The Rangers were making their way through the city slowly. Dillon looked around, hoping to find some kind of clue to his past. Summer was walking beside him, her arm laced with his for comfort as he surveyed the area.
"Do you recognise anything?" She asked him. He shook his head sadly.
"This is a mistake." He commented. "I should have recognised something by now."
"You can't rush these things." She reminded him. "Kenmore square is coming up soon. That was what you saw, maybe that'll trigger something."
They heard some rubble shifting, causing them all to snap around, looking up to a window four floors up, in time to watch some debris and dust falling, but could see nothing inside.
"What was that?" Flynn asked.
"I told you, I think we're being watched." Ziggy replied. "Guys, maybe we should check it out."
"Ziggy, I keep telling you, you're being paranoid." Scott said weakly, though he continued to keep his eyes trained on the window. "There's no one out here. Come on guys, stick together. Let's just find what we're looking for and get out of here."
Back at Central Command, Hicks and Vasquez were working frantically to re-establish contact with the Rangers.
"I've diverted 15 percent of the city's shield power to the signal." Vasquez informed her.
"I have connection." Dr. K yelled as she prepared to relay her message. "This is Dr. K for the Rangers. Is anyone there?"
There was no answer, and if the image was anything to go by, it looked like the Go-Onger was empty.
"Dr. K to the Rangers, come in!" She screamed in vain, hoping that someone would answer. Unfortunately it looked like they had already disembarked and went in search of answers that she now knew didn't exist, at least, not there. "Rangers, you're walking into a trap. Dillon's memories aren't real. They were downloaded by Venjix."
She paused for a second, composing herself.
"Rangers, I know who about the Gold and Silver Zords!" She yelled. "They can be trusted. If you get the chance..."
A section of the control panel sparked with a loud crack, and the signal went dead.
"We lost the signal." Vasquez told her.
"Rangers! Rangers!" She screamed at the screen. "Scott! Someone answer me!"
"The signal's lost." Hicks reiterated. "The board's fried. It needs to be replaced before we can try again."
"I've diverted power back to the shields." Colonel Truman told her. "We'll try again when we've run repairs."
"Thank you Colonel." She replied sadly. "I just feel so helpless here. I wish I could let them know that their journey's been completely..."
An alert from one of her diagnostics checks sounded, bringing her attention to something. "...pointless."
She read the schematics, getting a slightly puzzled look on her face. She saw the Colonel watching her work and knew he was as concerned as she was.
"I got the computer to run the false memory programme to decrypt the image." She informed him. "I wanted to see what Dillon did."
"Are you telling me you can watch what Venjix sent him?" Colonel Truman asked her.
"I thought that if we knew what he saw, it might give us some idea what Venjix had planned." She replied. They both watched the image as she pulled it up on the screen.
"This isn't right, this isn't what he described." Dr. K told him.
"He said he remembered Kenmore." Colonel Truman reminded her. "That's what we're seeing."
"That's ALL we're seeing." She stated. She checked a few lines of code. "A code was inserted into it to give him feelings of happiness and contentment, to make him feel comfortable and convince him the memory was real."
"So what's different?" Colonel Truman asked her.
"Dillon isn't in the image that Venjix downloaded." Dr. K said as she ran it through one more time. "Neither is the blind girl he told us about."
"He said they were both in Kenmore." Colonel Truman gasped in realisation. "If the only thing in Dillon's memory that's artificial is Kenmore..."
"His mind's feeling of contentment confused him and inserted the image of himself and the blind girl because he had those feelings around her." Dr. K told him. "That image is from his actual memory. Colonel Truman...the blind girl is real."
Back in Omega City, the Rangers all assembled in the central plaza. Dillon found a food-court a little way off, picking up a chair and righting it, taking a seat. Summer joined him as he held his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry, none of this seems familiar." Dillon told them.
"Dillon its fine, we all know you're trying." Summer said reassuringly. She looked up at the others. "Would you guys give us a minute?"
"We should probably see if we can get a message to Dr. K." Scott said, flicking a thumb back in the direction of the Go-Onger. "Will you guys be alright here?"
"We'll be fine." Summer told him. "Stay in touch."
"We'll be back as soon as we can." Scott told her. He, Flynn and Ziggy all ran off, leaving them alone in the food court. Summer smiled at him.
"You know, this kind of reminds me that we haven't had a real date yet." She teased him, looking around at the food court. "It looks like this would have been a great place to eat back in the day."
"I wouldn't know." Dillon responded. "I can't remember anything."
"You can't force it." Summer reminded him, reaching across the table and taking his hand. "Maybe if you stop trying to remember, your mind would be able to sort things out and something would just pop into that skull of yours."
"How am I meant to stop thinking about this?" Dillon asked her.
"Maybe have something to distract you?" She suggested. "You know, we are alone."
Dillon let out a short snigger as he heard this, looking into her eyes. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed that before. He leaned across the table, drawing closer to her. Unfortunately they were far from alone. As they prepared for their lips to meet, the first attack came, throwing them apart. Dillon pulled himself up from the wreckage, seeing a few figures beginning to make their way towards him in a shuffling, ungainly manner. He squinted to see through the dust as they approached.
"Dillon!" He heard Summer screaming as he tried to move. He got up and rushed towards her, but was sent flying as the first of his attackers surged forward with surprising speed. He was sent flying several feet by the attack, into one of the food stalls. He looked down, seeing that his t-shirt was sliced open and blood was seeping through from a number of wounds in his chest.
His eyes opened wide as he watched the first of his attackers limp into view. He couldn't believe what he saw.
"RPM, Get in Gear!" He called out as he got back to his feet, preparing to defend himself. "Summer!"
Meanwhile, over by the Go-Onger, the Rangers arrived, getting into the vehicle. Ziggy was still more than a little jumpy, and looking around desperately for the unseen eyes he was sure he felt watching their every move.
"There's a recorded message." Scott told them. He played the message.
"Dr. K to the Rangers, come in! Rangers, you're walking into a trap. Dillon's memories aren't real. They were downloaded by Venjix. Rangers, I know who about the Gold and Silver Zords!" She yelled. "They can be trusted. If you get the chance..."
"The memories aren't real?" Flynn asked.
"It's a trap; this has all been to get us out of the dome." Scott surmised. "Flynn, take Ziggy and get back to the others and warn them. I need to get a message to Dr. K."
"Guys, I think we might have our own problems here." Ziggy stated, pointing out of the window. They all looked in horror as they saw the monstrosities approaching them.
They looked vaguely human, though they each had extensive cybernetic modifications. Their steps were shambling and erratic as a consequence of modifications ranging between external powered callipers to outright robotic replacements. Arms had been replaced with bionics of varying refinement. Some were simple assortments of blades, others were saws. Some of them had massive claws that looked to be easily capable of tearing apart steel, while others had bionic hands.
The closest one moved close enough for them to get a good look at the true horror of the twisted creature. Denims covered the little flesh that remained on his legs, though they were mostly metal anyway. His torso was bare, showing its horribly scarred flesh. It was as though whoever had performed the procedure to make this creature had no idea what he was doing. Its right arm had been replaced by a heady duty drill, while it's left was a completely bionic arm, with a large hand, carrying four fingers. Its skull had been partially replaced by steel, giving it one glowing green eye. The other was completely white, and lifeless. Its drill arm started revving up mercilessly.
"What in the hell are they?" Flynn gasped as he saw them.
"I don't know about you, but I'm in no hurry to find out." Ziggy replied. "Who votes we fire up this bus, find the others and get the hell out of here?"
"For once I'm with Ziggy." Scott replied. "Flynn..."
Unfortunately, the first of the creatures had gotten close enough to attack. Its drill arm tore through the side of the hull like it was tin foil. Two more grabbed the edges of the breach and tore it open.
Another creature behind them slammed a large wrecking-ball like weapon into the back of the vehicle, causing it to collapse on its base.
"They've snapped the axle!" Flynn screamed. "We're going nowhere!"
"In a few minutes there isn't going to be anything left." Scott announced as the other side was torn apart by a couple of murderous looking claws. "Guys, it's time to morph."
"Ziggy!" Flynn screamed as he watched the Green Ranger being pulled out of the vehicle by a couple of the creatures. He could only look on helplessly as a couple of the creatures dragged him away from view. He could see that the way they restrained him he could not reach his morpher.
"RPM, Get in Gear!" They both called out, morphing into Ranger form, before making their way out of the Go-Onger, fighting for all they were worth.
"These things are tough!" Flynn yelled as he smashed a couple aside. They started to stir and get back to their feet, resuming their attack.
"We need to get to Ziggy!" Scott replied as he smashed a few of them to the ground with his burst attack. They too started to return to the attack. One of them though appeared to be too damaged to continue and remained on the floor. "Man, they just don't quit!"
"There are too many of them!" Flynn complained. "I can't even see him anymore!"
"They've got Summer too!" Dillon informed them as he arrived on the scene, smashing down a few of them with his rocket blaster.
"How did you get away?" Scott asked him.
"He got some help..." A voice answered as the Gold Ranger arrived on the scene, carving a few of them down with his Cloud Hatchet.
"...From a couple of new friends." The Silver Ranger completed the statement as she too arrived, lashing out at the creatures.
"Are you ready to put these Dregs on ice?" The Gold Ranger asked her.
"Cloud Hatchet, Ice Mode!" They called out together. As they swung their weapons, energy waves were sent forward, freezing a number of the creatures where they stood. The next swipe smashed them all to the ground. Some of the creatures struggled, but couldn't return to their feet. The rest of them realised that with the arrival of the new enemies, they were overmatched. As they fled, they grabbed their fallen, dragging them with them. Scott saw one of the fallen as it was dragged away, and could see it screaming, though not in pain. The look on its face was one of fear.
"OK, who are you?" Scott asked the new arrivals. The Gold and Silver Rangers recalled their helmets, exposing their faces. They were Asian, one male and the other female. Strangely for having just engaged in such a ferocious battle, they were both grinning broadly, flashing huge, bright smiles at them.
"I'm Gem..."
"...and I'm Gemma..."
"...We saw your friend was in trouble..."
"...We're glad we could help." Gemma concluded. The remaining three Rangers just stared at them, completely dumbfounded. Eventually Scott broke the silence.
"Ok, so what were those things?" He asked them. "Where did they take our friends?"
"They're called Dregs..."
"...they're early attempts by Venjix to..."
"...create human/robot hybrids..."
"...as infiltration units..." Gem was cut off as Scott held up a hand.
"OK, could you please stop talking like that?" He asked them in an annoyed tone. He pointed to Gem. They both looked at each other, wordlessly communicating their shared memory of being asked the exact same thing by the only friend they'd ever known. Now that they had seen the Rangers in action, they knew for a fact they were right, and that they were using the technology Dr. K had created. "Ok, Gem is it? You tell us."
"Venjix tried to create infiltration units to slip into cities unseen and disrupt the defence efforts." He explained. Flynn and Scott looked to Dillon, thinking about the technology within him. "Those were the failures of that experiment."
"So they're like rejects?" Scott asked him. Gem and Gemma nodded.
"Hundreds of humans were taken to a factory in this city to be processed as infiltrators." Gem continued. "The lucky ones didn't survive the procedure. The rest were modified, but Venjix didn't know enough about human physiology to successfully create covert technology, so it went through them one-by one, experimenting to try and get it right. Those that were too damaged by experimentation were given additional exoskeletal implants to make them weapons and released into the city to hunt for any humans attempting to bring down the factory. Their minds were wiped to leave them with only basic instinct to go on. They live in a pack, hunting and gathering to survive, centred in the warehouse."
"So they've taken our friends to that warehouse?" Dillon asked them. "We have to go and get them."
"We'll help you..."
"...We only hope we're not..."
"...too late." Gemma finished.
"OK, that could get really annoying." Flynn commented.
"What do you mean too late?" Scott asked them. "It looked like it was scared."
Gem and Gemma looked at each other a little regretfully. Eventually Gemma turned back to them.
"It was scared because it knows what's going to happen to it." She told them. "Come on, we don't have much time."
Ziggy was dragged into a warehouse a few blocks from the central plaza by the Dregs, struggling as he went.
Looking around, he saw several large, metal storage pods lining the walls. Walkways separated it into many levels, and pods lined the walls of every floor. It looked like the place had been a lab of some description at one time, though now it had fallen into disrepair. It was now filthy, dank, and dark. The Dregs huddled around the place and hung from the balconies like animals. A fire was set up in the centre of the room. Ziggy could smell pork cooking. Looking over between the Dregs gathered around the fire, he could see the ribs rotating on the spit.
"Ziggy!" Summer called out as they arrived by steel scaffolding. Her hands and feet had been tied, spread-eagled, preventing her from escaping or accessing her morpher.
"Summer?" He asked her as they shoved him roughly to the scaffolding and tied him into place in the same way. "Summer, are you alright?"
"I'm OK for the time being." She said in a panicked voice. "Ziggy, do you know what happened to the others?"
"I saw Dillon as they took me away." He informed her. "They're not here, that's all I can say for sure."
"I really hope they're OK." Summer said as she looked over to the fire in horror. "They're our only chance."
"Summer, what are you so scared of?" He asked her. "The others will get us out of this. These things have probably captured us so they can keep us here for Venjix..."
"I think their plans are a little more immediate than that." She told him. "Ziggy..."
"Summer, they're not going to do anything for a while yet." He assured her. "Look, they're cooking up that pork..."
"Ziggy, how many pigs have you seen walking around here?" She asked him, looking at him. Ziggy could see terror in her eyes as she breathed faster. She flashed a look back to the fire.
Ziggy turned to see what she was looking at. It was only then that he took a closer look at what was on the spit. One of the Dregs pulled off a piece, taking a couple of large bites, tearing the meat from it, before throwing it at his feet. It was a human arm, with strips of metal bolted directly into the bone. Looking back to the thing on the spit, he realised that it was one of the Dregs that had fallen in the earlier battle. He was suddenly overcome as the stench assailed his nose and vomited.
"You can't be serious." He coughed as he finally regained composure. "They're cannibals?"
"It looks that way," Summer replied as she looked around, seeing all of the twisted creatures eyeing them hungrily, "and by the looks of it, we're next on the menu."