The Good, the Bad and Starscream

Chapter 7: Operation Bumblebee

The next ten days were spent checking out the new stuff Starscream had got in his cell. He started by examining the colorful cylindrical object apparently called a 'kaleidoscope'. He was uncertain of its purpose, though he heard a strange rattling sound coming from it and looked at the top end of the cylinder.

A round image of highly detailed patterns met his unexpectant optic. At first he found the gift lame, but as he pulled away he noticed something at the bottom end of the object. A small case with dozens of colorful pearls rolling around, making the rattling sound. He hummed and looked back at the top. The image had changed!

"Fascinating," Starscream muttered and shook the cylinder a bit. He watched as the round image again changed its patterns, colors replacing one another and creating unique, beautiful patterns. And this was done by something as simple as pearls in a glass case? And it was invented by humans?

Starscream played around with the kaleidoscope for a few minutes, making several different patterns, until he decided to save it for another day so he didn't grow bored of it right away. He put the object down on the table and gazed at the colorful cube, apparently called a 'Rubix Cube'. What could that be about?

Starscream picked up the cube and examined it. He shook it, but the colorful cells stayed the same. Apparently it served a different purpose than the kaleidoscope.

"What makes you tick?" he muttered to the cube and turned it. There were cells of different colors on all six sides of the cube: red, blue, yellow, green, orange and white. The middle cell of each side was of a different color, which he thought on further. He counted the nine cells of a side, then counted all the cells of similar colors including the middle cells. He confirmed there were nine cells of the same color.

"What does it mean...?" He thought for a while. Perhaps there was something inside? Maybe he had to figure out how to open it and get it out?

He twisted the cube but got nothing out of it. He did feel a budge though, and tried moving a row of cells. It worked, and the colors switched places with the cells following them. He chuckled.

"Ah, now I understand. So I have to make all sides the same color to make it open? This will be easy!"

Two hours passed and the cube was still in shambled colors. Starscream was beginning to get annoyed.

"Why won't they stay in place?! I was so close to getting a solid side! Oh, wait, I just have to move this here, then this there and..."

With a click, he managed to get one side solid red. He rejoiced over his achievement.

"YES! I DID IT! I GOT A WHOLE SIDE SOLID RED! Wait... there are still five more sides..."

Starscream whined in frustration as he was forced to split up his beautiful red side to work on the other sides. He really wanted to see what was inside, but at the moment he wanted more than ever to complete the puzzle. After about an hour he managed to get a side yellow and another halfway to blue when he got stuck, again forcing himself to start over.

"Stupid cube!" he screeched and threw it at the wall. It had been specially made for Transformers, so it didn't break by his throw nor by the impact against the metal wall. It just landed on the floor with the yellow and blue sides practically laughing him in the face. He snorted and decided to stop for now before he broke something.

After putting the cube back on the table, he paced around the room, speculating what to do now. He wasn't in the mood for any more puzzles, nor did he feel like reading stories or looking at pictures. Whenever Starscream got upset he would usually go out for a flight to clear his mind. It really helped to do so when you were a flight frame.