One In A Billion | Transformers Prime [1]

𝟎𝟎𝟒𝟏

АГЕНТ ЧЕНКОВ. ВЫ АКТИВИРОВАНЫ - AGENT CHENKOV. YOU HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED. 

I shut off the SWL, preparing for bed. 

After establishing our plan, everyone dispersed and got straight to work. The bots were off planning and strategizing, Raf was on his computer more than I had ever seen him, trial-running different ciphers for different codes to decrypt the USSR satellites that controlled the Z-PEMs, ones that Bolshevisk made. Jack and Miko were doing what they could to help, while I was in the zone, constructing plans and formulating contingencies in my brain. The nukes were ready and waiting under the mezzanine of my basement, and I had run another simulation with Zara just to be sure. 

Ruslan was on and off the phone with me, even though contact with him was obviously forbidden and I also kept going back to the shortwave radio in search of more signs. 

That night I had a nightmare. I dreamed of my dead mother, Isolde Chenkov. She was pleading with me to stop. I told her I couldn't, so she screamed at the top of her lungs until her face melted right off and completely morphed into a metal face with razor-sharp teeth and blazing lilac optics. The face told me it won, that we were one and the same.  I pushed back but saw claws reaching for me. Then, I woke up. 

I got ready, wearing a dark green leather jacket over a white cami and some dark-washed jeans paired with black combat boots. I did my hair in a French braid then snagged the guns that were already laid out on my table, then grabbed my gear and headed toward my basement, retrieving the silver Zero Haliburton briefcase US officials called the Nuclear Football. 

A sick feeling bubbled in the pit of my stomach when I touched the nuclear warhead, but I quickly shook it off as I headed back up to the main level of the house, and out the door to my car, when Zara stopped me midway to the door. 

"Good morning, Praxina."

"Morning, Zara," 

"I trust that you've slept well?"

I shrugged, swinging the briefcase in my hand. "It was decent sleep I guess. You know I'm a light sleeper." 

"Have you taken your medication?" Zara rode, just like my mother. 

"I'll be fine," I brushed off the question, only making my grip on the handle tighter. I was off my meds but that was besides the point.  My nerves were wired. I was more keyed up about the mission than feeling like I was out of touch with reality. 

 "Why didn't you activate the weapons arsenal when you saw that guy with me?" I suddenly asked. The events from last night played out clearly in my mind, and by 'guy', I meant Wheeljack. There was a beat of silence and that left me to stare at the briefcase.

"You seemed like you trusted him. So if you trusted him, I trusted you enough that he wouldn't be a threat." The house's consciousness shifted and whirred. "Plus, I recall he has been in here before."

I looked up. "When?" 

"When you were off the estate, Praxina," Zara said. "If my files are correct, he even made his way inside, without getting incinerated by your defensive arsenal." I thought for a moment, then knew it was Jack, Miko, and Raf she was talking about, the day I got kidnapped. "You seem like you trust him with your life." 

I thought for a moment, digesting her words. Trust Wheeljack with my life? Ha! I was merely just using him. "Your files are corrupt, Zara," I said after a beat. "When I get back, you'll be reprogrammed first thing." 

"Yes, Praxina." 

I cursed under my breath and turned for the door. In a short while, I was on the road in the direction of the base.