Reclamation

Chapter 1

"No," Joy said as she answered her phone.

"I haven't even asked you anything yet," her father, Ron said.

"Doesn't matter, if you're calling me the day after summer break starts you probably want me to do something with you and the answer is no. Unless you were wanting to go hunting with me," Joy replied as she set her bow by the front door.

"Come on honey, after all the stress the other day, couldn't we just get together for a little while? I could really use your help," Ron said.

"You need my help?" Joy asked.

"Yeah, everyone else from the lab is in China or recovering from injuries. I'm on my own. All but one of our trucks were damaged, I need you to bring the horse trailer and help me," he told her.

"This is about the aliens, isn't it?" Joy asked.

"Yes, some of the smaller ships crashed in the city and Mr. Joyce wants the tech collected before anyone else can get their hands on it," he explained.

"Dad, you know how I feel about this. I am not going to go help you drag in alien bodies so you can dissect them and melt them down," Joy told him.

"They're just machines, built by aliens of course, but the robots aren't alive. We've been able to-"

"Dad," Joy cut in, an edge of anger working its way into her voice.

"Okay, so far all I've heard reports of are downed ships, none of the actual robots. If we run into any we'll just leave them for someone else to get later."

"Dad, I really don't-"

"The rescue teams have been spread thin, they've done sweeps of the areas, but there's a good chance that if anyone was buried under the wreckage they may not have been found. If I run into anyone who was injured and hasn't been found by the rescue teams, having someone with medical training out there with me could mean the difference between life and death," he pointed out.

Joy let out a frustrated sigh, "I hate you,"

"I love you too honey. How soon can you be here?" Ron asked.

"About an hour if traffic is good."

After saying goodbye Joy grabbed her backpack, dumped out her hunting supplies, put her first aid kit back in then added a better stocked first aid kit and a few other supplies. After tossing her bag into her truck and hooking up the trailer she left, all the while cursing her inability to turn her back on anyone who might be hurt and her father for using that against her.

When she drove into Chicago she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to when the Decepticons had taken the city. She had been in the city, meeting with her grandmother's attorney when the Decepticons had first been spotted in the city. She had made it to one of the bridges leading out of the city, but the bridge was raised before she could get out, the cars on the bridge, including hers had crashed into a pile at the base of the raised bridge. She had had a split second to wonder why her airbag hadn't opened yet before her head smashed into the steering wheel. She had woken up sometime the next day with a pounding headache, still in her car which was nearly vertical, with the front bumper on the ground. She seemed to have gotten lucky as several cars that she could see had been crushed or burned. She nearly called out for help when she saw two people run by and dive into an overturned car, but then she realized she could hear voices that didn't sound quite human and she remained silent.

She braced herself and had gotten her belt off then lowered herself down so the foot space under the dash hid her better. She watched as one of the robots realized the others were going to kill them, the fear and emotion in his voice had shaken her. Her father was a robotics engineer, he had created amazing robots all her life and when the existence of these robotic beings had been revealed she had thought the same thing her father had. They were just robots created by some advanced alien race, maybe by two alien races which would explain the two different groups of robots fighting. Or maybe, like in so many films the machines had taken over, but were still just machines built by someone else, they couldn't truly be sentient. Sure she had heard some people say the robots were alive and sentient, but she had seen some of her father's artificial intelligence robots that, with a few more years in development would probably be able to convince a lot of people they were alive. As she watched the one being shot and killed by another and then the way the yellow one looked at the two humans hidden in the car, with such sadness and hopelessness, she knew they weren't just advanced robots, they were alive and sentient.