Airachnophobia (Airachnid X Male Reader)

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     Somehow, he was still alive. His body had given up, though. He couldn't remember why, nor could he focus his mind any further than vague concepts in the distilled darkness that had engulfed him. The longer he stayed in this limbo, the more his mental faculties deteriorated. Whatever was throttling his mind was cutting off his memory.

     He did have the faint feeling that he was missing out on something important, that the chilling darkness trapping him was holding him back from something he needed to do or somewhere he needed to be.

     Time was stretching and compressing seemingly at random. He didn't have any of his senses to give him information. The only sense he had of time passing was through referencing the speed of his own thoughts. The slower his brain got over time, though, the slower everything seemed to be, until it stretched so far it almost stopped moving.

~~~~~

     Ratchet was in the middle of skimming through the few archives the Autobots had with information on the Icon relics. As some of them were sent through the same space bridge as the Autobots when they fled Cybertron, those relics also ended up on Earth.

     The old mech was interrupted by a call from Agent Fowler, the American government's ambassador to the Autobots.

     "Prime! Care to explain something?" The man shouted as soon as Ratchet accepted the call. The medic had been standing right next to the base's speaker set, and the obnoxious noise caused his audials to peak.

     "Optimus is not here at the moment. Must you always shout, Agent Fowler?" The red mech grumbled. Every time the human called, there seemed to be some sort of speaker damage to repair afterward.

     "I'll quiet down once I find out why there is a Decepticon up for auction on e-bay! Take a look at this." Fowler sent over a file containing an image, which Ratchet curiously opened.

     "What do you mean--" The medic's words caught mid sentence when he saw it. On the holo projector was a screenshot of Airachnid's alt form being bid on by other humans. "Where in the pits of Kaon did humans get their hands on this piece of filth?" A piece of filth she may be, but one with potential knowledge about the locations of Bumblebee and the human.

     "That's what I'd like to know." Fowler crossed his arms. Ratchet had to somehow get a hold of the Decepticon, as her memories could prove valuable.

     "Agent Fowler, is there any way we could get a hold of Airachnid and question her? She is the only bot that knows where we can find Bumblebee." Ratchet admitted. Fowler seemed surprised in response.

     "You've lost the yellow guy? What gives?"

     "He was likely abducted by Decepticons. He went missing at the same time as Airachnid and the human, and she's our only possible lead." Fowler just seemed more confused.

     "Enlighten me."

     "With pleasure."

     "What do you mean Airachnid and a human? How did you know they were abducted as well, which human, and how would the Cons abduct another Con?"

     "Ah right, we didn't inform you about all that happened recently. Let me start from the beginning."

~~~~~

     "Raf, did you hear about the traitor?" Jack walked up to his small friend after school. He was a bit upset that the younger boy didn't seem to have any ill will towards the Decepticon war criminal and her "charge", so he decided to prod Rafael along a little by antagonizing them with labels.