Yes! New chapter, finally!
And now... The HORROR! TIME TO BEGIN THE HORROR!
Enjoy!
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Chapter 2
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The first thing that Miko noticed, when she strolled down the school corridor that morning, was how hungry she was. She frowned, as her stomach let out another protesting growl, and then fished out the nutrient bar she usually kept on her person. Seriously, she'd already had breakfast, so why was she starving all of a sudden? Miko tore off the bar's wrapping, and without preamble, tossed the whole thing into her mouth. It wasn't much, but it would stave off the hunger pangs until she could get something more substantial to munch on. And no, under no circumstances was she going to the school's cafeteria. She didn't have conclusive proof yet, but she was sure that the 'food' they served was probably the preserved remains of-
A sharp burst of pain shot through Miko's stomach like a searing hot blade. She doubled over, her hand clutching her gut, the other slamming into a locker for support. She felt a wave of nausea crawl up her chest, and bile rise in her throat. Everything seemed to suddenly blur before her eyes; outlines seemed to fuse together into messy blobs, the lights became an indefinite white, and everything was swaying around as if she was high on something. And then, just as fast as it had happened, her vision snapped back to normal.
Miko blinked the sweat from her eyes, as she took deep breaths. Thankfully, Bulkhead insisted that she reach school early, so the hallway was completely deserted. That was why Miko was able to duck into the girl's restroom without resistance, dump her backpack next to a sink, throw open a stall door, and then 'purge her tank', as Arcee had put it. After what felt like several minutes, Miko hit the flush with a pained groan. Her hands shook, there was cold sweat seeping down her forehead and her limbs suddenly felt weak.
What the hell had just happened?
A growl sounded from her stomach; she was still hungry.
Ratchet frowned at the screen. On the green hologram, was a series of charts and diagrams, which depicted various parts of Miko's bio-systems, taken before and after she was pierced by MECH's dart. Comparing the two, it was obvious that absolutely nothing had changed. For all intents and purposes, the chemical within the dart had been carefully constructed to incapacitate the victim. Ratchet of course, refused to believe it: MECH wouldn't go to all the trouble of making a single dart and then wasting it. There was more to this, and Ratchet intended to find out what.
The heavy beats of massive pedes announced the arrival of Bulkhead. The ex-Wrecker stretched, as he entered the bay, joints popping. "Well, I'm back," said Bulkhead, as he worked out the kinks in his transformation joints. He raised an optical brow when the medic's usual acerbic comment didn't arrive, and turned to find him engrossed in Miko's bio-data. "You're still…I thought you said Miko was okay…"
Ratchet scoffed. "Maybe she is now, but this is MECH we're talking about: nothing good ever comes from anything associated with those barbarians." He expanded a few images, and typed down a series of commands. "Unless I find evidence that points to the contrary, Miko might be in grave danger."
"Yeah, but-"
"Oh please! Just think about it! Why would MECH go to all that trouble to tranquilize a human, in the middle of a firefight, when their main priority is cybertronian biology?"
Bulkhead shifted from pede to pede. "Uhh…good point…"
"Exactly," said Ratchet.
She hated the eyes.
The teacher went on with her explanation, as usual, in a dull and heavy drone that was diminished to a quiet buzzing in Miko's head. Of course, Miko wasn't paying attention, like always, and she would usually distract herself either with a daydream or by scrawling pointless graffiti on her desk. But this time…
The teacher turned around momentarily, to explain a redundant point to the class, and her eyes swept the room as she did so. Miko felt her chest tighten, as the teacher's brown orbs briefly made contact with her own. And they were taunting her, looking into her, picking her apart. Her knuckles went white, as she gripped the edges of her desk. The cold sweat was on her forehead again. Her throat and lips were dry.
She wanted to get away from them, get away from all of this, just curl up into a ball and-
The teacher turned back to the board. The eyes were gone. Miko's grip slackened, and she let out a slow breath through her nose. Her hands still shook, however.
Beside her, trying not to look like he was staring was Jack, eyeing Miko with a worried frown.
Something was not right.
Not right at all.
Ratchet narrowed his optics in concentration, as he squeezed a minute drop of Miko's blood onto the microscope slide. Maybe taking a sample of Miko's bodily fluid may have been a tad superfluous, but Ratchet wasn't worried about what was necessary and what wasn't. Placing the slide in the preceptor-scope's accommodating groove, he peered through the eyepiece, adjusting the lens' resolution. A slew of red blood cells came into focus, a mass of red, oval shaped organic matter.
Ratchet's brow furrowed in confusion, when the scope's HUD pointed out an anomaly, something his scanners had missed. He tweaked the lenses, zeroing in on a section of the slide. As the blurry images became sharper again, Ratchet's lip components parted open. It was a dead and blackened red blood cell, diseased, and chipping away, pieces drifting off into the plasma of Miko's blood. And there, attached to the withered cell like a sickly growth, was…something.
He grabbed a Nano-grasp from his tool shelf, and turned back to the slide. Carefully, with trained and practiced servos, he maneuvered the Nano-grasp's jaws onto the microscopic object, and gently plucked it off the blood cell. As he did so, the cell disintegrated completely.
Bulkhead angled his rearview mirror towards Miko. He'd arrived to pick her up, just as always, and right on schedule. By some sort of miracle, she hadn't received a detention today, allowing her to scramble into the SUV earlier than usual. He'd said hello, but he had been surprised when Miko only grunted in response. Since then, she'd been silent as a grave, although she fidgeted constantly, as if trying to shy away from something. He'd tried to engage her in conversation a few times, but only received single-worded replies. Something was not right: Miko was always so chatty.
"Hey, Miko…"
No answer.
"Uhh…Ya know there's a new spot we can go dune-bashing on…"
No answer. Bulkhead sighed. "Okay, how about I play a song?"
"I'm worried, Arcee…"
Arcee's inset screen flickered. The two were riding beside Bulkhead and Bumblebee, down the usual route they took on Mondays. (They often changed routes every day, just in case they were being followed.) "Why? Did something happen?" said Arcee, her voice filtering through Jack's helmet.
"No, nothing major…It's just Miko…it's like she's sick or something…"
"How sick?"
"She was a lot quieter today. She's been sweating and her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Her skin was kind of clammy when I brushed against her hand during lunch…And she just couldn't eat anything…"
Arcee mulled over this. A quick search over the internet classified Miko's symptoms as somewhere between a common cold and food poisoning. But then again, there was MECH…
"Think we should get her to the Doc-Bot?"
"Yeah, I think we definitely should…"
Bulkhead felt his internal systems thrum and vibrate in tune to the music. It was their favorite track, the very first they'd listened to, and even after all this time, it still hadn't lost its luster. The song was approaching their favorite part, the one with the extra-hard guitar riff, when Miko moaned. "Turn it off."
Bulkhead flicked his rearview towards the girl. She lay back in the seat, one hand massaging her temple, eyes screwed shut. "Miko…you okay, girl?" he asked, worry and alarm shooting through his systems. A small told him that Miko was suffering from sort of headache.
"M'fine…just turn it off…"
"Uhh…okay…," said Bulkhead, halfheartedly. The music cut off. Miko sighed in relief, as she relaxed in the seat. It was over now; the pain in her head was gone.
Ratchet was still working by the time the kids rolled into base. His digits typed furiously at the console as, on screen, a three-dimensional image slowly loaded. His database had been unable to identify the foreign agent he'd found in Miko's blood, so he did another scan. And what was appearing on screen seemed to be confirming his suspicions. At that point, Bulkhead clomped into the bay. "Ratchet," he said, "You better take a look at Miko; she's-"
"I know," said Ratchet, as the image finished loading. "And I think I know what to do." The medic saved the image, and turned to face Bulkhead. "Where is she?"
Bulkhead shifted nervously. "She's in the bathroom right now. First place she headed to when we got here…"
Miko cupped the water in her hands, and without pausing, doused her face. She let out a small gasp as the cold droplets slid down her face and neck, sending shivers down her back. Gripping the sink tightly, she stared back at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes…they were the only ones she could trust…She stared into them, staring long and hard, and she trusted them, implicitly. They were nice eyes, safe eyes, eyes she could rely on. She grabbed the towel off its rack, and dried her face and neck off. The headache briefly returned, but she pushed it away.
"Miko?"
She looked up from the sink, and her heart froze when she made contact with Jack's eyes. He stood in the door frame, eyeing Miko curiously. |Predator|
Her fists clenched the towel tightly. "Yes?" the eyes the eyes the eyes
Jack bit his lip. "You've been acting a little… strange, Miko." |What are you hiding from me|
"Oh…really…?" the eyes the eyes the eyes
"Yeah…Are you sure you're feeling okay?" |What are you keeping from us. Tell us. Tell us everything|
Miko managed her best smile. "I'm fine, Jack, just a little woozy from what happened yesterday…" the eyes the eyes the eyes
"Are you sure…maybe you need to see Ratchet…" |Interrogation. Examination |
Miko felt her chest tighten. "What? Naw, I'm fine, really…," said Miko, waving her hands. She felt the cold sweat on her forehead again. Jack's face became stern. The eyes the eyes the eyes
"I don't think so…Come on over to the med bay; It won't take long…" |Pry you apart, gonna take a look inside…|
"I told you, I'm fine!" insisted Miko, her eyebrows creasing into a frown. Her fists, still holding the towel, clenched tightly. the eyes the eyes the eyes
"Maybe you think you are," said Jack, "But I don't think so…" |You're lying to us, Miko|
There was a steady thud-thud of two pairs of pedes. Ratchet and Bulk. Jack jabbed a thumb towards the main bay. "Come on, Miko, Ratchet's just out there…" He laughed good-naturedly. "It's not gonna hurt if that's what you're afraid of…" |Tear you open. Rip you open. Claw you open.|
Jack reached forward, and lightly took hold of Miko's hand. With a squeak she wrenched her fingers away. "Miko!" scolded Jack, "Stop being so stubborn; we're just trying to help!" |Take you apart. Break you apart. Pull you apart|
"And I keep telling you: Nothing's wrong!" Miko shot back, drawing away from Jack. The towel dropped to the floor, and her fists were balled at her sides. Jack sighed, annoyed. "Miko please, just listen to me!"
The pedes drew closer, and stopped right outside the bathroom door. "Miko, are you in there?" asked Ratchet's voice.
"Just come on over to the med bay, Miko," said Jack, coming closer. Miko backpedalled further, her back pressed against the wall. The eyes the eyes the eyes
"There's nothing wrong with me," hissed Miko. But Jack had had enough. With a last exasperated huff, he reached forward, and roughly grabbed her arm.
Miko snapped.
I particularly enjoyed writing this little segment here. Next chapter will feature June, in all her kick-assery!
So, what are your thoughts on this chapter? Let me know in, you guessed it: The reviews section!
-This is Zapwing, signing off.