Of Man and Metal (Transformers Prime)

Chapter 2

My parents had to sign some sort of guardianship agreement and helped me pack a bag.  Several goodbyes later, I was sitting in a van with the two teens from before.  Hillary grabbed a small bag from under her seat, and pulled out a small pill bottle, tossing it to Andrew.  "Here."  He poured a couple of pills out onto his hand before eagerly taking them dry.  I didn't know what they were for, but I didn't ask.  

I swallowed my apprehension, and asked "How many people are in the program?  Are they all teens?"

Andrew looked up before nodding.  "The younger you are, the easier it is to... adapt."  He was watching his words, keeping something back.  "There's five more besides us.  You might not end up meeting them all though."

My concern was increasing with every word.  What did he mean, adapt?  Wasn't this just cool prosthetic tech, or mechanical suits?  Why only five, and why would it matter if they were all teenagers?  Teenagers grew and changed.  Adults didn't change in size, so wouldn't they be a better option to design devices around?  I stopped my thoughts in their tracks.  I'm getting my legs... no matter how sketchy of a company this may be, I had that to look forward to.  Besides, these two looked alright, didn't they?  They would probably tell me if something was wrong or if they wanted to leave.  "So Hillary," I started.  The girl took a minute to realize I was talking to her, her mind in a different place entirely.  Her look was akin to a glare, as though demanding I say what I was going to say and get it over with.  "Your arm.  Can you feel it? The prosthetic, I mean."

"Sort of."  I waited for her to elaborate, but she never did.

The van had a window out the front, where we could look into the drivers' area, and one in the back.  I could see someone in military gear in the passengers' seat, and a black van was following us.  This must be some 'secret project'.  I didn't put it into words, but deep inside me, I knew I had gotten myself into something far more dangerous than I had anticipated.  Maybe it was illegal, and maybe I had made a mistake.  But despite these thoughts, my resolve was too great.  What I wanted to achieve required this level of risk; no matter what happened, I would cooperate and not stray from the end goal.  Maybe, if I had known the situation more thoroughly, my resolve would have faltered.  I might have pounded on the doors, begging to be let out of the van and return home, fear running through my blood; perhaps ignorance was a blessing.  

We drove through Nevada for a couple of hours before reaching what looked like a military base.  Except, all the soldiers I could see through the back window were dressed like they were in some kind of swat team.  "Where are we?"

Andrew answered, "This is where we'll be staying."  The van pulled into a hangar, and before long, I could feel the vehicle shift into park.  Hillary and Andrew were on their feet before the doors even opened, whereas I had to wait where I was seated for assistance.  The teens climbed out into a waiting group of armed soldiers.  The boy turned back with a mock salute. "See you later Shilo."  The two walked through the group, and out of sight.  

I waited, and a couple of the soldiers entered the van to pull me out.  They carried me out and unexpectedly laid me on a stretcher.  I was expecting a wheelchair... but this was a military base.  Did they just have stretchers?  Given the nature of this 'program', it seemed unlikely.  The stretcher started to move.  "Hey, what's going on?"

The presenter from before wasn't here, and the soldiers ignored me.  "Can someone explain what's happening please?!  Where are we going?"  They continued to ignore me... but then I felt a prick in my arm.  My eyes went to the syringe being removed by someone wearing the same dark green most people here seemed to wear, and every inch of him was covered.  He wasn't dressed as a soldier, but as some kind of freaky surgeon, with orange goggles...  I tried to speak, but no words came.  My vision blurred, then turned to black.