settle down

A moment of silence fell over the air.

The energy cube had been retrieved, and Grimlock was now munching on the luminous blue cube. Her gaze swept over the pairs of optical glasses watching her, and Grimlock felt somewhat reserved. In truth, they weren't really close; even Optimus Prime, with his superior senses, had only known her for less than a day. So, instead of casually sitting on the ground or leaning against the wall, she sat properly on the operating table next to the ambulance, her wings taut and upright behind her. That was where she logged into the Autobot base, the place she felt most familiar with, the safest place, and the most appropriate place she felt.

Steel Fork stared at the Autobots, and the Autobots stared back at her.

Grimfork's fuel tank capacity was truly astonishing. Aircraft consume energy, as do superhumans, not to mention Grimfork is a hybrid of both—she is both an aircraft and a superhuman. Optimus Prime and Ratchet, having seen many machines, were already silently estimating how many energy cubes remained in the base and how long the energy ore they brought back would last. Arcee, shocked but also somewhat displeased, felt it inappropriate to fully replenish the energy of a "former" Decepticon—now an Autobot—and to give her too many energy cubes. She couldn't quite accept Grimfork as a companion. Blockboard, somewhat sympathetic, recognized her size; his fuel tank was the largest in the base, and now someone even larger had arrived. Blockboard and Bumblebee were also somewhat resistant. Although they couldn't fully accept Grimfork as a companion, unlike Arcee, since Optimus Prime had acknowledged her identity, they wouldn't say anything more, following their leader's lead.

Steel Fork continued to quietly gnaw on the energy cube. Even though she had already consumed one, she devoured most of it at a near-frenzied pace, like a ravenous demon. The memory of empty fuel tanks was indelible. Even after spending a long time in Shockwave's base, and the alarm from the empty tank no longer followed her, she still hadn't learned to consume energy as gracefully as Shockwave. Frenzied munching had become a habit, and Shockwave was too lazy to correct her.

Arcee wondered: Why is she eating so fast?

Ambulance and Optimus Prime: The base lights and facilities consume electricity, the land bridge consumes... energy cubes and... energy ore...

Partition & Bumblebee: Why is no one moving... By the way, shouldn't God/Laffey go home?

...

"Hey! How about some music!" The silence spread to the humans. The goddess couldn't stand it any longer. She strummed the guitar hard, and the monotonous sound of the instrument echoed in the base, which seemed too big and empty for humans.

"I've never seen you guys have a new member before, shouldn't we throw a party to welcome them?"

The steel fork swallowed the last fragment of energy and asked the divine child, "Music? There's no information about it in my database. But I know music is a regular vibrational frequency. What is music like?"

"Haven't you ever heard music before?" Bringing someone... an alien into the realm of music was clearly a meaningful thing. The goddess was a little excited, and she plucked the guitar string hard again, making the atmosphere a bit more lively. "It's okay! Let me play you a piece!"

“No, Divine Child. It’s too late, you should go home.” The partition finally found a chance to speak and escape the silent and awkward atmosphere.

"Beep↗Buzz↘Buzz↗ (He's right, I'll take you home)"

"Don't put up these barriers! The atmosphere has only just begun! Are we going back already?" The goddess was disappointed.

"There's no room for discussion, otherwise your families will worry." The partition didn't want to be separated either, but that's just how human life goes.

"What time is it?" Jack glanced at his watch, the hands pointing to a time he absolutely didn't want to see. He cried out in alarm, "Arcy! We have to hurry! Otherwise, my mom will start nagging me again. I've already been late twice; if I come home late again, I'll be grounded!"

"Boring!" The goddess scoffed and left through the partition, while Laffey was already on the road in his Bumblebee.

...

"What is home? Why do they want to go home? Why should their families worry?" Steel Fork asked blankly as he watched them leave.

Steel Fork remained seated on the operating table, the wings behind her now lowered. She couldn't quite explain why, upon hearing someone express concern that they weren't going home, a peculiar emotion welled up within her. After a moment of careful observation, Steel Fork concluded that this emotion should be categorized as "envy."

"Human society is uniquely based on blood ties; family members are those with whom we share blood relations." The ambulance sensed the low, involuntary magnetic field emanating from the steel fork and suddenly felt a pang of pity for her, all alone. "As for their talk of 'going home,' you can simply assume they've gone back to their base."

He sighed. He must be crazy to pity a former Decepticon. He remembered that this former Decepticon was now their ally.

Steel Fork thought of Shockwave. Could that base on Cybertron be considered their shared home? She remembered that Shockwave was a Decepticon, a true enemy of the Autobots around her. She wisely refrained from voicing her question.

Another question: "What is bloodline? What is 'blood'? It's not in the database."

"Blood is a biological tissue unique to humans, and blood ties are..." The ambulance stalled for a moment. He didn't know much about humans, so how did he explain "blood ties"? He didn't know either. So he explained it like this: "The energy fluid connection between humans... Anyway, I don't know much about it. You can ask them yourself when they come tomorrow."

With one hand resting on the shoulder armor of the steel fork, Optimus Prime slowly said, "Although we are not human and have no blood relation, we can still be family. Don't be shy, make this your home."

Grimlock looked up at the Autobot leader. A gentle, clear blue light shone into the optical receiver, and a sour taste gathered in the sparks and surged onto the optical lens, causing cleaning fluid to overflow uncontrollably. In her tearful gaze, the leader gently embraced her. It was an embrace; soft humans would use such gestures to comfort and warm each other, but the hardened Cybertronians rarely did so. Too close a distance would cause the paint on their closely pressed bodies to scratch each other. Yet, it remained a gesture representing intimacy and security, so Grimlock simply wrapped his arms around her, hoping she could feel his warmth.

The cleaning fluid on the visor felt cool, but the flame felt warm. Grimfork realized the liquid on his visor and was both confused and embarrassed. He raised his hand to wipe it off, but Optimus Prime's body blocked his arm.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mother in the ambulance beside him looking at her child with a mixture of love and relief in her eyes. Steel Fork then noticed the leader in front of him, who reluctantly agreed, his voice muffled:

"Hmm~↘~↗".