Chapter Ten: Light Show
Moving through the hallway with purpose, Silas waved off his guards, annoyed at their hovering. God, he needed a drink.
With a determined push, he swung the heavy door to his office wide open, the sound echoing off the walls. As he stepped inside, he slammed it shut with a forceful thud, ensuring the lock clicked securely in place. The room was dimly lit, filled with the rich, warm scent of polished wood and leather.
He walked over to the drinks cabinet, the polished surface gleaming under the low light. Silas selected a crystal tumbler and meticulously poured a generous measure of bourbon, watching as the amber liquid cascaded into the glass. Lifting the tumbler to his lips, he took a slow, savouring sip, feeling the warmth spread through him—its smoothness momentarily easing the tension that had built up throughout the day.
Silas ambled over to his fish tank, a rectangular glass enclosure that glimmered under the soft glow of the lamp above. He watched the vibrant aquatic creatures glide gracefully through the water. It was a somewhat pitiful sight, the way they swirled in never-ending circles, oblivious to the world outside their watery realm.
Yet, for Silas, there was a twisted sense of satisfaction in it all. He found an odd comfort in knowing that with just a simple flick of the off button on the air filter, those fragile little lives would blink out in a matter of days. The thought of their dependence on him was both amusing and exhilarating—it made him feel powerful, as though he held life and death in the palm of his hand. Each tiny fish, with its shimmering scales and naïve trust, was a reminder of his control over their fate, and that realization brought a smirk to his lips.
Something moved in the reflection of the fish tank.
As the glass slipped from Silas's grasp, it shattered on the ground, sending shards scattering in all directions. Startled, he whirled around just in time to see a heavy pipe arcing through the air toward him. Before he can react, the cold metal connected with a sickening thud, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Two Weeks Earlier…
Crawling through vents was a familiar pastime for me. The enclosed metal passage made manoeuvring around buildings far easier than going in guns blazing. I could even gaze upon the wandering underlings that moved through the hallways below me—or to my side. The air ducts went all over the place. There had been some pointedly boarded-up vents, so I was forced to take a detour more than once under Virgo's guidance.
"=This is bullshit=" I grumbled.
Virgo snorted on the other side of the commlink, "=And I'm as glad as ever to be the guy in the chair. Oh, take this left.="
I rolled my eyes and followed his instructions, being mindful of the vent opening below me. Too much weight and it would fall. I did not want to alert MECH that I was here. The bastards were all over the place, wandering and patrolling hallways as if anyone would actually try and break in every other minute.
It was embarrassing. Or maybe Silas had them on high alert.
Maybe Silas was expecting retaliation from me. Huh. Good point.
"=You'll be approaching the room now. It's the next floor vent=" Virgo reported. "=From camera footage, there shouldn't be anyone inside and won't be for another ten minutes. Better hurry.="
I curled my fingers into the slots of the vent cover and dislodged it, sliding the vent open. With a grappling, I drove headfirst into the room, turning and landing feet first.
Unclasping the hook from my waist, I dropped into the spin chair and shoved the USB into the computer. The screen lit up, and Virgo did his work of hacking into it using the virus the stick uploaded automatically.
I watched the screen absently as pop-ups came and went faster than I could read them.
"=Any problems?="
"=Negative, everything's going to plan. Downloading identifications, reports and locations now=" Virgo reported, "=Keep an eye out. This will take a few minutes.="
"=Understood.="
I stood and wandered the room. There wasn't much in here—it was just an office—a plain cream-walled office with some high-quality computers to store all the information—information that was going to be all ours now.
Finding the right hideout to sneak into was more complicated than it looked. The previous five had all been duds. They had nothing of value beyond that base-specific information. Still useful but not much in the long run when we needed more than just a single base's daily operations. But they had given other locations too, so I suppose they were useful…
"=Approaching soldier=" Virgo hissed, "=Turn the scream off!="
I darted back to the computer and pressed the monitor button, turning the screen black. I ducked behind the door, where there was just enough space with a bookcase sitting close to it.
The door swung open with a creak. The man stepped inside.
Virgo continued to type away on the other side of the commlink, and I used the heat vision in my helmet to watch the guy walk into the room and to the cable, eyeing the cable. He reached for his walkie-talkie, and I threw the door closed, shooting a small tazer at him with what Soma had comically referred to as the widow's bite. The design waslifted from the Marvel universe after an evening of drinking.
To be fair, it was effective and efficient.
The guy went down, and I closed the door again.
"=I don't know if that guy's got to be somewhere soon or report in, better speed it up, Virgo=" I unapologetically apologised.
Virgo sighed, "=Almost done. Sixty seconds.="
I mentally calculated before Virgo gave the go-ahead to remove the USB. I hooked myself back onto the cable and zipped up to the vent, crawling in and slotting the vent cover back into place.
I groaned quietly with realisation, "=Damnit, gotta backtrack so far.="
Virgo sniggered in my ear, "=Such a hard life.="
I smirked.
The problem with having already set up in the NEST base was that Soma had to be cautious about who overheard his conversations with Zelda. No one knew. He suspected Logan and Eden might but neither had said a word so that was up for debate.
What Soma was more hesitant about were the Autobots.
Look, he liked them—they had made a great first impression, but he could also see that Zelda's absence had a…particular effect on them.
Soma knows about the whole AllSpark thing, he won't claim to understand it, nor does he want to question it. Witchcraft, is what he says, something otherworldly—which it was. The AllSpark and its implication didn't make any sense to him in the grand scheme of Earth things, but he accepted it, okay?
Ratchet had already made a connection to that weird anomaly in Zelda and Aria's genetics relating all the way back to their ancestor Archibald, who, upon touching Megatron, had gotten more than the AllSpark's location zapped onto his glasses. Archibald had been transferred nanites that over time came to camouflage themselves in their bloodstream.
Soma was sure everyone in the Witwicky family line had these nanites.
But it was the reason Zelda was still here, and while the loss of everyone else was hard…
Soma pushed it aside. He had no desire to think about that. Not now, not ever. He wasn't an emotional guy, but it hurt to lose those he considered family.
His phone buzzed and he peeked a glance. Zelda. He swiped the notification away before setting his phone back down. He focused back on Will and Logan and the meeting.
He couldn't answer her now.
But he does get the chance half an hour later. He left the table with a nod and fished his phone out.
'Living it up in Italy ;)'
Soma rolled his eyes, glancing at the rooftop photo she sent alongside it.
'You free to chat?'
Soma made his way to a more subdued area and dialled her burner phone number. It rang three times before she picked it up.
"It's lunchtime for you, isn't it?" she asked, then slurped on something.
Soma sighed. "It is, and it's dinner for you."
She chuckled. "I've already eaten. Had a nice carbonara."
"Of course you did," he drawled. Zelda sniggered, "So what's this call for?"
With a precautionary glance around, Soma continued towards his office. He had to pass by the Autobots. Crap. They had, like, impossible good hearing.
"I wanted to know the progress you made. No response in twelve hours? Now that's unbecoming," she teased.
Soma bit his lip to stop himself from voicing his annoyance, "I'm busy, okay? NEST is getting off the ground and I'm trying to integrate with a team. Don't have all the time in the world to dedicate to this."
A hum. "Right, gotcha."
Was that a good or bad thing? Soma wasn't sure with Zelda, especially over the phone.
"I'll spend some time on it tonight. I'm trying to sort and organise—" Soma stopped, and hissed quietly: "Logan."
"Soma," Logan came jogging closer. "Sorry, I need a moment."
"Sure." He lowered the phone, trying nonchalantly to aim the screen away from Logan as he set it on his shoulder. The guy would know immediately if he saw the number.
After some back-and-forth and some work to schedule around,Logan was on his way after another apology.
Soma brought the phone back to his ear. "You still here?"
"Yep!" Zelda chimed.
Soma continued walking.
"That sounds fine by the way. Just remember to eat and sleep," Zelda remarked, and he sighed fondly, a smile tugging at his mouth.
At least wasn't she annoyed by his lack of headway with the information?
"I know," he said, pretending to be put out, as he swung into the Autobots area, needing to pass through. He felt their optics on him at his mere entrance. He glanced in their direction briefly. He got an idea.
"Actually, talking about that," Soma started. "Where exactly are you heading?"
"Heading? What gave you the implication I have any idea where I'm going next," the pout was obvious in her voice. Soma exhaled.
If he hadn't felt the Autobots' gazes before, he certainly did now.
"Ze," he hissed.
"Okay, okay. I'm in Naples. I've always wanted to see Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. They have some seriously amazing ice cream," she admitted. "But I'll be here until you tell me where to head next."
Soma glanced Optimus's way before continuing on out of the room. Hopefully, now they'd be slightly less antsy about knowing where Zelda was.
The next time I had an actual phone call with Soma, I was at the top of Mount Vesuvius. Having speny the last half hour making my way up the steep volcano in the summer heat alongside all the other visitors, it was nice to buy a drink from the vendor at the top and find someplace to sit.
I fished for my phone as it rang. I took a swig of my tango before answering.
"Yo," I greeted, admiring the sight before me. It was cloudless today, which made the sun all that much hotter. However, it gave the perfect view of what was below Vesuvius. It was stunning.
"Afternoon," Soma returned. "Silas is in England."
I beamed. "Well, you've just made my day!"
Soma sighed.
"How are you?" I asked.
"Tired," was his dry response. "Got loads of work."
I snorted.
"I've managed to categorise all the information, but I noticed how Silas moves in specific patterns and how long he stays at them," Soma explained. "I'll send over everything to your laptop, but he'll be in England for the next week. They have a few buildings, but I've pinpointed an exact warehouse."
Again, I smiled. "Good doing business with you, Soma."
He chuckled and hung up.
I tucked the phone away and stood. I looked back at the vendor and all the jewellery they had displayed. What would the harm be in getting a bracelet or something?
Present day…
Silas groaned, his head feeling heavy as it lolled to the side. Slowly, he blinked open his bleary eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. Suddenly, a sharp jolt of pain shot through his skull, pulling him fully awake. He winced and instinctively tried and failed to rub his forehead, recalling the events that led to this throbbing ache. The memories flooded back and Silas jerked upright.
Silas yanked at the rope that tied him to the chair. His legs felt the same. He stilled, finally noticing the person sitting before him. He raised his eyes to see Zelda.
She smiled. It was less than kind.
Fiddling with something in her hands, Zelda sat back in his office chair with an air of nonchalance. "I thought about drawing this out," she admitted. "You deserve the worst pain life can deliver."
"Well, why not?" he smirked, amused. "I murdered that boy—"
"Adan," she snapped before a cruel smile graced her face. "But after the number of innocent people you've killed, I'm surprised you even remembered he existed."
Silas barked out a laugh. "Of course, I remember him! He served his use in breaking you down. That kid too. We chuck that kid in with you just to watch you get attached, you know that, right?"
Zelda gritted her teeth, her robotic arm whirling and creaking as she clenched the arm of the chair. Her flesh hand didn't so much twitch. She stood and punched him.
Silas fell backwards. The impact jarred him, causing a sharp pain to shoot through his body, and he groaned in discomfort. Warm and sticky blood trickled from his nose, pooling there because of how he laid. Yet, despite the sting and the disarray, an unrestrained laugh escaped his lips. It was almost comedic how effortlessly he could provoke her. God, winding her up was far too easy!
Zelda yanked his chair back up, and he gasped, choking on blood from his nose as she wrapped her metal hand around his throat and squeezed.
She leant close. "I could crush your throat, watch as you gasp for breath but are unable to. I could bash your skull in, maybe even cave your ribs in. I did all of those for those loyalists you called pets."
Seething, Silas snarled as he spat blood that struck Zelda's cheek. The warm liquid dripped down her skin, but she didn't flinch or react in the slightest, her gaze steady and unyielding.
Zelda released his throat with force, and he coughed for air.
She settled into her chair once more, exuding an air of calm composure. One leg crossed over the other. Her fingers intertwined, resting on her knee, creating a picture of serene tranquillity as if she hadn't just decked Silas across the face and promised death.
"I was expecting more from you honestly," she remarked, mouth quirking upwards. "It was just, so easy to sneak into this place you call your main headquarters."
Silas ran his tongue across his lip, spitting more blood from his mouth. His nose throbbed. It had to be broken. "Yeah, well, I was expecting you to go off the deep end."
It was undeniable. Every piece of data he had meticulously gathered and every encounter he'd had with her painted an unmistakable picture. It all pointed to a volatile outburst, one that could erupt into chaos—a bloodbath, perhaps, or something just as devastating. Yet, amidst all the signs, he had failed to anticipate that she would target him directly. He should have known better. He should have recognized the patterns, connected the dots more effectively.
He replayed their previous interaction in his mind, recalling the flicker of menace in her eyes. The reality of her impending wrath loomed over him like a dark cloud, and he couldn't shake the feeling that this was a miscalculation he might not survive.
Zelda smiled again, plucking up that small object again. She continued to fiddle with it, locks focused on the thing as she spoke again. "Two weeks ago, I snuck into a base in Italy. There we highjacked every piece of information in regard to locations, your little loyalists, and current plans. The virus Virgo installed also let him open a backdoor to it so he could go in at any time he liked. For," she winked, "Just a little nosey peak."
"Bitch," anger was…to tame a word for what he felt.
"You lose, Silas," Zelda's grin stretched wide.
"You know it's not that easy, right?" he bit out.
She shrugged, waving a hand. "We have all the information to hunt down members and herd them like sheep to do what we want. It won't be too hard to infiltrate. You lose."
"So what? You've gonna arrest me? Put me in jail? Think I should rot for all I've done?" he smirked. "It's not that easy, right?" he echoed her words moments ago. "I have loyalists like you said."
Zelda giggled, laying a hand on her cheek. "That's cute. You actually think you're walking out of this alive."
Silas swallowed hard, a wave of tension washing over him as Zelda gently placed the small object onto the coffee table in front of him. It wasn't just any object; it was a timer, sleek and metallic, its numbers glowing softly in the dim light of the room. The ticking sound filled the air, each faint tick amplifying the sense of impending pressure. Silas felt his stomach plummet as he stared at it, the countdown looming ominously.
Ten minutes, nine minutes fifty-six, fifty-five, fifty-four…down and down it went.
"This is the end, Silas. I'd say it was good knowing you, but… " she smiled. "We both know that would be a lie. Rot in hell."
Silas sat there, his heart racing, helpless as he watched the timer tick down. Each second felt like an eternity, a countdown to something terrible. In the midst of it all, he could hear Zelda's footsteps racing toward the window, the frantic rustling of fabric as she made her escape, leaving him alone in the suffocating silence that followed.
He smirked. "It was a good run, I suppose."
BOOM.
I faltered as the explosion went off, coming to a standstill and turning to watch as the warehouse went up in flames, walls and roof going flying from the force. Even from where I stood, I could feel it's terrifying heat.
I pressed a finger to the scarring hiding the commlink embedded into my head, "=Virgo?="
"=Scorpio?="
"=It's done.="
A beat of silence. "=Then you're free to do as you wish. But those bots of yours are getting antsy. Better make your way back soon.="
I snorted, unable to help the fond feeling. "=I hear you loud and clear. Speak soon.="
"=You too.="
The commlink closed, and I turned my attention to the bonds. I had learnt to sort of...mute them in a sense, temper them so they weren't on full blast. I'd had them like that for a while now, ever since I had run off.
I reached out again, only to stagger when I felt the full force behind them wash over me. The affection and love. Annoyance and frustration but nothing malicious. Amusement and eagerness followed.
Letting out a shaky breath, I returned the feelings with my own amusement. Hello, I try to corporate into feeling, soon.
Good, was Ratchet's grumpy responding feeling, and I laughed as similar emotions followed from the others.
God, there would be no denying I missed them.
Soon, I smiled. I'd see them soon.