The Witch and the Robot (ABANDONED STORY)

Chapter 4 - The Robot

Jack looked Arcee over for a moment before sighing. He had no choice but to explain things to Alice. Jack would take a deep breath and look back at the young woman in front of him, ready to explain everything to her. "She is a being from another planet known as Cybertron. She and her Autobot friends are here to fight a war with another faction called the Decepticons. They can turn into giant robots and back into vehicles, but they're alive, not just machines." Jack explained quickly, talking as fast as he could so that no passerby could listen in and think he was crazy, or better yet, take him for his word and discover the Autobots.

Alice would stare at Jack, wondering if he was lying to her. She studied his energy and glanced at the vehicle to see its distorted energy. It was one that she wasn't used to seeing, so it would take some time for her to get used to it and learn to read it. Alice sighed and shook her head a bit, not wanting to believe that there were Aliens on their planet and nobody but a couple of teenage kids had noticed. "I'll believe you, for now. But you're going to show me after school." Alice would say seriously and then walk off inside to enjoy her lunch in one of the lightly air-conditioned rooms of the school, leaving Jack next to Arcee.

Arcee would turn her front wheel towards Jack to indicate that she was looking at him and flash her display lights as she spoke. "I hope you know I'm not going to transform for her. She can't know of us, and seeing is believing. She'll probably drop it once she sees nothing happen." Arcee noted though a part of her didn't believe that either. Jack just gave her a sideways glance and went to sit on the curb in front of her, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"What other choice did I have? You heard what she was saying about energies and feeling them. I can't prove or disprove that either. I guess we'll just have to see if she drops it. What are you going to do if she doesn't, though?" Jack asked, worried about being the cause of another human being exposed to the Autobots and their war. If he exposed Alice to it, that would make him and Arcee responsible for Miko and Alice, and that wasn't to mention that Arcee was also responsible for Jack's and Raf's knowing. Jack didn't know if Arcee would be punished for bringing yet another human back who knew about them. Would she be seen as reckless and a threat to their whereabouts? Would she never be allowed to leave the base except on missions? Jack had no idea, but he worried for her.

Arcee would take a moment to think about what she was going to do if Alice didn't drop it. "I don't know. I'll think of something and talk to base while you're in class. Speaking of, you should get back inside." Arcee would say seriously, taking a bit of a motherly tone to Jack when telling him that he should be in his classes instead of out here talking with her. Jack would simply nod and wave his hand, getting up and walking back to the school building to get back to his classes.

After school, Alice would be waiting for Jack, having gotten to leave her last class early for finishing up her work before everyone else. She would be waiting by his motorcycle, so he couldn't simply drive off without giving her answers. Jack approached Alice begrudgingly, hoping that Arcee had a plan for this as he placed his helmet on. "Get on." Jack would instruct as he took the front. Alice admittedly felt a little awkward and nervous as she approached the back of the motorcycle and got on. She was older than Jack by two years, she wasn't into younger boys, and riding a motorcycle with someone was a little intimate. Having her body pressed against his back, for the most part, made her blush as he kicked off the ground and moved out of the parking space his bike took up and beginning to drive off.

They didn't go far, just far enough to take them to an alleyway before Jack parked Arcee. Alice watched the bike and gestured to it as she waited for something to happen. "Come on, Arcee, she isn't really giving us a choice here." Jack explained as he nudged Arcee's flank, but she sat there doing nothing. She was still playing at being an inanimate object. Jack would laugh awkwardly and nudge Arcee again, but nothing happened. Alice decided to step in and wave Jack away for a moment.

"I can see your energy. I can't read it very well because it's still new to me. But I know you're alive, and I know you're not human, though that last part is kind of obvious. The only thing I can think of is Alien or some kind of mad science experiment gotten loose. Why don't you tell me which one it is?" Alice explained, and Arcee sat still for a few moments, thinking about what Alice said, but she had to ask the question that Jack hadn't gotten an answer to yet and was too nervous to ask.

Arcee would drive forward a little, remaining in her vehicle mode so that things might be able to be dismissed. "How? How is it you can see that I'm alive?" Arcee asked, to Jack's relief, she was doing something and wasn't making him look ridiculous or insane. "I've never heard of a human being able to 'sense energies' before, so what makes you different?" Arcee asked sternly, not happy about being forced out of hiding by her and Jack.

Alice would have jumped a little when the bike started moving on its own and speaking. She looked around like this was some kind of prank, but seeing nobody, she would step closer and look Arcee over more closely, unsure what to think about such a thing. "I'm a witch, I come from a line of them. We can sense and see the energies of living things. I can even do it with plants. But, is what Jack told me true?" Alice asked, taking a step forwards to touch Arcee, though she transformed in response and stared down at Alice sternly.

"If you had kept your hands to yourself and minded your business, I wouldn't be responsible for yet another human knowing about our existence. Three human youth was enough." Arcee growled, pointing at Alice as she spoke, but she had to notify base now that there was another human coming to meet them, as she had once again been discovered. She would place a finger to her comm-link and sigh a bit. "Ratchet, let Optimus know I'm bringing another Human back. She discovered me with unconventional means that I think Optimus would take an interest in." Arcee would say with a bit of an angry edge to her voice.

Alice was about to be shocked that there were more of them but remembered what Jack had said about her having friends. It seemed that there were at least two others, Optimus and Ratchet. "Take me where exactly? I have to get home and cook for my dad and-" Alice was cut off by a rather angry Arcee, who transformed rather suddenly and revved her engine. "Alright then." Alice would mutter as Jack got back onto Arcee, and the two of them would pull up in front of her, indicating that she was to get on.

"I guess we're taking you to base. As for Arcee, she's really nice once you get to know-Ah!" Jack cried out instead of finishing his sentence as Arcee drove forwards suddenly and at a rather fast speed, almost knocking the two of them off as they began their drive to the Autobot base. "Sorry about her, but she is right. Maybe next time, you should just move on." Jack explained over the purr of Arcee's engine.

Alice furrowed her brows and shifted away from Jack a little bit, trying not to hold onto him if she could help it, grabbing the sides of her seat instead as they drove. "I don't just move on when I see someone who needs help. If it weren't for you being so anxious at work, I wouldn't have even noticed." Alice muttered to herself, though it fell on deaf ears, as Jack couldn't hear her well enough to comment. Alice didn't like driving this fast, but she was too scared to complain as her hair flew in her face, obscuring her view of what was in front of her as they left Jasper, heading for the Autobot base.