Midas Touch
Chapter Two
Every machine in the store shook, and at first the staff of the store, thinking it was an earthquake, tried to follow the earthquake drill, but they had barely taken a step forward when Mikaela, who had guessed, shook her head at them urgently. Sam was regaining his footing when every machine in the place transformed. Mobile phones blasted their way out of handbags and pockets, and most of the customers ran from the store screaming as tills, washing machines, DVD players, laptops, cookers and every other device in the place sprang to life, and began randomly firing at anything that moved.
Sam's wits had returned to him as swiftly as the feeling of not being well had left. He looked around in horror at the rampaging mechanisms. Briefly he recalled being in Mission City, when he dropped the AllSpark, and machines around had become animated. He'd only noticed this remotely, as he was running for his life from Decepticons at the time. He recalled thinking that the animated machines were Decepticons themselves.
After Mission City, Optimus had told Sam that they were not Decepticons, but very frightened infants, the red optics a result of the AllSpark reacting to the Decepticon presence by disguising its latest creations as the same, in an attempt to protect them. Small, undisciplined Cybertronians, he explained, born into a hostile world, would not cower like a human child, but were born able to defend themselves, and thus would defend themselves against any perceived threat.
Sam realised that, except for the fact that there was no war going on outside, this was the same situation. The infant Cybertronians were reacting to a strange and frightening environment with strange and frightening creatures around them, who could be foes, and were trying to defend themselves. He reacted instinctively, as he might have done to a bunch of human toddlers running amok.
"STOP!" he cried, but his human cry was followed by a weird assortment of clicks and squeeps he hardly believed was coming out of his own mouth.
Every optic-and this time, he noticed, there was an equal number of red and blue ones-turned to look at him, and the shooting stopped.
Sam put his hands out in a gesture that he hoped was universally calming, dropping to a crouch. The staff, stunned, watched. One looked ready to move forwards and speak, but Mikaela shook her head at them.
"Don't." she whispered. "Any movement or noise could spook them again. Sam seems to know what he's doing, don't disturb things."
A squeal of tires outside brought every eye and optic to bear on the door to the store. With a fine disregard for the rules of the mall, Bumblebee had screeched to a halt outside the store. As the machines moved towards the doors of the store, one of the store assistants spoke.
"Hey, where are they going?" he asked.
Bumblebee's driver's door opened at that moment, and to Sam and Mikaela's shock, an all-too familiar, tall, slender, dark suited figure stepped out.
It was ex S-7 Agent Simmons.
"Don't worry, gentlemen, the Government will reimburse the store for every piece of machinery that was here during this…incident." he said, and Sam relaxed. The voice was a fair imitation of the real thing for someone who had never heard Simmons speak, but Sam, who had heard the real thing, recognised it for the imitation it was. Sam realised that Bumblebee was taking the situation in hand in the best way he could in such a public place, and was using a holoform of Simmons.
'Simmons' flashed his S-7 badge at the store assistants, and said "Sector Seven gentlemen, you've never heard of it and never will. I do not think that I need to impress upon you the need to not talk about this incident to anyone. As a matter of National Security, this incident never happened. Instead, you will close the store, citing a power surge as the reason, and lead all the new life forms out through the delivery entrance-I have transportation arranged. They, and you, will not be harmed. You should also know that they will not harm you." From this, Sam surmised that Bumblebee had given all the youngsters enough data to allay their fears. "Close the store, gentlemen, and bring the little ones out as I suggested." suggested 'Simmons.' Sam, Mikaela, accompany them, I will meet you out there." 'Simmons' stepped back over to and got in Bumblebee, and then Bumblebee carefully exited the mall the same way he had come.
"Okay? I think we should do as he says." said the stunned store manager. "You lead them, kid, they seem to trust you."
The little machines allowed themselves to be herded to the back of the shop, by the other humans as well as Sam, and they seemed less scared, confirming Sam's idea that Bumblebee had databurst them the information that these humans were safe. Some of them were even tentatively touching the skin and clothing of the humans in evident curiosity.
Bumblebee and 'Simmons' were waiting for them by the time they got them outside, and Sam breathed a further sigh of relief when the blue and red Peterbilt truck, towing a big container, and followed by a green/yellow Search and Rescue vehicle, pulled in. He knew that the Autobots would look after these AllSpark babies.
'Simmons', after once again telling the shop workers not to talk about the incident, said "Sam, Mikaela, I must ask you to come back with me for a debriefing."
Sam sighed quietly in relief. He knew that it would be Bumblebee, Optimus, and hopefully Ratchet, who would debrief them, but perhaps, then, they could get some answers.
As Optimus' holoform made sure all of the AllSpark babies were in his trailer (except for the laptops and smaller, which Ratchet was transporting) and carefully locked it, Sam and Mikaela got into Bumblebee's back seats.