The purpose of this section, which is a follow up to
yesterdays "In Poor Taste: The Tao of Dr. Clay", is to
explain the mystery of Zero Ryoko. 

The ultimate expression of Clay's kitsch collection is
Zero. Zero is a "cloning" machine, albeit a very
powerful one. Zero is more akin to really powerful
mirror, for she more than captures the physical
aspects of the intended target; she creates an
approximation of their essence, their entire being so
that a nearly perfect doppleganger is created that can
fool people familiar with the original.
 
But Zero may only create a nearly perfect
approximation of its subject, it always leaves out
that essential part of a person known as the soul.
While Zero captures an image of a person's make up,
the essence of a person is trapped within their body,
DNA, brain chemistry, electromagnetic memory or any
number of physical or chemical entities native to the
body.  The soul is non transferrable; the image made
in its likeness is just a parody, and not the person
itself.

Zero's name, in fact, comes from the fact that it is
both a blank canvas and a perfectly reflective mirror,
upon which any random image may be created.  But the
image is just an image, and it can be erased by Dr.
Clay. The perogative built within his machine prevents
the image from exceeding or surpassing the confines of
the material it is painted upon.

This is reminiscent of an artistic form known as
naturalism.  Naturalism is merely a literal rendering
of the object or subject being represented.  This is
little better than kitsch, and frequently is kitsch,
the most common form of it. Literal representation
goes without explanation or interpretation of its
subject, without capturing its essential nature. For
Dr. Clay that is more than sufficient, since to
capture a real living soul would cause him to lose
control of Zero. 

But that is precisely what happens when Zero copies
Ryoko. Zero Ryoko is like a painting made that
suddenly awakens and either walks off of the canvas,
or walks away with it.  She has free will and a
capacity for moral judgement, and has the ability to
make decisions that exceed the programming built into
the canvas. But how is that possible? I just said that
it is impossible for Zero to capture the essence of a
physical lifeform!

Imagine that instead of having the physical body that
you now have, that you're a free standing hologram
made of light and electromagnetic energy. I say free
standing because you have a free will and are not
dependent upon any other source for your existence. 
Your image and your essence, unlike the normal
physical subjects of Zero's efforts, are one and
inseperable, meaning that your body and soul are the
same.  

Now Zero acts like a perfectly reflective surface, and
lets say that she tries to clone you luminous self.
Well since you're made of light that is alive and
sentient, and a reflection is made of light, then in
the perfect mirror that is Zero you will exist in two
places and seemingly as two people at the same time.
Your soul will reflect in her, and Zero will be as
alive as you were before your encounter with her.

In OAV 12, Washu reveals a couple of major secrets
about Ryoko. One, the Ryoko that has existed up to
that point is in fact not the whole 100% Ryoko. 
Originally Ryoko was too powerful to be controlled,
and Washu "divided her mind" to keep Ryoko within the
bounds of her authority.  But if this Ryoko is a
facade, then she covers up the real Ryoko, which is
slumbering or repressed beneath the surface.  But
Zero, as Washu herself points out, copies the whole
package, and given Ryoko's intangible photonic nature,
becomes her for REAL.

Why is Ryoko Washu's greatest creation? Because Ryoko
is a lifeform of sentient light.  There exists no
other creature in this universe that is what she is,
perhaps not even the Gods themselves. 

Peter