Beast Wars
Chapter Six:
Explanations
"Omicron... That's a lovely name." Rhinox said as he moved back to the human and offered her the damp, clean cloth he held.
"Thanks," Omicron smiled a little oddly, probably still not fully used to his size, "Not bad for being named after a letter huh?" she added.
"What letter?" Rhinox asked, honestly interested, it wasn't often that a Maximal met a human, let alone one that was so 'young.' Oh he didn't think of Omicron as a sparkling, though the physical age was about right, though she seemed to have the same or around the same mentality as Cheetor. Who as it turned out was two hundred and twenty years old and Omicron was twenty two yeas old. They both got a kick out of it for some reason.
"'O.'" Omicron was sitting on an exam table, sharing it with Cheetor, and cleaned her hands, forearms and the various cuts and scratches she'd gotten from the pod as well as before. "It's Greek... er, Roman. No, wait I'm pretty sure it's Greek." She paused to give a little extra thought to it and nodded.
"Spots... What the slag are you doing?" Rattrap asked, demanded really as he and Optimus returned from where ever they had gone to talk alone almost ten minutes ago. Cheetor didn't stop his purring nor 'grooming' the human's exposed back to answer. In beast mode (still) his pink, rough tongue flicked out.
"In touch with his beast mode," Rhinox said and then added over internal communications. –I think it's a good sign, they are getting along.-
"I'm helping." Cheetor said at last, his first words in ten minutes, glancing up.
"Yeah, but it tickles!" Omicron protested, wriggling a little to get away.
"Sorry but there's not enough room on here for the both of us in my 'bot mode."
"-ehehe- Really?"
"I use subspace transforming."
Optimus was about to softly scold the pilot, in that the human wouldn't know about subspace.
"Ah, okay-ee!" Omicron half yelped, half giggled as Cheetor licked the back of her neck. The woman ducked her head reflexively. "Okay! I'm as clean as I'll get without a shower!" Somehow the cat face looked doubtful and before Cheetor could get back to 'being in touch' with his beast mode again, Omicron took a gamble and reached out.
After a moment the over sized cheetah went cross-eye, the tip of his tongue sticking out in an expression of feline bliss. Cheetor tilted his head enough so that the human could get a better angle for the scratching behind the ears and then down the side of his jaw.
"Wow, it worked." Omicron muttered softly to her self, not aware that the other three Maximals heard her, "This is so incredibly cool." She knew it was a disguise, after all real big cats didn't talk nor do cheetahs get that big (that she knew of), but really... how many people can say they got cuddles from a cheetah and could pet one without risk of being bitten when said person wasn't a trainer?
Rhinox chuckled softly to himself, having seen Cheetor get this kind of attention from their Captain in quiet moment. The mech turned his attention away from the human's awed fascination and to Optimus Primal and Rattrap, "Are you done?"
"Yes," The ship's Captain nodded, approaching closer to be able to touch the nearer leg of his human guest, pausing just a moment it took Rhinox to send him her name, "Omicron, may I speak to you?"
She looked up, seeming to understand and nodded, "Of course." Omicron gave a small smile, "I'm guessing you have no idea how I got here either?"
Primal inclined his head, pulling over one of the seats to use as even with the human up on the berth and him standing Optimus was still taller and larger. He sat beside the berth to put himself more at her level, and thus not be as intimidating while being a little under her head level to give an impression of security, "No, we don't. Could you tell us what happened, from your point of view?" Optimus held out his hands in an apologetic manor before the gesture shifted a little to be more imploring.
Omicron was watching him, stopping the cheetah pets to fold her own hands into her lap, "I don't... I have this... this gap that I can't explain," She tapped her head, "I remember a week ago, to me, of being at work, and a night out with my friend, then deckhanding on the charter boat my family store goes out on a lot. But it gets fuzzy in the wrong way after that."
"There's a right way?" Rattrap arched up an optic ridge as he leaned back to prop his elbows on one of Rhinox' legs now that the big mech was sitting as well.
The woman shrugged, "Well, sort of, like if you get drunk, memory isn't always good but you remember what happen...ish."
"Drunk?" Rhinox asked, tilting his head at the term that seemed to be out of place. With a different basis for his translation program he didn't understand the meaning behind what may be slang as far as he knew.
"Over-charged," Rattrap supplied, and then said the same thing in Cybertron to be extra sure his friend understood.
"Ah." The big mech nodded, filling the term 'drunk' in that context for future reference if heard again or if he needed to use it, "Go on soft spark," he added to Omicron, his deep tome reasuring.
"Yeah, well, I don't know what happened between dinner, movie and dancing at home and..." She paused, Omicron shifted to reach into one of the many pockets of her cargo pants to extract her cell phone, flipping it open.
Of course there was no signal what so ever, but the battery seemed full as Omicron checked the date. She frowned at it, "Crap."
"What's wrong?" Optimus asked leaning forward a bit, but relaying on Cheetor to get a better look at the small human device.
"The date," Omicron hesitated before turning her phone around and pointing to it, "I think I have a bit more lost time than I thought. Like a week or so instead of a few days before I showed up in those woods."
Primal didn't take the little human communications device, but glanced over the tiny human letters and numbers. The Captain hummed as he realized not only was this human was misplaced in space, but in time even more than they were as he saw the year of the date and compared it. Primus, no wonder the human wasn't over stressed at their alien presents in comparison to her. Optimus would bet that the woman may have even seen his Autobot ancestors not only in news but possibly by sight, if not exactly in person. The odds were against a personal meeting.
It also explained the Autobot emblem on her helm covering- her hat was also a bit reassuring. Clearly the human supported them, Optimus felt the evidence wasn't just the simple show of emblem, but how she was cherishing the hat. Primal had noticed that even in the short time of knowing Omicron.
Right now the Captain reached over to gently wrap her free hand within his larger one, "It's alright," Optimus said reassuringly, "What happened after you found yourself on this world?" He asked to keep the human going.
Omicron took a deep breath, using her fingers to flip her cell closed and stuff it back away into a different pocket, "I was in a forest, but it wasn't like those in the area I'm native to. The northwest, a temperate rain forest. I fallowed a steam and came across a freakin' reaction of the first bot and con battle in Oregon."
"That would be us and the Preds." Rattrap snorted, growling lightly to himself, "Fragging spiders..." he trailed off as Optimus glanced over at him and Rhinox nudged the rat to be quiet.
The human blinked and tilted her head.
"Predacons," Cheetor spoke up, "The bad guys that were shooting at Rattrap and the others. 'Preds.'"
"Ah," Omicron nodded, though still had a confused look, she shrugged and continued, "After that I booked it- er, ran away from all the explosions and gun fire. And that's when I ran into Inferno."
"Big femmie." Cheetor muttered and then ducked his head down as he realized he'd interrupted.
"Yeah, really big," The human woman agreed whole heartedly, "I kinda... I think I might have taken advantage." Omicron looked down, and then up again as Primal gave her hand another light squeeze.
"From what I understand," Optimus started, "With Tarantulas trying to reprogram Inferno, I believe you are forgiven." He inclined his head, "You had help surviving, and in turn kept our head of security away from the Predacon ranks. Omicron I don't think you understand that in protecting you, you gave Inferno something stable and a way to grasp what she was before her programming was tampered with."
"I did?" Omicron blinked, looking to the side as the over sized cheetah rubbed against her left arm.
Rhinox nodded, "Inferno will be needing therapy I but she is better off than loosing all who she was."
"Huh." The human looked back down and then up again, "Anyways, we basically ran away from the shooting and yelling to be on the safe side."
"Dat's when I saw ya' kitten." Rattrap said, pushing off the brown mech he was leaning on to stand up straight.
Omicron nodded in acknowledgment of that, "Well, we camped out. Inferno seemed to get into a digging fit and I kinda took a nap before handsome in silver there showed up. We kinda all scared the slag out of each other, and Inferno more so, that why she attacked you Rattrap." Omicron explained more to Rattrap than the others.
Hearing the apology the shortest mech sighed and stepped over, "It's okay kitten, not your fault really..." He said, first scratching Cheetor behind the ears before reaching out. Rattrap swiped his hand over the human's head from behind to the front and in turn knocking the red Autobot hat nearly off. Rattrap grinned at the instant reaction, while Omicron freed her right hand at least to hurriedly clamp both on the hat to protect it.
"After dat' all happened and nearly getting' fragging crushed," Rattrap could help adding, "The Preds showed up again."
"And you threw me into that pod... thingy!" Omicron accused from glaring up at him from under the bill of her hat.
"It was the only safe place," Rattrap defended.
"He's right," Rhinox hummed, "Given the situation, you wouldn't want to have be found by either Tarantulas or Blackacracnia."
"The 'spiders?'" Omicron half asked half guessed, looking a little pale as she seemed to be imagining giant spiders. Rattrap gave her a synthetic look, from his time with humans he knew a lot of them had good reason being afraid of the things, if not being allergic to the venom then just as vulnerable 'normally'.
"Yeah," Cheetor glanced over at Optimus before speaking, "Both have arachnid beast modes." He twitched and then switched his tail.
"Transformers with the form of spiders..." The human shivered as her arachnophobia kicked up at the thought of just how big the mentioned mech and femmie would be in beast mode. Not a pleasant thought for Omicron at all considering the size of mechs around her right now.
"Sooo... is Inferno gonna be alright?" the human asked to change the subject, honestly worried about the Cybertronian equivalent of an Amazon. Omicron didn't make a move to leave her spot on the berth with Cheetor to stay well out of the way of all those metal feet as Rhinox got up and Optimus leaned back.
Not that Rhinox blamed the girl, he had a feeling it was some kind of mental security thing as well with her back and sides to the corner of the room. And the reassuring warmth of spotted fur.
"Tarantulas did a number on her programming," Rhinox rumbled going to a computer set in the wall and looking at the data he called up from the medical lab. He spoke on two levels, to Optimus viva a privet communication line had asked the same question as the human about Inferno, "He should never have tampered with it...this is a patch of both Maximal and Predacon..."
There was a long pause and then:
"...So is she going to be alright?" Omicron asked against hesitantly.
-...is she going to be alright?- Primal asked as well, almost at the same time but over the communications line, knowing that Rhinox would be completely honest with him where the big mech may not tell the human woman everything.
The big Maximal winced inwardly at worried tone of the girl, pausing long enough to send a quick assurance and comment not to distract him to Optimus before turning around to smile at Omicron, "Yes, I'm pretty sure I can fix most of all of it. But there is the rampant beast mode... I have a question."
"Yeah?" Omicron pulled up her knees, wrapping her arms around them and tore her gaze from the Cheetor to look back at the big Maximal.
Rhinox came over, frowning a little, "According to my scans, Inferno should have berserk after coming out of her pod... how are you still alive little one?"
Omicron stared up at him for a few long moments, "Ant logic." She finally said grinned. "And lots of adrenalin and not giving Inferno a whole lot of time to think to hard at very first... than... I don't know it's like she imprinted... is is possible for transformers to imprint?"
"Sparklings can yes, in a way." Optimus nodded as he rumbled softly to himself as he thought.
"I think it would be best for Omicron to be present when Inferno starts to come around." Rhinox said suddenly, "If she has 'imprinted,' than it would be wise for her to stay near you while going through the programming therapy..." He paused.
Omicron propped her chin on her arms, with a resigned look on her organic features, "I'm going to be here for a while I take it."