Dillon and Summer came into the room Ziggy and Dillon shared, finding him sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands.
"What's the word on Tanaya?" Ziggy asked them. Summer placed a hand gently on his shoulder.
"We left before she finished, but she hadn't changed her mind by the time we left." She informed him sadly. "You know how she gets when she's made up her mind on something."
"She can't do this!" Ziggy snapped, grabbing a bedside lamp and launching it across the room, smashing it against the opposite wall. "She has no right!"
"Ziggy we agree with you." Summer assured him. "Neither of us feels right about what she's doing. Sure it'll make holding her prisoner harder, but no one deserves what's happened to Tanaya. She deserves help."
"We would never have gotten to the orphanage in time if she hadn't opened her communications relay." He reminded them. "She helped Sam; we owe it to her to try at least right?"
"Ziggy, we agree with you." Dillon reiterated. He was almost as angry as Ziggy was, not least because in explaining her reasons for refusing to remove her spinal implants Dr. K had made perfectly clear the fact that Tanaya wasn't human. He knew that their implants and upgrades were different, but she was a series 7 as well. Much of the technology that was inside her body, augmenting her abilities was the same as the technology in his. As much as she had accepted his position as Ranger Black, it still didn't feel great to think that she didn't think of him as anything other than a machine.
He had done everything that had been asked of him and more. He had defended the people of Corinth, and he had even protected the other Rangers on more than one occasion and yet if her attitude to Tanaya was anything to go by, she still couldn't see past the implants and see him as anything other than a machine. Did that mean if the situation was different she would be willing to leave him to his fate? Or worse, to try and liquidate him herself? What did he have to do to prove himself?
"I just wish there was something we could do for her." Ziggy sighed as he crossed the room and started to pickup what was left of his lamp. "I can't get those implants out by myself, none of us can. Dr. K's the only one who could, and she refuses to do anything to help."
"Look, you can understand her worries, Tanaya's a powerful enemy. She's probably just worried about what could happen if she managed to get free of her cell." Summer told him. "I'm sure in time we'll be able to convince her to help, but it's a pretty big thing to ask from her. She's already saved her life, and you know that would have to have been against her instincts."
"I did have to pretty much beg her to remove the implant from her heart." Ziggy conceded thoughtfully. "She also said that we'd need to wait for her body to recover enough from the first surgery anyway."
"I know this is hard, but we can't do anything for her right now." Summer told him. "We'll think of something."
"I really hope so." Ziggy replied sadly. "I wanted to save her; I wanted to stop Venjix from hurting her and destroying her, but now? All I've managed to do is take her out of one prison and put her in another."
Summer could empathise with that thought. It hadn't been too long ago that she'd had to spend time in prison as a result of Ronan's evil mind games. She couldn't bear the thought of another person being in a similar situation, and as much as Tanaya had done to them in the past, she had been trying to make amends. She was confused as a result of Venjix's programming, that much was clear, but she had shown with her recent actions that her heart was beginning to over ride the apathy she had shown before. It wasn't right to allow her to suffer like this.
"Ziggy, I promise you that we'll help her in any way we can." She assured him. "I promise."
Down in a secure room, Tanaya started to come to. She lifted her head, looking around her new surroundings. The last thing she could remember was the incredible pain in her chest as her heart was shut down by the implant, and the darkness creeping in as she closed her eyes and prepared to accept her fate. She was sure that her plan had worked, this would be her end. She already couldn't move, and so all she could do was watch as the world slipped away. The Green Ranger was the last thing she saw as everything faded to black. She hadn't given any thought to waking up again.
She still couldn't move, or feel anything below her neck, and realised to her sorrow that the other implants were still active. The room was dark, and she couldn't see properly. Her visor had been removed, and unaided, her vision was not sufficient to see where she was. She could only see far enough to realise that she was in a seated position, and that her wrists were secured to the arm-rests of her chair by strong steel restraints. A horrible thought crossed her mind, had Venjix retrieved her and brought her back? She was sure that she would be destroyed; she had intended to ensure she would never be forced to harm others again. She wished at that moment that the Green Ranger had not forced her hand. She had been relying on the Rangers to destroy her and take the choice out of Venjix's hands. Now she was back in his clutches.
The lights came on, and she had to turn her head and close her eyes to shield them from the harsh light. She was only able to let a small moan escape from her throat, there was something preventing her from opening her mouth and speaking. As her eyes started to adjust to the harsh lights, she started to slowly open them and blinked a few times to clear her vision. It was then that she realised that she was not back in her chamber at Venjix's headquarters. She was somewhere else, but wherever she was, someone had no intention of allowing her to leave.
There were computer consoles and machines all around her, showing detailed accounts of human vitals, skeletal scans and schematics of bionics. She knew enough of her own anatomy to recognise her implants, whoever had brought her here was studying her. The vitals on the scanner ahead of her must have been hers. On a work bench nearby, she could see a small metal device, resting in a jar of fluid, which looked like a tiny mechanical spider.
"That was the implant attached to your heart." A voice behind her chair informed her. Tanaya's head snapped forward. Being unable to move below the neck, she was unable to locate her tormentor. There was a reflective surface ahead of her, which allowed her to see for the first time the extent of her predicament.
She was in a steel chair, much like the one Venjix used to hold her during her regeneration, though it was far bulkier and obviously less advanced. Despite her paralysis, she was secured in place by several bulky, steel restraints, locked in place. Several tubes and wires were inserted directly into her body, obviously there to analyse her functions. A steel muzzle had been secured in place over her nose and mouth, preventing her from opening her mouth, presumably as a precaution against her biting anyone. Her captor was clearly taking no chances with her. She saw a small movement in the reflective surface, and heard a couple of footsteps. Dr. K finally stepped into a position where she could be seen.
"I have removed the implant from your heart; your life is no longer in immediate threat." Dr. K informed her. "I have to admit that I had my doubts when Ranger Green asked me to save your life, but now I can see certain advantages to keeping you around."
She crossed over to the table, picking up the jar with the implant in it. She turned around to face Tanaya, presenting the jar to her.
"This is the first time I've ever had working Venjix technology to study." She informed the helpless cyborg, turning the jar in her hands and studying it with a curious fascination. "Normally by the time I get my hands on it, the Rangers have all but destroyed it."
Tanaya grunted a little at this. Because of the muzzle, she couldn't speak. She was not used to fear. She had felt it when she knew her life was completely in Venjix's hands. Now of course, she was afraid because while her gaoler had changed, she knew her life was still not her own. She was now at the mercy of this human.
"Yes, that includes the technology in your body." Dr. K answered the question she was sure Tanaya would be asking. "Your body had technology far beyond anything I've ever retrieved intact. It will tell us a lot about the enemy we're facing."
She put the jar back down on the table. Tanaya stared at it intently, feeling an intense surge in her heartbeat and her jaw tightening. She hated that thing. This was the thing that had taken everything from her. It had been used to force her to attack the orphanage. It had almost stolen her life, and now it had put her in the clutches of this woman.
"These devices will study all of your implants and update our databanks with all the new information we can gather, while the others will ensure your survival." Dr. K informed her, continuing to monitor a few things. "I'll be back later when I have more data to go on."
As she left, she turned off the lights, plunging the room once more into darkness. Tanaya rested her head on the back of her chair and sobbed gently. She had hoped her plan would work, that her suffering would end. Now though, it appeared that the only thing that had changed was the face of her captor. It seemed that she was destined to be a prisoner.
Flynn arrived at the hospital, carrying a large bag of grapes and a couple of magazines as he went to visit Sam. It had now been a couple of days since Tanaya had given her the transfusion, and he had heard from the doctors that she had made startling progress with her recovery. Because of recent events, he hadn't seen her as often as he'd have liked, and he was desperate to see her again and cheer her up. As he got into the room, he found her with a doctor, walking around the room on crutches. She was a little shaky on her feet, and the effort showed on her face as she walked, but given the prognosis only a few days beforehand, it was miraculous. Flynn couldn't help smiling to see her on her feet.
"You'll be running marathons in no time." He said with a childish glee as he watched her turn to face him. She flashed a bright smile at him and made her way towards him, slowly and delicately, and leant in, kissing him. The doctor gave a small cough.
"I think that's enough for right now." He declared with a little grin as he left. "We weren't expecting you to be this active by now. It's probably best to let you rest up a bit and try a little more tomorrow morning."
As he left, Flynn helped Sam back to the bed and helped her sit on it, taking the crutches from her and resting them against her bedside cabinet. He reached over, taking her hand gently.
"I haven't seen you recently." She greeted him, reaching up and stroking his cheek. "I was starting to miss you."
"Sorry, things have been a little busy lately." He told her in an apologetic tone. "I came as soon as I could. Oh, I brought you some stuff."
He handed her the gifts, which she considered. She almost burst out laughing as she pulled out a large, somewhat threadbare bunch of grapes, which only had about half the grapes left on it and was mostly stalk.
"I take it you were hungry." She giggled as she looked at him. He was a little embarrassed about giving her half of his intended gift.
"Sorry, you know I always get a little peckish when I've got a lot on my mind." He reminded her. "It's been a really bizarre day."
"Would you like to talk about it?" She asked him, adjusting her position on the bed. Flynn let out a sigh; he didn't really know what to tell her. Between finding Scott with his brother's flight recorder, and his reservations over Dr. K's stance regarding Tanaya, it had been more than a little bit of a trying day.
"We caught Tanaya." He informed her nervously. He still wasn't really sure how to feel about her. She had given Sam an incredible gift by assisting her recovery with the blood transfusion, and she had saved the orphanage by alerting the Rangers to Venjix plans t turn her loos on them. On the other hand, she had kidnapped the woman he loved with all of his heart, and she had almost killed both of them. Because of her, Sam had been made to face the prospect of spending the remainder of her life in a wheelchair. "Dr. K's holding her at the lab."
"Oh." Sam said, her face dropping a little. Flynn didn't know how to read her expression. She seemed to be as confused about the situation as he did. "What happened?"
"It seems Venjix hasn't been too happy with her performance lately. He added a couple of implants that were designed to be activated to punish her. He used them to force her to attack the orphanage." He explained. "During the battle, she stopped attacking and one of the attack bots activated them. It caused her to lose all control of her spine and her heart to fail. Ziggy managed to get her back to the Garage where the doc saved her life."
"Oh my God, that's barbaric!" Sam exclaimed, holding her hands over her mouth in horror. "How is she?"
He got a slightly nervous smile on his face as he heard her say this. Just like him, Sam had a lot of reasons to hate Tanaya; it was because of her she'd ended up in the hospital. Of course she was also grateful to her for the transfusion, giving her renewed hope for a full recovery. Even with the conflict, he knew it was just like Sam to be worried about her condition. She hated the thought of anyone suffering, even someone she had good reason to hate.
"She's being held at the doc's lab." He continued. "She's under total lockdown; the doc doesn't want to take any chances with her. We've all voiced concerns, but she pulled rank on us."
"Flynn what are you talking about?" Sam asked him. "What did she do?"
"It's more what she hasn't done." Flynn told her. "There are implants in her spine that render her quadriplegic. Apparently Venjix wanted a foolproof way of restraining her. The implants are active, so Tanaya can't move. Dr. K doesn't want to remove them in case she's a danger to us."
He could see the look in her face and could feel the anger radiating from her. It was understandable in a way, she had been paralysed below the waist for a couple of days, and it had left her feeling helpless. Tanaya was in the situation of being completely paralysed, and if Dr. K had her way, that was how she was going to stay.
"Flynn, we have to do something!" She shrieked at him. "We can't let her stay like that, we owe her too much!"
"Sam, you can't get worked up like this." He reminded her. "You have to rest if you want to recover. We'll try and get Dr. K to change her mind, but it won't be easy. She can be a bit unreasonable when she's made her mind up."
"Please Flynn, you have to try." She implored him passionately. "She's made mistakes, but you said it yourself, she's tried to correct them, even when she knew that it could lead to her being destroyed. No one deserves to be treated like this, please."
"I promise I'll try Sam." He told her. "I promise."
"There's still something bothering you isn't there?" Sam asked him, noticing a slight reluctance in him. "You can tell me anything. You know that right?"
Flynn had to commend her ability to see through him like that. He was more than a little worried about Scott. He had explained that he had found the flight recorder from Marcus' plane, and he had been listening to it continuously for some kind of clue as to what happened. He wouldn't have been as worried about that if it wasn't for one other thing Scott had said. The cockpit of the plane was empty. He had somehow convinced himself with that one fact that Marcus might still be alive.
He could understand his desperation for that to be true. Although he had never met Marcus, he had heard Scott talk about him many times, and he knew how much he looked up to him. He had always said he couldn't understand how a Venjix drone could shoot him down. Finding out about this had given him something a little dangerous. It had given him a small measure of hope.
It was a tragic fact that most of the people of Corinth knew a few people who hadn't made it to the city. The worst part was always not having closure, of not knowing. Given time though, most accepted the inevitable. Flynn had more than a few friends that never made it, and had come to terms with the fact that they would not have survived out in the wastes with Venjix's armies.
Scott though had taken an understandable, though somewhat unrealistic view that since his brother was not in the cockpit at the crash site, that he had either ejected, or survived impact and left the plane. He was desperate to know if his brother was alive or not. In some ways it would have been less cruel if he had seen Marcus' corpse in the plane. Then he wouldn't have this potentially harmful mindset.
Scott knew that Flynn wasn't convinced of his faith in his brother's ability to survive, and had simply assured him that it wouldn't interfere with his Ranger duties. He had sworn him to secrecy about the flight recorder and his belief that Marcus could be alive somewhere. Flynn had only agreed so long as it didn't get out of hand.
"It's OK Sam." He replied. "There's something going on with one of the others, something I've promised I wouldn't say anything about."
"It's OK, I'd never ask you to betray a friend's confidence." She assured him. "Just, promise me you'll try and help her."
"You know I will pet." He responded, drawing her into a kiss. "You know I will."
Meanwhile, back at the Garage, Ziggy made his way to the secure room, beginning to take a look at the lock in the hope of finding some way in.
"It operates on a retinal scan." Dr. K informed him. "It's set to only my retina."
"So you're locking us out?" Ziggy asked her a little incredulously. "You don't trust us?"
"I'm the head of Project Ranger." She reminded him. "I don't see why I should have to justify myself to you."
"I don't know, maybe because I'm a part of Project Ranger!" He snapped. "Why aren't we getting in to see her?"
"You don't need to know that." Dr. K replied. "You have no business here."
"I do have business here." He answered her. "You're deliberately letting a person suffer!"
The commotion had disturbed the others, who were upstairs having dinner. Scott, Summer and Dillon came down to the lab from the main room to see what all the noise was about, finding them arguing.
"Ranger Green, you are not responsible for the technological or research…"
"I don't give a DAMN about your research!" Ziggy interrupted her aggressively.
"Whoa, back it up Ziggy!" Scott warned him, putting himself between them. "You both need to calm down."
"I'll say you do, I could hear you from outside!" Flynn told them as he arrived. "What's this all about?"
"It's about what Dr. K has planned for Tanaya." Ziggy replied coldly. "She's locked all of us out of that lab. Only she's allowed in."
"Ziggy, sometimes we don't need to know what Dr. K does behind the scenes." Scott reminded him. "We've trusted her research this far…"
"Her research never involved a prisoner before." Dillon chipped in, causing them all to look around. "What does she have to hide? What is she planning to do with her?"
"I'm planning to research and study her implants." Dr. K stated. "It's the first time I've had working Venjix technology at my disposal."
"You're getting to study our enemies' technology." Scott concluded. "See, there's nothing…"
"How?" Ziggy asked her. "You plan to do x-rays, scans, stuff like that right?"
"That's correct." Dr. K replied.
"What do you plan to do with her long term?" He asked her. "I mean, surely you can't plan to keep he here like this forever."
"Only until she's no longer a threat to us." She said with her usual dark tone.
"Since you're the only one that's getting to see her, I guess you're the one that decides if she's dangerous." Ziggy commented bitterly. "You know, there is a monster here, and it isn't in that room!"
"Ziggy, you're out of line!" Scott reprimanded him. "I'm not happy about either, but Dr. K…"
"What do you suppose she'll do if the scans don't tell her what she wants to know?" Ziggy asked him. "Would you put it past her to perform an autopsy?"
"Strictly speaking if the subject is alive it would be vivisection." Dr. K corrected him sarcastically. All of the Rangers looked at her in shock.
"I don't know about you, but I thought Rangers were meant to help people." Ziggy stated, ripping his morpher off his wrist. "Consider this my vote of no confidence in you doc. Either you're off the team, or I am."
"If that's how you feel Ranger Green, then I'll take your morpher." She said, extending a hand. "It's not like you were chosen or anything."
"You'll have to take mine too." Dillon interrupted her, tearing off his own morpher. "If you can treat a person like that, I can't trust you."
"I'm sorry Dr. K, but I'm really not comfortable with this either." Summer told her, pulling out her morpher. "We can't sink to Venjix's level, otherwise, how are we any better?"
"I was going to ask you to reconsider." Flynn said, pulling out his morpher. "Now, I'm going to join them and tell you."
"Scott?" She asked nervously. Of all the Rangers, she was sure he was the most likely to respect the chain of command and back her up. Surely he had to realise the danger Tanaya could put them in. He looked between the Ranger s and Dr. K, before making his decision. He shook his head gently and pulled out his morpher.
"Five to one, you're out voted. The vote of no confidence is unanimous." He told her sadly. "You will not have exclusive access to her to study her. You will help Tanaya, and you will open that lab to us, or you will leave Project Ranger."