Sorry for the later-than-expected update! Hope your holidays are going smoothly and that you like this chapter!

Enjoy!

Bryan was over the moon: his history class was doing a field trip to the Museum of Cybertronian History to get a closer look at the Victor's war artifacts. It was an exhibition long in the making and when it finally was announced to the public, Bryan was heartbroken to find out that he couldn't afford the tickets.

But all that change when he got the permission slip that needed to be signed by his mother. Turns out that going to a school named after a prime came with its perks.

That day, Bryan and Mackenzie walked through the gates. He paused in the main hall and took in a deep breath, letting out a loud sigh. "I love the smell of knowledge and conspiracy theories," he said.

"Conspiracy theories?" Mackenzie asked.

"Cybertronians have existed for millions of years! Some of their knowledge is frozen in time because of languages no longer spoken and the war spreaded whatever knowledge they had left across the universe. Even if it's been ten thousand years, there's still a lot we don't know and probably never will. Hence the conspiracies to try and fill in the gaps."

"Did you learn all that from the book you're holding?" Mackenzie asked while looking down at the pen and hardcover history book he had in his hands. "Only in part," he replied. "Professor Prion is a pioneer of cybertronian history and he's the head of this exhibit. I've never gotten the chance to meet him in all the years I've visited the museum, the timing just was never right. But maybe today the stars will align in my favor and he could sign my book."

Mackenzie smiled. "You really are a nerd, aren't you." Bryan was about to reply with a snappy comment but seeing the expression on her face made him change his mind. She didn't say it to hurt him, she seemed… happy, relieved even. Her piercing purple eyes made his heart skip a beat and he quickly shifted his gaze to break eye contact and make sure they were still following the class.

"Alright students," M. Raller said while passing the visitors' passes to each student, "you've got two hours to fill up the information sheets I gave you in class. As I said, yes it will be graded and yes you will need it to help study for the final exam. Any more questions before we start?"

"Are we gonna see any transformers?" a student asked. As the class laughed, a man made his way towards the group.

"Actually yes," the man answered, "They're actually going to be descendants of solidiers of the Victor's war so I expect you to show the upmost respect to them. They'll be here during your third and final hour of your tour."

"Can anyone tell me who this man is?" The teacher asked. All the students raised their hands except for Bryan: his hands were tightly holding his book.

"He's Professor Prion," a student answered.

"The one in charge of the exhibit," another added.

"Umm… yes, did you all do your readings? I'm impressed," their teacher said. The whole classe laughed at the two men's surprised looks. "Sorry sir," the same student replied, "Bryan couldn't stop talking about this filed trip and how exited he was about the exhibit."

"Who is this Bryan?" The professor asked. The class parted to make a path. Bryan was glued to the ground, completely startstruck. Mackenzie, trying to kill the laugh in her throat, pushed him towards the Professor. Bryan, shocked back to reality by her gesture, walked towards him, a hand extended. He shook it, smiling at the boy's reaction.

"Professor, I'm a huge, HUGE fan! Absolutely loved your work on the cybertronian bridges and your dissection of Orion Pax's speech to the high council was absolutely brilliant."

"You really are a fan, aren't you?" He said while laughing and taking the history book and pen Bryan handed him out. As the class dismissed themselves to get started on their work, he added "Mackenzie, you didn't tell me he was this big of a fan, I could've brought hima gift ."

Bryan's jaw dropped and he turned around to look her in the eyes eyes. "Ma. Cken. Zie. " he said, separating every syllable. She shook her head. "Sorry Bryan, element of surprise. Plus, I've had people try to take advantage of our relationship so I'd rather keep this on the low if you don't mind." Bryan looked at her. Her eyes were… pained, as if she was remembering bitter memories. He sighed, lifting a hand to replace a strand of hair that had fallen on her face. " I understand. No hard feelings." He smiled at her, lifting his thumb up to show her that he was telling the truth. Mackenzie returned his smile, completely forgetting that the professor was still there.

"Oh wow, do I need to get you two a room?" Professor Prion whispered in a teasing tone. They both looked at him and gasped, Bryan clutching his heart in shocked horror and Mackenzie, her face getting crimson, lightly hitting his hand while exclaiming "Oh my God Prion stop!" He laughed, handing the now signed book back to Bryan. "Well I should get going. Bryan," they exchanged a handshake, "pleasure to finally meet the man behind the legend. See you soon 'kenzie."

As he walked away, Bryan's expression switched from amazement to teasing. "The man of the legend? How much do you talk to him about me exactly?" Mackenzie rolled her eyes to try and hide her embarrassment, but her cheeks betrayed her. She made her way to the first part of the exhibit and Bryan laughed as he followed her.

The professor was back to introduce the class to the question hour. For most people across the region, this part of the exhibit would be their first (and even only) chance to see a transformer and interact with them on a more persona level. The students at OP Academy were all used to Sharpshore's presence by now and were getting acquainted to Flamestar.

So when they saw the blue sportscar roll in the room, the whole class couldn't help but to laugh.

"Did I miss something?" Prion asked.

"Sharpshore is my AH partner," Bryan answered proudly while fist bumping his friend.

"Okay class, get your questions out, you were all prepared for this regardless it'll just make things less akward," M. Raller said.

The class raised their hand and Sharpshore answered their questions one by one under the watchful eyes of the Professor. Bryan took a backseat. Sure he had questions ready but he could always ask them to him later on their way home. Or so he thought. "Bryan?" M. Raller called out. "You have yet to ask a question."

"Do I have to?" He asked, the whole thing seeming kind of weird now that he knew Shaprshore had volunteered to help out at the exhibit. The teacher gave him a stern look and Bryan made his way closer to Sharpshore while raising his hand. "Yes, human boy that I have never met," he said in a sarcastic tone that made the whole class laugh.

Two can play at that game, he though while grinning.

"M. Sharpshore, do you happen to have an AH partner?" The whole class laughed even more. Rolling his optics, the cybertronian answered, "Actually I do, sometimes he acts like a little shithead but overall he's okay."

"Language, Sharpshore," Prion said in a severe tone. He whispered a small "sorry" before looking back at Bryan.

"We know a lot about the process that goes behind doing the pairing, but there is little to no answer on how the cybertronians make their choice. So my question is: why did you chose your AH partner?"

The class became quiet. Bryan had a point: most of the students were at OP when Bryan went through the process of the AH Partnership qualifications. But even then, Bryan never talked about why he was selected.

Because he just didn't know.

Although his resume at the time was impressive and his interview was apparently stellar, the final decision does belong to the cybertronian and no one truly knows how they pick amongst all the candidates. And whenever Bryan asked Sharpshore about it, he would change subjects.

Sharpshore, got nervous, looked at Professor Prion for guidance and he simply nodded his head, inviting him to answer the boy's question. "Well," he said while scratching his helm, "it's a different reason for each of us. They don't actually give us the full file on a candidate until after 24 hours post-interview to give us the time to think it through and to avoid being influenced by their portfolio. Same goes for me: I can't show my alt form until the partnership actually happens. So to answer your question… So the first time I met my partner was when he walked in. He… wow this is weird…" he chuckled.

"Deep breaths," Bryan told him. He had never seen him so flustered before, what was he hiding?

"When he walked in, there was just something about that kid, he walked straight towards me and offered his hand and presented himself. And it was like… I felt what other humans described as magic. His eyes were just filled with it. And he talked like the heart of Primus was beating in his chest it was incredible! Even now he still talks like that all the time, even when he's sad or anxious or angry or… damn. But what really got to me was the way he talked about his little sister. About how he would do anything for her. At that moment I could have sworn I saw a halo around him, like he was made of energon. And it was a wrap after that."

As sounds of "awwws" came out from the group, Bryan looked at Sharpshore intensly. Energon? He wished he could laugh but the new information oly made him worried. "Thank you," he answered before moving back within the group of students. Mackenzie noticed his torn expression and quietly moved towards him to hold his hand. "You okay?" She whispered. He had been fine until Sharpshore mentioned the energon. "I'll explain later," he whispered. She nodded, squeezing his hand a little tighter to show him her support. The question period came to a close and everyone thanked Sharpshore for his time, teasingly saying a few "see you later" as they made their way out of the class as he left the room in his alt form.

"Everything alright, Bryan?" Professor Prion asked. Bryan, who was still holding Mackenzie's hand, asked her "can you give us a minute? I'll be right back." She looked at him and then at Prion. "Okay," she said while squeezing his hand one more time and letting it go, walking towards the rest of the class.

"You didn't want her to hear what you're about to say," he noted.

"No offence but I'm probably never going to see you again so if you think I'm weird it's not a big deal. But it's different with Mackenzie." He smiled when he said her name.

"I hope she wasn't the reason why you looked so worried." Bryan shook his head, letting out a sigh. "I've been having weird dreams about war lately and they seem to have gotten worse ever since Mackenzie has been around. Now Sharpshore said that I had energon floating around me… It's a lot for it to just be a coincidence." Prion nodded. "Have you talked to her about it? To anyone?" Hearing his silence, the professor layed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe it's time that you face the problem head on, talk to Mackenzie."

As he escorted Bryan out of the question room and back with the rest of the students, Bryan replied. "Professor, remember that part when I said that I don't want her to think I'm weird?" He chuckled. "I heard you, but I'm afraid you'll have to conquer your fear if you want to get an answer. Trust me when I say that this is a conversation you two should have." Professor Prion smiled, leaving Bryan with his group before heading back into the depths of the museum. Bryan looked at Mackenzie, she was laughing about something a student said and her purple eyes shined as she made a clever comment.

He knew that his answers were hiding somewhere in her eyes. But now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

Only a few more chapters left, stay tuned and tell me what you think!