Jasper Rain ((TFP ULTRA MAGNUS X OC))

3

Ailani spent hours seated in a dim room, staring intently at the bridge-log as the screen reflected off her iris'. It had been quiet since that morning, and the only other two ground-bridges to be checked in were the ones Ailani used that morning. The algorithms for both were normal, and she feared even greater what the unidentified vortex could mean.

Several different possibilities ricocheted in her head; varying from a stray Con to Megatron himself despite he already being dealt with a few years prior. The angry tyrant was the one Ailani found the hardest to figure out, so in her mind it didn't seem entirely far fetched. Another idea pulled her in the direction of August — her opposing oracle — and remembered clearly how he just... disappeared. Despite it happening abroad the Nemesis, Ailani was sure not to scrap the idea as a possibility, it being an additive to her tentativeness in the matter. There was also the likelihood of the bridge being opened by someone on their side — but when the oracle tried to figure out who, she drew a blank. She knew that it couldn't have been Magnus, taking that he hadn't been on the planet in years and more than likely rode his ship to Earth from wherever it was he managed to end up.

And so, Ailani was back at square one, nails tapping relentlessly on the desktop as her chin rested in the palm of her other hand. Fowler had popped in every so often for a status report, and Silica Delaney visited a few times with updates from her team. Everything on their side had also been in the dark, and they were still no closer to hacking into the server in which the bridge was opened.

Sighing, Ailani leaned back in her seat just as the door behind her opened. She didn't have to turn around to know that the clicking heels belonged to Silica, and continued to stare at the monitor as the ravenette came up beside her.

The sight of something in her hand caught in her peripheral vision, and she finally titled her head upward to look at the head of the Surveillance Team. The woman, who looked to be around Ailani's age, held out a mug with a kind smile on her face.

"It's almost midnight, Agent Dunne." She informed her as the oracle took the drink, realizing by the smell that it was freshly brewed coffee.

"Has your team made any breakthroughs?" Ailani asked in return, shifting back to her screen.

"Not yet," she shook her head, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "But we're getting there... slowly but surely."

A silence lingered between them before Silica spoke again.

"Why don't you head home? You have a little girl waiting, don't you?"

"I can't afford not to stay," Ailani sighed again, setting the mug down to rub her hands against her cheeks tiredly. "If this actually does turn out to be something relating to the Decepticons, then I have to be here when the log actually catches something again."

"You really are the savior of the world, aren't you?" Silica laughed as Ailani shot her a raised-brow look. "Look, I understand your leniency, but I doubt we'll figure anything out by tomorrow."

"And if you do?"

"You'll be the first person I call." Silica gave her a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder.

Ailani thought for a moment, but shook her head in rejection anyway.

"I appreciate your concern, but I think I'll stay for an hour or two longer... just in case."

At that, Silica sighed gently out of her nose whilst turning on her heel toward the door.

"Alright, then," she said, hand falling to the doorknob. "I'll check back in before you leave. Try not to fall asleep."

With a nod toward Ailani's coffee mug, Silica finally slipped out of the room, leaving the oracle agent in the silence she had previously been succumbing to.