***********************READ FIRST (please =D)***********************

First off, thank you for taking the time to read this pilot episode. This is my first attempt at Fan Fiction for well, anything. The following read will take an average of 30-40 minutes, depending on your reading style and pace, so make sure you've got a good bit of time to spare. And make sure you bring patience, and a lot of it. Forgive me for being anxious, I'm a newcomer to this community and I'm not sure what sort of response I'm going to get D:

My goal here is to get some great peer reviews done in order to tell me if I should continue along with this story or not. Don't hold back on what you don't like about it, but definitely let me know what you do like as well!

Before you read, I've written up a quick little story summary:

This fanfic is told from the first person perspective of main character Justin, who randomly falls victim to a rare event on the quantum scale and ends up in the Tenchi Muyo character universe. Once there, he has lost all previous memory of his life and the environment he now dwells in. However, a part of him feels like he knows this new change of scenery. After some interesting confrontations with Sasami and Nobuyuki, Justin meets Washu, who agrees in helping him figure out why he's landed in the middle of the Masaki House. What will happen to Justin once he regains his memory? These summaries might not be in later chapters. This is to keep the plot from being spoiled. As you have probably already noticed, this fanfic doesn't continue the story of the Tenchi Muyo franchise like many other fanfics do. Instead, I'm trying to throw in something different into the mix while still using the same genuine characters. I understand that other writers have probably taken a similar approach that I have with this fanfic, so bear with me on the content.

A final author's note:
I'm not sure what to think of this series. When I read it, I don't get the same feeling that I would get from reading other people's writings, narrations, fanfics, etc... And I can only imagine the reason for that is because I'M the one writing the piece and thus the story is already known to me. If you get the same feeling please let me know, as it tells me that I need to work on my writing style and presentation to the audience. I realized early on that it would be difficult to write from this first person perspective because it involves me drastically changing the universe with the addition of another main character, while still trying to retain the balance that is Tenchi Muyo. Right now I'm leaning on the edge of whether or not the story is descriptive enough, if I'm including too many unneeded details, or even if the story has a proper flow of direction. I don't want you to force yourself to read it, I want you to want to read it.

So without further ado...

Chapter One

- Quantum What? Pilot -

FanFic written and edited by Marius Malek

A normal day for a normal college student; yes, the daily grind was at its peak as fifty thousand students walked the campus grounds. Even though I knew less than one percent of these people that walked among me, I felt at peace knowing that we all sought the same higher education (who am I kidding?). I was in the middle of campus, taking in the fresh and tantalizing smells emanating from the several restaurants strategically placed around me. It was nice to see the sun finally out after a week straight of thunderstorms, for a while I thought that the overcast clouds would linger forever. With my earphones in, I was blocking out the world around me and concentrating solely on the music as I rested on a bench. Even heavy and aggressive music seemed to calm me down, for I had been very stressed recently from midterms.

I looked up towards the sky, concentrating on a flock of birds soaring several hundred feet above me. I poetically thought to myself how I wish I was one of those birds. I wanted to be free from the chains of society; I wanted to be my own man governed only by my desires and ambitions. In reality it was sort of a foolish dream, dreams you only see come true in shows like Outlaw Star. I envied those characters, even if they were completely fictitious. It was shows like that which put these crazy ideas in my head in the first place. The truth is my life is boring and somewhat predictably depressing. I just needed something to happen that was so unrealistically fantastic that it would completely turn my life around.

Closing my eyes, I sighed heavily in brooding frustration. If only it were that easy to escape, I told myself. I try not to think about it most of the time, as dwelling over idle fantasies only seems to cause depression. I ignored my previous thought and began to drift off into my own mind. My eyes slowly shut as reality began to fade around me. Before I knew it I was fast asleep in a public and heavily waded area of campus. I would have been embarrassed if I was conscious.

After a brief moment in the realm of my subconscious my eyes greeted me to a nice surprise. The sun had already gone down and I was still alone on the bench. The embarrassment was starting to settle in, but I felt shrouded and protected in the darkness. Standing up from the bench, I stretched my limbs and yawned with an exaggerated mannerism. I took maybe three steps, and felt something condescendingly heavy take control of my body. It felt as if weights had been attached to my every appendage, but I felt the most pressure around my heart and lungs. It was an insanely unorthodox feeling that I've never had the pleasure of experiencing before. I was confused from the pain, but intrigued at the same time because I felt like I was in no immediate danger – which seemed rather ignorant of me considering my strange circumstance.

The small population of people walking around me didn't notice my predicament; they merely walked by as casually as the leaves blew in the wind. I was deeply troubled by this observation. Couldn't they see that something was wrong with me? The pressure on my chest seemed to pierce deeper into my body, with each pulsation growing exponentially heavier. I tried to scream, but no words escaped my mouth. I tried anything in desperation, but with each pulsation my body seemed to slow down along with time and space around me. It felt like I was experiencing a live-action fever dream unlike any other. The weight kept getting more and more unbearable, I felt like I was suffocating and drowning from some unknown entity.

Euphoria consumed me and I lost all control over my limbs, my head was moving back and forth like it was a cork floating around in unstable water. My vision was the next to go. At first the color faded from my world, and the tunnel vision seemed to come after that. If there was any time to panic, now would be the most appropriate time. My breathing became slow and heavy, unfortunately it was the only thing that I could concentrate on at the time. All other bodily control and functions could wait. Alarms bells were buzzing through every thought process that I could manage.

I couldn't fight this anymore, there just wasn't enough strength left for me to try and counteract this random act of aggression. My body numbed and collapsed onto the ground, and the taste of copper filled my mouth. The tunnel vision steadily increased until all I saw was an abyss of darkness. After that, an incessant ringing in my ear comes into focus. I'm not sure if the ringing had been going on beforehand, but it orchestrated itself in a subtle yet familiar tone that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Not being able to see anymore, I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing. As long as I was still conscious, I thought to myself, I was going to be okay. Suddenly, it felt like my body was moving, much like that sensation you get after being on a rocky boat all day. I continually slipped in and out of consciousness, not knowing where I was being taken to, or even if I was going anywhere at all. I began to lose track of time very easily, but if felt like my body was adrift in the cosmos for what seemed like forever. After a while, I felt the inertia in my body cease.

As I began to regain feeling throughout my body, I noticed that I was in someplace entirely different. I wasn't by that bench any longer, or even on the concrete for that matter. No…I was situated on hardwood flooring, which was extremely comfortable compared to the cold concrete. My vision still hadn't come back, and the ringing in my ears was still there but fading fast. Breathing began to get easier and easier as the weight on my chest decreased. The coppery taste in my mouth also started to dissipate. It looked as if this strange rollercoaster ride was finally coming to an end. In all honesty I hadn't realized what just happened to me, let alone how it happened. Sometimes things just happen, and you have to accept it regardless of how illogical it may be.

I could feel myself split between the twilight of dream and reality. I opened my eyes, but saw only black filling my vision. However, after a few seconds of trying to focus, the blackness surrounding my field of view finally started to lessen. What I saw next should have sent me into shock, but instead I observed my surroundings with a calm and cool collectiveness. I began to look around a bit. I was in a living room, more specifically on the floor behind a couch. In front of me, there was a kitchen which seemed to have some activity coming from it. Next to me I could see stairs leading up to the second story, and also located underneath this staircase a most peculiar red door that was situated almost unnaturally.

I couldn't really find myself to get up; instead I just laid there like an unmovable object. Five minutes passed by on my watch and still no activity around me. Was I still dreaming? The ringing in my ear had finally gone by then, and I could hear the clashing of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. There was obviously someone in there. My nose still wasn't working properly, but I could have sworn that I smelt something delicious being made.

Wait a minute.

That smell.

It's Japanese.

I smell Japanese food.

Why the hell do I smell Japanese food?

No, more importantly…where the hell am I?

At this point I had no choice but to get up, my curiosity had forced me into action like it always does. My legs trembled from exhaustion as I started bearing weight on them. I felt so completely lost it was almost laughable. As I got up from behind the couch, I noticed that the TV was on, but no one was watching it. Okay, that's no too strange I suppose. I sluggishly made my way towards the entrance to the kitchen when I couldn't help but notice a bright blue calendar tacked up on the wall. I stared at it for a good ten seconds before registering what exactly it said.

April 15, 1998. No…that couldn't be right, the people in this house really need to get their shit straight. I checked my watch again; the small box that displayed the date was telling me that it was April 15th, 2011. I started flipping through the calendar, and sure enough the entire months had 1998 on them. How bizarre. I sat there in quiet contemplation, now that my brain finally had some time to process what exactly was going on. I was undisturbed for a few seconds until some more commotion started coming from the kitchen. I rounded the corner and took a peek inside.

Alone in the room stood a young looking girl with green hair, she had it tied into pigtails with these shiny red spheres. Her hair was unnaturally long. I took a second look and then metaphorically kicked myself for not questioning just exactly why her hair was green. Was I suffering from some hallucinogenic narcotic? What kind of hippy dippy freedom fighter could have slipped me some psychedelic drug while completely flying under my radar? Maybe someone did something to me while I was sleeping. It seemed preposterous, I thought. Am I even residing in a dominion of reality? But most importantly, why did this place seem so incredibly familiar to me? The young girl turned around to grab a utensil off of the counter behind her. I watched for a few moments as she professionally organized a delicious looking meal neatly on a food tray. I was astonished by her iron chef abilities, especially after concluding that she couldn't be older than 13 years old.

I know this girl, so why can't I put my finger on it? It was gnawing at my very essence, consuming every single thread of thought. She turned around again this time looking in my general direction. I swung back behind the wall and thought about whether or not she saw me. Even if she did seem familiar, I was still in an unknown location. Anything goes at this point. I felt myself enter a ninja-like stealth mode; or rather I took the mindset of a detective trying to find his bearings. The living room in front of me was still empty, in fact the entire house seemed to be vacant of any residents save for that young girl in the kitchen. She was obviously cooking for a large party, telling from the sheer amount of food she had spread out. The wonderful smell reminded me that I still haven't eaten dinner. Great…

Using the wall behind me as support, I lazily slid down and sat on the floor. I looked at my watch again to make sure I wasn't losing track of time since it seemed to be the only constant variable for me right now. I pulled my BlackBerry out of my pocket to confirm the time, but the damned thing wouldn't seem to work even after relentlessly pressing the power button. According to my prized Fossil watch, the time was 10:40 PM. But the environment around me said otherwise. When I sat down my eyes became level with a glare of sunlight beaming through the curtains from the living room window. I searched the room for a clock but found no such luck. After a moment of thinking to myself I noticed the TV remote control sitting on the coffee table, lodged in between a bunch of sappy looking soap opera books.

I'll just hit the TV Guide button on the remote and find the time out that way, I thought to myself. However that's when it hit me: this remote doesn't have a guide button and if I'm not mistaken that's an antennae sitting above the TV itself. At that point I sort of had one of those "Ah-ha!" realizations. If that calendar is right, the year really is 1998 and I've somehow traveled back in time to some unknown location. That's when it hit me again.

I've gone back in time.

1998?

Really?

An immense weight overwhelmed me like someone had poured a couple thousand gallons of water right on top of me. I was about to commence a massive freak out session when I heard some floorboards creaking from behind me. From my surroundings it appeared to be coming from upstairs. Someone else is in this house. Good. Or is that bad? But what was nagging me the most was the fact that I've felt like I've been here before. It's just that everything was so lucid and vivid. If I was ever here before, it never had such immense detail before. It was…lifelike this time. It's that itch on your back you can't reach; that thought in your head that you can't escape. I needed a desperate sign of confirmation. Any sign that could tell me I was dreaming, going insane or I really was in some time warped reality.

I stood quietly as I followed the sound of the creaking wooden floorboards above me. The footsteps sounded like someone was lazily dragging their feet across the floor, and it made me raise an eyebrow to the issue. Not because of the dragging itself, but the sheer time that it took for the person to walk a distance that appeared to me to be about twenty feet or so. Needless to say, it was drawn out and was probably unnecessary. I wonder what that poor individual did the night before to move around like that? A little under a minute passed when I heard the sound of water draining from the pipes upstairs and working their way down the walls. The ass dragging began once more, until they found their way back to their room. Well, that was interesting.

Now that the little episode of the walking zombie was over, I couldn't help but look at the red door that was situated under the staircase. Treading lightly, I made my way over to the door and placed my hand on the doorknob. After a tight squeeze I gently rotated the doorknob clockwise. Once I had the latch undone I pulled the door completely open, but was disappointed at my findings. It was just a storage closet. Nothing more. Okay then.

Since my arrival I hadn't ventured past the living room. To be honest I was very hesitant to, but I didn't want to leave either. After a few short breathing exercises to calm my nerves down, I mustered up the courage to explore the house a little further. I figured I'd start with the outside, where people were least likely to be, just so I could remain anonymous for a little while longer. I probably should have alerted someone of my presence from the start, but from my experience people react differently when they notice a complete stranger has entered their home unannounced. Of course, that was my personality just making more excuses at this point.

I needed answers, and I felt like they were all on the tip of my tongue just waiting to be released. I was obsessing over the familiarity of the house's architecture at this point, and I knew that this compulsive disorder of mine wouldn't be satisfied until I had scaled this house from top to bottom. I turned to my left and faced the front door. Several shoes and various other clothing accessories lay neatly by the door's entrance. I noticed a wide assortment of feminine looking shoes, to work boots and all kinds of colorful sandals. The more I observed my surroundings that more I was convinced several people resided in this house.

I lightly stepped towards the front door, reaching for the latch carefully so I wouldn't make any kind of noticeable disturbance. Once the latch had been released from its compartment I slowly opened the door, fearing that the hinges would squeak from the pressure. With maybe two feet of clearance I nudged by body between the door and the doorframe, finally carefully closing the door behind me.

The sight before me was breathtaking. Off in the distance I could see the sun rising behind a beautifully composed mountain range. The house that I stood in front of sat atop a hill, but it was noticeable after venturing further away that this large house was only a small piece of what seemed like a massive piece of property. Behind the house a never-ending staircase that escalated towards the top of the mountain, where another structure seemed to reside. Cherry Blossom trees dotted the landscape, showering my vision with pink. The scenery had very therapeutic results with my current state of elevated stress. I couldn't help but smile at the peacefulness of it all. I decided to take a seat and just stare at the vast landscape before me, taking in every moment of silent serenity that I could manage.

A wisp of wind swept at me from behind, almost asking me to turn my attention toward it. I took a few steps back to observe the house once more. I felt like I was looking at a picture or a memory from my early childhood. It felt so peculiar in this state of déjà vu that it began to annoy me. I still needed confirmation of where I was. It was really the only thing that I thought would ease my mind at the moment. How does a normal person even react in this situation? Let alone myself?

I've got it. Yes it seems so simple now.

I'll just approach the front door and ring the doorbell, act all nonchalant and pretend like I was never in the house to begin with. When someone answers the door, I'll try and explain to them my situation. After all, they'll understand I'm from the year 2011 right? I started making a move towards the front door again, but as I stepped closer and closer the idea that I had just formulated seemed to become duller witted by the second. I let out an exasperated sigh, one of those "here goes nothing" sighs.

My finger approached the doorbell, by my hesitation got the better of me. I felt like a small child consumed with angst and uncertainty. I stood there for a few good seconds with my finger hovering over the button.

"Fuck it," I blurted aloud to myself.

With a quick motion I rang the doorbell and proceeded to act casual as I locked my hands behind my back. After a few seconds of awkward silence I could feel the reverberations of someone's footsteps coming my way. The door swung open surprisingly fast. It was that small girl with the green hair. I should have known she'd be the first to respond. Now that she was face to face with me, I got a good look at her. Her face emanated pure innocence, and her eyes sparkled with a never ending glow of happiness. Of course I could be exaggerating but that's honestly my first impression. What seemed to be embedded in her forehead were two triangular shaped gems. I've seen her before, but where?

"Hello there!" she said with delightful excitement.

"Um…" was all I could muster up before my throat seemed to close, preventing me from saying another word. Her voice assaulted me with multiple waves of nostalgia. I put my hand in front of my face, gesturing for her to give me a second to clear my throat. After a few coughs and hacks I managed to regain my composure.

"Hi there, my name is Justin, maybe you can help me." I said.

"Why do you need help? Are you lost?" she replied with sincerity.

"Yes! Uh, yes…you could say that." Oh dear, where do I even begin to explain my predicament to her? Could she even understand such a complex series of random events? I doubt it, since I could barely make sense of it. I felt my face fill up with blood, now was a better time than ever to become embarrassed and shy. I felt like an ass for pretending like I wasn't in her house not even twenty minutes ago.

The young girl looked at me, perplexed. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"How in the world did you end up all the way out here?" she finally said.

That's a damn good question; I've been asking myself that for quite a while now.

"Yeah well…you see…that's sort of what I need to talk to someone about. Are your parents home, an older brother or sister perhaps?" I felt sort of dumb for asking.

She was much quicker in responding this time, "No I'm sorry, my parents aren't here and my older sister is currently out buying groceries. "

Okay no problem, I thought to myself. "Well, is there anyone that I could maybe speak to? I don't want to impose while you're cooking."

Oh shit, I think I just blew my cover. Did she catch on?

"How did you know I was cooking?" She shot a suspicious glare my way.

She did.

Fumbling with various responses I pulled one from random, "I uh…couldn't help but smell it from here. It's very aromatic."

Crash – and – burn.

"Oh , okay then!" she said this time with a smile.

Or…not. I was safe for a little while longer. What was I afraid of? She didn't seem very dangerous. The awkward conversation left me stressed once again, mainly because it wasn't really going anywhere. I still didn't have answers.

"So can I uh…I guess come in?" I asked.

"Let me check with Mr. Masaki first, okay?"

Before I could answer she shut the door in front of my face. I guess I really couldn't complain, so all I could do was take her word for it. I turned around to observe the beautiful landscape once again. The sun was well over the mountains now, and I could feel its rays warming up my body. It was a nice and reassuring feeling. I checked my phone again, but the damn thing was still not turning on. I guess the battery died somehow.

After a few minutes the front door opened behind me. I turned around to see a half awake man playing with his tie, trying to get it just right around his neck. If I didn't know any better I'd say that he was the one dragging his ass upstairs earlier, but I couldn't know for sure. Turning around, I extended my arm towards the man in an attempt to shake his hand. He immediately caught the gesture and shook my hand firmly.

"Hello there, you must be Justin that Sasami told me about." He said. His voice was very friendly, but his smile was very goofy looking.

Hiding my initial interpretation of the man, I returned a friendly smile, "Yes sir, and I assume you are Mr. Masaki?"

He nodded in reply, "Yep, Nobuyuki Masaki; a pleasure to meet you Justin. Now I understand that you have a little problem that you'd like to ask me about. Why don't you come on in and have a seat?" He opened the door, signaling that I was welcome inside.

"Thank you, I appreciate this." I said sincerely.

"Ah, it's no problem. You aren't the first stranger to show up on our doorstep!" Nobuyuki replied.

As I walked in I noticed Sasami was walking out of the kitchen with a small tray in her hand, she looked in my direction, "Would you like some tea?"

Damn she's fast.

"Yes, I'd love some. Thank you." I tried to be as nice as possible.

I figured that manners could only help me in this situation, even if my patience was dwindling slowly on the inside. Nobuyuki gestured me over to sit down by the couch. By now the sun was fully penetrating the living room, casting a nice natural light throughout the spacious area. Sasami put a small cup of hot green tea in front of me, and then made her way towards Nobuyuki. She handed him a cup as well, and he nodded in appreciation. Without a hitch she went back into the kitchen and continued cooking.

"Now tell me," he paused to take a sip of tea, "what exactly is this problem of yours?"

I sat for a moment trying to figure out a way to best describe how I ended up on the floor behind the very couch I was sitting on. That wouldn't do though, I didn't want them knowing that this was my second time inside the house. I guess a little white lie would have to do for now.

"It's hard to explain…" I said putting it lightly, "but I sort of 'woke up' here…"

I continued on explaining my story to him, trying to get across the exact moments that led me here in this living room. I explained all the weird events and sensations that I experienced on my strange journey here, and for a while I figured I was getting somewhere with him. I noticed several instances where he would nod his head in acknowledgement and others where he would just sip his tea waiting for me to continue. Under the impression that he was following me by the letter, I continued my story until my mouth was dry and the tea was gone.

There were a few moments of silence, only the constant drone of the ceiling fan above me cut through the air.

"Hmmm…." Nobuyuki hummed, just sitting there with his hand under his chin, "I'm not quite sure I understand everything you just said there. But, you seem to stand behind what you say, so I'll believe you. I do know someone who is smart enough to figure basically anything out though."

"You do?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow. I was disappointed that I just spent all that time explaining something to this man, all to have him not catch a single bit of it.

"Yep. However, she hasn't gotten up from sleeping yet, and I'm not supposed to interrupt her beauty sleep. Or better yet, it's not wise to wake her from her beauty sleep. So I tell you what Justin, why don't you join us this morning for breakfast?"

"I think that's a great idea," came a soft voice from my left.

It was Sasami. I didn't realize it but she must have been standing there for the entire time that I had been explaining my story to Nobuyuki.

I turned towards her and was about to open my mouth. She beat me to the punch though, "It's okay, really. I made extra this morning so there should be plenty to go around."

She must have read my body language, because I was about to tell her that I didn't want to bother them with feeding an extra mouth. I wonder if she was really telling the truth about making extra on purpose, or if she intentionally made more food after answering me at the door. She was clever and discrete, I'd give her that.

I pitched a gentle smile her way, "I know I keep saying thank you over and over, but I really mean it."

"Don't sweat it," Nobuyuki said behind me, "like I said before. You aren't the first stranger that's walked through our doors, and I doubt you'll be the last too. Here at the Masaki house, we've gotten used to just about anything."

Nobuyuki stood up from the chair he was sitting on. He reached for his briefcase and made his way over to me.

"Well, I hate to leave you so soon, but it's about time that I head off to work." He said.

Sasami's face saddened a bit by the comment, "You mean you won't be eating with us again Mr. Masaki?"

"No ma'am, I'm afraid the office really needs to finish the designs on this building project by this weekend, and I'm their only hope at getting it completed on time." Nobuyuki responded.

He motioned his way towards me, and offered his hand again. I extended out my own and firmly shook his once again.

"Justin," he said, "I wish you luck on solving this little dilemma of yours."

And with that he turned around and headed straight towards the door. As he opened it, a final thought emerged, "Oh, and don't get in too much trouble with the ladies." Nobuyuki chuckled as he gently closed the door behind him.

Oh dear. What could that possibly mean? Ladies? As in…plural? How many more people were living in this house? At this point I had realized that I haven't even gotten a chance to look at the completed banquet of breakfast items that Sasami had been preparing all morning. Does she do this all the time? Doesn't that violate some child labor law? And why does she have green hair?

Whoever Nobuyuki was talking about earlier, I could really use their help right about now. A migraine was beginning to develop from the stress that I was inducing on myself. I couldn't seem to stop and relax for a single second.

"Are you okay?" Sasami asked me.

"I don't really know the answer to that, Sasami. There are several unbalancing thoughts racing through my head right now, and I'm not entirely sure how to make sense of anything." I replied, trying to hide the frustration in my voice. I didn't need to take my aggression out on Sasami. Right now I just needed to play it safe, and plan my actions carefully.

"Well, if there is anyone that could help you, it's Washu." Sasami replied.

I raised an eyebrow, "Washu?"

"Yes."

"Huh…and do you know if she'll be up for breakfast? From the looks of things you've got everything ready, but we're the only ones down here."

Sasami shrugged her shoulders, "Sometimes the folks here are a little slow getting their day started. My sister Ayeka should be back soon. So it shouldn't be much longer until it's time to get everyone down here."

Ayeka. That name sort of made my stomach flinch for some unknown reason.

"Wait here while I go upstairs and get everyone up, okay?" Sasami made her way up the stairs.

From upstairs I could hear several doors opening, the mumbling of voices and several rude sounding comments, maybe some shattering glass. Who knows? I was anxious to meet these people, however many there might have been. It seemed like my stress levels were slowly starting to die down, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I now felt comfortable sitting in this house as a guest, instead as a stranger.

A rustling noise starting coming from the closet door under the staircase, and it quickly caught my attention. A bright white light beamed between the seams of the door and the doorframe. After a few seconds the light stopped, and the door decided to open. Out stepped a short female redhead. The second she closed the door she locked eye contact with me.

"Hello…" she said with some hesitation in her voice.

"Um…Hi" I replied with the same manner of skepticism. The last time I checked, that closet door led to nowhere.

The redhead crossed her arms, "And you are?"

"Justin…and you?"

I didn't get an instant response. In fact I didn't get any response quite yet. She sat there for a while studying me. What did she see? I could hear someone coming down the stairs, but didn't pay any heed to them.

"Oh, good! I see you've met Washu," Sasami said, finally breaking the building tension in the air.

That was the second time she's rescued me this morning. Like I said earlier, she was good. So this redhead chick in front of me was Washu? I really hope that she can help me. The expression on Washu changed from a perplexed, quizzical look to a gentler and more accepting one. Now that she knows that there's a reason that I'm standing in the living room, she could let her guard down, at least that's the message that I got.

I took a look at Sasami and noticed a peculiar looking animal balancing on her shoulder, I was very sure of myself that it wasn't there before. It was looking at me with a stare only a motionless cat would give whenever someone new enters the room. It obviously wasn't sure on how to react to my presence.

"Washu, can you help Justin? He showed up on our doorstep earlier this morning saying he was lost. You can help him right?" Sasami seemed to really care about my problems. Maybe she always cared this much.

"Earlier this morning, eh?" Washu said with a grin, "You must have been the one that triggered my proximity alarm this morning. Well kid, I can't help you without knowing anything. So what's the problem?"

Proximity alarm? She must have been talking about that door of hers. When I opened the door it led to nowhere, but based on what I saw earlier says another story.

"Alright, where to begin? I tried explaining it to Nobuyuki earlier but I don't think I got through to him. Either that or he didn't have time since he just rushed off to work." I said.

Washu laughed, "Dear, Nobuyuki doesn't understand anything. Go ahead though, I'm all ears." Washu sat on the couch and crossed her legs and arms, waiting for me to tell my story. She seemed eager to hear what I had to say.

"Okay," I exhaled to collect my thoughts, "from what I can remember…" I explained my journey here yet again to Washu, but this time being a little more detailed in my accounts.

She sat there staring at me and studying every word that came out of my mouth. I got more reassuring nods and gestures from her than I did Nobuyuki, it would appear as if she understood what was going on. When I explained the strange feeling of inertia, the loss of eyesight and the strange ringing sensation in my ears her face lit up. It was apparent that she was eager to tell me something, but she restrained her excitement for a while longer to let me finish up the story. After a few more minutes of narration I finally caught up with the here and now.

Another smile washed across Washu's face, "Do you like science, Justin?"

"I love science." I responded. Her comment was random and perplexing.

Washu stood up from the couch, "Come with me then, I have something you might like to see."

She made her way over to the closet door and opened it, is was the same bright white light leaking from behind the threshold. She stood next to the door, gesturing with her hand for me to walk in. I took a step through the door and let my eyes adjust to the room around me. What I saw made my jaw drop. The technological architecture was something only seen in science fiction. The room around me was a large spatial volume with several holographic monitors moving about the area above my head.

"Impressive isn't it?" Washu said as she closed the door behind me.

"Without question," I responded, still looking up at all the displays.

"This is just a small part of that lab; if you stick around I might be able to take you on a tour," Washu said with pride in her voice, "Come stand over here please."

I turned around to see Washu sitting on a chair that floated several inches off of the floor; in front of her were several of the holographic displays. She navigated them in front of her with pen-point precision, bringing up several dialogue boxes and scanning systems that I couldn't even begin to describe. Taking a few steps towards her, I noticed two small spheres orbiting above my head. They were tracking my motions.

"Right in front of me please. And hold still," Washu said again, she was obviously preparing something.

Following her command I stepped in front of her and concentrated on the two spheres above me. Washu pressed a switch on one of her monitors and the two spheres started dancing around me in opposite revolutions. Small doors opened from them to reveal what looked like a camera lens, out from them shot a green ray of like that started sweeping its way up and down my body. I could feel a slight buzzing sensation coming from my skin where the light would touch every now and again. Looking at Washu, I noticed a three dimensional representation of my body starting to develop on the main monitor in front of her. Several other algorithms swept across the screen.

"It's exactly as I imagined," Washu finally said. She made a sweeping motion with her hand and the monitors shot away from her and stuck themselves on the wall next to me, "take a look."

She swiveled her chair towards the direction of the monitors, "Your body is absolutely irradiated with immense amounts of anti-matter. You reek of a post-quantum tunneling event."

Oh shit, that sounded complicated. "Quantum tunneling? My physics teacher only touched based with the theory of it, I never really got the chance to read into it." I said.

Washu laughed, "After what you went through, I don't think you need to! Although it's a very rare event, it's completely possible, as you've witnessed firsthand. Tell me something, what do you remember before coming here? Anything at all?"

"I remember…" Before. Before Before. Before what? I stood there scratching my head, thinking long and hard as to why I couldn't remember anything before this tunneling event, "All I can remember is the strange sensations that I experienced and then waking up here."

"But you don't find it odd that you still possess knowledge from your past? Like grammar usage and other applications of memory," Washu said, what was she hinting at?

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean," I said honestly.

Washu sat back down in her chair, crossing her legs, "You are able to carry on an intelligent conversion with people and you can still function like a normal human being. But…" She said smiling, "You have no idea what you're doing here, let alone how you got here."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said, unsure how to respond. She was right.

Washu's face filled with excitement, I could tell her previous question was loaded specifically so she could continue on with her explanation.

"Allow me to explain," she said, "I assume you're familiar with the term jet lag?"

I nodded.

"Well, that's sort of what your body is experiencing right now. But it's your brain that's suffering the most. You see, your mind isn't completely here yet. When an object tunnels trough time and space, it is literally stripped down to the molecular bonds of that object. It is then reconstructed elsewhere, but I've never heard of it happening to people before. Consider yourself the first known survivor!"

I think my heart skipped a beat on that last comment.

"Are you saying there's a part of me still tunneling through time and space?" I said completely dumbfounded.

"That's exactly right!" Washu cheerfully said while pointing her index finger up in the air, " In other words, if you imagine your brain functioning as a computer, you are currently working off of cache memory without access to the hard drive, at least most of it. That's how you're able to function normally instead of fumbling around everywhere like a zombie. Isn't science amazing?"

This was hard to swallow, but it made sense.

"That would also explain the possible headache that you're suffering from as well as the feeling of memory loss," Washu added.

"So how long do you think it will be before I regain all of….me?" I asked.

"It's hard to tell, but from what I've scanned so far about half of your memory has caught up with the rest of you," She responded.

"I guess that would explain why everything here feels so familiar." I sort of said rhetorically.

The second I said that Washu stopped what she was doing on the computer and looked at me with squinted eyes, "What do you mean: familiar?"

Without soaking in her suspicion I responded, "This house, the area surrounding it, Sasami, Nobuyuki and even you. I can't put my finger on it but I swear that I know all of you from somewhere. And what you just said about my memory not being here yet sort of helped me determine that's the reason why I can't figure out why this place is so familiar. It's sort of like having a childhood memory, where everything is cut into photographic flashes but the timeline is skewed and you can only see part of it…but the memories last with you forever."

Washu sat back in her chair, looking up at the spacious volume above her, "That's….very interesting."

Washu didn't have anything else to say, it looks like my story finally caught her off guard and threw her a curveball.

The hum of the lab was all the filled the room.

"Washu?" I said breaking the silence.

"Quantum tunneling is a random event that doesn't discriminate or choose favorites. It's absolutely unpredictable, you can only observe the aftermath from the other side, my side. But you claim familiarity with this house and its people. It's just all too strange." She looked at me with admiration and was obviously more interested in my story now more than ever.

"I guess only time will tell, you know…when my memory fully catches up with the rest of me." I said randomly.

Washu hopped out of her chair, "Indeed. Sasami probably has breakfast ready by now. Come, let's get some food. I'm sure your journey took quite a lot out of you. We'll continue after we get some energy."

Washu led me out of the lab and back into the living room, where several more strangers awaited me on my return. Washu closed the lab door, and I could hear a strange sound coming from behind it followed by a pressurized seal.

I looked around at all the faces. I was getting blank stares from all of them. From that very moment I could tell this day was just beginning.

DON'T FORGET!

Don't forget to give this story a good peer review, your opinions count on the survival/termination of this pilot!

Tenchi Muyo fans! I feel like it's our duty to keep the spirit of this show alive. The characters are too genuine to be lost to future generations!