BRAINWASHED || BATTLE CRY (Transformers Prime)

Chapter Fourteen | Consent to Me

CONSENT TO ME

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Warning: Physical and Psychological Torture

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"Oh, I'm brainwashed,
Double-O who, seven digits,
Connect me to you, Sweet Center,
Baby-baby, take me with you."

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Optimus Prime rarely found himself in a position of absolute helplessness, and most of the time he merely pushed through it and squashed his feelings of inadequacy until he could deal with them later. The horrific turn of events which now left him without an arm and the loss of a magnificent weapon left him sunken in his self-pity. For once, he did not rise from his recharge when his systems gave the all-clear, but instead left himself in a suspended state of thought.

The schematics of his body were pressed into his processor, the diagram showing him areas of major damage that would need time to heal. It did not escape his notice that the estimated times of full recovery were longer than normal; Ratchet's absence was all too noticeable. But whoever had assisted him, be it his own team or the humans, had done much better than he could do himself. He most likely would have died otherwise.

It terrified him to think what Megatron would do now. The tyrant had become increasingly unpredictable, and each new relic seemed to be even greater than the last. He felt they could not delay any longer, but simultaneously he was experiencing the crushing weight of failure. It was hard telling what state Arcee was in, even more impossible to gauge what Ratchet may be like. And Jack . . . his human ally had once again fallen victim to kidnapping by the Decepticons. This assault, however, had almost seemed calculated. Megatron had contacted Jack before, and Optimus had sensed the boy was hiding something. He also had incorrectly assumed that Jack would balk at the idea of leaving the safety of the Autobot base. 

Had Jack . . . allowed himself to be captured?

The thought was ridiculous, and he pushed it away. Megatron may have an excellent way with words, but even he could not convince a sentient creature to give up its free will so easily. Something behind the scenes was going on, and it made Optimus all the more uncomfortable. It sickened him to think that the tyrant was using Jack or Ratchet to psychologically manipulate the other, though it raised questions. As much as it pained him to think it, capturing both Arcee and Jack would be more beneficial, considering their guardian-charge bond. But that could also suggest their medic was the sole target, and Jack was merely a means to an end.

Which meant once Megatron got what he wanted, the human would die.

The thought finally pulled the Prime from his "sleeping" state and onlined his systems for good, charging up his body and activating his optics. An overhead light quickly overloaded most of his sensors and he closed them again, briefly, allowing them to recover before opening them up again.

"Hey big guy, feelin' alright?"

"Agent Fowler," he turned his head toward the voice, his vision focusing on the dark human in front of him. He managed an ex-ventilation of partial relief, blinking a few times while taking in his surroundings. It was apparent that this was not the original base. "Where am I?"

"We moved you to the new base," Fowler informed him, gesturing to the area around him without a specific indication in mind. "Once Arcee woke, we thought it would be best to get a move on. You've been asleep for almost two days, Prime. We were starting to worry."