As soon as Mrs. Darby said that she was good to go and left to get back to her job at the hospital, Miko practically bombarded her with questions. She tried her best to answer the teen's questions and had to ask her to slow down several times. Neira learned a lot rather quickly. Apparently they were in Jasper, Nevada. The opposite end of the country from where she lived in Vermont. She learned the names of the robots, being quickly quizzed by the teen. Neira glanced around as she answered, seeing several looks of exasperation and small smiles. Apparently this was a common thing for newcomers.

As soon as she said that she was a graphic designer Miko gasped loudly and leaned forward.

"Do you have any art I could see…?!"

"Uh...if I know where my bag is. Yesterday was a bit crazy."

She noticed Jack move behind the couch and pull out her bag, "This it?"

Neira nodded as Jack brought it to her. She pulled out her computer, which seemed to get the attention of Raf.

"I–is that the TR Quadrive 80?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I got it for myself so I could work easier."

"That's a really expensive laptop though…!" he exclaimed.

"Oh no, please don't tell me you're a snobby rich kid," Miko said, leaning backwards as she held onto the back of the couch.

Neira couldn't help but snort out a laugh, "I'm not a kid, I'm twenty-one. But no, I'm not."

"Then how did you afford that?" the boy asked.

"Ah…my grandmother's inheritance," Neira said. "I was technically the last living heir she had, since my mom died when I was three and my dad was absent."

The kids went silent after.

"I'm sorry," Jack spoke first.

"Yeah, that's a bummer," Miko added.

"Sorry for asking," Raf said timidly.

"Don't be sorry, it's life. Besides, my Gramma did a lot for me. I'm grateful."

Neira showed a smile, which seemed to ease the kids' spirits. Before she could boot up the laptop, a beeping sound rang out, drawing everyone's attention.

"I'm getting a signal. Some revently unearthed Energon. Bumblebee, Arcee, prepare to bridge."

"Yo! Hey Neira, get ready to watch this!" Miko said as she ran towards the railing.

Neira stood and followed. Her eyes widened when Ratchet pulled a switch and what she assumed was some kind of corridor lit up and swirled with greens, whites, and blues.

"Woah…what is that?"

"A scaled down version of space bridge technology," Ratchet replied, "it can send anyone to any coordinates I imput."

"Wow…" Neira said as she watched.

Arcee and Bumblebee nodded to another and walked through the bridge. They then disappeared in a flash of light. The bridge then closed, and Neira was left speechless.

~*~

When the two emerged out of the ground bridge, they looked around. There didn't seem to be much, aside from a small excavation site. Thankfully it was abandoned for the night. There was, however, a small crystal of Energon sticking out of the rocks.

"What are humans doing mining for Energon?" Arcee asked.

Bumblebee buzzed in response, pointing. The two moved into cover as two black cars arrived. A man got out, surveying the area before another showed him to the Energon. The first man took something out of his pocket before scraping a bit off of the human-sized shard and placed it in a bag. They then conversed for a moment before getting back into the cars and leaving.

"That's not good," Arcee said, making sure they were gone before heading towards the shard.

The sounds of planes overhead drew their attention before two Decepticon troopers dropped from the sky and pointed their weapons. Arcee was the first to strike, shooting at the troopers. They responded in turn. Bumblebee emerged from the treeline and fired as well. One was shot in the chest and eliminated, the other quickly subdued by Arcee.

"Arcee to base. We need a drill tool. It shouldn't take too long, since we weren't the first ones here."

"Decepticons?" Ratchet asked.

"No, actually, though they arrived late to the party. Some humans were excavating for the stuff," she replied.

"Mech?" came the older bot's voice.

"Not that I could tell. They weren't wearing their usual suits."

There was silence for a moment before the bridge opened and Ratchet emerged with a drill.

"What are humans doing excavating for Energon?"

"Beats me," Arcee replied, her hands on her hips.

It took no longer than ten minutes for the shard to be unlodged. Ratchet grabbed it and the three left through the bridge.

~*~

Neira watched them return, with Ratchet holding an absolutely massive blue crystal.

"That thing is massive…! What is that?"

"That's Energon," Jack said as he stood next to her, "It's what the Autobots use to keep themselves up and running."

"So…is it like blood?" she asked.

The teen nodded, "Yeah, in a sense."

She nodded softly as she watched Ratchet walk down a hall with the crystal. She was still confused, but was faring a bit better than before. The giant, sentient, alien robots were going to take some time getting used to, however. Neira looked over as the kids started walking down the steps.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Heading home for the night," Jack responded, "It's almost past curfew."

"Oh. Right," Neira replied.

"I think my mom left a tote full of stuff near the tv. Blankets, snacks, et cetera," Jack told her.

"Okay, thank you," Neira said before waving.

The kids then left, leaving Neira alone. Well, for a moment. Ratchet returned from the corridor. He glanced to her.

"I assume the others took the kids home for the night," was the first thing said to her.

Neira nodded, to which he sighed.

"Finally, a bit of quiet," he said, sounding like an exhausted grandfather after spending an entire day with his grandkids.

Neira couldn't help but giggle, earning her a glance.

"What's so funny?" Ratchet asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, "you just kinda sound like a tired grandfather."

"Hmm," was his response before he turned to the terminal. "I need to contact Agent Fowler about the humans mining for Energon. Hopefully he will be able to figure out why."

"Who's Agent Fowler?" Neira asked.

"A human who works with your country's government. Originally he was assigned to keep an eye on us, though now he's more akin to an ambassador to his higher-ups. They don't trust us. We are aliens to them, after all."

Neira neared, leaning against the railing, "Can't say I blame them. You all are massive. Not to mention our media is obsessed with the idea of aliens, though usually as antagonists. Kinda crazy how wrong they often are. They want so bad to be the heroes, to be the ones to save everyone. The ones who outwit the much more advanced aliens by sheer gumption and determination. I think it's fueled by the fear that we may not be the most intelligent life in the universe."

Ratchet gave her a look, a mix of surprise and curiosity. She scratched her head then.

"Ah, sorry. I kind of derailed, huh?"

The medic bot waved his hand, "It's alright. But yes, your government is still untrusting of us. Relating to that…"

Ratchet turned and pressed a few buttons. Neira heard the sound of a phone ringing before it picked up.

"Ratchet? Is this an emergency?" a deeper man's voice spoke.

"Of sorts, yes. We recently discovered some humans excavating for Energon. We wanted to see if you knew more about this."

"This is news to me," the man replied. "I will do some looking into this. Thank you for letting me know."

He then hung up. Neira was silent, now watching Ratchet work. He was fixing…well, Neira didn't know what he was doing, but she was curious nonetheless. About a minute passed before Ratchet glanced to her before working again. This made her curious.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," was his response.

"Alright," she said, watching him work again.

The place was silent, save for the occasional clinks, buzzes, and whirs of the machine in the medic bot's hands. About fifteen minutes passed before he put his tools down.

"Finished, finally."

"What is it?" Neira asked.

"A high-capacity power cell for the ground bridge," he replied. "It will help it run more efficiently. Now all I have to do is replace the old power cell."

"I assume you get the most work done at night?" Neira responded, to which he nodded.

"Too high energy, too much risk for things to be broken."

Neira nodded, "So you're a night owl?"

Ratchet gave her a look like he didn't understand.

"Someone who gets work done and is more productive in the late hours of the night," she clarified.

"I guess so," Ratchet mused.

She watched him walk towards the bridge, and she felt compelled to follow. Neira hurried down the stairs and towards the bridge. She sat down nearby as she watched him disconnect the old power cell and reattach the new one. He looked to her again before continuing his work.

"Okay, that's the second time you've done that," Neira said, "why do you keep looking at me?"

Ratchet paused, thinking on it.

"…Just not used to quiet observers, I guess," he replied.

She nodded. Neira then yawned. She was getting tired.

"Well," she said as she stood and stretched, "I'll leave you to it. I'm going to get some sleep."

"Alright," was all the medic bot said.

"Night, Ratchet," she said as she stepped away.

He did a small wave as she climbed up the stairs. She pulled the throw blanket and small pillow out of the tote and got herself comfortable. As she was drifting off, she heard Optimus return, the two conversing quietly…