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Description
Everyone felt better the next morning. As Alan had promised he got up early enough to take ten extra minutes to replace the fuse in Renee’s eye and went off to morning workouts. Stretching, Renee clawed herself out of bed. She had caught a few extra minutes of sleep and then gotten ready after Alan left since all she had on this floating deathtrap was time. Running a brush through her soft brown and blonde streaked hair, she hummed the tune to ‘Chariots of Fire’. Maybe later today she would catch up with XL and help him out with delivering faxes.
XL was something special to her. On the first day when Alan had come to sign up for training XL had caught her killing time with XR. A better way to say it was that she had been scolding the little robot for going through one of the ranger’s desks. The photocopier had questioned them for a few minutes and Renee was surprised to learn just who he was- Nos’s old partner. Of course there was the whole trying-to-kill-each-other thing, but she ignored it. He had been reinstated to Star Command as a photocopier/ fax machine after the explosion on Planet Z, apparently, and the difference was evident. She had imagined a ten foot tall mismatched looking warbot and instead got…an office appliance. But he was nice anyway. Within ten minutes she had convinced him to unlock the criminal records room just so she could read his, Nos’s, and now her own criminal record. Their relationship had only improved from there. Of course if XR opened his big mouth about the theatre incident, which XL did not know about, he would probably hate her for life.
She didn’t like to imagine what kind of problems it would cause if they found out she actually had helped out Nos-4-a2. Or, worse, if they knew she was under his mind control. But he hadn’t shown up since that evening though so no harm was being done, or so she thought. She was lucky so far, but wasn’t sure how long it would last. If you recall luck had a tendency to run out. From what the records said each week when they were updated, he was laying low. So much for the promise he had made to go after Zurg when he was done getting repaired.
She flicked her fluffy tail back and forth after brushing it and dismissed the worries for now. Opening the door into the hall, she waltzed out with a smile. She was wearing a purple t-shirt and a vest with blue jeans and a utility belt. She always kept the utility belt handy in case someone or something ever needed repairs. One of her favorite pastimes was to help the LGMs out with what she could on the science bay. Half the time what they said flew way over her head, but she caught most of it when it came to robot repairs. They were, to say the most, almost as impressed with her talents as Nos had been.
She started dancing a little, doing the ever popular Cupid Shuffle and clicking her heels together, as she went down the hall. A few rangers stopped to stare and then went on their way. She did it rather often and always had the same excuse- it’s just a teen thing. One thing she was good for was consistency, but the songs came at random. One minute she was dancing to ‘Domino’ and the next she was singing to ‘Stereo’. It was something she had gotten hooked to recently- music. Earth music, imperticular. Anything from country to rap caught her attention if it was good. Even some classic music found a page in her approval book.
Finally Renee found herself in the dining hall and she took claim to a seat next to XL and team Lightyear. She may have disliked Buzz and Mira especially, but enjoyed Booster and XR enough for it to weigh out. “Morning, Snack Chips.” She patted XR’s helmet in a friendly manner and he frowned.
“I hate that nickname.” He spun the straw around in his can of oil. He was the only one who really knew for sure that she had planned the theatre incident because the energy vampire had told him right out. The only reason he had shut up about the truth, though, was because no one listened. They were on her side, but only because of that little old term ‘guilty until proven innocent’.
“Oh, Lighten up.” She snickered and played with one of her whiskers. Booster grinned a little. She liked him because he was one of the three rangers that actually tried to stop Kindle. Well, more or less.
“Make me.” He muttered. Renee rolled her eyes and passed him a small bottle of antifreeze. His eyes brightened, but he tried to hide it. Doing something nice like that (Even on a weekly basis) was not going to convince him of her innocence, and she didn’t expect it to. She just wanted a friendlier relationship. He slipped the bottle off of the table and tucked it into his chest compartment.
“Are you going to be busy today XL?” She smiled across the table at her companion.
“Well, it is Monday.” XL laughed. “But we always find time when they update the records.”
“That reminds me.” She cocked an ear at him. “When do I get my own key?”
“You’re not supposed to be in there at all.” Buzz pointed out. “XL, I told you to stop letting her in.”
XL swallowed quickly and looked between them, indecisive. “Yes sir.” He looked up at Buzz obediently. Renee winked though, seeing that shine in his eyes that said ‘only for a little while.’
“It’s alright with me.” Renee stood up, spotting Ty coming in from the other side of the lunch room. He was coming in awful late today- he had just shown up and most everyone else was nearly finished eating. She followed Ty over to his table and sat down. “Morning, Ty.”
“Uh, morning Renee.” He looked out a window into deep space. He was still mildly uncomfortable around her, but she had made it obvious she wanted peace. The girl had apologized at least a hundred times since she got to Star Command and then some. For what happened, not because she had done anything. As far as he knew it was an accident that Nos had gotten ahold of the moon rocks.
“So… you’re up late.” She stirred around her oatmeal tiredly. She wanted conversation.
“Yeah, so I am.” He poked his sparing amount of ham with a fork, disinterested.
“Not feeling well, or what?” She tried to smile and admired his pompadour- mop top haircut.
“A little what, a touch of the flu.” He kind of snickered a little. He waved a fork around, gesturing kind of out-there-ish. A few specks of egg white landed on the bridge of her nose. She crossed her eyes trying to see the stuff splattered on her nose and he smiled.
“What is on my face?” She asked before wiping it away with a napkin.
“Egg.” He laughed.
“Oh nice, I’ve got dead chicken babies on my nose.” The teenager began to laugh. The man looked at her oddly for a second because of the scary Zephyr humor and finally joined in the good humor.
“She’s so weird.” Mira said, taking a drink from her glass.
“Well, she is Alan’s daughter.” Buzz smiled ever so slightly over the edge of his coffee mug. “It runs in the family.”

Description
Everyone felt better the next morning. As Alan had promised he got up early enough to take ten extra minutes to replace the fuse in Renee’s eye and went off to morning workouts. Stretching, Renee clawed herself out of bed. She had caught a few extra minutes of sleep and then gotten ready after Alan left since all she had on this floating deathtrap was time. Running a brush through her soft brown and blonde streaked hair, she hummed the tune to ‘Chariots of Fire’. Maybe later today she would catch up with XL and help him out with delivering faxes.
XL was something special to her. On the first day when Alan had come to sign up for training XL had caught her killing time with XR. A better way to say it was that she had been scolding the little robot for going through one of the ranger’s desks. The photocopier had questioned them for a few minutes and Renee was surprised to learn just who he was- Nos’s old partner. Of course there was the whole trying-to-kill-each-other thing, but she ignored it. He had been reinstated to Star Command as a photocopier/ fax machine after the explosion on Planet Z, apparently, and the difference was evident. She had imagined a ten foot tall mismatched looking warbot and instead got…an office appliance. But he was nice anyway. Within ten minutes she had convinced him to unlock the criminal records room just so she could read his, Nos’s, and now her own criminal record. Their relationship had only improved from there. Of course if XR opened his big mouth about the theatre incident, which XL did not know about, he would probably hate her for life.
She didn’t like to imagine what kind of problems it would cause if they found out she actually had helped out Nos-4-a2. Or, worse, if they knew she was under his mind control. But he hadn’t shown up since that evening though so no harm was being done, or so she thought. She was lucky so far, but wasn’t sure how long it would last. If you recall luck had a tendency to run out. From what the records said each week when they were updated, he was laying low. So much for the promise he had made to go after Zurg when he was done getting repaired.
She flicked her fluffy tail back and forth after brushing it and dismissed the worries for now. Opening the door into the hall, she waltzed out with a smile. She was wearing a purple t-shirt and a vest with blue jeans and a utility belt. She always kept the utility belt handy in case someone or something ever needed repairs. One of her favorite pastimes was to help the LGMs out with what she could on the science bay. Half the time what they said flew way over her head, but she caught most of it when it came to robot repairs. They were, to say the most, almost as impressed with her talents as Nos had been.
She started dancing a little, doing the ever popular Cupid Shuffle and clicking her heels together, as she went down the hall. A few rangers stopped to stare and then went on their way. She did it rather often and always had the same excuse- it’s just a teen thing. One thing she was good for was consistency, but the songs came at random. One minute she was dancing to ‘Domino’ and the next she was singing to ‘Stereo’. It was something she had gotten hooked to recently- music. Earth music, imperticular. Anything from country to rap caught her attention if it was good. Even some classic music found a page in her approval book.
Finally Renee found herself in the dining hall and she took claim to a seat next to XL and team Lightyear. She may have disliked Buzz and Mira especially, but enjoyed Booster and XR enough for it to weigh out. “Morning, Snack Chips.” She patted XR’s helmet in a friendly manner and he frowned.
“I hate that nickname.” He spun the straw around in his can of oil. He was the only one who really knew for sure that she had planned the theatre incident because the energy vampire had told him right out. The only reason he had shut up about the truth, though, was because no one listened. They were on her side, but only because of that little old term ‘guilty until proven innocent’.
“Oh, Lighten up.” She snickered and played with one of her whiskers. Booster grinned a little. She liked him because he was one of the three rangers that actually tried to stop Kindle. Well, more or less.
“Make me.” He muttered. Renee rolled her eyes and passed him a small bottle of antifreeze. His eyes brightened, but he tried to hide it. Doing something nice like that (Even on a weekly basis) was not going to convince him of her innocence, and she didn’t expect it to. She just wanted a friendlier relationship. He slipped the bottle off of the table and tucked it into his chest compartment.
“Are you going to be busy today XL?” She smiled across the table at her companion.
“Well, it is Monday.” XL laughed. “But we always find time when they update the records.”
“That reminds me.” She cocked an ear at him. “When do I get my own key?”
“You’re not supposed to be in there at all.” Buzz pointed out. “XL, I told you to stop letting her in.”
XL swallowed quickly and looked between them, indecisive. “Yes sir.” He looked up at Buzz obediently. Renee winked though, seeing that shine in his eyes that said ‘only for a little while.’
“It’s alright with me.” Renee stood up, spotting Ty coming in from the other side of the lunch room. He was coming in awful late today- he had just shown up and most everyone else was nearly finished eating. She followed Ty over to his table and sat down. “Morning, Ty.”
“Uh, morning Renee.” He looked out a window into deep space. He was still mildly uncomfortable around her, but she had made it obvious she wanted peace. The girl had apologized at least a hundred times since she got to Star Command and then some. For what happened, not because she had done anything. As far as he knew it was an accident that Nos had gotten ahold of the moon rocks.
“So… you’re up late.” She stirred around her oatmeal tiredly. She wanted conversation.
“Yeah, so I am.” He poked his sparing amount of ham with a fork, disinterested.
“Not feeling well, or what?” She tried to smile and admired his pompadour- mop top haircut.
“A little what, a touch of the flu.” He kind of snickered a little. He waved a fork around, gesturing kind of out-there-ish. A few specks of egg white landed on the bridge of her nose. She crossed her eyes trying to see the stuff splattered on her nose and he smiled.
“What is on my face?” She asked before wiping it away with a napkin.
“Egg.” He laughed.
“Oh nice, I’ve got dead chicken babies on my nose.” The teenager began to laugh. The man looked at her oddly for a second because of the scary Zephyr humor and finally joined in the good humor.
“She’s so weird.” Mira said, taking a drink from her glass.
“Well, she is Alan’s daughter.” Buzz smiled ever so slightly over the edge of his coffee mug. “It runs in the family.”