Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Authoress: *smiles widely* This looks exciting!
Trecke: Well, you are starting with me, so that is positive over Fable...though you should have started with my love and leader.
Fable: *smirks* Oh, she can't start with me. Outside of our leader, I am going to have the best part. *evil laughter*
Authoress: *joins Fable in laughter*
Sentinel: *sighs* Might as well start calling the psychiatrists now. The audience is going to need them.
Chapter 8: Diving into Humanity
Trecke's 1st P.O.V.
I had finally found it. A place in human society that was a center for information on humanity. While I was fond of the planet we were on, I had yet to find a place where I could go during breaks to relax. This was that spot. My love had been very kind to allow Fable and me the chance to come out after training and relax as we saw fit. I knew that Fable, as Raum, was meeting up with Lizzie at a place called a 'malt shoppe'. I wasn't sure what that was, but I was sure that we would end up going as a team eventually.
Over the past eight solars, our team had spent a decent amount of time with the human woman. I noticed that my love seemed to be growing closer to her than even Raum was. It was an interesting development that I would keep an optic on.
Of course, I pushed those thoughts to the side as I grabbed another stack of books to take to where I was seated. This 'public library' held a plethora of information in many different mediums about the history of humans. I was gaining such an insight into humans simply by reading everything that I had so far. It seemed that humans, in their short period of existence, had seen many different technological and militaristic changes. It was fascinating to see the different tactical advances that humans would make and the relatively short time it took them to invent these.
Actually, throughout the study that I had done so far, I was starting to draw many similar parallels between Earth's history with that of Cybertron. It was strange how, even though the beings that ruled Earth were so much younger than our species, and lived much shorter life-spans, that their histories shared many similarities with our own.
One stark example was a system that the humans' 'Roman Empire' put into effect and one of the major aspects of history that they are known for. The Colosseum. A grand structure that stood even to this solar, that held a history as deadly and bloody as our gladiator pits. A government that was in a tight spot and needed to distract their citizens. So, what better way than with a location where they could let out their primal urges? Bloodsport.
I was quite an intelligent bot if I do say so, and I studied the history of Cybertron well. It helped me when making my strategies. The Council, during the time when the gladiator pits started to come into fame, was struggling with their credits. So, their civilians started to pay for their debts. Of course, the Council of the time had to find a way to distract their citizens from this fact. So, in came the gladiator pits.
There were many more examples that I had come across that connected Earth with Cybertron, but that was the most relevant one that I had come across so far. I could delve more into those thoughts but there was a book about Earth's myths in front of me, and a rather old copy if I was to judge from the delicate state of the book, that was just screaming at me to read it.
"Are you studying to be a history major?"
I glanced up and noticed a young-looking human standing in front of me. Well, not as young as the boy who worked with Lizzie, or Lizzie herself, but not old. Maybe about thirty stellar cycles old. He had blue eyes and silver hair. What was impressive though, was that he was taller than many of the humans I have seen. Maybe six foot six, possibly more.
To answer his question though... "No, just a hobby of mine." And gathering information was a part of my job. I would always work on improving to help my love and leader make us the most fearsome team to ever come out of the Autobots.
The man looked around at the books scattered around my table. "Pretty dedicated to your hobby." He then held out a hand. "I'm George. George Lafayette."
Well, he seemed interesting and it was always good to get information from more than one source. "I'm Micha. Micha Forfax." I then motioned at the seat across from me.
George took the seat and, once he was settled, he picked up one of the books about Earth's myths that I had grabbed. "So, found anything of interest yet?"
Shaking my helm, I picked up another of the mythology books. Learning about how humans viewed the world around them in the ancient past would give me some insights on how they evolved to think like they did this solar. "It depends really. From everything that I have read, there seems to be just as much chaos influencing human history as order. It's not something that I am used to seeing."
On Cybertron, it was easy to see that most of our past was made from order and, when chaos did influence something on the planet, it was disastrous. Lives were lost and, normally, life would not move forward for a long time...even by our standards. But here, the acts of chaos and the acts of order could bring about the same sort of results. It was not a reaction that, being a Cybertronian, I was used to seeing.
This George gave me a strange look before he smiled. "Of course, it is strange to think about chaos and how vital it plays a part in our everyday lives. Imagine what everyday life would be like if the world ran completely on chaos? Never knowing the truth behind anything and not being able to trust what you think you know, for it could change in an instant. That would be a true hell on Earth."
"Yes, and that makes chaos a dangerous factor to use. That just makes it even more strange that we humans seem to depend on it for so much of our interactions in the world. Why not get rid of chaos entirely?" Listening to him was just proving that Chaos was not something that should be a part of our every-solar existence. Yet, humans seemed to use it so much. Why not just depend on order?
I was not expecting George to suddenly let out a laugh at my response. "Don't go judging chaos. Just because it is unpredictable, that does not make it bad in any sense." I was still confused and I think that the human saw this because he let out a sigh. "Look, why not try to imagine life without any chaos in it at all, as you suggested. There would be no discovery. No chances. No choices. Your entire life would be laid out for you and you would have no choice but to follow it. We wouldn't even be talking now if it wasn't for chaos. I had not planned on meeting you today, but the chaos that surrounds us allowed this meeting to take place."
Never in my existence had I looked at chaos like that before. Being raised on Cybertron, I was always taught that chaos was equivalent to Unicron and that anything to do with the Destroyer of Worlds was to be avoided at all costs. But, talking with George, I was starting to see chaos played a bigger role in my existence than I had ever realized. Without Chaos in my life, I would have never met my love and leader...and without chaos then what I learned at the beginning of boot camp would have never…
"Professor Lafayette!" Both George and I jumped when a young woman with a book in her hands came up to us. "I'm sorry but is this the book on the twenty-first century that you suggested I find?"
George seemed to be used to this kind of conversation because he simply nodded. "Yes, it is, Clair. I have found that the book gives one of the most accurate histories of that period that I have ever found. You also might want to look in the newspaper archive section of the computer files. People in the twenty-first century spend a lot of time reporting about many different aspects of their lives."
The girl, Clair, nodded. "Thank you. I'll go and look at that right now. This paper you're having us write is going to need all the information I can get." She then turned and walked away.
When he turned back to me, I confronted George about that. "So, it is Professor George Lafayette. That was why you were wondering if I was a history major." When we had been talking, I had used my actual processor to look up what he was asking me. He had been asking me, of course, if I was studying in their higher education system with a focus on their historical studies.
George at least had the decency to look slightly guilty at my statement. "I've been getting a lot of transfers into my class lately and it has been hard to keep track of everyone. I am here with my class today to allow them time to research for their final paper. I thought you were one of us." He then smiled. "It has still been great to discuss this with you. I'll have to remember this talk for my Psychology of History class that I co-teach with the psychology professor. I am sure that she will love to use our talk for an assignment."
Well, if I could help in the learning of any species, that was a good thing. Plus, this talk has given me a large amount of insight into humans. So, it was a win-win situation. "I am glad that I have been able to help." Since he was an interesting human, I decided that talking to him more would not be a bad idea. "So, what is your area of expertise in history?"
Fable's 1st P.O.V.
I had no idea what Trecke was doing with his free time this solar, but I was so happy that I was where I was at. I had just sat down in a booth at Frankie's Malt Shoppe, the place that Lizzie first took me to, and I was currently waiting for her to arrive. Her shift was to end soon and then she said that she was going to meet me here. Being around her was a lot of fun and I found that the human was becoming closer to, not just me, but to the team as well.
I had noticed the looks that my caesar had been sending her way and the looks that she would throw his way when he wasn't looking. Oh, the plans that I was making. I just had to make sure that everything worked out. I needed to make sure that Lizzie and my precious leader stayed close together.
The sound of the door chime going off caused me to turn toward the entrance. A smile came onto my soliform's face when Lizzie walked in. It didn't take her long to find me and walk over. "Hey, Raum."
"Lizzie, right on time," I responded to her greeting.
"I'll get both of your regulars," Frankie called to both of us.
Leaning in our booth so I could see him, I smirked, "You don't disappoint me, my friend."
He let out a laugh. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment from you Raum." He then moved to start making our desserts. While Lizzie always gets the same thing, Frankie knew that my 'regular' meant for him to make me something that I hadn't tried before.
"So, Raum," Lizzie started, "I've been wanting to thank you." I raised an optic ridge in confusion at that. "What I mean is that I want to thank you and your team. Michael, he came through on his promise to help keep down the damage. I've noticed most of your fights move from the city to outside of it quickly, if not outright just start there."
Ah, that's what she meant. "Lizzie, we should be the ones thanking you. As Autobots, we are supposed to try and keep casualties as low as we possibly can. Team Orion went lax on that position and it cost, not them but, your people. As a responsible team, we felt it our duty to show you that we will make our main goal your safety while fighting here."
Lizzie smiled a bit more. "Still, thank you for following through with that."
Well, if she wasn't going to back down, then I had better concede. "Then I must say you are welcome, Lizzie."
Our conversation then stopped when Frankie brought us our ice cream. "Thank you, Frankie," Lizzie practically beamed at him.
"It looks just perfect for dissection Frankie. You outdid yourself."
The man nodded. "I've learned it's best to keep Lizzie happy." He then leaned to me and whispered, "She's not reasonable when she is angry."
"Agreed."
"Hey!" Lizzie yelled at our teasing.
"They aren't wrong Lizzie."
At the new voice, all three of us turned to see Evan, the one who spoke, and Tim, Lizzie's co-workers, standing there.
"I'll get your orders made right away boys," Frankie said to them before he went back behind the counter.
Lizzie and I then made room in our booth for them. Lizzie moved over for Evan while I stepped out of the booth to let Tim in. I wanted to be on the outside in case my leader called me in. "So, what took you so long to get here?' Well, guess she knew they were going to be here.
Evan nudged Tim before saying, "He had a paper due in one of his classes that he forgot to turn in yesterday so he arranged to drop it off at the coffee shop near the hospital. His teach was a little late getting there though."
Lizzie looked worried at that. "You didn't get in trouble for that, did you?"
The boy in question immediately held up his hands and waved them toward her in a placating way. "No Lizzie I'm all good. It was due today but the teacher canceled the class. So, I just had to get it to him."
When Lizzie let out a sigh of relief, I realized that she did care for these two co-workers of hers. In a way, they were her team. While I had my leader Sentinel and Trecke, though the latter could be confusing at times, Lizzie had Evan and Tim. As a team, they should be informed on all the same information and, currently, Lizzie knew something that they didn't.
"So, what have you two been talking about?" Evan asked as he motioned to the two of us. As he did, Frankie walked over and placed their ice cream in front of each boy before he went to go and help more customers.
As the two of them took the first bite of their ice cream, I smirked before answering them. "Lizzie was just thanking my team and me for making sure that we showed that we could watch our steps being on your planet as Cybertronians."
I smirked at the instant gagging reaction that both boys gave as they choked on their ice cream at my answer. Ah, that was a fun sound to hear. Of course, my soliform flinched when Lizzie suddenly hit me in the shoulder. "Raum!"
That was all she had to say and I knew she was upset that I purposefully waited for them to be eating to tell them that. "Are you…" Evan tried to start before he coughed a little. "Are you seriously an Autobot?"
I gave a simple nod in response to that. "And that means that those other guys with you...they are a part of your team?" This time it was Tim who asked that.
Again, I nodded though I felt like making sure that they understood something. "Yes, though I do not lead my team. That is left to one much more capable and deserving than I could ever hope to accomplish. My position gives me just enough wiggle room to dissect everything that I can."
"That's awesome man!" Evan exclaimed before he pulled a notebook out of his bag. "Can I get an autograph?"
While I wanted to, I knew that Lizzie was still going to want to try and guess which one I was once she met my team in the bot. "Sorry Evan, but Lizzie is challenging herself to guess who I am once she meets my real form. Shouldn't tempt her too much."
Evan looked upset for a nano before he smiled again. "That sounds alright, as long as Tim and I get to meet,"
"Well look what we have here boys, Tired Tim and his gang of freaks."
Lizzie and Evan growled, and Tim seemed to grow nervous, as a group of four college boys walked up and stopped at our table. Taking in the sight of the four, I didn't feel very impressed with the test subjects. Seemed below average in intelligence, if that was the best insult that they could try at my friend with. Their builds didn't scream anything special and, while the dyeing of their helm-colorings and the piercings were curious, it wasn't something I would normally waste my time on.
However, there was the point that he insulted one of my friends, and that was something I could not stand by and let happen.
"I believe I much prefer to be a freak then the blind, mindless, and practically useless insect that you seem to be," I smirked and took a drink as the four processed my reaction.
The one with blue and green colored helm-covering moved so he could study me better. "So, Tim-py seems to have gained a new freak in his collection." The human then met my eyes, a form of an alpha-status challenge if I remembered Trecke's learning reports correctly. So, I simply held his gaze, smirking the entire time. This subject had no idea who he was challenging. I only allowed one alpha in my existence and it was my precious leader.
"Jack, just leave them alone and get out of here. We don't want any trouble." Tim seemed to try and act as a mediator. Well, this was also a challenge against him so I would let him try.
This Jack didn't seem to like Tim's one chance for him to escape this. As he reached for Tim, he spoke. "Look at this, boys. Tim-py seems to be all tough around his freaks. Let's teach them a,"
As soon as his hand attached itself to Tim's helm-covering in a vice-like grip, I had enough. Quickly, I placed a hand behind the subject's helm before slamming his forehead against the table. Once I saw the action caused him to release Tim, I yanked his head back and threw him toward his 'friends'.
"Raum, don't." I heard Lizzie try and stop me as I stood.
"I'm sorry Lizzie, but when something attacks my friends, and what they care about, I will not stand back and watch," I responded to her. As the other test subjects helped their leader to his feet, I glanced at Lizzie and saw her look changed from worry to steely approval. With a single nod from her, I knew that it was time to let as loose as I was able without getting my leader in serious trouble.
That left a lot of room for me to work.
As I turned back to my new test subjects, the leader finally seemed to get himself stable. Interesting. I thought, from his talk that it wouldn't have taken him this long. "What the fuck? Who do you think you,"
"Silence subject h6." I quickly cut off the human that, to me, didn't deserve to be addressed by his designation. "You have all shown me that you are failed examples of humanity. A human such as Tim works extremely hard and attends higher education all the while making sure to spend time with similar examples of exemplary people." I then flexed my hands in anticipation of what was to come.
"What are you waiting for?" Subject h6 aka 'Jack' spoke to subjects h7-9. "We outnumber him four to one!"
It was almost humorous. The fact that these four thought that they could challenge me. As I blocked the three stooges of h6, I continued to speak. "However, in being failed subjects of humanity, that does give you an opportunity that I am extremely excited to be presented with." I then smirked as I started to knock these other three subjects back toward their leader. It was at this point that I noticed that their 'leader' had not accompanied them in their attack. Coward. "Test subjects for my work are hard to come by, and yet here you are, presenting yourselves to me like swine to the sacrifice."
As the three regrouped with their leader, I noticed the coloring in their fleshy faces go away slightly at my words. I felt my smirk grew as I realized that they were feeling the first effects of the terror they should be feeling. "Man, you're crazy! What the hell are you talking about?" H7 spoke up. Ah, seemed like these underlings could speak up when their leader did not. A very interesting piece of information to dissect.
I felt practically giddy as I took a single step toward them and they reacted by stepping back in equal distance. "While flattery like that normally may help your cases slightly, you have attacked my friend. As such, your lives are nothing to me. Humans seem to be such fragile creatures, and your life can even be endangered by yourselves. Yet you four carelessly throw your self-preservation away to attack someone else. I simply must find out what causes you to feel like that." I then moved forward quickly and, after knocking h7, h8, and h9 away, I grabbed h6 by the throat and held him against the wall.
Hearing the sounds of his gagging as the tips of his human pedes barely touched the floor was invigorating. "F...fuck...fuck you." That was all that h6 could strangle out of his strained vocals.
"No, while the aspect of human mating procedures is interesting to me, I don't mix myself with failed examples of my test subjects." I then slightly loosened my grip on the subject to see his full reaction to my next statement. "However, I will be seeing how all of your bodies function when I get you on my dissection table." I then felt a shiver of joy travel down my soliform's spine as I continued. "Oh, the acts of exscinding, exsecting, prosecting, and dissecting all four of you while you squirm under my blade. I can barely contain myself."
That was when the color truly left h6's complexion. There it was. I almost drank in the full terror as it seeped into his fleshy optics. "M...mon…"
"Oh, don't try flattering me now." I stopped the boy. Then, I threw him with the other failed subjects as I blocked the door. "Now, unless you want me to give in to my sweet desires, this is what you will do. You will stop terrorizing my friends and turn your lives around. I will hear if you do not follow my words. If that should happen, I will not hesitate to carry out what I have spoken to you."
I stared at the four humans who were lacking color in their faces for a few clicks, to make sure my point got across to each of them before I moved out of the way of the door. The four of them seemed to glance between myself and their exit in an almost comical way before they all bolted out of the shoppe.
Once the door closed behind them, I realized that the building had gone silent. When I turned, I saw that every human in this place was staring at me with wide eyes. Interesting. To humans, did I do more than expected? On Cybertron, while the way I was threatening them might seem excessive, that amount of revenge to those who had attacked beings close to you was regular. However, we were still learning about Earth culture and I may have made a mistake when,
I jumped as the sound of a clap filled the air. Turning in the direction of the sound, I saw that Frankie was the one to make the action. As he continued, I noticed that more and more of the humans in this place continued to clap. This was a strange reaction that I was not expecting...or used to. When I threatened bots on Cybertron, most would steer clear of me even if they felt like I was justified. However, receiving a round of applause was not what I was used to.
"You look confused Raum," Frankie spoke once the applause quieted.
I had to be honest with my friend and so I nodded. "I...I am not used to receiving direct praise for something like that." These humans had me flustered, and that was not a reaction that I was accustomed to.
...I liked it.
"Raum, those four brats come in here ever so often and rough up Tim and the others to the point where I have to get the authorities involved. I am sure Fanzone knows my number by heart from the switchboard now." Frankie started to explain. "As the owner, I can't interfere like I would like to, and most times those brats choose to come in when it is only myself and Lizzie's gang their." Lizzie flashed a 'peace-sign' as she explained it to me, at us. "To see those boys put in their places so brutally after all this time, honestly, is a relief." He then motioned me toward my booth. "Now get back over there. I need to keep eavesdropping on your conversation."
Letting out a laugh at Frankie's motivation at the end, I nodded before moving back to my seat. Once I sat down, the other patrons in the shoppe seemed to return to their activities. "Thank you, Raum," Tim spoke once I was situated.
I shrugged. "It was no problem. Plus, I haven't had many chances to let loose, even so shortly. It was a much-needed reprieve." I then remembered that Evan was about to make a condition for not getting my autograph before those test subjects had interrupted us. Since I had a feeling what that condition was, I knew I could answer. "As to your condition Evan, you two may meet us as well as Lizzie. I can't promise it will be at the same time she does, but you will meet me and my team as our true selves."
Optimus' 1st P.O.V.
I thought that I had created a close team that would be able to tell anybot what they were up to. But, recent events made me think that wasn't quite the case anymore. I was worried about Bumblebee. While he had always been more adventurous than the others, the mech would always be ready to talk about what he had been up to through the solar. Most solars I couldn't wish enough for the yellow and black speedster to shut his vocals off so the rest of us could have some peace in the base. Elita had to sit on the mech at times before he would realize that some of us would want to talk as well.
But, that had changed.
Over the past solars, Bumblebee had started to split his time between being here with our team and some other activities that he wouldn't talk about. At first, I thought that it was just him wanting to make sure he avoided Sentinel and his team. Sentinel could be intimidating in personality and those two helm-cases that he had as teammates made me understand that reasoning.
However, it seemed that, whenever my scout was gone from the base, Sentinel's team was nowhere to be seen. Also, another reason that my first explanation didn't work was that, about three solars after I noticed Bumblebee's behavior Sentinel's team was in the base on a rare occasion that the rest of us were. Instead of avoiding Sentinel's teammates, Bumblebee had purposefully walked up to them and started to talk to them. While it was obvious that Bumblebee was nervous with Trecke and Fable, as he should be, my teammate was putting himself in the danger that being around them would bring.
And I noticed that, for the past two solars, it wasn't just Bumblebee disappearing. Sari had also started disappearing like my scout had and I was going to ask her about it when I could.
The sound of a transformation sequence caused me to turn to see Bumblebee walking in. "Hey, boss bot. Just finished up some patrol and I thought that I would go and hang out with Sari for a bit."
"Where have you been going?" I asked my scout.
Bumblebee looked confused at my question. "Well, Sari and I have been going through Burger Bot for her lunch, and then we drive around Detroit and see places that we haven't seen before. I didn't realize that Detroit was so big Optimus! We haven't even seen the half of it. Did you know that Detroit is referred to as both a metropolis and a global city? That's huge!"
"That's not what I meant Bumblebee!" Interrupting him, I moved on to ask him what I meant. "You leave base a lot more than you used to and you don't tell anybot where you are going. You are gone for cycles and when you return you are half-way to recharge! Now, you tell me what you have been up to."
I was expecting my scout to give me an answer to what I wanted to know. He was my teammate and he needed to tell me what he had been up to. However, I was not prepared in the slightest for Bumblebee's look to harden at me. "Why don't you start explaining some things first boss bot?" He then motioned to me and I could tell he was upset. "What's with all of the tension between you, Elita, and Sentinel? Frag every time either you or Elita, and especially when you both are in a room with Sentinel you all just give each other hesitant looks like a fragging 'Con's going to just pop up in the middle of the room at any nano. We're supposed to be a team boss bot! Sentinel's team knows what's going on so why are you two keeping us in the dark? Why?"
"That's enough Bumblebee. Go to your room and cool off."
"So, you're just going to slip out of acting like a real team leader and,"
"I said go Bumblebee!" Bumblebee needed to go and cool off. He was acting unreasonable and he needed to cool his helm off and think. He was still a youngling, and a young one at that, and he had no idea how the universe worked.
"Hope your intakes don't overheat from all that smoke you're blowing boss bot." Bumblebee shot as a final word before he left the room and went down toward the recharge rooms.
Once Bumblebee was gone, I turned on my commlink. Being around Sentinel's team was causing my team to start acting insubordinately. With the Decepticons here on Earth and seemingly more active than they were before, both of our teams needed to be fully subordinate and ready to follow orders without hesitation. Yet, he was allowing his team to influence my team and causing them to act out.
As I tried to contact Sentinel, I realized that Bumblebee wasn't the only one that seemed to be pressing me. Lately, I had been avoiding Ratchet. My medic had been pestering me to talk with him for his medical files. But, I knew that I couldn't do that. I asked Ratchet to be on my team because I knew that he was the best of the best and that was what my team deserved. However, that came with a strong will and I knew that Ratchet would want to talk about the Archa 7 incident.
Ever since that solar, that fragging trip had haunted every step that I had taken. Bots everywhere wanted to know why Sentinel took us there. I didn't bother to correct them. If I did, then they would want to know more. No bot else needed to know about what happened that solar. Three Autobots went in, and three of them came back out again. We were reprimanded for disobeying orders and that was that. Yeah, the femme offlined saving us, but she was gone, and there was no point in bringing her up to anybot.
When the comm to Sentinel wouldn't connect, I sighed before going to the monitor. Sentinel better have a good reason for not answering his comm. For all he knew, we could be being attacked by Decepticons and he wouldn't know because the mech wouldn't pick up his comm.
Sentinel's 1st P.O.V.
And Optimus was trying to call in again. Since my link to the new base hadn't said that Decepticons were attacking, then I just continued to ignore him. While I normally would answer him, I was currently in a position where all of the Decepticons had better be attacking before I left.
"Is it an important call?" Anastasia typed to me. With my team having the solar off until our night solar training session, I had decided to come here and visit with the sick human. I knew that Trecke was going to do some more studying on humans while Fable was meeting with Lizzie somewhere. Since Anastasia was our friend, then I felt that I should take some time to visit her, since she couldn't visit us.
Since I didn't want to upset her, I had connected a cell phone to my commlink and used that to ignore Optimus. So she wouldn't worry about Optimus being a crankcase worry-bot, I shook my head. "No, nothing important. I can call them back later." Much later. "So, you said that you like to read. Any certain books?"
She seemed to think about that. "Well, a lot of the books that Lizzie brings in are about heroes and how they seem to always save the world. I think I'd like to read one about how those heroes feel after they do that." I noticed that she seemed hopeful about that and so I started to say something. But, I stopped myself as she started to type again. "But I like reading the news about you Autobots and Decepticons. The fights always seemed a little...careless before but now your fights seem to endanger Detroit less than before."
So, she had been worried about it as Lizzie had been. I was glad that the efforts of my team were making a difference. I had noticed, over this past cycle, that Anastasia seemed to have an insight about what was going on around her and other people. As a team, and with Lizzie, we were here a couple of solars ago and Anastasia had picked up that Lizzie was stressed about work and had given her some advice.
Now, maybe she could give me some as well. "'Stasi, may I ask your advice on something?" I had taken to calling her by the nickname Lizzie used when we first met her. Once 'Stasi nodded, I dove into a situation that had popped up. "Lately, my team and I have agreed to train two of Optimus' teammates. Their scout, Bumblebee, was the first to ask us and I was hesitant in accepting since I do not get along well with either Prime on his team. But, he convinced my team and me to accept to train him. And he needed it. The other is the techno-organic, Sari Sumdac. She followed Bumblebee to one of his training sessions and asked if we would help her as well. My team and I agreed to train her as well."
"So, what is the problem?" Anastasia pushed with her typing.
Even typing, she could keep a conversation on track. "I know that, soon, Optimus and Elita are going to confront me about this training. They trust me and my team about as far as you can throw me." I noticed she looked amused at my reference, as I hoped she would be. "What do you think I should do to prepare for when that argument comes?"
It seemed like I stumped her because the human just sat there, staring at me for a few clicks. It would have been unnerving if it was anyone else besides her. But, with her lack of vocal communication, then it made sense. Finally, after a few more clicks, she started to type. "Nothing."
...Wait…what? "What do you mean? This isn't going to be the nicest talk that has ever happened and I know that both Optimus and Elita are going to be upset with me for taking their teammates away from them."
"Did you take them away?"
"No, they came to me. But what does that matter? Elita and Optimus won't see it like that."
"IT DOES MATTER." Well, 'Stasi was trying to make a point. She used all caps when she typed and Lizzie had told me that 'Stasi only did that when she was trying to push something forward. "From what I have heard, Bumblebee and Sari are old enough in each of their respective cultures to make their own decisions about what they do. Choices are what give people freedom. Both Bumblebee and Sari have the right to live their lives and their leader has no right to stop them from doing just that."
"Optimus can be pretty possessive of his team. I'm not sure that he would listen to that, even though I know you are right." I responded. Anastasia continued to amaze me. She was able to get into Optimus' helm and map out how he would be hurting his image among his team if he did that. And she hadn't even met the bot.
It almost reminded me of,
"Speaking about teams though," I focused when she started to type again, and I noticed that she was staring directly at me. "What do you and your team do to relax?"
Wait...what was she asking? "What do you mean 'Stasi? My team takes breaks if that is what you mean. We schedule them so we have time to rest in between training."
At the look she was sending me, I was guessing she wasn't talking about that. "When was the last time that you and your team randomly took a solar off, one that you had designated training time in or the Decepticons hadn't attacked, to just become close as a team without fighting?"
When she asked that, I realized that I had never had a solar where we didn't stick to our training schedule. We were always working to prove that we were a great team and to build ourselves up. Yet, we never really took more than a few cycles, plus recharge, to take a break from training completely. My team stuck through with me during the rough times and the good times, even Fable though he was new, and they fragging deserved a break.
"I hadn't thought about it. My team and I have always had to work so hard to be recognized that I never even thought about stopping." When I looked back at her, I frowned slightly when 'Stasi was giving me a knowing look. "And you realized that too, didn't you?" She nodded.
"Even the most dedicated soldier needs leave time." Anastasia typed to me.
I knew she was right. I thought of something that my team could do when I remembered that Lizzie was hosting a movie night at her place with her two co-workers, Evan and Tim. She had asked me before but I told her that we were going to be busy. Looks like we were going to be watching 'The Dirty Dozen'...whatever that was, with them after all. So, I sent the change in plans to both Trecke and Fable before standing up. "Thank you 'Stasi. Now, I have stayed later than your doctor said I could so I better book it before I get thrown out."
Trecke had tried to stay longer during our last visit even though her doctor needed to run some tests. My strategist was forcefully dragged from 'Stasi, who silently laughed the entire time.
"It was nice talking to you, Michael. Come by later this week and tell me more about Cybertron...please?"
"You can count on it," I responded to her before walking toward the elevator.
Authoress: *smiles* I love Anastasia! She is adorable!
Sentinel: *frowns* Of course, you are the reason why she is dying from an unknown illness.
Authoress: *pauses* Well...yes but I loved that visit between the two of you.
Sentinel: *nods* I appreciate spending time with her as well. She is very insightful. Her and Lizzie both have been instrumental to my team's stay here.
Authoress: *smirks* Speaking on Lizzie...I saw what you did the other solar.
Sentinel: *gulps* I don't know what you mean.
Authoress: *disbelieving* Sure.
AN: And here is the next exciting chapter! Woo did I have a lot of fun with this. Might as well go in order here. Trecke meets a college history professor that makes the mech think about the balance of order and chaos and he realizes that there is more chaos in his existence than he realized. Plus, the teacher is a reference to one of my other stories. I wonder if you know which one?
Then, we get to Fable. I LOVED writing that. We haven't seen too much of Fable letting his inner desires into the open around the humans and those four boys opened up the best opportunity for him to do so! Plus, we have Fable seeing that humans aren't as shallow as the Autobots back on Cybertron act towards him. Earth has earned another gold limb in his book (and gold limbs are good).
But, then things take a turn and we go to Optimus. He is worried about Bumblebee (and Sari) being away from the team so much with little explanation. Then, Bumblebee returns to base (from patrol with Sari) and is confronted by Optimus. Instead of answering the Prime, though, Bumblebee asks him about what is going on between Sentinel, Elita, and him. I guess the training is working. XD Optimus then, of course, tries to contact Sentinel but there is no response from the Prime.
Yes, Sari is now getting training from Team Apocalypse too. I was going to have a scene in the last chapter show that but I ran out of time for it. So, it is inferred that over the time between the last chapter and this one she found out about the lessons, signed Fable's form, and joined in on training. (no slackers just watching XD )
Sentinel, of course, didn't respond to Optimus because he was visiting with Anastasia. The two talk about a couple of subjects and they have a very nice bonding sort of moment. They seem like best friends, bros really if 'Stasi was a guy, she is ready to put Sentinel back on track.
Well, that's all for now. Phew, that was a lot of typing for this note. Not much left though. However, here are the next chapter names!
Chapter 9: Guardians
Chapter 10: Hidden in Plain Sight
Chapter 11:...(find out next time, and for those who read this far, even more, fun stuff is going to be happening here)
And that's all for now. A quick note though, if you are a Decepticon on the phone game Transformers: Earth Wars, you can join the Dragon Scouters! I have no one in my alliance yet and I am not the greatest player out there, though I try. If you want to, you all can come and join me!
Okay, enough of that. Please leave a review, either to comment or say hi, and I will greatly appreciate it! Until next time though, TTYL! *fingers are now frozen icicles*
