I felt like an old woman. The four years flew by me like a comet. Before I knew it Alisha graduated and then summer flew by and she left me for a university in the east and I was alone in a big house in the middle of nowhere. She never came home the first Christmas because of her job. Now the cacti flowers blossomed with the fresh scent of desert spring.

I sat in front of Trion's grave like I always did by the mesquite, which now had another nest full of owlets. "…And then the coffee came out of Lynda's nose!" I laughed as I told the story to a dead body and a sleeping owl. My laughter died down quickly. "I miss everyone," I whispered before I could notice the scenery changing.

Primus' voice was an old and familiar noise, one I often heard in my nightmares. "You're running out of time, Elsa, my servant, and you have done nothing to quell my anger."

I looked up at Primus. Hate filled my heart and rage engulfed my entire being. Suddenly it was snuffed out. I had no more energy to hate or be angry. I had nothing at all. "I know," I said softly.

"You have six months left." He warned.

"I know."

"Still not talking to me?"

I stared at him.

"No, of course you aren't."

The vision started to waver.

"You do know that if you cannot do your duty everyone you know and love with die, don't you?"

"You don't have anyone else to write, do you? It'll take you years to find someone else to replace us all."

Now Primus said nothing. The ripples began to become bigger.

I thought of Alisha and her boyfriend and the clouding vision of their children but I was not in any of the pictures they would hang on the wall. "I'll get the Covenant back if you can promise Prime won't die."

"When the Covenant is in your hands then you can negotiate with me."

Primus' voice echoed with the wind and was drowned by the ringing of my phone. I picked it up. "Hey, Alisha!" I yelled, doing my best to be as excited as I could. "How's college?" I stood and walked back home. The coyotes howled in the distance, angry at the setting sun.

Alisha told of her boyfriend's proposal and her acceptance and her classes and her teachers. I walked inside the house and prepared a frozen chicken and veggie dinner.

"Elsa, how are you doing?"

I noted my sister's worried tone. "I'm…I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Where did you hide the Covenant?"

She was taken off guard. It took her several minutes to answer, "But I thought you didn't want it."

"I need it now. Just please, tell me where."

"On your bookcase in the study."

The bookcase! Of course! Of course she would hide it in plain sight because I wouldn't have noticed if she added or took anything away. I ran to the study and grabbed it from the bottom shelf.

"Elsa, you don't sound okay. I heard you got fired."

I stopped moving. I did get fired. I argued with a customer about Prime and whether he was really a defender of humans or not. I had been warned time and time before and this time had been my last after I punched the customer for calling me…not very nice names.

"Yeah but I'm looking for another job," I lied.

"Well, your word isn't enough anymore, Elsa. I'm sending a friend over. He should be there by the time you wake up."

I laughed. "Okay, yeah, who is this friend?"

"He says he's a friend of Optimus."

I rolled my eyes as I walked down the stairs. "Um…okay so is it Hound?"

"No."

"Bee?" I took the food from the microwave and whimpered quietly when it burned me. I was hoping she would say Bee or Prime himself and tell me they were all back and maybe even wanted to surprise me but hope took energy so I quickly snuffed out the small warm feeling in my heart.

"No," Alisha sounded like she was typing.

"Crosshairs? Or Prime himself?"

"No and no." Her voice suddenly sounded very far away. "Hey! You need to go now, okay? She won't be able to survive without a…well a familiar logo not so much the face."

"Who are you talking to?" I demanded as I turned on the TV.

"I told you a friend. He calls himself Drift. You won't believe where I found him. Funny story, he actually was sent here by Prime. There are apparently more autobots in the galaxy than we thought."

"Yeah, okay."

"Hmph! You still don't believe me! Whatever! You'll see him soon."

Dizziness overtook me. I had to slow my walk and grab the wall to steady myself. The phone fell with a thud and I barely heard Alisha's voice calling my name. Everything became distorted. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the floor.

I opened my eyes to the sound of blades. Slowly I sat up and watched the scene. The Galvatron-made transformer, Unicron, battled against Hound, and Bee, and Prime, and Crosshair. Despite being on a desolate planet I breathed just fine and it didn't feel cold. Still, goosebumps raised themselves and a chill went down my spin. Unicron's eyes were empty and evil. Even in this vision I could feel the countless number of stars he's destroyed. He was a black hole and he couldn't be stopped.

Hound, Bee, Crosshair, and Prime were all badly wounded but still they fought.

"Autobots, retreat!" Prime ordered. They retreated out into the open space.

Unicron laughed. "Wherever you and your autobots go, Prime, I'll always follow. You won't get away."

I blinked away the vision and looked down at my lap. The Covenant was open with the scribbles of my handwriting within the two once blank pages. I could feel Primus' presence right next to me, applauding me but still not satisfied. I shook away the feeling and turned the A/C up. When I picked up the phone I could see that it was dead. She would think I hung up on her again. I sighed and rubbed my head.

Slowly I walked up the stairs. The hall was quiet now but I still could recall everything that once took place. I still could hear the laughter of Alisha and her boyfriend while they talked privately with the door open and I could hear the sounds of Bee chiming into their conversation from the window. I could feel Alisha push past me as she ran down because she overslept and was almost late for school. When I walked in her room, which stood untouched except by the dust, I could hear all of our conversations blurred into one. The happy. The sad. The ones when we contemplated what life would look like.

I gave up everything to be a Recorder. Is this how Trion felt when he abandoned everything? Did he mourn like I did?

The hot, infuriating, mournful tears that came whenever I thought of Trion and Alisha, and Primus. At first I was determined to never let Primus have his way. I wasn't going to let him control me but now I was broken down and I had nothing to protect like I did before. Or maybe I did and that's why I chose to be broken down slowly until I felt hollow. It was a hollowness that even the Covenant couldn't fill.

I don't remember falling asleep in Alisha's room. I sat on the floor, looked up at the ceiling and I closed my eyes and when I opened them again it was morning and the sounds of a helicopter startled me to my feet. The last time I heard that sound was, well, years and years ago when I first met Bee.

I ran outside almost hopeful that it was Sam but I was soon led to a slight disappointment. It wasn't Sam. The autobot towered over my home. He wasn't as tall as Prime but he was taller than Bee. His eyes showed both his wisdom and his youth. He was arrogant but not like Bee or Crosshairs, he chose when to be arrogant very carefully before mocking his opponent because he couldn't help himself. He wore the headdress of a daimyo, the outfit of a shinobi, and the swords of a samurai. He was Japanese all the way around.

"Drift?" The words came out of my mouth of their own will.

He knelt carefully so as not to crush anything. "You are Alisha's sister?"

I nodded. With all that I've seen I was slightly taken aback how much his appearance took my breath away. We stared at each other for a long while before I realized he was waiting for me to say more. "S-sorry. Yes, I'm Elsa. It's nice to meet you, Drift."

"And you as well, Elsa."