"You can't wake up,
This is not a dream,
You are part of a machine,
You are not a human being."

"I think there's a flaw in my code."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRHNi3QfFlE

>><<

"We have Cybertronian activity in . . . London," Ratchet said worriedly, interrupting Megatron from his thoughts.  Kyra strode over to her computers, boots clinking on the catwalk as she did so. "In the middle of London."

"St. Paul's Cathedral," the techno-organic stated, her brow knitting. "Why there? I didn't realize Cybertronians were Christian. Unless . . ."

"They haven't done anything yet to warrant concern," Ratchet reported, interrupting her thought. "But if they are focusing on a structure that is collectively over 700 years old, there could be something there they want. Autobot or Decepticon, the human civilians are at risk."

"My time to shine," Kyra grinned. Grabbing the side of the catwalk she launched herself off the side. The first time she had done that Megatron had almost tripped over himself to catch her, but the hybrid gracefully landed on her feet every time. A normal human would have broken their ankles, if not their legs, jumping from such a height. It was hard to remember she was not normal.

Hitting the ground in a crouch she stood, pushing her hair up and pulling it back into a ponytail. She shot Megatron a smirk, her green eyes sparkling. "Going to join me?"   

The former Decepticon blinked. "I highly doubt that is the wisest course of action, should they turn out to be Autobots."

"Only if they see you," she pointed out, heading towards her built-in house. "And if things get nasty, I'll need Cybertronian back-up. I can wrestle Arcee no problem, but I doubt these guys will be as small as her."

Megatron cocked his optic ridge, continuously surprised by all of the things about her. Every day he learned something new about the strange creature that walked and spoke like an organic, but functioned with a spark and energon.

"She is right," Ratchet sighed. "Should they prove hostile, you are the best form of protection the humans have."

The irony of the statement was not lost on him, Megatron finally consenting as she disappeared into an "exterior" portion, what they referred to as the garage.

"Groundbridge us as close as you can to the location without raising suspicion, then," he could not help but give the order, Ratchet giving him a warning glare before he began typing in coordinates.

Kyra returned wearing a full body suit, a helmet tucked under her arm as the other effortlessly led a motorcycle out of the garage. Its sleek design was similar to Arcee's, but it was clearly not sentient. As her sire turned on the Groundbridge she placed her helmet on.

"Remember the rule."

"Do not engage," she said firing up her preferred mode of transport while her partner in crime transformed into his grounder alternate form. The Decepticon still huffed in dismay as his armor rearranged itself into tires, but it was the only way the government would allow him out of the base - and if they did not want to make enemies out of the humans, he would comply.

"Remain in contact as much as possible," Ratchet watched them go, his expression twisted in paternal worry. She was too much like her mother - and soon trouble would figure that out.

"Do not engage?" Megatron asked her across her comlink, another strange thing she possessed.

"Yeah," she answered, immediately weaving through the traffic of London. He was stuck unless he ran cars over, instead taking the path of least resistance, which ended up being the long way around. "It's more of a safety thing than anything else. If MECH gets wind of me, I'm an experiment. If the government gets wind of me, I'm an experiment. And if the wrong Cybertronian gets wind of me . . ."

"You are an experiment."

"Mhmm," she confirmed, taking a breath and pausing at a red light. "But I've never seen combat, much less war. I think that's another thing too. He doesn't want me to be exposed to that. Ratchet is protecting me, in a way I guess. I think he also does not want to lose me."

"He most certainly does not want to lose you," Megatron assured her. "I understand his logic, as I feel the same way."

"Aw, you're too sweet," she teased, laughing when he grunted in displeasure. "How's the traffic?" She was passing the London Eye and crossing across the Thames, ignoring the horns she received at angry Londoners that cursed at her.

"Terrible."

"I'm almost to the Cathedral." Closing their comlink she opened up the Autobot frequency, contacting Ratchet while also keeping Megatron in the loop. "Where's the exact location of these guys? I'm almost there."

"At the westernmost front. They have yet to move locations."

"Roger that," revving her engine the young woman turned in the correct direction, scanning the street under her tinted helmet. The lack of chaos tipped her off to the fact that they were more than likely undercover at the moment, hiding in their alternate forms.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, an explosion blew out portions of the Cathedral.

"Kyra?! What was that?" Ratchet screamed, causing her to flinch. Halting her motorcycle she watched as the first Decepticon transformed, ignoring the screams of the organic lifeforms around him. People stampeded past Kyra in a chaotic swarm, the street almost instantly cleared.

"Decepticons," she stated, shocked.

The two others quickly transformed as well, red optics looking at the damage eagerly.

"Find it!" The obvious leader snapped, his grating voice unforgiving and cruel. His supposed inferiors dove into the cathedral, eliciting a fresh wave of screams.

"Get out of there," Megatron ordered her. "I am almost to your destination."

Kyra blinked, her extraordinarily good vision quickly seeing red. It was on the street, the cathedral, cars. Beneath the screams were groans, painful noises caused by injured humans that struggled to get away from the danger. Her eyes focused on a woman crawling her way to a car, her leg mangled and a bloody mess, leaking red.

Red. A color she could barely bleed.

She grit her teeth. "There are people in danger."

"Other humans will take care of them," Megatron replied coldly.

"Kyra, do not engage!" Ratchet snarled at her, desperate and terrified.

The lead Decepticon howled in pleasure, laughing as he kicked a human aside. A nasty crunch resulted as the man's ribs, spine, arms, and clavicle broke from the force, almost killing him instantly.

"Pathetic," the Decepticon growled.

Kyra snapped.

Revving her engine she bent her wrist back fully, opening the throttle completely and jerking forward as her motorcycle went straight for the offending Cybertronian. The noise drew his cruel red optics to her, his denta bared in a smirk. Twisting his body the Decepticon shifted his weight onto his front leg, preparing to kick her like he had that man.

 Right before she got within distance Kyra forced her arms forward, kicking off from her ride. The momentum forced her into a backflip over her handlebars, adrenaline flooding straight into her systems. In what felt like slow motion she arched her back and then snaked it forward, bringing the motorcycle up and over her head. Using the built up energy she threw it with as much force as she could muster, landing on her feet as the machine went flying.

 A satisfying cry of surprise escaped the Decepticon as the motorcycle flew straight into his chest and knocked him off balance. He snarled, completely caught off guard by the supposed organic's immense strength. The gesture was returned, Kyra stalking forward.

Barricade was easily three times as tall as the pest, and yet it dared to challenge him. At some point Lugnut and Dropkick would finish, and either they would find it or they wouldn't. Regardless, he would deal with the insect.

Kyra removed her helmet and threw it aside, the energon in her veins in a frenzy. She glared at the Decepticon and bared her teeth, the full smell of his explosive and the injured humans finally hitting her nose. It made her nauseous,  only furthering her sickened feeling towards the aggressors.

His servo moved to swipe at her, the techno-organic taking a running start and jumping clear past the attack. Landing on the ground again she rolled, coming back up to her feet. Her fingers curled into a fist, the components of her arm shifting and changing into her weapon of choice: energon blaster.

She grit her teeth, ignoring the screaming of her shifting organic parts as the energon heated up to dangerous temperatures. Firing the weapon provided instant relief, the shots hitting along the underside of his armor.

Barricade snarled in confusion, twisting to see the human now sported an energon weapon built straight into its arm. He suddenly noticed the oddities in its movements, its abnormal grace and larger build, glowing eyes shining with anger. Shifting backwards he loaded his own weaponry, the barrel of his ion cannon spinning as it charged and warmed.

Sprinting forward, Kyra ducked and avoided his firepower, leaping on some rubble to gain height. Sensing his aim following her she took a massive jump, easily twisting and firing again. The shot was true, hitting the Decepticon straight in the delicate sensors of his optic.

Howling Barricade stumbled back, gripping the half of his face. Just as such a thing happened his two accomplices blasted a slightly larger hole into the human structure, emerging with their prize: an energon harvester.

"Yo boss, what'd you do?" Lugnut questioned, blinking in surprise.

"Barricade!"

At the angry growl of his former master the three Decepticons froze, optics affixed to the approaching vehicle. Megatron transformed before them, his armor sliding into place as he rose to his full height.

"What are you doing here, on this planet?" Megatron questioned him. "The Decepticons are no more, has that not been made clear to you?!"

"It was clear enough, m-master," Barricade sank to one knee, still clutching his injured half of the face. "But . . . what does it matter that these organics suffer?"

"These organics are protected by the Autobots. An attack on them is attack on the Autobot faction," Megatron replied evenly. "I strongly advise you take your ship, and leave this place. Or there will be retaliation."

"My liege," Dropkick paused, then continued. "Pardon my questioning, but . . . why are you on this planet?"

"Rumor has it he fancied one of these vermin," Lugnut, in his usual lack of intelligent, common sense, said aloud. "He took a she aboard the ship and gave 'er the special Decepticon treatment. Now he's got a soft spot for these pests."

Kyra quirked an eyebrow, her arm reverting back to its normal state.

Megatron curled his lip plates back, revealing his sharp denta with a displeased expression. "I am in exile, as you seem to be unaware of."

"On a planet with . . . things," Dropkick stared at him oddly, realizing that his master had avoided the question.

"I am offering this extension of forgiveness once," Megatron growled as Barricade rose to his pedes. "Go back to your ship, as I am almost certain you used one to arrive to this planet. Take that accursed harvester with you, and leave. And do not step on this planet again."

Barricade was the one to speak this time. "So it is true," he dared to mock his former master. "You disbanded the Decepticon cause because of an organic pest. When Starscream declared such a thing I - and many others - denied it. Surely you of all mechs would not stoop so low as to frag a disgusting -"

 Megatron's optics lit up with fury, his patience worn to nothing. Without even a warning he deployed his blade and leapt forward. Barricade was reflexive and fast enough to avoid the attack. Lugnut shrieked and Dropkick let go of the harvester. In a flurry of rage the slow, dumb Lugnut was disposed of first, his helm removed from his shoulders as promised.

 Barricade and Dropkick teamed up against Megatron, the former launching an attack at his back. The trained gladiator felt it happen, lowering into a crouch as he reached back and gripped Barricade's helm, using the momentum against him. Dropkick avoided his thrown accomplice, opening fire.

Kyra growled, looking around for something useful. Her energon bolts were too weak for single, strong attacks. Megatron seemed to have everything under control, and as clarity returned she realized the injured had not been moved. They could be caught in the crossfire.

Leaping down she grabbed the first person she could tell was alive, effortlessly carrying him as the sounds of metal-scrapping-metal sounded behind her and the yowls of injured Cybertronians rang into the air. Running back she grabbed another, then another, not once hesitating as she ducked around fighting Decepticons in search of more injured, carrying them even when she realized they were dead.

"Pretender pest!"

She whirled, Barricade looking at her with a murderous glare while Megatron dealt with Dropkick. Without hesitation she picked up the groaning woman in her arms and sprinted.

The hybrid was fast, but unfortunately Barricade had longer strides. She felt his footsteps get closer, shaking the ground and disrupting her running rhythm. Finally she stopped, putting the woman down to fight. Pale blue eyes affixed to something behind her, the nameless woman screaming.

Kyra turned, and all she could do was instinctively put her arms up.

The bottom of Barricade's pede slammed into her so hard that the ground cracked beneath her. A scream of agony tore through her, the metal scraping and cutting her organic skin while her Cybertronian half struggled to counteract the hundreds of pounds of force without breaking. Her shoulders threatened to pop out of place, blue tears running down her cheeks in uncontrollable waves. Blue and red snaked down her arms like rivers, dripping onto the pavement in a sickening purple mix while her knees popped and tore free from their organic constraints.

She swore Megatron screamed her name, the weight suddenly lifted from her. As the pressure was released she felt only a sliver of relief before her body fell forward.

Megatron shoved his sword through Barricade's chassis, snarling.

"You will never disrespect her again," he growled into his audio receptor. "Regardless of her corporeal form."

The last thing Kyra remembered was the ground rushing toward her.

>><<

Kyra was drowning.

That was not entirely correct, but the feeling was as accurate as it could be. Instead of water she was being suffocated by pain, the feeling coming and going with consciousness. Any time she came close to resurfacing she screamed, cried for relief, and relief came in the form of nothingness.

Finally there came a time when the pain was a little less, and a little less. Her body stitched itself back together, and occasionally she could sense her components being forced to shift around a little, fluttering and moving to avoid scar tissue in places it should not be. Thoughts came and went without purpose, swimming across her head while she drowned.

After what felt like forever, even for her, Kyra woke up.

She was greeted to the noise of medical machinery and the chattering of metal titans, speaking in their strange tongue to one another. Carefully she opened her eyes and blinked a few times, trying to orient herself.

"Kyra."

Ratchet's voice was filled with an exhalation of relief, her sire coming into view above her. Judging by how close he was, she suspected he had placed her on a Cybertronian-grade berth.

"How do you feel?"

"Terrible," she admitted, slowly moving her head a little this way and that to look around. Her throat ached, a sign of dehydration - but she suspected that was due to her organic half, as more than likely Ratchet had her on an energon IV. "But better than I was . . . before."

"A week and a half ago," he said, his optics narrowing. "Kyra, I told you to not engage."

"He was hurting people," she protested, flinching as clenching her fist elicited a feeling of pain. Her eyes drifted to her arm, seeing the two IV lines in her arm: one in an energon vein, one found in an organic vein. "I had to help them. That's what we do, isn't it?"

"That's what he said," Ratchet shot a nasty glare at Megatron, who had tucked himself against the wall, observing her but keeping his distance from the medic. "I hoped that when you woke up you would have learned your lesson. You don't have any natural pain killers, Kyra! You could have offlined from the trauma, shock, your immune system could have woken up and realized you aren't wholly human or Cybertronian -"

"But I'm fine now, aren't I, sire?" She asked, sitting up despite his protest. They exchanged a glare, both stubborn creatures who would not budge for the other.

An unstoppable force and immovable object, Megatron mused humorously.

"That's not my point," he said before finally taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Kyra, just . . . don't do whatever you had before in the future, alright? Be careful."

"Yes, sire," she conceded.

Ratchet gave her a quick check-up, having her shift her body parts a little and giving a thorough report of her physical well-being before allowing her to remove the IVs. As soon as that was done she did her own once-over, glancing at her knees.

Nasty, warped scars remained where they had blown out remained, but her Cybertronian parts had not been severely injured. The endoskeleton was one of the harder parts of the organic body to mend, and she was glad she was not actually human. She would have lost the use of her legs for life, and could not imagine how she'd cope with such a development.

Standing she glanced at her arms and saw the new scaring there, which was all organic skin, but sprinkled with the occasional Cybertronian mend. That was unsurprising; the skin was only superficial after all.

"I would advise you do not jump from any high perches for a while, just in case."

Looking up, Kyra saw Megatron extend his servo toward her, offering a mode of transport off the berth. The techno-organic accepted the provision and stepped on. Settling into a sitting position in order to stay a while, she looked up at him with her green eyes, puzzled.

"So . . . how much of that 'rumor' is true?" She asked. "Y'know, what those guys said?"

That earned her a pause, the tyrant regarding her for a long time. His red optics seemed to be scanning her, eventually making direct optic contact.

"It is true that I was fond of your mother, and that I took her aboard the Nemesis for the best medical treatment I could offer her," he said, glancing over at Ratchet briefly. The medic seemed busy, but he was sure Ratchet was listening. "As for the more crude things they mentioned, no, those were certainly not true."

Kyra nodded thoughtfully, getting up and stepping off his servo as he stopped before the catwalk.

"Why . . . did you start to care?" The hybrid questioned, realizing this was somewhat of a sensitive subject. "I mean, she was just a human, after all . . ."

"I do think it a waste that Primus placed her spark in a human shell," Megatron replied truthfully. "But, perhaps it was for the better; I may not have noticed her had she been like everyone else."

Kyra looked thoughtful. "I can see that," she agreed. Looking at her hand she moved it a little, bending each finger and watching.

Ratchet set his tool down, reflecting on what Megatron had said. Yes, things would have certainly been much different had Dana been born a Cybertronian, and that in itself was something he did not want to think about. The human he had known would have not existed, and truthfully that was something he did not like. Looking at his progeny he watched her interact with the warlord, a perfect meld of organic and machine.

Life certainly was different without his charge, and it was indeed miserable. But it was not unbearable, not with Kyra. Even though she worried him, she also made him proud; she was just like her mother, which was everything he could ask for. Fate had a strange way of taking and giving, and this was a gift he would not take for granted. Not ever again.