When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 4

Sore, tired and heavy, those were the three things she felt at this time. Hearing the sound of a heart monitor, she opened her eyes slowly. Above her, were dim lights, or at least, she thought they were dim on a dark ceiling. She stared as her vision was blurry and she had to wait for her eyes to adjust. She glanced around and saw she was in a hospital bed, wrapped in warm blankets. She had an IV attached to her arm and she really felt like she had slept for years. And yet, she was still tired.

Azura's eyes finally adjusted enough to see her surroundings easier and she saw she was in a large room. This was not a hospital room at all. It was a large room with dark walls, multiple consoles connected to the platforms with multiple screens and she also saw several hallways and a large tunnel that seemed to not go anywhere. She also noticed something else. The giant robots. She only saw one though. It was the same orange and white bot she saw briefly before. And he was looking through a microscope at the moment.

However, the increased rate on the heart monitor caught his attention and he looked at her first with worry, before widening his optics when he saw she was awake. "Thank Primus, you have finally awoken." He stepped closer to the platform the gurney was on and Azura became more nervous. "Do not be alarmed, youngling. You are safe, and you are on the road to recovering from the horrific incident that you endured."

Azura realized that these bots had saved her from the other bots. But she did not remember. She remembered the bus crash, being chased by two bots and saved by another bot who had transformed from a dodge, and followed by five more bots coming through some kind of vortex and she had fallen into a river. She did remember saving herself from drowning and crawled out of the water, but nothing else after that.

"You..." She grimaced as trying to talk was a little hard due to her dry mouth and throat, making her voice raspy. "You saved me?" The bot nodded affirmatively. "Why?"

He smiled at her kindly, hearing the fear in her voice. "Because you did not do anything to have the decepticons attack you. My name is Ratchet, it is a pleasure to meet you." She did not react much to the bot as she was still nervous. "You were seen to by human doctors when we brought you back to the base. You have been healing well, though you were unconscious for at least five days." She widened her eyes when told how long she had been asleep for. "I can understand why. At least you have already made tremendous progress in recovery."

Azura did not know what to say for the moment. She was surprised that doctors had helped her. It was than she realized that she was wearing a robe, not her clothes. But she was relieved to see her necklace still around her neck. She worried that it had been taken from her. She didn't want to lose it since it was the only thing her parents had left to her when she was abandoned. She did know though that the crystal might have been the reason why the decepticons, as Ratchet called them, attacked her.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling above her, feeling very uncertain at the moment. "Why did they attack me? I...I should have had nothing of value to them. I am just an orphan girl whose parents did not even want to keep, or even make sure she was found somewhere safe." Azura let a few tears fall and looked at Ratchet. "Do you know the reason?"

The bot's expression softened, and he seemed hesitant to answer at the moment. "For the moment, it would be best if you focus on recovering." She frowned a him as she wanted to know. "I understand you want answers. I do not blame you. But I assure you, you will receive the answers that you seek in due time."

"Why won't you tell me now?" She asked as more tears fall from her eyes as she grew more and more distressed. "I...I don't understand why this has happened to me...I was trying to run away and start a new life for myself." Ratchet intakes heavily as he listened to her. "And this happened! Why? And now I...I am inside some kind of base you reside in...am I like your prisoner or something? Because you and the decepticons look very similar."