Optimus and his team have arrived on Earth and are about to pilot the Ark-32 into Lake Erie not far from Detroit. The crew will establish their base of operations, but still need to be undercover.

The Ark-32 entered earth's atmosphere and descended into the Detroit night sky. Unlike their previous arrival over 50 years ago, this was a well-controlled landing. No sonic boom, no streaks across the heavens that might disclose their undercover mission, the craft slipped silently past the Detroit skyline, its mirrored buildings reflecting the night sky. A familiar outline dominated the rest.

"Look, Dad!" Sari said. "There's Sumdac Tower!" She thought to herself, "I'm home!"

Optimus piloted the ship into Lake Erie. Avoiding the crowded shipping lanes, the Ark-32 plunged into the water at a remote location and headed for a secure outcropping 50 feet below the surface. Stabilizers came out and buried themselves into the bedrock.

"All systems secure, Optimus," said Bumblebee.

"Alright," said Optimus. "At this location, we're approximately 150 miles from Detroit. We had to bring the ship this far east, because Lake Erie is much shallower to the west, and I prefer we remain at least 50 feet below the surface."

"Professor, Sari, you come with me, and we'll head to Sumdac Tower. From there, I will use the space bridge as planned to return to Cybertron."

The three went to one of the larger decompression portals. Optimus transformed into his red truck cab and opened the door for Isaac and Sari to get in.

"Optimus, we're going to go out into Lake Erie, 50 FEET UNDER WATER?" said Isaac.

"Yes, but don't worry, Professor, I don't leak," said Optimus from his truck radio.

Sari jumped in the cab. "C'mon Dad!"

"Oh dear, oh dear" said Isaac, as he got inside.

"OK, Bumblebee," said Optimus "prepare for our exit!"

The rear portal door closed, and water from Lake Erie began entering the chamber where Optimus and his passengers were waiting. As the water level rose above the windows, Isaac began biting his nails. As soon as pressures equalized, the outer portal opened, and Optimus exited the ship into Lake Erie.

"Wow!" said Sari, looking out around the windows. "This is cool!" Isaac said nothing, gripping the steering wheel, his eyes wide open; all he could manage was to look straight ahead.

"Alright," said Optimus from the radio. "My navigation system tells me the nearest entry point to the surface is close to a town called Rocky River, Ohio. From there, we'll get on the Interstate towards Detroit. It should be about a two to three hour drive." The truck cab left the vicinity of the Ark-32 and took off on its underwater journey toward the shore.

It was 3:30am, and two fishermen were sitting on the dock. "I told you we'd be the first ones here, Frank! We're gonna win that competition for sure!"

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me we'd be gettin' up at 3:00 in the freakin' morning!" Marty said to his friend.

"Relax!" said Frank. "You don't see anyone else here, do you? Drink your coffee!"

All of a sudden, the waves began rippling. "What's up with that?" asked Marty. "Beats me," said Frank.

They soon found out, when a red truck cab emerged from the water next to the dock and headed off in the direction of the nearby road. Several fish were dragging behind the truck, caught in some ancient netting.

"Did you see THAT?" said Frank. "What the heck was he doing in the water?"

"Dang it! I thought you said we were the first ones!" said Marty.

"Aw, Dad, you should have honked the truck horn!" laughed Sari. "Did you see the look on their faces?"

"Horn? Faces?" Her Dad blinked and looked around. "We're on land? Oh, thank goodness!" He sighed.

"Well, let's hope they don't say too much about it," chuckled Optimus. "In the meantime, "let's get that fish net off of my rear." Optimus pulled over at a side spot in the road so Sari and her Dad could free the plants and netting.

Optimus got on to I-90 and headed west towards Toledo, then took the highways north to Detroit. They arrived at Sumdac Tower before sunrise. Once inside, Optimus transformed back into Autobot mode and went to the tower to recharge while Sari and Isaac went to their rooms to rest.

"Sparky!" Shouted Sari, as she entered her room. Her robotic pet dog came barking toward her. "It's so good to see you, boy! I missed you!" Sparky made happy doggy sounds and wagged his tail.

Sari lay down on her bed. Many memories and feelings came back, many good, some bad. Her fun times with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, her botched birthday party and messed up experience with Soundwave. Her satisfying experience helping Ratchet bring Omega Supreme back online. Fighting the Deceptions and finding her Dad, only to discover to her horror that circuitry coming out of her elbow. Her initial anger at her father for thinking he had experimented on her; their eventual reconciliation. Her upgrade, overload, and injuring Bee. Being on the moon, and working with Ratchet to bring Arcee back online.

She thought about the triumphant arrival on Cybertron, and everything that happened since, from meeting Dataminer to taking her Oath of Loyalty to the Magnus, to learning about Swindle's plans to abduct her for her mods.

Finally, Sari reflected on the trip home aboard the Ark-32, and her training exercise with her new targeting mod – how it was both exhilarating and frightening! Yet, her heart-to-heart (or, to be more precise, spark chamber-to-heart) talk with her Dad helped put things into perspective.

Sari thought about how she felt standing outside the ship in the void of space, a tiny little being looking out into the endless expanses of stars and galaxies. It was the same way she felt about her inner self against the enormous power of her emerging mods. Yet, with her Dad's love and her friends support, with her cyber-ninja training, with Prowl, she is not alone!

All in all, the good outweighs the bad, and her love and friendships make everything worthwhile. Sari is of Earth, she is of Cybertron. Is she neither? No, she is both!

Did the AllSpark have plans for her? Yes! Will she find out what those are? Yes! "With my family, and my friends, I will!" She said to herself.

Strangely, she wasn't tired. She did, however, feel the need to practice her cyber-ninja meditation. Getting off the bed, Sari sat down on a mat and put herself in the cyber-ninja position that Prowl had taught her. Closing her eyes, she relaxed, slowed her breathing and began her meditation. She stayed in this position for several hours.

Later that day, Isaac, Sari and Optimus readied the space bridge at the top of Sumdac Tower. "Professor, thanks for all your help; good luck with the long-range scanners and force field protection system here on the tower."

"Sari, I will see what the Autobot High Council has to say about bringing Jazz to Earth. In the meantime, your job will be to reside here in Sumdac Tower and resume your studies with the tutor bots."

"Yes sir," said Sari. She saluted Optimus as he prepared to enter the space bridge. Optimus returned her salute. "It's good to have you on my team, Sari," he said.

"Proud to be a member, sir!" Sari responded.

Optimus jumped into the space bridge. Sari and her father watched him depart, and as soon as his arrival on Cybertron was confirmed, shut the space bridge down. Once it was off, they took the elevator down to their residential level.

"So, Sari," said Isaac. "Burger Bot?"

And so ends our story for now. Will there be more stories to come? Well, we can't leave Optimus' crew at the bottom of Lake Erie, can we? And who's on that Decepticon ship headed for Earth? Story continues with "Sari Sumdac, Technorganic Recruit". Thanks for reading.