Chapter 6. Flawless Plans.
Flying high above the cloud cover there was not really much for Andrew to see. Skywarp's color's made him stand out against most things, and with the governments that ruled over Earth it was best to stay above and out of view or below radar. Here in the top of the atmosphere, Soundwave could distort the ways around him and even mask Skywarp's jet signature to resemble a satellite orbiting at low altitudes. It made for a rather boring flight so Andrew decided he was going to look across at Soundwave. He had a hard time contemplating the complexity of how that giant robot managed to shrink down small enough to be a hand held micro cassette recorder. Then again he had to smile at himself as well, the scientist in him wanted to know how it could be done so that he can do it as well. That would be something he could sell, and make a profit on. He would never have to leave home ever again with something like that. Hell for that matter use it on his house and take it with him. He shook his head that thought was ridiculous, but then again was it? After all it had to have compressed the cassettes with in his body as well not just the outside since then the cassettes would come bursting out and damaging him as well. He wondered if the growth or shrinkage could be control, like if Soundwave had waned to, could he transform into a boom box, size instead of all the way down. Or maybe when he transformed back he could only grow till he was perhaps 6 feet tall and pass for a human. Andrew's brain buzzed with questions until the jet he rode in suddenly decided he was going to do a few barrel rolls. His harness pulled tight as gravity took over throwing him nearly out of his seat and to the glass. He was lucky that he had pulled it tight or his face would be part of the cockpit window. His stomach turned with him, only it did not like it as much as he had thought he would. Which one was it again, his over worked brain could not remember, then it dawn on him suddenly.
"Skywarp!"
The dash of the jet lit up with lights and the speakers voice came to life. "What'da you want?"
"Keep this up and I'm going to puke." Andrew tried to hold himself in the seat but his weight and the power of the g-forces was too much to overcome.
Thinking about it Skywarp leveled out. He had already told Soundwave he did not want human mess in his cockpit and he was not about to induce vomit himself, though he had to admit that would be mildly hilarious. "Fine party pooper."
Andrew looked at the console that flashed at him when Skywarp spoke. "If I pushed the stick forward would it work?" that was something that he had wondered the second he had got into Skywarp.
"I don't ferry humans around." Which was Skywarp's way of saying do not touch anything.
Andrew took a firm grasp of the stick and yoke that was before him. "Are you sure?" He had wanted to test it, though he was sure he was not going to be doing any barrel rolls if he could keep from doing so.
"Fine, it is linked to the drive system. Fly by wire if you know what that means smart guy." Skywarp hated to admit to it, but Andrew did sort of have him by the stick.
He tested it, slide it to the left just a hair and watched as Skywarp began to bank toward Soundwave. The blue robot looked over and his optic visor brightened in irritation having had to slid over to keep from being hit. Andrew realized how easy it was to do something stupid in the air quickly and released the stick. "I was just curious." He said.
"Last human that got curious decided he was going to go kamikaze, let's just say he didn't make it." Skywarp had no issues killing humans particularly ones that wanted to damage him in the process.
"Sounds messy." Andrew shook his head.
"It was, but it was funny too." Skywarp chuckled.
Soundwave sped up a little ahead of them giving the signal to the base to raise the tower. He had enough of the games and Skywarp's little brash attitude for one day. The long opening draw type bridge opened permitting Soundwave and Skywarp to land, though this time Skywarp use it more like a run way so he would not have to pull Andrew out at the last minute as he transformed. The tower closed and Skywarp's cockpit opened allowing Andrew to climb out.
Ugh, Andrew jumped the last rung on the ladder from Skywarp's cockpit. IT was the first time he had ever felt sick on a ride, and that included theme park rides. The free flight of a jet was something else totally different, it made him want to do it again, though tighten himself in and of course be aware of the flight pattern beforehand. The instant he looked around he got a sense of something totally different, not only because it was, it was because of the moment of the tower. He had not realized that the elevator effect would have such an impact on him as he felt thing in his pockets get lighter. He himself was in no danger of rising up, but the smaller things seemed to want to float about. He thought for a second if he'd have had a coffee cup he would have had to test its ability to float. He smiled at the thought then looked up at Soundwave. He seemed to be the one in control of the little expedition to come get him. He walked a little across the way being careful how he did as he actually did feel himself lift at a point.
Not moving Soundwave knew what Andrew wanted. Humans were much easier to read than his own race, their body language gave away most things. "We brought you here to replicate your amplifier."
There was a look on Andrew's face for a second, he had not realized that it was amplifying at the time, simply because he was looking to produce energy and he had, he had not realized that the reversing of the polarity had caused it to use energy as well as put out. "Don't you already have it?"
Soundwave nodded. "It is here, Scrapper has taken it apart."
"Taken it apart?" Andrew turned white as a sheet. "I built it from the ground up, it took me nearly two months to get it up and running."
"Scrapper has disassembled it in six hours." Soundwave said looking down at the human.
Andrew has having a hard time contemplating how he was ever going to anything here if they were so far ahead of what he was already thinking. "Why do you need me then?"
"Megatron's orders." Soundwave answered.
He had nearly forgot about that. Megatron was the leader. The one that carried that massive cannon on his arm. He would have to face that leader and the cannon, what did it matter though anyone of the others could swat him like a fly right out of existence. He sighed hard, whatever Megatron wanted him for they sure went out of their way to make sure that his company was not hurt or damaged. That was not like how he remembered the last meetings with the jets. He suspected that Skywarp was not the leader, but he found that on the internet. Most of the pictures he had seen the silver, red and blue one leading which he had finally decided was Starscream. He was obviously not around.
When the tower lift hit the ground Andrew nearly fell, his lighter than air walk was over and he wasn't expecting it causing one knee to give way. Not something he had liked. These were the war machines, the Decepticons, ones that hated weakness. He thought about that for half a second and then decided he probably should not have told Skywarp he was going to puke either. But safer to do so than be killed for having his stomach's contents on the jet's console. He stood up in his place and looked around, Skywarp transformed, and headed through a door way, but Soundwave had yet to move. He was unsure what to do, he had no knowledge of where anything was or how to go about doing things.
After a few moments Soundwave kneeled and placed his hand down. "You will come with me." He said in his same harmonic tones.
Of course Andrew complied and sat on Soundwave's hand allowing him to take him up into the air. That was another eerie feeling and even a bit of a weightlessness as Soundwave stopped his hand suddenly and Andrew popped up just a hair. "I guess we are going to go see the leader?" It was not a question really, it was just the next logical step.
"Affirmative." Soundwave began to walk making his way to Megatron's office pretty much ignoring everything else, or well that's what it looked like. His sensors and optic visor caught everything. Including Astrotrain's disgust. He stood at the door to Megatron's office his sensors on full, he was not stupid, and would rather know what type of a mood the War Lord was in before entering to he could adjust. Seemingly content inside, Soundwave signaled his presence, he had no need for buttons.
The look on Megatron's face components changed from that of thought to amusement. He knew very well that signal meant Soundwave had returned. He turned to face the door and allowed entry with his standard greeting. "Come."
Taking the cue without hesitation, Soundwave entered. "Human retrieved." He announced.
"Excellent work Soundwave." It was obvious that the human had agreed to since it was sitting on Soundwave's hand. "Bring it here." On closer inspection it was a male, about age twenty-four, that was slightly surprising, most of the humans that seemed worth anything, and even then that was questionable, were all older.
Soundwave lowered his hand to Megatron's desk allowing Andrew to step down and stand on the desk. It was rather awkward to be put on display, or seemingly sized up, but he did not have much choice. His lack of information on Decepticons was being filled at the moment and he would be best to let them do as they would rather than get in the way. His curiosity was nagging harshly at the back of his mind to start analyzing things and ask questions. He pushed it back though knowing it was not the time for it. Some questions were answered simply by being there; Yes, Megatron was the leader. Yes, Soundwave did not talk much but seemed to be in a leadership role as well; which one he had not yet figured out. The one jet was Skywarp, that was fact as he had seen it teleport. Which as another barrel of monkeys he had hoped to open later.
Watching the man look around Megatron gave him a decent once over. He was just like any other human, granted he had not aimed any insults at them nor had he made any attempt to escape. Dr. Archevil had never really tried to escape either, but that intolerable human talked way too much. The good Dr. had thought he was on par with the Decepticons when he was very much far from it. Megatron had his own curiosity, just as his Decepticons were different each human was just a little different, some of them, in fact most of them would be considered allied with the Autobots their frame of mind warped around what was supposed to be all that was good. Then there were the few that might be considered his allies ones that would devote themselves to Megatron, and his Decepticons, they however were the greedy, and wicked, vile creatures if he had ever met one. He stared at the man for a long time debating on which one he thought this human was going to turn out to be. He leaned forward in his chair and addressed Andrew directly. "What is your name human?"
For a second Andrew looked back at Megatron in surprise, he did not think the lead would care enough to know his name. "Andrew." He answered hastily after that.
"No Doctor, or Professor? Have you no formal education?" Megatron knew what happened on this planet, it would be stupid of him not to have learned how to handle a species when residing on their home planet. He had done enough of his own research to make him versed in human behavior. This human seemed to have some sort of mild shock or the realization had not set in yet.
"I have a few degrees, but I don't like to be called anything special." Which was the truth. Andrew disliked the formality of it since those that he knew best had none, and seemed to feel inferior to him. He never picked up being called anything but Andrew.
Handing Megatron a datapad Soundwave had already gone though the man's history and education, which is why his file had been on display at the company. The leader scanned it over quickly and then turned his attention back to the human again. "So you have a lot of commendations, as well as credits and they see you as an asset to their work. Interesting. What do you know about the materials that were given to you, to create this amplifier?"
Taking a moment to really think about it, Andrew shrugged, then spoke. "I ordered it. It had no links to its origin, it came, and I installed it. That's it." He looked up at the leader who sat back in the chair.
"What makes your generator any different than any other generator?" Megatron questioned.
"I hand built it. I changes a lot of the specs that other generators have. And well I had not expected it to become an amplifier." Andrew rubbed the back of his head. "It took me two months to get that generator right where I wanted it. And then of course it was… came up missing." He debated of if stolen would be the right word if they had been funding the project in the first place.
"Indeed. Can you replicate the process?"
"If I had all my notes, I don't see why not. Materials would be needed of course." For an instant he could not believe what he was saying. It sounded as if he was really going to help the Decepticons. "If you have all the information why do you need me for?" It had come out faster than he had hoped, he almost flinched in the process. If they did not need him after all the they could just simply kill him on the spot and be done with it. Definitely something he did not want.
The Decepticon Leader's optics narrowed, this human had more barings that he thought. He obviously was not in shock like he had first suspected. "Soundwave has brought you here because I so ordered. As for needing you, understand this, Decepticons are not in need of humans in anyway. The company you worked for was nothing but a toy created by one of my officers nothing more."
That was a harsh blow to Andrew, but a wakeup call as well. His existence was nothing but something to play with for them. He would have to pick and choose his words carefully if he wanted to survive. He was for the moment unable to say anything for lack of complaint about the foolishness of up till this point his entire life. The best he could do was nod. He at least understood what was being said.
Raising an optic brow Megatron watched Andrew a little longer. "I am pleased that you understand you position here. However you may be removed at any time I wish. You are also not to have contact with Starscream."
Andrew could not help the look of odd inquiry that came to his face. He had no real reason to talk to Starscream, nor had he ever talked to Starscream in the first place.
The answer Megatron was looking for was not what he had got. "He has had no contact with him has he?"
Soundwave moved his head from side to side, "Negative, subject has never been introduced to Starscream."
It was a comfort not to have to explain that one. Andrew watched listening to what was going on.
"You have his work with you?"
Again Soundwave nodded, he had downloaded the entire database of the company so anything else that sparked his interest he would have access too as well. "Affirmative."
"Excellent. Take our friend here to Scrapper. Then find out if where Starscream got the alloy." Megatron watched as Soundwave put his hand down for Andrew to climb back into it.
"I take it my stay has been extended then?" He said wondering if they knew what it would take to sustain a human for a period of time.
"Yes, for now. Anything you need will be given to you thought Soundwave. I suggest you make a list of anything you may need, and make sure you do not leave anything out or you will find that it will be harder to get later."
Andrew got into Soundwave's hand an looked up at him. "Does that include a place to sleep?"
Chuckling Megatron smirked. "We still have the old Doctor's quarters, you may use that and change it to suit you."
That was somewhat comforting. He sat in Soundwave's hand and felt himself being lifted again. A list of needs. Sounds like some camping trip he thought. As he was carried from Megatron's office he began to look around more, if he was staying he was going to need to figure out where things were and how to get around. He knew that the Decepticons did not care for humans which mean he himself was going to have to make sure he was not stepped on or anything like that. Soundwave put him down at a door, this door was not fit for Transformers though, the taller robot pressed the data pad that seemed to pass for key locks and the door slid open.
"Touch the command pad." Soundwave said. His voice obviously and order not a request.
Andrew did it, and a small shock made him flinch. He looked at it but did not move his hand.
"It will respond to you now." Soundwave informed him.
Moving his hand off the wall and then back on it, the door opened permitting him to go inside. "Are we going to Scrapper now?"
"Affirmative."
He looked inside for a moment then came back out. "First, I'll need away to find my way around. There aren't any markings I am familiar with." It was not really a demand, but Megatron had told him to make sure he told Soundwave what he needed.
He would soon have to go and make a list, then again he would have to ask Soundwave if food was part of that list. Ongoing list indeed. He looked up at Soundwave curious if he was going to be carried again, or if he was meant to follow.
Soundwave actually stood back and pressed the button on his chest panel opening the large window that made up most of his front. "Ravage Eject."
A black cassette slid out of the panel and unfolded into a small black panther. It looked back up at Soundwave then at Andrew. "Take him to the Medical bay." Soundwave's tone of voice held no harsh tones, but it was easy to see that it was meant as an order.
Softy Ravage growled his response and then came closer to Andrew giving him a good sniff as he walked past him.
Not sure what he should do Andrew did not move. He realized that this was a robotic cat, but the feeling of wanting to run still pulled at his muscles. Ravage growled in Andrew's direction, then looked the other way. Hearing what Soundwave had said, he followed the cat down the hall.
The machine hummed while Nicole lay still in it. This was the beginning of Preceptors long battery of tests. When she laid down he assured her that it would not be painful, but the hum seemed rather loud. She held still as he revolved around her, it was much more complex than that of any hospital she knew, of course it was not as if she was in hospitals often. As it worked its way up from her toes to her head the hum increased. She wanted to reach up and cover her ears to help drowned out the sound, but Perceptor had told her not to move. "Perceptor?" She called though she was not sure that he could hear her over the sound of the machine. Nothing happened. The band that was circling her was around her chest, she could feel the vibration though out her body. She held still a little longer then called again "Perceptor!"
The microscope scientist paused the machine, "Nicole?" He looked down the tube at her.
"The sound, it's so loud." She shook her head, still hearing the ringing.
The Autobot examined the machine, and tweaking one of is servo motors and giving it a bit of oil as well. "Well now let's try this." Once again he started the machine this time the sound was much softer.
Nicole smiled, "Much better." She said though she was sure that she was pretty much saying it to herself.
The machine moved and then slid and moved again, it kept up its testing for nearly two hours before Preceptor opened it up and allowed Nicole to sit up. "It is very interesting, but I think you may want a break."
"Yeah, I gotta go." She got up fairly quickly and headed back to her room.
Ratchet stood there and looked at Preceptor with a look of 'I told you so' on his faceplate. "You forget that she is a human."
"How could I possibly forget that?" Preceptor said mildly shocked.
"As a human she has needs, don't forget that. I would assume she had to go to the waste receptacle." Ratchet attempted to explain.
The dawn of realization hit Perceptor like a ton of bricks. "OH, I see. I shall endeavor to remember that when she returns."
"I should say so." Ratchet examined some of the results that came from the tests. "What is it you are looking for exactly?"
"There are a lot of differences between male and female than just gender Ratchet." He pulled up a scan and pointed to a section "The brain patterns themselves are somewhat different, she makes a great subject for my next project."
"Another project? Between you and Wheeljack, I have no time to rest." Ratchet crossed his arms across his chest. "And did Optimus Prime approve of this project?"
There was a long silence, before Perceptor shook his head no. "I have not had the time to write up that report yet."
"Before you go making more mess of this poor girl's life I suggest you make sure that it is approved by both of them." Ratchet handed Perceptor a data pad for him to begin his report. Looking at it the scientist took it and began to work.
Coming in the door at that sight Wheeljack laughed out loud. "HA! He got you to do reports too?"
"If you would do them when they were needed, I wouldn't have to keep on you about it." He said in a gruff tone.
"I am sure Prime thanks you for that." Wheeljack said back in jest.
"I have not failed to give my reports to Optimus on time, not once." Perceptor said still concentrating on his new report.
After taking care of everything and waiting another half hour so her body can feel normal again Nicole ate and headed back to Perceptor's lab. "Alright I feel much better now." She said walking in with a smile.
The room did not stop for her entry. The occupants went about her work as if she had not even come in at all. A little disheartened, she made her way to the back of the room and attempted to scale one of the latter's that had been made for Spike to join them. She however was much shorter than he was and the rungs were much farther apart than they had originally looked. About half way up she paused and looked up to see how much further it was going to be. When she saw the task at hand she called again "Perceptor!"
Being engrossed into his report Perceptor finally looked to see what was calling him. He disliked that his audios were not picking her voice out of the other noises and changed the priority to that it would catch his attention much quicker. "What can I do for you Nicole?" He had asked as if it were no big deal.
Nicole suddenly got the impression that he did not like her. "Can I get a little help here before I fall to my death?" her voice was full of sarcasm. Their table was much too high and too rough for her to climb without first getting some stamina.
Looking down his highly tuned optics make the observation, she was having complications traversing the latter. He offered his hand down to her and she stepped out onto it with a bit of a wobble, then fell to her hands and knees as he began to move her. Perceptor paced his hand on the table so she could stand then step down. "I had not realized your height would give you issues using the same tools that Spike does."
"And here I thought that all these tests would have told you that by now." She said looking at the monitor.
"No, but it has made you a perfect candidate for my next project." He said his tone a highly hearted nature.
She looked at him seriously for a moment, "And why isn't Spike you're next project?"
A schematic of her brain patterns, and the previous flexibility test came up in comparison to Spikes. "He is not suited for it. His patterns are not as clear, and are structured differently. His physical structure is made up of more dense muscle and he cannot stretch as you are able." He pointed as he talked showing her differences. "I do have to finish my proposal to Optimus before I can technically ask you if you are willing to participate."
If he needed clearance to take on a project she figured it seemed routine. "What is it?"
Perceptor pulled out a small box, "I had originally made it for Spike, but when he was put into an Autobot body it was set aside and discarded for fear that it may hurt him further mentally."
Naturally Nicole had heard nothing about that, it was kept hush hush from the public. "He was tuned into a Transformer?"
The look on Perceptor's face told her everything she needed to know. He did not answer but checked over the machine in his hands. "It was a converter." He started.
"Sorry I didn't know I wasn't supposed to know." She said trying to play it off in a smile.
"Do not concern you self with it. But this will change your body's energy into something a Transformer can use." He proceeded to tell her how he had hoped that it would work in a pinch to help give them some advantage over the Decepticons, a small replenish able power source would keep them fighting longer. It made sense to Nicole.
"Yeah and put more humans at risk. Not to mention if the Decepticons got hold of this what they would do with it?" Ratchet interrupted.
"The whole process would be voluntary of course." Perceptor added quickly.
"And the Decepticons would take hostages, and force them to do their work." Ratchet grumbled some more.
Looking at him she could not tell that he was one of the senior officers, but he certainly sounded like it. She looked up at Perceptor and in a serious tone loud enough she knew they could all hear her. "Does he ever say anything nice?"
Perceptor shook his head negatively. "Not normally, anything he expects everything turns out is going to turn out into a mess and something is going to make him repair it."
"I see, he thinks that if he cries and throws fits that he will make people not want to do things and he won't have to work on anything?" Nicole made a face at Ratchet taunting him.
Wheeljack tried his best not to laugh. "Yeah, you're right about that."
She giggled for a second then came closer to what Perceptor was holding. "So I put that thing on and it generates energy you can use?"
With a smile Perceptor fitted it to her.
Ratchet crossed his arms again. "And have you told Prime?"
Ignoring Ratchet, Perceptor got the machine set up on Nicole. "Tighten it down." Nicole did as asked. "Now make sure that all the little nodes are touching bare skin." Again Nicole did as she was instructed.
"So what will it feel like?" She wondered attaching the last of the nodes.
"It might give you the sensation of having an appendage how did Spike say it? Fall asleep?" He rubbed his chin in thought on how exactly he was supposed to explain something he had never had.
"Oh okay, that feeling of your foot being full of sand and stuff, that doesn't hurt." She said with a nod. "and then what happens?"
"You will be then put into a specially made harness that will connect to an Autobot's systems; from there it will draw your energy and convert it." He brought up a screen that gave Nicole an animation of what it should do.
"Looks like a miniature Transformer." She said looking at it her head slightly cocked to one side.
"In a sense yes, but unlike genuine transformers you will not change into something besides your original form." Perceptor shook his head, that was a thought for later. If it worked perhaps there would be a small easily obtainable transformation that the human could enabling it to aid its Autobot counterpart better.
"Well that sucks," Nicole said straight out, she got the pack on and looked at it over her shoulder, its wires snaked down her arms and legs and even one on the back of her neck. "I think I'm ready."
Without a word Perceptor remotely turned the back on, it beeped twice and began to hum, much like the sound of at Transformer's systems. "It should start to work in only a few moments."
Nicole nodded, and listened. The feeling where the sensors were tingled, much like as if that part of her was falling asleep, it was an odd feeling to have on places like her upper arms, and neck. Normally it was the outer appendages that had that feeling, feet, toes, hands and fingers. Once she had her whole leg fall asleep like that, but that was because she had been sitting cross legged for much too long. She decided she wanted to move around a little see how the pack was going to hold up on the move, as she began to lift her knee to take a step she noticed that it felt rather heavy. She instantly began to move other things, hands, and fingers were also experiencing this feeling of weight. "Perceptor? This thing is doing something to my muscles. I makes it hard to move."
"I feared that would happen." He turned the machine off. "Detach yourself."
Taking off the little nodes with the suction cups were a little easier said than done, they had increased the suction when the machine was turned on and had not decreased when it turned off. Removing each one left a rather bright red mark on her skin, as well as a bite of pain when she finally got it off. Nicole looked at the cups, and could not find anything in particular wrong with them, if she did not know better she might have said that she thought they liked her or something to that effect.
Ratchet noticed her looking over the pack. "What's the matter?" His tone was rather grim and rough.
"The suction cups didn't want to come off. No biggie, I got them off anyway." She said handing the pack to Perceptor.
"I will see if there is a problem with them." Perceptor said taking the pack and sitting at his work station.
There was many things that Optimus Prime did not really want to do. One was put more innocent human beings in the line of Megatron's fusion cannon. He had been told by several of the resident Autobots that humans had been attempting to enter the Ark on a fairly consistent basis. That there were several sites on the internet that were dedicated to Autobots, and their ideas of freedom. A few even though they were gods. Of course he was not a god, and nor were any of the other Autobots, but he under stood what hero worship was. He himself had a touch of it back when he was younger, though he grew out of it fast. Spike and his father Sparkplug were exceptions he had made when they first encountered humans. It made sense to him to have someone that knew more about them to aid them. Now though they had learned a lot more since the information internet had been applied. Spike was more of a friend, and an ally that he was a public relations figure as he had started out to be. Sparkplug was all by retired, every now and then he would come and check in on everyone then head back home. His age obviously wearing his energy down faster than it had before. Spike himself obviously spent more time at home now helping with the house chores and what not, and other things that Sparkplug was unable to handle. That left them without a human representative. Something that the Decepticons could not hold on to Optimus had been able to show the world that the Autobots and humans could coexist easily and gain many of favor doing so. That meant that Humans would be on the lookout and would aid him in the fight against the Decepticons. He looked down at the data pad and read it over again. Perceptor was asking to keep this young girl for a project he was working some time ago, but was halted due to the effects on Spike. That was one very clear memories for the Autobot leader. Wheeljack's machine transferred over his life force into that of an Autobot shell, but in the process, the incompatible brainwaves made things complicated, and changed the way Spike was thinking. The human turned Transformer went on a rampage, and out into the near forest where he sided with Megatron. The Decepticon leader's charismatic pull, lured Spike right into his gasp and had him shooting at the Autobots when they had arrived. The thought of humans being pushed into something similar made his core ache. It was against Autobot belief to do such things, and it was in his own power to see that it did not happen here. He leaned back in his seat thinking about the pro's and con's of each decision he had to make that put even more lives at risk. Taking a human into battle, was unnecessary, they had no armor like the Autobots did, and the weapons that were used could obliterate a human with ease. Risking a human in that respect was not an option. Which meant even if the pack Perceptor was working on worked it was not something he would be able to use.
Freedom was another issue, each human though small and by Transformer standards easily killed, had its rights, and freedoms; something that was at the base programming of Optimus' core. If a human chose to risk its life for the benefit of others then that was its choice. In fact many armies worked on a very similar pattern. The weight of leadership pressed on Optimus' shoulders hard making him want to sink into his seat. He thought it was something that came with the seat of leadership, but hoped one day that he too would have the freedoms that he and the other Autobots fought so dearly for. That though was a long ways off, and the war that had been going on for millions of years had taken on a stalemate. It was something he had been taught a long time ago from Alpha Trion as well. War was an arms race, whichever side had the best weapons, or strategies gained power over the other. This was why he encouraged Perceptor, and Wheeljack to do their best and help them discover things that would aid them. His cerebro processor went round and round about it, one thing led to a end which was created by another moral, or standard which he had been sworn to live by. The judgment of a great leader was knowing when to break them, and do what is needed to move on for the better of the population. He had told his oldest foe Megatron one time in the heat of battle, when they had been locked in hand to hand combat, and Megatron laughed at him asking why one human life was worth all the effort; "Because you would never stop at just one Megatron." Deep down he knew Megatron would not stop either. He sided with the freedom, he would approve this project and tell Perceptor that he would need to find away to make the human that used it safer. He used his finger to approve the order. Being a quick and easy procedure, much like an email, Prime sent the notification back to Perceptor.
Nicole looked around at the computer that make a chime, "What's that?"
"That is our conformation on if we can proceed or not with this project." Perceptor explained. He opened up the folder and read what Optimus Prime had to say. After reading it once he repeated. What was most informative, "He has agreed to let us go on with the project provided, we can find away to keep the human using it safer than just the pack."
Wheeljack got one of Spike's exosuit "Maybe we can fit it to one of these?" He held the white thing up.
"Excellent idea Wheeljack." He took the suit and began to work on it.
Walking over Nicole looked at it, "Exosuit?"
Wheeljack nodded, "Yeah we created these for Spike since he was always around, he doesn't use them any more kinda grew out of them. But they should fit you just right." He turned around and took a second one from the cabinet that seemed to have an endless supply. "Here try this one on. We can make adjustments to this one now instead of later."
Looking at it carefully, Nicole crawled into it feet first. "What does it do exactly?" Before anyone could answer, the top snapped shut and it powered up around her. "Hey guys?" Her voice was suddenly amplified out of the suits speakers. She looked around as if she thought they might be mad.
"Whoa slow down there," Wheeljack helped to stand her up on her legs.
She staggered a little making Wheeljack chuckle as it reminded him of how Spike did the first time he put the suit on. She leaned forward and stool a step, then back and held still, her arms out to the side looking for balance. She held her breath for a second trying to feel her way through, "It's like learning to walk all over again.
"That's pretty much what Spike said too." Wheeljack nodded.
"How do I fix it?" Her arms, flailed again just a little still attempting to keep balance.
"Honestly, you have to just do it. Use it get used to it. Don't try to over compensate." It was the truth, Wheeljack had watched Spike. It took some time.
Falling back she put her hands back instinctively and willed them to catch her, instead the suit's thrusters came on and pushed her forward lifting her up off her feet. "Whoa!" She called, as the jets stopped and began to drop her.
Wheeljack caught her. "Alright that's enough." He said setting her down on her aft.
"I can fly?" Nicole was surprised. "I mean well the suit can fly?"
"Yeah it can do everything, even transform." Preceptor said still working. "And when I am done with this one. You will be able to attach to another transformer."
"I think I might have to get used to using it first, I mean before I try to do anything else, it would help to be able to stand up. And maybe walk." For the most part Nicole was serious, she did not like being so out of control, and it moved so easy, rather than being heavy like it looked.
"It is a good thing to get used to it, as you will need to learn it inside and out if you are going to do accomplish this." Perceptor spoke again without looking.
