Transformers Prime: Broken Heart, Broken Voice (#1)

Chapter 16

"That's quite sad. I can't imagine being mute for my whole life, especially since we can live for really long. How long can, uh, humans, live for?" Smokescreen asked curiously.

"80 years. At most a 100," Jack said.

"Wow. Only for that long? At that age, Cybertronians are considered sparklings," he explained, looking at us, surprised. I just shrugged.

I don't know why, but I enjoyed talking to Smokescreen. He seemed playful and enjoyable to hang out with.

The three of us soon made it back to the main area.

"Optimus, I'm picking up a faint Energon signal, not too far from here," Ratchet informed.

"Finally, my first mission on a new planet!" Smokescreen happily jumped.

"Smokescreen, you have yet adapted to your new surroundings and how things work in this planet," Optimus told the young bot.

"And here, we are robots in disguise. That means you need to blend in, by scanning an appropriate vehicle mode," Arcee explained furthermore, giving Smokescreen the side eye.

"Aw man. A mission with Optimus Prime which I can't even go with," he whined like a child.

"And you also need to understand the importance in protecting humanity and this planet from the cons," Bulkhead added on.

"Perhaps the best way to learn about the human race, is from a human," Optimus suggested.

"Smokescreen gets his own partner?" Arcee raised her eyebrow.

"How about Erin? I mean, she needs a guardian and we obviously can't trust doc bot," Miko glared at Ratchet. I agreed with her, but honestly, I don't really blame him, considering I put him through a lot of guilt.

"Puh-lease. Besides, how is she gonna communicate with Smokescreen?" Ratchet kinda objected.

Uh, hello? I'm standing right here!

"Miko made a good point. And Erin can continue using sign language or she can use her notebook," Arcee agreed, nodding towards me.

"Wow, did you actually agree with Miko for the first time?" Raf said in disbelief. I chuckled. Miko glared at Raf.

Optimus looked like he was in deep thought. "Very well. Smokescreen, you are now Erin's guardian, and we hope that you are able to protect her well and form a meaningful bond with her."

I smiled as I looked at him. Ratchet sighed.

"I guess it's for the best," Ratchet muttered.

"Ratchet, please open up a groundbridge to an isolated location where Smokescreen, along with Erin, can scan an appropriate alternative mode,"  Optimus informed the medic.

I was quite happy that I had my own guardian, and that too Smokescreen.

I burst into a wide smile. I went over to the couch to grab my notebook and pencil from my bag so I can use it to communicate with him.

The groundbridge opened and Smokescreen and I walked through. Surprisingly, Ratchet bridged us right on top of a small cliff, and below us was a road with barely any vehicles driving by.

"Let's see what your planet has to offer!" Smokescreen said excitedly.

I hope he doesn't get to excited.

*Time skip*

"Seriously? This is the best your planet has to offer?" He complained.

We had waited ten minutes in silence just for a rusty old car and a cement truck to show up and he rejected both. I couldn't blame him.

I reached into my pocket, took out my pencil and started writing.

No, but this is  Jasper, unfortunately.

"I feel for ya," he nodded. We sat there in silence for the next few minutes.

"Why did the other human say that Ratchet couldn't be trusted in protecting you? And your friend mentioned about your trauma relating to M.E.C.H. And what happened to your leg, because it seemed fake, although I don't know much about human skin. What was that all about?" He asked, which made me freeze.

I reached for my notebook and flipped to a page. I know I wrote the answer down somewhere. I found it and pointed to the sentence.

I'd rather not talk about it.

"Come on. You can't keep me in the dark forever. And now that I'm gonna be your guardian, you already know stuff about me, so I should know stuff about you right?" He compellingly argued. I sighed.

Fine. I crossed my arms and huffed, not wanting to explain at all. But, be patient because I have a lot to write.

"Yes ma'am," he saluted me. I rolled my eyes as I took my notebook and started writing.

One day, Miko and I were cornered by the Decepticon medic, Knockout and that's when Bulkhead rescued us and that's the day I found about the autobots. That same day, I was kidnapped by M.E.C.H. Ratchet dropped me off a few houses before mine and left without checking on me. But my father didn't open the door and I was stuck outside, freezing. I decided to walk to Jack's house, but on the way back, a black van was following me. I managed to send Miko an SOS before they shot me in the leg and abducted me. Their leader, Silas interrogated me. They wanted my relic and the location of the autobot base, and in return, they offered to treat my leg with the bullet wound, which could seriously infect my blood stream and kill me if left untreated. I refused and they left me to die. However, I managed to get back my strength and escape from them, and ran to the nearby public park, and I fell unconscious because of my wound. The public found me, brought me to a hospital where I was treated. I went into a coma for two weeks and when I woke up, my left leg was gone because the infection became too serious and had to amputate it. So yeah, that's my life story.

I dropped my pencil and clutched my wrist which was really stiff. I handed my notebook to Smokescreen. I was glad he patiently waited me to finish writing. I waited for sometime as I let him read.

"Oh my. That must've been a hard time for you huh?" He finished reading and looked at me with pity.

You think? I crossed my arms over my knees and grumbled. Talking about it ruins my mood.

"Hey, I'm sorry that all happened to you. Really. But what relic are you talking about?" He asked.

I removed my necklace and handed it to him, and it transformed to a bigger size.

"No way. It's the Energon Resonance Key. This is really useful in saving lives! But wait. If you're the user of this, doesn't mean your strength and energy also gets absorbed until you die?" He arched his eyebrows.

I took my notebook from him.

Yeah. That's the reason why Optimus told me not to use it.

"Ah. A shame though. A very powerful relic that can heal anyone, can only be used at the cost of someone else's life. Well, not gonna lie, a powerful relic like this without consequence is too good to be true," he repeated my exact same words.

I nodded and bit my lip.

"Thank you for sharing your story, and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I know how hard it must've been for you," Smokescreen apologized. I looked at him with tears glistening in my eyes. I just nodded again.

We both sat in silence, the sounds of the vehicles below us growing faint, and the sun setting in the horizon.