Sarah was in her room, working hard as usual. It was pretty much the norm for her to disappear into her room following dinner; her parents understood that the final years of school pretty much set her up with all her options for university. She didn't have many worries about getting in, she'd received offers for scholarships from a few since she was fourteen, but the harder she worked, the more doors opened up and the more exciting options around the country and even the world opened up for her.
Sarah was a bright girl, she always had been, but especially the last couple of years she had become more and more obsessed with achievements and bolstering her applications for colleges. She already had unconditional offers from some of the best, Yale, Harvard, St Andrews, Oxford...but any she hadn't received offers from she almost took as a challenge and looked into whatever they looked for in candidates to make her application more appealing.
She wasn't working on her High School homework; she had finished with that ages ago. The truth was if she wanted, she could probably skip the rest of school, but her parents weren't keen on her going to university too young. Her parents had told her that college was the best time of their lives and greatly opened up their minds to the world, but whenever the subject came up about her going early, they always became quickly quiet and would only say that a some life experience was a good thing too and that they thought a couple more years' growth could help her deal with some of the strange new things she would see and hear in college.
She had to smirk at that. Strange new things? Inside the last year, she had assisted the Dino Charge Rangers in their battles in Amber Beach, and after the move had ended up becoming a Ranger herself. Since she'd already had her body switched with a monster, helped create a Zord, fought aliens and been swallowed by a giant spider...she wondered what exactly college or university could throw at her that would be 'unusual'. Still, she wasn't working on her school work, right now; she was working on a weapon for her team.
Well, it wasn't a NEW weapon, it was the Ninja Blasters they already had, but in their last battle, when they had used their blasters on Ripcon, it had occurred to her that they weren't powerful enough to put him down. They had lucked out when he had fled the battle, but Sarah didn't believe in leaving things to luck more than once. If their blasters had a little more kick...perhaps if they found themselves with a shot again they could take him down.
Their swords and their morphers channelled the power of Ninja Power Stars, and she saw no real reason why the blasters couldn't do the same. It would just take a little work to do so. Or at least, that was what she thought when she burnt out the circuit boards the first time when the power output was too high. Now, her room was covered in notes and equations as she tried to figure out the best way to harness the power without turning whoever pulled the trigger to charcoal.
Sarah had always had a very science and technology inclined thought process. She had scores of notebooks all over her room that were nothing to do whatsoever with her schoolwork. Some of them never bore any fruit, being long-forgotten while others had ended up becoming some of her greatest creations, such as her hoverboard which as far as anyone knew was possibly the only one in existence. When she ran out of space or didn't have a notebook to hand, that was when the post-its and random notes came into play. While most teenagers had posters on their walls of their favourite pop stars or movie stars, Sarah's walls were covered with random notes pinned to the walls, some connected with pieces of coloured yarn. Her dad often joked that it looked like something from a serial killer's lair in a movie but he was a little concerned that now at times he forgot what her wallpaper looked like!
There was a ringing from her computer, but she didn't look up from her blaster.
"Go for Sarah." She said, utilising a programme of her own design to activate the Skype link by voice command. "Dr Morgan I presume."
"You know at some point you're going to have to come up with another joke." Kendall answered. "I saw your message; I got in contact as soon as I could."
"Are things busy at the museum?" She asked.
"Not exactly, I'm in Millport at the moment." She answered. Sarah just smiled and turned to the computer.
"Millport?" She asked. "Spending Thanksgiving with the future in-laws?"
"Well, yes, that and getting the lay of the land." Kendall told her. "It's really not THAT far of a drive to Amber Beach from here, so I was thinking of getting a place out here."
"Really?" Sarah asked her. "I never thought of you as a country girl."
"Matt wanted to stick close to his mom. I did try to convince him we should get the Romero place, but the locals are all really superstitious about it." Kendall told her. "After the Romeros disappeared, they said it was cursed, that's why no one else has bought it."
"They're not far wrong." Sarah said with a shrug. "Listen...I've got a few ideas how to improve our blasters, I was looking for a second opinion on them."
Sarah clicked a button to send a message to Kendall. She started to look over it, but furrowed her brows.
"Um...Sarah, I don't think this is the right thing." Kendall told her. "It seems to be a message from your principal."
Sarah checked her e-mail and realised her mistake.
"Oh, sorry that was the wrong message." She stated. "Principal Hastings was reminding me I need to hurry up and sign up for extra-curriculars; they're closing sign-up this week."
"There's quite a lot here." Kendall told her. "Have you had any thoughts which you'd like to do?"
"I don't know, I'll probably just pick three, maybe four." Sarah said with a shrug.
"You're thinking of doing FOUR extra-curricular activities?" Kendall asked her. "Wow, talk about ambitious!"
"So says the woman with six Masters Degrees and a PhD at 27." Sarah teased her.
"True, but...um...Sarah, what is all that on the walls behind you?" She asked.
"Oh, just a few notes." Sarah answered. "Look, are you really wanting to talk about my interior decorating or can I get you to look over these?"
"Sure." Kendall said as she received the correct e-mail from Sarah. She started to look through it. "Alright, this is a little awkward because I haven't really studied how your Ninja Stars work, but at my best guess, I'd say that you're on the right track."
"Yeah, as long as I don't mind blowing my arm off when I pull the trigger." Sarah stated. "The power output burned out the first attempt; if I'd caused an explosion my parents would have killed me!"
"Yeah, the problem with power output is the return force." Kendall said sagely. "Believe me, I know all about harsh recoil."
"So, any ideas?" Sarah asked her. Kendall started stroking her chin as she thought about it.
"Well...have you considered a dampening field?" Kendall asked her. "It could help prevent blow-back..."
"But it would also restrict the range." Sarah concluded. Kendall just looked into the screen.
"It's a pistol, not a sniper rifle." Kendall reminded her. "How far are you likely to be from your enemy when you use it?"
"Not far enough, but that's the nature of the business I guess." Sarah answered. Just then, the door opened behind Kendall and a figure walked in. A Stetson was placed over Kendall's head as Matt kissed her on the cheek.
"Hey there, I thought we agreed no working over the holidays." He said to Kendall.
"It's not work, it's..." Kendall started to say.
"WHOA!" Sarah called out as Matt pulled off his shirt, covering her eyes. It was only then that Matt realised that Kendall wasn't working, but was on a Skype call.
"S...S...Sarah, hi!" Matt stammered, forcing a smile. "Um...how are you?"
"Grateful you stopped at the shirt!" Sarah replied. "I understand congratulations are in order."
"Oh, um...yeah, thanks!" Matt answered. "Yeah, we were talking about it for a while, and now that Kendall's looking at buying some land out here, I'll be looking at building a place."
"Wait...you're going to build a house?" Sarah asked.
"Well, yeah, there aren't any places on the market out here." Matt told her.
"Other than the Romero place." Kendall reminded him. Matt noticeably shuddered at the mention of it. Even though he was young when the Romeros disappeared without a trace, there was still a lot of mystique about the whole incident. Most of the kids would dare each other to go into their land, like a local haunted house...but the bravest of them only ever managed to get as far as the front door of the house before running away. Certainly no one in town ever contemplated buying it!
"Yeah...that's not happening." He told her. "Besides, there's something very frontier spirit about it you know? Building your own home with your own hands? I kind of like the idea."
"Well congratulations both of you." Sarah told them. "I'm expecting an invite to that wedding!"
"Yeah, we should manage that." Kendall answered as Matt put his arm around her. "Let me know if there's anything I can help with...oh, and try not to spread yourself too thin."
"What's that meant to mean?" Sarah asked her.
"School, extracurricular activities, Ranger duties?" She listed. "There's only one of you Sarah. You don't want to spread yourself too thin."
As Kendall signed off, Sarah heard the door open behind her. She hurriedly pulled a sheet over her blaster and turned to look at her dad as he came in.
"Sarah, I saw the light on...you're still awake?" He asked her.
"Obviously." She answered. "I just have to finish..."
"Whatever it is, you can finish it tomorrow." He told her. "It's time for bed."
"Dad, you can't impose curfew on me, I'm still in the house." She chuckled.
"You also have school tomorrow." He reminded her. "It's eleven thirty!"
"It is?" Sarah asked, turning to look at her alarm clock. She sighed as she realised he was right, she had completely lost track of time. Her dad came over to her and put his arm around her.
"When you're at college, you'll have more than your fair share of all-nighters, but right now that brain of yours needs rest." He told her. "All this extra-credit stuff is commendable, but not at the expense of your well-being."
"Dad..."
"Hey, take it from someone that knows a little something about not taking care of himself." Her father stated. "Take care of yourself. There's no point being the smartest person in the room if you're too run down to do anything. Good night."
"Good night." Sarah answered as he left the room. Sarah shut down her computer and started to get ready for bed, but something kept playing over and over again in her mind. Two people she cared about had reminded her that there was only one of her, and that she could only accomplish so much. She looked around for something to write on. She knew her dad meant well, that he only wanted her to get the rest she needed and take care of herself, but if she could pull this off, she would have all the rest she wanted!
Up on the Warrior Dome, Cosmo took Wrench through the ship.
"Mr Cosmo sir, are you sure about this?" Wrench asked him. "I'm not a talent scout, my expertise is engineering..."
"Wrench my boy; you have expertise in a lot of areas. I didn't hire you because you know how to work a computer or mix chemicals, I have hundreds of people that can do that." Cosmo said as he looked to him, patting him on the shoulder. "You have an expertise that no one else on this ship does. Who do you think I'd ask for advice how to swing a sword? Odious or Ripcon?"
"Well...Ripcon." Wrench stated.
"Exactly! That's exactly why I wanted to pick that big, beautiful brain of yours!" Cosmo stated. "Um...some of that IS still brain right?"
"I've put in cybernetic enhancements, but yes it's my brain." Wrench answered.
"Good, I wouldn't want to offend." Cosmo said as they got to a door. He activated a hand-print scanner and the door opened, but as they stepped inside, Wrench saw a noticeable shift in the decor of the ship. While different areas were decorated differently, they were in general made of metal. All of this area seemed to be made of wood. They made their way to a large, heavy door that was flanked by two guards, both of them slaves. Wrench would have expected Kudabots to be guarding the door, so he felt this was a little odd.
"What is this place?" Wrench asked him.
"In here, we have a unique creature." He told Wrench. The cyborg just looked to the door, seeing that it was locked by several heavy beams blocking the door.
"In there?" Wrench asked. While it was surprisingly low-tech, he had worked for Sledge long enough to be able to recognise a prison when he saw one. Whatever was on the other side of that door was not there by choice!
"Yes my boy!" Cosmo told him, clicking his fingers and indicating to the guards to unblock the door. They removed the beams, before gesturing to them to leave. "My boy, in this business you quickly realise there are many ways of getting others to do what you want. The most obvious is to pay them, but another is..."
"...to give them an option that's preferable to the situation they're in." Wrench concluded. That was a pretty accurate description of Sledge's inmates. Cosmo just pointed to him and smiled.
"And that's what I like about you my boy! Sharp as a tack!" He responded, before heading inside. There were no lights, and Wrench had to adjust his optics to see. It was then that he saw a monster locked in what could only be described as a pillory, locking him in place. It was a mechanical creature with a head that looked like a satellite dish. Cosmo lit a burning torch and came over, illuminating the room.
"Wrench, meet Hacktrack!" Cosmo told him.
"Cosmo! You...you...you came here!" Hacktrack said in an electronic tone. "Please let me out! I promise I won't do it again!"
"Who is this?" Wrench asked him. "Why is he a prisoner here?"
"Hacktrack here is a technical whizz, one that I think could even give you a run for your money." Cosmo told him. "He can hack virtually anything! That's why I have to keep him here! Any technology and he could..."
Wrench started to judder and shake, before finding himself moving towards the prisoner. He was raising up his axe, about to set him free, but Cosmo hit Hacktrack in the face, at which Wrench suddenly regained control. Wrench just shook his head, realising what he had done.
"He...he...he took control..."
"He's a menace, the worst kind of criminal!" Cosmo said with disgust in his voice. "I couldn't trust the authorities to handle him, so I decided to deal with him myself."
"Cosmo, I promise, I won't do it anymore!" Hacktrack begged him. "Please, let me go!"
"I will let you go; you can finally be free to go wherever you want...and believe me I never want to see you again!" Cosmo assured him. "I just need you to do one thing for me!"
"Anything, ANYTHING!" Hacktrack rushed out. Cosmo just smiled.
"I just want you to do what you do best." He answered. "Guards! Cut him loose and bring him to my office. I'll brief him there!"
As they left the cell, Wrench pulled into Cosmo.
"What did he do?" Wrench asked him. Cosmo just looked to him.
"Copyright theft!" Cosmo answered. "The bastard hacked my broadcasts and streamed them for free! I hate pirates!"
The following morning, Sarah woke up, raising up from her desk. She had fallen asleep there, working on her latest device. She had always had random and frequent ideas for devices to build. Some of them never got beyond sketches, others were lying in a half-finished state all over her room and the garage, but especially recently, she found herself always analysing everything, trying to imagine a way to make it work better or to create a new device that could do the task better.
She peeled a sheet of notepaper off her face, and yawned, stretching out. She hadn't had anything like enough sleep, she couldn't think when she had fallen asleep, but as she was about to get up to head to the bathroom and wash up, she saw a small, spherical device on her desk. Turning it over in her hands, she smiled as memories of the previous night came to her. She had done it, she had actually done it! Looking across the desk, there were four others the same.
"They say two heads are better than one." Sarah said to herself. "Five should make it a breeze!"
A/N: OK, sorry to do this, I don't mean to be a killjoy, but I would like to ask you to spare me a few moments of your time. I've had good experiences on here, but I wanted to take a moment to comment on something that has happened on Social Media lately.
I won't say who, and why isn't important, but a former Ranger cast member has received considerable harassment lately. While this isn't exactly anything new, many have, this has been a concerted campaign of harassment that has caused considerable upset. They posted a very worrying message that has me and many others concerned for their welfare. It caused me so much concern that I have reported the post out of concern that they may be in danger of self harm.
I know that my readers here are good people, and I do not for a moment believe any of you to be involved, however this has angered and sickened me so much that I would ask that you all be on the lookout for any such signs of concern. The cast of the show have provided us with so much joy, and it is unfortunate that people feel it is acceptable to target them in this vicious and cowardly way. Online harassment is a very real thing and the last thing I want is to see any tragic stories unfold. Thank you for your time.