The Incident (TFP Book 1)

Chapter 1

It was a warm summer morning in Nevada. The sun had just made it over the horizon, and the world was waking. Yes this truly was a beautiful day.

Bulkhead woke up with a throbbing in his head, he groaned a little and touched it. As he sat up and his optics focused, he noticed his arm looked funny. That's when he realized there was something funny on his head. Confused he brought his hand in front of him, and gasped. He was staring at an earthling hand. Bulkhead yelled in surprise.

In the next room Bumblebee jumped with a start, and fell off the berth. He rubbed his head, but stopped half way, the top of his head felt funny. He brought his hand down to see a human one. He tried to yell but no sound escaped his lips. His eyes were wide as he felt his throat. He suddenly heard someone run out into the corridor, and he burst out of his room hoping to find help.

Bulkhead spun around and came face to face with another human, he yelled again in surprise. The human started to make signals with his hands, but he wasn't making any sense.

"Bulkhead would you please... stop... yelling." Arcee trailed off. She found herself staring into two pairs of startled and confused, human eyes. She looked down at herself and then stared at her hands. "Oh scrap." There was another yell from the other room.

"Guys what's going on!?" Smokescreen said as he stumbled out of his room, and walked over to them. They all just stood there and looked at each other.

"I wish I knew." Bulkhead finally said as he looked at his hand again. Bumblebee waved his arms and started pointing. They just looked at him, they were trying to figure out what he was saying.

"Bee we don't understand, just say something." Smokescreen said getting slightly annoyed. The Scout glared at him, then clenched his fists, turned around and walked towards the main room.

"Oh man. Bee I'm sorry. Come back!" Smokescreen said as he ran after him. Arcee and Bulkhead followed unsure what to do with this situation.

Bumblebee didn't stop until he got to the main room, he scanned for Rachet but didn't see him, he was frustrated that he couldn't call for the Medic. Smokescreen came in and apologized to Bumblebee, while Arcee and Bulkhead looked for the Medic.

"Do you think we are the only ones who have changed?" Bulkhead asked.

"I don't know." Arcee said, she wasn't sure if she wanted the fact to be true or not.

"Rachet?" Bulkhead called. No response. The other two walked over.

"Hey Rachet!" Smokescreen called.

"What!?" The Medic yelled back sounding irritated. He poked his head out from underneath a control panel. He glared at them as they gasped in surprise and relief.

"What's going on?" Bulkhead asked.

"What do you think I've been doing!?" He said sounding angrier. The Medic got up and walked towards them. "I haven't been messing around that's for sure."

"Rachet calm down." Arcee said.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN!?" The Medic said "How can I remain calm when we've been turned into humans? Who knows what could happen. We aren't as easily protected, not to mention if one of you do get hurt, I have no idea what to do. Well basics yes, but you get my point."
All the Autobots looked at each other and started talking at once, all except Bumblebee who just tried to say things.

"The Decepticons did this!" Smokescreen said. They started arguing with each other about different things.

"How are we going to fight them?" Arcee asked. Some suggestions were thrown around.

"What are the kids going to say?" Bulkhead said. Rachet gave him a stern look.

"The humans won't be safe with us anymore." Rachet said annoyed.

"How are we going to understand Bumblebee?" Smokescreen said. The room went quite as they all turned to the Scout. He just shrugged sadly, and looked at the floor. That's when they heard someone approaching.

"Rachet, can you explain this?" Optimus asked as he walked in. The Medic realized everyone was looking at him now.

"No. I can't at this moment Optimus." The Medic said shaking his head.

Optimus walked over to his team and looked them over. He wasn't sure what to say, or if he should say anything. Finally he set his hand on the Medics shoulder, and sighed.

"We must make the best of our circumstances, and adjust the best we can." The Leader said. His team looked at the ground and he knew they all had a million questions.

"I will call Mrs. Darby and ask her to bring the children after school." Optimus said. They all started talking at once again, mostly protesting against the idea of bringing the kids. Their leader held up his hand, and they fell silent.

"The children are going to be done with school in two weeks, they need to know as soon as possible." He said as he looked at them. "While we wait, we can take the time to get our bearings, and figure things out."

They nodded and slowly wandered off. Rachet continued to stare at the floor, for the first time in a long time, he felt useless and unable to help in anyway. The Medic didn't know what to do, nor where to start. Eventually he wandered over to the computer to see what he could accomplish. Optimus used the console to call Mrs. Darby.