Chapter 14
(A/N: I have to give credit to someone for this idea: Primepower from ! The Pretenders idea belong to the makers of the Headmasters cartoons in Japan.)
Vector Minor 1/A monitored the live feed from the nerve-cortical patch on 'John Daniels's neck, allowing him and the other organics watch the introductory team exercise that he and the others had decided to improvise, seeing as how 'John Daniels' was already in a gaming session of an interactive historical virtual-reality simulation of the Battle of New York four years in the past. While it streamed the footage of all six newly-made candidates for the new Emergency Crisis Response Team (ECRT)... in fact, the only ECRT that was ever going to be available for the time being.
The Heritage Protocol, created by both the current Prime and Vector Prime (no longer a ruling Prime), dictated that if there was a possible Decepticon threat on Earth, with no apparent full-Cybertronians or Autoborgs available to counter said Decepticon threat (which would be verified through various accounts on social media, electronic media, or outright Decepticon actions along with first-second-or-third-hand accounts of said involvement by said enemy), then, there was no other choice than to use the next option: under-age adolescent human-Cybertronian hybrids, also known as 'Pretenders' or 'Autoborgs' by certain medical staff.
An unfortunate side-effect of trans-temporal warping was the fact that by activating one of their abilities upon being grabbed by their assigned Autoborgs, said Autoborg would inadvertently activate his or her own transformation from human to Autoborg through the nanites implanted into them while they were still being developed. An unfortunate circumstance and not one without cause.
However, the change would also bring benefits, namely wirelessly accessing local electronic networks, wireless networks, listening to music without devices (though it depended on the connection), utter immunity to pretty much almost every known disease in human medical science), and a whole list of other activities as time went on. The biggest surprise would come a bit after the Reformat process was complete and all of the Vector Minors were in agreement it would be the best surprise of all... even if it did end with them getting either beaten with hammers and crowbars or potentially tossed into scrapyards and smelters. Whichever came first.
Of course, that led to another matter: surprises. Bad surprises. There were six Autoborgs total when the actual number that was supposed to be in 2072, albeit a supposedly better 2072, was actually over a hundred. That begged the question: WHERE IN THE PIT WAS EVERYONE ELSE?!
All one-hundred-and-seventy-five Autoborgs and their assigned Vector Minors were to arrive at their destination at the exact same day, the exact same time, and of course, in various safe locations across the planet. Clearly: that didn't happen! And yet again, history was repeating itself. Obviously, Vector Prime couldn't split him up even further, right?
He grunted. As punishment for his mistake during the disaster that was the scattering of the Autoborg Pretenders, (whom were all just juveniles or mere children or even human infants at the time), he had been split into more than a hundred midget-sized forms. Each one having a certain personality, but the same mission: get the Autoborg Pretenders back to the right time on Earth and then find a way to contact the Autobots to let them know that the Pretenders were where (and when)they should be... or more accurately: Vector Prime. Of course, as soon as he and the other fragments of Vector Minor could connect to a secure channel or a network: no one was online... no one. They were completely alone. And what was worse and completely unexpected: Earth, the homeworld of their human allies, was in the middle of a devastating war much like Cybertron until approximately twenty years before when Megatron unleashed an unspeakable horror upon the planet, that which hadn't been felt much less seen in thousands upon thousands of solar cycles: Dark Energon. The fool had brought life to a near-end. The Dark Energon threat was going to take millions of cycles to be purged and millions more for life to thrive again! If Megatron hadn't died during the Great Retreat thanks to a grief-stricken Firehawk, Vector Minor would've killed the sorry bag of scrap himself! If he had the ability, of course. He wasn't exactly known for his fighting abilities. More like, his intelligence.
The entire planet was corrupted to the core. As a result, the entire planet had to be evacuated. Most Autobots escaped though there were serious casualties during the retreat. And now: the war went from the Cybertronian homeworld to the vast void of space where her now-independent colonies were under assault themselves. Of course, none of the Vector Minors had been in contact with anyone from those colonies in quite some time, 'centuries' by human reckoning. Right now, the Autobots should be on one, more of former Cybertronian colonies , even residing on other habitable worlds along with the human survivors of the spaceship Roanoke. Hopefully, there were still humans left from that tragic expedition.
This of course led him to think of a certain Pretender whom he should've saved earlier. In fact, unlike some others, he had been assigned to retrieve two: the one now known as 'John Daniels' and the other one: Jordan 'Daniels'. Both of them held special significance, more so than others. So significant that both of their ancestral templates had been classified for their protection.
He recalled how sad he was upon discovering Jordan's death in Afghanistan in November of 2018, a full month after he arrived in New York City and then traveled all over to find out if Jordan and 'John' were still alive. Needless to say, what he had discovered was extremely unpleasant.
For starters: Jordan and the others that were with him were supposed to arrive in New York City in the year 2058. Unfortunately: None of them arrived in the right city... or the right country, not even the right year! Thanks to his original form's mistake, or rather his mistake, so not only were a hundred and seventy-two kids not where they were supposed to be: they were scattered over a variable time period (Thank Primus not all across space-time!) on Earth from 2006 at one end to who knew when! His original form only knew about what happened because Vector Prime himself, one of the few Cybertronians capable of transporting himself across vast distances along with few other Cybertronians in known history, went to Earth and came back in a furious rage. Upon his arrival back from Earth: he punished his own creation, the original and whole Vector Minor, into shattered fragments with roughly varying personalities that were roughly the size of North American soccer balls!. The punishment went even further and more humiliating to emphasizing the fact that now, he had to focus on the mission: no matter what. Worst... existence... ever. To sum it all up: there was no one else, the others may have screwed up like in the case of 7/G and there were definitely Decepticons on Earth.
How did one know? Easy: he and the others had searched the web for anything and everything. What they found was disturbing. In the dark recesses of the network known as the Ether: they found footage shared between conspiracy theorists and others along with images. Spider-tanks and drones that acted in 'unnatural ways', photos shared of craters that bore the signs of energon weaponry, and of course: bipedal mechas that spoke with mouths that had red optics. Albeit, stories, pictures and videos of that last bit were rare. But the evidence was still there: Decepticons, the most hated enemy of freedom in the galaxy, were on Earth. He didn't know how in the name of Primus that happened or how they found out about humanity's homeworld in the first place. The Decepticons definitely remembered the part the humans had played during the last decade of the war, for sure. They would especially remember the way Megatron had been off-lined on the last day any living being was on Cybertron.
"So, why did you bring six children to our time period? It doesn't make any sense." Yasamin Madrani asked him. He turned to her and before he spoke, the aging Englishman answered for him.
"It's because they botched a job is why they did it," Weller angrily blurted.
"What do you mean?" She asked, curious but also slightly scared her father figure was angry. Weller snapped out of his anger and calmly explained to her.
"I'll happily and fully explain what's going on when the simulation's over." He told her.
'You and me both,' 1/A unhappily thought to himself. Just then a conversation window popped up in his HUD. Thankfully, no one else could see it.
2/B: This human military officer is giving us all the 'Evil Eye'... can't we have her go outside or something? I feel like she's going to kill us with that crowbar.
3/C: She's not going to kill us: she's going to arrest us all and put us in the brig or stockade, or whatever they call it.
4/D: Jail. The answer you're looking for is 'jail'.
5/E: No, no no. It's definitely the 'brig'.
6/F: The 'brig' is a naval term, scraphead! We're going to the stockade!
He sighed at this exchange.
1/A: Nevertheless, we're going to have to tell the children why we're doing this, why all this is happening.
2/B: And we're all going to get locked up in prison!
Everyone agreed on this.
: Not only that, but we still need to find a way to contact someone off-world. Anybody remember where Cadmius is? Or Gargantua? New Home's a definite 'no'.
2/B: Yeah
4/D: True
3/C: I think Cadmius is where everyone's at now, I could be wrong.
5/E: If you remember, we all agreed to scatter to the old colonies and elsewhere across the galaxy! We can't all be concentrated in one place, remember?
1/A: That still doesn't disguise the fact that our enemy's here. For what it's worth, the Heritage Protocol's in effect until more Autobots arrive or the humans have something up their sleeve. And I think they do. I've hacked into their security cameras and I've been seeing bipedal mechs in a hangar bay of the installation I'm at in Indiana.
2/B: Mechas?! Since when did humans build those?!
3/C: I thought they told us that mechas were impossible and a 'bitch to maintain and produce financially?!'
4/D: Clearly we're in the wrong here.
6/F: So, where are you again?
1/A: Some kind of experimental research facility. The head of staff here is Doctor Rufus Weller, from what I gather: He's met one of us before. He hasn't gone into specifics: but our mission got compromised about twenty or more years ago.
The reply was unanimous.
2/B: ARE YOU FRAGGING SERIOUS?!
3/C:ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
4/D: WHAT THE FRAG?!
5/E:WHAT THE PIT?!
6/F: OH SLAG!
XXX
As two of the Autoborgs sped throughout the city, a
I went onto the team comms channel, hoping to God that Rachel and everyone else was okay.
"Theory, Team, anyone: Rocker: Who destroyed all those Union drones just now?!" I asked with a raised voice. Those drones had all been destroyed at the exact same time. I don't think it was a missile that took all of them at once. It had to be something that we did, if what Julian was saying was right.
At first, there was nothing. Then, someone spoke in a calm German accent that hid something else. When you're a mute, you can tell something's up with someone's voice just by listening.
"Rocker, Theory: I did, mein herr." Theory said. I blinked as I looked at Julian whom looked back at me with a questioning look. I owed him at the very least a whole pack of two-liter bottles of Pepsi now, if he ever got out of the tank. At the least, I probably owed him what money I had now.
"Where are you right now and why are you not at my position?" I worriedly asked. I knew I was breaking radio discipline and protocol, but who cares!
"For ze record: I take full responsibility:" Theory started to say after he sighed. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "We tried to save a unit we linked up with and, uh... well-" Theory sighed again. "I patched into one of our comrade's private com channels as I detected someone from outside the unit talking to her and I found out that her boyfriend got killed trying to save us all... ja." I closed my eyes as he said this and shook my head.
"Give me your location and make sure everyone's there," I ordered. I had almost forgotten I was on Team Comms.
"How about I make sure we're all there and you get your aft over here, 'Johnny'." Stinger said with sarcasm at the end of his sentence. There was a loud clang of metal-on-metal on the channel to which I chuckled. That's lovable, loyal Rachel for you: hits people when they talk smack about you. Unfortunately, she also did sock me at times when I was acting like a little punk. So, that beating I took earlier wasn't entirely unwarranted, in her defense.
"We're by some kind of sea-wall and it looks like nothing I could've designed in my life. I'll give you the coordinates, mein herr. We'll all be waiting for you. Don't ask how it happened." Theory told me. I became confused at this. How'd they link up so quick and not meet me?! Heck, how long have I been here?!
"How...?" I started to ask as I shook my head in confusion, then shook my head. Never mind. Might as well find out later. "Alright, I'm coming over with a new friend I made." I said, looking at Julian while smiling. He looked at me as he straightened up, eager to meet my other new friends."But, first: I need to make a pit stop somewhere and see something." I told Theory.
"Oh, like what? Get a cold one at the gas station?" Stinger sarcastically asked.
"Rachel, you listening?" I asked.
"Always," Rachel answered calmly.
"I'm going to see if the wolf is legit still alive... and I'm definitely getting that thirty bucks you owe me." I said, grinning. I heard a pause at first and then I heard her anger.
"For the last time, John: robot wolves don't exist!" She roared. I winced at her tone.
"Uh, can someone explain what's going on? I'm incredibly confused. What 'wolf'?" Theory confusingly asked.
"Hai, I'd like to hear about the wolf!" Asuga said, excitedly.
"I'll send you all a live feed," I told them before adding "Later, y'all! See you when I get there, but stay out of sight!" They all affirmed the order as I turned to Julian and cut the com chatter.
"What are we doing?" Julian skeptically asked.
"Remember when I talked about a robot wolf?" I asked him in response. The ex-fighter pilot nodded.
"Yeah, you said you'd explain it if I talked about Migas, why?" He asked.
"Well, I change my mind: we're going to meet it. I want to see if what you're saying's right... at least, if the simulation is doing things almost right." I said, shrugging at the last sentence.
"Well, I'm pretty sure we have a clear shot: i don't see anything flying through the sky at this rate. Looks like whatever Theory did destroyed everything in the sky for several hundred miles." Julian said, oddly scared as he looked up at the sky.
"Oh come on, I doubt we can do that in real life. I'm still starting to turn into a robot." I said dismissively, referring to my metal hands.
"And that's what worries us," Julian said with aforementioned worry as he pointed a finger at me. I rolled my eyes as I bent down... and stopped. Crap... how do I get Julian across the sea? That Behemoth's still walking around as I can feel its thumps, and I don't want to get him shot. I think it would be weird having a dude in my cock-pit... just plain weird.
"What?" Julian asked.
"I'm wondering how I get you across the river to your crash-site," I said, thinking. Julian paused and thought about it.
"Screw it, just get me over there. We'll worry about it. Besides, it's been like-four years since I felt the New York wind in my face." He then said something under his breath. It sounded like 'and four years since I could walk, piss, or eat outside of a tank'.
"Alrighty-then," I said, holding out my arms. He frowned as if in thought and then shrugged.
"What the hell? I haven't flown in a long time." He figured. Right as he stepped forward, he stopped as though frozen and then something enveloped him in light. I froze wondering what was going on right as Julian's place was filled by a giant metal foot. I swore as I felt something else stomp right behind me and turn to see yet another giant metal foot. Then, I looked up to see that the feet were connected to legs... and a chest when I took several steps back.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Julian's now-mechanized voice roared for miles. I shuddered as his new robot form looked at itself.
"WHY AM I IN MY HOLON?!" He roared as he looked at his hands. I took a bunch of steps back to look at him in all his mechanized glory. What I was seeing was a bulky robot that was forty-feet tall-four times my size. I stared at him in awe.
"Whoa," I stated. I saw Julian's massive head look down. His head... looked kind of like mine... why? It had a visor, but it didn't look retractable... and he didn't have any wings. His body was a lot more bulky than mine. That, and it looked like someone was trying to go with full armor for it. Weird. This thing must weigh at least a hundred or more tons.
"What just happened?" I asked. Julian chuckled, nervously. It sounded human enough. He knelt down, his massive head as big as my own body. I stepped back. His visor didn't retract, but I could tell he was smiling at me because of his eyes. If I could feel my heart here, it would be pounding.
"Uh, John? Pretend you didn't see this okay? This is something that obviously shouldn't have happened." Julian told me. The way his optics moved... it was like it was human.
"A-Are you like me?" I asked, pointing to myself. Julian laughed a booming laugh as he shook his head.
"Nah, man. This is something that I use to help people out." He told me as he pointed to his body I looked at him in shock. It was like hearing Jordan explain what he did
"I'm a soldier, John. I help people out." His words echoed in my head when I was six. Julian looked at me with worry in his Holon form.
"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded in response.
"Y-Yeah, I just never thought I'd see a giant robot in real life," I said aloud in shock. Julian chuckled.
"This is just a simulation. Wait until you see what happens IRL." He said, the smile heard in his voice.
"Can you fly in that?" I asked him.
"No, but I did do some parkour in this with Yaz awhile back," He said, jerking his thumb. He paused as soon as he said those words. My eyes widened. He did parkour in a robot with Yasamin?! They both had robot bodies?! Were they like me?! Were both Yaz and Julian like me? Like the rest of us?!
Julian's head shot up as if he heard something. "Hey, Doc." He said, his full frame standing up and then raised a finger as he turned around. I listened in as I realized he was talking to Doctor Weller IRL. He had muted his volume somehow.
"Can you tell me why I'm in my Holon in the middle of a game based off of the worst day in my life?!" He asked in a very low voice that he tried.
"Are you kidding me?! 'Making it interesting' is going to get me in huge trouble with-" He said, exasperated. I wondered what was going on. Was he talking to Doctor Weller in the real world? If so, how?
Just then a window popped up. I nervously chuckled as I saw Doctor Weller, a very angry Yasamin right next to him with crossed arms, and... what in the world was that?! That thing was a robot, but it kind of looked like some sort of ball and his face looked strangely human. That, and it was the size of a midget. It only came up to about Doctor Weller's shin.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know." Doctor Weller told me, smiling. I swallowed as I saw Yaz's glare. Julian turned around and crossed his arms and shook his head.
"That was supposed to be private, by the way." Julian pointed out.
"How's it going, Yaz?" I nervously asked. She then started ranting in response.
"'How's it going?!'" She yelled, making even the Doctor flinch as she counted my various sins "You ditched me for this game, one of your teammates is now scarred for life, and to top it all off: you all are acting like an undisciplined mob as opposed to a unit!" She scolded me. Julian turned around and I could hear him chuckle in response. I envied him.
"For the record-" I started to say before she cut me off.
"For the record, John: don't do that again!" She warned me. I nodded, muttering 'yes, ma'am'. Weller put his hand over his mouth, as if hiding a grin or something and then cleared his throat.
"Now that particular scolding is out of the way: how about you tell me about this 'wolf' you talked about a short few moments ago with Julian? You claimed that you have seen this particular 'animal' before?" Weller asked. I blinked at this.
"Wait... have you all been watching me this whole time?" I asked, somewhat stunned and horrified. Weller cleared his throat and then started explaining things.
"Well, Vector Minor here," The doctor said as the robot waved at himself being mentioned, "-put a cortical patch on you, allowing us to see what you see in your psyche and by extension: virtual reality games on the ether." He explained. My jaw dropped.
"We saw you get beat by your girlfriend, if that's how far you want to know. We also saw your argument with her. In all honesty, you two fight like an old married couple." Yasamin commented with a smile. Julian chuckled as did Doctor Weller, whom hid his grin.
"In all honesty, you two seem to be too young to be dating anyway." She lectured me. Oh, and you never fell in love yourself?! Well, she did have kind of a point. Rachel and I went to the same Church and he started lecturing on how too many young people were dating earlier than they should be. So, there you had it. But, that was before we dated and I ended up breaking up with her and breaking her heart in the process.
"You'd be surprised," Weller told her with some implications of experience. She looked at him in shock. He shrugged as he spoke further. "Nevertheless, I am sorry for keeping Chase's 'true form' a secret from you, but I thought that it would be an impediment to your recovery." he explained.
"And the robot?" I asked, pointing at it. "Is that one of yours?" I asked.
"Uh, no, actually." Weller said, distancing himself from the robot. The robot appeared to clear its throat.
"It is an honor to meet you, 'John Daniels'. I am Vector Minor 1/A of the Autobot Resistance. I am the one that brought you to the year 2072 from the year 2019 for matters of great importance." The robot said. I blinked and looked at Chase whom nodded slowly as did Weller and Yaz. Actually, Weller glared at him as he spoke.
"This little bastard is the one that brought you here to our timeline. This little git took you away." He spat, with uncharacteristic anger. I looked at the thing in shock as the robot tried not to look away.
"You were the ball? You were the ball that took me away from home?" I asked him. The robot looked at me in the eyes as it spoke.
"I am sorry about the trouble as I had no idea how much it would cause at the time. But, I had to fulfill a mission along with my brethren." I looked at him as he said this.
"How many others are there?" I asked for clarification. He said there were others... plural. Rachel, Stinger, Theory, Asuga, and Iron-Jack along with me made six.
"Originally, there were one hundred and seventy-two of us. Each one to bring at the very least one of you children to the current year from where-and-whenever you were scattered." Vector Minor said. I looked at him in shock. Almost an entire company's worth of kids?! Are you serious?!
I took a deep breath and tried to keep cool as Julian looked at me with worry.
"'Scattered'? You're talking as if we were from the future," I nervously laughed. At this, Julian turned around. I heard him mutter something to the Virgin Mary. I didn't know he was Catholic.
"I would much rather talk when we're alone, 'John Daniels'." The robot said, uneasy around the other organics.
"Actually, I think you should tell him a lot later than that. I would rather have them know when they're capable of fully understanding and accepting of their origins... wouldn't you agree?" Weller said, placing a hand on the robot's shoulder. His grin hid a threat. The robot eagerly nodded.
"Oh, yes! Oh, certainly! I'll tell you all about it when you're older, with some snippets until then!" The robot said rather hurriedly. I blinked. Is it just me or is Doctor Weller threatening the robot someway and somehow?! That... and why did the robot come to get us kids in the first place?! Hell: where were we originally from, if we were originally 'scattered'?! What was going on?!
"For once: I agree. I'vehadway too much information for one day with all this weird alien-robot bullshit." Julian said.
"Julian: language," Weller warned.
"Right, right." Julian said, affirming the order.
"Seriously though: why doesn't Julian have wings if he's in robot mode? What's he going to do: walk around the city there? I'm trying to see if something's right." I said to the window. Nobody answered that just yet.
"And that would be this 'robot wolf'?" Weller asked, crossing his arms.
"What's the deal with a wolf? If you see it: you run or kill it." Yasamin told me, her disbelief in both tone and posture.
"Except this wolf saved this little pig's bacon a few times." I told Yasamin flatly.
"Wait, what?" Julian asked in confusion. Yasamin straightened as did Weller, whom blinked.
"Oh, shut up and follow me, Kobe!" I said, transforming and flying off. Yasamin in my window blinked as well as Weller's eyes widened.
"You're telling me you've seen that thing before?" Weller asked as I flew towards Julian's crash site. I could see the fighter burn in the distance as smoke rose from it like a pillar.
"I'll tell you the story about it later, I just need to see if it's real." I told him.
"John: I can assure you I've seen the combat footage of the team that rescued Chase: there was indeed a 'robot wolf', yes. But, the fact that you say you've seen it before is puzzling." Weller told me. I sighed in response.
"Fine: It was probably back in 2012 when I first saw him." I said, mentally rolling my eyes. Weller blinked and Yasamin's arms dropped.
"'Twenty'... 'twelve', you said?" Weller asked, dumbfounded.
"Yeah," I said, scoffing. Yasamin blinked.
"Y'know what? I want to hear that story... right now." Yasamin said to me.
"I'll save it for later when we're all together: a lot more fun. Besides: Rachel knows it." I nonchalantly told her. Weller nodded in agreement with a remark that some things are better left told when together.
"She knows?!" Julian said in shock. I nodded eagerly at him.
"Yeah! And she owes me thirty bucks for not believing me! Hell, no one believed me when I told them about that night! Not even Jord and Jan or Mom and Dad!" I told them flatly. Weller rubbed the back of his head as she and the Doctor spun and began whispering to each other. I couldn't hear what was said as the volume was somehow muted. I then shrugged as the window closed and flew on my way to Julian's crash-site. I then had the sudden thought: what if Julian broke down upon seeing it? Ah, crap.
XXX
"I saw the footage of that thing that protected Chase and I've heard stories of it in the Union, but this? This is new." Yasamin admitted.
"John saw that robot in 2012? That's completely bonkers. Why haven't I ever heard of it before 2068?" Weller thought aloud. Had Jha known or Colonel Marin? Marin would've mentioned it. What about Holcroft? Maybe he knew? He blinked. If he did, then Holcroft really was the conniving bastard that he was. But, a neutral-kind of bastard.
"Did you bother checking with Polity Intelligence?" She asked, referring to her former interrogators. She somewhat shivered, remembering the times that they had tried to break her mind when they still held her at the Mesa Detainment Center.
"No, actually. I was so focused on Genlock, that I completely forgot!" He confessed and then whispered under his breath so low that Yas didn't catch it. "Just what we need: another problem." He said, adding 'robot wolf that is now confirmed to be over fifty-odd years old and killing Union troops like a monster from an old Nordic saga' to his long list of problems. Of course it was a low concern. The highest concerns were: 'how do I tell Chase that his mind is actually a copy of the original that got captured in his original Holon', 'how do I reconcile with Fatima Jha', and 'where am I going to find additional genlock-compatible candidates' and one of the lower part of the top tier: 'where in the hell is Arthur Wells?!'
"Uhm, Doctor Weller... I think we may have an issue here." Vector Minor, the little cussard, announced. Weller grunted and turned around. Vector's face was too close to the holoscreen for comfort.
"What? What is it?" Weller asked.
"We have... seven people in the simulation, correct? Julian Chase, and the new team that my brothers and I formed... correct?" The robot said, confused and horrified. Weller frowned as he did the math.
"Yeah, that's right. What's wrong?" Yasamin asked.
"The game's limit is eight people," The robot said.
"Okay," Weller said, unsure of where it was going until he realized what it meant. "Who's the eighth?" He asked, horror creeping into his voice as his eyes widened.
"Doctor?" Yasamin asked, slightly worried as well. Vector looked as if he was struggling as Weller went up to him. They looked at the game's player registry. Julian and the six children were in there. The eighth was an unknown designation. Weller blinked. The whole ID of it was blocked on the registry.
"How in the hell did he or she do that?" Weller asked aloud. Vector Minor frowned.
"I'm trying to see if I can ha-" He started to say right as a big window appeared in front of him with a black background and red Capital-case letters appearing in front of him: 'NICE TRY! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!'
"Unbelievable!" Vector breathed in anger as his left hand curled in anger.
"Open a chat window to Chase's avatar in-game, and only Chase must see it. We need to warn him. We can't have the children panic." Weller ordered. The window opened and Chase's robotic form appeared.
"Hey, Doc. What's up?" He asked, his head moving as he spoke. However, his holon had no mouth, sadly.
"There's someone else in the game, Chase. It's none of the children and we're all here." Weller told him. Chase blinked and worry seized him. Crap, what if the bastard went after John or the other kids?!
"Aw, fuck. What do I do? Go look for the guy or stick with John?" The ex-fighter-pilot asked, worried.
"Well, go after John and verify the wolf in-game and then get over to the others. After that: get out of the game, right now. I'll see if I can have someone at Polity Intelligence track whomever's in the game, our mysterious eighth player." The Genlock program's director said.
"You mean you can't track him?" Julian asked in disbelief.
"We tried hacking him and it failed. My brothers' have also tried and they failed to. Whomever this is: he's good and he's most likely Cybertronian." Vector Minor told him.
"You're kidding me, right? You're saying an alien's in the game as we speak?" Julian seriously asked.
"I'm not joking, Chase, and technically all of the children are 'aliens' as well, partially." Weller answered, matter-of-fact.
"Alrighty-then: Only one problem." Julian said, almost happily as he raised a finger.
"And that is?" Weller asked. Julian's tone turned to one of anger.
"Y'all forgot to give me wings for my holon so I can follow John! What am I supposed to do?! RUN ALL THE WAY?!" Julian shouted at them from the game.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." Vector Minor said aloud, thinking. Weller pinched the bridge of his nose as did Yasamin.
XXX
Julian angrily shook his head as he watched John fly away in his jet form. If that's what John could turn into... he had a bit of a good thing going... provided he didn't get shot down. He shivered as he thought about the prospect of going back to where his life got both worse and better. Worse because he lost the lower half of his body and an arm, but better because of Genlock.
He waited for the wings to arrive and soon found himself looking at a glorious pair of jet wings... just like John's.
"Oh, hell yeah!" He shouted, whooping and started to fly after his little friend. He never felt so alive! Not since he last flew- He stopped in mid-air as he thought about the crash. The last time he had actually flown had been the day he crashed. Shit. He had spent four years recovering from it. And here he was: in a simulation of the worst day of his life. And it was supposed to be one of the best! If the Union hadn't shown up, he and Miranda would've done their thing shortly after they met with Julian's family. Ma liked Miranda and Drianna had been cool with her, even going so far as to ask if she could stay with her if Chase and her were married to which Miranda responded with 'if I ever wanted to marry him'. A sort of confusing thing to say. Girls were kind of a mystery at times.
He sighed and then remembered he had something to do. He sped towards the crash-site, preparing to see a burning body that would be writhing in agony.
XXX
Stinger grunted in anger as he and the others waited in the darkness of the simulated New York. They all hid in alleys, out of sight. That, and they changed their 'skin' color to navy blue. It turned out that midnight black made someone stand out as Iron-Jack previously learned when a Union patrol came barging through the streets. They attacked him first, only for the entire squad to finish them off, jamming their communications and their cries for help. They made sure the bodies and the wreckage were out of sight as well. That didn't stop their feelings.
"This is complete bullshit! We should've linked up with him awhile ago! Instead: we're waiting here because he ordered it after we failed to show up! That, and why's he making a pit stop?!" Stinger asked with a hissing tone like a snake on a private channel he shared with everyone else. His blue eyes glared around.
"Stinger: shut up." Caretaker shushed with a firm tone. He looked at her with a glare only for it to diminish when he saw her own glare. He tried not to shiver in fear. Few things scared courageous men: an angry woman was one of them.
Asuga and Theory snickered as Iron-Jack chuckled.
"Shut up!" He hissed and then sighed as he slumped down.
"Y'know... I miss home." He said aloud. Everyone stopped snickering. They all thought about home. They all knew where eachother came from. Stinger had come from Boston (and proud of it). Caretaker had come from Martin, Virginia, a ways from Fredericksburg, Iron-Jack came from Detroit, Theory came from Hamburg, Germany and Asuga came from the suburbs of Tokyo, Japan. In historical hindsight: you had three nationals whose grand/great-grandparents probably fought each other during the Second World War. All they needed now was a Russian, a French-man, a Brazilian, a Finnish guy, and probably a lot of other kids from the nations that fought during the war and they'd be set. But, then again: that would be a hodge-podge of disaster. A lot of those countries, and their own, had bad blood between them. A lot of it had died down, but Russia still hated Germany, Germany hated Russia for being communist and occupying it. Not as much as America, but you still heard about how some Germans hated Americans for still having a base or two on their home soil. Eh, life happens, in Stinger's point of view. He'd feel the same, though, now that he'd think about it.
That, and he wanted to see if Ashleigh was still alive. Gosh, he missed her! That sweet dark brown hair like everyone else in his family, green eyes, and the rest of his family as well. That, and he wanted to join the Navy for crying out loud! Serve in the great-tradition of service like everyone else! But, no... he had to get taken to the future for some reason or another!
Well, there were perks: he had a HUD like in a video game and he was turning into a robot. That was kind-of cool. Not many kids could say that. And those that did were usually ones with prosthetics. That wasn't bad either. If anything, they deserved it after whatever bad happened. The downside was that they were stuck on a military base in the future, under a power that he could only guess was headquartered at but vaguely sounded like something the UN would probably be a part of.
"What'd you have back home?" Rachel asked him. He looked at her. His low-vision mode came on and he saw her outline. She was sitting on a dumpster.
"I had my Mom, Dad, and sisters along with my dog." She began. She looked at him, expecting an answer. He frowned in response. "It gives us something to pass the time," She reminded him. John would be a bit. He wondered what that whole 'wolf' thing was about along with the pit stop.
He sighed and rubbed his face. "I've got a family, too. My Mom, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters. We lost my Dad and my uncle awhile back along with a few cousins over in Afghanistan and Iraq." Stinger admitted.
"Shit, you too?" Iron-Jack asked in response. Back in the day, a lot of kids' family members went to those places: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, a lot of places. Stinger's head turned to the giant in an alleyway across from them. "My old man fought in the 'Stan. He came back and became a cop for the police." Iron-Jack admitted."'Course, some kids gave me shit for it. A lot of people did." Iron-Jack added. Stinger scoffed.
"For the record: cops have their own problems. We had our own in the force as well. My great-grandad became a cop after he served in the Navy. But, afterwards, we all started going into the Seals like my Grandpa and Dad. I was supposed to be the third generation, for crying out loud." Stinger said to him. Theory laughed.
"You?! A SEAL?! You're a midget!" He laughed, pointing at him.
"Laugh it up, Einstein! I didn't blow up a shit ton of drones in the sky and make a mini-Apocalypse!" Stinger mocked in retort. There was a chuckle from the group.
"Vell, on the matter of family." Theory said, his ears still glowing as he spoke.
"My father works for the Bundeswehr. My grandfather did, as well. But, my great-grandfather-" He paused as he spoke and then stopped speaking.
"Never mind," He said, shaking his head as he waved a dismissive hand.
"What? What is it?" Stinger asked, tilting his hand.
"Nothing, nothing." Theory said, not wanting to talk about it.
"C'mon, man! Every family's got something!" Stinger said to him.
"Vell, yours didn't lose their honor more than once, obviously!" Theory told him in a bit of a snarky tone. Then, it pointed a finger at Stinger.
"Vas your family a noble house of ze Holy Roman Empire?" He started to ask. Stinger thought about it. "Vas it one of the Crusaders that fought for Christendom against the Turks and the Moors? Only to see the efforts of it fail after a time? Only to see the Sacking of Constantinople? Did it fight for ze Holy Roman Emperor as loyally as it could during the Thirty Years War that took a million German lives? Did it lose its honor vhen one of their own decided to get drunk and lose zat honor? Causing his own House to be stripped of its honor?!" He ranted. Stinger straightened up and everyone else looked at him in shock as he ranted about what happened to his family. When he was done, Theory panted.
"Zhere! I said my piece! Is everyone happy now?!" He asked, huffing as he looked around. Just then a loud voice then spoke from the middle of the street.
"Dude... that was deep." All five heads poked out and eyes widened. What they saw defied all expectations. There was a patrol group of five Union soldiers all of them that were in various states of uneasy rest. Clearly, they had been walking over here as they all spoke. As soon as their heads poked out, one of them shouted something along the lines of 'What the fuck?!'
Ten energon cannons roared to life after being transformed. Five bodies fell and were tossed into the Hudson river in a locked dumpster. Not a single care was given that day. Not even by the virtual fish.