Longest chapter yet. Whoo!


The target was in their sights, now.

They had already secured dozens of compounds. No one had stopped them, save for a couple of amateurs and a single military vehicle. At the rate they had been going, they would be back at the base by dawn. They could go home, and bring the pride back to their country.

The door blew in easily, the newly made entrance wide and inviting. He didn't hesitate to give the order. He realized his mistake too late.

"Commander!"

Leland Bishop screamed as he was consumed by flames.

Silas snapped his eyes open with a gasp of air. Only to suck in the thick debris of smoke. Instantly his muscles seized as years of instinct kicked in—to run, to fight, or to kill. Whatever came first.

But instead of feeling the hot sands of Afghanistan beneath him or hearing the yells of another language, he was greeted with cold concrete and wails of dismay. What—

"Silas, sir!"

A voice, muffled and muted, blocked out by the horrible ringing in his ears. It took him a full minute, his burning eyes staring at the black haze, to register the name. The alias. Leland Bishop died with his team.

Silas managed to cough up a reply, forcing himself into a sitting position. Thick smoke lingered in the air, but he was able to make out the crimson light of flames and a blackened wall a distance away. It was then the cruel clutches of the past released him, and he was brought back to reality.

He was in the facility located in the French Alps, on the French-Italian border. Their base of operations for Project Chimera, where they would—

Silas's body seized again. No. The man looked at the flames, only to see the fire consuming at a dark, burnt, destroyed shell. The blaze ate hungrily at oil in the robot's fuel lines. Metallic groans and roars filled the air, like a monster fighting for its last breath. Shrapnel and debris covered the floor. Silas had been standing on the edge of the blast, so its shockwave had merely knocked him off his feet. Others were not so lucky.

Silas could only stare at the mess. Months of effort, from scouring for scraps of metal and resources, wasted. Because of that brat

Wait. Where was he?!

The MECH leader snapped his sharp gaze back and forth, looking for the pesky teenager—Suddenly the wall next to him moved.

Then he remembered.

Silas glanced up to meet glowing red eyes. Even the robot, the De-cept-i-con, looked scuffed up. There were black scorch marks across scarred, silver plating and Silas even saw trails of its fuel source, energon, leaking from compromised lines. Being the largest one in the room and the one closest to the explosion, the jet had taken the brunt of it. The robot just happened to be in the right spot to shield the unsuspecting humans from the worst of the eruption.

What do you know, the babbling fool was good for something.

However, the giant, winged Decepticon did not seem phased. As a metal being, the man doubted it could feel any pain. It even managed to rise to its full height, its sharpened fingers curled around something in its palm.

"And thus I prove my point," came its metallic drawl as it peered down at the MECH leader. "For such simple-minded cretins, you humans are clever." It flashed sharp teeth, almost like it was smiling. "But, not clever enough."

Starscream unfurled his fist, revealing his prize.

Jack Darby.

It seemed the teenager didn't think his genius plan all the way through, considering how close he was to the explosion when he fired the pistol. His shoes had been knocked from the force of the blast alone, and his jeans and shirt were burned and tattered. Crimson blood trailed down from his temple, and no doubt he was concussed. Supported by the fact he lay limb in the giant's hand. At first glance, he looked dead.

"Is he alive?" Silas demanded automatically, wanting to be sure.

"Oh, I assure you, I would never touch one of your fleshy husks," the jet replied.

Despite his proclamation, Starscream carefully deposited his catch at the man's feet. Jack didn't even stir. Silas knelt beside him, a pair of fingers probing his neck, searching for a pulse. Weak, but steady. The boy would live.

Not how the MECH leader had planned things, but the brat was finally in his custody. And this time, there would be no Au-to-bots or NEST forces to interfere. Silas would finally have his answers. How the brat could utterly destroy his most skilled men. How the boy's eyes changed to a purple hue. How Jack was immune to energon.

Finally, they could move on with the next phase of Project Chimera. However, one major step forward came with a great step back. Frowning, Silas straightened and glanced at the smoldering shell. A few brave souls were already trying to battle the flames, but the project was long gone. Along with that T-cog contraption, already implanted in the new frame. Another wasted mission.

"What about my T-cog?" Silas demanded.

Starscream did not seem concerned as he glanced at the ruined robot, drawling lazily, "Oh, not a significant loss. Another Autobot, another T-cog. You'll get a replacement soon enough."

Silas bristled. It had taken them weeks to plan that operation! And it was unlikely it would ever succeed again, now that they had lost the element of surprise. No doubt the Autobots would be more careful from now on.

"Not soon enough," the MECH leader growled, raising his hand in a gesture his men knew well. "Now."

Instantly the surviving soldiers around the warehouse turned, raising their weapons. Training them on the Decepticon. Starscream let out a small squawk and his wings raised like the tail of a startled cat. His crimson eyes scanned over the small army, noting the barrels pointing at the soft spots of his armor.

After a moment, he regained himself, squaring his shoulders and hissing, "Oh, most unwise, Silas. You think your army of insects can finish me? I am the Air Commander of Vos—"

His sentence was cut off as the robot's scream filled the air.


Megatron was triumphant.

Posted at the head of the bridge, he read over the reports with a widening grin. Breakdown and his patrol had found a fresh energon source, and were already beginning construction of a new mine. They only needed his permission for proper equipment to establish a base there. Then another report from Knock Out, telling how small group of Autobots and humans had tried to assault one of their energon deposits, but plucking off a few of the fleshlings had them running in retreat.

Leaving the Decepticons victorious.

Though Megatron was pleased, the reports only gave him more work to do. He would have to once again divide their resources to cover the new mine—perhaps even abandon one of their less successful ones. Then with the increase of income of energon, he would have to adjust the fuel consumption and rations. On Cybertron, the Decepticon leader had advisors to calculate such trivial things while he only approved. However, as his staff was so horribly thin, he opted to take the responsibility himself.

However, the management of his army and its little economy was much more dull than the thrill of battle on the frontlines. After increasing the rate of energon per troop (which no doubt even the drones would be thrilled about), Megatron moved on to the next report, this one from Soundwave. Laserbeak had found a suspected NEST base in the southern portion of the "United States." It could likely lead—

Purple optics flared.

Megatron snarled as a rush of foreign instincts rushed into his processor, scattering data so quickly and so violently it severed his thought in half. Emotions, he realized, coming from another.

Jack?

Then Megatron felt something. Something cascaded across the blood-bond, filling his entire mind, his entire body. Raw heat scorched his entire neural net, so suddenly and so intense, he thought his processor would short-circuit.

What—

Then as soon as the attack began, the explosion of sensations vanished.

Still reeling from the onslaught, the Decepticon became faintly aware of his cooling fans kicking on, trying to repel the build-up of heat. The violet shades that had covered his vision returned to a crimson haze. It was almost a breem when rationale returned to Megaton's processor, trying to restore damaged files.

What had happened?

He knew it was Jack. It had to be Jack. The warlord had yet to learn the full effects of the blood-bond. He still had to adjust to the brush of another's thoughts against his own. More than once, a pesky human emotion would slip through, and Megatron had to update his firewalls to keep from getting distracted. However, this time, the dictator carefully pried open the blood-bond, probing. Only to feel a solid wall.

Was he— No. Megatron pushed the stream of data away before it could even finish processing. He would know if Jack was dead. His pet was very much alive. Yet the bond between them had been shut.

How? There had only been a handful of times Jack managed to close off his mind. Megatron quickly went through the possibilities of such a thing. The last he saw of or spoke to his pet, was after the Autobots claimed the spark extractor. No. When their scout was assaulted by humans. And he instructed Jack to find the perpetrators. Megatron snarled, trying hypothesize what could cause such an onslaught, only to be interrupted.

"Lord Megatron?"

The Decepticon leader did not jump, but his vents did hitch, too lost in his thoughts to notice the silent newcomer. By now his cooling fans had calmed to low whirr, blending into the natural hum of his systems. Peering over his pauldron, he was greeted with one of—no, the smallest Decepticon on the ship. Pitch-black armor almost blended into the shadows of the Nemesis. It was only the twitch of extra appendages and brilliant violent, compound optics that distinguished the Insection.

"You summoned me?" Airachnid greeted in Cybertronian, obediently sinking to a knee and placing her servo over her spark.

Megatron sorted the last compromised files away and sent a command for his cooling fans to stop. He did not bother with pleasantries.

"I understand you allied with humans during your… time from our ranks?" he inquired, keeping his voice deceptively cool as he clasped his claws behind his back. Not turning to face his second-in-command.

There were was a quick flare in her EM field, but Airachnid suppressed it before she answered, "Yes, my lord."

"Why?"

This time the wires in her frame tightened slightly. As a Decepticon, even during her time of absence, she was well aware of her lord's rather intimate experience with the humans, and his resulting opinion. She especially knew of the incident with Breakdown. Megatron could practically see the gears turning in her head, as she thought of an excuse that explained her behavior and did not make her appear as a disgrace.

Airachnid decided there was no point lying to the Lord of the Decepticons, admitting, "Because the opportunity presented itself, my lord. It seems the natives of this planet are more divided than even we are. I came across—rather, I was approached by—a group of humans that despised the Autobots as much as we do, and… sought my expertise."

"So you thought you could expect fleshlings to finish your battles for you?"

Jack may have been resourceful, but the warlord would never have such a fragile creature fight for him. The human was to seek and fetch, like a good little pet. Megatron prodded at the bond again, reaching out to Jack. Still nothing.

"Of course not, my lord," Airachnid replied quickly. "They merely made a good distraction, allowing me attack the Autobots."

"And how did that work out for you?"

The Insecticon's vent hitched louder than Megatron's had and her EM field flared yet again. There was several long moments, as the femme refused to answer. Megatron was patient.

"Arcee… managed to escape," she forced out.

"Hmm."

Megatron glanced back at the report from Soundwave, taking his time to skim over it, well aware that Airachnid still lingered. He had not dismissed her, and not even she was willing to test the warlord. The Decepticon leader let the treacherous spider squirm.

After sending a reply to his surveillance chief, he moved on to the next inquiry, "What can you tell me of these fleshlings?"

"They call themselves 'MECH,'" Airachnid answered. The English name sounded harsh and guttural. "They consider themselves 'freedom fighters,' as they desire to abolish their city-state's—er, country's—caste system."

Megatron did not correct her that Earth's caste system was nowhere near as strict and rigid as Cybertron's. On Cybertron, one was destined by their frame and birthplace. On Earth, was one destined by their wealth.

However, he knew even Airachnid struggled to describe human affairs in Cybertronian. As the advanced race had concepts that could not be fathomed by any human, the fleshlings had too many words their language did not have.

Megatron was still trying to understand the thoughts he had sensed from Jack. They were all to harsh and quick and primal. Humans emotions were so foreign and complicated, almost outside comprehension. The Decepticon pressed against the bond, but he was only greeted by silence. Why was Jack not answering? Where was he?!

The tyrant kept his voice levelled. "Is it true they wish to use our technology to accomplish this?"

For her credit, Airachnid wisely thought about her reply, and not risk Megatron's wrath. "They wish to learn from us, Lord Megatron."

The Decepticon warlord cocked an optic ridge. "Oh? And what makes you think that insects are capable of learning our secrets?"

"They are clever. What they lack in size they make up for in ingenuity. More than we give them credit for." Then in an odd tone, Airachnid added, "Surely you have seen this in your pet."

Instead of agreeing, Megatron growled lowly, warning the Insecticon that she was crossing into dangerous territory. She got the hint and retreated to another argument.

"Just look at their technology. They build things to make idle tasks more convenient or find more efficient ways to kill each other."

Megatron was growing bored, reminded of a speech Starscream had once given him. "Your point?"

"Why waste the little forces we have," Airachnid lectured, gesturing around the bridge, "when we can let the humans destroy themselves?" It was then a cruel smile spread across her lips, sharp fangs glinting. "Perhaps, they may even terminate the Autobots for us?"

Finally, Megatron caught on to what his second-in-command was insinuating. Finally, he realized Jack could not hear him. The Decepticon whirled around, snarling. Automatically Airachnid flinched back, but paused when she realized her leader was not attacking her.

Instead she stood frozen, as Megatron said slowly, dangerously, "You dare speak of sharing our weapons with insects, when they have stolen from us. They have insulted our kind again and again and again. The Prime may forgive them, but I will not. When their precious guardians fall, when they realize they cannot resist, the humans will have a choice: serve us, or perish."

And Jack would choose. Megatron would make him choose.

Airachnid had cowered at the rant, unknowing slipping in an Insecticon's submissive pose. Her appendages shrunk against her back and she lowered close to the ground, talons curled near her spark.

"Forgive me, my lord, I meant no disrespect," she hastily apologized, just barely managing to keep her voice even.

Airachnid was hardly a coward, but Megatron was well aware she valued her own function more than anything else. And without the shadows to hide in, she reverted to her base programming. The Decepticon leader snorted in contempt and turned his back to the spider.

"You are dismissed," he huffed.

Airachnid did not need to be told twice. She slipped away on hurried, quiet pedes, leaving Megatron alone. The tyrant had his fangs bared, still processing their conversation.

No, he would not allow insects take what was his. They would not take his weapons. They would not take his pet.

There was a reason Jack was sealed from him.

Megatron would find out.

With that, the Decepticon lord left the bridge. It was time to pay the communications center a visit.


Jack first felt pain. It pulsed from behind his eyes, reverberating through his skull and coursing through his entire body. A persistent ache gripped his muscles. His shoulders were burning. He shifted, trying to alleviate the soreness, but his limbs hardly moved. It was then Jack was aware of cold, biting against his skin and tingling against his spine.

...What?

It was then he heard a noise. It was horribly distorted, sounding distant and muffled against his ringing ears. The boy tried to force his eyes open. Only to be greeted by harsh, assaulting light. He hissed and squeezed his eyes shut.

More sound. With a quiet moan, Jack slowly blinked his eyes again. The light was still there, still blinding, but he forced himself to look up. The throb behind his eyes turned into a vicious pounding. The teen could only make out shapes. A tall, dark one, moving in front of him.

Megatron? No, it couldn't be.

His blurry, doubled vision focused, just to make out a familiar, scarred face.

"Silas," Jack growled, only to hear his voice was low and hoarse.

"About time you came around," Silas replied in his own growl as he settled in front of the boy, crossing his arms behind his back. "We tried to wake you up before, but you wouldn't respond. We were getting worried."

What? Jack opened his mouth to demand what he was talking about, then memories washed over him like a tidal wave. He was in Paris, with Miko and Raf. They got captured by MECH. He… he told them to run away while…

The image of the lifeless Transformer flashed across his eyes. Then flames.

Jack shut his eyes tight from his migraine. Did… did he do that? Did he really destroy the Transformer? Then… how was he still alive? He had to be caught in the blast range.

It was then the army brat realized something was wrong. Instead of a hospital bed or a cot he woke up in before, Silas was standing in front of him. Jack became aware of the ache in his limbs, the cold, and a distinct rattling sound above him.

He jerked, but the chains held fast around his wrists. They pinned his arms above his head, secured to a metal pole behind him. The soles of his bare feet barely touched the cold concrete. Glancing down confirmed his chest was bare as well, only leaving him in his jeans.

"What the frag?" Jack exclaimed, jerking again, only for his metal binds to dig into his skin.

Silas quirked his lips in a ghost of a sadistic smile.

"I apologize we could not give you more comfortable accommodations," the MECH leader apologized, but his tone was not sincere, "but this is all we had under such short notice."

Jack highly suspected that was a lie. Instantly his mind started reeling, his senses slowly clearing, too slowly. He could only make out shadows of a dull room around him, a single, glaring light illuminating the floor. He glimpsed a table behind Silas, but the man filled his view, preventing him from seeing its contents.

The army brat didn't understand. Surely MECH wanted him dead. Silas had even said so himself. Then why was he here? Where was—

Jack's blood went frigid as he remembered. Miko, hotheaded girl that she was, screaming for attention, before scampering away. A pack of soldiers on her heels.

"Miko!" he gasped. "Raf! Where are they?" When Silas just stared, he repeated, "My friends! Where are my friends?"

"Alive," Silas assured. "Unharmed. Behave, and they'll stay that way."

Jack shivered at the not-so-veiled threat, but he glared bravely at his captor. "You didn't answer me. Where did you take my friends?"

"Somewhere safe," the man stuck to his vague answers. "A bit shaken up, but they're fine."

Jack was relieved and horrified at the same time. Miko and Raf weren't harmed, but they were far from okay. MECH had them locked up somewhere. They were alone and confused and scared—

Then Jack realized.

"You're lying," he accused, grateful some strength was finally returning to his voice.

Silas cocked an eyebrow. "And what makes you so sure of that?"

"Because I know Miko." When the extremist just narrowed his eyes at him, the boy went on, "She's not scared of anything."

Miko ran into the face of danger, not away from it. Jack had lost count how many times she ran into an open groundbridge, and tried to inch towards the center of a robot battle royale. Usually almost having the army brat killed during the fiasco. For a long moment, Silas just stared, then he curled his lips in amusement.

"You are smart," the man muttered, but it hardly sounded like a compliment. "Too much for your own good, brat."

"I found your secret base, didn't I?" Jack taunted.

"It doesn't count if we took you."

The boy narrowed his eyes and tried to read his surroundings again. There were no windows, so it was impossible to tell where he was. Were they in the same base, or somewhere else? He turned over the night's events, trying to remember every single detail with a migraine.

"You left a trail on purpose," accused Jack.

"More or less," Silas shrugged. He turned, pacing back and forth. "I learned quite a few things from our last encounter. For one, that NEST highly values their assets, which is to be expected. I knew if I took out one of the robots, they would send a strike team after me. That warehouse you walked in to? That was where my men were supposed to neutralize any tails."

The man glared at his prisoner. "So imagine their surprise when three dumb kids walked in." A shrug. "But I got what I needed, so I can't complain."

"So all of the that, was just to get a T-cog?"

"For the most part." When Jack just glared in confusion, Silas went on, "Why do we think we chose Paris? Dense, well-populated. If the Autobots came, they would have to keep a low profile. And possibly, require the assistance of their human allies."

The MECH leader looked pointedly at the boy. Jack's stomach knotted as a paranoid suspicion resurfaced in his mind.

"So then that trap was for me?" he hypothesized.

"Our original plan was to fetch you in the catacombs," Silas admitted, and a chill crawled down the boy's spine. "We were prepared to take that bike, too, but then… there was an unexpected variable."

Jack realized. "Ravage."

The Decepticon had been lured by the frequency just like he had been. It was likely the deadly beast startled MECH, who wasn't expecting the uninvited guest. However, it made Jack's skin crawl, knowing MECH was watching.

Noticing the man's irritated look, he grinned and jeered, "What? Didn't know Decepticons come in 'small size,' too?"

"Well, now we do." The extremist paused his pacing and turned to face his captive. "And now we have you."

The army brat's chest tightened at the odd tone, and he narrowed his eyes to a glare. "What do you want from me?"

"You destroyed Project Chimera. I think its only fair that you compensate for it." A sadistic glint appeared in Silas's eye. "But helping us start anew."

Jack didn't like the sound of that. Unable to process the man's meaning, he latched onto a single word. "Ch-Chimera?"

"A monster of Greek mythology, with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent. According to legend, it was an omen of disaster, ravaging the countryside of Lycia with its fire. That was until it was slain by the hero Bellerophon."

"So does the story have a point other than that you're a nerd?"

Silas gave a huff that may have been a laugh, but the boy wasn't sure. "A story became an inspiration for future scientists. The Greeks loved take harmless animals, and twist them to create ferocious monsters. So, mankind began to wonder, was it possible to combine the genetics of more than one animal to create a new species?"

"Are you going to throw a human in there?" Jack interrupted sarcastically. He didn't expect Silas to take him seriously.

"Oh, they tried. All of them failed."

"As much as I love the history lesson of the insane, you didn't answer my question."

"Listen, and I may tell you," Silas retorted, and Jack snapped his jaw shut. However, he had to struggle listen as the man continued to lecture, "MECH has conducted research and found that other scientists were taking the wrong approach. They were trying to open the lock without the key. MECH, has found that key."

The prisoner was getting bored, tired of the fact that Silas was talking in circles. How did any of this have to do with that fact the boy was chained to a pole in a basement? MECH had kidnapped him, to what, lecture him to death? In revenge of the loss of their demented Transformer, that had something to do with a chimera?

Then Jack flinched. But Silas explained they wanted him before he destroyed the robot. Then… what did he have to do Project Chimera?

For the first time since his captor started with his ludicrous speech, Jack humored him. "And what might that be?"

The MECH leader looked almost satisfied that he finally got his captive's attention, turning around to walk towards the table. It was covered in vague tools, but Silas instead picked up a tablet.

He fiddled with it as he neared Jack, saying, "Last time you were in our custody, we discovered in anomaly in your systems."

The boy flinched. He remembered. Desperate to escape, he had given into Megatron's will. Overwhelmed by the warlord's bloodlust, he fought Silas, almost killed him, until he managed to regain his humanity. It came with a cost. The MECH leader could not ignore Jack's deadly alter-ego, and instead of killing him, he dragged him to the laboratory. They had run test after test on him, until NEST forces finally arrived.

Jack hadn't given any thought since then. He had hoped that whatever MECH had collected from him, it was destroyed during the battle. His hopes were dashed, when Silas turned the tablet in his hand so the boy could see the screen.

It was only thanks to his biology class that the teenager immediately recognized a microscopic picture of red blood cells, but something was wrong. Dark, ugly shapes protruded from the cells, looking like crystals. Jack knew instantly what it was.

Dark energon.

"It's a part of you, now. Not just in blood or in your heart, but the darkness of your soul. It cannot to removed."

Silas watched him, waiting for a reaction. The army brat didn't know how to respond. MECH knew. They knew about the dark energon. Just because of a blood test, they had revealed his secret. He didn't want to confirm anything for his captor, but Jack could not hide his horror.

"As I thought," Silas murmured. "You do know." He lowered the tablet, and a wicked sneer widened. "So you know what it is, don't you?" Jack looked away, but his captor did not let him have that luxury. Suddenly an iron grip took his chin, forcing him to look back at deadly eyes. "Energon."

"Congratulations," Jack spat, "you diagnosed me with energon poisoning. The docs say I have two months left to live."

Silas scoffed at the statement. "We already have the results from the rest of the tests. There are no effects from the energon on you." Jack swallowed and tried to jerk his head free, but the MECH leader did not relent. Instead, his tone turned accusing and fascinated at the same time. "You're immune, aren't you?"

Jack shivered, and that was all Silas needed as an answer. He released his prisoner, and went on in that odd tone, "Fascinating. A human immune to inorganic material. A material, that powers machines."

Jack's first instinct was to correct him, that Cybertronians were anything but. However, it did not make his condition any less impossible. It took several moments of his mind reeling, his sanity trying to accept this absurd situation was really happening. Then the boy replied with his own argument, as weak as it was.

"And so what if I am? What does it matter to you?" Jack demanded. "Energon just destroys everyone else. You're not even sure if its just killing me slowly."

"Perhaps," Silas humored him, "but it hasn't killed you yet. I want to know how."

Before the army could continue the argument, Jack started when a door swung open.

Another MECH soldier, dressed in the same Kevlar armor, but he wore no mask, allowing the teenager to see his face. The man had silver hair, cut short to his scalp like Silas's. Crow's feet branched from his ice-blue eyes. His face looked like it was made of stone, stern and unmoving, lips pulled in a frown.

Jack eyed the newcomer, except the agent completely ignored him, and even Silas. He went straight to the table, messing with its contents. The MECH leader didn't acknowledge him, either, arms still behind his back and cold gaze still on his prisoner. Jack found his skin crawling without his permission. He pulled at the chains again, but to no avail.

"Now, it's obvious enough the energon has some kind of enhancing effect on you," Silas mused, gaze looking almost thoughtful. "However, the effect requires a trigger. And since you were so kind to demonstrate for us, my team of scientist have devised a theory."

Demonstrate? When? Jack had fought Silas months ago and the man had been the only one to see his dark state. He didn't— Then Jack remembered with a start. The hangar, when he approached the robot. Starscream had pinned him… and he remembered… getting so angry.

Ignoring the boy's look of horror, the MECH leader went on, "It appears the energon is… 'activated' when you are subjected to high levels of stress."

"So?"

"So, if we figure out what activates it, we can use it."

For a long moment, Jack did not hear what Silas said. Only when he did, it took several long seconds to even translate the words. Even when he did, he still did not believe it.

"Use dark energon?! Are you insane?" he shrieked. "How can you even do that when all it's going to do is kill you? Why do you need me to figure that out?!"

Silas struck out. In a blink of an eye, the man pounced and Jack wheezed as a solid weight pressed against his chest. He instinctively raised his knee to strike at his assaulter, but muscular legs pinned his lean ones. This time Silas didn't have to seize Jack's face, their noses less than an inch apart, so close that the only place to look was at the large man's eyes.

"Because you are a chimera," Silas hissed, low and dangerous like a snake. "The product of two organisms, the perfect meld of man and machine."

"Do I look like some 'techno-organic' to you?! Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I can't shoot lasers out of my eyes or spout wings!"

"Maybe not. But perhaps this 'dark energon' can be useful in different ways. Once MECH unlocks its secrets, we will evolve mankind into a new race. One that even they will fear."

Jack felt a block of ice formed in his heart, as he finally understood Silas's words. But his logic still argued, still resisted. MECH's plan was so impossible, so insane… And they were going to use him to somehow accomplish it.

"You're… a monster," Jack hissed.

Silas's wide, satisfied, evil smile looked too much like a demon's. "Oh, Jack, we are all monsters here."

With that, the man pushed off of his prisoner, allowing the boy to breathe again. Panting, he glared defiantly at Silas, not daring to show fear to this madman. The leader just stared at him a moment more, with a gaze Jack had never seen before. Like the teen was a priceless treasure just dug up from the earth.

"He's all yours, Marcus," Silas said as he moved away, gesturing to his subordinate. "Remember, I want him in one piece."

Before Jack had a chance to ask what was going on, the MECH leader slammed the door shut behind him. The stranger instantly took his leader's place, a strange object in his hands. Before Jack could react, he pressed the barrel against his arm and he yelled at the stab of pain.

"Sorry about that, just following orders," the man, Marcus, apologized, but it did not sound sincere at all. His was deep and cold, with a hint of an accent Jack didn't recognize.

The teenager panted, eying the odd device in his hand. What… what had the man injected him with? A drug? A sedative, a stimulant?

"What was that?" he demanded to know.

"Since we can't exactly strap a bunch of monitors to you, the eggheads cooked up in the laboratory," Marcus explained in an unconcerned drawl. He crossed over to the room over to the table of tools. "It's a monitor that goes through the bloodstream, reading your blood count levels, your blood pressure, even your heart rate." The MECH agent turned and smiled at him, like they were actually friends. "It's a shame, we don't have something this fancy at a real hospital."

Jack said no reply, just glaring back at his captor, wrists pulling at his restraints. The man only shrugged and turned back to his desk.

"Now, its completely up to you, but—"

Suddenly Marcus raised a tool, and Jack's blood froze. Silver steel glinted in the fluorescent light. Thin, sharp, deadly. The teenager's heart raced in fearful anticipation at the sight of the knife.

"The more you squirm, the more it hurts."


I am a horrible person.

And to make things clear, despite my other stories, I do not plan to take the human-turned-bot in this story. For the purpose of the fanfiction, "techno-organic" refers to a human with traits of a Cybertronian, such as increased and immunity to energon, such as Jack's case. However, MECH labels him a "chimera."

chi·me·ra

noun

noun: chimera; plural noun: chimeras; noun: chimaera; plural noun: chimaeras; noun: Chimera

1.(in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

2. an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.

3. a DNA molecule with sequences derived from two or more different organisms, formed by laboratory manipulation.

After some brief research, as I've yet to take Genetics, to my understanding there is two different ways to produce a real-life chimera. Most occur in nature, usually in which an embryo absorbs its twin, and takes on the DNA of both. Usually this results in different eye color, different pigments of fur/skin, and two different blood types. There are both animal and human examples of this. However, there are chimeras that possess the DNA of two different species, due to lab manipulation. In my story, "chimera" will refer to the latter definition.