Power Rangers: Cyber Squad

by Patrykowski

In the year 2028, SPD ends the Ranger program in an effort to demilitarize Earth and form peace with the planet Eltar. But when the cyber terrorist known as Mesomorph surfaces as the leader of the dangerous Aleph Beyt cult with the army of Genohanced warriors, it is up to the retired Thomas Oliver to lead the first "random" team in 15 years as the Power Rangers: Cyber Squad.

34. Intro to Cybernetics 201, Pt III: Agents

Chapter 33—Intro to Cybernetics 201, Part III: Agents

Grace

My blood was still stewing, not quite boiling as it was before, but the Zordians had a way of making us feel even smaller than we already were compared to them.

"What are you called?" asked a slender, female Zordian, her piercing green eyes locking on to my own. She reminded me of my Cyber Warrior in some respects.

"I am Grace," I said respectfully, having learned from Aaron's example, and the quick "word" my dad had with me about ten seconds after we'd left the Haven. "And you?"

"I am called Amantanine," she said.

"Very pretty," I complimented, glancing up at her with a small smile.

She smiled back, and I can't say it wasn't alarming.

"We must make our way to the Zordian Frigate," Zeta said decisively. The other Zordians obeyed immediately.

"I have already patched us through," said a womanly Zordian, her metallic skin chic and thinning, but powerful and ancient at the same time. Behind her crystalline blue eyes was a sort of wisdom and mysticism I could not touch, but beneath that, was a sort of hurt. I could relate to her on that small level, but that was as far as my bond with the age-old bio-technological life form went. In the instant I felt her eyes on me, they swept away and looked back to Aaron. "You," she said powerfully, "Eyr Aryn; you must take your team back to Earth and engage the Mecha Squad."

"We would, but our Cyber Network is down," Aaron said back slowly.

"I am aware," she replied quickly. "We will re-energize your network when we arrive on Earth."

"What, you guys don't have like…teleportation?" Jay asked.

Another Zordian, a silent one who appeared somewhat brooding, looked at Jay as if he was drooling a bit. The look was condescending, like Jay had just crawled out of the primordial goo, swinging a club and sporting full-on Fred Flintstone garb. Finally, he spoke, his voice gruff. "Interplanetary teleportation is a luxury we cannot afford in Zordia's current condition."

Jay looked bashful, looking down at the ground and silently praying for someone to save him from embarrassment.

"Kaiser," Hunter called, coming to Jay's rescue, "My Arkdyr and I need to travel to Eltar to inform them of the situation; do you have an extra vessel the rangers could use to get back to Earth?"

Zeta was slow to respond, as he seemed to be thinking deeply about his decision. "We do," he finally said, "but the transport is not stable."

"How unstable is it?" Dustin asked quickly.

"It has no warp drive, shield generator, weapons, or sleeping quarters," Zeta answered.

"Well," Hunter chuckled, "I suppose we could live without the commodities."

Dustin looked uneasy, but said nothing when his monarchial mate decided for them. I found myself wondering if their entire relationship was like that.

"Aaron," Dustin said quietly to the White Ranger, "be safe."

"Always am, dad."

"Do me proud, kid," Hunter said encouragingly as he followed an unfamiliar Zordian who had said nothing thus far. "And Patrick," he shouted back, "keep him out of trouble."

Patrick laughed and returned a wave to the King of Eltar before they were gone. I looked to my own dad, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, and squeezed his arm affectionately. He smiled back.

—33—

Earth was actually somewhat peaceful when we arrived. There was no trace of the Mecha Squad, even when my dad checked the computer for faint traces of morpher energy. Nothing.

We decided there was nothing we could do just yet, so all of us opted to all crash at my dad's house to take a small break from college and rest up. After all, we were a bit jetlagged. Or would it be space lagged?

I headed to my room, Beth following me upstairs. The others were situating themselves downstairs on couches or fighting for the guest bedroom. My guess was that Aaron and Patrick won.

I stripped down as she griped about her argument with our White Ranger leader on the way back to Earth when she had blatantly insulted him for not being around more often to fight the Mecha Squad. Truth be told, he was just trying to do what he was born to do—be a prince. The ranger responsibility came second.

"I dunno, Beth," I finally said as I pulled on my boy-shorts and plopped down in bed. "Just…try to relax, yeah?"

She cuddled in with me and turned to face me. "I feel different."

"How so?"

"Well, I dunno," she started, "it's just that…you go through life thinking computers and robots and stuff is just that—robots. And then you realize that there are living computers. All this space travel and stuff isn't what I'm used to."

"And just think…Aaron has to do that all the time."

She shrugged. "I guess I was kind of a bitch to him."

"Kind of?"

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed. She sat up, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and then switched off the bedside lamp.

"You think my dad knows yet?"

"I think he might," she said earnestly after a few moments of thought. "I'm surprised no one else picked up on it. Are you still scared of telling Matt?"

"Terrified."

"It's going to break his heart."

"I think he'll get over it."

Beth was silent and then muttered, "I think you don't give yourself enough credit."

"I just don't see how he could want to be with me so badly."

"I do."

I smiled faintly at her and she kissed me softly.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention what I'd been up to in the past 6 or 7 months. When I graduated, I headed to Berkley with Beth where we dormed together. I really came out of my shell. Like, a lot. Beth was into the dance scene, and I went out a couple times to check it out and fell in love with it. I loved to dance, as my mom was a dancer; but this kind of dancing was incredible. It was a hip-hop, raw, and powerful form of dance that broke the rules I was so used to. I loved it, and so did everyone who watched me.

It became a ritual for Beth and me; we'd go out Thursday through Sunday, partying like there was no tomorrow. While Beth's clothing style was more reserved than mine, though still slightly street, my own style had changed greatly: for one, I was obsessed with glitter of any color on my face. I started dying streaks in my hair of different colors—currently it was pink—and I even became a bit more comfortable with my body. I was no longer under the influence of my mother's husband—I was becoming a real person! I loved it. And apparently, so did Beth.

I'm not really sure how it happened. One night, at a club, we just ended up making out. And I'm not sure where it really escalated from there. But it did. And before I knew it we were this awkward…couple…thing. As much as I loved Beth as my best friend…the bond just wasn't quite right. I just didn't know how to tell her.

Presently, I smiled at her and rolled over. "Night."

—33—

Amantanine and the other Zordians arrived early in the morning; 4 A.M., to be exact. There was apparently urgent news they needed to share with us, so 7 very sleepy teenagers made their way to the basement that served as our base of operations. We were all still yawning as we waited for my dad to fix the teleporter for a one-way trip to the Zordians' coordinates. Apparently, they were giving us a ride back.

"We apologize for waking you so early," Zeta said.

"We have already revamped your Cyber Network by fusing ourselves with it; now, to finalize it, we must bond with you," Amantanine said calmly to us. I felt like she was looking at me with those orb-like green eyes.

"Wait, bond?" Matt asked. "How?"

"We Zordians are a symbiotic race," one of the females said. I recognized her immediately. She was the one who asked me how she could know we'd treat them as equals. She was the bitchy one. "When we choose to partner with another being, we become one. We join."

"It's perfectly safe," Aaron reassured us. Only then did I notice he was shirtless. God, he was hot.

"When we bond, we will transfer knowledge between each other," said the blue-eyed female with the staff. She was the hurt one, I remembered.

"What the hell, let's get this over with so we can sleep," Jay yawned.

"Do you have your morphers on your person?" asked the other male who had been charmingly calm back at the Haven. He didn't speak much, but something told me he was a very Zen Zordian.

We all held our hands out, our morphers glistening under the stars and moon. Each one began to glow as they were sucked in to the chests of the Zordians. An ethereal aura surrounded the Zordians individually as they assimilated the knowledge of our world…and the information of who we were as people.

I noticed Amantanine had my morpher. She was sharing her information with me and I found I suddenly knew Eltarian, I knew Amantanine, I knew her when she was a humanoid (before she'd become a Zordian all those years ago), and I learned her as a person. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she now knew me.

According to Amantanine, the "chill" male's name was Tonyxyn. He was a hotshot Zordian pilot who had decimated armies before his death, after which he transferred his essence to that of the Zordians. Interestingly enough, Amy was his partner, which I could see working out for the best; they were both relatively calm and laidback, but full of life from what I could tell.

Sofyetta was the bitchy Zordian. She had apparently had a very tragic life, losing nearly everyone close to her in the great battle with Rita Repulsa and had only opted to become Zordian because of the war against the DigiMech. Suddenly, she didn't seem so bitchy, and I found myself understanding her a lot more. She, surprisingly, chose to bond with Matt, which I was sure would bring about all sorts of fun.

Then, still utilizing the data Amantanine had, I learned about Frankilos, the one who had made Jay look like a fool. Ironically enough, he was bonding with Jay. Frankilos was hotheaded, stubborn, and relatively arrogant, which would fit Jay perfectly, in my opinion. He was also the youngest of the Zordian council, having to somewhat prove himself to Zeta and the others.

Beth's Zordian was called Lyzabeta, which I found interesting. If my new knowledge of Eltarian served me correctly, her name was similar to Beth's: Elizabeth. Lyzabeta was the Kaiser's oldest and dearest friend in terms of Zordian history, which still didn't make sense to me. At least, not yet.

Aaron's Zordian blew my mind. She was the blue-eyed female I'd been observing so intently on Zordia. I was right about one thing—she had definitely been hurt. By her own brother, in fact. Her name was Omega, and she was the sister of Zeta and of the now destroyed Cronus. It was Cronus who assimilated her to destroy Zeta and rule the universe, only Omega was back now. Now I understood why she held such authority. She was just under Zeta in the hierarchy of Zordia.

And then, of course, Zeta re-bonded with Patrick. I didn't need any data on Zeta; I felt I knew him well enough anyway. But that was where I was wrong. Zeta was far more complicated than Aaron had led on. When he and Cronus had their final battle thousands of years ago, Zeta became two separate entities; one was Eltarian, one was Seraph. The Seraph Zeta was locked away in a digital prison, and the Eltarian Zeta, half-dead, procreated and established the planet Zordia. With his life force fading fast due to the severe change between being a Seraph and an Eltarian, he transformed himself into a bio-technological being known as a Zordian. And I thought my life was complicated. This certainly put things in perspective.

Then, suddenly, the data transfer was done. And something magnificent happened as the aura around the Zordians died down. Their skin—metal—began to change and reformat. I could see spiritual data—spiritual data!—wrapping around their bodies and beginning some sort of transformation. I noticed Amantanine's armor turn black, with pink and silver pieces reflecting light flawlessly. Her bright green eyes locked with my own and through our link, she anticipated something deep-seated in me.

She began to do something remarkable. She transformed into a sleek black motorcycle! She was curvaceous, but sharp, and sturdy but lean.

When I looked over, I saw the other Zordians doing the same thing; only they were different vehicles! Tonyxyn, Amy's Zordian, transformed into a sort of starfighter, pink and all. I had to say, Tonyxyn made pink, cobalt, and white look amazing. His overall design was far different than what I would picture Amy piloting. His wings, all six, were sharp and dangerous looking, while the actual body was jagged and powerful.

Next to him, Sofyetta had become a sort of helicopter-jet hybrid with a streamlined, yet razor sharp design. Her cool azure coloring was marked with different hues of navy and turquoise, as if she were broadcasting the northern lights from her very hull. I found it interesting that she had wings, each with mini-propellers on the top, and a main propeller on the top of her smoothed body.

I was most envious of Jay's Zordian, Frankilos. He had transformed into what looked like a combination of a mustang and some highly valuable sports car. I didn't know much about cars, but good Jesus was that thing beautiful. It was nearly all yellow, with jet-black racing stripes and an assortment of crimson markings in various locations. Upon closer inspection, I could see the practicality behind the design, as it was clearly designed for speed, but armored beyond belief. I could make out several panels that probably stored weapons, and the tires looked like they could really tear up some asphalt.

Beth's partner, Lyzabeta was a very futuristic tank that was both slim but intimidating. The sheer magnitude of power around Lyzabeta's new form gave me the chills, her red armor accented by black and gold camouflage that flawlessly embodied the element of Earth. In the center of the tank was a cockpit with a turret position on top of it, while her treads seemed to be made out of polished steel. I could tell from looking that the tank would not only demolish its opponents, but also be able to chase them down at high velocity.

Omega had become a sleek sports vehicle like Jay's, only more pointed, and smoothed with a capsule like windshield that reminded me of a sort of spaceship. She was, of course, pure white with bright blue trimmings, black decal, and gold Eltarian markings all over the body of her vehicular form. Even her wheels were trimmed in gold. Also, like Jay's Zordian friend Frankilos, one could easily tell the armor plating on the car was made for battle. Plus, the weaponry hidden behind her headlights and under secret panels would make anyone think twice before messing with her vehicle form.

Zeta had assumed a sort of Eltarian spacecraft of sorts with two sharp, jagged wings that extended longer than the actual body, but the versatility of the entire vessel was hardly doubtable. True to ranger fashion, Patrick's Zordian partner took on the ranger color scheme, a green hull shining brilliantly in contrast to the silver and black portions. The bright blue gems and cockpit were reminiscent of the cyan colors on Patrick's own ranger suit.

I remember thinking "this is what it's like to have a Zord be a part of you."

"You got that right," Amantanine said. Her voice was the same, but her dialect was…clearly Earthen?

"You can still hear my thoughts?" I asked her aloud.

"Don't worry, it only lasts a couple seconds," said Tonyxyn. His speech had changed as well! "We're not gonna be diggin' around in your minds, so your secrets are safe."

He winked at his partner Amy and she scoffed, slightly offended. "Why did your voice change?"

"Our voices didn't change," Sofyetta said, "we just talk different now. When we were bonding with you, we learned modern Earth speech."

"Really?" Matt asked. "So, like…you won't sound all…wise and stuff now?"

Sofyetta glared.

"Just kidding."

"We should really get going," Aaron said curtly, not taking the time to revel in the awesomeness of the moment. I wondered what was wrong with him.

"Aaron's right," said Omega, "you all look like you need to sleep, and you'll need to be ready to face the Mecha Squad at the drop of a dime."

"So…are we teleporting…or do we get to test you out now?" Jay asked.

"Easy, hotshot," Frankilos said, "I'll take you for a ride another time."

We were awkwardly silent for about three seconds before we burst out laughing at the look on Jay's face. I was really starting to like Frankilos.

"Teleport it is, then," my dad said. "I've converted the old Zord hangar bay if you'd like to turn it into temporary housing."

"Thanks," Zeta said, "but we're just gonna sleep in our ship, I think. It's got everything we need and doesn't smell like motor oil." He cracked a grin and I noticed my dad return the gesture.

—33—

I stared up at the giant skyscrapers covered in snow and pulled my pea coat a little closer as the snow crunched under each of my footsteps. Patrick was walking right beside me, completely silent as I finished telling him my story about Beth.

"Wow," he finally said. "That's just…wow."

"I know, right?" I laughed.

He flicked his cigarette out as we rounded a corner and entered a coffee shop, the heat hitting us like a brick wall.

"Well, is she pissed that it's over now?" he asked gently.

"Not really," I said, "but it's awkward now. Like…really awkward. Imagine if you and your roommate were dating and you broke up."

He grimaced. "My roommate's gross."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"But I know what you mean," he said, "shit's been really, really tense with Aaron lately. Like, I'm walking on eggshells when we're on the phone."

"Why is he so moody all the sudden?"

"Because I'm different now," he said confidently.

That was true. Patrick had changed almost as much as I had. He had started spiking his hair straight up instead of in a faux-hawk, and every now and then he'd rock some eyeliner. And he was wearing fitted jeans and graphic t-shirts. His jacket, as bad-ass as it was, was eccentric as hell, though not so much in the year 2030 in downtown Chicago. In Reefside, he'd be gawked at. The jacket featured various shoulder-pads of sorts that were made out of metal or something, and had lots of random zippers and spikes. I, personally, loved it. He said his new style was because he'd started listening to older music from the early 2000s, like Lady Gaga and Linkin Park; I laughed at the musical combination, but listened anyway. In the three days I'd been in Chicago, I'd learned so much more about music than I had at Berkley. Patrick was definitely an amalgamation of a jumble of things.

"But you're still you," I argued for him.

"Try telling him that. It's not like he even sees me on a regular basis anyway; not unless I'm flipping around in Green Elesferi. But even when I do see him, I tone it down a lot; I dress like I did in high school."

"Well…maybe he's not worried about the way you dress," I said slowly, carefully.

"Do I act different?"

"You're a lot more…mature. Like…I don't know. The city definitely changed you, but I like it. You're like my guru."

He laughed as he took his coffee from the barista and took a seat. "This city does that to you. I'm harder…edgier, I've noticed. And a lot more cynical. And a lot less patient with bullshit. But I've always been that way, just not on the outside."

"You should try talking to him about it," I said, sipping my coffee.

"I have," he said, "but he always gets distracted and changes the subject. But I mean, like, when we're alone, he's all lovey-dovey. And his hormones definitely haven't chilled out in the past year."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He looked at me very seriously and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Sex. Like, all the time."

I burst out laughing. "Is that bad?"

Now he laughed. "No, it's fucking incredible. It's just…I feel like he uses it as a distraction because I'm always way too happy afterward to talk about anything serious."

"So jealous," I joked. "But anyway…you said there was something you really wanted to do with me tonight. What is it?"

He grinned hugely. "Dude, when we went dancing yesterday with my friends, you were fucking incredible. Most people don't keep up with me, and you did flawlessly."

I whipped my hair dramatically and batted my eyelashes. "Oh, you know…that's just me."

He laughed and pressed on. "Well…I heard you in the shower today."

I blanched.

"You sound great," he complimented. "So I want to go karaoke!"

"Absolutely not."

"Come on!"

"But my voice is terr—!"

I was cut off by an explosion that shattered one of the windows of the café. Sure enough, out on the streets, was the Mecha Squad. While I didn't look surprised, Patrick look horrified.

"What the hell are they doing here?" he yelled over the commotion of hundreds of people screaming and scrambling.

"Oh, you know," I yelled back, "routine douche baggery."

"No, you don't understand; they never come here," he said back seriously.

We exchanged worried glances, and in seconds, knew what we had to do. My dad was going to kill me.

"CYBER DIGITIZE—ENERGIZE!" we called unanimously.

Our clothes ripped off in blazes of pure energy as they were replaced with our signature colored Elesferi.

"Holy shit, dude, did you see that?" some guy in the coffee shop called out to his friend.

Before I knew it, there were cameras everywhere.

Typical Chicagoans: downtown is being remodeled by a bunch of psycho power rangers and they're taking pictures and gossiping.

"You secure as many people as you can and call for back up, I'll keep the Mecha Squad busy for as long as I can," Patrick ordered as he activated his Digital Orymeka.

"Right!"

It didn't take long for me to get everyone to safety; most people had already run for the city's train system, but there were hordes of tourists that were within a few hundred feet of the battle. Still too close for comfort.

I reached deep down inside my core and pulled pure shadow energy from inside, and then threw it forth in a barrier of sorts to push them out.

"Everybody BACK!" I roared.

The flashes of the camera bulbs were still going off, even though my visor was adjusting to block them out.

Before I knew it, though, there were hover choppers in the sky with people repelling from them like some sort of commando.

That's when I noticed that they were like the commandoes. It was SPD.

"Fall back!" I heard Gabriel order the Mecha Squad as they began disappearing in flashes of color.

But SPD wasn't leaving.

"You two," a man in a black special ops suit called to us, his beret bearing the letters of SPD and a badge on his chest shining with the letters 'SG.'

This was a Silver Guardian SPD Commander. Meaning he was extremely high rank. The Silver Guardians had joined with Lightspeed Rescue back in 2020, and by 2025, SPD was fully operational with their own ranger team that had already saved the world. Interestingly enough, it was run by Commander Tate, who, according to Aaron, was also the Red Fury Ranger.

"You need to come with us," he said.

Patrick and I exchanged masked looks through our visors.

"Immediately," the man pressed on as he escorted us to his helicopter. "I'm going to have to ask you to demorph and hand over your morphers."

"No way in hell," Patrick shot back once we were seated and over the city.

"Kid, you don't want to start with me."

"Believe me, you don't want to start with me. I'm the one still morphed, remember? I'd suggest you stop calling me kid and realize we're on the same team here."

"Not yet we aren't," he replied. "But we will be. I'm the head of a special division of SPD known as Ranger Ops. As you know, the SPD Ranger Division was shut down by order of Commander Tate after the death of one of his rangers."

"Yes sir," I offered up, opening my visor. I wasn't about to demorph, but I could at least be respectful.

"We didn't completely shut it down. Just to the public," he pressed on. "My name is Jason Scott, and I'm probably the first person to tell you that being a ranger has to remain a secret."

"Wait," Patrick said, his visor shooting open, "the Jason Scott? As in the first red ranger?"

"As in the first Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, yeah."

Patrick and I looked at each other and about exploded at the same time while trying to tell him about my dad.

"You don't understand," I finally said, "we're working with Tommy; your old friend Tommy!"

"I haven't spoken to Tommy in years," Jason said solemnly. "Either way, he doesn't have permission from the Earth's governments to be mentoring a team of Rangers. We've been tracking the Cyber Squad for quite some time now, and though we allowed this to go on for the past few years, SPD has decided to invest in Cyber Squad so we can monitor your performance."

"Say what?" Patrick asked. "You want to…recruit us?"

"After 'an event' in 2010, Earth became very skeptical of Power Rangers, and it was almost impossible to prove we weren't trying to destroy the planet," Jason explained. "Tommy was our main hope, but he sided with Eltar and said that Power Rangers should not be a part of the Earth's government. He thought that Rangers would just be used as another weapon to start a war."

I was getting uneasy now. Why hadn't dad ever mentioned this before?

"That's when Earth published the Ranger Affairs files anyway," Jason continued. "Since then, the United Earth Alliance has been involved in just about every ranger team. Yours is the first team to be 'random' since 2010."

"Hold on," Patrick said, "so you want the entire Cyber Squad to just turn their morphers over to SPD and call it quits? We've been fighting Mesomorph alone for the past 2 years, and now you just want us to turn it over to you?"

"No."

Patrick looked confused. I don't think I'd ever seen him look confused before.

"Then what?"

"You two just exposed your identities as rangers," Jason said pointedly as the hover chopper landed atop a large, average looking building. This couldn't be SPD's Chicago HQ, could it? "I can guarantee you people are adding you on Facebook, uploading their videos to YouTube, and screening all the information about you they can get. You're essentially celebrities."

"But we're supposed to be undercover. Can't you just…I dunno, plant some government ploy and call it a hoax?" I wondered.

Jason shook his head testily. "That might've worked 20 years ago, but not now. People know Rangers are real, they just don't ever see them anymore. You two just morphed in downtown Chicago and fought the Mecha Squad on Michigan Avenue. That's huge. And Rangers need good publicity."

"So what you're saying is you want us to be figureheads?" Patrick asked, cutting to the chase.

"Exactly," Jason said, the February wind blowing harshly over the rooftop and little flurries of snow threatening to stick to his beret.

"Deal," Patrick said. "Only, I've got a couple conditions."

Jason raised his eyebrows in amusement but gave a faint smile. "I'm listening."

"I want my tuition for the rest of my school career paid for."

"Done."

"I also want a salary. If I'm working for the government, I expect to be paid by the government."

"Done."

"I also want a record deal."

"What?"

Patrick was definitely grinning behind his mouth guard, but I was completely bewildered by this. "If you want me to be a figurehead, the best way to get publicity is to be in the public eye all the time. Otherwise, you end up just being a government figure, and they're never popular. Ever. Musicians, however, span across all political parties. And I'm a damn good one."

Jason seemed to be thinking it over.

"If you're going to be a celebrity, I want you to be a full-time agent. In that case, you'll have to drop out of school, and the government will pay your tuition when you go back."

Now it was Patrick's turn to say, "Done."

"And what about you, Miss Eden?" he asked me.

I thought about it. Everything from the past two years was spiraling through my head, but all that I could really see was my future right in front of me. Who could say no to the glitz and glam of fame? I mean, Patrick had just taken this Ranger burden and turned it into a moneymaker. And God knows I needed to start doing that. I looked at Patrick as I demorphed and smiled at him.

"What he said."