Sonica lays back on the table and turns to Soundwave. "Will you let him know I'll give him the rest of the information when he's ready?"
He stares as he turns towards the door until finally, he leaves. She's guessing that's a reluctant yes.
Then she moves her attention to the blue and yellow guy, "You're a new face. What's your name?"
"Commander Dreadwing."
"Oh! I could've guessed. Yeah, Wheeljack hates you."
"The feeling is mutual."
"The settle glare made it unclear," she smirks.
Dreadwing frowns, "You are full of utter disrespect."
"That's normal," Knockout and Sonica say in unison and glance at each other. She tries to give him a smile, but he looks away.
It cuts. "Knockout, I have something to tell you."
"Is it why you left?" He mutters, weary of Dreadwing's presence.
Just as she gets around her surprise, the Commander interrupts, "Doctor, put her in a light sleep so we may wake her later; when Lord Megatron is ready."
Knockout lifts a remote in his hands. With some reluctance, he presses the button lightly.
Sonica feels a stab to her neck and the drug starts taking effect. It's quick, but not as potent as before. Her body relaxes and it's a struggle to stay alert. Just before her eyes forcibly close, she looks to Knockout and whispers his name. She desperately needs to tell him...about Breakdown.
Optimus finds and examines the silver energon Sonica gave to him.
Bumblebee stands in his doorway, "What's that for? Will it help us get Sonica back?"
"It will tell me where she is." He reflects on the Iacon relic container they found at the coordinates she went to. Megatron took the container that held the spark extractor and customized it to strike her with a potent drug once it sensed her hands.
Ratchet identified the drug as one that's poisonous and it mutates to keep the immune system guessing. This drug will put her systems into emergency shut down, where it will defeat the poison easily, without taking her offline, but repeated use will strain .
Optimus takes the silver energon and boards the lift to the top of the silo. With this news, he can only hope to be taking this while she's awake. If this succeeds, he will give Ratchet the coordinates and they will rescue Sonica.
Megatron takes a needed break in his quarters.
It's neat and clean, as he prefers it. He doesn't have any special belongings on the ship; he left all that behind. He had held onto some trophies from the wars but none of those mattered after Cybertron died. The only "custom" items in his room are the stacks of screen tablets towards different things and the board that he can draw on with a stylus.
It's very old fashioned but this was how he prepared for the beginning battles. He would write down advantages of the places and resources he had and compare them to what the Autobots would see. He'd even learn all he could about the Commander, if it wasn't Optimus, and put down all his strengths and weaknesses. He likes seeing it all at once, like the maps they used before mining.
This board was unused for a long time. As all the fights have been against Optimus and the well-known few under him. Though the war progressed, the battles blended together and never changed; pacing the same rut repeatedly.
Since Sonica's arrival, he's been using it again.
Today he adds the types and their abilities through a wave of nostalgia. He makes a column under each type to make room for any weaknesses they may have. The ones he does know, he writes, and they're vague like "complex" and "wild". He's not sure they're weaknesses but...
He finishes the information, taps the screen, and makes it into a document, then it's copied and archived deep in the ship's data banks behind facial-recognition security.
With this new information on the new energon, it's easy to think of useful ideas so he waits to build them and swipes the document to the corner to close.
The stylus moves to the observations he's made about Sonica.
She's irritating, but clearly knows what she's doing...most of the time. She takes seemingly unnecessary risks in testing boundaries and bending rules. Yet, she has a kind spark that bots are drawn to. They watch her when she enters a room, they wave to her when they think he's not looking, sometimes he hears them laugh, and she enjoys all conversations she has with whomever she's talking to. The troupes will tell her anything: about themselves, missions, reasons for their choice as a Decepticon... Interestingly, Sonica has never asked for confidential information though she had the influence to get it. And despite her relationship with the Autobots, Soundwave finds no breaches in communications or archives. The silver energon might have given access but it's not helping the Autobots. It's like she's only here to make friends.
Though kind, Sonica is also a professional liar; possibly better than Starscream as her mask is near flawless. She doesn't show any emotion she doesn't want to share and withholding information is as easy as transforming. All this is natural to her.
Megatron deletes "arrogance" and "ignorant" from her list of weaknesses so all that's left is "fear of stasis", "dark energon", and "kind spark".
He moves to the list of her abilities and puts "empathy" and next to that word he writes "memories".
Since she poked at all his sore spots, he may as well use them against her. He can act the part, play a little softer, and if all the notes hit true in her kind spark's empathy, she may deem him a "worthy spark" to share the details of creating the energon types.
That will take a great amount of time and patience that he's not sure he has after recent events. In addition, with the relics in play, he doesn't know how much time he has exactly.
This will be what fills his break: does he play or fold?
If this had happened a long while ago, this would've made the sweet spot he needed to entice her to his direction. Now that he has it, it would be wise to use it, but he hesitates.
Megatron hesitates...and he's not sure why beyond not wanting to. He needs to learn more if he's going to use the types in battle.
Logic dictates that he should play the game. Without Shockwave, samples of the other energons may not be help enough.
Now he needs a tactic.
He pulls up a document he made earlier and it has all the recordings of details she gave Orion Pax about her past lives. History is always the best place to start; it has the way of thinking imbedded in there with the habits and beliefs that he needs.
After looking through it for a while, he finds something.
He clicks the stylus into its holder and the board hides itself in the wall.
Time to play his hand.
She wakes to find Megatron and Dreadwing standing in front of her.
In her mind, she holds her strategy to work Megatron's feelings; now that she knows he has them. Optimus might be excited to hear this. They hoped there could be a chance at him changing for good and now she sees it.
All she has to do, is play. She gives him a smile, "Feel better enough to learn the rest?"
"Yes."
"Little did you know, you use a mechanical mimic in your space and ground bridges. It can connect anything, including space and time. It's very intuitive to the user but if not focused enough, the silver will do its own thing. That comes back to 'connecting un-connectable'. Do you think it's impossible to connect to spirits? Physical objects? Sparks? Maybe powers and abilities outside or your own? Silver can do that if you have the pin-point focus and know-how to do it. If not, it'll pick for you and that will screw you up. That's its only side effect: existential confusion and madness."
Megatron grins and extends a hand, "Good to know. Hand it over."
"I said I would tell you, not give it to you."
"After all we've been through," he tries a slightly sad expression, "you don't trust me?"
Her sincerity blazes like a soft fire, "It's because of all we've been through, I do not trust you."
He thinks carefully over his next move, "Let's continue to be honest for a moment so I may ask you some questions unrelated to the energon types. Shall we?"
Sonica's stare is calculating, "I will respond to the ones I judge to be worth my time."
"Fair enough," he smiles and rests his hands behind his back. "Firstly, am I correct to assume you don't give information about the types to anyone that you don't deem worthy?"
"You are correct," she watches him pace.
"Have all your choices been correct? I draw this question from our lack of knowledge about these types; some we never knew existed."
Her gaze narrows, "No, I'm not omnipotent."
"Is one of your defining attributes of a worthy spark honesty?"
Sonica leans back, no longer watching and waiting, "Ideally, yes. But you telling me outright that you're going to use it to destroy and kill is no better than someone with the barrings to lie to me."
He could almost laugh. She saw right through that one; wise femme.
"Are you trying to prevent war, Sonica Doradus? Is that why you keep secrets?"
"That's part of it."
He nods, "You must protect yourself too."
She gives him a look, "Do you have time for this? Would you rather just get to your point?"
"You're holding a lot of things, Sonica." His tall stance changes and his brow is relaxed, "Not only are you powerful and trying to keep that to yourself, you're attempting to keep peace on top of it. You cannot rely on anyone but yourself. That must be very difficult."
A snide smirk shows, "Wow, it's like you know me. Thanks."
"But I don't know you. That's why I'm here asking. With what I do know about you, some things do not add up. There are pieces missing and there are holes in your story."
"I don't owe you any explanations, Megatron."
"Then don't give them. I only ask that you think about this: why don't you let us kill ourselves?"
She balks and makes a face, "What in the AllSpark, Megatron?"
Noticing Dreadwing showing a similar but much milder expression, she asks him directly, "Can you keep up with him?"
He doesn't answer and Megatron takes up her view.
"It's a serious question, Sonica Doradus. Why bother to save us? Why try so hard to keep peace when we're inclined to war? What's been the cost of this peace? Are there any truly worthy sparks?"
Sonica tenses and locks eyes on him, "Of course, there are."
"Like the ones who betrayed you?"
"Not all of them betrayed me,"
Murderer stretches.
"What did you do about these sparks? Did you terminate them? Either way, you had to, correct? If anyone else knew they were loyal to you, they would be treated like bargaining chips; and if they were after war, they needed to be taken offline."
Sonica stops answering and Megatron takes that as he's called her bluff.
"All I'm saying is, you're doing all the dirty work. You're controlling others' actions by terminating them when they're out of control. Is that your responsibility? If they are so bent on destroying themselves, why are you doing that for them?"
Their gazes are locked on each other for a whelp-stinging moment.
"Am I wrong, Sonica?"
She doesn't answer and he continues:
"You see, those are the holes I'm seeing in your morale. You decide who you part wisdom to and then control how far that wisdom spreads and who has it- what's worse, you take this wisdom before they learn how to handle and implement it correctly." He eyes her, "If Primus took the Matrix away from Optimus after each mistake he made, do you think he would've learned to use it? Without learning how to use it, he very well would have perished long ago. Do you agree?"
Her glare narrows.
"With that in mind," He rests an arm on the table above her shoulder and leans in carefully, "as cliche as it sounds, you and I are a lot alike. We have...an attraction...to control."
"My intentions are very different from yours. I do not want conquest."
"Oh no, of course not...but you have it anyway. My conquest will be Cybertron and Earth, yours is energon."
Sonica's spark drops, he sees it in her optics.
He leans closer, "So why not let us kill each other if you do not want conquest?"
The pause acts like a dagger; it's made its target and now it twists.
"Teach me a lesson, Doradus. What must I learn, while I have little left to lose? Even if it all goes to the pits, my example could send a warning through history and you, after many lives, could rest from being master. Your students would have all the studying material they need, everyone would have it so it would no longer be worth fighting over, and if they destroy themselves, that blame is no longer yours."
She looks down.
He grins and twists further, "Does being 'worthy' of rewards mean anything if one doesn't know what they are doing? Is confidence in you enough to teach them?"
Murderer chuckles, ~He makes much more sense than anyone you've ever known. You would be wise to listen~
Her optics fall shut.
Megatron stands back, "Sonica Doradus, I do not mean to over-step. These are merely my questions and it seems they have made you tired. How about you rest comfortably for a while?"
He hits the buttons on the table's locks and they vanish. He offers a hand to help her up, but she turns away. He doesn't lower it, but keeps it there and gently, but falsely, adds, "We fixed your old room. I'll take you there."
"No thank you," her tone is calm, but it has a strange edge to it.
He lowers his hand and watches her, calculating her responses and possible emotions.
"But I will thank you for summing all that up. I see the pattern now." She turns back to face him and she's unreadable. She wears a smile, but her gaze is numb and her tone doesn't match either expressions. "Now I have a question for you, Megatron."
It's a gamble, but he plays his part as planned. "I'm all ears. What is it?"
"Do you believe in curses?"
He raises a brow, "Is that what you believe afflicts you?"
"It's a yes or no question."
Megatron decides on honesty, "No."
"You're looking at one."
The whole room stiffens like glass about to shatter in sound vibrations.
Sonica stands up, "Thank you for being forward with me; I do appreciate it despite our differences. I will also admit you have some valid points to your ramble. However, I still refuse to give the types to you."
He grips his plan as it starts falling apart right in front of him, "Haven't I been honest in the right way? Haven't I earned some of your confidence?"
"Of course, of course you have," she steps up right in front of him, "but I know you all too well."
She saw right through him; she's too smart. His snarl returns and he steps closer to her, "I will mercifully appeal to you again before my patience is spent: please give me the energon types."
She sways on her feet a little, but she reaches up and touches his face. A laugh rolls from the depths of her torso and it hisses with that other voice weaving into it. Sonica's eyes start to change and she sends a little static. "I might do that, for a price."
Megatron has to focus through the tickle in his armor, "If it's not taking my blood, name it."
"Can you take me to Unicron?" The second voice takes over and her optics glow a bright violet. She laughs.
Megatron steps back and looks to Knockout with the remote. He presses it quickly.
They hear the click and follow it only to watch the collar slide down the table she used to be on.
She activates black energon and vanishes.
Knockout and Dreadwing surround him and Soundwave activates a ground bridge to the energon storage. They escort him through and the bridge closes after them. Only the silence follows.
"We will find her, Lord Megatron." Dreadwing bows under the towers of cubes around them.
He shakes his head, "Until I've learned how to see past black energon, we may have no idea where she is."
"At least we have the orange type," Knockout shrugs but the quiet gives him doubt, "Right?"
"It's not as mercurial as the other types. The only benefit to it is it burns much slower than the blue type. However, if left sitting too long, it hardens and becomes useless. Only Sonica knows how to change it between the two stages...and may be the only one who can change it."
"She's can't be unstoppable, Lord Megatron," Dreadwing stays optimistic, "From what we gathered from her memories, there are ways to subdue her as past bots have."
As much as he hates it, he thinks through disgust and searches for any details he might have missed. He turns to Knockout, "If we find her here, I want you to work on containing her. I want all other efforts towards the Iacon files."
Thanks to the Autobots, the ship realized the files where being copied so it scrambled everything; including whatever they got through Laserbeak's virus which the Decepticons caught too late.
"If nothing else, I know everything her worthy sparks know." Megatron smiles to himself, "Go out and find her and tell me what her condition is."
He watches them leave; the sooner they find her, the sooner he can leave this spot.
Sonica sits on top of the Nemesis on the flight deck.
From their position on the map she saw on the way up here, she faces the direction the Autobot base is closest.
When she phased through her venomous collar, she sensed Optimus' spark in the wind. She will respond while she can.
With optics closed, she opens her mind and spark. The connection is instantaneous, and Optimus' relief and excitement washes in like a wave.
"Hey, sorry. I hope you weren't waiting long."
"It not longer matters. Are you alright?"
"Yes. Thank you."
The smile of his spark fades, "Can you give me your current coordinates or can you escape on your own?"
"I can do that on my own, but I..."
"We have the rest of the Iacon files. There's no reason for you to stay."
"Actually...I do."
She shares the memories Megatron was forced to show her and then works backwards to how he came to learn of the types.
To her sparkbreak, Optimus' feeling of betrayal is transmitted clearly; it's the most potent emotion he feels.
Guilt settles in, "Optimus, I'm doing this for a reason." She feels the connection fading on his end. "Please, believe me..."
He says nothing and the connection fades away.
"NO!" She hammers the ship with her fists. First, her relationships with the Decepticons, now the Autobots. Optimus must be so hurt. She burns out her dose of black energon and weeps.
Some footsteps come around and stop in front of her. "I actually didn't expect to find you here."
Her dimmed optics follow the red coating up to Knockout's face.
"My only thought was this place better suits your alt mode."
"Are you going to turn me in then?"
"My Liege is far from done with you, so yes." He pauses; looking at her then to the open sky and back again, "Aren't you going back to the Autobots?"
"I guess not," she rests her chin on her knees.
Knockout poses, "Not? Aren't they your favorites?"
"I told them Megatron knows what they know..." she hides her face, "I lose you...then them..."
He fidgets and glances around for witnesses. Though he doesn't see any, he's worried about being watched, "Th-that's what you get, understand? Make your friends and stay loyal. No one likes being tugged around; especially with warring factions, Sonica." He glances at her and regrets it. "It's...it's as simple as that."
"I don't mean to hurt anyone. I don't mean to fail them. I don't want them to think that I wouldn't die for them just because I have friends on both sides."
"We've had to make that choice long ago. It's time you made yours."
"I can't. I don't want the war...just my friends."
His spark can't take it anymore and he gingerly set himself on the ground with her, "Sonica."
She looks up and his optics are dim.
"Lord Megatron said you could've saved everyone, but you saved Starscream instead. I have to know... was there hope for Breakdown? Could you have saved him?"
"I didn't know where he was. If I did, I could have. But I wasn't here. I'm so sorry..." Sonica sits up slightly, "I'm here now, as he wanted, if you'll forgive..."
"As he wanted?"
Sonica sort of starts with why she ended up outside the Autobot base, and ties in Breakdown's good-bye. Knockout is enthralled in her description and as she closes the story, she takes his hands to guide him back to reality.
He hangs his head and both are quiet for a long time.
"Thank you for telling me."
"Breakdown would be mad if I didn't," She tries another smile then moves onto her knees to wrap her arms around him. He rests his arms around her upper back and leans into her embrace. "I'm so sorry, Knockout."
"It's not your fault." He relaxes, "Thank you for giving me peace."
Optimus sits down on his recharge bed to think but this mostly consists of replaying what she showed him over and over.
Firstly, he's thinking a lot about why she gave Megatron the information about the energon types. Why would she do that?
His guesses tie into the secondary thing: Megatron's memories. Did she see something in those moments that has her believing he can be trusted? He replays them for the third or fourth time in slow motion; feeling every iota of those perceptions. It touches his core, right through his spark, and many of his own emotions are parallel to hers, if not exact.
Optimus covers his face; taking advantage of the do-not-disturb time he asked for. This insight cuts him where he thought he'd healed. He had gotten to the point to where destroying him was the only solution to peace. Now, he's gone back in time to the day he watched Megatron leave the Council room...the glare shot over his shoulder as he left...the sparkache bleeds like before.
Until now, that reaction made no sense. He lost a friend, but it was due to Cybertronian pride...so he thought.
What does he do? Does he tell his Autobots that he's going to try again to give Megatron the chances he needs to change? Ratchet's words, though he was on faulty synthetic energon, still injure him. He doesn't want to face that outside of chemical influence.
At the same time, he can't forget the overwhelming devastation he felt seeing Rafael limp in Bumblebee's hands.
He can't afford to give anymore chances, especially not with weaponized relics resurfacing.
He rubs his face, runs them over his helmet and down again. All over again, he loses his friend.
Unless...
Optimus glances at the empty vile of silver energon.
Unless Sonica finds a way to change him.
"I must show you something, Sly One."
Sonica gives Doradus the First a look. What's so important that she stopped her mid-sentence? Knockout is probably wondering why she's zoned out.
"Alright then. What is it?"
The white rings of her eyes fasten on Sonica, "You need to know where it all started if your plan is to separate us."
"You can't be content like this. I'm not sure how you've dealt with it all this time."
~I'm not complaining~
They both glare at Murderer.
~How have you been, First? Miserable as always?~
Sonica rolls her optics, "I also can't believe you're able to ignore him after all this time."
"It's because of time, I am able to do so. I've accepted fate and so have our sisters. The sooner you do this, the better it is for you and everyone else."
Murderer chuckles and Sonica kicks him out, "Doradus, I don't want this. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
"And that's exactly the reason I withheld my memory from you."
"Which was dumb. We could've had this solved before the Prime lost his memory."
~Honestly, First.~ Murder makes a shrewd gesture at her, ~I had to be the one to tell her you're all cursed after my soon-to-be morsel lectured her~
She's unimpressed, "I protected you and the others."
He forces a loud, fake laugh, ~Are you serious? None of you made a move and even if you did, you know what would happen. It's just the way you all are because that's the way you are, First~
Sonica kicks him again, "You don't know that!"
"Yes, Sly One," she states flatly, "he does."
The memories of her kills under the influence of dark energon flash and blind her with guilt.
Sonica fights quietly and as best as she can. She doesn't want to be stripped of motivation or stopped before she really gets started. Already, the pieces are laid out and all that's left is the assembly. She can't leave it like this; even if it's dangerous. However, if it all goes wrong, she may end up hunting her own kind for eternity...and possibly be Primus' undoing. This is why no one before her has tried. She understands very well.
"What did you want to show me?" She ushers woundedly, "Let's get this over with."
Doradus gives her a vision of a location on earth, in the base of a forgotten mountain, where lies the largest load of energon Sonica has ever seen.
"This is what started it," Doradus the First begins to fade back into her subconscious, "Go there and you will find out how we ended up this way. When you understand that, you will understand why we accepted our fate."
Sonica wakes to a slight swaying of walking...but she's horizontal. She re-focuses her sensors and finds Knockout is carrying her.
Her smirk returns and she reaches her arms around his neck, "Aww, darling. You're so romantic."
"There you are. I was just taking you to your room for a reboot. What was that about?"
"A vision, I guess," she grumbles, "Doradus the First showed me...Oh! Knockout! Take me to Megatron, I have an idea!"
He stops and gently sets her on her feet, "Since you're mentally present, I think you're capable of walking."
"You're a luxury ride, right?"
His flat stare is unamused.
Her chuckle lacks her usual confidence. She brushes her comment aside. "You were just telling me what Megs said to everyone and now they hate me, right?"
He rests his arms across his chest, "And?"
"This vision I got, showed me a gigantic energon supply that could re-vitalize Cybertron. If I'm helping, then Megs is lying, right?"
His brow is furrowed, and he curls a finger around his chin and he scrutinizes, "I suppose... Why are you calling him that?"
"Is there any other reason beyond the obvious, that I do things?" She doesn't give him time to answer, "But seriously, do you like my idea? Think it'll work?"
"I think they'll assume you're making it up. We have top-notch energon seekers and detectors. How would we miss such a 'gigantic' supply?"
"Because none of y'all are me."
"Is it deep?"
"Amount-wise, yes. Location-wise, no."
"Is it covered in mineral deposits?"
"No,"
"Now I'm beginning to think you're making it up."
"I can see that," she pauses to think, "Do you think Megs would come with me if I called it a date?"
His optics widen and he balks.
"Stupid, yes. He's loaded with dark energon. We shouldn't be alone together."
"You're serious?"
"About him? Ew, no."
"That's not..."
"I only mean to go along with his little game. He's trying his fraggin' best and I see no harm in patting his head a little."
Knockout's countenance wrinkles, "Don't patronize him, Sonica. That could be the last thing you do."
"I need a lure." She thinks aloud, "Thoughts?"
"None that won't hurt your feelings." He deadpans, "And I have promised to report things you tell me."
She nods, "That's fair. I'm not planning to keep this a secret anyway. You see, with the right narrative, you don't need to lie."
"You make me nervous."
Soundwave lets Megatron know she's coming to the bridge with a notification transferred to his screen. It's as exciting to have her back as it is dreadful; his complete opposite, yet, his accompanying harmony...
Lord Megatron never fails to impress in the way he handles that femme. This last time was so utterly satisfying that he's hardly begrudging of her hitting him. The only thing he wonders is why didn't she terminate him while he lay there helpless. He's come up with some theories and they excite him.
He watches her enter the bridge and Laserbeak hums pleasantly to himself.
Soundwave should be focused on decoding the Iacon files, but he's too interested in what she's going to do next.
Sonica walks right up to Megatron with Knockout following a couple strides behind her. The trademark smirk graces her features as she comes up close to his side, rests a hand on the touch-keys and leans. Then she announces aloud for most bots to hear:
"I've got a surprise for you but to accept it, you must accept an invitation."
Megatron seems pleased about this, "What is your surprise?"
"No, no, you must ask what the invitation is- then it follows the dramatics that I have in my head. Try again."
He waits for her to just tell him; already he shows far more patience for her than anyone, except maybe Starscream but that's debatable.
The stare down ensues.
"Come on, Megatron. Indulge me."
"I have other things to do."
"Should I hold my surprise then?"
Soundwave rolls his eyes at her and watches his Master wrestle with patience.
"Fine, what's the invite?"
There's a teasing twinkle in her eye, "A date."
The surrounding vehicons return nervously to their computers. Soundwave should too but he's too curious where she's going with this. It can't just be the two of them; is she inviting him to his death?
But he should work. He commands Laserbeak to shuffle through solutions while he continues to observe.
Megatron raises a brow at her. Though he's aware of the small audience, he plays along, "What's this surprise you have implied for your theatrical definition of a date?"
Sonica giggles at his words, "May I show you with a map?" She gestures at the computer that has a bunch of random pages pulled up from her leaning on the touch-keys.
Audibly, she mutters "oops" as Megatron sends the mess to Soundwave's station and pulls up the earth's map.
It takes her a couple nanokliks before she points, "The date is to go here."
Soundwave turns to summon a copy of what Megatron looks at. It's in a very remote part of the globe surrounded by ocean. It has a large mountain where her coordinates blink.
Megatron no longer has patience for her games, "And what, pray tell, is the reason for all this?"
"A gigantic energon loot." She over-annunciates, "It's not far down in there and nothing hides it save some ancient shielding technology. I thought it would be... I'll go with 'profitable' because you don't look like you have fun."
"Why would there be such a thing here?" His suspicion is clean cut as he scrutinizes her.
Sonica does a small hop with her exaggerated shrug, "Beats me. I was told I'd find out if I went. I thought it might be nice of me to invite you to come along. Maybe it'll make you happy."
He scowls while he thinks about it. She interrupts after a few nanokliks.
"Oh, I guess it would be a bad idea for just you and I to go. I can't stand to be around you for more reasons than one. Do you want to pick a wingman to go with you? Perhaps someone who doesn't mind cuddling me?"
Soundwave is sure that last comment was aimed at him.
"I'll think about it." Megatron faces her, "Does this mean you're staying with us?"
"For the next foreseeable future, yes, as long as you don't try to chain me here or try another thing like that collar, I'll hang here willingly."
He nods curtly, "Good."
"Sounds good," She does a silly approving gesture a much older bot might do as she starts to walk away, "And don't worry about being shined up, we wouldn't want you to waste all the effort for the dirt."
"Yourself included," Megatron adds with a grumble.
A vehicon dares to let out a small whoop and several start to chuckle. Soundwave grins to himself.
Sonica turns slowly to Megatron, "And Royal Wrath gets in a good one. Someone open a window."
Knockout yanks on her wrist and spins her for the hallway. Soundwave watches them disappear. What is it about that femme that he's able to overlook her gross flaws? If she was like him, they'd be a perfect match. Yet, her tease as someone who equally frustrates and turns him on has some appeal. He has yet to understand why. But he hopes to find out.
Ratchet is at the computers logging in today's haul of newly mined energon. For a time, his mind is only on the numbers and rations estimate, per routine. Then he concludes that the stash will last them a few months provided there are no injuries. This was easier when Sonica was around.
That last thought stabbed at his spark.
Optimus looked discouraged, more than he figured if he was unable to contact Sonica. Ratchet asked and he confirmed that he did make contact with her.
His spark sunk but his hope pressed for truth.
Optimus shared the exchange between them and described what she showed him.
He felt the same pain Prime did.
"Should we tell the others?"
"Not yet," He looked down, "Not until I further understand her intentions."
"And Megatron?" He gingerly asked, "What do you plan to do about him?"
"Same as before: he must be destroyed."
Ratchet nodded, added carefully that he agreed, and avoided looking directly at him. That wasn't an easy decision for Optimus to make.
So, what do they do about Sonica?
The others are talking about her off and on, but they are waiting for Optimus to tell them that she's ready for a rescue. All they know is Sonica works on something behind enemy lines and will be telling them all about it when she returns.
If she returns, by the sounds of it.
Ratchet cringes. If she doesn't come back, they're done for.
Optimus suddenly steps out, his alert gaze searching the ceiling, causing his head to jerk back and forth.
"Optimus?"
"Do you hear that?"
Ratchet listens, "No. What are you hearing?"
"Intermittent ringing..." His brow scrunches and he quickly strides for the exit.
The doctor follows curiously.
Optimus transforms and rolls down the tunnel, leaving Ratchet behind. The doors at the end open and the ringing grows loud before zooming over him. He drifts to a halt and turns around; speeding back up to head inside.
Ratchet hears him turn. His chin tucks towards his neck as he almost tilts his head. Then he hears a clatter just before Optimus transforms beside him.
"What in the AllSpark?"
The clatter happens again inside a drawer to Ratchet's tool bench. He had put away her communicator after his talk with Optimus.
Prime rushes to the drawer and pulls the device out. It wobbles in his hand and a ball of energon hovers above it: more silver. Optimus runs for his room then returns with the empty glass tube.
He collects the ball of energon and then runs the communicator outside. This time, Ratchet follows.
"What's going on? This is a good thing, right?"
The silo doors open and Optimus lets go of the communicator. It flies off at a stunning speed into the sky far away to the northwest.
"We'll be able to find out soon enough."
Sonica grabs the communicator out of the sky with Knockout standing right beside her.
His eyes are wide, "What is that thing?"
"A device of no consequence."
"Where did you get it?"
"From a place."
He squints at her. "You know where the Autobot base is?"
"No."
At first, he frowns because it sounds like her sarcasm. It wipes off when he remembers he must report everything she says to Megatron.
He looks at it before she injects her wrist needle into it and makes it vanish on her hip. "Wait, you report to the Autobots?"
"Even if I could- because I can't- I'd be a terrible double agent."
"Because you...don't...report to them?"
"Because I have friends on both sides," she smiles, "and I don't want them to ever feel I've betrayed them."
He smiles back.
"That, and I forget some of the most important things. I can't even rely on myself sometimes..." She trails off, grumbling.
"I don't know about that, Sonica. You remembered me."
She coos and laughs at the same time; she has no other retort. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, femme." They walk back inside together, "Just...don't trust me."
"I know, I know," She gives him an one-armed hug, "I'm not going to make you a traitor, darling. I'm too fond of you."
"Good."