Who We Become (Power Rangers Ninja Steel)

Chapter 11- Warrior's Shadow

(October 5, 2007)

Brody aimed a round kick at his phantom opponent's head. Ducking, he avoided a nonexistent punch. He darted forward and sent three rapid punches to the head and solar plexus. Dropping back a pace, he finished with a silent kiai on a side-kick. Brody returned to his starting position and bowed stiffly before letting his posture relax.

Breathing heavily, Brody leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. He'd taken to practicing his forms daily, or what he could of them as he could in the small space, to keep up his muscle memory. Though without someone watching him, or even a mirror to see his form, he didn't know if there were areas he didn't do correctly. However, practicing something was better than nothing.

'Why bother?' A sinister voice whispered in his ear. 'It's not like you're ever getting out of here.' Brody clapped his hands over his ears. 'You're going to die here and no one will know. . . or care.'

"SHUT UP!" Brody didn't realize he'd yelled it out loud until one of the kudabots banged on the cell door.

Brody flinched backwards, gritting his teeth to hold in another outburst. The robot clicked its gears but, seeing that Brody had quieted, didn't open the door. It disappeared moments later, continuing on its rounds.

Warily Brody watched the window, but it didn't come back. Sighing, Brody rested his head against the wall. He glanced at the little tick marks next to him. Forty-two pale lines stared back at him. Not even two months and he was already going crazy. 'Great.'

Brody let his chin drop to his chest. Exhaustion weighed him down to very bones. Inadvertently staying awake most of the night probably didn't help. Any noises jerked him to wakefulness. Between that and ninjutsu practice, staying alert during the waking hours took so much effort.

The click of the door lock interrupted his nodding off. Adrenaline shot through Brody's veins instantly pushing the weariness aside. A cold shiver of fear ran up Brody's spine. He hadn't heard the guard enter the cell block. This time he'd awoke before the robot entered the room, but the next time he might not be so lucky.

Shoving his worry down, Brody stood. The door swung open. The kudabot beckoned Brody and led him off the familiar trek to the workshop. Inside Brody saw Mick already working on something at his desk. It didn't surprise him given that Brody had seen the ever growing list of projects Galvanax wanted finished in rapid succession. So many that Mick told Brody it wasn't uncommon for him to sleep in the lab just to streamline productivity.

Mick was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even look up until Brody stood directly over him. He blinked sluggishly at Brody before recognition kicked in. "Mornin'. Or its equivalent." Mick shrugged. "Can't always tell with us being off planet and all."

Brody gave a small smile. "Thanks." He nodded to the assorted pieces of metal and wire on the table. "What are you working on today?"

"It's another camera prototype for Galaxy Warriors. Galvanax doesn't want stationary cameras. Needs ones with 'a brain,' as he put it, to follow the action. Cut out the middleman of someone needing to move them."

With a renewed interest Brody looked back at it. The entire device was about the size of Brody's hand. Overall it had a rectangular shape but with two stubby projections jutting off the top.

"What were you gonna do for it?"

"They'll have motion sensors and specialized tracking. The end goal is for them to be programmed to focus on different aspects of a fighter's physical appearance and self-correct to stay within specific parameters. For example, setting it to stay forty feet away from where it can see a gladiator's face. Or one that hovers above to maintain an aerial view. It'll still take several to keep the picture Galvanax wants to portray, but with their self-tracking features it should make editing easier."