Disclaimer; I don't own anything to do with Transformers. I do have four OC's in this story.
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Chapter 3
Friends or enemies.
Strobe's POV
I couldn't believe it when I found out about Sentinel Prime's betrayal. He was one of the most trusted and wise mechs in the Transformer race…and Optimus Prime's friend and mentor. Prime would be gutted when he finds out but I had a responsibility to get this information to him; it could've tipped the balance in our favour. I set off as quick as I could avoiding every single missile and plasma round; my processors focused on one thing…making sure the information I had got into the right hands. I didn't care what happened to me after that.
I hadn't intended on landing on this tiny planet but things went terribly wrong and I ended up here...on this organic mud ball I believe they called...earth. Very fitting! I was surrounded by tiny creatures trying to communicate with me, experimenting on me and torturing me. It was just horrific. I suffered so much pain at their hands, who would ever have believed a species so small with such inferior technology could be so sadistic. I was desperate to get that information to Prime but I couldn't and I feared the worst for the inhabitants. However as time went by and their experiments became more painful I became less sympathetic toward them.
I heard bits of conversation about a place called Mission city which had been attacked and then a battle in Egypt between two factions of giant alien robots; that's when I knew that the war on Cybertron had now found its way here. It wasn't until I caught a glimpse of Bumblebee on the TV that I realized the Autobots had found their way here. My hope was renewed and I could hopefully get this information to Prime after all…it hadn't occurred to me I may have been too late.
I was so relieved to see Ratchet, Mirage, Bumblebee and Sideswipe with the humans. I hadn't thought about humans and Autobots becoming allies and that confused me even more. So here I am now back at NEST with my own kind in Optimus Prime's office and I don't think I'm going to get good news, I looked at the three mechs standing around me, they looked so…worried…sad even. What had happened?
Optimus Prime looked at Strobe, she looked so weary; her optics were so empty and void of life and she seemed weak. There were scorch marks all over her and her wrists were completely buckled out of shape,
"Strobe," he said gently with a compassionate expression on his face to match, "We haven't seen you for a very long time and many of us believed you were dead. Much has happened in that time which I believe you will learn over time. Many of us have survived the war many have not…" Strobe looked down, she really didn't like where this was going, she looked back at the Autobot leader as he continued talking…"Strobe Ironhide and Jazz were both killed…during battle…here on earth,"
Suddenly a massive gaping hole opened in her spark into a dark emptiness…no…not Jazz, not Ironhide,
"No," she said, "It's not true…you're lying!"
Optimus Prime looked at her, her dull sapphire optics looked back at him sadly…her faceplates contorted with pain,
"No Strobe, I'm not lying," Optimus replied firmly
He'd never been accused of lying before, his integrity wouldn't allow it; he became disappointed by the femme's accusation but tried hard to understand why she'd say something like that. She'd been through a lot, he could see that…her body, her optics…she was a shadow of her former self and who knows what state her processors were in. She looked at him,
"You're not lying…are you?" she replied quietly as she fought the loneliness threatening to engulf her,
Optimus looked down, "….No Strobe…I'm not…I can't, my programming won't allow it. You should know that,"
Strobe looked down and shuttered her optics, she felt angry.
Real angry!
Bumblebee tried to put an arm around her to offer comfort but she pushed it off, "Get off of me," she growled.
The yellow scout looked hurt but nobody was prepared for her next reaction. She looked at Optimus and growled as she overturned his desk, she swung around and raced out of his office,
"Strobe no," Ratchet yelled, "Stop!"
Sideswipe turned around and rushed toward the femme. He grabbed her and pushed her against the wall,
"Watch out!" the warrior growled at the humans skittering to avoid the Autobot's feet.
Strobe pushed Sideswipe off and went to run again but Mirage joined in and together they wrestled her to the ground,
"Let me go!" she growled through clenched dental plates and fought them off,
"No," Mirage growled back as all three of them fell to the ground.
Ratchet raced up to them with a syringe and injected a sedative into Strobe,
"What have you given me?" she growled as she fought it,
"A sedative," Ratchet replied firmly, "Don't fight it!"
Strobe looked around at the three mechs holding onto her, and then she looked around at the humans watching with concern for what may happen next. William and Robert heard the noise and came racing out,
"What's going on?" Lennox asked
He looked around at the three Autobots and then turned to the humans,
"The female Autobot was out of control," one of them said.
Strobe growled at the explanation and went to hit out at the humans but they were too far away. Ratchet pinned her arm down,
"William move your men away from here," the medic demanded,
"Alright you lot you heard him, get back to your posts," William yelled.
The area cleared quickly leaving the Autobots to deal with Strobe. Her optics started flickering as her systems begun to react to the sedative. Strobe looked up at the medic and tried to focus on him but he kept fading into a fuzzy blackness, she saw Ironhide before he left Cybertron in the blackness surrounding her,
"Ironhide," she cried, "It's my fault, I'm sorry, it's my fault you're dead. I'm so sorry" an energon tear slipped down her faceplates and plopped on the floor,
"No sweetspark…it isn't your fault," Sideswipe said as he stroked her helm,
Ratchet looked at the femme and then Sideswipe, "The sedative is causing her to hallucinate," he looked down at Strobe, "Just rest," Ratchet said a little bit more gently, "We'll explain everything to you when you are better,"
"Nothing to explain…it's…myyyyyyyyy….fffff…a...ult," she said sleepily,
"The sedative is working," Ratchet said,
"She does this, she blames herself if things go wrong. Strobe doesn't cope very well with failure," Mirage said as he released his hold on the femme. Ratchet made a note of Mirage's words, he'd look into that when he checks her memory banks. Sideswipe and Mirage held her down until the sedative worked; they lifted her up, carried her into the med bay and gently laid her on the berth,
"Okay you two can leave now," the medic said as he started to go over the femme laying in front of him.
He checked her navigational systems, they were burnt out and the wiring was charred and soldered together. It looked old and the medic wondered if it had happened on Cybertron, they were going to take some fixing which didn't concern him. What really concerned Ratchet was the injuries to her wrists and ankle joints…they looked burnt and worn away. He checked her memory, it looked like it had been over loaded at some stage by something far less inferior by Cybertronian standards; the damage looked very similar to the injuries Bumblebee had sustained when he was captured by the humans,
"Oh Strobe…what happened to you?" the medic groaned.
Optimus Prime went to see Ratchet,
"How is she?" he asked,
"Well her navigational systems are a mess but it's an old injury possibly from Cybertron judging by the way they are burnt out but I'm more concerned about her other injuries. Prime I have every good reason to believe she was tortured by the humans. Her injuries are very similar to Bumblebee's,"
Compressed air hissed out of the Autobot leader's vents, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He wondered what it was that made the humans need to experiment on anything out of the ordinary. Ratchet carried on with his investigations,
"I really could do with Wheeljack right now," he said sadly.
Prime patted him on the shoulder, "I know old friend,"
"Optimus as she was going under the sedative she kept blaming herself for something and saying it was her fault. Mirage mentioned she doesn't cope with failure, I believe she blames herself for what happened here,"
Optimus Prime growled quietly, they had had a few conversations about her failing…she was a very good spy, there was never a time when she failed them but he couldn't seem to get that through to her,
"She always has," he told the medic, "I knew her creators…they told her she'd never amount to anything and whatever she would put her hand to would fail. I remember Sentinel Prime giving them a good dressing down over that one," Ratchet smiled sadly, that was the Sentinel Prime he respected.
Optimus looked at the femme on the berth sadly, she looked so vulnerable and weak; nothing like the Strobe he knew on Cybertron. The automaton walked toward the berth and stroked her helm,
"She'll be alright, Prime," Ratchet assured his leader as he picked up a pair of cutters to cut away the damaged wiring,
"Let me know if there is any way in which I can help you, Ratchet," Prime offered before he turned to leave the area designated as a med bay.
The men sat in their cells silently, they had been separated so that they couldn't communicate with each other in any way or form and they had been stripped of belts, laces and any form of communication with the outside world. Some of them were frightened and wondered what they had become involved with while others became frustrated by the lack of information and inability to communicate with loved ones. Simon hadn't slept all night, he had spent the whole time pacing backwards and forwards trying to work out where he was and if Aiden had anything do with their capture. The more he thought about it the more he convinced himself that Aiden was involved and he needed to do something about the squirmy little rat.
The window in the door was opened and a face looked in before a tray was passed through. Simon looked at the tray, took it and smelt the food. It's odour was better than it looked; his stomach gurgled at the smell of the food and the middle aged man found it hard to resist. There hadn't been any noise all night except for the sound of his footsteps beating on the plain white tiled floor of his cell, he banged his knife and fork on the china plate as hard as possible to break the monotony of the never ending silence. Footsteps could be heard outside and stopped by his door, he could hear muttering outside and more shuffling footsteps but they soon disappeared. Simon was now back to the never ending silence.
The window to his door opened again and a female voice spoke,
"Pass your plate through the window," the middle aged man looked at his plate and turned away,
"Sir," the voice said a bit more impatiently, "Pass your plate through the window,"
He heard another voice speak to the woman on the other side of his door and then speak to him,
"Sir, pass your plate through the window please,"
Simon reluctantly got up and took his plate to the door he laid the tray on the ledge and shoved it through. He smiled with satisfaction when he heard the china smash on the tiled floor,
"Give him paper plates and cup next time," he said to the woman.
Simon leaned back against the wall satisfied with the course of action he'd just taken, he really didn't care if he was going to have paper plates and cups, all he cared about was getting out. Once again he was left with the monotony of silence. Ever so slowly his eyes closed and he slipped into a restless sleep.
Every now and then he was woken up by voices, shuffling of feet and a bang which echoed around the jail where they were held as the heavy doors to cells were shut. He knew that the men who had helped him were being questioned but he hoped they wouldn't give away too much information. He had no idea that others would come and get her or that they would be accompanied by humans, neither did anybody else and he begun to wonder if Aiden's course of action was the right one. However, he was here now and that really annoyed the man. He got up after another clang and started banging on his door,
"Let me outta here," he yelled, "I'm innocent, let me out,"
"Be quiet!" a voice yelled at him, "You'll be let out for questioning when the time comes,"
"Questioning?" Simon bellowed angrily, "In that case I want a lawyer. I have a right to an attorney, get me an attorney,"
"You'll get an attorney,"
Charlotte made her way through the early morning traffic to the N.E.S.T base, she'd heard from William that they had safely arrived with the femme bot but she hadn't heard anything from the back up team except there were men who had been taken in because they had her cornered. The N.E.S.T base was quiet which wasn't really something that surprised the woman. The two men at the sentry saluted her as the barrier rose allowing the Director of National intelligence in. She got out of her car and walked through the doors of N.E.S.T closely followed by her aid.
The Autobots heard the sound of her clacking heels and looked around to see who it was, when they saw her they just carried on with their duties. Some of them believed if she was more forth coming with the truth Ironhide, Wheeljack, Brains and Wheelie would still be alive. However Prime told them otherwise which was really the truth.
The blonde woman walked up the stairs to the catwalk, her aid behind her missing every other step. As she walked around the catwalk she looked at the Autobots but didn't see any sign of the new femme. Ratchet saw the woman looking but he wasn't going to offer her any information…he didn't like her! She was a pest. Ratchet walked back into the med bay refreshed after a recharge. The femme was still lying on the berth covered by a sheet for her dignity more than anything else,
"Morning Strobe," he clicked in his native Cybertronian and checked her energon tubes and levels. All was good.
He pulled back the covering that was over her body and checked the work he had done the day before, he needed to complete the work on her navigational systems before he moved on. There was the sound of somebody coughing behind him and when he looked around he found a tiny male human in army greens looking tired and unshaven. Ratchet walked toward him and knelt down to his level, he could see the man was a young recruit who had joined them the same time as Beth Amersham,
"The wiring you requested sir," he said as he held out his hands nervously.
"Thank you," Ratchet replied and took the wiring,
"You're welcome, let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. My father was an electronic and he taught m a lot of stuff so I may be able to assist you with something…," he looked at the medic who had a grateful look on his face, "…Oh but not today, I was working last night, I need to sleep…but I'm working again tonight,"
A deep rumble emanated from the green medic which the young man assumed was laughter, maybe he could use the young soldier; he'd have to teach him of course but with himself being the only medic a little human help would go a long way,
"I would appreciate the help but clear it with William Lennox first," Ratchet replied.
The soldier's face lit up at Ratchet's words, "Yes sir. It would be an honour working with you,"
"And you too," Ratchet replied warmly.
Charlotte heard the voices speaking in the N.E.S.T base and made her way to the sound. She walked along the catwalk and found the berth with the femme laying on it. She watched the interaction between the soldier and the Autobot medic for a while and wondered what they were talking about.
"Is that the…femme," Charlotte yelled so that the medic could hear her.
He turned around to see who had spoken to him in such a manner and frowned at the bespectacled woman,
"You don't need yell at me," the medic snipped,
"Just answer the question!" Charlotte replied.
She got frustrated very quickly by the medic on most rare occasions she had to speak to him and this morning was no exception. Ratchet refused to entertain the insolent woman and turned his back on her. She sighed in frustration as she watched him fiddle with the wiring on a bench on the opposite side of the building and wondered what he was doing. He turned around and noticed she was still watching him, compressed air hissed through his valves and he reluctantly approached her,
"This is the femme," he said,
"What happened to her?" Charlotte asked.
Ratchet heard the gentle tone in her voice, it was a stark contrast to the harsh no nonsense tone she normally spoke with,
"She was injured during the war on Cybertron, her navigational systems were knocked out by a blast from a Decepticon," Charlotte listened intently to what the medic was saying. She noticed a change in his demeanour and he seemed to be hesitating, "…There are also more recent injuries…her wrists and arms have been worn down and some of her circuitry has been burnt out by something. I don't know by what…I haven't seen anything like this before. It definitely isn't Cybertronian we have more…efficient ways of getting information from a mech or femme, perhaps you could shed some light on it. There is also damage done to her knee caused by a gunshot from humans who had her cornered,"
Charlotte had a little bit of information but not enough to say she knew what was going on. She looked at Ratchet,
"What did she used to do on Cybertron?"
Ratchet looked at her again he knew Strobe was a spy but he wasn't going to give up that information,
"That information I cannot give you," he replied politely,
"I'm sorry," she retorted, "I believe you can,"
"Miss. Mearing, there are some things you do not need to know, Strobe will tell you if she chooses to in the meantime it is information you will not be entitled to,"
"As long as she is residing in this base I have to know what she did. I will have to explain in a report to my senior who she is and what she did for the sake of National security and the security of earth," Charlotte retorted sharply,
Optimus Prime and William heard the raised voices of the medic and Charlotte and went to investigate the situation. Charlotte heard the whine of Prime's hydraulics as he approached the human and Cybertronian,
"Optimus Prime please explain to your medic that I need to know what the femme did on Cybertron,"
"I beg your pardon," Ratchet snorted, "You can't speak to Optimus Prime like that,"
Stand down Ratchet. I can handle this femme," Prime replied as he glared at her,
"Strobe was an integral member of the Autobot army on Cybertron. She didn't tip the balance nobody did, the Decepticon army was just too strong,"
Charlotte looked at the Autobot leader thoughtfully, "Fine…," she finally said, "…I'll put that in my report it should satisfy them,"
Simon was hand cuffed and lead to a room where he would be interviewed. He was in between two security staff who were holding both his arms and guiding him through the plain white corridors. The harsh lighting and dark blue tiled flooring added to the harshness of the corridor and Simon really didn't like it. He was taken into an interview room with one table, a chair and a camera. One of the security staff pulled the chair out from the table and pushed Simon into it. A man walked into the room, he was dressed in a navy blue expensive suit with a white shirt and balck tie. Simon sat in front of the man who opened a file and pulled a pen out of his inside pocket. The pen clicked as he pushed the button and the ball point emerged from the other end. He pushed a tape in, read his rights and gave the interview start time.
The man would have been middle aged with a bald head, his eyes were cold and grey; they looked at him harshly as he started the interview,
"Mr. Simon Wilson," he said,
"Yes sir, that is me," Simon replied.
The initial questions were easy but as they got further into the interview they became a lot more intense and Simon's co operation became a lot less willing and the interviewer was getting frustrated,
"What was the nature of your work in the…research facility," he asked again as he desperately tried to remain patient.
Simon leaned back in the chair and put his feet on the table, crossing them at the ankles, he smirked at the suited man as he thought about the femme now with her own people. The man in the suit threw his pen down in frustration,
"Mr. Wilson," the interviewer said impatiently, "I can't even begin to explain to you the delicate nature of this matter and we need to get to the bottom of it. Now I'm going to ask you those two questions again and you…my friend…are going to answer them. What was the nature of your work in the research facility and how did you come across the Autobot you were hunting in the forest,"
"Oh come on now…it was hardly hunting," he replied in a patronising manner, "Why don't you speak to Aiden Amersham, I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some information,"
The man in the suit looked at him, his grey eyes glaring at him. He put the pen down, closed the file, gave the interview end time. He left the room but before he did he turned around to Simon,
"We have interviewed the men who were with you, they have all been allowed to leave. Most of them didn't give us any information they seemed to think you'd be able to supply it. We will find out what you were doing in this research facility and when we do we may consider punishing you severely if it calls for it," Simon snorted and turned away,
"And what can you do about it?" he snarled.
The man in the suit rushed up to the table and leaned across it so he was in Simon's face. Simon considered grabbing his tie and strangling him with it and if it wasn't for the fact a soldier was standing in the room he'd have done exactly that,
"Mr. Wilson I cannot even begin to stress to you the amount of trouble you are in. We may be able to get you out of it if you co operate with us, we would then ask you to sign a contract of confidentiality after which we will allow you to go home. If you don't then the matter will be taken further," he got up and left the room leaving Simon to think things through.
As the man in the suit walked through the corridors to his office pulled his Blackberry from his pocket and called Charlotte. She had left the NEST base and she was walking to her car when her phone rang,
"Charlotte Mearing," she said
"Miss. Mearing we have interviewed the men involved with the hunt for the femme Autobot. Most of them left it up to Simon Wilson to say something but we got very little from him except that he worked for some research installation and a name…Aiden Amersham. He wouldn't go any further than that, I believe he is hiding something,"
"Amersham, Amersham…that name's familiar," Charlotte muttered to herself,
"Alright see what you can find out about Aiden Amersham," she said,
"Yes ma'am," the voice replied on the other side.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in frustration before turning to go back into the N.E.S.T base to speak to William. She found the soldier speaking to the medic about the young private who wanted to help him. William was all for the idea it was about time the medic had a new assistant since Mikaela had gone and Jolt was sent off planet to help with the war in another universe,
"Colonel Lennox does the name Amersham ring a bell?"
William looked at her, "Yes it does actually, it's the name of one of my Private's associated with N.E.S.T. Why?"
"Would you know if she has a brother?" William looked at her suspiciously, while Ratchet came and stood behind the soldier,
"I don't know, we encourage the soldiers not to mention their families due to the nature of the enemy. Is there a problem?"
"Where is he now?"
"Who?" William asked,
"Private Amersham," Charlotte replied
"Beth…she is on sick leave recuperating from her injuries from the battle in Chicago,"
"Oh…well when does she arrive back,"
"I don't know I haven't heard from her yet," William replied,
"Hm," she replied, "Well let me know when she's due back I need to find this man, Aiden Amersham,"
Charlotte left N.E.S.T to go to her office,
"She knows something," Ratchet said,
"I know," William growled.
The private who had volunteered to work with Ratchet was among the fresh faced men who had turned up for their shift that evening. William caught sight of him and called him over,
"Yes sir?" he said,
"I believe you offered to help Ratchet yesterday," William said with a wry smile,
"Yes sir, I did," Mark replied.
William turned to Ratchet "He's all yours, I've finished for the day call me if there are any problems," he said,
"Yes William Lennox," Ratchet replied.
Ratchet carried Mark toward Strobe and placed him on the berth next to the femme. She was surrounded by wiring of differing lengths and sizes, they were attached to small data pads with glyphs written on them. Ratchet looked at his new student as he opened a panel on her cpu,
"While you are working with me on Strobe I expect you to treat her with the utmost respect and dignity, she deserves it,"
"Yes sir," Mark replied.
Ratchet handed the wiring to Mark, "I'm going to start on her navigational system first, we need to connect it to her cpu. Ratchet took a soldering tool and gave it to Mark, "I'm going to rest this end of the wire on her navigational circuit board, I want you to solder it on,"
The wire was small and Mark wondered how the medic could hold onto the wire, his question was soon answered when he picked up a small pair of pinchers with a long handle. He rested the end of the wire on the circuit board,
"Solder the wire, please," the medic asked.
Mark carefully soldered the wire onto her navigational circuit board, Ratchet looked at the finshed product and nodded,
"Not bad, I see you've been taught well," he said,
"My father believed if a job is worth doing than it is worth doing well," Mark replied,
"Let's connect it to her cpu, and then I need to check her spark chamber,"
"What's a spark chamber?" Mark asked,
"It is the area which houses our spark,"
"Oh," a pensive look crossed Mark's face, "Your spark…it's the equivalent to the human heart right?" Ratchet looked at him, pleased with his new student's ability to learn,
"Yes it is, Mark…but a little bit more. It is more like an equivalent to the human soul. Everything we are comes from our spark and when we bond the two sparks of the couple merge so they become one but when one of them dies the other one follows soon afterwards unless they can quickly find another spark mate or have a twin like Sideswipe and Skids and Mudflap,"
"That is sad," Mark replied,
"Yes it is, it can be a very painful time for the surviving Cybertronian simply because their spark is effectively dying, the void and lonliness is very real,"
A look of sadness crossed Mark's face, he knew that void...the loneliness Ratchet was talking about. Mark looked around the N.E.S.T base, this was his family now,
"Are you alright Mark?" Ratchet asked,
"Yes," he replied sadly, Ratchet cocked an eyebrow ridge unconvinced by Mark's reply.
Ratchet placed the end of the wire on the connection and asked Mark to solder it on. Mark watched as the wire melted neatly onto the connection and gently pulled the soldering iron away.
Okay let's start up her navigational system,"
The medic pushed the button on the machine to activate the system, it bleeped and a whole set of coordinates came up on the screen,
"It's online,"
Mark looked up at the the strange glyphs on the screen, "What do those figures mean," he asked,
"They were her last set of coordinates to get her back to Iacon, they are in our own language," Ratchet replied,
"Iacon?…Is that your home?"
"It was our home Mark, it has been destroyed by the ravages of war. That is why we chose to stay here on earth, to protect your planet. The Decepticons won't leave because they know there are plenty of resources here, if we go it will mean they can exploit this planet of all its resources and kill the human race,"
"But that threats over now isn't it?" Mark asked,
"...Megatron is dead but there are others who would just as quickly fill his space," Ratchet saw the alarmed look on Mark's face, "We don't know where they are or if they even know of planet earth besides Cybertron was destroyed during the battle in Chicago so now we don't have a home to return to even if we wanted to,"
Ahh shame…I guess you'll just have to stay here then," Mark replied with a cheeky grin. A deep rumble emanated from Ratchet's chest convincing the young soldier even more that Ratchet was actually laughing.
Ratchet closed the panel of Strobe's cpu and moved down to her spark chamber, he looked at Mark, "This is a very delicate area of a Cybertronian we have to be careful,"
"Okay," Mark replied, "Why are you checking it?"
"Because I need to make sure her spark isn't damaged due to how she obtained her injuries,"
Ratchet looked at the wiring, there were small signs that at some stage she received an excessive amount of electrical current. He gently touched the wiring which caused the femme's spark to spike a little. Ratchet turned around at the sound of the alarm coming from the machine measuring the femme's spark activity. Ratchet laid a hand on her helm,
"Hush, sweetspark," he said calmly.
Something was bothering Mark, he knew Ratchet was close friends with Ironhide and Wheeljack but he seemed to be coping with it better than what the medic was saying,
"What about you Ratchet," the medic looked at him stunned that somebody should ask after him,
"What do you mean?" he asked,
"Well, you have lost Ironhide and Wheeljack, don't you feel it?"
"No, we weren't bonded," Ratchet replied, "But I still feel the emptiness at the loss of two very close friends.
He checked her spark chamber one last time, there was really nothing he needed to do there, her body's natural healing property would do most of that.
"Is her spark alright?" Mark asked,
"There are some signs of stress bu her nannites will take care of that,"
"Nannites?" Mark asked,
"Yes they heal a Cybetronian's body, they naturally live within us,"
"Oh. You know there is so much to learn, I have to find something to make notes with,"
"Pad and paper will do," Ratchet replied.
Mark looked down at the area of her knee which was damaged by the slug. He ran a finger over the knee, the metal was sharp but it felt warm as well,
"Careful," Ratchet said, "She may have some residue energon on her knee and if you cut your fingers on her broken armour the energon will absorb into your blood and it acts as a deadly poison on organic beings,"
Mark quickly withdrew her finger and checked it but it was fine.
Charlotte received another telephone message from the suited man,
"Ma'am we have tried to speak to Simon again but he is uncooperative,"
"I see," Charlotte said as she pondered a plan, "Release him and follow him to see where he goes,"
"Do you think that's wise ma'am?" the suited man asked,
"Just do it!" she ordered flatly as she massaged her forehead,
"Yes ma'am,"
Charlotte heard the phone click as he hang up, she pocketed hers just as William walked in with Optimus Prime, they were both in deep conversation which appeared t be light hearted judging by the expressions on their faces. The soldier was sitting on the old warrior's shoulder, both united by fierce battles to save a planet that both called home. Charlotte heard the heavy footsteps of the mech and rushed out of the way to avoid him. She jumped into her car and went back to her office, William looked in her direction and wondered where she was off to in a hurry.
Simon heard people walking up to his cell, the door opened and a uniformed guard walked in holding the hand cuffs once again. Simon obediently held out his hands to allow the guard to place them on his wrist and then he was taken to the interview room. The suited man was in there once again with the file flat on his desk. He looked up at the middle aged blonde in front of him and grunted before he was once again pushed down into a chair,
"Well Mr. Wilson, it appears you are allowed to go free. Not that I agree with it," he replied snidely,
"What?" Simon asked,
"We're letting you go but...if you should end up in here again you will be in a lot more trouble,"
A smirk crossed his face, "Couldn't find anything to get me with. Told you I was innocent," arrogance dripped off his voice as his chest puffed out.
The suited man looked at him, shook his head and checked his file again, "No…the powers that be have decided to release you, although why they'd do that I don't know. What I do know is we will be watching you, I've seen people like you before. They just can't help themselves. We will see you again,"
Simon looked at him he didn't care what this man thought, he just had one thing in mind now…find Aiden Amersham and deal with him and then his family. He just needed to do one thing first, go back to the research centre and mop up anything left behind. A guard approached Simon and walked him to a desk where he was released from the hand cuffs, handed back his laces, his belt and a few other belongings and escorted him out of the building. A waiting black SUV stood in front of the building which he was instructed to get into so that he could be driven home.
Simon walked into his house, his dogs raced up to him wagging their tails and sniffing him,
"Hello," he said as he got down to their level and patted their heads.
Simon walked into the kitchen followed by his dogs who padded behind him their ears folded back and their heads hang low. The middle aged man set up the coffee maker and fed his dogs, he went to the bathroom and showered after which he checked his messages. There was an irate message from his boss but that was all,
"Huh!" nobody missed me he throught.
Simon never married, he was married to his job and his parents were both elderly and frail but Simon visited them regularly and that was going to be his first port of call this morning. He was unaware of the car sitting just out of sight from his place watching his movements as he left with the dogs and walked through the parkland opposite him.
While he watched the dogs happily trot through the parkland he pulled his phone out of his pocket and rang Aiden's home number, no answer. He tried his mobile phone, no answer. Simon looked up and mouthed an obscenity; he scrolled through a load of numbers until he came across a "mate" who owed him a favour,
"Yeah," a voice snarled in his ear,
"Simon here. I gotta favour to ask you?" he said, "You owe me,"
The man on the other end growled and rubbed his beard, "Yeah…what do you want?"
"I want you to find a man by the name of Aiden Amersham, can we meet?"
The man on the other end of the phone really didn't want to get involved in Simon's dirty work. The last time he did they got caught and he was the one that went down for it. He thought about it very carefully before giving his answer,
"No, you're on you own," he replied,
"But, you owe…,"
"No Simon, you owe me. I went down for you last time," the line went dead leaving Simon hanging off on the other end mouthing yet another obscenity. He carried on walking through the parkland desperately trying to figure out what to do next. He had to get hold of Aiden Amersham, the man had to be taught a lesson for squealing.
Ratchet looked at the femme's wrist and ankle joints, he shook his head and clicked angrily to himself, the medic scanned the joints and slammed his fist on the berth making Mark jump. The damage to her wrists and ankles was substantial with wiring burnt out and burn marks going up her arms. He ran an overall diagnostic scan of her systems and electrical wiring and discovered that she had suffered from at least one major overload if not more, he wondered what could have caused it. Ratchet showed it to Mark,
"Do you know what caused this?" he asked.
Mark looked at the holoform of Strobe's body hanging in mid air, "Wow Ratchet, this is amazing technology you have, we humans can only dream about this sort of thing,"
Ratchet smirked and then pointed to the shadowing on the holoform, "See these areas here, they show substantial overload of electricity. Do you know of anything which may have caused it?" he asked just a little bit impatiently,
"No," Mark replied, "I don't know of anything which could produce that sort of power,"
Ratchet checked her cpu again thankfully her memory banks had suffered minimal damage but what bothered the medic was the damage to the delicate wiring underneath her armour leading up to her cpu and a bundle of wiring just above her spark chamber,
"Oh Strobe, what have you done?" Ratchet asked,
"Is it recent?" Mark asked,
"Yes it is, the ends aren't rusted," Ratchet replied as he moved the delicate wiring around.
Optimus Prime walked into the med bay and saw the human and the medic working together. He never ceased to be amazed at the amazing trust these tiny organic creatures on the N.E.S.T team could work well with the Autobots and wished the rest of the human race could learn to trust them as well. These humans on N.E.S.T had formed a bond with the AUtobots birthed through adversity which required the Autobots and the humans to learn to trust each other,
"How is Strobe?" Prime asked,
"Optimus she has been through quite an ordeal both on Cybertron and on earth, I'll be surprised if she ever trusts any human member of N.E.S.T," he said sadly,
A worried frown crossed Prime's face, "What happened to her?"
"The injuries on her wrists and ankles definitely suggest torture, her wrists and ankles have been damaged by something over them for a long period of time; I'm going to have to completely rebuild them. There are hair line cracks in her leg struts caused by pressure and she has burnt out wiring where circuitry has been overloaded by powerful electrical charges," Ratchet looked at Prime and planted his hands on his hips, "Who are these people to cause this sort of harm," he spat.
Optimus growled as he turned on his heels. He was livid…the very species they'd fought hard to save had harmed one of his Autobots, "Maybe Ironhide was right to say what he did all those years ago at Hoover dam," the old leader thought to himself as he left the med bay. He wondered if Charlotte knew anything about this, after all the woman seemed to know a lot of things they didn't and she was always there opposing whatever they wanted to do. He marched out of the med bay and through the base,
"Colonel William Lennox!" his resonant baritone voice bellowed through the base commanding the attention of human and Autobot alike.
The whole base stopped dead still and glared at the angry thirty two foot mech, marching angrily through the base toward the communication area on the platform. Lennox jumped at the sound of the Autobot leaders voice; never had Prime spoken to him in such a way and whatever had him riled up had obviously upset him to the core. Optimus Prime stood in front of William with a furious expression on his face. The color faded from William's face at the magnitude of Prime's wrath,
"This isn't going to be good!" Mirage whispered to Bumblebee,
"Ooh the big man's angry," Mudflap said to Skids,
"The human is going to get it," Skids retorted,
"Ratchet believes Strobe was tortured by humans," Prime stated angrily, "What do you know about it?"
William looked at Optimus Prime horrified by his statement; he knew nothing of any such thing. He swallowed a lump forming in his throat and did everything he could to keep the adrenalin from flowing. It then occurred to him why Charlotte was asking about an Aiden Amersham and what relationship he was to Beth. Now he was convinced she knew something and looked around the base angrily for the woman. His eyes once again fell upon Optimus,
"Tortured? Have you got proof of that?" William asked,
"Ratchet has found evidence of a recent electrical overload within some of Strobe's systems and damage to her wrists and ankles caused by being held in some sort of electrically charged hand cuffs,"
William growled, he knew nothing of what Prime was talking about and hoped that Charlotte didn't either. Simmons and Dutch walked into the N.E.S.T base and looked at the Colonel and the Prime eyeing each other off suspiciously. He walked up the stairs to the platform where William was standing, Seymour had never seen Optimus that angry,
"What's happening?" Simmons asked,
"It's bad…real bad!" Epps replied,
"I want answers and I want answers now," Optimus said firmly as he clenched his fists into balls, "I have lost four good mechs because of secrets humans insist on hiding and lies they insist on telling. I am not prepared to lose a femme,"
Optimus was careful not to blame William for what had happened, he was an ally who had helped them and given half the chance he would search for the woman himself but he also knew that it was better to go through the human's chain of command to get the answers he wanted and to keep Lennox and the human division of N.E.S.T on his side. Prime looked toward Seymour; another ally who had once ordered the torture of Bumblebee. A scowl crossed the mech's face as he thought of what happened to the young scout. Optimus massaged his hands with his face, how many times would he have to deal with insufferable humans like those who kept crossing his path. William looked at Prime,
"I will get answers for you," he promised as he pulled out his mobile phone and scrolled through his list of contacts to find Charlotte's number. This was happening on her watch which made her responsible and William was determined to get the answer from her…no matter what! He wasn't going to have Autobot/human relationship destroyed through her meddling. As much as he disliked the woman being there he had to get her to come back,
Charlotte's phone was not on so William waited patiently for her answer phone message to finish,
"Hi Charlotte, Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox here. We have an emergency situation at the base and need you back here urgently," impatience laced his voice,
"I've contacted Charlotte Mearing, we have to wait for her to respond,"
Charlotte walked into her office,
"Hello Mary any messages?" she asked her secretary,
"No ma'am," Mary replied on her way through,
Charlotte walked into her office and checked her phone for messages. She heard William's voice on the other end and immediately responded to the call,
"Tell me you don't know anything about the Autobot femme being held and tortured,"
Charlotte hang up and swore as she raced out of her office and to her car.
Uh oh! Now what?