Troy pulled up his car outside Harwood University's main building. As he drove around the car park, looking for a spot, he let out a groan of frustration.

"What do you think the odds are ALL the people using the disabled parking spots are actually legit?" He asked Allison, who was in the passenger seat. Troy didn't make a habit of using his permit. While he was technically entitled to it as an amputee, he didn't really make a habit of taking parking spots from people he felt would benefit from it more. He generally only used disabled parking whenever he went somewhere with Allison, who was paraplegic. She just smiled.

"Believe me, if I could count the number of people I've seen coming out of the gym or from the squash courts and jump into the car parked in the disabled bay, you wouldn't believe me." She responded. She had been paraplegic now for a couple of years. Although she was growing used to it, she still found it a little frustrating how often people used those spots purely out of convenience, to get a little closer to where they were going. It wasn't really a problem of distance, she was used to using her wheelchair now, but disabled parking bays were usually also wider, to allow people more room to get in and out of their vehicles more easily, especially for those needing to use walking frames or wheel chairs. She had accepted that some people were inconsiderate as a reality, but that didn't mean she particularly enjoyed struggling to find a place to park which let her set up her chair and get into it easily. "Wait...hold on...something's happening, over there."

Troy looked around, and saw what she was pointing at. A guy, slightly taller than Troy, and with an impressive build was coming out of the gym building. His damp, freshly-brushed hair gave away the fact he was straight out of the showers, and he was carrying a large bag, with the tell-tale handle of a baseball bat sticking out. He was talking on his phone.

"What makes you think...?" Troy's words tailed off as the guy athletically vaulted over the guard rail with little effort, and onto the parking lot, barely breaking his stride and still talking on the phone. He headed towards a red corvette, which flashed its lights as he activated the key fob. Sure enough, it was in a disabled parking spot. Troy just sighed and shook his head. "How do you do that?"

"You get to notice the signs." She replied as Troy pulled up, waiting for the guy to move. As he sat in his car though, he seemed to settle into his conversation, waiting in the bay. Troy just looked to Allison, before getting out.

"Troy, it's not worth it." She called after him. "Troy!"

"This'll just take a second." He answered. He approached the car, where the guy was still chatting on the phone.

"Dude, I'm telling you, the way I've been tearing it up in practice, Mariner Bay won't know what hit them!" He declared proudly. "Seriously, have you seen the slump their pitcher's in? The safest damn place on the field is on the home plate! If I don't make a homer on the first..."

Troy interrupted him with a small cough, distracting him from his conversation. The man just groaned.

"Hang on a second." He said, before looking up at Troy. "What?"

"Are you waiting for someone?" Troy asked him.

"No, but I'm talking." He responded curtly, before continuing his conversation. Troy just coughed again. "Hang on, some guy's hassling me. Hey man! I'm talking here, I'll move when I'm ready, find somewhere else to park!"

"That looks like some expensive gym gear." Troy stated. "And that was pretty impressive the way you jumped that barrier."

"Whatever, thanks." He replied. "Now if you don't mind..."

"I was just wondering why exactly you need to use this parking space when you don't seem to need it." Troy replied. The guy just rolled his eyes.

"Look man, here there's shade, and I don't want the paint to fade." He replied. "Besides, what's it to you? You look pretty..."

Troy pulled up the leg of his jeans, revealing his prosthetic. The guy just looked up to him.

"You don't appear to have a permit either." Troy pointed out, gesturing to his windshield. "I won't report you this time, but try to be more considerate in future."

"I'll call you back." The guy said over his phone, before starting up the car and reversing out. Troy got back in his car, where Allison was waiting for him.

"You did it again didn't you?" She asked. Troy just shrugged as he pulled the car into the parking space and killed the engine.

"So, are you coming in or would you rather wait in the car?" He asked her.

"The chair's already packed in the trunk." She reminded him. "I'll see them when they get out."

Troy leaned across, kissing her softly, before getting out and heading into the main building. He flashed the visitor's pass he had been sent to the security guard, and headed for the elevators.

Several floors up, in one of the labs, several students were working on one of their projects. One of them was checking the notes on his computer, while the others worked on the device they were building.

"Nice one Dean, this design is bound to kick ass!" One of them declared cheerfully as he inspected their work. It was a huge, wheeled vehicle, a robot that they planned to enter into a robot battle contest that was being held between universities and colleges. "Between this saw I've built and your engine..."

"Hey, keep it quiet." One of the others said as Noah came into the room from the one next to it. His High School Equivalency exam results were incredible, even by the standards that the school had expected of him. He had gone on to do a number of other exams as soon as Harwood University offered him a scholarship. He had earned enough credits that he was already an impressive way through an engineering degree. While he knew that he had impressive skills, having worked on technology far more impressive than the University was likely to see, he still appreciated the need to get some formal qualifications for when he started to apply for jobs, not that he wasn't already getting impressive offers. Hartford Industries, Anton Mercer Industries, NASADA and Biocyte had all expressed an interest in hiring him, and had made clear that their offers were open while he decided what he wanted to do.

"If you're worried I'm going to copy your design, you don't need to be, I'm not entering anyway." Noah told them. He didn't really have much interest in the competition. It wasn't that he hadn't considered entering. It wasn't even that he didn't feel confident in his ability to create something that would win such a contest. Considering his familiarity with Zord technology, he was perfectly sure he could create something that would annihilate anything most college kids could put together. It was more down to the fact that after two years working on the Zords to keep them running smoothly, he was more interested in doing something a little different than just making and repairing weapons. "But you should probably check your specs again."

"I've checked them Ranger boy." One of the students blurted out. "There's nothing wrong with them!"

"OK, don't take my advice." Noah replied with a shrug. As they hooked up the engine, and started it up, they smiled as it came to life.

"It's alive, it's ALIVE!" One of them yelled enthusiastically, quoting pretty much every version of Frankenstein ever made. Noah just shook his head and laughed under his breath. Sometimes, people really weren't as original as they thought.

"See, I TOLD you it would work!" The student taunted Noah. "See, you might be great with flying pirate ships and..."

His words tailed off as smoke started billowing out of the shell. The others just stared at it.

"What...what's happening?" One of them asked. "Eddie?"

"Uh...I don't know..." Eddie answered as he got onto his computer to try and shut down the engine. "It...it won't shut down, it's..."

Noah just gently ushered them aside, carrying a fire-extinguisher. He doused the machine, while checking the computer. He just sighed and pulled out the cable connecting it to the robot.

"Tensou, shut it down would you?" He asked. With Gosei gone, Tensou had decided he really didn't want to be left alone on the island, and since he was closest to Noah, he had gone with the Blue Ranger. Noah's parents had never allowed him to have pets, not that this had been much of an issue for Noah growing up since he wasn't fond of most animals, which had a tendency to bite or scratch him, but they didn't mind letting him bring Tensou home. He was a robot, meaning that he didn't need to be fed and didn't make any mess, so they were more than happy for him to bring him home until he moved out to his own place at the beginning of term.

Tensou flew out of Noah's bag, and saw the danger. Scanning the robot, he flew at the side of it, tearing it open with his beak.

"What's he doing?" One of them screamed. "He's wrecking it!"

"He's saving what's left of it." Noah replied as Tensou ripped out the power cell. He swallowed it, following which, there was a loud bang, and some smoke billowed out from between his "feathers". Tensou just looked to Noah.

"I do NOT recommend that." He replied, before looking to the students. "Alright, who's the bozo that picked that power cell?"

Eddie just raised his hand sheepishly. Noah looked to him.

"You overloaded the system." Noah informed him. "You cut your costs to fit budget by using wiring and circuit boards that would never handle the power output. You're lucky you didn't take out the lab."

"So...it's safe now?" One of the others asked. Noah just shrugged.

"Yeah, it's safe now. Just let it cool down then see what you can salvage." He replied. "But from the looks of things...it's almost going to be more productive to just start again. I doubt there's much left."

"Hey Noah." Troy greeted him. He saw the smouldering wreckage. "That isn't one of yours is it?"

Noah just glared at him.

"What do you think?" Noah asked him. "Come on, let's go and pick up Quinn. She's in the biology lab."

As they headed out of the lab, leaving the dejected students to the remains of their robot, Troy just looked to Noah.

"So, have you managed to get somewhere for the start of term?" He asked.

"I've got some irons in the fire." Noah told him. "The student accommodation block doesn't look too bad, but between us, we should be able to afford somewhere off-campus."

"And you have told your parents you're planning to move in with Quinn right?" Troy asked him. Noah just looked to Troy.

"Hey, let me deal with one issue at a time alright?" He asked. "Let's just get Quinn and head to the hotel."

Elsewhere in town, Eric and Louise were at the hotel, sorting out the rooms. While they both lived together, Louise had insisted on ensuring that Eric didn't see the dress until the ceremony, and the only way to feasibly do that was for her to book into a room. They also had a room booked for Orion. The reservation was within driving distance of the hotel, but it was still quite a distance, and for the most part, they figured that it was easier if he just got a room.

Eric was talking with the receptionist when Emma and Orion arrived. Louise saw them, gesturing them over.

"Orion, it's great to see you again!" She declared as she hugged him warmly. It wasn't as though Orion was a stranger, but with the effort to build up the reservation, he had spent a lot of his time there, and only really came back to the city to spend time with Emma. He smiled as they parted.

"It's good to see you again too Ms. Moran." He replied.

"Well, I won't be Ms. Moran much longer." She reminded him. Eric came across, shaking his hand.

"Good to see you got here in good time." Eric stated. "We can get some drinks and catch up before dinner."

"Of course, I'll just put my stuff up in the room." Orion answered. Eric just handed him the room key, but as he did so, he saw Cassetopeia coming in the door. She looked around the lobby, completely taken aback by the grandiose structure she was in. It was completely unlike anything she had ever seen.

"This...this is amazing!" She commented. "And you tell me people live here only briefly?"

"Yes, that's right." Orion told her. While they did have inns on Andresia for those travelling between towns, they didn't really have anything on that kind of scale. Most inns were basically taverns with a few rooms on the upper floors. "Oh...Cassetopeia, this is Eric and Louise."

"It's a pleasure." Louise replied politely. "Um...Orion, who is...?"

"Cassetopeia is my neophyte." He explained. "I have to teach her in the scriptures. Centuri asked me to bring her with me."

"He did?" Eric asked him. Emma just pulled in closer.

"She...hasn't really seen much of the outside world." Emma told him. "Centuri thought it would be good for her to learn about the new world."

"Oh...well..." Eric didn't really know what to say. It was more than a little unusual that a perfect stranger had been sent to his wedding to say the least. He could, however, see that it was important to Emma and Orion. "Well, I suppose we can see if we can get Cassetopeia a room..."

"That won't be necessary." Cassetopeia interrupted him. "I will stay with Orion."

"Um...I don't think..."

"It's part of my training that I must remain with my mentor." Cassetopeia replied, interrupting Louise. Orion just looked between her, and Eric, who seemed to be less happy with this situation as time went on.

"I...um..." Orion started to stammer. "Cassetopeia, it isn't necessary for you to stay in my ROOM, I don't think there's a bed..."

"That's alright; I can sleep on the floor." She said with a shrug. Orion just sighed.

"No, I don't think that's..."

"Fine, then we can share the bed." She stated. Orion could see the expression on Eric's face hearing this. Emma had already been hurt once already, when her relationship with Troy had ended. Although he was pleased to see Emma happy with Orion, he was always protective of her. Hearing this random girl talk about sharing a bed with his daughter's boyfriend was a different matter. Louise looked a little taken aback; Eric looked like he was wondering where he had left his gun.

"That...means something else here." Orion told her. He looked to Eric, holding up his hands. "It's not at all uncommon for Andresians to share beds platonically. At times, when we were mining far from home, we used to share communal camps for heat. It was completely platonic."

"I'll just see if we can get you moved to a twin room." Eric responded, taking the key back from Orion. As he went to the desk, Cassetopeia just looked to him.

"Did I say something wrong?" She asked. Orion just sighed.

"No, it's alright." He answered. "Emma, can you see about getting her some things to wear?"

"I've already texted Cat to tell her the situation." Emma answered. "She's bringing some stuff over."

Eric came back with the new room key, handing it to Orion.

"Alright, that's your new room." He replied. "Drop off your bags, then join us in the bar. We'll order something for you."

"Thank you Mr Goodall, that's very kind of you." Orion answered. As he headed for the elevator with Cassetopeia, she just looked at them curiously.

"Mr Goodall seems upset with me." She stated. "Why...?"

"Just...don't worry about it. He's a nice person once you get to know him." Orion assured her. "Let's just drop this stuff off. You'll meet the others soon."