Transformers ( Bayverse ) - I Bleed Into Darkness

12 - Against the Expected

        ~~~

        Nine. Nine of them were still alive now. From the dozens of makeshift Cybertronians, only nine had survived to accept the CNA ShockWave had added.

        It would be ten if CatEyes lived as well. That was what he was devoting today to. Converting that sorry Autobot to one of his creations and turning her against her soon-to-be-former allies. He could nearly hear their screams as she killed an Autobot for the first time, how they called her name and she didn’t answer. How they didn’t realize what had happened until the red glow of her optics was highlighted with their energon splattered across her faceplate.

        If it went according to plan, then CatEyes wouldn’t need any training. She would retain her fighting knowledge from her days as an Autobot spy. And she would rule alongside the unnamed femme. ShockWave hadn’t even considered designations for them just yet. He’d decided to leave that to Megatron himself. Why waste his time on something his lord and master would surely want to take care of personally anyway?

        And of course, Lord Megatron wouldn’t be back for another cycle or so. He had time. That was about the time he expected the others to start waking up. The first mech to survive had woken already, but he didn’t seem to claim the same clarity that the femme did. He found it intriguing and frustrating.

        Even more so with the way she never ceased to watch his every move no matter where he went within the lab. She always observed him, seeming to bristle within her chamber whenever he stepped too near to one of the others and where they rested within their own metal and glass tubes, suspended by liquid energon. He did his best to ignore her gaze, but whenever he looked at her, she was always looking back.

        It was frustrating to say the least, to think she trusted him so little. She had no reason to trust him, but he’d given her life, the ungrateful wretch. She’d be nothing if he hadn’t brought her to this world, and she should be thanking him for the chance to live. She should be groveling at his peds, begging for his grace to keep living. He could end her any nano-klik that he chose and still, she just stared with those infuriating calm optics.

        They held a killer’s calm. And she watched him with a predatory gaze.

        He realized it now. The way she always watched him. She was ready to strike if he did anything she didn’t approve of. How could she possibly contemplate such a thing? Didn’t she understand his role in the fact that she existed at all?

        He clenched a fist, and began walking over to her. She might have a killer’s calm, but he had a scientist’s logic, and he would win when push came to shove. He had the intelligence alongside the ability to kill and fight. And she had nothing without him. She would give in without a second thought if Megatron ordered it so.

        Wouldn’t she?

        He drained the chamber and opened the door. She stood inside for a moment, watching him, her optics plain and nearly empty. Only a trace amount of anger tinged them. He scoffed, glaring back at her, gesturing for her to step down, and she complied slowly, placing her peds on the metal floor one at a time. She was developing her motor control, practicing and flexing and moving within the energon when he wasn’t around. It was still far from perfect, but it was better than stumbling every time she attempted to take a single step.

        “Do you know who I am, Femme?” He spat the word, distinctly attempting to remind her of her place in the hierarchy; while he had plans for her to lead his creations on the field, she was still below him. Always would be. She didn’t seem to care much, however. She stared at him blankly for a few moments, suggesting that it was above her to answer him.