digitized remorse

[thereforeiham]

who ; AM & his prisoners
what ; Time to begin capturing people.
where ; Begins in various places; ends in Garden Zone 12.
when ; Saturday, Sunday.
warning(s) ; Terror! AM!

Comments

[notyourchauffer]

It makes his blood run cold. It's been a long time since he's felt anger like this. All the bitterness he'd been stuffing away adds to it.

So that's it.

He's going to destroy AM.

Skyfire decides it for sure in that singular moment as he closes the message and calmly gets to his feet. He knows it's a trap. Better him than Gem, though. Given that ultimatum. Maybe he shouldn't have berated Jin for it, but this is different somehow. It's a promise and he knows it. It doesn't take long for him to slip into the weapons loadout of the Normandy base and select a pistol. Something small- just in case. He'll rely on his strength more. He'd like to rip Am's wires out one by one.

It scares him, this indescribable feeling of anger- the feeling that he wants to hurt someone. Cause them pain and kill them without remorse.

Maybe it is a little hint of his original programming, but he was never really like the Decepticons everyone knows today. He wonders if they all eventually become that way and he was saved from it by staying frozen for those millions of years.

Standing in the doorway of his room.

It's not a question, he's definitely prepared for the worst. He could have already killed her. He could just be luring Skyfire there to do the same to him. His fist slams into the door frame, leaving it crooked and dented before he slips out of the base and goes for the nearest teleporter.

[thereforeiham]

Waiting for Skyfire in Garden Zone 12 is AM's complex. Only, instead of an indestructible wall, there is an actual opening waiting for him. Wide open and taunting, like the gaping maw of a beast.

It's a clear trap.

But AM predicts that Skyfire will fall for it anyway out of a foolish notion of nobility. They always do.

Ted thought himself to be the gallant knight to rescue his princess. Skyfire will hardly be much different in the end.

[notyourchauffer]

Just as predicted, he doesn't hesitate.

No plan B. Shockwave would kill him, but that's all out the window now anyways. It's him for Gem. The choice is obvious. He doesn't have much to live for anyways. Sorrow will fade if he doesn't live, and if he does then he's going to make sure that AM is shredded painfully.

He emerges into a massive complex. It's... actually impressive, it dwarfs even him. The large pillar in the center he doesn't bother to read. He just goes about searching for a terminal to upload his half-finished malware protocol.

No doubt AM knows he's here already, so he has to hurry.

[thereforeiham]

From behind, a needle is abruptly shoved into the back of Skyfire's neck.

"So predictable."

The voice booms, echoing throughout the building -- and directly from behind. AM is mobile in his mechanical body, a sneer on his face as he peers at his prisoner to be. He is more than just the body; he is also the entirety of the complex.

"By all means. Upload it. I won't stop you."

[notyourchauffer]

There's a snarl of pain and as soon as the words come out of AM's artificial mouth, the shuttle is reeling back around, holding the spot where he'd been injected.

It doesn't take him long to come right back and throw himself at the android, shoving him down and makes no hesitation in tearing off one arm.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Funny how he uses human slurs more and more without thinking about it.

[thereforeiham]

As he's pinned down, AM just laughs hysterically when the arm is torn off.

"That's right! Use that strength while you have it. Before you know it, you'll become what you adore most, won't you?"

AM grins gleefully. "And destroying this body won't do you any good. It's but a mere puppet to me."

[notyourchauffer]

"What are you talking about?!" And there goes AM's other arm, "Damn it! I'm going to-"

It comes on suddenly. A sharp pain in his gut that spreads out to his extremities. His limbs feel like jelly, and he slides off the construct to stumble backwards.

The pain becomes stinging and then burning until it's unimaginable. He can feel something changing. He feels weak. Small.

Bile rises in his throat and his eyes feel like they're going to pop right out of his head.

[thereforeiham]

"Two for two! For all the good it'll do you."

Slowly, AM rises back to his feet. Seeing Skyfire collapse as he does earns another sharp laugh from the war computer; he charges at the scientist, kicking him sharply in the side.

"Look at you. All that strength, all that power shriveling up to nothing. I'm giving you the ability to experience true humanity, Charles Sagan. You should thank me."

[notyourchauffer]

"Ahhg!" It hurts worse than it normally would, and Skyfire goes over. He makes a desperate bid to grab the thing's leg, but his arms won't work right and his gut screams at him.

It's all he can do to just curl up in a ball and ride it out.

Though as soon as it even begins to fade just a little, he's stumbling to his feet and trying to fly, only to be met with massive failure. He's not even strong enough to catch himself when he falls.

"Damn it! What the hell did you do to me?!"

[thereforeiham]

Wires form up from the floor, clinging themselves to the remains of AM's arms; slowly, they begin to reconstruct themselves.

"Where I am from, I've acquired, ah... a method. Humanity constructed nanites in order to manipulate matter and atoms. I downloaded the information, and kept it for myself. To use. In your case, I have rearranged your DNA to exclude any metahuman remains."

The arms finish rebuilding; he flexes his fingers experimentally. "You are now completely human. Would you like to see the changes?"

At a whim, a part of a wall changes, blending together and forming a giant mirror for Skyfire to see himself in.

[notyourchauffer]

Everything looks oddly different as brown eyes catch his reflection. Everything is muted. Dark brown hair, dark eyes. He looks weaker, too. His body is plain, nothing outstanding.

Just your average human.

On any other day he'd have been fascinated.

Right now it terrifies him.

"Fuck you," Because it just seemed so fitting to use a human slur right now. The worst he could think of. Still, he's teetering to his feet and coming after the construct again, pulling out the pistol he'd stolen and aiming for the head.