Chapter 7
I softly sang along to Wait for You by Elliot Yamin as I typed away on my laptop. It was the next morning and Optimus had woken me up an hour ago when he crossed into California. He had driven all night and when I asked him if he needed to stop to sleep—er, recharge—he explained that one day on Cybertron was the same length as three Earth days and that he had only been recharging when I was sleeping because he had nothing to do. So after stopping to let me eat and use the bathroom we were in the final hours of our trip.
I laid on my front on Optimus' cabin bed while I worked he browsed radio stations for good songs. He was partial to symphony music, but seemed to find random modern music that he liked as well. I had no problem since I liked all music with the exception of songs that just rubbed me the wrong way. My fingers flew over the keys without me having to consciously think about it as my eyes remained locked on the lines of code. Optimus had finally allowed me to work late last night and this morning, giving no reason for his change of mind.
I yawned and Optimus immediately switched to softer symphony music and I felt a light dancing emotion when I glared at the radio. "You're not very subtle, mech," I told him.
"Your recharge was interrupted last night," he pointed out. "From what I've researched humans your age need as much recharge as they can get."
I didn't correct his term as I continued hacking. "But then we wouldn't have found out that there is at least one Cybertronian in North America until this morning." The universe seemed to be out to deprive me of sleep because my laptop had started beeping in the middle of the night while I was sleeping in Optimus' cabin bed. After discovering that a meteor had pulled a disappearing act in California a few years ago, Optimus had done his weird, but strangely comforting, massage and conforming thing with the bed and it hadn't been long before I went back to sleep.
"The information would've been there when you woke up," he shot back.
I hummed in agreement. "True. But why leave precious information like that for later? It's better to read it as soon as you find it."
"Patience, Dark Star," my friend chided in a gentle teasing tone in Cybertronian.
"I have plenty," I replied good naturedly in the same alien language. "I just…choose when to…act with it." I rubbed my throat with a grimace, holding off a cough.
"Are you okay?" Optimus asked, the light emotion changing to a flash of a heavy one. He switched back to English.
I couldn't hold back a little cough, but I refused to let a coughing fit to happen. "Yeah," I whispered, knowing talking loudly would trigger the fit. "Cyber is just hard on my throat."
"Cyber?" he repeated, confused.
I nodded and ducked my head when the coughing fit finally came and I hacked into my elbow before clearing my throat and answering. "It's short for Cybertronian. I just thought that you use the word a lot for different things and should differentiate what I mean. Cyber is the language while you are a Cybertronian."
Optimus made a noise of agreement and then suggested, "Perhaps you should stop speaking Cyber for a few days to let your throat heal."
I nodded and went back to hacking. "Yeah. How long until we reach Sam's house?"
"We will reach Samuel's residence in 32 Earth minutes," he answered and I raised an eyebrow at the radio.
"So soon? You're making good time, Optimus," I complimented.
I felt a swirl of a feeling from the bot. "I don't understand," he stated. "I don't make time. Let alone good time."
I smiled a little as I moved my braid over my shoulder. "It's a human expression," I explained. "It means you're going faster than expected, which is a good thing because I'll be glad when I can get out and stretch my legs."
"There is not a lot of traffic at this time," Optimus told me. "Nor any during the Night-Cycle. I am simply going the legal speed limit."
I smiled a bit more at the mech's answer and knew what he was doing. "Stop being modest, Op, and just take the compliment."
The bed I was lying in shifted and this time I didn't tense at all as he conformed the bed to be more comfortable for my elbows, seeing how they were holding me up so I could type. My laptop was at full charge despite how much I was using it and when I asked about that last night Optimus explained that he was feeding it energy through his sensor net and field, which he further explained was like his aura and allowed other Cybertronians to know what he was feeling if they came in contact with his field. I thought that was pretty cool. "Op?" he repeated after a moment.
"They're your initials. Optimus Prime. O.P. Op. You okay if I call you that?" I asked, suddenly unsure if the obviously powerful and regal bot wanted to be called such a…common nickname.
The bed vibrated and a humming sound filled the cabin and it took me a moment to realize that Optimus was purring. Purring. A mechanical alien robot was purring. My life is strange. "I find that I am fond of your nickname, Star. Please call me what you wish. Optimus Prime is my formal tittle."
"I thought it was your name."
"Optimus is my name and Prime is my tittle, so they are one in the same."
"Ah. Must get confusing sometimes."
"I don't think so. It just is."
We returned to our silence with me hacking and Optimus was switching between stations. It was very weird because I purposely kept my silence so my preferences would not interfere with O.P.'s enjoyment of the radio. And he was enjoying it: I could feel that light buzzing emotion that I guessed was pleasure or contentment: the emotions were still too vague for me to get a clear read on them like I did that first night. But what made it strange was the fact that whenever a song came on I liked he would pass over it like normal and then snap right back to that station like he knew that I wanted that song on. I didn't comment on it and neither did he.
"We're here," Optimus said not much later. I shut down my laptop and hopped back into the passenger seat to have a look around South Gate.
It seemed like a stable city with small business dotting the streets at regular intervals and decent cars on the street. The people looked like they weren't suffering much like the people in the poverty struck streets of Chicago. The people in the streets were very tan and wearing shorts and tank tops or T-Shirts and such. Summer wear. I looked down at my clothes and saw that I would stick out like a sore thumb with my dark baggy jeans and baggy sweatshirt. Oh well.
"It will only take a few minutes to arrive at Samuel's residence," Optimus announced.
I made a noise of acknowledgment as I continued looking around. "This actually looks like a pretty cool place to live," I remarked.
"Are you thinking of relocating?" Optimus asked.
I shook my head. "No. I love the heat and all, but I like being able to blend in and disappear in big cities. Besides, how could I move to a different city? I have a lot of stuff that would need shipping and even then I'd need to find another hideout." I sat back and sighed.
"I could assist you in your endeavor if you truly wished to relocate."
I smiled a little and rubbed the seat. "Thanks, Op. But my home is perfect the way it is." We continued down the road and came to a stop at a red light. I noticed the strange looks the people around us and it hit me like a ton of bricks that Optimus didn't have his windows tinted enough to keep people from seeing in and it looked like no one was driving. "You might want to activate your holoform, Optimus. Human's aren't used to cars driving on their own."
Optimus jolted on his wheels and I felt a flare of an emotion that I took as surprise before his holoform fizzed into existence in the driver's seat. The holoform gave me a sheepish look as Optimus sped up at the green light and began to make way again. "Forgive me," he murmured. "I forgot about the humans around us."
I waved it away. "You're not used to blending in yet. It's fine." I looked out the window and realized something else as well. "We also might want to park somewhere too. You didn't exactly choose a subtle alt form."
The holoform frowned as he turned a corner. "What do you mean?"
"I mean we're going to be going into a residential area and people probably don't see giant, custom-flame-painted, semis there."
"Oh. I shall find a place to park."
We ended up parking behind a minimart without bringing attention to ourselves. I looked at the clock before shrugging my backpack on and dropping the five feet to the ground. "It's 6:43 on a Saturday morning, so I think any normal teenager would be at home right now," I announced as Optimus' holoform joined me in front of his alt form.
"You would be out working right now," Optimus pointed out as we began walking with him leading us to Sam's house.
"Well I'm not normal," I shot back.
"You are 17 Earth years old, correct?" he asked.
I nodded. "I'll be 18 when the New Year rolls around." That was how I told how old I was. Whenever New Year's came by again I would count that as another year under my belt. I wasn't entirely sure of my age, but I think I was close to my real age.
"So what makes you abnormal from other teenagers?" he asked.
"Lots of things," I answered evasively. I tugged my hood down further over my face and stuffed my hands in my pockets, hoping Optimus would get the hint and let the subject drop.
Thankfully he did. Of course it was after a long pause when he looked me over with sharp bright blue eyes, but he did so nonetheless. "It will take approximately ten Earth minutes to reach our destination," he said instead.
I nodded and asked as something occurred to me. "Do you think the other Cybertronians have gotten to Sam before us?"
"It is possible," he murmured as we crossed a street and into the residential area. "If we found the information then some other bot can find it as well. Especially the Decepticons since they were the ones who planted the search at SOCCENT base."
"Decepticons, huh," I repeated casually, letting Op's memory lapse go mostly unnoticed. "If they're your enemies then what does that make you?"
"An Autobot," he answered as he watched a dog bark at us for passing. "We are the side that fights for the freedom and equality of all Cybertronians." He held out his hand and showed me what looked like a faded birth mark of a boxy almost sad looking face. "This is our symbol." He let his hand drop back down and continued rambling, seeming to try and get as much information out of his memories while he could. "The Decepticons, or Cons, are after a more dictatorship where they control everything from the energon to sparklings to weapons." He sighed and absently picked a flower as we passed by a bush. It looked like a yellow tulip. A strange looked passed over his face. "My connection to my memories is gone again," he announced softly, picking off unwanted leaves from the steam of the tulip.
"It's okay, Op," I told him, bumping him lightly with my shoulder. "When we get these glasses and see what the Decepticons want with Sam you can teach me about your anatomy and I'll take another look at your head. Besides, maybe all you need is a hard knock to the head and you'll be okay again."
He caught my teasing tone and turned to give me a small smile, bumping me back. It was still weird to be shorter than his holoform, but I didn't point it out. It was oddly comforting: like he could easily protect me. He held the yellow tulip out in front of him and regarded it critically. "Humans are strange in that they associate certain things with traits. Flowers for example. A daisy could be interpreted as a symbol of fidelity or a daffodil could mean chivalry. Even a flower's color could change the meaning."
"Some humans can be overly romantic like that," I told him. It was obvious he was scanning the internet for information again, learning about Earth.
He gave me the tulip and smiled slyly. I could feel that light emotion again, but I think it was somewhere between amusement and mischievous. In the background there was a buzzing of a more heavy emotion but I couldn't guess what it was. "A gift from me to you," he said as I took the flower.
I looked at him from under my hood as I ran the steam between my fingers. "What is the meaning of this flower?" I asked, knowing there was a reason why he had brought the entire thing up before giving it to me. I was beginning to learn that there was a reason for everything Optimus did.
He smiled again and turned forward before we crossed another street again. There were kids playing out in sprinklers in one yard and a jogger coming down the other side of the street. "Where would the fun be if you got the information now?" he teased, throwing my words back at me. I stared up at him in shock. He tapped my nose playfully and I blinked. "Patience, my dear."
I blushed again, but forced it down as I feigned a glare at the holoform. "You are the most infuriating mech I've ever met," I told him.
"I'm the only mech you've met."
I huffed before grumbling to myself, "I set myself up for that one."
"Yes you did."
"No comment needed from the peanut gallery."
"What's a peanut gallery?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
We walked in silence and out of curiosity I lifted the yellow tulip to my face and sniffed. It did smell good. Sweet and just a little below overwhelming. It was a sweet gift if I've ever gotten one. I slung my backpack on to one shoulder and slipped the flower into the side of a rarely used pocket. It would stay safe there until I found something else to do with it.
"Here we are," OP announced as we came to a stop under a tree in some cool shade. Thank God because I was beginning to sweat and overheat. It was really hot. I looked to where he was pointing and saw a two story house that had a design that made it look like it was made out of wood. It looked almost pristine along with the very well-kept yard and path and driveway.
"Can you tell if he's in there?" I asked.
Op shook his head. "My mech form is too far away to pick up sounds here. It is altogether too loud to even attempt listening in."
"So we wait and see if he comes out," I said as I sat down and pulled my laptop out of my bag. Optimus sat next to me as I began hacking. The tree provided enough shade that no one passing by would think it strange for us to be sitting under it. They probably wouldn't notice us at all.
"How much longer until you are finished?" he asked.
"I am so close," I told him with some excitement in my voice. "An hour or so and then I'll be through and we'll have some more information."
He nodded and settled against my side as I worked and he kept an eye out. I normally would've been bothered by the closeness but I was so close. All I could do was focus on the hack and leave lookout duty to Optimus. It wasn't much longer until suddenly the lines of code on my screen disappeared and was replaced by rapidly appearing files and links.
"Got it," I announced with a grin on my face. "Let's see… Whom am I hacking, hmm?" I clicked one file and a random report came up. "Sector Seven? Wasn't that what the signal was looking for the day before yesterday morning?" Optimus nodded. His eyes were glued to the screen as I brought up an interesting link that was labeled 'Targets'. Pictures came up of cars and I scrolled through it. "These are mainly of two cars. A Saleen Mustang cop car and… What's that? A Camaro?"
"A Chevrolet Camaro," Optimus corrected me.
I nodded. "Right. Hey, look at the cop's details. They say 'To Punish and Enslave'." I looked at Optimus and stated, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he's a Decepticon." I focused back on the screen. "So these are their targets. At least some of them. Are they Cybertronians?" I murmured, thinking aloud. "They have to be or else this information wouldn't have been so hard to get for some car junkie after some cars." I noticed the captions underneath each picture. "NBE 2 is the cop car and the Camaro is NBE 3."
"What does NBE stand for?" Optimus asked.
I held my mouse over the caption on a hunch and sure enough a helpful little label box came up. "Non-Biological Extraterrestrial. I guess now we know that this Sector Seven is after Cybertronians."
"Why?"
"This is my paranoid government conspiracy fanatic talking, but probably to learn about them and see what they're doing here."
Optimus glanced at me when he noticed my grim tone. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Humans have a bad history of hurting and killing each other, Optimus, sometimes for just being a different color. I don't want to know what they'd do to a being that's from a completely different planet," I explained as I clicked out of the link and moved to different ones. Optimus nodded his understanding and when I glanced up I saw the look of sadness in his eyes. I was about to click on another link when my computer beeped and a 'Search Found' window popped up. I clicked on it and cursed at all the windows that suddenly popped up. For a second I thought a virus had infected my system, but then I saw it was a series of orders going on all linked to one thing. "No way," I breathed.
Optimus looked at the windows and narrowed his eyes. "The Decepticons hacked into your governments system again."
"They did it last night too," I growled. "Why the hell didn't I pick it up then?" I almost viciously typed in commands, looking for an answer to my search program's delay. "It should've pinged me imm—Oh, shit."
"That looks like a Cybertronian virus," Optimus stated as the weird written Cybertronian streamed in lines. "A very complicated one at that."
"That's why it took so long," I murmured, looking at the virus in awe and fear. "My system was trying to keep this from getting into my network when it linked up. Thank god for my security. I don't want to think what would've happened if that even touched my stuff."
"The virus isn't activated yet," Optimus told me.
I stared at him. "You're kidding. This thing hasn't even started to cause trouble and it took my system several hours just to hold it off."
"Your technology is inferior to our own."
I sighed and rubbed my head. "Right. Then I'm screwed. Can you at least tell me what it's going to do? Is it going to keep hacking information from the gov or…?"
Optimus shook his head and he moved my mouse to bring up another window. It was of the signal. "They already have hacked what they wanted," he told me grimly. "This is the exact same signal they used in SOCCENT base."
"Then they know about Sam and the glasses," I stated. Optimus nodded. "So what's this little present the Decepticons left behind gonna do?"
Optimus shook his head as he squinted at the lines of Cybertronian glyphs. "I'm not sure. Hacking or programing isn't in my coding. But I can tell you that this virus will affect something worldwide. What it will affect is beyond me."
"Joy," I huffed and shifted in my seat before closing out the search and getting back to the Sector Seven link. "So we have Decepticons most likely on their way here and a government group out to get Cybertronians. Maybe they'll catch the Cons. Save us some trouble."
"That isn't likely."
"I know it's not. But please don't pop my bubble."
"What bubble?"
"It's a figure of speech saying don't ruin the fantasy I'm building for myself."
"How does that translate to bubble?"
"I don't know. We humans are weird and we know it."
Optimus suddenly straightened and looked down the street. "I can detect another Cybertronian."
I swore and packed away my laptop. "Damn. Right before I could really start digging into Sector Seven."
Optimus scooted back farther in the shade and pulled me back as well just as a yellow car came around a corner. A beat up Chevrolet Camaro. We watched the car closely and I saw that it had no driver through its rolled down windows.
"Way to blend in, mech. Maybe roll your windows up? No?" I muttered under my breath as the car pulled into Sam's drive way and promptly rolled itself on to the bushes between the driveway and house. There was barking from inside the house and it went on for a few minutes before the Camaro revved its engine loudly. The barking went silent right as there was a loud curse that I heard even from here. I turned to look at Optimus who was watching the whole thing as intensely as me. "You think that was Sam?" He nodded and I looked back as the Camaro backed up and rolled down the driveway a bit, waiting now that it had apparently gotten the attention of Sam. "He really does not know how to blend in, does he?" I whispered, half-joking half-serious. Op gave me a searching look and I gave him a 'what do you expect' look back.
We went back to watching to see how this would play out and it was only a few minutes later that I saw a hilarious sight. A 16 or 17 year old teenager come running out of the front door carrying a girly pink bike with a white basket and pink streamers from the handle bars and all. He shouted something at the Camaro as he hopped on the bike and began to pedal as fast as he could. The Camaro followed. On the sidewalk.
I swore and jumped to my feet. "I'll follow," I told Optimus.
He nodded. "I'll catch up in my alt form. I have your laptop signal so don't worry about me finding you." He fizzed out of existence as I took off running after the teenager and Camaro.
It wasn't a challenge to run at this speed, but the heat made it a bit harder than normal. As I ran I was caught somewhere between amusement and disgust. This Camaro really was sticking out. After a few minutes of shouting back at the vehicle Sam pulled into the busier parts of South Gate and forced the Camaro to follow the law by stopping at red lights and staying on the street. Still no holoform of a driver. I still couldn't decide if the Camaro was a Decepticon or an Autobot.
I saw another hilarious scene when Sam, still riding on the girly bike, looked behind him to see if the Camaro was following and didn't see the huge bump in the sidewalk, causing him to do a spectacular flip and land on his back. I winced in sympathy as I skidded to a halt and looked to see the Camaro turning down a street, not wanting to cause a scene in a public place.
A pretty black haired girl, who was sitting at an outdoor Burger King table with her friends, was talking to Sam as he slowly recovered from his crash. I wished I could hear what they were saying, but then Sam was up again and riding away. I chased again, looking back to see if Optimus had finally caught up with me. He hadn't so I continued running. I wasn't exactly being inconspicuous so I was a little surprised that Sam didn't notice me following him.
A few minutes later Sam pulled under an overpass. I ran in just as I saw the Camaro entering it as well. I swore as I sprinted after the teenager, keeping an eye on the Camaro as it disappeared between all the broken down cars stored here. I hopped up on some cars and saw Sam standing still, looking around frantically. "Hey!" I called. Sam instantly looked in my direction, but gladly didn't run away. I hopped over the rows of cars and finally ran up to him. I tugged his arm as he looked down at me. "Come on! We need to get outa here."
"Who are you?" he gasped, trying to catch his breath.
"Someone who wants to help. Now come on before they find you!"
Sam shook his head and pushed me away, looking around. "No you don't understand. You need to leave. You don't know what's—"
"Cars that drive themselves," I interrupted him, taking a leap on a guess. "Cars that seem to have a mind of their own." I hesitated before saying one last thing. "And cars that transform into human-like beings."
Sam's eyes went wide as his hands squeezed my arms uncomfortably. "How—how do you know that? How do you know that my car stood up? How?"
"Because I know a lot of things like I know you have something very important to those cars," I told him calmly, looking into his wide brown eyes. "Now we have to leave before they—"
Sam's eyes flickered over my shoulder and his eyes lit up with hope. He got on his bike and pedaled around me before I really knew what was happening. "Hey, Officer! Officer! Listen!" Sam was riding so he could come to a stop beside the driver's door when suddenly to door swung open and clotheslined the teenager on to his back. Again. Poor kid didn't get a break. "Oh, that hurt," he moaned before getting up again. Normally I would respect the boy for his perseverance, but I was focused on the cop. There was something off about him.
I came up behind Sam as he went to the front of the car and began shouting at the cop. I went around the side, looking for the details on the cop car and hoping my hunch was wrong. Sam was banging on the cop's hood a few times as my eyes lit on the details. 'To Punish and Enslave'. My blood ran cold. Decepticon. I spun on heel and ran for Sam just as the cop accelerated and began forcing Sam to back up, shouting more and more desperate apologies at the cop.
I grabbed Sam's arm and began to desperately pull him. "Sam, come on! Now!"
Sam looked between me and the still advancing car. "Wha—How do you know my name? And I said I was sorry! I won't touch your car again!"
I got more and more desperate as I practically dragged Sam. Behind the cop car I saw a flash of yellow that was the Camaro. As Sam refused to move and even tripped and fell, putting his feet on the cop car's bumper to keep from getting run over, I felt my fear spike. We needed to run now. "It's a Decepticon!" I shouted, hoping that would get him moving. Just then Sam saw the head lights detach and reach forward in clawed holders.
"Please! What do you want from me?" He cut off mid shouted question as he stared at the headlights. "Okay," he breathed quietly, eyes wide.
I finally hauled him to his feet now that he wasn't fighting me and was limp from shock. I pulled him with me as I ran awkwardly. "Snap out of it! We need to run!"
Just then the car began to transform and I felt adrenaline pour through my body as Sam began to shout and run with me. "Move! Move!" I ordered him, pushing him. Scared out of his mind the boy was almost as fast as me.
"Oh God, no! No! Oh, shit! Oh, shit, shit, shit! Oh, God! Oh, shit!"
Apparently he can talk just as fast as he runs, I thought in the back of my mind as I pushed his shoulder again to urge him on, hearing the thundering footsteps behind us coming closer.
Suddenly, something slammed into my back and I cried out in surprise as I flew through the air. Years of practice in fighting and gymnastics and acrobatics had me twisting so I would land on my feet, but I didn't see what I was landing on due to how fast I was flipping through the air. What I landed on was the hood of an old battered hood, which wasn't the flat concrete I was expecting, so one leg crumbled under me at an uncomfortable angle while the other slipped off the side of the hood and scrapped against something rough. I hissed as I crashed on to my back and tried to move my left leg out from under me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam laying on a spider-webbed windshield with his eyes trained on the approaching Decepticon. My leg finally slid out from under me as I frantically looked for any weapon and I looked to my right where my right leg was currently resting between two cars. My eyes locked on was looked like a broken off exhaust pipe, which was the object that had scraped against my leg.
I grabbed it and held it close while awkwardly scooting back until I was resting right next to Sam: my legs not quite cooperating with me.
"This is a bad dream," Sam whispered, trying to get into a position where he could turn over and run for it, but he mostly failed seeing how a broken wind shield wasn't the most stable thing in the world.
"No it's not," I whispered back.
All that happened in the very few seconds it took for the Con to reach us.
He looked much sharper and angular than Optimus. His armor didn't curve over his shoulders but stood up straight in intimidating looking spikes and his hands—servos—were claws where Optimus' were actual fingers. In fact, all over his armor seemed to taper off into spike at one point or another and his faceplates looked downright menacing, especially with those frightening blood red optics glaring at us.
He slammed his fists into the hood of the car, making it buck and for us to scramble backwards. I could see how the Con's optics shifted to focus just on Sam. "Are you username LadiesMan217?" I instantly recognized the username as Sam's EBay username. Sam, on the other hand, did not.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" he yelled back, trying to get purchase to move more frantically.
"Are you LadiesMan217?" the Con demanded again more furious then before. I saw vicious sharp metal teeth—denta—flash as he yelled at Sam. He pushed the car we were on down even more and ran the wheels that were a part of his hands so that there was a loud alarming squealing sound. A bit out his spit went flying as he yelled at us.
Sam paused as he realized what was being asked. "Yeah," he answered hesitantly. I saw the Con's optics flare brightly at the same time Sam did and we took that as a sign that we needed to book it. Now.
The Con punched the car again as Sam finally managed to scramble backwards and over the car. "Where is the EBay item 21153? Where are the glasses?" he practically roared.
While Sam did the smart thing and ran away I stood up and swung at the Con's face with the exhaust pipe. "Go to Hell, you fucking Con!" I shouted. He reared back when my weapon got buried in one of his hateful glowing red optics, causing the optic to crack and for the light to disappear from it, hopefully blinding him in one optic.
He roared and tore out the old car part as I leapt off the car, which promptly got flipped, and ran after Sam. I was a bit shocked to see him waiting for me a little ways away, shouting at me to run. I ran and waved him on. He turned and obeyed me, making for the more populated streets. I began to close the distance between us with my superior speed. My heart was racing so fast that I thought it would burst from my chest. It was just like Optimus thought. There would be Cybertronians who would want to hurt me. Thank God I trained with him when I did. By the night before we left I had been able to successfully climb all the way to his helm without getting caught by OP's best effort and I knew several points that would leave a bot in a lot of pain.
Briefly, while I was running I thought I felt panic and fear, but they weren't my own. I gave a passing thought that they were Optimus' before focusing on staying out of the servos of a very pissed off Con.
I saw Sam waving and I thought he was waving for help until he suddenly clotheslined a girl off her moped, taking her to the ground and leaving her moped to skid to a stop on its side. They talking to each other and Sam pointed in my direction and no doubt at the enraged Con chasing me. "Move!" I shouted as I finally reached them and started to pull them up.
But before I could get farther than that I saw a flash of yellow and the roar of an engine and I pushed all three of us to the ground again as the Chevrolet Camaro did a precise hairpin turn around us and tripped the Con. His door wordlessly opened for us. Getting the message, I pushed the two teenagers towards the door while watching the Con as he obviously tried to recover from the shock of his trip. "Get in the car," I hissed at them, beyond calm and collected and just icy right now.
Sam grabbed the girl, who was the same girl he talked to earlier when he crashed, by her upper arms and looked her straight in the eye. "You have to get in the car. Get in."
"I don't want to," she said back, shaking her head, but still looking the boy in the eyes.
Sam was getting more frantic as I pushed him harder and harder, debating if I should just throw them in the damn car. "Get in the car," Sam repeated. "Trust me. Trust me!"
The girl hesitated before whispering, "Sam." Then she nodded and got up. Sam pushed the girl and I pushed him into the car.
"Get in!" I shouted as the Con finally locked his one good optic on us, obviously not dazed anymore. "Go, go, go, go, go!"
The girl crawled in the back while Sam got in the passenger and I sat in the driver's seat. The door immediately slammed closed and the care burned rubber as it peeled out of there.
As the engine roared and we took off we all looked out the back window to see the Con turn into his alt mode and chase after us. Sam took up my chant. "Go, go, go, go!"
The car shifted gear and gunned it in response before turning into some back roads that weaved between old buildings. I looked around the old beat up interior of the car and raised my hands before demanding, "Alright mech, are you an Autobot?"
The two teenagers looked at me oddly until the radio dial turned and a radio announcers voice came over the speakers. "Yes, how'd you know?"
I sagged in relief as my eyes caught the same symbol that Optimus had on his hand in the center of the car's steering wheel. "Thank God. I've dealt with enough Cons for my entire life."
"…How'd you know?" the mech repeated, wanting an answer.
I debated whether I should tell him about Optimus as I braced myself against a particular sharp turn. The bot was an Autobot like Optimus, which made him an ally of my friend. So he should be safe to trust with the knowledge. "I know Optimus Prime," I told. "I've been with him for the past few weeks."
I felt the car jerk roughly under me and knew that he was surprised. Another recording came over the radio. This one I think from a movie. "What? That's not possible!"
I gave the radio an incredulous look and switched to Cyber. "Oh it's very possible, mech." Another jolt of surprise, this one causing all of us to be jumped out of our seats and hit the roof.
The girl cursed roundly and I looked back to see her clutching her head like Sam. I hardly felt it. It was my leg that hurt the most at the moment: the one that had gotten cut. "God damn it!" she shouted. "Can someone please tell me what's going on here? What was that giant robot earlier? Why was it after you two? Why are you talking to a car and why is it talking back?"
I gritted my teeth and looked back to see the cop gaining on us. "I would gladly explain, but I don't think now is a—"
The girl suddenly braced against the driver's and passenger's seats, eyes going impossibly wide. "Oh, God! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" she screamed. I looked in front of us to see the mech we were in driving towards a wooden wall that looked half rotted out.
Sam was miraculously calm sounding as he responded, "No, we're not. No, we're not gonna die."
The girl seemed to not hear Sam as she shouted, "Oh my God!"
I glanced back as well and the adrenaline high made me cocky enough to grin at her. "Trust me. You won't meet a better driver than this guy."
Than we got closer to the wall and Sam lost his cool and braced his feet against the dash and yelled almost as shrilly as the girl. "Oh God, no! We're gonna die! Oh God!"
I winced at their combined screams as the car drove itself through the wall with a resounding crash and pressed my head against the headrest to avoid whiplash. I grunted as the car did a 360 and peeled out of the building before the Con had even come through the dust, leaving him behind to search. The teenagers panted harshly as they watched through the back window like a hawk, waiting for the cop car to show up. After five minutes they finally relaxed and sagged in their seats.
There was silence in the car as the mech drove through the back streets, confusing his trail even more while putting distance between him and the Con. Sam suddenly frowned and looked around, asking, "What's that beeping sound?"
I tuned my ears and instantly recognized the sound and shrugged off my backpack to pull my beeping laptop out. I opened it up and instantly saw the black hacker's window on the screen with a whole slew of messages on it. I skimmed the messages from Optimus and only a few stuck in my mind.
Are you alright?
Star, what's wrong?
Please answer me!
I can feel you're fear and pain! What's happened?
STAR!
I smiled as I typed into the message box, I'm fine, Optimus. Calm down.
I got an instant response. Where are you hurt? How are you moving so fast? What's happened?!
I ignored the teenagers who were obviously reading over my shoulder as I typed. Relax, Optimus. I'm with an Autobot. I'm looking right at the symbol you showed me earlier. I ran into a Decepticon earlier under an overpass while tailing Sam. I couldn't get him out of there before the Con showed up and I got a little scraped in the process. Calm down, Op. I'm fine. Are you almost caught up with us?
There was a pause in typing and Sam suddenly asked, "How do you know my name?"
I looked at him sideways. "I'm a hacker, kid. It's my business to know other people's business," I explained to him.
Sam looked offended. "Kid? We're almost the same age!"
The girl leaned forward and rested her arms on the middle consul. I suddenly noticed how pretty she was and subconsciously pulled my hood down lower. She was a skinny girl with long way black hair that seemed to frame her beautiful face and perfect makeup. She was also generously gifted in the chest region. She was just…gorgeous and I really didn't want to be compared to her even by myself. No need for them to see how scarred I was.
"You know his name," she pointed out, sounding surprisingly collected after screaming her head off not a few minutes ago. "So what's yours? I'm Mikaela Bane's by the way."
I nodded and turned back to my screen. "My name is Dark Star, but just call me Star."
"So do you know what's going on here?" Sam asked, pointing out the back window to emphasize his point.
I hesitated before replying, "I know some, not all." I absolutely knew there was some information I was missing.
"Then can you tell us?" Mikaela asked and I heard a little bit of a desperate tone in her voice.
Again I hesitated, looking at the silent radio and the self-turning steering wheel. After a moment of thought I shook my head. "It's not my story to tell. It's part of his," I pointed at the radio. "And my friend's story." I pointed at my screen just as another message popped up.
I am close by, following your laptop signal and the signal of your…my ally. I vaguely recognize his spark signature, but I cannot be sure. The Decepticon is not too far behind you and I think I will remain out of sight until you are safe or I am needed. For now I have masked my spark signature so I cannot be detected. Are you sure about your leg? I can vaguely feel the pain from you.
I frowned at the last two sentences before glancing at the two teens. They took a hint and looked elsewhere while I considered the outside of my right calf. Sure enough there was a good sized cut under my jeans through a slice, but it looked like it had stopped bleeding for now. I turned back to the message and cautiously typed, The cut isn't very big and it's stopped bleeding, so I'm fine. But what do you mean that you can feel my pain?
The response came as innocent as possible. The same way I can feel your emotions and you mine.
I blinked and my fingers flew across the keys before I could think about it. I thought only I could feel your emotions.
I was not sure myself at first, but you gave certain signs away. There is a link between you and I.
I hesitated before typing, A link I don't think I'd wish away… Stay safe, Optimus. I felt incredibly nervous at the admission of my feelings, but forced it down.
Optimus' reply came up a second later. Nor would I. You stay safe as well, Dark Star. I won't be far away.
With that the hack window closed down and I shut my laptop down. The teenagers watched me as I stowed my laptop away. I thought for a moment before telling them, "There's nothing we can do until we've shaken the Decepticon—the cop car—off of our trail. Just sit tight for now."
They nodded and tried to get comfortable as car drove an increasingly complicated path. We were silent for the entire trip.
