Robots in Bellwood

A BOUNTIFUL CONNECTION

9:00 am

Is when Ben's alarm clock decides to go off. The teenager rolls onto his stomach and buries his head under his pillow, attempting to ignore the ear-bleeding sound.

Already? Whatever, I can sleep in a little longer.

SANDRA: "Ben?"

Nevermind.

BEN: "What?"

SANDRA: "Are you going to turn your alarm off soon? Our guests can hear it all the way downstairs and it's giving them a headache."

BEN: "Seriously? Okay, I'm getting up now. Just give me a sec."

With a strained sound, Ben forces himself out of bed and shuts his alarm off, then checks his phone, not at all surprised to already see a text from Rook.

– Good morning, Ben! I hope I did not wake you! Magister Tennyson says I should give you a little extra time this morning to make sure our guests are settling in. I will pick you up in about 2 hours. Gwen and Kevin will meet us later. –

The text was sent at 8 am.

Great. Now I only have an hour to get ready.

Grumbling, Ben puts his phone away and drags himself and a bundle of clothes to the bathroom, where he makes short work of attending to his personal hygiene. Once made presentable, he heads downstairs, but stops halfway.

The living room is empty.

Ben internally starts to panic.

Where are the robots-turned-humans?

His worries are immediately whisked away when he hears multiple voices coming from the dining room. Taking a breath, Ben finishes his descent and walks across the living room to where the voices are coming from. The dining table is loaded with delicious-looking and heavenly-scented food and fresh drinks, all of which are being fiercely guarded by their consumers.

Bumblebee and Knockout are chugging down cups of coffee with their own dishes of protein and carbs. Starscream is much more reserved with his intake, taking a bite out of juicy fruit and sipping a cup of tea. Then there's Moonracer and Steeljaw, who are eating just about anything they can get their hands on, but while the former holds a cup of tea for herself, there are no drinks in sight for the latter.

BEN: "Couldn't find a doggy dish big enough for him?"

SANDRA: "Ben."

BEN: "Sorry."

Luckily for him, the newcomers are too distracted to hear what has just been said.

Ben steals some food for himself, but after receiving a few warning glares, decides to eat in the kitchen. It doesn't take long for everyone to finish, and with some time to spare, are allowed to lounge about and relax.

KO: "You humans keep surprising me!"

BEN: "Uh, thanks?"

SS: "I hate to admit it, but that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."

BEN: "Give it a few hours."

BB: "What was that?"

BEN: "Nothing! Anyway, I got a text from my partner. He'll be by to pick us up soon and bring us back to HQ. Since you all will be staying for a while, you might as well get used to how things work around here."

The newcomers aren't pleased by this bit of news, but Ben can't blame them for their hesitance. This is far beyond what they're used to, and to make matters worse, they aren't even in their own world. With the mood having soured, they all sit in silence until Rook arrives to collect them.