Billy Cranston (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
morphitudinous) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trans_92010-09-19 12:46 am
morphitudinous) wrote in trans_92010-09-19 12:46 am
The monster ain't gonna shrink [Open!]
How could he sleep with all of this on his plate?
Billy was really beginning to feel the weight of everything on his shoulders. He'd lost a friend, was now facing the possibility of losing another, and felt hopeless to stop any of it. Every waking second was spent on these thoughts, and they were starting to leak into his dreams as well. He needed to get away.
So he sought the refuge of the Command Center late one night, feeling quite protected despite the loneliness of the empty halls. Some unknown urge carried him down to one of the basement levels. It was difficult to see here, but there was a faint blue light coming from what must have been a room. Ever-curious, he entered and found cabinets lining the walls along with a central operating table.
Above him, faint light filtered through a grate---the same grate, he realized, through which he had watched Zordon and Alpha create Tommy's White Ranger powers. That had occurred in this room, but those events felt like they had taken place a lifetime ago to him. A lifetime before Ohm, death, and new friends from beyond the stars.
In this unexplored room, there was only one option: explore it! No cabinet was left unopened, no loose tile unturned, not even the one that hid a key. That fit a keyhole on the far wall, as he found out. And that keyhole opened a door, revealing a digital screen of blueprints glowing brightly.
They weren't just any blueprints, though. They were blueprints, he realized after a moment of study, for a new set of Power Morphers. Most of the key raw materials were here in the cabinets, but a few small pieces would have to be collected outside if he was to build them.
Could he really build morphers and distribute them? With his original friends absent and increasingly unlikely to be released by Stacy, that meant creating a new team from the crew members here. It was a thought that had a list of implications increasing every second. Clearly, this fledgling idea in the back of his mind would require some careful consideration before he acted.
This thought process, he believed, would be a little easier away from this place that contained so many memories. After copying the blueprints to his omnicom and gathering the raw materials he found, he exited the Command Center and made his way up to the observation deck. It was late at night, and therefore unlikely to be very crowded. That was a good sign, he thought, but late night conversation wouldn't exactly hurt him either.
Billy found a comfortable meat-couch and started tinkering with this first Green morpher, allowing his worries to sink to the back of his mind. From what he had seen on the blueprint, this Power granted weaponry far more versatile than his own. There would not be arsenal envy with the new Green Ranger if he went through with this, Billy told himself.
Billy was really beginning to feel the weight of everything on his shoulders. He'd lost a friend, was now facing the possibility of losing another, and felt hopeless to stop any of it. Every waking second was spent on these thoughts, and they were starting to leak into his dreams as well. He needed to get away.
So he sought the refuge of the Command Center late one night, feeling quite protected despite the loneliness of the empty halls. Some unknown urge carried him down to one of the basement levels. It was difficult to see here, but there was a faint blue light coming from what must have been a room. Ever-curious, he entered and found cabinets lining the walls along with a central operating table.
Above him, faint light filtered through a grate---the same grate, he realized, through which he had watched Zordon and Alpha create Tommy's White Ranger powers. That had occurred in this room, but those events felt like they had taken place a lifetime ago to him. A lifetime before Ohm, death, and new friends from beyond the stars.
In this unexplored room, there was only one option: explore it! No cabinet was left unopened, no loose tile unturned, not even the one that hid a key. That fit a keyhole on the far wall, as he found out. And that keyhole opened a door, revealing a digital screen of blueprints glowing brightly.
They weren't just any blueprints, though. They were blueprints, he realized after a moment of study, for a new set of Power Morphers. Most of the key raw materials were here in the cabinets, but a few small pieces would have to be collected outside if he was to build them.
Could he really build morphers and distribute them? With his original friends absent and increasingly unlikely to be released by Stacy, that meant creating a new team from the crew members here. It was a thought that had a list of implications increasing every second. Clearly, this fledgling idea in the back of his mind would require some careful consideration before he acted.
This thought process, he believed, would be a little easier away from this place that contained so many memories. After copying the blueprints to his omnicom and gathering the raw materials he found, he exited the Command Center and made his way up to the observation deck. It was late at night, and therefore unlikely to be very crowded. That was a good sign, he thought, but late night conversation wouldn't exactly hurt him either.
Billy found a comfortable meat-couch and started tinkering with this first Green morpher, allowing his worries to sink to the back of his mind. From what he had seen on the blueprint, this Power granted weaponry far more versatile than his own. There would not be arsenal envy with the new Green Ranger if he went through with this, Billy told himself.
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"Do you remember the uniform and weapons I use in combat? I've found some blueprints and tools that will let me build five more sets of those, and I'm considering getting permission to build and distribute them."
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Fairly excitable was an understatement. Yet she seemed remarkably calm when she spoke. Subdued, almost. She still had the meeting with that...woman etched into her mind. As she did the fact she had grabbed Lash's hair and slammed her face into the wall. Sure, Stacy had stepped in soon afterward but somehow it had made it worse. Like she couldn't take care of the situation by herself.
So as exciting of a prospect of learning that Billy could copy those amazing powers she had seen work once during the Ohm battle on that vacationing planet, it didn't chip away from the fact she had been feeling angry at herself for letting it happen in the first place. Call it a lesson learned in extreme circumstances. But the idea itself did make her smile.
"I do!" she replied, leaning in more so she could see better. "So...you'd be building the weapons..." she trailed off and grinned a little bit more. Despite any mood she was in, sneaking in a joke or two seemed to come from habit. "...and then you'd need someone to sew you those outfits, right?" To be fair, she had no idea how much magic or technology was involved - the ship had turned every notion Lash had about them upside--down and knowing who was using what was hard to pin down a lot of times.
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With Billy lacking any form of empathic ability, Lash's worries flew under his radar for the moment. Instead, he sank back into the couch and settled in for an explanation.
"Not quite---I should have phrased that more accurately. The morphers itself store everything. Our supply of extra adrenaline, our uniforms, our weapons, and the links to our Zords are all dormant in there. I have a power core from the items salvaged from my world, and a blueprint, but I need to finish 'programming' the suit template, weapons, and Zord link."
He ran his fingers over the work in progress. "When we activate the morphers with their key phrase, the adrenaline kicks in and the uniforms replace our clothes. After that, the weapons and Zords can be called at will. The weapons are drawn from a dimensional subspace, and the Zords are stored in a nearby bay but respond to our calls."
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That sounded really, really neat.
"Wow!" She very rarely said wow. Congratulations, Billy. "I can't even imagine if those things had been used during the Macroland Wars. Then again..." the image of Olaf in a blue suit suddenly hit her and she winced a bit. "Oh that would have been pretty gross in some instances. Ewww. Anyway, is the adrenaline kick why you can fight better in your costume? Or is it powered by tiny little robotic filaments that help movement be much easier?" So many questions. At the very least, they helped chance her mind from things.
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He quirked an eyebrow. "Let me guess: you know someone who wouldn't be aesthetically pleasing in spandex-like material? The robotic filaments do exist, but they're intended to diffuse the impact of blows. Our fighting ability comes from a chemically induced temporary adjustment to the cerebellum."
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"So..acting as some sort of super-enhanced fighting drug?" She paused. "That sounds pretty dangerous! I approve, teehee."
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He looks up at her. "So you're a night owl too?"
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She gave him a tiny nod, before finally falling into a nearby chair. "War never had a time of day," she explained. "I've been trained to sleep a few hours to lower the chance of surprise attacks. I guess even being here, it's a hard habit to let go." She frowned a little. "Then, there is..." She trailed off, and sighed. Telling someone else about this, that HER! of all people! Caught off guard. "You promise you won't tell anyone okay? It's embarrassing..."
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He shifted toward her in his seat, clear concern on his face. "I won't, don't worry. Trust me, I've had my share of embarrassing moments here. What happened?"
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things banned for after-school specials." For emphasis she repeated the words, frowning, clearly not understanding what they meant. "I don't get half of what was spewing out of her mouth, but whatever. She's lame. And rude! And..." Lash twirled her index fingers together, pouting. The next part came in a much lower voice and an almost-whisper. "She somehow caught me off guard as I was leaving, grabbed my hair and slammed my face to the wall. Stacy took care of it afterward but...I can't believe she managed to do that at all..."no subject
"That's horrible, Lash! Just from your description I can gather that she's one of the nastiest crew members we've ever encountered. Those words are vile."
He shifted a little closer. "Were you all right? You're probably kicking yourself, I know. I've done it too. But there has to be something we can do about her."
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"Hey I've seen nasty and ugly before. She's just insane. But not in a good way." When Billy suggested ways of dealing with her, her first thought was back to the conversation she had with the infamous woman herself.
"Maybe if we shot her out her in a missile out of the ship, maybe. Some sort of missile against the Ohm, teehee!" Of course, she was just being mischievous. She'd never do that. Well maybe she would, but Stacy wouldn't let her. Bummer. "At this rate I bet she'll get her 15 infractions in no time anyway. I wasn't hurt, apart from a small bruise on my nose and eye. I've gotten worse in war." she brushed it off. "I just don't get Stacy's logic in podding her at all."
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"If there's any sense to the pod releases at all, here must be some powerful skill she has or something we're supposed to learn from her, right? I just wonder why Stacy would give us someone hurtful instead of our friends. Do you know if she treated anyone else that way?"
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"I'll be on the lookout and warn my friends that this person was incredibly rude to someone I know. When we have a name I'll send it to you. I just wish there was more that I could do."
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And then each zord had a death ray."Giant robots?" Her grin widened. "Weellll if you do want to make them...presentable, I guess you'd need a little help from me." She pretended to think about it, but her mind was already made up. "Just tell me when."
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Oh god, with those two on board there would be a million death rays before those morphers even began to work.
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Not that he's not doing the same thing, mind.
"So I'll work on getting those out of storage and keeping a lookout for that woman."
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How else were you going to explain all those multicolored explosions when everyone struck a pose."Works for me!" she answered happily. "I'll try to ask the others and maybe get you a name, but honestly I'm pretty sure if you see her in the corridors she'll be speaking the same words she said to me." There was a shrug. "So yeah. Hopefully she'll be useful in SOMETHING or else I'm gonna question Stacy's motives."
Not that she didn't already, but you know, adding more suspicions always was a nice thing.
"Oh! By the way, I've been testing out with different really tough and hard materials, but know of any matter on the ship that could easily be woven into a strong rope that's both durable and fireproof?"