Glitch watched Blade Runner intently in everything she did and asked as many questions as she could think of... even if they were completely off the cuff. Her new mentor often gave her odd looks but obliged her regardless. Glitch learned a lot about the planet Earth and her own "Cybertronian" physiology, as Blade Runner thought such knowledge to presently be the most relevant. She was a quick learner, and Blade Runner was thankful for that.
Several days passed, and Blade Runner began to realize that her energon supply was not going to last as long as she'd hoped, not with Glitch around. She had no idea one bot could consume so much energon in such a small amount of time, and she didn't think she was trying to be a glutton either. Following each trip to many a small energon pocket, Glitch's energy levels would plummet like a rock off a cliff. Blade Runner wasn't sure whether it had something to do with her lack of stamina, or if it was just a difference in biology. Over time, her endurance seemed to improve, so she hoped to Primus it was the former. But as things were now, they were going to run out of energon before there were any major developments in her body's ability to process fuel efficiently. Glitch began to notice how much energon she'd been guzzling and started refusing it when it was offered to her, even if her debilitation was apparent. But Blade Runner made her take it anyway to avoid her collapsing.
She grew to regret this decision.
Blade Runner stared uneasily at the empty containers of energon sitting beside the refiner. "Scrap..."
Glitch approached behind her and followed her optics downwards. She worriedly glanced back up at her mentor, the stress plain to see on Blade Runner's face. "We'll look for more," she tried reassuring her.
Blade Runner stood still a moment longer, then exited the cave without a word. She didn't know what to do now. She was right back where she started; stranded, no energon, little to no options. She felt like screaming as she ran her hands over the top of her helm. Primus must hate her.
Glitch flinched when Blade Runner suddenly roared and kicked a boulder hard across the ground. She knew she was the one responsible for all the energon running out, so if her companion was angry at something, it was almost certainly her. She wasn't sure whether she should say anything at first and just stood at the mouth of the cave with her optics lowered. Finally, she settled for a pathetic, "Sorry."
Blade Runner turned back to see that the young bot's eyes would not meet her gaze. She sighed and shook her head. "It's not you, Glitch..."
"But this is my fault. I've been such a burden to you." She paused as she fiddled with her hands. "Maybe... maybe I should go..."
All she earned was another head shake from the older femme. "You should never apologize for doing what you need to for survival. Life is your right... just as much as it is mine." Blade Runner turned away again and sat in the tall grass. She stressfully pinched the bridge of her olfactory sensor and clenched her optics shut. "I just... I need to think of a new plan."
Glitch's brows furrowed with concern. Blade Runner always seemed to be thinking; always planning, preparing, studying. But as she looked at her now, she seemed to be reflecting. Having no past of her own, Glitch couldn't even begin to imagine the vast amount of things that a bot could experience in the span of several million years, which was the age that Blade Runner said transformers could live to be. The young fembot regarded her mentor with sympathy. The look in her optics was one of mental exhaustion, the look of one who had seen much. Glitch wanted to be of help, but she wasn't sure what help would do any good.
Blade Runner was surprised when Glitch sat down next to her, pulling her knees close to her chest. After a moment, the pink bot glanced at her, her expression genuine. "Well," she began, "whatever it is, I'll do my best to help with it."
The hesitation that followed was long. Glitch was a unique spark, that was for certain. Usually, no matter who she was with, Blade Runner always felt like she was alone. Like everyone around her wasn't actually there. But oddly, she didn't feel that way right now. Glitch... was a real person.
She hadn't met anyone like that since N...
Blade Runner eventually gave a small smile and pat the young bot on the head. "You're a good kid, Glitch. Thanks." She laid back and looked up at the cloud-covered sky. After a moment she closed her optics and let out a long sigh. "Don't worry about the energon for now. I'll figure something out later. Why don't you do some studying in the meantime..."
Glitch watched as her mentor faded, one moment of allowed relaxation almost immediately slipping her into unconsciousness. Blade Runner truly was exhausted. Grabbing a data pad to access the human databases, Glitch began to do as she was told. But she paused briefly as her optics moved to the energon scanner sitting beckoningly at the mouth of the cave. Maybe she could find energon and bring it back to surprise Blade Runner later. She wanted to help, and energon was what they needed right now.
Glitch abandoned the data pad in favor of the scanner, then picked a direction and started walking. She looked back once at the purple figure laying on the ground behind her.
Let her rest, she thought to herself. She didn't transform until she was sure she was far enough away that the noise from her engine would not wake her comrade. She could do this. She needed to.
Glitch traveled a good long distance before picking up any signals, though they were faint. However, after a bit of digging at the source of a ping, her work was rewarded with a large energon crystal. It admittedly wasn't much, but Glitch was pleased with herself regardless. Despite her desire to move on to the next ping, she deemed it best to return to base camp before her energy levels got too low. She could already feel herself getting tired and didn't want to risk it.
She stopped to rest at the halfway point back and looked up at the sky. It would be getting dark soon, hopefully Blade Runner was still asleep and not wondering where she was.
"Maybe I should've left some kind of message," she muttered to herself. The last thing she wanted was to cause her to worry or believe she had abandoned her. Even though she thought Blade Runner might be better off without her in the long run.
A sound like thunder coming from the sky is what broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up again and got to her feet, suddenly feeling a strong sense of foreboding. The noise grew steadily closer and eventually Glitch could make out several shapes flying towards her in the sky. She squinted her optics to get a better look.
Jet planes?
"Stop right there!" A familiar angry voice suddenly called out to her from the silver jet in the lead. Glitch gasped. Starscream!
Wasting no time, Glitch transformed and sped away, earning a furious growl from the seeker. She wasn't going back, they couldn't make her! She just needed to get back to camp where Blade Runner could help her.
"After her!" Starscream yelled. Within moments, two vehicon troopers zoomed ahead and transformed in front of her path, weapons drawn. Glitch swerved around them, fishtailing and knocking one vehicon off his feet. Red lasers instantly began to whiz past her and Starscream yelled again. "Hold your fire, you fools! Lord Megatron wants her alive!"
Glitch took their brief moment of distraction to drive into a denser forest area, hoping it'd make it more difficult for her pursuers to follow her. It seemed to work, as she didn't see anyone flying above her anymore. But still fearing for her safety, she raced as fast as her vehicle mode would allow back to base camp. When it was finally within her sights, she saw Blade Runner still laying in the grass at the mouth of the cave. Relieved, she transformed and dashed over to her.
"Blade Runner! Blade Runner, wake up!" Glitch hollered and shook her mentor.
Blade Runner subconsciously recoiled at the sudden contact and almost punched Glitch in the face, thinking she was being attacked. Upon seeing who had woken her, she blinked and slowly sat up. "Fucking—" The human swear slipped from her vocalizer. She rubbed her optics tiredly and glared at her companion. "The pit is wrong with you?"
Glitch didn't end up having to answer her question as the rumble of jet engines suddenly reached her audio receptors. Blade Runner instantly sprang to her feet and activated her blaster, Glitch positioning herself behind her. Her face contorted into a scowl as Starscream transformed and landed in front of them, six vehicons following suit and flanking him on either side.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Starscream said derisively. "It appears the ship was not empty after all. But I never would have expected you, Blade Runner. When you didn't return from your last mission, I assumed you had perished at the hands of the Autobots. But it looks as though you turned traitor."
Blade Runner scoffed, keeping her blaster trained on the seeker's head; but the vehicons surrounding him had theirs trained on her. They were no doubt here for Glitch, and the look in Starscream's eyes told her this was a fight he wasn't willing to back down from. She was confident she could take on six troopers, but she wasn't sure if she could do that and defend Glitch at the same time. The pink bot looked ready to run away at any moment, so she knew she couldn't count on her for support.
Starscream continued. "You have something that belongs to the Decepticons. Relinquish her, and I shall allow you to live."
Blade Runner barely allowed herself to consider his offer, and mentally scolded herself for doing so. There was no way the seeker would let her walk, even if she handed Glitch over to him. Besides, what kind of life would that be for her? The life of a slave was no life at all, she knew that better than most. And it was clear from Starscream's words that he thought of her as a tool rather than a person. The thought made Blade Runner sick.
"Threatening me isn't going to work, Starscream," she spoke calmly, though her gaze was as cutting as a knife. "She's a kid. What the pit could you possibly need her for?"
"That is none of your concern," the silver mech spat. "243 is Decepticon property. You would be wise not to interfere."
"Just go away! You're mean and your voice hurts my audio receptors!" Glitch suddenly chimed. "Also that's not my name."
It took all of Blade Runner's willpower not to break her serious demeanor and burst out laughing. But she managed and kept her jaw clenched tightly. This wasn't a funny situation, she needed to pull herself together. "Sounds like Glitch disagrees."
"I will not stand here and take condescension from an inferior lifeform," Starscream growled. "Last chance. Will you relinquish her peacefully, or force my hand?" A challenging grin crept up onto his face. "Please, Blade Runner. Make my day."
Blade Runner frowned. What could she do? Her options were limited, and none of them guaranteed a happy outcome. If Cascade or Ditch were here... She thought and then stopped. But they're not. Besides, they liked being Decepticons. If it were them, they'd just rejoin.
She hesitated as the idea presented itself. Was that really her best course of action? The whole point of hijacking that ship and coming to this planet was to get away from the war and hypocrisy. If she returned to the Cons now, all her efforts, all her hard work would be meaningless. It seemed like right when things began to go her way, the universe threw another hurdle at her as if it wanted her to fail. Did she not deserve a moment of peace at this point? Even after everything she'd done to escape, in the end it just lead her right back to the Decepticons. Were they unavoidable? Is this what her life was destined to be?
She really, really didn't want to do this. But she had to admit, it was the safest, most security-ensuring option.
Blade Runner sighed and lowered her blaster. "Alright, Starscream, you win. But allow me to make you a counteroffer."
"But, Blade Runner—!" Glitch began to object.
"Quiet," she silenced her before she could finish. Starscream gave a look of triumph seeing he would be getting what he wanted, but inclined his head as he awaited her proposal. Blade Runner continued, "Allow me to accompany her and rejoin the Decepticons as well."
"And why would I do that?" The seeker gave her an incredulous frown.
"Glitch is inexperienced. She will need training if you wish to make proper use of her. I don't suppose you had any plans to accomplish that?" Starscream's brows furrowed, but he made no reply. "You know exactly who I am, what I'm capable of. I'm a valuable asset. I can train her."
Starscream put a hand on his chin in consideration. "Persuasive, I'll give you that much." He turned his optics to Glitch, who immediately hid her face behind her visor. "Very well," he chuckled, returning his gaze to the purple fembot. "I accept your proposal; however, getting Megatron's approval is another matter."
"Let me worry about that, Commander," she replied.
Starscream ordered a ground bridge through his commlink, which appeared promptly. He then gestured for the two femmes to enter.
Before Blade Runner could take a step forward, Glitch grabbed her arm. "We can't do this, Blade Runner," she implored, voice lowered. "I can't kill anyone. I won't."
"Glitch," Blade Runner began, voice lowered as well, "I don't like it any more than you do. But if we don't do this, we're probably going to die. Do you understand? We don't have a reliable enough source of energon to be a practical means of survival. Besides, the Decepticons are better than the alternative faction." She paused, sympathetic to the young bot's convictions. She was just as naïve back in her early days; she'd never dreamed she would become who she was now. "I won't make you do anything, but one day you may find yourself in a position where you don't have a choice."
Glitch loosened her grip on her mentor's arm. Everything would be okay as long as she wasn't alone, right? Maybe this was how things were supposed to go.
Blade Runner watched her and eventually received a short nod. She looked to Starscream, who seemed annoyed at the delay, then walked through the swirling vortex with Glitch following close behind.