Imperfect
Disclaimer: This was a very peculiar idea I got from watching Transformers the movie last night. I was observing the scene when Simmons explains the purpose of the Allspark at Sector Seven and the Hoover Dam and oddly enough, came up with this odd little fic. I dedicate this to Cyndi. Note that the first few chapters will be pre - 2007 verse. And yes, there is language, but as far as I am concerned, language isn't that bad enough to give it an M rating. I have quotes from the movie, so they are Michael Bay's and the writer of the Transformer movie. Not mine.
"People throw away what they could have by insisting on perfection, which they cannot have, and looking for it where they will never find it."
-Edith Schaeffer
"Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable."
-Lord Chesterfield
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"Humans don't deserve to live!"
Megatron: 2007 Movie
Chapter Thirteen: History
Hoover Dam
Nevada
It was easy uncovering the research documents through his computer. He found several video files within Sector 7's main database. Obviously, in their termination, many of them were still in file. Ironhide grunted curiously.
"Let's see what you've been hiding ... " he said, softly, to himself.
He started on the first video, listed as "Communication". The video played back, dated April 14th, 1974. It was an old video. A voice sounded in the background, one Ironhide recognized as Tom Banachek. "A year ago we discovered ... small organic filaments within N.B.E. 1. Filaments capable of aiding us in discovering a new source of energy ...
There was sufficient genetic material to replicate this energy. The President insisted on continued research. We tested the energy on generators ... vehicles ... and many other sources. It was then that Dr. Michaels came up with a plan. A plan to bio-engineer humans exposed to this new source in hopes of finding cures to the world's harshest of diseases. We exposed one hundred human embryo. 50 divided. 33 died out. 20 were put on ice for future experimentation. And seven were left to grow."
Ironhide remained shocked by this knowledge. He continued to listen to Banachek, while watching the screen change to images of six young boys playing in an enclosed environment.
"The first six were simple test subjects. They were all born male. All exhibited the same peculiar mutations: Enhanced speed, biological resistance to certain gasses, they can even withstand a bullet at a reasonable distance due to a strengthened epidermis. But it seems that this is all the 'Six Children' seem to possess. They age rapidly, far more than that of an average human."
Ironhide grunted softly at the sight of a smaller young girl sitting in the corner, not paying any attention to her six "brothers". Instead, she was coloring in a book, her eyes hidden from view. Whenever her brothers would play, she rarely engaged them, preferring to keep to herself. Ironhide watched her, fascinated with the silvery shade of hair on her young head.
A nurse walked into the room and the six boys continued to play, laughing. The nurse walked up to the girl, smiling warmly. "Seven? Seven, it's time for your medicine."
And that was when she looked up. Ironhide was shocked by the eyes of this little girl. No human irises, lovely violet pools with a jewel-like shine. And those scars ... the jagged scars beneath her eyes. She looked up at the nurse and obediently rose.
"Seven was different. She was the last embryo to be exposed to the Cube's radiation. Seven seems to detach herself from her brothers. Seven possesses superior strength, endurance, a strange over count of calcium and iron in her blood and the ability to sense and communicate with the Cube. And even N.B.E. One. And even so, some form of empathy for the alien we hold in ice and antipathy for humans. We are trying to teach her to behave more like a human."
Ironhide watched the image change. Seven - Terra was surrounded by books upon books, a large cake sitting at her feet. It was half eaten. All around her were open containers of pudding and jello. She looked up toward the camera with a soft, curious sound.
"Seven? What are you doing?" a voice off-screen asked.
Terra didn't look at him. "Reading."
"We've discovered that Seven's vision is quite a problem. Her eyes remain sensitive to light, the result of a sort of color vision deficiency, the inability to perceive differences between some of the colors that others can distinguish. This is strange, considering that color blindness is genetic in nature most of the time. She can, however, adapt to extreme darkness. Her brothers, cannot. This confounds us for the longest time."
Ironhide watched as Terra wandered around in the dark, small sobbing sounds escaping her. His spark wrenched at the sounds.
"Let me out!" Terra screamed, "I'm scared!"
"We found, that in time, Terra adapted to the night, and as we gave focus to her impressive skills, we began to train her to become a possible super soldier. If it proves successful, the solution to our world's crimes shall become more easy than we ever dreamed."
The video changed to reveal Terra, much older and performing graceful, powerful punches and kicks through a obstacle course. Flips, jumps, and leaps. She was a fighting machine, taking down her six brothers in combat with ease.
Terra smiled down at her moaning brothers.
"She is perfect. She is the future. Dr. Michaels' plans for a future super army have finally come to fruition. However, Terra's inability to follow some orders causes tension between some of us ... "
On screen, Terra was beating angrily at the glass of her room, shrieking at Dr. Michaels. "Let me out, Doctor!" she raged, "I want out!"
Ironhide watched in shock as she threw her weight against the glass, screaming and ransacking her room. Dr. Michaels watched her for a few moments and looked down at his comrades. "Has she been given any medication?" he asked.
"No, just her usual dose." one of the doctors told him.
Dr. Michaels glanced up at a thin wire traveling across the ceiling and to her room. He raised a shaking hand toward a bright red button by the door. He bit his lip and pressed it. A sudden shock of electricity passed through the wire and to Terra's room. She suddenly screamed, feeling the energy pass through her like a knife, sending her flying back into the corner. Dr. Michaels watched her, face grim and filled with pain. Terra regained her senses and snarled at him.
She tensed, starting to lunge again, and Dr. Michaels hand quickly went to the button. Terra suddenly halted, glaring at him with hatred. Dr. Michaels stared at her sadly. "I'm sorry ... " he whispered, before disappearing from view.
Another video file showed Terra, sitting in a chair, restrained and guarded while a scientist sat across from her, smiling and holding up colorful cards. She was testing Terra's vision. Terra just looked pissed off and bored, swinging side to side in her chair.
"N. B. O. 7 has a kind of low level emotional autism. Certain reactions... tend to set her off. We cannot terminate her. Her memories are vague. The strange thing is, cloned genes don't contain memory cells, not even when they're brought to adult term. We don't have nearly enough data ... but in some cases there is a collective memory passed down generation upon generation. At a genetic level. Like instinct, only more complex structurally. This seems to apply to Her case. We have so much to learn about her, even after all these years."
Terra studied the color of the dog on the cardboard and could not perceive it correctly without her goggles. She growled, frustrated.
"B - Blue?" she tried.
The scientist shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, it's brown." she told her, gently.
Terra hissed at her and glared down, frustration all over her face.
"We began to get concerned when Seven slowly started asking questions about herself. Like, who she was. Why she was there ... and most importantly ... what she was. I had no idea more was going to be told to her than she needed to know."
A scene shift of the camera and Terra was eating a massive strawberry cake in her room. She chewed for a few moments and looked down at a scientist watching a computer screen. He seemed to have sensed her gaze and looked up at her.
"Seven?" he said, "Is something wrong?"
Terra stared at him, eyes unable to be seen through the goggles she wore. "How did you ... "
The doctor smiled at her. "How did we get you?" he guessed.
She nodded.
"Well, we received donors of two sex cells which allowed us to grow you in a test tube." the doctor explained, "Even blood samples. And with that, we genetically enhanced your embryo to make you stronger. Much more than a normal human."
Terra frowned at him. "So, you toyed with me?"
The doctor laughed softly. "We made you better."
Terra was silent for a long time once more. She stared down at him. "Do they grow?" She meant her brothers.
The doctor nodded. "Yeah. Rapidly." he replied. "But you're different. You age much slower. We've perfected you. You're the evolution of mankind, Seven."
"I doubt that." Terra rolled her eyes behind her goggles.
The doctor remained silent for a long time. He leaned forward behind the glass with a smile. "We're not flying blind here, you know. This is United States government, not some greedy corporation. The potential benefits of this race go way beyond urban pacification. New alloys, new vaccines ... there's nothing like this in any world we've seen. You should be very proud."
Terra didn't respond to that for a moment. "If I am so very special to you, why do you keep me caged like an animal?"
The doctor wavered once at that. He got up out of his seat and walked away.
O
Ironhide had slipped into recharge early that morning. Terra was wide awake and sitting in Judy's kitchen, gazing at a pile of pancakes Judy had made. It was a fairly large pile. But not enough for her. She looked up at the woman.
"More."
Judy raised a brow. "Um, okay." she said, turning back to the oven.
Terra sat there and began to nibble on her first pancake. Judy looked back at her for a moment.
"So, Terra ... think we can ever meet your parents?" she asked.
"No."
Judy cocked her head. "Why not?"
"Because they're dead."
Judy paled a bit and chuckled, uncomfortable. "O - Oh." she said, uneasily, "I'm sorry."
Terra paused in her chewing and attempted to sound calm, though Judy could tell the prospect was a bit disquieting for her. "It's alright," she replied, "I never met them either, except on TV."
Judy turned and stared at her with pity. "Oh, I'm so sorry." she said, "That must have been terrible for you. At least you got sort of an idea of what they were like, didn't you?" She paused for a moment before smiling. "I bet they were nice people, just like you."
"My mother, she was a whore." Terra replied, calmly, "And my father was a murderer."
Judy stared at her, stunned and silent. Terra suddenly looked up, frowning. "Hold on." She rushed out of the kitchen and walked outside, only to find Sam staggering up the driveway, holding his face. Terra frowned and walked up to him.
"Sam, what's wrong?" she asked.
"It's nothing. Nothing." Sam told her, trying to keep it hidden.
"Don't hide it from me, boy." Terra warned, jerking his face up into the light. She gasped. Sam's nose was smeared with blood and his left eye looked bruised. "Who did this?"
Sam sighed. "Terra, It's not - "
"WHO?"
Sam heaved another sigh. "It was Trent and his buddies." he said, quietly. "They ganged up on me when I went to the store."
Terra stared at him for a long time before darting off into the street. Sam gasped and watched her go. "TERRA!" he shouted after her, "IT'S NOT WORTH IT!"
O
Trent was getting into his car with a smile, chuckling to himself. He started up the engine and frowned. His car wasn't going anywhere the second he put on the gas. Smoke was rising up from his squealing tires and he looked into his rear view mirror with a cry.
Terra was standing behind his car, smiling. She was gripping the bumper with two hands, denting the metal. Finally, she dropped the car, moved over toward the driver's side and Trent scowled at her. "Are you nuts?" he raged, "You dented my-"
Terra shoved one hand through the roof of his car and tore it aside like a sardine can. She glared down at him and seized him tightly by one hand, yanking him screaming out of the car. She raised him up with a scowl on her face.
"I find you unacceptable, human meat puppet ... " she whispered, fiercely. "See, I am a woman of very few words."
Trent shivered and panted with terror. "What...what are you...man?" he gasped.
Terra glanced down for a moment and then back up to him. "Now you listen to me, Trent. I do not take kindly to you and your animal friends doing harm to my comrade, Sam Witwicky." she whispered, coldly, "And seeing since I know over 400 different languages, I do not take kindly to you referring to me as an object of inferiority. So the next time you pull a stunt like that, you'd better pray to God, that it's somebody else but me. Because just maybe, the next time, that somebody else won't be as kind to you as I am gonna be, understand?"
Trent shuddered in fear. He couldn't see her eyes, but something in her voice filled him with a fear he had never once known in his life.
"Do you, Trent?"
"Y - Yes ... " Trent stammered.
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, ma'am ... "
Terra smiled and put him down gently. She turned and walked away. "Have a nice day."
Trent watched her disappear down the street. He stood there for a long time before he began to piss himself right there. Shuddering, sobbing sounds escaped him. Terra had literally scared the piss out of him.
O
Note-Terra's got a mean streak!