The following day, the remaining cadets all assembled in the basement, right outside the laboratory. They knew that this was the deepest levels of the base, where the research that would revolutionise the energy industry and transform the world overnight was being developed. Of course not many of them were thinking about that right now, what they were thinking about was the fact that just on the other side of that door was the technology they were competing to use. Six of them remained, of which three would be the new team of Rangers.
It didn't take much of a leap of faith intellectually for them to realise why they were here. The final winners would end up utilising this technology, meaning that they needed to be familiar with it first. As resolute and stoic as they were trying to remain, they were all trying to seem, there was an undercurrent of excitement within them. Even those that were not chosen would actually get to handle the Rangers' technology.
The assessment panel arrived, at which they all stood to attention.
"At ease." General Burke told them, at which they all relaxed as much as it was possible for them to do so under the circumstances. "Today, you begin the very final, but most important part of your assessment. Behind this door is the technology you will be using, along with simulators that will give you all direct experience of what it will be like to pilot a Zord."
"Zords?" One of the cadets blurted out before he could rein himself in. "We get Zords?"
"The three candidates chosen will have access to some of the most powerful and advanced weapons systems ever created." General Burke said, trying to ignore the outburst. The cadet just looked somewhat sheepish. "Very shortly, you will begin an intensive course in the technology you will be required to wield. One week from today, three of you will be chosen as our Rangers."
"At this juncture, I would like to remind you all of the confidentiality clause you all signed." Commander Shaw said, her gaze catching Ravi as she spoke. She couldn't help pausing for a moment, thinking about the harm she had caused. Because of her, he'd been forced to make a difficult decision, one that had caused him more misery than all the accusations of nepotism ever had. Roxy too looked like she was only just staying in things because of a sense of duty, no doubt having already spoken to Ravi about the prospect of resigning. She would normally have thought such dedication to duty was an admirable trait she would be lucky to have in her candidates, but seeing the agony she had caused them, she couldn't help wondering how she had gotten it so wrong. She was nudged gently by General Burke, who mouthed to her, asking if everything was alright, before continuing. "If you speak about what you see behind this door, the program or the identity of the Rangers, you will spend the remainder of your natural life in a black site prison."
General Burke used his security clearance to open the door, allowing them into the laboratory. The cadets followed the assessment panel into the laboratory, somewhat in awe of what they were seeing. Before even seeing a single piece of Ranger tech, most of the computers and other technology in this lab existed only in theory as far as most of the world was concerned. Technology lightyears beyond what was available to the public was here right in front of them.
There was a stand a little way off with an array of weapons on it, blasters and swords by the looks of things.
"Ladies, gentlemen, welcome to the Command Centre." General Burke told them. "Now, the people you will be working with are some of the greatest minds on the face of the Earth."
"I'll TRY not to take that personally." Angela joked. General Burke just spluttered a little.
"Yes, well…as you can see the technology they're working on is here ready for you, and rest assured more is on the way. We will be giving you a week to become accustomed to it."
"A week?" One of them piped up. It was a pretty short time frame to get them used to such technology, particularly when they might be expected to use it in the field.
"You are the best and brightest of the entire group, I'm certain any of you will be up to the challenge." Commander Shaw told them. "For today, since it is something you've never encountered before, we're going to take you through to the simulator which will be set up for the schematics of the Zords. Each of you will spend time becoming accustomed to each of the attack vehicles, and from there we will assess not only who will be our Rangers, but which weapons systems and powers you will be best suited to."
"To take you through what this entails, let us introduce you to the brains behind all of this, Nate Silva. Nate, can I pull you away for a moment?"
Nate put down the device he was working on and turned to the cadets. Blaze almost felt his stomach drop straight out of his body the moment he saw him. THIS was Nate Silva? The kid with the glasses he'd been giving a hard time since he got there? HE was the one that was building the technology that would make them Rangers? He was starting to worry now, he knew the selection panel, he'd been working them for weeks, but Nate? Now all he could think about was all the times he called him names, all the times he taunted him about his appearance or messed around with him. Now, he was worried, what if Nate had a say in the decision? He tried to stay composed as Nate approached them.
Nate approached them, seeing Blaze in the front row. He could see the unsettled look on his face, but decided to say nothing. That said, he couldn't help feeling a certain sense of power, knowing that now Blaze was likely realising exactly who the "dweeb" he had been making fun of for months really was. He was far too scientifically minded to believe in anything as abstract as karma, but right now…he was seeing what people meant when they talked about it.
"Greetings." Nate began, ignoring Blaze, in the hopes of keeping him in suspense as long as possible. "As you know, next week we'll be selecting our Rangers. Before then, I'm going to be introducing you to the technology that will give you your powers."
Nate came right up to Blaze and smiled.
"I suggest you all pay attention." He told them. "It is quite powerful, and in the wrong hands…quite dangerous."
With that, he gestured them to follow him. Blaze just breathed a sigh of disbelief.
In another part of the base, Zoey was working away on the press, ensuring that the latest batch of laundry was presentable. Grid Battleforce enforced very strict uniform rules, something she was painfully aware of since that was just one of the many reasons she had been cut from the Ranger program. It still stung a little to think about. She had tried her best, but in the end, it was just one more door that life had closed in her face.
She didn't mind so much thinking about some of the candidates. Ravi was an absolute machine. If there was any such thing as an ideal candidate, Zoey couldn't think of many people other than Ravi that fitted that description. He got the top scores, he was always focused to the point of obsession, frankly she didn't mind losing out to him. She'd have been lucky to end up on a team with him.
Roxy, she could never imagine being mad at. As infuriating as some of her habits as a roommate could be, she was always one of the ones to help Zoey the most. She'd tutored her when others would have seen her as competition and shoved her away, she'd given her the books that she needed. She'd always hoped that she would end up on the team with Roxy.
She let her mind drift off a little as she tried to imagine that scene. The Ranger team, her, Ravi and Roxy. It was a scenario she could really have loved being a part of. Standing shoulder to shoulder with her best friend and…well…she hadn't so much met Ravi face to face, but since Roxy liked him so much and she had 'passed by' him often enough, she was sure he could grow on her. It was a great picture in her mind.
Unfortunately there was another image that came to her mind. Ravi and Roxy could still well be Rangers, something she would love to see, but the third slot, the person they relied on for their safety? It could be anyone, any of the remaining cadets, and one of those was Blaze.
She hated Blaze with a passion. It galled her to think of the smug little bastard being a Ranger. It was bad enough watching him swagger around the base when he was just a cadet, who had no more authority than anyone else, but believing he was because of his surname. She'd seen him throwing his weight around.
He was always the first to make sure everyone knew about it when he did something worthy of praise, but he was never around when it was time to take responsibility for anything that went wrong. He was quick to point out the flaws in others but aggressively shut down any conversation about his own shortcomings. He was talented enough, as much as she hated to admit it, but it did concern her to think that he might be in the position of having responsibility over the safety of people she cared about. The man had no regard for anyone but himself, the thought of him being a superhero was worse than a bad joke, it was downright terrifying!
The only comforting thought she had was the fact that she now knew that Nate was the one making all the Ranger technology. She hated the way that Blaze had treated him, she had seen him giving Nate a hard time from when she first arrived on the base. She wished she could be a fly on the wall and see Blaze's face when he realised who Nate was. He wasn't on the selection panel, but surely they'd have to take his opinion into account right? She had seen Blaze become a complete suck-up around the officers and other ranking officials on the base, and knew he was used to sliming his way into the favours of those in prominent positions. She almost wondered how much squirming he'd do now he realised he had to play nice with Nate.
She knew that Nate was a pretty easy-going guy. The time he took her out to the woods to install the new invisible fences had been a wonderful day. He never once talked down to her, or made her feel inferior. Well, not intentionally anyway. It was tough not to feel inferior when she was around him. He was a brilliant and talented young man, and being around him, around the man that made all the technology she was reading about in her favourite environmental journals for the last couple of years, it was tough not to feel like a child by comparison in his presence.
He was more than just smart though, he was also kind and caring. She still couldn't get over the image of him stroking a cheetah as casually as anyone else would a housecat. It was one of the most incredible things she'd ever seen. She couldn't for the life of her imagine being able to say that she had stroked a cheetah, but thanks to Nate, she now could. Her mind was a million miles away as she recalled the adorable image of Nate with the large cat.
She was snapped back to reality as her daydreaming caused her to lose her attention on the job she was doing. She had activated the press too early, when it wasn't closed, causing steam to blast out straight at her. She managed to get her hand up to block her face, but as she fell backwards to the floor, she could already feel a searing, agonising pain all the way up her arm.
She looked down to her arm, seeing that it was already turning a deep shade of pink. She'd managed to pull away before she was caught full on, but it was pretty clear she was going to need to see the medic. She shut down the press to prevent any more accidents, and got to her feet, before starting to make her way to look for the medic.
Back in the lab, Nate was taking the prospective Rangers on the tour, letting them see the various weapons he'd already developed for their use.
"Now, these are transport modules. With these, we can transport matter from one place to another with a simple command." He told them. "Roxy, would you be so kind as to hold out your right hand?"
Roxy looked a little bit hesitant, but she did as she was told. Nate punched a few keys into his controller.
"Now, if you'll all keep your eyes on that Morph-X Blaster right there." Nate told them. He completed the command, at which the blaster disappeared. They were all a little surprised, but before long Roxy noticed a weight in her hand. She turned and was stunned to see the blaster appearing in her hand.
"Wow! Now that could be useful!" She said. "Um…does it transport anything…?"
"Only objects within the field of the devices." He told her, taking the blaster back and putting it back on the rack. "Those of you chosen will be given devices that will be able to summon weapons to your location at any time, meaning that the storage and transport of weapons will be a non-issue. Now, for the best part."
He brought them all before a large device. It was a huge contraption, with three pods beneath a series of tubes.
"Those of you chosen will undergo your upgrade here." Nate told them.
"Wait, upgrade?" One of them asked. "What upgrade?"
"You are some of the best candidates we could find for the Ranger tech. Your physical and mental gifts have set you out from the others." He said, but wishing he hadn't as he saw Blaze still standing there. "However, that doesn't mean we can't improve upon it. When the towers are fired up at the public launch, the chosen candidates will all be standing right here in these pods. Morph-X will flow through this device, splicing your DNA with animal DNA, enhancing your strength, speed, reaction time…"
"Wait, wait, wait…hold up!" The cadet piped up again. "DNA? You mean you're going to what? Turn us into mutants?"
"Well, I wouldn't put it quite that way, but…yes, in a manner of speaking we will be mutating you…"
"You want to turn us into mutant freaks?" The guy shrieked. "What, are you going to give us tails or wings or webbed feet or something?"
"I've already done all the calculations and the mutation will enhance your biological abilities but will not affect your appearance or higher brain functions in any way…"
"No way man, no fucking way!" The cadet screamed.
"Cadet, control yourself!" General Burke snapped.
"Listen man, being a Ranger involves a few changes." Jason told him. "Even those of us that didn't get some kind of super powers were altered a little and…"
"No way, not a chance! NO!" The cadet put down flatly. "I've done everything you asked. I ran for miles, climbed walls, blasted targets, did tests, but turning into some kind of…freak? No way! That's it for me! Screw that!"
"Is that your final decision?" General Burke asked him. The cadet just nodded.
"I'm not letting this freakshow turn me into some kind of monster!" He yelled. General Burke just sighed.
"Well, I can't stop you, that's your right to decide." General Burke replied. "Anyone else?"
There was no answer. General Burke looked to Commander Shaw.
"Would you mind escorting the cadet to his quarters to retrieve his belongings?" He asked.
"Not at all." Commander Shaw replied. With that, she guided the young cadet from the room. General Burke looked to the rest of them.
"Now that's dealt with, Nate, if you wouldn't mind carrying on with the tour." He said.
"Of course." Nate said, seeming to be unfazed by what had just happened. "Just this way, we have the simulators. If you'll follow me, I'll let you begin your exercises with them. Your final assessment will be based on piloting a Zord."
As they were about to head for the simulators, Roxy bumped into Ravi, brushing past him. He was about to apologise, when he realised there was something in his hand. She saw a note, which he opened out. It had a very rough sketch of a face on it, with a very simple note.
"I think I'd look cute with whiskers, don't you?" It asked. Ravi looked to Roxy, who just smiled and winked. He couldn't help smiling in response.
In another part of the base, Zoey had gotten to the medic's office and was waiting to be seen. She'd already run her arm under cold water as she was sure she'd be asked to do, and was just waiting for someone to come and see her, more to make sure it wasn't more serious than she first thought and to log the accident than anything else.
She couldn't believe she'd done anything so bone-headed. She'd worked in the laundry for months, she'd used the press more times than she could count, how had she managed to make such a simple mistake and cause this? She was lucky she hadn't taken it full in the face, and while she was sure she was going to be sore as hell for a while, she didn't want to make a fuss since she knew it was completely her own fault.
She hadn't been paying attention, she was daydreaming about the Ranger program. About Blaze and Roxy and Ravi and Nate…she had managed to get so caught up in it all that she had managed to screw up one of the simplest jobs in the entire laundry.
"Alright Ms Reeves, sorry for keeping you waiting." The medic said as he arrived. He took one look at her arm. "That looks angry, are you feeling alright?"
"Apart from feeling like the dumbest person in the whole base, yeah, I'm fine." She grumbled. He just laughed.
"Don't worry, it's perfectly natural to feel like that when we have an accident. Believe me, I've seen some doozies in this job." He told her.
"Yeah, I think I have all of them beat." She told him.
"Don't think that for a second." He assured her. "If it wasn't for doctor/patient privilege I could tell you stories that would make you doubt humanity. Now, let's have a look at that arm."
As he started inspecting it, Zoey just looked away. She knew he was trying to help, but right now, for some reason, the only thought through her mind was hoping that Nate wouldn't hear about this.