Having signed all the papers, and gotten his reciepts, Ranma had let the workers go, since he had more important things to take care of. His attention was more on the new computer that graced the desk in the room than their departure, and when he stood in front of it, he knew that he was about to take another big step in the direction Akane's actions had taken him on. But then, he had not had a choice, and wasn't exactly able to do much beyond what he could see in front of him.
"Aren't you going to do anything?" Nabiki asked, leaning over his shoulder.
Snorting at her, he scowled. "Of course I am."
"Then why aren't you doing something?"
"Because I was.... I felt like it. Damn. Don't you have something better to do?"
"Nope. Not really."
"Great," he muttered, and reached out to press the button he'd been told about.
Immediately, the screen turned on, and lights began to glow on the computer. All sorts of security checks were apparently being run, and something about an 'integrity scan' was mentioned. None of that meant much to the one who owned the computer, but then, his main objective was not to understand how the thing worked.
The reason that he had the set up put together was obvious when one image in particular came up.
The next screen that came up was a single red line that seemed to be running from one side of the monitor to the other... and that got peaks and valleys when the words started coming from the speakers. "What.... What's going on?"
"It works!" Nabiki called out as she recognized the voice. "It really works!"
"Nabiki?"
"It's me."
"What worked?" the voice from the computer asked.
"You did."
Ranma glanced over at the girl, before turning his full attention to the computer. "Akane, what d'ya think happened?"
"I don't know. It's like I was in a really deep sleep, and woke up," the computer replied. "What a minute...."
"What?"
"I've got processors! And a camera!"
"Ya know 'bout that?"
The computer Akane made a sound in the affirmative. "It looks that way. But the last thing that I remember is.... Hold on. Why can I talk to you?"
"Well, I got called to this store, and...."
"You mean, it worked? It really worked?"
"If ya mean what I think that ya mean... yeah."
"Then my body is...."
"Sure is," he answered, and gestured at the still figure in the room. "C'mere."
The organic robot didn't show any restraint as she moved exactly as he directed, including when he held her by the arms, and moved her to stand next to him.
"See?"
"I sure can, so long as she's in range of the camera."
"'She'?"
"Well, that's not me, right? Okay, so that /is/ me," the computer AI allowed. "It's my body. Was my body."
"You remember all of that?" her sister asked.
"I sure do. I remember being in that body until I was in that pod. And then...."
"It was turned into the robot that he can use. If he would."
"What does that mean?"
Nabiki gave a helpless shrug. "The big lug here isn't exactly taking this nice and easy. In fact, he's been rather... uptight about it."
"Ranma!"
"What?" he sullenly replied.
"Why haven't you enjoyed your robot yet?"
"Huh?!"
"Don't give me that. She's yours to do with what you like!"
"But this is your body!"
"Was my body. Now everything about it is yours. Do what you like. Dress it up. Have it do your chores. Even... fondle its... tits if you feel the urge," the AI said, sounding rather embarrassed, though confident on the last suggestion.
"Isn't that bein' a bit... too private and intimate?"
"That's the thing. It's yours. Think of it this way. I want you to be groping me, but my mind can't be in my body."
"Really?"
"Yes, 'really'!"
"Oh."
"Go, sis!" the middle Tendo daughter cheered.
"That does confuse me though."
"What does?"
"The fact that I can talk at all. By what I remember, I was supposed to be data in storage, not a mind that can play video games by thinking about it," the digital Akane murmured.
"Oh, you can blame Ranma for that."
"HEY!" the named boy barked.
"It's true, isn't it? You're the one who, when told about the opportunity, did decide to have her mind installed onto the computer that you'd just gotten."
"Is that true?" the AI asked.
The pigtailed boy gave a small nod. "Pretty much. They said that I could do this, just use the data like a library of memories, and go through the things in your life that you remembered and thought, put you in another of their 'organic robots', got you a robot body, or simply put your mind as a start for some sort of pet."
"You could have just left my mind there."
"That wasn't an option."
"Still, this changes everything."
"Ya want your body back? Ya can hook inta it, ya know."
"Really? That's interesting. But not what I meant."
"What do ya mean?" he asked.
"Looks like you have both body and mind at your disposal."
"EH?!"
There was a laugh from the computer. "It's really simple. Akane Tendo's body and mind have been seperated. Her body is now a living machine for your use. And her mind is now a really neat computer program for your use."
"Ya mean...."
"That's exactly right. I don't plan on going back to the way things used to be. You enjoy using, having, and playing with that living robot, and have fun using, having, and playing with your computer program that does what you tell it to."
"Just like sis," Nabiki drawled. "Once she gets started on an idea, she goes through with it until the bitter end."
"In this instance, I'll take it as a compliment."
"You should."
Sighing, Ranma looked up at the ceiling and wondered what would happen next, while:
Sat Jul 01 08:45:14 2006