"Akane Tendo, you say ? Is that the name of your fiancee ? The girl this model is patterned after ?" asked Kumiko who was now busy inputing all the modifications Ranma wanted in her computer and calculating the final cost.
"Er... Yeah. I mean... Shouldn't she be aware of this ?" Ranma wasn't ready to believe in a simple coincidence. Who could blame him with a life as screwy as his own ?
"Oh, I am sure miss Tendo is quite aware there is a personacom line made in her own image. Cyberdine Incorporated always asks for the candidate's agreement and signs a legal contract for image rights before building models patterned after a living person, or the legal rights owners for a fictional character. If you want, I can always check it out..."
Ranma wasn't sure what this legalese mumbo jumbo meant so he decided to see it for himself "Ah... Okay... You do that..."
After a few clicks and keystrokes, Kumiko found what she was looking for "There ! Contract n° 2003-0452... Akane Tendo. Standard contract for personal image rights with a set fee and a percentage on sales. You can take a look. This is all perfectly legal"
Of course, Ranma couldn't make heads or tails of what was written on the screen. Why did lawyers felt obligated to use such difficult words and expressions ? His eyes wandered over the lines until he stopped on something at the end of the last page "Read and approved by miss Tendo Akane's agent... TENDO NABIKI !?!"
Kumiko was intrigued. Why did Ranma yell like that then grumbled ? "Something wrong, Saotome-san ?"
The pig-tailed boy blinked and stopped his dark mutterings "Uh ? Er... No ! No ! Actually, it makes sense now..." It was like when Nabiki sold pictures of her younger sister but taken a little farther... Okay, a lot farther ! Imagine Kuno's reactions if he learned that he could buy his own perfectly obedient Akane *Shudder* He really should ask the two of them if they were really okay with this.
Kumiko smiled, another satisfied customer "Well, I'm happy that I could answer all of your questions. The reprogramming and customization of your Akane model will only take a few minutes. Now if you could sign the bill right there..."
Ranma stared at the papers and wordlessly put his signature on the places the android salesgirl indicated him. Oh well, at least he had the perfect gift for Kasumi and had covered himself for Akane's reaction. Let's see Pig-Boy do better than that !
Kumiko finished putting the finishing touches to the sale contract. Suddenly, as she pressed Enter for the last time, a happy music started playing and colored lights flashed all through the shop. An electronic voice said loudly "CONGRATULATIONS !!!"
"Eeeh !?! What ? What !?" Ranma wildly looked in all directions, wondering what the hell was going on.
Kumiko beamed happily "Congratulations are in order, Saotome-san. Since you're our millionth client, you've won a free personacom from our newest line !" She started clapping and soon the rest of the Cyberdine personnel and the clients in the store followed suit.
Ranma thought for a second that he didn't need an android for himself and that he should refuse when the magic word reached his brain "Free...?" On some things, he was definitely his father's son "What kind of android ?"
Kumiko pressed a button behind her counter and a panel opened on the wall right next to Ranma "This is the first model from the most recent line of Cyberdine humanoid personacoms ! Her name is..."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Thu, 08 May 2003 12:18)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.