Anyone else looking forward to checking out the new Transformers: Prime series on the Hub? I just hope someone can post up vids of the eps online as they air since we don't get the Hub channel here in the U.K. *grumbles*.

Glad to hear that some readers were intrigued by my last chapter following Blackarachnia. I have some rather interesting ideas for the techno-organics, yessss... Hopefully I'll be able to get round to telling most of the story that I'd like to.

Checking in on Sari and Bumblebee this time. Can an examination by three of Cybertron's best scientific minds shed anymore light on the mystery of Sari's origns? And is Bumblebee a hero in the eyes of everyone now? Or are there doubters?

A Protoform Anomaly and A Muted Bee

Sari stared up at the ceiling of the Cybertronian infirmary room. Various wires and cables hung down from it like vines in a dense jungle. She shifted slightly on the metal table she was lying flat on.

"Just remain still, Sari. This will only take a moment."

Sari's inhuman light blue gaze set within a teenage human face turned in the direction of the female voice. A red and white female medic-bot with a laser tool of some sort for a left hand stood operating a control panel a short distance away to her side. Next to the female medic-bot was a rather staunch, broad-shouldered, white and green engineering-bot with a red chest and two glowing blue pieces on either side of his head. And watching a monitor screen expressionlessly near the medic and engineering bots was a third red science-bot that carried a large periscope device on his right shoulder and wore what looked to Sari like yellow spectacles on his narrow, greenish blue face. They were Red Alert, Wheeljack and Perceptor.

Sari then brought her light blue gaze over to her other side to see a more familiar and trusted face: Ratchet's. Her old medic-bot friend was standing not far from her side with crossed arms. He gave her a nod and a small, reassuring smile. Sari smiled back.

Wheeljack turned from his scientific colleagues and walked up to the large metal table that Sari lay upon. He leaned over the small girl as he reached upward for the head of a long scanning device attached to a flexible metal arm. Sari looked up at the device cautiously.

"Err, this isn't going to hurt is it?" Sari asked uncertainly, glancing at Wheeljack.

"Hurt? Nahh. It'll just tickle a bit," he replied adamantly. Then his optics drifted away for a moment in thought. "Unless it malfunctions..."

Sari bit her lower lip, unsettled.

"Wheeljack, don't scare the young bot," Red Alert scolded mildly, looking back at him from the control panel she was standing at.

"Sorry," Wheeljack quickly mumbled. He pulled the scanning device down and positioned it directly above Sari's head. "And we're ready to go," he announced. He backed away to rejoin Red Alert and Perceptor.

Red Alert looked over to Perceptor. He nodded to her and she pressed a button on the control panel. A thin line of white light emerged from the long scanning device and slowly travelled down Sari's body. She held herself perfectly still. An x-ray-like image of Sari's internal body began to appear on the monitor screen that Perceptor was closely observing. Finally, the thin scanning beam passed over Sari's feet and shut itself off.

"So can I move again now?" Sari asked.

"Yes. Feel free to sit up," Red Alert replied. "We'll just process the results of your scan now and see what it shows us about you."

Ratchet came to stand by Sari as she sat up.

"Hopefully, the scan will reveal some clues as to where you were constructed," he calmly informed Sari.

"And maybe then I'll finally get the full story of how and why I ended up on Earth years ago," she added quietly.

Ratchet's face became sympathetic. He lightly touched Sari's small back with his giant fingertip to offer her some comfort.

"We'll find the answers, kid," he reassured.

Over at the monitor screen, Perceptor silently analysed the results of Sari's scan. Red Alert and Wheeljack came to join him at his sides. For several minutes, all three glared at the screen, exchanging occasional quiet words between themselves.

"Fascinating," Perceptor murmured.

"I don't think I've ever seen a design quite like this," Red Alert commented.

Wheeljack glanced at his colleagues. "Maybe we should run another scan?"

Eventually, the three scientific Autobots turned round to face Sari and Ratchet.

"Sari, how long did you say you've been online?" Red Alert asked slowly.

"As far I know, ten years," Sari replied cautiously.

"That's about seven stellar cycles," Ratchet converted for his fellow Cybertronians.

Red Alert, Wheeljack and Perceptor looked to one another briefly.

"We can't derive any useful information from Sari's scan," Wheeljack informed, regarding Sari with a puzzled frown. "She has no protoform identification code, no details of manufacture and there's no other Cybertronian design in existence like hers as far as we know. She's...a protoform anomaly."

Ratchet glanced down to see distress forming on Sari's face.

"You mean...I might not even be from Cybertron?" she asked in shaky disbelief.

Her small body began to tremble. She looked down at her hands as if she did not recognise them anymore.

"No. We believe you are Cybertronian," Red Alert quickly replied.

"You possess a spark. And your parts and components are recognisably Cybertronian," Perceptor explained in his monotonous, heavily computerised voice. "But your intricate internal systems and circuitry are more complex than any we have ever encountered before. There is no record of your protoform make. As far as we can tell, Sari, you are a completely new form of Cybertronian design. There is, and never has been, any other like you in existence. We cannot determine where you may originate from or any other basic information regarding your construction. All that we can say is that you were a protoform design developed enough to incorporate organic elements. You are a unique fusion of Cybertronian technology and human biology now, a protoform within an organic shell."

"So in other words, you can't tell me anything new about myself," Sari sighed disappointedly, her body sagging.

"She's a 'techno-organic' mystery," Wheeljack mused, looking at Sari. "The first and only techno-organic on Cybertron." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "We should run more scans on her. Do some tests. Find out more about her physiology..."

Sari's eyes widened.

"Whoah, no way!" she suddenly exclaimed, balling her hands into fists. "I'm not some alien specimen for you to examine!"

Red Alert held up her hand in a placating gesture. "Please, don't be alarmed, Sari. We mean you no harm. Wheeljack was merely suggesting that we find out more about you. Your existence and techno-organic nature are mysteries. With more analysis on your systems, we might be able to gain clues on how you came to be."

Sari stood up and turned round toward Ratchet on the metal table. The old medic-bot looked down at her and saw her closing her eyes and quietly exhaling, a heavy expression on her young human face. Ratchet then looked back up at the three science bots and shook his head.

"No. No more scans or tests," he said firmly. He placed his hand on the table and Sari gratefully climbed into his large, protective, open palm. "Thanks for your help anyway, but me and Sari had best get going now." He brought his hand cupping Sari up to his chest. "We'd appreciate it if you kept the results of this examination session confidential."

Perceptor, Red Alert and Wheeljack nodded. Then Ratchet headed for the doors of the infirmary chamber and exited with Sari. When the doors had closed behind them, the three science bots looked to one another, then back at Sari's scan on the monitor screen behind them.

"So you raced this Nanosec guy into incapacitation. Then how did you dispose of the volatile Destronium and save all of Detroit?"

Hot Shot, a boisterous, young, yellow, blue and red Autobot, waited in eager anticipation for Bumblebee's response to his question. He was sat opposite the little yellow, horned speedster in the waiting area of the infirmary. They were on metal benches facing one another.

Bumblebee leaned back leisurely onto the wall behind him, crossing his arms behind his head to make himself comfortable on.

"Well, then I came up with the brilliant idea to use my thrusters to carry me past the upper atmosphere of Earth," he replied smoothly. "And from there, I threw the Destronium bomb into space. The explosion sent me falling back down to Earth, but with a little help from my teammates, I made a safe landing, though I was totally roasted after that."

"Wow," Hot Shot remarked in wide-eyed awe. "That's intense."

"That's nothing," Bumblebee boasted, waving his hand dismissively. "There was the time when I captured the Decepticon arms-dealer Swindle by trapping him in his vehicle mode."

Hot Shot gaped in amazement. "You caught a Decepticon on your own?"

Bumblebee smiled broadly. "Pretty much."

"You've got some cybertanium, Bumblebee," Hot Shot praised. "Me and my team fought Decepticons on one of the outer space bridges not long ago. Got one of my servos blown off by them." He tapped his right leg with a fist. "And one of them threw a vial of Cosmic Rust at our captain, Rodimus Prime. He's just recovering from the condition now. Those Cons are a brutal bunch. Taking one down takes some real skill and courage."

"Yup. Skill and courage are things me and my team have piles of," Bumblebee proudly declared, his smugness all too apparent. Then he waved his hand in a small display of modesty. "But I can't take all the credit for our successes. It's like our Prime's always saying: we work as a team."

Hot Shot dropped his head into his hands in admiration. "You are so lucky to be a part of Optimus Prime's crew. I mean Rodimus is cool and all, but Optimus Prime is THE bot."

"Lucky is right," a rural-accented voice interrupted.

Hot Shot and Bumblebee looked up to see a strong-built, broad-chested red Autobot striding up to them. Bumblebee's optics widened.

"Hey Ironhide," Hot Shot excitedly called to his larger red teammate, "look who I bumped into!" He gestured toward an uncomfortable-looking Bumblebee. "It's Bumblebee! From Optimus Prime's crew!"

Ironhide crossed his thick arms over his chest and glared down at Bumblebee. A humourless smile appeared on his lips.

"Well, if it ain't the 'Bumbler' who messed up at boot camp," he remarked dryly.

Hot Shot blinked in surprise at Ironhide. "You know Bumblebee? That's great! You should have mentioned it before!"

Ironhide grimaced, but said nothing.

Ignoring Hot Shot now, Bumblebee rose to his feet, looking up nervously at Ironhide. A rare expression of guilt had come over his face.

"Ironhide, I made a mistake back then, but it was an honest mistake," he explained imploringly. "Longarm, or should I say Shockwave, played me. I was a pawn in his plans to lead suspicion away from him and lay it onto Wasp. I know I sent an innocent bot to the stockades. And I regret that more than anything. I...I didn't know..."

Bumblebee stopped, lost for more words. He felt like he was shrinking under Ironhide's steel gaze. Hot Shot was watching the two in wordless confusion, not understanding what they were talking about.

"Not me you should be sayin' sorry to, Bumbler," Ironhide stated unsympathetically.

Bumblebee bowed his head. He didn't have the spark to tell his old boot camp classmate of what had become of Wasp in his last encounter with him on Earth, how he had been turned into a techno-organic monstrosity and re-dubbed himself 'Waspinator'.

Ironhide leaned down toward Bumblebee's face, his steel gaze unrelenting and merciless.

"You're lucky alright to have wound up on Optimus Prime's crew," he said with quiet intensity. "Most bots gonna remember you for being a hero now. But ah know what you really are: a bumbling, impulsive, self-absorbed liability. Can only imagine what Optimus Prime must have had to put up with from you."

This suddenly angered Bumblebee and he opened his mouth to retort. But then Ratchet's impatient voice cut into his audios.

"Bumblebee! Time to leave!"

The old medic-bot had appeared in the infirmary waiting area carrying an unhappy-looking Sari in his hand. Bumblebee turned away abruptly from Ironhide and made his way toward Ratchet and Sari. Ironhide followed him with his glare.

For once, the usually talkative little yellow speedster held his mouth shut.