Sector 13 High School
Metro City, Canada
March 30th, 2015
3:00 PM
"Riley Bishop"
I woke up with a snort when I heard the school bell. I had been dreaming of code. Binary code, mostly. It was flowing in all directions over an empty void. Occasionally, I would get glimpses of where the code was flowing from, but I couldn't discern exactly what it was. It was a peculiar dream, because I've never seen binary code anywhere other than on a computer screen. I've also never seen binary in so many colours. It was like a rainbow threw up on it.
"Wow! That was such an interesting class. I would've hated to sleep through it, especially since everything he talked about is guaranteed to be on the test next week." said Marcus; taunting me by doing the exact same thing that I usually did to him.
Marcus Reynolds was medium height and looked young for his age. His hair was thick, brown and curly. When he cut it too short, it looked like a deflated afro. He is a devout hat collector and is almost never seen without a flamboyant golfer-style hat on his head. Today's hat was dark green with a plaid design. He used to wear berets until his father was killed in action in Iraq. Although he wishes he could follow in his father's footsteps, except for the whole dying part, he's just not cut out for the army, and he knows it. He has an endless supply of jokes and a crooked smile, which is probably how he got his job at the radio station. His stage name is "Question Marc."
We got up and headed into the hall. Our other friend, Rachel, followed us out.
"Please tell me I didn't drool." I yawned.
"Fine, I won't tell you."
"You could've woke me up, you know?"
"I didn't have the heart. You seemed so peaceful."
"Peaceful sleepers don't snore." said Rachel, shoving me playfully.
"I didn't sleep well last night, okay?" I said.
"You still feeling up to going to a movie tonight?" asked Rachel, feeling my forehead.
"Quit momming me, Rach," I said, moving her hand away, "It freaks me out."
"You're not even warm, you big baby."
"There's supposed to be at least fifteen minutes of total nudity in the movie," said Marcus, cheerfully, "Once you see some boobs, you'll cheer right up."
"How many times have I asked you not to talk like that around me!?" barked Rachel.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. You're a girl, aren't you?"
"We keep forgetting that you're not just a cool guy with long hair." I said.
Rachel rolled her eyes. Marcus and I have been teasing her about that for so long. The fact of the matter is that Rachel Parker was very obviously a girl. She was about 5'5" with gorgeous, red hair that got frizzy in humid weather. She had stunningly blue eyes that were so unique that there should have been a crayon dedicated to the color of Rachel's eyes. They could even call it "Eyes of Rachel Parker", or something. She had several freckles on her cheeks and prominent nose. Everyone always teased her about her nose, calling it a "Jew Nose". It didn't help that her name was Rachel, but in spite of her nose, she wasn't Jewish. In fact, she's a Christmas fanatic. Every year that she comes over for Christmas, I entertain her by doing the "Snoopy Dance". She and I have lived next door to each other since we were in diapers. I won't deny that she's beautiful, but, she just doesn't see me as anything other than her oldest friend.
"Fine, would it help if we look at yours, too, Rachel?" said Marcus.
"Not really, no."
"Relax, he's just being Marcus," I said, putting my arm around her "We haven't even decided on a movie yet."
"Sure we did! We're seeing "Bikini Beach" aren't we, Riley?" said Marcus.
"You've already seen that three times. We'll pick something else." I said.
Just then, I felt someone aggressively shove me to ground. My nose hit first and I screamed in agony as it broke.
"Watch where you're walking, you klutzy douchebag!" laughed Oz, hysterically.
Heath Ostreicher; is the very definition of an asshole. He was enormous; at least 6'3" with short, platinum blonde hair that was usually a crew cut. He must have weighed over twenty pounds when he was born, because he's been muscular for as long as I've known him. Despite coming from a very poor family, he has a nice car and nice clothes. Nobody really knows where he got them from. He's picked on me relentlessly for as long as I can remember, although, he usually never goes too far… Until now, anyway…
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" shrieked Rachel, kicking him in the balls as hard as she could.
"You cheap bitch!" he spat, collapsing to the ground.
Marcus had already helped me up, but I couldn't see. My glasses must've snapped clean in half by the bridge. This school sucked. Surely a teacher must've seen that.
"Riley, say something!" said Marcus.
"I dink he bwoke by nose…" I sputtered, swallowing blood as I spoke.
"Come on, we're going to the principal. It's time Oz got what was coming to him."
"No, Bawcus. Led hib go," I moaned, "Jusd dake be do de nuwse, okay?"
"But, Riley-" began Rachel.
"If we dell de pwincipal, he could ged expelled."
"Let's hope so."
"No pwincipal… Oz would know who duwned hib in. Id would only bake dings wowse."
The nurse's office was on the third floor. I suppose because there would always be good light in there for her to work. That makes perfect sense, unless you're being carried by your two best friends with your head tilted back, swallowing your own nose blood. Then it was the stupidest thing about this school. Oz had attacked me by the parking lot doors, which literally meant I was as far away from her office as it's possible to be. The poor janitor would have a trail of blood to clean up. Why couldn't Oz have made my nose spew bread crumbs? By the time we got there, I was feeling really light headed. There was no way I could have lost that much blood from my nose. Five liters seems so much bigger when it's a jug of milk.
"What happened to him?" asked Nurse Collins.
"Bar fight." said Marcus.
"He walked into a locker door." said Rachel.
"So, Riley, what really happened?" asked Nurse Collins, again.
"Id was a lockew doow," I moaned, "Like Wachel said."
"Fine." said Nurse Collins.
It was obvious that she didn't believe me, but she could nag me about it after she stopped me from bleeding out through my nose. While I lay there, I think I fell asleep again. I had that dream about binary again, only this time the code was red, and it was scrolling down. I could see a droplet of blood, which would then transform into either a "0" or a "1", moved down, and make room for another drop of blood and so and so on. What did it mean, though?
"Is his nose always going to look like that from now on?" asked Rachel.
"Probably," said Nurse Collins, "He was hit hard; much harder than if he had just walked into a locker door."
"That's why I said "bar fight"," said Marcus, "It makes him seem manlier and makes more sense."
"How stupid do you kids think I am? Neither one of those lies are consistent with his injury." said Nurse Collins.
"It was my fault," I said, relieved that I could speak normally again without swallowing blood, "I egged on Heath Ostreicher so he'd punch me. I wanted to look tough for Rachel."
I gave her a very prominent wink, prompting her to play along.
"Ugh, yeah, he's been crushing on me for years. I've told him I'm not interested, but he's stubborn." She said, sadly.
"Why don't you just go out with the poor kid before he kills himself?" asked Nurse Collins, exasperatedly.
"Can we take him home now?" asked Marcus.
"As long he doesn't get punched again," said Nurse Collins, "It'll break twice as bad if that happens."
Outside in the parking lot, Marcus handed me a pair of glasses.
"Those are your spares," he said, "You know, the ones you told me to keep in my locker in case of emergencies?"
"Thanks."
My spare glasses were not my favourite pair. I hated them, even though my sister said she thought they looked awesome. They were black, full frame and somewhat rectangular.
"Your sister has great taste," said Rachel, "I've always liked those better on you."
Hearing Rachel say that she wasn't interested in me had an unexpected effect on me. Whether or not she was just saying that didn't matter to me. I had never noticed just how strong my feelings for her actually were. I had honestly never really asked how she felt about me before. I just assumed that she only saw me as a friend because I figured she would've made a move on me otherwise.
"How do I know you're not saying that to make me feel better?" I asked.
"I am saying it to make you feel better." She said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Don't I get one?" asked Marcus.
"Only if you break your nose too." said Rachel.
"Speaking of which," said Marcus, quick to change the subject, "Why didn't you let us tell the principal that Oz attacked you?"
"Because… I feel sorry for him." I said.
"How can you feel sorry for him after everything he's done to you?" asked Rachel.
"You guys know that Oz is poor, right?"
"Yeah, so?" said Marcus.
"Everything he does is just to draw attention away from that. He doesn't want to get teased about being poor any more than Rachel does about her nose."
"That doesn't make it okay, though." said Rachel.
"If he was to get expelled, he wouldn't be able to go back to school," I said, "It's not like his family is rolling around in money."
"Serves him right for beating people up." said Marcus.
"I guess…" I said, "I just don't have it in me to do that to him."
Rachel put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a nice, warm smile. I knew she would understand. When I was 10, my parents died in a car accident. My sister, who was 20 at the time, then became my legal guardian and has been ever since. I remember what it was like to have no money. Of course, now that her photography business is going well, income just isn't an issue for her anymore.
"Leave me alone you rusty hunk of junk!" shouted Oz.
"Now what!?" snapped Rachel.
"It's coming from that alley across the street." gasped Marcus.
"He might be in trouble," I said running ahead, "Come on!"
"Riley! Get back here you retard!" shouted Rachel, grabbing Marcus' hand and dragging him along with her.
Once I got across the alley, I saw something that I've never seen before. Oz, getting his ass handed to him by some sort of robot. Picture an armour-clad knight with what looked like an archaic television for a chest. This was definitely not a human knight though, because although it stood up on two legs, it looked absolutely nothing like a person. By now, the others had caught up to me.
"What is that thing!?" yelped Rachel, hiding behind me.
"Who cares what it is?" asked Marcus, "It's winning!"
"I'm going to help him." I said.
"But, Riley… That's Oz." said Rachel.
"Yeah, I know."
"He wouldn't help you."
"Yeah, I know."
"I might not like him, but nobody, not even Heath Ostreicher deserves to die like that." I said, interjecting with a second thought before the others could.
"I'm with Riley on this one, Rachel." said Marcus.
"But, what can we do?" she asked, nervously.
"Here," said Marcus, handing her his keys, "Go get my van. Riley and I will try to lure that thing out into the street. So, when you see it, make road kill out of it!"
Rachel turned tail and ran. She almost got hit by a car, but luckily her gymnastics training paid off and she leapt clean over it in a somersault. Once she was gone, Marcus and I ventured deeper into the alley.
"Push him over here, Oz! I shouted, hopping up and down to get his attention.
"What are you doing here, Bishop?" he asked, straining against the monster.
"Does this look like a good time to play twenty questions?"
"Good point!"
Oz gave a mighty heave and forced his assailant towards the street. It turned around and threw a punch as awkwardly as a drunk guy in a bar fight. I ducked and grabbed at its legs while Marcus leaned out of the way. The monster tripped and began to fall forward, so Oz hopped over me like a barricade and slammed down on the monster with his massive elbow. Marcus and I stood up grabbed its head, while Oz rolled off and grabbed it's feet. We carried the monster out into the street and dropped it in the middle of traffic just as Rachel roared pass in Marcus' van. We watched from the safety of the sidewalk as Rachel switched into reverse and drove over the monster again and parked it.
"Get in, get in, GET IN" she shouted frantically through open windows.
"Relax, baby, the van is parked on top of whatever that thing is." said Oz; giving Rachel the same smile that he gave the cheerleaders.
"I kicked you for a reason, you asshole," she snapped, "Just because Riley saved you, doesn't mean any of us forgive you."
"We can't stay parked here forever," I said, "Drive away and see what happens."
Rachel floored the accelerator and the van burned rubber before speeding away.
"How're we doing, Marcus?" asked Rachel.
"I think it's still chasing us," he said, poking his head out through the open window, "I think you just made it angry!"
"Me!?" snapped Rachel, "You're the one who told me to take your van and make road kill out of it!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know it could survive that?"
"Knock it off you two!" I shouted, "This is a really bad time to argue. We need a new plan."
"Then let's lead it to a power plant," said Oz, "I'd like to see it survive after I shove it into a power box."
"Sounds good to me," said Rachel, "Where's the closest one?"
"13's plant is near the edge of the sector," I said, "Hang a right at the lights up ahead and then head straight down that street."
Rachel followed my directions to the letter. After about twenty minutes, we reached a small hill and began to drive up its sloping path, when we reached the top, there was Plant #13. Everyone scrambled out of the van.
"Where is it?" asked Oz, frantically scouring the hill top.
"Maybe we lost it?" suggested Marcus.
"Think again!" said a fierce, grating voice.
It had appeared from literally out of nowhere. It seemed to have teleported somehow. Luckily, it appeared in such a place that one good hit would send it toppling backwards into that metal caged thing with all the wires.
"Everyone, hit the deck!" snarled Oz, sprinting towards the monster with the speed of a train.
He tackled it in the stomach and pushed it down with his hands. The monster started writhing and flailing.
"NO!" screamed a voice from behind us somewhere.
A man dressed in silver tights and a motorcycle helmet dashed forward. He appeared to have run all the way over here.
"Electricity will only make it stronger!" moaned the man, desperately.
He pulled the monster back up and then pulled out some sort of bladed weapon that had four points. After twirling it around for a moment, he started slashing wildly. The monster let out a blood-curdling scream before it exploded, sending binary code everywhere.
"Cool." muttered Oz.
The man looked relieved and then fell to his knees. His suit disintegrated, leaving him gasping for breath on the ground. He was wearing a very nice black suit and a sparkling silver tie which matched with the patches of silver in his brown hair. Once he got to his feet, I could see his face. I recognized him immediately.
"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!" I squealed, frantically.
"I take it you know this guy?" asked Oz, sarcastically.
"That's Stephen Silverstone," I gasped, "He developed Silversoft, one of the most popular operating systems of all time. I've idolized him since I first used a Silversoft computer."
"I prefer to be called 'Silver'," said Silver, "It's not safe here, follow me back to my mansion."
Silver led us to his car, which he had left parked halfway up the hill. It was the fanciest car any of us had ever seen. It was spacious, but really didn't look like it from the outside.
"Silver, I would sell my soul for one of these bad boys," said Oz, "How much did you pay for it?"
"What soul?" snorted Rachel.
"Nothing," said Silver, ignoring Rachel, "I built it myself using parts I salvaged."
"Unbelievable…"
The car made absolutely no noise at all. It was actually kind of creepy. We rode in the muted car all the way to Sector 0, which is the very middle of Metro City. Things like the central police station, city hall and the largest hospital were in Sector 0. Apparently, so was Silver's mansion. When we arrived, Silver pushed a button on the steering wheel and the driveway opened up, revealing a ramp that led underground. We drove in and parked the car in an empty little room that appeared to be a vault. As we all got out, we could see that there was even a massive vault door.
"Welcome to my humble abode," said Silver, "There are two vaults; this one, which is for the car, and another to the left of this one which is where I keep all my most top-secret and/or dangerous inventions."
He opened the vault door and we stepped out into a massive chamber that had an enormous console in the middle of the room. The console included twenty-one monitors that were all cycling through various angles of Metro City. I approached them, intrigued, to learn that each one said "Sector _". I would assume that each monitor showed footage from one of the twenty-one sectors of the city.
"Each of the cameras can rotate 360° in any direction," said Silver, "There is no part of Metro City that I can't see."
"Why do you need all this?" asked Rachel.
"Because this city is in danger," said Silver, "And, if Metro City falls; it won't be long before the rest of the world goes with it."
"What's the city in danger from?" asked Marcus.
"A criminal by the name of Aaron Kingsley," explained Silver, "You see, five years ago, I discovered that Cyberspace was more than just a mass of information that we created along with the internet. It was actually an alternate dimension that has been growing ever since. After I developed technology that I believed would allow a person to enter Cyberspace, I was contacted by the CDI or Canadian Department of Intelligence. They wanted to use my technology to send a mass-murderer and infamous hacker into Cyberspace for a life-sentence because he had been deemed too dangerous for normal prisons."
"I knew I'd heard that name somewhere," I said, "Aaron Kingsley hacked into sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter and stole classified information. Then he used the information to stalk and murder people."
"That he did," said Silver, "But the CDI finally caught him before he could make his thirteenth kill. So, when they asked for my technology, I happily provided it. After a few, um, hitches, we successfully managed to send Kingsley into Cyberspace."
"What did the machine do?" asked Rachel.
"Even though Cyberspace is a dimension, only digital information can exist there," said Silver, "So, my machine transformed Kingsley into data and uploaded him into Cyberspace. He's been there ever since."
"But, if he's a hacker," I said, "Then, wouldn't Cyberspace just be one big playground for him?"
"At the time, I thought it was only possible to hack it from the outside," said Silver, "But then, after about two years, Kingsley started sending me e-mails. He said that he had learned how to corrupt data into a virus and make it materialize in our dimension as a monster. At first, I tried to contain the problem by developing extremely powerful anti-virus software, but Kingsley just absorbed it and became even stronger. Before too long, he started calling himself King Trojan and said that he had an army that could annihilate our world."
"I think I saw something like this in a movie once," said Oz, "This guy gets trapped in a computer and threatens to launch all the nuclear missiles and destroy the world's economy."
"This is no movie, though, Heath," said Silver, "This is real. You've seen it for yourselves."
"Don't call me that! Hey wait, how did you know my name?" asked Oz.
"Because I've been watching you all for some time now," said Silver, "I was looking for four candidates to test out my new technology and I think I've finally found them."
"You mean us?" I asked, nervously.
"Yes Riley, I mean you," said Silver, standing up and heading for the other vault, "Have you ever read the Power Rangers comics?"
"Who hasn't?" asked Marcus.
"You saw me as a ranger tonight, I assume?" asked Silver, "It turns out that Cyberspace is connected to the Morphing Grid, which is a power source of untold potential that was created by the Eltarians thousands of years ago. Long story short, this connection resulted in the creation of these."
Silver had opened the vault to reveal five pedestals. The back four were taller and each had glimmering gems sitting on them. The front pedestal was shorter and had a black, steel box on it. The gems looked like they were holographic, but they weren't. I would assume that if you were to look at one under a microscope, you'd see nothing but flowing binary code in the colour of the gem. The rest of the vault contained countless crates, which likely had Silver's other inventions in them.
"I call them codecs," said Silver, "I found them at an archaeological dig several months ago. There's probably more than four, but these are the only ones I found."
"What about the one you used?" asked Marcus.
"You mean the silver codec?" asked Silver, "That's a synthetic one that I designed in case of emergencies. So, when I noticed that you were in trouble, I was forced to test it out. It's highly unstable and barely worked as it is."
Silver opened the black box and pulled out four gadgets that looked like fancy watches. There were three buttons and a small glass case on the top that looked like it should have something displayed in it. He held out his hand, indicating that we should each take one.
"These are your morphers," said Silver, "I call them Digitizers. The codecs power them and, when activated, download power from the Morphing Grid via Cyberspace which will turn you into Power Rangers."
"Did you hear that!?" said Marcus, excitedly, "We get to be Power Rangers!"
"Maybe." said Silver.
"Okay then, we might get to be Power Rangers."
"The codecs, not including the one I used, will only react if you possess a certain genetic trait," said Silver, "I haven't been able to narrow down exactly what gene, but I do know that people who have it have a tendency to spend time with other people with the same gene."
"So, if one of us has the gene, then the rest of us probably will too?" asked Oz.
"You don't count, Oz," said Rachel, "You don't normally hang out with us."
"Give him a break, Rachel," I said, winking at Oz, "He's not going to hit me anymore."
Oz looked confused, but nevertheless winked back at me. It seemed that he was conflicted.
"Unless he kept beating you up because you both had the same gene." She said, correcting her previous statement.
"Now, before I test you, there's something you should know," said Silver, "Once you morph, your codec will permanently bond with your DNA. It'll be like signing a contract. By taking a codec, you're essentially accepting all the responsibilities that come with it. Do you think this is something you can handle?"
Marcus and Rachel nodded almost instantly. Oz followed shortly afterwards, which left just me. I knew this was my destiny because I'd been dreaming about it for weeks, but I also knew that I'm a total wimp. But, then again, Marcus and Rachel would be there with me, just like they've always been. Through thick and thin, they've always had my back just like how I've always had theirs. Even Oz would probably have my back now. Feeling more confident, I nodded as well.
"Okay then…" said Silver, grabbing the four codecs from their respective pedestals.
Silver closed the vault behind him and ushered us towards the middle of the chamber. He had us line up side-by-side and then proceeded to test us. I ended up being last in line.
"Heath," said Silver, contemplating on which codec to give him, "You are fearless and headstrong. You shall be the Yellow Cyberspace Ranger and wield the mighty Cyber Mallet."
Silver handed Oz the yellow codec, which, much to everyone's surprise, glowed brightly in his outstretched palm as Silver moved on to the next person in line.
"Rachel," said Silver, still contemplating, "You are gentle and compassionate. You shall be the Blue Cyberspace Ranger and wield a pair of battle forks called the Cyber Sais."
Silver placed the blue codec in Rachel's petite hand and smirked when it began to glow just like Oz's did. Next, Silver came to Marcus.
"Marcus," he said, slowly, "You are reliable and loyal. You shall be the Green Cyberspace Ranger and wield the lethal Cyber Spear."
Marcus grabbed the green codec from Silver's hand excitedly. When he opened his hand, nobody was surprised to see that it was glowing. Last and certainly not least, came me.
"You want me to be the Red Ranger?" I said, incredulously.
"Yes Riley," said Silver, "You are noble and selfless, so, I choose you to be the Red Cyberspace Ranger. You will wield the deadly Cyber Blade and lead the team."
Silver handed the red codec to me; it felt warm in my hand and glowed brightly momentarily before shorting out.
"You have to be confident," said Silver, "The codecs can pick up on stuff like that. If you don't believe in yourself, then the codecs won't either."
"I'll try." I said, feebly.
Silver sat down at the console and pressed a button on the keyboard. All twenty-one monitors changed to work as one big monitor rather than a bunch of individual ones.
"Like I mentioned earlier," said Silver, "Your powers come with responsibilities. Part of being responsible is to follow these five rules."
"Bah… I hate rules!" groaned Oz.
The segmented monitor was now listing the five rules. They were pretty straightforward.
You must not use your powers for personal gain.
You must keep your powers a secret to the best of your abilities.
You must not fight anything that non-rangers can handle.
You must evacuate civilians to safety before engaging a threat.
You must not use the Zords unless it's absolutely necessary.
Most of those rules were things that we would probably never do anyway, but, it was reassuring that Silver showed them to us all. Now, if we ever break any of the rules, it'll be our fault, which just means we have to be that much more careful.
"I have a few additions," said Silver, "When morphed, make sure you refer to each other as your colour, not your names."
"Lastly," said Silver, "Don't be like the rangers in the comics and constantly wear your ranger colours in civilian form. You might as well just wear the suit with your helmet off."
The rules on the monitors disappeared and they returned to showing twenty-one individual camera angles of the city.
"I've programmed the codecs to install information into your brains automatically," said Silver, "Once I activate the Digitizers, you'll instantly learn everything there is to know about being a ranger."
"You had said the codecs would bond with our DNA," said Rachel, "What exactly does that mean?"
"It means that nobody but you can morph using your codec," said Silver, "However, anybody can use your Digitizers."
"Yeah, but without a codec nothing will happen, right?" asked Oz.
"Correct," said Silver, "I engineered the codecs that way for that exact reason."
"We get Zords, right?" asked Marcus, who still sounded overjoyed.
"Of course," said Silver, "You wouldn't be Power Rangers without them."
"Can we see them?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because the Zords are inside your codecs," said Silver, firmly, "From what I understand, the Zords will take on the appearance of an animal that reflects who you are as a person, or an animal that has some sort of significance to you."
At his words, we all looked closely at our codecs. I could see the shape of a fox outlined in the flowing binary code that made up my codec.
"Mine's a fox." I said.
"I've got a swordfish, like the one in that boring Ernest Hemmingway book we had to read for English class." said Rachel.
"It's called a marlin." said Silver.
"Rock on!" said Oz, "I got a rhino!"
"What do you have, Marcus?" I asked.
"It looks like Oz's father…" He said, "No, wait, it's just a gorilla."
"Very funny." said Oz.
Just then, a deafening klaxon blared and the whole chamber flashed red as siren lights on the ceiling lit up.
"What's up with the old school alarm?" asked Oz, "It sounds like the horn of a jalopy."
"Heath, it's an alarm," said Silver, "What difference does it make?"
"What are those things?" asked Marcus, looking at the monitors.
The monitors showed a swarm of people wearing full body, pitch black tights that had some sort of armour that was designed to look like a wire frame x-ray of their bodies.
"Replicators," said Silver, "They're nothing more than expendable pawns."
"Why are they called Replicators?" I asked.
"Because they replicate, obviously," said Silver, "You have to destroy them quickly before they can multiply."
"I guess this is it," said Marcus, "Our first test as Power Rangers."
"I'll come with you," said Silver, "You know, since it's your first time..."
"Let's get going then," I said, my voice faltering despite my best efforts, "We've got work to do."