"So, what is this tunnel?" Charoite asked as she and B climbed up the tunnel.
"Well, this is the new autobot base. It was a failing store that allowed miners in. You know, before they found out they were born with cogs and being lied to their whole lives. Me included! Tunnels got built after all the Sentinel stuff went down and the energon came back." B gasped and looked back. "Wait! Did you know the energon came back?"
"I assumed, since miners aren't a thing anymore."
"Okay! Great! Anyway, there's been some renovations, including some tunnels for safety reasons, like if someone needs to rescue a bot being chased by other bots because she was involved with an evil fake prime!"
Charoite nearly laughed, but hearing Sentinel called, "evil," was a punch in the stomach. Even if…it was…true.
"So, B, do you miss mining?" Charoite asked.
"Well, here's the thing: I actually didn't mine. I mean, I worked in jobs more or less related to mining, but I didn't actually mine. Optimus and Elita did, though! So did…Megatron. I kept getting moved around from job to job because I had mad skills! I mean, I must've, since the higher-ups would get mad and argue with each other over who I should work under. For the longest time, I was in this area called, 'Sub-level 50,' where I would gather garbage and—oh! We're here!"
Light assaulted Charoite's face as B, now out of the tunnel, extended a hand. She grabbed his hand and climbed out.
There were…lots of floors and walls. It was surprisingly empty. Charoite however recalled B saying that there were renovations, so it must've not been done yet. After all, mining had only stopped being a thing, what, two months ago?
"Pretty clean, huh? I helped! I transform into a car, so I put these scrubby caps on my wheels, covered them in soap, and drove all over the place! It was slippery, but it made it more fun!"
"No kidding!" Charoite smiled and nodded. She looked around the area and saw a a staircase with light shining from the top.
"That's where Optimus lives! Oh! Where are my manners? I'm supposed to take you to Optimus! Come on!" B ran up the staircase as Charoite followed him.
"I mean, some of us live here, some of us don't. Mainly the ones who didn't used to have cogs live here, since a lot of us lived in the Miner's Barracks. I live here, and so does Elita-1! There's also this guy, Jazz, and this girl, Arcee. Jazz is so happy to have wings now. Seriously, it's all he could talk about forever! Who knew he was a flyer? For context, he was one of the so-called 'miners,' and—oh! We're here! Hey, Optimus!"
A tall bot, blue on his head and feet, his chest red with…the Matrix of Leadership inside of it, sat on a couch and read a book. Upon seeing Charoite and B, he stood up and walked to them. "Hey, B! We have a visitor?"
Charoite noticed he had a warm, welcoming smile. She was put even more at ease.
"Optimus! Hey!" B put a hand on Charoite's back and gently pushed her. "You remember Charoite, right? I don't know if you formally met; she was the bot who was Sentinel's secretary and one of his racers, even though she hasn't raced yet, then he said she died, then it turned out they got into a relationship, then a lot of bots hated her—"
"—We haven't formally met, no!" Optimus extended his hand. "Hello, Charoite. I'm Optimus Prime. Welcome to the Autobot Base. Glad to see you're alive!"
Charoite felt more touched by this than she wanted to. He threw his best friend out of Iacon City when he tried to save it! "T-Thank you! I'm Charoite, though I guess you already knew that."
"So, how did you and B meet?"
"When I came back to Iacon City, I was being chased down by a bunch of nut jobs because of Sentinel, and B told me to get into a tunnel over there, and we hid. Talk about a welcoming committee, huh?"
Optimus let out a small chuckle. "Well, that's what we Autobots are here for. We protect, and we don't let rumors blind us from doing what's right." Optimus turned to B. "Glad you thought to use the tunnel. Thank you."
"Wow! Thank you! I looked out the window and saw these bots flying after her, and I really wanted to do something. I mean, I can't fly, so I thought 'Oh! Right! We have tunnels! Time to be a hero!'"
"So, Charoite, where were you when everyone thought you were dead?" Optimus asked.
Charoite froze. She realized she made a huge oversight as a spy.
"I was…on the surface. I went with Sentinel to one of his trips. I didn't know what he was going to do." Charoite became a bit calmer, hoping making a true statement would be enough.
"You…just hung out on the surface all this time, then?" B asked with a raised eyebrow.
Great.
"I mean, we were stranded on the surface not too long ago, but we couldn't transform or fly, and even then, it would've taken forever to make it back, unless it was too dangerous. Yeah, it probably would've been too dangerous."
In her mental rush, Charoite wished she could've come up with a more interesting, and less painful story. At least some of the truth would work. Besides, Megatron said it would be helpful to play up the fact Sentinel abandoned her and broke her spark. "Well, yeah. That's close to what happened to me. I saw the truth about Sentinel and the Quintessons, then when I didn't kneel to them, the Quintesson leader chased me down and stabbed me. Sentinel almost stopped him, but he didn't." Charoite didn't feel like bringing the last part up more than she had to.
Optimus put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry he betrayed you like that. Tell me, how did you survive being stabbed?"
"Yeah! There's a little hint of a circle on your chest!" B piped up.
Oh no.
"Well, I, uh…welded myself back together!" Charoite tried to read Optimus and B's expressions, hoping they bought it.
"No way!" B exclaimed, "That's so cool! It must've been so hard! Losing all that oil while trying to keep yourself alive and put yourself back together! You should write a memoir, then it could be made into a movie!"
A laugh escaped Charoite. "Yeah! Maybe more bots will say my name right!"
Optimus' eyes widened. "Oh! Have we been pronouncing it wrong?"
"Oh! No, it's just that I sometimes get 'Chariot.' Like, who's named 'Chariot?'"
"Oh, okay, good." Optimus smiled.
"So, could Charoite stay here?" B asked. "We have some empty rooms, and since she has a lot of haters now, she'd probably be safer here."
"Of course she can, B. Even if she had a place to stay, which I don't think she does…" Optimus gave Charoite an unsure look.
"No," Charoite replied, a hint of fear in her eyes. She planned to get a hotel if Optimus had said 'no,' but she didn't know how long she could pay for a hotel room, or when she'd be able to get her own place again.
"…it probably wouldn't be as safe for her anywhere else, considering the…controversy. So B, why don't you show her around? She can pick one of the empty rooms."
"Holy scrap! Thank you so much!" Charoite ran up to Optimus and tightly hugged him.
"Haha, you're welcome." Optimus lightly patted her back.
"Come on, Charoite!" B grabbed Charoite's hand and took off down the stairs. "I can't wait to tell you everything about this place, then tell you everything about me! I wanna know everything about you! You're not a very quiet bot, but you're still pretty mysterious. I talk a lot, but I like to consider myself kind of a mystery! I don't want you to feel not at home, so ask me anything any time you want! I'm an open book!"