What Have I Done?

Chapter 20: Escape Gone Wrong

Orion blinked rapidly as his systems came back online. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened or what was happening, but as he tried to move, his systems blared alarms, warning of overheating.

It was an all too familiar sensation, and a painful one at that.

His audio receivers kicked back up.

"–DARE YOU DO THIS TO HIM AGAIN!?"

"He won't have any memory of this." A monotonous voice stated, "Nor did he remember last time."

"And yet, last time, he was supposed to have forgotten about Megatron. What makes you think you won't fail again, Shockwave?" Alpha Trion demanded.

"I was rushed last time." Shockwave stated, "If you wouldn't have been so impatient, we could have reset his systems entirely."

Orion's spark sped up and he lifted himself onto an elbow. The room swayed around him as he struggled to stay. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been last time, and Orion looked over to see Alpha Trion angrily talking to a purple cyclops. No one else seemed to be in the room.

He stepped away from the hard table and almost fell, his systems erupting in agony. He hissed quietly, glanced at the two mechs, and then continued for the door.

"You told me your methods wouldn't harm him. Pulling out his wires, is harmful!" Alpha Trion sneered.

"I will fix them when his systems have been reset." Shockwave assured the other mech.

Orion approached the door, and the motion detectors opened it with a quiet swish.

He froze.

"Orion!" Alpha Trion yelled, "Don't move!"

Both bots began to run toward him and Orion scrambled out of the room, rushing down the halls until he found a door. It opened for him and Orion waited until the last second before bolting around the corner, leaving the door to close in his absence. Alpha Trion spotted it and ran inside, leaving Shockwave to pursue Orion.

The little mech ran as fast as his legs could carry him, which wasn't very fast, considering he was both short and in pain.

Shockwave caught up soon enough and grabbed Orion's shoulder, yanking the former archivist backward and into a bear hug. Orion's limbs flared as Shockwave's body pressed against his sensitive, exposed wiring. He cried out, his system warnings overtaking his vision.

"Resistance is futile." Shockwave stated and soon enough, Orion ceased his swirming, falling limp and gasping for breath. His frame shook in torment.

It wasn't until the pain became too much, and Orion began to cry, that Shockwave let go. Orion collapsed onto the floor.

"That was your third escape attempt." Shockwave informed him, "I thought you would have learned your lesson by now."

The scientist walked around Orion like a hungry predator, "But of course, it isn't as if you remember those attempts."

"You won't remember this one either." Shockwave stated.

Orion struggled to pick himself up, but the pain was too great, and he only succeeded in causing more hurt. After a moment of watching the little mech's hopeless attempts, Shockwave reached down and grabbed Orion's arm, pulling him onto weak legs.

"Don't make this any harder than–"

Someone suddenly slammed into Shockwave, knocking all three of them to the ground. Orion collapsed, completely drained, and probably hallucinating as he watched Shockwave get beat into the ground by another Shockwave.