Four members of the Scorpion Cartel were thrown roughly into the skybox of the race track by their comrades as Fresno Bob paced the room impatiently. Benny waited by the bar, fixing himself a hot chocolate as he awaited what was to come. Every member of the Cartel had been ruthlessly questioned about their whereabouts on the night Scott was attacked until only four remained who did not have alibis that could be backed up by anyone but each other.
"I know a little freelance work is done on the side." He began as they stood up. "I used to do a little myself back when I worked for Icepick. Of course, I always knew the golden rule."
He took a sip from his coffee mug and approached them menacingly. He eyed them up judgementally.
"You never do anything that jeopardises your day job."
"Sir, if I can explain..."
"Explain what Geoff?" He interrupted one of the henchmen as he tried to stammer out an apology. "Explain why you broke the no-touch rule on the Rangers?"
"Sir..."
"The Rangers are the most visible people in the city!" He snarled as he slapped the gangster. "The only reason we exist is because Colonel Truman isn't focusing all his attention on us! Did you think at all before you kicked the crap out of his son?"
"Sir, we didn't know who the target was until the attack." One of them added, causing Fresno Bob to glare at him. "The guy came to us and offered us 10,000 a piece to rough up the first guy to come out of the tailors shop. He never told us it was Truman."
"So when you found out you were meant to attack the Red Ranger you went ahead with it?" He asked him angrily. "What part of 'don't touch the Rangers' do you not understand?"
"It was ten grand!" He replied, but immediately he regretted it. The Cartel member behind him clubbed him across the back of the neck, sending him to the floor. The others were quickly grabbed and held in place.
"Now, we're in the shit big style, all because all of you valued the continued success of our business as less than 10 grand." He replied, gesturing to a door. A small man, with bleached white hair and thick glasses stepped inside, and the men all immediately began pleading for their lives. "Mr. Smith, it's time to earn your pay check. I need to know who hired these idiots to attack Truman."
"I'll find out." He replied, setting down a brief case and opening it. It contained a number of blades, saws and devices, all gleaming and immaculately clean. They were instruments of torture, and he had studied how to use each of them extensively. It also contained a few less-refined instruments, including barbed wire and a taser.
"Start on that one." Fresno Bob stated, pointing to one of them. "He seems talkative."
"It was Corporal Gates!" He yelled in his panic. "Please, don't hurt us, we didn't mean to endanger the business, we just thought it was an easy job!"
"Well I hope you all spent that money well." He replied. "It's about to pay for a three hour session with Mr. Smith here. You may begin."
As Benny and Fresno Bob left the room to allow Mr. Smith to begin his sadistic work, Benny made a mental note to forward this information to Ziggy. When facing Mr. Smith, armed with a copper pipe and barbed wire, no one dared to lie. Gates was the man they were looking for.
Back at the bunker, Gates left Dr. K's cell, finding one of the senior cultists outside the door waiting for him.
"We kidnapped her as you asked." He began, fidgeting nervously. "She is the Ranger's friend. This is a lot to bring down on ourselves. I must ask..."
"There is a purpose to her being here my loyal deacon." He replied, slapping his hand on the robed cultist's shoulder. "We're beginning Project Strychnine as I promised."
"Really?" He asked.
"That is why she is here." Gates replied. "Soon, the mission will be complete."
"We will have a superior race." The cultist replied. "She will manufacture the virus?"
"She has no choice." He replied. "By the end of the day, you will all have your vaccines."
"This will be a glorious day for humanity." The cultist replied, walking away.
"You have no idea." Gates replied.
Back at the Garage, Ziggy was with Tenaya, easing her nerves before the procedure as his cell phone went off. He checked the caller ID, finding that it was Benny who was calling.
"Benny, what's going on?" He asked his old friend.
"Fresno Bob found the guys that attacked your friend." He informed him. "They're enjoying a session with Mr. Smith."
Ziggy sucked his teeth at the mere mention of the name. He almost felt sorry for them, Mr. Smith was not only good at his job, but he enjoyed it too. His name was legend in the Cartel. Everyone knew that a session with him was a living nightmare.
"So do we know what happened?" He asked.
"They said they were hired by a guy called Corporal Gates." Benny replied, checking that no one was listening. "He paid them 10 grand a piece!"
"I knew Gates was a jerk, but this is way beyond what I expected of him." Ziggy stated. "He's involved with The White Rose?"
"That's for you to find out." Benny said, looking around again. "Fresno Bob's probably looking for me, I have to go. Good luck Ziggy."
"You too big guy." Ziggy replied, hanging up and putting his phone away.
"Gates is behind this?" Tenaya asked him. Ziggy nodded.
"It seems so." He told her. "It'll take a while to be able to prove it, especially since we have no idea why he had Scott attacked."
"Perhaps he's jealous of him." Tenaya suggested.
"I think it's something deeper than that." Ziggy replied. At that point, Sam came into the room.
"Summer's prepared the lab." She told them, steadying herself on her crutches. "You'll have the somewhat dubious honour of being my first living patient."
"Ziggy?" Tenaya asked fearfully.
"I already told you, I'll be there." He stated in answer to her unasked question. He made his way around behind her, and started pushing her chair towards the lab. "Everything will be fine."
Dr. K was working in her cell, working through the kinks in Project Strychnine. Gates came into the room, making his way behind her and stroking her shoulders.
"How is it coming?" He asked her.
"Slowly." She muttered. "It has many of the problems it had before."
"Will a working version be ready by the time the ceremony comes?" He asked her.
"It'll be up and running by then." She told him. As much as she hated doing this, she knew she didn't really have a choice. "It does seem like a strange plan given your agenda. Surely there are more efficient ways..."
"Have you ever read 'Alice in Wonderland'?" He asked, interrupting her.
"15 times before I was 6." She responded. "Why?"
"Do you remember the poem about the Carpenter, the Walrus and the Curious Oysters?" He asked her. Dr. K recoiled into her seat.
"They don't know what Project Strychnine is, do they?" She asked him. Gates laughed.
"Why do you think only I'm allowed to enter your cell?" He asked her. "Keep working."
As he left, Dr. K felt a new sense of dread. Gates clearly placed no value on life, and was willing to sacrifice anyone to get what he wanted. It was a bad idea to let him get his hands on Project Strychnine, but she didn't have a choice. If he carried through on his threat and made sure the people of Corinth knew what she had done, she knew she would wish for death long before it came.
Back at the Garage, Tenaya was lifted onto the table in the lab and restrained. Sam prepared her tools for seemingly the millionth time.
"You don't have to do this lass." Flynn reminded her. "I know..."
"Flynn, I owe her everything. If it wasn't for her I'd still be in a bed in hospital." She reminded him. "I might have been crippled for life if it wasn't for her."
"She was the one that hurt you." He reminded her. "Look..."
"It's the first time I'm working with someone that's still alive, I'm nervous enough." She told him. "Please, I'm no Dr. K, just help me alright?"
"You know I will." He replied. "I just don't know about this plan."
"I don't either." She replied. "We do what we have to."
"Are you almost ready?" Ziggy asked as he held Tenaya's hand gently.
"Flynn, spread the lotion." She instructed her boyfriend. He started spreading it across her lower back. "I have to say again that I really don't feel comfortable with this, if you want to back out..."
"We don't have a choice." Ziggy reiterated as he slid under the table to look up into Tenaya's eyes, keeping a hold of her hand. "We know you'll do fine Sam."
Tenaya smiled, seeing the Green Ranger before her. It felt right to have him there. Somehow she just felt like everything would go alright as long as he was there with her.
"OK, here goes." Sam replied, taking a scalpel from the table next to her. "I'm making the first incision."
Back at the bunker, all the cultists congregated in the main meeting hall, awaiting the sermon by their priest, Gates. There was more than a few murmurs of excitement. Word had spread that The White Rose was close to achieving their goal of a single race.
Gates made his way onto the stage, eliciting a cheer from the crowd. He silenced them with a gesture.
"I know it was top secret, but by now I'm sure you all know that Project Strychnine is well underway." He stated, causing another cheer. "The virus will soon be released, meaning anyone that does not have our pure blood will be exterminated like the rats they are!"
Again the cultists cheered and applauded. He silenced them with another gesture as his deacons handed out syringes.
"Now, all that remains is to immunise ourselves." He told them, holding up a syringe. "For our race!"
With that, all the cultists injected themselves. Gates meanwhile, did nothing. He just watched as they injected themselves. Shortly afterwards, one of the cultists fell to his knees and began coughing up blood. One by one, they all started falling and convulsing on the floor. Gates threw his syringe on the floor, shattering it.
"What did you do?" the deacon to his right asked him as he sank to his knees, feeling every inch of his insides burning.
"I wanted a strong race, but sadly you aren't part of it." He replied.
"But our White Brothers..."
"Are idiots!" Gates snapped. "Do you honestly think I give a crap about this white supremacy bull? I believe in the Symmetry effect."
As the deacon fell to the floor, Gates got into his face.
"Any species that evolves to the point its members are too genetically similar succumb to a single virus and become extinct." He told him. "I want a strong race, but you are all idiots. If you weren't, you would have seen this coming LONG ago."
He got back to his feet and looked down at his unfortunate victim as he thought about what he had done. He stomped down hard on the man's chin, snapping his neck.
"Your ignorance and intolerance made you easy to manipulate." He commented as he watched the others dying. "Idiots deserve to die."
Back at the Garage, Sam pulled the implant out of Tenaya's back, breathing a sigh of relief as the operation was over. Flynn held her closely.
"You did good lass." He said reassuringly. She put the implant into a kidney dish.
"I still need to close." She replied. "Tenaya, are you sure everything's alright?"
Flynn touched the sole of her foot, causing her to flex it by instinct.
"I felt that!" She screamed in her excitement, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I felt that!
"I told you everything would be fine." Ziggy told her from the floor. He was cold, and more than a little stiff as a result of lying on a concrete floor for almost two straight hours, but he didn't care. Seeing her smile was all he needed to let him know his ordeal was worth the effort.
"I've finished." Sam stated as she cut off the end of the suture. "Try not to overdo things for a few days. Flynn? I seriously need a drink."
"I think I can arrange that darlin'." He replied, leading her out the room. Ziggy helped Tenaya gingerly back into her chair.
"Shouldn't you be securing my restraints?" She asked him as he lowered her into the chair. "I doubt Dr. K would be impressed if she knew you..."
"Dr. K isn't here." He replied. Tenaya smiled.
"You trust me." She commented. "Why?"
"I guess it's just in my nature to give people a chance." He replied.
"You really think of me like that, don't you?" She asked him. "As a person I mean."
"Of course I do." He replied. "How else would I think of you?"
"I wouldn't like to say." She muttered, suddenly becoming a little self-conscious.
"What I said before still applies." Ziggy told her. "Nothing will happen to you while I'm around, I promise."
"But..."
"Nothing will happen." He reassured her as he began hooking up her life-support systems again. "Not while I'm here."
Tenaya reached up and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him down and kissing him deeply. Ziggy's eyes shot open in amazement. He was attracted to her, he couldn't deny that, but this was far more than he could ever have expected. As she released him, she looked into his eyes.
"You make me feel good." She told him, feeling a warmth in her chest she couldn't explain. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He finally managed to stammer out as he left the room. He knew a cold shower was in his immediate future. He was attracted to Tenaya that much he couldn't deny to anyone, least of all himself. She had only kissed him as some form of gratitude for releasing her from the imprisonment of her own body Venjix had created. He knew she couldn't return his feelings. How could she? She was a robot.
Meanwhile, Tenaya felt the aching loneliness as the door slid closed. She hated it when Ziggy left her. As much as she hated the way Venjix had treated her, hated her enslavement she liked her new life. She was still a prisoner, she was still a slave, but something about Ziggy was all that was needed to make it all seem worthwhile.
Back at the bunker, Gates walked into Dr. K's cell.
"It's done." She told him.
"I knew you'd see sense." He told her. "Project Strychnine is alive and well."
"This is a bad idea." She told him.
"It was just scrapped because of archaic moral codes that the useless old bastards in the ethics committee came up with." He replied. "You and I know there are no ethics in science."
"There should be." Dr. K replied. "They're ready."
"I guess it's my turn then." He replied, stepping onto a raised platform. "Remember the safety protocols I've programmed in. It's time for Project Strychnine to see the light of day."
Dr. K just hit the enter button and watched as the platform Gates was on raised into the ceiling. She didn't want to unleash this onto the world. Only Venjix eclipsed the evil of Project Strychnine. Of course, she knew she didn't have a choice. Gates had won.
"Help me Scott." She whimpered as she watched the download bar increasing, indicating the progress of the procedure. "Forgive me."