Disclaimer: Transformers are the trademarked property of Hasbro and their licensed agents. Ellie(Urielle), Uriel, Livewire and Alpha Quatrus are original characters and the intellectual property of the author, so unauthorized use of the original characters is prohibited (i.e. If you want to use them, ask first.) No infringement is implied or intended. No financial gain has been received.
A/N: This is a section of an, as of yet, unwritten story in the EllieWorld(Children of Megatron) plot line. It takes place about 15 years after Children of Megatron. Rated T for safety's sake. Sequel to "Disease of a Long Dead Planet." Tracy
Fortunate Side Effects
"So, where is this journal of Uriel?" Alpha Quatrus asked of his mate.
"In the tower," Ellie answered.
"Why didn't you tell us about it before you were this sick?"
"Why didn't you know I was sick before it was this bad?" she countered.
"I wasn't expecting to come across the disease among humans."
"This is pointless!" Ratchet interrupted. "Can we just get to the tower and get that book?"
With his daughter clutched tightly to his chest plates, Optimus ran down the hall and up the stairs to the upper most floor; Ratchet, Livewire and his daughter's four unified mechs hot on his heels.
"Where?" he asked desperately of his daughter. He was terrified of setting her down, as if by holding her, he could keep her from succumbing to her illness.
"The platform bed. Be careful with the way you open it. I seem to remember something about a test to get it," she instructed.
"Would one of you guys mind opening a window for Papatron? He said he'll be here in about five minutes," she asked of the assembled mechs.
"You asked him to come?" Optimus asked. He opened a window large enough to easily allow the frame of Megatron to enter.
"I linked with him when I first told you about the truth of my disease. I figured it was only fair to tell everyone at once."
The roar of engines coming up to the window silenced everyone as Alpha Quatrus and Bumblebee examined the bed.
"Little one. Why? Why did you not tell me?" Megatron asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.
"I didn't realize I was this bad until this morning," she answered as she clutched one of his offered claws.
"How is it possible you were not aware of this?" he demanded of Livewire and Ratchet angrily.
"Stop!" Ellie commanded. "It is not a disease native to this planet. They didn't know what to look for."
"They should have realized there were too many metals in your system at least," he tried to argue.
"They did. It was believed the increased metals were caused by my body trying to digest and remove the foreign implants. Fortunately, the implants have been utilizing the excess metals in my body for self-repair, of both the implants and biologic tissues. That is another reason I'm not dead yet."
"Well I'll be damned!" Livewire exclaimed as he ran another scan over his human charge.
"What?" the room asked in unison.
"I thought it was some sort of an odd echo, but now, I realize it isn't."
"Yes, I see what you mean," Ratchet confirmed when he completed his scans.
"One of you had better start explaining!" Megatron roared at the medics.
"The implants appear to be multiplying. They are replacing biologic tissues that are dying with technological matter. At the moment, the replacements are occurring around the implants. That is why we didn't realize what was happening," Livewire explained.
"Yes, it looked as though the chips were creating a sensor echo around themselves with the standard scans we were performing. In essence, the repairs were being hidden. It wasn't until we performed a more specific scan that we could see the changes," Ratchet added.
"Why didn't you perform more specific scans before now?" Optimus demanded.
"We had no reason to, Optimus," Ratchet answered.
"Dad, Papatron. Both of you need to stop. There is no one to blame. The only thing left for us all to do now is move forward.
"Sheesh! The way you guys are carrying on you'd think I'm going to be dying forever or something. I'm going to become like you guys you know," Ellie tried to point out.
"But still, we are used to you being human. We are not ready to let you go yet," Optimus tried to explain.
"So, you would rather I live a very short human span then die than live a long life as a tech?" she asked with a quirked brow.
"Of course not!" Megatron blustered.
"No! That is not what I'm saying in the least," Optimus started.
"You guys know you're funny when you're caught off guard?" she asked with a grin.
"Smart aft," Megatron muttered as he visibly relaxed.
"So, how much of my brain tissue has been converted to technological material?" Ellie asked curiously of Ratchet.
"Twenty-eight percent. We will have to monitor you daily to determine the rate of conversion. As of right now, it appears that the technology has taken over your autonomic functions and has provided you with the equivalent knowledge base of a three to four hundred year old hatchling.
"That is most likely why your memory and analytical functions have improved so dramatically over the last several years," he answered as he ran another scan.
"So, what's that equivalent to in human terms?"
"A pre-teen to teenager," he replied distractedly.
"Great. Another round of teen problems," Optimus muttered.
"Are you aware this last seeding cycle appears to be holding as well?" Ratchet said to change the subject.
"I thought it might."
"You also have two biologic implant sites as well."
"Another set of twins? Whose are they?"
"Bumblebee is the male's donor, and Thundercracker is the female's donor. It will take about a week to determine how many seedlings have implanted before we will know how many surrogates we will need."
"So now I guess it's time to start praying they all make it," Ellie said hopefully.