Chapter Ten:

The Matrix

“Sir, we found them. They’re in Alaska. Their energy signatures suggest they are in cryo-sleep.”

“Excellent.”

“It’s not a surprise Optimus Prime and his followers would survive that crash, despite my hopes.”

“My lord, what happens after we destroy the Autobots?”

“We must repair the Nemesis, and plunder Earth of its resources. Then, we’ll be able to leave this primitive planet.”

“What of the Autobots?”

“We must destroy them before they cause anymore casualties. Starscream, take a team to the coordinates, and destroy them. This is the only chance I will give you to redeem yourself. Don’t waste it!”

“Yes, lord Megatron.”

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

The ice had been chipped away just enough so that Optimus Prime’s chassis could be reached. At first, Taylor was a bit uncomfortable. This felt wrong at first, an invasion of privacy. But it was the only way. With a heave, Taylor pulled the doors to open. She almost fell off her feet when they split apart. A big, bright glow emanating forth. Taylor scrambled to her feet and let out a sigh of relief. “Good” she breathed, “Sorry, Prime, but I’m gonna need to borrow this.” A group of scientists came in with bunches of cables. Those whom Taylor had chosen were brought into the main hangar, and had cables plugged into the energy intake valve in their chassis, and connected them to the main one, which was hooked up to a helmet, that was a bit bigger than a human head.

As Taylor was setting up, she heard someone cry, “Taylor!” She turned around and was delighted when she saw who it was: It was Daniel and Spike Witwicky! She burst into a huge smile. They ran to her and Spike embraced her tightly. Then Daniel did.

“We were so worried! They wouldn’t tell us what was going on! We thought that they’d-!” He exclaimed.

“Well, they needed to get me in here some way” Taylor replied, calmly.

Daniel observed the entity in front of her encased in the ice. “So, this is what you’ve been hiding all these years?” Taylor shifted her weight. “I’m sorry, I…You wouldn’t have believed me if I told you. No one would.” “No, I wouldn’t’ve.” Taylor looked at him, frowning. Daniel smiled. “But I think now was as good as any time. I know who you are, Taylor McCarthy. Even if you’re an alien, that doesn’t change anything. Jacob and I will be there to encourage you in any choice you make.” Taylor beamed. Just then, there was a clearing of a throat. Taylor turned around to see Dr. Glau. “It’s time, Knightingale” she announced. Taylor’s smile faded away, and she nodded. She turned back to the Witwickys. “You may want to get up to the balcony. Having panicked Autobots is very risky” she informed. Daniel nodded. “Good luck, Taylor.”

Taylor sat down in a plastic, folding chair. She folded her hands together, shifting anxiously. One of the scientists behind her gently placed the helmet on her head. Dr. Glau knelt down and gently connected a heart monitor to Taylor’s chest. “If your heart rate goes to high, I’ll pull the plug” she warned, “It’s too high a risk and you’re too valuable to use.” “I understand,” Taylor replied, “And I’m not afraid.” She looked over her shoulder and searched for the Witwickys. She found them on the balcony as they were told. She smiled, and raised her hand and gave them a thumbs up. Daniel saw her and gave her a thumbs up in return. She turned her head back forward, concentrating on the glow of the Matrix. “You ready?” she heard Dr. Glau say. “Yes” Taylor replied. She closed her eyes, and the helmet was switched on.

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

Taylor’s blackened vision suddenly whirled blue as she felt herself flying through a wormhole. Her heart was racing as she felt no control over where she was being flung. Then, her head smacked onto a metal surface. She opened her eyes and looked above her. She saw tall metal buildings towering to the sky, and a dark, star-filled sky. She suddenly leapt to her feet. She would recognize this place anywhere. It was Cybertron. Then, she heard a noise behind her as she whirled around. She saw a bright light, which took form into an autobot shape. “Knightingale” the figure stated. Taylor was surprised. “I’m surprised that you knew my name” she said, nervously. “I know all Cybertronian creations, whether they be good or evil, half flesh or full metal” said the figure, “Now, Knightingale, what is it you desire? I sense great urgency within your spark.” Taylor knew by this point that this was the Matrix speaking to her. It had to be. The tiny piece of spark from Cybertron’s near corrupted core. To be in its presence was considered sacred. Taylor took a deep breath, and sighed.

“The Autobots are all but shut down. They crashed on the planet Earth, four thousand years ago. Yet, their spark still clings on. We are barely keeping them alive. Pretty soon, the Autobots will be extinct.”

“By ‘we,’ you mean your new companions, the flesh creatures.”

“Humans; and yes: my friends.”

“Are you sure?”

Taylor raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“All races in this universe are corrupted in one way or another. Especially its protectors. Has it ever occurred to you that the protectors of Earth, could possibly betray you? Turn their forces on you, even after saving their lives?”

Taylor couldn’t understand. Why was the Matrix bringing this up? She didn’t respond for a moment, carefully thinking through her next response. Then, she took a deep breath, and spoke:

“I’m aware of the corruption in this universe. The Autobots have fought for our freedom for eons. If it comes to that, we’ll continue to fight for that freedom. I have lived among humans for over twenty years. Some of them yes, may turn against us, in one way for another. But some, are kind and wise. The human race doesn’t deserve to be condemned by only accounting for its evil. The ones of light deserve to live. I am willing to fight for those people, and I’m sure that the Autobots will too.”

The figure smiled (or at least, that’s what Taylor sensed). “You are young, Autobot, but I see you have great potential: potential to be a great leader in the future millennium. Guard your spark and your mind, my daughter, for you have many challengers to face.”

Suddenly, Taylor felt herself being sucked backwards. The Cybertron world disappeared and she fell back into the wormhole. She felt her heart racing again, but not because she was finding no control over her body. As she turned around, she could see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. As she flew closer, she could hear the echoing of disturbing noises: Bullets firing and clanging on the floor, people shouting in a cluster of voices, the loud booming of objects blowing up…

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

She felt the earth tremble beneath her. When she opened her eyes, she could see in front of her, two legs. Two cybernetic legs. She looked up to see a cannon pointed straight at her. She yelped and rolled out of the way just as it fired. The former chair and physic device was now a pile of broken pieces and ashes. She scrambled up to her feet and looked to where she saw it. Her eyes widened at what she saw. She was afraid of this. “Starscream!” she exclaimed. The Second-in-command of the Decepticons. The red-eyed Cybertronian was surprised. Before anything could be said about it, Taylor got up and ran. “Come back here little fleshling!” the Decepticon exclaimed. He pointed his cannon and fired, purposely in front of her, to get to her stop. But Taylor barely avoided the craters in her path. “Knightingale!” She whirled around and saw a soldier in a tattered uniform call her. She ran to him. The soldier was hiding behind a piece of falling debris from the roof. Taylor ducked down to hide. She could hear more objects falling from the roof. Taylor turned to the soldier. “Who are you? I haven’t seen you before” she hissed. The soldier scrambled to re-equip his gun. “I’m Captain Lennox. My team had just arrived from Iraq when these…Decepticons attacked” he replied. Taylor gasped. “You’re the response team?” The soldier didn’t reply, he just tossed a gun to her. “Hit the joint areas. That’s their weak points” he advised. Taylor nodded.

She jumped out of the hiding spot and fired. She hit the shoulder joint of one of the Decepticons, then ducked back behind another piece of debris. Suddenly, she realized something. They were after the Autobots! They probably could care less about humans! They were beneath them! She peeked over her hiding spot and spotted Starscream, cackling as he did a 360 around Optimus Prime’s frozen shell. “Optimus Prime,” he slurred, “You look…Terrible! You Autobots are pathetic, so desperate to leave, you got careless and became, what humans call, a ‘popsicle’.” Taylor’s heart started to race. “Here, let me ease your pain!” Suddenly, Taylor jumped out of her hiding spot. “NOO!” She shouted and let the bullets fly. She didn’t care if she didn’t hit them. She only wanted to distract them. As she did this, all of the other remaining soldiers currently in their hiding places also jumped out and opened fire on the Decepticons. The Decepticons were startled, and annoyed by all the bullets pelting on their faced and bodies like small hailstones. “Urg! Decepticons! You’ve got some free target practice! Shoot down the flesh creatures.” Well now they were distracted. “I need some better weapons!” Taylor thought. She looked around. Then, coincidentally, she noticed a large Cybertronian gun was sprawled on the ground in the corner. She looked for Captain Lennox and signaled him to cover her. He nodded, and Taylor set on her way.

Captain Lennox emerged from his hiding spot and randomly shot off his gun, giving himself the Decepticon’s attentions. “Open fire!” he shouted to the other soldiers. It worked, but now Lennox and many others had to be better at hiding. Taylor ran as fast as she could towards the device. When she got there, a Decepticon shot off two feet beside her and she lost her footing. She swirled around and around on the floor, but managed to grab the weapon. It was heavier than she remembered. She growled. “Come on, come on! I need this to work!” she pleaded. She frantically tried to figure out where the trigger was. “Knightingale!” she heard Lennox cry. She whirled around and saw Lennox was a few feet away from her. “We’re getting pinned down!” he warned. Taylor hissed through her teeth. Finally, she slid her hand through a hole in the back center. The weapon suddenly clasped it, forming around her wrist as she felt the trigger within her grasp. “How did it…?” She wondered. Then, she heard the thumping of heavy feet behind her. She whirled around to see a Decepticon. “Found you” he snarled. But Taylor had the upper hand. She quickly pointed it at her enemy, used her other hand to secure it, then fired. She hit him square in the chassis. The Decepticon was shocked. Not only was a human able to beat him, it was humiliating. He spat an insult towards her, then fell over, dead.

Taylor turned around, back towards where Optimus Prime was still encased. He didn’t move. He looked the same as before. What could have she done wrong? The other soldiers were still able to distract the other Decepticons long enough for Taylor to run back towards him. She grasped her hands onto the ice. The machine attached to it was no longer running, so it had begun to melt, but not fast enough. Taylor felt helpless. “Did I fail?” She asked herself, “Was that meeting with the Matrix…just a fabrication of my imagination?” It was then she realized something she didn’t see before. She squinted her eyes to look closer to Optimus Prime’s helm. His optics…They were glowing blue. She suddenly put a hand over her mouth in surprise. “He’s alive!” Taylor scrambled to recharge her gun. Then, she stepped back. She pointed it carefully, as to not shoot Optimus, and fired. Suddenly, a huge chunk of ice fell off the top and hit the ground with a loud crash. She recharged and fired again, this time near his arm. Another chunk of ice fell, and melted around his hand that was sticking out. She saw it twitch, and then his fist tightened. “I’m coming Prime!” She cried, then exclaimed in the Autobot tongue, “Hold on, sir! Hold on!” Suddenly, a bright light flashed. She tumbled back, trying to shade her eyes. Everyone else was shocked as well, even the Decepticons. However, Starscream, though he stumbled about greatly, took the advantage and snuck up on Taylor. He pulled out a glowing, purple sword, and was about to give her a deadly piercing!

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