Under Artificial Skies
The sins of man have nowhere to hide
Note: I do not own Power Rangers: RPM, but I commend Disney for the good job so far!
Timeline: After "Handshake" and "Ranger Red"
Rating: T (Language, Violence)
Genre: Drama/Angst/General
----The Prisoner----
Dr. K looked down at the checklist on her metal clipboard. Tracking each vital, each heartbeat and brainwave. She glanced over at the machine lying still on the bed.
"Her vitals are good…"
She began to circle around the subject and quickly wrote down some notes. Her eyes never left the subject's face, studying each rise and fall of her chest, and the tiny twitches that coursed through her body.
"...but she remains unresponsive to outside stimuli. She has shown signs of twitching and rapid eye movements. Something we haven't saw from her before...a dream like state." After scribbling it that note down quickly she leaned in and watched the REM closely to assure herself she was witnessing what she had written. "…Well what do you know…robots can dream."
"Dr. K," The deep voice of Colonel Truman filled the otherwise quiet room. "Your findings?" he asked, looking down to the young Doctor. She was too young to possess the knowledge she did and the ability to create all the technology she had.
"Since the Rangers brought her in, I had put her under and she's been letting her body reboot, once she is done, we can begin our examination." Dr. K reported diligently.
"Good. Is there anything else to report?" He asked, and watched a twisted smile appear on her lips.
"She's dreaming. Did you know robots dream?" That surprised him.
"No, I didn't." He stated simply, the smile still remained.
"Neither did I…" she murmured, he watched her closely then looked at Tenaya 7 who lay motionless on the bed.
"Let us know when you begin." He told her, Dr. K nodded and he left silently.
The Colonel walked out of the Ranger's headquarters to find all the Rangers gathered silently in the kitchen, waiting.
"Good work Rangers," He told them, not looking at any of them and headed for the door.
Dr. K stood over Tenaya's body and placed her hand down on her forehead and the robotic girl's eyes opened. The eyes glimmered pink upon opening and she tried to sit up. Tenaya strained her neck to see that she was tied securely to the table.
"Oh…yeah…" Tenaya said, remember where she was and what happened.
"Yes. You're here, you're mine now. It's time to open you up and see how you work…and if there is anything human to you…besides your appearance."
"Oh goody, do I get a cookie if I behave?" Tenaya snapped, rolling her eyes.
"No. You may get to survive," Dr. K informed her.
----The Punishment----
The man named Dillon paced the floor of the garage; he didn't like this situation one bit. Tenaya 7 may be an enemy but they shared something in common. They both possessed Venjix technology within them. The way Dr. K had looked at Tenaya when they brought her in sent a cold chill down his spine. He was thankful in that moment he had only a few parts that held the robotic implants. The absolute glee in the eyes of the young doctor was enough to make him not want to sleep for days.
"Guys, I don't like this," he growled, not slowing his pace.
"Why? She's our enemy," Scott reminded him, his voice was stern.
"The glee in Dr. K's eyes didn't scare you at all? Have you even put a thought to what she's going to do to her?" Dillon demanded.
"She's a machine, Dillon, there's not much harm you can do to one! The lass can remove her own hand and not even flinch," Flynn pointed out.
"I'm part machine! Do you want to take me a part?!" Dillon demanded, getting nearly toe-to-toe with the Blue Ranger.
"No thanks, I'm not interested in something that's only part machine."
"That's my point! How human is she? How robotic is she?" Dillon demanded.
"Well, I'm afraid we're going to find out," Summer said softly, her arms were folded across her chest. Her eyes were downcast to the floor and she couldn't look at Dillon, his wrath was beginning to make her worry.
"Anything we can do to stop this?" Ziggy asked, looking from Summer to Scott and Flynn.
"No. It's Dr. K, she's not going to let us come between her and something she wants to do. Besides my Father and the Military heads sanctioned this. They WANT to know. They WANT her to find out what she's made of, how strong, how much and what exactly makes her Venjix's Top General."
"I don't like this," Ziggy said frowning, Summer nodded.
That's when they saw the lights flicker and the power wane, then a sharp cry. Dillon looked at the others, and then ran into Doctor K's lab.
Tenaya Seven craned her head up as she heard a stampede of feet run into the lab. She saw each individual reaction of the Rangers at the sight of her. The Red and Blue seemed indifferent but stunned, the Yellow and Green looked like they would be ill and the Black looked furious. She smiled at them, even if she wasn't battling them, what she was enduring was enough to get them as well. She wasn't bothered, not one bit as some of the Rangers came closer to look. She wanted them to see what the future held as her chest was cracked open and her robotic implants were whirring softly as her heart continued to beat.
"Doctor K! What did you do?!" The Black demanded, as the blue got closer to check out the technology within.
"What does it look like? I opened up the chest cavity, it opens, she's a robot. They have to be able to get to her heart." She explained in a slow voice as if Dillon was an extremely young child, which did not sit well with him.
"She screamed!" Ziggy insisted. Tenaya frowned at him.
"I've not had my chest cracked open, it's not comfortable, and it wasn't a scream it was more like a yelp, I may not feel pain in the sense you know it but it's more like…unjamming a stuck door, " she said, blinking at him like it was perfectly logical.
"You're perfectly ok with this?" Flynn asked, still studying the machine work in her chest.
"Oh yes. I'm perfectly content with having my enemy cracking open my chest and having a look see. As well as whatever else the mad Doctor has planned in that mind of hers," Tenaya said, rolling her eyes.
"Doctor K, don't do this," Summer said, her voice was so soft that all eyes turned to her.
"I have my orders Summer and I intend on carrying them out. You may think is inhuman and cold but it's a part of my job. My job right now is to study her, to test her, to push her. I want to see what Venjix calls the next step of human/technology immersion." Dr. K said, as she waved her hand in front of Flynn's face so he would move back. They watched as she hit a button on edge of the opening and they watched as her chest began to close, a front clasped bra covered her chest. They watched as Dr. K snapped it closed and began to scribble down notes on her chart. "Give me your hands," she said, Tenaya rolled her eyes and looked down at the straps.
"I can't. I need to pull them off and I can't while being strapped down."
"Can you detach them any other way?"
"I've not tried." Tenaya paused and Flynn couldn't stop himself and leaned forward, he could see her eyes go blank and could have sworn he heard the internal hard drive whirring as she began to think. "Yes, there is," she slammed her wrists down and they watch her hands go completely limp. Dr. K took them both and placed them on a table nearby.
"Can you still control them?" Ziggy asked, his hands immediately seizing his pants.
"No, I at least need my face shield since I'm staring directly into the lights above I wouldn't be able to focus."
"Oh," Ziggy let out an audible sigh of relief and all eyes went to him. "What? That wedgie was brutal!"
"Paybacks are bitches." Tenaya mused with a smile.
"That's enough. I'd like to proceed. Rangers, you see she is not harmed and is still fully functional. I need to continue my work or my bosses will be on my ass. So please, get out." Muttering their sorries to Dr. K the Rangers exited quickly. Tenaya looked over to the younger woman and stared directly into her eyes.
"You have no intentions on leaving me in one piece or fully functional. You intend to take me apart piece by piece."
"Indeed."
"And then what?"
"If you know, you'll know what to expect. I have no intentions of telling you what the rest of my plans are." Dr. K informed the humanoid robot, who turned her face back towards the light as she felt the Doctor begin to place electrodes upon her head.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to track how your brain responds," Dr. K said as she finished and turned on her monitors. Then Tenaya heard the doors begin to seal, one by one, quietly at first but each one locked with a hiss.
"To what?" Tenaya asked, wearily, bored of the vagueness that the younger woman was giving her.
"To this." Then Tenaya felt the crushing blow to her chest and the electricity overwhelmed her body. She felt her limbs convulse and her brain couldn't handle the sudden surge and she knew nothing as her body shut down.
Outside of the lab, the light flickered once more and Dillon stormed back to the Rangers from the doors.
"She's locked us out!"
"It's not just that Dillon," Ziggy said and lifted his hand, pointing to the wall behind him. The once dark screens all came to life, each one had one simple letter on each. "K".
"She's pushing us away. She doesn't want us to see what she has to do." Summer said, clearly stunned as Flynn looked down at her.
"Why would she do that?" he asked, Scott was the one to speak next as all eyes went to their leader.
"She doesn't want us to make her feel guilty. She knows what she has to do and unlike us, she won't let her emotions interfere. Tenaya 7 is nothing more than a machine created to destroy and she's going to make sure she no longer can by any means necessary."
"And you're standing by her? What if it was ME!" Dillon roared as Scott, coming face-to-face, ready to fight.
"You're not and if she had to, to stop you from harming anyone, I would let her do the same thing. We cannot risk any member of this team to Venjix." Scott replied as Fynn, Ziggy and Summer tried to pry them apart.
"What if she were your sibling Scott! Would you let Venjix do that to Marcus?"
"How dare you compare Marcus to that thing on the table that has done nothing but hunt us!"
"What do you mean 'Your sibling', Dillon?" Flynn asked as the Black Ranger's words sunk in.
"I think…I think I remember…her, us as children as Venjix was taking us. I don't know how we got there or why but I know I reached for her hand. I lost my grip. I lost her and the reason why she's that way is because of me! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"
"But it wasn't and she's clearly not your Sister anymore! Any human traces she had are dead and gone! She's a MACHINE! Your Sister is as DEAD as my Brother. Let it go!" Scott roared back.
"Scott is correct Ranger Operator Series Black. She has no human emotions or understands of any concepts we feel and hold as humanity. I'm charting it now. She doesn't feel the pain; she gets a shock, then goes numb. She doesn't feel guilt. She doesn't feel love, she doesn't feel hate. She's programmed to attack and bring chaos to everything in her path. Humans are her targets because how easily some humans can break. I will find out how Venjix did this by any means necessary if I need to I will dissemble her brain piece by piece. " Came Dr. K's computerized voice
"Would you just put her through hours of pain for nothing if you can't figure out how?" Summer asked.
"She feels no pain. Just discomfort and if it's strong enough, she simply shuts down and goes into a standby mode so her brain isn't obliterated in the process. Because if she does lose anything from her brain, she needs it re-entered and since she is no longer with Venjix and has no access to him, she cannot receive any information again. She will be a hollow shell." The computer waves stayed level as Dr. K hid any emotions in her voice.
"And you're perfectly fine with this?" Ziggy asked.
"I have no choice but if I did, I would have to admit, yes I am fine with it. She is not human. I am not performing heinous acts on a human, she's a robot, nothing more than a computer with a body and detachable parts. I am aware that some of you probably view me as a monster but I am not. I'm not the one who took this human and tore her apart to make her into the robotic assassin she is. I'm the one who will be taking her a part to see what they did so they cannot do it again." With that, the screens went black.
"She has a point…" Summer said, trailing off and sighing. She then walked off towards her room, deciding she'd rather not being around for any more fights. Dillon growled and launched himself after her.
"Summer, wait!" they could hear that he wanted to apologize for his offenses against Dr. K, someone who she trusted as deeply as she trusted him.
"Anyone want a drink?" Flynn suggested, Scott nodded and Ziggy raised his hand.
"You're too young!" Scott said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"I know but I want you guys to know that even though I don't think this is right, I'm not going to hold it against Dr. K. I know somewhere deep within her, she will do what she knows is right. Even though she hates me and has told me that she'd rather smother me with a pillow than listen to me ramble, I know that in the end she's just trying to help Tenaya. I know that Dr. K wants to seem like she doesn't care but she does. She's just as human as we are." Scott smiled to Ziggy and poured him a drink.
"Thank you. It's good to see that your friendship with Dillon hasn't affected your own personal opinion. I know that Dr. K doesn't want to seem human but she is. She won't do anything horrible. She's really a good girl deep down no matter how much she tries to hide it."
"Here, here!" Flynn agreed, they clinked their glasses and took a long drink.