78Chapter One: Promises
Samantha Jane Witwicky eyed the small space of mahogany wood like a starving man might eye a particularly juicy slab of steak. It didn't matter to her in the least that the camera attached to the screen of her computer was playing her digitized image back to several individuals of great importance. The look in her lavender eyes, she knew, must portray a ways off of 'sane'. Of course she couldn't have been too sane to begin with if she was contemplating bludgeoning her forehead into the thick, hard wood at all.
She blamed the dunderheads she was forced into working with at the present moment. If Ratchet, universally infamous medic, had to come sew her back up she was wholly prepared to point her manicured finger in accusation at these men. She wasn't going to get into trouble all on her own.
First year college students didn't need to deal with crap like this.
"Are you listening to me at all, Miss Witwicky?" General Ulysses Morshower practically glowered at her from his respective position on her computer screen. She smirked at him defiantly, not caring in the slightest that she might be leaving a bad impression of herself on Iwan Hsieh, the current spokesman for Shanghai, China. The others in attendance of the meeting were already well accustomed to her particular brand of humor.
"Of course I am, General. I am also contemplating the ramifications of removing myself from this conversation by way of self-destruction." The General was not amused, but a few of the others were if their snickers were anything to go by. Wouldn't the world be embarrassed to know that the people in control of their fates weren't serious a hundred percent of the time?
"Please, Miss, control yourself." The heavily accented voice of Representative Hsieh echoed through the surround speakers of her laptop. Sam gave the man another once over before nodding her head in ascent. They had enough problems without her making them even harder to deal with.
"We are not going to be able to hide this incident from the public, gentlemen." She wasn't offended that she was simply clustered in with the rest of the men. She was one of the few women in 'power' that were involved with their 'illegal alien' problem. The rest of the world, as of yet anyway, didn't need to know exactly how 'alien' their newest citizens were. "My people were assured that the area we evacuated due to 'radiation leakage' would be the singular zone of the confrontation. We had a breakout of over .69 square miles around the designated site."
"The confrontation could not be contained, Mister Hsieh." Jack Ingram, the current political relations officer for NEST sighed dejectedly. "Our enemy is no more predictable than any others we have faced in the past. It was only within NEST's power to contain the confrontation to as minimal an area as physically possible. The important fact that we must remember here is that the threat was eliminated."
Jack Ingram, a man skirting on the borders of retirement, was surprisingly agile and fit for a man of his years. While his hair was a salt-and-pepper mix, it was well trimmed and full. Most men his age would have had at least a slight receding of his hair-line. She suspected that he hadn't had any work done on it, either. Ingram was simply a well-groomed man that took care of himself even with the stresses of his job. Some thirty years serving in the military certainly didn't detract from his case any.
"With substantial damage made to my city." Hsieh all but growled. "Shall I rehash the so-far recorded damage report, gentlemen? More is being detailed as we speak."
"We are quite aware of the all-together unsubstantial damages, Hsieh." Brandon Lockland, NEST's appointed treasurer and archivist snapped with faintly leashed control. Brandon was scarcely twenty-five years old, but had a glowing resume that would have put Donald Trump to shame. His dirty blonde hair, more brown than gold, was sloppy and in need of a trim, but seemed to fit the man's personality to the letter. He was lean and strong in body as well as mind. She'd chosen this man when NEST was first formed from a long list of possible applicants and she couldn't say that she had a reason to regret her choice.
"Lives were lost, Mister Lockland." The foreign Rep growled. "You would call this unsubstantial?"
"Three of our own troops and only five of Shanghai's citizens? Yes, Hsieh, I would call this very unsubstantial. Out of sixteen million people it really is a miracle that so few perished. It is also in your favor that the area evacuated, quarantined, and damaged the greatest was already an area in need of industrializing. I have looked over your reports, sir, and you are milking us for far more reparations than is necessary or even warranted."
Sam's lips pursed as she glared at the table anew when the men erupted into another debate on the moral code of Americans and the proper way to handle the government and business.
Won't hurt too bad. Just one solid hit and I'll be out like a light.
She shook her head with a snarl and dispelled the idea entirely. It was her job to handle these issues until the new Director and Liaison took up position…perhaps even afterwards if the man was as incompetent as he seemed.
She was drawn back to the argument at hand by Hsieh demanding his reparations and the three NEST employees trying to derail him from the topic of funds to containment. As agreed upon by each and every government on this planet Earth, the Cybertronians, Transformers to those 'believers' without clearance (a.k.a citizens), were to be kept a secret until the world as a whole could at least consider the fact that Earthen people were not the only sentient beings in the entire Universe.
I wonder how they'd take it if they found out that ours isn't the only Universe in existence? Since she'd had a brain-fart at the notion she didn't think anyone else would be too welcoming of that revelation, either.
"Enough arguing." She barked, her annoyance boiling over. The men on the screen all ogled her like she'd suddenly grown a second or third head. Her fingers massaged her temples.
"I'm going to throw this out in the open, gentlemen, and then you can fight amongst yourselves for the rest of eternity for all I care…the simple truth of the matter is that anything outside of keeping our race from becoming extinct does not matter." That shut them all up.
She pushed on with a calm voice. "Lockland is correct whether you choose to admit it or not, Mister Hsieh. You will have your reparations, I guarantee that, but only within the realm of reason. Do not let greed cloud your judgment. Casualties could have been in the thousands, sir, but remained at a number you could easily display on your fingers. I regret the loss of life, but it could have been much worse if certain defensive actions had not been taken and those actions were all thanks to the efforts of NEST and our Autobot allies.
"My suggestion for covering up this incident is this…don't do it. We all know that the easiest way to discredit something is to let it become public knowledge. The more you try and hide something, the more curious people become. It's human nature. With a partial reveal, as we did with Area 51, there will be some that are innately drawn to believe and prove the findings, but for the most part we will believe that something as important as that would not be leaked to the public. Everyday citizens know that they aren't important or intelligent enough to deal with such complicated matters. We have governments for that. So it only makes sense that if something so grand was to be presented to us that it isn't true.
"There was video footage recorded from the bridge and other areas. Have all but a few confiscated to prevent a total uproar, but allow at least a few pieces out into the public. It'll be viral within twenty-four hours of posting. You'll find that there'll be more skepticism than belief the moment feedback starts coming in."
She wallowed in the stunned silence. General Morshower cleared his throat loudly and opened his mouth to address her. She raised her right hand in a silencing gesture.
"Do not ask me how I know about the truth of Area 51, General. It's a little too complicated to go over at the present moment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a single night left of freedom before I am due to leave for college. I intend to enjoy it. Pleasant negotiations, gentlemen."
She clicked the computer screen off with a decisive push of her finger into the 'hibernate' icon that hovered on the touch screen. A sick kind of satisfaction hummed through her when the screen immediately fizzled to black and the men were left to their own devices. She wasn't a political genius, this much was obvious, but the men would more than likely agree with her proposal since most everything else she spoke had merit.
Too bad I'll never get a commendation for my formality and cordiality. The inner her snorted with mirth.
"You should not be so curt with your government, Samantha." This time she allowed the snort to leave her bodily. Optimus's voice was as clear as a bell through her Bluetooth, or her Comm as the 'bots liked to call it.
"I'm not technically a political giant or military personnel so forgive me if I couldn't bring myself to bother with the niceties of intergalactic subterfuge." She cocked a brow, sending an emotional poke of her accusing finger towards the Autobot leader. "And you are not supposed to eavesdrop on matters that you aren't yet scheduled to hear about. I believe your conference with Hsieh isn't set for another hour."
"Know thy friend better than you know thine enemy." He intoned gravely. Sam sighed, understanding where he was coming from, but all the while wishing that such measures didn't need to be taken. Was there no one that anyone could trust in this world?
"Perusing Shakespeare, Big Guy?" Lighten the mood, she thought privately. Just keep things casual.
"He was a fairly interesting human. His plays are quite depressing. I had thought that humans tended to favor the 'Happily Ever After' themes as opposed to such devastating and far more realistic tales."
"Edgar Allen Poe was the same. He wrote disturbing things, but they draw just as much or even more attention than any fairytale endings do. Consider it a flaw in the human mind that makes us crave the frightening and strange realities that such men and women illustrate to us." She leaned back into her chair and allowed her foot to swivel back and forth against the ground to rock the seat.
"Did Will question you about the other night?" She asked timidly, steering the topic just a little.
"Yes." Her stomach dropped. "We informed him that we provided you with a device to bring you to us. I have asked him not to research this matte further."
A deep sigh escaped her at that. For all of their nobility and honor, it was disturbing how easy it was for any of the Cybertronians to lie. There were no biological functions like in humans to give them away. They could speak as levelly in a life-and-death situation as they could over a cup of Energon. True, they did not like to lie, but it was not difficult for them to do so.
She felt horrible for even causing the trouble she did in the last three days.
She whirled her chair around then and stomped off towards the bathroom. She needed to get out of her mother's preferred work clothes and into a pair of comfortable jeans and tank-top. She'd throw her long-sleeved crop jacket on before leaving the house. She and a bunch of other now-alumni from Tranquility High were going to Vicky's house to have a final blow-out party before most all of them headed out for school on the morrow.
She still needed to perfect her plan on how she was going to be telling Bumblebee, and the rest of them, that they wouldn't be accompanying her beyond possibly helping her unload her things into her dorm room.
Oh God! If I don't play this right I'm never going to be allowed off-base once they kidnap me to keep me safe. Stupid, over-protective robots.
"I'm going to get ready for the evening's festivities now, so I'll drop a line later, 'kay?" Despite all the slang she knew the Prime would have no trouble understanding her. The Bumpercar Twins were far worse than she was.
"Very well. Take care."
She would hear no more from him, she surmised. Unless she called on him Optimus would return to his various duties as Prime and Autobot leader, as well as the spokesbot for the Cybertronian race. She didn't envy him in the slightest.
As Sam collected her party clothes from the counter in the bathroom to don them she gave an inward heave of depression. She was running from her life, she knew. A side-effect of saving Earth and having a spazzed out ancestor had left her with the undisputable claim of being the new Cybertronian Allspark. What joy. To add sprinkles onto that already twisted cupcake the 'bots seemed to think of her as a perpetually infantile being despite being an adult for her species.
If I see one diaper or pacifier I'm fritzing out all of their systems and running for the hills. I'll put up with a lot of the coddling, but I draw the line at uncontrollable bowl movements. I was toilet-trained for a reason!
Ever since Mission City and the now infamous battle with the deceased Megatron she'd been drifting progressively farther and farther away from her standing as 'human'. By holding the Allspark to Megatron's chest, and subsequently his Spark chamber, the release of Allspark energy had activated the long dormant nanites within her blood which had been passed on from generation to generation from her too-many-times-great-grandfather Archibald Witwicky. The nanites, which were even older than Megatron, allowed her body to harness the seemingly limitless amounts of Allspark energy once its prior shell was destroyed. It was quite unfortunate that the energy attached itself to her signature and hers alone because now that she and the Allspark had essentially become one she was no longer permitted to be just human.
She was more than that now. And she would die a very, very old lady before everything was said and done.
For being raised with human sensibilities she couldn't help but think that she had the right to a little bit of time designed to allow her some freedom from her 'destiny'. She'd be learning some of the things she'd need in her future with the Cybertronians while she was away at college, but they all knew that she wasn't going for that reason alone. Everyone was aware that she wanted to pretend to be normal for just a little while longer. She wanted to pretend like she'd always been completely normal and would live out a very ordinary existence.
If only it were true.
She wouldn't give up her connection with the Autobots for anything, but dear Heaven, she so wished that she could have at least maintained her human lifespan. She wished that she could find a human man to love and cherish her in the same way she would him. She wished she could have children to raise and watch grow older and have families of their own. She wished she could grow old and wrinkled, maybe own a small horse farm away from the city, and die in her own bed of old age with her husband right by her side.
She wished for so many things that were now far out of her reach.
Samantha donned her clothing dejectedly, forcefully shutting down her end of the bond from the others. Well, she was dimming it. She'd learned her lesson before on shutting it down completely so that they could not feel her and she could not feel them. That punishment had been enough.
Before walking out of the house to the awaiting Bumblebee she snuck a glance at her phone, but decided to leave it. The tracker, a silver tattoo contraption, the 'bots had placed on her leg and the Comm in her ear would keep her plenty in-touch with them if she needed to be. Other than that, though, she wanted to enjoy what little time she had left to just be a kid.
…Samantha was Hell-bent on enjoying herself tonight.
Especially after the shit-storm she'd had to go through after the Shanghai incident.
Three-Days Earlier:
"What in the blue fuck just went on over there?!" Samantha Witwicky hollered, her voice ringing through the still bustling base of Diego Garcia.
The humans of NEST whirled around to face the enraged young woman. Many of them were bedecked in their issued combat uniforms, their jackets and slacks coated heavily with debris. Their weapons weren't far from their immediate possession, but that made no difference to the blonde storming through the cluttered hanger doors.
Her hands shook like leaves in a high wind. Her eyes shimmered far closer to lavender than blue as she made her way through the crowd of parting soldiers to the assembled gangplank in the center of the largest hanger.
"Sam?" The brunette Captain climbed up hurriedly behind her. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
The young woman turned angered eyes towards Captain William Lennox as she bounded up the elongated stairwell to the gangplank. Her feet touched down onto the cool metal silently and smoothly. She wore only a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a plaid, button-up shirt she'd found at a thrift store. Nothing else. No shoes. Nothing to keep her unkempt hair tied back. She looked as though she'd grabbed what was nearest to her and left in a hurry.
"Where's Optimus?" She ground out between her teeth, hurrying over to the console where a tech was attempting to make contact with General Morshower. She bumped the rolling seat out of her way with a particularly hard hit with her hip before tapping her fingers along the keys to pull up video footage taken from the incident she'd been unaware of until only hours earlier.
"They're finishing their debriefing with the Brigadier General and Commander of NEST Operations. Sam, how did you get here?"
The girl ignored the soldier in favor of looking through the files so recently obtained. There were death tolls, as paltry a sum as they were, and collateral damage reports. Two Decepticons off-lined. Expended energy diagnostics. She gritted her teeth as footage funneled through several monitors of the destruction laid down upon the Industrial District of Shanghai. Images of the deactivated Cybertronians flashed rapidly before her eyes.
She wasn't seeing anything that she didn't already know about.
Sighing with a mixture of exhaustion and disdain, Samantha fell back into a unoccupied chair. Her hand secured around the protrusion of a computer module to keep from rolling backwards.
"Sam!" Lennox snapped, all signs of patience vacant in both his tone and posture.
"Magic trick," she groused, her head beginning to pound.
It was day-time in Diego Garcia, but it had been night when she'd left her home in Tranquility, Nevada. That didn't, however, mean that she'd been travelling for hours to reach the isolated island located very near to the Bermuda Triangle. In truth, she'd managed to relocate herself from the sanctuary that was her family's back yard to the main entrance to the Autobot Hanger of Diego Garcia within the span of thirty seconds.
Her hands vibrated as the nerves and muscles in her body responded to the currents of power running through her systems. It wasn't electricity – not exactly. The power that ran through her body as surely and steadily as her own blood came from an 'outside' source which connected to her physically via microscopic mechanical entities that lived within her body. Nanites.
"Stop fucking around, Sam!" Lennox whirled her chair around to face him. His face resembled the proverbial thundercloud, except it was strikingly red. She leveled a flat look at his overly red complexion. He had very pretty blue eyes even when he was as steaming mad as he was now. Sarah was a lucky woman to have found a man both handsome and overflowing with a winning personality.
She didn't even flinch when a callused, manly finger was pointed right into her face.
"You're supposed to be back in Nevada. We only just got here. How did you get here?" He jerked his attention from her to bark an order out to a nearby tech. "Are there any unauthorized planes on the Tarmac? Boats on the coast? Find out!"
"Won't find anything like that, Will." She booted herself away from his accusing finger to settle in front of yet another set of displays. She reached her hand under the table and set her palm against the tower. Her eyes closed as she concentrated, both to help keep her focus and to keep her glowing eyes hidden from the other humans.
Will jerked rapidly away from her when what felt like an electrical pulse rippled out from where she sat.
The screens flickered before streaming her not-dream in rapid-fire sequence to the Captain. He and the team near enough to see the images being shown to them widened their eyes with a mixture of surprise and awe. A very few of them schooled their features to show only idleness, but the majority were unable to disguise their shock.
"What – I mean…" Lennox swallowed thickly. "How did you get this footage?"
Sam's eyes opened and for an instant the soldier standing so near to her was frightened. The glow, a literal glow, from her eyes unnerved him. The palest purple he'd ever seen stared right at him, a kind of knowing shining in them nearly more off-putting than the fact that they glowed as if backlit by an ultraviolet light.
"Magic trick," she repeated to him, her voice an octave deeper. It echoed.
Swiftly she pulled her hand away from the console and the images ceased. The destruction wrought in Shanghai, Cybertronian glyphs pinging up and off of the screens throughout the entire production, statistics of the rapid offlining of the Decepticons – all of it was gone in an instant. Lennox saw another team member, a tech, trying to pull the previously unseen data back up into their databases, but he had an inkling that they would never get it back.
What had happened to Samantha Witwicky back in Mission City not even three years prior…there were things he believed he, and the rest of the human population, were not meant to know.
Sam jerked up and out of her seat when hanger doors on their opposite side slid open. Her body was stiff despite the relaxed stance she took leaning against the railing. Her eyes zeroed in on the Cybertronians, Autobots, filing into the hanger.
There was a slight traffic jam as the first of the automatons caught sight of the ill-dressed girl looking at them. Will had come to interpret stillness as surprise from the alien beings their world now harbored. That stillness, a complete lack of any visible mobility, could be maintained indefinitely. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobot faction, was notorious for his long musings. Days. The Autobot Commander had remained as a statue for days and when he moved once more acted as though he had been standing for only a breath of a moment. Ratchet, the Autobot Chief Medical Officer, had later told the Captain that he could have maintained that stance, if unprovoked, for roughly two-hundred and fifty Earth years before he had to move again.
They did not stay still for long, though. They began to move again, quickly, and made a beeline for the young human woman giving them a no-nonsense stare.
"Oh, hello. Nice of you to join me. How are you all doing this lovely day?" Her gaze zeroed in on the titan pulling up the rear of marching mechanical giants. Will watched with poorly veiled wonder as her jaw clenched once more. "Tell me Optimus – why did no one bother to let the puny human know about this little adventure into China?!"
"Come on, Sweetspark. Just calm down." She whirled on the green and silver Autobot, his blue optics looking up at her in placation. He and the others were pushing feelings of calm and contentment onto her, but she was brutally beating them down to nothing. She shared a type of emotional bond with the Cybertronians, a connection afforded to her by both the nanites in her body and the Allspark power working with them. The ability to transfer feelings to one another was simple, though blocking them was more difficult.
"Don't you 'Sweetspark' me you oversized Schwinn!" She growled, Allspark power radiating off of her in slight, yet vicious waves. Several systems within the 'Bots sparked and fritzed uncontrollably. Knockout, being on the receiving end of the worst of her present ire, felt the rush of energy more severely than the others. "I want to know what happened. Now."
"What do you know?" Optimus asked in his most appealing, gentle voice.
"I know what I felt…and I know that that mammoth Decepticon was bad news. He was tainted and he scared the shit out of me." Sam looked to the side, away from all of them, and nibbled her lower lip. Goosebumps ran over her arms, back, and neck at the remembered evil from her 'dream'.
Thanks a gene-trait inherited by her long-deceased relative Archibald Witwicky, one which was fused into his own DNA by the Decepticon Megatron when he was discovered buried in the ice, she had almost literally fused with the Allspark when its physical shell was destroyed in Mission City. With that Allspark power being housed into her she had a nasty habit now of 'seeing' certain situations going on with the Autobots and on special occasions even the Decepticons in dreams. She'd yet to tell the overprotective Autobots about that last bit. They had her on a tight leash as it was. If she told them about sharing memories with unknown-to-her Decepticons they would have her under immediate watch.
"The mission went as expected." Optimus inclined his head towards her. "Earth's government would not take our word that more of the area needed to be evacuated, but that was a situation we were prepared to work with. The Decepticons were eliminated as swiftly as possible to avoid further loss of life. Crankshaft, the 'mammoth' Decepticon as you phrased it, spoke to us before he was off-lined."
Samantha glared at nothing in particular as a recorded voice, one more robotic and raspy than her 'bots, leeched through the titan leader's speakers. "This is not your planet to rule…The Fallen–the Fallen…shall rise…again."
She shivered. He hadn't needed to repeat it…she'd heard it in her dream. It was on constant repeat in her head.
"He was bad news." She informed them in a softer voice than she had used before. It had gone almost flat. "There's something going on here that I don't like. We've had Decepticon incursions before, but I have never felt something this…off before. Not even with Megatron."
That was certainly saying something. Megatron was a nasty mech before the power of the Allspark shorted out his own Spark and forced him off-line. She'd gotten perpetual goosebumps whenever that mech popped up on her radar.
"Samantha?" She turned her head to look the shorter distance up into Ratchet's mechanical face. "Will you come with me, please? You are greatly stressed and I would like to look at your systems before you…leave again."
Sam knew what that meant. Detention. Interrogation. They were two things she disliked immensely, but knew just as well were unavoidable at this time. She'd done something compromising to her status within the Cybertronian race, easy though it was to cover up.
So she nodded blandly and backed up from the edge of the gangplank for the Chief Medic to more easily hoist her up.
In a swift, effortless movement Ratchet had plucked her up off of the metal walkway. His servos were warm where they curled securely around her fragile frame and touched her body. Out of habit he tucked her into his chest where his Spark lay just beneath the thick, colorful armor. Despite being made of metal all of her 'bots felt comfortable to her. She never once found herself in an awkward body position when one of them held her to create pains in her body nor did she have any trouble falling asleep supported by any one of them.
The thrumming they all subconsciously emitted from their Sparks acted as a bonus.
Like lions purring. Her own kind of lullaby.
"Come with me as well, Optimus. You are due for a diagnostics check." Ratchet ordered his Prime as he strode through the throng of humans still loitering around this part of the base. Most of them scuttled out of the way, though it was an unnecessary effort on their part. None of the Autobots would step on a human.
…Well, they wouldn't unless that human were the direct cause of her getting hurt.
Once safely ensconced in the privacy of the Medbay, Optimus locking the door behind them via internal signaling to the mainframe, Ratchet set her down onto one of the Cybertronian-sized berths. His holoform, a 'living' hologram that resembled House a great deal, fizzled into existence beside her only long enough to swaddle her in a heated micro-fiber blanket. She snuggled into its softness and relished in the warmth.
"Thank you."
"You are most welcome." The medic responded sincerely. He and Optimus towered before her, staring down onto her with the intensity of a Force Four hurricane. "Now, would you please tell us how it is that you came to be on Diego Garcia?"
Samantha sighed heavily, a low throb blooming in the back of her skull now that she'd come down off of being so upset.
Warping was not easy on the human body.
"I've been practicing with the Allspark's power more," she began timidly. Her fingers toyed with the ends of her blanket nervously. "Do you remember when I disappeared to the park on my graduation? I was there one minute and then I was gone? Well, I Warped. I don't know how I did it then, but that's what happened."
Ratchet's optics shuttered before he began a steady scan on her body. She felt him frowning at her, Optimus as well, since their face-plates were not designed for facial expression as well as humans were. The main focus of it centered on her skull. She could feel it tingling just under the surface of her scalp.
A would-be sigh escaped the yellow Autobot once the scan had finished. He held his hand down towards her, one of his digits breaking apart to reveal a single syringe. She flinched away from it, a scowl firmly fixed on her face.
"Will you allow me to give you something for the pain you feel, Sweetspark?" He pushed concern at her through the bond they shared.
"I wish you would give up and subscribe to pharmaceutical pills like every other normal human doctor, Hatchet." She eyeballed the needle. "At the very least reconstruct yourself a less intimidating needle. What is that? Like, six inches long?"
"I am not a human doctor and you well know it." His tone was chiding now. "I will not lower myself to treat my patients as they do when my methods work much more efficiently."
Samantha presented her arm and didn't say anything more. The headache was horrendous and she was willing to suffer a single prick into her arm for near immediate relief. Ratchet was gentle at any rate. He always was with her. Nurses could train for decades and draw blood from patients hundreds of times a day and not manage the finesse of her friend Ratchet. For being his first human patient and his only 'regular' one, the yellow mech worked with such efficiency you'd have thought he had worked with the human species for hundreds of years.
True to his word, Ratchet's injection worked faster than any Advil would have in its place. She found herself humming in delight as the headache rapidly receded to be replaced by lethargy.
"I had been afraid you would find yourself able to perform more and more of the abilities of our kind before your body was fully ready for it. The Allspark is a veritable fountain of information. With the changes your body has undergone and the adaptations afforded by the nanites it is no surprise that you would be able to Warp, given enough time."
The Allspark was a tricky thing to use. Its energy was relatively easy to harness, but its knowledge within the confines of her human brain was difficult to pull forward into her conscious being. It had taken the rest of her summer to learn to access the information that she wanted, whether it was Cybertronian or Earthen, but she'd finally figured out a process that seemed to work. If she thought of her mind as a computer with a particularly large databank of information she could, hypothetically speaking, type in the information she desired and it would pull up onto the screen while the rest would stay within the safety of the hard drive until she needed it. In fact, her mind was a lot like Jonesy's from Steven King's 'Dreamcatcher'. A veritable mausoleum of memories, facts, and usable data that she could utilize whenever she so desired.
The only problem with it was that unless she knew specifically what she was looking for she'd never be able to find what she wanted or needed.
Damn.
"I think it would be best if you refrained from utilizing the Allspark's power in such a way again until your body has become more accustomed to such a high dispense of energy."
"It takes more out of me to resurrect one of you guys," she mumbled, her head blessedly free of pain now.
"Be that as it may," Optimus began in his 'stern' voice, "it would be in our best interests if you did not Warp unless you are threatened or the situation is dire."
"Be grateful that Galloway is not here now." Ratchet's tone was anything but welcoming in that instant. Samantha knew his disdain for the man as well as she knew her own. "The team we have here currently can be trusted. This Galloway," he spat the name as though it were acid, "cannot."
She'd hated Theodore Galloway on sight. The man was a sniveling coward and a liar to boot. He was also, she noticed immediately, a bigot and a racist. She had voted against him joining…no, directing the team, but she'd been overruled by the President and the Board because of his 'glorious' recommendations. She would allow him a chance, she had decided when she'd been outvoted. If he proved her suspicions unfounded then she would gladly eat one of her four-inch stilettos. If the man turned out to be the scum-bag she believed he was she would have him nixed from the team and any other position of power faster than he could say 'adios'.
"So, when can we expect the puissant to show his ass-kissin' face?" She asked rudely.
"Samantha," Optimus intoned in reprimand. And let the scolding commence. "Your President elected Theodore Galloway for the position as our Liaison and Director. I expect you to behave appropriately and to give the man a chance to prove himself in our cause."
"Yes, yes." She waved her hand dismissively in front of her before pulling the blanket back around herself tightly. "He'll have his chance, but that doesn't mean that I have to like him. In fact, you all are well aware that I disliked this man the moment he stepped onto the Tarmac. In my mind he's a slimy, weasel of a man that doesn't even deserve to lick the sand off my Dulce's."
She meant it, too. There really was something that she just hated in that man and no one was going to dissuade her of that feeling.
"Everyone deserves a chance, little one."
"I know." She agreed grudgingly. She looked up at the Autobots tiredly. "I'm sorry if I compromised anything. I truly am… but there's just something wrong about this whole situation. Who is the Fallen? What did Crankshaft mean by this not being 'your planet to rule'?"
"I do not know." Optimus looked down at her very intently. "We must be cautious. I will not put blind faith in this Galloway until he has shown his worth and I fear that we will face great dangers soon. We cannot afford to have a self-righteous human keep us from our home here on Earth when trouble comes seeking our Energon."
She snickered internally at Optimus's words for the new NEST liason. Despite wanting everyone to give the man a chance, he was not fool enough to believe the man was worthy enough to know everything from the start.
The Autobot leader set a massive servo to her back, his digits skimming along her vulnerable spine. There was a wealth of warmth in the bond they shared. She could even see it in his mechanical optics as they shined down onto her. She allowed herself to lean into his touch, her heart light in the shelter that he, and the others, provided her.
"Watch after yourself, Samantha" he warned her solemnly. "Do not let your caring for us cloud your judgment. You are our hope for the future. If anything were to befall you, our race would become nothing more than reminder to all those who live on after us to never let war be made of petty differences."
She smiled gently up at them both, a heady flow of peace blowing over them, over all of them, from her end of the invisible, yet very real mental bond that connected them all to her.
"I'll be fine Optimus."
She didn't think either of them missed the fact that she hadn't made a vow. She hadn't promised.
How could she when she had no idea what the future had in store for all of them?
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Transformers
Notes: Hello everybody. I managed to write up all of Solilioquy of Fallen Stars for you. I will upload the first two chapters now and then once each week until the entirety of it is uploaded. Hopefully you all like it.
Also, this story is NOT necessarily a stand-alone. It can be read separate from the other two (All the Stars in the Sky and Shooting Stars and Setting Suns), but it is not recommended.