IV
The gray, lifeless form of the clone laid on the examination table for what seemed like a week. In reality, it was only for a whole day. October couldn’t help but feel unnerved by it for some reason. After Knockout shooed out Starscream and Breakdown, he draped a sheet over the husk and gingerly carried the human into his office. He shut the door and set her down on his desk.
“This experiment I intend on conducting,” he began, “Has never been done before. I want to explain to you what exactly it is I plan to do.”
October sat down on her makeshift bed and stared up at the white and magenta looking mech and nodded.
“Alright,” she said and still felt a little uneasy. Knockout gave a small nod and continued, “I want to see if I can take your life form, your mind or whatever you call it, and animate the clone with it. Meaning, I want to turn you into one of us.”
“What!?” October asked quickly. She was more in shock then anything, and raked her fingers through her long hair. She wasn’t exactly sure how to take it, but she questioned, “Why?”
“You’ve been through a lot,” he explained, “And I figured this would be a way to give you a new life if this is a success.”
“I don’t understand how this would even be possible. I mean, humans don’t have an USB port in our asses to upload or download our entire personas onto. We’re not mechanical like you.”
“I understand that, but after researching human anatomy so that I could know exactly how to care for you during your coma, I discovered that we have something in common.”
“Which is?”
“Electricity,” Knockout explained, “It is what makes your heart beat and how your brain processes information. It works in a very similar manner in our bodies. I have a theory that if I hook up some electrodes between you and the clone that eventually your biological processes will excite the clone to bring it to life so to speak. I can then program its processor to be a replica of your brain, and eventually we’ll be able to have you ‘wake up’ as one of us. Your human body will be in a coma, and if my calculations are correct, even if your human body expires, you will still be alive in this new body.”
October was silent as she listened and processed his explanation as carefully as she could. When the silence between them became a bit uncomfortable, she looked up at him and said, “So basically you want to electrocute me over and over again until we get an imprint of my brain patterns for you to copy and eventually I go into a coma to wake up in that body laying in that room in there. Did I understand that right?”
“Basically, yes, but the voltage will not be enough to harm you in any way. You’ll be fine. I promise,” Knockout reassured. The human was still a bit unsure of the experiment and looked down at the desk top.
“Could I have time to think this over?” she asked.
“Of course. I have to work on the actual body itself. Y’know, give it a gender and all that anyway,” Knockout stated and gave a gentle pet with his finger along her back. October gave a small smile and uttered, “Thank you.”
*X*X*X*
White, puffy clouds surrounded the sleek jet in the sky in an endless sea of blue. A barrel roll was in order. As she sauntered through the cumulous cloud, she couldn’t help but feel the endless comfort the cloud provided. When she exited from the other side, the tips of her wings had bits of cloud still clinging on. After leaving the lovely white streams in the air, she could see that she was indeed flying over the ocean. The thrill of flying was…..exciting. October slowly opened her jade eyes when she heard frantic whispers from the other room. She rolled over on her side facing the slightly ajar door and felt rather disappointed that her dream of flying ended.
“I don’t want it!” a panicked whisper sounded through the crack in the door. October rubbed her eyes and just lay quietly. She couldn’t figure out who was talking to whom and what the conversation was about.
“Starscream,” a familiar whisper sounded. Ah, so it was Knockout and Starscream. October pulled the blanket up around herself a bit tighter, and decided to go back to sleep. It was probably some bit of drama she wouldn’t understand.
*X*X*X*
Knockout gently grabbed Starscream’s shoulders and said softly, “I know you don’t want the sparkling, but you know that Lord Megatron will be furious if you were to abort it.”
“Knockout…..I’m not sure whose it is!” Starscream whispered harshly. Tears welled up in his optics as he tried all so very hard to keep from crying. Knockout sighed heavily and didn’t know what to do other then hug the seeker. He leaned against his audio sensor and whispered, “I can do a paternal test on the sparkling since you’re a month along. If it were sooner I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Starscream was uncharacteristically quiet and just nodded against Knockout’s shoulder. The sport’s car pulled away and motioned for the seeker to sit on the examination table while he went to go get the equipment. He hoped that it was Megatron’s and not his….
*X*X*X*
A week passed and Starscream was beginning to show even more symptoms of being pregnant. He was extremely nauseous, highly sensitive, and his gestation chamber, (which October only saw as a stomach of sorts. She finally got the news out of Knockout), was very tender to the touch. Currently, the seeker was sitting in the examination room where October was sitting on a shelf, trying to keep the seeker company.
“Does it hurt?” she asked curiously. Starscream looked up at her and was confused as to what she was asking about.
“Does what hurt?” he snapped and felt tears start to well up again.
“Being pregnant. I don’t understand how your race procreates even though Breakdown explained how your physiology works,” the human explained. Starscream rolled his optics and answered, “I’m so nauseous I can’t keep energon down, I’m very tender here,” the laid his hand on the ‘baby bump’, “And everything makes me cry. In a way yes, it hurts.”
October crinkled her nose and muttered, “Sounds about like being a pregnant female human…minus the tenderness.”
“And how would you know what that feels like?” Starscream barked and crossed his arms over his chassis. The human looked down a little and answered, “The day Knockout found me and I was in a coma I had just found out that morning I was pregnant. Then I was in that horrible accident and I miscarried.”
Starscream could tell that she was upset about the topic, and actually felt bad for her. He hated humans, but October was beginning to grow on him a little.
“Sorry,” he said softly. Knockout then entered the room and the both of them looked up at the medic curiously. Knockout cleared his intake and held a datapad in his hand as he looked at Starscream.
“The results are in. I’m sorry it took a week to finish, but we’re about to find out who the sire is,” he explained. October was curious as well and turned to face Knockout completely. He opened Starscream’s file and flipped to the page (using the pad like a human tablet), and said, “Megatron. Megatron is the sire of your sparklings.”
Starscream groaned and laid back on the table, but then it donned on him.
“Sparklings?” he asked and looked up at the medic in confusion.
“Oh yeah I forgot to mention you’re having triplets….whoops.”
Starscream’s optics were huge in shock as he sat back up and asked, “Wh-What? How?”
“You’re a seeker. Seekers tend to have twins or triplets. You were born in a set of triplets if I’m not mistaken.”
“No, no you’re right. Frag…..how am I supposed to tell him!?” the seeker asked in a panic. Knockout shrugged his shoulders and said, “Request a private audience with him?”
