Ghost in the Machine
By: Ghost of the Dawn
Chapter One: Faceless
October 26
Daniel Witwicky walked out of his high school, shoulders slumped and looking bored. After-school detention had a way of doing that to young minds. The school had long been vacated by most of the students, but his fellow detentionees and several after-school club members loitered around.
"Mr. Witwicky, do you have a ride home?" called Mr. Phillips, the teacher in charge of detention.
It took a moment for the teenager to realize he was being addressed before he turned his head. His teachers all knew both his parents worked full time. But for his family, getting a ride anywhere had never been a problem.
"Yes," Daniel sighed. "One of my parent's friends will come get me, no doubt."
As if conjured by the mere mention, a yellow Volkswagen beetle drove up in front of the school. "And there he is," Daniel said as he grabbed his bag.
Before he could approach the vehicle, however, it transformed into a yellow robot. To the teacher's surprise and Daniel's horror, the robot started walking towards the school. "Hi, I'm Bumblebee," the robot greeted with a cheery tone. "I'm here to pick up Daniel."
Mr. Phillips stared at him, mouth agape. He knew about the Autobots- everyone in Portland did. But this was the closest he had ever been to one and now it was talking to him. For once, the English teacher had nothing to say. But Daniel did.
"Bumblebee, what are you doing?" the teenager hissed.
"I just want to thank you for taking care of our Daniel for us," Bumblebee continued as if he wasn't there. The giant robot reached out a hand to shake it with the startled Mr. Phillips.
Daniel interceded before contact could be made, pushing the larger bot in the mid section. "Bee, knock it off. Get off the steps!" Daniel insistently tried to herd the Autobot back towards the parking lot.
"But I was just-" Bumblebee tried.
"No, leave him alone!" Daniel could feel his face growing red. He was lucky the school was almost empty. The last thing he needed was for all his peers to see some dorky, happy robot try to buddy up with the teachers. "Get back in the parking lot. Transform, now."
"Daniel, I only want to--"
"I said TRANSFORM," Daniel growled between his teeth.
That got Bumblebee quiet and he transformed without any further objection. Daniel quickly got into the passenger seat, not paying any further mind to this aged teacher who was still trying to recover from the encounter.
"Drive, drive!" Daniel urged.
The yellow beetle started off at a moderate pace out of the school parking lot. Daniel continued to look annoyed. He thought Bumblebee was going deliberately slow. He brooded for a while until the school was out of sight.
"You did that on purpose."
"Did what?" Bumblebee asked, voice dripping with innocence.
"You were embarrassing me!"
"You think I'm embarrassing?" There was genuine disbelief in the Autobot's voice. "When Spike was your age he introduced me to everyone he knew. He wasn't ashamed to be seen with me at all. Why don't we hang out like that?"
Daniel frowned. "I'm a teenager. I don't hang out with my dad's friends!"
Bumblebee was quiet. For a moment, it almost appeared as if his feelings were hurt. "Hey Daniel, back there you called me "Bee" like when you were little."
Daniel covered his face in one hand. "I only called you that when I couldn't pronounce your name. It's been years, Bumblebee."
"I know, but I miss it. It was so cute!"
Daniel gave the agitated sigh only teenagers can give. "You're so lame."
"Your hair was a different color back then, too. And the way you dress. It's like you're trying to be someone else."
Daniel tugged at his straight black hair. It was indeed quite different from the curly brown hair he was born with. "It's just hair dye. It's not a big deal. It would be like... getting a new paint job for you. And I'm NOT trying to be a different person. Jeez, between you and my mom..."
Bumblebee drove to a smart-looking complex full of new buildings entirely fenced off. The security guard let them in on sight and Bumblebee pulled up to the front where a professionally dressed blonde got into the car. Carly Witwicky worked for a government technical company, partially founded by herself, which researched Autobot technology and fashioned ways in which humans could benefit from it. She was the head of the development department and the main breadwinner in the family. Her salary alone could easily support her family in comfort, but her husband Spike still insisted on continuing his humble profession as a construction worker which suited them both just fine.
"Hello, Bumblebee," Carly greeted as she got into the driver's seat. "Thanks for driving us. Sparkplug said he'll be working on the car for at least another day. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all! I'm always happy to help," the Autobot chirped.
He started out of the compound and Carly then turned her attention to her son. "Did you finish your detention time, Daniel?"
He sighed. "Yes, Mom."
"Good, but you're still grounded for one more week."
Daniel shot up from his slouch. "But Mom--"
"Daniel," Carly said sternly. "You trespassed on school property."
"I know, but I told you, we were just trying--"
"And you broke a window."
"We didn't mean to!"
"Daniel! We already agreed on your punishment, remember?"
"But Mom, what about Halloween? I've had plans with the guys forever! Isn't there anything I can do? I'll take another week if you give me Halloween off."
Carly's stern expression lifted. "Tell you what, you start right on your chores and I'll talk to your father. Maybe he'll agree if you take a chaperone."
"I'll go!" Bumblebee volunteered.
Daniel wildly waved that he did not like that idea at all.
"I CAN see you shaking your head, Daniel," Bumblebee accused.
"We'll talk about this later," Carly promised as Bumblebee pulled up outside the Witwicky home.
Daniel grabbed his bag dramatically and trudged up to the house.
"I miss that cute, happy kid he used to be," Bumblebee said. "He used to love to go for drives with me. Now I just seem to embarrass him."
Carly checked her hair in the rear view mirror. "He's a teenager, Bumblebee, everyone embarrasses him. It's just the way they are. Don't let it bother you. He'll grow out of it when he goes to college. I'm just happy he's not to the point where he's painting his nails and writing angry poetry."
She got out and closed the door behind her. "Thanks again, Bumblebee. I don't know what we would do without you. Come by anytime. I'm sure Spike would love to see you."
"I'll do what I can. Take care and I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."
Carly waved as the yellow Autobot drove out of sight.
The attack came without warning. It was sudden and head-on with all the strength the Decepticons could afford. Only seconds after Teletraan I sounded the alert klaxon, the base began to shake from the force of the raid.
In the communications room, Prowl scrambled to determine every Autobot's position and status and to identify the number of Decepticon forces. He was drafting a battle plan on the fly and had enlisted Hound to help him radio orders to the first line of soldiers caught in the Decepticons' fire.
Optimus Prime came racing through, weapon in his hand and a few Autobots at his heels. He didn't even stop to ask Prowl about the situation; his gut already knew. He charged towards the front of the base where Megatron, flanked by several Decepticons, was already forcing himself inside.
To Megatron's right, Soundwave was dragging an unconscious Wheeljack while to his left, Dirge had Cliffjumper slung lifelessly over his shoulder.
Optimus stayed his trigger finger at the sight of the hostages. "Autobots, hold your fire!"
The Autobots were slowly surrounding the smaller group of Decepticons like a swarm of hornets. All their weapons were drawn, but not a single one fired when Optimus gave the command.
Optimus Prime himself had his blaster aimed right for Megatron's head. "You're surrounded, Megatron. This time you've gone too far!" the Autobot leader demanded. "Explain yourself!"
"It is YOU who should explain!" Megatron bellowed. "Where are my troops, Prime! I demand you release them to me now!"
Jazz slowly lowered his weapon. "Megs has finally blown something permanent," he muttered.
"Your troops?" Optimus repeated. "What are you talking about?"
Megatron lowered his arm cannon to Wheeljack's head. "Don't play stupid with me, Prime! It's one thing to fell my warriors in battle, but to pick them off one by one right under my nose-- I thought you of more honor than that!"
Confusion was evident in the Autobots' faces as they looked at one another.
"Release my troops to me immediately!" Megatron ordered.
"There are no Decepticons here!" Optimus insisted.
"Except for you slaggers who messed up our front door," Sunstreaker snarled, his blaster pointed at their backs.
"We don't have them, Megatron," Optimus continued before anyone could retort and start a fight. "We have not done anything to your troops. Now look around you, you're surrounded. And if you don't want to lose more of your numbers, I suggest you put my Autobots down and leave the way you came right now."
Megatron took a moment to rub his chin in thought. The several Autobot weapons aimed at his head did little to hurry him along in coming to a decision.
"Very well, I will take your word for it this time. But I leave you this warning, Prime. Something odd is going on here and Primus help you if you had anything to do with it." He turned to lead his Decepticons out, but there were still fully-armed Autobots in his way.
"Ya still got something 'a ours," Ironhide reminded the Decepticon leader.
Megatron nodded idly, as though remembering where he left his keys, and with a flick of an arm he ordered Wheeljack and Cliffjumper to be released. The two Autobots were dropped on the floor like so much scrap while the Decepticons were allowed to vacate unmolested.
Once they had flown away, Ratchet and Grapple ran to assist their wounded comrades. Sunstreaker put his blaster away as he watched the Decepticons in the distance. "Well that made a whole lotta nonsense. Them Decepticons ain't playing with a full deck of cards any more."
"That was outstanding grammar, Sunstreaker," said Tracks as he walked by.
"I'm just saying 'ol Megs seems to have a few screws loose is all. I mean, what kind of idiot crashes in here demanding things we don't have? It's not exactly our fault that Megatron can't keep track of his lackeys so why should it be our problem?"
"I dunno, man, it might become our problem," Jazz put in. "If whatever is picking off Decepticons decides to wants to pick us off, too."
"Maybe they're on our side," Huffer offered. "Maybe it's humans finally deciding to help us out or another alien life form that's enemies with the Decepticons. I'm sure they have a few of those."
Optimus Prime looked thoughtful before turning to his communicator. "Did you hear all that, Prowl?"
"Most of it," Prowl's voice radioed back. "I checked all the monitors during the raid. I didn't see any sign of Starscream, Skywarp, Ramjet or Astrotrain."
"Not exactly the brightest crayons in the bunch," Brawn said. "Maybe their own stupidity did them in."
"Too much to hope for, I'm sure," Tracks sniffed.
"Either way," Prowl's voice continued, "I believe it would be unwise to assume whatever happened to those Decepticons won't happen to any of us. In a way, we might even have Megatron to thank for this early warning."
"Thanks, my rear exhaust!" Brawn grouched as he walked off. "If he wants thanks he can come back and fix our entrance because I'll be slagged if I'm doing it."
The other Autobots took his vow with good humor. Grapple would no doubt ask for his help with the large parts and he would end up doing it, grumbling all the way.
"I believe it would definitely be worth our while to at least look into this," Prowl's voice continued.
"Agreed," said Optimus. "Prowl, this is your specialty. Get a research team on it. Prime out."
"So they just blew in through your front door, guns blazing?" Crystal asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah," Jazz confirmed to the human in his passenger seat. "We didn't even know what 'Ol Megs was roaring about until he demanded Prime release all his troops. Apparently he's been missing some and doesn't know what happened to them."
"And you don't have them, right?"
"Of course not. That's not our style. Besides, we'd have nowhere to keep them. We've tried building holding cells for the Cons before, but we just don't have the right equipment to keep them locked up. They always bust out eventually."
Crystal looked thoughtful, but didn't have anything else to say about the matter.
"If you ask me," Jazz continued. "The fact that Starscream was one of the missing Cons should have made Megatron suspicious of other reasons besides us."
Crystal tipped her head. "Starscream is the..."
"He's that tall white and red one that almost slagged us that one time, remember?"
"I remember," Crystal said quietly as she looked out the window. She could still see those cold, glowing optics even now. Then she turned her eyes back to the dashboard. "So why is that one's disappearance significant?"
"Starscream has the most two-faced spark I've ever heard of. That Con is never happy unless he's scheming against someone. And Megatron himself is his favorite chump for the job. Don't even ask me why Megs keeps him around. Let's just say this wouldn't be the first time Starscream has taken off with a few Decepticons to help him with some plans of his own."
"I see."
"If that's the case, I don't see how it's our business, but Prowl wants us all to look into it and make sure there won't be any potential problems for any of us from this."
A ghost of a smile crossed Crystal's face at his mention. "How is Prowl doing anyway?"
"Serious as ever, but having the time of his life. Prowl lives for that kind of stuff. He likes a good mystery."
Crystal chewed on her lip for a moment. "Would it be selfish of me to request he come see me sometime?"
"Of course not! It's good for him to get away from work now and then. He takes everything way too seriously. In fact," Jazz added with a playful tone. "We could drive down to the base and go bug him right now."
A timid look crossed her face. "Um, I'm not sure I'm ready for that quite yet."
"Alright, alright," Jazz said with both tolerance and humor. "But the offer is always open whenever you want to take it."
"That's okay. I wouldn't want to bother you guys."
"But it's no problem, honest. I'll even show you my room." He gave a suggestive growl.
Crystal managed to look amused. "I'll think about it."
"That means no, doesn't it?" The humor in Jazz's voice was suddenly gone.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because that's what it means when Prowl says it."
To this, Crystal laughed. "I guess that's something we have in common."
Jazz grumbled something too low to hear and then spoke up. "So you going to tell me what all that is about now?"
Crystal didn't have to ask to what he was referring. She immediately looked down at all the chocolate wrappers decorating her lap.
"Oh, well, I guess it was just one of those weeks."
Jazz was quiet for a moment. "I don't follow. What does that mean?"
Crystal grinned. She found his lack of knowledge regarding human females amusing. "To put it simply, most women find comfort in junk food after a hard day."
"It looks like you had a hard couple of days."
Crystal, for the first time, guiltily tallied up the amount of chocolate she had consumed in the past twenty minutes. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Want to tell me about it?"
She thought about it. Crystal wasn't exactly sure Jazz would understand her problems. But maybe it would be good to just get it out and have someone listen anyway. "To put it as simply as I can, Jazz, being single sucks. All the women at my work are married or engaged. Even the ones younger than me. And they treat me like some charity case. Poor Crystal needs a man to be happy. Let's all try to find SOMETHING for her."
"So you don't want one?" Jazz asked.
"No! I mean, yes. Yes I want one. In fact, I really want one. But that's not the point. My life isn't full of misery because I don't have a man. I'm doing just fine how I am now, but they all act like I'm getting too old and time is running out."
"...Are you?" Jazz wondered.
"I'm only twenty-two!"
"So... no?"
Crystal gave an exasperated sigh.
"I'm sorry! I don't know about these things!" said the Autobot.
Crystal continued to frown.
"So what happened then?" Jazz continued. "I'd be a bit disappointed in you if the talk of a few women put you in this mood."
"Well," Crystal admitted. "I finally agreed to be set up with a blind date."
"Ah. Should I even ask how that went?"
Crystal popped another chocolate in her mouth. "Let's just say I now don't mind if I'm single for another twenty-two years and leave it at that."
Jazz wisely did, but then declared: "You should just date me and that will solve all your problems."
"Somehow I doubt that."
"Why not? Then they'll leave you alone. I'll even call them to prove it."
"Yeah, but it will be weird that I won't be able to call you back. Besides, what would I say if they ask what you look like? Or ask for a picture?"
"Just say I'm camera shy but devilishly good-looking."
To that, Crystal laughed. "I do agree with that. But I'm not going to lie to my co-workers. I'm a big girl. I can handle the truth."
"Well if you really were dating me, it wouldn't be a lie now would it?"
"You're such a dork, Jazz. Do you even know what dating is?"
Silence from the Porsche.
"I thought so."
"Well, it's kind of like what we're doing right now, isn't it?" Jazz tried.
Crystal thought about it. "I suppose, in a way. Though on a real date we would do a bit more than just sitting in a parking lot and I wouldn't be paying for my own chocolate."
"Well I AM paying for the gas!" said Jazz, offense clear in his voice.
Crystal tried to stifle a giggle. "I'm sorry Jazz. Did I hurt your feelings?"
"Yeah, a little," came the muttered reply.
"I'm sorry Jazz." Crystal rested her cheek and arms on the dashboard, spilling chocolate wrappers all over the floor of the car. "You know I love you."
"Yeah, I know."
"And you can always take me out any time you want which is something no other man can say."
"Cool. Oh, and Prowl wanted me to ask you if you have any other favorite stories. Though I'm not sure why."
Crystal laughed right out loud. "I'm sure I can think of something."
The next night, Carly worked well into the evening. Sparkplug had dropped off her car which allowed her to stay as late as she wanted to finish her notes and projects before the weekend. It was nearly nine o'clock and most of the staff had gone home for the night. Carly was getting ready to pack it up herself when a horrible crash rocked the building.
At first, Carly thought it was an earthquake. But as she took a moment to analyze the noise and vibrations, it seemed more likely that something was rocking the building itself and not the ground beneath it. Once realizing this, there was only one thing that sprang to Carly's mind: Decepticons. No one really expected them to attack a facility such as this, but Carly never would have put it past them.
She ran out of her laboratory toward the source of the smashing sounds. They came from the main robotics department, a large facility built like a warehouse with high ceilings and open space for their larger projects. It was now sporting a gaping hole on its east side and large metallic bodies let themselves in.
Carly paused in the doorway, eyes wide as she watched the robotic behemoths milling around the building. "I knew it," she muttered, quickly counting three Decepticons.
The remaining building staff was nowhere to be found. Most likely they had already fled to a safe place or were attempting to call the authorities.
Carly hid behind a bulky work station as she watched the Decepticons, trying to figure out what they were after. She identified Skywarp and Ramjet as they grabbed different pieces of machinery and stuffed them into Astrotrain's cargo hold. Skywarp turned to attend to a different task, plugging himself into one of the main computers and helping himself to massive amounts of research and information.
Carly squinted as she watched them. Something was off. The way they moved, the way they acted, it was all wrong. They were stiff and silent. No talking, no grumbling or bickering. And there wasn't any sign of Megatron nor Starscream nor Soundwave, no unit leader of any kind. This was fishy.
Then Carly noticed something that really turned on the warning bells.
"Their faces," she gasped.
Ramjet had turned in her direction and Carly could see a gaping mass of metal and circuitry where his frowning face plate used to be. The only facial features still intact were the glowing red optics.
She caught a glimpse of Skywarp and found he was in the same condition. Something was wrong. Even for Decepticons, something was very wrong.
Carly reached in her pocket and pulled out a small communication device that looked similar to a cell phone. Lately she had been using it to ask for transportation to and from work. This was for an entirely different reason.
"This is Prowl. Go ahead, Carly. What can I do for you?"
"Prowl!" Carly hissed into the receiver. "I'm at work. The Decepticons broke into our main building. They're stealing everything!"
Prowl consulted his instruments. Teletraan I identified an alarm set off from the complex. No doubt the local law enforcement was already on its way. But if Decepticons were involved, they would definitely need backup. "Confirmed, Carly. I'll send some Autobots down as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, stay out of sight and wait for them. Do NOT attempt to engage the Decepticons on any level. Do you understand me?"
Carly fought to roll her eyes. He still treated her like she was the same headstrong teenager he'd first met. Prowl never seemed to understand that humans could grow and mature. She was no longer the reckless stupid kid she used to be, young and believing she would live forever. The Decepticons were stealing her life's work, but she knew better than to try and stop them. No amount of technology was worth the risk of leaving her family without a wife and mother.
She waited as Prowl instructed, only watching the Decepticons and staying hidden. Carly wasn't entirely sure they would have noticed even if she ran out and danced for them. They moved as if on automatic, like zombies ... like ROBOTS.
The Decepticons didn't stay too much longer. They were quick about their task before taking off into the night sky. The police arrived almost immediately after, followed by the Autobots.
"Are you sure those are the Decepticons you saw?" Hound asked, already writing a digital report to Prowl in his processor.
Carly stood next to him outside, hugging her jacket closer to her. From her vantage point, she could see the crater left in the main building from the raid. Police were littering the grounds as well as a few Autobots here and there. "Yeah, I'm sure it was exactly those three."
"Precisely the Decepticons Megatron was looking for," Hound said mostly to himself. Then he looked back to Carly. "Did you see Starscream anywhere?"
Carly blinked. "Starscream? No, I don't believe so. But if he or any other Decepticons were outside, I wouldn't have been able to see them."
"Negative on that," Jazz said as he approached them. "I went through all the external surveillance cameras. There weren't any other Decepticons in the area."
"Curious," Hound responded.
"And Hound?" Carly added. "They didn't have any faces."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the plating on their faces. It was gone. It was just wires and optics."
Hound rubbed his chin in thought. "Curiouser and curiouser."
"Said Alice down the rabbit hole," Prowl's voice fizzled as it came over the radio. "What's the status?"
"I think we've found our missing Decepticons," Hound replied. "I'll send a report of what I have so far. Ratchet is talking with the staff, trying to get a list of what was taken. We'll get that to you when we can."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"Thankfully, no. Carly says they were so bent on the job they didn't even bother to put the effort into attacking anyone."
"Good. I'll wait for the rest of your report. Prowl out."
"Well, I guess that's all we can do around here," Jazz announced. "Do you want an escort home, Carly?"
She tossed her blond hair, eyes bright. "No thanks, I'm fine. I'm used to it by now. Thanks anyway, Jazz."
She waved them off as she started to leave, but something made her pause and she turned around. "Since when does Prowl read Alice in Wonderland?"
Hound just looked at her, but Jazz grinned.
He smiled as he watched them. They were beautiful, running like clockwork. Ramjet diligently unloaded all the stolen robotic parts and equipment while Skywarp plugged himself into the main computer and sat motionless, uploading all the information he had stolen.
He couldn't help but smile as he watched the Decepticons continue their tasks. "It's so nice when your equipment works the way you want it to, isn't it, Starscream?" He turned to the figure behind him.
Starscream said not a word, but his optics flickered as he watched from the darkness.