Kat Manx walks through corridors late at night, yawning. She had been preparing blueprint after blueprint for hours and had not gotten any sleep and was going to file away the work she had been doing before going to rest. She had assumed that she was only person left in the building until she saw the light on in the main laboratory. Walking through the door, she found a young, auburn haired woman typing away at the computer, with a pencil in between her teeth and another lodged in her hair, holding together her ponytail.
"Hayley, what are you still doing here?!" Kat demanded as she walked towards her.
Hayley Ziktor was so consumed by what she was doing that she almost fell out of her chair in shock upon hearing her name called. "Dr. Manx! You scared me."
"It's 4 in the morning, why are you still here?" Kat said as she began looking at the computer Hayley was working on.
"Running some more tests," Hayley said nonchalantly.
"Tests? Hayley have you slept at all?"
"Not yet. I think I'm close to figuring this out."
"Hayley, you're going to burn yourself out."
"I can't think about that when we're inching closer and closer to figuring out how to break the DNA lock on the red Chrono Morpher."
Kat, still holding a worried eye on Hayley, can't fight the curiosity. "You really think you've cracked the code?"
"I said 'inching closer,'" Hayley exclaimed as she rolled her eyes playfully. "Time Force really knew what they were doing with this thing."
Kat sighed and sat down next to Hayley. "You know, I'm starting to think that this project may be moot at this point." After an annoyed side-eyed glance from Hayley, Kat explained herself. "What I'm saying is, if Time Force didn't even create a way to break their own DNA lock on Morphers that they created in the 30th Century, then perhaps it's impossible. And don't tell me you haven't been thinking the same thing."
"You're not wrong but I'm sure there's a way to do it. For every lock, there has to be a key. And I'm gonna find it," Hayley responded, going back to typing, eyes glued to the monitor.
Kat narrowed her eyes at Hayley. "You're a very determined young woman. "
"Well so are you, clearly. We're both here at 4 am, if you hadn't noticed," Hayley joked as she grinned.
"Determined…yes. Young? Not so much."
"What do you mean? You can't be much older than I am. 2…3 years tops."
"Try a few more hundred," Kat exclaimed. She chuckled as she looked at the shocked look on Hayley's face.
"Are you really that surprised? I'm a feline-like humanoid from another planet."
"Actually no, I'm not that surprised, now that I think about it. I mean, I'm in a secret base of operations, experimenting with out-of-this-world technology to help the forces of good wage their war on the forces of evil. So nothing should really surprise me anymore."
"Why?"
"What…do you mean?" Hayley asked confused.
"Why are you here?" Kat demanded seriously. "Why are you doing this, I mean…you're not obligated in any way. And don't give me that "I'm doing a favor for Tommy" excuse either, because what you've done and what you're doing is more than just a favor. You're a young woman with an exceptionally bright future. There are a vast multitude of things you could be doing than being here."
"I could say the same about you." Kat then looks away. Hayley continues, trying not to push Kat's buttons but unable to quench her curiosity. "Tommy told me that your planet was invaded."
Kat smiled. "And you've answered your own question. When you've been around as long as I have, and seen the things that I have…you get tired of seeing them. Experiencing things that I have pushes me to try my best to make sure that no one else has to experience them and there is no better way, in my opinion, than this. Your turn."
"Ok. I'm not modest, I'm a genius. When I met Tommy, he had immediately scoped me out and saw that I could be of great use; that I could have a hand in saving the world…really saving the world. I believe when someone has skills that can be used to make things better, to save people, skills that can be of beyond good use, they should use them the best the way they can and I can't thank Tommy enough for giving me the opportunity to do good. To help the Power Rangers, the greatest force of good in existence. To work with some of the greatest minds and greatest people in the universe… So, no, there is no place I'd rather be right now and nothing I'd rather be doing than this."
"Ok then, get back to work!" Kat commanded as she stood up and pulled out a clipboard, going down a checklist as Hayley had looks of glee and exhaustion in nearly equal amounts as Kat worked her way down the list.
"We have a busy day tomorrow. Captain Bill Mitchell is coming in to meet with Space Patrol Delta who will be arriving approximately at 10am. They start negotiations tomorrow. Carter Grayson will be joining him, bringing in plans for the proposed Ranger Academy. Hopefully it all goes well and they can reach some agreement, if not, then we might have to wait a few more years to get it off the ground. Eric Meyers is also coming in; he wants to see how far you've gotten on cracking the DNA Lock on the Chrono Morpher since Wes expects some results once he returns from his vacation with Jen. He believes the Chrono Morpher is integral to the beginning stages of the SPD Earth Rangers. Pretty much every cog in the machine of the Hexagon expects to have a chat with the brilliant Hayley Ziktor tomorrow. All hands will be on deck; except for Tommy…I haven't heard from him…"
"He'll be delivering the Jungle Blaster he asked me to build to the Wild Force Rangers as a thank you to their Red Ranger for stopping Serpentera."
Kat begins to walk out while still talking. "Still disappointed that the smash-and-grab mission didn't go as planned. Serpentera would have been an enormous asset if converted for Ranger use."
"True…but you know it would have been the two us working on it."
Kat turns around to face Hayley before walking out of the door. "And I'm sure neither of us would want it any other way."