The purr of a perfectly designed engine distracted Sam's thoughts from his shaving. When Bumblebee's sleek figure came into the house Sam rushed out of the bathroom and looked over the balcony to his friend. The Camaro was glowing.
"Hey buddy," Sam greeted, ridding his face of shaving foam.
Bumblebee boomed small quirks of endearment to his friend and squatted down to transform back into the subtle mode of Sam's favourite car. "I'm so excited," Bumblebee sung, engine revving with joy. "I just can't hide it."
Sam's laugh echoed along with the song as he jumped down each step toward his car. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Sam climbed into the car, relaxing in the passenger seat as Bumblebee's steering wheel opened a blue laser-like beam toward the driver's seat.
"Ratchet and I have been working on something," Bumblebee's radio stated. "We have started to improve our holographic selves."
As Bumblebee's radio mimicked his voice, Sam watched as a young male appeared on the seat beside him. Small, blonde and bright.
"Wow," Sam breathed. "Is that you?"
"Well, no," Bumblebee laughed. "This is simply a hologram designed to sit in this seat whilst you sit where you are, or in the back, or when I am simply driving alone. However, if I were ever human I could be any person I wished to be."
Sam smiled at the radio's words and slowly raised his hand from his lap, dropping it on the dashboard and looking at the hologram. "Can I touch it? Would you feel it?"
"No. I have no direct link to this hologram, Sam." Sam knew if Bumblebee were himself right now, his optics would be rolling as if Sam should automatically know that. "You could always see what it feels like though."
Sam nodded at the hologram. It was not looking at him, or anywhere it fact. It seemed to be staring outside of the window. "How did you create it without any direct link to you?" Sam asked as his hand moved toward the boy beside him.
"You have seen Star Wars, haven't you, Sam?" Bumblebee's question reacted a snort and a nod from his human. "It is, I suppose, a lot like that. I can project an image as could the small robot in that film. Although it may not be directly linked to him, he has that image saved in his processor, therefore he can show it, but he cannot feel it if something were to interfere with it via touch."
Whilst Bumblebee rambled on about the workings of the projected image, Sam's hand was barely touching the cheek of the hologram. Bumblebee's engine purred slowly, nudging Sam's hand a little closer to the hologram; his hand slipping straight through the cheek of the blonde.
No air, no touch, no nothing. And for some reason, Sam was disappointed.
His hand dropped in rejection back onto his lap and he rolled back into his seat. "So you didn't feel a thing?" He asked, voice dropped in soft disappointment.
"No," Bumblebee's response was soft; apologetic. "Shall we drive? Carly won't be home for a while, will she?"
Sam nodded, hands skimming over the dashboard in front of him as his eyes darted over to the image next to him.
"Sure," he mumbled. "Let's drive."
also another example of holographic images - Optimus showing Sam and Mikaela about Cybertron and Megatron being a jackoff.
I didn't mention that, just because it seemed easier to mention Star Wars. I think I'm just lazy.