Wow. 64 reviews and it's still on the start of the story. Thank you guys so much. You're the best. Thank you guys for all of the reviews and favourites and follows. I can't believe I have over 100 followers and favourites. It's shocking! In a good way. I really appreciate it and I don't want to let you guys down. I'm sorry for the long wait but here it is. And thank you guys for voting on the poll. It's still open if you want to vote about who I should bring back.
Thank you CodeSixty, xVentressx, Guest, lizziecats, Yami-The lord of darkness, Bee4ever, for your reviews on the last chapter. I really enjoyed reading them. And if anyone has any constructive criticism, I'm all open. Thank you to my silent readers as well.
And of course, thank you to my wonderful beta: Jazzilynn Hall
So without further ado.
The clicking and tapping of the keyboards ring through the air as clear as day. The smell of coffee prominent with the sound of idle chatter. I can hear a familiar Australian accent. If I turn my head to the left I would be able to see Maggie and Glen. Instead I keep my attention on the screen in front of me as I type away. I've been in here for a good few hours trying to find a lead and so far failing. Maybe I should take a break. My thoughts start to wonder back to my so called 'team'. Even just thinking I was part of a team (even if it was just for one night) makes me want to cringe. They must think that I'm dead. Or that I've decided to disappear. I have to wonder though, is the transformers existence and me not being born the only difference in this world? I start clicking away again as my curiosity gets the better of me. Before I can stop myself, I find my answer.
'Family of 5 killed in a house fire. Dr. Wilfred Mills and his wife Ann Mills died along with their unborn baby, five-year-old daughter Marie, and their ten-year-old son Rex….'
And the report goes on. So in this world Rex is dead because someone would have made sure there were no survivors. But it's so weird that Rex is…. well dead. I thought of him as an annoying little cockroach that you couldn't kill no matter what. Huh…. I guess I was wrong. What about the others? In practically no time, and hardly any effort, I get my answers. TechKid has an early scholarship to anywhere he wants, finally being recognized for his talent. Black Thorn/Holly States didn't drop out of school, got great grades and graduated. She didn't go into crime to get attention, instead she's 7 months pregnant with the head of the basketball team but she's working through college, which I've got to give her props for. Finally, Daniel Richards' team was never ambushed and he got home just in time to see his wife give birth. He was never tortured, never went insane, never snapped. Instead he's living at home with his daughter but he's still working for the military. Huh… so there's quite a few differences between our worlds. I wonder what else is different? But before I could think any more on the subject, I hear the door open behind me and I go back to what I was originally doing.
"Hey, Vi. I saw your guards outside the doors and-What are you doing?" asks Lennox from behind me, walking towards me, changing his sentence half way through as he leans over my shoulder, taking a great deal of interest in my screen. I resist the urge to flip him over, not use to someone hovering behind me unless it's the enemy.
"What your people are not: working. I'm trying to find a lead while your people are slacking off," I answer as I continue typing.
"But that's our satellites- Are you hacking?!" exclaims Lennox.
"Hacked. And I sent you a text message telling you I'm hacking and why," I comment as I continue using the satellites.
"What?!" asks Lennox surprised as he hurriedly gets his phone out of his pocket and looks at it. "How did you get my number?"
"It wasn't that hard. Trust me," I reply, never moving my eyes away from the screen.
"Violet. You've already been accused of hacking, this will make you look guilty," warns Lennox.
"And I should care what others think, why exactly?" I retort.
"Because they can lock you away," replies Lennox a little concerned.
"Let them try," I challenge, not even slowing down.
"Vi-" starts Lennox but I cut him off.
"I'm here to help find the machine, correct?" I question.
"Yes but-" starts Lennox.
"Then let me find it. I think it's fair to use your resources since no one here has found anything," I counter.
"So what have you found?" questions Lennox curiously, giving up on trying to convince me.
"Annoyingly, nothing. I tried to see if there were any cars nearby or helicopters flying over but I got nothing. I don't understand it. How can they have taken a machine with no vehicles? It doesn't make sense," I explain moodily.
It shouldn't be this hard. I had to go through all that hacking for nothing. Trust me, it doesn't take seconds or minutes like in some films and TV shows, even if you are a super genius. It takes hours and days, sometimes longer. Since I'm on the inside it didn't take me too long but still quite a bit of time. Silence comes between us for a while as we both think deeply. I hate to think this but is this…. a dead end? I shake my head a little. No, there's no such thing as a dead end when I'm involved. This just means I have to think harder and the people who have covered it up are intelligent and professionals. I just need to dig deeper. A sudden thought hits me, springing me into action. I immediately open a document and start typing quickly. Lennox looks over my shoulder to see what I'm typing.
"Who are these people?" questions Lennox.
"These are the people who were involved with the machine on my side," I answer, typing the names down.
I recognized most of the people who were involved with the machine when I landed on the table, Deconi was just a main priority.
"So suspects?" asks Lennox eagerly.
"Yes. My main ones….." I start but trail off as I realize something, making me stop typing immediately.
"Damnit! This world is different though. For all I know it could entirely different people involved," I growl resisting the urge to face palm the table.
"Maybe so, but for the moment that is our strongest lead. We can see where they were at the time of the occurrence. Give us the names that you feel most strongly about and then I'll get a team on it," suggests Lennox.
"I rather not," I disagree as I start typing again.
"And why not?" questions Lennox, confused.
"I rather do this myself. I don't do well in teams. And I don't trust them to do this right," I reply keeping my eyes on the screen, not slowing down on my typing.
"Vi-" starts Lennox but I cut him off coldly.
"Don't call me that. In fact, I don't want anyone to call me by that. My name can only be called by people who treat me with respect. Call me Shadow or Miss Sedis if you insist," I interrupt abruptly.
"Vi, I treat you with respect," insists Lennox.
I resist the urge to scoff.
"Oh so putting handcuffs on me and interrogating me is a sign of respect?" I ask sarcastically.
"What did you expect me to do? Your past is shady at best. We know next to nothing about you. It went missing around the time you left," explains Lennox.
"No. I get that, all too well. But no one believed me when I was telling the truth. You don't even understand what it means that I'm here, still here," I stress breaking away from the screen and looking at Lennox in the eye.
"No, I probably don't. But at least, I believe you enough that you're not behind bars," replies Lennox.
"Look Lennox. I don't expect you to believe me. I'll be surprised if you believe anything I say if I'm a suspect but it still means something. It means there's no real trust or respect for each other. I mean I have at least a little respect for you unlike anyone else in authority but that's it. Only enough that I listen to you instead of punching your face. It's nothing personal Lennox. It's that using nicknames creates a false sense of security. Even though I didn't realize it, I was starting to feel the smallest bit comfortable being here. Getting arrested was what I needed to remind me of reality. I can't afford to get comfortable," I explain, turning back around near the end and typing again.
"Fine. If you prefer reserving your nickname for people your close to and people you feel comfortable with that's okay. I won't use it...… For now. But one day you will feel comfortable around me and I might even earn your trust," persists Lennox.
I nearly freeze at his words but I cover it pretty quickly and continue typing.
"Don't hold your breath," I mutter.
However, Lennox smiles a little at my words so he must have heard me.
"Now Shadow, back to the original topic. Our teams are more than capable of tracking these people down and finding where they were of the time of the occurrence," insists Lennox.
I print the names off and resist the urge to sigh.
"Lennox, you are asking me to put my trust in you guys but how can I do that when you have no trust in me?" I ask as I hear the printer working nearby.
"I rather have this done by someone I know I can rely on… myself," I say after a pause, giving him time to think before picking up the paper and walking off leaving Lennox alone.
—
153…Need to get stronger….154… Faster….. 155…..Tougher…156…. Remember who the enemy is….. 157…..Remember my focus…..158… Remember what my next goal is…. 160….. what my mission is…..
I keep my mind clear and focus as I do press up after press up as part of my warm up routine. I would prefer to be alone but since I'm still a suspect, I have to do this on a mat in the training room where there is a camera and plenty of eye witnesses. Since I'm doing this workout with a focus glare, everyone is giving me a wide berth, out of uneasiness and fear. One or two have come close and tried to make conversation. I didn't even spare a glance at him. Keeping silent. His confident demeanor changed rapidly as his attempts to get me to talk failed. His speech began to falter though I had no idea what he was saying as I completely ignored him until he walked away awkwardly. That was 20 minutes ago.
"You know, the mechs in the right corner are starting a bet of who can make you talk first," comments a voice behind me.
A voice I know well now: Sideswipes. I stay silent even to him.
"But for some reason, they seem too afraid to approach you," adds Sideswipe amused.
185…. I continue to count as I pay little attention to his words.
"They're betting a hundred of your earth's currency. And it's going up by the minute," continues Sideswipe with interest.
"…"
I stay silent as I try to focus. 188…. I need to let nothing get in my way.
"Another group of humans are betting whether the other mechs will approach you. You're species sure like betting. Are you all like that?" questions Sideswipe with a tilt of his metallic head.
I try not to listen to his words as I continue my press ups.
"…"
"Are you giving me the silent treatment?" asks Sideswipe with a hint of humor in his voice.
What number am I on? 192 or 193?
"Shadow?" asks Sideswipe but I ignore him, trying to remember what number I'm on.
"Vi? Vi? Hey Vi? Viiiiiii," whines Sideswipe repeatedly.
Nope. I've lost the number completely now. I stand up, giving up on my press ups, turning to Sideswipe.
"No, I'm not giving you the silent treatment. That's petty. I just have no reason to talk, especially about things that I have no interest in. Besides, aren't you worried that I'll go run to Barricade, telling him everything we talk about?" I explain with my last question laced with sarcasm.
"I know we were quick to judge Shadow but once I heard your side it made sense," comments Sideswipe as I stretch.
"You mean after I proved that I couldn't be the one to steal the information?" I question nearly scoffing.
"No. Before that. You were right about Barricade setting you up," replies Sideswipe.
I nearly freeze at his words. He believed me?
"What?" I ask making my voice low, as nothing showed my shock.
"Barricade only showed up on the radar for a second. That was no mistake. He said what he had to say, showed himself on the radar, long enough for me to take notice before masking his signal so he couldn't be followed. I told Prime this as well," explains Sideswipe, making me more surprised but this time I suppress it before it can even get to the surface.
He vouched for me? No one's ever done that. Mostly because I'm nearly always 100% guilty of whatever they are accusing me of. I fold my arms looking away.
"So what? Do you expect a thank you? Because I don't do those and I didn't need your backing to convince Prime," I say coldly.
Sideswipe gives a small chuckle before speaking.
"No. I know you wouldn't. Although it would be nice," says Sideswipe with a grin.
"You know, most people if they have the guts to talk to me, would back off after 30 seconds whether I talk back or not. You are annoyingly persistent," I comment.
"I've had to deal with Sunstreaker all of my life and he isn't the most social bot. I'm use to the cold arm, or is it shoulder?" replies Sideswipe messing up the expression.
"Me and Sunstreaker are different, He's your brother," I protest.
"You and Sunny are more alike than you know," insists Sideswipe.
"I doubt that. I don't freak out when I get a scratch," I reply with a scoff.
"Nope. But you both have trust issues. You are both hard to talk to. You both distance yourselves from everyone around you when you want nothing more than to trust and be around others," says Sideswipe like it's a fact.
I turn my back on him with a small chuckle that's humorless.
"Is that what you think?" I ask looking over my shoulder at him before continuing, "Friendships? Trust? They're all weaknesses, distractions at best. If I'm close to someone, it's because of one of two reasons. The first is because I want information, and it's easier to trick them into talking, then doing it the messy, painful way."
"And the second?" asks Sideswipe, making my eyes go cold.
"I'm using them before I kill them," I state before walking off, my back to Sideswipe.
I walk past the group that was making the bet as they walk in the direction I was. They all tense up, looking away from me. Not even noticing I stole their wallets.
'I'll take these seeing as though they lost the bet,' I think before taking the money out and dumping their wallets on the bags and jackets they left on the side.
They'll probably blame each other but I don't focus on that. It most likely wasn't the best idea to admit that I've killed to Sideswipe but I can't find it in myself to care. As long as he leaves me alone, it's fine. Because that's all I've ever wanted to be: Alone.
—-
It's better when you drive alone. There's no one to tell you which way to go, which way is 'right' or 'best.' There's just your way and the way you want to go. No one to push you onto a different course. There's just peace and quiet. No children in the backseat crying, or arguing. No unnecessary squabble or chit chat or even awkward silence. No distractions because that's all people are: Distractions.