Professional Massive Nerd

Jazz would have liked for things to calm down a bit. He knew that probably wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. But, he couldn’t help but dream. Even tasks that should have been mundane felt exhausting. Jazz kept pushing through. He did his best to keep moving.

It was getting hard to do. Mainly because there just wasn't a lot for him to do. Eventually, they’d probably be asked to start helping with whatever repairs Wheeljack was doing to the ship. It was going to be dull work. Jazz just knew it. But it was something.

He didn’t want to give in to the urge to hide away. Prowl needed him, and so did Blaster. Jazz was going to push through everything for them. They had each other through every strange moment and uncomfortable discovery.

Jazz was worried that if he slowed down, everything would catch up with him. He didn’t want that to happen. He normally could talk to the others. Blaster or Prowl. Or even Mirage. It kept him at least a little busy.

Prowl had been more distant the last few days. Blaster was being dragged off more and more by his kids. Mirage had been as elusive as ever. If anything, he had been seeing less and less of all of them.

Blaster was spending some time with Jazz. He didn’t really have a good way to keep track of time, but the two of them had just gotten up from recharge. The little guys all had duties, and Blaster decided to spend some time with Jazz. The two of them were slowly making their way toward the mess hall. Jazz was already dreading refueling.

“Is it weird?” Jazz asked.

“You gotta be more specific than that, man,” Blaster said. “Lots of weird things going on.”

“You know, Rewind or the others going inside the chest thing?”

Jazz felt bad for asking. Or at least a little bad. He was curious about it.

Blaster looked away, “Yeah, don’t tell them that though. It’s familiar, but it doesn’t feel right. All of the parts moving,” Blaster shuttered.

“Why do you even let them do it then?” Jazz’s voice echoed down the empty halls.

“They’re supposed to do it, not docking for so long made them a little sick, almost?” Blaster didn’t sound very sure. “It made me sick, too, it’s why I got all weird. Ratchet tried to explain why, but parts of it I don’t really understand. He said part of it is how they were made, and how I was made, but he didn’t really want to get into that.”

“Ratchet didn’t want to explain the alien birds and the bees, I guess,” Jazz said.

Blaster chuckled nervously, “Well. He told me that he didn’t want to have to explain it three times.”

The two of them walked into the mess hall. Jazz groaned.

“No! I already had one very awkward version of that talk as a teenager,” Jazz said.

“I know, we were both there for that, so was everyone else in the group home,” Blaster said. “Just prepare yourself for however that talk is going to go. Ratchet already looked uncomfortable.”

“Great,” Jazz said sarcastically.

“I swear every time I drink Energon it tastes worse somehow,” Blaster said awkwardly.

“Good subject change,” Jazz said.

Jazz and Blaster were the only ones in the mess hall so far. It was just them and the disgusting, glowing blue, almost liquid cubes. Cubes were left out for them by Ratchet daily. They always tasted a little different.

That day, Blaster’s Energon had something that shimmered and moved like mercury. Jazz looked as if it were topped with metal shavings. They grabbed the cubes left out for them and sat at the only table in the space that was clear of dust.

The two of them had taken to drinking it slowly. He didn’t taste it as much when he took smaller sips, and he got to sit down and relax for longer. He resolved himself and took the first sip. Whatever had been added to his made it taste like a horrible mix, overly sweet with a coppery undertone that reminded him of blood.

Jazz hid his disgust. Blaster didn’t. His face scrunched up, and he blanched as he started to drink. Blaster froze and tilted his head. His audials perked, and he turned toward the door.

A few seconds later, Jazz heard the distant echoes of footsteps coming towards the mess hall—more than one set. They were too loud to be any of the smaller guys. Jazz narrowed his eyes behind his visor. It was rare for Ratchet or Wheeljack to come refuel with any of them willingly. It was awkward at best, and uncomfortable at worst.

They wanted all of them to be people they didn’t remember being. Jazz didn’t think he would ever remember; if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t want to remember. He was content with the person he was now. He didn’t want to become someone else. Jazz was already comfortable with who he was; he didn’t want to change that.

As they approached, Jazz felt the connection he shared with Prowl grow stronger. That had made him even more confused, and it started to make him worried. He didn’t like how much time Prowl had been spending with the two of them. Prowl was sneaking off more and more. Jazz knew he wasn’t with Mirage. None of them could leave the ship alone. That only really left one option.

Jazz didn’t know why Prowl was spending so much time with Ratchet and Wheeljack. He didn’t want to pry. They were all hurting.

Prowl walked into the room first. He was drawn into himself. The wings on his back drooped, and his eyes snapped to Jazz. His wings drooped lower. Jazz felt guilt and sadness radiate off of Prowl before their bond went numb.

Ratchet and Wheeljack trailed behind Prowl. Ratchet’s expression was as firm as ever, and Wheeljack looked almost bothered by something. That immediately put Jazz on alert. Wheeljack had always been so positive around them.

“Prowl? What’s wrong?” Jazz stood up from the table. He placed a hand on Prowl’s forearm.

Prowl didn’t look at him.

Prowl opened and closed his mouth. He clenched his eyes shut, “I have to tell you something that might make you upset.”

Jazz was on alert. This seemed weird for Prowl.

“What’s going on?” Jazz asked, narrowing his eyes.

“We need to head near town and make some phone calls,” Prowl said slowly.

Jazz could already imagine why. They’d been gone for a few weeks. He didn’t want to dig too deep into it. Dread was building inside of him just thinking about what he was going to have to tell people. He was already thinking about lies to tell about where they went and why they dropped off the grid for so long.

“Why would that make me upset?” Jazz asked.

He could still feel something off with Prowl. If anything, it felt more intense. Prowl had done something else.

“That isn’t the part that might upset you,” Prowl looked down at the ground. “I’m going to start by thoroughly apologizing to you both.”

Blaster slowly put his cube down. He tilted his head.

“Both of us?” Blaster asked, “Prowl, what did you do?”

Jazz watched as Prowl tensed his jaw. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he seemingly forced himself to look up. He wasn’t meeting either of them in the eye.

He heard Prowl vent a few times, “I’ve been using both of your emails to assure people you aren’t missing.”

Jazz took several seconds to process that information. Then. several more seconds to decide on an emotion to attach to that information. He eventually settled on somewhere between betrayal and anger.

“What have you been telling people?” Blaster asked. Jazz saw his audials lower, and a flash of anger cross his friend's face.

“That you both left to help me take care of a family emergency in Portland,” Prowl said.

“Why?” Jazz asked.

It was the only word he could get out calmly.

Prowl looked at Jazz. Jazz glared, and Prowl didn’t look away.

“Missing persons reports would have been filed if I hadn’t reached out to people. Search and Rescue would have found my car, then there would be who knows how many people looking for our bodies nearby.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jazz asked firmly.

Jazz jerked his arm from Prowl's grip. Jazz ignored the sadness coming off of Prowl. Jazz was happy for once that Prowl could feel what he felt. The complicated combination of anger and disappointment was hard to put into words.

“Jazz, there was too much of a risk; if the earth authorities saw something they shouldn’t have, I don’t even want to think about what could have happened.”

“Why didn’t you at least ask first?” Blaster asked.

Prowl was silent. “I don’t know. I just wanted to save you the pain. We’re all going through enough already.”

There was going to be a long discussion between the three of them when the peanut gallery wasn’t present. Jazz knew they were right in some messed-up, horrible way. He was relieved that there weren’t people worried he had gone missing. At the same time, he was upset that this was another decision made without his input.

“You haven’t even spoken to your adoptive parents in two years,” Jazz said. “How is anyone buying that?”

Prowl had only spoken about them a few times. Jazz hadn’t even met them.

“I never spoke to most people about my family, I don’t even think Red knew I was adopted, let alone how often I spoke to my parents,” Prowl said,

Blaster looked down at his cube of Energon. “When are we leaving?” His voice was grim.

Prowl visibly relaxed. His wings twitched back up. “As soon as you're ready to leave.”

Ratchet uncrossed his arms, “What he means,” he narrowed his eyes down at the three of them, “Is as soon as you're done refueling.”

Jazz grumbled. He was being dramatic. He picked up the cube and chugged it down in front of Ratchet. Ratchet looked thoroughly unimpressed. He heard him let out a harsh vent. He turned his critical stare towards Blaster.

Blaster shuffled back toward the table. He didn’t chug it down, but he drank it faster than he had been. The white bit of metal on the top of his head fell to cover his face slightly. Jazz could only see the blue light of his eyes in a sea of black. His eyes narrowed in disgust as he finished off the Energon ration.

Ratchet seemed satisfied. “The sooner you leave and come back, the better. I don’t want Mirage noticing you all left.”

“Mirage isn’t coming?” Jazz asked with a frown. “You don’t think he’d want to get out for a bit?”

“No,” Ratchet looked sad, almost. “No, I don’t want him to be there. I don’t think it would be good for him.”

“I don’t want to lie to the kid,” Jazz said.

Wheeljack and Ratchet shared a glance.

“Jazz, Mirage never had this opportunity. He never got to say goodbye to anyone he knew as a human,” Wheeljack said. “He never talks about it, but we know it bothers him.”

Jazz didn’t like keeping this from Mirage. Even he knew that this would open an old wound. “Fine, but if he asks, don’t expect me to cover for you.”

“How are we even going to make a phone call? I don’t know if you noticed, we’re kind of too large to use a phone,” Blaster said.

“Rewind and Eject will dial for us; none of the calls need to be long, they just need to be consistent with what I was telling everyone,” Prowl said.

“Wait, did they help you send the emails?” Blaster asked.

Prowl’s silence continued.

Blaster rubbed his hand down the side of his face. Metal scraped against metal, and Blaster winced.

For once, Jazz was happy he didn’t have a family to contact. Everyone he considered family had been dragged into this bizarre hell with him. It was both horrifying and comforting.

Ratchet looked down, “I would join you, but one of the husks is in for repairs. We trust all of you to come back as soon as you’re done.”

Ratchet shot another look over to Wheeljack. The way they stared at each other almost made it seem like they were having a silent conversation.

“Rewind and Eject should meet you by the exit ramp,” Wheeljack said.

“You’re not going either?” Jazz said.

“Ratchet needs my help in the med bay,” Wheeljack said with a shrug.

“Let’s just get this over with, then,” Jazz said.

Ratchet and Wheeljack started to walk away. The three of them were alone.

“Jazz-” Prowl started.

“You should have told us what you were planning, Prowl,” Jazz pointed a finger up at Prowl's face. “You can’t just make decisions for us. We’re all we have right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Prowl said.

“We had a right to be involved, you should have at least asked,” Blaster said. “Don’t get me started on you dragging Rewind and Eject into this.”

“Are you going to say anything besides sorry?” Jazz asked.

Prowl stayed silent.

“What do you want me to say? I did it already,” Prowl said. “I just didn’t want you two to have to deal with it.”

Prowl’s wings twitched behind his back. Jazz could still feel the complicated tangle of emotions from him and Blaster. It was hard to keep up his anger when he could feel Prowl’s regret.

“I know where you were coming from, Prowl. I just need you to not do things behind our backs,” Jazz said.

“Just be honest, even if you think it’s going to be painful,” Blaster said.

“I’ll do better,” Prowl's voice shook as he spoke.

“Good,” Jazz said. “Come on, I just want to get this over with.”

Jazz started to leave the mess hall. Prowl followed behind him without missing a beat. Blaster trailed slowly behind both of them. Their walk was silent. Prowl started walking in front of him and Blaster. Prowl’s pace was steadily picking up.

“You good?” Jazz whispered.

“Not really,” Blaster said.

“Me either,” Jazz admitted quietly.

Blaster looked shocked.

Jazz was emotionally exhausted. Too much had been going on for too long. Jazz was the type to hide when stuff bothered him. But this had pushed him over the ledge. It felt like betrayal.

Prowl’s wings drooped ahead of the two of them. He started walking faster. Prowl felt numb in their bond. A dull buzz where Prowl’s despair and upset had been. It hadn’t felt like that since they woke up.

Prowl entered the storage area that was next to the exit ramp of the ship. The space was still disorganized with materials, but things had been moved around. It wasn’t light out yet. The sky outside the barrier looked dark.

Rewind and Eject were lingering near the ramp. Eject was leaning against a wall, staring outside. Rewind nervously stood next to him. Eject slumped as Prowl approached and turned around to face him.

“Is there still a charge on the phone?” Prowl asked.

“Yeah, fifty percent,” Eject said.

Eject had Prowl’s phone gripped in his hand.

Blaster looked conflicted. Jazz felt his distant storm of emotions through their weaker bond. He couldn’t even name which one was dominant.

“How far do we need to go to get a signal?” Jazz asked Prowl.

“Not far, a mile up a ridge, and we’ll have enough bars to send emails and make phone calls,” Prowl pointed off into the woods. A rocky mountainside jutted out over the trees.

Blaster walked forward. Rewind and Eject’s audials dropped down. Blaster had a firm look on his face as he kneeled in front of the two of them.

The two of them whispered to him as he asked them questions. Jazz forced his eyes away but kept his audials tuned into the conversation.

“We were ordered to,” Eject said. “Prowl was never happy about it.”

Blaster whispered something back to the two of them. Jazz didn’t catch what it was. Blaster stood back up. He offered a hand down, and Rewind and Eject climbed up to his shoulders.

Prowl walked down the exit ramp of the ship. Their small group took off into the woods. Jazz had trouble fighting off the thoughts of how wrong the trees looked as he walked. How small everything seemed in comparison to him.

“How long has he been having you both do this?” Blaster asked.

“Just for a few days. Ratchet came to us one morning with Prowl. We only agreed after he told us he was going to tell you,” Rewind said.

“Who has he been having you guys’ email?” Jazz asked.

Rewind and Eject shared a glance before shrugging. “Don’t really know, he just tells us what to type. Yesterday, someone emailed Blaster asking if he could call soon.”

“Do you remember the name?”

“Mitchell,” Rewind said.

Blaster’s boss. The old man must have been getting worried.

“Ah,” Blaster muttered. “I’m going to have to quit over the phone.”

“Damn, same,” Jazz said, dazed. “I didn’t even think about my job.”

“There are a lot of things I haven’t really thought about. I mean, what are we even going to do about our apartments? Mine is set for autopay. I should be fine for another couple of months,” Blaster said.

“Rent comes out of my account, probably got two months’ worth in there,” Jazz said.

He didn’t even know what they were going to do with all of their stuff.

“Nothing we can do about that for now, I guess,” Jazz said, “Another thing to talk to Prowl about later.”

Jazz was worried. He had been caught up in suddenly being a transforming alien to remember he had a life that couldn’t be put on pause for much longer. They had to officially move out of their apartment, and they had to set up something to still get mail if they were going to try to continue a ruse of being human.

They had to even learn how to look human again whenever Wheeljack and Ratchet decided they were ready to use their other bodies again.

A headache was building as Jazz thought about how complicated this situation had become.

They had reached the top of the mountain they were climbing. Eject and Rewind expertly hopped off Blaster. The drop seemed high to him, but the two of them didn’t act like they were in pain when they dropped to the forest floor.

“So,” Rewind said nervously, fidgeting with Prowl’s phone, “Who’s going first?”

Prowl kneeled to the ground. Rewind walked towards him.

“Go into my contacts and call the number under Red Alert,” Prowl said quietly. His voice was full of pain.

Rewind and Eject also seemed shocked at the weight of Prowl’s voice. At the sadness in his eyes.

Prowl didn’t feel numb in their bond anymore. Jazz felt Prowl’s grief. He hadn’t known he was this close to Red Alert. They needed to talk. Jazz needed to know Prowl wasn’t keeping anything else from him for his own good. For now, though, Jazz would sit next to him for this call like Prowl would for his.

Rewind hit the dial button on Prowl's phone, and the ringing of the phone echoed out into the trees. Prowl curled into himself the longer it rang.

Red Alert answered the call, “Prowl! I wasn’t expecting to hear back from you for another day. I thought you were busy.”

“Hey, Red,” Prowl said. “No, everything is fine, I just had to head back into service and thought I would give you a call.”

Red Alert hummed over the line, “I see. Any updates on when you’re coming back?” Red Alert couched, “Not that we’re in a rush! You can take as much time as you need to make sure everything is alright. I know medical emergencies can be,” Red Alert muttered something that wasn’t quite picked up by the phone, “Difficult.”

Prowl’s shoulders rose; he was stiff as a board. “It's looking like we’re going to stay longer than I thought. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ll be coming back to work.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Prowl’s hand dug into the forest floor. Jazz grabbed it and squeezed.

“I am going to come back to pick up some things. I’ll stop by and drop off my work gear.”

“Any time frame?” Red Alert asked.

Jazz knew how he came off. Casual, carefree, and not particularly aware of dangers around him. It was an image he had carefully crafted when functionalism was still dictating what he could and couldn’t do. He had found it to be an incredible way to avoid detection and get the drop on his enemies. It was a double positive.

It was easier to strike back if your attacker thought you weren't paying attention. He hadn't known Chromedome for long, and he wasn’t planning on lowering that guard. His friends might have called him paranoid, but it kept him functioning. He didn’t know what Chromedome did when he was with the enforcers, but he had the distinct feeling it wasn’t anything good. 

Chromedome seemed off. It wasn’t in any way he could put into words yet. But something seemed wrong with him. Jazz liked Chromedome so far, but he didn’t trust him. Jazz only trusted a few mechs, and all of them were either offline or on Cybertron. 

He had misplaced his trust one too many times for him to trust anyone. Mechs betrayed each other all the time, and over the smallest things. He didn’t trust easily. 

Wildlife, and animals on the other side, were a different matter entirely. They didn’t have the capacity to maliciously lie and strike out. If they struck out, it was always the fault of something a mech had done. Maybe they were scared or threatened, and they would lash out in defense; they wouldn't attack without reason. It was something Jazz appreciated. 

He could trust animals not to attack him for no reason.

Jazz wasn’t an idiot. He knew he could still, and would, attack him for other reasons. But never to betray him maliciously. He was on guard with every creature he encountered.

Being on guard constantly was starting to get draining. Sneaking off on his own was beginning to look more appealing. Jazz could play the part of a sociable mech well enough. Spending all this time alone with one other mech was starting to put him on edge. 

They were between shoots. Jazz was sitting down in the small corner of the abandoned building they were calling home. He was looking through the rapidly building pile of footage. Every few clicks, he would flick his optics up at Chromedome. The other mech hardly moved. He sat perfectly still, reading the data pad Jazz had prepared for this trip. 

Jazz was in a loop of looking down and working only to catch a glimpse upward. He was just keeping an optic on Chromedome. The lack of motion from him was putting Jazz on edge. Jazz needed some time to himself. Where he didn’t need to watch his back plates as closely. 

Jazz loudly stretched his joints. He let his frame make enough noise so Chromedome would look over.

“I need to stretch for a bit, I’m just gonna go on a short walk,” Jazz said. “I’m getting a bit stiff.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Chromedome titled his helm.

Jazz stood up. “Nah, you can stay here, I’ll be back soon.”

Chromedome nodded, “If you’re sure.”

Jazz backed out of their small space slowly. The door was getting easier to open each time they moved it. More ice became dislodged, making the mechanism easier to operate manually. 

Jazz told himself he was just going to leave for a little bit. Just to clear his processor. He was relieved at the silence as soon as he shut the door behind himself. It was still light out. But the clouds were so thick he couldn’t make out where the systems star was in the sky. It was probably still low on the horizon; the night cycle had only ended a little while ago.

Jazz started walking. He wanted to get away from Chromedome for a bit. He also wanted to figure out if there was anything he wanted to say in front of the camera. Most documentaries on this planet had always focused on the grizzly fate of the settlers. If they mentioned the technorganics, it was always in a bad light. 

Vicious creatures that attacked their creators when they had the first opportunity to. 

It didn’t matter to anyone else that there was no evidence of the settlers being killed off by the Mer. Jazz personally thought most of the settlement had fallen into the ocean after some sort of seismic event. It was a more interesting story if the creations killed their creators. There were no documentaries just featuring the Mer as anything other than cold, hardened killers. 

There were research articles. But those never got shared around much. Jazz had to use some of his old contacts to get access to them. He even found those to be lacking. Some of them read like they had chunks missing. But according to his contacts, those were the only versions of those files in the archives. 

Jazz was almost starting to believe the Senate just wanted Mechs to assume the wildlife here would kill the first mech it saw to scare them away. Gelu was already dangerous with all the water. The Senate probably didn’t want to send out more rescue crews when the next colony fell into the ocean. 

Jazz walked down the cliffside shore slowly. Enjoying the view of the ocean below.

He could already tell the Mer weren't inherently violent. They didn’t react defensively when they were close to them yesterday. They didn’t display any signs of defensive or defensive behavior. They seemed more curious about whatever creatures had come to what must have been seen as their territory. 

Jazz tread carefully over the ice and snow. He made his way over to their little point they had been using to access the beach. He wasn’t going to go close to the water. But as long as he was there, he might as well check on the cameras. 

He started to climb down onto the first outcropping. He heard something move in the distance. He looked down toward the sound. The larger Mer was perched on a rock near the beach. It looked toward him for a second before turning away. It’s optics where focused further out into the ocean.

Jazz wondered if any of the Mer even remembered Cybertronians. No one knew how long Mer lived. There had never been a living one placed in long-term captivity; a few had been observed for short periods, but the records of any specific observations were long gone. If there were any surviving Mer, they would be older than most living Cybertronians. 

If the Mer were old enough to remember their creators, he would have expected more defensive or skittish behavior. The two they had encountered so far seemed calm around them so far. Jazz wasn’t going to push any boundaries with the Mer. He was planning on keeping a safe distance.

Jazz slowly climbed down the cliffside. The large grey Mer didn’t look over at him. Jazz leaned more into his mindset as a spy and inched forward carefully. He kept his motions short and quiet. He didn’t want to spook it.

When his pedes touched the gravel on the beach, the Mer twitched. It turned on its perch and narrowed its optics toward Jazz. It didn’t bear its teeth, and it didn’t show any sign of what he thought would be defensive behavior. 

Jazz stilled. The Mer stilled. It examined Jazz for several seconds before deciding he wasn’t worth the attention. The Mer rolled onto its side. It lay its head down on the rock and kept its optics focused on Jazz. 

Jazz took a careful step. The Mer didn’t move. He took another step, more confident. The Mer huffed and rolled over. It’s back-faced Jazz. Its fins are more visible. Twitching and moving as the wind howled against it. Streaks of blue, and the odd hints of red littered its mostly grey body.

It was a magnificent creature. He couldn’t deny the inherent horror of the Mer’s creation. But he admired their beauty.

The Mer didn’t seem as bothered by the cold as he was. It was amazing to see. He was wounded by what was done to them to allow them to survive in such a harsh environment so casually.

Jazz found a place to sit. He pulled out his data pad and swore at himself for not bringing a camera down with him. After this, he was going to make it a habit to bring the device with him in his subspace every time he left their shelter. 

He spent his alone time observing the Mer and writing about anything he observed that he thought was interesting. 

Their behavior, their biology, everything about these guys was poorly documented. Jazz thought it was a shame. They were such a beautiful and majestic species of life. One that was created by Cybertronians, only to be abandoned by its creators after the settlement fell. It seemed cruel in a way, but Jazz knew if the Senate were more involved in their care, the outcomes for them would have been negative.

One of the many things Jazz hated about the Senate was their disdain for organic life. He had seen the first servo with Orion, what type of treatment organic species had gotten under the Senate’s care.

It was interesting to see how well the Mer were adapted to the planet. Jazz shivered in the cold, but the Mer didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it. It breathed in like an organic creature. Jazz was familiar with organic ocean life on other planets, and he saw some similarities. He saw gills, but the Mer didn’t seem to struggle with breathing air, at least for short periods. 

Jazz sat staring at the Mer.

He heard pedes touch down onto stone. He looked up. Chromedome was starting to climb down the cliff. Jazz bit back a groan. He looked at his chronometer. He did a mental double-take. He was gone for longer than he thought. It wasn’t like him to lose so much time. Documenting the Mer had just taken up more of his attention than he thought it would have.

Chromedome must have gotten worried when he didn’t come right back. 

“The mean-looking one is still here?” Chromedome said as he approached Jazz.

The Mer turned to face the two of them at the sound of Chromedome’s voice. It stared unnervingly at the two of them. It made a call that graded against Jazz’s audials. 

The other smaller Mer peaked out of the water. Chirping back at the larger one. 

“My bad, I mean the creepy-looking one,” Chromedome said. 

Jazz made a mental note to mute the audio for this clip.

The smaller Mer chittered and barked. The larger one looked almost offended as it pushed off its rock and sank back below the water. 

“I think you offended him,” Jazz joked. 

The smaller Mer stiffened at his voice. It dipped deeper into the water, only just peaking its head out. 

“It is a creepy-looking one,” Chromedome insisted.

“I don’t think it looks creepy,” Jazz said.

“What do you think it looks like then?”

“Mysterious, maybe? Exotic? I don’t want to call them creepy in the documentary; they get enough of that from everything else that’s been made about them.”

Chromedome shrugged. 

“I’m still going to call it creepy when the cameras aren't rolling. It’s almost unsettling how Cybertronian they look. I don’t know why they were built like that.”

“Not like there's anyone left to ask,” Jazz said. “Who knows?”

“I got some lines I want to record while the light is still good,” Jazz said. “Do you have the camera on you?”

Chromedome had the camera out and ready from his subspace before Jazz could even cycle his optics. Jazz waited for the indicator light to turn green before he started. 

“We’ve been incredibly lucky so far in our encounters with the local wildlife,” He kneeled, and Chromedome followed his motion. 

His audials could still hear the smaller mer in the water behind him. He was far enough away from the shore that he felt comfortable turning his back to the creature. He stayed alert and got ready to run if it made any sudden moves he didn’t like.

“So much remains unknown about the mysterious life on this planet. Mer’s remain a mystery. No one is even sure how long they live. There could still be Mer on this planet that were created by the original colonists.”

The Mer chittered and called out. Shrill and high. A new sound. Jazz turned around. It dipped under the water before scrambling up onto the beach. Chromedome and Jazz both took steps back as it scratched at the stone. 

Jazz wasn’t sure why it was doing that. It didn’t seem to be going after either of them. Its behavior almost seemed erratic. 

He heard a loud call. Deep, booming. The ground underneath his pedes trembled. Familiar.

Jazz stayed calm. His optics narrowed.

“What was that?” Chromedome whispered.

“Another creature local to the planet, get to the cliffside, be quiet,” Jazz whispered back. 

The Mer dragged its way inshore. Jazz ran, and Chromedome followed after him. He heard another call. This one was louder. It was getting closer. They didn’t have time to climb away.

Another booming noise shook the beach. The Mer scrambled behind a rock and curled into its tail. It pressed itself flat against the ground and didn’t look back at the two Mechs as it looked out at the ocean. 

In an explosion of water, a giant creature burst from the waves. Its head thrashed around violently. Its body was littered with scars. Its mouth split open. A tongue licked the air. It was a long creature that seemed to be all tail. It didn’t have any servos or other limbs. Wires pulsed with a dim color under its scales. It turned its dead blue eyes onto the shore. The air rumbled with a growl. It snapped forward out of the water.

Chromedome pressed further against the stone wall. 

The smaller Mer uncurled itself and let out a high screech. The creature started to move onto land. It jerked its massive head around and lunged. The large Mer leaped out of the water and grabbed the end of the creature. It let out a cry as it was dragged back down into the water. 

The larger Mer wrestled the creature, it was several times longer than the Mer. The animal wrapped around the Mer, but the Mer dug its claws into the creature's side. Blood leaked into the water as the creature thrashed. Its long, slender form slipped from the Mers' grasp. As it moved, the Mers' claws dug into its scaled hide. 

The creature disappeared beneath the waves.

The Mer didn’t dive after the creature as it went back underwater. The larger Mer called, and the smaller Mer called back. Jazz watched as the smaller Mer crawled back into her water. It swam around the layer one as the two of them called back and forth to each other. 

“What was that?” Chromedome asked.

“A prototype, the colonists' first attempt at making life,” Jazz whispered, “Tell me you were recording that.” He watched as the two Mer kept calling to each other. “They’re supposed to be extinct. The Senate said they were all infertile and too unstable to survive.”

Jazz swore at himself. He should have known better than to trust that information. It had seemed likely based on what he had read. Unlike Mer, the prototypes had been captured and brought off-planet. They all shortly died after leaving. But obviously the creatures were more stable than the Seante gave them credit for.

“The camera was recording the whole time; I was too focused on getting away to get a good shot.”

Panic was already gone from Chromedome’s voice. The mech was back to being unnaturally calm.

“We can look over the footage during the night cycle,” Jazz said.

The smaller Mer ran its claws over the larger one. Jazz watched as it gently traced over wounds that were slowly leaking a bright purple fluid. The larger didn’t attack the smaller as it poked and prodded. 

The larger one barked sharply one last time before swimming back underneath the waves. The smaller looked back at Jazz and Chromedome before following.

“It’s amazing how intelligent they are,” Jazz said.

“They’re uncanny,” Chromedome flicked the camera off. “I could almost imagine them walking down the streets of Cybertron if you took away the tails,” Chromedome stored the camera away in his substance. “And you know minus all of the organic bits.”

“Makes me wonder why they were made to resemble Cybertronians so much. I just don’t see a practical reason for it,” Chromedome said.

“Senate always said this planet was full of nut-jobs, and scientists who were a little loose in the moral department.”

“You’ve never really seemed like one to put a lot of weight into what the Senate said,” Chromedome responded. 

“I can’t really think of any other reason beyond crazy scientist," Jazz said honestly. 

Jazz vented harshly. “Come on, I want to get some shots from other places besides this beach, might be good to take one of my drones out for a bit.”

Jazz expected a complaint. After their ordeal, he would have expected more complaints at the prospect of more work.

Chromedome started to walk back up the icy steps. “Might as well, never know when the weather is going to turn here.”

Jazz hid the surprise. He nodded to Chromedome.

“Yeah, what I would give for a weather satellite, or for any satellite, not having long-range comms is a bit of an adjustment.”

This planet had originally had a few satellites orbiting it, but without a population, they were deemed unnecessary and removed. The only way to communicate off planet was with an emergency beacon, and that would only send out an SOS; it didn’t allow them to communicate anything else.

The two of them made their way back to their shelter. Chromedome and Jazz searched through their equipment, searching for one of the two drones Jazz had brought with them to this planet and its remote control. 

The two of them stood on the edge of the cliff. Jazz huddled into Chromedome and watched the feed as he flew the drone. 

There were many things to hate about this planet. Even Jazz would admit that. The views were not one of them. The way the light caught the icy glaciers in the ocean was a sight to see. Even on camera, it was breathtaking.

Chromedome wasn’t excited when he found out the only place to recharge in their make-shift shelter was on the floor. If there were ever berths in this building, they were long gone. The only good thing about their shelter was that it was marginally warmer than outside. He could still feel the chill in his protoform even after the heater ran during the night cycle. It burrowed deep into his frame.

Onlining in the morning was slow. His frame felt heavy and sore. He didn’t feel rested. Recharging on the floor was not a great experience. He wasn’t thrilled to be doing it again.

 Jazz groaned from his claimed spot on the floor as Chromedome stood up. Chromedome made his way over to their supplies and started to look for an Energon ration. He shakily sat down against the floor as he started to refuel.

“I’m going to check the footage from last night,” Jazz said.

Jazz pushed himself up from the floor, and he looked through their half-unpacked mess of supplies. After searching, he pulled out a data pad. Jazz grabbed his data pad and flicked it on. It whirred and clicked as it booted up. Jazz had a frown on his face as he looked through the footage.

“Looks like we lost one of the cameras last night,” Jazz said as he leaned down, huddling over the device.

Chromedome vented slowly, “That’s unfortunate.”

Jazz scooted over next to Chromedome and showed him the camera feeds. Both of them were still there. Jazz tapped a button on the screen, and the footage started to play. Chromedome leaned in as the clip sped up. A flash of grey struck out at the camera before the video feed was lost. The audio feed continued for several more seconds.

A loud splash cracked through the speakers. Clicks and whistles trilled, then died out quickly as the audio feed was also lost.

“Another Mer?” Jazz asked eagerly. “There must be more here than the council thought.”

“Well?” Jazz said.

“Well, what?” Chromedome asked.

“We should go out there and replace that camera. Get an early start,” As he spoke, Jazz was already pulling another camera out of one of the crates.  

Jazz let out a triumphant sound as he put the object in his subspace. He stood by the door eagerly. Chromedome made a show of standing up slowly and walking next to Jazz.

“Grab one of the cameras too, never know when we’ll get the chance to film something,” Jazz said.

Chromedome grabbed the first camera he saw and placed it into his subspace. Jazz didn’t comment on his choice. But the other mech kept a close optic on him as he put the device away.

The door was still a pain to open. But between the two of them, it was doable. The morning air was just as unpleasant as it was the previous cycle. Ice kicked up into his visor by harsh winds as soon as he stepped outside.

The sun wasn’t visible in the sky. Thick white cloud cover greeted the two of them that morning. The two of them walked carefully toward the cliffside. The ocean crashed against the rocky shore. A mist was sitting thickly on top of the water. It was a haunting sight.

Jazz and Chromedome made their way back to the part of the cliff they had used as makeshift stairs. Jazz started climbing down without hesitation. Chromedome followed quickly after him. The climb down was still difficult. He had to carefully place his pedes firmly so he wouldn’t slip down off of one of the large outcroppings they were using to make their way to the beach.

“Let's get some footage, maybe we’ll get lucky and find some evidence of the Mer who grabbed the camera,” Jazz said.

Chromedome pulled the camera out of his subspace.

Jazz approached the location of their missing camera, with Chromedome walking behind him. Jazz looked back. He moved in front of Chromedome carefully.

“Try to keep me in the middle of the frame, or just off to the side,” Jazz said.

Jazz stood up straighter. His expression became looser.

“We’re rapidly approaching the location where just last night we believe one of the local technorganic life forms damaged one of our time-lapse cameras,” Jazz said into the camera.

Jazz walked with a new confidence. His voice was open and friendly. Mainly, he just seemed excited in a contagious way. Chromedome was shocked by the sudden change in his demeanor.

Chromedome panned down at the location where they had left their camera set up. He was surprised to see the tripod was still there. The camera was nowhere to be found, but the tripod had been left undamaged.

“Huh,” Chromedome said.

He put the camera back in his subspace and leaned over to pick the tripod up.

“What?” Jazz asked.

“It’s not damaged,” Chromedome brought it up to his visor to examine it more closely. “There isn’t even a scratch on it.”

If an animal had grabbed it and pulled the camera off its mounting, there should have been more damage. He should have seen claw marks. He just saw an undamaged tripod.

“I’m surprised it’s even still here. I thought they pulled it under with the camera,” Jazz said. “It must not have been secured very well.”

He heard a loud splash of water off the shore. Chromedome and Jazz both turned to the noise. A figure breached the water and came to a rest on a rock that jutted out of the water. The same white Mer from their first day pushed its way up into a resting position, flaring its fins out.

Chromedome pulled the camera back out of his subspace and kept his hands as steady as he could as he filmed it. He tried to keep the creature in the center of the image. Tried being key. His servos were struggling to hold the device as steadily as he would have liked.

Parts of the Mer looked eerily like a normal mech. It had a helm and even some odd plating on its arms. It even had something that looked like a battle mask and visor. The rest of the creature was organic tissue. Between plating, he could catch flashes of scales. It looked like an uncanny mirror of Cybertronian life.

Jazz slowly stepped in front of the camera again. Each step he took made Chromedome afraid that the Mer would duck back under the water.

“Right here, the same Mer we observed on our first morning has come back to get a better look at us,” Jazz said quietly.

Chromedome almost jerked the camera as he heard another splash of water. A second Mer joined the first on the rock. It was larger than the first. This one was mostly grey with flashes of blue on its fins. It had fewer of the plating-like structures than the first one. This one had a visible face. That looked almost angry. It definitely looked angry.

“A second one,” Chromedome said.

The second Mer almost looked like it was glaring over at the two of them. The white Mer chirped next to it, and the larger one seemingly lost interest in staring intently at the two of them.

“Wonder what they’re doing?”

“They’re supposed to be pretty smart, maybe they’re just curious?” Jazz said. Jazz crossed his arms over his chest plate as he stared at the two mer. “Really sad, but not a lot of studies have been done on these guys. The Senate didn’t want anyone coming out here after the last scientist went missing.”

“Might be good to leave that part out,” Chromedome said.

“Not like the Senate is around anymore,” Jazz said.

He heard a splash, and as they turned around, both of the Mer had dashed back under the waves. 

“Must have spooked them,” Jazz said.

“Or maybe they don’t like political talk.”

Chromedome picked the tripod up off the ground. Jazz pulled out the spare camera he brought and started to set it up.

“I’m gonna place it a little far back, I really don’t want them grabbing this one. I only have one other spare,” Jazz said.

Jazz took a few steps back from the shore and started to set the device up.

He set himself up on a large boulder and fiddled with the camera that he had been using. He wanted to get more familiar with the device. Especially as he was supposed to be using it to film whatever Jazz wanted him to film. It was a simple device on the surface, but he easily got lost in menus and submenus. He didn’t know what most of the settings did.

A fog was starting to roll in towards them. It made the temperature of the planet even more unbearable. But he could at least admit that the views were nice. He was silently sitting, staring out at the ocean. Debating with himself about how long exactly he wanted to be out in the cold. 

The clouds had not let up once during the whole cycle. If anything, they had gotten thicker and darker. 

The waves lapped harshly against the sharp rocks of the coast. Each flare of water had him on alert, looking for any more signs of the planet's wildlife. His patience and observance were something he had honed in his old function. But he was feeling his processor start to drift off and wander.

It wasn’t something he was familiar with. He was used to being able to focus on a task more easily. His processor almost felt muddled.

It felt familiar.

He couldn't remember ever feeling like this. 

He looked over to Jazz.  He was still messing with the camera and fiddling with the angle of the tripod.

Chromedome drew into himself. Being alone in his thoughts, in his memories, was something he was finding to be increasingly unpleasant. He knew there was a hole there. In his memories. Sitting and thinking about it only made him feel worse about himself.

It was harder to see; the fog was getting thicker. He steeled himself as he got ready to gather up his equipment and head back to camp. In the dark, he heard the water hit the shore, followed by a quiet thud. A trill rang out over the beach. 

Chromedome locked his joints and looked down. He caught a flash of white and heard something drag across the stone of the shoreline. The sound was dampened by the fog, and he was having trouble figuring out where exactly the dragging sound was coming from.

The white Mer slowly crawled into view.

The Mer froze. He saw its mock visor glow back at him in the dark. Its fins flared, and it dropped lower to the ground as it stared back up at Chromedome. It was close to him. It was too close.

These creatures, at least according to the senate, were aggressive towards Cybertronians. Jazz said otherwise, but he wasn’t sure about that. Considering everything the senate lied about, it wasn’t something he was completely sure of. But he wasn’t going to take a chance, considering how large the Mer was. 

He got ready to do something before he froze. He didn’t know what to do. Part of him was acknowledging that he should have called for Jazz. But he couldn’t find it in himself.

The Mer was almost his size. Chromedome thought he might have been ever so slightly taller. It had sharp claws that scratched marks into the stone underneath it as it slowly dragged itself backward before stilling. It pressed itself against the ground.

It didn’t look like it had a mouth or optics. He knew it had to. He wondered if what he thought was a visor was a large optic, or if its mouth was so well hidden that he couldn’t see it. Or if this one was one that Cybertronians had experimented on. His processor was going wild with theories. 

The two of them sat unmoving, staring at each other. 

Chromedome slowly inched his way off the rock he was perched on top of. He stored his camera. 

The Mer let out a frustrated-sounding huff and slowly and laboriously dragged itself back into the fog. Chromedome lost track of it. He heard it drag itself along the stony beach. After a while, he heard something fall into the water.

Chromedome finished climbing off the rock he had been sitting on. He started to walk away as he heard the Mer breach the water again. He barely had a chance to turn around before he heard a loud splash. He turned around just in time to get covered in ice-cold water.

The cold water was a shock. He flared his plating and shook it off to the best of his ability. He heard the Mer chittering in the water.

“I could almost swear you did that on purpose,” Chromedome said.

Chromedome walked slowly away from the shore. The water clung to his frame, and he wanted to get by the heater in their shelter and do his best to dry it off.

“Jazz!” He shouted.

“Yeah?” Jazz hollered off to his side.

Chromedome followed the sound of his voice.

Jazz slowly came into view as he carefully made his way through the thick fog cover.

“Are you ready to head back to camp?” He asked.

“Why are you wet?” Jazz asked.