So, I didn't do Operation: Breakdown because the only humans that appeared in that episode was Miko and Agent Fowler. Besides, I had to move on to Aira's big project reveal! So we're skipping ahead to after Crisscross!
Aria was paying only half an ear to the conversation that was happening on the ground. She was more focused on her almost completed project. Plus, she wasn't that eager to meet June Darby quite yet.
As she listened, she couldn't help but name off a few colorful cybertronian curses in her head (Which was probably making Ironhide, Chromia, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and several other tougher cybertronians blush- if cybertronians could blush), which were directed at the terrorist organization that had ruined her life. From what she could hear, Airachnid had decided to try to strike a deal with MECH that ended with the former Decepticon escaping with a vehicle mode, MECH also vanishing, and Jack's mom, June Darby, learning about what her son was doing after school with his 'motorcycle'.
"Oh, that's Aria."
Arianna jolted up and whirled around in her chair. "Uh, somebody mention me?"
"Yeah," said Jack on the ground, "My mom saw you." At June's expression to her son, he said, "Oh, come on, mom! Did you seriously think that I was the only human that knew about these guys besides the military?"
"Well..." said June, cocking her head to the side as Raf and Miko entered the room. Seeing them, she answered, "I guess I did."
"Well, he's not," Aria told her. "Nice to finally meet you Nurse Darby."
"It's nice to meet you as well, Aria," said June, politely nodding her head. She then asked, looking at Raf and Miko, "And who are they?"
While Jack was introducing them, the computer that Aria had been working on pinged to signal that something was done. She turned back around and checked the program that she had been working on, giving a small hum of delight. "So, Perceptor? Are we good?"
The cybertronian checked all the math and declared, "We are good!"
"We're done!"
The sudden cry caused Bumblebee and Miko to jump.
"Done with what?" asked Ratchet, turning to look at her.
"Haven't you been wondering what I've been doing for the past month or so?" she asked.
"She's been working on something?" June asked her son.
"And hasn't said anything about it," answered Jack.
"So you're finally unveiling it?" asked Arcee in slight amusement.
"Yup."
"So, what exactly is it?" asked Bulkhead.
"Something to help you guys blend in humankind a little better. Perceptor helped me put it together."
"So what exactly is it?" repeated Ratchet in slight amusement. ("Who's Perceptor?" June asked Jack.)
"Do you know what a holoform is?" asked Aria.
"It's a hard-light hologram," responded Optimus, "Some Autobots and Decepticons used them during the Great War to confuse the opposing sides."
Aria held up her hard-drive. "And that's what me and Perceptor made."
"You made a holoform program?" said Ratchet incrediously, staring at her with wide optics.
"It's a small one," she told him. "You won't be able to make anything large scale, like a building or completely changing your form. It's more something like Arcee's motorcycle avatar, except it's actually solid and can move."
"You actually did that?" asked Arcee.
"Yeah. And all that's left is for you guys to download it."
"That... could actually come in handy," commented Bulkhead, "We could get into places that we couldn't get into before."
"Yeah! You could see my house Bulk'!" cheered Miko.
"And I can finally teach you how to drive my toy car, Bee!" said Raf. Bumblebee gave a happy beep.
"And how exactly does it work?" asked Ratchet skeptically.
"It connects directly to your sensory net, which means that you can mostly feel what the holoform feels," explained the white-haired girl. "You have to be careful with it when you're in a fight. If it takes too much damage, then it disappates and you're back in your cybertronian body. You will feel the damage that the holoform took, but you won't have the injuries that the holoform sustained. You'll just feel the pain that they took. And when you're driving, the hologram will appear in your driver's seat, acting like a human, but your mind will still be in your vehicle mode."
"Sounds slightly dangerous," commented the medic.
*But worth the risk!* said Bumblebee, *Besides, it's not like we'll be getting into any major fights with humans, unless it's with the 'M guys'. And I think we'll probably be staying in our 'Bot forms for that.*
"Bumblebee does have a point," said Optimus. "Perhaps this will do us a bit of good."
"Well," sighed Ratchet. He mused for a few seconds, then turned to Aria and asked, "Do you even know how to upload a program into a cybertronian?"
"I have an innumerable amount of tech-heads and scientists in my head, Ratchet," said Aria, rolling her eyes, "We can do it."
A few hours later, the program had finally been uploaded. As Aria checked it and double checked it, she finally said, "Alright, we're good. All that's needed is to activate the program."
"What about for how we look?" asked Arcee.
"Well... Perceptor said that he helped modify the program so that it would show how you see yourselves. But I would recommend shifting down into your vehicle mode so that you don't fall over. Plus, you take up less space that way."
The Autobots nodded, shifting down into their vehicle modes with the humans watching in fascination. After a few moments, Arcee's holographic rider appeared, although it appeared slightly more solid and wore different clothes. Then, the driver doors of every vehicle opened as Arcee's holoform stepped off her motorcycle form, stretching slightly as four more 'humans' stepped forward.
Arcee's complete riding jumpsuit was now replaced with a dark blue leather jacket with her Autobot insignia on her shoulder, a gray shirt, and blue-black tight jeans with knee pads. Her boots were black and silver with the top parts of the boots rimmed in pink, and her black riding gloves had pink cuffs. She pulled off her black helmet, which vanished from her hands. Her face was slightly tan with slightly pink lips, a small nose and brilliant blue eyes, with the pupil ringed surprisingly with a little bit of pink. She brushed her pink bangs from her forehead and into the rest of her black hair. "Whoa," said June, slightly shocked. "Did you take inspiration from me by chance?"
Arcee looked at her, then at the mirror that Miko had provided. After a few moments, she said, "Maybe slightly?"
"You know, I actually like it," said June.
Bumblebee looked at himself in the mirror next. He straightened his yellow and black hoodie with it's Autobot symbol on his shoulder, unzipping it slightly to reveal a white t-shirt underneath it. He also wore black pants with yellow pockets and yellow and black tennis shoes. He straightened the yellow scarf that covered his mouth and ran a hand through his blonde and black hair, which ran a little long over his bright blue eyes. He turned to Raf and made a guesture that said, "What do you think?"
"You look great!" said Raf, "But you remind me of someone."
"You look like Terry Mcginnus from Batman Beyond," said Aria.
"That's it!" said Raf, "I always did like Terry."
Bumblebee nodded, remembering seeing the TV show that they mentioned. He looked back at the mirror and nodded, seeing the resemblence.
Bulkhead was actually rather muscular, the sleeves of his gray, long-sleeved shirt stretched tightly across his arms. Over the shirt he wore a hooded green vest with the Autobot insignia on his chest, which was zipped closed. He also wore gray-black jeans with the edges stuffed into green and dark gray combat boots. He tugged on the edges of his black gloves and ran a hand over his green-streaked black hair. He looked at his slightly straight jawline and blue eyes, then nodded. "I actually look good," he commented, slightly surprised, "I think I look like Chris Evans."
"A little bit," said Miko, coming forward. She poked a finger into his stomach before saying, "But I expected you with a little bit of a belly."
"Oh, I'll show you a little bit of a belly, Miko!" declared Bulkhead, grinning. He grabbed her in a headlock and started to give her a noogie, with the younger girl protesting loudly, a wide smile on her face.
Ratchet looked at his new appearance with a little bit of scruinty in his dark blue eyes. He had short red hair with some white on his sideburns. He wore a red-orange and white jacket with a white circle on the shoulders, which had the medical symbols in them. His Autobot insignia was located on the right side of his chest. He wore clean white pants with red-orange edging which covered the tops of his red-orange and silver boots. He lightly stroked his light beard and said, "Not bad."
"You look a bit like Nicholas Cage," said Jack, chuckling slightly.
"Who- oh. I remember. That actor for that treasure hunter movie?"
"Yup," said Aria. She then turned to Optimus and froze slightly, her eyes widening.
Out of all the rest of the team, Optimus looked the most ordinary out of everyone. He straightened his red and black jacket over his dark gray t-shirt and looked down at his blue jeans and black, steel-tipped combat boots. He checked his shoulders which had Autobot symbol on each shoulder. He finally stepped forward to look at his facial features. He had a light beard across his chin, which was colored, like his hair, a dark black with a slight blue sheen to it. He had crystal blue eyes that had a slight white color around the pupil. He noticed Aria staring and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"N-no. It's just... You... look like my dad. Before he died."
Optimus thought for a few seconds, then remembered when he had seen the photo of Aria's father. His eyes widened and he said, "Aria. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"No, no!" she quickly said, raising a hand. "It's... it's alright. It's actually... kinda fitting."
Optimus's gaze relaxed. "Oh. Thank you... for letting me have the honor."
She smiled shyly and said, "You're welcome."
They didn't notice Ratchet raising an eyebrow at that and smiling slightly. He was slowly figuring it out.
When Agent Folwer came in, the Autobots showed their new holoforms to him. He approved of the concept. "I have been getting something about... 'Ghost Cars' from a few conspiracy sites."
"I think I know what to do in my free time," Raf muttured to Miko as Bumblebee sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"And it might help with a few other things," said Agent Fowler, "But I know that you might not want to get yourself more involved in human affairs more than you already are."
"Indeed," said Optimus.
Aria barely heard Jack whisper to his mother, "MECH." Her hand glowed a slight red when she thought of the terrorist organization.
"Will that be everything, Agent Fowler?" asked Optimus, noticing Aria.
Fowler noticed her as well. "Yes, that's all."
He quickly left as Aria said, "If I ever run into MECH, I swear-"
"Thankfully that will not be happening anytime soon," said Ratchet quickly, "And I'm not sure that would be a wise idea for you."
"I'm not the defenseless little girl I was a long time ago," said Aria, a little sharply, "I can take care of myself." Her shoulders were set rather straight as she headed off the balcony and out of the room.
As soon as she was gone, June said, "She doesn't like MECH, does she?"
"Not at all," said Ratchet, "Just mentioning them sets her on edge."
Optimus looked after her for a few seconds, then nodded. He knew what he needed to do.
Aria sat on top of the mesa, which was empty after Agent Fowler had left. She was trembling slightly, although she didn't notice. She was stuck thinking about the night that Silas had destroyed her life as Katrina.
"Aria?"
The girl whirled around. Optimus stepped back slightly, holding up his servos in a non-threatening guesture. Aria relaxed, nodding to him before turning back around and staring at the horizon.
The Prime relaxed, stepping forward again. Before going further, he stopped and transformed into his vehicle mode. His driver door opened and his new holoform stepped out. He joined Aria, sitting beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. She flinched before leaning into his embrace. His arm gently tightened around her.
"I'm scared," she finally said. "What will I do when I do see Silas again? When he's in front of me and he knows who I am?"
"I don't know, Aria," said Optimus. "But one thing I do know. No matter how alone you think you are, you are not. You will never be alone."
Aria looked up at him, then nodded, a tiny smile spreading across her face. She leaned further into Optimus's embrace as he wrapped his other arm around her, holding her as she silently cried into his shoulder.
Optimus closed the door to his room, thinking about what had happened. He smiled gently.
They had hugged.
I will always be with you, Aria. My little one.
This chapter was pretty short too, but it wasn't much. Just explaining about the holoforms that the Bots get. I'll try and include them every once in a while.