'God is gay!' That was what the front of Ranma's shirt said that Friday night. "I'm not gay!" Skuld said, blushing deep red as she read his shirt. She was arriving at the restaurant with everyone else and had spotted Ranma waiting in front, "Not that there's anything wrong with it," "Prove it," Ranma grinned. "I don't have to prove anything! I'm God! What I say is Law!" Skuld was getting agitated, "And if I say I'm not gay, then I'm not gay," "I dunno," Ranma shrugged, "When I came home the other day, I saw you kissing Asuka in the living room," Asuka blushed a deep shade of red. She didn’t even bother to defend herself since Ranma had been teasing her about it for almost the entire week. It was best to leave well enough alone and not provoke him. It was most unfortunate that Skuld didn't seem to catch on. "That was because I was drunk!" Skuld shouted, "I accidentally mistaken Urd's cup of sake for my cup of water. I got drunk on that one gulp and tripped and my mouth happened to have landed on hers!" "So are you admitting that you made a mistake by not realizing you were picking up Urd's cup instead of your own?" Ranma asked. "Yes!" Skuld said. "How could that happen? You're God. You're infallible," Ranma chuckled, "Man, what a lousy God you are," "Argh!" Skuld shouted. "Come on, you know that's not how it works," Urd came to her sister's defense, "You know full well that, as God, you can be infallible if you Will yourself to. Otherwise, you're just as prone to making mistakes as the next person," "Bah, you're no fun," Ranma waved a dismissive hand. "And let's not forget that, as God, even if you make a mistake, you do possess the power to undo it as if it never happened," Urd added, "You could even change so that a mistake is not even a mistake," "Sir, I can't believe you're wearing a shirt saying that!" a woman commented as she was exiting the restaurant, "The words on your shirt is nothing less than what people consider sacrilege," "Don't worry about it," Ranma answered, "Before long, it wouldn't be considered sacreligious. Afterall, back then, people used to think having sermons done in a language other than Hebrew was sacreligious," "I can't believe you can wear something like that in good conscience," the woman added. "Just curious, is this the same form of 'conscience' you're referring to that also believes it's perfectly okay to put aging parents in nursing homes or might this be a different form of 'conscience' you're referring to?" Ranma asked. The woman left in annoyance. Ranma chuckled. "That's an interesting shirt," a young man commented, giving Ranma' a thumb's up sign. "Oh, thanks," Ranma said. "That's a rather interesting way of letting the world know you're an atheist," the young man said. "Who says I am?" Ranma asked, "God's real," "Oh, you're one of them," the young man said almost condescendingly. "Lemme guess from your smug comment that you're an atheist," Ranma chuckled. "Sometimes, I don't understand you people and how you can choose to ignore facts and rely on blind faith," the young man said. "Who says I'm relying on faith?" Ranma asked, "I've actually use empirical reasoning," "And that conclusion is that God is gay?" the man smirked. "Nah, I just wear this shirt to tease God," Ranma said, "It's fun teasing her," "You believe God is female?" the man asked. "Yep," Ranma said with a smile, "Actually, I don't 'believe' she's female. I know she's female. 'Believe' would be a term used for something like 'I believe you know nothing compared to me and your arrogance in actually believing you know more than I do I find amusing'," "So, you think of any new web projects to do?" Ranma asked Shinji. Shinji's 'Random Encounter' website no longer existed. It was website that hosted videos of Ranma having random encounters with women and had developed a huge following from males as it seemed to be an excellent form of reference of how one could approach women. Ever since the cure for cancer was discovered, which had been the websites original goal, there was no need for it to be around. The website had generate massive amounts of revenue which had been used to fund cancer research. Now that Shinji's pet project no longer existed, Shinji found himself bored. Sure, he had taken over Ranma's dojo and now taught classes daily, but it didn't take up all his time and Shinji found himself bored and wanting new things to pass his time. "I can't think of any," Shinji answered. "How about you make a company that prints out fake ATM receipts?" Ranma asked from out of the blue. "What?" Shinji was confused. "That way, a guy can write his phone number on the back of the fake ATM receipt and give it to a girl and tell her to call him," Ranma said, "On other side of the receipt would be some fake information about your bank account and how you have millions in your savings account. The girl will see it and be fooled into thinking that that's how much you're worth and will take a shining to you if she's one of those gold-digger types. If she turns out to be one of those types, just use her and throw her to the curb afterwards," "You fucking asshole!" several girls shouted. "I can't believe how shallow you think women are," Sylia said. Ranma said, "How's it shallow? It's not like the guy is doing anything wrong. It's not his fault the girl thinks the fake bank receipt is real and the account information pertains to the guy that gave her his number. And if you're interested in me because you are interested in my 'supposed' money, then you're shit outta luck," "Still, that's very deceiving," Linna commented. She didn't take care to mention that one guy actually gave her his number on a real ATM receipt that seemed to have belonged to him and she never gave him the time of day when she realized the guy had virtually no funds in his savings account. Ranma said, "How's it deceiving? If I gave you my number on a fake ATM receipt, it's not my fault you assumed the receipts real and that I have a lot of money," "That's so evil," Shinji stated, suppressing a laugh. It was downright diabolical, "How the heck do you come up with things like this?" "Don't tell me you're actually going to try and do something like this!" Akane glared at Shinji. Shinji gave a meek smile and held his hands up defensively, "O-of course not," "How goes 'I hope you die'?" Ranma asked Shinji softly. Shinji gave a meek smiled, "Um, it's going pretty well," "You don't seem satisfied with its results," Ranma chuckled. "Oh, no, I'm very satisfied with the results," Shinji said, "It's just-" "You feel weird about it?" Ranma asked. "Of course I do," Shinji said, "It feels so reprehensible what I'm doing," "Hey, the ends justify the means," Ranma laughed, "I wonder how long it'll take before people start wise up to the site's true intentions," "What are you two talking about?" Misato noticed Ranma and Shinji speaking to one another. "Oh, I was just talking about 'I hope you die'," Ranma answered. "'I hope you die'?" Misato asked, "As in that website?" Ranma nodded, "Yep," "Oh man, that site really pisses me off," Misato said, becoming visibly agitated. "What are you guys talking about?" Sylia jumped in. "The website, 'I hope you die'," Ranma answered. "Don't get me started on," Sylia jumped on the bandwagon, "That site's the cesspool of the Internet," Ranma burst out laughing. "Nene, why don't you try and hack the site and find out who runs it?" Sylia said, "Seriously, you're the computer genius of the group. It shouldn't be too hard to find out," Nene gave a meek smile, "Um, no thanks. I don't want to get involved," "I'm sure you've heard of the site," Sylia said, "If you hack the site and find out the information of the person that runs it, exposing his personal information will make the person go into hiding and that site will disappear along with him," Almost everyone seemed to start talking simultaneously about how awesome an idea like that was. "Can someone explain to me what everyone else is talking about?" Lina asked, one of the few people that was in the dark about the subject at hand. "'I hope you die' is a website that popped up on the Internet a few months ago," Misato chimed in, "It hopes terminally ill patients death. It's absolutely despicable. As if these people aren't suffering enough, they now have to deal with a site that targets them specifically," "Who would do something like that?" Lina was disgusted. "Shinji," Ranma chuckled. "Ranma!" Shinji shouted. "Shinji? What would he have to do with it?" Linna asked, "Wait, don't tell me he's the one that runs the site," "Yep," Ranma smiled. Everyone turned their attention toward Shinji. Shinji looked down at the table, unable to make any eye contact. "You've gotta be kidding me, right?" Misato asked. "Why'd you have to go and tell everyone?" Shinji turned toward Ranma. "Because they would find out sooner or later anyway," Ranma answered. "Okay, if you really are the one that is running the site, I hope you have a really good explanation," Priss cracked her knuckles. Urd said, "Because, that site saves lives," Everyone looked at Urd. "She's right," Ranma said. "The site is based on the placebo effect," Urd said, "When people get wind that there existed a site that hopes for death upon them, it makes them more likely to survive whatever ails them," "Yeah right," "I think you should have a talk with Asuka-chan," Akane said to Ranma as he entered the kitchen to grab something to eat. "Huh? About what?" Ranma asked, producing an unopened milk carton from the fridge where he opened it and began drinking it straight from the carton. "What did I say about drinking milk straight from the cartoon?" Akane glared at Ranma. Ranma continued to drink and drink until the milk carton was completely finished. He grinned at Akane, "You said that I shouldn't drink from the milk carton unless I finish it. As you can tell, I finished it," "That was a full carton of milk you just finished! Now we're out!" Akane shouted at him. "So?" Ranma said, "I finished it, didn't I? I didn't drink straight from the milk carton and put it back in the fridge because it pisses you off. I finished it," "Now we are out of milk!" Akane said. "Argh!" Ranma threw his hands up in the air. Akane sighed, "Look forget about that. Anyway, as I was saying before, I think you should have a talk with Asuka-chan," "About what?" Ranma asked, "What, did she do something stupid? She's not a stupid girl or nothing," Akane was silent for a moment before sighing, "No, it's not that. I just think she's, um, not quite on the right path," "How so?" Ranma scratched his head. "She's been seeing this boy recently and I think it might be getting serious," Akane said. "Oh?" Ranma perked an eyebrow. He was aware that Asuka-chan had a crush on Shinji despite the fact that he was engaged to Emiko so hearing about how she now liked someone else came as a bit of a surprise. Akane looked as if she didn't really know how to go about explaining things since she felt this was completely new to her. "How old is he?" Ranma asked. "Twenty," Akane answered. "Oh, damn," Ranma said, "Asuka-chan's only fifteen," "I know," Akane said, "I know we're not her parents or anything, but I really think something should be done about it," Ranma scratched his head, "In what sense? I thought we were gonna go with a hands-off approach and let the kids make their own decisions and choices, even if they could be the wrong ones," Akane said, "I know that was the plan, but something about this has me worried. Asuka-chan is not like her counterpart. She's more of a regular girl," Ranma chuckled, "Asuka would probably take offense at that comment," "You know what I mean," Akane said, "Asuka-chan came to our world with Shinji long before she piloted Unit-02 where she would've developed that sense of 'confidence' that Asuka possess. Asuka-chan is a bit more, I dunno, less self- confident than her older counterpart," Ranma scratched his chin, "Hm, you do have a point. Even though they're the same person genetically, their experiences are vastly different, so, in essence, they're very different," Akane nodded, "Yes, and because of that, perhaps you should watch over her more than the other kids," It was odd that Akane referred to Rei, Asuka, and Shinji as 'kids' since they're all now in their early twenties. However, to her, Akane saw them as the fourteen year olds they brought into their home so many years ago no matter how old they were. "Anyway, you're basically the father figure in her life," Akane added. "Father figure?" Ranma said, "I dunno about that," "Well, her having you as a father figure in her life is far better than having no father figure at all," Akane said. "I dunno about that," Ranma said, "I ain't exactly a saint. If anything, I'm almost the exact opposite of what you would consider a saint," "You're not that good, but you're not that bad either," Akane said. "Okay, I guess I'll have a talk with her," Ranma headed for the kitchen, "Where is she?" "I'm not too sure," Akane said, "She's rarely home. I think it's because she's hanging out with that college boy," Ranma said, "Okay, I'll go look for her," "Thanks," Akane felt a lot better. Akane then realized something. "And get some damn milk while you're at it!" Ranma casually walked down the street, on the lookout for Asuka-chan. It was getting close to evening. "Jeez, what a weird role," Ranma did not see himself as a father figure, "Exactly how the heck am I supposed to play the role of 'father' in Asuka-chan's life?" Ranma smirked as he caught sight of Asuka-chan hanging out in front of a local fast food establishment. He saw her with a group of girls and boys. There were three other girls with Asuka-chan and they all looked to be her age while the five boys with them looked to be in their late teens and perhaps early twenties. He noticed one of the boys chatting it up with Asuka-chan and assumed that he was the boy Akane was referring to. "Jeez, that's just looks wrong," Ranma commented about the sight of seeing a bunch of older boys chatting it up with younger girls. There was an obvious age difference between the two sexes. Ranma approached the group. "Hey," Ranma said. The group stopped their chatting and turned their attention toward the newcomer. They looked at Ranma for a moment, curious as to who this person was. Asuka-chan and the other three girls noticed him and became visibly embarrassed, blushing a deep shade of red. All four young girls knew Ranma, having visited Asuka-chan and met him before. "Yo," a few of the boys greeted him. "Sorry, I don't mean to be a stick in the mud," Ranma said, wondering if the boys would understand that metaphor, "But can I speak to the girls in private for a moment?" The boys all looked at one another, not really knowing what to do. Ranma's assertiveness seemed to have caught the boys off-guard. After a moment, they all agreed to his request and walked off a short distance away. "Um, hello, Ranma-san," the three girls greeted Ranma. All three girls were friends of Asuka-chan and had been to Ranma's house to visit Asuka-chan many times. They all went to the same class as Asuka-chan. Their names were Eri, Emma, and Eiko. Ranma often referred to the three of them as the 'Three E' since they always seemed to hang out with Asuka as a group. "Ranma, what are you doing here?" Asuka-chan asked, embarrassed. Ranma smirked at the girls, "Aren't you girls a bit, I dunno, young to be hanging out with college boys?" None of the girls said anything. Ranma didn't really want to be there. He was hoping one of the girls would answer 'no' which meant he could be on his way since it meant they were aware of their situation and willingly chose to hang around with boys several years their senior. "I'm gonna go get some milk," Ranma stated, "C'mon, take a walk with me," Ranma started walking off. All four girls didn't really know how to respond nor even had the time to decline his request before they realized Ranma had already rounded the corner. They all looked at one another as if trying to see if any of the other had any idea what to do. After a moment, Asuka-chan turned toward the group of boys. "Sorry, but we've got to go. It's important," she said before she quickly ran off after Ranma. The three remaining girls said their goodbyes and followed suit since that seemed like the easiest approach to the current situation at hand, to simply follow. "You girls hungry?" Ranma asked them. He didn't act one bit surprised that all four girls had followed his request and were now following right behind him. All four of them looked at one another as if expecting the other to answer on their behalf. Ranma found that somewhat amusing. None of the girls seemed to really make any decisions for the group as a whole, all four of them seemingly wanting to follow instead of lead. "Those boys seem a bit old for you girls, dontcha think?" Ranma commented from out of the blue. "I don't know about that," Eri said, "They seemed okay," "You been hanging out with them long?" Ranma asked. "Not really," Emma answered, "We've met them only a few weeks ago," "They live around here?" he asked. "How come you're asking about them?" Asuka-chan asked. Ranma said, "Akane said that I should try and be a 'father figure' in your life and try and warn you about people like them," "F-father figure?" Asuka-chan blushed red, "Whatever for?" Ranma shrugged, "It can't be helped. Since I'm technically taking care of you, I guess Akane believes should try and play a more active role in your life," "I'm fine," Asuka-chan seemed mortified at the thought that Ranma might attempt to give her a lecture about the 'birds and the bees' in front of her friend. "Okay," Ranma shrugged. The four girls looked at Ranma in surprise that he didn't want to push the issue any further. "Wow, that was a lot less painful than I thought," Eri giggled, "My father tried to have 'the talk' with me a while back. Boy, it was awkward," Asuka-chan's friends saw Ranma like that of an older, wiser brother. They didn't even see him as a full blown adult. Perhaps it was because Ranma possessed a timeless quality to himself that made everyone of varying ages see him as the same age as them. Ranma said, "Why's that?" "It's as if the concept of 'The Internet' escaped him," Eri said. "Ah," Ranma chuckled. After a moment, he shrugged, "Well, maybe your father was at fault for not keeping up with the times," "What do you mean?" Eri was confused. "I don't mean to insult your father, but it seems like he didn't mature as he got older," Ranma said matter-of-factly. "Can you elaborate?" Eri asked. Ranma held his hands out, "Look around you. We live in an ever-changing world. If you don't change along with the world, you'll be left behind. That's probably why you felt uncomfortable having him talk to you, because whatever he was talking to you about wasn't something you didn't know," "Let's get some food," Ranma said aloud. None of the girls protested. They followed Ranma as he entered a diner where they were seated immediately. "Order what you like, it's my treat," Ranma said. "Um, I'm not hungry but thanks anyway," Eri said. "Um, me neither," Emma chimed in. "Same here," Eiko added. Ranma knew most girls their age seemed to be self-conscious of their weight. It was hard maintaining their weight because they were already a couple years into puberty so it was nearly impossible to maintain their pre-puberty weight no matter how hard they tried. Something like the constantly realization that they were gaining weight was usually a cause of depression. "Okay," Ranma said, "However, if you think starving yourself to lose weight is the way to go, you're very wrong in that way of think. There are actually easier ways besides developing eating disorders in order to lose weight," "We do not have eating disorders," two of the girls became defensive. None of the girls had eating disorders but they did skip seem to skip several meals over the course of every week. It was just a matter of time before it became an eating disorder. Ranma shrugged, "Well, one word of advice if you do decide to take it: It's not how much you don't eat that makes you lose weight, it's actually how often you do eat that makes you lose weight," "What do you mean?" Eri asked curiously. "Just read up about it," Ranma said, "There are tons of books about it," "About what?" Eri asked. "About how eating more often helps you lose weight," Ranma said. Ranma wandered Tokyo University. Asuka and Rei would be getting at of their respective classes in around ten minutes so it gave him some time to wander around the campus before he was expected to meet them at their usual meeting place. As he walked around campus, he came across a lobby area of a building that had several dozen tables set up, usually two people to a table, with many people gathered about. "Hm, since it's the new year, those booths must be for recruiting new members for clubs," Ranma commented, remembering the days when he was in high school. At the beginning of every school year, all the school clubs would set up tables by the front of the school where incoming freshmen could choose a club to join should it pique their interests. "I never knew it applied to college as well," Ranma stated. Ranma walked up to the first booth closest to him and read the front of the booth. Figuring since he had some time to waste, he might as well have some fun. Even though he was very very old, he looked very young and could be easily mistaken for someone that attended college. "You're the 'Various Hobbies' club. What does that mean?" Ranma asked curiously. One of the individuals, a skinny young man wearing glasses regarded Ranma for a moment before saying, "It probably wouldn't be for you. It's club that is based on one's interested in Manga, Anime, and Games," The young man seemed to have assumed Ranma would not be interested since Ranma looked like anything but an otaku. Ranma perked an eyebrow. "Ooh, I like anime," "Where's Ranma?" Asuka asked Rei as Rei approached her at the expected meeting place. The two of them were expected to meet Ranma under a certain tree every Tuesday and Thursday where they would then head off and get some food before heading home. Rei said softly, "I don't know," "Strange, he's always been here before we arrive," Asuka said. "Maybe he didn't want to come meet us," Rei stated. "Perhaps you, but why would he not want to meet with me?" Asuka retorted arrogantly. Rei said nothing, unbothered by the comment. "He said he'd meet us here," Asuka commented, "I wonder where he is," "Perhaps he went to another world," Rei stated. Asuka became angry, "No! I don't think so! There's no reason for him to up and leave for another world again!" Rei shrugged, "It would not come as a surprise. Ranma seems bored with this world so it's pretty logical that he would leave for another adventure," "Another adventure?! And do what? Get himself killed again?!" Asuka didn’t seem to want to hear any of it. Rei spotted Ranma through the front window of a building. She started heading off in the direction of the building. "Where are you going?" Asuka asked. "I'm going to be with Ranma," Rei responded. "And where might that be?" Asuka asked. When she glanced past Rei and saw Ranma happily chatting with two young guys sitting by a table, she seemed embarrassed. Asuka quickly walked off toward Ranma, walking right past Rei as Rei seemed to walk at a leisurely pace. "Where have you been?" Asuka seemed angry at Ranma. "Oh," Ranma realized his mistake, "Oops, I was supposed to meet the two of you. I forgot about the time," Asuka glanced in the direction of the two guys sitting behind the table. Both guys regarded Asuka almost intently. "What are you looking at?" Asuka snapped at them. Both guys turned their gaze away in embarrassment. Asuka didn't seem to like men even remotely her age, finding them almost immature. Then again, perhaps Asuka didn't like guys in general save for perhaps Ranma and Ryoga. Shinji didn't count since she never considered him a guy anyway. Ranma said, "Well, guys, it's been nice talking to you. Ranma was channel surfing when he came across the news and decided to watch it for a second. "A scientific breakthrough had been discovered," the news anchor said. Ranma changed the channel, "Hm, right on time," Asuka said, "Hey, why'd you change the channel? I wanted to know what new scientific discovery they just found out," "They discovered how to fix damaged brain cells," Ranma said flatly. "How do you know?" Asuka asked, "You changed the channel before they said anything worthwhile," Ranma said, "I don't need to hear it to know. I already know this world's general timeline and it's right on time," "Wait, what did you say?" Asuka asked. "Urd and Skuld visit all the time," Ranma said, "Dontcha ever talk to 'em and ask 'em about what's happening on this world or what's going to happen?" Asuka was silent for a moment, "Well, not really," Ranma almost broke out in laughter, "Jeez, talk about letting an opportunity slip right through your fingers. Hello, Skuld is God. Urd is as close to God without actually being God herself. They are in direct control of this thing called existence," "I know that!" Asuka was getting angry at Ranma because she thought he was being condescending. "They know exactly what's going to happen to this world," Ranma held two hands apart from one another where he then began making a chopping motion with one of his hands, "There's a timeline for this world and it's chopped up into 'checkpoints' where certain main events occur. The discovery of being able to fix damaged brain cells was one of them," "Really? What does that mean?" Asuka asked. "It's a huge step," Ranma said, "It's kinda like the realization of evolution. It's discoveries like this that will be bringing our world into a Godless world," "What?" Asuka was now very confused, "Godless world?" "Man, you really don't talk to Skuld or Urd much, do ya?" Ranma snickered, "Do you have any idea of the plans they have for our world?" "No," Asuka said, "I thought there were no plans for this world and that Skuld basically let this world go down its own path because you keep messing around with it and she doesn't want to constantly fix it," Ranma said, "Well, you have a point there, but my role doesn't entirely change this world's intended path much," Skuld giggled as she watched television. "What's so funny?" Ranma asked. "Hee hee," Skuld pointed toward the television, "I just had mankind discover the means of reproducing brain cells," Ranma perked an eyebrow, "Should I even ask why you find that funny?" "Because it's going to cause a huge science versus religion debacle," Skuld continued to giggle. Ranma scratched his head, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but why would you find amusement in something like that?" "Because I like rooting for science more than religion," Skuld said. Ranma opened his mouth to say something but didn't. Something seemed extremely wrong with that statement considering Skuld was God. He shrugged before sitting down on the couch, "Okay, humor me. Exactly how would the discovery of a means of reproducing brain cells create a debate between science and religion?" Skuld couldn't seem to keep her glee, "Because, this discovery is the first step toward resurrection," "Um....okay," Ranma was still confused. "Don't you get it? This brings humans that much closer to 'killing God'," Skuld smiled happily. "I still don't understand why you're so happy," Ranma said. Skuld waved a dismissive hand, "Quit thinking like a human and you'll understand," "What the crap?" Ranma said, ostentatiously looking around, "If you haven't noticed, I am human," "I know you are, but you weren't before," Skuld stated, "Just think from God's point of view," Ranma said sarcastically, "Gee, that sure helps. Why didn't I think of that before? I'll just stop thinking like a human, despite being human, which will, thus, allow me to understand whatever's making you so giddy," Skuld let out an annoyed breath, "You're so stupid," "Yeah, I'm sure that's the case," Ranma wasn't buying it. He definitely wasn't stupid and knew it. "I've been tweaking this world so it doesn't become God-oriented," Skuld said. "What the heck does that mean?" Ranma asked, "Are you telling me you WANT this world to not believe in you?" "Since when the heck did they worship me in the first place?" Skuld asked seriously. Ranma gave it a thought for a moment, "I guess you have a point. Afterall, even if you do present yourself to everyone in this world, I highly doubt anyone would believe you anyway," "And what's that supposed to mean?" Skuld felt like she was being challenged, "Are you saying I'm not a good God that people wouldn't believe me to be one?" Ranma opened his mouth to put his foot in it, "No, it's because you're a girl. No one wants to believe that God is a girl," Skuld's jaw dropped at the comment. It boggled her mind that anyone would say something like that with such a straight face. "What else do you plan on doing to fuel this science versus religion fight?" Ranma asked. "You realize the irony in all this, right?" Ranma asked, "You realize the irony in the fact that you're God and are siding with science?" "Yes," Skuld said. "And I'm not talking about just that," Ranma added, "I'm also talking about the irony that is God, exerting divine influence, in order to have humans believe that there is no God. I don't think there is a better example of irony than that, except maybe killing someone to show how tolerant you are," "I understand," Skuld said, "But in my case, I'm simply giving humanity a little nudge in the direction I want them to go and nothing much more," "Oh, I just wanted to point it out," Ranma said, "Please continue," "I also plan on having scientists discover consciousness," Skuld said, "So they can transfer it to other bodies," "What do you mean?" Ranma asked, "Consciousness can be transferred to other bodies," "No, not through transferring a person's brain," Skuld said. "Color me stupid because I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about," Ranma said. "It's like a car," Skuld said. "And what do you know about cars? You're a girl," Ranma smirked. One of Skuld's eyes twitched slightly as she talked to herself, "H-how do people put up with him?" She did not understand why most of the people who came in contact with Ranma found him very intriguing. To Skuld, Ranma was crass and arrogant and downright boorish and obnoxious. She took a deep breath, allowing herself to believe what her sister Urd. Urd had commented that Skuld was too young to notice that Ranma's rough edges was something that added to his general appeal and made him stand out among anyone else and that Skuld simply needed to get used to Ranma. Skuld preferred to think differently, believing Shinji was a more intriguing individual than Ranma. Urd had commented that Skuld only had a childhood crush on Shinji because Shinji loved science, something Skuld especially loved as well but Skuld told herself it wasn't. "Anyway, it's like a car," Skuld said. "Lemme guess," Ranma said, "Humans understand consciousness much like how a person might understand that a car engine has something to do with making a car run but that's about it. Is it similar to humans regarding consciousness much like that of transplanting a car engine into another car. They may understand that an engine has something to do with making a car move, but they don't actually understand the mechanics behind the actual engine itself?" Skuld was surprised at the comment because it was very much on par with what she was about to say. It seemed like Ranma retained some of the understandings of existence while he had been God before. Unfortunately, it seemed like he was slowly forgetting what he used to know. "Well, at least humans have a general good idea that the car engine is what drives the car much like how the brain is what drives the body," Ranma shrugged, "Of course, the problem is that if the engine is destroyed and they don't understand how to fix it, the car is basically as good as dead," "Exactly," Skuld said. "And how do you intend to fix that?" Ranma asked. "Humans aren't far off in realizing that it's the electrical discharges being fired that generates consciousness," Skuld said, "They just don't realize that "Anything else you plan on doing?" Ranma asked. "Well, I'm thinking of bumping up genetic re-sequencing research," Skuld said, "I think I'll move its mastery by around a decade," "Oh?" Ranma asked, "Why would you wanna do something like that? Humans have already discovered how to re-sequence genes and produce more favorable results," Skuld nodded, "Yes, but it's only in early stages. Humans have only figured out how to do stuff like creating pets that live longer, chickens that lay more eggs, cows that produce more milk and trivial stuff like that. However, not much has been done in terms of human genetic re-sequencing," "Of course there has been great advances," Ranma said, "Recently, the genetic code that results in cancer was discovered," Skuld said, "Yes, but it won't be for a good ten years before you'll be able to change your own genetic code on the fly. Right now, you can only genetically alter babies while still in the womb to not have a disposition for developing cancer in later life," "Hm, genetic altering on the fly? Sounds interesting," Ranma scratched his chin, "You mean, like, say, changing my eye color genetically?" Skuld nodded, "Yes, don't you think it'd be cool if that were happening right now, where you decide you want to have, say, green eyes and you can have your genetic code changed at a clinic so your eyes would become green?" "Nah," Ranma said, "I don't feel the need to change any of my genetic code. I'm perfectly happy the way I am," "Man, you really want this world to be Godless, dontcha?" Ranma asked, "You just want to open the floodgates for Science?" Skuld shrugged, "Well, it can't be helped. Back then, people used to think that stuff like plastic surgery was taboo because people felt it was changing what God gave you. When cybernetics started to take off, people believed having cybernetic parts was worse than plastic surgery because replacing perfectly normal bodyparts now seemed like humans didn't want what God gave them," Ranma smirked, "Man, you're kind of bad, y'know that? You're kinda shitting on the religions of this world doing the stuff you're doing," "You do know, genetic re-sequencing will totally change the world," Ranma said, "Religious fanatics will probably not be able to adhere to their religion if they find out their unborn children could die shortly after birth unless they change their unborn child's genetic makeup," Skuld said, "Well, yeah," "I wonder how religion would explain away something like that," Ranma said. "Probably the same way they would explain away how eating genetically altered produce is perfectly acceptable despite their religion saying otherwise," Skuld laughed. "So, do you think there will ever be a nail in the coffin for religion?" Ranma asked, "Considering what you're doing, those are gonna be some heavy blows against religion and people's belief in there being God," "Genetic re-sequencing will be the nail in the coffin," Skuld said flatly. "Why?" Ranma asked. "Because religion continues to adhere to the concept that homosexuality is a choice," Skuld said. "But it's genetic," Ranma said, "It's been discovered to be genetic decades ago," "Well, religion continues to believe otherwise," Skuld said. Ranma snapped his fingers, "Oh, I get it. The nail in the coffin would be when science discovers how to genetically alter a person's predisposed sexuality. If that's the case, it will spell almost doom for religion. If a couple finds out their child has the genetic makeup for homosexuality, they'll be stuck in a corner, to admit that homosexuality is not a 'choice' and is actually genetic, and to resort to the abomination that is genetic re-sequencing to change it," "It'd be one of the ultimate form of hypocrisy," Skuld smirked. "Jeez, you really hate religion dontcha?" Ranma chuckled. "Of course not," Skuld said. "Is the real reason because you don't like how people aren't worshipping you, so to speak?" Ranma smirked, "But instead, worshipping some really really really bastardized version of you or at least your role?" Skuld thought about it for a moment, "Well, kind of. All theistic religions have only one thing right, that there is indeed God," "Isn't that good enough for you then?" Ranma asked. "No," Skuld said. "I think you dislike religion for the wrong reasons," Ranma shrugged, "But, hey, that's just my opinion. I don't really care otherwise," Skuld said, "Ranma, you'd probably care if some religion forms based on your existence and is some super duper bastardized version of the truth," Ranma said, "Probably not," "You don't think you'd be at all bothered if some religion is born based on your life and is some really bastardized version of you?" Skuld asked, "You wouldn't be bothered if religion is formed and believes you to have been the Devil?" Ranma shook his head, "Nope. I couldn't care less," "Well, I guess that's where we differ," Skuld stated, "I can't let something like that slide," "Stuff like incest will no longer be considered taboo since the risk of genetic deformities will no longer be the case," Ranma said. "Are you ever going to have humans discover telepathy," Ranma asked. Skuld said, "No, why?" "Well, if you intend to really fast forward human evolution, having them discover and master telepathy would be really good," Ranma answered, "Telepathy would be an ideal form of communications. Verbal speech sucks and is slow and prone to misunderstanding," Skuld smiled, "Sometimes, you really surprise me. For a human, you sure seem to dislike human fallacies," "But what I say is the truth," Ranma said, "Speech sucks. Being telepathically linked with people, especially if you link with multiple people like that of a collective would be an ideal situation," Skuld perked an eyebrow, "Oh? You think a collective mind is ideal over individual minds?" "Of course," Ranma said, "You've got to be an idiot to think otherwise," Skuld wanted to press the issue. Ranma's comment was not that of a human comment. Most humans would believe a collective mind would be bad. "Humans would think a collective mind is horrible," Ranma said, "Humans think they're special for some reason, that they're unique," "Humans are unique individually though," Skuld stated. "That's because they have a lot to learn," Ranma said flatly, "The more you grow and learn, the more we become the same," "That's a pretty bold statement," Skuld giggled. "Humans aren't special," Ranma said, "Really, we aren't. We've only been on this world for a couple million years. That's nothing compared to the dinosaurs. There are people that still believe this world was created for us," "Maybe it was," Skuld said. "Even if you say it is, the evidence proves otherwise," Ranma chuckled, "All that's needed is for a two-mile wide meteorite to crash into the planet and we would be completely wiped out. Insects will survive something like that but not us. Now, if humans are special, why would insects survive where humans die? If anything, this planet is ideal for insects, not humans," Skuld smiled, "You have a point there," "Anyway, we aren't special," Ranma said, "But one of the problems is that we genuinely believe we are, that we are unique," "Everyone is unique," Skuld said, "No one is similar genetically," "Genetically, every human is unique, yes," Ranma said, "But so would planet and insects and everything else that's alive. The only difference between us and the rest of the planet is that we have this concept of 'special' which we bestow ourselves," Skuld nodded in agreement. For the first time, she believed she was seeing the perceptive side to Ranma many people enjoy listening to rant. "Misato and the others are generally very similar personality wise," Ranma said. Skuld giggled, "I don't think Misato or any of the others will like hearing that," "Okay, all of them "As people grow, they become very similar to one another," Ranma said, "As people grow and start understanding the world around them, they react to things and perceive things very similarly. For instance, do you think humans sometimes deserve to die?" "From my point of view?" Skuld pointed at herself, "Um, that's not really a good question to ask me because I view humans a lot differently than humans view humans," "That's true," Ranma said, "Okay, pretending you are human, would you condone the death of another?" "No," Skuld said. "Why not?" Ranma asked. "You have no right to take a life," Skuld answered. "Even if that person is a murderer?" Ranma asked. "That's correct," Skuld said, "You have no right to take the life of another person under any circumstances. Even though that person had no right to take the life of the person he murdered, that isn't justification to kill the murderer," "Correct," Ranma said, "However, people would think otherwise. The thing I'm getting at is that, as humans grow and understand the world around them, they will understand that they should not kill," "What about in self-defense?" Skuld found this conversation intriguing. It wasn't as if she was learning anything from Ranma, but it was interesting hearing about it. "Killing still shouldn't be condoned," Ranma said, "If you were a person that really understood the world well, it would never happen to you," "But it does," Skuld said, "You understand this world very well and end up in situations of self-defense," "But I never needed to kill," Ranma said. "That's because you know martial arts and can incapacitate people without the need to kill," Skuld said. "Because I understand the world surrounding me and prepared myself accordingly," Ranma responded. "So, are you saying that if you get yourself killed, even if it was in self- defense, it's your fault?" Skuld asked. "Yes," Ranma said. "Whoa, now that I wasn't expecting to hear, I'd definitely like to know why you think that," Skuld was all ears. "If you understand the world around you, you would be able to see that you could end up in such situations and train yourself for it," Ranma said, "People would say it's bullshit that they should hafta take martial arts to protect themselves. Well, picture yourself living on a boat and you're surrounding by water. A recommended thing to do is to learn how to swim so you don't risk drowning. Our world is similar to that. You can choose to be stubborn and not learn to swim and risk drowning should you ever end up in a situation where your life is in danger, or you can learn to swim," "So, what you're saying is that this is a dangerous world and you should learn to adapt to the world accordingly or die," Skuld stated. Ranma nodded, "Yes," "But what if you end up in a situation where the attacker also knows martial arts and is better than you?" Skuld asked. "Then you're screwed," Ranma said, "Shit happens. However, in a rational world, such a situation would not happen. That's because to want to murder someone is an irrational thought process so an irrational person would not bother to learn martial arts because martial arts would forcibly make them grow and understand the world, thus, they would not feel the need to murder," "That sounds like cyclic reasoning," Skuld said. "No, it really isn't," Ranma said, "Pretend I'm an irrational person and I want to murder someone but that someone knows how to defend himself. Therefore, I will need to take martial arts in order to overcome him and kill him. However, in order for me to train to a level in martial arts high enough to kill him, I will need to become rational in order to learn such techniques. Therefore, I lose that sense of irrationality and thus the need to murder," "That's a good theory, but you live in a world of guns and such," Skuld said, "An irrational person can easily kill a rational person through the use of guns," "And a rational person can incapacitate someone with a gun as well," Ranma said, "Any rational person wouldn't just train in martial arts. He would also train in other aspects to self-preservation," "And if you have no gun and the other person has one?" Skuld asked. "Why would you not have a gun then?" Ranma asked, "If that's the case, you messed up to end up in a situation like that without a gun," "Then why don't you carry a gun?" Skuld smirked, "Doesn't that mean you'llve messed up if you end up in such a situation as described?" Ranma chuckled, "Yeah, I guess, but I guess I'm confident in my abilities unarmed, even against armed attackers. If you're an irrational person, you don't want to mess with a rational person because they will mess you up. If you're a rational person, then there is no reason why you would mess with someone in the first place. Even if you're a slightly irrational ration person, you'll realize you should not fight," "But not everyone thinks like that," Skuld said. "Because they're irrational," Ranma said, "That's why you train, so you can be prepared with dealing with them," "It's a pretty good way of seeing things," Skuld said, "Do you follow what you preach?" "Hell no," Ranma laughed. Skuld face faulted. "Okay, back to the part with there being collective mind, why do you think a collective mind is ideal?" Skuld asked. "Because it is," Ranma said flatly, "First off, we are verbal beings. That in and of itself is a horrible way of communicating with one another. And ideal way would be through something like telepathy," "Okay, pretend humans have discovered and mastered telepathy, are you referring to a collective mind where two people talk to each other telepathically about their intentions and such?" Skuld asked. "No," Ranma said, "I'm talking about two people basically melding to become one person in a sense, as in an instance where two supposed individuals merge mentally into that of a single person but retain their bodies," "Why?" Skuld asked. "Because you would know exactly what the other person is going to do and why," Ranma said. Ranma grabbed the remote, "Forget I asked. I'm gonna go watch some anime," Skuld gripped the remote tightly, "No. I was watching. It's mine!" "Go make a television!" Ranma said in exasperation, "You are God! You can do anything and make anything! Make a television for yourself!" "No, I like this one!" Skuld shouted, holding the remote away from Ranma. "Oh yea?" Ranma grinned. He got up and kicked the television, breaking it. He started laughing, "Ha! If you're not going to let me watch my own television, then that means neither of us can watch television!" Skuld jumped out of her seat, "What kind of logic is that?!" "It's not the best form of logic, but it's still better than nothing!" Ranma burst out laughing. "You idiot!" Skuld said. Ranma started leaving the room. "Now where are you going?" Skuld wanted to give Ranma a piece of her mind. "I'm going into Shinji's room to take his television to replace this one," Ranma smirked, "You didn't want me to watch my television so I broke it. Now I need to replace it so I'll use Shinji's," Skuld had bought Shinji a swivel for the television in his bedroom and Shinji loved it. If Ranma was going to take the television out of Shinji's room, the present Skuld had given him would be useless. "No!" Skuld jumped out of the couch to block Ranma from leaving the room, "And you're the idiot that broke the television, not me!" "You're the one that made me break it!" Ranma retorted. "Where the heck am I?" Skuld looked around, wondering how people on that world ever managed to deal wi "Motoko, you came from a highly advanced world, right?" Asuka asked. Motoko nodded, "Yes. It was more advanced than this world. As a matter of fact, this world is so ancient compared to my world that it was hard for me to get used to its technology," "How so?" Asuka asked. "Well, for one thing, no one is linked with one another," Motoko answered, "The only person I can link to is Bateau," "What do you mean by being linked to?" Asuka asked, "Oh, you mean the way you two can communicate with one another?" "Yes," Motoko nodded, "It's a bit like telepathy. If I don’t get killed doing my job one of these days, I'm looking forward to when people in this world start linking up with one another," Motoko was in no real danger of getting killed on the job any time soon. She worked in a division of AD Police that specialized in Internet related crimes. The criminals she dealt with she considered harmless. She dealt with computer hackers that did nothing much more than create viruses. She was used to dealing with cyber hackers that would hack a person's mind and control the person to murder. In her world, it was like dealing with snipers, while she was now dealing with jaywalkers in this world. It was that huge a difference. "What do you think of this world?" Asuka asked. She and Motoko never really talked to one another much. "In what sense?" Motoko asked. "It's obviously less technological than your world, but what other differences are there?" Asuka asked. "Everything," Motoko said earnestly. "If this world were to advance technologically similarly to your world, what changes would we expect?" Asuka asked. "Well, wars are fought remotely," Motoko started off, "There are very little human casualties in wars is one major difference. We have genetic re-sequencing "Hmph!" Skuld stormed into Ranma's living room. Ranma glanced in Skuld's direction before returning to watching television. It was obvious Skuld was seeking attention and he didn't really want to bother asking what was upsetting her. Skuld sat down on the couch next to Ranma and let out another annoyed breath. "I told you already, create another Shinji if you like him so much," Ranma said in exasperation. Skuld had a childhood-type crush on Shinji and everyone but Shinji seemed to have noticed. Skuld blushed, "That's not what I'm here for!"