CHAPTER EIGHT
--The Lost Light, Rung's office--
"Are you all right, WALL-E?"
The small robot lifted his binocular-shaped head away from the viewport to look up at Rung. "Yes...."
"You seem upset." Rung pulled up a seat next to the table WALL-E was standing on. "Is something bothering you?"
WALL-E looked away solemnly. "I miss Ee-vah."
"'Ee-vah?'" Rung adjusted his spectacles. "Who is that?"
"My...." WALL-E tapped his fingers together in contemplation. "My... friend? She's a bit more than that, though...."
"Ah." Rung smiled in understanding. "You're a couple then?"
WALL-E nodded sheepishly.
"We Cybertronians have our own phrase for some one we hold dearly: Conjunx Endura. A significant other."
WALL-E looked up at the psychiatrist with wide, inquisitive eyes. "Have you ever had one?"
"No. Many Cybertronians never find such a person in their life... but we manage to get by."
The smaller robot sighed wistfully. "I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to get by. I've already spent seven hundred years alone."
"Just ask yourself this: if she were to see you now, would Ee-vah want you to forever be in grief... or to move on?"
WALL-E was silent for a long time.
--The past--
"What do you see, Skids?"
The blue Autobot poked his head around the corner and grimaced. "Two guards. Both Triple Changers and armed to the teeth. Glitch forgot to mention that bit."
"We'll have to make this quick-- and quiet." Optronix handed him a small round object. "Throw this. It's a gas grenade."
Skids took the bomb and hurled it in the guards' direction. A cloud of smoke erupted, clouding their vision. Optronix and Skids then charged in and proceeded to pummel the guards to the point of unconsciousness. By the time Ratchet had caught up with them, once the smoke had cleared, both guards were laying inert on the floor.
Optronix then gestured to the door to Sentinel Prime's quarters. "Ratchet, do your magic."
The medic did so, applying his swift, gentle fingers to the control panel which Skids had exposed. In minutes, the door was open and Optronix strode in.
To his great surprise, Sentinel Prime was already standing there, arms behind his back and a calm smile on his faceplate.
"Hello, Optronix. I've been expecting you."
* * *
"Wow. For an old mech like you, you're pretty spry." The violet-colored thug known as Kroma chuckled to himself as he grabbed the crest of the downed Avalon's helmet. "Doesn't mean you're good though."
"Get your hands off him!" While Roller handled the other two thugs, Tumbler stormed up to Kroma, aiming his gun at the thug's head. "I mean it! I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it!"
Kroma grinned wickedly. "Fine. Go ahead. Shoot me. Then you can enjoy having the rest of us at your door and dragging you away to who-knows-where, never to be seen again. Your friends and loved ones will never know what happened to you. It would be as if you had never existed in the first place."
Under normal circumstances, Tumbler would have called the thug's bluff. But then he remembered what he and Prowl had found at the Relinquishment Clinic-- what he had presumed to be the Institute-- and thus hesitated.
Kroma noticed his reluctance and his grin broadened. "And here I was thinking you were another selfless wannabe hero."
"Tumbler-- don't," Avalon said. "It's me they're after. I'm the one they want."
"You're right on that, but I think it wouldn't hurt to make sure there aren't any witnesses."
"Kroma, I'll make a deal with you," Avalon said. "I'll go with you-- peacefully-- if you leave them unharmed."
Kroma looked down at him skeptically. "And if I don't?"
"Then I will hurt you. And your friends. Then Proteus and all of his cronies. I don't care if that puts me against the law, because the way I see it, the law has needed some desperate revisions for the past few millennia."
Kroma regarded him carefully for a moment before letting out a harsh laugh. "You know what, pops? I'll take you up on your deal. Not because I buy your bluff, heck no... but my pals and I could always use someone to keep us entertained."
He turned towards the other two thugs, who had Roller caught in a headlock. "Macabre! Rapture! We've got what we came for. Let's go."
* * *
"Sentinel Prime?" For once in his life, Optronix found himself at a loss for words. "I-- you knew we were coming?"Sentinel Prime smiled. "Yes, though only as of two hours ago. Shockwave told me you were on your way."
"He did? Why?"
"So I wouldn't accidentally kill you when you arrived." The Prime let out a hearty laugh as he rested a hand on Optronix's shoulder. "I have been known for my reflexes."
Optronix glanced at Ratchet and Skids, who were just as clueless as he was. "But... if you knew we were coming... then why didn't you try to contact us? Have us meet you through normal means?"
Sentinel's expression sobered. "The same reason why you were forced to break in: Proteus and the others would have found out and we would both be in trouble."
"So... it's true then," Ratchet said. "You really are just a puppet."
"I still have some powers over the Council, but they aren't many. So yes, for all it's worth, I am essentially a figurehead." Sentinel let out a sigh. "Anyway, Shockwave also informed me of your investigations. It would be best for you to give it all to me on a datapad and I will look at it myself. You should get out of here before anyone else finds out you were here."
"Well, the guards in the control room do," Skids said.
"Don't worry, I shall deal with them. Now go." As the three Autobots were about to leave, Sentinel then said, "And Optronix?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for proving me right."
--Present--
"We in the film-making industry like to call that ironic echoing," Crosscut said. "Or something to that effect."
"So that's it then?" Tailgate asked. "Game over?"
"Not quite," Chromedome said. "When Optronix came back to Rodion HQ and found that Avalon had been taken, I told him about the Institute and we rushed to the Relinquishment Clinic where Prowl and I had found it... only to find that it had been abandoned. Turns out there was more than one Institute, hidden under every Relinquishment Clinic and who knows what else. Wherever Avalon had been taken to, he was long gone."
"And as for the cases of Sherma and Checkup's murders... unfortunately, the truth was never made public," Nightbeat said. "We weren't sure if Sentinel Prime refrained from doing so out of cowardice or if the Council had persuaded him not to-- and now that we know he was really Galvatron all along, who can say for sure?"
"The Council instead came out with a cover story," Crosscut said. "Saying that Checkup had been murdered by a rival co-worker-- which Bullet certainly wasn't-- and Sherma by pro-functionist agitators. Beyond that, it was back to business as usual."
"So there you have it," Rewind said. "The end."
The eight Autobots all sat in silence for a moment. Swerve was the first to rise from his seat.
"Well, I'd better get this place ready for business again. I can just hear Trailbreaker moaning from engex withdrawal."
"I suggest you check the distillery again," Ratchet said. "The stuff you gave us had a really strange taste to it."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Swerve muttered.
As the others started to leave the bar, Drift appeared in the doorway. "Are you guys done?"
"Yeah," Chromedome said. "Sorry you missed out on most of it."
"Not to worry. Skids, Rodimus needs you on the bridge." Drift smirked slightly. "There's someone he wants you to meet."
No comments:
Post a Comment