Transformed Divergences

[chibipoe]

Chapter 1
Mysterious Underground, Part One


"You're not seriously thinking we should take that, are you?" the familiar voice intruded as he finished packing the last bags in around the cooler so that they had easy access to that when they wanted to add ice.

"What's wrong with the bug?" he asked, eyeing Carly over the top of the yellow Volkswagen Beetle that he had gotten from his dad.

"It's tiny and there's barely any room?" she replied.

"It isn't that tiny," he said in protest, closing the trunk lid. "And Dad, in all his paranoid glory, took the keys to his van with him when he headed back out to the rig, so our alternatives are you borrow the convertible from your parents, or the Beetle."

"I figured you'd want the truck," she said, glancing away from him for a moment and toward the battered truck in question. "Handles better on off road and there's plenty of space for stuff in the bed. Weren't you trying to modify the bed for camping on the road?"

Spike glanced toward the slightly battered truck in question and its covered rear bed. "I was. I haven't worked out a good source for heating though, if it gets cold. It isn't exactly the safest anyway, if we did that."

"Doofus," Carly said. "We've got that covered. Come on, pop the trunk and let's get stuff moved. You've got better storage in there for our stuff and there's lots more space."

"But Carly, I just packed everything," he said with a faked whine, popping the trunk back open to move their supplies. "Not sure why you want to sleep in the truck bed instead of the tents."

"One, your setup in there is cozy and I've got some ideas about how we can keep it warm," Carly said as she came around the beetle and began pulling stuff out with him. "Two, who says I did? You'll figure it out later, maybe. I might need colored paper and crayons to explain it all though."

"Yeah, yeah," he pulled the cooler out, setting it aside before grabbing camping equipment. "Come to think of it, why didn't we just go to the coast?"

"We'd have to drive down into California to find water that wasn't freezing ass cold and that would take days," Carly replied, pulling down the tailgate and sliding one of the drawers in the truck bed open, slipping bags into the empty spaces. "Also, everyone else has that idea and it would be insanely crowded. No thanks."

"You're the boss," Spike said with a sigh as he walked back and forth, shifting their gear and supplies from one vehicle to the other. "You've never complained about the beetle before, though."

"I am not spending our hours trip cramped in that tiny thing, Spike," Carly laughed as she grabbed the cooler and hauled it over to the truck. "I swear, you are way too in love with that car. You'd think it was alive or something. Anyway, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he answered quickly, looking over the remaining contents of the trunk to decide what needed to go where.

"Don't try that with me, Witwicky!" Carly admonished, pushing into his personal space after giving the cooler a shove. "You've been acting weird since graduation. Is it about your dad?"

"Maybe a little," Spike admitted after a moment, pausing in his survey of their belongings. "He ran off back to work almost as soon as graduation was over. I know he was happy for me, but there's something he hasn't told me and I think it might have to do with his last doctor visit."

"Sparkplug will be fine. He's probably annoyed that they told him to cut back on cheeseburgers," Carly said, giving him a quick hug. "And he definitely would chew you out for being depressed right now, y'know?" He exhaled and then nodded, returning the hug.

"I hope you're right," he said as they separated to grab the last of their belongings. "This seems different though but I can't put a finger on why."

"Your dad wouldn't keep something major from you, Spike, you know that," she told him. "You could be wrong that it's something bad too. Maybe he's just sulking because you didn't go out on the rig with him for the summer?"

"Instead of a summer trip with my best friend?" he asked with a grin, hefting one of the packs in a light toss toward her.

"Chip's not coming along, Witwicky," Carly said, catching the backpack and sliding it into the truck. "And that should be with your girlfriend and don't you forget it!"

"Right, right," Spike said, pushing the cooler in and toward the back so they could reach through from the cab if needed. "I think this is everything. So we just need to lock up and we're set to go. Did you want to head out now or in the morning?"

"I'm good with now, if it will help us avoid my parents," Carly said, her cheer evaporating into a scowl with the words.

"They're still on your case about not going to NYU or wherever?" Spike asked as they walked toward his house.

"MIT," she corrected with a brief grin at him before waving a hand in dismissal. "Plus, like you know, they've never been really thrilled that we're friends and that I'm not aiming to be a happy little housewife and like to work on cars, computers and organic chemistry. You've heard it all before." Taking that as his cue to drop the subject, Spike pushed the door open and stepped aside so Carly could go first.

"Anyway, if we head out soon, I think we'll manage to reach over near Sisters before it gets too late. We might make it to Lost Lake to check out the lava tube. If not, we can spend the night at the resort before we head down to Clear Lake."

"Resort?" Spike asked, blinking as he went toward the kitchen to check that there was nothing left that would spoil in the refrigerator while the house was empty.

"Camping is all well and good once we're down to Clear Lake, but not tonight," she called back absently. "I took care of it, so don't worry for budget."

"Oh, ok," Spike replied with a nod. Whatever she had planned, she would probably explain it to him later, in detail. "Everything looks good here, so we just need to lock up and set the alarm and we're good."

"I'm going to grab some stuff I left in your room," Carly said. "I'll meet you at the front door, kay?"

"Sounds good," Spike replied, heading through the house to check the doors were all locked before moving to the alarm panel by the door and prepping it to arm. Carly came back as he was finishing, a bag tucked under her arm. "Ready?"

"Let's go!" she said and leaned over to kiss his cheek before darting out the door. Spike grinned and followed, locking the house behind him.

​

The traffic along Interstate 30 was, to their expectation and advantage, primarily going in the other direction, so the road was clear for as far as they could see in their lane.

"So, it's down to the toll bridge across the river near Longview, then down 830 until we get into Portland and switch back onto 30?" Spike asked from the passenger seat, glancing at the map that Carly had marked spots on.

"Then 30 until just before Hood River and we head south, southwestish," she answered. "Can you pop some music in? The cd case is behind your seat. And none of your dad's country, please."

"Right, Rick Astley it is," he replied, chuckling as he sorted through the cd case.

"Spike Witwicky, don't you dare!" Carly said. "Put on Whitney!"

"Whitney Houston it is, boss," Spike said, picking the cd out and into the player. "I call Aerosmith next, though."

"We'll see," Carly told him. "We can stop for lunch at Burgerville, I think, and then push on to the resort."

"You're driving," Spike agreed easily as the music filled the truck cab and they drove on for a while, taking turns singing as cds were swapped out. An hour and a half later and Carly exited the highway to the restaurant they had planned for lunch.

"You want to take a turn driving after lunch?" she asked as they got out, pausing to stretch her arms. "I can handle the music then?"

"Sounds good," Spike told her. "Do we want to stop anywhere in Portland for anything?"

"We could," Carly said. "But I'd rather keep going. We can dip into Hood River for groceries to stock the cooler before we hit the resort cabin."

"With that in mind," he said. "Want to just get this to go and keep going?"

"Nah, I want to look at the map for a bit," Carly told him. "There's some caves out near Lost Lake that I think we should check out."

"Not going to try and climb down the hole and see if you can find out where all the water goes?" Spike asked after they had their food and took a corner table.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Carly asked after eating for a bit. "I was twelve!"

"At least you didn't do what I did," Spike replied, pointing a french fry at her. "Trying to figure out where the water from that fountain came from."

"The park security had a time trying to get you down from there, didn't they?" Carly asked, laughing. Spike shifted in his seat and nodded.

"Yeah, not my best moment," he admitted. "But enough about embarrassing ourselves. You were wanting to look at the map?"

"Yes," Carly said, pulling it from the bag at her side and unfolding it to the section she wanted. "You mentioned something last week and it got me thinking. There's… ah, here it is. There's some caves you mentioned being out here? You looked at them with your dad a few years ago?"

"I remember those, I think," Spike said, taking a drink from his cup. "I'm not sure if I could find them again though, but I'm up for trying."

"Tomorrow morning then!" Carly told him. "We'll pack up from the cabin and go check it out." They finished eating and left, heading out to resume traveling.

"Alright, time to be the deejay!" Carly proclaimed after they were back on the road. "Let's see now… Oh, I wanted to try this one!" She slid a cd into the player.

"Who is it?" he asked as the music started. "I don't recognize them."

"New release from a British group," Carly said. "Five Star."

"Huh, neat," Spike said, drumming his fingers on the wheel in time with the music. It wasn't his preferred taste, but he liked some of the guitar bits in the first song that came up. Eventually, Carly started singing and he found himself singing along as they drove, the remainder of the trip passing without anything but a stop for fuel and filling their cooler. It was late afternoon when Spike brought the truck to a halt on the side of the road.

"The resort's up ahead," he said. "What's the plan?"

"You switch up with me," Carly told him. "I'll drive us in and go in to the office and get the keys, then we'll head to the cabin. There isn't much of a lake right now, but it's a great spot."

"Got it," Spike said and they switched places before heading the rest of the way down the narrow road. Carly hopped out when they reached the office and ran in, coming back after a few minutes with keys and they drove the rest of the way to their cabin.

"I'll unload our stuff," Spike said as they parked. "Just some clothes and the food for the refrigerator, right?"

"That should do," Carly said. "I'll open it up and let it air. Hungry?"

"A little bit," he admitted. "I know you probably want to shower after being in the truck all day though. So you go do that and I'll get us unpacked."

Carly smiled at him and leaned over to kiss him. "Spike Witwicky, you are the best." Then, she darted from the truck and he went to work. Unloading took only a few minutes and he put away their food, fixing a plate of some vegetables and dip while the sound of the shower ran in the background. That done, he took a look around at the cabin. There was a comfy living space and a small kitchen and a bedroom. With one large bed.

Spike stared at it for a moment then shrugged. "I'll take the couch, I suppose." He went back to the truck and made sure everything was locked up before returning to the cabin and closing the door. The shower was off and the door to the bedroom halfway closed, but he could hear Carly inside.

"Spike?" she called out and continued when he replied. "I'm done if you want to get a shower real quick too."

"Uh, I can wait til later, I suppose," Spike replied.

Carly sounded amused when she replied, wrinkling her nose. "We both spent all day cooped up in the truck. I needed it, and so do you. Go shower, Spike. Please?"

"Sure," Spike said, wondering what her insistence was. He shrugged and grabbed a bag before heading into the bathroom for a quick shower. He didn't take long and came out in some shorts and a tee shirt to find the lights in the living room turned down and soft music playing.

"Carly?"

"In here," she called out and he glanced at the door to the bedroom that was still halfway closed. Nervous suddenly for no reason he could identify, he pushed the door open. And stared.

"Spike?" Carly said. "Come here and close the door, please?" He stood there for a moment in indecision before doing as she asked.

​

"I think this is the spot," Spike said as they stood together in front of a partially overgrown hillside. There were vines growing up, but Carly was able to make out that those had come down over a cave entrance. "Dad and I took a right off the path from the lake at the big rock that looked like a chimney back then."

"Spike, we took a left at the rock," Carly said. "Are you sure this is the right spot? And that you're remembering right? I wanted to see the underground lake you said was there before we head down and I'd hate to waste our time."

"This is the spot, I'm sure," he said after a moment. "If we clear some of this, we should be able to find where dad carved our names in the rock."

"If you're sure," Carly said after a moment. "You got a spare blade or saw so I can help clear?" He passed her one and they worked to clear an opening they could fit into without it being obvious from a glance at the hillside before heading into the cave. They hadn't gone far before he turned on a flashlight so that they had something to see by.

"Yes, this is definitely the right place," Spike said after a while. "There is a branch up ahead and the downward path brought us to the lake."

"I wonder if that is where the water drains to," Carly mused. "All these years and no one has figured it out. We could be famous!"

"I dunno," Spike said. "If it is, I almost want to not tell anyone. Just have it be a secret only we know."

"Goof," she teased before looking thoughtful. "By the way, did you decide on your major at UO?"

"Engineering, I think. Maybe something with computers. I kind of want to get in on cybernetics. Some of what I've seen Stark Enterprises put forth seems like it could be really useful."

"But there is the whole weapons thing," Carly said and Spike frowned slightly.

"Yeah, that worries me, but who knows, maybe the boy genius will change the company direction?" Spike replied with a shrug. "Unlikely, as his dad seems like a hardass, but stranger things, right?"

"Not impossible," Carly admitted. "But he'd have to turn the company around a lot."

"Still, there is a branch up near Seattle that specializes in more 'humanitarian goals'," Spike went on, moving the flashlight over the space before them to highlight any obstacles in their way. "I'd like to try getting on with them and see what I can do to help make things better."

"Change the world, huh?" Carly asked with a grin, bumping his shoulder lightly with her own. "Ok, obviously I gotta go too and keep an eye on you."

"Are you sure?" Spike replied. "Won't that cause problems with your parents?"

"I already sent in my application and I'm accepted at UO," she told him. "It was part of why my parents were upset. Not going to MIT and New York like they wanted. Which was really just to get me away from you. You know how they are."

"That argument with Dad really soured things, huh?" Spike said, then frowned at a stretch of the cave in front of them. "We'll want to be careful here. It tilts downward abruptly ahead, if I remember correctly. But, back on topic. I don't know if you're aware, but yeah, Dad kind of hates them right back. He thinks you're the best though."

"Sparkplug's sweet," Carly said. "But it wasn't just that. You know how my parents are all old money. That your dad is well off but not 'one of their crowd' is the root of it."

"Dad's never been much for changing to fit in, no," Spike said. "Sometimes, I think that-"

"Spike?" Carly asked as he cut off. "What is it?"

"Do you hear that?" he asked, frowning as he raised the light, looking down the tunnel. "It's…" He stopped as a roaring sound erupted from somewhere further down the tunnel, a rush of wind following that buffeted the two of them, dust and rocks swirling past. Spike grabbed Carly as the tunnel spun, a sudden flare of color and light disorienting them both. Then, they both staggered into a wall for support as it stopped, the sound and wind cutting off and not even leaving an echo.

"Ugh… I think I'm going to be sick," Carly said after a few minutes. "What.. oh god…" She turned away and vomited, which the sound of caused Spike to do the same. It was several minutes later and a pair of water bottles before they were comfortable again.

"What was that?" she asked again once words weren't accompanied by a disgusting aftertaste. "It was really weird and what was with everything spinning?"

"Not sure, honestly," Spike said, looking around for the flashlight where it had fallen. "Nothing like that happened when I was here with my dad, so your guess is as good as mine. You don't smell anything odd, do you?"

"No, and I'm not feeling light-headed," she said. "Shall we keep going?"

"I think so," he decided. "We're not far from the lake, I think. I was about to mention that when whatever that was that just happened. Ten minutes at most, if I am not mistaken."

"Let's go," Carly said. "If only to get away from the smell of our vomit?"

"Your wish is my command," Spike replied and they set off again. After a while, Carly frowned and looked around them.

"It's getting warmer and I can smell water," she said.

"We're close," Spike agreed. "I think… ah, here!" He ran ahead, suddenly excited and Carly followed, laughing. The air grew warmer as they ran until the tunnel opened up into a wide space, placing them on the banks of an underground lake that was divided by a high stretch of rock that formed a path between the two sections. One side vanished off under a distant stretch of rock where the ceiling sloped down and the other, to their left, seemed to stretch on into the dark of the cavern for an unfathomable distance.

Carly skidded to a halt, narrowly missing colliding with Spike, who had stopped abruptly, staring at something in apparent shock.

"That… wasn't there when Dad and I visited the last time," Spike said, interrupting the silence. Across the narrow pathway, there was a ramp jutting out, easily wide enough to allow multiple cars to travel on it, leading up toward a massive doorway that was sealed, a red symbol that looked like a face emblazoned across it.

"Where's the light coming from?" Carly asked in a hushed voice, drawing his attention to that very matter. Somehow, it was clearly lit, radiating light from some source that let them see across the expanse of the lake. The ramp and door were metal, Spike thought, but without a closer look, he couldn't be sure.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. But, have you ever seen or read about anything like this?" he asked.

"Nope," Carly replied, sounding tired for a moment. "Never seen anything like this before."

"I say we take a closer look," he suggested quietly. Carly gave him a look as if she were about to protest before sighing.

"I'd ask if you're crazy, but whatever this is, I want to check it out. What was it you said yesterday? Having a secret that's just ours?"

"This definitely qualifies," Spike agreed as they crossed the pathway over the water, taking their time due to the wet stone and neither wanting to fall in. Once across, they paused at the base of the ramp and Spike knelt down, poking at it with his finger.

"Some kind of metal, just like I thought. Doesn't feel like steel though. Almost feels warm. Weird." he said. "Any ideas?"

"You're the aspiring engineer," Carly shook her head. "Best I can say is I agree. And I bet you want to go up the ramp and take a closer look?"

"You don't?" he asked, grinning. "This is wild. Maybe it's a crashed spaceship!"

"Oh, the first discovery of life beyond our planet gets made by a pair of teenagers just out of high school. That'll put our names in the news." Carly said. "Still, I do like your idea. And I'd make a guess that this has been here for a long time, honestly. Look at the rock around us. It's all but embedded. What was it in science class? Geological shifts, volcanic activity and such have probably done a fair bit to bury it?"

"Huh, still, it's kind of odd, isn't it?" Spike asked as they started up the ramp toward the massive door and the symbol emblazoned on it. "Dad and I can't have been the only people who found that cave entrance. So how has no one found this before?"

"Maybe it just came out just for us?" she wondered. "I… what now?"

Spike had turned around and was staring at the lake, his forehead creased. "I… I didn't think of it because I saw this, but… I don't think this is the same lake that dad and I found. There wasn't any path splitting the lake."

"So, what? We got lost somehow?" Carly asked. "What about that weird wind and when everything got freaky? Maybe…"

"What are you thinking?" he asked, coming to a stop with her before the door and looking around for some indication or way to trigger it to open.

"I've read too many science fiction stories," she said. "But I was thinking, maybe that entire thing, we got warped somewhere else underground?"

"We're standing on a giant ramp, before a giant metal door, lit up by who knows what light source, in a cave underground," Spike replied. "I think our options are either a crashed alien spacecraft or secret government installation. Or, I suppose we could go with an ancient civilization that predates our knowledge of history?"

"That sounds pretty crazy, but then…" Carly shrugged. "Any ideas on how to open it. Do we need a password? Something like; Speak friend and enter?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Spike stood, dusting his pants off. "Maybe try knocking?" He reached out at the same time as Carly and they knocked in unison.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then there was a hiss of air and the face-like symbol on the door split down the middle. The door groaned and the ramp beneath them shook slightly as the two sections awkwardly stuttered and moved until there was enough just space for Spike and Carly to walk through.

"I.. guess we've been invited in?" Spike asked, shifting awkwardly to try and hide how nervous he felt now. "What now?"

Carly didn't say anything for a moment, before her fingers twined with his. "Do you ever get the feeling that you're about to experience something amazing that will change your world? That's me right now. I think we should go inside."

"Let's do it," Spike squeezed her hand and together, they stepped forward.

---------

Well, here we go! I want to thank AshlingWaltzes on SB for To Fuel the Guttering Flame, which is a fantastic story and you should all be reading it if you haven't already, because it is largely what sparked me to start this a while ago and I've gotten several chapters ahead. For more serious matters, there are 2 more chapters currently up at links in my signature. This year's halfway point ended up being a bit of a downer and the end to ten dedicated years of employment due to layoffs, yay. After puttering around trying to decide what to do, I'm resolved to finally try and see about monetizing my writing, so we'll see how this goes. More of this, and other stuff will be forthcoming.

 

[chibipoe]

Chapter 2 - Mysterious Underground, Part Two

Their footsteps echoed through the empty hallways as they moved slowly and carefully through the structure. High above them, dim lights flickered on, illuminating passages that could only be called cavernous, with ceilings more than thirty feet above them and walls with the space of a four lane highway between them.

The scale was dizzying and both teens stuck close to the walls, hands occasionally touching the oddly warm metal as they explored in awe. They dared not speak at first, the air around them had the oppressive feel of a graveyard or lost tomb that they had disturbed. Every noise they made, from their breathing to the shifting of the backpacks they were carrying sounded impossibly loud in the silence.

The first time a set of large doors slid open with groan and puff of stale air and Spike had to clench his teeth to stifle a scream, but threw an arm out to shield Carly. When nothing emerged, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked back to check on her, only to find she was crouching under his arm for a better look. Not waiting for him to move, she moved past him before straightening up and carrying on forward.

"Come on Spike!" she said in a low whisper, her eyes shining with excitement as she looked back at him.

"We don't even know what's in here!" he hissed, looking around cautiously, as if expecting something to leap out of the shadows at any moment.

"And?" Carly said with a shrug, the corners of her mouth twitching in a way that he knew meant she was about to call him a scaredy-cat.

"You're insane," he finally muttered, but continued forward, forcing his shoulders to relax. "I'm exploring whatever this is with a crazy person. I will be the first to die."

"Keep talking like that and you definitely will," Carly said, grinning at him. "Now shush, we're exploring!"

They continued forward, pausing only briefly to examine a door that was built into one one the walls. It was, like everything else, huge in comparison to them with what appeared to be a control panel next to it, high above them. At Carly's urging, Spike attempted to get his fingers into a gap and force the door open, but it was solid, unmoving. Whatever lay beyond it was closed to them. Giving up, they continued forward until they reached an intersection. Two of the paths, one going left and the other straight ahead, remained dark, but the one to their right lit up.

Spike glanced at the ceiling, then back the way they had come. The lights behind them had gone out. He was fairly sure they had walked in a straight line, but the metal walls all looked the same and who knew what they had missed in the dark.

"I think," he said with a sigh, "we might be in trouble. Or possibly lost. Maybe we should head back. We can get some flashlights and rope so we can explore better?" If they were lucky, they could find one of the blades they had dropped when that wind had hit them. Sliding his backpack off his shoulder, Spike dug through it for anything that could pass for a weapon and found the hammer he had brought for driving pegs into the ground. It was better than nothing he supposed. "

"And what if we can't find our way back?" Carly asked, brushing her hair back in a dismissive gesture before giving him one of her many smiles. This one usually meant she was about to do something reckless in the very near future. "I would say we shouldn't worry about it right now and keep going. Can you just imagine? We're the first people to discover this! Who knows what we can find out? This place is amazing!"

"Yeah, I mean, it is, but I can't help but feel like we're being led somewhere. Surely you've noticed that whoever lived here would be huge! We're probably like ants to them." Spike said with a frown.

"The huge doors are a pretty big indicator, yeah," she said with another one of her smiles and a carefree laugh. "Now come on, unless you want to be left alone in the dark. After all, we've both seen Alien."

Oh how he wished she hadn't said that. The shadows that filled the halls outside of the lights seemed darker and a hiss of air made him jump as a doorway ahead slid open in fits and starts, the metallic screech echoing. He hid a bit of satisfaction as Carly herself jumped at the noise before her expression settled into one of resolve as she glanced in his direction.

"Now, are you coming or not?" Carly quipped, reaching out to take his hand.

Shaking his head, Spike let her lead him forward, letting her boldness buoy him as they moved closer to the door.

​

They followed the trail of lights down a few more halls before it ended at another door, this one half opened in its track, as if it had gotten stuck. This time, Spike made sure he went first, poking his head around the door frame slowly, ready to duck back if anything moved in the poorly lit room. When there was no movement or anything launching itself at his face, he moved out cautiously, gasping at the sight before him.

It was a robot lying like a corpse in the middle of the room, its white limbs splayed out at awkward angles and contrasting with the bluish-green of its torso. What appeared to be it's head was laying only a few meters away from the body, the light shining on the black glass of what appeared to be eyes.

"Oh my god!" Carly said loudly, the noise making Spike jump. Before he could even think to stop her, Carly had entered the room and walked up to the head.

"This is incredible," she said breathlessly, gently putting a hand on the robot's head. "This has to be alien. No country on earth could build this, not even Stark's robotics division could produce something like this!"

"Well, when you're right, you're right." he muttered, walking around the larger body and looking it over curiously. The complexity of what he was seeing far outpaced anything he knew of. Engines and machinery had interested him for years, but in high school, that had turned more toward cybernetics and computers. The figure before him was unlike anything he had ever seen. The attempts at robots that had been made, including one created by Tony Stark were nothing like this. Stark's, if he remembered right, was barely more than a fancy grasping arm, capable of simple tasks. He completed his circuit of the figure, approaching the head more carefully, where Carly was moving around it, tapping it curiously.

"What… who are you?" Spike asked, staring into the robot's dark eyes, but not really expecting an answer. Unable to say what prompted him, he raised a hand and tapped what would be the robot's forehead. The eyes abruptly flared to life with a bright yellow light that made him recoil, blinded and he felt Carly's hand close on his wrist, pulling him away from the head as a strange mechanical sound filled the air.

​

Emergency protocols triggered by proximity sensors activated and his secondary t-cog fired to life, forcing Brainstorm to transform. There was a brief lurching sensation as his body tried to account for mass that wasn't there and he found himself laying upside down on the ground, staring at the sealed connection port of his neck.

Why could he see where his head should be joined to his body? It took a few moments for him to process what he was seeing, but when he did, he couldn't help but squeal a little in glee. It had worked!

Jumping up, he stumbled a bit on his smaller limbs, but didn't let it stop him from letting out a cheer. "Hah! Take that, Perceptor! It worked! I told you I could make it work, cause I'm a genius!"

The only reason he wasn't he wasn't dancing for joy was because it was undignified. Who needed peer reviews and ethics boards when you could turn your head into an independent secondary body?

"Max!" he called out, "I need you to film this! Note everything down and send it to Perceptor, priority one and make sure the subject line says 'eat this'!"

Looking back at his body, Brainstorm was just debating if he should trigger the recombination sequence or spend a little more time in this new form when it dawned on him that something was wrong. Fortress Maximus hadn't responded. Not even a beep or the lights flickering to indicate acknowledgement. Which, come to think of it, why his lab was being lit by emergency lights?

"Fortress Maximus?" he said looking up at the ceiling. Now that he thought about it, why was his head detached? He made the modifications to his system ages ago but hadn't planned to test them until they were far away from Cybertron. There was less chance he'd be dragged into another tribunal that way.

<"Umm, excuse me?">

Brainstorm shrieked at the unexpected noise, spinning around to face the speaker and finding himself looking at two humanoid figures, both of whom were clutching primitive, but dangerous looking tools.

"Don't kill me!" he said, holding his hands in front of him, "I'm too smart to die!"

Both of the creatures flinched back at his words and shot each other a glance that could have meant anything from confusion to hunger.

"Max!" he called out again, "we've got intruders!" When a myriad of weapons didn't immediately emerge from the walls to shoot the aliens, his terror of being killed was replaced by an entirely new fear. The realization that this was a new species and he was responsible for first contact.

Brainstorm was many things. A genius, an expert pilot, Cybertron's self-proclaimed foremost scient and one of the few who was hand picked for this mission and many, many, other things. But even he knew leaving first contact to him was asking for trouble. Still, faced with no other options, he racked his processor for those diplomacy and first contact seminars he was forced to attend in the past. How was it supposed to go? Right. Universal greeting. That was a start.

"Ah… bah weep granah weep nini bong?" He said with as much cheer as he could. Only, instead of returning the greeting, the two creatures just stared blankly at him.

"Bah weep granah weep nini bong?" he repeated, slower this time, to the same incomprehension. This was too much. It was officially time to dump this mess on someone else. Wasn't Windblade supposed to be a diplomat? Or was that Road Rage? It didn't matter, as long as it was anyone else except him.

<"Can you understand us?"> the smaller of the creatures said, their weapon lowering after he hadn't moved toward them.

"I have no idea what you just said," he replied, though he felt his fear diminish slightly as it became clear that they weren't going to attack him, at least not right now. And they could speak, which meant they had some form of language. Curiosity building, he cautiously lowered his arms from the defensive position he had taken and looked the pair over.

They were obviously carbon based and he took a few steps forward, eyeing them inquisitively. Bipedal. Physique and musculature was reminiscent of Asgardian biology, but smaller. Maybe they were some sort of offshoot? He poked the one with the broader shoulders in the stomach tentatively. "Definitely less durable."

<"Hey!"> the being replied, raising the tool in what was clearly a threatening gesture. Brainstorm recoiled, backing away at the sudden movement and prepared to run. The fair haired one, a female if he was not mistaken at his comparison to Asgardian physiology, said something to her companion and he lowered his arm, looking abashed.

"Carly," The female raised a hand and pointed to herself as she spoke after a brief discussion with her companion, then indicated him. "Spike."

Names! That much was clear, though the language was unknown to him, he could approximate replication of the sounds easily enough. He repeated their names back and both looked pleased. They could grasp communication, which was a good thing. He considered and then decided to introduce himself.

"My name is Brainstorm," he began. "I am Cybertron's foremost… you don't understand a word I am saying, do you?" They shook their heads and made what he assumed was meant to be a gesture of incomprehension and he slumped slightly. Of course not. That would be too easy. Still, he could help out whoever he dumped them on by making sure the auto-translate function was building a lexicon of their language.

<"I'm afraid we can't understand you, no, if that was what you asked,"> the one who had designated herself as Carly replied. If he was correct, they were confirming that they didn't understand his language, but they had intuited what he was asking from his behavior. He was almost disappointed to dump them on someone else. They clearly could interpret some of what he was asking them on social cues, which already placed them at a higher level of understanding than most Asgardians he had ever met, who were, on the balance, uninterested in science. Perhaps he would stick around once he had found someone to deal with them.

"Well, if you'll follow me, I'll see if I can take you to my leader, or at least to someone who has a universal translator installed," he explained, motioning for them to follow as he oriented himself. This was the space that he had meant to use as his lab, so he couldn't be too far from the security center, if he remembered right. There were others there, or had been. Maybe he could find Hardhead. The security chief was gruff, but even he would be a better choice to talk to aliens in a first contact situation.

Arcee had rushed off with a few others in response to something and he had gone to his lab to make sure there wasn't anything volatile laying unsecured as they took off. The last thing he wanted was to be yelled at if something had combusted during transwarp. He couldn't remember what happened after that, though, beyond these aliens waking him up.

He turned to look at the pair, who were following a safe distance behind, but were speaking quietly. Too low for his reduced form to pick up, which just wouldn't do at all! He needed more words if they were going to establish a working means of communication.

"What can you tell me about this place, your world, I assume?" he asked, hoping his inquisitive tone was clear. "Anything at all will do!"

<I still don't understand what he's asking,"> Spike said, looking to Carly curiously.

<"Maybe he just wants to talk?"> Carly suggested. <"We haven't seen anyone else around, so maybe he's lonely? Or he could be asking us about ourselves? There's so many possibilities.">

"Are there more of you? I assume so, but what sort of society do you have? What's your technology like?" Brainstorm asked, firing off questions as they came to him while they walked, slowly building a rudimentary vocabulary from the words they spoke as they responded with statements as incomprehensible to him as his were to them.

<"No, I don't have any better ideas at the moment, Spike,"> Carly said testily in response to something her companion had said. <"But he's clearly trying to communicate, so the least we can do is respond, even if we are both just talking about nonsense at each other. Do you have any better ideas?">

<"I was going to say that we could try talking about history? Or ask him about their technology? Maybe get a better idea of what this entire place is supposed to be?"> Spike retorted.

<"The problem there is we still can't understand him, genius,"> Carly said before looking toward Brainstorm. <"The goof here does have a point, however. What is this place, exactly?"> She waved a hand around to indicate the hallway around them.

"Asking about this, I assume," Brainstorm said as he rounded a corner. "Or I hope at least. Well, that's a really complicated question to answer. This is...oh!" He stumbled to a halt, adjusting his weight to shift forward when Spike and Carly nearly ran into him at his sudden halt. They made noises of confusion, but he paid them no mind, trying to interpret the scene before him.

Arcee. Sprawled out across the hallway full-length, one hand outstretched toward another figure.

"...Arcee?" he said in a stripped whisper. He ran forward to the pink and white Transformer, reaching a hand out tentatively in disbelief

He drew back when a shock snapped the air and felt his panic recede, just a little, at the indications of stasis lock. Not dead. That was good. And bad. He couldn't determine the cause for her to be in stasis lock while he was like this and he needed Energon, for sure. Both to get his body properly running and to restore Arcee. To say nothing of…

The thought miscarried and he shook for a moment, possibilities streaming across his mind from the scene before him. Was it just Arcee and himself? Why was Maximus so unresponsive? Where was everyone else? And the one thought that he had been ignoring. How long had they been like this?

"No… no no no no," he said, backing up a step. He felt himself bump into one of the aliens and recoiled, unable to take his eyes off the scene before him and the myriad possibilities flashing across his thoughts.

He started running.

​

"Come on, Spike!" Carly said, taking off after the robot as he started running, apparently panicking over the giant robots laying in the hall. "We can't let him get too far ahead or we'll be really lost!"

"Can I just say that I think this is a bad idea?" He asked as he followed after Carly in pursuit of the robot. "We're chasing after a panicking robot through his spaceship!"

"Thanks for the obvious," Carly threw back over her shoulder. "Finding his friend here clearly upset him and again, we don't want to lose the only person we've found who can talk, so less chatting and more running!"

"He can talk, sure, but we can't understand him!" Spike said, following her as best he could, but she was a better runner than he was, so he found himself falling behind. Not so much that he couldn't keep sight of her and the robot, but he wasn't going to be winning any awards.

"Details!" Carly retorted after a moment as they were able to stop running for a moment as the robot had come to a halt in a massive room before a green and black figure, sprawled out like the one they had just left, alongside several others. One yellow, one red and blue. A brown and white one laid nearby as well. Their companion stared at them for a moment, shaking his head before he picked his way around them, revealing several others. All appeared to be as still and silent as the first ones he had found.

He took several steps back, shaking his head some more before he dropped to the floor, muttering loudly in his language. Spike winced at some of the sounds but actually felt bad as the robot was clearly upset over the gigantic beings surrounding them being inactive or dead.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked quietly, coming up to stand beside Carly where she was alternating between looking at the robot and staring at the area around them with wide eyes.

"He's definitely upset," Carly replied. "Do you think these are his friends? Maybe we can help him somehow? I'm.. I don't know, Spike! This place is amazing, but it kind of isn't now, you know? He's hurting and that just…"

"I hear you," he said, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down. Neither of them had dwelled on it but they were standing in the middle of an alien spacecraft. The sheer enormity weighed on him. Still, the one they had met was upset. And that was something he could try to do something about.

He walked over, careful not to make any sudden moves, though the robot didn't seem to notice him at all, too busy muttering to himself. With a slow, precise movement, Spike laid a hand on the robot's shoulder, drawing his attention.

"I know we aren't exactly able to communicate properly, but… is there anything we can do? Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, lowering himself to sit beside the green and white robot. For a moment, he wasn't sure of what the robot was going to do as he grew very still at Spike's approach and words.

"We… were leaving to establish a new colony," the young sounding voice startled him, more so by the fact that he could understand it. He glanced at Carly, noting her surprise as well. "We… we were going to leave, set up somewhere new. Something went wrong though and now.. now we're here. Wherever that might be."

"And your friends?" Carly asked quietly. "Are they…?"

"Dead?" He finished then shook his head. "<Stasis lock>. But… I can't bring them out of it a...lone…" His head swiveled to look at them and the eyes slowly widened.

"I know that look," Spike said, glancing at Carly and grinning. "You get the same one sometimes when she is going to do something crazy."

"As if you don't, Witwicky!"

<"I… I can bring them back online,"> he said, slowly at first, clearly thinking, the words tumbling out faster. <"I can build a generator… start processing energon...yes, it would work! I can fix this or I am not Brainstorm, Cybertron's foremost scientific mind!">

<"I will fix this!"> He sprung to his feet as he spoke loudly, then turned to them, pointing. <"And you two are going to help!">

Spike stared for a moment, then shook his head before Carly replied. "We didn't understand any of that."


-----

A/N: Here we go! Chapter 2, and now we have some Transformers! Or a Transformer, at least. This should be considered more G1 Brainstorm from the Rebirth. Lots of ideas and very smart, but not whatever he was in IDW, lol. Not a lot of thought about *should* he do something(like modifying his head to transform into a smaller body and just going 'that's a great idea for really delicate precision work!'

 

[johnwedd]

Dang, doing the marvel timeline is uncommon but needs some love. And a good brainstorm? You sir are bold.

 

[chibipoe]

Dang, doing the marvel timeline is uncommon but needs some love. And a good brainstorm? You sir are bold.

Click to shrink...

Eh, not so much. I never read the stuff with IDW so I only know it second hand. This one is more in tune with his brief appearance in Rebirth, so he's a bit of a crazy scientist with outlandish ideas that exasperate his fellows, but not... whatever he was in IDW.1

 

[RoboRenee]

I mean, that was also him in IDW tbh. Just also some arrogance and a standard template Dark Secret That Comes Back To Haunt You (which frankly seems to have been a requirement for boarding the Lost Light lol)

 

[chibipoe]

I mean, that was also him in IDW tbh. Just also some arrogance and a standard template Dark Secret That Comes Back To Haunt You (which frankly seems to have been a requirement for boarding the Lost Light lol)

Click to shrink...

Ah-hah. Well, none of that here. The one thing I'll say, regarding the Transformers here, is they left Cybertron *before* the Great War. So, the split of Autobot/Decepticon isn't a thing for them so we'll see some others(had originally gone with leaving during, but I changed mind so I could broaden the cast I drew upon.) So we'll see some who would have been Decepticons to come.

 

[Alkard]

Wait, Fortress Maximus crashed (or got downed, who knows yet)? Ooof

Kinda odd that no one (or satellite) would have picked up such an large mass of metal just lying there though (even if buried). I'm mostly familiar w/ the G1 Transformers, but isn't Maximus like really big? Bigger than Metroplex/Omega Supreme?

 

[chibipoe]

Wait, Fortress Maximus crashed (or got downed, who knows yet)? Ooof

Kinda odd that no one (or satellite) would have picked up such an large mass of metal just lying there though (even if buried). I'm mostly familiare w/ the G1 Transformers, but isn't Maximus like really big? Bigger than Metroplex/Omega Supreme?

Click to shrink...

It's sort of a kitchen sink mish-mash but I am borrowing similar ideas that are around the fandom. Titans are HUGE in a way humans can't really comprehend. The same would apply for Metroplex, and Omega, though sizes can vary, but take the Fall of Cybertron video and how big Metroplex was there compared to Megatron/Prime and imagine you're a human witnessing that where you are lucky to even see higher than most Transformer's *calves*(barring Minicons and just, smaller guys in general.). There's some weird spatial warping that happens and as far as metal detection... They might have! But simply no way to get to it. Oregon's got a lot of very specific laws about Foresting and such and they'd have to go digging a LONG way down just to reach the entrance that Spike & Carly came in(the front door, as it were). And on that not, in G1, how come no one ever found the ARK? (more seriously, geological shifts, flooding have made it fairly inaccessible and it has been detected, but no one's ever found it a way to it, so it's something of a crackpot theory that has hung around for years going back before settlers and whatnot. Those originally native to the region know something is down there, but are like "Let sleeping dragons lie." etc. The more 'enlightened' white folks probably had big crazes for hunting for it during things like the Gold Rush, but those fools ended up destitute and broken and mocked, so it's just a fanciful tale/legend that you only know about present day for digging into the deep lore of the area.

 

[Alkard]

Oh, Just saw you mentioned Rebirth. If it's that Fortress Maximus, then crashing/being shot down makes more sense now (I had the video game Maximus in mind, who is stupid huge compared to his Rebirth counterpart).

Always liked the concept of Headmasters when I was younger, lol. Was sad when I realized that 3-parter was the last of G1 in North America

 

[chibipoe]

Oh, Just saw you mentioned Rebirth. If it's that Fortress Maximus, then crashing/being shot down makes more sense now (I had the video game Maximus in mind, who is stupid huge compared to his Rebirth counterpart).

Always liked the concept of Headmasters when I was younger, lol. Was sad when I realized that 3-parter was the last of G1 in North America

Click to shrink...

Borrowing from wider TF lore, so Maximus here is a Titan, and they are fHuge(well, varies, but even the smallest is enormous). Intended as colony vessels, etc. Headmasters as a concept are... well, there's so many different types depending on your source, but at least where organic + TF are concerned, the Marvel G1 is where I draw most of my inspiration from and it's a Big Deal there/not something done lightly. Brainstorm's basically turned his main body into a Transtector like in JP Headmasters.

 

[chibipoe]

Chapter 3
Mysterious Underground, Part 3

"Just hold that steady," Brainstorm instructed, crouched down out of sight and adjusting something on the machine they were currently holding an immense cable up as he secured the connections. Barely holding it up, as it were, with both of them straining against its weight and the uncomfortably warm space that they were in. Brainstorm, of course, did not seem bothered by their proximity to it, however.

A short distance beyond where they stood, was a gaping hole that had been torn into the structure at some time in the distant past. Beyond it lay the source of the uncomfortable warmth, a bubbling pool of lava.

"What exactly is this supposed to do?" Carly asked as Brainstorm made some adjustments and the cable began to move slowly, the port it was connected to rotating and drawing it in. After a moment, it made an audible snap and the weight they had been struggling with was reduced to nothing. Wiping sweat away, both stepped back from the radiating heat of the lava pool while Brainstorm continued to make adjustments while speaking to himself in Cybertronian.

"The primary issue with my fixing anything is a lack of energon, which as I explained, is our primary source of nourishment, to put it in terms you would use. Without that, I'm stuck like this until I seize up from stasis lock and I certainly wouldn't be able to get anyone else to be responsive. To say nothing of eventually getting us out from under wherever it is we are." Brainstorm said while getting to his feet a few minutes later. "So, at least in the short term, this will help with that as a means to generate energon. The device can extract thermal, well any kind of fuel source or energy and convert it into synthetic energon. It's actually not my design though. Someone else built it to help us during an energy crisis." He paused for a moment, staring into the distance. "I hope she's alright."

"Fascinating," Carly said, changing the subject as she caught his sudden mood shift. "It's extracting the heat from the lava and converting that into what you call energon? But not the lava itself?"

"I could build one that did that, but it'd be very inefficient," Brainstorm replied absently. "That would require a chemical… maybe a molecular synthesis actually, and would use more resources than it puts out. It might work if I had nothing else, but… Wait, you understand how it works?"

"Uh, yeah?" she said. "Your explanation made sense. I might not follow some of the principles behind how your machine does that, since our technology seems to be pretty different, but we're both science students."

"How does your technology work?" Brainstorm asked, his curiosity welling up as he made some adjustments to the energon generator's calibration and then, staring at the machine intently, turned it on. For a moment, nothing happened and he worried that it wasn't going to work when, with a faint hum, several lights on the control panel fully lit up. He fussed over the readouts, feeling a tension begin to ease slightly as it indicated that it had begun siphoning energy and would start generating energon.

"Combustion engines, mainly," Carly said. "Though… didn't Stark experiment with some alternative or another back in the sixties? It never amounted to much if I remember right. Do you remember, Spike?"

"Uh… that was… the arc reactor? Something like that?" Spike said. "I thought it sounded interesting and Dad talked about it a lot, but I don't know that it ever got developed past the one at their place back east somewhere. Wait, no. The original is down at their plant in Los Angeles. They put one out back east but it barely functions."

"You say they call it an arc reactor?" Brainstorm asked. "How does it work?"

"Not sure," Spike said. "The people who made it kept details pretty close and since it didn't work out for widespread use, it's a tour exhibit now, I think? Beyond that, it was supposed to be some form of clean energy, didn't produce waste products and all."

"Shame," Brainstorm said. "That is interesting though. I'd wish I could take a look at it, but that will have to wait."

"So this generates the energy source you guys need," Carly said, looking over the machine as a cube that glowed pink emerged from one side. "What next?"

"Well," Brainstorm said after a moment of contemplation. "I need this to get some more energon going and once that is ready, I want to try and waking one of my companions. She's an engineer and I know we'll need her help to get things in order around here."

"Can we take a break?" Spike asked, stretching. "We've been at this for a while and Carly and I could do with some food. Also, any ideas on how we're supposed to get back to our truck?"

"Ah, rest and nourishment. You need that," Brainstorm remarked. "It's fine. This needs time to generate energon. What is here would keep me powered for a long time in this form, but I'll still need more for anything else. In the meantime, tell me more about your world! And what is a truck?"

​

Spike sat with his back to a wall, nibbling at a sandwich that he had put together while watching the scene before him. Some distance away, Brainstorm was climbing over one of the larger robots that they had brought a supply of energon to, making attachments and setting up a device that would, he had told them, bring her out of stasis lock, as he called it.

"Do you think this is really a good idea?" Carly asked, leaning over and speaking in a low voice.

"Having doubts?" Spike replied.

"Not doubts, exactly," she said. "But, how do we know we're not about to set off an alien invasion?"

"Five minutes of conversation with Brainstorm," Spike told her. "He hasn't gone into depth, sure, but we've both talked to him. If he is part of an invading force, I would be more worried for them."

"And?" Carly asked as Spike gained a thoughtful look. "What is it?"

"I think he's lonely? Maybe the wrong word, but he's been hurt by people," Spike said quietly. "You saw how he cringed away from us at first. Even now, he still is jumpy."

"That could just be because he's outnumbered, you know," Carly replied. "To play devil's advocate, at least."

"Well, if we are going to be vaporized when he activates the invasion force," Spike said with a grin. "Then at least we're here together, right?"

"You are such a dork," Carly said. "Seriously, though, I don't think we're about to unleash an invasion force. Just… felt like we should at least discuss the idea."

"Consider it discussed," Spike answered and hopped to his feet, his sandwich finished. He turned and smiled at her. "Shall we go help our soon to be robotic overlords?"

"Such a dork," she repeated but grabbed his hand and pulled herself up as well. "I actually have more questions for Brainstorm, honestly."

"About his species, yeah? We're making first contact with aliens here, can't deny that's exciting," Spike agreed as they made their way to where the small robot was adjusting several connections and muttering to himself.

"Everything ready, Brainstorm?" Carly asked, taking in the sight of the blue robot that he had been attaching cables too while they had eaten lunch.

"Hm? Oh, yes. I just need to initiate the transfer of energon and Nautica should emerge from stasis lock," he said, directing a glance toward the pink and white robot nearby with what seemed to be a frown. "You might want to stand out of the way though. Judging from what I think happened here before we all went offline, we had been boarded and attacked, so she might react based on her last memory. I could disable her motor systems, but that might just make her angry. I don't like when she's angry."

"Don't stress," Carly said, interrupting the blue robot as he started to say something else. "We'll stand back over here, just to be safe."

Brainstorm nodded absently and continued making adjustments to the console in front of him. "Initiating Energon transfer!" The cables leading to the larger robot lit up a soft pink color and an audible hum filled the space around them as Carly and Spike watched the process unfold.

For a moment, there was no sign of anything happening, before the blue robot twitched, then arms shifted, followed by the rest of the body moving in a similar fashion to someone who had just woken up.

The robot Brainstorm had called Nautica surged upright, looking around in confusion. Her head swiveled around, missing Brainstorm, then settled on Spike and Carly.

<"Wh-?">

<Nautica!"> Brainstorm called out, drawing her attention. <"I'm glad you woke up! We've got problems like you wouldn't believe!">

<"Brainstorm,"> she said after a moment of staring at him. <"What did you do?">

<"It isn't my fault!"> he replied, immediately submitting the language information he had put together. <"Look, they're organics, right? That's obvious. They're organics on this planet and this is first contact!" I'm not trained for this! Max is unresponsive, everyone but us is in stasis lock and we're running on fumes! Here's a data breakdown of their language so far! Please help!">

<"You're serious,"> Nautica said, her head turning toward Spike and Carly, who clearly were curious about their conversation. <"And they're capable of communication? They don't look like much?">

<"What is it that Optimus used to say?"> Brainstorm replied. <"There's more to them than meets the eye? They helped me and I can carry a conversation on science with them! Their own tech seems to be relatively primitive but they understood concepts I mentioned! Some of them, anyway.">

<"Calm down,"> she said. <"Now, break this down for me again, slowly. Do you have any estimate of how long we were offline?">

<"I haven't calculated that yet,"> he told her. <"I suspect for a long time and my preliminary estimations from what I've seen since I was revived, are that we're going to be doing repairs for quite a while. I cobbled together a geothermal generator to produce Synth-En so that we could get moving, but it's inefficient for long term use. Just fine for getting us out of stasis but we'll need more to get Fortress Maximus responsive, let alone mobile.">

Nautica didn't say anything for a long moment before reviewing the information that Brainstorm had pieced together on their language. It wasn't complete, but she knew he was listening in on them to refine it using some ridiculous algorithm that she wouldn't be able to make heads or tails of..

<"Fine,"> she told him before shifting around to face toward the two organics. She kept her movements to a minimum, both to avoid alarming them and to conserve her energy. What Brainstorm had used to wake her was enough to keep things running with minimal activity but more would be needed for full capacity. Problems for later, and his rambling had already advised that he had a preliminary production running.

"You'll forgive me," she addressed them, taking care to phrase slowly as she integrated the language module into her system. "We've had a bit of a surprise, I believe is the word in your language, and I'm trying to extrapolate from what Brainstorm has pieced together."

"So far, you're understandable," the darker haired one said and her optics shifted in his direction. Her guess was, judging from the two, of at least a binary race, as far as gender separation went, but without further contact, that was simply a guess until she had more information to work with. "We had guessed that you might not be from here, but not much else. You are, ah, from another planet, I gather? Something Brainstorm said seemed to indicate so."

"Correct," Nautica replied, considering what information she had on first contact protocols and what would be appropriate here. The pair before her before a superficial resemblance to several organic races that they had encountered, but the information from scanning them both showed significant differences. Not Asgardian, and definitely not Nebulon. Some oddities that suggested engineering of some kind on a racial level, which narrowed possibilities a fair bit more than she liked. Was this world a Celestial-seeded planet? Something to discuss with Brainstorm and others when they were up and out of stasis lock. "We are from a world called Cybertron, or at least that is the closest approximation of its name with the language you use. Our people, Transformers, have long explored and established colonies. This, where we stand, is one of our vessels for that purpose. Where we are now, though? Uncertain. As I believe Brainstorm should have mentioned, or I hope he has, we experienced some sort of disruption and were all placed into <stasis lock>. Ah… that is…"

"Some sort of unconscious state?" the fairer haired of the two guessed.

Nautica reviewed the question and nodded. "Effectively. I gather you two found your way here somehow and woke Brainstorm?"

They exchanged a glance and the fair haired one continued. "We were exploring some caves underground and… something odd happened and then we found a cavern with an enormous door. It opened enough for us to-"

"It opened?" she interrupted, feeling a surge of her processor. If the entry way opened of its own accord, then perhaps... "You're sure?"

"Yes," they said together before the brunette continued. "We knocked, to see if anyone would respond and it slid open. Not enough for someone of your size, but for us, it was plenty."

"One moment, please," Nautica said, turning her attention toward where Brainstorm was setting attachments in place for waking another who was unconscious <"They were able to enter because the door opened!">

The diminutive shape paused in his work, then seemed to brighten and words tumbled from his vocoder. <"That means Max is active in some fashion! Or Cerebros! But… Fortress Maximus would need an immense amount of Energon and my current setup isn't going to be able to produce anything near the right amount for a while. It will just produce what the main crew will need for being functional. I'd recommend everyone undergo the process I put myself through, to maximize our Energon being allotted properly. This frame's requirements are substantially less and it places our primary body in a sort of-">

<"Please focus,"> she interrupted firmly. <"Where was Cerebros when we experienced the disruption during transwarp?">

<"Interfacing with Fortress Maximus in his control bay, I believe?"> Brainstorm answered, the very words the ones she had expected but also dreaded. <"You're thinking something could have happened?">

<"I hope I am wrong,"> she answered. <"Get Arcee out of stasis lock and then connect to your body. We need to find Windblade and then head to check for Cerebros!">

"Um, is everything alright?" the humans asked, the blonde, she believed, but wasn't looking in their direction so she was basing it off of tonality and sound. "Is it something we can help with, and… well, I know it probably isn't a big deal, but I am curious. How… exactly is whatever Brainstorm did letting you speak our language?"

A series of repeating tones drew all their attention as Brainstorm merged with his body and elected to answer. "Part of it is a mathematical algorithm extrapolating words based on the phonetic sounds when you're speaking. The other element incorporates what is called Allspeak, from a race known as Asgardians. It allows them communication with all known races, to understand and be understood. I managed to apply the principles… well, I say I but it was really work that Cerebros started. I just bashed the two things together in a hurry when I encountered the two of you. It's a work in progress but it seems to be processing accurately. The more you two talk, the faster it can work and-"

Nautica made a gesture toward him that prompted him to silence, "Sorry, he's always a bit mad about overexplaining. As for helping us, that is appreciated and what you've done so far has been of enormous help. You're, as far as we know, our first contact with your people. I would like us to keep talking with whatever you're comfortable sharing of your world. My initial impression of our situation so far tells me we're going to be stuck where we are for a while, so whatever you can tell us will be helpful for whenever we are able to properly contact with… whatever your ruling powers are."

Carefully, she shifted from a seated position to a crouch, glancing toward Brainstorm. <"Pass me two more cubes."> Once in hand, she extended an intake port and consumed them, feeling her systems rejuvenate. "Much better."

"Ah.. About our ruling powers, as you put it," the brown haired one said. "That… could be a bit complicated."

"We need to go check on some of the others," Nautica told him. "If you'd like, we can discuss that as we head over there? Let me just…" The sound of transforming was like music to her auditory systems though the two organics were clearly surprised as she shifted into her vehicle form.

"Climb aboard," she broadcast, reconfiguring an internal space for them to sit. "And, my sincerest apologies, as I haven't asked, but… what should I call you two?"

"I'm Carly," the blonde said and gestured to her companion as they hesitantly shared a glance before climbing aboard. "This is Spike. And you can change shapes? I had assumed Brainstorm's little robot form was just…"

Nautica laughed softly. "That's just Brainstorm. As for the rest of us, well…" She launched into a brief explanation and started off toward the internal areas of Fortress Maximus with her passengers.

​

"So," Spike began as they moved through the immense, dimly lit hallways of the structure, which was, he and Carly had learned, a Cybertronian itself, named Fortress Maximus. "I wouldn't be wrong that you wanted to talk to us away from Brainstorm?"

Nautica made a sound that was remarkably similar to a sigh before speaking. "If I had a list of people I would not want involved in a first contact situation, Brainstorm would be far, far from the top. We, Cybertronians that is, have been space travelers for a long time, so we do have procedures for meeting other lifeforms."

"Some sort of noninterference deal? A Prime Directive?" Spike asked, earning a slap to his arm from Carly.

"Protocols to govern contact, yes, but noninterference? Not so much, though we don't run around looking to mess around with every race we run across, unlike some beings I could name," she answered. "Unfortunately, the situation as it stands now means this won't be a normal first contact and I am sure you both have questions beyond whatever scientific conversation you had with Brainstorm."

"How do you know that was what we talked about?" Carly asked.

"I know Brainstorm," Nautica said with a chuckle. "I do have questions as well and I can perhaps guess at a few thoughts you might have had. So, let me start with: We are not the forefront of an invasion force or intending to subjugate your people."

"That was…" Spike began to say before Carly poked him in the ribs and picked up the subject.

"Kind of obvious, given that you're buried quite a ways underground. Though I suppose you could have been an advance force that was thrown off course, but… well…"

"You have a theory about our location?" Nautica guessed.

"Nothing in our known history has ever mentioned anything crashing here like this," Carly said. "There's the Willamette Meteorite, but no one's sure exactly where it crashed originally. Flooding moved it. My guess is, you've been buried here for a very long time, by our calendar. I'd say millions of years, easily."

"Can you clarify your timekeeping?" she asked after a long moment. "What constitutes a… year? A rotation of your world?"

"Our orbit around the sun, actually," Spike chimed in. "Days are a rotation of the planet and it takes three hundred sixty five to circle the sun."

"That is the usual standard that most civilizations develop," Nautica said quietly. "The amount of time for what makes up a year can change, but it is nice to see that such a measure remains a constant. You are correct, however, in that does indicate it being rather substantial."

"I'm sorry," Carly said after a moment, glancing toward the front of the vehicle, uncertain of where to direct her attention. "That… can't be a happy realization."

"Well," Nautica began, turning slowly before coming to a halt before a pair of doors. "We'll need to get more systems up and running and then we can rely on more than guesswork. Which brings me to a topic concerning the two of you that I am uncertain about."

"My father says the best thing to do when you're uncertain is just go ahead and ask," Spike said. "You can figure everything out after."

"Very well," Nautica replied, opening the doors of her vehicle mode so they could exit. "In short, I assume your discovery of us was accidental on your part though I suspect Fortress Maximus may have had a hand in guiding you here. It follows that, if for no other reason than sustenance, you two will wish to depart, correct?"

"It has been a few hours, so we would soon, yes," Carly answered as they climbed out. "I'm going to guess you want to ask something about first contact?"

Nautica transformed out of her vehicle mode and looked down at the pair. "Observant, but yes. We are likely to be stuck here for some time due to energy requirements, to say nothing of repairs. Determining how to extricate Fortress Maximus without causing widespread damage will be a significant consideration as well. I presume there are cities or gatherings of your people above, as you had mentioned that we were underground?"

"Not so many out in this area," Spike said, glancing from Nautica to the entryway they had arrived at. "Mostly smaller towns and a few ranches. Given your size compared to us, I assume we've only seen a small portion of Fortress Maximus?"

The door slid open a bit and stopped as Nautica approached. With a sound of exertion, she pushed it open enough that she could pass through before glancing at them. "That would be a correct estimation. I am only speculating of course, based on what you've told me, so a proper evaluation will take some time. Thankfully, we have qualified individuals who can help with that. Nonetheless, we'll be at that for a while and I would ask, yes, to keep our presence here a secret."

"That's less of a problem than you might think," Carly told her, laughing softly. "It's extremely unlikely anyone would believe us, for one and even if we could get someone to listen to us, there was something odd that happened when we were exploring. When we leave, I'm not sure we'd even be able to get back here without aid."

"That being said," Spike added, nodding at Carly. "I don't see any problem keeping this a secret. I would like to help, however we can though."

"I had not intended to propose the idea without some reciprocation," Nautica told them, staring into the dimly lit room beyond the doorway. "Brainstorm appeared most impressed with your intelligence, which is a rare statement to be had from him, so I had hoped to propose an exchange of knowledge between us. Learning about your world and this sector of space will be very helpful, the latter especially for determining where we are in relation to Cybertron."

"No plans for calling home to signal the invasion?" Carly asked, lightening her tone in a hope that the humor was conveyed.

Nautica laughed. "Not at all. Proper first contact can be handled by others, if we are able to contact anyone. If it has been as long as you mentioned, there's no telling what sort of situation things could be like back home. We are fairly long-lived but things change, even for us. Again though, such will be a lesser concern while we assess our more pressing situation, so contact out is probably a long way off."

"Makes sense," Spike agreed, glancing around the leg of the larger being and into the room. "So, what is this room?"

"One of our group would have been here when we were initiating transwarp," she told him, optics piercing the heavy shadows in the room to discern a familiar shape slumped against the wall. Nautica did not continue for a moment, considering what sort of information to reveal here. The two organics appeared interested and sincere, but she had no true understanding of their society and if her suspicions were correct, involvement with them could be particularly complicated. Still, she had a good feeling in her Spark and was always one to trust that. "Some of us have a special gift, as it were, for communicating with those like Fortress Maximus. Cerebros has been his Speaker for a long time."

"Is that Cerebros, then?" Spike asked, trailing behind Nautica as her stride carried her past them easily. Above, lights stuttered for an instant before settling to what seemed to be an emergency mode, illumination rolling back the deeper shadows of the room. The immense figure lay supine across a table or work station of some sort. Of what variety, Spike was uncertain, given the uneven lighting, but there was enough that many details were apparent. Cerebros appeared to be colored in predominantly black, though there were a few highlights of white, including a face plate over the lower portion of his face. The eyes were blue, Spike thought, and the rest of the head rounded like a sort of helmet. The rest of the body was out of his range of view, but one arm dangled off the side of the surface, hanging limp.

"It is," Nautica said quietly, producing a device from somewhere that she ran over his torso. "<Stasis Lock>, but.. These readings are odd, so I'm not sure what all of these mean. We'll need to have him checked over. Just have to locate a few of our… I believe medic is the word in your language? Doctor, even?"

"That's right," Carly answered, following up with a question that he tuned out as he moved close, looking up at the face of Cerebros and then glancing at his arm.

"We'll get you taken care of, buddy," he said quiet, unsure what prompted the promise but resolved to fulfill it nonetheless. Reaching out, he rested his hand on the one before him, the motion similar to efforts he had made to reassure his dad when he was having a bad day or week. The hand was warm and the surface did not feel like metal at all, similar to his brief contact with Brainstorm before he had woken up. He wondered what they were made of, what they world was like. The thoughts had been intruding for a while and he had been fighting his imagination since the startled moment with the scientist. Giving another pat to Cerebros' hand, Spike flinched as a spark leapt from the Transformer to him.

His equilibrium upended and he felt himself falling while at the same time not, hearing Nautica and Carly as if from a distance, still talking. The sense of disorientation grew and he found himself staring at his own body, still standing there with other two. The room spun away, replaced by what seemed a glowing sea of stars, with one particularly bright one at their center and a second smaller orbiting it. Space dust swirled and formed shapes that took a moment to settle before he realized it was a mass of hallways and tunnels, dotted with the stars scattered all throughout, going further and further until reaching a massive room filled with them.

"What.. What is this?" he asked aloud, amazed.

I. Am. The star at the heart of the scene before him pulsed in time with the… words were too simple a descriptor. The image of a massive figure, standing tall into the sky, filling his thoughts.

"Fortress Maximus…" he whispered in certainty, then his eyes darted to the other star caught in the larger's orbit. "And Cerebros…?"

We. Are. This time the pulse slammed into him, a rush of images blazing across his sight. A world cast in metal, spires stretching high above and filled with countless Transformers. The images ripped past, faster than he could track even as brief glimpses before he saw himself, clad in black armor and felt himself falling.

"Spike? Spike!" Carly's voice ripped into focus, the images dispersing even as he seized at them, desperate to hold on. "You're burning up! Are you alright? Spike! Talk to me!"

Gasping and feeling as he'd been running a marathon, he forced himself to look at Carly, her features swimming in and out of focus. "I… I'm okay."

"You most certainly are not, Witwicky!" she snapped back in reply, worry and fury warring in her voice. "You stopped responding and your temperature skyrocketed. You felt… still feel, like you were on fire! I thought you were going to boil your own brain!"

"I.. I just.. Touched Cerebros and then I saw… what..?" he forced out, trying to recall. "Two stars…. No, not stars… A <Spark> orbiting a star…?"

"Elevated brain activity, but it appears to be normalizing, Miss Carly," an unfamiliar voice said and he could make out a red and white figure looming above, with what he thought was Nautica standing nearby. "Other vital signs also appear to be stabilizing toward a baseline normal. At least closer in match to your own, since I do not have an extensive record of your species' baseline. I can detect no abnormalities otherwise though I would recommend consuming some liquids to replenish, as well as sustenance shortly after."

"Thank you, First Aid," Carly said, her tone tense in a way that he recognized. She was fighting to keep calm, worry and fear over whatever had happened eroding her self-control. "Do we know what caused it?"

"Not exactly, as I wasn't present for the initiating event and am just getting caught up on events after being woken rather abruptly," First Aid began, looking toward some sort of device in his hand that resembled the one Nautica had been using earlier. "However, judging from this readings and from something your companion Spike said, I have a tentative hypothesis. Let me caution though, that it veers into territory that I am not the most versed in. First, though… can you describe what you saw, Spike? You said something about a star?"

"A lot of it… ugh, let me sit up," he said, giving Carly a smile as she helped him to a seated position from where he had apparently fallen down. "A lot of it has already faded, but… not stars. <Tangled Sparks.> What is it?" Beside him, he saw her eyes widen.

"You said something and it sounded like their language, Cybertronian? Just one word though, I think?" her anger signs had faded and now there was just worry.

"I did? I thought I just said <Sparks,>" he repeated, then frowned. "No, wait, you're right. What the hell did I say?"

"Was there anything else?" First Aid interrupted.

"Um… maybe? I thought someone was speaking for a moment," he told them, watching as the two giants exchanged a glance and Nautica nodded.

"It seems," First Aid continued after what seemed to be a pause for ordering his thoughts, "that when you touched Cerebros, it stirred him enough that he tried to communicate. Fortress Maximus appears to have remained awake and aware in some fashion. Your reaction was, I believe, due to the abrupt connection. <Titans> such as Fortress Maximus are… well, some of the oldest beings in the universe and communicating with one in such a fashion as I suspect you did is the <domain of a Titanspeaker.> Especially without you being Cybertronian."

"Will there be any problems?" Carly interjected quickly.

"I do not believe so, no. Though, I would recommend to not touch Cerebros again. We have someone who can do so and be less at risk. Your system… no, your body, physical, whatever, it isn't adapted to <Spark Resonance.> That is… well… my apologies. Some of the terms, I do not have suitable words in your language, which I am still assimilating." First Aid replied. "But as I said, there should be no issues. Consume lots of fluids and then eat, then whatever sort of rest cycle you have will correct any problems."

"That's great," Carly began, then took a deep breath. "Can we go, please? This day has been packed with craziness and I think I'm done." Spike looked at her and slipped a hand into hers, twining their fingers together in reassurance.

"I think that may be a good idea," he said after a long moment of thought, before looking up at Nautica. "I'm fine on keeping things quiet about you. I'm not sure how much help we may be to you, but I'd like to help and learn more about your world and people."

Carly didn't say anything for a moment in response before sighing and bumping her shoulder against his. "I know that tone of voice, Witwicky. I'm not sold on the idea, especially after whatever just happened, but I know you. You'll barrel off and next thing you know, you'll be running for your life with Cerebros here in some abandoned alien city somewhere if someone doesn't keep an eye on you."

"That's very specific," he told her with a grin.

"It's a joke, Witwicky," she laughed for a moment before looking up at Nautica. "I'm in too. Is there a way we can communicate, or will we need to come back out to where we first got here?"

"I think we can have Brainstorm put something together and we can work out further details later," Nautica said. "If Spike's feeling up to it, we can go do that now. I have a few ideas we can discuss for our arrangement while we go find him, if you'd like?"

"Sounds good," Carly said as Spike carefully stood up with her help and Nautica transformed. First Aid had moved to examining Cerebros with his scanning device, his optics flickering as he looked between the prone figure and whatever he was reading on the screen. "So you've been space explorers for a long time, could you tell me about…" Spike let the sound of her voice wash over him as they climbed aboard, taking one last glance back at Cerebros' still form before Nautica's doors closed and they were driving away.

Yeah, he thought. Definitely coming back.

 

[johnwedd]

Spike being a biological titanspeaker makes for better reasoning for keeping the humans around than, "hey, we found these tiny sentient! I wanna keep them as pets."

 

[Alkard]

Nautica made a sound that was remarkably similar to a sigh before speaking. "If I had a list of people I would not want involved in a first contact situation, Brainstorm would be far, far from the top. We, Cybertronians that is, have been space travelers for a long time, so we do have procedures for meeting other lifeforms."

Click to shrink...

Am I misunderstanding, or is Nautica actually saying Brainstorm is among the top contenders for first contact? (being at the bottom of a list of not recommended people means he -is- highly recommended).

Or did you mean Brainstorm would not be far from the top?

 

[chibipoe]

Am I misunderstanding, or is Nautica actually saying Brainstorm is among the top contenders for first contact? (being at the bottom of a list of not recommended people means he -is- highly recommended).

Or did you mean Brainstorm would not be far from the top?

Click to shrink...

It could be both. There could be worse options than him, but either way, she wouldn't want him spearheading a first contact if it could be avoided. If it were a couple of scientifically minded teenagers, it might not be so bad. It's more that he's a bit erratic, at the best of times.

 

[Sumanai]

<"Can you understand us?"> the smaller of the creatures said, their weapon lowering after he hadn't moved toward them.

"I have no idea what you just said," he replied, though he felt his fear diminish slightly as it became clear that they weren't going to attack him, at least not right now. And they could speak, which meant they had some form of language. Curiosity building, he cautiously lowered his arms from the defensive position he had taken and looked the pair over.

Click to shrink...

I really like the way that a language barrier is being used, even in the later chapters after the autobots have started processing the human language a bit. That being said, I don't know if brackets are necessarily the best way to go about it; it leads to some odd situations where the PoV character doesn't know what is being said, but the audience understands it just fine. Which might be good for comedic effect, buuut isn't my cup of tea.

Personally, I think I might have preferred something like glitchy text or something else to convey the meaning and obscure it a bit to th audience as well as the POV character? Then also place a bit more focus on interpreting body language, because Brainstorm, Spike and Carly having to awkwardly figure ou what each other mean and say despite not understanding one another is a really cool idea.

<"What is it that Optimus used to say?">

Click to shrink...

"Used" to say? Hm. So, is Optimus no longer in the picture in this continuity, or is this just past tense since they haven't interacted for a while? You said you were drawing from a couple of different spots for lore, which can also be seen from the Titan speaker Spike concept.

(great idea, by the way!)

Anyway... cool start, and I'm curious to see what happens next. You've already focused on using characters who don't get as much screen time as other players, even before the Marvel connections and the Titanspeaker Spike (to say nothing of anything else you have planned) so... cool! Good luck, and looking forward to keeping up with this.

 

[chibipoe]

I really like the way that a language barrier is being used, even in the later chapters after the autobots have started processing the human language a bit. That being said, I don't know if brackets are necessarily the best way to go about it; it leads to some odd situations where the PoV character doesn't know what is being said, but the audience understands it just fine. Which might be good for comedic effect, buuut isn't my cup of tea.

Click to shrink...

I thought of a couple of options, but didn't want to overly complicate readers having to squint at distorted text, etc, so went for brackets. I'll think about it though and see what I can manage. (

"Used" to say? Hm. So, is Optimus no longer in the picture in this continuity, or is this just past tense since they haven't interacted for a while? You said you were drawing from a couple of different spots for lore, which can also be seen from the Titan speaker Spike concept.

Click to shrink...

Artifact of a previous version that had some bits I cut out. It's more of a past tense intention though, as they don't *know* what Optimus' status is, or that of Cybertron's, etc. (Boy are they in for a rude surprise whenever that happens)

 

[Sumanai]

I thought of a couple of options, but didn't want to overly complicate readers having to squint at distorted text, etc, so went for brackets. I'll think about it though and see what I can manage. (

Click to shrink...

Fair enough, and I hope I don't come across as back-seat writing? Just figured if I'm going to comment, should give positives as ell as negatives, just for my opinion, you know? Apologies if I came across too harsh!

Artifact of a previous version that had some bits I cut out. It's more of a past tense intention though, as they don't *know* what Optimus' status is, or that of Cybertron's, etc. (Boy are they in for a rude surprise whenever that happens)

Click to shrink...

Oooh interesting... but I'm gonna avoid speculating upon future events in case I step on some toes or something . Bets of luck!

 

[chibipoe]

Fair enough, and I hope I don't come across as back-seat writing? Just figured if I'm going to comment, should give positives as ell as negatives, just for my opinion, you know? Apologies if I came across too harsh!

Click to shrink...

Not at all! I did think about throwing in another language, or symbols, etc and maybe superscript for author's notes. I might go back and change that. We'll see. (My headcanon for Cybertronian has tonalities that humans may not be able to pick up, so if I use, say, Hebrew(the characters resemble what got made up as Cybertronian text in Bay-movies, iirc), it'd likely just be an array of nonsense characters. Just a few thoughts I had anyway. Feedback is always appreciated!