Complex Robotics

Writing Letters

Chapter Seven: Writing Letters

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I found myself speechless; holding in a breath, and not daring to release it. Is this a dream? A hallucination? He didn't say anything, he only stood there, staring at me. We stared at each other, until the overwhelming feeling of asking came.

"Are you really here?" I asked softly, my voice strained.

Sideswipe nodded his head slowly, as if unsure himself. We continued to stare at each other again, until another nearby explosion rocked the ground, followed by loud shouts. Sideswipe was the first to snap out of the trance, as he suddenly lunged towards me, and before I knew it, I was in his hands. But I didn't scream, or kick, or cry, or struggle away. I just stared blankly, not sure if the whole "discovering alien robots" trauma was finally catching up to me or not.

"Charlie? Charlie, can you hear me?" He asked urgently, shaking me out of my daze.

I looked back at him, staring into his pale blue eyes. They were so easy to get lost in. I then remembered the question he asked me and managed to nod.

"Tell me, how did you get here? Where did the Decepticons find you?" He asked, his eyes glancing left and right from time to time, probably to check to see if someone else was coming. After all, he did burst through the wall to stumble upon me. I'm sure one of the bad alien robots would've heard by now.

He shook me slightly again, "Charlie, focus! I need you to tell me where and how the Cons found you!"

I could already feel tears welling up in the back of my eyes, blurring the corners of my vision. "They...they found me at the mall. I-I was with my friend, Jana. They threatened to kill her if I didn't come with them...I...I had to."

Another nearby explosion shook the ground, and I flinched, leaning closer to his long fingers, my eyes wide with fear.

"He came down this hall!" A deep voice shouted. Bad robots were coming.

"Charlie," Sideswipe said, raising me higher so that I was at the height of his gleaming blue eyes, "I'm going to put you in my subspace, okay? It's the only way you'll survive this. Now listen, there's not much oxygen in there...I can only gather so much, but my ventilation systems weren't meant to run on purely oxygen, so try not to hyperventilate or anything, okay? Do you understand?" His voice was firm, serious. Not anything like the charming and jesting tone he usually had. It wasn't something I was familiar with, which made me a little uncomfortable.

But it was either do it, or die here, and I sure as hell didn't want to die...at least not here. 

So I nodded weakly, and he nodded back before his chest began to unfold and open up for me. I stood rigidly still as he moved me near his subspace, tilting me forward a little so that I slid off his hand and landed inside. I landed on my palms and knees, but other than that, I was okay. 

And just as quickly as it opened, it closed and I was alone in the darkness again. But this time, I felt safe. The steady thrumming of Sideswipe's spark was almost comforting, and it was pretty warm in here. I could barely hear the sounds and voices from outside, and I was just fine with it. Sideswipe's subspace was an escape from the monstrous lair of the Decepticons.

I couldn't feel him moving, but I could tell from the increase thrumming of his spark and the quiet noise of his wheeled feet strolling down the hall. Yelling Decepticons behind him, and from the extra sounds, it sounded like they were shooting at him. Instantly terrified, I scooted closer to the warmth, laying down on the ground, curled up into a ball. I knew my dad prepared me for a lot of things, but it was nothing like this.