Hello dear reader,
I'm back, and I hope to work on this story along with my new Spider-Man story over the summer. Do to me being an overactive dreamer and slow writer, I have no schedule or pattern…as usual. It'll be me doing what I can, when I can, and what is my current interest. Don't fear, I intend to finish all that I start…eventually.
Transformer's News:
What I've gathered from YouTube and one website; Bumblebee's movie trailer has just come out, and it'll be in theaters this Christmas! Though as thrilling as that is, I heard that this could be the start of a "Reboot". It's good because they have a chance to do right by our beloved bots. Yet it means that we may never know what will happen after the Last Knight.
This is only from observations, I don't know what is going on behind the curtain. But I doubt that they will continue Bay's storyline. Whatever happens I'm continuing the story. I hope to resurrect what I can from what Bay messed up. I can't fix everything without making it worse, but I'm creative.
So, say what you think. And feel free to send Transformer info my way. Just no spoilers, thank you!
Liam sat by the window gazing at the half-drawn robot arm with four fingers. The bell rang, and kids rushed to gather their stuff before handing in their art. Liam folded his robot arm and stuffed it in his pocket. He followed the others out after depositing his art of lumpy forms that where meant to be fruit. Marching to his last class, he entered the room and saw that the window desks were taken. With a sigh he took a seat on the front row to avoid the crowd in the back. As he took out his notebook, Abagail sat next to him.
The class went by quickly. Their teacher showed them their assignment on fruits and vegetables as batters.
"…Alright class," began the teacher. "I want you all to work on this with the other student sitting next to you."
Liam sat straight up and glanced over at Abagail. A knock on the door got the class's attention. In stepped a man dressed in a green suite, with a cap covering his gray speckled hair. And cold blue eyes demanded their attention and respect.
"Evening," he addressed the class. "I know you all want to head home, so I'll make this quick. I'm Lieutenant Henry Garland. Four days ago, you all know what happened, but I am required to give my spiel. Yesterday a handful of Transformers were spotted not far off our coast. To ensure our safety, we need everyone ready for anything. Keep your eyes peeled for anything out of place. If you see a Transformer, just call 116, and our finest men will come. All Transformers are dangerous, so stay sharp kids. Thank you, and stay safe."
The Lieutenant smiled. "Any questions?"
After some snarky questions, they were dismissed. Liam tried to be one of the first to leave, but the pinch to his arm stopped him. He turned to face Abagail as she put her stuff away.
"Waite, please." she stated.
"What for?" he asked.
"We have an assignment due in a few days, don't you want get to it?"
"No." he replied.
"So, you want to rush last minute and get an 'F'?"
"No." he mumbled after a moment, watching her zip up the pink backpack.
"Then let's go to your place."
"Why my place?"
"You don't want to see my home; Dad is a packrat, and mom works from home." she explained.
"Fine," he murmured, and she pulled out her small phone to text her parents.
They strode together through the stampede of kids eager to get home. Then strolled to a tree not far from the doors to wait for Liam's father.
"Hi," said Victor behind them. "Why've you been avoiding me? I thought we were cool."
Liam didn't reply, but merely looked down at his shoes.
"He's shy." Abagail stated.
"No I'm not!" Liam growled.
"Hi," said William, placing his hand on Liam's head. "How's it going?"
"Just fine, only he promised to show me his robots." Victor stated.
"Really, that's awesome! And..." he turned to Abagail.
"Science experiment."
"What on?" he asked as he got them walking.
"What fruit or vegetable works best as a battery."
"Good thing I went to market yesterday." he stated.
When they reached the pale-yellow home, the kids darted up the white porch. William watched them go, then strolled around to the shed. Tools for wood carving covered every inch of the walls. And a half-made troll with a large nose that hung over his lips, sat in the center of the shed.
Abagail, Liam, and Victor strolled into the kitchen that looked over the patio to the green barn. Abagail prepared a testing space on the kitchen table. Liam lead Victor up to his room where he stored his robots in boxes by his bed. Both boys grabbed a box and carried them down.
"Here we are," Victor stated, putting the box on her notebook. She immediately glared at him, and he proceeded to put it on the floor. "Test subjects."
"Do you have wire?" she asked, and he proceeded to search for interesting robots.
"There should be some in the box." Liam replied, looking out the window as he filled a glass of water. Etched in the lawn, a trail of upturned grass leading from the trees to the barn. Water spilled over his hand, and he quickly stopped the faucet and set the glass aside. He strode to the back door, marching past wood sculptures of animals, and fairytale creatures that littered the patio.
Liam knelt over the trail that dug half a foot in the ground. He saw that it had a pattern that he couldn't place. Following the trail to the side barn door, he slowly opened it a sliver. The barn was completely dark, save for the roof vent that only let in slits of light. He slipped in and grabbed a flashlight on the rickety shelf left behind by the previous owners.
With a click of the button light streamed to the straw blanketed floor. A mechanical like yelp echoed from the darkness under the loft. Blue optics shone back at him from a gray mechanical face. He stepped back as the Cybertronian pressed herself as far back without destroying the wall. Liam let out a yelp when Victor touched his shoulder.
"Relax—holy—" Victor yelped when he saw the Cybertronian and bumped into Abagail. She tripped into the shelf, and it caved in on them with a clatter.
The Protoform saw them struggle under the wood and heard them cough from the plum of dust. Most of her fear faded, and she crawled to them. They yelled to her approach, but she carefully reached out and pulled the heavy wood off them. She pushed herself away as they pulled themselves out of the remaining wood, and accidently used her ignored hand. A cry of pain slipped from her, and she backs up into dangling rusty chains. Swatting at the chains, they swing around her head and neck. The more she pulled on them the tighter they got around her neck.
As Abagail and Victor ran back to the house, Liam was the only one to notice her pain and struggle. Abagail and Victor ducked under the table, breathing heavily.
"Where's Liam?" whispered Abagail, eyeing the door and window.
"Maybe it got him?" Victor replied, crawling to the sink to peer out. "I don't see him."
Meanwhile, Liam sees blue blood dripping from her hand. And sees her wide optics as she struggles with the chains.
"Stop," he calls to her. "Stop your only making it worse!"
She stops, and peers down at him.
"Promise not to squish me, and I'll help you. Okay?"
She nodded, and he slowly stepped toward her. Gripping the edges of her torso, he used her hip to climb up. He saw how slender, and feminine she was compared to the Autobots and Decepticons he's seen in photos and television. And her lack of armor made her looked extra scrawny and lanky.
Swinging his leg over her shoulder, he leaned to her neck, and found the hook logged in her back. Yanking it out he threw it over her shoulder and climbed to her front. She raised her good hand up, and he eyed it for a moment. He looked up to her optics and saw her soft gaze. With a slow step, he knelt on her hand, and she slowly moved him to her other shoulder.
As Liam untangled the rest of the chains, her optics went to the door to see the other two. Victor stepped ahead of Abagail, holding a trashcan lid like a shield, and held a bat at the ready. Abagail clutched a thick book to her chest, and a cast-iron pan hung by her side. Both gazed up with wide eyes at the protoform, and Liam in her hand.
"Put him down!" Victor ordered, standing protectively in the doorway.
"Guys I think she's good." Liam called down.
"Why would you think that? Just look at it!"
"All she has done is get herself tangled in chains. That doesn't sound like a normal Decepticon."
"Who are you, and who do you work for?" Victor demanded the protoform.
"I—I don't, know." she replied with a quiet voice. Her voice was soft and sounded more human then the three thought it would.
Liam pulled the last chain away, and she lowered him back down. She crawled back under the loft and held her ignored hand to her chest. Liam walked slowly to her as the other two followed him.
"Can I see your hand?" Liam asked, but she just stared at him. "Don't play dumb, let me see."
"Why?" she asked, curling into a tighter ball.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed." he replied, and she slowly stretched out her hand. The other two slowly kept forward, and he looked over and rolled his eyes.
"You two are embracing me." he stated and marched out.
"Where are you going?" Victor asked.
"To get some things. Keep her here." he ordered.
Liam darted across the lawn and ran to the other side of the house. The sound of his father's chainsaw meeting wood reached his ears halfway around the house. Creeping to the shed, Liam peeked in. His dad dusted off bits of sawdust and wood before continuing his work on the legs of the troll. Liam slowly walked to the shelves and grabbed the blowtorch and goggles. Skulking back out, he darted away once clear of view. He darted inside to the second floor and ran to the cabinet built into the wall. He grabbed an old bed sheet with several holes, and two large flashlights before darting back to the barn.
"…you honestly don't know anything other then all the languages under the sun?" Abagail asked as Liam slipped in. The protoform hung her head and hugged her legs.
"Don't feel bad, no one has ever known all the languages before." Abagail stated as Liam handed a flashlight to her and Victor.
"Are you seriously going to try and cauterize that?" Victor asked as Liam gripped her thumb and pulled her hand to the ground. "We know nothing about their bodies."
"It's better then doing nothing." Liam stated, and knelt beside the thin robotic hand. Abagail sat the pan and book down to hold the bed sheet. And shined the flashlight down on the rock. Victor knelt beside Liam as he inspected the rock. It was the size of a large football. Yet that said little to how far it went. Liam crawled to her wrist and sat on it.
"Brace yourself." he said up to the protoform, and both boys gripped the rock. "On three. One, two, three."
Both boys pulled up, but for a moment it didn't move. The protoform cringed, holding back groans of pain. Then it popped out with the sound of rock scraping metal. Blue energon gripped from the rock, and some started to pool deep in her hand. As the boys tossed it aside, Abagail tapped away the energon.
"I forgot matches and duct tape!" Liam yelped, and darted back to get them.
Abagail looked up once she noticed that the protoform was trembling. Her optics where closed, and she vented shallow breaths. Abagail pated her hand to find that she wasn't cold. Abagail thought that the Cybertronians would be cold. Yet her hand was smooth, and warmer than a human's. Blue optics met her gaze and she smiled. Liam quickly darted back and handed the goggles around.
"Don't look directly at the light," he ordered up at the protoform.
Each slipped the round goggles on, and the protoform tightly closed her optics. He got the blowtorch blazing, and Abagail pulled the sheet away.
"Sorry for this." he said, then brought the flame to the wound. Bits of energon caught fire, but only blazed for a second. The protoform made a faint yelp when the fire met her hand. Though she kept still even if she trembled and wanted to curl up her hand. He torched the edges, and only lightly brought the flame to the deeper part of her hand. He finally brought the blowtorch away and started to fan her hand.
"I'm sorry," he apologized again, and met her partly open optics. "Is there anyone that can come for you?"
"You want to call more here?" Victor asked.
"Look at her, she's harmless as a kid."
"How old are you?" Abagail asked the protoform.
"I don't know," she replied. "I awake yesterday and fell into the water, then followed blue wales to land."
"Do you know anything before that?" Liam asked.
"Just foggy voices as I recharged. Most scared me, but one was warm and, deep." she stated, and considered her last description carefully. Abagail pulled the boys to a corner to whisper.
"Is it just me or is she younger then we think?" she stated.
"I was thinking the same." Liam stated.
"But look at the size of her!" Victor pointed.
"She's an alien, we don't know how they're made." Liam stated.
"What do we do with her?" Victor asked.
"Call the military!" Abagail hissed.
"No," Liam stated, earning stares from both. "The military kills Autobots, remember? Could you hand over a newborn to them?"
"You don't know—" Abagail began but stopped when Liam glared at her. She looked to the protoform to see her watching them, clutching her wrist. Abagail huffed and crossed her arms. "Your barn, your issue." she grumbled.
Liam turned to Victor and he shuffled over the Abagail's side. He sighed, and marched back to the protoform's hand.
"I could go." the protoform murmured as Liam put the clean side of the sheet to her hand. And stared to tear up strips of duct tape.
"Where would you go?" he asked.
"I don't know." she replied with droopy optics.
"We'll let you sleep after a bit here."
"I'm not tired…What place is this?"
"A barn." Liam replied.
"But where are we?" she pressed as he tapped down the last strip.
"Roches Point, Ireland," answered Abagail. "It's a small town with a lighthouse on the cliffs."
The protoform crawled gingerly to the door to peer out. Though all she saw was the house and trees.
"It's in the other direction." Abagail stated.
"Could we go and see the lighthouse?" the protoform asked, optics bright with enthusiasm.
"No, people would shoot at you." Liam stated as Abagail slipped out.
"Shoot me?" she asked with hunched shoulders.
"Small, fast metal balls fired from a gun," explained Victor. "Some even explode."
The protoform carefully retreated under the loft and hugged her bent legs.
"But why?" she asked as Abagail returned with a large book in her hands.
"Kids!" called William, making Liam's eyes go wide. Liam ran to the door and shouted back.
"Be right there!" he then turned to the protoform. "Stay here and be quiet. I'll try to come back later. Come one guys."
Abagail put the book down just beyond the loft's edge, then ran out with the others back to the house. William greeted them in the kitchen with sawdust clinging to every inch of him.
"What where you all up to?" he asked. Carefully taking off his plaid overshirt and put it in hamper near the laundry room.
"Just checking out the loft swing." replied Victor. Liam and Abagail turned to him.
"Yeah, it got a little tangled but it's fine now."
"Okay, well get to your homework, and I'll make macaroni after a shower." he stated and marched away.
In the dark barn the protoform's optics adjusted to the dark. Her optics adjusted too well when her night vison turned on. Though instead of green she saw blue. She crawled to the book and rested on her front as she gazed down at the book. On the cover was a picture of earth with flags framing the edges. Lightly flipping the cover with her finger, she saw a layer diagram of the planet. She soaked in every detail of the book from biomes to countries. When she was done, the crunching sound of tiers driving over gravel pulled her attention to the door.
Staying low she slowly crawled to the door. She pushed it open to a thin gap and peered out. The car door opened and out stepped a tall woman with the same blond hair as Abigail's. Abigail and the others marched out of the house to greet the woman.
"Hi darling," the woman greeted Abigail with a hug, and a kiss on the head. "Thank you for letting her over."
"It was a pleasure, right Liam?" William stated, and lightly shoved his son.
"Yeah." Liam simply replied.
"Hi Victor, would you like a ride home?" the woman asked.
"Sure, thank you. Let me get my things." he replied and darted back.
"So, do anything interesting today?" Abigail's mother asked.
Liam's eyes met Abigail's after hers darted to the barn for a moment. Seconds seemed to creep to a snail's pace, and Liam scarcely drew in breath.
"We discovered that potatoes are the best conducive vegetable. You should have seen how his robot danced."
"I'm glade you had fun." her mother stated and opened the door when Victor came running.
"Thanks for the food, and will it be okay if I visit again?" Victor asked from the rolled down window.
"Well, Liam?" William asked his son.
"Yeah. You to Aby." Liam called, and watched them ride away.
The yard grew quiet once the humans had gone. The protoform carefully opened the door and gazed up to the moon. It sat just above the dark swaying trees, glowing bright among the winking stars. Beside the moon was a broken planet. It was brown and gray with fragmented circles and pentagons decorating it. And a voice in her spark wordlessly pulled her toward it.
"That is your home," Liam stated, making the protoform jump and bang her neck on the doorframe. "Sorry!"
She crawled back and rubbed the sore spot.
"Why do you carry an Earth?" she asked.
Liam smiled and sat the globe on the dark stained worktable.
"It's a globe. It's to help find places, like Egypt, America, Africa, and the cities in them." he explained as she leaned close to examine it.
"I even brought you this," he placed the thick book beside the globe, and she immediately began to flipp through it. "It's a world encyclopedia, with history and all sorts of cool stuff in it."
She smiled at him and turned with intense optics to the pages.
"You know," he began, getting her attention. "We humans say something when someone does something kind for us or gives us something. We say, 'thank you'. It's something moms and dads make us learn."
"Thank you," she murmured on a soft tone. "Are we friends?"
"Yeah, if you want to be."
"Is my home dead?" she asked after staring at the globe.
"I don't know," he replied. "I thought Cybertron was destroyed. And the government keeps us out of the loop on lots of things…. Look, I have school tomorrow, so I can't visit right away. But I will come as soon as I'm back."
"Will Aby and Vicror come too?"
"Yeah." he nodded and began strolling to the door.
"What is school?" she asked.
"A place where kids are forced to go and learn stuff."
"Is there a school that I could go to?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Stay here, stay quiet, and don't leave the barn."
"Why do humans want to shoot me, but not you?"
"Not all humans are like me, Aby, and Victor. Just stay and I'll explain later, okay?"
"Fine." she slouches with a sigh and watches him leave.
After scanning the globe over and over, she crawled to the door to gaze at Cybertron. It had drifted over the yard, staying with the moon. Like a stray dog following a person that was kind to it. From the lifeless planet glowed two lights that fell slowly to earth. Falling to the horizon beyond the trees.
From the moment she tried to stand, she knew she was wrong. That she was too big. Being in the barn and being around the children doubled that feeling. Seeing those lights made her feel small as a child, and she retreated under the loft. But the feeling followed her. She curled up tightly and wished to hear the voice that once made her feel safe.
Next chapter you shall know her name. Also, I'm on Deviant Art under AssassinAutobot because I'm working on a map for book 2. And I love you all too much to make you all lost.
