Once again it was morning at the Autobot base and, as I had done the day before, I found myself watching the television channel that seemed to always be on; Auto Races Mania. They raced anything from trucks to go-carts to minivans. Today though there were more well-suited classic cars taking the different tracks that were set up. I, of course, now sat on the table to watch, worried that one day one of the Autobots might not see me on the couch.
Watching races didn't suit me, but it wasn't like I had anything else to do; I wasn't allowed to go out shopping with my mom and Bumblebee for supplies. I could've asked one of the Autobots to take me out for a drive, but I would have had to ask Ironhide first…and for some reason he seemed incredibly ornery so I decided to steer clear of him.
But there was one thing I couldn't avoid if I tried…
"The circuitry of that guy!"
I rolled my eyes. "What now, Sunny?" I asked as the yellow and black Autobot came and hopped onto the right side of the metal couch, slightly bouncing Sideswipe who was already sitting down. "Someone forget to pick up a mirror for you?"
He glared at me. "No," he growled, leaning forward. "Jazz could've gotten me a DIFFERENT holoform, but no! He said Sides and I had to share!"
I shrugged. "So what's the big deal? You are twins after all."
"But I'm better-looking!"
"Oh, stop groaning," Sideswipe said, pushing his hand into his brother's faceplate. "Don't think I enjoy looking like a certain moron."
Sunstreaker shoved the hand away and shot him a dirty look.
"Well you guys can modify them to look different, can't you?" I asked, crossing my legs and leaning back on my hands. Both the 'bots blinked their optics at me and then turned to either side, nodding sheepishly. I threw my hands up. "Alright! Pop 'em up and I'll see what I can do."
I noticed the twins hesitating before finally reaching up and tapping the right side of their helmets. Instantly two blue beams shot out and stopped in front of me, showing two skinny men in their early twenties with blue eyes. They both had thick brown hair and both wore a grey t-shirt and tan cargo pants with sandals. Very plain and drab.
I just sat there, with my mouth slightly hung open. "Wow… you guys REALLY need my help."
"Well, it's not like my priority here was to study fashions of organics!" Sunstreaker protested, leaning back on the couch setting his arm on the armrest.
"No," Sideswipe told him. "Your priority was to act like that Bald Pitt human."
Sunstreaker glared at him and I couldn't help but laugh. "BRAD Pitt, Sideswipe."
The red Autobot looked at me in confusion. "Well then who the frag is Bald Pitt?"
I shook my head. "Oh boy."
"Now just stick the insignia here," I said pointing to a place on Sideswipe's holoform, "and yours here," I did the same to Sunstreaker's, "and that should do it!" I took a step back as the two made the appropriate changes to the holograms. "Now lemme take a look at you two."
Standing before me were still the same twenty-year-old brown-haired men I had seen minutes before, but after the changes they seemed almost unrecognizable.
Sideswipe's holoform was dressed in a black long-sleeved t-shirt and an unbuttoned collared crimson red shirt over it with a black Autobot insignia on the right side. His jeans were a little baggy and on his feet were running shoes. His hair fell to his left side and was tipped with red highlights.
Sunstreaker's holoform, however, looked completely different from his brother's. Beneath a black thin-fabric vest was a yellow short-sleeve zip-up hoodie with a black Autobot insignia on the left arm. He wore a pair of dark blue denim jeans and a black and white pair of converse sneakers. The brown hair fell on the opposite side from the Sideswipe counterpart and rather than red was highlighted in bright yellow.
I smiled, both surprised and pleased at the job I had done for the twins. "Well, don't you two look cute!"
"You sure?" Sunstreaker asked as he and his brother shut off the holoforms. "I don't look like some kind of human freak of nature, do I?"
"Too late for that, bro," Sideswipe said with a smirk on his faceplate.
"Why you-!"
"Stop!" Both robots looked at me with clueless expressions. "Just stop!" I told them again. "Geez, what's with you two? A few days ago you were getting along fine. What happened?"
"Actually we only get along half the time," Sideswipe said plainly.
"Yeah," Sunstreaker confirmed. "Whenever you came around though we both agreed to be nice." He shrugged. "But now that you're here 24-7 it doesn't matter anymore." He turned back to Sideswipe. "Now… you wanna run that by me again?"
I sighed and shook my head as the two continued their squabble. "Boys," I mumbled quietly.
I turned and sat down with my attention to the TV, ignoring what was going on behind me. The twins were more childish than I initially thought. They had the same sibling rivalry that I had seen so much with my friend Emma and her older brother Braxton. Braxton was normally quiet, but he and Emma still had disagreements; occasionally about the state of a vehicle that they were helping their dad with.
I wonder if Marcie's told Em about me yet… I thought. Emma was the kind of person who you wouldn't think you'd get along with right away simply because she was so hard and aggressive. It took a while for Marcie and I to get used to it, though Marcie still felt uncomfortable occasionally. Emma was extremely over-protective of us and was like a slightly older sister to us. I could imagine that she had gone nuts when she first found out that I was gone; she was just like that.
But I also wondered—did I make the right choice talking to Marcie? Optimus had to have a reason for telling me that they couldn't know anything about what was really going on. I originally thought that it was the fact of telling them that I was with giant alien robots and I made sure not to mention who exactly my friends were to Marcie; but now I was starting to have doubts.
"And then you had the audacity to go out and fetch her book JUST to make yourself look better to her!" Sunstreaker shouted to his brother.
I turned around and stared at them, wondering how they had changed subjects.
"Maybe I'm just not SELFISH like a certain 'bot," Sideswipe sneered. "You wouldn't go out for fear of dirt and dust on your windshield."
"You guys do know I'm right here…" I started to say.
"I told you before: I'm NOT selfish!" Sunstreaker screamed. "If anything YOU'RE selfish! Doing stuff to make yourself look better than me! And for the record, I wouldn't mind about the dirt!"
Apparently they forgot, I thought to myself.
"Hey!"
The three of us jumped at the boom of an angry Autobot's voice. I looked up to see Ironhide standing behind the couch where the twins sat, both looking too terrified to even turn around and look at the tall black and silver 'bot. I didn't blame them at all. His optics were glowing brightly with a scowl on his faceplate and his arms were folded. He didn't look happy at all.
"You two had better shut off yer vocal processors before I rip 'em right outta yer throats!" I shrunk back in fear, even though the threat wasn't directed at me.
Before either Sideswipe or Sunstreaker could respond Ironhide had already stomped off, mumbling loudly.
"Slaggin' kids, always arguin' an' getting' on mah circuitry. They're all alike; Cybertronian or organic. I'm too old ta deal with this scrap."
I sighed disappointedly. He mentioned "organics", so he had to be reffering to me. It seemed that the old Autobot had gone right back to hating me; and right after he said he would be my Guardian.
I shook my head. I just didn't understand him at all.
"Ellie."
I was startled slightly at the unexpected voice but turned toward the couch to see who said my name. Standing in Ironhide's old spot with both twins looking at him was the white and black security 'bot Prowl.
"I am curious as if I would be able to discuss something with you," the Autobot stated, looking down at me with his blue optics.
"Yeah, sure," I said without hesitation. I stood up and Prowl walked around to the table, offering me his hand.
"Aw, Prowl, don't take her away," Sideswipe whined as Prowl stood up straight with me sitting in his palm.
"Yeah, we only just started to hang out," Sunstreaker concurred in the same tone.
Prowl raised an optic ridge. "Of course you did." He turned and began heading toward the wall to the left of the computer. "Come on, Ellie."
"Like I have a choice?" I asked smiling.
We left the twins to watch the TV and entered a doorway in the wall. The white and black Autobot went down a hallway past an especially large door that was hinted red to another door which was blue. When Prowl stopped in front of it the door slid open with a whoosh sound and he stepped inside.
My eyes widened at the sight of multiple computer screens that were rowed along half of the wall to the left and the other half with a much larger screen covering it. The large screen showed different bluish designs and symbols with a few red blinking lights and the smaller screens looked like camera shots of different parts of the base, excluding individual rooms for each of the Autobots. On the right wall was what looked like a large desk with different gadgets that looked like giant palm pilots on it and on the far wall across the room was another door.
"Welcome, Ellie, to the Autobot security station of this base," Prowl told me, holding his hand out in front of him for me to see my surroundings better. He turned and began to walk toward the large computer screen. "This is Teletraan-One, a most valuable member of the Autobot team. It assists me in security of this base, warns us of any Decepticon activity, monitors Earth media broadcasts that are of interest to us, and much more. I brought you here because I wish to show you something."
"Really?" I asked. "What's up?"
The Autobot set me on his right shoulder and stepped forward toward the screen. He began tapping at places on the monitor with both hands, and each time the screen changed.
"Last night there was an unauthorized Autobot communications signal that came from within the base to a contact approximately thirty miles away," he replied. "The signal came specifically," he poked the screen one last time bringing up blueprints with a single red blinking dot on it, "from you and your mother's quarters." He turned his massive white head to see me. "Care to explain?"
I was speechless as I stared at the screen. The blueprints were of the Autobot base and the red dot was blinking over the spot where my room was, showing clearly what Prowl was talking about. Someone WAS outside of our room last night; it was Prowl who had probably seen the alert then and went to investigate.
I turned to look at him, my eyes still wide. "P-Prowl, you don't understand!" I croaked. "I…I…I wanted Marcie and Emma to know I was okay!" I was panicking. I hadn't thought at all about what would happen if I was caught. "I know I disobeyed Optimus and all," I continued hoarsely, "but…"
The white and black Autobot put his hand up, indicating for me to stop. I stared at him with a clueless expression as he quickly returned the screen back to its original state and turned, now moving toward the desk.
"Ellie, I am in no way angry with you," he told me calmly, seating himself on a stool and gently lifted me from his shoulder to set me on top of the chrome desktop. "I understand that you felt your friends needed to know that you were intact and uninjured. You saw an opportunity to inform them so and took it. Frankly, I'm proud of you."
I blinked. "But… what about what Prime said?"
Prowl leaned back slightly, setting his hand on the desk. "I see the logic in Optimus' order and precaution, however I believe that knowledge is a valuable factor in safety. Also, stress is a problem that should be avoided whenever possible. By contacting your friend Marcie Chase you have spared them of it and are allowing them to, as you humans say, 'breathe easier'."
I looked at my feet, shaking my head. "Look, Prowl, not that I'm not grateful of your reassurance," I began, "but I'm sure both Optimus and my mom are gonna give me a lecture or something." I sighed. "Something I'm REALLY looking forward to," I grumbled sarcastically.
"Is it necessary for them to be aware of what you've done?" I looked up at the Autobot and was surprised to see that he was smiling.
I shyly looked at my feet. "I guess not."
We suddenly became alert when we heard a loud beeping sound and saw that Teletraan-One's screen was flashing bright red. In my pocket my cell phone was vibrating and I didn't hesitate to pull it out and look at it. Prowl got up, tapping the side of his helmet, and went to the computer, flipping through the screens. I was getting a call from a number I didn't recognize: 286253233.
I opened the phone and listened as Prowl continued working, stopping occasionally to look at a certain screen.
I gasped when I heard Bumblebee's voice coming from my phone's earpiece. "Emergency… p-priority one! Decepticon cassettes attacked and… and Janet t-taken! Help… would be a good thing right now!"
"Bumblebee, this is Prowl," the security 'bot stated, examining the computer monitor. "Teletraan-One is locking onto your communications signal and I assure you that assistance will be dispatched immediately." He reached up and tapped the side of his helmet. "Prime, I suggest gathering a rescue team as soon as possible."
I only barely heard Optimus' voice before my phone slipped through my shaking hand and hit the desktop, breaking into two pieces with a clatter. I stared into nothingness, frozen stiff.
Mom was gone. She was gone…and I didn't know what to do. It just happened, like I was afraid that it would a few days ago. I was practically shaking apart with worry then, but now I was absolutely petrified. The Decepticons had her. She was gone.
"Ellie." I slowly looked up, almost like my neck was robotic, to see Prowl gazing down at me with concern. He set his hand, palm up, next to me. "Come with me," he told me gently. "We will get your mother back."
I hesitated before gradually shuffling over to the Autobot's hand and falling into a stiff seated position. I didn't even flinch when he moved his hand toward his chest to minimize the probability of me falling off and stood straight. I sat unmoving as the 'bot hurried out of the security room and down the hall.