Breakdown never left Knockouts med berth for more than a moment, while no one bothered to look after Starscream. The woman was not surprised after what she has witnessed on her first away mission. The commander hardly deserved the term but though the seeker seemed to be a reckless and cowardly mech, or maybe because no one else cared, she couldn't help but rest beside him on his med berth. He was panting, gasping even, and his faceplates had started to rust. He truly didn't look well, as did not the others.

They have thought it was all over after they succeeded to leave the science ship without more than a few bite marks. Well, the explosion she had caused in order to prevent the disformed Scraplets from entering the Nemesis through the vortex did quite some damage on the bridge but no one cared very long when all members of the troop that have been investigating the other vessel reported to sick bay one after another. Knockout has not been able to find out anything about the disease that has been infected the mechs for he has collapsed in his own med bay right after the third mech who came in. Starscream has been carried in already unconscious shortly after.

She wondered why she was not showing any symptoms because to her there was no doubt the cause of the sudden spread of disease must have been the strange Scraplets. They surely infected the mechs by biting them as they have bitten her. Maybe the physiology of her human part was more resilient to whatever tormented the others right now. Or maybe it was just because she has not been bitten as many times as have been the others.

However, what surprised her the most was to learn that it has been Megatron who created the disease in the first place, a virus he called the cybertronian plague. He has put them all under quarantine after they have returned to the Nemesis. They have not even been allowed to leave the damaged bridge in favor of going to the med bay while Knockout has been ordered to test all their endogenous energon for the plaque on the spot.

The medic has not been able to find any indications of the virus although he has been incredibly thorough in his examinations, considering he even took a sample of her own energon as well but somehow something must have slipped his attention. Her gaze turned to the red mech and Breakdown. The blue mech genuinely worried for the medic which made him work desperately on a cure to save his friend, but he was just the medic's assistant, not a medic himself. Her eyes slowly wandered to the other mech who barely has left med bay since the outbreak. To see Megatron in the lab in the role of a scientist was somewhat confusing and unusual but considering he was the one to create the disease, he was probably the only one to find a cure.

The human took one last gaze over her shoulder on Starscream, then started to climb down the berth the seeker was lying on. This kind of sport was getting fund on her, she thought with irony while crossing the room and climbing up the next object: the lab table the warlord was working at. Megatron noticed the woman and followed her movements casually, growling to himself. He didn't have time to make sure she doesn't kill herself by falling off the med bay's equipment but he allowed her trying so nevertheless since there was no one eager to carry her around and she didn't seem to even like that. She reached the upside and looked at the monitor along with him for a moment before piping up.

"Have you considered me as a helping factor, my lord?" she offered which surprised and, dare he admit, impressed the warlord. That tiny little thing was not stupid.

"I have taken possible antibodies from you into consideration", he answered, "but as for now, I did not find anything that might cure my soldiers."

"Is the whole crew at risk? So far, only those who have been on the other ship seem to be infected. Well, except for me."

Breakdown joined the pair of them at the lab table. "You're right. No one save for the away team is lying around here." He looked over to his comrade. "If I may ask, master? Since you designed the virus in the first place, how is it that the cure you designed along isn't working on them?"

Megatron frowned at the brute but growled: "Because the virus has developed. Those fools have tried to make it even more dangerous in order to use it as a weapon of mass destruction no doubt. I would be impressed by their achievements but sadly, they ended up demonstrating how dangerous it has indeed become."

"I'm sorry to repeat myself, but it seems it cannot spread."

"That is the only advantage we have", Megatron growled, "If it could spread further", he waved his servo to the fully occupied sick bay, "I wouldn't allow them to live any longer."
The woman winced lightly at the comment though continued: "The other ship's crew has been eradicated by the disease, true, but that doesn't necessarily mean they haven't been able to design a cure in case they got infected as well. They simply may have had no time left to put it into use. I know we cannot download any data from outside the ship so can't we just go back to the vessel and…"

Megatron effectively cut her off with a dark stare. "and risk another one getting infected?" He snarled. "In case you haven't noticed during your own trip there, the ship is crawling by genetically altered Scraplets who bite whatever is moving as they have demonstrated even on you. No one is going back to that vessel."

"I will go", Breakdown offered with a firm expression but couldn't proceed as the warlord hollered.

"Do I speak a foreign language all of the sudden? I said, NO ONE!" he stared the blue mech down who winced desperately as a whimper emanated from Knockout.

"They cannot infect me, my lord", the human tried regardless of the growl Megatron was gifting her with, "Maybe I can find something. With Soundwave's help of course."

"The Scraplets may not have been paying attention to you because there have been others whom they considered a more worthwhile target. But, if you return on your own you will be their only prey. They would tear you apart. I will not repeat myself again. No one enters the other ship again."

Megatron took a glance around sick bay, observing his plagued soldiers for a while before he clarified: "If we do not find a cure before they're done for it, we will destroy the science vessel and return to earth." He warlord took a datapad and continued to work, demonstrating this way that this conversation was over.

oooooooooooooooooooo

They would die.

But she couldn't watch them die! She wasn't ready to let anyone die again so soon, even if she didn't know the mechs for more than a few days. She lost her family because she has not been able to do anything to save them. She didn't even know they have been in danger back then. Now, she knew. Now, she was able to do something. Anything would be better than to stay and watch them perish. If she could just open a ground bridge to the other vessel without alarming Soundwave at the same time…

She was staring at the monitor in the med bay, trying as hard as she could not to link herself to the systems of the Nemesis. If she did, the silent mech would know immediately and tell Megatron about her attempts. There wouldn't be another chance.

She jumped from one spot to another in order to handle the monitor manually but the more she tried to access ground bridge controls the more she became frustrated. Megatron will be back soon for sure and she was stuck in the systems because she didn't understand that stupid cybertronian language! Her intuition on the matter wasn't enough this time, not without Soundwave to guide her.

But she wouldn't give up just yet. She wouldn't stop trying until the warlord returned. She would…

A shadow fell upon her frame and she winced violently as she turned around and realized Breakdown was standing right behind her, scowling at her with a grim expression. She let her gaze wander between the blue hulking mech and the screen, which was displaying her obvious attempts to disregard Megatron's orders.

"I… I just…I needed…" she stammered, then shook her head, angry all of the sudden, "Look! I can do that! I have to try! I was there before, I know the ship's plans…This may be the only.."

"You need to cover up your tracks."

The human only stared dumbfounded as Breakdown started to type something into the console, making her step aside. Her eyes widened even more when she realized what the mech was doing.

"Listen, girl. You are to avoid being discovered by those horrible pests! If they find you, you will be scraped! No one can help you there, I cannot even COMM you. Stay in the shadows, move slowly and head for the science lab. If there is anything left of it, you might be lucky enough to find something that can help us find a cure." He looked over to Knockout, who was lying on a med berth in his own med bay, almost motionless except for a cough from time to time. As were the others. "And hurry. They will not hold on for much longer."

She nodded, gathering her courage by taking a deep breathe. "I'll do my best."

"I will open a ground bridge right here. Meaning: Soundwave will know immediately was is going on, so, when the bridge opens you ran through it instantly, before he can shut it down. After that, you will have to deal with him nevertheless, If I got that right, but he will not be able to force you back."

He prepared to open the vortex, but before doing so, he took a few seconds more to look down at the tiny human who was preparing herself mentally with a confused glance.

"I'm somehow sure you know why I am doing this", Breakdown had to deter himself from shooting another worried glance at the red mech. "But why are you so eager to take the risk? You are none of us. You don't owe us anything."

"You're wrong", the human said with a gentle shake of her head and gestured to Knockout and Starscream. "They saved my life. I am well aware they didn't have much of a choice but that doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't be alive right now if not for them. Besides...well… I have other reasons, too." She shook off the sad memories quickly. "Just open the ground bridge already! We are running out of time!"
Breakdown nodded with a hard expression on his faceplates, offering his servo to her. She jumped onto it, trembling in anticipation. "On my mark." He typed something into the console again, "One. Two. Three!"

The already well-known vortex of buzzing green light opened right in the middle of the med bay and she didn't look back as she jumped off Breakdown's servo even when she heard a roar that must have emanated from Megatron, who clearly has entered the lab the same moment she left it.

oooooooooooooooooooo

The ground bridge opened inside the same corridor through which she has left the ship before, but

she didn't have time to look around in order to ensure the Scraplets were gone, when one of them ambushed her from behind, biting her in the left leg and falling down limb shortly after. That happened so fast, she wasn't able to gather her thoughts as she heard a few more coming with a mechanical sound similar to a dentist's tool. She ran, looking around for cover and found a small breach in the melted wall where the door of the ship's science lab has been located once. The Scraplets were smaller than her so they would be able to follow her through but she wouldn't be as vulnerable as to stand openly on display in the middle of the huge corridor. So much for 'don't let them find you'! That went quick!

As she passed the breach she picked up a piece of deformed metal, turned back and realized, there were not much of them in the corridor, maybe just a dozen. She braced herself and raised her temporary weapon. They couldn't attack all at once for the breach was too narrow for that! The first parasite who tried to clench her between his teeth got stroke by the metal mace, as well as the second and third but after that she couldn't hit them all any longer. She felt them bite her several times, in the same leg as seconds before, in both her arms, in her side, her shoulder. The only thing she could do was to fend them off her head and to continue to strike as many of them as possible in order to avoid being injured too seriously. They may fall off her after their bite but she hissed in pain nevertheless and felt the small energon trickles soak her clothes from the many bite marks.

It became silent after she crashed the last Scraplet and she panted heavily. She felt dizzy all of the sudden but managed to step deeper into the breach as quietly as possible. She was sure there were more Scraplets crawling around the ship and she wouldn't be able to fend them off if they decide to assault her all together. She has to remain silent. "Stay in the shadows", Breakdown has told her. Well, she would heed his advice!

Her pants calmed. The little wounds were hurting but not as much as to hinder her from going on and now, that she was able to focus on her surroundings again, she felt the familiar pull on her mind. She sighed, not able to lock Soundwave out and expected the silent mech to tell her she was to return to the Nemesis at once, but it was the voice of Megatron which made her jump on the spot.

"Return to the ship this instant!" he hollered through the connection Soundwave has established, "So that I can tear you apart for disregarding my orders!"

She shook her head vigorously though no one could see it of course. Her head felt heavy. "Regardless of your tempting words, I cannot return right now. I…"

"This INSTANT, human!" Megatron didn't need to vocalize a proper threat for his voice was telling her all she needed to know about what he would do, if she didn't follow his orders immediately. "if you are not back within clicks, I will…"

"Come for me?", she challenged, "I don't think so. You are the leader of the Decepticons! I highly doubt you to risk being infected as your soldiers have been without having a cure to your disposal. Sending another mech doesn't make sense either. They won't find me. I will be crawling through breaches or walls or shafts in order to reach the science lab."

She sensed another roar coming up, so she tried with a softer, more humbled but in the same time firm voice. "My lord, I will not return until I find something to cure those mechs in sick bay. I can't let them die…I just can't! You can tear me apart later, but right now I could really use Soundwave's guid…"

She paused when she felt a wave of nausea making her waver. She could see Soundwave's intention to inform his master about her condition and begging him not to was futile. She heard the warlord growl deeply.

"You are infected!?"

"I may have been sick as long as the others", now that she thought about it, it was making sense, "Only two Scraplets bit me during my first trip here so maybe it wasn't enough to make the disease spread as fast as it did within the others. I have been attacked by a bunch more only seconds ago." She hissed at the burning feeling the marks were causing. There was silence for quite some time, so she intervened softly before a decision not in her favor could be make. "My lord, I will proceed. With help, or without."

She could almost feel Megatron's rage within her chest, making her own spark flatter as Soundwave cut the warlords COMM off in order to ensure she could focus only on him. She sighed in relief as the silent mech started to run a diagnosis on the ship's construction plans, trying to locate her and to find a way into the lab.

'You currently seem to be standing inside a wall. It doesn't make sense.'

"There was a breach close by, when I was attacked earlier. I needed to hide from the Scraplets, so they couldn't bite me to pieces."

'Get out of there. Follow the corridor back to the breach through which the parasites attacked you and the troopers in the first place. That breach leads to a shaft above the corridor and will lead you to the science lab as well, if the shaft above it is still undamaged.'

She nodded and left her cover but not without checking first if there were any Scraplets left outside. When she deemed it to be save, she ran across the corridor, reaching the spot below the breach she once has been able to seal off for a moment before the Scraplets had crushed her barrier. She shuddered.

"That is very high…" She swallowed hard, "how am I supposed to get there…"

She knew it before Soundwave could provide her with the easiest climbing route to reach the breach. How she hated climbing already! She huffed. There was no point in complaining on her situation as she has been the one to get her in that mess in the first place. She has wanted it that way and right now, she wouldn't be deterred from fulfilling the task she has bestowed upon herself.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Soundwave has managed to establish a visual on the corridor through the link he was sharing with the human. Megatron watched the woman simply starting to climb the wall as if she has been trained to do so, as if she was not afraid at all. He knew better, and he couldn't help but to be impressed by her bravery. She knew she could be torn apart by only a small amount of those altered Scraplets, or she could fall off the wall, which, at that height, would undoubtedly break her fragile frame. But she didn't even allow herself to think of the dangers, only about how she could encounter them. Did she get that from him, or was that a character trait of her own? He couldn't be sure at this point.

Megatron ignored Breakdown who started to wake up from his unconsciousness. The silver mech has hit him directly in the faceplates to vent his anger as he has realized the blue mech has been the one who opened the unauthorized ground bridge and he would do far more to punish his minion for the disobedience but right now he had to focus on the human. The blue mech stood finally but kept his distance from the warlord and watched the screen from the far.

Megatron growled darkly when the human started to weaken due to the now visible spread of the virus inside her. Her eyes, though glowing from the connection to Soundwave, were dimmer than before and she struggled to tighten her grip on the wall as she started to climb the ceiling overhead. The warlord hissed and his optics widened angrily when she almost slipped off the ceiling but managed to avoid the fall. Breakdown was not only following the human's movements now.

She reached the breach, which was the trickiest part. Both mechs could see how much the human struggled, her optics were shut tightly as she started to swing herself back and forth so that she could reach the edge with her feet. With what seemed to be the last of her strength, she reached the edge and pulled herself up and inside the shaft, gone from the screen.

Megatron ordered Soundwave to give him a visual when he was able to once more. Then, he put a huge cube in the middle of the room, preparing a generous amount of untouched energon within it and linking it to the infusion tanks the sick mechs were provided with energy from. Breakdown understood what the warlord was intending to do and assisted his master without being asked.

oooooooooooooooooooo

She let out a deep sigh as she laid on the cold ground of the shaft. Her eyes were lightening the space around her, as did the leaking energon from her small wounds while she rested for a moment. She still couldn't believe that she actually did it. If not for those physical changes, she never would have been able to perform such an act! But right now, those changes caused an alien virus to spread inside her body, eliciting a soft whimper of pain. She felt weak as well and she noticed the light emanating from her eyes was flickering a bit.

'You have to move,' came Soundwave's voice and he sounded urgent, 'You do not have time to rest. The virus will spread further from now on and render your frame useless eventually. Before that happens, you must reach the science lab and let me access its systems.'

She took a deep breath and pushed herself up. She was still able to stand and to walk, and to maintain the link to the surveillance officer so she didn't waste any more time, like the silent mech demanded, and followed the shaft in the direction Soundwave was showing her to.

"Soundwave, how are the others?"

'Don't distract yourself. Either you know or don't know their condition, it wouldn't help you in your task at hand. Focus.'

"I need to know", she insisted, "are they still alive? Please, Soundwave, tell me."

'Their condition is critical', the silent mech finally answered, 'but they are still online. Is the shaft still operational? Is any debris blocking your way?'

"No. The way ahead is clear. I can even see light coming up the closer I'm approaching the lab." The woman followed the brightening light and almost reached another damaged section of the shaft but stopped midway before she could peek into the lab through another breach when she heard that mechanical noise around her again and froze. The sound was a little different this time but it was enough to put her on edge. It was above her, below and …behind her! She spun around and nearly fell off the edge of the breach when she found a single Scraplet flying in front of her with bare teeth. She couldn't go back the shaft and she couldn't just jump off. If it was just for this one parasite, she wouldn't care being bitten once more as she was already infected but where there was one…

The tiny creature watched her, clearly confused. It closed its mouth, flew closer to her, showed its teeth and closed his mouth again. The blue glow of the human's eyes and the smell of energon dripping from her wounds were clearly attracting it but it hesitated to attack her. Instead, it landed and looked her from head to toe, coming closer till it made its stand right before her.

"Soundwave… do you see that?"

'I do not have a visual on you', the mech sounded a little annoyed, 'but I almost managed to access the lab's systems until you get distracted. Again.' There was a brief pause. 'what is it?'

The human knelt down and dared to offer a hand to the Scraplet who sniffed at it with great curiosity. His eyes were wide, blinking almost innocently and she noticed a little scratch beside his right eye. "I don't know. I've encountered another Scraplet who nearly attacked me but it stopped. It is standing right before me right now."

She felt something that could be considered a shudder. 'Congratulation. You now know what a usual Scraplet look like. It must be one of the protoforms they have experimented on.'

"They all look alike! This one only behaves different." She would be investigating this almost cute creature but there was no time so she focused to deepen the link to the silent mech again while trying to ignore the increasing sound around her, "do you have access now?"

'I do. Starting analysis. Stay where you are. There is no need for you to…'

She wasn't able to hear the last part of the sentence when the shaft's section she was standing in started to rumble loudly, making her waver violently. Then, with a loud crack, something was making the section sag down suddenly. The human stumbled back to the fissure and tried to reach anything to hold onto but there was only thin air. One more step and she felt nothing under her feet. She fell and experienced a rush of adrenaline while turning around in the air to face the free fall. She expected time to slow down but the opposite happened. Her instincts took over her mind quickly and something inside her changed rapidly. It felt like every part of her, maybe even every cell was starting to rebuild. She tumbled, then stopped midair abruptly.

Her arms were crossed in front of her face in a protective way and it took quite some time before she calmed down to a state she dared to pry through her fingers only to be startled by a great army of Scraplets flying right in front of her. With a soft squeal she fell again and crushed hard on a metallic surface, overturning several times, then curling in tightly for a moment. Whatever just happened, it was making her feel very dizzy again. Her body felt sore and her breathes were more like pants. She started to sound like those mechs in sick bay.

'Get up', came the strict order with a confused undertone, 'immediately!'

She tried to push herself up but it wasn't easy. Her arms were wobbling and her head spinning. When her vision cleared she stared down at her hands with surprise. Instead of fingernails there were sharp silver metallic claws but they appeared to be rusty and fragile at the moment. She checked herself for injuries quickly but miraculously there was not even a scratch beside the bite marks and while examining herself further she found her hair to be of silver colour. Was she going crazy?

'This will be discussed later', Soundwave remembered her of his presence, 'You do not have much time left. Are you in imminent danger?'

She turned around as she remembered the Scraplets during her fall and faced them again but she quickly calmed down when she realized they were locked up in a huge glass container but jumped startled when she turned around just to almost bump into a Scraplet with a scratch over his eye right in front of her. It was that one from before.

"I'm going to suffer a heart attack at some point!" she growled angrily but the growl quickly turned into a heavy cough. "Soundwave, please hurry. I feel like breaking down any minute."

'Analysis ongoing. Adapting search pattern and parameters. Stay put. I mean it.'

It was not like she wanted to get in trouble, she thought, looking at the Scraplet who was observing her closely with huge purple eyes. She reached out a hand again hesitantly and patted his tiny head gently, eliciting a somewhat cheerful sound of the creature. But she stopped when she could see her own reflection on the creature's metallic surface. She almost looked the same 'cept for the silver hair and the claws but she felt so much different. It was strange, considering she even went through some changes already. Her thoughts have been interrupted though when a violent cough shook her frame again, bringing her to her knees. The Scraplet wondered about the reaction and nudged her head gently.

"I don't think you can help me, little thing", she would have smiled maybe but a tremble stopped her. "Soundwave…"

'Analysis complete. Result: no formula for a cure could have been discovered.' She froze in shock but the silent mech hasn't finished yet, 'the chief scientist has worked on a cure though. It is said there was no time left to leave any more logs on the topic as the ship's crew was decimating by the plague quickly. That was only days ago. If the mech succeeded, he would have synthesized a sample already. Look for filled cubes or any fluids. Those might be the antidotes.'

She started to look around the lab more closely. The place was a mess. There were tools and debris placed on the lab tables and everywhere on the floor in a chaotic way. Most of the machines and monitors were broken as if there has been a fight which crushed the place. It was a miracle nothing has smashed the glass where the Scraplet protoforms where locked behind. There were three mechs inside the lab as well but none of them would give her any answers anymore. One of them laid in front of a wall that looked quite out of place. She panted still on her knees as she focused, her eyes not glowing constantly but flattering, and found out there was a security closing mechanism which she was able to open easily. A part of the wall moved to the right and revealed a hidden lab station where there were three cubes of dark blue energon laying on a console.

"Soundwave, I found something. Might be an antidote."

'I have a clear reading and a visual on the science lab now. The place seems safe enough for one of us to bridge in.'

"NO! Stay away!" she cried out suddenly when an army of Scraplets invaded the lab from every possible corner. They came through the breach, through other shafts, they were coming out of everywhere. The whole lab was filling with those altered parasites and they spotted her immediately, diving at her with bared teeth. There were far too many of them this time. They would mangle her.

The one Scraplet beside her bared its teeth as well and surprised her by storming hard at his comrades, shredding on of them in a matter of seconds. She lashed out frantically with her claws, tearing the Scraplets closest to her to pieces and injuring herself as well accidently but though it has been unexpectedly to even be able to defend herself like that, she didn't stand a chance against the mass of parasites, especially in her condition. She gasped loudly when she felt one by one biting her again but squealed even louder when she saw one of the three cubes shatter due to the wildly moving Scraplets, making the precious fluid spoil to the ground. Her vision started to blur now and then but she kept fighting with her bare hands, already wavering dangerously. Now there were enough bite marks to actually feel pain from the outside while the virus induced a very sick feeling from the inside. While still flailing, she tried to find an inspiration on how to get out of this situation and locked her eyes on the huge glass container, where the usual Scraplets were stuck against the glass with hungry glances and bared teeth.

When she heard another cube shatter, she hissed in panic and fear and reached out a hand for the container and then time truly slowed down. She felt an unknown power building up inside of her and through her hand a blast of blue glowing energy hit the glass of the Scraplet's confinement, shattering it like the cubes have been before and dashing her in a high arch off the lab table and to the ground. This time she could hear a crack and an excruciating pain exploded in her left arm. She watched through clenches eyes the army of usual, hungry Scraplets devour the army of altered parasites little by little, leaving no more than metal chips. A shiver ran down her spine as she prayed fervently that the last cube wouldn't break in the crossfire and that it actually contained the cure to save Starscream, to save Knockout and the others. And her as well, preferably.

It didn't take long for the genetically altered Scraplets to vanished without a trace, leaving behind the usual ones who started to help themselves further on the labs equipment. She fought unconsciousness as long as she could but her resistance wouldn't last for long. She felt her body change again, her hair turned brown and her fingers looked like usual fingers within an instant, only her bright blue eyes remained. And she felt weaker than before. She was able to only lift her head a bit when a ground bridge opened up regardless of the danger the Scraplets still pose to any Cybertronian. Even through her blurred vision, she could make out the shape of the Decepticon warlord emerge from the vortex but after that, she fainted.

oooooooooooooooooooo

"I think she is about to wake up", came Starscream's distant voice."

"About time." That one definitely belonged to a growling Megatron.

"She truly is resilient, isn't she?" Breakdown?

"This is the second time she is coming to her senses after almost being killed," Knockout hummed amused, "I hope this is not becoming a habit."

"I hope so myself", she said weakly, clenching her eyes once more before opening them up eventually. The four mechs were standing right beside the med berth she was lying on. It must truly look ridiculous, her tiny frame on the huge sick bay's inventory.

"You have been a fool", Megatron snarled at her before she was even completely online.

"And you sure do not waste time," she said with a hoarse small voice, moving her head to the side to look at the warlord.

"Not only have you been ignoring my orders, but you also incited one of my subjects to disregard me as well." Megatron took a quick glance at Breakdown who flinched, then continued with a cold voice. "You may have found the cure but I will not condone an act like that again. Am I being clear?"

She nodded: "Quite clear, my lord."

"And let us not forget how poorly you have acted on your mission in general. Soundwave told me he hasn't been able to search the ship's systems for longer than a few minutes in a row. Then again, Knockout showed me your self-inflicted wounds by your own claws and I witnessed myself how your own energon blast dashed you through half of the science lab."

"A crash that broke your arm", Knockout added, "You know, fixing you up requires meticulous detail work under the microscope and I don't have the ability to deal well with sensitive issues."

"Sorry, Doc", she looked down on her splinted arm, "I know I haven't done the best job to save the day."

"And last but not least," Starscream piped up, "your first flight attempt was more like a hardly controlled crash landing."

She looked from Knockout to Breakdown, then glanced at Starscream and finally turned her attention back to Megatron. "I am sorry. I feel so strange throughout all these changes. It's like I must learn how to walk again. I guess I indeed need a whole lot of guidance. "

"And I will provide you with guidance," Megatron stated, surprising all present mechs, a human included, "As we do not know about the full range of your abilities yet, you will be trained on those we already discovered. Soundwave will instruct you how to make use of cybertronian cybersystems and teach you the cybertronian language in general as well. Starscream will be your flight teacher. You will learn from Knockout and Breakdown and from the whole crew by living among us. You will learn how to walk again. And I…" he chuckled darkly, "I will teach you how to fight."

The way he was emphasizing it made her freeze, but she felt excitement coming up inside her as well.

"Your lessons will start after you have recovered from your injuries and the virus."

"Which I think will not take long, master", Knockout interfered, "Her highly effective consumption of energon will undoubtedly help her heal fast." He wanted to say something more but Starscream surprised them all by his next question.

"What is your name, actually?" Starscream growled lightly when he saw Knockout's and Breakdown's dumbfounded expressions. "What? We cannot call her 'human' or 'pathetic little creature' all the time if she is to stay here, now can we?"

The woman wanted to answer but hesitated all of the sudden. She felt like her name was presenting someone who she wasn't anymore. Not after all those years of torture and captivity, not after the loss of her family and her known life and especially not after all those changes as of late. She wanted to voice those thoughts but the warlord cut her off.
"Fave."

The mechs stared at their leader puzzled as if he has made a strange noise. Starscream cleared his throat and murmured: "I don't think I understand."

"Fave it is. Her name."

With that, the hulking mech turned away and walked out of sick bay, leaving behind very confused beings, the human most of all.

"Fave…" she whispered to herself as if trying out the sound of it. "Fave…"

"Did he just….", Knockout and Breakdown started simultaneously but it was Starscream who completed the sentence.

"Yes. Our lord and master just gave her a name. Seems like your theory is making more and more sense, Knockout."

"What theory?" The human… Fave asked.