Of This Life and the Next

Chapter 10 : Meeting Director Mearing

Location: Planet Earth- N.E.S.T Base

Director of National Intelligence of the United States, Charlotte Mearing, frowned as she scanned through the numerous top-secret files laid out before her. The sound of a door opening and closing caught her attention, and she looked up to see her assistant, Hana Nakadai, making her way over to her.

“The pilot says we’ll be touching down in about fifteen minutes.” Hana informed as she sat herself across from her boss. She eyed the various open folders laid out across the table between them. “Is it true there’s more of them coming?” she asked as her eyes scanned the images of the Autobot profiles.

“That’s what they told the Pentagon.” Director Mearing answered curtly as she shut the file on Captain William Lennox and plopped it down on top of the other ‘human’ profiles. “Just how many is what we’re going to find out.” She pulled the file on Optimus towards her.

“But that’s good, right?” Hana asked as she read over the file for a male named ‘Ratchet’, “Right now, there’s only like,” she paused to count the folders, “Eight on Earth right now…ten if you count the two defectors.”

Mearing scoffed, “One of them is the size of a toy truck, and the other’s so old, he needs a cane to walk.” She sniffed in dismissal.

Hana nodded, “Yeah, I guess they’re hardly of any use to anyone.”

“Maybe not physically,” Mearing said as she swiped the file from her assistant’s hands, “but they can still be dangerous in terms of relaying private intel.”

“So…we don’t fully trust them?”

“Not at all.” Mearing confirmed as she read over the file she now held.

Hana watched her boss in silence, “You know…that one’s a medic.” She noted randomly.

The blonde woman looked up and shrugged, “Yeees…” she said slowly, her eyes darting side to side in confusion, “And that one is the leader…and that one is the weapons specialist…and that one is the scout…what were you getting at?” she demanded.

Hana looked down at her hands, “With all due respect ma’am, I wasn’t necessarily talking about their current occupations, I was talking about their previous jobs they had listed on their files.” She motioned to Ratchet’s file that was still in Mearing’s hands, “Ratchet’s profile mentions that he was a doctor even before their war and, he was also involved with his planet’s politics.” She motioned to Ironhide’s profile, “Ironhide’s been in the military for a crazy long time, but, he’s also done some security work on the side.” Hana’s eyes landed on Jazz’s profile, “Ironically, Jazz used to work in music.”

“Yes, and?” Mearing asked again impatiently.

Hana shifted in her seat, “And well…I just think it’s fascinating that these beings had a civilization so similar to our own! They had jobs and politics and culture…they’re just…like…they’re robots, but they don’t act like what we expect robots to act like!” Hana quickly grabbed Ironhide’s file off the table and scanned through the file, “Look ma’am,” she slid the page towards Mearing and pointed to a particular section, “When asked if he by any chance had any family members, Ironhide answered that he not only had a brother, but he’s got a mate and a daughter!” Hana looked up at her boss with excitement, “And his parents are…dead…” Hana’s face fell as she read that bit of unfortunate information before perking right back up, “B-b-but that’s not the point! They have families!” she beamed as she pointed at Ironhide’s photo, “This guy’s a father!”