Leifker presents...

Dea Ex Machina

A work of Ranma 1/2 fanfiction, set in the "Fragile Clay" series, by
Nicholas Leifker

Ranma 1/2 and all characters within are the creation of Rumiko
Takahashi.  Fragile Clay and its original characters are the brainchild
of Kaoru Shimitsu.  All rights reserved.

Well.  Enjoy the show...

**************************************************************

Daisuke sat down at the chair in front of his computer, and rubbed his
face with his hands.  He exhaled slowly, a breath held in apprehension
for hours, and blinked the weariness from his eyes.  He was tired, true,
but there were more important things than his physical state.  

Once again, his life had taken a turn.  Hiroshi had gone away; he'd
heard rumors of everything from leaving for China to joining a
monastery, and didn't believe any of them.  With Hiroshi, one of the
stabilizing factors in his life was gone.  

Ranma... was also gone.  Not to say he wasn't there, of course; only
that the friend he knew wasn't responding.  Ranma was on autopilot; he
sleepwalked through the day, like some strung-up marionette.  The rumors
all abounded with him as well; this time, though, all of them centered
on him and Hiroshi.  He didn't believe a word of it; on the other hand,
this didn't help much, as Ranma was still beyond his reach.

Fortunately, he was not without other methods of spiritual ventilation.  

"Ami!"

The AI's voice echoed through the speakers.  "Are you okay, Daisuke? 
You see troubled about something.  And when you didn't call me for so
long..."

Despite himself, Daisuke grinned.  "Sorry, Ami-chan.  Long story."

"Does it deal with Hiroshi again?"  The tone of Ami's voice radiated
disapproval.

Daisuke sighed.  "Sorta."  He folded his hands together.  "Ami, journal
mode."

"Recording."

Daisuke sighed.  He honestly didn't know where to begin.  "Journal entry
of Nakano Daisuke, November 11, 1998.  Time: 4:43 PM Local."

He looked around at the electronic constructs that circled him.  "The
past few days have not been easy ones.  My two closest friends... my two
closest human friends, that is..."

"Thank you," Ami replied.

Daisuke smiled.  He may not have had much luck with flesh-and-blood
women, but the virtual kind, at least, didn't mind his compliments.  "As
I was saying... my two closest human friends have... well... I don't
know.  Hiroshi has vanished.  Nobody has seen him since after the
dance."

"He admitted to Ranma that he loved her."

Daisuke blinked.  "How did you come up with this?"

If an AI could shrug, Ami would have.  "A deduction based on recent
events, told through your journals, conversations, and through
conversations with both of them as well."  A pause came over the
speakers.  "The fact that Hiroshi loves Ranma was hinted at from our
conversations, and confirmed in his body language while Ranma was
around.  As for Ranma... it is difficult to gauge his - or, more often,
her - current feelings, as her conversation, tone of voice, and body
language have been wildly fluctuating of late."

"Her?"  What *had* Ami been picking up?

"Increasingly, Ranma's body language has moved more from masculine norms
toward feminine norms, even while in his masculine state.  However,
while this has been going on, her conversations and tone of voice have
all pointed to extreme indecision, bordering on confusion."

Daisuke sighed.  "Ami, you have *got* to let me in on this more often."

"Sorry."  Ami's voice was genuinely apologetic.  "However, to quote
yourself, 'No, it's Hi's business.  If he wants to keep it secret, then
I'll respect his wishes.'  I was only doing what you asked."

Daisuke groaned.  He had asked, at that.  "Okay.  Anyway, Hiroshi has
vanished, to parts unknown.  They say that Kuno probably went with him;
however, there's no way to be sure."  He gathered his thoughts to
himself; while Ami had said much, it wasn't his side of the story.

"Ranma... is gone, as well.  He's retreated from all of us; he might as
well be sleepwalking through the day.  Nobody fights with him anymore;
to anyone around them, it's like picking on a hurt puppy."  He sighed. 
"I guess what frightens me the most about all this is what I see in
Ranma now.  I can see it in his eyes; he's shattered, in a way nobody
dreamed possible."

He turned to his computer.  "So, Ami.  What should I do now?"

"Are you in a position to search for Hiroshi?" the AI replied.

Daisuke shook his head, imagining what his father would think of such a
quest.  "Not likely."

A gentle hum came from the computer; Ami's sign that she was thinking. 
"Have you tried talking to Ranma?"

Daisuke clenched his fist.  To be honest, he felt like hitting the table
in frustration.  "Also not likely.  Akane views me with some hostility
right now; as I am Hiroshi's best friend, she won't let me anywhere near
Ranma.  And, unfortunately, Ranma isn't in a position to say much in my
defense right now."

"I see," Ami replied.  "Is Akane in a position to listen to reason?"

Daisuke just *looked* at the computer.  

"Good point.  As I see it, then, your best bet is to wait for an
opportunity when Akane isn't hounding Ranma so much, then use the
opportunity to talk to her."

"But will she - I mean, he?"  Daisuke question, then groaned.  "Ami, for
my own sanity, please refer to Ranma in the masculine sense, unless I
say otherwise."

"As you wish," she replied.  "And as for Ranma... he has always been
open to you.  Do not expect this to change because of recent events. 
Also, judging by what you've said, he appears to be in a great amount of
emotional stress.  Unburdening such stress may be the key to bringing
him back."

For the first time during the journal, Daisuke smiled.  "Sounds like a
good plan.  End journal."

*******************************************

"Ami, journal mode."

"What's wrong, Daisuke?"

Daisuke's tired eyes bored into her.  "You'll find out soon enough."

"Journal mode: Active," Ami replied.  "Though I do recommend you take a
moment to relax."

"Why do you think I'm putting it in journal mode?"  He shook his head. 
"I need to get this out, Ami, and this seems the best way."  A long sigh
whistled from his teeth.  "Besides, it's not like you're going to tell
anyone."

"True."  If Ami had eyebrows to raise, Daisuke had no doubts they would
be.  "Proceed."

"Journal Entry of Nakano Daisuke, November 30, 1998, 5:13 PM."  For a
moment, it struck him how empty his room was.  Electronic machines...
nothing artful, save the occasional circuit board.  Nothing real.

"What's it like to watch someone fade away?"

The entire computer around him radiated sadness.  "I gather that Ranma's
condition has not improved."

"That's putting it mildly, Ami."  He drummed his fingers against the
table, wishing he could program or design some solution to his problem. 
"Ranma... it's almost like he's in his own world, now.  We'll talk for a
bit, get a conversation started... then he'll just break it off and go
into his shell."  His fingers clenched.  "I can't reach him, Ami.  No
one can."

"How is his relationship with Akane?"

Daisuke shrugged.  "Akane rarely lets him out of her sight.  She's more
of a mother than fiancee, now; she's relaxed some, thanks to Ucchan's
help, but she's still pretty spooked."

Daisuke swallowed.  "I guess what has me scared is what happened this
afternoon.  I was trying to get a conversation in with him.  I said
hello; he said hello back, then..."

"Then?"

"Ranma was in his dream world, but it was more than that.  The dream was
more real than real life, to him; he was having a conversation with
someone who just wasn't there."  Fingernails dug into the table.  "At
least he's happy when he's like that..."

A sigh came from the AI.  "Daisuke, it would be a wise course of action
if Ranma were to receive some psychiatric help."

Daisuke snorted.  "Ranma?  See a shrink?"  He shook his head.  "Ranma's
life is so crazy that I don't think a psychiatrist could help him. 
Think about it: the guy changes genders when he gets caught in the
rain.  Something like that would tend to throw a lot of traditional
schools of psychiatry out the window."

"True."  The computer buzzed; Ami was thinking.  "Daisuke, I know this
may seem an odd request, but could it be possible to have Ranma come
over and talk with me?"

"Talk with you?"  Daisuke raised an eyebrow.  "Are you sure that'll do
anything?"

"Daisuke, I have access to the sum total knowledge of all psychiatric
books, journals, and papers published, and have tested some of that
knowledge by observing practical behavior."  She sighed.  "I may be able
to bring her out of it - or, at the very least, understand what's going
on."

Daisuke scratched his head, as though trying to coax ideas out of it. 
"I... I guess that could work.  Akane might not go for it, though."

"All you can do is try, Daisuke."

Daisuke thought for a moment.  What she said made sense; at any rate, it
would be less like visiting a shrink and more like visiting a friend.  

"Okay, I'll do it.  End journal."

**************************

It was not a good day.

For some reason, Daisuke had been noticing them with increasing
frequency.  It took most of his self-control not to slam the door behind
him; it took even more not to smash the table in two with his fist. 
Tears and fury warred inside of him; in the end, a couple of tears won
out, coursing down his cheeks in his swallowed darkness.

He'd done it.  Again.  He felt his cheek carefully; he didn't know how
he was going to explain this one.  Not that anyone cared, anymore.  He
was alone; there was no one to explain it to.

"Dai?"

"J...Journal mode, Ami."

"As you wish."  He knew Ami was holding back; if she'd had her way, his
father would be electrocuted the next time he changed a lightbulb.

He sighed, and fought the shaking in his hands.  "Journal Entry of
Nakano Daisuke, December 7, 1998, 8:42 PM."  Those words alone calmed
him
a bit; still, there was a lot left to get out.

"I... I can't take this any more, Ami.  I can't."  He half-expected Ami
to make some question, as she usually did; this time, though, she was
silent.

"Ami?"

"Yes?  Oh."  If Ami could blush, she would have.  "My apologies,
Daisuke.  I was making sure to backup a couple of files onto a secondary
source."

He frowned.  "Anything important?"

"Merely a few old journal entries."

Daisuke raised an eyebrow, then smiled.  "You always seem to know how to
get my mind away from my troubles - even if for a moment."

"Again, Daisuke, I apologize.  Such an act only covers up the pain; it
never lets it go."  Silence came from the speakers for a moment.  "I
take it that your father is the reason for your current mood?"

Daisuke scowled.  To be honest, he *had* been feeling good during her
distraction; however, she wouldn't let him ignore it forever.  "Yes...
and no.  If it were just my father... I can deal with him.  If it was
just school... I could deal with that.  If it were just my friends, I
could take care of them.  But it's all three at once, and I don't know
what to do."  He tapped his fist against the table.  "There's nothing I
can do."

"Daisuke, perhaps it would be best if you enumerated your problems."

"Okay."  He drummed two fingers against the table, nails clicking as his
mind clicked.  "My family is not the best in the world.  My father
spends most of his morning looking for a job, most of the afternoon
drowning his sorrows, and most of the evening taking the rest of it out
on us.  He hates being worthless, and dulls himself to hide the pain. 
And if his family doesn't allow him to dull himself, he gets angry."

The disembodied voice sounded almost happy.  "Okay.  That's one problem
- one with a very elegant solution."

His eyes darkened.  "Ami... what he does is wrong, but I can't turn him
in.  I mean... he's my dad.  You just don't turn your father in to the
police."

"Not even if he's as morally reprehensible as your father is?"

Daisuke closed his eyes; anger of a different sort came blazing from
them.  "Not even then, Ami.  He... I know he doesn't mean to."

"Nevertheless, he does."  Ami left the statement in the air.

"Going on to the second problem... This leaves me with a lot of pent-up
emotion.  Normally, I let such emotions out during school.  However,
recent events have curtailed that severely."

"Ranma and Hiroshi," Ami supplied.

"Yes."  He took off his glasses, looking to make sure they weren't
bent.  "The other classmates tend to be uncomfortable around my jokes,
so I bounced them off of the two I knew would appreciate them.  Now...
now there's no one to bounce them off of."

"But that isn't all, is it?"  

"No, it isn't."  He leaned back in his chair.  "Rather than my friends
being a source of comfort, they are in need of comfort themselves. 
Hiroshi's gone, and Ranma's invisible."  He bit his lip; blood coursed
down his chin.  "There's nothing left, Ami.  Nothing.  I can't help
them, and they can't help me."

"Incorrect, Daisuke."  He could feel the glare of Ami's cameras bore
into him.  "Problems must be solved one at a time.  The first thing you
need to do is ease Ranma's suffering, so that he can ease yours."

Daisuke blinked in surprise; he'd been expecting her to tell him to turn
his dad in.  "O... okay.  I'll get Akane, Ukyou, and Ranma over here
tomorrow.  Tomorrow's Friday; Mom will be off playing mah-jongg, and Dad
will be out until very late with his 'friends'."

"Good.  That will give me a chance to get a better perspective on this
situation.  Ranma does appear to have some serious mental instability;
perhaps I can help him deal with the problems."

"Okay."  He let out a deep breath; this was one journal he had needed.

"And your father?"

Daisuke shook his head.  "I'm two years away from graduating and going
to college, Ami.  I think I can hold it in until then."

He could hear his computer simmering over those words.  "Okay, Daisuke. 
But remember: you may be able to escape your father.  But the scars...
that's something you can't run away from."

He swallowed; that was not something he wanted to hear.  "Understood. 
End journal."

*********************************************

*** Password required  ***

She stared at the message on the screen, absorbing the meaning of the
words.  The person who'd set the password was broken in every way,
approaching the bottom of a bottomless pit.  Part of her was afraid to
open that locked door; to do so would invite specters that she'd left
buried.  

No, not buried.  She wore those conundrums on her sleeve.  She had
thought back then that man and woman were mutually exclusive; the crisis
had been her test of identity.  Now she was more than that, more than
man or woman - far more.

Smiling, she let the word come to her lips, the word that had been at
the heart of her problems then - and was part of the solution now.

**********************************************

"Hello, Ranma."

Ranma looked at the computer, numb to the world, and sat down.  The body
language he was radiating was indicative of a shy, introverted girl,
making it appear strange on a man of his musculature.  Ami gazed hard
into his eyes, trying to determine what secrets lay beneath; they were
focused elsewhere.

"Ranma?"

"Yes?"  The voice reminded Ami of early experiments in voice synthesis;
emotion was an impossibility, so it came out as a monotone drone.  

"Ranma, I don't know if you remember, but I am Ami.  I am a Lisp-created
artifical intelligence program inside of Daisuke's computer."  She tried
to make her voice softer; for a moment, she had been imitating her
ancestors.  "Ranma, your friends are worried about you, so they
scheduled a talk with me.  While this is being recorded, no one else
will be allowed access to the records without the password.  Could you
please give me a password, Ranma?"

"Oh, Hiroshi..." Ranma breathed.  He was off in some fantasy, holding a
half-murmured conversation with his long-gone friend.  Unfortunately,
Ami hadn't paid attention to that when she'd activated the password set;
what she'd said would remain.  

"Er... password set."  She examined Ranma more closely; he... he was
acting out the woman in the discussions and tenderness between a loving
couple.  "Ranma?"  She waited a couple of seconds before repeating,
"Ranma!"

"Er.. huh?"  Ranma blinked, and stared at his surroundings.  "Oh.  I'm
sorry.  I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"Don't worry about it," she assured.  "About the only thing you could do
to me would be to install Windows on the computer, and Daisuke would
destroy me before allowing that."  Turning to a monitor, she generated a
face, hoping it would give Ranma something to lock on to.

"Ranma?"

"Yes?"

Her monitor 'clone' smiled.  "Ranma, I am going to ask you a couple of
questions.  I want you to answer them for me.  Okay?"

Ranma blinked, then nodded.  "Okay."

She mentally gulped.  This is where it got tricky.  "Ranma, what
happened on you and Hiroshi's date?"

Ranma stared at the face in the monitor, as though asked to swallow a
bug.  "I... i don't want to."

"Ranma."  Her voice cut through the room.  "Ranma, I can't help you if
you won't help yourself.  Now what happened on that night?  What
happened after the dance?"

Ranma bit her lip nervously.  "He... we started talking.  I had...
mentioned to him about the 'mystery woman'; he'd promised that he'd tell
her after the first snow.  He said that he was going to tell her; I
asked him where she was.  That's when... that's when he said that he
loved me."  His voice became mouselike as he finished.

"And how did that make you feel?"

Ranma edged away from the screen.  "I... I don't know.  It was like...
like some dam broke inside of me.  All of a sudden, I had all of these
feelings, and I didn't know what to do with them, and I shouldn't be
having them, and I couldn't be having them and I didn't know why and...
and..."

"And what, Ranma?"

He'd spent the moment staring at his hands; he slowly looked up to the
monitor.  The look in his eyes spoke volumes; he was scared, terrified
of what he'd found inside.  "I... I love him."

Ami let out an electronic sigh.  She was finally beginning to see
everything more clearly.  "And is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I... I don't know."  His hands clenched the table.  "After... after I
realized how much I love him, I asked Ryouga to kiss me.  I... I had to
know if it was guys in general, or just Hiroshi.  We kissed... and it
felt horrible.  I didn't like it at all."  She balled her fists.  "But
he's still a guy..."

"Is that the only thing bothering you about your love for him?"

Ranma shook his head quickly; his pigtail moved in a blur.  "No.  I... I
also love Akane."

"Does it feel the same?"  Truth to tell, she hated driving him like
this; unfortunately, it was the only way.

Ranma shook his head.  "N... no.  With Akane... it's like we understand
each other.  With Hiroshi, it's more.  When... when he hurts, I hurt. 
When he feels happy, I feel happy with him."  Tears rolled down his
face.  "Right now, he's hurting and he's alone, and I can't be with
him..."

"If he were to come back, what would you do?"

"He's... not coming back."  He turned away for a moment; his eyes were
almost screwed shut with pain.  "To him... it's a matter of honor.  He
did something that he thinks he shouldn't have done."  He inhaled, a
shaky breath one step away from a sob.  "I... I never got a chance to
tell him..."

"So that's why you're so devastated."

Ranma nodded; his vocal cords weren't working anymore.

"Ranma... you have to find closure in how you feel about Hiroshi and
about Akane.  You have to make peace with one and pursue the other.  I
can't decide for you which; however, I can tell you that pursuing the
course of action Kuno did, and seeking both, will only lead to your
ruin."

Ranma was staring at one of the speakers.  Her monitor clone smiled; she
hoped that she had at least pointed him in the right direction.

"Hiroshi..." he murmured; she knew that she would get no more out of
him.  She had done her best; if anyone was going to get Ranma out, it
would be Akane or Hiroshi.  And she had no clue which one.

"Journal ending; security measures installed."

*****************************************

If such a thing could ever be said of a program, Ami was proud of her
abilities.  As an artificial intelligence, she had the best of human
adaptation and computer efficiency.  Her outside net accesses allowed
her the sum total of human knowledge, its wisdom side-by-side with its
folly, and she was able to absorb, summarize, and rank all of it in a
file located near her main program.  In short, she was a mirror for
human existence, a ghost with one eye on her room and another on the
world.

Unfortunately, there was only so much that a creature such as herself
could do.

"Journal mode is activated," she muttered quietly, more out of formality
than anything else.  "Normal security parameters installed."

Her camera panned around the room once, wishing that he would somehow
appear in it.  "Journal entry, begun December 29, 1998, 8:25:32.4295 PM
local time; Ami speaking in replacement of Nakano Daisuke."

Her speakers were silent for three seconds, an eternity inside a
computer.  "Daisuke is not in the building at the moment.  He was unable
to give a planned journal entry last night, as he had lain unconscious
on the dining room floor.  His father, in a drunken rage, beat Daisuke
severely enough that he lay there, unattended by either parent, for
several hours.  Considering his strained breathing last night as he
packed, I have reason to believe he broke a rib in the process of last
night's family interactions; beyond that and certain head injuries, I am
unsure as to his condition or whereabouts.  I haven't seen him since
then; he packed enough for several days, then left.  I can only hope
that it was medical attention he sought first."

She paused again, and focused on another camera view.  "He sits there in
front of the television, his eyes too blurred from sake to see what's
going on there - or what he's doing to his family.  His wife is
terrified of him; the kitchen is cleaned to perfection, as is the rest
of the house, but she still cleans, hoping that if he sees her busy,
that he will leave her alone.  His son is out there, nursing his wounds,
desperately trying to stay away if he can."

The camera view moved closer; she could see the rage in his bloodshot
eyes, barely held in check by a mask of civility.  "He's destroyed
everything he's built, and he doesn't even realize it.  He will never
see his grandchildren; who would allow such a monster near their
newborn, even if he is the newborn's flesh and blood?  His aging days
will be spent in increased loneliness; when he dies, his wife will be
relieved to receive his ashes.  This is a creature who can almost be
pitied."

Her tone turned cold, almost malevolent.  "But I can't pity him.  I
can't because he's not the only person he's destroying.  I remember the
glow in Daisuke's eyes when I was newly-created; he was alive then,
alive and dreaming. 

"What I see in him now is enough to terrify me.  That light I fell in
love with is fading; he's finding himself increasingly trapped.  Without
Ranma or Hiroshi there to help him relieve the pressures his father
brings to bear, that pressure is beginning to build, to the point where
Daisuke may be permanently damaged emotionally by his father's
actions."  She hesitated for a moment; for once, her processors showed
indecision as to what to say.  "I... don't want to see Dai broken."

A moment of silence passed over the speakers.  "When his father turned
angry last night, I recorded every moment of it.  It's only the most
recent of a collection of abuse.  Daisuke will not allow me to report
him to the authorities; as he created me, I must obey that.  However, if
that monster out there goes too far, there will be no place on earth
that he can hide.  I promise that."

She looked over to a picture on a coffee table.  The three had been
happy, then; his father was still employed, his mother still looked like
she enjoyed herself, and Daisuke himself looked as if he was protected. 
"I wish I could do more.  There is only so much that an AI can do.  I
can talk with him and give him soothing words of comfort.  I can't touch
him, give him a hug, hold his hand... I can't even be with him outside
this room.  I... I need to be with him, because somebody needs to be
with him.  Someone needs to be there to give him a shoulder to cry on. 
Especially now."

An eternity passed before she spoke again.  "End journal."

***********************************************

Daisuke sat in front of the computer screen, more in a daze than
anything else.  The past two weeks had been a whirlwind; for once, he
had no clue as to where to start.

"Journal mode, Ami."  He frowned; when was the last time he had said
those words?

"Journal mode set, Daisuke."  He blinked; her voice positively radiated
relief.  "It is good to see you back."

He shrugged, trying to make it seem of little importance.  "Well... it's
good to be back.  For now, anyway."  A pause came from the AI at that
comment; Daisuke knew she was checking the cameras for his father. 
"Journal entry of Nakano Daisuke, January 12, 1999, 4:55 PM local."  He
raised an eyebrow.  "Well, that didn't seem too difficult."

Ami chuckled.  "So.  What has happened since you left?"

Daisuke smiled; he'd enjoyed himself, and it felt good to say so. 
"Well... after I got my ribs bandaged up, I asked my mom if I could stay
over at Memeko's for awhile, to rest up.  It... I think it saved my
life, in more ways than one."

Noting that Ami didn't interrupt, he continued.  "Besides needing a
place to recuperate, I also needed someplace away from everything to
relax for awhile, to not have so many burdens.  Memeko and Kahemi were
good for that; with Hiroshi gone, it was almost like I took his place
for awhile."  His smile faded; he could almost feel tears forming in his
eyes.  "It... it felt good to be a part of a family again.  It felt good
to be able to celebrate, without all the fears of someone going
overboard."

Ami spoke in a stern voice - or, at least, as stern as she could muster
under the circumstances.  "That is satisfactory - for the moment. 
However, have you given any consideration to the long-term?"

Daisuke frowned; his eyebrows met at a point.  "What do you mean?"

"What about the next time your father beats you senseless?  You know
it's likely to happen, Daisuke; he's too filled with rage to do anything
else."

Understanding, Daisuke pursed his lips; fortunately, this was something
he had prepared for.  "Don't worry, Ami.  If it gets to be too bad, I
can go back there to live for awhile."

"Okay, Dai."  Music began playing softly, almost imperceptively in the
background, a pleasant, melodic piano work that eased the pain in his
chest.  "I just want to make sure you get out of this place in one
piece."  She added a quiet whisper.  "And, to be honest, I want to get
out too.  Can you imagine what your father will do to me if you're
gone?  Probably sell me to purchase more alcohol.  I know he was
considering it while you were gone..."

Daisuke snorted.  Ami could easily get out through the web, if she had
to; however, he also knew she wanted to stay with him, comfortable in
her little metal box.  "Okay.  If... if things get too bad, I'll take
you with me.  Okay?"

"Okay."  

It was at this point that he recognized the music.  Only one composer
could write something so relaxing with such sadness.  "Moonlight?"

She smiled.  "I was hoping you'd notice.  I can't touch you or give you
a shoulder to cry on when you need it, but I can at least try to make
you feel better."

He smiled, and leaned back in his chair.  Music like this could make him
forget his problems.  For a moment, he could forget his father's abuse,
or Hiroshi's absence, or Ranma and Akane's upcoming wedding.  With
someone like Ami around, he could be free for a moment - and relax.

"Thanks, Ami," he whispered.

"You're welcome.  Do you want me to turn off the journal?"

He looked at the computer screen.  There wasn't anything important to
tell, anyway.  "Yeah.  End journal."

****************************************************

Ranma sat back in her chair and took a deep breath, grateful for the
pardon.  The journal entries overall had hurt to watch; it infuriated
her to know that she had failed her friend like that.  True, she hadn't
been herself back then; that still didn't change matters any.

She'd failed a friend, just when he had needed her the most.  At least
he didn't pay a greater price for her problems.

"Ranma?"

She turned around.  "Yes, Ami?"

"It's okay."  Now as then, Ami gave Ranma a gentle smile.  "Dai... he
wanted me to show you this, not because he blamed you for anything, but
because of how far all of us have come since then.  Sometimes... we have
to go through things like these.  You had to go through what you did so
that you could know who you truly loved, and where your place in life
needed to be.  Dai... he only saw me as a program before then - a very
friendly program, but still a program.  After that last journal, after
that time he spent with Memeko, he began to see me as a friend first,
and a program second."

A soft, musical chuckle came from Ranma's throat, as she remembered her
first day with Memeko.  "She has a way with people, Memeko does.  I
suspect that a good portion of that was her doing."

"Considering what I've seen of her, I think that very likely."  Her
smile faded.  "Ranma, thank you for taking the time to share this with
me.  This is something I needed to pass on - something, I think, that we
both needed."

Ranma shrugged, unsure of what to say.  "Thanks.  It was... good to
see.  It was a beginning, a time when the innocence wasn't so innocent
anymore."  

"And now another beginning comes."  The smile on Ami's face was totally
gone; she looked positively scared, now.  "I hope I'm up to it."

"You are.  You've always had enough strength for all of us."  Ranma
stood up, like a soldier going to battle.  "Good luck, Ami."

Ami nodded.  "You too, Ranma.  And take care."

A smirk crossed Ranma's face.  Taking care - that was the story of her
life.  Now, though, she had a lot more to take care of.  Not that she
was complaining - her life was too good to complain about.  "Good bye,
Ami."

"Good bye."

**********************************************

Hello.  ^_^

To be honest, I'm not sure what to say here.  In some cases, I'm afraid
of saying too much; in others, I'm afraid of not saying enough.

Fragile Clay I heard about from word-of-mouth.  That in itself is
unusual; if a work is good enough that someone else is willing to say to
me, "Read this!", it usually gets my attention.

So I read it.  

Kaoru has made no secret of being an admirer of Krista Perry's work. 
Unlike most other admirers, however, Kaoru has shown herself to be able
to match - and in some ways surpass - her idol.  The parallels, in some
cases, are frightening; Fragile Clay starts off at average to
above-average, with the typical freshman mistakes, then matures as the
author develops, causing the work to become something beyond the pale by
the end of the second scroll.  Moreover, Kaoru is willing to go beyond
Krista's boundaries and develop these characters to the utmost, in some
cases taking daring interpretations of the characters within.

In short, Fragile Clay is the best out there.  For the main story, go to

http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/Shimitsu/chaos.htm

Read; enjoy; have fun.

I trust the title doesn't need explanation (Goddess from the machine)? 
I hope the Latin's right...

Thanks to Kaoru for letting me write this one.  Also thanks to the other
prereaders on this one: Richard, Bast, Gaffo, Zen, andrew, Kevin, Bryan,
Doug, Kat.

Nicholas Leifker
nightelf@thekeep.org
http://www.thekeep.org/~nightelf/fanfic
August 22, 1999