The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 73

Author Notes: A short chapter since this volume will end in the next few chapters.

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Inside the local cafe of Jasper town, a rather exotic group of people sat around a table, each holding a type of drink with intrigued looks, while Jack, Mik,o and Raf sat with them, still trying to reconcile the group’s new forms with their original ones.

The young woman with blue hair that looked natural despite being an impossible color, wearing a jacket and pants, stared at the coffee in her hands with a peculiar look before turning to her human partner.

“You know, I think I understand why your mother and Fowler love coffee so much. There is something about its taste that is just addicting.”

The round man by her side, wearing a green jacket, snorted at those words.

“You can say that again, Arcee. In fact, I think we underestimate just how wide of range humans have when it comes to their taste receptors compared to our own.”

“Hold on, Bulk! You mean you bots can taste things?”

At Miko’s excited question, Bulkhead, in his human form, nodded with a contemplative expression.

“Technically, yes. While we don’t have taste buds and a tongue like humans do, but we do have a set of sensors that allow us to tell the ‘flavor’ or Energon that we are ingesting, allowing us to distinguish between the quality without the need for any external tests.”

“Ooh! Then I guess you should all be thankful that Maximus created that thingamajig of his that gave you guys the full range of human senses!”

At those words, Bulkhead could not help but grimace along with the rest of the Autobots, making the children sigh in exasperation.

“Come on, guys. How long are you going to be grumpy about this? It's already been a month, for god’s sake!”

At Jack’s exasperated words, the Autobots could not help but wince a little as Arcee sighed.

“I know what you mean, Jack. And truthfully speaking, we have long since come to terms with the fact that we messed up the whole Maximus situation. However, knowing logically that we were wrong, and coming to terms with it emotionally are two separate things.”

Bulkhead nodded his head at those words.

“It is hard to let go of habits and instincts when they are all that you’ve known for thousands of years.”

“Especially when you are suddenly told to act all buddy-buddy with the guy who tore open your voice box.”

Bumblebee’s grumbling made the humans wince a little.

“Fair. But still, are you guys really going to make a mess of things again?”

Bumblebee shook his head at his partner’s words.

“No. At least, not anymore. Like Arcee said, we have realized that we made a mistake by letting our emotions dictate our actions. However, that does not mean that we will act like the Decepticons are our friends or anything.”

“I guess that is the best that anyone can hope for right now.”

Jack’s words made Arcee nod her head before she started looking around at the cafe.

“Speaking of, where are the others?”

Bulkhead gave Arcee an amused look.

“You don’t know? Optimus and Elita went on a date, as the humans call it, with their new human forms, taking advantage of this new outlook to experience human culture. Smokescreen is getting yelled at by Ratchet because he tried to pull some of his Elite Guard authority on Agent Fowler. As for the Decepticons, they are still at the Harbinger, trying to bring that downed ship back to working order with Shockwave’s help.”

Arcee nodded her head at those words before a look of anger crossed her face.

“And what about Airachnid?”

“Last I heard, she is still doing her stalker routine, shadowing Maximus, Windblade, and Megatron on Cybertron.”

“Good riddance.”

At Arcee’s muttering, Jack could not help but hold her hand in his own, making the femme smile and squeeze back his palm reassuringly.

Raf looked towards the Autobots and asked the question that had been bugging him for some time now.

“So, are you guys really going to leave Earth and go back to Cybertron once it is restored?”

At those words, Miko’s happiness fled instantly as she stared down at the ground glumly, just like how Jack’s face became downcast, along with Raf’s own face becoming clouded with sadness.

Fortunately, this atmosphere would not last for long as Bumblebee chuckled along with Bulkhead as Arcee gave her human partner a side hug.

“Nope. We are not going anywhere. At least in your lifetime, we are not.”

Arcee nodded her head at the scout’s words.

“While Cybertron may be soon restored to its original glory, we, the younger generation, have only ever seen it in disrepair, making it hard to think of it as home. While we are tempted to see what it looks like at its full glory, we believe that the people we care about are more important than some elusive concept of home.”

At her words, the human children could not help but grin happily as they continued talking within the cafe, reassured that their friends would not leave them behind now that their home was nearly done being restored.

For the Autobots and their human friends, this was a good day.

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Autobots human forms:

Arcee:

Bumblebee:

Bulkhead: