The Final Hope - Transformers Prime (3)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

[Amanda]

   I paced my kitchen, three laptops and a desktop computer humming on the center marble island. Turning my kitchen into a makeshift basement media lab (I seriously had to stop procrastinating and actually set up my things), I had Cam running overtime as she dug through classified military files. While it was harder for her to get through the top level security encryptions, she was making good progress. But not good enough, and impatience was eating me away.

   The guy who I had grown so close to over the past year is the nephew of the man who murdered my mom. Just my luck.

   Some part of me refused to believe it. He couldn't be in on this, on MECH. He was with me almost every time I faced them, and he fought beside me, not against me. I put my full trust in him, and he never once made me regret that.

   Until now.

   Another part of me, the logical part, saw the truth behind what I had learned. He always got angry when I thought about facing MECH alone. He always hesitated on letting me look through all their information. I had thought it was because he was being protective, after telling me about what had happened to his old team, but now doubt was creeping through my mind. What if he never wanted me to do so much digging because he didn't want me to find him in the files?

   There were so many instances where I didn't trust him, or he acted funny, but I overlooked that. I told myself it was my old way of thinking, that I was just protectively shoving people away from me like I used to.

   Ding!

   I practically leapt to the laptop that had made the noise, breaking myself right out of my thoughts.

   "What do you have, Cam?" I demanded, eyes scanning over the data.

   "The unit that Finn claimed he belonged to as an adolescent is inconsistent," Her voice filled the room.

   I frowned. "What do you mean?"

   "It would seem that there are several contradictions that render the group inconsistent. Upon further analysis, I believe the issue stems from the fact that the group seems to be inserted into military timelines, perhaps rendering it fabricated."

   "So even the military lied about where Finn came from?" I rocked back.

   "Yea, they did," My eyes whipped up to see Finn at the doorway. "Can we talk?"

   I put up a hand- I'd been so focused on listening to Cam that I completely missed him arriving- and gave him a hard look. "Don't try to twist things now. Cam is two seconds from telling me everything. Also, stop breaking into my house, this is basically the third time."

   He slipped into the kitchen, moving to stand on the other side of the kitchen island. "I know. And I know you followed me earlier today. And that you probably saw and heard everything."

   Slight shame filled me, but I ignored it. "So, mind explaining how you ended up being the nephew of the man who murdered my mother, then joined the military and decided to help me take down MECH, only for me to figure out that you ended up being in on it the whole time?"

   My voice rose with every word, and I shook with anger. I don't think the truth set in until now, that this could really be true, but seeing his expression now made it true. Anger filled me, and I could feel my powers stirring within me, suddenly charged by my emotions. Finn saw this and stepped forward, putting his hands on my forearms as though to restrain me.

   "Before you go nuclear, let me explain," He practically begged.

   I took a deep breath. "Fine. You have two minutes."