Hey guys! I know I said that I would try and put up a posting over the weekend but a busy schedule never allowed for it. So here's my next update! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own TF blah blah blah you all know where this is going... blah blah blah I OWN project seven

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Cat laid on the ground for a moment after her lungs had regained the strength to breathe normally, and she looked up into the bright sky, the sun beginning to singe her skin.

"Maybe this really is it for me after all..." Cat thought gloomily.

While her mind began to come to terms with the idea of death, she realized that the others were still fighting back in town.

"I've... I've got to get to them!" she realized as she moved her tired body, willing it to comply with the need to fight.

Not too long after trying her initial movements, Cat laid back and her body relaxed.

"Maybe it's time that I finally let go... Let go of the past... of my life..." she closed her eyes, feeling the darkness edge into her mind, willing it to take her away forever. She could feel herself slip away, her body tingling with pins and needles as she begged for the unknown force to take her away forever.

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This surprised the group and Mikaela asked, "What exactly do you mean, that she wasn't going to live for very long?"

Lillian looked up to Optimus' radio unit and replied, "I would be surprised if you hadn't noticed any symptoms of her being ill in some way... Have you?" she asked.

"None that we're aware of, "Ratchet replied in a matter-of-factly voice.

"Well... That's not totally true..." Mikaela added, looking to Sam, who was searching in his mind of what she could have been talking about.

"When was she ever ill?!" Ratchet asked, wondering when he could have possibly missed that.

"When she met us in the diner a while ago..." Mikaela replied, still looking to Sam who now realized what it was that she was talking about.

"Oh right! Yeah, she... she sneezed a few times. When we asked if she was getting a cold she was adamant about the fact that she-" Sam was cut off.

"Can't get sick..." Lillian finished Sam's sentence, "Yes, that's right. We designed the projects to have an evolving immune system all on their own. When they would come in contact with a viral illness, their bodies automatically grow immune to it... So she was probably disturbed about the fact that she was sick with anything at all..."

"Wait a minute, why could the sign of a cold mean that she's in some sort of danger?" Sam asked, confused, "I mean, everyone gets sick at some point, she's only human! Surely there's just some sort of "hiccup" in her immune system that will fight this off later, right?"

"It was the fatal flaw in the cloning process. No clone has ever survived a normal lifespan. Which is why the government banned cloning by private companies. Sooner, rather than later, in life... they just... die... Which is why we created one project after the next. Each one showed signs of illness at early stages. We marked them as "Failed" and moved on to a different cloning process, hoping that it would solve the problem... By the time Seven was created, we had hoped that we had solved the problem, and for the first two years of her life, thought that we actually had solved it..."

"Scientists on our home planet have also failed at cloning specific sparks. We banned the process because of the deadly effects that it had," Optimus added.

"Yes, well... We were hoping that it had been taken care of, so we went on with our original plans, and amputated Seven's right arm, and both legs, attaching ligaments that you see on her now. But after the first surgery, she began to become sick from an infection in some scar tissue within her. This was when she was only two years old. It was a minor illness for humans, but it was a major problem for us... As she got older, Seven never got sick again, but we always kept close attention to her, noting anything at all different in her normal behaviors."

"So what makes you think that a cold could mean that she's dying now?" Mikaela asked, trying to control the urge to tell the woman off.

"We kept her in a mostly sterile environment. Making sure that she was never exposed to any illnesses. If any lab technician in any part of our base even sneezed, they were sent home, and the lab that we had sheltered Seven in would be sealed up, keeping her in a sort of solitary confinement to ensure nothing got to her. When she escaped, and was exposed to society, she was being exposed to everything that normal humans are used to breathing in every day. It was a risk that had to be taken in order for her to be free from there..." Lillian finished.

"So... in theory, if the girl was to even catch a cold-" Ratchet began before being cut off.

"She could die in a matter of hours..." Lillian finished for him.

"But... She could also just get over it right? I mean, there's a chance isn't there?" Sam asked.

"It's such a small possibility that I wouldn't even say that it's a possibility," Lillian answered.

There was a brief silence before Optimus finally spoke up, "Lillian, there is also the matter of the location of your facility. We need to know where it is, in order to retrieve something of importance to us."

"Yeah... I can take you guys there I suppose..." Lillian replied, her mind still going over memories that she would have rathered forget.

"What about... What about this other woman? The one who looks like Cat?" Sam asked.

Lillian looked to the radio unit again, this time with a confused expression.

"Actually, I'm afraid I don't know anything about her. She said that her designation was "Project Eight", but I've honestly never encountered her before. She's... scary..." Lillian answered.

"She does not have any false appendages as Catherine does," Optimus pointed out.

"Yeah, that confused me as well. You see, it's like I said before. Seven was the only one who had a false arm and two false legs. The original plan for these projects was to have them all fitted with different stages of these arms and legs. But when they all showed signs of sickness at infant stages, we marked them as failing, and moved onto the next. Seven was the first one that we had actually appointed them to. But Eight claims that she was given the project designation of number eight, which of course was after the creation of Seven..." she explained.

"So, what does that mean?" Mikaela asked, just as confused as the rest of them.

"It means that I'm wondering why they didn't fit Eight with anything like what Seven has... You would think that they would have done something similar to her, as they did to her predecessor... So something's not right there..."

"Ratchet," Optimus started.

"Yes sir?" the medic responded.

"I'm assuming that you have scanned this other woman?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, which is how I knew that she and Catherine were different," Ratchet replied.

"Since she has no apparent limbs as Catherine does, it seems odd to me that she would be so much stronger," Optimus thought aloud.

Ratchet quickly reviewed the stats of the scans that he had done and replied, "Her skeletal structure appears to be made of Titanium... Her knee and ankle joints are not of human material, which allows her capabilities that far surpass that of Catherine's'... Organs and other internal portions of the girl seem to be human, and fully functional. Her skin, however, does not seem infallible. When she struck StarScream, she seemed to have endured several cuts and scrapes," Ratchet gave the full report.

"What about those crazy yellow eyes of hers?" Mikaela asked, wondering what that was all about.

Ratchet reviewed more of the stats that he had and then replied in an astonished voice, "Her... Her eyes are capable of the same that our own optics are! Infrared, wavelength detection, she could even use binocular vision! Amazing!"

"Someone on a very high level created her... This may or may not be a good thing, depending on if what she said was true..." Lillian replied, thinking deeply.

"What did she say?" Sam asked.

"Well she claimed that she didn't come here to save Seven, yet she went to her aid... Perhaps her intentions aren't as pure as I originally thought they were," Lillian replied.

"Okay, what's that supposed to mean?" Mikaela asked.

"It means she very well could have come here with the intentions to kill Seven herself..." Lillian replied with a cringe.

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"Pathetic..." a familiar voice said from behind her.

Cat's eyes shot open, the view of someone standing a few feet away from her was blurry.

"You've definitely seen better days..." The voice continued, sounding as if it were slowly approaching.

"Stop this! Not now! You're not going to go crazy now! Let yourself die in peace!" Cat thought to herself as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the voice.

"What's the matter, Seven? I told you once not to ignore me, and yet here you are, trying to tell yourself that it's all just a dream!" The footsteps stopped just a few feet away from Cat, who was still trying to tell herself that it wasn't real.

Cat could, suddenly, feel the ground rumble and shake just slightly as she opened her eyes and looked back to where the noises were coming from. She smiled with relief when she saw them.

"Hmm?" Eight turned a head to see the Autobots speeding towards them.

"So they've found us... I was hoping to have more time..." Eight said sourly.

Cat ignored the other woman, still thinking that it was all a part of some sort of "dream-state" that Optimus had asked her about earlier. She was just happy to see that everyone was all right.

As soon as they arrived on scene, the others saw that they were receiving a dull glare from "Eight", and a smile from Cat. Sam and Mikaela jumped out of Bumblebee, as he and the other Autobots transformed, Lillian exiting Optimus's truck cabin before he transformed.

"Leave her alone!" Mikaela about to run forward, felt Sam's hand grab her arm to hold her back. She looked to him with a questioning face and then back to the two women just a few yards away from them.

Cat briefly pondered who they were talking to.

"Can they... Can they see her?!" she thought.

"You should all leave... This has nothing to do with you!" Eight ordered.

"May I ask what your intentions are here?" Optimus asked.

"I already told you, this has nothing to do with any of you! Now go!" Eight replied, staying very still.

"They.. They can see her! Am I unconscious?! Is any of this real?!" Cat couldn't help but wonder as she coughed, blood sputtering to the ground.

Ratchet scanned Cat as they stood in a moment of tense silence.

"Optimus, we don't have much time. " he advised.

"Yes, understood," Optimus nodded.

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Chapter Teaser!

Cat turned a side glance to the other woman and eyed her.

"It's time you paid back what you owe me!" Eight growled.

Instead of standing in a defensive position getting ready for a battle, Cat only turned to her look-a-like and softened her eyes.

"You look different now... But I still know who you are, no matter what you try and do to seem different... Five..." Cat said in a soft voice.