The door to the tree-house creaked open, letting in a gust of rain-washed evening air and six Rescue Rangers. Though at this point the term ‘Rescued Rangers’ would be more appropriate since they looked as if they’d just arrived from a disaster area. They staggered down the domino stairs, looking likely to act like dominoes themselves. Still there was an air of elation and the remains of an adrenaline high.
Four of them were moving more or less under their own power, but Zipper was slumped on Monterey’s shoulder like the proverbial passed on parrot of Python fame, and Gadget was being carried bride-wise in Chips arms. However it was clear that the only reason Dale and Foxglove hadn’t collapsed was that they were leaning against each other for mutual support. Not that either of them seemed likely to register a complaint. For that matter Chip looked fairly happy, if exhausted.
“Tooraloo mates. Old Nimnul really went all out on that one!” a certain antipodal mouse exclaimed.
Chip nodded, careful not to shake his burden. “Who’d have thought it? Robotic spiders designed to sneak into houses and steal peoples stuff! Each with a copy of some of his own twisted brain.”
“But we showed him! Zap, powie! And Foxy here was great when she zoomed around old Nimnut’s head and got him so spinny he couldn’t see straight!” Dale said, using his free paw to illustrate, overbalancing and almost bringing Foxglove down with him. However, he was saved by the glomp the batty belle gave him for his complement.
“You did your bit too, sweetie. Dodging round those big clumping feet dragging a line was really brave. He went over like a pole-axed… pole.”
“Aww, it was nothing. Just like Mark Moonstrider tangling up the legs of the Imperium Sandwalker in ‘Revenge of the Imperium’.” The pair had navigated their way to the central area and instituted a semi-controlled collapse into the embrace of the sofa.
Chip made a face and gave Dale a bonk on the head. “Shhh! You’ll wake Gadget.” he stage whispered.
Monterey shook his head as he took an easy chair. “Not likely Chipper. Gadget-luv’s out like a light.”
At the mention of her name, the mouse miss stirred slightly in her sleep. “Mnmmm… sprockets… mnnnmm… thermal expansummm…” She then snuggled up to the closest source of warmth in the vicinity, Chip’s furry chest, which was clearly getting warmer if the blush on his cheeks was anything to go by.
He recovered slightly and reluctantly laid her down on a free section of sofa. He looked down fondly. “She’s the real heroine.” He continued quietly. “While we distracted the robot spiders and Nimnul, she was the one reprogramming his mesmotronic whatchumacallit.” He covered her with his bomber jacket. “You realise she’s been up since yesterday morning? First she was fitting the booster rockets to allow the Ranger Wing to reach Nimnul’s new lab. I tried to help but she you know how she gets with her inventions sometimes. Then it was building something that could connect to Nimnul’s cuh-razy machine so she could reprogram it.”
Dale interjected. “Hey, you mean she didn’t sleep at all? You should have made her get some shut-eye before we left! Me and Foxy did.”
“I said I tried!” Chip huffed, then put his forepaw over his mouth. “She was on an inventing jag with added acorn coffee. We Rescue Rangers may pull miracles off with ease, but not the impossible.”
Foxglove was aghast. “But she flew the Ranger Wing through that artificial storm! Then straight through that exhaust vent with about an inch of clearance either side. I’d have been scared flying that route on my own wings! Are you saying she was running on acorn juice at the time?”
Chip shook his head. “I wanted her to let me or Monty drive, at least some. But she insisted, said since she had the most hours in the Wing and had fitted the booster rockets she had to do it herself.”
Dale suddenly gave a big yawn as the remaining dregs of adrenaline finally vanished. “Well I’m for hitting the sack. It gotta be the first thing today that won’t hit back.”
He helped Foxglove up, which she gratefully accepted. “Dale, I don’t think I could make it back to my place. You wouldn’t mind if I perched here for the night?”
Dale gave one of his grins. “Sure thing Foxy. Gadget fixed up a hanging bar in case you ever wanted to…” The pair headed off.
Monterey gave an even bigger yawn followed by a stretch. “A little shut-eye sounds like a bonzer idea.” He strode over and easily picked up Gadget. “Chipper-me-lad, I think we’d better get Gadget to her room. Poor lass is tuckered out, so it’s up to us to tuck her in.”
&&&
Moonlight was streaming through the cross barred window in Gadget’s room, giving plenty of light to work by. Tucking Gadget in simply consisted of Chip pulling back the top sheet, while Monty laid her down, still in her jump-suit. Chip made sure she was covered and headed for the door.
As he got there, Monty was just outside. Chip said softly, “Sometimes I think she works too hard. I mean in most things we can all cover for one another, help out at least. But no-one can invent or build stuff like Gadget. She’s the best pilot, and with all the luck in the world, we could never have dealt with those spiders without her expertise.”
“Yer right there lad. There’s work for two of her at least. Too bad she’s one of a kind. Besides I reckon you’ve got another reason for wanting her round.” He nudged the concerned chipmunk.
Chip was good at sighing, he’d clearly had a lot of practice. “Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to tell her straight out that I l….”
The blonde mouse turned over in her bed, hunching up slightly.
Monty whispered. “C’mon lad, we don’t want to disturb her.” The pair crept out the door closing it gently. Unbeknown to them, Gadget had been momentarily wakeful and heard some of the conversation in a half doze. She snuggled up against a fold in the covers and mused.
‘Golly, Chip… he’s so sweet to worry like that… Two of me… hmmm… well maybe…’ With that she fell into a deeper sleep and dreamed schematics.
&&&
The morning had come, the Cheese flaps a la Monterey had been consumed and generally approved of. The entire team (minus Foxglove who was on a different schedule and would probably be making an appearance mid afternoon) was sitting around the dining table in the main room. Chip addressed everyone.
“We’ve done a lot of good work lately, so I think we’ve all due some rest. We can all relax today and be on top form for adventure hunting tomorrow.”
Zipper reacted first. “Zzzzz?” <What?>, closely followed by Dale. “Okay! Who are you and what have you done with Chip?”
Chip glared at Dale. “We’re no use to anyone if we burn ourselves out. Myself, I intend to string up a hammock and catch up on my back issues of ‘Mouse Mystery Magazine’.”
Dale jumped up. “Zowie! I’m for some old episodes of Red Badger of Courage on the Classic Cartoon channel.” He was standing to go when Gadget spoke.
“I think it’s a good idea too, Chip. But before that, could you all help me move the stuff we collected from Nimnul’s lab to my workshop. There was some really neat stuff in those robot spiders.”
The others easily agreed, but Chip seemed reluctant. “Okay… But today we’re relaxing. No need to push yourself.”
Gadget smiled brightly. “But, Chip, you should know by now, pottering around in the workshop _is_ the way I relax.”
The other three Rangers chuckled, and Dale followed up with. “She’s got you there Chip.”
&&&
The day off turned into two, and then three. Despite daily trips to the precinct house, watch duty on the police band radio, and even patrols in the Rangerplane, the criminal element seemed un-reactive and unwilling to compound their existing crimes. Gadget was rarely out of her workshop, after the salvaged parts were delivered, and refused to discuss exactly what she was creating.
She did drop a couple of hints about a labour saving device, but that was all. She also raided Dale’s costume box, and took a lot longer grooming in the mornings. Every evening she worked late, and had to be coaxed out of the workshop with a copy of Scientific Rodentia on a piece of string.
Of course no-one thought of going in and looking, partly because it would be rude, but mostly because Gadget didn’t need to build salesman traps to make an environment dangerous, as witness the first test of the magno-ray. But on the evening of the third day she finally called them all into the workshop for the unveiling.
Things had changed. The PDA and foldout keyboard she had recently installed to supplement the computer in the main room had a new junction box with a spaghetti tangle of cabling. Various pieces of equipment from the salvage were set up along the walls, and the focus of all the cables and machinery, was a vertical framework, covered with a handkerchief like a shower curtain.
“Wowie Zowie! It looks just like the mad scientists lab from ‘Return of the Thing that already returned twice and was removed once… part IV’!” Dale exclaimed.
“You said it, Dale-cutie!” agreed Foxglove.
Gadget answered almost immediately. “Well, it would look a lot like a mad scientist’s lab, because a lot of the stuff was salvaged from a mad scientist’s lab.” She said reasonably enough. “But that wasn’t what I got you all in here to show you.. All the preliminary tests have come up A-okay, so I wanted everyone to be here to watch the first full scale activation test.”
Chip looked slightly nervous, Monty more than slightly.
“Does that mean you haven’t actually switched it on?” asked Chip, sounding concerned. After all this was a girl who could build a space shuttle in an afternoon, and she’d had three whole days. Much as he wanted to stay on her good side, he couldn’t help being a bit cautious.
“Yeah, it might be better if we all waited outside.”, Monty said, carefully not adding the phrase, ‘the city limits.’ to the end of it. “Yer a bonzer inventor, Gadget-luv, but you gotta admit yer inventions can be a bit… unexpected… when they first get goin’.”
Gadget looked slightly annoyed. “Just because my inventions occasionally show a few anomalies, doesn’t mean this one will. It’s perfectly safe, I’ll show you.” With that she stalked over to the PDA and typed some commands. There was a hum and crackle as lights lit and LEDs flickered. The white handkerchief curtain parted, to reveal… Gadget.
She was apparently identical to the original, wearing a similar purple jumpsuit. Blonde hair, cut the same way, eyes closed, the same creamy almost pink velvety fur on her exposed face, ears, paws and tail. She lay back against a slightly inclined plane, restraints seemingly holding her there.
Gadget made comments as she watched a scrolling readout on the PDA, seemingly a boot-up routine. The others were too stunned to interrupt.
“The skin was really tricky, until I figured out a way of embedding my own shed fur into the electro-mimetic dermal layer left over from the spiders. Unfortunately, I only had enough for the extremities, hence the jump-suit. And I’d never have been able to cast the adamantine/titanium endoskeleton without that molecular induction heater we found… Good!”
The restraints flipped back, and the other Gadget opened her eyes, which glowed solid red. Her arms stretched out in front of her and she lurched upright, staggering forward a pace as she stepped outside the chamber.
Dale freaked. “Waaah! It’s going to tear us limb from limb like the robot clam from ‘Finklestein’s Revenge, Part II’!” He sprung into Foxglove’s wings.
“Golly, why would I want to do something like that? It sounds mean.”
The voice was Gadget’s, but came from the lurching duplicate. Her awkward stride quickly subsided into a normal walk, and her paws came down to her sides. “Balancer system calibration complete.” The red glow in the eyes winked out to be replaced by cornflower blue irises. “Infrared vision test cycle complete.”
The double of Gadget turned to the original and said, “I appear to be fully functional and ready to begin my duties.” It then turned back to the others and smiled brightly.
“I am GA-DGT, Murine Cyborg Emulation. I am happy to meet you all and hope we can be friends.”
Notes: Other, far better writers than I have dealt with the idea of Gadget as
a robot. Dr Indy's classic 'Nothing but a Gadget.', Dave White's awesome 'A
heart is just a pump.'... and the other one that's on the RRDatabase that I
can't check the title of. This is not an attempt to compete with them.
This will be an attempt to give it more the feel of an episode, like 'Robocat', lighter and more humourous. Unlike my other stuff, I'm also going to try and stick to the canon Rangers more closely, excepting the Foxglove/Dale onscreen relationship. For those waiting on the next part of 'On a Wingnut and a Prayer', it's about 10 pages written, around 20 to go.