Good News . . . And Bad News.

It was the first time I ever really experienced what humans called 'dreaming'. Pictures flashed over my eyes, scenes that I knew I had never seen before.

"Optimus . . ."

I walked through a large building, decorated in hues of a deep purple and crimson trim, and for a moment I could only stand and stare, trying to make sense of it. I knew I had never seen anything like this place before. There were a number of different types of furniture set about the room, yet all of them were empty. I was walking, and couldn't stop, it seemed as though my body was carrying my mind to some other place, trying to show me something I didn't know. I walked out of an open door, into a long hallway that seemed to stretch on forever on either side, yet unlike the first room, the colors were bland; black, white, and gray. My feet were taking me to the right, down the hallway, and for a moment I tried to stop myself and lifted up my hands.

"Optimus . . ."

I paused, staring in disbelief, as I was myself. Cybertronian. Despite the fact that I kept walking, I marveled at my hands, and changed them back and forth from cannon to bot, just to be sure it wasn't a ruse. My optics swept over the hallway now, trying to see where I was going, yet everything looked the same. And then the lights went out, and I was consumed in darkness, and my legs seemed to stop. A single noise behind me made me turn, and I strained to see, yet the lights equipped to my form didn't seem to be working, and my optics couldn't pierce through the veil that the darkness had brought with it. I walked forward, now under my own power, trying to find where the sound had come from. Yet as I moved, footsteps that weren't my own glanced off of my audits, a little ways ahead, and the sound of an opening door making my optics look off to my left. One of the many doors that had lined each side of the hallway was open, spilling light into the hallway.

"Optimus . . ."

My optics widened, and I stared, unable to believe the voice I was hearing. A shadow passed over the light, the outline distinctive, and for a moment, I clenched my hands, ready to face the foe as it approached. Yet, to my horror, I was once again no longer Cybertronian, instead back to the human form. I stared at my hands, as the shadow got closer. It stepped into the hallway, its red eyes flashing at me, underneath its mouth curling up in a victorious smile.

"I seeee you . . .

" Optimus Prime!"

I jumped awake, leaning up from the seat, my optics wide for a moment, yet once I realized that it had all been a dream, I relaxed, allowing my jacket which I had draped over myself to fall into my lap. I looked out the window, and took notice of the rain that cascaded down onto the windows. It looked like it had been raining for hours already; there were puddles all about the lot, and they were all each within the amounts of reasonable size. My optics looked to Bumblebee's car, and I stared at his sleeping form for a moment, and contemplated leaving him like that; it seemed as though it was the first fit sleep he had gained. And he deserved some peace after all of this time.

"Optimus Prime."

I jerked toward the radio, staring at it for a moment, almost unable to identify the voice calling from the other side. It wasn't one of my Autobots, but it was familiar all of the same.

"Optimus! Come on, if you can hear me, answer me."

I took up the receiver, finally putting the voice to a face I remembered well. I should have known him immediately, yet the bleariness of my mind, still trying to shake loose the grogginess sleep had granted it, had taken a moment to really focus. It was Major William Lennox, and it had been the first time in a long while I had heard from him. "This is Optimus Prime."

"Jesus Christ! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to answer?"

"I was currently powered down."

" . . . Since when do you sleep at a time like this? You guys have been M.I.A. for over a week. What's wrong? Are you guys alright?"

"I do not know the condition of most of the other Autobots. I only have Bumblebee with me. And I cannot say that we are completely alright."

"I . . . don't understand."

"You would have to see for yourself to believe me."

"Send me your coordinates. We'll be on our way for a pick-up. Maybe at the base you can explain things and get ahold of the other Autobots."

"I will do everything in my power." I said as I relayed the coordinates through the system. I waited for a few moments, letting them send, and then asked, "Did you get them?"

"Yeah, I have them. We'll be there ASAP."

"And we will be waiting." I said, before I was met with static again. I kept my optics on the radio for a moment, having no real desire or need to look anywhere else, until I thought again of Bumblebee and I glanced toward his Camaro. Yet he wasn't there. I straightened, looking from the car to around it through the rain, until I looked over to my passenger side, a rapping at the window catching my attention. Bumblebee was standing by the window, and quickly I reached over and pulled the door open, allowing him to climb into the seat and get out of the rain. "Bumblebee! How long have you been standing out there?"

He shook his head, trying to disregard my question, clutching his arms close to his torso. He was drenched; there wasn't a single part of him that was dry, it seemed as though the rain had even gotten underneath his jacket, soaking all that was underneath as it had everything else. It was only as I fully removed my jacket did I realize how cold it was in my truck, and quickly turned the knobs to activate the heat, yet it didn't work. It was then I remembered I had to turn the truck on, and I reached for the key and started up the engine, and almost immediately the heat came out of the ribbed vents. I directed the flats to where they were directed at the wet scout, and then I took my jacket and draped it over him. Despite this, he still shivered, clutching his arms close to his body.

"How long were you standing in the rain? We are not the same, not as protected as we were before." I asked again, and he shook his head again, accompanying it with a shrug to signify that he didn't know. I nodded once, before continuing. "Major Lennox got in contact with me. He is on his way to bring us back to base."

He looked at me for a moment, and then gestured to the radio and himself. I thought for a moment, before answering, "No, I do not think he knows the exact extremes of our situation." Bumblebee nodded once, and pulled the jacket close, another shiver running through his form. I reached over and turned the heat up as far as it would manage, and he looked at me with a thankful expression crossing across his features for a brief moment before he looked back to the dashboard, his mind seeming to be elsewhere. Instead of pressing him, I looked out the window, and waited with him for Lennox's arrival.

The next time we were contacted, we had been sitting for a few hours, and I was feeling another human reaction to sitting so still. My limbs felt stiff, and sore as I moved them. The radio fizzed, the static coming to an end as Major Lennox's voice came over the radio. "Optimus. We're sending you coordinates to a new rendezvous point. We'll meet you there."

"Very well," I responded, and looked to Bumblebee. He had gotten dry, and he now looked at the puddles and the near-finished rain before turning back to me. "You're going to have to drive, Bumblebee." I said, "The rain should be fine now." He nodded, and opened the door, sliding out to go to his car. I reached over and closed the door behind him, waiting patiently for him to climb into his Camaro and start the engine, before using the radio to tell me he was ready to follow. I grabbed the receiver and said, "We are on our way." With that, I pulled out of the lot and led Bumblebee out to the location Lennox had given us.

It was out in the middle of the desert, in a location where if someone looked, they wouldn't be able to see us. I saw the logic in it, why Lennox would have chosen a spot like this. However, I wasn't sure how amused he would be when he found out such a location wouldn't be necessary. Of course, it wouldn't have been, if they hadn't come in the military cargo plane that they used for Autobot transport. As we pulled up, Major Lennox and Robert Epps got out of the plane and walked toward us. The plane was far enough away for me to hear Lennox's call as he walked up, squinting in the sun that was now very prominent. "Optimus! No one can see you! Come on out!"

For a moment, I hesitated, looking in my side mirror to see Bumblebee's expression. He was looking straight at Lennox, but as if he could feel my eyes on him he seemed to look straight at the mirror to look at me. I nodded once, before turning the key back to turn the truck's engine off, and then I put the keys in the pocket of the jeans I was wearing, before reaching and opening up the cab door. Behind me, I heard the door to Bumblebee's car open, and then, with a deep breath, I stepped down out of the seat and into Lennox's full view.

"H-holy Mary Mother of God . . ." Epps breathed, staring at me open mouthed, as Lennox's eyebrows rose, his mouth falling open as well. Their eyes looked behind me to Bumblebee as he came to stand about a foot behind my right side. After a moment, he took a tentative step forward, his head tilting a quarter of a centimeter to the side, inquiring, "Optimus?"

"Yes. Now . . . I suppose you see . . . what I meant by 'I cannot say we are completely alright'."

"No kidding." Lennox said. "How did this . . . ? Is this even . . . ?"

"I do not know how it happened, and it must be possible, or we would not have suffered such a fate." I said, and together Bumblebee walked forward. Epps and Lennox were shorter than me, but were taller than Bumblebee. "Wow." Lennox breathed, looking over both of us in wonder. "Just . . . Wow."

"We must find the other Autobots. There has got to be a way to reverse this." I said, and he stopped staring for a moment. "Yeah. Come on. Pull you guys' vehicles into the cargo plane. We'll do our best to contact the others. You should be able to reach them using the BigGuy."

It took as long as it had taken them to get to our coordinates as it did to get back to base. From there, we went to look at one of our only good pieces of Cybertronian technology, a computer that all of the N.E.S.T. team referred to as the 'BigGuy'. It was not unrightfully named. As I looked at it now, I wondered how we were going to get up onto it to press all of the buttons. Yet, it was then that I paused, my eyes widening a bit. "Ratchet. Where is Ratchet?"

"Up here, Optimus!" I looked up as Bumblebee and Lennox caught up to me, and overhead a man with brown hair and brown eyes leaned over the edge of the BigGuy, leaning his hands on his knees. He looked like he would be a little older than I, if we had always been human, but only by one or two years. I recognized the voice immediately and sighed with relief. "Ratchet, Old Friend! So you are Changed, too?"

"Unfortunately. They kept me held in the hold, not listening to my pleas! Quite rude, if you ask me, but then again I suppose I can't blame them."

I turned toward Lennox, who shrugged apologetically. "If you saw a naked man claiming to be Ratchet before we even thought about contacting you, what would you have done with him?"

"I am not sure." I answered. Yet we best start getting ahold of the other Autobots. If Ratchet was not with us when we went there, then there has to be a global effect. Maybe, just maybe, the Decepticons are in the same predicament as we are."

"Unless they cheated it," Ratchet called down, his voice highly skeptical. "I believe that they're all behind this! Who else could have thought up of such complex technology?"

". . . The Japanese?"

"Don't get smart with me, Epps!"

"My bad!" the man said with a chuckle. Ratchet rolled his eyes and pulled back a bit, and then returned, throwing down a rope ladder. "Here, Optimus. Climb up this. I think I've figured out a way to get ahold of everyone."