Sorry for the delay. The last couple of weeks were pretty hectic. And here is the snippet
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-ranmafan1
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‘This is becoming old,’ groggily thought Ranma as he regained consciousness. It seemed all that was happening lately was him getting his ass kicked. He really should not be surprised anymore, particularly with Cologne. The former Matriarch not only had more years of experience than him in fighting, but now had a youthful body with which to utilize that knowledge (although Cologne did indicate that she was not accustomed to her age yet, but that hurt his pride even more).
Looking around the room, Ranma noted that he was still in the same cell as before; however, there was no sign of the old man that he killed. The door was unlocked once more, but he had no strength to get up from the bed. ‘I guess they were waiting for me to wake up,’ concluded Ranma. After the vampire turned his head towards the sound, he noted three figures entering the room.
The individual on the left had spiked dark blue hair, was wearing jeans, and had on an open vest which exposed his bare chest. Hanging on each side of his hips was some sort of gun. The man was now leaning against the wall and seemed to be smirking condescendingly at Ranma. Needless to say, the pigtailed fighter already did not like the guy.
The grey-haired person on the right was wearing a lab coat on a white shirt and black tie. He had a droopy expression on his face, a somewhat comically large nose, and had his hands hidden within the coat’s pockets. The woman between the two stood out in front of them. She was quite beautiful with aquamarine hair and had a substantial bust. While she also wore a lab coat like the other man, she was dressed in a blue blouse and black mini-skirt combo. Her light-blue eyes were complimented with wireframe glasses and a mole at the corner of the left eye. However, it was the look in those eyes that told Ranma she was the one in charge of those present. The woman seemed to be dissecting Ranma as a specimen with that cold and calculating state. Suffice it to say, Ranma already did not like her either.
In fact, every one of them was already on his shit list. First, he and some of the others were kidnapped and now they were apparently all being subjected to some twisted experiments. And here Ranma was stuck doing nothing; he knew Cologne was no fool and her absence meant she truly believed they could not escape. But Ranma beat impossible odds before, and all he needed was an opening. However, that was the obvious difficult part since finding the most opportune time meant ensuring the others’ survival as well. So he again waited for them to speak while he also pondered Cologne’s previous words- that not all of the experiments were “successful.” The very thought chilled Ranma’s bones. The wording made it sound like they were still alive, but he also heard the expression that “there are worse things than death.”
The woman spoke and brought Ranma out of his thoughts. “Subject 1897. Designation: Ranma Saotome. Age: 17. Experimental Protocol: Vampirification, Subset Alpha-Beta-Gamma, 63.5-25.3-11.2. Experimental Status: Preparations for Procedure 1 are complete.” The mechanical voice matched well with her cold expression as well as her light colored hair and eyes.
Ranma was tempted to ask the people in front of him the whereabouts of the others, but he felt they would not be forthright about that information. So for the moment he asked them one in which they would. A question that was plaguing his conscience more by the minute. “Who was that guy that was here?”
The woman answered automatically, “Subject 0007. Designation: Classified. Age: Classified. Experimental Protocol: Retrocognition, Precognition. Experimental Status: Minimal success; however, the ability potential was below that of current resources. Additionally, mental instability which resulted from the psychic enhancement further decreased the effectiveness of the subject. Hence, the decision was made for termination.”
“But the old coot was still a little useful…as dinner. Right, Sis?” commented the spiked-haired boy, whose grin was more prominent now. Ranma really wanted to hit that guy.
The seemingly emotionless woman ignored her escort, opting instead to speak with Ranma. “Specimen 1897, Designation: Ranma Saotome will be prepared for Procedure 1.” She then reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out an intricately carved golden cross.
‘A cross for a vampire. How original,’ sarcastically thought Ranma. However, the design of the cross was similar to the one on the bracelet wrapped around his wrist. It looked to the teenager that they were going to somehow use it on him. In order to try and buy time, Ranma asked, “So, the former old ghoul decided not to show up again, huh? And who the heck are you guys?”
The blue-haired man snorted. “And why would we want to tell…”
“My name is Dr. Yukiko Aoki, supervisor of Specimen Sets: Nerima, Joketsuzoku, Musk, and Phoenix,” interrupted the scientist, which made the man next to her stop smirking. “On my right is Yukio Aoki,” who pointedly turned away at the mention of his name, “and on my left is Dr. Fumio Ishii” who did not make any acknowledgement. While she raised the cross, Yukiko continued, “Subject 1897 will be immobilized during the course of the current and subsequent experiments.”
Panicking, Ranma tried to think of something to say to continue the conversation. “Wait! What about…!?!” he exclaimed.
However, the blue-haired doctor whispered, “Immobilis,” and there was a flash from the bracelet on Ranma’s wrist. Suddenly the vampire could not move his body. His senses still were working, including touch; however, he could not will any part of him to budge except for his eyes. While he continued to struggle against whatever they did to him, it occurred to Ranma that the group could have done this outside the door. He also realized the reason why they did not do so as well- to gloat in person how they were the ones in control.
Yukiko commanded, “Yukio, take Specimen 1897 to Laboratory 1818.” Then she turned around and exited the room, along with Fumio, who followed behind her.
Releasing a sigh, Yukio went over to Ranma, saying, “Let’s get going, you shithead,” and grabbed him by the arm. He then pulled the pigtailed boy of the bed and dragged him on the floor out of the cell and through the hallway.
‘These assholes,’ fumed Ranma, ‘are gonna pay for all of this.’ Even if he could not move, Ranma still felt the pain of being manhandled like he was. While he was taken through the hallway, Ranma made sure to take note of his surroundings. The long, stone corridor was filled with doors looking like the one of his room. The hallway was lighted with glass balls that floated over where normal torches would have been. His room was also close to their apparent destination since it took only a couple of minutes to get there.
When he entered the laboratory, he noted a half dozen or so people wearing lab coats, three men and three women. Included among them were Yukiko and Fumio, the former of which was putting on gloves. The laboratory was filled with technology that Ranma never saw. From where a few of the technicians were typing, Ranma assumed they were computers of some sort. However, the computers he knew of did not float in midair or seem to be made of light. In the middle of the laboratory there was a metal table and pointing towards it was a machine that was hanging from the ceiling. At the end of the machine was a small crystal.
“Place Subject 1897 onto the examination table, Yukio,” stated Yukiko.
The blue-haired man did as told, looked at Ranma in the eye, and said with a smirk, “Have fun, freak show!” Yukio then went into the corner and crossed his arms, waiting for the next proceedings.
‘I guess they don’t need to lock me down,’ ruefully thought Ranma. He had not given up yet on trying to move his body; however, it looked more hopeless by the second. The bracelet seemed to be responsible for his current immobility and he would need to remove it before trying to free everyone. Ranma hoped they would not always keep him unable to move or he would be in even more trouble.
“Dr. Aoki, the crystal matrix is ready,” stated a female worker at one of the consoles.
Turning towards Ranma, Yukiko nodded and said, “Excellent. Start with the overall spectrum wavelengths for the average light exposure in Earth realm. Set the light filtration at 50%.”
Ranma’s eyes widened in panic at the mention of ‘light.’ From the stories he heard, the word ‘light’ and ‘vampire’ did not mix.
The other woman complied. “Matrix is set for the overall spectrum wavelengths for the average light exposure in Earth realm.” After typing a bit more, she added, “Light filtration is at 50%.”
Then the blue-haired scientist simply declared, “Begin.”
The crystal end of the machine pointed towards him started to glow white. ‘Oh, shi-!’ thought Ranma before the light hit him.