Ratchet had never been so stumped, so puzzled and so fascinated. The strange mechanoid, a Cybertronian who wasn't a Cybertronian at all, came from a culture that shouldn't have been able to create artificial life as advanced as this one was. The transformation abilities had been given to it by the Allspark, but the personality had been there to begin with.

Karr.

And he wasn't a newborn. He was old.

Even thinking reverse engineering couldn't get humanity something this advanced. His creator had given birth to an incredible machine. A new life.

And more fascinating was the human partnered with the machine. Nicholas MacKenzie was far from ordinary what Ironhide had told him. The weapons specialist had hacked deep into US government files and retrieved some very interesting data. The man was as dangerous as he was interesting. Add to that partnership the neurological implant, now affected by the Allspark as well, and you had an unheard of before combination.

"Whatever the Allspark did to the implant, Optimus, it has changed," Ratchet told his leader. "It's growing, becoming more part of Nick than anything I've ever seen before. It's like a cybernetic implant that is affecting every part of his body. It has split apart, moving into different body parts."

"Doing what?" Prime asked.

"I don't know. So far, the Allspark gave life to only four Earth machines and all four were incomplete or even when fully able to transform and move, mindless. It seems a brief brush of energy only changes the shape, but doesn't bestow a mind."

"Karr was an AI before that brush of power."

Ratchet nodded. "Exactly. His core unit, the CPU, was Earth made. He developed his personality and then changed. He doesn't even have a spark like we do."

"Which makes him now neither a Cybertronian nor an Earth machine."

"Yes. As for the implant, it was lifeless, mindless, not an entity. It hasn't gained sentiency, but it's no longer Earth technology. It's doing something and if I had to compare it to something, it's like an organic virus, reaching out for MacKenzie's systems, his body, and interfacing with everything." The medic looked unhappy. "We have to wait and see what happens, Prime, as much as it pains me to say so."

Optimus shared the dark looks. They had a human on their hands who had been hurt by them, like so many before, but this time it wasn't a simply physical injury. This was a lot deeper, a lot more complicated, and they knew that no hospital in the world could help this man.

"Do you require human medics?" he still asked.

"I'd prefer not to reveal Mr. MacKenzie to anyone in the government, Prime. We know his file. He's no ordinary person."

"Should his condition change for the worse…"

"Then I'll have Captain Lennox on stand-by. He has been informed and will be able to assist in finding the correct facilities."

Prime nodded. "All right. I don't like risking a life like that, but I agree that revealing both Karr and MacKenzie to their government might hurt more than it would gain us right now."

Ratchet nodded and walked off. Optimus remained behind, blue eyes dimmed with worry.

For Sam Witwicky, life had changed dramatically ever since his father had bought the old, beat-up Camaro as his first car. Who was to know that the car was actually an alien life form? Who was to know what would happen then, right down to a battle between enemy races over something called the Allspark right here?

The old Camaro was long gone. Bumblebee seemed to feel as self-conscious about outside appearance as the next person. He had changed his shape when Mikaela had remarked about the battered looks. Sam had been annoyed at her at the time, but the result had been very cool. He now had the latest model of a great car and the envy of many of his fellow male class mates. He also had a girl-friend who was even a jock's dream and he had been the guy who had saved the world. There had been visits by important people from high up in the government, lots of hand-shaking, laudations and whatnot, and his parents had been stumped to find out their son was a true hero.

Much about the Autobots was kept a state secret. All hush-hush. His parents knew, by necessity. His mother had been shocked, his father speechless, and when the Secretary of Defense had given them the Top Secret Talk, both had been stunned.

After the big shots had left, Sam had found himself cross-examined by two worried parents and he had been hard pressed not to just snap at them to leave him alone. With an almost saintly patience he had told them everything, Mikaela at his side, and when they had met Bumblebee, he had stood back and waited for the next barrel of questions. A talking car was one thing. A transforming one a completely different one.

"So I bought you an alien robot?" had been his fathers first remark when Bumblebee had stood before them.

"Dad…!" Sam had groaned, mortified.

"Technically you bought half of me," Bumblebee had corrected him, amusement in his voice.

"What happened to the old Camaro?"

"I exchanged my old looks for a better-suited new model."

"Better suited for who?"

"Your son."

That had been the moment Sam had really wanted to sink into the ground because the look his father had given him had said enough. It had been knowing and accompanied by raised eyebrows.
Life had kind of turned back to normal after a while, but underneath all the normalcy was the knowledge.

No one else among his few friends knew, though. The Camaro was his car, nothing more. Miles was jealous of the sporty car with its gleaming yellow finish and the black racing stripes, but he had finally gotten his own car – a banged up old Beetle.

To Sam, the car was his best friend and a trusted ally. Bumblebee was still his guardian. He would always be, the Autobot had told him. His assignment was a permanent one and Sam had been stunned.

"You're gonna get bored."

"I doubt it."

Sam was reclining on the warm hood, gazing at the evening sky. "You're thousands of years old, you're a warrior, you're a spy, you are good at that. Sitting in a parking lot, waiting for me to finish classes, it must be boring. Don't tell me it's thrilling."

Bumblebee chuckled. "My life has had enough thrill already, Sam. I like boring now and then."

"What if it gets too boring?"

"With you? Never."

He sat up and glanced through the windshield into the empty car. A frown creased the young man's features. "What do you mean?"

"You saved us, Sam. You saved your planet. You defied Megatron. You're more than meets the eyes," Bumblebee told him firmly. "With you, I think there will be more than one adventure."

Legs crossed underneath him, Sam pondered that. "I'm not some Indy Jones wannabe, Bee. I liked my life so far and could have done without spastic killer robots, bad ass police cars chasing me, and some evil bad guy trying to take me out. I don't even know how I managed to survive."

"You just did. Your race is very resourceful and resilient. We owe you everything, Sam."

"Even losing your only hope to restore your world," he murmured morosely.

The next moment Sam was flipped off the hood as Bumblebee transformed. The yellow Autobot went down on one knee, gazing intently at him. The blue optics were aglow.

"You saved us, Sam Witwicky. I'd rather lose the Allspark than know it in Megatron's hands. We all do. Prime was right when he said he owes you, we owe you, and we can never repay that debt."

Sam swallowed, then awkwardly dusted off his jeans.

"Yeah, well… we won and it still feels like losing."

The smile wasn't visible, but he could still read it in the so familiar face. "We lost a lot that day, but we won more. I'm proud to be your guardian, Sam Witwicky."
Sam felt his throat constrict with emotions, then gave a weak smile. What could he say to acknowledge that he felt the same?

Sam still saw a lot of the Autobots. They were hiding out in plain sight, like Optimus had said, and their base was an old, abandoned Airforce testing site and off limits to the general public. There was a huge hangar that was connected to underground chambers that could house the robots easily, and they had reconstructed it to their needs.

Sam had felt like living a dream.

That dream had gotten a serious dent when Mikaela had told him that she felt they didn't fit together any more. Maybe it was Sam's tendency to spend a lot of his free time with the four Autobots, joining Captain Will Lennox and his team as one of the few allies allowed to enter the hangar. Maybe it was their differences.

Relationships formed under great duress and stress never lasted. Or so Sam had read.

Still, it had hurt. A lot.

Mikaela had been in senior year with him, but aside from friendly smiles and the occasional chat, they had gone their own ways. Her father had been released from prison and, as promised, their records had been erased. He had opted to move and Mikaela hadn't argued at all. She was in LA now and her father was looking for a job even up in Canada.

To compensate for the loss, Sam had poured even more time into learning about Bumblebee and his kind. By now he considered himself quite knowledgeable about their home world and their history. It was fun to be around them, listen to Ratchet explain to him about how they functioned, what the spark in their chests really was, and to have Ironhide lecture him about battle techniques and weapons. He was starting to pick up on how to repair damage, to assist in more serious stuff, and whatever else was connected to Cybertronian bodies. Bumblebee was a willing test subject, though he had once blown the transformation circuits and Ratchet had given him a stern look.

Well, Bumblebee had taken it with good humor.

If all worked out, Sam would attend Mission City College for the next few years, specializing in Engineering, and combine that knowledge with Cybertronian mechanics. The Autobots were here to stay, new ones might arrive, the Decepticons might be back, and whatever his future would be, Sam knew it was with Bumblebee and the others.

When Sam came over for a visit after finals, he didn't expect more than a few hours of hanging around and trying to explain to Ironhide he didn't want to have a go at target practice while the Autobot insisted he had to know how to handle a gun in case something happened. Like the Decepticons. Barricade was still MIA and while he had kept a very low profile, Optimus suspected he was only biding his time. Starscream had been equally absent, but unlike Barricade he wasn't one for staying still. He had either fled Earth or had been so severely damaged that he hadn't been able to repair himself.

The news about the Allspark affecting an AI and a human being with an implant in his head had Sam's mind reeling.

"How?" he blurted.

"The Allspark is powerful," Optimus only said. "The one spurt of power it released in Mission City had an effect. Your government contained the smaller transformations, but Mr. MacKenzie and Karr were unknown factors. Especially Karr. Apparently only a few people know about the existence of artificial intelligences like Karr."

Sam blinked. "He's like you then?"

"In a way," Ratchet chimed in. "He is self-aware, he exhibits traits that go beyond mere programmed responses to a situation, and considering his age, he is unique in many ways. He has been functioning for almost twenty years and developing far beyond his basic programs."

Sam gaped. "Wow…"

"Apparently there is a second AI like him, a younger version, the model 2.0." Ratchet looked extremely interested in those discoveries. "We have accessed files containing data of the two and while some of it was well hidden, we broke the protection after a while."

At that, Ironhide grinned, pleased with what had apparently been his work.

"Now what?" Sam wanted to know. "Are they okay?"

"Karr has retained his personality and memories throughout the alterations," Ratchet told him. "For Mr. MacKenzie things have turned out less pleasant. The neuro implant in his head absorbed the Allspark's energy and started to change. Unlike Karr, the implant didn't start to morph abruptly. I suspect it scanned his body, took in all the information needed, took into account the connection to the AI, and then launched the reprogramming and transformation. Right now, Mr. MacKenzie is unconscious and that's for the best. His body is stable and in fair condition. We want to wait and see."

"Oh. And Karr?"

"Unresponsive. We have him under guard in a separate area of the hangar."

"What will you do now?"

"Wait and see," was the only answer.

Barricade's return to consciousness was slow and like dragging himself out of a swamp of molten lava. Everything ached, his systems were sputtering and backfiring, and visual as well as audio were almost inaccessible. It took him long to get self-repair up and running, and even longer to bring secondary systems fully on line.

The damage had been caused from the inside, not a fusion canon or other kind of weapons fire. Everything was sensitive and aching, and he groaned softly as the pain skittered across his circuits.

He was still buried under tons of brick. He was still close to where the Autobots had taken Karr and MacKenzie. And the interface link was burning.

Whispers escaped the altered link, wrapping around his muddled mind, and he turned to them, listening. It was all he could do in his confused state, the only source of actual input.

After some time, Barricade started to carefully explore the link. It was something he had never touched. He had received, but never sent anything, too cautious to reveal himself. He didn't even know if it was a two-way connection. All it had ever done for him was alleviate the loneliness, the ache of losing a connection to another sentient mind, his partner. The whispers hadn't replaced Frenzy, but they had calmed his frenetic mind as he had looked for some semblance of what had been before. Barricade had never told Frenzy that the partnership was appreciated in a way that the Decepticon couldn't express. As much as he had fought the little bot's uplinks in the beginning, it had become routine and his circuits had grown used to the 'intruder'.

It took him hours to actually feel along the flimsy threads and more hours passed as he wove them together into a stronger bond. He could feel something at the other end of this growing thread, but he didn't dare close in.

Soon, he was getting better. Barricade allowed himself a brief moment of pride when he managed to immediately access the link and move along the now stronger line. It was also the first time he actually brushed over the weakly pulsing light at the end of his lifeline. A spark of life, MacKenzie's spark.

Barricade identified the influence of the Allspark, saw the damage done, discovered the likeness of a Cybertronian nervous system inside the human, and he tried to contain his disgust at the limit the flesh gave this new life. Whatever the implant was doing it was struggling between two worlds – the Allspark's commands to become life and the human body that contained it. It was fighting to survive without killing its host, and it was lacking the correct input.

The Decepticon was torn. On one side he couldn't care less that a human was dying because of Cybertronian technology. On the other the death of the human meant loneliness again. This time he would be acutely aware of the loss, unlike with Frenzy. The little bot's demise had been unlucky, but his circuits hadn't been open when it had happened. Whatever the Allspark had done, it had made Barricade receptive to the new hybrid system about to develop. Its death would severely damage his own mind.

So he reached out and started to alter what was going wrong.

For his own survival and sanity.

tbc...