Silence (TFP)

chapter 20

Chapter 20

Optimus walked into the medical bay where Ratchet had been working restlessly on Beta for the past several hours. "What do you have for me, old friend?"

"It's hard to really do anything without her being in biped form, so I did the best I could with excessive scanning. She's fine physically. Energon levels are fine, just as they were before. She's in a stasis lock. There was no reason for it. I pulled her memory core and made a copy of her last few hours of consciousness as a last resort. That's when I found out what really happened. She left a journal entry, and it revealed what happened..." Ratchet trailed off as he remembered what the entry had said. To think, he was part of the reason this had happened.

"What did you find?" Optimus urged him.

The medic snapped out of his thoughts. "She put herself in stasis. Because of the war, mostly. And...us," he finally added.

The Prime took in the honesty. For the past near century, he had known that Beta's disappearance was his fault, and he thought about it frequently. He had not been true to his cause. If he had only trusted Beta's judgment. Her judgment, had, in fact, been sound. Soundwave had not caused a single problem the entire time he had been with the Autobots. He couldn't help but think the communications bot had distanced himself more than he would have if it hadn't been for the circumstances. He spent most of his time locked away in his quarters. The reason he betrayed his faction had disappeared, and it was his new faction's fault. What a great welcome present.

"Is there any way to wake her?" Optimus finally asked.

Ratchet shook his head. "Not safely. She put herself on a timer. I'd have to access her neuro functions which is impossible in her current form without severe damage. Getting to her memory core was hard enough. We'll have to wait the timer out. There's about six months left."

Optimus frowned. "There's no other option at all?"

Ratchet scoffed. "Not unless you have a way of entering her mind."

"That can be arranged," Optimus said. "We don't have the technology, but the Decepticons do."

The medical officer gasped. "Of course! A cortical psychic patch! That would be the perfect solution."

"I'll contact Megatron immediately." He would not let anyone suffer any longer for his mistake.

A very excited Ironhide carried Beta into the medical bay of the former warship of the Decepticons, trailed by Ratchet and Optimus. Soundwave refused to return to the ship.

Optimus Prime looked the most worried out of all of them. A firm hand grasped his shoulder. When he turned his head, he saw the hand belonged to Megatron.

"This will work, brother," he assured the Prime. "We have more than adequate skill and technology."

Optimus nodded his head, thankful for the gesture.

Moments later, Beta was in position and ready for the other bot to enter her mind.

"I'll go." Ratchet stepped forward.

"Are you sure?" Knockout asked. "Once I hook you up, there's no going back."

"She's my youngling. It's my duty to make sure that she is alright. I will not abandon her." The Autobot medic didn't dare finish his thoughts. He wouldn't abandon her the way his parents did to him. He stepped towards the table and laid down.