March 24th, 2066 - 08:15 NZDT
International Rescue have become more popular over the last few weeks after their public debut on TV. The recognition that the Tracy Brother's and their partners were behind the rescue organization had left people inspired. There's a small group that are outraged saying that how could you put the love of your life in harm's way, but both Scott and Marion fought back those claims saying that it was the life they had freely chosen to continue Jeff Tracy's legacy. It is important to IR to keep their project in the dark and with Tracy Industries as busy as ever, Scott is especially confident that it'll say that way. However, the events today were about to change things.
On a small viewing platform, located on Mateo Island, Scott, Marion and Brains stand. Scott looks through a pair of binoculars at IR's Ocean Power Rig. The model for the new Zero-X had been put away into storage in the Thunderbird 6 hanger on Mateo Island and is 90% complete. Despite this, the T-Drive engine is still a work in progress.
"So, you think this one'll work?" Scott asks, turning to Brains.
"You know what they say... 14th t-time lucky!" Brains chuckles, nervously before turning to Max, "M-Max, are the gamma emissions remapped? And did you accelerate the electron to d-decay?" Max beeps in response, indicating that he had done as had been asked of him. Brains nods contemplating before looking back over to Scott and Marion, "I'd really like longer to p-properly model the T-Drive's performance on the computer."
"Not possible, Brains," Scott replies, "If we're going to launch in time, we need a working T-Drive engine... yesterday!"
"Calm down, Scott," Marion whispers, "Brains is only doing his best."
"We need results, M," Scott sighs.
"V-Very well. Prepare for ignition," Brains says. Immediately, Max makes a dash for the inside, disappearing into Brains' workshop. "I appreciate your confidence, Max," Brains mumbles and pulls out his tablet, "C-Commencing test fire at 10% per power. Initiating primary b-booster. C-Commencing particle exchange. Engaging T-pulse."
Scott gets the binoculars out again and looks through them. The T-Drive is pulled out of its container by a giant crane and the T-pulse cannons, which allows for the particle exchange to happen, turn on.
"It's working," Marion smiles.
However, this joy is short lived. A blue sphere of what appears to be high-voltage electricity, forms around the T-Drive engine and sparks start to fly out of it. Then a bolt of artificial lightning, bursts out of one of the T-pulse cannons. Scott gulps as he sees more lighting appear and the cannons start to shake rapidly. In a matter of seconds, a cannon fails and explodes. This accelerates the deterioration of the T-Drive test, and the flames from one fail cannon starts a chain reaction that leads to the combustion of the T-Drive. It completely obliterates everything on the Ocean Power Rig in a large fireball. A shockwave and a blinding light fly towards Mateo Island, and everyone ducks down to cover their eyes. Luckily, no one had been on the Rig as the team from Tracy Industries who had been working alongside Brains were currently on a week holiday.
"Ugh, I call that a major failure," Scott deadpans.
"Actually, in science, experiments don't f-fail," Brains states, "They just provide data. Give it enough ti—"
"Brain!" Scott cries, "We don't have time! Dad doesn't have time!"
"Scott," Marion growls and smacks his arm, "Brains is doing his fucking best here."
"It's o-okay, Marion," Brains sighs. "It j-just means that there's only o-one way we'll finish the T-Drive quickly enough. And that's with help from an engineer who o-originally d-designed it."
"But isn't that...?" Scott trails.
"Yes," Brains confirms, "We need The Mechanic."
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
March 23rd, 2066 - 23:15 EST
"The Mechanic?" Colonel Casey demands.
At the GDF Headquarters in Washington D.C., Colonel Casey suddenly stands up from behind her desk and starts pacing the room. Opposite her desk sits Penelope and Marion, with Parker standing directly behind them. They had just requested that on behalf of International Rescue, they need to release Professor Borender for his engineering skills.
"The one and only," Penelope confirms.
"Why not Tycho Reeves? Or Professor Moffett?" Casey questions, "Their geniuses, they're trustworthy, and best of all, they're NOT former criminals."
Parker awkwardly coughs at this comment causing Marion to turn around and raise an eyebrow at him.
"I'm afraid," Penelope starts, "Brains is most insistent. Only Professor Borender will do."
"We all went to a lot of effort to get him away from The Hood," Casey scowls, "He's safer where he is."
"We understand the risk, Colonel," Marion interjects, "It would be Professor Borender's choice, of course, but Brains is confident he will see it's in his best interest."
"Sorry, International Rescue, the answer is no," Casey states and slams her fist on the desk, looking down on at the pair sitting down, "Absolutely not."
"Now seems like a good time to spill the beans, m'lady," Parker whispers.
"Beans. What beans?" Casey demands.
"Hang on a minute," Marion mutters, "We cannot forget that the GDF have a mole who could be listening in to this very conversation."
"It's a risk we may have to take," Penelope counters.
"Ladies?" Casey calls, trying to get the attention of them but they ignore her.
"I should at least run this by Scott," Marion argues.
"And go through weeks of board meetings," Penelope states, "We don't have that kind of time."
"Lady Penelope, Marion Tracy," Casey shouts, "Explain yourselves."
" Colonel Casey, we believe Jeff Tracy is alive," Marion deadpans. Casey remains motionless for a second before her face drops and she forces herself to take a seat. She squeezes her fists together to stop her hands from shaking and looks at the pair directly in the eyes.
"We all want to think that Lady Penelope, Marion," Casey starts with a shaky voice, "But it's just not true."
"Take a look," Penelope states and brings out her IR coms unit, which projects a hologram of one of the GDF fighter's camera footage.
"The destruction of the Zero-X rocket," Casey sighs, "I've watched it 1,000 times."
Penelope then flicks her wrist to display the image that International Rescue have produced.
"International Rescue has recovered proof Jeff survived the explosion," Marion explains as Casey looks at this new data in awe, "But the blast launched him far off into a region of space called the Oort Cloud."
We have plans to bring him home," Penelope continues, "But we need Professor Borender to help us build a T-Drive engine."
"All I ever needed was half a hope," Casey mutters, "Okay, you've convinced me. Now you have to convince The Mechanic."
March 24th, 2066 - 15:31 NZDT
Ridley walks into a large control room and places down a large mug of coffee on the desk next to her. Many people walk around behind her either with a bunch of files in their hands, maintenance tools or talking on their communicators. As she takes her seat, a notification comes in on the control unit indicating an incoming call. Ridley wides her eyes and quickly answers the call, displaying a large hologram on the main screen in front of her.
"Lady Penelope, this is Thunderbird 10," Ridley smiles, "How did it go with the GDF. What did Colonel Casey say?"
"She says we can ask Professor Borender," Penelope replies, "He'll be waiting for us up on the Hex Secure Facility."
"Wooo!" Ridley celebrates, causing everyone in the room to look over to her and laugh at her antics. Penelope ends the call and Ridley immediately calls Tracy Island.
"Thunderbird 3, you're clear for launch," Ridley squeals as a hologram of Alan and Kayo appear in front of her, "You're heading to the Hex."
"FAB," the couple say.
5
Alan and Kayo descend and start to get suited up.
4
Alan and Kayo are lifted on a crane from the bottom of the hanger into Thunderbird 3.
3
Thunderbird 3's blast door closes.
2
Alan and Kayo's chairs roll up to the controls.
1
Thunderbird 3's rockets start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
March 24th, 2066 - 15:54 NZDT
"So where exactly is this Hex?" Alan inquires.
"It wouldn't be a top-secret prison if people knew where it was," Kayo smirks. A hologram of John then appears on the console.
"Thunderbird 10 has informed me of your mission," John states, "This would explain the coordinates Colonel Casey gave me. According to what I've got a GDF agent is there to oversee the transfer. Apparently, it's a friend of yours, Kayo."
"Wait," Alan interjects as a smirk of his own forms on his face, "Kayo has time for friends?"
"I'll see myself out," John laughs as he sees the look Kayo gives Alan. It is not a friendly one.
"Shit," Alan gulps.
Thunderbird 3 continues on her steady course away from Earth and towards Moon. The coordinates that they received indicated that the Hex is located on the dark side of the Moon, meaning it is completely out of sight. The location as it turned out is not that far from the destroyed EDEN ship that Ridley used to do regular checkups on until it got destroyed in 2062.
"Approaching target coordinates," Kayo suddenly calls out. Alan brings Thunderbird 3 to a stop, and they look around at the empty space in front of them.
"Uh, there's nothing here," Alan comments.
"Alan's right," John states, as his hologram appears on the console once again, "I've scanned the area, but I'm not picking up any sign of the Hex."
"Hey, maybe it's so secret even Colonel Casey doesn't know where it," Alan jokes.
"This is Thunderbird 3 calling the Hex?" Kayo asks, turning on a communications broadcast, "Do you copy?"
"Is that Kayo I hear?" Rigby asks as he appears on the holo-screen.
"Captain Rigby," Alan growls.
"So," Kayo smirks, "They finally found a place where you couldn't do any harm."
"I asked Colonel Casey to put me as far away from you as she could, and you still found me!" Rigby flirts causing Kayo to giggle and Alan to become very jealous, "International Rescue, welcome to The Hex."
Suddenly, the cloaking that the Hex uses to remain undercover, turns off and a large military space prison appears in front of Thunderbird 3. Alan and Kayo's widen in surprise at the scale of the prison that is only holding one single man. Professor Borender.
"Whoa!" the couple gasp.
"Okay," Kayo says as she gets out of her seat and puts on her space helmet, "Alan, you stay on board. I'll go into the Hex and present our offer to the professor."
"Do whatever you want, you're your own women," Alan mumbles to himself.
"What was that?" Kayo inquires.
"FAB," Alan says, a bit too loudly, "But I got dibs on the next giant space prison, okay?"
He watches as Kayo goes inside the cargo hold to configure a pod. Thunderbird 3 would be too big to go right up to the prison and after the incident with Havoc last year, Alan knew that he had to stay on board Thunderbird 3 as a precaution. In the back of his mind, he contemplates having brought Nina to assist them as he knew that she needed more space experience. A simple mission like this would have been ideal but it is too late to go back and pick her up now. A beep in heard indicating that Kayo is ready to go, and Alan pulls the lever to open the bay doors to allow for her exit.
"Space Pod is go," Kayo calls.
March 24th, 2066 - 16:06 NZDT
Kayo starts making her way towards the Hex when some data arrives from Rigby. It allows the Space Pod to identify where mines had been placed on the approaches to the Hex to avoid any break outs. Alongside this is a flight course for Kayo to follow to make it safely to the entrance.
"Careful out there." Rigby informs, "The Hex is surrounded by space mines, so don't stray off course."
"FAB Rigby," Kayo replies, "Meet me inside."
Kayo swiftly arrives at the entrance and the doors to the Hex open up. She pulls the Space Pod up in the docking area and lands it near the door that would take her to meet Rigby. She walks through the airlock and approaches Rigby, giving him a strong handshake. Rigby then puts his arm out to indicate the way they were going to walk, and Kayo takes the lead as they make their way over to Borender's cell.
"It gets kind of quiet here on the Hex," Rigby explains, "The Mechanic's my only prisoner, and he's not exactly chatty."
"He's not just a prisoner, Rigby," Kayo states, "He's here for his own safety. Away from The Hood. And I'm about to ask him to give that up. If he'll even, see me."
They continue down several corridors to make their way to the centre of the Hex, where Borender is being kept. As they walk, Rigby lays down the rules to Kayo about what she can and can't do inside the cell as per procedure. Kayo only half listens as she's done this sort of thing several times when's she has been with the GDF before when searching for The Hood, back in the day. When they arrive at the cell, Rigby puts in the code and the doors open up.
"Huh?" the pair question as they both enter the cell and find that it is all but empty.
"He's gone," Rigby mutters.
"John," Kayo calls, "The Professor's gone walkabout."
"Scanning the Hex," John informs, and there's a few tense seconds as they await John's response, "Confirming the Professor is still on board. But he's not alone."
"We've got an intruder," Rigby cries and rushes over to the emergency lockdown leaver.
The pair the rush back the way they came, taking a few different turns to try and cut off the Professor and the intruder that he is with.
"You let someone ride to us," Rigby accuses.
"With me in charge of security, no chance," Kayo scoffs, "Whoever's on board didn't find out about the Professor from us."
After several twists and turns, they come to the end of the corridor, where it splits into two different paths.
"Split up!" Rigby orders and they go in different directions, Kayo to the right and Rigby to the left.
March 24th, 2066 - 16:06 NZDT
Outside in Thunderbird 3, Alan is leaning back in his chair writing the mission report file for Scott and Marion when an alarm goes off on his console. He immediately sits up and presses on the red alarm symbol and a familiar purple hologram appears.
"Ah!" Alan growls, "The Chaos Crew."
Matters only got worse as the red warning, indicating that there is immediate danger to life, goes off. The Chaos Cruiser had fired four missiles that were directly aimed at both Thunderbird 3 and the Hex. Alan swiftly rolls Thunderbird 3 out of the way and two of the missiles impact with mines that surrounded the Hex. However, the other two landed successful hits.
"Kayo!" Alan calls, "The Chaos Crew are here."
"They must be after the Professor," Kayo grunts as she picks herself up from the floor, after being thrown into the wall from the missile impact. As she stands up, the artificial gravity that is holder her to the floor switches off and Kayo floats all the way up to the roof of the corridor. "Whoa!"
"They're blowing the Hex to bits," Alan informs, "You and Riby have got to get out of there."
"Without the Professor, this plan of Brains' just doesn't stand a chance," Kayo states, "I'm not letting them take him."
"FAB," Alan replies.
Using the support handles on the side of the corridor, Kayo pulls herself along towards Borender's location. There are several explosions that rock the Hex and some of the compartments fully break away. One of them had Rigby on it as he loses a fight with Havoc. He clings onto a piece of broken metal as he uses all of his strength to avoid falling into the vacuum of space.
"Kayo," Rigby calls, "The Chaos Crew aren't busting The Mechanic out. They're trying to kidnap him!"
"Don't worry. We'll stop them," Kayo responds.
"About that," Rigby chuckles nervously, "I don't think I'm gonna be much help. Argh!"
"Alan, pick up Rigby," Kayo orders, "I'm going after the Professor."
"FAB, K," Alan responds and grabs onto the controls of Thunderbird 3, "Hold on, Ricky. I'm on my way."
"Stop. It's too dangerous," Rigby cries as he watches Alan enter the minefield in order to get to him before the chuck of the Hex, he's on does the same.
"Relax, I can avoid the space mines," Alan replies.
"You can't. There are too many," Rigby states. He opens up his wrist communicator and quickly sends the schematics of the space mines locations over to Thunderbird 3. Alan receives it and his eyes widen in alarm as he sees that he is fast approaching a wall of mines.
"Whoa!" Alan yells, and puts on the reverse thrust to bring Thunderbird 3 to a stop, "Okay, can you shut 'em off?"
"Only from the control tower," Rigby sighs, "You know, the one that just blew up."
"Never mind, I'll just pick you up a different way," Alan mutters and assesses his options. He looks around at the mines that are in front of him and look down at his controls before a determined look sweeps across his face, "Deploying grasping arm."
A single grasping arm is deployed and is extended to its maximum distance. Alan then actives the grapple line option and starts to move Thunderbird 3 at a very slow pace into the mine field. He uses the map that Rigby provided to avoid the mines as he gradually gets closer to his location. The life signal on the holo-map, which shows Rigby's location, flickers indicating that he is still out of reach of him.
"Have to get closer," Alan mumbles to himself, "Almost there."
He ducks down under one of the mines and raises Thunderbird 3 again for the life signal to go green. Alan immediately fires the grappling line towards Rigby, but a mine gets in the way of the direct path.
"Look out," Rigby shouts and shields his eyes as the line makes impact with the mine, leading to a large eruption.
"Argh! This is fine," Alan sighs, "Everything's fine."
March 24th, 2066 - 16:31 NZDT
Kayo wonders around the Hex as she attempts to locate Borender but as she gets closer to what was the control room, a thick smoke starts to fill the corridors and makes it difficult for her to see any more than a few feet in front of her. She comes to the end of yet another corridor and looks to the left then the right. Through the smoke, Kayo spots a retreating figure and sees that it isn't Havoc meaning it could only be one other person.
"Stop. I need to talk to you," Kayo shouts and gives chase.
Borender twists and turns through the Hex in an attempt to get Kayo off his back but Kayo starts to gain on him. To the right a storage room comes into view and Borender dives right into it closing the door right behind him. With the circuit panel sparking on Kayo's side, she knew she wouldn't be able to get through.
"Ha!" Kayo scoffs, "Why did I think he might make this easy."
"Hands off," a voice calls from behind her. Kayo whips around and comes face to face with Havoc, "He's mine."
"Before we do this," Kayo starts, putting her hands up to avoid conflict, "Why don't you tell me how you knew The Mechanic was up here?"
"Would you believe it was a lucky guess?" Havoc tries.
"No-one's that lucky," Kayo scowls and raises her fists seeing who is going to throw the first punch. However, she hears movement from behind her and twist around only for Fuse to grab onto her and trap her in his vice-grip. "Huh! Argh!" Kayo cries as she struggles to break free with no success as Fuse starts to lead her towards Borender's cell.
March 24th, 2066 - 16:38 NZDT
Outside, the piece of the Hex that Rigby is holding onto continues to drift further into the minefield. He looks over the top and sees that he is inching closer and closer to hitting on of the mines.
"Agh!" Rigby shivers, "Those mines are too close for comfort, rocket boy. I hope that wasn't your only plan."
"Are you kidding?" Alan scoffs with a smirk as he gets out of his seat, "I got tonnes of plans. I just have to, you know, pick one."
He rushes over to the back of the cockpit and picks up one of his Astro-boards and opens the airlock.
"Hold on, Rigby," Alan calls, "Coming to get you."
Alan weaves through the mines, using the holo-map on his communicator. He watches as the piece of the Hex heads for a head-on collision with one of the mines and accelerates to maximum speed.
"You won't get here in time. I'll have to meet you halfway," Rigby decides.
Before Alan could respond, Rigby pushes himself off the platform and towards the Astro-board. Not a moment later, a large eruption ensues as a large fireball bursts outwards from the impact area. Rigby is hit by the shockwave and propelled towards Alan. This didn't mean the pair are out of the woods yet as debris from the destroyed Hex segment flies out in all directions. The mines, which remain active, lie there as pieces of metal crash into them leading to further explosions. Alan is forced to swerve out of the way to avoid the raging hot fireballs that are leading to a catastrophic chain reaction around the Hex. Luckily, he keeps Rigby in his sights and at the last second reaches out to grab onto him.
"Gotcha!" Alan says.
"Good catch," Rigby comments.
However, when the pair turn around, they see a large panel head straight towards the mine only 100 feet away from them.
"Shit," they both state.
March 24th, 2066 - 16:41 NZDT
Alan slowly opens his eyes and groans as a massive headache hits him. He was so close to the mine that hit knocked both him and Rigby out sending them and the Astro-board in different directions.
"What?" Alan grunts as he tries to focus on what is in front of him, "Ugh! What hit me? Where's Rigby?" Alan then gasps as he locates Rigby, still unconscious, heading directly towards another space mine. "Ah! I'm coming."
Alan reaches for his wrist controller and actives his Astro-board remotely, bringing over to him. He grabs onto the board and lays down as he turns on the engines to maximum to make his way over to Rigby. Rigby continues to float at a rapid pace towards the mine, completely unaware of the danger. The Astro-board dives and rises above the mines that still lie dormant around it, but the course remains the same. Save Rigby. Just before Rigby hits the mine, Alan swoops in and grabs onto his hand, pulling him away from the mine and sets a course for Thunderbird 3.
March 24th, 2066 - 16:41 NZDT
Inside the Hex, Kayo is now with Borender, who had helped her escape from the cell after Havoc and Fuse had locked her inside, leaving her for dead. In the storage room, where Borender had disappeared down earlier, Borender had picked up an exo-suit, similar to Virgil's, and is now busting open the locked doors as the pair make their escape from the Hex. As Borender cracks open another set of doors, Kayo's com goes off.
"Kayo," Alan calls, "Rigby is on board Thunderbird 3. Now grab the Professor and let's get out of here."
"Grab me?" Borender growls in disgust as he overhears the conversation, stopping the progress of breaking out of the Hex.
"Bad choice of words," Kayo rubs off quickly, "We're here to ask for help. Brains is rebuilding the T-Drive engine."
"The T-Drive? A failure," Borender sighs and turns around and continues towards the exit.
"No," Kayo cries raising an arm to stop Borender before going to follow him, "It worked better than you ever knew. And now we need another one, fast."
"And why would I help International Rescue again?" Borender questions, "Look where it got me the first time."
"Brains made you a promise that he intends to keep," Kayo counters, "If he removes The Hood's control over you permanently, then you owe us, right?"
"I'd just be swapping one master for another," Borender states, "If I stay here on the Hex, I don't have to serve anyone."
"There's not much of the Hex left to stay on," Kayo responds.
"The Hood made me do things I now regret," Borender informs, "I deserve to be locked away like a criminal."
"Listen to yourself," Kayo cries, "You were made to do those things. The Hood is the criminal, not you."
"No, I won't go with you," Borender decides stopping again and then glaring as he looks over Kayo's shoulder, "And I won't go with The Hood. It seems you've failed. All of you."
"We didn't fail," Havoc deadpans, making herself and Fuse known, "The Hood never said you had to come with us. He only said you couldn't go with them."
"And now none of you are going anywhere," Fuse informs as the emergency doors come down all around them except for one. Fuse then pulls out a large bomb circuit from behind him and attaches it to the nearby wall, making it active. The Chaos Crew laugh as they take a step back before the final emergency door closes down right in front of Kayo and Borender's faces, leaving them trapped inside. Kayo shouts in frustration and slams her fist into the door where Havoc and Fuse had made their escape. Taking a deep breath, she then turns to the bomb circuit and looks over to Borender.
"Can you disarm the device?" Kayo asks.
"Of course," Borender scoffs, "But not in time."
"We've got to get one of these doors open," Kayo mutters as she heads over to one of the control panels.
"Or we make our own door," Borender decides as he looks up. He grabs onto one of the pipes on the ceiling using one hand of the exo-suit and then uses the other to punch at the roof. Borender grunts as he uses all his strength to bust a hole. A section finally gives way and disappears in the vacuum of Space, to reveal the Moon.
"That'll work," Kayo smiles, "Now we have to get clear of this place before it blows." However, that smile quickly disappears as Borender keeps a hold of the pipe with one hand and now grabs onto Kayo using the other. "Wh-What are you doing?"
"Only one of us here is worth saving, and it's not me," Borender sighs sadly.
"Wait! Don't do this," Kayo cries, "You can make a difference. A life depends on it."
Borender looks down sadly and gives a small shake of the head. He looks up again and sees Thunderbird 3 come into view. Without a second thought, Borender moves his arm with Kayo in backwards before propelling her out of the hole in the roof and sending her flying out towards the minefield. Kayo remains in an uncontrolled spin and lets out a cry of anguish and frustration.
Alan sees Kayo and rushes to his Astro-board and flies out of the airlock once again. He blindly goes into the minefield knowing that every passing moment only increased the chance of Kayo hitting one of the mines. As he gets closer, he reaches his arms out and grabs her around her waist pulling her into a tight hug before turning around and heading back to Thunderbird 3.
"What about Borender?" Kayo shouts
"I'm sorry, K," Alan dismisses, "It's going to blow any second."
They reach Thunderbird 3 and Rigby, now conscious, helps them inside. Alan and Kayo head over to the pilot and co-pilot seats and take to the controls.
"Thunderbird 10," Alan calls, "Please be aware that there's about to be a big ass explosion on the dark side of the Moon. Will require clear up."
"FAB, Alan," Ridley replies, "Preparing a team now."
Alan then hits on the controls and flies Thunderbird 3 out of the danger zone. Kayo looks around and watches as a bright light erupts from where she and Borender stood before the whole of the Hex suddenly implodes. Kayo turns back and a single tear falls down the side of her face. Thunderbird 3 just misses the shockwave that obliterates all the mines and the prison leaving very little left. Alan sees the bright light behind them and growls in annoyance.
"Fuck!" Alan yells.
March 24th, 2066 - 19:25 NZDT
On Tracy Island, Brains, Scott and Marion gather in the lounge. Scott paces back and forth while Brains and Marion take seats on opposite sides of the room. The general feeling on Tracy Island is one of dejection as Alan and Kayo returned in Thunderbird 3 without Professor Borender with them and the news of the Hex's destruction. Penelope appears on a call with Brains next to a hologram of the T-Drive design that Brains is attempting to try as the 15th attempt.
"It didn't have to be like this," Scott sighs.
"I made a p-promise to help P-Professor Borender and now I can't keep it," Brains states.
"Maybe he thought he was beyond help," Penelope suggests.
"Brains," Marion starts tentatively, "Is there any hope that we can build a T-Drive engine?"
"There's always hope, Marion," Brains replies, "But frankly, I don't see how it's p-possible."
"Meanwhile, we now know for certain The Hood has a spy inside the GDF," Penelope says, "Parker and I are off to—"
However, Penelope is cut off and both the holograms of her and the T-Drive schematic disappear and are replaced by The Mechanic's call symbol. Scott and Marion look up in alarm and turn as they hear the panting of both Kayo and Alan bursting into the room.
"Huh?" Scott questions.
"Scott," Kayo breathes as she places her hands onto her thighs.
"Kayo," Scott demands, "What's going on?"
"It's... It's..." Kayo pants with a smile forming on her face.
"Uh, babe," Marion calls and points over to the wall lights in the corner of the room, "Someone's coming up your launch tube."
Everyone looks over as the walls turns around to reveal Professor Borender standing in Scott's usual spot between the light.
"Professor!" Scott states.
"Is it true? Did the T-Drive really work all those years ago?" Borender inquires.
"It did," Brains interjects, "And it sent J-Jeff Tracy to the Oort Cloud."
"The Hood told me it failed," Borender growls, "He said I was a failure."
"It didn't fail," Marion smiles getting up and walking over to Borender, "You aren't a failure."
"I'll build you another T-Drive," Borender nods before pointing over to Brains, "And you will free me from The Hood."
"I will c-consider it my greatest achievement," Brains says reaching out his hand and shares a firm handshake with Borender.
March 24th, 2066 - UNKNOWN
"Well?" The Hood queries.
"We didn't get The Mechanic back," Fuse says tentatively.
"Obviously," The Hood deadpans, rolling his eyes.
"But they didn't get him either," Havoc adds.
"As far as you know," The Hood sighs in disgust before bringing his hands together and smirking, "But no matter. It seems that International Rescue have big plans... And so do we."