~~~

        The forest was crumbling around her, dying in fast forward. The trees were being uprooted, the grass fading to yellow, to brown, until it wasn’t there at all. Everything was fading far too quickly, the rivers were drying up until there was nothing left. The soil, formerly rich and dark turned a light tan, the texture drying up. Fay stood in a desert. A desert made by overindustrialization of man.

        At least, that’s the only way she could picture this occurring as the winds whipped her hair around her face. “Hello?” She called out, squinting into the distance, hoping for something to make sense. Anything. It seemed she was alone. The grains of sand stung her cheeks as the wind swept it up from the ground.

        ~~~

        Charlie glared at the Cyberwolf that stood in front of her. When the large being had arrived on Earth, inevitably sniffing out the femme that had been her companion on Cybertron, she had become an apparently permanent fixture in their lives. Charlie, however, was not as fond of the idea as some of the Autobots.

        While all of them were cautious, and a fair amount of suspicious, of the new Cybernetic creature, most were accepting. Cyberwolves were known for their undying loyalty and their bonds with whoever they considered part of their pack. While Clawkin hadn’t exactly accepted any of the Autobots as one of ‘her own’, she did accept their role in Fay’s life. And while ‘Kin may not have been the most gracious about that fact, she played nice.

        As long as she wasn’t aggravated.

        And Charlie was pretty damn talented at pissing the Cyberwolf off.

        “I told you to stay away from her for a reason, and you know it,” Charlie snapped. “I simply don’t trust you.”

        That wasn’t entirely true. Part of Charlie understood the Cyberwolf on another level, but she wouldn’t accept it. Not right now.

        ‘Don’t tell me I made a mistake trusting her well-being with you,’ Clawkin warned, baring her fangs just slightly as she gazed down at the human girl. ‘Her health is dangerous.’

        “I’m not the only one looking after her, you know!” Charlie shouted. “But I apparently am the one putting the most effort to keep her safe! No one here even believes me about why this is important! You’re all just handing me skepticism and crap when I need your support here! Fay needs us and I don’t know how to help her and none of you are exactly helping! She needs us!”

        “I’m not entirely certain what it is you expect us to do, Human,” Ratchet told her with a shrug. “We are obviously invested in her well-being, but she if we are left with nothing but riddles, how can you expect us to aid her?”

        ~~~

        Venting heavily, FarLust looked up at the warlord from where he towered over her.

        Again, his massive, metal hand came down and struck the side of her face, stinging terribly. Again, Clawkin barked viciously from where she was chained to the wall. ‘Bastard!’ The Cyberwolf cried out, even though no one paid her any heed.

        Quietly, FarLust accepted her punishment. She had misbehaved. She deserved to be struck and beaten.

        But it had been worth it. BrokenWeld had been spared. He was damaged, to what extent, FarLust couldn’t be sure for now, but he was still online. That was what mattered to her right now. That the mech who was responsible for her knowing the meaning of free will, and instilling her desire to obtain it, was all right. At least, that he was all right in a way.

        “Traitorous wretch!” Megatron shouted as he struck her again, intensifying the pounding in her helm. “How dare you defy me!” As much as the warlord was intent on punishing the femme, he couldn’t let on how much the fact that she’d stood up to him had unnerved him. It was a dangerous situation, and this weapon, built to be without a will of its own, had developed its own thoughts.

        More so, she had developed abilities that Shockwave hadn’t predicted. They were still trying to pinpoint what on Cybertron had happened to give her these extra bits.

        What Megatron wanted to know was how she’d nearly annihilated his army without touching them.

        Just as unnerving was that Shockwave recanted a few other instances of the same dangerous ability. This femme was dangerous. Unstable. The uncertainty of her volatile spark gave her an added edge. Perhaps the surges and falls of her spark had created just enough budge room for her to escape the tight walls of her programming.

        “You will learn your lesson,” Megatron hissed angrily. “If it’s the last cursed thing I do with your sorry spark, you will once again be mine.”

        A growl rose from deep in Fay’s throat, her spark lashing out. “Get fragged,” she muttered angrily.

        Scowling, Megatron reached out and grabbed BrokenWeld by the throat. Sputtering, the smaller mech struggled painfully against the warlord’s grasp, to no avail. Slowly, Megatron’s grip grew tighter. “You will learn,” Megatron hissed.

        ~~~

        “ ‘Weld!” Fay shouted out into the desert sands. The wind was picking up, leaving her nearly blinded. Sand scratched her throat when she opened her mouth, but it didn’t stop her from calling for him again. “BrokenWeld!” Without understanding what was really happening, Fay stumbled through the sands, searching the distance for the metal being she knew only by spark. “ ‘Weld where are you? Come home!”

        Where exactly was home? Fay wasn’t certain. All she knew was that BrokenWeld, whoever he was, had to come home. He had to be safe. He had to be safe WITH HER. Fay would settle for no less. This mech was her responsibility.

        She owed him.

        “BrokenWeld!” Fay screamed. “ ‘Weld! It’s safe! I’m not . . .” While Fay wanted to scream out that she wasn’t one of them, she couldn’t bring the words to form. A lingering trait of her deeply-instilled programming. “Please, ‘Weld! The Autobots will protect you!”

        “Traitor . . .”

        “Who’s there?” Fay called out loudly, taking a step back, peering into the shadowy sands.

        “Don’t you remember me?” The sickly-sweet, calculated voice called back. It was feminine, mature. This being had been waiting for her. “Don’t you recall all the great times we had together?” A figure began to emerge from the sands, coming closer. Fay’s curiosity was the only reason she didn’t run. Perhaps, something else as well, but Fay couldn’t pinpoint what the Pit it was. “Don’t you miss all the chaos we created together? We are so similar after all . . . But there’s a good reason for that . . .”

        “Stay away from me,” Fay muttered, crossing her arms defensively. “You’re nothing but a liar.”

        “We were programmed to be many things, Dear . . .” A few more steps of the femme’s peds in the soft sand, and she was visible, black armor and all. “But a liar was not one of them. I loved BrokenWeld. We loved him. And I am not the one you should fear in this place.”

        ~~~

        Charlie’s frustration was mounting. Carrie had told her everything she wanted to know after she’d figured out the first part of the riddle.

        Lindsey: Fay’s humility.

        Matthew: Fay’s kindness.

        Sarah: Fay’s pessimism.

        Shane: Fay’s self-isolation.

        Heather: Fay’s sorrow.

        Charlie had tried so hard to explain everything that she possibly could to the ‘Bots, and they still didn’t listen to her. They didn’t believe her.

        ‘What could a human possibly know about all this?’

        ‘I’m her best friend!’

        ‘And still a foreigner to our world.’