A/N This chapter was not planned on. This story is about to go a different route than what I first intended it to be… I can feel it. As of now, this story has a mind of its own. Thanks for reviewing, KimTheKat, Elita One, The Pumpkin Guardian, Flower K. Owl, Celestial-Prime-15, Deception is Decepticon, TheBigMystery, and angelswings217. You all made me smile and break out into song. Ok, maybe not the last part, but you get the picture.
MY POLL IS STILL UP, SO VOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T, K THNX.
Responding to Reviews, YAY:
TheBigMystery: Oh, there will definitely be chaos *laughs evilly*
The Pumpkin Guardian: It's killing me too! I honestly don't know where this story is going anymore…
angelswings217: Yup, this one has an actual plot! Yippee!
Chapter 3
The room was mostly silent, aside from the occasional typing of keys. But each time a sequence was pressed, it was followed by a groan and then more silence. This was the pattern that continued throughout the day.
The only person in the office was staring intently at her screen. She had a pair of headphones around her neck, one earpiece being held to her ear. The screen showed a sound bit being played over and over again. Although, it wasn't as if anyone could understand what was being said; not even the Autobots. It was coded Cybertronian.
Maggie unlocked the door to her small apartment. She flicked the lights on and found everything unchanged; as expected. Making her way to the bedroom in the back, she lugged her bag behind her. Normally, this meant that she had just come back from a meeting abroad. But, her situation wasn't all that normal. Scratch that, her life wasn't all that normal. Not since meeting the Autobots, at least.
Taking a sidelong glance at the clock next to her bed, Maggie saw that it was almost two in the morning. She debated if she should get into bed. On the one hand, she wasn't all too tired at the moment. Even if she got into bed, she probably wouldn't fall asleep for a few hours. On the other hand… she had to go to work tomorrow- er, today.
With an almost defeated sigh, the blonde made her way to the bathroom.
After another failed attempt, Maggie leaned back in her chair. She let her head hang back, and her eyes stared up at the ceiling. This signal was a lot harder to crack than that other one. But the signal itself was shorter. It was a wonder that someone had been around and was able to record it. Thank goodness they had, because they weren't able to record the second one.
Two seconds. She looked away for two seconds. But that's all it took for her to miss it.
It was a series of clicking and buzzing. The sudden noise made Maggie jump in her seat. She looked at her screen automatically. Her eyes widened. The computer screen was informing her that the satellites had picked up something. She fumbled with the keys, trying to get the recorder to start.
"I've got something!" she yelled. Usually, there would've been a chorus of similar words if something had come up. The difference this time was that it was almost midnight, and Maggie was one of four people actually in the office. To make matters worse, she was the only one with the computer skills needed to trace, record, and crack the signal.
She was soon surrounded by the others as she continued to type furiously. "No, no, no…" she whispered.
As quickly as it had appeared, the signal vanished as if it never existed. Maggie slammed her hands down on either side of her keyboard, "Dammit!"
Bringing her hands to her face, Maggie rubbed her eyes. They were starting to sting from staring at the computer for so long. She brought her hands down to the desk and pushed herself away from it. It would be alright if she took a five minute break. That recording wasn't going anywhere.
Maggie plopped herself down on the couch, container of fast food in hand, and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels as she ate, trying to find something interesting on. Weather, talk show, talk show, reality show, news, ta- wait, what was that? The TV screen was now showing the evening news, and it caused Maggie's mouth to drop open.
"-what appears to be a meteor, but upon a closer look-" the screen switched to a blurry close-up of something falling from the sky, "we can see that it is in fact made of metal."
No, not again… She'd seen this before. It was barely a month beforehand that six 'meteors' had landed in Southern California. NEST had informed her through work that they were Autobots, and there was no need to worry. But of course, she did worry.
The screen then showed an image of a press conference. There were camera flashes and reporters talking over each other. The man at the podium put a hand up, hoping to silence the crowd, but failed. So, the man just began to talk, "I assure you that there is nothing to worry about. It was a test that went wrong, but no one was injured-"
"What exactly were those things?" came an off-screen voice.
"That is classified information that has to do with military affairs-"
"The public deserves to know!"
The man nodded, "I agree, and that's why I told the public all I can."
The press conference disappeared and was replaced by some more blurry, home footage. Only this footage was from a month earlier. "Here we see an event that occurred only a mere few weeks ago. Six 'meteors' landed in Southern California, only to vanish completely, leaving only giant craters in their wake. This too was said to be related to a military test."
Maggie headed to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. She stood at the sinks that lined one whole wall. Turning on the faucet, she ran her hands under the cold water. She cupped her hands, and collected some of the running water. Lowering herself down a bit, she splashed her face. Her hands turned the water off. She kept her head down and over the sink, letting some of the water dribble off her nose.
Feeling her phone vibrate, Maggie's hand went down to her pocket. She withdrew the phone and looked at the name of the caller, only to roll her eyes at the name. Nonetheless, she still answered.
"What?"
"Maggie! Maggie? Is it actually you?" came a panicked voice.
With a sigh, she replied, "Yes, Glen, this is Maggie."
"But how do I know for sure?"
"Good God, Glen!"
"Ok, ok, I guess I'll take my chances," he complied reluctantly. Maggie rolled her eyes again.
"So why exactly did you call?"
And thus began an exponentially long tale about a group of 'Men In Black wannabes' coming to Glen's house, trying to 'force him into working for them'. "But, I ain't getting involved with any of them!" Glen cried. "I already told them that I didn't want anything to do with these aliens! Do you remember what happened to my cell phone?"
Maggie had a brief flashback involving a miniature robot with a machine gun, "Yes…"
"I'm still not over that, Maggie! I haven't even gotten a new phone yet!"
With a sigh, Maggie rubbed her face with her free hand, unsure of what to say. "Look, Glen, I'm not really sure how to tell you th-"
"And another thing!" Glen interrupted. "I swear that one of my neighbors has a car that's actually one of them! I keep hearing-"
"Glen!" Maggie yelled over the phone. "I'm working for those 'Men In Black wannabes' you were talking about."
There was a brief moment of silence from the other, followed by a clicking noise.
Maggie frowned, "Glen?" Pulling her phone away from her ear, Maggie saw that Glen had hung up on her.
Maggie reached for the nearby paper towels and tugged out one. She brought it to her face and wiped off the excess water. Looking up into the mirror, she studied her face. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from lack of sleep. If she wasn't staying late at the office to work, she was tossing and turning in bed. She also noted that there were dark circles beginning to form just under her eyes.
She threw the wadded up paper towel in her hand away before leaving the restroom. It was time to get back to work.
By the end of the day she wasn't any farther along than she was that morning. But this was what she was beginning to expect.
Maggie started to gather her things when something made her stop. It sounded like a series of buzzes and clicks… Her hands immediately went to her keyboard. A signal was being transmitted at that moment and the satellites were picking it up. This time, Maggie was able to start the recording to capture the signal.
The transmission ended, and Maggie was able to stop the recording. She brought up the other signal on her computer and played both simultaneously; they were identical.
Maggie's eyes trailed down to her half packed bag and then back to her computer screen. She bit her lip. Should she stay?
With a sigh, she settled back into her seat.
Three days had come and gone since the third signal had come through.
She was so close; she could feel it. Once she got through, she would be able to see just where the signal was being sent. But who knew how long that would take?
Her eyes darted to the flash drive on her desk. She'd done it before. But she was almost thrown in jail for it.
Leaning back in her chair, she craned her neck back to look out the door. From what she could see, no one was in the hallway.
She plugged the flash drive into her computer and began to copy the recording into it. Footsteps approached her office. Maggie just continued to look at her screen, her fingers typing away. The footsteps passed her.
Moving just her eyes, Maggie checked to see if anyone else was near her door; the coast was clear.
The recording was finished being copied onto the flash drive, so Maggie removed it from her computer and dropped it into her open bag. She had to pay someone a visit that night.
By the time Maggie arrived at her destination, the sky was black and the streetlights were shining brightly. The house she was in front of was dark, except for one lit window on the first floor. She approached the house with a bit of caution.
Once at the door, Maggie knocked on the door softly, hoping it was loud enough for someone who was up to hear, but not wake anyone up.
Only a few moments had passed before the door was opened. Although, it could only be opened a few inches, as someone had installed a chain lock on the inside of the door. Through the crack, Maggie was able to make out the form of a person in a robe.
"Maggie! What are you doing here? I told you not to come here!" The panicked man looked around the yard behind his visitor, "You didn't come with them did you?"
"No, but-" Maggie tried to explain her case, but was cut off.
"No! You work for them, and I don't want anything to do with them, therefore I don't want anything to do with you!"
"Glen, pull yourself together," Maggie tried to calm him down.
But, he would have no part in it, "Don't talk to me! You're working for some underground agency that works with alien robots! I told you about my neighbor, right?"
Maggie sighed, "Yes, but this is really important." She withdrew the flash drive from her pocket. "I have something I need you to look at."
Glen's eyes widened in interest, but he soon shook himself out it. Maggie caught that look, though. "Oh no, not this again. Last time you did this I almost got sent to jail! No, I will have no part of this."
He then attempted to shut the door, but Maggie pressed herself up against it to keep it open. "Don't you want to see something classified?" she pleaded.
"No!" Glen exclaimed, still struggling to close the door.
"Not even something more classified than the last?"
"No!"
"But you could be the world's only hope for survival!"
Glen didn't respond. There was a moment of silence before Maggie heard a whine. "You just had to guilt trip me, didn't you?" Maggie smiled to herself and stepped away from the door.
The door was shut, as Glen fumbled with the chain lock. It was reopened, this time all the way, to let Maggie in. Glen sighed and motioned for her to come in.
Maggie followed the unwilling man back to his room. Looking around the house, she saw that it had changed a bit. Every single piece of technology was strapped down, as if it might get up and walk away if it wasn't. Well, considering Glen's state of mind, he probably thought it would.
Once in Glen's room, the hacker sat down on the chair in front of his computer. He wordlessly held out his hand for Maggie. She handed off the flash drive to him. Glen held it up in front of his face briefly, as if contemplating if he really wanted to go through with it. After heaving a sigh, he plugged it into his computer. "Let's get this over with," he muttered.
He brought the recording up and began looking through it.
"There's a message embedded in it," Maggie began to explain, "But there's something blocking us from viewing it."
Glen nodded and began typing into his keyboard.
Only a few minutes had passed and Glen was in. "Got it."
Maggie looked up, surprised, "Really? How?"
"It was easy, I just-"
"Ok, later, but right now just focus." She leaned forward to get a better look at he screen. The embedded message turned out to be a serial number. Maggie frowned, "Isn't that a number for a satellite."
"Uh huh," Glen confirmed. "Looks like they bounced it off to throw us off. I just need to get into their system, and I can see where the signal was sent to." He continued to work on his computer, but soon sighed. "They bounced it off someone's computer…"
"How long will this take?"
"Depends on how many systems the signal was bounced off of and how much security they have."
Maggie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "In other words, you have no idea."
POV change, what the heck? I don't know what my brain is thinking at the moment. I mean, it's even considering writing (once this sequel is done) this story from the Decepticons' POV.
Wee, it's Glen and Maggie! There is a lack of stories with these two, and I want to change that! They really are useful characters.
Well… things are changin' up in the storyline. I have a feeling that this could quite possibly be stretched out for a long while. I mean, I have about 7-8 chapters planned out, and I'm not even at the main conflict yet.
Next chapter is already being worked on! But my brain might not work this weekend due to the Oscars, and Alice in Wonderland (technically, not the weekend since I'm seeing it on Monday…) Anyways, I'm hoping to get it up soon!
Ciao for now. (I think I might end all of my chapters with a different saying)
-Panic Switch