A/N: I'm going to write a little something I've been thinking about for a while… it's a little, (correction), a lot sad, but it explains a bit of Holley being the way she is, and it brings the possibility for another character (or two, or three) in my other stories.

Technorganic Nerd- *Gives a high five* Sci-Fi nerds for the win! I love theories like this in real life, but I learned from experience that not everyone does :P. Thanks for reviewing!

RushandStreak- Thanks! I'm glad those last-minute changes were okay with you :).

Titanic X- While it's not this chapter, I will probably write about what you recommended next. Just a clarification question, the plane he is in the movie is the one he'd be dreaming about, right?

Enjoy :)

It was too quiet for a modern age town. The sound of engines did not fill the air like it did everywhere else, save a few darting from the main building to their small homes. The large warehouse in the middle of the new town in the middle of nowhere was always lit in the first few stories, but dark in the upper levels because the windows were blacked out. The year is 3025, exactly one year after the end of the second wave. While the adults had been converted, it was difficult to create the technology needed for the children that were at-risk. Being the only humans to be left in existence with no more to come, it was dire for as many to survive as possible. Giving respect to these youth, no testing was performed on them. The cars trying to complete this feat were working blind to the needs of younger children, working only with those above age thirteen.

Life in the upper levels was isolation. The cars came three times a day to deliver meals, and they were under surveillance, but there was no direct contact with the outside world to preserve the sanitary conditions needed to keep them alive. The children of England had been taken at the second wave, believing that it would be too traumatic for them to witness the conversion they had no part in. There was a nameless town like this in every country.

Holly had watched her siblings be taken one by one. Being the youngest of four (by two minutes, anyways), the blonde-haired child had been hurt the worst when they were taken from their parents. When they were placed in the room, her oldest brother didn't even make it before he was discovered. He was fourteen. In the brightly lit room, she stayed close to her two remaining siblings, her older sister and her twin brother. They played imaginary games together, mostly involving her stuffed bear she snuck underneath her shirt to protect it. The worn out toy became a superhero, doing whatever the three children wanted it to do. One time they even made it be a car, forcing it to drive around on its stomach. The entire level laughed.

They kept track of the days by moving beds every night. There were three circles of beds on her level, each of which there were 365 beds. One cycle was one year. After two and a quarter cycles, Holly's sister disappeared. It was almost like she knew what was going to happen in the sense of intuition. She was called to the elevator to the lower levels via the display screen next to it. She got up from the game they were playing, and she hugged Holly and her brother like they were the most precious things on earth.

"I don't know what's going on," she said, on the verge of crying, "but I've seen the things keeping us here. They're not human. When you turn thirteen, please remember that you're human. No matter what."

"But Ellie," Holly tried to keep from sobbing, "You can't leave us. Who will come up with all of the stories?"

"You can, Holly," her sister said, "but they're going to take me by force if I don't go," she said, getting up and walking over to the elevator, which was open and waiting for her genetic signature to close it, "I love you both," she said over her shoulder before disappearing into the blue opaque glass elevator.

She buried her head in her brother's shirt, her small stature shaking with sobs, "What are we going to do, Felix?" she asked in desperation.

"I don't know," he said with a worried tone, "I don't know."

Another cycle passed, and over the time, Holly and Felix both began to watch the opening where the rationed food came out of because it was their only contact with whatever was holding them. Most of the time it was closed off, but one day shortly before the twins' birthday, their intent waiting paid off. On the other side of the portal, Holly saw the windshield of a silver crossover vehicle. It looked sad, yet joyous to see her. Its green eyes penetrated her soul, and she instantly realized who it was: her oldest brother, Jasper. She lurched back from the opening in fear, tears filling her eyes for the only time since Ellie had left. Felix was instantly by her side, asking her what was wrong.

"It was Jasper," she sobbed, "He was… a car. His eyes… just his eyes were all that was left," she said to a frightened Felix, who had collapsed next to her, trying to comfort his sister.

"We can't ever let them take us," he said in fear, "We'll hide."

"That sounds like a good idea," she said softly, still recovering from the shock.

Two days passed, and their names were both displayed on the television next to the elevator. She and Felix grabbed blankets from the beds, which were sanitized every day, and they made a fort; there wasn't any other way to hide. Being the first out of their level to hide like this, it must have startled the workers. The ceiling opened, revealing a solid dome. It moved to the two children and lowered, casing them in darkness. The floor closed underneath them, trapping the twins in their bed sheet fort. They hugged each other, waiting for it to be over right then, but then the dome stopped moving and opened from the top. They found themselves in the center of a large, brightly lit laboratory, where their bed sheets didn't fit in with the pristine surroundings.

All around, there were cars, much like the one Holly saw before. She didn't see Jasper again, but she saw others of all colors and sizes, and she even saw a couple small airplanes that were mingling with the cars. She clutched her brother all the tighter.

One drove over to them, taking notes, "Two Shiftwells? Are you twins?" he asked them.

"You'll never hurt my sister," Felix said in defense, not comprehending the question and what he called them.

The dark gray car chuckled, "I don't intend to. This is to save her."

This time, Felix hugged her, "I don't care. Neither of us wants to be like you. We want to be free to live as we are supposed to."

"Where did those words come from?" she whispered faintly in his ear. He shrugged a little.

"What's a Shiftwell?" Holly asked.

"You," he replied, trying to be kind, "That's your new last name. You'll learn everything soon," he tried to explain.

Another beige car came out of nowhere, "Are we attempting the AI?" she asked quietly, so the already frightened children wouldn't hear.

"They're the last two, so try the girl first," he replied in almost slang.

"What's so important about us?" Felix demanded to know.

The gray car became rather blunt, as he had enough with the belligerent child, "Genetics. It's been proven that intelligence has a strong genetic influence, and even if you're not showing it, researchers have been tracking your family for a while, and you have a massive reservoir of untapped intelligence that's just waiting to be unlocked. We're going to help that with your sister in a few minutes," he said with a hint of ice in his voice that gave Felix an undesired silence.

A small forklift appeared and tried to grab Holly, who screamed when it touched her foot. When it finally got a hold of her, it pulled her away from Felix, who could only wave sadly. "Good-bye, Holly," he whispered. She managed to see him over the forklift, who kept a tight hold on her. She waved back and was gone. Felix looked to his right, still being in his makeshift fort, and he saw the little brown bear. He clutched it with full force, racking with sobs and not caring who saw.

The room she was taken to was just as pristine and clean as any of the rooms in the building were. The forklift placed her onto the cold metal table, making her squeal out of discomfort. It left, letting the door slide shut behind it, leaving Holly alone with her thoughts, and the one thing of color she saw was a medium sized Jaguar XJR-15, though she didn't know what model it exactly was. She just thought that the color was pretty. Observing it, it wasn't as large as the cars she had seen around in the lab. It looked a little like a teenager in car form. A wave of realization came over her; that's exactly what it was supposed to be.

The gray car from before came in, his face, or whatever it was called, was wiped clean of emotion for the time being, probably after dealing with Felix. He ordered her to lie down, and he attached Velcro to her wrists and ankles, making her desperate to escape. He ignored her attempts at freedom.

"What is 17 times 7004?" he asked her, trying to be kinder.

"How should I know?"

"Just a question," he said, smiling a little.

He worked to attach the wires to the major nerves around her spine, and placed an electrode helmet on her head. Multiple computers were activated, and the sheer light of it was making Holly shake in fear. The gray car looked in sadness at her, and threw a switch, knocking her into electric blackness.

She felt like a switch was flipped, and she suddenly understood what the car said, and realized that it was true. Her mind was racing, analyzing every bit of her existence and what it could possibly mean. She felt more alive than ever, even if she knew she was supposed to be unconscious. She began to see a stream of 0's and 1's, and her hearing came back to her with an electronic tinge to it, but it was crisper. She could hear everything happening. The purr of her motor and the small click she realized must have been her headlights flicking on were both clear as day. She was actually alright with it. She felt more complete this way, like a piece of her was missing, but she never even knew it was gone. The computer coding became more prominent in her vision, filling it with a black background and green font.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," she heard a voice say. After a second, she identified it as the gray car from before, distorted as it was. She used the short time to remember Felix. If only he could feel the freedom she felt now, even without vision or movement. She could see everything now. She heard static, and then her physical vision came to her, revealing the gray car and the forklift from before with the beige car. She attempted to move, but indents in the floor kept her in one spot for the time being, her undercarriage gently resting on the floor.

"Okay, Holly, what is 17 times 7004?"

"119,068, why?"

"It worked," he breathed a sigh of relief, "Tell Felix she's alright to calm him down," he ordered the beige car, "It'll make him easier to control."

Holly looked scared, "You can't do that to him. Please, please don't. He loves playing sports, and he'd never get to again," she said calmly and rationally, despite her underlying emotion. She could never do that before, and upon realizing it, she tried to back up in fear of herself, but her wheels just spun in the air.

"He can still play if he wants. Everything's modified so you can do whatever you want, even like this."

She tried to calm her fluttering… tank, but it was in vain, "What's happening to me?"

"You're combined with a small amount of redeveloped artificial intelligence, just to give your hidden IQ a boost to show itself."

"What was wrong with me before?" she pleaded, but the car said nothing. She felt an unfamiliar fluid fill her windshield, and it stung her eyes, making them water more. She used her calm mind to formulate another question, even if her emotions were racing. She felt as if there were two pieces of her mind now, but they were completely separate. "Why did you do this to me?"

"It was an order from CHROME, the first spy unit for cars. They need technological advancement as well as brute force, and you're being recruited to fill the gap. You'll just be a desk agent, but you'll be as close to the front line as safety permits."

She perked up a little, "What about Felix, Ellie and Jasper?"

"I think you mean your siblings," he clarified for himself, and she nodded, "It's classified, I'm sorry."

"Can I at least see Felix now?"

"You need to have the formalities completed first, starting with your name. You're going to keep the last name slated for your family, Shiftwell, but your first name also needs to be changed. What if we add an E to it?"

"What will that do?"

"Holley is the name of a parts manufacturer, so I'm sure it will be accepted."

"What else is there?"

"You have to learn how to move," he said, pressing a button on the floor. A lift elevated from underneath of her and moved her out of the indents in the floor. She stood shakily on her tires for a second before they slipped out from under her, the lift catching her from an invisible fall. It took her a while, but she finally mastered the basic maneuvers of being a car. She asked again if she could see Felix.

"I'll have to ask," he said quickly before leaving the room. He came back a couple minutes later, "You have about three minutes. He just woke up."

"Thank you," she said before following him to Felix's room in silence. When the door slid open, she saw another Jaguar, or so she could tell by the logo, and it was about her size. His green eyes looked into hers, being the part that all four siblings shared and connected with.

"Is that you, Holly?" he asked with both caring and bitterness, "Or did they change your first name, too?"

"They added an E to it, Felix," she said, "Or is that still your name?"

"They said my last name was enough changing," he said in quiet as the two cars accompanying them left the room, and then he whispered, "Did they make you intelligent, too?"

"Yeah," she replied, mimicking his volume, "Have you learned to move yet?"

"I'm still on the lift, if you haven't noticed," he gestured to the machine behind him that was keeping him steady. He seemed so much calmer to her. Normally, he would do anything to break out of something holding him, but now he simply acknowledged it and moved on.

She took a deep breath, but she felt she didn't even need to breathe with her engine off, "Are we still human?" she asked him, remembering what Ellie had told her to remember.

"I don't know," he said sadly, "Being able to see all of cyberspace changes you. We might not be, anymore," he admitted, Holley controlling her emotions to avoid the painful fluid she had for tears. She felt the sadness and fear build up within her, and she began to see the computer coding in her vision again.

"Holley?!" she heard her brother scream, "Holley! What's wrong with your eyes?" she tried to respond, but she was slipping back into the world of her dreams again. The last thing she saw was the gray car ordering a couple of forklifts to do something, and she lost touch with the outside world.

She awoke in her room again, supported by a lift like her brother's with the gray car by her side. She didn't try to speak, and he knew what she was trying to ask.

"Something's wrong," he said, "Something like that shouldn't have happened. I've checked everything, and there's no sign that anything happened."

She was trapped in the warehouse for months, having episodes such as the first. The zeros and ones filled up her vision and she'd collapse. She never told the gray car, who was assigned to her after the first day, about what she did to make them stop, but she finally did. She forced herself to stop any strong emotions, which overloaded the computerized part of her. While she eventually learned how to feel these without causing an overload, she still refrained from growing close to anyone at her new job. After all, friendships can be dangerous in that line of work.

A/N: Okay, so that was a lot longer than I expected… hope you liked reading it!