Power Rangers: Public Enemies
Chapter 15: The blind leading the blind
"This is an outrage!" George Sears slams his fist onto his podium. "It's one thing to force them to register with the Government. But…what you are trying to do is a clear violation of everything this Country stands for! Everything this country was MADE for!"
"Mister President, yesterday's events are a clear indicator that we have underestimated the Ranger threat." President of Congress, Al Schroeder, keeps his composure. "We underestimated them. We never thought they would attack unprovoked."
"No, 'they' didn't attack unprovoked! Three INDIVIDUAL Rangers attacked unprovoked!" George Sears now looks disheveled. His hair is a mess, his shirt is wrinkled, his sleeves are somewhat torn. The veins in his hands are pulsating. "We know who they are, we can bring them to justice. But what YOU'RE suggesting, that's not justice!"
"Mister President, please sit down." Congressman Alan Shrub takes a sip from his water bottle. "You are in a house of Law and Order. Act like it."
"Don't tell ME how to act!" Sears knocks down the podium.
"Remove the President from Congress!" Al Schroeder slams his gavel. "What a shame, such a magnificent country as this has to have such a BARBARIAN as it's leader!"
President Sears regains his composure before the guards grab him. He straightens his tie, buttons his sleeves, fixes his shirt, and combs his hair. The guards, who waited patiently for him to finish, are stunned when Sears asks them to please get out of his way. Sears, his head held up high, shows himself to the door.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Congress. As the President is no longer fit to lead the Nation, I would like to propose two things. First, we veto his veto on Project Justice. Second, I'd like to take a vote of No Confidence, for the impeachment of George Sears." Al Schroeder takes out some papers.
Sears storms into the Oval Office. He grabs his lamp, and throws it to the wall. He rips up any paper he can find. He completely rips out his Bible, his copy of Also Spracht Zarathustra, and many other books. However, he stops short of ripping out his copy of Plato's 'Republic'. He calms himself down. He flips across the pages. He gently places his copy back on his shelf.
"Hey George. The Religious Right is gonna have a field day when they realize you ripped your bible apart." Jeremy Irons, Vice President of the US, steps in.
"Jer, they did it. They fucking did it." George slumps himself unto his desk. "They signed the one bill to end this country. Project Justice."
"Remind me what it was?" Jeremy picks up the torn papers off the floor. "No way in hell I'm letting anyone have ammo against my best bro."
"Project Justice is an operation, headed by the CIA and the FBI, which will hunt down every Power Ranger. They will utilize the information we have gathered from when they registered, hunt them down, and arrest them."
"Shit." Jeremy's eyes widen at the realization, but then he remembers something/ "Currently, the Power Rangers are marked as Threat Level Yellow. They can't detain them in anything greater than a federal prison."
"This morning, at precisely 5:35 AM, they were elevated to Threat Level Red." Sears speaks in a somber tone.
"That means there's only one place they will be taken." Jeremy's hands shake visibly. "Piedra del Diablo."
"America's Hellhole. Pretty much one of only a few reasons we keep Puerto Rico as a territory." George Sears takes out his whiskey.
"No. George, remember. We've been through this." Jeremy grabs the bottle. George tries to calm himself down.
"Had I fucking known what was gonna go down… I'd never had signed that bill." George looks at his desk, cursing that particular day.
"Congress pressured you, remember?" Jeremy serves himself a shot of whiskey. "You had quite a lot of Congressmen calling you, telling you all about how the Power Rangers had done this and that."
"Hey, come on now. I'm to blame, too." George takes off his tie. "After all, I was biased too. I wanted someone to blame…for loosing my home. It was easy to blame the Rangers."
"Well, the past is there to remind us of our mistakes." Jeremy drinks another shot of whiskey.
"Jeremy…I…" Sears looks at his papers. He sighs, defeated. He gets up, and accidentally knocks some papers down. He picks them up. He suddenly sees a small disk. "What's this?"
"Isn't that one of yours?" Jeremy looks at the disc. "It's got your company logo on it."
"A Gigabyte disc. Yeah, my company stopped making these about half a decade ago. Pen drives were the new thing, you see." George looks at the disc with maximum curiosity. "I wonder why this is here?"
"Think there's something in it?" Jeremy caps the whiskey bottle, and puts it away.
"Let's check." Sears places the disk into his hard drive. A password is needed. "Damn. I guess we will never know the password."
George Sears buries his head within his hands. "This would be a good time for a Deus ex Machina, huh? Hah ha ha."
Suddenly, brilliance strikes the man. He types in what he believes is the password: Deus ex Machina. It was the right password.
"How!" Jeremy is amazed.
"My discs were always password locked. My company made those discs especially for storing 'top secret' information. During the early nineties, we sold them to the Government. Then during the late nineties, we sold them to the people. We programmed those discs to always be password safe. Always. There was this program within them, that automatically allowed the user to change the password after 5 successful log ins. The default password that we encrypted was Deus ex Machina." Sears smiles proudly at his creation. "We called it 'Digital Lock'."
"What's in it?" Irons was now deathly curious.
"Some statistics." George Sears orders a coffee from his secretary. "Huh? What are these? SOP System, Hartford Industries financial reports…what is all this?"
"Hartford Industries is the company that managed to make Ranger Technology that could, theoretically, be mass produced." Jeremy sits down. "SOP System is an old AI system that we used in our attempts to make working androids. We got the blueprints from those ruins on the Moon."
"When did we start making androids?" Sears looks on, fascinated by the information.
"Well, we thought it could be a cheaper alternative to Ranger Tech. We were wrong." Irons wipes the sweat off his brow.
"What's this? AM System, Z System… Ranger Act?" Sears drops his cup.
"AM System…my company makes that…" Irons starts sweating more now. "My God…"
"What's wrong?"
"George…AM is a System designed to allow machinery to act on its own. Using this System, we were hoping to create a special type of robot that could go to the places man cannot. We made it for purely scientific reasons."
"Z System? Do you know what that is?" Sears is now astounded by these finds.
"That is also a creation of Hartford. Using this system, two or more machines can combine to create a new one. Our military uses it to combine tanks with jets…" Irons is starting to connect the dots.
"Jer, what do these four things have to do with the Ranger Act?" Sears had connected the dots as well. "There's something big going on, Jer."
"We're blind, George." Jeremy sits down, somewhat hyperventilating. "We're the blind leading the blind…"
…...
Echo had been swimming around the Lost Sea. The Lost Sea is an area protected by the magic of Lemuria, the lost civilization. Memories stir within Echo's mind, remembering the days of Lemuria's glory. However, Echo presses on. He has no time to reminisce. He swims through the ruins of what had once been the Temple of the Ocean Goddess. The sun's rays shine through the old crystal spires, giving the water a small shimmer. The ground is laden with old marble tiles, a testament to Lemuria's ancient glory. But as I said, there's no time to take in the sights. Echo manages to find the Chamber of a Thousand Faces.
"Son of Lemuria, we welcome you." One of the Faces gains life. "We are the Thousand. What is it you wish?"
"I wish to rescue the Guardians of Mu." Echo speaks up.
"Son of Lemuria, guide to the Guardians of Mu. You're request is heard." Another of the heads gains life.
"Son of Lemuria, the Goddess has spoken. May the Green Guardian be given the Rage of Lemuria." A fourth face comes to life.
"The Pool of the Goddesses can be used one more time. If the Guardians have strayed, you may use the magic within it one last time." A broken face gains life as it says this.
"Thank you." Echo attempts to communicate telepathically with Jason. "Jason, can you hear me?"
"Yes I can, Echo." Jason responds telepathically. "Thank you for calling me. We are in trouble. Arthur and Bell have been arrested."
"Jason, I am aware. For this reason, I have sought the lost magic of Lemuria." Echo responds, attempting to keep his emotions in check.
"It must have been hard for you to return there, my friend. Thank you." Jason breathes a sigh of relief.
"Jason, I can use the teleportation magic twice. And only twice. Shall I rescue Bella and Arthur?"
"No, Echo. Many other Rangers have been arrested unfairly. We need to rescue them as well. Save your magic for when we truly need it."
"Do you have a plan, Jason?" Echo knew, he didn't need to ask that question.
"Kind of do. The risk factor is steep, though."
Echo laughs. "Did you know you were granted the Rage of Lemuria?"
"Oh? Then that means the risk factor has shot down considerably." Jason chuckles as he raises his hands. Blaise and Wind stand beside him, trusting his judgment completely, as hundreds of helicopters and military jeeps close in on them…