Chapter Fifteen:

No Holding Back

He was free and clear. There wasn't a trace of the malware anywhere in his systems. His Spark was pulsing as strong as ever. All of his systems were running at peak levels. Now all that he needed was a clean bill of health. And that would take a bit as the malware did do some damage while it nested and grew inside of him.

But at least Bulkhead was now free from Hydra.

They managed to reclaim Bulkhead, but there was a heavy price that was paid.

Pyrus sat on the floor of the Medbay, cradling her injured program. From what little Ratchet could get out of her, Cerberus was severely damaged and only had limited functions at the moment. There was no way she could possibly repair all the damage that Hydra had inflicted. It knew exactly where to strike. Any more damage and it could have destroyed Cerberus.

"... I don't even know if I can fully repair it…," Pyrus sniffled, "... Hydra knew what it was doing… just as I programmed it… go straight for the jugular when cornered… it was just so savage…," she gently stroked the blob in her arms, "... almost like it was acting on pure instinct… it was always more of a thoughtful predator… but that… I've never seen it behave like that…"

Ratchet had just been sitting there listening to her ramble on. It was really all he could do while he ran diagnostic scans on Bulkhead and kept an eye on Bumblebee's vitals. There was nothing he could do to help her with repairing Cerberus. He didn't understand its coding or even how Pyrus built it. He could fix up a bot no problem, but something like Cerberus was beyond him. It was probably beyond even Cybertronian programmers.

"When you first discovered Hydra, you said that it was damaged. Right?" Ratchet broke his silence, "Could its erratic behavior be due to that?"

She thought for a moment, "Possible… it is pretty broken… missing a lot of code… I was wondering why it was only copying that broken code and not using Bulkhead and Bumblebee's systems to repair and make itself whole again. They certainly have the resources to do so."

"Make itself whole?" Ratchet was confused.

"Remember how I said that it was only a small piece of a larger monster? Well within each part of it lies a piece of coding that can rebuild the whole thing if it were to ever be torn apart. I had one heck of a time dismantling it when I retired it," she looked down at Cerberus, "... I don't know what we're going to do, Ratchet… Cerberus is integral to us moving the Downgrade past Hydra… now…," a few tears fell from her eyes, "... now it's damaged… it's hurt… I don't know what to do…" she began to cry.

Sari had been quietly sitting near Pyrus. It was one of the few times when she could remain silent of her own free will. For all the joy she felt that Bulkhead was cured, she couldn't help but feel extremely sad that Cerberus was injured so badly. Sure it was just a pile of ones and zeroes, but it seems so alive… almost like the Autobots. And Pyrus. Though Sari didn't have a high opinion of her, she still felt so sorry for Pyrus. She looked so defeated as she analyzed how much damage Cerberus sustained. To watch her crying now… after she had been so standoffish and mean… she was vulnerable now. Sari leaned up against Pyrus and wrapped her arms around Pyrus' and gave it a squeeze. Pyrus looked down at her and gave her a weak smile. She must have appreciated Sari's kindness.

"We'll come up with something," Ratchet tried to be positive, "Between you and me, we've worked some miracles today. We managed to purge Bulkhead. Ha, ha," he chuckled, "You gave us only a 36% chance of success. We can do this. We got half of the job done," he smiled, "just one more and you don't ever have to see our faces again."

This got Pyrus to smile a bit bigger, "Didn't know you had a positive bolt in your chassis, old timer. Couldn't tell by the way you've been acting for the last few days."

"Lost most of them during the war, but managed to keep a few over the years," Ratchet laughed.

"I can understand that sentiment," Pyrus let out a heavy sigh, "... Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but that still doesn't help with the problem at hand. Bumblebee still needs to be cured, but we don't have a way to deliver it safely to his Spark… Cerberus can't sustain another attack by Hydra and…," she looked down at her quivering program and began to gently stroke it, "Cerberus can't even react on its own now. It needs me to instruct it for just about everything… so many protocols and internal programs are gone…"

"Don't you have a backup of its program or something?" Sari asked.

Pyrus shook her head, "Cerberus is… it is a very… let's just say that it has 'evolved' since I first created it. It has learned and grown on its own over the years. Yes, I monitor it closely, but… creating a copy… a backup of it is… well… it's difficult… Cerberus is too complex as some of its 'personality traits' are impossible to truly map or even reproduce."

"What about patching it?" Sari asked.

"... are you asking because you're truly concerned for Cerberus or because you understand that it is our only means of helping your friend?" Pyrus looked down at her with sad eyes.

Sari knew she should be honest, "... Both… mostly for Bumblebee… but I am worried for Cerberus too… I mean it did scare me…," she recalled it looming over her menacingly, "But I was smashing your computers… so we're even?" she had to think for a moment, "Anyway," she got back to the point, "It forgave me and it's really nice and super amazing. Seeing it now," Sari leaned over and began to gingerly pat the poor little program, "I feel bad for it. I didn't want it to get hurt… it helped Bulkhead… I wish I could help it now…," she let out a sigh.

"I… appreciate your honesty," Pyrus gave her a smile.

It was quiet for a long while. Nobody really knew what to say. Ratchet just kept busy with scans and assessment of Bulkhead's systems. Pyrus sat in a stupor on the floor with Sari snuggled up against her nearly falling asleep. Optimus checked in on the occasion to see what was happening. Ratchet could only report what he knew. It wasn't much. He had been trying to think of ways to implement the Downgrade, but even he had to admit that using Cerberus made it so much easier. It had been able to take the brunt of Hydra's attacks and protect Bulkhead's systems. He was grateful for it even though he still felt it was an ill tempered program.

"What are our options Ratchet?" Optimus asked.

"We don't really have any at the moment," Ratchet sighed, "We were depending on Cerberus to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Not that Pyrus and I weren't doing anything."

"I never assumed that," Optimus assured him.

"I've been wracking my motherboards for another way to do this… but," Ratchet was frustrated, "I just wish I could go in there and just fight this infernal piece of programming."

"Go in there… fight it…?" Pyrus stirred, "Go inside… Go inside! Of course!" she handed Cerberus to Sari, "Please look after Cerberus for a moment."

"Okay," Sari held the blob in her arms.

"Thank you," she smiled, "Ratchet," she turned to him, "That's it. That's what we need to do. We need to go inside and face Hydra directly."

"Are you okay?" Ratchet was a bit concerned, "I know that Cerberus' damaged state is a blow to you… maybe you should lie for a bit? You've been going for a few days now without much rest. It ain't good for us and even I know that it ain't good organics either."

"I've gone a few weeks without sleeping," she snorted, "Yes it's not good for me, but progress comes at a cost. Tangible or intangible and most of the time it's both. I said it before and I'll say it again," she folded her arms, "I'll rest when I'm dead. Right now I might have a solution. We already have a sturdy foundation and we just need to build upon it."

"What is it?" Ratchet was curious about what she had to say.

"Does your species have Virtual or Augmented Reality? A computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear to be real, making an individual feel like they are in a new and different environment contrary to where they actually are?" she asked.

Optimus spoke up, "We use virtual training in the Elite Guard Academy. We're able to train against opponents and face environments that we normally wouldn't be able to. It also keeps us from hurting ourselves," he added.

"Good. Less explaining," she let out a sigh of relief, "Humans have Virtual Reality or VR as well. It has many uses. Entertainment and Education mostly. I've been experimenting with it to aid me in my hacking endeavors. Using my mind, I can tear through systems quicker than I ever could with just my fingers. It also allows me to have much better control over Cerberus. We work as one to get into places we don't belong or rip to shreds those that invade our privacy."

The little bluish green blob began to wiggle at its creator's words. Pyrus quickly took it from Sari and began to soothe. It had either become very excited or triggered. She just gently stroked it and told it to settle. It seemed to obey and went back to a more subdued state. She gingerly gave it back to Sari who didn't mind looking after it.

"Sorry," Pyrus apologized, "Look. Cerberus is in no condition to fight Hydra again. It can only do limited functions and can't make… rational decisions on how to handle situations. At this point," she looked down at her holographic blob, "It doesn't even know what 2+2 is. However, I can work around that by directly commanding it with my mind. Using VR, I could go into Bumblebee's systems. From there I would be able to 'manually' remove Hydra… though… it would still be a lot to do…," a thought came to her, "... If only I had some help in there," she looked up at Optimus.

"I'm in," Prowl suddenly appeared on the screen.

Letting out a sigh, Optimus said, "Whatever it takes to help Bumblebee, I'm in."

"I don't agree to this," Ratchet protested, "The logistics…"

"I know. I know," Pyrus cut him off, "But as I've been working with… you biological processes if you will… for a bit now. I am beginning to have a really good understanding of how your species functions. I see the integral connections between each system and how they depend on one another to work. Biologically… we're not that different in how we function. What really only separates our species is that you're made of metal and we're made of flesh, but we are so similar in how our bodies work," she pointed out, "I believe that I can match mental wavelengths in order for the VR to work. It won't be hard on your end," she nodded to Optimus and Prowl, "We'll just have to integrate the downgrade into your systems to protect them from Hydra."

"And what about Cerberus?" Ratchet asked, "You said that it couldn't stand another attack. And you just want to send it in there again?"

"That's cute Ratchet," Pyrus smiled, "I thought you didn't care for Cerberus. But here you are worried for its well being. Its really sweet."

"I didn't say I was worried about it," Ratchet snorted, "I will admit that it is useful and was of great help with curing Bulkhead. I also do feel bad that it was damaged so badly," he admitted under his breath, "But here you are leaking your optic fluid all over it, but also saying that you're going to go into Bumblebee's systems with it. Make up your mind."

Pyrus looked down at Sari, "They know and understand what crying is? Right?"

"I've explained it," Sari confirmed.

"Gotcha," Pyrus understood, "Yes Ratchet. I am quite broken up over what happened to Cerberus. It was my fault that Hydra was able to damage it so badly. With that said, I am now also very angry about what happened. I cannot let this stand… I wasn't going to anyway… I can no longer hold myself back," she threw her hands on her hips, "I have to use everything at my disposal."

"You mean you haven't been doing everything you could possibly do this whole time?" Sari gave her a glare.

"I've been occupying my mind with about seven to ten other things," she admitted, "Half of them related to what we are dealing with right now."

"And the other half?" Optimus asked.

"Mostly dedicated to projects I was working on before I was absconded in the middle of the night," she eyed Prowl, "But I now have a few others that have come up… Like how to repair Cerberus and stabilize its coding… I can probably patch some of it with Cybertronian code… That will make it easier to interact with the interface…"

"Oh and now you're an expert Cybertronian programmer," he didn't believe her.

"Not an expert, but I feel that I'm competent enough to use it to enhance my own programming skills," she corrected him, "and be able to write protocols so Cerberus is a bit more… friendly to your systems. I did notice that even though it did not outright attack Bulkhead's systems, it was by no means gentle."

"I noticed that too," Ratchet recalled.

"I have some work to do as do you," Pyrus went over and picked up her computer, "Cerberus," she came and bent down to Sari's level, "I'm going to shut you down for a bit while I make some repairs. Things will be a bit strange when I bring you back online, but it will be much better than it is now. I promise."

It tried to flash, but it more or less just glitched about in Sari's arms. This distressed Pyrus to see her creation in such a state. With a few quick keystrokes, the blob dissolved before everyone's eyes. It didn't drip into a liquid puddle or merge into something like it usually did. It just poofed.

"That was weird," Sari commented.

"I shut it down… and it doesn't have the energy or coding for its usual flare," Pyrus sighed, "Ratchet, I'll be in the main room working on Cerberus. Once I've done all I can, I come back in and we'll begin syncing our systems for a few tests. It should go quickly as we already have many things built and programmed. It's just going to come down to getting everyone synced."

Ratchet let out a sigh as he wasn't going to fight her on this, "Send me the details so I know what I'm looking at and what to prepare."

"I'll do…," a beeping noise interrupted her, "What now? It's high again? I haven't eaten anything that would spike my sugar like this," she growled, "I'll send you something as soon as I take care of my own dysfunctional body."

Her grumbles filled the air as she headed out of Medbay. Sari was quick to follow after. She was still a bit concerned for Pyrus as she did seem unsteady on her feet. Let alone the emotional whiplash that she was exhibiting. All Sari could do was hope that Pyrus' idea would work. She didn't fully understand what Pyrus was going to use VR for or how it could help Bumblebee or how Optimus and Prowl were going to help. In some ways she wished that she had studied a bit harder or maybe inherited a bit more of her dad's technical genius. Sari just sighed as she followed the still grumbling hacker.