Introduction: This is the first of three Spare Parts chapters about things that have been happening in to Blaster. I know some people were wondering about that, so here you go! :) This chapter and the two that follow it happen after Keepsake and Cam adopted Blaster, but before the end of Many Voices.

"Hello Blaster," Keepsake said as he came in and set his bag down by the side of the room. "How was school?"

"Good," he lied. School reminded him too much of the orphanage. They were inside all the time being forced to do things like learn about math and science and history. And being able to hear everyone's thoughts was distracting. He could pull his range in of course, but then he wouldn't be able to hear the teacher and he wouldn't understand what in the Allspark they were trying to say.

We got some new symbiots, Keepsake thought. One of them's a little escape artist. "Go meet the new little mech," she said. "I think he needs some company."

"Yes," Lakes said. "Go distract him." He almost got away earlier.

Maybe Blaster can warn us if he tries to get out again, Cam thought.

Blaster was lucky to have Keepsake and Cam. Sometimes he wanted to run away like he had from the orphanage. It had been easy then—he could disappear for an orn and no one would notice.

But now he couldn't do that because there were mecha who would miss him and worry about him.

Blaster went over and sat down by the new symbiot. He was mech-shaped, and in a floor-level cage, bored and plotting another escape attempt.

"Hi," Blaster said. "What's your designation?"

The little mech looked at him. I think they just sent him over here to distract me from coming up with a way out of here. But I guess that's all right. "I'm Eject."

"Cool. I'm Blaster. You just got here, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Eject said. But I won't be staying here for long. "Do you work here?"

"I'm not old enough to work here," Blaster said. "But I do help." He leaned in closer. "How'd you get caught?"

Eject felt a little surprised, but came over to the bars of the cage. "They trapped me. I was just going to a lobbing game…"

"He'd sneak into games to watch," Lakes put in from across the room. "They said it's taken them quartexes to catch him."

"Well, I don't belong in here," Eject said. "And there's no harm in watching games. I didn't even use up a seat."

Lakes shook his helm. Free roaming symbiots… he might be better behaved than some, but you can't go bothering mecha and breaking rules if you don't want to get captured and sent to a shelter.

"That sounds fun," Blaster said, then waited for the adults to stop paying attention before whispering. "I snuck into a lobbing game once, when I was younger. I didn't get to see much of it, but it was cool."

"I would buy tickets," Eject said. "But they don't let us do that."

"I didn't have any credit," Blaster said.

Eject nodded. That makes sense. "You want to hear how the latest game went?"

"Sure," Blaster said.

In less than a breem, Eject was talking animatedly, providing Blaster with a detailed account of the game.

Blaster sat and listened and threw in a question here and there, watching the game through Eject's memories.

They kept talking after that, and Eject forgot completely about trying to escape.

Lakes was watching Blaster again, thinking. He stopped Keepsake as she passed and tilted his helm toward Blaster. Look at that.

Keepsake smiled. That youngling is adorable and I love him.

"He's really good with them," Lakes said quietly. And watch carefully… "Good like Soundwave was."

Keepsake and Cam glanced at each other, sharing the secret in their gaze.

Something about their adoption of this mechling isn't what they said. I guess I shouldn't pry… Lakes glanced at Blaster. Last time I compared him to Soundwave I got this same reaction. They're hiding something.

This was why it was a good thing Soundwave hadn't told them when he was younger. They'd have acted differently about him, and Lakes would have noticed, and then they'd have needed to tell Lakes. Most mecha acted differently when they knew a secret like this. It was a burden.

They could tell Lakes. Lakes was trustworthy.

But then the burden would be on him too.

"…heard about that? Blaster?"

"Hmm?" Blaster turned his attention back to Eject, who repeated his question, and they continued their conversation.

By the time they needed to go home, Blaster had made up his processor.

"Keepsake?" he said.

"Yes, mechling?"

"Can I have Eject?"

She smiled. I thought he might ask that.

"Hold on," Eject said from his cage. "I'm not interested in being owned by anyone. I'm a free agent." I guess It'd be easier to sneak away if I go with them, but I'd feel bad about it.

"This is a symbiot shelter," Lakes said. "Only way out is to get adopted. But I think Keepsake and Cam already have enough symbiots…"

"It's fine," Cam said. "Blaster, it's up to you. If you can talk him into agreeing, you can bring him."

Blaster nodded.

"Maybe not right now, though," Keepsake said. "We need to go home. Did you get your homework done?"

He frowned. He hadn't even started it. He hated homework. Instead of answering her, he crouched down by Eject's cage.

"It wouldn't be that bad, I promise," he said. "You could watch the holoscreen all orn. And Steeljaw and Ramhorn are nice. I guess it's not the same as being free, but I'd go exploring around the city with you sometimes if you wanted…"

Eject shook his helm. "Sorry," he said. "Talking to you is fun, but it's not worth being locked up." Poor little mechling. It seems he's already got two, though. I don't know why he'd want more. Well, I'll be gone by next on-cycle anyway.

"Ok," Blaster said. "I'll see you next orn."

Eject felt a little guilty. "See you."

Blaster followed Keepsake and Cam out the door. They transformed and Blaster climbed inside of Cam. He was quiet on the ride home, thinking.

They were curious, and a little worried, so he talked like normal once they were home, and insisted that it was all right that the new symbiot had rejected him.

And then as soon as they were recharging, he got up.

Ramhorn didn't wake when he slipped off of his berth, but Steeljaw did.

The cat got up and followed Blaster through the apartment to the front door.

Blaster stopped in the front entry.

"You shouldn't be leaving. It's not safe."

Blaster sighed and crouched down. "I've been outside in the off-cycle before. I'll be fine."

Steeljaw wasn't happy about that. You're not supposed to leave. Keepsake and Cam wouldn't want you to.

"But I have to go do something," Blaster said. "I'll be back by next on-cycle."

Steeljaw shook his helm. "If you go, I'll tell Keepsake and Cam."

Blaster sighed and reached out to put a hand on the cat's helm. "How about… how about if you come with me, to keep me safe?"

Steeljaw considered that.

"They probably wouldn't mind."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing dangerous. Come on, I could use your help."

I don't know… Steeljaw looked at the door. I guess he'd be fine if I come along and protect him.

Good. Blaster opened the door and they slipped out into the off-cycle.

Iacon was never entirely dark, but this outer sector was much darker than Iacon Central. Still, Blaster wasn't worried. He expanded his range as he walked with Steeljaw loping silently beside him. Sometimes the feline symbiot could be annoying and overprotective, but Blaster did feel safer with him there.

So where are we going? Steeljaw asked mentally after a while.

"Back to the symbiot shelter," Blaster said. "Eject is going to try to break out and I want to catch him."

Well I agree that he should be stopped, but why not let Keepsake and Cam do it?

"Because," Blaster said. "I want to talk to him some more. I like him and I think he's trustworthy." Something the mech-shaped symbiot had thought about had made Blaster curious, and he needed to ask about it.

You're going to tell him about you? Are you sure?

"Yes," Blaster said. "He's got secrets already. Besides, he's really smart and interesting to talk to. And he'll just get caught and locked up again if he's on his own."

That last part wasn't necessarily true because Eject was sneaky, but a symbiot on the streets was always in danger. Mecha cared if you hurt other mecha, but the only time they cared about a symbiot was if someone owned them.

"In any case, I won't have another chance because I think he actually will manage to get away."

Steeljaw sighed. It's too dark out here. And the shelter is a long way.

"It's not that far," Blaster said. "It'll be fine."

Steeljaw jumped at every shadow, reminding Blaster that he was an inside cat, and not used to being outside in the off-cycle. His nervousness was infectious and Blaster started to get a little anxious as well, but they made it to the shelter without anything happening or any adults catching them.

Blaster expanded his range to cover the whole building. Fortunately, he wasn't too late, and Eject was still there, trying to figure out how to get the latch on his cage open.

"So…" Steeljaw said.

"He'll come out this way," Blaster said. "Through the back… he's pretty fast. I might need you to jump on him."

"Jump on him?" Steeljaw asked, perturbed. That wouldn't be very polite.

"You'll probably terrify him," Blaster said. "But it's fine, as long as you don't hurt him."

Steeljaw looked down at his yellow pedes. "Well, all right," he said quietly.

Blaster sat against the wall, amused. If something bad did happen, he'd probably be the one protecting his cat, not the other way around.

They waited. Blaster listened as Eject got free from the cage and crept through the building to the back door where they were waiting.

The door opened a crack and the little mech slipped out and started down the road.

Steeljaw leaped at him with a low growl. Eject jumped so hard his pedes left the ground, but he didn't get out of the way in time and Steeljaw landed on him, pinning him down.

Eject screamed.

Blaster pushed away from the wall, wincing. It would have been funny, but Eject was terrified.

"I'm horribly sorry," Steeljaw said, but didn't let him up. "Are you all right?"

Some of Eject's fear left. "What… get off of me!"

"Sorry," Blaster said. "Steeljaw, let him up."

Steeljaw did so, and Eject got up and brushed himself off, then looked up at Blaster, before staring at Steeljaw again.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Steeljaw asked.

Eject let out a shaky giggle. "You scared me half to death," he said. "What was that for?"

"Again, sorry," Blaster said. "We just wanted to talk to you before you left."

"What are you doing here in the middle of the off-cycle, youngling?" Eject said. "And how did you know I was…" He frowned up at Blaster.

"We probably shouldn't talk here," Blaster said. "Someone might have heard you scream. Come on."

I should probably just run for it.

"But don't you want to know how I knew you were going to break out?" Blaster asked.

Well, yes, as a matter of fact… hey…

"I'm not going to try to capture or trick you," Blaster said. "You broke out so you kind of have a right to leave. But I wanted to talk to you before that, if it's all right."

He will try to talk me into staying with him, but I've got places to go and things to see.. How did he know I was going to break out, though? And why is he out here alone?

"Ok," Eject said. "We can talk."

Blaster led the way back toward Keepsake and Cam's house, but they didn't get all the way there before he took a detour and stopped in an empty alleyway.

"So," Eject said. "Aren't your creators going to worry about you?"

"They aren't my creators, I'm adopted," Blaster said. "I'm an orphan and I lived in Iacon Central. I'd break out all the time to go exploring in the city and then bring back things for the other younglings from the outside."

"That's cool," Eject said. I kind of do that too, with the temple…

"So I understand the need to be free. Sometimes being here and staying put is hard. But when I disappear from school, Keepsake and Cam really worry."

Eject nodded. "I feel for you. But that doesn't mean I'm going to get myself into a trap like that. You've got a couple of symbiots already, right?"

"Yes," Blaster said. "I do. But I need more. They help me."

Help him what? I'm missing something here. "You said you'd tell me how you knew I was going to break out and why you came by yourself to talk to me."

"Yeah," Blaster said, suddenly not so sure. "I guess the reason I knew was that I heard… I heard you thinking about it."

Eject looked up sharply. He's… "A telepath! You're a telepath?" Oh Primus! Like the last guardian!

"So you do know what that is," Blaster said. "I thought… I thought I picked it up from your thoughts. That's why I wanted to tell you."

"Yes!" Eject said. "I mean I don't know one. He offlined… like two hundred vorns ago. My friend Rewind at the symbiot temple knew him, though. Another telepath… that's crazy!"

"Shhh," Steeljaw said. "The temple's a secret, keep your voice down."

"Ok," Eject said more quietly. "Are there others? Were your creators telepaths?"

Blaster shook his helm "I wasn't sparked as a telepath." He didn't like to think about it, much less talk about it. "I was a science experiment."

"Oh," Eject said, "Well, it doesn't matter. You could be the next guardian of the temple!"

"What?" Blaster said.

"You really need to keep your voice down," Steeljaw hissed. "No one is supposed to know about that."

"I have a friend," Eject said. "He lives there. He knew the last telepath, and he'll want to meet you, I'm sure of it! I can bring him here."

"What exactly is this temple?" Blaster said, trying to figure it out. He knew of the existence of the symbiot temple, but no one usually talked about it. Its exact location was known only by symbiots and they were careful not to tell anyone.

"It's where symbiots are sparked," Eject said. "Rewind says the guardians were traditionally telepaths. We haven't had a real guardian since the last one offlined. He knew there was no one to replace him, so he held on for thousands of vorns without fading, but he's gone now."

"Stop telling him things out in the open," Steeljaw said. It's a secret for a reason. What's wrong with this mech?

Eject took in a deep vent and let it out. "Sorry," he said. "I'm too excited."

"Can I go to the temple?" Blaster asked quietly.

Eject shook his helm. "I don't think so. At least not without permission from the current steward. But I can go there and tell everyone about you, and they'll definitely want to come talk to you."

"Ok," Blaster said.

"You'll have to let me go, though," Eject said. "And it'll be a long trip unless I can sneak through a groundbridge." Simfur is a long way away. I haven't been there for… a vorn, I think.

"Fine," Blaster said. "But promise you'll come back with your friend."

"I promise!" Eject said, and then scampered off into the night. Steeljaw and Blaster watched him go.

Blaster hoped the little mech didn't get lost or forget or get in trouble. But there was nothing he could do to ensure that.

"Ok," he said. "Let's go back home and see if we can sneak in without Keepsake and Cam finding out."

Steeljaw followed him down the alley and toward his caretakers' apartment.

They slipped in without being detected, and Blaster stayed up late into the off-cycle, thinking about what Eject had said, and hoping the little mech would come back soon.

But orns turned into decaorns, which turned into quartexes, and he didn't show up.