A/N
... I seriously have no idea what people put in Author's notes that makes them so long...
Scripture update!:
"Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always. " Always trust God when you're down in the dumps, and never stop striving after Him.
I went out the door and I decided to go see what was going on in the command room. Ratchet had already activated the Ground Bridge to an unknown location and team Prime, barring Ratchet, transformed and rolled out. As the drove through the bridge, I went over to stand by the kids, ad maybe gather some insight as to where they went. "Hey guys, what's going on?" I asked no one in particular. Ratchet replied as he stayed focused to his console.
"I located a data cylinder, a vessel of ancient knowledge, perhaps of the Primes, here on Earth, which is surprising to say the least. Optimus and the team have been bridged to the coordinates I uncovered," he said.
"... I see. Do you have any idea what kind of knowledge is in it?" I asked after a moment of thought.
"I do not," he started. "It could range anywhere from weapons to medicine." He went to a side console and began typing. A map of the planet came up and it was graphed with boxes, most likely longitude and latitude.
"Any information would be good information, right?" I asked him as I studied the map. Apparently, either Agent Fowler and the government provided them with an accurate depiction, or they had visited more of this planet than I had previously thought.
"I suppose. We'll never know until we retrieve it," he said, turning his head slightly to me, then looking back at the screen. Four blips popped up on it as the Autobots' signals were being tracked.
Miko turned to the CMO and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"
Ratchet paused for a moment, as if he were thinking of a small task he could lay on her.
"In fact, there is." She perked up. Then she saw him holding a mop. Her gaze dropped as she took it and went over with the rest of the kids. I looked over at the children, just now noticing one of them was missing.
"Miko," I said quickly as she reached the ground and started running towards the open bridge. Jack looked over from his game to see me jump off the large platform and safety roll at the bottom, continue running, and caught up with Miko. I grabbed her wrist but she's rather wiggly when she wants to be. She pried her hand free and started off again. She reached the Ground Bridge and ran through it. I sighed, then ran after her. I wasn't about to let her get killed by fifty foot tall robots from another planet. I felt my bones start to vibrate and my stomach churn as I reached near the end of the tunnel. I exited it to see a firefight going on. The 'bots and the 'cons were beating each other up trying to make a grab for the cylinder. I spotted Miko near it and ran over to her.
"What were you thinking?!" I yelled over the battle to the young teenager. She took a picture, and shut her phone.
"What do you think I'm doing? I wasn't about to miss a smack down with Bulkhead!" she yelled back. She clearly had some judgmental issues and needed to be lectured by Ratchet, what a punishment. But later.
"Miko, you could already be dead if a somebot took one wrong step or got thrown back into you," I said as she took a good look at the data capsule.
"You know, we should probably get this back to Ratchet," she said. She pulled out her phone and dialed the medic. "Hey Ratchet?" she called.
"Miko, what are you doing, this is a secure channel. Why aren't you cleaning like you're supposed to..." he said with sudden realization. "Miko! Where are you?!"
"I'm with the data thingy, duh," she said as if it were obvious.
"The data thingy – the cylinder! Miko, I'm opening a bridge to your location. You need to come back, now!" He paused a moment and sighed. "I take it Lot is with you right now too?" he asked, but I think he already knew the answer.
"I can't come back when I could get the thingy back to you." She looked up to see the bridge off a ways. "Can you move the bridge closer?" she asked the medic.
"Supply coordinates," he said briskly.
"Uh... fifty yards?" she asked.
"Precise coordinates," he said again.
She sighed and closed her phone. She struggled to push the large cylinder as she put her whole body weight into it. I went over to help her. We struggled and strained until we were exhausted. I went over and stood in front of it to take a look at our progress.
"Miko... we only moved it three feet..." I said.
"Are you kidding me?! Here, stand back," she said. She walked back a few feet, then started running towards it. She did a flying kick into it and it didn't budge, though it did start humming. We looked at each other curiously and the front end nearest to me opened. I probably should have moved, but I was preoccupied as Bulkhead landed right behind me. I turned around to see him come down with a thud, and turned again to look at Miko. That's when a red beam hit me square in the face. I was having a bad day. That was besides the point. The next thing I remember seeing was Ratchet shining a light into my face.
"Whoa," I sat up then a splitting headache hit. "What hit me?" I asked the medic.
"Careful, you took an energy canister to the head. Are you feeling alright?" he asked me, taking a scan of my body.
"Aside from the headache, sure?" I responded. I looked around the room and saw a brief wall of code fly over my vision, then it was normal.
"I see. Lie down, I need to take a detailed scan of your processor," he said. I obeyed and lay down. I closed my eyes and saw a quick flash of green binary zoom through my head, then it was gone. I felt a small pushing sensation as Ratchet scanned my head. "Now this can't be right," he said.
"What? What isn't right?" I asked. I was a bit concerned, as you would probably be.
"The information, it's in the hippocampus section of your brain. You said you were hit by a beam?"
"Yes, that's right," I responded.
"Well, it appears that the information was jettisoned from the pod. If you had not been in the way, it would have been shot heavenward, lost to the stars," he said.
"Probably not, Bulk was right behind me," I replied looking over the large mech talking to Miko.
"Hmm. Optimus, come here," he said over his comm link. Whatever it was in my head that required his attention, it probably wasn't good for me.
"What is it, old friend?" he asked, and looked at me. He nodded in my direction as if saying, 'Hi there'.
"It appears that the information in the pod jettisoned to his CPU. And... well..." he leaned over to his audio receptor and said something only Optimus could hear. His optics widened slightly and said quietly.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, not that I understand it," he replied with a hint of curiousness in his voice.
"Listen guys," I began, "Don't cut me out. Whatever it is, I can take it."
"It looks as if... your brain is not meant for this type of information," he said grimly.
"And that means, what? I won't be able to access it?"
"Quite the contrary. The information is living, as it was created by Primes. It is... rewriting your neural net to become more like a Cybertronians. The information wishes to survive," he said slowly, choosing each word carefully.
"So... I'm going to have a Cybertronian brain?"
"Well, yes, and no. 'It', if we're calling the information that, knows an organic body will not survive with a more advanced brain, no offense, and is producing nanites to replicate more Cybertronian CNA across your body. It essence, by the end of its process, you won't be organic."
His words struck me like a load of bricks. "Not organic? What do you mean, I'll be some sort of Cybertronian-Conian hybrid?"
"The correct term is Techo-organic, but no. Most likely you will be full Cybertronian. But not if there's anything I can do about it. I will attempt to remedy the effects of the information and expel it as soon as possible. But, I wished you be prepared in the event that..."
"You can't," I finished his statement.
"Yes. In the mean time, try to relax and catch some sleep," he said as he turned over to his console and began typing. I laid back and closed my eyes to see more binary flash.
I better get used to this, I thought to myself as I drifted off.