I was pacing in the holding bay Renegade and I had been given as a temporary room, not able to sit still for a moment. My brain was going to fry itself and I was going to run a rut in the floor. Luckily, the doctors were able to wrap my hand. Nothing broken, just bruised bones.
[Sndwve:Status:restless_]
"No sh-!" I took a long, deep breath, "No? You think? I thought I was PERFECTLY CALM!" I snapped at the words floating in my vision.
[Sndwve:Stress level:Abnormal_]
"Oh? And why do you think that is?" I shot back.
[Sndwve:Diagnosis:raised blood pressure. Solution:calming oneself_]
"...I'm not talking to you. So be quiet." At that time, the bay door opened, and the red and blue semi rolled in, along with the bus and an ambulance. All three transformed and I glared at Optimus, forgoing any formalities I might have normally given the Autobot leader.
"There is something robotic where my eye should be, and I want it gone." All three of them stayed quiet for a minute, until Ratchet stepped forward and kneeled down, scanning me with his eye beams. I flinched at the lights. "Hey, watch where you're pointing those things," I snapped. He stood to full height and a massive 3D hologram of my own head appeared around chest level for Ratchet. Renegade set his hand on the ground and I climbed on, being lifted up so I could see as well.
"It appears that there is something there." Ratchet stated.
"Neal, did you not know about it?" Optimus asked. I made the mental note to ask him why he was stroking his non-existent beard like Obi-wan, but I filed it away for later.
"No, to put it simply, I didn't know I was a cyborg till about two hours ago."
"How could you not know?" I threw my hands into the air.
"That's what is killing me! If I have a robotic eye and don't remember getting it, then what else is wrong with me?! I could be half robot and not even know it!"
"How did you figure this out?
"The Doc put me in an MRI scan to get a read on my brain. My eye started hurting, so they stopped the scan and he checked it. That's when we looked at the charts and found it." I turned to Ratchet. "Could you check the rest of me for robot bits please?"
[Sndwve:Only your eye was replaced_] I glared right at the words, hoping the fire in my gaze would burn them to a crisp.
"And then there's this!" I gestured at the words.
"...What?" Renegade was completely lost, looking to where he thought I had gestured.
"I'm seeing words Renegade! The robot eye is literally typing on my retina!" Optimus froze.
"You mean there is someone communicating through that eye?" He asked sharply.
"Yes!"
"..." Next thing I know I was shoved into my personal room with the door shutting behind me.
"Hey!" I turned around and tried to open the door, only to find it blocked shut. "Renegade! Let me out!" I pounded my fist on it.
"You stay right there. We need to discuss this." I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, pouting.
[Sndwve:You are frustrated_]
"Oh? Speaking in sentences now? That's progress. Are you learning as you go?" I snarked.
[Sndwve:Indeed_] I could almost hear the smugness in that one word. I pointed a finger at the wall, doing my best to get my point across.
"Listen here you smug, psychotic, disembodied slag!(A/N*) I'm not going to listen to you anymore. So why don't you keep your fingers, claws, emitters, WHAT EVER, off of my eyeball." There was nothing for a solid minute, and I started to relax, when more words appeared.
[Sndwve:You fleshlings are curious_] I almost shouted at it but did a double take on the words.
"...What do you mean?" I asked warily.
[Sndwve:You are angry over something insignificant for yourself_]
"Insignifi-! How can you say that?! You took one of my eyes and replaced it with a fake one! What if the batteries die?!" I was asking rhetorically, but the Decepticon on the other side didn't get it.
[Sndwve:It is linked to your brain. It will not die unless you do_]
"Oh, that makes me feel much better." My voice oozed with sarcasm.
[Sndwve:You are still conversing with me_] My mouth snapped shut.
"..."
[Sndwve:You are eager to say something_]
"..."
[Sndwve:Optimus Prime is not a forgiving bot_] I threw my hands in the air.
"So what if I die? Huh? S'not like you care what happens to me."
[Sndwve:Out of 3,457 experiments going, you are the strangest_] I blinked at the number before the rest of the sentence registered.
"Am I supposed to take offense to that?"
[Sndwve:Negative_]
"Then what do you mean?"
[Sndwve:It is difficult to understand your daily actions_]
"Okay?"
[Sndwve:What is your objective_]
"For what?" I had slowly calmed down, and now I was more intrigued by the way it was approaching this.
[Sndwve:Life_]
"Um...living?" Another solid pause.
[Sndwve:You are a strange fleshling_]
"And you're a psycho." I gave it the snooty five year old attitude. I heard something tap on my door.
"Alright Neal, come on out." I stepped out, only to have some sort of cloth thrown over me.
"-Ey! What's the big idea?!" I tried to pull it off, but it was tangled around me. Then my whole world pitched in a random direction as I was scooped up off the floor. "What are you doing?!" Renegade's voice came from above me somewhere.
"Calm down Neal. We can't have you seeing anything more than what you already have." I felt them move, the huge steps of Renegade rocking me back and forth.
[Sndwve:Pesky Autobots_] I ignored the comment, focusing on not freaking out over nothing. Renegade stopped and lifted the cloth off of me, sliding me off of his hand. He stepped back and Ratchet leaned over me, holding up a hand. Two of his fingers split open and small tools formed. A drill looking thing, pliers, and a few other things I did not appreciate seeing.
"Um, Ratchet, what are you doing?" I asked nervously.
[Sndwve:That is what I want to know_]
"I am disabling that eye. Now hold still." Before I could move, clamps came down from his hand and latched onto the table, bracing my arms and legs.
[Sndwve:This Autobot will not succeed_]
"Hey! Let me go-!" My heart stopped when I saw a needle moving towards me.
"This will be painless." I felt the needle slide into my arm, and within a minute, I felt dizzy and fell unconscious.
««{{¤}}»»
I slowly blinked as I arrived in the waking world. Well, I tried to blink, but my right eye wouldn't cooperate with me. I also couldn't see out of it. I reached up to touch it, but something was in the way.
"I'd leave that if I were you." I looked to my left. Ratchet was sitting at an oversized desk, looking at a data pad. He glanced over at me. "How are you feeling?"
"Like Optimus Prime himself just ran me over. Twice." I grunted as I pushed myself onto my elbows. "What happened?"
"I was able to disable any communication from that eye. Now, I know you don't want to go half blind, so I was able to work on it while you were under." He moved his hand over me, and small tools shifted out of his fingers. Clamps latched on my limbs again. He was messing with whatever was on my eye, and I felt him cut something and pull it away. I blinked but was still blind in that eye.
"Um," I started.
"I'm not done yet. Move an inch, and this could end badly for you." I held as still as I could. A clasp came down and gently grasped my head. I felt tools moving around, but it was only pressure. Ratchet released my head, but I didn't move.
"You may sit up now." I moved my arms underneath me and pushed myself into a sitting position. I blinked as my brain tried to adjust to the eye. The text type appeared again, and I opened my mouth to tell Ratchet the Decepticon was still there, when I saw the words.
[Startup:Begin_]
"Can you see out of it?" He asked.
"No, I think it's booting up."
"Alright, let it do its thing." I watched as lines of code ran through my vision, only able to catch a few words.
"How have I never noticed something like this?" I asked in shock.
"I looked over the coding. It was set to be in surveillance mode, it wouldn't show anything unless the operator wanted it to."
"Oh. Wait...The bot said I wasn't the only person with an eye…" Ratchet spun around faster than I thought possible for someone of his size.
"What do you mean?"
"Just as I said. Soundwave said I was one out of more than 3,000 experiments. To be specific." Ratchet's eyes widened.
"3,000?" I nodded. "This is not good..." He pressed his com button, "Optimus, you need to hear this." As he spoke, a white light filled my right eye, slowly dying down till I could see shapes. It was blurry, but it was slowly focusing in so I could see. Soon it felt like I had my normal vision back.
"Hey, the eye is working. I can see."
"Good. Now, let's do these few tests to make sure it's functional." We ran through some tests, and the eye seemed to be working like normal.
"Is there any way that Con can communicate through it?"
"No, I disabled that."
"Good. I thought I'd have to put up with it my entire life."
"I did notice a few functions hidden in the coding. I also added in a few features you might appreciate. Here," He held out his finger, which had a small smart phone like object sitting on it. I picked it up and looked it over. The screen was slightly curved, and it was about four inches long by two inches wide. "Put it on your wrist."
"Okay?" I wondered what he meant because there was no wrist band. When I set it on my right wrist, a band came out from the sides and wrapped around it, holding it in place securely. "Woah." The screen lit up and the Autobot logo glowed red in the center. Code ran up the screen for a few seconds before it blinked to a home screen, different buttons showing up. Ratchet nodded.
"It appears to have started properly. Go ahead and try it out." I read some of the labels and noticed one said, "view mode". I clicked on it and it loaded for a second, when it showed an image of what I was seeing. I blinked when I noticed there seem to be different filters on the bottom of the screen. I scrolled through them when I found one called "Infrared".
"No way!" I pressed the button and gasped when the vision in my right eye went blue. I noticed I also had night vision and a few others. Some simple things like a timer were available as well. "Ratchet, this is amazing!"
"Well, I did modify it." I cocked an eyebrow.
"Alright Doc, calm the ego. Is there anything important I need to know?" He decided to ignore my comment in favor of answering me.
"The eye uses the smallest amount of energy from your body to run, so you won't even feel it. Same can be said about the pad. But if it ever does become low, it adapts to any of the human made electrical ports.
"Geez," I looked it over again, "Thanks Ratchet, this is really cool."
"I aim to please. Optimus should be here soon." I nodded and focused on the pad on my arm, flipping through the different options. "One more thing. There are two ways to communicate through the datapad. One, is this." He held out his finger and on it was, to him, something insignificant in size. I picked it up and looked it over.
"An earbud?"
"Capable of reaching any of us Autobots within 100 kliks of you."
"I have no idea how far that is…but it sounds cool."
"There are also private logs." I watched as a menu popped up on my wrist and I realized he was remotely leading me to the app. It opened and I jumped when something blipped into my view.
[Rtcht:This is how it works_] I tried typing and noticed a near translucent keypad appeared below his message, giving me the ability to type without looking at my arm.
[Neal:Wow, this is sick!_]
"Yes," He said after a moment, "As I said before, Optimus will arrive in due time." I nodded.
"Thanks again Ratchet, this means a lot." He simply grunted in response and went back to working on his whatchamacallits.
After a few minutes Optimus walked through the door.
"Ratchet." The medic turned to him.
"Optimus. Neal has something to tell you." The titan of a mech turned to me.
"What is it Neal?" I sighed.
"Well, you know how I have this robotic eye?" I asked rhetorically.
"Yes." He was a very patient bot.
"Well apparently there are more than 3,000 others who have the same issue." Optimus' eyes widened in surprise.
"And how do you know this?"
"Soundwave told me before we cut off his little eye spy game." Optimus went into a train of thought for a while, then looked to Ratchet.
"Is there any way to tell where they are?" Ratchet tapped on his data pad for a minute, thinking.
"I'm not sure Optimus. This eye was a relay. It only sent audio and video, with no radio signals to be found. The only information it received was the text, and it only sent it in small bursts," He looked up from the pad, "Soundwave flew right under our radar." Optimus did not look pleased.
"Find out if you can track that data. I don't want any more surprises," He turned to me after Ratchet gave him a nod. "Neal?"
"Yeah?"
"You need to be ready to leave. Go and gather your belongings. Arcee will be taking you to your home this afternoon. Keeping you here at the base will only bring you more danger as Soundwave most likely knows where we are." I blinked.
"Oh, okay," I hesitated, sucking a breath through my teeth, "Thank you for everything Optimus."
"Of course Neal." I clambered down the ladder at the end of the platform and walked outside. I paused once I heard a certain phrase that concerned me.
"Do you really believe Soundwave knows our location?" Ratchet's voice followed me out of the room. I leaned against the wall, trying to appear like I was just standing there to any passersby. My eyes drifted to the doorway that was still open.
"He would have been foolish to not to track the boy once he saw Renegade with him."
"…What do you make of him?"
"Renegade?" Optimus sounded only slightly surprised to hear the Bot being brought into the conversation.
"He is a former Con. It is a little strange that he brought Neal here. We know nothing of what these Mythicons are either. I am one of the oldest Mechs alive, and I have no recollections of them. Not even in Sparkling stories…" I felt a tickle in the back of my throat, and hurriedly moved away from the door, a cough slipping out on the way. I heard heavy footsteps move towards the door and I quickly ducked around a corner. I made purposeful movement towards Renegade, who was sitting in his bus form not too far from me.
'Did I just put everyone here in danger?' My robotic guardian must have noticed the way my face was twisted up in thought, because he spoke up as I placed my hand on his door.
"Neal? Is everything alright?"
"I'm good Renegade. The eye is fully under my control. Well…mine and Ratchet's that is…"
"That is good. What is that on your arm?"
"Oh this?" I held it up. "Just the coolest piece of tech known to mankind."
««{{¤}}»»
While showing Renegade the different features of my new toy, I had gotten hungry, so we rolled over to the lunchroom. While waiting in the back of the line, someone's voice came over my shoulder, nearly giving me a heart attack.
"Hey, there you are!" I spun around to see Jessica, the girl who we followed to the Bots.
"Oh, hey."
"How are you adjusting?"
"Adjusting? I'm supposed to adjust to all of this?" I smirked as she rolled her eyes, "I'm kidding. I think I'm doing okay. I'm just not sure how everything is going to work out." We moved forward in the line enough to start grabbing food, and I soon had a full paper sack. I turned to her. "Um, where were you planning on sitting?"
"I was going to go eat in the park nearby with Arcee. You and big boy outside want to join us?"
"Sure, I've got nothing better to do." Jessica nodded and walked outside. Arcee, in her bike mode, was propped up next to Renegade. Jessica hopped onto her and I stepped inside Renegade. "Hey Renegade, do you want to join Jessica and Arcee in the park nearby?"
"That is acceptable." I snorted at his formality.
"Relax big guy, Optimus isn't here." We rolled over to the park and Renegade let me out before transforming. He settled on the ground and folded his legs, creating a miniature earthquake while he was at it. Arcee transformed and sat against a tree, letting Jessica lean against her leg. I settled for laying on the ground near Renegade's knee, folding my arms behind my head. The cool grass felt good on my back.
"So, what are you going to college for?" I asked Jessica.
"Oh! I'm just going for my generals right now. I haven't really decided what I want to go into. I might join the military, just so I have an excuse to stay near Arcee more often." The Bot and human duo smirked at the same time.
"Fair enough," I conceded.
"What about you?"
"Business management." I said with a single shoulder shrugging.
"Are you planning on starting your own?"
"I'm not sure yet. I haven't gotten that far either." We dug into our lunch as our bot companions engaged in light conversation. A simple sandwich was stuffed full of meat, and there were a couple of different items like smaller fruit. "For being on base, they definitely don't have bad food." She nodded.
"Yeah, better than the stuff they give us at college." I paused, then looked over my shoulder at Renegade.
"Hey, do you guys even eat?"
"In a way. Energon, the element that I explained before, comes in various forms and purity. The purer forms are what flows through our fluid lines. Some others we ingest."
"So it's an energy source, and also your blood? Weird."
"I understand what you eat is far different from what we do."
"We humans, along with most other animals in the planet, need a good bit of variety in our lives in order to keep our bodies healthy," I paused for a second before chuckling, "Man, I'm actually explaining things to an alien."
"I am no more of an alien than you are." I shot him a look.
"Hey bucko, you're on my planet. I've never left the lower atmosphere." Jessica laughed as Arcee and Renegade both grumbled, though it was all in good humor.
"You two really are the aliens, not us." She giggled and I smirked at her. I felt eyes on me and looked around the park. I noticed there were a couple of people watching us from a distance.
"Great, now we have an audience," I grumbled, hating being the center of attention. Renegade shook his head.
"Ignore them," He said as he set his hands on his knees, "They are simply observing."
"I don't like being watched like a zoo animal," I muttered. Jessica snorted.
"Well get used to it Neal, it happens all of the time. Especially when your partner is a 40 foot medieval looking mech." She gestured to Renegade. I shook my head.
"I'm not sticking around. Optimus said Arcee is taking me back to my home this afternoon."
"Arcee? Why not him?" She gestured to my temporary guardian. I sighed.
"He said it would be faster for her to do so. I'm surprised he didn't say anything to you." Renegade shifted a little and I internally winced. Jessica shrugged after thinking about it for a second.
"Oh. Okay. Who am I to question Boss Bot?" We both chuckled and I closed my eyes.
"I think I'll take a nap before we head out."
"You won't be able to sleep tonight if you do." I looked over my shoulder at Renegade, raising my eyebrow.
"Alrighty then, mother," I bit back playfully.
"I am not your mother."
"Yeah, well, stop acting like one." He folded his arms.
"I am not. I am simply advising you on something."
"Needlessly so, giving me knowledge I already have." I laid down on the grass, lacing my fingers behind my head. He stared at me in what could almost be awe. Or exasperation, that fit too.
"I never imagined such a small being could be so stubborn."
"First of all, I am an adult, not some child." Renegade leaned over me, blocking my sun. I cracked an eye to return his gaze.
"By my standards, you are still barely even considered a Sparkling," He rumbled. I rolled my eyes before closing them again.
"Well, your standards are stretched over almost 220 million years. Mine are only packed into about 20." Jessica gasped. I raised my head and an eyebrow, "What?"
"Did you say 220 million years?"
"Uh...Yeah? Why?" I was confused. Renegade seemed like he was older than a few of the other Boys I'd met, but I wasn't sure how long they lived for. Arcee, who had been silent for the past few minutes, spoke up.
"Renegade? Are you really that old?" She asked.
"...I am." He responded, albeit with hesitation. Arcee looked at her lap and Jessica looked at her.
"Arcee? How old is Optimus?"
"Not that old. Not by a long shot." She looked at Renegade again. "How are you that old? How have we never heard of you?"
"Because I have been in hiding for eons. The Decepticons found me before they left for earth and tricked me into fighting for their cause." Renegade looked at his lap. "Once I found out what I was doing, I ran and hid. It was no easy task, and I was nearly caught and killed many times."
"So you really do live up to your name." I said while blinking.
"It is not my original designation. But, with my databanks being so old, I have no recollection of what my actual name is." I suddenly felt bad for him. Not even their memories were safe from the ravages of time.
"...Renegade..." He looked down and shook his head.
"Please do not pity me Neal. I have had time to adjust. Besides," He looked at his palm, the one he tore the Decepticon symbol out of. "I feel, lighter, without worrying about it."
"...If you're sure...Hey, wait, how do you sound younger than Optimus if your older than him?"
"He is a Prime. He may be younger than me, but his life of battle and leadership has aged him greatly."
A/N: I can't believe it took a good ten minutes to look up that stupid word, when it was already part of the transformers' universe as a curse! I was looking up things like "metal impurities glossary" to try and find it. I feel like an idiot! Uuuugh! XD
I'm leaving the chapters longer from now on. It's only a hassle to find decent splitting points where I hadn't intended any. So, have fun with that!
~Silverleone