Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Big Break-Up ❯ Chapter 3

This story contains scenes of explicit sex, naughty words, and other horrible, offensive things.  If you are underage in your house, village, town, city, community, state, province, country, or continent: READ NO FURTHER!  If that type of thing offends your tender sensibilities, or you are stupid: READ NO FURTHER!  All characters are the copyright of their respective creators and/or owners; no copyright infringement is intended by this story.  Any resemblance to people, places, or situations alive, dead, or otherwise is purely coincidental.

 

The Big Break-Up

Chapter 3

 

Four Days Later

 

“Uuuhhnnh…I feel like crap!” Ranma muttered out loud as he slowly, wincingly pulled his body to an upright position in the soft bed the aliens had provided for him on their ship. “I feel so damn weak!” Cursing his recalcitrant body he hauled himself out of bed and began doing some stretches followed by a slow kata, trying to force the kinks out of his body and regain his usual sharpness. He was in the midst of those activities when the door to his room hissed open and Dall'an, her towering, jiggling form momentarily shrinking to fit through the human-sized door, entered.

 

“Good morning, young Ranma Saotome,” She greeted her human guest. “If that salutation is appropriate considering that we are now far above the Earth and in a position to influence by our own free will at what particular time the light of the sun hits our craft.”

 

“Close enough,” Ranma said with a grin before grimacing at yet another slight twinge in his body. “Hey, Dall'an, I don't wanna whine or nuthin', but… Why am I feelin' so crappy? I feel like even Kuno might have a chance of beating me!” The martial artist thought over that last comment for a second and then corrected it, “Well, maybe not that bad, but still…”

 

“You have no need to be concerned, young Ranma Saotome. In fact, you should be pleased with your recovery; it proceeds at a much faster pace than one would normally calculate based on your species' physiology.” The alien commander's tone took on a slightly admonishing tone as she continued. “You spent three days in the tank mechanism having your cursed persona being removed from you and have now spent approximately 22 hours and 34 minutes in bed, but are already capable of moving about under your own power. To complain about some slight, temporary weakness is most definitely not appropriate. We had counted on you remaining in bed for a minimum of three days after the process had been completed.”

 

“Well, ya know, I've always been a pretty quick healer. Kinda had to be considering my life,” Ranma's cheery good humor suddenly left him as his mind finally processed everything the alien had said. “My `cursed persona'? You mean my girl half? It, it's gone then?!? AAUUUGGHHH!!!” Ranma yelled as a stream of icy-cold water suddenly fell on him from above. He felt angry at first by the alien's action, but that was quickly swept away in his wonder as he felt around his still decidedly male body. “I, I, I didn't change?! I didn't change!! Yeah, baby!! It worked!!”

 

“Really, Ranma Saotome,” Dall'an's voice sounded a bit aggrieved as she watched the teenager bouncing around the room in happiness. “Did you really have any doubt? We told you that we were more than fully capable of removing this problem of yours. That is the reason we want to do more-”

 

“No more girl-type! I'm 100% guy again!! YYYYEEESSSS!!!” The alien was unable to get in another word as her guest continued to yell for joy and hop about the room like a rabbit after taking a boat-load of meth. Eventually, however, Ranma's lingering weakness from the operation caught up to him and he slowed to a panting halt to recover his breath and energy. While he was bent over a sudden thought occurred to him and he popped back upright, only to stumble a bit as a wave of lightheadedness overcame him. Finally he was able to recover his balance, though, and ask; “Uh, if you guys could…ya know, take out my girl side, then…Well, how is…Uh, I mean, how's…?” He stumbled to a halt, unable to complete his jumbled thoughts.

 

“Come along, Ranma Saotome, and see for yourself.” Ranma quickly followed the limbless alien out of his room and a short distance down the hall to another door. “Actually,” Dall'an explained on the way, “When we detected movement within your quarters this is why I came to your room.” The door in the wall opened at a slight gesture from one of her tentacles and Ranma soon found himself in a room that looked like an exact copy of the one he was staying in. The only difference was that the bed in the room was hovering off the ground somehow and its top was enclosed by a curved, crystal-clear sheath of plastic or something that left a number of small gaps along the edges. On that transparent material were a number of colored lights which evidently tracked the status of the bed's occupant, but they were completely incomprehensible to the teenager. Slowly stepping closer the young martial artist found himself looking at his girl half, her bright red hair standing out extremely vividly against the whiteness of the pillow case and her hospital-style smock.

 

Sitting down in a chair positioned close to the bed Ranma asked, “So…She's OK?”

 

“Yes, perfectly,” Dall'an's voice sounded a bit self-satisfied. “As has been mentioned to you before, Ranma Saotome, this is not such a difficult task for beings of our technological level. I do have to admit that I feel we have done an exceptionally fine job in this case, though.”

 

Ranma's frowned slightly, his blue eyes squinting together as he regarded his red-haired “twin”. “She looks kinda…Ida know. Different somehow. Ya know… From when she was…me.”

 

“You are not mistaken, Ranma Saotome. In creating her own body some of this persona's latent desires and thoughts were grafted into its form. Thus, you may notice that this person's hair is several inches longer than yours. There are a few other such minor changes. It is of course also possible that any differences you notice come from seeing her directly instead of through a mirror as you had to in the past.”

 

“Yeah, I guess that's it,” Ranma agreed, only half listening. “I don't remember my…her breasts being quite that…Well, never mind.” The teenager was silent for a few moments before hesitantly reaching under the plastic top of the bed to touch his other half's arm. It's so warm! He thought, surprised for some reason before his attention was caught by Dall'an speaking.

 

“I wanted you to come here, Ranma Saotome, not only to show you that the process was a success, but also to inform you about a few things.”

 

“Uh, like what?”

 

“For one thing my son and I will be moving this person's bed into your room in a short time. For the next five or six months Earth-time it will be important for you and this one to sleep in the same room and stay in relatively close company as much as possible.”

 

“Sleep in the same room!?!” Ranma groaned already able to imagine what kind of trouble this was going to cause him with his father, the Tendos and the various other entanglements in his life. “How come?!?”

 

“You must remember, Ranma Saotome, that you and she have just been abruptly separated after seventeen years together. Your psyches will need time to adjust to such a development. If you were to remain too far apart, too quickly, the results on your mental conditions, particularly hers, could be quite devastating.”

 

“But I ain't had that stupid curse for seventeen years!” Ranma complained. “Only one!”

 

“Yes, you fell into the spring approximately one year ago, that is true,” Dall'an acknowledged. “But for this other person it is like you two have existed together from the moment of your birth. She has exactly the same memories, skills, experiences and so forth as you do, Ranma Saotome. At this precise moment there is nothing that you know that she does not and vice versa about one another and the world. Of course, from now on you will develop separately, but it will take time for your minds to adapt to that fact.”

 

Ranma nodded acceptingly as he thought over the implications of what the alien commander had just told him. Finally he spoke up, “So then…We're exactly the same.”

 

“Well, not precisely one hundred percent the same,” The large alien corrected. “What I said was that you had the same memories and abilities. Now of course you are physically separate and your physical differences will affect your use of your skills. From what I understand, your female side is faster than your male side while your male form is more powerful. This is still the case.”

 

“Well, yeah. Of course, I know that. I meant that we're the same as far as other things ago.”

 

Dall'an was quiet for a moment before replying. “Basically, yes, that is the case, Ranma Saotome. I would say in this matter that you are 90 to 95 percent the same rather than the 100 percent of your experiences and abilities, though. And be prepared that any differences between you two to be strong ones.”

 

“Huh? Why's that?!” Ranma started getting nervous as he thought again over his past disastrous experiences with having his female side separated from him. “She ain't gonna turn out to be some kinda evil, soul-suckin' monster is she?”

 

“Of course, not!” Dall'an's tone sounded quite aggrieved at Ranma's doubt in her and her scientific abilities. “We would never be party to such a misuse of technology! All I am trying to say is just like when she and her body were being created outside of your own, her own feelings and desires will have had some slight impact on how she interprets the memories and experiences you both share.”

 

“I don't get what you're saying,” Ranma admitted bluntly.

 

“Let me put it this way,” The large blue-green alien searched silently for an appropriate analogy for a few moments before speaking. “This new female human will love to eat just like you do. That I can guarantee, but perhaps one of the dishes that you like she may not only not like, but completely despise.” Seeing Ranma starting to nod his head slowly in comprehension she went on. “As I mentioned earlier, there probably will not be many of these differences, but where they exist you will often have diametrically opposed opinions to one another.”

 

“I guess I get what you're sayin',” Ranma looked at the redhead and the bed, apparently sleeping soundly, for a minute or so before going on. “And if we gotta stick together for a while to be healthy, then we'll do it. Anything to get rid of that dumb curse once and for all.”

 

“I am happy to hear that you understand, Ranma Saotome. This person's bed will be moved into your room shortly.”

 

“Yeah, OK.” Ranma stood up with another glance back at his other side. “So, how long is she gonna be…Ya know, sleepin' like this?”

 

“That is difficult for me to predict. I would have said another four or five days before witnessing your own quick recovery. We will just have to wait and see.”

 

“All right, then.” The martial twisted his upper body sharply, once again trying to force his body into feeling more normal. “Do you guys got a place I can work out or somethin'? I need to get back to training.”

 

“Indeed, Ranma Saotome,” Dall'an led the way out of the room and into the hallway. “We anticipated such a desire on your part and converted an unused storage area into a copy of one of your Earth dojos and exercise rooms. I hope it will be acceptable to you.”

 

“Thanks! You guys are really going all out for me. I can't tell ya how much I appreciate it.”

 

“You forget, Ranma Saotome. It is my family that owes you a debt of honor. We will do everything that is necessary to repay that debt.” The alien's voice than shifted to a register well above the hearing range of humans although it would have had any dogs in the vicinity going crazy, “Whether you know it or not.”

 

Two Days Later

 

“Uh, `scuze me? Can I come in?”

 

Ranma abruptly dropped out of the strenuous kata he was working his way through at the sound of a familiar female voice behind him. You know that feeling when you hear your own recorded voice? How strange it sounds from what your brain had expected? Then you have some slight inkling of how Ranma felt when he turned around to see his female half at the entrance of the spaceship's training room, dressed in some of his spare clothes. The male and female sides of what had been a single human being only a few short days previously simply stood staring at one another for several minutes, unable to figure out what to say and engrossed in their own thoughts.

 

Geez! I think I finally can figure out why the guys at school were always payin' Nabiki so much money for those pics of my female side! Ranma was thinking in shock as the redhead hesitantly walked into the room, her hand up behind her head the mirror of his own embarrassed head scratching. Ranma's eyes seemed to roam over the curvaceous girl in front of him against his will and he couldn't help but feel that his already busty female half had increased her breast size by several inches to go along with her longer hair. My clothes never looked that…that…that… tight when I turned into a girl, did they?! At least I hope they didn't!! Finally she was standing only a few feet away from him, a hesitant smile forming on her beautiful face as Ranma felt one tugging at his own lips. He finally broke the long silence, “Man! This is-”

 

“-too weird!” His girl half finished her smile breaking out completely at their synchronous thinking.

 

“So, uh…What should I…?” Ranma stuttered out, the second half of his comment once again being finished by his other side.

 

“Call me?” She laughed, “Well, I was figurin' on Ranko, unless you minded that is. After all, it is what-”

 

“-we always used,” Ranma completed. “Yeah, that's true. It's fine with me if you wanna keep it.”

 

“Ranko, then.”

 

“All right. Ranko.”

 

The two teenagers stood staring at one another with somewhat goofy smiles on their faces. Eventually Ranko laughed again, “What's the matter, Ranma? Never seen a girl before?”

 

Ranma laughed and blushed, “Nah, it's just…I don't know. It's so-”

 

“-hard to believe. Yeah, I know what you mean.”

 

“Yeah. I guess I don't know what to say.” Ranma shook his head and laughed again.

 

“Then why say anything?” Ranko suggested. “We both know we ain't no great shakes with words anyway. Let's spar!”

 

“All right,” Ranma agreed quickly, then paused. “Are ya sure you should? I mean you just got up, right?”

 

Ranko gave a decidedly unfeminine snort at that, “Yeah, and I'm sure you were careful about resting your body and taking your time before practicing after you woke up, huh?”

 

“Well…”

 

“That's what I thought. Come on! Let's see what we got!” Ranko settled into a guard position and as soon as Ranma did the same she launched herself at him.

 

For any normal person watching the first ten or fifteen minutes of the two teenagers' practice they would have thought that they were going full force trying to pummel one another. A more practiced eye, however, would have noticed that they were clearly holding back from using their full abilities. Ranko seemed a bit hesitant as she tested out her new body for the first time, but as the minutes ticked by she clearly began to feel more and more confident. On Ranma's side what was holding him back was his old, chauvinistic attitude towards women instilled in him by his idiot father. Uncomfortable fighting with a woman and unwilling to go all out, the teenaged boy focused primarily on defending himself from Ranko's increasingly more serious attacks.

 

After the first quarter of an hour, Ranko abruptly flipped away from Ranma and stood with her hands on her shapely hips. Seeing that she wanted to talk, Ranma also dropped his guard and asked, “What's up? Somethin' wrong?”

 

“Nope,” Ranko's longer ponytail whipped behind her head like a cat's tail as shook her head in denial. “I just wanted to tell you that I'm done warmin' up and I'm comin' at ya with all I got from now on and you'd better do the same.”

 

“But-”

 

“Don't `but' me, Ranma!” Ranko said angrily. “I remember all that crap Pop told us about women bein' weak and a distraction from the Art. But we both know that he's full of shit and you better start respecting me in trainin' from now on, `cause if you don't I'm gonna lay a serious smack down on you! Ya got that?!!?”

 

Ranma stared at Ranko in shock at her outburst for nearly a minute before he suddenly laughed, a wide grin lighting up his face. “All right then, let's see what you got.”

 

Ranko smiled too, “No holding back…Here we go!”

 

The two martial artists sprinted at one another across the length of the room and the spaceship's dojo was soon resounding with the sounds of battle; the shouts of attacks, the smacks as blows landed and the thuds of bodies colliding with one another as well as the floor, walls, and on more than one occasion the ceiling as well. The sparring, or brawling as you prefer, went on and on, neither combatant giving an inch and despite the pain of blows landed on their bodies and the ache of abused muscles each found themselves unable to keep a grin of enjoyment off their faces as they battled. In one another they had found the perfect training partner.

 

Much like the disastrous time Ranma had tried to use the shadow training incense technique they knew each other's moves perfectly and thus could force their opponent to higher levels of effort and to attempt new combinations that might help them achieve victory. But what made their current partner even better than the shadow incense were the differences. Ranko's quickness forced Ranma to adapt to it and work at improving his own speed to compete. Conversely, Ranma's higher level of strength again made Ranko labor to compensate for it as well as heightening her own toughness and power. For anyone trained in the martial arts watching Ranma and Ranko duel with one another was like watching the most perfect, if extremely violent, ballet in existence.

 

The two continued their sparring for several hours, streams of sweat pouring off their bodies and the air of the dojo quickly heating up as they fought each other fiercely. Eventually they ceased their training, however, and panting with exhaustion they went over to a side wall where there was a fountain which provided them with ice cold water to slake their thirst. Taking turns they drank, being careful not too drink too much or too fast before they began some light stretches to relax their tired bodies.

 

“Man! You're really good!” Ranma enthused as he stretched, looking at Ranko with appreciation. “I think that's about the best workout I ever had!”

 

“Well, of course!” Ranko said smugly a smile on her flushed face as she wiped some locks of sweat-soaked hair off her face. “We're the best, ain't we?!”

 

Ranma laughed to hear his own normal, over-proud boasting coming from her lips. After that the two were silent for several minutes, only occasionally exchanging a grin as they finished their cool down stretches. When they were done, Ranma was the first to speak. “Ya know, lately I've been thinkin' that-”

 

“-that we should learn the Bakusai Tenketsu technique,” Ranko finished for him. “Yeah, I gotta agree with you. And since we gotta stay another week up here for testing, maybe we should-”

 

“-go to Dall'an and Zendiff and see if they can't help us. Maybe they can-”

 

“-rig up some kinda trainin' course for us. I doubt they got boulders, but-”

 

“-they outta have some big chunks of metal or something we can use.”

 

“Yeah,” Ranko agreed. “That sounds good. And if that moron Ryouga can master it in a week, then-”

 

“-we can do it in a few days.” Ranma frowned at a sudden thought, “But maybe we'd better not do it so quick, after all-”

 

“-a big part of the trainin' is the poundin' ya take to toughen up.” Ranko's frown mirrored Ranma's before her beautiful face suddenly brightened. “Hey! I got it! We can-!”

 

“-learn to hit the breaking point with our feet as well as our hands!” Ranma pounded his fist into his hand at the idea. “Great idea! Let's go see Dall'an and Zendiff right now and check with `em!”

 

“Yeah! This'll be great!” The two excited martial artists stormed out of the space-bound dojo on their way toward the control room. It was noticeable that although they had only been consciously together for a little less than six hours they were already so comfortable with one another's presence that the ending of the other's sentences and thoughts wasn't even noticed. It just seemed so natural for both of them.

 

Later

 

“Man! I can't wait to hit the sack!” Ranma commented tiredly as he and Ranko entered their room. After getting the aliens' agreement with their training plans and a promise that they'd set up something for them by the next day the two martial artists had eaten, rested, and then had another sparring session. For this second one they had decided to work on their weapons skills, concentrating on the bo. As a reflection of this Ranma was rubbing a bright red welt on his forearm where Ranko had managed to tag him quite sharply just before they had finished for the night.

 

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Ranko agreed with her twin's observation. “I'm bushed! But first I definitely wanna spend some time in the bath and soak some of this soreness outta my muscles.”

 

“You can say that again.” Ranma glanced down at his injured arm and added a bit wryly, “Ya know, ya really didn't have to hit me so hard!”

 

Ranko snorted, “That's your own fault for lettin' your attention wander. You snooze you lose. Besides,” the redhead rubbed her shapely posterior with a grin. “I didn't notice you holdin' back much when you smacked me in the butt.” The two laughed at their comments as they began shucking off their clothes preparatory to washing up.

 

Ranma had already removed his shirt and was unlacing his pants when it suddenly dawned on him that he was close to being nude in the same room with a girl. Old reflexes immediately kicked in and he completely froze. Ranko, on the other hand, seemed totally oblivious as she swiftly removed all of her clothes leaving her completely and gloriously nude.

 

“Hey, Ranma?!” She asked as she noticed her roommate was frozen, his head turned firmly away from her as his hands fumbled nervously at the ties to his pants. “What's wrong with you?”

 

“Well, uh...ya know…I'm a, uh, guy and…”

 

“Oh, geez! You can't be serious!!” Ranko stalked over to the teenaged boy and stood directly in front of him, grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her when he tried to turn away. “Look, dummy. You ain't got nuthin' I ain't seen before and I ain't got nuthin' you ain't seen before. A thousand times over. So what's the big deal?”

 

“It's just that now…Well, we ain't, ya know…Uh, we ain't together so…”

 

“Don't be stupid!” Ranko admonished the stuttering Ranma. “Akane and the rest of those violent girls aren't here to do nuthin' to ya and it ain't like we're doin' anything anyway. We're just takin' a bath. It's no big deal!”

 

“Uh, we're gonna take a bath together?!” Ranma asked in surprise.

 

“'Course we are! There's only one isn't there? And it's a big one, right? So why shouldn't we? Like I already said, we got nuthin' to hide from one another and it don't mean nuthin'.”

 

Ranma found that he couldn't disagree with his redheaded twin's arguments and he soon found himself badgered into completely disrobing and entering the bathing area with her. The two thoroughly cleaned themselves up after their tough workouts and then entered the gigantic steaming tub of water with sighs of relief.

 

“Man! This place is awesome!” Ranko observed looking around the bathing area the aliens had provided for them. “Too bad we couldn't replace the Tendo's bath with this one!”

 

“Come on,” Ranma objected. “The Tendo's bath is pretty nice. We've definitely stayed in worse! Remember that one hostel-”

 

“-in China? Oh yeah! What a pit, but `course Pop had to stay there `cause it was close to a bar!” The two martial artists laughed and continued chatting away in the bath for the next half-an-hour, sharing memories and comments about their past life/lives. Finally, they got out of the bath, Ranko again completely open and unaware as she dried her tremendous body, Ranma doing his best not to show his discomfort as he too dried off. He was finding that the more time he spent with Ranko the more he was accepting and becoming accustomed to her. There were still times, however, when he became suddenly and acutely conscious of the fact that she was also a voluptuous and gorgeous girl. Given his past experiences this wasn't an easy hurdle for him to overcome.

 

Tossing their wet towels into the container the aliens had indicated they should put anything they needed cleaned the two teenagers walked into their room with Ranma doing his best to keep his eyes off Ranko's delectable bottom as she walked unconcernedly in front of him. He quickly moved to put on a pair of boxers and a tank top, his usual nightwear, and Ranko did as well, although it seemed a bit more leisurely. Finished dressing for the night Ranma stood beside the bed in order to hit the light switch off. “Ready?” He asked.

 

“Just about,” Ranko answered with a smile. “I just got one more thing to do.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“This.” The redhead suddenly hopped over the intervening beds to land lightly on her feet right next to a surprised Ranma. “Good night, Ranma,” She said getting up on her tiptoes to plant a warm kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for taking me seriously in trainin' today. Make sure ya keep it that way.”

 

“Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever ya say,” Ranma stammered one hand unconsciously reaching up to touch his cheek where she had kissed it, his face burning red with embarrassment. “Uh, what?” He asked as he noticed Ranko staring up at him expectantly.

 

“Well, aren't you gonna kiss me goodnight too?” Her blue eyes seemed a bit sharp that she had to ask.

 

“Uh, ya think I should?”

 

“Of course! We're like brother and sister or somethin', ain't we?!”

 

“Yeah, I guess so,” The teenage boy admitted tentatively. “Well, then…Uh, good night, Ranko.” He bobbed his head down to plant the briefest of pecks on Ranko's cheek.

 

“What was that?!” Ranko demanded. “If you're gonna do it, at least do it right!”

 

“Uh, right. Sorry `bout that.” Again Ranma leaned down, this time more slowly and placed a fuller kiss on her cheek. “Good night, Ranko. Uh, was that better?”

 

“Mmm,” Ranko agreed. “We'll keep working on it. We definitely need to loosen you up some,” She added over her shoulder as she made her way back to her own bed.

 

“I guess,” Ranma agreed with a shrug of his shoulders before turning off the light and getting into bed. “It ain't exactly like I got a lot of practice at that kind of thing, ya know.”

 

“I know, but just because that's what things were like in the past don't mean that's what they gotta be like all the time.”

 

“I suppose. See ya tomorrow, Ranko,” Ranma said sleepily.

 

“`Till tomorrow,” Ranko returned through a yawn. In no time at all Ranma and Ranko were fast asleep, their tired bodies needing to recuperate from the tough workouts they had been through that day. Their minds too were recovering and healing both from the effects of the separation process as well as due to their influences on each other during their new interactions as separate entities. Their dreams, oddly similar to one another's, would be an important part of that molding and shaping of their new lives.

 

The Next Day, Mid-Afternoon

 

“Revered Mother?”

 

“Yes, Son?”

 

“Are all humans this crazily prone to violence or does my savior and his newly created female twin have aberrant personalities?”

 

Dall'an paused in her work to look at the viewing hologram Zendiff was using to monitor the two humans on their ship. Currently they were using the new training room they had begged the two aliens to create for them. After much conversation about the goal and process of obtaining the Bakusai Tenketsu technique Dall'an had had her son set aside yet another empty storage room for the use of Ranma and Ranko. In it he had overnight quickly and expertly constructed what were basically two humongous pistons which were voice operated. The two martial artists were currently hanging from some webbing attached to the ceiling which restrained their bodies except for a single arm that was extended toward the gigantic slabs of metal attached to the end of the pistons. At their command the pistons would release with incredible force, flying across the room to smash a large, thick, heavy metal plate into their bodies. They were attempting to locate the breaking point in the metal but over the hours the alien had been watching, he hadn't seen them succeed once. Instead they were simply getting pounded into pulp. Repeatedly. But as that too seemed to be part of the training process, he guessed that they were happy with what he had made. Still, the whole thing was simply incomprehensible to the little, gelatinous alien.

 

“I think it is difficult to generalize from such a limited test sample,” Dall'an finally observed. “Certainly a review of human history seems to reveal a predilection toward violence, but our own history is not free of such blemishes either.”

 

“That's true,” Zendiff admitted, but then he gestured toward the monitor with a pseudopod. “But really, Mother!”

 

“We are not here to judge other beings by our standards, Son. And remember,” She added sharply. “You are talking about the being who saved your own existence. Without that `abnormal personality' you would not now be conversing with me.”

 

“Again you are correct, but I still find their behavior and desires decidedly odd.”

 

“That is one of the main reasons we are here. And speaking of desires, please start the recording of the humans' room from last night.”

 

“Yes, Mother.”

 

The two aliens watched without feeling any embarrassment or twinge of conscience the conversation and actions of Ranma and Ranko after they had finished their second workout of the day. When the hologram went black with the shutting off of the lights, Dall'an continued to watch a series of graphs and numbers that scrolled by. Evidently Ranma and Ranko had been unknowingly recorded not only in the visual spectrum, but in several other ways as well. Eventually Dall'an shut off the hologram with a satisfied air. “Things seem to be going well on that front,” She commented.

 

“If you say so,” Zendiff said doubtfully. “But I did not notice anything to indicate…”

 

“Son, you must remember that humans are one of those strange species that do not follow a regular pattern of mating rituals. Thus, their behavior in these situations can in no way be expected to follow logical patterns such as our own community has developed and perfected from the ancient days to the present. In this type of observation one must look behind the obvious to see the subtle layers of contact.”

 

“I see. I will try harder in the future, Mother.”

 

“Very good. I think we can leave our guests to their training for now, just make sure that the monitors are configured to correctly follow and record them.” Upon receiving her son's acknowledgement, Dall'an went on; “Now we must return to our own work. First of all…” So as two martial artists tormented their bodies in an attempt to learn ancient combat skills the spaceship they inhabited continued to revolve secretly around the Earth, its alien crew noting, analyzing and commenting on the behavior of the different species below them.