Transformers: Generation Earth
Chapter 10: Dogs
For Kiera
(~)
“I hope you feel what I feel,
I hope you see what I see.”
-“My Heart Bleeds” – Blood Bought Ent.
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    “Thank God,” the woman sighed, “Reinforcements.”
    The helicopters paused overhead, the three of them fanning out to surround our group, each one pointed in.
    “What do we do?”  Cam asked as they lowered.
    “Don’t move!” I shouted, wanting to make sure I was heard.  I felt Beeper’s tiny fingers clinging to the fabric on my shoulder.
   One of the helicopters landed, the other two stayed airborne and pointing at us.  From the grounded chopper came a uniformed man; he came close enough to be heard, but stayed far enough away so that he could be addressing anybody.  He turned to address the Transformers, however, and asked, “Are you Autobots?”
    I looked at my tall friends.  Grill looked at Cougar, who shrugged.  Cam merely stood still, to my relief.
    Then Grill asked the man, “Autobots?”
    “That will have to wait for later,” he replied.  “Where are you from? How old are you?”
    What? What kind of question was that?
    “Mission City, Nevada. Approximately four days.” Grill replied obediently.
    “Good.  We need you to follow us somewhere less…populated.  Will you?”  He had looked to all of the robots by the end of his sentence.
    The Transformers all looked on one another, then both Grill’s and Cam’s glowing bluish eyes rested on me.  The army guy followed their gaze and watched me as well.  Slowly, I nodded.
    “Yes,” Grill said in addendum, for all to hear.
    “Good.”  The uniformed man made himself heard, visited the many police officers, and then re-entered his helicopter.  It joined the pair already in flight.
    “That guy creeps me out,” Cam said, coming over to me.
    “That was odd,” Cougar said, getting away from the forest and nearing the thin strip of asphalt.  Grill had already transformed and began following the one helicopter which followed our road, away from the blasted building and into territory we had not yet explored.  Cougar got down on all fours again, apparently unwilling to transform, then began to follow the pair of vehicles. Encephylon was at his side.
    Cam then transformed and left his door open for me; Doug jogged over to the female officer and told his fellows, “Let’s go!” When only one officer moved he continued: “Even if you don’t believe me, then you need to pursue your suspect.”  They grumbled something about the army but complied, and so I got into Cam, finding Beeper sitting in the cup holder of the center console, arms around his lower legs like an odd fetal position.
    Cam asked, “Do you want to drive?”
    Feeling slightly guilty about what I said, but still stubbornly wanting to prove my point, I said: “Are you sure? I might not remember how to drive.”
    After a slight pause he stated, “Just remember to let the clutch out slowly and I won’t leave you on the side of the road with Beeper.”
    At that Beeper began a frenzy of tones, standing up in the cup holder and gesturing angrily at the radio.
   “It’s OK, Beeper, I wouldn’t mind being left alone with you.  You’re better at navigation anyway.”
    “Hey!” Cam cried whilst Beeper rejoiced.  I put the Camaro in gear and left.

-o-
Raizer
    “Take me hooooome, country roooooad. To the plaaaace I beloooong-“
    “Oh, ferme la bouche!” I yelled at the Eclipse playing music loudly behind me.  “You weren’t this annoying for the five hours you were with us on the way there. Can’t you be as quiet on the way back?”
    “I’m surprised you were the first to snap,” Biosnare giggled.  “I thought for sure Seether was going to have my neck back there.  Now he’s as quiet as Graphe.  What’s with the French anyway?”
    I sent over the radio so as not to yell, “I don’t think Seether’s listening.  He won’t respond while we’re driving unless you get his attention somehow. And,” I added angrily, “loud, obnoxious music won’t do it, since he listens to his own.  Which, I might add, is nearly as bad as your own tastes.”
    “Oh, don’t like John Denver, do you?” he responded over the same frequency.  “It’s good to know what I can use in the future then….  Why; what do you listen to?”
    “Assuming I listen?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “Blanc ou noir comme toi-“
    “Oh, please. You even listen to French music?  Hah! Honestly, what’s your infatuation with it?”
    “It’s not an infatuation.  It’s my first language.”
    We drove in silence for a moment before someone else from our party joined in with an emotionless voice.
    “It’s that woman whom he belonged to before activation.  She was from France.”
    “You know,” Biosnare began, “I never caught your name.”
    “Vicegrip.” The forest green Expedition identified himself.
    “And you know this how?”
    “I landed on her garage.”
    “Landed?”
    “Landed.”
    I didn’t feel the need before now to expose Vicegrip, whom stayed “in the shadows,” even from the rest of our group, up until now.  Currently he was at the tail of our train heading west.  He had previously taken a northern route to Arkansas, so he wasn’t there when we picked up Biosnare in Texas.  Furthermore, I only spoke with him in Arkansas over an encrypted, private channel of his until we met up again to leave when Seether was storming after the Spyder.  I was awed, considering Biosnare’s apparent curiosity, at how he hadn’t asked before then.  Of course, it was wise of him not to hold us up earlier with that question.  “He’s not from here,” I started revealing, “he’s one of our race who hails from our real home.”
    “Which would be…?”  Biosnare asked.
    “Another planet.” Vicegrip said plainly.
    “Mars?” The bright green one asked.
    Vicegrip laughed; not something I expected from him.  “Hardly,” he replied. “I don’t know what the best translation would be for its name.  That’s not my specialty, nor my responsibility. It’s much farther away though, I can tell you that.”
    “Does it have to be your responsibility, for you to translate it?  What are you translating from?”
    Vicegrip replied – in an alien tongue.
    “I see. Any chance I can download it?”
    “How long are you going to ask questions?” Graphe suddenly piped up.  The calculator was with Biosnare when we met him.  He hardly left the Eclipse or even made his presence known, so this was surprising.  So far, only Seether had not spoken on this part of the trip, though you could sometimes hear his music playing.
    “Get off the frequency if it bothers you,” Biosnare said snidely.

    -o-
Cam
    We made it in one piece to the clearing where the first helicopter and Grill had stopped.  Everything went fine with the drive except one moment when V missed third gear… but it was nice being able to think about other things (for the most part) and not having to worry about veering out of my lane or into the trees that were everywhere.
    As much as I didn’t want to think about the present, I couldn’t help but wonder if we would get to pay our respects to V’s – and my – parents.  I couldn’t remember much about what little time I must have spent at the dealership or factory anyway.  Maybe it was better V was driving – he’s had too much time to think about it, and I haven’t thought about it enough.  Would there be little crosses we could visit?
Camshaft: :Grill?:
Grill: :Yes?:
Camshaft: :What are we going to do?  I think V was right.  It’s not like we can really help him…:
Grill: :I don’t know. [How come he could come off so normal though?  When I look at him I can’t tell if he cares at all.]*  That’s what we followed these officials for though: maybe we can work something out with them.:
Camshaft: :Maybe….:
    The space where we were stopping was off an apparently rarely used road.  The street sign was old and crooked, and the asphalt was cracked a lot.  The lot looked like it had been recently cleared though, and a tractor was near some of the various greenery still in tact.
    “You go ahead and park where you want, I have no clue where you wanna be,” V told me, letting go of the steering wheel.
   I pulled up beside Grill so that he was between me and the landed helicopter.  Cougar was sitting down across from us, petting Encephylon.  The police pulled up, one by me (making me nervous) and the other by Cougar, who watched them as they got out.  When the other two helicopters landed on the other side of the black and white cars, I transformed knowing V was out and Beeper was ready.  It was like being back in the garage, all boxed in….
    I nudged Grill when he didn’t transform.  “Are you online?”
    “Yes.”  He said.
    “Well, let them know you’re not phasing out over here.”
Grill: :You tell them.  I won’t transform except for an emergency; I want to save what little fuel I have left so that you won’t have to bring me some.:
Camshaft: :That would be lame.:
    “Uh, he’s listening,” I pointed to Grill and said to the guys who got out of the first helicopter (including the guy from earlier) and were watching us, “He’s just…”
    “Tired,” Cougar put in; I nodded.
    The man I recognized tilted his head to others at his side, which then went over to the police.  A few people came out of the other two helicopters, simply standing near them.  “Well, first off, I’m Staff Sergeant Austen.”
    In this short pause, Cougar spoke up with his own introduction, “Cougar; and this is Encephylon.” He referenced himself and the dog at his side.  Austen nodded stiffly.
    When no one else spoke and eyes were drifting our way, I said, “I’m Camshaft.”
    “V.”
    “Grill.”
    “And,” I said, reaching behind my neck only to find the little guy shivering, “Beeper.”  He eluded me then crawled on the back of my hand, and I pulled him forward so Austen could see.  He locked himself in a standing position, or glitched that way or something.  I tried to make sure he didn’t fall over then, so I brought him back to myself after only a moment.  As soon as I covered him he crawled up through and around my back behind my neck again, so he could just see over my shoulders.
    After a little more quiet the Sergeant continued, “Very well, where do I begin?”
    “How about explaining what you mentioned earlier,” Grill piped up.  “Autobots.”
    “Autobots:” Austen began, watching Grill, “one of two main factions of your species which travelled to earth in search of the Allspark.” He stopped then started again:  “Their leader is Optimus Prime. He is working with us.”
    “And the other faction?” Cougar requested.
    “Decepticons.” The guy looked to the ground.  “They came looking for the Allspark and their missing leader, Megatron, who is now out of commission.  The Autobots sought the Allspark, a cube, to keep it from the Decepticons, who sought to use it to become more powerful.  That cube,” Austen looked up at me, “brought you all to life.”
    “That made the blue-wave thingy everyone was talking about?”  I looked around to everyone else.
    “Is that what knocked off the network as well?” Cougar asked.
    “No.  That had Decepticon origins.  It was a virus planted while they were still searching for Megatron and the Allspark.”
    “So the Allspark was at the center of Mission City on that day – and both Autobots and Decepticons were there?” Cougar continued looking for information.
    “Yes.  They were the one’s fighting, and the reports put out about the testing done by Mendelson Robotics is a cover up, as you might imagine.”
    “Don’t you think there’s a problem with that though?” V asked, apparently a little angry.  “Don’t you think people could be in danger because of it?  What about all the robots loose…?  What if Biosnare’s only the beginning?”  He was working himself up.
    “It’s not my job to question my orders; it’s my job to accept that there is information I don’t have – and to work with what I’m given.”  He didn’t really come off as mean, especially once he talked again: “It’s not as if we’re sitting here twiddling our thumbs.” His voice got quieter. “I know that the Autobots are working with the new robots, and I know Optimus Prime and his group are working on taking out remaining Decepticons, one-by-one.”
    V looked put out.
    “How many are there, though?” I asked, concerned.  “And how many of us were made?”
    “I have no way of knowing,” the Sergeant said simply.  “But think about it – the total number of known robots just increased by –“ he stopped, I guess to count, “at least five since I’ve met you.  And every day, more and more are coming out in the open, or are getting caught doing things they shouldn’t be.”
    “But nobody hears about it,” V said, angry.
    The man sighed. “Can you imagine what might happen if everyone did know about it? The riots, the boycotts, the bans that people might demand - because we can’t give them all the information, it’s best they don’t know of any of it.”
    V didn’t say anything. He was just staring at the man, arms crossed.
    “So,” Grill was talking again, “why have you given us this information?”
    “Our hope is that you will choose to work with us, and with the Autobots as well.”
    “So, what,” I asked, “You just want us to fight for you?  Is it even about Biosnare anymore?”
    “The first thing you would do after meeting with a representative of the Autobots is help us in tracking that group down.”
    “But,” Cougar said quietly, “we’d be doing it in your name, and under your rules…”
    “…Yes.” The man replied warily.
    “…and you could do with us what you want after that?  Would we merely be military dogs due to our existence? Do we have no freedom? No rights?”
    “You have a choice-”
    “Between what?”  Cougar asked, absently stroking his dog, “join you and live, or rebel and be destroyed?  Or maybe hide in the shadows as vehicles from everybody, and avoid this battle altogether?  We didn’t ask to be brought into this war.”
    “Neither did all of earth.  This is no longer just the Autobots and Decepticons’ war anymore; it was brought to this planet and regardless of whether we want to be a part of it or not, it’s here, and it’s happening around us.  Right now we can’t afford to have you running around.  No, you don’t officially have rights yet, but you never will unless you cooperate.  It’s only because of the Autobots that we aren’t attempting to exterminate you all.  Maybe it’ll only be because of you that you get any rights in the future.  I don’t know.  It’s your choice.”  And with that, he left to the helicopters and people at the edge of the clearing near the decrepit road.
    I cursed and tapped my chin.  “We’re sort of stuck.”
    “Yes,” Cougar said, no longer rubbing Encephylon, “we are in quite a spot…. Go with them and die on the battlefield against our own kind, say no and be shot, or blow them up first, get revenge on the mechs we’re following, if we can still find them, then eventually get caught and blown apart ourselves.   Not really a win-win situation, is it?”
Grill: :What will happen to Viktor?  He wasn’t even mentioned.:
Cougar: :I don’t know if even the Sergeant can tell us that. I can’t imagine they have protocol about such things.:
    While they were debating that I put my hand around V, pulling him towards me a little bit.  “Grill and Cougar will figure out something,” I said as he looked up to me.  I felt Beeper come out of hiding and look down too.
    “Aww,” he beeped quietly.

-o-
Grill
   “Have you made a decision?”  Austen asked after coming back over.   Many of the uniformed men came with him this time.
    “We have…” Cougar said slowly, looking towards me, “…one question to ask before we announce our choice.”
    “Shoot.”
    “What will happen to V?”
    “He’ll go with you, of course.”  Much of our pent up tension was released; both Camshaft and Cougar were visibly relieved, and Cam even mimicked a human sigh.  “At least until the situation becomes aggravated enough to where he’ll be put in serious danger.”
    “What?” Camshaft asked, “I won’t let him get hurt – besides, if Seether is after him then he’ll be safer with us, won’t he?”
    “But Seether doesn’t care about me, remember?” Viktor reminded the Camaro, “he left me back in Mission, and when he came after Biosnare, he left me then too.”
    “He went after Biosnare?” Cam asked, confused.
    “Because of what he did,” the boy clenched his fists and closed his eyes. “Seether said he wanted Biosnare to catch them, and when he did more than that – Seether was angry.
    “Biosnare kept me from running in after mom and dad, and took me away as he blew it up.  Then when Seether found us, Biosnare left me, turned tail, and ran.  Seether went after him and left me. That’s how I got on the side of the road.  Seether’s had too many opportunities to kill me if he’d wanted to.”
    “That doesn’t make sense though.”  Cam was still baffled.  “Why – Why did he want mom and dad gone in the first place?  And why just them and not you?”
    Trying to return us to the topic at hand, I said, “I’ve already given you my opinion and explanation of the matter; for now we merely need to let Staff Sergeant Austen know if we have chosen to join him or not.”
    “I’m going with V, wherever he goes,” Cam stated.
    “I will help your effort ,” Cougar said specifically to the Staff Sergeant.
    “As will I, as long as I remain with Camshaft and Viktor.”
   “And the phone?” the man asked, looking up at Cam, and, consequently, Beeper.
    Beeper made himself visible to Austen then pointed to his transportation.
    “You’re with him?” Austen asked, referring to Camshaft.   “All right, and what about you, young man?  It’s looking as if most of them have pinned all their choices on you.”
    Viktor looked sternly at the more mature human, “I want Biosnare dead.  He’s gonna pay for what he did to my parents.”
    “Very well…we’ll work out the details once we figure out where his group has gone.”

-o-

~End Chapter 10~

* Brackets indicate a thought process (of the current character we are inhabiting) occurring during message interpretation since splitting the message up could change the tone or meaning.