It was easier said than done with her mind almost completely distracted as it was. She managed to survive math class, next was history class...["Blegh!"] At least in this class she could take a break from actually paying attention, because the teacher always went on long tangents with facts and listing about each and every detail of events that happened in each year that he knew!
She blended right in anyway, as the eyes of just about everyone in class glazed over after a while every time. When the teacher asked them to flip to the next page, she reluctantly obliged as the teacher 'very briefly' wanted to touch on the subject of myths and legends of the past. Miko was trying to distract her mind with other things, when she was met with an illustration of a knight fighting off a dragon.
The knight was about to win the fight as he had already punctured the beast's neck with the sword he was wielding. When the girl saw this, she felt a pang in her heart. Normally she'd gush over such images, but right now she is not in the mood, and worse having a friend who is a dragon and on top of that injured herself, is not helping at all!
Before the idea crossed her mind to start vandalizing the image with her marker and poking holes in the thing out of pure rage, she flipped the page, covered the book with her notebook instead for good measure, and started doodling around her notes to take her mind off.
Not that she was feeling very inspirational either. She remembered the first day she met Zucky; The creature mistook Bulkhead reprimanding her for sneaking out through the groundbridge, as him attacking an innocent human bystander.
Zucky jumped in between Miko and Bulkhead and Fiercely defended the girl, a total stranger; from a Giant Metal Titan that could have easily crushed the creature's bones between his digits if he chose to do so.
One thing she never got over is the dragon's diminutive size. But that never held her back...heck, she single-handedly gave 4 Giant robots a run for their energon and then some; sending team Prime on a wild dragon chase before they finally managed to catch her!
The girl had to chuckle when she remembered the wild adventure Zucky experienced trying to escape the decepticons. Later she demonstrated how she did that, on Bulkhead when she was given the green light for her healed up shoulder.
This also reminded Miko how she promised Zucky they'd go off-road and hang out with Bulkhead some time. ["As soon as you're better."] she sighed softly.
The bell rang and it was time for recess, so she quickly picked up her stuff and left the classroom.
In the hall she met with Jack and Rafael who were talking.
"Hey Miko." Jack cautiously greeted, remembering yesterday.
"Hi guys..." Miko sighed as she opened up her locker to put some things away.
She was definitely not the wild and energetic friend they knew. They didn't want to push any more conversations further out of her, so they just gave her space and finished up whatever they were doing in their lockers as well.
Miko then broke the silence herself once she gathered herself. "Any word from your mom?"
Jack closed his locker. "After you left, the only thing she told us was that she's going to do her best. She came back home very late last night, I tried asking her how it went, but she asked me to leave it for today. I know she's off work today but she went out very early to run some errands. I didn't even get the chance to ask her any more questions. She'll probably be at the base later, so we can ask when we get there."
"Oh...Thanks anyway." The girl was hoping for something more clear and positive than that.
Miko walked off feeling her hopes dropping again. She took her sketchbook with her to continue on a piece she was working on since this morning.
The boys stood there with concern written all over their features. Miko can be a little too energetic to handle, but they hate seeing her like this.
"Jack...I forgot to tell you yesterday; I feel like Ratchet and Optimus know something that the rest of us don't." Raf said when Miko was out of earshot.
"Ratchet did kinda cover up something when you asked about that cube acting weird...I noticed it too." The young man agreed with the boy. "It did strike me kind of strange when mom left without a word too. Since last night, she seemed kinda spooked for some reason."
"They might have told her about it, maybe?" Raf asked.
Jack just shrugged, but now that Raf brought it up; his mind was starting to bombard him with mysteries as well.
Meanwhile back at the base...
Zucky remained unconscious throughout the whole night. Ratchet pulled off an all-nighter again. Between keeping an optic on her, and repair jobs on devices Bulkhead had broken...again; The Doc-bot had enough to keep him busy, and then some. Not that he minded at the moment.
Ratchet was, just like everyone else; worried about the dragon, and him even more so, due to this being the first time he has ever witnessed such a peculiar case. And it wasn't like nurse Darby was faring any better, if her reaction last night was any indication.
He absolutely hated the helpless feeling it brought upon him. None of the tests he's performed had shed any light on the situation, and that he couldn't do anything about it was eating him on the inside, but the Medic knew how to keep calm in a situation.
The others often envied him for this, but he wasn't fooling Prime though. He's known Ratchet for so long he didn't have to ask or even look at the medic to know that something was up or not. He also knew Doc-bot preferred to keep his feelings under wraps. The medic always knew he could confide in Prime whenever he needed to get something off his chest plate.
Prime tried relieving some of the stress by assisting with monitoring for Decepticon Activities as well as searching for potential energon deposits. It was fairly quiet tonight, but for some reason he didn't feel quite at ease. Granted, he would always keep his attention alert for anything, even during recharge.
Tonight he sent the bots out on curbside duty. Knockout's fiasco earlier that day didn't sit right and the cons were unusually quiet. The children were at home, so better to have their guardians on sight, in case the decepticons were planning anything involving them.
After quite a while, Optimus decided to give his optics a rest for a bit while he checked in on Ratchet. Sometimes when the old medic was so deeply concerned, he would often forget that he's a living robotic organism that needs to move about every now and then or even refuel.
He refused to leave Zucky's side and Prime did nothing to move him, but he still brought him some energon to keep him going. When the autobot leader entered the medbay, his suspicions were accurate; Ratchet was slumped over on the berth, and almost about to fall into recharge.
Carefully nudging his friend, he was able to rouse him back to consciousness. "I'm...I'm up. Just resting my optics." But Prime knew better.
"Of course, old friend...Care for some energon?" He offered Ratchet the cube.
"Thank you." The medic simply said as he took it from Prime's servo drank about an intake full. "Not a beep from her all night."
"Perhaps her spark dreams have been more peaceful tonight." Prime said.
"You know...I always wondered what those look like in humans." The medic thought out loud as he stood up, feeling a bit more energized now.
"I shall remain here for the time being, and I will inform you, should there be any changes." Optimus said.
Ratchet nodded and left to the common area to stretch his peds and take over monitor duty.
Optimus walked over to the berth and sat down on the stool next to it and watched Zucky for a moment. It felt like what the humans would call a Déjà vu. It was the same thing last time. Only Prime had spent the whole night by her side last time, and at least then, they knew what they were dealing with.
The autobot looked at the monitors which indicated the patient's vitals, etc. Zucky was fine, everything normal. Good. It still mystified him though... how? They've spent all night trying to figure that out. Exhausted all sources of information for the answer, but came up empty.
All except one.
School was over. Miko was sitting outside on the steps, working on her sketch. She was so determined to get the details right, that Raf had to get her attention for Bulkhead. She hurriedly got up after tossing the book and her pencil in the bag and ran up to the green SUV to climb in.
She sat in the passenger seat, and the seat belt secured itself around her frame and she pulled out her sketchbook and pencil once more.
"Hey Miko, how was school?" Bulkhead attempted to make conversation.
"It was okay. Pretty boring..." The girl answered as she sketched away.
Her silence was out of the ordinary, and Bulk knew she was feeling down, so he tried cheering her up: "Want me to crank up some tunes?"
"I'm not in the mood..." Miko answered.
"Oh, uhm..." The bot was at a loss here. He didn't like seeing his charge like this, but what could he do?
The girl was still focused on her sketch. No eye contact, pure silence...it was an unnerving experience to see Miko this silent. He didn't want to push any further and just let her be. He focused on the road and if she wants to talk, she'll talk.
After a while...
"How's Zucky?" Her voice came out of nowhere, and it startled him.
"Huh? Oh, uhm...She was still down this morning, but I've been out on patrol the whole day." Bulkhead answered. "Maybe she still is. Otherwise I would have heard something from Prime by now."
Miko just finished her drawing. She looked at it one last time, before she closed the sketchbook. "*sigh. Okay." The girl just leaned on the door as she looked out the window."
They both remained silent the rest of the ride as well. Luckily they weren't too far away from the base anymore.
A yellow Muscle car rolled up at school. "Well, See you later Jack!" Raf called to his friend before boarding the vehicle in question.
.:"Hey Raf! How was school today? Learn anything new?":. Bumblebee greeted his human friend.
"Hi Bee! Uhm...not to me really, and it was kinda boring because of that. But nothing that would have bored me out of my mind." The boy answered.
Rafael proceeded to tell Bumblebee all that he was supposed to have learned for the day, as he knows Bee finds a lot of things about earth interesting to begin with.
"How has Zucky been since last night, Bee?" The boy asked hopeful for some good news.
.:"No significant changes according to Ratchet. But at least she hasn't gotten worse, so that's always good right, Buddy?":. Bee answered.
"*sigh* Yeah." Rafael felt his hopes deflate a bit. He was kinda hoping Zucky would be fine by today, like she did last time. But now that he thinks about it, that wouldn't have been realistic at all. Last time, all she needed was a good night's sleep.
.:"Hey, chin up man. That's probably old news at this point. I've been out on missions all day. So...probably now that we go back home, Ratchet's got an update ready and waiting.":. Bumblebee tried cheering him up.
"Yeah, you're right. Mama always says to be positive, after all." The boy said.
.:"Yeah! That's the spirit!":. Bee was elated it worked.
"Hey Bumblebee, did you notice something different about Optimus and Ratchet, yesterday?" Raf asked.
.:"Something different?":. The bot asked for clarification. .:"What's bothering you about them?":.
"I...don't know. They weren't exactly acting normal yesterday." The boy tried explaining. "Like they knew and were worried about something...Something they didn't want to tell us?":.
"Oh?"Bumblebee realized he wasn't really paying attention to their behaviors. " Well I guess I was in such a shock I didn't notice."
"It's okay..." Raf was hoping Bee could help shed some more light before they reached the base, but he guessed wrong then.
"But if there's something I do know about them, is that there are some things they prefer to keep tight Derma'd about. That is unless they can find some kind of explanation for it, that makes more sense. Once they find that answer, then they'll let us know." Bumblebee explained. "I guess Prime prefers to present correct information as much as possible... But that comes from his early Iacon Archivist days. Don't take it personally, he means well."
"Hmmm..." This new information set the gears in the boy's mind into motion.
"I hope this helps." The bot said in conclusion.
"I guess I'll just have to wait and see then..." Rafael answered.
After he hung out with Raf for a while until Bumblebee showed up. Jack went around the school to the parking lot to meet up with Arcee. He approached the Motorcycle, put on and secured his helmet and climbed on. He faked starting up the vehicle and 'drove' away from the school.
"You look to be on Autopilot, Jack...Everything okay?" Arcee asked.
"Hopefully you didn't have as mind-numbing a day as I had." The young man answered.
"Eh, not much. Curbside duty by night, Energon scouting by day... Not exactly my idea of thrilling either, but it's my job." The Motorcycle said. "But at least I'm not rendered numb, like you said."
"Pssh! Thanks for cheering me up, Arcee." Jack snickered.
"You're welcome, Jack." Arcee answered.
"I'm just mentally preparing myself for what I'm about to hear later..." The young man said.
"Yeah." Arcee simply said.
"Say, Arcee...does Ratchet and Optimus know something we don't?" Jack asked.
"Heh, you're gonna have to be more specific than that, Jack." Acree said. "They each have several million years of knowledge in each of those Brain Modules; Ask the right questions and you're bound to find out what you're looking for."
"That's not what I meant..." The young man responded. "Ever since Zucky got hurt, they've acted as if there's something going on... and my mom's been acting weird since last night too."
"Well, there is." The motorcycle answered.
"You know about it?" Jack was surprised.
"Well, no...but maybe June does." Arcee said. "Did you ask her about it?"
"She left the house before I had the chance." The young man trailed off.
Back at the Autobot base...
The Prime was sitting next to the patient for about half an hour, wondering what might be going on inside her mind. It's not like they could plug her into a cortical psychic patch to find out either, she's organic after all... or, at least she's supposed to be? Things have spiraled into one big scrapheap of a confusing mess, and he's the one who's supposed to keep a level helm and guide his team through trying times like these.
Normally he's able to keep himself in check but even he has his limits and he's starting to believe this is one of them. He may be a Prime, but even Primes can't do everything alone. None of this was supposed to happen. The Cube was supposed to be harmless, Going out for some fresh air was supposed to go without a hitch, Innocent creatures weren't supposed to get hurt or exposed to life threatening or even life altering situations that came with the Cybertronians.
["For the love of Primus; Optimus, you shouldn't have jettisoned the Allspark into space like you did!"] The Prime's processor was waging war upon him as he sat there in thought. ["Had I not done so, all of this would have been avoided. Instead I've endangered all of you."]
But even this wasn't the time for him to come apart at the seams. ["There has to be a way...There is always a way."]
"Mhuhnm?" Zucky moaned. Not shortly after, she jolts but doesn't wake up.
"Zucky?" Prime heard the sound she was making and turned to look at her and caught her body jolting. He waited to see if she responded.
"..." Nothing. ["Perhaps she is dreaming?"] He asked himself.
"Wh-who are you?!" Zucky asked.
The Prime's face lit up. But it was overshadowed with concern over her possible amnesia. He tried reasoning with her now, maybe if he talked to her, she'll remember.
"My name is Optimus Prime, do you not recognize my voice?" He asked.
"You didn't answer my question!" The dragon warned as she bore her claws and teeth at him.
"I did answer your question, Zucky... You must be confused." The prime said, concerned painting all over his faceplate.
"WHAT?" The dragon growled in confusion. "But how? When did I?!"
"You've gotten seriously injured during a round of 'cube' last night." Optimus tried explaining the situation.
"Shut up, you!" The dragon roared.
Prime was taken aback by her sudden disrespectful outburst, but it was beginning to appear to him that her conversation wasn't with him at all. He turned his gaze to the monitors...Her heartbeat was beginning to accelerate, something inside her mind had her distressed. She's dreaming about someone, that much he's able to figure out, but now begs the question; ["Who is she talking to?"]
"How'd you do that?" She asked, confused. "You are not supposed to be able to do that...not in here at least!"
The autobot leader sat and watched her as she spoke to a mysterious presence. It was a one sided conversation from this vantage point. He didn't know what the other party was saying to her, but perhaps by paying attention to her words, he could figure out who it was. Though he had a hunch, he had to be sure.
"Well, duh...Your own head. This is my mind, and speaking of which, how did you even get in h..." Her words cut off abruptly and her heartbeat started beating faster. She's spooked.
"Knockout?" Zucky asked in a barely audible tone, but Optimus understood what she just said. His sparkbeat skipped and almost stopped when he heard what she said. ["Sweet Solus Prime..."]
"DAMNIT! What part of stay out of my head, don't you understand?!" She was screaming now at the top of her lungs!