Zhane started awake at a soft cry from his wife, and tightened his grip around her. She had fisted his shirt up in her hands and seemed to be struggling with something. "Karone," he whispered. "Karone. Wake up."
Her eyes opened, blurry from sleep and frightened. There was a pause, then she sobbed, broken hearted, into his chest. This happened more than he liked, and much more often than he told Andros about. Fortunately, it happened only when she was really tired - like the beginning of the semester, and just before it ended. Unfortunately, everyone was stressed at that time, including him, and he felt that he couldn't be there for her as much when that was the case. He let her go, stroking her blonde hair. Finally, she calmed down, sniffling a little as the tears tapered off. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.
"I had a nightmare," she stuttered.
"What happened?"
She took a deep, shuddering breath, and let it out in a sigh. "It was the Secret City," she said softly.
Oh. One of those, a memory from before. Her memories from the time she was "programmed" were vague, except in her nightmares, and she refused to let anyone help her with them. He tightened his grip around her. "What happened?" he asked again.
"Turning people into data cards." She backed out of his grip just enough to catch his eyes. "I didn't want to," she said. "But it was like I was caught in a corner of my own mind. Andros and Cassie both tried to get me to stop, but I couldn't, it was that programming...." She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "When Darkonda... cyborged me," she broke off with a slight laugh, "I, Karone, Astronema, the real me, didn't want to do that. Because... because I knew Andros didn't want me to. Because he considered it wrong. But I didn't have control over the majority of me." She took a deep breath, this one much steadier. Zhane echoed it in relief. This was new to him, it was the first she'd ever spoken of it.
"The bad part was," she continued before he could prompt her, "there was a little girl with a doll in one of the first groups."
"Sylvie," Zhane said. The panic in Carlos' voice on that whole adventure had been incredible. It had affected Andros to some extent, the others less. Carlos had been driven. He sighed softly. He didn't want to think about Carlos now; it was too frustrating. "So, what brought the dream on?"
"I did inspections yesterday," she said. "One of the girl's rooms had a well loved doll in it."
"But why would that cause a nightmare?" He'd wound up asking for help from the resident psychiatrist, simply to help Karone get through these nightmares that kept popping up. There were fewer now, to be sure, but he didn't know if they'd ever go away.
"Most of my life, I didn't have dolls." She smiled, reaching up to brush his face with her hand. "I don't remember many toys at all.... Ecliptor had to work as hard as you do, to get me to change."
"I had an edge, I think," he said softly, smiling. "You want to, now."
"Yes...." She sighed. "So, the only doll I remember really well, is the little girl's doll from the Secret City. She was the only child that young... how did that happen?"
"She was with Andros and Carlos when they were caught."
"Ah...." There were times she still sounded like Astronema, though they were few and far between. Zhane was just as glad that Andros was rarely around for those. "That's why you Rangers were so determined. I had wondered," she said softly.
"Determined," he repeated. "If I hadn't known better, I would have thought she was Carlos' sister. He was pretty upset." He chuckled.
"Why?"
With much amusement, Zhane related the story of how Carlos and Sylvie met, and how he'd taken her under his wing. To his relief, she was laughing by the end of his tale. "Then came that accident, and he disappeared. She called once a week for almost six months, and Bulk said it about broke his heart to have to tell her every week we didn't know where Carlos had gone. She finally just quit calling."
"Has he tried to contact her since he's been back?"
Zhane frowned. "No. At least, I seriously doubt it. I'm not sure if he was more attached to Ashley or to Sylvie, but he won't even look at Ashley." He shook his head. He did not want to talk about Carlos. "Are you feeling better?"
"A little better, yes. Enough to go back to sleep, anyway." She did sound sleepy.
He lay awake long after she'd fallen asleep, trying to figure out ways to help her get over these stupid nightmares without letting Andros know she was having them. He was way too preoccupied right now to deal with it.
The next morning, he went back down to the Pit to try to get more information about the machine one of the teams had brought in. Andros had taken one look at his report and nearly spitted him; not enough information. So this time, he took a datapad and prepared to take down every little detail he could get. It looked to him like a horse, although Damon had mentioned once it reminded him of the bad guy in Terminator 2 - whatever that meant. He hadn't understood Damon's explanation of the movie, and hadn't had time to watch it. Besides, watching films in 2D always gave him a head ache. Holovids were much easier on the eyes.
The machine stood off to the side, in an area Droz had rather unwillingly let it have. It took him three times to find it; it blended into the machinery around it almost as well as the Phantom when he was invisible. Before moving closer, he observed it until it turned to him, then he walked over. It never hurt to be polite. He didn't think it would speak to him; it hadn't yesterday.
"I sure wish we knew why you were here," he murmured softly, checking it over visually. The datapad beeped at him, and he took a look at it, then a second one. ‘Is this all you have about me?' was typed clearly on the screen.
Zhane blinked. "Are you talking to me?" he asked. There was no answer. "Voice recognition, type what you hear," he muttered, and the datapad beeped at him. "I... yes. I guess." His words showed up clearly on the screen of the datapad, and he pressed save almost convulsively.
‘You were here yesterday.'
"Yes. What you find here is just from my observations." He suddenly grinned. "I'm Zhane, by the way. Current Silver AstroRanger, if inactive."
‘I am Chameleon.'
Zhane's eyebrows raised in surprise. He'd heard of this race. Not much was known of them, because they were hard to find. He chuckled to himself. It had taken quite a while the day before, and he was certain he'd found it only because it wanted him to see it. "Is that your name?"
‘It will do.'
Zhane nodded. "Mind if I ask a few questions?"
‘No.'
He looked around, then perched on an electric part that looked big enough to hold him. "Great. What are you doing here?"
The machine looked vaguely uncomfortable, a strange sight. ‘I was asked to... observe you. We want to learn about you.'
"Humans?" Sometimes he forgot he wasn't from Earth. He didn't bother to correct himself.
‘Rangers. We have heard of you, and wish to know if anything we have heard is true.'
Zhane nodded. "That depends on your source of information," he said lightly. "All right. But this must be an exchange of information," he said.
There was a pause. ‘An exchange of information?'
"What you found there was all we have on your race. Can we study you? At least as far as we can, with you being here on your own?"
The Chameleon paced away from him, silent. Waiting was not Zhane's favorite thing to do, but he quelled every instinct to fidget. When it started back towards him, he remembered to hit save again. ‘I believe that would be an acceptable trade.'
"Great." He bounced to his feet. "First thing is to make sure...." He paused. "Would it help to have a translation device.... connected to you?"
‘What do you mean?'
Zhane began his own pacing; he couldn't help it. Movement had always helped him think. "I was thinking of the collars some of the students wear." Make that one, he thought, and pushed the thought of Weelo away. "If I can come up with a design that will allow you to communicate with anyone around, will that help?"
The Chameleon scraped it's right forefoot on the floor. ‘Yes. That would be helpful.'
"Okay. I'll have to talk to Andros - he's the head master - and find out what kind of stuff might be useful for you to know. Certainly any of the press releases," he mumbled, almost to himself. "Oh. And a dictionary might help." He grinned self consciously. "You would not believe how many strange words there are in this language."
‘I would.' There was the hint of laughter, and Zhane laughed back.
"Yeah, well, you're getting those from the mind of a Kerovian who is mostly unfamiliar with any phrase that isn't his own or has something to do with Rangering or Security."
‘Security. I am safe here?'
"As safe as the rest of us; as safe as we can make it." He grinned. "Let me get you a... level of clearance and a ... translator, for lack of a better word, and that should get things going."
‘And my end of the exchange?'
Zhane stopped as if clubbed. "Oh. Right. I guess.... electronic form of the application, and we'll see what questions we have from there." He smiled. "I'll make sure you get this by lunch. Is there anything else you need?" He was thinking food or any other kind of sustenance, but Chameleon indicated no, that he was fine. "All right. I'll be back as soon as I can," Zhane said, and made his way back to the main complex, mind spinning.
Go on to Next Chapter | "I Wonder What it's Like...."