Aporia
The progression was slow at first; so much so that it was not detected until five years after the Fallen had been thwarted. It was Bumblebee who noticed the change first and quite by accident. They had thought it was merely the flu, as it was that time of the year, but as Sam lay in his bed delirious from a raging fever, Bumblebee’s scanners blipped. At first it seemed like nothing but a glitch, but then they blipped again, stronger this time. His scanners picked up faint surges of energy for several hours, all of them emanating from Sam’s bedroom.
He took his charge to Ratchet the next morning. Whatever the medic found, it was not the flu. There was no name for it; as such a thing had never happened before. But Sam’s body was changing, everything down to the very atoms that made up his body. Everything was changing. But to what…no one could say.
First, his eyes, once a mellow brown, turned bright green. Then his hair began to fall out, becoming thinner and thinner and the boy picked up the habit of wearing a sad grey little beanie to cover his affliction. His parents were frantic and despite all that Ratchet had said them, they still sent Sam to every specialist they could find.
No one could find what was causing Sam’s symptoms.
And one night as Sam and Mikeala lay in bed together, the first surge occurred. Mikeala later recalled the horrifying event: she had fallen asleep in Sam’s arms when he suddenly went ridged and she felt as thought she was being electrocuted. Pulling herself from the boy, she looked down to see him ‘going Super Saiyan’ as she described it. His body went into hectic spasms and his skin seemed to glow, his eyes were afire with so many things; pain…fear…
The night after the first surge, Sam’s fingernails fell off and the first signs of crystallization appeared. At fist, it looked like fish scales were growing atop Sam’s skin, but the truth was far more disturbing. And with every new surge episode, the green crystals spread. By the end of the year, Sam’s entire left arm had been crystallized.
It was a dark time. Everyone had a sense of what was happening and how it would ultimately end…but no one spoke of it. Mikeala went beyond her obligations to spend every moment she could with Sam, who was placed in protective custody, always making him smile if only for a moment. Bumblebee was never two steps away from Sam, always standing by to help him if needed, to listen to him when he wanted to talk, and to comfort him when it all became too much for his young mind to handle. There were many nights when the boy would fall asleep in Bumblebee’s driver’s seat after having another melt down.
His parents never stopped fighting, never stopped looking for something to cure their son. No one could tell them their son was dieing. Optimus Prime was at a loss as to what they could do, but ultimately all they managed was to make what remained of Sam’s time as enjoyable and comfortable as possible.
It was a Saturday night when Sam finally slipped away.
Too much of his body had been consumed by the crystallization process and his tired heart gave one last feeble pump before it stilled forever. He was with Mikeala and Bumblebee, watching a movie. How Mikeala cried. It was horrible for everyone. And Bumblebee felt as if he had failed. No one seemed to convince him otherwise.
Sam’s life finally extinguished, the crystals took over, transforming the human’s form into a green crystallite that, to everyone shock, radiated with Allspark energy. There might have been some poetic meaning behind Sam’s death and the Allspark’s rejuvenation, but it meant nothing to Bumblebee. Sam was gone and he was never coming back.