Aria stood to one side of the small group of humans, looking at the group of Autobots in front of them. Optimus was talking to them again. "And since you now know of our existance I fear as of last night the Decepticons know of yours."
"Got it," said Jack, "If we see any strange vehicles, call 911."
Aria rolled her eyes at that. "Like cops could stand up to Cons," she muttered under her breath, but just loud enough for Jack to hear. He cast her an annoyed glance as he asked Optimus, "So, can we go now?"
"Are you insane?" asked Miko in shock, "I am living a dream here in Botswanna! And I will allow you or anyone else to shatter it!" She pointed an accusing finger at the older boy.
"It is best for you four to remain under our watch," said Optimus, "at least until we can determine our enemies intentions."
Ratchet turned to Optimus then. "Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as in anywhere," he said.
"Children?" asked Aria and Jack incrediously. "I'm eighteen!" added the older girl.
Ratchet ignored her. "They have no protective shell!" he whispered, "If they get underfoot, they will go... squish." He stamped his ped down in emphasis, causing the humans, minus Aria, to flinch.
"Then for the time being, Ratchet," said Optimus, a slight smile on his faceplates, "We must watch where we step."
"Besides," said Aria, a smirk on her own face "I think you might find it hard to squish me, Ratchet."
"Don't test me, young lady," said Ratchet grumpily.
"Speaking of which," said Bulkhead, turning to Optimus, "Are you gonna tell us why you wanted us to watch over Aria now? You never told us in the first place why."
"I'm kinda curious about that too," said Arcee.
Optimus and Aria were both spared from an answer when a small alarm began to sound. Ratchet walked over to the consel as Jack asked nervously, "What's that?"
*Our proximity sensor,* replied Bumblebee, *we've got company on the roof.*
"Proximity sensor," translated Raf, "Someone's up top."
Ratchet checked the viewscreen and gave an aggravated sigh, "It's Agent Fowler," he said grumpily.
"Wait! Agent Fowler?" asked Aria, "Agent William Fowler?"
"He is our designated liason to the outside world," explained Optimus, "He tends to visit only when there are... issues. It may be best that you do not meet him at this time."
"You know him?" asked Miko as they ducked out of sight close to Bumblebee and Arcee.
"He used to be my foster agent," explained Aria, "He stopped before I left Chicago."
"Must've been for this," said Raf.
"Shh!" Arcee quickly said as the elevator opened. While Fowler started talking to Optimus about what had happened last night, Aria turned to the voices in her head. "So, did you know about this?" she asked in irritation.
"Maybe..." said Amalgamos with a slight chuckle.
"That guy is lucky that ahm dead," growled Ironhide as Agent Fowler started arguing with Optimus, "Otherwise I'd 'ave squished 'im by now."
"Easy, Ironhide," said Primus as Bulkhead joined the argument, finishing it with grabbing one of Ratchet's tools and saying, "Team Prime knows when to use force, and how much to use." And he crushed the tool in his servos.
"BULKHEAD, I NEEDED THAT!" yelled out Ratchet, causing Aria to flinch at the volume and at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker laughing in her head. "And we used to be the ones who did that!" cackled Sideswipe.
"Good to know that the old Hatchet has a guy he can yell at for his tools!" giggled his brother.
"You two are enjoying this too much," said Chromia in annoyance as Agent Fowler climbed onto the elevator and left.
"Pretty big bearings," commented Bulkhead, "for a human."
"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead," Optimus told him, "as he should be." He turned to look at the humans as they came out of hiding, Aria rubbing her right temple with a look of annoyance on her face. "Are you alright?"
Aria looked up at him and said, "Headache. And not from Fowler. I forgot how much he loved to argue."
Ratchet looked at her curiously, "You know him?"
"He used to be my foster agent," she explained, "Now it's someone different."
Ratchet nodded, then as the other humans started eagerly talking to the others, Aria simply sat on one of the provided chairs and leaned forward with her head in her hands. She liked the guys, sure, but sometimes she was pretty sure that they were just there to annoy the scrap out of her.
Just then, Cliffjumper yelled out, causing her to give a small jump. "What happened?"
"Oh-kay," said Nexus Prime, "This I haven't seen for a while."
"Seen what?"
She looked up as the computer blinked and a small picture popped up. "Blasted earth-tech!" yelled Ratchet. He turned to everyone else and said, "Cliffjumper's signal popped back online!"
"Who's Cliffjumper?" asked Miko.
"How is that possible?" asked Optimus.
"It isn't," said Ratchet, giving an angry glance at the consel and said, "Another bug! The system's chocked full of them!"
Arcee turned to look at Optimus. "If there's any chance Cliff's alive," she said to him.
Optimus nodded, "Ratchet," he said, "Prepare sickbay. We may need it." A battle mask slid over his face as he walked towards the archway at the opposite end of the room.
"Hey!" Optimus turned to look at Miko as she asked him, "What can we do?"
"Remain with Ratchet," he told her.
"Aww!" she pouted.
She wasn't the only one who gave a small sigh of disappointment.
Aria and the others gave a small jump as the archway suddenly came to life, filling with swirling blue and green energy. "Autobots!" yelled Optimus, "Roll out!" He, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee dashed into the vortex, transforming into their vehicle modes just before the fully went through.
"What just happened?" asked Jack.
"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the Groundbridge," explained Ratchet.
"And for those of us that don't speak cybertronian techno-babble?" asked Aria. She never could understand Perceptor when he started to talk like that, even with her classes with him.
Ratchet rolled his optics and said slowly, "I sent them where they needed to be by using a stabilized wormhole which we call a Groudbridge. Happy?"
"Yes," she replied, "thank you."
"So it's a stable wormhole basicaly?" asked Raf, turning to look at the medic.
"Yes," replied the medic with a slight tone of relief in his voice as he turned back towards the computer, "And we could have a larger version called a Spacebridge. But since we currently don't posses the means, or the energon required for intergalactic travel."
"You're stuck here," realized Jack, "On earth."
"With the likes of you, yes. But I," he said proudly, "constructed the Groundbridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet."
So that's a Groundbridge, Aria thought to herself, looing at the swirling portal.
"Whoa. Does it work for humans?" asked Raf.
"Naturally," answered Ratchet.
"You mean I could just shoot over and visit my parent's in Tokoyo?" asked Miko.
"Within moments," said Ratchet. Leaning over to look at her then, he said, "In fact, allow me to send you there immediately, all four of you!"
Aria darted right up to the medic's faceplates then and said, "Watch it, Hatchet."
Ratchet leaned back a little bit, a tiny bit startled, then his optics went wide. "Wait just a nano-click, young lady!" he said, "What did you just call me?"
"Hatchet," she replied with a slight grin.
Miko giggled, "You're nickname's Hatchet?"
Ratchet shot her a glance and turned back to look at the older girl, "I haven't heard that nickname used for a long time. How did you know it?"
"Probably wouldn't even believe me if I told you," she said teasingly, giving him a wink.
Ratchet kept looking at her as he turned back to the computer consel and Aria, Miko and Jack climbed down the ladder to talke a look around. "You seem used to teasing giant alien robots," said Jack, a little unnerved.
As soon as they reached the ground, Aria bent close to Jack's ear and whispered, "You could say that I've been doing it for a while."
Jack looked at her with a very startled expression on his face, then looked back up at Ratchet. If he had heard the comment, he didn't show it. "Do you know these guys?" he whispered to her as they moved towards the powered down archway.
"I've heard of them," she whispered back, "and I've seen them once or twice. But I haven't met them officially."
"How do you know them?" asked Miko, talking in a whisper as well.
"Like I said to Ratchet," she said, "You probably wouldn't even believe me if I told you."
"Not even a little hint?" asked Miko.
"Nope," she replied.
Miko gave a little pout and looked around for a few seconds, finally noticing a metal case in one corner. "What is this anyway?" she asked, walking over to it and reaching a hand forward.
"Broken, don't touch," replied Ratchet. As she reached forward again, he said, "Don't touch that either!"
"Is there anything in here that we can touch?" asked Jack as Aria made her way towards the platform again.
Before Ratchet could answer, a small red icon appeared on the computer screen, with words beside it in english. "How come you guys are using human computers?" asked Raf, looking at Ratchet curiously.
"It certainly isn't by choice," said Ratchet, "It was handed down by the previous tendants when we inherrited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit."
A whole bunch of icons appeared, causing Ratchet to give an aggravated groan. "I think I can fix that," said Raf, turning to one of the computers on the catwalk.
"Really?" asked Ratchet mockingly, "You do realize that this is complex technology? Certainly not a child's toy!"
"You might eat those words, Doc," said Aria, kneeling down next to Raf as he plugged his computer in and typed on his keyboard for a few seconds. "Now try!" said Raf, turning to look at Ratchet.
Ratchet turned to look at the consel screen as the icons turned blue and the screen went back to normal. He turned to look at Rafael again with a shocked look on his face. Raf gave a modest shrug as Aria said, "You were saying?"
Ratchet looked at them for a few more seconds before asking a little bit sheepishly, "Could you take a look at Cliffjumper's life-signal? I'm thinking it might be a bug, but I'm not so sure."
"Sure," said Raf. Aria knelt down beside him as Raf began typing away. "So that's the signal," she mused as Raf pulled up the program.
"It looks fine, Ratchet," said Raf after typing in a few commands, "It's not a bug."
"But something looks off about it," said Aria.
Ratchet looked at her and pulled up the life-signal, placing it alongside his own in comparison. "Strange," he mused, "I've never seen this before in a life signal."
Aria looked at the life-signal and noticed the off-bits, "It's very off," she said.
"Have you seen what a cybertronian life-signal is supposed to look like?" he asked her.
She was stopped from answering when Optimus Prime's voice suddenly called out over the com-system, *Ratchet! Bridge us back! Use the arrival coordinates now!*
Ratchet quickly typed something into another consel and pulled down a lever, causing the archway to come to life again. Jack and Miko, who had joined the others on the catwalk, looked at the bridge with Aria, Raf and Ratchet as the four Autobots pulled through, transforming when they were out. Optimus, who was last, backflipped as he transformed as Ratchet closed the Groundbridge, narrowly dodging the explosion of energon that nearly came through after him.
"Cutting it a bit close," commented Ratchet, "How about Cliffjumper?"
Aria closed her eyes and asked, "Guys?"
"I'm okay now," said Cliffjumper, "But I have no clue what that was."
Aria opened her eyes as Miko asked them, "What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?"
Arcee, who had a grumpy look on her face, said, "Look."
"Miko! Hey!" said Jack quickly, "Let's go see what the Autobot's hide in their sock drawers!" He pulled her away as she asked, "Seriously?"
"Sorry," Aria quickly said to the group of Autobots.
Optimus nodded to her and turned to Arcee, asking, "Arcee, what did you see?"
Arcee crossed her arms as she said, "Not Cliff. At least... not anymore. He was mutated. Butchered," a angry tone filled her voice, "Like something from those 'Con's experiments back during the war!" She stopped suddenly and collapsed onto the floor, grabbing onto a nearby crate for support.
*Cee! You okay?* asked Bumblebee in worry.
"I'm fine!" she quickly said, "Just dizzy."
Aria looked at Arcee, giving her a small glance and noticed something. "What's that on her hand?" she asked, pointing.
Ratchet looked at her before looking at the mentioned servo. "What is this?" he said, noticing the steaming, purple substance on the back of her left servo.
"Don't know," said Arcee, rubbing her helm with her other servo, "Cliff was covered in it. Leaking it."
Ratchet took a small scalpel and scraped a small part of it off. "Go take a decontamination bath," he gently ordered her, "Now."
Arcee was helped off the crate by Bumblebee and led to the small medical bay that stood in one corner. As Ratchet followed behind them, careful not to let the purple substance drip onto the floor, he passed Aria. Aria looked at it for a few seconds, then looked down as a tingling sensation entered her hands. She gave a small gasp when she saw the tips of her fingers, which were suddenly spider-webed with small white streaks. A ringing noise filled her head, and she suddenly felt sick. She quickly backed up from the catwalk, hiding her hands behind her back until the sensation passed. When she pulled her hands out, they had returned to normal, but the ringing noise and sick feeling continued for a few more seconds.
When her hearing reutned to normal, she heard Jack telling Optimus that they needed to go home. "Human customs," said Optimus, I hadn't considered. But the issue of your safety remains." He turned to Bulked and said, "Bulkhead, you will accompany Miko home."
"Suh-weet!" cheered Miko, "My host partents will freak!"
"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form," added Optimus.
"Curbside duty," said Bulkhead, "Got it."
"Aww!" said Miko.
Optimus turned to Bumblebee next and said, "Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf." Bumlbebee nodded, looking at Raf with a happy look in his optics, which was reflected by the young boy.
"Ratchet," Optimus started.
"Busy," Ratchet quickly said as Arcee stepped out of the decontamination chamber.
Optimus looked at Arcee and said, "Arcee, you will accompany Jack." Jack had a nervous look on his face and scratched the back of his head.
Arcee held her helm and said, "Whoo! Still dizzy."
"You're fine," said Ratchet, "says your physician."
Arcee rolled her optics and gave a small sigh before nodding. Optimus then turned to Aria and said, "Aria, I will accompany you home."
Aria nodded, "Okay," she said.
A few minutes later, the team was driving out of the base, Aria settled comfortably in Optimus' passenger seat. "So," she said, turning to the steering wheel, "Which Prime was it that spoiled it for you?"
"Maximo," he replied.
"Knew it," she said, "he never likes to stay quiet."
Optimus gave a slight rumble of agreement and asked, "How long have you been connected to the Allspark?"
"Since I was eleven," she replied, "They were pretty confused that I didn't freak out or anything."
"It quite surprised myself as well," he said, "Are you planning on telling the others?"
"Maybe," Aria said, shrugging, "I think I did give Ratchet a few hints though. He threatened to send us all to Tokoyo."
Optimus gave a slight chuckle and asked, "What did you say?"
"I said, 'Watch it, Hatchet'," she chuckled and said, "He wanted to know where I got his nickname from. I guess you know where my house is?" she asked as they entered the town.
"I do," said Optimus. He turned down the street and asked, "Will you be alright? You reacted strangely when Ratchet passed you."
"I think I'll be fine." She examined her fingers and rubbed them. They felt like they were tingling still. "But I have a bad feeling about that stuff on Arcee."
"Have you heard from Cliffjumper?" he asked.
She nodded, "Something strange happened to him before his life-signal popped up. Nexus said that he hadn't seen that for a while. But he's back to normal now."
Optimus gave a small, "hmm," as he mused slightly, then he pulled up to her foster home. "I will be here in the morning," he told her as she hopped out.
"Thank's," she said, "See you tomorrow!" She walked up to the steps of the house and walked in, closing the door behind her.
()
So, I went to the 'Bot's base today. Miko saw Jack and Arcee, so she had to come along as well. So there's four of us now. Well, five if you include Agent Fowler. Apparently, he's their liason! Have to wonder how long until he finds out about us.
Something wierd happened today though. Something happened to Cliff' and his life-signal popped back up. After the mine exploded though, he went back to normal. Arcee had some wierd stuff on her hand. When Ratchet passed me with it, my fingers did a light show and I felt sick. Don't know what that was about though.
It's Saturday tomorrow. One whole day with the Autobots. See you tomorrow.
Aria examined her entry for a few seconds, then picked it up and turned it invisible, placing it back on the shelf. She examined her hands for a few seconds before climbing into bed.
For some odd reason, she felt like something was going to happen tomorrow.