Strange neighbours Chapter 8, a transformers fanfic

Strange neighbours

Chapter Eight: A forming alliance

Since discovering the sentient properties of the robot the couple had salvaged they had been working on repairing its broken frame for the last eight days.

After managing to find where they needed to begin repair work and spending half a day just removing layers of armouring the two had discovered the level of engineering and electronics of the robot was well beyond their expertise level. After Rachel spent some time researching robotic vocal systems online she'd learned enough to roughly guess what was wrong with the robots vocal systems and how to fix it. While the two were sitting on the robots chest peering down into the hole they had made in its throat Rachel pointed out what the problem was.

"Okay so this vocal system is much bigger than any of the models I found online, but they're surprisingly similar. Comparing them, this vocal system is basically an updated, much improved and more complicated version of the online models. It's composed of parts that act like our vocal systems do. We have articulators, which are the tongue, lips, teeth, nasal cavity, and a soft palate. And we also have vocal organs which are the lungs and vocal cords. According to what I've researched the models have components that act as articulators and vocal organs." Rachel stopped and skimmed through the information on her phone once more before continuing.

"So what would act as the lungs are cylinders which have valves and some other bits and pieces attached to them to create airflow. I'm assuming the cylinders are lower down in the robots frame, probably under where we're sitting. Mechanic vocal cords are made from an artificial glottis and they change pitch when a ball screw pulls it side to side or by pushing and opening the artificial glottis. The glottis is made from rubber; in the model they'd used a super-low hard rubber, tensile strength. You see this opening here?" Rachel pointed to the top of a cylinder about as wide as her hand which continued down into the robots chest.

"This is the top of the cylinder and all this burnt black crap at the top is the rubber vocal cord thing. It stretches over the cylinder like a lid and then at the top of the rubber it clamps close together really tight like when you purse your lips. We need to replace the rubber so write that down. And we'll also need to repair this other cylinder." Rachel moved her hand over a wider cylinder that was ripped and torn and sat above where the vocal cord was meant to be.

"This wider cylinder is meant to come down and attach to the lower cylinder and protect the vocal cords and channel noises." Timsy made some measurements and wrote down what they'd need on the back of his hand and up his arm.

"The articulators are up it the robots head and mouth, so once we've repaired here we'll move up to the articulators." Rachel stood up and looked around at the junk piles then down at Timsy.
"Do we have anything useable handy?" Timsy jumped down off the robot and walked over to a pile and pulled out a metal cylinder, measured it and walked back over to Rachel smiling.
"This should work fine but I'll have to drive into town to find some rubber." Rachel clambered down and scratched at her still bandaged arm,
"Okay, you go do that and I'll finish fixing its foot."

Timsy jumped into his dad's tow truck and drove off leaving a trail of dust behind him. Rachel walked over to the robot's foot and began finishing the repairs they'd begun when they first brought back the robot from the dam.

As she worked her thoughts trailed back to memories of her uncle teaching her about mechanics. He'd taken care of her, her whole life. Not remembering her parents at all was something she appreciated, she'd seen photos of them before they'd died but she had no sentimental feelings about them so she didn't bother with keeping the photos of them. They'd died in a building collapse when she was about six months old and her father's brother took her in and grew to love her as his own. He'd been teaching her about mechanics since she was old enough to hold a spanner and she loved it.
Timsy on the other hand knew more about electronics than he did about mechanics. Rachel only knew basic circuitry and not well enough to be confident with it. He'd learnt through working in his bedroom as a kid and moving onto specialized education of the subject when he was old enough.

Rachel had grown up on the other side of town with her uncle but she'd basically moved into Timsy's house. Her uncle didn't mind as he liked Timsy and saw that he was a "level-headed guy" as he had once put it.

Timsy had grown up with his parents in Ohio but moved to his grandparents place when he found out his dad had been addicted to drugs and had been stealing money to feed his addiction. When Timsy had told Rachel of why he'd moved he had said that he loved his parents but wanted nothing to do with that kind of lifestyle. This was one of the reason's Rachel's uncle respected Timsy so much.

…

Megatron had shut down his entire frame sensory systems when the two humans had begun dismantling his armour. He didn't particularly enjoy them climbing around on his frame but as the days went on and he saw how hard they were working he began to not mind them.

He listened to the female talk her way around his vocal systems. She was mostly correct about how it worked aside from a few things but what she was describing was a very basic vocal system which would only be compatible with his frame because humans had had the chance to study Transformers when the Autobots befriended them. Vocal systems were one of the components studied but the humans' attempts to recreate transformer vocal systems failed until the humans based the models off their own vocal systems.

If the two were successful and their earth material were sturdy enough he would hopefully be able to communicate just enough for them fix repair the rest of his frame and to refuel him.

…

Timsy strolled through the hardware store with his hands in his pockets up to the front counter. The cashier looked up from his computer screen and smiled at him,
"'Allo Timsy mate, what can I do for you today?"
"Hey Paul, I'm looking for a rubber tubing, like this here." Timsy slid a blueprint drawing he'd drawn earlier across the counter top to the cashier. He picked it up and examined it,
"Ah I see, what are you and your girlfriend working at the moment then?"
"We're attempting to make our own mechanic vocal system, we need the rubber to make a synthetic vocal cord." Paul looked the blueprint over once more,
"sounds complicated. I think I might have something you can use in the back." He walked Timsy to the backroom of the shop and after some hunting around and a few quick custom alterations Timsy had the exact piece needed sitting in this truck as he paid Paul.
"You two have fun, please come back if you need any more materials!" Paul called from the shop door.
"Will do, thanks mate!" Timsy called back to him as he got in his truck. He was excited about this project and couldn't believe what Rachel had found until he had seen it for himself. When she'd discovered that it was alive he couldn't contain his excitement. He and Rachel had spent hours discussing who they thought had made it and more importantly who and dumped it in the dam! He sped back to the farm to find Rachel hosing down more of the robots mud crusted inner workings.

…

Rachel and Timsy had worked for hours fixing the vocal systems. It was night by the time they had reached the final stages and they were working under flood lights that had been set up a few days ago. When Timsy had finished welding the cylinders together he stood up and cleared scrap metal off the robots frame. The couple reattached the layers of armouring then climbed off the robot and stood looking at it with hope.
"Please work, please work. Please" Rachel looked into its glowing eyes and felt as if it was looking straight back into hers.

After a few moments of silence the two heard components starting up and the robot coughed. Dust sprayed out of his mouth and it began coughing and spluttering until no more dust or dirt was coming out of its mouth. Finally they heard it groan and grunt as its vocal systems fully on lined.
Timsy could not believe what he was seeing, it was actually working. Their repair work on the robot, whose systems were so advanced he'd never seen anything like it, was actually working. His excitement heightened as it began to speak.

"I haw is rocken." It growled a little and continued,

"Six I haw." The robot grunted again and Rachel realized what was wrong before Timsy did and she ran forward and looked over the robots jaw. It was broken, the metal was busted and bent in the wrong direction.
"Timsy its jaw is broken so it can't pronounce words right, come on we have to fix it!" She turned excitedly and began carrying tools around to his head.

Soon after beginning their work Timsy realised the damage was pretty big and they'd need to completely remove the jaw, fix it then reattach it. Rachel let him get on with removing the busted jaw as she went into the house to make two very strong cups of coffee.

When she came back out Rachel looked where the robots jaw had once been and saw what she assumed what the rest of the vocal systems.
"These must be the articulators. Wow this is much more complicated. I'm glad none of this is damaged.
"We just have to make sure the jaw is reconnected correctly otherwise it still won't be able to pronounce words right." Timsy worked wrist deep on the inner working of the jaw. Rachel continued examining the articulators. The tongue was made of a rubber strip stretched over what looked like two 3-DOF-pantograph mechanisms, the teeth were metal fangs both on the top and bottom jaw and the lips she realized were just thin metal plates.

Rachel could see a metal looking valve at the back of the robots throat which she guessed was the soft palate and she knew that the nasal cavity would be behind that valve and connected to its nostrils. She moved down to help Timsy after her close examination and they worked for a few more hours until the jaw was repaired. They decided to get some sleep before reattaching it to the robot as neither of them could keep their eyes open. Timsy had walked over to a fence where a tap was and washed off his hands and face as Rachel cleared up their work mess. When she finished she walked over to the tap to wash off the grease and oil. The cold water shocked her awake.

Rachel walked over to Timsy as he stood in the light of the sunrise looking out over the hills. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Hey you" he turned kissed her temple,
"Hey beautiful." They stood for a moment before Timsy turned around, picked up Rachel and carried her over to the couch where they lay down together, wrapped up in each other's arms and Timsy was resting his head on Rachel chest. As Rachel slowly stroking his hair she thought back to when they first met.

She first laid eyes on Timsy only eight months ago in the main street of the little town they both lived in. It was a cold windy day and Rachel was out shopping for her uncle. She was loading all the groceries into her car when a particularly strong and sharp gust of wind ripped her beanie right off her head and took off with it. She slammed the car boot shut and began chasing it down the street. The wind playfully whipped it around along the ground with dry leaves and twigs much to her embarrassment. When the wind finally died down she caught up with her beanie and bent to pick it up only to have a strange pair of hands reach down and get it before she did. Rachel quickly straightened and found herself looking up into the greenest eyes she'd ever seen.
"Is this yours?"
"Y-yes, thanks." Rachel smiled at she took the beanie, picked off some twigs and leaves then put it back on. The green eyed boy smiled at her.
"You're welcome, I'm Timsy by the way."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Rachel." She looked at the boy. He was slightly taller than her, had broad shoulders, stubble over his jawline and black chin length hair.
He had insisted on walking her back to her car and by the time she was sitting back in the driver's seat he'd asked for her number. Rachel had taken out a permanent marker from the glove box and wrote her number across his hand. He smiled looking at the number.
"Thanks, I'll call you." With that he walked away from the car so she could drive off.

Rachel looked down at Timsy and smiled, he looked back up at her,
"What?"
"Just thinking of when we first met."
"Oh, you were so beautiful. All confused when I picked up your beanie before you did. You still are so beautiful with your long wavy brown hair and brown eyes, and you prefect lips and perfect body. Even your injuries are perfect."

His hand lightly brushed over her bandages. Her cut wasn't too deep but she didn't want to risk it getting infected so she kept it bandaged and cleaned.
Rachel kissed Timsy's forehead and hugged him tighter to her. They both drifted off to sleep on the couch and slept peacefully in each other arms for the day.

The couple woke up mid-afternoon and cooked up a huge afternoon breakfast before beginning to reattach the jaw of the robot. Once it was back in place Rachel and Timsy stood back and waited for the robot to speak. Its eyes flicked from face to face then it moved its jaw experimentally before finally speaking,

"I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. Thank you both for repairing my vocal systems but I am still seriously injured and I am very low on energon levels."

Timsy and Rachel both stood with their mouths hanging open as he spoke. When he finished Rachel found her voice.
"I'm Rachel and this is Timsy. What's energon?"

"Energon is the fuel us Transformers need in order to function. Without it our frames cannot function. I'm going to need more energon very soon, I'm running on my backup supplies and I'm very low on those stores as it is."

"Where do we get this energon from?" Timsy asked. Megatron's eyes flicked him,

"That is something I'll explain to you later, when I am fully repaired. But for now I need your assistance to repair the damage I received from an ambush by the Autobots." Megatron spat the name.
"Ambush? Who are the Autobots?" Megatron vented then recalled the day Starscream betrayed him as he answered Rachel's question.

"The Autobots are other Transformers like me, we come from the planet Cybertron-"

"Whoa! Wait, hold on. You come from another planet?!" Timsy cried. He was gobsmacked.

"Yes." Megatron growled as Timsy,

"As I was saying, The Decepticons and Autobots are at war. A war which has lasted millions of years and destroyed our home planet, our race came to Earth by accident. There was an inflight battle and we crash-landed on Earth some years ago and since then we have not had the resources to return and rebuild Cybertron.
I was ambushed by the Autobots two Earth years ago. One of my soldiers, Starscream, a betraying fool who has always wanted to over throw me and lead the Decepticons, led me to an area of land where he knew the Autobots were residing. He claimed there was energon there. When I was attacked he fled leaving me to be slaughtered by the Autobots. I barely escaped and I know that Starscream has taken my rank and is leading the Decepticons and none of them know I am alive. It is of the most importance that I find my soldiers and offline that treacherous traitor Starscream for once and for all! Rachel, Timsy I need your help. If you do help me I will reward you both greatly for your efforts and time."

Rachel and Timsy were quiet for a moment then Timsy looked Megatron dead in the eye,
"We will repair you, we can help you find energon and we can provide you a place to stay. But what do you need of us after we've done all this?"

"I need you to help me defeat the Autobots so I can take my Decepticon soldiers back to Cybertron and rebuild the planet. If you help me with this to the best of your ability I will reward you both greatly."

Timsy looked at Rachel,
"I think we should." She looked back at him,
"I'm with you no matter what." Megatron smiled at the pair.

"Excellent."

…

Megatron waited patiently as the two repaired and re-attached his jaw. Once it was connected properly he on lined his vocal systems once more and he noticed the humans had managed some good repair work. The earth materials they used felt fine so he opened his mouth to speak to really test them.

""I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. Thank you both for repairing my vocal systems but I am still seriously injured and I am very low on energon levels."

The first thing Megatron noticed was how different his voice sounded. It used to be higher and smoother but now it was low and gravelly.
The pair stood with their mouths hanging open until the female spoke,

"I'm Rachel and this is Timsy." She gestured to the male standing next to her and Megatron did not bother to say he already knew their names.

"Um, what is energon?"

"Energon is the fuel us Transformers need in order to function. Without it our frames cannot function. I'm going to need more energon very soon I'm running on my backup supplies and I'm very low on those stores as it is."

"Where do we get this energon from?" Timsy asked. Megatron looked the male over. Finding energon on earth would be a lengthy task and he needed to be repaired first before he could direct them to finding some.

"That is something I'll explain to you later, when I am fully repaired. But for now I need your assistance to repair the damage I received from an ambush by the Autobots" Megatron spat the name. He hated them down to every last wire in his frame.

"Ambush? Who are the Autobots?" He vented his cooling systems before answering.

"The Autobots are other Transformers like me, we come from the planet Cybertron-"

"Whoa! Wait, hold on. You come from another planet?!" Timsy cried.

"Yes." Megatron growled aggravated at the lack of respect the human showed towards him.

I was ambushed by the Autobots two Earth years ago. One of my soldiers, Starscream, a betraying fool who has always wanted to over throw me and lead the Decepticons, led me to an area of land where he knew the Autobots were residing. He claimed there was energon there. When I was attacked he fled leaving me to be slaughtered by the Autobots. I barely escaped and I know that Starscream has taken my rank and is leading the Decepticons and none of them know I am alive. It is of the most importance that I find my soldiers and offline that treacherous traitor Starscream for once and for all! Rachel, Timsy I need your help. If you do help me I will reward you both greatly for your efforts and time."

He kept the explanations of everything vague. He did not expect the humans to pick up on this as he could see that their processors were already spinning at everything they'd just been told. Timsy looked at Megatron dead in the optic.

"We will repair you, we can help you find energon and we can provide you a place to stay. But what do you need of us after we've done all this?"

Megatron planned to use the humans as agents he could get into the Autobot base and feed him Intel that he could use to kill the Autobots. Once the Autobots were out of the way he could begin to take over Earth and make it his new Cybertron, rich with fuels that the old Cybertron had become depleted of during the war.

The humans looked at each other and had quick words,

"I think we should."

"I'm with you no matter what."

Megatron smiled when he heard the words he wanted to hear,

"Excellent."

A/N: A big thank you to all the people that have reviewed and have favourited my story. It's so good to know that people like what I'm writing.