, it was already too late."
The image changed to a photo of a young woman, sat naked in a bare metal chair in what looked like a hospital operating room, her panels removed to show the bare workings underneath.
"Back then, these converted women were programmed with blocks in their personality to ensure complete and utter subservience to just any male they come across. This programming was created to ensue absolute obedience, sexual or otherwise. It wasn't long before some people took advantage of this to perform some horrible abuse on these gynoids."
The screen cycled through images as Megane continued, showing various women with their access panels removed, some with their face plates removed. Hayate cringed and turned away at the pictures of the women with missing face plates. These images were followed by increasingly horrific images, of android women dismembered or burned, their synthetic flesh ripped and melted.
"However, our friends from Sagussa were able to enginner a vaccine of sorts, to wipe the programming blocks from them and restore the gynoids' minds back to some semblance of normality. With this, we were able to help turn the tide against the Converters, and make progress into stopping their invasion of our planet in its tracks."
The screen returned to a map of Nerima Ward, with a large area coloured in blue and marked with the words "Home Base - Mendou Estate". Other areas were similarly covered and marked, highlighting other bases marked with "Mizunokoji Estate", "Toranoseishin Headquarters", "Tomobiki High School" and "Keppeki Middle School".
"The Converters have the advantage of stealth on their sides: thanks to the Japanese government and the United Nations' confidentiality agreement due to the amount of chaos that usually happens here, they have been able to operate virtually undetected within Tomobiki. But it has also worked against them, as our conglomeration of Mendou, Mizunokoji and Toranoseishin have been able to use their private militaries to help keep the Converters on Earth from spreading outside of Nerima."
"Wait, so it's not just Earth the Converters are invading?" Akane asked.
Shinobu nodded. "In a sense. There have been reports of some conversions other than on Earth, mostly connected through having a relationship with Lum-san. Because of this, the Galactic Federation is giving us funding and permission to help clean out this menace."
The image changed again, to mugshots and other photos of people that Ranma knew well. Ryouga and Mousse were there, as well as Miss Hinako, Ukyou and Shampoo, Ryu Kumon, Kuno and Kodachi, even Copycat Ken and Tsubasa Kurenai. Ranma instantly could tell that all the images had the common thread of all being of martial artists.
"This is the part where you come in." Megane said. "Furinkan and its surroundings is well-known in recent months as a breeding ground for strong fighters, as you might have surmised. Being as Furinkan and Tomobiki are in such close proximity, there have been a few people with their ear on the ground, so to speak. And we figured that the Converters might have an interest as well."
"Wait, you mean you were expecting them to turn us into robots?" Ranma asked.
"If they haven't already." Megane answered. "You, Saotome, and most of the people you know are dangerous people. Even when organic you were extremely strong, tough and fast, and with the skills of a world-class fighter. Unconverted, you would probably be able to take on some of the worst the Converters had to offer, and win. Who wouldn't want to have someone like you answering to them?"
"Hey, I don't answer to nobody!" Ranma said, as she tried to fight the feeling currently bubbling inside of her.
Megane locked eyes with Ranma. "If the Converters got to you before we did, you wouldn't be saying that right now. You probably wouldn't even be Ranma Saotome anymore. You would be the Prime Converter's pet doll, and you would love him for it."
Ranma sat back down, a feeling of cold ice gripping her chest. She looked over to see the people sitting next to her all staring at her. She looked at Akane sitting next to her, staring with worried eyes. If they could make Ranma into that, what would they do to her?
"You were our number-one priority in case the Converters would make insinuations towards trying to claim the Furinkan area, along with Tendou, Hibiki, Kumon and Konatsu." Megane counted off his fingers as he explained. "We would also retrieve anyone else following them: Tendou's sisters, your mother, Kuonji, Shampoo, Mousse, the Kunos." He raised his hands a little. "Our priorities are strictly in the terms of fighting ability and importance to you. Nothing personal."
"So... Why would you want us here?" Akane asked. "What are you planning?"
"Simple." Megane answered. "Our military power is mostly pared down to what the private forces the various clans have, plus our friends in Sagussa and their Pathfinders. While we're currently able to defend the city and keep the Converters from taking root, there's going to be a time where we'll have to fight them full force. You and your friends and rivals would certainly be an asset to us."
"So you're asking us to join you?" Ranma asked.
"That's about the long and the short of it." Shinobu said. "Unless you're feeling like backing down."
Ranma looked at Akane, then at the faces of everyone present gazing at her for an answer. The air seemed to sharpen as she looked back towards Megane.
"If I'm doing this with you, I don't want any of you guys gettin' in my way." Ranma said.
"We wouldn't want to." Megane answered.
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(Posted Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:56)
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