Power Rangers Nexus
Chapter 21: The Call
There was a tiny spark as the miniature welding tool finished soldering yet another replacement computer chip into place.
Lolli ran a hand across her forehead, wiping away some of the sweat that had been drawn forth by the bright light just above her head. Sighing, she bent back down, her high tech contact lenses whirring as they zoomed in and magnified the minute circuitry she was repairing.
"EPU," she said, holding out her hand.
Stephen selected an item from the array of parts that was scattered across the workbench and placed it into Lolli's outstretched hand.
"I mean, It's not as if she's evil evil," he said. "I mean she's a Power Ranger, right? So she can't be evil. She just has evil tendencies, right? Who doesn't?"
"Uh-huh. Stephen, this is a secondary processor chip. I asked for the new EPU."
"Well, what's an EPU look like?"
Lolli let out an aggravated sigh. "It's a chip, about the size of my thumbnail, light blue, square."
"Ah..." The White Ranger grabbed the appropriate chip and handed it to her.
"Thank you," she said, tossing aside the incorrect component and proceeding to install the appropriate one. "Where's Angel when you need him?" she muttered.
"What's EPU stand for, anyway?"
"Emotion Processing Unit. It's what enables a computer to feel human emotions. Or at least emulate them."
"Oh."
There was a pause.
"So how's it coming?" Stephen asked, leaning forward.
"It'd be coming a lot better if you'd get out of my light," Lolli replied.
Stephen hastily backed off.
A few seconds and a few sparks later, Lolli leaned back with a satisfied sigh, closing the casing on the small, ovoid construct that sat on the workbench before her. "She's done. Or at least, the hardware's working again. Her mind's another story, I'm afraid."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Her memory was wiped entirely. I don't know what that planet's made of, but it really does a number on machines."
"And Eltarians, apparently," Stephen added. "What was with Terina earlier, anyway?"
Terina had skated into the Zord Bay earlier on her rollerblades, seen the mechanical parts strewn across the table, and immediately become so flustered that she nearly fell over three times in her haste to leave the room.
"No idea," Lolli replied, picking up the small droid and examining it from all angles, inspecting her work. She sighed yet again. "A body but no mind. It's like she's died. A pity. I really liked her. She was my first real creation."
"There is a way to restore her, Green Ranger," Zord-1's voice echoed through the massive, mostly empty chamber.
Lolli frowned at the empty compartments that the Dinozords had, until a few days ago, occupied. The place had never seemed so empty before, and it had certainly never echoed.
"Restore her?" Stephen asked. "How?"
"Tell me she made a backup before she left?" Lolli said eagerly.
"She did indeed."
"That's my girl," Lolli said to the inactive droid in her hands. "We'll have you back on your feet in no time, Diskette. Speaking figuratively, of course."
The recently repaired droid, predictably, did not respond.
"So," Stephen said after a moment. "You don't think she's really evil, do you?"
Lolli let her head drop against the tabletop in exasperation.
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Myk frowned up at the ceiling of his room, listening to the music box on his bedside table as it played out its familiar melody, mulling over his recent behavior. He'd been acting out of sorts lately. In his last fight, he'd actually expressed pleasure at the concept of an opponent striking the pavement as she fell. Ordinarily, he'd flinch at the thought of such a sound, regarding it as an unfortunate necessity. Furthermore, he'd proceeded to strike down that same opponent, whilst she'd been held helpless and unable to fight back, with a weapon so powerful that it constituted the ultimate unfair advantage, and he hadn't, at the moment, given the matter a second thought.
The tune seemed almost to mock him. What would the one who'd given him that music box say if she knew how he'd been behaving? She'd wonder where he'd picked up such behavior, for a start. Well, that was easy enough. Just look at the company he'd been keeping. He'd always known the Purple Ranger's morals were questionable, but now it had been proven that she was actually evil. Suspecting someone was evil was one thing, being flat out told so by a machine that had never yet been wrong about anything was something else entirely.
A massive yawn escaped him. There was another new flaw he'd somehow picked up. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, and it never seemed to be enough, as he was always tired. Such sloth he'd almost certainly acquired through long association with Jareth, who, by his own admission, wouldn't move at all if certain biological imperatives didn't have to be met.
He hadn't been aware that laziness actually rubbed off. Maybe that one had been passed to him during the time that Jareth's mind had been linked to his by Animus? Well, if that was the case, then using Animus again was out of the question, no matter how dire the circumstance. There was no way he was going to let the Gold Ranger's complete lack of ambition or focus...or, for that matter, any more of Deacon's libidinous thoughts... intrude on his mind again.
I DID try to warn you about them, Myk, Ikaika's voice echoed within his mind.
Myk frowned. "Yes, I suppose you did. Have you been eavesdropping this entire time?"
I apologize, but it is difficult not to overhear your thoughts whilst I am living within your mind. I will try harder in the future, if you wish.
"Thank you." Myk pondered for a moment. "Ikaika, what did you think of that experience?"
You refer to the mental link created by Animus? I found it an interesting perspective into the minds of...less pure...beings. Although I could have done without some of the Silver Ranger's more...explicit thoughts.
Myk nodded.
I am also grateful that I was able to conceal my presence from the others. I was not expecting such an intimate link. It was a near thing, not being discovered.
"Would it really be so bad if they knew about you?" Myk asked. "I'm not sure about all the others, but you know Jareth can be trusted with a secret. It was right there in his mind."
That he was keeping secrets, yes, but he was able to prevent himself from thinking abut what those secrets actually were, thus hiding his thoughts from us. A surprisingly disciplined mind for one so lazy, I must admit. But we do not know what he was hiding, and I do not trust one so...innately concealing. I do not trust any of them, Myk. I will thank you to keep my secret.
"Yeah, okay. You've done enough for me, I suppose."
The speaker grill set into the ceiling clicked on.
"Everyone, come to the Bridge," Lolli's voice called. "I have a few things to show you."
Myk raised an eyebrow. What now?
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Lolli smiled as she addressed the entire body of assembled Rangers, a few of whom, particularly Jareth and Electra, looked distinctively as though they'd been yanked out of bed for this.
"Why are we here?" Jareth asked crankily.
"First of all," Lolli said, lifting Diskette's motionless body. "I am happy to announce that Diskette has been repaired, recharged, and reprogrammed, and is good as new."
The Green Ranger flicked a hidden switch and the small droid came to life, levitating into the air on her microrepulsorjets. She wobbled uncertainly, looking around the room in a bewildered manner.
"Wasn't I just in the Zord bay? How'd I get here? Are we still going to Tyrari?" She paused. "Wait a minute. I've just been reloaded from the backup, haven't I? Did I die? What happened?"
"I'll fill you in later," Lolli said. "Second...Zord-1, if you would..."
The screen at the front of the Bridge came to life, displaying the interior of
Station...specifically, the Turbo Garage.
Fox squinted. The compartments that had previously stood empty had been replaced with one large, ground level compartment that seemed to be occupied by an enormous, high-tech train.
"Using the power of the Phantom Ruby, Zord-1, Drone, Angel and myself have repaired the Turbo Zords."
"Those don't look like the Turbo Zords to me," Troy commented.
"They've been upgraded," Lolli explained. "Better than new. We're calling them the Rescuezords. And now, allow me to introduce..." (the lights inside the garage flared to life and the Train moved forward, exiting its compartment to reveal all five of its cars) "The Supertrain."
"The Supertrain?" Jareth asked. "That's the best you could-"
"I made the mistake of letting Zord-1 name the new Zords," Lolli explained. "Computers have no creativity."
"Had I the capacity, I'd be offended by that remark," Zord-1 said, sounding huffy.
"Anyway," the Green Ranger continued. "Each car of the Supertrain houses a new Turbo Zord." The cars of the train on the screen opened to reveal five different vehicles. "Kalen, your Turbo Zord will be PyroRescue 1."
"Joy of joys. A giant fire engine."
Ignoring this, Lolli turned to Angel. "Angel, you get HydroRescue 2."
"I already know this."
"Shh, you're spoiling my delivery. Electra, yours is AeroRescue 3."
"Why is it green?"
"Ah..." Lolli rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, the thing is, we made these using the blueprints for the prototype Turbozords. Those blueprints were scrapped, and entirely different ones were used for the first five, but I managed to salvage them and fix the glitches..."
"But you forgot to change the colors," Jareth finished.
"Moving on," Lolli growled. "Fox, you get HazRescue 4."
"I like."
"And Stephen, you get MedRescue 5."
"An ambulance? That's it?" Stephen asked indignantly.
"Take what you've got and be grateful. I worked hard on these. Oh, and they combine into a Megazord, of course. We're calling it the 'Lightspeed Megazord' for now."
"Why? Are they that fast?" Stephen inquired.
Lolli scoffed.
"'Project Lightspeed' was the name given to the reconstruction and upgrading of the Turbozord arsenal," Angel explained. "So called because it was a total rush job."
"Oh, and before I forget..." Lolli produces a black leather briefcase. Opening it, she revealed a black velvet interior, embedded into which were five shining new Turbo Morphers and five keys. "You guys get Turbo Morphers now. Take one, pass it down."
Each Ranger claimed the Morpher of his or her color, all of which vanished in a flash once strapped on.
"Is that it?" Mara asked.
"That's it. Fly, be free, go about your lives."
The Rangers slowly dispersed, some wandering out through the doors and other teleporting off the ship and back to the planet below.
Three remained.
Deacon exchanged glances with Myk and Jareth, none of them had gotten a Turbo Zord.
"What about us?" he asked.
Lolli sighed. "We run into a little glitch with you three. I have plans for Turbo Zords for you… but we have no way to power them."
"I thought the Turbo Morphers ran on the Zeo Crystals?" Myk asked.
"Oh, they do. Trouble is, I don't know what the Triforians did to your subcrystals when they made them into the Power Staff. They're stronger than any of the others, but they're tied together somehow...whatever, the fact is, between the three of them, they can only power one Turbo Morpher."
"So who gets it?" Deacon asked.
"I'll pass," Jareth said. "Cars, ugh. One of you two can have it."
Deacon turned to Myk, holding out one open palm and one fist. "Match you for it?"
Myk blinked. "You wish to fight me?"
Deacon snorted, trying to contain his laughter. Jareth didn't bother.
"Nonono," Deacon said, once the moment had passed. "We each choose an object, either rock, scissors or paper. Paper is represented by a flat hand, scissors by a pair of fingers, and rock by a fist. The object is to choose the object that defeats the object your opponent chooses. We show each other our hands at the same time. Simple."
"I can't believe you've never played this game," Jareth added.
Myk nodded.
"We choose on three. Ready?"
"Ready."
"One, two, three."
"Paper, Myk said, holding up his flat palm.
"Rock," Deacon said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Rock rips paper, I win."
Myk sighed. "Very well. You take it."
Deacon seemed to struggle with himself for a moment.
"Is something wrong?" Myk asked.
"Dammit, I can't do it. It's just too easy," the Silver Ranger said, looking at Jareth,
who nodded understandingly.
"Paper wraps rock, Myk," Jareth explained. "You won."
"Oh."
"So will our three form a Megazord, too?" Deacon asked.
"No," Lolli replied. "Each of your Zords will become its own Megazord. Myk, you'll be piloting Supertrain. It's the only one that's finished. Deacon, yours will be a shuttle that can transform into its own battle mode, or form additional armor for the Lightspeed Megazord."
"Please tell me I get a jet or something," Jareth begged.
"Nope, sorry. You'll be driving the carrier that transports the Rescuezords, once we get it built."
"Poop."
"Trade you?" Deacon offered.
"No trading!" the Green Ranger chastised.
Jareth pouted. "Double poop."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Troy watched as Terina sped into the Lounge on her rollerblades, circled the couch a few times, then sat down to rest.
"Should you be wearing pads? And a helmet?"
Nah," Terina replied, standing. "If you're clumsy enough to need a helmet, you have no business strapping wheels to your feet." With that, she skated backwards out the room, thumbing her nose at the Blue Ranger as the door slid shut after her.
Troy rolled his eyes, then turned them back down to his newspaper.
Abruptly, a number of red, dome-shaped lights popped down from the ceiling, spun a few times making a horrible sound, then silenced themselves and retracted as Zord-1 shut down the alarm. His voice sounded throughout the ship next.
"Will all Rangers not otherwise occupied please report to the Bridge?"
The doors slid open and Terina rolled past again, darting across the room, grabbing the horizontal steel bar that was attached to the wall, and swinging feet-first into the jumptubes that ran throughout the entire course of the ship.
Shaking his head, Troy folded his paper and followed.
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"What's up, Zord-1?" Troy asked as he entered the bridge, the doors opening
automatically before him. A number of the others were already present...all of them, in fact, save Angel, Fox, and Stephen.
"We are receiving a distress call," the computer answered.
"Not another one," Terina complained.
"We walked away from the last one with a pile of gold, a collection of magical
grimoires, a dragon, a kitten, and a hat," Jareth said. "What do you think we'll get this time?"
"This planet doesn't kill technology and make Eltarians lapse into comas, does it?" Terina asked.
"Most assuredly not," the computer replied. "KO-35 is a highly civilized colony, advanced in technology...though it is currently torn by a major civil war that has lasted generations. There was a peace conference scheduled approximately a year ago, during which the leaders of both factions were mysteriously assassinated. Each side naturally blames the other, but there has never been any evidence to indicate the truth. The war has only escalated since, and it is unlikely now that it will ever cease."
"We've got to do something," Tommy said.
"Yes. Or, we could not," Kalen said.
Tommy glared at her. "They're asking for our help."
"Oh? Which ones, Tommy? Which side will you be choosing?" Kalen smiled as she spoke, evidently enjoying playing with the Red Ranger's mind.
"She makes a point," Terina said. "Which side do we choose in a civil war?"
"The side of peace," Tommy replied flatly. "We're going to put an end to that war."
"You're going to put an end to that war. Or rather, you're going to try. I'm sitting this one out."
"How can you just--"
"Oh, I can't get involved in this one. It's a conflict of interest."
With that, the Purple Ranger turned on her heel and exited the bridge, waving negligently.
"What did she mean, 'conflict of interest'?" Terina asked warily.
"I think we're happier not knowing," Jareth replied with certainty.
"How someone like her became a Power Ranger, I'll never know," Myk said, shaking his head.
"Are you familiar with the concept of Jen Chi?" Zord-1 asked.
"Nnnnooo...."
"Jen Chi is the Chinese term for a practice that has existed for centuries. It is the art of balancing a group of people according to their personal characteristics to create the ideal team."
"But we fight all the time," Myk protested.
"Jen Chi does not strive for harmony, as harmony is not always the ideal solution. It seeks to create a balance between harmony and discord." And here the screen that was the front of the room lit up, displaying Myk at one end and Kalen at the other.
"Between Good and Evil..."
Kalen was replaced by Deacon.
"Between Order and Chaos..."
Both vanished, replaced by Tommy at one side and Jareth at the other.
"Between careful focus and wild intuition."
Jareth grinned smugly at Myk, who scowled and stormed out of the room.
Tommy tilted his head. "The coins choose all this?"
"I suspect Medelon balanced the team when he created the coins. Each coin has its preferred archetype. The Red Power Coin, for example, will almost invariably choose a law-abiding, good-aligned male who is particularly adept at swordplay. The only notable exception is the Purple Power Coin, but there were extenuating circumstances."
"What were the extenuating--" Lolli began, but the computer cut her off.
"That is a discussion for another time, I'm afraid. A decision must be made regarding KO-35. Which of you are willing to take an intergalactic trip into a savage war zone?"
Seven hands went up: Deacon's, Terina's, Tommy's, Electra's (though she seemed to be paying so little attention that her hand might have wandered into the air by accident), Mara's, Troy's, and Jareth's.
"Lolli?" Tommy asked.
The Green Ranger shrugged. "Can't, busy. I've got half a dozen projects awaiting my attention. But I can set you for the trip." She turned to the control panel and rapidly tapped a few keys.
"There ya go. The Mega-V shuttles have been compressed and stored aboard the Megaship," Lolli said. A slot in the console spit forth a handful of color-coded keycards, which Lolli took and handed to each of the Rangers, except for Deacon and Jareth. "Use these if you get into serious trouble."
"What do they do?" Mara asked, looking suspiciously from her pink cardkey to Lolli.
"You'll find out," Lolli said slyly. "Just remember to use all five of them at once.
Well, good luck." And with that, Lolli turned on her heels and walked out the door, heading, most likely, to her workshop in the Zord Bay.
"Well," Jareth said. "Shall we be off then?"
And, with a flash of multicolored light, the seven Rangers vanished from the bridge.