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As the fly screen door wobbly clacked its way shut as the stars shone down upon a night any Australian would consider a bit chilly after such a hot ass summer the peace first broken by the fragile sounding but sturdy door was broken once again by the clicking and clacking of a key chain with too many keys and ornaments attached to one main loop being held by a young person who wondered if their neighbours thought they were a vampire because if their neighbour only left the house at night and never during the day she would also start to get suspicious, she didn’t mind vampires but she just didn’t want to accidentally kill them if they actually existed. As she stuffed her keys into her pocket she grabbed out a hot pink set of wired earbuds and plugged them into her phone as she began to wander the streets listening to music, it was the only thing she could use to ground herself during times of stress and anxiety, which was almost always, especially after her new medication didn’t work, it was just like old times just with a new panic related to medication. She continued to wander down the dark street like she would always do mouthing and swaying to the music of Delta Goodrem, she found her night walks to be a moment of peace, no one could see her and no one could judge her, she just looked like a cloaked figure at night, though she was a bit more cautious when passing a nearby primary school because the last thing she wanted was to be the tall stocky hooded figure that was acting weird around primary schools after 8pm.

As she walked down the end of her street and crossed a road that was used mainly by buses she arrived at a park, luckily the football game played by the children had just finished and everyone was starting to leave. She didn’t enter the park just at that moment and just focused on her music as the children tiredly ran to their parents car and the refs were pulling down the goal posts that were temporarily placed to create two half sized ovals. As the playground became empty she wandered over to the swing and sat on it for a bit, she tried to do an hour a day to get fresh air but tonight she felt like sitting there a bit longer. It had been a hard day for her with a rent inspection up and coming her dad decided to do his version of helping, which involved yelling at her, calling her a disappointment and threating to send her to her neglectful mothers house that was over 2 hours away from where her life was. She needed peace and calmness in her life to try and put things into perspective so that her anxiety wouldn’t consume her.

As the swing squeaked its age through the quite night music was still blaring into her ears, it distracted her from any negative thoughts that she didn’t need especially as she was feeling like this day was beautiful enough as is, she didn’t need to wonder how much of her world was a lie and how much was true based on hints of why both parents pushed their anger onto her, even though she was constantly yelled at she never really did belive in a bad day and it’s just all how you see it, yes bad things could happen but there was plenty of good, maybe? Gaslighting has never failed before so why would it now? At least the house is cleaner than it was yesterday and someone was able to help her, she didn’t get a free lunch but hey that’s ok, she wasn’t hungry anyway free food would of been the cherry on top. She knew she can’t change this day if she tried but if she could highlight the correct parts it would ease her depression and anxiety a bit. As her playlist changed from Delta singing about kindness and love and started playing Megan Trainer singing more about herself, the lights on dog collars started racing around the darken oval as the stadium lights erected into the bushlands dramatically shut off showing the stars in the sky and the planes leaving Australia to who knows where in the distance as both brilliant lights danced and intermingled with each other she continued to swing into the night

As the night went on people began to leave and as her night began to wrap up in the now empty park she laid back on the circular swing and let whatever force of nature was required to slow the swing in motion she began to looking sideways at the once empty car park as a car was speeding down, this happened every so often, there was a roundabout at the end of the car park so people who got lost would typically speed down the car park at a slightly alarming rate to pull a quick u-ie. This car didn’t really seem to care about pulling a u turn, it instead parked itself diagonally across 3 carpark bays and was directly facing her. Again this was normal as teens and rev heads also came here, couldn’t forget the ‘fun’ experience from about 3 months ago when 4 cars were parked diagonally across the painted roundabout and playing with any light they had on the front of their car with some flashing constantly and the brightness making her question if her highly depressive episode was over and that she accidentally consumed something that killed her. Luckily this car didn’t have a full set of highway headlights and bar lights it was just your standard set on lights that were legally required to come with a car. The car wasn’t extremely flashy either as she lived a 15 minute bus trip from the state capital, every now and again you would see a Lamborghini or a Porsche get lost down this way or drive though the Main Street but this car wasn’t that, it was just a typical car, it was a bit flashy but nothing too spectacular about it. The car looked new as if it was plucked straight out of a Lexus commercial with your stereotypical American nuclear family and a golden retriever with long luscious locks was about to leap out of the car at any moment followed by two weirdly twin like kids with a 5 year age gap and your happy go lucky parents who acted like they didn’t just spend their life savings on a family car and probably didn’t lock it. But this car didn’t do that it just stayed put, almost like it was staring at her with intent.

As the swing came to a slight rocking motion she slipped her thongs on and walked off into the car park as it was her typical route, she loved walking on the one sandstone high brick wall that had slowly began tilting and wobbling over the years. As she was walking back the daily thoughts of anxiety crept back in making her wonder if she had lost her mind even though there was nothing to lose her mind over. They walked past the car, which quickly turned on its lights which made her quickly open up her eyes in shock. Sometimes if the situation was just right she could be overstimulated quite easily. This was that time. Her mind went blank and she started to feel light headed as what she could only describe as feeling like she was loosing her identity and personality as it felt like it was draining from her skull and into a void. She became confused and slightly disoriented after each breath she made a “t” or “ah” sound as if she was trying to block herself from physically saying ‘don’t think about it’ or ‘you’ll be fine’ which is what she would typically do if she felt suicidal or when she was having a panic attack in a location where she couldn’t just have a hot bath and watch a comedy special. Her music was still playing as it was the only thing that could keep her grounded at that point.

She heard a mechanical sound come from the car which melted between the Interrupters singing She’s Kerosene, she couldn’t focus on her music as her mind began to split into two and arguing over which sound to follow. The music was the obvious choice here but the mechanical was intriguing and new almost like spotting a gemstone amongst polished pebbles, suddenly she felt like she was being lifted from the ground. She shut her eyes trying to focus on the music, but she began to feel like she was being violently shook as she curled into a ball to protect her head, she didn’t want to die but if it happened she wouldn’t be pissed, she had kind of lowkey been hoping for the bus system to take her out for months now, fortunately the busses were never on time. As the shaking quickly stopped along with the mechanical sounds it was her turn to shake and she began to shake her hand and flick her wrists still breathing out “t” and “ah” under her breath her heart began to beat faster and every now and again her head would flick, all she could feel was stress as she tried to hold back her tears as she remembered getting yelled at for showing negative emotion in her youth. She always did when she cried publicly she couldn’t deal with people yelling at her and sometimes she would go nonverbal which made it hard to communicate with those who tried to help, just not crying or showing others that she was crying made her life slightly easier as hard of a task it was sometimes.

She then felt slight comfort as she felt her body moving and the tires of a car go over small bumps and uneven road, nothing too violent like potholes but small stones or dents in roads that had been slightly melted from heat and constant use. The feeling of car rides was also good for her anxiety, it was hard to do this often as she didn’t have a car licence, as well as not trusting herself driving, she would think she would have to be in a very bad spot to use public transport to calm herself as being in public just wasn’t her thing. As the driving continued her hands still shaking, she began to calm on the flicking action and her head started to politely jolt back every now and again as she began to focus on the words of Xanadu and allowed her body to sway with the movement of the vehicle, she began to collect her thoughts and refused to open her eyes as she didn’t remember planning going on a car ride, so this was most likely a kidnapping which did put obvious fear into her as she just wanted to deny a stranger was driving and tried to gaslight herself into believing it was a prank from one of her more stupider friends, she began trying to think of any occasion that could be coming up but the last birthday she had was last week and there wasn’t another one for 4 months at least, The last holiday was ANZAC day about a week ago and that didn’t really seem like they day friends go around and kidnap each other unless they really wanted to go to a dawn service and couldn’t wake up their friend? Maybe that requires kidnapping? You just take your sleeping friend and pray to god they wake up on the car trip? Pulling at straws seemed to be the only way to get through this. Maybe her psycho mother kidnapped her? It wouldn’t be the first time she’s question if she was kidnapped or held hostage by her mother so maybe it was a surprise attack for mothers day which was about a week away? Maybe it’s best to keep her eyes shut so that she doesn’t have to see or talk to a mother that lost her mind over a decade ago. The car is driving with no regard for stop lights, seems like something her mother would do, she was so predictable and most likely kept the doors unlocked again as well.

As she went to find the door handle the car began to shake, she knew immediately from travelling to work with her dad that they had gone off road which was strange because it was a pretty urban area unless they went out down the freeway for about 30 minutes where construction of a new road met the bush, yep, this was most likely her mother as her grandmother lived in a retirement village near an area like that. She couldn’t really keep track of time so an estimated 30 minutes could have been 15 minutes or even 2 hours, time and direction was not her strong suit. But still the retirement village would be a hard one to escape from especially at night when it’s locked down with a surprising amount of security for the area, but hey, rich people are old so who knows how much that place was making, maybe being held hostage in a retirement village wouldn’t be so bad, maybe once this whole ordeals over she can try a get a job at one.

As the car began to vibrate more and more from the uneven terrain it was very clearly on it suddenly and violently swerved. Maybe this wasn’t her mother? She knew her mother was a terrible driver but she wasn’t this cool, she wouldn’t know how to do a move like that unless it was a failed attempt at rolling her car down a ditch.

The mechanical sound from earlier started up again as the car violently shook her as she felt the cold air touch her harshly but became more gentle with her over time she felt and even colder harsh metal piece on her back and a janky feeling metal beam holding her to it across her stomach

“Ok unless mums an alien or has had time to do a Saturday morning cartoon level of robot work just to see me I doubt this is her” the girl thought with music still blasting in her ears, she tried to squirm to take her earbuds out or turn her phone down but she was pinned pretty well against the metal she heard booms of something she couldn’t make it out over Stop playing , ironic, but she could try to pick up on tone.

Another voice joined the conversation sounding more robotic but boomed just as much. The then felt the lower half of whatever was pinning her down sway forwards and backwards, it was taking her somewhere, she went limp thinking if she played dead they wouldn’t do anything to her….. right? Clearly if they’re going around and kidnapping without consent, they probably needed living people. It was obvious they weren’t up to anything good so maybe playing dead will get her whatever their equivalent of flushing a goldfish down the toilet is.

Chapter Text

She felt the breeze from outside die as she was being taken somewhere inside. The robotic voice seemed to speak very abruptly as if they were stating facts or ordering others around while the one holding her was quiet and obeying the commanding one, she felt a pause and heard small clicking and beeping as a swoosh sound shortly followed before she began moving again she felt a close presence to her limp body, compressing her giggles and smiles as she knew she was playing dead for survival and not a silly game with friends. She felt a bright light come across her presents making her feel warmer as the blackness she could see with her eyes closed quickly turned to bright red, it was clearly coming from one source it felt like a massive defective heat lamp was put on her but she felt like she was being stared at and being examined briefly before being brought inside.

As she was brought in she felt the grip around her loosen as she was put on a cold table. She heard the door swoosh for a final time before she began feeling prodded at by a claw or talon, it was hard to tell but she thought “Maybe the Other Mother is real and decided kidnapping through a Star Trek crossover was a better investment of her time? Waiting for kids to find a door in an old house seems to take much longer than actually going out and taking them herself. Plus she can also go for adults now too, so she’s expanding her business which ,you know, good for her, she’s really coming into her girlboss era and monopolising the market, I don’t know which market that is but good job”
As she laid on the table she heard loud clanging from the distance as the creature stopped prodding and poking her and robotically said something, it was so hard to pick up on this creature as they had little to no tone or nuance in whatever they said but whoever was with them, he definitely had nuance, maybe he stole the nuance from the robot? Clearly they’re not above stealing people so maybe they steal vocal pizazz from each other?

She then heard the hum of a machine as it casted a shadow over her and chatter ,well, what was clearly supposed to be described as chatter but more like demands from one and scared annoyance from the other.

She began to feel a tug at her headphones, as much as she wanted to know what was being said she also needed her music as a grounding mechanism, she would definitely struggle with playing dead more if she wasn’t listening to her beloved soundtrack which was currently serenading her with Centerfold. As she felt the headphones leave her ears the world was scarily quieter, she had lost the only thing keeping her barely calm. But she could hear the creatures talking, she was hoping that at least she would be able to hear them clearly now, but she didn’t account that these are clearly not humans and don’t speak English so she was back to where she was picking up on tone and vocal expressions

“Great” she thought “I could of done this listening to Hamilton, but no, now I feel like I’m at a sterile court case where anything do can be said or used against me”

She then felt a more finger-like object poke her stomach with a slight amount of pressure and he was talking with concern as if to say ‘Really? This thing here?’ She could hear one of them walking away and picking up something and as they were passing it over her the other one dropped the item making a loud banging sound as it hit the table she jolted up as the sound startled her. Clearly she needed more practice in playing dead and maybe a solution to her sensitive hearing. One of the creatures also jumped a small bit but the other one was staring at him and communicating with him clearly he wasn’t happy about dropping what looked like a syringe with a clear liquid in it. As she turned away from the syringe and looked up to see two big robots standing before her, one was red and clearly looked gayer than what his voice was giving off so that meant the more robotic voice belonged to the beefed up purple pixar lamp, both of which stared at her, the red one with a snarky and slightly concerned look on his face while the other just stood and stared, it was hard to read their emotion, maybe if they had an eyelid? Maybe they can morse code their emotion through blinking? Not like she could read morse code but the effort would be nice.

They looked at the tablet the red one was holding and she saw they had brought up some form of ID as she cringed at what she never considered a name but legally she had to, she wanted to change it but wasn’t confident enough to do it. She looked around the room to see a list on the wall with images shaped like human organs and a human body coloured red in some sections, in particular the limbs. She was cautiously waiting with concern to see what they do next as the syringe next to her was picked up she felt incredibly nervous now, she didn’t have many fears in this life but needles was one of the top 3, stack that on top of two giant alien robots in a cold lab she was put in after being kidnapped then you have the perfecting combination screaming in fear at bare minimum.

As the tears began to roll down her face she began to push away the syringe even though it was no where near her as her legs started to kick and her body started to roll uncontrollably, it was very clearly a poor attempt of self defence. Not like the old house key knuckleduster was gonna help here, maybe she could scratch the red one and hurt his feelings a bit, but the uni tit purple thing probably wouldn’t care at all. As her breathing picked up he began to feel herself lose energy and become light headed the only thing she could feel was her heart beating incredibly fast. Then right before she felt like she was going to pass out she felt herself being pinned down again and a sudden stinging in her upper arm before her world went black.

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As she began to feel life come back into her she felt strange like she was in someone else’s body, she had no idea what was happening she didn’t know where she was, all she knew was that she was currently in a cell and she could see other empty cells around her, she didn’t even know if she was alive at this point that was her main concern, she wanted one or the other not some weird maybe limbo thing that she could feel at the moment. She tried to push herself up onto her knees but as she did two metal hand came into her line of sight, that was surely enough to jolt her up to have her sitting up right and sliding back away from where she saw the hands that appeared like a human skeletal system only made of metal. As she began crawling back she realised that what was pushing her back was two metal legs that had slightly more padding than the arms especially around the knees and ankles. She then saw they hands come back and realised she was alone in her cell.

She then touched her body starting from her more padded waist and stomach and as she moved her hands more towards her head she felt less and less padding and more of the skeletal design that her arms had. Strangely she could still feel her heart beating but she felt like she was missing something in her chest, something that her new half needed, it’s not like she could tell she never had this feeling before, she began panicking because it felt like she needed another heart but she always had one heart, that’s all she ever needed. As her hands finally reached her face, she could tell right away that it was an old part, while her whole body looked like second hand parts her face definitely felt like it, show couldn’t feel any defining features besides your basic mouth, nose and eyes but that’s all they were, nothing felt unique about them nothing felt like something that could be used to identify a person.

Her breathing became quicker and in time with her heart, she had clearly gone through something but she didn’t know what or how to cope with it. What happened to her body? She missed all her human features that brought her comfort, she wanted her short messy black hair back, she wanted her freckles back, she wanted the body that she had been fat shamed over as a child, this was the first time that she ever felt like her body had no flaws all her self image issues washed away the moment she realised that her body was gone. All she could do was feel her organs which normally caused her anxiety when there was nothing to be anxious about, but now they were the only thing that connected her to what she was. She just sat still in the furthered corner of her cell trying to physically find her heart beat and feel herself.

After a while she gave up trying to find the beat of her heart, maybe the metal was too thick to feel it through? A swoosh could be heard as the purple lamp from earlier walked in. They held up their tablet and was clearly doing something to pick up on her vitals. She tried to stop crying but tears kept running down her face as she stopped sniffling and tried to find her voice, she had to know what happened to her. She needs to know what she is now.

As she stood up she realised that her figure was taller as she was now a little bit shorter than who was clearly a mad doctor. She knew she had pain in her eyes and tried to change it to a more pissed off look as she shyly folded her arms and tried to make her figure look bigger by standing with her legs apart. Unfortunately she couldn’t un-hunch her back to make herself stand up more straight.

The bot then began to glitch through several different languages, this time is was earth languages, she could pick up on the Norwegian and the Japanese before they finally settled on English
“Are you feeling like you will live?”
What kind of question was that?
“Mentally or physically? Because mentally I feel like if I wasn’t close enough to not making it through my 20’s I definitely feel like it now….” She began blurting out but paused to think, why did she have to say all that? Was it just her nerves? Typically people get angry at her if they don’t receive a satisfying answer so over explaining is the way to go sometimes. But how does she feel physically? Stress is a physical thing but will her body make it? She had to pause long and hard the fake look of confidence changed into a saddened look of lost in thought

“I don’t care about your mental state. Will you survive more than one earth solar cycle?”

She did one final sigh and mumbled out “I feel like maybe I will, the stress is definitely doing me in at the moment but that’s how I normally feel after any situation that perks up my anxiety but I know I tend to be persistent, I think I was a roach in my past life and the roach-y-ness has li……”

“Stop your speaking illogically now”

They began to walk off. The urge to know what’s happening got the better of her. She wanted to aggressively yell but all she could muster was a softly spoken “What are you going to do to me”

They didn’t stop walking almost as if their time mattered more.

She then did one last ditch attempt and spoken like a true highschool student prepping to do their final exams she firmly spoke “what do I need to prepare for this?”

They stopped for a moment and brought up their tablet checking over something and as they headed through the door they said in the clearest monotone voice they had “Nothing” as the door shut behind them leaving her alone in the cell

As a wave of tiredness fell over her she laid down on her side watching to see if anyone else would come in. She hypothesised that maybe if she was annoying enough she would receive answers as an attempt to shut her up. But overtime she realised that no one was coming and her strength to force herself awake was getting weaker as she began to close her eyes and that feeling of her mind slipping away as sleep took over

Chapter Text

A banging of metal was harshly heard throughout out the cell room, as jarring as it sounded it also sounded a little lethargic and with no care put into it. As her eyes opened she saw the red robot from earlier stand in front of her with a metal stick.

“Come on, Shockwave wants to do a check up on you” he rolled his eyes but it was clearly not meant for her as the cell door opened two anonymous looking bots followed them closely. Maybe she had a chance to ask what was happening, this one acted like he was above everyone else but didn’t care, hopefully he just told people stuff because he was bored.

“Sooooooo” she paused “the tall purple guy I don’t know his name but the one that looks like he had a bbl on his chest. What's his deal? Why does he want me?”

A confused look washed over the bots face, clearly he hadn’t knowingly seen a bbl before “Shockwave?” He questioned looking back at her over his shoulder

“I don’t know the man personally….” She began to speak

The bot chuffed “hmf, probably because you were abducted yesterday. Me, unfortunately, I have to be with him often” he reluctantly sighed

“Y..yes” she stuttered “Anyway, what’s happening with whatever he needs me for?”

“He’s just trying to find a new way to make Cybertronians, due to the war we’ve lost a lot of people and new soldiers aren’t really a thing anymore, you're either dead or chosen a side, that’s my theory anyway. Shockwave doesn’t really disclose information unless he really wants to” he reported

“Is this a new mission of his or is he just decided to start doing this for…….funsies?” She tried her hardest to be snarky but ended up cowering towards the end of her sentence.

“He’s been doing this for a while now, he’s been trying this ever since we came to this planet. He wanted to figure out if there was a logical purpose for you humans. He thinks he’s found a way to enslave you.” Clearly the red bot didn’t have a fondness of humans either by the way he playfully ended that statement.

“Ummmm….. success rate?” She queried back to him. Who knew it would take alien experimentation to bring back a hint of that will to live

“You humans call it a year, right? No ones lasted that long yet, but maybe you’ll last, you seem like one of the more sad but fun ones” the bot went back to his typical not caring voice with undertones of sarcasm as they reached the door of the lab.

The keypad had strange symbols on it as he finished the combination the door slid up as the bot walked into the lab with Shockwave looking over his tablet and adjusting tools on his desk. She looked behind her to see the two anonymous bots herd her in before the door shut in front of them.

The room was awkwardly quiet as she stood near the door like a vampire waiting to be invited in. She did a little hum as the two bots looked over some tools and the red bot waited for Shockwave’s command with his arms folded.

She wondered if now was her opportunity to be annoying and get more answers.

She cleared her throat and looked up “sup, what’s happening my dudes?” She said in a stereotypical surfer who just huffed a smoke of weed voice

All she got was an eye roll from one of them, not even the courtesy to look at her. “Rude” she thought. The silence returned

“Aren’t we supposed to be having fun here?” She was about to cry as she hated socialising on a good day but tried to emulate some form of confidence.

Nothing.

“Tough crowd tonight huh?” She paused “so how long have you been submissive to Shockwave for” she tried to do a cocky smile but all that showed was a ghost of a smirk.

The red bot turned around very quickly “Will you shut up!? You haven’t stopped talking since I let you out of that cell!” The yelling made Shockwave look up from his desk slightly

She had their attention now was her time to demand answers.

“Well considering I know nothing, I would like to know what’s happening alright. You kidnapped me and experimented on me. The least you can do is tell me what my purpose is and how I am needed to accomplish that.”

Shockwave looked back at his desk while the other one spoke straightforwardly and pissed.
“ I told you that you are being used for creation! It’s always wanting more and more with you humans. Yes! We kidnapped you because no one will come willingly to these things! So we abduct you and give you a much better body in terms of strength and size”
He quieted down a bit almost to a murmur under his breath.
“As unappealing as the initial design is” he then went straight back to being pissed
“We made you into this the least you can do is shut up and fear us again like you did last night! I could have watched you squirm in fear forever. Your purpose is the create strong bots for us and we need YOUR reproductive organs for us to accomplish that due to your creation process being slightly more portable and currently working better than ours!”

There was a tense pause in the room clearly he was annoyed she got what she wanted and she shyly nodded her head down to non verbally acknowledge that she’ll shut up.

The bot slowed whatever alien version of breathing he was doing and mumbled something in their language as he walked back towards the table. Shockwave then looked towards her and looked at the bench.

“Oh you want me to sit on the bench” she questioned politely

The red bot mumbled something again under his breath guestering to Shockwave before dramatically folding his arms on his chest with a pissed off astonished look on his face.

“Yes” Shockwave answered

She walked over to the table because compliance was the only thing going to get her through whatever’s happening at this point. She sat on the table she was once rolling on slightly less than 24 hours ago. She tried to look confident and did a terrible impersonation of a cocky man by manspreading and leaning back with her arms propping her up, but the fear was dragging her inwards to try curl her up into a tiny ball.

Shockwave pointed a scanner at her and looked at his tablet and looked at her without any expression on his face. The unknown of her health was starting to swirl and create concern within her.

“Is that good news” the anxiety of possible death was gnawing at her

“It’s acceptable” he answered and he walked towards his table

‘“Great” she thought “a vague answer, just what I need”

He went to the table and picked up a syringe without a needle with a light blue liquid in it. Another piece of medical equipment, just what she needed. The nerves she typically gets from doctors visits came crawling into her

“Sooo…. what’s in the syringe?” She asked politely

“It’s a mix of our CNA and your reproductive cells” he walked towards her and slightly split her legs even further apart. He forced her panel to open and in an attempt to comply she focused on the panel opening. As it did she felt coldness between her legs shortly before she felt the syringe nestle inside of her and a cold liquid being pushing deep in her quickly and forcefully

“So what now? Do we hang her upside down to make sure it stays in her?” The red bot sneered

“That seems logical. Can you prepare that Knockout?”

He seemed happy to be commanded by Shockwave for the first time since she arrived here “of course” he bowed as he got some chains and hooked them up to both the ceiling and her ankles. She was then left hanging from the ceiling as both Knockout and Shockwave continued to work.

Chapter Text

A few days later the girl was sitting in her cell wondering what had happened to her life. It wasn’t great but it was a decent life. She wondered if someone had caught onto her being missing yet. It had almost been a week and her life had changed so dramatically that she had no idea what to do or think anymore. She tried so hard to stay positive but when the best part of each day was essentially walking to and from her cell for her daily checkups and inseminations. Whose baby was she gonna have? Only Shockwave seemed to know. She remembered what Knockout said and he was right, Shockwave only really told what he believed was either necessary or if he really wanted to. The bot was very secretive about everything and at this point of her stay she could easily understand how someone can get frustrated working with anyone like that.

She continued to wonder what was going on in the world around her in her cell until the swoosh of a door was heard.

“Come on, you know the deal” Knockout rolled his optics as he opened her cell.
“Are we going to be chatty today or say practically nothing? Because I could do either today” he seemed slightly fed up but he was growing on her slowly but surely

She shrugged as she got up and left her cell. Waving to him as she passed him. At this point she might as well get used to compliance, get things over quicker and less pain is involved. As Knockout followed her out of the cell hall and into the corridor she gestured to him.
“I am fine” he answered “just your typical day I guess, your going to be inseminated again and have your checkups, luckily today Shockwave isn’t in so it will just be you and me”
She paused in her steps at looked at him with concern, and a slight sparkle in her eye
“Yes, just you and me today I get to finally work on my stuff without Shockwave hanging around. For a bot that only has one eye he works so efficiently while keeping that feeling of watching my every move so very well”
A small giggle came from her in agreeance.

As the doors opened to the lab she went and sat on the table and watched to see what Knockout was doing, it wasn’t anything interesting, he just did what Shockwave did but with more emotion.
“Hey” she quietly called out
Knockout looked up from his tablet
“So remember when I first came here, an…and I had that pink wired thing with the phone connected to it” she excitedly whispered
“Yes, what about it? You can’t exactly call home right now”

“I know, but I like my music, I wanna put some on while the man, the myth, the legend is out doing whatever?”

“I don’t get why you're whispering but sure. I think I put it on my dessssssssk……. Here”

Her eyes sparkled even more once she saw it and she did a small “thank you”

Knockout did a small gasp and stuttered a bit as if he didn’t know what to say and as he went back to his desk, she checked her phone’s barely used battery percentage. She put her earbuds in and started sheepishly bopping her head while doing little kicks with her legs. Knockout didn’t really care, he knew that she had high levels of anxiety, so if this got her to be calm then that just made his life so much easier as he wrote his finding on the tablet.

As he put the tablet down he looked pleased with his results “So Maria…”

As she paused her music and took out an earbud she interrupted him “Actually I hate that name. My parents wanted to call me Ria but they put down a different name. They kinda based my legal name on a nickname they wanted to give me but they just ended up calling me Ria and labelling everything Ria so I thought my name was Ria until I was 10. But personally I don’t like either names”

Knockout just sighed whether it was from another case of human stupidity or just a story that went on too long was unknown “so what is your name then”

She paused for a bit she never really had the confidence to do a name change before but this was kinda like a life restart in her mind “Paradox. Its a word that I really like and just kinda figured why not, its better than Ria and not as random as Maria”

“Ok so anyway. I will write that in the report but I doubt Shockwave will care. Anyway, your vitals seem to be taking to the procedure well. Not the best case but certainly top 3. It’s looking very promising”

As he went to get the syringe she had a thought of realisation “if you want I can check if I’m more fertile or some shit I don’t know what you need”

“And why haven’t you done that sooner?” He did his classic eye roll but with an added bonus of he sassily put his hand on his hip

“Oh because I have a thing on my phone that does estimations on these things, it’s not 100% accurate but it can help I guess. I don’t know I haven’t really used it for this purpose before”

“Go on I guess” he loudly mumbled as he filled up the syringe

“Oh cool, it says I’m more fertile today” she called out

“So that means…..”

“It’s means I’m more likely to get pregnant I guess so I don’t know what you wanna do with that information but my body is apparently more fertile today” a little bit of pride came over her as if she had finally done something right in her life and a parent was going to come over and pat her on the head

“Right” he said as he walked over “open up”

He did the insemination quickly, as if they both knew that they both hated this and just wanted it to be over. They didn’t make eye contact as the 30 seconds it took felt like 5 minutes.

“Hey, instead of hanging me by me ankles, how about I put my back to the floor and put my legs against the wall?” She asked

“Sure, less work for me. Highly suggest picking a spot in my part of the room just incase you know who comes back”

As she went to stand up she was grabbed by her ankles

“Which wall, I’m not letting you walk around trying to find the right spot” he demanded

“Ooo how about that wall there” she pointed

“The wall right next to me? Are you sure?” He sighed

“Yep, that means that if shockwave has to check up on me he has to enter your personal space” she joked as Knockout side eyed her. She laughed and did a small smile “I’m joking I actually don’t mind talking to you”

“I’m the only person you talk to, and either way you don’t do it that much.” He paused “you’re not the most annoying human we’ve had here” he said as he placed her against the wall. After she was put down she crossed her legs and was able to tilt her hips up. “Also I’m going to take that device from you once you’re no longer being watched. The last thing I need is Shockwave on me about giving you unauthorised devices” she gave a thumbs up as the room went awkwardly silent for a few minutes

“Soooo out of curiosity do you like tell my family anything or is this just an abduction?”

“That’s someone else’s job not mine but as far as I understand we just let a missing a persons case play out, they tend to call off searches within 6-12 Earth months” he shrugged

“Oh cool, I guess so if I end up having a funeral can you guys like record it? I wanna judge it so that I can send them a letter from my ghost saying how pissed I was about it”

“I can put in a request for you but I doubt that would be a month or two away” he paused for a minute “why do you want to judge your own funeral? Normally when you humans talk about this stuff it gets depressing and sappy”

“Because…” she sighed and paused for a bit looking around the room “I know what’s gonna happen, my family hate a lot of people in my life so the guest list would be shit and only my friends who wouldn’t have a lot of power in this situation would suggest sending me off with fireworks, I’ll probably have a memorial next to my grandmother in a town I hate and there will most likely be at least a verbal fight between my parents, I kinda wanna see them throw fists at each other but I know that probably won’t happen.”

“So it’s like a sad but fun funeral” he looked at her

“Yeah I guess I would hate to be there in person but I would love to watch it from a distance” she sombrely laughed it off.

“We will have to watch it together” he suggested “I need to watch a good scrap show it’s been ages with Megatron gone, you can’t really watch him throw Starscream around and now Shockwave and Soundwave are in charge with Starscream as the figurehead, not a lot of drama involved besides Starscream declaring he doesn’t like them”

“Oh damn, a few new names but can you explain the whole change of leadership thing?”

“Well” he sighed “Starscream used to think that he was leadership material while Megatron was in charge then he went out to find something without much planning and he disappeared, we’ve been finding some of his panels and chipped frame but besides that he’s been considered missing”

“So Starscream in charge?”

“Kind of, we call him our leader but we tend to take our orders through Soundwave and Shockwave depending on what we need”

A few hours went by and the swoosh of a door could be heard

“Shockwave” Knockout bowed begrudgingly

“How is the subject?”

“She’s right here, we’re trying a new way to let the insemination liquid set, she had some medical stuff on her human technology that suggested she was at her most fertile today so hopefully we will have results soon”

The bot seeming paused for a moment “that seems logical”

Chapter Text

The cell began to feel cold as the Australian winter began to rear its unpleasant self. Paradox was trying her best to hug herself warm but at the end of the day she was just a glorified skeleton. Not much fat to keep her warm and being made of metal certainly didn’t help.

Over time the cells around her would have bots come and go. She didn’t really talk to them, new people didn’t really interest her so as they yapped she just stared blankly listening to their stories absorbing what they knew. It was hard at first due to the language barrier but during her time sitting in the lab she asked Knockout if he had anything on the languages that his species spoke. His response? “Why? Seems weird that you want to know what we’re saying about you behind your back”

“I guess if I can’t entertain myself then my only option is to annoy you. Maybe even mess up Shockwave’s desk and pin it on you” she snarked through her giggles.

The next time they saw each other Knockout began helping her understand their language.

She never knew much about the bots in the cells outside of their lives before the war. All they did was cry over the history of Cybertron and how they wanted to live to see it like that again. She understood their sadness but personally she couldn’t empathise with them as much as she wished she could. She just couldn’t see much of Earth's enjoyment and if she had the chance to leave she probably would. But again their homes were destroyed by war and she could empathise with that. Though she always wondered why the bots would rather have a nostalgic illusion painted by their mind for the future rebuild of Cybertron rather than using new technological advances to create a new and maybe better life. It was obvious that Cybertron was never going to go back to its past, so why not embrace a new future? Personally she wasn’t going to say anything about it. Cybertron was their home, not hers and if that’s how they grieved over it then it’s good to see that they had someone to talk to about it. She became an in cell therapist where her expressions gave all the answers the bots needed before they were dragged off and presumably executed for spare parts.

But it was an interesting perspective. All of them had different experiences from different ages of Cybertron. Librarians, lawyers, journalists, retail, hospitality. There was a real mix that when combined created the Autobot and Decepticon sides. They seemed to have lost their identity a little bit now that they could only either be one side or the other. That wasn’t to say they hadn’t lost their personality or skill but that they had one less thing to define them.

As the most recent prisoner was being dragged out of the cell room pleading for mercy Paradox saw Knockout in the corner of the door, clearly not wanting to touch anyone.

“Hey same gig today?”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘gig’ but yes same procedure.” He sighed as he typed in the code to open the cell,evidently the repetitiveness got on his nerves today.

“Hey so you know how I’ve been using my phone for music and tracking fertility?” Paradox sheepishly asked

“Yes, what about it?”

“Well it’s about to lose charge. Would there be any possibility of heading back to my place to grab a charger?” She asked then shortly realised she’s supposed to be a prisoner “shit! I mean could someone else get it? I can like give them a photo or they could video call and I could guide them through my house or something”

“Well that device has been useful.” He thought aloud “maybe I can get permission for you to be chaperoned”

“Sounds like a plan, can’t wait” she said automatically almost like she was programmed to say that

“No promises though” he pointed his finger towards her as they arrived at the lab door.

Everything was repetitive, like always. A little over a week in and she had already formed a schedule. While she was laying against the wall reading about Cybertronian languages, Knockout asked Shockwave for some sort of supervised prisoner excursion forms in a Cybertronian language and after a bit of back and forth that was too quick to understand Shockwave handed over the forms and Knockout began to fill them out rolling his eyes at the amount of paperwork.

After a few minutes he handed them back to Shockwave who gave the final sign off “As much as I don’t agree with the subject leaving base it would be quicker and therefore more logical to do so” as he handed the tablet back to Knockout and left the lab to who knows where.

“So to blend in your gonna have to transform into that flesh suit of yours” Knockout turned from the door to look at Paradox

“I thought you got rid of that?” Paradox queeried

“No we didn’t, we wanted you to be portable and sometimes the more begrudging subjects we force to transform into their smaller, more fragile human form so it’s easier for us to lock them in their cell and move them around. It’s mixed in with all your organs I believe”

Paradox shrugged in a way that told Knockout that it all made sense “ok but how do I do that?”

“Honestly I don’t know. All I know is that you have a transformation cog that allows you to transform”

“So essentially I’ve got to feel what’s right or just concentrate really hard?” The curiosity she had wasn’t satisfied by his answer

“I don’t know, let’s see what happens. It's a skill we’re created with, so I can’t really describe it” he gestured to her as if to say ‘go one do something’

Paradox stood up and thought for a second, she closed her eyes as she was trying to feel and understand what and where this transformation cog was. It took her some time but she felt it in her
“Ok I can feel the cog. Now what?”

“Again I don’t know so you tell me” Knockout said as he grabbed a tablet from his desk, wanting to write his findings down

“How does your cog feel when you transform? Maybe if I can try and find the right feeling I can edge it on” she lightly scolded as she looked in Knockout’s direction with her eyes still shut.

“I don’t know, I think it’s one of those things that feels different for every bot” he stuttered

“I’m not asking for what ‘every bot’ feels I’m asking for how you feel” she sternly mimicked

“I mean…… it feels natural? I don’t know what else to say”

“Does the cog feel like it’s opening or spinning or convulsing or any other sensation when you transform?”

“Oh, you're asking how it works. Clearly you haven’t mastered English communication yet, I’m quite impressed that you’ve somehow managed to start learning ou….”

“Knockout!”

“Oh right, like I said it’s a normal feeling for me now but if I had to really think about it it feels like a spinning sensation and an opening sensation at the same time? It’s a hard thing to put into words, especially in the human language”

With that Paradox put her mind back on the cog and started to imagine it spinning and opening at the same time. She stood there for a while as the stress from being stern with Knockout left her body and once she felt relaxed. Her cog began to create a sensation similar but also different to how Knockout described. As her body began to make the same sound that she heard all those nights ago at the park a little bit of stress came back to her from that memory which slowed down the sensation at first but she quickly nipped that thought at the bud and continued focusing on her cog.

After a few awkward minutes she had done it. She looked just like her normal self, well almost she hadn’t been eating well and had lost some weight. The sensation of not eating was nothing new to her but it always shocked her when she could see that she had lost weight.

“Ya know, for a first attempt it’s not too bad” she said admiring herself with the pride that she had actually done it

“Yes, now it’s just your second transformation that you’ll probably forget how to do, but we have more pressing matters to tend to” Knockout put his hand out and offered Paradox a seat on his shoulder as they walked to the entrance of the ship

Chapter Text

As the door to the ship opened Paradox was hit with the cold morning air. The smell of how fresh it was pierced her lungs she turned to look at Knockout to see what his reaction was, it took her by surprise when his eyes began to trace the tops of the trees as the sun began to peak overtop setting off the sounds of the kookaburras and rainbow lorikeets. It was almost like he enjoyed being on Earth for a change.

“Are you planning on hopping down anytime soon or do you want to jolt around?” Paradox didn’t notice that Knockout had raised his hand towards her for a safe disembarkment from his shoulder.

“Oh right, sorry” she gasped “umm sure, I don’t think Shockwave would be happy if I was damaged in a transform….ation sequence? Is that the correct term? I think you get the point?” She questioned hoping she had correctly labelled what they did. She then politely scurried into his hand and once she hit the ground the quiet morning was interrupted by that indistinguishable sound of transforming.

She watched the big red bot turn into a flashy red car. She couldn’t tell what type of car he was but judging by the shape he had clearly done a few hours worth of window shopping in the luxury car district just outside of the city. She would pass it every time she wanted to get fabrics or just a good sandwich near the beach. Most of the designs were sleek and clean while others made what Paradox could only describe as Darth Vader minivans designed by bogans in an attempt to make money from the stupid and rich. Luckily Knockout could see through the facade and picked a nice alt mode, knowing him, he most likely rolled his eyes at the bogan scammers and didn’t even consider them as an option. Probably went straight pass them and into the Barbagello, VW and Ferrari lots across the road after hitting up Audi.

“Well? What are you waiting for” you could tell he was rolling his eyes a bit

“I don’t know” she awkwardly stated “do I just hop in? Do I have to be invited in? Like what….how…..?” She trailed off not knowing what to do.

Knockout opened his door “come on in, I need to keep an eye of you anyways”

Paradox then shyly swung herself into the passenger seat trying not to get any muck on his interiors and carefully put on her seatbelt. As she looked up after hearing a secure click sound she turned to the driver's seat and saw a pale man with fiery red hair and a build that wasn’t slim but also wasn’t muscular. It was hard to describe but he was sitting and covered by a matte red lab coat with yellow and black accents making it harder to tell. She just stared not out of curiosity but more out of fear of social interactions.

“If you're going to stare at least look amazed” the man spoke as he began to drive. His voice was familiar but the anxiety was making it hard to decipher.

Paradox immediately stiffened up and started anxiously rambling, it was always a good method for her. Just get the point across and they leave you alone, apologise so that no arguments start, don’t say anything so that they don’t belittle you when they speak. She quickly averted her eyes “sorry….. I didn’t …. mean t…too” she tried to subtly gulp the tears away trying to hide her fear and shadowing it in confidence “I don’t know who you are, sorry. I didn’t realise someone else was coming with, yah know….” She awkwardly laughed trying to sound more friendly.

The man started to laugh back at Paradox, not hysterically, just a loud laugh to himself about the situation “Paradox, we have holoforms. It allows us to blend in better with your kind. Some of us have it, some of us don’t” he paused and began a small grumble out loud “while others keep on getting speeding fines and questions from the police about the drivers whereabouts”

Paradox felt some anxiety leave her through a small giggle but it wasn’t able to fully get rid of it. Her body lost a bit of tenseness and she started to fiddle with her fingers, but she began to try and stare at the man through the sides of her eyes to try and figure him out.

The man lifted his left hand to his temple to give it a light massage “Primus” he sighed “it’s me. I have a human holoform” he quickly guestered to himself “this is all a hologram the human isn’t actually here”

Paradox sheepishly turned her head towards him and studied his appearance a bit more and realised that if knockout was a human this is what he would look like, similar face shape, similar build and even the weird red chin patch he had was replicated by a small red goatee.

“Holy shit” she slowly muttered to herself out loud, Knockout replied with a small laugh as if he got the right response out of her.

As they sped down the highway the surroundings became more and more familiar to Paradox. The ride was quiet until they approached the small street that she called home. Paradox cautiously got out of the car and turned around to see the Knockout’s holoform also get out. Normally she would be considered tall but Knockout made her second guess that. As she walked through the car park she saw a metal plate covering the old drain. As Knockout walked around to her she used both of her hands to gesture to the metal plating haphazardly covering the drain.

“See this? This is the old cockroach hell hole. They installed the plate like a month ago” she proudly stated.

“It looks more like a tripping hazard waiting to happen” he observed as he slid his foot under it and using little strength to lift it, clearly securing the already rusty plating wasn’t on the foremind when installing it.

“Yeah! I used to come out here at midnight with a can of bug spray and try and kill those bastards” clearly Paradox was proud about doing this.

“I’m assuming the attempt didn’t work” Knockout began to remove his foot and lightly step on top of it as the opposite side of the plating lifted up as he pushed down.

“Yeah the offspring kept on showing up in my house, I had a few fly at me. I think it was revenge or some shit” she nervously laughed.

“Mmmhmm” Knockout began to look around at the red brick work of the townhouses lumped together with a narrow grey stone path contrasting the buildings “I'm assuming your place is this way” he said walking down the path, clearly the gardens needed to be trimmed as the flowers and branches began to overflow onto the thin pathway.

Paradox looked at the holoform as he strolled through the garden. She then turned to the car and waved before trying to catch up while fishing for the keys in her pocket. Knockout paused and looked behind him once he reached a t-junction in the path. The house in front of him had a garden filled with little statues that were clearly supposed to be of importance but he couldn’t recognise them, he looked up to see small gold ornaments hanging from the roof. While it wasn’t his style he found it fascinating and his thoughts were clearly shared by Paradox who stared at the house with wonder as she walked around the left corner to the house next door. Nothing really made the house stand out unless you looked at the bottom of her front window to see her own statues and figures. Clearly these were cheap plastic collectibles and not stone statues that at least appeared to have hours dedicated to their creation. Paradox fumbled with her keys while he looked at the house on the other side. The front window blinds were open and he could see the old man watching his tv, it was a sports game of some sort. As the little red oval was kicked between one team coloured purple with white chevrons and the other team, red with white curved spikes cutting the jersey in half. He found little amusement in it and looked to the man’s garden which was almost bare except for a strip of green shrubs in the front, either he was restarting his garden or just wanted people to look into his house.

The sudden creak of the fly screen door brought his attention back to Paradox who was now struggling to open the navy coloured wooden door. She aggressively shook the handle before pushing it down and throwing her weight against the door forcing it open.

“Ta-da!” She said as she opened the door and let him in “this is my home, it’s a heap of shit that’s slowly breaking around us, but I feel like it gets me” she leaned down to inspect the lock “sorry the locks been broken for a while now, I was locked out Christmas night a few years back and when I finally broke in a peg from the lock fell out, haven’t been able to replace it yet. Took them 7 months to fix a water heater. I doubt they would fix the lock any quicker. And don’t even get me started on the ceiling in the toilet” she pointed upwards to the rough textured ceiling.

“They?” Knockout asked looking around the house at all the little bits and pieces laying on the tables. The place was decorated in pins, threads, patterns and fabrics.

“Yeah, rental agency, I would call them twats and bastards but that would insult the actual twats and bastards” she paused “oh right, alien. So rich people buy a shitton of houses and let people live in them for a price. Typically they have an agency that helps manage their properties and tenants so we have rental inspections every 3 months and we can’t do dramatic changes. We got real shit from them when we changed the shower head after the old one broke” she then rolled her eyes and sarcastically mumbled to herself “and assaulted me, never trusting those shower heads again, stupid mother fuckers, bitch slap me in the face” she then went up the staircase and into her bedroom. The upstairs area was adorned with magazine cutouts, posters of fan art, photos of herself and artwork she had done.

Knockout quickly followed her and saw the posters making the house more colourful than its front alluded to. With windows adorned with the same figures he saw in the front window. He then stepped over Paradox who was crouched on the floor playing with wires to inspect the upstairs front window in her bedroom that overlooked the housing lot. In the distance he saw the planes take off behind the trees and occasionally heard the smaller ones humming as they flew overhead. He looked to his left and saw a wardrobe door open to reveal shelves messily packed with clothing and to his right he saw a cabinet covered in dolls with more fabrics stuffed down the gap between the wall and cabinet.

“Hey is it alright if I do a little I don’t know… survival pack…or some shit? I’ll pack a bag with clothes and hygiene stuff, maybe if there’s space I’ll bring my knitting project I’m working on or a book, I don’t know I’m not the biggest reader” Paradox asked as she untangled the cables finally freeing her charger.

“Sure I don’t see why not, probably better for the senses” he joked staring back out the window as children began crossing the path in front of the house, he remembered the school only two lots down that he passed on the way here and put two and two together.

“Hey, you lot kidnapped me, not my fault I don’t go everywhere with a spare change of clothes and a bar of soap” she dramatically gestured to herself with both her hands and eyes with a smirk.

Paradox ran down stairs and grabbed a large bag with red stripes with massive black lettering spelling ’The Veronicas’ the name finished with a red glittery kiss stain design “Hey imma head into the backyard real quick and grab some clean clothes from the wash line you can stay up there if you want, or come down, I don’t mind”

She quickly scurried outside and yanked a few pairs of pants, shirts, jumpers, underwear and binder from the washing line before scurrying back in and closing the door. She then when to the kitchen and grabbed a box of microwave butter chicken and set the microwave for 11 minutes before rushing back up stairs stuffing her bag with a brush, a few packs of soap bars, toothbrush and paste as well as a razor before going for whatever medical supplies she had like Marvel and Frozen bandaids, aloe vera spray, paw paw cream and hand sanitizer. She then grabbed an old sleeping bag that her dad had gotten her when she was younger. They always travelled to remote places for his work and the sleeping bag was designed for the cold nights while being heavy duty so that nothing could easily tear it. She stuffed any other necessities in the bag and with the last few spaces she had left she stuffed all the wool she had along with knitting needles, a few books and a small tackle box full of sewing equipment. She then tossed the bag over her shoulder as the microwave beeped. She ran down stairs and let the bag slip from her shoulder onto the floor in front of the door. She then grabbed the once frozen meal and mixed it up before eating it as fast as she could.

Paradox then went back to the door and thought for a second “Hey, Knockout” she timidly called out

“Are you done?” Knockout peerd his head over the railing and looked at her from the top of the staircase.

“Yeah but I just had a thought. What if I got a seperate box and put all my valuables in it and hid it down south? It's like a 2 hours drive from here but I know of a secure spot for it that no one would look, plus there’s a few items I would like to steal before heading back to the ship and security isn’t as strong down that way”

“2 hours?” He groaned

“Hey it’s a nice drive and it’s quite simple once you're on the freeway. It’s probably best to leave here at about 10am once peak hours calmed down so no rush, we’ve got like 20 minutes and I’ll only be doing shit for like an hour or two so we’ll dodge most of the traffic” Paradox tried to tap back into her debating days but she was a bit rusty.

“It’s not like your coming back here” Knockout walked to the top of the stairs with his arms folded.

“Yeah but there are some things I’d rather not have my family find and give out to other people” there was a slight winge in her tone.

Knockout rolled his eyes “Like?”

“Sex toys, don’t really want the thought of where those would go or who would have to handle them” she then paused and stammered “and other things too, not just that” she put her hands up in front of her face and slowly pushed them down letting out a nervous giggle.

“Fine, but hurry up.”

“Cool, wanna come with me to the op shop across the road? I’m pretty sure they would have some heavy duty containers” she asked.

“Sure. Whatever hides your personal items better” he sighed.

They went across the street to the second hand store Knockout looked at some of the more expensive shoes while Paradox looked at the vintage item section and found a large tin box with flowers embossed in it for $50. She then went up to the counter and with that purchase they walked across the street to the local store which had a shortcut to her place but as Knockout turned to go down to the carpark that would lead them to the back door of the house Paradox went into the store and grabbed a pastry while fiddling with her phone. Knockout raced up to her as she went to the counter.

“Hi” she beamed. Paradox was a regular and knew most of the employees and they knew her. “Just that and $200 cash out please”

“Wow that’s a lot” the middle aged cashier asked “what’s it for?”

“Oh just another tattoo. Just thinking of getting a tramp stamp” she joked as she put her pin in. The cashier laughed and handed her the money before they said their goodbyes and Paradox walked to the ATM on her way out and after 5 minutes got the rest of her money from her account. Excluding the long term deposit, her accounts were bare.

“What? They make good chocolate croissants” she stated as she took a bite of the croissant clearly ignoring the $3,200 she just took out as she went to the carpark below the store and exited with Knockout following along. Before entering through the back door she grabbed an old sandwich bag on the outdoor table and stuffed the money in there before placing it in the tin. She then went inside and grabbed an A1 plastic sleeve and placed all her fanart, artwork and photos in it, taking out a few photos for herself and placing them into a separate smaller sleeve and into her pocket. The walls were then just covered in some business cards and magazine cut outs. She then grabbed some jewellery and other small personal possessions placing them into the tin before finally going up stairs and putting the toys in the box. There was some merit to what she said she didn’t really want them, but just the thought of someone saying ‘I’ll keep them’ made her a little uneasy plus it would make life a bit easier when people showed up to take her things once they believed she was dead or gone forever.

As she closed the tin. She paused and felt her emotions overcome her, she felt a small tear in her eye. As she looked around the house one more time. The last thing she did was grab a piece of paper from the printer and begin to write on it. She realised the quickest way to stop people looking for her was to give them closure and answers, no matter if they were true or not. She knew that her mental illness was failing here, there were medical documents and therapists to back her up. She wrote out a note saying that life was too much for her and she was too nervous to ask for help from friends and knew her family would dismiss her or make the situation worse. So she went down south to swim in the last of the bioluminescent water in Walpole before winter officially kicked in as the last thing she wanted to do. She then splashed a small amount of water on the paper before pinning it to the fridge. She took one last look of the house and sighed picking up her bag.

“Let’s go. I wanna head down south to a graveyard”

Chapter Text

As the pair came into the town where the gravesite was located. Knockout looked around and saw the orchid fields that the road wrapped around. Unlike the city it was hard for his vehicle mode to blend in but due to Mother’s Day weekend all the middle to upper class city folk would treat their wives and kids to a trip down south made it easier to blend in. As the two neared the town centre a small store appeared. It looked modern compared to the rest of the town but the vines wrapped around it gave it some age.

“Hey can we stop in here real quick I wanna steal something” Paradox pointed to the store that would look rundown if it was anywhere near the city.

“Sure, why won’t you just pay for it?” Knockout asked as he pulled in

“Because this is my home town and I fucking hate it here so any pain brought to this town is fine by me. Though I doubt stealing a menstrual cup will cause too much commotion. Just be ready for a quick take off if things go wrong, I’ll be like 5 - 10 ish minutes” she quietly laughed as she exited the vehicle shielding her face with the hood of her jumper.

Knockout waited outside. Watching the clock, thinking about what she said. He couldn’t think of any reason as to why she hated this town. It looked quite nice as it overflowed with trees and flowers. Everything was more natural looking here than in the city. But then looks can be deceiving as he studied the buildings across the street from a distance he saw the signs of them all falling apart from what was probably decades of use at least. Especially at the petrol stations where you could tell trucks that carried everything from minerals to fresh produce kept on banging into the sides of the building. Either the drivers were under the influence or they put the new kids in the driver's seat so that they don’t dent up the city while on the job. Then the door opened lunging Knockout out of his train of thought as Paradox returned calmly.

“Hey I got some more hygiene and medical stuff for myself, let’s go to the graveyard” she chimed

“I’m surprised you're not being chased your pockets seem like they’re about to burst” a look of concern sprawled across his face as he leant forward to make sure she wasn’t being followed.

“Everyone’s high or drunk here, so either they don’t notice or you get under the influence anger. So just don’t do stupid things and you’ll be fine” she shrugged “luckily not many people are on the watch this time of year. That normally happens in June July-ish when all the stupid uni kids come down for magic mushroom season. They don’t know portion control, private property lines and which mushrooms are poisonous or drugs so we get a bit more stealing, a bit more crime and a bit more hospitalisation”

Knockout left the car park both confused and concerned. Paradox knew the town very well as she guided him through the town to a home that looked like it was about the same age as Paradox.

“Just keep driving past but I’m gonna lower the window down real quick” Paradox said with a smirk on her face as she put the window down.

As they passed the house Paradox leaned out the window, cupping one hand to her mouth while using the other to support her lean out the window, she then proceeded to yell out “goodbye forever you British shitshow! I would ‘ave called you a cunt but I wouldn’t want to give a bad name to all the lovely cunts out there, unlike yours which I know first hand was a heap of shit, it’s probably dryer than the ……”

“Alright that’s enough” Knockout said as he dragged her in by the scruff of her neck as the car window shut “as amusing as that is I don’t want to cause any unneeded attention to us”

Paradox flipped off the house with both hands before giving it a little wave as two dogs came out around the corner, looking for that voice they found familiar with looks of hope in their eyes.

“Hang on, can I hug the dogs?” She asked

“You just insulted the house why would you…” Knockout turned to see tears welling up in Paradox’s eyes “fine but make it quick” as he jammed on the breaks and let her out

She ran up to the dogs and gave them the biggest hug that she could, she was more gentle with the older one as he was due to die very soon while she picked up the younger one and nestled her face into the scruff of her neck. She then put down the younger dog before putting her hand into her pocket and giving them a packet of ham she stole from the shops. She kissed them both and said her final goodbyes as she went back to the car.

“To finish what I was saying before” she yelled out through her tears holding up her middle fingers once again “your cunt makes the Sahara desert look like the Amazon! The doctors probably had to use 3 large barrels of lube to push me…..”

Knockout then grabbed her again and shut the door before speeding off to the graveyard.

As they got to the gravesite, Knockout drove in through the open black iron faded gate and up the barely put together road before stopping at a cleared field in the graveyard. They both got out and walked towards the back of the cemetery to a grave site covered in flowers but hadn’t been attended to in a few years. Paradox carefully removed the flowers from the centre and carefully dug a hole about half a metre deep and placing the box in there before covering it up and placing the flowers back in the soil.

“I’m sure you can look after these.” She somberly laughed before turning to Knockout who was politely standing behind her looking at the bush that surrounded the site and the paddock that neighboured the lots from behind, he then looked back at her to see if she was done or for more context clues as to why she buried her possessions here.

“She’s my grandmother” she paused. “She worked away more than dad did so I never really got to meet her, only heard stories but I knew she loved me. The woman was definitely a character” she patted the soil one last time before getting up and brushing her knees clean of dirt. She looked at the empty plots beside her before giving the grave one last look as they walked away.

The pair drove 3 hours back to the ship as the last few hours of daylight were upon them. The car ride was very quiet from Paradox not really talking and Knockout trying to focus on not speeding through the main set of speeding cameras on the freeway leading back to the city. Paradox suggested he take the old route back to the city as no one really cared or used it after the freeway was built. They began to race down the old road that had plenty of twists and turns with lakes and rivers accenting them. When they got back to the ship Knockout’s holoform disappeared as Paradox got out and grabbed her bag. Knockout transformed back into a robot stretching his lower back and shoulders.

“Actually not a bad drive” he complimented “really got my wheels turning” he offered his hand out to Paradox and put her on his shoulder as he walked back to the lab to do some more checkups. When they got back to the lab Knockout gave Paradox some space to try and transform again which went smoother than last time but wasn’t a perfected skill yet. It had been a little over a week since the insemination process started so results would start showing, he took out his tablet and scanned for some new things and everything was fine but no results from the insemination process yet.

Chapter Text

As the weeks went on with negative results, Paradox was quietly knitting in her cell while reading some history data pads to try out her capabilities in reading an alien language. Her skills had definitely grown but weren’t perfect.

The door opened to the room as another new bot saying that he’ll escape and get his revenge entered and was thrown into the empty cell almost across from her. The anonymous Decepticon guard who threw him in didn’t care about the bot screaming for his life. As the main door shut the bot remained yelling as if the room wasn’t sound proof, maybe he didn’t know? In the phase of Shockwave, ‘it would be illogical’ to not soundproof the cell room. Imagine how annoying and overwhelming it would be to hear prisoners screaming and begging constantly. Paradox could barely get through some of the sounds coming from the cells when they were being banged against. Imagine working with that sound constantly.

She knew how this worked, the bot would scream and bang for 5 - 10 minutes before exhausting themselves or giving up. To prevent overstimulation she put a bookmark on the page she was up to before closing her eyes as she slowly exhaled hoping the sensation of knitting would take her mind off the loud bot demanding his rights. Surely he would give up soon, he went from revenge to rights very quickly he wouldn’t have that many more straws to pull at, right?

As the minutes passed the bot began to quiet down. Now just whining for freedom with his head resting against the wall. Almost on cue the main door opened again as a tall blue and silver bot with yellow accents entered the room with a much shorter red, silver and blue bot with a yellow centre proudly walking behind, not even an anime douche bag could walk prouder than that. If it wasn’t his stride that gave it away his personality certainly showed his ego and how badly he needed a therapist. Paradox had seen these two before, they were regulars, constantly talking to the newbies who didn’t understand how to shut up and bury their pride and honour. Everything was a routine at this point. The other cellmates that survived long enough also took pity on the new prisoners knowing first hand that begging or fighting never got them anywhere.

“I’ll never tell you what I found!” The prisoner yelled. Must be that second wind of adrenaline giving them a high.

“Well then” Starscream sneered “I guess we’ll just have to see what awaits for you later”

It was obvious that Starscream tried to copy his predecessor’s threatening techniques but also hated him so much that he put his own spin on it creating a very confused basic threat, he most likely left the torture methods to Soundwave to decide, with Shockwave helping if needed.

“I’d rather die than tell you”

Paradox looked around for a non-existent clock hoping to see if there was gonna be a record set for how quickly he’d confess to whatever Starscream wanted. From estimations and attempts to count the record was about 10 seconds. She found that the more pride a bot had the quicker they would squeal.

“You have information that we need, perhaps if you gave it to us then you will become a pet” Starscream then dramatically closed his fist and leant towards the cell allowing that sentence to squeeze through the gaps of his teeth. The man could honestly be a half decent actor if his ego wasn’t so geared towards being the best dictator. Unfortunately he couldn’t act his way into making people believe that.

“I’ll never tell you!” The bot sounded like he was a broken record that had failing vocals. He would most certainly say something else soon.

“You will tell us! NOW!” And there goes Starscream’s temper again. How he made it this far in life was a mystery and something to definitely be proud of. Maybe having a leader that can somehow defy death is a good thing. If the great Prime Minister spills of 2007 - 2018 had taught Paradox anything it was that changing leaders often can be a problem and an annoying one at that.

The room was silenced with the only thing heard was the anger leaking from Starscream as he heavily panted. Soundwave patiently waited next to him like always, most likely recording the situation or acting as a second interrogator if Starscream lost too much of his shit. Maybe it was the stance from Soundwave, the anger from Starscream or a combination of both but the new prisoner finally said something new.

“It’s Megatron. There have been rumours that he’s alive and well, searching for something he believed to be on this planet but in reality was on another planet entirely, it’s rumoured he’s planning on going back to Cybertron to recoup and gather new resources” he dramatically sighed as if to say that that’s all he knows and to just stop with whatever Starscream was doing.

Soundwave, like Shockwave, didn’t show a lot of emotion but you could tell by how quickly he walked out of the room that he was pleased with the response or at least was going to fact check it. Starscream on the other hand, had a look of shock and disgust on his face as he took a trembling step back. He then stood like that for a second clearly wanting to gasp but the energy that drained from him didn’t allow it. He then coughed away the distress, turned on his heels and did a shooing motion towards the prisoner as he tried to disguise his scared shitless walk out of the room quietly yet firmly saying “yes…. good, thank you for your….. intel” he then left the room grumbling to himself.

As the main door opened to let Starscream out Paradox could see Knockout in the corner of the wall and door rolling his eyes, just like almost everyone else on the ship, he’d had enough of Starscream’s attitude. As he walked towards Paradox’s cell to let her out he looked at the new bot.

“Let me guess it was almost instant? Unaligned bots tend to say things quicker to appear more neutral, don’t they?”

“Nah, yeah pretty quick, probably about 30 seconds to a minute, not close to a record but still podium worthy. Clearly he’s more pissed about being captured than anything” Paradox noted, she carefully placed her knitting down and collected her data pad as she stood up and began to follow him out of the room. Some of the other prisoners muttered in agreement as she left.

Paradox put in the earbuds as Shockwave conducted the checkups that had become a daily tradition at this point. She never liked having people that close to her but she knew from a young age compliance tends to cause less damage most of the time. At least she was allowed to listen to music to ground herself mentally and try to relax. She knew Shockwave said nothing that involved her, just medical jargon she didn’t understand but wished she did. If something of note came up Knockout would tell her later once Shockwave was out of the room or if her attention was needed urgently he would either tap her on the shoulder or throw a small object at her.

After what felt like an awkward eternity too long Shockwave left the room after doing the last scan, most likely for a meeting again. After that she turned around and took out her earbuds to see Knockout who was watching the door from his own work bench.

“I think he forgot something” Paradox joked in relief, maybe there wouldn’t be any insemination for once.

Knockout looked up from the notes on his and Shockwaves shared data file.

“No he didn’t, the insemination worked”

Chapter Text

“So what happens now?” Paradox felt like she needed to say something but didn’t know what but that phrase spilt out her mouth almost on command. Anxiety starting riling up in her as she was scared to think about what happened next, hoping a conversation might settle her a bit.

“We don’t often get this far. We’ve done this on hundreds of your kind but only 8 have made it to carrying, so while not unknown it’s still a bit unprecedented” Knockout states going through the scans Shockwave had just completed.

Paradox sat in her anxiety not knowing what to say next. She just wanted to run but she couldn’t. That was the point of being kidnapped, you weren’t supposed to leave. She had to give up on everything and for what? Was there a chance that she could have ran instead of writing that note? Did she just want to get away from everything and was only being compliant because she found a way out? Thoughts buried her deep. The words pinning her still, binding her arms to her sides and glueing her legs together, she felt herself beginning to shrink. Everything became overwhelming as she tried to wiggle her fingers towards her earbuds as her thoughts slowly began constricting around her throat and lacing themselves between her fingers and trying to drag her hand back. As tears began to roll from her eyes she had finally reached her earbuds and began to try and drag them towards her. Paradox tried to lean her head down towards them but was struggling to lean forward as words taunted her by pulling on her leash trying to get her to sit up straight again. After fighting for what felt like an eternity, she quickly snapped up her hand to put her earbuds in and tried to focus on the words of Jessica Mauboy to try and free herself.

Paradox could feel her chest starting to burn up, hoping the music would let her get a little space from the words of the world around her. She felt like it was hard to breathe but she knew that if she just focused on her music the world would hopefully give her a moment, she felt like she was about to lose it.

“Are you going good over there?” Knockout asked

Paradox couldn’t speak, she looked down at her phone and saw the scroll bar.

“Won’t you get me a little space? No disrespect………It's hard for me to breath………. Can I get a moment? Can I get a moment? Can I get a moment to myself?”

Knockout looked up from his desk aftering hearing music sung by someone else while the phase “Can I get a moment?” was on repeat he then realised where it was coming from.

“Do you want to sit outside?” he wasn’t panicked but showed half assed concern over what was happening. As Paradox’s eyes began to well up she nodded while blankly staring off into the distance. Knockout offered his hand as she transformed down into her human form and delicately placed herself on his hand as he took her outside.

The warm breeze hit Paradox in the face like a cold splash of water but without the sting of freezing shock. She tried to carefully balance herself into a ball while staying on Knockout’s shoulder. Her breathing became deep with a slight hitch at the end, the pressure from breathing and emotions squeezed tears from her eyes.

“Are you going to stop? I don’t want to risk my finish or my paint being ruined by salty tears”

She looked up at him. She couldn’t tell his expression but she tried to stop crying as she looked up at him

“I…I mean….. I don’t know, how salty tears could ruin your finish…….. you're already pretty salty as is” she had no idea of what she said made sense but hoped that maybe she’d feel better just chatting away, fighting the urge to not speak might be enough of a distraction to make her feel better.

A small chuffed laugh came from Knockout, by this point he knew she had a bit of a bite to her, but she kept it hidden.

The bushes then began to rustle as another vehicle came through and transformed. The new bot was black and orange with a few hints of blue and had the decepticon logo on his shoulder. As the bot began to approach them Paradox could feel Knockout relax a bit from the sight of him. She knew something was up and decided to try and put all her energy into whatever was going on between Knockout and the orange bot to try and distract herself.

She tapped Knockout on the head and pointed to whoever was approaching them with a confused look on her face.

“Oh him?” Knockout questioned knowingly “he’s my partner”

Paradox then made a circle with her pointer and thumb on one hand and slid the pointer of her other hand in and out of the hole. She tried to align the motion with her breathing to try and calm herself down

“I don’t know what that means” Knockout looked at her with confusion before sighing and looking back at the bot who was now in their shared personal space towering over them by a few feet

“Hey K.O how have you been” the voice was deeper and the bot put his hand on Knockout’s other shoulder and started to gently rub it as Knockout’s head rested on his hand.

“Not bad, better now that you're here. We’ve had progress in our little experiment” he guestered to Paradox to climb onto his hand and as she anxiously got on his hand moved across to the other bot.

“Breakdown, this is Paradox. She’s been crying and I think you’re better built for water splashing on you rather than me”

Breakdown looked down at Paradox who looked back at Knockout in an ‘I don’t wanna go’ kind of way as her anxiety began to pick up steam again from being introduced to a new person.

Breakdown carefully took her into his hand as she tried to latch onto Knockout's fingertips but was ultimately unsuccessful. She then felt herself being cradled against his chest where she could feel a comforting pulse that gave her warmth. She felt herself begin to tire out and the new booming voice tried to quiet itself.

“Aw she’s cute. A bit stressed, but I’m sure everything will be fine soon, huh” his hand cupped Knockout’s face still keeping the rubbing motion going.

“Yes, the news of our progress shocked her a bit. But she will be fine. Anything of interest happen to you?” He gently wrapped his hand around Breakdown’s wrist and returned the favour by lovinging rubbing his wrist.

“Not much, luckily this place has a lot of natural resources we can turn into energon. Apparently Starscream got threatened by Shockwave and Soundwave that if they didn’t go back to Cybertron and get Megatron then it would be more than his helm in danger” Breakdown quietly reported as to no disturb the small creature slowly drifting off into sleep.

“So we’re heading back to Kaon I assume?” Knockout sounded both happy and disinterested at the statement, but he kept a firm and loving connection between him and his partner.

The moment was interrupted by the pang of metal being hit by water. Breakdown then put his arm over Knockout to try and protect him from the rain as they went back inside the ship.

Chapter Text

Paradox woke up in her cell with a feeling of warmth on her lower legs. She looked down and saw the jumper she had been knitting placed on her like a blanket. She looked around and saw the others in their cells, a few new faces, some old and some cells that weren’t empty before but had a new sense of eeriness to them. It wasn’t great but it was the closest thing to home.

She sat up and began knitting again when the door swooshed open and Breakdown walked in. The new bots began screaming at him for holding them in cells or for being on the wrong side of history. While the bots that had been there longer were telling them to shut up, they knew Paradox had been there the longest and will most likely outlast them, she had almost become a mother of sorts to them, she would listen and be patient, she always showed the same amount of interest in them no matter who was communicating to her. The bots who had been there longer respected that and understood when she needed silence every once in a while.

“Hey again” he knelt down and softly spoke “Knockout said you might have a spare change of clothes. Do you want to dress in something more hidden. We're heading out today and I’m going to be chaperoning you both but we need to stay hidden”

“I typically wear dark and neutral colours, so, I guess. Where are we heading” she mumbled back looking at the floor

“Don’t worry, apparently this was promised a while ago, and based on your last outing they’ve granted you this one. Also Knockout said something about one last stealing session before you go and that you needed a better getaway car” he guestered to himself. He was quite happy as this was going to be a small break from work for him.

He turned around and faced the other cells with people starting to quiet down, understanding he wasn’t there for them, but there were still a few bots asking questions about what his plans were. As this was happening Paradox turned around and dug through her bag finding a set of dark flared denim overalls littered with lighter denim star shaped pockets and a baggy knitted jumper with puffy sleeves coloured with different shades of brown, which she threw over her dark blue t-shirt before buttoning the overalls over top and placing a black beanie with constellations embroidered around the brim with a pin that said “any pronouns” tacked on to the front side of it. She then stuffed it over her thick head of hair before putting on her large and ill fitting black cowboy boots that were hand me downs from her dad and had been covered by fabric paint from their time spent with her.

“Where are we going?” She hadn’t really been out for a while so any kind of road trip excited her.

“Just a quick trip south, come on up you get” breakdown offered his hand out to Paradox who sheepishly stepped on.

“Still a bit nervous hey” he chuckled as he gently lifted her off the ground and onto his shoulder which wasn’t as stable or as comfortable as Knockout’s shoulder but unlike Knockout, Breakdown knew that and tried to move it as little as possible as Paradox tightly held on to the edges of his shoulder.

“Hang on” he offered his hand and once again Paradox cautiously clambered on as he lowered her to his chest again.

“There, no risk of slippin’ off now” he looked down at her as Paradox shyly nodded her head gripping onto his pointer finger.

“Knockout said you were quiet, didn’t expect all the nervousness. It makes sense though, I probably wouldn’t enjoy being kidnapped by large creatures as well” Breakdown went to pat her head with the backs of his fingers but pulled away once he realised Paradox was dipping her head out from him.

They entered the lab together and as the approached the table Paradox tried to disembark as soon as she could while Breakdown cupped her in his hands preventing her from leaving and opted to gently place her on the table curving the backs of his fingers to see if she would take to a small head pat but she politely pushed away his hand. He then quietly leaned over the table putting his hands on the edges trying not to scare Paradox while eagerly waiting for Knockout to do something.

“Oh good, you're here. Just a few scans before we head off” he ran his hand around Breakdown’s waist as he walked around to Paradox and commenced his scans for her vitals. She put her fingers over her ears and Knockout went to retrieve her phone. During their time together Knockout had begun to learn what Paradox would do if she needed something and went non-verbal, it was hard at first due to language barriers and how stand-offish she was, but over time he began to figure out what she meant as she became more comfortable with him. She put her earbuds in and dissociated with what was happening around her.

She could hear the rain clang and patter against the ship which disappeared against the sound of her music. As her mind left her current situation that feeling of running away from her captors dispersed along with the worry that she may have to start a whole new life. As long as she grounded herself, the lights would go down on those thoughts as subconsciously, she knew she had nowhere to go now. Maybe she could change her hair or something? New life, new appearance? Her hair was already starting to grow and get messy, maybe let it grow out and see if it can be bleached and dyed? Maybe she would eventually find her way back home, someday.

She felt a tap on the should from Knockout as he offered his hand out. She took her earbuds out and slowly stuffed them into her pocket very obviously.

“Yes you can take them, you're being supervised by us so no need to worry” Knockout then bent his fingers back and forth to ask again if she was hopping on. Paradox stuffed the phone into her pocket and got onto Knockout’s hand as he raised her to his shoulder which perfectly cupped her in place as the three of them walked out of the ship.

“Rain?” Knockout chuffed in annoyance “At least it will clean my paint” he handed Paradox to Breakdown as he transformed into his vehicle mode. Breakdown then stood with his back against the rain in front of Knockout while he leant down and allowed Paradox to climb into his partner without getting any mud on him. Once she disembarked he transformed into what she could only describe as a military SWAT van that she had seen on those cop shows. Knockout led them away from the ship as they were on the freeway dealing with peak hour traffic.

“Frag this” Knockout groaned his holoform had been activated and his hand was dragging his face down in disbelief.

“Fun fact about this place. No one can merge, so I hope you like waiting” Paradox groaned with a small laugh at the end.

Chapter Text

As the city turned into the countryside and the countryside turned into orchids Paradox knew where they were instantly. She couldn’t figure out why but surely she would get an answer soon. The two cars pulled into the shop that Paradox stole from during their last trip and Knockout left his vehicle mode.

“Come on, you're getting snacks and any last things you need. Apparently we’re leaving this planet soon so get what you need” for a bot who hadn’t even been in this town for 5 hours he already sounded just like Paradox did whenever she addressed the town, bored and tired of the their bullshit.

Paradox followed him into the store where she grabbed 2 baskets and immediately hid under the fruit and veg at the site of one of her friends being at the checkout

“Don’t act suspicious, they're going to think that you’re…. What’s the phrase you said? Eating magical shrooms or whatever this time of year is” he folded his arms and cocked his head down at her.

“I just saw one of my friends, if they see me we’re fucked my guy” she harshly whispered through her teeth

“I’m not ‘your guy’” he rolled his eyes “who is it? If it’s anyone in full black then you're fine, a whole group of them just left. Some of their styles are impeccable” He watched from a distance as a group of people in a mix of floor length gowns, cocktail dresses and suits covered in sparkles or fine fabrics, accented with bright colours left the shops.

“Those were my gay friends” she said peering over the coconuts before putting one in the basket.

“Gay? You have a not gay group as well?” Knockout questioned as they entered the freezer section.

“Well yes” Paradox dumped her head into one of the freezer bins and pulled out a packet of garlic bread “you think I grew up with gay people here? I met them after I left and I’m still in contact with those who I did meet here” she stuffed the basket with a small boxed pizza before heading to the bakery section and sliding in chocolate croissants and mini cinnamon scrolls.

“Hang on, I believe you humans require this when something dramatic is about to happen” Knockout grabbed a bag of rainbow coloured popcorn and placed it into the basket.

“First off, why? Second off, there are better brands” Paradox grabbed a light green bag of sweet and salty popcorn and placed it along with the bag Knockout put in.

Before he could answer she pushed them against the aisle as she peaked out around the corner “fuck! It’s my aunt” she quietly groaned.

They quickly walked down to the other end on the aisle and moved onto the next one and her aunt who was dressed in a plain ill fitting large black catan with a thick black shawl covering her shoulders walked into the aisle they were just in. Paradox then swiped almost a whole row of canned soup into the basket. Once she realised she was running out of room she started to put some items into her pockets before heading to the snacks section and putting a few items into her pockets. As they reached the edge of the store they saw an old antique section. Clearly trying to make the town's history look good. Paradox walked up to the glass box to look at some of the books. She saw a few encyclopaedias, and read the spines to see if she could use them. The books were a perishing crimson red with brown embossing and the one labelled ‘medical’ really caught her eye. Paradox and Knockout did one last check of the store before heading to the exit.

“Hey can you take these to… you.. outside or to Breakdown, I’m gonna be 10 seconds and be ready to floor it” she whispered to him.

“I don’t know what your thinking but if your gonna be running out of here with security then run to Breakdown” he whispered back before she nodded.

“Oh shit! I forgot something, can you take care of that?” Paradox said with a little bit of alarm, almost as if she knew how to play whatever game she was about to commit to. She gestured to the basket and did a quick walk back to the encyclopaedias picking up hand sanitizer and bandages on her way, stuffing them into her pockets. As she walked up to the encyclopaedias she heard a small commotion from outside followed by a faint screeching of tires in the distance a few seconds later. She then looked at the lock on the glass box before heading to the child’s book section filled with magazines and found the children’s lock and key diary sets. She grabbed one because of a hilariously out of hand assumption that they just used one of those basic ass locks because they couldn’t afford proper security. She then looked at the lock one last time.

“Surely they ain’t that fuckin’ dumb” she grumbled as she inserted the key and heard a click “aaaaand this is why the inbred town next door is smarter than us” she rolled her eyes as she grabbed the book and hid it under her the part of her jumper that was covered by her overalls as she walked towards the exit.

As she was about to leave the building she heard a familiar voice that hurt her head to hear.

“Ria?!”

She looked into the reflection of the store window and saw her mother dressed in some out of style dress that was clearly 3 sizes too small for her. She didn’t have time for her and even if she did Paradox never wanted to talk to her again. So she walked out of the store and ran for Breakdown. She jumped into his passenger seat and threw the encyclopaedia on his drivers seat.

“Hey let’s go! Crazy British woman that way!” She pointed to the exit of the store which now had an old lady briskly walking out of it with her walking frame.

“She doesn’t look too bad” Breakdown slowly started trying to not cause any unnecessary attention “I’m surprised you didn’t get more of an audience” he laughed.

“Breakdown, you see that frame she has? Well she’s gonna bash you with it and then slap me six ways to fuckin’ Sunday.” She crouched down to hide away from the window “If we leave before she sees me then it just adds to her whole ‘crazy woman’ aesthetic she has currently going on”

“Ok ok, we’re leaving” Breakdown assured, not leaving any quicker. He didn’t see her as a threat, why would he? A 60 year old woman who couldn’t even run. Then suddenly he felt a jolt against his side. Almost on cue he took note of what happened and sped off in disbelief. Paradox briefly looked out the window to see her mother walking towards the frame she just threw leaving a small dent in Breakdown. As her mother became a small dot in the distance Paradox could see her flipping off the van and yelling obscenities at them.

Chapter Text

As the rain became lighter, Breakdown drove to the bush side of the cemetery and transformed picking up Paradox and taking her to where the bushlands meet the dead Knockout was there waiting in his holoform with the bag of rainbow popcorn. He looked at Breakdown and saw a small dent with some scratches and chipped paint where impact had occurred and ran to him pushing the bag of popcorn into Paradox.

“Breakdown!? Are you alright? Your paints been chipped” he said examining Breakdowns arm intensely.

“Eh, it’s fine K.O” he assured “just a crazy British woman, you know I’ve tackled worse” he reported while flexing his arm a bit making Knockout swoon a little.

“No matter how it happened I’m still fixing you when we get back” Knockout raised his eye up to Breakdown who knew which battles to pick with his partner and nodded with a smile caused by how much his partner was blowing this out of proportion.

Paradox watched the couple before flipping the bag of popcorn upside down and opened it. She then saw her grandmother's grave and noticed the new hole and tombstone next to it, she did a small gasp.

“I KNEW IT!” She quietly exclaimed through her teeth “those mother fuckers!” she then reached into her pocket and pulled out the lilac diary covered in glitter and AI generated fairies and began noting stuff down with the winged glittery gel pen it came with.

Knockout leaned over and saw her title the page ‘Funeral review (reviewneral?)’ and the first thing she jotted down was ‘I wanted to be cremated and set off in fireworks in February because fuck the month of love (extra points for setting me off over the town on a windy day so I can fuck them over one last time)’. Knockout saw she had a sense of humour before but didn’t expect her to be that petty and so blunt with what she was writing down.

As the black herse pulled in she could hear the song they were playing

‘Um you know my dream car was a bedazzled herse. Where the fuck is the bedazzlement?

Also who put my mother anywhere near the playlist. I go out to some 1930’s song and not idk some slim shady “guess who's back” kinda shit’

As she stuffed some more popcorn into her mouth she saw a ratty old car that clearly hadn’t been repaired in years race up to the cemetery.

“I saw her! She’s alive! That bitch is alive!”

Paradox and Breakdown groaned as the woman grabbed her frame and walked towards the group of mourners.

“The last thing she says to me is that my lady hood is dry and she decides to run away and become a thief! That ungrateful little brat! I’m going to do more than slap her six ways to Sunday when I see her next”

Knockout then had a puzzled look on his face before realising what the term “Lady hood” meant and he looked at Paradox who had a smirk on her face before scribbling in her book again.

‘Mother dearest said she’ll do more than slap me six ways to Sunday next time she sees me. Please tell her we’ll both be in hell at that point and I’ll have a lot worse going for me by then’

Knockout then looked at Breakdown who was smiling and looking at his new dent “was that the crazy British lady?” Knockout asked in shock pointing at at Breakdown before moving his finger inline with Paradox, “how can that woman dent you and cause you to yell at her house that she needed three large containers of lube to give you life”

Just then one of Paradox’s friends went up to her mother.

“The only brat I see around here is you.” They paused “you tell us that our friend and your child is alive and well and instead of being thankful for that, you insult them and threaten to beat a dead person”

“They never found the body! That didn’t look like my little girl! She could still be out there! Playing her mind games on us! That’s all she did growing up! She tricked you all! She’s alive and well! Luckily she’s lost some weight which may make it harder to capture her and give her a good walloping!” The old lady smashed her frame into the ground.

“Alright Susan that’s enough” an even older woman stepped out of the car with a little shake holding her own frame. Everyone could tell that she actually needed it to walk, she spoke with a weary voice that didn’t sound as sad as she should of been considering the event happening before them. “The girl is clearly dead and yes, she was a horrible person, but today is a day of peace”

“HORRIBLE!” Another friend blurted out.

“I’m above punching two elderly women” the first friend muttered under their breath with their hands in their hips breathing out into the cold air trying to remove themselves from the situation unfolding.

“Oh please you manipulative narcissistic asshole! I’ve read the messages! I knew them better than you ever will!” A third let spill from their lips.

“Ok, ok. Let’s calm down. We all have our opinions on her, good and bad. Let's just put her into the ground and say our goodbyes.” The aunt spoke clearly, trying to keep things neutral “also they did find a body in the ocean Susan” she went up and held her hands “I know it’s hard but she’s gone but she’s right there, behind you, in that car”

“But that body in the casket looked nothing like her!” Susan yelled out.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD! We wanted to do one thing! So we did her final look! She looks good!” The second friend yelled in frustration.

“YOU MADE HER LOOK LIKE A CLOWN” Susan screeched.

“No, we knew they liked gay stuff so we gave them a bold and slightly campy look, we were inspired by Lady Gaga’s 2019 Met Look!” They continued

Paradox looked up at Knockout “wait, whose body did you give ‘em” she quietly laughed in morbid curiosity as she ate more popcorn.

“Oh we casted your body and made a fake duplicate before we did the surgery on you when you first came to us. Standard procedure if possible. Most of the time we accidentally damage the humans too much to do it but this time wasn’t too bad especially since we had a logical location to place to body” he shrugged as he eagerly watched on from the bushes “now shush, I think their about to go through what that corpse is wearing”

“Oh and don’t get me started on what she’s wearing! She’s supposed to be a nice young lady wearing a nice BLACK DRESS!” Susan yelled again, her face was becoming redder by the second

“THEY LIKED SPARKLY GAY SHIT! We dressed them in a stunning outfit. Thank you very much!” The third friend chimed in

“A WHITE DRESS IS FOR A WEDDING? Whose she’s going to marry? SATAN!?”

“My god Susan, we dressed them like Kate Miller-Heidke at Eurovision! We even gave them the Halo headpiece so that it at least looks like the bitch is going up” the third friend maliciously joked

“Oh my God! I would be looking STUNNING right now!” Paradox said as she jotted down ‘100/10 for my final look, personally I didn’t see it as coffin was closed by the time I got there but the concept: chefs kiss’

“I don’t get the references” Knockout whispered back

“So imagine a poofy sparkly, yet slim dress with a big ass sparkly crown with my makeup being black and gold lashes and 60’s bold black eyeliner with a bold pink lips”

Knockout paused and snatched the book from her and wrote ‘Knockout Approved’ in Cybertronian with an arrow pointing to Paradox’s rating of the look.

“ALSO I don’t know why your referring to her as one of those ‘non-binary’ people because she’s MY LITTLE GIRL” Susan started again, just trying to pick at anything Paradox’s friends said.

“SHOCKER, YOUR CHILD WAS GAY!” A fourth friend interrupted with jazz hands supporting the statement.

All the older folks gasped with a few younger people having shocked expressions over their dead friend being outed due to the frustration. The friends weren’t upset at the accidental outing but the family on the other hand were not amused.

“She was not gay!” The aunt yelled “She just like watching Drag shows and dressing up”

The oldest woman looked like she could have fainted “All you young people adding pronouns to the dead. Always got to do something besides working hard”

“FUCK YOU ALL! Get out! You’re ruining my DAUGHTERS DAY! First I had to fight to get the playlist right, second I had to fight over the food and then I decided to be the bigger person and let you dress her.” She paused and started to dramatically wail “MY DAUGHTERS FINAL DAY ON THIS PLANET AND YOU DECIDED SHE WAS GAY!”

“You guys can stay” a male voice called out from the final car entering the cemetery. “I know I fucked up a bit as a parent and I know Suz did as well…..”

“I DID NOT! YOU BRAINWASHED OUR LITTLE GIRL YOU MOSNTER!”

“If that’s what you want to believe then sure. It's not true but, I can’t change your mind. Can I have some help with the coffin?” He said as he waited for the driver to open up the hearse.

As the young people gathered around and helped the father take the coffin to the hole, Paradox noticed it was covered in paintings clearly done by her friends and some family.

“Dayum! they got me an actual coffin!? Not some like shitty hundred thousand dollar casket? And they painted it! With my favourite nerd stuff!” Paradox was amazed at the fact that the coffin was so nice and on brand for her. She started to feel tears swelling up in her eyes.

As the coffin was laid down one final time Paradox saw the fourth friend fiddled and hold up their phone as the music starting going off Susan clearly wasn’t happy about her child being laid to rest to it and dropped her frame ran up and tackled the friend holding the phone plunging them both into the grave. Both of them did not realise they were too deep to go back. Susan clearly wanted more hits on the person who dared to play music she didn’t approve of.

Watching from a distance this was the first time in a while that Paradox felt alive. Susan was giving a truly good attempt at a beating on top of her child’s coffin. The friend, on the other hand, new it was time to act.

“You don’t even know me” they smirked as they punched Susan across the face trying to get her off of them.

As the rain fully came to a stop as a hole opened in the sky to show its brilliant blue people began to reach in and join the pantheon and sing out their battle cries. Susan realised she was out numbered by every means she could cling to. She grabbed her walker, beginning to slowly and sadly walk over to the car. If she could have made a cloud rain on her to add dramatics she would have.

A few stayed behind for condolences and to clean up any mess caused to Paradox’s and any neighbouring graves but over time everyone left. Knockout stepped out from the bushland over to the grave with Paradox following quickly and Breakdown stepping out being cautious of his location

“Now that” Knockout laughed “That was a FIGHT! I haven’t seen anything that good in a while! Gets the adrenaline going”

Paradox joined in on the laughing mimicking her aunt “she’s not gay she just liked watching gay ass shows and dressing as gay ass characters to conventions filled with gay ass people! She couldn’t have possibly been gay! There weren’t any signs!”

She then snorted out in laughter as Knockout dramatically mimicked her mother “YOU MADE MY D-A-U-G-H-T-E-R GAY! SHE'S A MONSTER THAT BELONGS TO SATAN! but I love her very much” he tried to say that last part as angelically as possible faking a faint into breakdowns hand with his wrist dramatically placed on his forehead.

“I can’t believe I got out of that car park with just a small dent” Breakdown added in astonishment guiding Knockout back onto his feet “that or the fact I didn’t get the worst of it”

They then took in the scenery and watched the cows in the neighbouring field as the sun set.

“How about we leave this place with the same song they did?” Paradox suggested chugging the rest of the popcorn from its bag.

Breakdown transformed and drove them back down the street passing the cemetery to the shiny red car. The two got out and transferred over to the other car and with music of Saint Motel trailing them as they departed the cemetery following the setting sun back to the city.

Chapter Text

Paradox woke up slightly fatigued after her day out. She hated the feeling of sleeping in but she fought the sensation as she went back and forth between sleep and waking up until she was able to sit up without her body drowsing itself back to sleep. She thought that the sensation of transforming into her mechanical form would jump start her a bit. Unfortunately, it became more and more natural to her the more she did it, so the jump scare the sensation it would give her began to slowly die off over time.

She looked down at the data pads she was given and she realised she read most of them. She didn’t have much else to do besides knit and read so she got through anything she was given quickly. She then looked around the cells and saw that most of the bots that were there had been taken away for reasons Paradox didn’t really want answers too. Her generalised rule was that if they didn’t return in a week, they were dead. Sometimes they would come back later due to a torture session but most of the time, once they left they never came back.

Paradox stood up to stretch her legs and as she did Knockout collected her from the cell and took her to the lab.

“How are you feeling?” He asked

“I thi…”

“Physically not emotionally” he very quickly added. He didn’t really enjoy how literal he had to be but it made the conversations go quicker.

“Well I’m definitely tired and feeling a bit fatigued but also I think my sense of smell is starting to increase, not a lot but the metal and rain smell are kind of getting to me” Paradox stated.

Knockout wrote down what she said and did one last check over his notes. Before he set everything down on his desk just to double check a few things.

“By the way, the ship is taking off tomorrow morning so say goodbye to this planet. Unfortunately neither myself or Breakdown can take you out as we are both preparing for take off.” He mentioned as he began transferring data across to a shared document.

“Oh shit really? That's a bit of a thing to drop ain’t it? First thing that comes to mind is how will I breath exactly?” Paradox’s mind was racing and needed more time to process.

“You haven’t realised you don’t need oxygen yet have you? We’ve found that the human body does things to calm itself which can show itself as repeating motions that were linked to previous functions” Knockout explained trying to answer any questions Paradox might have in advance.

“Oh cool” she paused, “so how much of my body is mechanical now?”

“Probably about 80%. Some of your body such as that flesh thing you humans have is fake and made from a similar acting more durable and easily replaceable material. While some organs like your heart are still the original organ, we’ve just put a protective layer around them” Knockout was still typing at his desk sending off a message about the new data he collected.

Paradox sat and thought for a bit. The idea of a whole new body made her feel a bit uncomfortable, she didn’t hate the idea but she didn’t enjoy it either.

“So is my body more aligned with yours now?” She asked

“Yes. A few differences but otherwise it’s the same concept. You're slightly weaker but if you know how to handle yourself you’ll walk amongst us with little to no suspicion” Knockout stood up from his desk with his arms folded.

“So why the whole kidnapping people for pregnancy then? Wouldn’t there be more available resources for you to just make more soldiers?” She tilted her head to the side wondering if the Decepticons just wanted to torture her more or if there was an actual reason

“Again you're weaker than us. So constantly building weak soldiers is a waste of time and resources especially when humans can make their own bodies for less effort and hopefully overtime we can experiment with evolution and genetics to eliminate that weakness” he looked like he just wanted to get on with his own stuff rather than talk to Paradox “you know what? I’ll give you this, it should answer most of your questions”

He looked through his collection of data pads and found a small collection of them and handed them to Paradox. She looked at some of the titles and saw that they were all Cybertron medical journals.

“Thank you. I needed something else to read anyway” paradox happily shrugged “this should be helpful” she said looking through the 6 data pads she was given

“They’re from my days learning medicine. I would appreciate it if I got them back afterwards” the stare he gave showed that he really meant what he was saying in a slightly threatening tone.

“Yes definitely” Paradox said as she began to read the first one

“You're getting the language down pretty well aren’t you?” Knockout stated as he watched her read them carefully

“Yes I very much am, it’s becoming second nature to me now. I just need to practise my spoken stuff a bit and I should be fine. The other people in the cell have been helping me a bit with it so I should be there in no time.” She had a small smile cross her face but she was too focused on the data pad to look up.

“How about from now on whenever something unimportant comes up I speak to you in Cybertronic?” He asked in his language testing the waters to see how much she knew.

Understanding the cue but not the words. She looked up from the book and at Knockout and slowly said in her best Cybertronic “can you repeat? No attention”

He looked at Paradox and guestered to his face as if he was asking if she was ready for the repetition as she nodded in return. Knockout then slowed down his vocal pacing and tried to make it less complicated.

“Would you like to talk in Cybertronic for casual conversations?” He eagerly watched her try to process what he’d said hoping that in time she would ditch the human language for what he considered to be the better of the two.

Paradox paused and mentally went through all the words that she could say. She could try and string together a sentence or she could just keep it simple and upfront.

“Yes.” She slowly stated hoping she had the right word

“Good. We will start immediately” he paused and realised his word choice was a bit too advanced for her “we start now” he corrected. The pair then spent the rest of the day preparing for take off as Knockout explained all the equipment in Cybertronic.

Chapter Text

Paradox spent most of her night scribbling down glittery notes in her journal as she read the data pads Knockout gave her earlier in the day. As midnight approached Knockout and Breakdown came into the prison.

“Hey P, we’re about to take off. Do you want to come with us?” Breakdown asked slowly in Cybertronic

Paradox rose to her feet and nodded. She never really liked the sensation of planes taking off and she’d seen enough space stuff to realise she probably wouldn’t enjoy the sensation of a spacecraft taking off. But this wasn’t a human spacecraft, she was hooked on that feeling of hope that the takeoff wouldn’t be too bad.

As the cell doors opened she walked out and waved to them both as they took her out of the room and began walking around the ship. Paradox had no idea where they were going but she trusted them enough to know that nothing bad was going to happen to her, she stuck close to Knockout still a bit unsure of Breakdown but she enjoyed his company.

“I have read…ing the pads you got me, they are good” Paradox knew she had a bit of practice ahead of her before her Cybertronic became less stunted and weird sounding but she hoped that she was able to get her point across.

“That’s good to hear” Knockout smiled back at her “where are you up to?”

“I am almost done with the re…pro...duct…ion” she paused and thought if she had said that incorrectly for a moment and continued “it is very” she paused again to find the right word and how to correctly say it “enter…ance…ing”

“Interesting?” Knockout responded, trying to correct her.

“Yes!” She pointed in approval “in…ter…ance…ing”

“You’re so close. Try pronouncing it as ‘in - ter - rest - ing’ say ‘rest’ instead of ‘ance’ this time”

Paradox nodded and thought about it for a second “in…ter…ressst…ing. Did I get it?”

“Yes, good job you got there, now you just have to say it more fluently and smoother” he congratulated.

“Thank you. Any way, it said in the book that spark s are made apart from body. How does that work?” Paradox asked

“I assume you haven’t read about spark infusions yet” Knockout watched as Paradox shook her head side to side with a look of eagerness in her eye.

“You will read about it later but the body and the spark are made separately. The spark is made at the Well and the body is made by us in either a…” Knockout paused to think about his words, he couldn’t verbally explain the reproduction system to someone who didn’t understand the language. “…Factory…of sorts. While a body can work no matter who makes you. Poor building means weaker Cybertronians. Take yourself for example, you're not as strong as a typical Cybertronian because you weren’t as carefully built by a professional but you’ll fair just fine”

“But you need a spark to work. I do not?” Paradox queeried

“We’ve been finding that you have a spark that works fine. We think it’s split between two of your body parts. One being your head and the other….” Knockout then gestured to Paradox’s heart not being able to find the correct word for it.

Paradox took mental note of what was being said so she could write it down later. She then got curious what the other side was doing about the lack of soldiers.

“If we lack people. Would the same be happen…ing with the other side?”

Knockout looked at her not really knowing the answer to the question “I honestly don’t know, I think they would be, they aren’t like us. They are more passive with recruitment so most likely” he thought a loud.

“Actually one of the scouts I ran into the other day says they’re also trying to build their own soldiers. Just from scratch” Breakdown reported “it’s all rumours but apparently whatever they’re building is turning out to not have much thought process and is highly unstable. If it’s true then I think it’s just a waste of resources that could be spent armouring up their current force” he shrugged.

Paradox didn’t fully get that but she understood that the Autobots were failing in an area the Decepticons had clearly succeeded in.

As the conversation ended they entered a viewing deck. There were quite a few bots there, some were working on the last few things before take off but most were sitting around wanting to get the same view as the three of them were hoping for.

Knockout looked up at Breakdown and pointed to a spot in the corner that had a small seating area by the window. Without saying a word Breakdown tightly but carefully held onto Knockout's hand and Knockout gripped Paradox’s wrist as Breakdown ploughed through the crowd to the small corner booth. Knockout and Paradox sat down Breakdown chatted to a few of the neighbouring bots before taking a seat, pulling Knockout close to him resting his hand on Knockout’s waist as he bellowed out a loud laugh before quietly turning around and giving Knockout a peck on the forehead. Paradox sat as close to the window as she got one last glimpse of her home. She felt a light tap on the shoulder, she turned around and saw Knockout holding out her phone to her.

“It’s going to get loud very quickly, both from the ship and socially. You downloaded any last thing you needed right? There’s no connection for that device on Cybertron” he stated as Paradox grabbed the phone nodding a confirmation as she put the earbuds in.

The moment music started playing all she could focus on was the window and the last view of her home that laid beyond it. A few minutes after watching a quiet and still bushland were disrupted as the lights from the engine lit up the bush showing the Lorikeets, Galahs, Kookaburras and other birds fly into the distance screeching in fear while the Kangaroos hopped quickly following the birds in quick pursuit. The ship’s engines rumbled the Earth it sat upon. Paradox saw the Earth move downwards as she began to move up with the ship. She could see the freeway leading to the city capital and as the ship began to turn and move towards the Indian Ocean the houses began to scurry under the ship as it picked up speed and headed up amongst the stars breaking the quiet of the night.

As the ship left the atmosphere Paradox could feel a bit of vibration from what she assumed to be a bit of whatever the space version of turbulence was as the ship moved across the solar system to a portal hidden amongst an asteroid belt. The portal looked like it was put together with scraps. As they approached, light began to appear as the portal’s mechanisms began to move. It didn't take long before the portal was fully operational, as the portal began fully operating the ship lined itself up and sped towards the portal. Paradox grabbed her seat and didn’t know whether to watch or close her eyes, she knew it was going to be an experience either way as the ship approached her eyes made that choice for her and closed against the blinding lights. As it quickly began to darken again, the ship started to slow down. Paradox opened her eyes and saw a planet made from metal. She looked back at Knockout who gestured to the planet showing off their destination with a saddened but approving smirk.

Chapter Text

The ship descended upon the planet, Paradox eagerly watched in while also looking back at Knockout wanting confirmation that this was Cybertron. The planet looked barren and as if it was made of rusted copper. She could see where everyone’s memories once stood and had an idea of how the place used to look. She did one final look at Knockout gesturing to the outside by pointing with her hand.

“Yes, welcome to Cybertron,” he said approvingly. The Decepticons had been stationed away from their home for so long that they were happy to be back, no matter how the place looked. The ship's engines stopped as the ship gently kissed the ground to land. Paradox could see numerous bots applauding and being happy to be home.

Once the ship had fully landed the door to the viewing platform opened and the anonymous looking bots entered with Starscream in the centre of their formation.

“Welcome back to Cybertron” the words leached from his mouth as he faked a smile “I, Starscream, have guided us back to our home. After many stella cycles of being on that horrendous planet, we are finally back in Kaon. We shall continue our battle for our home on our own planet!”

The bots cheered, some just relieved to be home while others just not wanting to deal with Starscream’s ego if he caught them not applauding. While the Decepticons cheered Paradox noticed the anonymous bots didn’t flinch and had no emotion. They were acting a lot like Shockwave but just with less leadership skills or rank. They just stood there watching, making sure nothing happened to the Decepticon leader. As the applauding stopped Starscream cleared his throat,

“Now that we have landed, get back to your stations. All of you!” He declared as he left the room with his security reforming their huddle around him.

Paradox watched as the room emptied and took out her earbuds and handed the phone back to Knockout. As the transfer was made, Breakdown spoke up.

“Alright. I’ve got to head off, I’m sure you do as well” he leant in, making one final check to see if anyone else was lingering around and kissed Knockout passionately.

“Yes, we do.” Knockout softly spoke as their lips separated. As Breakdown began to walk away Knockout swung around to watch his partner head towards the door and called out “I’ll see you later, I noticed a few scuffs on you that need to be buffed out!” Breakdown smiled and winked back as he exited through the door.

Knockout gazed at the door longingly as it became empty. He sighed and looked back to see Paradox transforming to her human size holding her hands up towards him doing little elevations on the balls of her feet.

“What’s this?” He questioned

“Up!” Paradox quietly yelled with eagerness

“Up?” Knockout began looking above him

“No, pick up!” Paradox began cartoonishly tapping the tips of her fingers to her thumb

“Pick up you?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her

“Yes!” Paradox was starting to feel excitement jitters, she started to shake her hands and do small jumps to try and get it out of her system.

Knockout then wrapped his hand around her and held Paradox out in front of him like an adult with no idea of what to do with the child they were just handed.

“Now what?” He grumbled

“I do not know. Lot happening” Paradox began to swirl her hands around her head “it is hard to think. Where do we go?” Her voice became excited. Knockout felt her body begin to slightly shake and vibrate, he added more stability to his grip by placing his other hand underneath Paradox’s dangling feet, which instantly began tapping his hand excitedly while her upper body began to almost shimmy with excitement.

“Knockout we have a new holding spot for the human”

Without even turning around they both knew who it was. There was only one passenger on this ship that made such a nerve chilling sound like that.

“Yes, of course” Knockout shivered as he followed Shockwave out of the room with Paradox in his grip slowly being moved towards his chest as they approached the purple bot before being lead out of the room and off the ship.

As they left the ship Paradox noticed the buildings were covered in spikes that weren’t as weathered as the buildings they sat upon. The closer she got the more she noticed the windows starting to emit a purple glow.

As they got to the entrance Shockwave met with another bot who began walking beside him. Paradox couldn’t hear them very well, but they were having a small conversation. The light grey bot with a purple face was welcoming him back to Cybertron between reports of what had happened during their absence. Knockout followed them from behind. He was relieved to be back and didn’t put much effort into following them as he knew the halls like the back of his hand. When they approached the door Shockwave turned to the very boxy and top heavy bot dripping in more ammo than guns. His legs had red accents while his torso was accented in gold and as he turned Paradox, she saw two large spikes emerging up from his helmet.

“Deadlock, take the subject to the cell. Knockout you will help bring our equipment over from the ship and re-establish our lab” Shockwave looked directly at Knockout the entire time and Deadlock held out his hand prompting the exchange. When the realisation happened Paradox stopped tapping her feet and looked back at Knockout hoping that she wouldn’t be handed off to whoever Shockwave had assigned to do so. She also understood that it was probably the better solution as she didn’t want to see Knockout hurt. The remorseful look spread across her face as Knockout gently handed her over the Deadlock.

“She is fragile and very anxious. Do not cause unnecessary stress as it could affect our experiments and not in a beneficial way” he warned hoping Paradox would be taken care of by the intimidating bot who was known for his skills and demeanour on the streets of which he emerged from, who had slowly been gaining more prominence during their absence.

Knockout began to lessen his grip on Paradox and hold her up to the waiting hand. Deadlock towered over Knockout, the size difference wasn’t as noticeable between Shockwave and Deadlock but the difference was still there. The moment Paradox was placed in Deadlock’s hands he almost snatched her away and promptly walked off. Paradox turned around to see Knockout in the distance taking orders from Shockwave and as the two walked in opposing directions Knockout slipped from Paradox’s sight.

The building Paradox was brought into slowly began to form the architecture of an impromptu prison. It was well built, but clear that the building wasn’t intended to hold prisoners. She heard crying and chatting amongst the cell mates in the distance but as they approached the room got quiet and once they had passed the chatting would slowly and carefully restart in the distance trailing behind them. Deadlock walked through the halls for a while, Paradox was getting a little uneasy and bored, normally she would be talking to Knockout by now or already in the lab. The urge of wanting to know where she was going started to get on her nerves. She looked up at Deadlock trying to read his facial expression, while it wasn’t as hard to read as Shockwave's. She had trouble picking up his expression through his stone face, he clearly had a place to go and wanted to be there at once. Paradox then looked back down at the floor knowing she probably wasn’t going to get any answers from him.

As the minutes went on Deadlock finally reached a door that was guarded by soldiers that looked slightly different to the anonymous ones seen on the ship. Almost like they were an earlier generation or made from a different base material. The door opened to reveal a room full of alien creatures, it wasn’t a stable but more like animals locked in a cruel environment begging to be let out, to hunt. Paradox was put on a desk quickly as if Deadlock wanted to get rid of her.

“Shockwave’s new experimental pet. I believe you have all the details needed for its care” he reported and as he recived confirmation he turned around and left as quickly as he entered.

Paradox looked up and saw a similar bot to the one guarding the door. All of them had a helmet with a visor covering their face. They were a similar size to her Cybertron form. She always found them eerie, they never spoke, only nodded and did exactly as they were told. It was like they were never real people to begin with and the fact there was so many of them also spooked Paradox as she often wondered how they found so many bots with the same lack of personality. She often thought that if Shockwave was in the same room as a large group of them besides his appearance he would blend in almost perfectly.

The sound of a cage landing on the desk next to her jolted her from her thought process . The bars were both horizontal and vertical. It was smaller than her cell but roomy enough to not qualify as a glorified fish tank. The bot opened the top of the container and lifted Paradox before placing her in and locking the cage. He then picked the cage up and moved her across the room to place the cage on the floor across from what she could only describe as a pack of geometric alien foxes. She slowly started to lay down and rest in her new environment, sounds and smells started to overwhelm her. She began to shake her leg as he crouched onto the floor taking deep breaths before she started shaking her hands. She looked around for comfort or maybe a window but nothing was working. The room was both deprived and full of stimulants. She then curled up on the floor, back turned to the world as the leg shaking got more aggressive. Over time the anxiety and shaking exhausted her and she passed out in a small puddle of tears and drool.

Chapter Text

Paradox woke up the next day to find her bag next to her. She looked inside to see if anything was tampered with but all she found was a data pad with a small note written on it.

‘I believe this is yours, I won’t be seeing much of you from now on so good luck out there and we will have you covered if something goes wrong. Also this is a blank data pad for you to write your notes in’

She then looked further through the bag to find her phone in there. It wasn’t much use now that she was away from the internet but she had downloaded two playlists, a considerable amount of movies/shows and her favourite musicals the day before they left earth. Knockout watched her download 15 films, 8 of which were Barbie films. He asked if it was really necessary to have that many poor quality looking films, her response:

“Yes it is, Barbie is a fragging lifestyle. Maybe if you watched some of this fine cinema you would understand it”

Knockout then tried to call Paradox out on her bluff but secretly enjoyed the one Barbie film that he begrudgingly agreed to watch.

Paradox then reached in for her knitting and began to knit away in her cell. By this point she had almost finished the front of her jumper which was large enough to cover from her neck to her knees. It was great at keeping the coldness of her cell at bay. She didn’t enjoy the smell created by the animals around her but they couldn’t help it. It was the cybertronians' fault for classifying her as a pet, which even then Paradox couldn’t be fully mad at because if she was unwell on an alien planet, she would have gone to a veterinary clinic. But her cybertronian parts must account for something right? She’s not a full animal.

As the smell became too overwhelming for her senses, she got out her phone and listened to some music while knitting.

After a short time Shockwave came in and spoke to the bot watching over all of the animals. She then watched as the bot approached her cage and hoisted it up from the ground and handed it to the other anonymous guard who followed Shockwave back to his lab. This lab was filled with far more advanced and sci-fi looking equipment compared to the one on the ship. Paradox was then placed on the table before being pulled from her enclosure and placed on the table. When it came to Shockwave she didn’t know how to react to him. With Knockout she knew that she could talk and gossip to him and ask questions if she had any, but with Shockwave, she couldn’t do any of that. She just sat on the table awaiting instructions hoping she wouldn’t stuff it up. Shockwave approached her and did his scans and compared his notes to Knockout’s before putting her back in the cage. But instead of taking her back to the animal store room she was instead put on one of his shelves. Maybe being in a sad looking animal shelter was the better option when compared to constant observation from the beefed up geometric lamp of doom.

As the Cybertron version of weeks passed Paradox saw many different torture methods done by Shockwave. Most of which made her want to vomit for reasons outside of pregnancy symptoms. She had scans every day which became normal very quickly and over time she was able to read through the medical journals Knockout gave her all those chords ago. She was hoping to see him again soon as she never had anyone to talk to nowadays.

What she wasn’t expecting was for it to happen so soon.

She was taking notes in her data pad about the last medical journal when she heard a loud bang that rattled her whole body. Sirens were then heard in the distance with battle cries shortly followed. Paradox watched Shockwave prepare some experimental weapon for the chance of someone entering his room. Which didn’t take long, as about 10 bots that paradox could only assume were Autobots judging by their different badges. The sound of the weapon whirred as it expanded outwards. Paradox watched on in horror as their sparks were slowly and painfully ripped from their chassis. Their screams filled the room as the lights in their optics flickered until their bodies dropped to the floor as they groaned in pain for one last time.

As the battle continued Shockwave dragged them over to his desk one by one and tampered with their brain modules before unlocking the tank of his gun and putting sparks back into them. Paradox had never seen this process before, but judging by the surgery Shockwave was performing and what the journals had told her. It appeared that he was performing shadowplay on them. Removing their personality entirely and putting random sparks into the wrong bodies after messing with their modules. He then placed the bodies against the walls of his lab. His final modification? Removing their Autobot badges and melting them down to create ammo for their guns.

One final blast was taken to the building before screams and plead for help and retreat were heard from the Autobots as they took off into the distance. That final blow shook the room harder than the rest of the blasts felt. Once peace and quiet returned, there was a knock at the door. The door opened to reveal a battle damaged Deadlock walking around like he wasn’t injured at all.

“The room below this one was blasted. We believe it to be highly unstable. We will prepare to move you into the medic’s room until more stability can be brought back to this room” the mech reported. Unusually there was a tone of shame in his voice but he never let it visually show.

“For my line of work stability is needed and if you believe the medic’s room is better suited then I will move there. Can you please send someone to help move our newest soldiers. They require some touch ups” Shockwave then moved to his shelves and picked up Paradox’s cage

“Yes I will do that right away” Deadlock reported while looking at the unconscious former Autobots from across the room “Is there anything else I can do to help make the move quicker and easier?”

Shockwave handed the cage to Deadlock “you can deliver this to the medic and tell him the news of the move”

“Yes, of course” Deadlock turned on his heels and left the room deflating the moment he was out of everyone’s sight.

Paradox was never good at starting conversations, but she could tell when someone felt like shit from personal experience. She looked up at him from her cage and thought for a moment, wondering if she was actually going to do this.

“Hello” she softly spoke trying to use her best Cybertronic wording “you do not look so good”

Deadlock looked around to realise the voice was coming from the weird flesh creature he was carrying

“You understand Cybertronic?” He asked lifting the cage to his eye level

“Yes, Knockout helped teach me and I mainly com…mun…i…cate through it. Even Shockwave uses it around me. I’m still learning but I’ve made great progress” she softly smiled “but are you ok?”

Deadlock immediately stood up straight like the strong leader he projected himself to be.

“Just frustration over the battle. Just some damage I’m going to have to report. Paperwork has never been my thing” he was obviously trying his best to hide the truth.

“I get that, so, what is your thing?” Paradox asked tilting her head to the side.

“Violence” Deadlock stated as he continued walking.

“Ooooo! What type of violence, personally I like arson. But you can not really do that when I am from, you would not believe the amount of stuff I would like to set on fire” a tone of maliciousness came out alongside her statement as she smiled looking up at the mech who was pretty sure he would see fire in her optics if they were more like his.

“I like shooting things.” He stated

“Oooo! Like what? Shooting is pretty illegal where I am from so I do not know much about it” Deadlock didn’t think her eyes could sparkle like that but he was proven very wrong.

“Autobots currently, but previously anyone who I was commanded to”

“Like who?” The statement made him pause and he felt his optics lose a tear as he remembered his life in the slums of Polyhex known as the Dead End.

“Bad people, where I’m from we were left to fight for ourselves so that’s what we did. I got in with the wrong crowd after leaving the right one” he looked down at the floor and away from Paradox

“Why did you have to leave the right crowd?” Her head tilted further to try and read his sorrowful expression.

“Because I had to, then they died before I could reunite with them” he was trying to hide the shake in his voice.

“You do not want to talk about them? That is fine, I understand. May I ask why you are here?” She knelt down and looked toward his face plate, not making eye contact.

“Because I was chosen by Megatron to prove that we could rise above the senate's suppression” he continued to walk again but slower.

“Did you rise above them? Did you prove them wrong?” The words of that last question made him briefly pause

“I…. I do not think so. All we’ve been able to prove is that war was never the correct response to suppression and that if the senate continued its path then maybe Cybertron would still be alive” he thought out loud as he continued walking.

The rest of the distance was brief as Deadlock opened the door to the medical office. When the door opened Breakdown could be seen walking away from Knockout. Paradox smiled and waved at the large black bot and held out her hand to greet him. As Breakdown passed he held out one of his digits and gave her a small high-five of sorts. Paradox then turned around and waved at Knockout, who gave a small flick of the hand in return with confusion spread across his face. The room was filled with bodies of both dead and living Decepticons that Knockout was trying to attend to.

“What's this about? I’m very busy” He didn’t move an eye from the mech laying on his table as Deadlock entered the room placing Paradox on Knockout’s desk.

“Oooo surgery! Let me out! Maybe I can help?” Paradox shook on the bars.

“Not right now, but maybe I can let you try some less critical patients later?” He called out.

“Ok. But, if you need to reach any small things then you know there’s a small set of hands in a cage begging to be let out” she sat down and grumbled, waiting patiently for her moment.

“Out of all the humans you have brought here and the one that’s working out the best is the sadistic one we can’t put on the front line” Deadlock announced as he gave the cage one last look.

“Yes, yes, she’s come out of her spark chamber quite a bit! Now if you excuse me” Knockout impatiently yelled as he quickly shut the mid section plating of the mech he was working on.

Knockout then turned around and rushed to his desk to pick up a tool, tapping the cage trying to quickly greet Paradox.

“Deadlock and I talked about shooting and arson” she childishly spoke with a loud malicious undertone followed by small deep almost maniacal giggles.

Knockout stared at her for a split second and smiled “Primus, that was a bit unsettling coming from you” he laughed as he dove into the next mech in need of help.

As Deadlock left the room promptly he announced as he left through the door “Shockwave’s moving in here until his room is back to full stability”

Knockout froze. “What!?” He panickedly called out.

“There was a bomb that entered the room below us and now his room isn’t stable, do not kill the messenger but Shockwave’s moving in here soon” Paradox rapidly let out.

A large sigh came from the red mech as he scanned the back strut of the newest patient “I was hoping the blast had damaged my audials” he grumbled.

Chapter Text

The last of the few critical patients were either healed or passed on to which Knockout told their bodies “you are now one with the AllSpark” before carefully putting them aside.

He then looked at the cage in his desk and walked over to it. He saw Paradox waiting patiently and respectfully after the last dead Cybertronian was laid to the ground away from any chance of becoming a tripping hazard

“Right” he sighed “not my intentions on my first day back” Knockout sombrely clapped his hands together. “I suppose I should take you out of that cage now” he lifted open the door on the cage’s ceiling and carefully lifted Paradox out and onto his table before she slid down on the floor transforming to appear more Cybertronian. She proceeded to stick her hands in a small gap in her chest area that was the perfect book compartment and gave Knockout back his medical journals.

“I managed to read them all! I even took notes!” She proudly stated “thank you for letting me use them”

Knockout took the journals back and stacked them away. He then turned around and got out a small kit and opened it infront of her. The kit had some small buffing equipment and tools to remove dents.

“You’re going to start off just like I did” he smiled with a tinge of joy that came from making Paradox his apprentice. “By taking out dents and scratches while I do the larger jobs”

Paradox took the kit and set it up on the table beside Knockout who had his back turned preparing to deal with anything from minor cuts to reattaching limbs. “We get a lot of dim-sparked, half-clocked lumps who think any scratch to their plating is going to kill them. Given the situation I doubt any poison was used, so it’s unlikely that there would be no poison hidden in the scratches. But if you’re really unsure then just ask me” Knockout announced as he turned around expecting to see Paradox struggling only to see he smiling with some basic tools in her hands

“I mean I would expect you to be one of those ‘dim-sparked, half-clocked lumps’ if you were not a medic. You are far too vain to have a job with denting involved” Paradox smiled at him

Knockout knew she wasn’t wrong as a small chuff came from him while he sarcastically rolled his eyes knowingly “are you ready for your first patient?” He asked

“Yes! Can not wait!” She cheerfully said “also what’s the rule on how pro…fesh..in…al we are here? Like insults?”

“You should know by now what my level of professionalism is and considering you can’t even talk properly yet I highly doubt you’ll say anything too bad” he laughed as he talked down about her

“How much time did you spend in Australia? You should know how un…for…give…ing we are” Paradox laughed as the door opened letting in two mechs. One with a missing hand, the other with a majorly dented back plate.

Knockout was unsure of Paradox’s speed at first but he saw that as she grew more confident with the dent and scratch removal the quicker she got. While the first few were barely passable for his liking he saw her attempts and work ethic improve as her skills got better. She ended up doing a job just below his high standard much quicker than he thought anyone but himself could go. Before long she had gone through every dented and scratched patient before Knockout was even three quarters of the way through his patients. He let Paradox watch and study him as he worked before sending them over to her for a quick dent and scratch removal. By then end of the line he let her re-attach a digit or two back onto their servos.

As the last patient left, the two packed up and cleaned the area and equipment used chatting away about everything that happened.

“I can’t believe you called that lump a ‘fucking lie whore’ what did he even say to deserve that?” Knockout laughed inquisitively

“He said the crack in his chassis was caused by the blast and that he had to see you because ‘scraplets got in’. Like, you fucking slag for brains, if scrapplets were in there for that long then either we would all be dead or they would of figured out that your such a burnout that there was nothing of worth for them to eat and they would of left you” she laughed “the best part was not even the runt of a scraplet group could of gotten through a crack that small”

They then spent time sharing the gossip they had heard from their patients anything and everything from what Knockout had to remove from patients afts because ‘the blast lodged it in’ to relationship drama from Paradox. But the last few patents all had similar gossip from what happened to Deadlock

“I heard that he was annoyed at Starscream’s voice and thought shooting him was the best option” Paradox laughed

“Lucky bootleg, he’s done what we all dream of doing. Probably wouldn’t of received any punishment” Knockout sighed wishfully

“Yeah apparently he then went on to jump out a window and has left the Decepticons” Paradox continued reporting

“Probably scared of all the cheers and admiration he’s going to get” Knockout snarked.

Their laughter was interrupted by a sudden opening of the door.

“Fix me. NOW” a demanding screech could be heard

“Now it all makes sense” Knockout sighed “Starscream, to what do my apprentice and I owe the pleasure for?” He then looked at his shoulder and saw a large blast hole in it. He hadn’t even noticed Starscream holding what remained of that body part in his left servo

“Primus, what happened?” Knockout asked as if he didn’t know already

“I was shot by that traitor Deadlock! When I get my hands on him I’ll…” frustration fused over Starscream before he had a chance to finish it

“Dead lock him? No, lock him to death? Hmmm, doesn’t sound right. Oh! I know! lock him to a crocodile that death rolls him!” Paradox suggested, Knockout quietly laughing alongside her, cringing slightly

“If you say one more word it will be your voice box on the line” he ridiculed

Paradox held up her servos in defeat with a sorry look on her face. She then watched as Knockout reattached Starscream’s shoulder before fixing the gaps and removing any proof of a gunshot.

“A fine job indeed” he looked at his seamlessly repaired shoulder before walking out of the medical office.

“You need to learn about knowing your audience” Knockout pointed as he packed up his equipment yet again

“Maybe. Or perhaps the audience needs to get a better sense of humour” she cockily smiled.

“To be fair, I would jump from a window as well if I was locked in a room with Starscream” Knockout retorted with a smirk pulling at the left side of his face plate.

“Isn’t Shockwave supposed to be here soon?” Paradox groaned

“Well I delayed his arrival by telling him that I’m a single medic who has to repair a few hundred soldiers quickly so I sent him a memo asking if he could delay his arrival for the start of the next cycle” Knockout looked so proud of himself and less stressed “told me it was a ‘logical’ request”

“Smart” Paradox happily exhaled “Hey you want to watch the sequel…or prequel, I do not really know which it is…to that Barbie movie I showed you the other day?”

“Yes, yes I do Glimmer” he smiled

“After this I’m going to start calling you Raquelle” she teased back

“Do you want to see if Breakdown is available to watch with us?” Knockout suggested

“Sure. Does that mean we have to watch the first one again? Because I am so down for that” Paradox smiled

“I suppose we will” Knockout sarcastically grumbled

Chapter Text

After Shockwave moved in the room became quiet and unsteady with his gaze back in the room. The banter Knockout and Paradox shared yesterday became quiet mumbles as he taught her how to reattach larger limbs.

Meanwhile Shockwave was on his side of the room working on the Autobots he shadowplayed with yesterday. Fixing up their damage and redesigning them to lose any sense of identity. Now that Paradox knew the truth behind those anonymous guards, she started to realise how much they looked like Shockwave. They were just lankier than him. Each guard was coloured black with purple detailing with a geometric red visor that covered their face plates. They started to comfort her when it came to Shockwave as she realised he was most likely creating them in his image which is the closest thing to a personality she had ever seen him have. The guards still freaked her out but seeing their creation and how their creator built them, they seemed less menacing now.

Knockout was very pleased with how his new medical apprentice was faring. Especially given the circumstances of her not even knowing of their existence for that long. He found that she was very curious and saw her work drive be much stronger than anticipated. As they continued to work on restoring and reattaching limbs, Shockwave woke up one of his new guards hoping they were ready to be trained and put to work. The guard got up and immediately turned toward Knockout and Paradox. He then lifted his arm and quickly shot towards them. Shockwave immediately shut the bot back down again after what was legitimately a freak accident.

Knockout turned around “What was that?” He looked around and saw Shockwave putting the guard back on his table. Knockout then looked around “Paradox?” He called out before looking down at the floor after hearing her speak

“I am good. Just a bit of shock. Me legs feel a bit funny but I should be fine” Paradox reached out to grab the table trying to stabilise herself. Knockout saw her struggle to stand as he assisted her back into her feet. He then analysed her to make sure she was ok.

Then he saw her legs

“Paradox” he remorsefully sighed

He carefully and quickly hoisted her up onto the table and started doing scans of her and sent them through to Shockwave asking for permission to perform surgery on her legs in which he agreed upon due to how much stress and loss of fluids were occurring. As the world faded to black for Paradox she stopped picking up on what what happening

What only felt like a short while later Paradox woke up on Knockout’s chair. She looked around his desk to find some small items from his journeys with Breakdown amongst his certificates. Paradox looked around to see no sign of Shockwave before then looking up to see Knockout cleaning his equipment.

“Knockout” she slowly called out in a weary hushed tone

Knockout immediately dropped his equipment and went to check on her.

“Primus are you ok? There was a freak accident and your legs….” Knockout was interrupted by Paradox

“I am fine. As the saying goes. ‘Tis but a scratch’” she laughed

“It’s more than a scratch. I don’t know how to start” the tone in his voice became the most serious and concerned voice Paradox had heard from him.

“Damn, how badly was I fragged up?” She groaned a laugh through her drowsy voice.

“Well” Knockout quickly paused to make sure Paradox didn’t look down “it’s about your legs and your right arm. You see the blast damaged your left leg but removed your right leg. Due to how we built you, we weren’t intending for you to lose limbs so we’ve had to make you a prosthetic leg which I believe Shockwave is working on now”

Paradox looked at Shockwave’s side of the room to see it barren and empty

“hey” she nodded in the direction of where Shockwave would be working “where did that mother fragger go?” Knockout began to hear her Australian accent come through in her Cybertonic speaking voice. He didn’t know if she was doing it because of how much shock she was in or if it was because she was starting to transfer her accent across.

“Well after the accident, we deemed it unsafe for him to be here so he’s moved to Deadlock’s empty quarters” he answered quickly and softly “ready for the next part?” He asked trying to continue on with his report

“Yeah” the accent was in full force, Knockout had never heard her speak in such a strong accent before.

“So some shrapnel from the blast damaged your right arm very badly from your finger to your forearms. You got that?” he asked

“Yeah”

“So that arm was also unreplaceable. So we’re making you a prosthetic for that as well”

“Oh shit, that is not cool now is it?” The gravity of the situation started to dawn on her as the fatigue started to fade away.

“But miraculously your child has survived, barely though” he smiled hoping the positive news would bring her a bit of joy.

Paradox looked down over her very small stomach bump and saw the damage to her body. Most of her right limbs were gone. She had a stump about 9cms above where her knee should have been and her right hand was gone alongside half of her forearm. Everything started to dawn on her. She didn’t cry but she knew she was going to struggle.

“How do I do medical work now? How do I walk?” She asked, trying to hide the tears.

“Look, knowing Shockwave he’s probably stolen parts from a prisoner so don’t worry. We will get you functioning again soon. How about we sit down and start watching Barbie? Take our minds off of things and just relax a bit” Knockout asked trying to sooth her panic.

Paradox still trying to hide her tears rubbed her faceplate dry and looked at Knockout’s shoulder to try and avoid eye contact.

“Mhmmm, that sounds good” she tried to hide her sniffles.

Chapter Text

Paradox woke up on the medical table she fell asleep on after spending the night watching movies with Knockout. As she looked over she saw a new leg and arm on the bench. She then tried to locate Knockout who she quickly found rummaging through his personal dent kit to find his buffer. Still laying down she watched him as he brought his buffer and kit over to the arm and leg. He then checked to see if she was awake as he put his things down before heading back over to her cage and pulling out her phone.

“Here, it’s going to get a bit loud” he smiled as he handed it to her. She put the earbuds in as she haphazardly sat up and eagerly watched as he got to work on the limbs. The crappy scuffed up limbs quickly became blank as Knockout stripped them of their many clashing colours. He then took out some paint and showed them to her. Paradox picked up and investigated each bottle to find some colours that she liked. She was drawn to the metallic colour changing ones more. They reminded her of the cars on Earth with similar paint jobs. She would call them chameleon cars as they drastically changed colour. Her dream car would have a glittery pink/purple/ blue chameleon paint job. Unfortunately, there was no glitter in the line up.

Knockout put away any colour she wasn’t interested in until only one remained. Knockout then applied the colour to both limbs. Within a few klicks, the limbs were a chameleon lavender/rose coloured with black accents on the joints. Knockout then let them dry before buffing and polishing them. After he was finished he pushed the limbs towards her. It was at that moment that everything clicked, she didn’t realise the limbs were for her until Knockout slid them towards her. She quickly took out her earbuds and looked directly at Knockout

“These are for me? Really?” She said confused yet happy

“Yes, who else did you think they were for bit brain” he looked at her to see her face light up

“Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! They look amazing! You didn’t have to do that for me! Thank you so much!” Paradox was ecstatic and being cautious not to touch the new limbs as she didn’t want to ruin the paint job

“Couldn’t have you going out looking like a mismatched piston head now could we?” He smiled trying to hide how amazed he was at being thanked that much. He was happy to see how elated she was at his work

“So you want to put them on and try walking?” He asked

“Can I? I do not want to damage them” her delight turned to concern at the idea of damaging them as soon as she got them.

Knockout returned to her and helped put the limbs on her. He put her arm on first, the moment it connected to her body the edges of the panels began to light up to show that they were functional. She looked at Knockout with a concerned look of pain on her face as she felt the limb slightly latch into her circuits.

“Don’t worry it’s just trying to connect to your cables and pistons. It’s going to feel a bit funny. Take the time that you need.” He reassured.

Once the pain faded away she tried to tap her digits. A task Paradox really had to concentrate on. She tried for a while before a saddened look crossed her face. What if they weren’t connecting? What if the limbs had failed? Paradox looked at her phone as the thoughts flurried around her head. She leant down to put her earbuds in and focused away from the dark forrest of words surrounding her.

“I’m waiting for you to work” she said copying the song lyrics in a language she hadn’t used in a while.

She just focused on the sensation of wanting to push up her new digits hoping something would happen pretty soon. She started thinking about where it all went wrong and wondered if she could have avoided the accident all together. Maybe she should have been paying more attention to her surroundings so she would have been safe. But if she did, would she have led to Knockout being in her position?

She began watching it closely, trying to measure its pulse feeling it always beside her trying to connect to her. Maybe mentally working up a spell of sorts could work? Alien tech was just sci-fi magic, right?

She began to feel little shoots spreading into her fuel lines like little roots spreading off from a tree. She began watching it closely again as she felt a pulse of sorts run through it she then focused on her digits and thought of curling them which while delayed, still happened. A tinge of excitement jolted through her body as she began thinking of pushing up the new limb and pretty soon after it happened. Everything was delayed and slightly lagged, but overall she was successfully moving her new prosthetic arm. She excitedly looked up at Knockout as he gestured towards the leg to ask if she was ready for it. Paradox shook her head happily as he put the other limb on

The sensations were the same but she struggled to use the same tactic on her leg compared to her arm. She could feel like she could start at the tips of her pedes the same way she started at the tips of her digits. She knew the artist she was listening to had other songs on the other playlist Paradox downloaded and had combined with her first one. She then scrolled across her playlist to find another song from the artist. This time it was a cover song from when she performed in a tv competition, her voice always brought pure bliss to Paradox’s ears and never failed to calm her down..

She started the new song and used it as a way of trying to call upon the limb to move. She started to feel withdrawal from her limbs as she tried to turn it on with just a touch as she gently sweeped her left digits up the leg hoping it would cause some connection. She looked around and felt the cold and emptiness from her new leg as it hadn’t quite taken a grasp to her yet. She then looked around to see no judgement from anyone in the room as Knockout patiently waited to see what would happen. He was one of the only Cybertrionians she could really trust here. Then as she settled into that thought the lights turned on and even though they weren’t quite blinding lights the shock took her back as she felt similar sensations to her arm. Her anxiety of the limbs not working started running out of time as she began moving her ankle making her pedes swirl in lagged circles. She then swirled her leg before moving it up in time with the operatic voice hitting the high notes. She felt like she could sleep easy now that she could feel the prosthetics. become apart of her.

She then finished the song before taking her earbuds out. Paradox then tried moving her limbs without music. While they were sundering behind more than when she played music, they were still functional, and that’s all she cared about.

Paradox gripped the left side of the table and tried to repeat the sensation with her right. The grip was slightly over exaggerated as she didn’t know what strength she had as the table crush beneath her servos.

“Sorry” she looked at Knockout hoping the damage wasn’t too bad

“It’s alright. You think worse hasn’t happened to these tables?” He smiled as he carefully watched her stand up ready to catch her if she fell.

Paradox carefully put all her weight onto her left leg. Wincing at the pain at the scarring from the accident. She spent a few moments making sure her left leg was alright before finally putting down the other one and gently transferring weight into it. The leg was thin and fit in well with the rest of her body architecturally, it buckled a small amount under her weight and instantly Knockout went to catch her but she corrected herself quickly. She then lifted her right hand off the table and slowly tried to balance herself. She stood for a few minutes before having the confidence to lift her left hand off the table. As she did the right leg wobbled a small amount as she quickly grasped the table again.

“Your progressing very well” Knockout tried to reassure her watching her wobble.

“I want to try walking” she stated looking at Knockout who guestered her the ok to do so.

She clumsily swung her right leg and tried to transfer all her weight to it before limping her left leg forward. She leaned into the table for extra support as she slowly and carefully teetered her way up the length of the table. When she got to the corner she tried to swing her right arm around for more support as she crossed the small right angle that seemed much larger to her. She then tried to slowly and carefully pirouette on her left leg to turn the corner which caused her such a large amount of paint that she dropped to the floor letting out a small quiet moan of pain. Knockout rushed towards her trying to help her up

“You’ve done very well. How are you feeling? I suggest resting for a while before trying again” he suggested and he pushed his chair towards her and helped her sit down.

“I am not going to let this stop me. I am going to do this” she stated with determination as she looked up at Knockout.

“I know you will. You’ll be able to get to your desk in no time” he smiled back.

“My desk?” She laughed confused.

“Yes. Well now that Shockwave is out. We have a spare desk and I thought my medic in training would like it” he honourably smiled guestering to the empty desk:

Paradox now had a goal.

Chapter Text

A few cycles had passed and Paradox slowly got hold of walking around the table with support. Knockout watched her from his table as he knew that falling wasn’t a common occurrence anymore. As she walked around the table with her left hand supporting her, she felt a boost of confidence as she walked around the corner of the table. As she turned the corner she stopped, lifted her hand off the table and nervously took a step forward with her arms out beside her like a tightrope walker as she wobbled her way into her first unassisted step. The cheer of pure happiness and joy sprouted from her mouth made Knockout focus on her taking another step unassisted, a small smile wiped across his face.

Paradox then stepped around the corner with her left servo dusting the top of it just in case she needed support. In her own time she slowly stumbled her way almost fully unassisted around the table.

She began to let out happy squeals and giggles. Paradox then looked up to see Knockout watching her.

“Did you see? I walked around the table!” She excitedly announced

“Yes I did, congratulations are in order” he smiled

“I am going to do a victory lap then!” She cheered and began walking around the table for a second time. The second walk had more confident strides. They weren’t large but it was a start for Paradox.

She then proceeded to walk around the table like a goldfish in a bowl for the next few klicks. Happily cheering after every lap.

Paradox then looked to her right and took a large side step away from the table. She wobbled for a little bit from the fear of losing her support, but she was able to rebalance herself. She then did a small shuffle following the length of the table until she got to the corners. She paused, held her left hand out as if she was dusting the table yet again. She then lifted her right leg and crossed it over her left and slowly turned on her pedes before opening her eyes to see herself still standing. She shook her unclenched fists across her chest in happiness before beginning her shuffle to the next corner where she repeated the process over and over again for the rest of the cycle.

As a new day started she felt a wave of confidence barrel over her body like a tsunami. Today would be the day she walked to that desk, no, her desk.

She woke up from the floor where she insisted that she slept Knockout gave her some blankets and a few soft items because in Paradox’s words:

“Getting me to sleep on the table is not the hill you want to die on Knockout. I sleep on the floor so I don’t have to be woken up for some mid-cycle emergency”

Knockout also suggested sleeping on the floor wasn’t a good hill to die on. So they compromised when Knockout brought in some soft pillows and comforters and told Paradox that this was the compromise they were both going to settle on.

Paradox slowly got into a squat before standing up and slowly walking towards the table with her arms out in front of her incase she fell. She put her hand on the table as she made it there without wobbling or falling over. She then looked over the table to see the empty desk. Her empty desk. She slowly began taking her hand off the table as she walked towards the desk. Her strides started out small and scared but as she got used to walking across the room, her shoulders broadened and her posture became straighter than her sexuality could ever be. She began to sloppily glide over to the table with her new limbs still facing a slight delay of only a few astro-seconds. The closer she got the more accomplished Paradox felt. No matter if she didn’t make it to the desk, she knew at least she had made it halfway, then two thirds, three quarters, four filths, the closeness of the desk was edging her ego. Five sixths of the way there, six sevenths, seven eighths, eight ninths, she was almost there if she could just keep going for one more step.

Ten tenths.

She did it.

Paradox touched her desk.

She stood there for a klick.

She actually did it.

Paradox collapsed to the ground in disbelief as tears started to well in her eyes, happiness and relief poured from her mouth. She had actually done it. It took almost a chord of her constantly practising without stopping. She was there. She was at her desk. She then crawled around to her new chair and sat on it. Laughing with joy at what she just achieved.

As her moment of bliss continued Knockout entered the room and saw Paradox sitting on her chair crying tears of joy.

“Did you get there by walking?” He asked, trying to not celebrate too early.

“Mmmhmmm. Sure did” her smile stretched across her faceplate.

The two then celebrated the occasion by watching another Barbie film.

Chapter Text

A few months passed as Paradox got better at walking over time. She still had a light limp or slight over use of power when working on patients but otherwise she could do the bare minimum. She was confined to the medical quarters and was escorted to Shockwave’s temporary lab that wasn’t as exuberant as the one almost taken out in the blast all that time ago. Paradox was over halfway through her pregnancy and she could feel it from her back to her joints. She was glad one of her legs was more studious than the other. She couldn’t have imagined doing this with two legs that looked like bones from a distance. Her belly became more visible and those who saw her constantly gave her looks of confusion, joy or indifference.

Knockout noticed her struggles while she was performing on patients so he made sure the area was more accessible to her and her needs. He didn’t rely on her but he was appreciative of her help, and he became so very proud of how far she had come. Due to her situation she couldn’t do anything else besides practice walking and medical work and Knockout respected that and admired her work ethic as nothing seemed to bring Paradox down no matter how many things went wrong for her. While she wouldn’t be considered a full time medical practitioner yet, she was able to work on things such as reattaching limbs and even repairing damaged T-cogs. She did her work as quickly and as precisely as she physically could.

She was at her desk finalising paperwork to be approved by Knockout for her latest procedures after a major battle at the border of Kaon. As the war progressed Kaon had recently begun to lose land. Some blamed the swift departure of Deadlock while others blamed Starscream. But that didn’t seem to bother Paradox too much. She knew that she would be fine if the Autobots took over due to her situation. She was more concerned about Knockout and Breakdown being caught up in everything considering they were the actual Decepticons. She grew to like them, they were the closest thing she had to a family. She and Knockout didn’t see Breakdown as often anymore as he was sent away to fight on the front lines. She knew it was affecting Knockout who became more and more snarky the longer Breakdown was away.

“What happened to know your audience” Paradox joked after he had threatened to just rip the bullet out of a patient’s head like a scraplet pulling at their platings if they didn’t sit still.

“My audience is currently away fighting.” He bashed back.

“Ok, fair.” Paradox tried to rebut.

There was then a pause that quieted the room as Knockout stood one hand on his hip peering through the slits his eyelids had created. His patient started to understand the importance of sitting still during an important procedure.

“Anything else?” He maliciously queered

“No…” Paradox thought, she really couldn’t come up with a reason “I’m sure he’ll be back soon…hopefully” that last part came out more like wishful thinking than a statement.

The pair continued to work throughout the day with Paradox trying to calm down Knockout. As the cycle drew to a close Paradox was working on her last patient while Knockout cleaned and did some paperwork.

Paradox then felt a short and harsh amount of pressure on her stomach. “ the fuck was that” she muttered under her breath as she continued working away trying to ignore the feeling. Whenever something went wrong for her publicly she always tried to bullshit her way through so it at least looked like everything was under control and didn’t cause suspicion or worry from others.

She then carefully and quickly finished the procedure and she leaned in on the patient’s shoulder and pointed to the door in front of them

“Now,” she harshly and sarcastically started a pep talk “all you have to do is walk through that there door and not, I repeat, NOT, get into any more non war fights. Come on mech, I’m seeing you almost 3 times a week. I know I have a good personality but I’m not worth seeing 3 times a week. Go out there and see someone else three times a week”

She patted the mech’s back plate as she elevated herself from the his shoulder and held out her hand helping him to his pedes.

“Or just come here whenever you're injured. We’re required to fix you” she politely spoke.

“Unless you get on our fuel lines too much” a scornful voice from the far desk called out.

“Then why is Starscream still around” Paradox returned the berating tone right back to Knockout who let out a small grumble in acknowledgment.

“Don’t worry about him” Paradox stated as she guided the mech to the door.

After the final mech left the building Paradox turned around and grabbed a small handheld medical scanner and held it to her stomach area to see what was happening. Nothing was showing up. She then groaned in annoyance as she put the scanner down.

“Why are you making ugly noises, we’re supposed to be the good looking ones here” Knockout scoffed without taking his eyes off his paperwork.

“I think it’s just my human side acting up” she groaned “it’s fine I’ll talk to Shockwave about it tomorrow”

“What’s happening with your ‘human side’” the irrational had slightly left Knockout’s voice as he finally looked up from his paperwork.

“I’ve just been feeling this sharp pushing sensation against my stomach. I’m sure it’s nothing” she brushed off.

Knockout brought up Paradox’s medical file and studied it a bit.

“Surprisingly, the 5 month pregnant person is showing the typical 5 month pregnancy symptoms” he snarked.

Paradox leaned on the bench behind her, right arm folded across her chest, left arm massaging her temple “meaning…?” She tiredly questioned.

“It’s most likely the foetus learning how to use its new muscles. You’ll live. If your still concerned then ask Shockwave tomorrow”

Paradox then looked down at her stomach as the sensation started up again. She didn’t know what to do, she enjoyed the feeling of constant company, but she never wanted it in the first place. She knew from experience to not take out frustrations over how the child was conceived on the child themselves but rather at the situation. The thoughts crossed her mind at how she was going to be bringing a child into a war and make them fight. She didn’t enjoy the feeling, but then again, was it ever her choice?

She then heard Knockout get up from his desk and walk towards her. The mech wasn’t known for being touchy feely except with Breakdown, only with Breakdown did that sentiment go out the window. This time he placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her to her desk.

“Just rest, ok? If I see you out of that seat then I won’t help the next time you need to have dents removed” he jokingly stated as he sat her down.

Paradox rubbed her tired optics only to realise she had been crying.

Her desk had since been decorated with the photos, books and knitting she took with her. Her eyes brushed across the desk to see the medical encyclopaedia she stole during her final days on Earth. She picked it up and immediately began reading it, trying to find as much information as she could about pregnancies and how to terminate them.

Chapter Text

Paradox spent most of her night studying about how to terminate a pregnancy. She looked into how malnourished she was, but Shockwave always made sure she had just enough to consume so that she just barely didn’t qualify as malnourished. Was she starved? Yes. Was it the most uncomfortable starvation she had experienced? Far from it. The starvation felt more like an annoying internal tickle when compared to her days studying fashion, where she would not prioritise eating and just consumed water instead to satisfy her hunger.

Maybe she could hide the amount she was consuming? But knowing Shockwave there was a chance he would quickly figure it out and start force feeding her and not in the fun peer pressure way that she was used to.

Maybe alcohol? Some mechs came in beyond plastered from drinking Engex after a night or celebrating a victory. But it would be hard to hide its effects and it could affect her performance in the office.

Maybe smoking? She had to take away a fair amount of cy-gars from Decepticons who were rudely smoking right in her face and making her optics water. Some were just given to her as a thank you or pity present for working with so many aft hats.

She looked around the office to make sure Knockout wasn’t there to cool her anxiety. She knew Breakdown had returned overnight so he and Knockout decided to spend some time together, but Paradox’s nerves were telling her a different story.

Once she thoroughly looked around to make sure there was no sight of Knockout she walked back to her desk and opened her drawer of contraband and pulled out a cy-gar before sitting under her desk and putting it in her mouth. She began sucking on it like her life depended on it. If she got it done in larger doses then maybe it would quicken its effects.

It wasn’t the first time she had smoked so she knew what she was doing. She would smoke weed if edibles weren’t available. So while it wasn’t a common occurrence to see her smoke or call her a smoker, she had done it enough for people to know she was cool with smoking around her, at her was a different story.

The feeling of the cy-gar in her mouth was a very soothing one. She forgot how much she liked fiddling with things in her mouth. She used to chew her plastic stress toys and bite her nails offen. She had stopped doing it as so much was going on in her life which took away her attention from her normal stressors and instead gave her new ones that required new relievers.

She continued to suck on the cy-gar until it had run out of juice. The moment she realised it she discreetly disposed of it before finishing up her paperwork. She tried so hard to focus on her work but the feeling of not having something to suck on was gnawing at her.

It was just a second one right?

Two isn’t a lot?

The goal was to terminate a pregnancy

You need large quantities of smoke to do that

She then reached into her draw and pulled out a second one and realised she got her work done faster when smoking a cy-gar. As her second one finished, so did her paperwork. She then, again, discreetly disposed of it and began cleaning the office like nothing had happened and packed away the medical encyclopaedia.

As she packed thoughts of regret scurried over her

‘You’re killing an innocent child’

‘What if smoking causes it pain’

‘You don’t want it to die painfully’

‘You’re above this’

‘You’ve stooped to a point lower than we thought you could go’

Paradox tried to focus on something else to try and calm her.

‘It’s just a third one right?’

‘Three isn’t a lot?’

‘Maybe holding up three fingers will help you visualise how small it is’

‘You haven’t been spotted so far, you can get away with more’

‘The sucking sensation will calm you’

Paradox slid down onto the floor and began crying and her brain argued amongst itself as morals and wants began tearing her apart.

As she laid on her back quietly letting tears stream from her optics she heard the door open.

“Hey P, where are you?” A deep voice called

Paradox wiped her tears away and stood up trying her best to quickly walk to Breakdown. She then wrapped her arms around him and started crying into his chassis.

Breakdown was taken aback by what she was doing. They barely were high-fiving and fist bumping each other the last time they saw each other. Now Paradox was voluntarily hugging him and crying, no one outside of Knockout and Shockwave ever saw her cry. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her back.

“Wow” he joked “and here I was think Knockout missed me the most” a small smile graced his face plate.

A small choked up chuff of a laugh came from Paradox.

“Wanna tell me what you’ve been doing since I left?” He asked, looking down at her.

“I don’t know” a small voice sadly whispered.

“Hey, you're combining ‘do’ and ‘not’ now, that’s something” he proudly stated in a hushed tone.

“Mmhmmm” Paradox replied trying to sound proud of herself but still being dragged down by her emotions.

“Anything else?” He asked trying to get her to tell him what was bothering her.

“I don’t know” she repeated again but sound a little more distraught than before .

“It’s ok. Just take your time” he comforted

“I… I just don’t know anymore” Paradox softly whimpered into Breakdown “my life has changed so much in such a short amount of time… I… I think it’s all starting to catch up to me now.”

“As in home sickness? Because I can definitely relate to that” he laughed knowingly.

“No… it's just… I can’t put it into words” she cried. Her mouth was physically stopping her from saying the word she wanted to

“It’s the pregnancy. Isn’t it?” Breakdown asked

“Yeah” Paradox sniffled “I don’t know what else can be done” she sadly spat out “I wanna take the next step in learning how to run, I want to properly practise medicine without having to be cautious of a child, I want to be able to leave this room and look around” the crying started to increase.

“I know. Maybe we can figure something out?” He patted her back as the room went quiet again.

Chapter Text

Paradox woke up the next cycle in Breakdown’s arms with a blanket on top of her and underneath her. She felt a small rubbing sensation on her sides which soothed her anxiety. She never meant for Breakdown to see her like that. She hated people seeing her like that, it just made her vulnerable for abuse.

“Hey there P” a deep voice cooed at her before yellowing out “hey K.O I think she’s awake!”

“Quiet voice please you’ll make her tear up, she’s at her most sensitive when waking up remember, volume can highly impact her” Knockout softly critiqued as he walked towards them.

Paradox looked up and realised that Breakdown was on the floor sitting with his back against the wall. As he approached Knockout gently swooped in under Breakdown’s arm and softly stroked under her chin which made Paradox look at him.

“Heard about what happened” it sounded like he was trying to report that he knew about her crying to her but it came off more concerned and worried “myself and Breakdown have been talking and since you are my apprentice I thought maybe we could make you into an Iron Apprentice” he smiled without bite to it for the first time infront of Paradox

“What’s that?” She asked

“Essentially it creates what you humans would call a family. We call it a clan here but you get the point, and because I’m with Breakdown he would also be apart of this” Knockout rested his head on Breakdown still smiling as he gave Breakdown a small peck on the chin in an attempt to reach his cheek without disrupting Paradox.

Paradox was still drowsy from sleep but looked up at Knockout and across to Breakdown, she never really had a family before, well one that felt authentic. She just had friends who she considered cousins and siblings, this would be the first time she actually had a family and she wanted to make sure she did a good job. She wanted to make sure she was worth being apart of this family. Paradox then thought about her wording she wanted this and was very greatful that someone saw her that way but didn’t want to come off to strong or sound demanding.

“Really?” She asked she paused then quickly added “I just want to make sure your fine with it don’t want to do… I mean be a problem or anything, you don’t have to do this for me”

“It’s fine P” Breakdown chimed in “we talked about it while you slept and thought bringing you along would be fun” he smiled.

“I agree with Breakdown, you're fine. Besides your turning into a mini me so may as well” Knockout joked.

Paradox took in what was said she felt disbelief and like it was too good to be true but she had to take this opportunity.

“ I accept” she nervously said scared that they were gonna say no and take it all back “if your still cool with it”

“We aren’t gonna take it back P” Breakdown laughed “were just happy you’ve accepted our offer” he smiled.

“Yes welcome to the clan” Knockout smiled moving the hair out of her face.

Paradox smiled in a way that she hadn’t felt in a while, she hadn’t felt this amount of joy since she was little when assumed she knew what a family was before learning about manipulation and verbal abuse. She sat up in Breakdown’s arms and started doing little taps against her legs as happiness consumed her.

Chapter Text

Paradox spent the rest of the day sitting on Knockout’s desk while he worked and Breakdown sat down on the desk’s chair and played with Paradox, just letting her follow his finger around and examining his hand once she caught it. Breakdown was happy to see her like this, he had never seen her this happy before, hearing her giggle was a nice thing to experience. He looked over to Knockout who was fixing another Decepticon’s leg that had been blown off. Apparently there had been a raid at an Autobot lab that had a few faulty explosive devices used during it.

The peacefulness of the room was interrupted by a door opening and the footsteps that sounded like an over confident prick coming to tell you about the joys of crypto were heard. Paradox quickly stopped giggling and moved Breakdown’s hand on top of her to try and hide. A tall mech walked in with a golden faceplate with white accenting colours complimenting his blue-ish teal body.

“So this is the medical ward, huh? Not as grand as my playroom” the mech joked.

“And you are?” Knockout queeried with a slight glance up from his work.

“Who am I? Ouch shot to my self esteem, and here I was thinking my name would proceed me” he sounded a little hurt but was more playing it up, like that question was expected.

“I’m Brainstorm, you know the weapons specialist?” He cockily smirked.

“Oh no” Knockout sighed “Keep her away from him” he continued guestering to Paradox.

Brainstorm looked over at Breakdown holding Paradox to his chest and covering her with his hands.

“Whatcha got there?” Brainstorm tilted his head the joy of curiosity beaming from his eyes “why do you not want her around me? Could my mere presence kill her?” He chuckled as he approached Breakdown trying to peer through his hands as if he was wearing x-ray goggles.

“No, uh… she’s just sensitive to new people, like you, for example so we keep her hidden until she’s ready to come out” Breakdown had no idea if Knockout was being serious or not but he knew that Paradox had tried to hide so he made sure not to force unwanted interactions with her.

“I didn’t even think of that Breakdown” Knockout slightly laughed to himself realising he had overlooked her shyness “I was more thinking about her wants of committing arson and blowing stuff up and the last thing we need is someone that chaotic being around him” he pointed to Brainstorm who put his hand on his chest with a happily flattered look mixing with his curiosity as if to say ‘moi?’

As Brainstorm got closer to try and see between the gaps of Breakdown’s hands he saw a little pinkish beige digit stick out from Breakdown’s larger digits trying to create a slight opening and as the softer looking digit levered up the larger digit creating a wall between them. Brainstorm peered between the gaps of the digits he was more familiar with and he saw a little worried face looking back at him. All he could tell was that whatever Breakdown was holding was alien to Cybertron.

“Hello” he tried to coo but the need of wanting everyone to know his name made it come off more pretentious “I’m Brainstorm, I heard you like explosives. I do too! Wanna see what I’ve been working on?”

The little head looked up at Breakdown who looked at Knockout passing on the curious ‘can I?’ Look Paradox was giving him. A sigh was heard from the workbench “I suppose you could take her out for a bit, she hasn’t left this office since the attack, but be careful and don’t let her out of your sight Breakdown”

“Yes sir” he affectionately laughed back but he looked at Knockout with his eyes saying that he’ll keep his promise and not let anything happen to her. He then turned his head down to look at Paradox “still up for a little trip?”

Paradox’s hands started to flap and she became more fidgety she then formed a fist on her right hand and made an excited nodding motion with it. The trio then walked out leaving Knockout behind with Breakdown rubbing his shoulder on the way out. Breakdown held Paradox close to him as they walked to the door of Shockwave’s temporary office.

“This is it. I’ve only recently come back so it’s not fully set up, but no one’s been hurt yet.” Brainstorm stated proudly as he put in the code to unlock the door.

Paradox looked up at Breakdown trying to play the cute little alien card on him with her eyes becoming big and sad staring directly into Breakdown’s optics.

“Can I be put down please?” She said as she tapped the tips of her pointer fingers together “I can transform”

Breakdown took a moment to think. He knew she would be fine in her Cybcertonian form but he also didn’t want to risk her getting hurt. He looked at her and brushed his digit against her head “let’s see what’s inside first P” he murmured as the door opened.

The door opened to reveal a desolate room that looked like it was between occupants. You could still see the remains of both Shockwave and Deadlock in there but Brainstorm’s vision began to take over and dictate the room. You could see how he wanted to set up the room and that he enjoyed neatly organised clutter over sterile looking offices.

“Yep, it’s coming along great. By the time it’s done it will be better looking than me. I’m going to try and get some of those weird looking henchmen to paint it for me tomorrow. I was thinking of doing a teal and yellow colour scheme, I wanted to do gold but then it would be too pretentious for me. I already have enough of a god complex as is, I can’t be too insufferable” he preached guestering for his guests to come in.

Breakdown walked in relaxing his hold on Paradox after realising that there weren’t any big deadly weapons laying around he then saw a desk in the corner.

“That desk isn’t gonna kill a small creature right?” He checked with Brainstorm as he walked towards it

“No, it’s just gonna turn her inside out before ripping her apart piece by piece. It’s my dissection table” the lack of care disturb Breakdown.

“Umm… is there anywhere I can put her that won’t lead to her dying?” Breakdown began looking around the room trying to find an alternative.

“How about on the ground? Don't pets normally belong on the ground anyway?” Brainstorm tilted his head in confusion. His speech was still cocky but he was confused as to why Breakdown wouldn’t just put the creature on the ground.

“She’s not my pet she is my clan” Breakdown lost a calmness and worry in his tone and his words for fully pushed their way into Brainstorm’s audials as he put her onto the ground revealing a small squishy looking creature whose abdomen just looked like a circle and two of her limbs looked robotic and out of place but somehow suited her appearance through their customisation.

“Yes pets are clan members I’m sure she is very much loved by you and your partner” he continued joking as the little flesh creature grew from Brainstorm’s ankle and up to his chest and revealed a lanky looking bot that appeared to be out together by dodgy bits and bobs except for one leg and one arm which look beautifully put together and juxtaposed the rest of her body. The transformation caught him off guard as he began to stutter out something either trying to apologise or diffuse the situation before stopping and taking in a deep breath and clearing his voice pipes while he paused pressing the palms and digits of his hands together and pointing them and Paradox.

“Look, I didn’t realise that you were Cybertronian. You looked like an alien. Explains the limbs a little bit more, you're very… interesting in how you look I would love to know more about you” he said in an apologetic tone. The wording wasn’t fully realised but the emotion was. Paradox looked to Breakdown, who she was now shoulder height to, and saw the smuggest look on his face.

“Oh look who's sorry now” he smiled and chuckled looking at a diminished Brainstorm.

“Oh no, we punctured holes into his self-inflation. Now he’s deflating” she loudly whispered to Breakdown as they laughed alongside each other.

Brainstorm looked at them both and did a small laugh. He didn't really like having his ego deflated but he knew a joke when he heard it. The laughing caught Paradox off guard as she didn’t type him as the person to laugh at his own misfortune but she was happy to see that he wasn’t pissed.

“Ah ha ha, yes. Do you want to see what I’ve been working on?” He asked with hopes that the answer was yes.

Paradox excitedly nodded and watched him closely as he grabbed her servo and put it on a yellow briefcase that appeared almost magically when she touched it.

“Wait, has this been with you the whole time?” She asked confused.

“Well it’s new tech I’ve been working on. It’s designed to draw attention away from the public so that they can’t see it. I’ve got a few versions but I wanted to see how obnoxious I could make it to see how strong the effects were and current testing shows that it works very well. Imagine the amount of weapons we could hide in plain sight!?” Brainstorm was clearly hyper fixating on his stuff and was excited to tell anyone who would listen.

“Oh so that’s why you chose yellow! Because it’s the same colour as you” she smiled and teased “May I ask if there’s anything in that briefcase?”

“Like I said, no gold walls. I’m not that delusional, though I could probably make a weapon that makes people that delusional! A gun or a grenade type of weapon that when it impacts the target it makes them so obnoxiously delusional that they want everyone’s attention on them! Making it the perfect device to cause a distraction! Yes, I can see use in it” he thought to himself before opening up the briefcase to grab a data pad and writing it down.

“So there’s nothing scary in there?” Paradox queeried trying to get a sneaky look inside.

“No, not yet. I wanted to make sure I could walk around without it being seen. The last thing I want is my super secret weapon that took me so long to make be taken away. If that’s gonna happen I wanna make it grand and worth losing all that effort.” He wanted to sound sarcastic as if there was no secret weapon at all. In reality, he sounded more like a toddler trying to hide a secret but Paradox was too invested to pick up on it and Breakdown just assumed secret weaponry was a part of Brainstorm’s job and let it slide.

“What other weapons do you have in here” Paradox excitingly asked looking around for more things.

Brainstorm’s eyes lit up “well I make more experimental abstract weapons so there’s lots of cool stuff in here out of the stuff I’ve unpacked so far I really like this sword. I wanted to make weaponry that fitted the user, so I’ve made guns that take the speed of the driver and triple the bullet's speed using the momentum from its user for example, but I thought what about performers?” He pulled out a large blade that was attached to a chain rope with its hilt being a handle on the other end of the chain.
“So I made this sword that can be swung around like a ribbon dancers, well, ribbon but it can split itself and fan out to… hang on one moment it’s still rather new” Brainstorm slid his finger across the blade trying to activate a feature for a few klicks before the single blade turned into 4 and the chain retracted into the new weapon joining the hilt to it.
“There we go… ahem, to create the deadliest hand fan you’ve ever come across. I then wanted to create a gun aspect as well because what’s more dramatic than a really cool gun.” He began mumbling as he figured with the weapon again revealing the chain separating the hilt from it once again.
“So if you make it into a single sword again and press the button on the centre of the hilt…” he continued to mumble until the sword split in half and the chain delicately wrapped itself around the sword gun revealing the large bullets in the gap between the two halves and the hilt now becoming the trigger to create a large gun that Paradox had only seen in video games.
“then it turns into a grenadine launcher.” Brainstorm smiled “I know I know grenade launchers and guns aren’t really the same thing but a cool gun showdown is a cool gun show down. Also I just put the gun in there because I thought it would be cool I don’t know what performer would use a gun but I like it so it’s staying in there and the button can act as a toggle between grenade gun and flamethrower.”

Paradox stood there looking at the gun in amazement making Brainstorm worried that it wasn’t impressive enough.

“I LOVE IT!” Paradox squealed in excitement “oh if I was allowed a weapon it would be this one. I always wanted to be a performer but I never had the time for it but that never stopped me from practising dance. I used to go to a local bar and watch burlesque performances and I always loved their fans. Then you brought explosions and fire into this! Those are my two favourite acts of violence! I love setting things on fire! And explosions! Well they're just so cool! I love this so much! Could you imagine if some had two of these and how beautiful it would look as they fought!”

“Alright you two that’s enough” Breakdown kindly interrupted “you’ve had a long day P, and you need to continue unpacking so that we can see your actual favourite weapon once it’s out of storage” he placed his hands on Paradox and walked them both out of the door as she and Brainstorm both happily waved goodbye to each other.

Chapter Text

“Hey we’re back” Breakdown announce his and Paradox’s arrival as they entered the medbay “don’t worry she’s not hurt but we left a little bit after the flamethrowers were brought out” he looked at Knockout who was finishing off his own work and studies on the new generation of anonymous guards that they had brought back from Earth.

“You forgetting the best part” Paradox started to chat away happily “it was a sword that was also a grenade launcher and a flamethrower! It’s also did this really cool thing were it became a hand fan! It was so cool! If I wasn’t instructed to not have wepons I would of taken it!”

“Well looks like you took her away at the right time then” Knockout said offhandedly as he worked. His eyes quickly looked at Breakdown for a second and accompanied it with a smile before quickly going back to his task.

Breakdown rested Paradox in Knockout’s shoulder stroking her back before nudging Knockout with his head and kissing him.

“How are you?” He loudly murmured into his partner’s audials.

“I’m fine, you know I’m competent without you if needed” Knockout nudged Breakdown in response as his fingers hypnotically moved inspecting the guard.

Their conversation briefly interrupted by a small opposing giggle.

Breakdown sighed happily and lovingly before turning back to Knockout with a sad look glistening through his eyes as he tried to keep a smile on his face.

“Hey” he smiled trying to hold back the sadness gliding his finger down his partner's face “I got a call this morning. I’m heading back out again soon this was only a 2 cycle pit stop. I know I should of told you sooner but I….” His speech broken by a kiss from Knockout

“I figured. I want to try and come out with you as you're going to where the raid was and if I can ask to see any injured near that area I may be able to go with you. Now that Paradox is here I can leave her in charge of the ward. I sent the letter off this morning” it sounded like Knockout had this planned for a while.

Paradox had a feeling of sadness wash over her, she could deal with one family member leaving, but all of them? She’d be left alone with no one but strangers.

But Brainstorm seemed alright…

Right?

And if Knockout could write a letter could she have a chance?

Thoughts of what she could say swarmed around in her head maybe she could argue that as an experimental weapons maker it might help if he was under constant evaluation to see if there was any change in his health that he didn’t think to check…

Maybe she could also argue her right to a weapon, after all, she was defenceless against the last two attacks, maybe improving her abilities wouldn’t be a bad thing…

Right?

As she fell asleep on Knockout’s shoulder she felt a warm blanket placed overtop of her, the security oozed through her body making her feel the safest she had been in a long time as she snuggled further into Knockout she felt his neck turn then a flat surface pressed softly against her as she opened her eyes one last time before falling to sleep she saw Knockout’s cheek resting on her head.

When she woke up a while later she looked around and saw that she was in a new room. Paradox continued looking around and found herself in a bowl that had been filled with blankets that rested on top of a pillow. She gazed around the darken room to see the silhouettes of who she hopefully assumed was Knockout and Breakdown laying together on a slab that looked like an alien bed of sorts.

“Hey, K.O” she quietly asked hoping it was him.

She got no response, panic started to come over her. The buzz of it woke her up and her eyes began darting around the room trying to find more evidence that she was with Knockout and Breakdown. She noticed that if she focused hard enough on an object that it would illuminate like a dull flashlight was being shone on it. Realising this might help identify the bodies in the bed she turned her gaze to the figure laying closest to her and focused on them revealing a red paint coat. As relief soothed her, Paradox saw her blankets slightly illuminate and felt the gaze of someone else. She looked slight over Knockout and saw a pair of yellow optics shining on her.

“Are you leaving?” Paradox asked.She needed to know what was going on.

“Yes. But not right now, I’m just enjoying my time before I head off later today” Breakdown tried to sooth her, he was barely able to make out the sadden confused look on her face but it was enough to tell him that something was bothering her.

An anxious reply was returned to him “Are you going to say goodbye when you leave?” Paradox asked.

Breakdown smiled and put his head on top of Knockout’s waist to make sure she could see what he was saying.

“Yes of course. Why would I not?”

An unwelcome feeling of childhood nostalgia washed over her “I’m just used to family leaving while I slept and they never tried very hard to wake me up. I remember crying and refusing to go to school until we called them and they said goodbye.” She could feel the tears well up in her eyes remembering the feeling of abruptly being left alone with her mother.

Breakdown reached out trying not to disturb Knockout and gently rubbed his digit against Paradox’s face. “I promise you that’s not going to happen. I’m leaving during the day. I’ll be preparing to leave this morning then I’ll swing by and say goodbye later. Ok. That’s a promise.”

Paradox smiled but had a feeling deep down inside her that she was going to miss it “ok, promise?” She asked looking for reassurance.

“Yes I promise. Now we both need rest ok.” He smiled. He watched to make sure Paradox fell asleep before return to his position and falling asleep himself.

Chapter Text

After arriving into the medical ward Knockout and Paradox began setting up for the day. There were already a few bots outside ready to go with new injuries for them to fix. Paradox started taking in the ones with less severe injuries while Knockout did some final paperwork.

“What are you working on K.O?” She asked while focusing on a limb removal and replacement.

“Just some final paperwork. We’ll need to set some time today so that I can go through these with you.” He loudly mumbled trying to finish off everything as quickly as he could before starting repairs for the day.

Paradox knew what the paperwork was about but there was no way she was gonna let him dump all this on her right before he left “What’s it about? I heard a rumour that you were leaving for a few days.”

Knockout sighed “yes. You would be correct” he paused “the paperwork is just maintenance and handover stuff for you to sign. You’ll be on your own for 3 cycles at most I’m sure you will be fine” he reassured her.

“Ok… cool, so you’ll be heading out with Breakdown I assume? I just want you to be safe” Paradox responded.

Knockout did a little non condescending laugh “yes, I’ll be with Breakdown. And besides I wouldn’t be on the front line. Even if I was don’t you think Breakdown would of taught me a trick or two?” doubling down in the reassurance.

“It’s not your fighting skills I’m worried about. It’s what comes out of your dermas I’m more concerned about” she laughed.

As the morning rush wore off Paradox started drafting up her own letter to Starscream asking for her right to defend herself. She sat down and began to write paragraphs upon paragraphs of evidence as to how being defenceless lead to her being in harms way. After a few hours of writing she wrote a final send off.

“I am Shockwave’s experiment and you don’t want know what happens if his experiments fail from easily preventable matters, especially if you could have prevented them. That is why I am asking for basic defence training. ”

She then did 5 “one final” read throughs and sent the letter off. She knew this was going to either end very well or very badly for her. She then looked over and saw Knockout finishing up his patient and walking back over to his desk.

“Hey, you have time to do that handover?” She asked.

“Yes. It would seem I do. I’ll get the basic information out of the way first before heading off to do final checks on my little outing with Breakdown” he reported before pausing and searching his desk for the paperwork.

“Here they are” he mumbled as he walked towards Paradox who was sitting at her desk and began looking through the data pads as soon as they were placed in front of her and Knockout looked over her shoulder to keep up with what she was reading to verbally annotate the important parts “so basic maintenance you already know how that works so I can skip that… If anyone higher than a corps general comes in then you have to report it in that file there so I can give them a check up upon my return… if anyone’s being a glitch to you then you can call for back up and have them removed… finally if anything goes wrong here is direct contact to me” he held up a little communication chip and planted it in her prosthetic arm and when she activated it a list of contacts came up. So far only Knockout and Breakdown were on it but she had the ability to add more if she wanted to.

“Ok cool. Is there anything else?” Paradox asked. She had a feeling that she had to sign paperwork. That’s always how it was on Earth when she saw stuff like this happen.

Knockout quickly showed her to a blank page on the data pad and handed her a pen “yes. You need to sign here to show that you know that your going to become the temporary Chief Medical Officer while I’m out” he stated.

She then quickly scanned over the last of the documentation and signed her name down at the bottom of the pad. “There we go” she smiled as she handed the documents back.

Knockout scanned over the documents to make sure everything was filled out correctly “Great. Now if you excuse me. I have a meeting to get to.”

Knockout then rushed out the door leaving Paradox alone for the first time since Breakdown came back.

She hadn’t done it in a while…

It was just one right?

It would be quick…

She then slid under her desk and grabbed a cy-gar and sucked in it like she was chugging an iced tea back on Earth trying to finish it before she was caught.

After finishing one, she felt a need to have a second one.

But she couldn’t.

It was risky enough to have one.

But they made her feel so good. They were such a good stress reliever.

Both of her family members are leaving. The stress was getting to her.

Stress isn’t good for the baby, right?

But if she wanted to kill it then maybe stress was the better solution?

Or would it mentally scar her?

Maybe both stress and cy-gars would kill the baby quicker?

She then heard a data pad buzz. She grabbed it and saw a reply from Starscream

“When you put it like that it not a bad idea. But your not being trained by any good soldier.”

She then thought for a moment about how to word her reply.

“Well what about Brainstorm? Being a weapons specialist and a double agent they would have to know things like a soldier's weak spot and how to defend themselves but without the proper training that soldiers have. Think of it like a really bootleg training coach.”

And now she waited.

She grabbed a second cy-gar and sucked on it desperately before disposing of it just as quickly. While the temptation of a third came over her she stood up and began cleaning what she could of the office to distract herself.

As the day went on she became nervous over Breakdown and Knockout coming back.

Breakdown promised.

But Knockout didn’t.

What if Knockout didn’t come back?

What if it was just Breakdown?

What if Breakdown got distracted and forgot?

The sensation of waking up alone and anxious washed over her as she began pacing the room.

“It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine” Paradox began rapidly breathing and mumbling to herself “It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine”

She then went over to her playlist and looked through it desperately trying to find something to calm herself down. Maybe she could quietly sing to herself? That sometimes calmed her down.

But what if someone walked in on her?

She didn’t want to be berated for her singing on a good day.

But now she’s stressed.

She felt her breathing speed up and while she didn’t need it the action was taxing on her exhaustion levels.

Its more a medical reason right?

At this point in time it feels like anything could happen.

Everything was starting to get to her. She could start seeing stars glowing around her.

Anxiety was just flowing through her body she could feel it.

She began mumbling “I don’t know if I’m awake or dreaming” her voice shaky, nervous and gasping out words.

“There must be something in the air..”

As she began she could feel time disappearing on her as the music engulfed her making her feel like she was left in a moment she was never leaving. A moment of bliss where the world was vanishing around her and she happily accepted that feeling.

She took a big gasp before plunging herself fully into that feeling.

“You got me started and nothing on earth can stop it…”

That crazy feeling of falling dragging her down,

She felt alone,

And comfortable.

She began moving her shoulders to the music.

“I don’t know what else to call it…”

She felt her hips sync up with her shoulders and the beat.

“Oh, do you belive in magic?”

Her world could only be described as bliss in tones of blue with the occasional glittering star.

She felt like she was in her own world that she had full control over it felt like magic that allowed her to dance with a peacefulness she hadn’t felt since the last time she was in this space.

Which was months ago.

In the park.

On that swing.

This feeling always made her feel like nothing could be better and that tomorrow didn’t matter.

“We’ll make the night last forever…”

This was her comfort zone. The free falling sensation was an emotion she always enjoyed in this space. She felt like she was made of diamond and that she was the glittery star in her world.

“Come hold me like you mean it…”

It’s felt like her secret place that no one had to know about. It was just for her and only her.

She could feel her body start to slow down her heart beating slower.

“You make me wanna do all these wild things. Your touch is supernatural…”

In this world she didn’t have to fight this feeling of floating and falling. It made her feel so very grounded and nothing in the universe could stop it.

It was a crazy feeling but it brought her back down from her anxiety and as the music faded and taking her world with it, she found herself back in the medical room.

Alone.

She went back to her desk and sat down looking at the time.

Surely they would be back soon right?

She nervously waited at her desk trying to find paperwork that she could do but coming up empty. She just waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

As time went on she began to feel sleepy as she flipped over on her desk and her world went to black for a moment.

“Hey P!” A voice called out to her.

She drowsily opened her optics to see Breakdown and Knockout. A smile burst across her face as her optics lit up in joy.

“We’re heading off now. I’ll see you in a few cycles” Knockout said, patting her head lovingly.

“Me personally. It will be a bit longer, but I’m sure you’ll last” Breakdown joked.

Paradox felt tears welling up in her eyes “Will I hear from you both every cycle? I just want to know your ok” the tiredness dragging out and slightly slurring her words.

“Yes we promise” Breakdown said as he scratched under her chin.

“Will you be ok?” Knockout asked.

“Yes. I’ll be fine” Paradox responded trying not to fall back asleep.

“Ok well then goodbye” knockout did one final pat before heading off

“See you later P” Breakdown happily sighed “goodbye”

The two walked out together hand in hand.

Chapter Text

The door behind them shut leaving Paradox alone.

Truly alone.

No cellmates.

No Shockwave.

No family.

Just her.

In an empty room.

Alone.

Now what?

Paradox looked around trying to find something to do. Typically she wasn’t allowed out without supervision so she went to the corner of the room and sat herself down into the closest thing she could to a ball trying to be cautious of her bump.

Did she care?

She didn’t want this.

But it’s not the little ones fault.

But it would be a mercy killing.

People don’t judge mercy kills, right?

Well…… some.

A few?

A lot?

On earth at least.

Would Cybertron care?

Not like they would know what to do with a baby.

But they haven’t had a child in years.

Would they judge the killing of any child?

What would happen?

Thoughts swirled around her mind before they dispersed like fireworks at the sound of a bang on the door. Paradox shot up and hurried limply to the door and saw a mech with his left shoulder pad blown out.

“Sorry, but I got shot at” his weary voice huffed.

The temptation for a witty comeback was lowered. She felt a bit unprotected and vulnerable without Knockout around.

Paradox tried to speak through the thickness of her anxiety with a sickenly sweet voice to hide her feelings “You don’t have to apologise. This is a war, being shot at is part of the game unfortunately.”

The mech laughed in a sad agreement “yes, you would be right about that.”

“Please come in, take a seat” she gestured to the table.

As the mech sat up on her table she inspected the wounds for any signs of infection but as she looked deeper the jagged metal became a visual for her anxiety to rest upon. She wasn’t able to hear the patient, only herself.

You think you're good enough?

Your misleading them, saying your just like them.

Your not them.

They would rather have their own kind look after them.

You would want that.

Give to others what you want to yourself.

Your gonna fail.

You don’t know their body as well as they do.

You’ll never be a proper cybertronian doctor.

Paradox pulled away from the injury and deeply vented in.

“Ok,” she vented out “would you mind if I played some music?” She asked “it’s not Cybertronian. It’s music from another planet that I enjoy”

The pause felt like a year as the tension thickened

“Sure why not?” The mech chuffed “I need something new around here”

“Ok, cool. Thank you. If you want me to turn it off then let me know, ok?” Paradox double checked before turning on her music. She tried to pick something calming but that was easier said than done when she loved theatre and upbeat songs.

As the introduction of piano played she turned back around letting the coldness that hid her face snap her back to reality.

“So how long have you been in the war for?” She asked.

“All my life” he smiled taking in the music.

“No!” she gasped “I would be so not interested in fighting a war I knew nothing about.”

“Well your looking pretty young yourself” he smiled.

“I have my reasons…being a test subject is one of them” Paradox looked closely into the wound trying to find any sign of infection or parasites.

“Well I couldn’t be mad about this war. I’ll get to enjoy this planet some day” Paradox could tell that the hopefulness was starting to wean itself from his voice.

She felt so sad for him. But it was her job to remain calm and allow those emotions to sail away from her. She couldn’t be sad about it right now.

But all this time, this mech and so many like him had lived without the basic joys of life like she had.

Maybe Earth wasn’t such a bad place.

She chuffed and rolled her eyes at such a statement. She looked back at the mech’s faceplate and saw his smile shining through.

That was his life.

War.

Paradox turned around and grabbed some repair tools. The blast didn’t hit any fuel lines or cables so it was a simple patch and repair.

As she was repairing him Paradox felt a gaze upon her. She looked up and saw the red curious eyes staring at her.

“What’s this song about?” He asked “it’s in a different language that I don’t know.”

Paradox looked up and paused for a moment “oh this song. Some people say it’s about getting through tough moments in your life. But personally, I see it as the joy of rain after drought. I don’t know why but that’s how I’ve always pictured it.”

“Well that planet’s rain must be different from the acid rain here” he laughed “imagine going out and being hit by a liquid that doesn’t hurt you.”

Oh right.

They don’t have Earth rain here.

They’ve never seen rain that doesn’t hurt them.

That’s sad.

But that’s life for them.

“Well on this planet the organics in some areas worship the rain for a good harvest” Paradox informed, trying to recollect about the harvest festivals she grew up with.

He’s gonna find out.

He’s gonna be mad.

Who would want you working on them?

You're not human.

You're not cybertronian.

You're just some creature.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a curious huff from the mech “well that certainly sounds weird but if it works for them then let’s hope that rain falls" he laughed.

Paradox was almost done with the repair. “Hey I wanna do a strength test. Can you just lean one for a moment please? Just push against me.”

He pushed as hard as he could until she double tapped his shoulder plate.

“Seems to be coasting by just fine.” She smiled “you think you're good to be pushed around again?” She laughed.

“Yep it’s gonna last me a few falls now. Thanks doc” he smiled as he left the office.

As he left Paradox then opened up any data pads she could find on acid rain.

She began to wonder how badly the war had changed the planet’s ecosystem. There were only a few books available and she spent the rest of the night writing down facts and notes about Cybertron. All of its creation stories from Primus to their version of the Big Bang theory.

However all signs pointed to the same thing.

Cybertron used to be a bountiful planet full of life both robotic and organic.

Chapter Text

“Cybertron a planet forged by Primus with the rivers of the primes life force bringing the world together” the words from Paradox’s data pad read.

“The 13 primes worked in harmony together to create cybertron and continue the teaching of Primus’s life and ultimate sacrifice for our people.

Prima: Leading us to great prosperity.
Vector Prime: Keeping the timeline in order.
Alpha Trion: The key to the past to protect our future.
Solus Prime: Building our soldiers tools to protect us.
Micronus Prime: Making sure our dimension doesn’t collapse.
Alchemist Prime: Mixing the organic and non organic to create harmony and beauty.
Nexus Prime: Allowing us to be stronger together.
Onyx Prime: Our guide of the After Spark.
Amalgamous Prime: Allowing us to have a use.
Quintus Prime: The creator of life itself.
Leige Maximo Prime: The avoidance of truth.
Megatronus Prime: The foil of perfection and composure.
Epistemus Prime: All knowing.

Together, the 13 used their powers to allow Energon to flow from the Well and into our bodies so that we may bring Cybertron to its true glory. Just as Primus intended.”

Paradox let out a quiet yet judgmental snort “well that wasn’t preachy at all.” She rolled her optics before looking through the data pads and saw images of Cybertron before the war.

They almost looked like home.

Alien, yes.

But she could see shapes looked like plants she recognised from Earth.

Palms, succulents, Venus fly traps. They all looked like alien versions of those main 3 but metallic, and the energon flowed through like rivers. Like a snake had slithered through the area leaving its path to bring nutrients to Cybertron as the Energon rains fell after being blessed by the Primes.

Even the animals looked strangely familiar…

Animals that looked like deers and mooses merged together, birds with wings of butterflies.

It all looked too familiar.

It was off putting.

She looked outside and reevaluated the landscape she had gotten used to.

Dark skies with purple lighting as the acid rains came in.

She looked at the ground and saw the rivers cracking allowing the acid to poison the planet’s core as years of corrosion gave the once soft landscape hard defining wrinkles.

Paradox turned her attention to the metal jutting out of the ground like sharp knives piercing through the skin.

They looked more organic.

Like tree stumps made of knives causing the planet to bleed the acid and rust that it had collected over the duration of the war.

“God damn it! I’m in Ferngully!” She sighed heavily and sarcastically with her thick Australian accent she hadn’t used in a while “imma just go over here and be the insane bat because not my planet not my worry. My mental illnesses qualify me to be the Robbin Williams bat and the Robbin Williams bat I shall be! Batty for fuckin’ LIFE!” Paradox heaved out sighing as she walked away from the window and back to her desk.

“Uggghh! but it was so pretty before” she groaned looking back at the data pad. “No! This ain’t becomin’ a shitty Captain Planet episode. What am I supposed to do about it? I know I share a birthday with Danny fuckin’ Devito, but that ain’t makin’ me the fuckin’ Lorax!” She forced herself to look back at her work bench as a distraction from the data pad in her hand.

“But that mech…” she sighed rolling her helm back as far as her neck would allow “there would be so many like him who haven’t seen a decent looking planet.”

She paused thinking about everything.

Chapter Text

Brainstorm worked away at his desk trying to make a machine to paint his room. He was fiddling with the pressure on the paint when his door slid open.

The screech that followed didn’t require him to look up from his desk to see who it was.

“I need you to train our little experiment” Starscream grumbled “she needs to have some level of protection otherwise Shock…… I mean our efforts would be for nothing” his stance was cocky and regal, twiddling his fingers on his raised hand as if he was proclaiming the death of Megatron.

Brainstorm didn’t look up from his work and subtly aimed the cannon at his unwanted guest before testing the pressure.

“I have a name ya know” he tilted his helm disgruntled at the impoliteness, but also to keep the pressure gauge in the corner of his eye. He saw the pressure slowly go up a 10th of the way.

Starscream dramatically rolled his optics in sync with his helm “Why would I need to know your name?”

Brainstorm saw the pressure was now a 7th of the way full in his peripheral vision. Keeping his eye contact with Starscream. “Because I’m your weapons specialist and it’s best not to be a bit-brain towards me.”

Starscream’s optics widened as he gasped at the words just spouted at him “I!” He vented out heavily “I…am your superior! I am your leader! You should be saying my name!”

The pressure was now half way there. Not that Starscream would know with the mask covering Brainstorm’s face plate but a smile started to appear on him knowing that he’ll get to see if his machine was for interior decorating or a possible and literal paint gun. Either way people would like his work and possibly regard him as a hero. “You're right, Starscream. How impolite of me, or should that be lord Starscream? I don’t know I’m new here and I’m so used to others knowing my name before I come in.” He paused to see a scrap eating grin on Starscream “but of course you’re just the figurehead, I bet Shockwave and Soundwave would know my name. Maybe they even put me in higher regard as I actually do work for the cause.” Brainstorm’s smile was now almost appearing over his mask.

The smile quickly wiped off Starscream’s faceplate as a slight tremble began to appear in his frame.

The tank was now a 4th of the way full.

“HOOOOOWWWW” he vented in.

3rd of the way full.

“DAAAARRRRREEEE!” He vented out.

2nd of the way.

“YOOOOUUUUUU!” he vented in.

1.

“BRAAAAIIIINNNSTOORRRRRRMMMM!” He vented out.

Suddenly a stream of wet teal paint flew across the air as Starscream finally said his name and the machine currently spouting paint slowly stopped as the small amount of paint it had loaded began to run out. That, however, didn't stop the mass of it from painting Starscream’s faceplate and intake teal. Starscream began spluttering up the teal paint that ran down into his tanks and vents.

“Hey so you do know my name!” Brainstorm cheerfully said, turning off his machine. “Sorry about that.” He smiled “wrong place at the wrong time I guess” Brainstorm shrugged off that statement like an actor who had been practicing their big moment for years.

Starscream tried screaming at Brainstorm but it began messing with his vocal processor leaving him saying nothing but rather making sounds that sounded like “you little glitch” if you’re audials were the sharpest known to Cybertronian history.

“Hmmmm” Brainstorm sarcastically thought aloud “maybe you need medbay? I know I was supposed to go there and train that weird alien bot thing that works there. I’ll give them a present” he knelt down and scooped up Starscream, bringing him to the medbay.

The door opened revealing Paradox putting away a data pad before turning around. Her optics lit up excited to see Brainstorm. That was for a few seconds before she looked down into his arms and saw a teal faced Starscream.

“Oi! you fuckin’ dumbass of a motherfuckin’ bitch!” She groaned in English with a deep Australian screech. A language brand new to Brainstorm who didn’t understand a word of it.

“Judging by the tone your not happy to see me?” He tilted his helm raising an optic ridge in confusion.

Paradox took a deep vent in.

And Paradox took a deep vent out.

She paused before switching back to Cybertrionan

“Let’s just say at the medbay our number one rule is the BEST care goes to Starscream because the leader should STAY OUT of medbay as much as possible” she said in the politest voice she could trying her best not to grumble through her dentas but only doing it to emphasise words to communicate the actual rule.

Paradox then scanned Starscream and saw all the paint inside of him.

“Look,” she sighed “I’m going to have to put you temporary offline so that I can clean your insides out because of BRAINSTORM’S stupidity” that last part also trailed off from her dentas.

“See she knows my name!” Brainstorm point to Paradox happily trying to make a point.

“That’s right” she sweetly smiled as she pulled up a data pad with the diagnostics for a planned temporary offlining began on Starscream “You’re Brainstorm, previously known as Genitus on your records” the smile became more evil as her voice became maliciously sweet enough to give any human a toothache.

The smug look quickly came off Brainstorm’s face as he looked at the data pad Paradox had.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” He loudly stumbled.

“Oh?” She sarcastically sighed “did you not know the rule? Have you not seen others do the ditch and run?” She continued giving the most sarcastically innocent confused look on her face.

“I mean….” Brainstorm trailed off to think about his words “look I don’t know what your gonna do... I’m asssuuuming it’s a practice unique to this clinic…….. this LOVELY clinic….with AMAZING medics” he had no idea what was happening but knew he had to save his aft somehow “I’m new here. Can I have some leeway?” He tried to negotiate, “beautiiiffuuuulllll…. Stuunnning…??? Inteeeelllleeegannnnt…. Harrrrrd worrrrkinnnggggg meedddiiicccs?” The bot with a smart intake was suddenly struggling for words trying to not further himself into more scrap, he knew he was deep enough in it as is.

“Oh, you ARE getting the leeway version…” the smile stuck but the sweetness left her voice “and I can assure you that we are all of those words here. We don’t need to be told that” her smile became absorbed in itself, “but it’s great to hear others know that as well” she flicked at her not existent hair.

Brainstorm let out a vent of relief “oh thank Primus” he smiled.

“…But only because I can’t administer the non leeway version. Only Knockout has the ability to do that” the sound that came from Paradox’s vocals made it sound like she wished that she could administer full punishment as she began typing in Brainstorm’s file.

“Hey wait!” Brainstorm reached out trying to snatch the pad only for him to be just short in arms leangth as Paradox pulled it away and closer to her as she turned away from him “let’s talk this through, I don’t even know what the punishment is” he nervously laughed.

“I guess you’ll have to ask everyone else.” Paradox kindly suggested “Though not many of them have tried to go against our rule. It’s mostly just rumours and speculation, so you’ll have to figure out what’s true and what’s not” she shrugged as she turned around to grab her equipment after Starscream had reached a stable offline.

If Brainstorm’s smug cocky look hadn’t disappeared now, it was definitely replaced with him doing the maths of how bad a punishment from the med team could be. His glassed over stare made Paradox bring him a chair out of her way but close by incase something happened while he was in this state. She then lead him to the chair and pushed him down on his shoulders to get him sitting before returning to Starscream.

She scanned Starscream to find the most amount of paint in his vocal processor and she began the procedure to remove it before flushing a cleaning liquid through it and making sure there was no paint remaining before setting aside to dry.

She then pulled out two tubes from the ceiling and carefully watched his venting as she removed his vents and hooked him up to the tubes to help his venting and she cleaned out his vents and replaced the filters before doing her final checks and reinstalling them before carefully sticking a cleaning tube down his intake to wash away any left over paint.

She then did one final check of his tanks before carefully removing them and cleaning out the rest of the paint. While waiting for his tanks to dry she reinstalled his vocal processor and scanned that to make sure it was properly installed and paid extra attention to the damaged section from what she could assume was a physical attack from the battlefield . She tried to see if she could fix it but without Knockout there to supervise she decided not to do anything but write suggestions in his notes about it.

After writing in the notes she checked to see if the tank was dry. She then took a small hammer and removed the large dent in the centre of his tanks. Judging by reports and how weathered the edges were, it suggested that it had been there long before Paradox was born.

Paradox closed his chassis and did one final scan before starting the artificial online sequence and she filled out paperwork for Knockout to check Starscream over when he got back making extra sure she named the person who injured and brought Starscream in.

She then looked at the culprit still in shock of what’s coming for him. At this point he had gotten over not knowing the punishment of the med staff but fear of not knowing when it would be coming caused his optics to expand, violently showing his concern and fear on display for anyone in a 10km radius.

And that fear made Paradox smile which added a saddened look of guilt to the overall scrap riddled fear in his posture.

“You gonna take your buddy back to his room?” Paradox raised her optic ridge at him trying to see if he was so detached from reality if he would even know that Starscream was starting to wake up.

Brainstorm then quickly snapped up sitting straighter than his sexuality looking like a sad lost puppy waiting for more instructions.

Paradox made a ‘there you go’ gesture turning her head down, as an ‘I give up’ sigh with left hand on her hip and throwing her right hand in the air towards Brainstorm.

As Brainstorm snapped back to reality he started making confused sounds “sorrry…. Ah…. What? Sorry I was…”

Paradox sighed again and showed off her Australian accent yet again.

Brainstorm then heard her say a similar sounding jibberish that she had spoken the moment she saw Starscream as they entered the medbay

“Sorry. I don’t understand, your speaking utter nonsense and that….” He thought about his words carefully “…puuuuttsssss…. A… whole lotta…… fea….concer…..worry…. In..ABOUT….yourrrrrr…menta….. edducaaatiiiooon.” He sputtered before quickly jumping to save any miscommunication “BECAAAAUUUUUSSSEEE! Speaking multiple languages shows intellect! Yes! That’s what it does!”

Paradox sighed again and went back to Cybertronian speaking in a more Frankensteined polite transatlantic accent. “Do you want to take your boyfriend back to his room?” Sarcasm seemed to be a mood that was uniquely presented in Paradox.

Brainstorm took a step back and placed the palms of his servos away from his chest. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! We aren’t boyfriends. We aren’t even boys that are friends.”

The face Brainstorm saw from Paradox made him realise he was on her last piston.

“Look, Brainstorm” she loudly sighed leaning on the table and crossing her legs before putting her left hand on her hip, trying to emphasise the pregnancy “I don’t know what you know about being almost 6 months pregnant on a good day.” She paused seeing if he was taking in what she was saying. She then took a longer pause after realising he might not know what that is “pregnancy is my body building a sparkling. It’s a parasite that we keep around” she then saw Brainstorm visibly start to catch on to what a pregnancy is. “Now, I have been carrying and building this thing in the worst case scenario, for many reasons. On my planet I’m a little over half way, and I’m a little over AND fed up with this. The only thing on my mind right now is being able to not have this sparkling in me. So you try strapping a 1.5 Astro Kilo to your stomach while doing life. It doesn’t seem like much but when it’s on you CONSTANTLY you too would also get like this if you also had to work on your pedes all day while trying to be a decent mech towards others. Am I right in saying that?”

Brainstorm looked at her confused but understanding “y..yes, yes sir… Ma’am? Th..tha’am?”

The corner of her intake softened “tha’am or sir please” she smiled.

“Oh, I didn’t realise you were a mech, you look more femme” Brainstorm looked at Paradox this time he sounded genuine in trying to correct his mistake.

“I’m what my planet would call gender queer” she returned genuineness back with her smile “I use she/her, he/him, they/them. But I do prefer masculine terms when it times to mech or femme, sir or ma’am, lord or lady, ect. I will accept non binary terms like tha’am because they’re fun and cute like me haha” their laugh was something they hadn’t heard in a while. It almost sounded like they forgot how to do it.

Brainstorm went and picked up Starscream and looked at Paradox. The eye contact made them a little bit uncomfortable but they knew it was from a good place and wasn’t malicious.

Paradox could see the smile in Brainstorm’s optics “of course my good mech. I will see you later tha’am” he cheerfully joked as he carried Starscream out of the ward.

Chapter Text

Paradox slept easy knowing that at least one person was there for them while her family was gone. She missed them terribly and woke the next day realising that they never messaged each other. She quickly opened up her messages that Knockout had installed earlier to see a new group chat that had a few messages in it.

Knockout: “Are you up?”

Breakdown: “Hey P, you doing alright? We’ve been travelling today, just got to the base a few klicks ago. Everything’s going great! How’s your cycle been?”

Knockout: “Paradox?”

Breakdown: “aw, she’s probably busy at the bay. Never a dull moment there.”

Knockout: “Yes. How is the medbay anyway?”

Paradox hugged her arm happily seeing that her family was there and that they wanted to communicate with her. She felt like she was 5 years old again as the joy of receiving a call from her family after waiting anxiously for a day was starting to nip at her hopes. Her smile was wide across her faceplate as she squeezed in delight. She had to take a moment to pause and calm down so that she could respond back.

Paradox: “Hi! Sorry, clinics been…… code 117…. And one other patient. The patient is fine, code 117 is alive”

Knockout: “A ditch and run, ey?”

Breakdown: “117?”

Paradox: “mmmhm, that’s right”

Knockout: “At least everyone is smart enough to know what to do with a 117”

Paradox: “weeeeeeellllllll…..”

Paradox: “Brainstorm assisted 117”

Breakdown: “oh that’s good! So you know he can assist you”

Paradox: “weeeeeeellllllll…..”

Paradox: “no”

Paradox: “:,(“

Knockout: “So code 113…”

Breakdown: “oh that one I know! It’s a wet floor!”

Knockout: “It was. That’s now code 48”

Breakdown: “ why did you change the codes? Seems uneccassary…”

Paradox: “Because anyone who drops Starscream off is a fuckwitt”

Knockout: “Yes, I must admit as horrid as the human language is. We have received a few amusing words from it”

Breakdown: “that was supposed to be ‘unnecessary’ sorry”

Breakdown: “so what’s a code 113?”

Paradox: “OOOOO I LOVE EXPLAINING THIS!”

Paradox: “just means that person is a fuckwitt and the medics have initiated a payback protocol }:)”

Knockout: “Yes. It mostly occurs when a 117 happens. The last thing we want is Starscream at our door so imagine how we feel knowing your the reason he’s there”

Paradox smiled at the messages. She never really understood familial affection, if she got any it felt second hand and full of guilt. Yes she loved her step family and she knew they loved her but she never felt like she belonged and was just mooching off their family.

But this…

This is the happy feeling she dreamt of. She always imagined it felt like ribbons of warmth wrapping around her but she realised it was more like tingles of joy fizzing around her. It was a new and strange sensation and she was enjoying every moment she could relish.

She learnt that growing up…

To take what you can get.

And she was getting her dream.

…But these things typically didn’t last long.

2 weeks was her rule of thumb.

Enjoy what you have.

Because nothing ever lasts…

Paradox knew that, she learnt that lesson years ago. She felt so happy at this moment and she was going to leech onto it like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter.

Chapter Text

Paradox walked her way to her desk to start setting up for the day. She logged into the medbay data banks before cleaning off any medical equipment and tables before doing a scan on herself to see how she was progressing in health and pregnancy.

As she was looking through her pregnancy and comparing it to other ones on Shockwave’s files she noticed her baby was growing slower than the average fetus. Then when she took a closer look at the physical form she noticed a small cleft starting to appear on the upper lip.

She never wanted to hurt anyone or anything but that feeling of hurting another person made her feel nauseous as her heart plunged into the pit of her stomach.

She turned off her scan and filled in her daily log to send to Shockwave as quickly as she could.

Paradox then looked around for a distraction.

She noticed she looked straight for the cy-gars.

This wasn’t a habit.

It’s not that bad.

It’s only been like ten…

Maybe?

Has a tally been made?

Surely she hasn’t done that many.

Was it more?

Paradox quickly went to snap out of her spiral and searched her music for something to play while she worked on documents.

She then picked a song before sitting down at her desk to find out if she had to finish any documents.

All up to date.

“Shit.”

“Maybe I can proofread?”

Bad luck, all documents have been sent out.

“Any documents I can start?”

Nothings working out.

“Anything I can do at all here?”

Like a sinking sailboat, the plans are going down…

…And down…

…And down.

The distraction wasn’t working, she could feel herself begin going deeper down that spiral.

The pressure started to get to her.

She looked at the flicker as the cy-gar began to set on fire before smoldering into embers.

Paradox watched it burn up quicker and quicker as she suckled on the release of relaxation it gave her as it burned to her intake.

And just like that it was over. Paradox quickly discarded it and looked around for something she could actually burn for.

She looked outside and saw soldiers running through the acid rains as they began to set in for the day.

Paradox looked at the draw and took a big vent in,

“Pushing through the pain, we’ll find the strength” she vented out with a small hum to match the song.

She looked around the room. She tried to find a new thing to look at. Maybe there was something she could fix. She just needed something to do to keep her distracted. The sensation to distract herself was making her insides irritably itch.

The room never changed and she kept on top of repairs. Paradox grabbed her chair and put it in the centre of the room. She felt like she was stuck in a mouse wheel. Spinning around until she was on the brink of passing out.

She looked deeper into her surroundings to find a treasure for her to play with.

Then a flicker of hope. A tile was starting to raise off the ground. Paradox grabbed a repair kit and knelt down to the floor. She removed the tile as she found something to burn for even if it was mundane and a quick fix. She started a small fire to heat up the bend in the metal tile. The burn she felt as she bent it back in place was both soothing and stinging. She used extreme coldness to soothe her when she couldn’t take it anymore back home, the soothing made her uncomfortable but she pushed through the pain she found the strength to finish bending the tile flat. She then reinstalled it as she elimated the damaged floor.

She then stood up and looked around for other tiles and even roof shingles. At this point, Paradox was just looking for things on the ceiling to replace.

“Back to boredom and spiraling again” she sighed as she daintily fell back into her chair. Her head leant back letting gravity play with how dangly her frame had become.

She heard her door raise and as the sound shot through the almost quiet room as the song changed she saw Brainstorm enter the room

As Brainstorm entered he heard that jibberish that Paradox was speaking the previous day. He didn’t know what it was but it must of meant something to them.

Paradox saw the teal mech walk towards them and they saw that a bit of their mojo was knocked down a bit after yesterday. Not a lot but he did definitely slow it down, he seemed more real, more on her vibe.

They contained a laughter only letting out a small please chuff as they spoke “We got some catching up to do? What’s with the unannounced visit?”

Brainstorm’s walking slowed down a bit “hey remember what you said yesterday?! Knockout isn’t here is he?” His panic was definitely scratching off the lustrous god he painted himself to be.

Paradox rolled their eyes and sighed “whoa! Whatever’s on your mind, leave it outside. I am anxious enough as is and I don’t need that bringing me down.”

Brainstorm sighed, it almost sounded like relief but it was more the tension swarming around him slowly disappearing. He focused on the sounds, he could tell it was music but not exactly what he was used to. He heard a metal device tshmming in a basic pattern like a 1 2 3 4, he heard a voice that sounded high pitched but also masculine. He couldn’t figure out if it was a mech or femme singing.

Paradox noticed the blue and gold mech being quiet, something new to them. They deliberately coughed to get Brainstorm’s attention.

“You wanna learn English?” They asked?

Brainstorm tilted his helm “Inglash?” He asked

“Close enough” Paradox shrugged “come, we will waste no time haha”

They pulled up a chair for Brainstorm and they both sat down.

“This” Paradox tried to point to something but realised she couldn’t exactly point at music “This is music, from my planet.”

Brainstorm had a look of shock sprawl across his optics “Wait!” He gasped “you're not some mutant Cybertrionan? I thought you were forged weirdly?!”

Paradox fought so hard against their urge to burst out laughing. “No, no, no. I was stolen from my planet and experimented on” they smiled.

Brainstorm looked over the person in front of him. The reality of the situation hit him hard “that must hurt right? I am struggling to be separated fro…” he paused mid sentence then sighed with anguish before restarting his sentence “I…I couldn’t imagine being… seperated from…m…my… home…my… everything” he sighed.

Paradox reciprocated the sigh but theirs was more c’est la vie “the world…” she sighed “the world will keep on turning. No matter what or where. Scrap happens, that’s life and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. I always believe in looking at the positives.” They looked at Brainstorm who looked at them with slight amazement but mostly confusion at how someone could be so calm in this situation. Paradox saw his optics dart around like he was mentally looking at how things would have played out if he was in their shoes.

Paradox sighed again with sympathy “I used to say no such thing as a bad day, it’s just the light you put on it. Yes I lost my friends, but I gained a family. I may be an experiment, but I found a new life in medicine. For me it’s always been about the good that shines through the darkness” a smile shined through her frown as she saw Brainstorm’s optics focus more on them.

He stopped thinking about what he would do and realised that the mech in front of him went through more than their fair share of war crimes. He also released a new tactic Decepticons were trying to introduce, yes it was for a pregnancy but who knows what else they’ve used these aliens for. He started spiraling in what the Decepticons have done against the rights of another species.

“Anyways!” The happy voice of Paradox snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at them like they were just slapped in the face with a fish.

“Eyes on me” they commanded “I’m going to teach you a bit of my language” they smiled.

“Ok” they vented out excitedly “I’m going to teach you this song!”

“Ok….” Brainstorm queeried

“Repeat after me” Paradox gestured to Brainstorms optics and pointed to their mouth.

“I swear” Paradox’s Australian accent made Brainstorm jump a bit. Which made them laugh “ah yes I supposed my accent can be jaring.” They paused to calm down her laughter “alright let’s try this again” Brainstorm listened closely and watched their mouth move “I swear”

Brainstorm tried to replicate “I shr…waaarreee” he said slowly to try and figure out how to pronunciate the words.

“Close” Paradox smiled seeing him almost get it. “One more time: I swear.”

“I shrwearah” Brainstorm was trying to mimic everything including the accent and it was making Paradox giggle.

They giggled “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! You're doing really well your getting an Australian accent haha” they caught their breath “oh, that’s great! So next it’s: you never coming down”

The jump in sentence length caught Brainstorm off guard but he vented in and out then thought about his words. His optics squinted as he tried to think through what was said and how to replicate it “uoooooouuuu nevah combing duhnah” this whole exercise was punching holes in his confidence.

Paradox got excited at how fast he was getting it “yes! Now, it’s not perfect but it works” she excitedly shrugged laughing it off “next is the repeated line ok, you gonna hear this a lot ok? You ready?”

Brainstorm nodded looking proud of himself.

“Alright.” Paradox smiled “the line is: if you get high on me yeah”

Brainstorm didn’t think much about this line he thought it was easier than the last “if yooooooo geeet hiiii-ah on mewa yeeeeeeah”

“Ok,” Paradox breathed out “that needs a bit of practice but you’ll get there. Now you wanna put it together?”

“Can I hear the whole thing together?” Brainstorm was shocked at how quick this was going but he felt confident that he’ll be able to put something together.

“Sure!” Paradox smiled. They were so eager to see how this turned out “I swear you never coming down if you get high on me yeah.”

Brainstorm straightened out his posture and his eyes slowly moved across as if he was reading the line in front of him.

“I shwear yuu nevah coming downah if yau geet higah on me yeah”

Paradox cheered as the words came out. They were speaking more English but Brainstorm had a feeling it was a good thing this time around.

Then he heard it.

The song transitioned out of jibberish.

“I swear you never coming down if you get high on me, yeah!”

He felt so much joy that he learnt something, another language, an alien language! He was gonna be so posh at any bar he dropped in on now.

“Get high, come and get high on me.”

Then he started understanding stuff he didn’t learn as the song continued.

“Get high, come and get high on me.”

It caught him off guard at first, but it felt like he was understanding a secret.

“Get high, come and get high on me.”

One might even say it felt taboo to know this language.

“Get high, come and get high on me.”

Brainstorm listening to the lyrics made him so happy and he understood why Paradox was listening to the music. The jibberish was so confusing at first but now it made sense to him.

“I wish you could see yourself dancing tonight.”

Now the jibberish was back but Brainstorm could at least understand it a bit better. He smiled as he stood up.

“Right!” He happily said as he put his hands on Paradox’s shoulders “you’ve taught me something, now I’ve gotta teach you something.”

Paradox’s eyes lit up “WEAPONS!?” The words hurled out of their mouth enthusiastically.

“No” Brainstorm paused. “I mean, maybe.” He stopped to think. “I have no idea. But I’m gonna teach you basic defence” he took his hands away and gestured for Paradox to stand next to him.

“Now you gotta follow me” he teased.

Paradox eagerly looked at him waiting for a demo and tutorial.

“Alright” he smiled.

“I’m just gonna…” he tried to figure out a stance to do.

“Welp.” He stuttered “I didn’t get a curriculum. So what do you wanna learn?”

Paradox looked at him confused but happy and giggling at his predicament “how about we start with a good punch?” They smiled.

“A punch! Right!” Brainstorm stretched his arm and Paradox copied his movements “ya know…” he smiled “that was just a test, to see if you knew what the basics were.”

“Sure” Paradox rolled their optics sarcastically “and I’ve fought a gladiator” Paradox mocked a proud demeanour as they joked.

“Ha ha HA” Brainstorm faked laughed at them acknowledging that they could see right through his bullscrap

“Punch me” he suddenly demanded calmly “I wanna see what I’m working with.”

Paradox took a boxers stance and lined themselves up, they took a big vent in remembering the last time they interacted with their mother and grandmother before taking the biggest swing they could.

Bam!

Paradox saw that they had left a dent in Brainstorm’s mid plate

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry!” Paradox started spewing out words in their Australian accent in panic and concern before snapping out of it and going back to Cybertronian saying “don’t worry! I’ll fix it!”

Paradox then ran back to their station and grabbed a quick repair kit before immediately beginning repairs on Brainstorm.

Brainstorm meanwhile was in a little bit of shock at how someone like Paradox could even punch that well. A civilian with no war experience and yet… they punched better than most of the agents in his division.

“You're good.” He vented out “where did you learn to punch like that?” He took a deep vent in.

“Welllll” Paradox trailed off but Brainstorm couldn’t tell if it was because of the story he was about to hear or because they were busy repairing him “long story short. My mother locked me in a house and I learnt that day I am not above punching the elderly.”

“I'm sorry?” Brainstorm asked. He was caught a bit off guard by the response “you punched the elderly? That… actually kinda sounds fragging awesome!”

“Yeah it kinda was. I got to stand up to my abuser and I got three deserts from old people as I walked out” Paradox laughed

“Wait, people applauded you for that?” Brainstorm gasped

“Nah, it’s an ongoing joke on my planet that old people keep on giving you sweet treats and the house I was locked in was my grandmother's house in a retirement village so it was just old people being old people as I walked out like a total boss haha.” Paradox smiled before making their voice more serious sounding “they make great brownies and cookies though.”

The two laughed as Paradox finished repairs and double checked Brainstorm for any further damage and gave him the all clear.

“So any notes on the punch?” They laughed.

“Yes, actually” Brainstorm smiled. “The punch was good but you haven’t perfected the technique. You need to stand more like this so that your swing is more precise”

Paradox then spent the rest of their day with Brainstorm teaching them how to fight and when the pair took breaks Paradox continued teaching Brainstorm how to speak English by trying to teach him the whole song.

Chapter Text

Paradox sat down at her desk and scanned her knuckles to see if any damage was done. All that shows was slight denting but nothing too severe. She knew her body was weak, especially the parts she was originally designed with. She was grateful for the parts Knockout had given her but even they had some chipped paint on them.

Paradox sat down and began repairs on her knuckles. She looked through her messages and received nothing. The night was still young so maybe Knockout and Breakdown were busy.

Paradox: “Hi! Its me. How are y’all going?”

She let the message simmer alone after she hit send and paid attention to the edges of her knuckles as she delicately painted them. If Knockout had taught her anything it was how to do a good finish.

The door suddenly opened and Paradox jumped up and immediately ran to the medical table to begin surgery. The mech carefully threw the patient on the table as Energon began splitting out everywhere. Paradox sealed all the leaks and began diagnostics and scanned him.

“Wanna tell me what happened?” She yelled with urgency.

“War?” The mech shrugged.

Paradox let out an angry grunt “really?” She exclaimed “look around! We all know it’s the war! Give me specifics please!”

“Ummm he was shot at?” The mech sounded like he knew nothing.

Paradox sighed “where did you find him?”

“What?”

“WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM!?” Paradox repeated louder “you clearly didn’t see the attack so where did you find him?”

“At the gate…” the mech recalled nervously “Autobots were shooting at him from the distance”

“Ok” Paradox let out a relieved sigh “now that I know you can either stay and watch your buddy here or you can go.”

The mech turned around and began to walk out of the room.

Paradox then turned on some music to calm her down and to create a connection for her to grab onto if she began spiraling. As the music began the mech turned around after opening the door and he looked at Paradox confused.

“Look” she sighed trying to not take her eyes off the situation at hand “I have this thing where I need music to listen to and I find this… alien… music works best for me”

The mech then watched like a ghost standing in the room as Paradox began work with her servos moving hypnotically in time to the music in a foreign language.

As she worked on his throat trying to reconnect fuel lines she heard the patient try to speak below her.

“Let

Me

Go”

His voice squeeze out the words sounding weaker each time

“No!” Paradox stated “you shouldn’t be left to your own devices”

Her voice paused for a moment as she realised what he was actually asking.

“No! Nono! We aren’t doing that either!” She exclaimed “your gonna make it through this. Trust me.”

The patient then collapsed back onto the table. He was alive. Just comatosed.

Paradox continued to work humming along to the music to stop her from ending up in crisis. Hearing someone want to die made her think of her life back on Earth and she became nostalgic in the worst way possible.

“One day, I’ll watch as your leaving ‘cause you got tired of my scheming” she softly hummed in English as she began repairs on his spark chamber.

Paradox took out the damaged structure of his chamber and placed it on the table next to her as she began repairs on it, keeping an eye on his spark and trying to jumpstart it when it showed any problems.

The patient stared directly at the light trying to avoid any reflective surfaces. The last thing he wanted was to see even his silhouette in a mirror as he laid on the table slowly dying.

He was struggling to hold on but he heard something. It sounded distant.

And weird.

“And I’m a monster on the hill.”

The hum was soothing and allowed him to relax a bit.

“Too big to hangout, slowly lurching towards your favourite city.”

Everything else began turning to white.

“Pierced through the heart but never killed.”

He stopped feeling the surgery.

“Did your hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism.”

But that hum…

“Like some kind of congressman.”

…That hum was his only connection to the real world.

“I wake up screaming from dreaming.”

He saw the unusual sounds dangle in front of him like a rope made of foreign squiggles that he recognised as some type of sentence.

“One day, I’ll watch as your leaving and life will lose all its meaning.”

He felt his arms reach out and grab it.

“It’s me, hi.”

He began climbing that hum.

“I’m the problem it’s me.”

The whiteness began to disappear the more he climbed.

“At tea time.”

He began to feel the surgery.

“Everybody agrees.”

He began to feel more real.

“I’ll stare directly at the sun.”

He began to feel…

“But never in the mirror.”

…alive

Suddenly the patient gasped and vented as Paradox put the casing back in on his spark.

“Alright almost there” she smiled as she began connecting the rest of his fuel lines.

The hum disappeared.

The music was still playing but the hum wasn’t there.

He began hyperventilating trying to find his connection to reality.

“Whoa! Your good?” Paradox cooed trying to calm him down.

He then realised that her voice sounded familiar.

“Hum” he asked wearily.

“Ok…” Paradox agreed, a bit confused, but she continued.

“I have a dream my daughter in law kills me for the money.”

The hum returned.

“She thinks I left them in the will.”

It was his doctor the whole time.

“The family gathers ‘round and reads it.”

Paradox noticed him calm down as he stopped hyperventilating.

As she connected the last pipe she noticed his vitals had smoothed out and were showing better results. Sure, he won’t be fighting for a bit but at least he’s alive without much ramification to his livelihood.

She monitored his vitals while she was removing dents from his plating and continued to hum along trying to keep him calm. The last thing she needed was a preventable problem.

As she finished the surgery the patient sat up and slowly got onto his pedes as Paradox filled out paperwork to make note of when he was ready to go back into battle again.

She watched him leave but on his way out she saw the mech that brought the patient still in the room.

“Pretty amazing skill you got there doc” he smiled “never seen singing bring someone back from the after spark before, especially in a different language.” he then left alongside the patient and as the door slammed behind them, Paradox returned to her desk with a small smile crossing her faceplate.

The smile grew when she saw a response to her message.

Breakdown: “hey P! I’m going great!I just got back from a small scouting mission Knockout’s just finishing up right now”

Chapter Text

Bunbury, Western Australia.
7:30pm, 5th of September 2018.

“Damn it. Stupid Susan. Probably waiting for her medi pedi to dry” a middle aged man groaned in his car, angrily turning his phone off and putting it on his dashboard while he waitied outfront of a shopping centre McDonalds.

“Alright kid,” he sighed “you said this would work.” He looked to his left to see his 16 year old daughter with his face yet her wild and uncontrollable hair reminding him of his ex wife.

“Yeah. I mean it worked for me the other day during that excursion” she nervously smiled.

The pair drove off in the blue hilux into the Maccas drive through.

“Hi.” The man grumbled, stroking his face, “we have those free token things for that mal-oope thing.”

A pitchy glitched voice yawned back at him through a speaker “yep. Just come around.”

The car, covered in orangey brown dust, decorated in headlights and a bullbar, lit up the car park in front of them as they turned the corner. The car went up to the second window. The employee in a red shirt and black hat with a matching black apron opened the window that had protected him from the cold. The man in the car held out two tickets for a burger, two tickets for drinks and two tickets for a sundae.

“Sorry sir” the employee yawned “but we only do one ticket at a time.”

The man sighed and his daughter tensed up in the seat, “sorry” she quietly muttered.

“Can we just drive back around and redeem the rest?” The man asked.

“Uhhhh” the employee had a look of ‘why would you waste your time on that’ look on his face. “Sure?” He tiredly shrugged.

“Great.” The man smiled, fed up with life as he gave him one burger ticket. “See you in 5 minutes” he groaned.

He grabbed the burger and looked at his daughter who recognised that look of anger all too well.

“Maybe there was a glitch?” She nervously shrugged.

“No!” The man angrily groaned “you know the deal! This is how it always happens. Susan has wet nails, Adam had to look after his dog's Instagram account, Lora had to buy flowers for her mother. They always have excuses and yet the bank account is always empty! You know that! This has been going on since before you were born!”

He looked over and saw his daughter looking at the ground trying to not find herself in the firing line.

“Look” he sighed off his anger, “you know that work makes me angry sometimes. I just wish they paid me on time. Come on let’s get the rest of our dinner.”

His daughter nodded as the car went back to the start of the drive through for the second time that night.

Kaon, Cybertron.
The start of cycle 250.

“Day 3” Paradox groggily yawned as she layed on the medical table staring up at the turned off lights and the apperatices attached to it. She looked at it as she remembered the first time on the alien doctor’s table. She wiggled around on the table as she stretched before rolling herself up in a sitting position. She looked up one last time. She reached up and patted the equipment “morning room” she yawned as she got up. Paradox walked over to a table and grabbed a cup she had made from a muffler before putting it under a machine that mixed up some chemicals to make a goop filled with artificial proteins and vitamins. She held it up to her intake as she drank it. The concoction never tasted good but it kept her alive, she washed out the mug and sat it aside as she set up her station for the day and began doing paperwork in her data pad.

“Let’s see what scrap we get ourselves into today” she vented out as she looked over her schedule and paperwork.

“Still caught up” she sighed as she put the pad down.

Paradox looked around the room once again looking for something to do.

She looked through her playlist again. She always felt less lonely having music on but it also made her feel more free as she could finally do something without anyone’s permission.

Paradox then looked at her desk and saw her hidden treasure chest. She transformed back into a human and looked through her red and white striped bag.

“Oh, I haven’t seen you in a while” she smiled as she pulled out her knitting. The jumper looked a bit raggedy at the ends but she didn’t have the chance to continue it recently. She had left it out of her mind when she officially moved to Cybertron. She had to stop for a moment and look back on how far she had come. It was hard to believe, Paradox had never seen herself becoming a doctor. She always believed it was an overrated job, yes it was important, but when ¾ of your school applied to become doctors you have to stop and wonder if there were better opportunities for a creative person.

She sat down on the edge of her desk and began knitting again. She always liked bright colours in her clothing, so seeing the sparkly lavender yarn made her smile as she continued her zig zag knit stitch. The yarn moving hypnotically through the needles, she was loving how the jumper was coming out and she wouldn’t make a change. As the jumper became longer she mentally went away into a trance as neutral colours from the song began swirling in her head, weaving through the stitches of the fabrics she had been making.

She thought about her friends and family, well, what was left of her family. If she came back to earth would they ever understand? Or have they lost so much that they wouldn’t believe her.

Her family probably didn’t bat an eye after the funeral. Maybe her dad was sad for a bit. Definitely her stepmom and her family. But her dad probably had bigger issues to deal with as he worked for the government for longer than Paradox was alive. She knew how the government on Earth worked. Always taking away from the people and giving their absolute dumbest, she always saw her planet as a lost cause because of it. Sure there were a few good people, but they were a rarity.

As she knitted away she heard a knock on the door. Paradox paused her music and her knitting was pushed to the side as she transformed back into her bot form. She opened the door and saw Brainstorm standing there.

“You don’t have to knock. This is a medical ward people come in randomly all the time” she spoke a little off guard after the knocking pulled her from the zone she was in. She stepped aside and let him in.

“Well I didn’t want to be impolite,” Brainstorm smiled, “so what are your plans for today? Because I was thinking of defensive positions and while we’re on break you teach me that weird language of yours.”

“Oh yeah. Of course” Paradox smiled back “what’s a good place to start?” They tilted their head

Brainstorm then grabbed them by the shoulder and pulled them towards his other hand which went into a fist. Paradox saw the fist form immediately and began to knee Brainstorm with their inner leg. Once he was kneed just above the crotch Paradox turned around and put their thumbs in his optics and began to fake gouge him.

“Ow! Ok! You can stop” Brainstorm explained. He wasn’t in a horrible amount of pain, he just raised his voice to stop the annoying pinching he felt in his optics. “Ok, great!” He cheered as Paradox took their hands off him “so you have some defensive moves I see. Very quick reflexes.” He vented out “we just need to….” He paused to think about the right word “…refine them a bit. And maybe expand your catalogue of moves while we’re at it.”

Paradox looked to the floor “sorry” they sighed. “I’ll do better next time, promise” their body tensed a little bit, preparing to be scolded for failing once again.

“Ew. I hate that look on your faceplate. Get rid of it” Brainstorm shooed away at the shame spiralling around Paradox.

Bunbury, Western Australia.
7:00am, August 16th 2016.

A white Chevrolet Silverado roared down the quiet roads, a young 13 year old was in the passenger seat. She looked at the gloomy winter morning sky. The memory of her mother fighting not even an hour earlier over her father telling her off for tying rope around the dogs waist and aggressively yanking on it while taking them on walks as a method of stopping the excited pup from pulling had begun leaving cuts and bruising on the her now hairless skin in that area.

Her father in the seat next to her was talking about his work, clearly, he wasn’t happy with the team that the shire had given him.

“And did you know that somehow a train professional didn’t know where the brakes on that digger was? Bloody idiot if you ask me” he groaned as the car approached a t-junction.

“Yeah” the girl quietly sniveled trying to look in her blazer to hide the sad expression on her face.

“Oh for god's sake Ria!” The man grouched “all this negativity! It has to stop! You're not allowed to be negative anymore. That’s the new rule. We already have enough of that shit from your mother and you don’t want to end up like her. Cheer. Up.”

Ria quietly tried to turn her sniveling into sniffles to make it appear like she wasn’t crying as she wiped the edges of her eyes and yawned to make it look like she was just groggy. “Sorry” she stuttered.

“Cheer up!” Her father groaned at her angrily through his teeth as they turned down the t-junction that divided the cattle farm from the sheep and horses paddocks and the road gradually turned into bush as the car sped off down the road.

Kaon, Cybertron.
The middle of cycle 250.

Brainstorm looked at Paradox waiting for an answer. They stuttered a bit before finally stringing together a sentence “s…sorry, I’ll do better next time” they repeated.

Brainstorm rolled his optics. “Hey” he vented out “you’re still learning. If you were good at this then I wouldn’t be here.” He smiled and Paradox’s faceplate reciprocated the smile with a hint of faking it.

“How about…” Brainstorm put his hands together “…we just focus on the Engloosh thing? Huh? Clearly you need a distraction.”

Paradox looked up at him and shook their head in agreement.

Chapter Text

Paradox noticed more and more how Brainstorm was picking up on English. He wasn’t the best at it but he was learning it pretty well. They had been teaching him through songs that they loved and knew that their society one earth would find socially acceptable. They wished they were able to play their theatre music again or even a fan made song about their favourite media. Typically playing these songs got them weird looks and their music playlist was often described as terrible or unhinged. However, there was one song Paradox had in mind for Brainstorm, but they had to make sure that he had learnt enough to understand the music.

The pair kept chipping away at Brainstorm’s knowledge of English. As time went on Brainstorm saw Paradox begin to calm down again as their optics softened, they were still a bit fidgety but he knew that wasn’t going away anytime soon. He quite enjoyed his time with Paradox, they were a person who he felt like he clicked with. He hadn’t felt that way in a long time, he sighed thinking about his life before he became a Decepticon.

“Hey” Paradox paused a concerned look spread across their faceplate “you doing alright?”

“Oh! Um yeah.” He laughed off his thoughts. Paradox noticed how much of an Australian accent he had. They were surprised he had picked up one that strong, it reminded them of Dave Hughes. It made them feel like they were back home talking to their friends.

“Ya know” Paradox sighed. “I miss home. Australia specifically. Western Australia, if we’re being more specific” they laughed “I remember I used to bring drawing books and knitting and embroidery to the state garden. I always loved the flowers there and the walking track reminded me of my home before I moved to the city. I always loved the flowers that grew early in the year. We had a marsh near our home that would be claimed by snakes in the warmer times, magpies during baby times and water during the cold season.” They laughed with nostalgia as they pictured the winter after a big storm “I would put on my gumboots when a storm was around and I remember going to the marsh and splashing in the grass and sinking into the mud pit created by the tires that drove in the same spot” they smiled looking back at Brainstorm whose optics were trying to picture a world like that.

“I remember” he started slowly trying to recall a full memory “a busy city. When I came online I would wander around looking at everything people were selling” he chuffed thinking about his time before the war “I remember it was a time where a lot was being made and created. All the new devices and machines” he sighed looking up at Paradox hoping he got his English right. They nodded and gestured for him to continue with one hand while giving a thumbs up with the other. He smiled knowing he was doing a good job and continued speaking more confidently “I was always thinking about what I could do with that. How I could make it my own and shape it. But as the war began, my passion was used to kill others. I wasn’t happy about it but it kept me alive.” His eyes looked down as he remembered everything he had been through “I changed sides to the Decepticons because it allowed me to create on my own terms while making weapons that were slightly faulty for the Autobots” he looked at Paradox as a pit formed in his tanks. They looked so innocent and worried about him, their optics deepened that pit that was forming inside him. He looked away and saw the window leading outside. He saw the remains of his home and he looked back at Paradox only to see the same person he was talking about.

“Ya know…” he trailed off “I may be able to get you some old data pads of nature catalogues and a proper drawing pad if you want to try and make yourself feel more at home.” He smiled “ya know, use your passion for what you want.”

He saw Paradox’s optics light up as they quickly turned and looked at him. He saw them make eye contact with him and this time it didn’t feel awkward or forced. It was genuine.

“Really!?” They squeaked “you would do that for me? You don’t have to, please don’t go out of your way for me.”

“Please. It’s so easy to do that. No one uses the library here anyways I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I took a few books and I’m sure there’s a sketch pad in some prison area that Autobots and assholes aren’t allowed to use” he smiled. “But for now…” he stood up and stretched “how about we end things there for today and I give you everything tomorrow?”

Paradox smiled as they became excited at the chance to draw flowers again. “Mmhmmm” they politely squealed “that would be great! Thank you so much.”

Paradox then looked out the window again as the night sky began to fall over Kaon. There was no sign of Knockout. He said 2 - 3 days right? As Brainstorm left she wandered over to the window and saw a standoff on the horizon. There were a few explosions lighting up the edge of her sightline. She sighed, turning around and preparing the station for what she was sure was going to become a long day for her once this was over. She had heard reports of Autobots getting closer to Kaon and the prison, but she didn’t think they would be that much of a threat to her. She prepared both stations in case Knockout did come back in time for the rush.

“Wait!” she thought as she saw more lights or laser guns and explosions go off.

What if Knockout was returning that way?

What if he physically couldn’t get back?

What if he was hurt?

Paradox quickly opened up a data pad and saw the soldiers' reports.

They all were out on the field.

But they had thousands of soldiers. Cybertronian Decepticons plus the first and second generations of Vehicons that Shockwave had made. All of them were out there.

“Why isn’t there more defense out there” Paradox quietly queeried under her breath. “Surely we have more people to create a thicker barricade?”

She then took a closer look out the window.

She couldn’t see the end of that defense line.

That barricade surround the entire prison.

They were in a siege.

Chapter Text

Paradox quickly brought up their communications and group chat. She began scanning to see if they had talked about any issues with Knockout returning home.

Nothing.

Everything was fine.

But it clearly wasn’t.

Knockout wasn’t here.

Paradox quickly tapped away at her screen trying to get a message out. She sent it hoping for a quick response.

Paradox: “Knockout. Where are you?”

She then realised that he probably wouldn’t be able to respond if he was on the other side of the siege. So she tapped away again.

Paradox: “Breakdown. Is Knockout with you?”

“Shit!” She said out loud “wrong question” her voice trembled a bit.

Paradox: “Do we have a location on Knockout?”

“Wait!” She cried quietly.

Paradox: “Breakdown are you ok as well? Are you with Knockout on your way home as well?”

“Damn it” Paradox anxiously sighed.

Paradox: “Sorry if I’m a bit anxious there’s a siege here and I know Knockout is sippposed to be here and he’s not and I just wanted to make sure everyone was safe.”

She quickly took down her screen and looked back out the window.

“I’m a fucking idiot!” She sighed frustrated “why would I be able to see Knockout from here!?” She felt tears starting to roll from her optics.

She looked around the room trying to find something to do. Something to make herself beneficial in the moment.

But all she could do was wait.

“UUUGGHHHHHHAAAAA!” She screamed. She then curled up on the floor. Tears flowing from her optics.

“No!” She yelled “I am a MEDIC!” She sighed as she got back up “I need to remain professional and ready to work.”

She then looked out the window and sighed.

“No matter who ends up on my desk.”

She then went through her music list and started stamping her foot with passion in tune with the opening guitar riff as she tried to get the confidence. She ran her servos on the side of her helm like she was brushing the anxiety and her hair out of the way allowing her to see more clearly.

She took in a deep vent and let out a large breath of anxiety with a falsified glee as she pivoted on her left leg before doing one final stamp pointing a digit on her left servo out in front of her dramatically. She then raised her left arm above her and flattened out her servo before running it down the side of her faceplate as she began singing along with the song.

“I am Confident.”

Her servo then ran down her neck which barely had enough structure to hold her head up and was mainly just cabling. Her hand continued to run down her chest plate until she flicked it out at her waist as she continued singing.

“But I still Have my moments.”

Paradox then returned her servo to the side of her head and leant into it giving a cheeky grin as she got more and more into the music.

“Baabyyyyy…”

She then sharply flexed her servo so that only her middle digit was touching her face as her other digit floated daintily around the one gently touching her face

“…that’s just me.”

Her smile became wider as she faked the confidence that she was extracting from the song.

Paradox then shook her hips in time with the guitar riff. As the drums kicked in she did a little jump before a quick strut that involved her legs crossing over.

She then moved her servo to her chest as her posture became more grand and broad taking up more space as her anxiety flew away.

“I’m not…”

Her shoulders then shimmied in time with the word “SuuPEERmawwdoolllll.”

In a split second she then realised she couldn’t do the moves she wanted because of her pregnancy. She quickly sighed and continued by doing a spin a half step back before doing a broader stand with her legs apart as she reached out

“I stilllll eat McDonaldsssssbabyyyyyy That’s just me.”

She ended the line with a cheeky wink before quickly adlibbing “yeah I fucking wish” she then smiled and spun towards her desk where she put a servo out to stop herself. Paradox then centered herself between the two desks and began hopping on her right leg while kicking her left leg out in front and behind her in time with the guitar riff and lyrics moving her forward to the medical tables.

“Well some may say I neeeed to be afrrraaaaaid. Of loooozing everythaaaang.”

Paradox then jumped her feet apart and rotated herself to the side as she did a quarter turn during the jump before doing a dramatic grape vine moving between the two tables as they framed her perfectly in the centre.

“Beeecaaaazze of where I… hadmystart Aaaand where I”

She then reached the end of the table and grabbed the corner behind her where she bent over smiling as she dragged herself around pivoting on her right heel causing her to do a full half turn around the 90 degree angle of the table

“Made my nAaaaameeeee.”

She took a deep breath in time with music as she finished the turn she jumped with her feet together as she began to pirouette down the short end of the table.

“Where everything’s the same in the La La land”

She then stopped as she turned the corner of the table again, spreading her arms up the longer length of the table as her body was placed in the center of the edge.

“Mah-chine.”

Her servos then raised above her head with her arms framing her face creating a teardrop shape up to where her wrists connected to each other and her digits almost touched each other up at the top.

“Mah-chine.”

Her arms then dropped as the backs of her servos framed her faceplate as she tilted her helm up. Before quickly protruding her arms out in front of her as the tips of her digits touched the table as her servos flattened against an invisible 90 degree angle.

“Mah-chiiiiiiimmmmeeee.”

Her arms then glides her servos back to the corners of the table as she leant in over it being careful not to put pressure on her bump.

“Whosaid…. Icaan’t wear myyy CONverse With ma dress?”

She then dramatically turned her body around and resumed the same position with her arms spread apart before arching her back and tilting her helm backward.

“Well baaabbyyyyy…”

She quickly shot up and kept her arms in the same spot as she turned her helm to the side keeping her chin up.

“Thatsjustmeee!”

In time with the singing she then dropped down below the edge of the table.

“Aaaaaaooooooohhhhhhhhhh”

Paradox then turned her back against the side of the table with her servos reaching up to the edge above her and sliding in as she continued singing. She was giving full face and full cunt as if there was a camera zooming in on her expressions.

“AndWHO said I can’t be single and have to…. GO OUT AND MIIIIIINNNNNGAAAAAALLLL!!???!!! BAAAAABEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY THAAAATTSSSS JUST MEEEE! NOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOWAAAAA!”

She then heftly leaped from the floor using her arms to hoist herself up into a sitting position on top of the table crossing her left leg over her right. She then picked up her left arm and held her digits to her chest leaning towards them before moving her lean over to the right.

“Wellsomemaysay III need to be afraaaaiiiiidddddah”

Her body then jolted up with a playfully sarcastic look on her face before she uncrossed her legs and used the momentum of swinging them around to swivel to the other side of the table.

“Of loosing evverything”

Her legs then hung off the other side of the table as they kicked the edge emphasising the drumming in the song.

“Because of where I…”

She then pushed of the table leaping back between the two medical tables and jolted her arms out touching both sides of the table as she rolled her body from helm to pedes

“Had my start and where I made…”

She then used the tables to support herself as she knelt down in time with the lyrics

“…my naaaaaammmmmeeeee!”

She then rolled her body back up and turned on her heels like a Queen’s guard at Buckingham palace to face her’s and Knockout's desk.

“But everything’s the Saaaame.”

Her movements then paused almost as if there was a camera in front of her allowing Paradox to stare into the audiences souls begging them to understand her using only her optics.

But if there was actually a camera the background would be blurred out to focus on the star of its music video but a blurred tall teal and gold figure would appear in the door frame directly behind Paradox.

“In the La La laaaaaaannnndddd.”

She then used her experience in dance from when she was little to move her arms delicately in the air creating delicate curves as they moves around her like she was casting a force field with the power of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th of ballet arm positions while her digits mimicked arabesque to continue the hypnotic spell she was creating.

“Tell me. Do you feel the way iiiiiii feeeeeel? Cause NOTHIN’ ELSE IS REAL….. in the La La laaaaaaand….”

She then quickly jumped up and split her legs between the two tables. One pede on each edge.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!”

She then spun onto the table she hadn’t interacted with as the guitar riff continued and she began to incorporate the graceful ballet moves she had just done with the grunge aesthetic she was maintaining throughout the rest of her imaginary one take music video.

Brainstorm fully entered the room, mesmerised and confused at what was happening. He didn’t know what to do in this situation at all.

Paradox then began the kicking motion mimicking the dancing in the song ‘From Now On’ from the Greatest Showman.

“Well some may say I need to be…”

She then stopped the kicking and did a more dramatic squat as she sung

“AFRAAAIIIIDDDD!”

She then dropped and slid on her knees down the table like a rockstar.

“OF LOOSING EVERYTHING! BECAUSE OF WHERE I…”

She then jumped back up on her feet again giving a dramatic stance feeling like Cameron Diaz in ‘The Mask’. The arm she put out in front of her dropped and her helm tipped back as she belted out the lyrics.

“HAD MY START AND WHERE IMADEMY NAME!”

Her arms then swooped out to the sides where her servos flung out to just above her head before she slowly but powerfully dragged them down.

“IN THE LA LA LAND MACHIIINNEEE!”

As the lyrics dropped down an octave her knees joined the slowly powerful drop of her arms as she slowly knelt down on the table sitting at an angle and putting her weight mainly on her right leg.

“Well I’m not gonna cha-aaaaaaange. In the La La land mah-chine.”

Her legs then moved out from underneath her and hung over the edge of the table and her arms fell beside her. Paradox made sure her singing was more pronounced as she was preparing to finish off the song.

“Well I’m not gonna cha-aaaaaanggge! In the La La laaand mah-chine! I will staay the saame in the La La laannnnnnnd….”

As she went to belt the final notes she jumped from the table onto her pedes and walked a few steps out from it as the music swelled down. Brainstorm continues to watch with a curious smile on his face. He was happy to see Paradox like this. He had never seen or heard of her doing this before. He was enjoying the moment before a devilish smile crossed his faceplate. Sometimes he wished people could see his expressions but he had a look and it was a badaft one at that. He realised he had the upper hand and waited for her to realise as he leant against her desk watching her face the door that wasn’t open when she last faced that way. The steps Paradox took were emanating a ballet dancer moving carefully on the balls of her feet. Paradox's arms were crossed behind her making her posture more straight and her legs jolted out along with her arms and she slightly leant back as she belted out the final…

“… MAH-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AYYYY-AAYYYNNNNEEE! MAH-CHINE! MAH-CHAAAAYYYYY-AAYYYY-AYYYYYYYNNNNEEEEEAH!”

Paradox then bent over giving all of herself into guestering to herself as the music finished up giving a grande finale of sorts like she was never gonna be able to perform again.

“I WON’T CHANGE ANYTHING IN MY LIFE!”

Brainstorm then heard backup vocals on the track play and decided to try and give singing a go but laughing at Paradox not noticing him.

“Anything in my life” his singing wasn’t great and was highly impacted by his laughter making it quite jarring against the backup singers. If only the star of the moment was paying attention…

But Paradox continued not noticing anything.

“I’M STAYIN’ MYSELF TONIGHT!”

And Brainstorm continued laughing at the situation knowing that she’ll eventually turn around and have a moment of realisation.

He continued to sing, trying to test out if she could hear him.

“I’m staying myself tonight” his eyes were full of amusement.

What he didn’t expect was how large her vocal range was as Paradox put all of her emotion from the home sickness, to being upset about the pregnancy, to the anxiety over Knockout not being there, to feeling trapped and like her voice was the only thing she could control and the only thing she had left to break her chains. Her voice became almost operatic alongside a piano swelling up the music as the song came to an end.

“LAAAAAAAAAA LAAAAAAAAAA LAAAAAAAA LAAAAAAA LAAAAAAAAA.”

She then stood up as the singing ended and as she went to turn around and strut back up to where she started between the desks as the guitar riff would have joined in making an epic moment before the bell ending the song would have ushered in a dramatic pose like a diva runway model.

In reality she turned around and saw Brainstorm leaning on her desk.

She stood there in shock. Her timing and imaginary one shot music video had ended but no one told the music. Brainstorm waved to them with a goofy ‘caught you’ look in his optics.

Paradox felt so many emotions that she didn’t feel any at all. She felt so blank and she collapsed gently to her knees, she then automatically went to what she called her ‘floor time position’ but stopped herself as she realised she couldn’t lay on her stomach. To replace the sensation she instead crossed her legs and leant her arms against the table so that she could block her optics from seeing with her arms like a child who hadn’t discovered object permanence. Her faceplate hit her arms in time with the bell. The final note she would actually belt out? A groan in embarrassment which harmonised with the sound of the bell fading out.

She then heard a one man applause and a set of pedes walking towards her.

“Bravo” he laughed with amusement “I feel like that was deserved. I didn’t think I would be seeing that today but I VERY much welcome the performance.” Even with their eyes shut and blocked by their arms, Paradox could tell he had a big scrap eating grin under that faceplate.

A groan cried out from Paradox who was still slumped up against the table just trying to ignore the embarrassment which had slightly over stimulated them.

They then heard Brainstorm sit on the table and could feel his gaze showering down on them.

“I see you're having a mental breakdown” he trailed into a conversation he had no plan for.

A small groan came from below him.

“Oh no, everything got too much for you” he mocked, trying to joke.

No response.

“Look.” He sighed happily “if your mental breakdown is a very well put together dance number then you're doing better than most of the bit brains here.”

“Mmhmm”

“HA!” Brainstorm cheered. “A verbal response! We're coming back to reality!”

He then heard a muffled sigh.

“This is actually very adorable I must admit” he chuffed to himself before mocking an announcer's voice “the great Paradox taken down by embarrassment.”

He heard a happier chuff from Paradox.

“Have I ever told you about the time an old ….. frrrrriieeeend. Yes, that's the word we’re going with, took me to a bar and gave me a drink?”

Brainstorm saw Paradox slide their helm up from their arms and began looking at the table in front of them.

“You see,” Brainstorm continued. “I told this person to rate my teaching skill on a drink.” He smiled thinking back to the New Institute. It was very nostalgic for him, it was the last time he felt like his life was coming together. “Told him to buy me a drink based on the value of my teaching. So we get to the bar and I sit down thinking I’ve done a good job.”

Brainstorm then saw their helm then turn to look at him. He smiled and kept going.

“He came back with a crappy looking shot and the most amazing cocktail I had ever seen that bar make. I guess at this point you can tell where my narcissism was at.” He watched Paradox as they shifted their body to lean against the table looking up at him. He then saw a very intrigued look in their optics with a nod that said ‘yes I know you're a narcissistic prick’.

“He sits down and puts the drinks in the middle of the table. I go to grab the fancy one but he pulls it back and shoves the shot to me.”

He saw them smile, Brainstorm had a feeling that if they were feeling better then they would be laughing their aft off and calling him something like a ‘delusional glitch of a bit brain’

“Turns out the drink he gave me was actually any spillage from other people’s drink that ended up in the mat that you put your drinks on to stop the mess from damaging the tables” the memory made him laugh. He pictured himself back at that bar sitting across from Quark.

He looked down at Paradox with a smile crossing their faceplate.

He had this feeling. Like everything he did for Quark now included her. But it wasn’t romantic. Far from it. More familial. Like they were spark siblings that would die for each other.

“Hey” he heard a weak little sniffle from the floor. Paradox was still clearly affected by the embarrassment.

“Hey your talking now” Brainstorm smiled.

“Yeah” they continued. “Is.. is it possible for us to build a long range weapon that can help everyone out there?”

Brainstorm saw Paradox look out towards the window “is Knockout in that mess?” He asked.

“I think so,” she sighed. “He was supposed to be back by now, but he’s not. I sent him and Breakdown messages but I haven’t heard back.” A look of sadness crossed her eyes.

“Yeah.” Brainstorm smiled offering his servo out to them. “How about we start idea catching right now?”

Chapter Text

Brainstorm and Paradox then sat down at a medical table. Brainstorm threw a small device coloured teal and gold into the centre and tapped a white button that divided the geometric gold and teal colour on it. The USB like device lit up and showed files of all his old inventions, it was like a hologram. There wasn’t a pad or anything. Everything floating in the air, waiting to be interacted with, like it was an actual physical object. He started a new file and the light went blank not showing anything.

“So,” Brainstorm happily chimed in “what are we making? I have ideas for front line guns that are quick and easy to make. I also have this cool laser force field thing that crossed my mind the other day…”

“I was thinking a long distance weapon” Paradox interrupted. “One we can launch from that window.” Their head tilted towards the only window in the room. It was quite large taking up half of the back wall and divided Paradox’s and Knockout’s side of the medbay.

Brainstorm caught on quickly “Ah I get your idea. You wanna take a shot yourself ” he smiled pointing the pen towards them.

“I mean it doesn’t have to be me” Paradox shrugged “just something that can catch the Autobots off guard.”

“Speaking of Autobots” Brainstorm cut in “do we want to hurt them? Or are we killing them?”

Paradox sat with that thought for a moment. They never wanted to kill innocents, they never wanted to kill anyone no matter what side of the war they were on. Thats what Paradox liked about the medbay. They were saving people.

Except she was killing her child.

Is that child just the exception or the start of something?

“Hang on one moment” Paradox spoke as they got up. Brainstorm detected a light quiver in their voice as they went and looked at their desk. They then saw Starscream’s injury report from the paint incident.

“Thats it!” Paradox exclaimed “Finally that gone binary glitched diode has done something useful.” They then looked up and saw Brainstorm. They then did a small laugh “sorry, I meant. You’ve helped me figure it out” a small wink followed indicating the joke.

Brainstorm guestered to himself proudly “well then tell me, what did this gone binary glitched diode do?”

“Simple” Paradox smiled “could we create a device that causes a temporary offline? It doesn’t hurt anyone and a medic can easily revive them. It’s like forcing someone to play dead.” They suggested.

Brainstorm was writing the idea on his hologram device. His handwriting was surprisingly neat, it was more like a digital print, very straight and exact. He then hummed in thought “ya, know…” he said like an out loud thought “not a bad idea. How are we going to design it? I see so many possibilities! Like a bullet that jams in the command. Orrrrr how about a tentacle cable vibe?”

“Well…” Paradox nervously trailed off “… I was thinking of keeping it to myself as it would classify as a medical device…”

“Smart” Brainstorm interrupted in a monotone voice . He had a bad habit of putting all of his thoughts out for all to hear when he was designing.

“Thanks.” Paradox smiled, “Anyway, I was thinking because it’s for me I would probably design it as something I would wear and as something designed to come back to me.”

“So your suggesting a wearable and rechargeable device?” Brainstorm began scribbling designs on the space around them. They all looked very big and bulky with a hint of that sophisticated look that was Brainstorm’s design trademark.

“Yes” Paradox pointed at Brainstorm with a digit on one servo and touched their nose with another digit in their other servo “but, no offence by the way. These designs are more… youuuu. And they would look alright with you…” Paradox trailed off.

“Alright then.” Brainstorm took a step back “show me what’s on your weird art mind then.” He held out the pen to Paradox who took it and immediately drew out a bracelet indicating it’s a recharge pad with arrows and annotating that it uses magnets to retrieve the small round bullets she was drawing. Each bullet had its own fun colourful design and sometimes they had different shapes.

“What is that?” Brainstorm questioned tilting his helm at the design “looks like some scrappy gauntlet.”

“Well I like fun designs…” Paradox smiled “…I have a bracelet collection back home that I would wear out for special events. They were mainly homemade friendship or woven bracelets that said weird scrap on them like ‘hot glue’ or ‘I’m just Pete’ and I would decorate them with fancy and colourful beads.”

“Riiighhht…” Brainstorm looked confused but he understood that it was an alien thing unique to Paradox. “It’s actually not a bad design. Very compact and it would go unnoticed to the untrained eye” he shrugged accepting the design.

“How would you shoot them though?” He asked after looking over the design.

“Well I was thinking of a few different ideas.” Paradox’s face was puzzled trying to figure out which would be better. They then drew 3 tables and did small drawings of different ideas before labeling the rows ‘pros’ and ‘cons’

“So” they sighed inquisitively “first design. A bullet that is designed to be shot at the ground and it uses that momentum to mine its way under the target. Pros would be they can’t see it coming, it would be hard to quickly determine where it would come out and maybe the first few times it’s used no one will suspect a thing. Cons: it’s gonna need a lot of momentum and a drill piece as well, side note that drill piece could be used to drill the bullet into them making it harder to remove. Anyway, back to cons, once it’s shot you’ll have to remember where it’s going to come out and avoid that spot and it can’t ricoshay off anything.”

“Yes that seems complicated for a bullet of that size.” Brainstormed agreed looking at the next design which looked like a bead being thrown “tell me about this one.”

“Ok.” Paradox continued “this one is inspired by a sport I did when I was younger. It’s called discus and basically you throw a disk. I was thinking the bead could be thrown, doesn’t have to be like a discus but it can be skipped across land like a pebble on a lake or even kicked the pros is that it would make it a more versatile weapon that everyone can have on them and not need any extra skills, it can be both a short and long distance weapon and that’s it, unless you want to suggest something?”

“No, no. Keep going. I think you got most of them” Brainstorm continued “or at least the main ones” he shrugged.

“So cons…” Paradox continued “… would be its size it’s hard to do certain thing like kicking or hitting it deliberately, throwing would be the best option but you would have to be a great marksman to do that or we could find a way to make it enlarge itself which would just take more time and effort to make.”

“Don’t forget the fact that you would also have to be really good at throwing things.” Brainstorm chirped in.

“Yeah, exactly” Paradox agreed “and now the third option is making two beads become a slingshot. Like you take out a bullet which allows the two to slide apart revealing a string allowing you to take the shot. Think of it like an analogue gun.”

Brainstorm looked at the drawing and thought about the design “Mmmm I like that one, makes the whole thing very small without the extra pieces. Plus we can put the return chips in both of them so there’s a backup incase something happens to the first.”

“Exactly!” Paradox was so happy he was on the same page as them. “But the cons would be constant string replacement which can be tricky considering its size, maybe we could look and bow and arrow designs to see how they got the string long lasting or even a violin bow, another con would be that it would make your arm more prone to being a target and shot off as well.”

“Yeeeeaaaahh huh…” Brainstorm wasn’t listening anymore he was too busy drawing up the finished design to pay attention “I like this one the best.” He then made a quick model of the design and test shot it on a simulator “hey what do you know” he smiled “its a pretty good design.”

“So how about this…” Paradox knew what their limitations were as long as they were confined to the med bay “you build this and I’ll start making code for the bullets and then once you're done I can paint them up and we can do a test run on the siege out there?” They smiled.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Brainstorm saved the file and packed up the hologram device he was working with and and he headed towards the door he turned around “oh by the way. I put that drawing pad and all those nature data pads on your desk, enjoy!!” He smiled as he walked out of sight with the door sliding shut behind him.

Paradox looked at her desk and saw 10 books on the plant life and geography of Cybertron throughout its history. She then looked at the group chat to she if she had any response.

Slight relief came over her when she saw her clan had responded

Knockout: “yes I am fine. We heard about the seige just as I was about to leave. Are you safe? I am still with Breakdown”

Breakdown: “yes he’s with me, but I may be coming back sooner than expected to help fight the seige ok. Don’t worry we’re fine.”

Paradox: “yeah I’m fine. I’ve got Brainstorm with me. It’s just a bit scary not having you guys here I must admit. But I’m sure I’ll be fine and that we’ll get through this ok-ish”

Paradox then looked back out the window to see the siege was still happening. She sighed as she sat back down at her desk, she swiveled her chair around and looked at the sky.

“Beads or sleep?” She asked herself out loud. Paradox then looked down at her belly “for you, sleep” she smiled she felt like she had finally made the right choice for her child.

Chapter Text

The next few days overlapped for Paradox. She was going between medical emergencies and trying to program using her extremely limited knowledge of it from her highschool IT classes on Earth from 9 - 4 years ago. Cybertronian tech made Earth’s look like neanderthals banging rocks on each other's heads and happily cheering after they got any reaction, good or bad.

“K.I.S.S it Paradox. Just K.I.S.S it” she sighed as her programming failed again in a simulation. She leant back in her chair loudly groaning.

She stood up and decided to try and walk off her frustrations but due to how encaged she was in the medbay it just ended up with her pacing around in circles like an angry goldfish.

Paradox then leaned against the wall like she was designing clothes or trying to finish a painting. The action of literally looking at the whole picture was an automatic response for her. Unfortunately that skill couldn’t be transferred to programming.

“I can do this!” She loudly groaned “I’m… actually scratch that I’m not supposed to be doing this so how am I supposed to be good at it” she walked back over to her desk and sat back down.

She hit the simulation again and opened up the programming script next to it to see which line was failing. The simulation showed the slingshot working perfectly. But as the bead launched it hit the target and failed to administer the shock.

Paradox looked over the lines for what felt like the billionth time, she was sure it was just the administration that was failing. The code to force a temporary offlining lines up with the stuff she did on patients. She simulated the offline programming by itself over and over again in an attempt to double check and make sure no stone was left unturned.

Just as she was about to scream she heard a knock on the door. “Who is it?!” Paradox called out while saving and putting away her work.

The door opened revealing a sniveling almost decapitated mech who was holding his helm in his servos. The cables seemed barely connected as his optics began flickering showing signs of a dying Cybertronian.

“Can you help me?” He sniffed weakly as he shuffled and limped to the table. His fine motor skills had clearly failed a while ago and his basic movement skills were shutting down as he spoke.

“Yes. Of course I can help” Paradox spoke softly and slowly as she helped him to her table. The scan showed he was barely still alive. Paradox prepared for the worst but knew he had a fighting chance. Even if it was the lowest she had worked on.

She set up her station and looked over the cabling that was leaking high amounts of energon. She did a temporary bandage around them so that they weren’t causing a mess while she worked on each individual one.

“I heard…” the mech weakly gasped “…I heard that your a very calming doctor” he smiled.

“Oh really?” She did a soft chuckle thinking about all the times she’s yelled at patients and the bots who brought them in.

“Yeah. Some bot said that you were playing weird sounds and another said your singing brought him back from the After Spark” he spoke more clearly but the static in his voice implied he wouldn’t be able to do that again.

“I mean it was medicine that brought him back from death, but I do find that sometimes having music helps someone have a firmer grasp on reality” she smiled.

“Could that…” he seemed to have gone a bit shy, this was much different from him showing weakness in his vocal processors.

“Help you?” Paradox tried to finish his sentence. The mech tried to use his servo to nod his head in agreement.

“Sure, any preferences? I’ve got slower, sad, upbeat, theatrical, old songs” Paradox brought up her list while trying to finish up the bandaging on the last neck cable.

“Is there anything soothing?” He asked, starting to sound like a 50 year old chain smoker in the 1950’s doing his radio show against doctors orders.

“Sure.” Paradox pulled up an artist who did a more relaxing pop style and played the song. A light sound of a xylophone swooped around the room as Paradox prepared to fix the first cable. She didn’t know if he wanted her to sing along but if he looked like his vitals were failing Paradox knew she would try if she wasn’t doing naturally by point already.

She began driving a set of small pliers into the cable bringing out a piece of shrapnel. Energon spurted everywhere as Paradox rushed to apply pressure and stop it from coming out like a river. She quickly stitched the cable together and put a protective layer over top allowing it to heal. She looked at the mech’s vitals. Luckily he didn’t loose too much energon from that.

One cable done. 4 more to go.

Paradox unbandaged the second cable. She had successfully did the right arm cable. Now the left. She pulled the bandage over and over unwrapping it. She then felt a slight touch on her abdomen. Paradox jumped as she was taken out of her concentration, she was worried that his vitals had crashed. But when she looked down and saw him, he tried to put his right arm around her to get her attention.

“Can… can your sing? I heard that helps” he quietly stuttered.

“Sure. I won’t do it too loud though, I don’t want to overwhelm your senses ok” she sweetly smiled like she was looking after a child trying to warn him about the dangers of something after being scared.

Paradox turned back to her work and waiting for the next verse to start.

“You won’t think it’s true” she sung slightly louder than the music and her vocal range was lower than she normally sung.

“If it happened to me, it’ll happen to her”

The mech looked up and watched her sing. He didn’t understand what she was saying but that almost didn’t matter.

“It doesn’t make it better that I went first”

The sounds calmed him. It felt weird to him, he hadn’t felt this kind of way since he was a sparkling.

“We don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it.”

Paradox saw some more shrapnel in his cabling and knew if it happened to the right, it’ll happen to the left one.

“What the girls went through, yeah, they didn’t deserve it”

She applied pressure under the shrapnel and took it out carefully with her pliers again.

“We don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it.”

No energon came out this time luckily as she shut the cabling for healing.

“We don’t talk about it”

Two cables done. 3 more to go.

“We don’t talk”

Paradox then moved the fixed cables to the side so that they wouldn’t tangle with the broken ones.

“Did he take you”

She found the right leg cable and un-bandaged that like she did to its friends that she had just cordoned off. As she undid the bandage she realised this one had piercings in it.

“Or gaslight you?”

She grabbed a replacement pipe and applied pressure to the old cable before cutting out the damaged area.

“Make jokes at your expense?”

She made sure the new pipe was properly attached before slowly undoing the pressure she has put on the old undamaged pipe. She heard the mech whimper away a small cry at the feeling of energon rushing back into his limb slowly. It was an uncomfortable feeling for him. So paradox sung a little bit louder to distract him.

“Then right after, talk about his ex?”

She should have warned him but it was hard when she was singing as a medication of sorts for him. Hopefully it was worth the sacrifice at the end of this.

“But I’m scared”

The cabling was working fine, small leaks were happening but Paradox knew that some healing would work so she put a protective layer around the seams and new peice which stopped the leaks.

“”You won’t think it’s true”

Three cables done. 2 to go.

“If it will happen to me”

Paradox then carefully pulled the cable for the left leg forward. When taking the bandage off it she noticed it was showing signs that it was severely severed so she placed pressure around the cable and continued to undo the bandage.

“It’ll happen to her”

When the bandage finally came off. She saw the cable wasn’t severed but rather a massive chunk blown out of it. The cable was almost a full severance but the cable held itself together by what looked like sheer determination.

“It doesn’t make it better that I went first.”

Paradox grabbed another piece of new cabling and carefully cut away the damaged section before replacing it with the new section. Again, she carefully undid the pressure and sung a little bit louder.

“We don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it.”

The mech felt it happen again and tried to hum along to the music to take his mind off the sensation of energon slowly running back into his leg.

“”What the girls went through, yeah, they didn’t deserve it.”

She then finished up the cable by applying a covering to stop the energon leaking.

“We don’t talk about it”

Four cables done. 1 to go

“We don’t talk about it.”

This last cable made Paradox very nervous but she couldn’t show it in her face plate or sound it in her singing. If anything indicated that she wasn’t doing well. Paradox knew that would cause stress in her patient.

“If it happened to me, it’ll happen to her”

She carefully unbinded the bandage of the brain module cable.

“It doesn’t make it better that I went first”

She carefully applied pressure to the cable and as she unwound the bandage she saw a complete severance from the brain to everything else. She looked back at her scans to see how that was even possible. Luck was clearly on this mechs side as the shrapnel must of sliced the cable so perfectly that it was just a balancing act that kept it together for that long. Paradox wanted to gasp at the fluke of what had happened.

“We don’t talk about it”

Paradox cut a new piece of cabling and watched the vitals closely as she applied pressure. She knew she had to work quickly to make sure no lasting damage occurred.

“We don’t talk about it”

As soon as she could she sliced through the existing cabling to make room for the new cabling that she quickly put in and she didn’t even check to see if the energon flow would properly work. She just had to do it. She encased the canceling and undid the pressure.

“We don’t talk about it”

The optics in the mech lit up as his brain module became properly connected to the rest of his organs and body.

“”If it will happen to me, it’ll happen to her”

The mech gasped as he felt the energon rush back into his system.

“What the girls went through, yeah, they didn’t deserve”

His whole body twitched as his body came back from the brink of death.

“We don’t talk about it, we don’t talk about it, noOooo”

The music returned to only xylophone as it played out, the mech was venting in and out in a rushed manner. Paradox stood by him guestering to vent in and out as she finished the song. The mech did just that before his body relaxed upwards.

Paradox stopped her playlist and went back to him.

“How are you feeling?” She asked. There was a slight concern over what she had to fix considering they were very important components to staying alive.

“Yeah, I’m feeling fine” the mech smiled. He clearly had a pep in his step.

“Good to hear. But we’re not done yet” Paradox stood up right relived that her work was doing its job. She scanned his cables again and all signs showed that they were functional. All they needed was a few checkups.

“Oh right, the old noggin’” he chuffed a laugh at wobbling his helm jokingly.

“Yes” Paradox smiled “we need to make sure your helms back on.”

“Can we have a more upbeat song this time? Ya know now that I’m not facing death row” he smiled excitedly.

Paradox was a bit taken back but opened up her list again “sure” she smiled.

“Also you have a great singing voice” the mech clearly was trying to ask if she could sing again but without the asking part.

“Thanks” Paradox smiled “how about this?” She pressed play, the guitar riff and the consistent beat of the drum pumped into the mechs audials reminding him of when the war first started and how often he would go out for parties.

Luckily this was a quick head reattachment, while it wasn’t the easiest thing to put back on, Paradox definitely wasn’t on tenterhooks anymore. She was happily listening and sing to music like it was Muzak playing in her local shopping centre.

“She said that’s that, I don’t wanna chitter-chat”

She turned the screwdriver down a little before realising a flat blade would be a better option. She changed over the screwdriver and continued to work and sing.

“Pump it up when you don’t really need it. Pump it up until you can feel it.”

She placed the cabling in their correct spots in the centre of the mech’s throat. Whenever Paradox saw this procedure done she always imagined it felt hell-bent or heaven-sent. No inbetween.

“Listen to the propaganda, listen to the the latest slander. There’s nothing underhand that she wouldn’t understand.”

After prepping the neck guard she guestered for the mech’s helm and he passed it up to her. He knew that he either gave it to her or held onto it for eternity and he didn’t really need that.

“She’s been a bad girl, she’s like a chemical.”

Paradox placed his helm on his neck guard and began connecting the joints back together to allow his head to move properly.

“Though you try to stop it, she’s like a narcotic.”

She also added a bit of oil to allow the joints to move a bit better and more freely. It looked like they hadn’t been tended to in a while. If he held off its maintenance any longer it would of been torture turning his helmet even if he wanted to talk the sensation would of been painful.

“All the things you bought for her could not get a temperature”

The mech felt his head get pumped up as Paradox soothed his joints he felt like he didn’t really need it but if the doctor thought he did then he just took it.

“Out in a fashion show, down in the bargain bin”

Paradox then realigned his helm and did a few final checks before doing a pressure test to see if his cables and neck guard could handle his helm being back on top again.

“Fall into submission, hit-and-run transmission”

Everything seemed to be working fine. She then put the final bolts in place hoping before doing one final scan, wishing that nothing had sinned her between now and the last scan she did.

“Pump it up, until you can feel it”

All the scans came back positive. Paradox turned her music down a little bit and stopped singing.

“Alright” she cheerfully reported “so I’m going to need you to come back in a few cycles for a basic check up, but otherwise you’re fine to be let out. Just don’t do anything stupid or strenuous. The last thing I want is to see you back in here after doing something you were supposed to do ok? I’ll send a report through to your captain over what you can and can’t do just so we all know how to not get you more screwed over.”

The mech smiled back and slowly stood up “good to hear doc!” he twisted his arms and legs to see if they were back to normal. “Thanks for the help. That other bot was right about your singing and music. Helped me out a lot!” He waved as he exited the door.

After the door slammed behind him Paradox let her playlist roll onto the next song as she cleaned up her station.

She cleaned up her station seeing all the energon that was spilled on her table. She sighed. All of this could have been avoided.

But that’s the price of war.

She had to shrug it off. She found it insane sometimes. She grew up knowing that this wasn’t a price we should be willing to pay.

But they had to.

They had no other choice.

She tried to take her mind off everything by looking out the window. But when she saw Knockout’s desk, she felt blue seeing it. Somewhere out there was her clan and they were safe, for now. But their lives would eventually have to be the cost of this war.

Just like her life on Earth.

She was now a toy for the Deceptions to subdue. She was always labeled as an experiment or as Shockwave’s toy. Paradox was tired of this. But she couldn’t do anything, it’s not like she could estrange herself from the Decepticons anytime soon. She would have to wait until after her baby was born.

She then queeried herself if that meant that she had to come up with a plan now. Could she do that? What would that mean for her life? Her child’s life? What about her clan? What about Brainstorm? Would they understand? Would they support her?

She had to free herself sometime soon right?

But she would be on her own.

On an alien planet.

With a child.

It’s not like she could come crawling back to the Decepticons.

She felt her anxiety overcome her in that moment.

“Just shut up!” Paradox loudly spoke to it. She then sat down at her desk and opened her programming again “let’s just focus on this please.” She begged frustratedly. “This now. That later” she grumbled as she continued her work.

Chapter Text

A sigh was heard from the medbay briefly followed by scuffling and rustling as Paradox stretched “New day, new problems” she yawned as she got up.

Paradox had been staying up late the past few cycles trying to get the program to work. She felt like she was almost there. She just needed a way to administer it. Shocking the victim’s fuel lines clearly wasn’t the way to go about it. So she took out the notebook she stole from her hometown. She flipped through and saw her notes about her funeral. A small happy chuff came from Paradox as she looked over Knockout’s annotations that he added. She flipped to a blank page and began to write down ideas.

Everything she was coming up with wasn’t working. Paradox looked through her bag once again to find her knitting but as she walked across her desk she found the medical book she also stole. It looked like it was over 100 years old, she looked through the cover trying to find a publishing date.

“Oh god…” Paradox groaned nervously “well, if 1895 is the best option I had at the time. I guess it will have to do.”

She remembered flipping through it after a panic attack a while back. If it helped her back then, surely it would provide use to her again. No matter how hazy the memory or reading it and what it did to help her was.

She looked back at the book to see its name as if she was hoping for the front to say a newer date. She ran her finger underneath the title as she was reading it.

“Twentieth Century Practice…” she then paused and looked at the rest of the page “oh god it’s a long ass name isn’t it?” She groaned. “… An International Encyclopaedia Of Modern Medical Science. Hmf yeah right.” she rolled her eyes. “Ok let’s see what the ‘leading authorities of Europe and America’ have to say about 1895 medicine.” Paradox said an a demeaning tone as she turned the page to see its preface. She began scrolling through it with her eyes and critiqued it as she went on.

“‘A new science has arisen’ oh really? Who would of thought?” She laughed.

“Hang on…” she paused “ …‘new theory of infectious diseases? I swore this had something about pregnancy in it? Alright let’s see what diseases you have in stock for me.” she then flipped to find the contents page and began quickly reading through it only to realise it was only types of diseases, nothing on what a disease is. She turned back to the front page to read the title.

“Volume 1!?” She groaned before looking more into the book “‘Diseases of the Uropoidetic System’? The fuck is that?” Her brain looked at the word ‘uropoidetic’ for a few seconds.

“Oh god!” she groaned putting her face in the book before quickly withdrawing her face back out “EW!EW!EW! EEEWWWWWAH!!!!! I don’t even want to know where this book has been!” She cried in disgust “please!” She gasped. “For the love of all things good!” She cried out “please don’t let this be a book purely on urethra and shit” she then paused her mumbling please and outcry before letting out another disgusted cry “OH GOD! There could ACTUALLY be shit in thiiiiiissssssssss!!!! Of course THIS!…THIS! Is what that GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF SHIT TOWN has.” She then began seething through her teeth “aaaannnnndddd I meeeeaaaan that sooooooo DISRESPECTFULLLYYYYY!”

Paradox put down the book and looked over the contents again “maybe I can find a virus to inspire me?” She moaned “let’s see kidney, bladder, prostate, male urethra, urine, female bladder and urethra.” She mumbled before she announced out loud to herself “Ok can I just say, I was right in the worst way possible. Also why is the female stuff 4 chapters long when the male urethra gets… 1233456789101… 11 chapters? Also does this mean that whole chapter on bladders is just for men? What the fuck 1895!? Can’t say I thought you’d be progressive. I’m just disappointed. Also I am never reading things again after a panic attack because holy shit was I delusional” she then calmed down and collected herself “alright. Now which of these will have the least gruesome diagrams? Because I would LOOOOVE to start there please” she whined and whimpered.

“Maybe urine? I’m sure I can convert it over to fuel lines. It’s not like doctors from the 1890’s weren’t doing weird shit.” She mumbled as she looked through the urine contents. “Now which of these looks like the funnest word” she continued mumbling under her breath trying to find a word that stood out to her “oh hello… phoooossspphhhaaaturiiiaaahhh” Paradox tried to phonetically spell out. “Page 623” she announced quietly as she heaved over the heavy book before flipping back and forth between pages until she found what she was looking for.

“Here we are!” She huffed “Phosphaturia… yep… this is… this is how weapons are made” she sighed “oh god!” Paradox felt so humiliated at the thought she had “this book is literally taking the piss out of me” she felt so defeated by this point “well, it’s made me come this far” she then looked around and pointed up towards the universe “and I’m not letting you get the last laugh. Yeah…I bet you're really really pissing yourself really REALLY hard right now, huh?” She quietly seethed through her teeth.

She read through the part about amorphous phosphate of lime, she paused at a word in it before looking for her purple diary. She grabbed it and turned to a blank page as she began reading. She then looked back over the sentence in the book ‘there is generally an iridescent film, “a gas tank” film on the surface’ she then began thinking about liquids like petrol or water with oil spilled on top of it. She then wrote down ‘gas tank’ and drew little arrows with sentences like ‘can the tanks lead directly to the Cybertron equivalent of a nervous system?’ and ‘what leads to the tanks?’ Before she trailed off into questions about how infections can get into fuel lines.

She then sketched out an idea in her note book and wrote the question: ‘can I make a virus like a gas leak where it sits on top of Energon? How would it move? How would it work?”

Paradox continued reading trying to find other answers. She wrote down quotes that inspired her:

‘The prevailing appearance is that of crystalline rods or needles’

Could she design a needle to inject something into the victim?

Could a code simply infect them?

‘Adhere to the sides of the vessel or form a glaze upon the surface’

Maybe it could stick to the side of a fuel line?

Paradox looked up and saw the diagram of the star and rod types found in the crystallised phosphate.

Maybe it could spread like a frost?

It could spread like something crystallising on the edge of the tubes spreading data from rod to rod

‘One hundred grams of acetate of soda are dissolved’

Maybe she could make a parasite that dissolved and moved its way up to the brain module?

‘A cold infusion’

Again injecting the code into them? Or like a parasite? Or something?

‘Until the mother liquor is no longer found to adhere to them’

So if the crystallising idea sticks then can it be made so it’s attracted to high amounts of electrical and energon use? That would lead it to the brain module and ass it gets further away from the source it just stops adhering and dissolves?

Paradox stopped for a moment.

“That's it” she said quietly to herself “that's the method! Create a spiderweb of sorts that allows the code to transfer around the body until it hits the brain module.” She smiled as she carefully got down from the desk and transformed to a more suitable size before sitting down at her desk and quickly coming up with a base code to latch onto the side of any fuel pipe that was attracted towards the brain module.

As the cycle came to a close Paradox looked over her dodgy code that looked like it was barely going to stay together.

“Well either I fail spectacularly or I find myself on the right track to success” she tried to smile so she could manifest the good outcome as she hit the simulation button. She watched the virus spread as it was supposed to. It wasn’t moving as quick as she hoped and the dissolving wasn’t properly working but that didn’t stop Paradox from standing up and yelling “FUCK YES!” As she pointed at the screen “YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD BEAT ME!!!!” She continued to trash her opponent “BUT I HAVE THE POWER OF PISS ON MY SIDE!!!!” She then spun around before cheering and flipping off the screen. “TO SEMI-QUOTE REGINA GEORGE: YOU TRIED TO TAKE ME DOWN BUT YOU DIDN’T FINISH ME OFF!”

She then sent a simulation of the code to Brainstorm telling him it was her most successful try and that she’s just got to perfect it before asking if he could see any flaws. She sent off the file and went back to trying to perfect her coding as another late night came over her.

Chapter Text

Paradox heard a knocking. It wasn’t the door, it sounded much closer than that. They then grumbled thinking it was a leaky roof or something. They then heard a soft whistle from above their helm. They groaned louder and tried to shoo away whatever was causing that noise. A small, quiet laugh was heard from wherever that whistling was coming from. Paradox ignored it and continued trying to sleep. Just as they were about to pass out, they felt a tap on their helm. They raised their servo back behind their helm and harshly swatted back down. they felt their servo make contact with a large metal object. The sound and sensation of said object hitting Paradox’s desk right next to their helm startled them awake. They gasped from the shock, they looked around to see what happened only to hear groaning next to them. Paradox looked down at the desk where the object hit.

“Scrap! I am so fragging sorry Brainstorm!” They yelled apologetically before standing up and trying to find medical equipment. “I’m sorry! So sorry! I’ll fix this! Scrap! Scrap! Scrap! Scrap! Scrap!”

Brainstorm weakly got up. The shock of what just happened also caught him off guard. “You looked so cute when you did that alien thing.” He whined in pain as he stood up rubbing his helm. He saw Paradox running around finding their equipment yelling “scrap!” In a panicked tone over and over again.

“Hey it’s alright.” He said as he pulled them aside by the arm “I’m fine I think everything startled you a bit, huh?”

Paradox looked him over and saw a small dent at the top of his helm. The amount of stuff that had happened after waking up started to get to them as tears started to form in their optics from how overwhelmed they were. “I’m sorry!” they cried

“I’m fine” Brainstorm repeated, taking off his mask and showing Paradox his smile “see completely fine! it’s just a dent. Don’t think this is the worst that’s happened to me.” He looked at Paradox who began to wipe away their tears.

“Sorry” they cried quietly “I just tend to be more emotionally unstable when I wake up and the pregnancy isn’t helping that at all.” The quiet crying got a little louder.

“Oh, that's fine” he tittered quietly “do you need a hug or anything?”

A whimper came from Paradox. “I’d like the hug. Also I would like to take the dent out of your helm.”

“Ok then. I’ll help you find your equipment.” He replied as he took a step closer to Paradox “but first, how about that hug?” His smile cocked to one side with his optics becoming soft and caring.

Paradox took a step closer and plopped their helm into Brainstorm’s chest as he wrapped his arms around them. Paradox followed his lead and wrapped their arms up around Brainstorm. Paradox then cried a little into his chest.

“Sorry” they mumbled.

“Don’t worry.” Brainstorm suspired as he lowered his helm down to rest on top of Paradox’s.

The hug continued for a few more moments before Brainstorm did a tight squeeze and pulled away slowly in case Paradox needed more time. The two separated and Paradox turned around and found the dent kit in one of their draws.

Brainstorm sat down at the table and watched Paradox walk over to him with the kit. The repair went quickly as Paradox removed the panel with the dent, tapped it out before doing cosmetic clean up such as repainting and buffing. As Paradox finished putting the panel back Brainstorm saw that their optics had cleared up and the sniffles had stopped.

“So that thing you were doing at your desk…” he started talking slowly to see if Paradox would entertain his question “…what was that? You said waking up, was that like recharging?”

Paradox looked up and a small smile ghosting their faceplate “umm yeah…” they huffed “… so that was me sleeping. It’s my species version of recharging but we don’t need a recharge slab so we just do it wherever we feel the most safest and comfortable normally. If we get too tired we just sleep where we are.”

“That's, actually very practical” Brainstorm looked intrigued by the idea of sleeping anywhere “I don’t think we’ve properly looked into 100% portable options for recharge slabs, yes we’ve made them more compact and easier for travel. But imagine having the ability to recharge anywhere.” He thought out loud.

“That sounds like a good idea. Maybe have like little fold out packs that charge using the sun’s UV rays like solar power or whatever.” Paradox suggested continuing Brainstorms thought.

“Oooo very nice. Everyone keeps on talking about Energon but I guess not much has been done in terms of other ways to create power. Probably because Energon was constantly flowing before the war. Now it’s just shrivelled up into dry minerals or sorts.” He shrugged, holding his pointer digit against his faceplate. “Though I don’t know how much would be required to charge a Cybertronian.”

“Well on my planet we’ve been looking into alternate methods to make our energy. We’ve looked into water, air, sun and minerals, though the latter is being replaced by the earlier examples.” Paradox illuminated more ideas for Brainstorm to fiddle with.

“So you guys have just been harnessing nature to make energy?” Brainstorm pondered out loud.

“Yeah so we use wind to power windmills, waves to turn a turbine and the sun has some reflective material or some scrap in it that collects photons from the sun and then once that’s been collected it does some cool tech scrap I don’t know much about and then you get power.” Paradox tried their best to explain it but power and electricity wasn’t their strength and they weren’t afraid to admit it.

Brainstorm’s face went into hardcore thinking mode as his optic ridges furrowed in thought. “I think I could figure it out but that is definitely a cool thing I’ll have to look into.” He took out his data pad and wrote down all the notes he could about different types of power before putting the pad away as Paradox finished up their work.

“So what did you come here for?” Paradox asked “I doubt you came here to watch me sleep.”

“Oh right!” Brainstorm sounded like a memory had just popped back into his mind “I looked over your programming and I must say. It's very cool, I know you're still working out everything but it looks like you're definitely on the right track. If you need help let me know.”

Paradox sighed with relief “oh thank you.” They nervously laughed “you have no idea what I had to go through to get to that point.”

“Ah yes, trial and error can be such a glitch sometimes.” He laughed acknowledging the difficulties. “Also I thought you might like to see the first mockup of your design.” He smiled fiddling around in his chest compartment.

“Here we are…” he muttered. He pulled out a silver bracelet that had bead looking bullets around the bracelet like they were on some sort of hover track that hadn’t been activated yet.

Brainstorm grabbed Paradox’s wrist and put it on. It fit almost perfectly, it was slightly too big but it wouldn’t come off mid battle or anything, just had a possibility of getting caught on stuff every once in a while. Brainstorm then tapped a star bead which lifted the beads up as they floated around lighting up one by one becoming different colours. Paradox then saw two purple beads in a star shape sitting next to each other.

“Are these the slingshot?” They asked poking and fiddling with them.

“Yes they are” Brainstorm looked over them and grabbed Paradox’s other arm and positioned their pointer and middle digit on each bead. “Now move your finger apart” Brainstorm looked very excited to see what happened.

Paradox moved their fingers apart and a string began to appear tethering the two beads together. “Woah!” Paradox smiled “this is so cool!” She joyfully exclaimed “Brainstorm you are the best crafts person I’ve seen!” She smiled.

“Oh you know your facts very well.” Brainstorm smiled.

“I also know your brand very well.” Paradox went and grabbed his mask and held it out to him. “It’s not looking ugly and scaring everyone with just your appearance” they then smiled like an innocent toddler who just unintentionally roasted their family. But unlike the toddler, Paradox had every intent to say that and mean it.

“Ha ha HA!” Brainstorm faked a laugh as he put his mask back on “just know I’ve had many bots want to kiss me.”

“And what happened when you took the mask off?” A cocky smile wiped across Paradox’s face with a hint of sarcastic morbid curiosity.

Brainstorm folded his arms and proudly cocked his chin up like he was declaring important informations to the peasant in front of him “I think your little alien brain couldn’t comprehend what happened next.”

“Probably because yours couldn’t comprehend the idea of someone suddenly declining you.” Paradox snarked back.

“Watch me, I’ll get everyone kissing me!” A joking scowl came across Brainstorm as he got up and went to the door. They both shared a friendly wave as he exited the room.

Chapter Text

Paradox sat down with the bracelet that Brainstorm gave her. It had a slim wire of sorts acting as the magnetic and charging points for the beads. She saw a small port to plug in her code from the data pad she was working from. She fiddled with the code a little bit longer before deciding to upload it.

Paradox waited for the codes to upload and be accepted by the beads. While she was waiting she did all of her reports and sent them through to Shockwave, she then looked through her data pad to see if she had any other messages. She then saw a message from a few cycles ago from Brainstorm.

‘Hey, so I got you those old data pads I told you about, you know the ones with all the plants and stuff. Plus I got you something to sketch with as well. I would of just given them to you but you were too busy having your little musical moment, I just left them on your desk.’

Paradox then quickly rumbled through all of the objects on her desk until she found 3 data pads on the history of Cybertron nature and a small device that looked almost identical to the one she sketched up her bracelet on. The only difference was that this one was pink, purple and black.

Paradox put the small USB looking device on the centre of her medical table and pressed the black button in the centre that divided the swirling bubbly pattern from pink to purple and the room lit up a pastel lavender colour. She then created a new file for drawings and picked up one of the data pads and looked through the contents of it. She then flipped through until she found a fiery red flower and she stopped and stared at it. The mist it created framed a frame around the twirling petals. Paradox then began to sketch what she saw on the data pad. Her hands swirled around the page as she let her mind slip away from everything.

Everything except enough of her mind to focus on the flower she was drawing.

It was all she could focus on.

Her mind didn’t remember the siege…

…or the war

…or her pregnancy

…or if she was worthy of being a medic

It was just her and an endless page of possibilities that she could sketch.

As Paradox finished her sketch she then wrote neatly what she had drawn:

‘Dragon Cress.’

She looked over the page to learn more about it as she wrote annotations from the pad onto her sketch:

‘Located in the Rust Sea.’

‘The Rust Sea is near the Hydrax Plateau.’

‘Forms mist.’

‘The mist covers the banks and nearby towns of the Hydrax Plateau.’

‘Gets its name from it’s appearance which is often described as frozen flames.’

‘Flowers can change colour if it comes in contact with new materials.’

Paradox then looked over its variations and colour differences and noticed that the petals and mist changed colour based on what materials it was eating from the Rust Sea which corroded anything it came in contact with. This meant that if it came into contact with materials like iron the flower would become yellow colour or if it came into contact with copper it would give off a green colour.

‘Often used to identify when someone had died in the Rust Sea.’

Paradox then began to flip through the data pad again before noticing that her bracelet had come to life. It began glowing a light blue colour underneath the bead allowing them to shine different colours. She picked up the bracelet and unhooked it from the pad she had created the program on. Now that she had charged it with a program the bracelet had become more lively as the the beads slightly raised to her digits that she brushed over the top of it.

Paradox quickly sent a message back to Brainstorm:

‘Program has been loaded. Now to find a way and place to fire it’

She then admired the bracelet a bit more before wondering what else she could use this technology for. She could program them to do anything. Paradox quickly went back to her sketch pad and opened up a new file specifically for her beads. The first one that she drew was a bead that had sharp razors hidden inside of it that would expel out once launched like a shuriken. She then looked back at the flower data pad still open to the dragon cress.

‘A bead that can corrode metals’ she wrote down.

She then looked back at the pad after finishing her sentence.

“Well this would be a step up from piss.” Paradox smiled as she turned back to the contents page and flipped it over to the first official page of the book as she began to read more of it and she wrote down ideas that inspired her.

‘Cybertronian Nightshade has a toxin that can cause nausea, hallucinations and can slow down someone’s reaction times.’

‘Glittermoss is rich in energon - small energon boost patch?’

‘Tinsel Fall Ivy - so like vines? Maybe I can remake the slingshot to have one bead on the ground and then launch the other one to create a tightrope of sorts?”

Paradox then branched off from her words and turned them into sketches which took heavy inspiration from their floral inspiration. She loved the new inspiration, it was definitely one that she felt more proud about and could easily talk to someone about. She spent so long drawing new designs that she had to prop herself up with the table as she saved the file and turned it off for the night before she went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Dailingbrup, Western Australia.
12:47pm July 5th 2017.

“YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A NARCISSIST!” Ria heard her mother scream. Her hands were fiddling with the edge of the carpet in what used to be her parents' shared wardrobe.

“Well Susan, maybe if you were more calm we could have been together as a happy family!” Ria hated to hear her father yell, but there was no other way to do it. Suddenly she smiled as the carpet lifted revealing a square cut out tile of carpet covering a safe.

Ria and her father had escaped from her mother only months prior and she had refused to let them take anything. Ria was sleeping on a camping mattress and they only had a tv and milk crates in the living room. They left so suddenly because of how aggressive Susan was. Ria remembers the screams of her mother as they took off from the driveway. They had left everything behind and Susan was guarding it like a dragon protecting its gold.

“WHY ARE YOU TAKING THE COMPUTER!!!” The screams were getting further away. Ria knew the quicker she was able to unlock the safe the quicker she could get out of there. She finally heard a click and opened the safe. The two dogs sitting next to her were also eagerly hoping for something inside.

“Because it’s in my office! Yours is over there next to the bed room!” Her father groaned as Maria lifted the lid to reveal an empty safe.

“Shit!” she muttered. Ria and her father knew that’s where their passports and birth certificates were held but they had been moved. Ria quickly and quietly grabbed the suitcases hiding in behind the clothes and opened them hoping for something.

Nothing but more bags.

“Damn it!” Her frustration making her worried as she put the suitcases away perfectly making it look like they hadn’t moved. “Maybe the draws?” She asked as she turned around to where her mother kept her jewellery.

“HOW DARE YOU COME BACK AND TAKE MY MEMORIES!!” Ria could hear her mother begin to cry her crocodile tears as she began rummaging through the draws while the two dogs began sniffing around the room as if they were also trying to help locate whatever their sister was looking for.

“It’s OUR things Susan! How do you expect me to keep paying for your lifestyle if I can’t work? I need my things! And what about Ria, huh? All she has is her school uniform and 2 sets of jeans and shirts. It’s not fair!” Ria could tell the fight was about to end. She had to leave quietly.

She went to the front door and openings it quietly watching behind her hoping that her parents didn’t leave her fathers old office. As she looked behind her she saw two sad looking faces and lowered wagging tails.

Ria’s heart was aching at the fact that she would have to leave her siblings behind. “Ok, but we are heading straight for the car ok? Timothy, I trust you because you're old and don’t run. But you, my speedy little Swishy, are a demon in disguise so straight to the car got it?” As she quietly opened the door both dogs ran straight for the car as Ria closed the door, trying not to make a sound before running to the car parked across the street and opening the doors allowing the dogs in.

Ria pushed the dogs off the seat so that they couldn’t be seen from the window and it didn’t take long before she could hear muffled yelling across the street. The driver's door then opened as her father got in acting frustrated before starting the car and driving off.

“Did you find them?” He asked.

He heard a sigh “no” Ria deflated “she’s moved them, I went through the whole wardrobe. I suspect she’s moved them to her office but I didn’t want to risk being caught”

“That’s ok” her dad sighed “we can’t win all the time”

Ria hopped in the front seat and put her seat belt on “also I got the two idiots” she laughed trying to put a positive spin on the situation.

Her dad smiled “TIMOTHY! SWISHY! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOIN’ HERE!” He said in an excited voice like he was talking to two toddlers. The scruffy black dog ran to sit on Ria’s lap excitedly licking her face while Timothy groaned in relief over not having to fight for space on the back seat as the 4 of them drove to their new home.

Kaon, Cybertron
Cycle 257

Paradox laid on the med table and stared into the apparatus attached above her. She woke up thinking about escape plans she had made in the past, mainly the ones where she had to escape from her mother. Surely it wouldn’t be that hard to escape, right? Maybe she could talk to Brainstorm about how to open up the glass and sneak out through the window if she was able to make the gap big enough.

But what if she had the child before she could escape? Its not like she could escape now, she’d just run straight into a siege. No one could get in or out.

Paradox laid there thinking this would be a good time to come up with a plan. But she was struggling. She often believed that she was very good at this, she jokingly said her special talent was escape planning back on earth. The main issue was that she was stuck in this room. She didn’t know where the exits were or any sneaky ways out. All she knew was this room.

Unless she was chaperoned by someone she knew.

She then realised that once the siege was over they would have to bring in supplies and those supplies don’t just magically appear. There would have to be some mode of transport involved surely.

But then she realised that she also didn’t know about how supplies worked in this world. The citizens were literally trucks, surely they would feel her sneaking on board.

Maybe she would have to get some assistance?

Paradox groaned as she rolled onto her side. Normally when she came up with escape plans she knew everything she could get her hands on. She over thought everything, she had backup plans for the backups of the backups. But she couldn’t do that here and it was never her style to do things without some form of plan, especially something this critical to her survival and livelihood.

But then she also had to think about the child she was planned to birth. If she escaped before she gave birth would she be able to do everything on her own? What if something went wrong? Is a war torn planet even a safe place for her to raise a child?

Was it best for a mercy kill?

Paradox quickly tried to wipe her mind of that thought. “Not now. I’m fine. Don’t think about it” she whispered to herself as she got up.

Paradox stretched as she looked at her bracelet. She still needed something to test it on and she had no idea what. She knew that she asked Brainstorm about the window but it was probably best to test this on something before she accidentally killed someone.

She did her daily scans and saw the cleft lip in her baby’s upper lip become more pronounced. She tried to stop smoking recently but clearly the damage had already been done. As she looked over the file her anxiety picked up again and she felt her servo move down to the draw of cy-gars as she was staring at its consequences.

“No, no, no’ she deeply exhaled as she closed the draw. “I know I can do better” she felt her breathing get heavier and slowly get quicker. She closed the files and sent them off to Shockwave. Exhaling deeply as she hit the send button.

She looked to see if she had any more messages. Paradox knew she didn’t have much else to do so she just stared at the blank screen for a while so she could feel the rush of suspense as she waited for something. She then jump scared a bit when she heard her door open to see a mech leaking fluids aggressively from his abdomen with a large gash in his knee.

“Oh scrap!” Paradox gasped as she ran to provide support to the mech as he hobbled towards her table “what happened?”

The mech was gasping and venting harshly “a sword” he groaned as he sat up on the table.

“Ok great! Thanks for telling me” Paradox smiled as she rushed to stabilise the bot. “Also apparently my services include music and slash or singing if it’s requested now, so would you like music and would you like singing?” Paradox bandaged up the slashed pipes as a temporary treatment for the bleeding.

“I don’t care” he groaned. “Just fix me.”

“Can do” Paradox smiled as she just randomly selected a song from her playlist as she rushed to grab her equipment like a river rushing to reach its destination in a direct line after a storm.

She got back to the mech with her tools, she looked at the mech’s abdomin and felt a pit in her stomach. Paradox tried to shake off the emotion “why is my expectations so high? Is it the bar I set?” She started to sing realising that she was trying to be as good as Knockout. That bar was too high, her arms couldn’t reach that bar no matter how high as she stretched to reach it.

“I lose my grip like a flying trapeze”

She then did a deep vent before she undid the first fuel line that had been compromised. That feeling of high expectations ripping apart from her stomach as hard as that sensation was to swallow it felt so reliving once the sensation of a freezing cold underlying flaw began to crack like ice until it was over and that painful freezing feeling was gone, leaving an unfrozen void of another insecurity.

“I walk on the water, but I ain’t no Jesus.”

Paradox stabilised the first fuel line and gave it a patch to stop it from leaking before preparing another fuel line. She felt the void telling her she was doing a misstep and tarnishing the legacy and respect of her mentor because she was human and had no experience with aliens at the start of the year.

“The rhyme has to be perfect, the delivery flawless.”

She then cut away the damaged part and carefully put the new part is. She hit the mark she needed to when it came to making sure it was properly attached before sealing it up.

“I’d only they knew, it’s a facade and it’s exhaustive and I try not to listen to nonsense.”

Mission accomplished. She was able to fix the fuel lines that had been slashed. She then cleaned up the area from the spilt energon.

“I’m not god-sent.”

The then went to the slashed knee. As she looked at it she was reminded of her father. She grew up knowing he had a broken knee. She then felt guilt over leaving him like how she did, regret poured over her like water. But it wasn’t her fault for leaving. Hopefully he understood that.

“But I ain’t no Jesus.”

She continued her work. It was quicker than the pipes. Just a few bolts and rods to replace. It allowed her to focus on what she was singing and relax a bit has she hypnotically worked on the injury.

“ ‘Cause I’m only human, just like youuu! Makin’ my mistakes, oooooh if yoooou only kneeeeeew! I don’t think you should believe in me the way that you dooo! ‘Cause I’m terrified to let you doooown, oh.

It’s true I’m a Rubik’s cube - a beautiful mess. At times juvenile, yes, I goof and I jest. A flawed human, I guess. But I’m doin’ my best to not ruin your expectations.”

She looked down at the knee as she finished and repaired the plating on the knee.

“Am I lucky to be around this long?”

It was a quick fix, she just had to bend the metal back into place making sure nothing poked its head out from behind the plating. She then patched up small cracks before painting over the area and moving back to the abdomen to continue fixing the mech’s plating and repeating the process

“Now let ‘em tell ya the world no longer cares or give a fuck about your rhymes and as I grow outta site outta mind, I might go out of mine. ‘Cause how do I ever let the mic go without a fight when I made a fuckin’ tightrope out of twine. But when I do fall from these heights though I’ll be fine. I won’t pout or cry or spiral down or whine. But I’ll decide if it’s my final bow this time around.”

As Paradox finished painting the abdominal she went back down to the knee and buffed it out before adding the final polish to it and checking over everything one last time as she waited for the paint to dry. She put a bit of heat and wind in the paint to make it dry quicker as she belted out the final part of the song with all the emotion that she felt.

“ ‘Cause I’m only human, just like youuu! I’ve been makin’ my mistakes, oh if youuu only kneeeeeewwwww! I don’t think you should belieeve in me the waayy that yooou dooooooo! Cause I’m terrrrrified to let you down, oooh.”

She then finished the polishing and started packing up the equipment she had laying out.

“If I walked on water, I would drown.”

Paradox held her servo out to the mech helping him sit up.

“Right” she started lecturing him “please rest for a cycle or two, you shouldn’t need to much rest but your body needs time to adjust to the patched fuel lines ok?”

The mech carefully got to his pedes testing out the new knee repairs by bending and shaking it a bit “just like new” he smiled “thanks doc.” He waved as he left the ward with the door closing behind him.

Paradox tried her best to smile and wave until she knew she was alone again. She then cleaned the table and looked out the window at the siege, letting her thoughts consume her.

‘“Where would I go if I escaped? Earth isn’t my favourite place” she rubbed her servos against her faceplate and groaned “what would even happen if I did go back to Earth? Would I be accepted back? Or had my skeletons left the closet waiting to pounce on me upon my return?”

Chapter Text

Paradox was still looking out the window trying to not let her thoughts consume her. She tried to look for something red out of the field, she turned around and went through her desk looking for something to give her a better view.

“Nothing,” she groaned. Paradox then moved around the room scouring through the other places where stuff was kept. She found herself humming as she opened draws and shuffled around shelves.

“Did that really just happen?” she softly spoke as she moved data pads around.

“Have I actually understood this weird quirk I’ve tried to suppress or hide” she pulled out a tube and stuck it up to her optics hoping it was a telescope or something similar and sighed as she put it back.

“Is a talent that could heeeelp meeee meeeeet the wizaaaard” her mind began focusing on trying to find what she was looking for, she began to softly sing as she zoned out of any other task she was doing.

“If I make gooood. So I’ll make goooood” Paradox rolled her optics as she pulled open a cupboard only to find 3 buffers and even more containers of polish.

“When I meet the wizard, once I prove my worth” her movement became cartoonishly stiff as if she was trying to contain her excitement over actually meeting a wizard

“And then I meet the wizaaaaarrrrdd… what I’ve waited for since, since birth!” Paradox was in full jamming out in public mode and began using her facial expressions to dance. She smiled as she fiddled with an orb hoping it could be used for something. She just assumed that being on an alien planet might lead to weird looking tech that does what she wanted.

She then spun around holding the orb close to her “and with all his wizard wisdom!” She then placed the orb on her medical table just in case she needed it later or something before she wishfully turned around “by my looks, he won’t be bliiinnded.”

She then went back to the cupboards and exaggerated her curious facial expression, placing her servo on her lips while looking around for a better fit for the task “Do you think the Wizard is dumb? Or, like Munchkins, so small minded? No!”

“He’ll say to me, “I see who you truly are. A girl on whom I can rely” and that’s how we begin the Wizard and I” Paradox then realised she went through one whole side of the room and sighed at her lack of triumph.

“Well that was a bust.” She sighed as she walked towards the centre of the room looking around and doing a little spin trying to find the beat and lyrics of the song again as she passed the door entering the other half with a little hop in her step “My whole life will change! ‘Cause once your with the Wizard, no one thinks you’re strange!”

She boldly grabbed the handles of the cupboards and leaned back and let gravity open it “No father is not proud of you!”

Paradox stood up on her tippy pedes like a ballerina and saw wax and paint on the shelves “and all of Oz has to loooove you, when by the wizard, you’re acclaaaimed!”

She then relaxed down to third position and sat down on the floor and looked through the bottom cabinets thinking what she was looking for would be gifted for her.

“And since folks here to an absurd degree seem fixated on your pedigree” she then stopped and snapped back to what she was singing “shit! I meant verdigris! Um where was I…” she stopped focusing on her quest to find her spot again. The jumpscare of stuffing up the song caused her to go into full on singing.

“Unliiiiiimmiiteeeed. My future is Unliiiiiimmiiteeeed!” She then sighed off the stress of stuffing up and dove head first into the cabinet moving tools out of the way before going back to softly humming.

“But I swear, someday there’ll be a celebration throughout Oz…”

But the humming didn’t last long as she found what seemed to look like a set of binoculars and as she put them to her optics they lit up a green colour as she got her head out of the cabinets and looked up to test them as she belted out the next lyrics.

“…That’s all to do with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEeeeeeeeee!”

She then realised they worked as she could see the ceiling in such high definition. She was astounded by the details she could see. Paradox then slid over to the nearest table and heaved herself up and turned to the window and did her best attempt of a walk with a skip in her step as she finished the song fiddling with the binoculars trying to get them to work.

“And so it will be for the rest of my life and I’ll want nothing else ‘til I die. Held in such high esteem, when people see me they will scream.”

She made it to the window and put the binoculars right up against the glass still fiddling with the mechanics. They seemed old, like hand me down equipment from a soldier.

Then the idea of a possible story hit her. She moved her head back from them and looked at them in a new light.

“Breakdown got these for Knockout didn’t he?” She chuffed as she went back to staring out of them. “I guess they never lost their intention” she smiled trying to find Breakdown or Knockout in the field. As music continued to play in the background.

“What’s going on in that mind today?” A familiar voice cut through the music. Paradox turned around and saw Brainstorm walking in.

“If my English is correct then I’ll ask, did you play this song just for me?” He asked dramatically putting his servo to his chest.

“Uh uh” Paradox unglued themselves from the window waving their digit “let that idea go, my music list has free reign.”

“So Primus decided huh?” Brainstorm picked up the orb and dusted off the bench as he sat on it.

“You look so much like Hamlet right now” Paradox softly laughed to herself as she put the binoculars away.

Brainstorm tilted his helm “Hamlet?” He questioned as he watched Paradox get down on the floor putting away the binoculars. He then watched them try to get up by aft shuffling their way back to the bench behind them.

“Look I ain’t no doctor with degrees” he sighed as he got up “but it doesn’t take too much IQ to see that you need help” he walked around the table and saw Paradox struggling their get their arms up on the table.

“I’m fine” they spoke at him clearly struggling “gimme a minute.”

“You sound out of breath, that's not good, I think. How about you think? You would be better at it” he held out his servo and watched as Paradox gave up, it clearly pained her to do so. They moaned tirelessly as they were pulled up.

“Thanks.” Paradox smiled as they leaned against the table. “Also sorry, it’s… it’s just that I miss my freedom and I try to do what I can on my own. It may not help that I’ve also been described as stubborn haha” they tried to make a joke at the end of it to lighten the mood.

“That’s fine, don’t stress.” Brainstorm leaned next to them and wrapped his arm around Paradox’s shoulders. “It must be hard being trapped here huh?”

“Yeah” they sniffed. “I just want freedom right now, like just give me some freedom” it was clear that they were fed up with their situation.

“Well…” Brainstorm pondered out loud “… since I’m a double agent I have to go away sometime soon. I haven't been given a date yet but maybe I can see if you can come with me?”

Brainstorm saw Paradox move stiffly, clearly thinking about their new option but unsure how to respond.

“Just think about it,” he shrugged. “Again I know very little about my next outing.”

Paradox looked at him and weakly smiled nodding their head in agreement. This could change everything for them. This was a solution that solved everything.

Except they wouldn’t see Knockout or Breakdown again.

She ran her servos from their forehelm to the back of their neck letting their mind get rid of the thoughts hoping that literally brushing them out would mean they would go from their mind.

“Ok” they huffed “so” they tried to continue taking a few huffs and pauses in an attempt to change the conversation. “So, I’ve uploaded the program into the bracelet. Ummm, so I think we should figure out where we are going to fire this from. I personally think the window but I’m not too sure.”

“Sure it could work but it would be hard to disguise, maybe we need to think better about this.” Brainstorm shrugged looking out the window trying to figure out other vantage points.

“Uggghhhhh” Paradox groaned nonchalantly “I feel like I’m gonna lose my mind over this. Like the window is great for looking out of and every day the siege closes in on us further. We need to be quick about this.”

“Yes, you are right” Brainstorm walked closer to the window and looked towards the walls “maybe we can work on the wall? So be careful and don’t lose much of your mind because we’re gonna need it.”

Paradox wandered over to their desk and leaned against it staring at the wall tilting their helm to try and find a new angle, literally. “True. Maybe we can hide an opening where the wall becomes glass?” They studied the line between materials from a distance. The idea of walking up to it felt weird so they looked at Brainstorm as if to nonverbally ask if it was the right idea.

“See this is why we work well together.” Brainstorm smiled as he walked up to the edge of the wall and ran his servo down it to study it.

“Maybe we make it a door or something? Like put some hinges on it so if we get shot back at we could use it as a shield?” Paradox suggested in a hummed thinking tone.

Brainstorm looked at the wall and pressed his servos against it “yeah the wall is weak from a previous attack most. It needs repairs anyway but we can most definitely do that, I can get some stronger metals. How about we do a slim rectangle going up so the potential target area is smaller”

“True. Sounds like a smart idea” Paradox pressed their servo against the wall. Brainstorm was right, any blast would take down their half of the room at least with how much it bent and softly cried from their touch “I guess we better get working, need me to do anything?”

Brainstorm was mentally going through what access to materials he had “hmmm maybe later. I need to see what’s available and best suited to this project.” He then headed to the door.

“Hey!” Paradox quietly yelled out causing Brainstorm to turn around “without each other we wouldn’t have gotten this fair” they smiled cheekily.

Brainstorm did a sarcastic thinking pose “let me think about it” he loudly, as he faked a thinking mumble “sure! Why not!” He smiled as he guestered for Paradox to come with him.

Chapter Text

Dailingbrup, Western Australia.
10:00am, September 5th 2014.

“I am not going!” Ria yelled while wearing a gaudy black and green outfit with a flowing puffy skirt “I am staying here with dad, Byron and Richard.” She crossed her arms and sat on the sofa in the alfresco.

“Your recital is two weeks away. You're going!” Susan began yelling as her face got redder “GOD!” She exclaimed, raising her voice higher “you're so selfish! You're going to let down everyone!” Susan began walking outside towards Ria who began cowering behind her dad

“There’s rehearsals tomorrow and Sunday. Can’t I just skip one day?” Ria pleaded “I don’t get to hang with my cousins often, can’t I just skip today?”

Susan stood in front of her husband “they literally work from here! You can hang with them later now, come on!” Susan went to grab Ria by the arm and started to drag her away. As they went through the doors back inside Ria grabbed onto the door as tight as she could. She knew she was stronger than her mother who wasn’t expecting this as her grip slipped off.

“YOU ARE COMING WITH ME YOU SPOILT BRAT!” She began screeching as she went to grab Ria by the waist lifting her off the ground but not away from the door.

“YOU MADE ME DO THIS BECAUSE YOUR FRIEND IS THE TEACHER!” Ria yelled as loud as she could trying to see if playing the same game as her mother would free her quicker “I HAD NO CHOICE PREVIOUSLY BECAUSE YOU MADE ME DO THIS WHEN I WAS 3! BUT NOW I HAVE A CHOICE AND YOUR NOT LETTING ME MAKE IT! I HAVEN'T BEEN WANTING TO DO DANCING FOR YEARS! WHY DO YOU THINK I'M OK WITH JUST PROPPING PEOPLE UP FOR ACROBATICS!” Tears began to fog up her vision leaving a puddle on the floor. Maybe if she cried harder her mother would slip on it and let go.

“YOU MADE A PROMISE TO YOUR TEAM! THEY’RE EXPECTING YOU!” Susan screamed.

Suddenly the tension was cut when Ria heard her father speak.

“Susan” He loudly groaned like he was having to tell his toddler to stop biting the other children for the 500th time “who is the child right now?” He asked.

“She is!” Susan yelled “that’s why she has to respect me and do….”

“Ah stop!” Ria’s father interrupted “you are the adult here…”

“I know, that’s why…”

“Stop! You’ve seen this coming for years. Personally I saw it after you persuaded her to do a dance exam the morning after we were in a car crash” he scolded.

“Well I’ve paid for it. So she has to go!” Susan tightened her grip on Ria who was still crying.

Her dad sighed, giving up on reasoning with his wife and looked at his child “hey buddy,” he cooed “how about you do your rehearsal and then I pick you up ok? You’ve got your phone on you so just message me when you want to go, we’ll all be here when you get back, ok?”

Ria took a moment to think about the proposal and bent her legs back onto the ground as her mother let go of her and grabbed her arm again and began dragging her off to the car.

“You promise!” Ria hopefully called out.

“I promise!” Her dad smiled back.

Kaon, Cybertron.
Cycle 264.

Paradox entered Brainstorm’s work space and it really had become god own temple of sorts. It was fully painted with yellow walls mosaicly outlined with teal paint that had hints of white woven between it. There were two desks and the only completely blank space was the gap between them that would allow the two desks to connect together for larger projects. Everywhere else was a neat mix of materials, half made projects, patterns and data pads that were almost neatly stacked in the corner shelf but still scattered around the room. It was hard to notice every detail, it reminded Paradox of the I spy books they read when they were a child. They sighed at the memory of being grounded by her mother for a stupid reason and just sat reading them like a soul in purgatory with screaming acting as her version of elevator music as her father fought to let her out. It was nostalgic to her. She knew it wasn’t a happy memory but she learned through these moments that being alone isn’t bad, because of this her brain focused on the joyful feeling of being alone as the already distant yelling of “she’s just a kid Susan” became a mumble as she found a thumbtack or dice in her I spy book as the summer lit up the room with childish whimsy, the chiffon curtains blowing slightly with the aircon humming reaching forward to wipe away her tears.

Paradox watched and followed Brainstorm not really knowing what to do or what she was allowed to touch. They then stopped as they watched Brainstorm haphazardly tip pede through all his scraps on the floor.

He turned around and realised his little shadow had disappeared “hey you coming over here?” He asked.

Paradox looked at him and tried to remember his steps but just stared at the floor and him for a few moments.

“There’s no trap doors or buzz saws that I’ve left on” he said wittingly.

Paradox then saw the gaps between the mess and hummed a tune from a movie they introduced to Knockout a while back and they rose on to the tips of their pedes to be on pointe, well the closest they could being 6 months pregnant and only doing ballet for a year or two when they were a pre teen. They then proceeded to do gentle steps with care and grace, when Paradox found themselves in a spot they couldn’t easily move from they would pirouette or a very small and what would be bearly called a grande jeté jump of sorts. The movements were all in their legs as they used their arms to balance and help lean on objects around them. Paradox then made it to Brainstorm who looked like he was hiding how impressed he was.

“You really need to make everything pretty and show off don’t you?” He snarked with a sarcastic tilt of his helm. Paradox could tell he was smiling under his mask.

“Force of habit. It’s what happens when you're forced into dance at a young age I guess.” They shrugged off trying not to let their emotions overwhelm them.

“Well it’s not a bad one” Brainstorm slightly commended.

Paradox smiled as she looked at what Brainstorm was looking through. It was a wall full of panels of different materials. Brainstorm then selected two different metal sheets handing them both to Paradox.

“Let’s see you gracefully make your way back now!” Brainstorm joked as he haphazardly repeated his footsteps back.

Paradox put the sheets of metal on top of their helm and made their way back doing more pirouettes and allowing the metal to balance on top of them with their arms being used as a fail safe incase they fell. They made their way back and looked up at Brainstorm from underneath the sheets of metal.

He looked slightly upset that his extra load of materials didn’t bother Paradox at all. “Maybe next time I’ll give you four” he schemed out loud. Paradox did a little giggle as they put the metals on the desk.

“Ok, so here we have durabyllium and bearnium. Durabyllium is one of the strongest metals around while bearnium is very durable.” Brainstorm informed Paradox like a proud teacher. He then reached under the table and grabbed out a weird looking tool that reminded Paradox of geography tools from the 1800s before cutting a small sample off each sheet. He then took them to the opposing corner of the room that was hidden behind blaster cannons and propellers.

Paradox followed him and noticed there was a clear path for them to walk on. As they looked behind the pile they noticed a small shooting range as Brainstorm set up both sheets of metal and grabbed a gun.

“Hey. Remember how I’m supposed to be teaching you defense?” He asked,looking over the gun. “Today's lesson. Shooting.” He waved the gun in the air pointing at it with his other servo.

“I don’t think shooting counts as defence” Paradox questioned.

“Anything is defence if you use it incorrectly” Brainstorm announced before realising his statement didn’t make sense “CORRectly” he adjusted.

“I see the chaos gremlin in you is coming out” Paradox laughed.

Brainstorm tilted his helm at the statement.

“Damn it, that’s right.” Paradox suddenly realised they had to correct themselves “gremlins are mythical creatures that cause chaos if not properly looked after.”

“Ah” Brainstorm caught on then put the gun in Paradox’s servo, “now what experience do you have with guns?”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
12:07pm, April 9th 2013.

“Who's next?!” The man running a paintball stand yelled out. It was a lovely day at the water park thing Ria and her family were at. She was really happy to spend time with her dad, her cousin and his girlfriend, her mother…existed. Ria learnt how to make her holiday fun without worrying about Susan being there.

Like right now.

She was in line with her dad and her cousin entering a small paintball stand next to a wave pool. There were 4 shooting stalls.

“This kids gonna fuck up I know it!” Byron sneered. “Better run away so she doesn’t mess with my shot” he announced cockily as he went to the station furthest away.

Ria’s dad was stopped in his tracks by the stall operator.

“How old?” He asked, pointing to Ria.

“11” he responded “don’t worry she’ll be fine” he smiled.

“I’m sure she will be sir” the man smiled guiding Ria to the stall closest to him “but due to her age she has to be in a cage” he then grabbed a black metal frame and put it over top of Ria and put her gun barrel in the rectangle hole allowing her to pick a target but not accidentally cause chaos.

“Oh this is great!” Byron cheered. “Now I’m gonna be super safe and she’s in a cage! Hey babe! Take a photo of this!” He laughed.

“Oh shut up” Ria jeered back. “You bought a bag for fireworks to take down my wish lantern last time you came on a trip with us, almost blew yourself up and after all that, you missed a decently sized paper lantern with like what? 10 rockets that explode?”

“Well at least here the targets and ammo are better to use, and let me tell you I am so good at this” he smiled.

“Yeah on your Playstation” Ria snarked.

Her dad got into the stall next to her and aimed his paintball gun.

“Ok, so the child has orange, her father has green and you sir, down the end there have blue. Shoot when I say fire after the count down” the stall owner said.

“1…”

Ria chose her target. It was an unmarked red and white target up the back and a little to her right.

“…2…”

Ria aimed her gun.

“…3…”

Ria was preparing herself as she knew loud noises spooked her but she was loving the adrenaline rush from the suspense.

“…Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Holy shit!” Ria heard someone say. She found that loud noises took her out of her environment for a moment and it took her some time to fully get back into it

The first thing she recognised was Byron’s disappointed voice “that cage helped her! She would have missed it if she wasn’t leaning on it!”

She then looked at her target covered in orange.

Bullseye.

She then looked at her cousin who was trying to make excuses of why he missed his target.

Then they both looked at each other. Ria smiled.

Then they both realised.

They were looking at each other.

Someone should be standing between them.

The stall guy ran over with a medical kit and their eyes followed him as he went down to check her father who was curled over on the floor in pain. The guy lifted up her fathers shirt.

His stomach was covered in orange paint.

Bullseye.

Ria and Byron started laughing at what just happened.

“Jesus you little rat!” He laughed “even with the cage you still manage to fuck up! Babe take a photo of this!”

“Oh I’ve been on it for a while now” she smiled, taking photos at every possible angle.

“What happened?” Ria laughed trying to put two and two together “did it ricochet or something?”

The stall guy got up with a shocked look on his face looking at the target in front of her fathers stall that had matching paint on it. He had no words for what just happened.

“I think it did” Byron hunched over laughing his ass off “oh god! This is brilliant!”

Ria’s father finally stood up with a massive red and orange spot above his belly button and noticed the pellet falling off him onto the floor. “Maybe I should be in the cage next time?” He groaned looking at the bullseye his daughter did infront of him.

Byron ran for the bullet “that’s mine! It’s my souvenir! You get the bruise, I get the bullet, ok kid?”

“Yep sounds like a deal” Ria was wheezing with laughter as her tears hit the floor.

The family then exited and her father didn’t know if he needed to limp or not. He only knew pain.

Ria looked up at the directory sign and turned around to her family “oooo! Can we do archery!?”

“YES!” Byron called out “and your target is joining us!”

“No,” her father groaned as he turned in the opposite direction. “I'm heading to the other side of the park.”

Kaon, Cybertron.
Cycle 264.

“Nope” Paradox smiled blankly trying to cover up their past crimes “guns were outlawed where I lived so no experience.”

“Oh really?” Brainstorm was perplexed at the idea of outlawing guns. He never had experienced a place so comfortable with peace that they didn’t need them.

“Yeah, we had a mass shooting a while back and everyone saw it as such a tragedy that when the government proposed gun laws we all handed them in.” Paradox tried their hardest to recall history “but that was all before I was around. By a few years, not a lot but I think like 10 or 20.”

Brainstorm was so confused by this “wait so you all gave up your guns willingly? How peaceful are you guys?” He asked.

“Well different places on my planet have different levels of peace and different laws but in Australia we thrive off laziness and mateship. We invent to make our lives easier most of the time though we have made some great inventions for medicine. But anyway, we just like to joke and trick tourists. We actually have a scale on who to trick as well and you have to be an honorary Aussie to find out what we tell tourists.” Paradox laughed at her country. They felt proud to be Australian. With a few exceptions, of course.

“So you have no war there?” Brainstorm interrogated.

“I mean there’s wars on my planet, yes, not to the size of this though. Even we’ve had fights, unfortunately it’s how modern day Australia was founded, there were lots of massacres of First Nations people by British invaders.” They paused and thought about the year she spent with her father in Broome and hanging out with the kids from the tribes he was consulting. Before continuing back to the conversation. “But Australia hasn’t had a war or battle since the great emu war if my memory serves me correct, which it probably doesn’t.” They shrugged.

“Emu?” Brainstorm questioned.

“Yeah, it’s an animal, it kept on breaking fences and getting to our crops so we had to cull them.” Paradox then stopped remembering how it ended. They were standing before a mech that had been in a massive war his whole life and yet their country, well, they had the great emu war.

“Oh that makes sense” Brainstorm smiled as he finally understood something “so I’m assuming you guys won that easily.”

Paradox tensed up a bit as the truth had to come out. It was too funny not to say, but also they thought maybe lying would get this over quicker.

“Nope.” They smiled.

Brainstorm had a look on his faceplate “Was this before or after the gun was outlawed?” He needed clarification immediately.

“Before, like way before. I think the Port Arthur Massacre was the mid to late 1990’s and the great emu war was very early 1930’s” Paradox sheepishly said.

“Were they small?” Brainstorm prodded for more answers.

“No” Paradox looked down at the floor. “They were at least the average size of a human in height. They also have longer bodies.”

“Ok.” Brainstorm tried to hide his worry. “Full gun training for you then!”

Brainstorm then stood behind Paradox and guided their arm up. And corrected their hold on the small pistol-like gun.

“Now see the little do-hickey on the end of the barrel there?” He asked trying to point to it with his other servo to make it as clear as possible.

“Yep!” Paradox said cheerily “Is that the aim-y thing-o?”

“Yes! Your ancestors will be proud that you know about the aim-y thing-o!” Brainstorm sarcastically cheered. “Now we’re gonna look through that aim-y thing-o and pick a target, which is that silver piece of durabyllium, ok?”

“Yep! Got it!” Paradox eagerly said “and I’m assuming this thing that my pointer digit is on is the trigger?” They asked excitedly.

“Yep! Two for two!” Brainstorm cheered. “Now are you confident about your aim?” He asked.

“How do I stop it from ricocheting?” Paradox asked before stuttering out an excuse “because I was wondering just in case I aimed wrong or something?”

“Oh don’t worry about that!” Brainstorm brushed off. “Trust me a lot more dangerous things have happened here. If a bullet ricocheted off that, then… well, then I would spend a cycle around you and Knockout as your receptionist and I would be nice to everyone, no condescending or sarcasm involved.” he proudly stated.

“So just pull the trigger?” Paradox asked a bit nervously.

“Yes it’s a flat surface nothing bad will happen” Brainstorm assured them.

Paradox double checked their aim and took a deep breath in.

1

2

3

Fire!

Bang!

Paradox felt themselves out of their environment again “Primus!” They heard somebody say. It quickly snapped them back into reality.

“Holy shit! Are you ok?” They turned around and hugged Brainstorm as they began tearing up.

The action caught him a little off guard as he just patted them back before becoming more embracive as he returned the hug “I’m fine!” He smiled. “It was a close call though.” he said as he saw a new bullet hole on the other side of the room cracking his new paint job on the wall.

“I guess you guys are going to have a receptionist soon.” He laughed softly watching his newly painted wall have its paint flake off.

“So no one got hurt this time?” Paradox asked tearfully.

“No. I’m fine and you're fine ok?” He soothed. “Do you want me to take the next shot at the bearnium? Probably should have made you shoot at that one first, huh?”

He then felt Paradox hug him tighter “well at least I know you love me on some level.” He sighed a small chuckle.

“That’s how cults start.” Paradox tried to joke back through the tears not knowing if they said that correctly let alone if the joke landed.

“You’re not wrong there.” Brainstorm smiled. “Now, can I show you how to shoot a gun? Probably also should have done a demo first, huh? Primus, I fragged that up.” He chuffed at his mistakes as he let Paradox go, taking the gun from them.

“Now watch as my posture becomes straighter, my pedes are apart in this stance, it stops you from falling over when you get a jolt back from the gun, ok?” He then held his arm straight out. “Also doing it on the side is better… and cooler… but I just find that I get a stronger stance from it and it’s more comfortable.” He then moved the gun ever so slightly to aim “when you aim… make sure you have a clear view sometimes that means closing an eye.” Once he was happy with his aim Brainstorm fired the gun “also don’t lose confidence when shooting because if you lose confidence, you shake, and when you shake your aim gets scrappy. So sometimes having a cool stance also helps that issue.”

Brainstorm the looked at the metals inspecting them “Paradox, come up here, wanna see the differences?” He turned around and saw Paradox slowly approaching him.

“Personally I think we go with the durabyllium. Maybe with a layer of bearnium underneath as a plan b. See how you barely made a scratch? You did a great shot, it's just the ricochet that we need to fine tune. But not a scratch, meanwhile my shot left a small dent in the bearnium.” Brainstorm lectured Paradox before putting down the gun and heading back to the larger sheets on the table.

“Here you take these again” he said as he gave Paradox the sheets of metal before turning around and grabbing a bag that he filled with tools and equipment. “Let’s head back to the med bay.” He smiled.

Chapter Text

Panting could be heard as the pair reached the med bay.

”Primus you sound like you wouldn’t survive a day on the fields.” Brainstorm put his tools down on the table and turned around and saw a most definitely pregnant Paradox. “Ah, right.” He sighed at his stupidity as he went to help. He grabbed the metal sheets from Paradox and put them on the table as he passed by to get a chair.

”Oh sweet relief!” Paradox puffed “I miss being decently strong and endurable.” They began stretching their back as they sat down. “I know I had back problems growing up but, Primus! That was just contained to the lower and upper back! This… this is everything! Including spots I didn’t know about.”

”You’re missing your favorite activities I assume?” Brainstorm started inspecting the wall before turning around to get some tools.

”Yes, I was a whore.” Paradox laughed before they quickly corrected themselves. “An activity whore! I was a whore of other things as well like attention… and… fuuunn.” Paradox then quickly stood up trying to add evidence to their correction and brought the chair closer to the wall behind their desk “I did things like dancing, aerials, debating, ummmmm horse riding, drama, rollerskating, art, piano, actually music in general… media club? Does that count? Well it does now! The amount of filming I did for sports day should count as a sport alone.”

”Busy were you?” Brainstorm smirked.

”I don’t know what you mean by that?” Paradox prodded to make sure their innuendo had worked.

”Well you had so much to do during your time as a human offspring” he started as he drew lines on the wall. Paradox sighed in relief that it worked then they started wondering if 5 times in 5 months actually counted them as a whore.

“I’m sure you enjoyed being a whore during your later years” Brainstorm then added once he heard the sigh. “Don’t worry I’m sure the human version of spark merging takes a lot out of a human. But with your expertise of…what was it? Ah, right! Media club on sports day made you the perfect candidate for that.” Paradox could see the scrap eating grin through his faceplate.

Paradox quickly tried to save their ass with a fact that she could make it sound true but not prove right off the bat. ”Sorry, pregnancy hormones. Making me a bit nutters in me noggin’” they tried to laugh off.

”How is the whole pregnancy thing going?” Brainstorm politely asked as he walked back to his tools.

”Eh, alright. I think it's kinda obvious I’m not getting the normal experience, well from a social cultural perspective. I’m getting all the feels of pregnancy.” Paradox studied their symptoms and life, comparing it to what it would have been like on earth. They then hummed a thought out loud, “though I do miss the food. Cravings have been getting to me a bit lately. I’ve been trying to suppress the feeling, I know it’s not healthy but I’m doing what I have to to survive physically and mentally.” Brainstorm then saw their feet sadly dangle as he walked back.

He then passed Paradox a set of audial blockers and a com. They put in both and saw Brainstorm rev up a laser saw before cutting the wall. He then one handedly put a com into his audial and continued talking with his finger on it. “ What foods are you craving?”

Paradox watched curiously at the laser saw “I feel like I should be wearing optic protection, but that might just be the knowledge of earth welding getting to me.” They nervously questioned.

”It’s just a laser, we’re fine and if anyone was going to have optic issues it would be me” he told not caring or mentioning any about those possible problems.

”Ok…” Paradox nervously let out before shaking their head and focusing on the actual question. “In terms of food I’m craving…. I would say Vegemite is a big one, I think I would also have to say my step grandparent’s food, they always made the best homemade curries and sides and my step grandmother makes the best homemade cookies.” Paradox stooped for a moment and thought about how they would have met up and eaten as a family a week after their disappearance for Mother’s Day. Paradox never really saw it as a family holiday, rather an excuse for her mother to get away with being a lazy bitch. Then she was invited over to her step mum’s family for lunch on Mothers Day and that feeling changed, sure Paradox didn’t feel like they had a mother at the time but it was the first time they had felt what it was like to be in a family without drama or people hating over 60% of the other people at the table, she also would be missing Christmas where they would get homemade cookies that Paradox would binge eat them the next 2 days while recovering from the holidays. She then wondered what holiday would be next, time obviously worked differently here but judging by all those pregnancy reports she was doing and looking over gestation periods. She would have to assume the under-appreciated Halloween came and went, meaning that her birthday would be soon, but there wouldn’t be a big family get together until Christmas. The thoughts of what that day would be like at the table swirled around their mind. Would they be missed? Would the family go on like Paradox was just a pity invite the whole time?

Paradox shook the thought from their head and quickly jumped back on their Wishlist of foods. “Oh! There was also this buffet style frozen yogurt place down the road from me that my pregnant aft would be at all day if I was on earth. I would always get butterscotch yogurt and put this crumble on it, then chocolate chips, sometimes cookie dough, then I would drown it in cookie butter before putting two chocolate wafer swirls in it. Let me tell you that is the shit!” Paradox began to roll back in their chair. “Oooo there’s also peppermint, and also butterscotch eclairs. To be fair, anything with peppermint is the best. Oooooo imagine a peppermint chocolate on a ritz cracker smothered in cookie butter” the largest sigh of want and dreams came out of Paradox. “Also salmon.” She then snapped back to reality.

“With the peppermint chocolate ritz cracker cookie butter combo?” Brainstorm asked as he looked up from his work and grabbed a stick on handle of some sort which he then stuck to the almost cut out wall.

Paradox’s optics gleamed with stars “OH MY GAWD!” She yelled out at the heavenly thought “That sounds AMAZING!” She then paused. “Wait.” she thought out loud “I’ve always wanted to try Surströmming! Aw man! Now would have been the best time to try it! Plus I could have dipped it in cookie butter, peppermint and chocolate before rolling it in ritz cracker crumble.” Paradox then had what could be only described as a whimsical thinking dumbaft face as she was finally able to indulge the cravings. “Also there was a burger joint near me that did milkshakes in measuring jugs. If i get back to earth then you bet your ass imma get an XL s'mores milkshake and growl at anyone who dare thinks of nickin’ it!”

Brainstorm chuckled as he reached the end of the cutting. “Alright, pregnant whore, walls going to come out soon so be ready for danger.” The laser then restarted and as the wall fell, Brainstorm caught the edge of the wall before it completely came out. He then carefully pulled it back in and saw the look of wondrous joy on Paradox’s faceplate and stars in their optics. “What? It’s just a wall” he shrugged off.

”You just looked so cool doing it. Plus this would count as vandalism so YEAH! CRIMES!” They laughed with those stars now covered in flames of terrorism.

”Correct answer my weird chaos sibling!” Brainstorm guestered the wall in their direction as he stood up and moved the panel to the side.

Paradox then looked up at him “sibling?!”

Brainstorm was worried to turn back around with the new metal “ahhahahaha. I meant slack stunter”

”What’s that?” Paradox tilted their head with a smile matching their eyes now beaming fiery stars out like fireworks from the chair.

”It’s… uhhh” Brainstorm was trying to think of a quick solution to his mess up. “It’s a way of saying you slack on stunting on your growth so it means your smart but it sounds like an insult hahaha”

“So you would be my slacker and stunted brother then?” They smiled waiting for his reaction.

”ha ha funny” he turned around and saw Paradox with a look on their face.

Their face then had a slight tinge of focus on their face ”agree to it glitch” they stated.

”fine, yes.” Brainstorm threw up his hands in the air “I’m slacking behind on this project and this conversation is stunting my growth” he smiled relived the moment was over.

”So by the way I also have a human sibling. We met in high school and have been inseparable, until now obviously. His name is Percy and he likes climbing up and falling out of trees, his motto is ‘shella be fine’ you two will get on great!” Paradox non-chalantly informed their new brother.

Brainstorm then looked up from measuring out the sheets of metal with a look of worry across his face. Paradox saw him slowly lift his helm up and started doing a small laugh “I may be oblivious half the time but unfortunately you didn’t get the right time brother.” Brainstorm turned around and saw their scrap eating grin.

”Ah ha ha, you heard that?” He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t being lured out into a trap.

”Yeah of course” Paradox was highly amused by how much of an idiot he took them as. “You said I was your ‘weird chaos sibling’ I believe.” A devious smile came across their face as if they caught them red servoed “luckily I’m not a dumb whore.”

”Yes…” Brainstorm tried to play it off cool and like he didn’t fuck up. “So we are in agreeance? We’re siblings?” He turned around and held out his servo.

Paradox then put their servo into his and shook in agreement ”yes, but I am in a clan with Knockout and Breakdown so you may need to also get their approval but, I can vouch” she smiled. “No matter what though, you’re still going to be my brother in my optics.”

”Aww that’s sweet.” Brainstorm tried to hide his surprise at how well that went. “But are we also in agreement that this is getting a little bit sappy?” He asked as he turned back to the sheets of metal to grab his saw and begin cutting the sheets.

”Yep, feelings make me feel weird sometimes. Especially with hormones.” Paradox mumbled in agreeance as they flinched at the saw being turned on “will you need any help with that soon?” They quirked their head to the side.

Brainstorm jumped at the idea of a new topic. ”Actually yes!” He quickly splurged out. “Can you go to my tool bag and get the screws, hinges, the H pull door handles and the driller.”

Paradox stood up and wandered over to the teal and gold tool bag Brainstorm had brought in humming to themselves once the saw had stopped for a moment allowing them to safely pass by. As they walked past the desks Paradox flinched at the saw starting up again, they continued to follow the new light in the room running wild and free like the sky was bursting its hopes and dreams into the room as it explored the room for the first time. Paradox caught themselves slowly and softly dancing with the light on the floor as they made their way over to the medical bench with the bag. They then opened up the bag and saw tons of tools that looked weird in many different ways from more cartography looking tools to mathematical, all the way to completely alien. Paradox then looked around the bag to find any sort of system to locate the items, all they saw were peeling stick-on labels identifying some tools, they assumed the rest were either out on their own with no place to call home somewhere in the pit Brainstorm called a bag. With the amount that appeared to be missing there would be at least a few paired up and stuck together so that they weren’t alone. Paradox decided to just fist the bag and go straight into the deep of it, hoping not to get caught out in the great unknown. As they fiddled around they felt like they were chasing screws at the bottom of the bag which were sliding out of their servos like they were something alive and wide awake trying to escape a predator. As they chased screws they felt a large tool that felt like a screwdriver of sorts, Paradox pulled it out and pressed the button on it and watch the metal prong turn around, they pressed harder on the button making it move faster and when they slowly took their digit off it the prong also began to slow down to a halt. Paradox assumed that was the drill and put it to the side with the 3 screws they managed to catch. Paradox then saw the light on the floor flicker and looked out the window and saw a gas cloud hanging over the heads of those on the field. An acid storm looked like it was going to come soon, hopefully Brainstorm and Paradox wouldn’t be affected by the shadows winning against the sky. Paradox put their servos back into the bag and caught some more screws before pricking their digit on a sharp piece of metal, they pulled it out so that they didn’t get pricked again and saw a hinge.

Paradox putt it to the side and wondered if it mattered that they had gone a hot second without a tetanus shot as the examined their digit before putting it back into the deep unknown. Paradox pulled out a few more screws and realised they had a nifty little collection of them. They felt around a bit more as the rains began to settle, causing everyone to run for cover or make their own mine fields to protect the land they could risk losing. Paradox had noticed with previous acid rain cycles that the Autobots decided to stay safe as a group and run for cover together while the Deceptions had small tents and portable gazebo looking things and peacefully took back the land while trying to avoid, navigate and remove any underground mines the Autobots had left behind as they fled.

Paradox then felt a larger ‘X’ shaped thing and took out the pull hinge, it looked close enough to a ‘H’ so the put it to the side next to the drill. They then dove their hand back into the unknown and hoped that they came across another hinge or two. They then heard Brainstorm walk over to them “oh hey!” Hey politely cheered “you managed to find everything!”

“Well not exactly” Paradox knew they fucked up a little bit. “I am still searching for the other hinges and the handle isn’t the exact one that you need. Plus I wasn’t too sure if that was the driller or if that will be enough screws, but I can try and find the right things, I just need a bit more time, sorry I should have been quicker.” They looked down at the bag and continued to carefully and politely fist it.

Brainstorm was a little surprised and taken aback by the response. ”What? No. You’re doing good. Plus I’ve got enough to keep me entertained until you find the other hinges” he then collected the screws, driller and hinge. “You’ve gotten the right things. Don’t stress over the hinges or screws.” He then walked back to the hole in the wall and began to drill and screw the sheets of metals together.

Paradox then fiddled around with the bag and looked in it and hoped the bag was shallow enough for light to come in, if they had to equate it to diving they were hoping for the bag to at least be the ocean version of 999m deep. As they looked in there Paradox could see a bit of the bag, not a lot, but like it was about 500m deep in the ocean. They then saw a sharp corner sticking up from a variety of tools, Paradox hoped this was the hinge and carefully manoeuvred their servo through the bag like a spy being dropped from the ceiling. They finally reached their target and used the tips of their digits to take it out, it felt heavier and more stubborn than the previous hinge, so Paradox pulled a bit harder and tried to get a grip on it better than their grip on life and sanity combined. Paradox then managed to free it and pulled out the Hinge and saw a magnet attached to it refusing to leave the bag and the hinge, it was like a throuple refusing to split up for a work trip, you either get all of them or none of them, not that there were any complaints about them coming along, just that you only need one of them and the other two would just hang around awkwardly. Paradox continued to pull on the hinge hoping the magnet like it’s home in the bag more, but unfortunately the magnet wanted freedom and came out with the hinge, bringing along a few more screws, and to Paradox’s unexpecte joy, another hinge.

Paradox then took the clump over to Brainstorm as he began to put the handle on the soon to be door. “Hey” Paradox proudly announced. “I got the hinges and more screws, plus a magnet, but that sounds like a you problem.” They smiled.

Brainstorm saw the magnet hugging the screws and hinges tightly and looked annoyed and sighed “that stupid magnet” he grumbled “I made one magnet to scare an annoying afthole at work and now it’s literally stuck with me forever. I guess the jokes on me because I would rather have that afthole around than this magnet.” Brainstorm rolled his optics as he tried to remove the items from the magnet.

Paradox sat back down and watched them fiddle and struggle with the magnet “whose the annoying afthole?” They asked almost like they were seeking attention.

”Just someone I know” Brainstorm shrugged off.

”Well duh!” Paradox announced in a gossipy tone. “Of course you know them! You made a whole aft magnet to get back at them!” They smiled.

”Well, if you insist.” Brainstorm moved the narrow door next to the other sheets of metal he had screws together and began adding on the hinges. “I knew them, waaaayyy before the war began. We worked in the same buildings, we’re just close friends. Of course I don’t see them as often any more with the war, mainly because I’m a Deception and he’s an Autobot. I mean I still see him when I’m out there being a really cool double agent, he unknowingly helps my alibis and gives great evidence as to why I’m not a Decepticon.”

”Awwww cute!” Paradox teasingly swooned. “You have a bestie!”

”Yes, He is my best friend. We’ve had our ups and downs but we always find our way back to each other and pick up where we left off like nothing happened.” Brainstorm reminisced mentally about his friend with nostalgia in his optics.

”Wow, they sound like such a cool friend” Paradox also began reminiscing about their friends and how chaotic they would be together.

”Yeah they are.” Brainstorm smiled. before he shook his helm and focused back on the task in front of him. “Can you help me with moving this?” Brainstorm guestered to the new door. Paradox got up and grabbed the door handle as Brainstorm picked up the outer wall and applied some sort of glue to it. They. Then move across the room and placed it in the spot outside of the room with Paradox holding onto the door while Brainstorm pressed the new section on before screwing it on.

“Ta-da!” Brainstorm announced “door!”

”Yes!” Paradox applauded with joy. Do we have to add anything else of is that it?

Brainstorm then wandered over to his bag “just a lock and door stopper but that’s it after that.” He then fumbled around in his bag and grabbed out a cube of metal and a lock before screwing the lock on the door and did the screw ‘n’ glue combo he did to the wall for the door stopper.

”There!” He chuffed as he took a step back cleaning his servos of the glue and metal dust. “Now we’re done.”

Paradox looked out the window and saw the rains get heavier.”Looks like we may have to wait a cycle or so to see if this will work” they started to fiddle with their bracelet as they looked up at Brainstorm.

”Don’t worry.” Brainstorm tried to put his arm around Paradox but couldn’t defeat the height difference and just ended up propping his arm on top of her before leaning on their helm. “We’ll get them back soon.’

Chapter Text

Paradox sat at their chair looking out the window waiting for the rain to stop. There were no more patients to see, the rain had lasted 2 cycles, everyone had been mostly repaired, during this time she often heard chatter from the halls near her and her patients seemed happier, Paradox assumed it was because there was nothing really to do so the Decepticon soldiers took a well deserved and definitely needed break. They did tend to meet up with all their friends and partners at a makeshift bar that everyone talked about while under he care when discussion about the rainy days. Everybody had somebody to see so they all congregated in one spot. Everybody but Paradox, Everyone got a place to go on a rainy day, but Paradox was on her own.

Paradox watched the rain fall and tried to time her music along with the pitter-patter coming from a above. “Ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la” she sweetly sang, trying to time it up with nature. Paradox didn’t know what they were doing anymore, were they wasting time in the room or looking for Knockout and Breakdown. she took out her messages, They had all been chatting but it was just repeated words of “everything’s fine, trying to see you soon” from all of the people in the group chat. The idea of leaving the room to the bar had crossed Paradox’s mind but she felt guilty leaving, almost like she was afraid that she would be out when they returned.

Paradox: Hey, how's the rain? I’m just glad I grew up in rainy country, at least I’m trained to rain boredom haha

Paradox sent the message into the group chat and watched the rain drops race each other down the window. “Ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la” she tapped her digits on the chair and just imagining different high speed pursuits happening on the window. She then let out a big vent and looked around the room to make sure the door was shut.

she then pretended to put on one of those headsets that all those sports commentators wore in the booth. She then nervously laughed before doing her best presenter voice trying to mimic those AFL sports broadcasters that she never knew the name of, she wanted to say her inspiration was Mick Malloy but that was the only broadcaster that she knew and he did the weekly sports wrap up show with 2 other comedians. She watched a long drop of acid be chased by 6 other droplets.

“We’re interrupting today’s broadcast to show a high speed pursuit happing through Rockingham today on Bradbury street, as you can see the police are chasing down a middle aged Caucasian man with a white Bingtang tank top riding what seems to be a motorised esky.” She announced trying her hardest not to laugh, trying stay as put together as Susannah Carr after 39 years in the news business. “The police of the left are starting to pool into one. For those who don’t know, when the police make 2 or more cars into one, it allows them to speed up and catch up to the perpetrator, this has been seen before in other high speed pursuits like the one last week between the police and that eshay on a razor scooter going 110km/ph down hill while vaping and acting like he was going to stab a rival eshay group from a rival school with what can only be described as a shiv made from a McDonald’s chips container.” Paradox began laughing but trying so hard to keep her composeure, she watched the same raindrops and took a deep breath before continuing. “The man riding the motorised esky has just turned down that street on the right in an attempt to avoid the united police car on the left, but all he’s been able to accomplish is allowing all officers the perfect chance to combine all their forces into one. The fugitive is heading towards Patterson road and heading towards Fremantle. OH MY GOD! He’s tried to merge from Ennis Ave onto Patterson but he couldn’t merge! He’s collided with another vehicle! I guess the lesson here folk is to learn how to FUCKING MERGE! We all know the rumours of this weird contagion that anyone in the metro and peel regions cannot fucking merge! The police have now caught up to the vehicle and rammed it off the road. Not since Stevo insisting he’s sober only to be tested to find out there’s not a trace of alcohol in his system but rather ice and weed have we seen a bigger plot twist! They now have the figurative and taking all those effected to the police station.” The acid droplet fell from the window ending a thrilling chase. Paradox looked back down to see some new messages.

Breakdown: the rain is nice, but I think I need a training session from you because I cannot handle being held up like this I need to run free and smash something

Knockout: Look in your arms, I’m right here. Besides its nice to have a break from idiots

Breakdown: yeah the only thing prettier than the rain is you K.O. It’s been lovely to sit with you in my arms, I would rather that than fighting, but I think it would be better in our habsuit

Knockout: True, How’s the med bay? I’m assuming you’ve fixed everyone up there?

Paradox smiled at the chat, she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh before typing back.

Paradox: I’ve fixed everyone up here, I’m pretty much just watching the rain , waiting, holding the ground. I’m sure you’ll be coming back around here soon, but until then I guess I’m just staying here, lingering around.

she then looked around the room again, with no reason “Ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la” she began singing again “Lingering for you.” She then tapped her digits on the chair again “Ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la”. She heard a small commotion from the floor below, probably the bar. She didn’t know where it was but she had lived with all sorts of different loud neighbours, the room near and below them got loud during these days typically. It sounded like everybody had a servo to hold as they danced and basked in the moment. The sound was getting on her nerves a bit, she needed a quiet spot so she turned her music up and began fiddling with hers to try and smooth herself by warming up her own through a stim that she often did, interlocking her digits as she twisted her wrists in opposite directions back and forth before swirling one servo around the other before rubbing her palms together. She noticed that she picked up a lot of new stims after 2020, she just assumed this one came from all those hand washing lectures.

she then began to wonder if it was causing her stress because she had a small fear of missing out, but then again, she wasn’t the one for social events, she often found herself in the corner of the room with the host’s pet taking selfies together and showing the pet her socials or reading them her favorite fan fictions. Paradox looked at her messages again.

Knockout: sounds like…fun. At least your also getting a break, I’m sure its been just as intense at your end.

Breakdown: Yeah! I can’t to come back and see what you’ve been up to.

Paradox: Yeah, things have definitely been intense but there’s also been a bit of change, be interesting to see what happens when y’all get back. Also for your information Knockout things have been very close to F.U.N.

Paradox: and by “F.U.N” i mean Fire, Uranium bomb and No survivors :<

Paradox giggled to themselves as they sent that off. She looked at the door, she couldn’t sneak out. Everyone would be pissed at her and besides if she never left she would never miss a fluke chance of Knockout and Breakdown coming back. It would just be a matter of time before they’re back. Though, them coming back right now was a thought of clear delusion and wishful thinking that was spurred on by Paradox doing nothing but lingering around.

Paradox stood up and walked past her desk tapping it as she passed. “Ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la” she sung with the rain becoming more in tune with each other. She then stoped mid step and turns on her right heel and reached into her draw and pulled out her drawing pad and data pads. She didn’t really feel like drawing but there was not much else to do, she just wanted a brain dead day, no learning, just experimenting with her drawings. She placed the data pads down on the medical table whispering “hopefully I can get some inspiration without you” at them. She then loaded up the device and opened a new file. “Maybe I can draw from memory?” She asked herself tapping the pen to her intake, softly trying to chew and suck it as it hit.

she then took the pen and drew a line curving to the left from the vertical line. Paradox then drew smaller more weirdly curved lines stemming from the original line curving in the opposite direction but gently getting smaller like it was one side of a leaf. She then stood back looking at her first sketch to get the organic lines as a template for the next step. She then turned the right curving lines into small curvy spouts that opened towards the left line. She then joined the spouts together like the webbed feet of a duck before connecting it all to the left line. She stood back again “hang on a minute” she loudly whispered. She then took the sketch and duplicated it before flipping the second copy over to create a reflection. She then put a mirroring line on the screen and drew half of a face, “huh” she stated with a smile “who knew kangaroo paw would make such pretty antlers” she fell in love with the idea and decided to duplicate and flip the half to create a full face.

“Now let's put you to the side for a moment” she moved it to the right and began to draw cyclones covered in fur with circular tips covering the spikes of the fur, she then drew the leaves that sprouted from the ends of the bottlebrush. “Maybe I can make them look like comically large spiral curls, like Rose Quartz?” She then made multiple copies of the bottlebrush and draped two over the shoulders of her art. She stood back and looked at it, tilting her head and squinting “ya know what?” She said as if she was barely convinced but happy with her progress “it works” she shrugged as she got back to work adding smaller bottlebrushes to create a fringe before doing the back of the hair with larger bottlebrushes.

She looked at the whole picture “it’s actually cute” she smiled. It had been a while since she got to draw a person, she then drew out a template for the body, the body was curvy, she missed her old body shape, no way she would be getting that back anytime soon, that person on the swing all those months ago probably wouldn’t believe that statement but now Paradox did. She then drew two large quarter circles over the hips before putting the drawing to the side again and drawing another flower. She started by drawing a messy circle with lots of what could only be described as small diamond lining on the inside of the circle with 5 large crystals embellishing the pistil. The petals were imperfect ovals that cut off at the base and attached to the pistil with the pattern of 1 big and then 1 little circling the flower. Paradox then took the drawing of the thryptomeme pieroniae specimen of the nuytsia, she then overlapped the pistil with the hips and created petals that sprouted out from the hip cut out with beads of gems decorating the bare hips.

Paradox stared at the image for a short while with a pondering look on her face swinging the upright pen left to right in front of her like a metronome deciding between two options before shrugging and matching the neckline with the hips with a silver chain dripping with dewy jewels across the models bust. Paradox sat up on the table humming along to the song. Paradox looked at the ankles of the drawing and mentally went through all the ways she could finish off the garment. ”I think making it a dress would suit the soft flowing nuytsia pleats, it's almost giving red carpet elegance, almost.” She thought out loud sucking on the pen. The drawing was once again pushed to the side as she began to draw soft silky looking petals that twirled on top of its left hand neighbour delicately to create a strong silhouette. The flower was dragged over to the ankles of the model and its bright yet soft yellow was blended into the bold light pink of the nuytsia that mixed into the red of the wattle allowing the yellow kangaroo paw antlers to stand out while matching with the onagraceae juss that flowed around the ankles. Paradox sat back up on the bench allowing her feet to rest after standing for so long. “Not bad for no ideas” she smiled looking at the final image.

Paradox laid back on the table taking a moment to herself. “God I haven’t felt this bored since…” Paradox racked her memory for the last time she was this board. All she could remember was laying in her bed that was perfectly inline with the window watching the rain fall on the roofs in front of her as she drew more human designs of flowers that she had cataloged the day prior, listening to her own heart beat, she could hear her pet duck quacking enjoying himself down stairs in the backyard, splashing around in his kiddy pool that he outgrew but the time he was 6 months old. Paradox looked behind her as her mind recalled his footsteps. It was almost like he was in the room with her. She smiled “Hi, baby.” A look of sadness overcame her eyes but she felt comfort in the fact that she could feel his presence. It had been a little over a year and six months since she last saw him. “I’m sure your smiling still” Paradox somberly chuffed, as she remembered looking at his corpse at her back door where he slept waiting to greet her in the morning, he had a big happy grin clearly having a big happy dream.

Her mind then played another set of footsteps, she knew them well. Well she thought she did. They sounded so familiar and like they had been around her since she was a child. Her mind played back a thousand memories thinking about every time she could hear those footsteps. The sound then clicked and Paradox’s heart dropped a little bit. She always thought she had a knack for predicting death but she hoped harder than anything as she went back to all those rainy days in the alfresco of her childhood home hearing the sounds of the rain be interrupted by the sounds of an old soul coming up behind her wanting a cuddle or just wanting to watch the rain with her. Clearly this was a time where she still had him but as time stood still her gut couldn’t erase this feeling.

“Timothy?” She softly gasped as she held her hands up to cover her mouth in shock. “Please don’t say my gut is telling the truth. As much as I loved that you’ve come back to me” she tried to think about the logical reason behind hearing those footsteps. She remembered his smell of a sweet chicken burger after playing in the rain outside as children before running in and cuddling each other on a warm cozy large bean bag that her dad put some old memory foam in.

“God my mind is a bitch” she groaned beginning to feel herself tear up trying to hide the swell in her voice “I know your time is soon, but please just hold on for a bit longer baby. I’m sure we could work something out where we can spend the rest of our lives together.” She remembered seeing him for the last time, feeding him along with his sister, who would often be heard trailing behind him. She knew deep down that that could be the last time that she ever saw him but she tried so hard to manifest the opposite. She knew things could change, she just hoped that she could delay the obvious. She sighed like a mourner, “I know you tried, Old Faithful.” She let out a small knowing chuff “these things happen” she looked up from the floor to where she last heard his footsteps. She rubbed tears from her eyes remembering how close the dog and the duck were. “Glad to see you remember Ragu, I assume he’s showing you the ropes of being a ghost or whatever you are.”

she then tried to look away from the space in front of the door “you know what?” She tried to brush off her feelings “this is just another case of guilt building up because I haven’t seen you in a while” she felt contempt with her reasoning “This wouldn’t be the first time that my gut was wrong. Though to be fair, it was more the fact that I was scared that mum hid your death from me but you were Old Reliable”she brushed the non existent hair from her face “god these hormones suck huh Ragu” she tried to laugh off the feeling pinging in her gut “I’ve been left alone to my own mind for too long.” She stood up and went back to the window as she remembered how things were back then when she had all of her beloved pets as they all laid in the glorified bean bag with a memory foam in it as the all were curled and wrapped up around each other in front of the outdoor fireplace experiencing the Mandurah winter all together for the first time. Nothing bad ever happened to them when they were all together like this. Paradox began pacing up and down the room trying to ditch the thoughts as she got flashbacks of them together from across the time when it looked like nothing was going to change, back before they all knew how much they had to lose, now look at them. Dead, locked up, old man and abused. “Maybe it’s the music?” The anxiety could be heard in Paradox’s tone as she scrolled through her list to pick another more up beat song.

As she continued to scroll, she heard a knock on the door. It burst her train on thought as she hurried over wiping off her tears and opened the door to see a small group of mechs that the had treated.

“Hi?” She questioned not seeing any of them bleeding or on the verge of death.

”Hi, Paradox right?” The mech on the left pointed at her as if no one could tell who he was trying to name.

”Uh, yes. Yes it is.” She stuttered in confusion “may I ask why you’re here?” She felt British saying that but luckily her partial British accent couldn’t come across in cybertronian. Just good old transatlantic jumble to her ears and hopefully theirs.

The Mech on the left silently congratulated himself for getting the name right as the mech on the right began speaking “well, we are having a bit of a get together downstairs and we thought maybe you would like to come along, maybe give us a song?” He sounded like he was asking for her to do an act of Primus. The idea of partying worried her a bit, but if she was the performer maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.

“Yeah I’m down” she smiled “though I think I need either Brainstorm or Shockwave to come with me, because of the whole me being a prisoner thing.” She jokingly shrugged.

the mech on the right got excited as the middle quickly spoke up. “We’ll get him now!” He cheered as the one on the left ran down the hall. The 3 of them then heard a knock on the door followed by some excited mumbling followed by two sets of pedes being heard, one bounding down the hall while the other was more composed. They then saw Brainstorm at her door he then tilted his helm back towards his office “come on” he spoke in english “can we talk about this?”

Paradox looked confused at the statement and returned the language that allowed them to speak in secret. “Why? It’s just a bar?”

”Because I said so and I know that you have a fragile frame” he looked up and down her body before grabbing their arm and walking away speaking in Cybertronian to the 3 mechs in the hall “just gotta do a few things first, we’ll be there soon.”

The pair then walked into his office as Brainstorm took out two chairs, “sit” he ordered.

Paradox cautiously took a seat and saw his posture wasn’t as relaxed or attention grabbing, they knew he had something to say “what’s this about?” They asked with a slight squint in their optics trying to figure out what was going on.

”Look, I know you want to get out a bit and I agree” he started as he clasped his servos together with a serious and worried look spreading through his optics. Paradox found it hard to read the expression he had on underneath his faceplate. “But” he continued “you're very fragile and you're pregnant. I don’t want you to get hurt and risk having to go through domestication, empurata and shadowplay for failing your task.”

”What?” A confused and worried look came across Paradox’s faceplate “what makes you think that? Like I understand the worry about how delicate my frame is and maybe we can figure something out so that you can feel better about it. But what’s happening with the shadowplay and empurata? And what even is domestication?” They tilted their helm.

Brainstorm stood up and walked over to a file on his desk “I have been suspicious of how we’ve been getting so many of the anonymous guards. We’ve only been signing up these bots and sure there’s a good population that are captured Autobots and Decepticons that have failed but don’t you find it strange that you’re needed to reproduce while we’re recruiting these guards by the hundreds?”

Paradox stopped and thought as Brainstorm sat back down. Their brows furrowed “I never thought of it like that before.” It was almost like a realisation but without knowing what there was to realise.

Brainstorm sat back down with the file and turned it on showing everything he had collected. “I tried to find as much as I could, but the second generation of guards were all built on earth with Cybertronian materials, why couldn’t they have been built here? There’s better equipment up here. Primus, even the materials themselves don't appear naturally on your planet, sure there may be materials that have common properties but no exact matches. It doesn’t make sense, right?”

Paradox started doing mental gymnastics and they could see all theses roads starting to become one lane but couldn’t see the finished result. “Yeah. That’s so strange. That always seemed a bit off to me.”

”Well if you look at it from the perspective of that they obviously had one ingredient that was unique to earth but generation one and two are built using the same methods” Brainstorm brought up the diagrams from the very hidden and limited files to compare the two generations “but one has a more femme design, and even frame similarities to yourself. It’s like a mix between you and generation one”

Paradox then started to see the road in front of them as their eyes widened as the realisation finally hit “I never saw any other humans on board, yet I knew I wasn’t the first.” They looked at the second generation photos and diagrams in Brainstorm’s file, mainly ones he had collected by secretly researching them. They started to see the similar faceplate designs and more built up abdominal frame while the limbs looked like they were bulked up later. They touched their own faceplate and felt tears slowly coming down it. “They’re… all” Paradox was struggling to come up with the words but Brainstorm knew what they meant.

Brainstorm took down the images and put the file to the side to see Paradox frozen in place as the impact of what could happen to her began to settle in. They felt fear run throughout her fuel lines. “They couldn’t do that to me. Right?” The words shook out as they softly spoke “I proved my usefulness outside of the experiment. I can do medicine and doctor stuff.” Panic began to choke out.

Brainstorm sighed “look, as someone who used to do shadowplay, much to my regret. We can take away everything but your knowledge of medicine. You can still be functional. Look at Shockwave for example.”

Paradox’s optics widened “Shockwave?” They paused and thought about how robotic he acted, like an NPC with way too much power and main character energy.

”Yeah.” Brainstorm took out a data pad and showed a light blue, white and lime green tall standing mech with a large chest standing proudly out front of an offical looking building. “He used to be a senator before the war, but the functionalist council saw him starting to question them and acting out of line in their optics, so they kidnapped him and did empurata and shadow play on him. Quite sad actually, he had a promising future in politics.”

Paradox raised their servo over their mouth as they gasped “oh my god.” They loudly whispered.

”look, I know this is a lot to take in but if you don’t know what domestication is then its important that you do” brainstorm sighed “Typically domestication sees Cybertronian with beast forms having their vocals removed and their cog’s dented, it was used as a way to humiliate and degrade them in public. While I don’t think domestication is the right word, it describes very well what these generation two guards are showing in their behaviours. Limited speaking, as if their vocals were dented, loss of what would be considered of their beast mode so I’m assuming their cogs have also been dented or removed. This most likely wasn’t used to degrade and humiliate. But you have to admit the similarities are there.”

Paradox began quietly crying in fear and in mourning of the ethics being broken against her own kind. They were barely able to squeeze out the words “I need to get out of here.” That were mumbled from behind their servos.

”I am so sorry to break it to you like this.” He carefully put his servo on Paradox’s spinal strut “but I am just worried about you.”

Paradox wiped away tears and looked up “no, no. Its not your fault I’m glad you brought this to my attention. They then sat with the knowledge for a bit before another realisation hit. Paradox quickly grabbed out the group chat.

Knockout: That seems pretty typical lot of dumbafts there, but we all knew that

Breakdown: hey but at least not everyone’s a glitch, sometimes there’s nice dumbafts.

Knockout: yes a rare breed I must admit.

Paradox: did you know about the Generation two anonymous guards?

Paradox looked up at Brainstorm and the look they gave him almost shattered his spark into a million pieces.

Paradox felt tears start rushing from their optics. “Why is it always the same” she sobbed “why am I constantly being given a family that doesn’t care about me and want to hurt me?”

Brainstorm went in to hug his sibling “hey, don’t think that way.” He soothed “I haven’t done anything bad right? What about Percy? Or your step family?”

”You’re still new, you haven’t had enough time to fuck up yet and I really really hope you don’t” Paradox looked up at him with genuine hope in their eyes but Brainstorm could also see that there was a bit of conflict over trusting him.

”I won’t. I promise you that, you have my word.” He assured them hugging them as tightly as he could without hurting them. “Give Knockout and Breakdown a chance, maybe they didn’t know.”

”I’m trying” Paradox sobbed “but I’ve been down this path so many times before. I thought having a found family would allow me to avoid this. I normally watch how people act before befriending them to make sure this won't happen. An audit basically”

Brainstorm sighed “I know, you’re trying to avert your expectations. It’s hard. People have secrets for a reason, they hide them deep down so no one can see them, its hard to tell what everyone’s secrets are.”

”I know but watching someone’s action can tell you so much about them, from habits to how they walk, even a servo shake can tell you about who you’re dealing with. People do everything for a reason even if they don’t know it” Paradox thought she had a system that worked, sure one or two people got through the cracks but she didn’t expect Knockout and Breakdown to be one of them.

They then decided to get out their messages again.

Breakdown: What about them?

Knockout: I know they exist. I worked on them.

”Knockout worked on them” Paradox didn’t know what to think at this point.

Paradox: How much did you know about their origins? What did you know about their origins?

They just sobbed waiting for a reply. “Knockout had knowledge of them to some degree.” Brainstorm could feel them shake and tremor in his arms “I…don’t know what to do. I want to believe they were tricked or lied to. I…I…” they let out a sigh that sounded like a loud sob “I don’t want to be here any more, I want to be in this building anymore, I don’t want to be an experiment anymore. I don’t want to be a parent. I dont want a child. I don’t want to be at home. I just don't want to be here!”

”I know, I know. This must feel awful for you. Is there anything you need me to do?” Brainstorm was racking his brain module for any ideas on how to make the situation better.

”hold me please” she quietly sobbed. It sounded quite disturbed “I feel like something bad will happen if I’m not restrained and left alone.”

”Ok” Brainstorm put his helm on top of Paradox’s as they looked at their messages one more time.

Breakdown: not much, I just assumed they were made from earth things and that’s how they differed from generation one, I was always guarding the mine site we got the stuff from

Knockout: They’re Autobots we found on earth and shadowplayed on. I was behind repairing their bodies. They were always unrecogniseable.

Paradox didn’t know how to think or act. Knockout didn’t know what Paradox and Brainstorm knew. Maybe he was hiding the truth from her? Maybe that’s what he actually knew.

Paradox: when you get back, we need to talk.

Chapter Text

Paradox felt weird as they moved their head out from the darkness only to realise that Brainstorm had left them and put a blanket on them. Paradox looked around the room trying to find him as they began fiddling with their servos again.

“Hey” a familiar call was heard Paradox turned around and saw Brainstorm “I was just getting you your supplements” he placed the cup with the familiar liquid that smelt like manure. Paradox knew there were worse smells out there and one that reminded them of home even if it was a little funky wasn’t the worst thing around.

They took a sip and looked at Brainstorm with tired and stressed optics that had formed some very tiny salt crystals around the sockets. Paradox didn’t have to say anything for Brainstorm to understand what those optics were trying to tell him, the slightly open sad looking intake just confirmed his assumption.

“You passed out, I guess you cried a bit too hard or something. I don't know I’m not the doctor here, but you were venting loudly and shallowly as well so I don’t know if that helped or not.” He pulled up a chair as Paradox depthless nodded and sat down before lightly tapping his servo on their shoulder “you doing ok?”

They watched Paradox raise their right arm forming a fist with their palms facing Brainstorm and made a nodding motion with it taking a small pause then forming the fist again facing it towards them with their pointer digit from their other servo on their wrist as they quickly and assertively twisted it forward towards Brainstorm. They then shook their helm as they held up their pointer on their right servo tilting it towards them with the palm still facing Brainstorm before pushing it forward. They paused again as if they were trying to find the words and made a shaka sign with their right servo, thumb on top, pinky on the bottom, both pointing towards Brainstorm before twisting their servo left to right. They then took a deep vent in and out before making fists with both hands with their palms up before lifting the right fist up to allow the palm to face Brainstorm while keeping the left out in front of them palm up. They then simultaneously moved the right down and the left up. They then held up an ok gesture with their right hand palm facing Brainstorm and shaking it left and right before quickly transitioning their right servo to hide behind their horizontal front facing left which had 4 digits together, thumb up and palm facing towards Paradox before swiping out their horizontal right servo to reveal 3 spread fingers with the thumb and pinky touching the palm.

Brainstorm tilted his helm, he felt like Paradox was trying to communicate but in a language that didn’t require speaking, he knew Cybertron had one eons ago that became a lost art to the war as they needed the mute bots to speak quicker and a universal war signal became more common, he remembered working on a voice box that used buzzing tones to help communicate when he was just starting out and moving away from shadowplay, he was no doctor and couldn’t fully fix a voice box but the Cybertron mute community moved to a buzzing and whirring style of communication almost like morse code. “You know Cybertronian sign language?” He asked.

Paradox repeated one of the signals forming a fist with their right servo facing it towards them with their pointer digit on their wrist as they quickly and assertively twisted it forward. Paradox then held their left servo up horizontally with the palm facing them with their digits together but more relaxed as their right servo mimicked writing with a pen.

”Oh! you’re scribing?! I'll get a pad” Brainstorm jumped up from his seat and rummaged around his desk. Paradox felt like clawing. At the desk but kept fiddling with their servos unable to focus on the world around them, the world began to become too overwhelming for them as the rustling of objects that Brainstorm was doing was cranking out tears from their optics which they tried to hide by wiping them away hoping that could stop them fiddling with their servos aggressively if they did something more normal with them. They then felt a tap on their arm and looked up to see a clouded white and teal mass with a gold dot on top. Paradox took their right servo and opened it up making a right angle with their thumb and pointer finger then brushing the palm side of their pointer digit down the right side of their jawline and using the chin to drag the right servo off their face and forming a fist and bumping the top of their fisted left servo with the bottom of their right fist. They then felt a Brainstorm open up their servos before placing a data pad in them. They used their digit to write on the pad, they had no idea if their wording was legible, they just hoped that Brainstorm could understand it.

”Why are you apologising? I wouldn’t feel great if my kind was being used like this either.” He then paused for a second. “Actually I don’t feel great cause we do it to each other, but finding out that an alien species was doing that kind of experimenting would piss me off.” He then paused again. Before speaking up again “Not saying that empurata, shadowplay and domestication doesn’t already piss me off” he huffed sadly but also with an understanding of the situation. Paradox stuck out their right thumb sideways and moved it in a circle in a peeling motion. Before writing on the pad.

“I think you’ve written ‘fine’ overtop of ‘sorry’. Can you see anything?” Brainstorm leant forward to clear the screen and watched Paradox write again. He then held their left servo after they removed their servo from the pad. “Is blurry vision normal when you panic?” He asked before watching Paradox write ‘yes’ over their previous answer. He sighed with a bit of relief “ok, next question, is it normal for you to go non-verbal when panicking? I’ve cleared the screen.” He then watched Paradox write technically two words and mumbled the words ‘plus overwhelmed’ as he looked up he saw them wipe away a tear with their right servo.

“Ok,” he didn’t know what to do but knew the response was to be a somewhat responsible adult, something he hadn’t done in a while and fucked up last time if his memory served him right, either that or the trauma was persistent. “What do you need?” He asked. Paradox squared up their shoulders as if their nerves were puppeteering them into a bodily reset. “It’s fine, I’m not going to judge, I think we’ve done much worse together” he tried to add a positive spin on the situation. Paradox wrote on the pad one more time before showing their list of music to him and scrolling through it trying to identify the song by album colour and how the squiggles formed possible letters.

Brainstorm saw their struggle “You can ask for help you know right?” He asked as he scooted his chair close to be able to interact with the list on their right arm. “How about we go to genres and I read them out for you and pick one you like?” Paradox nodded and brought their right arm closer to Brainstorm who started to fiddle around with the holographic screen coming out from their arm.

“Ok, genres. Pop?” Paradox shook their helm left to right.

“Country?”

Again left to right.

“Metal?”

Left to right.

“Movies?”

Paradox’s helm tilted their helm to the right and pursed their intake for a moment before shaking left to right.

“Ok. I’m close to finding something.” He smiled “how about musical theatre?”

Brainstorm watched Paradox immediately shake their helm up and down.

“Yes. We found something.” He quietly and sarcastically cheered causing a small quiet single giggle to come from Paradox. “Hey and we got a laugh out of that.” He beamed “alright, Heathers?”

Paradox squinted their optics in thought, pursuing their intake slightly before shaking their helm left to right.

“Mama Mia?”

Left to right instantly.

“Ok, not in the mood for that. How about Hamilton?”

Paradox mimed the word ‘oh’ as they tilted their helm back with a thinking look of their faceplate before bringing it back up touching their tongue to their left upper dermas tilting their helm before shaking their helm left to right.

“So I’m taking you’re a Hamilton fan, but not for right now, got it” Brainstorm watched their reactions closely and found that they knew to move more boisterously and cartoony to get their thoughts across without words or sign language

“How we feeling about Beetlejuice?”

Paradox’s optics lit up as they quickly turned their helm to face brainstorm before shaking their helm up and down before quickly flashing 10 and 2 repetitively on their servo using their digits.

“I’m assuming you want song 12 then?” He asked counting down the album. “Girl Scout?” Paradox nodded then pointed at him “You think I will like this?” Paradox beamed a smile for the first time in a long time and nodded up and down miming the word ‘yes’. Brainstorm happily shrugged as he hit play “alright I’ll be the judge of that then” he laughed as he got up and moved his chair to in front of Paradox holding their left servo.

“The intro sounds so immature” as he listened to it before hearing a very youthful voice “what is this song about?” He asked “sounds like a sparkling singing about their hopes and dreams?” He then saw a bit of a scrap eating grin across Paradox’s faceplate. “A human sparkling with a heart defect?” He said hesitantly, He then saw Paradox write on the pad again before doing a small gasp “what do you mean this isn’t the worst of it? Is this a bad song?” He asked leaning in and clearing the pad “why is the song explaining how to kill this sparkling?” He then looked down at the pad and saw a new response on it. “What do you mean you can’t explain Beetlejuice?”

Paradox started to giggle at the worry Brainstorm was going through before starting to tap their pedes to the beat. Brainstormed looked at Paradox’s arm confused as it played the song “oh this is an inspirational song about a young femme finding a good community and the support she needs to live her life, that’s actually very sweet.” he then looked down on the pad again and looked up to see a giggling smirk from Paradox.

“See your response makes me think I’m on the right track but that expression makes me think it’s a sarcastic ‘sure’” he tilted his helm to the side nervously as Paradox innocently shrugged. He then saw Paradox miming the words along with the song bouncing their head from side to side before holding a spread out servo- up to their chest at the word ‘stop’. Brainstorm couldn’t help but stare at that smile, it seemed all knowing and like he was about to have tetralogy of Fallot in his alien version of a pulmonary artery.

“Is your vision coming back?” He asked, Paradox silently laughed nodding up and down “oh that’s great that everything’s working out for you meanwhile I think this song is giving me congenital heart disease that could kill me with a random sneeze with those expressions you’ve got going on” Paradox began to silently laugh more intensely waving their right servo in front of their faceplate before touching their pointer to their nose hiding their smile as small snickers could be heard.

Brainstorm then heard the next part of the song “wha… why would she go to a creepy looking house? Does she not have survival instincts?” Paradox closed their eyes silently laughing and quietly snickering shaking their helm left to right as they wrote on the pad ‘Beetlejuice is the main character whose a demon that enters the real world of sorts in the musical, I wanna see it so badly.’ Brainstorm did the Cybertronian equivocate of losing colour in their face. “Um, what!?” He stuttered out loud leaning in close to Paradox. “You made me listen to this song not making me think this little girl named Sky was going to get accidentally murdered? All she wanted to do was sell cookies for the Girl Scouts for four dollars a box.” Paradox crumpled forward as their laughter was taking over their body and loosening up the nerves that were controlling them as Brainstorm listened on before his shoulder quickly tightened up. “Why would she go inside!?”

It was like he was listening to a horror movie “At this point I would normally say they deserve death for this little survival skill. They even ignored the advice from their guardians because of an assumption. Where are her supervisors? Who let this dumb delicate sparkling out on the street alone?” He argued “But I don’t want her to die, she just wanted to sell cookies.” He whined, before continuing to listen to the song. “Oh Primus, now there’s creepy music, What’s going to happen to her? Well of course it’s dark in there Sky. It’s a creepy house. You identified the problem but failed to do the solution that was served to you on a silver platter.” Paradox eagerly watched his reaction to the ending, they wanted to believe it was genuine and the reaction did come off as genuine but they knew sometimes they got the wrong idea and couldn’t pick up on emotions, so they were just waiting to see if they were right and manifested this to be a genuine reaction.

“Wait!” He perked up “she does have some survival skills! Go one Sky, leave and never go back to that house…” suddenly Brainstorm was cut off by Beetlejuice and Sky screaming which left him doing a small jump in his chair and the next song played “wait! It just ends with her scream! Did she die?” Paradox half afted shrugged as they began to verbally laugh at Brainstorm.

“You don’t know?” He asked with a lot of concern.

Paradox did a big vent in “well she’s not a main character, just an extra” she quietly spoke before laughing again. As she stood up and held her servo out “Girl scout is a good song to introduce someone to Beetlejuice I think” she laughed as screams could be heard in the new song playing. Brainstorm reluctantly grabbed their servo before they were hoisted up “A sound of a scream…” Paradox half sung as they twirled under Brainstorm’s arm before leaning themselves back away from Brainstorm still holding his servo “…is music to meee” before pulling themselves up with the help of Brainstorm allowing them to be hoisted up into an almost a bourrée before turning of the tips of their pedes to face the direction the just fell in. “A sound that says fif-teen years full-time…” and using their digit to help exaggerate the phonetic spelling of “the-ra-py”

They then let go of Brainstorm’s servo and said “your more than welcome to join in” Paradox smiled as they looked up at him.

Brainstorm looked a bit awkward “erm, maybe next time.” He shrugged. “I think we should check on the rain. It's been a bit of time since we checked.” He then walked out of the room as Paradox stopped the beautiful sounds that had brought them back from overwhelmed panic, before following him out, “fine but you owe me.” She snarked in a hurried walk twirling to make sure the door was shut behind them.

As they got to the med bay they saw that the acid rains had stopped with some excess acid leftover and still trying to make its way down to the ground from the top of the prison dripped down off the roofs. The pair looked out onto the fields and saw soldiers running to take back the land they lost as they began fighting again.

“Looks like they’re back at it.” Paradox sighed as they turned around and began to inspect the ear bud Brainstorm gave them earlier that they left on their desk just after the rains started. “Do you reckon I can play my music through this?” She asked holding it up to Brainstorm. “Sure, that would be easy, but I don't understand how that is going to help our situation? If there is any. We can just take the shots now.” He queered.

”Well, the fights just restarted” Paradox reported guestering towards the siege. “I assume everyone will be on high alert right now as the break would allow time for things to be made or upgraded, so if we give them a moment and lead them into a false sense of security of sorts before firing, plus I have a theory that I want to try out that involves this” Paradox put the bud into Brainstorm’s servo.

Brainstorm sighed, a little fed up but understanding. “Sure, it will be a quick job, but sure.” He went over to Paradox’s desk and opened up her coding and began a new file connecting the earbud to it. “Alright, come here” he gestured for them to come over. “If you wanna learn more about coding then come here, it's basic but knowing the basics help you set some ground work for the more experimental stuff. Plus I’m sure it will take a little bit longer so we can get that false sense of security you were talking about.” He then made sure the connection was working and brought up the existing code from the earbud onto the screen.

”So all this stuff here, that’s just volume control, it tends to know what volume you need. You put your audial plug into in and it knows if your hearing everything well or not, but if you want use it for music then I assume you want a manual override of sorts, so we’re just going to put in an override code and add a manual volume control to its data which is just a basic bar hologram that you can slide up and down so it’s mainly the visuals we need to program by adding in image files.” Brainstorm then drew a crude bar and animated it with a volume level and added the file into the code. He then pressed the ‘run program’ button and tapped the outer shell of the earbud which showed the crude drawing he did. “Great so now we have that, we just need to connect it to the volume aspect of the device.” He then grabbed his out and put it in his audial before turning up the volume manually on the one plugged into the screen to the highest level. “Here,” he handed it to Paradox.

”Do I put it up to my audial?” They asked.

”Yes, you got it correct! Congratulations.” He mimicked a game show host.

”You're not going to scream in it are you.” Paradox shuddered before holding a little bit away from their audial.

Brainstorm then ran the new program and spoke into his earbud “nope.” the word rang in Paradox’s audial as the sound could of been heard from where Brainstorm was sitting like a whisper in the distance

“Yep, it works” Paradox sounded sick from how loud the audio was but not hurt or overwhelmed. Brainstorm chuckled a little bit “see that could have been a lot worse if you weren’t crying earlier. Payback for Sky.”

“Ha ha ha” Paradox sarcastically laughed rubbing their knuckles into Brainstorm’s helm without much force “see that could have been a lot worse if you were more committed to the bit.”

”You’re lucky you’re pregnant” He sarcastically and slyly remarked trying to get the last word in.

”you’re lucky you’re not stupid” Paradox mimicked back matching energy.

Brainstorm put his servo over his spark pretending that he was hurt, ”oof, if only that hurt.” He rolled his optics laughing.

Paradox tried to keep their stance but broke character a bit and did a small laugh “if only you weren’t an aft”

he the did finger guns at Paradox “right back at you aft-face.”

Paradox then completely broke character and leant on the table rubbing their faceplate “Oh god. If only you had the context I have right now.” They continued doing a cheeky laugh before sighing and looking at him.

”Are you going to fill me in?” Brainstorm asked eagerly.

”Are you giving me the upper hand?” Paradox rebutted.

”well?” Brainstorm guestered for them to keep going on with the funny context.

”Yeah, nah.” Paradox huffed out in power over him. “Guess you should've danced with me earlier glitch.” They smiled.

”Hmff” Brainstorm crossed his arms. “I guess we will have to make time for that later then. I pick the song though.”

”Damn” Paradox whined. “I was gonna pick ‘Eight Miles Wide’. Such a tragedy.” They faked a dramatic passing out pose.

”looks like you're not gonna be getting your way then.” Brainstorm said with sass.

Paradox laughed “oh no, you pointed out my flaws, how big of you to tell me I didn’t have siblings growing up.” They then placed the earbud back down gently trying not to accidentally unplug it.

Brainstorm then laughed “damn you got me there, but at least you got one now.” He corrected.

”Sure do” Paradox then leant in to hug him and they got a hug back, it wasn’t long but when they parted they gave each other a thumbs up and a fist bump with the thumb still out.

”Did we just come up with a dorky handshake?” Paradox snorted and giggled.

”Primus we did” Brainstorm groaned “and it was the uncoolest thing ever.”

”Just like us” Paradox slowly let out doing a cheesy finger gun back at Brainstorm

”Aww, you’re digit guns are better” Brainstorm groaned again in a more whiny tone.

”Yeah, my lot are trained from a young age to do finger guns, though our name for the one where I’m from is a lot lamer. Still proud of where it came from but out of context it's not cool, and I’m not giving you that ammo.” Paradox did the finger gun that Wiggles taught everyone in Australia how to do from a young age.

Brainstorm sarcastically sang out “someone isn’t pro-ud” as he turned back to the screen.

”Well I mean, I don’t know how to explain it.” Paradox crossed their arms as they also looked back at the screen trying to change the conversation.

”Uh huh” Brainstorm mocked. “Anyway, where were we?” He mumbled out loud.

”trying to make the earbud connected to my music using a wireless connection. Personally, on earth we use Bluetooth and wifi.” The then mumbled “we invented the damn thing yet we get the shittest quality wifi”

Brainstorm looked at them confused “Wait Australia invented wifi and yet it has the worst wifi on your planet? How's that possible?”

Paradox chuffed “I have no clue, but I somehow vibe out that I know the reason, I just can’t put it into words. I think it’s just based on my experience with dad taking me to his government jobs when I was little, he used to build roads and let me tell you I’ve met a lot of idiots growing up.” They rolled their optics thinking back to all the corruption attempts that failed because the lady that her father was filling in for during her annual leave forgot to hide documents of fraud correctly and just left them open on the screen and forgot to log out before leaving. “Primus” they gasped “sorry I was just thinking about my time on earth, I feel like if I optics roll any harder I’m going to have to re attach them to my sockets.” She groaned “but anyway am I on the right idea?”

Brainstorm shook off his look of concern and went back to the code “um yeah,” he then held out his servo “can I look at your arm please? I just need to find the gadget number thingy” Paradox pressed their left digits into the shoulder of their right arm and hit a button under the panels before placing the arm in Brainstorms servo.

Brainstorm looked a little dumbfounded at what just happened. Paradox then saw this expression. “Oh right” they remembered “you probably need the screen. Duh.” They mocked themself as they swiped the tip of their left digits against a panel on the forearm to reveal the screen “they we go!” They presented.

Brainstorm still looked dumbfounded at the arm in his servo. “It comes off” he said in monotone disbelief.

Paradox looked at him and tilted their head before slowly stating what they thought was obvious. “Yeeesss it does… it’s a prosthetic duuuude” they then did a small nervous laugh at the end.

”It comes off” he repeated.

”Yeeeep” Paradox saw how wide his optics were.

“It comes off” he started to sound like a broken record as Paradox pulled up a chair and sat in it grabbing Brainstorms outer servo out laying it palm up on the desk. They then did a similar technique where they put their left digits just above the knee joint and pressed a button that unattached their leg before placing it in Brainstorms other servo.

He then looked over from their arm and gave himself a jumpscare when he saw the leg in his other servo.

”That one comes off too!” He yelled in shock.

Paradox laughed at the shock Brainstorm was experiencing “see that’s a prank worth an arm and a leg.” They laughed as Brainstorm looked at the limbs in his servos confused and surprised.

Continuing the tone from before he said “They come off.”

”Hey, at least we got a change of wording.” Paradox dimly applauded.

He then turned and looked at Paradox “why do they come off?” His tone sounded worried and confused before he looked at Paradox who was now sitting down missing two limbs “where are your limbs?” He asked, still confused as ever.

”They’re in your servos right in front of you.” Paradox announced before outlining the details. “We got attacked and my real limbs blew up and because you can't really reattach human limbs, especially the ones blown beyond repair, I was given prosthetics from Knockout.” They then smiled at the end before doing a cheesy thumbs up.

Brainstorm put the arm to the side and scooted his chair forward with the leg and leant forward to try and reattach it only to pat it up to lean against the stub that it’s supposed to be attached to.

“There we go.” He mumbled as he scooted back “I don’t know how it works but it’s back on. Kinda. I think.”

Paradox then looked down at the leg and pressed the button allowing it to latch on. “Oh, yep. Forgot about that.” Paradox sourly remamissed “that feeling of the limb reconnecting to my pistons and cables isn’t fun” they grimished “little roots little shoots” they chanted “oooh boy that is uncomfy ha ha” they nervously laughed as the sensation ended.

Brainstorm tilted his helm out of curiosity “does it hurt? I can give you back your arm.” He said with remorse, holding out their arm.

”Yeah, Nah.” Paradox blurted out as they moved their knee to check out the connection “it doesn’t hurt or anything, I’m not in pain it just feels weird, it’s like turning on a tap and your body in the pipes leading up to the tap which is the prosthetics.” They shrugged. “You unfortunately can’t keep that one forever but I thought it would be easier for you to use it if I just took it off.”

Brainstorm didn’t know how to respond. ”Thank you” he shyly blurted out “I’ll give it back to you when I’m finished with it.” Confusion was still evidently there.

”Well, you gave me my leg back so if you take off with my arm it's easier for me to chase you down.” Paradox cracked up a bit.

”Ha ha, yeah” Brainstorm placed the arm carefully in front of him and went through the screen to find the numbers he needed and typed them into the code just before the screen started fading.

”Huh I guess it can run for a little bit without me.” Paradox analysed the limb before reattaching it. “Froooooooooooh little roots little shoots” they groaned “yep that’s, that’s a sensation and a half, ha ha ooooo we’re almost there. Mhmmmm… we’re just out here having fun today aren’t we. What’s the crime? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meeeeeaaaaaalll? Yep almost there ha ha mhmmm, urrrrg there we go!” The arm lit up again and the screen reappeared shortly before Paradox pushed the hologram back into their arm.

Paradox looked back at Brainstorm who was looking through the code “don’t worry I’m almost done. I was just manually adding the connection to the audial bud’s contacts, you don’t technically need to do this but it’s just easier and since we’re here we’ll obviously take the more convenient option.”

”Ah ok.” Paradox stretched out their arm and wasn’t really paying attention before standing up and doing a small hop making sure everything was working again. They then walked towards the window and looked out from it. The Autobots were closing in on Kaon , they were uncomfortably closer than ever before.

”Hey you got that audial bud running on the new program?” a serious tone came over Paradox as they looked through their music. “Beetlejuice is good for cheering me up but I need something with a steady beat” they mumbled as they scrolled through their music.

”Just finished uploading the updated code.” Brainstorm remarked before unplugging the audial bud.

Paradox hit play on the song as they reached out for it while keeping an eye on the window. There were Autobots everywhere at the base of the building, as much as Paradox felt like they wasted time, they realised it would be easier for them to take the shot than for the Autobots to shoot at them. Paradox then feel the bud placed on their servo before quickly putting it in. There was a sense of suspense hanging in the air as they took a vent in, they realised they hadn’t properly tested the weapon out yet. Worst case scenario it would take out a spark, Paradox looked behind them seeing the glow from Brainstorms optics like a proud mentor watching their trainee about to show their worth.

”Permission to start shooting?” Paradox asked the master of the weapons scene.

Brainstorm sensed the nerves Paradox was emitting “yes you can fire, I know this is your first time. Don’t worry we’ve all done it before, those nerves are just a one time thing, you’ll feel much better after the first shot. I’m sure you’ll go back and do some more once that first shot is done.” He instructed.

“Ok” Paradox vented out as they lifted up their right arm and took aim, they then created the slingshot by separating the two purple star beads as a holographic looking but physical rope appeared . They then grabbed a bead using their pinkie and ring finger before pulling back on it. They saw a pink and blue Autobot and closed their left optic before moving their aim down towards her neck “take it now or leave it” Paradox murmured to themselves before counting on beat “One Two THree FouR” then they let go on the 4th beat.

Bullseye.

Paradox saw the bots look around shocked before going down as they quickly grabbed another bead, Paradox knew they had to look at this like no big decision that they knocked someone out using bio warfare. Now was all they got to make sure their family was safe, as much as that wasn’t promised. They had to keep going with no regrets as they saw a pink and blue Autobot be dragged away into the prison most likely to be tortured.

”Wow, good job” Brainstorm applauded “how do you feel?”

”eh” Paradox emotionlessly shrugged as they took aim again.

”One

Two

THree

FouR.”

Bullseye.

They shot at another Autobot and watched them go down as the first bead flew back to the bracelet to charge on the right side of the slingshot.

”Can’t beat around the bush” Paradox said slyly.

”One

Two

THree

FouR.”

Bullseye.

Another Autobot down. Paradox saw some of the Autobots looking at the beads returning to them. They collected the last of the beads and shut the door waiting for a reaction. What they didn’t see was that the Autobots had to walk backwards to get a good view of where the beads were going making themselves vulnerable to attacks on the ground. They then looked out the window and saw a small opening allowing the Decepticons through gaining an advantage as the Autobots had to figure out a two sided defence tactic. Paradox then slyly opened the door again.

”One

Two

THree

FouR.”

Bullseye.

”One

Two

THree

FouR.”

Bullseye.

”One

Two

THree

FouR.”

Bullseye.

3 more down. Paradox watched as the Decepticons took the lead, they saw Autobots falling down and trying to regain what they had lost before being injured or killed by Decepticons who started to swarm them from behind their lines. It was like a dam breaking and unleashing hell upon its victims. Paradox took a step back, they’re theory about using music and staying on beat proved them right, they knew what to do to help them fight in battles.

“Primus. I did it” they gawked at the battlefield becoming a Decepticon win dramatically fast.

“I feel like the penny dropped on how to get more confident at shooting and fighting. Just needed to bring structure to my movements.” They chuffed as they looked down at their bracelet. “I think it could also work for hand to hand combat as well.” They continued to look out the window as they sat on their desk before transforming down into a human.

Brainstorm looked out the window taking in the view “I think I'll message a few friends after this because that is one big defeat we got here.”

”Makes sense. I would be doing the same.” Paradox agreed before somberly lowering their tone “I’m sorry if I caused any harm to your friends.”

”I mean you probably didn’t, they are more theoretical, builders, experimenters, doctors, not really field stuff, still wouldn’t hurt I guess” he shrugged off.

”So what now?” Paradox asked, looking up at Brainstorm.

”Maybe prepare the med bay, both your stuff and Knockout’s stuff, I doubt there will be mass casualties for the Decepticons but plenty of injuries.” Brainstorm stood up. “I’ll be back soon.” He opened the door before taking a step out.

Paradox then transformed back and stood up “Hey.” They called out “I would like to cash in that receptionist gig you offered. There could be a long line and we need to find the most severe injuries and work fast which can’t be done all at once.” They announced.

”Sure” he smiled. “Just let me call a few friends.”

”Of course.” Paradox nodded and guestered for them to leave before going to prep their station. They then heard the door shut behind him, they took their audial bud out and turned it off as they walked over and grabbed an empty tray trolley and went to the shelves to begin putting tools in. The sounds of tools clattering around began to make Paradox feel weird like she was trapped in a box, she reached for her arm screen. “I just need random music for the next few however long this is gonna take” she sighed as she hit the shuffle button.

She looked at Knockout’s side of the room reminiscing about him being there and waiting in suspense for him to return like he’s famous. The next few cycles were going to be crazy so Paradox had to set up both sides of the room. They wish that they didn’t have to wait and have a moment with her clan before getting to work but that moment probably wouldn’t come, but she wasn’t complaining, some of her favorite memories were them just working away giving each other glances that told everyone exactly what was happening and how they felt about it. She was definitely missing him and even Breakdown sitting around the room talking and occasionally giving them the tools they couldn’t reach, sometimes he would even be seen doing paperwork, he was a good assistant from time to time. Paradox hoped when they returned that they would be proud of what she had achieved, even though bare minimum was them making it home.

Paradox set up the last of her side of the room and grabbed the slightly dusty cart from Knockout’s side. She grabbed a wipe and sterilized it, she knew she wouldn’t have to do this solo for much longer and all that working and grinding would become less intense. She pulled the cart along the shelves and put surgical tools in it before pulling it over to Knockout’s station that she gave a quick wipe down as well.

Paradox then sat at her desk preparing paperwork waiting for her first patient. As much as it looked, Paradox felt like they weren’t done yet and decided to pre-fill out some forms to the best of her ability just to make the procedure go quicker later, especially if she had to fill out emergency forms.

Paradox then heard the door open and before she could look up she heard a familiar voice. ”Well the place isn’t on fire so that’s a good start. Very polished as well.”

She looked up and gasped, getting up from her desk “You’re back!” She cheered as she hastily walked towards the red bot. “Also I prepped your station in case we have a frag ton of patients later.”

Knockout examined his side of the room and moved around some of the tools on the cart as Paradox went to the shelves to grab something. “Here” she demanded as she pushed a buffer and polisher into his chassis. “You’re a glitch when you look like a scrap heap.” She beamed out as she leant against his medical table.

”You know me too well.” He smiled as he began to buff out his chassis.

“Also Brainstorm lost a bet and he owes me one cycle as a receptionist so I decided to cash that in today, he’s just doing a bit of maintenance in his office before coming back here.” She informed.

Knockout raised an optic ridge ”him?” He sarcastically asked.

”Better than nothing.” Paradox shrugged “plus I would find it more productive and entertaining if he had to deal with all those gone binary piston rods instead of you and me. Let’s just say its a mood improver all around.” They smiled.

”True” Knockout sighed hesitantly “we’ll see how it goes.”

The door then opened revealing a short mech with a massive gash across his chassis leaving his spark open and vulnerable to the world. “Do you want an easy one to get back into the swing of things?” Paradox asked guestering Knockout to the mech.

The mech then figitied with his servos nervously “Actually can I have you?” He then pointed to Paradox looking up from the ground in her direction. “I like joyful songs” he whimpered.

Knockout looked at Paradox astonished “looks like I’m no longer popular.” He huffed, side eyeing Paradox with a smile.

Chapter Text

Paradox stuttered as the injured mech looked up at her hopefully. “Uh, yes! Of course! Right this way. She gestured to the table she had prepped for herself. The mech refused help as he clambered his way up onto the table. Paradox then put aside some tools that she would need and fiddling with her playlist. “Just lay down with your arms to your side and I'll begin surgery” she confidently stated. The mech quickly put his arms to the side and relaxed as the music started playing “This may also feel a bit weird because it’s so close to your spark but I can’t detect any injuries to your spark just the chassis in front of it, ok.” Paradox stated as the guitar began to play.

Knockout looked at Paradox slightly confused with his arms crossed “Have you been playing them music?” He had a slight smile on his face plate “I want to say I’m not surprised but I actually am. Does it work in any way?”

The mech on the table lifted a thumbs up. “Yeah it does! It can be relaxing for me, some have said that it helps them concentrate on the room around them and others say that her singing brings them comfort” he smiled.

Paradox harshly tapped his arm “keep it down” she ordered before quickly changing tone “but yes, it’s true. I’ve found positive results from involving music in my procedures.” She said while removing the chassis and putting it to the side of the table.

”did he say singing or did I dream that statement?” Knockout tilted his helm in even more confusion. “I didn’t take you for the singing type.”

”Panic attacks can make you learn wonderful things about yourself.” Paradox laughed sarcastically and nervously. “I find it helps regulate my breathing during high amounts of anxiety, and well, you know how much of an anxious mess I am. So if I’m constantly practising singing how shit do you think I would be?” She laughed trying to stay humble and not accidentally over qualify herself. “Though depending on the situation I may not do as good of a job, sometimes I feel like a petrified fool around too many people, especially those I don't know. But hey I’m building a good group of people who like it.” She smiled as she began examining the area around the spark chamber and removing small chips from the chassis that fell into the area.

Knockout smiled and chuffed a little bit. “If I saw you performing I would not believe my optics.” He stated.

Paradox shrugged “honestly I wouldn’t believe it if I was performing, I always wanted to be working behind the scenes.” She did one final scan of the spark before turning her attention to the chassis.

”So we both agree that it would be a mad day if you started doing actual public performances then?” Knockout leaned forward as if to tease Paradox a little bit.

”Yes. I would have to do way more than just see things in a different light to be up performing professionally.” Paradox agreed as she began to cut the jagged shattered chassis panel to have a square hole in it instead.

Knockout took a few steps forward and looked over Paradox’s work as she began to cut out a patch for the hole. He could tell that she had come a long way since he last saw her. He noticed Paradox’s hands servos more confidently and with more precision. They weren’t quite at the entrancing state doctors servos were known for, but if she did have that ability it would be because she was created with perfect servos. Which she obviously didn’t, but it wasn’t a thing that didn’t come from time and practice as well. “You’re rushing things a bit Paradox.” He declared, “You want precision not speed.” He reach over and pushed against the panel cutter slightly to try and slow her down.

Paradox looked up obscurely at him tilting her helm slightly not knowing if she should push harder like she always did, stay at the pace she was at or slow down a bit and risk being told she was going to slow. At least with the pace she was at Knockout was happy with the speed he was creating for her but he wouldn’t be there the whole time. But maybe she should take a chance and show that she was learning from her mistakes?

Knockout felt the push against his servo get lighter as Paradox began to slowdown. He looked up to see her face plate doing some sort of mental gymnastics. “Is the mech dying?” He asked looking up at her seriously.

Paradox felt him leaning over her a bit as she tried to stop doing mental gymnastics. “N…no” she stuttered as if she had the wrong answer even though it was obvious.

“Exactly” the word slowly spilled out form Knockout’s intake as if he was making sure she knew that. “So if he’s not dying, what should our work be?” He asked.

Paradox kept her helm tilted. “Our work should be the best quality because we don’t want to see the patient coming back in a few klicks for repairs over what we just did.” She studied Knockout’s expressions hoping she got the right answer.

”Correct.” He announced “take your time now so it won’t be taking up your time later.” He then took a step back and stopped leaning over her. “You need more confidence, I was asking you basic questions not teaching you the laws of geometry.” He retorted as he began to watch from a distance.

Paradox nodded and got back to work trying to cut out the panel slower and making sure it would fit by remeasuring every so often. She couldn’t help the feeling of wanting to go fast but she hard to control it. Paradox felt like someone would yell at her for going to slow, but no one did. She just kept going like there were no problems.

As she put in the panel. Paradox noticed it was one of her best cut shapes she had done. For a moment it felt like she could see everything in a different light, like she was up in the air and her senses had flown away for a split moment at how perfect the patch panel fit into the chassis. She then welded the patch panel into place before sanding and buffing it out. Paradox held her breath as she reattached the chassis. The world stood still as she reattached it. She hopped it was a good enough job. She then looked up at Knockout who just smiled in approval. She felt like she was in the seventh heaven knowing that her abilities were good enough for her mentor. The mech then thanked her and left the room.

Paradox started to clean up the table preparing for the next patient. Just as she put down the last utensils she had to clean the door opened. Knockout smiled and Paradox ran up to the door. “Breakdown!” She delightfully squawked.

”Hey P!” He smiled as he lifted her up to hug her “Sorry for taking so long to get back!”

”Well you’re both here now and that’s all that matters.” Her optics twinkled with joy.

Breakdown grinned as largely as he could. “I think I may have to put you down now you’re becoming more of a heavy weight bot now!” He laughed as he reached out and put his servos lightly on her belly.

Paradox closed her smile a bit and leant forward to put her helm on him. “Yeah, unfortunately I don’t have the physical strength to go along with the title.” She quietly laughed.

Breakdown rubbed and scratched her back and smiled hearing small hums of relief come from her. “Maybe not physically, but definitely mentally” he then tapped the top of Paradox’s helm and when she looked up to him, he finished his sentence. “Leave the heavy lifting to me.” He flexed his left arm and Paradox stood back up stretching her spinal strut. She turned around to let him into the room and saw a small swoon from Knockout as she went back to her table.

Breakdown looked around the room as he entered “wow” he stared at the room. “See Knockout! It’s not of fire. I’m assuming happy customers as well.” He held his partner close to him and guestured to Paradox with an out stretched arm. He then moved his helm intimately close to Knockout as he continued to tease. “I can’t wait for my reward, it’s not often you lose bets” he taunted. It was the first time Knockout looked unimpressed about something he did with Breakdown but that look quickly left as he filled the gap between them and kissed him allowing a bit of time to pass before he pulled away leaving Breakdown grumbling a bit. “I’ll finish off that reward later” he smiled cupping his partner's jawline who was still grumbling to himself. Breakdown huffed a sweet childlike “fine” before sliding between Knockout and the table caging his partner in with his arms. Knockout reached up to massage Breakdown’s shoulder. Paradox smiled at the couple. “You two are so sweet together.”

Before they could answer they heard a knock at the door. They looked and saw Brainstorm. He walked in as cocky as ever “I’m here for receptionist duty” he reported.

Breakdown let out a hearty saterizing laugh at the teal and yellow mech who was a whole helm taller than him. “Receptionist?” He vented between laughing “Paradox, how'd you pull that off?”

”Knockout wasn’t the only bot who lost a bet,” she laughed. “Just ours ended up with me almost shooting him.” she touched the knuckle of her pointer digit to her nose while extending the rest of her digits in a poor attempt to cover her smile. “Also it gets so much better as well. I’ve definitely provided entertainment for tonight.”

”Oh really? Outside of the song?” Knockout snarked.

”Songs?” Breakdown queered eyeing off Paradox.

“Yeah new method.” She proudly beamed.

Brainstorm then folded his arms smugly letting out an “oh please.”

“Wait for it.” Paradox said returning the exact same energy.

Brainstorm continued his smug announcement. ”If you think I can’t handle being a polite receptionist that can last, what, not even half a cycle without being a mean condescending glitch and not use sarcasm then I hate to inform you that you are very wrong.”

The room went silent.

The room then simultaneously too in a deep vent.

The room then erupted and quickly became filled with laughter.

”See!” Paradox gasped “Entertainment!” She guestured to him like a circus ringleader with both arms cartoonishly extended out.

Breakdown continued his roar only getting louder “Oh I’m sticking around for this.” He began wiping tears from his optics.

Knockout was leaning into Breakdowns arm unable to stand laughing “Primus! I know I’ve got one bet to still repay but I’m so certian I’ll win this one.” He then cooled his laughter down a bit until he was finally able to stand and walk over to Brainstorm. “Tell you what, if you can go through your time as a receptionist without even daydreaming about bashing someone’s helm in then you’re punishment for breaking code 117 by not doing a ditch and run with Starscream, which has lead to you getting payback at anytime also known as a code 113 will be dropped and forgotten. If not and I see even the slightest of optic rolls then we will be doubling the severity of the punishment.” Knockout held his servo out toward Brainstorm. “Deal?” He maliciously grinned.

Brainstorm without thinking immediately shook Knockout’s servo. “Deal” he challenged.

Paradox and Breakdown looked at Brainstorm with a look of condescension. “You fucking muppet” Paradox sighed in a very patronising deep Australian accent.

”Hey don’t call me a muppet.” Brainstorm arrogantly whined before turning his attention back to Knockout. “This is the easiest bet I’ve ever made.”

”Fine, I’ll also make a deal with you” Paradox stood up straight and also presented him with a servo to shake. “If you can survive this receptionist gig then I’ll no longer call you a muppet. But if I win, I can call you a muppet whenever I want to through any form of method and medium. This includes verbal, written, legal and artistic methods and mediums.”

”That’s such a low offer Paradox, I thought you knew better than that.” Knockout sighed.

“Nah, relentless teasing! Trust me it’s a great idea! You’ve going for settling a crime, I’m going for psychological warfare.” She smiled devilishly “go on…” she maliciously sung “…shake my servo.”

Knockout sighed again “It’s not, but if that is what you want to do then do ahead.” He moved out of the way and watched as Brainstorm shook her servo. “You're on you little glitch.” He sneered at them, leaning in close to make sure they heard his agreement to it.

“Great” Paradox’s malicious smile was still very much visible before she walked back to her desk laughing like she had won a deal of a lifetime. “Hey Breakdown.” She rallied up the atmosphere. “You wanna get in on this? 3 for 3 on bets haha!” she snorted.

Breakdown looked at Brainstorm “I don’t know if I have anything I want from him” he shrugged.

Brainstorm walked forward with his servo out. “You look like you enjoy a nice night out occasionally. There’s a nice bar that appears on the rainy cycles. Next time it appears I’ll buy you and your partner 3 rounds of drinks and make sure you get a couples booth.”

Knockout turned to Paradox “see.” He retorted “that’s how you make a bet.” He then turned up his helm to face Breakdown waiting for his response.

Breakdown then winked at Knockout before squeezing Brainstorm’s servo tightly to make sure he could feel how locked into this bet he was. “Sounds like I found something I want from you after all. Can’t wait for the next rainy day.” He smugly smiled.

”Ok now that that’s settled. I’ll take the winner’s position” Brainstorm smirked as he walked away.

Paradox then signalled for a quiet talk between the clan “ok, so if he does well and doesn’t get on anyone’s nerves can we make him an offical clan member?” She asked.

Knockout took a moment to think it over while Breakdown looked over at the tall mech preparing himself for a long shift of reception work by moving a small stool next to the door just in case and stretching his legs and arms before practicing some greetings to himself.

Paradox didn’t like the quiet thinking “I know here you need to be an apprentice to be a part of the clan and he’s been training me to do defence and how to make things. But on my planet the only requirement is that everyone gets on and likes each other, so I don't know if we wanna do a mix or something?” She suggested.

Breakdown looked at Knockout with a judicious look. Knockout vented out as if he was quietly trying to verbally agree without speaking.

”We will see how he performs” Kockout informed the clan.

Paradox quickly hugged Breakdown and gave a thumbs up to Knockout with a wide smile. “Thank you so much!” She quietly and excitably squealed without being heard by Brainstorm.

Chapter Text

Breakdown chilled around the edge of the room at Knockout’s desk trying to stay out of the way of Knockout and Paradox who were sitting around waiting for the influx of patients to start. He tried to go through some paperwork, trying to make the load easier on Knockout afterwards, however, all 3 of them were watching Brainstorm who was waiting by the door scoffing at them every once in a while or mumbling something about how this will be the easiest set of bets he had ever won.

It didn’t take long before a small group of 3 then appeared at the door. Brainstorm stood up straight and tried to put on his most professional tone.

“Hello, welcome to the emergency department,” he cheerfully announced. Paradox and Knockout were closely listening to his tone to detect sarcasm but if anything it sounded fake, as if he had a job to do and customer service came alongside with it, but he was keeping his promise. They didn’t say anything about faking through a welcome or two. Breakdown was watching his medics, knowing that they would be onto the fool at the front door. “I will be your receptionist for today.” Brainstorm continued. “Now who is the most injured and slash or in pain?” He asked, trying not to give a glare at Paradox and Breakdown snickering in the background.

The three bots looked between each other as if they were trying to tell who was the most injured. Brainstorm sighed in a fake happy tone that everyone who had worked in customer service knew all too well. “You sir.” He pointed to the left mech who smiled at being chosen pointing to himself. “Yes, you there.” He reaffirmed “the one with the missing leg, arm and servo. Do you want to come in and get repaired?” Brainstorm stepped aside and let him in with the mech in the middle propping him up also hobbling in. “Hold up” he blocked the last one outside before he was able to enter. “To avoid the room getting overcrowded I would ask for you to wait outside.”

the hobbling mech helped his friend up onto Paradox’s table “oh don’t worry Racer and I have Slick’s limbs.” He then happily waved a disembodied leg in the air. “I got the leg so that I could make him kick himself in the aft if he was walking too slow.” He chuckled.

Knockout looked over Brainstorm’s facial expression meticulously. “You were right Paradox.” He scanned the hobbling mech and slightly grinned “He is very expressive even with that plate on.” He smirked watching Brainstorm calculate the next thing to say.

”But you’re hobbling too, so I’m assuming you also need medical attention.” Brainstorm pointed to his slightly slouched leg trying his hardest not to laugh at what was just said. Paradox looked and nodded at Knockout as if to tell him to keep a close optic on him while she was doing surgery.

The mech looked taken aback and confused for a bit before looking down at his leg. “Oh this thing!” He laughed proudly, “yeah I saw a nice femme on the way over here and told her I got injured as well but I was putting my friend first because I’m very loyal and selfless.” He puffed out his chassis before looking back at Knockout. “Can I just chill here a bit and we just act like I had to get the leg fixed so that I can go and chat her up later?” He asked.

”No.” Knockout plainly stated “if you’re so confident in your abilities to act injured I’m sure you can act even more like a big tough strong mech if you go back out there and say you’re going to tuff it out for her.” He rolled his optics as he saw the mech realise that would be so much cooler. Knockout saw Brainstorm’s optics almost twitch. “May I ask the name of the Femme?” He asked keeping a close eye on the makeshift medical theatre bouncer. The mech puffed up his body even more as he walked out the door pushing brainstorm aside “Novastorm.” He then perfectly walked out of sight after placing the leg on top of Slick like her was adding to a pile of limbs in a scrap bin.

Paradox then glanced at Breakdown and pointed outside the room before opening her servo open and dramatically dropping it down at the wrist while mouthing ‘Lesbian?’ In english with an equally dramatic confused face. Breakdown then nodded and repeated the gay limp wrist motion while mouthing ‘yes’ boldly. Paradox then grimaced knowing that she'd see that mech again soon.

She then turned to the mech at the door “receptionist, would you be so kind to let Racer in? I can’t reattach the limbs if they’re at the opposite end of the room” she politely snarked. Brainstorm stood aside and let him in. Paradox walked around to greet him, it felt weird seeing a mech that was a similar height to her. She was used to being the shortest outside of minicon and minibots.

She took the limbs and put them to the side of the operating table “Thank you, you may leave, your friend will be better soon” she smiled. The mech then looked back behind him as he was leaving with a worried look on his face, Paradox looked at the mech “don’t stress” she softly called out before giving a thumbs up with a playfully stern face “he’ll be fine and back to normal next time you see him, he’s in good servos.” She watched the mech slowly and hopefully nod his helm before slowly disappearing from sight.

Paradox turned to the mech on the table in front of her. “Hi, I see you’ve found your limbs. Fortunately the surgery is free so your unattached limbs won’t be taken as payment.” Paradox saw the mech smile at the joke as she heard Knockout groan louder than Breakdown’s small laugh. She then looked up at Knockout and grinned before saying. “Hey you like polish, I like pun-lish.” She then laughed at Knockout furrowing his optic ridges into his servo as he groaned louder. She then looked down at her patient while fiddling around with her tools, “don’t worry the jokes are cheap instead of the service.” She then look and Brainstorm who was leaning against the door with wide optics taking in deep vents. Knockout then realised what was going on and that is what finally brought a grin to his faceplate. “All bets aside. This is a great source of entertainment” he vainly reported.

Paradox then heard a cough from her table and looked down to see the mech fiddling with his paneling, trying to tap his pede on the table and looking to the side avoiding her. “What song you want?” Paradox polietly giggled at the clearly anxious mech in understanding how he felt.

He finally glanced up at her, pursed his intake and looked back at the side before taking in a deep vent “can..can you sing something soft please? I heard you’re voice is really nice and I don’t want loudness at the moment.” He shyly stuttered and mumbled anxiously.

Paradox playfully screwed up her face smiling “yeah, of course” she tried to keep her voice low. As the piano lowly and neutrally played in a smooth and sweetly with an undertone of deepness. “Is this alright Mr patient?” Paradox playfully asked as she began to inspect the limbs.

“Yeah” he happily huffed in relief “I know this would just make you more busy but thank you.”

”Whatever you need, sir” she smiled. Paradox looked at the leg and saw that the ball joint that attached the leg to the body had broken away from the leg and was stuck in the socket on the body. “I will give you a word of warning that you’re going to feel a pull and maybe a pinch ok” she saw he was nervous and wanted to prepare him for the feeling as she tried to lever out the ball joint.

The mech nodded at her but had a look on his faceplate. Paradox warmly continued to smile “look if you have anything you need to say let me know. I don’t know what you heard about me, though if it’s anything negative, Brainstorm started it. But anyway I would rather hear you than have you go quiet because it tells me that you’re still alive and how you’re feeling ok.”

The mech vented in again, “I…I know I sound…nervous but I would rather just focus on you’re singing than what’s going on.”

”Whatever you say, sir” Paradox sang with a slight giggle at how perfectly timed that was. ”Brainstorm will pay for his behaviour.” She then continued the process of removing the ball socket and pointed to Brainstorm “shh, talk less” the ball joint finally came out with little damage to the socket. Paradox then went in and smoothed out the scratches and put a slightly larger ball joint onto the leg joint so that it fitted the slightly deeper socket.

“I’ll write under a pseudonym, you’ll see what I can do to him.”

Paradox then looked at the servo and saw a bullet in between the wires under a large hole in what remained of palm plating. She moved the plating and drafted a pattern for repairs later on. She then got out a set of tweezers and carefully got out the bullet that resigned from it’s position with ease. There was small adage to the wires with a few shaved down and broken but most just having damage to their protective covers that kept them separated. Using the tweezers and a small solder she reattached the wires and put new covers on them before using the pattern to cut out a new palm plating and put it on.

”He’s stepping down so he can run for president”

Paradox then looked at the arm with lots of wire damage around the shoulder and elbow, looked like a bomb went off nearby.

‘Shrapnel must have cut the wires as it flew past’ she thought looking at the damage before seeing that the chipped and scratched paneling agreed with her on the theory. “Ha! Good luck defeating me, sir” she smiled and she began removing the paneling.

”I’m stepping down I’m not running for president”

Paradox then saw the wires tangled up as she removed the plating. “I’m sorry what?” She hadn’t seen anything like that and looked at the mech confused.

”I…I twist my cabling when I’m nervous” he stuttered, afraid of being yelled at.

Paradox nodded and began untangling the wires “One laast time.” She sang soothingly as she began the process. Most of the wires were already snapped so it was easier than her favorite holiday activity of untangling Christmas lights in her mind, they also weren’t snug together like unwinding embroidery threads so it wasn’t frustrating. It was quite relaxing for her as her hands quickly went through the process. She felt like she needed a warm drink or something as her mind put her back in her room back on earth as she watched the rain from her bedroom window while embroidering a garment she had made.

“One laaast tiiime. Let’s take a break tonight and then we’ll teach ‘em how say goodbye. To say goodbye. Youu aaannd IIIIIIah.”

when she did work like this everything felt so neutral. Like she wasn’t a prisoner, an experiment or a victim, like she wasn’t in a war with any sides even close to the verge of war. Just letting her mind slip into her work was the best time for her and the music often helped her as it stopped the anxiety enduring sounds of warning sirens and fighting. As she finally untwisted all the wires she pitched up a soldering tool and started working.

”I wanna talk about what I have learned. The hard-won wisdom I have earned.”

she felt like herself. While worries about the concern about what people thought about her still plagued her mind, it stayed out of these moment. She felt like the same species as her patients. She often though about how far she came instead, she became a doctor, an unlicensed one sure, but she was trained and knew what she was doing.

”You have to serve, you could continue to serrrve. One laaast tiiiaiaiime. The people will hear from me one laast tiiIme. And if we get this right, we’re gonna teach ‘em how to say goodbyyyeee, you and IIIIIaIIIIah.”

She knew that she was too weak to be on the battlefield so if Paradox had to serve anywhere, she was glad it was the medical ward, that’s where she felt the strongest.

“You’re position is so unique. So I’lll use it to mooove them aaloooOnggg.”

Paradox then looked at the shoulder joint and saw that the joint was gone all together and dove into her box of parts to find the right on and welded it the arm back on before reattaching the wires at the joint. She then held the arm up as her connection with it said goodbye as she watched the arm hit the table “ow” the mech winced raising his arm to his chassis instinctively trying to rub away the pain with his missing servo.

”If I teach them how to say goodbye, the nation learns to moove on. It outlives me when I’m gooone.”

Paradox then went back to the servo and reattached it to the other arm before reattaching the leg and dropping that, once again the mech winced in pain and leant forward to instinctively tend to his leg showing that all of his limbs were working perfectly. Paradox then went on to inspecting all of the plating trying to take notes of the best action needed to repair them before turning around and grabbing some small scrap panel for the arm.

”Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig treee and no one shall make them afraid. They’ll be safe in the nation we made.”

Paradox then began smoothing out the edges carefully on the mech’s arm around his joints before patching on the new parts of the paneling and welding it together. After doing the main patchwork to the arm she moved onto the other limbs which were just buffing out and some occasional much smaller patch work

”I want to sit under my own vine, and fig treee. A moment alone in the shade. At home in this nation wee’ve maaadee. One laaast tiiiiiiime, one laast tiiime.”

Paradox started painting up the limbs like she was in her backyard painting to the sound of music and the chirping of birds. as her mind began to slip away into reviewing the time gone and the incidents she had during her time with the decepticons such as unintentional accidents like the attack that lead to the death of her limbs as well as her own defects such as letting her anxiety get to her and she had this feeling like she had accidentally killed her own baby,even though reports showed they were alive, it’s just that they weren’t growing like everyone had hoped and planned on. She always worried about the error she had made in smoking, though she had stopped at the moment she felt like the moment this baby was born she would go right back to it as she needed something to calm her down, but overtime she found the confidence to play her music more and even expand her comfort zone by singing, allowing her to find peace in those times. She had started to carry with her the hope that she could protect this child, she had to have them now, there was no way around it, her only goal was to protect them from Shockwave and the Decepticons. She knew this meant leaving and she hoped that her new family would understand her view and help her escape. But as of this moment she enjoyed serving the Decepticons with an upright zeal and hopefully after the birth she would be allowed to rest which she unhopefully anticipated knowing that she most likely wouldn’t get it, but the pleasing thought of an unexpected retreat of sorts made her feel better about the near future, as undetermined and unplanned she felt that it was. In her mind there were more negative than positive futures so having a moment to cogitate in the sweet enjoyment in those positive ones stopped the anxiety from creeping in, especially when she was around her fellow bots who most of the time were influenced by bad promises of freedom from a corrupted system but stood by their morals as much as she knew the Decepticons were the oppressive side in the war most of their soldiers had good moral laws. She felt like this was where she was meant to be. The idea of meeting people from different backgrounds felt like childhood nostalgia to her that was lost as she pursued her own passions on earth when becoming an adult, the feelings from her youth had been reignited in her heart which was a good enough reward as it was.

“One laaast tiiiiiiiiiiimmmeeeeee”

Paradox then finished up painting and polished the panelling before giving the mech a final inspection of all the wiring she had fixed before doing a final scan over his vitals to do a check of any other injuries she may have missed while staring at the obvious.

”Teach ‘em how to say goodbye. You and IIIIIaaaahhhIIIIIahhh.”

Paradox then held her servo out to the mech. He looked at it for.a moment wondering what she meant.

“Gooooooinnnggg hoooooooOoooomeeeee”

She gently recoiled her fingered in and out watching as the mech realised what she was indicating. He put his hand in her servo allowing Paradox to pull him up after laying down on the table for a short while.

“History haAass it’s optics yoou, you, yoou, yeeeaahhyeahyeeah.”

Paradox gave him the thumbs up and turned to cleaning her tools, indicating he was fixed.

His optics, however were fixed on Paradox waiting for her to finish singing eagerly as his legs drifted slowly back and forwards almost as if he was showing off that they worked.

Paradox smiled at him while she was cleaning her tools. It began to click with her that the service wasn’t over until the song was. If they wanted a song then she would have to swap from singing in english to Cybertronian.

”We’re gonna teach them how to say goodbye. Teach them how to say goodbye. To say goodbye. Say goood-bye. One last tiiiiiiiiiiimmeeee.” Paradox then felt the optics beaming on her as she took in a deep vent and let out the final word of the song “TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMME!” She then turned around to the mech whose optics looked like they were the widest they had ever been and exploring new territory of his faceplate while his intake was agape like he was trying to say ‘wow’ but forgot what he was doing mid word.

Paradox smiled “do you need help getting up?” She politely and non-chalantly asked holding out her servo. The mech slowly and cautiously put in servo in herse delicately before Paradox helped him up and as she turned to watch him walk out the door. She saw a line of Decepticons both injured and totally fine watching her.

Paradox looked shocked at the turn out, yes she expected injured bots out the wazoo, but not the most politest and slightly chaotically excited makeshift moshpit she had ever seen. She shyly smiled and did a small bow to the audience before turning back to her table and cleaning it off. She looked up across the room to see Knockout working on a femme with a genuine smile as he quickly glanced up at her. Paradox then felt a servo on her shoulder and looked up. “Where were you hiding that P?” He chuckled in astonishment before going in to hug her. “Remember when we first met? You’ve grown so much.” Paradox didn’t know what to do, she just stood there stunned at the response she was getting. She hugged back Breakdown and began to feel tears in her optics.

“Sorry I’m getting you wet” she laughed out the tears of joy onto his chassis.

”Well I’m better built for water splashing on me, unlike K.O” he returned the sentiment hugging her tighter. paradox could feel the warmth of his spark pulsing giving her comfort and a feeling of home. The moment was then politely interrupted by Breakdown’s booming voice. “There’s a line waiting for you, I’ll let you go now.” Paradox then felt him leaving her personal space as she whimpered and sighed a little in a ‘I don’t wanna go’ kind of way. She then wiped her optics as Breakdown went back to the desks and doing small bits of paperwork that he had learnt how to do from Knockout.

Paradox turned back to her brother. “Next up please” she happily called out. Brainstorm let in the next patient like a bouncer to a nightclub talking to those outside of the med bay. It looked like he was getting along almost alright. Paradox could see taking away his ability to be a smart aft was starting to pull him apart, slowly, like pulling loose yarn from a jumper. Paradox then turned her attention to the next patient, she quickly straightened up almost jumping without leaving the floor and delicately covering her intake with the tips of digits. “I wanna say ‘let me guess’ but I cannot figure out what happened. It’s like you jumped off the roof and…”

“Got impaled?” The femme interjected. “Yeah, I thought I could get a good shot from the roof. Turns out it makes me an easier target for the enemy” she shrugged off.

”Look…” Paradox tried to be polite in her words as she helped the femme onto the table “I’m gonna be as nice as I can about this, I am so glad you didn’t fall in front of my window because that would of made me think you were dead and my scanner doesn’t reach that far so you probably would of been stuck there for a while.”

The femme took the help and wobbled her way up onto the table. “It’s alright. As you can tell it barely missed my spark” she optimistically smiled.

”Yesss” Paradox trailed off “but you’ve got many different large punctures in your body” she then held up 3 digits “the number of digits I currently have up are the amount of holes in your body. I’m going to start my assessment by asking: How many digits am I holding up?”

The femme squinted her optic ridges tilting her helm around trying to see how many digits Paradox was holding up “tweeelllvvveee” she drew out.

Paradox scanned her “alright so both of your inner optics are working. Primus knows how, but clearly he is on your side. Looks like the optic cover shattered and your inner optic was either slightly damaged, has broken wire, has been unaligned or a fun combo of the 3. I am going to tell you that 12 is wrong…”

”Oh no. It’s thirteeeeen isn’t it?” She whined “I am so sorry. I am just so clumby like that.”

“Ummmm. Second question. How many holes do you feel right now? I fear your cable system has been badly damaged.” Paradox asked, starting to look at the hole in her chassis.

”I feel 3, I think. It’s like 3 holes spinning around my body so I think it’s niiiine?” Paradox pulled away from the chassis and vented out. The femme curled herself in a bit before hastily word vomiting onto Paradox. “You were holding up 10 digits so I added my lowest guess to that but then I realised I probably overshot the guess so I lowered the number.”

Paradox had a look of concern across their face plate “Third question. do you have a headache in you brain module? Like there’s probably a helmache in the optic area but I’m looking for an internalised one.”

the femme looked at the floor trying to focus on her physical feelings “hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” she vented out slowly. “Maybe a small one but it’s hard to tell with hole in my helm” she shrugged.

“Ok, well… fair point. Just keep me updated on that” Paradox urged. “But for now, can you please lay down and I will start the procedure.”

“I’m ok with that.” She smiled as she laid down “I was going to ask for a fun song but I think I would rather something theatrical.”

“Sure” Paradox quickly got to work as she hit play spinning around casually to turn to her tools. She moved the ceiling apparatus over top of her paitent and turned the light on so she could examine the holes better. She looked at the door and she moved her focus form the light to the injured femme and saw the crowd outside waiting to see what she was going to sing. She really had shaken things up and made herself a headline make within the walls of the prison she called home.

”Hmm” she inspected the hole on the hoop as she sang. It looked more like a bite than a hole she was hoping there wasn’t too much lost. The only thing that would take longer than putting everything back together 3 times was remaking everything before putting it back together 3 times.

”I get up…Iee get up. And no one's gonna keep me down.”

As Paradox examined the hip she sighed a massive vent of relief. Everything was still there. It looked like it just got compacted together on impact than having a chunk removed like the injury suggested by it’s appearance. She then took some tweezers and pliers and began removing the plating and any shrapnel and any other extra bits and bobs that the femme had collected from the roof until it was clear, Paradox looked at the amount of roof stuff she had just taken out.

‘The top of this roof must of not have been cleaned in a while.’ Paradox thought as she continued her not worried at all demeanour, injuries aside, with the amount of scrap she had just taken out it was a sanitary issue, she swore she took out an optic at some point. Was it the femmes? Who knows. It looked old, but also the dust from that roof could make Knockout look more than ancient from just a simple sneeze accidentally blowing it onto him.

”These folks here, well, they pump the gas”

Paradox fetched her tools as she looked over the core body. Luckily the femme was mostly panneling around the hips so only medium fractures were the worst case here. She left the minor chipped parts as they wouldn’t cause any extra issues, it was like a scratch on the bone, if anything she just shined them up and cleaned them a bit before moving into the fractures that required small reinforcements welded around them to stop them from breaking any further, unfortunate they didn’t have the resources to fix every issue. However the worst fractures were clean cuts Paradox debated on replacing the parts or add more reinforcement after welding the fracture back together. She looked over at her box of scraps and sighed after she noticed that she wouldn’t be able to do a full replacement, she would have to note that in the paper work.

”Some of us a winners, some were born to lose.”

Pardox looked over at the gold and teal mech playing security guard at the door still struggling to hold his scrap together as she went to grab a heat gun. Paradox then looked at the fuel lines and saw minor tears in them she heated up the plastic like material and smoothed the holes shut before reorganising the wires so that they weren’t tangled up together causing stress on the circuits under the tension of walking.

”The Walmart greeter with an overdrawn credit card.”

She then looked over the femme. She had a choice to make. Head or chassis? Both had their pros and cons.

”He smokes cy-gars, oooo, it’s so grooovy”

If she went for the head then she could turn allow the brain module more access to it essential needs for continue working, but she could risk the patient feeling the surgery more if she turned on any damaged pain or sensory processors, which would be a nerve racking feeling right before working around the spark.

”To stay home and watch an Adam Sandler movie”

But if she worked on the chassis that could bring energon back to the body and it would be flowing quicker but the rush could cause loss of a needed supply when it would be flowing to the brain module.

”She serves me drugs and medium lies.”

Paradox pushed her tool cart around behind her as she moved up to the brain. The apparatus was moved over the hole in the optic. The damage just touched the brain module. She wasn’t a brain surgeon, she knew that she had to look into it a bit more. All Paradox really knew was there was a casing around the module itself that allowed the fuel lines and wires to conduct enough energy to quickly shoot out to the rest of the body. The zone between the casing and the module was like an energizing booster zone, she could fix up a small casing issue but not anything more, it’s not every cycle that someone comes in with an injured module so the practice never happened, but she of course read about it when she first came to Cybertron while learning the language.

All that time ago.

Scrap.

”And, no, thanks. I don’t want it supersized. ‘Cause that low class. Diabetes in a cup. Keep your head down and things will look up.”

Paradox moved the light closer and got out her scanner to see the damage better. She could see either a scratch or a crack in the casing. With the combined forces of the light, the scanner, Paradox’s optics and her knowledge she interpreted the injury as a deep scratch, she made a note for Knockout to reinspect the module at a later date to look into the damage and see if she was correct. All she could really do at this point was just patch up the scratch using a brazing technique. Paradox grabbed a filler metal spinning it in between her fingers like a drummer showing off as she moved back to the station. She began to repair the scratch by filling the layer with a similar metal.

”I’m the shaker, I’m the headline maker. Hmmmm. I get up. I get ughp. And no ones gonna take me down.”

Paradox scanned over the brain module and saw that everything was working a better around the area of the scratch as the energy wasn’t escaping anymore, even if it was a slight improvement, it was better than just leaving it and allowing any of the energy it takes to make a brain module functional escape no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, these things just had to be taken seriously in Paradox’s mind. If Knockout had taugh her anything it was to keep an eye on the smallest of details. Paradox then looked out the rest of the hole and saw a small puncture in the wires connecting the module to the rest of the body, it would explain the sight issue as this cluster of wires were responsible for bodily automony, this puncture was really rarin’n to fail some portions of the body. Paradox then looked through her draw on her cart to find the spare wires. She went down 7 small compartments and fumbled through at least 11 different wires trying to find the right ones, once she found them she took them straight out of the compartments that housed them like a jail cell and turned back around to her paitent.

”Maybe steal hubcaps, maybe steal booze. Expressing himself with his homemade tattoosss. Soccer muuuum. Minivaaaan…”

Paradox was fiddling with the wires trying to seperate them like little brats, none of them wanted to stay put. Paradox took a deep vent in and steadied her hands and separated them enough so that she could begin repairs.

”Do we really need AH-nother organ donor?….Maybe that was a little harsh!?Love you, heh.

OoOoOh, Pokémon? Spider-Man? This Kid doesn’t have an attention spaan.”

Paradox then looked back at the shrapnel she had pulled from the areas and tried to piece back as much as she could back together like she was solving a Rubik’s cube.

“How long’s he got if we feed him through a tube?”

Once she had the information she needed Paradox spun around to make a new faceplate section for the femme. She dug through her box of scraps moving pieces around and shaking a few cylinder shaped pieces.

”Hmmmmmmm”

Pardox then got up like the weight on her stomach wasn’t pulling her down. She began cutting out the shape she needed as she moved back to her table to make cuts so precise that a Swarovski crystal cutter would be jealous. Paradox carefully put the new faceplate part on and reattached it before smoothing it out to make it look more apart of the plating rather than a patch.

”Oh Yes! Oh Yes! Ohisn’t someone keeping scoorrrre? I gotta say this out laaaaaaoooouD! I mean DO We REally Need aNOther Zerooohhh? Or zer-oh? Or zer-oh? Or zer-oh? Or zer-oh?”

Paradox then glided down to the chest where the spark was shined brightly without any protection. She gathered up the pieces of its protective casing and once she added up as much as she could there wasn’t enough to make a full casing, she had to start from point zero.

”What you really need is a fother mucking HE-r-oh!”

Paradox kept an optic on the spark as she began to remake the casing. It was something she hadn’t done before, sure she had done patch ups and closed cracks or buffed out scratches but remaking the whole part? That was new, she knew she could learn on the job, surely it wouldn’t be that much different, right? She looked through the data pads that were sitting around and located the right one and quickly opened it and began to read through it, trying to copy the instructions carefully.

”and oh oh…”

after making the left and right side of the protective casing, Paradox then looked back at the spark, she remembered reading that sparks were made at The Well by using the power of 2 or more sparks at some point, she took a mental note that she had some re-reading to do now that she was much better at the language.

Paradox looked back at the femme’s casing, hopefully this would be able to function fine if this femme wanted to use her spark for that later in life. Paradox knew that a choice needed to work both ways in these kinds of situations. She often wondered if her siblings watched over her, trying to experience a life they almost had through her. Paradox felt so much pressure loom over her as she placed the casing on either side of the spark. She made sure the casing had a window that would hopefully open up when the femme wanted it to. Paradox felt like she was placing a soul in a possible jail, never to be opened to the outside again, her servos began to shake from the anxiety crawling like ants and beetles over her body. Paradox relaxed her arms as she inhaled deeply and focused on her singing to try and control her breathing better.

”Yes there’s a problem. I’m the solution. Darwin had a theory caallled ‘EVO-looTion’ he put it into words but it’s plain to see. We need a little less of them, a little more of mE.”

As her hands steadied Paradox then pushed the sides together until she heard a click. The Spark began to spin around inside the casing as the light that was spewing out from it retracted inside the casing, the sudden build up of energy made the casing shake in Paradox’s servos. Paradox tried to keep the casing together as it pushed against her. Had it not taken? Did she fuck up? Paradox kept on singing like nothing was wrong and like she wasn’t internally having a panic attack, she just kept on breathing and using her singing to calm her down until the moving a squirming of the casing slowed down as the spark got used to it’s new home. Paradox slowly removed her servos that were holding everything in place and saw the incased spark relax back into the chassis like it was supposed to. She then reconnected the wired as quickly as she could to stop energon from spilling out before doing a quick infusion to replace anything that the femme could have lost during the surgery.

”And no ones gonna keep me down!”

Paradox did one final vent in as she did one final check over the femmes vitals.

”DAH-OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWNNNNNN!”

An applause could be heard from outside as the song ended. She then looked down at the femme.

”How are you feeling?” Paradox asked.

The femme rubbed her forehelm ”a bit fuzzy in the helm but I think I’ll be fine.”

“Mmmmmmm” Paradox hummed like a concerned mother. “Sweety… I think you have a concussion. I suggest not doing anything vigorous or stupid for the next couple of cycles and come back here if the fuzzy dont go away in 5 cycles, ok?”

The femme wobbled as she stood up still rubbing her face “sure thing Doc.” She smiled as she walked out with a slight sway in her step. It looked natural but with a concussion any basically trained medic could tell something wasn’t quite right but it wasn’t harmful to her. Paradox knew that she would be fine though especially since she herself had done worse after her own concussions back on earth.

”Hey Brainstorm!” She called out while cleaning her station. “How longs the line?!”

Brainstorm ducked his helm slightly out the door “like 2 low - medium risk injuries and 5 low severity cuts. Ready for the next one?”

Paradox fixed up her station making it neat and visually pretty. “Yep! Send the next one in” she announced happily “knowing Knockout, hopefully it’s the last.” She softly mumbled to herself as she stretched her back and arms after spending so much time hunched over. “Also congrats on making it this far, no matter what happens you’ve pleasantly surprised me.” Paradox applauded in a gratifying tone. Brainstorm looked over with a subtle winning smirk as he let in a mech with a deep gash from his right hip to left knee. Paradox playfully rolled her optics at her brother.

”Hello, I would ask what you need help with today but I assume it doesn’t have anything to do with that gash would it?” She sarcastically asked as she helped the mech on to the table.

”Oh” he laughed like one of those truckers that Paradox saw at all the servos she and her father stopped at on the way to and from his work. “This old thing? I’ve had it for ages now!” He gleamed, he came off as nostalgic for her like a trucker who spent his Christmas at a mall being Santa. Paradox could easily imagine his onsite name being something like Boozy Clause or Quadruple Fat Gold, Fat Goldie for short. Paradox couldn’t help but laugh at his sarcasm in return, she felt like he was going to ask if she wanted to drive his big old rusty mining CAT truck that had lost its vivid yellow colours to dirt and grime, saying it was safe because they were the biggest thing on the road.

”Jeez” she smiled “so I’m assuming you’re here for a bit of chitter chat then?” She asked as she scanned the gash to see two joints that needed replacing, she was amazed none of the wires were broken.

”Actually I wouldn’t mind your regular service.” He chuffed before guestering to her “dealers choice” he smiled.

Paradox smiled. She shook his shoulder like she had been trained to by the worksite men looking after her while her dad was at an onsite meeting “You got it mech.”

”Nice grip you got there young femme.” He complimented

“I learnt from the best” she quietly announced to him before leaning in and whispered “none of which are in this room, though the one at the desk gives a good run for my shanix.” She looked over at Breakdown and smiled as she did a small guestering wave at him. He returned the wave with a happy but confused expression.

Paradox then stood up and knew instantly what song to do. A classic song that she adored and demanded to be played in every pub she went to with her father. Her onsite name changed from location to location but often revolved around how much she wanted this song to be played and how everyone was pleasantly surprised by her taste in music. This song really brought her back to her routes of orange dirt and hand me down cowboy boots and hat combo from her father after a long day of being the cute child wandering around the work site with her oversized hi-vis vest following her father around like his little shadow and being gifted all sorts of things like shiney rocks, beer lid caps, local fauna and flora if there was any, screws that probably belonged back in the equipment they fell from, but if it ran fine then it was good enough and if she was in areas where the gold rush happened she would often be given small specks of gold or pieces that were large enough to smuggle off site in her tiny pockets if she hadn’t found them herself. In those towns she was more known for her keen eye to find the sparkly stuff than anything else. She remembered some of the workers giving her so much gold to put in her pockets and when they all met up later at the pub they would split their findings evenly after they started playing her favorite song, because who would steal from a child? Let alone the project manager’s child? If anything she got the scraps and leftovers no one wanted or couldn’t 100% identify leading to her ending up having the most shiney stones at the end of the day.

Paradox smiled at the nostalgia. Suddenly this room felt like she was back in Kalgoorlie or the Pilbara.

”Now listen!” She cheered out confidently “hoooo-aaah we’re stepping out!”

She paused as she grabbed the tool she needed to begin the operation as the suspense of what she was about to sing, Paradox smiled, hoping to bring in those foot stomping and late night pub singing vibes she grew up with.

”I’mma tuurrrn arroound…

Gonna turn around once and we’ll do the Eagle Rock.”

As the digital non-existent band started playing she could feel her body start rocking. She looked over the gash and smoothed out the narrow gash so that she could have better access to the joints and wouldn’t risk cutting herself while doing so. After dealing with so many cuts and gashes she did it so well at this point that the action was automatic and allowed her to focus more on her singing which she knew she also did pretty well, especially Eagle Rock.

everything was going like her fine rockin’ she felt like this was a sign that something was going to go wrong, she hoped it didn’t but everything was going too well in her gut’s mind. But she took out the hip joint and saw a slight bent in the concave part wasn’t exactly a curve anymore, more like one of those dusty Kangaroo ahead signs out just before hitting Meekatharra with her presence before getting to Wiluna. She the got out a small hammer and bent it back into sharp before buffing out any small lumps and bumps.

”Hey-ey-ey! Good old Eagle Rock is here to stay!”

Everyone outside started catching onto the vibes and while they weren’t going crazy Paradox could see a mass out the corner of her optic swaying and bobbing up and down as she welded in the first joint back in place. She then checked to see if it was working by rockin’ the mech’s hip back and forth to watch how it behaved to the action. She put a bit of oil in there to stop the stuttering rolling movement it was doing and moved to look at the knee joint.

“Woah-oh-ho”

She didn’t want to move too quickly if she didn’t have to. Paradox could feel the vibes slow down in the office as the line became shorter and shorter, the office almost felt empty. Paradox saw that the ball on the joint had a deep scratch. She took out the left over brazing stuff and carefully patched up the scratch before sanding and buffing it smooth, adding oil once she was done. Paradox twisted the knee to the side rockin’ like she did before, everything seemed fine.

”Why dont you give me a sign? Just gotta give me a sign and wee’lll do the Eagle Rock”

Paradox shone a light over the free space to see if there was anything else doing harm to the mech. She saw a few old core body parts and pipes covered in dust with the usual wear and tear, maybe a screw or two missing, but nothing too serious. All the important parts seemed as steady and as strong as a rock and was definitely here to stay.

”I’m just crazy about the way we move…”

Paradox then was startled a bit when she sang the next line as she now had a small choir of sort out side

“Doin’ the Eagle Rock!” They all chanted Paradox smiled as the atmosphere became more calm and community based. Paradox had never really the Decepticons be more than a bunch of soldiers making do with those around them, sure she had heard about it, but seeing it first hand made her realise how far the Decepticon cause had strayed from its original intent. She then began hearing some clapping in time with the beat as the bopping became faster and more confident like some group project that everyone wanted to do. Nothing felt slow anymore, the pace was peaceful.

Paradox was going crazy over this internally trying to keep a steady beat as she patched up the panneling of the mec. She was trying to find long enough peice so that she wouldn’t have to jigsaw it back together and get it all in one patch up job.

Suddenly the sound of clapping was hushed and replaced by the sounds of steps.

They sounded different, they were in time to the music but not in a foot stomp kind of way.

These steps were cold.

Paradox looked up and saw all the bots out side looking in the same direction.

”What’s going on out there?” Breakdown asked as he stood up from the desk.

”Scraaaaaaappppp” Brainstorm replied “It’s Soundwave” he hushed signalling the music to be turned down.

Suddenly everything went quiet.

Paradox didn’t dare look away from her work, Knockout spoke from his table continuing his work.

”Soundwave, to what do we owe this pleasure to” he greeted. It seemed like out of the big 3 leaders of the Decepticons Soundwave caused the least amount of issues for Knockout so his greeting didn’t sound pissed off, annoyed, scared maybe a little concerned but not as much as he would be around Shockwave.

Soundwave tilted his helm as he looked around as if he was questioning why there were so many deceptions located in such a small area.

”Oh this?” Brainstorm chimed in. Paradox, Knockout and Breakdown all widened their optics and as Soundwave turned around, Knockout continued to glare at Brainstorm, Breakdown was fanning his hand horizontally in front of throat as if to say ‘cut it out’, Paradox formed a beak shape with her servo and began slamming it closed in time with her intake as she mouthed the word ‘up’ as quickly as she could with a look of demanding and concerned fury sprawled across her faceplate.

Brainstorm brushed them all off and continued talking and subtly towards Paradox lowered his fisted servo then stuck his thumb out from the fist facing towards himself and the door before doing a little peddling motion with it

Breakdown walked up to Paradox whose face had become a little bit more cranky and leaned in to whisper “what’s he doing?”

Paradox sighed “Australian Sign Language. He’s saying its alright”

Paradox held her servos up like she was about to catch a ball with Breakdown following the motion and dramatically channeling all her fury into the quick and stiff dropping motion of her arms keeping her servos in the same position while aggressively mouthing the word ‘REALLY?” Breakdown trailed the motion on a slight delay as he was learning alongside Paradox doing the motion.

Brainstorm then retracted his thumb back into the fist and made a stiff nodding yes motion with it and he began talking again before Paradox had time to even respond.

”See we’re just fixing bots up here making sure everything’s fine. We don't want failing cons out on the field" he was as confident as ever.

Paradox held up her servos with her pointer and middle digit up straight and glued together with the backs of them facing Brainstorm, Breakdown continued to follow the movements and watched as she moved them down from beside her faceplate and twisted them so that the backs were now facing towards the ceiling as if they were protruding through just below her chassis as a right angle. Her faceplate as serious as ever eyeing down Brainstorm.

Breakdown leaned in again “what does this mean?” He asked repeating the movement.

Paradox leaned up to his audial “deceased, perish, die” she responded emphasising the in the coffin motion that she was doing.

Soundwave just stared back outside the door.

”Oh these guys?” Brainstorm chuffed. “They like watching medical stuff, its a lot of fun. You should give it a try”

Paradox then pointed to her forehelm with her right servo before bringing back down to her other fist and clapped both fists together like she was a monkey slamming symbols together.

She then turned to break down “idiot” she stated as she turned back to Brainstorm

Soundwave then tilted his helm at Brainstorm. “Ok fine” Brainstorm rolled his optics so nonchalantly. “We play music here from time to time. These guys just like it” he shrugged.

Paradox formed a fist with her right servo and used her left to disappointingly lean against the table. She brought the fist just beside her intake and dramatically and loudly mouthed the word ‘PRIMUS” as she did small violent shakes of her fist.

Breakdown leaned down to Paradox “I dont think I need a definition for that one” he murmured.

Soundwave turned back around and did a motion towards Paradox as if to say ‘proceed’.

Paradox’s face plate tried so hard to not screw itself into a black hole formed from her frustration as she decided to continue the song. Breakdown returned to the desk and attempted to get back to doing paperwork but more productively.

Paradox felt her nerves overcome her. The thought of having to perform around someone who she didn’t feel comfortable being near ate away at her mind, she could feel the anxiety gnawing away at her ability to control her venting as it began to loose it’s steadiness before it decided that it’s second course would be her ability to stand up with a straight poster and as she began to hunch over all those little nibbling creatures made of fear and the thoughts of not being able to see a future of getting out of this without negative repercussion fell forward with gravity leading them towards her ability to speak.

She knew what she had to do, if it was between signing a song or fixing a patient and continuing her duties as a doctor she knew what she had to do.

The patient came first.

Meaning she had to get her anxiety under control.

She had to fight the feeling, the creatures, she couldn’t let them go for the main meal before finishing their entrees.

She put her servo delicately on the table she had next to her work bench and undid the breaks on them allowing them to be wheeled around to be used as a rolling walking frame.

Paradox vented in and began a soft hum and she closed her optics to the world around her.

”Hm-hmhm-hm hm hm”

The wheels squeaked as they began their new purpose.

”Hm-hmhm-hm hm hm”

Paradox leaned on the trolly drawing it closer to her as if it was replacing her real leg.

”Hm-hmhm-hmhm hm hm hm hm”

She vented in deeply again trying to restock her breathing.

”Hm-hmhm-hm hm hm”

She felt the room become cold from its emptiness.

”Hm-hmhm-hm hm hm”

But warm from her own presence.

“Hm-hmhm-hmhm hm hm hmmmmmmmmm”

She felt a tear roll out from under her closed optics as she raised her free servo in the air allowing her faceplate to rest delicately against her upper arm.

The optics she felt on her turned into spotlights, inanimate objects.

She allowed the final hum to draw out the last of her breath.

She took a deep breath in trying to stretch out her tight chest.

She vented out trying to blow away the pests in her body.

She felt herself back at the Dailingbrup town hall, on a stage that framed the old red velvet curtain. The stage was made of wood begging to be free from it’s hell, screaming for freedom yet pinned down like a prisoner crying under every movement that was made. Paradox knew this stage like it was a part of her body, she knew that 1 and a bit leaps forward would lead to a fall compared to a cliff rising up from a pit that had hidden its end over the shroud of darkness.

Yet she felt a presence.

She knew who this was.

It was somehow two in the one form.

She could feel one side telling her to look up and smile like a performing monkey while the other impatiently waiting for the strange creature to move. Its stare could be felt through Paradox’s eyelids and it translated to screaming in her mind.

Perform was the answer.

But performing was what it wanted.

What did she want?

Freedom.

Where could she get that from?

Paradox felt herself try everything but she couldn’t leave the stage.

Debating,

Mock trials,

Rollerskating,

Aerials,

Horse riding,

Drama,

Sewing.

This one figure never moved and was always on her.

Paradox was on a stage with this figure staring at her quietly on top of the abyss and yelling that she would never be as good as the others simultaneously.

No matter what she did she couldn’t see past the fact that she was becoming a bird trapped in a cage but just with different decorations.

She could change the decorations, she had the skill to adapt and learn each thing. No matter how she redecorated that cage she was learning more about herself.

But her cage felt empty and no matter how she decorated it. It felt like a void and it never stopped the feeling of being watched and ridiculed by the creature sitting just outside, nothing she did could appease it.

Maybe it was time to learn how to live with it?

This creature wasn’t going away anytime soon, and Paradox had already learnt so much trying to get rid of it. Paradox felt her cage expand to fit in new decorations and while she still felt like it hadn’t solved all her problems it made her feel satisfied in her accomplishments.

Paradox took a deep breath in.

”Grew up in a small town”

She felt the stage become bigger.

”and the rain would fall down”

The curtains drew so far back that they disappeared behind the wings.

“I’d just stare out my win-doooow”

The ornate framing of the stage unraveled.

”Dreamin’ of what could be”

The stage rattled as the gap between it and the end of the abyss disappeared.

”And if I’d end up happy”

The creature was still there but it’s presence was out shon by the lights around her.

”And I would praaaaaaay”

The spotlight slowly began to tear apart into thousands of little lights.

”Trying hard to reach out”

The lights then began to look like a galaxy of stars around her.

”But when I tried to speak out”

Then the lights began to form distinct pairs.

”felt like no one could heeeeear me”

She then saw then become optics.

”wanted to belong here”

The flooring started to scream in relief as the wood was finally free revealing a metal flooring beneath

”But somethingfeltso wrong here.”

She vented in seeing the decorations and cage morphed into an empty medical room.

”So I praaaayed.”

Paradox then felt her soul re-enter the room.

”I could breaaaaaak aa-waaaaaay.”

She then felt herself reconnect with her body and the room felt whole again.

”I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to flyy. I’ll do what it takes ‘till I touch the skyy”

Paradox then looked around and saw that everything was back to normal. She then looked in front of her as she blinked her way back into reality to find the tall blue bot with a casset player as his chest staring back at her.

”And I’ll make a wish. take a chance. Make a change. And Breaaaaak AA-waaaaay.”

That malicious staring suddenly didn’t feel malicious anymore. It felt more threateningly curious like he was hoping she would use her skill to be productive.

”Out of the darkness and into the sun. But I won’t forget all the ones that I love. I’ll take a risk. Take a chance. Make a change. And Breaaaak AA-waaaay.”

Paradox picked up the scrap metal that she had found earlier.

”da-da-da un -da-da. da-da-da un da-da. Da-da-da un da-da-da-da”

She placed it on top of the injured mech carefully and inspected her servos.

”Wanna feel the warm breeze. Sleep under a palm tree. Feeel the rush of the ooceaaaan.”

Her servos had a slight tremor but were a lot more controllable than what they were.

”Get on board a fast train. Travel on a jet plaaaane.”

Paradox then saw that the piece needed a bit of trimming and shaping before it could fit into the gash. She traced out the hole to what her abilities would allow before cutting it out.

”Faaaaar AAA-waaaaaaay, I will. And Breaaaaaak AA-waaaaay!”

She got out her welder and welded the metal into the hole open across the mech’s lower abdomin.

”I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly. I’ll do what it takes ‘till I touch the sky. And I’ll make a wish. Take a chance. Make a change. And Breaaaaak AAA-waaaay.”

She got out the last of the brazing stuff she had on her and patched up any large holes that the metal didn’t quite get.

”Out of the darkness and into the sun. I won’t forget all the ones that I love. I gotta take a risk. Take a chance. make a change. And Breaaaaak AAA-waaaaaay.”

Paradox looked back her trolly and went searching for her buffer and other tools that she used to smooth out the mech’s body so that it didn’t look like he was patched up.

”Buildings with a hundred floors. Swinging around revolving doors. Maybe I don’t know where they’ll take me, but Gotta keep moving on, moving on.”

She ran her hand across the now smooth surface of the mech’s panelling, brushing off any filings and dust residue left behind.

”I’ll spread my wings and learn how to fly!”

She glided delicately over to the paints and got some colours that she hopped would recreate the one on the mech before gliding back.

”Though it’s not easy to tell you goodbye!”

Paradox got out a futuristic looking air paint gun and set it aside while she mixed and matched colours swatch testing every couple of mixed near the new paneling. Luckily all those years painting fabrics and doing art classes allowed her to find it quicker than a regular medic.

”I gotta take a risk. Take a chance. Make a change. And Breaaaaak AAA-waaaaaay Out of the darkness and into the sun.”

The paint was then placed into the paint gun which began whirring and lit up as if the paint acted as it’s fuel. Paradox waited a moment before spraying it on in a beautifully fast almost whimsical gliding motion at a small distance away from the mech.

”But I won’t forget of the place I come from! I gotta take a risk. Take a chance. Make a change. And Breaaaak AAAAA-waaaaaaaay!”

She then took out a heat gun and set the paint as she smiled out the last words of the song.

”Breaaaaaak AA-waaaay. Breaaaaaaaak AA-waaaaaaaaay.”

She then helped the mech to his pedes.

”Hows the joints feeling?” She asked

The mech smiled like a proud father beaming with joy. “I feel good as new! Ya know for a newbie you’re doing a marvelous job here.”

”Oh!” Paradox gratefully acknowledged “Thanks you so much. I mean this as politely as possible but I really hope I don’t see you here any time soon.”

The mech laughed and walked off waving to Soundwave as he exited the door, weaving through the crowd that looked like they wanted to applaud but were waiting for Soundwave to do something.

Soundwave turned his helm from the mech and onto Paradox.

”Human” he nodded, farewelling her in his own way. He turned to look at Knockout and nodded at him before walking out through the crowd.

Paradox felt her body tense up a bit as she looked at the crowd who were waiting for Soundwave to leave their sights before turning back to look at her.

”Do you know what a human is?” Paradox nervously chuffed.

A few hushed murmurs were heard through the crowd and Paradox sighed, she felt like she was getting outed and she was scared of how they would react. She hoped that her work spoke loudly enough for itself.

”I’m an alien” she nervously shrugged trying to pass it off as casual. “I’m sorry if I misled you but as you know I have been training under Knockout and I’ve been doing a decent job.” She paused for a moment before taking a moment to humble herself “Hopefully.”

”Decent?!” Someone yelled out.

”We think you’ve been doing a great job!” Another spoke.

”Yeah why do you think we’ve been asking for you?” A third spoke like she was an idiot.

”As long as all of us are coming out alive and well we don’t care!” The group then cheered in agreement after the last statement was made.

Paradox smiled and looked at Knockout who was smiling watching the crowd appreciate her.

Paradox then felt a servo on her shoulder.

”Looks like you’ve been doing a great job P!” Breakdown boomed. Paradox then wrapped her arm around him as he started to pat her shoulder.

”Alright! Alright!” Brainstorm hushed. “We have one more Patient, Who wants the honours?”

”Maybe give this one to Knockout?” Paradox suggested guestering to Knockout from across the room “I’ve gotta clean my station, he looks like he’s ready to go now.”

Brainstorm then let the mech in. He looked pretty beaten up both physically and emotionally. The mech then turned to Brainstorm as he wobbled in through the door. “Can you help me?” He mumbled dizzily “I can’t straight.”

”Can’t do what straight?” Brainstorm asked tilting his helm and he went to try and pick the mech up like a damsel in distress.

”Yessssss” he slowly blurted out before slowly stating “I wish Novastorm was carrying me like this”

Paradox then looked closer at the mech. “You were the mech with Slick and Racer weren’t you?” She slyly asked as loud as she could so that Brainstorm could make the connection.

“Yeah” the mech moaned. “I guess I got what I wanted. Kinda. A bot with the last name of storm carrying me all romantically and an injury to show off to them.”

Paradox watched Brainstorm’s optics try to widen only to be stopped by the twitching

Pardox then held out 3 digits and Break down counted down.

”3”

”2”

”1”

”0”

Brainstorm hazidarly dropped him on the table in front of Knockout “ya know” he seethed after spending a while cycle not being able to be witty. “I learnt how to carry like that because I used to be a mortician putting bodies in the casket.” He then sadistically titled his helm as the eye twitching stopped “Will you be the next one?”

The mech looked like he had just seen Megatronus as he trembled a little bit.

Brainstorm then heard cheering from across the room as if he was at a sports game with 2 claps between each cheer.

”Let’s go Muppet! Let’s go!” Paradox cheered sarcastically from across the room.

Brainstorm rolled his optics and he started to head towards Breakdown and Paradox “Fine you win” he smiled cockily. He then looked up at Breakdown and sighed a little.

”You put up a great fight” Breakdown congratulated as he put out his servo to shake Brainstorm’s.

”Thank you” he conceded “I’ll make reservations after this and I’ll make sure you get that booth.”

”You’re efforts almost make me want to go easy on you” Knockout agreed. Brainstorm then turned around with the unknown spreading fear through his optics. “Almost” Knockout devilishly smiled as he started work on the mech.

Paradox and Breakdown laughed at Brainstorm who turned back around “Am I going to die?”

Breakdown shrugged “I don’t think sooo?” His word dragged out slowly from his vocal processor.

Paradox also shrugged but had a smile to match Knockout’s “Muppet” she sneered and giggled.

Knockout then inserted himself back into the conversation with a knowing and cocky smiled on his faceplate “Welcome to the clan.”

Chapter Text

Bunbury, Western Australia.
March 7th 2007, 5:37pm.

A husband leaves the general practitioner’s building with his arms draped around his wife. Behind them waddled a small child looking around. She always found the building fascinating. She also adored her doctor’s little garden in his office which occurred from the weird shape of the building leaving a small triangle of open space that had a sliding door entrance. The child love staring at the dog, she swore he was alive and was just really good at musical statues. She thought about the dog playing and helping the doctor out with other people making them happy. She always wished for a puppy. But unfortunately her mother was against it, she just assumed it was a British thing as she was always told how small it was in Britain compared to Australia. She ran up to her parents who were a bit away and about the walk through the car park.

The child held onto her Dorothy the Dinosaur bag as she ran and touched her dad’s fabric leg brace thing. Her father looked down and tilted his head “Mr Constable Care said that I should hold a responsible adult’s hand while crossing the road” she smiled as she lifted her hand up. Her mother gave her a look, it wasn’t of jealously but also not anger, maybe more of a weird in between.

”Ria” her father softly spoke. “This is a car park, not a road. I should know I build them.”

”But aren’t roads and car parks made from bitch-ah-men? They both use the bitch-ah-mens” she tilted her head.

Her father rolled his eyes and sighed. “Look, can you be a big girl and walk besides us please?” He asked with an undertone of authority or frustration, she didn’t know which was which.

She kept close by them clutching onto her pink bag with a green dinosaur with yellow polka dots wearing a pair of white gloves and hat with a rose stuck into the brim, her toothy overbite smiling to the world. The child ran next to her parents trying to not trip over. “Can you slow down?” She politely called out “Mr Constable Care also said no running on roads and I only have little legs.”

Her parents continued to walk until they got to an atomic green Holden VE Commodore that was cleaned off for a race and showcase that weekend a long way away from home. Her father clicked the button on his keys and unlocked the car helping his wife get in. He walked around the back and saw his child trying to catch up and get to the seat behind her mother.

“Hurry up.” He barked as he opened his door “you don’t want us to leave you behind again do you?”

The child shook her head and sprinted to the car door as she remembered the last time she threw a tantrum. As she got in the car she saw her mother softly wiping her face. She tilted her head trying to understand the emotion. “Are those crocodile tears?” She innocently asked. Her mother started to cry as her father turned around.

“Ria West Sutton” her father roared. “We’re not getting you a happy meal now.” He ordered.

The child felt her eyes water up “but you say mum does a lot of crocodile tears, I thought it meant tha..”

”Shut up now!” He ordered.

”Ok” the child sniffled.

”What happened to shut up?” He asked as he looked back and sighed “Now tears? Stop crying.”

The car backed out and drove to the exit of the car park and followed the road that traced the outside of a footy oval to a set of traffic lights. The mother turned off the radio and the father would rub her shoulder from time to time during the car trip home, it was quiet but the child didn’t want to risk saying a word as she watched the city turn into the country road that divided a hill into two before twirling around another passing the old out of use railroad and the shed that held all the road tractors and trucks. The shed was starting to look a bit disheveled but it was still all good to use.

The family then entered the town that they called home and passed the town hall that the child would do dancing at once a week after school, shortly before they passed the high school the child assumed she would go to some day when she was big and grown. The sign telling trying to everyone about the Labour Day holiday through its yellow tinted cracked plastic covering that should have been changed a while ago, both the plastic and the message. At the top of the steep hill there was an eroding wooden house covered in scout emblems and paint trying to hide its age with a large metal cage out front for cans to be recycled by the town once a month. On the other side hidden amongst the jarrah trees was a two story small brown bricked hospital. The child had never been in that hospital, it was nothing like the one in Bunbury though, it looked cold and dark amongst the trees that shaded it from the hot sun. As they reached their last kilometre the child saw a sandy dusty path made by people trampling through the same area for what must of been a century with an oval race track behind it where she saw an old Toyota pickup truck from the decade past covered in matching dust speeding around the oval towing a mattress with a teenager holding tightly onto the edges of it only wearing jeans ripped from wear and tear, a dusty shirt and a motorbike helmet with a broken visor and a few dents in it. The child couldn’t wait to be a teenager so that she could try out what she dubbed ‘Mattress Racing’. As the racers became specks in the distance she saw all the houses near her home on the left side of the car and bush on the right, she leaned against the left window trying to spot any dogs or horses out and about before turning up her street which recently had a new street developed off the side of it. She then leaned up against the window even more and waved at a house made from the same sandstone that the town provided to Parliament House a few decades ago. With a timber looking tiled roof, she eagerly waved hoping to see her teacher as the car pulled up to the red bricked driveway that led to a light and forest green house with red wood chips acting as pools to the shrubs and trees that grew there.

The child eagerly opened the door and ran to the back yard to feed the animals. She went into the alfresco and opened the seeds and went across the backyard being careful near the wood chopping block next to the shed that matched the deep Forrest green roof. She peaked her head around the corner to see if Mr No-Tail was lurking around. She then opened the hatch and tipped the feed into the chook feeder.

”hello chick-eeens” she sang “have you seen Mr No-Tail? Dad said I can’t ride him but I think if I pat him he’ll like me and take me on a ride and we can be bushrangers together! Then he can be like our pet dog! I can feed him all of mum's yucky slow cooked meals that dad says is for old people." She then squatted down and reached out to pat the brown isa chooks “hello Clucky” she picked her up, much to her disapproval. “cluck cluck cluck” she mimicked as she cuddled her. “You’re coming with me today” she smiled as she took Clucky up to the house to grab a cup of pellets and took it to a small hut off to the side of the garden a little bit closer to the house but next to the chopping block. “Hello Footton! Hello Fluffy!” She greeted as she put Clucky down to scratch around the rabbits, one a dark dusty brown, the other albino with bloodshot eyes. The child knelt down and patted the white rabbit “You’re the best Fluffy! You don’t run around like Footton and you don't scratch like Clucky… or Speedy… or Wiggles… or Brownie, especially Burk-linda, she’s the old lady of the house she likes her old people time.”

She sat in the hut watching the stars come out amongst the jarrah and eucalyptus trees before hearing a slight rustle from the shed being followed by screeching from Speedy, Wiggles, Brownie and Burk-linda. She stuck her head out of the hut. “MR NO-TAIL!” She happily yelled, she tried to get out but Clucky tried to make her escape. “No Clucky you can’t come out.” She informed, “The world doesn’t accept chickens like you. They’ll think you’re tasty and we live near a lot of people who like chicken for dinner.”

”RIA!” Her name boomed out from the house “STAY PUT! SHUT THE DOOR AND LOCK YOURSELF IN! NOW” she looked up to the house and saw her father holding a flashlight.

”But I wanna pat Mr No-Tail! He deserves love too, he’s got not tail!” She tried to rebut as a large tailless lizard came into her sight.

”RIA LISTEN TO ME! DO WHAT I TOLD YOU!” Her father ordered.

The child sadly retreated into the hut and locked herself, Fluffy, Footton and Clucky inside and watched as a large 2 metre long monitor lizard with hard, wrinkly, brown and beige scales slowly walked past looking up at the light and continued his path down the side dirt driveway missing ¾ of his tail, leaving only his foot prints behind as his sharp black talons into the dirt, his tongue feeling the air around him. He always gave off the vibes of a cranky old man “Dad, can we feel him mum's slow cooker meal? Maybe we can persuade him to eat those foxes who ate Wingy, get rev-en-g for him.”

”We can’t train a monitor lizard, he’s old and cranky like Grumps, and Wingy was a girl” her father informed keeping an eye on the lizard.

”But Grumps served in the war. Mr No-Tail wasn’t in a war” the child continued to rebut.

”Oh I think he did.” Her father politely scoffed “How didjya think he lost his tail?”

”Road accident?” The child tilted her head. “Like the snake that went through the bitch-em-men burner last week.”

her father quietly groaned to himself “well he lost it in the great Lizard war of 2001 monitor lizards vs bobtails” he took a few steps forward to make sure that he was off the property. He then went over to the hut and opened it up as saw a small brown rabbit chasing a chook. “What’s the chicken doing in here?” He asked.

”Clucky wanted to help me out” his child smiled with the chicken in the background beginning to live up to her name loudly yelling at the rabbit chasing her “She’s gonna help me feed the fishies and the marron”

”Uh-huh” her dad looked at the chicken now starting to get the upper hand of the chase realising that she had a beak and height on her side as the rabbit began running for it’s life as Fluffy just sat at the child’s heel like a protector. “How about I put Burk-linda…”

”Clucky.”

”Right, Clucky. How about I put Clucky back and you feed the fish and marron?” He suggested as he grabbed the chook as she began to realise she also had claws and was mid jump with her talons out.

”Ok!” His child agreed as she went back to the house. “Also Wingy was a boy, he had white spikey feathers around his head like a mohawk on both sides of his head and his brown feathers on his wing made him look like he was wearing a cloak.”

The sound of the dodgy made rickety door broke the silence of the night as her father closed the latch “but roosters are… never mind.” Her dad sighed as he watched his child run into the house to get the pellets for the fish outside the window that the dining room looked out of.

“Also dad can you tell me about the war between Mr No-Tail and the blue tongues?” His child yelled out as she dumped the food into the pond and tried pat them before catching some food and seeing if the would eat from her hand.

”Sure” her dad smiled as the sound of a flightless bird suddenly feeling air under her wings was mixed with the sounds of another rickety door. “Long ago the lizards used to live together in harmony until the king of the the lizards died, the lizards blamed it on the bobtails and they started to bully the lizards while saying that the rainbow snake accidentally ran over him while making the world. Well, one lizard didn’t believe them and decided he had enough of the bobtails and decided to start a fight, they called themselves the Monitor Lizards and the bobtails renamed themselves to the Blue Tongues. And they had a full on war. The end.”

”Who won?” The young child asked, eagerly waiting for more as they walked back inside and got out some old prawns that were out of date.

”I can’t remember, it was so long ago and I wasn’t even born then, I think the Blue Tongues lost ‘cause as more evidence came to the surface and some of their members decided to switch sides, then somewhere along the way the Blue Tongue leader died.”

”How did he die?”

”Split in half”

”Why does Mr No-Tail have no tail?”

”Because he ripped it off in solidarity.”

The child looked almost satisfied by the answer. ”What’s solidarity?” She asked.

Her father finished chopping up the prawns and walked over to the fish tank in the dining room housing 3 marron that were all about 40cm long. He placed the plate on one of the two plastic panels acting as a lid to the tank taking the other one and turning back to his child. “It means to support something by doing something, normally together, as a group.”

”So there’s other Mr No-Tails out there? And if he’s like Grumps does that mean he has a wife called Mrs No-Tail and that’s why he walks across our yard to get to the war and then back to our yard?” The child tilted her head as she lifted her arms up.

Her father picked her up and let her lean over the fish tank. “Yep, now drop the prawns in there. We don’t want Mr Snappy to snap your hand off.” He smiled as he handed her the first prawn to drop in.

The child laughed like her dad was a fool. “That's more of a Crusty thing to do, Mr Snappy is more sassy and Buster likes running against the glass, he’s silly like that.”

Kaon, Cybertron
Cycle 267

Breakdown was going over papers of doctors notes and scheduling at Knockout’s desk as he and Paradox were cleaning up. Brainstorm was following Paradox around helping her if she had to pick up anything heavier than her servo or if she dropped anything.

Everything seemed peaceful. Paradox smiled as she walked around cleaning up the bench with a disinfectant that required longer scrubbing as Brainstorm sorted out her scrap metals back into the shelves that they belonged to.

While music was sweet to Paradox’s audials, sometimes peace and quiet was even sweeter. Though, she never had this happen around family. She always felt a need to talk in social situations when they got quiet. But she felt at peace and like she was being productive in a social way. As she bent down to scrub under the table she felt a faint pain in her stomach almost like a cramp. “Hey Brainstorm” she slightly winced. “Can you just help me clean this table? It’s just the edge underneath” she informed as he came over to her.

”Need a help up?” He offered holding up a servo to her.

”ya-huh” she recoiled putting all her weight into it. She felt Brainstorm put his other servo on her lower back and helped her stand up straight.

Knockout looked over and saw the siblings together “Brainstorm” he called “can you help Paradox to her desk please. I fear she’s about to over exert herself and needs immediate rest” her kindly ordered.

Paradox tried to rebut that she was fine ”but…”

”No buts” Knockout interjected “you’ve done a full cycle shift as someone closer to the start of their third trimester than the end of their first. You need rest.”

Paradox groaned trying to hide the minimal pain she was experianing as a groan almost remarking ‘seriously?’ She felt Brainstorm help prop her up against himself keeping his servo around her waist allowing her to lean into him as he sat her down at her desk. She then opened up her paperwork and saw that most of it was done and just needed signatures and proof reading. She opened up the first file at her desk.

”No paperwork either” a demanding voice called out.

Paradox scrambled to find an excuse “I wasn’t, I was… Downloading my media from earth onto the medical data base as something to soothe patients."

She saw knockout squint his optics at her.

”Look” she sighed “once I get the download started, which is like a 3 klick job, I can just leave it alone.”

The squint intensified “fiiine” the words knowingly fell from his intake as if he knew she was lying.

Paradox set up a file and plugged it into her arm and began duplicating the files and moving the copies across to the medical data base. “See!” She announced before turning her tune to a more bored and restless tone. “And now we wait.” She leaned back in her chair then felt the pain intensify to become more uncomfortable rather than a light tingling burning sensation. She leaned on the desk and began to feel her optics shut. She could hear the pedesteps of Knockout and Brainstorm as they walked around the room before hearing a larger steps from Breakdown become further away, then she could only hear Brainstorm to the right of her walking around with hushed whispers being heard if she really focused on them, she was too tired to figure out what they were saying specifically but that didn’t matter as it stopped just as quickly as it started and Breakdown could be heard coming back over to the desks but instead of going to his own Paradox felt a small nudge against her shoulder.

”Hey P,” Breakdown softly called out. Paradox could hear his joints squat down before she felt his stroke her helm down to her mid back. She groaned and stretched out like a sun bathing cat. She turned her helm making optic contact with him

“hmmm” she hummed with a soft smile.

Breakdown smiled and softly stroked his servo across her helm “Knockout said you can transform to be a human and you can nap in my arms.” Paradox took a few moment to allow the words to take hold in her mind, she then nodded and transformed on her seat, she looked like a toddler in a large chair as Breakdown picked her up and held her in his arms allowing her to feel the warmth of his spark. She could feel herself melt into relaxation all she was missing was the smell of eucalyptus and occasional magpies, galas and red-tailed black cockatoos squawking. She hummed and rubbed her face into Breakdown’s chassis as she felt herself drifting off.

She felt a slight rocking, side to side. Her skin on metal.

She then awoke in a small tin boat.

“Oh god no!” She yelled. “Nuh-uh, nope! Can I opt out of this?” She asked looking around as she realised she wasn’t a god that could walk on water “fuuuuuck!” She cried out.

”Oh don’t be such a bitch” a familiar voice was heard she then looked across and saw her childhood best friend.

“Hi.” Paradox confusedly spoke trying to calm herself “I think as my BFF you should know what my fears are and tinnies are like a big old nope for me.” she put her foot back in the boat as it rocked under the weight “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST” she yelled out gripping onto the edge of the boat.

”See those kids there?” Her friend spoke pointing to a herd of goats eating waves like grass in the a field of a farm. There were 7 babies but there were another 3 that looked like adults watching the younger ones.

“Yeah” Paradox acknowledged “how come they can stand but I can’t? Is there an oar that we can paddle over to them and maybe we can tame them?” Paradox looked around the boat for an oar. “Ah, here we are!” She cheered picking up a long silver oar that began to flap around in her hands as the wooden texture began to turn scaley and the paddle gained and eye while the chip in the wood turned into a mouth. Paradox screamed dropping the oar into the ocean watching it float away “fuck! An oar fish!” She then examined it again as it just floated away “fuck! It died.”

She then turned back to her friend who hadn’t even flinched or noticed what had happened “dead fish aren’t good, specially ones that big, could lure something bigger. And I think we should paddle to shore cause I didn’t wanna be the next Moby Dick.” She leant over the boat and began to paddle towards the goats.

”Why don’t you think we’re there with them? We seemed to have segregated ourselves off” her friend spoke again like nothing happened.

”Probably because they’re god goats and we’re humans” Paradox spoke up between huffs paddling closer to them with her hands trying not to cry from disgust. As the boat got closer Paradox began to hear them, but they weren’t making the sounds she expected. They sounded like screams of joy from the playground.

”Maybe it’s because we’re only children?” The voice was very monotone and at this point Paradox was just brushing it off.

Paradox then noticed that the older goats weren’t adults but rather almost fully mature adults, they were like teenagers playing with the kids. Paradox sat up and looked off into the distance and saw a sunken ship swaying on the sea housing 3 actual adult goats talking and pointing to them almost like they were remarking about how well the teens got on with kids.

Her friend then spoke again. “How come you’re an only child Maria West Sutton?”

Paradox then looked around and felt a distant memory come back to her. Primary schools often had tinnies that kids could play in and she was watching her psychology class play with the children after running an experiment on them while she and her friend stayed in the boat coming up with their own theory about the social interactions of only children vs those with siblings.

”How come You’re and Only Child Maria West Sutton?” She repeated.

The question sent a chill down her spine.

”I think you know the answer Lelia” she spoke.

”You're so defensive about it now.” Lelia asked almost like a question. “But you’re normally the first one to joke about it.”

”Well most comedians use humour to hide their sadness” Paradox reflected.

”Well?” Lelia’s head turned slightly with a blankly inquisitive face.

”Dad said mum has monkey blood. It’s a rare blood type that kills threats quickly without properly thinking it through and evaluating what that so-called threat is.” Paradox began to state she looked around and saw the boat goats watching her with the adolescent ones side eyeing her as they watched the children.

Paradox took a breath in “so when a mother with that blood type has a child with someone who has the most common blood type, well that’s gonna lead to some…complications.”

It felt like she was about to unlock more of that memory with each word that she spoke.

The next part of that memory was some sort of realisation.

”If all of mum’s pregnancies were successful I would of been the middle child of 11, give or take depending on how you would place twins.” Paradox then felt a rush as the memory completed itself.

The dream was a surrealistic take of her putting the pieces of childhood memories together with facts that she learnt later on.

”I remember each time we left the GP’s office. I was always trailing behind, mum keeping to herself because I always assumed that she was just an uptight bitch.”

The waves fell silent as she looked around one of the adult goats had left.

Lelia spoke again. “You think she hates you for it.”

Paradox sighed “oh please. I’m like sure that me coming into this world, almost killing her and refusing to breastfeed was like 10% of the reason that she hated me”

Lelia stared closely at her. “Then what was the other 90%?”

”Look, this wasn’t part of the memory.” Paradox stated. “You’ve proven your point, we went through the memory, now we get back to land. Or maybe now I can stand on water.” Paradox put her foot in the water only for it to get soaked. The weight shifting caused the boat to rock more aggressively.

”Time to find out” Lelia spoke as she gave the boat one final rock plunging Paradox into the sea. This was her worst nightmare, the one reason why she hated boats. Because if they sunk they would trigger her actual fear. She tried to swim up but felt her bodily navigation become unaliened as the water turned blood red. She then felt a fleshly seaweed grab her limbs and pull her deeper down, she tried to hold her breathe but could feel her heart beating harder than ever before. She then gave into the tenticals realising they were umbilical cords pulling her into another sunken ship. She closed her eyes and then felt herself forcefully seated. She opened her eyes again and saw herself and a Titanic themed burger booth, the linoleum flooring that looked like mosaics morphed into other dining tables which framed the large stained glass window which was hiding the fact that the window was actually a porthole or two. Sat across from her was the missing goat, but this time it was yellow.

Paradox looked at the goat. “Oh god is this another memory? If this is the memory I think it is, then I’d rather we not go through this. I’d rather the iceberg. Actually this is 2024, If there’s a non James Cameron submarine I’ll also take that. I can work an Xbox controller.” She then turned back around and the goat began to look more humanoid.

The words hissed from its snake like mouth “sssooo” it spoke “we ssssshoould talk about your fattthhherrrr”

”Oh god not this convo” Paradox groaned. “What about him you slithering bitch, yeah the dream isn’t really covering the fact that you’re a snake.”

”Well I actuallly didn’t want chhhhhhillldreeen” It spoke like a proper British woman.

”Oh great!” Paradox sarcastically spoke. “Does that mean I can get a refund or a coupon or something?"

”But your fattthhherrrr…” it continued “…he wanted a larrrrge familllly. At least 4 chhhillldreeen.”

”Wow it’s almost like that marriage councillor was right when they said you two weren’t a good match, didn’t that happen like 3 months after you got married?” Paradox landing back against the booth head tilted back groaning at the obvious.

”I cooommmprimmmisssed. I said at leeaaasssst one, at mossssst fourrr.”

”Then you failed like 4 times before me, then I didn’t kill you but instead turned you yellow for a bit there” Paradox began looking around for a bar. “Come on, in this dream I swear I had a cotton candy cocktail. Can’t I just have one wee little sip of vodka? I was of age. This was my 19th birthday lunch with her.”

The room went quiet.

”Oh boy, is it time for my favorite line?”

Simultaniously they spoke. Paradox more rushed while the yellow goat faun snake creature slowly hissed it. Yet they were still in sync.

”I want to tell you what your father did to me, but you look up to him too much and I can't destroy your relationship with him.”

”Yep, there we go” Paradox groaned. “You wont tell me will you no matter how hard I beg. Just because you think he’s brainwashed me and yet you don’t want me to stop idolising him.” Paradox slumped back into her seat. “Ya know I would dump him if he was a murderer?”

Then in unison again with the same tones, Paradox did a ‘comeon lets spill it out’ gesture by rolling her wrist in circles while the snake hunched over sadly as if it was putting on dramatics, its goat eyes winced in the idea of a bad memory.

”I told your aunty Chris and she was upset that I didn’t get out sooner.”

The faun sighed sadly.

Paradox sighed just wanting this over with.

”But I had to stick around for you.”

Paradox groaned “look I get each situation is different I really do but you’re a manipulative narcissistic asshole, like I’m surprised there’s no donkey aspects in whatever this amalgamation is, but I know you’ve lied to me in the past. Remember how you tried to trap me down south a few months ago?”

The creature looked at Paradox sadly with a sense of blankness like an animatronic after finishing its act. It then sat up straight like it was possessed.

”Looks like we’re out of time. Check please!” It called out looking around for a server. Paradox looked behind her and heard large crashing sounds as an iceberg came crashing through the dining room. She felt the metal crash up against her as the ship plunged back into it’s depths. The water warmed up which lead to the metal loosening it’s grip on Paradox. She felt herself clinging onto the edge of a metal panel as tight as she could it’s wincing turned into whispers of concern as she felt a loving embrace once again. Paradox relaxed her shoulders and her grip and slowly opened her eyes. The world was blurry and bright as she snuggled herself into a dark spot.

She then felt a unusual but familiar finger delicately touching her almost stroking and brushing her hair. Paradox weakly swatted and the finger as she slowly became more awake the whispers becoming more legible she heard words like “what” and “so” as she became more awake the words started to string together a bit better “get a nice”. Paradox felt her eyelids blinking like a frog trying to wake up. She took her arms and stretched them above her head. As she stretched she felt a soft chuckle genially shake her awake. She shook her head as she realised that Brainstorm was speaking.

“…and I get a table to the head!” He quietly yelled in annoyance, it was almost like a frustrated whisper.

Paradox could feel the gazes upon her, she didn’t really like the feeling but she felt a need to be in the conversation and know what’s going on, but also a need to do it secretly so that the attention wasn’t fully on her. Paradox then poked her nose out from under her baggy sleeve using it as a leaver to sneakily try to watch Brainstorm and Knockout.

Knockout was giving Brainstorm a stare that showed that he didn’t really care and that Brainstorm probably did deserve it as Brainstorm finished his little huff. His scarlet optics then returned his gaze back to Breakdown’s arms. Paradox then felt another soft scratch on her back between her shoulder blades. She tried to stay still but her back was a sweet spot. No matter how hard she focused on not moving her shoulder blades couldn’t help but wiggle a little bit to the pleasant feeling.

Knockout then paused the action “hmmm” he hummed outloud, Paradox felt his digit move from her back. His claw like digit then lifted up her baggy sleeve, Paradox moved back a bit trying not to be spotted as if Cybertronians didn’t have flashlights for eyes. Her little dark spot was slowly illuminated a soft ruby colour. Paradox looked at Knockout using her peripheral vision and saw him smile “you haven’t figured out your giveaways while you sleep yet, have you?” He chuffed as Brainstorm nudged in closer causing Knockout’s smile to disappear for a moment as he went to give Brainstorm a rude glance before looking back at Paradox who felt more back scratches but from larger digits.

”Awe, have you been watching us P?” Breakdown laughed as he scratched her back.

Paradox’s eyes widened as she tried to figure out what to do before Brainstorm chirped up. “Wait were you awake when you yelled ‘fuck off’?”

The realisation then hit and if her eyes could have gone any wider they would have. Paradox often though of herself as a closeted bogan and she knew that it mostly came from the little things she did, it wasn’t enough to classify her as a proper bogan but there was enough there to show some bogan traits.

”Scraaaaaap” she moaned tiredly. “Nope, I wasn't awake. I've been known to swear during my sleep. It's not an often occurrence but it's not uncommon.”

She then felt a vibration as Breakdown laughed as if he understood it, like he did it himself. Brainstorm looked confused and Knockout had a sly grin of his faceplate.

Paradox continued her softly tired groan as her voice started to wake up “ I think the blue muppet needs a run down on human scrap.”

“Hey” Brainstorm unexpectedly chocked up. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yeaaaaaaahhhhh” Paradox replied “long story short humans don’t just turn off and power down like you do, their body runs at pretty much full function so some unpredictable things can happen like sleep talking, or swearing in my case, some people sleep walk which I don’t have a history of and sleep paralysis is another one which I do get but I can’t figure out what causes it for me and I get in waves after a long period of time so don’t worry about that one… yet.”

Brainstorm seemed to be both taken aback and curious ”That’s so weird, so your vocal processors just keep working? They don’t rest? Also sleep walking? Your whole body just decides to wander off? But then there’s other time where your body just doesn’t work all together?”

Paradox stretched her back out putting emphasis on her lower back before turning to lay on her side. “Yeah, also sleep paralysis can come with you dreaming up a creature, most are scared of it but I either focus too much on un-paralysing myself or just don’t care about it enough to acknowledge it, the feeling of paralysis is scary enough for me.”

”Huh” Knockout’s interest was slightly caught “I knew about the paralysis but not about the visions of creatures.”

Paradox tried to brush it off casually ”yeah, like I said I don’t really pay attention to mine but it makes the room turn black then tricks me into thinking I got out of the paralysis, I’ve lived almost half a day before realising I’m still stuck in paralysis.”

“You know..” Brainstorm thought out loud “not a bad idea for a device, paralyse the bot then let them think they’re still going about their day. Could reveal some secrets.”

”ooooo” Paradox perked up “could learn a lot about someone, their daily routine, if they’re high up on the ladder then you’d learn where the secrets are or even recent topics of discussion, maybe even other’s secrets or what they think of others if you want some drama. Imagine if it was even a device that could download their memories on the feild, like a bullet or something.”

”Like a shadowplay bullet?” Brainstorm perked up “you know there are bullets that can erase memories, maybe instead of an installing code we have an upload code” he tapped his chin in thought.

Paradox pursued their lips into a smile “so like opposites? Maybe it should have a transmitter that can transmit their memory back to HQ or a device on the shooter… OH! And we can still have the mind wipe aspects, ya know erase the memory of the shot.”

”Or we make them think their day didn’t involve a bullet and project a slight difference in the memory. Then the bullet can stay in there for as long as it needs” Brainstorm continued on the trail of the thought train they were both on.

Paradox’s optics widened “ooo and what if the bullet retracts or dissolves after the shooter or code commander sends a signal that disposes of the bullet in a covert way.”

Brainstorm then took out a data pad version of a note pad and began scrawling on it “And then….”

”Anyways.” Knockout halted the conversation “How are you feeling Paradox? Do you… want to talk?”

Paradox looked to Knockout with a look of sorrowed innocence, as if she knew that she was going to get told off for something she didn’t do. “I feel like you’ve just used my full name after i got in trouble” she nervously laughed.

Knockout softly rolled his optics, his arms in a comfortable cross “Do you want to talk about the second gens? We can do it at one of the medical tables as it’s more serious”

Paradox looked knowing at Brainstorm whose smile had been clearly wiped from his optics as he touched away his notepad in his chassis. “Paradox. It’s up to you.”
He politely shrugged.

Paradox looked around not making optic contact between both her family and the room. She then looked directly down at the floor, serious conversations always mean bad things, arguments, the blame game, judgment, appearance smearing, disapproval, insults, the typical serious conversations Paradox grew up with.

But she started it so she had to finish it.

She tried to hide the gloom in her tone with a serious one. “Sure.”

The 3 bots then walked over to the table, Paradox still in Breakdown’s arms. He leant down to the table allowing her to leave her little bit of comfort and safety. She stayed standing allowing her legs to strech after a long period of inactivity. She felt some numbness in her left leg as if she was recovering from pin and needles or a numbness. Brainstorm then put a neon yellow briefcase on the table. Paradox and Breakdown looked on with a knowing surprise while Knockout looked shocked at how it magically appeared.

”If you wanted to make it more annoying, should of put a photo of you on it” Paradox laughed.

”Ha ha HA” Brainstorm exaggerated. “Look I just wanted to see if it would work with neon colours. They…”

”I know, I know.” Paradox swatted at his sentence “used to bring attention to hazards, so its a perfect fit.”

Brainstorm snorted judgementally “hm well you never saw it so that works. I was thinking of using a gold colour actually.”

”How about you attach some squeaky clown pedes to it while you're putting your photo on it?” Paradox cheekily sneered. “See if sound can make it be seen.”

”Actually not a bad idea” he hummed as he pulled out his file on the anonymous guards.

“What’s in the file B?” Breakdown asked observing the file from a distance.

Brainstorm had a small look of shock come across his faceplate for a split moment before continuing on ”it’s a file on my findings about the second generation guards.” He casually shrugged trying to keep it serious “Paradox’s biology and build made me ask a few questions then those answers lead me to more questions which I got answers for then repeat that process until I dug myself down a deep scrap hole”

Breakdown accepted the answer and looked at Paradox “has he told you?”

”Yes” she answered. Breakdown nodded with a serious look on his faceplate.

”Are we not going to talk about the case?” Knockout asked. “And not just about its atrocious colour.”

”It’s a case with some invisibility feild on it isn’t it, B?” Breakdown tilted his helm hoping he had the right answer.

Brainstorm’s optics lit up in some form of rewarded encouragement which lead him to sounding a little bit more confident than what Paradox was accustomed to. ”In casual terms, yes. In short scientific terms the ‘invisibility field’ is more of a field diverting the attention of those who don’t know of its existence, and like I said I needed a bright colour.”

”Neon blue exists dude.” Paradox pointed out. “As well as a whole aft spectrum of neon colours.”

Brainstorm rolled his optics “note to self, find a way to apply this tech to vocal processors.”

”What’s in the file Brainstorm?” Knockout asked trying to stop the actual conversation from being derailed.

”Right.” Brainstorm realigned himself with the actual conversation. “So a while ago, well, not that long ago, but not recently either. Just… a nice in between. I wanted to know how Paradox was constructed considering I assumed they were made from earth materials and I thought maybe earth had materials I was interested in working with.”

Knockout huffed “that planet doesn’t have anything of use.”

”Hey!” Paradox called out.

”You wanna say you’re from earth?” Knockout asked with a small sneer.

”Nope.” Paradox paused for a moment before lowering her tone to a more hush and thoughtful one. “But I wanna say I’m Australia, and that’s on earth. Damn this is a hard question. I’ll get back to you on that.”

”My point exactly.” Knockout guested to Paradox who accepted that response.

”Really?” Brainstorm asked.

”Yeah, I grew up on mine sites during my days away from school. The best thing I found was stuff that would make me money. They called me The Millionaire Ankle Biter for a reason.” Paradox nostalgically sighed.

”Ok well,” Brainstorm continued, “after finding out Starscream wanted me to do some basic training with Paradox, we did a mini session together and I realised she punched pretty fragging good. So before our next session I made a small sticky pad of sorts that sticks to my panels and removes small amounts of paneling from the person attacking, leaving a small sample size for me to experiment with. At worse they’ll be left with a tiny scratch barely noticeable to the optic”

”DNA stealing muppet” Paradox side eyed him. “He also is weaker than a 70ish year old woman FYI. A human one mind you.”

”Hey!” Brainstorm remarked as Paradox let out an amused snort. “Anyway.” He continued. “I took the samples back and examined them to find out that they were made of obviously human stuff but also Cybertronian material. Mainly the one that only has one known source, Cybertronian bodies, it's all natural. I found it weird considering that they didn’t have the materials for that here let alone on earth and then if they did have it here why weren’t they just making an army instead of ya know, kidnapping them.”

Knockout took in what Brainstorm said and looked at the floor trying to mentally draw out what was happening. “So you’re suggesting that they were smelting the Autobots that were found?” Knockout asked the idea seemed a bit weird for him “I just assumed Shockwave used iron mixed with something else. And where would they even have a smelter?”

Paradox squinted one eye as she thought “Breakdown.” She asked polietly turning to look up at him.

”Yeah P?” He acknowledged.

Paradox continued ”You said that you were going down to guard some materials right? Where abouts did you go for those jobs?”

”Yeah, we went a little past your home town P.” He sounded a little happy to name drop her home town.

”The name didn’t happen to be Ashculm or somewhere near it?” She investigated.

”Name sounds familiar. I just thought we were stealing materials from the humans.” He shrugged.

”Hmmmm” Paradox had a knowing sound but needed to do one more check “does the name Black Diamond mine or Gnaala Karla Borja sound familiar as well?”

Breakdown optics lit up curiously. “Yeah, I heard both those names from the humans who were wondering around, they all looked very professional with those human data pads.”

”Primus.” Paradox sighed seriously, before explaining the names. “The mine was used during the 40’s and 50’s before it was abandoned due to contract issues. It was used as a natural swimming hole but then the government got all upset about the public using it, something about safety concerns. Dad worked near there and let me swim in it once or twice while he was doing his meetings. fyi, they didn’t make swimming illegal, they just highly advise against it. But, to continue, I can’t do exact equations but in earth terms the size is about 750 metres in length. Plus Ashculm is known for 3 things, mining coal for electricity, using said coal for its power station and being inbred. So it has plenty of power, the water could be used to either add extra power through hydroelectrics, or even part of the process of smelting itself, I’m assuming the cooling part. The area is also really cold, and rainy especially during the winter. That’s why the mine filled up with water during the contract dispute so it’s always replenishing itself, plus the water has some chemical shit in it so maybe they also needed that chemical?”

”Do you know what the chemical was?” Brainstorm asked.

Paradox scratched her head and pouted her lips while also having one eye squinting “hmmm from memory it causes low PH levels. It had some amoeba in it that causes issues in the brain, fatal ones in particular. But that’s always found in warm and slash or fresh water spots.”

Brainstorm’s optics widened “was the water warm?”

”Jeez that’s an old memory, give me a moment, it was summer so maybe the sun had something to do with it. Oh! Actually I have been there in winter for a friend's birthday party and it was like a weird lukewarm.”

”The smelters under there” Brainstorm gasped, writing it down in his notes.

”Hang on!” Knockout demanded trying to put some sense back into the conversation “We don’t have any proof that this happened. Maybe Paradox was a one off, as in maybe we had enough Cybertronian spare parts to make her.”

”True” Brainstorm sounded a bit cocky “but I also wondered about the second generation guards, they all had a similar build to her.”

”Well you know Shockwave doesn’t care about designs” Knockout dismissed. “Upgrades, yes, designs, no.”

”But why change them from mech to femme?” Brainstorm countered. “If he only changes the design for upgrades, then how is making them more femme an upgrade compared to mech?”

Knockout went back to looking at the floor trying to figure out an answer.

”Wow” Breakdown quietly laughed “You made Knockout speechless.”

Knockout did a small smile towards Breakdown before going back to frowning and thinking.

“So anyway.” Brainstorm continued “I saw those inconsistencies and during my free time I went and took a bit of their CNA?…DNA? CDNA?…while they were recharging. And ran them through the same machine and well, they were the same, Just all different ages, except for the plating which was a bit younger than their frame.”

”How much younger?” Breakdown asked.

Brainstorm flicked through his file “It varies but it averages out to about 1 to 9 quartexes.”

”Wait.” Paradox felt speechless. “That’s the average gestation of a human pregnancy.”

”Yeah I figured that was the answer" He nodded his head “I wanted to see if I could calculate the growth rate because I wanted to be there for you when, you know...” Brainstorm paused trying to plan out his next words “I just wanted to make sure you were ok when your sparkling was ready to be brought online.” He looked away trying not to make contact with anyone’s optics.

”Awwe” Paradox felt the speechless feeling change context “you’re so sweet.”

”Yeah,” the plating under Brainstorm’s optics changed colour to a slight green colour “So, um. I found it weird that Autobots were being turned into femmes with brand new frames and getting new plating at the same time a few quartexes later. So… and this is an educated guess, but looking back at the first generation guards they used shadowplay on them and occasionally empurata. I also suspect they’ve used domestication as well or at least some of the traits at least on the second gen, they can’t transform, it’s like they wanted them not to run, which would be a downgrade, why have an Autobot and take away their fastest and most convenient form of movement?” He then pointed unspectacularly at Breakdown and Knockout “Which leads to my next question for you both, did the previous experiments look like Paradox?”

Breakdown looked at Paradox and sighed “Yeah, but I thought they were just shadowplayed Autobots.”

Knockout look like he was trying to hide his shock “I was told that they were Autobots.” He sounded almost deflated as if he should of noticed.

”Well if they were low on materials why would they not just reuse the same body? Why isn’t Paradox’s body about 80 stellar cycles old? Why is it only a few quartexes old? It’s maybe a quartext or two older than her sparkling.” Brainstorm asked.

The room went silent for a bit.

Paradox pursed her lips together again and sighed. “Is there a way to seperate the DNA and CNA?” She asked.

Knockout and Brainstorm thought for a moment.

”It’s possible” Knockout stated. “I’ll need a microscope or something that allows me to see things down to a molecular level.”

”Yeah” Brainstorm attached his answer onto Knockout’s “and I have equipment that can recognise multiple CNA’s at once, I mean we probably could do it with your DNA as it’s typically used on the field to recognise Decepticons and Autobots but the more cleaned sterile everything else it the better the results.”

”Exactly.” Knockout concurred. “Do you want to retrieve the device while I start the separation process?”

Brainstorm was almost at the door as he answered while leaving. “On it!” He called out the door closed behind him.

Paradox felt herself getting a little bit lightheaded and sat down crossed legged and began to feel the light cramping again. She tried to play it off like nothing was wrong “so what do you need from me?” She asked.

”Well can you transform into your Cybertronian form?” Knockout asked as he grabbed a small knife

Paradox sat down and tried to hide her wince as she transformed on the bench still in a crossed leg position. “Let me guess you’re going to need my servo?” She asked, holding it out. Knockout then used the knife to scrape off some metal filings from Paradox’s palm into a small jar. Paradox and Breakdown then watched as Knockout brought a small microscope back to the desk Paradox was sitting on and began examining the filings.

”Hmmmm” he hummed “it looks like the metal has a human layering over it. It acts like a barrier to the actual metal.”

Paradox tilted her helm. “So they have a protective layering to confuse people who do a basic study on it? Like it’s covering something up? That doesn’t sound like Shockwave, he doesn’t….” Paradox paused “Wooooooow” their tone changed to more sarcastic. “So Starscream can give out orders, cowardly ones. But still, pretty smart.”

”All I have to do is pierce the layering but I need a small knife for it” Knockout went to look through his draws.

”Hang on!” Paradox called out “I did a makeup course, we did a whole section on skin protection maybe something like Hydrofluoric acid, or if you want to see if we can dehydrate it enough to crack depending on how thick the layer is, I know my skin is normal, it’s well balanced in terms of moisture, texture and tone so if my memory and qualification serves me right, alcohol specifically isopropyl and benzyl, UV and over powering it can cause the skin to dry out. Also stay away from fatty alcohols like cetyl, stearyl and ceteary ‘cause that just adds moisture into the skin which can make it too oily if applied in excess.”

Knockout looked up from the knife draw and walked over to a cabinet filled with different liquids “I think I have some isopropyl, if not then I may have a powder. Worst case, we ask Brainstorm if he’s got any really strong UV lights.” He then shuffled around not finding any before standing on the tips of his pedes. Paradox watched Breakdown walk over to him and picked up Knockout and placed him on his shoulder like one of those strongman acts holding up a pretty woman. Knockout rubbed the top of his partner's head affectionately as he went through the top of the cabinet. “Found it” he announced.

Paradox watched as Breakdown walked back to the desk with Knockout on his shoulder and as they arrived Breakdown put his partner into a princess hold before giving him a short but passionate kiss. “You looked gorgeous up there, it’s not often I get to look at you from that angle.”

Knockout returned the kiss and stroked his partners cheek and chin “You look great at all angles and I love it when you show off like that.”

Paradox stayed quiet just admiring a functional relationship for the first time.

Knockout was returned to the ground and got out a pipet and added small drops of isopropyl to the dish of filings and watched as it interacted with the outer layer. It slowly dried it out as Knockout added more small droplets until the layer became brittle enough for him to try and peel off the flakes which showed signs of cracking when any sort of pressure was put on it.

”it’s flaked away.” Knockout steadily spoke as he continued.

Breakdown did a small applause before leaning over giving Knockout a large kiss on top of his helm “Very impressive.” he swooned, harmonising with Knockout’s loving hum.

”That’s great” Paradox cheered leaning in a bit closer trying to make it look casual but doing a slight wince in pain, it reminded her of her period with the soft cramps she got before she officially started. Breakdown then gently scratched her helm with a small chuff as she happily hummed at the attention and affection.

They both patiently watched with Paradox continuing to hum at head scratches Breakdown was giving her as Knockout began to remove the filings from under the lens and into a new container. The peace interrupted by the swooshing of the door opening interrupted the quiet.

“Got it!” Brainstorm announced waving a boxy teal and white scanner with golden accents. “One CNA identifier, perfect for fingering out if out smelting theory is correct.”

“You sound too happy about a mass smelting.” Paradox warned.

”Look, mass smelting is bad.” Brainstorm agreed “But the idea of knowing the location off all those missing Autobots and Decepticons is kinda captivating.”

”Mmmhmm” Paradox conceded bitterly. “Imagine all those Cybertronians who can’t access their loved ones. It could lead to an unprecedented action both depending on how they mourn, legally and morally.”

”True” Brainstorm agreed once again. “Imagine all the legal stuff. That would send Ultra Magnus into some form of insanity spiral. I would actually like to see him go insane.”

”Ultra Magnus?” Paradox asked tilting her helm.

”Oh right, you’re not told anything about history and current news are you?” Brainstorm remembered.

”Well I know names like Megatron and Optimus Prime, they’re the leaders of the Decepticons and Autobots respectively, I mainly just hear about them and then the occasional other name like Magnus or Elita-One, though I have heard that Prowl has… a bit of a personality” Paradox did a half turn to better see both Knockout and Brainstorm.

”Ah ok, so you're not 100% without knowledge, but close to it.” Brainstorm acknowledged. “Magnus is a rule stickler. Loves to use the law to ruin people’s fun and says it’s for ‘safety and legality reasons’. He’s a top tier party killer. Actually no, he is THE party killer.”

”Ew” Paradox judged “if you’re going to use the law then at least have some fun with it.”

”Exactly” Brainstorm yelled before rolling his optics. “He’s just a stick in the ground.” He then held up the scanner seeing the small sample in the jar that Knockout had extracted and cleansed. “Is it good for me to scan it?”

Knockout gently push the jar towards Brainstorm. “Yes, scan it. Let us only hope that this whole ‘smelter theory’ is just a work of fiction.” It was the first time Paradox had seen Knockout this worried. She looked to Breakdown who was holding his breath of sorts as if he could pause time and not find out or even go back in time where this theory didn’t even exist.

Brainstorm then scanned the materials and waited for the results. The room was the quietest it had ever been. Even the action from workers and soldiers outside went abnormally silent. The family felt themselves leaning into the scanner. Paradox felt like she could wet herself, she was that anxious.

Suddenly it beeped.

Knockout, Breakdown and Paradox watched as Brainstorm scrolled through the small screen on the device. They watched as his optics widened as the scrolling became more erratic.

”It’s not a theory.”

Paradox felt tears rolling down her faceplate as everything else went numb.

Breakdown delicately touched his intake trying to disguise how sick he felt.

Knockout slammed his servos on the table and shook his helm in shock and disapproval.

Brainstorm continued to scroll looking through the words in front of him.

Then he stopped.

He looked at Paradox.

Then back at the screen.

Paradox saw the tears in his optics form when he looked back at her.

He felt fear, as if he learnt a truth against his will.

Paradox saw it.

”Brainstorm” she called out softening her expression to concern for her brother.

”No” he whispered. He sounded disturbed as he began to study Paradox’s frame at a molecular level from across the table.

”What is it? Do you want to talk about it?” She softly asked.

”Don’t You Dare Talk To Me” he commanded in that very disturbed voice that just seemed to be plummeting into a pit of horror and despair.

Paradox closed her intake to stop anymore words came out from it and tilted her helm.

Brainstorm then looked back at the scanner “you know what…” the sound became more saddened as the bottom of that pit came closer at a rushed pace “I don’t even want to look at you right now.”

He desperately threw the scanner onto the table as if it was toxic to touch and quickly walked out of the room removing his mask before rubbing his face plate, the shut of the door covering his sniffles.

Paradox leaned across and picked up the scanner.

“It’s a list of names” she spoke somberly as she scrolled through. “It’s like they were all mixed in a big pot.”

Paradox handed the scanner to Knockout as she began to feel queasy, her stomach began to ache as her tears blurred up her vision.

Breakdown looked at the door that Brainstorm had left from moment ago. He patted Paradox on her helm again. “I’ll be back” his smile trying to hide his seriousness as an attempt to make Paradox feel better. “Everything will be fine” and with that Breakdown walked out the door heading towards Brainstorms office.

Knockout scrolled through the scanner “It’s not a long list, its almost like you’re made of 3 Autobots and then tainted with about 10 others. I can bring up their Autopedia entry if you wish” he offered watching Paradox have a worried look hoping that Brainstorm was alright.

”I…I” Paradox paused she knew she had a sentence formed but it was blurred and censored in her mind then as it began to reveal itself the words were blocked form being let out. “I…Think.” She sighed thinking about it morally and logically. Does she want to know the lives of those she was made from? Should she go out and find their clans and tell them? There was just too many questions. “Can you put them in a file for me. I want to keep it with me in case I change my mind. But, right now… right now. I’m overwhelmed, I feel pain and anguish, I feel stressed. I want Brainstorm to be ok.” She began wiping her tears that began pouring from her optics. “Do you think you can help Breakdown? I just need him to be ok, I know that everything’s not going to be fixed right away but I want him to be supported during this time.”

Knockout went to his desk and downloaded the Autopedias of the names on the scanner’s list. Paradox didn’t know if she was going to get all 13 or just the top 3. She looked at the screen, she knew that during times of stress, overstimulation and even being overwhelmed can cause her to have memory gaps, she knew that it was a way for the brain to protect her from more trauma and knowing that she was built from torture did lay heavy upon her. She felt her body begin to ache worse, she looked over at Knockout who unknowingly distracted her by placing a data pad with a locked icon on it. He then walked over to her “It will only open when it senses your energon.” He informed. He then ran his servo down Paradox’s helm and faceplate “Will you be fine on your own?” He asked.

”I’ll be fine.” Paradox affirmed. “I think I just need some quiet, maybe I’ll do some paperwork to take my mind off things, I’ll feel better knowing Brainstorm is being taken care of.”

”Ok, if you need me, just call” Knockout placed his servo on her shoulder and touched his forehelm to Paradox’s for a moment before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

Paradox looked around the room before swivelling around to the closest edge of the table. She took a deep vent in and allowed herself to meditate a bit. Her mind was so busy that she felt blank but without peace. Her body also felt the pressure as well as if it knew something that shouldn’t happen. She groaned as she uncrossed her legs and allowed them to dangle over the edge of the desk as the pain readjusted itself and became stronger. Her ankles tensed with the pressure of her whole body, she got down from the table and walked towards her desk. She looked through her music, tv and film collection. She wanted silence and sound would just add more stimulation to her situation.

Paradox then removed her arm and used her left hand to bring up a blank file on her work data pad and plugged a wire into her arm bringing up all the media on its screen. Paradox selected all the duplications that had finished downloading and moved it all across into the new file on the data pad. She knew it would take a klick or two so she stood up and stretched her back. “Jesus!” She loudly stretched out “This cramping in insaaaaaannnneee.” She then stood in front of her desk facing the door hoping for Brainstorm to return. Paradox looked longingly at it.

Why did he not want to see her?

Was she made of someone he knew?

A figure or idol?

What if she was made from someone who murdered that bot?

Or possibly even bots.

Paradox wished she knew what she could do to help him.

But staying away was her only option. She hated that feeling, one of the reasons why she was enjoying her time as a medic was because she could actively help.

But know she couldn’t.

But it was her loved one.

Paradox walked back to her desk and saw that the duplicates had almost fully transferred. Suddenly the pain became more sharp and less of a pain she could just shrug off. Normally when she was on her period forming a triangle with her thumb and pointer fingers touching and outlining her crotch somehow helped. She sat on the desk and transformed back into a human and laid flat on her back and hoped that her trick would work for the stress that was taking place in her body. She slid her hands under her overalls and underwear and as the fabric laid on her hands, they felt weird. Like a dampish wet.

Paradox’s heart skipped a beat.

She wasn’t due for another quartext or two at least, maybe even three. Time began to feel like a concept, an illusion. Fear began to roll over her body.

She just laid there hoping that it was just sweat, she tried to make herself think it was just sweat. Maybe discharge? She didn’t think she had her mother’s blood type, but the last time she checked her blood was when she was 9. She couldn’t remember that. But she almost died in birth. Didn’t her father say she was premature? Her memory started to slip and replaced its gaps with falsehoods and manipulation. Was it the smoking? No, she would of seen other things sooner… right? But she never studied human anatomy she didn’t know about these things. But Shockwave and Knockout would of. She was sending them daily updates on the pregnancy. They would of known right? Or were they just aliens who didn’t fully do their research and just wanted results and wrote down their own finding as the went? She didn’t know how they were going about this. Especially Shockwave, and he was behind all of this. Knockout was just his side kick of sorts. Maybe it was the stress? Paradox had been through a lot recently, even before today. The siege, the long work hours, even today. Maybe it had all added up?

Or maybe it was none of that?

Maybe it was discharge?

Were there any pregnancy fluids?

Paradox had no clue.

Maybe it was nothing?

What if it was something?

What if she had failed?

Deep down she knew there was no ‘what if’.

That's why she’s by herself in the first place.

If she got herself the answer now the quicker she could escape.

But maybe plan out an escape first?

She looked at the newly installed door behind her.

If she left through that she could safely scale down the building.

But then there would be questions about her escape. Brainstorm built that door.

She couldn’t do that to him.

Maybe she should smash the window?

Worse case scenario the defect birth would be blamed on jumping through the window if she was caught.

Or died.

Could she just walk out? Everyone seemed to know her and wanted to see her out of the medical office. Maybe they would be kind enough to help them leave?

But would they just let her walk out the door? Sure they would show her the toilet or cafeteria but the exit of the building?

What if she ran into Shockwave, Soundwave or Starscream?

Paradox looked out the window again. Like she had done many times before. She knew the landscape from her window. That would have the most predictable way out in terms of route. In terms of survival? Maybe not.

Would dying just be the better option that shadowplay and empurata at least?

Or were they just the same?

Paradox then held her breath as she took her hands out from under her clothing.

her hand was covered in her fluids, a mix of energon and blood leaving her hands a luminescent deep purple.

“fuck.”

Paradox then wiped the blood on the inside of her denim overalls to make her hands look clean. She sat up and looked at all the things on her desk before looking back out the window. She couldn’t survive with nothing.

Paradox then sat up and transformed walking as calmly as she could to the cabinets on the side where she found some items in a variety of bags. But there wasn’t any she could use. She then looked back at the table and saw the empty neon yellow briefcase, she grabbed it and held it up to her chassis to see if it would fit. She opened the hatch showing where her spark would be and pushed the case in, it felt a little congested but it would work. Paradox walked back to her desk and sorted out all the things that the Decepticons could track that she didn’t absolutely need. She then found the data pads that Brainstorm gave her about the fauna of Cybertron. She then looked at the cover of one of then showing the flowers that were found at the rust sea.

”Worst case…” Paradox whispered to herself and she looked to find information about the seas hoping to find one near Kaon.

“There’s one about a quarter of a cycle from here” she looked out of her window and squinted at the edge of the horizon and saw a dark line outlining it. “That dark line must be it.” Paradox thought out loud. She tried to study the terrain. It was mostly blank only decorated with large rocks. Maybe she could use them for coverage?

Paradox then swooped all her belongings that she had separated out into the bag and put it in her chassis.

The last thing?

Her arm.

She didn’t know if her limbs were trackable but she couldn’t escape without them. But they would be her last reminder of her clan here. They were sentimental.

Paradox then looked back at her work pad and saw the file had been fully downloaded. She removed her arm and put it back on wincing and breathing her way through it but at this point it wasn’t the worst amount of pain she was in. Paradox then stretched out her back on the desk trying to make a cover for her moving her desk back away from the window. Paradox then had a decently large gap that was also very inconspicuous so that it wouldn’t tip anyone off and looked out the window.

She had to made sure it broke.

Paradox walked to a drawer full of dissection knives and grabbed 4 of the largest ones she could find and walked back to the desk. She then turned back around to her data pad with the unnamed file.

This had to be her goodbye.

She then typed out her final words to her clan.

K.O_B.D_B.S_VI_C.Parr_3.02

She then put two knives in each servo, leaving the file for her clan to see. Looking back at her desk and the office one last time.

She took in one last breath.

Paradox then ran holding the knives in front of her faceplate blade towards the window and jumped right before hitting it allowing her curled up body to act as a cannon ball against the window. The smash was only a whisper to anyone outside of the room but loud to anyone near it. Paradox then felt herself free falling. She hated the feeling but she couldn’t turn back now. She tried to become parallel to the horizon keeping her legs bent close to her hoping to use the building as a launch pad. She pushed her legs out dramatically allowing them to harshly hit against the exterior of the building. She launched herself forward. She then remembered that her servos were full but refused to let go of the knives. She then tried to hide them between her leg panels with the ones in her left leg falling out.

Paradox then saw a spike from up ahead protruding up from the side of the barrier wall. She then tried to turn herself sideways so that she could stick her arms out and grab the spike, using her momentum to fling herself as she spun around it and let go so that she dropped on the other side of the wall.

She not so gracefully landed a short distance away from the wall. Paradox then laid still for a bit waiting to hear for any signs that she was being chased. She knew that the office was towards the back of the building but any idiot would know better than to let anyone who flings themselves from a window to walk free. Paradox then sat up not hearing any sirens but knew it wouldn’t be long until at least a memo was sent out. She then ran weaving her way between the rocks trying to stay in a straight line.

Paradox lost track of time of how long she ran. She felt like it wasn’t long, but also climbing would have allowed her to build some running stamina while she wasn’t doing it. Paradox climbed up a large rock and turned around and saw the once large prison fortress as only a black and purple horned box in the distance. She sat down and took a break. Her cramps only getting worse. She looked down and saw blood spilling from her crotch.

”fuck.”

She then looked towards the horision, that deep orange line becoming thicker against the edge of the horizon. It wouldn’t of be that much more of a walk. But could she risk leaving a trail? Paradox sighed and transformed into a human and removed her overalls and underwear. Trying to take her mind off the pain as she stared up at the light navy blue sky with the daylight ending soon.

“Fuuuck” she groaned “This better be a quick ass birth kid. You’re early so you better be fucking tiny.” Paradox then propped her upper body up with her arms making the shape of a right angled triangle and began to push. The feeling of something that big moving through her wasn’t a fun experience, it felt weird and almost unnatural as if it was something stuck in her that she had to push out.

”If we make it out of this alive. You better be fucking greatful.” She groaned as she pushed.

She didn’t know what was going on. Not like she had any experience with birth before. Was the baby big? Was it small? The professionals would know. But unfortunately Paradox wasn’t a birthing professional at all, she knew absolutely nothing. She felt the child move down inside her slowly with ease as if the blood was lubricating the tunnel allowing the child to get out.

Paradox then saw a ship fly above her.

”God damn it.” she groaned.

”Alright looks like you may be getting the giraffe treatment.” Paradox said as she put her clothing back on and dismounted the rock carefully. She then watched the ship turn around and heading back before transforming back into bot mode.

”At least giraffes get the luxury of not dropping while the mother is at full speed” she sighed as she tried to run hiding under rocks.

”This is so fucking uncomfortable.” Paradox panted “I hate this!” She yelled out as she leaned against the rock she was under. She punched it out of pain and frustration causing her to leave a small dent and crack on it. She stuck her head out from underneath and saw the ship inspecting the rock she was on. A large cloaked figure stepped out and looked down before squatting and inspecting her blood.

“Time to run again.” Paradox quietly hummed to herself in worry. As she started moving again.

As she ran a ship starting up again was heard in the distance getting louder as it got closer.

Paradox then stopped again as she began to feel a stretch, it wasn’t much but she could feel the child against her trying to get out. Paradox then hid under another rock and looked in front of her the dark line now became more of a sea and Paradox saw it’s shore.

”Close enough.” she shrugged as she sat down, transformed and took her underwear off again hoping she could just give birth and hide the child in her overalls. She began to push with her hands covering her mouth trying to hold down her screams.

Suddenly the pain stopped. It was still there but there was nothing being added to it.

Not even a cry.

The world was silent.

Paradox then looked around and then saw that it was just her. She then put her hands down her pants and grabbed a small child a little bit bigger than the size of her hand. Paradox tried to hide her sniffles. The child was premature and it’s cleft lip going up through their left eyelid revealing their milky white eye.

Paradox held the small being lifting their chest up to her ear.

Nothing.

She tried to do CPR on the child but at this point she began to wonder if that child was ever alive.

her cries became more muffled trying to conceal her child and herself. The last thing she wanted was for her child’s corpse ending up in the hands of the Decepticons. After a few minutes of trying to do CPR she realised that she would never meet her child and get to know them. The tears swelling up in her eyes.

She had failed.

She had killed them.

Paradox knew that if the Decepticons would smelt their own kind there wasn’t a limit that they weren’t going to stop at. She had to put her child somewhere that the Decepticons could never reach. She looked out and saw the sea. She remembered that it dissolved and destroyed any cybertronian near it. Best case scenario, her child dissolved. Worst case, the monster trying to reach them would dissolve and die.

Paradox then stood up and somberly walked to the edge of the rocket terrain and saw where the shore met the rocks. She looked down at the baby she was trying to cradle in her arms. Tears pouring from her eyes. She felt like it was wrong to just dump them in the sea. Paradox then sat down again and looked at the lifeless body in her hands. She hugged her child and kissed her.

”Your name” The words shook out from her. “Your name is…” tears choking her out as she whispered the name between them both. Her face against her child’s feeling a bond between them, she had no clue if it was reciprocated. Logic was telling her no but hope was fighting against those thoughts.

Paradox then let out a loud sob before looking out towards the sea once again. She shuddered at the idea, but she had to do it. At sea burials were not uncommon. Her mothers told her about a funeral she was apart of while on a boat to Australia, JFK’s coffin was left at sea and his son only a few metres away from the coffin. Hell there were more insane ways to be buried, Paradox’s preference was fireworks. She then stood up wobbling and teetered her way to the shore before collapsing. Her knees chipping from the abrupt drop.

She didn’t want to take her eyes off her child. This was the first and last time she got to see them. They looked like they were at peace. Like they knew nothing about what their parent had been through while they were being built inside of her.

Paradox then hugged and kissed her child refusing to let go but knew she had to.

She wanted to never let go, she didn’t want them to be dissolved by the ocean.

She just wanted them.

She wanted them around her.

But how could she achieve that?

Paradox then stood up to see a small group of dragon crests. She held the small child in her arms and kissed them one last time before delicately throwing them into the ocean. She then watched as the flowers gave off multiple colours as they began what she assumed was them eating away at her child, it was like a beautiful rainbow emerging in cloud form as the sun began to set.

she could only cry at the view, it was beautiful like her child.

For someone she didn’t get a chance to know, she wanted them more than anything.

Paradox then sat down and watched as the fog slowly disappeared and the cycle changed over to a new one. The colours becoming more brilliant as they began to faded away into nothing. Paradox wiped away her tears and stood up taking one last look at the crests in the sea.

Paradox took the case out of her chassis and opened up the data pad telling her about the rust sea trying to distract herself.

She couldn’t stay here forever.

She would be caught if she did.

then what was this all for?

She then looked back at her book and saw that the rust sea was near the Hydrax Plateau. “Ok” she sniffled rubbing her face and taking in a deep staggered breath. “So I think I’m heading this way. I’m sure I can steal a ship or something.” Paradox looked to her right and began to walk off.

Suddenly she heared the hissing of a ship’s door opening in the distance. She turned around and saw the tall cloaked figure from earlier.

”Oh for fucks sake!” Paradox cried out in anguish as she transformed and began to run away grabbing the knives from her leg and arming herself. “Wait a minute!” She then turned around and put a knife in her intake and aimed her bracelet at the cloaked figure running after her and shot a bead at them. Before continuing to run, she then jumped on top of a rock and saw them jump over the projectile.

“Jesus Christ!” she cried. “Why do I have to be the one that constantly has to put up with bullshit?” She then saw the bead return as the figure closed in on her. She braced herself to jump and waited for the bead to hit them in the back. They then slowed down and tilted their helm at her before looking over their shoulder. The figure back flipped over it and Paradox jumped and pushed off the figure’s abdomen mid air as the bead returned to her. She then put a blade to their neck cabling, her pedes dangling in the air trying to stabilise herself on their hip or waist.

”Who are you? What do you want?” She yelled trying to hide her tears and acting as if she didn’t already know they were most likely a Decepticon that wanted her back at Kaon.

The bot then took his cape off and wrapped it around Paradox restraining her in a bundle. She then felt them walking back towards their ship.

”Oh no you don’t!” she yelled out as she slit opened to fabric and landed on the ground and rolled towards their pedes only for them to just top in their tracks.

”Does this normally work for you?” The voice was deep, yet young, commanding, yet playful. It was weird but Paradox looked up and saw a white and red mech with a sword and a helmet with two sets of spikes protruding out like they were wings on Hermes’s helmet.

Paradox sat up and saw that he had no emblem on him. “I asked the question first. Who are you?” She then stood up onto her pedes and held out her knives to the mech towering over her. He was definitely taller than Brainstorm.

”I am Wing.” he announced as he took a step back from Paradox holding up his servos to reveal no weapons besides his sword. “Now will you answer mine?”

Paradox squinted her optics and tried to talk in a playful tone to see if he would match them back. ”Yeah, but only against those about to die of old age, actually… I did far less for that one. Both stunts and context wise.”

“You need more practice.” He announced. “The skill is there but not the method.”

”Ok but what do you want from me? Remember the second part to my question? I let you ask yours between mine now you answer my second one.” Paradox braced herself for another attack.

”You look like you need help.” He looked at the blood that was pooled under a near by rock. “What do you need from me?”

Paradox held up her blades stiffer still in a defensive position “Decepticon or Autobot? She yelled.

”Neither” he responded. “ I am from New Crystal City.”

”Well I don’t know scrap about the old one” Paradox quickly responded, steadying her stance. “Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?”

Wing then sighed “because you don't know how. But I understand no one really knows about New Crystal City. We hid ourselves away as the war began to protect Cybertronian culture. We house many of Cybertron’s greatest scientists and schoolers along with anyone else who didn’t want to take a side in the war.”

”Oh I very much know how” Paradox rebuttled “I worked as a medic, unlicensed perhaps, but I have experiance.”

”Oh so you can fix yourself then?” Wing asked with a sense of irony “I’m sure you, a panneless bot who is bleeding out can do it all on your own.” He then walked past her back to his ship.

Paradox watched as he walked away, he didn’t seem like he was going to turn her over to the Decepticons. Do first impressions really matter? She did need a ride away from here.

”Hang on!” She called out.

Wing turned around and watch her body relax as she limped over to him.

“So you need help fixing yourself doctor?” He asked as the door to his ship opened once again.

”Ha ha real funny. I’m not a doctor, I’m an unlicensed medic.” She spat out before turning to a really polite tone. “Is the offer still available?”

Wing stepped aside and offered his servo to let her on board. Paradox slapped it away juxtaposing her very polite “Thank You.”

As wing got on the door closed behind him jump scaring Paradox. “Not used to ships are you?” He joked as he sat down in the cockpit. Paradox looked around the small box of a ship. It looked pretty cramped with every single compartment messily packed away but it all looked like maintenance and weapon stuff.

”You’ll hurt yourself more if you stay standing” he announced as he turned around the second cockpit chair.

”I don’t know how to drive one of these” Paradox nervously let out as she inched towards him.

”Well good thing you won't have to then.” Wing continued to talk as Paradox sat down leaning away from him.

”Nervous are we?” He laughed.

”Untrusting is a better word” she spat out sharply.

”Well you trusted me enough to get in.” Wing still sounded like a commander while he was fiddling with the dials. “Get ready for take off tiny” he smiled as the ship suddenly blasted off disappearing into the galaxy above the rust sea.

Chapter Text

Paradox curled herself up in a ball more and more as the journey went on. Paradox didn’t care why she did it, it was just making her feel more comfortable. She kept a constant cynical gaze on Wing as he piloted the ship.

Wing sighed and made optic contact with Paradox who immediately averted his gaze instead choosing to aim her gaze at his reflection on the windshield. Wing then tried to look at her using her methods but she averted her gaze back to the real him. “So it’s not my looks I assume” he exhaled.

Paradox’s gaze intensified on him.

”And now you’re not talking to me” Wing sounded a bit fed up but also understanding of her perspective of everything and trying to come off as calm and cool to try and encourage her to let up on whatever this was.

Paradox continued her piercing stare.

Wing tried to switch up his tone to get a response ”I just realised, you know my name but I don’t know yours. How about we make it even? What’s your name?”

Paradox held up a knife with the curve of the blade facing upwards as her faceplate grimaced.

”Stabby, got it.” he tried to laugh off his sigh. “You do realise you’re not holding that correctly.” He stuck his servo out and gently yanked the knife from her hands turning it so that the blade was now facing downwards “If you’re going to threaten me you might as well be correct about it.”

Paradox then tilted her helm and flipped the blade around the way she had it previously, keeping an intense stare but adding a small smirk to it. Wing swallowed his opinions as the ship began to close in on a planet in shades of sandstone and rusty copper.

”Look, there’s the planet Theophany. We’re almost at the city.” He announced like a tour guide. He then saw Paradox dart her gaze away from him for a short snap before returning back to him. Wing then fiddled with the control pit flipping some switches before turning a dial.

He then leaned in a little bit as if he was correcting his posture before talking to the consol ”This is Wing, I have sent you my ship’s details. Requesting the gate on the south west side to allow me in”

Paradox quickly looked at the panel to make sure it wasn’t a command for death or something. She then moved herself a little bit adjusting her ball position to be a little more upright like a nervous puppy in a car seat. The voice returning from the panel then scared her a bit as a femme voice took over.

”I have received your ship's details Wing, you are safe to come in.” The voice then turned a little bit confrontational “Do you have anything you need to tell us about?”

Wing then laughed it off “Only an injured bot, well I think she’s a bot. She’s definitely a bit nervous. She looks stabby but I assure you that she’s fine.”

the voice then sighed “I’ll let Dai Atlas know.”

Wing then returned the tone “nooo, why do you have to do that?”

the voice then turned back to an official condescending one. “Because it’s a security breach Wing. Plus he knows you snuck off again after your perimeter shift, he wants to talk to you either way. ”

Wing however did not return the new tone but stuck to the current one he was using, if anything it became more whiney “but he kicks them out and leaves them to defend for themselves.”

the voice then became sarcastic “oh no. It’s like he cares about his people’s safety.”

Wing then had a little grumble to himself before using a more official reporting voice “is the gate open? I’m nearby.”

The ship flew in close to the ground almost like it was a rock skimming against the water’s surface. Paradox gripped onto the side of the cockpit pressing herself against the back of the seat as she anxiously watched the ship speed across the ground like a race car. She began to feel her chest pound as it swerved between the natural formations of what looked like sandstone looping around and with speed it was animated to be slithering like a snake. Paradox felt the ship build up speed, she grabbed the cockpit even harder, the edges of the side felt like a blade about to pierce the skin. She kept an eye on the trail ahead of them and saw in the distance the ground move up as they sped towards it.

Paradox felt her chest tighter as if it was tying strings around her organs that were trying to pound their way out and bracing them for impact. She felt her voice start to tremble “what is that!” She yelled as soon as she opened her mouth she began to feel herself panting out any calmness that she had.

She was too intently focusing on whatever they were racing towards to notice how calm Wing was, it was just like any other day for him. “Don’t worry, it’s just the entrance.”

Paradox barely heard what he said over her own fear and wondered if this is what life flashing before your eyes felt like. “Not every entrance has to be fragging dramatic you twat!”

Wing couldn’t help but laugh at the strange word she used at the end of her sentence. He hadn’t heard anything like it before and yet he felt very accustomed to what it meant.

”What are you a psychopath?!” Paradox felt her voice about to go into a scream, as the moving land began to look more like a box ready to eat them alive. “Quit the laughing and slow down!” She felt her voice scream. that’s all she could comunicate with before it started gasping for any hope to be saved from the drowning feeling it had been over ridden by.

The box came closer, there was no lighting, only darkness. Paradox could feel her whole body tense up if she wasn’t crying from fear then the pain of tensing up this much post birth would most certainly do it. As the entrance got closer she didn’t know if she should have her optics closed or watch her death happen so that she went out knowing exactly what happened. Paradox could also feel her voice going out from the fear but it didn’t want to stop working. All she could do was hum and hope that it would calm her down a bit. The shadow of the door darkened the last few minutes as Paradox continued to look desperately at her final surroundings while she was alive. She then noticed that they weren’t crashing into a void, it began to look like an unlit tunnel of sorts as she could see the sides of the walls but not the end of it, the darkness just got rid of that visual.

As the ship got closer Wing then slammed on the breaks and drifted into the tunnel. The ship entered the void sideways and all Paradox could do was look out the side window and watch the door close with the last of the light fading away into the distance. She could feel the ship drift around a corner in pitch blackness, she became incorporating screams into her humming, trying to make it come off as if she was trying to meditate or focus more on the noise rather that what was happening in as her anxiety began to race alongside the ship into this unknown trench.

It wasn’t too long before she could feel everything start to slowdown as the light re-entered from Wing’s side of the ship, as much as it did take it’s sweet time revealing itself, Paradox was glad that there was light somewhere, even if it was just the spiritual light at the end of the tunnel rather than the real thing. Maybe she did crash and die and her body hasn’t come to that realisation after experiencing that much shock. She felt her breathing calm down as fear left her body only leaving the anxiety of what was going to happen next. The light became more and more blinding as her optics adjusted from nothing to a brilliant white light.

Wing then realigned the ship out of a sideways drift as the light adjusted itself to the front window as it entered a large room. Paradox looked around and saw that they had entered a large hanger, she knew Wing’s ship was small and meant for one or two person travel, it reminded her of a high end luxury camping van, but next to these other ships it might as well be relabeled as a bee next to these spacecrafts that made the seaworthy giants on earth look insignificant. Even though the ships looked impressive, there was something off about them, they looked like artifacts that were still in use, not in a way of age, but rather use and how oddly clean they were. As Wing slowly guided his ship through the ships became smaller, like they were driving through a gallery organised by size. Paradox noticed that as the ships got smaller the more dirt and damage was on them. For some reason they were only using the small ships and leaving behind the big ones like artifacts in a museum that the public couldn’t access.

Paradox could see a tall orange femme, maybe a bit shorter than Brainstorm. Her arms were cross with a scowl across her faceplate, Paradox couldn’t tell if the stare was for herself or Wing. When the ship came to a stop Wing sighed clearly knowing that he was in some sort of trouble and this was just the beginning of it. Before he even turned the engine off there was a loud banging on the door. Wing then stood up, already exacerbated with the situation. “Stay put” he warned Paradox as he turned to walk towards the door, Paradox did a small yelp as she transformed down to hide behind the back of the seat and focused on the sounds, trying to trail Wing’s steps to follow how far away he was, she jumped at the harsh sound of the door opening and she immediately began to hear the sound of the femme talking as she tried to readjust her hearing.

”You know my stance on this” Wing announced righteously.

”And you know Dai’s” The femme sounded like she was preparing to destroy him like a lawyer in a courtroom.

“How about yours?” Wing interrupted.

”Mine align with Dai’s, he wants to keep us safe and I must protect those people as well, like you should. Why do you have to be everyone’s saviour Wing? Our job is to our people and we can’t risk them at the cost of your ego and complex.” Paradox could hear the concern in her voice. Paradox tried to place where she was and now it sounded like she was in a military hanger. She felt her nerves starting to boil, she had just left a military super power. She didn’t need to be in another, especially this soon.

”Everyone deserves peace.” Wing began to sound like a preacher “it’s not perfect but imagine if everyone had safety like us? So I ask again, what is your stance on this? Not Dai’s, not New Crystal City’s, yours.”

Paradox heard the femme sigh. ”Fine. We can’t set this as a standard if it no longer exists. We need to keep the peace so that we can conserve our culture. Maybe in the future you can do whatever you want to do, and I would be more than happy to help you. But for now. I must stay loyal to New Crystal City.”

”so you agree with what I’m doing?” Wing sounded like he had caught her in a trap.

”Sure” she agreed sternly. “But not right now” Paradox heard someone get pushed to the side “Now where’s the outsider you brought in?” Paradox could hear a new set of footsteps get closer. She winced as she stood up, dropping to her knees after a step, she hummed in pain as she started to shuffle towards the edge of the seat.

Pardox could hear wings steps as he followed “So if you agree with what I’m doing, when is the right time then?”

the sounds of rustling in any possible hiding spots could be heard as things were thrown to the ground “How about we start with the whole universe not hating our kind? Hm?”

”No one will stop hating us until we can prove peace” Wing started to sound like a politician starting his first day with a briefcase full of dreams as he entered the office for the first time. “New Crystal City is proof that we can be a peaceful species, we can set a new standard.”

Paradox looked over the edge of the seat and saw the drop. “Isn’t it twice my height and I die?” She quietly whispered to herself as she held onto the edge, lowering her body down onto the ground. She looked down while she hanged judginging the drop.

”See! It’s trying to escape.” The femme pointed out as she rushed her steps over to Paradox. “This could have led to a breach! Imagine if it did escape? No one would be able to find it.”

Paradox dropped from the seat onto the ground with a small thud before rolling under the seat wiping away her tears. Suddenly the femme relaxed her tone a bit. “How injured is she?” She bent down and inspected the blood on the ground.

”See, no harm.” Wing announced like he had won “she’s struggling to walk when fear isn’t controlling her, I caught her leaving a Decepticon facility.”

”Decepticon!” She yelled. “Wing! What were you even doing there!”

”look Benzite asked for a rust sea sample and the quickest to get to was the one near a Decepticon camp.” Wing shrugged trying to avoid accountability.

”Look,” the femme buried her fingers into her optic ridge.“Take her to Aqualance” the femme sounded like she was already fed up with all the paperwork ahead of her “Now I have to talk to Dai, and if you get out of this alive then you’ll be on the extra shift everyone else will be having making sure YOU weren’t followed.” She then walked out with urgency.

“Ok, see you around Sunlock” Wing tried to end the conversation on a positive, but all he got back was a loud grunt.

”Hey Stabby, wanna come out? I have been told to take you to the doctor” Paradox stuck her head out from under the seat with a nervous expression on her face. “Don’t worry I can carry you there, I don’t want you walking anyway.” He held out his servo on the ground next to the seat. Paradox stayed seated and looked up at him.

”I promise you’re not a prisoner or going to get hurt, I just want to help and you’re clearly expelling liquids you need to survive” he moved his servo a bit closer to her. Paradox shifted her body away from his hand watching it for a bit. He then gently twiddled his digits like he was trying to get the attention of a cat in an attempt to call it over. Paradox sighed and shuffled towards his servo, using his digits to stand herself up. She laid the top half of her body on his palm between his digits before exhaling trying to figure out how to get on without causing anymore pain.

”Do you need help?” Wing asked, placing his other servo behind her ready to scoop her up.

Paradox then hung herself over his digit completely ignoring his help and pressed her feet onto his other digit walking herself up sideways and then rolling onto his servo, exhaling at the feeling of relief in her body.

Wing sighed ”all right then.” He looked a little defeated as he slowly picked Paradox up and held her close to his chassis to try and stabilise her as he walked out of the ship. Paradox looked around, having Wing carry her felt weird, it reminded her of Breakdown, but he was a stranger. She was with a stranger yet she knew this position was safe and comfortable. She hated this conflict so she began to look around for something else to focus on. The hanger seemed a lot grander outside of the ship. The floor was more scuffed towards the smaller ships and even some more splats from ship fluids yet to be cleaned up from repairs or maintenance. She then saw the door, it looked like a traditional door from her planet. Like the one that could be found on old castles in England, but with some sort of utopian sci-fi twist to it. As Wing approached the door it automatically opened revealing a large city with a brilliant iced white colour with grooves and a sapphire blue framed where the buildings stopped and the paths began. The city was buzzing with sounds and chatter, it was like one of those movies Paradox would watch where the big city seemed almost over populated but no one seemed to care, she had never seen something like this before, there wasn’t even a pest or bin chook insight, she tried to find a street cleaner but even those seemed scarce, as if they only came out at night to keep an illusion going. This whole place just seemed to good to be true, it was minimalistic but maximalist at the same time, everything looked the same like those creepy utopian American pastel coloured houses in movies from the 50’ and 60’s.

Wing poked down and saw Paradox looking around, he didn’t know if she was intrigued, excited or scared, perhaps all. He gently tapped her shoulder and when she looked up he smiled before looking back out upon the city.

”Welcome to New Crystal City.”

Chapter Text

Paradox clutched onto Wing tightly trying to hide herself away from view. She could feel people staring at her. The last thing she needed was thousands of optics gazing upon her.

Even though her last experience on earth was at her state’s capital, it was still a dusty country city just made by some politicians that didn’t know how to make a city. She just assumed they had a Pinterest board of cities form the eastern border states, maybe with a few British and American cities mixed in there. This city had no rats hiding in the benches only coming out at night, no ibises, no litter, and if there was it was because someone had just tripped and dropped their stuff and was about to pick it up. The road usage was about the same but there were no large trucks hauling produce, petrol or minerals. Sure there was the occasional bot hauling building equipment to repair or build something but that was like a rarity compared to the constant construction Paradox was used to. She was about 22 years old now and had never seen Perth without construction, at this point the scaffolding and equiptment was more of a city icon than the people’s merging abilities. She did however miss how open Perth was compared to New Crystal City, it still had a very open plan that had only recently become more urbanised. The city often treated you by showing off a delicately curved glass bridge revealing itself between the native bushes in the state botanical garden before you would go over the Swan River looking onto skyscrapers to the right and grand political buildings to the left hiding amongst the shrubs that allowed the garden to transition into the city, then down the centre was a marvelous lit up hexagonal dome frame that changed colour gently overtime drawing attention to the science museum and planetarium, using the sky and the emptiness from its freedom of urbanisation framing it and making it look much grander than it was. This city, however, felt closed off, compact, like it was the final boss of urbanisation. It reminded Paradox of a sci-fi dystopian version of Greece without its natural beauty. It felt cold but vibrate, claustrophobic but calm, futuristic but also traditional.

She could hear some murmurs from passersby wondering what she was or just being pointed out about to be gawked at. At this point Paradox just wanted to not be seen, she winced as she turned inwards to face Wing, hoping the old saying ‘if I can‘t see you then you can’t see me’ would calm her down a bit even though she had gained object permanence decades ago, indulging the feeling somehow brought calm to her. But unfortunately that couldn’t stop the sounds, the audial permanence was still there.

Fortunately that wouldn’t be a problem for long as she felt Wing turn off the path that was designated for walking past buildings. She heard a door open as as they closed the sounds of a rustling lively city was replaced with some weird alien spacey elevator music, it was clearly a neutral music that was inoffensive to anyone and suited everyone’s taste by being no one’s taste. It just played and existed.

The quietness was interrupted by Wing’s voice that almost came off as booming as it echoed through the room “I’m here to see Aqualance, orders from Sunlock.”

As the receptionist typed in something the chatter from the public could be heard for a brief moment as the door opened. Paradox could hear a set of pedes heavily walking across the floor, they clearly knew their way around and commanded the room as even the music had seemed to have silenced.

“You do realise there are other medics, right?” The voice sounded fed up and disappointed. “I swear all you soilders just think I’m your personal medic.”

The steps didn’t even stop to acknowledge Wing, Paradox saw him open his mouth to talk.

”Don’t” the voice became gruff “I have 2 klicks left on my break and I intend to take them in peace.”

”But…” Wing tried to argue.

”Sit” The voice demanded not caring about who he had just cut off.

”it’s just 2…”

Paradox then heard to steps stop for the first time and swiveled around and even without looking she could tell that some glance was made towards Wing.

”…and you should enjoy them.” Wing laughed off nervously as he walked backwards towards a seat.

The footsteps continues as the voice pretended to mumble “First correct thing you’ve said all stella-millenia.”

WIng sat down with a huff. “Sorry about him,” he tapped on Paradox’s head “Aqualance is a bit of a grouch.”

Suddenly a grizzled voice boomed through the halls. “If you’re going to talk about my lovely personality to my receptionist, don’t bother, he's been working with me for a while now.”

Paradox saw an almost trouble making grin on Wing’s faceplate. “I would tell you who I’m actually talking to but you should take that break of yours.” Wing believed he had Aqualance in a checkmate.

The pedes became louder again. “You’ve piqued my interest, either you’ve got something small about to give me a huge helmache, or my wishes have been made true and I can send you to a psychiatric facility as you’ve finally lost your module.”

Paradox could feel Wing’s calm devour change as his shoulders tensed up a bit as the pede came up closer than they had before. Paradox felt Wing try to hide her under his servos with his digits moving as if he was pretending he had a neck itch.

”Well?” The words were slowly pulled from the doctor’s mouth.

Wing tried to laugh it off trying to meet Aqualance at his own game “I also wish it was the second one.”

”Good to see we agree.” Aqualance’s voice had become more bitter and satirical. “So what small thing have you got to make my day? I can tell you’re hiding it behind your servos.”

Wing then slowly released his servos from Paradox, the overly bright room blinded her for a moment before she saw a helm with an off white faceplate cover her vision. She sat there as the only hint of colour came from his vibrant yellow eyes. She couldn’t tell if the blue glow emanating around him was his helmet colour or the ceiling colour.

Before Aqualance could even let out a sigh there was a call at the reception desk. Aqualance ignored it and sighed like Wing was about to be written into the history books and not in a good way. “Look, there’s a vetnary just a few blocks away from here, I suggest leaving her there and then I never become an accomplish to whatever this is.” He then gestured towards the both of them before looking at Paradox “You understand me?” He asked. Paradox nodded nervously, but watched as his facial expression softened disparagingly. “I’m sorry that you’ve been brought here. Hopefully you’re smart enough to have figured that he’s not that smart.”

”Wing” a smaller and calmer voice was heard from the reception desk “Dai Atlas wants to speak with you right away.”

Aqualance rolled his optics while Wing tensed up again.

”Is he on the line?” Wing Asked.

“No. He wants to talk to you face to face. All he said was that you know where to go.” The receptionist looked like this call was average but unexpected as Wing rolled his optics knowing that he was going to be in trouble. He stood up and put Paradox in Aqualance’s arms.

He then rubbed the top of her head with his pointer digit “I’ll be back soon.” Wing immediately walked out of the office leaving Paradox behind. She looked up at Aqualance who had a grumpy look perfectly targeted at Wing as the door shut behind him.

Aqualance then looked down at her. “How old are you?”

Paradox was quiet for a moment trying to find the strength to talk “21?” She looked up at him confused before looking at the door.

”Great.” He loudly grumbled “That means I can use adult language around you and no one will judge me when I call that glitch a good for nothing scrap heap, a fragging nuisance to society. Do I look like a fragging sparkling sitter?”

Paradox wanting to avoid any heat being thrown at her just quietly answered “no.”

Aqualance then turned around to look at his receptionist. “If I leave this with you, You’re going to ask for compensation aren’t you?” He sighed.

”Pretty much, I don’t want to be an accomplice in this either.” The receptionist immediately spoke back going on about their work at the same time.

”Did Dai say anything else?” He asked.

”Nope but I’m assuming if you want to be seen as coroperative, It’s best to keep it here so it’s easier for him to dispose of later.” The receptionist shrugged.

”How did you know?” Aqualance asked, looking confused.

The receptionist rolled their optics as they continued to click away on their screen. ”Your last receptionist lasted a chord before crying and quitting, and I’ve been here for a little over 3 stellacycles. Don’t think I didn’t think of you thinking of throwing them in the alley way next to the vets.”

Aqualance huffed with a smirk “well I was going to keep it in my office as a pet for the day, maybe use it to distract those with short attention spans.” He then sighed as his mind went straight back to work “whose my next paitent anyway?”

”You don’t have a client until much later. You have time for walk-ins.” The receptionist said this without a fear of Primus in his optics.

Paradox could sense the glare Aqualance was giving “Walk ins?” He sighed “as if this day could be anymore of a lost cause. No one gets hurt around here. I need some action.”

The Receptionist finally looked up from their desk and lazily pointed to Paradox with his pen. ”Well you have some ‘action’ in your servos doctor.”

”Fine” Aqualance exhaled “This is why you’ve stayed so long.” He playfully smiled as he took Paradox to his office.

The building was quite small, clearly only housing one doctor, Aqualance. The hall seemed to just be there for decoration, delaying the inevitable or trying to banish off any stupidity before it damned his sight. The building seemed to match the rest of New Crystal City, White floors and walls with a blue ceiling and accents to the building all in cold metallics. The door opened to show a desk with data pads covering it leaving a small spot for patients to rest their elbows on. As they entered the room, Paradox looked to the right and saw a surgical area. For a mech who had everything everywhere, the place to the right seemed weirdly clean. There was maybe a scuff or two that was expected for such white flooring, but not even the left over shadow from an oil spill could be seen. Aqualance then pushed aside some of his tools on the cabinets and table tops on the right side of the room surrounding the surgical table and placed Paradox down in the gap he had just made.

”Stay.” He ordered her like she was a confused sick puppy. Paradox laid down in pain as her body was finally able to relax. Sure she didn’t know who this doctor was but at least she wasn’t speeding around into a void in a space craft or hiding from uptight soldiers, clearly Aqualance wanted nothing to do with her and that brought her some peace and relief. The table was far from comfy but Paradox having time to lay down and just recover mentally from what just happened was better than having to follow Wing around.

Aqualance stopped in his step and sighed. “What’s going on?” He asked, looking at her over his shoulder. “You sound like you’re in pain. Maybe I can get you some high grade sedatives?”

Paradox angled herself up onto her elbows doing a little wince “I‘m injured, probably need some bed rest. Maybe a bit of stitching up. Who knows, I’m better at my Cybertronian half than my human. Personally I would like to sleep and act like the past cycle or so never happened.” Paradox drooped her head back for a moment before looking around the office just to avoid a crick on her neck and making eye contact with Aqualance.

Aqualance look at Paradox tilting his helm. “That arm and leg are prosthetics, just because you’ve got Cybertronian metals on your body, it doesn’t mean that you’re one of us, don’t pretend to be something you’re not.”

Paradox exhaled exhaustedly “look. Like I said: I have been through more than enough this past cycle. I’m not going to transform for you, I’m tired and in enough pain as is. But let it be known, I’m no pretender. I told you the truth, I’m a 50/50 combo of two different scrap heaps.”

Aqualance rolled his optics in disbelief "convenient that you don’t want to transform.”

Paradox looked at him with sternness and tired disapproval “If I transform for you like the pet you think I am, and if it's good enough for you I get medical care. For. Free. Ok.”

Aqualance put out his servo “deal.”

Paradox rolled over onto her belly “ahhh fuuuuckkk that huuurrtttts!” She cried in English. She then rolled onto her back once again in the same direction, it didn’t take long before she no longer had the harsh desk holding her up. All Paradox could feel was her free fall. She then screamed transforming, hoping her size would ease her fall. She hit the ground facing the cabnets she just fell from groaning in pain. “Uggggghhhhh. I don’t know if it’s nausea, the fall, tiredness or postpartum. Maybe it’s a…a…AAAAFFFFFTTTT!”

Aqualance watch her vomit all over his floor and focused on the mixture of energon and alien fluids. He kicked over a bucket towards her which Paradox happily grabbed and shoved her faceplate into “s…s…s-uuUURRrrrr- ry” Paradox barfed out “I wi-huuurrrRRRK hhaaaAAHah clean this u-uuurrRRRKKkkk-p later” she continued to choke and gasp out.

Aqualance patted her back “it’s alright, I’m already on it. Gotta use my ‘magic’ for something.”

”mmhhhh-URRRRRKKKK-mft” the sound echoed into the bucket before a shy and unenergetic “Thanks” followed by Paradox lifted a thumbs up.

Paradox then put her arms around the edge of the bucket so that she could comfortably rested her helm on her folded arms. After a few klicks all that could be heard was her gasping and groaning from vomiting. “Haaaaaaaa-haaaa”

Aqualance stopped patting her on the back. “All right. Get up. I’ve gotta put all your fluids somewhere and legislation says I can’t put it back in you.” He half afted a laugh as he helped her up. As Paradox stood up hunched over she saw all of her vomit that didn’t make it into the buck floating around her.

”Huuuh?” She tiredly groaned “I don’t…I don’t know if I have enough in me to care or ask about this.” Aqualance helped her up onto the medical table as she watched the puke float its way into the bucket.

Aqualance smiled “don’t worry, some of us are created with weird little abilities.” He started like he was an old man about to tell a yarn of a story while also being self aware that if he was younger he would have yelled at the elderly to shut up. “I just so happen to be able to move liquids.”

”Isn’t that just specialised telepathy?” Paradox groaned as she layed down on her back.

Aqualance tilted his helm disapprovingly “I, personally don’t like the word ‘telepathy’ but you’ve just proven that you’re weird and tired so I’ll let it slide this time.”

”Greaaaattt” Paradox exhaled. She felt her optics close a bit. She then felt a big glooming shadow come overtop of her “Right…” she sighed. “I guess I asked for a medical look over, do I have to sit up for it? Kind of don’t feel like doing that right now.”

Aqualance returned the sigh but it was more pitiful “well I will start by placing you on rest. Also the table can move to sit you up, so no, you don’t have to sit yourself up. Though I have to ask you some question. With the first not being ‘where is your panneling and plating?’ More along the lines of what are you? and what happened to you that got you to this point in life?”

Paradox looked at the edges of the table trying to find the mechanics of it. “That’s so cool! We have similar things on my planet, but when I was in the Decepticon prison we just had metal slabs.”

”Why doesn’t it surprise me that Decepticons are involved here” Aqualance grumbled before turning around to grab a data pad to write on. “So how did you end up on Cybertron?”

”Kidnaped” Paradox shrugged off casually. “Then they experimented on me because they wanted to use me as a way to create more Decepticons. My human side has reproductive things that you lot don’t have. No farming for sparks or needing to leave a part of yourself at The Well. Apparently I was a more compact and portable solution to their lack of soldiers." Paradox tried to explain it as calmly as possible. Aqualance’s stopped writing and looked at her with shock. The room went silent as the room became tense but not because of her but rather because of those who weren’t there. “Don’t worry I also learnt medicine as well.” Paradox tried to add a positive spin on things but Aqualance wasn’t convinced.

”I… hmmm” Aqualance became speechless, Paradox could tell that it was something he wasn’t used to. He walked over to his desk and spoke to a small desk speaker “Tell Dai Atlas, I will send him a report on the… Actually I don’t know what Wing has brought us but she’s traumatised and needs protection.” He then waited by and wrote down notes on what Paradox had just told him.

The speaker then crackled back at him with the voice of the receptionist “Ok, will do. Hang on for a moment Doctor.” The voice then became slightly hushed as it wasn’t directed at the speaker any more but still very easily heard it was like the receptionist wasn’t trying to hush their voice at all. “Dr Aqualance will give you a report soon sir. He believes that she has a good reason to stay here and has a need for protection.”

Chapter Text

”Scrap” Aqualance let out in frustration before using the speaker again “how long has Dai been there?”

There was a pause for a moment.

”He just arrived at the desk Doctor.” The receptionist replied. He sounded like he was trying to down play the situation and stay casual about everything and he was very good at it too.

”Well tell him to stay there” Aqualance ordered “Dai, if you can hear me stay put.”

There was another pause for a bit. Then the crackling recommenced, the voice sounded deeper, more grander, more like they type of person you shouldn’t fuck around with “Fine. But I would like a report on what you know now please, if you think it deserves to stay here, then you must have some proof already.”

Aqualance’s optics widened “How do you even have the ability to bend down and use the speaker Dai? I’m surprised you fit in the building as is with your height, and don’t even get me started on those shoulders of yours.”

”Aqualance, The report?” Dai insisted.

Aqualance looked through all the file in his servo and quickly edited it before sending it through. “It’s been sent, now can I get back to work? Peacefully is preferred.”

The room went silent. Aqualance watched and waited for a response, he then held up his servo, as the speaker continued to cackle through the silence. His digits spread as they began to count down to 0. “Great.” He announced, “They know what to do.” He turned around back at Paradox, looking her over as if he was reevaluating her situation.

“So good news.” He stated blandly “you fit my criteria to not go to the vet.” He walked back towards Paradox and took a seat next to her “Bad news, I don’t know if you would fit Dai’s criteria. So lets try and change that.”

”How else do you want me to explain it?” Paradox groaned.

Aqualance rested his elbow on his knee and scratched his head. “Well I see us going down one of two routes.” He then glanced over his notes “We play up on the alien side and make it obvious that your connections to the war were by force and you don’t enjoy a second of it. Or we do route two which is just really playing up the injuries, Dai doesn’t like outsiders but he thinks that he would be just as bad as the bots ‘n’ cons if he let a poor defenseless weak creature out on its own.”

”So what? I just speak English and ask you to do some weird procedure I know you can’t do because it's for my alien half?” Paradox asked, hope of being fixed properly fading away.

”Exactly” he shrugged.

Paradox reached into her chassis and tried to open the briefcase before feeling around. A smile formed across her faceplate as she felt soft wool touch her digits. “How about you send Dai in here and persist that my ‘alien form’ is too small and delicate for you to work on while i make a little scene of sorts.”

Aqualance narrowed his optics “if you’re too aggressive he’ll see you as a threat.” He then paused and thought to himself for a bit. “But you would be arguing that you have a weakness.” He then walked over to his desk and announced to the speaker “send Dai in.”

Paradox took out her knitting and held the needles together so as to not make the silhouette of the garment obviously giving away that it wasn’t medical equipment. Within seconds of that call a knock was heard at the office door which Aqualance quickly opened revealing a massive mech who looked different from most that Paradox had seen. He looked the most equipped for war with his dark blue and black plating contrasting the world he had made for the people of New Crystal City and Aqualance wasn’t wrong about his shoulders, the width of them looked like they’d were the same height as Paradox herself in bit form. But she didn’t have much time to stare as she knew what she had to do.

She started politely yelling at Aqualance using her knowledge of different earth languages, which mainly came from phonetically singing along to songs.

”Sieben Sieben, ai-lyu-lyu. Sieben Sieben, ein zwei” she confronted Aqualance, guestering to the tiny knitting needles in her servos.

”What are you even saying?” He groaned.

Paradox took in a deep breath and rolled her optics, slowing down her words “Sieben. Sieben. Ai. Lyu. Lyu… Ein. Zwei. Drei.” Her tone becoming more serious “Tanzen. Weiter, weiter. Ich liebe.” Her expression changed to be one looking at Aqualance like he understood. Dai just watched over the situation without flinching anything but a frown that he wore like an everyday garment.

Aqualance rubbed his forehelm “You’ve been waving those sticks and threads for 10 klicks now, and we’re still not any close to figuring out what’s going on.”

Paradox then waved the sticks around like they were some magical wand pointing at them “Sieben, sieben, ai-lyu-lyu. Sieben Sieben, ein, zwei.”

Aqualance rolled his optics “repeating it won't make me understand it any better.”

Paradox gestured to the words as she phonetically spoke them “Ein. Zwei. Drei.” She looked up at him like everything she just said made total sense to him. Paradox turned to Dai and looked at him with understanding and pointed towards him as if to insinuate he knew what she was talking about “Taaaanzeeeen.” The words drew out from her intake. After pointing at Dai she saw him raise an optic ridge and began looking between the two of them.

”Wing told me everything.” Dai announced. Silence overcame the room for a moment. Paradox tilted her helm to pretend that she still didn’t know what was being said. Dai pointed to Paradox, she felt like she had just been given a death sentence. “I know you can pass as fluent in Cybertronian, I know you can understand me.”

Paradox gave a side look to Aqualance who looked blank for the first time. Paradox over exaggerated a confused expression “Ukraine, tanzen” she slowly spoke trying to see how much longer she could get away with this.

”Lying isn’t in your best interest.” Dai ordered, his stare becoming more intense, Paradox could feel it inside her soul.

Aqualance broke the contact Dai’s gaze had upon her. “It was my idea, she’s just going off doctors advice. Poor advice, yes. But she was just following my instructions.”

Dai stopped staring through the Cybertronians shaped object between him and Paradox and shifted his gaze to Aqualance “You suggested she speak in a language you don’t know? What if she was openly communicating about bringing war to our city?”

Paradox did a small nervous giggle to herself regaining Dai’s attention. “What’s funny about that” his voice boomed.

”I don’t even know what I was saying,” Paradox held her servos up in front of her. "My planet has many different languages, I was just repeating a silly little song that’s literally mixing up multiple of these languages and even added some nonsense phrases because it sounded fun.”

Dai’s expression relaxed a little but he looked like he didn’t trust her “Yet you speak it.”

”Poorly” Paradox corrected feeling nervouse “I don’t know what word is what language unless i search it up. Well, except the parts in my language, that I know.”

Dai squinted his optics. “You sound like you knew those words off by heart though. I don’t like repeating myself but if you need to get it through your brain module then note that lying isn’t in your best interest."

Paradox sighed a quiet groan. “I know it phonetically. There’s a song contest on my planet, that’s where it's from. It was just the entry I wanted to win that year and the entry that introduced me to the contest.” She then watched to see if there was any new reaction from Dai. His intake pursed as his helm straightened up a bit, almost softening his jawline.

”Ok, look I don’t like talking to new peop…creatu…bots. I can get chatty when I’m nervous but if you can search up the planet earth and then Eurovision. It’s a competition, it’s a friendly competition between countries and advertises itself as what peace could look like and that is part of the reason why I like it because everyone should just live in a world like Eurovision in my mind. Peace is great! They like uniting people by music. Which I can see similarities here. You like to keep the people united, and from what Wing told me, culture is a big part of that and music is like a part of culture so obviously I support your mission to protect everyone here and….”

Dai held his servo up to silence her. “You’ve said more than enough. You can stay. Make sure you are looked after and once you are fully healed you will be having a reevaluation on if you can stay here. Wing explained your situation, You had no choice in this, however, Decepticon ideas may have rubbed off on you. So between now and the evaluation, be on your best behaviour or else. I cannot confirm others will be as welcoming as me.” Dai then turned around and ducked out the door while still holding a powerful commanding aura.

Aqualance then interrupted his leaving “hang on!” He yelled out. Dai then returned watching Aqualance waiting for a response “She can’t stay in the medical theatre. Who am I discharging her to?”

Without even a flinch Dai turned around as he spoke the name “Wing” before the door shut blocking any chance of arguing against what he declared.

Aqualance then turned back to Paradox. “Ok so you’re going back with Wing tonight. I can give you a basic check up but I can only do your Cybertronian side. You’ll have to come back and I’ll speak to a vet and see what your scans show for your alien side.”

Paradox nodded and laid back down and watched as he grabbed a scanner and looked at her results. Paradox could hear him hmming and erming over everything. Aqualance then picked up his data pad and wrote some things down before turning back to her. “based on your results your body is just exhausted. I can’t do much for your Cybertronian half as there’s no damage, however I am seeing signs of overstretching on your alien side. I don’t know how or where but that’s where I’m picking the most pain signals.”

Paradox nodded and looked at the floor sadly.

”You know why don’t you?” He asked, sitting down next to her.

He watched as Paradox nodded again and saw her optics begin to water up. He looked over his notes again.

”It's the reproduction isn’t it?” He asked tilting his helm to try and see her better while also trying to keep some space. He could hear Paradox’s venting hitch a little bit as he watched her tears leave her face plate. They stopped just before hitting the floor. He sighed he knew there were only two possible answers, neither of them good.

”I won’t ask any more into it today. It sounds like you’ve been through more than enough this cycle. I think you would heal better with some rest before we put any more stress on your body.” He finished his writings and moved the tears into the vomit bucket as he walked towards the speaker on his desk “Can you please contact Wing and see where he’s at. The patient is ready to pick up, preferably as soon as possible.”

He then went through his office to find something he knelt down and Paradox could hear the scrambling and shifting of objects in the cabinet. Paradox began to feel herself drift off in the office. Right before she closed her optics she felt a nudge.

”I know it’s painful, but can you transform again? I would rather you be carried than walking.”

Paradox gave him the dirtiest look as if he had just spat on her. Aqualance kicked the vomit bucket closer to her. “Just in case, ok?” He then held up a small blanket like cloth. “Once it’s over you get to go offline for a bit and rest up here, no more harsh cold metal.”

Paradox looked over the blanket and tried to slowly transform back to her human self. She felt a jolt of pain in her waist and chest, she winced as her body automatically transformed down. She began to heavily cry in pain and at the shock of how little control she had over her transformation. Aqualance could hear her venting become deeper and gaspy and prepared to catch the vomit about to come out from her. Paradox began to gag trying to not vomit.

”It's ok.” Aqualance cooed “It’s just vomit I’ve seen worse.” He then watched as Paradox’s face became more focused on the ground below her. Her eyes glassed over in dissociation. “You vomiting in my office doesn’t offend me. It’s an easy clean for me in a worst case scenario.”

He then watched as Paradox’s gaze eased up. She then tucked all her hair away in her beanie and began spewing, Aqualance made sure not even a drop made it onto the table. Luckily she had more to throw up earlier so it was over just as quickly as it started. Once the vomit had made its way into the bucket Aqualance scooped her up in the makeshift blanket and walked back over to his desk as he watched her try to stay awake.

”It's fine, you can rest.” He reminded her. Paradox looked up at him with big sleepy eyes but yet with a look of determination to stay awake. He tilted his helm and wondered if there was a way to make sleeping easier for her. He looked around his office trying to find inspiration. He then opened up a drawer on his desk and saw Paradox follow his servo diving into it. “Don’t worry it’s just a stress toy drawer.” Aqualance comforted her as his servo disappeared into a drawer full of colourful metallic objects that looked soft. He then pulled out a dog looking creature, it reminded Paradox of an indie horror game animal brought to life but chibi-fied. Aqualance then nuzzled it in with her amongst the blanket. The toy was a little bit bigger than her but it felt soft, even the mechanical parts were soft, they were like a stuffed plushy made from brocade. She slowly and softly hugged the toy and looked up at Aqualance curious to see what he would say next.

Aqualance saw Paradox’s frame relax a little when he put the toy in there with her bundle “it’s a stealjaw.” He informed her. “We don’t know where they came from but they’re half mechanic and half organic like you.” Paradox looked back at the toy and Aqualance could see drips of tears land on the toy. He smiled somberly knowing that she was grieving but also happy to have something to grieve with “you can keep it.” He told her softly.

Paradox looked a bit worried at the statement as she clutched tight onto the steel jaw plush “Really?” She sniffled.

”Yes” he smiled “now go and rest. Hopefully Wing will be here soon.” He then watched as Paradox placed her head on top of the toy and huffed and fidgeted for a bit but it didn’t take long for her to slow down indicating to him that she was finally resting.

Chapter Text

Paradox awoke to the slamming of a door. She didn’t know what was happening, she didn’t open her optics and just listened the the steps, she could hear Aqualance rise on top of his pedes and taking a few small steps yet it still had a sense of power and directiveness letting out a small huff, while the other set sounded lighter and more precise with almost a hint of indifference.

“I’m assuming you’re here for her.” Aqualance spoke “She’s mainly tired, but I have booked her in for another appointment overmorrow. She needs a cycle of rest so just give her a spot somewhere comfortable” his tone then became a bit harsher, almost like a warning “and leave her be.”

”Did you just say ‘overmorrow’?” Wing laughed “See, I thought you were my age, not older than Dai.”

Aqualance groaned “Look it’s been a long cycle. Why would I want to figure out dates when there’s a word that summarises everything?" The room went quiet and the moment Paradox heard a quiet rustle and movement of an arm moving up and a digit poking against an abdomen plating informant of Aqualance quickly “Vexatious” he announced before he began walking away.

Paradox could feel his shadow over top of her, she squeezed the plush a bit harder before she felt his digit softly poke and rock her. “You online? He whispered.

Paradox felt herself get nervous again. She didn’t want to go anywhere new. She had been disturbed enough today. She needed something to not change. She decided to rely on her old trick of playing dead and ignored Aqualance. She heard him make a small huff or chuckle before she felt his servo slide underneath her body and pick her up off the table.

“Here you go Wing, just hold her for a moment while I get her some things to keep her alive and well.”

Paradox could feel her body slowly tip out of Aqualance’s servos. Maybe she could still get away with playing dead if she pretended like her fingers were caught between his plating? Could she hold her plush between her legs to make it look like she was truely stuck?

Aqualnce tilted his helm as he felt her fingers slide between his plating and grab on slowly and softly. He did a small snort “Look, I wouldn’t want to go to Wing either.” He joked. “But you’ll be left alone, have some privacy and quiet. I’m sure Dai Atlas has given him enough punishments to last him more that a chord of work with overtime.”

”Hey.” Wing refuted “I’m not irresponsible"

Aqualance gave him a look that everyone could understand even if you were going off aura and vibes that pause and silence quaked throughout the room.

”Ok” Wing drew out. “I’m not totally irresponsible. I just care about things.” He then turned his attention to Paradox. “I’ll look after you don’t worry and I’ll never let you out of my sight. You can come with me on patrol tomorrow and just sleep and lay all cosy in the passenger seat.”

Aqualance sighed again “It’s just one cycle.” He mumbled. “Any injury caused by him will be the thing we fix first ok?” He announced trying to coax Paradox off him.

Paradox began to feel her grip weaken as she began to slip from Aqualance’s servos.

Wing hummed thoughtfully for a moment before speaking “I will set you up next to the window with anything soft I have and I’ll put a heater on you as well. I’ll also stop by a store on the way back and get you some energon goodies. How about that?”

That effortless grip was beginning to not look as effortless. Paradox had to choose between making her deception obvious or letting go and giving up the fight. She couldn’t quite place Wing as a person, he seemed chaotic but everyone had a weird amount of respect for him.

He took her away from Shockwave and whatever fate he had for her.

Even if it wasn’t planned, he also offered her a spot on his ship without asking for anything.

Maybe going with him wasn’t such a bad idea.

There were definitely worse ones.

Paradox slowly let her body slide off Aqualance’s servos and into Wing’s. She felt herself heap into them trying to warm herself up and shuffle her blanket around trying to hide her face as she heard Aqualance walk away and rummaging through his cupboards. “Look, I’m going to be honest with you. I cannot fully fix her, she’s half organic, that’s what’s physically broken. The best I can do is patch up her minor damages, maybe give her some new panelling and help her repair herself mentally.” He educated Wing as he put some supplies in a box and put then on a nearby table before gently tapping her again. “The skit’s up, we know you’re awake.”

Paradox froze in place for a moment as if she misheard what he had said. She gently lifted up the side of her blanket and saw the doctor looking at her.

”Yes, I’m talking to you.” he grinned as he gave her a few final taps on her shoulder. “I need to do a final scan to send through to the vet. She’ll be very excited to hear about you, work is lacking so badly for her that I think if you presented her a puppet of a digiteer she’ll think it’s Chosen One Day. Actually, now that I think about it, she may need a medic on standby, she may spontaneously combust.” He chuckled.

Paradox saw him bring out the scanner one final time. She felt a little bit stressed this time around. She felt scared that now she was becoming a patient again very suddenly, even though her brain knew this was the end of the appointment. Her body shivered slightly as if this was just the beginning of round two in an endless loop. She then felt the back of a digit rub against her, this time it felt softer than Aqualance. She looked up and saw Wing looking down at her with melancholy concern across his faceplate.

”Just one more thing.” Wing softly declared to her.

”For the first time in a looong time,” Aqualance drew out. “He’s right. This scan is more of an attempt to see if I can find out any information about your organic side just for Starcrush to see if there’s any medications or supplements she can give you.”

Paradox watch with an edge as he held up the scanner.

”Can I?” He ask guestering to the scanner.

Paradox nervously shook her head in agreement. And before the light could even jumpscare her it was over.

”There we go.”Aqualance announced. “All done.” He walked back to his desk and prepared a file to send off the vet. “Also Wing…” he called out as Wing picked up the box as he was on his way out. “Let her rest, she’s traumatised best case scenario. Just be on the lookout for non verbal things such as where she looks or expressions.”

Wing turned around looking back through the door “yes Doctor!” He waved him good bye. “see you overmorrow!” He mocked as the door slammed behind him Paradox could here Aqualance’s attempts of telling him off being muffled.

Wing took Paradox back outside. It was somehow brighter outside even though they were living under a dome, Pardox shielded herself from the light using the blanket. She could feel wing walking and he slightly bobbed up and down in a weird vertical rocking motion. The sounds of the city were weird as well. They sounded like any other city but with some sort of utopian wash to it.

After a short walk Paradox could feel Wing slow down as a door swooshed open. He made a direct turn to the middle of the room. Paradox slowly stuck her head out and saw Wing browsing though a set to store shelves, there were lines with different shapes of packaging in different shades of colours. It was like a child’s drawing of a rainbow with boxes coloured in bright reds, blues and yellows mainly. There were more blue boxes than any other colour, there were plenty of shades within the boxes and the shapes had more variety. There were bottles that looked like drops of water, containers shaped as stars but there were also just regular boxes , mainly reserved for yellow and red colours, the red boxes looked more geometrical, square and triangular. These boxes had some warning labels on them that were just too far away and small for her to read. The yellow ones were soft looking ovals or elegantly decorated hexagons. Paradox watched Wing put the box that Aqualance had given him on the shelf and pick out a yellow box with orange decals on it that looked like a poor imitation of Rococo architecture. He placed the yellow box on top of the one he brought in and walked to the counter. Paradox hid herself again but still trying to keep an eye out watching to see what happens next.

“Hey, just this. Don’t worry I haven’t stowed anything away in the box, just have my servos full.” Wing casually and nonchalantly reported doing a shrug at the end emphasising to the box and bundle in his arms.

The cashier’s apathetic stance didn’t change as she began speaking in some weird positive way that Paradox couldn’t tell if it was fake or not. “Do you want a bag with that? It may make carrying everything easier.” She suggested.

The conversation paused as a response was being prepared by Wing. “Thank you for the offer, but I have a box that I can just put it in.” Paradox felt him shrug his other shoulder up to emphasise the box he was already carrying.

”Ah ok.” The cashier cheerfully smiled “so that will be 9 shanix.”

Paradox couldn’t see how the transaction was made but barely felt Wing move as he repeated the price to the cashier but not in a mocking or double checking way, it was more like he was sealing the fate of the price.

Paradox could feel him put the box on the counter to place his recent purchase in the box before picking it back up and leaving the store. “See you later” he called out right before the door shut him out. The pair then traveled down the street again, Paradox ducked her head back into hiding, she began to feel like she was just seeing the same thing over and over again, the curiosity hadn’t worn off yet but just viewing the world like a fish stuck at an aquarium became slightly boring and the risk of having people spot her wasn’t worth it in Paradox’s mind.

The trip itself wasn’t that long, sure it wasn’t the same as Paradox’s home that had the luxury of having a 24/7 IGA as her next door neighbour. But the trip didn’t feel longer than 3 minutes as just as Paradox got cozy in Wing’s arms, she felt him pause in his tracks and try to rearrange how he was holding everything. She stuck her head out and saw a key pad that Wing was trying to access.

“Hey” she softly called out. Wing looked down at her instantly with a look of curious worry on his face plate. “Hold me to the pad and tell me the code. It shouldn’t be that hard for me to do right? Looks pretty analogue if you ask me… well analogue for you guys.”

Wing nodded and adjusted himself so that Paradox could reach the key pad.

”Ok,” Wing started as if he was more used to the motion of pressing the buttons rather than actually memorising his password. “1109….”

Paradox pushed her stocked hands against the button and pressed them, they clearly needed some love after god knows how many years of use “1 1 0 9” she repeated as she pressed in the number.

“…1719…”

”1 7 1 9”

”…84.”

”8 4”

Wing took a step back while Paradox nervously watched the door unlock and part ways like some grand hotel that had somehow gone into some slight disrepair, maybe the owners were too stuck in the past? Wing began to walk down the hall to what Paradox could only assume to be an elevator or something like it. The halls reminded her of an old ocean liner from the early 1900’s, she just couldn’t pick which of the iconic White Star Liners it had the most in common with. The colours most certainly didn’t match with the Titanic as she never made it to war. The colours seemed to match a war time Olympic better, however the graphic design of its paint was nowhere to be seen. The closest match seemed to be its younger sister Britannia, just a simple stripe with an occasional motif along the way. But the vibes the place gave off reminded Paradox of the misconception that the Titanic’s floors were made of something elegant like ceramic tiling or even marble when in reality it was linoleum, a cheap material in modern standards but still relatively new at the time of her construction in 1909, where they only started being used for design purposes in the 1880’s. Either way you could tell that in another human lifetime at least this place would have been seen as a top tier set of apartments, but now, ultimately they align more with the current day life of the Queen Mary. The last bit of luxury from a previous time that’s more seen as a novelty than anything, just waiting for her final moments to catch up to her in the retirement home.

As they reach to the end of the hallway Wing pressed a button to unlock a door with his elbow, this button looked more than a fingerprint scanner but judging by how Wing used it, it would have to pick up on another identification factor like energon flow or maybe some weird spark sensor.

The door opened to reveal a glass elevator with faded deep royal blue frames holding it together, Paradox looked down at the flooring as it became more like the ones a passenger upon an ocean liner would have seen back on the ship’s maiden voyage. The elevator felt a bit faster but more secure than the ones on earth, maybe it was to adjust to the not so small and fragile bodies that belonged to the Cybertronians? Wing saw her looking around and sat down, relaxing his grip. “We’ve got a few floors to get through.” He smiled. “At least it’s not the below ground floors” he shrugged, “If you want to look and walk around a little, go ahead.” He turned and looked at the numbers on the panel behind him “We have another 20 floors. Give or take.” He placed Paradox in front of him with the window in front of them.

Paradox limped up to the window and overlooked the city, the view was amazing. It was like a white light that would be seen on footy ovals that were bursting their bulbs with blue sparks flying everywhere. The false light from the dome gave the city this sheer look as if it was a sun setting over Eagle Bay, it reminded her of all the days she spent fishing there, the pristine water almost blending into the skyline at midday. The only difference was that there was this weird sheer over the town like some sort of blue or pearl organza. She watched as the city twinkled in a way she had never seen before, this wasn’t like the lights repelling the night or a heat wave causing a weird shine on everything as a mirage formed. No, this, this was something different. It was hard for her to put a label on or find the word to describe it outside of your generic words like beautiful and stunning.

That was more than satisfactory for Paradox, she sat down leaning up against the glass with her shoulder, allowing her legs to flop behind her like a mermaid only just gaining legs for the first time.

Paradox watched as the Cybertronians on the sidewalk became smaller, almost out of view and just before they disappeared she felt the elevator begin to slow down. She didn't want to look away but Wing leant forward and gently tapped her. “You can continue looking outside once we get to my apartment.” He softly spoke, trying not to scare her as he scooped her back up into his arms, readjusting everything once again. The elevator gently pulled to a stop more gracefully than any elevator Paradox had ever been in and the doors parted ways to show a similar looking hallway. Wing began walking down the hallway and turned to the right after they passed a few doors that had symmetrical placing on each side of the hallway. It took them only a klick or two of walking before they reached a deep blue door labelled ‘84’. Wing placed his wrist against the door handle starting what looked like a facial plate recognition scan that allowed him to enter his home.

The door slid open revealing a room that looked like it was supposed to be elegant and meant for the wealthy but Wing had covered it in weird objects from his travels, the colours clashed against the whole city’s colour scheme. Wing put the box down on a kitchen table that would of looked out of place if it wasn’t for his decorations such as what looked like a rack with a labelled collection of rocks from different planets that created coasters and a weird table runner that had been loomed in a way Paradox had never seen before that reminded her of tapestries from the medieval era but instead of horses it showed space ships, weird blobs and dragon like creatures celebrating peace after a misunderstanding, then in the corner she saw that Wing had an umbrella stand dedicated for swords and the wall next to it had a few other alien weapons on it.

“Do you want me to place you on the couch or by the window?” Wing’s voice startled her a bit. “Sorry!” Wing blurted out feeling her jump “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Paradox looked at the living room which much like the kitchen, it had a table that just came out from the floor which a bit of shelving and a couch that looked like it was bolted to the flooring, covered in other fabric items from blankets to table covers and even a few cushions, that again, had designs from different alien cultures on them. Paradox looked up and didn’t see a wall but rather a whole window that brought in the natural light from the city it almost overlooked. Most of the buildings were skyscrapers, so while this was one of the taller buildings, it was easier to tell that there were a few that at least tied with it and a bit more than a handful that were taller than the building she was currently in.

”Keep in mind that if you don’t wanna sit where you choose, you can move if need be. There’s no pressure or right or wrong answer to this.” Wing interrupted her train of thought again.

Paradox felt overwhelmed by everything and looked at the window. At least she was somewhat used to the city.

”Can I look out the window please?” She asked politely not making eye contact with him.

”Sure” Wing immediately began walking to the couch and picked up the largest pillow he had and placed it on the ground “just here alright?” He asked “again it’s very easy to move, no incorrect answer.”

Paradox at this point just wanted to be put down and wanted some independent alone time so without even looking away from the city view she softly answered “that’s fine, thank you.”

Wing carefully got down onto the ground and placed her on the cushion and gave her a spare blanket to put over top of the one she had gotten from Aqualance.

“Do you need anything else?” He asked polietly and quietly.

”No thank you” Paradox looked like her eyes were glued to the window as she continued to observe the city.

”Let me know if you need anything.” Wing finished before getting up and walking away.

Paradox watch as he went to the kitchen to start unpacking the box that Aqualance had given him through the reflection of the window. She watched as he turned his back to place the weird yellow box away. She took this as a chance to lay down properly and before she even had the chance to make herself comfortable she felt her body drag her off to sleep.