Yaaay, another chapter, ready to go.
Let me know what you think.
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Twenty Three had been with the Decepticons for two days, and she was loving it. The various 'cons always had something for her to do, and after god knows how long staring at a door, the overload of orders was excitingly welcome.
Even back when Sector 7 was still giving her orders, they had all been all along the lines of 'fight off this,' 'destroy that.' It got easy and boring after a while.
With the Decepticons, they had her clear an area for construction, help build their new base, and at the end of all that, Barricade had her wax down his exterior, Frenzy got her to pick and deliver a bunch of flowers to Starscream, who burnt them, and gave her orders to go dig up one thousand worms.
She had found seven hundred, and was currently in a hole trying to find more, enjoying the rich scent of the earth, feeling the dirt in her nails. She never had jobs as fun as this back with the government.
It took her another hour to get the last of the worms, and she used her vectors to spread out into a container for them, and took them back to Starscream.
Unfortunately for the seeker, Megatron was also there as she placed the worms at his second in command's feet, staring at them in disgust.
"What is the meaning of this?" he roared.
Before Starscream could come up with an excuse, Twenty Three saluted her master and smiled.
"Starscream sent me on a mission to dig up one thousand worms," she explained, grinning, not understanding his anger. She turned back to the jet. "One thousand worms, did I do a good job?"
"One thousand, huh?" Starscream asked her nervously. "And they're all there?"
She nodded happily, thinking he was pleased, not noticing Megatron's sour look.
"You told her to go dig up worms?" Megatron growled, dangerously low.
"I… didn't think she'd actually do it," he replied nervously. Twenty Three looked insulted.
"I always do what I'm told," she glared at him.
"Clearly. No matter how idiotic the job," Starscream sneered.
"Hey! Don't mock me, I'm not an idiot!" she shouted, her vectors twitching in irritation.
"Enough!" Megatron shouted, silencing both of them. "Starscream, you will clean up this mess, Twenty Three, you are not to take any more orders from Starscream. Now go clean yourself up, you're filthy."
"Yes, Lord Megatron," she saluted and walked off briskly, wondering what they were going to do with the worms.
Frenzy, overhearing the conversation, had followed the girl to the river nearby, where she was cleaning herself up, and rinsing her clothes.
He walked over to her, feeling slightly guilty she had been shouted at.
He stood about a meter from her, staring at her bare back, where the vectors seemed to emerge from next to her spine. There were scars all around them where they had obviously torn her skin at various points. He reached out and touched her skin.
She turned around and looked at him blankly, obviously not surprised by his presence.
"Master Frenzy," she greeted him. "Do you have a job for me?" she was secretly hoping for another on of his fun missions.
He shook his head and started chattering away in cybertronian, before remembering she couldn't understand it.
"How did you get those scars on your back?" he asked, trying to avert his eyes from her naked breasts, turning her back around.
"I think it was the experiment when they were seeing how much resistance my vectors could stand. They got me to attatch them to a mechanical vice, then they pulled to see when resistance would begin. They continued until I reached my limit, and my body began to tear," she explained.
He hissed, shivering at the thought of being torn apart.
"What were the results? Why didn't you let go when it got painful?" he asked.
"They told me not to let go," she looked at him strangely. "I was never told the results, I was the subject, not the scientist."
Frenzy began to feel guilty, using her for his pranks. She obviously didn't know any better than to blindly follow orders, even to the extent of harming herself.
"I'm sorry," he watched her look around at him, confusion evident on her face.
"What for?" she asked, hoping he would elaborate.
"Not all of the jobs we've been giving you were genuine missions," he looked away, nervously.
She looked down, remembering bitterly the scientist so long ago who had raped her.
"Why would you tell me to do something if you didn't want it done?" she asked him softly, wanting desperately to stop the hurt in her chest.
"We… thought it was kind of amusing. How you'd do stupid tasks and never complain. I didn't think Starscream would give you such a crappy job, though. I thought you would have had the sense to say no. Didn't you wonder what he'd do with a thousand worms? It couldn't have been a real order."
"How am I supposed to know the difference?" she shouted through tears. "All I have known is to obey and not question my orders. I enjoy serving you, because it gives me a purpose. If I can be useful to you, then I will gladly do anything you ask of me, but why would you do that? Why would you make me do stupid things just to laugh at me behind my back?" she clenched her fists, and turned around, angry. "I don't question my orders, because it's not my business to know the reasons behind it. If anyone's an idiot, it's Master Starscream, for asking for the freaking worms."
Frenzy took a step back from the angry woman, her vectors flailing out of control in anger.
"I apologize," he told her jumping behind a rock, peering at her from over the edge. "And you don't have to call us 'Master' anymore. Megatron has brought you into our ranks. Although you're the lowest ranking, you're still our equal in that aspect."
She brought her vectors under control and slowly got dressed in her damp clothes.
Frenzy watched her apprehensively, ready to bolt at any minute, as she walked towards him, a blank expression on her face.
He started shaking as she brought her face within a few inches of his, unable to process if he was about to die or not. Suddenly, almost giving him a spark-attack, she hugged him tightly. "Thank you for your honesty," she said, her voice strained.
Frenzy froze, wanting nothing but to get out of the situation, but curious as to where it was going.
She released him, still holding him by the shoulders, and stared into his optics.
"Please, will you teach me how to read these situations, so I will know when to listen and when to ignore?"
Frenzy looked at her in disbelief.
"I… suppose, but it's mainly common sense," he eyed her wearily.
"Common sense? There is another sense?" she asked, confused, and sat back from him, ready for her first lesson.
"Eh? What do you mean?" the little bot cocked his head at her.
"Senses. Touch, taste, hearing-"
She was cut of by Frenzy laughing.
"No, you idi-" he stopped himself, and took a breath. "Ok, common sense is just like common knowledge. It's just something you know. You'll pick it up."
She nodded, not really understanding, but hoping she could learn quickly and make him proud. A gust of wind blew past the two and Frenzy noticed her shiver.
"You'll catch a cold if you stay out here in wet clothes. Humans are so fragile," he complained, and grabbed one of her vectors to drag her by, not wanting to touch her fleshy hand.
Frenzy brought her back to the base, and quickly located Barricade. Twenty Three stood to one side as they talked in their native language. Suddenly, Barricade transformed into his alt mode and Frenzy dragged her behind him.
"What's going on?" she asked him. "This isn't another prank, is it?"
"No," Barricade growled, a little embarrassed. "Frenzy wants you to dry off before you get sick. Think of this as a thank you for waxing me."
Frenzy shoved her behind his exhaust as Barricade started to blow out hot air on her.
She looked at Frenzy in surprise, and he looked at her expectantly.
Muttering to himself, he moved forward and started ruffling her hair, to make it dry faster. Catching on , she held her shirt out from her body, and within five minutes, she was completely dry.
Barricade transformed back into his robot form, and glared at the little bot, annoyed at having to do something so degrading.
"Thank you," she spoke softly, embarrassed a little herself. "I've never had anyone care for my welfare other than being functional before. Except perhaps Papa, but he left me too."
Barricade looked at her strangely.
"What exactly are you, anyway?" he asked her. "Are you a human? Or a mech?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. They didn't tell me much. I hear I was created from a human child born dead, coupled with dna and technology from something called NBE-1, and brought to life with a cube. I don't really understand it."
"NBE-1?" Frenzy asked her, and looked at Barricade, who looked just as shocked. That's what they had referred to Megatron as… And the cube… that would be the Allspark.
"Megatron must be informed," Barricade stated, and ran off to find their leader.
"What happened?" she looked at Frenzy, who seemed nervous all of a sudden.
"Don't worry about it. If it matters you'll find out soon enough," he rasped, still in shock.
She nodded, taking it as something she wasn't meant to know, but was still curious, and slightly concerned at how nervous he seemed.
"Will Lord Megatron be angry with me? I've done something wrong, haven't I?" she asked him slowly.
"I… don't think he'll be angry with you," he said, jumping at a noise from inside the base.
"Oh," she said, not sure what else she could say. "Okay."
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