Arcee handed the datapad to Ratchet, and she walked out of the room to her berthroom. She grabbed her own personal datapad, and started playing a video of her, Tailgate, and Elita-1. Tears started dripping down her faceplate, and she cried softly. A knock at the door makes her jump and as she puts the datapad down, Optimus enters. 

She looks away from him, and shook her head. "Leave me alone, Optimus."

"Ratchet analyzed the video on the datapad", he murmured. "There's been no sign of tampering."

Arcee scoffed. "Of course there isn't. Of course there isn't." She squeezed her eyes shut, and held back a sob. "Of course the video that shows the femme I loved becoming the femme I hate most hasn't been tampered with."

Optimus was quiet. "We are discussing bringing her back here for testing to see if she is telling the truth. Ratchet believes that he might be able to find some evidence that she was forcibly changed through her CNA."

Arcee sighed. "Just... keep her away from the humans if you do, and don't let her out of your sights."

Optimus nodded, and left the room. Arcee hesitated before she grabbed something from under her bed. It was different datapad, from the school they both attended. Arcee had taken it, and kept it ever since. It held their first conversation, the one where they talked about D-16. Arcee now knew that D-16 had become Megatron, but she didn't know that until she joined up with Optimus on Earth. Her spark heavy, Arcee walked out into the main room, where she saw her worst enemy walking through the gorundbridge. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were at the ready with their blasters, and Optimus walked in behind Airachnid.

Arcee tightened her grip on the datapad. She approached Airachnid, and stopped a few feet in front of her. "If you really are Elita-1, I don't know what I'm going to do" she whispered. Airachnid gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Now you know how I've felt all these years", the femme answered, her eyes shifting to the datapad that Arcee held. Her magenta optics widened as she recognized it.

"Is that your datapad from my first day at the school with you and Tailgate. The one that Starscream grabbed from your and tattled on us about messaging during class?" 

Arcee stared at Airachnid, about to drop the datapad. "I... what..."

Airachnid sighed, and she looked away. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sure this is really hard for you."

"You think?!" Arcee finally exploded. "I thought Elita-1 was dead! Now you're telling me that she's alive, and that she's you or you're her, or however that works. And if that is true... then that would explain... nevermind."

Airachnid looked like she wanted to press, but she refrained, and instead looked at Ratchet. "I understand you want to look at my CNA. I can't promise you'll get the results you want, but I hope that it will help."

Ratchet nodded, and led her back to the lab area, Optimus following, his blaster at the ready in case Airachnid tried anything. Arcee merely watched, her eyes dull. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were talking, but it was background noise to Arcee's thoughts.

'If she really is Elita-1, that would explain why my spark pulls me toward her even though I hate her.'

Arcee flinches when Bumblebee places a servo on her shoulder. She shoves him off, and shakes her head, indicating that she doesn't want to talk. She sat on a nearby crate, and waited for Ratchet to get back. She was afraid of what the results would bring, and she didn't know what she wanted them to be. And that scared her even more.

"Arcee", Ratchet called. Bulkhead and Bumblebee where already over by him, and as Arcee rose, a terrible fear clenched around her spark. She felt like her spark was about to go out from how nervous she was to learn the truth. 

As soon as she reached him, a mess of words fell from her mouth. "Well, Ratchet. Did the tests reveal anything? Is she who she says she is? Was she tested on by Shockwave? Is she really Elita-1?"

Ratchet was quiet as he watched Arcee carefully. He didn't answer for a while, and Arcee was getting antsy. "Ratchet! Answer me!"

"Yes", he finally said. Arcee froze, and she silently asked him to clarify.

"Yes", he whispered. "She is Elita-1."

Arcee stared at him as her vision grew dark. She faintly heard yelling as she fell back, but she heard nothing else.