BLURR, BITCHES.

BLURR.

As a cube, yeah, but still . . .

BLURR.

Horrible title is horrible.

Blurr Cubed

III

A slender femme stood in her place, reading from her data-pad. Her digit scrolled the data page on the screen, and read the text on it. She was highly engrossed in the text, but not so much that she could not ignore the sounds that were coming from her right. She turned her helm up, and noticed a red, purple, and grey mech with his arms crossed over his chest-plates. He was leaning against a metal wall, and there was a smirk upon his metallic lips. He made a kissing motion at her, and grinned winningly.

"Hey, sweetspark," he crooned sweetly.

She scoffed at him, and moved away. The mech's smile fell from his face, and he frowned. "Well, excuuuse me, sweetspark," he mocked, shaking his helm.

Ion turned to stare at her partner, and arched an optic ridge to him. "Atomspark," the teal and white femme next to him scolded, "knock it off." She looked at the device in her servos. "We're supposed to be searching for Agent Blurr."

"We are," Atomspark responded with a shrug of the shoulders.

"No, I am, you're not," Ion hissed, tapping at the screen. "You're optics are always searching for your next toy to play with."

"What? I can't do both?" the mech said with a grin.

Ion's servo came up to slap Atomspark's helm, and he yelped. "What the slag was that for?" he grumbled, glaring down at her, servos craddling his helm, which was not even hurting in the very least.

"For being you," Ion responded dryly. "C'mon, let's move. He's bound to be here." She walked along, and he followed after her.

"None of us have ever seen Blurr in this building in solar-cycles," Atomspark called, following the femme's quick movements.

"He moves like, well, a blur," she said, never once looking up from her data-pad. "Just because we don't always see him doesn't mean that he's not here."

"But, he may not be here at all and the stupid thing's glitching," Atomspark stated, tapping at the side of the data-pad in Ion's servos.

"Even if it is, we have to check," she said curtly, lifting her helm up in pride. "Always be a hundred percent on everything, even if it is right or incorrect."

"If it's wrong, then why be a hundred percent on it?" he asked, shrugging his shoulder plates.

"So you can say I tried," she answered, still walking and staring at the data-pad in her servos. "You should try it sometime."

"Hey, hey, hey, I give a hundred percent," Atomspark declared, lifting up his right servo in the air.

"Yeah, when it comes to seducing pretty mechs or femmes, I've never seen anybot work as hard as you to have a one-night stand with a stranger."

"You're slaggin' right I work hard on that!" Atomspark said with a sense of pride and a large smirk. "And what about my work? Don't I work hard on that?"

"Eh, I'll give you that."

Ion walked down the hall, Atomspark hot on her high-heel pedes, and she made a sharp turn at a corridor, and smashed into a body that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Both yelped as Ion stumbled back and dropped her data-pad (Atomspark catching her with quick reactions), and the other mech balanced himself perfectly still so he would not fall.

"I'm sorry! I'm s-so sorry!"

"Hey, watch it," Ion muttered, and then she snapped up her helm. "Oh, Peacemaker. Hey."

"Miss Ion?" the green-optic mech stated, lifting his rounded helm with the V-like part between his optics. "I'm so sorry." He crouched down, and scooped up her cracked data-pad. "Oh, Miss Ion, um—I'm so sorry."

Atomspark slid up next to the both of them, and stared at the data-pad. "Slag, nice job, Peace," he said, clapping his hand on the mech's shoulder-plating. "You broke it."

Peacemaker cringed as his digits locked together. "I'm s-sorry, Miss Ion," he muttered, hanging his helm.

"Atomspark, stop it," Ion muttered, staring at her partner. "And Peacemaker, you have nothing to feel sorry about." She stared at the black-screened cracked data-pad, and sighed. "I should have been watching what I was doing."

"What were you doing, a-anyways?" Peacemaker asked, his servos dropping to stomach-level.

"The Perceptor sent us to find Agent Blurr," Atomspark answered. "Say, have you seen him?"

"Blurr? Is he the f-fast-talking 'bot?"

"Yep, that's him alright," Ion said, still holding her data-pad, but it dropped to her side. "Talks a mile a kilk and nobot understand what he says."

Atomspark chuckled, his fingers rubbing at his chin. "Fun 'bot, though," he remarked. "Got to meet him once. Nice 'bot. Pity I have no idea what the slag he says. He just goes on and on and on."

The other mech blinked owlishly, as if he was trying to recall a time that he had seen the speedster. He shook his helm sadly. "T-to answer your question: no, I h-haven't seen him," Peacemaker stated. "In fact, I don't think anybot have seen him. O-or heard from him."

Ion frowned, her slender digit tapping at her lower dental. "Well, let's go ask Cliffjumper," she said, shifting her weight to her other lower leg. "He's good friends with Blurr, right?"

"I think s-so," Peacemaker responded. "I believe the talk session h-he attended has ended . . ."

"Well, let's go ask him as search for Blurr's energy signature using his computer. He should be back at work, right? You said the session has ended and we've been looking for a mega-cycle for Agent Blurr. Wanna come, Peacemaker?"

Digits tapped against each other, and Peacemaker shly smiled and nodded. "S-sure, I have nothing else to do," he said, playing with his digits as he shuffled his pedes.

Atomspark wrapped his arm around the smaller mech's shoulders, and grinned. "Good, we've got another pair of optics to help us," he said. "Now, onward!"

Bumblebee walked along, Sari still perched on his shoulder, and both had barely talked in a mega-cycle (roughly and hour and a half for humans). She was silent as her hands were perched on her lap, and she looked as if she were in a daze of some sorts. He looked at her, frowning. He knew that she was still bummed about the fact that her friend had died. He was too, of course, but he tried to keep up-beat and pose a brave front; he hoped that it would cheer her up to see him happy. His digit gently prodded at her side, and she turned up to stare at him. He smiled softly at her.

"Hey, you okay, right?" he asked softly.

"Um, yeah," she said, looking away from him; rubbing the back of her head. "Just—yeah."

He frowned, and his servo dropped to his side. They went along, both silent. Just then an idea popped into Bumblebee's processor, and he turned to her, beaming. "Hey, I've got an idea," he began, hoping that she would look up at him, which she did. "When we get home, we'll play endless video games, huh?"

She smiled up at him. "Sounds fun, Bee," Sari said, patting his shoulder-plating.

"I thought you would like that!" he exclaimed, a toothy grin appearing on his face.

They rounded a corner when they stopped. Before them, about twenty or so feet, were four Autobots. Three mechs and one femme. The teal and white femme was talking to a red mech, who had a similar model to Bumblebee. The yellow mech recognized him as Cliffjumper. The other three . . . he had never seen them before. One of the smaller mechs glanced up, noticing Bumblebee and Sari, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, it's that 'bot w-with the organic," the green-optic mech said as he leaned in towards his friends.

The other Autobots glanced up, taking note of the yellow mech and the organic's presence. The femme stood tall over the red mech, who ceased typing at his computer to join in on the staring. Cliffjumper narrowed his optics, focusing on the organic with an unsure expression. The tallest mech arched an optic ridge, and crossed his arms across his chest-plate. Bumblebee smiled, and waved at them.

"Hey, how's it going?" he greeted, his smile faltering slightly into an awkward one.

The femme shared a look with the small pale orange and tan mech with the green optics, and she smiled, motioning with her left servo. "Hey, come over," she called gently.

Bumblebee and Sari shared a look, but did what the femme wanted. Cliffjumper, however, tensed in his chair, and leaned into Ion.

"Ion, don't make that organic come over here," he whispered hoarsely. "They're toxic."

"Cliffjumper, if they're so toxic, why isn't the organic harming him?" she asked, her face flushed with ennui. "I highly doubt they're as toxic as everybot says they are. Has one hurt you?"

"Um, no . . ."

"Well, don't judge a model by what they look like."

Cliffjumper bit the tip of his glossa, and watched as the mech with the organic approached the counter. Sari shifted from her place on Bumblebee's shoulder-plate, and looked at the pairs of optics staring her down.

"Um, hi," she said, waving her hand awkwardly.

"You are a human, right?" the femme asked, a smile upon her lips. "I don't understand why everybot is saying that you organics are dangerous or toxic. I don't see how."

Sari let out an exasperated sigh, and nodded her head vigorously. "Thank you!" she said, thrusting out her hand in the air. "Finally someone that won't freak out before they know anything about us. If anything, organics are more toxic to each other than you! In fact, I don't think we can't do anything to you at all."

The femme laughed, placing a servo to her hip. "I knew it, I knew it all along. That crazy Sentinel's got a few circuits loose in his processor," she said, tapping at her own helm. She turned to her mech friend, and slapped him playfully on the chest with the back of her palm. "You owe me ten credits."

"Fine," her friend grumbled, his faceplate curling into a growl. "I'll pay you when we get back to the lab, okay?"

"Better," she said. The femme turned back to the yellow 'bot and the organic. "I'm Ion, this is Atomspark—" She pointed to the red, purple, and grey Autobot at her side, who gave a wink to Sari and Bumblebee. "—this is Cliffjumper—" She pointed to the red Autobot typing away at his keyboard vigorously. "—and this awkward little thing is Peacemaker. Say 'hi,' awkward little thing." She comfortingly patted the Autobot, and smiled at him encouragingly.

The Autobot named Peacemaker smiled shyly, and waved his servo at the group. "Hi, I'm Peacemaker," he said softly. "N-nice to meet you two." He then looked away, his hands crossing behind his back, and a single pede circled on the hard, reflecting surface of the floor.

Bumblebee and Sari exchanged a fleeting stare, and then the yellow Autobot grinned widely and jabbed a thumb towards his chest. "I'm Bumblebee, and this is my friend Sari Sumdac," he said, and then motioned to the organic on his shoulder.

Cliffjumper glanced occasionally up from his monitor, to the group before him, and then back to the monitor. "Um, hey, Cybertron to Autobots and tiny organic," he called. "Exchange pleasantries later—we've got Agent Blurr to search for."

Sari and Bumblebee looked at Cliffjumper with surprise.

"Wait, Blurr hasn't returned?" Bumblebee asked, cocking his helm to the right.

"Well, he was sucked into that space portal-thing with those Starscream clones," Sari said. "He was bound with that sticky-stuff. What if he's still out there?" She paused for a moment, and her hand hovered over her mouth. "Oh, God. Poor Blurr."

The other four Autobots blinked in unison, and they all shared glances.

"Starscream had clones?" Atomspark stated, his upper lip ridge curling into a scowl. "That slagger was already annoying as a single Decepticon, but he had clones? Ugh. That's a horrifying thought that will give me nightmares for some solar-cycles."

"It was bad," Bumblebee chuckled. "Take my word for it."

"So, anyways, back to Blurr," Sari said with a strict tone, "we haven't seen him since then."

Cliffjumper tapped his digits across the keyboard, and then hit a key. He wanted for a moment, and then stared at the screen in mild surprise. "Well, according to this," he said, tapping the monitor, "Blurr's very close. Thing's malfunctioning, I swear."

"Close?" Peacemaker asked, arching an optic ridge. "How close?"

Cliffjumper blinked his optics, and then stared at the screen. "A few feet away," he said, a lip curling up in confusion.

They glanced between each other, and then scoped around the room.

"Well, he's not in the hallway we came from," Bumblebee said, thumbing over his shoulder.

"He isn't outside," Ion said, hip jutting to the right. "And I highly doubt that he's in traitor Longarm Prime—or should I say Shockwave's—old office." She pointed forward to the tightly-closed metal doors.

Bumblebee and Sari turned to where Ion was pointing, and noticed the office's closed door. There was a name plate above a touch-pad, which allowed access to the office. It appeared to be disconnected. The name plate was made of a silvery metal, and it had something written on it. Possibly Longarm Prime's name in Cybertronian—it was scribbled out with numerous lines and scratches. Peacemaker tapped his dentals with a digit, and then he snapped his digits.

"Light bulb," he simply said.

The smaller mech approached Cliffjumpe, and gently pushed him aside. He tapped at the computer's keyboard, and then clicked on something. He then opened his palm skyward, and a digit pressed to the interior of his wrist. A port opened at the tip of his main digit, and a slender cord came from it. Placing the cord into the computer's ports, he patiently waited for the information to download. After a moment or so, he released his hold on the computer, and the cord snapped back into his digit. Peacemaker then erected himself to full height, and opened his palm again. As he did that, a hologram showing a map was projected from his digits. In the centre of that said projection was a medium-sized red dot that flickered.

"T-this will show us how close we are to A-Agent Blurr," he said with a soft smile. "The red d-dot in the centre will grow brighter the closer we are to him."

"Good thinking, Peacemaker," Ion said with an impressed face.

"Score, Peace-buddy!" Atomspark stated, clapping his hand roughly on Peacemaker's shoulder, causing the small mech to cringe. "That's the way you use that processor of yours!"

"T-thanks," Peacemaker said bashfully.

"That's pretty nifty, Peacemaker," Sari remarked. "Go on, how close are we to him?"

"I—it says that we're close, but n-not really close," Peacemaker stated. He walked in the direction of where Sari and Bumblebee came from, and the dot on the screen dramatically shifted in shape from medium to small.

"Nope, try the other way," Bumblebee said, pointing to his right, where the opening of the building was.

Peacemaker moved in the direction, and watched as the dot on the hologram banished into a pin-point. He froze, staring at the almost vanished dot. "No," he breathed. He moved back over to where they were, and the dot resumed its medium-sized stated.

It was strange and downright confusing. According to the hologram, Blurr was close to them, but he was not even in the same room. Cliffjumper scratched his chin, and he stared hard at the dot.

"Something's not right," he muttered. "Are you sure that's correct, mech?"

"I—I'm sure of it," Peacemaker proclaimed ardently. "I just b-bought this mod not too long ago. This is b-brand new." He lifted his servo in the air, and moved it in all sorts of directions. The dot grew in size, and Peacemaker froze. His servo was before the incinerator.

The group was silent as they took in the information they were shown.

"Where does that go?" Sari asked, breaking the deafening silence.

"The incinerator," Cliffjumper responded. "That's strange—I wonder why it would do that?"

"Only one way to find out," Atomspark stated. He reached across, and opened the door to the incinerator. The insides of the cold metal material were threatening, and the further it went, the darker it became. "Okay, who's small enough to go down?"

All turned to Sari. The little techno-organic bit her lip, and froze. "Me?" she asked, pointing a finger to her face.

"M-Miss Sari Sumdac, please?" Peacemaker said softly. "If Blurr is down there, y-you can tell us."

"But why would Blurr be down there?" Sari demanded.

"Yeah, that makes no sense," Bumblebee huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't think he can even fit through that hole."

"But we have to check, just to make sure, even if Peacemaker's program is glitching," the Autobot femme said.

Peacemaker looked at the projection in his palm, and sighed deeply. "I just bought this," he muttered sadly.

Cliffjumper pressed a switch on his desk, which deactivated the incinerator instantly.

Sari pursed her lips, and then let out a grunt. "Fine, I'll go," she said, throwing her hands into the air. "But I'm doing this for Blurr!"

Bumblebee hummed worriedly in his throat, but scooped up the little human anyways, and placed her at the opening. She peered down, noticing how dark it was, and shuttered.

"It's, um, dark in there," she said, her brows knitting.

"Don't worry! Cliffjumper to the rescue!" the red Autobot proclaimed. He opened a drawer in his desk, frowned, closed it, and then opened another one. After a while of rummaging through his desk, he found a flashlight, and flipped it on. "Here we go." He turned it down the tunnel, illuminating the way. "Okay, on you go, organic."

"The name is Sari," she muttered as she slowly descended into the tunnel. She continued to move down, until she lost her footing and slide down, screaming all the way. Sari dropped down, landing in unburned trash with a hard thump. She groaned as the light outlined her frame and the garbage around her. "Ow . . ."

"Sari, you okay?" Bumblebee called.

"Miss S-Sari Sumdac!" Peacemaker yelled. "Are y-you damaged in any way?"

Sari groaned, and slowly sat up. "No," she muttered, rubbing at the back of her head. "Bumblebee and the rest of you owe me big time for this!"

"Remember the video games, Sari! Video games!" Bumblebee's voice echoed.

She grumbled even more, and kicked away something sharp. She could have sworn that she had heard Peacemaker ask: "What are video games?" Nonetheless, she climbed up a mound of trash, and balanced on it to look outward.

"Hey, Blurr?" she called, hands cupped around her mouth. "Blurr, you in here?"

Her voice echoed within the large room. The ceiling was high, and the walls were wide. The little light provided by the flashlight that Cliffjumper gripped in his servo. She glanced around, and called again:

"Blurr! Blurr!"

Nothing. Sari glanced around, searching for the tall, speed-talker Autobot that she had met once before. She moved along, searching. Her neck craned upward—full and erect, and she scoped out her area.

"Hey there, pretty femme, see anything yet?" Atomspark asked.

"No, I don't see anything, and the light is weak," Sari yelled. "Do you have anything stronger than a flashlight's light?"

There was a pause. "Um, let me see . . ." Cliffjumper muttered. There was a moment of silence, and there was another light, which was a tad stronger. "Any better?"

"A little," Sari answered back.

"What?"

"I said 'a little'!" she screamed.

"Got it!"

Sari shook her head, and continued to search. Once in a while, she would call out Blurr's name, and glance around. Worry flushed over her body, along with confusion and doubt. She climbed over some trash, and then something caught her eye. Something was wedged in a protruding crack of a wall. It stood five queen-size mattresses tall, and it looked horribly mangled. Sari looked over the block of trash, thinking it was nothing, and started to move away from it.

Sari . . .

The girl paused, hearing a voice pop into her head. Blinking, she shifted her eyes from side to side, shrugged, and then moved along.

Sari, wait . . .

Sari paused again, and stood up straight. This voice . . . it was her imagination, right? It did not sound like her voice, though. It sounded like a cultured male voice. Realization struck, and she shivered.

"Prowl?"

Go back to that cube.

"W-what?"

Just do it.

Sari turned on her heel, and approached the cube again. The metal was cold—like a dead body—but it was fleetingly warm. She peered at the twisted, damaged metal and noticed something glowing within that trashed scrap of metal. It was rounded, sizzling, life-filled, and it looked very much like a . . .

Sari's eyes widened, and she backed away slightly. She found her body trembling like a wet hairless dog in the middle of winter. Hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and a cold shiver rushed across her body and through her veins.

"Blurr," she breathed.

The spark inside the hunk of metal gave a flicker of remembrance—as if it knew the name she uttered. The little techno-organic's eyes widened in horror, her jaw becoming slack, and her skin blistered.

She could only scream.