"Assist?"
Scalpel paused in his work, his multi-lensed optics rotating to focus on Nathan. He seemed genuinely amused by the drone's naïveté.
"Ze-ze~ If you are so eager to help, then come with me."
"Yes, Lord Scalpel."
Nathan followed the small doctor across the lab to a large, rectangular metal platform.
The entire base was a testament to Cybertronian aesthetics—cold, angular, and made entirely of metal. It felt less like a home and more like the inside of an engine block.
Scalpel hopped onto the control console.
"Reedman!"
"Here, Master."
"Deploy the diagnostic table."
"At once."
With a heavy THUNK-HISS, the metal platform split down the middle and expanded. Mechanical arms and sensor arrays unfolded from underneath, transforming the slab into a high-tech medical berth.
"It looks like a bed..." Nathan muttered, a sudden unease prickling his sensors.
"Lie down, little one," Scalpel ordered, adjusting a terrifying-looking laser drill attached to one of the arms.
"Since I built this lab, this table has never been used. You should feel honored. You are the first Decepticon to grace it."
Nathan's facial plates twitched. Honored? I'd rather be lucky than honored.
...
"I thought I was here to write code," Nathan lamented internally. "I thought I was the IT guy."
"Turns out, I'm the lab rat."
Lying supine on the cold metal slab, watching Scalpel crawl across his chest like a metallic spider, Nathan felt a profound sense of resignation.
If he ever met T-19 again, the conversation would be humiliating:
Me: I worked closely with Scalpel on classified research.
T-19: Wow! What did you research?
Me: My insides.
Scalpel had clarified the situation quickly. He didn't need help coding. He needed a live test subject to stress-test Starscream's Energy Core.
Nathan had tried to refuse. Being a guinea pig for a mad scientist was Rule #1 of "How to Die in Sci-Fi."
But Scalpel had made an offer he couldn't refuse: A free armor upgrade.
Plus, the promise that he would only test the Core, not dissect the brain.
...
Elsewhere in the base.
Starscream marched down the main arterial corridor. The base was a labyrinth of tunnels dug deep underground, hidden from human satellites.
He reached a reinforced blast door at the end of the hall. He keyed in a security code.
KLANG.
The doors parted.
Inside was a stasis chamber, filled with vertical racks.
Starscream led T-19 through T-25 inside.
Minutes later, the Air Commander emerged alone. The doors sealed behind him, locking his new army in cold storage until he needed them.
...
Back in the lab.
Nathan lay motionless. Two thick data cables were jacked directly into his chest port, snaking away to a bank of monitors.
It had been two hours.
Scalpel was typing furiously on a console, his eyes darting between screens.
"Starscream actually pulled it off..." Scalpel muttered to himself, analyzing the readouts.
"The output is lower than a natural Spark, but the energy density is comparable to a Middle-Tier Spark. No wonder it successfully activated these drones."
Scalpel's internal processor whirred with conflict.
He wasn't just a doctor. He was a mole.
Before leaving Cybertron, Soundwave had tasked him with monitoring Starscream.
"If Starscream has a viable mass-production method, Soundwave needs to know. But with these new soldiers, Starscream will be harder to track."
"And I still haven't found Blackarachnia's signal..."
Scalpel glanced at the drone on the table. A devious idea began to form in his logic circuits.
...
"Ugh... why do I feel cold?"
Nathan shivered. A phantom chill was spreading through his limbs.
He looked around. Nothing but the Doctor and his screens.
Above the console, a 3D hologram displayed a rotating blue sphere surrounded by walls of cascading data.
[ WARNING! ]
[ ENERGY LEVELS CRITICAL. ]
[ SOURCE: EXTERNAL DRAIN. ]
"Here we go again..." Nathan dismissed the notification. It had been popping up for two hours.
But this time, the sensation was different. He felt... hollow. Weak.
It was a strange sensation for a machine. It wasn't fatigue; it was a lack of fuel. His reactor was sputtering.
"Lord Scalpel," Nathan called out weakly. "I am detecting a significant drop in operational efficiency. My Energy Core is running low."
"Hm? Low already?"
Scalpel checked the monitor.
"By the AllSpark... less than 30%?"
Scalpel scoffed. "Ze-ze~ Starscream's little battery has terrible capacity."
Thirty percent?!
Nathan panicked. "Lord Scalpel, perhaps we should pause for a recharge..."
"Don't worry, little one."
Scalpel hopped onto Nathan's chest and yanked the cables out.
"I need you powered to continue the test. If you shut down, I get no data."
THUMP.
The disconnect brought instant relief. The draining sensation stopped.
"Get up."
Nathan sat up, his servos whining in protest.
"Ze-ze~ Once you are recharged, we continue."
"As you command..." Nathan agreed, though internally he was screaming.
"Reedman!"
"Here, Master."
"Fetch two Energon Cubes from storage."
"At once."
Nathan watched as the razor-thin Reedman materialized from the shadows again.
That thing is terrifying, Nathan noted. Useful, but terrifying.
He wondered if he could ask Scalpel how to build one. Or better yet, steal the blueprints.