The infinite void of stasis was welcomed by many as a place of tranquility for those seeking solitude; an area to collect thoughts, review experiences or simply exist within oneself. Others found it to be the more enjoyable route for dealing with extended passages of time or when in the process of healing as internal and external sensors were dampened, allowing easier management of harsh conditions.
Bumblebee merely found it to be a lonely experience.
He stood within the virtual space, staring out at the abyss, the projection of his physical form turning slowly as he sought the signatures of fellow Autobots. It was both dismaying and comforting to find none, though he really hadn't expected anything else. His range would have only reached Ironhide's location, even when strengthened via an Ark terminal, and he already knew Ironhide wasn't in stasis. It was something he did out of habit, however, hoping to find another bot with which to spend a few moments here and there. Anything to break up the lengthy monotonous solitary existence within the simulated program.
Bee sighed and shook his head. He was thankful at least that there was work to be done; something to occupy his mind and keep busy for a time.
"Bring up matrix packet 2551," he called out, breaking the silence. The familiar sound of his voice tugged longingly at his spark; until Ratchet was able to repair his vocal processor, stasis was the only time he didn't have to constantly resort to signal transmission.
The void around him shimmered briefly and a holographic representation of an operations module appeared. He input several sequences of code, bringing up a list of recently uploaded files to hover in front of him. He selected Wheeljack's entry and a myriad of panels burst forth to surround the platform, depicting lines of data, images, and video recordings. Bee's optics widened as they moved from one panel to another. Jazz certainly hadn't been lying when he said they'd found a lot on the human ship.
He began sorting through, collapsing some of the data into groups of similar content while pulling out pieces that sparked his interest due to their inconsistencies: there were poor resolution off-world images of the human's home planet, yet schematics for a deep space vessel; incomplete mapping of the human genetic code, yet a communication system that could easily span a star system. They all indicated knowledge pulled from an isolated source. A source that advanced certain aspects of technology forward by leaps and bounds and one that, if Bee wasn't mistaken, wasn't shared among their world as a whole. The numerous languages included, along with planetary maps showing geographical division, indicated a species separated into various factions, however any data relevant to Cybertronian technology always stemmed from the same single land mass.
Bee hummed in thought as he walked to the centre of the platform where a large green-tinged orb had formed. It hovered before him, rotating slowly on its axis; a smooth surface of oceans interrupted by textured continents. A slight motion of his hand on the globe stopped its movement, focusing on one area in particular that sat high in the northern hemisphere.
If the Decepticon leader was indeed on the human planet, he was either in hiding or being kept hidden.
0-0-0-0-0
Alexandria knew she was asleep when she opened her eyes and was met by pitch-black surroundings. She could no longer feel the bed linens she had been cocooned in and her chest rose and fell with each breath yet no air passed through her nose when she inhaled deeply. The first few times she had experienced the out-of-body sensation she had been overwhelmed by panic from the suffocating feeling and had woken drenched in cold sweat. However, time and repeated exposure had helped her become accustomed to the surreal environment.
Then the voices had come; foreign and erratic, softly at first and only one or two at a time. Alexandria was never sure which direction they came from or if the speakers were near or far so she had kept quiet and hopefully stayed hidden from them. It wasn't until this past week she reached out, echoing the voices with her own, calling out to them, announcing her presence. Aside from some increased clarity the voices remained unchanged, giving no indication of an awareness she was amidst them. It was disappointing to wake each morning but her failures only spurred her determination.
Like each night past, she started this one the same; a greeting followed by a pause, hoping for a response.
"My name is Alexandria," she called out, loud and with a hint of urgency. "I want to speak with you." The voices continued on; five of them altogether, sometimes in sequence and other times all at once. She repeated her message but continued to yield the same result, earning a frustrated sigh.
There came a slight tingle on her cheek; the feeling of a wayward strand of hair brushing up against the skin. Alexandria swiped at it reflexively and jerked back at the sudden haze of green light in front of her face. It was the first visual stimulus she'd seen in the dark and it made her heart beat rapidly within her chest. She watched the light dance and move in the air and it took a moment for her to realize she could perceive the motions as those made by her own hand. Glancing down, Alexandria could see similar light beginning to creep upward from below and could make out the vague shape of her feet and pajama clad legs. She brought her hand close, flipping it over and flexing and extending her slowly materializing fingers; each gesture bringing forth finer details and sharper outlines. Squinting, she peered closely at her palm and saw tiny vertical lines of symbols making up its semi translucent form. They were in a constant state of flux, shifting and changing in response to movements of her appendage.
"Where am I?" she asked aloud, raising her head to face her surroundings only to note in surprise that it had also changed. She was no longer greeted by the dark canvas but now one dotted with the same green tinge and five brighter points of light. One for each voice, perhaps? It was hard to be sure.
No longer blinded, Alexandria now had a possible measure of distance between herself and the voices, if the lights did truly represent their source. A particularly vibrant one just off to her left seemed to be paired with a voice more active than the others so Alexandria determined it would be her goal. She began walking toward it, slow and unsure, her bare feet silent against an invisible floor.
Time ticked by and with each step her pace hastened a little more as everything around her remained constant. Her stride quickened until soon she was running, trying desperately to close the distance between her and the voice. The suffocating feeling returned, forcing her to come to a stop and bend over, bracing her hands against her legs as she tried to catch her breath. She caught sight of another light far below her, underneath where she stood, and she shut her eyes tightly as a wave of vertigo washed over her.
Alexandria took a few moments to get her senses under control and quell the nausea that rolled in her stomach. She straightened up with a grimace and glanced behind her to see how far she'd come but her starting point was impossible to distinguish; she could have travelled two feet or two hundred for all she could tell from the lack of progress. She swore softly, pursing her lips unhappily, before pressing onward. This time she concentrated on the light, trying to focus on its sound alone.
"I need to get there. I'm going to get there," she muttered in an attempt to reassure herself.
The light grew brighter and Alexandria's pace faltered briefly in her surprise. Bolstered, she repeated her little mantra and quickened her steps, gaze never wavering.
There came a sharp tug within her chest, stealing her breath, and Alexandria felt herself being pulled forward rapidly. The voices became distorted while the light in front of her became a glaring beacon and she threw her arm across her eyes, shielding them from the intensity. The pulling vanished as suddenly as it started and she stumbled forward, managing to retain her balance to avoid falling flat on her front. She blinked a few times seeing spots and lowered her arm to look around.
The platform she was standing on hovered within the black surroundings, its green tinge the same as that coloring her own body. There came a movement out of the corner of her vision and Alexandria turned and looked up, and then up some more.
"Oh my god!" she cried, lurching backwards and tumbling to her buttocks with a loud thump. A giant robot stood profiled at the other end of the platform; human-like in build and well over twice her height with a wide torso and long bulky limbs. A cold sweat broke out over her skin and her heart pounded in her ears as Alexandria frantically looked around for somewhere to hide but to no avail.
The robot turned toward her and she felt her muscles seize up and breath catch, expecting it to lunge the moment it saw her. But its gaze swept over her, unseeing, and it proceeded over to a sphere that hung nearby, seemingly unaware of her presence.
Alexandria let out a shaky relieved sigh, feeling herself tremble from the adrenaline. Even though it hadn't seen her, she still tried to remain as motionless as possible while observing the machine from her spot on the floor. Its eyes were a vivid green, bright against the dark hue that colored everything else, and it had a circular piece over the mouth area. Instead of ears, two antennae perched on top of its head and they moved in sequence with each other periodically, lessening its menacing appearance.
There came a series of whirrs, clicks, and rumbles from the robot, rapid in succession and each mixing with the last, creating a sequence of electronic noises, almost like sentences. Alexandria stifled a gasp, recognizing the sounds as the voices she had been hearing for so long. The thought of each one being linked to a giant such as this was intimidating.
The minutes ticked by and seeing how she wasn't in immediate danger, her petrifying fear started to diminish and Alexandria was able to gingerly climb to her feet. She watched the robot for any sign that it was becoming aware she was there but it continued fiddling with the sphere. Cautiously she gave her hand a small wave. Still nothing. She decided to try pushing her boundaries and arched both arms over her head several times followed by jumping up and down. When even that didn't get a reaction, she stood there dumbfounded, not really sure what to do next. The screens on the other side of the robot flickered periodically, catching her attention. Alexandria took a few steps forward, moving closer to see them better from her lower position. Her eyes kept darting back to the robot, fully intending to not be stepped on should it start walking about.
As Alexandria examined the images, Bumblebee was busying himself with marking potential coordinates on the globe of the human world. He paused after adding in one set, a frown gracing his features. All of the security scans he had run returned negative. Still he couldn't shrug off the nagging feeling there was an error in his stasis programming. He had heard audible discrepancies not allocated to the human data. He glanced around again, deciding to run a few custom malware programs just to be sure. It was rare, but not unheard of, to have Decepticon signals infiltrating Autobot transmissions during stasis, trying to insert malicious viruses meant to cripple or offline a bot during critical system processes. Still, attempts such as those weren't without massive risks to the attacking Con itself and assaults remained few and far between.
Once again everything checked out and Bee whirred in thought before uttering several commands, initiating a full security response. Better to err on the safe side.
Feeling somewhat more relaxed, Bee returned to work. The map was looking promising and he had several starting points he could consider as landing co-ordinates, should their travels be directed to the Solar system. He reduced the planetary holo to an overview and watched as it resumed its rotation, unaware of a pair of eyes watching from below.
Alexandria stood off a few paces from the globe staring in shock as she recognized the familiar planetary landmarks.
"That's Earth," she said just above a whisper.
It was the wrong thing to do, for the giant turned quickly in her direction, its eyes seeking the space around it for the noise. For the second time, her frantic back peddling had her landing on her backside. She clapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to smother further sounds as the robot strode toward her.
It rumbled as its gaze swept the area and as it just crossed over her location, it paused. She watched in horror as its face tilted back toward her, eyes narrowing and hands clenching at its sides. She felt the foreign pulling within her chest again and looked down to see her body lose its transparency; remaining details filling in and surfaces becoming solids forms. Her head jerked upward to see the robot staring directly at her, its expression reflecting what could only be shock at her sudden appearance.
"You can see me!" she exclaimed, her voice elevated to a high pitch.
The robot blinked at the words then glanced to its hand as it began making several motions in the air off to the side. Glowing green squares flashed briefly where its fingers moved within the space.
"You can see me... You can see me..."
Alexandria jumped, hearing her words echo repeatedly around them. The robot cocked his head to the side as if concentrating on the sounds and then looked back at her.
"Yes I can see you," it said.
She stared up at it from her position on the floor, jaw slack and wide eyed. "You… you can understand me?" It was difficult to keep from stuttering.
It nodded.
"Are you"—she swallowed hard, her heart fluttering within her chest—"going to hurt me?"
The robot reared back as if surprised by the question.
"No..." it, or rather he by the sound of its voice, replied, shaking his head and making a soft whirring sound. "Are you going to hurt me?"
Alexandria's mouth opened and closed several times but words failed to materialize; at a loss of what to say from having her question directed back at her. The idea she could somehow cause something of his size any harm whatsoever was ridiculous.
"No," she finally told him.
He trilled softly, the sound pleasant, and appeared amused by her confusion.
Taking care not to make any rapid movements, the robot sat down across from her, effectively making his stature much less intimidating. They remained in silence for several moments, each observing the other.
Bumblebee watched the tiny organic as she studied him and knew she was trying to determine if he posed a threat or not. As startled as he had been from her unexpected appearance, he had immediately recognized her as human. Her size and anatomical structure, although similar to the humans in the medical bay, were different enough for Bee to realize she matched the proportions of a youngling; a human child. His spark burned with curiosity of how she'd infiltrated his stasis but he held himself in check as it would do him no favors to dominate the situation with an interrogation for answers. Experience as a scout had taught him certain approaches fared far better than others, especially when dealing with other species. He sat there, motionless, hands visible and open to her view, with his legs tucked under him and face in what he hoped appeared as a friendly expression.
It seemed to be working. The tenseness of her posture faded and the fear that had dominated her face was replaced by what he considered was a curious look.
"What are you?" she asked; a simple yet important question and one Bee had expected.
"I am an autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron," he said, the statement well versed and used by every Autobot.
She gave a small gasp and sat up straighter. "Planet? You're an alien?"
He nodded. "And you are a human from the planet Earth, correct?"
"Yeah." Alexandria shrank backward slightly, drawing her limbs close and Bee silently cursed his error. "How did you know that?" she asked with a small shiver.
Moving with care, Bee gestured at the holos behind him.
"Transmissions from your world. I've been studying them," he said. Not quite a lie, but it kept the data's true origin hidden.
Alexandria glanced at screens that continued to hover in the air; random images and lines of symbols continued to flash and scroll across them.
"Am I dreaming?"
Bee was unsure if it was fully directed at him as it had been asked so softly, her attention seemingly unfocused.
"Dreaming?" he asked.
"I'm asleep right now," she explained. "Am I dreaming this? Is this all just in my head?"
Bee rumbled softly. "I can assure you I'm quite real."
"Does anyone else know about you?"
"On Earth? I'm not sure." Another half truth.
Alexandria took a deep calming breath and stood up. The Cybertronian still towered over her, even while seated, but as he remained where he was, she took a small step toward him.
"Then… I believe I should…" she stammered, swallowing with difficulty and hesitating as courage surged and dwindled rapidly. She smoothed her palms down her sides and nodded. "I would like to greet you on behalf of my planet," she declared, sticking her trembling hand out between them.
Bee tilted his head at the foreign gesture, so he mimicked her movement, bringing his own hand forward slowly, letting it hover near hers. They hung there awkwardly for a brief moment before Alexandria went to grasp his finger in a modified handshake but yelped and jerked away just prior to making contact.
"What's wrong?" He leaned closer, searching for the cause of her sudden distress but was answered by a light giggle.
"That tickled." Alexandria inspected her hand, a smile playing across her lips.
Bee trilled again. "Oh, that's just the unique electronic signatures being in proximity with each other." He stopped, noting her blinking up at him, a crease in her brow. "Since neither of us are here, physically, we can't actually make direct contact," he tried to explain. "Instead of pressure, as you would experience feeling a solid object, it creates a tingling like sensation from the electrical charge."
Apparently this was satisfactory enough for her and she sat back down, although this time closer to him.
"My name is Alexandria," she introduced herself, one hand placed flat across her chest. "What's yours?"
"Unfortunately, there's no direct translation of my name in your language." he said, rubbing a hand against his chin. "At least, nothing you would be able to pronounce."
Her shoulders dropped a bit. "Oh. Well, what is it in your language then?"
Bee gave her an amused smile. "I think you'll run into the same problem."
"Let me try." She shifted a bit in her spot on the floor, hands clasped in her lap; the image of an eager pupil.
Bee shrugged and complied with the request; sounding out his name as clearly as he could for her.
Alexandria's brow knit in concentration as she tried to copy the series of clicks and rumbles he had made and Bee couldn't stop from laughing at her attempt.
"Not close, huh?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, sorry," he replied, still chuckling. In addition to mispronouncing the more complicated phonetics of his name, she had missed the low frequency tone underlying the ending. What she had actually said was fairly similar to one of the more colorful Cybertronian profanities.
Alexandria harrumphed, running a hand through her hair to scratch at her scalp. "That was harder than I thought."
Not wanting to disappoint the little female, Bee ran a brief analysis of the data files.
"The closest word in your language to my name is 'Bumblebee'," he told her.
"Bumblebee?" She giggled. "I like it. Nice to meet you, Bumblebee."
"Nice to meet you too, Alexandria," he said with the utmost sincerity. "And if I may say so, Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong. Our universal greeting," he explained.
As Alexandria repeated the new foreign words, with much better success this time, Bee reevaluated her responsiveness toward him and seeing how she was more amused than frightened he concluded it may be a good time to begin probing for details regarding how she'd accessed stasis. It was rather worrisome, as the process was unique to his species and she'd evaded every security measure he had thrown at her, most of which should have decimated any intruder.
"So Alexandria"—he tapped a digit against the floor and tried to keep a light tone—"do you come into stasis often?"
She glanced around. "Is that what this place is called?"
"Yes."
"I'm not really sure. Tonight was the first time I actually saw anything besides darkness. Usually I just hear you guys talking and that's been happening for a year now."
Bee quickly calculated the time measurement into one he was more familiar with and was surprised to learn she'd been present through several stasis cycles with other Ark crew.
"Talking?" he asked, for as far as he was aware no one else had encountered an anomaly in stasis, nevermind made contact.
"I heard voices. They were saying things that sounded like your language. I always thought they were speaking to me and I just couldn't understand…" she trailed off, looking at him hopefully.
Bee shook his head. "I was unaware of your presence before now."
"Oh." Alexandria was disheartened to learn the voices hadn't carried any sort of relevance. Rather she was nothing more than an intruder, eavesdropping on conversations not meant for her. "So there's no big purpose for me being here then." The strain in her voice caused the words to waver. She had hoped there had been some sort of significance behind everything she had gone through.
"You shouldn't be here," Bee confirmed. "By all accounts it should be impossible, which is why it is very important for you to answer this next part as truthfully and in as much detail as possible."
"I'll try, Bumblebee," Alexandria whispered, eyes downcast.
The sudden change in her demeanor made Bee pause. He sensed his disapproval of her presence had triggered a strange melancholy. If he hoped to get the answers he sought he needed her to remain an interactive partner. He got to his hands and knees and leaned over her.
"Hey," he said softly, bringing one digit close to her shoulder.
The mild prickling sensation roused Alexandria and she looked up to see his face close; warmth in his bright green eyes.
"I meant it when I said it was nice to meet you, Alexandria," he told her, whirring softly. "And whatever this is, however you got here, I'll do what I can to help you. We'll figure things out together, don't worry."
She sniffled. "You know, you're the nicest giant robot I've ever met."
Bee chuckled. "Oh, so you've met other giant robots?"
"Of course not," she said, her face widening in a grin. "Just you."
"Well then I'll let you in on a secret." He moved in close, optics glancing back and forth, and cupped his hand near his mouth. "I'm the best one," he whispered, giving her a quick wink.
This earned him a delightful series of giggles from her and he trilled, happy to have changed her mood around.
"So what was your question anyway?" she asked after having calmed down.
"I need to know how you got here," he said. It was blunt and forward, so he tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible.
Alexandria shrugged. "Like I said before, I fall asleep at night and wake up in here."
"And this started a year ago," he recapped. "Did something happen at that time?"
Alexandria hesitated. It was always difficult telling new individuals her story, and it was a situation she liked to avoid, much to the disapproval of her psychiatrists who felt that it was an unhealthy way of coping. She had however promised Bumblebee she would tell him what she knew and perhaps it would be different with him; being an alien meant possible avoidance of the human stigmas surrounding personal health. Alexandria began to tell him about surviving a lightning strike and her subsequent hospitalization. He sat with her quietly, nodding periodically as she recollected how it had felt; the associated pain and periodic blackouts she had experienced afterward. However, details regarding her health after discharge home were completely avoided as she didn't see how they were pertinent to his question.
Bee hummed once she'd finished, bracing his hands against the floor behind him and leaning back slightly; head upturned. Several expressions crossed his face as he ran through the scenario, trying to piece together its connection with accessing stasis. Finally his shoulders slumped and he gave a disgruntled buzzing sound.
"As impressive as it is to survive such an ordeal, a massive surge of electricity wouldn't umm…" he trailed off as he searched for a word that fit the situation, "connect… you here."
"Oh." Alexandria fiddled with the sleeve of her pajamas.
"Are you sure there isn't anything else?" he asked. "Anything, even if it's something small."
Alexandria huffed with dismay, her forehead furrowed. "I don't think s—" she began but stopped abruptly as her thumb brushed underneath the cloth just distal to where the scars started.
Bee noted the hesitation. "What is it?"
"There… might be one other thing but I'm not sure if it was real or I just imagined it," she said slowly, grasping at vague memories. "I found a piece of metal and I was holding it when the lightning happened. At least I think I was because it disappeared..." she trailed off, hoping she didn't sound completely out of her mind.
"Metal?"
She glanced up at the change in the intensity of his voice to see he had stilled, his antennae perked up above his head.
"What kind of metal?" Bee asked as his spark seemed to pulse hotter within its chamber.
"I don't know. It was grey and heavy and it had these weird markings on—" Alexandria was interrupted by a sudden pressure within her head. She grimaced and braced her palms against her brow, feeling a throbbing ache just behind her eyes.
"Alexandria?" Bee's concerned voice sounded distant even though he was only a few feet from her. She looked up at him and realized his form had blurred, while her own body had regained its transparency. In fact, the entirety of her surroundings had also changed, becoming distorted and fuzzy with darkness creeping in from the periphery. She called out as everything disappeared and began to struggle against an unknown force only to jerk awake in her own bedroom, the sheets tangled around her.
Morning light was filtering in through the window chasing away the last remnants of night. Alexandria sat up and ran a hand through disheveled hair, trying to shake off the grogginess of waking abruptly. She stretched, satisfying stiff muscles, and glanced at her clock to see it was quarter to seven. A heavy groan escaped her lips. She felt both physically and mentally exhausted and she rubbed her eyes vigorously as she tried to piece together what had happened last night while she slept. The voices had been present as always but there had been something else, something amazing...
Bumblebee.
The name floated up from the recesses of Alexandria's mind and everything came rushing back, eliciting a sharp gasp from her. Out of all the possible scenarios she had imagined, the voices turning out to be giant alien robots was definitely something she had not anticipated. It was exciting enough to find out aliens existed but to realize she had made contact with one was dizzying. She flopped back against the mattress, grabbing her pillow and covering her face with it and she gave several muffled squeals of happiness into the soft cover.
"Alexandria, it's time to get up for school!" her mother called out from downstairs.
"Coming!" she yelled, flinging the covers off and jumping out of bed. She took the stairs two at a time. "Mom, guess what?" she asked as she burst into the kitchen.
Her mother glanced her way from a position near the open fridge. "Well someone's excited this morning," she commented before continuing to rummage for breakfast ingredients. "What has you riled up so early?"
"I need to tell you—" The meeting with Bumblebee was on the tip of Alexandria's tongue when she stopped abruptly, realizing she'd almost made a terrible mistake in telling her mother what had happened. She had no proof of the encounter and, just as with the voices, her mother would think it had all been a hallucination; something else her brain had conjured up and something that could lead to even more medications. The thought was terrifying.
"What is it, sweetheart?" Mary asked, placing glasses of orange juice on the table.
"I…" Alexandria stuttered, glancing around the room and spotting a carton of eggs on the counter. "I'm really hungry this morning and we should make pancakes," she said rapidly.
"Uh-huh." Mary gave her an odd look before pointing at a cupboard. "Well then grab a bowl, I'll start the stove."
"Okay."
As Alexandria did what she was told her thoughts drifted back to Bumblebee and she realized she may never be able to tell another about him. He would have to be her secret and, in all honesty, she was okay with this. She smiled as she mixed the batter, happy that he'd proven to her what she considered was the most important thing—she wasn't crazy.
0-0-0-0-0
Bumblebee stood over the spot where Alexandria had been, searching for her signature but finding no evidence of the tiny human. He gave a frustrated growl at whatever had interrupted their conversation and ended the stasis program with haste. The simulated environment flickered and vanished, replaced by a large circular chamber as he powered back on and opened his optics. There came hissing from behind him as he disconnected himself from the terminal port. Wheeljack would be unhappy with his rapidly cut short stasis but Bee didn't care as the events he'd just experienced required immediate attention from Optimus. He took two long strides then lept forward, transforming into his alt-form mid jump and he raced off down the hall with a roar of his engine. The goal of finding the AllSpark was so close he could feel it in his circuits. Soon they would have it back under Autobot protection and with it, finally be able to return home.