Jack's been injured, but sparking circuitry was just under his skin! Sari is taking him to June for answers.
Flying to the camp, Sari carried Jack to the infirmary, looking for his mother. She spied her from above.
"June!" Sari yelled. She looked up and saw Sari hovering, then noticed her carrying Jack. "Sari? Jack! What happened?"
"We've got to talk," said Sari.
"Is Jack OK?"
"I'm fine, Mom!" Jack replied, half frightened, half angry.
"Is there a private area somewhere?" Sari asked her.
"Yes, follow me." And landing, Sari followed June into an empty triage tent. She put Jack down on an examination table. June ran up to her son, but before she could examine him, he sat up and pointed to his leg, yelling, "What is this?!" She looked at it and gasped. "Oh no!"
"'Oh, no?' 'Oh no?'?! What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.
"Jack," said Sari, trying to calm him down.
June slumped down in a chair and looked at Jack. "I knew this day would come, but I never knew how I was going to explain it to you," she said. "Then, when Sari arrived here, parts of it started making sense."
Jack looked at June, eyes open wide. "What are you saying?"
"Jack, you are a Technorganic. You were formed in the same way that Sari was."
"What?!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing!
"When we were first married, we tried having children, but I was barren. It was a cause of friction between your...your father and me. Then, one day, we went camping out in the high desert near the Shoshone Range. I got up in the middle of the night to look at the stars, and saw what I assumed was a meteor. But then, suddenly, this glowing pod appeared right in front of me! I went to get closer, and it opened. Inside was a tiny little being made of liquid silver. I can't tell you why I did it, but something made me reach out and touch it. I immediately got a huge shock in my arm, and I fell backwards, unconscious."
"I came to, and heard the sound of a baby crying. I got up, and inside the capsule, the little silvery being was replaced by you."
"I picked you up and carried you back to the campsite. In the morning I showed you to your Dad, and we went back to pick up the capsule. I've been keeping it in a storage shed."
"We raised you as our son. Jack, I'm sorry I never told you this."
"So you kept all of this from me?! Why couldn't you have at least given me a clue?!"
"I didn't know how! I was so afraid that if I told anyone, they'd take you away from me!" She began crying.
"Your Dad…"
"Stop calling him my Dad! He's not my Dad! I don't have a dad! I don't even have a mother!" Jack got off the examination table and began limping out the door.
"Jack! Wait! Don't go, please!" She tried to go up to him, but he turned around and pushed her from him. "Get away from me!" June fell back into the chair, and he left.
She put her head in her hands and began sobbing. "Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Sari transformed into "human" mode, and kneeling down, put her arms around June. She grabbed Sari and held on tight.
"June, it'll be alright. I know what he's going through right now. Let me go talk to him."
"Oh, Sari! He's my son - I love him! I just never knew how to tell him!"
"I know, I know. My Dad went through the same thing. He can help you cope with what you're feeling right now." She helped June up, and looking into her eyes with compassion, said "We're here for you! Now let me go after Jack, and I'll talk to my Dad."
June wiped away her tears. "Thank you, Sari."
She ran out of the tent and caught up to Jack. "Jack! Wait!"
"Leave me alone, Sari!"
"No way! I know what you're going through right now!"
He spun around. "How could you possibly…? Oh, forget it! Of all the people, maybe you do. But her?! How can I ever face her again? She's not my mother! I don't have a mother!"
Now Sari was angry! "Yes you do, and she's in that tent! Who picked you up when you protoformed into your final stage of development? Huh? Huh?! Did she just walk away and leave you there crying in the desert? No! She embraced you and took you as her son!"
She pounded her finger on his chest. "Whose DNA are you carrying in your body right now? Hers! Who raised you, and changed your diapers, and wiped away your tears when you cried? She did!"
"Do I have to go on, Jack, or am I getting through that thick skull of yours?"
"Alright! Alright! So what am I?
"You are a Technorganic. You are half human, half Cybertronian. You got your human half from your mother when she touched your sparkling protoform. It was at that moment when you began the final stage of your development.
Jack started calming down. He sighed, and looked off in the distance. "I'm half robot?"
"Yes, you are."
Jack tried to let that sink in. He put his fingers through his hair. "This, this is like some kind of weird dream! I'm a robot...when do I wake up...oohh!" He bent over suddenly.
"Jack? What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I feel tingly all of a sudden…" Then there was a blue flash, and where before there was a "human" Jack Darby, there was now standing before Sari, a "bot" Jack.
He stood back up. "What just happened?" Jack asked in a metallic voice.
"Well, Mr. Darby, you just transformed," Sari said with a slight smirk.
The "bot" Jack was the same size, of course, but he had black/gray armor with blue accents. His helm was smooth, and his face was similar to Sari's, but masculine - light blue, but with a black mask covering his bright crystal blue optics and the bridge of his nose. Across his chest was a blue-ridged gray cover for his Spark chamber, with the circular center slightly glowing.
Sari's smirk changed into a girlish smile.
"What's so funny?" He frowned.
"Nothing's funny at all, Jack. Actually, you look pretty hot, for a Cybertronian," she chuckled.
Miko arrived at the infirmary, riding on TFA Arcee. "Hey, Sari! Did you find Jack's...Whoa! Who the heck is that?"
Jack turned to Miko and gave an awkward wave. "Uh, hi?"
Miko got off the motorcycle and ran up to "bot" Jack. She stared at him with a goofy grin.
"No. Way!"
Jack rolled his optics and looking back at Sari, he asked in his metallic voice. "How do I transform back?"
"The same way you transformed into 'bot' mode, Jack," Sari smiled. "Do you remember?"
Jack racked his processor, trying to retrace everything that led to his transforming. "I thought about being a robot?"
"Yep. Now think about being a human." He gave the thought, and with a blue flash, Jack transformed into "human" mode.
"Awesome!" Yelled Miko. "Can you fly?"
He turned toward Sari. "Can I fly?"
"We'll cover those things later, Jack. Right now, I think you owe your Mom a big apology." Jack left and went back to speak to June.
TFA Arcee transformed and came up to Sari and Miko. "I saw Jack. I take it he's a Technorganic?"
"Yes," said Sari. He shares his mother's DNA. He's got a long way to go, to learn how to be a Cybertronian. I can get him started."
"How long have you been transforming, Sari?" asked Miko.
"Since I was sixteen," said Sari. "I'm 25 now."
"Wow! I thought you were younger," Miko replied.
"That's because Technorganics don't exactly age. We live as long as Autobots, but our human cells don't deteriorate like full humans. Our Spark keeps our human body at about 18."
"What?! You mean I'm gonna get old, wrinkled and gray, and Jack's still gonna look 18?! That's not fair!"
"Well, there is the other side of things," Sari smiled. "When you get older, you'll be able to go in a bar with no problems. I'm always going to get carded no matter what - IF they even let me have a drink."
"Sari, Optimus Prime from this world needs a status," said TFA Arcee. "No one yet knows that you've defeated Kālī except us."
"Oh my gosh, in all this excitement about Jack, I forgot!" And she transformed into "bot"mode and took off to where the Autobots were gathered.
Arcee looked down at Miko. "I need to be there also, to coordinate with Chief Atkinson and the Mayor. You coming?"
"No way! I wanna see more of Jack in 'bot' mode!" she replied, then changed her mind. "No! Wait! I've gotta tell Raf! Let's go!" And Arcee transformed into her alt mode and Miko got on.
Jack walked into the triage tent. "Mom?"
June got up. "Jack!" She ran to hug him. "Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry!"
He hugged her back. "No, Mom, I'm the one who should apologize. I was a jerk, the way I reacted. Please forgive me."
"Oh honey, of course I forgive you! Can you forgive me for not telling you all these years?"
"Yeah, Sari kind of set my head straight."
"Hey," she sniffled, "let me look at that leg, OK?"
Isaac came into the tent. "June? Jack? Sari told me what happened! Please, I am more than happy to help you with any questions you may have."
"I was very angry at my Mom for not telling me, Professor," said Jack, but Sari knocked some sense into me. I apologized."
"Oh, I understand, Jack. Sari was so very angry with me. I kept it a secret because I was so afraid of the government finding out and taking her away from me!"
"Yes! That's the same way I felt!" said June. "I love Jack so much, and if they found out, and took him away…" she began to cry.
"It's OK, Mom," Jack hugged her.
Jack looked at Isaac's white streak. "Sari told me how you got that white streak in your hair, Professor," said Jack. He looked at June. "Mom, how come you don't have one?"
"Oh, but I do, Jack. Ladies can dye their hair, don't you know," she smiled. "Which reminds me, it's time for a touch-up," and she showed him the white roots starting to crop up near the middle of her forehead.
Isaac laughed. "Well, that never occurred to me."
"But please, while I'm here, perhaps we can all get together and talk about these things," he continued.
"I'd like that, Isaac," said June. I'll cook all of us up a nice dinner.
"Let's go to where the Autobots are," said Jack. I'm sure Miko's already gabbing about me."
"Look! Here comes Sari!" Yelled TFA Bulkhead. Everyone looked up to see her approaching.
She landed in front of both Optimus Primes. "Kālī is no more."
Everyone in earshot erupted in cheers and excitement! "Sari! Well done!" Said T:Prime Optimus.
"Yes, Sari, well done indeed! Where is she?" asked TFA Optimus.
"She's…gone. She went to attack me at full throttle with her plasma jets, and I threw an orb at her."
TFA Ratchet gasped. "Kālī went into the event horizon?"
"Yes," Sari replied.
"What does that mean, Ratchet?" asked T:Prime Optimus.
"When a moving object touches one of Sari's tossed orbs, a swirling disc forms. The object is then enveloped by the disc and is shrunken into an instantly formed black hole. Kālī' was compressed by the enveloped disk, and her atoms were destroyed by the event horizon."
TFA Arcee and Miko arrived. "Miko and I witnessed what happened. Sari was defending herself. It was justified."
"Cyber-Ninjas respect all life, no matter how evil," said Jazz. "I know in my Spark that Sari would never wantonly kill Kālī."
"Thank you, Sari, for this act," said T:Prime Optmus. "I know it was not an easy decision."
"On the other hand, there's some exciting news!" called out Miko.
"And what is that?" asked TFA Optimus.
"There's a new Technorganic in our midst!"
"What?!" said TFA Ratchet. "Where did she – or he – come from?"
"Oh, from Jasper, Nevada." Miko was loving the suspense.
"Hold on, hold on! Jasper, as in here?" said TFA Bumblebee. "Girl, you're milking this for all it's worth! Give!"
Just then, Jack, June and Isaac were walking toward the group. Sari turned and saw that Jack and his Mom had reconciled, and smiled. She decided to let Miko keep going with this.
Miko gestured toward the Darbys: "Mechs and femmes, I present to you our newest Technorganic!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother!" he whispered to his Mom.
Everyone turned and looked at Jack and June. "June?" asked TFA Bulkhead.
"No!" said Miko.
"Professor Sumdac?"
"Oh, good grief, no!"
"Uh, Jack, I guess." Bulkhead scratched his helm. "There's no one else left."
"Bingo! The big green guy wins!"
("Jack? How?") said T:Prime Bumblebee.
"I injured my leg, and there was circuitry under the skin," responded Jack, "then…Wait! Did I just understand what you said?"
"Well, I guess that makes it official," smirked Miko.
"This is happening waay too fast," said Jack. "It seems like things started right after Kālī blew up the building that Miko and I were in."
"Then, you had a bit of an emotional meltdown," said Sari.
"Yeah, but I'm better now." June gave him a hug.
"Well, Jack, we're very pleased to welcome you! Any speculation as to what brought this on?" asked T:Prime Optimus.
"I have a theory," said TFA Ratchet. "I think the trauma of the explosion, then the sudden emotional realization that he's a Technorganic, might have been the spark that brought on this stage of his Technorganic development."
"Besides, from what I've learned from Dataminer – a bot in our world who is our foremost expert on Technorganics – they tend to begin some important stages of their development right about the human age of sixteen."
"I'm sixteen," said Jack.
"Well," said Ratchet, "there you are."
After learning that Sari had taken care of Kālī, the town erupted in celebrations! Mayor Cleveland announced a "Thank You, Sari Day" and another "Thank you, Autobots Day". Everyone pitched in to bring the citizens back to their homes, and repairs to the town were begun.
Then there was the matter of bringing the news about Jack to his partner. Miko, being the blabbermouth she is, was forbidden from entering Outpost Omega One until the news was delivered!
Jack, June and Sari drove in to the compound, and were greeted by T:Prime Ratchet and T:Prime Arcee.
"Congratulations, Sari! Optimus told us the news," said Ratchet. "Well done!"
"Thank you, Sari," said Arcee.
"You are welcome," she replied. "But we have some other news we wanted to share with you."
Ratchet and Arcee turned toward the three. "What's that?" asked Ratchet.
"Well," said Jack. "It concerns me. Uh, you see, I learned something about myself I never knew before."
"It was something I'd been keeping from Jack," said June. "Something very important."
Arcee raised a metallic eyebrow. "OK, you two are really getting me intrigued here. Stop beating around the bush. Spill it!"
Jack looked at Sari. "You said this was the best way to do it, right?"
"Yep."
A flash of blue, and Jack transformed into "bot" mode.
Ratchet gasped! "By the AllSpark!"
Arcee's jaw dropped. Her optics were big like saucers. She was speechless for several seconds. Then, a wry smile crossed her face.
"Hey there, partner. That's a new look for you. I like it!"
So, a new phase of Jack's life begins! Sari will help him adjust to his life as a Technorganic, and start to learn about the mods he may have. His relationship with Arcee will take some new directions as well.
Then of course, there is the matter of Kālī. What will be the reaction from the Decepticons?
And of course, what about the government? How will they deal with this realization that they are no longer alone?
We shall see! Thanks for reading. Please review.