Chapter Four
Contact from the Darkest Regions of the Web
She wasn't supposed to be there. She was suppose to be in her room. She had to listen though. She had to hear what they said. She had to know what was going on. They weren't going to tell her the full truth. They were only trying to protect her. She understood that, but she had to know what was happening. She had to know what was happening to her friends. She peeked around the corner and listened to what Optimus and Ratchet were saying.
"... I've got both of them in stasis lock until I know more about what is affecting them… affecting us…," Ratchet sighed.
"How… how.. How are you holding up?" Optimus almost hated to ask.
"My servos are a bit sore," Ratchet rubbed his arms, "I've got a splitting processor ache… my system is running a bit warm, but nothing that will cause any damage…"
"Bulkhead? Bumblebee? What's their status?" Optimus wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"As I said, I've got them in stasis lock," Ratchet reiterated, "Their systems are running warm like mine… Bumblebee's a bit higher, but nothing that's causing damage. I don't know what's causing this… all my scans come back clean… other than the higher than normal processor temperatures. I believe that whatever is causing this is limited to Bumblebee, Bulkhead and myself. Neither you or Prowl seem to be showing any symptoms, so you two are not allowed in the medbay until I've isolated… whatever is causing this."
"Is there nothing we can do?" Optimus asked.
Ratchet sighed, "Find out what you can from the computer that Bumblebee was using. I know that the key to all this is somewhere on there. I'll… I'll let you know if anything changes," he switched off the video feed.
Optimus continued to stare at the blank screen. He wasn't sure how he was going to find out anymore than they already had. The computer was still blank and contained no more information. They only knew that Bumblebee tried to do something. It involved him with a wire that he might had used to download something. Whatever he possible downloaded cause him to malfunction and spread it to the others.
Ratchet surmised that whatever was affecting Bumblebee was transferred through his electric stingers. Neither Optimus or Prowl was hit by the attack; their systems showed no sign of extra heat build up. Ratchet and Bulkhead took direct hits and now they were producing more heat than normal. Bulkhead even started to show signs of paranoia after being hit by Bumblebee's attack. Luckily Ratchet was able to knock him unconscious with him EMP Generator. He, at that time, ordered every bot out just in case he started to act paranoid too. He locked himself in the medbay and made sure that the Teletran 1 would knock him out if he started to act unusual. So far, he seemed like himself.
Optimus slammed his fist down, "What were you doing Bumblebee!?"
Sari nearly jumped out of her skin from the loud bang he produced. She was just as frustrated and scared as Optimus was. Her friends' lives were on the line and there was nothing that she could do. She couldn't even be there for them. Too dangerous to be in there alone with Ratchet if he started acting out; even with the safeguards he put in place. She would just have to wait.
"I'm tired of waiting," she grumbled, "You listen here," she brought the Key up to her face, "I know that you can fix them if you really wanted to. They are in danger and I need you to fix them NOW!"
The Key must have understood her, because it started to glow with an intense blue light. It lifted from her hand and floated towards the computer console that had been installed in her room.
"No! Wait!" she tried to pull the Key towards the door, "They're this way! Not that way!"
She couldn't change its direction though. It kept pulling her towards the console and growing brighter by the second. It started to change its shape as it headed for one of the ports near the keyboard. Sari took hold of the Key as it hovered over the port and seem to wait for her to insert it. She pushed it in and watched as the screen pulled up articles and news reports. It was almost like it was searching for something. The articles disappeared and boxes of waving lines filled the screen. One caught its attention or so Sari could determine. That box came forward with a text box opening.
You are the only one that can contain what is never satisfied… It consumes until nothing is left… It will destroy everything… I know that is not what you wanted… I know that you only wanted to make it right… You can make this right...
"Who is…?" Sari started to ask, but stopped when someone answered back.
Who is this? How did you get this frequency?
Sari continued to stare, "What the?"
There were no more text exchange.
"I'm only going to ask one more time," a distorted image with an equally distorted voice appeared, "How did you get this frequency?"
She didn't know what to say. She wasn't the one that had contacted this person… whoever they were. There was no way to tell who this person was. Their connection was either terrible or they were purposely hiding themselves. Sari didn't know how to tell the difference.
"You… you're just a little girl," the individual took notice to Sari, "How could a little girl find my frequency? That's impossible… or I'm not as hidden as I thought…," the person whispered the last part as they started to type on an unseen keyboard.
"Umm," Sari had to think quickly, "I found you by… accident…," it was the best excuse she could think of, "I was… I was…"
"Nice try kid, but nobody finds this frequency by accident," the individual growled, "I advise that whatever you're doing that caused you to 'accidentally' find my frequency, you should stop. You're in the deep web kid. Things down here will twist you in ways that don't seem possible. Get out… and off my frequency…," it appeared they started to type on their keyboard, "What the…? What are you doing?"
Sari notice that the Key was glowing bright.
"Stop it. Get out of my systems!" the figured yelled, "No you don't!"
The screen glitched and became fuzzy. The person's voice phased in and out. The picture flickered and pixelated. Sari just watched as the Key's glow pulsed with every movement of the individual.
"I don't know how you're doing this," the person growled, "But I won't allow you hack me. There!"
The picture stopped and became clear. The silhouette of a person was easier to make out, but he or she was still shrouded in shadows. They wore a hood that kept their face hidden, save for the bottom portion of their face, but not much else could be seen.
"Try to get your systems working now," the person sound rather smug.
The Key glowed, but nothing was happening on the screen. Whatever the individual had done, they stopped the Key from invading their systems.
"What did you do?" Sari went to touch the Key, but it gave her a little static shock, "Ouch!" she placed her index finger in her mouth.
"What did I do? I'm protecting my systems from your invasion or whoever is doing it," the person growled once more, "Once the countdown on my Lockdown virus ends, it's going to destroy everything on your computer for hacking me."
"HOLD ON! I didn't do anything!" Sari pleaded, "I didn't hack you! I was… I was just… looking for a way to fix my computers… they're not working well," that sounded believable.
"Your computer is running at peak efficiency. Nothing's wrong with it… other than an pirated copy of the Japanese version of 'Go Go Super Robo Bot-Man'... you know that's illegal right? You shouldn't download that kind of stuff. Bad for your computer… probably end up getting a virus or something...," the person huffed.
Sari crossed her arms, "So says the person hiding in the dark web."
"I don't hide… I live in the dark web, but I know more about computers than anybody else. You're going to download something one day that you'll regret. It will twist and writhe inside you systems until there's nothing left… like what my virus is going to do," the person hissed, "Only thirty more seconds until I wipe everything clean and leave you with nothing."
"Wait! That's what happened to my friends… my friend's computers," Sari corrected herself, "He downloaded something and now he… his computers are acting strangely. He… they're running hot and saying weird things… I mean weird things are appearing on the screen."
"So?" the person seemed bored.
"So? I need something to fix him… his computers," Sari was nearly yelling.
"...," the figure snorted, "Time's up," the sound of clicking filed the air, "What? Ouch!" they drew back their hands, "How in the world? How did you lock my system? You… you lock both of our systems…," the person sounded surprise, "We're both stuck… who are you… how did you… who is doing this? No one can do this me… not with… how?"
Sari didn't want to answer truthfully, "Let's just say I have my own methods and I won't let you go. Not until you help me."
"Why should I… ouch!" they tried the keyboard again, "... it does appear we have reach an impasse…," the individual sighed and grumbled, "If I give you one of my antiviral programs, will you leave me alone and let me get back to my business?"
"Depends… will it work?" Sari raised her brow.
"No guarantees kid," the individual sighed, "It all depends what kind of malware your friend's 'computers' have. If it's simple and common, the computer will recover. If it's something more…," the person paused.
"Something more what?" Sari wanted to know.
"If it's something more… the computer may be finished. Nothing you can do for it… or explode…," they quietly added.
"Explode!? What kind of antivirus program are you giving me?" Sari wasn't sure if she wanted it anymore.
"One of my best. One that can get rid of most malware," they smirked, "Unlock my system and I will download it to your computer. Put it on memory stick or send it to the infected computers and see what happens."
"Alright," Sari looked down at the Key, "Come on. Let him do his thing and give me the antivirus program," she whispered to it.
Once again the Key glowed, but nothing seemed to happen on screen.
"Okay… systems are free," the person mumbled.
"Don't forget your promise," Sari quickly reminded the individual.
"I don't forget my promises… everyone else tends to… but I don't…," the person sighed, "Here," they started to type on their keyboard.
Lines of random greenish yellow numbers, letter and symbols materialized on the screen. The pulsed and faded in and out as new ones appeared and seemed to arrange themselves in an order that only they new. All of them came together and formed block that pulsed to an unheard heartbeat. It sat there, waiting for an order or command.
"Satisfied kid?" the individual sighed as they finished on their keyboard.
"Umm…," Sari couldn't help but stare at the quivering mass, "I don't… how do I… how do I get it to work?"
The person grumbled something inaudibly, "It's plug n' play kid. Just get a flash drive or email it or direct beam it or even an old fashion UBS cord. Anything that will allow the program to transfer. The program will run itself and destroy any malware that might be infecting your… 'friend's' computers," they seemed not to believe Sari's story, "That's all you have to do."
Sari still wasn't sure about the program that sat on the screen. It could have been anything that this unknown individual gave her. It could have been another virus or some random program. Sari hesitated.
"How do I know that you didn't give me something that's going to hurt my friend's computers?" she asked with suspicion, "You haven't exactly been nice to me. How do I know that this will help?"
The person sighed and turned their head, "I don't care if you trust me. I know who I am and I know what I do. I know that when I give my word, that I do not falter until my work is done. You know nothing about me and I know nothing about you. We're in the same situation here. I don't know if you're setting me up. You don't know if I'm setting you. Do as you wish. I've kept my word to you."
Sari looked to the person and then to the program, "Alright…," she let out a deep sigh.
"Don't know why you're so hesitant to use the program," the hooded figure snorted, "They're just computers. Metal, plastics and wires… and many other things. They can be replaced."
"No… they're not," Sari whispered, "And like I already mentioned, I don't trust you," she repeated herself, "...will you…?" she looked at the figure, "Will you stick around just in case this doesn't work?"
The person growled, "I've done as you asked… as you've forced me to or whoever it was that was burrowed into my system. I've paid my dues. I owe you nothing. Farewell," the screen went dark save for pulsing mass of symbols and numbers.
"What a grouch!" Sari huffed, but then looked to the screen, "Now… how do I get this to Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Ratchet?"
She pondered for moment, then a thought came to her head. It was a hushed warning that the shadowy figure gave. The program could work, but it might not. It could even cause them to explode. A disturbing image of Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Ratchet parts raining down fill her mind. She shuddered at the thought. There was no way that she could use it on them. Not without knowing what it would do to them. What could she do though? This could the be the only way to save them.
"Maybe we could try it on Ratchet first…," she thought out loud, "No. No. No," she shook her head, "We can't risk that. There must be something else we could…," an idea came to her mind, "OPTIMUS!" she went running out of the room, "OPTIMUS! OPTIMUS!"
She ran out into the main room where Optimus and Prowl were still trying to recover the computer Bumblebee was working on. Optimus either didn't hear her or was too involved in what he was doing to notice her enter the room yelling. Prowl on the other hand, at least turned to acknowledge her.
"OPTIMUS! OPTIMUS!" she yelled up to him, "I think that I might have something that could help! But I don't know how to get the… thing.. Umm… there's a lot to explain, but I might have something that could help… OPTIMUS!" she yelled up at him.
"Huh?... What?" he never looked away from the screen, "Not now… Sari," he was busy looking through any file or program that may have been intact.
"But I might have something that could help… or not… I'm not sure," she tried to explain, "but it might! I just need to get it to the computer! Please! Just come and see," she pleaded with him.
"Not now Sari," Optimus grew stern, "I have to figure out what Bumblebee did…"
"What are you talking about Sari?" Prowl bent down to her, "What did you find? How can it help?"
"Just come with me," she motioned for him to follow her, "At least some bots are willing to listen!" she yelled at Optimus as she ran to the next room.
"There," she pointed to the computer, "There's a program that might be able to help Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Ratchet."
"Let me take a look," he was interested.
He started to pour through the code that was on the screen. It was complex and shifting. It almost seemed that it didn't want to be poked and prodded. Prowl was having difficulties interpreting it. He had never seen anything like it. He couldn't even be sure what he was looking at.
"Where did you get this?" Prowl asked her.
"Um… well…," she wasn't sure how to explain how she came across the program, "The Key did it?" was all she could think to say.
"You're saying that the Allspark Key made this program?" he looked down at the Key, "How?"
"It didn't make it!" she huffed, "It's not important right now! That program might be able to help the guys. We just have to figure out how to get it to the fried computer that Bumblebee was using."
Prowl looked from the Key to the screen and down to Sari, "I know better than to question the Key… but… I've never seen anything like this… I'm not even sure what I'm looking at… it could cause more problems..."
"I know that it's risky, but what choice do we have?" she sighed.
Before Prowl could say another thing, the Key decided for them. It started to glow. On the screen, the program began to quake and shiver. It started to fade in and out; like it was fighting something unseen. The Key became bright and hummed with energy. The program on the screen stopped for a moment and then started to fall apart.
"NO! NO! NO!" Sari shouted, "We need that!"
Most of the code had fallen away, but some still remained. It twisted and whirled about like it was trying escape. It shook furiously as if something had a hold of it. The Key was pulsing with a softer than before. What was left of the program stopped its erratic movements and pulsed to the glow of the Key. Almost like… it was syncing the the Key. With a final pulse, the Key glew bright as the remainder of the program faded.
"What just happened…?" Sari started to ask.
The Key unhooked itself from the port and started to float out the door.
"Hold on there!" Sari grabbed the lanair, "Where do you think your're going?"
It didn't seem hindered by her weight. It just continued out the door and headed for the computer Optimus was still working on. It tugged her along with Prowl at her heels.
"Optimus?" Sari was trying to at least slow the Key down, "Optimus?!"
"I'm sorry Sari, but I really need to concentrate on this," he didn't turn to look.
"Optimus," Prowl spoke, "I really think you need to look at this."
He finally turn to see Sari struggling with the Key, "What the!? What's going on? What is the Key doing?"
"I think we'll find out once it does what it needs to do," Prowl notice that the Key was trying to get up to the computer's ports, but Sari was weighing it down just enough.
He let her crawl onto his hand and lifted her to the control panel. The Key and Sari came to one of the ports. Shifting it's form, it plugged itself into port. The screen came alive. Programs. Scans. Web searches. Websites. Everything that had gone missing was suddenly there.
"It's all here," Optimus started to poor through whatever had come up, "Everything. The scans that we ran the other day. Programs that we installed. The websites!" he notice the websites that Bumblebee had pulled up, "Sari. Are these the websites that you two were looking at last night?"
She looked over the sites, "Yeah. That's the one I wanted to use and Bumblebee wanted to use that one."
"Hmm," Prowl typed in a few commands, "Looks like he tried to download the instructions… that shouldn't have caused… wait…," he notice that something was happening on the screen.
They watched as a pulsing mass of coded weave and swirl about the folders, programs and websites. It crawled about the screen as if it was looking for something.
"What is that thing? What is it doing?" Optimus could help but stare at what was unfolding before him.
"No idea," was all that Sari could answer.
The mass of code stop and seemed to hover over the site that Bumblebee had tried to download. The numbers of the code changed from a greenish yellow to a flashing red. The code quickly twisted around the website and any documents associated with it. It squeezed as tight as it could until the site shattered. Without hesitation, it made short work of the documents as well. All three just stared; not sure what was happening or what to do next.
"Umm… that was weird…," Sari folded her arms.
Optimus looked down to her, "What? Where? What was that thing?"
"Ah…," she wasn't sure where to start.
Before she could form a coherent thought, the computer started to spark and sizzle. The image on the screen started to jitter and surge. Sari could feel heat coming off the panel she was standing. A faint hint of grey smoke started to leak from buttons and vent. A low whistling was starting to fill the air.
"Hot! HOT!" Sari started to feel the heat through her shoes.
As she hopped about, the plastic and metal collapsed and molded to the shape of her shoes. She went for the Key and pulled it from the port. Luckily, it went with her willing. Prowl quickly picked her up; giving her feet relief from the growing heat. The screen of the computer started to crack and bulge from the building heat and pressure.
"It's going to blow!" Optimus took a step back.
Prowl quickly jumped back and shielded Sari from what was about to happen. Optimus quickly whipped out his extinguishers and sprayed down the computer. The foam expanded and bubbled as it made contact with hot computer. It wasn't enough thought. The metal and plastic expanded and looked like an over inflated balloon.
"Get out of there Optimus!" Prowl warned.
Optimus didn't have to be told twice. He turned to run, but it was too late. The computer exploded with a loud boom. Pieces of it shot out and sprayed across the room. Optimus had been pushed down from the wave of the explosion. All he could do was cover his head and wait for everything to stop moving. Bits and pieces stopped raining down on him and it became still and quiet.
He cautiously lifted his head and looked around. There were chucks of computer littering the floor. Smoke was slowly wafting about the air. The foam that he had sprayed was hanging from the ceiling and stuck to the walls. He slowly stood up and checked himself over. Nothing wrong that he could tell.
"Is every bot alright?" he asked as he looked over at Prowl and Sari.
"I'm in one piece," Sari looked over herself.
"No major damage," Prowl confirmed.
"PRIME!? What's going on out there? I heard an explosion!" Ratchet yell with concern over the comm.
"We're okay," Optimus cautiously walked over to the still smoking remains of the computer, "Just a bit of… an… umm…," he wasn't sure how to put it, "I'll explain in a bit… we have to figure it out."
"Are you sure?" Ratchet asked.
"Yeah… I'll get back to you. Promise," Optimus quickly sprayed out a fire that was flickering up, "Why did it explode?" he pondered outload.
"He warned me that might happen," Sari sighed as she peek through Prowl's fingers.
"Who warned you? Where did you get that program?" Optimus looked to her.
"Let me explain…," she took in a deep breath.
She tried make sure to give them every detail that she could. From her yelling at the Key to help to contacting someone on the dark web to that person giving her a program that could possibly make computers explode. She laid it out for them. Everything that she could remember.
"I don't know who the person was," she repeated herself once more, "All I know is that the Key contacted them and they gave me that program."
"Prowl," Optimus turned to him, "Is there anyway to figure out who the Key contacted?"
"Maybe," he quickly headed to where the Key had contacted the shadowy figure.
Optimus and Sari followed after him to see what he was about to do. He brought up so many screens with different information flowing from each. He locked his optic sensors as his fingers flew across the keyboard. They dare not disturb him as he worked. He stopped and thought as new information became available, but went straight back as something caught his optic sensor. Something that made him act.
Without a word, he pushed past Optimus and headed out.
"Prowl? Prowl?!" he called out after him, but it was too late.
Prowl had disappeared into the night with the squeal of his tires.
"Where is he going?" Sari looked up at Optimus.
"I don't know… I don't know…," he watched as Prowl's lights faded, "He found something."
They both headed back in; not sure what to do next.
Optimus explained to Ratchet what happened. How the Key contacted an unknown organic and forced them to give Sari some sort of antiviral program. Neither Optimus nor Ratchet knew what that was. Sari quickly explained that it was a program that got rid of computer viruses. She was somewhat surprised that they didn't know about things like that. Optimus went on to explain to Ratchet that the program 'attached' site that Bumblebee tried to download.
"And then the computer exploded," Optimus pointed to what was left of the computer.
"That's… not encouraging…," Ratchet sighed.
Optimus agreed, "No… it's not… What… what does it mean?" he looked to Ratchet.
"... I don't know… I'm more concerned about what Bumblebee downloaded and what it may do to our systems…," he looked back at Bumblebee and Bulkhead, "... I think I'm at the limit of my medical knowledge… this is something I've never seen… no Autobot has ever seen… I'm…"
"You may have not seen it, but I brought someone that might have," Prowl appeared.
"Prowl!" Optimus was surprised by his sudden appearance, "You shouldn't have run off like that. You could have at least told me where you were going."
"Where did you go any?" Sari asked as she approached.
As she walked towards, she could see something wiggling struggling. It was then that she noticed that Prowl that was holding over his shoulder that hung down his back. A muffling sound could be heard. It sounded rather angry too.
"I had to act," he didn't seem to care if Optimus was cross with him, "Before our new friend could move out of reach."
"New friend?" Optimus just noticed the wiggling mass.
"Yes," he brought around a bound figure around.
They were long and skinny with a distinctly feminine form. They were dressed in a long black hooded coat with a white t-shirt underneath and a pair of dark jeans. The hood obscured their face, making it hard to what lay underneath. They wiggled and twisted trying to escape from the binding, but it was no use.
"Prowl…," Optimus wasn't happy with him.
Neither was the bound individual.