Optimus's POV
I walked into the base and everyone clapped and smiled, glad that I was back.
And I was glad to be back among the ranks of the Autobots, but there were things that needed to be said and done.
David carried Alias over the couch and everyone followed.
"So uh, how do we fix her?" Miko asked as Ratchet scanned her.
"Megatron hinted at what had been done when we in their spacebridge area. I believe Unicron infected her with dark energon." I told them.
"No way. If she had dark energon in her for this long, she would be alive. Much less up and fighting." Ratchet said.
There was a pause as his scan completed.
"Or maybe not."
"So are we going to do the same thing to Alias that we did to Raf?" Nurse Darby asked.
"What we did to Raf was during a life or death situation. Alias is perfectly healthy, but..." Ratchet trailed off.
"Kind of wacko?" Miko asked.
"Yes. And we shouldn't run the risk of exposing her to energon in case it does cause unwanted side effects." Ratchet explained.
"If we leave her like this, she could attack us." Arcee said.
"I don't want a repeat of that." Bulkhead shivered.
"Megatron said that the dark energon was wanning. Perhaps if we kept her in stasis long enough, it could leave her system." I suggested.
"No, she needs to wake up at some point within the next few days. If my scans are doing anything useful, it's telling me that she hasn't had enough to eat or drink for the past few days." Ratchet said.
"We could try to convince her that we are her friends." I suggested.
"Really? You think that is going to break through mind control?" Ratchet scoffed.
"It worked when we were on the Nemesis. Alias only turned against me again when we were directly near Megatron and he ordered her to kill me." I explained.
"That might work, but if she isn't convinced and attacks us, we run the risk of her escaping."
"Well, if Katrina wants anything, she definitely doesn't want to be attacking you guys again. I say we use the energon." David told us.
"I do not want to risk killing Alias to expel the evil control over her mind." I told him.
David huffed, "Well then come up with a solution."
Ratchet glared at him, "We're trying our best. If you want what is best for your sister then you should be more patient."
There was a small groan and we all looked at Alias as she looked around at us in confusion.
"Katrina?" David asked.
She tilted her head at him. "Um."
Ratchet scanned her again, "It seems she is awake, but there is no dark energon circulating through her brain at the moment."
"But it might?" David asked, looking at Ratchet.
"Blood doesn't move slow. She could be back under Megatron's control again in seconds and then back to this amnesic state again before we know it." Ratchet informed us.
"Megatron." Alias muttered. "Lord Megatron."
"No. Megatron is not your lord." I told her.
She looked at me for a moment and squinted, "Orion. Orion Pax."
"My name is Optimus Prime." I told her.
"I must... stop Orion from discovering... from being Optimus Prime... attack if necessary... Lord Megatron demands this course of action." She held her head. "Optimus Prime is a friend... Orion Pax helped me escape... Megatron is not... good?"
"Megatron is evil." Arcee confirmed for her.
"Megatron must... die." She decided. "Lord Unicron's orders."
"What the heck!?" Miko exclaimed.
"Miko, shh!" Jack scolded.
"Don't listen to Unicron, Alias. Don't listen to Megatron either. Just do what you want." Ratchet told her slowly.
She paused before wincing. Then she looked up at me and something in her expression changed.
"Must kill... Optimus Prime."
"No. Yeah that's not necessary." Agent Fowler told her.
She looked at Agent Fowler blankly.
"Are you... Agent Henkerson?" She asked.
"Who is Agent Henkerson?" I asked Ratchet quietly.
He shrugged.
"No, I am Agent Fowler. But I know Agent Henkerson. What do you remember about Henkerson?" Fowler asked.
She paused, "Agent for government. He... is in charge of the tech department."
"That's right." He nodded, "Do you remember anything else about anyone?"
She looked around and spotted David.
"That is David Bishop. He is my... brother?"
"Yep." David told her.
"He was exper- Oh. That one is a secret?" She asked David.
His face paled and he looked around at us nervously.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Yeah Katrina. That one is a secret." He told her quietly while looking at his feet.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
"No need to be sorry, it's okay." Nurse Darby told her gently.
"We'll talk about this later." Agent Fowler told David quietly.
"Anything else you remember?" Nurse Darby asked Alias.
She looked around and looked at me again.
"That is Optimus Prime. Him and I are good friends." She said.
I smiled, "That is right."
Her eyes hardened, "But Soundwave and Unicron want to kill him."
"Soundwave?" Bulkhead asked.
"Yes. He is Megatron's second in command. Soundwave is using dark energon to mind control Megatron." She informed us.
Everyone froze.
"What?" Ratchet asked slowly.
"I said that Soundwave is using dark energon to mind control Megatron. He has been doing it since before the war. In fact, Soundwave wanted to kill me because he was afraid that I would find out. But I was being mind controlled, so he... wait. I am being mind controlled?" She asked.
"Not right now. But we're going to need you to focus for a moment. How did you find this out?" Arcee asked.
"I read Soundwave's mind. And Megatron's mind, and Arachnid's, and Knockout's, and Breakdown's, and-"
"We get the point." Miko said.
Alias looked around at our disturbed faces.
"Did I do something wrong?" She asked.
"Is there anything we should know?" Agent Fowler asked her.
"Megatron has the location of three coordinates decoded by Orion Pax and he plans to find them as soon as the dust clears." Alias told us.
"Only three?" I asked, not knowing whether I should be relieved or terrified.
She nodded, "But Soundwave is comparing the decryptions to the encryptions so that he can find a way to decode them himself."
I frowned.
"I have a question." Alias said.
"Yes?" I asked.
"What is a date?"
Agent Fowler's hand slipped from the railing and he tripped over his foot. His face was red and he made eye contact with Nurse Darby for a moment.
Both of their faces reddened and Jack gagged.
"Oh. Was that a secret too?" She asked.
"Uh, didn't Ratchet say you were hungry? Why don't I go get you some food?" Nurse Darby suggested quickly.
"Is that why my stomach is making strange noises?" Alias asked.
"Probably." Raf told her.
"Hey I know you!" Alias suddenly smiled, "You're Raf! And you like race cars and you are Bumblebee's friend!"
"Yeah!" He smiled.
"So you remember Bumblebee too?" Ratchet asked, scanning her again.
"Mmhmmm. Bumblebee is fast. He can't speak English." Alias said, looking proud of herself for a moment before she got all sad.
"I'm sorry Bumblebee. I didn't know that would make you sad." She apologized.
"It's okay." Bumblebee told her, waving it off.
"I brought food!" Nurse Darby announced, holding a bag from K.O. burger.
"Yes. That is a hamburger." Alias informed her.
"I know. Do you want to eat it?" Nurse Darby asked with a laugh.
"Oh yes. Food is yummy. And I do not have diabetes. Oh, did you know that I can read people's minds?" She asked.
Ratchet laughed, "Yeah, we know."
Then he turned to me and spoke a little quieter.
"With every scan I take, the amount of dark energon in her seems to be lowering. I think it'll be gone completely within a day at most. An hour at least." He informed me.
"That is good. I can see that she is slowly regaining memories." I said.
"As the energon leaves, her memories should be returning as well. Maybe at a slower rate, but still faster than I had been expecting." Ratchet told me.
"Will they be restored by tomorrow?" I asked.
He nodded, "Yes. Completely."
"Then there is only one question left to ask." I said, turning around and looking at David.
We met eyes and he sighed before walking closer, leaving his sister to her hamburger and the bots and humans.
"Optimus, I know it sounded bad earlier, but we weren't hiding anything major from you." David told us.
"So why hide it then?" Ratchet asked.
David hesitated, "It's hard to talk about. Our parents worked for a group of ex-miltary men. Scientists and soldiers. They brought us to..."
He took a breath.
"To be experimented on. We were there for years before they actually did something that worked. We don't know what exactly it was, but within a week, our powers developed and we used them to attack our captors and escape." David explained.
"We hid for a long time in remote places and Katrina was a mess because she couldn't focus. She was like that for weeks before she created the bands to disrupt her mental connection to the outside world." David explained.
"And you didn't want to tell us how you got your powers because the memories were too difficult to recall?" Ratchet asked.
He nodded, "Especially for Katrina."
I sighed, "Well, Ratchet says she should be back to normal by tomorrow."
"Really?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes. Now go on and help her keep remembering." Ratchet told him.
David turned around and went to the others to share the good news.
I looked at the computer screen and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Ratchet asked.
"I am worried that whatever the Decepticons find from the three coordinates I gave them, they will use against us. And if someone gets hurt from what I did, I will never forgive myself." I told him.
"Don't worry Optimus." Ratchet said, "Whatever the Decepticons do, we will have the advantage. Because we now know that we have been fighting the wrong bot all this time. Now, we need to go after Soundwave."
Word Count: 1710