She'd seen the armored GOLEM units moving into place, and she'd gone over the various concepts she could deal with. The fish factories, for example, to replenish the areas overfished by Japan's demand on nearby waters. Little details like that.
On the other hand, the autobahn would have nothing on the jetcar freeway being designed. Sort of a holographic freeway or clearly marked flightplan. Tokyo to Okinawa in a couple of hours? Tectonic stabilizers to reduce earthquake severity. Automated recycling centers. Lunar cloning tanks and organ farms.
"How so? You're already doing quite well," said the alien, leaning back into a recliner.
"It's all things that I'd like to have seen done myself," said Governor Mizuno. "What about the replicated food?"
"High nutritional value but largely tasteless for now. You can 'improve' the devices later after your economic community has had a chance to adapt." Kachoo waved it off. "It's all molecular structures anyway, just push it here and there."
"Something I don't understand," said the pediatrician-turned-Empirical nobility. "There are dozens of alien races in this galaxy as I understand it."
"Roughly two thousand, I forget the exact number. It's always changing anyway, what with some races eliminating themselves, getting eliminated by other means, or developing their first tools and moving towards sentience." Kachoo watched the shifting lights of a flying billboard pass the window.
"In that number, why us?" The Governor made a sweeping gesture. "Why decide to get involved with a bunch of ape descendents?"
Kachoo's eyes gleamed. Someone had finally asked what to him had been an obvious question. "A bowl of spiced beef broth and noodles."
"Excuse me?" Governor Mizuno asked.
"When I visited this world it was just to look around, I was suffering from ennui and wondering if perhaps my time had at last come to leave this existence and finally explore the next. I saw your branching futures being pared down to one and stopped when an aroma touched by olfactory sensor. It led me to what you call a 'beef bowl' establishment."
"'Beef bowl'?"
"That delicacy, the flavor! After that I examined your race in more detail," Kachoo said. "Your race is clever, inventive, adaptive. It is also violent, dishonest, and permiated with advances that you were clearly not ready for."
Doctor Mizuno mouthed 'Beef Bowl' as if she were still having trouble with the concept.
"Hence the idea. Your race has the potential for true greatness! You just need to get over the awkward period you find yourself in."
Midori Sato blinked. "A dating game?"
"Right! We'll draw lots and see which of the Senshi and which of our Contra-Senshi will compete!" Europa declared. "With the date each side obtains rated by the studio audience!"
"That sounds... odd. Even for the standards established previously," admitted the former weathergirl, wishing for the moment she could go back to predicting the weather. In Tokyo it was fairly easy - cold and wet, hot and wet, sunny and damp.
"It will determine this once and for all, won't it? The rest of Europe will either become part of the Union or not based on this single game," said Europa. She reached into a fishbowl with a few pieces of paper in it. "Hmmm. Looks like representing the Governed Territories will be... Himalia!"
The camera pivoted towards the Hispanic girl who could have been a Frazetta or Vallejo model. Various guys in the audience passed out with nosebleeds when she posed suggestively and winked at the camera.
"The question with me is will the poor guy be able to keep up?" Himalia asked the audience.
Europa indicated a very nervous young woman in front of a fishbowl. "Right now, a friend of the Senshi, Miss Naru Osaka, is picking a slip of paper from the bowl which will determine which Senshi will be in the contest."
"Why not have the Senshi select one?" asked Midori.
"Well, when Amalthea called them to arrange it, she reached Uranus-san who... was not receptive to the idea," said Europa with a wince.
"I don't see Amalthea," pointed out Midori. "Where is she?"
"Still recovering," confessed Europa. "She took some of Uranus' comments to heart I'm afraid."
"Ah," said Midori, not wanting to go there any further.
Naru unfolded the piece of paper and winced before reading out the name. "The Senshi competing in the contest is "
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sat, 04 Oct 2003 13:30)
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.