The Test.
Part One.
By: Peter Vela
**********
"'Ey Nabs, watcha doin?"
Nabiki acknowledges Ranma with a mere nod of her head as she peers quite
intently at the computer screen. From what Ranma can tell, Nabiki is very
amused with something she had just been reading.
"Just checking my mail."
Curiosity aroused, Ranma pulls up a chair and joins her.
"Fifty nine new messages! Ya' got quite a following!"
Nabiki turns her head slowly and regards Ranma in a way one regards a
blissfully ignorant child.
"Nooo... see the AFML labels on almost all the messages? They're from a
mailing list."
"Mailing list for wha'?"
"A mailing list for anime amateur fiction on the web."
"Jeez! Ya' already spend half the day laying around readin' those romance
mangas!"
Nabiki smiles sheepishly at the martial artist.
"Yeah, well it is addictive. Especially the AFML. It's basically taken over
my life... by the way Saotome, what do you think your doing in my room??"
"Oh, Akane told me to tell yo..."
The door suddenly bursts open and a fuming Akane storms in.
"Nabiki!!! When're you getting off the line! All I can hear are beeps when I
pick up the phone!!!"
Nabiki faces the kitchen destroyer with a cool expression on her face.
"Akane.. who pays the bills in this house?"
Akane looks at her blankly.
"I thought so... now go back downstairs and I'll disconnect when I'm good
and ready."
Ranma swears inwardly that he can see the steam rising out of Akane's ears
and nostrils as she slams the door on her way out. He breathes a heavy sigh
of relief.
"I think you're the only person that can talk to her like that and walk away
in one piece."
Nabiki smirks. "Of course... she might be a hot shot martial artist, but I'm
her big sister and I'll still kick her ass when the need arises."
"Amen."
She turns back to the screen and begins typing away furiously.
"Whad'ya doin now?"
"Sending a test message."
"But wasn't that last message from a guy that got banned for sending one?
"Ya' got that right, Saotome. Test messages are a no-no...
"Heh? Won't you get banned?"
"Hope not. But it doesn't matter, it's only a temporary ban anyway.
Also... there's this one moderator... he's a bit blunt and smug when it
comes to his replies. I think he takes life waaayyy too seriously, so I
reckon I'll brighten up his day. But I'm just doing this for fun. I'm trying
to find a way around the mailing list rules. Nobody, and I say nobody,
outwits Nabiki Tendo."
Ranma grins at Nabiki's enthusiasm. "How're ya' gonna do that."
"Well, if I put the test message in a form of a fanfic, the moderators might
not be able to anything about it."
"Cool."
"Naturally. So while it's essentially a fanfic, it's a test message as
well...anyway, I haven't sent anything to the AFML yet and this is pretty
exciting for me. It's like the equivalent of having my name up in neon
lights!"
Ranma, one eyebrow raised and looking at Nabiki with a strange expression,
exits the room without another word.
Nabiki simply shrugs.
"Now to send this sonovabitch... (took me long enough to write it)"
end The Test.
"I've had my fifteen minutes of fame... when're you gonna get your's?"
-Konfucius (bluezboy@hotmail.com)
Konfucius Says! The best Ranma and Eva fanfics are...
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/4901/index2.html
Much gratitude goes to my good friend Damocles for pre-reading.
the NEXUS - http://www.bluep.com/~modesto
(
geocities.com/tokyo/teahouse) (
geocities.com/tokyo)