Multiverse : The Few, the Proud, the Male Gender Chapter Two

Original idea from Gregg Sharp

Written by David L. Battley

Co-authored by Long Ngo

Finished December 19, 2000

Part 2.

Through wet eyes and blurry vision he knelt in front of the family grave. In front of him were the necessary items he brought up from the house: incense, a bouquet of flowers, a cup, and a bottle of sake. He poured a cup of sake and set it upon the stone base. Clapping twice, the young man lowered his head and prayed; his ponytail was blowing in the wind as his tears made cold tracks down his face.

*I wonder if you will be able to watch over us as we go, Dad, just as Mom watches over us.* He thought of his female house guests, *I hope you can, only don't watch us too close, OK?* that brought a small smile to the young man’s face that moments before had nothing but sorrow.

He stood up and looked down from the hill where the grave sat overlooking the shrine, lake and home. His home. Which was the starting point of so many adventures, was boarded up, ready to be abandoned.

There really wasn't anything else to do. Washu had said the virus had ran its course, but still lay dormant, unable to affect the women and remaining men who appeared to be immune to it. It lay there waiting for the next generation of males to reach puberty. If, by some miracle, they had been born immune to the virus, things would be back to normal, all things considered. If not, they stood the same chance of survival as this generation, one in five male baby born will survive and only a fifth of those survivors able to produce children. With fewer and fewer fertile children born each generation, it meant a slow death for humanity. Many are saying that humanity will not last long enough to kill itself; a virus was doing it for us, faster and more efficient.

Washu was more than happy to spearhead the search for a cure. The fact that the virus, constructed on such a backwater planet as Earth, could cause such widespread and selective destruction was admirable to her. The fact that it had resisted her best attempts to stop or cure galled her to no end. Someone had unintentionally thrown the proverbial gauntlet at her feet; she swore she would prove, once again, why she was the greatest scientist in the universe.

"He had his faults, but he was a good son-in-law, a good husband, and a good father. He will be missed."

"Grandfather!" Tenchi shouted in surprise. He turned around sharply to find Katsuhito had sneaked up on him again.

"Come on. It's time to leave. Everybody is waiting."

He walked with his grandfather down the steps that led away from the shrine and the resting place of his mother and now father. "I still don't see why we have to leave at all. It feels like we're abandoning..."

Without any forewarning, Tenchi found himself shoved roughly into a tree and held by his collar starring into the wild eyes of his grandfather. For the first time in his life, Tenchi saw not the old and calm grandfather that had raised him when his mother died, but a man who had been pushed to his limit.

"Do you think I like this any more than you?" he hissed. "Do you think I want to leave this place? This is the place I made my home. I fell in love here. My daughter is buried here. I would NEVER leave without..." Katsuhito's rant faltered as he suddenly seemed to realize his position; he swallowed his anger and gently let his grandson go. " A man, who should not have had to see his daughter and then son-in-law die before him. Tenchi, I promise, we are not abandoning the Earth. We will return someday and when we do we will bring a cure with us. Earth may never be what it once was, but I swear I won't allow it to die," Katsuhito continued, but this time there was no anger. Instead there was a feeling of loss, determination, and regret all rolled up into one.

"I'm sorry, Grandfather," Tenchi apologized with a little bow, a little ashamed at misjudging his grandfather so.

Katsuhito put his arm around the boy, "So am I, Tenchi. I guess this whole mess has affected me more than I thought."

At the bottom of the hill a group of girls stood together next to a pair of spaceships, one mechanical the other made of crystal.

Ayeka looked around her trying to take it all in. "I will miss this place. The earth has a natural beauty very different from Jurai, but it is still very lovely."

Ryoko looked at the path that led up the hill to the family grave. "That's for sure," she said with a smile. Even though she wasn't immune to a beautiful sunset or a cherry orchard in spring, there really was only one thing on this planet that continued to catch her eye again and again. She turned to the others, "So, what will you two do now?"

Kiyone, dressed in her Galaxy Police uniform, looked over at her partner. "Well, first we go back to headquarters to make a report. After that we will just have to wait for reassignment, I guess."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about the report, Kiyone. I already sent one," Mihoshi suddenly responded with a smile plastered on her face, justifiably proud of herself.

"You did?" Kiyone was shocked by her partner's initiative but just couldn't rid herself of that familiar sinking feeling.

"Yeah. You're always saying I should take my job more seriously so I thought I should make the report as soon as possible."

"Is everything from your lab gone from the house, Washu-chan?" Sasami asked.

"Of course. Everything is dimensionally adjusted to fit inside Ryo-oki. If anyone comes snooping around all that they will find is an empty house. Ain't I just the greatest scientist in the universe?" Washu exclaimed, trying to lightening the mood.

"Miyaah!" said Ryo-oki in her space ship form.

"Will you really be working with the scientists on Jurai to devise a cure?"

"Yup. I think I could use all the lab assistance I can get. Plus it got Ryoko the amnesty she needed to freely go into Jurai territory."

"Like I need it," Ryoko snorted. "Besides, it might not even hold up. It's not like you talked to the king about it, all's you got is the old man's word."

"His word is solid, Ryoko-chan. I trust him. Besides, if he's going to lock horns with his father on the earth's behalf, he's going to need all of the support we can give him. Which means..."

"I know, I know. 'Be on my best behavior'. I've heard it all before." She turned to glare at Ayeka who was giggling behind her sleeve.

"Look, here they come now," said Sasami.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko shouted in joy. There was no word in any dictionary in any of the worlds she had visited that described to her how happy she was that her Tenchi did not die like so many of the other males on this planet. Ryoko didn't want to think what would have happened if her one true love ever died and she found out it was due to foul play. Telporting in a blink of an eye towards Tenchi, she wrapped herself around her man. Of course, if he would just acknowledge her as his woman, things would be a whole lot better. For Tenchi's part, he barely tolerated the treatment, since struggling only seemed to make the space pirate more persistent.

As it stood for both of the girls, calling his home world a 'plagued planet' earlier didn't do anything for getting on his good side. They each had their dream, whether running free through the stars with Tenchi as her only companion or taking their proper place side by side among the nobles of Jurai, neither had anything to do with the out of the way world they currently found themselves. Both were eager to leave.

They loaded onto their respective ships, Mihoshi and Kiyone on their mechanical standard issue interstellar craft and everybody else on Ryo-oki. They intended to part company as soon after they left the system, but in the meantime, they kept in contact with each other.

Kiyone's voice came over the com-link. "We will be clearing Earth's atmosphere in 3... 2... 1..."

"We are not alone," Ryoko said. "Oh-ho. Very impressive." She pulled up a screen showing what waited for them outside, two Juraian battleships and a contingent of Galaxy Police cruisers.

Washu crossed her arms, "I don't think this is a welcoming committee."

A shot was fired from one of the Jurai ships that cut directly between Ryo-oki and the Yagami.

"What?!?"

"Why are they firing?"

"It was a warning shot" said Katsuhito.

Another screen opened on the deck of both ships. "This is Commander Rishtal of the Juraian battleship Hoshi-Oh. You are to return to the planet surface at once or face destruction."

Ayeka ran forward, "This is Princess Ayeka, First Crown Princess of Jurai, heir to the throne of Jurai. What is the meaning of this, Commander? Explain yourself!"

Rishtal was visibly shaken, "P-Princess?!" Looking behind the First Princess of Jurai, he discovered Sasami as well. It took a moment for the commander to compose himself but when he looked again his face was set to hardened regret. "I am sorry, Your Highness, but the colony planet 0315 has been put under quarantine. You must return to the Earth."

---------------

"Quarantine?!" Kiyone screamed at her own halo-screen.

"Officer Kiyone, secure this channel."

After pressing a few buttons she said, "It's secure and this had better be good."

"A full quarantine has been placed on the Sol system to prevent the possibility of the virus spreading."

Kiyone rubbed her forehead, "Mihoshi's report."

"Indeed. However, this does not relieve you from your duty as Galaxy Police. Your new standing orders are as follows: You are to find and prevent, by any means necessary, any current resident of earth from leaving. This includes unmanned vessels as well. You are authorized to use lethal force as you see fit. A drone ship will follow you back to the surface with additional equipment and armaments. You are the first line of defense in the quarantine. Should any succeed in get past you, drone satellites will destroy them without warning. That is all."

-----------------

"You can't be serious! What does my father say?" Ayeka shouted.

"He ordered the quarantine for the safety of the empire. I am acting on his direct orders. You must return the surface, Your Highness."

Katsuhito spoke up, "What else is my father doing about this? He cannot just allow this planet to die."

Commander Rishtal lowered his eyes. “Lord Yosho!?” the commanded exclaimed.

“I was Lord Yosho, First Crown Prince of Jurai, heir to the throne of Jurai. I no longer have the privilege to hold that title. My heir, Tenchi now assumes all rights and privileges due to him. He is now the First Crown Prince of Jurai, heir to the throne of Jurai and bearer of the Light Hawk Wings,” Katsuhito announced, which left more than a few people in shock.

To find all four successors to the throne of Jurai on this out and out planet was not pleasant news, it was near horrendous. As a citizen, there was nothing he wanted more than to help these four individuals but as an officer of Jurai, he knew about sacrifices and for this he would mourn later, in private. "This is a one hundred percent quarantine. No samples will be brought up, no scientists will be allowed in. Earth... is... on it's own. I'm sorry. The only reason this planet hasn’t been vaporized yep I believed was because of your presences on this planet," he explained to Lord Yosho. Looking directly into the screen again. "You have five minutes to comply. If you do not we will be forced to destroy you. Commander Rishtal out," the last part leaving a never bitter taste in the Commander’s mouth.

"Damn him!" Katsuhito exploded.

"They can't be serious." Ayeka said in disbelief.

Several floating crystals started blinking red. "They've got a weapon's lock on us," Ryoko said.

"I think they're serious," replied Tenchi.

"What do we do? They wouldn't really fire on us, would they?" asked Sasami.

"I think we can blow through them," Ryoko replied grimly. "It's better than going back there. Strap yourselves in, this could get bumpy."

"No. Ryoko, we have to turn back."

"What? But, Tenchi..."

"They're right, Ryoko, we have to go back home."

"Home? What home? It's not home anymore, Tenchi, it's a prison. We can't go back."

"We can't risk letting the virus loose on another world. Can't you see that?"

"But... But..."

Kiyone reappeared on the holo-screen, "Well, Tenchi, shall we go?" She was surprised to see Ryoko stand up from the pilot's chair only to be replaced by Washu. Together, the two ships and a drone full of equipment silently fell to earth.

-----------------

The next day all the girls were inside putting the house back in order while Tenchi was outside removing the boards from the windows. Kiyone and Mihoshi went over the contents of the drone ship, which included a pair of sub-orbital high-speed skimmers, new armor, enough munitions to blow up a full size Juraian battleship out of the sky, and various other items. Kiyone did notice, however, that nothing was sent that they could modify to help them escape Earth orbit, if they ever decided to. Ryoko had not been around to work and could not be found anywhere. Tenchi always worried about her, but more so when she wasn't causing trouble or picking fights with Ayeka.

Azaka and Kamidake stood guard over the gate to the Masaki house and shrine. So when a black sedan drove past them they did their best imitation of wooden pillars so as not to attract attention. Lord Tenchi had asked them to keep a low profile after all.

Three women, dressed in black business suits and sunglasses, exited the vehicle. Tenchi noted them as he removed another board from the window.

"You are Tenchi Masaki?" one of them asked as her two companions walked up to him, the other staying by the car. Tenchi only nods response. "You must come with us."

"Who are you?"

"I am agent Yoshino and this is agent Kanazawa. We are with the Ministry of the Interior. We need you for testing."

"But I was already tested at school, it was mandatory."

"Masaki-san look at me." Yoshino said as she removed her glasses. The only thing he saw was that she was not Japanese. What he didn't see was Kanazawa pressing a hypo injector into his back until it was too late. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

'Man, I have got to work on my upper body strength,' spoke one of the ladies in German. 'Loading unconscious guys into the car is a hassle.'

'Shut up and hurry,' hissed the second, also in German.

After roughly dumping the unconscious body of Tenchi into the back seat, the black sedan sped away.

Azaka and Kamidake’s optical orbs started to glow red, unknown to the two ladies abducting the First Crown Prince of Jurai. Powering up, the two guardians started to track the moving sedan from the air. The only thing that saved the two foreign ladies and their driver from the Guardians wrath was the fact that neither Azaka nor Kamidake wanted to place Lord Tenchi in any danger. So the guardians waited for their chance, but in the mean time using their link to the Ayeka's headband they reported what had transpired. "Lady Ayeka, Lord Tenchi has just left the compound in a car. He was abducted by two strange women."

The sounds of things breaking came from the house. "Follow them! Stop that car! Make sure Tenchi is unharmed." Before either of the Guardians could respond a blue haired streak zipped past them. "And don't let Ryoko do anything foolish!" Ayeka added as an afterthought. *They’re mine. I will punish all who would dare harm my Lord Tenchi,* Ayeka vowed.

Inside the car the driver was complaining, 'Why do we have to get Japanese men, anyway? I think they are ugly.'

'They're probably for research, anyway, Katrina.' Yoshino privately felt pity for the boy. She hoped the fact that Aushwitz was open again wasn't a bad sign. 'Katrina only goes for blond men anyway. I don't think she could handle having a slant eyed baby.'

The driver didn't respond to the jibe, but continued to stare at the rearview mirror. More than a little nervous, she said, 'A girl in a black and red leotard is chasing us.'

'So lose her.'

'She, uhm, she's flying.'

'What?' Both ladies in the back seat turn around. Sure enough, a blue haired, pissed off girl in a black and red leotard was flying after them. They watched in mute fascination as the girl fired an energy blast from her apparently empty hand.

"Try and steal my Tenchi will you?!" Again and again she fired always striking the road close to the vehicle, trying to slow it down. The sedan careened violently from one side to the other as the explosions rocked it.

'Where is she?'

'She disappeared.'

'Where? Overhead?'

'No, she just vanished into thin air.'

'Do you think it was just a holographic projection. This is Japan after all.'

"You've made a very terrible mistake," a disembodied head attached upside-down to the ceiling spoke. “I’ll take Tenchi back now," Ryoko stated but all three agents could hear the unmistaken threat in her voice.

Both ladies screamed as one pulled a gun and shot at Ryoko as she pulled her head back through the roof. The one with the gun leaned out of the window of the car and continued to fire at Ryoko, but the bullets careened harmlessly off her force field. The blue haired space pirate laughed at their feeble attempts as she faded from view once more.

'She's a demon. We are up against a real, honest-to-God demon.'

'She's in front of us.' Katrina pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

'What are you doing?'

'Let's see if she can survive this.'

Ryoko smiled making a come-hither gesture. Suddenly the car stopped and slowly began to rise into the air, to either side of it were the Guardians of Jurai.

Ryoko summoned her energy sword. "Hold her steady, boys." In one pass she cleaved the car in half. The ladies inside were in a panic, the driver praying for divine deliverance from the demon, one in back clutched instinctively at the nearest male presence, the other looked ready to shoot anything that approached.

“Guns are not very friendly,” said Kamidake.

“Quite,” replied Azaka.

The lady with the gun found herself yanked from the back half of the car and held off the ground by an unseen force. She was surrounded by a number of smaller wooden totems, and facing a girl dressed in brown and black with a wooden headpiece that floated in front of her. The very cruel, mightier-than-thou look in her eye made her rather nervous. “We... We were just doing our job,” she said lamely. The girl's eyes narrowed and a scream of pain was torn from the agent's throat as high voltage passed through her body. A moment later she was allowed to fall the ground unconscious.

At the scream, the other woman in the back half of the car passed out, the driver reached for her pistol only to feel the heat of an energy sword close to her throat. “Move and die,” Ryoko grinned evilly at her prisoner. In front of her appeared another blue-haired girl, only this one was a child dressed in elegant robes and possessed an innocent aura that made the driver view herself as below dirt.

AS Sasami neared Tenchi, a transparent image of a lady appeared around the youngest of Jurai’s royal family, possessing an ethereal beauty that left the abductor speechless. *A demon and now an angel? What is going on here?* the agent thought, ready to pass out any time.

The new girl passed through the front half of the car like a ghost and floated in front of the boy. "Come Lord Tenchi. It's time to go home." She reached out and caressed the boy's face as the marks on her forehead glowed white. For a moment,

"Wha..? Where am I?" Tenchi looked around and plastered himself to the back of the seat as he found himself a good twenty feet off the ground. "Tsunami?" The girl in front of him smiled and faded from view.

Ryoko took the gun from the driver and made a show of throwing it in air and cutting it into several pieces before it hit the ground. "The next time you come back and try and take Tenchi, it will be the last thing you ever do." She flew back, picked up the boy and flew back down the road followed by the girl in brown armor. The car was simply dropped to the ground as the Guardians left them as well.

As the driver roused her companions she said, 'Headquarters never mentioned this in the briefing.'

'Now what? We're not going to try and get him back are we?' one asked with more than a little fear.

'Do we look like the Men in Black?' They looked at each other through their dark sunglasses. 'Never mind. We already have a few men from this area. Let's move inland before they turn up the heat. There is suppose to be a high concentration of studs in the Tokyo ward of Nerima.'

-----------------

Back at the house, all of the girls fussed over Tenchi, making sure he was uninjured and comfortable, and then checking again just to be sure.

Katsuhiko came in, "Tenchi, I heard what happened. Are you alright?"

Tenchi sat there with his feet propped up, pillow behind his back, tea in his hand, being attended to by numerous females and still managed to look miserable. Kiyone and Mihoshi, who had shown up after the fact, were there as well.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Grandpa. Can I ask you about something that's been bothering me?" At his grandfather's nod he continued, "When we were in space yesterday, the commander of the other ship called Earth a colony planet. What did he mean?"

"Earth falls into the Juraian Empire's sphere of influence, but since it doesn't have a great many resources nor is it strategically positioned, it is pretty much ignored. The actual events are a rather sad tale that happened well before Earth developed it's own recorded history. Why do you want to know?"

"Well, Washu-chan is working on the virus in her lab and I just feel so useless waiting for her to make a break through. Knowing that Earth has more ties with Jurai than just us made me wonder what else there is to know."

Sasami ran off to make some tea and snacks as she felt a story coming on.

Katsuhito settled himself into a chair and drank some tea before he began. The girls did likewise; neither of the princesses had heard this story.

"I found this story in the great archives of the palace. Ages ago, during a time when Jurai was still growing as an empire, the emperor at the time desired to expand its boarders. Using the great trees, explorers went to the stars searching for new worlds. That was when they found Earth. Great and dangerous beasts inhabited it at the time, but the king ordered it colonized anyway. Slaying the beasts and still leaving the ecosystem undamaged was a major undertaking.

"Once it was safe, volunteers and refugees were taken to colonize the planet. Among the volunteers was one of the king's youngest daughters. Some say she wanted her own toy kingdom, other's say it was to escape an arranged marriage that might have furthered the expansionistic goals of the time. Whatever the case, the king allowed it, and she was put in charge of the colonization efforts.

"Now one thing you must understand is that each planet, indeed, each stellar system has it's own amount of energy, what could be called magic. For Jurai, it was the power of the trees, for the Sol system it turn out to be the planets themselves. Not enough to export, but definitely enough to replace the trees of Jurai altogether and become self-sufficient.

"Using this power, the princess, whose name was Serenity, not only colonized the earth and its moon, but every planet in the system, or at least the moons if the planet was uninhabitable. The King was very proud and satisfied with his daughter's efforts and withdrew any Juraian influence. Serenity became Queen of her own small kingdom. With the aid of magically enhanced soldiers, her reign was one of piece and justice that was known as the Silver Millennium.

"This didn't go unnoticed in the courts of Jurai. More than a few were jealous of the King's favor and Serenity's toy kingdom. One in particular, named Beryl, took action. She slipped into the Sol system using a sub-dimension. There, using corrupted magic and dark energy generated by the negative emotions all beings have, she raised an army of youma, and influenced a number of turncoats and saboteurs. Even though its magical soldiers protected Serenity’s kingdom, when Beryl attacked the Silver Millennium ended.

"By the time Jurai reinforcements arrived every habitable city, moon and planet had been destroyed, in some cases, it's very life essence sucked right out of it. Even the fifth planet was so thoroughly decimated it is now only an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and it's name forgotten. The only thing remaining was the Earth, though it, too, had been reduced to almost nothing. But, the question still remains 'what happened to Beryl'? Even after her apparent victory, she disappeared without a trace.

"The King was distraught, but the seers of Jurai gave him only one hope. A prophecy that said the Silver Kingdom would once again rise under it's own powers and make its former glory pale by comparison and the echo of Serenity would be heard again in the courts of Jurai."

"'... to rise under it's own power.' That must have been when the Solar System was made a non-interference preserve. To make sure nobody interfered with it." Kiyone interjected.

"Yes, and so it remains to this day."

"The seers of Jurai have never been wrong," said Ayeka. "But it's been so long. Is there anything of the Silver Kingdom left?"

"In truth, I have never searched for it."

"So if the prophecy still holds true, then the power of the Silver Millennium might be able to destroy the virus," Tenchi mused.

"Sounds logical," said Washu, "I know I'm not having much luck with it."

"Washu-chan, do you think you might find any traces of energy that might be left from the power of the Crystal Kingdom?"

"I can try."

Everyone trooped through the closet door that led to Washu's lab. "If Katsuhito is right, then I will need samples of the planetary energy of every planet in the Sol system. Enhance it, modify for temporal delay... We really won't be ready for a couple of days but I should be able to find even faint traces of any power that might be left over. Once I do, I should be able to pinpoint it exactly."

"It's in Jubaan."

Everyone turned and stared at Mihoshi.

"And just what makes you so sure, Mihoshi?" Kiyone growled.

"It was in this morning's paper."

The expression varied from person to person as Mihoshi’s explanation started to sink in.

For Sasami, she smiled, “Wow! That’s awesome, Mihoshi!”

For everyone else, am eye twitched and a grimace appeared on their faces. “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner!” the dastardly duo shouted at Mihoshi. Even Kiyone backed away.

"Let me see that," Kiyone said at the same time grabbing the paper from her partner's hands and reading it out loud. "Another youma attack yesterday was stopped by the Sailor Senshi. Sailors Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars were joined by the elusive Outer Senshi, Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn, to put a stop to the youma rampage. Five hundred thousand yen were estimated in damages though no lives were lost. The shopkeepers of Jubaan are grateful to the super-powered defenders of love and justice."

"Allowing for some difference in interpretation, it certainly sounds like them," said Katsuhito.

"Well, it's the best clue we got," Ryoko said, "Count me in. It's better than sitting around here all day."

"Oh, and this letter is for you, Tenchi," Mihoshi said as she handed him the last envelope.

Everyone watched the boy go pale and start shaking as he read the letter.

"What is it?" His grandfather took the letter and noted the official seal at the top. "Oh, dear."

"What is it?" everyone demanded.

"It's an officially sanctioned Omiai." Ayeka and Ryoko immediately bombarded poor Tenchi with questions and accusations. "Ahem!" Katsuhito got their attention again. "It says here that if he doesn't show up he will be conscripted into a ‘repopulation' camp."

"But don't they know that Tenchi is suppose to marry me?" Ayeka said with more than little whimper.

"No. Tenchi is mine. They can't have him." Ryoko declared as though those were the final words on the matter.

Kiyone turned to them, "Need I remind you that alien princesses and space pirates don't really have any official status here in Japan? According to their records, Tenchi is healthy and unattached. Not to mention he's supposed to be living alone with his grandfather." Knowing that what she said next would more than likely start the cat fight over again but for a whole different reason. Kiyone never got the chance.

"Of course, if you could prove to them that Tenchi was engaged or even married," Mihoshi blushed as she said it, "then they might be willing to forget the whole thing."

"MARRY ME, TENCHI!!" Ayeka and Ryoko exploded, but Tenchi was already running for his life.

*What the heck,* Kiyone thought. “Hey you guys, remember that polygamy has been sanctioned worldwide,” she shouted after Ayeka and Ryoko.

If looks could kill, the one that Tenchi was giving her while running for his life would have destroyed the Earth ten-times over. Now he was not running away from whom he decided to marry but rather who he was suppose to marry first.

Looking at Kiyone, “You are evil,” commented Katsuhito with a grin.

“Ain’t I?”

As the day wore on, Kiyone continued to plan with Washu and Katsuhito, "We are going to have to find someone who can forge some documents and obtain citizenship for those two. I don't like it, but I don't see where we have much of a choice."

"We are heading toward Jubaan anyway, perhaps we will find someone in Tokyo that can provide us with what we need."

Far away, Nabiki Tendo sneezed.

Looking at everyone present, "Don't worry if worse comes to worse, I'll hack into this planet's primitive computers and give us all citizen status," Washu smirked after having replied. "It's a piece of cake compared to this virus."

Having set a plan, the duo started their trip to Tokyo as Katsuhito started a plan of his own, one involving wedding vows.

To be continued ^_^

Many thanks to my pre readers: Thomas Hackwood, Jason Wong, Brian Randall, Octavian

By the way Thomas Hackwood gave me some calculations on how soon the Earth would die. Have not had a chance to look at it much in detail but I am taking bets.

6 billion people - (6 billon * .5) 3 billion males 3 billion males, 20% survived = 600 million males 600 million males, 20% fertile = 120 million "breaders" Allowing for 80% of all surviving males to be between 12 years and 55 years, makes 96 million possible breeders.

Here is where I forgot the math... I *think* Given a 4% chance of a male child surviving to 12 years and potential breeding, each child would have to sire 25 *male* children in his life time to *stabilize* the population. (I'm assuming an even distribution of births over his lifetime, the availability of multiple mothers, a 100% infant survival rate above what I've mentioned, and a even distribution of death rates.)

You'll need to consider that wars, plagues, decrepit infrastructure, lost knowledge and such will mean that each male will need to probably sire nearly 50-60 *male* for the population to grow.

Assuming a low 20-30 children per fertile male in an optimistic scenario, I *think* humans would approach extinction in six or seven generations.

Assuming a 20-30 children per fertile male in a pessimistic scenario, humans should be approaching extinction in four or five generations.

For realism, you should take under consideration that males make up the bulk of engineering fields in occidental countries. It isn't that woman couldn't learn the jobs, but they don't have enough of the "lore" to keep things going at the same level. If you want, we can discuss this off line. There's a lot to this, I deal with information loss all the time, it's nasty.

< To be continued: