A New Dawn - Transformers Prime (4)

Chapter Seven

I've written pretty far ahead, and I just want you guys to keep reading, so here's a Monday treat.  :)

[Amanda]

   "This might take some time," Raf said, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "We totally drowned your system with this data, so we're going to have to fish everything good out."

   I stood on the platform, hands on my hips, listening carefully as everyone gave me details on whatever they were working on.

   "I've been using Cam to help search through," the younger boy continued. "But still, it's not a one day job."

   I nodded understandingly. "I know, but focus on trying to retrieve the latest data first. If we know how that ship went down and who was on it, it'll make things a lot easier." Then I turned to Ratchet. "What about the body? Any clues on how a Cybertronian body could be manipulated like that?"

   He frowned slightly. "While that remains a mystery, I may have determined what the gold substance in the energon is, though I would like to do one final test." The medic held up a cylinder container, which had some sort of liquid inside of it. "Amanda, channel a small amount of Cleona's powers into this cylinder."

   I did as he said, pushing a bit of silver dust out of my palm and towards the cylinder. Ratchet held it close to his face as the silver dust hit the container, but even I could hear the sizzling from the contact. The medic nodded and hurried to type up whatever he found.

   "Well?" I asked, voicing everyone's questions.

   "The gold substance has always reacted negatively with your powers," Ratchet explained, typing away. "But not with any other Cybertronian substance I have on hand. I suspected it was simply the energy from your powers, but that would have transferred to a couple other substances I tested, which is when I realized it reacted with your powers alone because they are the same types of energy, but created in almost opposite ways."

   "So the gold stuff..." Dread began to fill me.

   The medic nodded. "All evidence points towards the gold being the remnants of the goddess Valilorna's powers."

~~~

   I paced around the platform in the base, a million thoughts racing through my mind at once. Raf and Finn were working on deciphering the entire database that was currently swimming in my own, while Miko and Jack had left because they had to have dinner with Miko's host parents. Ratchet was still dissecting the Cybertronian body, trying to figure out how it had gotten so small and so human shaped, but our money was on the fact that Valilorna's powers were used to achieve that.

   Valilorna. The arch nemesis of Cleona, goddess of chaos and war. She had fought on the side of the Decepticons during the war on Cybertron, but hadn't really wanted to Cons to win. No, it was more like she wanted the most Cybertronians to die. I remembered the couple of things Optimus had told me about her, though he hardly brought her up.

   "She had no goal but to see the destruction of Primus' kind. Her exile to Cybertron separated her from Unicron and she despised that. She took out her anger on the Autobots during the war, and devastated us until we were able to convince Cleona to stand against her."

   Still, Optimus didn't talk about her. No one did. I once asked Arcee about her, just out of curiosity, and she shook her head, as though it wasn't allowed to be brought up.

   But what did it really mean? Valilorna's powers were in the energon of a Cybertronian that was in human form. I sighed and rubbed my temples. It was all a lot to think about, and with no real answers, it was becoming too much.