Optimus POV
The desolate and barren room faded away and I found myself back in my office. I had understood some of what just happened, but not all of it. I want answers, and I want them now! I ran to the rec room as fast as my pedes could take me. I know that's where Autumn and the others are, so that's where I head. I arrive at the doorway an instant before all the other bots on base, including Soundwave and his two cassettes. I stop running to walk in to see that Autumn is calmly talking to Mikaela and Kinetica.
"Soundwave… I need to know if that voice is permanently gone from Autumn's mind." Kinetica requested very seriously as she turned her head towards the mech.
"Affirmative! All Spark requested destruction of hostile persona; Soundwave happily complied!"
It was the first time that I think anyone had ever heard that mech admit to having an emotion.
"Was that thing what I think it was?" Sunstreaker demanded as he and his brother entered the rec room.
"That thing was a second personality inside Autumn's mind. It was formed shortly after she saw her mother murdered by her father. Because she was rendered unable to speak, she was never able to tell anyone about that insidious voice that constantly berated her. After Ratchet healed her ability to speak, poor Autumn had grown so used to living with that voice, that she never mentioned it." Kinetica replied calmly as she placed Mikaela on Autumn's left shoulder.
"Glad that thing is dead then." Sunstreaker said with an angry glare before heading over to get himself a cube of energon.
"Your next session of driving lessons is at 0900 tomorrow morning." Sideswipe said to Autumn before going to the dispenser.
"Don't be late this time either!" Sunstreaker snapped over his shoulder.
"Don't worry! I won't, I promise!" Autumn exclaimed worriedly.
"I'll make sure that she's there." Kinetica said with a smile.
"What is that?" I asked when I saw Autumn lift a cube of very dark liquid and start drinking it.
"Surprisingly, that's a cube of coffee that Kinetica gave her." Arcee told me.
"That can cause serious damage to a frame." I said sternly as I began stepping towards Autumn.
"For anyone else… it would, but I made sure that Autumn hasn't completely lost her humanity by enabling her to enjoy things like that." Kinetica responded.
At that moment, William Lennox and several other soldiers came running into the room.
"Hide, what's goin' on? You and every bot on the island were frozen for over an hour!" Sergeant Epps demanded.
"An hour?! How is that possible?" I asked.
"I don't know! All I know is that you guys were frozen. Completely motionless and then you all came running in here afterwards." Lennox replied.
"Time passed much differently while we were all inside Autumn's mind." Kinetica stated calmly.
"Why were you all in Autumn's mind?" Sergeant Epps asked.
"Because there was a psycho bitch in her mind; telling her that she couldn't trust any of us, and making her life a living hell. Then that psycho bitch took over Autumn's body and tried to attack Kinetica. So we all got pulled in to her mind, and psycho bitch got killed by Ravage and Soundwave after Kinetica opened a bot sized can of genuine Whoop-ass!" Mikaela said smugly from Autumn's left shoulder.
"Okay… what do you mean by 'psycho bitch'?" Lennox asked intently as he looked up at Mikaela.
"Apparently… a second personality was created when Autumn saw her mother murdered right in front of her. That personality has tormented Autumn for years now, and has apparently been degrading Autumn at every opportunity. That second personality has now been destroyed thanks to Soundwave. So… for the first time in her life… Autumn is now free of torment." Arcee stated calmly.
"That's true. Between her father, school, and the merciless voice that plagued her, Autumn has never been free until now. I plan to make sure that Autumn doesn't need to feel terrified of anything else… ever!" Kinetica said firmly.
"Are you sure?" Autumn asked in a soft timid voice as she looked at Kinetica.
I watched as Kinetica lifted Autumn off the bench and placed the worried femme in her lap. She looked down at Autumn with a smile on her face plates. "I am quite positive Little One. You won't have to face that anymore."
"She's not that little!" Mikaela protested.
"Well she is to me!" Kinetica responded while looking at Mikaela with a smug smirk. "She's little, and you are tiny!"
"Only compared to you! Mikaela shot back with a frown.
"That's entirely correct young lady! Both you and your sister are small compared to me, and since the task of protection falls to the largest, I get the privilege of claiming that role."
I could both see and hear the grin in Kinetica's tone and on her face as she said that. At this point I have no doubts that Kinetica plans to enjoy spending time with Autumn. It's clear that she intends to be very enthusiastic in regards to Autumn's protection as well. I can't find fault with that. Autumn is the only sparkling I have seen since this war started… and because of that she must be protected!
Mikaela POV
That poor kid. Autumn is so timid that it's actually very aggravating, but the instant you give voice to any type of anger, she's either running or cowering. The way she acts makes you want to yell at her sometimes, but you know that if you do, you'll only make the problem worse. It really sucks, even though it's the kind of thing that drives you up a wall.
What I saw yesterday shows that I mean a lot to Autumn. I was only being a friend to her. It didn't seem like any kind of a big deal. At least not to me. Looking at this from her point of view is different though. She's never had a friend before, never had someone who would stick up for her, never had someone to confide in, and never had someone to just spend time with. I guess I became that someone. It's a pretty weird feeling to know that someone else thinks you are one of the most important people in the world. Autumn didn't actually say anything like that, but her actions kind of proved it.
What's bothering me though, is that I'm a lot more important to Autumn, than she is to me! Yeah, I'd be a little sad if she got killed, but I wouldn't be a wreck or anything. If something happens to me though? Autumn is going to be devastated… I know it, because I can already see it. I mean… as far as a typical friend goes… Autumn is one I can take or leave. I'll readily admit that she'll be a really cool friend to have, but she's not anything close to being my BFF or anything.
Autumn and I are sisters now too, and I think that kind of changes a lot of things. I know I'm supposed to look out for her since she is my younger sister, but I think we just made a new problem. I think it's going to be a problem, because I think Autumn is going to be very fanatical about me!
From what I understand of things, and I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. All the other bots are made out of a metal that is a lot stronger and tougher than what Autumn is made of. She's also one of the smallest bots here. Okay, so she, Jazz, and Bee are about the same size, but everyone else has weapons and she doesn't. She was still about to jump Ratchet for throwing that wrench. In a serious fight, she'd get ripped apart.
Autumn could and would have gotten killed because she is desperate to keep me as a friend. To me… that is way too intense! The question is… how do I make Autumn stop being so desperate? I don't know, but it won't be easy… maybe mom or one of the other bots will have an idea.
Mom lifted Autumn and sat her back down on the bench at the table. I didn't even have to get a grip on Autumn's shoulder to brace myself because she did it so smoothly.
"You two wait here for me and I'll be right back in a bit." Mom said as she stood up.
I couldn't help but notice that Autumn watched her every move carefully. She was very focused on every step that Mom took. Okay so the rec room is about the size of a large gymnasium; big enough to put a basketball court in. There's six tables with a bench on each side, a couch and several chairs big enough for the bots to use. There's a TV big enough to be the screen at a movie theater, DVD player, and some game consoles that they can use. They also have an energon dispenser and some kind of replicator thing like they had on Star Trek. It doesn't make a whole lot of different kinds of food, but what comes out is good!
All she did was walk across the room to the energon dispenser, but Autumn watched her like a hawk the whole time. Mom came back to the table with two cubes of energon, a big glass of tea and two plates of food. Grilled fish, mixed vegetables and some mashed potatoes. One plate was fixed with all of it, but the other only had a piece of the fish. Mom sat a small tray with the full plate on the table and grabbed me off Autumn's shoulder. She put me down on the table next to the tray.
"Eat your dinner Mikaela. You've had a long day." Mom told me softly before she looked up at Autumn.
"Autumn, I got a small amount of food for you to try. I would have enabled you to eat a larger amount if I could have, but I couldn't manage that without putting you at risk, and that was something I will never do!" Mom said to Autumn as she handed the other plate over.
"That ain't a whole lot o' food." Epps said with a frown.
"He's right. There's hardly anything there." Lennox added with a stern look.
"There doesn't need to be much there! Autumn can only eat eight ounces of solid food per twenty-four hour period, so she has a piece of the fish. Granted, she's been eating better on this base than she can remember, but I will make sure that she gets to sample things she hasn't tried before. Grilled fish is one of those things."
"Wait a minute! Autumn was here before you got here… so how did you end up 'enabling' her to eat solid food?" Lennox demanded suspiciously.
"The way I ended up enabling Autumn to do such things is because I am the one who changed Autumn from the frail young human girl that she was, into the bot that she is now. I have also taken her as my daughter because of that. I will protect Autumn from all threats! Whether those threats originate from a human like you or even Unicron makes no difference! Autumn will be protected!" Mom said in a tone that you can't argue with while she looked down at Lennox and Epps who were now on the table thanks to Ironhide.
I don't know who 'Unicron' is, but the bots sure do, because almost all of the bots flinched when mom said that. I don't think Lennox or Epps know who this 'Unicron' is either, but they know mom is serious.
Sunstreaker POV
I nearly dropped my energon when Kinetica said that she'd even protect Autumn from Unicron! Unlike a lot of human beliefs, I know Unicron and Primus are real. There used to be too many bots who remembered the original Primes. Kup remembers a couple of them. He met them! Bots who were made by Primus himself, and Kup knew some of them.
"I know very well who you are Captain Lennox, but it seems that you don't know who I am. I was the cube that was nearly destroyed in Mission City. I survived by placing my mind and abilities into a small sliver that landed in the hood of the light jacket that Sam was wearing that day. As that sliver, I was able to observe Sam and often Mikaela when she visited him. Later I caused the small sliver that was my remains to fall to the floor in Autumn's room. She was still human at that time. When she picked up what was left of me, I dissolved into her hand. That is when I began changing her into the bot she is now. Autumn is mine now, and I will not allow her to suffer the levels of abuse that she has already endured, because I will not allow her to suffer through any abuse!" Kinetica said vehemently.
"Good! I just wish you could do something for all the other kids out there who are going through crap like that." The human said seriously.
That caught my attention. It caught my attention because it means that Autumn is not an isolated case! More humans are out there treating their sparklings like that? Suddenly, I didn't really want my energon anymore. My brother and I had lived through the Gladiator Pits on Cybertron, and we both hated it, but as bad as that was, at least we were able to fight back. From what I understand, Autumn couldn't!
"I know Captain, I know. Believe me, while being a bot gives me some advantages, there are disadvantages as well. The ability to create a dozen bots in the blink of an eye so that they could be protectors of those children is one of those disadvantages. If I could do something to help the thousands of children who are abused and even killed by their parents and others, I most certainly would. I can't help them, but I was most assuredly able to do something to help Autumn, and I did." Kinetica said sorrowfully as she placed her left hand on Autumn's back.
"Believe me Lady, there are a lot of peoplewho wish they could put a permanent stop to that!" Captain Lennox replied with a shake of his head.
"You can start by naming just about everyone on this island!" Sgt. Epps snapped angrily.
"Start with the teachers, doctors, and police, because they didn't care." Autumn said in a sad whisper.
"Internal Affairs division of Tranquility Police Department conducting thorough investigation in to claims and allegations made by Sterben Mondschein prior to that human's demise. Child Protective Services and Child Welfare Services also under the same level of investigation. Social Services, School District Counselors, and Medical practitioners are under investigation as well. Investigations being conducted by extremely hostile individuals that are irate because most of those allegations have been verified by Autumn Mondschein's medical history. Reduction of incidents of child abuse in Tranquility… foreseeable." Soundwave told Autumn.
"That doesn't help me though, did it?" Autumn muttered.
"No it doesn't, but I will! You are with me now Autumn, and I can promise you that there isn't a single bot on this island who will not do everything they can to stop that from ever happening to you again!" Kinetica assured the femme quickly.
"As long as my brother and I get first slice at the slaggers, I'm happy!" Sides added with a grin as he slid both of his energon powered blades out of his forearms.
I watch Autumn look over at Sides with her optics wider than I thought they could go. I can tell that she is shocked at what she sees. She is also scared of the sight as well. I know that Sides wouldn't do anything to hurt the young femme. I wouldn't either, but I guess she doesn't know that.
"Don't worry about anything Autumn. We'll teach you to drive, so you can leave the fighting to us!" I told her as I primed one of my own swords.
"Those things are even bigger than I used to be!" Autumn whispered in shock.
"Yeah! Dey know how ta use 'em too! So jus relax Lil Lady, we all got ya back." Jazz said with a grin.