Blackout and Beyond
by Odeena Sabnach
Hi there!
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dua, I'm 15 years old, and, in case you didn't realize already, I'm alien. I have absolutely no idea where I came from, or how I got here, but there is one thing I do know: Earth is my home now. Oh, and there's something else, although I don't really know what it means: I have an IQ of 1200.
I live in a nice place called Area 31. My adopted mother, May, told me that this is a secret military base, and I'm not supposed to wander off outside. I know this place like the back of my hand, and wanna know a secret? I saw some alien ships being brought here a couple days ago… oops, I wasn't supposed to say that.
I don't really have many friends. I know a few humans, but my best friend is Serena. She is also alien, but she is from a different species than mine. She is so strong she could lift a tank with no problems (really, I actually SAW that, even though it sounds incredible), and--
**RRING!!!**
**BLAM!**
Oops. I guess I accidentally shot the alarm clock again. Drat. I really liked that one. Eh, well… it's not my fault that I have optic lasers now, is it.
It's five in the bloody morning. Time to get up and head for breakfast.
I usually have breakfast at the canteen, where basically all the base personnel get it. Before, everyone kinda used to stare at me, but they got used to my unusual looks in the end. Now, some guys even say that I look pretty!
One thing I never got used to is the food they serve us there. It stinks. But it could've been worse, right?
"Hi-i-i!!"
I jumped up in surprise and cringed to the ceiling (yes, I CAN climb walls… kinda like Spider-Man), then I looked down. Serena was smirking.
"Damn, girl, I told you, never EVER sneak up on me like that!" I burst out, jumping back down.
"What?"
Right. She had her headphones on, so she probably didn't hear a thing besides that crazy music she liked: Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Alien Ant Farm, stuff like that. Me, I'm a much calmer person. I prefer ballads. Celine Dion, Le Ann Rhymes--you got the point.
"Let's head for breakfast", she yelled. "After that, I got something to show you."
With that, she stalked down the hall, not minding if I followed her or not. That was her usual behavior.
After five minutes or so, we made it to the canteen and took out usual table. We shared the table with four human soldiers. They changed from time to time. This morning, I only saw one I knew. Nikki. Short, blond and freckled. And with a sick sense of humor.
I raised an eyebrow at the yellow stuff in my plate. "What's that?"
Across the table, Nikki grinned. "Top secret, Dua. But its code name is 'mash potato'".
"Oh."
Drat. I really, really HATE that stuff.
"So, whatcha wanna show me?"
I was practically screaming to cover the Rammstein song playing at maximum volume. Good thing Serena's room was soundproof, otherwise the guys that had their quarters anywhere within two hundred meters range would've gone postal.
"Um, remember that section in level 16 that was off-limits?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I've managed to tap into the security cameras inside. You ain't gonna believe this…"
She typed in a few commands on her computer's keyboard, and the display changed.
"Look…."
I glanced at the monitor curiously. It showed what appeared to be a normal dormitory, with the average ten double bunks aligned against the walls on both sides… only there were no humans inside. Instead, the room was filled with--
"Whoa. Are those… robots?"
"I guess so. Just wait to see them talk to each other, it's so funny."
Sure. For Serena, everything was funny.
A short, blue and silver 'bot with crimson optics sighed.
"It's like I always say", he muttered. "We're all gonna die."
There was a brief moment of silence, and then a chorus of, "Shut up Rattrap"
Serena giggled. "This one's Rattrap. And see that huge red and silver guy over there? His name is Terrosaur. The one next to him is Cheetor, and that one on the bunk over there is Air Razor. That's about everyone whose names I could pick up."
"Cool! How many are there?"
"Um… about twenty, I guess. Yeah, nineteen for sure.'
"Any idea where they came from?"
"Well, they're not from Earth, that's clear. They keep taking about this one place called Cybertron. I'm guessing it's their home planet."
"So they're alien. Like us. Cool!"
"Hold on, there's more! See that blue and silver guy over there? That one that's sleeping?"
"What's with him?'
"He hates the other one, the one with huge, green optics, know who I'm talking about? And that guy with the cobra head, he talks kinda funny. And--"
Suddenly, the lights went out.
"The power generator gave out again. Nothing to panic about, the back-up generator will kick in a few seconds."
Silence.
"Okay, any second now…"
Silence.
"Something's wrong."
"Took you long enough."
She whacked me. "Shut up."
"Great. So what do we do now?"
"Um… I have a flashlight in my closet. I'll go get it."
**CRUNCH!**
"Hey, that's my FOOT!"
"Sorry."
I heard her opening a closet and rummaging through the stuff inside. After a few moments, she shrieked victoriously, "I found it!"
A brilliant beam focused on my face.
"Hey cut that out."
She giggled and turned the light off.
"So now what?"
"Now? We wait."
And we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the lights came back on. They were really dim, though.
"Well, it looks like the crisis is-"
-the alarm went off-
"-over? What's going on?"
"Let's find out."
The alarm going off in the base wasn't something unusual, but how the troops were acting was. They were running around in the halls, and some of them looked reallyfrightened.
"Hey, you! What happened?"
Nobody seemed to notice us.
"HEY!"
Still no reactions. Serena made a face. "Dua honey, this is not working at all. Watch and learn."
She grabbed a guy and twisted his arm. The poor soldier screamed once or twice, then he finally settled down.
"Um… hi, Serena… Dua…"
"What happened? Why are you all running like that?"
"They're evacuating the base, so if you were smart, you'd run, too. In fifty minutes, this place is gonna go kaboom."
"What?"
"The aliens are loose. We're ready to initiate the self-destruct sequence. Now let me go!"
Serena and I exchanged a glance, then she let go of his arm. The poor man took off at Mach 2.
"Self destruct?"
"Well that's just dandy. Let's get out of here!"
"Hold it!"
Serena glanced back at me with a puzzled face. "Are you nuts? You heard the man!"
"Newsflash: I ain't going anywhere. I really, really like this place, so I won't let it blow up just 'cause some crazy generals wants so."
"But--"
"Besides, we can't let all those cool robots die."
"Um… no. But what could wepossibly do?"
"It's easy. We'll just go down to the control room and abort the self-destruct sequence."
"But they'll realize, and then they'll attack the base and--"
"Drat. You're right. But know what? We'll just let the top side of the base explode, and the underground levels will remain intact. How's that sound?"
"You can do that?"
"Sure I can. All I gotta do is separate this part from the topside, and bring the anti-assault shields online. Then the top blows up, and we live happily ever after, the end."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go!"
As we ran down the halls, the computer's voice echoed through the entire base:
"Warning. Self-destruct sequence initiated. Base will terminate in T minus fifteen minutes."
Drat. This was surely not my lucky day. I was just running around a corner--
--when I smashed into something huge. The last thing I saw was a pair of crimson red optics, and then everything went black.
"Hey! Wake up! Wake UP!"
Serena has SUCH a lovely voice when she screams. Especially when she screams point-blank in your ear. I learned that on my own.
"Okay, you're made your point", I muttered. "Now shut up."
My head hurt. My back hurt. Generally, my entire body hurt.
"You have to override the self-destruct sequence, there's no more time!"
Huh? That wasn't Serena!
In the background, someone sighed. "Da place is gonna blow up, an' she decided to take a nap. Oh, joy."
"Shut up Rattrap."
I opened my eyes, and I discovered a weird, robotic face a few inches away from mine. I didn't get any chances to take a closer look, because Serena started shaking me like a leaf.
"Come ON, Dua! You HAVE to snap out of it!"
Why?
"Base will terminate in T minus four minutes."
Oh yeah. That. I jerked up. Apparently, we were in the control room. Two robots were working on the main computer. One of them was huge, golden and green. The other one had what appeared to be spider legs on his back, and he was gold and purple. I took a quick glance at the timer. 3:48. NOT good.
"Aside! Let me!"
The spider 'bot threw me an amused glance. "What could you, tehahehe, possibly do, tehehehehe?"
"You heard her, Tarantulas! Move!"
The other 'bot shoved Tarantulas away, and he made an inviting gesture towards the main console. "All yours."
3:31. I started typing a line-by-line program I once thought of. I had no idea if it was going to work. If it didn't, I wasn't going to live to regret it, anyway.
3:02
3:01
*Please type in identification code*
*****
*Code incorrect*
Drat.
2:49
2:48
*****
*Code incorrect*
*****
*Identification code accepted. Loading program. Please wait*
2:12
2:11
*Please wait*
2:01
2:00
"Come on, load up already!"
1:40
1:39
*Load complete. Initializing separation*
1:23
1:22
*Anti-assault shields online*
1:10
1:09
*Loading defense parameters*
0:30
0:29
"Come on, you piece of slag! Hurry!"
0:15
0:14
*Load complete.*
0:10
0:09
*Separation complete. Please type confirmation code*
Blasted codes!
*****
0:05
0:04
*Code accepted*
0:03
0:02
*Separation complete*
0:01
0:00
**BOOM!**
The next few minutes, the only thing I heard was the sound of the explosions above. I covered my ears, closed my eyes, and waited for the end of the world. Fortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, the sound dimmed, and eventually stopped, and a stunned silence followed.
Someone sighed, and I slowly opened my eyes and looked behind me. The other 'bots glanced back with dumb expressions.
"Hey! I ain't dead!"
Rattrap suddenly beamed.
"I--ain't--dead!"
He burst out into hysterical laughing. "I--ain't--dead!!!"
The huge, white and silver 'bot standing next to him shook his head. "This day is just full of disappointments."
Slowly, a grin spread across the green 'bot's face. The purple spider chuckled silently.
"Are we in pieces yet?"
That was Serena, whose head was sticking out from under a computer console.
"I'll give you three guesses."
"You did it!"
"Well good morning, sunshine!"
"Oh shut up."
Serena cautiously crawled out and threw me a look. I chuckled.
"Okay. So we ain't dead after all."
"I guess now you can brief me in on what exactly happened?"
"You simply ran into Dinobot and knocked yourself out. End of story."
"Dinobot?"
She pointed towards the white and silver 'bot. "Dua, meet Dinobot. Dinobot--Dua."
Dinobot smiled coldly. "I apologize for this regrettable incident."
"And they are Optimus Primal, Rhinox, and Tarantulas. You know Rattrap already."
"Uh-huh." So let me see if I got it straight. Optimus Primal is that huge guy. Rhinox is the green and gold one. Tarantulas chuckles all the time. Damn I'm good.
Suddenly, an alarmed voice came from Optimus' comm-link. "Hey Big-Bot, are you alright? What happened?"
Optimus sighed. "We're all alright, now. That was the top of this facility going kaboom."
This time, another voice came through the link. "This is Black Arachnia. We found the Axalon."
There were some muffled giggles in the background.
"Or, what's left of it, anyway."
Tarantulas flinched. "And the Darkside?"
"Ah, don't worry. It's still here. Um, its wings are, anyway."
"WHAT?"
Optimus stared down at his comm-link. "It--"
"Look, Optimus. I have better things to do than chat with you all day. Get your skidplate over here and see for yourself."
Optimus frowned. "Alright, where are you?"
There was a pause at the other end, then Black Arachnia's voice came again. "Hangar 29".
"Well. That's just prime."
"I know where it is."
Optimus literally looked down at me. "Can you lead us there?"
"Sure I can. Follow me!"
"Alright. Rhinox, Rattrap, you two do a quick search and gather everyone. The rest of you, come with us."
Tarantulas put his hands on his hips. "Who died and made you Megatron?"
"I second that", Dinobot hissed. "I will not take orders from you."
"Yeah, just what I'd expect from a Pred", Rattrap shouted, drawing out his gun. The other 'bots stood up, glancing menacingly at each other.
Uh-oh. Not a fight. Not here. Not now.
Fortunately, that 1200 IQ of mine kicked in. "Hold it everybody. Nobody is taking orders from anybody. I got an idea."
They all looked at me expectantly. Tarantulas chuckled again.
Serena rolled her eyes. "Great. Is thisidea going to endanger our lives for no good reason, too?"
"Shut up." I walked over to the radio controls. Hopefully, they would still wok. "Attention, all 'bots. Please report to Hangar 14 immediately. Hangar 29 is located on level 3, right next to the canteen. Thank you."
The 'bots still hadn't recovered from the surprise of someone like me interfering in their presumably deadly fight. I simply trailed off the halls, and Serena immediately followed me. Behind me, I could hear heavy footsteps. The danger was gone.
For now.
"Oh--NO."
Rattrap shook his head. "Thatcan't be the Axalon. No, no, no."
Optimus Primal sighed. "I'm afraid it is, Rattrap."
The other Maximals were just staring at their ship. It looked terrible; some parts of the hull were missing, and I could see the inside halls and quarters. Judging by the outside, the inside was in no better condition.
"I'm going in for a quick checkout," Rhinox announced. He dialed in a code, and the boarding train lowered with a hiss.
On the other side of the hangar, Skorpinok, the Predacon tech. expert, was just coming out of the Darkside. Honestly, it was no better than the Axalon was. Some parts of its hull were also missing, and its wings were cut off from the rest of the ship.
"Well?" Megatron inquired. He was a tall, purple 'bot, with a gun instead of his right arm that would've put anything the US army had at shame.
Skorpinok shook his head. "You don'twant to know it."
"Oh, but I do, yeees."
"Half the computers are missing, the main programming has been deleted and replaced by something called Windows, most of the doors are sealed off… do you want me to go on?"
Megatron growled. "Blast those humans! I know I should have destroyed them when I had the chance!"
"You wouldn't have succeeded, Megatron", Optimus growled back. "Not as long as we were there."
"Oh, but I would have, Primal, yeees."
Uh-oh, I smell a fight coming up. Drat. What to do, what to do… AHA!
"Hey! Listen up, all of you!"
I got their attention alright. They all stared at me with VERY unfriendly looks on their faces. Yeah, I know, an alien girl with purple skin and dark purple eyes is not really a reassuring sight.
"Clearly, neither of your ships are in the condition of flying anywhere. So, you'll have to stay here until you can fix at least one of them if you want to get off this planet. And while you're here, I think it would be beat it you had a truce."
More than half of them was ready to comment. I didn't give them the chance.
"But we can decide that later. Right now, since all of you must be tired, I suggest you get some rest. The personnel quarters must be in a pretty good condition. And after that, we can sort things out and decide what to do. Okay?"
I didn't really expect that to work. In 99.9% of the cases, my plans didn't work. Surprisingly enough, Megatron agreed immediately, and Optimus Primal wasn't so hard to convince, either. So, before I knew it, I was leading a huge group of 'bots across the base.
"Okay, here we are. Make yourselves at home. Rest for, let's say, an hour or so, and then come to the meeting room. It's located on level 5, in the northwest wing."
I turned to leave, when I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and one more thing. Try not to kill each other. Okay?"
Wow. That actually worked! "So, now what?" Serena asked me as we walked away.
"Well, back to our quarters, I guess. After all that happened today… we deserve some sleep ourselves, don't we."
She nodded and followed me. Things were definitely becoming weird here.
But then again, who was I to talk, hmm…?
"What's the time…?"
"Lemme see now. Exactly thirty-seven seconds since you last asked me."
"Drat."
I twitched impatiently. Serena had dragged me out of bed so we wouldn't be late for the meeting with the Transformers. Well, duh. Guess WHO was late now.
"Um… maybe they got lost."
I growled. 'Maybe' is a word I totally dislike. "Or, maybethey just killed each other. That wouldn't be a surprise."
"That's negative thinking."
"Gee, THANKS. I NEVER would've guessed THAT."
"You're welcome."
Grr. So I risk my own butt to save them, then I risk my butt again to keep them from shredding each other, and what do I get in return…?
"We're there!"
"What the--"
There were voices coming from outside the door. Then, someone knocked, and the Beast Warriors poured inside.
"Are we late?" Optimus Primal asked, shoving Terrosaur off his foot.
"Um… no, not at all. Take a seat."
We were in that huge room where the generals held official meetings and stuff. Fortunately there were enough chairs for everyone. After all 'bots found a place to sit, everyone glanced at me expectantly.
I took in a deep breath. "I guess all of you wonder, what the hell happened this morning. To be honest, I wonder the same thing. But I have a some more questions, so I kindly ask you guys to tell me where you came from and just how you got here. Pretty please."
For short, here's the whole story--or at least, as much as I could figure. The 'bots came from a distant planet called Cybertron, where everything was technological and there were no organics. On this planet, there were two factions: the Maximals (the good guys as far as I understood), and the Predacons (a.k.a. the bad guys). Apparently, Megatron and a band of Predacons had stolen a Maximal relic and taken off with a the first ship they found. The Maximal ship Axalon, which was on a scientific exploration mission, tracked down the Darkside and caused it to crash on Earth--um, prehistoric Earth. They turned back in time and all. And there, they waged the Beast Wars, until Optimus had found an alien device that could transport anyone back and forth in time. After that, they came to an understanding and brought back all their friends who died during the Beast Wars, as well as enough spare parts to repair their ships. Everything went fine--until, due to a general computer malfunction, they crashed on Earth again, only this time it was ourEarth. Then, they were captured by the military before they could do anything. End of story.
"But how did you get out of your cell?" Serena asked.
The Predacon leader, Megatron, smirked. "My second-in-command, Skorpinok, has sent a cyber-bee through the vents, which attached to your power generator and caused it to short out. Clever, is he not."
Skorpinok smiled proudly. "I did have some help", he mumbled, pointing towards Rhinox.
"Now that we're here, the question is, what do we do?" Rattrap asked.
Optimus frowned. "Clearly, our ships are slag. It will take us months to repair at least one of them, so we can return to Cybertron. In the meantime, whether we like it or not, we have to stay here, in this base. That, of course, if it is fine with you", he added, turning to Serena and me.
"Sure. We do have plenty of space."
"Then it's settled. We will remain here."
"I suggest we choose a new leader", Terrosaur shouted. "Right now!"
Most of the other 'bots threw him an annoyed glance. Hmm… He wasright in a way. Having two leaders clearly wasn't a good idea.
"Terrosaur is right", I said. "But not right now. Here on Earth, we have this thing called elections, where candidates have a certain period of time to promote their policy, and after that, everyone votes."
"That's a good idea", Tarantulas said, chuckling as usual.
"Okay then, choose your candidates."
I shouldn't have said that. After a long time of arguing, begging, promising and all the stuff that goes with it, they finally came to an agreement. Megatron, Optimus Primal, Terrosaur, Rampage, Tarantulas, Dinobot, Rattrap and Waspinator were going to run for being the leader of the group.
"We chose 'em", Rhinox said, after things cooled down. "Now what?"
"Well, technically the electoral campaign lasts about a month or two. But since we don't have that much… I propose a week."
Accepted. That wasn't as hard as I expected from nineteen walking armories. Still…
"During the campaign, I will be in charge. Don't worry", I said at their looks, "I will not give crazy orders or anything. I will, however, expect you to obey some rules. First of all, remember that this is still a military facility, so don't mess up with any computers, or you might just start World War 3."
"Start what?"
Drat. They had nowhere to know about WWII from. "Um, nevermind. Just stay away from the computers. You can all take any quarters you want, since the base is deserted. No wandering off outside, because someone might see you, and then the US army would attack us."
"And we couldn't handle an attack?" Rampage asked, drawing out his huge guns.
"Not it they use a nuclear bomb and wipe us right off the face of the planet. Try not to fight, and as much as possible work together. After all, you all want to get off this planet in one piece, right?"
In the end, everyone accepted the rules, and they spread across the base, throwing curious glances around. Serena and I went for the game simulator, and that day she beat me five times at Mortal Kombat 5, much to her surprise, and my annoyance.