Chapter Nine:

Karen's Wish

"An AI?" Gordon asked.

Princess nodded. "A very powerful AI," she said. "If it gets unleashed upon the world, CRIME will control everything."

"And you said the assassin was Ivan Callahan?" Rio asked.

Gordon nodded.

"I thought you guys left him for dead," Agent Ten said.

"I did too."

Nearby, Karen was contained within a stasis chamber, the holes in her chest slowly knitting back together thanks to some sort of nanotech Doctor Kuchar had injected into her. It burned a lot, but the doctor had promised her it would leave her without even so much as a scar.

As much as Karen appreciated it, right at that moment, she wished she were being injected with a different nanite formula. Her eyes fell on the four Ranger Capsules across the room, the one marked with a pink heart symbol still pulling to her.

The memories of the last hour still burned in her mind: the image of Vernon Axelrod, a man she had known and trusted all of her life, pulling out a gun and shooting her point blank before dragging her mother away. She felt hurt and betrayed and confused. She was second-guessing every little interaction she'd had with him her entire life, even him giving her her badge when she graduated. But even more than all of that, she felt angry.

She clenched her fist, despite the flare of pain it caused in her healing chest. This man she called "uncle" had murdered her father and had tried to turn her own mother against her. A deep rage filled her entire body, leaving her with nothing but a burning desire for revenge. She wanted him to hurt. She wanted him to suffer. She wanted to squeeze the life out of him with her bare hands.

Gordon stepped over to the stasis chamber. "How is she?" he asked.

"She's going to be alright," the doctor said, looking up from his work. "We're lucky you got her here when you did."

Gordon peered through the glass at Karen's face. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Karen looked up at him silently. "Not well," she said before turning away.

"I'm sorry about your mom," he said. "And your . . . uncle."

Karen didn't say anything.

Ten minutes later, she was released from the tube, with a large warm towel wrapped around her body. She now had three shiny spots on her chest right where the bullet holes had been. Gordon and Ten sat by her side as the rest of the crew gathered around.

She noticed one person was missing. "Where's the other agent?" she asked.

Rio looked anxious. "We had to leave her behind," he said. "But she's tough. She'll be okay for now. We'll just have to go back in for her."

He shifted slightly. He looked like he was trying to put on a tough face, but he was clearly the type who didn't hide his emotions well.

Agent Ten rubbed Karen's arm. "I'm sorry I let your mom get taken," she said.

Karen looked at the mousy little agent, remembering the comfort she'd given her mom. She couldn't find it in her to hold it against her. "It's alright," she said.

Her eyes fell on the capsules again, and all the rage and fury she felt at Vernon came swarming back in on her. "I want to be a ranger," she said.

Everyone looked surprised. "What?"

Karen looked around at them all with a serious face. "I want to be a ranger," she repeated. "You have one more that hasn't been activated, right? I want to be that ranger. I want to help you take down CRIME once and for all."

The team looked at each other. Doctor Kuchar ruffled his mustache. "You do realize," he said gently. "That my procedure is complete and total transformation. You will not be the same, inside or out, and your life will change drastically. Both Gordon and Rio had to give up their careers to undergo it. In fact, no one who has ever become one of my cyborgs, not Ivan Callahan, not the old blue ranger, my first test subject, or even the current green ranger, have lived a normal life since. The green ranger endured so much trauma from his death and resurrection through it that he's still in recovery."

"I know," Karen said. She looked up at the doctor. "I know. But . . . they killed my father. They took my mother. And I know too much. As long as they are still around, I will always be a target. I will never live a normal life again anyway. So, I might as well have a fighting chance. I don't want to just sit here and let you all do the fighting. I want to take them down myself."

Doctor Kuchar and the team still looked uncertain. Gordon studied Karen's face as Karen looked back at him with determination.

Meanwhile, across town in Vernon's office, Vernon set down the phone. "Sounds like the Red Ranger managed to get your daughter out of there," he said. "I'm sure you're pleased."

He looked up at Miranda, tied to one of his cushy chairs, struggling against her bonds. "You won't get away with this, Vernon," she spat.

Vernon chuckled. "Please, Miranda," he said. "I already have." He spread his arms, showing off the lavish décor around his office. "One of the most powerful and important jobs in the city. A mansion in the Hills. The power to do literally anything I want. And soon, the entire world will be under my thumb. And all I had to do was sacrifice one old partner."

"Tobias was your friend," Miranda said with disgust. "He trusted you. Karen trusted you. You were like a second father to her."

"They shouldn't have been sticking their noses where they didn't belong," Vernon snapped.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," he shouted.

The door opened, and the police captain assigned to Tobias's crash and Karen's apartment came in, leading two people. One was a young woman with long dark hair, the other a scientist Vernon recognized from Neo Labs. "What is this?" he asked.

"This one works with the Power Rangers, sir," the captain said, gesturing to the woman. "This one told her about Project Messiah's launch tomorrow. Messiah caught and trapped them."

Vernon smiled. "If there was ever proof that Messiah was ready for launch," he said. He turned to the scientist. "Jenkins, is it?"

The scientist refused to look him in the eye. Vernon shook his head. "I can't tell you how disappointed I am," he said. "I thought we had made it very clear what would happen to anyone who talked. How important is he to the project?"

"Very important," the captain said. "He's one of the lab's main programming engineers."

Vernon tsked. "Then I suppose we can't afford to dispose of him at this time," he said. "Detain him in Lab D for the time being. I want you, another officer, and a loyal programmer watching him at all times. After we launch tomorrow, we'll have him train someone new, then you may have the honors, captain. Now, leave us. I'll deal with the agent."

The captain nodded. "Yes, sir," he said. He grabbed the scientist by the arm and pulled him away.

Vernon turned to the young woman. "Do you really work with the Rangers?" he asked. "If that's the case, I am honored. The Power Rangers are international heroes. We owe our very lives and freedom to you. I do regret that we have to be enemies. We both only want the same thing: true peace on Earth. Are you sure there's nothing I can say or do to make your team reconsider?"

Yoselin scowled at him. "If instituting a dictatorship and assassinating anyone who gets in your way is what you call 'peace on Earth,' we want no part of it."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. Truly, is what we do any different from your team's killing of those aliens a few months ago? Or the various Black Cross generals who fell to their hands in the war?"

Another knock sounded at the door. Vernon smiled. "Or him," he said. "Enter."

The door opened and in stepped the Iron Claw.

Yoselin gasped and stumbled back. "Ivan Callahan?" she shouted.

Ivan turned his bored expression on her. "I'm sorry," he said. "Have we met?"

"But you're—?" Yoselin stammered. "How are you—?"

"Please, Ivan," Vernon said, ignoring her, "come in." He turned to Yoselin and Miranda proudly. "Impressive, isn't it?" he said, gesturing to Ivan as if showing off a prize trophy. "Your rangers left Ivan Callahan for dead at the North Pole. But my people found him. Using our technology, we connected to the remnants of Doctor Kuchar's nanotechnology inside his body, reactivated them, and healed him. We even gave him a brand-new arm."

Ivan Callahan sneered up at Vernon, repairing some recently torn wiring in his metal arm's wrist.

"And now," Vernon said. "He does everything we tell him to do. Like a loyal pet. He's especially good at executions."

Vernon sat down behind his desk and pressed a button, which caused Ivan to convulse in pain and collapse to the floor. "Except for today, apparently," he said. "When you allowed the Red Ranger to get away, allowing him to save young Officer Miller."

He removed his finger from the button, and Ivan stopped convulsing. He sat up, breathing heavily, and glaring daggers at Vernon. "I . . . apologize, my master," he said.

Vernon smirked with satisfaction. "You are forgiven," he said. "For now. Be sure not to make the same mistake in the future."

Ivan got to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. Yoselin stared at him, but he looked away.

"Now," Vernon said, lacing his fingers together and sitting forward to face Miranda. "Before you were interrupted, I believe your daughter asked you a question. Something about you and Tobias's first date. Well, I'm listening."