Author's Notes: I really wish I could've updated this sooner. I really like this story and I certainly won't let it go by the wayside. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter of "What a Waste" :)

Chapter 4

People Are Alike All Over

Carly drove Carnia up Mount St. Hillary so they could get some more energon from the Autobot base. Carly had never been the motorcycle type before, but she found that she really enjoyed the way the wind whipped through her hair and sleeves. What she didn't appreciate was the bugs, the helmet hair, and flecks of rust flaking off of Carnia's body as they drove. Still, it was fun and was a good bonding exercise for her and her newly adopted sparkling.

The door opened for them and they drove into the parking area just inside the Ark. Carly saw that just behind them was Bumblebee and Spike, and she smiled at seeing her friends. It had been almost a month since Carnia moved into Carly's house and Spike had yet to meet the little Junkion.

Carly got off Carnia and Carnia transformed into robot mode. A few seconds later Spike got out of Bumblebee and Bumblebee transformed as well.

"Hey, Carly! Long time no see!" Spike greeted her; his face beaming with joy, "How have you been?"

"Great. I'm sorry I haven't come by this way lately. I'm still glad you call every day though," Carly replied with a warm smile of her own.

"Hi, Carly," Bumblebee waved as he walked closer, but then suddenly stopped in his tracks when he spotted Carnia, "Oh, uh, I see you brought the...Carnia. Hi, Carnia," He stammered nervously.

"Workin' hard or hardly workin'?" Carnia asked cheekily.

"Aww, so this is Carnia," Spike laughed as he walked closer to get a good look at her, "Hey there Carnia, my name is Spike. I've never seen a baby robot before. How are you?"

"No respect!" Carnia jabbed a thumb in the direction of the exit; where Bumblebee was quickly walking away, "It ain't the men in my life, it's the life in my men."

"Seriously Bumblebee, again?" Carly exclaimed hotly even though Bumblebee had already left, "It's been a month, and most of the Autobots are still scared of Carnia! I swear if it wasn't for Wheeljack and Skyfire I don't know what I would do. Why are they all acting like a bunch of scared rabbits? Carnia never did anything to them."

"Well, honestly I didn't expect Carnia to be so calm," Spike shrugged, "To hear Bee talk about her you'd think she stepped right out of Night of The Living Dead."

"They're coming to get you, Barbara," Carnia quoted a line from the movie.

Spike chuckled at her impression, and Carly was at least relieved that Spike didn't take the rumors about Carnia at face value.

"I just don't get it," Carly shook her head again once the moment turned solemn again, "I mean, I understand why they were scared at first. Carnia was an unknown element to them that came from a planet they don't understand, but they're still afraid of her. Why?"

"I think I know why," Spike replied as he took Carly's hand.

Together the two teenagers walked down the orange hallways of the Ark with Carnia trailing behind them and trying to listen to their conversation.

"Carly, imagine that you learned of an alien race that lived close to our planet," Spike illustrated, "Astronauts find this planet to see what kind of alien life is there, only to find a group of aliens with limited intelligence that make their bodies using the bones, skin, and internal organs of our dead. If you came across a group of aliens that stole our body parts and had the mental capacity of zombies would you even stop to ask whether their intentions were good or not? Wouldn't it freak you out too much to worry about whether or not you were hurting their feelings?"

"Yes, at first," Carly counter-argued, "But if you spend a lot of time with someone would it really matter what they looked like?"

"Even if that someone was a rotting corpse?" Spike pointed out, "Look, I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying I understand where the Autobots are coming from. To them Carnia is a living rotting corpse. Her entire frame is made out of the bodies of dead sparklings. Her manner of speech is just imitations with limited thought. To them she's a monster."

"She's not stupid," Carly replied firmly; focusing on that specific aspect of Spike's wording, "Carnia might not be able to express herself well, but she is smart. She can fix almost anything, and she likes to draw. She isn't good at it yet, but she could be. There are so many things she could be, but no one wants to give her a chance. The Autobots aren't usually this bigoted. I don't understand why they can't just get to know her. There's so much more to her than what she looks like, and I wish they could see it too."

"Have I ever told you about Autobot X?" Spike suddenly changed the subject.

"Um, no. Who's Autobot X?" Carly asked.

"For a while, I was," Spike replied; a melancholy shifting his features and tone, "It happened about a month before you and I met. My dad was working on an invention that could help the Autobots. It was a robot called Autobot X, and it was made using spare parts from around the Ark. Wheeljack loved the idea of working on this thing, but for some reason the others seemed wary of letting Dad build it. At the time I didn't know why, but now I do."

"It's alive! It's alive!" Carnia suddenly screamed; startling the two humans that forgot she was right behind them, "In the name of God, now I know what it feels like to be God!"

"Um, exactly," Spike shakily replied once he composed himself, "To the Autobots, Dad was trying to create life, which obviously he couldn't do without a spark. Well, they humored him since they knew he couldn't do anything with the robot, but that all changed after a fight with the Decepticons. Bumblebee and I got in the middle of it, and Megatron attacked us. Bumblebee was alright, but I...I suffered massive trauma to my head and body, and the doctors feared I wouldn't survive long enough for them to operate."

"That's terrible!" Carly exclaimed, "But you seem alright now."

"Yeah, because they were able to operate," Spike replied, "Dad and Wheeljack downloaded my brain's electrical impulses into the processor of Autobot X. It messed with my thoughts, and made me want to do bad things. Worst of all though, I saw how the Autobots looked at me. Like I was a monster. Wheeljack and Optimus were supportive, and Bumblebee was too, but most of the others just saw me as a freak. I guess it frightened them to see a hodgepodge of reject parts formed into a real living being. It would be like if Bumblebee's brain went into a reanimated human body. He'd still be my best friend, but it would be pretty disturbing."

"Well I can't see it that way," Carly replied stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Carnia isn't a dead body to me. She's a bright quirky little girl with a zest for life...and an encyclopedic knowledge of my VHS collection."

Spike and Carly both laughed at that last line, and Carnia laughed too even though she wasn't entirely sure what was funny. The three of them made it to Wheeljack's lab, but before they could even say hello they noticed that Wheeljack and Ratchet were running around and shoving weapons in their subspaces.

"What's going on, guys?" Spike asked curiously; a little worried at their hurried pace.

"Decepticons," Ratchet explained as he continued to pack medical equipment, "They're attacking a factory that manufactures cars. We think they're going to try to build another army."

"Don't tell Tracks," Wheeljack cautioned, "Remember what happened last time?"

"Vividly," Ratchet deadpanned; recalling an incident where Tracks had been stolen while in car mode, "Huh? Oh, Carly and Carnia are here. You ladies should probably stay here in case there's danger."

"But we can help!" Carly insisted, "If the Decepticons start programming cars to do their evil bidding you'll want a coder like me around to help you."

"I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!" Carnia shouted in a sing-song voice, "Operators are standing by to take your call. Limited time offer. Results may vary."

"Alright fine, just stay out of the combat zone," Ratchet sighed as he looked at the eager young faces on the trio, "Get in."

"That's okay, Carnia can drive me," Carly declined politely.

Carnia then transformed and Carly hopped on. Spike looked between Carnia and Ratchet, wondering if he should ask the girls for a ride or not.

"Hey Spike, goin' my way?" Carnia asked as she idled; indicating she wanted Spike to get on.

Spike grinned and got on the bike behind Carly. Together the group traveled with the other Autobots to the factory; the Autobots feeling dread and the kids feeling the sense of adventure.

The battle outside the factory was utter melee. Optimus Prime and Megatron were locked in hand to hand combat once again and everyone else was left to fend for themselves. Among the normal Decepticon warriors however was an army of non-sentient cars ready with newly installed weapons to attack the Autobots.

Perceptor hypothosized that there must be a device controlling the cars, so the Autobots sent Roller to record live footage of the inside of the factory. The place looked mostly intact and there were no people inside. Sure enough, there was a computer that was controlling the cars. They had to get in there and stop these mindless machines!

Carly snuck past the combatants with Perceptor and Carnia. They seemed to go undetected, but they all remained quiet anyway. Even Carnia was silent, being aware of the gravity of the situation due to all the fighting. If they could just turn off the signal that was going to the cars then the Autobots would have the advantage over the Decepticons.

They were almost to the console when suddenly the roof came crashing in to reveal the elite seeker trine! Starscream and his counterparts wore identical smug grins on their face plates as they leered at Perceptor. The microscope-former knew Carly could still deactivate the computer, so he shot at Thundercracker and ran in hopes of distracting them.

"Why that no good glitch!" Thundercracker growled as he held his servo against the missile launcher on his chassis that had been hit, "I'll kill him!"

"Good, take Skywarp with you," Starscream ordered with a sly smirk, "I see a little flesh creature that needs stepping on."

Thundercracker and Skywarp ran off after Perceptor while Starscream made his way over to the computer to stop the human girl from ruining their plans. Just as he predicted, she was already typing away trying to foolishly save her Autobot allies. Well, this was no challenge for the pride of the war academy.

"Freeze, earth germ!" Starscream ordered as he aimed his null ray at the blonde girl, "Step away from that console or you'll be vaporized."

Carly gasped when she saw Starscream's weapon so close to her, and she backed away slowly; feeling ashamed that she didn't stop the Decepticons as she had planned. She only hoped the Autobots would find another way to save themselves.

"Good human," Starscream purred; his smile widening to a crazed degree, "Now, say goodbye, Autobrat!"

Starscream was about to fire on Carly, but suddenly he felt a stinging sensation in his arm. He looked at it to find there were several dozen thin rusty quills stuck in his arm.

"YAAAAH!" Starscream screamed out in pain, "What is the meaning of this!?"

"Go ahead, make my day!" Carnia growled challengingly as she stepped out from behind a conveyor belt, "You feelin' lucky, punk?"

Starscream stared at the little creature, but he couldn't believe his optics. How could it be? It was a Junkion, but that was impossible. This little Junkion was on earth, and it could talk. Still, that murderous glare and primal stance was just as Junkion as the first time Starscream had ever seen it. There was really a Junkion on earth!

Starscream stumbled backward in an attempt to distance himself from the little savage. Junkions never travelled alone. If there was one then there were more, and this one was only a sparkling. Starscream did not want to anger this Junkion's parents, as their tribal protectiveness would cause them to rip him to shreds.

Thundercracker and Skywarp showed up then with a badly battered Perceptor held up by his arms. He was barely conscious, and Carly felt so angry when she saw the energon still draining from his wounds. She had to do something!

"We got a prisoner, Starscream," Skywarp announced proudly.

"You maniacs!" Carnia screamed at the top of her lungs, "You blew it up! You're despicable!"

"What's that thing?" Thundercracker asked inquisitively as he pointed down to the raving sparkling.

"Decepticons, retreat!" Starscream ordered quickly as he turned to fly away.

"But what about our prisoner?" Skywarp whined.

"Leave him and let's go!" Starscream demanded, "Hurry up you fools! Before more of them come!"

"Before more of what come?" Skywarp asked petulantly; upset at having to leave an Autobot prisoner behind.

Starscream didn't answer him. Instead he simply flew out of the factory. Carly had used this distraction to turn off the computer where the radio signal was coming from; disabling all the attack cars. Thundercracker and Skywarp didn't know what had gotten into their trine leader, but they were ordered to leave so they left.

Perceptor fell to the ground, no longer able to support his own weight. Carly and Carnia rushed over to him, and he groaned in pain.

"G-Get...Ratchet..." Perceptor choked out through gritted denta.

"I'm so sorry this happened Perceptor," Carly said as she placed her hand on a spot on his arm that wasn't dripping with purple energon, "Ratchet will fix this."

Carly ran out to try to find the medic, leaving Perceptor alone with Carnia. He was in too bad of shape to even be wary around the Junkion at this point. Carnia looked around the factory, and then looked back at Perceptor. The gears in her helm were turning, and soon she knew just what to do.

"Always trust your car to the femme that scares a Star," Carnia quipped; paraphrasing the original commercial jingle.

Perceptor was too close to stasis lock to even bother answering the sparking, which didn't concern Carnia as she scurried around the factory ripping out plating and wires on cars and industrial equipment. She quickly patched up Perceptor, and by the time Carly came back with Hoist (Ratchet was repairing Sideswipe) Carnia was almost done with the repairs.

"Well I say, she does a pretty decent job, doesn't she?" Hoist asked rhetorically as he observed Carnia in action, "Quite a talented sparkling you have there, Carly. Truly a marvel."

Perceptor finally came to his senses to see that his injuries were healed. Hoist gave him a cube of energon from his subspace so that Perceptor wouldn't suffer any permanent damage from the beating he took. Hoist also took that opportunity to scan the repairs and see how Carnia did them. Her methods were unconventional to say the least. Any medic would call her approach insane with all the mismatched parts and tangled fuel lines, but everything came together into a cohesive whole. Hoist hadn't actually met Carnia in person before due to the rumors, but now he was regretting that decision as the femmeling seemed to be a genius.

"Let's go home, Carnia," Carly said to her overworked sparkling, "You must be getting hungry by now. We can grab some energon from Wheeljack before we head home. I also rented Star Trek VI for us tonight. Does that sound good, sweetie?"

"Two to beam up," Carnia smiled happily before transforming back into motorcycle mode.

Carly laughed and got on the rusty bike. It had been the most exciting day they had together so far, but it wasn't really any more exhausting than what Carly had already gone through with caring for the sparkling so far. As they drove home one thing did bother Carly about their encounter with the Decepticons. Why was it that Starscream knew what a Junkion was but his trine didn't? Why wouldn't Starscream tell them about a discovery he had actually made in the first place?

Author's Notes: The original commercial jingle Carnia butchers is: You can always trust your car to the man that wears a star :)