Acceptance
"My God!"
The ambulance rolled its eyes. "Optimus Prime, you told me not to close the land bridge just so a Decepticon could crawl in?"
"Optimus Prime! You really want to let a Decepticon join us!" Arcee shouted disapprovingly, her hands on her hips, her disapproving gaze fixed on Grimfork.
"Why not? Did you see how she fought Megatron? That was truly the style of the Thunder Rescue Team!" This is a partition.
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz (I'm listening to Optimus Prime.)" That's Bumblebee.
Meanwhile, Ratchet was packing up his surgical instruments. Optimus Prime caught the unconscious Grimlock, and the Autobot leader gently laid her on the operating table. Ratchet checked the surgical tools and energy reserves, glanced at Optimus Prime, then at the purple Decepticon symbol on the wounded woman's arm armor. Finally, as if infected by humanity, he sighed and dutifully stood before the operating table to treat the injured woman.
"What happened? What happened?!"
Jack Raffi watched quietly, while the Divine Child beside him excitedly asked, "I really regret not going with them!"
“God Child—I’ve told you so many times, the battlefield is dangerous, I can’t guarantee anything…” Just as the words from the partition were about to turn into a long, earnest lecture to a troubled child, they were interrupted by another, more urgent voice.
"Wait, you just agreed like that?" Arcee looked at her companions in disbelief. She hated the Decepticons more than anything! "What if she's an undercover agent?"
“Everyone should have the opportunity to join the Autobots, and the Decepticons are no exception.” Optimus Prime raised his voice slightly, but his tone remained quite gentle. He then turned to the ambulance and asked the paramedic for his opinion.
"At this point, do you still need to ask my opinion, Optimus Prime?" After cleaning the outer armor, Ratchet picked up welding rods and a welding torch to repair the cracks in the armor. While treating the wounded, he rolled his eyes and kept talking.
“Arcy, don’t be so paranoid.” The partition said helplessly, “Would an undercover agent really dare to challenge Megatron like that? She almost got sent to meet Priest by Megatron! If it’s acting, then this is going too far.”
“The partition…!” That was Arcee.
...
Steel Fork slowly woke up, and as soon as her gaze fell on the orange-white machine next to her, a huge solid iron ball came hurtling toward her head with tremendous force.
The surface of the iron ball, formed by the violent mixing of metal scraps, was uneven. She stared at the metal pieces that were getting closer and closer to the ball and calmly thought: What is this thing?
The ambulance's audio receiver paused upon hearing the noise from the partition, followed by the whistling sound of a metal ball cutting through the air behind them. He immediately turned around angrily and reflexively shouted, "Partition! I need more..."
Then, the ambulance driver froze.
The expected scenario didn't occur. The iron ball didn't damage any instruments; it remained suspended above the operating table without a sound, as if it had suddenly struck an invisible cushion. Two hands rested on either side of the iron ball, catching it in mid-air as if picking fruit, and supporting it in front of her. The upper body of the steel fork remained seated on the operating table, her legs relaxed on the edge. She looked around. The green, yellow-black, and orange-white Cybertronian flames emitted different frequencies. Several life forms on the nearby iron stand lacked flames, but the thumping sounds of their internal organs fascinated her.
She first addressed the group of short men, asking, "Are you... native creatures of this planet?"
Raffi quickly understood the meaning of the steel fork and replied, "Yes, we are human. My name is Raffi, her name is Divine Child, and this is Jack."
The steel fork reached out to touch the little creature in front of it, but the hard, huge iron claws that were gradually approaching were like terrifying monsters to humans, and it was naturally dodged.
"What are you doing?!" The ambulance saw the Decepticon in front of it extend its claws and immediately rushed over to try to stop her.
"Who are you?" Steel Fork looked at him unhappily.
Raffi immediately replied, "He called an ambulance. The green one over there is a partition, and the yellow one is a bumblebee."
"You shouldn't touch them, humans are easily injured!" The ambulance felt it was imperative to teach this "former" Decepticon a lesson about the Autobot rules!
Injured...? The equation "injured = damaged" appeared in the steel fork's mind. She glanced at the humans, withdrew her hand, and said, "What about this iron ball?"
"Leave it to me." The partition leaned closer, also a little worried about the humans. "Was that your ability just now? Uh... I mean, you were really cool just now!"
Upon hearing someone praise her, the wings on the back of the fork immediately tilted upwards, as if the sun were shining on her, and she replied with a bright smile, "Yes, thank you!"
The ambulance driver rolled his eyes and asked, "Is there anything wrong inside your body?" He was a little doubtful. Megatron shouldn't be so merciful. Apart from a few cracks, dents, and scratches on the steel fork armor, there was no other damage.
How many times has this white and orange machine rolled its eyes? I can't remember, was it calling an ambulance?
Steel Fork obeyed the ambulance's instructions and sat on the operating table.
"Hmm... does that count as a slightly low energy level?"
"I'd say that's barely acceptable, but that's not what I meant! Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
"No! Every part of my body is in its proper place, I can feel it. Thank you, ambulance!"
The antenna snapped straight. The ambulance driver's eyes widened, a little stunned. He was still somewhat surprised to hear a thank you from a Decepticon. Almost reflexively, he said:
"You're welcome."
The ambulance driver, whose mood had improved slightly, rambled on, "Optimus Prime and the others brought back several times more ore than usual today, all thanks to you, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Although I don't leave the base much, I have a general idea of what kind of machines the Decepticons have. How come I've never seen you before?"
Arcee, Partition: "Don't even mention it, Old Rescue. This is the first time we've seen her either."
"Beep beep beep! (Me too!)"
"I only arrived on Earth two days ago."
"What were you doing before?"
“I was on Cybertron for a while,” he said, the wings behind the steel fork drooping and bumping into the instruments on the operating table. A wrench on the table was knocked away, but was caught by a quick-thinking partition. “Hey! Be careful!” “I need this!” “Beep beep (Don’t worry, it’s okay)”
"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Steel Fork's wings were now frozen in place, unable to move. It wasn't until Bumblebee had put the things away that Steel Fork slowly raised the wings to a comfortable position.
"Speaking of which, I've never seen such a polite Decepticon as you. You even know how to thank people!"
"Hehe." Steel Fork chuckled shyly and said, "I learned this from Shockwave on Cybertron. It's in the materials he gave me. The ambulance helped me, so I should say thank you. I also should say sorry when I do something wrong. Every time I put the wrong part in the wrong place, I just have to say sorry and it's all fine."
"A shockwave?!"
Is she talking about that cold-blooded, mad scientist, Shockwave?! "Thank you!" When has Shockwave ever said "thank you"?! And yet, he teaches people to say "thank you"?! Is Shockwave even a polite machine?! Oh, they're Autobots, so they probably don't know... There are too many things to criticize!
The above reflects the shared thoughts of several automotive professionals.
"So who is Shockwave?"
These are the common sentiments of several people, expressed through the voice of the divine child.
Just then, Optimus Prime arrived with the Energon cube. Grimlock stared intently at the cube, then raised his hand to take it from the leader. Holding the large, blue cube that faintly emitted a divine glow, Grimlock took a large bite, savoring its taste with satisfaction.
Taking advantage of her relaxed state while the fork was absorbing energy, the ambulance driver quickly attached the device to the sign on her arm.
"What is this?" Steel Fork raised her arm to examine it closely. The device looked familiar; she should have seen it before.
“A tracker, and a little something else added.” The ambulance said, “Now that you were created by Shockwave, we can’t treat you like an ordinary Decepticon.”
"I wasn't created by him!"
"So what is your relationship with shockwave?"
Without hesitation, Steel Fork replied, "He is my only master on Cybertron."
She quickly corrected herself, "Pshaw, I meant I was his assistant. We met on Cybertron."
"Owner!?"
The other machines were shocked, but the Divine Child was the first to react, "Are you trying to say that Shockwave is actually your superior?"
“Yes, yes, yes,” Steel Fork thought for a moment, “No, no, I don’t think of him as my boss. Hmm… after we met on Cybertron, I became his assistant. That’s it.”
"So... 'Master' is a word he taught you?"
"No! He seemed to be joking with me at the time," Steel Fork added, puzzled. "Also, what's wrong with the word 'master'? Although we're not in a master-servant relationship, it's not quite right to describe us like that. But why are you all reacting so strongly?"
"Um... well..." "Haha." "I'm just a little surprised, a little surprised." These were the people who had misunderstood.
Amidst Grimlock's bewildered gaze, Optimus Prime finally spoke up: "'Superior' simply means he's one level above you in rank; your positions are still equal. So the most appropriate word is still 'superior'."
“Oh,” Steel Fork said coldly, “so I am not his creation. You should take this device down.”
"No!" the ambulance retorted. "Who knows if the shockwave will do anything to you? You need to come with me for a full body checkup."
Steel Fork learned a great deal from Shockwave, including, of course, many different mechanical structures. She quickly understood the device's internal structure and operating principles and used her powers to dismantle it. Holding the dismantled device, with its exposed wires, suspended in her hand, she angrily approached the ambulance and met the paramedic's usually mild-mannered gaze through his optical glasses. Red light eroded blue light, and the ambulance fell silent as she suddenly and aggressively approached, taking a step back.
Why don't you try it and see how it is?
“No…I…” The usually experienced physician stammered.
"Steel fork, stop."
A broad, flat hand, seemingly from a large machine, gripped Grimlock's wrist tightly. The pent-up emotion Grimlock felt—anger—vanished abruptly when she turned to look at the Autobot leader. Optimus Prime possessed a golden-ratio inverted triangle physique and long legs. Thick leg armor made his calves appear even wider, complementing the overall design and enhancing his aesthetic appeal. The red and blue accents on his armor and the window on his chest plate added a touch of liveliness to his otherwise composed demeanor. The two short, thick metal plates serving as eyebrows on his visor, combined with the Cybertronian's noseless facial structure, gave Optimus Prime a somewhat goofy look. This visor seemed somewhat incongruous with his towering frame, yet it didn't feel out of place.
Grimlock stared at Optimus Prime's face and tried to speak repeatedly, but each time the words stuck in the speaker's mouth fell silent.
Damn it, why is he so handsome!
"I don't like this." Steel Fork finally turned his head away and looked away.
"In that case, I won't force it on you. I'm sorry about what happened just now."
"Optimus Prime...!" Both Ratchet and Bumblebee extended a server and draped it over Arcee, preventing her from speaking. Ratchet secretly sent a text message: See what Optimus Prime says, trust him.
Arcee crossed her arms: Okay.
"Really?"
“However,” Optimus Prime’s clear and warm gaze, as bright as a clear blue sky, shone through the red optics under the watchful eyes of Raffaele, Jack, Ratchet, Arcee, and Bumblebee, “you need to guarantee that you will share your location at all times for a week. Consider it a trial period for the Autobots, okay?”
"Probation period? I don't... uh, I mean, you also have to share your location with me!" Under the Autobot leader's clear, warm gaze, Steel Fork stammered, unable to refuse. Glancing at the operating table out of the corner of her eye, as if to hide something, she continued, "I'd like to eat some more energy cubes... Is there a limit here?"
"Actually, it's limited. If you need some, I can get you some more."
"Really?" Grimfork looked at Optimus Prime with admiration, its wings curling up excitedly. Not only was he handsome, but his inner spirit was equally beautiful, completely different from Shockwave.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
