Putting Her Research Into Practice

Synopsis: Somnibot reads Why We Sleep, written by Matthew Walker, PhD. In doing so, she figures that she could train herself to further control her sleeping spell so she could help the Rangers.

Dedicated to Barbara Goodson, Tony Oliver, Barbara A. Oliver, and Vickie Bronaugh, the writers and director for Power Rangers Zeo episode 31, "Rock-a-Bye Power Rangers".

‘And there she lulled me asleep,

And there I dream’d--Ah woe betide !

The latest dream I ever dream’d

On the cold hill’s side.’--Keats, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’   

Chapter 1--Morpheus’ Curiosity

Morpheus found his beautiful wife, Somnibot in the kitchen reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PHD.   

‘Looks rather fascinating.’, he thought to himself.  

‘Breakfast is piping hot.  I made sure of it. The only thing is, I simply cannot put it down !   This speaks of the healing frequency. There are some schools of thought that say 432 Hz is better than 528 Hz but they’re actually the same.  If I can attune my frequency to either or Delta and Theta waves, my spell will definitely be more effective. Or, that’s my hypothesis.’, Somnibot said.  

‘How are you planning on testing your hypothesis, dear ?’, Morpheus asked.

Pashitea, Yume and Baku had just awoken from their slumber, aroused by their father’s inquisitiveness.

‘What’s going on ?’, Baku, the youngest questioned.    Somni showed off her magnificent read.

‘I’m going to see if everything I’ve read thus far really does support the evidence give by Dr. Walker.   If it does, I want to meet Dr. Walker myself so I can shake his hand !”, she said excitedly. She wanted to give her newfound frequencies a shot at a petting zoo on a slow day.    She didn’t know if any other humans would be there but it was a risk she would have to take.

Chapter 2--Sheep Counting Sheep   

'Well, let's see if I can give this a try.', Somnibot said. She breathed in deeply then began to sing.   One by one the sheep at the petting zoo began slumping over and finally bending down on their legs to fall into a deep sleep.   Morpheus and the children began to feel a little bit sleepy as well.

‘Your song is so soothing.’, Pasthitea stated as she started feeling soporific.    Yume and Baku had already gone into delta sleep, resting against each other. Each person at the zoo was lost in their dreams and all the animals were snoozing.

‘As they say in Pokemon, ‘It’s super effective !’, she said, laughing in spite of herself.   She recorded her findings in her journal, noting all the effects of honing 432 Hz frequency theta waves as the ‘foundation’ of her song.   She thought,

‘Well, that was easy, but what if I used this on insomniacs ?  I could really do some people good.’   Firstly, thought, she would have to awaken her friends and head to the nearest sleep study facility.   They would probably look at her a bit odd at first, but after they’d see her talent in action, they wouldn’t be doubting her for long.  

Chapter 3--A True Sleep Study

Somnibot and her friends went to the Luna Institute, which handled all sorts of ‘difficult’ cases as well as giving apnea patients a new lease on life, especially for their spouses, children, roommates and neighbors.  

The doctors looked over Somnibot incredulously.  

‘Did someone hire us a costume party ?   It’s not Halloween.’, one of the nurses said, clearly unamused and nonplussed.  

‘She’s here to help.  Just give her a chance, please.’, Herman suggested, his voice somewhat plaintive.   

‘Yeah !  We saw what she can do !’, Jibo agreed.  

‘Her ability is very powerful, just give it a chance.’, Pasitea chimed in.   Normally the doctors and nurses wouldn’t humor them but the insomniac that was in the room looked in desperate need of a miracle.  He was willing to try something new when nothing else had worked.

‘Go ahead, Somni.  Do your best !’, the insomniac prompted.    Somnibot composed herself, much like a spellbinding ballerina at the Bolshoi.    She took a deep breath and began to sing strains from The Backyardigans Mermaid Song.      The insomniac began to feel his head nod forward and much to everyone’s surprise, he had fallen into a deep delta sleep.   The doctors and nurses were stunned, stumped, flabbergasted at what had just occurred.

‘I can’t believe it !’, the main doctor blurted out, still in disbelief.  

‘Can we use your services for later ?’, one of the nurses questioned, as many of the onierists scribbled down their reactions and findings to this miracle.

‘Of course !  I may be a busy mother but I can always spare time for science.’, Somni agreed with a grin.   From then on, the nay-saying doctors, nurses and researchers had become her best friends.

Chapter 4--Battle Ready

Somnibot began to train in the holosuite.  After working up a bit of a sweat, she joined the rest of her friends out in the cafeteria.  She was starving. Luckily, Tanya, Kat, Kim and Trini had made a breakfast bonanza. It was a veritable smorgasbord.   

All the food they had eaten gave them the necessary fuel they required for their next battle.   It wasn’t a moment too soon, either. Zordon had notified them of a villain he had never seen before.  

‘This one is a real fright.  His name is Terror. He hypnotizes his victims into a deep sleep and makes them have nightmares.   The nightmares would in turn give him power. Once he absorbed enough fear, loathing, negativity and dread, he would become all powerful.   

A little boy was having a daymare about losing his little brother in the park.   Terror swooped down to bring this daymare to life. Somnibot felt her newfound ability give her intuition about when people were being terrorized and it wasn’t a moment too soon.    This young kid was about to fall into the clutches of a full blown frightful reality until Somnibot stopped him.

‘Someone having a birthday ?  I didn’t order any clowns.’, Terror sneered.

‘Stop bullying that little kid.   He’s an innocent. What did he ever do to you ?’, Somnibot questioned.    The other Rangers had followed her as soon as they realized she was no longer at the table and her area had been cleaned thoroughly.  

‘Yeah, leave him alone !’, Jason said, starting to feel his ire rise.  

‘Great, more performers.   Just what I need. Trenton, ignore these bozos.   Your brother is definitely lost out in the woods. Best just give up now.  The coyotes probably ate him for lunch !’, Terror said, seeing the kid’s face grow wan and his eyes overflow with tears.    

'LEAVE THAT KID ALONE!!', Herman screamed, charging at his opponent and giving him a swift high kick to the face.    Terror lost his balance and fell upon his back, clearly surprised that such a spindly stick could have so much fight.

‘I can see that clearly all of you are more powerful than I anticipated.  No matter. Time to expose your phobias.’, Terror said casting a powerful incantation.  

Chapter 5--Counterattack

Using what she learned from her research Somnibot counterattacked with 438 HZ delta and theta waves, warning the Rangers to activate their audio sensors to be blocked.   They wouldn’t be able to hear Jason or Tommy’s commands but it was unnecessary. Rapidly, they began fighting back and the young boy fled, grabbed his younger brother and sought shelter in his parents’ arms.    None of them looked back as they ran.

‘How DARE you chase away one of my snacks.  I was just getting ready to feast upon his fear !  Oh, well. No matter.’, Terror said, getting back up to his feet.   He had taken a bit of the fear from the boy to fuel his power. He wasn’t about to be beaten easily.    He wasn’t able to tap into the Ranger’s psyches due to the fact that Somnibot was implementing her frequency to override Terror’s incantation.   

Chapter 6--Terror’s Defeat

No matter what Terror did, he found himself cowed by the Rangers.   He couldn’t even get them to fall into nightmares. He was stricken down for the last time by Somni’s Dream Scepter.  

‘No !   I can’t die this way !  NOOOO !’, he bellowed as the magical energy disintegrated him.    The shadows that had formed him melted into the light. Anyone that had been terrorized by him before was freed of their phobias and nightmares.   They went about their normal days without having remembered anything that happened from before.

Epilogue  

‘Do you think the doctors will want to see me again ?’, Somni questioned her husband after not hearing from them in a while.

‘Oh, they’re going to need you.   Your prescription was so effective the first time they’re going to want to test it on larger groups of people.’, Morpheus commented.  

‘I’m so happy I can use my powers for good.’, Somni said as she headed to bed after a long, enervating day.   She’d get a call soon enough but for the time being, she and the others needed some restorative sleep of their own.  As soon as she sang The Flower Waltz, all of them had fallen into delta sleep, snuggled under their covers and savored the realm of dreams as they slept.  

The End