CHAPTER ONE - DISCOVERY
I ran, my feet pounding along the road. My heart hammered inside my chest out of fear, anger, exhaustion, but I would not stop running. The pain lacing through my muscles was nothing to the bruise blossoming on my cheek. There would be a black eye there soon, after the force that was behind my stepfather's hand. Living alone with him after my mother's death had been hard enough, and the punishments from small misdemeanours were expected, but this time I had really stuffed up. He worked late, so it was my responsibility to make dinner, but I had been distracted. From the large window in the kitchen, I had watched as a large meteorite streaked across the sky, seemingly dropped from a passing airforce plane. The meteorite had landed somewhere in the massive state forest behind our house, and I had lost track of time watching plumes of a bluish smoke rise from the tops of the pine. Soon enough I realised the chicken burning in the oven, and it exploded just as my stepfather walked in.
There had been no time then, just enough to dodge a few blows, to receive some, and then bolt for the door. No more. I couldn't take it. When things like this happened, I ran up the road towards the forest, touch a sign and run back to the house, hoping that I could slip in unnoticed. This time was different. When I reached the sign, I touched it and paused. His words were echoing in my head; "You stupid bitch! If you ever set foot in this house again…", I looked back down the road at the distant light that was my house, and then back at the forest. I kept running forwards and left the rough vehicle track. The forest thickened quickly, shielding much of the full moon's light. I tripped over roots and landed hard, scratching my palms and my face, but each time I stood up again, cursing myself for the tears that were running down my face. I felt pressure behind my eyes, the quivering of my lip.
"Stop it," I snapped at myself, stopping to breathe. "Enough." I closed my eyes, rolling my head back. When I opened, the stars had disappeared, but it was not this that caught my attention. There was yellowed light staining the trunks of the trees around me. Just as I took a step in the direction the light was coming from, a great quake seemed to run under my feet, causing the pine needles blanketing the earth to jump. My breath vanished inside of me as I peered through the trees. The light had disappeared. I walked forward, ensuring my feet stepped without a sound. There came a sudden sound of twisted metal, and then a cracking. Perhaps it was the meteorite I saw, I wondered to myself, burning up the pine needles around it. With this seeming like a completely reasonable explanation, I calmed myself, at least that was until heard a noise, like the rushing of wind, yet at the same time, a human gasp, yet not quite human.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called tentatively. There was no response. "Are you hurt? I have my cell phone on me, I can call for help."
"No."
I nearly fainted from fright. I hadn't expected a reply, and definitely not one that was so deep, so loud, and so helpless.
"Where…where are you?" I called. I opened up my phone and used its light to look around me. There was no one around.
"Here." It was then that I became aware that the voice came from above. Fear entrenched in me now, I looked up and screamed. "Shh! Quiet! I will not harm you."
I gaped at the monstrously tall figure of metal and bolts, its head only denoted in the dark by two blue-glowing eyes. But no, they couldn't be eyes, it was a thing, a machine, a torn up truck arranged to look hominoid. Then came the gasp, and whatever was in front of me seemed to tense as though it was enduring great pain.
"What are you?" I stammered, taking a step back.
"I am Swiftcut," the thing replied, it's voice growing quiet. I noticed the light of its eyes dimming. "I am an Autobot, and I am dying."
"What's an Autobot? What is this, some sort of experiment? Are you something made by the government?" I looked around, half expecting to see people behind the nearby trees, holding an enormous remote control for the machine in front of me. If I hadn't been sure that it wasn't real, I could have sworn I heard it chuckle softly.
The machine that called itself Swiftcut bent towards me, and through the light of my phone I saw its features come into view. Completely metal, the features of its face were elegantly made to look human; the bow of the lips, eyelids, even eyebrows that showed its pain. "I am no experiment, I am definitely real. Listen, I have been injured. I was in a battle, and was dropped here from a great height by my enemy, a Decepticon."
"You," I said, "you were that meteorite that I saw fall. You must have fell hundreds of feet!"
The mechanisms on his face drew a smile. "Yes, you got that right. I'm in a bit of pain."
"You feel pain? But you're a machine. I didn't think…"
"What you thought before this very moment is nothing," Swiftcut said seriously. "You are in serious danger. You must listen to me…" And that was when he told me. It was terrible, a story of a distant world, a war between others like himself, the Autobots, and the Decepticons – similar robots that had very different and violent ambitions. Earth, without knowing it, had been embroiled in their war with the Deceptions wanting to destroy it, and the Autobots attempting to save us.
"Why?" I asked, still trying to grasp what I was hearing.
"There is too much to live for here," Swiftcut said. "I've seen much of what you humans have, your art, music, the way you can love each other. We had that once, but it was destroyed. We feel we can do no more than try to preserve what you have."
I put my head in my hands. "I'm talking to a robot," I muttered to myself, "about aliens and invasions…and art. I'm insane, I'm going insane."
"Trust me, this is no illusion," came his voice. I assumed it was a 'he'. His voice was too deep for a female. Then again, what did I know about alien genders? I rubbed my eyes and flinched when my fingers touched the place where my stepfather's fist had made contact with my face.
"Are you hurt, too?" Swiftcut asked.
"No, no, just wishing that my stepfather would die already," I said casually, forgetting who…or what…I was talking to. I looked up quickly to see what had to be an expression of concern on his face. "No, I don't mean literally die, it's a figure of speech…oh, don't worry about it. What's more important is that you get some help. If what you say is true, the more of you guys there are around, the better. What can I do?"
"Head west, keep walking until you find a road. Take it, and it will lead you to an abandoned car yard. There will be vehicles there, but no people. Say aloud that you have spoken to me, and that I need help. You will find what I need there. I cannot move unless I receive some repairs," he instructed.
"Okay," I said, "are you sure there'll be someone there?"
He gave a nod.
"Alright. Hang in there, mate, I'll be as quick as I can." I went to start running, but he spoke.
"Wait…" I turned to face his great form. "Thank-you. I will owe you much after this. You prove that this planet is worth fighting for. Tell me, what is your name?"
"Rose Templar," I replied.
"That is a nice name."
I stared incredulously at him. A robot was telling me that I had a nice name. It was utterly ridiculous. He must have sensed my confusion, for he have a wink of one of his eyes, but then groaned, arching back as his eyes dimmed and nearly extinguished. I began to run in the direction he had shown me, knowing that with each step I was heading into something so large, so out of control that I could hardly comprehend it.
