Author's Notes: Yay! I got chapter 2 out in a timely fashion! I'm happy with how this chapter turned out, but more importantly than that I am touched and a bit surprised at the support this fic is receiving! You guys are awesome, and I will try to make this story something special. So far it's fun writing this story, but the most challenging part is Carnia's dialogue. It's hard to think of quotes for every topic of conversation, but with a little research anything is possible :)
P.S.: Every chapter in this fic will be named after an episode from a certain TV show. Whoever can figure out which show wins one internet cookie :)
Chapter 2
And When The Sky Was Opened
Carly didn't know what to do. She tried to walk away from the little femme to find a pay phone and call the Autobots, but Carnia just wouldn't leave her alone. Everywhere Carly went Carnia went too, and her disjointed chatter was nearly incomprehensible half the time. It seemed like everything Carnia knew about English she learned from movies and TV. That sounded fine in theory, but in practice it made it very difficult for Carly to extrapolate the meaning behind Carnia's words.
"Okay, Carnia," Carly said after she found a pay phone, "I'm going to call some friends of mine. They're Autobots, from the planet Cybertron. Do you know anything about Cybertron?"
"E.T., phone home," Carnia nodded studiously.
"Um, I'm going to take that as a yes," Carly replied uncertainly, "Just be quiet while I make this call, okay?"
Carnia replied by sitting down on the pavement and smiling up at Carly. Her dental plates had several pieces missing, which gave her the look of a small child with a crooked smile. Carly couldn't help but smile back at the innocent look in those trusting red optics.
"Thank you," Carly replied in relief, "I'll only be a minute. Hopefully Ironhide or somebody will be able to pick us up and take us to the Ark."
Carly reached into her pocket and searched for some change to make the call, but realized to her chagrin that she had no money. Carly moaned softly in frustration and hung up the phone.
"Bad news, Carnia. I can't call anyone," Carly reported sadly, "I don't know what to do with you. You need to be with the Autobots so they can help you, but we can't walk there. It's 50 miles away. I'm not sure how we'll get there."
"Never fear *beep* *beep* We're gonna make it after all!" Carnia sang at the top of her vocalizer before transforming into a rusty broken down looking motorcycle, "Lead on, McDuff!"
"Oh, so you are a Transformer! That's great!" Carly exclaimed happily before climbing on, "Okay Carnia, just follow my directions, and we'll be at the Ark in no time!"
"Let's get dangerous!" Carnia purred as her engine revved, "To infinity and beyond!"
Carnia then drove away far more quickly than Carly thought she would be capable of doing. The little bike was going nearly 90 MPH, and Carly had to hang on tight to keep from falling off. After a moment though, Carly started to laugh with joy at the wind in her hair and the high speed they were going. This beat taking the bus any day.
Skyfire had brought Jazz and Bumblebee back to the Ark after they failed to find any traces of survivors from the crash site. There were mixed feelings all around. Jazz was sure something fishy was going on with that unknown life pod, Bumblebee was just sad its occupants died, and Skyfire was trying with all his might to keep his poker face (as the humans called it).
Skyfire was almost certain those dead robots were from Junk. He supposed they could achieve space travel after 10 million years, but that still left the question as to what kind of society they had formed in that amount of time. Part of him wanted to warn the Autobots of his suspicions, but at the same time he had no proof, and any scientist worth his energon doesn't present findings without evidence.
When the trio walked back to Teletran 1 they saw that their shift was being covered by Huffer, Gears, and Tracks. Ratchet was also in the room fighting with Perceptor over missing his bi-monthly physical, and Jazz couldn't help but chuckle at how cornered Perceptor looked at the moment.
"You give anybody any new dents, Ratchet?" Jazz teased as he strolled over to relieve Gears of duty.
"Watch it buster, you still haven't reported for your physical, either," Ratchet reminded the saboteur.
"Oh, uh, right. I just forgot. I'll be there. Heh heh," Jazz simpered; hoping it wasn't obvious that he was avoiding his check-up.
"Yo guys, I hate to break up the inquisition, but we got someone comin' this way," Huffer reported, "Oh, never mind. It's just Carly."
"Yeesh! What an ugly motorcycle!" Tracks cringed at the sight of all that rust, "I always thought Carly had more good taste than that."
"Why is Carly here so late?" Bumblebee wondered out loud, "It's 1:30 AM. She might be in trouble. Open the door for her, Huffer!"
"Yeah, yeah...I always have to do everything around here…" Huffer grumbled under his breath as he opened the door.
Carly drove through the entrance and straight into the control room to see the 'Bots. Bumblebee and Jazz smiled wide at their friend, and even Tracks gave a friendly wave despite his discomfort with the rusty bike. Carly smiled and dismounted her ride, which transformed back into Carnia, and that was when all pit broke loose…
"AAAHH!" Every Autobot simultaneously screamed when they saw the sparkling.
"It's a zombie!" Huffer shrieked as he backed against the wall and held onto Gears.
"It's got cosmic rust!" Gears shouted as he scraped his pedes against the floor to try to back up beyond the wall.
"It's hideous!" Tracks exclaimed; frozen in place by fear.
The Autobots shouted and spoke over each other in an effort to make sense of this abomination in their ship. No one knew what it was; only that it looked like it was already dead.
"Stop!" Skyfire shouted above the bedlam as he held his arms out to calm everyone, "No one make any sudden movements. That is a Junkion. They can be very violent when provoked. I repeat. No. Sudden. Moves."
Carly was utterly confused by the way the Autobots were acting. She assumed because Carnia was an alien robot like them that they would know how to help her. Instead, they were acting like Carly let a wild coyote loose in the base.
"Skyfire, what is that thing?" Ratchet asked through gritted denta, "You said it was a...junk-on?"
"Junkion," Skyfire whispered, "They're a primitive race that lives on planet Junk. They are very excitable, so we have to be careful."
"Planet Junk?" Huffer scoffed, "That's not an inhabited planet! That's where Cybertron dumps its garbage!"
"Give a hoot! Don't pollute!" Carnia snapped at Huffer, and the purple and orange minibot flinched in terror.
Skyfire gasped when he heard her speak! When he had seen the Junkions 10 million years ago they had been completely nonverbal, but this one not only spoke but also spoke in English!
"That's amazing. You can talk!" Skyfire exclaimed jubilantly as he cautiously stepped closer to Carnia, "May I ask you a few questions, young femme?"
Carnia turned to look at Carly with a worried expression on her face plate. She grabbed Carly's arm and in a strained voice asked "Is it safe?"
"Of course, Carnia. Skyfire is a kind mech. He's just curious about you," Carly explained comfortingly as she rubbed Carnia's rusting shoulder guard, "I know the Autobots got a little...overly excited at seeing you, but you'll soon see that they are good mechs and can be your friends. You'll be okay, I promise."
Carnia sighed deeply, looked up at Skyfire's imposing height, and resolutely said "And now, our feature presentation."
"Hm...I'm not sure what that means," Skyfire replied; confused.
"Perhaps I could be of assistance," Perceptor offered, "She might feel more comfortable speaking in Cybertronian," Then Perceptor switched languages as he asked "So Carnia, how old are you?"
Carnia's optics grew wide and glazed over. Perceptor tried asking a different question in Cybertronian just in case age was a forbidden subject among the Junkions. He asked her how she liked earth so far. Carnia responded by tilting her helm to one side and giving Perceptor a quizzical look.
"What we've got here is a failure to communicate!" Carnia shouted in frustration, "Are you talkin' to me? I said are you talkin' to me!?"
Her shouting scared the Autobots not brave enough to stand close to her. Tracks actually fainted from the stress! Even Perceptor backed up a few steps. Skyfire knew though that the best way to earn her respect was to not show fear. He bent down so she could see him better and tried to scrutinize her words.
"You speak English, but not Cybertronian," Skyfire stated more to himself than to her, "Yet even your English words seem...rehearsed."
"That's because she's quoting TV," Carly informed him, "I don't know why, but she only speaks and sings in TV and movie phrases."
"Well, that certainly complicates things," Skyfire replied; disheartened, "It would seem that the Junkions haven't improved as much as I had hoped. She's not really talking, but rather just parroting what she has heard before. It doesn't really help us. She's probably just as barbaric as her elders were when I met them."
"Hey! Come down here and say that to my face!" Carnia barked at Skyfire, "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"
Just in that moment Wheeljack walked into the room carrying a part for Ratchet's medical berth that had gone on the blink. When he walked into the room he saw Tracks had offlined in the middle of the floor, the minibots were huddled in a corner like trapped turbo rats, Ratchet and Perceptor were near Teletran 1 staring at Skyfire who was talking to Carly and-
"A sparkling!" Wheeljack exclaimed cheerfully, "I haven't seen a sparkling in ages! Oh, and it's a little femme! Hi sweet spark, my name is Wheeljack. What's yours?"
"They call me Carnia," Carnia replied with a smirk, "Last time on The Ark: Skyfire introduced himself and then stuck his pede in his mouth. The Autobots discovered a long lost secret, and Carnia lost her creators in a fiery explosion. Film at eleven. And now back to our regularly scheduled program."
"Oh, no! You lost your parents?" Wheeljack asked; concerned for the sparkling's well being.
"Wait, that's what she said? How can you tell?" Gears asked.
"Because she said so," Wheeljack shrugged as if it should be obvious, "Why are you guys just standing around? Half of her body parts are already dead and need to be replaced! She could have internal bleeding, and all this rust can't be healthy for such a tiny sparkling!"
"Wheeljack, Carnia is a Junkion," Skyfire stated, "They're made from the dead bodies of other mechs and femmes that are thrown away on planet Junk. She's supposed to look like that."
"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Gears exclaimed, and then actually purged behind a console, "Did you say they make their creations out of…?"
"Corpses, yes," Skyfire nodded in confirmation, "Listen, I don't know how they got there, but 10 million years ago I was on an expedition with Starscream in search of new sources of energon. Starscream crashed on the planet Junk and was severely injured, so I flew down to rescue him. I was attacked by a horde of these unknown beings that we later called Junkions. I barely escaped, and I too was injured. Starscream and I were trapped on that planet for fifteen deca-orns, and in that time we silently observed the habits and behaviors of the Junkions. We even wrote and published a paper on them."
"Um, Skyfire?" Perceptor interrupted sheepishly, "I don't know how to tell you this, but no such paper exists. I've never heard of the Junkions, and typing it into Teletran 1 offered no results despite this being the most extensive collection of knowledge known to Cybertron."
"But that's impossible!" Skyfire protested, "The paper was delivered directly to the science council by...Starscream! I can't believe this! Why would be refuse to publish our work? He worked on that essay about the Junkions with just as much effort as I did. Why would he hide their existence? That report could have helped the citizens of Junk to have access to energon, supplies, and could have established their separate government in the optics of Cybertron's senate. It wouldn't have harmed anyone. Why would he hide this?"
"Aw, I think she likes me," Wheeljack cooed when Carnia started poking his glowing head fins.
"It figures you could tame a freak of nature, given you made the Dinobots," Huffer remarked, "At least she's probably smarter than them."
"Actually, there is one way in which the Junkions are unrivaled geniuses," Skyfire told them.
"Oh yeah? This I gotta see!" Gears snorted sardonically.
"And you shall," Skyfire replied patiently to the insolent minibot, "Ratchet, please allow me the use of your scalpel."
Ratchet handed Skyfire the scalpel, though he was just as nervous as anyone about Skyfire giving such a sharp object to a half-feral sparkling. Skyfire didn't give Carnia the device, however. Instead, Skyfire quickly cut a large gash into his arm; screaming in pain as he did so! Everyone gasped, and Carnia hid behind Carly (despite the human girl being thinner).
"Carnia, could you fix my arm for me please?" Skyfire asked politely as he showed her his new injury.
Carnia looked at the cut with flowing energon, then at Skyfire's face, and then at her surroundings. Skyfire's behavior seemed unstable, and Carnia was nervous, but she saw that Carly was encouraging her to help him. For some reason, Carnia felt like she could trust Carly more than anyone else she had met so far. Probably because Carly was one of the talking-box people. To the Junkions, the talking-box people were the mysterious organics that told them how life worked. The talking-box people could do anything, go anywhere, and be anything they wanted to be. Carnia felt honored being with Carly, because Carnia was the first of her kind to ever meet a real talking-box person.
"I'll patch you up, money back guarantee!" Carnia proclaimed as she started stalking around the room in search of supplies to repair Skyfire.
The others gave her a lot of space as she looked around. She decided to just go for the direct approach and rip some of the orange metal out of the wall. Everyone was surprised that a mere sparkling was strong enough to cause such damage with her bare servos!
Carnia then went back to where Skyfire was standing and waiting patiently. He didn't say anything, because he knew this skill had to be seen to be believed. With a speed that could rival Ratchet's, Carnia turned her index digit into a welder and started melting down the orange metal piece until it was the perfect shape to fit the injury. Then she welded the new metal to Skyfire's cut, turned off the welder, and then wiped off the excess energon. She was like a one-bot pit crew.
"Amazing! A sparkling shouldn't have any sort of medical knowledge, let alone be able to do that!" Perceptor exclaimed; still staring at Skyfire's newly healed wound.
"I know, but all Junkions are capable of this level of medical expertise," Skyfire told them, "They couldn't talk when I observed them, but the older ones would show the younger ones how to graft parts, repair wounds, and even recycle energon back into a body after it had been bled out; something I might add Cybertronians still do not know how to do."
"Incredible," Bumblebee, who had been quiet most of this time, finally said, "Carly, where did you find her?"
"In a junkyard," Carly replied with a shrug, "I'm guessing that's a close substitute to their natural habitat?" She asked, and Skyfire nodded, "I see. So, um, can you take care of her until we figure out how to get her back to her home planet?"
"No!" Three or four of them said in unison.
"Aw, why not?" Wheeljack whined, "She's so cute!"
"Cute? That prickly rust bucket?" Huffer groused as he crossed his arms over his chassis, "No way! She'll tear us apart in our recharge and turn our plating into pelts! I don't care where she goes, but she can't stay here!"
"I think we should discuss this with Boss Bot," Jazz suggested.
Carnia, however, was listening to this conversation, and while they all spoke a strange dialect she could tell what they were saying nonetheless. They were trying to decided whether or not to keep her on board their mothership. Carnia had been told from the time she was brand new in mint condition that shiny robots from outer space were bad and would hurt her. She didn't want to stay with them. She wanted to stay with her guardian angel Carly!
"Noooo!" Carnia suddenly screamed, and then she clung onto Carly for dear life, "Not the chair! Not the chair! I'll never let go, Jack! Never let go! No exchanges, refunds, or returns! Don't make me go!"
Carnia was hysterical as she spoke, and Carly had trouble breathing with the powerful young Junkion squeezing her like a teddy bear. The Autobots saw Carly was in distress, so Jazz and Bumblebee pried the sparkling away from Carly. Carnia started crying and screaming really loud when she was separated from Carly, and the blonde woman felt her heart break for the little orphaned alien.
"I'll take her," Carly found herself saying before she even knew what she was doing.
The Autobots looked at her in shock, but she knew she had to do something for Carnia. Carnia didn't trust anyone else except her. The little thing needed her.
"Are you sure about this, Carly?" Bumblebee asked softly, "We know so little about her, and if she attacks you then what?"
"I know it's a risk," Carly replied resolutely, "But she needs me. Tomorrow I'll talk to Optimus about this. I mean, I guess you're all involved now. In the meantime, I need to go home and get some sleep."
"I'll drive you," Bumblebee offered.
"Not necessary," Carly replied as she pointed with a thumb to Carnia, "She should drive me so she can get familiar with the road."
"Hi ho diggety!" Carnia whooped as she gracefully transformed into bike mode.
Carly chuckled at Carnia's antics and then got on the motorcycle and left. The Autobots watched her go with the minibots feeling relief, most others feeling confusion, and the scientists and Jazz feeling apprehension. The only one that seemed unfazed by the unusual sparkling was Wheeljack, and to be fair, Wheeljack was crazy. Speaking of which...
"Wheeljack, do you have any idea how the Junkions got a hold of an earth television set capable of receiving a signal from space?" Ratchet asked accusingly.
"Well..." Wheeljack wheedled sheepishly, "A couple years ago I tried to improve Sparkplug's TV and broke it, so I sent it to the Cybertronian dump when Omega Supreme was making a run that way."
"If it was broken then what harm would that do?" Gears asked cluelessly.
"Seriously? Did you not see the sparkling with super-healing powers?" Bumblebee asked as he put a servo on his hip.
Everybody started glaring at Wheeljack then, realizing that his actions had corrupted the culture of a primitive robotic race. All Wheeljack could do was wave at them and be grateful they couldn't see him simpering through his welder's mask.