The research was going slowly, but Fealdor didn't mind. He would
much rather spend his time in pursuit of something real than randomly
create genetic mutations for the Rangers to blow up. He started his
research by investigating the human's newspapers. The Rangers past and
present were big news. Rampaging monsters always make for a good headline.
Fealdor was surprised to learn that so many of the Ranger teams were based in California – maybe there was something in the water, or in the general environment that produced Rangers – but, that was a topic to research at another time.
The concentration of Ranger teams in California made the next step of Fealdor slightly easier. Assuming that many of the former Rangers still lived in California, Fealdor began to scan the inhabitants of the towns where the Rangers were most often spotted. True, looking for specific energy signatures in such large populations was something like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but at least he wasn't doing a global search.
Fealdor started by scanning the energy readings of the Dino Thunder Rangers when they were engaged in battle. Then he scanned them in civilian form for a comparison. These readings he used as his base line. There were some discrepancies in the team. Most notably, Tommy Oliver's energy readings did not match the readings of his younger teammates. Fealdor chalked that up to his age and previous experience. He wasn't sure yet which information would serve him better to find former Rangers, but at this point every piece of information was valuable. It was all saved in his encrypted database, and backed up by a redundant system.
Fealdor read the scans he'd taken from the night before. He realized early on in his research that humans moved around far too much during the day to get accurate readings; he could scan the same person four or five times in a day at different locations and never know it. The best time to do his scans was at night when most of the population was sleeping. The Angel Grove and Stone Canyon scans had not registered anything unusual. Blue Bay Harbor on the other hand...there was definitely something going on there.
It wasn't that any one person there registered a different energy signature; it was that a large portion of the population didn't register at all. It had peaked Fealdor's interest, and that was the report he was reading at the time Elsa slinked in.
"What are you reading there, Fealdor?" she growled condescendingly.
Fealdor tried not to appear startled at her appearance. He quickly scanned the room to make sure nothing of a sensitive nature was out in the open for her to see. *What is she doing here? Why now?*
"Nothing of any interest to you, Elsa." Fealdor replied as he closed the report he'd been reading and held it close to his chest.
Elsa was not put off. Something was going on with the Master's lowest- level lackey, and she was determined to find out what he was up to. At this point she'd do anything to take the focus off of her own failures – maybe then Mesogog wouldn't insist she stick so close to Tommy Oliver. She darted behind Fealdor and peeked over his shoulder. "Would it be of interest to the Master?" she purred.
Fealdor tried to hedge his answer. "I have nothing of any significance to report at this time." He pulled away from Elsa and turned to face her. He tried to sound much more confident than he felt. "I'm still doing research." He broke eye-contact and clutched the report more tightly to his chest.
Elsa's eyes narrowed in speculation. She decided to let Fealdor stew in his own juices; it was enough that he knew that she knew he was up to something. "Fine. Do your silly research." She turned and started to slink toward the door. She paused before she walked out. "I'll make sure Mesogog knows you've got something underway...maybe he'll ask you to show it off for us one of these days." Elsa grinned maliciously as she turned and left.
Fealdor felt a knot of dread take up residence in his stomach. Elsa would rat him out to the Master in a heartbeat. That meant he had much less time to perfect his plan than he'd anticipated; and he hadn't even found a former Ranger to suit his needs yet. *Damn that woman!* He turned his attention back to the Blue Bay Harbor report hoping he would find what he needed there.
Fealdor was surprised to learn that so many of the Ranger teams were based in California – maybe there was something in the water, or in the general environment that produced Rangers – but, that was a topic to research at another time.
The concentration of Ranger teams in California made the next step of Fealdor slightly easier. Assuming that many of the former Rangers still lived in California, Fealdor began to scan the inhabitants of the towns where the Rangers were most often spotted. True, looking for specific energy signatures in such large populations was something like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but at least he wasn't doing a global search.
Fealdor started by scanning the energy readings of the Dino Thunder Rangers when they were engaged in battle. Then he scanned them in civilian form for a comparison. These readings he used as his base line. There were some discrepancies in the team. Most notably, Tommy Oliver's energy readings did not match the readings of his younger teammates. Fealdor chalked that up to his age and previous experience. He wasn't sure yet which information would serve him better to find former Rangers, but at this point every piece of information was valuable. It was all saved in his encrypted database, and backed up by a redundant system.
Fealdor read the scans he'd taken from the night before. He realized early on in his research that humans moved around far too much during the day to get accurate readings; he could scan the same person four or five times in a day at different locations and never know it. The best time to do his scans was at night when most of the population was sleeping. The Angel Grove and Stone Canyon scans had not registered anything unusual. Blue Bay Harbor on the other hand...there was definitely something going on there.
It wasn't that any one person there registered a different energy signature; it was that a large portion of the population didn't register at all. It had peaked Fealdor's interest, and that was the report he was reading at the time Elsa slinked in.
"What are you reading there, Fealdor?" she growled condescendingly.
Fealdor tried not to appear startled at her appearance. He quickly scanned the room to make sure nothing of a sensitive nature was out in the open for her to see. *What is she doing here? Why now?*
"Nothing of any interest to you, Elsa." Fealdor replied as he closed the report he'd been reading and held it close to his chest.
Elsa was not put off. Something was going on with the Master's lowest- level lackey, and she was determined to find out what he was up to. At this point she'd do anything to take the focus off of her own failures – maybe then Mesogog wouldn't insist she stick so close to Tommy Oliver. She darted behind Fealdor and peeked over his shoulder. "Would it be of interest to the Master?" she purred.
Fealdor tried to hedge his answer. "I have nothing of any significance to report at this time." He pulled away from Elsa and turned to face her. He tried to sound much more confident than he felt. "I'm still doing research." He broke eye-contact and clutched the report more tightly to his chest.
Elsa's eyes narrowed in speculation. She decided to let Fealdor stew in his own juices; it was enough that he knew that she knew he was up to something. "Fine. Do your silly research." She turned and started to slink toward the door. She paused before she walked out. "I'll make sure Mesogog knows you've got something underway...maybe he'll ask you to show it off for us one of these days." Elsa grinned maliciously as she turned and left.
Fealdor felt a knot of dread take up residence in his stomach. Elsa would rat him out to the Master in a heartbeat. That meant he had much less time to perfect his plan than he'd anticipated; and he hadn't even found a former Ranger to suit his needs yet. *Damn that woman!* He turned his attention back to the Blue Bay Harbor report hoping he would find what he needed there.