FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Wow." Jack sat at the corner table in Groom Lake's mess hall, grinning at the food piled on his tray. "That's the biggest omelette I've ever seen."

Arcee sat her human-size doppelgänger down across from him and smiled. "Guess it's about time you had an actual meal." Ratchet had finished replacing her parts, but had ordered her to stay in the repair bay for another day or two to give her autorepair systems a chance to finish whatever fine-tuning they needed to do. Not long ago, that would've annoyed her because she hated sitting on the sidelines, but now that she had a human-size body she could operate remotely, it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah. I hadn't even thought about it until now, but I haven't had more than a quick snack here or a sandwich there in the last several days." He leaned forward, inhaled deeply, and smiled. "Deluxe omelette with extra cheese, toast, biscuits and gravy, and barbecue-flavored potato chips. I'm starting to drool just from thinking about it."

"Hey, guys."

Jack glanced around and found Mendoza and Conrad heading in their direction.

"Hi."

Arcee waved at them.

"Mind if we join you?" Mendoza waved a hand at the empty seats beside each of them. "Or are you having a private breakfast?"

Jack glanced at Arcee and shrugged. She shrugged back and nodded at the seats.

"Go right ahead." She cocked her head and arched a brow plate. "Rosalina, you're eating, too?"

"Pretenders would have a hard time passing ourselves off as human if nobody ever saw us eating." Mendoza sat beside Arcee and picked up a potato chip in her sharp, metal fingers. "Since you're using one of our bodies, you can do the same thing. Wanna give it a try?" She put the chip in her mouth and began chewing.

Arcee shrugged. Jack grinned and offered her a potato chip. She held it uncertainly, raised it to her mouth, and arched a brow plate when Jack started laughing.

"Sorry, babe. You opened your mouth so wide, it was kind of comical."

She chuckled. "Well, I've never done this before." She inserted the chip, watched Rosalina chew for a moment, and tried to mimic her movements. The potato chip broke apart into ever smaller pieces. Suddenly, a completely alien sensation spread through her mouth as the chip triggered sensors she didn't even know she had.

"Oh, wow. This is...this is amazing!" Her optics widened. "Is that what it's like to taste something?"

"Yep." Rosalina smiled. "It's probably not the same as what humans experience, but it's as close as we could make it."

"Even if it's not the same, it's still...well, like I said, amazing!" Arcee grinned, continued chewing, and looked at Rosalina. "Okay. Um, how do I finish it?"

"You haven't read the owner's manual, have you?" Rosalina laughed. "There's an instruction file included in the software we installed before you linked up with this body. You'll find out how to swallow, among other things, if you run it."

"Sorry, I haven't been in a hurry to run any software I don't recognize. This body, y'know, being designed by Decepticons, and all that."

"I understand. Ratchet checked all the software, though."

"I know. Thousands of years of seeing all Decepticons as the enemy isn't exactly easy to overcome."

"Well, you've come a long way already, and I'm grateful that you've been able to accept me and the others."

"Your actions over the past few months speak for themselves. And you've helped me overcome a lot of my own prejudices." Still, rather than opening the unfamiliar file, Arcee connected to the Internet and searched for information on how humans swallow.

What she found wasn't exactly what she'd expected.

"Oh. Wow. That was nasty." She grimaced.

"What was?" Jack stared at his potato chips.

"No, the chip's fine. I just tried to find out how to swallow by searching online and--"

Jack snickered. "Oh, no. I bet I can guess what kinds of results you got from the word, 'swallow.'"

"Yeah. Ugh!"

Rosalina and Lucas burst out laughing.

"You might want to put a few filters on that kind of search," Lucas said.

"Absolutely." Arcee tried it again. "Okay, half the results I got this time were about birds." She sighed. "Screw it. I'm running that file."

Jack reached out to hold her hand, his smile fading into a look of concern. She patted his hand, set up a virtual drive and placed it behind a firewall, and moved the file into it. Then she unpacked it, skimmed the contents until she found the swallowing data. After scanning it for malware one last time, she copied only what she needed for this one function, installed and ran it.

She swallowed the ground-up potato chip and smiled. "Okay. So far, so good."

Jack grinned. "Want another?"

"Sure." She accepted another chip, ate it, and beamed. "Thanks. Wow, this is_wonderful_."

He grinned again, and took a few bites of his omelette. Then he scooped up a forkful and held it out to her.

She opened her mouth and he eased the food in. She chewed, swallowed, and marveled at another flood of new data.

"Mmm! It's like a whole new world suddenly opened up." She cocked her head at Rosalina as her sensors finished analyzing the data. "From what little I know about the human digestive system, I'm assuming this has to come out the other end, right?"

Rosalina chuckled. "You've got the nano-factory I mentioned when you first linked up with this body. It breaks down food and liquids on a molecular level, stores it until it's needed, and reconfigures it into new substances. Like, when we have to pretend to sweat, that's how we do it."

"Interesting."

"It's the same for, well..." Rosalina pointed quickly at the area below Arcee's waist. "I'll just say that any fluid going into that will be converted into something else by the nano-factory."

Jack blushed.

"Huh," Lucas said before taking a bite of his toast, "I've been wondering how that worked."

"Speaking of which, in case you didn't run anything else in that file, there's something you might want to be aware of." Rosalina wiggled her brow plates. "For whenever you and Jack get around to doing the deed."

"What deed?" Arcee raised a brow plate.

Jack's blush turned darker, but he shook his head and laughed. "Sex, Arcee."

"Oh." Arcee aimed a goofy grin at him. "Duh. Once again, I'm as sharp as a bowling ball."

"It's part of your charm." Jack smiled and patted her hand.

She snorted. "Okay, Rosalina, what's this information I need to know?"

"Well, from what I've heard, teenage males tend to have, shall we say, hair triggers. So you'll want to be prepared for that."

Jack's blush deepened further. "Um, I'm sitting right here, you know."

"Just trying to help ensure that it's a satisfying experience for you both. I use this protocol myself, and I can tell you it's awesome." Rosalina held her hands up. "Anyway, I'm assuming this is going to be your first time?"

Jack covered his face with both hands. Arcee chuckled and reached over to tear off a small piece of his toast. Finally, Jack nodded without uncovering his face.

"Okay. So you'll probably be nervous and overly excited, so you might only last a few seconds."

"Oh, hell," Jack muttered. He finally let his hands drop, picked up his fork, and speared another piece of his omelette. Then he noticed something behind Arcee, opened his mouth, and started to raise his free hand.

"Here's what this software protocol does," Rosalina continued before Arcee could turn to see what Jack was looking at. "When he comes in you, your sensors will trigger a mind-blowing orgasm."

Jack froze in mid-wave and his face turned the color of a ripe tomato. He cleared his throat and mumbled, "Uh...hi, Mom."

Arcee and Rosalina turned to find June standing a few feet away, holding her own tray, and staring slack-jawed at Rosalina.

_Oops._Arcee gave her a sheepish grin and waved. "Hey, June."

Rosalina gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. Lucas burst out laughing.

"Jesus Christ," June mumbled as she took the empty seat to Jack's right. "Of all the times to walk into a conversation."

#

"We're not planning anything naughty, Mom, I swear!" Jack's face wouldn't stop heating up. Oh, wow. If my blush gets any darker, I'll end up looking like Toht at the end of Raiders_._

"Uh-huh. It sure_sounded_ like you're not planning anything." His mom arched an eyebrow and simply stared at him.

"I'm sorry," Mendoza said, slumping forward and covering her face with her hands. "I was just telling Arcee about a function of her body she wasn't aware of. For future reference, that's all. I mean, as in something she'll need to know someday."

"To be fair," Conrad said with a lopsided grin, "Roz wouldn't have needed to explain anything if Arcee had bothered to read the instructions that were included in her new body's software."

"True enough." Arcee aimed a brief, rueful smile at him before turning back to June. "Just a couple minutes ago, I had to access that file to learn how to swallow."

Barely a second passed before a realization made Jack wince. Oh, no.

"Is that so?" June turned that arched eyebrow toward Arcee.

"She's talking about food, Mom! She tried one of my potato chips!" Jack slapped a hand to his forehead. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Potato chips? A robot eating potato chips?"

Arcee seemed to remember the piece of toast between her finger and thumb. She popped it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Then she grinned and affected a British accent. "New body, new rules."

"Like I explained to Arcee a moment ago, being able to eat helps Pretenders maintain their covers." Mendoza grinned and took a bite of her sandwich. "Of course, we're normally disguised as humans when eating. Anyway, we don't need to keep it up now that everyone on the base knows what we are, but it's something I do because I enjoy it."

The door at the opposite end of the room opened and Miko and Raf entered. They headed straight for the buffet and salad bar. Miko had a distant look as she picked up a tray and began loading it. Probably worried about Bulkhead, Jack assumed.

"I need to try a full meal sometime, now that I have an idea of what it's like." Arcee grinned.

"Let's go get a tray for you, then." Jack slid his chair back.

"No, finish your breakfast first. Maybe I'll try something for lunch." Arcee smiled. "You've waited too long for a good meal, already."

"So," June said before the conversation could be derailed any farther, "what exactly are your plans for the immediate future?"

"Take it easy, Mom. I've already told you, we're waiting until I'm eighteen, if not longer. We both know we're not ready for that yet."

"Since it'll be a couple days before I'm back to one hundred percent," Arcee said, "Ratchet wants me to stay in the medical bay and let my autorepair systems finish their work. So, unless we detect the_Nemesis_ approaching, or some other emergency comes up, I have a lot of free time to fill." She smiled. "Since Jack could probably use some downtime, I was thinking we could just hang out for a day or two. Maybe take a walk along a beach somewhere, if we can find one that's completely empty."

"I'd like that." Jack smiled. "Just you, me, the sand, the ocean, and a beautiful sunset."

"Sounds lovely. It'd be kind of nice to enjoy the sights and just sit and talk for a while."

Raf and Miko walked over and sat at the table behind Arcee and Rosalina.

"Hey, guys." Jack waved before taking another bite of his omelette. "How're you doing?"

Miko shrugged. "Bulkhead still hasn't regained consciousness. Ratchet said they've done all they can, so now it's up to his autorepair systems. There was nothing we could do, so we came here for breakfast." She sighed. "We'll have to head home soon, though, before our parents start asking questions."

"My family barely notices me when I'm there." Raf picked up a biscuit and spread butter on it. "They probably wouldn't realize I've been gone all night."

"My host parents seem to be going out of their way not to notice me ever since the other night." A smile tugged at Miko's lips before fading. "Y'know, when they walked into my room and caught me flickin' the bean."

Raf's eyes widened and he shook his head and stared intently at his tray as he chewed his biscuit.

Miko shrugged. "I'm more worried about Bulkhead than I am about what they think. He took a bad hit."

"Did Ratchet say exactly how bad the damage is?" June pushed bits of her food around on her plate. "It looked like the beam might've severed his spine, or whatever it is Cybertronians have."

"It did." Arcee sighed. "It vaporized a segment of his equivalent of your spinal cord, and that's not something we can fabricate. The device we used on the Nemesis can build new arms, legs, components like T-Cogs, but not something as complex and critical to our functions as this. It's like how humans have just now reached the point where they can 3D-print bones or certain organs, or build new legs for Jack and connect them to his nervous system in a rudimentary fashion, but you can't replace a piece of someone's spinal cord or a part of their brain."

"Yeah." Miko rubbed her hand over her face. "Ratchet said he may recover, but there's also a chance he'll be permanently damaged. Like, never be able to walk again."

"I'm sorry," June said softly.

"He'll be able to link up to a Pretender body," Arcee said. "But it won't be quite the same, will it?"

"No. If that's how things work out, I'll miss riding in him when we're cruising around. And he's been letting me take his wheel when I started learning to drive. I was hoping I could take the driving test with him." Miko sighed and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. "But I gotta hope he'll be okay--back on his feet and kicking ass like he always did before." A faint, wistful smile appeared briefly. "And I've wanted to introduce him to my parents ever since we met. My real parents, back in Japan, I mean. Because they're so rigid, emotionally. Cultural thing, I guess. I dunno. I grew up in it, but never really understood it. I always felt...caged. Bottled up. Guess I'm just not wired up the way my parents are."

"I guess that's why you've always been so...outgoing." Jack smiled. "Ever since I met you, at least."

"Oh, hell yeah. As soon as I realized I could really cut loose now that I live in America, I did." Miko managed a brief chuckle. "I'd_so_ love to see the look on my parents' faces when Bulkhead drives up and I get out and he transforms back into his robot mode. Especially Dad. He's so tight-assed, you couldn't even thread dental floss through his fuckin' pucker."

June snickered, grabbed a napkin, turned away quickly, and blew her nose. She sighed, turned back, and muttered, "That could've been really embarrassing."

"More embarrassing than your parents catching you rubbing one off?" Miko grinned, but still she couldn't completely hide her concern for her friend.

June shrugged. "I wouldn't know. My parents actually had a lot of other issues to deal with when I was a teenager."

Shit, I hope Mom never caught me going at it! Jack blushed again and finished his omelette and toast quickly, hoping no one noticed. And if she did, she'd damned well better not mention it here!

Arcee cocked her head. "Such as?"

June's face turned slightly darker red. "Well, I was really young when I was pregnant with Jack. I mean, really young."

"How young? I mean, if I may ask?"

June opened and closed her mouth a few times, took a bite of her salad, and finally sighed. "I was...thirteen. Well, almost fourteen, but not quite."

"Holy crap," Mendoza muttered.

"Well," Raf said, "I guess that explains why you look so hot. Young!_You look so _young!" His face turned red, he hunched over his tray, propped his head on his left hand, and began shoveling food into his mouth.

Miko burst out laughing and put an arm around his shoulders.

June arched her brow again, shrugged, and cleared her throat. "Well, uh...thanks. But anyway, yeah." She looked at Jack. "That's why I've been freaking out over the thought of you...well, you know...before you're ready."

"So." Jack raised his own eyebrow. "You regret--"

"No! Not at all. I'm thankful to have you, and the life I have now." June looked around at the others. "But it wasn't easy. Jack's father was a few days from his eighteenth birthday when he found out he'd knocked me up, and he ran like hell. Probably joined the Army, or something. Mom and Dad had to do most of the work for the first few years of Jack's life so I could stay in school. And you know what Jasper's like--any small town, really. The gossip that spread around the school, and then the whole town."

Jack grimaced. "Oh, yeah. I've heard all sorts of things about other kids and their families. Just remembering the crap I always got from Vince and his buddies, all because I was always kind of a dork. But that's nothing compared to what you must've gone through."

"It was hard, alright, but worth it. The thing that freaks me out is, things like this happen to other kids and it doesn't always work out in the end. If my parents hadn't been there for me, or if I'd dropped out of school, or if I'd been an alcoholic or a meth user or whatever...." She shook her head. "I guess knowing some of the kids I grew up with was what kept me on the right path. Seeing how they turned out made me determined to give you a good life. I wish I could've been around for you more than I was, but..."

"You had to get a good education and a job so you could keep the fridge stocked and buy clothes for us, and all that. You sometimes weren't around because you were working your ass off for me. I understand, Mom." He smiled and patted her hand. "Things really did turn out okay."

"Yeah. Now we're involved in a war that started on another planet, nearly being killed more times than I can count, and seeing good people d--" She stopped, winced, and shook her head quickly. "I didn't mean--I guess I'm still a little shaken up by what happened to Case and Dawson. I shouldn't have said that."

"I understand." Arcee reached over to pat June's hand. "It kind of rattled all of us. I'd gotten used to seeing Jack, Miko, and Raf survive everything the 'Cons threw at them, and then Ashanti's team kicking ass along with the rest of us. I started thinking they'd all come back alive every time." She looked down at her and Jack's hands as they held one another. "It was only a few months ago I felt the same way about Cliffjumper, until one of the 'Cons killed him. Funny, how quickly, and how often, we forget we're not indestructible, no matter how many times we're reminded of it."

Jack glanced at his mom, remembering the way she'd reacted when Arcee brought her up to speed on the war and his involvement in it. He spoke before she could bring any of that up again.

"We'll have to keep facing it again and again until the war's over. It's too late to back out; the 'Cons knew about me and Raf and Miko since we got caught in the middle of all this, and we'd still be targets even if we walked away from it." Jack smiled and gave Arcee's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'd rather do whatever I can to fight back and protect the people I love, than just sit at home and wait for the 'Cons to kill us."

"Can't argue with that." Rosalina smiled at Lucas and reached out to hold his hands. "I tried to stay out of the war, but now I have reasons to get involved again."

Jack nodded and looked at his mom. She sighed and appeared to accept it, albeit reluctantly.

"Speaking of what happened on the Nemesis," Rosalina said after the silence had stretched out for nearly a full minute, "how's Ashanti holding up? It can't be easy for her to deal with."

"I haven't seen her since last night, but yeah, she was taking it pretty hard. I don't see how either death could've been avoided, but she naturally feels responsible." June sighed. "That whole thing is bad enough as it is, but a while ago I realized their families won't even be told how they really died."

"Why? Oh." Arcee closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "That's right, it's because my people and I are classified."

"Yeah. I hope General Sanchez can bring them into the loop like he did me, otherwise, the government will simply lie to them." June took a slow breath and managed to smile at Arcee. "I want to thank you for insisting I be cleared for all this, Arcee. Despite everything that's happened since then, I'm thankful I was told the truth."

"I'm glad Agent Fowler was able to arrange it. You shouldn't be forced to live with a lie when something like that happens."

"So many things would be so much easier if we were declassified, huh?" Rosalina shrugged. "But then, if we were revealed to the public, there might be widespread panic when everyone finds out that giant alien robots have invaded their planet. And then a lot of people would be pissed off because the government lied to them about us."

"Well," Raf said, still slightly red-faced but on the way to recovery, "most people probably assume the government is lying to us about almost everything, anyway."

"Maybe someday the secrecy will be dropped." Arcee smiled at Jack. "It'd certainly be refreshing to be in public with you without having to hide what I am."

Jack nodded and opened his mouth, but stopped when Arcee turned her head abruptly and appeared to look at something that wasn't in front of her.

"Optimus just came into the repair bay, back at the base." Her optics opened wider and she turned back to Jack. "He said there's something we'll both want to see."

"Oh, hell." Jack stood and picked up his tray with suddenly shaking hands. "The last time he said that, we ended up colliding with Airachnid."

"Yeah. Well, she _is_still out there, somewhere--damaged, but maybe not badly enough." Arcee stood with a groan. "Ratchet's firing up the ground bridge, right out in the front parking lot."

"I'll meet you out front, then." Jack held up his tray. "Just got to get rid of this first."

"I'll take care of that," Rosalina said, standing and reaching for the tray.

"Thanks." Jack managed a shaky smile before walking with Arcee across the mess hall.

June shoveled in a few more bites of her breakfast and caught up with them. By the time they reached the door, Miko and Raf had joined them.

Jack held the door open for everyone. "Okay, let's see what's gone horribly wrong now."

#

"What've we got?" Arcee took a quick look around as she and the others walked out of the ground bridge's vortex. Starscream was still here, sitting and leaning against the wall, with the two Vehicon defectors staring at him. Even though their faces were blank, consisting only of a single, red, glowing optic strip on a smooth mask, Arcee swore should could feel their hostility toward Starscream radiating like heat waves.

Still, to his credit, he didn't appear to be up to anything.

He offered the new arrivals a nervous smile. "It seems the Autobots have forgotten me, so I've simply stayed out of their way. I have to say, I prefer this place to the missile silo that served as my prison cell." He stretched his legs out across the floor and wiggled his feet. "Much roomier."

"Yeah, we've always liked it here." She nodded a greeting at the defectors as she walked between them and Screamer. They nodded back and seemed to relax slightly. She continued on to the main console, in front of which stood Optimus and Ratchet. Bumblebee stood a few yards away, keeping his optics on Starscream.

Optimus turned to Arcee and the rest, and pointed at the main monitor. "A few minutes ago, we picked up a live news feed."

"I think you'll find it most interesting," Starscream called out from his spot on the floor.

"Really?" Arcee stared up at the screen. "Okay, what is it?"

"Replaying it now." Ratchet touched a control and a video popped up on the monitor.

A chill enclosed Arcee's spark. Airachnid.

The monstrous excuse for a sentient being walked slowly into range of a camera inside a news agency's helicopter, which had been aiming at a traffic jam on a highway overpass until it panned over to Airachnid.

"Oh, god_damn_it." Jack glared so hard at the image, Arcee almost expected jets of flame to shoot out of his eyes. "One afternoon on a beach. Just one. Is that too much to ask?"

"How fascinating," Starscream said. "I seem to recall you telling me that you had terminated her."

_Aw, shit._Arcee suppressed a groan and tried to think up an excuse.

Jack turned his scowl on Starscream. "Oh, yeah, like you've never manipulated or lied to anyone before."

Starscream's smirk collapsed into a gape. He looked away, chuckled nervously, and muttered, "Ah, yes, fair point. Well, I have to commend you; you certainly had me convinced."

Jack shrugged and turned back to the screen. Arcee did the same, glared, and clenched her fists.

"Where is she, Optimus? Just give the word and I'll finish--"

"Wait." Optimus nodded at the video. "There is something odd about her."

"I see it, too." Jack cocked his head. "Check out the look on her face."

Arcee zoomed in on the screen and studied the image for a few seconds. Airachnid approached the highway slowly, her movements hesitant, her optics wide, her mouth parted slightly. Arcee frowned.

"She looks...confused and frightened."

"I've battled her before," Optimus said. "This is not how I remember her."

Jack glanced at Arcee and back to the monitor. "Could the damage from your last fight have caused brain damage? Like, maybe she lost her memory?"

"I doubt it." Arcee pointed at the image. "And look there--she's got no visible wounds. Her body looks brand new."

"Did any other Cybertronians have her body type?"

"None that I know of. And even if someone did, she probably would've used a different color scheme."

"I saw the damage you inflicted on her before she escaped." Optimus shook his head. "I doubt she could have repaired herself to this extent in two days."

"Also, look how she's moving." Jack pointed.

Airachnid kept glancing at her feet as she walked up to the highway, making a clear effort to step cautiously. She sank to her knees and leaned over for a closer look at the vehicles screeching to a stop or veering off as their drivers fled in a blind panic. The fear in her expression faded slowly, replaced by...curiosity?

Arcee shook her head. "What the hell is going on?"

Ratchet switched back to the live feed. The camera panned over a pile-up that had occurred moments ago on an overpass, then up to Airachnid's suddenly panicked expression. It swish-panned back to the overpass just as a minivan, having been pushed to the edge of the overpass by a collision with another vehicle, teetered over the edge.

Airachnid gasped, lunged forward, and caught the minivan--moving her hand downward and decelerating the van slowly. She placed it gently on the pavement, wheels-down, and leaned closer. Her mouth moved, but the helicopter camera was too far away to pick it up.

Arcee scanned Airachnid's lip movements and raised a brow plate. "She just asked if the people in the van are alright."

Jack turned to give her a slack-jawed stare. "Could this be some kind of act she's putting on?"

"Maybe, but it's not her style. She goes straight at her victims, plays with them for a while, and murders them."

"There is something else," Optimus said. "Something that affects us all."

"Oh, hell." Arcee's mouth fell open. "Our cover has just been blown."

"Yeah," Miko said, "there's no explaining us out of this one."

Optimus turned to Ratchet. "Set the ground bridge for those coordinates, but keep it out of everyone's sight. We don't want to frighten anyone else."

Over in the repair bay, Arcee stood and walked into the main hub to join Jack and her Mini-Me. Ratchet pointed at her and shook his head.

"Ah-ah-ah! I told you to stay in--"

"I was planning to, but things have changed. I'm not sitting this one out." Arcee turned to face the bridge tunnel and waited for Ratchet to activate it. "As long as I can transform without breaking any of my components?"

"Yes," he grumbled, and walked over to the bridge control panel. "You should be fine."

"Good." She shifted into her motorcycle mode.

Jack climbed on and gripped her handlebars.

"Jack, wait. You should--"

"Forget it."

"You're not wearing your armor."

"No time. If things get too rough, there's always the ground bridge."

Arcee sighed and directed her Mini-Me to get on behind him and put her arms around him.

"You're not keeping me away, either," June said.

Optimus shifted into his truck mode and opened his door. "You may ride with me, if you wish."

"Colonel McKenna's team is already en route." Ratchet glanced at Bee and nodded at Starscream and the Vehicons. Bee nodded back, beeped softly, and kept watching them.

The bridge activated and Jack patted Arcee's gas tank.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," she snarled, and launched them into the vortex.