Her audio receptors were ringing. She couldn't focus. She couldn't move. She couldn't see.
Everything was black, but she was awake.
A few minutes pass, and her mind comes into focus. She pricks her ears to listen to things around her. She realized she was blindfolded.
She guessed there were several humans in the room with her.
"Sir", said a new voice, "I think she's awake."
"Take the blindfold off", a second voice said.
She heard steps approaching and felt hands on her head.
As soon as the blindfold was off, she tried to jump up and run, but chains stopped her.
She tried to lunge at the closest one with her claws extended. When she realized she was incapable of running off or attacking, she calmed down and looked at her surroundings.
She was in a dimly lit room with a wide walkway for the humans above her with large monitors on it.
She realized she had a muzzle on, attached to a chain connected to a collar, forcing her to keep her head lower than she liked. The collar had chains attached to the floor. She also had something tightly wraped around her torso. This had more chains connected to the floor.
There were masked men all around her, except for one.
He was tall and slim. He looked like he could tell a lie and everyone would believe him, then could kill many many people.
She decided she wouldn't trust a word he said, no matter how true it may seem.
She stared at him right in the eye and growled.
"So", the man said, "my brother wasn't crazy."
His voice was slippery and sly. Highshot didn't like it one bit.
"He was obsessed with your kind", he continued, "So obsessed that he was willing to become one of you in order to live."
Highshot dropped her aggressive stance and just looked at him confused.
What does he mean by that? she thought.
"I am Zane, brother of Silas", he said proudly, "When you showed up we were expecting someone else, a certain Optimus Prime perhaps?"
She growled and lashed her tail.
Wait, then that would mean...
Their intentions were to lure the bots in to capture them with a fake signal, and Russell and Denny are with them, they're in danger. She had to get back and warn them.
She began to tug on the chains as hard as she could, hoping they would break. She felt a strong electric shock on her side where the metal harness was.
"Try and break the chains and you'll get a painful shock", said Zane, "the next one more painful than the last."
After I get out of these chains, you'll regret ever putting a muzzle on me she thought.
"I thought you said they could talk", he said to one of the others.
"They can sir", the man answered, "but we've never seen one like this. They're always some kind of vehicle."
"Alright then", said Zane, "Take her to the white room and take off her chains."
A large door lifted up in front of her and she realized the platform she was standing on was on a track. Half a dozen men walked alongside the platform as it moved.
It was brighter in the long hallway, much easier to see.
Above her to her right she saw Zane on the walkway running along this hallway. She guessed it was meant to transport large cargo throughout the building.
Eventually the platform came to a stop next to another large door on her right. And three more men climbed down a ladder from the walkway.
They all went to her chains and unlatched them. Before she could fight them or run they went on high alert, holding the chains tightly ensuring she couldn't go anywhere.
They pulled on the chains forcing her to hop off the platform.
She saw Zane press a button and the door opened. Inside the room was all white with bright lights.
The men tried to pull her in. She didn't like the looks of it so she resisted and pulled back. Apparently one of them had a stick that could shock her, so he used it near her rear end.
This startled her and she kicked him hard, knocking him down.
More of them started to shock her with the sticks, on her side and shoulders.
She lunges into the room and most of them lost their hold on the chains. The remaining men still held on as she continued to pull.
Eventually they dropped the chains and ran out, the door shuting quickly behind them.
A loud beep came from her collar and it dropped to the ground along with the harness. It had come detached from the muzzle.
The muzzle let out a quieter beep and she felt the strap unlatch behind her ears.
She reached up and pulled it off easily.
"I know you can transform", Zane said on a speaker, "When my brother died he left behind all of the information he obtained from studying your kind."
She considered revealing herself to him. She assumed he already knew enough to know her weaknesses.
She transformed.
There was large window near the ceiling. She saw Zane peering at her through it.
"Look, Zane", she said, "I don't know who you are or who your brother is or what your intentions are but I do know that you will regret ever putting a muzzle on me and chaining me down."
"You're not one for warm welcomes I see", said Zane, "Trust me, I can make it worse if you'd like that."
"I don't trust the way you said 'trust me' just then", she said.
"Please", he said, "I intend to treat you like a welcomed guest of honor, if you'd allow me."
"So, what are you gonna do?" she asked, "Do weird and crazy science experiments on me? Dissect me?"
"Oh, Silas already did that", he replied.
One of the men walked up to Zane and said something to him that Highshot couldn't hear.
"We will speak later", he said just before he walked away.
Then all the lights except one clicked off.
Alone. Again. In the dark.