#tfp uo

But for her other, for Wrecker to want to go home…

And now she knew why.

And god, did Miko understand why. The moment she saw Obaa-chan, she thought something was wrong. Hearing what the counterpart to her aunt and uncle had done— it shocked her. While she wasn't close with her other relatives, she didn't think they'd be willing to just, sell her off in another world! Which… Okay, she had to keep in mind that this was another world, otherwise, family reunions were going to be soo awkward for her in the future.

Still, it was sweet that Bulkhead, Optimus, the Autobots, scrap, even Ratchet were so concerned about her! Even willing to let her stay at the base! Which she totally would've accepted if things weren't so, well, awkward. She had to defend her relatives a bit, because they weren't that bad in this world. Right? Show some familial piety or something, for Obaa-chan's sake.

Wrecker's family would get no familial piety though, she was going to cheer SO loud when Wrecker got back to Earth and ruined their lives. Serves them right! For touching Obaa-chan and selling Miko! And of course, same went for Jack's stupid dad!

All the adults in the Mecha world sucked! With the exception of Wheeljack, he was super cool. Maybe Mecha Knock Out because not only was he pretty, but he seemed like good friends with Jackie, which was definitely a good sign. She has to wonder what their Wheeljack was doing, if he had gotten Bulkhead's message about the Observer. Bulkhead did send him one about it right? Miko really wanted him around, not only because of the Observer stuff because that was just hilarious and awesome.

But having another wrecker around, another Autobot, would be great!

What wasn't exactly great was the sudden confirmation of Bee not not being dead? Just missing? So he wasn't dead like they had all orginally assumed because of Elita's flashback? Actually, thinking back to that flashback, there had been a big silhouette next to her. It looked really similar to the shadowed figure of Shockwave in Senscript's flashback… Shockwave was totally at Bee's funeral.

But he didn't believe Bee was dead, why else was he looking for Bee in the first place? He even got Senscript looking for him! Made it his entire mission and all that junk! Wild! She didn't know what to think!

"Why in Primus' dried up energon canals—" Ratchet swore, glaring at the screen, "—is Shockwave looking for Bumblebee?!" Doc bot had stood up from his chair, pacing along the base's floor with clear agitation.

"What does he want with the kid?! Torture him more? Revive him like Megatron did with the terrorcons?!" Bulkhead exclaimed, already going for the worst case scenario. Which was zombies, apparently. Miko at first was hyped, then cringed at the thought of a Zombie Bumblebee. Because that was just straight up sad and not a good thing to think of or see? Seeing random bots be zombies was one thing, but someone she actually knew?

Bumblebee himself was wide-eyed, like a deer in headlights. He shook his head, beeping something that Miko couldn't understand. One day though, she'd get it! Somehow. She's just been really busy doing other stuff than try to actually learn Bee's whole beeping deal. She had to remind herself to get Raf to teach her Bee-speak. For now, she relied on Raf's reply or translation.

Her friend frowned at whatever the yellow camero said, "I-I don't know Bee, but maybe it's not that bad?"

"Not that bad? Raf, you don't understand. Shockwave— he's one of Megatron's worst Decepticons. If it wasn't Megatron himself reviving the dead, it would probably be Shockwave who would have done it." Arcee answered Raf with a harsh frown, not aimed at him, but at the paused screen floating in the base that showed the shadow of human Shockwave. "The only difference is that Megatron would gloat about it, Shockwave would note everything down in silence and think of improvements." She sneered, fists clenched so tight Miko could hear metal groaning from where she sat with Jack, Raf and Fowler.

Yikes.

Before either Arcee, Bulkhead or even Bumblebee could continue, Optimus surprisingly spoke up. A complicated expression on his usually stoic faceplate. Although, ever since they started watching the Observer, Miko's been seeing more emotions and faces from the leader of the Autobots! Which was a good thing in Miko's book, she liked Optimus, she really did. She found him so very, very cool (not as cool as Bulkhead because Bulkhead could thrash and smash stuff the best) but seeing him make faces? Be embarrassed? That helped Miko see that he wasn't just a stoic Prime.

He was someone who had feelings, someone Miko could really see being friends with.

"Although it is an understandable reaction to Shockwave's interest in Bumblebee, I… I believe we do not need to worry about Shockwave's intentions with Bumblebee within this world." Nearly everyone in the base stared at the Prime with wide eyes.

Ratchet looked flabbergasted (a word she learned from Raf! It was such a funny word, she had to use it) at Optimus' words. "What do you mean 'we don't need to worry'?! Optimus! This is- this is Shockwave we're talking about! This is exactly why we have to worry!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the screen with a frantic hand.

Optimus stood from where he sat and walked towards Ratchet, a hand grasping the ambulance's shoulder. "Remember Rung's words, as well as my own, Ratchet. This Shockwave differs from ours, not only because he is human. Look back, my friend." He said, looking up to the screen. Curious, Miko, as well as the others, looked with him. "He's looking for Bumblebee, that is correct. But I have the doubt it is for anything nefarious in mind… His posture, his voice…"

On the screen, frozen because it was paused, they saw the silhouette of a man hunched over a desk. Ominously lit by a lamp, but the more Miko looked at the screen. The more she thought that it was less ominous and more… desperate. And she remembered the sound of Mecha Shockwave's mutters before Raf paused the screen.

"…ind him, have to. Find him, I will. Dead or alive, I'll find him…"

Definitely desperate.

"Holy scrap, Doc Shock's lookin' for Bee because he cares!" Miko exclaimed aloud as she came to the same conclusion that Optimus was on! It was sooo obvious! Everyone else was doubting it because of what they knew about Shockwave, but take it all away and it was so clear!

Even though Optimus nodded his agreement, which- hah! Optimus AGREED WITH HER! MIKO! Take THAT! The other bots? Was making noises of how it couldn't be and impossible and all that— "Guys! C'mon! Optimus and I are right! Shockwave totally cares for Bee here! You guys are going on and on about how he's awful and stuff, and I think emotionless? But look! Would an emotionless guy be like that in trying to find someone?! He even got Raf into it! Which is still very sketchy by the way, and definitely not good. But it's something."

"Shockwave? Caring??" Ratchet repeated incredulously, almost offended. Which Miko didn't why he'd seem like it, or maybe she was reading him wrong? "About Bumblebee no less?!"

To Miko's surprise, Raf was the one who next supported her. "I mean… it seems like it?"

"Optimus and Miko have a point." Jack spoke up next, Miko grinned as he continued, looking between Ratchet and Arcee. "Look, I get that we don't know your Shockwave but, this one? Neither of you guys know either. He's human, he has emotions and it by the looks of things- he cares for Bumblebee. If he didn't care, he wouldn't be putting so much effort into trying to find him."

Miko gestured to Jack, "Exactly what I said!" Kind of, but essentially!

"A-And Raf? What about Raf?! He cares for Bee but not Raf?!" Bulkhead questioned and Miko had to shrug.

She looked at the screen, the way Shockwave was hunched over the table. "We haven't really seen him caring for Raf, but maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. Who he does care about is Bee. He could still be a bad guy, but even bad people have someone they care about." She pointed out, though she thought back to the small moments before.

Shockwave's hands clenching. The way he paused when he spoke to Elita. Did Shockwave care for Senscript? Debatable. He hadn't shown it yet. Either way though, he was still an asshole for a lot of reasons, working with MECH being the first and foremost.

Bumblebee spoke, hesitant at first before slumping over and gesturing to the screen then himself and scratching his helm. "You're right Bumblebee, we've been very biased about it." Arcee sighed, giving the screen a reluctant look, "but for good reason. I just… I can't see Shockwave of all mechs, caring for… anyone. Even as another species."

"… Indeed." Even Ratchet admitted, still, he gave the Shockwave on screen a suspicious look. "But that still leaves the question of why? Why does Shockwave care so much of Bumblebee? To the point of… that? Of taking in Rafael and assigning him a mission— what does Bumblebee mean to him?"

Nobody had an answer for that question. Or maybe nobody wanted to answer it, either way, the only way to get the actual answer… was to continue watching.

Miko was so glad it was the weekend.

( Out in the sky, on a flying warship.

The Decepticons had their own opinions over why their mad scientist was so adamant in finding the human Autobot scout. It's not until a certain ex-wrecker hesitantly proposed the ludicrous idea of the scientist caring about the scout that they go into silence.

It was a ridiculous suggestion.

Yet it lingered in their processors as the screen began to play once again. )

[ "Yo Bulkhead!"

The scene shifted to another area where multiple large mechs came and went, at the entranceway was a familiar large green mech who perked at the sound of his name and turned to see Wheeljack walking in with three others behind him. For a moment, Bulkhead didn't notice them, too focused on Wheeljack as he beamed. "Wheeljack!"

They shared a firm fistbump, the Bulkhead grinning widely at Wheeljack's visored mecha. ]

"Bulkhead, look! It's you!!" Miko immediately shouted, excited to see her favorite Autobot on screen. Yes, Bulkhead was her favorite. Was it not obvious enough? "Oh man, there's so many bots! Are they all Wreckers?!"

Bulkhead's mood brightened considerably when he saw himself on screen alongside Jackie, extremely happy to see his other being good friends with Wheeljack despite the differences. "Hah! There I am! Hm, not all of them are Wreckers but some of them are! Hey! I see ol' Barnacle Butt- Seaspray! Oh! Oh! There's old mech Kup! And Impactor!"

Ratchet and Optimus shared a look at the mention of Kup, forlorn yet happy smiles on their faces.

[ "Bulk, you're never gonna believe who just showed up." Wheeljack laughed and gestured behind him, "It's more humans! And one of 'em's an old friend!"

Bulkhead finally looked behind Wheeljack and saw Wrecker, Tailbreaker and Senscript. "No way, you found more of your people?!" He exclaimed, awed and excited at the sight of the three humans. Around them, more and more cybertronians listened in, looking interested and staring at the humans.

"More like they found me. Kind of." Wheeljack, stepping back to gesture at the three other human pilots "They got sucked into a sudden Quint portal and ended here on Cybertron."

Senscript stepped closer to Tailbreaker and Wrecker when they were slowly drawing in a crowd, "No way!" Bulkhead repeated, looking over and observing the three mechas. "It's nice to meet you guys! I'm Bulkhead." He offered his servo to the nearest one, which was Tailbreaker.

"Nice to meet you Bulkhead, I'm Tailbreaker." Tailbreaker replied, accepting the servo for a handshake. "This is Senscript and this is—"

Wrecker interrupted him, "I can introduce myself just fine! Sup! I'm Wrecker, I hear there's a group just for me?" She asked with a mischievous tone that had Tailbreaker groaning and Wheeljack laughing. ]

"I wonder if you know 'bout the humans." Fowler suddenly spoke, watching the way the Bulkhead on screen interacted with Wheeljack and the kids. (They were still kids in his eyes, soldiers too but…) "Prime and the others did say that the rest of the 'bots and 'cons didn't know about humans not being their tin can suits."

Miko blinked, she hadn't even thought of that! "On one hand, I'd be bummed that Bulk got left out but on the other hand; it'd be really funny that Bulk didn't know about other me and Jackie being squishy tiny humans piloting super cool robo-suits." She was truly torn, but of course she was leaning more on the funny side of it. She wondered how Bulkhead would react!

"I certainly hope I know, but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't." Bulkhead shook his helm, scratching it. "I'm not exactly on the same level as Ultra Magnus, and I'm definitely not the only wrecker there now…" He trailed off, laughing at Wrecker's introduction! "Oh there's a group alright!"

Arcee made an exaggerated groan, "Oh Primus, it's something I never wanted to think of; Miko actually joining the wreckers." She joked, giggling when Bee followed her with a fake terrified noise.

The groan that Ratchet made wasn't fake though, "Primus below, it's my worst fears." He muttered, ignoring the way everyone else in the base laughed at his words.

"Aww c'mon doc bot! She is literally named Wrecker! It's fate! Destiny!" Miko hollered, cheering as Bulkhead on screen stared at her with clear recognition and the crowd of bots started murmuring.

( "Pft—" A racer nurse snorted, leaning over to his conjunx. "Think she'll fit in with your old group?"

An ex-wrecker hummed, "She's got the name, and from what we saw when she was fighting? I think she'll be fine." He said, a smirk on his faceplate. )

[ "Wait, Wrecker? As in Wheeljack's Wrecker?" A yellow and blue bot with small propellers on the arch of his kibble questioned, pushing through the crowd. "Hah! Wheeljack's told us all about ya!"

Wheeljack grinned from his cockpit, unseen by everyone else as he rubbed his nose. "That I did!" He exclaimed, moving over to pat Wrecker's arm. It made a loud thudding clank noise each time he patted her mecha, "This here's Wrecker alright! As I told you all, she'd make a perfect fit here!"

"We'll see about that!" A large green and yellow bot exclaimed, grinning excitedly. "Up to show some moves, Wrecker? See if you really deserve that designation or even be in the Wreckers?"

The screen cut to Miko and she bared teeth, "Ohh, now it's on!"

"Wrecker!" Tailbreaker called out when she broke away from the group, sighing and quickly following after her. Senscript tailing after them both silently. ]

"It's so on random Autobot dude!" Miko cheered, practically bouncing at the edge of her seat. Wanting to see whatever shenanigans was going to happen next.

Bumblebee beeped something at her, pointing at the screen with a surprised yet happy look. "The guy's name is Springer, he's actually a friend of Bumblebee. Guess he's a Wrecker in this world since ours, he was a transport soldier. He turns into a helicopter." Raf translated for her, smiling when Miko gave him a quick thanks.

"A helicopter huh? Hopefully he's a better one than that con spiderlady." Fowler grunted, arms crossed as he remembered the entire incident. The only upside of that whole thing was meeting June.

Arcee and Jack groaned, "Don't compare Springer to Arachnid, he's way better." The femme scout told him.

"Anybody's better than Arachnid." Jack pointed out with a smirk, reaching out to high-five Arcee when she reached over to offer her palm to her charge. A mirroring smirk on her face.

Neither of them liked Arachnid, and for good reason. Miko also hated her, because spider. And also she almost hurt her friends and her friend's family but… spider. Eugh. Enough said.

Oh and she's apparently a major bitch, so that plus spider? Now it was enough said.

( An arachnid femme on a warship paused, a strange feeling of… something, occurs to her. She checks her system, finds nothing wrong and resumes watching. )

[ Before Wheeljack could join them, an old voice spoke out, grabbing Wheeljack's mecha's arm to stop him. "Wheeljack."

"Hm? Kup? What's up old mech?" Kup grunted, glancing over to the crowd as it got further away before finally letting go of Wheeljack. The man could sense something wrong as the old cybertronian crossed his arms, cygar between clenched dentae. ]

"That bot's smoking! I didn't know you bots did that, that's surprisingly human." Fowler exclaimed, shocked to see such a sight for some reason. Which was kind of fair? Miko wasn't expecting it either! But looking at it, it was cool! Smoking as a human was something she kind of thought was cool already, but alien robots smoking? Extra cool!

Ratchet grumbled, glaring at the screen, "It's a bad habit is what it is. Causes ash and smoke debris to build up in a bot's ventilation systems or more! Worse case scenario, you cause your internal systems to rust or clog over." The medic shook his head. "And I hear you humans smoke as well? Bah! Smoking is a bad habit to either species!"

"Unfortunately Kup just love his cygars." Bulkhead chuckled fondly, sadly remembering the old bot's bad habits. "And hey, it wasn't a cygar that got him in the end. Though he probably would've preferred it."

Miko leaned in, eyes wide and curious. Wanting to hear more from this apparently cool old smoking mech. "What did get him in the end?" Though as soon as she asked, she almost regretted it since Bulkhead's smile slipped and there was nothing but a sad anger on her guardian's face.

"… Blaster to the helm. It was quick, at least." Bulkhead sighed, looking up at the screen with a frown.

[ "Those new humans… my gears are old, but my hearing's just fine." Kup said, taking the cygar into his digits as he breathed a cloud of smoke. "They sound young, Wheeljack. Thought that that Wrecker femme would've been your age with how ya talked 'bout her."

Wheeljack grimaced in his cockpit at the reminder, "… She is young." He admitted with a sigh, his mecha's shoulders drooped, "I didn't even know, Kup. Swear to god, swear to Primus. I didn't know. MECH— the people she works for, fuck, they had her use a voice changer. I thought she was around the same age as me, but no. She's… a little more than 10 years younger than me Kup. She was a fucking kid when we first met, pretending to be a grown ass woman!" He slammed a fist against the side of his chair while his mecha lowered its visored head.

"She's not even old enough to legally drink back home, Kup. And Tailbreaker? Just turned that age." Kup's optics narrowed, looking over to the distant crowd while Wheeljack continued. "Don't even ask me about Senscript, Christ." ]

The mention of age had every bot dark-faced again, angry and anxious at the fact their humans were piloting at such a young age when they should be doing literally anything else. Anything that didn't put their lives in danger.

Miko, at first, hadn't seen it that much of a big deal— it was so cool! To know that her other self was a giant robot pilot! She was fighting alien monsters, protecting the Earth and her friends, and piloting a giant robot suit! What more could a girl dream? Not only that! But Wrecker still met the Autobots! Alien robots! Also the Cons were there, but they were like allies now? Very cool! Same enemy, fight together, made sense.

It was amazing, everything she could ever dream of in an awesome life! And yet, the more she watched, the more she realized… Wrecker's life sucked.

Don't get her wrong, it was still pretty awesome from piloting robots and fighting aliens but Obaa-chan… Her family… Jack and Raf…

The lives of the pilots were far more complicated than she first thought of, she'd been too focused on the amazingly awesome and cool aspects of it that she hadn't possibly think of anything else. That there was more to it, that there'd be downsides to that kind of life.

Until the small flashbacks happened, and though they were short, they already made things clear to her that it wasn't all that awesome. Or at least, not completely. Because Wrecker and her friends groomed forced to work with MECH after all.

But now, they were with the bots! And Wheeljack! Things were going to look up for them, Miko was sure of it.

( "They're that young?" A medic muttered, knowing exactly when the human drinking age was from the amount of human media he's seen.

His wrecker conjunx grunted, squinting at the screen with slight discomfort.

A seeker hid his own much better, a femme yawned in disinterest while a silent mech said nothing as always, the warlord, for once, watched with silence as well. Expression indistinguishable and unknown. )

[ Kup's expression was grim, dentae clenched down on the cygar, hard enough to dent it. "Sounds like they're better off here than back there." Was all Kup could offer, he took the damaged cygar from his intake to fling it into his subspace. "Then again, I wouldn't mind visiting Earth just to give certain humans a piece of my processor."

"If all goes well, maybe you will." Wheeljack chuckled, but frowned in his mecha. His mecha turned to old bot. "Kup, I won't lie to you. There are things about humans you don't know about, things that I can't tell you yet."

Kup raised a ridge of his faceplate and snorted, a new cygar appearing in his servo. "'Yet', you'll tell me eventually?"

"Yes. You and the other Wreckers."

He lit the cygar, smoke immediately wafting off the metal stick. "I take it Magnus knows?"

"He was the first to know."

Kup nodded, "Good. Considering the fact you're fragging, I'd hope so." Wheeljack choked in his chair while his mecha lurched from his strong emotional reaction and the way he flailed for a moment. ]

"Ex-CUSE ME?!"

Miko's brain blanked for a moment, before the lines connected and she ended up bursting with laughter. Both from the mental connection as well as Ratchet's scandalized shout. Jaws were dropped as Miko leaned back against the couch, laughing so hard her stomach was starting to cramp, she clutched at her stomach desperately. She was going to cry! She was going to hurl! It was glorious!

( "They WHAT?!" The scandalized screech from the seeker made all of them wince, but for once, not even the warlord admonished the seeker's loudness because the screen's revelation was just that surprising. )

[ "Don't act so surprised, you're always covered in Magnus' scent, he keeps too close of an optic on you and you literally live with the mech." Kup deadpanned as Wheeljack quickly regained control over his mecha just so he could look at Kup.

Wheeljack spluttered, "I don't— we haven't— gone that far." He sighed, giving up on trying to explain himself. "Bit hard to do anything when we're so… different."

"You'll figure something out." Kup waved off, disinterested in hearing anything more intimate. Instead, he headed for something more serious. "You've done each other good, Wheeljack. Done him good. Careful though, I hear human lifespans are fragile. Short. Can't say I approve of you two, but he's happier than I've ever seen him."

Kup inhaled deeply, a large cloud of smoke escaped the vents of his sides and his intake. "I like you Wheeljack, that's why, if you ever break his spark; I'll give you a few kliks of a head start." He patted Wheeljack's shoulder hard enough to make the mecha shudder. Wheeljack was wide-eyed in his seat, staring as Kup started walking away. ]

"Sweet Primus, I think I need a minute." After hearing Bulkhead say that, Miko didn't hesitate to shout 'Pause!' at the observer thingy. Not only for Bulkhead's sake, but probably everyone else.

Ratchet was already going on about—"—uman! With a cybertronian?! That's— that's— how in the world—" The poor doc was spluttering, his computer brain probably lagging from trying to compute or process the, admittedly VERY WILD situation presented to them. Clearly the possibility of interspecies romance never occurred to them, which was fair, for some reason Miko never really thought of it herself.

Until now.

Her stomach was still aching from her burst of laughter not even a few minutes ago, her eyes teary and there was a shit-eating grin on her face as she looked over the Autobots' reactions. Bulkhead had his head in his hands, muttering something about 'Jackie' and 'Ultra Magnus'. Arcee had her hands together in front of her face, eyes squinting at the screen incredulously, her mouth kept opening as if she was trying to say something but then she wouldn't and it'd close again. Bumblebee's cool circular eyes kept swirling around in his head, like a loading wheel from computer screens! Ratchet was still spluttering, gesticulating wildly at the screen while Optimus was wide-eyed, silent. But there was something in his eyes that made Miko thinks is approval? Did he approve of interspecies romance UltraJack? (Ship name pending, she's liking it though)

Only one way to find out.

"Miko." Too late Jack.

"SO!" She practically shouted, gaining every bot's attention, "Jackie and Maggie, huh?"

Bulkhead groaned even more into his hands, "Miko please! I can't!" He begged, as if that was going to stop Miko at all. Still, their reactions seemed a bit much.

"C'mon, what's wrong? It's Wheeljack loving Ultra Magnus! Who cares if they're human and bot?" Were they that hung over that part? It was definitely weird for a tiny human to love a big bot— actually no, she loved the Autobots. Not like that obviously, but… actually yeah no, it wasn't weird. Just unexpected. Miko didn't get why they were so weirded out.

Was it because they were different sizes and stuff? Or maybe different 'equipment'? Could the bots fuck? Well, frag?

Arcee shook her head, giving Miko a dry look. "It's kind of less about human and bot and more about Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus." She tapped a finger against her elbow, "you kids never met Ultra Magnus before, and he's—"

Bumblebee beeped in, waving a servo around. Arcee nodded to him, "yeah, not Wheeljack's type. I think, anyway… ?" Both scouts looked over to Bulkhead who looked up, feeling their gazes and just dropped his head back into his hands.

"Don't look at me like that! I…" Bulkhead's hands dragged over his face, hesitant and awkward. "He likes bots who can stand their ground and are smart." Was what he ended offering and the realization kind hits the three of them in a way that Miko starts snickering over.

Jack, despite wanting to stop Miko at first, couldn't help but quip. "And I take it Ultra Magnus can stand his ground and is smart?" Even he couldn't keep the grin off his face at the way Arcee's face scrunched in thought.

"A bot and a human?? How on Uncle Sam's star-spangled shorts, would that even work?!" Fowler exclaimed, no longer frozen in shock. He was just as weirded out as the bots, but even more so. "Did you see the size difference between that Wheeljack and that giant tin can?! He's taller than Optimus!" He was taller than Optimus, at least those giant shoulder-things of his were.

Ratchet was pressing his fingers into his eyelids, "Primus." He finally looked over to see Optimus' vaguely smiling face, "and what are your thoughts on this, Optimus? I see you're not disapproving of it."

"I am not, no." Optimus answered honestly, and the vague smile was less vague. More smile. "If Ultra Magnus has found solace and love in a human, in human Wheeljack, then who are we to judge? You heard how happy he's been made from Kup, and though we have only seen glimpses of their relationship… I find it spark-warming that he's found happiness in such rough times." Leave it to OP to make it optimistic, no wonder he was called Optimus. Optimistic was his nature! Even if he was usually quiet and serious.

Ratchet's expression went through several emotions, but turned into tired acceptance. "Oh whatever, it's not our universe anyhow." He sighed, shaking his helm. Trying to move past the whole thing. "At the very least, I find it very amusing that Kup threatened Wheeljack over the matter."

Bulkhead finally smiled, chuckling. "Pretty sure Kup's threatened other mechs when they asked about Jackie like that, guess the old mech got really attached to Magnus in that world instead."

"Indeed."

God, Miko wanted to know so much more about other bots. She wanted to meet them too! But the Kup of her universe was dead, and from the sounds of it, nobody knew where Ultra Magnus was. At the very least, they could send a message to Wheeljack, something Bulkhead had done last night from what he told her. She really hoped Wheeljack would come back, she wanted to see his reaction to all this!

From being a human in another universe, to piloting a mecha, fighting bad aliens— even romancing a bot! Ultra Magnus even! She's never personally met him but now she wanted to! Just to see his reaction!

(On a warship, far away.

The Decepticons had a different viewpoint, seeing it utterly flabbergasting that a cybertronian would get together with a 'small, squishy organic human'. A few seeming to even be squeamish at the very thought of it.

A warlord scoffed at the notion, but all he could think of was that his counterpart was letting the relationship happen. There was no way his counterpart didn't know about the human fraternizing with a cybertronian, but then again, the bot in question was not one of his Decepticons. So why care?

At any rate, it was in another universe and there was nothing they could do about it. )

[ The scenery changed to a helicopter flying through the skies, landing in a familiar place; the previous MECH base that the audience had seen when they first saw this universe. ]

"Ugh, we're back here already?" Miko couldn't help but complain, scrunching her nose at the way they were back on Earth. Back to MECH.

Raf, surprisingly, perked, "this might be our chance to learn more about what's happening there. More about um, Shockwave and Elita." Okay, he had a good point there. That made Miko sit up a bit straighter, actually willing to pay more attention to the Observer than to any teacher she's had in her life.

She wasn't the only one to pay more attention, in base and outside of it.

[ The helicopter touched down at the top of the base on a pad, and stepping down from it was Elita. She didn't look too happy as she lugged a duffel bag on her shoulder. Awaiting on the pad was Silas alongside Shockwave and a few other MECH agents. Silas didn't start talking until the helicopter blades were completely off and Elita was standing right in front of him.

"Pilot Elita-One, welcome. We're glad to have you here." Silas told her politely, though his face held some annoyed disdain. Like he was expecting something, which he would be right.

Elita gave him and Shockwave a cold look, "cut the crap Bishop. Where are the kids?" She demanded, protective anger clear in her dark eyes. "What happened?!"

"That will be discussed in the upcoming meeting." Silas cooly replied, expression smoothed over to a deadpan. "And it's General Silas to you, pilot. Remember whose legs you're standing on." With that, he turned around and started walking off the platform. "Get settled in quickly Elita, meeting is in fifteen. Shockwave will escort you to your room, I'm sure you'd like to catch up."

Elita sneered at his back, before giving her attention to Shockwave who had stood in complete silence. "Take. Me. To. My. Room." She ground out, each word filled with furious venom barely restrained.

"This way." Shockwave replied, toneless and cold. The two walked off the platform and into the base. ]

"I don't understand, why would Elita-One team up with MECH? Shockwave is a given, but Elita-One? She was an inner circle to Optimus, a-a general! She led a brigade of femmes against Shockwave back on Cybertron in the early vorns of the war." Arcee said, frowning at the screen. Tense at the sight of Silas and the human Shockwave.

Miko was really liking the sound of Elita-One, which made Arcee's question all the more prevalent. "She sounds awesome, why would she work with MECH anyway?"

"'Remember whose legs you're standing on.'" Optimus suddenly spoke, quoting what Silas had just said, his expression was dark. Disapproving, but understanding. It took a second to hit Miko and she grimaced, MECH was using Elita's disability against her. It was their tech that had her walking again.

Jack was frowning, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Wheeljack mentioned Shockwave before, and then he mentioned, vague as it was, Elita. That means— MECH isn't the first time that they worked together. They worked for uh, what was it called again?"

"It was called 'Global Mecha Defense'." Raf answered, motioning to his laptop where he actually had some notes written down. Miko opened her mouth before closing it, that was actually very handy. And smart. Which Raf was, of course. "But you're right Jack, Shockwave and Elita definitely worked for GMD before MECH. They worked with them and Bumblebee."

Agent Fowler leaned over, reading over Raf's notes. "And technically Wheeljack and Knock Out." He pointed out, humming to himself. "'Global Mecha Defense', huh? Yeah, sounds about right. Makes me wonder whether or not I'm around."

"Hey! We're around Agent Fowler, you're here somewhere!" Miko exclaimed, now curious as to where Agent Fowler even was. That curiosity was swiftly pushed aside as the screen showed Shockwave and Elita now alone in a room.

( "It's still so weird to see Shockwave as a human… Elita-One too. This universe is definitely weird." A one-eyed mech said, though he was glaring pretty hard at the human that took away his optic. "Hope you get squished, slagger." He muttered darkly, wanting a Quintesson to just suddenly appear and kill the human already.

A seeker noted something, "She called him Bishop?"

"Ehh, humans have multiple names apparently. His name might be Silas Bishop, or Bishop Silas. Or it might not even be his name! Who knows." His medic comrade waved off, more focused on the upcoming drama that was about to happen. He could already tell this was going to be good… )

[ They walked in silence. Not talking to each other, Elita glaring holes into the back of Shockwave's head, practically trying to burn the dreadlocks off of his head.

But as soon as they entered Elita's new room and as soon as the door closed behind them—

SLAP

Shockwave's head whipped to the side, his helmet actually almost knocked off from the force of the blow. Elita hissed, having scratched herself from the sharp edge of his headwear. "FUCK!" She swore, but only waved her hand, curling her fingers over her bleeding palm. ]

"WOAH!"

Several people, Miko included, gasped at the sudden slap. "WooOOO!! Go Elita! Show him who's boss!" Miko cheered, bouncing in place hard enough that the couch started creaking. She only stopped when Fowler settled her down with a hand on her shoulder.

Arcee cheered with her, though not as loud. Her eyes wide, pointing at the screen while leaning against Bumblebee with a huge smile on her face. Bumblebee was wide eyed too, his big circle eyes were once again reminding Miko of computer loading screens, he was clearly buffering in the head there. And he wasn't the only one, Bulkhead, Ratchet and Optimus were as well!

But Ratchet was leaning forward with his fingers interlaced like a ruminating villain, there was a very satisfied and also kind of violent gleam in his eyes. Bulkhead and Optimus were more in disbelief, like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

( A high pitch wheezey laughter escaped a stunned seeker, pointing at the screen rapidly with wet optics and a widely grinning intake.

A delightfully scandalized medic pointed with him, intake opened with a faux-pain filled hiss; 'ooough' yet he was clearly having a great time. His conjunx just winced, shaking his helm as if he could feel that slap.

"HAH! Fiesty. Now I wish I personally met Elita-One." The sole femme in the room commented, very much entertained. Especially at the sight of the human woman's blood.

Even their warlord, shocked for a moment, was a bit amused by the thing. Especially by the subtle dismay and bemusement his third in command was displaying. It wasn't obvious, but the spymaster mech was not happy, his cables twisting underneath the table, digits curling slightly. )

[ Elita flexed her hand again and again, scowling down at the injury. She said nothing as Shockwave's jaw visibly clenched and unclenched, as if he was trying to manually feel his face again. Without another word, he adjusted his helmet and tapped at the glass of his visor. "Your displeasure is noted." Shockwave intoned monotously, as if he hadn't been slapped by her.

"'Noted' my ass." Elita hissed at him, kneeling down to grab at her duffelbag which she let go and fell to the floor when she slapped him. Yanking the zipper open and rumagging for a roll of bandages, the slap hadn't calmed her down, if anything she was more pissed at the fact he was still so calm after slapping him. Yet she remained calm, focusing on her hand instead. "You don't understand the sheer amount of 'displeasure' I have against you, right now Waltz. If I could, I'd shoot you." She grunted, applying disinfectant to her palm first before wiping away the blood with a spare shirt and then wrapping her hand. "But that can wait 'til I find out if the kids are alive or not."

Shockwave gave a loud, nearly audible sigh through his nose. "They're alive." He tilted his head, dodging the leftover roll of bandages that she threw at him. "Whether they're capable of returning is the true question."

"And that means?" Elita questioned harshly, jaw tense, standing fully, the sound of her prosthetic whirring as she did so. ]

"Should've just shot him, at the very least give him another slap." Ratchet muttered underneath his breath, stone-faced when he got looks for it. Though he was pleased, and a little bit surprised, that no one commented about it.

Miko sent him a grin and a thumbs up, fully agreeing with Ratchet's not-so-quiet mumbling. She was learning a lot of things about Ratchet and the bots thanks to the Observer, it was a perk that she really enjoyed.

( "Hm, Shockwave seems awfully sure that the pilot children are alive." A spider said, wondering about the human version of the infamous mad scientist that came from her faction. She's never had the chance to meet him face to face, and she never plans to.

The Decepticon's main medic shrugged, "perhaps he's sure because one of them is one of his charges. I imagine that being picked by Shockwave and taught, he would have high expectations for their abilities."

"Extraordinarily high expectations." His seeker comrade muttered underneath his breath. Tensing when the silent purple mech's helm turned towards him, even without eyes, the screen of the mech's helm seemed to stare at him for a moment until he finally turned his helm away. The seeker didn't dare relax until a few minutes more passed without any further obvious attention from the Third in Command. )

[ "It is highly suspected that the pilots were abducted from the mission location."

Elita froze, "abducted?" She repeated in a whisper. "The XTR's kidnapped the kids?!"

"It's the most likely situation, MECH investigated their whereabouts once their signals were lost. Aside from the carnage and expected damage to the environment, there was no other sign of them ever being there." Shockwave told her clinically, as if reading from a report that had nothing to do with him. However his tone suddenly deepened as he continued, "however before their disappearance, Wrecker's comms were partially able to connect to us. And she explicitly mentioned a portal before her line cut off completely."

Elita pressed a hand against her face before running it through her hair, "portal… Shit. This might be the first actual proof of that. Some attacks come out of literal nowhere and we've always suspected… but to be confirmed… the kids are on enemy territory. FUCK!"

"It is highly likely, correct." ]

"Thankfully we're not, we're on Cybertron." Jack mentioned with a relieved sigh, he could only imagine what would happen if they'd ended up on Quintesson territory, or worse; the planet Quintessa.

Miko thought the same, though she still thought that name was kind of ridiculous. "Yeah! We're with the bots and the cons! So don't worry Elita!" She exclaimed, as if Elita could hear her. Which she couldn't, unfortunately.

"Glad to see someone worried about the children." Ratchet grunted, optics narrowed at the screen. "I was worried that Wheeljack was the only trustworthy human adult over there. Now if only Elita could reunite with the children… and get rid of Shockwave." He mumbled the last part so only Optimus could hear it.

Optimus sighed, "Ratchet."

"What? It's a preferred outcome."

( A spymaster tilted his helm, observing the human scientist on the screen. So similar yet so different from the mech that he knew. A seemingly emotionless human that embodied the Decepticon scientist, yet in truth, still had his emotions.

How intriguing, how envious. The spymaster began to wonder about his own counterpart in that world. )

[ "So? What's gonna be done about it? We're not going to let those kids die out there, I refuse." Elita said harshly, scowling at the man before her. Arms crossed.

Shockwave didn't move, "there will be two options for us. One is to let the pilots find their way back—"

"How exactly are they supposed to do that?! They're stranded! Surrounded by XTR! Or WORSE!" Elita shouted at him, barely able to hold herself back from slapping him again. Or a straight on punch.

Shockwave still didn't move. "There's a possibility they are not surrounded, their situation is completely unknown. But there is also the possibility they can return to Earth." Before Elita could say anything else, her expression furious, he continued, "Rafael is my assistant, he has the tools and ability to process XTR information and I doubt Nakadai and Darby will fail in protecting him. The possibility of them returning on their own is larger than you think, Alexandra."

Shockwave stared at her through his mask, "you think they are children and you are correct, however remember that they are Elite Pilots." ]

"They're children!" Ratchet hissed at the screen, matching Elita's furious expression. He wasn't the only one who was angry.

Miko opened her mouth to complain, or maybe reassure, but Jack grabbed on to her shoulder. He gave her a look and shook his head, before she could even reply by doing or saying anything, the screen continued.

And they were all given a glimpse into the lives of their counterparts.

[ In the background, the shadows of Tailbreaker, Wrecker and Senscript stood atop three pedestals over numerous other poeple.

"They're trained soldiers."

Flashes of a younger Tailbreaker and Wrecker fighting others their age, fighting people older than them, fighting each other. Senscript was seen doing pull ups, climbing a difficult obstacle course and finally fighting someone older than him.

"And most importantly, they have reasons to come back to Earth."

Wrecker had bruises all over her, and she was favoring her side as she stood in a training room. But all around her were bodies of either unconscious or groaning pilot cadets, Wrecker paid them no mind. Instead, she glared daggers up at a window where Silas stood, overseeing everything. Looking satisfied with the results.

Tailbreaker sat strapped to a machine, his ports connected to something behind him, grim-faced and pale all the while glaring at the man in front of him. To the side, Shockwave stood at a console. Silas stood in front of Tailbreaker at a safer distance, curious but also smirking. He opened his mouth and said something, which made Shockwave flip a switch on the console. Tailbreaker grimaced, gritting his teeth while the machine lifted him into the air and started to spin at a dangerously high speed.

Senscript stood besides Shockwave in silence, Senscript was wearing a medical gown. And it was clear on Senscript's neck that there were only four ports on the back of his neck. Senscript looked at the surgery doors with apprehension, glancing when Shockwave put a hand on his shoulder. His apprehension turned into determination.

"If anyone can do it, it would be them." ]

In all honestly, Shockwave's words were oddly encouraging. Reassuring almost.

The Autobots didn't take it that way though, Miko winced at the multiple sounds of engines angrily rumbling. It was a miracle nobody was shouting again, instead, their engines were all loud and growling. It kind of reminded her of the monster truck derbies and rallies, the loud sound of car engines in the air— but this was different, those sounds never had emotions in them. Sure, they sounded angry but they were lifeless vehicles.

Miko felt her skin prickle and become bumpy from the angry revvs Bulkhead and the others made, and boy did she not want to be the subject of their glares. Ever. They looked like they wanted to kill someone. Probably Shockwave. No, most definitely Shockwave.

"Christ Almighty." Agent Fowler swore underneath his breath, pale-faced and rubbing his forehead with a pained look. "They may have been trained but they're still kids— Wrecker's the same age as Miko in that clip! A-And she and Jack fought each other? That's… that ain't right. I knew MECH was bad news, but this is…"

On one hand, it was so awesome to see herself kick ass. She won against a whole lot of people! She probably won against Jack in that one clip. But on the other hand… Wrecker looked absolutely miserable in the flashbacks. Even against Tailbreaker, she didn't look like she was having fun. And those bruises. She's never been bruised that badly before. She's only started getting bad bruises during her adventures with the bots! And that was only sometimes during bad adventures, like the… the cave in.

She shuddered, remembering how light-headed she'd been. How scared she'd been during that cave in. Stuck with Bulk underground… L-Losing air… The— the ceiling a-about to give—

"Miko? Are you okay?"

Miko inhaled sharply, realizing how tightly she'd been clutching her shorts, she tore a small hole— nothing too bad. But still. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I'm all good Raf!" She exclaimed, trying to reassure Raf and stop him from giving her that concerned look. She was fine! It was fine. She already hated small, dark spaces. This was no biggie. "I-It just sucks y'know? What our other selves are going through? Er, what they went through? But hey! They're not gonna go through that anymore! They're on Cybertron with the bots! And cons, but mostly the bots. They're away from MECH right now, they'll be fine."

Things would get better with Optimus and the others around. It got better for Miko, so it had to get better for Wrecker and her friends right? Right.

Raf gave her a weird look, like he was trying to find something on her face. Was there something on her face? She patted her cheeks, rubbing her skin. Nothing. "It is great that they're away from MECH now, but they're planning to head back to them…" He said quietly, frowning down to his laptop.

"'Cuz they got unfinished business! MECH won't know what hit them when they come back with alien robots with them!"

Jack, who'd been quiet throughout the entire thing, spoke up. "Miko's got a point, for once. Tailbreaker, Wrecker and Senscript aren't alone. We got pretty attached to the Autobots and it's clear they're attached to us now too." He said, gesturing to the way the Autobots were huddling together and muttering stuff. They kept glancing back at them, looking protective and stuff. Miko would probably feel annoyed by it, but right now? It was endearing, it made her feel warm. Seen. "The same'll happen there, and the Autobots will help."

"That's one thing for sure," Agent Fowler grunted in agreement, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. "What I'm really concerned're the Cons. See how they fit in all this, with buckethead being cozy with Prime over there, who knows what'll happen."

Right, the Decepticons were around too. They weren't fighting each other, they were allies now. Megatron and Optimus were totally dating, the kiss said it all. Did that mean that Wrecker and her friends had the opportunity to befriend the cons? That was cool! It'd be like that other world, the 'Shattered Glass' world or something, but different.

Oh, she was definitely looking forward to that.

( On a ship far away, the Decepticons mused over the scenes they watched.

Their opinions over the human children that they knew of ranged from low to barely tolerable for reasons unknown, recently they've shifted to being somewhat important for the sole reason of the Observers. But said Observer was giving them insight to a side of the little humans they never would have thought of. A possibility that, knowingly or unknowingly, shaded their opinions ever so slightly.

All the while noting how strange it was, to listen their mad scientist of a Decepticon member, human or not, essentially compliment the tiny creatures… and yet the clips showed the exact reason why. )

[ Elita stared at him, torn between anger and understanding. She clearly knew he was right, but that didn't stop her from being absolutely furious about the situation as a whole. "That's option one." She said quietly in a low, tight, voice. Her eyes burned into his mask, fists clenching and shaking. "Option two?"

Shockwave opened his mouth before the watch on his wrist beeped, he looked down to check the time. "The meeting is about to start in a few minutes, we must go." He started to leave, stopping right in front of the door but only because Elita grabbed his arm.

"Option. Two." Elita repeated forcefully, needing to hear the other option. She wasn't going to let go without it.

Shockwave didn't turn back to her, instead, he looked at the closed door and answered. "Option two; we get them back ourselves." Elita's eyes widened, his answer was enough for her grip to weaken and Shockwave immediately shook her hand off to open the door. "We should not be late for the meeting Alexandra. Come."

He leaves. And not even a minute later, Elita follows after him with a purpose in her step. ]

"What do you mean 'get them back ourselves'?! What are you planning Shockwave?!" Arcee snarled, frustrated by the simple yet incomprehensible answer. Glaring at the screen with her arms crossed.

Miko was wondering that herself, just how is Shockwave gonna 'get them back'? She felt like she was forgetting something.

Thankfully, Raf remembered it. "Oh! Wasn't Shockwave an ex-pilot? Maybe he's getting out of retirement!" He proposed and honestly, how could Miko forget that bit of information? Literally the only reason Shockwave was called Shockwave over there was because he was a pilot! Guess the fact he was a— not exactly former con, but in their world he was a Decepticon. Not only that bue he was dressed as a human scientist and all that, admittedly cool helmet aside.

"That'd be a huge decision," Agent Fowler said, he looked like he was deep in thought. "No idea what 'retirement' means to these kinds of pilots, but seeing how messed up it all is… As someone who is looking out for his own retirement in the future, it would take a lot to get me back in the game."

"I mean, Shockwave wasn't exactly retired retired— he may have stopped piloting but he was plenty involved with um, it." Jack said, wincing at the end as he remembered Tailbreaker's training flashes that he saw. The one with the machine made him nauseated just watching for a few seconds. And the fighting? The bruises? "I think Shockwave was always gonna end up piloting again, it was just a matter of when and why."

Bulkhead grunted, large finger tapping against his arms with a distrustful look on his face. "The when is apparently now, and the why is the kids… Not that I trust him to actually get them. He just wants them for information, just watch. He's going to end up finding Raf and get every bit of information he can and just leave."

The bots were really biased against Shockwave, probably for good reason but there something about the whole situation that felt… off. It wasn't just Miko, right? Could the others feel that?

There was just something that wasn't sitting right about Shockwave to Miko, the bots kept insisting that he didn't care about Senscript and their otherselves, but out of everyone, Shockwave was the only other adult that seemed confident in them? Elita was definitely worried and seemed really good, but Shockwave…

Honestly, it seemed like he was better than Silas at least. That guy was just bad in general in this world.

There was also the question of why Shockwave was so adamant in finding Bumblebee…

And the very obvious question of where Bumblebee is, if he's not dead?

( "The data that the boy has must be important if Shockwave is willing to get him himself." The seeker mused, "then again, he must want to ensure what he invested does not end up as a waste of time and resources."

Surprisingly, the warlord hummed, giving a brief nod of agreement. "Indeed, wasting time and resources would not be ideal. Something of worth must be produced…" He gave the seeker a pointed narrowed stare, his second in command gave a nervous chuckle and slumped against the table in an effort to seem smaller.

"Still, there's implication that Shockwave is willing to go on the frontlines himself to retrieve the pilots— if I recall correctly, he was a pilot before, no? He worked in the same organization as human Wheeljack and Knock Out, seemed like the same for Elita-One… Yet now Shockwave is a scientist, or perhaps engineer, but now it's likely he'll be returning to pilot a mecha once more." A spider said thoughtfully, amused, intrigued, curious about the entire situation. The mystery behind the human scientist's goal, the fuel that kept the human going…

What did it amount to? And what would it take to see the scientist fall? )

[ The camera cuts to a large meeting room, Silas stood at the forefront of the room right before a table. The surface of the table gleamed before revealing it was also a screen as it began to show various information. The orange glow of MECH's monitors highlighted the semi-dim room where multiple people were in.

Two of which being Shockwave and Elita.

Another was a blonde man, about the same age as Silas. He wore MECH's uniform but without the mask and goggles. Another was a pale woman wearing the female version of MECH's uniform, but also a similar labcoat to Shockwave's.

And finally there was a dark-skinned woman in a mecha pilot suit, the suit was black and purple with highlights of dark gold. She wore purple lipstick and had a smirk, her hair tightly braided against her skull, the tips ending in gold and amethyst jewelry. She gave Elita an almost flirty wave if it weren't for the clear expression of mockery on her face, Elita glared at her but said nothing. ]

Miko squinted at the new people on screen, specifically at the black? Asian? Blasian? Mecha pilot woman who was quietly messing with Elita. "… Is that?" She really wasn't sure, but was that…?

"No way…" Jack breathed, eyes widening in shock. He wasn't the only one, the Autobots were looking at the screen incredulously. Especially a certain femme scout.

Even as a human, Arcee would absolutely recognize her.

"Arachnid?!" She hissed, emotions conflicting inside her. On one hand, it was kind of funny seeing Arachnid as a human. Arachnid would absolutely hate being human, Arcee just knew that. On another hand, it was somewhat relieving to know that Arachnid was human there, that meant her otherself never met her. Did that mean Tailgate was alive? Let him be alive. And on a third hand… she absolutely hated Arachnid, no matter the world and species.

She should've known though, Arachnid had been willing to work with MECH as a cybertronian. Why wouldn't she work with them as a human?

"Damn…" Agent Fowler muttered, opening his mouth to say something but thought better and left it at that. Because as attractive as the lady on screen was, certainly not as pretty as June, but he definitely remembered the trouble that the spider lady caused to him and the kids. To Jack in particular. Calling her pretty out loud would earn him the ire of Jack and Arcee. And June if she ever heard about it. Which she would since Jack was here. Better keep it to himself.

( "BWAHAH!" A silver seeker burst into abrupt laughter, pointing at the screen incredulously with great amusement. First the scientist, now the spider?! This was great! He knows she absolutely hated the thought of being such a weak organic species, despite being similar in the case of being an arachnoid insecticon, she clearly saw herself as a superior species.

Said spider stared at the screen, shocked, then livid. "Shut up!" She snapped at the laughing seeker, her sharp pointed legs threatening the now no longer laughing seeker. Still she could see the amusement in his gaze, the snickers that threatened to burst out at any moment. She snarled, wanting so dearly to act yet she knew that the warlord would stop her.

Not out of concern, but because of the hierarchy of command. It wouldn't do well for her to attack his second in command after all. Reluctantly, she tucked her appendages away with a hiss.

"Look at the bright side Arachnid, I'd say you're quite attractive for a human. Not nearly as good as I, obviously." The medic chuckled, leaning against his conjunx when the spider glared at him now.

Surprisingly, before more could be said by anyone. The warlord intervened, interested optics going back to the screen, "Quiet, the meeting is starting." )

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

YEAHHHHH MIKO POOOVVV

i'm in a bit of a rush today so i'm not saying a lot. i still need to get this update in ao3!

hopefully next chapter will be sooner instead of... months at a time. i really want to do once a month updates for uo, so i'll try my best

i'll see you guys later!

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