In the main area of the base, I continue to fiddle with what seems to be a large box with buttons and screens on the outside. Half of my body is hanging inside the top part, which is currently held open by a rod on the side. I grunt as I find the problem. Three wires were tangled together and fried in the middle where the knot was. I growl in irritation. No matter what I did to lessen the energy flow, the wires would completely go on the fritz and seemingly twist around before frying together.

Reaching up, I grasp a pair of wire pliers in my belt before reaching for the wires. Just as I near them, and voice makes me nearly slip inside. "Did you shut the power off to it before attempting to fix it, Iris?" I take a deep breath as I push myself out of the project and glare at Ratchet. "Of course I did! Geez man... you nearly gave me a heart attack though." Ratchet smirks before heading to the computers next to my work station. I watch him before gazing around. "Where did everyone else go?"

"Patrol. Optimus is still up top." I nod before turning to my project again. Just in case, I check to see if I had truly turned the power off to my machine.

I had.

With a nod, I slip back into it and grasp the wires in my left hand. Reaching around, I work the wires out of the conduits that lead to the power source. These were the only ones that fried.

Every.

Fragging.

Time.

I grunt as the last one becomes a hassle. It refuses to budge. Growling, I pull on it more and it finally releases itself...

Sending me falling out of the machine and flat on my rump. I hiss and rub my rear as I slowly stand, a sense of triumph as I hold all three wires in my grasp. Ratchet gazes over, and his optics lock on the wires. "Still no luck?" I shake my head and toss the wires aside. "They keep getting.... getting..." I snap my fingers until the word finally comes to mind. "Short circuited! I can't seem to find the right size or type wire to hold the energy needed to power the br-" I catch myself just as I was about to give what it is away. Ratchet grunts before turning away. I only huff and walk to my machine again, trying to figure out if I needed to go bigger on the wires or maybe add another to help the flow of energy be minimized in each area.

A servo suddenly pops into view next to me and I turn to see Ratchet holding 3 large wires. "Cybertronian tech usually works better with more Cybertronian tech." I gasp and he smirks. "Did you really think you could hide the fact that you were working on handle held portable ground bridge remotes from me?" I sigh and take the wires, but a smile breaks my serious tone. "I tried too.... but don't say anything! I.... don't want to get anyone's hopes up." Ratchet nods solemnly and turns back to his work on the computer.

Suddenly, Arcee comes in for a ground bridge. Ratchet is quick to do so and she drives through with Bumblebee and Bulkhead in tow. I set the wires aside for now as Ratchet tells Optimus to come down to the main hangar. Arcee and Bee looked pretty beaten up. The doc is quick to get to work on repairs and he is nearly finished as Optimus makes his way off the lift.

"What happened?" He asks. I can sense slight worry, but he was always one to mask his emotions well so I couldn't be sure. Arcee quickly tells of the battle while The Prime walks to the computers to try and pinpoint the location of the Cons if they were still on the ground. Ratchet finishes before heading off to... somewhere.

"And the Cons would have been scrap metal if I hadn't been distracted by the human." I feel my blood run cold, and Optimus visibly stiffens. "Human?" He asks, and Bee holds up two digits as he whirs. "Two boys." The Prime corrects, and Arcee shrugs. She runs her chin as she recounts the incident. "I guess the second one caught us in action? I don't know. Was a little busy at the time."

Optimus speaks what I was thinking. "If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally will be at grave risk." I nod my head and add on to it. "We shouldn't have to mention what happened to my life, right? We have to bring them over to base." Optimus nods, and Arcee growls. She starts to walk towards the exit, but I quickly intervene. "Wait! It's almost nine in the evening now. They will be asleep. You can pick them up tomorrow after school." The two wheeler nods, and changes course towards the berthroom hall. Bee follows and I turn my gaze to Optimus. He nods to me and turns back to the computers. I turn back to my machine when The Prime suddenly speaks.

"Do you think you could figure out who they are?" I turn around, thinking. "Jasper is a small town. By the way Arcee was talking, they weren't children. She has a soft spot for the little ones." I smile. I remember the one time she was out and saw one. A young child in the arms of her mother. They were trying to get through traffic in the rain, but the mother didn't see a jerk running the red light. Arcee didn't hesitate to swerve in front of the car and take a hit for the two. She was pretty injured from it, but it was clear she didn't regret the choice at all.

Optimus nods. "They most likely attend the school for the youth in Jasper." I nod my head. I rub my chin, trying to think of who may have been at the K.O. drive in where Arcee said she had been parked. "A few of the kids in the class I usually sub work there. However, I can't say for sure who could have been with her. She wasn't very detailed about them." The Prime nods and faces me. "Would you mind helping us welcome them here when they arrive tomorrow?" I nod my head. "Of course. It might be easier to see a familiar face if I have had them in class before." The Prime accepts this answer and we bother return to our work. I was going to simply attach these new wires to the conduits, use electrical tape to hopefully keep the conduit ends together as well, then switch it back on. If it worked, then I can move on to the configuration.  If not....

It can be figured out tomorrow.

I get the wires in, conduits taped, and ease myself out of the machine. Dusting my hands off, I gaze over at Optimus and sigh. I was going to need his help for this one. "Optimus?" He turns to me, and I point at a small container of energon. "Could you pour a small amount into this area right here?" I gesture to an glass like pipe that was attached to the mini ground bridge device. The Prime nods and carefully picks up the cube before cautiously powering some into the pipe. I raise my hand to tell him to stop, and he sets it down. Closing the hatch for both the Energon area and the electrical, I walk around to the other side a flip a switch.

I say a prayer as it slowly lights up. I see the energon start to drop in level and the machine softly growls as the energy is pushed through the new wires. Suddenly, all the buttons light up, the screen before me brightens on and the autobot symbol shines on its surface. It steadily grumbles before going silent, but it stays on. I shout in triumph and jump in the air. "Yes! It works!" I sigh and type a few coordinates in just to make sure. The place I picked pops up, but it wasn't exact. That would need to be fixed, but for now....

I would settle for this little victory.

The Prime leans over the railing. "Would you mind telling me what it is now?" I shake my head, smiling at him. "No can do, big guy. It's running, but not fully operational yet. Once I am sure it completely works, you will be the second to know. I will the the first of course." He gives one of his oh so rare and so small smiles before nodding his helm. "May I suggest then that you get some rest? It is nearly eleven in the evening. " I gaze at my watch in shock. "Oh... yeah, okay. Good night Optimus. " I switch the machine off before heading down the stairs and walk towards the berthroom hall. "Good night, Iris." I hear Optimus reply just as I disappear into my room. I stretch and release a mighty yawn. It had been a good day, asn I only hoped these kids were not too noisy tomorrow. I would need to focus on configuring the GPS on the P.G.B., and it would go much more smoothly in silence.

~~~*~~~*~~~

It's nearly three p.m., and I have barely been able to get the configurations done properly due to them being in Cybertronian. Ratchet has been teaching me for the past few years, but despite my vast grand knowledge of things...

I have never been good at learning languages.

I curse as the inputs jump to the completely wrong continent that I had told it to go to, and I hold back a shout of rage, but I do give it a good kick. Ratchet glances over at me, and I feel him turn towards me fully. "Ratchet, I'm fine. Do not scan..... me." I huff the last word out as a red light covers me, sweeping up and down. As he finishes, he harrumps before closing the panel on his arm. I glared at him and cross my arms. "What was that for?" He gazes at me, slightly glaring at me because of my tone. "You've been acting off all day and I was wanting to know why." I raise an eyebrow at him, then feel my face flush. "Oh.... scrap..."

I face palm and sigh. Ratchet starts to speak. "It would seem as if you are close to your m-" "Ratchet! I get it! You don't need to continue!" I rub my face and take a deep breath in. "I.... I'm sorry for snapping at you." He nods before turning away as if to leave, and I call out. "Ratchet? I actually need your help." The medic turns to me again, and walks over. "What is it?" I quickly hook up the computer system for the mini bridge to the connections for his larger screens. "I'm having trouble again with the configurations. Due to all the tech being Cybertronian, the language it resorted to was just that.... And I seem to still be having trouble with it." Ratchet holds back a chuckle, and he turns to the screens. A servo is placed in front of me, and I step on it. The doc lifts me to his shoulder, and I jump on easily. "Alright. First things first, you have your 'y' and 'u' mixed up again. And you missed a dot on your 'j'." I grumble, but the doc slightly shakes his shoulder to get my attention. "However, that is all you have mixed up. The other words and numbers you have typed in are all correct."

That actually sends a surge of joy through me, and the medic smiles. "You have greatly improved on your knowledge of our language." I give a wide smile, but the moment is interrupted when the sound of engines grows louder. Ratchet turns and we watch as Bee and Arcee drive in. However, Arcee has another human with her, a girl this time. Bulkhead walks out as they slow to a stop. The two children hop off Arcee and a young boy steps out of Bumblebee. The two bots then take that chance to transform. Ratchet walks over to Bulkhead, and I speak up first. "I thought there were two." Ratchet gives me a knowing look, agreeing with me. Arcee places a servo on her hip. "Haven't you heard? Human's multiply." I slightly chuckle as she walks away. My gaze turns back to the kids, and I can already tell the girl would be a nuisance.

The younger one speaks first. "I'm Raf." I remembered this kid. He was the youngest in his grade, and a genius. The girl speaks next, running to Bulkhead without a moment's hesitation. "I'm Miko! Who are you?" Bulkhead, taken aback, hesitantly replies. The girl suddenly spouts off questions. "Huh? Are you a car? I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh!? Ever used a wrecking ball for a punching bag!?!" I feel my headache growing already, but seeing Bulkhead completely confused was slightly worth it.

Definitely remembered her now. She's usually in detention because of skipping class or something else. The other one was Jack. Good kid all around and worked at the K.O. drive in. He must have been the one that was with Arcee first. Raf, the youngest, speaks up again. "So, if you guys are robots, who made you?" Ratchet huffs. "Puh-lease..." I lightly smack him. "Give the kid a break, doc." He glares at me before offering me his servo. I jump on it and he lowers me to the platform again. I shake my head as I jump off and lean against the rails. Optimus walks out from the tunnel behind the kids, making them all turn to him. Here it comes....

"We are autonomous robotic organisms, from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots." I smirk again. That never gets old. Jack steps towards him, a leader-esque vibe coming from him. "Why are you here?" He asks, and Optimus speaks, gazing down at them. "To protect your planet.... from the Decepticons." When the kids look confused, Arcee interjects. "The jokers who tried to bump us off last night?" Jack, unsure still, turns to the Prime again. "Okay... Why are they here?" Optimus kneels down to get closer to them, making the conversation more personal. Miko steps closer as the Prime speaks. "A fair question, Jack. They are here because our planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war."

There. Right there I can see it. I don't know if anyone else can, but the pain in his optics is evident to me. I can see him hurting, and I wish I could help him in some way, help them all from that hurt! I know it's impossible, but that doesn't stop my heart from wanting to help those that have saved my life....

Raf speaking snaps me back to reality, and I blink rapidly. "Why were you fighting a war?" Optimus is swift to reply, but I turn away. I already knew all of this, so I figured I would wait until the monologue was over. Ratchet was already back to the computers, and as he spots me, he offers his servo once more. I gladly jump on and reposition myself on his shoulder, and we begin fixing my small mistakes on the configuration. It didn't take too long, and I could tell Optimus was getting close to the end of his story. However, I feel a cold chill as he speaks of Megatron's return.

I prayed he was wrong....

~~~*~~~*~~~

Meanwhile...

A massive object floats soundlessly above the earth. Suddenly, light emits from it, and the empty center fills with a green substance. A silver plane like object emerges from it, and it suddenly shifts into a mech with crimson optics. The cybertronian stretches out, shouting, "Decepticons! I have returned."