plan

Plan:Codename Ryoko

Flashback: Washu's trial hearing, and the testimony of Clay against her, regarding the planet in Lady Aiko's domain.
The planet Earth. Tenchi, Ryoko, Yume, Washu, et al. It's the weekend before Tenchi's birthday, and so preparations are underway in a modest, low key kind of way. He doesn't want a fuss. In amid all of this stuff, Ryoko is curious to know her exact birthdate, after Tenchi asks her when it is, realising that they've never celebrated it. She asks Washu, who claims she doesn't know exactly - all of her work notes were destroyed. She is casual about it and Ryoko shrugs her off, although in reality she is a little bit hurt by the nature of Washu's response.
Z and the destruction of his world?
Or he seeks Clay's lab and finally finds it - no name is given for the owner of the lab, but he discovers the place where he was first brought to life and his files and codenames. The site is abandoned, but among the notes Z finds some in a different hand - they are Washu's. Z brings Washu up on the computer screen of Clay's lab and discovers her identity - that she is a friend of the Juraian royals but also a colleague in the past of Clay's and a very gifted scientist. As he digs further - for he is able to do so - he discovers that she has some kind of magical ability. Among the notes he also discovers mention of Kihaku, the core being the kind of fuel he needs to power his time machine. Z is technically able, even though he's not on Washu's level, he has worked to construct his own device with which to travel back in time and set things to rights. He also discovers his files confirm what he suspected - his own deteriorating biology. That being the case, he thinks going back is the only solution and he flickers out into space to claim fuel for his machine. Z's codename/filename is Z-0001332536893. His given name is Zakari. Zakari Kure. But he is known as Zakari back on the planet he grew up on. (which he accidentally destroyed?) He takes Z as his nick as he travels...after the death of his family, he loses all will for a real identity...discovering as he does who he really is.
Earth. Washu is alone in her lab, tying up loose ends on various experiments. She is humming to herself under her breath, but as she remembers the chat with Ryoko she frowns, more nostalgic. Shaking off the feelings and memories, she checks her scanners. She discovers the destruction of a planet called Heiwa (peace) by an impromptu inexplicable explosion, on the galaxy news. Intrigued, she does some digging, but all she can see is that some major force within the planet seems to have detonated. It seems to be a freak but natural explosion. Tenchi comes to speak to her and asks her about Ryoko. He reproaches her - tells her that Ryoko isn't just an experiment. Washu tells him that a lot of things were a long time ago and that she can't be expected to remember everything...in fact, it's easier often not to. Ryoko was born, and surely that's all that matters?
In the depths of space, a lone figure, Z is moving swiftly through the deserted shadows/streets of some unknown planet. It is dark and dusty and there is noone there. This is deliberate. The man breaks into a building using formidable force, to find what he was looking for - his time machine, which is dormant and lacking in power. He has power in the form of a glittering, gleaming crystal from the core of the exploded Kihaku. This powers the device, and allows him to "disappear" - to go back in time. This is Z's secret laboratory.
Ryoko/Tenchi, Tenchi asks Ryoko about her birthday, Ryoko shrugs it off, tells him it's not important. They go to Osaka, where they're meeting friends of Tenchi's for a pre-birthday celebration (Sakura, Hiroshi).

Z - going to find Clay, but unclear who he is seeking or why he is seeking them. He is at the Science Academy, in the past, at the time where Washu is about to go on trial for her explosions. Washu is talking to Manami before the hearing. (Angsty Washu!) She and Z meet gazes for a moment, fleetingly. Z withdraws to a safe, secluded spot, firing energy from his hands as he contemplates his next move. It appears that he is after Washu. Not long afterwards, there is an explosion from one section of the Science Academy, in the vicinity of Washu's hearing.
Washu heads out of her lab to find something to eat - but as soon as she steps outside of the lab, she is struck down by strange waves of paralysing energy. She manages to teleport back into her laboratory, gripping hold of the consoles as she struggles to bring herself to rights. Her distress alerts Yume, who is working quietly in a corner of the lab. Yume asks if Washu is all right. Washu says that she thinks so, but explains what happened when she tried to leave the lab. She suspects some kind of dimensional anomaly, but Yume is able to leave and reenter the lab at will. Washu is confused...something is wrong! At the same time she also discovers that a planet has been destroyed in sector 522 of space - the cause of which is unknown (but actually Z accidentally destroying his home world). She sends Yume to call Ryoko and Tenchi back from Osaka.
T & R in Osaka with Sakura and Hiroshi. They are back at Tenchi's apartment. Ryo Ohki is with them, and she is alert to the message, pawing at Ryoko till she responds. Sakura and Hiroshi get a glimpse into the strange world of their friends once again, when Ryoko tells Tenchi that Yume is signalling some kind of emergency and even though it's late and they're all tired, Ryo Ohki wants them to go home.
Breakfast on the Earth. Washu is absent. Yume, however, is not. She passes on a message from Washu that something odd is going on and she's trying to get to the bottom of it. Washu can't leave her lab -which Ryoko initially finds funny. However, when Yume tells her that it's more than that - that Washu has spent the night trying to track down the source of the problem and there seems to be a severe rift in the timeline. (Ryoko says something about that's why noone remembers that I did my chores, or something flippant). Yume says Washu wants Tenchi and Ryoko in the lab as soon as they're done eating. It might be important.
Washu, the lab. She explains that she's isolated the blip - and is deadly serious. She believes that, since Tenchi and Ryoko are unharmed, the timeline must somehow affect her and her alone. She believes someone has gone back to kill her. Ryoko asks why that would not affect her, and Washu says she's tracked it down to a point after Ryoko was already born - after she was on Jurai, but before or around the time she was exiled. The only solution is that she needs Y, T and R to go back in time for her and get to the bottom of things - she's helpless where she is and it's frustrating her. Ryoko remembers the time travel machine and is reluctant to go through it again, but Tenchi says that they have to. If Washu is right, her existance might depend on it. Washu says it's more than that - since the anomaly, other things have been changing, too. Three unpopulated planets have completely disappeared, along with a section of space. Ryoko protests that she doesn't recall planets being there, but Washu tells her the timeline would have affected her memory. Only Washu's lab, outside of time in subspace, is able to preserve and record things as they change. She brings a screen up, and as she does so, a further planet begins to glitter and fade from the screen. Further investigation reveals this is the planet Yubisu - the planet on which Ryoko and Kichi once lived. Ryoko is convinced. Back in time they go!
The Science Academy, two days after the trial of Washu was held. She has been heavily cautioned and restricted to her quarters whilst any appeals or reviews are heard. She has not been sentenced to exile, instead she has been stripped of her supervisory capacity and is being further investigated on other charges. Washu is alone in her chamber, mulling over her chances of escape. Z appears to her there, and Washu is startled and wary of him. He tells her he has business with her, and that she'd do well to hear him out.
Tenchi and Ryoko and Yume are sent back in time to that same day. The anomalies are such that things are not exact, but Washu has tried to get it as close as possible. They are at the SciAcademy, and are forced to disguise themselves as science students. Washu has furnished them with fake ID passes, so they are able to move freely among the halls and corridors. (This could provide some humour if Ryoko is actually asked to do anything scientific). They are looking for Washu. Instead they encounter Manami Kurashida, who seems unwilling to speak to begin with. Then she agrees, telling them about Washu and her trial and the fact that it's pending a final investigation because of lack of evidence. It seems they've gone back to the right point - they don't realise yet that they're there AFTER the date Washu should have been imprisoned. Yume asks about Dr Clay and Manami is scathing. "Oh, him." She says dismissively. She tells them that there was an experiment exploded in a lab in Washu's division and Clay was caught in the blast. He was only stunned, not killed, but he was malingering over his injuries and claiming Washu tried to have him killed. Manami is certain however that Washu did no such thing.
Past Washu is called to the Court of Elders, to face a panel who ask her some questions. She has called for this meeting, and has clearly decided to go ahead and make it known that Clay has not only been stealing technology but that he lied more than once. She also tells them he was responsible for the destruction of Aiko's planet and that she can prove it - she has a serum developed on Jurai which can make people confess. The Elders tell her that if she can indeed prove these things as true, the charges against her will be dropped. Washu submits then the evidence she has for Clay's plagiarism, and they agree to look into the claims further - including the ones about Aiko's planet (and Clay's involvement with Kagato of Jurai??) As past Washu leaves the Court, she almost collides with Tenchi headlong. He calls out her name in surprise, but she just glares at him and tells him that he needs to watch where he's going. Then she's gone. Ryoko's comment - "gee, and she talks about my manners!" Yume reflects that she seems 'different'...not the same woman they know in their time. Tenchi reminds Yume that this is before she spent seven hundred earth years confined on a remote planet, and Yume takes his point ;).
Present Washu, monitoring the status of the Universe. What she sees doesn't make her happy. She contacts Yume through the transmitter and tells her that two more populated planets have disappeared and that she's anxious about how many more might become unstable. She urges them to hurry. Yume says they've barely found anything yet, but that Washu is definitely alive and well in the past time. Washu tells her that it's still early days...
Ryoko, Tenchi and Yume decide that in order to get to the bottom of whatever is going to happen, they need to split up. Ryoko volunteers to watch her mother...after all, Washu is her mother! Yume is assigned to find Dr Clay, track his movements and discover whether or not this has anything to do with him and the experiment that Manami so carelessly mentioned. And Tenchi is set to find out anything he can from the Academy in general - anything unusual. He's sent to blend in in Washu's currently hiatus department. They agree to meet at the end of the day and exchange information.
Z. He is angry - his first attempt at his goal has failed and the target still lives. His attempt to include Washu in his assassination attempt has failed thus far also...he has learnt that she is a powerful foe of Clay's and someone who he thought would understand. He has told Washu in the past the bare bones of his story, and Washu has agreed to push her case for the plagiarism with the court of elders. But she does not want to kill him. He decides to try once more - and to attempt physical force if he can't persuade Washu in any other way. He sets off through the halls of the Academy to find Washu once more. He is weak and he stumbles in pain at one point. He encounters Tenchi, who asks if he is all right. Z shoves him aside with barely a glance, hurrying on. Tenchi is startled. What is with these people?
Washu, her lab, Ryoko spying on her. Washu's calm facade breaks down somewhat when she believes she is in private. She is not as in control as she'd like to be...her emotions are still prone to getting the better of her. Mikamo's suicide and the loss of her child weigh heavily on her mind, and she is restless. Finally she gives up any work plans, retiring to the small bed chamber to try and sleep for a few hours. The door slides shut, and Ryoko slips into the lab, silently as she can. She's looking for anything that might suggest Washu's life is in danger. Instead she finds the secret lab beyond Washu's own - the one with no door. She knew it was there, because Washu has mentioned it since. Inside she finds a powerful computer system and many, many files. She has no idea how to open or access them. The computer is activated as she approaches, automatically scanning her genetic ident for a match. As she is struggling to break through Washu's encoding, there is a voice behind her. She spins around, seeing Washu watching her with cold eyes. Ryoko tenses, and energy flickers from Washu's fingertips as she demands to know who she is and what she's doing there. Ryoko is lost for words, but at that moment the computer finds a match on the system. Ryoko's file information flashes up onto the screen, along with her name - Ryoko Hakubi. Washu is startled by it enough for Ryoko to manage her escape - the last thing she wants to do is get into a fight with Washu and wind up being the one who kills her. As she leaves the lab, she sees a figure in the hallway but when she goes to find out who that is the shadowy figure is gone.
Yume has found Clay, and has discovered his connection to Kagato. She's also discovered that he re-set the coordinates on Washu's weapon testing so that a planet in Juraian royal territory would be destroyed. However she is disturbed to find out that the weapon was indeed of Washu's creation and that she did intend to test it regardless of the risk to the surrounding life. She concludes that Washu's mindset is distressed and comes to a startling conclusion. Did something convince Washu to take her own life, rather than directly murder her? While Clay sleeps, she immobilises him with her gunk stuff, withdrawing memory data from him regarding Washu. As she does so, she discovers the connection to a man called Mikamo Niwase and that Washu was heavily involved with him until his death. She also discovers he was an ally of Kagato. She's even more disturbed by this. Was Washu more involved with Kagato than she thought? She resolves to find out.
Tenchi, Yume, Ryoko reconvene and share information. Ryoko says that nothing has happened but talks about Washu's cracking up behaviour. Yume adds what she knows. Tenchi says that he's discovered Washu is both respected and feared across the Academy for her practices and her genius. But nothing has come to the forefront which might be a threat to Washu's life. Back to square one. They report in to Washu at home, who says that more planets have disappeared and realigned. They tell her what they know, and Yume asks Washu about Mikamo Niwase. To everyone's surprise, Washu's reaction is immediate. She closes up, but there are tears in her eyes. She says frankly that Mikamo is dead in that time and he can have no connection to anything - let sleeping ghosts lie. Then she signs off. Tenchi remembers what Sasami said about a fiance lost, and what Washu said herself when Ryoko and Tenchi announced their engagement to her. Ryoko about the chain Washu has in her lab. So Mikamo Niwase was the fiance lost - could whoever is behind this be some connection to the present day Niwase clan looking for revenge for the death of a relative? They decide they need to know more about the death of Mikamo Niwase and who might bear Washu that kind of a grudge.
Z tackles Washu once more. Washu is still in the negative. "It's not what I do." There is a confrontation between them, where Z finds out that Washu is a match for him. He is growing weaker and is unable to finish the fight. He withdraws, leaving Washu tired and on edge by his constant intrusions. She knows only too well that her future at the Academy relies on the case against Clay that she's struggled to bring into play. She knows full well that they want to confine her, and that she's already playing a dangerous game. (Few more clues here that Z wants Washu as an ally, not that he wants to kill her).
Ryoko and Tenchi are watching over Washu while Yume accesses data on Mikamo Niwase from the central computer at the Academy. Tenchi pretends to be a young student at first, and because he actually is a student in real life, Washu believes that he is studying at the Academy in some capacity. She tells him that she's not authorised to mentor at present, and may not be again. Tenchi admits to her that he believes her life is in danger. She says flatly that there's nothing new in that...she's used to fighting off people's attacks. She also says darkly that it's just a pity one of them hadn't succeeded. Tenchi is startled - Washu is clearly on edge more than he's ever seen her tonight. Ryoko joins them at that moment, teleporting into the lab and Washu reacts to her immediately, recognising her from the secret lab and the computer's report on her DNA. She is angry at Ryoko, and flares her magic, ready for a fight...she thinks that somehow Ryoko is trying to manipulate a perceived weakness over her daughter, but more she is worried that someone knows that her daughter exists. There is a heated exchange of words, in which Ryoko does not reveal who she really is but that she knows Washu has a daughter and that she was thrown away to Yubisu. This upsets Washu, who launches an attack on the pirate. Tenchi has to come between them, throwing up light hawk wings as he defends himself from their powerful magics. It brings both back to themselves, and Washu stares at him in disbelief. "Where did you come from?" She demands. "I knew you were more than an ordinary student!" Tenchi backs off, saying that he's just a friend and someone with her interests at heart. Ryoko also. Washu snorts and tells him that she doesn't put much faith in allies...she hasn't many of them left, and those she has are better off being far away from her because unfortunate things tend to happen to people who spend too much time around her. Ryoko tells her to get a grip on herself, and Washu snaps back at her. Tenchi warns them not to start this again, and says that whether she likes it or not, they want to see Washu safe. She is wary, but backs down. Ryoko asks her about the shadowy figure stalking the halls and Washu says he's some guy with an unrealistic business offer, nothing more. She then tells them to leave her alone. They do.
Yume has discovered everything on Mikamo and his tragic death on Jurai. She also discovers something else - that Washu's hearing has already officially taken place and that it looks very much like there won't be a retrial or a further hearing. She begins to wonder if there's more to this than meets the eye. Turning herself into Washu, she goes to confront Dr Clay about the hearing and the evidence...since she knows from Washu's prior accounts that Clay testified against her. But she discovers that Clay did not testify at Washu's hearing - because of the explosion in the lab that injured him and prevented him from attending. Yume is getting a bad feeling about all of this...
Ryoko's encounter with Z. Z is heading towards Clay's quarters, where Yume-as-Washu is. Ryoko stalls him, and they end up having some kind of a confrontation which ends with them both out in space. They fight for a while, and hit a stalemate. There is not much to choose between them and each are startled by the other. Finally Ryoko blasts Z against a broken old spaceship, but he grabs at her, pulling her with him and sending them both crashing through the damaged hull and into the craft with a hell of a thud, knocking both clean out.
Yume tells Tenchi what she has reasoned and that she's not wholly convinced that Washu in the past is of sound mind. She's wondering now if the changes are not caused by an assassination attempt on Washu's life, but quite the reverse...by someone trying to help Washu evade justice for her attacks on the space systems. Tenchi is startled - do you think that Washu being confined is the only thing that protected these planets so long as that? Yume shrugs her shoulders. She asks where Ryoko is and Tenchi doesn't know -she was watching the real Washu but he has a bad feeling about the fact she's so late. They go to look for her, starting with Washu's lab.
In the derelict, Ryoko is the first to rouse up. As she struggles to her feet, Z stirs, and Ryoko is on her guard, preparing for the fight to begin again. But Z seems weakened by the fight, and Ryoko decides against attacking a wounded opponent. Instead she demands to know why he's trying to hurt her mother. Z is startled - "Your mother? Believe me, I'm doing no such thing!" A chat ensues in which Z outlines his true plan and tells Ryoko something about his life. He opens up to her when he realises that she is not really all that different to him. He asks if she doesn't get angry sometimes and she says sure, but she's gonna live her own life. She can either be a victim and mope over it - not her style. Or she can get on with it and take the things she wants from the life she does have. Z then tells her that she's lucky - his biology is unstable and he is effectively dying. The weaker he becomes, the less control he has over the impact of his magic and he has killed people without meaning to. He figured killing Clay will stop him from being born and therefore save people's suffering. Ryoko tells him that she and her companions were sent back in time because planets were disappearing in the present. Z is alarmed - not his plan at all! Ryoko also says that something has happened to Washu intheir time, so they assumed whoever went back went back to kill her. Z assures her that isn't the case - that on the contrary, he's tried to elicit Washu's help to slay Clay, with all of her power. However, Washu has so far refused to do so. Ryoko says she's heading back to the Academy and Tenchi, and then asks him if he still means to kill Clay or if he'll help to put right the things he's screwed over. Z agrees to help, and Ryoko teleports them back to the Academy.
Yume confronts the Washu back home about her suspicions and Washu is rueful - she admits that she wasn't at her best in those months. Yume mentions that she knows all about Mikamo, and Washu is sad. She tells Yume that between losing her man and her baby, and fighting off several attempts on her life by Kagato (not to mention interrogation re: the gems) she was emotionally more unstable than she'd ever been before or since at that point. She admits that it was a dark time and that her desperation to fight against Kagato drove her to create weapon after weapon, each bigger than the last and each potentially a greater threat. Her developments were only curtailed by her confinement, and since she was awakened and adopted into the Masaki family, she has been less destructive than she was then. It's as though the Masaki clan - or Tenchi's influence?! - has healed her. Yume asks whether if she had not been confined, she would have recovered on her own or whether she would have lost control completely. Washu is silent for a moment, then confesses that she suspects the latter might have been true. Yume asks if she thinks that Washu might then be responsible for the future changes, because she's NOT been confined as she should have been. Washu concurs, however reluctantly, and tells her that they must ensure she is confined, regardless of the truth or otherwise of Clay's situation. She tells Yume that they'll have to destroy any information Past-Washu has on Clay and make sure that there is another hearing of Washu's case. Yume agrees. As she signs off, (maybe this conversation is her and Tenchi) Ryoko and Z join them. Yume and Tenchi are wary of Z but Ryoko explains briefly what she's discovered. Yume then says what she knows - that their enemy is Past-Washu and they must ensure her confinement. NO MATTER WHAT. Ryoko is iffy about this - it is her mother, after all - but Yume says Present-Washu has told her they have no choice.
Clay is still injured and unable to testify in a court, so they hatch a plot. Yume will impersonate Clay at the hearing and give the evidence he should have given. Tenchi will take responsibility for misplacing the documentation proving Washu's counter-claim, so that it holds no water in court. Z and Ryoko are to antagonise Washu into confrontation, so that her mental instability can be seen by all. Ryoko is really not happy about this, either! But so the plot ensues.
Washu is alone in her chamber, when Ryoko teleports in, grabs her, and teleports them both out. Washu is indignant and pulls away, demanding to know what's going on. There's a discussion, heated, about Yubisu, Ryoko, an abandoned baby and Kichi Itokawa. Ryoko is careful not to say that Kichi is dead, only that she and Ryoko have left Yubisu. Ryoko demands to know where the baby is, as if she were an agent of Kagato. Washu's reaction is immediate - "No matter what you do, I will never tell you where my baby is." She tells them darkly. "Not ever. Kill me, if you like. I won't ever tell you the things you want to know." Ryoko realises that Washu is willing to die to protect her daughter - her baby, not her experiment. She falters, and Washu attacks her. Z gets involved at this point, because Washu truly is powerful and more so than Ryoko even with the gems. In the end, Z uses the last of his strength deflecting Washu's blast from Ryoko, and wounding him fatally. Washu is horrified by what she's done - she's killed a man! At this point the guards come to marshal her to the Elder Court and she puts up no resistance, letting them lead her away. Ryoko remains with Z to begin with, as he is not quite dead and she feels sorry for him. And grateful, too. She tells him she's sorry her mother hurt him - since she did it in her name. Z tells her it doesn't matter - that he did it because he knew his days were numbered and that he would not have survived the conflict either way. He tells her Washu just quickened what would have been slow and painful in any case and that he made that choice. Plus, he tells her, it must be nice having a mother willing to kill or be killed to protect her daughter. Then he dies, and Ryoko hesitates by his body for a moment, then teleports out of the lab, heading for the court room. She knows more now about Washu's mind, and somehow she knows she cannot testify against her mother. She only hopes that Yume is able to convince the court she is Clay. As she gets there, Tenchi is also arriving. He asks about Z and Ryoko explains. Tenchi tells her that he's managed to remove all the documents, but it's really up to Yume now. Together they creep into the court to hear proceedings.
Yume testifies, Washu is sentenced. Confinement is the judgement and she is ejected into space. As sentence is passed, Ryoko finds herself with tears, although she denies them and dashes them away. Instead she tells Yume to call Washu and find out if things are now back to normal. She wants to go home and worry about how much alcohol she's going to drink to celebrate Tenchi's birthday!
Earth. Heart to heart - Ryoko and Washu. Washu finally relents and admits to her how much her daughter meant to her. She also tells her her birthday and other things - other memories of the brief time they spent together before Kichi took her to Yubisu. She admits that her memories of the period before her confinement are somewhat garbled - she was emotionally unsettled, she'd had two attempts made on her life with hallucinogenic based poisons and she'd just lost her fiance. But she hadn't imagined that she was as dangerous an enemy as that - she'd more or less relinquished her magic because of Kihaku's demise. But her science was just as universally dangerous...and that she is possibly more of a weapon than Ryoko ever was! However, it's also a bonding moment for them both, too. And Washu takes out her pendant, determining to get it fixed. "Enough hiding the past as if it's going to bite me." She adds. "That life ended. This one is more important." Ryoko was born on the first day of the Startica festival, because it was a period in Juraian time that Washu knew Kagato's attention would be distracted elsewhere with the festival on Jurai.