See Prologue for disclaimer. Language.
Chapter 35: The Library
"Hmm." Mr. G sounded annoyed that he had been proven wrong. Anyone would be, but for arrogant Mr. G being found incorrect stung twice as much. "So she rebelled against him, in essence?"
"That is essentially what Sergeant Epps reported, yes." Burns affirmed, eying the named Sergeant leaning against the wall. Robert Epps looked nervous, his eyes flickering around the room and never resting in one place for too long.
"Has she sent out a message?" Mr G. asked, none-too-subtly redirecting the conversation away from his defeat.
"Yes, and she says that there are more of their race that might be able to help us." Burns glanced back at his notes, "They are called Autobots, a group that she thinks are the enemies of these Decepticons. Their leader is Optimus Prime."
"Even if these Autobots do exist, how could they be contacted? They must be farther away in the depths of space." Ms. T sounded hopeful and defeated at the same time.
"My people have seen a room in the palace that can be used for such a purpose, but we must see if we can hack the signal first before a break-in is attempted. Regardless, there is another piece of business that must be discussed."
"We have even received word from her that she has already requested for her people to be 'let go.'" Burns paused for effect, "And that the quote 'Pharaoh' says no."
There were several murmurs, but Ms. T voiced her opinion first. "Did she add anything else?"
Burns read the song fragment that she had written, unable to stop a smirk from slowly growing on his face. Damn she's good.
"It seems as though we must come up with a plague." he added before any of the others could comment.
"We are limited in our abilities and in our chances. How will this even work?" Mr. G was always one to criticize very quickly, and it was getting on Epps' last nerve.
A heated argument outbroke, the voices slowly vising in volume and pitch until Epps could no longer tolerate it. He was way out of line, he knew, but what he had to say could not be bitten back.
"Respectfully, ladies and gentlemen," Epps shouted, albeit knowing that Lennox would smack him into next week for insubordination, "you are all overlooking a simple fact."
All of the leaders fell silent and, even though none of their faces were visible, Epps could feel eyes on him. "What would that be, soldier?" Mr G. interrogated and Burns watched him intently.
"They are robots. Computers, in a sense." Epps continued, "What about a virus?"
"Are you going to leave them here, or are you going to move them now?" Eleaniris asked as she stepped into his servo.
Megatron seemed to consider for a moment before replying, "They can be shown to the library." He chuckled and added with a leering smirk, "I believe that I owe you a tour too, my dear."
Out of the corner of her vision Eleaniris saw the femmes flinch and give her a communal look of sympathy. Sorry, they seemed to say.
"Are you going to give them a lift too?" Eleaniris was pushed against his chestplates, almost smothered against his broad, unyielding metal.
"They can walk." he growled, turning to the door to leave the femmes to their own devices. He only stooped in this way for his Queen, and no one else.
"Then so can I." she replied testily, pushing ineffectively against his fingers.
His deep chuckle vibrated her small body, "But I like carrying you, little flower." She huffed and settled back against his chest in defeat. Megatron, triumphant and assured in his victory, kept walking through the hallway with the femmes running to keep up with his long strides.
They were still on the ground floor when he came to a large pair of doors. Not as huge as the ones for their quarters, but still a good size. Wait, did I just say ours?
"I think you will like this, Eleaniris." His tone was smug, and she was about to bite back when the doors parted and she gasped.
The centre of cavernous space was lit by what looked to be a huge, glowing, orange energy orb. Its surface swirled and twisted, moving in a fashion similar to lava. There were a few tables here and there with clear monitors, but most of the space was filled with towering shelves, reaching the vaulted ceiling 200 feet up. The shelf-like structures did not hold regular datapads, but rather squares that radiated a light blue from their screens. Cybertronian symbols labelled the ones that she could see in an index-like fashion, and she saw several small Decepticons scurrying about taking out and replacing different square-shaped datapads. They appeared to fly with a bike-like vehicle, which would hover in place while they exchanged the slim pads.
A large bay of windows stood to one side, showcasing what must have been the fledgling construction of the gardens. It was a hill, slowly sloping downwards underneath a blue sky.
"How may we serve you, Lord Megatron?"
One of them had landed on the floor and bowed deeply, ignoring her and the panting femmes standing behind Megatron. He was probably taller than she was, about the size of a slave master and with the same black, simple metal build. The likeness made her shiver.
"The library needs a few more caretakers. I wish to transfer those that are working there currently." Wait, did he need more slavekeepers? She wanted to throw up, punch him, or both.
Even if the latter would do nothing but amuse him.
"As you were. I am not in need of assistance," He set Eleaniris down, much to her surprise, "But you are to help my Queen with whatever she desires." She remembered with a start, You will be honored as an extension of myself.
He unsubspaced the datapads Soundwave had made and gave them to her, "Also, these femmes are to be trained to staff the library."
The subordinate nodded and saluted stiffly. "As you desire, Lord Megatron."
He ignored him and spoke to Eleaniris, "Stay here until I come to fetch you, alright? I must go to the command room for an hour or two to oversee a few things." Megatron shifted his gaze to the fidgeting librarian and his baritone became more unforgiving, "You have several Earth novels, yes?" You better was implied in his dangerous undertone.
"Y-yes, my lord. T-there is a selection." Megatron rumbled, satisfied, and turned to leave, but not before bending to kiss the helm of his Queen.
"Be good, my little Empress." She nodded dumbly, disgusted with his affection even as she felt the yank in her chassis. What is that?
They didn't move until the doors had closed with a click. They first to speak was Talia, "Wow. He's smitten with you." She was promptly elbowed by Sophia, who gave the shorter femme a look and scolded quietly.
Talia mused thoughtfully after Sophia had stopped, "You know, he's honestly not that bad looking."
Eleaniris bit her cheek, lowering her gaze to her pedes. "You're right, he's not." It didn't matter how much she despised him; a handsome man was a handsome man. Evil had no place in that equation.
Evil did have a place in the theorem of attraction.
They stared at her, Sophia showing the most surprise, and Kimora said hesitantly "It's okay if you like him, madame. You can't really help it, can you?"
Eleaniris snapped out of it, clenching her jaw, "That thing is not the apple of my eye, and he will never be so long as I am your President."
They had not seen the librarian step aside to take a comm from Megatron, accepting new orders and taking off to fulfill them.
When he returned to the femmes, he beckoned for Eleaniris to follow him. She was led to one of the tables and a stack of the slim squares was placed in front of her. "Enjoy, my Queen."
He was gone, taking Sophia, Talia, and Kimora with him. She sighed, setting down her own, personal stack and deciding to flip through the selection she had been given. Floppy disks? Wow.
She studied one of the glowing squares and then checked the underside of one of the slim, glass monitors. Sure enough, there was a slot on the bottom for the card to be inserted.
Great Expectations, in a pdf format, flickered onto the screen. No thanks. That book had been required reading in highschool, and she had hated it.
She went through half the stack, finding books from To Kill a Mockingbird to 1984 to Fahrenheit 451 to The War of the Worlds. The last she thought quite ironic given her situation, so much that she almost gave a dark chuckle. She was not expecting the quantity of dystopian novels provided to her, thinking that he either did not know their content or he did and provided them to her with sick humor.
She would have liked to think it was the latter, but her head told her it was the former for some unknown reason.
She had just ejected Uncle Tom's Cabin from the monitor, biting her lip and trying to forget, when she saw she was already down to the bottom. Only one disk was left, and Eleaniris clicked it in with curiosity.
It was not a pdf book. She saw footage of a gladiatorial arena, its shape and structure eerily reminding her of the Roman Colosseum. There was an enormous crowd present, comprising a writhing, silvery mass, but the center was presently empty.
One huge robot that she did not recognize entered, a long, double-edged axe slung over one shoulder. Someone announced his name in Cybertronian and the crowd cheered and applauded.
She had thought that sound was deafening, but what came next made that pale in comparison.
The masses rose and cheered, giving a standing ovation to the oddly familiar mech that sauntered to the middle, waving a servo and bowing. What an exhibitionist. He acted like he owned the place, like he had already won.
"Megatronus! Megatronus!" was the chant that reached her audios. Odd. Was this placed in the stack on purpose, or was it an accident? She wanted to turn it off, but her optics remained glued to the screen.
The fight was short, to say the least. "Megatronus" dwarfed his opponent, making quick work of him with surprisingly agile turns and swift stabs from his sword. He lifted what must have been a several ton frame with a single servo, as one might lift a paperback. She gulped at the display of raw power, wondering for the millionth time how a being with such awesome strength could handle her without crushing her.
He looked up into a private box in the stands, as if waiting for an order. One that she did not see was given, and effortlessly he tossed the other into the air above him. He fired a shot from the canon on his arm through the body and he was dead before he hit the ground.
"Megatronus" turned in circles and bowed to a roaring crowd, playing them up and strutting like the rockstar he knew he was. To finish it off, he scooped up the axe from the ground and, grasping the handle with two hands, cleanly snapped it in half like a cheap pencil.
Her jaw fell to the floor. To say that she was impressed was the understatement of the century. Hastily she came to, pushing the card to eject it and stuffing it back in the stack.
Eleaniris did not know what to think of what she had seen. Sure, she was completely awestruck at his inconceivable power and effortless murder, but it depressed her to an extent too. How could I ever defeat him? I must weigh nothing to him, if he can move others his own size that easily. I am no obstacle in his path of conquest, I am simply along for the ride. His little Slave Queen, his miniscule broodmare...
His insignificant bitch.
The librarian tapped her on her shoulder, pulling her back to the present. "Are there any you would like to be placed on datapads, my lady?"
Eleaniris dug Animal Farm out of the stack and gave it to him wordlessly. She had already read the story several times, but it was always an interesting intellectual study. She needed something else to think about for once.
When he came to get her, afternoon light was streaming through the windows and the sun was low in the sky. She said her goodbyes to the femmes and wished them luck with their new professions, trying to mask her depression.
"Did you find anything interesting?" he asked as he exited the library and turned to walk up to his quarters. Oh, that was definitely in the stack on purpose.
"Yes. One of the drones gave me a book to read." Disappointment flickered onto his face for a brief instant before going away, replaced with annoyance and then impassiveness. Yes, certainly it was purposeful.
Okay, fine. I'll play along.
"Somehow this clip got into my stack of squares though." She watched him out of the corner of her optic, tilting her helm slightly to catch his expression.
"A clip of what?" He was trying to hide his eagerness, and she would have thought it adorable.
If he wasn't trying to make her into a willing prostitute.
"Some gladiator or another." She did her best to sound disinterested, "His name was Megatronus, I think."
He made a sound of interest, "Was he any good?" Stop digging for compliments you bastard. I know it was you. I'm not stupid.
"He was alright." She smirked inwardly as an irked look crossed his faceplates.
"Just alright?" he prodded, looking downwards and raising an optic ridge.
"Yes. Mediocre at best." Your challenge is accepted, my dear. He made a mental note to find a couple sparring partners for later. Soundwave had suggested that he appeal to her most instinctual desires for the qualities of a mate; that had included displaying an ability to "protect the nest" and, more directly, an ability to protect the female herself.
He wasn't sure how he hadn't achieved that with that particular clip, but he was sure he might have a better chance with an in-person presentation. However, he had already given her plenty of chances to be dazzled with his strength. Unless she is lying and trying to play hard to get…cute.
"I think you're hiding the truth from me, beautiful." She tensed, telling him all he needed to know. "You were surprised with this Megatronus, weren't you?" He let the amusement creep into his voice, smirking down at her.
She didn't answer him, averting her gaze and feeling heat in her cheeks. He chuckled, purring and rubbing her against the side of his face, "You're adorable, my little flower."
She bristled, pushing against him and trying to put distance between herself and his cheek, "Stop! Please!"
"Why should I?" Megatron purred, coming to the doors of his apartments.
"Stop playing with me. I know you had that datapad put there to try to impress me, so stop!"
They entered the doors and he went to the table, setting her down. She was about to whirl around and screech at him again when something screeched at her.
She was thrown to the table on her front, a heavy something pinning her down. A cool, female, robotic voice entered her mind, Greetings, mistress.
The weight disappeared and she rose and turned. Borealis, now the size of a horse, sat on her haunches and peered at her with her purple optics, curling her tail over her front talons.
Her wings were folded yet long, the feather-like metal still reflecting different colors. "Wow," she breathed, standing to approach her. The gryphon had two ear-like crests curving backwards and upwards, giving her an air of regality and elegance, and a small amount of metal filaments constituted a short mane around her neck. The voice spoke again, smooth and silky in her head, Are my updates satisfactory?
"How are you speaking to me?" Eleaniris whispered, stroking Borealis' beak. 'Shortly after your cyberformation, Soundwave took data from your processor to make a connection with mine.' Eleaniris narrowed her optics at the invasion of privacy and Borealis finished, 'This was done with your mate's consent.'
"He is not my mate," she growled, hoping that Megatron hadn't heard, "It is not his right to determine such things."
He did, and it was disheartening to hear her speak the words that he already knew were true. He could fix that, he would fix that. Megatron was not one to give up in matters of conquest, and this one was no exception. What he wanted, he got.
Eleaniris would be no different.
Want to see a general reference for Borealis? Check out the "Gryphon" article on the "Tactics Ogre Wiki." Not my art, but my description of Borealis was based off of this awesome depiction.
xxyangxx2006 - We'll see more of Grace and Sounwave later on. I promise. And sorry if it was confusing, but the supervisor Eleaniris pushed over the edge was just a recurring nightmare that she has. Thank you for raising these questions!
The Whispering Sage - Prime's on his way, I promise promise promise. Thank you for your review, and please keep providing me with feedback!
XxArtes-ZeroxX - Again, the Autobots are on there way. I have their incorporation all planned out and everything is done on purpose. Thank you for leaving feedback!
sakurawriter - Starscream is coming. Brace yourself. I have come to look forward to your reviews, and thank you so much!
Famous last words: Please... review...