Bionica: Origins

Chapter Eight

Ratchet and I elect to sleep in the garden that night, simply because we don't feel like getting up and walking back to our rooms. So he walks over to the base of the tree as I start to climb it. I find a cozy spot in the branches and look down at him, sitting at the base of the tree with some moss for a pillow. As he smiles back up at me, I know it's going to be a good night.

_______

The alarm on my watch rings at 7 AM, true to its word. I get up and look down to find Ratchet stirring. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Morning, Angel-Face," he says, and for once I'm not offended by it. "Wanna come down so I can greet you?"

I nod and start to climb down the trunk. Suddenly my foot slips and I'm left in free fall. I stick my bionic hand in front of me and prepare to deal with the pain in my shoulder. But Ratchet catches me before I have a chance to do that. I look into his eyes as he laughs at me.

"Yeah, try not to do that," he says.

"Well, that's real helpful. Y'know, if you hadn't said that, someone could've gotten hurt."

He laughs again and puts me down. "C'mon, the others will be looking for us."

We walk up to the compound and go to Siren's room to check on her. She's just sitting on her bed, staring into space.

"Morning, Siren," I say, opening the door. "Umm... you okay?"

"Fine," she responds quickly. "Remember how I was under Tronyx's control?"

Ratchet looks at his shoulder. "How could I forget?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. Well, anyways, it turns out with this chip in my head, I can use my bionic eye to hack his systems." Siren pauses and makes a face that says she found something good. "You guys aren't gonna believe this."

"What is it?" Ratchet and I ask simultaneously.

"Tronyx keeps a diary!"

"Umm, I believe that 'journal' is the term most men like to use," Ratchet says.

"What's it say?" I ask.

"I can't see in there, but I intend to," Siren says. She clenches a fist and brings it up. "Someday, Tronyx, I will know all your secrets! I shall overcome the monarchy with my sheer knowledge!"

"Congratulations," Ratchet says as the door opens. The rest of our team walks in.

Glitch walks up to us. "Where were you two last night?"

I step forward. "Ratchet was helping me train. We got back in late," I lie. Siren looks at my wounds and notices that the stitches are out. I think she knows we weren't training. She looks me in the eye as if to say We'll talk about it later. I silently thank her for not bringing this up.

"Anyways," Sprocket says, "Siren, why'd you call us?"

"Right," Siren starts, standing up. "So I found out that because of the chip Tronyx put in my head, the door opens both ways. Not only does he have an eye on the inside, but I can see inside his files." Suddenly her eyes widen. "Everyone be totally silent!" She shuts her eyes, and I get the feeling that someone just walked into Tronyx's control room. It's evident that Siren can hear things we can't. She makes a face that says she's scared of something they just said, and Eclipse opens the door behind her.

"Siren? You up yet?" she asks. I think it might be a smart move, depending on what Siren just heard. Eclipse grabs a pillow off Siren's bed and whacks her. Siren moans as Eclipse rolls her eyes. "Listen, lazybones, we need you up. The Motors don't look like they're going to attack today, and the medical rooms are overflowing. They need all the help they can get." She motions for us all to duck, and we do so silently. Ratchet's hand goes over my back and I look at him.