* Sorry the for the late updates, but the chapter is here! Thank you for your patience and kind reviews! *
"Is the relic supposed to be glowing?" June asked, drawing the attention to herself and the alarming device.
"No! June, drop it!" Ratchet cried.
Optimus Prime reached for the illuminating relic in an attempt to save June. However when his fingers touched the object to take them from her grip, another blinding light blinded the base inhabitants for a moment. The smoke cleared, leaving Optimus and June wide-eyed.
"Optimus?" Ratchet asked worriedly.
June Darby shook her head vigorously, with a hand over her head. Her eyes seemed changed, from her casual navy to electric. Everybody was switching their heads from her to the Autobot leader with concern.
"I'm alright, where's...June..." the woman's words were stopped short by her own realization. She was not a she, for June Darby and Optimus Prime had changed their physical bodies.
"Optimus?" the proud leader's voice shook, looking at the human. "Oh, no, no, no, I can't be..."
"I'm seeing a pattern here," said Arcee. "Jack held the relic, Decepticons came near, swapped. June held the relic, Optimus came near, swapped."
"...Is the relic being powered by humans?" Smokescreen inquired after a small silence.
"Powered, no. Activated, most likely," Ratchet informed.
"When I was holding the relic, Megatron grabbed it. I was in the air for a few seconds just holding onto it before the big bang. Miko and Raf were on my legs, holding me down. Knockout and Starscream were right behind him. There was a major connection between all six of us," said Jack.
"I remember that quick, fearful flying feeling. Now I'm chained to the open road," Miko said, distantly.
"I don't get it. Agent Fowler was right next to June, and Arcee was behind Optimus. How come there weren't any other switches, anyway?" asked Bulkhead.
"I think I get it. It's like connecting a battery, copper wire and light bulb together. They need to all be connected. The relic is like the wire! It transferred us," Rafael said, informatively.
"But...what did it transfer, exactly?" June asked, concerned and stressed.
"Our sparks?" Knockout suggested tiredly.
"Humans don't have sparks...Knockout," Agent Fowler commented.
"Then, what do humans have, in the lieu of Cybertronian sparks?" Ultra Magnus questioned.
There was an 'awkward silence', as Bumblebee looked at the ground, Jack pondered, Miko whistled, Raf twiddled his newly large, silver metal fingers and June rubbed 'her' head.
"Have I...spoken out of terms?" the leader of the Wreckers requested.
"No," Jack sighed. "But there is no answer. Humans don't...know what their 'sparks' are. We don't even know if we have any. And that's where religion comes in."
Bulkhead snapped his fingers. "Now I understand! It's like a debate!"
"What? But I explained this to you months ago! I told you: religion is a belief struggle about what happened, what's happening, and what's going to happen in human life!" Miko complained.
"Way too vague. And this conversation is pretty impractical to our situation," Agent Fowler interrupted.
"Oh? You're acting like you're the one who's been switched with a Decepticon...William," Miko said, offended.
June turned towards the children. "How are you guys holding up?" she asked with empathy.
Miko tossed her fingers around, trying to find the right word. "Peachy," she finally said.
"I think we're all a little less than peachy," said Jack.
"Wait," June snapped, grabbing 'Jack's' head.
"M-Mom!"
"Look at his eyes! They're not red! Aren't Megatron's eyes usually red?" she inquired.
Arcee took his shoulders and looked at his optics, which were in fact a dark blue. She took a peek at the other Decepticon forms, and found their eyes were swapped with the respective humans' color.
"She's right. Their eye colors are their own. What about them?" Bulkhead asked, turning his head to Knockout and Starscream.
"Eh, his eyes are red," Starscream said, jabbing his thumb at Knockout.
"We can see them from here. But why?" Smokescreen said.
"We need an examination of all those who have been switched. Now," Ratchet declared.
"...Where's Megatron?" Jack asked.
On the platform, Megatron crept up behind Optimus, and tackled him. Both were out of their comfort zone, being in different bodies, however this did not stop either of them. Agent Fowler grabbed the violent body of the boy, which now housed the mighty Decepticon leader. Optimus recovered, hanging on to the railing, being flocked by the others.
"Well that was quite a show," Knockout examined, clapping.
"Optimus, are you-" Ratchet began, however he was cut off.
"I am safe, old friend. It's best we perform those examinations now," the Prime said. The medic nodded.
The Decepticons were carried off by their counterparts, unwillingly to the very basic Cybertronian medical area. In this area, there were also human cots, pantries and health kits.
"This is it? The new base of operations for the Autobots?" Starscream chuckled.
"Of course we did have more technology for scanning and finding areas of injury," Ratchet said, indifferently. "But, hey, someone decided to blow it all up."
"Ooh," Knockout said with sarcastic glee. "I wonder who that could've been,"
"And what were you trying to gain attacking Optimus, exactly?" Ratchet asked to Megatron.
"I was planning to kill him," the gladiator said coldly.
"Well, that's not going to be happening anytime soon, mister," June replied. "Whether you're in my son's body, or your own."
"Very well said," Ratchet agreed.
"Where do we drop off the troublemakers, sir?" Jack said, with authority.
"I'll need them here," the Autobot's medic commanded, pointing to a few human-sized decontamination machines. "Get inside."
* * *
The few humans and Cybertronians were being scanned, searching for injuries, damages, or any information as to what had happened to the eight of them. After a long time, a few of the Autobots entered the med bay, worrying for their friends.
"What have you found, Ratchet?" Arcee asked.
"Nothing, really. They are all healthy, but I cannot find anything else. I think I must move my investigations to the eyes. It's our only plan so far," Ratchet said.
Minutes later, he exclaimed, "Dear Primus."
"What? What's wrong?" Bulkhead asked, causing four Autobots to group to the computer.
"Dark matter has been found inside of their bodies, and not in trace amounts," he said, shocked.
"Wait, wait, wait, dark matter?" Smokescreen clarified.
"Dark matter cannot be seen," Arcee said, confused.
"By examining the strange gravity and movements in their body, it's my only conclusion."
"Can't it only be examined in space?" Rafael asked. "It's almost impossible to detect."
"Compared to the previous technology we had, this is considerably rudimentary. However, it is not completely unable to function. Cybertronians require medical equipment that is very hard to come by on your planet, as it is only as necessary in astronomical and somewhat physical science," Ratchet explained.
"But it can detect black matter?" June questioned.
"Dark matter, Nurse Darby, and yes. In small scales, however it is not a completely updated and fully-functional device," said Ratchet.
"And...this is inside of us?" Jack inquired.
With a nod, Ratchet continued to speak, "It is only found in the eight of them. The reasoning behind this, I do not yet know. Maybe we should give you guys a break before going at it again."
"Finally! We've been in that rusted death machine for hours," Miko complained.
"Are you all done with you science experiment?" Agent Fowler demanded, marching into the room.
"For the time being, yes," Ratchet told him. "Why?"
"The 'Cons," the man said, pointing his thumb back into the main area of the base. "They're on the communication network. They know we have their 'Oh Gracious Leader', and they wanna natter. Mister and Missus 'Wave."