A Pet Squishy

Arguments of the Mind

A Pet Squishy

Chapter 10: "Arguments of the Mind"

Later that night...

Lana shivered as a crisp wind whipped over the ocean and made her skin texture with goose bumps. She hugged her knees as she sat in the sand, trying to keep herself warm. Her light pants, sneakers, and T-shirt were proving insufficient for warmth. The hiss of the sea rolled across the sand, threatening to make her even colder. She wisely sat closest to the center of the island away from water near the half-dead palm trees.

"Well? Are you happy now, Lana?" her mind asked sarcastically,

"I wasn't going back." she insisted.

"At least THERE you were warm and taken care of." her mind argued.

She cringed, "But I was nothing."

"And you were SOMETHING before?" it retorted. "Please! You were an object BEFORE Thundercracker took you. How was stripping and barely scraping by on those tips any better?

"At least I had freedom."

She shivered as a fresh wind bit through the fabric of her clothes.

"Oh yeah, you're free now...free to freeze to death on this waste of an island and probably die of dehydration in a couple days." her mind bitterly reminded.

She bit back, "I'd rather die than go back in that cage and just wait for those monsters to kill me."

"Liar."

"I WOULD!" she insisted, "I almost did it!"

Her mind shook its unseen "head", "You KNEW he wouldn't let you fall."

Lana couldn't argue with her own mind. It was right. But she still couldn't figure out why—why did he care so much if she was nothing but a pet?

...

Later...

Thundercracker flew hard and fast through the night sky, his sonic booms dispersing the clouds and rattling the very molecules of the air. His Spark was thrumming loudly in his chest and his vents were working frantically to keep the heat generated by his anger under control.

"That ungrateful little speck of carbon!" he grumbled nastily to himself, "I did everything to keep her happy and cared for, and she would rather terminate herself?"

He spun sharply cutting his wing through a thick cloud bank. It didn't make any sense to him. She had been stolen from him and when he came to rescue her she turned on him. Why? Hadn't he cared for her? Hadn't he provided for all her organic needs? Why was she so dead set against him? He'd never once hurt her though he was perfectly capable and often justified. Why couldn't she accept being his pet?

He flew faster, blurring the moonlight on the ocean below into lines of light. His confusion rippled through his mainframe. The Decepticon part of him burned with fierce anger at his pet's unappreciative mannerisms and yet his "other" part demanded he retrieve her immediately.

"If she doesn't WANT your care then leave her! Ungrateful little squishy!" his Con thoughts snarled. "If she can't appreciate you then let her perish like the rest of her species! She was a pain in the afterburners anyway."

The other part calmly replied, "But you can't just leave her to die. She needs you whether she admits it or not. You need that little human."