In which Alison attends negotiations, gets a history lesson, and speaks of the Jump


My assumption was right, and my mom woke us when food was brought, along with fresh clothes, soap and towels from the base exchange. After eating, Mikaela and I took showers and changed into clean clothes, before spending time with my parents. We ended up talking for a few hours before getting sent back to our rooms by a soldier, since we apparently had a curfew and light's out. I didn't feel quite tired yet, so while Mikaela laid down again, I took a notebook and small flashlight out of my purse and started scrawling out a list of the days events and changes, as well as the new information I learned at the debrief. Once I had that down, I flipped the page and started on a goals page. The most important things I would need to do to make sure we don't cross all the stations of canon.

1) Stop Optimus from dying.
2) Make sure a more civilian friendly version of NEST is established.
3) Get Mikaela placed as Ratchet's apprentice
4) Find Barricade and make him an ally.
5) Work on figuring out possible Fallen-Megatron Mind Control
6) Find a way to end the War.

~Rather lofty goals~ The AllSpark suddenly said in my head, which was soon followed by a light chuckle as I jumped in surprise.

~I don't think they're so unreasonable~ I thought back at her. ~This is part of why you let me bond with you, right?~

~Yes, that is right. And you're tenacious enough to get it done.~

I smiled at that statement of faith, before closing my notebook and settling in to sleep.

The next morning, we found we had some extra guests, in the form of government aides for Keller. They had both apparently arrived early that morning and been briefed on the situation, before signing non-disclosure agreements. They ate breakfast with us, then joined Keller, Moreshower, Banachek, Simmons, Will, and I in being herded back to the 'Bot's hanger, while Mikaela, Mom, Dad, Epps, Glen and Maggie remained behind with the other soldiers.

Stepping inside, things were a bit changed from before. The trailer that had carried Bee and Coppertone was now on its side, and Bee was laying on top of it. As well, a few crates of car parts had been brought in and Ratchet was going through them to find what he could use. He and Bee were the only 'Bots in root mode, everyone else was transformed and parked behind the trailer. At the table sat five people we had never seen before, four men and a woman.

The woman spotted us first, and waved before suddenly vanishing into thin air. She appeared a few feet away from me, and caught me up in a hug so fast I barely registered her movement.

"Thank you for saving me," she said into my shoulder, and I felt a static ripple that I knew meant gratitude and joy.

As she stepped back and wiped at her eyes with her left hand, I put it together. "Coppertone?"

She smiled. "That's me. We all spent the night working on our holoavatars. What do you think?"

Coppertone was a short woman, only five feet by my guess, and looked to be in her mid-twenties. Fair skin with freckles across her cheeks and nose, and bright blue eyes. Her hair was the same orange as her alt mode, and cut into a bob around her head. Clothing wise, she wore a yellow v-necked t-shirt over a charcoal grey long sleeve, the collars both low enough the top of a talon scar could be seen, an orange vest with pockets on both sides and studs at the collar, black and charcoal grey tactical pants tucked into black military boots, a belt with two empty gun holsters on her hips, and a set of dog tags. On the back of her left wrist, she had an Autobot symbol tattoo, and I spotted a gold wedding band on her ring finger.

"You're so realistic, I wouldn't have been able to tell you weren't human without your EM field," I said.

"That's the idea." Optimus's voice rumbled, and I turned as he approached us. His holo looked about forty and stood six-foot-four, with deeply tanned white skin, short light brown hair that parted on the left side, and a closely trimmed beard. His eyes were the same cornflower blue as his optics, and his face was relaxed to seem professionally blank. He worse a blue leather jacket with red flames subtly stitched onto the fabric, a white shirt underneath, dark blue leather tactical pants and black military boots. He also had dog tags, and the Autobot symbol was prominent on the jacket's shoulders.

"I apologize for the surprise, but we felt it would make negotiations easier if you did not have to strain yourself to speak with us," he said, extending a hand to Keller.

"It's not an issue," Keller said, shaking his hand. "Thank you for thinking of us."

"How're you so realistic?" Will asked, stepping up to Coppertone and bending down to get a better look at her. He raised a hand as if to poke her, and she swatted him away.

"We've been studying Earth from within the system for the past year, including your physical mannerisms," Ratchet answered, not turning from his work on Bumblebee's legs. "The only glitchy part is the hair. It's too static and clippy for most long styles."

"We can pretty much take any form we like," Coppertone said. "These are just the ones our holomatter generators matched with our personality matrix."

I felt a fizzle behind me and sharply turned just as Bumblebee's arm landed on my shoulders. As I did, my elbow went into his stomach and he actually doubled over for a second.

"We can also feel physical pain," he said, straightening. "If it's too much, it shorts out the holo." He looked to be just older than me, and about half a foot taller, with tanned white skin and bright blue eyes that sparkled. His hair was bright blonde, cut short and fluffy in a way that made me want to smooth it down. He wore a yellow and black track jacket over a white T-shirt with the Autobot symbol on it, dark jeans, black and yellow sneakers, and dog tags. He also had scarring on his throat, which made me frown to think about.

"Sorry, Bee," I said. "You spooked me."

"How come we've never seen you use these before?" Simmons asked, eying the 'Bots suspiciously.

"Never really felt the need to," Bee answered honestly. "Not like I stayed in one area long enough to interact with people, and a lot of you humans are really unobservant."

"And our avatars would not have been useful before," Optimus added. "Now, they are."

"Indeed so," Keller said, motioning to the table with an open hand. "Shall we begin?"

Jazz and Ironhide got up from the table (literally in Jazz's case, as he'd been sitting on it) as we came over so we could arrange ourselves. As we did, I got a better look at their holos. Ironhide was, in a word, grizzled. The most noticeable thing about him was his scar, a white "X" that crossed at the inner corner of his right eye, the top half cutting his eyebrow into three, one leg crossing his nose, and the other stopping just under his cheekbone. Aside from that, he had brown hair buzzed short, an even deeper tan than Optimus, and light blue eyes under a heavy brow. He wore a OD green army camo jacket with the Autobot symbol in muted red on the shoulders over a black t-shirt, matching tactical pants, black military boots, and dog tags.

Jazz, meanwhile, looked like he would be more at home in a fancy bar or club than on a military base. He had rich dark brown skin, which made his sky blue eyes pop in his long face. His hair was in dreads that were neatly pulled back into a low ponytail hanging to his shoulder blades. He wore a silver dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled to his elbows, charcoal grey dress slacks, and black loafers. He also had dog tags, but alongside them he had a gold chain necklace, and on his left hand was a gold wedding band. I looked back at Ironhide and Optimus's hands, and they too had wedding bands. Were they?...

~All are bonded except for Bumblebee~ The AllSpark told me. ~Though only Ratchet knows of Coppertone's bonding, and only that it exists.~

~Why would-~ I started to ask, then the memory of Coppertone's life flashed before me. ~Oh.~

~Indeed.~ I sensed the AllSpark was smiling slightly. ~Now is not the time for them to learn her bondmate is a Decepticon, and Soundwave's sister besides.~

~No it is not.~

As I had this conversation, we all had found our seats. I ended up at the bottom of the U, dividing the humans and 'Bots. At my left were Will, Epps, Simmons, Keller, Banachek, Moreshower, and the aides and on my right was Bee, Ironhide, Optimus, Jazz and Coppertone, with a couple open seats beyond her.

"I was in communication with our president last night," Keller announced once we were all situated. "He is making arrangements with other world leaders to bring forth their requests into the negotiations, then he will come here to finalize the agreement. He expects to be here in two days. Until then, he has given me permission to lead the negotiations in his stead."

Optimus nodded. "I am grateful he and the other leaders are allowing these negotiations to go forth so quickly, and that he trusts your judgments in this matter."

Keller introduced the aides, "Ms. Jean Cummings and Mr. Dale Vincents. They will act as our note takers and minute recorders for today."

"Jazz will be completing the same duties for our own records." To which Jazz, being a little smart alec, had his holo materialize a datapad and stylus in front of him, even though I and the other 'Bots knew he'd just record everything and go over it later.

Keller nodded. "The broad strokes of our government's stance on this matter is a wish to be allies, with potential for trades in technology and knowledge between our species. Our main course of action in this matter would be the formation of an organization in charge of human-cybertronian interactions."

"Is that organization going to be Sector Seven?" Coppertone asked, pointing a glare at Banachek and Simmons.

"Sector Seven has been disbanded," Banachek reported. "The new organization will be under the jurisdiction of Secretary Keller, and only members who are passed by him and the organization's director will become part of it."

Optimus nodded, a little grim. "Would this organization be primarily military, or civilian run?"

"Military, at least in the beginning," Moreshower spoke for the first time. "If you are willing, I will be heading and managing operations from the Pentagon. As events unfold and plans develop, we would consider bringing in more civilian members. Of course, all those primarily involved in yesterday's events will be recognized as members."

"I won't work with hatchling killers," Ironhide growled. I noticed the aides looking at some papers, which I guessed held notes on the 'Bots.

"I don't care much for that idea either," Jazz said.

"We already established we had no idea what they were," Simmons said, glancing at the two.

"Would that excuse work on you if you discovered an alien species was murdering infants or children?" I asked him, raising a brow at him when he turned my way, and feeling a little triumphant when he had to look away. "Which Sector Seven members were involved in the hatchling deaths?"

"Mostly scientists," Banachek said. "Most of the field teams had nothing to do with the Cube itself."

"Then perhaps we could include the field teams, but not the scientists?" I looked at the Bots, and Optimus at least seemed to be considering it, so that looked like a good sign.

"Besides Megatron and Bee, how many cybertronians did Sector Seven capture?" Copper asked then.

"After NBE-One's discovery, we had two more that were recorded as seen, but never apprehended," Banchek said. "Your Bumblebee was designated NBE-Four after his landing, and we recovered the body of a Decepticon shortly after their arrival, which was designated NBE-Five."

"Out of curiosity, what would our NBE designations be?" Jazz asked.

"Since they're labeled based on order of sightings, NBEs -Six and -Seven are the 'Cons you called Barricade and Blackout, with their minions designated as Point-Fives," Simmons answered. "After that, Prime is Eight, Trigger Happy is Nine, Ratchet there is Ten, you're Eleven, and your lady is Twelve."

"And Starscream, Brawl and Bonecrusher are Thirteen, Fourteen and Fifteen," Banachek finished.

"I can not in good conscience let these scientists become part of the new organization," Optimus said. "Both on the moral ground, and for the fact I could not guarantee their total safety if their crimes were revealed to other Autobots."

"You're expecting more of you?" Keller asked.

"When the AllSpark bonded with Alison, it set off a signal that would have been missed by your technology, but will be picked up by any cybertronian," Optimus said. "As well, when Megatron and Starscream return to Earth, they will likely do so with an army, and we will need more Autobots to fight them. I shall send a signal for any teams in proximity to come to Earth to help us defend it once negotiations are completed."

"I, for one, would be happy to work alongside any Autobot who shows up," Will said. "They will only be a help in this fight."

"What of our soldiers?" Moreshower asked. "Sector Seven and Captain Lennox's team have provided good intel on which of our weapons work against the Decepticons, but any weapons you could provide would help immensely."

"We will not be able to provide any at this time," Optimus said smoothly, in a manner that suggested to me that this topic had been planned for. "We will advise your troops on how to use their weapons most effectively, but we can not give any of our own to you."

"Why is that?" Simmons asked.

"Two reasons. Firstly, a matter of trust. Not forty-eight hours ago, you were hunting myself and my companions, and used methods our kind would consider mild torture to capture and subdue Bumblebee. I can not trust that you will not turn our weapons against us once they are handed over to you."

I felt a small shudder go up my spine as the thought of Cemetery Wind and KSI in the fourth movie. No, that would not happen here, not even if I had to go against everyone to prevent it. The AllSpark sent me a small wave of comfort, and I relaxed.

"Secondly," Optimus continued, "I can not foresee the ramifications of handing over our weapons. The Autobots' lead scientist and my chief tactician would have to look over the possibilities, and last I heard from them, they were several systems away. Even if they turned towards Earth yesterday, they won't be here for months, if not years."

Keller and Moreshower gave that some thought, and both nodded. "We see your point," Keller said. "We will put a pin in those negotiations until your people get here. Is there anything you want to add to our organization?"

Optimus's face remained passive, but I noticed Jazz gain a smirk that seemed to say "shit's about to happen."

"My only requests are that Captain Lennox be in charge of the direct military operations," Optimus said, "and Alison be installed as the organization's leader."

I stiffened straight as everyone's gaze turned to me, and I stared at Optimus in disbelief. "Wait, me!? You want me to lead the cybertronian-human relations organization? But, I'm just a kid!"

"A youngling willing to sacrifice your own life for the chance to save an artifact of a species you had no personal connection to until two days before," Optimus pointed out. "As well, with the AllSpark bonded to you, you hold the unique position of being able to see both the human and cybertronian sides of an issue at once."

That was a fair point. "But me leading? The most I've ever considered leading before is a class of preschoolers in a daycare, after I got a degree. I haven't even completed high school yet."

Ironhide gave a small snort. "Prime was leading military operations at the same equivalent age your people start high school. Age doesn't define ability."

"And no one ever said you would be left on your own," Jazz added. "Besides Optimus fulfilling his Task from the AllSpark, I'm sure Keller would be happy to have someone mentor you." He glanced over at the Secretary, who nodded.

"There are a few people we could call in for that job." He looked at Optimus. "Is that your line in the sand?"

"It is."

~And I will be with you,~ the AllSpark reminded me. ~You don't have to shoulder everything yourself.~

I closed my eyes, took a breath, and nodded. "Alright, I'll accept the position." I opened my eyes and sat up straighter. "That means I get say in who joins the new group, right? Then I want Simmons in charge of any Sector Seven vets."

That got me a few surprised looks and a "What, him?" from Bumblebee. Simmons especially looked shocked, and was quick to voice it. "The other day, you were letting your girlfriend chain me to a pole in my underwear, and now you want me on your team."

"It's only logical," I said, shifting slightly. "I don't really know any Sector Seven agents besides yourself, and I got a pretty good look at how you operate and how efficient and effective you are. I mean, you had, what, a less than a day old police report on a hijacked Camaro, and figured out it must have been Bumblebee from that? Then you pulled up Mikaela's records like that-" I snapped my fingers "-And I'm fairly certain the only reason you didn't get us into custody faster was because you didn't know we had already made contact with the other Autobots."

"Well, when you put it that way." Simmons looked over at the 'Bots, then back at me. "Alright, I say you got a deal."

"Since that has been sorted, let's move on to the next topic," Keller said.

From there, we were mostly talking logistics. Officially, the 'Bots would be registered under the "guardianship" of myself and several others who were in the know. They would receive diplomatic plates so that they could travel without being pulled over. A requisition list from Ratchet and Optimus was handed over to be reviewed. Discussion of the cover up of Mission City, which was as I predicted, experimental combat drones gone wild. Someone was going to be spending the next several days if not weeks scrubbing the internet of photos and video from that day to further advance that story.

Finding a place for the Bots to stay was imperative, and it had several criteria to fit; away from civilization enough to avoid detection, close enough for supply runs, near enough to Tranquility that Mikaela and I could commute (as I put my foot down on leaving to live on base). The aides pulled out pages about potential bases and passed them along the table. After a quick break for lunch, we ended up deciding on an old decommissioned base from the sixties, one that had apparently grown from an Japanese relocation center (Optimus frowned when he learned of that history) into an Air Force testing base, before they moved the planes to a different base and just left it to the elements. The best part was, it was only just over an hour from Tranquility, following the speed limit. Meaning Mikaela and I could be on base fairly often, even during the week. The base itself was definitely in need of repairs, which would take a few months, but Optimus volunteered the Autobots' assistance in that, so that would hopefully speed it up, and some construction could always go on while the base was in use.

As we looked over the map of the base, I noticed something interesting. "This base has both the barracks and family housing. Any ideas for using that?"

"It's a good bit away from everything else." Keller said. "I'm not sure if they would be useful as anything."

"It's on the edge of the training yard, we could knock the houses down and expand it," Ironhide suggested.

Bee looked at me. "You have an idea, don't you."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"The side of your mouth quirks up when you think of something."

"Oh. I'll have to work on that." I looked back at Keller. "But yes, I do have an idea, though I'm not sure how you might receive it."

"Go on."

"What if we brought in some of the families of people in the know. Not-" I cut off any protests with a raised voice and hand "- of the new people, but Will's family, and the families of his team."

"More civilians? Children?" Banachek looked at me like I was crazy. "How can we be certain they'll not reveal the secret to someone?"

"Kids are pretty good at keeping secrets," Will said. "Most people would assume any talk of robots was the case of an imaginary friend or a game. For the adults and teens, there's always NDAs."

"I assume you have a reason for wanting this," Keller asked

I held up three fingers. "Three, actually. One: do you really think you'll be able to keep these guys a secret for much more than a decade?" I jerked my head to the 'Bots. "I'm sure you're going to have scubbers deleting the video and photo evidence of Mission City and even these guys' landings for weeks, if not years. And the technology is getting more and more advanced, even if we aren't at Tony Stark levels yet. Just about everyone has a phone or camera that can connect to the internet, either wirelessly or with a usb cord. And that's not even counting security cameras, traffic cams, and even motion capture cameras for game trails. Somehow, one way or another, someone will find and publicize the 'Bots. It's just a matter of whether we want to be proactive or reactive about it.

"Secondly, it can be a great piece of publicity when we do go public. The biggest fears people are going have are that the Autobots are soldiers first and foremost, war is all they know, and some day, they'll turn on us. But, if they hear and see the 'Bots interacting with civilians, child civilians at that, it can go a long way to soothe those fears."

Optimus considered this and nodded. "I agree. A child's reaction can stem many concerns of their parents."

"And third?" Keller asked.

"These soldiers have been away from their families long enough, don't you think?"

"I see no issue in allowing the families of our comrades from Mission City to join us," Optimus said.

"We'll put that down for consideration," Keller said, as Cummings and Vincents marked it down.

"You know, I just realized," Jazz suddenly said. "We've been discussing what this organization is going to do, but we've not said what it's going to be called."

"That's right," Copper said. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Sector Seven did have a potential name for a situation like this," Banachek said. "If we encountered an NBE who was willing to cooperate with us, they would fall under the Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty."

I frowned. "That seems a little… odd sounding. And a bit exclusionist."

"How so?" Will asked.

"There's more life out there than just us cybertronians," Bee said for me. "Some are mechanical like us, but there's also organics. It seems like it'd be easier to have the group already dealing with one group of aliens handle any others who come calling."

"Kid's got a point there," Simmons said. "So anyone else have any ideas?"

I had one, which had been stewing in the back of my mind all day. "Cyber-Organic Treaty Association, COTA for short. It covers all our bases alien wise, and I personally think it sounds more… welcoming than anything else."

"I like that name," Coppertone said.

"As do I," Optimus said.

"And I," Keller said, and looked at his watch while Cummings wrote it down. "And with that, I believe we should end for the day. I will forward all of this to our President, and we'll meet again tomorrow to discuss any changes and counteroffers."

"Thank you, Secretary Keller," Optimus said, standing and extending a hand. "I look forward to working together."

Keller shook his hand. "Likewise, Prime."

Optimus turned to me. "Alison, if you wouldn't mind, I want to start our lessons today."

"Oh, sure, Optimus."

The other humans left, Ironhide following them and striking up a conversation with Will. Jazz and Copper just dissipated their holos and transformed, stretching and talking with each other. Bee stayed at my side, and Optimus walked around to take the chair next to me, while his alt mode carefully rolled our way.

"I believe the best place for us to start…" He popped two projectors out from the sides of his cab and activated them, beaming a hologram of space into open U of the table. "Is at the beginning. According to our oldest legends, Cybertron was created…"

He, with the occasional comment from Bee, taught me about Cybertron's early history. How Primus and Unicron were brothers who went their separate ways and Primus created Cybertron, then the AllSpark, and they lived together for a time, then they used their power to create the first Cybertronians. Afterwards, Primus merged with Cybertron's core, and the cybertronians expanded across Cybertron's surface, gaining their alt modes after the AllSpark realized they needed them. For a time, Primus slept and there was peace. Then the Quintessons came.

"So these guys were your first interaction with aliens?" I asked.

"Yes, and sadly, not a positive one," Optimus said, his projection shifting to show a few pictures of Quintessons. I could see the Quintessons had already started becoming technorganics, with only squid-like green tentacles sticking out of the shoulders and legs of their armored bodies. One tentacle on each side had extra tendrils on it, making it resemble a crude hand. The different Quintessons all had different helmets on, or maybe those were their actual heads. Some I recognized as different ranks and positions from the G1 series - like the five-faced judges and brain-headed scientists - but I couldn't assume they all fit the same molds, considering their supposed history in the movies.

Bee shuddered. "Those things were the source of several charge frights."

"Cybertron was in no way prepared for their invasion," Optimus continued. "Once they gained control of the AllSpark's temple, the rest of Cybertron fell quickly. After that, the Quintessons enslaved us, taking several hundreds off world to work in their other colonies. However, without regular energon, those mecha ended up dying from the work much faster than expected. As well, several minor revolts started though they were quickly put down. To prevent this from continuing, the Quintessons…" He grimaced, and I could sense the AllSpark tensing up, which made me tense in return. "They managed to corrupt the AllSpark's coding, that any future cybertronians She created would have slave coding ingrained in their systems."

I couldn't help the gasp I gave at that. Slave coding was only touched upon in Transformers canon, but was quite common in fanfics, usually as a case of one group using it to control the other. Usually it was 'Cons and 'Bots on either end of the leash, but G1 had implied the Quintessons used it during their conquest of Cybertron. That such a thing had happened here, even long before humanity was created, was a terrible crime. "Is it still active?" I asked, a little fearful of the answer.

"No. After a few generations of enslaved cybertronians were created, Primus awoke from His slumber, and He grew furious at what happened to the AllSpark and Her children. He was able to make contact with a resistance cell, and empowered them to steal the AllSpark from where She was held, and then Primus filled Her with enough power to override the slave coding, and from this union, the Dynasty of the Primes was born."

"The Dynasty of the Primes. So, those are your ancestors, right?"

"Yes. I am a descendent of Prima, the first of the Primes. In all, Primus and the AllSpark created twenty-eight Primes, and they led the fight against the Quintessons." The holo changed, to show the Primes, gathered together as if for a group photo. Some I vaguely recognized, either from the second movie or from art people had drawn. The Fallen I noticed right away, and I suppressed a shiver when it seemed like he was looking right at me from out of the image. Then another bot caught my eye, a femme who probably wouldn't have been much larger than Coppertone, but very slender in build. She had wings - like, actual Tinkerbell fairy-like wings - on her back, and her optics shone extra bright, in exactly AllSpark blue.

"Who's that one?" I asked, pointing to her.

"Adalheid Prime," Bumblebee answered me. "She's probably the most important of them, in my opinion."

Hmm, I had never heard of her before. "Why do you say that?"

The AllSpark suddenly stepped forward, and spoke. "~Because she was my first Bearer.~"

"Wait, really!?" I took a longer look at Adalheid. Besides her optics and wings, she was fairly unassuming, and probably could have walked around Cybertron without raising too many questions.

"Yes," Optimus said. "Without her, our people would not be here. She was the youngest of the Primes, and as such, was usually the one who was left to guard the AllSpark while her siblings were fighting the major battles. But the Quintessons eventually found out where they had hidden Her, and attacked while the defenses were low. The battle was a massacre, and during it, the AllSpark's vessel was badly damaged. To save Her, Adalheid took the AllSpark into her own spark chamber, and they bonded together." He gave me a meaningful look. "Sound familiar?"

"Huh. Kinda of a legacy then. What happened to her?"

Optimus's features saddened. "Unfortunately, after the Quintessons were defeated, Primus flooded the AllSpark with power to eradicate the slave coding from her. This overtook Adalheid, and she was consumed by the AllSpark." The holo switched, to Adalheid's form standing in front of a great temple. "In memorial, the AllSpark kept Adalheid's form as Her own. It was only when She grew low in power that She reverted to her cube altmode."

"So, you're saying She was walking around like a normal bot? Well, not normal, but you get what I mean."

Bee nodded. "That's where the Knights of Cybertron came in. The original ones were Adalheid's personal guard, then they trained others until the War of the Primes happened, and Archangel guarded the AllSpark even after She was lost, until Optimus and Megatron found Her."

Something clicked in the back of my mind. "Didn't the AllSpark name you a Knight? And She said you had training."

"Yeah, funny story there." Bee rubbed the back of his neck. "I was raised in the AllSpark's temple, training to become a Knight, but when the War broke out, I left and offered my services to the Autobots. Alpha Trion was pretty upset with me, I'll tell you."

"But that's a story for another time," Optimus said, as if sensing my questions bubbling up. "We've gotten a bit off track."

He spent another hour telling me about the Quintesson War, with Bee or the AllSpark adding details he'd missed or had wrong. I was so enthralled by the lesson I hadn't realized the time passing until I heard "Wow, and I thought this stuff was only possible in Star Wars."

We turned around, and saw Will and Ironhide standing there, Hide with a small smirk at Will's amazement.

"Just wait, they can go full holodeck too," I said with a smile.

Will smiled back. "I'd pay to see that. Anyway, I was sent over here to collect you, it's just about dinner time."

"Already?" Will held his watch out to me and I could see it was almost seven in the evening. "Wow. I was so engrossed I didn't even realize." But now that food had been mentioned, my stomach growled, and we all laughed at it.

"I recommend double portions," Ratchet suddenly said from behind us, and my head whipped around to see his holoavatar. He was in his very late forties or early fifties, with curly grey hair that still held a hint of red to it, and weather beaten white skin. He was actually fairly tall, standing equal to Ironhide where you'd expect him shorter, and his body was lean, though you got a sense there was muscle and power in him. Even so, his blue eyes betrayed his age, showing a mix of weariness and caring as he cast me a glance. He wore a white doctor's coat over a yellow-green shirt and brown pants with black dress shoes, as well as his dog tags. On the chest pocket of his coat was the Autobot symbol inside a red gear, above a stylized cross symbol.

"Why's that?" I asked, standing from my seat. "Also, looking good, Ratchet."

Ratchet smiled, and it took years off his face. "Thank you. As for the portions, you are currently the vessel of a very powerful being, and I saw how you devoured your lunch today. You will likely need at least double your caloric intake to maintain your current health, otherwise the AllSpark could unintentionally start eating at your body's reserves. Mineral supplements wouldn't hurt either."

Oh, yeah, that does not sound like a fun time. "So, Captain America diet, got it." I gave a thumbs up, but mentally cringed. The MCU hasn't even started yet, and I don't know if the comics ever mentioned Cap's diet. Hopefully no one looks to hard at that, but I need to watch my idioms.

"Also, could you get Mikaela to come with you tomorrow?"

I tilted my head at that, but Will asked before I could, "Why?"

"Bumblebee informed us she is a mechanic for your vehicles. There is some delicate work for Bumblebee's legs that I need an extra set of hands for, and, no offense to your military, but I don't trust any of them yet."

"Understandable." Will nodded. "I'll talk with Keller. Come on Alison."

I nodded. "See you tomorrow, guys." I gave Bumblebee a hug, then followed Lennox back to the barracks.

The next two days followed a similar pattern; breakfast, going to the hangar for negotiations, lunch, more negotiations, then lessons with Optimus, dinner, some free time, then bed, and repeat. Keller agreed to Ratchet's request, and with Mikaela's help, Bee was able to stand by lunch on Wednesday, though Ratchet advised that he take it easy for the next week or so to let his repairs integrate. Once Bee was done, Ratchet held me for a thorough medical exam. He declared me healthy, but made it doctor's orders I get the double portions of meals and mineral supplements he recommended.

Thursday morning, the President and his entourage arrived, which included the rest of the officials picked for COTA. After a mental teeth gritting introduction to the President (I didn't particularly care for him, in my old life or this one), I met a woman with short cut blonde hair, blue eyes, and a square jaw softened by a lovely smile.

"Ella Halton," she introduced herself, shaking my hand. "I will be heading COTA's diplomatic corps, as well as acting as one of your political advisers and teachers."

I smiled back. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Halton. I'm certain you will have plenty of work cut out for you with us."

She smiled back. "Ella, please, you are my boss, after all."

"Only if you call me Alison." Oh, I think I was going to like her.

After Ella was a man, Navy by his uniform, who introduced himself as "Chief John Lindsey. I will be heading communications and the technical side of everything once the base is set up."

I nodded as we shook hands. "I'm looking forward to working together, Chief. I recommend speaking with Jazz, he's acting communications officer for the Autobots." Rule of leadership and politics, network your employees.

"The same, and I will do that, thank you."

After introductions were over, things moved fairly quickly. There was some unofficial pushing at boundaries from both sides, but it was more so just to make sure the other side was standing firm than anything, then the official treaty was brought out to be signed. Optimus, the President, and myself were the main signees, with the signatures of other world leaders to be added later. Optimus and I actually signed twice, Optimus in both English and Neocybex, and me for myself and for the AllSpark.

Afterwards, there was finger foods and mingling, then there would be a dinner. During the mingling, I spotted Simmons, and I excused myself from my conversation to go to him. "Simmons, can we talk?" I asked.

He regarded me with a raised brow, but nodded. "What's up, boss?"

"Over here?" I led him a bit away from the others, and dropped my voice so they couldn't hear. "I have a huge favor to ask of you."

"Oh? What kind of favor?"

"As the new leader of the S7s, I can assume you will be a major part of transferring Sector Seven's files to COTA. I need you to make a stash of those documents. Several, if you can, and unknown to anyone but us."

His brows shot towards his hairline. "Why in the world do you want that?"

"Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling an unofficial archive will be a big help at some point." I glanced out into the room, and took a deep breath. "Last week we saw how Frenzy and Barricade managed to break into S7 and the Pentagon's databases, rip the data they needed, and shut down global communications for almost two days. If something similar happens, or even if they just hack and plant a bug or something, I'd be happier knowing we have additional access to the files."

"Why the secrecy?"

"Partly, not to spark panic. And… some of those stashes could be boltholes for if I need to go to ground."

"Oh, so you don't trust your big friends to take care of you?" He took a sip of his drink.

"I trust the Autobots implicitly." Except with the alternate universe knowledge. "It's others I don't trust. We seem to have a good team now, but who's to know what the generic soldier will be like. Or what if the president appoints a xenophobe to some position over us? I may be a child in a political game, but even I know it's best to keep my options open, and plan for as many eventualities as possible."

Simmons looked thoughtful for a minute, then nodded. "Alright, I see your point. I'm not making any promises here, but I'll do what I can."

I smiled and held out my hand. "Thank you Simmons. This means a lot to me."

"Just remember you owe me one." He shook my hand and we both melded back into the party.

The mingling was honestly much more fun than the actual dinner. I was sitting on the President's end of the table, with his people and Optimus around me. I was able to maneuver the political waters okay, though I couldn't help feeling that it had been a test. It exhausted me so much, after we returned to the barracks, I collapsed on the bed and turned myself in a blanket burrito. Mikaela (who had had a pleasant conversation with Maggie, Glen, Epps and a few of the other soldiers), just patted my shoulder and let me rest.

Friday morning, Keller informed us we would be released to return home the next day, and when Mikaela gave me a questioning look, I nodded. After my lesson from Optimus, I asked Bee if his holo could come back to the barracks with me, and I quickly took him back to mine and Mikaela's room. Once the door shut and Bee and Mikaela were sitting down, I took a deep breath and started talking.

"So Bee, I'm sure you're confused as to why you're here. I promised Mikaela I'd talk about this the first chance I could get you two together alone." Another deep breath. "I told you Mikaela that I'd had a vision of the events of last week, starting from the day I met Bee to after Mission City. And in a way, that is true, because I have seen a version of those events play out without my active involvement, but… It was as a movie, not a vision."

"A movie?" Mikaela asked. "What are you talking about? How could there be some movie about something that hadn't happened yet?"

"Well, technically, the timeline for everything did happen, because it was 2014 when I went to bed the night before." I guess the flat out approach would be best. "As insane as it sounds, I am from an alternate universe where the 'Bots and 'Cons, hell, practically everyone I've spoken to in the past week and a half, are part of a toy, TV, comic and movie franchise called the Transformers. There were several different versions of the series, but all except the latest comics boiled down to the same formula; the Autobots and Decepticons fight a War against each other for any amount of time between several millennia to over four million years. First, the War destroys Cybertron, then takes to the stars, then eventually the 'Bots and 'Cons end up on Earth, where they try to get either resources or a McGuffan, or both, before the other can. Last week's events, from the attack on SOCCNET until the end of Mission City were covered in the first installment of the live-action movie series. The major difference between it and here is that somehow I jumped from my universe into this one, with all of you, and replaced Sam Witwicky as the main character."

Mikaela was staring at me stunned while Bee certainly looked confused but also thoughtful.

"I know I sound like I'm just going nuts, but it is true," I said, my voice taking on a slight pleasing edge.

"I believe you," Bee said confidently.

I perked up a little. "Really?"

He shrugged slightly. "Growing up in the AllSpark Temple, I heard all sorts of stories of the old Primes being able to do seemingly impossible things with space and time, even by our standards. It doesn't seem too far a stretch for other universes to exist."

"So alternate universes," Mikaela said slowly. "But I do remember you from when we were younger. How…." She shook her head a little. "You know what, after all the impossible things I've seen this week, I'm not even going to question it."

"My assumption is that this was already an alternate universe with an Alison instead of a Sam, but she would have been legitimately clueless instead of my faking it. I don't know how or even why I ended up here. But I knew I had to try and make some positive changes in the timeline."

"Positive changes?" Bee asked. "I thought everything turned out alright, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that's because Coppertone and I were here. She wasn't in the movie, so Megatron actually did rip Jazz in half. And there was no AllSpark healing, either, because Sam shoved the AllSpark into Megatron's chest, killing him and destroying all but two shards of the AllSpark."

"You mean he didn't get those visions you got, of the three possibilities? Or did you make that up too?" Mikaela asked.

"The microvisions once I got the AllSpark were all true, though I already had the idea that shoving the AllSpark into Meg's chest was not the way to go, considering the AllSpark is the bots' main source of reproduction. Hell, there were enough fics of Sam freaking out when he figured that out." I clapped my hands to distract myself from that tangent. "Regardless! If I hadn't taken the AllSpark into myself, She would be lost forever."

"So, wait," Mikaela said. "That movie covered the whole weekend, including our capture. You already knew about my dad, didn't you?"

"I did. And it made no difference before, and no difference now. You were always my favorite human character in the series, I mean, I refused to watch the third one for almost two years because your actress fought with the director, so they brought in a new girl to play Sam's new love interest and claimed you were a bitch who dumped him."

"How many movies were there, and how far did they go?" Bee asked while Mikaela frowned at that character direction.

"When I left there were four with plans for at least three more, plus accompanying comics and such. The second movie was set in 2009, just a little less than two years from now, while the third was another two or three years after that, and honestly, that's the movie I want to avoid the most, because the events of it cause everything to go to shit for the Bots, to the point they're all fugitives with a kill-on-sight order for the next five years."

Mikaela and Bee's eye widened and jaws dropped at that bombshell. "How did it go that bad that fast?" Bee asked.

"After the second movie, 'Bots and 'Cons went public, and at first things were okay, but a bit tense. Then the 'Cons got one over the 'Bots, killed Ironhide and a few others, and took over Chicago, using it as the base of their invasion of Earth, and the resulting battle was bad. Eventually NEST, their version of COTA, was disbanded and a new group called Cemetery Wind was charged with hunting Decepticons."

"Oh, cause you can definitely trust a group called that," Mikaela said.

I nodded. "The leader had a vendetta against all Cybertronians, so he had all of them hunted down. And they were good at it, they managed to hurt Optimus enough he went into stasis for five years, and by the time he woke up, only Bee was left of the original 'Bots. There were a couple others, but they arrived sometime after the third movie. And then the dead bots' bodies were sold to a company that melted them down for their protometal, which they called cybertronium, which they somehow figured out how to make change into literally anything they wanted. Optimus just about lost it when he found Ratchet's body in the factory."

"They melted them down!" Mikaela jumped to her feet, fists clenched like she was going to hit something. "How do we stop that timeline from happening?"

Despite the subject matter, I smiled. This was the reaction I was hoping for. "The first part is already done, Mission City was a success, meaning the timeline can be changed. I have the hard job being COTA Director and Bearer of the AllSpark. You're part is being a friend for the 'Bots. Part of why humanity turned is because they only saw the 'Bots and 'Cons as destructive soldiers, not people. That's why I pushed for the Lennoxes, Epps and Burkes families to come to the base too. I mean, even Ironhide would have to make an effort to look scary with little kids hanging off his arms and legs, and Bee's already adorable, so that will just increase it."

"I'm not cute, I'm a fierce warrior," Bee said, getting up too, but pouting in such a way he looked even cuter. Mikaela and I had to laugh. "In seriousness though, why tell us? I can figure not wanting Keller and Banachek to know, but why not Optimus or the others?"

"Because I want to fix the timeline, not throw it entirely out of whack. There are actions Optimus will take that can completely change everything if he doesn't. Right now, the goal is steering towards a positive image for when we come out, and making sure the second movie gets the same ending, with two changes."

"And what ending is that?" Mikaela asked, crossing her arms.

"The evil Prime who may or may not be behind the whole War gets killed, Optimus and the other 'Bots stay alive, and Megatron leaves without brain damage, so he can come to his senses and end this War."

"You talk like he's brainwashed or something," Bee said

"Well, it was implied in the movie comics he might be, but never confirmed. I'd rather be sure of that fact before letting Optimus kill his brother."

"Even though he almost killed you not even a week ago?"

"Even so. I believe in second chances for those deserving. And no one deserves to be trapped in their own head for years."

Bee and Mikaela shared a look, then turned to me and nodded. "We're in," Mikaela said. "You just let us know what we can do, and we'll do it."

"Well, this first thing you might not like so much, Bee," I said.

"What's that?"

"That thing about second chances applies to just about all 'Cons. And Megatron isn't the only one who tried to kill us less than a week ago."

Mikaela actually paled a bit and Bee looked a bit sick. "You don't mean...?" he asked.

I nodded. "Barricade. I want to try and bring him to my side."


AN: Okay i'm not making any more promises on an exact time, if it's up on Friday, it's good enough for me.

Fun fact, this chapter is second longest chapter of AllSpark written so far (only losing out by about 25 words), and it took me 3 months to write, because I hate politics. This chapter is also over double what the previous version was, so I hope you all enjoy the effort I put in. If you do, please tell me in a comment!

Face Claims for the Autobots Holoavatars

Optimus - Gerard Butler
Coppertone - Natalya Rudakova
Bumblebee - Lucas Till
Ironhide - Adam Baldwin
Jazz - T.I.
Ratchet - Peter Capaldi

In the future, should I list who a bot's fc is in the chapter the bot is introduced, or when their holo is introduced?

I'll see you all next week, same Bot Time, same Bot Channel!