Nellis Air Base, Nevada
October 28th, 2007
1950 hours
When her eyes opened, she knew something was wrong.
Not quite as wrong as when she first woke up that day.
Still, wrong.
"Do you know where you are?"
Lyn groaned. Her body was certainly thrown in for a loop. Worse than that even. Every muscle felt like gum, as though someone had chewed and chewed on them and then spit them out onto the sidewalk. From her head to her toes. And her bones— her elbow bruised like a bitch.
She groaned again and drew this one out.
"I don't need a dose of dejavu," she said.
Captain Lennox chuckled.
She turned her head and processed the man sitting in a chair, the bed she lay on, the stark white of the room and the thin, cheaply colored curtain suspended on the ceiling. Captain Lennox looked scrubbed and polished up — no five o'clock shadow, no flecks of dirt hanging on his sideburns, and donning a new set of ACUs. Suffice it to say, he looked better than she felt.
Lyn thought back on his question.
"I'm at Sector Seven," she mumbled. A pause. And then, "I'm dead."
"No." Lennox shook his head, gave her a once over and continued. "You're at Mike O'Callaghan's medical center, Nellis Air Force Base. And you're not dead."
"Close enough." Lyn frowned, glancing down at her body, draped to the chest with a white sheet. "Where are my clothes? And why do I have an IV in my arm?"
"What do you remember before you passed out?"
"We killed Megatron," she said, curtly. It was a "no, duh" answer.
Lennox watched her, his face blank. She didn't like that look.
Her brows furrowed and she hoisted herself up into a sitting position. The cool air nipped at her skin under the thin hospital gown. She began to feel antsy and wondered when was the soonest she could leave.
Doubt was an inkling in her mind. "D-didn't we?" she asked. She would've fought him on it, if he said otherwise.
Eventually, Lennox said, "Yeah."
"Geez," she breathed. "What's with the suspense?"
Lennox grinned, upping the wattage of his smile. "Everyone involved in the war was evacuated immediately to Nellis Air Base. Apparently, the government was able to cut off the power lines and the cell towers from the city by the time the war started. So, the aliens are still kept a secret." His smile faded into a flat line. "The news is calling it the worst meteor strike in history."
"How're people taking it?" she asked.
"Don't know." Lennox shrugged. "Personally, if I was them, I'd call someone on their bullshit. But, people are still too shaken up by the disaster. They think they don't know what the hell they saw."
"And the Autobots?"
"They're lodged on the flightline."
Lennox looked at her wordlessly, noticed the worry easing its way into every detail on her face and he nodded cautiously. "All of them are there. Even Jazz, but I mean..." He trailed off.
Lyn figured as much and she was halfway between feeling relieved and sad. Jazz didn't deserve that. But, honestly, in what war is anything well justified and well deserved?
She brought her legs up and buried her face into her knees. "I wish this was all just a bad dream." That was a stupid wish and she felt ashamed for having said it outloud. Only children ask for whimsical things and easy solutions. You're not a child anymore. You can't. If it were that easy, we'd all choose to be ten again.
"Can I ask you something?" His question was a murmur she wouldn't have heard if it weren't so quiet in the room.
Lyn glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Lennox took it as a cue.
"Why were you in there?"
Back on this, a part of her sighed heavily. Why wasn't she surprised? And she was starting to like where this was going— with him not blaming her for the potential end to mankind.
"It's a really long story," she said.
"I think we have time," Lennox insisted. "And who knows, you might not have another chance to tell it."
Pretty grim, but not too far from the truth. The arrival of robotic aliens was pretty unforeseen, and the impending damage their presence incurred was also unexpected— at least, to Lennox. It'd make sense that after this war, he'd have a greater appreciation for the time he had in the present. Not to her, though. If there was anyone who could have predicted this to happen, it was Lyn— granted, not the extent of the catastrophe. But, she and Lennox certainly didn't need to hear that. It'd only ruin the mood and she didn't want to risk losing Lennox— as an ally or quite possibly as a friend.
Lyn sighed. She turned her head, one side of her face pressed on her knees. She looked at him.
"There's an implant lodged in my brain. It was from NBE-2. It alters the user's brain waves so that it can be in sync with the Cube's EMF. If I stayed out of the pod, the aliens would've heard all of us." There was a creeping pain in her chest she tried to push down. It still hurt mentioning her team, even if vaguely.
"Why?" he asked.
Lyn turned her head and rubbed her face gently against her knees. Then, she looked straight ahead. "If you work in close proximity with the Cube, for long periods of time, you're brain won't like it. People who were using NBE-2 transducers to transmit the signal out to space were developing neural dysfunctions. Something as simple as a microchip made it bearable to work. That's it. We integrated alien technology to human beings for convenience. And looked how well that worked out."
Lennox's eyes had not changed. The significance of that was pretty undecipherable. He could have hated her at that moment, but frankly she was too tired to give a damn. Or, he could have not hated her and frankly she was too tired to give a damn.
At some point, Lennox had stared at the empty air between him and Lyn, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he thought whatever he was thinking.
The silence went on long enough. "I never thanked you," she murmurred.
Lennox blinked as though he didn't expect it. "Don't mention it," he said, eyes softening. He was genuine.
"I'm serious, I'd be dead by now." She said and added silently: as dead as a can of sardines.
"We'd all be." Lennox said quietly.
Yes. The threat of mass extinction grazed passed with no dice. Thanks in large part to Optimus Prime and his Autobots. And Sam Witwicky. And Lennox. And Megatron was dead. And the Cube was—
"What happened to the Cube?" Lyn asked.
Lennox pursed his lips as his brow creased with disappointment. "The government did what they thought would be best. Take what's theirs."
"What?" It's not that she didn't understand the implication, it's that she needed to be sure the man wasn't joking.
But, the man wasn't joking. His frown hadn't let up. "It's true. The Autobots argued for their right. Imagine how well that went."
After everything, how could they? She wasn't of the same species as them, but even she knew the absolute wrong in all of it. A Cube of that power needed to be returned to those who knew its dangers best.
Lennox eyed her. Wherever his train of thought was going, it was in the same direction as hers.
"I don't like it either. I've lost good men because of that thing," Lennox said. "And, the aliens don't know what to do now. At the soonest chance, I'm gonna talk to Optimus Prime. Try to work something out. It can't end like this. I'll skip the chain if I have to."
His face contorted to near frustration.
Sensing the irritation roll off him in waves, Lyn changed the subject.
"What else are you here for?"
Lennox, forgoing his quiet anger, looked at Lyn. His gaze took on a stronger note of seriousness.
"We need to talk about what really happened back there."
She rubbed the back of her neck. "What do you want to know?" she asked.
"You said your brain chip releases a signal. Is that why the alien wanted you to join him?"
"Jazz said his kind was sensitive enough to catch me on their radar and he wanted to use that to detract attention away from the actual Cube— that's why he insisted I come with him."
"What about when you took the Cube and threw it at Megatron?" Lennox pursed his lips. "What if he got—"
"He didn't." Lyn interrupted firmly. "And Optimus Prime wasn't caught in the crossfire. I'd do it again. Was that wrong?"
Lennox wrinkled his brow in frustration, then smoothed his features to their normal placid state.
"I was just wondering," he said.
But, she didn't want to wonder what would happen if her actions resulted in Megatron possessing and escaping with the Cube.
Lennox tapped his lower lip thoughtfully and remarked. "There are still Decepticons out there. The bodies collected from Mission City don't add up. At least a couple of them went into hiding."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, depending on how far your range is, they could pinpoint us and the Autobots. This is a major risk— a threat — and I don't want to keep that on my conscience when someone gets hurt."
"Do you want me to leave?"
"I want you to—" He corrected himself. "I want to help you get rid of this."
"It's not your problem."
Lennox leaned forward, elbows planted on his knees. "Yeah, you're right, it's not. But, I'm making it my responsibility. Can't you just take it out?"
Her lips rasped as a deep sigh left her chest. If it were that simple, her entire team would've had it removed and they would all still be alive.
"No, that's not an option." Her voice was hardly over a whisper. Then, she said firmly, "I'll say it one more time, it's not your problem. Just leave it to Sector Seven."
Lennox exhaled. Conceded. "Fine... but I think you should know something."
Lyn frowned. "What?"
Lennox looked at the floor, crafting his answer.
Then he said to her:
"Sector Seven is being shut down."