Disclaimer: Transformers is property of Takara-Tomy and Hasbro. I'm just borrowing it. Other characters are property of their respective owners.
Sam and Leo were studying in their dorm room the next evening when Sam's cell phone rang. Sam had to scramble a bit to grab it from his coat pocket (which was hanging on the door handle) without getting off the bed, but he made it.
"Hello?" Pause. "Oh, uh, hi." Pause. "He showed it to you already? What did you think?" Pause. "Really? Okay, I'll give the phone to him." Sam handed the phone to Leo.
"Mr. Spitz, I want to thank you for bringing that article to my attention," Optimus Prime said through the cell phone.
"Oh, um, it was nothing, really," Leo stammered. For all his talk of 'fighting the system' any brush with actual authority scared the pants off him. "I was just doing my usual web surfing, looking for stuff The Man doesn't want brought up, and I found the paper."
"Your diligence and tenacity for paranormal investigation impresses me, Mr. Spitz. Would you like to accompany me in following up on this paper?" Optimus offered.
"Oh, you bet I would! What's the mission?"
"I intend to track down the author of the paper and inquire about how much he found out, but did not include in the paper. If he proves trustworthy, I may request his further assistance."
"So, what do you need my help with? That sounds pretty easy for you."
"I cannot interact easily without revealing myself. While I can project a hologram of a human to act as an avatar for disguise purposes, the hologram cannot interact with physical matter."
"So, you need a human to touch stuff."
"Correct. Explaining how I got through a doorway without opening the door, for example, would be…inconvenient," Optimus admitted.
"Okay, I'm in. When do we go?"
"Bumblebee will bring you to a rendezvous point away from your university. Would Friday afternoon, following the completion of your classes for the week, be acceptable?"
"Yeah, sure! Oh, and call me Leo. Mr. Spitz just sounds way to formal for me."
"As you wish, Leo. Will you please pass the telephone back to Sam?" Optimus requested.
"Okay," Leo agreed and passed the phone back to Sam. Sam talked with Optimus about the details of Friday for a while and then bid the Autobot leader good bye.
"So," Sam said with a smile to Leo. "Your first solo mission."
"It's not solo. Optimus is going to be there." Leo replied, puzzled.
"I meant solo as in you're the only human going along." Sam continued to smile.
"Oh, I didn't think about it that way," Leo said with a gulp. "What if this is really a trap to shut me up forever?!"
"Oh, can it, Leo. If the Autobots wanted you dead you'd be a little cloud of carbon dust by now," Sam coolly lay back on his bed and returned to reading his textbook.
"Carbon dust?!" Leo squeaked.