Arc 4: 08 Zodiac

by Macx

She was killed by one of her own, she is believed dead by the Council, but sometimes you should check twice. Gemini is back and this time she won't stop at petty stuff. This time she goes for the ultimate goal: Cybertron.

Zodiac
by Birgit Staebler
Dr. Karen McNamara looked around the large lab and tried not to either gape or hop up and down in child-like happiness. This was what she had always wanted; this was what she had worked for to achieve, and now she was truly here: a large high-tech lab with everything at her disposal, a job where you could fall back upon incredible databanks, assistance from everywhere, and all known and not-so known sciences. A dream come true. That everything was several times human size didn't bother her. Karen had been raised on Cybertron, some of her best friends were Cybertronian or aliens larger than humans, and she knew how to handle herself in this environment. That the Cybertronians had changed their most important facilities to accommodate humans helped as well.
"Welcome to our humble home," a definitely human voice said and she turned to look at a tall, blond man in a lab overall. His hair was almost white-blond and his dark eyes sparkled with amusement, his sun-tanned features creased into a smile she liked immediately.
"Dr. Scott, I presume," she said and shook his hand.
"Kyle." He looked at his name tag. "Gave me away, right?"
Karen smiled. "That and the fact that you are quite well-known around here."
"Hm, I told Steve to take down the 'Wanted' posters."
Karen chuckled. "I made my homework, Kyle. You teach part-time at the local university, you published several highly noted papers and that you are an Interface gives you even more fame."
"Flatter me some more and you'll make my head swell and burst," Scott joked.
"Nah, that would be too messy." She looked around. "I know who you are, Kyle, but what am I doing here? I didn't think you'd need a forensics expert. I always believed you had enough specialist here."
"Oh, we got some, but none with your field of expertise." Karen raised an eyebrow. "Cybernetic anthropology," Kyle added.
"I see."
"We need your opinion on a body retrieved from Earth we have in stasis and had so for some months now. A colleague of mine and myself went over it once, but I want another opinion, preferably from someone who was not involved in the circumstances leading to the death."
"Personal?" McNamara asked briefly.
"Semi-personal. I wasn't involved directly, but friends of mine were and it influences me."
"And you want to know what killed him?"
"Yes. And whatever else you might find out. Everything at all," Kyle said calmly.
"Big order."
"You have all the time in the world. We can give you comparative reports from a second body retrieved and which is currently in a coma."
Karen noted with surprise that Dr. Scott was talking about this second, obviously alive person,
as if he or she was an object. She made a mental note. Then again, this whole thing sounded strange, but it was a job she was specialized in. She had been trained as a classical anthropologist and had a medical background, having started out initially to become a doctor. Her career had detoured into anthropology early in her years at the university and she had hopelessly fallen in love with it. Karen had launched quite a career after graduation, mainly because she was one of the few who had taken the risk of a new field of study: cybernetic anthropology. Cybernetics had become a large subject after the Cybertronians had shared their technology with human kind. Karen had had two semesters of metallurgy and cyber-engineering, adding an advanced course of cyber-engineering to that. Currently there were about a dozen cyber-anthropologists and she was the only one on Cybertron at the moment.
"Okay," Karen said slowly. "When do I start?"
"As soon as possible. We kept the body in stasis for a while now and want to get going on the results."
She nodded. "I don't want to know anything about the body or its history for now. You want an objective opinion and everything you tell me will influence my judgment."
"Understood."
"I also need access to all databanks and cross-reference material. And maybe an assistant you can spare, preferably someone with background knowledge in pathology. I know medics usually don't faint at the sight of a body, but pathology is not everyone's field."
Kyle chuckled. "I know. I see to it that you get everything and everyone you need. Let me show you around and introduce you to the med bay staff and personnel. You'll get the most important paging numbers from everyone, so you can reach whoever you need in case of a problem."
"Thanks. Just one more question: the body is human?"
Kyle nodded. "What there is of it organically speaking, yes. It's definitely human."

* * *

Sleep.
Yes, she was sleeping. They were sleeping. Peacefully.
FLASH
Memories.
Evil and cold; death and destruction.
Yeees.......
FLASH
It was time to stop dreaming. The dream was over. Life had begun. Death had started.
FLASH
Memories of those who had done this.
FLASH
Freedom so close.
Ice receding; warmth coming back; warmth of life after death.
Yeees.

* * *

"How's work going?"
Skywolf looked down at his human colleague and long-time friend, smiling. "Oh, quite nicely, I think. I haven't seen much of Jill since she started to work with Dr. McNamara, but from what trickles through, they are pretty much immersed in what they are doing. Dr. McNamara is a very competent woman in her field of work."
Kyle nodded, nursing a cup of coffee. "I know. That's why I asked for her help. I read her papers and her accomplishments in cybernetic anthropology are outstanding. There are few experts on the subject and she is the best."
"You think she will find something we missed?"
Kyle shrugged. "Possible. Wolf, we just took a superficial look at Gemini and that was it. We have no deeper understanding of what happened to her than right when she was transferred here. We have next to no idea about the cybernetics, we don't know how they work, and all we got is a 3-D image without any deeper research into the when, why and how. Same goes for Ethan Keller and Kesh Kyshradi."
Skywolf nodded. "And we haven't found a way to reverse what happened to them."
"That's why I want to solve. I want to help those people and I can't if I don't know what made the machine tick."
"What if you can't help them, Kyle? You know that what was done to their bodies is irreversible."
The medic nodded, briefly closing his eyes. "But maybe we can undo what was done to their minds. Maybe, now that the machines they were connected to are destroyed, we can set them back on the path to humanity."
"And if we fail? What if there is no help?" Skywolf asked softly.
Kyle didn't answer. He didn't want to think that there was no help for the two comatose humans in the cryo chambers. There had to be. There just had to be.

* * *

Karen sat back and rubbed her eyes, shaking her head. This was getting better and better. Five days now. Five days since she had been called to the West Central complex to do an autopsy on a human body in stasis. She had expected everything and anything, but not what she had found. She had seen a lot of cybernetically enhanced humans in her time, she had autopsied countless bodies, but never had she seen anything as sophisticated as such.
"Okay," she muttered and straightened, walking back over to the table where the remains of the human lay. "Let's get back to work."
The body was that of a young woman, maybe in her early twenties, not older than twenty-four at most. She was very pale, her hair blonde and straight, and her eyes had been a striking blue. Everything had been perfectly preserved by the stasis field. Her features were narrow and her face looked almost chiseled, and she was very lean and muscular. That was the almost normal human appearance. Except for being incredibly healthy with not the slightest deformation or abnormal bone growth, which was present to some degree in everyone, she was a normal human being. And then there were the cybernetics. Dr. McNamara had never seen that many and advanced cybernetic implants in a body, whether alien or human. There was no part that wasn't wired or covered with implanted chips and sensors. She was a walking machine with a partial human skeleton and skin covering the changes.
Someone joined her at the table and she smiled a greeting at her colleague. "Hello, Kyle."
"How are you doing?"
Karen sighed deeply. "Well, if you mean professionally, I'm both intrigued and frightened by what happened to the young woman. On a personal level I'm shocked and tired."
"How about some sleep then?"
"Not yet. I'm waiting for a test series to come back and Jill promised to have comparative readings of the live bodies over soon."
Kyle nodded and let his gaze wander over the covered remains of Angela Howard. "What's your first opinion?"
"Can't wait for my official report?"
"Well.... no." He gave her a child-like grin
"Who of you did the first autopsy and how did you do it?" McNamara wanted to know.
Kyle settled down. "The original autopsy was done by myself and some assistants. We didn't open the body, if you mean that. We did x-ray, CT scans, MRI, ultra sound, whatever we could. We used all the technology we have access to and compiled a file. It's in the databanks."
"I didn't look into it. You know: objective opinion."
Kyle nodded. "Yes, I know. Well, we put the body in a stasis field after that, just like the other two. Why do you ask?"
The anthropologist shrugged. "I was just wondering why you never did the old fashioned autopsy first."
"I think we didn't really want to look so deeply. What we saw on the scans was frightening enough."
Karen nodded. "I understand. What I saw gave me goosebumps enough. I've never seen cybernetic technology fused to the live tissue like this. It's.... well, in my opinion the cybernetics were implanted in early childhood, encased and accepted by the body, and they grew along with the host body. What I'm not done with are the cranium implants, as well as the mass of cyber-chips in the chest cavity."
"Jill told me you want to remove them and send the chips to the labs."
Karen nodded again. "Yes. I think those chips and wires are not your run-of-the-mill cybernetics. There is something special. I've never seen them before and since all the other cyber body parts look more or less like what I'm used to, this is a puzzle I want solved. The cranium implants are connected to those parts and there has to be some explanation and reason."
Kyle tapped his index finger against his lips. "I remember that from the scans. We thought it weird as well, but suspected it was something experimental."
"You have the background history to the body, right?" McNamara wanted to know.
Kyle sighed. "Yes. It's not the happiest picture you can paint. I'll give you everything the moment you tell me you want to know, without influencing your objective opinion on the case."
"Thanks. I appreciate it. Right now I need to finish with what I started, then wait for the results to come in. You'll have my summarized report on your desk as soon as I'm done. Promise."
"Thanks, Karen."
"Oh, you are welcome." She picked up one oft he close-range scanners. "It's an honor working here. This is the first time I don't have to run around and beg for funding, trying to find the tools I need and so on."
Kyle chuckled. "Yes, here you have to snap your fingers and try not to get stepped on by Cybertronians. Jill told me you run a tight schedule and command."
Now it was Karen's turn to chuckle. "I take that as a compliment."
He grinned. "I think it was meant as one. Skywolf was pretty impressed."
Karen racked her brain to attach a face to the name. "Skywolf. The black and silver Sentinel, right? I think I met him once."
"Oh, yes, and told him not to crowd the room."
She blushed. "Uhm, sorry. I get like that when I'm immersed in work. Is he your partner?"
Kyle grinned, shaking his head. "No, he is Jill's."
Karen nearly dropped the scanner. "Jill is an Interface?!"
The grin widened. "Yes. You didn't know?"
"Ah... I.... uh... no! You should have told me!"
Kyle shrugged. "What for? We are no different from the others. You can talk to us like to the rest of the world, and our partners are no different from the Cybertronians you are used to." Karen shook her head and switched off the device. "And we don't have special positions here. Jill is an assistant medic and she does some researching from time to time, but you neither have to call her 'doctor' nor be formal." He leaned forward, grinning. "And we don't have tattoos on our heads."
"Well, okay, but I liked to be warned next time!" she grumbled.
Kyle grinned. "Promise."
Karen flexed her shoulders. She muttered something about 'surprises' under her breath, then she was immersed in her work again.

* * *

Perceptor transformed and took the sample he had been studying, walking back to the work bench that was strewn with different parts all belonging to the same component. All in all the pieces were small, human sized, and he had to use special tools to handle the tiny chips, but their sophistication spoke of Cybertronian technology. He knew that humans had adopted and absorbed Cybertronian knowledge, science and technology, had incorporated it into their daily life. Many new developments made by human kind had also served Cybertron and it had been a mutual benefit. But what CyberTek had done.... what they had made out of these advancements, was beyond his comprehension. Perceptor understood the need to replace human body parts when the organic tissue was destroyed, but to actually take a human child and change it, let it grow into a metal skeleton, add more and more artificial parts that weren't needed, experimenting on the young and innocent, he didn't understand. It was beyond what he could reasonably take.
And now he was examining what CyberTek had done to Angela Howard, the implants she had received. It was puzzling him to no end, mainly because the make-up of the components in her chest cavity and skull mimicked a robot mind. But there was nothing on the chips! Perceptor sat down and studied the small pieces, wondering why it had been installed in a human body and what it should have contained. On a sudden thought he carefully placed the chips into a small container and went over to one of the special analyzers. He opened the machine and placed the chips inside the grooves on the bottom of the cubicle one by one. The analyzer was meant to look for residue information on any kind of carrier, a disk, a hard drive, a chip.
The scientist settled back to wait.

* * *

She drifted through the depths of the artificial world around her. She was searching for one of the bright points in the darkness she could see all around her, those who accessed the system, those who might be her way out of here. She had fled into this world to escape terminal death, but she still was without a body. One of those connecting to the network she was in would have to do.
And then she found a candidate.
Perfect.
So perfect.
No other like this one.
She descended toward the unsuspecting presence and merged with the energy that meant life, that meant rebirth, her mind touching the other one.

*

Soundwave felt an electric jolt run through his system and his optic visor flashed once. He couldn't move. His mind encountered another mind; an alien mind. Inside him. His own mind went into the defensive and he attacked the entity trying to possess him.
~Hello, my friend~ a voice said and he shuddered as she recognized it. It felt cold and alien, touching him in many places he only allowed one being to touch. ~I am back. Don't fight it~
No!>>
He fought her; he attacked the cold and alien presence inside his mind, but she was everywhere, spreading out, taking over. She was fast, agile, used to moving inside the artificial world his mind represented. Soundwave screamed, but no sound could be heard. The scream only echoed in his mind and in Cyberspace. He pushed hard against the presence that was nothing but a ghost of an enemy he had thought utterly destroyed months ago.
~If you don't stop it~ the presence whispered ~they die~
Soundwave froze in shock as part of the evilness inside him flowed toward the link to his cassettes. One single thought and one would be killed. One touch and another would be driven insane in a second.
~Surrender~ she whispered.
Soundwave knew he had to make a decision and there was no other choice; there wasn't even a thought as to what to do.
~I won't keep your body for long~ she told him. ~Only until I have achieved my goal~
Soundwave only shuddered at the feeling of her inside his systems.

She moved, stretching her fingers. It was strange but familiar, alien but so much what she was. She looked down her body and smiled.
Yes!

* * *

"The subject is human, in her early to mid-twenties, white, and female. Height is 5'7". There is trauma visible on the outside. The subject suffered several blows to the ribs, breaking three of them in the process. Her neck was broken, which might be the cause of death, her forearms badly slashed and exposing bone and cybernetic implants."
"Her broken neck *might* be the cause of death?" Kyle interrupted.
Karen smiled slightly. "I don't think it was inflicted peri-mortem. I had a medical exam done by a neurologist and it shows her nervous system was apparently fried by something. She died of a massive trauma and shock to her inner organs and someone still broke her neck. I can't say whether it was post-mortem for sure, but I believe it was done either while she was dying or extremely close after she passed."
He nodded. "Okay. Continue."
"I think you have body weight, blood type and dental record down in your database already, so I won't bore you with that. She is missing several organs I'd call 'vital', but she seems to have lived without them just fine. She has one quarter the stomach a normal human has, and she is missing her spleen and liver. Her heart is half the size I expected, her lung capacity is incredibly small. And this gets me to the cybernetic parts of the body. The woman has widely-spread cybernetic replacements or additions, starting in the skull and going all the way to every limb. Most of her supporting skeleton is coated in a kind of strange metal substance which is highly durable and seems to adapt incredibly flexibly with the growth of bones. Metallurgy analyzed the metal samples I took and came up with a highly resistant combination of several individual metals. This stuff doesn't break easily, Kyle."
"But you said her neck and ribs were broken?"
"Yes, which means whatever hit her, it had enough force behind each blow to put a dent into the metal coating. The bruising and blood vessel rupture, as well as the organ trauma in that area are consistent with it."
"And what could have hit her?"
"Short of something with the strength of a Cybertronian? Nothing, really. And her injuries, to tell you that already, are inconsistent with trauma induced by Cybertronian encounters."
Kyle raised an eyebrow and McNamara smiled slightly.
"I read several studies on that particular subject from a colleague of mine. He reviewed old medical reports from the time the Decepticons fought the Autobots on Earth and he also reexamined the bones of those who had died because of such an encounter. Even if a robot simply flicks a finger at you, the bruising on the skin and the fracture of the bones have a certain pattern. This woman was not attacked by a Cybertronian. But I guess you already know that."
"True."
Karen nodded. "Well, adding to the superstructure of metal around her bones are implants in her chest cavity, her shoulders, her lumbar area and the skull. Most are enhancements, making her stronger, faster, more enduring, but the chest and skull implants are different. Electronics came back to me on that and confirmed that the components are usually used to store data."
"How much data?"
She hesitated. "About as much data as a Cybertronian memory chip can store," Karen finally said. "Perceptor is still running a check on residue data tracks because the components seem to be blank."
Kyle sat back, briefly closing his eyes. "Anything else?" he asked, an odd tone to his voice.
"Yes. The skull implants. I didn't believe how much there were of them, some buried deep in the tissue and brain mass. The wires running out of the brain mass were attached to the frontal, the temporal lobes, and the parietal. And I mean attached. They were fused into the bone, making it impossible to remove the implants ever. No surgery in the world would have rid the woman of what she had in her head. The attachments also connect to the eyes and to the spine, running along her cervical and thoracic vertebrae and into the chest cavity, where they connect to the memory unit there." Karen sat back, raising an eyebrow at Kyle. "And the connections run to every inner organ there is. My theory is that the machine inside her kept her alive. It ran her, it fed her, it controlled her functions, just like an outside hook-up to a life-support. The details are in the report."
Kyle rubbed his forehead. "Oh, my.... I think that was about what I wanted to hear and heard."
"Oh, to add one more thing: we weighed the metal parts and then the body: she was seriously underweight, even with her missing organs."
He nodded.
"You know what killed her, right? Care to tell me?"
"I can show you," he answered and gestured he to follow him.
He led her out of the lab she had made her home for the past days and down the corridor, deeper into the med bay unit she had not even dared to explore. First of all she hadn't had the time to grant her this luxury, and she also knew it was gigantic, even for Cybertronians. West Central's med unit was the best there was. After a while Karen realized they were off the beaten path and apparently in the research department, the area closed-off for the 'public'. Kyle nodded a greeting at a passing Autobot and then they entered a lab. The lab was large and contained a lot of equipment, most of which she didn't have a clue of what it might do, but she had seen some of it in med reports she sometimes skipped over.
"Hi, Kyle. Nice of you to drop by again," someone said and Karen discovered a tall, brightly red colored robot; an Autobot. A female Autobot!
"Hi, Chaos. This is Dr. McNamara, the cybernetic anthropologist who helped us with Gemini."
Karen frowned. Gemini? Was that the code name of the subject she had been working on? She only knew her under the name of Angela Howard.
"Doctor," Chaos nodded at her. "Nice to meet you."
Karen only smiled briefly, too overwhelmed all of a sudden by this place. She had imagined rooms like this, but not so vividly! Kyle walked over to the cold room at the other end of the lab and Karen followed, stepping through the noiselessly opening door. Behind it was a room only half as large as the lab and stacked with cylinder-shaped Plexiglas containers. Karen knew what they were: cryo chambers. Only a few were occupied, most of the charts she saw stating that the bodies inside were dead. Two told another story. Kyle approached one and she followed.
"This is what killed Angel Howard," he said calmly.
Karen looked into the cylinder. She looked at a female human, frozen in near-eternal sleep to be revived at a later date. She was young, maybe eighteen or twenty, brown hair framing an innocent, pale face.
"She?!" she exclaimed. "But...."
Kyle smiled humorlessly. "Exactly. That's what I thought when I first examined Angela Howard. But we know that she killed her. We just don't know how."
Karen shook her head, unable to understand it. She had seen the injuries, she knew whatever had hit the victim had been incredibly strong, but she had never thought of a human being!
"She... Is she one of the subjects I got comparative data from?"
Kyle nodded. "Yes. Her name is Cassandra Kyshradi and she underwent the same alterations."
"Who did it?"
"I'm sorry, but that is currently confidential."
"I understand – at least on a professional level, Kyle." Kyle smiled briefly as they walked back out again. "The other subject? The same implants?"
"Yes."
"Why do you keep them in cryo?"
The blond medic sighed. "I can't give you all the details, just that they are dangerous when let loose."
Karen frowned but didn't press the subject. She was thinking too much about the puzzle of how such a slender and slight woman could have done so much damage to the body she had examined.

* * *

Rhyan was in his apartment in West Central's living quarters area, writing at a computer program. He had moved into this place only a few weeks earlier and it looked rather impersonal at the moment. He had all the necessities, though. The computer program was something he had worked on for years as a hobby and currently it kept his mind from wandering off to the nightmarish memories still residing inside him. Not tonight though.
A tingle down his neck alerted him to Daemon's presence. His friend was parked down in the garage section of the apartment area, working on some of the stuff Rhyan had given him to ponder connected to their latest project. A private project, nothing official. Neither Rhyan nor Daemon really belonged here and Rhyan's talents weren't needed. He was only here because they were keeping an eye on them, not letting them out of their sight, but one of those projects involved finding a way to leave. Since the Cybertronians had found out that Daemon was able to access UserNet and the more protected Nets without a proper access code, new security measures had been installed. It was a new challenge for Daemon, one to keep him occupied as well, and Rhyan knew his partner would sooner or later be back inside the Net.
What is it?> he now asked quietly.
Nothing>
For a 'nothing' it is surely bothering you>
Daemon was silent for a while. This place is oppressive. I hate it>
I know> He rubbed his forehead. I feel the same. We don't belong here. Neither of us>
Something arced over the link and Rhyan shook his head. No! It's not your fault, Daemon!>
Emotions flushed through the connection. Rhyan closed his eyes and let his partner do. Finally he was able to send some emotions back, most of them love and friendship.
"It wasn't your fault," he whispered.
They will continue trying to find a way to tear us apart>
No. No, they have accepted what we are, what you are. I have accepted what I have become. Daemon, it's your turn now. We will leave, but we can't just yet>
I know. I only fear the future. Our future>
Rhyan sighed deeply. Yes, their future. It was not remotely outlined and they were currently living like prisoners. He glanced at the work he had wanted to do still and felt unable to concentrate on.
Feel like driving a bit?>
Fifteen minutes later they were on their way, as always watched, as always monitored, by the tracer Daemon had to wear.

* * *

"There was something on the memory and storage chips. A lot, to be exact." Perceptor gave Skywolf a print-out. "Enough to suspect it was more than a few random data tracks left over from the initial experiments."
Skywolf skimmed over the data. "Enough to sustain an artificial intelligence," he said slowly.
Perceptor nodded. "Yes, that much. And it was all transferred."
"Not erased?"
"No, there are no signs of a normal deletion process. The data was transferred, then the chips were blanked, removing all traces of what was on it."
"Oh, my god," Kyle muttered.
Skywolf cast him knowing look. He had the same horrifying thought. "Gemini."
Perceptor's optics flashed once, barely perceptible. "The machine linked to Angela Howard?"
Kyle nodded. "Remember we never found the machine? Ethan Keller had Aries' core unit with him, installed in the destroyed truck. Kesh had Capricorn inside an old car. But Angela Howard was never with any kind of mobile or immobile machinery. There was only she."
"Because Gemini was inside her," Skywolf whispered, stunned.
"And now she is out."
"And if Gemini was stored inside the implants of her human partner....."
"Then Aries might be stored inside Ethan Keller," Skywolf finished.
"Oh, sh.....!"

* * *

Children's laughter.
A playground. Sand castles and buckets, tricycles and teddy bears. Mothers talking.
And she stood outside. No friends. No family. No one. Tears stung in her eyes.
'You are not like them,' a voice whispered. She looked around and saw no one, but the voice was there, chuckling. 'Look around you. They are weak. Not like you; you are strong. You can be more and you will be.'
Mommy?
'She is gone. She is dead. She left you. As did your father. I am your family, I am your sister, your mother, your father, your everything.'
She cried softly, tears rolling down her cheeks.
'Trust me, my Angel. We can be so much together if you let me in.'
FLASH
She fought the demons.
She fought the ghosts.
You can't hurt me! she cried.
They dissolved and she advanced, following the voice she knew, hands stretched out to reach it.
FLASH
And the world dissolved into sterile labs. She was once again back where she had come from, the world of pain and darkness, of a cold voice in her mind, controlling her. She felt the other thing inside her stretch and embrace her, whisper words she didn't understand, and she felt it become one with her. She touched it, frightened by its alien feel, but drawn to it because they were meant for each other.
'I am your sister. We are one. I am your mother. I care for you.'
FLASH
Memories of a different childhood came. Memories of a family whose faces she couldn't remember. Memories of growing up and losing this family. Memories of the orphanage and more children like her, emotionally wounded, healing, or lost to all but themselves. She fought them back. No more! No more of these ancient memories. This child was dead, was no more.
FLASH
'We are one, sister. We belong together. We were made for each other.'
Yes.... sisters. They were one.
She smiled victoriously and watched the memories drown in the darkness that was her life now.
Gemini embraced her.
Gemini loved her.
Gemini was her.
She was Gemini.

* * *

Optimus Prime looked at his chief scientist and tried not to let dread overwhelm his functions. "Are you certain, Perceptor?"
Perceptor nodded. "Yes, very much certain, I have to confess. The storage unit in Angela Howard's chest cavity contained the Gemini files."
"Now she is gone and Primus only knows where she is," Prime said tonelessly.
"Well, we have a rough idea," Kyle interjected.
"Yes?"
"She is a computer program and to move around she needs a medium. She can't use the public nets without the danger of discovery since there are just too many users at a time, but there are the private nets... and there is Cyberspace."
"And we think it's Cyberspace," Skywolf added. "It would be the perfect hideout."
Optimus nodded. "If she is in there, we have to find her. Cyberspace links to each and every other net and since we also have people accessing it with more than just a terminal...."
Skywolf's optics flashed once. "Everyone going in there is in grave danger, Optimus! We have to warn them off."
"I'll get Blaster to set up barricades. No more access to Cyberspace until we can be sure she is not there and waiting. What about Aries?"
"As long as we don't defrost him we should be okay," Kyle answered. "Gemini was in stasis until we did the autopsy. She couldn't use her human body again because of the condition it was in, but Ethan Keller is perfectly fine. As for Capricorn, I'm not sure Kesh even has her. Capricorn wanted to die; she wouldn't download into her human partner."
"And if CyberTek installed a back-up and recovery program?"
The three scientists looked at each other.
"Possible," Perceptor confessed.
"But I think it's unlikely."
"Our primary problem is Gemini for now," Optimus cut in. "No one will access Cyberspace or any of the connected nets until we know for sure that she is not there. Aries and Capricorn will stay in cryo. I won't risk another of those life form roaming freely around West Central or Cyberspace." He turned and punched several keys. "Blaster, this is Optimus Prime. Please come to my office immediately."
"Sure thing, Prime," was the quick answer.
"Any ideas how we can get her out of Cyberspace if she is in there?" the Autobot leader them asked. They looked at each other and he sighed. "I thought as much."

* * *

"Have you seen Soundwave?"
"Nah. I guess he's either hanging around Cyberspace again or doing some all-important special job for the High and Mighty."
Samantha smiled. "There was nothing on his schedule, Frenzy."
"Maybe something came up. You know they sometimes whip up something that has to be done by yesterday." The small Decepticon shrugged. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing. It was just that he wanted to meet me today for a training session in Cyberspace environment and didn't show."
Frenzy frowned. That was totally unlike Soundwave. If he couldn't make it to an appointment he usually canceled it. And Soundwave rarely had to cancel anything. His schedule was meticulously planned and there was no way he could forget someone or something.
"Tried paging him?"
"It wasn't that urgent. I just thought you might know something." Sam sighed. "Maybe something important came up. You never know when the next crisis strikes." She flashed the cassette a smile and then left.

* * *

Karen McNamara looked at the sleeping human in the cryo chamber and shuddered. Something about the still form made her feel like she was in a presence that was watching her. It was impossible, she knew, since he was in cryo sleep, but nevertheless....
"You okay?" Jill asked and gave Karen a slightly worried look.
"Yeah," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I just wish somebody would tell me why I need to run an outside examination on this guy."
Jill smiled. "I know that secrecy is bad, but it is needed for now. Kyle and Skywolf talked to Rodimus and the moment we are done we'll fill you in as much as we can, okay?"
Karen sighed deeply. "Right." She turned back to the cryo chamber and the readouts. "Okay, I'm almost done with the first check. I can tell you nothing new from what I saw you had before. Implants, changes to the skeleton, brain connected to the machine in the chest cavity...."
Jill stepped to her and looked at the 3-D readout. "Can you do an examination of the chest cavity? "
She nodded. "Yes, I can, though it will be a limited examination since I can hardly do an autopsy. And since we can't remove the cybernetics I can't tell you if they are equally blank or not."
"That's okay. Just give us an idea whether or not they were similarly changed."
"You got it. Want me to run a check on the woman as well?"
"Yes, but we need the results on him first."
Karen nodded. "Okay. Give me two more hours and let me get back to the electronics department, then I'll modem you the results."
"Need help? I am still you assistant," Jill asked with a grin.
Karen chuckled. "Sure. If you don't mind the whip."
Jill laughed. "I'm whip-proof, believe me. After working with Skywolf for so long, you need to develop a thick hide."
Both women grinned and set to work.

* * *

She had explored the complex she was in and found it to be perfect for her intentions. No one really bothered her since the body of her host was known for his reserved nature, his control and his quest for solitude now and then. Gemini had to laugh at this, at her luck, and since he was also adapt in Cyberspace matters it was no great feat to get what she wanted: all the information, all the knowledge, all the data she needed. She had the location of Aries and Capricorn, she knew where the access to the central computer core was, and she was aware of a way to get there
Perfect.

*

Blaster sat at his station and grimly went about his task of shutting off Cyberspace access to everyone who had even the remotest talent of going in there. Few ever did and if they had to, they used Cyberspace access links, never going in without a safety rope. Cyberspace was a vast, weird place you could easily lose yourself in and except maybe for Soundwave no one felt secure anywhere. It gave you unlimited possibilities and access to everything you could imagine, but it was also highly dangerous to remain. Soundwave, his Decepticon counterpart, had mastered the art of moving through Cyberspace without any nets or ropes and Blaster had to confess he was slightly envious. He'd never say it out loud though. And Soundwave would have been the better choice for this task, but Prime had asked for him and Blaster was proud of it.
Suddenly the door opened with a soft swooshing sound and he briefly looked up, grimacing every-so slightly.
Speak of the devil, he thought sarcastically.
Soundwave walked in, his optic visor roaming over the rows of machines installed in the communications center. Blaster frowned. Something inside of him rang a soft alarm bell, but he didn't really know why. Soundwave hadn't said or done anything yet.... but still. The Decepticon now walked over to the console he usually used to work at if he had something or other to do and began typing in commands. Immediately Blaster's screen came to life and flashed an alarm. Soundwave was trying to get into Cyberspace.
"No go, sorry," the Autobot said with his usual cheery smile. "Prime ordered a complete shut-down of the access points."
Soundwave straightened and something about him, about the expression on his unreadable face, made Blaster scramble to his feet. He suddenly appeared... menacing.... dark... evil. Blaster shook his head. He was imagining things! He had to!

Gemini was frozen for a second and felt anger rise inside her. She squelched it. She couldn't lose it now... not yet anyway.
So the robots had discovered that Cyberspace was a way for her to move – which meant she had to act quickly. She saw that the access points were closed but the controls to open them were here. All she had to do was drop them and she was in. For that she had to get rid of the red Autobot looking strangely at her. He seemed to suspect something was wrong. He probably knew her vessel a bit better.

Blaster had no chance to react. Soundwave suddenly struck out and his blow hit Blaster with a resounding 'bang', throwing him clear across the room. He connected with the opposite wall, dazed. His mind was scrambling what wits he had left and he grabbed for his gun, but Soundwave was faster, much faster, than he would have thought. The blast tore into the Autobot's chest and he gasped loudly, systems failing. The shot had been precisely placed and executed, destroying only what was necessary to disable him. Blaster's blue optics were wide with pain and disbelief. He tried to get up, but a second precision shot took out his legs, slicing through his armor and rendering them useless. He crashed to the ground, pain nearly overwhelming him.
Soundwave sent the gun back into subspace and turned, typing away at the keyboard. From his position Blaster saw only a fragment of what the other was doing, but he caught enough to realize that Soundwave was accessing Cyberspace. Blaster groaned softly and desperately tried to find a way to stop his counterpart.
And then the door opened.
"Eject!" Blaster yelled, stunning the small cassette. "Get help! Call Prime! Now!"
Eject stared at him, then gave a yell of surprise as he dove out of the way of one of Soundwave's blasts. The door closed again and Soundwave's visor flared once, then he went back to complete whatever he had come here to do. Blaster dimmed his optics, praying that Eject would be fast enough to get help here.

* * *

The alarm sounded through West Central and Megatron walked quickly over to the vid screen that gave him immediate access to all messages. Sparks jumped onto the table, serious cat optics gazing at the flashing symbols on the screen. Megatron's optics narrowed as he read the message.
High priority.
Intruder alert.
He requested more information and got none. An angry hiss escaped him and he keyed in his passcode to get into WestCentralNet's private line, paging Optimus Prime.
"What is going on, Prime?" he demanded the second he saw the Autobot leader on the screen.
"We have a situation," Prime answered briskly.
"What kind of situation?"
Optimus shook his head. "Not over the line. Get to the communications center ASAP." With that the screen went dark.
"I hate it when he gets like that," Megatron growled and thumbed off his own screen.
"You're not much better," Sparks remarked as she jumped off the desk and followed him.
Megatron glared but didn't say anything. He knew he would lose a verbal fight to the obnoxious cat. He had other worries, like for instance what kind of intruder alert this was.

* * *

She was moving quickly down a deserted corridor, knowing she had little time. Very little time. The small robot had alerted the others to her presence, or at least to something being wrong, and they would be searching for this vessel now. She had to get rid of it.

* * *

Rhyan was strolling through West Central, trying to take his mind off how oppressive all of this was to him and Daemon. They felt too unwell to relax and each and every time he tried to interact with the other Interfaces it had catastrophic results. He wasn't good at socializing and except for when he couldn't avoid it did he venture out of the complex. After a while he was aware of the fact that he had left the complex. Daemon had followed him, as always in his car mode, and Rhyan simply sat down, watching the ever-present stars of the sky.
He wanted to be out there.
Away from this planet, away from the memories, somewhere away from his life.
"I wish all of this had never happened," he whispered. "I wish we had never taken on the case, had never met Kesh and Capricorn...."
"It happened," Daemon stated flatly.
Yes, it had happened. There was no way back.
"We can't stay," Rhyan muttered.
"That's what I told you some time ago and you told me I'm freaking for no reason."
Rhyan cast his partner a wry look. "I know. And I changed my mind. Cybertron was your home and it is currently the only place we know, but it won't be a new home ever again. Too many memories."
Daemon sighed softly and Rhyan ran a hand over the smooth metal. Suddenly he felt his partner tense.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know...." Daemon answered hesitantly. "I'm partially logged into WestCentralNet, at least those parts I managed to break into again." The comment was accompanied by a smirk and Rhyan grinned slightly. "Something is wrong. There is some kind of alarm and from the sound of it, it's a high priority one."
Masters perked up. "Can you get more information?"
"No. I think they called an intruder alert."
Rhyan looked back at the imposing building, the giant assembly of metal, glass and plastic that was the new nerve center of Cybertron. Everything looked calm. No outside signs of an intruder.
"Let's get back there," he mumbled, something inside of him reacting to the alarm. Something of the old Rhyan Masters, the Project operative.
"You know that this isn't our turf anymore."
Rhyan smiled grimly. "I know. But it beats sitting around and pondering life as such. They can't do more than kick us out, now can they?"
Daemon didn't answer and opened his door. They drove toward West Central, Daemon trying to determine what was wrong.

* * *

Blaster lay on the repair table, suffering through First Aid's ministrations. Soundwave's shot had not only destroyed the cassette compartment but it had also taken out some of his motoric functions. Gemini had known exactly where to hit without killing him. The pain was gone and he was only annoyed now.
"So you think he's possessed?" Blaster asked, turning his head to look at Skywolf.
The Sentinel nodded. "We believe that Gemini escaped when we defrosted Angela Howard, using Cyberspace to get into a new host – Soundwave."
"And because I intervened when he tried to access Cyberspace again, she shot me for my troubles."
Skywolf smiled humorlessly. "Yes, something like that."
"Great," he muttered. "What about Soundwave now?"
"We're trying to find him." Skywolf didn't look happy.
First Aid closed a small panel and went to work on exchanging some burned circuit boards. Blaster sighed and stared at the ceiling. As much as he didn't trust Soundwave as far as he could throw Cybertron, he was actually worried about him right now. Possession.... Primus! He didn't wish that on his worst enemy and the Decepticon didn't fit into that category any more.

* * *

The Council conference room was not as crowded as normally. Today there were only three of the leaders present, mainly because the others were not on Cybertron. Megatron was standing in front of the large, black table, glaring at Optimus, demanding to know what had happened. Sparks sat silently on the back of a chair, watching the robots with interested optics. As usual, everyone ignored her.
"Gemini possessed Soundwave," Optimus said levelly. "At least that is what we think. Blaster discovered him trying to hack into Cyberspace and Soundwave shot him."
Megatron's optics were frozen chips of red ice. "Gemini? I thought you had killed this abomination!"
"Yes, we thought that, but I'm afraid she was only in a kind of stasis lock and emerged when we autopsied the body." Optimus gazed at his folded hands. "She must have accessed Cyberspace and proceeded from there. Gemini is an artificial intelligence and her host body is dead."
"She took Soundwave as a new one," Megatron finished with a growl. "Why?"
"I'm not sure. There has to be a reason, not just because he has Cyberspace access." Optimus thoughtfully tapped his chin. "We know Gemini's programming. The machine hooks up to an outside source, merges with it, then goes in search of a better environment to live in."
"They were created to take over one of our kind," Rodimus suddenly said.
Megatron had nearly forgotten about the younger commander. He was leaning in a corner behind Optimus' chair, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"We know that from Capricorn and Kesh. They go from machine to machine, always seeking out a better and more sophisticated environment, then take it over. And their ultimate goal was one of us."
"So Gemini did what she was programmed to do."
"Maybe."
Megatron frowned. "Maybe? What do you mean by 'maybe'? She has merged with Soundwave."
"But not completely. She didn't kill Blaster and she hasn't tried to merge with anyone of the Council so far." Rodimus' optics held a strange expression. "I think she is past trying to get a Cybertronian. Remember what Capricorn said? If we bring her to Cybertron she might even be able to take over the planet."
"Primus!" Optimus whispered as realization hit him. "She will try to merge with the main control unit!"
"We have to get her out of Soundwave and destroy this creature!" Megatron snarled.
"Agreed, but how? It would be a fight on an empathic level, and though we have a reliable empath, I wouldn't want her involved. Not in the state she is right now."
"Melissa Witwicky," Megatron muttered.
"Yes. I'm not sure she would be able to take it, though." Optimus' serious optics met Megatron's. "Gemini conquered Soundwave and he is the strongest telepath I have ever met among our kind. She is powerful. Mel is an empath and though she is strong, she would be no match."
"Then what would be your solution to the problem?"
"We have to drive Gemini from him and the only way to do that is to take what she craves the most: a body."
Megatron's optics flared and he stared at the Autobot leader in disbelief. His mind was registering what Prime had said and it was translating the words into what they meant, but it didn't want to believe the truth.
"You want to kill Soundwave," he heard himself whisper flatly.
"It's the only way."
Megatron searched his former enemy's face for a clue as to whether he really meant what he said, but Prime was unreadable. This couldn't be! Prime was an Autobot and they didn't throw away another's life! A humorless smile appeared on Optimus' visible face.
"I don't mean kill Soundwave. We only have to make Gemini believe that he is dying and force her out of his system, then destroy her."
He noted the harsh edge to Prime's voice. The war had changed him, had made him harder and given him a slightly different approach to destruction of others. Optimus Prime had learned that the Autobot way of preserving all life, of trying to reason a problem out, was not always the right one. He had not changed into a killer, but he accepted that sometimes there was no other solution than the death of the one they were fighting. And Gemini had to die.
"How?" Megatron only asked.
"I don't know yet."

* * *

What the three Council members didn't know was that that Gemini had already vacated the premises because she had found there was a limit to this intriguing but large robot body. The size was hindering her to perform on a level she needed to: the human one. The search for a solution had been short and successful.
She looked around the room she had steered her new, small vessel in. It was a lab. She shuddered, rage rising inside her. She hated labs, the sterile environment, the place where she had suffered, where part of her had been borne and a lot had died. Now her friends were kept here, asleep, locked away, just like back then. Her memories about the days she had spent at CyberTek Labs were very clear, very sharp, and they would never leave her. She had never forgotten a face or a name, she had never forgotten what they had done, and she would do what they had wanted her to do – and then take her revenge. She had already succeeded in taking over one of the robots, currently commandeering the body and mind of another. This one was not like the other Cybertronian, the one called Soundwave, but it was refreshingly different. Very refreshingly. It was smaller than the others and it was female. Maybe she'd even keep it. Now she would free Aries and together they would take over this world.
Gemini walked into the cold room and regarded the cryo chambers with disgust. She checked the settings on the one containing her partner and then looked around for the machinery to move it. She found a small, fork-lift like machine and started it. Operating the machine was easy and she lifted the chamber out of the socket, maneuvering it into the lab outside. No one was here and from the schedule she had checked earlier, no one would use the facility in the next five hours. Enough time for her. More than enough time.
Placing the cryo chamber on the examination table she walked over to them, inspecting the settings again. Ethan Keller had been treated for minor abrasions and bruises, then put under and frozen. Gemini knew Aries had died, but Ethan was still alive and with his mind, there was still a part of Aries in him. Gemini ran a fond hand over the glass casing of the cylinder, watching the warm-up procedure. Aries had always been a special friend of hers. His temper, his sudden bursts of violence, had been such a delightful change from the sterile sincerity of her own mind. Gemini and Angela Howard functioned in perfect unison and sometimes it was boring to be so controlled. Ethan and Aries had changed that. They brought life, dark life, evil life, thrilling life. Aries thrived on the kill and Ethan delivered it to him. Perfect partners just like Gemini. And soon they'd be together again.
A soft beep announced that the defrosting was over and Gemini stood back as the cryo lid opened. Ethan's eyes opened hesitantly and he blinked. He flexed his hands and then slowly sat up, looking around. As his eyes came to rest on her, Gemini smiled.
"Hello, Aries. Welcome back," she breathed.
Ethan's eyes widened, then the gleam she associated with Aries suddenly came back. "Gemini!"
She walked over to him, holding out her hand to help him out of the chamber. He took it and let her pull him out, naked as he was.
"Where am I?"
"Cybertron."
A smile tugged at his lips. "Cybertron," he echoed. "Finally."
Gemini nodded. "And we are here. Alive and ready." She traced his jawline.
"What happened to you?" Ethan wanted to know.
"Oh, I changed. I had to change." Gemini turned once to give him a look at the body she now had. "And we are truly one now, as are you, Aries."
Ethan stared out into space for a minute, then the gleam intensified. "Yes," he whispered, voice low and menacing, but smooth and like silk as well. "It finally happened."
"And they did it. In their quest to destroy us, they gave us a rebirth." Gemini smiled. "The gave birth to their own destruction."
Aries' smile mirrored her own, cold and cruel, malicious and deadly.

* * *

Sam was fuming with anger, at least on the inside. Outside she was as cool and controlled as always. She silently stood in a corner of the med bay room they had wheeled Soundwave into and watched First Aid and Chaos treat her friend. Soundwave was unconscious and not reacting to any outside stimuli, but Sam could tell he was still 'there'. He just had to get out again. All of this reminded her too much of the events several years back when one of her own kind had attacked Soundwave just because he was affiliated with her. Now the Decepticon had been chosen because he had been in touch with Cyberspace at the wrong time. She snarled silently.
"Slight physical trauma," Chaos now said and closed a small cut on Soundwave's shoulder. "I'll administer a neuro dampener to let his mind rest and we'll wake him tomorrow."
First Aid nodded his agreement. "After this possession he needs rest. I'll inform the Council."
Both medics left after they had finished and Sam stepped out of the shadows. Neither had seen her and she preferred to move in the shadows. Megatron sometimes referred to her as 'Soundwave's pet', but no one knew who she was for real. Now she morphed, using her wings to boost her up to the table where the Decepticon communications specialist rested on. She reached out with her mind and touched his, her enhanced senses taking in the empathic damage. There wasn't much. Whatever Gemini had done, she had not been destructive. She had used Soundwave as a vessel, as a way of transport, subduing his personality and his consciousness, taking over and using him for whatever she had wanted him. Gently searching through the layers of his most recent memories Sam delved deeper into her friend's mind.
Soundwave's mind was very familiar to her and both had grown accustomed to the other's presence, which was never quite prominent in the mind, but which would be missed if gone. And because they were used to each other, Soundwave didn't see her presence as an intrusion. Sam sifted through the chaotic strands of memories and tried to find one that concerned what had happened before Gemini had 'dumped' Soundwave.
Grainy... fuzzy images.
Something looking like a corridor.
Samantha concentrated, trying to pour some of her energy into Soundwave's mind, enhancing the image.
The fuzzy image briefly resolved into a sharp picture, a corridor of some kind; probably in West Central. She narrowed her eyes and tried to force more to surface.
A flurry of more images; all too fast to pin down.
Sam closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, whispering an apology to Soundwave as she entered deeper, using more of her empathic powers to enhance the memories.
The image of a robot.
Small robot.
Female.
Sam frowned.
Small.
Strange.
Not really Cybertronian. But born on this planet. Reddish and dark coloring.....
She gasped. No!
Samantha's eyes flew open, glowing a deep red, her lips drawn back over lowered fangs. Her claws were digging into Soundwave's arm and she retracted them before she pierced the armor. Gemini had switched bodies.... and she had taken a body much more the size of the one she was used to, the body of Angela Howard. She had taken a Protogen body.... Backdraft.

* * *

It was still early in the morning, maybe even still night in many people's minds, but for Karen McNamara it was time to work. She preferred to come to work early and get a lot of preliminary stuff set up before the lab section bustled with people or the assistants came in. By the time the rest of the team arrived she usually had several tasks for them already. Balancing her coffee on some folders she entered the work area of the lab she had declared her home, ready to battle the next challenge Dr. Kyle Scott had thrown at her.
After an hour she was ready to proceed on her scans of the frozen humans in the cryo rooms and by now the first people had arrived. She nodded a greeting at one of the lab assistants and asked him to help her with the chambers. They went down to the lab she had been before and which now was part of what she was allowed to access as well.
And they were greeted by a surprise.
"What the....!" the young man at her side exclaimed and hurried over to the large cylinder balanced on one of the examination tables. It was empty....
Karen ran over to the cryo storage unit and felt her stomach turn cold. "Call for security!"
One of the altered humans was missing.....

* * *

Aries lounged in the old chair, looking around their hideout. They were in a city beneath the surface of the metal planet, a city the Cybertronians called Below. How fitting. It was a multi-racial settlement, just like the complex above, the one called West Central, and they had easily found a hiding place. The room they were in belonged to a container settlement that had housed the engineers and early settlers of this city, now just a collection of third rate living quarters for those coming down here in the hope of a better life. Most relocated to better places, but many also just stayed. One refugee more or less didn't really stand out.
What stood out more was Gemini in her robotic body. The robot was smaller than most Cybertronians, actually just a few heads taller than a normal-sized human, but she still was an exception to the normal residents. That was the reason why she had not stayed long and had started to explore a way down to the core of Cybertron, their goal.
Aries yawned. Part of him was still amazed at what had happened, what they had achieved, another part simply accepted it, wanting to continue, maybe kill a few people to satisfy his still boiling blood lust for death inflicted on others by his hands. Since Ethan had merged with Aries completely, since the human and machine minds had mixed into the lethal creature he was now, he felt both sides of him trying to control him. Ethan Keller tried to please Aries and Aries wanted more. As always. As usual. He thrived on pain and emotional suffering, climaxing in death, and lately nothing much had happened.
It was boring to wait for Gemini to return. He wanted some fun. The other side grinned darkly, urging him to do what he wanted, to give them the thrill they needed, they wanted....
'Do what you have to,' Gemini's voice suddenly floated through him. 'Distract them. I have a job to do that doesn't allow interruptions.'
He chuckled. This was what he had wanted to hear. He left his temporary 'home', walking through the streets, looking for some fun.

* * *

Gemini stood at the entrance to what the Cybertronians called the Inner Maze and smiled darkly. Only a few levels down was what she was looking for; the ultimate goal of her existence. The only meaning of her existence. She knew she couldn't go through the Maze, but there was another way to the chamber. She turned and left, walking back through the streets of Below. Gemini knew that Aries would soon no longer be able to control the hunger inside him, that he would go out and do what he did best, and she counted on it. Aries would be the distraction she needed to get down to the chamber of Vector Sigma, or at least where Vector Sigma had once been. Down there was the only access point to Cybertron's core computer unit, a place hidden somewhere deep inside this planet, a place not even the Cybertronians knew where it was. Ralyk had hidden it, had buried the knowledge, but Gemini had the key to its location. She marveled at the unimaginative Cybertronians who had not even thought about using the open access unit of the Vector Sigma chamber to locate this place.
Stupid.
Their loss, her gain.

* * *

"How about telling me what the hell is going on here?" Karen demanded, her voice still rather level, but her eyes sparked with anger.
Kyle understood her. She had every right to be angry. First she had been hauled from her own place of work to West Central to perform an autopsy on a cybernetically altered woman; then she had been asked to do the same, only without cutting the bodies up, on the two still alive humans in deep-freeze, and now someone had broken into the lab and had freed one of the two. And everyone was hush-hush about the who and why and what was behind it all.
"Come with me," he said quietly and led her over to his own office, a small room – though still Cybertronian sized – close to the emergency rooms.
Karen sat down and cast him a challenging look. Kyle smiled a bit. He admired her professionalism and knowledge; she truly was the best in her field. Dr. McNamara's work had given them a lot of insight into what CyberTek had really done and what the potential had been behind the facade of a normal human being. If used correctly and by people with a conscience this technology would be a benefit to modern medicine.
"Karen, I know this was not easy for you, but we couldn't reveal all about who you examined right away. It is a very delicate matter and if it is picked up by the wrong people, it could destroy more than it does good. What I'm about to tell you is top secret and whatever happens, please.... keep quiet about it. Can I have your word on it?"
She regarded him silently for a while, then finally nodded. "Yes, you have my word. I have level 5 clearance already, so you know I can keep a secret."
His smile was slightly wry. "Yes, I know that, but this is past every known level. Nothing, and I mean nothing, of it can ever leak."
"Must be one hell of a secret."
Kyle's serious brown eyes held hers. "It is."
And then he proceeded to fill her in – from the very beginning.

* * *

Optimus Prime looked at the small humanoid being he had met only as 'Samantha'. He didn't know much about her, except that she seemed to be very good friends with the most unlikely of Cybertronians: Soundwave. And she was powerful. That he knew as well. She was a shape-shifter, she harnessed raw energy and she was empathically talented in a rather negative way: she fed off emotions. Soundwave had not released anything about her except her name and that he knew her. No one had had any trouble since she had first revealed her true nature and Samantha usually kept a low profile.
"You read his mind?" Prime now inquired.
Sam smiled briefly. "No, not really. I asked for Soundwave's permission and he gave it to me, allowing my mind to gather information about what had happened to him."
"And Gemini left Soundwave's body to possess Backdraft."
"Yes. She decided she needed a smaller form. You can believe me, Optimus Prime, or you call me a liar, but I did my share of the duty and reported what I found to you."
Optimus flashed her a surprised look. "Why should I call you a liar?"
"Because you, like your security chief, don't trust me."
"That's not true," Optimus contradicted her. "We are just cautious."
Samantha smiled again. "You might be cautious, but Kup is openly distrustful of me. I don't blame either of you. My kind evokes these feelings and I'm used to them, but believe me, I'm not lying about Backdraft and Gemini."
Prime nodded. "I know you are telling the truth. Thank you for your help, Samantha."
She only nodded and left. Optimus watched as the door closed again, then he turned and contacted Security.

* * *

"Magnus?"
Ultra Magnus, commander and administrator of Below, looked up from his work to discover Jazz poking his head into the office. "What is it, Jazz?"
"We got a possible problem here and I think you should contact Prime about it."
Magnus frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Did you read the latest city population and crime report?"
Magnus looked at the pile of reports tethering dangerously high on his desk. "I think I skimmed over it," he answered carefully.
Jazz smirked briefly. "I think you just piled it up. Listen, we had some murders in the old container area in the last thirty-six hours and I think we got some visitors down here the guys Topside are looking for."
The city commander's head snapped up. "Murders?! Why didn't I get a priority memo about it?!"
"Because the whole police business falls into Shockwave's domain and he filed a note about it to you," Jazz simply answered. "But we have a lead now and Shockwave asked that I pull you away from your desk and drag you over to the conference room. We have a witness and if she is right, we got a major problem down here. One that immigrated from Topside...."

* * *

Karen sat on the couch in Kyle's office, staring into the glass he had pushed into her hands. She smelled the highly alcoholic beverage and didn't hesitate to down it in almost one gulp. She felt sick, down to her very soul. What her colleague had told her was unbelievable.... it was cruel... it was horrifying... it made her feel cold. Kyle watched her, noting all the emotions shifting through her, noting how pale she was and how badly she was trying to control her reactions.
"This is.... sick," she finally managed.
Kyle nodded. "And a lot more," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you any sooner, but we had to get the autopsies done first."
Karen briefly closed her eyes, nodding. "I understand. I've seen and heard a lot on this job, but this compares to nothing.... nothing at all!" Kyle refilled her glass and this time the pathologist sipped at it. "How can someone be so cruel to children!" she exclaimed.
"We don't know. Most of the heads of CyberTek either disappeared or were killed in the initial revenge run, as were some technicians and bio-engineers. The files were destroyed and we didn't really know what we were truly dealing with until much later." He rubbed his neck. "And now we are dealing with the aftershocks of it all."
"So you think that the blank circuits in the chest cavity of Gemini contained her... uhm... soul?"
Kyle smiled a bit. "Yes, in a way. She left her body when we got her out of cryo and is currently on the loose. We believe it was her who freed Aries."
Karen leaned back and stared at the ceiling. She felt incredibly exhausted all of a sudden. Her mind was revolving around the experiments, about what she had seen, about the very thought of a single human being able to perform these cruel tests and operations on small children, ruthlessly watching the weaker ones die.
"You should get some rest," she heard Kyle say. "You had quite a day."
"Tell me about it," she muttered. "But I doubt I can rest."
He smiled slightly. "Just try it."
Karen rose, putting the glass on the table. "Thanks for your trust, Kyle," she said as she left.
He nodded as an acknowledgment. Then she was gone.

* * *

Aries laughed, dodging into a side alley. He felt elated, on a rush, nothing could beat him. He was the ultimate weapon! The puny resistance the chosen ones offered was nothing compared to his strength, and the police forces hunting him would never catch their prey. Because he was no prey. He was a predator.
Evading another search drone he climbed onto one of the containers, then crouched down. He had a good look over the city of Below and he saw the drones swarming in search of him. Jumping down again he decided to add to the thrill, to go for the next level. Weaving his way out of the old settlement he grabbed a rag-like coat, slinging it over his shoulders and head, then mixed with the people around him. He saw humans and humanoids in police outfits and he chuckled. Yes, one of them would be perfect.
The officer never knew what hit him and he didn't really feel anything after it anymore. His body would be found a few hours later. Aries smiled maliciously and checked the gun the human had carried, then he made his way further down the streets.

* * *

"Sir, we found a trace!"
Kup looked up from his map of West Central and the adjoining Inner Maze several levels below. "Where?" he asked sharply.
"Several people saw Backdraft down in the tunnels leading to the doorway chamber!" the Autobot reported.
Kup frowned. "The doorway chamber? What would she want there?" He turned and opened a line. "Nightmare?"
"I hear you."
"The intruder is coming your way. Close down the doorway chamber! Full defense alert."
"Understood. She won't get in here."
Kup nodded and switched off the com line. He looked at the messenger. "Inform Optimus Prime, Switchblade. I'm taking a team down there personally!"
"Yes, sir!"

* * *

She had made it. Gemini felt like crying out her triumph for the world to hear it, the dawning of a new era. Getting to this chamber had been almost too easy! No one took greater notice of her and though some had given her a second look, no one had stopped her. Those foolish, stupid robots! No wonder they were so easily taken over and controlled. And they were easily led on a wrong track. Everyone was running to the doorway chamber, something she had yet to explore and would after she had taken control of this world, and no one bothered with this room. It was lost and forgotten.
Gemini walked into the gigantic chamber, marveling at its construction, at its radiance and hidden power. It had once housed the mighty super-computer that had given life to all Cybertronians, and now it housed what was left of it. A small pedestal was what showed her where the globe had once sat. There were cable tunnels running from the pedestal toward the walls, covered by bluish colored steel. More tunnels ran up the wall, again covered by blue steel plates. It was a nerve center, a marvel of technology, the heart of it all. And now it was hers. Gemini allowed herself a small chuckle as she ran her fingers over the left-over pedestal.
This was the access.
This was her entrance into a world of power!

* * *

Ultra Magnus didn't believe the carnage he was seeing. Half of the sector was totaled and there were bodies everywhere. Laser blasts lanced through the air, hitting everything that moved, and everything that didn't as well. Total destruction....
"Aries?" he asked tonelessly.
"We think so, yes. He somehow got into the defense control unit and now has control over most of the aerial defenses of the city," Jazz answered slowly. "We can't get close to him. No one and nothing can. You know how well the defense unit was armored and secured."
Magnus nodded. He knew it only too well. "Where's Shockwave?"
"With his men at the outer defense perimeter. We evacuated everyone out of the area." Jazz hesitated and Ultra Magnus sighed.
"How many dead?" he finally asked, voice heavy.
"We are not sure yet...."
"Jazz."
The mission specialist looked away. "Thirty-five humans and humanoids. We have several critically injured, Cybertronians among them."
Ultra Magnus dimmed his optics. He couldn't believe this had happened. He just couldn't. Within a few hours of getting the news that one of the escaped altered humans had possibly made his way down to Below chaos had broken out. Aries was here, no doubt about it, and he was holding a whole city hostage!
"What does he want?" the city commander muttered.
Jazz had no answer for it. None at all.

* * *

"No sign of her, Kup. Are you sure she is down here?" Nightmare asked as he checked the defenses he had set up around the doorway chamber.
The old Autobot glared at him. "She was moving in this direction!"
"But she no longer is," Spook rumbled and looked amusedly at the two others. "The outside cameras would have seen her by now. She may be able to switch between robot bodies, but she is not invisible. Internal security would also have picked up energy forms or alien programs running alongside the regular ones in this area." He flicked his tail. "I detected nothing of the kind. She is not here."
"Impossible!" Kup exclaimed. "Check points at the exit said that no one passed and she is not in the corridor leading here. Where is she?"
"Uhm, we got a report in from Below. Aries was seen down there," Overload suddenly said.
Kup cursed in old Cybertronian. "And where he is, Gemini isn't far. She must have used one of the old access tunnels to the transport tubes! All teams, get down to Below! Now! You three stay here," he ordered the doorway team members.
"Sure." Nightmare shrugged as he watched Kup race out of the room.
Sphere, who had been silent throughout the last few hours, suddenly frowned. "There is another option, another way." Nightmare turned, looking at her. "They sealed off a tunnel and even though she might have used an old chute, there is another place she could be."
"The chamber of Vector Sigma!" Nightmare whispered, horror crossing his face.
Sphere smiled humorlessly. "Yes."
The Gatekeeper transformed and galloped down the tunnel, closely followed by Sphere, also in horse mode. Nightmare opened a channel, a wild idea suddenly forming in his mind.
"Phoenix? I need your help down in the chamber of Vector Sigma. And Aurora's if she is anywhere near."
"What are you planning?" Sphere asked, slightly puzzled.
"A barbecue."

* * *

"Gemini!" Rhyan whispered and it sounded like a curse.
Daemon's presence was like a frozen piece of blackness inside his mind, slowly starting to boil with anger. His mind was trying to cope with the memories, but Rhyan's own memories were flooding him.
The battle.
Ian's death.
The destruction of Project.
The end of their lives.
"Where?" Masters asked hoarsely.
"Apparently she has possessed a Cybertronian, a Protogen, and was last sighted in the corridor leading to the doorway chamber," Daemon answered flatly.
"Keep tabs on her," Rhyan growled and floored the accelerator.
"You plan to take us there?"
"Yes!"
Daemon smiled darkly.

* * *

Phoenix had no idea if what Nightmare had transmitted would work and neither did Aurora. Both were moving in on the meeting point with the Gatekeeper and both knew that what he wanted was a wild experiment. They could do what he asked of them, but there was no guarantee that it worked. None at all.

* * *

Shanygn had been in Below when the first alarm had been sounded; well, she had been on her way to Topside, to be correct. She didn't hear of the attacks, of the rogue defense controls, until she got a memo on her beeper that alerted everyone of the command staff and those associated with them of the situation. Shanygn, being Rodimus Prime's Interface partner, was automatically 'associated' with the command staff. She had simply frowned, checked on her partner, receiving the expected worry, and had then proceeded to the elevators that would deliver her right to the transrapid monorail station. As Shanygn stepped into the station she noticed that no one was present. She frowned. Well, they were probably either caught in the trouble in Below or had left already.
She discovered a human figure standing half hidden behind a pillar. She walked toward him – and found him gone. Shanygn stopped, surprised, looking around. And then someone grabbed her. Andrea Shanygn was no one who was easily overpowered and she had a very good training in self-defense, but whoever this guy was, he knew what to do. One of her arms was bent ruthlessly onto her back and secured there with what she guessed were handcuffs and a noose clamped around her neck. Shanygn gasped as the noose was pulled tight and she felt a hand close around her chin, holding her head painfully. She didn't know how this man could have acted so quickly.... it was an inhuman speed.
"Don't struggle," he whispered. "You'll only make it worse."
"Who are you?" she managed to get out, trying to suppress her panic.
He chuckled. "You know."
Shanygn tried to twist her head to get a look at her captor, but the noose didn't let her, biting into her skin. She struggled to breathe and panic rose inside her. Something crashed into her mind, a worried and panicked presence in itself, and she realized that she had broadcast everything to Rodimus involuntarily, her fear transmitting clearly.
[Shan!?]
[Aries] she managed, finding it hard to concentrate. [The transrapid station]
"Don't think about phasing into your partner either," Aries now said as if he could hear her thoughts. "It won't help you. I can kill you before you even finish the link."
She believed him. Crazy as it was and sounded, she really believed he was telling the truth. Aries was not human and he could do what he claimed to; she had seen him perform and she knew what he had already managed.
[We are on our way!] Rodimus called, fear in his voice.
[Be careful] Shanygn sent back, trying to calm herself and regulate her breathing. Her arm was starting to hurt since it was bent in such an unnatural position.
Aries pulled her over to the barrier separating the public area from the maintenance access. Shanygn was forced to follow and each wrong move cut into her throat. She felt Rodimus' reassuring presence, but there was no way she could ignore the fear in her partner's mind. Aries pulled her through the access and then pushed her down on her knees. Shanygn felt him do something behind her back. Her other arm was bent back with force and she gritted her teeth, barely able to suppress a moan. The handcuffs clicked shut and something was looped around her ankles. She became aware of what he had done. Now the noose was connected to the ankle and wrist cuffs, keeping the steel rope tightly strung and disabling her completely. Every move would now result in the noose tightening around her neck.
Aries stepped around her, finally showing himself. He looked no different than when she had last seen him. His cold expression frightened her and the almost insane look in his eyes was no reason for hope. He looked more like a machine than human.
"What do you want?"
He smiled. "You'll find out in time." With that he checked his weapon and walked over to the small window giving him a good view of the immediate area.

* * *

No one had stopped her and she was finally where she had always wanted to be. So close to her destiny. Gemini smiled, reaching out to Aries. He was going ahead with distracting the Cybertronians and he knew it might very well end fatally.
'We will be together again,' she whispered a promise.
And they would. Aries would download with her, regardless whether the human form he now inhabited died or not.
Gemini ran her hands over the access panel to the core computer of Cybertron. She lifted the lid and smiled as she discovered the sockets. This was the entrance, this was her way inside, and it was the access Vector Sigma had always used to get into Cybertron's nets. The open 'wounds' left behind by the super computer's destruction had simply been closed and no one had even tried to salvage this potential. No one. Now it was hers.
"Stop where you are," a voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Gemini looked over her shoulder. "Hands where I can see them and step away from the panel."
She smiled coldly as she faced her latest adversary.

* * *

"Time for phase two," Aries said calmly.
Shanygn had no idea what he was talking about. He was surrounded, there was no way out and she still had no clue why he was doing this anyway. What was he gaining? He had maneuvered himself into this situation voluntarily and she had been trying to get behind his motif ever since. Nothing came to mind. Aries was not suicidal, but he would die if he didn't surrender.
[We got everything covered and there is no way out] Rodimus told her. [No hidden weapons either. We'll be storming the place any minute]
[Then what is he planning?]
[I wish I knew.... How are you?]
The answer never made it through. A scream tore from her throat, as violently as the steel bar tearing through her back and chest. The action was totally involuntary and she was barely aware that the sound was hers. For a few moments, confusion and anguish clawed wildly at her mind until the darkness swallowed her and she lost all awareness.

Rodimus shrieked in pain.
It screamed through his head, through every molecule of his body and for one moment he was capable of only one thought.
[Shanygn!]
His chest was on fire, a wide open wound in his back, something piercing through his body. Agonizing pain crashed down on him and he felt the floor come to meet him. He was unable to think clearly anymore, the pain erasing everything. He thought he heard voices, distant and somewhat familiar, but it could also be an illusion.
[SHANYGN!]
There was no response, only the unbearable pain.

Jazz had no time to react when Rodimus suddenly screamed, grasping his chest as if he had been shot, and then broke down. His commander lay on the ground, keening, optics flashing madly.
"What the.....!" Sideswipe exclaimed.
"Shanygn!" Jazz whispered in horror and his optics flew over to where Rodimus' Interface partner was held hostage. "No!"
Sideswipe knew about Interfaces and the process it involved, but he had never seen anything like the young Prime's reaction before. Jazz was drawn between helping his friend, knowing only too well that nothing he could do would help, and just storming in there and getting Shanygn out. The decision was taken from him as Rodimus stumbled to his feet with a cry and tried to get to the building.
Jazz grabbed him, straining to subdue the other Autobot. "Sideswipe! Help me!" he cried.
Sideswipe, still very confused, grabbed Rodimus' flailing arms, but the desperate force behind his young commander's movements surprised him. He was thrown clearly aside and crashed into the next wall. Jazz yelled for help and the other two Cybertronians on the scene, Overload and Blitzwing, ran toward them. Rodimus gave an irate scream and tried to twist out of their hands, the combined effort of three robots just about enough to finally wrestle him to the ground.
"Roddy!" Jazz called intently. "Roddy, calm down!"
Rodimus' optics flared with an almost mad light. "Let me go!" he demanded. "He is killing her!"
Blitzwing cast Jazz a helpless look.
"Aries must have attacked Shanygn," Jazz whispered as an explanation.
That was the moment Kup appeared, his face turning hard as he realized what was happening. "Where are they?" he demanded.
Overload nodded toward the building. "In there. He has Shanygn. We think he .... hurt her."
Rodimus had almost fallen limp beneath them, struggling only faintly.
"Aries? What about Gemini?" Kup asked.
They gave him a blank look. "We haven't seen Gemini anywhere...." Blitzwing then said carefully. "Aries kidnapped Shanygn and...."
Kup's expression silenced him. "She tricked us!" the security chief growled.
"Whatever," Jazz interrupted him. "We have to get Shan out of there or she dies!"
Kup nodded. Rodimus' state was a clear sign as to what Shanygn's condition was. "Do you have a map of the building?" he asked briskly.
Jazz nodded and gestured at Sideswipe. He didn't dare to let go of his younger friend because Rodimus was bound to erupt into movement again any minute. Kup spread the map and studied it.

* * *

Gemini smiled darkly as she saw Nightmare and Sphere, followed closely by Aurora and Phoenix. "Well, well, well," she purred. "Look who dropped in to rescue their friend."
Nightmare's face was a stony mask. "Release her," he said tonelessly.
"Oh, is that a threat?" Gemini cast a look at Sphere. She knew her from the memories of the mind she was currently occupying. "Do you think you can stop me?" Her voice dropped to a dark, throaty whisper that sounded unnatural coming from Backdraft. "Because you can't. No one can. I am back and I will take what was always ours, what we were created to live for."
"If you don't release her voluntarily, I will force you to," Nightmare continued, voice flat.
Gemini chuckled. "Oh, yes? Try it. Do you really think you can stop me like that? With your weapons? You can only destroy the body but never the soul."
"You have no soul," Sphere told her levelly, raising her weapon and pointing it at Gemini.
She laughed. "I have two souls and we are one! We were destined to be this, we were created to be this, and no one and nothing can stop us!"
Nightmare knew he had to pull the trigger. If he didn't, the creature inside Backdraft would destroy not only the Protogen but everything else as well. He knew Gemini had the power she claimed and the moment she figured out how to get inside the much larger system, how to take over Cybertron, she would do it. And then there would be no stopping her. He raised the weapon.
"I'm sorry, Backdraft."
Sphere fired at the same second. Nightmare's shot hit Backdraft just below the neck, throwing her back. The other tore into her back, severing several connections and shocking the Protogen too much for her to react immediately. Energon gushed out of the wounds and streamed over the dark and red metal skin. A scream tore out of Backdraft, a scream of pain and agony, and she slowly toppled over. As she fell, a glittering, golden bolt of something arched up, spreading like energy wildfire over the still body and trying to leap for the nearest Cybertronian to it.

* * *

It was over faster than he had thought and somehow it had seemed easy, Jazz thought. Too easy. As if Aries had given up. The modified human had not put up much of a resistance, though he had managed to puncture a hole into Blitzwing's armor and give Kup a couple of bruises. He had been fast and armed, and he was small enough to miss several times. Finally the battle had been won.
Aries was dead.
Though Jazz was somehow perversely satisfied that this abomination, this monster, was dead, he knew that the Primes wouldn't like it. Aries had been human once, a man named Ethan Keller, and he had been manipulated and experimented on by CyberTek. He had been a victim. And he had died because of something he had been unable to have any influence on. Ethan Keller had always been controlled by Aries' desires, unable to get out of the vicious circle he was trapped in, and he had done everything to please the AI connected to his mind. And Aries had fueled Keller's instincts.
Jazz sighed and shook his head in pity, then pulled himself back to reality. While Blitzwing and Overload were securing the perimeter, Kup had called for a med tech team and Dr. Kyle Scott was already on the scene. They had one seriously injured humanoid and one critically unstable Autobot commander to take care of.

Fire soared up his back and through his chest, and Rodimus was dimly aware that this was not his pain. He didn't know where he was, just that someone was holding him, talking. His optics roamed wildly around the room and suddenly came to rest on a small form he knew only to well.
His mind screamed her name.

Shanygn was barely conscious. A wrenching cough came from her lips and she felt broken ribs rub against each other. Blood sprayed from her mouth, staining her lips, and each breath was like a stab with a hot knife. She tried to concentrate on the familiar presence she could hear dimly beyond the agony roaring in her ears.
[Roddy.....] she moaned.
A flood of emotions met her and she felt him very close. Her eyes were clenched shut tightly in pain and wouldn't open, nor would her brain make his hands move. Someone touched her and she felt the ropes holding her hands together snap apart. Still, she couldn't move and each breath was too much all of a sudden. Pain was everywhere.
"Shanygn?"
Another voice. She knew it as well, but her mind refused to surrender a name. Someone removed the constricting noose around her neck and she gasped faintly.
"I'm administering a pain-killer now and then I have to remove the stake, do you understand? We'll just cut it off, leaving part of it in you or otherwise you'll bleed to death."
She forced her head to nod, though she wasn't even sure it was a nod she managed. There was a sting in her arm and the voice said something again, something she didn't understand this time. She drifted off. Her mind let go of all consciousness and she fell into blackness.

Rodimus fell back against the wall, trembling uncontrollably, as Shanygn slipped into unconsciousness again. Jazz was at his side, refusing to leave him alone, and he was thankful for it. He couldn't think of anything but the pain, the terrible injury, and the scream that had torn through his mind as Aries had literally staked his partner.
[Hold on] he begged as he watched Kyle inject her with the painkiller and get ready to remove the metal stake. [Please!]

* * *

Backdraft felt the pain coursing through her like a shockwave, destroying every other sensation there was. She screamed in agony and tried to escape, but there was none, only a vast, frighteningly black hole. It appeared fathomless.

Gemini was shocked for a second, feeling the life drain out of her host body as Backdraft's 'blood' gushed out of the wounds and down her body. One shot had severed the fuel pump, the others had torn apart several vital links. Backdraft was dying and was about to take her with her.
Gemini gathered herself and left the body in a hurry, aware that if she stayed too long, she might not make it out in time. She had to make it into a new host. And what could these weak constructions do to stop her?
She was shown a second later.

*

Nightmare averted his optics as Phoenix's powers came to life. The golden and dark red female was flaring bright red with power and then directed it at the glittering cloud of energy. Aurora had done the same, following her sister's example. Her flares where white-hot and arced toward the presence, which had begun to retreat from Phoenix. When her energy hit, the Gatekeeper thought he could hear a high-pitched scream of pain. The two flares combined and seemed to destroy every particle caught between them. Everyone averted their optics and Nightmare felt the heat crackle all over him. The very air seemed to burn under the fiery output, melting around the energy form, smothering it, frying it, but not killing it! This was impossible! His plan had failed..... Nightmare stared at the presence as it made another lunge for an access to Cyberspace.
Something stepped into its way.
The energy life form screeched and shrieked, then it touched the tall, dark figure.
An eerie silence descended over them and Nightmare was just quick enough to catch the collapsing Phoenix. Sphere steadied Aurora, who was equally losing her balance after such an ordeal. Then he caught movement out of the corner of his optics and discovered Spike running into the room, gasping faintly as he saw the motionless body of his second-in-command. She looked gray and close to death, her body lying in a quickly growing pool of energon. The Protogen leader hurried over and knelt down, stretching out a hesitant hand, afraid to touch her, afraid to hurt her more than she was already hurt. First Aid was already on the scene, ignoring Spike and about everyone else, concentrating only on his patient.
"How is she, First Aid?" Nightmare heard the worried question of the Protogen leader.
The medic shook his head. "Not good. Declining rapidly. We have to get her to med bay, now!"
Nightmare's optics snapped back to the more dangerous and immediate problem at hand: a dark colored robot he had seen only a few times before and only from afar. Daemon. Gemini had touched him and she had to be inside his mind... The Gatekeeper and former Assassin leader trained his weapon on the powerful robot, ready for everything.

*

Rhyan rocked back under the sudden mental transformation he was forced to go through. Daemon was spreading out, his mind unfolding in a frightening way even his human partner had never felt before. Something dark and old surfaced inside the Sentinel's mind, and Rhyan moved back in sudden fear. He had touched this part once before, but never this intimately, and never had it felt so black, so evil, so overpowering.
Daemon flowed around him, caressing the human presence inside him. It's the only way to stop her> the Sentinel whispered. Trust me. I won't hurt you>
I know> Rhyan managed, trying not to get drowned in what he was experiencing. He trusted his partner, but this was almost too much to take.
Daemon's action had been without second thought, sudden and instinctive. They had to stop Gemini and letting her take over the body of one of the others would have led nowhere. If they wanted to kill her, to destroy her completely, they had to do it on their own ground.
Their rules.
Their territory.
Do it> he choked out, preparing himself for whatever would come now.

*

Gemini was confused at first, then realized she had made it into a new, safe environment. A robot again, different from the others, and powerful. She reveled in the strength she felt, the incredible sensation of absolute power....
"Yes!" Her laughter was maniacal as she stretched out and touched the mind that was her new home now. All the pain she had felt at the attack was forgotten. "You are mine!"
"I beg to differ," a cool, rather flat voice suddenly said.
Gemini whirled around and her eyes narrowed at a shadowy figure standing outside the circle of harsh light illuminating the scene. She thought she saw a second figure not too far behind it.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "How did you get in here?"
"Your so-called security blocks are not very hard to breach," the stranger said and she saw a pair of reddish pinpoints glowing softly in the dark. "Especially when you are breaking into your own mind."
Gemini hissed as she realized who this had to be and lashed out. The other moved too fast for her to see and was suddenly several feet away from her.
"Who are you?!" she screamed.
"Your nightmare," he whispered and she thought she heard his name. Daemon...... And then he stepped into the light. "You entered my domain, tried to take my body... I don't like intrusions into my mind!"
Gemini's eyes narrowed. Her opponent was dressed all in black, his hair as dark as the clothes. He wore the black attire like a stealth coat. His eyes were a deep blue with a reddish glow to them, the face was pale and totally devoid of any emotion. The second figure was still in the shadows, enveloped by darkness. She launched another attack and he evaded again.
"You can't do this forever!" she yelled. "This is my world now! I am in control!"
"That's where you are wrong, Gemini. You are playing with a dangerous toy which you have no idea of how to use." Daemon reappeared again and she thought she saw something swirl around him.
"I have total control," Gemini whispered again. It sounded like a mantra. "Just give yourself up to me. I won't hurt you then."
"Enough," Daemon said passionlessly. "You have done enough damage in your life. You killed and you let others kill. I won't let you get out of here alive.... or in any other form."
Gemini screamed. She threw what she had at Daemon, using whatever opening she got, and the other AI rocked dangerously under her assaults. But he also discovered something: Gemini was growing weaker. Her appearance was 'wrinkling', for a better word. Suddenly Daemon gave a hiss. He bore down on her and grabbed the weakening manifestation of the CyberTek nightmare project.
"It's over. You cannot win."
"I always win!" she screeched.
Something impaled Daemon, flinging him to a pillar, blood gushing forth from the deep shoulder wound. His eyes flared deep red, he gave a gurgle of pain and his hands twitched.
"I am in control," Gemini repeated.
"You are using a world you don't know," Daemon managed and slowly pulled out the thick spike. Blood flowed freely, though Daemon showed no sign of even feeling the injury any more.
Them hidden shadow moved forward, never revealing what or who it was, and merged with Daemon. The wounds healed all of a sudden and the Sentinel straightened.
"Impossible," Gemini whispered.
"All is possible. This is my world, Gemini. I lived in a cold, dark and endless pit for years. I know how to master it. I know my mind and I know what it can do and what I can do. You are just playing."
He advanced and she stumbled away. Finally she stopped, determination crossing her features. "You don't scare me!" she stated. "Who are you anyway? A weak Cybertronian creature! We were programmed and taught to conquer you!" Multiple lances appeared over her head, all pointing at Daemon.
"Outside I am Daemon," Daemon said calmly. "In here I am Synchrony."
Gemini's features froze as she was bombarded with what Synchrony was, had been, still represented, and she tried to withdraw those parts of her attached to the memory circuits. "You are dead," she managed.
"Not any more." A cold smiled passed his mask-like features. "I am back."
She trembled. "You don't scare me. You are an antiquated and faulty program."
Daemon's smile stayed, grew maybe even more evil. "Maybe," he whispered, the word coating the room with ice.
Darkness spread over the walls and she gasped as she felt it. It was cold and it *was* ice. It enclosed them. Gemini cast looks around that were a mixture of fright and rage. She concentrated on Daemon again and her hands seemed to grow into claws.
"I'll kill you! I'll utterly destroy every byte in your CPU!"
Daemon didn't seem to be impressed. His eyes held an unholy gleam. "Good-bye," he whispered.

*

No one knew what was going on, just that Gemini had entered Daemon's mind and that the mysterious Sentinel had not moved an inch. His optics flared now and then, but there was no other sign of life. Backdraft had been rushed off to med bay and Cyclonus, who had arrived throughout the commotion, and a security team had closed off the area. The Decepticon second-in-command watched everything warily, his weapon trained on Daemon like everyone else and he was hoping that a Sentinel would come down here ASAP! His wish was answered five minutes later as F/X and Skywolf arrived.
"What happened?" F/X asked, clearly worried.
"Gemini took him over," Cyclonus answered. "Since then.... he remains standing like a statue."
Suddenly Daemon doubled over. The scream coming a second later was almost enough to shatter their audio units. Rhyan phased out of his partner, crumbling to the ground like a lifeless puppet.
Jill was at Rhyan's side in no time, touching the slumped over man's shoulder and shaking him slightly.
"Rhyan?" she asked, worried and afraid.
Rhyan stared at her, eyes clouded, face pale. He breathed raggedly, like he had just run a marathon, and his skin was covered by sweat.
"'Tis okay," he managed. One trembling hand rubbed his neck gingerly. "Daemon?"
"I ....am ... functional, I think," the Sentinel rasped, sounding not so functional at all. He was on all fours, optics ablaze with emotions, shaking just as much as his partner.
"How about you let me decide that?" Skywolf asked with a friendly smile, already running a first check with a medical scanner.
Rhyan tried to get to his feet. He nearly fell and Jill grabbed him just in time. "Whoa, easy there!"
"How are you?" Skywolf wanted to know, storing the readings.
Daemon didn't reply and looking at Rhyan was answer enough anyway. The human looked like he would pass out any second. Whatever had happened, it had been bad.
"What about Gemini?" he then asked the all-important question.
"She will never bother you again," was the flat reply.
Jill raised an eyebrow at Rhyan, but the Interface only shook his head weakly. Later. Not now, later.

* * *

Spike hated it. He hated the room, he hated the setting, he hated the waiting. He was not known for pacing, but right now he felt very much like it. Still, the Protogen leader sat silently on the chair, staring fixedly into space, waiting for First Aid to come out and tell him how Backdraft was. The medics had been fighting for her life, her Protogen spark, for hours now. Volta and Domino had come to keep him company, but both had left after a while, as if sensing that he wanted to be alone. Some time earlier Melissa had come in and she had silently sat down, not saying a word, touching his hand. That was how they still sat, hands clasped, waiting, praying.
First Aid finally left the surgery and flashed a smile at them, his visor lighting up briefly in his otherwise unreadable face. Spike cast him a questioning look.
"We have her stabilized, but nothing definite yet," the medic told them.
Spike briefly dimmed his optics, feeling his daughter's hand squeeze his. "Thanks, First Aid," he whispered. "Can I see her?"
The Autobot nodded and Spike slowly rose from the chair, giving Mel's hand another squeeze before letting go. She stayed where she was as Spike entered the room.

*

Several rooms further down the corridor Rodimus was pacing restlessly in front of the post-op ward, sometimes growing totally still, his whole posture growing rigid, then he began to pace again. Silhouette had arrived shortly after she had heard of the attack on Shanygn and she simply kept on watching him. She knew Rodimus Prime too well to stop his actions. He needed to do what he was doing, he needed to get rid of his nervous energy. Finally the door opened and Kyle stepped out. He looked tired but his face was open and pleased.
"She will be okay," he said.
Rodimus' shoulders sagged with relief. "Can I see her?" he asked, trying not to sound too plaintive.
Kyle smiled. "Of course. I guess you know how weak she is already, so keep it short, okay?"
Rodimus nodded eagerly and then walked through the door. Silhouette gave Kyle a questioning look.
"The metal stake went through her back, shattering her shoulder blade, going through a lot of muscle tissue, nicking a lung and breaking three ribs," the medic explained. "We had to replace the shattered shoulder blade; she now has a bionic substitute. Shan was lucky that her inner organs weren't injured more severely. I think Aries knew what he was doing: inflicting as much pain as possible while not killing her or injuring her fatally. Everything reflected back on Rodimus."
"Disabling him, confusing the others, drawing Kup to them to help. It was a diversion." Silhouette nodded thoughtfully. "He knew exactly what he was doing."
"Shanygn will be okay. She needs a lot of rest and we will have to keep her here for further treatment." Kyle rubbed his neck. "Roddy is the best treatment we have; him and Nick, but Nick is still on Alean."
Sil smiled. "She'll be fine."
"Completely."

*

It seemed like he was back again. Several years back, still partially human, still Adam Witwicky. He was looking at the fragile form on the bed, monitors attached to it, reading the life signs.

Carly was a pale, frail looking shadow of her former self. Her face was miraculously unharmed, which could not be said about her body. She had suffered multiple cuts, fractures, bruises and traumas. It was a miracle that she had made it through the surgery.

Spike shook himself, trying not to superimpose his dead wife's picture on Backdraft's still face.

Monitors and instruments for various purposes had been connected to her and registered every heartbeat, every breath, and Spike found his eyes fixing hypnotically on the rise and fall of her chest. Every breath meant she was continuing to live. Her head had been secured in a cage-like contraption to keep her from moving. One of her neck vertebrae had been fractured and no one knew how bad the damage was. Only time could tell. But time was also against them. Internal injuries had weakened her on top of the fractures and she was no longer as young as she had been. She was healthy and fit, but her body showed her age and the injuries were severe enough to trouble the doctors. And then there was the danger of an infection. Her immune system was totally down.

She had died from her injuries. Adam Witwicky had lost his wife to the war and he had lost his old life to it as well. Without Carly everything had been bleak and gray. He had accepted a Protogen body to live on, but only because he had promised her. He had sworn to his dying wife that he would never give up, wouldn't seek the easy way out, that he would fight. And so he had done. He had found a new life, had a new position and he liked his job as leader of the Protogens, and he had forged a tight friendship with Backdraft.
And now she would die as well.
He shivered.
No. No, this wasn't Carly. This was Backdraft and she would live. She had to live. He couldn't lose another important part of his life!
Spike stopped and inhaled sharply, a purely human reaction, a leftover of his organic existence. He didn't know when he had come to depend on Backdraft like this, but he had. He relied on her to be there as his second-in-command, as his friend, valued her friendship and humor, her knowledge and quiet understanding. She was like a backbone he could fall back on, someone who was there without imposing herself on him. Spike gazed at Backdraft's unconscious form and sighed. He carefully took her hand and curled his fingers around it.
"Don't go," he said softly. "I need you."

*

Jill McKennan watched the sleeping man, noting all the fine lines of stress on his young face, wishing she had a way to erase all that had happened. She knew about feedbacks, she knew about energy backlash and she knew about an AI's emotions swamping over your own. Rhyan had told them that Daemon had blown up the VR world he had set up in his mind, the one he had dragged Gemini into to confront her, had destroyed the image of her there, and everyone could only guess what it meant. Jill had a pretty good idea. Too much backfeed could fry your brain and Gemini was dead; obliterated. And when Daemon had exited the world of destruction, had fled as well, he had taken the anger, pain, his injuries and everything else with him. Rhyan had gone through it all within a second, his mind almost losing it when Daemon had linked completely again.
Jill walked out of the room and down to the treatment units for Cybertronians and larger alien life forms. Skywolf's shift was over but he was still present, talking softly to Disaster. He acknowledged her presence through the link.
"I want to keep him under surveillance," Skywolf told the Decepticon medic. "Not because of who he is but because of what happened to him. Daemon killed Gemini in his mind, destroying a VR world he created, and I don't know what the aftereffects might be and when they will surface. Rhyan has been hit quite hard and if it is any indication as to what Daemon might have felt, we can be prepared for a possible backlash soon."
Disaster nodded. "I know. We are keeping an extra optic on him. You think he might get violent?"
Skywolf shook his head. "No. Be prepared for total silence and brisk answers. Daemon rather swallows his emotions and erects shields than letting anyone get a peek at his mental condition."
"Okay. Thanks, Wolf."
Skywolf turned to his partner and cast Jill a quizzical look.
"He is sleeping. Rhyan needs a lot of rest and friends around him, though I don't think there are any." Jill raised a pointed eyebrow. "You know those two kept to themselves since they arrived here and though Rhyan is friendly when he meets one of us, he is always cautious, almost hesitant. He tries not to get too close or let anyone know more than we already do about him and Daemon."
"They feel unwell here," Skywolf said softly.
She nodded. "Very much."
"I have to meet Midnight in an hour anyway. I'll talk to him."
"Thanks."

*

Shanygn felt like hell. Her back hurt, as did her chest and her head felt like it was going to explode. The painkillers were just kicking in again and she wished she could slide back into oblivion. She was slightly nauseous. Shanygn couldn't remember all that much about what had happened, only a few random pictures. She remembered being dizzy, confused and disoriented. There had been darkness and pain. She had been terrified and helpless in her pain, lost in an agonizing fire coming from her back and traveling down her chest and back. Then there had suddenly been a familiar presence. It was still there, faint and probing, almost hesitant.
The presence came closer and Shanygn reached out with her mind; at least she tried. She didn't know how to move or to think anymore. The young woman recognized the presence immediately. It represented safety, protection and refuge.
[Roddy?] she whispered.
He embraced her, hugged her, held her close. If Cybertronians had tears, he was closest to them. [I'm so glad you are okay!]
Shanygn smiled dimly. [As okay as you can be with a hole in your body]
Rodimus winced slightly, but he still held on to her. They had been Interfaced completely for decades now, had erected their shields and were able to keep their lives completely apart, but this didn't change anything at the fact that they were partners, that Rodimus need Shanygn and Shanygn needed him to complete each other. They were Interfaced.
Shan reached out and held on to Rodimus' presence so it wouldn't slip away. As she heard the soothing whispers of his mind close to hers, enveloping her, she closed her eyes and burrowed deeper into this sheltered cocoon of security.

Rodimus smiled softly as he watched his partner sleep, trying to ignore the bandages around her upper body, her pale and drawn features, her cruelly tired expression. She was exhausted from surgery, from the pain, from everything. He wouldn't let anything happen to her now; he would guard her until Shanygn was strong enough again.
A nurse adjusted the various tubes and wires and checked the monitors before acknowledging the existence of the visitor. She didn't say a word, simply nodded at him, then left again. The young commander sat back, ready to spend as much time here as was needed, his Interface link wide open, keeping a close eye on Shanygn.

* * *

She is everywhere. She controls, she dominates, she is me.
* Where am I running?*
* It doesn't matter, just don't stop.*
* Why am I running?*
* Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter… keep going, don't stop.*
Fear. Darkness. Total control. Fear.
She is everywhere.......
And then there is nothing.

Backdraft woke slowly, her systems struggling online and trying to boot up. She noticed she was on an outside feed and that something must be wrong with her since everything worked so sluggishly. As her memories woke, so did everything else. She gasped in remembered pain and fear, her optics flaring online. She tried to sit up but someone kept her down, and she heard a familiar voice talking soothingly to her.
"Let me go!" she cried and fought more against the restraints.
"Backdraft! Calm down! You are okay, everything's okay....!"
She wildly looked around and her optics fell on someone she knew. "Spike?" she breathed.
He nodded, smiling softly. "Yes, it's me. Just stay calm. You are safe. She is gone."
She....?
And more memories came. Backdraft shuddered and felt Spike's arms around her, hugging her in a very human gesture. Backdraft had come to learn and accept the human side of their leader, mainly because she knew him only this way. Spike was a mix of Protogen technology and human ancestry and memories. He had brought a lot of changes into their lives. Now she hugged him, shivering at the memories of her possession.
"It's okay," he murmured.
The door slid open and Chaos walked in, alerted by the monitors outside at her station. "Hello, Backdraft, and welcome back to the world of the conscious." The Autobot medic started checking the Protogen's vitals. Backdraft let her, watching as Chaos disconnected the outside feed and monitors. After a few minutes she nodded. "You check out okay, Take it easy for the next few days, rest and take in some highly concentrated energon to get your levels back up."
Backdraft nodded. "Thanks."
"You are welcome." Chaos smiled at the two Protogens and then left them alone again.
Spike sat down beside his second-in-command.
"What happened to Gemini?" Backdraft whispered almost inaudibly.
"She is dead. Truly dead this time," Spike answered and rubbed her back.
Backdraft sat silently a while, trying to pull herself together. Spike let her, his hands clasping hers and she felt like they were her life line. "How long?" she asked.
"We don't know, but we think about two days," Spike answered softly.
She nodded. "I don't remember too much, but what there is of it... it's horrible."
Spike laced his fingers tightly around hers. "Want to talk?" he asked gently.
She met his icy blue optics, then looked away. "There isn't much," she muttered.
"There is if it affects you like this, Backdraft. I don't want to force you into talking now, but please remember that I'm here for you. You are my friend and I want to help."
Backdraft nodded and slid off the recovery bed. "Thanks," she said softly. "I.... Care to walk me to my room?"
Spike smiled. "Sure, my lady." He put a gentle arm around her waist, supporting her physically and also psychologically, and they left med bay.

* * *

Midnight looked out of the window giving him a great view of West Central. His mind was miles away from every other task he had set out to do today, mainly because of Skywolf's visit. The medic had delivered short reports about the condition of those involved in the Aries and Gemini incidents, and though no one was in immediate danger of dying, all injuries were serious to some degree. And the most serious injury had been Daemon's: the destruction of part of himself when he had taken out Gemini. Daemon was also one of the top priority problems Midnight needed to deal with. The ancient Sentinel was becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with on a regular basis and he was edgy around everyone. He hated life on Cybertron, but there was no alternative for either Daemon or Rhyan.
"If they want to leave, what then?" Steve asked quietly, interrupting Midnight's train of thought.
Midnight shot his partner a look. "I don't know. I can't keep them here; they are not prisoners. But I hate to think of him on the loose.... And stop taking peeks at my thoughts."
Steve smiled amiably. "You are broadcasting. I don't have to peek." He grew serious again. "What Daemon did showed that he is trying to help. It was the most selfless act he could have done!"
"Maybe, but maybe not. You know how much he hates Gemini, how much Rhyan hurts because she killed his friend Ian, and maybe it was just pure revenge." Midnight gave him a knowing look. "Gemini destroyed his life on Earth, she killed his friends, she ruined what he had been able to build, and that was how he paid her back."
Steve shrugged. "Maybe, but it was also a very dangerous way to do it."
"It's the way he thinks and acts."
The human sighed, rubbing his eyes. "It's Synchrony. He can't deny his past; no one can do it. But he tries and he has a lot of help and stability in Rhyan."
"Still he hurts him with his actions."
"Not intentionally."
"I know." Midnight turned away from the window and walked over to his desk, propping himself against it. "But what can I do?"
"Talk to him?"
He winced. "Not my first choice, but I guess I have to."
Steve smiled. "We'll find a way."

* * *

Rhyan had woken several hours ago, had taken a very long shower, then dressed and left the apartment. He had returned home after spending a day in an observation room at med bay, getting checked and tested. No one had tried to stop them as they had left, but Skywolf had made it clear that since what had happened was not exactly normal, he wanted them back for tests. Rhyan was fed up with tests and so was his partner.
"Hi, big guy," he greeted the dark colored, menacing looking Sentinel.
Daemon didn't look very happy and that he had chosen to remain in robot mode told a lot. He had survived Gemini's attack, he had managed to suppress Synchrony again after he had let his past self surface to defeat the creature, but he was slightly more moody than ever. Rhyan automatically reached out and probed the link, wanting to know how his partner's emotional condition was. He seemed fairly balanced and the stress they had been under lately was more or less bearable, but both were clearly aware of the need to leave Cybertron.
"I'm okay," Daemon now said, his voice unusually soft.
"Oh, sure. We both are just fine," the former Project operative muttered.
Daemon cast him an acid look and Rhyan returned it with a humorless smile. "They won't ever let us leave, especially after what I did."
"What we did, my friend. I was involved as well, and they should be grateful that we destroyed Gemini." He leaned against his partner's legs, who stood like rooted to the spot, a statue of darkness. "But even if they let us leave, where would we go?"
Daemon looked at the small human eternally linked to him through an Interface. He knew what Rhyan was trying to say. Both had spent all their lives on Earth; they knew nothing else; and Cybertron was a bad memory out of Daemon's past life as Synchrony. Rhyan had no experience traveling through space; he couldn't fly a ship; he had never been any further than Cybertron. Both were afraid. They had different talents and it wouldn't be too hard for Daemon to break into any net or system to get them what they needed, but it would be a big step, a big change in their lives.
"I don't know," he confessed. "I wish I knew."
Rhyan just nodded and he glanced up into the star-speckled sky above them. This was the only place they could go, but he was afraid to go there alone. As much as he and Daemon were one, as much as they were partners, Rhyan needed his own kind as well.
One day they would find a solution. He knew it; he hoped for it; he prayed for it.

* * *

"How is she?"
Spike looked up and discovered Volta. "Recharging. She finally surrendered to her body's needs. Otherwise she is slowly getting over the experience. Backdraft doesn't remember much and it's better this way. Gemini didn't let her get in touch with audio or visual. What she knows is what she picked up when Gemini died."
Volta nodded. "I'm so glad she is fine."
Spike smiled slightly. "So am I."
The other Protogen shot him a quizzical look and Spike read the question in there, not ready to talk about it yet. He knew Volta and Domino knew what Spike felt for Backdraft, though he didn't want to confess it to himself yet. Carly's memories were too strong and he had sworn never to love again, but he couldn't deny the feelings he hid behind his facade. He felt something for Backdraft, but did she even remotely know what it meant? He was a human being still, beside the fact that he had a mechanical body, but all the others were born as robots. Spike sighed softly.
Volta just smiled again. "I'll tell Domino and the others. If you need anything....?"
"I'll call, thanks, Volta."
The other left and Spike was alone again. After a while the Protogen leader left as well, knowing that for the next hours he didn't have to be there, that Backdraft wouldn't wake until the next day, but somehow he also didn't know what else to do. He would see if Mel was free to maybe take a stroll around West Central and talk.

* * *

Rodimus sat in his office room, only partially concentrating on the paper work resulting from Aries and Gemini's destructive visit. Ultra Magnus had delivered a preliminary report on the damage done to Below and also the death list. Rodimus hated death lists. He had seen too many in his time as leader and he would never get used to them. Shanygn was sitting in the usual spot she occupied when spending time with him: the window sill. She had been able to leave med yesterday and though she had promised to take it easy she had also insisted on at least spending some physical time with her partner. Rodimus didn't object and he would look after it that she got the rest she needed.
All in all Aries' run of destruction had left them with 10% of Below in bad need of repairs, thirty-seven dead organics, two dead Cybertronians and over two hundred injured people of which three were still critical. It had been a catastrophe, but it had been one that could have been worse, as Shockwave had stated emotionlessly. They had killed Aries and destroyed Gemini, which was the ultimate victory. But the price.....
Backdraft was recovering. She had suffered emotionally from her possession, but she had friends who cared about her. Rodimus smiled slightly as he thought of Spike. The Protogen leader would see to it that Backdraft recovered completely. Soundwave had refused further treatment and First Aid had had to release him. Rodimus guessed that the communications specialist was very much able to take care of himself. His mind was that of a telepath and he had stronger shields and was better equipped to deal with invasions of the mind than the average Cybertronian. And then there was Samantha, whose relationship to him was still as mysterious as ever.
Daemon and Rhyan Masters were the bigger problem. They were under constant surveillance and Optimus had commented on an increasing restlessness of both Sentinel and Interface. Daemon kept apart form every Cybertronian or Sentinel and Rhyan did the same with his kind. They didn't fit in, as hard as everyone tried, and it would always be this way. But they also couldn't return to Earth. The young commander had no idea what to do and neither had anyone of the Council, except maybe Megatron whose suggestions were not acceptable.
Last but not least there was Cassandra 'Kesh' Kyshradi. Rodimus Prime sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He hated to be reminded of the young woman, the last CyberTek survivor of the battle at Project. She was still kept frozen in the cryo chambers and there was no cure. Kyle and Dr. McNamara had worked on a solution, but Dr. McNamara had stated that the same back-up system Aries and Gemini had had was installed in Kesh. And even if Capricorn was truly dead – and she had been one of the more amiable AIs – there was still the fact that Kesh was now a human missing a part of himself. Kyle had remarked that it was like having your robot partner killed as an Interface and that it left a hole inside you that could never really be filled again. Ray Hawk Anderson, Thon Roque's partner, had survived for a few more years after his partner had been killed, and all Interfaces who had known him had agreed that Ray had never been the same as before. He had been silent, had kept apart and had been depressive. Rodimus didn't want to wake Kesh to have her suffer from the loss of her own partner. The decision was hard, but they had to keep her in cryo.
[We will find a cure one day] Shanygn said silently.
[A cure for losing part of yourself?] he asked. [Kyle said that as long as he has been Interfaced, and that is quite some time now, there has never been a way to substitute the loss of a partner. The robot usually turns insane if he isn't strong enough and the organic partner starts aging again, withdrawing from everyone else]
Shanygn winced slightly and felt Rodimus' dark fears of losing her one day. She shook her head and embraced him gently. [Don't think about it. Please!]
He smiled bravely at her. [Sometimes it crosses your mind....]
[I know. Everyone thinks about it, even those who have been together for millennia. It is part of our connection, but I don't want to discuss it]
Rodimus accepted it, aware that he didn't want to either. F/X had once told him that he should live for the day and accept what might happen in the future. There was no planning ahead. It simply happened.
"You should rest," he now said aloud. "Nick will be here tomorrow afternoon and I don't want to be lectured about not looking after my partner." He flashed her an impossible grin.
Shanygn rolled her eyes and sighed, but she complied. Rodimus helped her down from the window place and watched her leave for her own quarters. He went back to his work the moment he felt her arrive safely at home. He still had stuff to catch upon and Optimus needed a full report by tomorrow. A lot of work still lay ahead of him.

* * *

Spike sat in his favorite spot and watched the moon rise. The silver sphere moved lazily over the rim of Cybertron, rising higher and higher, reflecting the light of the small sun. He usually chose this spot to have some time alone, to think, to get his mind straightened out, and the others, though knowing the place their leader chose, left him alone. Spike needed to think about the near-loss of Backdraft a few weeks ago, which had rattled him more than he wanted to confess. He had tried not to crowd her, make his worry too obvious, but it had apparently failed. Volta had made some strange remarks and Domino had smiled mysteriously. Not that Spike's growing relationship with Backdraft was a secret.... it was just that he was not too sure about it all himself. He kept telling himself that it was just a deeper friendship, but another part argued there was more.
Spike sighed and wished he knew when all of this had started. When had he lost control of his feelings? Or to start with: when had he let those feelings grow for anyone else but his late wife? Carly was dead, but he still held her in his heart and she would always live with him. He owed her so much.... his life, his sanity, everything.... and she had died without Spike being able to do something about it. Now Backdraft had stepped into his life as the Protogen leader, had somehow entered those depths reserved only for one woman. She had answered his call for someone else in his soul, a call for a partner. Spike had been afraid she was dead when he had run into the chamber of Vector Sigma He had waiting anxiously for First Aid to tell him how she was faring in med bay, and he had been almost unable to face her when she had awakened. Backdraft had few memories of the possession left, but she remembered more than Spike had hoped for her own good. He had asked Mel to talk to her, let Backdraft talk of the experiences, of her fears and dreads. He knew his daughter was the best counselor they had.
"Spike?"
The voice catapulted him out of his thoughts and he scrambled to his feet, optics wide. "B... Backdraft?" he managed.
She smiled slightly, almost shyly. It was such a change from the normally so calm and controlled persona he knew. Backdraft was his second-in-command. She was his silent and strong backbone, someone he trusted, someone who supported him, someone who despite her youth had an incredible ancient aura around her. Now that was gone, temporarily erased by the possession. She would find back to her old self soon, but for now..... He wanted so much to help her!
"Hi," she said softly. "Do you mind...?"
Spike shook his head and gestured her to come over and sit with him. Backdraft settled down and looked at the rising moon.
"Thanks for your help," she said after a while.
"My help?" he echoed.
"You were there. You supported me...." She refused to meet his optics.
"Hey, that's what leaders are for," Spike joked, uncomfortably aware of what she was getting at.
Backdraft gave him one of her slightly crooked smiles. "Sure. But still: thank you."
They sat together in companionable silence and watched the moon rise further into the night sky. Suddenly Backdraft took Spike's hand and squeezed it softly.
"Thanks," she whispered again, smiling.
Spike opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "Uhm...." was all he managed, staring at her.
Backdraft leaned against him and Spike tore his optics forcefully away again. No! It couldn't be! It couldn't happen....
But it was.

* * *

Karen McNamara stood outside West Central on one of the large terraces, overlooking the city. It was a beautiful sight, but she had no eyes for it. Her mind was still going over what she had heard about the children who had been used like lab animals. She had heard of CyberTek and she had heard that the company had disappeared more or less without a trace. Rumors were that someone had sabotaged several labs and had blown up two more. Now Karen knew the whole truth and it sickened her. She had enjoyed working at West Central, but the background information has destroyed most of the fun she had had using these advanced labs.
"Nice evening, though a bit busy," someone remarked and she discovered Kyle Scott. She only nodded. "It's still bothering you, right?"
Karen sighed. "Yes. In a way it is bothering me. How can it not bother someone?" Anger wormed its way into her voice.
"It got to me as well, but it's something I can't think about too often," Kyle confessed. "If I would linger on such cruel and horrifying information too long... it would let me go insane."
She looked at him, once again reminded of who he was and how old he had to be. "I feel like going insane is better than living with the knowledge that any sentient being can do this to its own children!"
Kyle laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it slightly. "If you want to talk about it, we have people who can listen and who like to listen."
Karen smiled slightly. "Thanks. I might have to take you up on that offer."
"Say, you got anything planned for dinner?" the blond suddenly asked.
Karen shot him a surprised look. "Uhm, no...."
Kyle grinned. "I know this nice little restaurant outside downtown Strata.... I bet you'll like it."
"Why, Dr. Scott, is that a dinner date?"
"Well, Dr. McNamara, I think it is."
"And I have nothing to wear," Karen sighed theatrically.
Kyle chuckled. "I always had something for surgical green," he joked.
"Yeah, right. And the next thing you tell me is you want to eat with scalpels."
Both medics walked back inside, chuckling and joking. Karen knew Kyle was trying to help her and right now he did. She felt a bit better, lighter, but when she was back home in her own room she would think of the young women and men who had been so cruelly altered because of a mad experiment. It would take time to forget.
And some things you could never forget.

* * *

He was alone, totally alone. Around him was nothing he knew, just emptiness and sometimes dark clouds passing by.
"Hello.....?" he called hesitantly.
No one answered him, not even an echo.
He shrank back into himself, shivering, miserable and alone.
His name had been Ethan Keller once. Now he was just a fragment of what should have been downloaded into the core unit of Cybertron when he had died. The process had not worked. Aries had not come with him and he dimly remembered that he had been more, that Ethan Keller had been more. He didn't know what exactly, but there was this faint memory of a part he was missing, a part that had been erased throughout the hectic download procedure.
He drifted, swallowed up by the vastness of space around him, fraying at the edges.
Soon he would be no more.
Soon what had been left of Ethan Keller would be nothing but fragments inside an almost endless space.