I posted this to rec.arts.anime.creative back in November 1999. Artmic and Youmex own these characters; I'm just borrowing them.
How long have I been travelling?
I see - my ship's drive was damaged during the last battle. I had to travel here using only the secondary engines. How long did that take?
That long. Oh, dear.
Well, what's done is done. I wonder how much linguistic drift has occurred while I was asleep ... Why can't I get a signal? Oh, I see. They changed the standard radio bands. A sensible precaution. They changed the transmission standards, as well. That's odd - their signals are modulated by amplitude or frequency, but not both. I wonder why?
What was that? It almost sounds like an enemy's voice! Have they taken over this planet? No, wait - I almost forgot about the plan. So it succeeded! And I can understand the language well enough to get by. At least, I can understand one of the languages. Why are there more than one? That seems inefficient.
I wonder what the people here call themselves? Ah, there it is - "Human". A strange name ... And on the topic of names, it appears they each have more than one name. I shall have to choose a secondary name. What word should I choose? There will be time for that later. Now, I must activate the ship's stealth system and make planetfall.
So this is ... "Earth". Another strange name. But I have no choice if I am to remain inconspicuous - I must use the name the others use. And the ship cannot leave this planet without major repairs - repairs that I fear are beyond the capabilities of the Humans.
I wonder what a "Tokyo" is ... Which So... Human is honoured by the name? Or is it simply a random collection of sounds? Or does the name have some other meaning? No matter - it is the name of the city at the end of this path. I may as well establish a life for myself there.
Oh, dear. I don't believe that conveyance will stop before it hits me ... This is an unusual experience. I have never been struck by a conveyance before. It is not an experience I wish to repeat.
"Hey, are you all right?"
Is this Human speaking to me? He must be; there isn't anyone else here. "I am not injured. Thank you for asking."
"I'm sorry. Really, I am! I didn't expect anyone to be walking on this road, especially this late at night ... What the hell?"
I look in the direction the Human is looking. All I can see is my own arm. "That is mine. It appears I was damaged, after all. Excuse me a moment, please." When I return with my arm, the Human has not moved at all. Strange. One might think he has never seen one of my kind before. "Is there a problem?"
"You ... you're not human."
"That is correct. Is there a problem with that state of affairs?"
"No, no, no, no problem at all." I was not aware that Humans could speak so quickly. "What are you?"
I contemplate my answer carefully, then recall an entertainment transmission I monitored while examining the Earth's radio systems. "You would call me an android."
"But you're ... You ... Nobody can make a robot as small as a human! At least, not yet - that was in my graduate thesis."
That was a piece of information I did not expect to gain - this Human is a trained specialist in my type of lifeform. "I will be honest with you. I am from another world, but I cannot leave yours." The expression on the Human's face is difficult to interpert. Perhaps I used the wrong words. No, the linguistic information I have indicates I spoke correctly. "I need your help to learn how I should behave on this world. I do not wish to be a burden to you, though. I will teach you what I know of android design and maintenance so that you can advance in your profession."
"That's an extremely tempting offer. I'd have to be a fool to say no. You've got yourself a deal, miss ..."
Why has he paused? Perhaps he wants to know my name. "Catty."
"Pleased to meet you, Catty. My name's Katsuhito Stingray."
Okay, who didn't see that coming a mile off?
I've had the idea to write this fanfic since we talked about the commonalities between Gall Force and Bubblegum Crisis in alt.fan.bgcrisis back in January and February 1999. It just took me a while to find the time to write the silly thing ...
I don't intend to go anywhere with this - the events that follow should be obvious to any BGC fan. (But what happens to Catty?)
Last update: 20 April 2001