"You idiot, Mirage! What the hell were you thinking? Formula One Racing? You could have gotten yourself and her permanently deactivated! You're lucky that both of you weren't hurt worse and that the Decepticons didn't run more experiments on her." Kala winces at the sudden outburst, her head pounding from the sound. The 16-year-old opens her eyes and quickly raises an arm to block some of the bright light that greets her eyes, momentarily blinding Kala.

"Decepti-whats? And turn off that light, will you?" Kala grumbles, squinting. She turns her head so that she can see the people who are talking. Kala blinks in surprise as she sees not people, but instead two robots staring watchfully at her.

"Decepticons. They are sentient robots from the planet Cybertron who want to convert your planet's energy resources into energon cubes to take over the Universe. The Autobots are the enemies of the Decepticons who believe that freedom is the right of all sentient beings. I'm Ratchet, the Autobot's Chief Medical Officer. You've already met Mirage," The red and white robot standing closest to Kala says. "the Autobot's spy. He's part of the Special

Operations team. The mech behind you is Optimus Prime, our leader." Mirage smiles at Kala, making Ratchet shake his head and grumble something unintelligible. Kala smiles back as another Autobot walks around her so that she can see them.

"Hello Kala, my name is Optimus Prime. As Ratchet explained to you, I am the leader of the Autobots. You are at our base. We've had our eye on you and your friends for a while now." Optimus and Ratchet share a glance, and something passes between them that Kala is not quite sure what to make of. She is pretty sure that it is not good, though.

"Where's Abby?" Kala inquires, suddenly nervous. This can't be good.

"She's getting a tour of the base from Jazz, who's going to be her new roommate." Optimus says.

"Wait, Jazz?" Kala realizes suddenly. "I've met him before. Is he an...Autobot, too?"

"Yes. You are very smart, Kala. Abby has not figured out that he's one of us yet, but, then again, she hasn't spent as much time around one of our kind as you have. She'll figure it out eventually, though." Kala breathes a sigh of relief. She gets the feeling that she should trust these robots. "We do have something important to tell you, though. During the race after you took the pit stop, the Ferrari in front of you crashed. You already know that. The press was told that the racer broke a suspensory, but that was actually a cover-up. In reality, one of our Decepticon enemies was at the race. They tried to shoot at you and Mirage, but they missed and hit the racer in front of you instead, making it spin out of control. Before we could reach you, however, the Decepticon captured both of you as well as Abby, Jennie, and Sienna. They took you back to the Decepticon headquarters, where the four of you were experimented on. The Decepticons didn't experiment on Mirage, but they tortured him. We arrived at the headquarters and fought the Decepticons, who retreated, but we were too late. We rescued Mirage, who told us that they had taken you away and he didn't know where you were. The damage to the four of you had already been done by the time we found you, and Ratchet has been working on you for the equivalent of three Earth days. However, not all of the damage could be undone. I am deeply sorry that this has happened to you." Optimus gravely states.

"Wait. What happened to us?" Kala trembles. All three of the Autobots are silent for a long moment. Finally, Ratchet speaks.

"The Decepticons wanted to see if humans could be turned into Cybertronians so that they could serve in their army." The medic says, voice uncharacteristically sympathetic.

"So now we're Decepticons?" Kala gasps, eyes wide.

"No. Not Decepticons. Ratchet managed to fix that, but you are still Cybertronians and are able to transform. Unlike most Cybertronians, though, you can triple-change. All of you now can become humans, robotic organisms, and machines of some sort. Most Cybertronians only have a robot mode and a mechanical mode."

"You already have your human appearance and your robotic appearance, but you do not have your mechanical appearance yet. I've assigned Jazz to help you find those. If any of you want to talk to me about anything, I would always be willing to lend an audio receptor. Also, you can stay at the base if you want. Nobody would have any objection. Finally, if you wish, we would be happy for you to join the Autobots. Abby, Jennie, and Sienna have decided to stay, by the way." At Optimus' words, Kala sinks her head back down and begins to think.

"Thank you for giving us a place to stay, Optimus, and thanks for fixing us up, Ratchet. And Mirage, thanks for keeping us alive." Kala responds. "As for the last part, it would be an honor to be able to join the Autobots." Optimus chuckles.

"No, Kala. The honor is mine. Rest- you need it. You can get the tour of base when you wake up." Kala smiles tiredly at her new leader's words.

"Thanks, Optimus." Kala closes her eyes and is asleep within a minute.

"That went well, Prime." Mirage states, a bemused expression on his faceplates as the three watch the sleeping human-turned-Cybertronian.

"Indeed it did, Mirage. Indeed it did."