Chapter Eleven

The Future Tech Expo

The UN Future Tech Expo was an event held once a year where all the newest tech and innovations were unveiled to the public. The generator towers that powered New Tech City had been unveiled two years prior, and even some specs of various Ranger tech were often shown off there.

Karen and Gordon waited inside a dark room, watching on a monitor as thousands of people filtered into the convention center, ranging from simple tech enthusiasts to major investors, as well as military and political leaders. At one point, Gordon pointed at the screen.

"We have visual on Axelrod," he said.

Karen watched as Vernon Axelrod made his way up to the central podium, looking around and smiling at various people as they passed by. Karen clenched her fist, her anger building inside her once again.

Gordon glanced at her. "We're going to get him," he said. "I promise."

Karen kept her eyes glued on the commissioner. "Yes, we will."

Out in the convention center, Vernon put on a good face as he interacted with people from all over the world, but inside he was fuming. His men had torn that restaurant apart piece by piece and had found nothing. On top of that, the agent he'd captured had managed to escape while he was away. As he made his way through the crowd, he kept watching everyone around him with suspicion, sure Karen and the Rangers were going to try something.

As he reached the front, a tech investor rose to greet him. "Well, well, Vernon Axelrod," he said, shaking his hand. "I take it CRIME's taking the day off if you found the time to come here."

Vernon smiled. "You might say that, Sterling. The only CRIME I see is the stuff you do to the stock market."

The investor gestured to the man he'd just been talking to. "Have you met Commander Roberts of EAGLE?"

"No, I have not," Vernon said, shaking the hand of the military man before him. "EAGLE, huh? I have a few friends working for EAGLE."

Commander Roberts put on the best fake smile he could muster. "I'm sure you do," he said.

Across town, Rio and Yoselin pulled up outside of Neo Labs again. "No time for sneaking around this time," Yoselin said. "We've got to get in there."

"I've got you covered," Rio said. He got out, walked right up to the building's power box, placed his hand against it, and pumped it full of as much electricity as he could muster, overcharging it and blowing the power for the entire building.

"There we go," he said. He pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss. "Good luck in there. I'll keep them busy out here."

"Good luck, yourself," Yoselin said, gently nudging him. The pair parted, and Rio walked right up to the front door of the building. He started up his morpher, transformed into the Jack of Diamonds, and sent the glass doors smashing inward with two swift punches.

"It's time to take a bite out of CRIME!" he shouted as the receptionists screamed.

Back at the expo, Vernon waited on the stage, between Sterling and Commander Roberts, as the presenter gave a speech. His eyes traced every last inch of the crowd before him, looking for any sign of the Rangers.

"And now, folks," the presenter said. She turned and gestured to Vernon and Sterling. "I'm told we have an extra special surprise being presented here today, presented by New Tech's own police commissioner Vernon Axelrod."

Vernon smiled and stood, bowing to the crowd as Sterling slipped a disc into his hands. He accepted the microphone and stepped up to the podium. "Thank you, Hayley," he said. He could see that the podium had already been set up, the port he needed to plug the disc into ready to go. He put on the best solemn face he could.

"Hello, everyone," he said. "Today, I want to tell you about my friend, Tobias Miller."

Karen looked up at the monitor, in the backroom where she and Gordon waited. Her father's face had appeared on the screen behind Vernon. "He's not—"

"Tobias Miller was one of my first partners on the force some twenty to thirty years ago," Vernon said. "He was a good cop, a good detective, and a good man. He was a loving husband and father to his wife and daughter, and he was my best friend."

Vernon stopped, swallowing for a second and looking choked up. "My best friend was murdered, killed in the line of duty, two days ago. We don't know who did it. We never caught the criminals responsible."

The screen Gordon and Karen were watching started to turn staticky. Gordon glanced at Karen, seeing her stare at the screen with growing fury. "Just a little longer," he said.

Vernon held up the disc in his hand. "Over the last several months, my police force has been working with some of the biggest tech companies around the world to create a new system of surveillance that will allow us to do our jobs more effectively and efficiently, that will allow us to see threats coming before they happen, that will ensure that no one, not civilians, not good officers like Tobias Miller, will have to die ever again."

He gripped the disc in his fingers. "We plan to unveil that today. My only regret is that it came two days too late to save my friend."

He lowered the disc to insert it into the drive when all the lights in the room started to flicker. A new person appeared onto the stage. "Why don't you tell them what really happened, Vernon?" Karen said, her hair standing slightly on end.

Gordon's eyes widened and he turned to see that Karen had disappeared from his side. "No!" he said, rushing out after her.

Vernon stared at her in surprise. "Um, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "Please welcome the daughter of Tobias Miller, Officer Karen Miller."

"Tell them, Vernon!" The microphone in Vernon's hand pulled toward Karen as she shouted. "Tell them how you had my father murdered."

Back at Neo Labs, Yoselin crawled her way through the vents until she spotted the back of Mitchell's head. "There you are!" she shouted, pushing open the vent and dropping into the room.

Mitchell jumped, looking spooked by her arrival. "Agent Jimenez, what are you doing here?" he asked. "How did you escape?"

"I'm with the Rangers," she said. "We have our ways."

Mitchell glanced at the door. "My guards will be back any second now. There was an emergency on the ground floor."

"I know," Yoselin said. "That emergency was my boyfriend. He'll take care of your guards."

Dr. Jenkins shook his head. "What are you doing here? They're about to unleash Messiah at the expo."

"I know. My team is on it. But you're the only person we know who might know how to put a stop to it."

Dr. Jenkins stopped and looked down.

"Please, doctor," Yoselin said. "The whole world is at stake. If we don't put a stop to this, the whole world is going to live the same way you and your team have lived for the last few months now."

Dr. Jenkins stared at Yoselin for a minute. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "There is one way," he said. "I'd been working out a possible virus that could shut down Messiah's ability to spread, to lock it onto one device. But I only have it written down. I didn't dare enter it into a computer."

"Where is it?" Yoselin asked.

"It's at my apartment, I—"

Yoselin grabbed him by the shoulder and hefted him up. "Then let's go," she said. "Now, while your systems are down."

Mitchell looked a little confused. "What?"

"Come on," Yoselin said. "Rio's heading our way now. If we can get that formula and you can program it into our systems, we just might have a chance."

She pulled him to the door and opened it. Luckily, it seemed to be unlocked. "Come on, hurry."

"You're not going anywhere."

Yoselin and Mitchell froze. They turned to see the police captain who had taken them to Commissioner Axelrod, standing behind them with a gun. Yoselin's hand went to her own firearm.

"Ah ah ah, Agent Jimenez," the captain said, waving his weapon. "None of that. Get them in the air."

Yoselin begrudgingly raised her hands, as did the scientist beside her.

The captain approached, looking smug. "I thought you rangers were trying something sneaky," he said. "I figured it would be smart to hang back from the fight."

He pressed the barrel of his gun to Mitchell's head. "So, Dr. Jenkins," he said. "You were still planning to betray us." His finger lingered over the trigger, just itching to pull it. "Anything to say for yourself."

Dr. Jenkins trembled just a little, glancing at Yoselin. He closed his eyes and swallowed. "Yeah," he said, looking up at the captain. "I do. You, and your people, will not get away with all this. The Power Rangers will take you down. And I intend to help them."

The captain tilted his head. "Is that so," he said. "Well, the commissioner did say I could have the honors."

He pressed the gun harder against Mitchell's head. Yoselin moved to do something, but before she could, something large and metal collided with the captain's head, slamming him against the wall, where he slumped to the floor unconscious.

"Kei?" Mitchell shouted.

The young mother Yoselin had seen before stood behind the captain, clutching a lab chair in her hands. "Go, hurry," she said. "Stop them!"

"Thank you," Yoselin said. She stooped and grabbed the captain's gun, tossing it to her. "So you and your team can even the odds."

The young mother caught the gun and nodded. Yoselin and Mitchell turned and ran.

Back at the expo, the crowd was silent at Karen's accusation. Vernon chuckled a little and leaned into his microphone. "You'll have to excuse her, folks," he said. "She just lost her father. She's been unstable and paranoid for the last two days since."

"Don't you dare!" Karen shouted, the lights flickering again. "Don't you dare put it off on me. Don't you dare use my father's name to cover up what you've done. What you're about to do."

"Now, Karen—"

"Tell them what it is, Vernon!" Karen said. "Tell them what you're about to plug in. Why you killed my father. Why you tried to kill me. Why you're holding my mother hostage as we speak. Tell them!"

Vernon let out a long breath and looked to the ceiling. He shook his head and turned to the crowd. "Now, obviously nothing this young lady is saying is at all true—"

"Yes, it is."

The crowd gasped. Gordon stepped onto the stage behind Karen, fully geared up in his ranger form. He looked at Karen as he stood beside her and nodded.

"This man is part of a secret organization called CRIME," Gordon said, pointing at Vernon. "My team and I have been investigating them for months. That disc in his hand has nothing to do with police security. It is an AI program designed to take control of all electronics all over the world. Detective Miller had proof of their activities and this man had him killed for it."

Vernon raised his head and let out a long breath, looking more impatient and annoyed than anything. He looked at the disc in his hand. "Whatever," he said. "It's not like it matters much anymore at this point anyway."

He plugged the device into the computer before him. The moment he did so, the entire room went dark, before switching back on, a digital face appearing on the screen behind him. "Your Red Ranger is right," he announced to the audience. "I am one of the High Tsars of CRIME, and we are now in full control of the entire world. You will all bow to our leadership, or you will be dealt with. Swiftly."

Gordon and Karen both moved to stop him.

"Callahan."

A figure dropped from the ceiling rafters above, landing on the stage and cracking it. The gathered crowd screamed as they saw the figure's face. Ivan Callahan rose to his full height, brandishing his metal arm, and standing between the Rangers and Vernon.

"Fight as hard as you might, Rangers," Vernon said. "There is nothing you can do to stop us now."