Laundry was disgusting. People were disgusting. How could clothing smell so bad, or get so messy when it was only worn for a single day?

Still, Zoey came to work that morning completely optimistic. She had stayed up all night working on a way to improve the laundry program at Grid Battleforce so it would run smoothly. The old system… there wasn't much to it. All the employees would throw their coveralls, their lab coats and anything else that needed washing into a bin and eventually, someone from the laundry team would pick it up and bring it to the laundry room. Someone else would be responsible for ensuring the clothes were cleaned. Someone else oversaw ironing. Someone else folded, and then the clothes sat in the laundry room for days until someone was desperate enough for a uniform that they would come get one.

Clothing that was torn would never be repaired. There was someone for every part of the washing process, but no one in charge of repairs and replacements. Often, interns and lower-level workers were left with ratty, old clothes – an unprofessional look that often resulted in them getting overlooked for promotions. When Zoey had worked as an intern for Grid Battleforce one summer, she considered herself lucky when she got the uniform with one hole in it.

So, she redesigned the whole process. Laundry crew would be assigned departments, rather than washing jobs. They would be responsible for finding and collecting the laundry at the end of the work day, since most people just dumped their smelly work clothes wherever they saw fit. They would also run the clothes through the wash, and if needed, would iron them the next day. In the meantime, Zoey proposed to Commander Shaw that all employees receive at least two sets of uniforms. This would allow the laundry department the opportunity to wash one set of clothes during the working day, and leave them out so that the employees could collect them on their way in the next morning. Previously, the laundry crew would have to run around all day looking for the laundry, while their co-workers sat and waited for the loads to come to them. Most of the laundry team would end up working overtime due to the delay. Since all the employees had one uniform that they collected in the morning and dumped at night, all the clothes would have to be cleaned before the crew left at night.

Zoey convinced Commander Shaw that doubling, or even tripling the uniforms would cost less than the overtime she had to pay the laundry crew day after day and that the new system would increase job satisfaction, since the laundry crew would have dependable hours that they could work by. And, to please those who liked the overtime work, repairs could be done at the end of the day by employees who volunteered their time. Wear and tear would me reduced by having multiple uniform so there sheer volume of repairs would also be reduced, but since there was lab work, and some job were more physically demanding, there would always be something left to repair for those who wanted it.

It was bright and early, but Zoey was already at work, implementing her ideas. The laundry team seemed to like it since they could spend the day working rather than waiting on others. As Zoey finished leaving out the clean clothes for the employees for when the day officially began, Commander Shaw approached her.

"I have to say, I'm impressed."

"Thanks, Commander," Zoey replied. "We're still working out some of the kinks, but I think this is going to work out much better."

"I believe so too," Commander Shaw agreed. "I'm glad you twisted my arm to let you stay. I'm sure you'll prove valuable to the team."

"Thanks," Zoey answered. She watched Commander Shaw walk away and then bit her lip nervously. "She doesn't really think I twisted her arm, did she? I was trying to be helpful. Does she think I'm annoying?"

"After a while, you barely notice it," Betty said and Zoey flushed red with embarrassment when she found out someone heard her talking to herself. She looked to Betty and Ben and the two security guards arrived for their shift. "Pretty sure we still drive the Commander up the wall, but hey, we haven't been fired yet, so we must do something right!"

"Uniforms are all ready for the employees when they come in," Zoey told Betty and pointed to the table. Betty glanced over and nodded her head while Ben went to collect their security jackets.

"Hey, this is really clean," he said as he brought their jackets over. He smiled at Zoey, "They smell amazing too."

"Which is pretty impressive, since Ben's usually smells like tuna."

"I spilled tuna on my jacket once," Ben rolled his eyes.

"Hey, if you can get that tuna smell out of the jacket then you must be good," Betty told Zoey. "And if you're that good, I highly doubt the Commander finds you annoying. Or at least, she finds you more helpful than annoying. Like us!"

"Uh… thanks," Zoey said and then nervously stepped away to get back to work. She had collected a lot of laundry the night before and so knew she would have a busy day today. But as she walked away, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Her face was warm, her hands were a little shaky and she couldn't stop replaying that conversation over again in her head. Did Betty think she was kissing up to the boss by doing such a good job on the laundry? Did the Burkes siblings think that Zoey was trying to hard? Were they laughing at her and judging her for talking to herself?

"You have to be more normal, Zoey," she said to herself. "And you can start by not talking to yourself out loud. Like now!"

As Zoey made her way down the hall, trying to keep her thoughts in her head, instead of rolling off her tongue, she wasn't looking where she was going. Since barely anyone was due at work at this hour she didn't think that would be a problem. She was proven wrong when she bumped into someone, causing them to almost fall over.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Zoey called out, then looked to see who she had bumped into. It was the new hire: Sarah Thompson.

"No sweat," Sarah said with a smile, but Zoey still felt humiliated. How could she not be watching where she was going? "You're Zoey, right?"

She's going to report me to the Commander now, Zoey thought to herself, then nodded her head. "Uh, yeah. Zoey Reeves. You're Sarah, the Ranger researcher and consultant."

"I am," Sarah nodded. "You still have a job here?"

She's gonna get you fired, you might as well just quit. "I wanted to help out… I guess."

"I knew you were good," Sarah said. Zoey looked a little stunned, so Sarah explained. "The position of red Ranger was down to you and Blaze, and the Commander and I were a bit torn."

I didn't stand a chance.

"You were my first choice, honestly," Sarah told Zoey, who again looked stunned.

"I was?"

I'm glad you're still working here, making a difference," Sarah told Zoey. "I really think you have a lot to offer the Ranger team."

"Can I ask why I wasn't chosen, then?" Zoey asked. Sarah nodded her head.

"You hesitated a bit too much in training. You second guessed yourself and it cost you some valuable time. I had a teammate like that, actually. He was our blue Ranger, but we were a bigger team and so having one person take things slow kinda balanced us out. On a team of three, it's a bit more costly."

"I get it," Zoey nodded.

"But… don't give up," Sarah said. "I really do think the team can use someone like you, so I am glad you stuck around."

"Thanks." Zoey smiled. "You… you really think I have what it takes?"

"You think things through," Sarah nodded. "All the decisions you came to were right, you just need to learn to make them faster, to trust yourself a bit more."

"I'm good at solving problems," Zoey said. "Well, I like to think so, at least. My motto is that I don't run from big problems, I solve big problems."

"I'm a problem solver too," Sarah said. "Goes together with inventing, really. I see a problem and I find a way to fix it."

"Our mottos are similar," Zoey said with a nervous chuckle, but Sarah smiled genuinely.

"I guess they are," the former pink Ranger checked her watch, saw the hands were indicating it was time for her to be in the lab and sighed. "Well, I've got to go. Hopefully I see you around, Zoey."

As Sarah headed off, Zoey felt herself getting warm again, and she was sure her face was the colour of the Ranger position she had clearly lost out on.

'Our mottos are similar?' God, you sound like such a kiss up. She's probably regretting backing you up right now. Just stick with laundry, Zoey. That's what you're good at.

As she managed her thoughts, another member from her laundry team walked by and gave her a casual nod on his way past. Zoey nodded back, then sighed loudly.

You didn't say any of that out loud, did you? And what's with that nod? Your head probably looked all wobbly. It's day one of the new job and you've successfully made yourself look like an idiot in front of everyone you've seen. Good work, Zoey.