REPAIRS COMPLETE/

Please stop blowing yourself up, idiot/

"Ow…"

Uzi grumbled as the CR chamber door slid open. Though her body was repaired, the aches and pains still lingered throughout her frame. "Stupid Mini-Con mass-displacement sequence… stupider small body that can't handle—scrap!" As she attempted to step out of the pod, her foot caught on one of the raised platforms within the chamber, causing her to trip and fall flat on her face.

"Whoa, easy there, Uz. The CR chamber can only be used so many times a day." Slowly, Uzi turned onto her back. Resulting in her looking up to see a classmate, Thad, standing over her with a friendly grin. "I heard you blew up again. Good news—it wasn't as messy as last time. Maybe you're building a tolerance."

"Bite me."

Groaning, Uzi slowly pulled herself up to her feet, ignoring the protests from her servos and joints. She then hobbled over to a nearby chair and practically dropped into it like a sack of energon cubes. "What are you even doing here, Thad? Gonna try changing your alt-mode to something more manly?" she asked, watching as Thad sat down next to her.

"What could be more manly than a pickup truck? Though, I guess an 18-wheeler would be awesome. But where would my trailer go when I transform…" Uzi only half-listened to him, as she focused on her own appearance. Her clothes were battered from the explosion—no surprise there—but at least they were mostly intact. Being an unpopular drone was one thing. Being an unpopular and naked drone was another.

But then, her gaze fell to her arm, and she made a horrifying discovery.

"Scrap!"

Thad jumped at the sudden shout, nearly falling off his chair. He turned to look at Uzi, but when he saw her distressed expression, he sighed. She was staring mournfully at the patch on her hoodie's shoulder.

"I learned how to sew just to get that on! Ugh, now I have to make another one…" She groaned and threw her head back in frustration.

The Decepticon logo still proudly adorned her shoulder, with only a few burn marks marring its otherwise pristine surface. Seeing it displayed so proudly, Thad couldn't help but awkwardly cough into his hand, trying to steer the conversation toward it. "So, that's kind of what I wanted to talk about… your new alt-mode. I mean, turning into a gun? Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Because it's sick as hell?" Uzi grinned, showing off the augmentations that covered her frame. But her grin quickly faltered as Thad continued to look at her with concern. "Oh, what would you know? It's not like I had much of a choice." Uzi turned her head away, crossing her arms and pouting.

"What do you mean? There are plenty of options. We've got the entire database of alt-modes at our disposal," Thad pointed out, only for Uzi to hold up a finger to silence him.

"My body can't handle an actual vehicle form. My frame's too narrow. I can't even fit any wheels on myself," Uzi said, slumping in her seat. "Trust me, I tried."

Thad looked taken aback. He scratched as his cheek in embarrassment as he tried to think of something else to say. "Well, what exactly was so bad about your original alt-mode?"

He jumped when Uzi snapped her head toward him. "Other than the fact I was a laser pointer?" she reminded him, her eyes narrowing. Then, they softened as she turned her gaze forward, towards the door leading out of the medical room. "It's because… do you remember when we learned about the old Cybertron caste system for drones?"
"I'm not nearly as big of a history buff as you are."

That seemed the wrong thing to say, as Uzi gave him a quick side-eye, before she continued speaking. "Before the war, the caste system was all we had. When your alt mode determined your entire life, back in those days, and no one was allowed to change their form. If you were born a trunk, then you are born a worker class. Born a microscope? Science class. Born a camera? Media class."

"I'm sure Lizzy would love to be on camera." Thad smiled as he saw Uzi roll her eyes. "I get what you mean, Uzi. But was it really that bad for everyone? I mean, it must've been kind of nice to not have to worrying about picking what you got to be—just go with the flow of life?"

Uzi huffed and suddenly leapt to her feet, spinning to face Thad. "Easy for you to say. You were born a worker-class drone. You know what I would've been as a laser pointer? A disposable class. Literally, we were drones with no real purpose. No one would've cared if we were decommissioned or recycled. For Primus's sake, they used to bundle us together and sell us at a discount! We weren't even worth the energon it took to power us. I would've been… useless."

Thad couldn't help but wince at Uzi's words. He made a mental note to have someone kick him upside the head for saying something so stupid. He tried to take it mind off it, as he glanced around the room, where several 'motivational' posters featuring Khan, Uzi's father, were displayed. It didn't take a supercomputer to figure out that Uzi had complicated feelings about him. "I guess by making yourself into a gun, you feel better—"

"More than better!" Uzi interrupted, her voice rising with excitement. "As a weapon, I'm a thousand times more useful. With the Mini-Con mass-displacement sequence, I'm basically a walking armament of death. And I work too! I just need a couple of final parts to regulate my power source for longer periods. Then, I'm going to join the war effort. I'll win it, and come back to the colony to show everyone that I helped bring the new Golden Age of Cybertron while showing my dad that I'm not useless… but mostly the saving-Cybertron part!"

"Okay. But…" Thad paused, once more trying to figure the right words to say. "Why? I mean, the war has been going on for like millions of years without you. Why even get involved? we have everything we could want here. Energon is good, and we still got plenty of space. Plus, every time some adults do decide to go to the surface, fewer come back—and when they do, they're super messed up from it. You're dad made the doors to keep us safe, so…maybe you can talk to him about you feeling useless–"
Thad is silenced as Uzi suddenly grabs him by the neck, and begins to strangle him. "No more talking about my repressed emotions or my need for approval from a father figure!" Uzi shouted, shaking the male bot with every ounce of her strength.
"Okay! Okay! Sorry!" Thad managed to choke out the words, moments before he was thrown back into his seat. Uzi then walked out of the medical room, tossing over her shoulder a loud "Bite me!"

No less than three seconds later, she peeked back in through the doorway. "...I'm sorry! I'm not angry with you, I'm just generally hormonal and I get upset when I talk about my personal issues…and obviously the trailer would be like your battle station or like you can combine with it to form a super mode…okay, bye–"

ALERT! ALERT! EMERGENCY MEETING/

COLLECT PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES IN SUB-LEVEL C-3 FOR THE SCHEDULED RIOT/

In an instant, the hall's lights suddenly turned bright red.

"I didn't do it!" Uzi shouted, flinching as if she were caught red-handed in some crime. "Wait, I didn't trigger this alarm." Thad quickly joined her side, rubbing his throat. While he didn't need to breathe, being throttled still hurt. "It said something about a meeting. But what could it be about? Maybe the war is over?" he offered.

"Can't be." Uzi blinked in confusion, her eyes darting to the lights above them, which began flashing in a recognizable pattern. "One-two-three, one-two, one-tw—...This is a code-X security alarm. Only my dad has access to this. Something… something bad happened."

"...like…"

"Like maybe the doors got broken bad."

"...the same doors that are keeping us safe in case anything from the war was to attack us."

"Yeah. The same…"

"Well…that's just prime."

Uzi couldn't remember the last time she'd seen so many drones gathered in one place. It seemed like everyone in the colony had come to hear her father's announcement, crowding the auditorium to capacity and then some. With over 200 drones packed into the room, some didn't even bother trying to find a seat.

"Told you this shortcut was better," Thad said as he and Uzi crept along the top section, weaving their way through the light rigs that shined down onto the stage below. "Couple of us usually sneak up here for free movie nights, but even during Terminator Week, it's never this packed."

Uzi peeked down at the sea of drones, trying to make a headcount. The sound of so many voices blended into a noisy, buzzing echo that overwhelmed her audio receptors, making it hard to focus even on Thad's voice. "I see some from the lower levels," she called out, raising her voice to be heard over the din as they both found a spot to sit. They quickly realized they weren't alone.

"Sup, Thad." Uzi's eyes snapped to the side, her sensors flaring with surprise as two of their classmates joined them. Lizzy, the stereotypical mean girl, and Doll, Uzi's cousin, slipped in beside them. Lizzy nodded at Uzi, looking bemused. "What's with the Decepti-creep? Did you throw her a treat, and she started following you?"

"Bite me!" Uzi shot back immediately, glaring at Lizzy and Doll as they squeezed into position on her left, with Thad sitting on her right, boxing her in. She squirmed, resisting the urge to just launch herself into the crowd below if it meant getting away from this group huddle. "What are you even doing up here?" she muttered.

Lizzy smirked, holding up her Hasbro-branded datapad, which displayed a message notification. Uzi's eyes narrowed, putting two and two together as she turned on Thad, elbowing him in the arm. "You invited them?" she hissed, scandalized.

"Hey! Quit it, they deserve to see what is going on too." Thad said defensively, rubbing his arm. "Besides, of all drones, Lizzy is best when it comes to getting the word out. If this is big news, we gotta make sure everyone hears about it." Uzi sighed, sinking back into her spot, as part of her knew that Thad was right. Though she didn't have to like it.

Despite everyone else speaking Cybertronian, Doll spoke Russian, a human language, saying, ""

Uzi was about to protest, insisting that it couldn't be that serious, but she was silenced by Lizzy's hushed whisper, "Shhh! It's starting." With a purr of T-cog, Lizzy leaped up and transformed, a hand-held video camera lands perfectly in Doll's outstretched palm.

"How the hell did you get my Mini-Con mass-displacement sequence—you used to be as big as a movie camera?" Uzi demanded, glaring with absolute murder in her eyes towards the two.

"" Doll replied, smugly smiling as she began recording.

Uzi was tempted to lunge at the pair, but she was stopped as her father, Khan, strode onto the stage and stood in front of a podium, his usually upbeat face etched with worry. His visor was fogged with sweat, and his usually pristine mustache was askew. A uneasy silence fell over the auditorium as all eyes turned to colony's leading man. "Show time." Lizzy whispered within her camera-form.

Clearing his throat, Khan looked out to all the drones before him. Knowing that many more resided out of the room. "Fellow drones," He began, his voice grave, "I would first like to begin by thanking you all for coming here." Uzi was shocked to hear her father, Khan, speak in such a serious manner. "I know that this is very sudden, and I am sure you were all busy, but it is of the utmost importance that you all hear about this."

A drone from the crowd shouted, "Is it about the doors? Did something happen to them?"

For a moment, Uzi saw a glimmer of her father's usual, more lighthearted self. "Oh no, no. They're perfectly in tip-top condition. In fact, we were in the process of reinvention–that's right everyone–plans for a fourth door!"

The sound of Uzi's palm slapping her own forehead is overshadowed by the sound of awe that rippled through the crowd at such news. "But such plans are put on hold." Khan's tone quickly shifted back to seriousness. "To put it plainly, our Energon chip—the tool we use to recycle our Energon has broke."

Silence filled the room for a few seconds as everyone seemed to take in the news, broken only to be broken up my a torrent of panicked voices.

"What do you mean it broke?"

"Oh Primus, are we all going to die?"

"We must start the ritual sacrifices to Primus!"

"Someone think of the protoforms!"

"People, people!" Khan's voice boomed, silencing the crowd. "Let's at least hear the full story before we conduct a full panic! I mean if we are gonna do it, let's do it right and with the full context." A crowd swiftly silenced as chorus of agreement rose from them. Many put away their pitchforks and torches, and apologized for their over eagerness. "The chip seems to have broken from overuse," Khan explained. "Which honestly, we should have expected. It's been in use since before the war, and even ran while we were in stasis during most of it. It was bound to happen."

He shook his head, in complete and total shame. "I had some of our best engineers did their best to try and fix it, but this is a problem not even duct tape can fix." Many gasps among the crowd could be heard. "Not even glue." Uzi swore she saw someone faint.

"I am sure this worries each and everyone of you. This certainly changes how we live when it comes to Energon. From what I—and others smarter than me—could tell if we ration each and every bit of energon, right down to if every bot only takes a single cube a week, we could at most last at least another century." Khan said. A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd. Some seeming optimistic and thinking that it might actually be possible. "They then told me, more realistically, we would last—at best—two months." There is silence once more from the crowd.

"You may now, panic."

The crowd erupted in chaos.

"Two months!"

"Just kill us now, and get it over with!"

"The sacrifices could maybe bring more energon!"

"Will someone think of the protoforms?"

"Wait!" A drone stepped forward from the crowd, addressing Khan. "There must be something we can do. Isn't there a replacement, or something like it? Maybe it just needs a new part or something."

Khan's face lit up with a smile. "I'm glad you asked. You're right. There is a chance." A cheer from the crowd is hear. "But it requires someone to go out of the colony to either find a replacement or a replacement part. Cause we have nothing here for it." A hush fell over the crowd.

"So," The same drone that stepped forward spoke up again. "We either die here or we die out there?"

"Yes," Khan said, seeming to drag the word out as he thought about it for a moment. "That is about it. As I am sure you all know that the war is out there. As we know, the bots out there are not satisfied with just killing our wives…they also simply wish to kill any of us that they see for some reason. Now, let's remember to be civil as we talk about the collapse of our little civilization. I say, we vote on it!"

The crowd cheers at the idea, as a projector screen rolls down behind Khan with someone in the crowd transforming into a Projector, showing the different choices for how they could all lose their minds. Ranging from sacrifices, to gladiator death matches, to even their own civil war. "We'll start with a campaign, and a selection of parties, with each choosing their representative—"

Uzi looked down to her her father and the crowd, seeming shunned after having listened to the news. She needed a moment just to process what this could mean. The colony was crumbling, its inhabitants terrified and desperate. Life as everyone knew it was coming to an end as the fear of starvation from lack of energon became truly real for the first time in millions of years. It was time for a new direction, time for new leadership.

It was the perfect opportunity for her to escape her mundane existence and join the Decepticons. She would be the one that brings the aid of the Cybertronian freedom fighters to everyone. Giving her the chance to change—No.

To transform from a useless nobody within the colony, to a hero.

It would be all too perfect.

"Uzi," Thad pleaded, "please stop diabolically giggling to yourself while the adults are organizing the collapse of our society."

But Uzi was lost in her fantasy. She imagined herself leading the colony to a brighter future, a savior rising from the ashes. A living legend. A Point One Percenter. A living God.