The Autobots had transformed in a junkyard, confused at the recent development (and because Miles had to pee). They swore to have been gaining on the woman and the strange power she held on her wrist, and for a minute they were sure their enemies had stopped completely after their change in direction (observed from street cameras and traffic light monitors). Now they had lost several hours of drive time in the span of one and she was now in North Dakota. They were already hours behind but the rapid rate at which Marissa Faireborn was becoming further away made them wonder.

         "Unless Starscream decided to take her on his own," Ironhide began, "the human may have been abducted by another party."

         "An unknown party." Ratchet shook his helm. "If this mystery bot hasn't contacted us, then it may be neutral, or perhaps a Decepticon against Starscream. There's a plethora of them."

         "If Starscream and Barricade didn't kill her, would another 'Con consider it?" Mikaela questioned, standing next to Ironhide's pede with a serious expression. She was worried for the woman but the teen's determination to bring the older female back to safety overshadowed the want to avoid alluding to her death. "Even if it's just to spite them?"

         "Barricade and Starscream might know something that we do not." Optimus Prime admitted. "They had likely been watching her in Mission City, where they had last been monitored and ultimately lost. If they had not killed Marissa Faireborn, I do not think another Decepticon would rule out that she is of better use alive."

         "How do we catch up, then?" Shane Faireborn voiced his nagging question. He refused to admit defeat, even when his daughter was somehow going down the road at ridiculous speeds. "If your medical officer is right, and I'm not one to doubt basic math, this new threat is clipping along at over 500 miles per hour! The farther she gets with that bracelet, the less accurate your- your gut feeling is."

     Ironhide huffed at the term used. It was a crude one and frankly rather insulting. If the man wasn't standing by Ratchet's pede (opposite of Lennox), he would have pointed his canon at him to fix his vocabulary. Alas, even Miles was next to his guardian, fidgeting with the wrapper of a protein bar as he listened.

         "Mr. Faireborn," Sam interceded as he cringed at Ironhide's perturbed expression, "it might just be Starscream getting a head start on Barricade. He's a military plane so the guy can go faster than most Cybertronians."

     Bumblebee suddenly beeped, earning the other mech's attention. Ratchet turned thoughtful as he tapped his chin guard, Ironhide huffed, and Optimus hummed at the hypothesis.

         "What'd he say?" Miles questioned around a mouthful of food.

         "That this knew development might not be Cybertronian." Optimus shifted his weight to the other pede as he thought. "Colonel Lennox, can you determine if there are any new sightings of meteors hitting Earth within the last month?"

         "I can do you better." The military man nodded. "I'll look for any strange transmissions or energy signatures."

         "Your technology, even enhanced minutely by ours, might not be able to detect what we might suspect this mystery bot to be." Ratchet shook his helm. "Bumblebee suggested that this newcomer is Velocitronian, a colony we had managed to keep in touch with through the eons. They're known for their speed, though they never were able to beat aircraft."

         "Strange meteors it is then." Lennox nodded. "I don't quite understand why we wouldn't know about it before now, though."

         "It's not like the U.S. is the only place on Earth." Sam noted. "Wouldn't other governments want to keep stuff like this secret like you guys do?"

     The point made, Lennox waited for Ratchet to transform and hopped into the driver's seat before bringing out his laptop. He could hear the muffled questions from the three adolescences outside.

         "What else can these Velocitronians do?" Miles asked, having finished his protein bar. 

         "Besides talk your audio off about themselves and complain? Not much else." Ironhide chuffed, his arms crossed and expression nonchalant. 

         "We only know one who could be alive." Optimus admitted. "However, Knockout is finicky in his allegiance to either the Decepticon or Autobot cause. He has betrayed both numerous times but has never claimed to being neutral."

         "In other words, a loose cannon." Shane hummed, a finger on his chin as he thought. "If he's so untrustworthy, could it be assumed he's working with these other two and simply allowing the police car to possibly wait behind and distract us?"

         "Interception isn't out of the question." Optimus admitted. "However, I would think that Barricade would allow his life signal to show on our radars if he wanted us to follow him or to even intercept him. Instead, both he and Starscream keep their signatures well cloaked."

     Optimus watched as Mr. Faireborn's face morphed from thoughtful to frustrated. His age showed the more he worried, with deep, sun-aged lines growing deeper as his brow furrowed. A human's ability to emote held so many more details than that of a Cybertronian's. Tiny muscles that twitched, even involuntarily, could reveal much. Optimus' expression was serious but calm, as it almost always was, but inside he understood Shane's worry for his daughter. As she was to him the Autobots were to Optimus: family. Jazz was only one of many losses over eons of war, but each extinguished spark weighed heavily on the Prime. The lives of humans seemed small to some, but they too were precious and alight with personality. Those who had died in a war that wasn't even theirs also crashed down on Optimus' shoulders. 

     He prayed to Primus that Marissa Faireborn, an innocent as any human civilian was in a galactic war, would be spared. 

         'If even by mercy, let it be.' He finished before Shane raised his head to look up at the Prime after staring at the dust covered ground.

         "What's so different about a Velocitronian life signature that you can't track it?"

         "Simple," Ratchet answered, "while they originated from Cybertron, Velocitronians developed a very distinct way of life: to live fast. There's more to it but the point is this ideal affected their sparks in a way that it developed an energy field that could keep up with them." 

         "Hey, I can understand that." Miles grinned, having feared Ratchet would go into specific medical jargon that only made his brain want to explode. He guessed the lack of medical terms was because of Shane's lack of basic Cybertronian knowledge.

         "I'm still lost." Sam admitted.

         "I guess it's kind of like different radio waves?" Mikaela guessed. "Like FM and AM?"

     There was a small protest at the crude comparison from Ratchet, but Ironhide interrupted him, wanting to get back on the road. If this newcomer was a threat, he wanted to take care of it (if not to save the human female, then to at least shoot something). Optimus agreed that they should move on, though he knew they would not be able to catch up to their mystery bot, they could at least catch up to Barricade.

         "Mr. Faireborn!" Mikaela called, much to Ironhides annoyance (mostly of the fact he was talked into waiting long enough to let her talk to the older human). The pepper-haired man nodded to the emergency vehicle as a sign he'd be back before walking the rest of the distance to the young woman. 

         "Need something?" He questioned in return to her summons.

         "I have one question." She admitted, skipping to a stop in front of him. "Was Marissa doing anything weird before being kidnapped?"

         "Besides her usual quirks, no." The man chuckled, making the teen smile comfortably. "She took her bracelet out when she fed the goats and chickens but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary."

     Mikaela nodded her thanks before jogging off toward Ironhide.

         "Actually-" She nearly slipped on the gravel at hearing Shane second-guessing himself. "Marissa was talking to herself- just mindlessly droning her thoughts. She never really developed that kind of habit in the 21 years I've raised her. That any help?"

     Ironhide revved his engine to gain his charge's attention. She swiveled her head and nodded before looking back to the father figure. 

         "If so, I'm sure Ratchet will open his comm' so you can hear us."

     The heavy hitter opened his driver's side door, closing it quickly and not waiting for Mikaela to buckle up before falling in line behind Optimus. He watched as Shane filed back in Ratchet's passenger seat and they lined up behind him, followed by Bumblebee. The parental unit appeared several years passed his age just within the few hours he had joined them. The worry overwhelming his fragile human heart was not exactly healthy, and the idea that signs of trouble had surfaced before the incident clearly weighed heavily on his mind now that Mikaela had been smart enough to ask for such signs. 

     A human talking to themselves out loud wasn't exactly abnormal, but if the behavior was never observed before than it was a smart idea to consider it suspicious.

         "Is there anything from your guy's planet that could make people talk to themselves?" Mikaela questioned.

         "Not exactly." Ironhide admitted. "I could name a few torture methods and interrogation tactics that could cause it but no relics or powers. Especially not a device with the ability to call to our sparks."

         "Torture methods?" Mikaela wrinkled her nose before shaking her head. She had no want to know about Cybertronian torture methods. "What about Optimus, I'm sure he's ran into quite a few devices. Maybe more than most."

         "Well, he is the holder of the Matrix of Leadership." Ironhide admitted, earning a confused look from his charge, but he didn't really want to go into the lore and history of such an old relic. "Prime knows how to explain that better than me. I'll patch you to his comm."

     There was a moment of silence before the big gun's voice filtered through the speakers.

         :You wish to discuss something with me, Mikaela?:

         "Yeah." she answered seriously. "Mr. Faireborn said his daughter was talking to herself before getting abducted. Apparently, she doesn't usually do that. I was wondering if you knew of any Cybertronian relics or devices that could make a person develop that habit?"

     A pause. The woman in Ironhide's cab thought the comm had cut out despite that being nearly impossible with Optimus driving directly in front of them. She guessed he was thinking and waited patiently.

         :I'm afraid I cannot think of any relic or device that meets that criterion.: He finally admitted. :However, this information does bring something to mind. Mr. Faireborn-:

     Another pause, so Mikaela knew Optimus was contacting Ratchet.

         :Uh- yes?: His awkward reply made her chuckle softly.

         :Mikaela has informed me that your daughter developed a habit of speaking to herself and that it was not observed before she returned from Mission City?:

         :Yes, she did.: Came the short answer. 

         :How often was this?: Optimus questioned. 

         :Well, I can't say for sure.: Shane admitted, probably scratching behind his head as he thought. :I only heard her a few times, namely that morning when she was in the kitchen and later that afternoon when she was going to take a nap. I was upstairs the first time and the second one I was going to sneak her out of the house to go on a ride in the ol' truck since I knew she didn't want to rest like her mom suggested.:

         His chuckle was melancholic, making Mikaela frown. 

     There was another pause before Optimus spoke again.

         :Both times, Marissa Faireborn likely believed there was no one within hearing distance.:

         :You think she's known what she has this whole time?: Ratchet questioned, earning a worried beeping from Bumblebee and a few garbled song lyrics about lying.

         :No.: Optimus informed them of his opinion. :What I do think, is that this device may hold a mild form of sentience.: 

     The three mechs protested the idea with sharp opinions. If the thing was sentient, it wouldn't possibly remain with a human or call their sparks so strongly. Optimus calmly explained his reasoning, as a Prime should. 

         :I understand it may seem farfetched, but this device has been dormant except that it draws us towards it. There may be a possibility that it is not in its original form and cannot help itself. It is not uncommon that sparks are placed in another vessel, though helpless.:

         :So it might be another one of us?: Ironhide was still skeptical.

         :Perhaps.: Optimus would have nodded.

         :However-: Ratchet knew his leader was not quite done.

         :However,: Optimus repeated, :this device calls to all sparks, meaning that it likely does not know the difference between Autobot and Decepticon, Cybertronian or Velocitronian. Humans do not feel anything, but perhaps prolonged contact has made this entity curious, and Marissa is not speaking to herself mindlessly, but is being prompted by this energy without her knowledge.: 

         :Wait- like mind control?: Sam questioned, clearly with a mouthful of food. 

         :Not quite.: Ratchet answered. :Most likely it's a wavelength, specifically the precise wavelength Marissa thinks on. Manipulated properly, she could be coaxed to speak out loud after a question seems to pop up in her head. In other words we can assume this device is at least intelligent and can hear its surroundings. Perhaps even see, but that's stretching it.:

         :Mind control.: Miles agreed with his friend.

     More suggestions were brought to light, but the most plausible had already been explained. It worried Marissa's father that something had the power to force her even to speak her thoughts out loud. These beings brought strange things to Earth, and it unsettled him the more he thought of it. Technology so advanced didn't belong in human hands, a race practically dedicated to war and hating each other. Living technology didn't seem any better, no matter they had the ability to make their own decisions. Humans were sneaky, they'd find a way to get what they wanted if these aliens didn't want to share their technology. 

         Shane knew his species was far smarter than they often showed.

     Watching another town pass by, Shane's frown deepened as he fidgeted with the smooth, gold wedding ring on his finger, a habit he only showed when he was truly worried. It was a sleepy town like his own, maybe only with a few hundred people that could fit on a few pages of a phone book. Marissa wanted to live comfortably and happy on the farm, not caught up in some adventure that could lead to death. 

     Her only companion a sentient bracelet.