BlackArachnia felt a sudden rush of strength. She slowly rose to her hands and knees. Then to her immense surprise, she managed to pull herself to her feet. She looked over to the big aircraft about one hundred meters away. She panted heavily and took a step towards it.
Optimus…
His image flared into her mind and kept her going. She took another step. On her third step her legs gave out. She fell forward into the sand, her sides heaving as she tried to breathe.
Optimus... You need to get to him… keep going…
BlackArachnia used her desire to see Optimus as her strength. She dragged herself forward with her arms. She could no longer feel her left leg and her right one still felt like it was being cooked. BlackArachnia clawed her way slowly through the sand, her mind focused on staying online, breathing, and Optimus.
Several mega-cycles passed and she'd only managed to drag herself back to the overhang she'd been hiding behind. It was only about twenty meters away from the fenced area containing the aircraft she was heading for. The sky had begun to turn pink with the sunrise. BlackArachnia could already feel the increased heat. It was like an oven.
They'll be leaving soon… It's now or never.
BlackArachnia narrowed her two working optics. Determination welled up inside of her and she tried yet again to stand. She used the overhang for support. She managed to stay standing this time. She looked around the edge of the overhang to see what the humans were doing. They were starting up the aircraft.
NO! They're not supposed to be leaving yet!
BlackArachnia watched in horror as they began to move the big plane away. Her spark felt like it had been shattered. She couldn't watch anymore. She fell to her knees and covered her optics with her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably.
No, no, no! This can't be happening! What do I do now?
BlackArachnia felt unconsciousness pulling at her. She felt like giving in, but then something unthinkable happened. She heard Optimus's voice.
"Elita!"
"Optimus?" BlackArachnia couldn't believe her audio receptors.
She looked up to see Optimus appear in front of her, optics filled with concern.
"Optimus!" BlackArachnia said with excitement and relief.
Optimus reached for her. BlackArachnia lifted her hand to meet his, but just as they were about to touch, Optimus faded away.
"Elita…"
Optimus's voice echoed in her head. BlackArachnia looked around in confusion.
"Optimus! Where are you? Come back!" BlackArachnia called.
As she looked for him she heard the sound of a plane getting extremely close. BlackArachnia forced herself to her feet and stumbled out from under the overhang. She saw her aircraft rising slowly into the air and heading straight for her. Hope pulled the pieces of her spark back together. She knew she had only a few moments to act, so she readied a web and waited. The plane flew right over her and she threw her web with all her might. It attached to the bottom of the plane and she held on tight as she was pulled off her feet. She dragged herself up the web and clung to the bottom of the plane for dear life.
Yes! I made it! I made it!
Her mind had tricked her with the Optimus mirage, but if it hadn't she would never have looked up and noticed the plane. She was extremely grateful for the stubborn part of her mind that refused to let go of Optimus. Her optics welled with tears but for once she didn't care. She was happy to be going home.
BlackArachnia's arms were about ready to give out when the plane started its descent. As they got below the cloud level, she looked down for about the hundredth time and finally saw something she recognized. Sumdac Tower.
It stuck out like a zebra in a herd of brown horses. Even the tallest buildings in Detroit were shorter than it, and its colors were brighter than the rest of the buildings as well. BlackArachnia felt an immense amount of joy at the sight of it.
I'm nearly home…
BlackArachnia guessed the plane would land at the military base here. She would never be able to escape from that place. They'd shoot her down. She had to let go before they got there. She waited for the pilot to pass over the Tower, then she let go of the plane. She fell quickly. She barely had enough time to make a web and catch the Tower. But she managed it and she clung to the side of the tower for dear life.
As she climbed up to the top to rest, rain started to fall. It quickly grew to a downpour. BlackArachnia rested on her back, the cold rain cooling her. She felt some of the pain start to numb. She wasn't sure if that was because the rain was helping or if she had taken damage to her nervous system. She didn't really want to think about it either. Instead she marveled at the fact that her organic half was still able to function. Had she been all bot she'd probably be offline by now. But her organic components were more resilient.
Maybe it is power… The power to be able to run on empty…
While not the most useful in battle, it meant she couldn't be so easily knocked down. Her organic half definitely wouldn't go out without a fight. But she could feel it fading. It relied on her mechanical half as much as her mechanical half relied on it. One could no longer exist without the other.
My mechanical half is not completely out yet. But it will be soon. Then my organic half is sure to follow.
BlackArachnia could feel her energy dissipating. She knew moving around would only do more harm to her body; she'd be shortening her already short time.
But if I stay up here I won't ever find help.
BlackArachnia forced herself to sit up. The rain was now a nuisance. It was seeping into her wounds and causing a stinging feeling in her organic tissue. Her circuitry protested painfully. She looked around for cover. She noticed a spacebridge bolted and cemented to the tower.
I don't remember that being there before.
She shook herself back into focus. She saw a covered area with a computer. She crawled underneath the cover and noticed a little pigeon taking cover as well. It sparked a thought.
Hmm... My organic half is fueled by drinking the blood of other organisms. And since it's the main thing keeping me going, I might want to fuel it…
The idea of draining the pigeon of its blood was both repulsive and alluring. She was disgusted at the thought of killing the innocent creature. In her time away from Detroit she'd had time to think about morals and she had decided that attacking innocent things was wrong. She'd known it all along, but she'd ignored it out of spite, tricking herself into thinking nothing was innocent. But she now realized that she had been wrong.
I don't want to kill this pigeon…
She didn't have a real reason to kill the scared little pigeon other than her organic half's need for its blood.
But on the other hand, it happens in nature all the time, and I need the blood…
She'd had struggles before with the decision to drink or not. Need for blood usually won out against the wrongness of draining an innocent creature.
After a few more moments of consideration, BlackArachnia decided she might as well just kill the thing. It looked pretty old and she did need something to fuel her. She snapped its neck easily. She tried not to think about how gross it was and she started drinking.
The blood didn't taste too terrible. She'd had blood from deer before but she actually liked the bird better. She wondered what caused the different tastes. When she was done she flicked the bird's carcass off the edge of the tower. BlackArachnia felt the benefit of the blood almost immediately. She was hurting everywhere else, so the pain in her stomach had just felt like it was just part of the package. But some of the pain dissipated when she drank the blood, so she realized she had been hungry. Hunger was still a new concept for her.
Now that she was feeling a little better, she started to think some more about her situation. She couldn't last long on pigeon blood, and a decrease in hunger wasn't much progress anyway. She still felt like she was fading. She looked over at the computer. It was covered in sticky notes. She recognized Cybertronian writing as well as English.
Maybe there's a note somewhere with the location of their base.
BlackArachnia knew her only hope was to find Optimus and hope he would help her.
She crawled over to the computer, legs still too tired for her to stand on them. She looked around at the sticky notes but found nothing useful. She turned on the computer and found it password locked.
And yet another situation where Decepticon skills are useful.
BlackArachnia hacked into the computer and started searching for any information.
Not on this particular computer. But maybe Sumdac has something saved into another computer in the system.
She fought her way through the firewalls until she was into the network. She searched several files before she found what she was looking for.
Perfect. Thanks Sumdac.
BlackArachnia didn't bother to turn off the computer or logout. She memorized the location and pulled herself to her feet. She could see the plant from the tower. She charted a route there and readied a web.
Okay… You can do this…
BlackArachnia again focus on Optimus and used his image in her head as strength. She slung over to the closest building in the direction she needed to go. She fell when she landed on top of it, but forced herself back up. She knew that if she stopped for too long she'd never be able to get up again. The Optimus mirage kept popping up several meters ahead of her. BlackArachnia didn't bother to think about what seeing things meant about her state of mind. She just followed Optimus to her destination. She moved slowly, but she was determined to make it.
I'm coming, Optimus…
