Tenchi is going through old clothing when in one box he discovers a light blue kimono that had belonged to his mother. Seeing an image of her in his mind, he sighs as he whispers,"Mother". He then leaves the room for a while. Upon returning to his room, he finds Ryouko wearing his mother's kimono. She then asks him his opinion on how she looks in it. She begins to spin around to show off how she looks in the kimono when she gets a sleeve caught in the doorway. The sleeve is then ripped off while Tenchi stares in horror. Ryouko comments that the design is no longer balanced, so she proceeds to rip the other sleeve off. Ryo-ohki is meanwhile happily hopping along and heads into Tenchi's room. At this point, Tenchi's anger at seeing his mother's kimono descecrated gets the better of him, and he yells out, "I HATE you!" However, Ryo-ohki, who entered the room right when Tenchi yelled this at Ryouko, thought the comment was directed at her, and the poor cabbit hopped out of the room. Tenchi, realizing that Ryo-ohki misunderstood him, ran after the saddened creature. However, he left behind a very emotionally shocked Ryouko.
Tenchi and Sasami are both looking for Ryo-ohki. Tenchi then gets an idea on where Ryo-ohki could be and then heads towards the carrot fields. As he had thought, Ryo-ohki was there staring at the carrots. Tenchi walks up to the cabbit and apologizes. Ryo-ohki pretends to think about it, and Tenchi then suggests that Ryo-ohki can help him pick carrots up for dinner. Ryo-ohki agrees happily to this, and after they are done harvesting, Ryo-ohki, happy that she is once again accepted by Tenchi, goes further by using her powers to assist Tenchi in carrying the carrots back by levitating him. However, they almost get hit by a car when they cross the road.
When they arrive back, Ryouko is there waiting at the gate looking very depressed. Tenchi regrets his earlier outburst and apologizes to Ryouko. Upon hearing Tenchi saying that he was not angry at her, Ryouko is overjoyed, and then assists Tenchi in bringing in the carrots. This leaves Ryo-ohki by herself again, and Ryo-ohki then proceeds to seek comfort with her creator, Washu. Upon entering the lab, Washu is initially busy, so Ryo-ohki goes by a container containing some small lifeforms that resemble peeled potatoes with eyes. They begin to gather around the spot where Ryo-ohki is. Washu then tends to Ryo-ohki, and as they leave, the small creatures begin to undergo a change, becoming something that resembles something humanoid.
All the girls at the moment are watching a soap opera while Tenchi is out tending the fields. Thus, no one was able to hear the alarm in Washu's lab as the
thing that was encased there escapes. Meanwhile, the soap opera that the girls were watching is suddenly interrupted at a crucial scene by a news flash about a Galaxy Police cruiser
being stolen. The girls, disappointed at the turn of events, leave the television except Mihoshi, who is intrigued by the news concerning the stolen Galaxy Police vessel.
Washu then returns alarmed as she reports that the mass have escaped. When asked by Aeka what exactly is a mass, Washu converts the area of the lab they were in
into a classroom setting and begins to teach them what the creature known as mass was. Aeka and Ryouko get into one of their usual arguments in the middle of the "lesson", of course.
It turns out the mass is a creature that has a collective intelligence controlled
by a leader (a la the Borg), and generally they were harmless. However, if a creature whose will is stronger than the leader is encountered, the mass will then take
the feelings and thoughts of the creature they have encountered. Afterwards, they can be quite dangerous if the feelings and thoughts they inherit are volatile. Washu then says that both Ryouko and Ryo-ohki were created from the mass. Washu then goes on to say that the only creature who was close
to the mass before they escaped was Ryo-ohki. She then begins to probe Ryo-ohki's mind, after placating a worried Sasami as to what effects this may have on Ryo-ohki, to get any hints on what
thought patterns the mass may have picked up. Washu discovers that Ryo-ohki has strong feelings of helping Tenchi, and everyone becomes worried since the mass-creature must be heading
towards Tenchi!
Tenchi is still out in the fields when the mass-creature, who appears as a woman made of clay, approaches him. Tenchi is at a loss of how to react when the girls all show up and tell Tenchi not to make any sudden movements. However, he trips as he is backing up, and the creature, threatened by the movement, fires a blast at Tenchi. Ryouko comes flying in and knocks Tenchi out of the way of the incoming blast. Washu then instructs Ryo-ohki to assimilate with the creature, and Ryo-ohki charges at the creature and dashes for its head. As Ryo-ohki makes contact with the creature, a bright light engulfs them. As the light fades, everyone gathers around as they discover that by assimilating with the mass, Ryo-ohki has gained another form...that of a young girl. Ryo-ohki still retains the ability to go into cabbit form. Everyone begins to comment on Ryo-ohki's new looks as the threat to Tenchi has passed.
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