It was sometime around 2 in the morning when we arrived at this mysterious base, we stopped at some other bases to pick up more Nest members so it took longer than I expected. When we landed, the officers in charge of the stocks started going through the supplies sorting it through and packing up trucks to deliver to other parts of the base. Lennox took the rest of us that just arrived and showed us to our rooms. Over all there were seventeen recruited for Nest from the other bases, and I turned out to be the only woman out of all of them.
Crocker and Ford took a room between them, and Shay was going to share a room with a guy from one of the other bases. I had a small room all to myself, with all the necessities I needed, but I still had to go to the public showers to wash.
As soon as my head hit the pillow I fell asleep, but felt as if only a few minutes had passed before my alarm clock started beeping at eight am. I dressed and fixed my appearance the best I could and headed to the cafeteria, which was only a couple of corridors away from my room. I almost forgot to take my new key card with me, good thing I left it by the door. There was another level of security around here with these key cards, each one was like an identity card of the employees, with our face and details stamped on it and it had different levels of clearance depending on the individual. Everyone had access to their own rooms, but only the higher ups had clearance to pass to certain rooms like the offices or meeting rooms. The rest of the commons were free to enter and leave without the cards.
There wes a small group whose sole job was to take care of the key passes, maintenance and the likes and they had the logs of who accessed were and at what time, it was easier to keep track of every one on base that way, apart from the cameras.
My breakfast consisted of black coffee and a couple of fruits, then I headed to the hanger which we arrived in. Lennox was going to give us our jobs today and he said he had something to show us. When I arrived I was one of the last ones, the majority were already there and only a few were left. Lennox looked a bit restless, and nervous as well.
"Ok so until the rest arrive, I'm going to start sorting you so that we don't fall behind."
Shay was sorted with security, watching the cameras and patrols. Crocker was put with communications and Ford with the stocks. He sorted me to the small clinic they had in case of emergencies.
"And now that that's done, I've got one last thing to show you. Remember I told you that the Autobots are kind of unique? It might come as a bit of shock when you see them, so I want to prepare you now before we meet them..."
"They're not human."
In the silence that came, you could hear a pin drop. Nobody moved, everyone was probably trying to process that. Crocker was the first to speak, before the shuffling started.
"This is a joke. Right, sir? Pranking the new guys and all of that?"
Lennox pursed his lips, looking as if he saw this coming. "No. This is not a joke. They're very similar, they can feel emotions just like us. The same senses as well, if only stronger. And they're form another planet."
A lot of whispering and murmuring started after that. Mostly how the government was allowing this, and how anyone was going to work with something we had no clue about.
"This has got to be a joke..." Crocker insisted.
Ford was quiet as usual, his hand rubbing his chin as he thought. "I don't think so."
"You're just going to believe it? Just like that? Ford look, I know you believe in other life out there, but this seems a little strange… I mean why would we be working with them? And why all this secrecy?"
"I don't know what's going on, I expect Lennox is going to explain everything soon. As for believing all this, yes I'm willing to give it the benefit of a doubt. It might be true."
He had a point , from the three of us Ford was the most likely to give this a chance , while Crocker never really gave this any thought and now he was facing this without any real warning. I still was a bit unsure, but I was mostly afraid. If they were who I was thinking, then all my nightmares weren't just dreams, they were real and that was what was scaring me the most.
"All right calm down. They're on our side, that's the first thing that you need to know. I have no doubt about that, and if you have any the whole base here and several other people can vouch for that, clear?"
A couple of heads nodded, including Ford's.
"Good, the rest of you I'm hoping to convince once you meet them. Second, they're very similar in the way they think and the way they form bonds, they make friends and they have people – er, bots that they consider family. So don't go thinking that they're mindless, they're not, and that would only disrespect them. They've learned to use the internet, and they managed to learn a lot about our culture and our ways, and I think that they're managing just fine. You on the other hand, need to learn. When you meet them, greet them as you would normally greet anyone, hellos and the likes, until you get used to their style. With me so far?"
More heads nodded and a few even responded with a 'yes, sir'. Meanwhile, I was imagining a weird blob trying to navigate a computer.
"Good. Now, their looks. Again, they're similar, they have two arms, legs a torso and a head. However, they're not flesh and bone, rather they're metal and pistons and fluids."
"They're robots, sir?"
"Not quite. Robots are usually mindless, the Autobots can think for themselves and they have a type of soul. Don't call them mindless, it pisses them off. That and they're big. Really big. This hanger was designed with them in mind, so that they would be able to move freely."
I didn't pay any attention to the hanger when we arrived, but looking at it now it was enormous, even by human standards. It was easily four to five stories high, it only made more anxious to meet these Autobots because I longer had any doubt that they were the same as those at Mission City. Big, metal machines that could crush me by just stepping on me. The way Lennox talked about them however, kept my fear at bay a bit. He wasn't gullible enough to trust anyone just by what they said, they must have really done something to change his opinion on them, as I remember that someone had told me once that Lennox's previous base had been blown up by those terrorists. If they could prove to him that they were worth a chance, then I would a coward not to give them a try.
A little voice in the back of my head kept nagging at me that they were monsters, unworthy of trust. That part of me didn't want to give them a chance.
"I think that you should meet them, you'll understand better when you do. And please give them a chance, I handpicked you with the idea that you are open minded individuals. Do not disappoint me now. A couple of them are still new here, so bear that in mind when they do something stupid," Lennox continued, a bit more cheerfully now. Perhaps this wasn't going as bad as he thought, given how nervous he was in the beginning. "They'll do the same to you, remember you're not the only ones meeting aliens today, this is new to them too. Now if you'll look behind you, you'll be seeing a group of cars parked over there, that's them. I'll go have a word with them and we'll get you acquainted."
Looking behind, there was as Lennox said, a group of parked cars. I don't know how we missed them yesterday, because not only were they a colourful bunch, but they were the oddest combination of cars I ever saw. There was a semi with a red and blue paint job and some custom flames on the sides. A large heavy duty black pickup truck. An ambulance. Two fast looking ones; a yellow muscle car with black stripes and a sliver one with a large bonnet in front. And a police car. They all looked like they had just been polished, with fresh new tyres and that straight-out-of-the-factory look.
Lennox had move next to the large semi , the door had opened from inside and he climbed in. I couldn't see who he was talking to as the windows were tinted black, but I couldn't imagine the large beings he mentioned fitting into those cars even though some of them were pretty big. I hear could hear voices though, Lennox's smooth baritone and another deeper and with a more rumbling quality to it.
After a few quick words, Lennox jumped back out. The engine purred to life and I was surprised by how smooth it sounded, the normal vroom sound that almost every car had, but much purer and clearer. The semi moved forward a few paces towards us, and then stopped and just stood there seemingly vibrating with energy. Lennox had backed away from it leaving several feet between them.
"I'd like you to meet Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots."
Everyone just stared at it, waiting for something to come out, but nothing did. I entertained the idea the idea that Crocker was right and this was all a joke until the engine's purr died down, and the truck exploded.