Optimus Prime had felt his own alarms ring when he had first encountered MacKenzie and Karr, and those alarms were still there. Like meeting a Decepticon, he mused. This small human radiated such danger, he understood Ironhide's itchiness. His weapons specialist was so wired, the tension was almost palpable. Ironhide insisted that Karr was a Decepticon plant, but nothing Prime had heard or seen so far suggested that.

Nick's reluctance to really answer any of their questions didn't help, though. The man was tight-lipped and, though not hostile, rather distant..

So he had employed the help of the world wide web, entering government files and poking around. What he had gotten had been chilly and terrible. Nick's files read like a Decepticon's past.
Looking down at the tired man, Optimus knew they had to help. What had happened to Nick and Karr was partially their fault. They had brought this war to Earth. They had risked the lives at Mission City and were responsible for many deaths. And the Allspark had changed two lives in a way Prime had never thought was possible. The new mechanoid had to learn how to handle his body. If the Decepticons got wind of Karr, they would either try to win him for their cause if they ever returned, or destroy him.

"I offer you our help," he told the man, looking into a pair of cold, blue eyes.

Nick was tired and exhausted and mentally strained to the max. All his defenses had crumbled in the last hours. It had started after Mission City and he had had no more fight in him.
So tired.

Karr soothingly touched him, relayed his support, his strength, and his love. They would walk this road together as well, wherever it led.

Nick gave him a tired smile.

//Even if it means hiding this from Kitt?//

//As long as it takes him to find out about it//

Nick scrubbed a hand over his face. The headache was not getting better. The place where the implant sat was burning.

Optimus' offer was tantalizing. Maybe it was because of the weakness that Nick agreed. There was only so much he could fight.

Barricade gnashed his teeth, his innate temper flaring brightly. The Autobots had taken the human and the changed machine with the designation Karr into their possession. Curse their worthless sparks!

The empty space inside him quivered with incoming signals and Barricade felt a reaction from deep inside him. It was like a shared pain and he was confused over the source. The signals were not Cybertronian. They were strange and alien and slightly sickening, but the empty interface was trying to accommodate, wanted input.

Sitting outside Autobot radar, keeping a perception filter around him, he tried to catch glimpses of the two, but aside from humans coming and going, all of them military, and the Autobots there was no sign of Karr or MacKenzie.

Until something skittered across his systems.

Barricade started to twitch a little.

The shivers returned. Turned into wild sparks. Shot fire through his mind.

And then Barricade felt a single explosion of agony numb his very spark. His tired twitched spasmodically, throwing up dust, and with a whine his engine came to live, crashing him rear fender first into a wall that promptly collapsed on top of the police cruiser.

Darkness descended and he cried out in panic as part of him was suffocated by alien signals that swamped every single relay and system.

Barricades high-pitched cry didn't reach the outside world as everything failed abruptly, encasing him in a separate world of his own, drawing him deep into the unused interface compartment that had been Frenzy's place to link with him.

A place now shared by whatever the Allspark had created inside the human.

Nick had not gotten any better after Ironhide's attack on Karr, even after Lennox had offered him a whole pot of coffee. If at all, it had gotten worse. The headache was all-encompassing and the link was sputtering and fizzing like an old transistor radio. This wasn't a malfunction brought on by the energy blast. It was… something else. Karr watched the man bound to him with a worried air. His driver was getting worse and there was nothing he could do.

They were among the enemy. Not hostile and lethal force enemy, but not friends either. Karr knew they were on their own and he was holding back, keeping himself in check, but Nick was aware of how tightly strung his partner was.

The question and answer session had been long and detailed. Nick had given the Army Ranger who had introduced himself as a kind of liaison officer to the Autobots only as much information as was safe. They could look up whatever they wanted and not find all the data they required – and no doubt the Autobots would. He had seen it from the way Optimus Prime had looked at him. Nick was a ghost, a shadow in the system, and not even Karr knew if there was even a file on his partner any more. Nash had been his mentor and trainer, but who knew where the general had kept all the information on his 'creations'.

Lennox had shown Nick to an empty bunk and Karr had kept a close eye on his driver, worry rising. Nick had showered and redressed in clean clothes, but aside from coffee, he didn't feel like taking in much.

There was a sharp pain running through the implant. It hadn't been the first time and each time Karr was more disturbed. Nick and Karr were left alone for now, but Karr suspected they were under tight watch. MacKenzie closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

//Deep shit// Karr rumbled.

//Very//

And they had no clue how to get out of it. Run and hide, let the Autobots look for them until they gave up – which Karr doubted they would – or stay and reveal more about themselves. No other option. Nick wasn't ready to compromise the safety of Michael and Kitt, or that of anyone associated with the Foundation. Kitt's safety was high on Karr's priority list as well. His younger brother had gone through too much to be sacrificed to alien curiosity now. It that meant breaking all ties, so be it. Aside from the private channel, which always pulsed gently with the existence of the other AI, he would cut everything and block it.

A small sacrifice for Kitt alone only.

Nick buried his head in his hands massaged his forehead. Karr scanned carefully, noting the strong pulses emitting from the implant. To his eyes it didn't look like the original any more than he looked like the original KARR. The Allspark had changed it as well and by now the changes were affecting Nick.

Karr clicked his door open and Nick looked up, smiling tiredly at the wordless invitation. He took it, without question, and lay down on the cool leather seat as it reclined. Karr darkened the windows and sealed the door shut.

The Autobots be damned. His driver needed to rest.

Ratchet had been intrigued by the existence of the human-built, sentient machine, and what the Allspark had done to Karr. He had scanned him several times, noting the annoyance Karr radiated each and every time. And each and every time he had seen the silent communication between him and the human. Nick had a calming influence on the AI and Karr clearly showed his affection for the human in what he did and didn't do.

How an implant could transmit electrical impulses from a human brain and make them comprehensible for an artificially created one, for a CPU, was beyond him. The electronic device that had been surgically implanted into Nick's mind wasn't in the middle of his brain mass. It sat at the brain's base, closer to the spine than the brain as such, and it was so old, the human's body had already enveloped it with tissue.

Nick had claimed he could even walk into Karr's CPU, if he chose, and he saw Karr as a presence in his own mind. Amazing.

Karr himself had no spark. That was what had Ratchet running in circles. A fact that contradicted all he knew and believed in. The Allspark created life and gave it the spark, until the life died and the spark returned to its origin. Karr had been created by humans and the Allspark had given him the ability to transform and some other features. But no spark.
Incredible.

Talking to Nick, with a silent, non-communicative Karr present, was a new experience. Ratchet had been in contact with different kinds of humans, from military and civilian areas, with positions of command and respect, as well as no connection to any kind of military at all. Nick was unique. Either cold and distant, close-mouthed and mono-syllabic, or barely answering anything relevant about his past the implant. Still, there was a warmth, a human notion, whenever he seemed to touch Karr.

The problem was, aside from what Nick had already given them, he wasn't ready to reveal more. Optimus had downloaded information from the human networks and Ratchet planned to work through the files of an organization called Foundation for Law and Government where everything must have started.

The implant as such was primitive to Ratchet's optics, but the Allspark had jolted the device into growing into something else. Just what it was he didn't know. It was by now several times the size it had been before and at the core still of Earth construction. It showed no power source, just an almost passive signal that was echoed by Karr's systems.
Ratchet was truly fascinated.

When it happened, Nick was busy trying to not get annoyed at Ratchet for asking stupid questions that repeated itself. As much as he wanted to know about his own changes, he didn't have to open his life up to prying eyes. The headache wasn't helping and it was only growing worse. Even taking pain pills, of a strong variant, and some hours of rest hadn't lessened the pressure and the angry pulses emitting from his brain.

From one moment to the next everything seemed to go up in a bright explosion of color, then streamed into darkness.

It was blinding, it was numbing, but it also brought agony with it. He doubled over, his head feeling like it would explode any second, his eyes blinded, his ears deaf except to the roar in his mind.

Nick didn't even notice that he fell to the ground.

Karr almost literally fell flat on his face, unable to move. He was still in car mode and his attention was on Nick, who was in pain and annoyed. Never a good combination. Ratchet was walking a fine line by now, asking questions about Nick's past and the medical side of the implant.

And then the pain hit.

Darkness.

Darkness.

The vagueness of sound came to him.

Voices followed that. Pulses of familiar energy. It felt strange and alien, but inside, he smiled, delirious with happiness at the little sensation.

Nick did not move.

He tried to press through Nick's shields and found they had broken. Shards lay everywhere, jagged and painful, blackened and paper-thin. The damage was done. Whatever had become of the implant, it had attacked the shields with vicious relentlessness, trying to forge a path between the two different minds like nothing had ever done before.

And it was taking Nick with it, tearing him apart, tearing him to pieces.

//Nick?// Karr called. Both their shields were down. Both were vulnerable. //Nick... don't go. Don't leave me. Fight. Please. We can win this. We have so before!//

Karr stared at the unmoving figure. His driver. His partner. The one chosen for him. One machine and another. A human assassin, trained and beyond humanity; and a machine that had only its self-interest in mind, that would protect itself before anyone else, would preserve only its own life. A match made in Hell.

A match that had worked, that had prospered, that had changed both partners. Karr knew he was a far cry from what he had been two decades before. And Nick had found humanity, too. Neither could live without the other, neither wanted. Now being able to morph his shape into a bipedal mode hadn't changed their relationship one bit.

Nick was so small, but so fragile. Karr was physically stronger, but Nick had an inner strength and an iron will that far surpassed Karr's. They were perfectly compatible. Wilton Knight had seen it. It had been his dream, one that had turned into a nightmare and had to be terminated.

Karr shuddered.

//Nick?// he called weakly. //Nick? Please, please…// He fell quiet, cupping his hand over Nick's still form. //Not like this. Not because of some alien device…//

There was no reply. His partner was fading, felled by whatever was changing inside him.
Something, like a wispy darkness, slivered over his mind. Karr gazed at the unconscious human. The link was sputtering, trying to do something, but it resulted only in faint tendrils of pain. Whatever it was doing, it hurt. It transformed, morphed, warped what they had. It was insinuating itself between them, breaking Nick under the pressure, and Karr frantically held on to the life force he knew so well.

There were suddenly running footsteps. Karr's attention was on them, his mind immediately classifying the approaching Autobots by danger factor. His systems came alive with an agonizing fire and his mind was trying to compensate random energy signals he received. He had no idea what kind of signals they were. All alien, but with a familiar tang. All from Nick, but nothing like his driver at all. It all mixed up in a torrent of energy heading his way. He gasped loudly as he received an almost physical blow.

Common sense left him.

Defense and protection instincts took over.

His transformation was without actual thought to do so.

And then the neuro link died completely, without a warning, one second to another. Karr's optics flared brightly, the amber turning to flares of gold, and he stumbled away from Nick, energon pump beating wildly, all systems powering up to full defense mode.

//NICK!//

His scream went unanswered as the darkness of the separation fell over him like a veil.

//NO!//

But his partner was gone. Instead he felt the alien pulses that weren't Nick and he screamed in agony.

He was alone.

And the enemy was about to take him down.

Karr stood with his back pressed against the wall, his weapon aiming into the general direction of Optimus Prime and the others. Karr's hand was shaking like under stress and Optimus knew that if he lost a shot, everything would go up in chaos.

Ratchet raised his hands, his face a gentle mask, but his eyes full of anxiety. "Karr…" he began.

"Stay away from me!" Karr hissed and his voice was shaking. The optics flickered badly now and he was trembling even more.

"Ratchet, what happened?"

"I'm not sure. I was talking to our guest when he seemed to overload and collapse. The signals I'm getting from the implant all over the place and he's breaking apart. As for Karr… he's sharing," the medic replied. "Whatever happened to MacKenzie, whatever binds them together, it must have been affected by the collapse. He's not himself. His CPU is under immense distress."

Lennox was edging forward, a weapon aimed at Karr. Optimus knew it packed a punch, especially designed by Ironhide to assist the Captain in defending himself in case of another attack of the Decepticons. They were vengeful and wouldn't hesitate to take out those humans who had killed their comrades. Now the weapon was trained on the hybrid robot. But Lennox was also moving toward the lifeless seeming figure of MacKenzie.

Ratchet took another step toward his friend. "You are sharing," he said calmly. "Your partner's health is affecting you."

Karr clenched his hand tightly around the gun. "Yeah, right," he spat. "Liar! What have you done to me? What have you done to Nick?!"

"Karr, this not what it seems to be," Ratchet went on.

But Karr was in no mood to listen. He launched himself forward, transforming in one smooth move and shot toward Optimus. Ironhide didn't hesitate. He leveled his guns and fired several rounds at the black streak. One impacted with Karr's rear, having him fish-tail to the left and past Prime, crashing right into the wall - and through it.

The Stealth transformed and rolled onto his back, aiming at the much larger Autobot coming at him much faster than anyone would give him credit for. Optimus Prime's hand closed around one black wrist and pushed the gun away.

"Karr, stop it!"

"No! You want to scrap me, right? You want to shut me down again!" His voice was rising with panic. "I won't ever be shut down again!"

Optimus was aware of Ironhide close by, guns ready, but he didn't look away from the madly flickering optics.

"Your partner is sick," he tried to get through to the insanely writhing robot. "You're sharing his sickness. You need to control yourself!"

Karr screamed like an animal in pain and tried to rear up. Optimus took the only way out. He slammed a first into his face, stunning the AI, then called on his weapon and shocked the smaller figure with a low-level charge. Karr gave a whimper and slumped down.

"You think he's out?" Ironhide asked, coming closer.

"Yes. He's only partly like us, but his systems shut down." Accessing his com, Optimus called on their medic. "Ratchet? We have him. He's unconscious. How's Nick?"

"Equally out. I need to run a full diagnostic on him. Bring Karr back, please."

Optimus rose and picked up the smaller form. Ironhide followed, only partly standing down, but there wasn't even a twitch from Karr.

tbc...