Disclaimer: Well, at least it didn't me as long to get this chapter finished… I think. So anyways, here is the next chapter of the story and I hope you like it.

Like always, I own nothing from the Transformers Mythos.


Chapter VII

(Present Timeline)

Working at a welding company for medium wage to pay for college wasn't what Alexis had in mind when she decided strike out on her own. But it was better than the alternative of dropping out entirely. She was smarter than that and consequently, the job did pay reasonably well. The only issue was some of her coworkers tended to hit on her, but most of them were fine with having a woman working with them. It wasn't like Alexis was the only woman there as she'd crossed paths with other women who were working at that welding company for longer than she'd been.

The opinions of her coworkers were the farthest thing from her mind. Alexis was focused on her project, a blowtorch in hand and a set of goggles over her eyes. Sparks flew from the metal contraption over which Alexis toiled, and the blowtorch cut through the steel like butter. As loud as the torch was, Alexis could hear some minuet snickering nearby. She looked up and saw a couple of her male coworkers talking about her, and she quickly surmised that subject wasn't exactly flattering. One of them, a man of probably early to mid 30's, tried to charm her with a wink and kiss.

Alexis responded with a sarcastic smirk and a flick of her middle finger, and the two coworkers chuckled and moved on. Upon returning to her work, Alexis inwardly thought about the interaction and the notion that either of the two men would've had an even a slight chance with her. But Alexis knew better and she wasn't going to give them the time of day, so she kept working.

Hours passed before the quitting time hit and the day ended. The welders started on their way out in droves with Alexis among them. One of her coworkers, another man who was far more accepting and considerate than the previous two, gave Alexis a gentle tap on her shoulder before bidding her farewell. Another coworker, a woman this time, gestured a handshake that Alexis readily accepted before that person departed.

Alexis wished she had a car to her name, but at least she didn't live too far away from work at rough a few blocks. It wasn't like she didn't mind walking either; whatever she could do to stay in shape. Plus, the sun was shining with only a few notable clouds in the sky, but not enough to warrant concern of any possible storms. The light compelled Alexis to produce a slight smile on her face, but it quickly vanished once she noticed the man waiting for her while leaning on a semi-used car.

Alexis knew the man all too well and the first thought to go through her mind was, Fuck!

Removing his hands from his jacket pockets, Silas said, to his daughter, "Hello, Alexis."

Without missing a step, Alexis walked passed her father and replied rather coldly, "Colonel Bishop."

Silas wasn't at surprised by Alexis's indifference of him, but he spun around to get her attention all the same. "I know I just got here and my rental's not all that great, but I could give you a lift to your house.

Without turning around, Alexis replied, "I live in an apartment that's not that far. Even if I didn't, I have no reason to bum a ride with you."

Silas thought he had that cold shoulder coming but he persisted. "It's been almost eight months since we last spoke after Seattle. I thought maybe now was as good a time as any to reconnect."

Alexis claimed, "I'm over it."

Silas sighed, "Somehow, I know that's not the case."

Alexis stopped short and stated again without turning, "Everything that happened in Seattle happened. There's no point in trying to change all that." Then she started walking again.

Frustration was starting to get to Silas and he rushed to catch his daughter, taking her by her hand. "Alexis, could you please stop for…."

Alexis pulled away and finally spun around, dropping her gear to the ground. "For what, Dad? For a father/daughter chat about how I lost my mother? You want to talk about how she was one of the first victims of the Decepticons? Or maybe you want to talk about how you weren't even in Seattle when she died. Is that it?"

"I loved you mother, Alexis, and by God I wanted so badly to be in Seattle. I wanted to be there with her. I wanted to be saving her and a lot of other people." Silas explained vehemently.

"But you weren't there, Dad! I was in college watching the whole thing happen on a TV screen. God knows I couldn't do a damn thing about it, but you? Where were you, huh? Sitting at a desk in D.C. while Mom was dying? You couldn't even make time to come to her funeral." Alexis snapped as a tear dropped from her eye.

"You think I didn't want to? Alex, I didn't come to the funeral because I just couldn't bear the idea of saying goodbye to Vivian." Silas claimed as he placed a hand on Alexis's arm.

"Bullshit," she spat out and removed his hand from her arm. "You didn't come because you'd have rather buried yourself in whatever operation you had going. "

Silas took one step and Alexis backed away. "You know that's not true. I've only ever wanted to protect you and Vivian above all else, but my work was always consuming…"

"Because you let it consume you." Alexis claimed with anger and more tears in her eyes.

Silas was quiet for a long moment and trying to process his next response. He eventually said, "All the work that I do or have done was always to protect you and you mother."

Alexis just leered at her father before she said, "Well, that must be a real comfort. But it doesn't change the fact that Mom is dead and that you couldn't save her."

"I'm trying to make things right, Alex. I'm trying to make a difference for your mother's sake." Silas claimed.

"You want to make a difference," Alexis grabbed her bag off the ground and slung it over her should, nearly smacking Silas in the face. "Stay out of my life because as far I'm concerned, you're as dead to me as Mom was to you when she was alive."

Those last words cut Silas to the bone marrow as Alexis stormed away. She rushed as quickly as she could go until she reached the corner and then, she was gone. He wasn't remotely surprised by her hostility toward him and she made valid points about what happened in Seattle. Vivian, Silas's wife and Alexis' mother, was in Seattle when the invasion happened, and she was among the first casualties of that attack. Silas was across the country in Washington D.C. and Alexis was in Oregon going to college. While it was somewhat understandable that Alexis couldn't do anything, she was angry about the perceived belief that Silas consciously failed to act at all.

But Silas was aware that he couldn't tell Alexis the real reason for his apparent lack of concern for anything beyond his work. If Alexis knew the real reason, Silas believed, her life would be put at risk. Silas didn't want that. He'd have rather killed himself first than put his daughter at risk. At the same time, his work was the second of two reasons why Silas made the flight from D.C. Alexis was the first and foremost reason. The second reason was…

Silas's thoughts suddenly trailed off when he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. He spun around to see what or who had caught his attention but found nothing. Putting the thought out of his mind, Silas headed for his rental car and entered. He thought about his strained relationship with Alexis again but had no idea what to do to mend it. After starting the car, Silas reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a thin sheet. He opened it to reveal a photograph depicting a woman. A tear dropped from his eye as he studied the photograph his departed wife Vivian.

"You'd have been proud of her, Viv." Silas whispered to the photo before he put it back in his pocket before he drove off.

Unbeknownst to Silas, Joshua Joyce was lurking around a corner having watched the tense father/daughter exchange. If Silas had caught sight of him for even a moment, he'd wonder how Joshua made it all the way from D.C. to Portland. Joshua had his ways, but he was going to keep those little tidbits to himself for now. He still had a certain piece of business to discuss with Silas… business that involved the Chimera Project... and possibly more.


Brainstorm and Highbrow were making surprisingly good time in the rebuilding process of the Technobots. It never occurred to Brainstorm that the schematics that Highbrow received from Scattershot were actually simply to decipher. Since then, the two Autobot scientists were hard at work to get the Technobots back in fighting shape. But even with their combine knowhow, Brainstorm and Highbrow knew full well that they alone couldn't get the job done. Luckily, they didn't have to do it alone.

Wheeljack was freshly returned from Cybertron. He arrived with an array of tools of his trade to aid in the reconstruction of the Technobots. Wheeljack couldn't help but marvel at the design of the five robots that he was helping to rebuild. Plus, he was eager to interact with them assuming they were as smart as Brainstorm suggested. But Wheeljack's thoughts on the matter were suddenly interrupted by a ruckus among his tools. The culprit appeared from underneath the mess and it was Rattletrap.

"Scrappin' pile of scrap!" the diminutive Autobot snapped and tossed a small device into the air.

The device flew through air and Wheeljack dove over to grab it. "Careful, Rattletrap. I need this module to amplify the Ground Bridge controls."

"Hey, I'm a mechanic and the kind of stuff you do is why beyond my pay grade. Why'd you even ask me to help you this anyway, Jack-Pipe?" Rattletrap asked, using a name that Wheeljack hated.

"First of all, don't call me Jack-Pipe. Secondly, you're the only other Autobot besides Brainstorm and Highbrow who can adequately reassemble certain complex machines. These Technobots, from what I've been told, all have a very complex design to them… especially when they combine into… what's he called, Highbrow?" Wheeljack said.

"Computron!" Highbrow replied.

"Computron? With a name that stupid, it's no wonder these bots blew themselves up." Rattletrap claimed.

"That's hilarious coming from you, Rattletrap. With a name like yours, it's a wonder why you haven't blown yourself up." Brainstorm retorted.

"Yeah, keep talking, Brainy, and don't come crying to me when these Techno-geek-bots blow up in your face again." Rattletrap said.

Highbrow sighed and asked Wheeljack, "Wheeljack, did you really have to bring him along?"

"Contrary to his, uh, 'sunny' disposition, Rattletrap knows a thing or two about mechanical engineering and he can apply modifications with the best of them. So believe it or not, his expertise can add to whatever improvements we can make to the Technobots." Wheeljack explained.

"Well, yeah, but couldn't you have tried contacting Perceptor? He's more of a scientist than Rattletrap." Brainstorm said.

"I think Perceptor has made it abundantly clear that he has no interest in coming out of retirement." Highbrow stated.

"You spoke to him?" Brainstorm said.

"Fairly recently. He's quite happy on Zamojin." Highbrow said.

"Good for him. The last thing we need is another smart bot telling me what to do." Rattletrap claimed.

Amid all of the chattering between the four Autobots, Optimus Prime arrived in the lab. The leader of the Autobots didn't have to speak a word for the foursome to take notice of him. They gave him a snap salute before returning to their work. Optimus Prime drew his attention toward the husks that were the Technobots, and he was surprised by the progress made in their restoration. He'd already assumed that one of the scientists would inform him of their progress, but he opted to inquire about it for the sake of it.

"I see you've all been hard at work with the Technobots." Optimus said.

"Yes, Optimus. The schematics that Scattershot handed me prior to the recent skirmish with the Decepticons has proven to be most valuable to us." Highbrow stated.

"I've already did the calculations and I've estimated that the Technobots will be fully active within the next two Earth days barring another Decepticon attack." Brainstorm stated.

"Luckily, I was wise enough to prepare a contingency plan in the event of said Decepticon attack." Wheeljack claimed with air of confidence in his tone.

"What sort of contingency, Wheeljack?" Optimus Prime asked.

Wheeljack chuckled and replied to Optimus Prime, "Well, let's just say the Decepticons won't know what hit them."

Knowing the Autobot's resident mad scientist as well as he did, Optimus gave Wheeljack's somewhat cryptic response some consideration and stated, "I trust you, Wheeljack… as long as you don't blown the city."

"Optimus, it's me." Wheeljack claimed.

"That is what concerns me," Optimus admitted and went to leave the lab. But he stopped and added, "When you have the time, Wheeljack, I need you to meet Triage in the infirmary to examine the… remains of the robotic creature that arrived with Windblade."

Rattletrap offhandedly said, "You don't actually believe the whole 'I came from the future' stuff from what-her-name, do you, Prime?"

"Time travel is possible if you look at it from a theoretical standpoint, Rattletrap." Brainstorm stated.

"Additionally, Rattletrap, Earth has seen it's fair share of temporal anomalies so it's not totally unheard of." Highbrow added.

"I still think it's a crock o' scrud." Rattletrap said.

"And that's why you're not a scientist." Brainstorm quipped.


Silas arrived at an undisclosed location in the woods just outside of Portland where an unmarked M.E.C.H. facility rested. Parking his rental nearby, he made his way toward a door on the side of the building. A touchpad rested beside the door and Silas placed his hand upon it where a tiny blue beam of light traced the palm. The scan finished within a moment and the door could be heard unlocking. Silas moved to the door and he opened it, but he stopped short of entering and looked around at the surrounding area.

Aside from the rustling of trees, likely from a few small gusts of wind, Silas saw nothing to indicate intrusion. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. The feeling took over quickly, and he pulled out a pistol from a side holster while maintaining a death grip on the door handle. Aside from the trees rustling, he didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. That was what worried Silas the most: the silence. Beyond the uncomfortable silence, Silas set his gun back in its holster and entered the building. The door closed and locked behind him.

Somehow and without Silas's knowledge, Joshua Joyce appeared among the bushes that concealed him from view. Remaining in hiding for the moment, Joyce studied the M.E.C.H. building closely and quickly noted a lone camera high above the ground that automatically turned from left to right and back again. Joyce was certain that it wasn't the only camera, but he'd studied the device long enough to determine the blind spots. He waited until the camera had turned away from where he was hiding and when it was pointed away, he made his move.

Joyce made it to the door, directly under the camera but out of its field of view. He studied the touchpad Silas used earlier and deduced that it used a biometric scanning system. Noting the likelihood of being denied entry into the building, Joyce rolled up the right sleeve of his coat and exposed a metallic surface on his hand and wrist. A small series of wires emerged from his wrist and connected to the touchpad, quickly interfacing with the system and unlocking the door. Joyce looked the retracting wires in disgust before he went into the building.


Silas walked through the building in which over a dozen M.E.C.H. scientists worked on various projects. Most of those projected held virtually no appear to Silas, but he frequently halted for a brief second to study them before moving on. He continued onward into a hallway that led to a separate area, a private sector that only a select few could enter. Like outside, there was a touchpad that Silas activated before he stepped inside the next room. A man of African-American decent in a military uniform stood over a table holding a clipboard. He saw Silas approaching and instantly snapped a salute.

"Sir!"

Silas returned the salute while saying, "At ease, Sargent Epps. Where are we on Project Chimera?"

The soldier's name was Sargent Omar Epps, and he appeared younger than Silas but no less devoted to his duty. "We've made some considerable progress on the project but we're still a way's off from bringing the prototype to working order."

"What's the problem?" Silas said as he looked at the mangled corpse on the table.

Epps looked at the remains of Josie Beller, which had burned flesh and fused metal in equal measure and the eyes were open but motionless. "Reverse-engineering the tech that made the decedent into this walking Circuit Breaker is a slow process in of itself. It keeps doubling back on us as if it's rejecting it like a virus rejects a vaccine."

"We'd used this technology to fix Beller after the Golden Gate incident. We'd ought to be more than capable to reverse-engineering it for the prototype." Silas said.

"Yet the system continues to fight it, as if it has a mind of its mind. We've seen how that tends to work out poorly in the movies. Where's John Connor when you need him, right?" Epps said, but Silas wasn't paying attention.

Silas reached a window and looked out of it at another area of the building. An entire army of people was working around a large metallic body that was only partially completed, but had components exposed. It had the usual appendages that a body generally needed: arms, legs, and torso and head. These were where the circuitry and other numerous components were exposed for all to see, and the various scientists worked diligently to get the machine completed.

Epps had served under Silas for years, and the two became as close as brothers. It was easy to know that something was bothering the older soldier, but Epps wasn't the type to pry into Silas's personal life. But that didn't mean that Epps wasn't aware of something, because Epps already knew what was bothering Silas. He knew instantly that it had to do with what happened to Vivian eight months ago in Seattle. Curiosity got the better of Epps and approached Silas, standing at the window right next to him and looking down at the prototype.

"So, you see Alexis yet?" Epps asked.

"Yeah, but she wasn't particularly thrilled to see me. I can't blame her if I'm to be honest." Silas admitted to Epps.

"If she knew what you were doing right now, you think things would be a little different?" Epps asked.

"I don't know, Omar. I keep so many secrets about my work with M.E.C.H. from her, and at the same time, I always think she's hiding things from me. That alone makes me want to beat my head against a wall."

Epps cracked a sly smirk and said, "Well, the window's right here, sir!"

"Ha, ha, Sargent! You get that idea from god-awful M. Night Shayamalan?" Silas asked, to which Epps simply shrugged.

Turning serious, Epps asked, "This project that we have going; can you honestly say with absolutely certainty that this is a good a idea?"

Silas fell silent for a long while, and he frequently alternated glances between Epps and the Chimera prototype in the next room. He finally replied, "Honestly? I have my doubts about it. I haven't anything against the Transformers but rather, I admire them. I admire what they can do and the technological advances of their race. Yet at the same time, they brought their war to our world and innocent people paid the price."

"It'd be a lot easier if we could all just work together, wouldn't it?" Epps said.

"Yes it would. Looking at it right now though, Project Chimera is probably the only option we have. I never wanted war with the Transformers but they've forced our hand. I lost my wife and Alexis lost her mother. This, I think, is only way to ensure they no other man, woman or child has to endure the say hardship. That doesn't mean I don't have my doubts." Silas said.

Epps nodded in the affirmative. "Well, seeing as we're going all the way on this, did you happen to consider giving the prototype a name."

"Yeah," Silas replied as he looked the prototype once more. "I think I'll call it… Flamewar."


Joyce played incognito as he walked through the M.E.C.H. facility, taking in the sights and sounds of these people as they worked. None of them were at all the wiser of the intruder as he walked passed them, obstinately assuming that he was one of them. Joyce did nothing to draw any kind of attention to himself as continued on and eventually reached the main entrance into the largest part of the building. This was where the Chimera prototype body was being constructed.

Keeping his composer, Joyce studied the husk of metalwork and noted the similarities it had with the Transformers. Joyce gazed up at the window overlooking the room. He could see Silas and Epps up in the other room, but Silas couldn't see him well enough to identify him. He then focused hard and, while no one could notice, his eyes turned from a shade of brown to a shade of green. From his point of view, he could actually see through the wall and noticed the corpse of Josie Beller lying on the table. Joyce shook his head of the sensation and quietly snarled at having used another of his… specialties.

Moving on, he continued through the facility for a time until he found where he wanted to be. A duel set of doors was there that led into a computer room, and Joyce leaned up against the wall beside those doors. He waited until three people left the room before he entered. Inside, there was a series of screens with various digital blueprints detailing the prototype as well as other projects. Joyce didn't actually care about that, because he only needed access to a computer. The largest of these was staring him right in the face, and Joyce extended the wiring from his right arm from before.

The interface was instantaneous and the screen flashed with a rapid imaged that came and went in rapid succession. Joyce followed the imaged as they dashed along until he found what he wanted. Joyce studied the imagery closely and he felt a slight smirk creeping onto his face. The image was one of an area somewhere in Eastern Siberia, complete with coordinates. Upon this, Joyce smiled wider.

"Excuse me…" a voice called out, and Joyce was confronted by a lone person in a lab coat. "What are you doing in here? Who are you?"

Joyce sighed before he quickly outstretched his right arm, and the wires shot out and grabbed the man by his neck. Drawing him closer, Joyce coldly replied, "Wouldn't you like to know."

The doomed man struggled to breathe against the metallic tendrils around his neck… before Joyce violently snapped it.


Author's Note: Okay, this latest chapter is a little Human-centric than the previous ones and focuses primarily on Silas's personal and professional life. I wanted to make him more complicated and somewhat more conflicted than he was in TF: Prime.

There's the official introduction of Alexis, who isn't exactly on good terms with her father after the death of her mother during the Seattle attack. She also has no idea of her Dad's secret profession. She has a secret of her own but I'll keep that to myself for now.

Meanwhile, Wheeljack and Rattletrap return to help Brainstorm and Highbrow rebuild the Technobots. There are still more returns coming but you'll need to have a little patience.

Finally, Joshua Joyce is apparently not who he appears to be. I'll keep that to myself also, but you're welcome to speculate. So, let me know what you think and I will return soon. Peace!