Chapter 7

Planet: Earth
Location: Leo's homestead, The White Mountains, New Hampshire
Earth Year: 1982

Leo stood at the kitchen sink looking at the sparse and gently falling snow. The seven-o-clock weather had just ended. Last night's blizzard had dumped nearly three feet of snow and by noon another storm was expected to drop another three or four. He had only half-listened to the report as his mind was bothered by something else. With the new hyper-awareness in his hands the Russian could feel the coffee cooling slowly in the mug. Taking a sip he thought about the dreams that troubled his sleep last night.

Leo wasn't a man who dreamed, or rather dreamed often, when he slept. The few times he could recall having a dream, they were usually very bizarre and quickly forgotten. Last night, however, had been a dream filled with anger, malice, blood and death. For a moment he glanced at his hand then to the garage. He wondered if it was some after effect of feeling Shatter's emotions rush into him. That was still a disturbing feeling and one he didn't understand.

"How in the world is that even possible?" he thought. It was strange enough that his sense of touch had been heightened like it was, but the act of touching someone and feeling their emotions was something else. Chewing on his lip he gave the matter some more thought and, again, could only reach one conclusion. "It had to be this energon." He spoke the words out loud as if that would simply confirm it. When he was done digging up the raw material he was going to ask Shatter about it. Thinking about her made his guts tighten for a moment.

"What if everything she told me is a lie?" he thought. This wasn't the first time that idea had run through his mind. She was, after all, a Decepticon. Deception was in the name of her faction. It made sense, he supposed, from her perspective that what she said was true. He also could not shake the feeling she wasn't telling him the whole story. When she first transformed she had been ready to attack. Her first reaction on him was to point that massive arm-turned-cannon at him. "On the other hand if I were a soldier waking up in a strange location after being shot down I'd probably do the same." After letting out a sigh he took another swig of coffee. "Well, what are you going to do?" he asked himself.

It was another question he had been thinking about since going to bed and waking up. He didn't even know what Shatter's purpose on Earth was other than what she had said. Her word was that she had fled here to Earth. "But why Earth? Why this planet?" He had a feeling that was part of what she wasn't telling him. The only avenue he could think of at this point was to just do as she said and help her as he could. Right now Shatter was in need of food, or fuel, or whatever energon was to her people. What happened after that was up to fate, or the Decepticon female's whims. "I guess if she wants to kill me, that will be the end of it. I probably deserve it for running to America. But, maybe I can keep on her good side somehow, show her I'm worth something at least." He looked at the coffee in his mug and could feel it slowly cooling by degrees in his hand.

Shaking his head he finished his drink and set the mug in the sink. Doing nothing but thinking about the problem wasn't going to make it go away. "Maybe after her tanks are full she'll be a little easier to be around." After all, he reasoned, hunger made people very grouchy. Why should a sentient alien machine be any different? Leo set about getting dressed to go dig and work in the snow. Keeping his gloves in one hand he stepped into the garage and shut the door softly behind him. Shatter was in her car form and for all he could tell she was asleep. For a moment, he was tempted to say something, or to give her a pat on the fender. It was nice to actually have someone share his home. He had been living alone for five years. At the same time, given his conflicting feelings, it was worrisome as well. He decided to just leave her be and went to the back door.

After unlatching the door he slid it open and got a blast of fresh, cold, winter air. It was invigorating and reminded him of home. "Home," he thought. Despite what he had said to John yesterday about the house, America still was not his home. Russia was his home and it always would be, even if he would never see it again. He looked over his shoulder at the possibly slumbering machine woman. If there was anything about her story he knew was true it was that she had lost her home just like he had. "She can likely never go back." It was with that bitter thought he stepped into the knee deep snow and closed the door.

After trudging through the deep snow to his tractor shed Leo was thankful his land was mostly flat. There were no sudden dips or drops in the ground. He opened the shed and got the tractor primed for the work ahead. Out of all his investments in his homestead this had been one of the best. For a moment he looked at the tractor and then asked "You are not an alien robot as well are you?" When the machine did nothing but sit there he chuckled and got to work. He inspected the tractor before turning it on, and after letting it idle for a few minutes he climbed into the driver's seat. The motor rumbled with vigor as he pulled out and aimed for the trees. He reached the likely spot of the deposit and pulled up so that the digging scoop would be right over it. Leo climbed down and began to operate the arm. The claw dug into the snow and dirt with ease.

He hummed the tune to 'Sixteen Tons' while he worked. Gradually the snow gave way to fresh earth and he dug deeper. Soon the hole in his yard was wide enough to stand in, and he went deeper. Suddenly there was a grinding of gears and a loud, high pitched scraping sound that made him wince and grunt at the ear-piercing combination of sounds. He cursed while he pulled the claw up to a resting position.

"Sukin syn, two days in a row my ears have been assaulted," he said. Leo shook his head and waited for the slight ringing sound to go away before he got the shovel he had brought along. He cut the tractor's engine and then trudged around to the fresh hole and started to dig it out for better access. After digging for a few moments he stopped and blinked at the dull blue crystal formation in front of him. "What the hell is this?" The astonishment in his voice matching the look on his face. Behind him he could hear the muffled, but still very clear, footsteps of a very large being coming closer.

Shatter stood in the center of a maelstrom of white powder. A bitterly cold wind stirred the flurry of dust, ash and snow around her obscuring her vision. Disembodied voices shouted and screamed over the wind that pierced her metal flesh making her shudder with frigid pain. The voices were angry, bitter, or just screaming in endless pain. Under her feet the ground was a mire that made it almost impossible to move. The huntress looked down and the muck appeared to be hands grasping at her feet to root her in place. She looked up and saw flashes of places that were alien, and familiar.

One looked like the salt plains of her last off world campaign. Another blurry shape looked like Kaon flashed in front of her before it was consumed by the whirlwind. Off in the distance something rumbled and growled, low and steady and seemed to grow closer. Shatter tried to arm herself but her weapons were locked. She tried to turn and tripped into the thick mire at her feet. The femme landed hard and felt several sludge-like tendrils begin to wrap around her and pull her under. She tried to scream only to have the muck pour into her mouth. The last thing she saw as the mire consumed her was the decaying, mutilated corpse of Dropkick pulling her deeper into the muck.

Shatter came out of stasis in a panic. She transformed and dropped to one knee as both hands shifted into autocannons. Her tactical display was over her wide, almost panicked optics as she swept her vision across the unfamiliar wooden surroundings. For a moment she was still trying to remember where she was. Her optics swept over the half covered human female and she let out a grunt as her brows narrowed. Frowning, she stood up slowly as her guns transformed back into her hands. The femme remembered where she was now, and for a moment she was thankful. The clean and sparse garage of the human Leo was a welcome sight from whatever hellscape she had dreamed of. But, the rumbling sound from her nightmare still sounded in her audio receptors.

Shatter shifted her antenna trying to locate the source of the sound. That, at least, had been real in her dream. She crossed to the other side of the barn and looked outside at the snow-covered ground. Leo had told her what the white powder was last night. And there, rumbling along without a care in the world, was Leo. She snorted angrily at the sight of him. "Fine thing for him to be invading my dreams now as well," she thought. Primus, this world was already getting to her. "First I wake up in a graveyard, then I get saved by a human who can't keep his hands off of me, and now the filthy organic has the nerve to disrupt my sleep." Folding her arms across her chest she watched him drive through the snow to the trees. It suddenly dawned on her what he was doing out there.

The previous night, with some help of some low resolution aerial images, she pointed out the general area where the energon deposit was. Judging by the light outside it was early in Earth's solar-cycle. Her anger at Leo cooled a little as her mind caught up with her emotions. It was foolish of her to just assume Leo had added to her nightmare on purpose. After all, the organic knew very little about her and she about him. "Though he certainly unloaded on me last solar-cycle." Thinking about their conversation, and what he had told her caused her to step away from the window and think about the human.

On some level she felt a closeness with him. His story had been blunt, and honest and echoed much of her own life. He was a hated man by his own people and had lost his home. But the very idea of having any sort of kinship, any sort of feeling other than disgust for an organic made her shift uncomfortably. Shatter had never liked organics and as far as she was concerned they were beneath her species. "Lower lifeforms, all of them," she thought. Her head turned to watch Leo again as he started to dig into the snow and dirt. He was doing that for her. He had actually done a lot for her. "Pulls me out of a scrapyard, and then pulls scrap out of me." She chuckled a little at the thought. "For someone who claims to be a coward, he certainly has some ball bearings. He even attacked another human and swore to protect me." Her spark began to flutter in its chamber as her antenna suddenly dropped down. Energon rushed into her face for a moment. "Idiot."

She turned away from the window and slowly paced the length of the garage. The femme was trying to figure out just how she should feel about the human. He knew his way around tools, and had managed to save her life. By Megatron's own ideals Leo was worth some respect based on that alone. His skill had proven his merit. "He's also quite good with his hands." The thought came to her so suddenly that Shatter stopped in her tracks. Instantly the sensation of his hands on her rushed through her body. The small, skillful hands that touched her with reverence and glided over her body in ways Dropkick could never have done. The sensations that filled her as he found places to touch and caress she had never known about. Shatter's spark began to pulse faster as internal systems began to heat up. "Primus, I should not feel this way." The huntress began to pace again and finally came to a conclusion about what to do with Leo; she wouldn't kill him.

Her life had been spared by his hands; and he was proving to be a useful ally. He also had possible access to the planet's communication satellites which, in time, will allow her to contact the remaining and scattered Deceptions. "Killing him would be a waste when he can still be useful." Still, there was the matter of how to feel about him. She stopped and mulled over this last point for a few nano-cycles before coming to a conclusion. "He will be my pet, maybe a subordinate." That sounded good to her mind. It would allow her to have some affection for him and not feel as if she were having to lower herself. She would act like Soundwave did with his partners, mostly. Shatter smiled as she said out loud, "He should be honored I think of him that way. No other human would get such treatment." Feeling like the matter of her feelings towards Leo were settled she checked to make sure they were alone before stepping outside.

Instantly she could tell where the frigid feeling of her nightmare had come from. The air made her metal skin go cold and instinctively the living metal hardened even more against the cold. The snow covered her feet and for a moment she shuddered thinking of the mire in her nightmare. Shaking the feeling off she began walking towards Leo. He had stopped working and was now standing in front of the hole he had dug. As she got closer she heard him ask "What the hell is this?" and as she towered over him the answer came with a smile on her face.

"That, Leo, is energon," she said. Her optics were shimmering brightly as she looked at the large formation of the substance. In it's raw, unrefined form it was a deposit of crystals. This seam of the mineral was about as wide as Leo. The femme smiled as she got down on one knee and just marveled at the find. The dull blue color of the rock-like substance almost made her giddy. This was just the tip of a sizable node. A noise from the male caused her to look at him. Leo looked very puzzled as he examined the find.

"This cannot be energon," he said. His brow was furrowed and his lips were pressed tight together. Shatter narrowed her optics at him.

"Oh, and why is that?" she asked. Her annoyance about his doubt evident in her voice.

"Because this is arcanite!" The exasperation in his voice matched the look on his face. "You are trying to tell me," he went on, "that this is energon. That this is an alien fuel source?!" Shatter raised a brow at him even as she frowned a little. She felt like she should still be annoyed at him but the perplexed look on his face had her curious.

"Please, do tell me what this 'arcanite' is?" she asked. He shot her a glare and the look on his face almost made her laugh. He seemed to think she was toying with him. But, this was one thing she would not make light about; but his confusion was amusing to her.

"This is probably the most common mineral on Earth," he said. Leo looked back at the outcropping. "It is more common than diamonds and is utterly useless as far as anyone knows. It has no optical quality, no industrial use, it is nothing more than a pretty rock." He scratched the back of his head before shaking it. "One of my old squadmates was an amateur gemologist, he liked to talk about his hobby. If there is some hidden property in this, no one has found it yet. It is sometimes called 'Fool's Sapphire' because it almost looks like that gem. I gave a ring of this stuff to a girl I was sweet on when I was a boy." Shatter could not contain herself. The absolute bewilderment of her little human pet at suddenly having his understanding of his own world thrown into doubt was just too amusing to her. For the first time in many long cycles she laughed. It was not so much at him, but at the situation. Humanity had untold scores of the substance under their feet and they had no idea what to do with it.

"Ah, I'm sorry Leo," she said. Her laughter was fading as he glared up at her. She didn't try to hide the teasing tone in her voice either. She gave him a look of feigned sympathy before reaching forward to one of the smaller growths sticking out from the main body of the mineral. "It's not you I am laughing at, just the idea that your species has been sitting on Primus knows how much energon, and you've never even figured out what it actually is." Her hand wrapped around the crystal and with a quick twist of her wrist she snapped it off and smiled. "This is energon." Her voice was resolute as her hand came closer to her mouth. Raw energon was not the preferable way to intake the fuel, but she didn't have the time or the energy to build a refiner. From the corner of her optics she saw Leo looking at her with unbelief written across his face. "Well, I don't suppose I can blame him," she thought.

She bit into the chunk of energon and let her internal systems carry it down to be refined and turned into fuel. If she needed to breathe her breath would have caught in her throat. Her optics went wide as her other knee dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Shatter had never tasted energon as rich, as pure as this before. Not even the finest mug of Maccadam's Special could match this exquisite reaction in her systems. A sudden, ravenous hunger washed over her and she devoured the rest of the shard in her hand. She then reached for another, and then another. The huntress had been nearly starved of the precious fuel but the purity of this energon, even in its unprocessed form drove her to a feeding frenzy. Shatter was barely aware of Leo driving the tractor away and leaving her alone. She quickly exhausted the small crystal protrusions and began to dig out more of the mineral node with her hand. The femme didn't realize just how starved for fuel she actually was and gorged herself on as much as she could.

After filling her tank as much as she could Shatter stood up to stretch and then stumbled a little in the snow. She giggled a little and corrected herself but even standing her body swayed slightly. Her internal systems felt warm and her mind seemed to be floating. "Oh my," she said. Another burst of laughter escaped her as her knees buckled for a moment before she caught herself. "I haven't been this fried from energon in a while."

Blinking she located the garage and began to stumble her way towards the warmth and shelter it could offer. The snow seemed to have become especially slick as she walked and each time she tripped over her feet another giggle rose to her throat. Feeling the peculiar sensations of being overcharged with this much energon had her smiling as she slid the garage door open. Without a word she walked into the building before laying down to stretch herself out. Shatter was pleased she could easily stretch out the full length of the building with some room to spare. It felt good to rest as her neural net was swimming the rich energon now flowing through her system. Some still rational part of her mind hoped that once it was refined the overcharge effect could be mitigated and the rest of her didn't care. Resting on her back she looked over at Leo who was sitting at his workbench looking at something and she frowned.

"Why isn't he paying attention to me?" she thought. The fact that he wasn't paying her mind at the moment should have been just what she wanted. The Decepticon should have simply wanted to tolerate him, or treat him like a pet or a subordinate. But the rich energon was muddling her emotions and bringing up all those feelings she had, not too long ago, put in order. Or so she thought. Just as she was about to say something Leo got up and moved to close the rear door of the garage.

Leo looked up from his workbench as the door at the rear of the garage opened roughly. Shatter stood in the door and giggled a little. The noise made the hairs on his neck stand on end. While he had not known her for long this did not strike him as normal behavior. He watched the way that she walked, or staggered, into the garage. The engineer's mind was taken from the piece of metal he had pulled out of her to to observe the mechanical woman. The way she swayed as she walked and then just unceremoniously laid down on the ground caused only one thing to come into his mind.

"She's drunk," he thought. That was certainly a novel idea that fixed itself into his head. "It makes sense, I suppose. She can feel anger, and she can bleed, why not get drunk?" He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of a dangerous and armed giant in his home that was now inebriated. With a sigh he got up and walked to the back door to close it. For the moment he would just try to ignore her. Maybe she would be like all the other drunks he had known and just quickly fall asleep. Anyway, he wanted to examine the shard of metal shrapnel some more.

Leo was not an expert when it came to metallurgy but he knew high quality material when he had his hands on it. He had no way of knowing if this was made of the same metal her own body was, or some different alloy. If he could get it tested he might find some answers, maybe even how to duplicate it in some way. The shard was harder than any metal he had ever worked with around rockets, or heavily armored vehicles back in the army days; yet it was lighter than anything he could recall. A sturdy lightweight metal like this would propel rocket technology forward hundreds of years.

"What's so interesting?" Shatter asked. Leo blinked before he turned to face her. She sounded annoyed. For a moment he had to wonder if she was actually annoyed he wasn't paying attention to her. Her words came across as just slightly slurred. Leo looked at her and found her mechanical face to look incredibly relaxed with a lopsided grin on her lips.

"God preserve me," he thought. Leo had a strong suspicion that the energon she had eaten was doing this to her, making her look and act this way and that terrified him. Drunk, after all, came in all kinds of varieties and he dearly hoped she wasn't the mood swing kind of drunk. Screwing up his courage he took the plunge to engage with her.

"Was that enough fuel for now?" he asked. The Russian was well aware of the stereotype about his people's love for vodka and every stereotype had a grain of truth to it. He was used to dealing with drunks and had never liked it. Something about the loss of control bothered him. Shatter's smile widened and she stretched out as she laid on her back. For a moment he could not help himself as he ran his eyes over her body and he just marveled again at what he was seeing. Comparing the robotic technology he knew of to her was like comparing a caveman's stone tools to a laser. The female machine moved with fluid grace and precision that it was beautiful to watch. The way her back arched and her headlight adorned chest pressed out into the air. The curve of her hips when she came back down to turn slightly more towards him. He felt heat rising in his cheeks. Leo couldn't help it. As dangerous as he knew she was, or could be, Shatter was just beautiful. She made a happy little sound like a purr before she spoke.

"Mm, it was more than enough, Leo," she said. Her hands folded across her stomach and she bent one knee to put a foot on the ground. He realized those brilliant red eyes were looking right at him. While trying to keep his calm, and make sure he didn't cause a mood swing he reached for his pipe and a match.

"Does energon always make you"—he paused trying to think of how to say it—"so relaxed?" His hand twitched a little as a drop of sweat formed at the base of his neck. Lord he hated dealing with drunks. Shatter just laughed a little and shook her head slightly.

"No," she said. Her head turned to look at him still wearing that same lazy smile. "Normally energon is refined but I was in a tight spot so…" Shatter trailed off and just shrugged before giggling a little. "Oh, but Leo," she said with a husky breath, "the energon on your world is delicious! I've never tasted anything like it. Not even Maccadam had anything as delicious as this." Leo finally got the pipe stem to his lips and felt a little more at ease. She seemed to be a giggly and talkative drunk. That was good, he could deal with that.

"Maccadam?" he prompted. She nodded while not taking her eyes off of him

"He was a wise, but silly old mech who ran an oil house," she answered. "Maccadam's Old Oil house. Best energon on Cybertron." He watched as her eyes narrowed a little and her smile turned into a slight frown. "Not that we soldiers got to spend much time there before…" she closed her eyes for a moment and just trailed off. Leo decided to quickly change the subject.

"So, can energon be refined into another form?" he asked. Shatter let out a giggle and reached a hand to the opposite wrist. Leo watched curiously wondering what she was up to. Her finger pressed down on her wrist and the plating depressed and then slid back with such precision that he marveled again at the engineering involved in her body. Nothing, to his eye, seemed to be a wasted part or movement. From the new cavity which had opened a smooth orb floated into the air. Leo stared, slack jawed as the basketball sized sphere hovered for a moment.

"How does it move?" he asked himself. From where he was sitting there were no obvious signs of lift or propulsion. Before he could get closer he got another surprise as a holographic image blinked into life. Holograms were not unknown but it was still a niche technology. The casual way this display happened told him that such projections were as common to Shatter's people as the radio was to his. Before he began to study what was displayed there he simply drank in the technological wonder of it.

His brow furrowed as he looked at the alien language displayed; there was something familiar about it. Then he looked at the rest of the image and realized it was a schematic. "Hmm, well I cannot read your language, Shatter, but I might be able to build that." The truth was Leo was excited to try and build a piece of actual alien technology. The noise that Shatter made broke his concentration on the image and made blood rush to his cheeks. It was a throaty little moan.

"I know." She purred, "You're very good with your hands." She was giving him a look that made butterflies break out in his stomach and his heart beat a little faster. He needed to change the subject and quickly but she just plowed ahead with what she wanted to say. "You know, your hands are very tiny, Leo. You're very tiny. But you know how to treat a femme." Either it was his imagination or she was giving him a sultry look. "I've never had anyone touch me the way you do, or in some of the places you have. And I have to say, out of all the humans on this miserable little world, you are the most attractive I have seen." He coughed to clear the sudden tightness in his throat. It was just the effect of the raw energon, he told himself. Experience had taught him that females often got a little more flirtatious when they were drunk. Part of him felt excited, the rest of him was wondering how in God's name such a thing would even work.

"I don't like organics, Leo," she went on. "I've been on dozens of campaigns to conquer a dozen worlds for the Senate and most of them have been filled with organics." Her head turned away from him to look at the ceiling and Leo let out a soft sigh of relief. That gaze of her made him feel several levels of emotions. "You're all so soft, and squishy." The way she said that last word made him shiver as her voice was filled with disgust. "Even the more advanced species we came across were just as disgusting. Your habits, the way you organics live, it sickens me." Her head turned towards him again and Leo expected to see a look of hate and disdain on her face. Instead he got a soft smile and gentle eyes. "But you, you're different and I don't know why." Leo felt heat in his cheeks and had to remind himself that this was the energon talking. Shatter was not in her proper mind. She didn't really feel like this towards him, he told himself. "On top of that she's admitted to hating anything organic, and even conquering other species. Is that why she's here? Is Earth the next target? Am I helping an alien invader?" he thought. Leo decided to change the subject again, this time planning to use her 'drunken' state to get some truthful answers.

"Why did you come to Earth?" Shatter closed her eyes and for a moment was quiet. Leo thought that she had fallen asleep, or gone into stasis or trying to think of some lie to tell him. Her answer was not what he expected.

"I don't know. I was ordered to come here." She said. Her words became a little less slurred as she spoke. Leo had a feeling that whatever inebriation she was suffering was wearing off; for which he was grateful. "Other than this world being rich in energon I have no idea why General Megatron ordered me here. It's such a primitive, backwards, underwhelming little ball of dirt. I hate it here. Everything about this planet irritates me." She fell quiet for a moment before opening her eyes to look directly at him. "Well, almost everything." Leo bit down on the stem of his pipe for a moment. The glare he had been giving her as she insulted his home planet softened instantly at her look. Why did the conversation keep coming back around to him? Something came to his mind as he felt the wood grains of his pipe.

"Shatter, do you feel anything when I touch you? I mean, anything emotional?" He got that last part in quickly before she could turn the conversation into something that would make him blush again and his pants tighten a little. She made a little noise while thinking about the question.

"I have, and it's almost like it's a—" Shatter didn't finish as she sat up suddenly. The rush of air from the movement rustled some papers and lighter tools on the wall. Leo sat there for a moment wondering if he had actually gone over the line this time and was about to face her anger again. He watched as she looked at her hands and began to murmur something he couldn't quite hear. After a moment Shatter's hands closed into fists and then opened. Turning a little towards him the female extended a hand. "Grab my hand Leo." She said. It wasn't quite an order, but a very strong suggestion.

Curious about what was going on he stood up and walked over to her. There was no way he could take her entire hand in his. But, his hand would fit neatly into her palm. With some hesitation, worrying about what he would feel, Leo placed his hand into hers. He expected to feel something. Some emotional link again like her anger, or joy or anything. Instead, all he felt was the texture of her hand. He marveled at that for a moment. It must be because she was relaxed but her hand felt like the softest latex-like material he could think of. Cocking his head to one side he tried for a moment to feel anything but all he got was the incredible softness of her palm. It was an uncanny feeling. From the look of her body, her hand should have been as rigid and hard as any metal. Instead her skin gave way as only a soft synthetic material could do. The Russian had to wonder just how many more surprises the mechanical female had in store for him.

"My people," she began, "have a process called bonding. By touch we're able to feel and sense the emotions of each other. It's such a natural thing for us that we have to actively lower our guard in order to feel that now. Bonding is a serious thing among my people and implies companionship and, sometimes much more." He noticed that her voice had gotten very soft at the end and he took his hands from her finger. Shatter pulled her hand back and he lowered his head in thought.

"So, what do you think caused this to happen?" He asked. Leo wasn't sure if he really liked that idea. He could still feel the searing rage inside of his alien guest. Her head nodded.

"I don't know. I only began to notice it after you pulled that shrapnel out of me. I'd assume you got covered in some energon doing that," she said. A snorting like sound came from her after that. "But I'm a warrior not a scientist. Maybe energon has some effect on organics, or maybe I was just in too much pain to notice it before; I don't care either way."

"And now you have blocked that ability with me?" he asked. Looking back at her he was greeted with the familiar scowl on her face.

"Yes. Why would I ever want to bond with an organic?" she said. The dismissal in her voice let him know that she was over whatever effect the raw energon had on her. "You're useful to me Leo, and that's all." He fought to keep the smile off his face and just dropped his head in thought again. Her words a moment ago may have been due to inebriation, but in his experience that was often when you got the truth out of people. When their guard was well and truly down. He would just let it slide and to be honest, he didn't want to deal with a drunk giant robot anymore. Shaking his head he turned to look at the still hovering orb and displayed machine. Leo had learned a few things and they all just increased the unease he felt with her. However, the chance to actually build a working piece of alien machinery meant he would endure with her as long as he could.

"So, can we translate this into a language I can read? I'd like to try my hand at building some actual alien equipment." He didn't look back at her. He didn't want to see the look on her face. He just wanted to keep moving forward. Time would tell if their drunken conversation would yield anything more than whatever they had right now.

"It will take some time," she said, "but it can be done."

"Good, then let's get started," he said, eager to get to work.