Calling All Alien Robots

Chapter 4

I hated myself for this, but I had fallen asleep even in the midst of danger. My instincts were supposed to kick in, adrenaline streaming through my bones and magical karate moves breaking out of nowhere, but my body decided that it needed a nap before any of that could happen. It wasn't my fault the damn radio had been tuned to Mozart. I would have turned it down more for the sake of my ears had it not been a kidnapping. What interest did this car have in classical music anyway? The symphonies had managed to wedge itself into my head and I dreamt of cauldron pots with oozy liquids protruding below a helpless me hanging upside-down awaiting the metal monster who desired me as his next meal.

This is it, I had thought in my state of comatose, I'm going in the most unpredicted, suckiest way.

I guess that was more of 19th century witch thing though, huh? When I awoke from my deep slumber (which was painfully sweet), my achy legs were sprawled across the dashboard with my hands and face crammed against the window.

As my senses began to flush through, darkness engulfed my surroundings with only a dirt road visible by the headlights. The engine purred warmly with faint rigid muttering in the background. I peeked over my shoulder, hardly making out the robot twins who had migrated to the back floorboards going on about who knows what.

I removed my legs from the dashboard as quietly as I could so that the aliens behind me would not stir out of place. God forbid I have another heart attack. Then, I cut off the music completely. Stevie Wonder had found his way onto Shakespeare 16.6 and I wasn't in the mood for gospel. Or any music in general.

A loud clicking resonated throughout the whole car and I immediately shut my eyes as silence approached. I held my breath, listening to the steady wheels on the road, then exhaled slowly when the murmuring of the robots returned.

"You're awake." The Camaro's voice made me jump timidly, but I caught my tongue.

"Yeah," I whispered, curling my lips in like the words were bitter. "Yeah." Out of habit, I pulled my knees tight against my chest.

The Camaro was mute for a long time after that.

"I am sorry," it said, voice strangely at a different pitch, as well were his next words. "They don't usually roll this way."

I raised a brow, now crossing my legs Indian-style. "Who's 'They'?" I asked, half-distracted by the western accent.

"The robots," a newscaster spoke to me. "'The Autobots' they call themselves." I recognized this from one of the stations Dad "trusted most". "Here to protect humanity from the Decepticons."

"Ah." I nodded as if I understood. I didn't. "'Decepticons'. Like the one hitching a ride on my leg? The evil bots?"

A series of whirs clicked which I assumed to be an obvious "yes". "...we can never be too sure." A doctor came to voice. "The infection in you right fibula has..." there was a short disconnection, "could not be identified."

My fingers clung to the seatbelt with desperation and cowardess. "So...you're saying I have a robot hiding in my leg? How is that possible?" I pushed it away, looking at it in disgust. This thing was practically a time bomb waiting to explode. I didn't want it on me!

"Not possible," it replied with a snap in an unfamiliar tone. Another disconnection ran through his words. "It is."

"It is?" I repeated, staring at the radio like it had eyes. "You mean, there's a Transformer that decided it was a good idea to turn into a PROSTHETIC? I knew this was too good to be true." I slammed my head against the chair, glaring at my reflection in the window. "Why me?"

The grip the seatbelt once had over me loosened a bit.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" I grumbled, throwing my hands up into the air.

"Uh, I may have walked in on your mom bathing, but I swear-" the bot Wheelie grasped the back of the chair and stuck his hand on the shoulder of it before being yanked down by Laptop.

"Shut up, dumbass. She was talkin' to Bumblebee."

The lights on the radio lit up once more. "What is your name?"

I settled down a bit to stay on civilized terms (something Mom taught me for my disability), regardless if certain death was upon me. "Olivia," I said, leaning my elbow on the door and my face onto my hand. "I'd bet my lucky stars yours is Bumblebee. If I had any luck."

I took the rumble of the engine as a sign of laughter. However these aliens expressed humor.

"Bee," Laptop hobbled into the driver's seat. "How far?"

"Almost there."

"Yeah, obviously we have different expectations of 'almost'. You said that four hours ago."

"Four hours ago?" I shot up out of my seat. "Where are we going?"

"Colorado."

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I managed to curl myself into a ball, forever staring at the lock in case the Camaro decided to take it easy on me, but it budged not once. Didn't matter much if I couldn't fly out of a vehicle running a hundred miles an hour. I was surprised we had not been pulled over by a cop or collided with a fellow driver.

Though I couldn't get a clear view of the area since it was still somewhere in the middle of the night, I knew Colorado. We were stumbling around in debris with plateaus most-likely containing us like a giant bowl. I didn't understand why they were taking me so far away from home. They had made messes so easily without care before. Why was I special enough to be taken to a place where nobody could hear my screams?

I dared not ask. The Camaro had been short with me so far and I felt that was all I was going to get out of him. And the twins were out of the picture: they were perverted bumbling idiots. I doubted their robot alien intelligence would get me very far.

But he had shed me some sort of evidence of a conscious. What captive would ask his dinner for their name? I mean, a serial killer with mental problems might, but this was in all sincerity, like it cared. Like He cared.

The minis were thoroughly surprised when they found out I was not a Transformer. I wasn't originally part of their plan. The leg wasn't yet permanent, so they could probably just pop it off and they would harmlessly drop me off at home, right? All I had to do was explain to Mom someone had stolen the car when Martin left with me still in it. That was believable, wasn't it?

More than being abducted by a gang of alien robots. They would have had me broadcasted with all those other suckers on TV! I couldn't imagine what Martin was thinking right about now. I wondered if he had called the police already, either for the car or for me. Or my mom, in this case. I hadn't received any phone calls or text messages from her lately.

I smacked my forehead with my with my palm. MY PHONE! I had slipped it in the glove department for safe keeping when we were out on the fields.

With haste, I wrapped my fingers around the handle and heard a satisfying snap of the compartment. Shoving my hand through the mess of CD encasements and miscellaneous items. No phone. Those bots must have done something with it.

"Where is it?" I demanded, slamming my fists down against the seat with growing confidence. They weren't going to hurt me...I hoped.

"What are you looking for?" The Camaro rumbled to life.

I growled. "I think you know what I'm talking about. My phone - where is it?"

The twins in the back shut up as soon as I raised my voice. Their faces were buttered with guilt and I knew they were the culprits. Wheelie scratched the back of his head (these robots had really studied human behavior), his mouth agape like he was about to say something but couldn't find the proper words.

"We had to dispose of any evidence of our trace," The Camaro clipped out a scene from X-Files, speaking up for the twins.

"Exposure is a death sentence," Laptop added on. "People have been huntin' us down, even Decepticons, just for the thrill of it! Hmph, your kind is really pushin' the limits with us. Bumblebee's been shot at twice already by a couple of kids no older than yourself."

"Hell, even your brother tried tazing me when he first found out about me! Though I guess I could have not jumped out at him during the test flight..."

My eyes landed on Wheelie. "Simon knows about you? Bu-h-how? Why didn't he ever-"

"What? And have you tell your mommy that little Johnny's got an alien living in his room?" The mini bot grinned mischievously, cocking a brow-like appendage hanging above his eye. "You think any ol' human adolescent could get his robotics team international with just his head and that mediocre science? Ha! Remember these babies-?" He turned and pointed at his back revealing helicopter blades that spun around and around with great speed until it looked like a still circular device. "Not much help in this form, but it sure would have beat those-"

"My circuits have picked up Cybertronian activity. Reveal yourself, Autobot."

The three of us turned to the radio. I could feel my heartbeat pick up. There was another Transformer in the area? What if this was secretly a Decepticon ready to snatch up the thing on my knee? Nonsense, they probably don't even know it yet. If this was how things were going to be, I wouldn't survive the remaining time left with them.
"Reveal yourself, Friend, or I will be forced to surrender myself to the refuge of defense."

The Camaro slowed to a stop as the dead air made us all quiet. Then the doors swung open and a rusty "Get out" emitted from the speakers.

I wanted to object, but I had a feeling there was no other option. When I stepped out of the car, shaking undoubtedly, the twins followed in suite with hidden expressions. It was cold outside but I had to focus on bigger things - literally.

It was still exceptionally dark, but the moon's cascade was just bright enough to make out the mounds that lay before us and reflect off of the bright blue Transformer who stood conquering the night.

Then I watched as yellow erased blue. What was once an old sports car that had drove off without second guessing was now a monster standing a mile above me, gears grinding and, surprisingly, as human as ever. It stood with power, hands similar to that of mine clenching at it's side. His side.

The Camaro stared out into the hills where the cyan Samurai-styled robot held it, steadily making his way towards us. I hid in the tall grass that grew wildly on either side of the road, sensing and preparing for a battle to break out.

As the Samurai ascended onto level turf, I backed away once more. This robot was a good deal larger in thickness and in height, and unquestionably in strength. Though the Camaro held his chin up presumptuously anyway, body in a stance of readiness.

There had to be a way out of this, but when I checked my placement, there wasn't any signs of civilization within a mile's radius. I would never make it away in time. Especially in the dark like this.

"Why are you here, Bumblebee?" Needless to say, the Samurai warrior had an unmistakable Japanese accent that was more composed than his radio communication. It made my muscles relax a bit as I crouched down among the bushes.

"We might have a problem." The Camaro did not speak through movie clips or radio hosts like he had when we were talking. Maybe that was the only way of speaking when in vehicle form. "I found traces of Decepticon latched onto a human. They are becoming a direct threat, Drift."

I refrained from looking at the second life attached to me knee. The more I did, the more it freaked me out.

The Samurai looked at the Camaro with a graveness only people at a funeral home would give to loved ones. His eyes haltingly lowered to where I sat as the Camaro did the same, waving me over and not quite meeting my eyes.

"Come here, Human." He anchored his hand to the ground and I knew what he wanted me to do.

I stumbled aboard, falling to my back as he lifted me upwards eighty miles an hour. Just as the Camaro's red laser had done before, he scanned my body. "Only a sparkling, I see. Hmm, where did you receive such a treasure? That of your...eh, leg."

"U-Umm..." I rubbed the back of my neck, crawling backwards as he move to get a closer look at me. "I don't - I just got it - it's a new design - I mean, with my diabetes - and I've never liked the other-."

"Okay, okay, don't strain yourself, Young One." He gave a humorous chuckle as he shook me to the dirt, eyes restlessly flying to the moon. "The night is still fresh; We will find a solution without sacrifice; Have patience for another day."

Was he supposed to be some fortune-teller design from the Japanese?

I rubbed my upper-arms with my palms to warm them up. They just had to steal me away mid-August in a short dress with no sweater? "S-So, what happens now?"

Both bots turned away from their low muttering and looked at me as if it was the most inconvenient question to ask. "What happens now? Bumblebee, do you have a proposal?" The Samurai slapped the Camaro's arm with his giant wrist, tone dripping in sarcasm. What ever happened to "Friend" over the radio?

The Camaro merely shrugged his shoulders, glancing between the two of us like we were the idea-conjurers of the group.

"Great," the Samurai murmured. "Sensei has overtly mis-annotated his specific instruction. I will signal for Crosshairs. He just might be able to understand and identify that Cybertronian device on you. For now we will rest among the caves of the plateau." The Samurai waved his arm about, exaggerating the majesty of Colorado.

The rocky nothingness of nothing.

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Sorry if this chapter is short and kind of slow, but the next should be a good one!
Crosshairs is coming into play soon, so I am excited for that. Hopefully some information will be revealed next.
Thanks again for reading!
Let me know how you think I am doing on O/C character development and Transformer interactions.

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