Chapter 6 - Found

Cassandra barely slept that night; she had a date with a robot and possibly lost the most important sketchbook she had ever made. She planned to head out after breakfast so no one could get ahold of it, IF she could make it past her mother.

She was up and ready by the time her alarm went off. She tied her hair back and headed out to the kitchen. Her brother was bouncing wildly on the sofa as her mother downed a cup of coffee. Her mother looked unamused by his early morning shenanigans as she tried not to crack herself in the teeth with her mug.

"Cassie! Cassie!" he huffed, grabbing onto the couch for support. "I'm going to the park with you!"

"What?" Cassie exclaimed with utter astonishment. "Mom!?" she whined.

"You can take your brother to the park with you, you haven't taken him anywhere in the last month. I'm busy and it isn't fair to him to have to be alone or stuck with a babysitter." She took a sip of her coffee once Lucas jumped down. "Go eat your breakfast, there's pancakes on the table." She turned back toward the television to watch the morning news.

Cassie huffed and puffed as she made her way to the kitchen. Lucas covered himself in sticky syrup as he hastily ate. She rolled her eyes and pulled out a chair; grabbing the sticky bottle, she poured syrup over the remaining two pancakes. She forked them into her mouth slowly as she watched Lucas take his excitement out on the house.

He ran around in circles, jumped on and off the couch and ran in and out of the open front door that was letting in the fresh morning air. Pillows, blankets and toys marked a path where Lucas had been. She didn't blame her mother, she needed to clean and she was going to get nowhere with Lucas. Hopefully the robot didn't keep its end of the deal, she didn't know how to explain away a giant robot.

Little did Cassandra know; Sebastian was one step ahead. They had been tracking the robot ever since its landing and the last reading they picked up was at the park. During their investigation a small sketchbook was found and brought to his hotel room. The hadn't known exactly what the robot looked like, only that it had invaded the Earth's atmosphere and it was there job to catch it. Only one person had been recorded saying they knew where the robot was; obviously she knew more than what she was letting on.

Sebastian flipped through the, admittingly, impressive drawings of the suspect. It was not a robot they had seen before, but by the blue colored eyes he knew it would be more cooperative. He enjoyed taking the world destroying robots down, but if they comply, they are urged to bring them in alive.

"This one," he sighed as he slipped the book into a manilla envelope "is going to be a worthy specimen."

Sebastian perched himself on a bench at the back of the playground; the energon meter at his side slowly ticking from the very recent exposure. A quickening in the ticks brought him out of the trance he was in; two bikes approached. He kept to the bench; he knew she would come to him in time, he had her book after all. He began to pretend to look over the pages of the sketchbook.

Cassandra chained up the bikes as Lucas ran to the empty playground. She fumbled with the locks for a moment as her nerves took over. She stood and looked around, no Camaro, good. Now where was her book?

Her eyes scanned the park over. Making sure Lucas wasn't in any impending doom again, she walked over to the opposite side of the park. Bright white pages being held by a black suit caught her attention. They locked eyes and the book slammed shut. The man in the suit beckoned her over with a slight wave of the hand and a crooked smile. Lucas was entirely unawares.

"Why are you here?" Cassandra eyed her sketchpad.

"No thank you?" He picked up and showed her the book.

She stayed silent as he lapped the book once more, his expression going flat. "I am here because I believe a little someone has been withholding some- "He flipped to a page containing a close-up of the robot's face "information."

"I draw that when I first saw it, I have a very good memory." She reached for the book that he snatched away.

"Then you should remember what I told you when we first met." He closed her sketchbook and picked up his ticking meter. "Withholding information is a Federal Offense." He stood and held the meter to her chest; it screamed. "This reads recent Energon exposure from the alien robots and you are making it go off the charts." He sat it back down on the bench. "So, would you like to tell me how long ago you were in contact?"

She swallowed hard "Look, I just want my sketchbook back."

"I don't think I can do that. This is holding some very valuable information, more than words can tell. We know exactly what it looks like now, and that it isn't afraid of humans."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm part of a very secret organization that keeps people like you safe from other worldly beings."

"Aliens."

"Yes, aliens. What you're keeping from me is putting the entire planet in danger."

She didn't believe a word from his mouth. Yes, aliens were real, obviously, but this robot was not harmful. "Give me back my sketchbook and I'll tell you. I'm sure you have scans of it already, probably even got my fingerprints and what type of pencil lead I used too."

"I'll be in touch." He handed it over, he knew she was bluffing; but she could lead them right to it if he let her go.