Note: As I wrote this, I pictured Jazz as kind of a meld of Transformers movie version and G1 Jazz, especially in the way he speaks. To me that will always be Jazz, but he did get the movie upgrade. Rachet and Ironhide are as per their characters in the movie as is Bumblebee, but Rachet has familiar character traits 😊 Optimus is…. Well Optimus.
Chapter 2: Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our Choosing….
As I drove through the back streets keeping what I thought was a ''safe and undetectable'' distance, I once again said out loud to no one in particular, ''This is crazy!'' It had been a mantra I had been saying to myself on repeat like a broken record since I first got in the car to follow the alien truck and the rich kid's Camaro. Where were they headed? I had no idea. Was it safe? Likely not. Was I going to turn around and stop? Hell no! Something akin to excitement was bubbling away, coursing through my veins. That, and a healthy dose of fear, curiosity and disbelief – in equal parts.
After about twenty minutes I noticed the Camaro peel off down a side street and the imposing flame decaled truck did so a few streets later. I decided to follow the Camaro as it seemed the less threatening of the two, just some spoiled brat's car not some giant alien robot in disguise.
Carefully steering Relda down the same alleyway, I cut the lights, parking her not long after. Her loud diesel engine would surely give me away. I carefully closed and locked the door and made my way on foot down the rest of the alleyway. Up ahead I could hear a car engine idling and muted voices, /the teenagers/ I assumed.
I kept to the shadows as much as possible trying to find my inner ninja. Approaching the corner, I took the scene in. The kids and the Camaro were parked facing the opposite direction and I could see bright lights coming down the alleyway from the opposite side, /the truck/, I thought to myself. I quickly slunk around the metal fence to hide behind an old discarded yellow truck.
No sooner had I found a place to hide than more lights appeared, and a small group of cars drove down the alleyway from where I had just walked. I am no car enthusiast, so I didn't know what kind of cars they were; they were simply a sleek, sporty looking one, a huge black pick up one and a bright yellow medical hummer looking one with lights flashing. /Wow, discreet/, I thought absent mindedly.
At that moment, the large truck rolled to a stop in front of the children and the Camero and I stood transfixed. It looked magnificent. All of a sudden metal panels started to shift and move, and the truck unfolded before my very eyes and transformed into a towering 28-foot robot.
My heart skipped a beat and I found myself placing a hand over my own mouth to stop from crying out. His ''head'' had soul piercing blue eyes and a noble visage. On the side of his head he had two antennae looking devices – /were they his ears?/ A battle mask seemed to slide back to reveal metallic ''lips'' set in a hard line. He had a huge barrel shaped blue and red chest with silver smokestacks behind each of his arms. His chest tapered down to a ''slender waist'' before flaring out into large, powerful silver and blue legs adorned with wheels ending in large metallic feet that made the ground shake slightly as he established his footing.
My eyes travelled back up his impressive body to notice his large metal hands clenched in fists by his side as he stood regally before the children and their Camaro which now reversed. /Wait a minute!/ The car moved and the kids were outside. My mind barely had time to process this before the Camaro began to transform into a less statuesque, about 18 foot, yellow and black robot with a large cannon on his arm. He bounced around with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager himself.
''So…. NOT a rich kid's car.. another alien robot… which means,'' I whispered to myself. At that moment the other vehicles also transformed into their respective robot modes, all of them impressive and all of them now staring at the two teenagers. /Sucks to be you/, I thought.
The truck lowered himself down to the two teenagers, a boy of about 17 years of age and an attractive girl of the same age. As soon as, what I assumed to be the leader of the robots, was eye level with the children he opened his mouth to speak. A rich baritone voice as deep as the ocean permeated every cell of my being. It was both comforting and commanding. He questioned, ''Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?''
The girl whispered, ''They know your name.''
To his credit the boy, Samuel, did not run away but stood his ground and replied with a dry rasp, ''Yeah.''
Satisfied with the answer the imposing robot continued, ''My name is Optimus Prime'' the rich voice intoned, ''We are Autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron''.
Then the yellow medical looking robot spoke up, ''But you can call us Autobots for short.''
''Autobots'', Samuel tried out the word.
The smaller sporty looking car then spoke, ''What's cracking little bitches,'' and then back flipped before whirling around to sit on an old, abandoned car.
Optimus introduced him, ''My first lieutenant, designation Jazz.''
The sporty car reclined on the hood of the abandoned car, ''this looks like a cool place ta kick it''. I had to stifle a laugh when I heard the alien robot refer to the children as ''little bitches.'' /Oh, we could be friends/, I mused.
Samuel then asked the question on my lips, ''What's that? How did you learn to talk like that?''
Optimus drew himself back resting one arm on a bended knee, kneeling before the children. He blinked and stated matter of factly, ''We've learned Earth's languages through the World Wide Web.''
/Oh, but of COURSE you have!/ I thought to myself.
He then gestured towards the cocky, tough looking black robot. ''My weapons specialist, Ironhide.'' Said robot then produced two massive cannons and aimed them at Samuel and the girl and in a Clint Eastwood like manner asked, ''You feelin' lucky punk?'' Again, I felt a laugh bubble up in my throat.
/Oh yeah, that makes sense/, I thought bemusedly. /He totally looks badass enough to carry that off/.
''Easy Ironhide'', Optimus warned.
The black warrior looked hurt, ''Just kidding, I just wanted to show him my cannons.''
Prime continued with the introductions, ''Our medical officer, Rachet.'' At this the yellow robot seemed to ''sniff'' the air and announced ''the boy's pheromone levels suggests he wants to mate with the female.'' Both of the teenagers looked mortified and embarrassed.
I actually giggled to myself. /They obviously didn't take the time to google social protocols while learning to speak our languages!/. The image of these giant sentient robots crouched over a computer trolling Google flashed into my mind and I laughed a little louder.
The medic continued to sniff the air before announcing, ''Wait. There is someone else here. A female - hiding''. At this my blood froze and my heart constricted. All eyes, both human and robot scanned the area before resting on my hiding place. The weapons specialist, Ironhide, reproduced his cannons and made for my direction.
Not wanting ''Clint Eastwood'' to blast me to pieces, and knowing I had an ace up my sleeve in the form of my ''gift'', I took a deep breath before stepping out from my hiding place and waving casually to everyone before me. ''Hi there everyone, lovely evening to be meeting giant sentient robots from Cybertron isn't it?'' I asked rhetorically as I took a few steps closer, my hands held upwards and palm out in the universal, or so I thought, gesture of peace and surrender. Then again maybe I just gave them the equivalent of a Cybertronian ''middle finger.''
The large, black Autobot's face twisted into a grimace, ''The alleyway appears to be infested with humans. Optimus, should I terminate her?'' Ironhide asked with a hint of disdain in his voice. I looked both mortified and indignant at the same time. But before I could make a snarky reply, Optimus came to my rescue.
''We do not harm humans Ironhide, what is wrong with you?"' he looked at me after admonishing Ironhide and seemed to stare right through me. I felt something inside me burn. I couldn't name the sensation exactly, but the feeling wasn't altogether unpleasant. Optimus then spoke in that soothing deep voice, ''You seem to have us at a disadvantage. You likely know our designations, save one, but we are yet to learn yours''. He blinked what passed as his ''eyelids'' I guess.
/Oh right/, '''Sorry about that, my name is Orianna Connors'', Optimus Prime seemed to flinch slightly as I gave my name to him. I ignored his reaction, passing it off as his way of processing my unusual name. I was used to it. I continued ''or OC for short. I originally came from a country called Australia, but my family moved to LA about 10 years ago for,'' I faltered slightly in my explanation, ''family reasons. I am a Gemini, I like walks on the beach, starlit nights and my favourite colour is blue.'' I trailed off at the quizzical looks the robots and humans alike were giving me.
I took tentative steps towards the teenagers, who in truth looked relieved to have another human, an older one at that, with them. ''I mean no disrespect or harm, not that I could do any harm to any of you,'' I grinned sheepishly at them all. Sam and the girl smiled at me in agreeance. I walked up to them and stood with them before the Autobots, the girl quickly introduced herself as Mikaela.
Optimus inclined his head, ''Indeed, Orianna,'' though he held my gaze momentarily. That was all he said before he went on to introduce the remaining member of the team, the energetic yellow and black Camaro. ''You already know your guardian, Bumblebee.''
At this introduction the happy bot seemed to bounce around and shadow box an invisible opponent whilst playing a song on his radio. ''Bumblebee? You're my guardian hunh?'' The bot nodded. As it turns out his vocal processors, his voice, were damaged in a battle so he spoke through the radio.
/Cool/, I thought to myself. /So not a rich kid's car then but a robot protector/. A small part of me felt jealous that this boy, who likely had parents, now also had a cool robot protecting him and looking out for him. All I had was myself and well, Relda and I was pretty sure she was not a transformer.
Mikaela's question interrupted my pity party, ''So why are you here?'' Good question.
''We are here looking for the Allspark and we must find it before Megatron.'' Optimus Prime then placed a metal finger on the side of his head and all at once the ground beneath our feet seemed to crumble away revealing a volcanic and battle ridden alien planet, Cybertron I assumed. Prime went on to explain how their once peaceful planet had been ravaged by this megalomaniac called Megatron who led the Decepticons, the faction who were the antithesis of the Autobots. This Megatron, it seemed, would stop at nothing to obtain this Allspark thing, following it to Earth. As it turns out, Sam's Grandfather was the one who found Megatron and unwittingly intertwined the fates of Autobots, Decepticons and humans alike. When he happened upon Megatron, who lay frozen in ice, he activated his navigation system which etched the coordinates to the Allspark cube onto his glasses. I couldn't help but think you had more chance of winning lotto -Jackpot!
After Optimus finished his monolog and once again impressed upon Sam, Mikaela and myself the importance of finding these glasses, Mikaela turned to Sam and asked in a desperate tone, 'Please tell me you still have those glasses?"'
"Yeah, I think they're at home in my backpack.'' Sam replied, his voice not at all sounding concerned that he may or may not have the key to saving both Earth and Cybertron stowed away in his backpack.
''Then we must move now, time is of the essence'', Optimus spoke gravely. "While it grieves me to say this, whether you like it or not, all of you are now part of our war, we must work together to stop Megatron before your planet suffers the same fate as ours''. There was no mistaking the gravity of the situation. Yet despite this I couldn't help but feel excited, if that was even the right emotion. Maybe relieved. If a war was coming these guys could be handy to know and I had met some new ''friends,'' I wasn't alone. Plus being able to spend time with Optimus may also have held some appeal, he intrigued me, and I looked forward to getting to know him if I could.
Sam and Mikaela made to get into Bumblebee as he transformed back into his Camaro. Jazz, Ironhide and Rachet also transformed, Optimus hesitated and called out to me as I turned around to head back down the alleyway. "'Orianna, where are you going?' You are welcome to join us, we could do with more allies."
I smiled, ''Oh I'm coming with you, I just need to get my car. I parked it further down the alleyway so I wouldn't… ahh… get discovered,"' the last I said with a slight smirk as I realised my plan hadn't quite worked. Optimus must have realised this too as his face plates moved into what I assumed was the equivalent of a smile.
''Quickly, every moment counts''. At this he transformed and waited for Bumblebee to lead the way towards Sam's house. I ran down the alleyway and jumped into Relda, her engine roared to life and I set out to follow the others. Funny how life's twists and turns come about. Only a few precious hours ago, I had no job, no home and no one. Now, I had new friends and a most important job to accomplish. What else would the night bring, only time would tell.