Over the few days Sentinel was gone, Charoite completed all the scheduling and planning he instructed her to do. Most of the time, however, there wasn't anything else to do, so Charoite took some time to get herself even more acquainted with the place. She even treated herself and her friends to a club that she never before could afford to enter. Charoite however caused her friends quite the embarrassment when she entered the club announcing herself as Sentinel Prime's new secretary—and co-hero. They however didn't mind when the group was bought drinks as a result.

On a sunny afternoon, Charoite rested her arms on the tower's balcony. She stared down at Iacon City, the buildings active with lights. She still couldn't believe she had actually reached such a place in life, and that her dream of racing was finally going to come true! Ugh…I hope the audience doesn't mistake me for Chromia on the leaderboard. A "Ch" name, three syllables. Charoite shrugged. "Eh, I'll be okay. Besides, I look different, and not bad if I do say so myself!"

BOOM!

Charoite jumped. She flew off the balcony and down a few floor levels to see Sentinel and his crew were back!

Charoite knocked on the window. "Sentinel! Hey! Welcome back! Does this window open or what?"

Airachnid rolled her main eyes and chuckled smugly.

Charoite shot her a glare.

Sentinel gave Charoite a more pleasant smile as he touched the bottom of the window and opened it.

"Had to open the latch. Great to be home, Chariot!" Sentinel grabbed her hand and guided her through.

Sentinel's gentle touch distracted Charoite from the repeated mistake. "Oh, uh, yeah! Glad you're home! Did you…"

Sentinel sighed as his shoulders drooped. "Sadly, no. We've again returned empty-handed. Don't worry, though! Not all hope is lost! The other Primes…" Sentinel touched his chest. "…would want us to persevere. Not to mention we have the race to look forward to! With a special new racer!" Sentinel tapped her shoulder.

"A criminal!" Charoite pointed her thumbs at herself and grinned.

Sentinel burst out laughing and grabbed his knees. "That's a good one! I was going to say the first racer to work with me!"

"Sir, we should get to the live transmission." Airachnid said.

"Ah, right." Sentinel gave Charoite a wink and disappeared with Airachnid and the guards.

"I can watch the transmission from the balcony!" Charoite flew back out the window. She sat on the edge of the balcony and saw the bots fly to one of the sky-based towers, which was red at the bottom. She forgot that was where live transmissions from Sentinel and other prominent figures would be broadcast from.

Charoite gasped and grinned. She put her hands on her hips and again stared out at the city. "Time to see if I can be even more famous! It's beloved co-hero time!"

Charoite flew from the balcony and then to the building. She made her way through to the door of the transmission room.

"Oh, no…" Airachnid groaned.

Charoite smirked. Even better…

"Charoite?" Sentinel asked before he opened the door.

Charoite noticed three bots sat at the desks, filled with buttons and screens, screens above them hanging in front of the red-tinted window. Awesome! More bots to witness my glory…if Sentinel's fine with it!

"Everything alright, Char?"

Charoite's spark fluttered at the nickname. "Uh, yeah!" She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. "Thought I'd drop by, maybe help you with your announcement? Maybe consider it 'extra secretary stuff?' What do you say?"

Sentinel raised his eyebrows. "Well, uh…I don't usually do that, but…" Sentinel gasped. "I got it! You can smile, wave, and look pretty as I announce you as our newest racer! I was gonna bring up the Iacon 5000 to lift everyone's spirits, but a new racer? One who works for me? Even better! I'll call you over to the camera when its time."

"Oh, is this the new secretary?" A blue and silver bot who sat to the right waved. "Hello!"

The other two bots enthusiastically waved at her.

Charoite waved back. "Yeah, it's me. Sentinel Prime's co-hero."

"Okay…" Sentinel let a shake go down his body before he rotated his neck. "Three, two, one, action!"

The blue and silver bot pressed some buttons on a platform in the middle of the room. Sentinel took stood near the platform as the bot pressed more buttons.

Three gentle, yet loud rings emanated from everywhere. Then a female automated voice announced, "Attention. Live transmission from Sentinel Prime."

"And Charoite!" Charoite mumbled with a tight smile. She looked out the red windows and not-so-clearly saw multiple screens on buildings with Sentinel's image.

Sentinel cleared his throat and straightened his back. "Greetings, Iacon City! First off, I want to let you know how grateful I am to all of you for keeping our city running, each in your own ways!"

Cheers and claps were heard across the city.

Sentinel sighed. "I regret to inform you that the matrix still hasn't been found." He paused to allow his audience time to express disappointment. "I however will remain positive and not give up hope!" He raised a finger. "I know that is what the rest of the Primes would have told us. I know they would be so proud of you all if they were here today!"

The citizens quickly recovered from the disappointment as they resumed their cheers.

"I'm ending this transmission on a lighter note. As you all know, we are getting closer to the Iacon 5000! I realized I may have been too harsh in only allowing bots with perfectly clean records to race. We all make mistakes sometimes, and sometimes, there are bots who were perfectly justified in certain situations. I am allowing bots with misdemeanors on down to sign up for the Iacon 5000, along with bots with felonies on down who have had their records expunged!"

The reception to this sounded mostly positive.

"Also…" Sentinel looked back at Charoite and gestured for her to join him.

Charoite felt a bolt of excitement rush through her body as she ran up to Sentinel. She resisted the urge to giggle as he hugged her closer to him.

"…you may remember Charoite, the bot announced to be my new secretary, my first secretary, or as I like to call her, my co-hero."

Charoite jolted. I'm dreaming!

"Anyhow, I would like to announce Charoite here as my latest new racer! Let's all give her a hand, shall we?"

The crowd applauded and cheered. Charoite felt a bit of warmth upon hearing some of them cheer her name.

"Wooo!" Charoite shouted. "All you other racers better keep your eyes on me!" She transformed into her high-performance plane mode. She hovered in front of the platform, making sure her front propeller didn't cut into it. She flew out of the room and back in seconds, then transformed back and winked.

The cheering became louder. She heard one bot shout, "Let's go, Charoite!"

"Love you all! See you at the race!" Charoite stepped out of view of the transmission.

Sentinel chuckled. "We're happy to have her. Well, until next time, Iacon City!"

Sentinel looked over at the silver and blue bot and motioned his hand across his own neck. The bot ran over and shut the transmission off.

"Okay!" Sentinel clapped. "I'll say it again, let's never give up hope, okay?" Sentinel held his thumb up.

The three bots at the desks gave him calm smiles. Airachnid gave Sentinel an expressionless nod. Charoite…held both thumbs up and nodded aggressively.

"Well everyone…" Sentinel looked at Charoite along with the rest of the crew. "…let's fly back home!"

As Airachnid and the guards walked out the door, Sentinel grabbed Charoite's shoulder.

The firmness of the grab briefly stunned Charoite.

Sentinel bent down and whispered, "Meet me in the game and bar room in half an hour. I have a little surprise for you."