This chapter has no original comments because I split the last chapter into two. This is the second half of what was chapter 2 in the original story.
Sam hummed softly to himself as he walked through the empty street. It had been a few weeks since he had arrived on Cybertron. At least he thought it had been that long, if his sleep cycle was an accurate reading of time, as there wasn't any sun or moon to measure it like on Earth. Already he was used to life here, even the fact that he was buck naked all the time; hey, there was nobody there to see him, so why should he worry? His favorite thing, and in fact, one of the only things to do, was to explore the city. At this point, he knew his way around for about three miles in every direction, including most buildings. And, though at times he was lonely, he loved his life here. It was so peaceful, so quiet, and there was so much that interested him, so much to learn, even without a teacher.
The boy was walking through an alleyway a mile and a half north of his little alcove, just looking around and thinking to himself, occasionally out loud. He sighed wistfully at a thought of his guardian, looking up at one of the beautiful, alien buildings he'd gotten familiar with. Running his hand over the smooth metal, he started at a noise behind him that made him stiffen and spin around. He crouched low, ready to run at a moment's notice. If there anything that this planet had taught him above all else, it was stealth and speed; any movement could be a Decepticon ready to kill him, and he had barely avoided four encounters.
For the past week, every time he had heard a noise it had turned out to be a falling piece of metal or something else that wasn't dangerous. This time was different. The boy saw a silhouette down at the end of the alley at the end where he'd turned in. The figure, definitely mech-sized, was kneeling down, observing something on the ground. Sam stayed completely still as the mech picked whatever he was looking at up, tilting his head.
Quite suddenly, optics glanced up, the gaze locking directly on Sam. The mech jumped to his pedes, reaching for his gun with the rapidity that war forced upon a person. When the bot took a step forward, raising his firearm, Sam bolted down a small path that branched off from the main alley. There was a shout in Cybertronian, and footsteps sounded behind him. As he ducked past a building's fallen support beam, a burst of weapon-fire pierced the gloom. A wedge hanging out from a ruined structure above his head dented as a bullet slammed into it. The boy gasped and ran faster, fear rising as he ducked and dodged through the familiar alley, gunfire rushing over his head again.
Sam had made it about halfway down the alley when an explosion of heat at his back hurtled him into the wall to the right of him. At full speed, his head hit the wall, and he hit the ground already unconscious.
The mech lowered his weapon, hesitantly walking forward, ready to shoot the…whatever it was if it moved again. He stopped beside the little thing and knelt down to poke it. The Cybertronian shuttered his optics in surprise as he realized that the little creature was biological and most definitely not native to his planet. The red and orange mech carefully picked up the organic and held it in his hand as he started walking back to base. He activated his comm. link, optics lingering on the soft flesh.
Perceptor speaking.
Perceptor, this is Hot Rod. I found something that I think you'll be interested in.