Chapter 7

Bad Memories

I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space – were it not that I have bad dreams.

- Shakespeare's Hamlet

Bumblebee was now keenly aware that Starscream was standing right behind him. He had backed right into him as he was moving away from the image of the light creature on the display screen in front of him. The others had left the meeting to go about the tasks that Starscream had assigned to them, now Starscream was the only one in the room with him.

The sudden collision of Bumblebee's frame against him did not cause Starscream to budge at all. He stood there firm and immovable, he was used to being banged around from his past skirmishes with Megatron and could take quite a lot. The crash against Starscream caused Bumblebee to almost fall forward, but Starscream caught him by the shoulders and slowly spun Bumblebee around to face him.

"Bumblebee," Starscream began, "surely you must remember something about these creatures if they frighten you this much. Perhaps Soundwave can help jog that memory of yours."

Bumblebee's optics widened in fear, knowing the kind of mind control interrogation techniques used by Soundwave.

"Oh, my dear little Bee, don't look so scared, Soundwave can be gentle when he wants to be," Starscream assured him, "it is only those that try to resist him that end up with their memory processors melted. You will have nothing to fear if you cooperate."

Bumblebee's engines began a nervous little whirr as his spark raced at the thought of Soundwave probing his mind.

"Primus, you are cute when you're scared aren't you," Starscream purred darkly, his hands still resting on Bumblebee's shoulders.

"Aren't you afraid of them?" Bumblebee blurted out.

The laughter that came from Starscream was one of the darkest and yet at the same time most beautiful laughs that Bumblebee had ever heard. Laughter filled with self-assured power.

"No," Starscream answered firmly, "I am not afraid of them; I have nothing left to be afraid of. I've been a Decepticon for as long as I can remember, overcame countless adversaries who sought to take my spark, survived numerous beatings at the hands of Lord Megatron, a fierce gladiator of Kaon, and I am still here. I have fought and even killed to get where I am now and if these light creatures think they can take that from me, let them come. Tricon is mine, everything here is mine, even you are mine little Bee," Starscream rasped, taking Bumblebee's head in his hands, forcing their gazes to meet.

"I know," Bumblebee acknowledged softly, he was scared and wasn't going to disagree. He was also very aware that Starscream's claws held his face. He had heard that Starscream sometimes had a thing for other Mechs, although rarely, and he was beginning to wonder what Starscream's intentions toward him were.

"Well, I am glad we are in agreement little Bee," Starscream replied, "I like underlings who know their place," he said, his hands beginning to move lower, over Bumblebee's shoulders and down to his small frame.

"Silvershine loves you," Bumblebee suddenly said. It was the only thing he could think to say to stop what he now had no doubt was happening.

The look on Starscream's faceplates told Bumblebee Starscream had no idea. Scrap, Bumblebee thought, why did I have to go and do that?

Starscream's confused expression faded to an intense, serious scowl as he stared into Bumblebee's optics.

"How do you know this?" he questioned.

"Because she told me, when we were in the lab together," Bumblebee answered meekly, "ask Soundwave, he walked in on us talking, I'm sure he recorded the whole thing."

Starscream stood motionless, still shocked by what Bumblebee had told him.

"You will report to Soundwave at once," he suddenly said. "We must get back to the task of discovering more about these light creatures and your memories hold the key."

"Of course," Bumblebee replied, ready to end the conversation. He felt like he had just betrayed Silvershine by revealing her feelings to Starscream.

Miko sat on a laboratory table that was nearly as big as the house she used to live in. She sat huddled up, her knees pulled up to her chin, as she curiously watched Knockout and Silvershine. She felt safe here, high in the clouds in a medical bay with two Decepticons. The light creatures couldn't reach her here and the Decepticons hadn't harmed her yet, in fact, the one named Silvershine even seemed friendly. She had tried to do all she could to be helpful to Lord Starscream and Lord Megatron. She wanted to fit in here and hoped to make Tricon her new home.

"Is there anything I can do to help with the testing equipment?" Miko offered.

"With those tiny hands little skin job, I think not," Knockout replied, "You will need to remove those garments you call pants, so we can get a look at your wounds."

Miko's eyed widened in surprise at Knockout's request.

"Humans have a thing about removing clothes in front of others," Silvershine informed Knockout, "especially members of the opposite gender."

"I see," Knockout said amused.

"I think I can get the leg of my pants up, where you can have a look," Miko said as she rolled up the pants leg covering her right calf."

"Ah, that will work," Knockout told her. He had a smooth, classy voice that Miko found calming.

His hands were huge as they came close to her. She extended her leg out so he could have a good view of the wounds she had, they were red and looked like burns in the shape of a hand print where the light creature had grabbed her. She hoped it would not leave a scar; she didn't want a reminder of what had happened.

"Interesting," Silvershine remarked.

"I'll need a scan of your skin to get a sample," Knockout told Miko. "This won't hurt," he assured her.

Knockout brought out a small scanning device and held it over Miko's wounded calf. It made a humming noise and glowed with blue light.

"What are you scanning for?" Miko asked curiously.

"Energy signatures or possibly foreign DNA that doesn't belong to you, anything that may have been left behind by the creature. At this point we don't know if they are organic, machine or what exactly," Knockout replied. "We are scanning for all possibilities."

"It felt like a hot sting when it grabbed me," Miko said, chills causing the hair on her arms to stand up, "If it hadn't been for Lazerbeak, I would be dead."

"Well, Lazerbeak does come in handy sometimes," Knockout admitted. "We're all done here now, we'll have to analyze these readings to get a result," he told her. Knockout held out his hand to Miko for her to climb inside and she did so. He placed her in a glass container with air holes that was sitting on a shelf nearby. The container looked similar to what a human might use to keep a pet hamster in.

"You can't leave me here," Miko pleaded, "please don't leave me alone here in the lab by myself."

"Our work here is done for the time being little skin job, it's late and recharge is calling, you'll be safe here," Knockout tried to reassure her.

"Please don't leave me, every time I close my eyes I see it," Miko whimpered.

"Oh dear, I suppose I could take you with me to my quarters," Knockout said smoothly. "Wouldn't want you having one of those heart attacks on us now would we? But you will have to stay in your little container and be quiet," Knockout emphasized, "I can get cranky when my recharge is interrupted."

"I promise," Miko told him.

Daytime had arrived since Lazerbeak had rescued her and brought her here and now night was falling again. Even though Miko knew she was safe, her mind still lingered on how the creatures had always came out at night, she didn't dare want to be left alone in the dark, it was too terrifying and she knew she would get no sleep. The thoughts of the creatures scared her so much that she would rather have curled up right on Knockout's chest and slept with him in his berth, but being in his quarters in her little container would have to do.

"Well, off we go," Knockout chirped. "I hope you don't mind a little soft music, I find it helps me fall into recharge faster."

"It sounds nice," Miko replied. She really preferred metal, but Knockout didn't seem the type and she figured, as things went along, that what she preferred was going to matter less and less. She hoped that later, when she and the others were being assigned as pets or slaves to the Decepticons, that Knockout would get her.

Bumblebee lay on a metal slab in Soundwave's workshop. He glanced around the room with his eyes, scanning his surroundings. Numerous monitors were scattered about attached to the walls along with surveillance equipment in various areas. The room seemed quiet and unfeeling, a reflection of the occupant that owned it. Bumblebee tried to keep his head still as Soundwave placed the telepathic probing device on it. Everything in his being told him that this was something he should be fighting against, no one wanted to have their mental processors breached. As an Autobot, it was the last thing you would want Soundwave to do and as a scout it was especially the last thing you wanted to happen. Bumblebee kept having to remind himself that this was a different world now and what was happening was a good thing to help all survivors that existed in this new world now that the war had ended.

Soundwave stood over Bumblebee, his expressionless visor looking down at him. With the flip of a switch that he held in his hand, he activated the probing device that connected him and Bumblebee. Bumblebee tensed up as he felt his mental processors being seized, then he remembered what Starscream had told him and tried to relax. He felt Soundwave's presence entering his mind, flowing into it and searching, attempting to find and unlock the hidden memory files that stored his suppressed memories. Soundwave was delicate, barley brushing against files he didn't need to access as he carefully searched for the one that held the information they needed.

Bumblebee closed his optics and tried to let go as much as possible. He felt lighter, younger and far removed from the table he was laying on, almost as if he was no longer in the room with Soundwave. He opened his optics and the landscape before him had changed, he was on another planet. He remembered the reddish, purple soil laid out before him from a trip during his earliest days as a scout, before he had joined the Autobots. He had visited this planet to track down a Cybertronian fugitive who had escaped prison. But on this trip, he had saw something else. His processors raced as memories surfaced of the Quintessons, the beings that had created his kind, and it seemed on this planet, they had made another creation. Bumblebee's processors whirred and raced as he saw flashes and images of the Quintessons along with the light creatures. Bumblebee was startled awake from his nightmare by Soundwave gently disconnecting himself from the probing.

"We have the information we need," Soundwave informed Bumblebee. "I will make my report to Lord Starscream."

The lights were getting dimmer inside the base, the generator they had been using for the past two years was finally nearing its last leg and giving out on them. Agent Fowler sat in a chair that he normally used for reading, but this time his mind just wandered. It had been a day since Lazerbeak had took Miko, he wondered if she was still alive. If only he had caught her in time…..well, then she would still be here in this hell. Not many good options these days he thought wearily. He rubbed his hand across his face and glanced up at the lights just in time to see them finally fade to darkness. They were in pitch black now, with no protection to keep the creatures away. Fowler wondered if they knew how to use door handles. Now that the power was out, their access codes no longer functioned. Anything could just walk right in.

"I'm scared," Bethany whimpered.

Dr. Collins took a deep breath, "I know," she said, "I think we should move as far away from all doors and windows as possible. Maybe if they can't see us in here, they won't be motivated to come in."

The three of them were the only ones left alive; the others had all been killed by the light creatures. They crawled as quietly as they could to a nearby table to hide underneath it, its metal sides could hide them from sight. A sudden flash of light in a nearby window made Bethany almost cry out, but Dr. Collins quickly placed a hand over her mouth, preventing the scream.

"Shhh," she warned Bethany.

The three of them held their breath, frozen in place, as they watched the creature move around outside the window. It didn't appear to have noticed them; its attention seemed to be focused on something else outside.

Thundercracker and his unit had landed. All 54 feet of him stood looking down curiously at the light creature. So these were the slagging things that had everyone so worked up he thought. He aimed his sidewinder missile at the creature, "Lords Starscream and Megatron send their regards," he told it. Then he fired.