Chapter Nine:

Preparing for War

 

“Who are you!? What would a small…fleshy creature dare ask of us!?”

“I come with glad tidings. I know who you are. Who your people are. I have discovered that you and I are very much alike, and that we desire the same thing: conquest. I know where the Autobots are, I know the locations to several energy composites, and advanced technology you may be interested in. If you’re smart, you’ll hear me out, and we may assemble a powerful alliance.

“Why are we still listening to this flesh creature!?”

“Hold your tongue, Starscream! Or I will remove it myself! I would be…delighted to discuss terms. After all, we have no clue where we are. Might as well learn from its…inhabitants.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Taylor stood in front of Optimus Prime, tapping away on an tablet. She was trying to develop a formula that would allow the Autobots to be given an alternate source of energy, a “blood transfusion” if you will. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as smart as some of her peers. She had to desperately pick her brain of the facts she learned over thousands of years ago. The base was very quiet now. Most of its inhabitants had gone to bed, and the nighttime security were on patrol. Only Taylor remained in the lab, in the dead silence.

“No one could outrun the crash…

It was all reduced to rubble, then again to ash,

To the blinding burning light, it’s no use to fight…

Is no one out there…”

Dr. Glau entered the lab. She was surprised to see Taylor was still in there, and that General Morshower even allowed her to stay. As she descended from the balcony, she could hear Taylor continue to hum to herself.

“There was no signal, from where you were,

All failed contact, no life to stir,

Hovering above, hovering above,

Gravity’s lure…”

Then, Taylor groaned, and swiped left. “You are still here?” Dr. Glau asked. Taylor sighed. “Where else would I be?” She swiped left again, then sighed. “I’m trying to put together a plan for a substitute power source. But I can’t find one, not for an immediate transfusion. Apparently, Energon is so unique, not just anything will work.” She lifted her head from the tablet.

“It’s times like this where I wish I had become a scientist.”

Dr. Glau chuckled. “So, your friend, back in the other hanger, his name was, ‘Bumblebee’?”

Taylor nodded. “Yes. He was my best friend growing up.”

“Why does his name refer to an insect on planet Earth?”

“It was very uncommon to have named based upon mythical creatures from other worlds,” Taylor explained, “But…Now that I think of it, it’s a pretty strange coincidence we both have names based on Earth creatures. My name being loosely based on the bird, the ‘Nightingale.’”

“Are you saying your people, the ‘Autobots,’ have been on Earth before?”

Taylor shrugged. “There were data logs on exploration of distant planets that I used to read as a sparkling-er-child. No one was sure whether or not they were real. But now, it’s starting to make more sense…”

“Who…exactly are your people?”

Taylor sighed. “It’s a very long story. As I’ve explained to General Morshower, we are, or…rather they are, autonomous robotic organisms. We lived on a metallic based planet until we had to leave it.”

“Why did you leave?”

“Cybertron, our planet, was dying. The war had taken a toll on it. The Decepticon leader, Megatron, corrupted our source of energy with an alternate substance. He thought it would restore the planet. But what he did, only sealed its fate.”

Dr. Glau’s expression was unmoved. “You said you were at war?” Taylor cocked her head. “Yes” she said slowly, “It’s fortunate you got the good guys. Otherwise, you could have possibly revived the bad ones, and everyone here would be in extreme danger.” Dr. Glau studied Taylor’s expression for a moment. Taylor suddenly felt uncomfortable at her gaze.

Dr. Glau straightened the wrinkles out of her lab coat. “Well, you certainly can’t develop a formula when you are half asleep. You should get some rest.”

“No, I can’t!” Taylor retorted, “The sooner your team can start working on reviving them, the better. Decepticons could attack any day now. We need to be ready.”

“I admire your determination, but in this case, you are being foolish. Go to sleep.”

Dr. Glau gently took the tablet from her, and nodded, smiling a little. Taylor sighed in defeat. “Okay.” “Goodnight, Ms. Knightingale. Sleep well.” Taylor nodded nervously. “I’ll try…”

But Taylor didn’t sleep that night. She just tossed and turned. She couldn’t stop thinking about her friends, sleeping in the lab a few rooms down. “I wonder what they’re thinking about?” she wondered, “Do they think they failed? Does Optimus Prime think he failed us?” Her chest tightened thinking about it. “It’s all up to me now. I don’t want to fail him! I don’t want to fail any of them! Especially…” She turned around again, staring at the wall. She sighed. “I wonder what Bumblebee would say about this…” She couldn’t help but smile a little. “He’d probably say… ‘You can do this, Gale; and I’ll be right behind you every step of the way’…At least…That’s what I think he’d say. Taylor turned back around, now staring at the other wall, now with a desk and chair in front of it. “I haven’t seen him in years…” she thought, “I’m probably older than him at this rate, at least, in human years. Would we still be friends?” Taylor shook her head. “Don’t think things like that! You trust him. Of course he would still be your friend.” She turned around again and sighed heavily. “Primus, I don’t know what to do…”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“Knightingale…Knightingale…”

Taylor opened her eyes. She wasn’t in the bedroom anymore. She was somewhere…White. She sat up suddenly and looked around. There was nothing in sight: No horizon, no room, nobody, no one.

“Knightingale…”

Taylor cautiously stood up. Who was calling to her? “H-Hello? Who’s there!?” She called. Then, she detected a presence. Cautiously, she turned around. She could the silhouette of someone. Whoever it was, was pure light. She could only see its outline. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Come to me, my child.”

It became apparent to Taylor that this entity was a male. His voice was soothing, low, firm, but the same time, comforting. Cautiously, she stepped forward.

“Closer.”

Taylor obeyed, walking closer, and closer, until finally, she was face to face with the entity. She didn’t know who this was, but she immediately trusted him. She lowered her head, and asked, “What is your command?” She didn’t know why she said it, but she wasn’t anxious about it. She was calm, and compliant. The entity draw his hand, and lifted her face to his. She still couldn’t make out what he looked like, whether he was human, or cybertronian. He almost looked both.

“Speak to the one who gave you life” the entity ordered, “He will guide you. Be not afraid. For I have a plan for you. You will be the savior of your people.” Suddenly, all her fear and sorrow immediately left her. She felt encouraged, and stronger. “Yes sir. May your will be done.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Taylor’s eyes flew open. She could see the sunlight peeking through the dark blue curtains. She suddenly lept out of bed and threw on her clothes. She split open the curtains and the bright, golden sunlight poured into the room. Taylor was feeling revitalized in her strength. She had almost completely forgotten the strange dream she had when it clicked in her mind what she had to do. She took a deep breath and sighed. “The Matrix” she announced to herself, “The Matrix is the key!”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“So, there’s a Cybertronian power source inside this robot’s chest that you can use to reboot them?” asked the General. Taylor was fortunate that everyone had just woken up. Since they were in Alaska, the time zone was off, and some of the soldiers were suffering major jetlag. It was five in the morning, but, since it was nearly Summer, the sun was blazing from 2am to almost midnight! General Morshower had just gotten his coffee from the lounge when Taylor burst into his office.

“I can only revive a few of them. The Matrix is our only hope to reviving our planet in the future” Taylor replied, “a friend of mine will help me figure out the rest. However, we won’t be able to simply use jumper cables on it. The Matrix is a living energy source. It won’t willingly be used. I’ll have to communicate with it. I may be human now, but I believe I can be persuasive.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Morshower asked.

Taylor was silent. She didn’t think about that. Earth didn’t have the right technology for psychic connections. Before she could answer, she heard a voice. “I can help” Doctor Masumi Glau came walking into the room. “It’ll be a risk, but I have the technology that could help with Ms. Knightingale’s experiment” said the Doctor. Taylor turned to Dr. Glau, raising an eyebrow.

“Dr. Glau, just because Ms. Gale was once one of these creatures, doesn’t mean she can survive your…inventions.”

Dr. Glau made contact with Taylor. “I think she will” she said.

“Very well, make it so” said General Morshower,  “Knightingale, follow Dr. Glau to the lab. We’ll make preparations.”

“Y-yes sir” Taylor stammered.

Taylor looked at Dr. Glau, suspiciously. Something wasn’t adding up here.

Taylor cautiously followed Dr. Glau down a flight of stairs, down a long, curved hallway, and into a room where the observatory windows had blast shields on them. When Taylor walked inside, she saw a helmet with a bunch of wires sitting inside a large rubber container. Oddly enough, it looked familiar. While Glau had her back to Taylor, Taylor put her hand on the helmet. Her eyes widened. It was of Cybertronian Alloy. “It’s not what you think” Glau stated, not turning around. “Then what is it then? How did you get this?” Taylor demanded. “Let me just say…,” said Glau, picking up the container, “Your Ark wasn’t the only alien ship to crash on this planet.”

Taylor didn’t have time to ponder that answer. Dr. Glau promptly walked out of the room, leaving her in the dust. Taylor ran up to catch up with her, and they headed back into the lab to set up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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