“Carrie!” Charlie shouted as she burst into the redhead’s room. “I figured out your riddle!” Without waiting for a response, Charlie crossed the room in a few quick strides. “They’re all her, aren’t they? You're her, too! You’re all a piece of the puzzle. And until Fay accepts it or some corny crap, she’s stuck here! That’s it, isn’t it? Why didn’t you just tell me?”

        Carrie kept a level gaze, bruises and cuts still healing along her body. “I was testing how well you knew her.”

        It had taken Charlie a while to realize it, yes. She’d admit that much. But once it had started to click, once she’d noticed all the small habits, the behaviors that Fay did subconsciously, being done by these ‘strangers’ -- Charlie knew it wasn’t just a coincidence. They were her. Or a part of her, at least. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and Charlie understood entirely that this wasn’t as simple as she hoped.

        “It’s just not that easy to explain,” Carrie said easily. “And whether Fay fully realizes what, or who we are, doesn’t matter. It doesn’t affect whether or not she will wake. What matters is that she finds herself. The loss of herself is what keeps her here.”

        “What the hell does that even mean?” Charlie shouted. “We can’t just wait here! The Decepticons are looking for her! They’re closing in and we’re running out of time!”

        “She’s the only one they’re looking for?” Carrie asked, looking at Charlotte evenly. The blonde met Carrie’s gaze, frustrated that Carrie knew. Carrie knew and no one else did. Did that mean Fay, a part of her, at least, knew as well? Carrie shrugged off Charlie’s glare. “Regardless, we are not the only ones who have resided here. If you recall, our numbers were thicker at the start of this journey and have gradually thinned, always several in a day. That is because a part of the siblings still live with Fay. In her mind, and in her spark. They were here as Techno Organic forms for a while. Their leaving was reminiscent of their deaths. A few of them still linger. The ones who lived longest remain yet.”

        “How the hell does this help me?” Charlie demanded, even though it startled her to hear about the siblings. “What the hell am I supposed to do? How can I help Fay ‘find herself’ or whatever?”

        “You have to figure it out,” Carrie replied.

        “Well what the hell are you?” Charlie snapped. “What are then if you’re part of Fay?”

        “I’m her humanity.”

        ~~~

        “Do you guys even hear what I’m saying right now?” Charlie snapped again, the encounter with Carrie leaving her haunted. Carrie was Fay’s humanity. That was why Fay couldn’t lose her. If Fay lost Carrie, then Fay would lose quite possibly the only thing that tethered her mind and spark to the Autobots and to humans in general. Without her humanity, Fay would be lost to them.

        Without Carrie, Fay would be lost to those like Joshua.

        Joshua.

        Joshua, as Charlie had found out, was Fay’s animosity. He was her base instinct to destroy, to maim, to kill, and to hate. That was why Joshua had targeted Carrie, and why he took such delight in Fay’s actions whenever he managed to get under her skin. It was why they had to keep her away from him. He knew precisely how to get to her. How to bring out her darkest side, the one that wanted to destroy.

        “We hear it,” Jazz replied quickly. “We just think it’s kinda . . . Freaky, science fiction-grade stuff.”

        “Have you even looked in a mirror?” Charlie shouted. “Everything about this situation is ‘freaky, science-fiction grade stuff’! And it’s all real and I don’t know what to do because Fay needs us and there’s no known way to actually help her! What am I supposed to do?”

        A low growl hit Charlie’s ears. ‘Perhaps if you hadn’t fought my interference, we would have a better idea of what has to happen.’

        Scowling, Charlie looked up to the large metal being. “Don’t give me that attitude, Clawkin.”

        ~~~

        Having showered and dressed, Fay went back to her room, Optimus sticking near her for now. “Some people are just so obnoxious and rude,” she muttered, hair wrapped in a towel. “I really don’t understand the appeal of being such a jackass.”

        “Some people simply aren’t meant to be understood,” Optimus concluded. He was unsure about Joshua’s behavior as well, really. “You’re better than him, Filly. You’ll still be strong while he weakens.”

        With a sigh, Fay sat on the bed. “I suppose so . . .” But as she sat there, her eyes became vacant. The shadows slipped in, seizing her and the edges of her vision tinted an inky black.

        “Filly?” Optimus called out, glancing over to her. She didn’t respond. Farrah showed no reaction to his voice at all. The shadows had moved in abruptly, pulsing in beat with her spark, a darkness throbbing in her veins. “Filly?” Optimus called again, moving over to her, gripping her shoulders. “Filly!” He called a bit louder for her, but still no reaction. She was gone. Her mind was currently lost. Shaking her just slightly, careful of the delicate curvature of her neck. “Filly!”

        Outside, the sun was setting, and clouds were blocking the fading sliver of moon.

        ~~~

        “ ‘Weld!” FarLust shouted as she took in his battered form. He’d stumbled into the dungeon, fresh dents and scratches decorating his armor like ornaments on a tree.

        The look in his optics was nothing short of horrified.

        “Far!” He shouted back, rushing for her, stumbling every other step. His left knee servo had been blown out. He was injured and though FarLust could fix it, she would have to be out of these chains, first. While he had every intention to free her, it was not so she could care for his injuries.

        BrokenWeld wished to free her so that she could escape.

        And his plan had been found out.

        Booming steps followed BrokenWeld’s descent, and soon, both the warlord and the scientist were visible, their cannons flaring up. FarLust’s spark began to pound. Even though she didn’t know the entirety of the situation, she understood the imminent danger that was crashing down towards them.

        BrokenWeld understood it, too. It was why he was here. FarLust had to escape. With Clawkin at her side, they would be easily be out of here with whatever remained of her siblings. Even if he was offlined in the process, BrokenWeld would make certain that FarLust was not trapped as the mindless weapon the Decepticons desired her to be.

        Stumbling, falling as another blast from Megatron’s cannon knocked him off his peds, BrokenWeld still made his way for FarLust. “You have to get out!” He shouted, reaching for her chains. He’d only unlocked one when another blast tore through his chassis.

        “ ‘Weld!” FarLust shouted again.

        For as long as she’d been online, FarLust had thought of the small, weak mech as a nuisance. She had found him troublesome and irritating.  Frankly, FarLust hadn’t seen him to be worth the problems he caused.

        Yet he had aided her when she required it. He had healed Clawkin without a question. He had put his spark on the line.

        And for what? Some confused notion of her freedom?

        Something about him, whatever the frag it was, drew her to him. It only just now hit her, and she understood.

        He was daring in his defiance of the Decepticons. He risked himself in plain view of them, practically daring them to make him suffer the consequences. And still he stood strong, despite how many times they’d punished him. He still dared to defy them and face their wrath.

        BrokenWeld had the free will she desired, but lacked the conviction to grab. It was a scary thing to be free when it wasn’t in your programming as an option.

        But FarLust would be damned if she would lie down and accept whatever they were going to do to the only spark that had cared for her without being tethered to hers. Despite being a Decepticon, this mech had an amazing capacity for kindness and compassion.

        FarLust wouldn’t let his spark be lost. Not today.

        With her free hand, FarLust reached down and pulled out a dagger, throwing it with a deadly accuracy straight into the scientist’s cannon. A few sparks flew out, Shockwave shouting in pain as his cannon malfunctioned and sputtered, backfiring slightly. “Cursed femme!” He shouted out, his single red optic turning to glare at her.

        Without losing a moment, FarLust drew another dagger from her waist, lodging it into the cuff that held her opposite wrist. The electromagnetic chain malfunctioned and lost all power, freeing her opposite arm. Quickly, FarLust repeated the process with the chains around her ankle servos.

        Unfortunately, she hadn’t had the time to free Clawkin before the large mechs were bearing down on her, their imposing forms ready to strike. BrokenWeld still lay on the floor, his body having taken heavy damage.

        “Stand aside!” Shockwave shouted, his fury mounting as they approached, his cannon flickering with sparks.

        “Leave him!” FarLust shouted, embedding her drawn dagger into Shockwave’s right knee servo. “You can’t have him!” Shoving the dagger deeper, FarLust severed cables inside the scientist’s form, and the large being toppled.

        FarLust barely managed to escape being crushed under him as he fell, his metal form hitting the floor harshly. Now, FarLust only faced the mech she was to serve until her spark died out. This would be a tremendous test. Nearby, she could hear Clawkin growling like mad, her jaws snapping at the threat that was Megatron.

        “Stand down,” the warlord ordered, his voice laced with a warning.

        FarLust couldn’t muster any words. All she could do was glare at the warlord with a deadly sort of hatred that she couldn’t quite bring herself to act upon. She froze.

        And this was why BrokenWeld had known she would need Clawkin to assist her in an escape. As much as FarLust despised Megatron, she could not harm him. Her programming still held firm to that notion. 

        Injured on the floor, BrokenWeld shot a single poorly aimed blast at Megatron. While the small mech had meant for it to tear through the mech’s spark chamber, it had merely grazed his shoulder servo.

        The blast had, however, succeeded in seizing the warlord’s attention. “Wretched little-!” Aiming his cannon for BrokenWeld, Megatron was already envisioning the mech’s death.

        “No!” FarLust shouted, tackling the warlord. While he was nearly twice her size, FarLust held enough power in her frame to knock him off his peds and to the floor. While BrokenWeld had been a nuisance and bothersome, he had risked himself for her. He had the free will FarLust lacked and he used it well.

        FarLust realized then that she felt a sort of intimate kinship with the mech. It was different from what she felt with her siblings. It was described by a word she wouldn’t learn until she lived as Fay: love.

        ~~~

        Optimus had stopped trying to wake up Farrah. He had simply come to the conclusion that she wasn’t returning to them soon and hoped she could face this on her own. Optimus believed in her strength. She was a fighter, and whatever she was facing now, he was certain she could handle, whether she realized it or not.

        Even though he knew he shouldn’t, Optimus looked around the room for any clues that might hint to what was occurring with her now. He had noticed the shadows that lurked unnaturally in the room. The way they slithered and pulsed. But Optimus could do nothing to negate them, so he let them be. Fay had to face them on her own for now.

        Instead, he focused on finding hints to what was happening with her that she could reveal to him through her habits and the small intricacies of her mind.

        Upon opening her nightstand, he found a few things. The necklace and bracelet sat inside, next to the drawing pad Charlie had gotten for her. Atop it lay Heir of Fire, nearly finished. Smiling a bit at the book, Optimus pulled out the drawing pad, flipping through a few sketched pages. His spark sunk when he saw the page of insignias. A constant clash of good vs. evil, a battle Fay may never be freed from.

        On the next page, Optimus saw the sketch of the tall, dark figure with bright optics. He didn’t recall this, yet imagined it was from Farrah’s point of view from some point in time. He flipped and saw the car wreck on the next page before turning back. It was from the day of the accident.

        But Optimus hadn’t been that close on that day. Optimus hadn’t even been in town. He had been out, battling an advance of Decepticon drones.

        Megatron had orchestrated the devastation of that day. He had watched every second of it unfold.

        He had been Farrah’s first true taste of their world.