Chapter Two: Sayonara Kansas

For a moment, Jade was blinded by the bright green light in the portal, but she didn't let it slow her down. She ran with her eyes closed, hoping she wouldn't run into any more of the giant robots that wanted to kill her. Finally, the brightness subsided, and she slowed to a walk as she opened her eyes.

The room she found herself in was enormous. The ceilings were far taller than she would have assumed necessary—unless, she realized, they were made to accommodate giant robots. There were computer panels as well, with screens made to be comfortable for robots, but certainly not humans. What puzzled her, however, was a set of stairs curling around and up onto a platform. These were human sized. She was only just able to grasp this when she heard a growl of frustration in a voice too loud to be a human's. She quickly scampered over to the stairs and hid in them behind their railing.

"This can't be right," she heard the voice say. "The scanner shows that something came back through the ground bridge. But obviously, there's nothing there!" The speaker heaved a sigh, accompanied by a couple heavy, metallic-sounding footsteps. "This is what we get for adapting human technology to Cybertronian needs. It never works!" Carefully, Jade peeked around the stairs, trying to get a look at the speaker.

Luckily, his back was turned to her. He was another giant robot, which she had anticipated from the metallic footsteps, but he wasn't like the ones that had chased her. From behind, she could see that his plating was mostly white with accents of burnt orange. His voice was interesting, too. It was almost grandfatherly, in a sort of irritated way. It occurred to her that she had the perfect chance to shoot him before he tried to attack her, but something made her pause. That pause was enough—he turned around suddenly and, before she could duck her head back in, saw her. She hid almost right away, but he knew she was there regardless.

"Miko? Is that you?" Miko? That sounded like a name, albeit a strange one, but Jade wasn't wasting the time to find out. Ducking her head down so that he could barely see her over the tops of the stair railing, she quickly climbed the stairs, dragging her rifle along with her.

"How long have you been hiding out in here?" As she made it onto the platform, Jade heard him walking towards it. She might get a chance to shoot him, if she timed it just right. She ducked behind a couch she found on the platform and waited. Luckily, the bulk of the couch was between her and the robot.

"I swear, when I find you, I will—" Jade jumped up from behind the couch and aimed the gun. She got a good look at the robot's face, and for a nanosecond, she was surprised by how human it looked. He even looked quite shocked to see her.

"You're not Miko," he said, and then she pulled the trigger.

Whether it was nerves or the fact that he had managed to move in time, Jade didn't know, but the bullet bounced harmlessly off the plating of his head. It was still enough to knock him off balance, it seemed. He teetered for a moment on one foot before falling on his behind. The force actually shook the floor, and he yelped in pain.

"My tailpipe!" He cried, and Jade couldn't stop herself from laughing. He really did sort of sound like her grandpa—she remembered him always complaining about a jolt to his tailbone when Bec got excited and knocked him over. At that moment, though, a second voice rang out. Jade looked around frantically, trying to find the source, only to realize it was over some sort of radio.

"Ratchet, are you there? Arcee said she saw a human running into the ground bridge before it closed—"

"Yes, Optimus, I noticed that already!" Jade heard the other robot say from his place on the floor. "And she has a gun!" He managed to climb up onto his knees and glare in her direction. Jade hid back behind the couch guiltily.

"We believe Eradicons may have been chasing her," the robot that Jade assumed was named Optimus replied. "Try to explain things to her, as gently as possible."

"Easier said than done," Ratchet snapped back, though that seemed to be enough for Optimus. His didn't say any more, and Ratchet used the control panel to haul himself up with a groan.

"You're still there, aren't you?" He said slowly. Jade didn't reply for a long moment, debating if she should. From the way the other robot had talked, this group wasn't with the ones that were chasing her—strange though it seemed that there would actually be two factions of giant robots! But if it meant finding out what was going on…

"Um, yes," she said, finally. "I'm sorry for shooting you. I thought you might try to kill me, like those other ones did." Ratchet was silent for a moment before heaving a sigh.

"I suppose I can't blame you entirely," he said. "And no, ah, real harm done. I'm not sure that gun could actually do much against a Transformer, anyway." Jade decided that just then was not a good time to say something about the "Eradicon" or whatever it was that she had shot in the neck. Instead, she stood and dropped her shotgun to the ground where Ratchet could easily see it. Then, she sat down on the couch she had previously been hiding behind. Of course, she hadn't completely disabled herself. She was ready to leap for the gun if he tried to do anything to her. Regardless, the show of peace seemed to make him relax.

"Alright," Ratchet said. "Long story short, my comrades and I are called Transformers. We are a group of Cybertronic aliens with the ability to mimic your vehicles. Our group is called the Autobots, and we are currently at war with another group, the Decepticons. Those Transformers that attacked you are among the Decepticons, and, as you might have noticed, they have no respect for the planet or its inhabitants." His voice hardened at that. "We are here to protect Earth and try to stop them."

"Oh, okay," Jade replied. She had to admit, the story seemed wild, but what reason did she have to doubt him? "That's awful nice of you. But what did they want with my island?"

"Energon," Ratchet said darkly. "It's the life force of our species—our fuel and blood, all in one. It just so happens that there was a large deposit of it on your island. And to be honest, we didn't know that anyone lived there. It was our understanding that humans tend to live in large communities, not in so isolated of a place." He looked a little thoughtful. "Isn't there anyone else on the island? You're just a sparkling, after all. You must have, ah, parents."

"Oh, uh, no!" Jade said, a little quickly. "It's just me and my dog, Bec. I mean, it's my grandpa's house—and his island, I guess—but he died a long time ago, and since then, it was just the two of us." Ratchet looked genuinely surprised at that.

"By yourself? That's ridiculous, surely you needed some sort of supervision—" He was cut off by another incoming transmission from Optimus.

"Ratchet, we need a ground bridge to our coordinates!" Ratchet immediately turned to the computers an away from Jade, though she wasn't entirely surprised. Whatever was going on, it sounded urgent.

"Just a moment, Optimus." He typed something quickly and then ran to a lever and pulled it forcefully. Jade watched with wide eyes as the tunnel she had come in from lit up again, and more robots—no, Transformers!—appeared inside of it. Two larger ones were supporting a third, smaller one, and just as they were leaving the tunnel, a motorcycle without a rider rode in around them. It skidded to a halt just as Ratchet turned off the tunnel and, to Jade's surprise and awe, transformed into a shorter, skinnier Transformer that struck Jade as being more feminine than the others. Ratchet, however, was focused only on the yellow robot that was being supported by the other two.

"What happened?" He asked. It was one of the Transformers that was supporting the injured one, one that was mostly red and blue, that replied. Jade immediately recognized his voice as that of Optimus.

"We ran directly into a group of Eradicons," he said. "They were likely chasing the human that escaped into the ground bridge. We caught the first few off guard, but the rest had already mobilized and were coming as well. We were swarmed, and Bumblebee was injured before we could even get more of a glimpse of the mine." The yellow Transformer, Bumblebee, made a strange noise that sounded like an array of beeps and whirs, but even to Jade it sounded apologetic. It wasn't hard to make out the place on his left leg that looked burnt and damaged, either.

"It's alright, Bee," the other Transformer supporting him, a bulkier green one, said. "Can't win every fight. It's making it back alive that's important."

"For now, let's worry about getting you fixed," Ratchet said, and he led the three Transformers away. As they went, Jade couldn't help feeling guilty yet again. True, she barely knew these robots, but they seemed nice, and they were even trying to help out the humans, if what Ratchet said was true. Jade was inclined to believe him. After all, he hadn't killed her when he'd had the chance, even after she'd opened fire on him. She couldn't help not trusting them, although she had a feeling that both Dave and Rose would have admonished her for it.

"You okay, kid?" Jade was startled out of her thoughts by the voice, but she quickly realized that it was the blue Transformer, the one that had stayed behind. She was leaning against the platform, watching Jade curiously. "I'm Arcee, by the way," she added.

"Um, yes," Jade replied, a little nervously. "I'm Jade. Jade Harley." Now that she wasn't half expecting to be killed, she was suddenly finding it harder to figure out what to say. She was out of practice of, well, holding a conversation. Arcee smiled a little, her expression softening.

"It's okay, I know you're probably a little overwhelmed. You're not the first human kid we've come into contact with." She paused for a moment, as though thinking about something, before she went on. "How many other humans live on your island? Are they in danger of the Decepticons, too?"

"Oh, no," Jade replied. "I'm the only human on the island. I mean, my dog Bec is there too! But he can probably take care of himself." Arcee blinked, looking surprised.

"You're the only human? But you can't be any older than Jack, and he's still living with his mom."

"Well, my grandpa died about ten years ago, and he was the only other person on the island," Jade explained. "Since then, it's just been me and Bec, but we got along fine! It's a little lonely sometimes, but I have online friends that I talk to all the time. They live in the US." Then, she paused. "Where are we, anyway? I never got a chance to ask!"

"Nevada," Arcee replied. "Out in the desert, actually, but the closest town is Jasper."

"Oh!" Jade said excitedly. "I've never been to the US before! I've always wanted to see it, although I guess this isn't really seeing it, since I haven't been outside yet. But does it snow here? I've always wanted to see snow!" Jade deflated a little when Arcee shook her head.

"Sorry, kid, but not here. We're in the desert, remember—hot and dry most of the time. It's not great weather for snow." Jade nodded, a little forlornly, and was about to say more when she heard footsteps. She quickly identified the approaching Transformer as Optimus.

"How's Bumblebee?" Arcee asked him as he got closer.

"Ratchet says he is going to be fine," Optimus said. "It's nothing that can't be easily fixed. To be honest, I am more worried about our new charge." He turned to Jade. His stare was intense, more so than Jade thought was possible from a robot. Transformer. Whatever.

"I'm, uh, Jade," she said. He nodded.

"I am known as Optimus Prime. It is good to meet you, Jade, though I wish it could be under better circumstances." She nodded slightly, and he went on. "Unfortunately, I do not think that it is safe just yet to take you back home. I would like to do more reconnaissance and be sure that all the Decepticons are doing is mining for energon. I would not put it past them to have another motive, and at best, I'm afraid they might very well tear up your island. Are there other humans there that we need to evacuate?" Jade frowned. She didn't like the sound of the Decepticons "tearing up" the island. She was about to respond, but Arcee cut in before she could.

"She says she lives alone," she said. He nodded.

"At the very least, Jade you will need to spend the night here—or what remains of it. Tomorrow, when Bumblebee has been repaired, we will take another look and better assess the situation."

"Is there any way I can help?" Jade asked. "I mean, I know the island really well. I think I know of a way that we can sneak up on the Decepticons without them noticing! But it's hard to explain unless I'm there with you." The two Transformers looked to each other, apparently considering what she had said.

"We will think about it," Optimus said finally. "In the mean time, get some rest. It will be several hours before we move out again, in any case." With that, Optimus turned to leave again. Arcee lingered for a moment, as if trying to make a decision about something, before turning to Jade.

"Will the couch be okay? We're sort of limited on our human accommodations." Jade nodded and yawned.

"It'll be fine! I think I could sleep on the floor right now." After all, a soft place to sleep was better than passing out while hunched over a table thanks to her narcolepsy! Arcee nodded.

"Alright. Try to rest easy, then. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day, one way or another." Jade nodded, and Arcee walked away as well. Jade took off her shoes and laid them beside her shotgun before settling on the couch. After everything that had happened, she didn't think she'd have any trouble falling asleep. It did occur to her just before she drifted off that she had never gotten back to Dave, but she doubted he would worry about her too much. He probably would just assume she had fallen asleep on her own. She could explain everything tomorrow.