Halve Of A Whole
Abby Ebon
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Disclaimer: Woe is me, I own not a thing.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
kalerya:
Life of Sam in university, and his thoughts of spying Transformers. Because
he should be dumb as nail not to realize, that they can and will keep an eye
on him. If I had a friend, who can hack any where, and who was trying protect
me, I would even expect it, but pretend not noticing.
0o0o0
I Spy Sparks
0o0o0
It all started the day Sam told Bumblebee that he wouldn't come with Sam to college. It wasn't right Bumblebee do so, he wasn't a car. It wasn't right to use him as only a status symbol or as a mere means of transportation. He was a living being, albeit one with more technology in his hand then most could ever come across by legal money. But being made out of metallic materials did not mean Bumblebee didn't have a personality, skills, talents – and feelings.
It was the feelings Sam wanted some separation from, if he were honest – and he tried to be honest with Bee about that. Sam knew he shouldn't be- all end-all in Bee's life, not to the point where Bee lived cramped up in his dad's garage. Where he rarely left Sam's side and hovered protectively near when anyone – his parents, even Mikaela – raised their voice or got a little close in his personal space.
Sam couldn't be what Optimus wanted, either, couldn't be a human ambassador to the Transformers race, not yet - at least not one other people on Earth (let alone the government, and the worlds other countries) would take seriously. He hadn't even gone to college yet, and that was an important thing to adults (or, at least, Sam's parents). Sam wanted some normalcy, wanted to give his parents something to be proud of him about – and give them a vacation in Paris, without Sam and no aliens in sight.
They deserved that, just like Bee deserved to have a life that didn't always have Sam in it – as much as that hurt to think.
Sam was well aware of what Bumblebee was: a warrior, a protector and guardian, and he had honed his skills as a scout for far longer then Sam cared to think about (longer then Sam had been alive: and that was part of the problem, Sam's life would end naturally before a hundred years, and it wasn't fair for Bee to get close to him, to watch him die, to mourn for him long after he was dust). Bumblebee was alien, and his perceptions of wrong and right proved it. Most – even Sam's parents – would respect his privacy, would accept that there should be some time alone in day to day life. People were supposedly – supposed to be - social yes, but they also drove each other crazy on a daily basis.
Sam's not stupid, from Megatron (a Decepticon) came modern day technology, and that makes all technology accessible to Transformers with any kind of curiosity (and there were no not-curious Transformers). There are the ones Sam knows – and the ones he doesn't. And in the modern day, a computer usually comes with speakers and a webcam hook up: and college campuses tend to be paranoid about students –and that meant cameras under the lampposts that line the paths – and in the halls (not, yet, in classrooms themselves). It makes his classes interesting, when he notices that first day that every single student computer camera that can catch him in line of sight is on. It doesn't stop in the classes, as the cameras follow him, making the hairs on the back of his neck rise and goose-bumps chill on his skin. It's like having a cold all week long.
Sam thinks, at first, that it's the Decepticons, so he does his best to keep in his room, to turn the computer off and keep a lid on the web-cam. He argues with himself about it for days, if he ought to go to the Autobots or not, risk giving them away, seeming like a helpless human: if that's what the Decepticons wanted to prove to the Autobots – to Sam, about humanity on Earth.
He might have done it too, gone screaming for the Autobots, if he hadn't spotted Ironhide out in the parking lot the next day after avoiding webcams, campus cameras, and all forms of telephone for a solid twelve hours. He found a message, from his mother, franticly asking after him. So he checked his messages so not to panic his mother, because Sam wasn't going to worry her and his dad with alien stuff on a vacation.
He realizes how easy it is for the Autobots to blend in, how much easier for the Decepticons – more Autobots come to Earth, and Sam hasn't met them all either. He might be watched all the time, and that's sort of creepy and sort of comforting in that he isn't a forgotten friend. And wouldn't Sam had looked like a fool if he had sent a panicked message to the Autobots? He wonders how the Autobots would have explained it. It's best they don't, but now that Sam knows what their doing, he doesn't know exactly how to feel about it – secure, safe, relieved – and then there's the half of him that's rather used to being alone, to having privacy and abhors the idea of being caged in (at college!) with cameras. Or for the rest of his life, being watched: if he does something with his life, he doesn't fool himself – he knows people will watch it, books will be written, and he'll probably have history students of the future cursing his (and his great-great-grandfather's) name.
Sam's well aware that the Autobots are watching for his best interests at their sparks, but if they had less noble natures they might take it to be blackmail. Then there is the slim chance that his parents – or Mikaela – might see, and who knows whom the Autobots might share his life with willingly – for his safety? Allies?
Their allies, Sam realizes one night while throwing a bouncy ball against the wall, include NEST. At that thought, Sam doesn't catch the ball, it hits the floor and rolls under the bed and Sam isn't getting on the floor to find it. Whoever is watching the cameras, or listening by the landlines – or tapping his cell phone, well they might just hear something they think is distress. As it is, Sam rolls over and muffles curses into his pillow.
That morning, he waves to the camera, wiggling his fingers as if at a friend – he's surprised, but not shocked, when it winks a glowing green-blue light back. It brings a smile to Sam's face.
He realizes, then, that the Autobots hadn't made it a secret (admittedly they hadn't told him outright, either), and never would – they'd likely thought he'd know all along he'd be watched this way, and in this way he wouldn't be alone.
It comes to be something that he expects, and accepts, and so ignores – almost forgetting, but not frequently. There are no long distance online-dates with Mikaela, and no "Sam's happy time" while on a computer: but otherwise he pretends – plays- that he's not noticing the moments where more is going on then meets the eye.
