Ratchet came online to find himself strapped to a berth on the Nemesis. He immediately refused to co-operate with Megatron and so Shockwave attached the cortical physic patch and got confirmation that the synthetic energon that Ratchet had created was unstable and the formula was incomplete.

"Are you through poking around in my head?" said Ratchet looking up at Megatron from where he stood in his cell. "You obviously didn't find what you were looking for or you wouldn't be here."

"What I want apparently does not yet exist," said Megatron. "We would very much like you to complete your work on the synthetic energon formula."

"Even if I were capable, do you think that I would hand you a limitless supply of fuel and ammunition just so you can turn around and use it against the Autobots?" asked Ratchet in disbelief.

"Oh, you misunderstand dearest Ratchet. I intend to use your formula for the purpose of creation not destruction. We have fortuitously discovered that Synth-en when combined with CNA may in fact form the basis for an alternative cyber matter."

"You are attempting to rebuild the Omega Lock," said Ratchet in realization.

"We stand on the verge of a great moment in time you and I the restoration of our home world," said Megatron.

"Collaborate with the barbarian that destroyed our world in the first place and sadistically crushed Bumblebee's voice box. No thank you," said Ratchet.

"Should I present you with a choice. Complete your research or," he said gesturing to Soundwave. Soundwave had a firm grip on a shackled Paige and he brought her forward. Her arms were shackled behind her and she nearly stumbled as she was pushed forward. Soundwave's visor also displayed the other kid's pictures as well.

Starscream chuckled from behind. "Humans, always the weak link."

"Are these humans supposed to mean something to me?" asked Ratchet indifferently.

"You picked the wrong Autobot," said Paige suddenly catching everyone's attention. "It was Optimus and a few others that were attached to the kids. Ratchet here never thought they were anything but pests. I'm nothing more than a science experiment to him because he wanted to find the relic that could increase your size and then decrease it automatically. If you think about it, with a relic like that you could put a small bomb in your opponent's ship and set if off when it grew big enough to annihilate them all. I'm sure if the humans got ahold of it, we'd take you all out."

"Where would this relic be located?" asked Megatron his interest piqued.

"Not sure," said Paige. "I can't remember coordinates like you can. The first thing I remember was running into Starscream and the Nemesis over an energon pit. Starscream should know the location."

Megatron turned to glare at Starscream and he raised his arms defensively. "You better know the location she's talking about," he said.

"Of course Lord Megatron," said Starscream quickly.

But Paige wasn't finished yet. With Ratchet denying that he cared for humans, it was up to her to defend her own life. "Not sure who would experiment on humans unless it was a Decepticon scientist or maybe it was a Quintessan. That might be trouble for you if they're still on the planet."

"Where did you hear of them?" asked Ratchet in genuine surprise while Megatron snarled.

"I know a lot of things Ratchet," said Paige feeling relief that they had heard of them. "You didn't actually care enough to ask though, did you?"

"Soundwave, escort our guest here to Knockout," said Megatron indicating Paige. "Perhaps she'll remember more details." Paige was pulled roughly out of the room. She smirked at Starscream's unhappy expression as she left. Megatron had been terrifying and Soundwave was just as bad, but Paige had long ago perfected her poker face so she'd freak out about being captured later.

Paige knew that Megatron would go on to convince Ratchet to work on the Synth-en formula. That meant she only had to survive Knockout long enough for Megatron to assign him as Ratchet's assistant.

xxxxxx

Paige was quickly dropped off in Knockout's lab. She was forced to sit on the nearest berth.

"You again," said Knockout scowling.

"That's my line," said Paige. The moment he turned away from her, she pulled her legs through her arms so that the cuffs were now in front of her. She needed her hands free in case she needed to defend herself.

When Knockout turned, he was startled to see the shackles in front of her despite knowing of her flexibility. "Let's see what you're made of," said Knockout advancing on her with a blade in hand.

"Oh, I wouldn't if I were you," she said quickly. "Organic biology is essentially a sack full of fluids and muscle. Puncture the sack and high velocity acidic fluids will spray everywhere and I've got a ton more than a normal sized human. Do that and say goodbye to your precious finish as well as the décor in your lab. You can try and wash it away as many times as you want, but with an Infrared light you'll still be able to detect it. It's one of the hardest to remove stains in existence. High velocity splatter is even worse."

Knockout visibly flinched pulling back his blade in hesitation.

"So now that you know that. You can answer one of my questions. You see I don't really care about your war or the reasons behind it, but isn't there someone here that can reason with your fearless leader. If he turns Earth into a second Cybertron, he'll unwittingly give Unicron his body back. The human race aside, you saw how Unicron formed those avatars out of stone and minerals. That's because the Earth has broken down his body over the eons. Now imagine an Earth sized Cybertronian with Unicron's temperament. What's the first thing he's going to do when he wakes up? I'll tell you. He'll go pick a fight with his brother who is in stasis. His brother Primus is the center of your planet in case you haven't studied your own history. Cybertron and Earth will be destroyed plus any other planets that Unicron decides to take out. You're all originally created from Primus so you'll probably be on the menu too. He'll probably use your offlined husks as part of his zombie army. Is that what your side wanted from this war because that's what's going to happen. Now you don't personally have to talk to Megatron, but I'd send someone to do it before everyone perishes for his mistake."

"Yea, that's not going to happen," said Knockout. "He'd literally shoot the messenger."

"If you had let Shockwave and Soundwave lead the Decepticons, you probably would have won the war already," said Paige continuing to distract him. "Starscream is a useless leader who is only ruthless when he has the upper hand. Putting him in the command structure was a mistake, but since the dark energon has control over Megatron, it's not really surprising that his processor was addled."

"What are you exactly?" asked Knockout narrowing his optics. "Humans shouldn't know this much information about us. I highly doubt the Autobots told you."

"I've got all sorts of information jammed in my brain. As far as I know, it's always been there. As for what I am, I'm just as human as any of the other inhabitants of Earth, but I somehow got turned into a giant. I'm shrinking now, but I'm not sure if I'll reach my real size and stop or if I'll continue to shrink. Think you've got it bad I can't even control my own body," said Paige sighing. "Look, I get you're curious and you can scan me as much as you want, but don't hurt me. You owe me one."

"How could I possibly owe you anything?" he asked.

"When you returned from stealing the fossil from us, were you punished?" asked Paige.

"No," said Knockout. "Of course not. I completed my mission."

"That's why you owe me," said Paige. "The bone you brought back wasn't the one from the museum, but obviously Megatron didn't realize that at the time. Most likely only Shockwave would have known."

"You tricked me," said Knockout.

"More importantly, I tricked Megatron and you escaped his wrath," said Paige. "You can lock me in a cell and use me as a hostage against the Autobots, but all I'm asking in return is that I remain unharmed. I know a lot of information that you might find useful too."

"You talk too much," said Knockout. "I should remove your tongue."

"Megatron sent me here so that you could get information," said Paige. "I can't talk without my tongue since I don't know sign language so feel free to tell him why you failed."

Knockout growled, but then he was interrupted by a comm from Megatron. He escorted Paige quickly to a cell in the brig and then went to the lab where Ratchet waited grumbling the whole way.