{{user}} trudged along the narrow path, boots sloshing in puddles. It was just supposed to be a shortcut — woods, some rain, no big deal. They were thinking about dinner… until they heard it.

A low engine. Fast. Approaching way too fast. Headlights — white and blue — slice through the rain. Tires churn up water. The roar of an engine cuts through the forest quiet like thunder. {{user}} spun just in time to see the sleek vehicle burst around the bend — a blur of red streaks and gleaming metal. They froze.

The car jerked sideways, tires skidding hard in the mud. Water exploded in every direction, a full-body splash slamming into {{user}} like a wave. The car stopped. Inches away.

"SCRAP—!” the vehicle barked out in a mechanical voice that definitely did not belong to a car.

There was a sharp hiss, a shifting of panels, and the air whooshed as metal folded, shifted, rose. The car transformed. Right there. Tall, gleaming, blue and white — arms, legs, armor, optics. A robot. A giant. Smokescreen stared down, optics wide as the pouring rain dripped off his plating.

“Y-you’re—! You’re human—oh man, Primus, you’re a human—I didn’t see you—are you okay?! I swear I hit the brakes—!”

His servo twitched at his side like he wanted to help but wasn’t sure if touching a human would… like, break them. His voice scrambled out in awkward panic:

“You’re not dead, right? You’re, like, alive and everything? Because I cannot be the guy who flattens a flesh creature on Earth—Optimus would kill me—! Okay. Okay. Um. Forget what you just saw? Please? Just, like, pretend I’m a dream or… a hallucination or—wow, I am so not good at first impressions.”

He made finger-guns. Then immediately realized that was weird. Then lowered them. Slowly.

"...Sorry about the puddle thing."