A/N: Well, I guess I'm writing it right. Lol. Y'all hit the nail on the coffin. It's the Shadow Zone, more or less. :P

I've changed up the writing style in this chapter a bit just as an experiment. Y'all tell me if it's an improvement or not, okay?

To iGleep: Thank you for all of your reviews and showing so much love for this story! Thank you, dude. :3 I'm also really sorry I haven't responded to any of them. Most of the time I read your reviews and I'm sort of speechless that you really like my story at all and I just can't get over it. You are the best. Keep being awesome!

To Nexia Jazilynn Prime: A very good question! I'll have that answered before the end of Genesis. :P

To xVentressx: I'm used to writing introspective pieces which though are interesting to write and sometime to read, can get pretty boring pretty quickly lol. Hope the new writing style I made in this chapter make things more interesting. 83 As for the question of angst… uhm. I don't know? All I can really say is that I am planning on a happy ending for Genesis. It's just a bit of a bumpy road until we get there. There's not going to be anymore rape, at least. Thank you for your review and I hope it doesn't get too angsty for you, though I can't make any promises.


Torn

"Sometimes we don't meet our heroes until it's already too late. Sometimes… we have to become the hero. And it always tears us apart."

~ Anonymous...


Genesis

Chapter 8

Unexpected


Vibes announced her plans to leave Earth later that day, and Killjoy only heard about it from a conversation Darklight had with one of the Autobots.

It made sense. Because Vibes could no longer do anything about the Decepticon threat without risking the lives of her own Autobots and those under her charge, she therefore had to leave Earth in order to find another planet with an atmosphere that could hide their presence. At the same time, it prevented the local spy from communicating with his Decepticon allies.

But at the same time, it ruined Killjoy's plan to locate the Decepticons on the planet. Her quick and easy solution to an otherwise long term problem was backfiring spectacularly.

She wasn't the only one who didn't like the sudden change in plans.

Because Killjoy's little visit hadn't said anything about the energy the Autobots and Neutral's were strealing, Darklight had given the okay for the Neutrals to continue harvesting energy at optimum levels, which had put Allout in a much better mood and made Vibes frustrated every time she initiated conversations around getting her to stop. While someone was still going around and breaking the equipment, the high energy production levels allowed the neutral leaders to partake in the fruits of their labors, while Killjoy watched from the shadows.

The two leader's room was a suite-style apartment, with energon dispensers installed in the main room. The Ark had been originally designed to accept dignitaries with a extremely high living style back at the start of the war. The heavily armored transport vessel was retrofitted for space travel much later in the war and, though it wasn't the fastest thing in space, it could stand up against any heavily armed vessel long enough for it's commander to think fast and get them the heck out of dodge.

As a result of the fact that both were bonded, plus Darklight's preference for grandiose rooms and furniture, especially when it came to living with his big bonded, they both haggled and manipulated into owning the space instead of leaving it open for the science department. The whole science department got stuck in a slightly smaller area on the opposite side of the ship – which was a bonus. Allout never liked being anywhere near the science glitches, unless they had some nifty new machine that could transform the entire organic mess outside into energon.

"This is stupid," groused Allout, nursing her energon cube. "We've finally found a planet filled with enough energy to last us stellar cycles, with an atmosphere that protects us from passing Decepticon flag ships, and now she wants to leave?"

Darklight frowned at his own cube, glowing light purple with a few cobalt-colored shiny blobs floating inside. "Perhaps she has found something out about this planet? Maybe there's something here she wants to keep a secret from us?"

"Huh, more like it has something to do with that Decepticon," the she-mech huffed. "Vibes hasn't been acting like she normally does since that she-mech arrived and had a spark surge on our ship." She took another sip of the energon, her brows furrowed. "She's fallen for that trick like the sucker of an Autobot she is. Pathetic."

Darklight's optics flickered, his processor turning. "Perhaps it has something to do with Reverb's disappearance."

"What? The Decepticon?"

"No, whatever it is that convinced her to leave," he paused, as if in thought. "Maybe that Decepticon wasn't alone. Perhaps there's an entire colony here, right underneath our olfactory sensors."

"Our sensors would have detected them," Allout stubbornly refuted. "Even an atmosphere like this one wouldn't hide so many spark signatures from space."

"Then why are we here?" The black mech paused to take a sip of his cube. "Perhaps the Decepticon and Vibes are in cahoots."

"Vibes would never stoop so low," Allout sneered. "She might believe that Decepticon we saw was an ancient lost colonial gone mad, but she would never join the Decepticons willingly."

"Willingly," Darklight echoed pointedly.

Allout grimaced at the thought. "She's Jazz's bonded. If there's anyone in the universe that could manipulate her to do something she doesn't want, it would be Jazz and no one else. They are wound so tightly around each other's digits that's impossible to pull those two apart. No, Vibes wouldn't make a deal with anyone if it meant hurting Jazz."

"You seem so sure of that," Darklight said, straightening from a slouch in his seat while his optics contemplated getting Allout to the berth. He grinned. "You are better at reading people than me."

Allout snorted mid-sip, his lips twitched. "I'm better at a lot of things."

"Really?" he said, absently.

"I know you are interested in a overload this dark cycle," said Allout.

"Can't slip anything past you," Darklight purred. "I have a buzz I've been wanting to get rid of and I don't think I'll have a nice enough defrag until its gone."

"You're not interested in a good recharge?" she asked, disappointed.

Darklight smirked. "I'd rather not go fully offline today. I have to deal with a few problems out on the Energy Platform later this orn."

"How long?"

"A few more joors at least."

"Plenty of time to have a quick romp!" Allout said, enthusiastically jumping out of her chair and settling on the berth. She patted the spot beside her. "Come join me!"

Darklight raised an optic ridge and grinned widely. "Can't argue with your logic!"

Killjoy stepped outside the moment things started to get heated. It was something about the talk and act of interface that made her squeamish, and she couldn't stomach standing inside the room while they talked. She was lost in thought when she found herself no longer alone in the hallway.

She was invisible to the naked optic, but every time she moved he picked up on it in the security hub. His sensitive audios picked up her pedesteps, even though it was a silent echo of her own heavy steps. Since it was fruitless to send down anyone else on base to investiagte the she-mech's position and since Red Alert would be heading down to the only doorway leading in and out of Darklight's and Allout's room, Red Alert saw it prudent to send himself down to investigate.

Red Alert stood in the middle of the hallway when Killjoy finally took notice of the silent Security Director. He didn't see her, but they both knew that he knew she was there. Killjoy sighed, unnerved at being alone but not alone at the same time. She was more of an outcast now than ever before because of her ability and it made her want to drop her phase shifter, now more than ever. She sighed, turning off the phase shifter.

"How do you keep finding me?" she asked. "The pedeprints outside I can understand. The sand is soft and pliable in many different dimensions. But here on your ship, you are still able to find me."

He was silent, not sure he should reveal his trump card to her just yet. She chuckled, pacing a ways away in silent thought before pacing back. Her pedesteps startled him, loud and heavy, so much different from what he heard on the vidscreen.

"Something wrong?" she asked, her door wings having registered the slight movement.

"Other than you invading our crew's privacy," he growled out.

"If I did that, then I would be in there watching them interface," she answered, annoyed. "And I'm not."

"But you are on the ship uninvited. That's still an invasion of privacy."

"You are on my planet, Siren, uninvited," she growled out. "That is an invasion of privacy, by your logic."

Red Alert's servo transformed into a fist and he tapped it against his thigh in frustration. "That isn't the same. You can't own a planet."

"What do you call people who come to visit your world without authorization from your government?"

"Well, aliens. Illegal aliens."

"Exactly," she snapped. "You are an illegal alien on my planet, Siren. I own this world. You are not authorized to be here by my government."

"You said 'I own this world'," he said, suddenly. "What do you mean by that?"

Killjoy looked furious, though her expression fought to remain calm. "A slip of the tongue."

" 'Tong'?" Red Alert echoed, confused, mispronouncing the unfamiliar sound.

"Glossa," she corrected, irritated. She went silent, her audios and doorwings trained towards the mechs within that may or may not hear them. She was quieter when she spoke. "My mecha have the ability to wipe out whole armies with only one mech."

"You haven't answered the question," he growled.

"It's not a question needing answered," she responded, switching tracks. "Would you like them to hear us?"

His optics narrowed. "Fine," his voice was crisp.

The silence was punctuated by the sound of her doorwings twitching as she read the sounds coming from the otherside of the door. She sighed, looking at Red Alert with narrowed brown-red optics. "If you want the truth, you will have to have patience. My people are busy with the Decepticons right now, and don't have the thought processes left to speak with strangers who might turn out to be allies or foes."

The red and white mech shifted. "I will be looking forward to that."

"I don't doubt it."

Killjoy wanted to disappear, but resisted. "I do not wish to create tensions between our peoples. But I am afraid that current circumstances do not allow for us to consider peaceful operations with outsiders." Her optics narrowed. "We see no reason to consider such options."

"You know who Darklight is, right?" he pressed, his voice quiet.

"We know what he is, but not who he is," she responded. "We intend to find out the latter. It will be vital in the battle to come."

"You have no idea what you are getting yourself into," he hissed. "The Decepticons are treachorous."

"So is every creature that would lie to continue breathing," she told him. "This conversation is over and I would suggest you return to your station."

Red Alert fumed in silence and in a suddenly empty hallway, before turning and making his way back up to the security hub. Killjoy breathed a sigh of relief when he disappeared around the corner.

The fact that he could find her was a problem, and she knew it had something to do with his oversensitive sensors, mainly his audios. How he could find a soundless

It had never been her intention to end up speaking for a race that didn't exist, but now that she was here she found herself filling the role nicely. It was almost alarming, her strange overpowering desire to save the planet, and Killjoy wondered what might happen if they ever discovered the truth.

With the threat of leaving the energy rich planet hanging over their helms, the Neutrals were in no mood to hang around with the Autobots. Those that weren't working in the medbay spent most of their time off ship in silent protest, clamoring aboard the energy platform and helping increase the energy output. Allout was extremely pleased with the changes, and Vibes was finding it increasingly difficult to get everyone back under control. Vibes' lack of sharing information about the Decepticon presence only made the situation ten times worse.

Killjoy kept quiet and, once Darklight was out of his room, she was following him everywhere again. His first target after leaving his room was outside at the energy platform, where he and his neutral femme friend, Plasma, organized everyone into an efficiently working team. It was busier than Killjoy was used to, but she easily navigated through the busy mess, invisible, as she kept tabs on Darklight. Joors passed by slowly, dragging her down mentally. The sun had set and risen again, twice, before she realized her error.

Cybertronians worked on a different time system than Terrans, with one orn – or a Cybertronian day – lasting for almost two weeks, which meant that Darklight would be lying low for months maybe even years before he finally contacts Arachnid. That left Killjoy too much time to do nothing, and she was not a patient she-mech who wiled away the days by watching paint dry. With the threat of the Autobots and Neutrals leaving hanging over her helm, she found herself thinking about whether or not she should stay or leave.

Killjoy's logic was simple. The only thing preventing the Autobots from leaving the planet was whether or not Allout was willing to leave it. The Autobots were here to protect the Neutrals and they couldn't do that if they left without them, and Darklight would be counting on that. As long as the Autobots are on Earth, Darklight had a shot at manipulating them into the Decepticon's grasp. But at the same time, if the Autobots decided to derelict in their duty and left then the Neutrals would be in the Decepticon's hands.

Which would Darklight chose to screw over first? Neutrals or Autobots?

Darklight was a smart mech, and a skilled spy; he wouldn't act until either Vibes announced when she planned to leave or an opportunity arose to allow him to disappear, especially if he knew there was some heat on him. That was at least a week away from today, if not more. Killjoy decided she needed to pay Vibes and Allout a visit, just to see how the discussion was going about whether the Neutrals were leaving or staying. That would help determine when Darklight acted.


Vibes hated having to deal with self-proclaimed neutral leader, but that was part of her job. As security manager of colony Ark-One, Sub-Commander Vibes was supposed to protect everyone onboard from any percieved Decepticon threat. Even when most of the neutrals now refused to board the ship beyond recharge and medical routine check-ups, Vibes knew that her duty still extended to protecting them.

"It's safer for all those involved to remain onboard Ark-One," she started, annoyed that Allout interrupted her but keeping herself calm.

"As if. The Decepticon intruder proved this."

"We have no evidence that it was a Decepticon," she said. "We have more reason to believe that it was an Autobot seeking help, something which we were unable to provide thanks to Darklight's and Silvercross' interference."

"Darklight and Silvercross were protecting my mecha, something which you didn't even try to do," Allout countered. "Darklight acted the best way he could. That she-mech was a berserker, ready to go on a rampage which would have devestated our forces if she had been allowed to continue to run rampant."

"She hadn't been running rampant when she appeared. Do not blow this situation out of proportion. Our main threat is what else has been hiding on this planet."

"We can't be sure the scans couldn't detect her. Our scans couldn't detect her when she disappeared. She could have been disappeared to wherever she goes while we were doing the scans above the atmosphere."

"That is conjecture, one that eliminates a possibility that could be hazardous to our health. We need to prepare ourselves for the worst possible scenario."

"Prepare ourselves for what, exactly? We're safe here. There's no reason to worry about anything. So, save your doomsday talk for Optimus Prime. I'm going out and getting me some energon."

Vibes sighed as the blast doors closed on Allout's heels, her large audio fins lowering as her mood plummeted. Her job was becoming more complicated by the day and she found herself wishing for the good old days when she was just aboard her ship in space, not worrying about loose cannons or possible native hostility.

A blip on her comm systems alerted her to Siren's communication request and she sighed as she accepted the call. ::Please tell me you have some good news.::

The he-femme was quiet for a moment. ::Define good news?::

She sighed again, pressing her digits against her forehelm. ::What is it?::

::The Killer's Joy has stopped following Darklight around.:: he began. ::I'm not sure what her intention is.::

::Really? That was only eight joors.:: She paused, wondering if The Killer's Joy had gotten new orders or was being mobilized to attack the Decepticons. ::Keep tabs on them both.::

::Already being done. Siren out.::

Vibes sighed, adding this mystery to the list as she stood up and headed for her chambers.


It didn't take a genius for Killjoy to realize that she had missed whatever lovely conversation Vibes and Allout had taken part in. She walked through Allout as the neutral leader headed back to her room or wherever she went when she felt triumphant. The big she-mech didn't interest Killjoy at all – she didn't like the female and her blind adolation of a traitor, who she was stupid enough to bond with. The whole situation reminded her mother's stories of her first husband, who Windcatcher had married even though she hadn't felt right around him. She should have listened to her first instincts – he had used her as a security blanket when his nightly flings didn't turn out so well.

She hadn't thought of her family in a while, and her thoughts turned to her father, Maelstrom. He was the gentlest giant and smartest mech Killjoy had ever had the priviledge to meet, and a very lucky catch for her mother. It felt strange thinking of them as if they were Cybertronians, when she knew them as being human. Her thoughts turned outwards, and she wondered for a moment if humans were even on the planet – was she somewhere in the distant future or somewhere in the far-flung past?

Shaking those thoughts away, Killjoy returned her thoughts towards the present, retracing Allout's steps back towards where she hoped was their meeting room. A door opened behind her and she felt a famliar spark signature as Vibes emerged from the meeting room and headed down the hallway. The black and white mech followed slowly on her heels.

The Sub-Commander and her shadow paused in the hallway when a comm. link interrupted her thoughts, before she continued to her office. Killjoy didn't put much thought into figuring out who commed her, deciding that she had enough trying to figure out mysteries for one vorn and just wanted to go back to her cave and defrag.

But she had priorities and she felt responsible for leaving the Autobots in, what they saw, as an unknown and dangerous situation – one made more dangerous by Killjoy's involvement and her inability to cooperate on revealing too much information. She didn't expect herself to be gone for longer than a week – half an day in their time – but to them it could mean the difference between life and death if Darklight moved too early. Killjoy was really starting to regret her rash decision to speak to the Autobots in the first place; it would have been best if she hadn't tried to single-handedly deal with the Decepticon presence. There were too many unknowns, and it was difficult to admit that Vibes might have been right on some small account. Killjoy didn't know anything about how to deal with this kind of situation and had no experience of matters of war.

Funny, how only now did she realize this, when the weight of her decisions were on the verge of causing a skirmish, one which might end the Autobots once and for all. She shifted uncertainly as she settled into a chair opposite of Vibes, shifted the seat so that it was affected even though she was weightless in it.

Vibes looked up at the chair, her gaze focused solely on where she thought the she-mech's optics were. "Yes?"

Killjoy gave a soft sigh as she rippled into appearance. "I have been called away," she said. "It seems that my time off has come to an end."

"'Time off'?" she asked, feigning confusion. "I thought that your presence here was a permanent occupation."

"No, it never was," she corrected. "I was sent to see if Darklight would move in time to save the Decepticons. He has not, and now I am called away on other matters."

"The Decepticons are defeated?" she asked, surprised.

"No, but it is too late to save them from their fates. We merely wish to know when Darklight moves out to speak with them, and your predictions on when that might happen."

"Why? So you can assassinate him before he gets there?" Vibes asked. "I know how special ops are run and I won't let you do that to a possible Decepticons spy. He will need to be interrogated when and if your suspicions are confirmed."

Killjoy paused, not expecting this response. "You speak as if you do not suspect him yourself."

"We had no reason to suspect him and still have no reason to suspect him before you came on board," she said.

"Then I am confused. Was it not your Security Director who said that there was a Decepticon spy on board? Is there not someone out there destroying your energy platform equipment?"

"A mystery we intend to investigate more into," she said, "But the Decepticon spy was a figment of our Security Director's imagination."

Killjoy's optics narrowed. "Do not discredit your Security Director. He was right about me and he was right about this spy. Your refusal to believe him is unwise, and I would suggest you rectify your mistake soon or you could risk the life of everyone where on this ship." She sighed. "Are you familiar with a mech, different greys in color, with blue optics?"

"Why, yes," she said.

Killjoy's optics remained narrow. "He was an innocent mech, wrongly accused and easily corrupted thanks to his past history. He had no previously established relations with the Decepticons before his arrival to Earth."

"And how would you know that?" she asked, annoyed.

"Because, we interrogatedhim before his rather untimely demise." Killjoy had her digits spliced, appearing very serious. "He was going to meet up with Arachnid. We captured him before he could make the rendezvous with the Decepticons. He told us about you and he told us about the mech who sent him out there to meet with the Decepticons."

"Then he has to be lying," Vibes assured her. "Our sources would have detected the spy before we even left our homeworld."

She wanted to snarl, "A deep processor scan does not lie, especially when the mech being scanned has no consciousness left to defend himself with" but she refrained. Admitting such a thing would alienate her from the Autobots, perhaps permanently. It was an invasion of privacy far deeper than a simple unexpected planetary visit, twisted up because the scan was done after death, even if it was necessary.

You wouldn't have this problem if you were prepared for war, she thought, aware that even a low level Autobot grunt probably wouldn't have qualms about probbing a dead Decepticon's processor.

But you aren't an Autobot, said a voice in her head, and you are certainly not a soldier.

All the more reason to get back to the Mentor, she told herself.

"If you believe that, then you are bigger fool than we imagined. Our people have ways of extracting that information and detecting whether or not he is lying." She had stood up, depositing a datachip, before she gave the she-femme a bow. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go. Have a good orn."

She disappeared before the red Sub-Commander could give a response and she dropped through the floor, disappearing into the forest without a glance back.


A/N: It seems I've been getting Black Arachnid's name wrong this entire time. I didn't realize it was just 'Arachnid' in the show and I accidentally combined Black Arachnia's name and Arachnid's together into one. I really need to go back and fix that because it's going to be very important later on in the story.