Shy Arcee

"Virtual projection?"

Merlin could not help glancing down at his Ducati parked in the workshop. It sat quietly in its space, like an art exhibit draped in a red dress.

Thinking of the strange malfunction that had occurred while he was cleaning and modifying the motorcycle, his expression turned odd.

"It can't be that much of a coincidence..." he muttered, then began examining the footage frame by frame.

In the end, he confirmed it. The woman speeding along the secluded street on his Ducati had merely been a virtual projection. More precisely, while he had been heading to Afghanistan, the Ducati he had left at the shop had gone out on its own and projected a woman to conceal itself.

What had happened that day had made him think he really was some kind of pervert.

Watching the surveillance footage on the computer, Merlin rubbed his chin in thought for a while before continuing.

Next came footage of the battle beneath the bridge. From the police recordings, he could see that the scene was in utter ruins, as if it had been ravaged by some enormous creature. There were even blood samples resembling industrial fluids left behind.

After watching it all, Merlin leaned back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling of steel beams, lost in thought.

Now he could be certain. Transformers really existed in this world.

At that thought, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"This is going to be fun..."

He did not go downstairs immediately. Instead, he used the R Star Subsystem to infiltrate Eagle's defense network and found Zone 7, along with information on Sam.

Sure enough, Eagle's Department of Defense had suffered a mysterious cyberattack two days ago, yet they still had not found the cause.

[Mysterious frozen giant organic robot.]

[Mysterious cube research project dossier.]

[Zone 7 special unit for extraterrestrial affairs research.]

Clap!

After closing the Notebook, Merlin headed down the stairs into the workshop and walked over to his Ducati.

After coming downstairs, he said nothing. He simply stood there with his arms folded, quietly watching her.

Arcee: "..."

The workshop was silent. Merlin was the only person standing face-to-face with a motorcycle, yet an awkward atmosphere somehow spread through the room.

Arcee, under his gaze, began to feel flustered.

Yet for some reason, she also felt a little anticipation.

What is this human going to do? Don't tell me he's going to...

She swore she was absolutely not looking forward to the sensation of having her parts handled. She was looking forward to the enhanced performance brought by the modifications.

Arcee's thoughts began to run wild. Why did a human possess such a strange ability? Or did it only work on her? Could it be guidance from the Creator?

"What are you still hiding for?" Just as Arcee's thoughts were drifting further and further off track, Merlin suddenly spoke, startling her.

All right, now she was genuinely panicking.

What does he mean? Has he discovered me? Or is he talking to someone else? Her mind was a mess, but outwardly, she remained perfectly still.

Seeing that Arcee could still keep her composure, Merlin spoke again.

"I already saw you on the surveillance footage from the side road near the Manhattan Power Plant. That woman was just a projection."

"The battle at the Bridge by the Power Plant must have had something to do with you too, right?"

Arcee remained motionless.

"Are you really going to wait until I check the weapons inventory before you come out?" Merlin was not in a hurry. He merely walked over slowly.

Just as his hand was about to touch her body, the motorcycle suddenly trembled violently.

"Clack! Clack! Clack..." Dense mechanical sounds rang out in rapid succession. Before Merlin's astonished eyes, the red Ducati swiftly transformed into a robot with a sweet and delicate face.

She truly looked sweet and delicate—not in the sense of seeming mentally unstable.

With Merlin standing so close, Arcee awkwardly took several steps back. Beneath her pale red visor, her deep blue eyes watched him nervously.

"Uh... sorry. I didn't mean to hide by your side. After all, you were the one who bought me." To be honest, when facing this human directly, she did not know what to do.

Even the mysterious, imposing tone she had originally planned to maintain weakened unconsciously.

Perhaps it was because she had casually taken advantage of Merlin's weapons and engine upgrades, or perhaps because of that embarrassing incident when her headlights had blared upon her arrival.

Merlin looked at her slender, graceful mechanical body—of course, compared to the Transformers he remembered.

Combined with her motorcycle form, he had more or less guessed who she was.

"Who are you?" Still, to confirm his guess, he asked.

"I am Arcee, from Cybertron." Arcee steadied herself before answering.

"You fought at the power plant? Because of the AllSpark?"

"Yes... Wait, how do you know our objective?" Arcee answered instinctively, then quickly realized what he had said and asked in shock.

Only then did she notice that he had remained remarkably calm about her appearance, without the slightest panic at seeing an alien.

"I looked up all the information about you, including your conversations with Sam."

"Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide..."

"And your enemies from the same homeworld—the Decepticons, Megatron."

Merlin paused at the end, then raised his brows and stared at Arcee for a moment before slowly saying, "And... the location of the AllSpark!"

"What! You know where the AllSpark is? Where is it?" Arcee immediately stepped before Merlin in excitement.

Who knew how long they had waited on Earth? Yet they had never found any information about the AllSpark.

"Don't get excited. Calm down. I only know its general location. It will take some time to pinpoint it precisely." Seeing how agitated Arcee was, Merlin hurriedly waved his hands in explanation.

"While investigating you, I also looked into information related to the AllSpark. It is in Eagle's possession, but I'm not sure of the exact location."

"It has already been taken by the human military." Arcee froze at his words, then fell into thought.

If humans had taken it, things would be troublesome.

Having lived in the human world for some time, she knew how complicated human society was.

"Are you sure?" she asked seriously.

"Of course. I can send you the data."

Afterward, Merlin sent Arcee an excerpt of the data, and only then was she convinced.

"Merlin, do you want to meet Optimus Prime and the others? Your information is very important." After confirming it, Arcee grew a little excited, then asked carefully.