Processor Over Matter

By Any Unborn Child

"You're late, Sari. Again."

"Sorry, Prowl. My dad wanted to make sure I would be 'out of harm's way' before he dropped me off." Sari replied, freely using air quotes around her father's choice of words as she peeled the bright red shoes off her feet and made her way to the center of Prowl's room.

Prowl let out an exhaustive sigh. He could not quite make sense of Isaac Sumdac's consistent hovering, around Sari. Humans were, as a whole, a fatiguing species to understand. Even now Prowl did not understand them fully.

But of what little sense it made to him, he sympathized. Though Master Yoketron didn't hover as much as Sari's father did, from what Prowl remember, they did share the same desire to make sure their young companions were safe. Safe as they possibly could be, anyway.

"It's all right. No harm done." Prowl walked to the center of the room and sat down across from Sari.

Prowl put his servos on his knees, straightened his posture, and looked directly at Sari. "Now, what do you remember from last time?"

Sari repositioned herself as she listed, "Sit up straight; keep your balance, close your eyes, and concentrate. Concentrate on…on…what was it again?" Sari made a puzzled expression, looking to Prowl for help.

Prowl, taking the hint, responded, "Concentrate on your breathing - Machines like myself do not need to concentrate on breath for obvious reasons, so I concentrate on what is going around me, even with my optics closed."

Sari shuffled her stance once again, growing increasingly restless. "What if I can't concentrate on my breathing? I have so many thoughts rummaging around my mind – I can't think of one thing at one time like you and the rest of the Autobots can!"

Prowl was startled by that last statement. "What makes you think that we only think of one thing at a time? Our brains are not wired in the same way that human brains are – you as a species can only think of so many things before you, for a lack of a better term, explode."

Sari stood straight up, towering over Prowl. "Exactly!"

"Well, what you need is discipline. Control over your thoughts so that you can focus on just your surroundings. Nothing more, nothing less."

Sari scowled. She sat back down with a huff, putting one leg over the other, all without making eye contact with Prowl. The little human took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

"All right. I'm ready."

Prowl's lip-plates turned up, a smile lighting up his optics. In all honesty, he was glad that Sari couldn't see the huge grin on his face.

"Very good. Let us begin."

With that said, Prowl guided Sari through the meditation session for about half an hour. He was careful to keep his tone even and his instructions concise. As the time progressed, Sari was able to ease into her posture, and the frustration on her face dissolved into the warmth of calm focus. While he was instructing Sari, Prowl could not help but feel as if the lessons that Yoketron had taught him were present in the room.

Almost omniscient.