Megatron's holographic image projected from the little device.

"Charoite!" Megatron grinned. The determination in his eyes put Charoite off even more. "I see you have a medal!"

She was a surprised he brought it up. She forgot she was even wearing it. "Oh! Yeah!" She held it up. "Second place in Maccadam's Race! Out of twenty-nine other bots. Jazz was first."

Megatron smirked. "Yeah? His luck finally turned around, I guess. Then again, you're probably getting all the attention."

"Ha! That's what the live transmission tried to make happen. I'm 'back from the dead' to Iacon."

Megatron chortled. "Anyway, you have anything to share now? I know it hasn't been long, but we've all been looking forward to any updates you might have."

Charoite kept her expression as neutral as possible. "I…uh…there's…"

Starscream, not as clearly, appeared in the hologram behind Megatron. "Well, come on! What do you know? I helped you get back to Iacon, so you at least owe me!"

Charoite frowned at him. "Well, I don't think you'll like hearing this, but there really aren't a lot of secrets the Autobots could keep. They haven't been around that long."

All traces of enthusiasm disappeared from Megatron's face. His red eyes flashed as his look hardened. "I seriously doubt that. Us Decepticons have been around just as long, and we have plenty of attacks plans and weaknesses the Autobots don't know about. I haven't even shared some of these things with Starscream, Shockwave, or Soundwave!"

In a panicked rush, Charoite wracked her brain module to find an answer. "I…uh…well…like you said, it hasn't been that long. I haven't even spent a night here yet. I did actually get some decorations for my room!"

Megatron sighed. "I guess I was rushing you a bit. Good of you to buy decorations. If you look like you're planning to stay in the long run, they'll be even more fooled. If somehow you can't find any secrets, at least tell me about any plans they have—that is, where they'll be and at what time. They, most importantly, Optimus, will hopefully be vulnerable for an attack at some point, and then I can take my rightful place as ruler of Cybertron.

"I'll make sure to keep you updated—wait. That's your goal? To rule Cybertron?"

Megatron's apparent confusion embarrassed Charoite, but she was mostly worried.

"Uh…yeah. I thought it was clear." Megatron frowned as his eyes shifted.

Charoite looked down and grabbed her arm. "Well, I mean, you talked about Optimus getting the Matrix and throwing you out of Iacon, but—"

Charoite jumped at the sudden, albeit soft knocks on the door.

Megatron's eyes widened before he bent down and shut off the call.

"Come in!" Charoite asked. She hoped she didn't sound scared.

A silver and light pink bot, the sides of her head large and round, opened the door and took a few steps in. "Hi! Just wanted to finally meet THE Charoite! I'm Arcee. I'm in the room next door!" Arcee extended her hand.

After hearing what Megatron told her, this femme's friendliness towards her made her even more anxious about a future where Megatron ruled Cybertron. Were kind, nonjudgmental bots like her, B, Optimus, and maybe deep down Elita going to keep having good lives? It was great the Decepticons wanted a planet without deceitful leaders, but was that even all that would happen if they took control of Cybertron? Their aggressiveness, their ill-will toward their enemies…Megatron having ripped Sentinel in half in front of—"

"Are you okay?"

Charoite jolted out of her train of thought. She probably looked ridiculous, all silent and frozen when all this bot did was introduce herself.

"Oh, hi!" Charoite shook her hand. "Great to meet you, Arcee!"

"Wow…" Arcee chuckled softly, "…I can't believe it's really you, and you're in the room next to mine! When Elita told me about it, she almost seemed sympathetic, but I told her I couldn't wait to meet you! Congrats on the race, by the way!"

"Oh, uh, thanks!" Charoite slipped the medal off. "I mean, Jazz should really be getting more attention, since he's the one that won, but I'm happy I won. It's funny…B said he could fly, but he actually turns into a car. I guess it's because his doors look like wings when he's not transformed. Anyhow, I had to sneak my name onto the roster! It was fun!"

"No way! By the way…" Arcee lowered her voice, "…I don't mean to be insensitive, but I just have to know, what was it like being with Sentinel? I mean, before we all found out he was evil."

Charoite resisted the urge to tell her it actually was kind of insensitive. "It was…good, mostly. He was gorgeous, and really doted on me. He called me 'Char,' and I called him, 'Sen.'" She started to feel good about opening up to another femme about this. Maybe it was a good thing Arcee asked! "He reeeeally wanted to keep it a secret until if and when we would decide to become sparkmates. It was annoying. He was also kind of controlling."

Arcee's face dropped. "Oh. I can see that."

"He did take really good care of me, though. I also really loved the kisses and cuddles."

Arcee giggled. "I bet! Such a shame he did all those awful things, though. You holding up okay?"

Charoite nodded. "I'm feeling a lot better than before, that's for sure. I still have some adjusting to do. I mean, I went to the surface and came back to society being so different."

"I know, right? I can't imagine! Anyhow, I've gotta head out. Going to a former miner support group. Later! Great to meet THE Charoite!" Arcee waved and headed for the elevator.

Charoite's worry about Megatron's statement returned.