Chapter Two

“Um, ‘Gale…? ‘Gale…? ‘Gale!”

Taylor juttered awake. She had been sitting in Bumblebee’s driver’s seat for multiple hours in the plane home. Taylor stirred.

“Did I fall asleep?” She asked.

“Is that what that was?” Her companion asked.

“What, I didn’t snore, did I?”

“Maybe…a little?”

Taylor sighed. “Great.”

“Do all humans do that?”

“Not all of them. Just some unfortunate ones.”

“Well, we’re flying over Mount Ninovan now. Thought you might want to know.”

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Taylor was more fully awake. She opened Bumblebee’s front door and stepped out. In the darkness, she could see the towering, tree covered mountain, with few lights on, bright enough to indicate the landing pad.

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It had been officially three months since the attack on Chicago. The U.S. Government had decided to form an alliance with the Autobots, a group of autonomous robotic aliens from the war-ridden planet Cybertron, in order to combat their arch enemies who followed them to Earth, the Decepticons. This treaty was called the “Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty” or “N.E.S.T.,” and their new division was named as such. The government gave the Autobots an old base that was an underutilized, former silver mine in Colorado. Lennox, who had assisted Taylor and the Autobots, had been promoted to Major, and was tasked with leading the teams while General Morshower, an older general brought out of retirement, and former acquaintance of Taylor, with the help of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, coordinated operations. Taylor, whose real name was Knightingale, who also turned out to be the whistleblower in jumpstarting the entire operation after landing on Earth twenty years ago and turned human by a mysterious group of scientists, had to make the big move from Michigan to Colorado, away from Daniel and Jacob Witwicky, two individuals whom she considered family, and away from her school where she worked. It was an extreme change, but Taylor was willing to do anything for the Autobots, whom she also esteemed as family. She wasn’t about to leave them after two decades of believing they were dead.

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

There was a rumbling thunk. The plane had landed, and the cargo bay door opened. The yellow beetle slowly inched his way out, with Taylor following closely behind. Then, the beetle transformed into robot mode. An Autobot with widened cheeks and mouthless, with red and green racing stripes across his white torso, approached them.

“So, how’d it go?” He asked, excitedly.

Taylor chuckled. “Worked like a charm, Wheeljack!”

Wheeljack was the newest member of the Autobot’s Earth division. He had arrived on Earth two weeks prior and, being somewhat of a mad genius, was already cracking down on new, human-friendly weapons to combat the Decepticons, with permission from Optimus Prime of course, who gave the humans only limited access to their Cybertronian technology.

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“Yeah, nothing blew up! You did good!” Bee announced.

“As the humans would say, ‘Oh ye of little faith’! Not everything I invent blows up!” Wheeljack exclaimed.

“No, I think your problem is you get a little too excited to get it out in the field, and you don’t run enough tests!” Taylor added, “But everything worked good tonight. A+ for you!”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll take it as a compliment!”

Taylor laughed. “Alright then!”

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Just then, Taylor could feel a yawn coming on. At first, she stifled it. But then, it slipped out.

“‘Gale, your eyes are leaking!” Bumblebee observed.

Taylor rubbed her eyes. “I know. Some human’s eyes water when they yawn.”

“You ready to head back to the cabin?” Bee inquired.

Taylor sighed and nodded. “Yeah, Prime didn’t give us anything to do. Cybertronians can work and go on for a long time. Humans? Not so much.”

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Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode, and his driver’s seat door opened. Taylor stepped inside, and took off into one of the tunnels leading out of the base.

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

Bumblebee carefully drove into the large garage. Taylor stepped out tiredly and observed the cobwebs and dust still littering the garage. Taylor cringed. She wasn’t fond of her friend dwelling in such unsanitary space. Bumblebee transformed, and sat down.

“You sure you’re alright in here? You know you can always hang out at the base. I’ll be fine for a few hours by myself” she asked.

Bumblebee scoffed. “Knightingale, stop worrying! I’ll be fine! Remember, I’ve been in worse cooped up places than this!” He added with a smile.

Taylor chuckled. “Alright If you’re positive.”

“I’m positive. No go and recharge!”

She smiled. “Okay. Goodnight Bumblebee.”

Knightingale. Hearing her real name never got old.

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Taylor quietly exited the garage. A small footpath away was a large cabin, built barely a few feet from the mountain wall. Taylor was given this house by the government officials to greenlit N.E.S.T. Because the house had a direct, but secret entrance to the base, it seemed natural that Taylor would use the property. Taylor had no problem abiding in the base that occupied the inside of Mt. Ninovan, but it was insisted that she receive it;

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And she took it gladly. This was her chance to resume her career as a teacher, for she loved learning. When she first came to Earth, knowledge had never been so exciting since before the last Cybertron War. She had a fierce desire for books, especially cultural history, and eager to tell the world of what she found, and becoming a teacher seemed the best approach.

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Taylor walked up to the house and stepped onto the porch. A couple wood planks creaked as she walked on them. There were two rocking chairs on the right of the porch, dusty, and covered with spider webs rocking slightly in the wind. Taylor opened the door with a bronze key, and booked it upstairs. It was a large master bedroom with an office and bathroom. Only, there was no furniture, just a small cot on the floor. Taylor dropped all her things, and plumped herself on top, too lazy to change her clothes. Without any further trouble, Taylor fell fast asleep.

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Double uploads the next couple weeks, Tuesday and Thursday and 4pm! Hope you enjoy!

Stay safe and wash your hands! ❤ ^^