Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! It really does motivate me to write more. Y'all rock!
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There were more Autobots in the lab this time to witness the experiment. With Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Skyfire, Wheeljack, Perceptor, Ironhide, Drift, Hound, Crosshairs, and the two humans in there, the lab was crammed full. The procedure of transferring Anna's consciousness into Alias went smoothly again, and this time when Optimus helped her to sit up, she was able to swing her legs over the side without difficulty. Cade and Tessa stood a little way back, watching how Optimus once again didn't release her hand and that she didn't look away from his face until he pointed out the screen that showed her.
"Look, you're not pink," Prime said, smiling.
They'd done a really good job of making Alias look like Anna, Cade thought. He was always surprised at how expressive those metal faces were and right now hers showed unmistakable joy and wonder as she studied every inch of herself. Alias was clearly an Autobot who hadn't yet scanned an alt-mode, but the lack of recognizably human-made parts gave her a sleek, dangerous look. Slimmer than the other Autobots, her body shape was clearly feminine without looking the slightest bit weak. Even without any weapons, Alias looked like she could do some damage. It helped that they hadn't painted her, choosing to leave the flat, dark grey metal as it was until she decided on her final details.
In fact, the only color on her came from the blue glow of her eyes and the red Autobot symbol on her right shoulder in exactly the same place as her tattoo.
"Oh, this is way better than pink," Anna–no, Alias–replied happily, still staring transfixed at the screen. "You all get to live."
"I'm so damn jealous right now," Cade sighed. "That thing is ninja-level badass. What do I have to do to get one of my own?"
"I think you have to hook up with a Prime," Tessa murmured, grinning at the way Optimus ignored the screen in favor of watching her face as Alias exclaimed in delight over her new body. For all the attention he paid the hovering scientists, they might've been invisible. "Just look at him. He's got it so bad. I have a feeling that if they were alone in here…"
"I seriously need you to never finish that sentence. There are some things my imagination can't handle," Cade interrupted, mock-shuddering, but he was smiling too. He had seen Optimus in all kinds of moods–angry, laughing, frustrated, mellow–but the care and deep tenderness he showed for Anna was something new. "Love looks pretty good on him."
"You old romantic," Tessa teased him, and he couldn't deny it.
"Okay, Prime, why don't you take a step back so I can finish the diagnostic?" Ratchet prompted after a couple of tries at getting between them. "I need to check her reflexes before we try to get her up on her feet."
"Oh–yes, of course," Optimus said. He backed away, finally dropping Alias' hand. Cade caught Ironhide's hastily-hidden grin and shot him a wink. Apparently the rest of the Autobots were enjoying seeing this side of their leader as much as he was.
Soon Ratchet pronounced Alias fully functional. "How do you feel in there?" Perceptor asked, scanning three different screens. "Ready to try a few steps?"
Alias looked at Wheeljack for the first time–she hadn't been able to tear her gaze from Prime or the screen this entire time. "Now? I can get up now?"
"You don't feel ready?" Skyfire asked, frowning at her hesitation.
"No, no, no, I feel totally ready," she said quickly. "You're just all so nervous that I don't want to blink the wrong way and get shut down."
Perceptor smiled reassuringly. "We're not going to shut you down for blinking, I promise. Go ahead and stand up if you're ready, and why don't you hold onto Optimus for support?" he suggested. It was clear that Optimus had been impatiently waiting for an excuse to take her hand again. In fact, Prime was reaching for her before Perceptor had even finished his sentence.
"That would be moral support," Hound murmured, not quite under his breath.
"Yeah, for Prime," Crosshairs agreed.
Prime ignored them, still completely focused on Alias. "Here goes nothing," she said, and scooted off the table. Standing to her full height for the first time, she grinned up at Optimus–he was about half a head taller than she was. "Damn. Would you look at that?"
"What?"
She laughed. "I'm just really freaking tall!"
Ratchet and Wheeljack converged on her, running still more tests–making her stand on each foot, lean this way and that, jump up and down, balance on her toes, then her heels, and more. The link was into its second hour before they finally ran out of things to have her do while standing still. Cade was starting to wonder how much of their caution was due to their prior failures and how much was overkill to soothe Optimus, but to her credit, Alias didn't protest any of it.
"Good, good," Perceptor finally murmured, checking off blocks on his handheld. "Good. We can move on to walking now."
"Are you certain you've checked me thoroughly enough?" she teased, saying exactly what Cade was thinking.
"Yeah, I think you missed examining her left earlobe," Cade said.
She snorted. "I don't think I have earlobes."
"But you don't know. Have you checked?"
"Enough, you two. We're taking this slow to ensure we that we eliminate all unnecessary risks," Optimus said. He backed up until he reached the far side of the lab, then put his hands on his hips. "Well, Alias, what are you waiting for?"
The thrilled look on her face at being called by her Autobot name for the first time was priceless. Still, after all the checks and double-checks and triple-checks, it was almost anticlimactic when she walked across the lab to Optimus with no trouble whatsoever. He took her hand again and smiled down at her. "Well done."
"Coordination and balance look fine," Wheeljack said. "How do you feel?"
"Like I'm under a microscope," Alias replied dryly. "I feel great, guys. I've been walking since I was a year old and it's not that difficult. Please calm down! I'm starting to get paranoid that you put a self-destruct on me or something!"
"It's probably in your left earlobe," Cade called.
Crosshairs grinned, clearly about to add some smartassery of his own, but Teletraan-1 interrupted with an alarm before he could. "Priority one transmission from Prowl," the computer stated as a wall-screen flashed to life, showing a map with a location marked with a flashing blue Autobot symbol that was labeled Prowl. "Decepticon activity detected."
"Prowl, report," Optimus commanded, abruptly all-business.
"Two Decepticons spotted near Galena Park in South Houston." Prowl's voice played over the speakers as a glowing red Decepticon symbol popped up on the screen. "I'm staying out of scan-range so they won't know I've spotted them, but that also means I can't determine what they're up to. I can chase them off on my own but if you want them captured, I'll need some backup."
Prime's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I want them captured," he growled. His gaze snapped to Ironhide, Drift, and Hound. "You three, come with me. We're going to get some answers."
Alias' expression changed from happiness to fear within seconds. "Wait, you're going?" she asked, voice tight. "Why are you going?"
"Yes. I'm taking no chances that they might escape," Optimus told her. He rested his other hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. You'll be fine here. Crosshairs and Bumblebee will remain here for security and this won't take long."
"It's not me I'm worried about," she said, but Optimus clearly wasn't about to change his mind.
He squeezed her shoulder and then looked over at Skyfire. "We'll need you too, in case they take to the air. Drift won't be able to keep up. Finish whatever you must do here as quickly as you can and we'll shut this down."
Wheeljack spoke up before she even had a chance to protest the shutdown. "Actually, Optimus, we're good to continue without Skyfire," he said, not even looking up from entering data on his handheld. "Ratchet or I can take over his duties, no problem. We designed the system for Teletraan to do most of the monitoring anyway now that we know it works safely. Technically, the only thing we'd truly need an Autobot here for would be an emergency shutdown scenario and even that's just a button-push, so…"
His voice trailed off as he finally looked up and saw Prime's face. It was pretty clear that allowing the experiment to go on without him wasn't what he'd had in mind. "That is, if you don't mind us continuing while you're away," he added awkwardly.
"Prime can't use the kill-switch if he's not here," Hound pointed out. Optimus looked grateful for the intervention. "And if she gets crazy while Ironhide and I are gone –"
"I'm great. Really, I'm perfect," Alias said quickly. "I feel totally calm. Nothing like that is going to happen." Prime didn't look completely convinced so she focused on him and pleaded, "I've been in the link well over an hour now and that doesn't even count yesterday's test. The rest of them were rampaging all up and down the countryside by this time. I'm fine, Optimus."
"I agree with her, Prime. If she was going to aggressively decompensate, it would have happened by now," Ratchet pointed out. "There will be at least five of us right beside her at all times and she still has no weapons. Besides, we designed the kill-switch to work up to fifty miles away. If the worst happens, I'm sure we can restrain her long enough to radio you to shut her down or get someone to hit that button."
"They won't have to restrain me," Alias said, gazing up at him hopefully. "Nothing bad is going to happen. Please, Optimus."
Prime closed his eyes briefly but Cade knew it was all over even before he sighed and nodded. No way could he say no to that face. "All right. Stay here and complete the rest of the testing," Optimus reluctantly agreed. "But if we are not back in two hours, I want you to shut down and await our return. Understood?" They all nodded, even Alias, and Prime finally released her and stepped back. "Crosshairs, you're in charge of security until we return. Autobots, let's roll out!"