The All Spark (discontinued to be rewritten)

Echo

“Did you end up getting answers from your dad? I mean, based on how you're acting, I assume you had some kind of interaction with him.” He said, pointing at her lazily with his blue pen.

They shrugged, setting the documents in their hands aside. “I got an answer, though it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting…” they mumbled. “... He just said I was a weird kid. It’s a pretty shitty excuse if you ask me.”

Cade nodded. “Sounds like a John response though. I’m sorry kid.”

They shrugged. “It could be worse. He could have kidnapped me.” she sniggered. “Though, it’s pretty obvious I'm his kid.” She said, fingering the screws in her pocket.

“I just don’t know why he’d say that. I mean, sure, you’ve got your own things going on, but it's not like you can help it.”

The rock that had been sitting in the bottom of their stomach felt like it grew in size. It still felt silly that such a small thing bothered her. They turned their gaze to Cade’s office window. For once the blinds were pulled open, and so they could see the grouping of titans just outside of the room. Sunstreaker was the only one missing, so he must’ve been with Ratchet. She wanted to return to their feet, indulging herself in their conversation, but she remained rooted to the old fold out chair.

“I can’t.” She sighed after a long moment. “I didn’t even know what was considered “weird” until he said something.”

But that was all they cared to say. They feared any more of their thoughts would cause it all to flood out. When that happened they tended to say almost anything. Not that it happened often.

She found herself staring out the office window until movement from the Medbay caught her attention. Ratchet was releasing Sunstreaker, shooing him away as he added more notes to his datapad. From what Cass could see, it had definitely grown. The medic met her gaze through the window and motioned for her to meet with him. She plopped down the stack of papers and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Cade asked.

“Ratchet needs me.” She muttered, pulling open the door and leaving the office.

Upon approaching the old medic his expression made it clear that Cass’ hunch had been right. Not only that, but his long list on the data pad. He gazed down at her, handing her the pad. Each point had a name, a part, and roughly how old it was. There were also various other notes written in Cybertronian scattered around the margins.

“So, what exactly am I looking at?” she asked, scanning down the list.

“You were right, every reincarnate has some scrap of old metal. That number is about how old they would be if they hadn’t died, and the metal is roughly around the same age. It must’ve been needed for them to come back. Like a keystone.” he explained, pointing to some of the numbers.

“And when they die… It must be the only thing left behind.” She muttered. “That would explain why that little guy practically dissolved.” Cass felt suddenly aware of the weight of the screws in her pocket. “I think I know where most of the scraps came from too.”

It was weird being home while having Ratchet looming from behind. She didn’t realize how weird it was to have someone bigger than Bumblebee standing around. She had convinced him to come out to the barn so he could examine the scrap pile that was sitting in the barn. Bumblebee seemed just as weirded out. Ratchet would have to hunch over  just to fit inside. When Cass opened the Barn door Ratchet immediately zoned in on the pile.

“My stars…” he mumbled, kneeling down in front of the pile. “Where did you get all of these?”

“Dad brought them home from work a lot. I was never sure where he found them. They’re all scrap from damaged or dead bots. They’ve just been sitting in here collecting dust for the most part.”

He plucked out random bits of scrap, each one varying in size, color, and the amount of rust that had been collected over the years. Cass had never noticed how much of the pile was actually just broken transformer pieces. It was nearly half the size of what it was when she was given the barn, mainly because she had thrown out pieces she thought couldn’t be used. She had no clue how many pieces had disappeared because of others coming back to life. Truthfully, the only reason she thought some of the pieces came from her scrap pile was solely because it was full of old Autobot and Decepticon parts. It would make sense for them to be reused in some way.

The old medic sat on the floor, scanning the pieces and examining them intently. “I’ll have to bring these back to Nest to get any further details, but so far this pile shares rust aging with the others.”

A chill flew down Cass’ spine. Would she really be right about something again? It was just a random thought, and it would more than likely add to what they knew about the revival process. Cass would leave Ratchet with that research, but there was no doubt he’d eventually come to her with his findings. This filled her with a surprising amount of dread, but she had no clue why.

“Go ahead and take them, I won't be using them for anything.” That was a lie. She had made plans for the pieces long ago, but had no clue how to execute such ideas. For now, at least.