From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter One Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter One Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Released on: 04-26-2000 Revisions made on: 05-03-2000 Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel Notes to RAAC/TASS: This story may be categorized as a continuing series. The Matrix is the creation of the Wachowski brothers. The Ranma 1/2 series is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. Street Fighter is the property of Capcom International. No infringement or disrespect for their creativity is intended. I assume no ownership to any of the characters listed herein. This fanfic has been rated (R) by the Motion Picture Fanfic Association of America. Otaku guidance is suggested. For continuity purposes, this takes place after volume 38 of the original Ranma 1/2 series, and before Matrix 2, which is in production as of the time of this writing. This was originally written under the assumption that there wasn't going to be a Matrix sequel. Comments? Visit www.sofaspud.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Incoming phone transmission intercepted. Call trans opt: Received 13:04:18. REC: Loop Trace program running. TTY output enabled. Male voice: "It starts here." Voice identified: Perp 7b098bf - "Neo" Female voice "They're listening, you know." Voice identified. Perp a1f61d2 - "Trinity" Neo "I want them to. Don't worry... they're not that clever." Trace failure. Diagnostic program running. Neo "See?" Trinity "Showoff." Silence period noted. 3.7 seconds. Trinity "Why here?" Neo "Because they already see and accept." Trinity "Why them?" Neo "The matrix isn't perfect, Trinity. There are glitches." Trinity "Having another deja vu?" (humor reaction: chuckle) Neo "I don't mean the construct program. There's glitches in the interface..." Interface protocol: Level 7 diagnostic running. Neo "...glitches they can't fix..." Diagnostic halted. Aborting... Neo "...which they could try to exploit if we're not careful." Diagnostic reinitialized. All available resources allocated. Processor overclock subroutine for diagnostic server enabled. Trinity "What kind of glitches?" Neo "I can't describe them for you. You have to see them yourself." Trinity "We better cut this short. There's civilians around." EYEinEYE protocol loading. Output file stored to tn130418.ini Neo "I'll take care of that." Call termination. EYEinEYE protocol: This program has executed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, please contact the program vendor. File corrupt: tn130418.ini. Abort, Retry, Fail? ~~~ It was still early morning in downtown Nerima. Trinity parked her motorcycle alongside the wall to the Tendo dojo. The doors to its entrance were wide open, so she took a small step inside. No-one had noticed her yet, but she could see a dark haired woman with her empty hands above her head as if she were carrying an invisible weapon of some kind chasing some boy across the premises. Her weapon wouldn't remain invisible for long. "Raaaaaanmaaaaaaaaa!!!" Akane screamed as her 3.7 ton wooden -thing- known respectfully as "Mallet-sama" materialized in her hand. "YAAHHH!!" Ranma quickly headed in the direction of 'anywhere but here', a direction once known only by a certain yellow-bandana wearing rival of his. He made his exit with one of his patented twenty meter leaps over the fence and onto a nearby roof, followed in pursuit by Akane. Trinity's dark glasses concealed her reaction, but had she not been wearing them her eyes might have fallen out in shock. She just witnessed a regular person -create- a substantially LARGE weapon and hoist it as if it were a feather. There is no mallet... there is no mallet... there is-... "Go get em', Akane! Beat em' good!" Happosai cheered. "What did my boy do this time?" Genma inquired. "He let Akane discover my new hiding place for some of her unmentionable treasures that I kindly appropriated just recently!" Happosai raged. "Dare I ask where might that be?" Genma inquired. "Ranma's underwear drawer!" he answered. "Master, how could you do that to my son?!" Genma yelled. "Ah, but Genma, it is all but essential training for young Ranma! That ingrate... after all I've done for him...!" "Just what kind of training are you talking about?" "Well, I was hoping that he'd find dear Akane's brassire and panties and try them on for me..." Trinity BLINKED. "Oh. -That- kind of training. Well, I'm sure my SON is quite grateful, master. As HIS humble father, allow me to express my gratitude!" Genma exclaimed as he attempted to crush Happosai with a nearby tea kettle. Happosai, in one swift move consumed the entire contents of the tea kettle as he grabbed Genma's wrist and hurled him and the kettle into the air. Genma landed in the pond, and the kettle landed on Happosai's finger. He balanced the kettle on his finger for a moment, then set it gently on the table. The whole move took place in approximately four seconds... seven if you count Genma's hang-time. Genma remained underwater for quite some time. A few moments went by, then eventually a sign and a tiny white flag emerged from the water. "Forgive me, master!" The sign read. Trinity face-faulted. "How could anyone move that fast?!" She face-faulted again when Genma emerged from his pond as a panda. "That's one MAJOR glitch..." Trinity silently muttered. "Pretty lady!!!" Happosai exclaimed, seeing Trinity standing at the front entrance. Trinity caught a glance of the small piece of living beef jerky, and then he disappeared. Strangely, she now felt this strange shriveled piece of -something- adhered to her chest... She glanced down and saw the strange man groping her. 0.01 seconds. She extracted him from her chest... 0.03 seconds. ...drop kicked him... 0.06 seconds. ...straight upward into her fist... 0.09 seconds. ...knocking him downward into Trinity's kick again... 0.1 seconds. ...and repeated this process 10 times, totaling one complete second of rapid-fire, turbo button triggered, super rave finishing move comboed pain. The gun might've been more merciful... but then again, a dose of good ol' fashioned pain never hurt anyone. Trinity quickly left the premises in pursuit of Akane and Ranma. On the way she whipped out her cell-phone and vigorously punched in a phone number. "Hello, this is Neo. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now Trinity, but if you'll leave your message, the time you called, and a few choice words reminding me of how much you love me, I'll gladly return your call at my earliest convenience, or until you calm down, whichever comes last. -BEEP!-" Trinity used some -very- choice words indeed, all quite loving. ~~~ The Nebuchadnezzar operator room. Neo, Tank, and Morpheus were staring at a screen of small bits and characters scrolling across it. To the untrained eye, they would look like perhaps an entirely new language. To them, it was more vivid than a picture. "You chose well, Neo..." Morpheus assured. "...but be careful. I don't want another Cipher incident." "Tank, prep up an extraction room about a block away from Trinity's location." "Already done." Tank smiled. "Shall we?" Neo motioned to the interface couches. "Oh, just so you know, Neo..." Tank called. "Trinity left a (cough) message. She wasn't quite happy with you. You might wanna try to stay on her -good- side..." "You'd think she never spoke to an answering machine before..." Neo mused as he plopped down into one of the interface couches. "Tell her to meet us there with the 'kids'." Morpheus said, just before he slipped into the matrix. ~~~ "I am called Trinity." She respectfully bowed, remembering her Japanese customs lessons. "Akane Tendo." she replied with a bow. "That fool under the mallet over there is Ranma." "Akane and Ranma Tendo, eh? Nice to meet you. Tell me how you-..." "Ranma SAOTOME, not Tendo! We ain't related...!" Ranma carefully removed himself from under the heavy mallet. "...yet." he ever-so-silently whispered. Trinity remained unfazed. "I was watching you two a few moments ago. How did you learn to leap like that?" "Huh? Oh, that. Training. Lots. Don't try it at home." Ranma brushed some debris off his shirt. "And you, Akane. Where did that mallet come from?" "Well, uhm... I dunno. It's just always there when I need it. I never really thought about -where- it came from..." "GUN!" Ranma yelled, pointing to a man in a dark suit and tie wearing sun glasses standing at the other side of the alley of which they were in. The man held a Colt 45 pistol leveled straight at Trinity's head. -Click-. 0.01 seconds. Akane pushes Trinity to the ground, both narrowly missing the bullet. 0.15 seconds. Ranma launches a concentrated Moko Takabisha blast. 0.27 seconds. Blast hits its intended target, the gun. The bullets inside it explode, blowing up the agent's hand. 0.34 seconds. Ranma charges up to the distracted man. 0.50 seconds. Kachu tenshin amaguriken!!! 1.00 seconds. Man is incapacitated and collapses to the ground. After a moment, it abandons the body it possesses and morphs back to the form of it's original owner, an office secretary, still unconscious with a pulped hand. "NO! I wasn't trying to kill... wait a-..." Ranma looked closer at his vanquished opponent. "Where'd this girl come from?!" "Agents can move from body to body. If only you -had- killed him... You're in danger now." she turned to Akane. "...and I think I owe you one." "But... but... I just... KILLED someone!" Ranma flustered. "And what the hell kind of agents are those anyway?!" Trinity calmly pulled out her cell-phone and made a call. "But... but... but...!" Ranma pointed to the corpse as he cringed with a nervous twitch. "Morpheus, there's a problem. Agents know we're here." a pause. "Yeah, we're fine for now. You'll love this... the boy just took one out." another pause. "You heard me." "I didn't mean to...!!! I... I... " Ranma yelled. "...Morpheus, we've got to protect these two." "Hey! We don't need anyone's protection!" Akane yelled. "...what's your location? We've got to get them out NOW." "Out of what?" Akane questioned, a look of confusion painting her expression. "...I know it's their choice, but they just attacked an agent! They're dead if they remain, no matter how good they are. You can forget that blue pill." "HELLO?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Akane questioned, her temper reaching critical mass. "...I understand. We'll meet you there." Trinity closed the flap on her cell-phone. "They'll be after you now. We need to get you out. "Out of -what-?!" Akane erupted. "Will you hold up for a minute and explain it to me already?!" "You'll be sorry you asked that." Trinity warned. ~~~ "Are those two 'them'?" Neo questioned as he adjusted several settings on a small terminal. "Yes. This is Akane and Ranma." she answered. "SAOTOME Ranma and TENDO Akane. I don't know you people quite that well yet, thank you." Ranma interjected. "In reality, names don't matter." Morpheus ominously stated. "What do you mean?" Akane questioned. "I don't have a lot of time to explain." Morpheus replied. "Actually, you do. I still need a few more minutes to get things set up." Neo interjected. Ranma gave an exaggerated cough. "I'm all ears." Morpheus sighed and began his lecture. "Have you ever felt a strangeness in your daily life? A strangeness that felt like a dream you couldn't wake up from? Something that felt... off? Something that felt like it couldn't possibly be real?" "Oh...hell...yes." Ranma replied with conviction. "That is the matrix." "The what?" Ranma questioned. "What is the matrix?" Akane inquired. "It is the world around you. It is everything. It is the wool pulled over your eyes to mask you from the truth." "What truth?" Akane inquired. "That it's not real." "HA! If only it were...!" Ranma exclaimed. "Yeah, really." Akane agreed. "What do you mean?" "You are trapped in a computer generated reality." Trinity answered. "Need an example? Try your mallet, Akane. That's one of many glitches caused by an incompatibility between you and the Matrix... glitches that might come in handy against the machines." "You mean, I'm in a virtual reality right now?" Akane asked. "Yes." "And you want to wake us up?" Ranma inquired with a chuckle. "Yes." "THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE WE WAITIN' FOR?!" Ranma sarcastically yelled. "C'mon, man! Beam me up or whatever the hell it is you gotta do! This oughta be good!" "This isn't a game, Ranma. I'm being totally honest here, so I must tell you that there's no turning back once we do this. I offer you one last chance. Take the blue pill, and life as you know it continues. Take the red pill, and I show you just how big of a nightmare you've been living, and what you can do about it." Morpheus held a pair of each pill out to them. "Nightmare...?" Akane skeptically questioned. "There's a string attached, however." Morpheus added. "I can't guarantee that life outside this 'reality' is any better, but it will be -real-. All I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more, nothing less." "Then what's to stop me from taking the blue pill if it's not any better?" Akane inquired. "Are you nuts, Akane?! The way our lives are, what would be the difference?" Ranma inquired. "If you take the blue pill, then the story ends here. But keep in mind, you two fought against an agent a short time ago." "What's so special about them?" Ranma inquired. "How can I describe this..." Morpheus mumbled "Think of them as video game henchmen using cheat codes." Neo stated. "COOL! Can't wait to see the bosses..." Ranma chuckled, still playing along. "If you remain here, they'll hunt you down, and there's little that they -can't- do to you." Trinity added. Akane scowled. "Are you trying to frighten me?!" "The truth tends to have that effect." Morpheus answered. Akane gave a questioning glance at Ranma. "Don't look at me, Akane. I don't know what to tell you." Ranma grabbed the red pill. "You believe them?" Akane asked. "Ha! Not really, but hey, I've tried damn near everything else..." Ranma replied. "Waking up from la-la land doesn't sound any weirder." "FINE! See if I care!" Akane vented as she grabbed the blue pill. Morpheus offered Ranma a glass of water to drink the pill down. After taking a small sip, the glass was offered to Akane. She remained motionless as she stared carefully at the blue pill. "What are you waiting for? Take the pill, Akane." Morpheus said. Akane remained completely silent, staring ominously at the pill held in her open palm. "You're curious, aren't you?" Morpheus inquired. Akane's reply was shattering silence, continuing to stare at the dark, sickly greenish blue pill. "You know what they say about curiosity." Morpheus muttered. "Ignorance is bliss. What you don't know can't kill you." Akane remained silent, continuing to stare at the strange pill in her palm. Her eyes blinked in nervousness. Once... twice... on the third time, the pill was no longer blue, but red. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Akane popped the red pill in her mouth without hesitation, and took a small sip from the large, overfilled glass of water. "Have a seat." Ranma and Akane sat in the two chairs as Trinity placed several small monitoring devices on them. "Try to relax. You're in for a ride." Neo said. Morpheus pushed a button on his cell-phone. "Tank, anything yet? ... We're gonna need a signal soon." "Akane...?" "Yeah, Ranma?" "Could this really have been just a dream all this time?" Ranma nervously inquired. "I doubt it, but... we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" Akane replied, trying to keep a tone of optimism. "What if-... what if you're just another part of my dream?" "I was just about to ask you the same question..." They both held a moment of eerie silence as they considered the possibilities. "Well... it's not as though I'd miss you or anything." Ranma remarked. "Hmph!" Akane grunted. "My thoughts exactly." A wall of cold silence separated the two for the briefest of moments. "Ranma..." "Yeah?" "Do you really think we are?" Akane hesitantly asked. Ranma sighed. "Y'know, for what it's worth, Akane... I hope not." He smiled as he grasped Akane's hand. "I got a lock on the girl." Neo announced. "Things might get a little freaky from here. Whatever happens, just keep calm." Trinity suggested. "Freaky? What do you-..." "Do it." Morpheus ordered. "HUAAAAAGGGHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!!!" "AKANNNEEEEEE!!!" Ranma yelled as Akane digitally dematerialized in front of his own eyes. "What happened to her?!" "She woke up. You'll be with her shortly." Morpheus calmly answered. "You... you tricked me! You killed her!" Ranma erupted. "Calm down. She's out of the machine. She'll be fine." Trinity said. "Bring her back NOW!" Ranma ordered as he tried to struggle some of the connectors off. "Is he restrained?" Morpheus asked out of forethought. In a swift move, Trinity strapped a thick restraining belt over Ranma's torso just as he was making a move to get up. "Let me GO!" Ranma yelled. "Got a lock!" Neo announced. Ranma flailed his arms around trying to grip -anything- that he could use as a weapon. He knocked the glass of water, shattering the glass and spilling the liquid on him. No-one noticed Ranma change forms, all of them more concerned with their task at hand. "Shit! I lost him!" Neo exclaimed. "Wait... got him again! What the...? What's up with these readings?" "What's wrong?" Trinity asked. "Never mind that now. Hit it, Neo!" Morpheus ordered. ~~~ "A-a...kane... where are you...?" Ranma quietly muttered, staring up at a ceiling with a rather bright medical light looming above, lying on an operating table impaled with several acupuncture needles. "She's resting. She had quite a shock. Are you... Ranma?" a vaguely familiar voice inquired. Seeing with blurred vision, it was impossible to make out a face. "Yeah..." Ranma struggled to answer with weak and raspy vocal cords. "Jesus..." the familiar voice muttered. "What?" Ranma weakly inquired. "I just thought... uhm... that you were a guy." ~~~ Want to read the next chapter before anyone else does? Visit www.sofaspud.org and send an email to XStylus with a not-so-brief review of what you thought of this story. (No one-line 'this was good' praises, please. C&C is encouraged.) As a thank you, I will give you the URL to a site with the latest chapter. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Two Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Two Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Released to RAAC on: 5-31-2000 Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. All previous chapters are archived at www.sofaspud.org. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The walls... a sickly yellow with a greenish hue. These were the walls of an interrogation room. The table... stainless steel, with firm utilitarian chairs around it that were rough, but ergonomically comfortable. At them, a boy sat opposite of another man who was wearing a dark lab coat. Unlike most lab coats which were usually white, this one was a mysterious dark grey, and since when does a scientist wear sunglasses indoors...? "...and all that we're asking in return is your cooperation in a small experiment we're conducting." the man spoke. "Yeah... well that sounds like a really good deal." the boy muttered. "But I think I got a better one..." The man leaned forward to closely hear the boy's counter offer. "How about you give me my cure, and -then- you can have your guinea pig." "Hmm... Mister Hibiki..." the agent in the lab coat muttered. "You can't screw me around. I know a fake when I see it!" Ryoga vented. The agent presented Ryoga a green pill along with a glass of ice water. "Do you now?" Ryoga grabbed the pill and looked it over. It looked far too much like flu medicine. "Do we have a deal, Mister Hibiki?" Ryoga inspected the pill further. "You know... I know this is too good to be true. I know that when I put this in my mouth my mind is telling me 'This is it! I'm gonna be cured!' After a mess of false miracles, you know what I realize?" Ryoga pessimistically questioned. The agent patiently awaited the forthcoming answer as Ryoga ingested the pill, and then splashed himself with the ice water. His attitude did an immediate about-face. "Miracles really do happen!" "Then we have a deal." "Anything! I owe you everything, doc!" Ryoga beamed, his attitude doing a complete about-face. "When do we start?" "We're already done." the lab-coated agent said. ~~~ "Where am I?" Akane asked, lying down on a makeshift medical bed in Trinity's room since the sickbay was already occupied. "You're on board our ship, the Nebuchadnezzar... in the real world." Trinity explained. "Real world? Where the hell do you think I've been all this time... KANSAS? Where's Ranma?!" "Resting. So should you." "I want answers. NOW." Akane demanded. "No, you don't." Trinity muttered. "Don't you DARE tell me what I-..." "Trust me, you don't." Trinity interrupted. "Get some rest. The answers are coming." "I want to see Ranma." "Yeah... listen, about Ranma......" ~~~ Neo was standing just outside the sickbay doors. He had a situation that was going to take a lot of explaining to the poor girl in the sickbay. A moment later, Trinity walked up to join him in his contemplation. "Did you ask her, Trinity?" Neo inquired. "She said something about a curse. Cold water supposedly makes Ranma female, and hot water makes him male." "The machines must be getting sloppier than I thought." Neo mused. "She assured me that Ranma's actually a guy." Trinity said. "Does that look like a guy to you in sickbay there? This could get real ugly real quick." "I WANT TO SEE AKANE!" a female voice yelled from another room. "It already IS ugly." Neo commented as he and Trinity dashed into the sickbay. Morpheus was already in the room when a certain -subject- turned matters from bad to worse. "What happened?" Trinity inquired. "What happened?!" Ranma mocked "Something -ain't- happening, that's what happened!" she exclaimed as she dumped a pot of hot water on herself. "Ohhhhh shit." Trinity mumbled as she rushed out of the room heading for her room where Akane was resting. "What's the problem?" Tank inquired as he rushed into the room. "You'll be sorry you asked..." Neo muttered. "What in the HELL did you do to me?!" Ranma raged. "Just calm down, Ranma." Morpheus said. "I will NOT calm down! I... I will... not... ooogg..." "Easy now sweets..." Tank said as he caught Ranma as she fell unconscious.. A scream was heard from one of the far rooms. "WHAAAAAAT?!" Akane shouted. Morpheus sighed. "Enough of this. Tank, load them up." ~~~ "Ooog..." Ranma woke from his unconsciousness to find himself on a comfortable bed, and back in his MALE form, much to his relief. As he looked around he found... nothing. A blank white void. "Do you feel better?" Morpheus asked. "Wha...?! Where am I?" Ranma inquired. "Where are the walls?" "You're inside a computer program, in what we call the construct. I decided that we should talk in here while your body rests, and so that you could be back in your male form." "While my body-..." Ranma shuddered. "Tell me that was a dream..." "That, my friend, was real. If anything could be called a dream, it's this." Morpheus waved Ranma's attention to the empty space of the construct. "Just as this reality is a fake, so is your body. When you leave here, you will be female again." Ranma pushed the implications of that answer out of his mind for the moment. "Akane... I've got so see her. Where is she?" he nervously asked. "She's in another construct, talking with Trinity." "Another what?" Ranma questioned. "What the hell is going on?! Please tell me what in the hell is happening...! Have I gone crazy?" Morpheus sighed. "We have a lot to talk about, my friend." ~~~ "...I've heard enough!" Akane sobbed, sitting in a room devoid of -anything-, similar to Ranma's construct with Trinity sitting opposite of her. "That can't possibly be-... machines using us for-... for..." She broke down even more as she tried to finish her sentence. "I really wish it were, Akane. I really do. That's why we're here. We fight for a future without the machines." Trinity explained. "Why Ranma and I?" Akane wiped several tears off her cheek. "You know that mallet of yours?" "What about it?" "You're the first person we've -ever- met who can spontaneously create an object. Do you know how valuable a skill like that can be?" "So that's it, huh? You want us to be your SOLDIERS?!" Akane ranted. "That's a pretty rough way of looking at it, Akane. Would you rather live in a fake world, or would you rather fight for a real one?" "My friends... my family..." Akane muttered. "They're not your real family, Akane." Akane began to glow a slight tinge of red. "HOW DARE YOU!" Akane fumed. "It's the truth, Akane! If I were to free them out of the matrix right now and do a DNA test it would show that you're totally unrelated to them. They're all random souls grouped to form a family. It's all part of the illusion. None of it is real, Akane. NONE of it." Trinity elaborated. Akane fell to her knees. "None of it... none of it was real... not even my fiancee..." "Fiancee?" "Ranma's my... my fiancee." Akane tearfully muttered. "Oh my god..." Trinity covered her mouth, fearing her jaw would fall off. "AND ALL THIS TIME HE WAS A GIRL DAMNIT! Why couldn't the damn machine have gotten THAT right?!" ~~~ "I don't care if I'm -actually- a girl or not! I was raised a guy and I'm gonna BE a guy! I ain't gonna act like no damned girl!" Ranma shouted. "Trinity's a woman. Does she act any differently than anyone else?" Morpheus asked. "Huh? Uh, no... but that's not my point!" "I hope not, because I don't get it." "I'm not gonna go around picking flowers, acting cute, wearing dresses..." "Picking flowers...? What are you... OH!" Morpheus burst out with a roaring laugh. "Ranma, I just look forward to the day when we can -grow- flowers! I'm sorry for misunderstanding. There's a few things I forgot about life in the matrix." "Uhh... now -I'm- lost." Ranma muttered. "We're a little too busy fighting for humanity to be worried about things like flowers or dresses, my friend. You've got nothing to worry about. I don't think anyone really cares." "But still...! I was raised a guy and... uhm..." "Weren't you listening? There's no real difference. Here when a person looks at you, they see -you-. The rest is details." Morpheus explained. "I... I don't want guys coming on to me." Ranma nervously muttered. "Oh... so that's it." Morpheus mused. "No big deal. If they ask, you politely tell them no." "No-one I've ever met took no for an answer." "Then you politely -deck- them until they do." "Sounds like something my father would say..." Ranma muttered. "On this ship, I'm everyone's father. We are a family, and you and Akane are the newest additions to it." Morpheus patted Ranma on the back. "Just so you know... you, uhm... -do- have a second option." "And that is...?" Ranma inquired. "You can politely accept." "EXCUSE ME?!" "Or don't. It's your option. By that time maybe you'll have adjusted to-..." "I will NOT adjust!!! I... AM... A... GUY!" Ranma vocally interrupted. "So be it. Be whatever you want. The only person who cares is you." Morpheus wisely stated. "There's two facts you need to wise up to first. Fact one, you're a girl. Fact two, there's nothing wrong with fact one." Ranma was about to argue, but reconsidered. "I don't have a lot of say in the matter, do I?" Ranma inquired. Morpheus shook his head. "Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?" Ranma mumbled. Morpheus gave Ranma a glare. "You better make sure everyone knows I'm -already- engaged." Ranma muttered. "That was in your life in the matrix, Ranma. That's something you'll have to let go." "I will NOT! I... I... ...I love her." Ranma paused for a moment to contemplate her words. "Dammit, I really do..." "The woman you love is in the matrix. You can't go back to her." "Wrong. She's right here." Morpheus was silent for a moment. "Akane?" Morpheus inquired. Ranma nodded. ~~~ "Well, you love her, right?" Trinity inquired. "HIM!" Akane shouted. "HER." Trinity retorted. "And you'd better get used to it." Akane remained silent, but reluctantly nodded. Trinity sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I grew up in the matrix, and I remember how strange a woman in love with another woman was. Let me just tell you that here in the real world love is rare... too rare to let 'details' spoil it." "But... if Ranma and I still... I mean... what will everyone think?" "Do you really want the brutal truth?" Akane nodded. Trinity hesitated before answering. "They'll think that you two are the luckiest people alive." ~~~ "You mean that?" Ranma inquired. "I envy you, Ranma. When you left the matrix you were able to take with you the only real thing you had." "And that is...?" "Something you and Akane share. Something that's rather rare in the real world. It'd be a shame if you lost it." As Ranma thought about Morpheus' words, a tear slowly trickled down his cheek. "If you hope to build a future with her, you have to let go of the fake life you've been living. Now I ask you, are you ready for that?" ~~~ "No..." Akane answered. "But I'm ready to try." "Are you ready to take the one piece of your life that you two have left? Are you ready to take it before you lose it?" Trinity asked. ~~~ "Yes!" Ranma and Akane both shouted as they awoke from the construct, finding themselves strapped into an interface couch. "...Ranma?" "...Akane?" They looked at each other for the first time since being freed from the matrix. They both had very short hair which, although growing quickly, left them looking slightly unfamiliar to the other at first. Akane took a moment to carefully look Ranma over. Indeed, Ranma was quite female. The heavily worn clothing Ranma wore was quite large for Ranma's small frame, but Akane could see that she was every bit as 'accented' as she had been in the matrix. Ranma took this same moment to look at Akane. Her crew-cut hair didn't suit her in the least, and the plugs strewn about her arms and the back of her neck spoiled some of her beauty, but Ranma knew that the person sitting before her was the Akane that he... no, she had grown a fondness for. "Akane... I... I..." Ranma nervously muttered. "Shut up..." Akane tearfully replied with a loving smile. "Just shut up you dummy." Ranma and Akane ran to each other and hugged, which was but only a prelude to a heartfelt kiss that brought them both to tears, complemented with applause by an audience of Neo, Trinity, Tank, and Morpheus. "I can arrange for you two to be alone for a while..." Tank said. "We're doing just fine, thank you." Akane smiled as she wiped her face. ~~~ "They've been locked in that room for half an hour. What are they doing in there?" Tank inquired. "Talking, I think." Neo muttered. "You -think-...?" Tank wryly inquired, eyebrows raised. Neo scowled. "What are you suggesting?" "Oh... nothing." Tank gave an exaggerated smile. "Neo, is it me or do you sound a bit bothered?" Trinity inquired. "It's not you." Neo replied. "The matrix doesn't normally make glitches like that." "A girl who can make objects from thin air, a man who changes into a panda, people who jump twenty meters or more... I'd say the matrix is having a rough day." Trinity mused. "A man who changes into a panda?!" Tank questioned. "You had to be there." Trinity muttered. "There's another thing. Remember when we were getting Ranma out of the matrix I lost the lock at first? I got it back, but it wasn't the same." "Didn't Ranma get splashed with water just before?" Trinity inquired. "I dunno. I wasn't watching." Neo answered. "Tank, establish a link with the matrix informational node. Let's see what's on the news." "You got it. Let's see... ah. Here's the sports section..." "Can it, Tank." "You're no fun." "Wait! That right there!" Neo pointed to a small list of coordinates on the screen. "I remember those. That might have been the first lock." "What's the rest of it say?" Trinity asked. "More coordinates, links to a project in progress, mentions the loss of a supplemental component... a replacement... hmm. Looks like a status report." "Sounds like they're building something." Neo muttered. "In a populated cluster of the matrix?" Trinity inquired. "I guess so." "Coincidence?" Trinity asked. Neo raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?" Trinity grinned. "Tank, you think you can get us into that cluster?" "It'll be tight..." "Plan it out. Let me know when you're ready." Neo ordered. "Until then, I've got some kids to train..." ~~~ "Just be quiet." Akane softly muttered. "Akane, I..." "Shhhhh. Quiet." "No, Akane. I..." Ranma flustered. "No words, Ranma. Just accept it." Akane said with a kind smile. "You always were and always will be the man I love." "Please, Akane! I..." "Quiet, you dummy!" Akane kindly chided. "You don't have to mmmphhhh!!" Ranma put her hand over Akane's mouth. "Would you be quiet so I can say just THREE words please?" Akane reluctantly nodded. "I...love...you." Ranma said as she released her hand. "There. I said it." Without hesitation, Akane burst into tears and hugged Ranma. "Y-you're... you're all I have left, Akane." Ranma added. "Thank you for not leaving me." she wrapped her small arms around Akane and kissed her forehead . "I will never, never leave you, Ranma." Ranma smiled. "So which one of us is the tomboy now?" Akane's tears ceased as she glared at Ranma. "Ah. There we go. That's my Akane!" Ranma chuckled. Akane's glare slowly disappeared into a slight grin. "Dummy." "Macho chick." "Pervert!" "Careful... you can be hit with that one yourself you know." Ranma replied with a chuckle. Akane scowled. "Tomboy!" she shouted. Ranma flinched, caught off guard by the new insult that strangely now applied to her. "Gotcha!" Akane exclaimed victoriously. "I'm real good with double edged swords, Ranma." "And tables, and mallets, and frying pans..." Ranma chuckled. -Knock- -Knock- "It's open." Neo opened the door and walked in. "If you two lovebirds are done..." Neo said. "As a matter of fact, we're not." Ranma muttered. She took hold of Akane and planted a deep kiss, her lips on hers. "Now we're done." "Oooo... very nice. I give it an eight." Neo commented. "So... Trinity tells me that you two -think- that you know martial arts." "HEY!!!" Akane and Ranma shouted in unison. "Don't like hearing that?" Neo inquired. "No, we DON'T." Akane curtly replied. "Want to do something about it?" "You better believe it. I've got a reputation to uphold." Ranma replied with a wistful grin. "Good. I look forward to getting my ass kicked. Load up in the construct in 15 minutes. Akane, you'll fight Morpheus. Ranma, you'll fight me." ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Three Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Three Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Released to RAAC on: 7-7-2000 Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is a sparring program, similar to the programed reality of the matrix. It has the same basic rules, rules like gravity. What you must learn is that these rules are no different from the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken." Morpheus explained. "Or rewritten." Neo added. "Sorry, I'm not in the practice of cheating." Ranma said. "-They- are." Morpheus replied. "Akane and I shall go first." Akane nodded as she walked to the center of the dojo, bowed, and faced her opponent. Thus, began the battle. Akane's first attack, a gorilla strength forward thrust, was easily dodged. She continued with a series of all-out attacks, leaving a lacking defense which was an open invitation to Morpheus who had already managed to get in several cheap hits. "Good." "Good?! I haven't even gotten a hit on you yet!" Akane shouted. "Don't be so critical on yourself. You haven't even had any training yet." "I've had a lot more than you!" Morpheus grinned. Akane launched another flurry of attacks, all of them again just as easy to block as they were the first time. She now added a few kicks and foot sweeps into the mix, some which Morpheus wasn't expecting, but was still able to dodge or block. "Am I too fast for you?" Morpheus questioned, blocking a two fisted strike, returning the favor with a knee to her stomach. "How...?" Akane mumbled. "The battle is in your mind, Akane. Fight smarter. Know that your strike will hit." More punches, more kicks. Akane tried a grappling maneuver in an attempt to throw Morpheus across the dojo. She was a little confused when she found it was -her- being thrown. "You seem to focus more on strength and power than speed. That's fine in the real world." Morpheus explained. "You forget that this isn't the real world. Try using that to your advantage." Morpheus leapt high into the air, intending to make a descending strike. Akane countered by leaping into the air with him before he could even execute the strike. Into the air they hung as the moments in time slowly passed. An unsuspecting Morpheus caught off guard by the surprise attack, and Akane in the air meeting her attacker having a clear advantage. -KAPOW!- 0.1 seconds... 0.2 seconds... 0.3 seconds... 0.4 seconds... Akane fell hard to the ground gasping for air, the wind knocked out of her lungs. Morpheus landed at the opposite side of the dojo unharmed. He walked over to Akane and offered her a hand to help her up. "You need to work on your defense. It's quite lacking. I see that you're quite confident of your own strength. That's very important. We're only halfway there though. Now you need to find your speed." Akane coughed, still slowly recovering. "Find my speed?" "You'll do better once you learn how to use your skills more efficiently in the matrix." Morpheus explained. Neo stealthy walked up behind Ranma and tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she turned around and scowled at Neo. "Me and you, young lady." Neo smiled, having already won a tiny victory. "Let's go." Ranma gritted as she thrust a fist at her palm. "By the way, how come you're in female form?" Neo asked. "Don't ask me, ask the machine." Ranma replied. "All the machine does is interpret your self image. Are you starting to see yourself as a girl?" Ranma scowled, but remained silent. "Have you ever fought as a girl before, Ranma?" Ranma nodded. "Yeah, now and then." "You'll get plenty of practice, I promise you." Neo said with a sly smile. "Whenever you're ready. Ladies first." Enraged, Ranma launched the first attack, a short leap towards Neo with her fist straight on target for Neo's head. Just millimeters away from connecting, Neo dodged. Ranma, wasting no time, launched a spinning kick which was easily ducked. Neo returned the favor with several kicks, a cheap thrust to Ranma's stomach, and an even cheaper foot sweep. All of them were blocked or dodged. "Very good!!" Neo praised. "You're holding out on me." "So are you." Neo gave a challenging smile. Thus, as they battled on, the stalemate continued. Neither had managed to register a hit on the other, each attack either having been blocked or dodged. Neo was definitely holding out on the boy. He knew every attack Ranma was going to pull at precisely the same time the computer managed to translate Ranma's command of the attack. "You're still holding out!" Ranma yelled. "C'mon, little girl! Show me what you can do!" Neo taunted. "FINE!" Ranma flared. Neo's eyes went wide as he read the command Ranma's mind was executing to the matrix. "Sweet Jesus! What the-...?" Neo gaped. "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Neo managed to block every punch, but barely. "Wha...?! How... how did you block those?!" Ranma questioned. "Not easily, I assure you." Neo took a moment to catch his breath. "That was quite a workout." "You're faking." Ranma muttered. "You're not tired in the least, aren't you?" "Am I that bad of an actor?" Neo asked as he dropped his tired facade. "I'm sorry about taunting you like that. It seemed to be the best way to get you to go all out." "Hmph." Ranma grunted. "I'm no girl, punk. I can take twice as much as you can dish out." "Maybe, but can you strike back twice as hard though?" Neo inquired. "That was an incredible move, but I hope you weren't expecting it to bring you an easy win." "Maybe if I was a guy..." "Ah ha. I figured you'd say that." Neo grabbed his cell phone from a pocket Ranma didn't think a karate gi had. "Tank, a little magic please." Ranma's image fuzzed in a ball of static for a moment, and then rematerialized into male form. It wasn't a perfect illusion, as Ranma still had red hair, but it was close enough. "So... let's try that again, shall we?" ~~~ For Tank, fifteen minutes passed for what seemed like well over an hour in the construct. As the training session came to an end, Tank deactivated the construct program and walked over to the command couches to help Trinity remove the entry plugs as they woke. Morpheus, first to be unplugged, walked over to Ranma's chair to greet her as she awoke. "Congratulations, Ranma." "In all honesty, I didn't think you could do it." Neo added. "I knew she could." Trinity interjected as she helped remove Neo's plug. "You were still holding back. Don't deny it." Ranma muttered, still waiting for her plug to be removed. "That's because I programmed his interface that way." Tank snickered. "Why?" Akane inquired. "He's untouchable without them." Trinity answered. "No-one's untouchable." Ranma retorted. "I saw your moves the moment the construct interpreted them. My interface in the practice construct attenuates the processes that let me respond to them." Neo explained as Tank unplugged him. "How come you can... I mean... how do you see his moves before he even makes them?" Akane asked. Neo chuckled and shook his head. "I'm hungry, Trinity. How about you?" Neo inquired. "Not a bad idea. Morpheus?" Morpheus motioned her to lead the way. "After you." "Wait a second! Answer my question!" Akane yelled. "Hey! I'm hungry too! Unplug us!" Ranma whined. "After your training." Morpheus said as he left with Neo and Trinity for the mess hall. "Training?" Ranma questioned. "Uh huh." Tank affirmed. "First, let's have a replay of your fight with Neo. I think you'll find it interesting." Tank keyed up the fight on a nearby view screen. Ranma had just rematerialized into male form, and another fight had just begun. "Let's fast forward to the moment of triumph, shall we?" Tank muttered. Ranma and Neo were standing at opposite ends of the dojo. Neo was in a defensive stance, and Ranma was preparing for an all out offensive. Confident of success, Ranma charged at Neo just like the first time. "KACHU..." Ranma noticed the image of himself on the screen beginning to flicker. "TENSHIN..." On the screen, Ranma changed to female form. "AMAGURIKEN!" Neo managed to block all of the punches... except one. One was all Ranma needed, and Neo was down for the count. "Good fight, huh?" Tank asked as he turned off the view screen. "Special effects complements of yours truly." "NO WAY! I beat him while I..." Ranma exclaimed. "Yep, while you were a girl. You knew you could do it, and you did. You knew you had the power to take him out, and you did. Now tell me... how was that different from the first time?" Tank asked. "I... I don't know..." "Bingo. You didn't know. Did you think you could beat him as a girl?" "I thought I could... I wasn't too certain..." "There's half of your problem. You think too much. Knowing is better. You knew you could do it as a guy, right?" "I knew I could get at least one punch in... and I knew if I placed it right and put enough into it I could take him out." "And that's precisely what you did." "Because I knew I could do it?" "Now you're getting it." Tank answered. He walked over to his console and shuffled through a few disks. "Okay, then what happens if I -know- I can get a hit in, but my opponent -knows- he can block it?" Ranma asked. "That's where skill and creativity comes in. If you're matched for skill in there as well though, then you're in for a long fight. Keep in mind, confidence wears down eventually, just like stamina. It's all a matter of who tires out first." Tank explained. "Gee, you're awfully quiet, Akane." Ranma muttered. "I'm still thinking about how many hits he got on me. Come to think of it, I never worked on defense much..." Akane mumbled. "Oh I can fix that reeeaaaal quick." Tank said as he pushed a button. "HUAAAH!!!" Akane shouted as information was being shunted into her mind in a disorienting manner that can only be described as a painless headache. "What was that?!" "That was a refresher course on some of what you already know." Tank said as he held up a disk labeled 'Kempo'. "Did you... no... no way! That's no way to learn martial arts!" Akane shouted. "DO NOT use that on me, do you hear?!" Ranma demanded. "Huh?" Tank blankly questioned. "You DON'T learn martial arts by simply loading it into someone's mind like a program!" "This is stuff you need to know!" Tank argued. "Maybe those disks can teach the moves, but not the spirit. It doesn't teach the -art-!" Ranma said. Tank remained silent for a moment, then eventually conceded. "Fine. If you have enough confidence in your own skills then that'll be enough. There are other things you have to learn though, and for the moment I have you held captive in that chair there so you're gonna learn em' whether you want to or not! Welcome to kindergarten, sweets." Ranma sighed. "Fine, fine. But no martial arts, and don't call me sweets." "Whatever. Here we go..." Tank winked at Ranma. "Hey! I saw tha-... HUAAAGH!" Ranma yelled as a flood of information surged her brain. "Is she always that easy to tease?" "Afraid so..." Akane answered. Finished with Ranma's first lesson, Tank ejected the disk labeled 'Rand McNally's Matrix Atlas'. "So, Miss Ranma... are you ready for junior high?" he asked as he held up another disk labeled 'The idiot's guide to really nifty GUNS'. ~~~ Ranma was in her room practicing her kata. She chided herself several times as her body, weak and out of shape, had difficulty performing what was once a relatively easy move. Her concentration was further weakened as she heard a knock at her door. "Come in." Ranma shouted as she feebly attempted to continue. "How was training?" Trinity inquired as she walked in. "Can you say 'information overload'?" Ranma muttered. "Ah. One of those headaches." Trinity payed closer attention to Ranma's kata. "What'cha doing?" "Making a mockery of the art, it seems. I can't even perform a simple kata!" "We were only able to rebuild your muscles to a point. Time will have to finish where we left off. They have quite a few years of catching up to do." Trinity explained. Ranma sighed. "I guess my art got left in the matrix too." Trinity smiled. "Maybe not. Do it again." Trinity observed as Ranma carefully went through her kata once again. Ranma grunted as she made a few mistakes, fewer than the first time, but still annoying considering that this was once such a basic kata to her. As she finished, she noticed that Trinity had been trying to imitate her. "That's one the training program didn't teach." Trinity commented. "I've been training most of my life. I doubt those programs have even half of what I learned." "What martial art is it?" "The Saotome School of Anything Goes martial arts." "'Anything goes'?" Trinity skeptically commented. "You made that up." Ranma glowed in fury. "I...did...not." Ranma viciously said. "Sorry! I didn't mean..." Ranma's fury slowly cooled. She eventually waved her hand to dismiss the subject, deciding that there were better things to argue about. "So what brings you?" "I got bored." Trinity answered. "I figured I'd drop by to talk. Akane's been making herself scarce practicing with Morpheus all day. She's quite determined." "Stubborn is more like it." Ranma chuckled. "How did you two meet?" Ranma sighed. "An arranged marriage between her parents and mine." "So... you love her out of obligation?" Trinity inquired. "No! I love her because I... I... actually -love- her. Had our parents not forced our relationship and just let things be..." "Why the arrangement?" "To join our martial arts houses together, inherit the Tendo dojo, carry on the Saotome school of martial arts... that sort of thing." Ranma replied. "I wonder what their thinking now. Their two heirs... gone for good." "Were you looking forward to carrying on the school?" Ranma sighed. "Yeah, actually." A tear formed in her eye. "Once I got rid of that damned curse I was-..." "You're crying." Trinity observed. "I don't cry!" Ranma wiped a teardrop from her eye. "Dammit... y'know, I've always been afraid that one day I'd end up stuck as a girl forever. I-... my father would be ashamed, I'd lose Akane, I'd... I'd have to live as a -woman-..." More tears flowed down her cheeks. "Jesus, Ranma... is it that bad? I don't see what the big deal is. I know -I- don't have any regrets. That's all emotional baggage you should have left that in the matrix. And believe me, I don't think you'll be losing Akane anytime soon." Trinity tried to be of some comfort, wiping more tears from Ranma's cheek. "By the way, girls don't cry either." "They don't?" Ranma asked. "Well... there is one exception." "And that is?" Ranma asked, wiping the last volley of tears from her cheek. "It's okay if you have a shoulder to cry on." Trinity smiled. "Gee... thanks." she sarcastically commented, tears drying from her face. "Y'know, in... in the matrix it -was- a big deal." "What was?" Trinity asked. "Being a girl?" "Yeah." Ranma answered. "Out here, well... everyone treats me as just another one of the guys. That's all I ever really wanted..." "We're all just another one of the guys. Some of them like to play a little though. I noticed Tank's taken a hobby of using you a few various pet names and gestures here and there." "I'll rip him a new airway next time he does." "He's just playing, Ranma. Try playing back. Maybe you'll get back at him." "Oh please." Ranma muttered with a sarcastic glance. "Get used to it, spoil sport." Trinity chuckled. "C'mon now... Ms. high-and-mighty martial artist can't take a little tease?" "Yeah, yeah... yuck it up why don'cha.." "So tell me about this martial arts school of yours. Did you have any students?" "Not really." "You do now, sensei." ~~~ "The matrix is a system, Akane." Morpheus walked across a crowded crosswalk in the opposite direction of an oncoming flurry of people. Akane struggled to follow close behind, bumping carelessly into several people along the way. "That system is our enemy." Morpheus waded through the crowd effortlessly. The people were giving him a wide berth. "You look inside and what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, carpenters, doctors..." "My friends..." Akane interrupted, still bumping into people. "Are you sure?" Morpheus questioned Akane bumped into a rather familiar doctor. "Dr. Tofu!" Akane exclaimed, looking behind to the familiar doctor who continued onward, completely ignoring Akane. "Focus, Akane. Are you paying attention?" Morpheus questioned. Akane turned to Morpheus, her lips moving faster than her words. "B-b-but that w-was-...!" "Look again." The man she looked behind to see wasn't Dr. Tofu, but instead an agent looking much like the one Akane and Ranma had fought. "Freeze it." Morpheus ordered to the sky. The people in the construct froze accordingly, as did the agent who had his gun leveled right at Akane's forehead. "What the hell...?!" Akane shouted. "That was a friend of yours, wasn't it?" "How did you know-...?" "I know enough to emphasize a point. You need to let go, Akane. Your friends, your family... all of it." "Why and how in the hell would you expect me to do that?" "Because so long as they're still connected to the matrix, they are your enemy. If you expect to survive, you'd better steer clear of everyone you can. One moment you could be talking to your best friend..." "And the next...?" "There is no next." Morpheus tapped on the gun on the agent's hand to add emphasis to his point. "Allow me to introduce you. This is a sentient program. They can move in or out of any part of the matrix. They can be anyone, and yet they are no-one." "Ranma and I fought one of them... and it's body changed into-..." "...Into the body's original form. That is how they move throughout the matrix. They possess a body and they do not leave that body unless it becomes damaged. Consider a body taken over by an agent to be as good as dead." "Then what do we do?" "We run." ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Four Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Four Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Released to RAAC on: N/A Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel and the various members of the FFML. Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the navigational deck, Tank was looking over several charts on his screen trying to plot several possible courses through several impossible corridors. "Tank..." Neo called as he climbed up a short ladder to the deck. "I've brought the ship just outside the corridor. It'll be tough trying to fly this barge through those shafts..." "We're not going to stay. Just get me a look." "Yeah, well I still don't like it. Let's get this over with." Tank carefully piloted the Nebuchadnezzar up a cramped shaft which led to the matrix habitat, a cluster filled with people all wired into the matrix. "Easy does it baby..." Tank muttered as the ship escalated up the shaft, narrowed by thousands of rows of body vats. "What's that up there?" Neo asked, pointing to what appeared to be a rather normal body vat, with the exception of a large amount of wires and tubes interconnected into it and to the empty vat to the left of it. "That must be the experiment." Tank deduced. "That empty vat to the left with all the wires... was that Ranma's?" "Yep." "Why's the vat to the right of it empty too?" "Let's see..." Tank mumbled as he scrolled through several files. "That was Akane's." "This is no coincidence. Get us in closer." Tank keyed in several commands into the computer, and the ship responded accordingly as it moved closer to the vats in question. "Didn't we get a list of coordinates from the matrix info node?" Neo asked. "Hang on..." Tank keyed up another view screen which recalled a small amount of data. "A project in progress at-... Neo, these coordinates match these vats here." Tank read. "It lists a critical component lost... more coordinates..." "Yeah, yeah... what component?" Neo impatiently asked. "Cool it, will ya? I'm working on it!" Tank stressfully shouted. "There we go. Let's see... wait a-... these are coordinates Ranma's vat!" "Ranma was part of some experiment?" "Hold the phone, there's coordinates for a replacement here... and it's that guy right there." Tank pointed to the vat above the 'experimental' vat. "Looks like they haven't rewired their 'replacement' yet. Think we can find him?" Neo asked. "Heh... good luck. You don't even know who you're looking for." "The proverbial needle in a haystack, right?" Neo questioned. "Let's get the hell outta here." "I hear that." Tank quickly plotted a return course down the habitat. "Patch me into the matrix info node again. I want to know what this damned experiment is about." Neo said as he situated himself into one of the interface chairs. "You got it." Tank replied. "Hey Neo... should we tell Ranma about this?" "Let's not give her anything else to worry about. Work on figuring out what we're dealing with first." Neo answered. "I wonder what Akane's part in this is though..." "She's probably a farm body." Tank muttered flatly. "What's that?" Neo questioned. Tank gave Neo a strange look. "You don't know?" ~~~ Once again, the agents found another poor soul to harass as they questioned the man in their dreary colored interrogation room. The agents remained poker faced as usual, yet the man being questioned remained calm and collected, as if he'd been through this before. "We know you to be an acquaintance of this perpetrator. Any help you could give us would be... ...appreciated." "You can have what's left after I'm done with him." the man said with a venomous voice. "I'm sorry?" "I never would have believed that Ranma would go so low as to conspire with terrorists..." the man's fist turned white as he clenched it tightly "He needs to be brought to justice, along with his terrorist co-conspirators." "I'll see to his 'justice' personally. Please, don't be harsh on Akane. Ranma must have pressured her into-..." "I'm not authorized to make any guarantees. Tell me, am I correct in assuming that you have a dispute with the perpetrator?" "You could say that. If I ever come across him... ...he's good as dead." To punctuate his point, the man slammed his clenched fist into his palm. "I see..." the agent mused. "You're enrolled with our experimental program, are you not?" "I think so... why?" "One of my associates was recently lost in the line of duty." "What's that got to do with me?" The agent gave a rare smile. "Mr. Hibiki, Would you be interested in a job?" ~~~ "Okay... they're in." Tank said as he activated a special sparring construct exclusively for Ranma and Akane. "They won't be out for a while." "Good. This is stuff they don't need to hear quite yet." Morpheus muttered. "Now... what's this I hear about a weapon?" "I haven't seen all the data yet, but from what I do know, Ranma was a surrogate mind for a human weapon they're constructing." Neo paused to allow the shock of such an idea set in. "They were using her mind to keep the body alive while they engineered an AI mind for it." "Wait a minute... how did they do that without killing Ranma's real body?" Trinity asked. "Her mind controlled the vital functions of both bodies. It looks like they went to some trouble to keep her alive." Neo explained. "Why?" "Simple... why waste a perfectly good farm body?" Tank answered. "A farm body?! That's the LAST thing we need on this ship." Trinity remarked. "Akane's in the same boat too." Tank muttered. "Of that, I am certain. I'm not so sure about Ranma though. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't place bets against it." "Two of 'em?! Aww shit..." Trinity cursed. "What's the problem?" Neo asked. Trinity glanced at Neo with a haunted look. "He doesn't know, Trin." Tank muttered. "Know what? Someone please tell me what the hell I'm missing here!" Neo exclaimed. "I think I left a program running..." Tank said. "I'm gonna go grab some food..." Trinity added. "I think it's time for Ranma and Akane's next lesson." Morpheus mumbled. The three quickly departed Neo's company. "Aww, c'mon! What gives?!" Neo shouted. ~~~ The same agents that had been harassing Ryoga earlier that day were on a warpath. Next on their list of people-to- push-around were the occupants of Nerima's epicenter of chaos, the Tendo dojo. Genma and Soun were in a heated argument with the agents within moments after they arrived. "Lies! My son would never dishonor our family and our art by allying himself with terrorists!" Genma ranted. "Your son has already committed a murder, Mister Saotome. An office secretary, an innocent bystander, was killed by them during our attempt to apprehend a known terrorist." the first agent explained. "Akane Tendo obstructed our agent just as we were about to arrest the terrorist, and Ranma Saotome launched an attack at our agent. His attack missed and struck a defenseless woman instead." the second agent elaborated. Kasumi, overhearing the conversation, knew that their story didn't add up, plus it screamed in total unbelievability. Ranma missing his target was unlikely. Ranma striking an innocent bystander was impossible. Ranma striking a -female- bystander, innocent or not, was unfathomable. Nabiki was at a total loss. She knew her potential brother-in-law and her sister were being railroaded, but in this case she truly didn't know where to begin. Her contacts usually revolved around money. Enough money could buy off government officers, but the secret service was notorious for unyielding determination. This was a challenge Nabiki feared she would fail. "I don't believe you! There's something you're not telling us!" Soun retorted. "We have told you all that you need to hear." the first agent said. "Should they return, you are expected to contact us immediately. We will be in the area." the second agent added. "Get out. GET OUT!" Soun raged. As the two agents made their way to the exit, they caught a glance at Nabiki and Kasumi. The agents stared at them blankly for several moments, making both Tendo daughters quite nervous. Nabiki recognized the glance and shuddered realizing from her own experience what it signified. The two agents were assessing herself and her sister for purposes she refused to even begin to speculate. ~~~ Morpheus, linked into the interface chair along with Ranma and Akane, coughed a small amount of blood. "Morpheus!" Tank, who was previously distracted, focused his attention on his console as he quickly pushed 'abort'. Within moments Morpheus, Ranma, and Akane awoke from the practice construct. Morpheus coughed. "Ugh... feel better now, I hope?" "No... I don't!" Ranma bitterly answered as Tank unplugged her interface. Tank noticed a baneful sneer on Akane's face as he unplugged her from the construct interface. "Get over it."Morpheus said as Tank unplugged him as well. "What happened in there?" Tank asked. "The jump program." Morpheus answered. "Okay, that might explain why they're pissed... but what happened to -you-?" Tank inquired. Morpheus walked over to Tank's console and placed a password on the record of what happened in the construct. "Don't tell me -you- fell..." Tank pondered the thought for a moment. "C'mon, it can't be that embarrassing." Morpheus remained briefly silent, a silence to be broken by an order to Ranma and Akane. "Keep quiet about it." Morpheus redirected his attention to Tank. "We're just letting out a little healthy frustration, Tank. It's long story. I'll tell you later." "But..." "Bring us up to broadcast depth. We're going in." ~~~ C:> Zion data core juncture three online. Access code? "Neo, five zero omega, seven two beta, zero four gamma." C:> Recognized. Awaiting authorization code. "Spoon." C:> Accepted. Command? "Search data retrieved from MIN regarding experiment 2501." C:> Parameters of search? "Incorporate all information available about experiment 2501 and compile a report." C:> Standby... ... ... report completed. Experiment 2501. No description available. Objective: Zion/Human command ship infiltration via placement of AI hidden operative. Equipped with weaponry and defense immune to known human counterattack weaponry such as static cannon and EMP. Progress: Several previous attempts at this experiment were unsuccessful, due to the experiment body rendering itself 'brain dead' during the mind reconstruction procedures. In later experiments this was resolved by binding a normal human mind with the experimental body while the AI mind was being constructed separately in the background. Steps can be taken to prevent the 'brain death' of the donor mind's body during this procedure with minimal difficulty. This is a preferred method, as it eliminates the need to painstakingly purge the experiment body of the donor mind since it is easier to simply transfer the mind back to it's original body. This also does not waste valuable human resources. However, this leaves the link between the donor mind and experiment body vulnerable to interference. One such vulnerability was encountered when the donor mind interacted with another project. At that time the AI mind was at a sufficient state that it could maintain the experiment body during the interruption, however further construction on the AI mind could not continue until the link was reestablished. The link was eventually reestablished shortly, but from that point on the link was subject to random interruption. The donor mind was eventually removed from the matrix, causing further delays of the experiment. However, a new donor mind was shortly found, and progress resumed. At the current rate of progress, completion is expected within two cycles. C:> Command?: "Search for identity information on the new donor." C:> Standby... ... ... initiating M.atrix I.nformation N.ode back- orifice protocol... completed. Searching... ... ... search successful. Warning, search parameters are under encryption. Decryption protocol initiated. Estimated time: 23.1 minutes. "Search for more information related to the other project." C:> Searching... ... ... search successful. Project 1701 (Abandoned): The Jusenkyo Project... ~~~ "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Matrix express. Please fasten your seatbelts, we shall be departing the station shortly. All aboard!" Tank initiated the Matrix interface, linking Morpheus, Ranma, and Akane into the world they once called their life. The three ended up at a small lobby payphone at a closed hotel within walking distance of Ranma and Akane's hometown, Nerima. The phone, the only thing without multiple layers of dust, rang as the three got their bearings on their location. Morpheus, wearing his usual super-formal 'gonna-change- the-world-and-be-home-in-time-for-cornflakes' attire, took a moment to don his frameless sunglasses and adjust his tie, both of which strangely seemed to only add to the aggressive fashion statement his leather jacket presented. Morpheus casually walked up to the payphone and answered it. "We're in. All clear." he spoke. Ranma and Akane inspected their attire and found themselves wearing something that was shockingly different than their normal day wear. Akane, on one hand, looked like she had taken 'dress for success' lessons from Trinity. Her skin-tight leather looked aggressive enough to be considered sexy, yet dark and proper enough to be worn to someone's funeral. Ranma's attire was dominated mostly by varying shades of red, all staying clear away from the color spectrum of pink. The pure white shirt and light red pants were conservatively simple, yet the red trench coat, only slightly lighter than her hair, strangely gave off an occultly sexy aura which Ranma wasn't sure that she liked. The professional, yet aggressive ensemble presented by the three clearly conveyed the message 'Corporate Mercenary'. "Uhm... what am I wearing?" Ranma flatly asked. "Consider it your work uniform. Dignified, professional, yet easy to fight in and conceals weapons well." Morpheus answered. "I had another of my crew who dressed the same way. She preferred nothing but white though." "Hey, I didn't say there was anything wrong with it... yet. It's just... different." "You should have taken some time to choose then." Akane said as donned her sunglasses. "I could have arranged for a combat leotard..." Morpheus muttered. "Har, har. This is just fine thank you." Ranma took a moment to assess her attire in better detail. "Hmm... not bad. It's decent." Ranma reached behind to feel her hair. She discovered that it was now just a little longer than shoulder length, and no pigtail. "Hey-...! The hair! What's with the hair?!" Akane reached into Ranma's jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Although the face was mirrored, they had a dark green tint, perhaps specifically made with Ranma's fashion sense in mind. "Put em' on and let's go already." ~~~ In the interface room, Neo was working at the operator's workstation still trying to search the matrix for whatever information he could find. As Neo remained diligently focused on his task, Trinity quietly walked into the room unnoticed. "Whatcha doing, Neo?" Trinity asked as she playfully leaned on Neo's shoulder. She smiled as Neo flinched in surprise. "Just a little homework." Neo resumed his work and typed a few more commands into his terminal as it continued its search. "Learn anything?" Trinity inquired. "A little. I found out a few things about that curse Ranma had. Check this out..." Neo summoned a small report onto the screen. Project 1701 (Abandoned): The Jusenkyo Project. Objective: An experimentation of human adaptation through temporary radical modification of a human's appearance. Progress: Abandoned. No useful data was yielded from this experiment. Experiment continues to function for entertainment purposes. "Okay... so what?" Trinity questioned. "Crazy stuff, huh? Makes you wonder..." Neo muttered. "Whatever the machines are smoking, it must be expensive." "Machines don't smoke." "Ever spill your drink in a computer power supply?" Trinity thought for a moment. "Huh... that would be expensive." Trinity chuckled. Neo smiled. "Point for me." Neo returned his focus to the report. "Anyway, that's the experiment that caused Ranma's little water problem. There's more to it, though. You heard that Ranma's mind was linked to support the AI body, right?" "Yeah, yeah... go on." "Well, get this." Neo summoned up a lengthier report onto the screen. "Ranma was being used as a life support tool for the AI body while they tinkered with its mind. As a side effect, Ranma was perceived in the matrix as a guy since the AI body was male." "Then what?" Trinity muttered, harboring a slight tinge of disinterest. "Fortunately for Ranma, he got caught up into this other experiment and ended up with a curse that changed Ranma into a girl, hence, her normal form. That consequently messed up the link between her and the AI body." Neo explained. "So... how is this information useful?" Trinity questioned. "It's isn't." Neo bluntly answered. "I just thought it was interesting..." "Jesus... quit wasting time and try finding out something useful, will ya'?" "I am!" Neo rebuked. "I'm trying to find out the identity of the new body the AI body is linked with." "Oh. Well, uhm, okay then." Trinity absently muttered. "Yes, I suppose that would probably be a good thing." "And speaking of which..." Neo typed a few functions on his console. "There we go. 'Bout time it finished. Let's see, his name is..." ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Five Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Five Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Released to RAAC on: N/A Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ranma and Akane quietly entered a small apartment and prepared for their meeting with a person who, from what they were told, had traveled all the way across the Pacific Ocean just to meet them. The apartment was incredibly tiny, as were most apartments in Japan. It consisted of no more than three rooms, one almost too small to even be considered a room, yet served as a kitchen, the second being the dining room, and the third being a modest bedroom. "Hello, Ranma. Have a seat." the oracle greeted. "Akane, could you wait outside, sweetie? I'll see you in a moment." the oracle lit up a cigarette as she patiently waited for Akane to leave, allowing a private conversation between herself and the questionable child sitting before her. "Uhm... I'm..." "No need for introductions, Ranma. I know all about you. I had a nice long trip across the Pacific just so I could meet you. I don't do that for just any stranger, you know." she sat down opposite of her. "Nice clothes." "They're not quite my usual style." Ranma replied. "What should I call you?" "Grandma sounds appropriate." "I'm sorry...?" Ranma questioned. "Eh... maybe it's a little early for that." the oracle mused. "So tell me, son, how's life?" the Oracle asked. Ranma flinched. "How'd you know I was a-..." "Don't ask questions, dear. Just accept. Cookie?" she offered Ranma a tray of freshly baked cookies. "Thanks..." Ranma sighed, then ate the cookie in her hurried eat-now-cuz'-you-might-not-get-to-later style. "Life is hell." The oracle laughed. "Heh, heh... yes, that it can be. Was it any better here?" "At least in here I was a guy..." "But son, you aren't a guy." Ranma flinched again, then glared at her. "If the matrix hadn't existed and if all was right with the world, do you know what you'd be doing right now?" the Oracle asked. "I'd probably be at home training with Akane." "Heh. Bridal training, maybe... tea ceremony training, maybe..." she chuckled. "You'd have been raised a wonderful, beautiful girl and you wouldn't have given it a second thought." "Well I -wasn't-, so I try not to give it ANY thought." Ranma grumbled. The oracle flicked some ash off her cigarette as she assessed Ranma's appearance. "If only I had a daughter like you." she added. " I'd have made sure you were brought up right and got set up with a loving husband." "Hey now...! Do you mind?!" Ranma yelled. "Heh, heh... you're no fun." The oracle chuckled. "Son, I don't think you know how close something like that came to being a reality. The only reason you were a boy was because of the matrix." "Should I be upset or happy about that?" Ranma muttered. "Eh... none of it matters anymore, really..." she took another puff of her cigarette. "...except when it comes to Akane." "What about her?" Ranma asked. "Well... what about her?" "I... I -do- love her." "Why did you stutter?" "I... I... I..." Ranma flustered. "Calm down, I'm only kidding. Just trying to give that gray stuff between your ears some exercise." she puffed her cigarette some more. "But still... she's your last tie to your life in the matrix. Your family, your Art, your life... it's all gone except for her, am I right?" Ranma thought carefully about her words. "Yeah..." "What does Morpheus and the gang think of your relationship?" "Well... they don't seem to mind. They kinda think I'm lucky." "So you're saying they approve?" the oracle asked. "Hmm. They should know better." "Excuse me?!" Ranma raged. "I don't care for your opinion! I love her, and I don't want to lose her! I'll... I-I'll just have to accept life as a... l-le-lesbi-..." "Whoaaaa, don't go there son. That's not at all what I meant." "Then what DID you mean?" Ranma inquired. "You'll understand later." the oracle answered. "What you really want is to keep a piece of your life from the matrix." she took yet another puff of her cigarette. "You don't always get what you want, you know." "You're starting to sound like a certain pesky old ghoul I used to know..." Ranma remarked. "I'm not the only oracle, son." The oracle gave a sly smile which quickly faded. "As I was saying... Neither of you would openly admit your love back when you were in the matrix, yet here you are, both women no less, willing to charge blindly forward together." "Damn right!" "Notice I said 'blindly', son. You better watch where you're going." "Is there anything wrong with..." "With Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo being in love? Nope, nothing wrong with that. That was their destiny in the matrix. But... those two lives died... or -should have- died when you left the matrix." "What do you mean?" "You haven't let go, Ranma. The ship is sinking, and you're using Akane as a life raft." Ranma took a moment to let her words set in. She was unsure of how to respond, until she thought of Akane's own water 'problem'. "Akane doesn't know how to swim." "Precisely my point." The oracle muttered. "Then what's keeping me afloat?" Ranma inquired. "What makes you think she's jumped the ship yet?" The oracle placed her cigarette in an ashtray. It was still burning, but it was still at full length as if it had just been lit. ~~~ "We have a problem." The head agent turned his attention to his scientific peer who was sitting at a small workstation, wearing a dark gray lab coat. "The AI mind has developed an anomaly. We will have to restart from scratch." the scientist informed. "Explain." the head agent demanded. "The companion mind linked with it has an incompatibility which has transferred to the AI mind. Mister Hibiki apparently has navigation difficulty within the matrix." "That's your problem to fix. Besides, the AI mind won't be in the matrix. It'll only be used in the outside." "The anomaly will cause the AI mind to also have navigational problems on the outside as well." "WHAT?!" the head agent shouted in a rare display of anger. "Damn you, we have invested too much time in this! The bioelectronic defense systems have already synchronized with the body! Find a way to work around this 'problem'!" "Indeed, there is always another option..." the scientist said with a cunning smile. ~~~ "C'mon in, sweetie. Sit wherever you like." The Oracle instructed. Akane obeyed the request accordingly. Ranma was patiently waiting outside as Akane began her session. "What exactly am I doing here?" Akane asked. "No real reason. Morpheus just thinks that it's important that I talk with some of his crew now and then. I care for them like children, you know." "Oh really now...? Does that mean you're going to start calling me 'daughter'?" Akane pessimistically asked. "Heh, heh... I'm nobody's mother, sweetie. Grandmother, perhaps." She poured herself a cup of coffee while Akane contemplated her words. "I think 'sweetie' will do you for now." "I'll bet you got pet names for everyone else too..." Akane mused. "Just you." The oracle grinned. "So... what shall we talk about?" "Hey, you're the Oracle. You tell me." "Hmm... good point. Alright then, how does it feel?" "How does what feel?" "You decide." A cheshire-cat grin formed on her face. "I don't get it..." Akane's frustration was slowly building. "Think of something." "Think of what?!" Akane raged. "How does -what- feel? How does it feel to have lost everything? To lose my family? To love a girl? Huh? Gimmie a hint!" "You just gave yourself quite a few." The Oracle calmly sipped her coffee, unfazed by Akane's fit of rage. "Have you always been so quick tempered?" Akane flinched, then scowled. "Dear me... Yes, yes I can see you are." she shook her head sympathetically. "Please continue. Try the last one. That oughta' be gooooood." "Which one...? 'How does it feel to love Ranma'?" "No... how does it feel to love a -girl-? Nice dodge though." "Ranma's not a girl!" "Yes he is." "No she's NOT!" "You called him a 'she'." The Oracle observed. "You called her a 'he'!" Akane retorted. "So I did. You can't say that I threw you off then." she took yet another sip of her coffee. "Plus, you just called him a her." "But-... awwww damn you!!!" "Gotcha." the oracle chuckled. "Tell me, sweetie... do you think you'll work it out?" "There's nothing to work out! I love HIM!" "Of course you do. Unfortunately 'he' is dead. Want a cookie?" she said so matter-of-factly, smiling as she offered her guest a tray of cookies. "Wha-...?! No, I do NOT want a cookie, you old hag!" The oracle chuckled. "What's so funny?!" "'Old hag'... I like it." "It -wasn't- a complement!" "I know." the oracle smiled. "Wait, back up the truck... DEAD? What do you mean?! She's standing right outside in the hall!" "Do you mean the girl I was talking to just a moment ago? I'm talking about the young man you knew in the matrix." "They're the same person!" "Indeed they are." Akane sighed. "You're not making any sense." The oracle took yet another sip of her coffee. "You've heard the rule 'You can't take it with you', right?" "Yeah..." "You've been caught cheating, sweetie." "Excuse me?" "Ranma and Akane are gone." she took another sip of her savory coffee. "You two took your emotional baggage with you, and that's where you cheated. You still love him, and because of that you are having trouble letting go of your life from the matrix." "I don't HAVE to let go." "No, you don't. The captain of the Titanic sure didn't..." "Huh?" Akane gave a confused look. "Don't die with the sinking ship, sweetie." Akane took a moment to ponder the Oracle's words. "I don't know how to swim." Akane muttered. "That's because you were angry at anyone who tried to teach you." The oracle replied. "Sink or swim, Akane. Curb that rage of yours, and I'll bet you'll find someone who's still willing." The oracle set down her cup of coffee that she had been nursing sips from for the length of the conversation. Akane hardly noticed that it was still filled to the brim. ~~~ "We have your first assignment." "I'm ready." Two agents stood face to face with each other, both wearing the attire fitting to their occupation. The younger put on a discrete earpiece, donned a pair of sunglasses, and adjusted his yellow and black bandanna. The older agent removed a thirty-eight caliber automatic from inside his vest, slammed a full cartridge into it, and aimed it squarely at his apprentice's forehead. "My colleagues question my idea of inviting someone like you into the ranks." the agent muttered. The agent spun the gun so that the handle was in an offering position to the understandably nervous trainee. "You'll need this. This weapon was made custom, since you have some... ...limitations that we do not. Regardless, you must first prove yourself capable of the job. Complete your assignment successfully, and the job is yours." the agent explained. "That won't be necessary." The trainee refused the pistol. "Yes, it will. It's required for your assignment." "What IS my assignment?" the trainee questioned. "Your assignment is to use this gun." "On... on Ranma?! I'm a martial artist, not a marksman!" Ryoga exclaimed. "You are a secret service agent. This weapon is your badge, and your job requires that you carry and use it. Do so, or I'll find someone who will." After a moment of contemplation, Ryoga reluctantly accepted the gun and placed it in his vest. "Wise decision, Agent Hibiki. You will be working with Agent Jones and Agent Williams. I recommend you get going." "Aren't they going to escort me?" "You are to provide your own transportation." "Uh..." the trainee big-sweated. "I might need a little bit of help getting there." "I don't believe that will be necessary." "Where am I going anyway?" "If I tell you, there -will- be a problem. Just head for somewhere. You'll get there in time." ~~~ "There's some people I want you to meet." "Where are you taking us?" Morpheus questioned. His question was quickly answered as they found themselves standing at the doors of Nerima's frequent epicenter of chaos. "Home..." a homesickness entranced Akane muttered as she stood outside the gates to the Tendo Dojo and residence. "No. This is NOT home." Morpheus sternly rebuked. "We're leaving. NOW." "Wait! I was going to introduce you to everybody!" Ranma took off her sunglasses, allowing her eyes to accent her words. "Can't you get them out too?" Morpheus remained rock firm. "We can't simply go about releasing anyone we feel like. You have to let them go." "I've had enough of people telling me to 'let go'!" Ranma shouted, venting some repressed anger. "I'm going to go see them! They'll at least be glad to know I'm okay..." "Ranma, listen to me... all it's going to do is make both them AND you hurt more when you have to say goodbye to them, not to mention the dan-" "Shut up, okay?! Just shut up." Ranma gritted, cutting Morpheus' speech short. Akane proceeded through the entrance gate, followed by Ranma. Morpheus was not pleased. "...Hello?" muttered a kind voice standing just outside the household. "Oh! Father, we have guests!" "Dammit to hell...!" Morpheus gritted. He stayed out of view just outside the gate, but in a position where he could observe. "Kasumi! It's me!" Akane yelled. She took off her sunglasses, revealing the tears shed for her joyful reunion. "Hey pops! C'mon out, ya' old freak!" Ranma shouted jokingly. "Shit." Morpheus cursed. Nabiki joined Kasumi outside a moment later. "Is that... Ranma?" Nabiki questioned. "Ha! Check this out everybody, Ranma here actually grew some fashion sense! Love what you did with the hair." "Aw come ON, Nabiki!" Ranma whined. "Oh my, Akane! When did you start dressing like that?" Kasumi gently inquired. "Yeah, really. You've -got- to tell me where you got that from." Nabiki added. "Uhh, well..." Akane bigsweated. A split second later, an elated Soun and Genma whisked past the two girls, tearfully shouting their child's name as they hurried toward their children. "Akane!" "Ranma!" "Dad!" "Pop!" -Click.- -Click.- ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Six Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Six Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Released to RAAC on: 9-5-2000 Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel, and to the patient members of the FFML. Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What was that?!" Ryoga questioned. "Gunshots...? In Tokyo?!" Ryoga, the boy with the navigational skills of a chia pet, had been wandering the streets aimlessly when he had heard the gunshots. Like a revelation, he realized -where- the gunshots were coming from. Ryoga may not have been any good at reading maps or directions, but he had no trouble homing in on sound. ~~~ The unanticipated click of a trigger was an experience that Morpheus was all too familiar of. It created a horrible feeling of uneasiness, the first time always being most traumatic. It tended to jolt the mind into slow motion in which, during that moment, every second elapsed a lifetime. Such was the case for Ranma and Akane, this being their first time. 0.1 seconds: First bullet impacts Genma Saotome in the back of his head with precision accuracy. 0.7 seconds. Morpheus looks for the origin of the gunshot as he starts to reach for his gun. 1.4 seconds. Second bullet impacts Soun Tendo in the same location. 2.0 seconds. Genma and Soun slowly stumble downward, their bodies previously obstructing Morpheus' view. As they fall, their assailants become within perfect view. In those two seconds, two lives elapsed and expired. Where Kasumi and Nabiki stood were now two agents, their guns still smoking from their most recent use. "NOOOOOO!!!" Akane crumbled to her knees. "DAAAAAAD!!!" Ranma's high pitched voice echoed through Nerima at a deafening level in unison with Akane's cry. "Get down!" Morpheus shouted, his powerful forty-five caliber leveled straight for the two assailants. -KLACK.- -Thwop.- -KLACK.- -Splurch.- "What the-...?!" Morpheus gaped as the two agents collapsed. "I hit?!" "Holy hell!!!" Ranma watched in stunning horror as the two agents dematerialized out of their host's bodies and reverted to their previous forms. "NO! Kasumi! Nabiki!" Akane shrieked as she watched her sisters appear in the agents' place. She rushed over to her fallen siblings, as did Ranma. "WHY, DAMMIT?!" Ranma yelled to Morpheus. Morpheus took off his dark glasses and stroked a hand down his sweat soaked face. Some of that sweat started to mix with tears. "I tried-..." his mouth trembled as he whispered. "I tried to warn you..." His voice grew vastly louder. "Mother fucking damn you, I TRIED!" "Why did-... what did they ever-... how could-..." Ranma mumbled in bewildered devastation. Morpheus threw his gun in frustration, then withdrew his cell-phone and crushed the speed-dial button. "O-operator...?" Tank's voice nervously muttered over the phone. "Get... us... out of here." Morpheus gritted. "You're not going anywhere." a new voice said from behind. The newcomer cautiously walked through the gate, his gun leveled at Morpheus' motionlessly petrified back. "A restaurant shop, two blocks south and one block east." Tank informed. "By the way, your new 'friend' is alone, and human. You can take 'em." He quickly disconnected. "Keep facing forward. You make a move and you're cheese, understand me?!" the man ordered. "Who are you?" Morpheus calmly asked, his back still turned to the man in question. "Ryoga...?" Ranma queried. "Nice clothes, Ranma. It matches the blood on your hands, you murderer!" Ryoga shouted. Ranma turned red with rage. "Why you-... do you actually THINK that I'd-..." "Un-for-giveable." Ryoga interrupted, stressing every syllable. He leveled his gun at Ranma. "You have NO heart. NONE, you disgraceful COWARD!" -Click.- 0.1 seconds. Predicting the outcome of Ryoga's rage, Akane makes a dive to push Ranma out of the line of fire. 0.5 seconds. Ryoga fires at Ranma. 0.7 seconds. Shot hits Akane through the upper left torso. Her fall is more damaging than the shot as her head hits the ground hard, rendering her unconscious in a growing bath of blood next to her siblings. "AKANE!" Ranma and Ryoga both yelled. "Run, Ranma!" Morpheus yelled. "I... h-how did... I s-sh-shot-... Did I j-just..." Ryoga flustered. "I didn't... d-did I?" Ranma took advantage of the distraction and headed for cover indoors, but not before grabbing the guns left by the two agents which were at Kasumi and Nabiki's feet. Morpheus, taking advantage of Ryoga's distraction, turned around and charged at Ryoga. "Mistake!" Ryoga sneered. "SHI SHI HOKODAN!" The resounding crash of emotion given concussional form knocked Morpheus back, crashing through a wall and landing right beside where Ranma was taking cover. Morpheus dropped the cell-phone in his hand, its screen and sliding keyflip breaking as it crashed to the floor. -Riiiiiiiing...- It still worked. Ranma picked up the phone. "H-hello?" "Ranma...? Ranma are you there? Use your gun, dammit! Take down that bastard and get everyone outta' there!" Tank's voice yelled, muffled by the phone's severe damage. "But... but..." "...are you there? Ranma? Ranma?! Say something!" "I'm a MARTIAL ARTIST, DAMMIT!" Ranma threw both guns across the room. "NO! Jesus Ch-..." Tank paused for a moment and sighed. "There's a phone at a restaurant two blocks south and one block east. Get there... preferably ALIVE. -Ka-clik-" On a quick surge of adrenaline and rage, Ranma chucked the phone and made a lunge toward her unconscious love. Ryoga wouldn't have it. "Keep your filthy hands OFF her, bitch!" Ryoga raged as he fired a glancing shot. Ranma wisely reconsidered. Rather than remain target practice, she retreated back inside. Ryoga had made it clear that he wasn't going to permit her any opportunity of getting near her. "R-ranma..." Morpheus moaned. "Just go... quickly. Leave me..." Ranma glanced outside at Akane, then at Morpheus. "Come out, coward!" Ryoga yelled. Had Ryoga not been using a gun, Ranma would have gladly obliged. For a moment, she gave consideration to a suicide strike, but Ryoga would gun her down before she could make a move. As painfully horrific as the scenario became, the time came to cut her losses. On this day, Ryoga would finally win a fight against Ranma. "Forgive me, Akane..." Ranma mumbled. "I'll be back for you... I swear it!" Ranma, running on adrenaline and crushed confidence, picked up Morpheus and carried him out the back exit. "I'm sorry..." Ranma muttered, a chant she repeated all the way to the extraction point. ~~~ Ryoga clutched his earpiece and shouted into it. "Agent Hibiki requesting emergency medical, Tendo dojo. Quickly!" He rushed over to Akane and looked over her injuries. "Akane, bless your misguided heart, why did you do that?! Oh god... please be alive..." Ryoga felt for a pulse.. ...and found one. "Thank heavens!" The whine of an ambulance howl heralded its arrival. The medical team quickly rushed through the entrance. "God in heavens, what the hell happened here?! A war?" An EMT asked. "Over here!" Ryoga shouted. "She's still alive!" The EMT crew loaded the unconscious Akane onto a stretcher and carried her to the ambulance just as two agents pulled up in a black Ford Crown Victoria. They hastily got out of the car and flanked Ryoga. "Mister Hibiki, you were given specific orders." Agent Jones bluntly said. "Specific my ass!" Ryoga retorted. "I wasn't told squat!" "I want an explanation." Agent Williams calmly muttered. "Your explanation is THIS!" Ryoga pointed his weapon right in the agent's face. "I use it ONE time and I nearly killed someone I care for! You can have it 'cuz I don't want it!" Ryoga threw the gun on the ground and headed for the ambulance. "Where are you going?" Agent Jones asked. "I'm going with Akane!" Ryoga answered, still full of anger. Another man got out of the agent's car. The man was wearing a dark gray lab coat. Ryoga recognized the scientist. "Hey... weren't you the guy who cured my-..." "You can thank me later. Go with Agent Williams and Agent Jones." the scientist instructed. "I shall accompany the ambulance." Ryoga didn't like the strange smile he saw on the agent's face. ~~~ Ranma was laying on her bed staring at the ceiling and contemplating her thoughts. From merely looking at her, one would see an entranced young woman. When merely looking at a person one could usually see what was on that person's mind. Not so with Ranma, but one could still take guess and have a half chance at being right. -Knock- -Knock- Ranma gave no answer. -Knock- -Knock- -Knock-. Silence. "Ranma..." Morpheus' voice bellowed from behind the door. "Can I come in?" Still more silence. After several moments of it, Morpheus entered. He shut the door behind him, and sat at the foot of Ranma's bed. Thus began a duel of silence. Morpheus sat for ten whole minutes simply staring at Ranma. If this was how Ranma wanted to play, Morpheus was up for it. It would be Ranma who would cave in first, being the second battle she'd lost today. "What are you going to do with me?" "Nothing." Ranma sat up. "Nothing?" "I find that life has a way of giving its own punishment." Morpheus insightfully answered. "Ain't that the hard truth..." Ranma agreed. "Your concern for whether we'll be able to rescue Akane, for one. I'm sure you're punishing yourself more than I ever could..." "Did you find where they took her?" Ranma asked with concern. Morpheus nodded. "They have her at local hospital under heavy guard. Neo and Trinity are planning a rescue right now." "Let's do it." Ranma muttered as she sat up. "I'm ready whenever they are." Morpheus shook his head. "They can handle it. They're good at rescues. I would know." Morpheus' reassurance was followed with a glare. "Besides, we need to have a little chat, you and I." ~~~ A large bead of sweat dripped down Ryoga's forehead as he sat in a rather uncomfortable chair at the agent field office waiting to receive his reprimand. He looked around the office's decor as a distraction, yet found it almost as depressing as his situation. "I must say that I'm disappointed, Mr. Hibiki. You let them escape." The head agent rubbed his chin for dramatic effect. He knew it would add an effective element of pressure on Ryoga. "I did what I could." Ryoga rebuked. "At least I rescued Akane." "Hmm. I think that I understand my colleague's logic now." the agent mused. "You let your emotions sway your judgement. That is a critical flaw." "What do you mean?" Ryoga questioned. "If you couldn't capture them, you were to kill them." the agent answered. "That order included Akane." "K-k-kill Ak-..." Ryoga nervously flustered. "F- fortunately it didn't come to that." "Fortunately?!" the agent questioned, his neutral expression becoming quite aggressive. "The next time you see them, I expect you to -eliminate- them. Understood?!" "Y-y-yes sir!" "Very well." The agent's expression returned to it's usual poker faced look. "Ms. Tendo is being treated at Tokyo General Hospital. You have been assigned to guard her room. Should her friends show up, I expect you to not make the same mistake twice. Get going. You're already late." ~~~ Ranma felt disconcerted as she stood in the blank whiteness of the construct. It's sheer nothingness gave her no landmark to go from, no direction to home on. No south, no north, no east, no west. She wondered if this was how Ryoga felt whenever he got lost. "Okay... so why did you want to talk in here?" Ranma inquired, hoping that the construct would create a setting of some sort soon. "I might need visual aids." Morpheus answered. "You might not like what I'm going to show you though." Ranma sighed. "Always understand, Ranma, that there is a reason behind everything I will ever ask of you. I'm sure you understand now that I wasn't refusing your reunion to be an asshole." Ranma remained silent. "Let's not play that silent game again, Ranma." Morpheus chided. "I know it's hard, but you MUST let it all go. You are no help to us if you carry your emotional baggage with you like an anchor." Ranma bit her lip. "Do you have any friends?" Morpheus asked. Ranma nodded. "If you care for them at all, you'll stay away from them." Morpheus advised. "The further away you are from them, the less likely that an agent will decide to use their body." "But... what about-..." "There are no buts about it." Morpheus interrupted. "Knowing that your friends are alive and looking for you hurts a lot less than knowing your friends are dead because you looked for them." "You mean, if we hadn't gone to see them-..." "It's a lesson I learned the hard way too, Ranma, one that I hoped I could spare you. Eventually I had to learn to face what happened. Unfortunately, so do you." He whipped out his cell-phone from his pocket and spoke into it. "Tank, load it." ~~~ "...Where am I? Why's it so dark in here?" Akane looked around the room she was in and found only darkness. She could make out one silhouette standing nearby, but it was far too dark to tell who it was. "You're recovering from surgery. Just relax." a voice answered. "SURGERY?!" "You were shot, Ms. Tendo." the unfamiliar voice spoke again, as the man possessing turned on a dim light allowing Akane to at least see who she was speaking to. "However, I'm pleased to inform you that you're recovering quite nicely." "Who are you?" Akane asked. "Why, I'm your doctor, of course!" The man grinned as he dusted off his dark gray lab coat. Akane cringed and bit her lip. "So... How's life outside of our humble paradise, hmm?" The doctor sarcastically questioned with a devilish grin. Akane gasped. "How do you know about the-...!" The doctor grinned wider as he intercepted Akane's question. "The interface protocols and many other portions of this matrix were designed by me, Ms. Tendo. No-one knows how the matrix works better than I do. Please, answer my question. I'd like to know what people think of my work." "It's horrible..." Akane answered. "Utterly horrible... and now you tell me that you're responsible for it?!" The scientist laughed. "I'm afraid I can't take -all- the credit, but I represent a significant part indeed." "WHY DID YOU KILL MY FAMILY?!" Akane screamed. "Now let's set the record straight, young lady..." the scientist's tone became a scolding one. "That wasn't me, that was the agents. That's an entirely different operation from my own, and I had no part in their programming. Besides, I'd like to think that my field is a little less anal..." "I don't care! You're all BUTCHERS to me!" Akane shouted. "That hurts, Ms. Tendo. It really does." the man appeared visibly shaken. After a moment, he recomposed himself and sighed. "I suppose that's alright though. Answer me this; Were they really your family?" "Yes-... er, No-... I mean-... DAMMIT, they were people I CARED for! Isn't that close enough?!" "Intriguing." the scientist mused. "Understandably, you have every right to be angry, Ms. Tendo. I encourage you to vent your fury if it makes you feel better, but let's give your anger a proper target, shall we?" "I already GOT a target... and I'm looking straight at 'em!" Akane fought with the restraints keeping her chained to the bed. "Please don't overexert yourself. You could make your wounds worse. Regardless of what you may think, I do care about the well being of my patients." the scientist's comments bordered on sincerity and sarcasm. "Dammit... dammit, dammit, dammit! Why'd Ryoga shoot me?!" Akane tearfully questioned as she relented her struggle. "He was aiming for Ms. Saotome, I believe." "Why was he shooting at EITHER of us?! I'll never forgive him!" As Akane vented her rage, it was replaced with concern. "Oh no... Ranma! Where's Ranma?!" "Ms. Saotome and Morpheus fled before we arrived." the scientist answered. Akane exhaled in relief. "At least-... at least she's safe." "Hmm. Doesn't it upset you that they left you behind?" "Wha-...? No... there had to have been a reason. They'll come back for me! Ranma will make sure of it!" "Are you sure?" the scientist gave an evil grin. "They saw you on the ground in a bloody mess and abandoned you. Think about it, Akane. -Ranma- left you for dead." "No!" Akane shouted in Ranma's defense. "Ranma would never leave me like that!" "How can you be so certain?" The scientist questioned. "Your mere presence here is proof enough." "No...! NO!" Akane once again thrashed on the restraints holding her to the bed. "Perfect." the scientist whispered to himself as he grabbed a needle out of a small case and filled it with a silvery serum. "DAMN YOU, RANMA! WHY?!" Akane screamed in horrific anguish as the scientist injected her neck with the serum. "That's a good girl. Don't hold back, let it all out." he muttered as he removed the depleted needle. "There we go. Everything will be just fine, Akane. Now... I think you need an outlet for your anguish, and I have just the thing." ~~~ "Shut it off." Morpheus bitterly gritted. At his command, the simulation terminated. Ranma cringed as the world of the construct around her became a white void of nothingness once again. "Was that-..." Ranma meekly inquired. "What you saw was my wife, my daughter, and my brother on the day I came to visit them to say goodbye." Morpheus finished. "Killing them wasn't the sort of goodbye I had in mind. I had no choice after the agents possessed their bodies." "They-... they did that intentionally?! But why-... why did they-..." "Apparently you've never heard of psychological warfare." Morpheus answered. "I'll give them this much... it almost worked. The thought that I killed my own family haunted me for years, Ranma." Morpheus took off his sunglasses to wipe the tears from his eyes. Ranma stared in awe as she watched him do so. In all the years she had been taught how men don't cry, she hardly expected Morpheus to display such an emotion. In a strange way, it comforted her. "I thought you learned to deal with it." Ranma muttered. "That doesn't make it hurt any less." Morpheus answered. "In time, I came to realize that it wasn't I who killed them. The agents did the moment they possessed their bodies." "How did you deal with it?" "I faced it head on. I spent hours, sometimes days in this simulation. Sometimes I would freeze it and hug my lifeless wife and daughter, other times I would take a full arsenal along and made pencils out of the agents they became..." more tears dripped down Morpheus' cheek. "...but one thing I did not do was break. I refused. I... would... not... be... broken." "That doesn't sound helpful at all!" Ranma muttered. "I don't want to be in here a few weeks from now pumping lead into Kasumi or Nabiki!" she shuddered as that idea crossed her mind briefly. "I'll tell you what did help, Ranma." Morpheus added. "I let go." "You 'let go'?" Ranma questioned with objection. "Ha! Yeah, like that's the answer to everything! How can you expect me to simply LET GO of my family?!" Morpheus sighed. "You can let go and take control of life, or you can hold on and die with it." Ranma gave Morpheus a frigid glare. "One of the ways I got through it was to start a new family. That family is everyone on this ship. I protect and care for everyone in it, including you and Akane." Morpheus donned his glasses once again. "You're in for a long walk ahead, young lady. The start of your path lies right over there." Ranma looked over to the area where Morpheus motioned her attention to. In that area was the entrance to the Tendo Dojo with simulated versions of Akane, Ranma, and Morpheus standing right outside just as before. "When you reach the end of your path, your family will be waiting." Morpheus reassured. "I promise you." "Which family? Yours or mine?" Ranma asked. "That depends on which family you consider yourself a part of." Morpheus answered. "Don't make me do this... please..." "I'm not making you do anything, Ranma. I can only show you the path. It's up to you to walk it." Morpheus preached. ~~~ Trinity and Neo arrived at Tokyo general hospital without too much commotion. Although several nearby guards did take curious notice to several bulges underneath Neo's trench coat and Trinity's jacket, they all wisely decided not to pursue the matter. The bulges were subtle enough to not draw too much attention, even though the items that were creating the bulges were designed to create a great deal of attention. "Excuse me..." Trinity and Neo shuddered as they looked at the man calling their attention who looked just a tiny bit too much like an agent. They simply stared at the man as if nothing was wrong, their sunglasses hiding their true expression. "I was wondering if you could tell me where Tokyo General Hospital is." the man inquired. Trinity and Neo exchanged a curious glance. "You're there." Trinity said, pointing to the entrance which stood right behind the man. "Oh! So sorry... thank you so much." the man quickly proceeded inside. Neo and Trinity exchanged another puzzled glance, shrugged, then resumed their task. "C'mon. Akane's in room 710." Neo muttered as he and Trinity proceeded inside. Once inside, they headed straight for the elevators which were across the hall from the front desk where the man was asking the clerk for directions once again As Trinity pushed the button and waited for the elevator, Neo was distracted by the conversation he was overhearing. "...you'll find Ms. Tendo in room 710. Take the elevator behind you to the seventh floor and make a left." the clerk answered to the directionally challenged man. Trinity and Neo glanced at each other and froze. -Ding!- As the elevator doors opened, the dark suited man walked past Trinity and Neo onto the elevator. "Are you getting on?" the man inquired as he kindly held the elevator for them. Trinity and Neo blankly stared at the man. After a moment, they gingerly stepped onto the elevator. ~~~ "Freeze it." Ranma said. At her command, the simulation of Ranma and Akane's reunion at the Tendo dojo halted just moments after Ryoga fired a warning shot at Ranma as she made an attempt to rescue Akane. "What's wrong, Ranma?" Morpheus inquired. Ranma ignored Morpheus as she walked over to the bodies of Soun and her father. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tendo." Ranma whispered to the man she might one day have called a father-in-law. She then looked at the balding man beside him and rubbed her hand across her fake father's wound. "Pop, I-... I forgive you... for everything." Not sparing another moment, Ranma gently walked over to a blood drenched Kasumi and Nabiki. "Nabiki, regardless of how you were, nothing you could ever do would deserve you this. I'm-... I'm so very sorry for dragging you into my mess. I would give all the money in the world if it would make things right for you." Several of Ranma's tears fell from her soft cheek onto Nabiki's mortal wound as she knelt down and rubbed her clean hand across it. "And Kasumi, I... I couldn't be more sorry. You gave so much to me... to everyone, and yet you asked for nothing in return." Ranma's lip trembled. "A while after I first met you I looked up to you as-... well... as my mother. I swear upon my own name that I'll find a way to honor you." Ranma continued to the fallen Akane, who was also drenched in blood, but from a much less severe wound. "My Akane..." Ranma sobbed as she grasped her limp body in her arms. "...you crazy tomboy... why did you have to dive in front of-... in front of..." Ranma paused for a moment as she made a strong attempt at preventing herself from breaking into a fit of sobbing. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm so sorry to... ...to have... ...to have left you... " As Ranma finally allowed a few tears to escape, what followed was an action which, for Ranma, was far too overdue. She cried, and she cried hard. All inhibitions about the act of crying shattered as she hugged Akane's limp body tightly, her tears trailing a path to Akane's shoulder. Finally, she wiped away her final tears as she recomposed herself, sealing away her emotions with ice. She stood ramrod straight to face her new mortal enemy, the person to whom she would show no weakness or mercy, the soul she refused to forgive. Slowly, she trudged over to that person and clasped both of her blood soaked hands on their shoulder, pulled their face closer to her own, and in a move that would make any amazon (including Cologne and Shampoo) shudder, gave a lifeless kiss on the cheek to signify an undying promise to see that person dead... ...or die trying. An eerie calm washed over her as she retrieved both of the guns that had been thrown across the room during the simulation. She calmly sighed as she leveled the first weapon at the person in question, her eyes reflecting the epitome of cold emptiness. -KLACK!- "Die." -KLACK!- "Please die." -KLACK!- "I want you to die." -KLACK!- "You have to die." -KLACK!- "Why won't you just... ...die?" She didn't raise her voice once, nor show the slightest hint of emotion. Her target offered no resistance and no reaction. Several holes appeared in her target, yet remained defiantly standing. She threw the first gun across the room and leveled the second one at her target. "Ranma! What are you doing?!" Morpheus shouted. Ranma, a tranced look on her face, silently fired a shot at her target. Another shot. The rage stored up in her was smoldering, begging for release from her icy containment. Another shot. A glint of it shone to her surface. Another. Another. Another. "Ranma! Get a hold of yourself!" Her teeth were starting to grind. Another. Each forthcoming shot had the conflicting effect of comforting her while at the same time fueling her rage further. Another. Another. Click. The ammo chamber was empty, yet she continued to pull the trigger anyway. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Each click progressed her frustration a level further. -Click-. To Ranma, it sounded more like -snap-. "AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" Ranma screamed as she dropped the gun and fell to the ground unconscious. "Ranma!" Morpheus quickly rushed to the girl's side. "Tank! Get us out! Now!" As Morpheus waited to be released from the construct, he looked at Ranma's target and took a more scrupulous look. For a copy, Ranma's simulated double bled realistically enough. Each and every shot she took was perfectly aimed at one place... the heart. ~~~ Room 710 of Tokyo General Hospital, the room of patient Akane Tendo, was empty. Thusly so, the man who was assigned to guard it had much to say about that. "What do you mean she's gone?!" the agent raged. "As I told you, Ms. Tendo has been relocated to my laboratory for further observation." the gray coated scientist explained. "But I was assigned to watch over her!" "You were assigned to watch over her ROOM." The scientist corrected. "You are more than welcome to do that." "I don't care! I want to see her!" the agent rebuked, reaching an escalating level of frustration. "I'm sorry, that is not possible. Now if you please, I have work to complete. I suggest you grab something from the cafeteria. You're scheduled to be here a while." The agent simmered in rage as he stormed out of hospital room 710. Standing beside room 709 was Trinity and Neo, who had overheard the entire conversation. "The elevator's this way..." Trinity pointed to the elevator at the end of the hall. "Just in case you were wondering." She gave a fake cough. "Huh? Oh... yeah. Thanks." the dark suited man replied. "Just didn't want you to get lost again." Trinity kindly muttered. The man arrived at the elevator and mashed the button to summon it. He was soon joined by Trinity and Neo. "You look as if something's bothering you." Neo observed with fake, yet convincing concern. "Nothing you can fix. Mind your own business." the aggravated agent snapped. "Hmm. Would it have something to do with the person who was in room 710?" Neo inquired, drafting a short bluff in his mind. "Wha-..?! What do you know of her?" the man questioned. "We're private investigators looking into her disappearance. We thought we'd finally found her here and... well, thought wrong. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" "My job prohibits me from talking to outside investigators." "Who do you work for?" Neo probed. He couldn't ask the question quickly enough. "The secret service." the man replied. Trinity and Neo slowly turned their heads to meet each other's gaze, then slowly turned again to face the man. Thank goodness for mirrored sunglasses... "Y-you're an agent?" Trinity asked, failing to mask her nervousness. "Trainee, actually." the man sighed. Trinity and Neo, again, gave each other another perplexed gaze. Their necks were starting to ache from this habit. "Uhm, do you know who we are?" Trinity inquired. "Should I? I don't remember ever meeting you before..." "Hmm. I see." Neo replied. "Why are you looking for her? Is she in trouble?" the man inquired. "If we don't find her, she probably will be." Neo replied. "You're not going to hurt her if you find her, are you?" Ryoga asked with skeptical concern. Trinity shook her head. "We're trying to protect her, provided that we can find her first." "Oh really now?" the man gave a reluctant sigh. "Huh. Well, I trust you a hell'va lot more than I trust that doctor. That's not saying much, seeing as I just met you." "I thought your job prohibited-..." "I trust my employer even less." The man interrupted. "I'm thinking about quitting. It's because of this job that I ended up hurting her in the first place." "-You- hurt her?!" Trinity inquired with shocked revelation. "How?" The man sighed. "I was the one who shot her... but it was an accident, mind you!" "YOU?!" "I already feel bad enough about it, alright?!" Ryoga shook his head in shame. "Who are you?" Neo asked, amazed to see remorse in an agent, regardless of whether he was a trainee or not. "Hibiki. Ryoga Hibiki." "Ho... ly... shit..." Neo quietly whispered as another piece of his fractured puzzle of clues fell into his lap. Trinity looked at Neo in confusion. "What's wrong?" Ryoga inquired. "Mr. Hibiki, take my cell phone. I'll be in touch, so keep it with you. I have to... uhm, get to a staff meeting. Oh, and don't quit your job just yet." "How do I get in contact with you?" "You don't." Neo answered. "Don't call us. We'll call you." Trinity added, playing along with Neo's rushed attempt to depart. ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Seven Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Seven Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel and to the patient members of the FFML. Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. My most PROFOUND appologies for not releasing this earlier. Chapters 7 thru 10 have been waiting to be released for a -whole year- and I completely forgot. Chapters 11 are in progress and almost completed, and the story should conclude on or around chapter 13 or 14. Trust me, it's worth the wait. **Many thanks for all your 'Ranma fanfic awards' votes!!!** All previous chapters are archived at www.sofaspud.org. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. (I know better than to post my email addy in a newsgroup) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Dammit, Dad! Why do you keep calling me that?" "Because that's your name, and stop calling me dad." "But da-..." the girl stopped herself and sighed in relent. "Why not?" "I already told you." the fatherly man answered. "You haven't told me anything!" the girl retorted. "I haven't got time for this! I should be helping my cousins!" "Don't worry about them. They can take care of themselves." "I know that, but-... I mean, c'mon! She's my sister, dammit! I should be there when they rescue her!" "Would you please just listen to me, Ranma?! She's- ..." "I said stop calling me that! Why do you keep calling me that name?!" Ranma shouted. "Who is this 'Ranma' anyway?!" Morpheus held his face in despair as he left the question unanswered. For well over an hour he locked himself in Ranma's quarters in hopes of reasoning with the girl. Morpheus had no idea that Ranma would end up so mentally traumatized by the ordeal he made her relive, and the results he got from having her face it head on had a completely opposite effect than what he was expecting. Regardless of the case, now in Ranma's place was a brave girl who seemed all too ready to accept Morpheus, Neo, and the crew as her family, something that Morpheus was hoping Ranma would eventually progress to in time. Small things like Ranma's brash attitude still shone through, but it was as if Ranma had simply 'let go', and rewrote her own existance. Morpheus wished it were that easy. He wasn't sure if Ranma really was shattered to the brink, or if this was simply Ranma's own way of dealing with the crushing weight of ordeals that Ranma was forced to shoulder. If it was an act, Ranma certainly was playing her part flawlessly. Whichever the case, Morpheus didn't totally disapprove, but was quite concerned that Ranma, someone who never ran from a battle of any kind, would cower at this one. On top of that, the last thing Morpheus wanted was a daughter... ...Or did he? Morpheus quickly attempted to squash the longing he still felt for his own daughter... and failed miserably. -Knock- -Knock- Morpheus unlocked the door and opened it, allowing Neo to step inside. "Back already, eh' cousin?" Ranma smugly muttered. "I take it you didn't have much luck finding Akane?" Neo shook his head. "I'm sorry, not yet, Ranma." Ranma scowled. "For the umpteenth time, would you all quit calling me-...!" "Shut it!" Morpheus ordered, silencing Ranma amid sentence. "She's still delusional?" Neo inquired. Morpheus nodded. "HEY!" Ranma yelled. "I am NOT delusional! It ain't like I'm not in the room, you know!" "Yeah, whatever." Neo muttered. "Morpheus, do you remember that identity search I was running on the guy linked with the AI?" "Yeah. Any luck?" Morpheus inquired. Neo grinned. "Lady luck and I got it on real good." "Let's talk outside, Neo." Morpheus raised a gesturing finger at Ranma. "And as for you, missy, stay put. We'll finish this discussion some other time." As Morpheus left Ranma's cramped room he took a moment to wonder if Ranma was actually better off this way. Sometimes a fresh start was the best way to go. Morpheus still wondered whether or not the Ranma he knew was still there, and silently vowed to salvage as much of her old self as he could. ~~~ On the main control deck, several computer monitors flashed with spurts of random information. It was mostly a jumble, left to the operator to make sense out of it and recommend a proper course of action. The person sitting in the operator's chair wasn't Tank, nor was it anyone else from the Nebuchadnezzar for that matter. It would also be interesting to note that the control deck in question wasn't even on the Nebuchadnezzar. Regardless of those facts, the person sitting at the station in question was just as capable and attentive as Tank. As she noticed a proximity warning, she quickly sprang into action. Fortunately, the sensors indicated that it was a friendly vessel that was approaching. The female operator quickly switched on the comlink. "This is the hovercraft 'Escaflowne' requesting IDENT confirmation from unidentified Zion craft." A reply came almost immediately. "Escaflowne, this is Tank, operator of the Nebuchadnezzar. Are you receiving?" "Tank?" the voice replied over his headset. "Tone?" he echoed back. "Aww shit..." Tone cursed to the ceiling. "Hey God, are you up there? Is this your idea of some sick joke? The last friggin' thing I wanna see out here in this piss hole is my gawdamn ex!" Tone groaned. "Missed you too, and that silky sweet voice of yours." Tank wistfully replied. "I think you've been reading that storybook too much though. What's it called... the Bible, or something like that?" "At least I can read something other than computer code." Tone retorted. "That was low." Tank winced. "So, you running ops on that bucket?" "This bucket can kick your can any day, boy." "Yeah...? Well this 'can' can get around." "I can see that. What are you doing out here in the Nihon cluster?" Tone inquired with a twinge of bitterness in her voice. "Last I heard, your ship was stationed somewhere in the San Angeles gulf... far away from ME." "We're out here on a whim, more or less. Long story, not so happy ending. Right now we're trying to pull a rescue op on one of our crew." Tank answered, trying to sound hopeful. "Is Paragon still running the show over there?" "Damn straight. Runs a tight ship he does." Tone replied. "I suppose you'll wanna to dock. Is your docking thing-a-ma-jig working?" "It's called a docking 'jig', Tone." Tank kindly corrected. "I said 'jig', didn't I?" Tone snapped back. "By the way, not to open any more old wounds or anything, but I kinda told Paragon that you were a little short in there and-..." "You disgusting little...!" Tanks face turned beet red. "What have you been telling them?!" "What the...?! I meant crew, Tank!" Tone yelled. "Oh." Tank grimaced and turned an even -brighter- shade of red. "No wonder I divorced you! What I was TRYING to say was that Paragon is offering you an extra hand if you need, and don't you DARE twist that around or I'll beat you down!" Tank's face discovered a new spectrum of red. He quickly decided to change the subject. "Sit tight for a second and I'll get the dock program running..." "We're prepped for hard-dock whenever you are." Tone replied. "Your mind better be out of the gutter by the time I get over there or I'll break my foot over your ass." "By the time I divorced you I was surprized you still had a foot." Tank quietly grumbled. "Watch it, bub! I heard that!" ~~~ "Hey there." Trinity gave a kind smile as she stepped into Ranma's quarters. "How you doing?" "Fine!" Ranma pleasantly answered. "Really, I'll be fine. Why's everyone so concerned about me?" Trinity nervously rubbed her forehead. "Well, uhm, that is, you see..." "Y'know, I wish I knew what you guys were fussing over." Ranma folded her arms and gave an impatient scowl. "You guys are really starting to worry me." Trinity sighed. "Tell me something... When you were in the construct with Morpheus, do you remember what you two were doing?" "Training. Duh!" Ranma flatly answered. "Oh come on." Trinity chided. "That's a little vague. You can do better than that." "Hey! You know training sessions are private!" Ranma retorted. Trinity gave Ranma a skeptical look. "From what I heard, it wasn't any sort of training that -I- ever had to go through." "So? We each have different weaknesses. Some require... ...more drastic work than others." Ranma nervously shuffled her feet. "Care to tell me what -kind- of work?" Trinity probed. "Hmph." Ranma grunted in response and ignored the question, deciding that it was time for a change of subject. "Speaking of training, are you ready for today's lesson, student?" Trinity paused for a moment as she contemplated whether or not to continue her previous subject. She eventually relented, deciding that she got all she was going to get out of Ranma. "Yes, sensei. Ready as I'll ever be." Trinity replied. "At least you haven't forgotten about teaching me..." she muttered with a subtle twinge of sarcasm. "Excuse me?!" Ranma shouted. "That was pretty damn rude! I hardly would expect that to come from my own cousin!" "Cousin?!" Trinity echoed in bewilderment. "When did I become-..." "Quiet!" Ranma shouted. "Just for that, I have an -extra special- lesson for you." Moments later, Trinity found herself standing outside Ranma's quarters holding three overfilled buckets of water. One bucket in each hand, and one balancing on her head. ~~~ Morpheus opened an old, creaky hatch that revealed a docking tube made out of crumbling rubber and rusting metal. Docked at the end of the tube was a similarly tarnished hatch with the word 'Escaflowne' in a gallant font, perhaps the most appealing aspect of the entire scene. The Escaflowne's hatch slowly creaked open, and four of it's crew stepped through it. They cautiously walked through the tube on board to the Nebuchadnezzar. "It's been too long, old friend." Paragon greeted as he stepped aboard with Tone and two others following. "Far too long." Morpheus replied, grasping a firm handshake. "Good to see you, Parry. I believe you know Tank, our operator..." "Yup. Never met him, but I know him well." Paragon shook Tank's hand. "So you're Tone's ex, eh'? She never stops talking about you, ya' know." Paragon chuckled. "Yeah... I'll bet. All of it bad, right?" Tank inquired. "No, not really." Paragon muttered. He cringed when he heard Tone give an exaggerated cough. "Uhm, well... actually, yeah..." he added. Tank sighed. "...Except when the conversation becomes X-rated." Paragon remarked with a straight cringe. "No thanks to her, I know WAY too much about your sex life." "TONE!!!" Tank shot a fiery glare at Tone as his face blushed beet red. "Parry, I told you NOT to go there!" Tone warned. "Hey, you go there late every night while the rest of the ship is trying to sleep!" Paragon retorted with a convicting glare. It was Tone's turn to blush bright shades of red. Morpheus coughed. "Moving right along, I'm sure you've heard of Neo." Paragon walked up to Neo and shook his hand as well. "You're Neo?" Paragon asked as he visually assessed him. Neo nodded. Paragon grunted a cough. "Got a lot riding on you, kid. I hope I get the chance to see your stuff one of these days." Neo's only response was a wry grin. "Gentlemen, lemmie introduce you to my half of the rouge's gallery. First off, this is Tone, my operator..." "Howdy." Tone smiled. "Zipper, ship's navigator..." Zipper, a blonde, mustached man in his late twenties, simply nodded upon his introduction. As Neo took notice to the man, he couldn't help but swear that he'd seen him before. "Have we met before?" Neo inquired. "Yup." Zipper slyly replied. "Uhh huh. Hoo-kay..." Neo blankly nodded. "Could you, uh... refresh my memory?" "Perhaps you need to unplug, man. You know, get some R & R?" Zipper replied as if reciting a script. "What're you talking about?" Neo questioned. "You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." Zipper recited. "Choi?!" Neo amazed. "No way! I've known you since forever, man! I didn't recognize-... wait a second, don't tell me you've been with these guys since-..." Zipper interrupted Neo to explain. "Parry's headhunters gave me the holy unplug about a month before you met Morpheus. Heh... that's a long story in and of itself and, well..." Zipper trailed, throwing a subtle glare at Paragon. "To make a long story short, after helping Morpheus get you unplugged, the Esca got stationed here in the Nihon cluster. Don'cha think I'd have said a hello or something if I could?" "No, you wouldn't." Neo chuckled as he grasped Zipper's hand in a firm handshake. "I'm glad you're around, man." "Ahem." Paragon gave an exaggerated cough. "Finishing the introductions, this is Bouncer." "My name's MAKOTO!" the woman shouted. Makoto, a very muscular yet beautiful woman in her youthful thirties with short cut raven hair stepped forward. She ominously projected a sense of strength, power, and control. "'Bouncer'?" Neo inquired. "Named after the sound Parry's head made when she first met him." Tone said with a chuckle. "And whenever he calls me that stupid nickname." Makoto added as she cracked her knuckles. "Anyway, we can't stay long." Paragon explained, cutting straight to the point. "There's a sentinel dispatch node that we're trying to take out. We heard you were in the area and figured we'd drop off someone to help you navigate around this hell hole." "I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to steal your navigator." Morpheus glanced at Zipper. "I was talking about Makoto." Paragon patted Makoto's shoulder, much to her annoyance. "She knows the territory well enough. I think you'll find her to be a handy thug to have around in the matrix too. You know what she was doing before we released her?" Makoto rolled her eyes and sighed. "Here we go again..." "She was handing a guy his own ass in some street brawling competition." "Street -fighting-, you twit." Makoto corrected. "And I lost." "To some guy named Ryu, if I remember correctly. Real close fight though." Paragon inquired. "That's where we met." "Yeah... I remember mopping my blood off the street with your face after you mouthed off." Makoto recalled. Paragon nervously chuckled. "Uh, heh heh... long story behind that." "There's ALWAYS a long story, Parry." Tone moaned. Makoto noticed Neo and Tank staring at her a little - too- intently. "You two got a problem or something?" Makoto snapped. "I'm not sure yet." Tank muttered with a skeptical glare. He leaned over to Neo and quietly whispered something in his ear. "Yeah..." Neo muttered. "You're right. She does. They're exactly alike. I wonder..." He abruptly wandered off to the interface room. "Where's he going?" Tone muttered. Morpheus shrugged. Moments later, Neo returned. "Makoto, there's a young lady I think you should meet." Neo muttered. ~~~ "Ranma will pay, dammit!" Akane screamed as she lay on a small operating table. She was bound to it in restraints, unable to wipe tears of anger from her face. "I want to help you do that, Akane." The scientist kindly wiped Akane's tear soaked face with a towel. "I'm not as cold hearted as the agents you may have dealt with." "What's it to you?" Akane questioned with skepticism. "I want to see people happy in my creation, this 'matrix' of mine." the scientist answered. "Too bad!" Akane retorted "I don't want any part of your matrix!" The scientist sighed. "Regardless, you're trapped in it at the moment while your body is aboard that ship of theirs. They've probably even given up on rescuing you." "So what? I don't need their help." Akane grumbled. The scientist waved a cautious finger. "Alas, but you do need mine. You see, they probably think that I'm trying to interrogate you for information." "I haven't got any to give." "That's beside the point. They may not be willing to risk more of their crew just to save one person." The scientist sat down on a small chair and meticulously folded his hands one finger at a time. "You see, if they unplug you while your mind is still in the matrix, both you and your body will cease." "They wouldn't...!" Akane gasped. "They'd do it to their own leader if they had to." the scientist added. "I, however, have a solution. It will protect you, and it gives you the means to exact your retribution... the means to kill Ranma, Neo, and Morpheus, and the means to resolve a perpetual problem of mine. A mutually beneficial deal." "Kill?!" A shocked look washed over Akane's face. "I didn't say I wanted to kill them...!" "We can discuss it after you take your medicine." the scientist prepared a needle with a heavy dosage of a silvery serum. Akane didn't bother to struggle, and merely grunted as the needle impaled her. She started to relax as the serum took effect. "Mmm... that stuff really -does- work." A satisfied grin formed across Akane's face as she could feel the pain wash away from her healing bruises and bones. "I'm glad it's working so well for you. Some people try and fight it. It works best if don't." "Why would I?" Akane questioned, the serum starting to haze her judgement. "Now where we're we...?" "We were talking about killing Ranma, Morpheus, and his crew.." "Oh yeah, that's right!" Akane innocently smiled. "Just tell me when, where and how, doc!" "Atta' girl." the scientist smiled as he disposed of the needle. "Now, about those 'means'..." ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Eight Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Eight Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Revisions made on: 5-4-2001 Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel and to the patient members of the FFML. Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. ******* Note to TASS awards voting: This fanfic and all forthcoming chapters are to be re-categorized as a Cross-over series. ******* All previous chapters are archived at www.sofaspud.org. Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So this 'daughter' of Makoto's is a farm body, eh'?" Paragon muttered as he looked at Akane's unconscious body. "I was wondering why you hadn't pulled the plug yet." "Pulled the plug -yet-?!" Neo amazed. Paragon shot Neo a haunted look. "Yeah. You know, cut your losses, death with dignity, forced retirement, whatever you want to call it." "Wha-...?! How can you say that so casually?!" Paragon cringed. "Hey! I'm not saying it isn't, but sometimes it's necessary! I don't know how long you've been out, but I've had to pull the plugs of seven captured crew members since I've been in command. What am I supposed to do? Go after them?!" "Yeah, you WERE!" Neo retorted. "-I- did so for Morpheus, and I'm doing it again for her! It's the job of the leader to -protect- those under his command! Jesus, I'm glad I'm not on your ship...!" "Don't you DARE tell me how to run a command, boy!" Paragon stood nose to nose with Neo. "You got lucky with Morpheus, so don't let it go to your head! If you want, you and I can have words about it the sparring program later on..." "Yeah... I'll make sure you choke on every one of them." Neo cringed as he smelled Paragon's breath. "All right now, CHILDREN..." Makoto chided. "Hey Zipper, why are you so quiet?" Tank whispered to the blond man beside. "I found that If I keep my mouth shut, my life expectancy triples." Zipper whispered in reply. "I hope you're taking notes, Tank." Tone remarked. Morpheus stepped forward between Neo and Paragon. "Parry, that'll be enough for today if you don't mind. I should get my ship underway." Morpheus said. "Yeah..." Paragon replied, not taking his vengeful eyes off Neo for an instant. "You and me, Neo. Don't forget it. C'mon gang, out we go." "Well, wish I could say it's been fun, Tank." Tone muttered. "I can't say that life with you was ever boring..." Tank replied. "Zipper, do me a favor..." Makoto requested, far from earshot of Paragon. "Yeah?" "Staple Parry's damn mouth shut, will ya'?" Zipper chuckled. "I'll ask if Tone could -accidentally- forget to digitize a mouth for him in the construct one of these days. How's about that?" "That'll cure half of one problem at least." Makoto chuckled as she patted Zipper on the back. "Take care bud. I'll miss ya'." "Be sure to send me a postcard when you get to the Angeles Gulf. I hear that Disney Ditch is quite a spectacle." Zipper grinned. Paragon, Tone, and Zipper at last made their eventual depart through the hatch that came in. Moments after it was sealed, a metal-grinding noise signified the retraction of the Escaflowne's docking tube. "So... which one of you chuckle-heads do I bunk with?" Makoto inquired with a sigh. "Don't need to. There's plenty of vacancies here if you hadn't heard already. I suggest Dozer's quarters. He had the largest ones, and he's the guy you're replacing anyway so it's only fitting..." Morpheus answered. "Oh, by the way, you'll probably be going with us back to the San Angeles sector when this is over. I don't know when you'll be able to get back to the Escaflowne, so you may be stuck with us a while." "Let me save you some trouble then." Makoto responded, setting down some of her luggage so that she could perform a formal bow. "I respectfully request an official permanent transfer to the Nebuchadnezzar." "That would make things easier, wouldn't it now?" Morpheus chuckled. "Request granted. Gotten sick of Paragon and his nicknames, I take it?" "Parry and the names I can handle." Makoto grabbed her luggage and continued her stroll toward her quarters. "...but his breath, that I can't handle. Add to it the fact that he never shuts his damn mouth, and the air recycler's busted to boot..." Morpheus shook his head as he laughed. ~~~ Ranma twiddled her thumbs in and nervousness as sat on the floor of her quarters with Trinity. She felt ashamed that she had lost her temper before her lesson with Trinity even had a chance to start, and even more ashamed that she took her rage out on her student. "Trin, look... I'm sorry for yelling at you and... well, I mean, everyone's treating me like I've lost my mind or something and your comment didn't help, so I, uh... kinda over-reacted." Ranma kept held her head low as she nervously twiddled her fingers. "So, I wanna say I'm sorry, and I hope you'll forgive me." Trinity smiled. If she was at all upset with Ranma, there was no hint of it. "It's no problem, Ranma. It's just-..." "Son of a-...!" Ranma shouted, denying Trinity the chance to finish her sentence. Ranma's expression quickly changed from apologetic to enraged in a matter of moments. "I keep TELLING everyone..." Ranma didn't even bother to finish her own sentence as she stormed out of her quarters. "Would everyone on this damned ship QUIT calling me Ranma?" she yelled. "Then what do you want to be called?" an unfamiliar female voice bluntly inquired. "I'd rather use a name instead of 'hey you' when I ask someone to get out of my way." Ranma quickly turned to face the familiar looking stranger who's path Ranma had abruptly obstructed. A look of total shock washed over her Ranma's face as if she'd seen a ghost. "Who are you?" Trinity asked as she stepped out of Ranma's quarters. "My name is Makoto. Don't call me anything but." she answered. "I've been 'volunteered' for the job of navigator." "Don't tell me I missed a dock..." Trinity inquired. "Yup." Makoto dryly answered. "That and a brief immaturity contest between my ex-cap and boy 'one'der." "Really? Who won that one?" "No winners." Makoto replied, forming a slight grin. "Just a pair of losers." "You... you look..." Ranma mumbled, barely able to continue the sentence. "...just like Ak-... Ak-..." "Like that Akane girl? Yeah, so I'm told." Makoto sighed. "I went through that story with the others already." "What do you mean? Went through what?" Trinity inquired. "I tell you, It's been a fun first day. Switch ships, tell off the old captain, meet the daughter the never knew you had... barrels of fun. I wonder what other surprises are waiting for-... OOF!" Makoto wheezed as Ranma latched onto her in a tight hug. "Mother!" Trinity blinked. Makoto blinked twice. Loudly. "P-p-pardon?" Ranma said nothing as a fountain of emotional tears welled up in her eyes. Makoto coldly glared at Ranma. "Listen here, girl... I am NOT your mother." "You have to be." Ranma replied matter-of-factly as she hugged tighter. "Urggg! No I don't, because I'm not! Let go of me!" "You HAVE to be!" Ranma insisted. "Look, enough is enough. You don't WANT me to be your mother. Trust me." Ranma slowly released Makoto from her embrace. "Mom, please... You HAVE to be." Ranma said, stressing the word -have- just a little too much. "Why?" Makoto curiously inquired. "PLEASE!" Ranma begged. Makoto gave the idea a little more thought, and eventually gave a relenting sigh. "Aww shit." Makoto cursed as she rubbed her forehead. "Fine. Whatever. What difference does one more make?" The dam holding back Ranma's tears finally broke. "Oh god yes... thank you!!" she managed to mutter. "We're a family at last, Akane... all that's missing now is you." a repressed voice whispered silently in Ranma's mind. "Cripes... What in the hell have I gotten myself into?" Makoto wondered silently. ~~~ One of Tank's ill appreciated duties was constantly debugging and rewriting the interface software since the Matrix had the quiet habit of remodulating it's broadcast signal each time someone hacked in. Several more lines of character gibberish scrolled across Tank's computer display, one of the characters in those lines being a key piece of information for his current task. His progress was coming along at a steady pace, that is, until Neo entered the room. "Tank, I'm still unclear on this." Neo muttered. "How can Makoto be Akane's mother?" Neo inquired. "C'mon. You should know that." Tank answered, trying his best to keep his concentration on his work. "There's still a lot I don't know, or so I'm discovering." Neo replied. "Yeah. I'll bet." Tank muttered, still diligently keeping focus on his work. "It's quite simple. Egg plus sperm equals kid. Even schools in the matrix teach you that." "You know what I meant." Neo retorted. Tank sighed as he was forced to elaborate. "Certain individuals are harvested for reproductive purposes. Makoto was probably one of them." "Harvested?" Neo questioned. "Okay, junior. I'll spell it out for you." The now agitated Tank saved his progress and shut down the program, since Neo wasn't likely to stop bothering him unless he gave the topic his full attention. "The matrix injected her with sperm and extracted the fertilized eggs from her where they are grown in the harvest fields and later grow up to become wonderful upstanding members of our happy little matrix community." Tank explained, adding heavy buckets of sarcastic emphasis. "Akane is a textbook example. Understand now?" "Whoa..." Neo muttered. "Yeah, whoa is right. Lots of fun when you extract someone like that out of the matrix too." "Why's that?" Neo questioned. "Because most likely when you do, there's usually a fertilized egg or two still in the womb that didn't get extracted." Tank sighed as he continued on. "Take my brother Dozer for example. When mom was extracted from the matrix he arrived nine months later. The crew of the ship she was on at the time had a hell of a blast trying to care for her and my brother." "And you?" "I came about the old fashioned way. You know... one girl, one guy, semi-private room... you know the bit." "I see." Neo muttered. "We have a nickname for people like Makoto and my mom, you know." "What would that be?" Neo inquired. Tank shook his head in disappointment. "If you haven't figured it out by now..." he muttered as he went back to his work. ~~~ Several of Makoto's few belongings had found a home in Ranma's quarters. Makoto relished the idea of having her own quarters all to herself at first, but as she took a moment to think about it she concluded that it sounded far too lonely... and boring. Thus prompted her decision to bunk with Ranma. Of course, she had yet to ask Ranma, who was peacefully asleep on her bed with Trinity keeping a watchful eye over the girl. They both had little doubt that Ranma wouldn't mind.. While Makoto had unpacked her sparse belongings, Trinity had quietly discussed Ranma's previous 'life' in the matrix. Makoto understandably had a hard time believing it. "No way! You're full of it!" Makoto shouted. "Shhh! Not so loud, will ya'? She needs her rest." Trinity quietly replied. "I wasn't making it up. Ranma was a guy in the matrix, and quite comfortable with it too." "I don't believe a word of it." Makoto sternly muttered. "How could the matrix possibly pull something like that? Come to think of it, why?" "We've got a good idea why. It's just as screwed up itself." Trinity answered. "Ranma was handling the gender issue pretty well. It's when her family got shot up that she crumbled." "I don't blame her." Makoto muttered. "I know that the family that raised me in the matrix aren't really my family, but still, if something ever happened to them..." Makoto trailed off her sentence and shook her head in pity. "Sucks to be her." "Yeah, exactly. She just couldn't handle it anymore, I guess. I mean, she just... you know, hit the reset button or something. Poof. Just like that." Trinity muttered. "You saw how she acted. She thinks you're her mother, her fiancee is her sister, I'm her cousin, etcetera. I wish I could rewrite my life like that." "Did you say fiancee?" Makoto inquired. Trinity nodded. "Uh huh. Akane was her fiancee in the matrix." "Oh really? Hmm. Now I get it." Makoto gave the slumbering girl an assessing look. "How clever. It makes perfect sense now." "What does?" "Why Ranma wanted me to be her mother." Makoto mused. "It's a long story. Somewhere in the bowels of Ranma's mind she still desparately wanted to have some sort of a family with Akane. I think this is Ranma's way of doing just that. Heh... how sickeningly cute." Trinity shrugged. "Sounds complex." "It is." Makoto nodded. "I'm a sucker for hard-luck cases though, so... I think I'll play along, for now. You know, I had a child shortly after I got out of the matrix." "Really? How old is she?" "I don't know. I didn't want anything to do with her at the time." Makoto muttered. "I haven't seen her since she was born. Doubt I ever will either." "Maybe you should find her." Makoto shrugged, then shook her head. "No, I suppose it's too late for that. I have no idea where she is. Probably for the best. She should be almost two years old by now..." "Any regrets?" "You bet." Makoto bluntly answered. "I would've liked a daughter to train in the martial arts... other than through brain-tapes, that is." "Ranma and Akane know martial arts." Trinity informed. "It's their family's own unique style." "Really? My father in the matrix had a dojo where we practiced the art." Makoto stated. "I only wish I could have restored the dojo's honor." "What happened?" Trinity inquired. "I... I don't want to talk about it." Makoto answered. "That was in the matrix. Let it stay there." Trinity respectfully nodded. Makoto sat in a seat closer to Ranma's bed. "Well, you've got some work ahead of you, little one." Makoto quietly spoke as she reached over and stroked her adopted daughter's short fiery hair. "If you expect to be my daughter, then I'm going to make damn sure you make the family proud." "Which family are you talking about?" Trinity asked. "Your 'family' on the Nebuchadnezzar, or your 'family' in the Matrix?" "Both." ~~~ Morpheus sat in a small chair on the ops deck staring at a screen which displayed data on some of the latest occurrences in the matrix. Unlike the raw character display, this one translated some of the rudimentary data into something similar to a news report. There wasn't anything particularly interesting to read, but it gave Morpheus something to look at. As Neo entered the room, Morpheus maintained his poker faced expression as he prepared his next course of action. "Call up your 'friend' in the matrix." Morpheus ordered. "Let him know we'll meet him in one hour." "'We'? As in you and me?" Neo questioned. "He'll recognize you, Morpheus." "I know." Morpheus replied. "I want to meet him properly this time." "With or without guns?" Neo jokingly questioned. "I haven't decided yet." Morpheus eerily maintained his impassive expression. "Just to be frank, I don't think you meeting him is too hot of an idea." Neo muttered. "And why an hour?" Morpheus broke his facade, forming a small grin. "In ten minutes I have an appointment with someone. I'd hate to have to make two trips." Morpheus walked over to one of the interface couches and prepped it for activation. "Let's go." ~~~ After spending a great deal of time searching, Ryoga finally found his way to the hospital room he was assigned to guard. He took a silent peek into the room and saw that the scientist had his back turned, concentrating on whatever experiment he was working on. Seeing this his chance, Ryoga quietly stepped into the room hoping that he could dodge the bullet for being late. "Mister Hibiki..." the agent ominously muttered as he turned around. Ryoga cringed. "Yes sir?" "I don't think you're allowed to carry non-official cellular telephones on duty." the scientist pointed to Ryoga's cell phone which was clipped to his belt. "It... uh, it was a gift." Ryoga nervously answered. "From whom?" Ryoga hesitated to think of an answer. "A friend." The scientist rubbed his chin. "I see." -Ring!- -Ring!- Ryoga flinched as the phone rang, yet remained perfectly still while sweating buckets. -Ring!- -Ring!- Ryoga gingerly glanced at the phone, then at his boss. "I think it'd stop ringing if you answered it." the scientist bluntly muttered. Ryoga brought the phone up to his ear, pushed the green button, and spoke. "Hello?" he nervously answered. "Hello, Mister Hibiki." Neo greeted. "We'll whaddya know?! It's my friend." Ryoga nervously said to the scientist. "I, uh, I'll ask him not to call while I'm at work..." The scientist gave an eerie grin. "I wasn't complaining." "Did I call at a bad time?" Neo inquired over the phone. "Yes! Uh, I mean, no! Not at all! Uhm, what's up?" Ryoga asked. "We're on our way to meet you. One hour." "Where at?" "Just find a place and stay there. I'll find you." "Okay." Neo hung up the phone without so much as a formal goodbye. "Mister Hibiki, I doubt Ms. Tendo's associates will be showing up here. Perhaps you should take the rest of the day off." the scientist suggested. "Really? Perfect! See ya'!" Ryoga hastily departed. The scientist's grin grew wider. ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading! From: "XStylus" Subject: [Ranma/Matrix][FanFic] Interface - Chapter Nine Interface - A Ranma 1/2 / Matrix Fanfic Crossover Chapter Nine Authored by XStylus (Troy Alan Williams) Begun on: 10-25-99 Submitted to RAAC: 11-29-2001 Revisions made on: N/A Special thanks to prereader Kevin D. Hammel and to the patient readers on the FFML and RAAC. Please see Chapter One for disclaimers, all of which apply to this chapter and all forthcoming chapters unless otherwise noted. ******* Note to TASS awards voting: This fanfic and all forthcoming chapters are to be re-categorized as a Cross-over series. ******* All previous chapters are archived at www.sofaspud.org. (And no, I haven't given up on this story!) Got comments? Let's hear em'! Please visit www.sofaspud.org and send comments to XStylus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I'm disappointed in you, Morpheus." The oracle chided. "Why were you encouraging them?" "Encouraging what?" Morpheus inquired. "You know what I'm talking about." The oracle grabbed a cookie from a nearby tray. "Trying to salvage from their lives what little they brought with them from the matrix. You know what that does." Morpheus sighed. "I was on the path to having another Cipher incident, wasn't I?" The oracle nodded. "It was in the making. It's painful, I realize that, but you're supposed to help them let go." "Yeah... well, she let go alright." Morpheus rested his chin against his fist in 'the thinker' pose. The oracle plucked several chocolate chips off of the freshly baked cookie. "So what do you plan to do now?" "We'll try to restore her memory." Morpheus answered. "That's pretty much all we can do." "Oh really now?" the Oracle took a small nibble of her cookie. "Do you want to know what -else- I told them?" "That's for them to know. It's none of my business." "Well tough cookies because I'm tellin' you anyway." the Oracle popped one of the plucked chocolate chips in her mouth. "I told them that Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo are dead." "That's supposed to be helpful?" Morpheus questioned. "Why would you say something like that?" The oracle would have scowled at Morpheus' objection had she not seen it coming. She gingerly took another nibble of her cookie. "Well, at the moment it ain't far from the truth, dear." the oracle took a sip from a nearby glass of milk. "Tell me... you remember Thomas Anderson, don't you?" "That would be Neo." The oracle shook her head. "Tommy's dead, ya' know." "Excuse me?" "You heard me. He died in the matrix. I'm sure you remember it. An agent killed him as you were trying to help him find an exit." "Wait wait wait... Neo -survived-." Morpheus corrected. "No, Morpheus. That's where Neo, the TRUE Neo, was born." Morpheus conceded the argument. "Okay, but what does that have to do with Ranma's problem?" "Think about it." the oracle answered. Morpheus rubbed his forehead as he contemplated an answer. "Well then, if we're going to look at it that way... In the construct, you could say Ranma died by her own hand-..." "-HIS- own hand." The oracle interrupted. "Whatever. She becomes delirious and-..." "Try again." the oracle interrupted. "Alright, HE became delirious and-..." "Still wrong." the oracle interrupted again. "One more try." Morpheus scowled. After taking another moment to rethink his answer, he came to one that he thought would sound correct. "Ranma died by HIS own hand, and a strange young woman takes his place." Morpheus answered. "Is -born- in his place." the Oracle corrected. "Her memory is juuuuust fine, dear. Just sit back. She knows what she's doing." the oracle added with a sly smile. Morpheus sighed. "I don't know what I can do to help her then." "You're familiar with my sign above my door, aren't you?" The oracle pointed to a wooden sign which, in latin, said "Know thyself." "Know it well." Morpheus answered. "That poor girl has no idea who she is." "She's not the only one." Morpheus returned to his 'thinker' pose. "There's three people who can help her find out." the oracle took another nibble of her cookie. "Her mother, her father, and her sister." "I don't think Ranma has a sister, unless you mean Akane. She's, uh... a little preoccupied in case you hadn't heard..." Morpheus shook his head in regret. "...and I doubt she'll be talking to her dad anytime soon. I don't know about her mother though..." "That's Ranma's family, Morpheus. Ranma's dead, remember?" "Then what do you-..." Morpheus trailed off as another streak of inspiration hit him. "Makoto is NOT her mother." "That depends on your definition of a mother." the oracle ricocheted one of the plucked chocolate chips off Morpheus' forehead. "I'd appreciate it if you'd not do that." "I'm hoping I can wake up that slab of gray matter in there." She bounced another off his forehead. "A new soul has been born from the ashes of an old one. Someone needs to step forward and raise it." "She drafted Makoto for that job." The Oracle shrugged. "Eh. I suppose she'll make a fine mother." The oracle shot another chocolate chip at Morpheus, and missed as he dodged. "You, Morpheus, make a fine father figure, don't you think?" She shot again, and this time hit him in the eye. "Ow!" Morpheus winced and rubbed his eye. "What do you mean 'father figure'?" "Are you not up to the job?" "Truthfully? Not really." "Then why are you commanding a ship if you can't handle just one child?" "Wait a minute, let's not confuse issues here! There's a difference between-..." "Neo, Trinity, Tank... they're not just crew to you, Morpheus." The oracle plucked some more chips off of another cookie. Morpheus hesitated, then sighed. "No... they're not, but that doesn't mean-..." "Will one more really make that much of an impact in your family?" the oracle inquired. Morpheus hesitated again, sighed again, and relented. "No, I suppose not." Morpheus answered. "So what do you suggest I do? Should I go to her and have a talk or what?" "Usually that's not a bad idea, but..." The oracle ominously paused amid sentence. "...I don't think that'll be an option in the near future." "Why do you say that?" Morpheus questioned with a skeptical glance. "Don't worry." The oracle gave a gentle smile. "When the right time comes, she'll come to you, and you'll be glad she did." The oracle flung another at Morpheus. This time, he was ready for it. Instead of dodging, he caught it in his mouth... ...then quickly spit it out. "Raisins?! I thought they were chocolate chips!" "You thought?" she questioned as she gave a sly grin. "You know better than to think." She bounced another chocolate chip off his forehead. ~~~ "Meditation is a crucial part of the martial arts. It focuses the mind and creates harmony between it and the body." Makoto explained as she, Ranma, and Trinity sat cross legged in a triangular formation. For this exercise Makoto had used a construct scene of her own design. They sat under moonlight in the middle of a small preserve of trees which was not too far away from a modest, yet modern house. The house held no real significance aside from scenic value. Such a building near a preserve of trees stuck out like a sore thumb, yet at the same time seemed to belong. Trinity made a mental note to ask Makoto about the house when she had the opportunity. "Why do I have to do this?" Ranma protested. "I get more focus with my katas than I do with this silly crap!" "The more you protest, the longer we must concentrate." Makoto cooly replied. "Your mind is focused on ways to do something other than meditate, which means you aren't concentrating. So that means we need to meditate longer." "What I wouldn't give for a chair or a pillow..." Trinity muttered. "Et tu, Trinity?" Makoto questioned. "Hey, she's MY student. Lay off." Ranma retorted. Makoto glanced at Trinity, then shot a glare at Ranma. "Okay then..." She rose from her sitting position, then pulled off her black belt. "Off with your belt." Ranma flinched for a moment, yet reluctantly complied as she too rose, took off her belt, and stood toe to toe with Makoto. Trinity was handed both belts for safekeeping. "Here's how we used to handle disputes between the sensei in MY dojo." Makoto said. "We both currently have no belt. We stand as equals. I consider your objections to my teaching to be a challenge. Time for you to back it up." "Ready whenever you are." Ranma dropped into a defensive stance. "One catch." Makoto added. "The winner takes both belts, and the loser must train under the victor until she deems that person worthy of receiving their belt again." "Just warning ya' now mom... I'm a tough teacher." Ranma wistfully grinned. "Trinity, call the battle." Makoto instructed. Trinity shrugged, then shouted "Go for it!" The two simply stood there for several moments, waiting for the other to strike. "You initiated the challenge. Throw the first attack." Makoto ordered as she tightened her headband in a subtle taunting fashion. "Or are you afraid to hit your poor, dear ol' mother?" "No, I don't hit gir-..." Ranma paused amid sentence for a moment. "Hmm. Nope, not afraid at all." Ranma slowly edged closer to Makoto, then threw the first attack with a kick to the sternum which was easily blocked and countered with an overhand chop to Ranma's skull. It was a cheap attack that harbored the brute force of a mallet. Ranma retreated a few steps back, a careless tactical move that Makoto could have taken advantage of, but stood her ground. "So that's where Akane get's it from..." Ranma muttered as she rubbed her head. "Get's what?" Makoto questioned. "Nevermind." Ranma leapt forward. "Katchu-tenshin- amaguriken!!" Makoto hardly saw the attack coming as she was assaulted with a storm of punches from every angle. The assault flung her several feet backward, almost hitting a wooden post. Ranma pressed the attack and leapt into the air, preparing for an all out final strike. Ranma watched in slow motion Makoto's next attack. Simple as it was, it remained effective. "My turn. FUKIAGE!" Makoto yelled as she thrust her fist into the air. The attack connected true, the force and speed of the attack creating a strong rush of wind that propelled Ranma across the dojo. Ranma wondered if Makoto had been practicing the Hiryu-shoten-ha technique. She glanced across the dojo as she tried to refocus on the fight. There stood Makoto clear across from her, preparing for another attack. She blinked. Within that instant, Makoto had moved in a golden blur from clear across the dojo to right in front of her with her fist extended and ready to strike. Ranma wasn't even offered the chance to block. The attack connected knocking Ranma was knocked out cold. Makoto glanced at Trinity, the impromptu referee, waiting for a verdict. "Looks like you won." Trinity decreed. Makoto grinned. "Wake up, missy." she said as she gently nudged Ranma. "Oog... did I lose?" "Well, you definitely didn't win..." Makoto sarcastically answered. "I never lose..." Ranma mumbled in her blank delerium. "Wait a-... if this is my first real fight then that means..." as she thought it out, she came to a disheartening realization. "I've never won...?!" "An early lesson in humility, my dear student." Makoto proudly said. "Doesn't count." Ranma muttered. "Gimmie back my belt. That was just training." "Then you won't mind a little more before you get your belt back." Makoto replied. "Guess what you get to work on first." "Uhm... meditation?" Ranma questioned. "BINGO." Makoto assertively answered. "And you ain't getting this belt back until you've mastered it, young lady." "Aww c'mon, mom!" "You will call me sensei while you wear that gi." Makoto ordered. "Trinity, if you'd like, I will teach you from here on until Ranma is fit to carry on as your sensei again." Trinity obediently bowed with a smile. "Yes, sensei. I'd be honored." ~~~ Ryoga Hibiki stood patiently at the end of an isolated road in a small farm town outside Tokyo. It wasn't far from where he worked, or so he believed. It looked rather awkward to be dressed in formal business attire, the attire befitting an agent, while standing in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road nearby several acres of rice fields. Off in the distance he could see an old but well maintained classic Lincoln Continental strolling down the path. To be driving such a prized and difficultly acquired car down such a poorly maintained road was sheer lunacy, Ryoga thought. As the car pulled beside Ryoga, one of the back doors opened. "Get in." Neo ordered. Ryoga quickly complied, delighted to have the opportunity to ride in such a magnificent vehicle. Ryoga barely had the chance to shut the door as the car quickly sped away. Ryoga was amazed at how well the vehicle was maintained, both inside and out. His attention was slightly diverted by a .45 aimed right at him. "What the hell is this?!" Ryoga questioned. "It's necessary, Ryoga," Neo answered. "For our protection." "From what?" "From you." Morpheus answered. Ryoga's eyes went wide as he looked at the man in the driver's seat. "YOU!!" Ryoga shouted. "You were with Ranma! You KILLED Akane's family!!" Morpheus slammed on the brakes, performing a surprise brake inspection which caused Ryoga to lurch forward, plastering his face into the seat in front of him. "Listen to me, Rand McNally," Morpheus bit his tongue after letting that rare, brief spurt of anger slip. "We don't have time to throw blame around." "We need your help." Neo muttered. "You were in on it too, weren't you?!" Ryoga bitterly snarled. "Why would I help you?!" "Because you need ours." Morpheus answered. "You and I both want to find Akane before those agents you work for do something to her." Morpheus gently stepped on the gas and continued down the dirt road. "They wouldn't dare hurt her!" "Would they?" Morpheus questioned. "Somehow I doubt you believe that yourself." -CRUNCH!- "What the hell?!" Neo cursed. He looked in the rear window to find a black Crown Victoria behind them. Morpheus looked in his rear view mirror and saw the car tailing him. When he returned his attention to the road ahead of him, he saw another black Crown Victoria trying to box them in. "Where the hell did they come from?!" Morpheus shouted. "HA! You guys are screwed now!" Ryoga bellowed. "So are you." Morpheus muttered. "You have more to fear from them than from us, believe me." The car in front of them slammed on it's brakes, causing Morpheus to rear end the car. Neo lost grip of his gun, a mistake that Ryoga took advantage of as he successfully wrestled it from him. The car from behind then rear ended their Lincoln, creating a nice Continental sandwich as the cars came to a stop. "And right now you have more to fear from ME than from them, and you better believe it." Ryoga muttered with a victorious smile. The window on the driver's side shattered as one of the agents thrust his elbow through it. "Gentlemen..." the agent said with an ominous smile, "Please step out of the car and come with me." Neo looked out the window and saw six agents. He believed that he could take them, but not while protecting Morpheus at the same time, and that wasn't taking into account the gun that Ryoga had pointed straight at his head, his finger twitching on the trigger. "This is bad." Neo muttered. "This is very bad." ~~~ I would like to thank you for reading 'Interface'. It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment to send a comment or two to myself (XStylus) telling me what you liked or disliked, or any potential errors or typos. The archive to this fanfic, as well as my email address, can be found at www.sofaspud.org. Thanks for reading!