Author's Notes: Jade was in the Nemesis, masquerading as a Decepticon. She still has the symbols on her wings, so now we have a bunch of humans and one Cybertronian who think she is a Decepticon. Here's part two.

Warning for violence, angst, mild torture, and all that.

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*Mike Brandt's Story*

The tall, skinny, brunette man circled the jet, who had been secured in an "x" shape in one of the holding rings in the detaining bay. The giant ring was held into place with several cables that attatched to the high ceiling, and a wide base, with shackles on the upper and lower parts to hold the seeker's limbs out away from it's body and any possible weapons stashed in subspace.

He checked the readings on his scanner, and circled it one more time. The 'gag chip' they had developed was working nicely. It couldn't vocalise or call to it's comrades to rescue it. Nope, this was one less Decepticon they would have to worry about fighting come tomorrow. That was, if the commander said they could deactivate it. Sometimes he liked to do other things first. Ask it questions, maybe try to pry information away from it. Or maybe mess with it's neurocircuitry. He was getting pretty good at that. His creator, Ribar, had been a bit more... what was the word? not nice about it nessesarily, just... I suppose a bit less heavy-handed, if you will. Maybe a bit... gentler? was that the word he was looking for?

Klutch, well, he'd just switch two wires and be done with it, if it meant getting more information about the Decepticons and their latest plans. The human "hmm"ed and typed something else on his datapad, a human-sized version of a cybertronian datapad Ribar had designed for the human engineers and technologists here at "the Center" to use.

The human thought for a second, then typed a couple more notes. It wasn't like it felt anything. At least, that's what the science team allways told them. That the Decepticons were war machines, and didn't feel anything. It wasn't like they were human or anything. They were machines, the man thought.

"Brandt." one of the others called, prying off another lower leg panel and tossing it aside. "Don't." Brandt held up a hand to stop him. "We don't know what the commander wants to do. Let's wait till he gets here."

Michael Brandt, 32, who had skipped out on going to a technical college so he could come work at the center. The top-of-the-totem pole government job his dad had worked at before him. He had known some people, so when Brandt decided to drop out of university, his father had helped him get the job here. At first, it had been a job as a repair technician. The dishwater blonde pushed his glasses up on his nose a little further and peered into the open panel. The thing... the Decepticon clicked. He glanced up, noticing how it squiggled. "Oh no, you're not goin anywhere anytime soon." Brandt smirked, patting the leg in a sarcastic mockery of comfort. One of the things he didn't really have to worry about was talking to these creatures. These... things. Not that he really thought they could understand him anyway. They were alien, completely foreign, and would probably just as soon step on you as look on you. It was a known fact that Decepticons hated humans with a passion.

He remembered two winters ago, when his little brother and his mom had been on their way home. A trio of Decepticons had somehow crossed paths with them, and the three fliers had taken turns shooting at their car, laughing as Mrs. Brandt swerved and nearly crashed in a blind panic. Over and over again, they fired at the back end of the car, spurring the humans to drive faster, and laughing at the poor humans as their panick increased, trying to navigate the slippery roads. Mike had luckily been at work, and hadn't been there. He knew he would have shot the bastards in midair had they crossed his path. But His mom and younger brother, well, they had tried to outrun the three seekers, who merely chased them around the winding mountain roads, taunting and shooting at their car. Eventually one of the shots went through the trunk, another punctured a tire, and the car slid off the road. It careened down a steep incline, and slammed into a tree.

Mike shook the thought out of his head, silently swearing revenge on all the Decepticons. He had sworn that if he ever crossed paths with any of those winged machines, he would get his revenge. Now, it looked like he had that chance.

He was just glad his mom and little brother had survived, even though his mum had a broken hip, leg, concussion, and had to be literally peeled out of the car. He cringed to think what might have happened to the two of them if they hadn't been wearing their seatbelts. He was so glad Klutch's team had recieved the call as it went through to the emergency crews. The rescue squad hadn't taken along the machinery nessesary to cut open the car and free Mike's family. But Klutch had done some quick thinking and used the lasertorch he carried with him to get through the thin metal.

When Mike tried to thank him, Klutch merely smiled and said a humble "you're welcome." not caring that he had sliced his hands to ribbons prying open the sharp-edged metal of the vehicle.
Mrs. Brandt and Dave, his little brother, had been taken to the local hospital. Thankfully, none of their injuries were that bad, except maybe the broken bones. He looked up at the huge red mech, who was making clicking noises, squirming in it's restraints, and muttered "You've had this coming for a long time." He shoved the shock stick into the open circuitry, earning a muffled wail from the bound Decepticon. Brandt snickered. He realised the other technician was looking at him rather oddly, so he paused. "Allright, fine. I'll wait till the commander gets here." he sighed, hoping Klutch would hurry it up and tell them what to do with this... thing.