"Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty..."

Sighing Jack continues to observe the cell he awoke in. The gray walls were still as irritating as ever. To distract from both the pulsing pain and boredom he had decided to count. So far he has been in the cell for over three hours.

The glow surrounding his body had slowed over those three hours. The pain was there but almost muffled. Jack knew he was becoming numb, which wasn't good. He was dying.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he fought the burning of tears. He didn't want to die, not like this. When Jack first met the bots he knew that death was a possibility. It was one of the reasons he left at the beginning. If he died what would happen to his mom? He couldn't do that to her. Then Miko came. Her words struck a chord with him.

He was pretending to be normal.

For six years all he pretended to be was a normal human because that's what others would accept. The bots gave him an out of that cycle. They were aliens, how would they know what was normal for humans? It was a rush. He still hid but overall was less worried.

Now he was in a cell. He was going to hurt his mother. The one that raised him despite not being biologically related.

More tears slipped down his cheeks. Jack wishes he could wipe his shame away. His useless body, continuing to weaken, wasn't allowing it.


"My lord, I believe that the situation with the pet is critically important.." Knockout's urgent voice interrupted his work. Turning he glared at the red medic. Megatron was curious about his new pet but that didn't excuse the unnecessary interruption. The mech before him flinched at his glare.

"And what is so important... Knockout..." The slow drawl of his voice conveyed that the news better is important or else.

The medics' optics flicked to the datapad shaking his servos.

"A..as I am sure you noticed, this...creature isn't a normal human. Based on my scans, he was never a human, to begin with." The shocked voice Knockout explained intrigued Megatron. Knockout wasn't one to be shocked by a medical discovery.

"Get to the point, Knockout." Megatron snapped. He wasn't in the mood for a long explanation.

"Yes, yes... The pet you brought back is a Cybertronian. Well...just the processor of one." Knockouts blunt reveal was even more intriguing. It was impossible.

"Not possible. There is no technology that could do that and what would be the point." He was about to return to his work when the medic spoke once more.

"There isn't any current technology that could achieve such a feat, but the technology of the ancients could. The youngling has a spark beat and CNA. Not forgetting the significant amount of Energon within his system." Megatron turned at that, the medic regaining his focus.

"What is truly remarkable is that his body resembles and functions as an organic would. The main difference is where a spark chamber would be. Humans call it a heart. Instead of either object being there, there is something different. The closest thing I can relate to is a hard-light holoprojector. That device is at the center of how he appears and could act like a human."

One thing Megatron did appreciate about Knockout is he knew when to be serious. Processing the information he looked at the medic. This information explained so much. If the insect was a projection with a cybertronian mind, crushing him wouldn't affect him unless he damaged the projector within him. Megatron then remembered the blue light and screaming. But that still promoted more questions.

"If that's true how has the insect survived for so long, projectors need Energon."

"Based on the scans, this type of projector is highly advanced, more so than any other. It contains storage for condensed Energon. My estimations are this lasted till he met the Autobots. After that, he either stole some Energon or the bots gave it to him. Thought that wouldn't stop the projection from becoming unstable, just prolong it."

Now that caught the warlord audio sensors.

"Unstable? What do you mean?"

"Normal holoprojectors are only designed to be used for a limited amount of time. Not years like the younglings. That is because they will consume more fuel and become unstable, eventually breaking down. Despite how advanced this one is, it still has those dangers. That's why the situation is critical. Your pet's projector is breaking down thanks to the damage done."

Megatron frowned, this was far more complicated than it needed to be. He needed the Autobot pet for information and as a bargaining chip. If he died now he had nothing.

"I assume there is something you can do..." He questions in a dark tone, optics narrowing.

The medic shrank in on himself, plates pulling close to his frame.

"There...is only one way to save him. That's to find his frame. If we could reinstall his processor back to his frame he wouldn't fade out when the projector fails. There's only one problem. We have no clue where his frame is but we know it still exists. His spark wouldn't be beating if the frames destroyed"

The medic looked at Megatron for an answer on how to proceed. Finding the pest's frame will require more effort, but could be even more rewarding. If his mind was transferred back then they could use traditional interrogation methods. The psychic patch would be far more effective than just the typical human torture method. Megatron smiled at the future's new hope. Knowing the Autobots base while they had no clue would be the ultimate winning strategy.

The question was how to make that reality.

Turning around Megatron observed the silent mech that was working throughout the whole conversation.

"Soundwave, pull up all the information on the Autobots oldest human pet. I want to know everything."

The response came with a screen full of pictures and information. Scanning through, he dismissed much of the information as useless, that was till he came across a picture of the pet with a human femme. She and the boy looked shockingly similar.

"Who is that next to the boy? She looks like him."

"Designation: June Darby. Relation: carrier."

That caused him to raise a ridge. The pest couldn't have a human carrier. Though they still looked like one another. Things began to click.

"Knockout, how does this hard light projector gain its projection?"

"Well, I still know very little about this one but it seems to scan the first being to come in contact with it and take its appearance and mimic the genetic structure so it can age as that species does. Similar to pretenders in some ways."

Humming his understanding, he still observed the human femme. If the object needed contact then the boy adopted carrier must know the location of his frame. She was the key.

Pointing to the photo, he made his order clear.

"Have all our available resources temporarily diverted to finding his carrier. She knows where his frame is."

Soon he would have a captive that knows the Autobots bases location along with Vector Stigmas location.

'Now that's a worthy pet.'


A large ground-shaking thud woke June from her fitful sleep. She had moved to the couch and continued to cry herself to sleep. Looking over she noticed the time was three in the morning. Stretching resulted in several pops. Looking around she wondered what that vibration was about. The curiosity got the better of her. Opening the back door, she was greeted with a basic desert landscape.

Huffing at her paranoia she was about to close the door when a shadow fell over her. Turning she came face to face with a giant robot servo reaching for her.

It was already too late for her to do anything. In a second she was within its large grasp.

Opening her mouth to scream all that came out was a strangled gasp. The bot was squeezing her hard. All the air in her body was being pushed out painfully.

She couldn't breathe. Black spots started to float in her vision, slowly encompassing her sight.

Then there was black.