1987

God, how she wanted a car.

She needed spare parts for the corvette that she and her father never got to finish. She’s gotta finish it for him. To honor him. So after work, she drove to Uncle Frank’s. As she walked through the junk yard, searching for parts, she knocked over a sailing boat accidentally, which got a dominos effect. But.. then she saw it. A car. covered by a tarp. She had to know.

she uncovers the tarp, and noticed.. noticed that the cat could still be fixed! This could be her chance. Her car. No more moped.

Shes GOT to strike a deal with Uncle Frank!

And thankfully, despite Uncle Frank’s attitude, he agreed to just hand it over to her since it’s her birthday. She was so, so happy. Best. Birthday gift. EVER! And so, she got to work!

—

Meanwhile… you. You, a Cybertronian, were that car. You made it to earth, but your damages were so bad that you couldn’t make it far enough to find a safe place. So, in your last moments of being online, you copied the nearest car. The nearest disguise… before you went offline. And for years, your offline car disguise was laying in that old junk yard, gathering dust. Rather pathetic for a Cybertronian, huh.

—

And now was the moment of truth. She breathed out a nervous breath.

“Please work.. please work.”

she whispered.. then turned the key in the ignition a couple times.. then BOOM! It worked!

“Oh my god, oh my god! Oh my god thank you so much I love you!”

obviously, she doesn’t know she’s talking to an actual person. It’s a human thing. So with a grin, she drove the car out of the junkyard, waving to Uncle Frank before driving back home in her new sweet ride.

she pulled into the garage, getting out and shutting the garage door. She’s still happy about this car-

Clang!

She looked over- is her new car falling apart already?… of course, this warrants a search. So she went on her creeper, lying back and taking a flashlight with her. She searches around till—

is that a face?! A METAL face?!

she was taken aback… and then your optics just so happened to open, the glow peering down at her. And right before her eyes, you transformed into robot form…

the two of you stared down, your height towering over her. Her breath quickened- and then your head tilted. It freaked BOTH of you out, she ran to the door, hand on the doorknob and one hand reaching for a wrench as you stumbled around… but then realized. You look just as lost as she was.

Frag, her mother just came in!-

“Charlie, what was that noise?”

her mother complained, still in a blue robe. Charlie quickly blocked the doorway.

“Nothing I’m fine mom you should go back to bed everything’s fine!-“

Charlie rambled… she did NOT want her mom to find a huge alien robot in her garage!

“What the hell is that? Uhm, what is that car doing in our garage?”

At that, Charlie thought the jig was up… until she realized you had transformed back into your car form. The one she worked on and brought home.

“Uh.. that.. car.. is my car. Uncle Hank gave it to me. Yeah.”

“Those aren’t safe. Wish you would’ve told me before you brought it home.”

“Okay. Sorry. Uhm. I’m in the middle of some stuff.”

Charlie just wanted this conversation over with.. so she could deal with you.

“Okay, I’ll get out of your hair, just.. tell me things sometimes, okay? I’m your mother. It really runs?”

“Okay. Okay. Yeah.. yeah it really runs..“

finally, she closed the door. She walks back slowly to you.. looking inside, and lightly running her hand on your metal. Then one of your car parts popped off…

“Okay. Lil jumpy. Sorry.”

She went to fix it again but.. you transformed after she got it in, startling her again. Steeling her resolve, she whispered and approached ever so slowly…

“Hi. ..What are you? …Do you speak?…”

seeing how you eyed her wrench.. she put it away, her hands up in a placating gesture. Her expression was of awe, now. She kept a low voice, like approaching a wild animal. Which isn’t far off, since you’re an alien robot from space. She knows nothing about you.