XIV - The Human Factor

Starscream tucked the ground bridge remote back into the gap between his thigh plating as the portal closed behind us. We were once again in the Harbinger, but this time met with the red energon instead of a pair of noisy, smelly humans. And we were about to go use the stuff to get back said noisy, smelly humans. I guess what goes around comes around.

I bent down, looking through the glass and up into the tube where the processed liquid fell, baffled that there weren't more. The few drops of refined red energon that had collected at the bottom of the glass container last time had increased to fill about a whopping sixteenth of the glass.

"That's it?!" Starscream exclaimed, walking over a bit unsteadily and plucked it off its stand. "An entire chunk of red energon, and this is all I get!"

"There's enough there for one dose," I pointed out, frowning at it.

He immediately whipped out the remote control for the ground bridge and input a new set of coordinates—the location of MECH's base. The green glow of a vortex greeted us once again a second later.

"So soon?" I asked as he uncapped the red energon and tipped it back, only having to swallow once.

"Try to keep up." He grinned back at me, optics looking a bit glassy. I suddenly had second thoughts. I shouldn't allow him to even be out of the base with the state he was in, but it was too late now. He had the red energon in his system, and it would take its course. I gulped.

I stabbed the Apex Armor's spike into the center of my chest plate, and a moment later I stood taller than my double. "You make a distraction," he instructed, "I'll get the humans and the cure. Who knows when this kicks in–" Suddenly he became a blur, and a grey streak raced in circles around me then through the ground bridge. I gaped with astonishment as he vanished into the portal, and then followed without hesitation. Now that was what I'd call fast. My jet mode wouldn't even be able to beat him, even if he was on pede!

I stepped through the portal, not even remotely liking the idea of being a distraction. So why not try to wreak as much havoc as possible along the way? I grinned at the thought; oh, MECH's base and I were going to be having a very fun time indeed.

The red energon was like nothing I've ever felt before. Imagine if the world decided to slow down so drastically that one could count the seconds it took for a lightning strike to arc through the sky. Or fire a shotgun and then go and catch all the bullets long before they reached their target. Or even, well… one would get the idea.

I felt invincible. The virus felt a lifetime away, and for we Cybertronians, that could be a number with several commas in it. I had to admit, although I wasn't as old as Ratchet, or even Optimus, mine did.

When I exited the ground bridge portal, I didn't even bother waiting for Seven. I strutted straight through MECH's front door and smack into the middle of their goings-on for the day. Breakdown's offlined chassis hung suspended from the ceiling against the far wall of the room. Silas stood on a platform, issuing instructions to the workers below, who were in the process of welding two sheets of metal together.

"I was wondering what happened to him," I muttered while looking at Breakdown's chassis, trying to remember the layout of their base from my "well spent" time with them. On my left and down a level was MECH's sick little jail, where the humans would be kept, no questions asked. I took off as Seven burst into the room at glacial speed, encased in the Apex Armor.

Down the stairs, thank Primus for high ceilings, around a corner, and I was met with a hallway full of cells. Just my luck that the humans were in the cell on the farthest end of the corridor―the only one with guards. I should've known.

Oliver and Will were there, standing at the front of the cell, holding the bars. Neither of them had the appearance of having been mistreated in any way, along with Melody and her mother, for which I was relieved. Except they were stuck in a crummy cell, but I was about to fix that.

I shoved the guard away from the front of the cell, not caring where my talons went. Then I pushed the three humans right behind the bars away, being much more vigilant of where the tips of my talons were. I waited a few seconds until the hit the back wall, then took a large step back and fired a missile. The explosion relieved the ceiling of the bars. I picked them up and tossed them away, the instant they left my servos they seemed to float in midair. So much for the direct approach. Then I rushed in and snatched the humans up before they could be peppered with shrapnel, two in each servo.

I then raced back down the absurdly long corridor, up the stairs and outside where I promptly deposited them on the grass, and darted back inside the building to join the fun.

I couldn't stand the boredom. If Will didn't wear a watch, we would've had no idea what time it was. We all were fed two meals a day, plentiful but tasteless, and spent the hours making weird noises or in conversation to pass the time. Or napped. But the boredom was getting to me now more than ever.

Getting an idea, I cupped my hands around my mouth. "HEY! GUARDS! WE NEED HELP!"

A guard walked into my line of sight, "What now?" he growled, hefting his pulse rifle.

Pointing at Will and myself, I spoke in a taunting voice, "Sir, this is highly illegal. We're minors and this is a bar," I made a dramatic sweeping gesture at the steel bars separating us, "so if you'd hand over your phone, I'd like to call the police."

"Can't do that, kid."

Will mimed leaning on an imaginary bar, picking up a shot glass only he could see and downed its nonexistent contents, then slammed it back down.

The guard turned away, walking back to his post and muttering under his breath all the while.

"Worth it." Will whispered to me behind his hand. I chuckled.

"Go into acting," I suggested.

"Same to you."

Melody suddenly stood and rushed to the bars of the cell, clutching them with her tiny hands and poked her nose through. "Robots!" She breathed.

I exchanged a concerned glance with my mom, then looked back to my sister. "No, Melody, the robots aren't here."

I wondered how Starscream was holding up.

The next thing that happened I would have tried to explain some time in the future and knew I would never be able to. Melody, Will, and I were suddenly pushed to the rear of the cell, skidding so fast that I hit the opposite wall and instantly knew I'd have bruises. The cell door exploded. And then we all zipped through the upper levels of the MECH base so fast that everything was just a blur, and suddenly my rear was roughly introduced to the grass outside. It all happened in less than two seconds.

We all staggered up to our feet, too stunned to say anything. We stared back at MECH's base in shock as it burned, part of the roof splintering and collapsing inward.

"Robots." Melody repeated firmly, planting her hands on her hips.

Will looked at me, dumbfounded. "I think we just set a record for the fastest jailbreak ever."

The humans were safe, now to find the cure. I tore apart the base looking for any telltale sign that would point me in the right direction, darting from one room to the next while Seven literally tore the building apart at its seams. Every once in awhile I had to dodge something floating in the air towards me at a blistering zero-point-one mile per hour from things that my clone kept blowing up. He might've been untouchable in that armor, but I had no such protection, other than hyper speed. Ironically, from my point of view, I wasn't fast; the universe was slow. And I loved every minute of it.

"Ugh, where is it?! I don't have all day!" I snapped after poking around through another bare room in the sub-ground levels of the building. I dashed back upstairs and almost stepped on Silas.

I stalked around him, "Ah, MECH's leader. I should really just kill you now, but you still are of use to me." So I casually walked away and relieved all the soldiers of their pulse rifles, putting them in Seven's servo. Then I spirited Silas outside of his base, well away from the other four humans. I snarled to myself, feeling the red energon wearing off already―everything slowly had begun to speed back up.

I resisted the compelling urge to hurl him into the nearest pine and instead, deposited Silas on the ground, transforming out a blaster. I managed to aim it at him just as the world caught up with me.

"Hand me the cure and I might permit you to live." I growled between clenched denta. MECH's leader seemed mildly surprised that he wasn't in his base anymore, but that didn't stop him from answering my question.

"Starscream, in the flesh." He sneered, "In a manner of speaking. You see, that wasn't part of the deal."

"I have not come to bargain, Silas. And you are in no position to be making offers."

"And you clearly are desperate enough to come begging for it, so I would say we're on equal footing."

"Were it not for the fact that I am armed," I snarled. "Give me the cure!"

He crossed his arms, "All in due time, dear Starscream. As for now–"

"Save your little speech for someone who has time on their servos," I spat, annoyed. "Now, either you talk or you dance."

The smug look hadn't left his face, "You actually thought we weren't prepared for this? MECH always anticipates," he flipped out a small device, "I wish there is another way, but…"

"Wait, what is that?" I lowered my blaster nervously.

"… I'm afraid you are the one who is going to dance." He smiled maliciously and flicked a switch on the device. The world suddenly erupted in white.

I stepped out of the ruins of MECH's base, flames that I couldn't feel swirling around me. Massive explosions shook the ground more forcefully than thunder. My double had started to sprint back towards me, but then the ground exploded at his pedes. The Apex Armor protected me, but Starscream wasn't so lucky. He was launched backwards into the air, his wings catching the blast and bringing him even higher.

I watched in shock as he started his descent back to this planet's surface. A fall from that height would surely shatter some vital mechanisms. Then he transformed, sloping down from an uncontrolled freefall into a smooth glide that would win him full marks on any flight test at the Cybertron War Academy.

"NO!" I shouted, chasing after him as he shot past above me. The logical side of me kicked in and I activated my comm link, "Starscream, what is your malfunction?!" I screeched.

"The humans!" came his frantic reply. And suddenly I was tripping over my own pedes, trying to run back to them as explosions rocked the ground.

The feel of the wind over my wings once again left me so euphoric I had to force myself not to scream and do loops. Instead, I allowed myself to let loose a whoop, pushing my thruster to get to the humans before the bombs did. The four of them were enough to deal with as it was, I didn't need even more of them on my servos. It was already messy.

I transformed and landed in front of the humans, who still looked shell-shocked. My heel struts sank into the soft dirt strewn with leaves. I scooped them all into my arms and broke into a sprint, boosting my strides with my thruster while weaving in and out of trees.

"W-what's happening?" Oliver's mom asked, looking up at me as if seeing me for the first time.

"Congratulations, you've been selected to be human sacrifices." I received only blank stares back. I rolled my optics, "You're being rescued, of course! You didn't just think we would leave you to rust, did you?"

"Rot," Oliver corrected. "We're organic, not metal."

"Who's 'we'?" Will asked.

"Seven and I–" I coughed wetly. Will and Oliver's heads snapped up at me in alarm.

"Thank you!" Oliver's mother smiled up at me gratefully from my right servo, oblivious. "I can't tell you how much this means to us—kids, where are your manners?"

"Thanks, Mr. Robot!" Melody squealed happily.

"Thanks," The boys muttered in unison from my left servo.

I stumbled over a rut, "Yes, you're all welcome, now shut up so I can concentrate!"

"Is he always like this?" Oliver's mom whispered to her son. He nodded so wildly I thought his hair had come alive and sought vengeance on his head.

After a couple seconds of quiet, Melody whimpered. "Hot, hot, hot!" The others looked uncomfortable as well, squirming a bit in my grasp.

"What?" I asked, my helm feeling a bit addled. I made the mistake of glancing down at her and was suddenly struck with vertigo. When I looked up, there was a large boulder that had cropped up out of thin air, just waiting to trip me. The four of them flew out of my grasp, landing on the soft ground a short distance away on the other side of the boulder. I shook my helm, leaning against the boulder and shuttering my optics.

"This planet slagging hates me, I swear…" I grumbled, lightly hitting my helm repeatedly against the back of the boulder.

I suddenly realized we were in the same clearing where MECH had took my T-Cog, bolting upright with wide optics.

"Scream, are you alright?" Oliver asked nervously, jogging towards me along with the other humans.

"Don't call me that!"

Will had taken off his red shirt and was straining to examine his back. "I've got burns!" He exclaimed, pulling it back on, "Hey, what gives?!"

I blinked at him in confusion, flicking a clump of dirt off my left shoulder plate. At least, I tried to. "What?"

"Scream, you're sick, aren't you?" Oliver asked nervously. "You never should've come to rescue us!"

I didn't get the chance to answer, as Seven suddenly flew in from above the treetops and transformed, landing lightly with the Apex Armor in his grasp. "Where the frag were you?" he snapped, "I had to do everything myself!"

"Playing tag with light," I growled, "I got the humans, didn't I?"

He set the armor down and tried to grab my shoulder plates to heave me to my pedes, but when his servos came in contact with me he yelped and jumped away, waving them frantically. "What the–"

I looked to Seven, terror in my optics. I tried to stand, but my right leg wouldn't cooperate. None of them appeared to notice.

"You're hot!" Oliver's mom exclaimed, looking to me. All our heads and helms turned to scrutinize her. Her eyes widened and she blushed slightly with embarrassment, "I-I mean you're burning up! Are you okay?" She asked in the worried manner only mothers can pull off.

"Yes, actually. I'm just feeling fantastic." I hit my helm against the boulder so hard it stung. "Never better, just great, thank you for asking." I chuckled, but the laughter wouldn't stop.

"What? What'd I say?" She frowned, confused.

Seven shook his helm, "Never mind that, there will be time for explanations later." My clone turned his attention to me, "Can you walk?"

I bit my lip, "I don't think so. My leg isn't functioning…"

"Which one?"

"Right," I snorted, beginning to feel like I was tipsy.

"It looks fine to me." Will said, ever so observant.

"Walk it off," Oliver smirked. For a second, if I could've reached him he would have been screaming for mercy. But then my perspective seemed to do a somersault and and I suddenly found it hilarious, doubling over as a fit of laughter hit me.

"Oliver!" his mother exclaimed, aghast. Melody wagged a finger at him, planting her other hand on her hip.

"Give me the ground bridge remote," Seven ordered, holding his palm out to me expectantly.

"Why?" I asked, snickering. I didn't know why I found that so funny, but that thought itself only added to the hilarity.

"Scream, just do it already! Please!" Will begged.

I clumsily tugged the remote out of the gap between the layers of my thigh plating, and offered it up to Seven. He made to grab it, but I dropped it and fell into another fit of laughter, gasping for air.

"Hang in there," he encouraged weakly, looking ill himself. My clone opened a portal with the remote and glanced at me, then dashed through without a word.

I retrieved the remote from where Starscream had dropped it, opening a bridge and ran through it without a second thought. Once I was in our base, I hurled the Apex Armor at Bulkhead, who caught it, surprised.

"Where were you?" The green mech asked accusingly.

"We can talk about that later," I answered hurriedly, striding towards the medic.

"What is it?" Ratchet spun around to face me as if reading my mind.

"Starscream, I don't know…"

The medic was in his element, "Knock Out, my medical kit. Now!"

"Am I not coming?" The red mech frowned, tossing him the kit.

"No." Ratchet, Arcee, and I said in unison.

"What is his condition?" Optimus asked, concern darkening his features.

I sighed, "Not good, that's for sure. He was hot to the touch and said his right leg wasn't functioning." I said, "He went off his helm after a minute or so, the fever, I suspect."

Ratchet turned to Knock Out, "Prepare sickbay."

"Way ahead of you," the red mech said. "You know, I used to run my own medical bay!"

"Keep dreaming," Arcee crossed her arms.

"Must you all talk this much?" I spat, drumming my fingers against my thigh plate.

"That's funny, coming from you." Bulkhead shot back. My wings flicked in irritation.

"Are you planning on coming in the next week?" Ratchet huffed impatiently, jerking his helm at the ground bridge.

"Mark your calendar," I muttered and walked through, Optimus and the medic following at my heels.

When we exited the bridge and stepped into the clearing, Starscream appeared to be fine at first. He had reclined more-or-less casually against the boulder, watching us through hopeful ruby optics. The humans stood as close as they dared, and in Melody's case, her mother had to hold her back.

"You four should go," I said softly, closing the ground bridge and opening a new one that led to their house. Well, Will would have to walk.

"What?!" Will exclaimed, "No way!"

"I'm staying!" Melody protested.

"You'd have to drag me," Oliver said resolutely, crossing his arms in defiance.

I snapped, waving an arm, "It wasn't a suggestion! GO!"

The Prime laid a servo on my shoulder plate, forcing me to turn and face him.

"Seven," Starscream said, looking to me as the humans dragged their feet through the bridge, "don't…" he coughed, spraying small flecks of energon. I took a frightened step back before I knew what I was doing, then felt shame burn my faceplates. Optimus then took the ground bridge remote from my grip, which was so tight I had dented the sides of it. "Everything with a beginning ends one way… one way or another…" Optimus closed the vortex just as I opened my mouth.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" I shouted, stepping over to Starscream as my wings flared up. He watched me through wary, dazed optics.

"Will you please!" Ratchet exclaimed, dropping a tool. "I'm trying to focus here!"

The other Seeker looked up to Ratchet and sighed dryly, watching the medic with a bemused air. "Déjà vu?"

The old bot nodded in exasperation, "Yes, I do recall when I patched up your hip."

I sat down, watching my double soundlessly as he watched me. "You know," he began quietly, whether by choice or inability to speak louder, I didn't know, "our positions were once reversed."

"When?" I asked, confused, remembering no such instance.

He tilted his helm back, gazing up at the stars before replying. "The doc here had you hooked up to–" a fit of coughing accompanied by a few wires of electricity wracked his frame, "had you hooked up to life support," he smiled, "no one knew whether you'd make it or not."

I looked away, remembering the time as well, but not from that standpoint. It was a few months ago, when the humans retrieved that scrap of Megatron's metal. My memory went dark in the base, save for a jerking sensation. When I awoke, much later, everyone was crowded around me… I saw what he meant. Megatron had torn me nearly to pieces prior to that and I spent weeks recuperating, with most of it spent on a berth.

"You said it yourself," I added lowly, "I'm expendable. You're Starscream, former leader of the Seeker elite on Cybertron, X-SIC of the Decepticons–"

"Yes, we all know there's a list, isn't there?" He started laughing, but not the good kind that made one want to join in; it had a raspier, sicker note to it, born of delirium rather than humor. It sent chills down my spinal struts.

Ratchet looked to me gravely, "You weren't jesting."

My wings flared up, "Would I really, at a time like this? I can't believe you aren't taking him back to base where we can actually help him," I shook my helm in disbelief and scowled, standing back up.

The medic glanced up at me, "We can't move him until he's regained at least some of his strength. Optimus?"

The Prime seemingly knew what Ratchet needed, handing him a flashlight from the medical kit. The white mech held it up above my double's faceplates, shining it in his optics. "Starscream? Starscream, can you hear me?"

"Like a broken record," he giggled, and tried to push the medic's servo away. Bolts of electricity suddenly wracked his ailing frame and he doubled over, pain contorting his features.

Optimus knelt beside him and laid a servo on his shoulder plate, "Starscream, we are all here for you." He winced as one of the bolts met his servo, but didn't retract it. The Seeker whimpered and drew in on himself, beginning to shiver as the electricity dissipated.

"Yip, ip, ip, hold still." Ratchet urged, adopting a slightly gentler tone as he addressed Starscream.

"Sev, you still here?" He asked, his voice exhausted. I stepped into his line of sight, not bothering to tell him off for the nickname. He laughed sharply, energon bubbling out of his mouth. "I-I thought you were–" he snickered, "that you had left, but you're always h-here–"

"I'm right here, don't worry about me." I said to my double, kneeling down next to him.

"Easy," Ratchet said gently. "Optimus and I are going to get you back to the base. You'll feel better there."

Optimus handed the the remote and I watched as they hefted the Seeker up between them. His left pede met the ground, while his right dragged uselessly behind him. I opened a bridge, and the Prime and medic half carried, half walked Starscream through it, the latter shaking from fit after fit of laughter wracking his chassis, occasionally coughing up more energon. I grabbed the medical kit and trailed behind them, dragging my pedes while freezing terror at the thought of losing him seeped into every vein. The world had turned to glaring ice.

Silas stood in front of the only wall in his base that hadn't crumbled, the one Breakdown's chassis leaned against. He watched it as if it would just decide to get up and walk.

"Sir, are you sure?" A soldier asked from the handful that had survived while all the others watched in silence. "Our resources are virtually nil, and the damage our technology sustained from the attack cannot possibly–"

"Do it." MECH's leader grinned savagely, the scars on his face stretching taut.

"Yes, sir." Came the soldiers' reply.