A/N: I swear I can put these though grammar correction programs dozens of times over and there'd still be grammar mistakes present. I always try find and to fix them even after uploading them, but still its annoying as hell.
Anyway, enough of that. Here's chapter 9. Enjoy :)
'It's just my imagination. A byproduct of brain damage I got from the Rorke's Drift attack.' That was what Jaune kept telling himself. 'I mean come on, talking and self-driving motorcycle? That stuff doesn't exist.' It was the only logical explanation he could think of.
Yet, when he was beaten and almost stabbed by the mugger, those things did happen. The unconscious criminal and dent in the dumpster were proof of that. It didn't make sense! What was happening?
Jaune decided to take a different way home, a dirt path in the woods. Though his parents advised against it in case of Grimm, he and his sisters rode their old bikes down there when they were younger. He needed to get away from people to try and clear his thoughts, to try and make sense of what was happening.
"Jaune, we need to talk."
His head snapped down at his bike the moment he heard the feminine voice, the same one he heard from the alleyway. A voice he swore he heard once before but couldn't place where. Maybe a dream?
"What do you want to talk about?" He asked his bike.
"There's a couple of things I want to discuss with you," it… she replied.
"Uh… sure," Jaune took a moment to look behind him and then back down the road. "Maybe not here though. It's empty for now but what if someone else comes along?"
"I was about to bring that up as well. Let's go off the road and into the woods so no one will see us," she said.
"Sounds good," Jaune agreed and turned to the forest. A small part of his mind raised red flags and told him he was going to get murdered by the sentient motorcycle, like in some cheesy horror movie. He quickly pushed it aside. They were in the forest for a while now, and she had plenty of chances to kill him already. If it wanted to, it would have a while ago.
"I think we're far in enough," the bike said as it slowed down to a stop on its own, taking Jaune off guard a little bit for a moment. Jaune flipped the kickstand down and got off of it. "Now I know you have q-"
"What are you?" He said quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, that was rude of me."
"Apology accepted," she said with sympathy. "You've been through a lot recently."
"Yeah," Jaune nodded. "Getting back on topic: What exactly are you?" The motorcycle was quiet for a few moments.
"...I'm an advanced prototype motorcycle made by Atlas," she said.
"An advanced Atlesian motorcycle?"
"Yes," she continued. "I was made to help transport specialists in and out of combat zones with the Grimm and provide intelligence to them."
Jaune stared at the motorcycle. The more he thought about it, the clearer the flaws in her explanation became apparent. He was glad his world history class covered Atlas recently. "You're a prototype made by Atlas for their military. Since you can talk, I'm assuming you must be an artificial intelligence?"
"... yes actually. The most advanced one Atlas has ever made," she said. The area was filled with silence as Jaune just stared at it. "You don't believe a word I'm saying, do you?"
"No I don't," He said bluntly. "Why would the most advanced kingdom have a prototype this far away from their borders for testing? And why would it openly tell me that?" As soon as he said those words, a pang of fear dwelled inside of him. If this thing wasn't from Atlas, then where was it from? Did he just stumble upon something top secret? Did he now know too much and was now going-
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard her sigh. "Ah, it was worth a shot anyway. Jaune, look..." the front wheel turned to him, making him take a frightened step back. "I can see that you're afraid right now, but please see that I don't mean any harm to you," she said softly. Jaune didn't know why, but he found himself believing her and calmed down slightly. "I also no longer see any point in hiding what I am from you. Just take a few steps back and try not to freak out."
Jaune did as asked and took three paces backward. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He had no idea what was going to happen. He tried to prepare himself for anything. Yet he was still caught off guard by what happened next.
Slowly, the body of the motorcycle started to change, morph into something else, startling Jaune and making him take a few more paces back. The first thing recognizable to him was the formation of legs as it stood up. The body formed soon after, with its arms slowly stretching out from the sides. Finally, out came the head. She let out a breath of air and her eyes opened, revealing a bright teal-like glow from her pupils.
Jaune could only stare at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. He had so many thoughts and questions running through his head at once and couldn't comprehend them all at once. HE was just too stunned at the giant robot standing in front of him. Eventually, he was able to say something.
"Oh my god," he muttered. His fist clenched and stopped his hand from shaking. He looked back down to her feet and then back up to her head. The gears in his head slowly started to turn again. "You uh… y-you're not from R-Remnant… are you?" He managed to ask.
The giant robot seemed to smirk a little at that. "Perceptive little one. No, I am not." Her smirk soon dropped and Jaune could somehow see a form of concern in her artificial eyes. "I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?"
"I… kind of? This… this is kind of a lot to take in." Jaune slowly admitted. He wasn't entirely sure of what to feel or say in this situation.
The robot turned away. "Slag, I could have done this better." She shook her head and looked back to him. "Look I... " she sighed, "would you feel more comfortable if we continued this conversation later, like tonight?"
Jaune thought for a moment. "Uh… sure. I think that would be better." They were silent for a few more moments. "I guess we should head back to my home now?"
"Right, we should do that," Arcee agreed and transformed back into the motorcycle. Jaune was perplexed at how such a large thing was able to compact itself into something so small, but he shelved that thought for another time.
He then slowly got on it and they drove back to the dirt path and continued home. Jaune was lost in his thoughts when a particular one came to mind.
"Hey uh, robot lady, do you have a name?" He asked.
"I should have mentioned that, sorry. My name is Arcee," she replied.
"Arcee," Jaune repeated to get a feel for it. "Ok, I was just wondering. Thanks."
"No problem Jaune."
The rest of the ride was filled with awkward silence.
'I could have done that better,' Arcee thought as she sat in her alt-form in the shed. When she revealed her true nature to Jaune, she sort of expected him to freak out a little bit but then calm down once she explained and then the two to engage in some kind of dialogue. But then when she saw his nervousness she backed down and felt awkward herself for making him feel that way.
The whole thing was awkward and could have been done better.
When they got back, Jaune said he'd come back to talk with her as soon as he can later. But the star set over the horizon a while ago and he hasn't arrived yet. Was he getting held up, or did she scare him and make him afraid to talk to her?
Just before she could contemplate further, the shed door opened and Jaune walked in. "Uh, hey Arcee," he waved as he closed the door behind him.
"Hello again," Arcee greeted, she would have been smiling with glee if she wasn't in her alt-form. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."
"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized. "I had to wait until everyone else was asleep or in bed before I came out here. Didn't want anyone, especially my little sister's, following me out here. They're already worried about me as it is."
"That's good, the fewer people that know about me, the better," Arcee said. She already was taking a huge risk with Jaune. Having more people know would just complicate things further. "Wait, they were worried about you?"
"Finding out my motorcycle is actually a robotic alien isn't exactly the best way to stay completely calm," Jaune sighed. "They knew something was up but I was able to play it off as shock from getting mugged. Though I panicked and said there were multiple muggers, and they didn't want to let me out of their sight after that."
Arcee couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You can't blame them for caring about your safety."
"I don't, and I love them. It's just… never mind, we're getting off track." Jaune shook his head before training his attention back to her. "So uh… you're an alien robot, huh?"
"Yep," she replied. "You're taking it rather well, more so than one would assume."
"Well… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to expect or do," he admitted and paused for a moment. "Um, I do have some questions I wanted to ask."
"I also have some for you, if you don't mind," she said.
"I don't mind. Should you go first or should I?" He made hand gestures to emphasize his question.
"I'm your guest so you can go first," she offered.
"Thank you." Jaune smiled and opened his mouth to speak but paused and took a moment to look around the shed. "Would you mind if you're in your… not motorcycle form? Feels kind of weird when it seems like I'm talking to a vehicle."
"Sure." Arcee honestly didn't mind. Even back on Cybertron, she found it rather awkward to talk to someone when one or both of them were in their alt-forms. She and many others preferred the personal touch of a face to face conversation. "But I don't think I'll be able to fit in here."
"Yeah, the shed did seem a little small." Jaune took a moment to cup his chin. "If you want we can go out back in the woods."
"Won't your family see us if we leave?"
"No. It's late at night so everyone is either asleep or they retired for the night, as long as you don't rev the engine and we stay in the forest then we'll be good," Jaune explained.
"Good thinking," she complimented, "though I'll need you to push me out if you don't want any noise." She could move herself and make a minimum amount of noise doing so, but she didn't want to risk anyone hearing them.
"Ok," Jaune nodded. He then opened the door and wheeled her out to the forest. It wasn't lost to her how he kept cautiously glancing back to the windows. It actually gave Arcee a bit of comfort knowing that he was serious about keeping her a secret as she was.
"Ok, I think we're good," Jaune said as he stopped pushing her after a while. "You can uh… transform now."
Arcee did so, but whereas before she did so slowly so that she wouldn't scare him, this time she did so at normal speed. She turned to look down and face him and saw him looking over her with curiosity. "Something on your mind?"
"Nope," Jaune shook his head and looked up at her. "Well, I'm just still a little stumped at how someone as big as you fit into that small motorcycle and still be so light. Seriously, it's like you weigh nothing at all."
"Trade secret," she said with a smirk and sat down cross-legged against… a tree it was called, assuming she overheard those soldiers correctly. "Well, I'm here to answer any questions, so ask away."
"Alright," he then sat crossed-legged across from her. "I guess I'll start with the basic ones I have first. Who and what are you? Where are you from and why are you here?"
Arcee figured those would be the first types of questions he would ask, and had time to think of those answers. "Well, as I said before, my name is Arcee. I am a cybernetic organism and I come from a planet named Cybertron." She paused for a moment and Jaune nodded for her to continue. "As for why I'm here, it's more of an accident really. I didn't plan on it. An energy source on my ship malfunctioned and exploded. I was knocked into stasis for a long time. When I woke up, my ship was all but destroyed and inoperable, and I saw fit to start exploring my new surroundings and to see if I could see where I was."
She purposely left out the parts about the Heart of Cybertron and the fighting with the Decepticons. She didn't see a need to tell him that information, at least for now.
"Makes sense I suppose," Jaune looked down for a moment. "What were you doing at Rorke's Drift, the town I found you in?"
It took a moment for Arcee to figure out where he was going take this. "I actually woke and started to explore earlier that day. Later on, I saw the smoke. I decided to investigate and came across the town," she took a moment to metaphorically shake the memories of what she's seen out of her head, but it didn't go unnoticed by Jaune. "I eventually ended up in the main square, the whole place was a mess." Jaune's face quickly morphed to one relieving a pained memory, one she's seen on many Autobot veterans. Arcee felt bad but continued. "That's right around when the monsters- the Grimm came. They had me surrounded on all sides, but I wasn't going to let them all go and walk away, not after what they did."
"Wait," Jaune perked up quickly, looking up at her with recognition. "The explosions and fighting… that was you?"
Arcee nodded her head. "I guess you heard that?"
"I thought it was a huntress. T-the Grimm were actually right on top of where I was hiding. They were about to get me but then they were drawn off towards the fighting. You saved my life. Thank you."
Arcee couldn't help but match his small smile. "It's what I do, glad I was able to help you."
"I-" Jaune's words were interrupted when they heard a musical tune playing. Arcee tilted her head to the side in confusion. Jaune then pulled a scroll out of his pocket, which quickly became apparent to be the source of the music.
'They use music as an alert to transmissions?' Arcee thought. 'Odd… has a beat though.' She made a note to ask about that music later.
"Oh boy," Jaune sighed as he tapped the screen. "Hey mom, what's u-"
"Jaune, where are you?" Arcee heard his mother say through the scroll. She didn't sound amused.
"I uh..." Jaune looked around and at Arcee. "I wasn't tired so I felt like a quick drive would do the trick?"
A sigh was heard through the scroll. "Just get back here, you shouldn't be out this late, especially on a school night."
'They have schools here?' Arcee should have realized that that was obvious, given that this society developed very similarly to Cybertron's (something that still left her in awe yet creeped out at the same time), she guessed it was one of those things she just overlooked because it was obvious until you pointed it out.
"Ok ok, I'll be back soon," Jaune said as he put the scroll again. "I'm afraid we're gonna have to cut this short."
"It's not a problem, we can continue this another time," Arcee said as she transformed.
"Ok, I'll be sure to answer any questions you have later." Jaune mounted her and they started driving back to the house. But seconds later, a very important thought crossed Arcee's mind.
"Hey Jaune, one quick question. What's your species called?" She asked.
"Uh, human. We're called humans," Jaune replied.
"Human… odd name, but I guess it's better than referring to 'you creatures' all the time."
"What did you think we were called?"
"I overheard some soldiers call this planet 'Remnant,' I was going to assume it would be something like 'remnantian' or 'remini'."
"...that sounds dumb," Jaune failed to suppress a soft snicker.
"No it is not, it makes sense when you consider that my planet is named Cybertron and we are called cybertronians," she countered.
"That's actually better than what I was mentally calling you earlier," Jaune admitted.
"What did you call me?" she asked with curiosity.
"... transformer," he said after a moment of silence.
"You thought I was called a transformer?"
"Well, you are able to transform from a robot to a motorcycle. Transform. Transformer. It made sense," he defended himself.
"By that logic, you should be called a walker."
"...you know, yeah, that does sound stupid," Jaune admitted with a chuckle. Arcee joined in as well. She may not have gotten any of the answers or information she wanted, but she seemed to be on good terms with Jaune. It was a small step and she wished more could have happened, but it was progress nonetheless.
They then arrived back to the backyard. Joanne Arc could be seen standing next to the shed, her crossed arms and facial expression clearly showed her annoyance. They pulled up and stopped in front of the shed door, right next to her.
"I-" Jaune said, but was immediately interrupted.
"It's almost midnight, and you're out riding your motorcycle in the woods in the dark," Mrs. Arc stated.
"Sorry," Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "I just had some things on my mind and wanted to get a clear head."
"There are better ways to do that than going out into the woods this late at night. Unless there's something you're not telling me, or are afraid to tell me," her eyes narrowed in accusation.
"Wait what?! No! Nononono!" Jaune shouted quickly. "I was doing nothing like that! I honestly just was taking a short dumb drive through the forest. Nothing else."
Joanne was quiet for a few moments. "You're hiding something." Arcee felt Jaune's hands tighten on her handlebars, and she felt a pang of worry dwell inside of her. Though it was short lived. "But not whatever I'm thinking of." Her expression softened and her arms fell to her side. "Just please promise me you're not doing anything you'll regret."
Jaune relaxed as he held one hand up while the other was placed on his chest. "I promise I'm not doing anything I'll regret, mom, Arc's word."
Joanne visible relaxed after hearing that. "Alright, I believe you," she said softly. "Just put your bike away and get some sleep for school tomorrow."
"Ok mom," Jaune nodded, "I'm just going to clean some dirt off my bike before I come in." Joanne nodded and walked back to the house as Jaune rolled Arcee into the shed.
"We need to be more careful in the future," Arcee said, "unless you're thinking of telling them-"
"No," Jaune interrupted. "I'd rather just keep this between us."
"Thank you," Arcee sighed in relief, "I was honestly hoping for that."
"I'd rather not worry them about this. She knows something is up but doesn't know what. I can play it off as something else and keep you hidden."
"Good. Shall we pick this up tomorrow morning?"
"Ye-... no. I have school most of tomorrow and the rest of the week." Jaune said. "Oh crap, I forgot to mention that since you're… well, my bike, I told them that I was going to use it to get to school from now on."
"Oh… hmm," Arcee hummed at the revelation. "How often would I have to do this?"
"Five days a seven day week... for most of the year," Jaune winced after he spoke. "I'm sorry I'm basically am making you-"
"It's ok," Arcee interrupted, "it's just a slight inconvenience. I'm fine. You should hurry back inside before your mom gets suspicious."
"Ok then. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night Arcee."
"Good night Jaune." Arcee didn't know if 'good night' was some kind of farewell, but she returned it regardless. As soon as Jaune left and she was sure he was out of hearing distance, she quietly sighed to herself.
She was actually a little annoyed at her current predicament. Staying hidden from the rest of the planet's population and governments was a top priority and acting as Jaune's personal vehicle was a good cover, but doing so would also severely limit her ability to move around. She was hoping to make a run to the ship. She wanted to reassess the damage, make a few repairs if she could, and maybe even take a few energon cubes and make a hidden stash somewhere close to Jaune's home to shorten future supply runs.
That could wait though. She wasn't in a need for more energon and wouldn't be for a long while. The wait would be long and the boredom would take a toll on her, but she suffered worse on Cybertron. She once waited over a dozen rotationary cycles prone in one spot on a scouting mission. If she could last through that, she could last through this.
In the meantime, she would think of an idea on how to make this deal mutual beneficial.
A/N: Nothing really to say here for a closing, so...
Thanks to Cyberleader2000 for betaing.
Thanks you for reading! Have a great day :)
