A/N: Hey! Another chapter! It took some time to find the inspiration but I got there, and a longer chapter too! Yeah! Anyways, enjoy! Also, I posted a drawing of Bulletta on my twitter account, the account is at Spellmaster_ so if you wanna check it out go for it!
Chapter 3-Discoveries
"-etta? Bulletta!?" A voice shook me from my sleep, I shot up from my position on the floor of the main hall. I checked my internal clock to see it was five in the morning!
"Who-wha?" I grumbled in confusion, my vision still blurry looked up to see the image of Ratchet coming to focus.
He looked down at me with a scowl, "What are you doing here?"
I tried to remember what I was doing before this, it slowly came back.
"A-After everyone went to recharge I began making my room feel more at home, by gathering material from around the base. Than I started to focus on getting my projects on track. But I couldn't get far with the limited resources, so I moved on to learning about my surroundings by downloading the entire dataframe of the base."
He stared at me in shock before morphing into an unknown emotion, "You tried to download the entire dataframe of the base?"
I scoffed as I stood, wobbly from my position, "I didn't try, I succeeded."
"Wh-What?! But that's impossible, no processor of any cybertronian can handle that amount of data!" His optics were wide as he moved to the computer.
He looked at the history of the machine to see, indeed, the data was completely copied and downloaded.
"But...how?" He asked turning to me in amazement.
"I have something separate from my processor, called the Atheneum, that collects and stores data. Hence why I serve Ioun, why I am important to her dogma and goals." I smiled as Ratchet stared at me like he had just made the discovery of a life time.
"Bulletta...I know we aren't on the best of terms but-"
I cut him off, "You want to study me, don't you?"
He nodded nervously, and was tensely silent.
I put my servos on my hips, my tail swaying playfully. "I don't know…"
"Bulletta…" He whined, apparently not liked being toyed with.
I chuckled, "How about this is where we start over, alright?" I put out a servo.
The tension left his frame and he smiled slightly, "I suppose that will work." He said as he grabbed my servo and shook it.
"Good," I yawned again, the tiredness catching up again. "Now I think I'm gonna recharge a bit more…" I said as I slowly walked to a nearby berth near the Med-Bay and fell asleep. Again.
"PRIME!" A voice shouted and I shot up from where I fell asleep. What was with the shouting to wake me up all about, seriously, can't a femme sleep till...one in the afternoon...okay I deserved it this time.
I looked to the source of the shout to see a human man of darker complexion and wearing a blue suit. He had a hard set expression, his eyes holding a fiery passion as the Prime addressed him.
"Agent Fowler, what seems to be the issue?" He asked calmly, it was then that the human bellowed at the Prime.
"Our people have detected an anomaly in your dataframe, something has been downloaded into the frame and is tracking and hacking into other systems beyond the dataframe's supposed reach!" He ranted off.
I was confused, how could that happen.
Silently, I let my right hand fingers detached and snaked their way to the computer in the darkness. Hooking up to the back of the machine I searched for this anomaly, only to find it. I suddenly recognized it, it was a part of the Atheneum or more like, a clone, of the thing now in the machine. It was collecting live data and silently transferring it into my internal systems quietly, gathering it and filing it away.
It must of happened while in my tired state, unconsciously making a code that acts like the Atheneum and then transferring into my internal Atheneum.
I detached from the system and came back into myself.
"I don't know how this could have happened, Ratchet?" The Prime looked to his medic, who looked to me.
The human than finally saw me, his eyes going wide.
"YOU! Are you responsible for this?! What are you? A spy?! A DECEPTICON!?" He yelled, my audio's ringed as the sensitivity of my audios causing pain.
I cried out, clutching my audio's and collapsed to the floor. I felt a pair of servos, from two others, on my shoulders. My optics opened, but I couldn't hear because of the ringing, but from the look of it Ratchet and Bumblebee were at my side, berating the man who looked guilt.
The others held a worry yet lessened, it seems I have not connected well with them yet.
As the ringing stopped the conversation came back to me.
"-ever do that again, now, Bulletta, can you hear me?" Ratchet asked looking me over.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine." I stood, the mechs making sure I was steady as I stood.
The man was silent, staring at me as my yellow eyes narrowed.
I spoke calmly, explaining the events that led to the anomaly and explaining it wasn't malevolent, it was simply seeking.
After I had explained my piece I went on, "Agent Fowler, I've never heard of the Decepticon's before I met these bots. And if I did, I would never work with them, they are what Ioun strays from, they lie, corrupt and manipulate. That is not the teaching of Ioun."
He was silent for a moment before saying, "I suppose...I assumed to quickly." He turned to Prime, "I hope you teach her the rules of Earth, when you need anything for her, call me and I'll see what I can do."
He then quickly turned and headed for the elevator, disappearing behind the door.
"He seems...different." I commented in the silence.
"Agent Fowler is merely concerned, as he should be. But, Bulletta, I would appreciate it if you gave us warning next time." Optimus slightly chided, I groaned.
"Right, of course."
He accepted the answer and walked out of the room further into the base.
"So," Cliffjumper asked, "Speaking of Alt Mode, got any ideas?"
I quickly scanned my Atheneum and came up with an answer, "A four wheeled all terrain vehicle will do. But I have more important things to think about right now."
Arcee asked, "Like what?"
"Well before everything I want to learn more about this planet I'm on, the Atheneum can only do so much. Personal experiences also enhance my ability to partake in information. As well, I think I need a more in depth look at that string of code, linking something to my Atheneum may be dangerous." I explained as I leaned back onto the wall.
Bee asked, "Can we tell you about our experiences?!"
I chuckled, "I was insinuating it, but yes, you may."
We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting amongst ourselves, though Cliff and Bulkhead seemed apprehensive they gave me some details. A win in my books. Arcee didn't give any details though, she simply stared at me with an unknown expression, but her optics hid a growing disdain behind them.
After our conversation we retired for the evening, me again retreating to my room for the finishing touches. I had managed to find extra tools, materials and scraps of things for my projects. My room was now painted a calming blue with shelves filled with interesting things I found around base. I also managed to snag a couple of empty datapads that I am sure won't be missed and managed to set up a small controllable forge off in the corner.
When I finished the forge I realized I needed better venting in the room or it would fill with smoke. So tonight I was going to fix that.
Finding my way up into the crawl space between floors, I was now skuttering my way through, my optics lighting my surroundings.
"Now, where is my room?" I asked myself as I crawled around, looking for the single vent that led into my room.
As I moved through the crawlspace I started hearing voices, I crawled towards the voices, a vent that had become detached from the actually vent and left the grate open to the crawl space.
I stopped above the vent to see Cliffjumper and Arcee in a room, I could tell it was a personal quarter, but whose was unknown to me.
Cliffjumper sighed, "It never gets easier, does it?" He asked Arcee who was holding herself.
"Heh, no." She breathed, looking away from Cliff who looked disheartened.
"Arcee, you know you can talk to me, right?" He asked, hoping to drag something out of her.
"What is there to talk about, Cliff?" She hissed harshly before becoming silent again.
"I've heard the stories, 'Cee, not just from you and I've met the mech myself a couple of times. I know what is bothering you, and you needed to talk about it." He pleaded with her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her face to him with his other servo.
She let a sigh out, "I hate her."
Those words pierced me through my spark, I listened more intently.
"But why?" He asked.
"Simple, she's a liar even if she pretends she's not. No one can be like that, and what about the coding she left on the computer, I bet she planted it in hopes of not being caught. No one can be that open, no one can be that naive, no one can…" She trailed off, her optics hardening.
"She reminds you of him, of Tailgate." He pronounced to the world, as if common fact.
Arcee stood and scoffed, "That's...it's not the point, Cliff. She clearly has an undertone to her, she is hiding something. And I know what she is, a manipulative liar who puts on an innocent act! How many times she has talked about Ioun, that goddess of hers, I bet you she's a zealot, ready to serve US as a sacrifice to her goddess."
Cliffjumper stood, frowning, "Now Arcee, you know that isn't true. You are letting your paranoia get to you and worst yet you are comparing her to someone that needs to be left in the past!"
It was dead silent, she stood there, facing away from him. He seemed to have realized what he said, but as he went to apologize she stopped him.
"No. Get. Out." She said with a deadly calm tone.
He bowed his helm in shame and walked past her, opening the door, he looked back to say something but had to door slammed into his face.
I looked away from the room, my optics hard as I forced the thoughts in my head quiet. I went on, leaving the room that held Arcee. I finally found the vent I was looking for and starting upgrading it, allowing to handle the smoke from the forge.
After that, I made my way back, past the vent.
Looking back in it was completely dark, adjusting my optics I could see Arcee sleeping in a curled position away from the door. I silently sighed, and headed my way out of the crawl space and down into a small hallway that had contained my entry point.
I walked down the hall, realizing I was covered in dust, grime and cobwebs. So I made my way to the makeshift wash racks that the bots had. The wash racks were separated by gender, so basically me and Arcee shared only one while the boys had to share there's, a smaller version of ours.
I turned on the hot water and let it clean off all my armor and my metallic coat. Once cleaned I stepped out for a moment to remove the armor and coat to reveal just my ashen grey protoform. Old scars were still visible from the times in battle and on the streets. One that stood out was a large blast like scar on my chest.
I touched it, remembering the moment that ice blast had pierced my heart and had killed me. I shook the memories away and continued bathing until I was clean once more.
Once done, I gathered my things and headed back to my room.
I laid back on my berth, resting in the more comfortable bedding I had made for myself.
My thoughts were running rampant, and I felt very overwhelmed by the day I had. Maybe I needed to get out for the day, pick my alt mode and explore the outside world with Bumblebee as he seemed well versed of Earth's culture standards.
I closed my optics in an attempt to fall asleep, it did eventually come.
I came back into the main hall the next morning, Arcee and Cliffjumper on the opposite sides of the room. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were talking to each other and Ratchet with Optimus being missing from the main hall.
I walked over to Bulkhead and Bumblebee who greeted me.
"Morning, Bulletta!" Bee called out.
"Morning, uh, Bee do you mind helping me pick an alt mode, I really need to get out." I asked, glancing at Arcee who quickly looked away from me.
"Sure! Wanna come Bulk?" He asked the large mech who shrugged his shoulders.
"Why not."
I smiled, "Thanks, I'm sure this is just what I need."
Bumblebee walked up to the controls and activated the Groundbridge, I stared at the marvel of the portal. My Atheneum had already given me details of the device but to see it in action was really something.
I walked behind the mech's who walked through first, when I entered I came out on the other side with a sick feeling. It was something to get used to.
We walked out to an outcropping, the sun was almost to the apex of it's climb. It was a wonder to see the sun again, I had missed the feeling of warmth on my plating.
I followed their example as they crouched low to look over the outcropping. There, below us in the valley was a large paved road with many 'cars' driving up and down. Understand, even if I have the Atheneum, nothing compares to seeing things in life, and I have never seen such devices before hand.
The way we got around was either, horse, carriage, teleportation spells or flying spells and that was it, other than your own walking power but that's besides the point.
The point was...I was enraptured.
"I don't know what to choose!" I whispered as my optics looked at every car that passed by.
Bulkhead chuckled, "You'll know it when you see it, it was like that for all of us."
I looked to him with a raised brow, "Really? Ah, I shouldn't question it."
He nodded and looked back to the road.
We stayed there, watching for about an hour. I was getting nervous, nothing was standing out, so, while I watched I asked a question.
"So why did you guys join the Autobots?"
The pair gave each other a look before looking back to the road.
Bulkhead sighed, "I joined when my home was attacked, before the war, I was in construction. For a long time I hadn't taken part in the war but when a group of savage Con's tore through my home I found myself fighting them off. I was recognized for my talent and recruited into the Autobots. I joined the Wreckers when no one would, because...well...it's complicated."
I was silent for a moment, "I'm sorry I asked…"
"No, no. It's alright, I like talking about. Just hard to describe it sometimes." He said with a small smile.
I looked to Bumblebee and asked, "And you?"
"I...was born during the war. I was one of the last younglings to survive a raid by the Decepticons. Optimus and Ratchet took me in, raised me and taught me how to fight. It's all I've known." He distantly looked ahead, I frowned.
"Oh…" I looked back to the road, a real feeling of guilt washing over me.
Bee placed a servo on my shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about. From what I've heard it wasn't a great place."
I smiled, "That makes me feel better, but thank you, both of you. For sharing, I know how hard war is, as before all of this, I was at war."
They stared at me with understanding, it was then that I saw it.
Without even a thought a beam shot from my optics and the schematics were downloaded. I gasped and felt the urge to transform.
"I see you found one, lets see it!" Bulkhead egged on.
I nodded and let the code take over, my entire body shifted going lower until it stopped. My Atheneum told me I just transformed into a 1999 Jeep Wrangler TJ Sahara Edition.
"Nice!" Bee said, I transformed back with a large smile.
"Come on, let's head back, we can drive there!" I said before transforming and speeding off.
The mechs quickly transformed yelling something about rules of the road.
On the way back to the base, Bulkhead and Bumblebee taught me the rules of the road. Which were many, but I kind of got the handle off, but I had some of what they called, lead foot.
Anyways, as we drove back to base we had to travel through a nearby town. It was a very small town called Jasper, it looked like a ghost town if I was honest but I suppose this small town was just that, a very small town.
We passed a large building of orange brick, on a sign it said, 'Jasper High'. It seemed like a school, which I suppose was good. I mean, I technical went to school but I also lived, fought, and worshiped there. I saw many humans, young, exiting the building. They chatted amongst themselves, some simply walked away and some sat down where they were to enjoy themselves.
I pulled over the side, fascinated by these young humans.
As the last stragglers a group of humans caught my attention.
A group of girls were saying goodbye to each other, as soon as they left the last girl, a ginger redhead than gave a deep sigh. A heaviness in her shoulders as she turned and walked away.
For some reason I felt a connection to her, and wondered why someone so young did she have a heavy heart?
"Bulletta?" Bulkhead called over the Comms. "You alright?"
I replied, "Fine, just curious is all."
He chuckled, "Yeah, humans can be very interesting, come on, lets head back."
"Right."
I didn't know why, but I had a feeling I would get to know her better in the future.
Whoever she may be.