Ch. 43

"You're insane!" Starscream yelled, pulling hard on the chains around his wrists.

Silas wasn't phased, "Many of my superiors thought the same. They didn't understand that the latest tech meant more than having the most soldiers. They just couldn't see my vision."

The seeker only growled, "The latest tech means nothing if you have no way of knowing how to use it! If you think you can just stick that in the back of my helm and hook it up into the back of a computer monitor, then you may as well kill me now! It won't work!"

The man crossed his arms, "We'll see. If we run into any snags," he looked back at Bumblebee, "we can always test them on your friend here."

The yellow mech beeped softly, then frowned, whirling something not so polite down at the MECH soldiers.

Starscream scoffed, "I'm agreeing with Bumblebee," he hissed, "and it won't matter. You won't learn anything from me, especially if you try to patch through my helm."

Silas watched as a scientist typed a few commands into the computer console, "As interesting as it would be to learn about you and your species, our efforts are being put elsewhere. We want to know what's going to happen next, not what has already happened."

Bumblebee looked down from the computer to the seeker, beeping quickly and accusingly.

"What?!" Starscream huffed, "You can't believe that! Why does everyone seem to think that?! That's not- it's hard to explain!"

"Don't worry, we don't care if you explain it," Silas smirked, "So long as it works. Knowing how to proceed in the next couple months will put our enemies under. You just use your precognition to tell us how and we'll try to save your life if something goes wrong."

The seeker rattled his chains as he tried to kick, "I'm NOT precognitive! What you're doing is not going to work! You'll only destroy your computers and lose the lives of your soldiers!"

The man chuckled, "What a prediction. Let's see if it comes true."

MECH scientists carried the plug of the cord up the catwalk and set it behind Starscream's helm, the silver mech trembling as he thrashed.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" he screeched.

Bumblebee whirled loudly, beeping for the MECH soldiers to stop. Scientists at the other end of the cord plugged it into a large, cube-like adapter, connecting it to their computer monitors.

"Sir, we'll begin recording now," a scientist informed, "We'll commence transformer upload on your mark."

Scientists behind Starscream's helm lifted the plug, lining it up with a link at the back of his helm.

The seeker whimpered, "You don't know what you're doing..."

Silas watched him, then turned to a scientist at the computer, "Commence the upload."

The scientists at the back of the silver mech's helm shoved hard, connecting the plug into the link. Starscream let out a strangled gasp, his optics wide as he felt the cord trying to pull something from deep within him. A painful scream escaped him and he thrashed hard. Bumblebee whirled loudly again, pulling hard on his chains.

Silas hummed, looking at the monitors, "What do we have so far?"

One of the two scientists running the computers typed in some commands, "Nothing yet, just hard static. Our tech may be far too incompatible, even with the adaptor. I'm going to try another program to make sense of the feed."

Starscream had to grit his dentals to stop another scream from erupting from his mouth. He growled as another wave of pain washed in at the back of his helm. He thought he was going to scream again until he felt that familiar displacement. The familiar build up of energy. The crackle of gold static and electricity running across his chest plate.

The seeker shrieked as the electricity built up then ran up his neck into his helm, rushing down the cord. It sparked violently as it entered the cube-like adaptor and the monitors exploded in a blaze of fire, glass and electricity. The scientists at the computers fell limp as they were electrocuted and covered in glass, Silas shielding himself with his arms.

The man's eyes widened and he looked up at Starscream, the mech panting as the cord in the back of his helm slowly fell out.

Silas couldn't frown and at the same time he couldn't smile, so he expressed nothing and turned back to a few of his soldiers, "Clean this mess up. Get rid of the bodies. We need to make a supply run if we're going to get any of this done."

The soldiers nodded and began clearing up.

The man walked down the steps, deep in thought as a scientist approached him, "The electrical output was more than we thought. We can easily counteract that if we have a separate conduit that can absorb the surge. We'll need bigger monitors, bigger computers, and programs better coded to handle the amount of information his processor is dealing out."

Silas nodded, "Good. How long will that take?"

"For each component? Too long. A couple of days to get it all together, another day to set it all up," the scientist pointed to their cortical patch cord, "On top of that, we have to open this up to see how much damage it sustained. If we find any char, which I'm sure we will, it'll be useless."

Silas growled, clenching his fists, "Then let's not waste anymore time. Start with the cord first, I want a replacement here by tomorrow. Call our supplier and let them know we need the best of the best here yesterday. You said three days? Let's try this in two..."

The scientist nodded, looking over at Starscream, then Bumblebee, "And what shall we do with these two while we restock?"

The man frowned now, "... Nothing yet. For now, I want samples of whatever is being pumped through their veins. I doubt it's motor oil. We'll need to find a replacement or something better to keep them alive before we begin..."

Silas walked with the scientist outside and most of the soldiers followed to start collecting new equipment, save for a small handful that were still cleaning up.

Bumblebee's optics wavered as he stared at Starscream. He chirped softly, unsure of what to say. Was he alright? Was he in pain?

The seeker panted softer and groaned as his arms tensed, "I... I'm alive... That's better than nothing..."

The yellow mech whirled out a sigh, then beeped, asking what they were going to do.

Starscream slowly shook his helm, "I don't know... I don't... Everyone asks me what they're supposed to do and I don't know..." he sighed when he glanced up and saw Bumblebee beginning to shake, "But we're going to be fine. The 'Bots are definitely looking for you. They'll find you."

The yellow mech's expression softened and he beeped, saying they were looking for him too.

Starscream scoffed tiredly, "They shouldn't... It's a waste of time..."

Bumblebee chirped, asking why.

The seeker sighed, "... I'm not ready... I want to be, but I'm not. And I don't know what it's going to take to get me to that point, but I'm not there yet. And I have secrets..." his mind immediately thought of scuffed red armor, energon on his claws, Cliffjumper's dead expression, "... bad secrets... I'm just not ready yet."