Ep. 1 - The House of Stone and Light - Closed - Finis

[Deleted]

Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem," she said. "It's actually a six person raft. Two other friends of ours were supposed to come on this trip with us, but they got called into work at the last minute. We already had the raft arranged by then, so we just kept it."

She laughed. "We didn't think we'd ever need to use the extra space."

"So yeah, we should be okay for weight," said Mark. He dug out a juice box for himself and gave Dart thumbs up before ripping off the straw. "The water's only rough in a few places from here to the Ranch, so I think we can avoid any upsets. If you know how to raft, Rachel, we might toss you a paddle and put you in the back with Veronica - if that's okay with you."

"All good with me," said Veronica, with a little shrug.

"Great! Oh my gosh." Sarah gave 'Max' a pat on the arm and leapt to her feet. "I'm so glad you guys found us! That would have been so bad if you'd had to wander down the river on your own. I don't think the next group of rafter are due to come through here for hours from now. We were the last ones to push off at the launch this morning. So lucky!"

Mark pushed up to his feet and shook sand off his sandals.

"Come on, Sarah," he said. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb and grinned at Dart again. He had lean, hungry face beneath the ginger beard, but friendly blue eyes. "We're just finishing packing. You two guys should just chill here for a bit, you know - rest up. We can call you when we're done."

"Yes! Help yourself to any food in the pack, you don't have to ask for it," said Sarah. She sprang off after the young man when he padded back towards the raft. After a moment Veronica dragged herself to her feet and wandered after them, still eyeing the two avatars curiously.

Only when they were gone did the man risk a glance over at Dart.

"'Professor?'" he hissed, his voice low. "I don't even know what USGS is. Something to do with geology, I presume."

[Dart]

Dart was good at listening. She was also good at nodding. It was a trick she'd learned over the years; the glory of the Decepticon empire tending to put a bit of an emphasis on that. Stand still, shut up, and agree.

"It's been a long, long time," she admitted to Mark. "I've never done whitewater, any of it, just a few stretches of the Columbia... but that was a long time ago. Long as I have someone to tell me if I'm doing it wrong, I can sure try... I just don't want to mess anything up."

A little smile over at Veronica, well, okay, she didn't seem too upset if she got saddled with her. "No upsets, no... um, enough for one day, that's for sure," she agreed.

Dart's whole frame relaxed after everyone had gone back to the raft. Okay, this was good. This was better than she hoped. Walking twenty more miles just wouldn't have done him any good. She wasn't sure it was doing her any good. She leaned back on the log again and looked around her, then glanced at the mech. He seemed lost in thought, and that was all right.

The courier was back to being enamored with the juice box when he hissed over at her. She held it in her hands, toying with the straw as she hestiated, then scooted a little closer to him to keep the conversation between them.

"Sorry," she apologized softly. "I'm sorry, sir, it was all I could think of on the spot as to why we might be out here with no truck, or why we hiked in we were in... and well, how we look, you know? Er, yes, USGS is the United States Geological Survey. It's Federal. Human government, but I know it has volunteer programs and student stuff and it just-"

She glanced up at the canyon walls. "All the rocks," she said, as if that explained everything, and then looked at him. "But you don't have to be a Professor of Geology, honest. USGS covers a lot of stuff. If it impacts the environment, they're probably working with it."

"What did you do, back home?" she murmured quietly. "The idea, sir, is-- well, use what you know. We can make it work, anything, somehow."

[Deleted]

The man tensed.

While cheerful voices echoed from the river as the three humans lashed their gear into the raft, the man sat perfectly still. His unshaven jaw tightened, tendons like cords against his throat. He put his hands on his knees and gripped them, his scarred knuckles white.

Max shot her a sidelong glare. For a moment he looked poised to tell her off. But then his mouth flattened into a line and he breathed out slowly instead. Worked his jaw from side to side, hunched his shoulders. Glanced at her again through narrowed eyes.

"You really think knowing that will help?" he growled. "Fine. I'll tell you. Security. I was a prison - guard. A guard. Figure out a way to make that work into your little deception."

He scrubbed a hand down his face. It came away red with dust, and he angrily beat it off against the thigh of his jeans before wiping the side of his face against his shirtsleeve.

A minute passed in moody silence. Max rubbed the worst of the dust off his face and neck and then sat without speaking, staring into the fire. The river chuckled behind them while birds twittered on the cliffs high overhead.

"It's not a bad story, I guess," said Max. He spoke grudgingly. "The USGS, professor of Geology thing. Explains why we're down here."

He gave her a warning look. "Just don't expect me to lie convincingly about rocks."

[Dart]

Even before the mech had set his hands on his knees, Dart had caught the flicker of motions that set her on edge too; worst was the tension in his jaw and throat. He was upset. When he glared at her, she instantly responded with a lean away from him. The juice box in her hands crumpled a bit, and juice bubbled cheerfully out of the straw. It spattered over her leg and onto the log, drying instantly in the heat.

She didn't look away from him though. It was more that- well, she focused on something else; the way his shoulders rolled protectively around himself at his words. He growled his answer at her, pushing his nose into his hand. Every motion was internal, not external, directed at... himself? Not her, not her right now at all.

Deception. The word hung there. Dart's delight at dealing with the humans on their level -no, being accepted at her words, being seen as one of them - it sort of tucked tail and slunk away. He was right, it was all deception - simply a means to an end, wasn't it, a way to get them what they needed and move on. It didn't involve swapping text numbers like a real human might, or developing a friendship where you could call the other person years later and say, 'hey, I was just thinking about you, saw a special on Marble Canyon on TV, and...'

"Thank you," she mumbled suddenly. "About the story, I mean."

"I'm a data courier. I spend a lot of time by myself. I'd uh, I'd listen to the survey teams when they came through. You learn all sorts of things about Earth... well, and the people- the humans, I mean."

She scuffed her toe and pawed a hole in the dirt with her worn running shoe. One of the dirty laces had been broken, tied hastily back together with a square knot. Then she looked over at him and rested the juice box on her knee.

Dart couldn't help but smile. "Right. Not about rocks. Lots of Geoscience stuff isn't about rocks, honest. It can be anything from engineering safe ways to travel in hostile environments to impact studies, that's what I remember hearing with the students on campus."

"Security," she mused again. "I dunno. Maybe- okay, maybe the Army? Military's kind of um... universal, I think. You were stationed somewhere, overseas. Iraq. All the humans know about that war here in the States, I think. Maybe something happened to you there, you got hurt, and when you came back to the States, you went back into the civilian sector."

Dart wrinkled her nose, obviously hard at thought. "Civilians contract with the military somtimes, I remember hearing that too. So just say it's- it's classified information you're working on. And yes, I can be with you as a student if it's classified. I'm just helping pick up markers and tags and putting in my field hours."

She looked up again at him. Then she paused, cast a wary observation to the humans working down in the raft. Dart chewed on her lip for a moment and then kept digging that little hole before leaning the juice box between her hands and squeezing it slightly so that the juice ran out into the dirt.

Dart scrubbed over the little puddle with her toes again, letting the heat of the sand dry it out. Unbidden memory; Lord Megatron's shimmering fuel, tinged purple by that horrid, horrid smell of Dark Energon.

An involuntary shudder worked up her relays. Somewhere back in a cave, her plating rattled nervously before she could stop it. Think - of something else, Dart. Think about something else.

"I like the name Max," the young woman said suddenly. "I mean, um, it's a good name. It suits you."

[Deleted]

The man looked taken aback.

"It's - a name," he said shortly.

He went mute, and that appeared to be the end of it. But then he bent and laid his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling. He sighed.

"Short for Maximus," he said reluctantly. "Not so much a name as a designation. Superion Maximus, Grand Maximus, Pious Maximus - you get the idea."

Max scowled at the fire, rubbing his hands together. But despite his expression a little of the hard edge had left his voice when he inclined his head in the courier's direction and spoke again.

"Ex-military, working in the civilian sector after an injury abroad," he murmured. "Classified information. You're my student. Yeah. I can work with that. I'll leave it to you to handle our story. From what I've seen you interact with humans a lot better than I do anyway. Not what I'd expect from - "

He grimaced.

"- From a data courier who listens to survey teams and students. You know a lot about them, don't you? Humans."

Max jerked his head over his shoulder, indicating the raft behind them. Despite their pressing need to get it loaded and back on the river, Sarah and Mark had taken a breathless pause in order to snap a hasty picture of themselves hoisting the raft. Snap, went the cell phone, and laughter erupted across the beach.

"They accepted you as-is right away," he said. "I think the jury's still out on me."

[Dart]

Dart nodded, as he seemed to be processing the story. It wasn't really her forte. So, so not a writer, that was for sure. She also wasn't the best liar, so she'd learned to... huh, yeah, Starscream was good at it. Tell the truth. Just avoid all the parts that might come back to bite you.

"Maximus," she said thoughtfully, and brought her hand up to rub her chin. "A designation. I- I think I remember something like that. A designation, right... gah I remember- I remember...something." She absentmindedly began to paw at the ground again. Her weight shifted on the log, she chewed her lip. The courier was obviously struggling with something.

Then she nodded. "Saurophaganax Maximus..." she said, to herself, her accent thickening a bit as if she was remembering the words how they'd been said to her. Then she shook herself, tossing her hair out of her eyes again.

"Also the horse in Tangled," she offered, and then chuckled and tucked the juice box between her knees now that it was crumpled and empty. "The movie, I mean. Animated movie. They had it at a drive in and I snuck over to watch--"

Now it was the courier's turn to look unsure, caught out. She hesitated, then nodded and followed his gaze to the scene on the beach where they were readying the raft.

"Yes sir," she said. "I guess I do. Know a lot about them. I work by myself a lot, and... I dunno. It's easier to travel through this world if you learn about it. I like humans..."

Dart leaned back on the log, shifting her weight to her hands.

"They're a whole lot like us. That's all you need to know, really."

"Like- like in this case, sir, your avatar is older than mine, you seem in the position of authority for the two of us, and you're obviously hurt. They're being respectful. You're doing fine, sir."

[Deleted]

The flicker of unease that crossed the man's eyes when she mused over his name quickly vanished when she spoke again. Her unfamiliar words rolled over his back, and he shrugged.

"Good," he said.

He lifted one hand and turned it over. He opened and closed it, studying the flex of the tendons and the hard knuckles. Scars wrinkled over the tanned, dirty skin, and something in his face grew strained. Then he lowered his hand and let it hang between his knees again, glancing back at the courier with his usual stony neutrality.

"So long as we can keep up this pretense," he said. "At least, until we reach the ranch. Have you given thought about what might happen should we end up camping somewhere for the night?"

The man eyed her. "Eating - sleeping. Can your avatar remain substantial enough to appear convincing in such human tasks?"

[Dart]

Dart winced at that and slumped on the log. "I thought about it," she admitted. She dropped her hands between her thighs and clasped her fingers together. She didn't have much of a tan at all. "I've been thinking about it a lot, sir, I just knew if we said no to the help, it makes us look downright weird after all that."

"I'm not sure, honestly. I just hope it can hold, it's a big power drain. I was surprised I could pick up the juice box, but... hey, I made it work. Sometimes if I don't think about it so much, it's better."

She looked down at herself, sighed, and then brought up a hand to pluck at the worn collar of her T-shirt. On it, the lavender horse rippled, and close up, the wording was nearly legible. "Here's hoping it can hold, because if it doesn't, I don't know how we'd explain it. There's no story either of us could probably come up with that sounds plausible for that."

The courier let out a little snort and pretended to blow a puff of air out of the corner of her mouth to flick her dirty-blond bangs out of her eyes. "Eating's going to be tough. Sleeping, I can fake, sure, but..."

Dart looked over at him, and shook her head. She shifted her weight on the log, she twisted her fingers nervously. "I'm going to have other problems by morning," she admitted finally. Not something she wanted to think about. "I- my cooling systems aren't designed to sit still for that long. Kinda depend on moving to keep regulated."

[Deleted]

The man shot her a flinty look.

"So, you're saying if you don't get out of that cave and move around, you'll overheat - is that it?" he said coolly. He curled his hands into fists. "Ha! I bet."

He snorted. Over by the raft the red-headed girl, Veronica, heard the sound and looked over at them with a frown. Max quickly lowered his voice and turned his back to the humans, his head bowed.

"What about water?" he muttered. "The river - would that work to cool you? After dark, when the chance of being visually spotted by those Vehicons is reduced, and when our avatars are expected to be sleeping. Actually, I don't really care if it would work. It's the river or nothing. No room to do anything other than pace in this cave, and we aren't going for a moonlit walk down the canyon."

[Dart]

"Not lying," Dart said, shaking her head, and for the first time she looked directly at the mech with frustration. Her shoulders tensed defensively, her hands started to come up out of her lap, and then she turned her head away from him. She started to dig her toe into the ground again and then just forced herself to sit there quietly.

"It's the truth, honest. No reason to lie about it. I just- I figured I better tell you now instead of me trying to explain it later, if we're still down here..."

Her gaze was drawn by motion; his hands, but more so by the girl down on the beach. Immediately she started to lift her hand as if to warn the mech, but by then he'd already caught himself and had turned back. Dart eyed her a moment longer, and then settled on the log once more.

"Water works fine," Dart reassured Max quickly. "It'll hold me. It's the river or nothing, totally understand, sir. I'll make it work, promise. As for the Vehicons, yeah. I don't know if they'll follow or not."

Her expression turned wry. "Doubt that they will, though. They didn't want to even try coming down here, that was for sure."

That would make them smarter than you... a little voice in her head told her. Yeah, yeah, got it, thank you, but hey, I didn't think they'd send me in to track someone like this.

Maybe a minibot. Or a guy who turned into a canoe, sure. A frontliner though...

You're expendable. Remember that.

Yes sir, I do.

She looked back up at Max. "The river works. I'll be fine for a while longer, promise. Hopefully we'll make better time than we think once we're on the river and rafting."

[Deleted]

"I hope they make at least one attempt to come down here," said the man. "To assist you, to kill me - I don't care. Just one. I truly do."

He spoke in a soft voice, barely audible over the crackle and pop of the sleepy campfire. But as he stared down into the embers an ugly light came into his eyes, a cold-burning hunger that wrinkled the worn corners of his eyes and curled his lip. He sucked in a deep breath, held it - then slowly relaxed his fists, deliberately laying his hands flat over his thighs.

After a pause he pushed himself upright.

"That's what we'll do then," he said crisply. "If we need to, if this rafting exercise takes longer than anticipated. After the sun has set. Put our holoforms to 'sleep' and take a stroll down to the river. Cool down your systems however you need to. And I'll be coming with you, so I advise not using the time between now and then to plan an escape."

Max shot her a warning glance. "I'm damaged - but not that damaged."

[Dart]

It reminded her of places she'd been. Of neighborhoods and junkyards up and down the Pacific Coast. Pyrotech was always wandering through them, scavenging that and this for his projects. He ignored everything around him as they did so, but Dart- well, she took it all in. From the little clean, perfect surburban neighborhoods they scouted to the piles of trash and garbage, the overwhelming smell of rust and seeping oil.

The dogs. There were dogs, sometimes. Most of them in neighborhoods did nothing. They might bark once or twice at strange noises, but they were far more interested in wandering possums and stray cats. They usually ignored the presence of Cybertronians the same way they did all mechanical things; they didn't go barking at cranes and backhoes. Well, the smart ones didn't. The dumb dogs barked at air.

There were some though, that made her stop and look at them. Usually the junkyard dogs, half starved behind rusting fences. These dogs stood staring into the dark, stiff-legged and tense. They curled their lips in silent challenge and they tensed. They were not the sort of dogs to bark warnings. They silently came to overpower whatever came into their space; no bluff. No quarter.

She hoped the Vehicons didn't. For a lot of reasons.

Dart winced and then got to her feet herself. She stuffed her hands into her pockets, thumbing nervously at the rivets on her jeans. "Understood," she replied, even as she observed the humans readying the last of the raft gear. "Thank you, er... no. I understand. I don't plan on it, sir, damage or not. You've uh-- got the gun, and I'm fast..."

A faint chuckle. "Not so much on the uptake today, though. Didn't expect that at all. You did just fine playing a human, sir. Won't be a problem tonight, I'm sure."

[Deleted]

Max looked down at his hands. He turned them back and forth beneath the sunlight, his brow creased.

"I hope not," he said.

"Okay!"

A voice called out behind them. Sarah jogged up the sand, running lightly on bright green sports sandals while her dark hair swished across her back. She waved as she drew near them, smiling wide.

"Okay, we're all packed up and strapped down and ready to go," she said. She scooped up the cooking pack and settled it across her shoulder. "We've got the paddles, we've got the gear - we just need to throw some water or sand on the fire, and then we can push off. We won't hit our first set of rapids for another mile or so downstream, so that gives you guys lots of time to get comfortable and used to rafting again. Mr Freeman, would you like to come on over now? I'll show you where we need you to sit, since you and Mark are the heaviest."

"All right," said Max. He allowed her to take his elbow and lead him down the beach, still limping stiffly, his hand back to his bloodied side.

Sarah meanwhile looked back over her shoulder at Dart.

"Hey, Rachel, do you think you could put out the fire for me?" she said. "It should almost be out by now anyway, I think? That'd be awesome, thank you!"

[Dart]

Dart cast a worried glance at the mech as the girl took his arm again. She started automatically to step in front of him - he'd told her to stay there, stay in front. Dart was taking his warnings seriously. When Sarah asked about the fire, she sidestepped nervously, then rocked back on her heels. Stay in front.

If she stayed in front, she'd give up the ruse. He had to know that. He had to understand that, this one was going to have to lay at his feet, and he was going to have to trust her to come back... no, not that. He was going to have to trust her to be behind him for a few minutes, and that she would return to her position as soon as she was able.

She held up a hand, and looked at Max. A little nod, it was all she could give right now. Dart hoped that was enough.

"Sure," she called hastily. "Sure... you guys get settled. I'll- I'll get the fire. Not a problem. I'll be right back, sir."

A quick jog back towards the fire pit that sat and smoked a bit. The heat wavered along the stones. A faint wisp trailed up into the blue sky, swirling. The courier circled it the firepit for a second. Okay, please let this hold together. Sand. Move sand. She didn't dare pick up the water bucket, if she dropped it, then she'd have to carry it to the river, and every second that it took was not just a drain on her power systems to hold steady. It was more that if she didn't get herself back to that raft quickly, Max was not going to be amused, not one bit. While she was going to need to get to air to cool off, no, she didn't want the sort of air-conditioning that came with large holes shot through your plating.

The courier extended her nose slightly; attempting to sniff at the remnants of the fire before she even touched it. Then she dropped down, and started to carefully shove sand into the fire pit.

She was so nervous about it, the first time she tried, she simply phased through it. Her fingers flickered, there was a slight little pop of her avatar. Her forearms wavered- no no no, concentrate, stop it - not now, please --

With a gasp, she managed to solidify; and she quickly shoved sand over the coals. Sarah was right, it was mostly out; it took only a few quick digs of red earth to cover it. The fire wisped out, and Dart moved to the other side to make sure it stayed that way-- and then she looked towards the log where she'd been sitting.

She held up her hand once more in apology - and then trotted up to the log, grabbing something... As she came back by the fire she double checked once more, and then went to tamp the dirt down with a cautious foot.

[Deleted]

Down by the river the others were waiting for her. Veronica was already seated inside the inflatable raft, which had been pushed out into the shallows. It bobbed on the gentle current, tethered in place by Mark and Sarah, who each had a hold of it by the bow and stern lines. They stood knee deep in the warm water. Mark had claimed the floppy boonie hat, which shielded his eyes from the sun. Everyone wore a slim blue life jacket.

Sarah waved to Dart when she saw that the fire was out, the smoke extinguished.

"Thanks!" she called. "Come on down! We've got a jacket and paddle here for you. We're all set to push off."

The current tugged playfully at the old yellow raft. The gear and packs had been shifted to the middle of the craft - tightly rolled tents and waterproof sleeping bags, backpacks, sealed containers - and securely lashed down. Two big black oars were fixed mid-ship as well, while Veronica carried a paddle at the stern. The man sat at the bow, one foot braced against a pack to steady himself. He looked ill at ease on the water, his hand to his side, but his eyes were fixed darkly upon the courier.

"Jump in, and take a seat in the back next to Veronica, and then we'll push off," said Sarah. She grinned. "Don't worry about the oars - Mark and I will handle them. We'll mostly need you guys to help us paddle in the quieter water, especially if we want to make good time on the river. Once we hit the rapids, your job will be to help keep us off any rocks. Rapids are awesome though, it's super fun going through them, so don't worry!"

Downstream from the beach, the water was smooth and calm. But in the distance the sound of rushing water echoed off the steep canyon walls, a faint but roaring noise.