Chapter 6

To Dig into the Mind

Jack had never felt so miserable, in his entire life, as he stepped back onto the Nemesis.

'They'll never forgive me.' He thought, as he stared at everything morosely. He couldn't believe how quickly Megatron's commands took hold of him after the mech's reprogramming session.

'You will protect your master, when you are not actively attacking the Autobots, or until I dismiss you.'

He could remember clearly the pain in Optimus's optics as he shocked him with electrokinesis. The surprise and betrayal in Bulkhead and Arcee's as they watched their leader stumble back. The hurt he'd felt when he returned to Megatron to guard him.

'You will attack the Autobots, when they are near, especially Prime. You will not warn them before you do so.'

Jack really wanted to fry Megatron for that one. Making him walk close enough to Optimus, unable to tell him to stay away, so that order would force him to react. Ratchet's face when he'd been hit later, swam through his mind, and Jack closed his eyes trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. He wondered if the snarky medic would ever trust him again.

'You will hold nothing back when you are ordered to attack.'

He was glad his fire and ice attack had missed, if it had hit anyone, they would have been engulfed entirely. Still, something inside of him had died, after what he did to Bulkhead and Arcee, and the fear in Ratchet's eyes when he backed away, Jack never wanted to see that again. This is exactly why he had kept his powers a secret in the first place, he didn't want to be feared.

'You will make no attempts at escape or sabotage. You will not contact or talk to the Autobots. You will inform me of any and all Autobot intruders.'

Those three orders made him feel especially miserable. After he'd ruined the Autobots plan, and they were forced to leave, he'd desired nothing more than to run after them. To be back at the base with his friends. To see his mother again. To be safe. To be free again.

If they came looking for him, on the Nemesis now, he'd have to betray them. Jack wanted to protest these orders strongly, but Megatron kept him on a short leash. Like a dog.

'You will address me as your master. You will do so with respect. You will obey only me.'

"Master?" Jack absolutely hated to say it, but it got the mech's attention.

"May I be dismissed?" He requested, and held his breath as Megatron studied him.

"Yes, you may." He finally said, "After Knockout checks you over in the med bay. You will stay on the ship."

'You will submit to every examination, approved by me, without a fuss'

Jack was picked up by the designated medic and carried to the infirmary.

He couldn't help glancing at the Decepticons as they passed. Breakdown looked like he'd had a good beating from Bulkhead, there were a lot of dents in his armor. Megatron had scratches all over him from Arcee that had Jack grinning at the time. Knockout had some scrapes and dents, and was muttering about what it would take to fix them. Airachnid, on the other hand, Jack was pleased to see, appeared the most tore up out of the rest, too bad he wasn't allowed to finish her.

'You will not attack my Decepticons, unless they attack you, or I order you to do so.'

Actually, he was a little grateful for that one. He wouldn't put it past the spider bot to attempt something behind Megatron's back, she was devious that way, after their second encounter proved. He wondered if the others might attempt something the longer he was here. Breakdown wasn't interested, Knockout maybe if he got in the way, and Soundwave was a complete mystery.

The red mech set him down on the examination berth when they arrived. He watched, as the con set up the computer's scanner, when he caught a shadow moving out of the corner of his eye. That had looked like...but it couldn't be, could it? Jack quickly acted like he hadn't seen who he saw, behind the crate by the door, they weren't an Autobot now were they, and he didn't have to report non Autobots. A sudden idea came to Jack as Knockout brought the scanning device over.

"Who made this thing anyway?" He asked, fingering the band around his head he added some flattery for good measure, "It must have been a clever bot who designed it."

"That would be me." Knockout preened.

"Really?" Jack looked him up and down, "I guess it's not all that impressive then."

"You little-I'll have you know I'm one of the best designers on this ship." The sports car puffed up with pride.

'That is debatable' Jack thought.

"Then how does it work?" Jack prodded. Knockout stared at him smugly.

"It uses frequencies to alter you're impulses, utilizing voice recognition, so you become an unwilling, but loyal, servant to the one the device reacts to. In this case, Megatron." He stated.

"Frequencies?" Jack wondered in confusion. The red mech brought up a display on the medical computer.

"You're tiny brain gives off signals," Knockout tapped his head lightly, "These signals can be translated or influenced through simple, wave length frequencies. For each impulse or thought you have your brain's wave lengths change."

"This device," He tapped the metal band, "Reads and translates those wavelengths, and then designs counter ones, based on the voice commands you've been given, but doesn't disrupt your natural thought processes."

Jack watched the display as it simulated what the Decepticon was saying.

"If we tried to force you, to actually think or feel differently, that would kill you. However, even when you want to rebel, your mind tells you 'no' and this new impulse is designed to be stronger than your own will." The red mech stated dramatically.

"So, in other words..." Jack started.

"It's all in your mind." Knockout finished.

Jack had to sit back and think about that. So, that explained why he still had his own thoughts, his mind was overriding his body's desire and emotions in favor of following instructions. It was like it had been downloaded with new instincts, the same way breathing was instinctive, he couldn't just stop.

It didn't matter how much he fought then, he realized.

The teen felt another feeling of depression sink in at that, as he was set on the floor. He wandered through the ship caught up in his thoughts. He wondered how the Autobots would rescue him. He wondered if he would see his mom and friends again.

He wondered what they were doing now.

The Autobots were silent when they returned to base.

Arcee felt her spark would break.

Her partner, Jack, had been turned against them, and somehow that was worse than if she had lost him. To see the hurt on his face, when he attacked them, was just as hard as watching the pain on Tailgate's had been, when they were tortured. So she'd attacked both Airachnid and Megatron with a fervor which, if she was honest, scared her.

She wished not for the first time he hadn't been dragged into this.

Ratchet thought he'd seen everything from the time they'd been at war.

He'd patched up and repaired numerous Cybertronians and always despaired when they weren't saved in time. This was no different. For the first time in a long while, however, he'd felt a strong compassion to save another life at the cost of his own. So when they'd failed, and had to leave Jack behind, he'd felt torn; angry at Megatron for his audacity, angry at himself for failing to place the tracer when he had the chance, and dread for the teen and his situation.

He was frustrated like he hadn't been before.

Bulkhead looked around, for that familiar face he'd do anything to please, but didn't see the twin ponytails in the room.

"Where's Miko?" He asked, Bumblebee beeped.

"She's still sulking." Raf translated.

"I'll go find her, then." Bulkhead said, and lumbered down the hall slowly.

He could not get over the whole problem with Jack. The young man was a good kid and didn't deserve having something like this happen to him, being Megatron's slave.

Megatron.

Bulkhead had to reign himself in from slamming his fist into a wall. The next time he saw that fragger he was going to pound his faceplate in until his processor caved. There would be a next time, too, because they would get Jack back.

Now, where was Miko?

Optimus watched as the wrecker left.

Not for the last time did he feel he had failed his team. Failed himself. Failed Jack. He'd watched many Transformers get ripped apart on the battlefield, because of the war, because of his decisions. It pulled at his spark every time, but nothing had touched it more than the tears on Jack's face, as they'd left.

Forced to leave him at the mercy of Megatron.

"Optimus?" He found it difficult to look in June's eyes. He had promised her he would bring her son back, and now, he didn't know if they could.

"What happened, Prime?" Fowler stood next to June to comfort her, Optimus knew she would need it, as he began. Their eyes as well as Raf's, who was behind them on the couch, widened as he told them, until June finally began crying as Fowler placed an arm across her shoulders.

He felt his spark tear apart all over again.

June couldn't stop her tears as she heard the news.

Her only son had been forced to obey a monster and hurt his friends with his powers. At first she'd been shocked he was using them, or that the Decepticons had discovered he had them, but that quickly gave way to the rendering in her heart. She knew they would have to explain now, but to hear that the plan to track the Decepticons themselves had failed, devastated her and only added to her sorrow. How would they find Jack now?

Would she ever hold her baby again?

Fowler could not believe his ears as he listened.

Ever since being assigned to Team Prime his reports had read like a bad sci-fi novel. So naturally, the real thing was even more unbelievable. To hear that Megatron was not only controlling Jack, but that the boy had powers now, made him wonder what other human experiments the cons had been doing. His superiors would not be happy, but he'd be damned if he let them order the boy be left with the Decepticons, or worse.

Termination.

Raf felt salt water prick the corners of his eyes behind his glasses.

He couldn't help but think of what Jack must have been feeling under Megatron's instructions. Knowing that, if he had been ordered to hurt Bumblebee he wouldn't have been able to stop crying. But if Megatron could force Jack to do these things, even giving him powers, then what did that mean for the rest of Earth? They had to figure out how those bands worked, and he would apply as much of his mind to the problem as possible.

Megatron could not win.

Bumblebee observed everyone silently.

He watched the changing emotions on the human's faces. Noted the grim expressions of his team. He felt like he was back at the time when Megatron ripped his voice box out. The look in his friend's eyes, when they'd rescued him, had marked one of their darker days, when they realized they would never hear the young scout's voice again. Sure, he could still communicate over comms, but it wasn't the same.

Bumblebee wondered if Jack would be the same when they rescued him.

As Optimus finished, Bulkhead came back into the room.

"Uh, Optimus?" The apprehension in his voice caught everyone's attention.

"You're not gonna believe this, but..." He trailed off and Optimus got a sudden sinking feeling.

"Miko's missing."

AN: Line breaks, line breaks everywhere.