The following day, the Rangers all made their way to school. Gia was more than a little reluctant, since Cat had only just arrived, but there really wasn't anything she could do about it other than bunking off, something that her mom had made abundantly clear was not going to happen. Although Eric and Louise now knew about their identities as Rangers, and it bought them a certain level of leeway, nothing was going to convince them that letting them skip any more class time during their senior year, arguably the most important year of their lives, was acceptable behaviour. After all, all going well, they would, like most of the past teams, one day defeat their enemies and retire, and it wasn't like they could put "Power Ranger" on their CV.
Cat walked with Gia and Emma to the school, making her way inside. They found Noah, Quinn, Allison and Jake all talking by some lockers. As they got closer, Jake smiled.
"Well, look who got into town!" He called out as Cat came closer, greeting her warmly.
"I was planning to come back for Thanksgiving." She told them. "I got a message from Gia, and it sounded like things have been pretty wild here recently, so I got an earlier coach."
"You're skipping school?" Noah asked. Cat just shrugged.
"I'm already ahead on a lot of my classes." She assured them. "It won't take me long to get caught up in anything I missed. I just wanted to come and see you all."
"Well, we're all really glad to see you." Quinn assured her, hugging Cat tightly. "So tell me, how is LA? I've heard..."
"It's really different. Everything's so far apart." She told them. "No wonder they call it a city on wheels, you need a car to get pretty much anywhere. The food's amazing though!"
"Well, we'd love to hear all about..." Allison started to say, but her words tailed off as she noticed Troy and Jordan arriving. There were a lot of students who were noticeably quiet as they arrived. It wasn't really that much of a surprise, the only surprise was that Jordan had come back to school so soon after the General's funeral. As they got to the lockers, Jordan just silently started to work the lock.
"Morning Emma." Troy greeted his girlfriend, pulling her in, kissing her gently. As he looked around, he saw Cat standing nearby. "Um...OK, this is déjà vu. Cat, no one said you were back in town!"
"She came for Thanksgiving a little early as a surprise." Gia said happily, gripping Cat's arm excitedly. "How's...How's Jordan holding up?"
Troy looked over his shoulder to where Jordan was trying to open his locker, seemingly with little patience for the combination lock. He just sighed.
"He's still not saying much." Troy admitted. "We've all tried to get him to talk, but he's just...you know...well...you all know what he's like."
As Jordan came back over, carrying some books with him, they all noticed the students parting to let him pass. Everyone was staring at him. There were a few whispers, but it was pretty alarmingly quiet.
"Wow...did I miss something?" Allison asked as she looked to the students in the corridor talking. Jordan just looked a little bad-tempered.
"They're scared of me." Jordan told her bluntly. "Why wouldn't they be? I mean, they all think I did it right?"
"You did...?" Quinn started to say, before realising what he meant and looking alarmed. "You think that they...?"
"Why wouldn't they? I mean there's no sign of the guys that killed him is there?" Jordan responded sharply. "Even the cops think I did it."
"Jordan, I'm sure..."
"You don't have to sugar-coat it Emma, I'm realistic." Jordan cut her off. "I mean, there's always some bullshit reason to kill your folks right?"
"Jordan." Principal Kwann greeted him as she came over. Jordan just stood with his hands on his hips as she approached. "I'm...um...I'm a little surprised to see you."
"Why? I called to say I'd be back." He reminded her. She just looked to him sympathetically.
"I was hoping you'd reconsidered for your sake." She answered. "But, it is up to you. I can't force you to stay at home. All I can do is remind you that there is a guidance counsellor, and my door's always open if you want..."
"Thanks, but if I wanted to talk, I'd talk." Jordan told her, before storming off. Trini just watched him go with a sigh.
"He's just..."
"I know a lot more about what he's going through than you realise Troy." She assured him. "I trust you'll all keep an eye on him."
"We'll try." Cat stated. "He's just so angry right now, it's hard to get him to say anything without...you know...having to duck for cover."
Trini just looked to Cat a little curiously, pointing to her before looking to the others.
"Didn't she transfer?" Trini asked them.
"Uh...yeah, she did." Gia answered. "But she was kind enough to offer to help us design the Thanksgiving pep rally float."
Cat just nodded her head frantically.
"Yeah, that's right." She stated. "Gia asked for help, so here I am."
"Well...come with me to the office for a visitor's badge, and don't interrupt any classes." Trini told her.
"Kay kay." Cat answered, looking back to Gia. "I'll meet you in the gym to go over designs at lunch alright?"
"I'll see you then." Gia replied as she left. The bell rang, indicating the beginning of the first class.
"She's helping us with the float now?" Emma asked. Gia just shrugged.
"Cat's crazy good with all that artistic stuff." Gia reminded them. "Besides, don't you think building a float inside four days we need all the help we can get?"
"I guess so." Jake answered. "In the meantime, the bell waits for no one. Time we were off to class."
Meanwhile, in the underwater base, Metal Alice was working on the console when Vrak activated the communications link.
"Metal Alice, have you completed your repairs yet?" He asked her.
"I have master." She answered him, running her fingers across her new face plate. "The damage was minor. I've been working on an amazing new robot prototype."
"The initial tests with Rotox did yield promising results, and allowed us to gather a lot of data." He conceded. "I'll need the superior strength offered by your technology to finally rid myself of those Power Rangers. They've been a thorn in my side long enough."
"It will be done as you command my Lord." She replied. As he severed the communications link, she punched in a few keys. "Indeed, I might even say...it'd be my pleasure."
As lunch time rolled around, Gia and Emma dragged Noah and Troy with them to the gym, finding Cat happily doodling away on her sketch pad. Jake and Jordan were practicing, getting ready for the Thanksgiving game against Stone Canyon. Noah and Troy really hadn't intended to help, but they weren't really given much choice in the matter. Noah had been the one to talk them into needing to build a float in the first place, so he had been made to come and help, while Troy was kind of black-mailed into it by Emma. As they arrived, Cat got up from her seat.
"I took into account the time frame we have, and the materials we have available." She told them. "So, what do you think of this?"
She showed them the first sketch, which they all looked at thoughtfully. The expressions on their faces showed that they didn't really think much of it to be honest.
"Um...it's...something alright." Emma said rather diplomatically.
"It's...um..." Gia started to say. "It's really good, but...what's with all this stuff?"
"Is that a kettle?" Troy asked, pointing to a section of the float. "And what is that?"
"They're mittens!" Cat explained. "Don't you all get it? It's about Thanksgiving right? All the things we're thankful for?"
They all nodded, still completely baffled.
"I themed it after the song 'My Favourite Things'!" She explained. "It's all the things we're thankful for!"
"That's definitely one way to go." Troy told her. "But maybe we should check out some other ideas...you know, something a little closer to the traditional image with pilgrims and suchlike?"
"Oh...well, that was only one sketch." Cat answered as she flipped the page. Just then, they heard some screaming from the soccer pitches. Gia sighed.
"OK, I knew things were going too quietly." She stated. "Cat, stay here."
As they ran out, Cat just looked back to her first drawing and sighed.
"I thought it was good." She lamented, before shrugging and looking to some of her other designs.
As the Rangers got to the soccer pitches, they found that most of the team had already fled. Only Jordan and Jake remained, surrounded by Loogies. They were keeping them away as their team mates fled. The arrival of the rest of the Rangers quickly turned the tide in their favour.
"See how your fellow humans flee?" Metal Alice asked as she arrived on the scene, carrying her tablet. "Your behaviour is so predictable. It also shows why you are inferior. None of my followers would flee and leave me to face an army myself. All for one and one for all as your famous book says. It's a shame for you that only is a work of fiction."
"And yet you're using Vrak's Loogies...biological creatures." Jake taunted her as he disposed of a couple of them. "I guess it takes you a while to make up your robots."
Troy leapt into battle with Metal Alice, hoping that if he went for her, he could keep Jordan out of it. He had already proven at least once that she got into his head any time they fought.
He found himself struggling to get through her guard. Her technique was unlike anything he had seen before, and her mechanical precision and reflexes made it seem like she had an impenetrable defence. He eventually spun away from her as she narrowly missed a strike that looked like it had every intent on separating his head from his shoulders. The others formed up around him as they finished the last of the Loogies.
"You Rangers never learn." She sneered at them, looking behind her. "Come here Robot 1C0."
They all looked behind her, to where a new robot emerged. They seemed more than a little confused as they saw it. It was a truly bizarre creation, but at the same time, something about it seemed strangely familiar.
"Destroy the Rangers!" She instructed it. The robot just stood stock still and stared blankly at them.
"Are you kidding me?" Jake yelled incredulously. "Is she trying to make her own Robo Knight?"
"That's meant to be me?" Jordan yelled angrily. It did indeed bear a lot of similarities to his armour, and a lot of the technology seemed superficially to be similar...he guessed that this was what she meant when she told the Rangers she was gathering data on them.
"It is a counterpart to your Robo Knight...only without all the...surplus parts." She stated, looking to the robot again. "Robot 1C0, destroy them!"
Again, the robot just stood, completely unmoving, and just stared, not even at the Rangers. It was like it was staring through them. Staring at nothing, not registering anything.
"Robot 1C0 comply!" She yelled at it. She glared at it, and shoved it with her hand. "Don't just stand there attack!"
Noah let out a little derisive laugh.
"It looks like your little prototype has a few bugs in it." Noah teased her. "Looks like you rushed out the beta version a little early."
"Quick, this is our chance!" Troy told them. They assembled the Megaforce Blaster, while Jordan prepared the Vulcan cannon.
Jordan levelled his blaster, almost feeling that this was it. Metal Alice had finally made an error in her calculations. There were no Loogies, and her robot appeared to be a dud, meaning that this was their one opportunity to attack her with no one to sacrifice themselves for her. He took careful aim straight for her chest.
"Dynamic Victory Charge!" They called out as they opened fire. Metal Alice grabbed her robot, using it for seemingly the only purpose it now had, as a speed-bump. She tossed it straight in the line of fire, the blasts hitting it full on. The robot lumped to its knees, before falling face-first on the ground, sparking as it hit the floor.
"My creation was a complete failure!" She screamed, before hitting some keys on her tablet and teleporting away. Jordan rushed towards where she had been, and then let out a huge roar as he realised they had missed their chance.
"She got away!" He yelled at them. Emma though was just staring at the robot lying on the ground.
"She left her robot behind." She remarked.
"Yeah, I mean, the least she could have done was clean up after herself." Jake commented. "I mean, look at this thing. It's going to ruin the turf if we leave it here!"
The others just looked at him in amazement.
"The game's three days away! Having the home pitch is the only advantage we have!" He reminded them.
"Why didn't she take it with her?" Troy asked. "Last time she took Rotox back to recycle."
"I guess she figured that it was a failure, so she just discarded it." Noah suggested. "It didn't look like it had anything beyond basic command recognition..."
"Look, he's moving!" Gia interrupted him, pointing to his hand. Jake clutched his Snake Axe closely.
"Be careful, it could be a trap." He warned them.
"Well, we'll soon fix that." Jordan stated, levelling his Vulcan Blaster in its direction.
"Sensor overload!" The robot commented, clutching its head and looking completely confused. It was as if it had no idea where it was, or what it was meant to be doing. Its movements were shaky and uncertain. "So dizzy."
As it sank to its knees, Emma saw Jordan aiming straight for it. With a gasp, she threw herself in the line of fire.
"Emma, what are you doing?" Jordan demanded.
"Wait, don't hurt it!" She told him.
"Emma, it's a robot. It doesn't get hurt." Noah reminded her.
"No, but it was ordered to attack us and it didn't." She reminded them. "Maybe...maybe it isn't bad."
"Isn't bad?" Jake asked her sceptically. "Emma...it's a robot that's designed as a weapon! It's meant to kill and destroy!"
"But it didn't." Emma reminded him again. "Maybe his programming is glitched, or doesn't work properly. You saw how he didn't respond to Metal Alice's orders."
"So?" Jordan asked her.
"So...Metal Alice left him behind." Emma replied. "Apparently she doesn't know that he's still functioning...at least...it's kind of functioning."
"Emma, it could be a trap." Jake reminded her.
"Or...it could be an opportunity to get to understand her technology." She reminded them. "After all, she doesn't seem to realise its still functioning."
"So we have a sample of her tech just lying at our feet!" Noah responded excitedly. "We can study him!"
"Fine, let me begin the dissection!" Jordan snapped as he levelled his blaster again. Emma grabbed his hand, shoving his blaster aside.
"Or...we could just...you know...ask him." She stated, making her way over to the confused robot. She knelt down near him. "You don't have to be afraid of us. We won't hurt you."
"Emma, I know you have a big heart." Gia told her, shaking her head. "But come on, this isn't like that badger you nursed back to health...or those foxes you left food out for...or...Emma...it's a ROBOT!"
"Right now, it's just a confused creature that isn't exactly a threat." Emma told her. Gia just looked to Troy, who stepped forward.
"You can trust us." Emma assured the robot.
"Can trust you." It repeated. "Won't harm Robot 1C0."
"Hold on Emma." Troy told her, coming to her side. "We might be moving a little too fast. I'm not so sure we can trust it. What do the rest of you think?"
"Robots aren't built for deception are they?" Emma asked Noah. "Unless they're programmed otherwise, if you ask them a direct question, it'll always answer honestly right?"
"I...guess so." Noah answered warily. He didn't claim to be an expert on all things robotic, but as far as he was aware, basic programming meant that any machine would always answer any query honestly within its knowledge. If a computer was asked to add two and two, it had to be programmed beforehand to say anything other than four.
"Robot 1C0, are we your enemies?" She asked it. The robot scanned its databases, finding nothing.
"No listed enemies." It assured her.
"So you won't attack us?" She asked.
"Robot 1C0 is only programmed to attack listed enemies." He informed her. Emma just looked to the others, who were still far from happy with the situation, but could tell when Emma wasn't going to give up on what she believed in.
"Fine, but we need to be careful and keep an eye on him." Troy told her. "Not to mention, we need to check him out, analyse him to see what we can learn. Maybe if we find out what's wrong with Robot 1C0, we can figure out a way to defeat other robots."
"I'll see what I can find out." Noah told him. "I have study hall the rest of the day."
"Still, Robot 1C0 is kind of a mouthful." Emma stated, looking to the robot. "Would you mind if we called you something shorter?"
"What does Pink Ranger wish to designate Robot 1C0?" It asked her. Emma just smiled.
"R-1-C-0...how about RICO?" She asked it. The robot looked at her, before tapping itself in the chest.
"RICO?" It asked. She nodded.
"She's naming it?" Jake asked. Troy just sighed and shook his head.
"I guess it's one of the things I love about her." He answered. "Emma loves a wounded bird...even if that bird is made of steel."
"My name's Emma." Emma introduced herself to RICO. "Now, come with us. We need to get you somewhere you won't be seen, somewhere people won't try to harm you."
"RICO will go where Emma says." He responded. As Emma and Noah started to lead it towards the gym, intending on keeping it in storage until they could move him somewhere more suitable, Jordan just threw his hands up.
"Seriously?" He asked.
"It's like Noah said, maybe we can analyse it, see how Metal Alice's tech works." Jake suggested. Jordan just rolled his eyes and stormed off.
"When you all want to visit reality, maybe I'll join you." He told him. "The only good robot is one that's in a million pieces!"