The Neo Spark [Transformer's Prime X Neo (OC)]

5 | ᴍᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢ

Optimus and Bee were out on a scouting mission on the other side of the state, so it was just Arcee, Bulkhead, and Ratchet at the base. They were getting ready to head to the mine when their "Miko Protocol" went off. Of course, after the ping got to them they called their charges immediately, demanding to know why they were at the mine, which was unstable, without them.

"What the frag are you three doing at the mine?!" Arcee was furious, "You know how unstable it's become, Jack. Your mom will scrap you if she finds out, but only if I don't scrap you first!"

"I know, Arcee. It's stupid, reckle—, and a whole slew of other things bu—"

"Then why?!" She decided to hide her worry behind her anger. "You couldn't have waited until we got there to do something like this?" Then she thought on it. "It's about the little ghost, isn't it."

"You guys w— taking too long to scope 'em ou—!" Miko chimed in, though this seemed to enrage a Mom mode Arcee even more.

"Miko." Bulkhead sighed, but it was more exasperated than angry, "I had a feeling you'd pull something like this. I'm just surprised Raf and Jack went with you willingly this time."

"There—a good reason," Raf said. "A really g— one..."

"You can tell us all about it back at base." Arcee was firm, turning to Ratchet, she asked, "Didn't you guys put a home feature into that program?" When he nodded, she pressed her faulty comm again. It was spazzing thanks to them being so far in the mine. "Groundbridge back here right now!"

"We...Uh... Can't?" Was Miko's lame answer. Even she had to wince at how bad it was.

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"I've tried openi— one," Raf spoke up, "But I thi— too deep in t— mine. —messing with —signal."

Looking at the scanner, all three of them could tell that he was right. Heck, the faulty comms that would give out any second was proving that. Their location was there, thankfully, but it was so far in that it was a faint blip on the screen, flickering in and out. "Scrap. The minerals in the rocks are interfering."

"I wouldn't leave like that anyway, Arcee," Jack said firmly. His comlink was clear in that statement.

"It's dangerous fo—"

"We fou— him, Cee," Jack interrupted somberly.

"—r you... Huh? You... you found 'him'?"

"The gho—. We found him."

The pit of her tanks sunk. No, all of their tanks fell. Why was the mystery bot in there? Why was he in the deepest, most unexplored part of an unstable mine? They thought he lived somewhere else and had come upon them by chance, like a secret meeting place.

Something was off.

All of them knew it.

And Jack's next sentence solidified it for them.

"It's a kid, Cee..." He sounded absolutely gutted with the knowledge.

They both had hoped that wasn't true. They thought that maybe the new bot was just childish.

Not an actual child.

But going on this little adventure had confirmed it. "A little, cybertroni— kid lives at—bottom of— mine, no— ghost."

"What...?" Bulkhead felt the pieces clicking in his mind. The skittishness, the little energon pieces, all of that was starting to make sense if this was a kid. No, he'd had a feeling all along, but it was too much to acknowledge it.