Silver Heart
By TimeAndLife
Emerald winced as she shot at a target. It had been two weeks since her team had infiltrated NEST. It wasn't pretty. Jasper got shot in the side and it was taking a bit of time for him to heal up. If it wasn't for Emerald's skills to stop the bleeding, he would have bled to death. Ruby had glared at her throughout the entire ride. Emerald knew why, though.
She shot at the target again and gritted her teeth. She felt a hot boiling under her skin. She had asked Kingston what that feeling was. When he told her that the feeling was anger and frustration, she embraced it. Shooting the targets over and over again until the clip was empty. She winced as she emptied out the clip and put in a new one.
She was confused as well. The target...
'Phoenix' she thought distantly.
That woman was unarmed, yet when Emerald had her gun pointed at her, she didn't flinch. She didn't shy away. She was being...gentle? She acted a bit like Kingston...without the nervousness and cowardice. If it wasn't for Ruby...
She shot at the targets again. Letting out growls. If it wasn't for Ruby, Emerald wouldn't be having these extra training lessons and punishments. One of those punishments was no books, extra strength trainings, and hand to hand combat sessions with a man three times her size. He was obviously a Navy Seal. Ruby blamed Emerald for shooting the target, when it was full well Ruby's fault. Emerald had snapped and attacked and shouted at her when she full on lied to Shayde's face.
Emerald and Ruby tumbled to the ground. They scratched, punched, bit, and clawed at each other, leaving deep lesions and bite marks, but Emerald was shouting at her.
"You LIAR! YOU KILLED THE TARGET! I COULD HAVE BROUGHT HER IN ALIVE AND UNHARMED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Emerald had never screamed like that. She was pretty sure that Ruby had a couple of broken ribs when Emerald was wailing on her. Emerald felt a sense of satisfaction well up inside of her when she saw the fear in Ruby's eyes. If anything, Emerald could have mauled her to death had not been for Shayde's employees intervening.
Her first punishment was a few whippings. about 7 each for the failure in not getting enough information and the target alive. Shayde was not happy. But some information that Emerald had seen on the hard drive as the group was looking at on the drive back to the Corps, was interesting. NEST was code for something. Other than that, there was files of some experimentations, prototype weapons, lists of names, and something about new cars.
It was confusing for her. There was something nagging at the back of her mind that NEST is covering more than just the surface. After glancing at the clock, her time at the shooting range was done. She put the gun away and left the room. As she was walking down the empty halls, she thought back to Jasper. The emotions that flickers across his face when he got shot was confusing for her. She was trained to never show fear even at the face of death. But Jasper, he was afraid. She frowned as she then decided to turn down into the medical hall. Jasper was still in medical due to his gunshot wound. She wanted to visit him.
She passed a few of the employees and then entered the room where Jasper was in. She walked in silently and sat on the nearest chair. Turned out Amber was there too. She was on the chair opposite of her and was currently asleep.
"Emerald." Jasper said as he smiled widely but winced as he tried to sit up a little.
Emerald didn't speak. Apparently that was fine with him.
"I heard about Shayde giving you some extra work. That sucks ass." Jasper chuckled.
"But you are lucky to have a gun in your hands. How was the shooting range?" He asked excitingly.
"It was sufficient." She replied.
Jasper frowned at her.
"Come on. No excitement of shooting something even though it was paper?" Jasper smiled.
Emerald winced. She wasn't like Jasper. she just wanted her books back. Jasper seemed to get the hint.
"You know Ruby's a bitch. And she will get you back." Jasper said as he leaned on one arm.
Emerald face twisted into a smirk.
"Let her try." She said confidently.
She felt shock go through her system. What was this feeling on superiority? She didn't care. If Ruby tried anything, Emerald would fight back. No question. Jasper laughed.
"You have guts, Emerald. Especially when you went at her in front of Shayde. But seriously...how have you been holding up?" Jasper said tilting his head. Emerald looked up at him.
He had a look on his face. It was confusing to her. Her comrade was...
"What's that word again?" She thought.
It was worry. He was worried about her?
"Emerald...Shayde hasn't been pushing you again...has he?" Jasper asked.
Emerald looked to the ground. It was a silent answer for Jasper.
"I knew it." Jasper said as he flopped back onto his bed.
Amber's eyes opened and her head turned to Emerald. Amber's expression was a bored look, but her eyes were calculating.
"We should leave this place." Amber said as she started to stretch and yawn.
"I hate it here." Amber said as she placed her chin into her hand as she leaned forward. Emerald was confused. Why should they leave this place? This place is their 'home'. Why would Amber want to leave?
"Yeah right Amber, you want to get punished? We can't." Jasper said smiling bitterly.
"Hell, I over heard some of the doctors saying that they want to dispose of me." Japser's smile dropped.
Emerald's face twisted uncomfortably.
"Why?" She asked.
"Something about not meeting certain standards" Jasper mumbled.
Before anything else could be said, all three of them were immediately summoned to the briefing room over the base loud speaker. The three of them make the walk to the briefing room in complete silence. The barest glance at the other two, and Emerald could see that they were wary, and just as suspicious as she was. The trio prepared to enter the briefing room where Shayde was waiting for them. Kingston walked in right before they did, but Ruby was already there, and was relaxing with a smug smirk on her face.
"Jasper, since the medics are clearing you for duty later today, you'll be accompanying a team composed of you, Amber, Emerald, and Dr. Kingston. The team will be led by Ruby. The five of you are going back into this NEST base, and this time, you will not return until you have a complete copy of their pertinent data files! Is that clear?" Shayde snapped.
"Sir Yes Sir." The three had replied.
Emerald had to keep herself from looking at Ruby with disdain. Something was going on. Kingston would be coming with them. Something was coming up. Emerald felt a sick feeling in her stomach. Whatever is coming up, it wasn't going to end well. She discreetly looked at Kingston, the old man adjusted his glasses to look at her and slightly shook his head. He'll talk to her later. For now, they will carry out their mission soon.
Nyx woke up in the middle of the night again. She sat up and rubbed her temples. Ugh she had such a headache. She got out of bed and went to her bathroom. Turning on the light, cursing the brightness, she stepped in front of the mirror. Her hair was sticking in multiple directions and she looked like hell. Well, she can't go to sleep after waking up. She took a brush a brushed out her hair before she turned on the shower. As she sat down on the bath tub floor, she felt the water pelting at her. This has been going on for a couple of weeks already. She leaned her head back onto the wall and closed her eyes. She groaned as she saw Cybertronian symbols flash across her vision. It hasn't stopped and she hasn't seen the Allspark for a while now either, not since she brought back Jazz. Everytime when her mind would be in the Matrix, without Jazz there to talk too, she had to settle for the tittering and the squeaking of sparks. Sometimes she would just float aimlessly among the sparks.
After the water started to turn cold, she got out and dried herself off and went back into her room. She put on a pair of sweats and a tight black spandex shirt and a short sleeve blue t-shirt. She put on a pair of running shoes and left her room. It was still dark outside, but she would rather stay in the base. She walked around the base aimlessly. Running into the late night shift guards that were used to Nyx's wanderings. She would nod a hello to them before moving on. She liked the silence for once. She could feel the memories of Sector Seven run through her mind. The drowning, the tests, the needles, everything. It still sent shivers down her spine when she thinks about it. She ran her hand through her still wet hair and kept walking. Aimlessly, she came across rooms where some soldier were still up, but she ignored them. Her destination right now is the mess hall. Surely there are some night cooks up to make some food for her if she asked.
Now that she thought about it, she has been more hungry lately. Will and Epps have been poking fun at her for eating so much, but the problem was that she hasn't gained a pound. She stopped in front of the door of the mess hall, scowling at herself. What HAD she been eating? She ticked off her fingers to herself. She has been eating more meat lately, this didn't bother her too much, she needed the energy and protein. She had been eating more vegetables and fruits, her grains not too much, she had lost a bit of taste for them, and her sweet tooth is almost a bother to deal with. Now that she thought of it, she didn't even want to have a piece of pie that Will had offered her...and she LOVED pie!
"Maybe my taste buds are changing. Yeah, that's probably it." She thought as she walked into the mess hall.
The night cooks were there and she went up to one of them. A small woman of asian heritage, looked up at her.
"Hey Nyx, nightly craving again?" The woman smiled.
"Yeah. I don't know why though. Joan, what do you think?" Nyx frowned as she looked at the small woman.
"Well, I would say that you are pregnant, but i don't think that's the case with you." Joan said as she looked over Nyx.
Pregnant? Yeah right. She can't have children, what's the point?
"Well, I'm a soldier cook, not a doctor. So the usual?" Joan asked as she stepped away from the cash register.
"Yeah, except this time I'll have two t-bone steaks, a salmon steak, with three cups of steamed vegetables of what ever you got, and milk. A quart of it would be nice." She said as she rubbed her forehead.
"On it." Joan said as she rang up the food and went to work.
She then went to the nearest table and sat down. laying her head onto the cool metal. She was defiantly hungry. As she waited patiently for her food, she heard a voice from behind her.
"It looks like I'm not the only one in this place who can't get any decent sleep." She heard the grouchy voice of Dr. Larson.
She sat up and turned around. She was taken aback. He was riding in a motorized wheel chair. She didn't even realize that her mouth dropped in shock.
"Don't just sit there like a guppy, and close that mouth of yours." Larson snapped.
She did was was told.
"I didn't know that you have a wheelchair. You usually just use your cane." She said as he wheeled up to her end of the table.
"My doctors told me not to get up on my feet so often. Like that will stop me. But my leg has been giving me a bit of trouble." Larson said as he rubbed his left leg.
"That's what been keeping you up?" She asked.
"That and I can't seem to sleep for more than four hours." Larson said as he leaned back in his chair.
Joan came to her table and placed her food in front of her.
"Thanks Joan." Nyx smiled.
"No problem. And what about you Doctor? Anything you want to eat?" She asked.
"Mashed potatoes would be nice with some gravy. No too much though." He said pleasantly.
Nyx looked at the doctor with a curious eye.
"Okay. I'll be back shortly." She said as she left.
"Huh, you are being nice for once." Nyx said as she took her steak knife and fork and dug into her food.
"Contrary to belief, I can be pleasant for once." Larson said as he closed his eyes.
"Hmm..." Nyx hummed as she sliced another piece of steak and popped it into her mouth.
"That seems to be quite a bit of food there. Are you sure you can eat it all?" Larson asked.
"Well...I haven't really notice my servings of food that much. But lately I have been eating a lot more than I thought. But I haven't gained any pounds." She said as she speared a broccoli cut.
"No pounds gained? Strange, with your diet and your training, you should be gaining more muscle mass. Yet you haven't gained anything." Larson said as he reached over and placed a firm hand on her arm.
"Flex for me." He said as he clasped his arm around her bicep.
She did as she was told.
"Well, you seem to be in good shape we'll have to do a physical soon." Larson said as he leaned back.
Joan stopped by with mashed potatoes and placed in front of Larson.
"Thank you dear." He said as he took a spoon and dug into his food.
Nyx cringed as she heard the word 'Physical'. That means more tests. And she was getting really sick of them. She angrily stabbed her cut steak and shoved it into her mouth, not caring that she stabbed the roof of her mouth while doing so. The taste of her still iron tasting blood entered her mouth. After swallowing, she took a napkin and put it into her mouth, registering the pain of her poked roof.
"Pheonix, I understand that you don't want to do anymore tests, but if we want to reverse the effects of the cube-" He was interrupted by her.
"Don't you idiot scientists get it?" She snapped as she slammed her fork down, not caring that she gained the attention of the cooks form the other side of the room.
"You can't reverse it. At all." She said as she felt her eyes sting. She was about to cry.
"You STOLE my humanity. All of you. It was bad enough that I thought being off the streets would be a change in my miserable life, but by the time i realized what you were doing, it was too late!" Nyx snarled.
Her eyes started to glow.
"Look what you did to Benny!" She stabbed him verbally.
Larson's eyes widened and looked down, as if in shame.
"You were using orphans as test subjects. Benny was my only friend in this hellhole and you took him away." She rubbed an nonexistent pain on her left shoulder, remembering the day when she was shot by him.
"The past 26 subjects died horrendously. Skin falling off, blood leaking everywhere, bone brittleness, everything! And you never once though to stop the project at all!?" She shouted standing up.
Larson looked up at her with haunted eyes. She physically flinched and her anger started to disappear when the words he spoke, chilled her to the core.
"We tried." he said hauntingly.
"Many of the scientists have tried everything to stop the experiments. But at the time, Hitler was also doing his own experiments to create the ultimate soldier as well. We hadn't a choice." He voice had taken on a low tone.
"We had discovered a power in that cube. We tried it on inanimate objects first. It worked. Electronics turned into little robots, of course, they had violent tenancies." Larson said as he looked down onto the table.
"We had to use the power of the cube to kill them off before they became even more destructive." Larson sighed.
Nyx felt a chill run down her spine and a small voice inside her head spoke, "Murder!"
But she ignored it for the moment.
"If anything, we thought that science would create the ultimate super soldier by infusing the powers of the unknown." Larson looked up at her with deep eyes.
"Had we known that this is what we would have ended up with, we never would have done it in the first place." Lasron ended the conversation and went to his food.
Nyx bit her lip and sighed digging into her food even though she wasn't that hungry. Her appetite lost after the conversation. She finished up her food and she rubbed her eyes.
"I'll take the physicals." She said softly.
"At least I know you have some sort of regret of all of this." Nyx said as she stood up and left the cafeteria.
She decided to walk around the base to aid her digestion. Funnily enough, her stomach problems had stopped after a month.
She was lost in her thoughts until she heard, "Shawty?"
She looked up and saw Jazz's Holoform. He was leaning against a pillar and raising an eyebrow. She chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Hey Jazz. What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be recharging?" She asked as she walked up to him then noticed something.
"You got taller...Short Bus." She smirked.
"Hey! I ask'd Ratchet ta see if he ca' make dis form taller!" He grinned as he walked up to her.
"And don' call meh short bus." He frowned.
"You'll always be Short Bus to me." She smiled.
"Tch, you are still shorter than the others...even Bee is taller than you." She smiled.
"Hey, now isn't dere a sayin' about 'Size don' mattah'?" He said as he stopped in front of her.
Nyx looked up and laughed, her face flushing as she did so.
"That depends on what object is the size." She laughed.
She felt better now. After that emotional conversation with Larson, she really needed the laugh. Jazz shook his head and took of his visor sunglasses and put them hanging from the collar if his shirt.
"So, otha den makin' fun of my height, what's a pretty femme lik' ya wanderin' around da base dis late at night?" Jazz said as he nodded his head forward to walk.
She complied and they walked.
"Well I woke up with a headache, got a little hungry, and had a slight emotional conversation with Larson about my past, and I haven't heard from the All Spark since I brought you back." She said as she rubbed her forehead.
She stopped for a moment as her eyes glowed slightly and cybertronian symbols flashing across her vision.
"Damn it. And I keep seeing Cybertonian symbols sometimes too." She frowned.
"Cybertronian? Really?" Jazz said impressed.
"Don't hold your excitement back. On top of NEST getting broken into, I've had a hell of a time." She said as she walked closer to Jazz.
"Hide and I have been talkin' 'bout security measures." Jazz said as he turned the conversation away from the bad night that Nyx was having.
"Really? Without me?" She pushed him over a little, but didn't succeed. Jazz laughed.
"Nah, Shawty. We knew dat you 'ave been busy wit' other things, so 'Hide and Ah were workin' with Maggie, Glen and a few otha specialists 'elping out wit' makin' a few decoy viruses." Jazz said as they turned a corner.
"Decoys?" An idea popped into her mind.
"Have you though about making a hidden virus? Something specifically just for getting information just in case if someone tried to break into our systems again?" Her eyes glowed lightly at the prospect. Jazz stopped and looked down at Nyx with a wide eyed look.
"I mean think about it..." She paused, her mind going into a bit of a slight overdrive.
"If we have your kind of technology, we could manage to find out who is trying to get into NEST. If we could make about 25 terrabytes of false data that is considered useless, just basic information: Cars, Weapons, small terrorist groups that don't exist, so and and so forth. But really, if the information is to be uploaded in a separate computer, it will send a transmission back here and we will track whoever tried to infiltrate us in the first place!" She said smiling as if she found out a some sort of secret.
Jazz just stared at the female earthling before the words finally sunk in. This woman who had brought him back to life was a GENIUS.
"Shawty, you are a saboteur after mah own spark." He said bringing up his hands to his chest.
She lightly flushed.
"Well, you don't work in the military for 60 years learning about nothing. There's more to it than shooting first and asking questions later." She said as she ran her hand through her hair.
"Try an' tell 'Hide that. He'll call blasphemy on dat." Jazz chuckled.
"He probably would. I'll pitch the idea to Intel." She looked up at Jazz.
"What time is it right now?" She asked.
"It's 4 in da morning. Need ta go back to bed?" He asked smiling. Nyx nodded slowly.
"I probably should, at least before Ratchet decides to hit me with a wrench today for NOT sleeping." She said as she rubbed her eyes.
Jazz only chuckled before taking a light hold on her shoulder and guided her back to her room.
As they were walking down a familiar hall to where Nyx lives, they were exchanging ideas for the new recruits that they will be receiving in the next two months.
"This place is getting smaller and smaller every time we get new recruits. I need to let the Secretary of Defense know that after the new group comes in, we need to hold off on recruiting more until we get to Diego Garcia. Plus, the last group was have is a bit sub par." Nyx said as she yawned a little.
"Ya 'ave a point dere, Shawty. If only Ah could get dem to stop starin' at meh like some sort of Alien..." He was cut off by Nyx's laughter.
"You are an Alien. From Space. From Cybertron." She smiled at him.
Jazz looked taken aback before rubbing the back of his head.
"I guess yo're righ'." He chuckled at her.
They arrived at her room and she gave a salute to Jazz.
"I'll see you in the morning, Jazz, and if you could, can you tell Ratchet that I won't be up until 10? I really need a little more sleep." She asked him.
Jazz nodded.
"Ah'll let Hatchet know. Ya get some sleep now, Shawty." Jazz smiled at the woman.
Nyx smiled back at him then she went up and hugged him.
"The Holoforms are working out quite nicely." She said as she felt him return the hug.
"Yeah, Ratch managed ta improve it ta dis poin'. Unfortunately, improvements 'ave come ta a stop. When Wheeljack gets 'ere, he'll be able ta make us more human, so ta speak." He said as he ruffled her hair.
She chuckled and went to her room.
"Well if there is anything similar between Humans and Cybertronians, they have hearts and sparks. No matter what species they are." she said as she went into her room.
She laid in her bed in silence. She lifted her hand up to to the dimmed light and looked at it. She sighed as she thought of the words that she spoke with Larson and Jazz. She still clung onto that hope that she could be a normal human again. However small it was. She then snapped her fingers and a pulse of blue light went throughout her room turning off all the lights. She closed her eyes, hoping that she may gave a good night's rest. She had a rough time ahead of her.
She felt strangely cold as she opened her eyes again. She was in the Matrix and like the last few times, sparks rushed to her sides and surrounded her. Tittering away and bumping into her.
"Whoa, hey a little space please?" She asked as she floated along pushing the sparks away gently so that she could have a bit of a bubble around her.
But they were stubborn and kept coming back. She decided to ignore them and floated along until the All Spark literally materialized in front of her. Surprised, Nyx fell back.
"Geez! Don't do that!" She said as she bumped into a few sparks that brought her back to the All Spark.
She didn't speak for a few moments, just staring at her.
"How are you transitioning?" The All Spark asked.
Nyx was taken back by the question and a bit confused.
"What are you talking about? Transitioning?" She wondered.
The All Spark was silent once more, looking over her body and such.
"I assume that you know that your body is undergoing a...metamorphosis, so to speak." The All Spark said calmly.
Nyx was quiet for a few moments.
"Yes." Nyx said softly.
She hugged herself and closed her eyes for a time before opening them up again.
"I'm scared." She said honestly and meekly.
The All Spark smiled sadly at her and nodded.
"It is a strange process. Turning Organic to Techno Organic. I may have done it only some times before, and it isn't easy." She said softly as a spark twiddled around her long fingers.
"You've done this before?" Nyx asked suddenly not feeling like a special snowflake.
"Yes. Of course, this was over 4000 orns ago. To me, it felt like it was just while ago that I have helped one of the primes to recreate Cybertron. It was a cold harsh world at that time. And so, Techno organics were created. To make Cyberton's life cycles more bearable. Of course, it wouldn't last long. Like evolution, something have to die to keep living. Yourself for instance." She smiled.
"Of course..." The All-Spark's expression suddenly saddened and and the light that she emitted dimmed.
"I myself knew that it was time to move on. Earth has it's beauties. And I quite enjoy the humans along with it." She smiled faintly at Nyx.
"But this world thrives on it's eco system. Of course, it's not easy to make techno organics when organics are everywhere. The earth is still very young compared to Cybertron. But, I'm still weakened. Compared to when I was still whole..." She trailed off.
"Wait, are you saying that you might be...no more?" Nyx felt a shock of fear rush through her.
If the All Spark is truly fading away...
"Is there something I can do?" Nyx asked as she floated closer to the All Spark.
The All Spark's glowing eyes looked at her sympathetically, before floating back with a few smaller sparks trailing after her before fading out of existence.
This time Nyx didn't call out to her.
TAL21: Well, here's a Christmas Present for you guys. Yes, this is a short chapter, yes it's been too long, yes, I deserve a bit of flame for taking so long to write for the Transformers genre. To be honest, I'm losing interest and trying to gain it back. Since I've watched Age of Extinction, I have a bit of a rough draft on the Emerald arc. It's FAR from perfect. trust me, it's not easy when i have a mind that jumps from fandom to fandom. Currently, Harry Potter has taken over, but I'm also trying to work on this story and HBTXM. But there;s a downside. Real Life took over and i'm currently working close to full time with my work and schooling. So everything is hard to keep up with. I hope you guys will forgive me for putting this story on hold, but the story will also be going through a state of TEMPORARY HIATUS. Meaning, I will post when i have the chance and enough words to post up a new one. Hopefully the next chapter may be a bit longer, but no promises. Hopefully I'll have some ideas but he new years and post a new one when i get the chance. Also, No Shout Outs! due to the fact that i'm tired and it's late at night, and i want to go to bed. PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! THEY ARE MY ADDICTION! BUT! I HOPE YOU GUYS HAD A GREAT CHRISTMAS! :D
Question Time!: When you guys watched the Age Of Extinction, what did you expect out of it? Personally, it was 5 years that has passed since Chicago and you could've had Will and Annabelle be the main characters and bring back NEST to help out. *HINT HINT WINK WINK* And! Do you have any question for me to answer about the story?
KEEP ON READING AND WRITING!