CHAPTER SEVEN
--Luna 1--
"Ee-vah-- EVE-- stop." Boltax held up his hands. "What do you think you're doing? How did you get here? Why... why are you doing this?"
"My superiors sent me to find Luna 1, which they found to be in the Sol system." EVE's optics narrowed as she raised her gun at Boltax. "They told me to simply scout out the moon... but I don't think they would mind if I took out one of their biggest dissidents."
"Ee-vah, stop." WALL-E rolled to stand between EVE and Boltax. "This isn't... this isn't you. I know you can be a bit short-tempered, but not... murderous."
The probe unit lowered her gaze at him. "You. You're one of the waste allocators. I thought the Functionists had recalled the last of you."
"He's from a different time, EVE," Boltax said. "A time when you loved him... which you used to."
"I don't know what you're talking about," EVE snapped. "I've never met him before in my entire life."
"You're wrong. I know you are."
"What could you possibly know about me?"
Boltax said nothing. Instead, he drew out a dusty, probably worn-out tape player and turned it on.
It only takes a moment / For your eyes to meet and then--
EVE blinked as she moved back. It was clear to all (especially the cold-reading Nightbeat) that the song struck a familiar chord in her mind. However, she quickly shook her head and resumed her icy stare.
"You're trying to distract me. You'll only be disappointed."
"Speaking of distractions," Rodimus said, causing EVE to notice him and the other Cybertronians for the first time. "No offense, but the more time we spend here, the less time we have to stop Brainstorm from making this future a permanent one."
"I suggest you go then," Boltax said ruefully. "It may mean that I will be erased from history, but if it also means a better world to live in, then I am willing to sacrificed myself."
"What are you talking about?" EVE demanded. "What is this about erasing history?"
Skids stepped forward and got down to his knees. "EVE, how much do the Functionists mean to you?"
"Irrelevant. All that matters is what I can do to serve them."
"Okay. So what happens if the Functionists decide you are no longer of any use to them? What if they decide to recall you like they did WALL-E's model?"
"If it means upholding the perfect shape, then I will comply."
"Is that really what you're satisfied with? To just be some tool that can be discarded whenever someone feels like it?"
EVE had no response. Skids slowly reached out with his finger and pointed at EVE's chest.
"I know you still have love for WALL-E. You may deny it, but it's there. I can tell. If you really want to do something for someone, then do something for him. Help us create a better tomorrow for you and him. Help us so that you can both be happy."
"I don't need to be happy," EVE said quietly, unsure if she believed her own words. "It's... it's not required for my directive."
"Forget about your directive. Forget about the Functionists. All that matters now is you and WALL-E. It's time for you to be your own person, for both your sake... and his."
EVE bowed her head as she let these words sink in. Finally, after a long moment, she put away her blaster. "Very well. I will do as you ask. For him. For us."
Skids smiled as he got to his feet. "That's what I like to hear."
"Alrighty then," Rodimus said, after a silence that was somehow a mix of solemn and awkward. "So are we all set?"
"It would appear so," Ultra Magnus muttered.
"Then let's get moving." Rodimus turned to Boltax and nodded to him. "Thank you for your hospitality, High Circuitmaster."
Boltax snorted. "Your sarcasm needs a little work. But you're welcome, all the same."
--Cybertron--
"I saw him go down this way!"
A pair of Functionaries took a hard turn into an alleyway, catching a glimpse of their target before it headed through a doorway.
"This is Functionary 226 to all units," one of the officers called into his comlink. "We have a rogue minesweeper in Sector G1. Ex-Primal Vanguard. We believe him to be armed. Do not engage him until I give the order. Repeat: Do not engage!"
The two Functionaries barged through the doorway, taking out part of the wall with their large size, and scoured the abandoned warehouse for their quarry.
"I don't see how he can get anywhere with his optics deactivated," 226's partner growled.
"Some 'bots have more acute senses when blind. But he won't get far. Trust me."
* * *
Minimus Ambus was in the dark.
He knew he should have thought this through. What was he going to do after acquiring a banned weapon and deactivating his optics? Now he had half of the security force after him and no sense of where he was going. He only went where his servos and audio sensors took him.
He was on the rooftop now, that much he could tell what with the sound of air traffic flying loudly over him. Several levels below, he could hear heavy footsteps.
He had lost everything. His brother Dominus was gone. Rewind was gone. Rocket, gone. His teammates in the Primal Vanguard-- Borebit, Corkscrew-- all gone. Even his own privacy had fallen victim to the Functionists' rule. This was where he would end it, he knew. This would be, as the organics called it, his swan song.
"Hold it right there!"
Minimus turned at the sound of the Functionary's voice, although he could not see them, and raised his gun in their direction. "If you know what's good for you, officer," he said defiantly, "then stand back."
"Pal, if you were any other 'bot, I'd have called the Cog to detonate your o-chip hours ago. But I respect you military types, so I'll give you a choice: either you drop the gun now and come quietly with us, or join your friends in the scrapheap."
"I'm really not afraid to pull this trigger, officer. I won't warn you again. Step away now and no one gets hurt."
"What are you even trying to prove?" the Functionary asked. "Even if you managed to hit one of us with that thing, you'd be scrapped instantly by the other."
"I'm trying to send a message," Minimus said. "I'm trying to show the world what our society has become. All of us are just cogs of a single machine."
"That's the idea."
"But why must life be like this? If Primus wanted us to be slaves, then why would he allow Alpha Prime to liberate us from the Builders?"
"You're quoting the history records banned by the Council. Not exactly helping your case."
"The Functionists are trying to hide the truth. They know that history exposes the faults in their ideology, but they're too scared-- too intimidated by naysayers like Dominus. That's why you took those like him out of the picture."
"All right, I've heard enough. You have until three to drop the gun. One."
"You don't scare me."
"Two."
"My voice will be heard."
"Three."
There was the sound of thunder and then nothing.
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