Hey all! Yes indeed, it's an update!! Excited, I know, so am I! I promised an update sooner rather than later, and although I'm still a little off track, here's what I can give you for now. Now, I've mentioned recently that I will be thanking you guys properly for your reviews, and here it is!
GrimlockX4: Yeah, I think we all knew where Wheeljack was going to go wrong D I guess the only way to find out more is to keep an eye out!
AccessBlade: I definitely can't wait to laugh at them too!
FordB: I've been wondering where you've been! That's okay, I've been busy too. It's hard not to be these days.
the-human-error: Assuming that the Autobots do get their bodies back (wink) we could use a little payback on the Decepticons... perhaps... And I did promise that there would be romance, and I intend on keeping it, unfortunately it's just taking a lot longer than I thought to get there. And thank you so very much for your comments! Words like that are inspiring to keep authors in their groove!
I'm going to start doing that with every chapter, so keep any eye out for my updates and make sure to let me know what you think of my story!
Also, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, I've started another story which is called: Project Seven: Living with the Witwicky's
I've been thinking about sacking it because it's dragging a little bit, but I figured that it needs to keep up the middle part between the months of living at the Witwicky's and living at the Dam.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. I own Cat and Five... And Rotten.
--
"She's right..." Ratchet let out a sigh, "Our sparks are slowly being converted into these holograms..."
Wheeljack mentally scolded himself for making such a mistake. Now, not only were they changing into their human hologram forms, they had no idea how to reverse it safely.
"Why don't we just try a full reversal?" Cat asked, overlooking the blueprints on the lab's mainframe.
"It could overload the projectors, and our sparks could combust, that's why," Ratchet explained sourly.
"...So why not just reverse it slowly? If we slow down the rate at which the spark matter is being transfered, and then bit by bit reverse the process, why wouldn't that work?" Cat asked.
"Let's not do anything rash at the moment Cat. We need to anaylize what we're up against before trying to solve the problem," Optimus replied.
Cat shrugged, "Just trying to help."
"We shouldn't have all done this at once... We should have just tried it out on one of the twins..." Ratchet scolded himself as well.
"Hey!" The twins yelled.
"How long until the sparks fully convert?" Optimus asked.
Wheeljack's hologram and Cat sat at the mainframe computer interface as they both imput the numbers.
"Three days worth of the Earth's daily cycles," Wheeljack replied.
"So you're saying that if we don't find a way to convert back to our shells... We'll be humans forever?" Sunny asked.
"No, not forever," Cat replied, keeping her face straight at the mainframe's giant screen monitor.
"How long then?" Sideswipe asked.
"Well... Human males usually live for about eighty years or so..." she tried to make a joke out of it, but realized too late how not so funny it was. She smirked and then looked back to the human versions of the Autobots and saw death glares painted on each one of their faces, with the exception of Optimus, who was shaking his head.
"Sorry..." Cat stopped smirking and turned back to the computer screen.
"We can't stay humans! I don't want to be a squishy forever!" Sunny made an outburst.
Cat was the one to turn her face into a death glare as she shot the look back to the blond man, "You want me to show you just how squishy we can get?!"
"Enough! Ratchet, I want you, Wheeljack and Cat to try and figure this out," Optimus ordered as Ratchet nodded, "The rest of us will just have to figure out how to... be human..."
"You say that like you have a bad taste in your mouth, Optimus," Cat smirked.
"This is something that's going to take a while to get used to..." The Autobot leader replied.
"Don't worry, we'll figure this out. I won't let you guys stay this way," Cat tried to cheer the group up a little.
"Let's hope so, Cat," Optimus patted the girl on the shoulder before leaving, Prowl following close behind.
"I still say we slow the converter and then try a reversal," Cat said.
"Optimus is right. If we try anything too rash now, it could end up being a catastrophe. We need to take precautionary steps in order to make this right," Ratchet explained.
"I apologize. This is all my doing... I shouldn't have rushed through the schematics," Wheeljack sighed heavily.
"Aw, don't ya worry, Jack. I'm sure we'll have this all straightened out in no time at all!" Jazz gave his usual cheery smile.
"Besides, it's not your fault... It's mine..." Cat said quietly.
The group looked to the girl, "How do you figure that?" Ratchet asked.
"If I hadn't told you about the projectors, Wheeljack wouldn't have taken an interest in them," she explained.
"Let's stop blaming ourselves and start fixing this, shall we?" Ratchet said gruffly.
Cat and Wheeljack nodded as they continued looking over the blueprints.
"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can relax," Ironhide encouraged.
There was a pause in silence before a small growl could be heard. Cat stopped her typing into the keyboard and looked to Ratchet, who looked almost as if he were blushing.
Cat stood up and smiled, "Well we've got two things to take care of now."
"What's that?" Bluestreak asked.
"I need to find some information about the projectors, and we need to see what you guys can handle eating for now."
--
"Optimus," Prowl's monotone voice called out to the Autobot leader.
Optimus turned and waited for Prowl to approach, "Yes?"
"Optimus, I have to object to either Ratchet or Wheeljack working on this issue," the security officer said.
"And why is that?" Optimus asked.
"Tell me Optimus, can you access any of your main systems? Access the Earth's World Wide Web even?" Prowl asked.
"Of course I can, I-" just to prove that he could, Optimus tried to activate the internet capabilities but found that there was a return error in his databanks, "... I suppose I can't..."
"My point exactly. Wheeljack is already notorius for creating problems, but if he cannot access is own databank system, then he is more than likely to make more mistakes. Ratchet seems to have his logic processor in the right order still, but without access to his normal systems, he could be lacking his normal attributes."
"I see... And what do you suppose we should do about this?" Optimus couldn't deny that Prowl had made a good point.
"Catherine certainly seems capable of taking care of this. After all, she's the one who caught this oversight in the first place. Perhaps we should leave this in her and the human scientists capable hands?" Prowl suggested.
Optimus considered Prowl's suggestion for a moment. Cat may have been capable, but she couldn't do this alone. The human scientists were probably capable as well, but they didn't have experience and knowledge of Cybertronian systems like Cat had, and she wouldn't have the time to explain and teach them everything that they would need to know in three days. On the other hand... If he left Wheeljack and Ratchet with her, the knowledge that they had retained over the course of their lifetimes may not be put to good use, and they may very well make a mistake that leads to this problem getting worse, or irreversable.
Optimus sighed and replied, "I understand Prowl. However, Cat won't be able to do this on her own. We need a redundancy system, and even if Ratchet and Wheeljack can't access their main databanks, they still have their experience to help them out. If Cat were to make a mistake, then she would need one of them to catch it before it becomes a problem. The same goes for Ratchet and Wheeljack."
"I see. Yes, I suppose you're right. I only wonder if this problem can be solved..." Prowl addressed his concern.
"I worry about that as well. But all we can hope is that we're in the capable hands that we believe we're in," Optimus replied.
Prowl only nodded in response.
--
"Why are we eating these tiny circles again?" Ironhide bellowed, holding a small cheerio up to his face, making a sour expression.
"If you guys are just starting out eating organic foods, then you need to start small. This will be the first time that you've ever eaten anything and your digestive systems will be as soft as a newborn infant's. If you try eating something too solid, there could be drawbacks," Cat explained, trying to encourage her friends to start slow.
"I'd prefer it if we were working on getting back to our old bodies..." Ratchet grumped.
Cat made a confused face and looked at the medic, "Being in medicine, you should know that humans have to eat for energy to do things like concentrate on big projects like that. If you don't eat, you'll lose energy, and you'll have to listen to your stomach growl for three days."
"...I suppose you have a point," Ratchet replied.
Cat smiled, "I know I do! Now. Take one of these little guys and put them in your mouths and chew on them slowly. When it's grinded down to practically nothing, you swallow it."
Cat demonstrated by popping a small, single cheerio in her mouth and exaggerating the motions of chewing and then swallowing what was left. The "Autobots" looked at the small circles and they started on eating them one by one.
And of course, chaos ensued.
"No, no! Not like that Ironhide! You chew on them, not pound them with your fist!"
"That's your nose Sideswipe! Don't put it in there! Better yet... let me get you some new ones..."
"You don't eat the box, Blue!"
"It's okay to eat, Ratchet, I promise!"
"Come on, Jack! Haven't you ever heard don't play with your food?!"
As soon as they all started to eat them the right way, Cat sighed and trekked out of the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Ratchet asked as he munched on a few more little pieces of the crunchy cereal.
"I told you. I have to work on the projectors," Cat replied as she left.
--
Cat arrived to the training basemen facility and walked straight up to the command booth where the projector computer systems were. She sat down at one of the computer consoles and sighed.
"There has to be something in here that will tell me more about the projectors!" Cat grumbled to herself as she sat and typed away.
It was nearly an hour before Cat was about to give up. Her fingers were sore after typing for such a long time, and her back and neck were in need of some stretching after having to crane to be in the position of sitting at a desk for so long. She leaned back in the chair and put her head entirely back, with her hands over her face. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, feeling like she had cleared out her lungs of exhaustion. She was about to get up and leave when her eyes caught something on the computer. She turned back to the computer screen and hunched over it, thinking that it was just her imagination.
But there it was. A file marked "CREATORS OF PROJECTION SYSTEM".
Cat sat back down at the computer and opened the file. She was nearly elated to find such a critical piece of information. If she could get a hold of one of the guys that actually put the original projector together, she might find some answers that she wouldn't have found otherwise. When the folder finally opened, Cat's hopes fell to the ground. There was only one name there, and it didn't provide any contact information. 'Brett Craft' was the name.
Cat sat back in her chair again and groaned loudly, "This wild goose chase thing is getting old!"
"Cat?" The girl swiveled around in her chair, startled, as she saw the concerned faces of Optimus, Ratchet and Wheeljack.
"Hey... What are you guys doing here?" Cat asked as she turned back towards the computer.
"We were wondering the same thing about you. We thought that you would be in the med bay," Wheeljack explained as they walked into the room. They were looking around a bit, this being the first time that they were human-sized and able to look around this small command center themselves.
"I thought that maybe the assholes who created this stuff could give me a little help from the notes that they made from building them," she explained.
"Any luck?" Ratchet leaned over to look at the computer monitor that Cat was staring into.
"Just a name, but nothing to go with it. No phone number, address, or even an email address that we can write a letter to," she looked to Optimus, "Do you think that you could call... someone... and get the information we need from this name?"
Optimus looked down to the girl and smiled, "Do you mean you would rather me contact Keller instead of you having to do it?"
"...Yes... Yes I do..." Cat looked back to the computer screen acting as if the name of Keller didn't bother her.
Without Cat's knowledge, Ratchet gave Optimus a quiet shove and smirked, pointing down to Cat and crossing his arms.
Optimus cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry Cat. But I already have enough things to do to keep me busy. You're just going to have to call him yourself."
Cat looked back up to the Autobot leader's hologram, the smirk on his face evident, "You can't take ten minutes to make a phone call to get a name out of him?"
"If the task is so simple, then why not do it yourself?" Ratchet asked.
"Because I'm already busy down here!" Cat tried to reason that she was already putting effort into fixing this situation.
"I'm sorry, Cat. You're just going to have to do this yourself," Optimus and the other two left the room, leaving the astonished Cat in their wake.
--
The phone was sitting quietly on Cat's dining room table. Just sitting there ominously.
Cat stared at it from across the room. She was sitting on her knees on the couch, turned backwards with her hands on the back of furniture. She stared at it as if it were a time bomb about to explode, bunkering behind the couch. Her fingers tapped against fabric in a nervous fashion. Rotten was sitting on one of the couch cushions, looking at Cat with a cockeyed expression.
She really didn't want to do this...
"This is stupid!" Cat shot up from the couch and walked over to the phone, "It'll just take a minute. I won't have to talk to him long!"
She started dialing the numbers into her phone before hitting the off button and throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.
"But then he's going to want to ask questions about 'how I'm doing' and 'making sure everything is going all right for me'! I don't want to chat! I just want information and to be done with it!" she walked through the living room and looked out the windows of her apartment, her eyes scanning the mountainous regious all around her. The orange rocks were bright and colorful in the sunset. Cat sighed and brought the phone back up to dial the numbers, only to be stopped by someone knocking at the door.
Cat swirled around and ran for the door telling herself 'Someone's here to waste time - I mean talk! I can't possibly call Keller when I have a guest!' Rotten followed her with a cheery jaunt, always excited to see more people.
She, all too happily, opened the door, swinging it open upon its hinges, a smug gring plastered on her face.
Jazz, Ironhide, Bluestreak and the twins stood at her door. The little Rot pup sprinted out the door to the human forms of the Autobots and jumped at Bluestreak. The "mech" absent-mindedly picked up the little dog, rubbing at his floppy ears.
"Ah! No doubt you have a question about how to be human?" Cat asked cheerily.
"Uh... Yeah..." Jazz answered, looking even more confused as to why Cat looked so excited.
"Ask and you shall receive! I am your guide to your inner human!" she waved them all inside, "Please, do come inside and have a seat! Tell me all about it!"
The five of them stepped inside the apartment and they sat down on the furniture. Cat closed the door behind the last one in and sat with them. Bluestreak set Rotten down on the floor so he could run to each one of the new humans to smell them and yap to his little heart's content. Rotten loved having people in too.
"Do you guys need something to drink?" Cat asked in a kindly hostess manner.
"No," Ironhide answered.
"Something to eat? Obviously the cheerios worked out well for you," she offered.
"No thanks, Cat. We just had a question about-" Jazz started.
"Are you completely sure? I've just made a fresh fruit salad, maybe this a good time to test out your taste buds and-"
"We just had one little question is all!" Sunstreaker growled.
Cat stopped her badgering and asked, "All right. What's the question?"
"Well... Not long after we had those small circles to eat and the necessary liquid refueling, we all felt something strange," Jazz started.
"Strange? Strange like how?" Cat asked, she stopped looking so cheerful and hopeful for something to do and now felt as if she needed to help her friends in need of something important.
"We're feeling a strange pressure in our lower abdomens... Feels funny, and we can't focus on anything else or walk for long distances without the pressure getting worse."
"Pressure? You mean you-" Cat didn't need anymore information. She knew what this was and sighed, "You need to go to the bathroom... I'll call for Peterson... This sounds like something he should handle for you guys..."
"Why can't you help us?" Ironhide asked.
"Because it... You're... I don't know either!" Cat said frustrated as she walked over to the little directory that was left for her to have the numbers to reach most of the areas of the facility.
They stood up and walked over into the kitchen where Cat was looking for the number to reach Peterson. Rotten had taken a good hold on Sideswipes pant leg and was growling a puppy growl and shaking his head back and forth to attempt to rip the pants.
"Hey!" Sideswipe grabbed for the pup but Rotten had already fled away from being caught.
"But you're human aren't ya? Isn't this something that all humans do?" Jazz asked
Cat blushed, "Well it is but... Well... It's different for you guys!"
"Different? Different how?" Hide asked.
"I... It... You guys are... Guys! And I'm not! Therefore, different!" She tried not to act taken back at their request, but it was rather hard not to.
"There's differences for human males and human females?" Bluestreak asked.
"Oh I get it!" Jazz suddenly realized something.
Cat looked to Jazz with a foreboding look on her face, as if she didn't really want them to know the differences because it was one of those unspoken rules that something like that wasn't mentioned. Normally because humans knew what they were supposed to do in these situations and didn't require assistance, but even in this case Cat felt it was better left to the medical professionals to deal with it.
"You do?" Cat asked.
"This has to do with that whole human reproduction thing doesn't it? We had some questions about that too!" he asked with a knowing smile on his face, as if he was the kid in the class that had answered the question correctly after raising his hand to the teacher.
Cat's already red face blushed even further. She said nothing in response to Jazz's question but dialed the number to the med bay quickly, "Peterson? I'm sending the... guys... down to you... They have a few questions for you..."
--
With that problem solved, and the boys' having gone down to the medical bay to get their little problems taken care of, Cat sighed and picked up the phone again. She dialed the number, and this time she didn't hang up.
The phone rang several times, Cat hoping that she would get the answering machine or someone just wouldn't pick up.
To her dismay-
"Hello, Secretary Keller's office," The sound of Jennifer, Keller's secretary, picked up.
"Uh... Yeah... This is Catherine Andrews. I need to speak with Keller..."
"Hold on just a moment for me Catherine," she transfered the line. Cat laid down on the couch while she was listening to the notorious "on hold" music.
"This is John," Keller picked up the line.
"...Keller? It's Cat..."
There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone, "Well, now!" he sounded surprised, "I never expected to hear from you! What can I do for you young lady?"
"Well I have some problems, and I need you to find out some information for me," Cat explained.
"Oh? What sort of problems?"
After a few minutes of an explaination, Cat finally ended her story with, "So I need you to find out who this "Brett Craft" is so we can ask him some questions about how to fix this mess."
"That is a problem... I'll do what I can, but if we've lost any employment information on this guy during the destruction of the Dam's facility, we may be at a certain disadvantage," Keller explained.
"I don't expect much really. Just do what you can, we don't have much time to play with here," Cat explained.
"Yes, I understand. I'll make quick work of this and have an answer for you by tomorrow morning," Keller answered seriously.
Cat was hoping that this was the end of it until she heard, "Is everything all right otherwise? Are you adjusting well since that attack in your apartment?"
Cat scowled, "Yes... Everthing's fine..."
"Well, all right then. Let me know if there's any other problems or if there's something I can do to help otherwise," Keller replied.
"I will...Thanks..." Cat hung up the phone.
Closing her tired eyes, which were heavy with the need for sleep, Cat let herself drift off a little when the phone rang once more. She picked it back up and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Cat?" a familiar voice asked.
"Hey Bee... What's up?" She asked.
"I was wondering if there was a problem," he sounded worried.
"Problem?"
"I've seemed to have lost communications with the others, and was wondering if you could tell me anything about this," The brit-sounding voice sounded concerned.
"Oh right... you haven't heard yet..." she sighed, "Where do I begin?"
--
Chapter Teaser!
Cat gets a call back from Secretary Keller and is informed that they've found someone by the name "Brett Craft". But for some reason the only address they've found is out in the middle of nowhere. What reason could there possibly be for someone living so far out of the way of society? Cat decides to take a trip out there on her own, but what awaits her? And who's going to watch over the Autobots while she's gone?