Chapter 1: In a Cage
The human felt like a bird as she sat chained in the wire cage. There was a sea of aliens in front of her, walking about the marketplace.The human was curled up in one corner of the cage, trying to hide the tears that flowed down her cheek. Curious eyes looked in on her, some poked at her, while others just stared in disgust. A human in that part of the solar sector? It was indeed rare.
The human didn't know how she arrived there. She couldn't remember much of anything. Not her name, age, or anything else that could identify who she was. All she knew was that she was far from where people told her she belonged.
The bug-like alien who had trapped her called out to the crowd, gesturing to her cage as he motioned for others to come closer.
"Check out this rare specimen! A female human! Pure bred human, straight from the planet Earth!"
Earth. That's where the bug alien said she was from, but the name didn't sound familiar to her. Where was Earth? She hadn't even remembered leaving the planet she was found on, let alone been to another hundreds of light-years away.
Her eyes landed on a small group of robotic life-forms that walked past. Of all the species that she had seen, she had never seen ones like those before. Her eyes met with the red and gold one in the lead. Its glowing blue eyes staring right at her and she quickly looked away. When she looked back up, she saw that it had walked over.
"Are you the owner of this human?" The robotic being asked. He looked... angry.
"Ah, yes I am. She's being sold for only...."
"Do you realize possessing and selling a sentient lifeform like this is illegal under the...." The red and gold one looked to the largest of the group.
"Section 178 of the sell and trade agreement." The larger bot said. It's voice was deep and commanding. Masculine.
"I-Ilegal?" The bug alien scoffed. "You're just saying that to..." The large bot pulled out a blue tablet, seemingly out of nowhere before handing it to the alien.
"In order to become a legal marketer, you signed a document that listed these terms." He said.
"So as the commander of the... uhm... galactic police... I am forced to take your product away." The human squeaked as she watched one of the beings slice open the lock with a sword, gently holding its hand out to her.
"Hold on!" The bug alien snapped. "You're not part of the police! No police would hire a Cybertronian after all they've done."
A Cybertronian? The human studied the robot figure. This one was grey and white with cat ear like fins on its head and red markings on its face. It gave her a gentle smile. Rin took its hand and watched as it easily broke the chain that tethered her ankle to the bars. Despite being made of metal, its body's movement was smooth and gentle. The human clutched tightly to the hand. Her body was weak, but the robotic alien helped steady her.
"My name is Drift." It said. The voice was smooth and calm. She had never heard a voice like it before.
"You can't just-" The bug alien started, but he was quickly cut off.
"I can, and I will!" The red and gold one said "Freedom is a right of all sentient beings." While the two continued to exchange heated words, Drift and another bot lead her away from the chaos.
"Th-Thank you." The human whispered. It was the only thing she could think of saying.
"You're a far way from home." The red and white bot stated in a gruff voice. "How did you even end up in this solar sector?"
"I... I don't know." The human looked down, she was still clinging to Drift's hand, tightly. She loosened her grip a little. "I don't know much of anything..." She began fidgeting nervously with the hem of her torn coverings.
"While we wait for Rodimus and Ultra Magnus," Drift said, "perhaps we should find you something to eat. Humans require sustenance." The human's stomach growled at the thought. She couldn't remember the last time she actually ate anything. Had it been a mega-cycle? A jour?
"B-But I don't have any..."
"We will buy it for you." Drift replied quickly. "I wasn't expecting you to have any credit." They found a small food stall that the red and white bot claimed would be safe for human consumption. They sat at a table watching her eat.
"As I said before, my name is Drift." Drift gestured to the red and white bot. "And this is Ratchet." He gestured to the red and white one. The human eyed Ratchet nervously. She could see that he had seen many things in his life, many were bad. In fact, she could tell that all of them had been through something terrible.
"And the other two?"
"The red and gold mech is Rodimus Prime, and the blue mech is Ultra Magnus." Drift explained.
"Mech?" The human tilted her head. "I thought the bug said you were Cybertronian."
"Mech is how we choose to identify ourselves, like how you are a female of your species, we identify as males." Ratchet explained. The human understood. She quickly ate her meal, feeling satisfied with the sustenance.
"She is... around 22 in Earth years." Ratchet said as a blue light moved over her, "However, while some signs show that she is a human... her genetic coding is different. It's like she had been reprogrammed or modified in some way." He was looking at a device on his wrist.
"Reprogrammed?" Drift looked confused. "Can organics be reprogrammed?"
"Well, she appears to have been." Ratchet replied. "I'll have to look at her more when we return to the Lost Light."
"The Lost Light?" The human looked at Drift.
"The Lost Light is our ship." He explained.
"A spaceship?"
"What else would it be?" Ratchet said. The human shrugged. It had been a dumb question.
"There you are!" The three looked up to see Rodimus and Ultra Magnus approach. Rodimus held out a hand to her.
"I'm Rodimus, Captain of the Lost Light. And this is Ultra Magnus, my second-in-command." The human bowed politely.
"It's nice to meet you, sirs." She said. "I unfortunately do not have a name that I was assigned."
"We can think of one on the way back to the Lost Light!" Rodimus suggested.
"Rodimus..." Ultra Magnus started, but Rodimus cut him off.
"Come on, Mags, we can't just leave her here. Not after I made a whole speech on the preservation of human life!" He said.
"Actually, she's not entirely human." Ratchet said. "But you were right about one thing. We can't just leave her on this planet."
"Then let's hurry back to the Rodpod and give you a designation." Rodimus ruffled her already messy hair. The human could see the annoyed look on Ultra Magnus's face, but he didn't argue. Drift offered his hand to her. She took it and followed after them.
"Oh, and one more thing..." Rodimus said, turning to her. "There are stuff you should know about before we get to the Lost Light..."
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