Alias

Alias Tackles a Problem

There was a long moment of silence after Optimus and his troops left. Cade finally cleared his throat. "Okay, so, something just occurred to me," he said, trying to break the tension. "Alias, you told me that first day that you're not familiar with Metroplex. How about a tour of the place so you can see where you live?"

"Good idea," Perceptor agreed at once, but Crosshairs was already shaking his head.

"No. Optimus said to stay here and we're staying right here," Crosshairs said firmly.

"Oh, come on, Crosshairs," Cade protested. "Showing her the base is staying here! It just makes sense to give her an idea of her surroundings. What if there was an emergency and we had to evacuate? She doesn't know where to go and if she's not linked into Alias, she wouldn't even be able to see the lights to follow. I mean, I think Optimus would want us to ensure her safety, but if you don't…"

"Hey, now, that's just completely unfair," Crosshairs protested. "I didn't say–"

"We also need to see how the link holds up at a distance and check her coordination as we move further from the transmitter," Ratchet cut in. "Those are pretty much the only diagnostics we haven't completed yet and we can't test either of those things in here–the lab isn't big enough."

"And Prime did say we should finish our testing," Wheeljack agreed. "I think it was probably an order, don't you?"

"First you ganged up on him and now you're ganging up on me. It's like this vast conspiracy to push the limits of what he approved," the weapons specialist grumbled. "You do know that it's my ass on the line if something goes wrong and she starts breaking everything, right? I don't want my gravestone to read Here lies the Autobot who tackled Prime's girlfriend."

"If I freak out and start breaking everything, do you really want me in here? What if I accidentally squish myself?" Alias asked, lifting one foot and pretending to kick over the table holding the link machine with her helpless human body inside.

Crosshairs groaned. "Fine, I give up! We'll take your damn tour," he said, throwing up his hands. "A short tour, mind you, and if something happens, I expect all of you–" he pointed at each of them in turn, "–to stop Prime from disassembling me."

Alias grinned widely. "Well, I'll certainly try."

He crossed his arms. "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try," Crosshairs quoted as Bumblebee arrived.

"I thought Bee was the one who talks in movie quotes, Yoda," Cade laughed.

"Hey, I can talk if I want to," Bee said, but then he stopped dead and did an exaggerated double-take to see Alias up on her feet. He looked her up and down and broadcast a loud wolf-whistle. "Whoa, lookin' good, mama," he said approvingly, circling her and nodding appreciatively. "Lookin' real good. You ever get tired of Prime, gimme a call."

"Well, now, that made me feel better," Crosshairs remarked as Alias laughed and Ratchet slapped the young Autobot across the back of the head. "Prime's definitely gonna kill him before he comes after me."

They ended up in the common room where they'd had breakfast earlier. The Yeagers found themselves beside the door with Wheeljack and Crosshairs, watching Ratchet and Perceptor confer over their readings while Alias joined in an argument with Bee, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, and Hoist over what channel to watch on the enormous television. Despite the lively debate, the Autobots all seemed much more interested in staring at her than what was on the screen. "So as Autobots go, did you make her pretty?" Tessa asked Wheeljack as she watched the group around Alias.

"What, you can't tell?" Wheeljack said, clearly surprised.

Tessa hesitated. "Well, I think she looks amazing, but I'm not a robot and Optimus is just hard to read. I figured that Bee was kidding around in the lab, but now–" She waved a hand in their direction. "Everyone's acting kind of… you know, flustered."