Chapter 2
Inside a small room at a local bank Mark sat with Anderson waiting for a manager to bring in a safety deposit box. For some strange reason Anderson's father told him to not to come here until Mark's own dad passed away. Wonder why he had such a strange request in his will? What could be so important?
The bank manager came into the room with a metallic box and placed it before Anderson.
"Would you like me to stay as you open the box?"
"Nah, I'm good." When the manager left Anderson took a key and unlocked the box. "What do you think might..." His voice faded as he pulled out a key. "My dad left me a key and an envelope."
"Well, open it and see if he wrote a letter."
Anderson tore open the envelope, confusion on his face as he pulled out a business card. "Just Enough Storage, number twenty-nine. Guess I'll just have to check it out and see what is there." He turned to Mark with a huge smile on his face. "What are you doing tomorrow morning?"
XXXX
Three hours later Mark found himself sitting at a desk in his hotel room so he could study the odd piece of plastic his father had left him. What could it possibly mean? He gently ran his fingers across the squares and felt a tiny, electric current go through his skin.
"That's strange." He put a finger on a large square causing it to light up. "Okay...but why isn't it in English..." His voice faded as the strange letters morphed before him into English. "What the hell is this thing?"
He was about to touch another letter when his cell phone began to blare out music. This made him jump in surprise and look at the alarm clock. It was nearing ten o'clock who could be calling this late?
When Mark checked the phone's screen he noticed it was strange number. "Hello."
"By now you have probably gone through your father's things."
Mark went to the only window in the room and chanced a look outside. "Who is this?"
A lone figure stepped out from the shadows, his face masked by a tinted motorcycle helmet. "A friend of your father's. May I come inside?"
"How can I trust you?"
"You probably have seen the robotic sketches in your father's journal, right?"
Mark pulled away from the window to look at the stacks of notebooks sitting by the bed. "You got an hour."
He barely had put his phone down when there was a knock on the door. Surely it couldn't be the strange man but then again, they were about to discuss robots.
"Hang on, I'm coming!" When he pulled the door open he was greeted by a man with eerily blue eyes. "Name is Mark."
"Novo." The man named, Novo made his way passed Mark and into the hotel room. "Where is your friend?"
Mark slowly closed the door, curious as to who this man really was. "What friend? There's no one else here."
Novo nodded. "Good." He sat down on the bed, a smile spreading across his face. "I was a friend of your father's and know about the bots."
"So, he wasn't crazy."
"No, far from it." The man flipped through one of the journals, his smile getting bigger as he did so. "We were so innocent back then."
Mark shook his head. "There is no way you're my father's age. You look..."
"Younger, I know." Novo took a deep breath then pulled his sleeve up to reveal a metallic arm. "I was human once..."
"What happened?"
Novo pulled his sleeve down, got up then went to the door. "That's a story for another time. I'll be outside, so if you need anything let me know."
XXXX
When Novo left the hotel room he made his way back down the stairs and to where Velocity sat. Because of the accident he no longer needed to sleep and only took small naps through the day so his body could rejuvenate itself. He made himself comfortable under a tree then opened his satchel. Since he now had a new body chemistry he had to eat more calories in a day than the average human.
Velocity, who had transformed into her more natural state sat down next to him. "Do you think they are capable of becoming the warriors we need them to be?"
Novo bit into an apple and shrugged his shoulders. "We have no choice."
"Do you think your blood can revive our friends?"
"My blood is the closes thing to pure Energon that is found on this planet." He gingerly pulled a device from his pocket, it's glow radiating the area around them. "I've managed to purify it even more by using this."
"Perceptor, oh how I miss that nerd." Velocity took the small device between two fingers. "So, this is what you have been messing with? You finally got it to work?"
Novo gave his friend a smile, not real sure himself if it'll work. "Only one way to find out. Mark triggered Beltline's beacon, tomorrow we will recover him from Richard's garage. In the meantime, I need to eat."
Early the Next Morning
It was way too early for Anderson to be awake but thanks to his coffee with three pumps of espresso he was feeling all right. Currently, he sat in his Ford Taurus waiting for Mark to arrive. Wonder what his father left him? Would it be another car? Surely it wouldn't be that piece of junk Bronco his father promised he would get running before he died.
A light tap on his window signaled Mark's arrival to the storage unit. Anderson let out a low moan as he opened his door to the cool, desert air.
"All right, lets check this unit out." Anderson took the key out from his coat pocket and went to the rolling garage door. "Dear God please don't let it be the Bronco." His shoulders slumped forward upon seeing the beat-up red, late model vehicle. "Great, just great."
Mark gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. "Maybe it's just like the Mustang."
Anderson went to the driver's side door, pulled it open and took a peek inside. "Definitely has the same dashboard." He slowly sat down, his hands rubbing the dust off the steering wheel. "Wonder what kind of history this vehicle has?"
"Good news is, it has the same symbol as the Mustang. Is there an envelope inside?"
With one quick look around the cab Anderson managed to find a dusty manila envelope hidden above the passenger visor. Inside was a plastic sheet similar to one the Mark had found and when Anderson began to push random symbols it lit up with a holographic image of the Bronco.
"Whoa!" Anderson saw that the strange lettering had changed into English allowing him to type in something else. This time a massive robot appeared holding an even larger blue, glowing sword. "According to this, the Bronco has a name, Blade Runner."
"So, does that mean the mustang is a robot too?" A huge smile spread across Mark's face as he ran a hand through his hair. "Hard to believe."
The sound of a motorcycle brought the men's attention back to their vehicles. A short man wearing blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a full face helmet had arrived, his demeanor telling Anderson he was here on business.
Anderson slowly got out of the Bronco, his eyes not once moving from the man who was now coming towards them. "Who is that?"
"A friend." Mark went to the man and shook his head. "Novo, what brings you here?"
Novo took off his helmet showing Anderson eyes that almost appeared fluorescent blue. "I fear we don't have a lot of time." He went to the Bronco, opened the hood then took out a vial. "I advise you two to take a step back."
The two friends did just that as Novo poured a strange, glowing liquid somewhere in the engine compartment. Novo took a step back as the entire vehicle began to shudder.
Anderson took a few timid steps forward, curious as to what was about to happen. The Bronco or Blade Runner let out what sounded like a mechanical shriek as panels began to shift throughout it's body.
Blade Runner let out one last yell before his body finally managed to shift into full robotic form, a twenty foot tall behemoth with glowing blue eyes. He rotated his head before kneeling before Novo.
"Novo, good friend. I see you are doing well."
Novo shook the robot's hand. "It has definitely been awhile."
A smile almost seemed to appear on the robot's face. "Velocity, good to see you."
Anderson spun around to see that Novo's motorcycle had changed into a feminine robot. She was much shorter than Blade Runner, probably only ten feet tall but Anderson could tell by the many scars on her body she has seen plenty of battle.
"So, there are more of you?" Mark asked.
"Yes, we are the Deceptibots." Blade Runner held out his hand to show Anderson a 3D holographic image of an entire unit of robots. "We need to find our friends before the Decepticons do."
Anderson took a deep breath knowing if he was to commit to helping these robots he will never live a normal life again. He had always dreamed of doing something that would let people remember his name and now here was that chance.
"Okay, I'm in. Let's do this before I change my mind."
