Nexus Point Part 1-13

“And this is the humans’ residential wing,” Carly concluded, finishing off the tour with a flourish of one hand.  “There’s only three rooms occupied right now, so you guys feel free to whichever ones you like.”

“Thanks, Carly,” Krysta replied.  “This means a lot to us.”

Carly chuckled and shook her head, her blond hair swinging slightly.  “This is so weird… people from another universe entirely come here, and they know my name already.”

“People connected to the Autobots in some way tend to be remembered, I guess,” Krysta explained with a shrug.  She elected to leave out the fact that humans in Transformers series tended to be remembered as the most annoying aspects of the series they appeared in – no sense offending her.

“Which room’s got a window?” asked Cassie, peering into the first available room.  Aside from the traffic-cone-orange metal walls, it didn’t look much different from a standard hotel room.

“None, sorry,” Carly told her.  “But there’s a balcony down the hall if you want.  It’s got a great view of the entire valley.”

“Do you guys have Wi-Fi here?” asked Lore.  “I was hoping to hook up my laptop.”

Carly frowned.  “Wi-Fi?  I’ve never heard of that.  There’s no radio, if you meant hi-fi, but sometimes Jazz plays music over the PA system.”

Krysta frowned.  “Wait a minute… what year is it here?”

“1987, why?”

“Oh boy.”  That explained a lot.  “Well, um… thanks.  We’ll get settled and then find our mentors, I suppose.”

“You’re welcome.  Just holler if you need anything, all right?”  She gave a last little wave and headed out.

“Nineteen-eighty-freakin’-seven?!” Cassie burst out.  “Seriously?!”

“Look, we’ve all seen G1, right?” Krysta pointed out.  “Or at least are passingly familiar with it.  The first two seasons of the cartoon pretty obviously take place in the eighties.  It just stands to reason.”

“I guess I brought my laptop for nothing,” Lore noted, gazing down at her bag with a downcast expression.

“We didn’t come here to surf the Internet or play games or anything,” Krysta reminded her.  “We’re here to train and get ready to take on Unicron.  I’d say saving the multiverse takes priority over checking our e-mail or Facebook or whatnot.”

Cassie sighed.  “This is gonna take a lot of getting used to.”  She shouldered her bag.  “I just hope they’ve invented my meds by 1987.”

Krysta raised an eyebrow.  “Meds?”

“Oh, right.”  She shuffled from foot to foot anxiously.  “Don’t think any less of me for this, okay?”

“Why would we?” asked Lore.  “If you’re sick, it’s not your fault.”  She suddenly smiled brightly.  “Maybe it’s something I can heal?”

“I dunno if you can,” she confessed.  “It’s not exactly physical.  I… I’m bipolar.”

Krysta nodded.  “And?”

Cassie blinked.  “Wait… you’re not going to freak out or anything?”

“Why would I?”

“It’s just… well… usually when I tell people they look at me like I just sprouted another head or confessed to eating babies or something.  It’s like a death sentence for most friendships.”  She sighed deeply, and for the first time since Krysta had met her, her eternally cheerful demeanor vanished.  “It doesn’t help that my freshman year of college I went through a period where I decided I didn’t need my meds anymore and went off them.  It… didn’t go so well.”

“Ugh… I’m sorry.”  Krysta decided not to pry further, though she had a feeling “didn’t go so well” was an understatement.  “If it’s any consolation, it doesn’t make a difference to me.”

“Me neither,” Lore added.  “I mean, we all have issues, right?  Some worse than others, but still issues.  It’d be pretty terrible for us to judge you for yours.”

Cassie managed a bashful smile.  “Aw shucks, guys… thanks.”

“Not a problem.”  Krysta chose a room mostly at random and set her pack down at the foot of the bed.  “Does Maria know?”

“Yeah, she knows.  We’ve been friends too long for her not to know.  But she’s pretty cool with it.”  She stuck her head inside the room Krysta had selected and looked around.  “These are pretty big rooms… maybe we could all be roomies instead of spreading out to three different rooms?”

Krysta groaned.  “I shared a room with three sisters growing up.  No offense to you guys, but I’d rather not do that again.”

“Three sisters?” asked Lore.  “How big is your family?”

“As of last count, five sisters and four brothers,” she replied.  “And Mom probably would have kept going if the doctor hadn’t found tumors down there and ordered a hysterectomy.”

Cassie whistled.  “Yeesh… thank God I was an only child.  Didn’t that cause problems?”

Krysta nodded.  “Our house was way too small for all those kids, and money was always tight.  But Mom and Dad were those ultra-religious types that believed birth control was a sin and having lots of kids was some kind of sign that you were extra-righteous, I guess.”  She shrugged.  “Just made me vow never to have kids of my own when I grew up, though Mom keeps saying I’ll change my mind when my biological clock kicks in.”

“Which just makes you even more dead-set against having kids, I’m sure,” Cassie laughed.  “My mom knows how that works, which is why she didn’t try to force a lot of things on me.  She was a big believer in letting kids try things out for themselves, even if they failed.”

Lore smiled a little.  “I like the sound of your mom.  Wish my mom was as understanding.  I think she wishes she’d had a normal daughter and not an anime nerd.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being an anime nerd,” Krysta told her.  “What you like is your business, not your mom’s.”

“It is when you live with her and she pays most of your bills,” Lore said with a sigh.  “At least she doesn’t know about the My Little Pony thing yet.  Or the fanfics.”

Krysta felt her heart going out to the younger woman, and was about to say something to comfort her when heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor.  Oddly enough, the floor barely vibrated with each step.  Either Autobots weren’t nearly as heavy as she’d thought, or the floors of the Ark were really good at absorbing the shock of each footfall.

Cassie stuck her head out of the room… and promptly gave a squeal of glee.  “It’s Jazz!  Whoo!  He’s one of my all-time faves!”

“Try not to fangirl too much, you’ll freak them out,” Krysta advised, though she couldn’t help a little smile.  She had a soft spot for the Porsche as well, so who was she to judge?

By the time the three of them left the room and gathered in the hall, Jazz had already knelt down to put himself closer to their level.  Despite her resolution to act professionally around the Autobots, Krysta couldn’t suppress the flutter of excitement in her stomach.  It was one thing to watch these giant robots in action onscreen, but quite another to be so close to them, to get a feel for the physical size and weight of them, to hear the whirr of pistons and smell rubber and ozone and hot metal…

Lore elbowed her lightly and whispered.  “You’re mouth’s hanging open.”

Krysta muttered a quick “thanks” and snapped it shut.  Her face flamed bright red, but Jazz just laughed, a rough but friendly chuckle with a faint computerized undertone.

“No worries, we’re used t’ that reaction by now,” he assured her.  “Just ask b’fore ya touch an’ we’ll be cool, ‘kay?”

For some reason Lore blushed at that, but before Krysta could wonder about her reaction Jazz continued speaking.

“Prime’s got mentors lined up for th’ three of ya.  Tried t’ find ‘Bots with abilities that matched up with yours, if that’s all right.”

“That’s fine with us,” Krysta replied.  As far as she was concerned, Prime could have stuck them with Gears, Wheelie, and Huffer as mentors and she would have been perfectly happy.  Well, maybe not Wheelie…  

“I suppose that means I get Trailbreaker?” she asked.  “He’s the only Autobot I know of that uses shields.”

Jazz chuckled again.  “Y’all already know plenty ‘bout us, it sounds like.  Hope that means trainin’ goes fast for ya – not that we mind th’ company, but we don’t wanna delay your mission too long.”  He nodded at each of them in turn.  “Krysta’s trainin’ under Trailbreaker, an’ Lore’ll train under Ratchet.  He can’t heal by touch like ya, but he’ll tell ya all ya need t’ know ‘bout a mech’s systems an’ how best t’ fix ‘em.”

Lore nodded.  “What about human systems, though?”

“We’ll work somethin’ out.”  He turned to Cassie.  “Prime didn’t know quite who t’ put ya with, since your power’s pretty unique.  So Prime’s gonna just train ya himself.  Hope you’re cool with that.”

“Am I cool with that?” Cassie repeated.  “Am I cool with that?  Damn right I’m cool with that!”  She threw both her fists up in the air and gave a long whoop of joy.  “Optimus mother-fraggin’ Prime!  This is the best day of my entire life!”

Krysta raised an eyebrow.  “I’m starting to understand why Maria gets annoyed with you so quickly.  Can you tone it down just a bit?”

“I’m gonna be Optimus freakin’ Prime’s student and you’re telling me to calm down?!” Cassie shouted.  “Come on, girl, this is freakin’ awesome!”

Jazz laughed and stood.  “Least someone’s excited ‘bout all this.  Follow me.  I’ll take Lore t’ medbay an’ Krysta an’ Cassie to their teachers, a’right?”

Cassie whooped again and practically skipped after the Autobot saboteur as he turned and walked off.  Krysta followed at a more sedate pace, shaking her head.  This was their second-in-command?

“Let her be a little excited,” Lore advised, jogging to catch up.  “I mean, it IS her favorite Transformer, right?  I’d say she’s got a right to be happy about that.”

“She does,” Krysta acknowledged.  “Still, this is something serious we’re preparing for, not just a jaunt with our faves.  I wish she’d realize that.”

“I’m sure she does,” Lore replied.  “But being goofy about it probably helps her cope.  Don’t come down on her too hard for that.”

Krysta sighed but nodded.  “I’ll try.  Still… I kind of wish Maria was here.  She seems to know how to handle her better than I do.”

“I just hope Maria and Spencer are doing okay,” Lore replied.  “They’re with Decepticons.  And they’re not exactly welcoming of humans…”

***

“This is so awesome!” Skywarp gushed as he practically skipped down the hallway of the Nemesis, his gait so jolly and bouncy it nearly jarred the two humans out of his palms.  “We almost never get humans here, and when we do they’re usually captives and they’re too scared or angry to be interesting conversation.  Well, except maybe Dr. Arkeville, but he was insane, so I don’t think he counts…”

“We’re not gonna be any conversation if you drop us,” Maria snapped, gripping a massive thumb for all she was worth.  “Stop freaking bouncing already!”

“Sorry.”  He paused in front of a door and nudged a panel set in the doorframe with his elbow.  “Just excited is all.”

“I never took you to be a Decepticon curious about humans,” said Spencer.

“Hey, you’re a race of organic bugs who’ve still managed to have something resembling an actual culture AND your own technology,” Skywarp pointed out.  “Maybe it’s primitive tech, but it’s tech nonetheless.  That’s worth something.”  He set Maria and Spencer down on a metal desk the size of a supermarket.  “You know how many sentient organic races out there actually get as far as you guys have?  Probably one in every million or so.  The fact that you can reach your own moon, even if you have problems doing it, says a lot.”

“…huh.”  Spencer hadn’t realized that.  He supposed he’d always figured that every alien race out there would be far more advanced than backwater humanity.  Skywarp’s comment was something he’d never really considered before, and it was oddly gratifying.

“Plus Primus thinks highly enough of your kind to make you Blades.  If that’s not cool, I dunno what is!”  Skywarp sat down at the desk, resting his elbows on the violet metal and his chin in his hands, just regarding them with a goofy grin for a moment.  “Still hard to believe we’ve got actual Blades on the Nemesis.  You got the weapons, right?  Are they as cool as the legends say?”

“Hard to say,” Maria noted, pulling Destiny from its harness on her back and holding it in her hands.  “We haven’t really had a chance to use them yet.”

“I’m going to guess that’s part of our training,” Spencer added.

Skywarp shrugged.  “Don’t know anyone here that uses spears or whips on a regular basis.  Still… there’s gotta be something in our archives about it, if nothing else.  Um… since you guys are sleeping in here, I’ll see if I can’t get a habitat or something set up for you.  Do you, uh, need a litterbox or something to… er… eliminate in?  I’ve never taken care of organics before.”

Spencer struggled to keep a straight face at the mention of a litterbox.  “Um… we’ll work something out.”  So long as they didn’t have to pee in an empty energon cube like they’d had to resort to aboard Olympia, he supposed…

“Odd,” Maria noted, cocking her head to one side.

“What’s odd?” asked Spencer.

“Skywarp’s face,” she replied, pointing.  “I always assumed their faces were all one piece in G1, just flexible.  But they’re a lot of smaller overlapping plates that move against each other, like in the Bayverse.  The lines are just so fine you don’t see them unless you’re up close.”

Spencer squinted.  True to Maria’s word, he could just make out a fine network of lines and creases in the black Seeker’s face, the silver plates moving and sliding so smoothly you barely even noticed it unless you knew what to look for.  “Huh… that’s pretty cool.  Oh, uh… sorry for staring.”

“Don’t mind,” Skywarp said with a huge grin.  “Now TC might mind, he’s not much for being stared at.  Starscream might grump and complain, but I think he’d be secretly flattered at the attention.”  He pushed himself to his feet.  “You two hang tight in here, all right?  I’m gonna hit Hook up and see if he still has that hab unit we used for Dr. Arkeville’s stay here.  Won’t be too long.”  And with that, he vanished in a flicker of violet.

“Showoff,” Maria noted.  

Spencer whistled.  If all went well, soon he would be doing just that – moving from place to place in the flicker of an eye, traversing incredible distances in the space of a breath.  At least, he hoped so…

“Wonder how Skye’s doing,” Maria said abruptly.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Spencer replied, then immediately regretted the words.  “Um, I mean… I’m sure Primus or someone would have let you know if something had happened, right?”

Maria frowned.  “We didn’t exactly part under the best of circumstances.  And he means a lot to me.  If anything happened to him… if Thrust hurt him…”  She shook her head.  “Never mind.”

“No… it’s okay to worry,” Spencer assured her.  “My sister was with me when Sideways attacked us.  Primus did say she was okay, but still…”  He shrugged.

Maria managed a slight smile.  “I met your sister.  She’s a tough cookie.  I do hope she’s okay, though.”

“Yeah… me too.”

An awkward silence held for several minutes.  Spencer wandered over to a stack of what looked like giant Kindles and sat down on the edge.  Maria just paced, idly picking at a seam of her armor.  Not for the first time Spencer found himself wondering just how their team dynamic was going to work out.  Sure, Cassie and Maria knew each other already, and Primus had already assigned them to their various roles… but that didn’t change the fact that Cassie and Maria aside, they were strangers to one another.  Would they be able to form a cohesive team when they knew barely anything about each other aside from their names?

“So um… got any other family?” he ventured.  “Siblings, parents?”

Maria’s eyes flashed, and Spencer cringed inside.  Had he asked the wrong question?  But her expression softened a bit, and she sighed and leaned against a crystal figurine of a Seeker taking flight.

“Long story short, my parents and brother died in a car crash when I was six,” she replied, tone blunt.  “I lived in the foster care system until I was eighteen, then went to college.  Boom, the end.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

She shrugged.  “Not your fault.  If anything, I guess it’s my brother’s – he fell while skateboarding and broke his arm, and my parents were driving him to the hospital when they got hit by a truck.  But it’s not really his fault either.”  She twirled the spear in her fingers, its violet light sending a fascinating play of shadows and amethyst light on the desktop.  “Skye’s my family.  My only family, really.  Which is why I want so badly for him to be okay.”

Spencer nodded slowly.  He could understand that.  And a lot of Maria’s abrasive nature was suddenly explained – of course a life in the system would harden anyone, and if any of the homes were abusive it could cause all kinds of damage.  He did have to wonder how she’d managed to go from the foster care system to college, as he’d heard too many horror stories about kids in the system landing on the streets or in jail… but now didn’t seem like a good time to ask.

“I take it you come from a happier family?” Maria asked, and to her credit there was no bitterness in her voice.  Just genuine curiosity.

“For the most part,” he replied.  “Dunno how interesting it is, though.  Born in Canada, family immigrated to New York when I was ten, and we’ve lived there ever since.  Just my parents and my sister and me.”

“Hey, that’s interesting right there.  At least to me.  And hey, a fellow North-Easter.”  She chuckled.  “Born and raised in Pennsylvania, though I moved to Florida once I was out of high school to be closer to Skye.  I gotta ask, though – why New York?”

“My great-uncle was retiring and wanted someone in the family to take over the restaurant,” Spencer replied.  “Piccolo’s, a little eatery in Brooklyn.”

“Nice.  So are you going to take over the family dynasty when your dad retires?”

He sighed.  “I’m expected to.  But I don’t really want to.  It’s always been my dream to go to culinary school and open a place of my own – nothing fancy, not Gordon Ramsey levels or anything, but still an nice little restaurant I can call my own.”

“Then do it.  What’s stopping you?”

“Are you kidding me?  My dad would kill me if he thought I was planning a future that didn’t involve Piccolo’s.”

“So you’re just going to let your parents dictate your future?”

“No, I… I just want to find a way to chase my dreams without disappointing my parents.  I don’t know how yet, but I guess I’ll figure something out.”

Maria leveled a stern, almost motherly look at him.  “Spence, you strike me as a decent guy who has his head on straight.  And I’m just a foster kid with a smart mouth and an attitude like Grumpy Cat’s.  But I’m gonna be blunt here – when all this is over and we got back to our normal human lives, you better grow some balls and be straight with your folks, all right?”

He sighed deeply.  “I dunno…”

“Let me guess, they don’t even know you’re out here, do they?”

“Well…”

“Balls, dude.  Grow a pair.  Don’t make me follow you to New York and lock you in a room with them until you get things worked out.  Because I will.  Ask Cas if you don’t believe me.”

“You locked her in a room with her parents?”

“Her mom, and I left them in there until she finally confessed she’d been having psychotic breaks and needed a doctor fast.  She was terrified her mom would yank her out of school if she found out, but it all ended up working out for the best.”  A slight smile broke through her stern demeanor.  “Your parents might be upset, but I’m willing to bet they’ll let you follow your heart.  Even if it means breaking family tradition.”

He sighed again.  “I hope you’re right…”

The door to Skywarp’s room opened, and a blocky blue-and-white Decepticon stepped in, his tread impossibly light and soft for such an immense being.  Spencer couldn’t stop a shiver from trembling up his spine.  This character had always creeped him out even as a child, stoic and enigmatic, his hidden face only adding to his eerie presence.  He was just thankful it wouldn’t be him who had to deal with him… though it kind of sucked to be Maria, in that case.

“Maria Castellana,” he intoned in a metallic monotone.

“Soundwave,” Maria replied, meeting his gaze without so much as a flinch.

Mech and human locked gazes for a long moment, and Spencer almost imagined he could actually see the mental energies passing between them, a battle of wills and minds as if Soundwave were testing Maria already.  Then the blue mech gave a slow nod, as if he judged her worthy.

“Analysis: completed,” he noted.  “Conclusion: great potential, but inadequate discipline.”  He extended a hand.  “Come… you have much to learn.”

“Good luck,” Spencer told her.

“Same to you.”  Maria stepped into the blue palm.  “Don’t let the big purple goofball squish you or anything.”

“He’s more black than purple,” Spencer pointed out, but Soundwave had already swept out of the room with her.  “Well… I guess it starts, huh?”