Miko sighed as she sat sprawled on the leather sofa, arm hanging limp over the side as she watched the television screen with unimpressed eyes. Her normal multicolored outfit was wrinkled from her slouched position, knee-high booted feet resting on the table in front of her. She blew the bangs of her hair out of her face, leaning her head back against the top of the couch. She was so bored.

Rafael sat next to her, playing a new video game he received as a gift from his parents for his recent high marks in school. Bumblebee was standing behind them, watching over Rafael as the child completed another level of the game. Miko had lost interest a while ago, as a teleporting puzzle game wasn't that interesting to her, though the robotic guide's dialogue was pretty entertaining.

The only reason she wasn't off doing something reckless with Bulkhead was because the former Wrecker was on a scouting mission. He had said that he most likely would be back in an hour or so, but to Miko it felt like centuries. There weren't a lot of things she could do in the base that would appeal to her interests, and even if she did find something she wanted to do, it would probably be slightly illegal. Either that or no one could do it with her.

Jack and Arcee had gone off to race, another one-on-one against Vince. Towards the end of Jack's shift at KO Burger, Arcee waited in a parking spot, and was forced to keep her cover while Vince decided to torment Jack even more by spray-painting Arcee pink. It took almost three hours to get the paint off completely, and by then Jack had already called Vince, who then told Jack that they would settle it on the track. Miko had overheard the call, and Jack immediately made her promise to keep it a secret.

Miko sighed again. The robot in the video game began to tell Rafael about how a cube won't threaten to stab him, which managed to make Miko crack a smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. She lifted her head and looked over to Rafael, who was still smiling away. Miko raised an eyebrow. "How are you enjoying this?"

Rafael glanced over to Miko, not at all upset about being interrupted. "It's a thinking game. You can't get through a level without solving a puzzle."

"Yeah, I know," Miko said, crossing her arms. "How are you enjoying this?"

Rafael rolled his eyes playfully. "I find it fun."

"You would," Miko countered, sinking deeper into the sofa. The game wasn't multiplayer, so Miko could only watch, and even though she enjoyed it at first, passing ten levels and seemingly getting no where while she did nothing quickly drained whatever enthusiasm Miko had.

Miko felt like if she sat in that sofa any longer, she would become a part of it. Miko slowly sat up straight, stretching her arms before standing. With a small kick in her step, Miko waltzed along the catwalk, looking for something that piqued her interest. She suspected that even a spider would entertain her more than anything else in the base, though she really didn't want to find out. Suppressing a shudder at the thought of one of those creepy-crawly things, Miko crossed her arms as she almost inspected the base, looking for something to do.

Rafael and Bumblebee were playing a game, Jack and Arcee were racing, Bulkhead was out, Optimus...

Well, Miko didn't know what Optimus was doing. Probably something boring. She wasn't planning on finding out.

So that left Ratchet.

Ratchet was standing by himself, as usual, pressing buttons on the GroundBridge monitor and grumbling as he did so. Miko sighed. She was going to have to settle for Ratchet. He was a pretty okay guy, as far as alien robots went, but he could be so annoying sometimes. Miko assumed that he would probably complain about some stupid error message on the monitor, then Rafael would hack it with his super-techno skills and then everything would be fine for two minutes before another error appeared and so on...

Well, Miko knew she had nothing better to do. She walked to the corner of the catwalk, watching Ratchet fiddle with something else on the monitor before mumbling to himself yet again.

"Hey, Ratchet," Miko said, propping herself against the railing and looking down at the Autobot Medic. "What's up?"

Ratchet paused his work and glanced over to Miko, a look in his optics telling her that he had absolutely no idea what she meant by that.

Miko rolled her eyes, and clarified. "What are you doing?"

Ratchet huffed and went back to what he was working on beforehand. "If you must know, I'm attempting to limit the amount of Energon necessary to power the GroundBridge. With such a short supply, we can't stand to lose our remaining reserves."

Miko didn't really understand what the Medic had said, so she just nodded. "Huh."

After a moment of silence, Ratchet mimicked the sound, though he sounded more unimpressed than anything. He continued fiddling with wires and cords located under the control panel. Miko thought that what he was doing might interest her for a moment, but she was quickly proved wrong. He didn't seem to actually be doing anything, even though he clearly was.

Miko gave a yawn of boredom, then she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her perk up right away. She looked towards the object, then Ratchet, then back to the object. Miko smiled, pushing off of the railing and running over to what she saw.

Ratchet was rewiring two of the cables underneath the GroundBridge controls, and he almost shocked himself when a loud screeching chord wailed throughout the room. Ratchet jumped up, leaving the cables dangling, optics darting towards where the noise had come from.

There, he saw Miko with a hand raised as if just swung, guitar in hand, plugged into an amp at the highest volume. Miko beamed. "I thought you could use some music!"

"Miko, I'm busy," Ratchet said with frustration. He used a free hand to gesture in any direction other than where he was, then he knelt down and tried to fix the damages caused by carelessly dropping the sparking cables. "Why don't you go bother someone else?"

His last sentence sounded more like a demand than a question. Miko gave a small pout, then she dragged her feet over to where the amp rested and she set the guitar down next to it. After she did, she placed her hands on her hips and huffed.

Well, Miko added Ratchet to the list of people and bots too busy to entertain her. She had already confirmed Rafael, Bumblebee, Jack, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Ratchet. Miko blinked.

So actually, that left Optimus.

Miko held back a groan. The last thing she wanted was to listen to another one of his speeches.

But, she was beginning to get desperate.

With a sigh of resignation, Miko walked over to the stairs, trailing a finger along the railing as she hopped down the steps. Once she made it to the bottom, she looked around in one last attempt to find something more amusing than Optimus, but it was futile. Miko slouched slightly as she began making her way down the giant hallway, looking for a sign of the big 'Bot.

She had been walking for three minutes, and she was already starting to give up, when she heard a steady rhythm of slow, heavy footsteps. Miko listened for a moment longer, then she began running down the corridors, trying to find the source of the noise. She ran for a while before she turned a corner and saw a tall, blue and red figure walking away from her. Miko almost smiled, then she sprinted into the hallway.

"Hey, Optimus!" Miko called, running to catch up with the Autobot leader, who slowed and turned around at the sound of his name. Miko stopped a few steps away from him, bending over and taking a breath before she spoke. "What'cha doing?"

Optimus watched as Miko tried to catch her breath, waiting a brief moment before replying. "I am merely patrolling the halls."

"What, you think some Decepticreep is gonna sneak in here and steal your stuff?" Miko asked after inhaling deeply again, then she stood up straight. "That's not going to happen. If someone like Makeshift poses as one of you guys again, Bulkhead can just beat him up!"

Optimus shook his head. "It is a necessary precaution."

"You scared of a little indoor battle?" Miko asked with an eyebrow raised.

"We can not risk another Decepticon infiltrator gaining access to our base," Optimus concluded, then he turned back around and began walking down the hallway again.

Miko stood there for a moment longer, before running to catch up to the Autobot leader, and once she did she slowed until she was strolling beside him.

Optimus had expected Miko to run off after he stopped talking, but she remained next to him, taking about three steps for each one he took. Optimus watched her for a moment longer, before he voiced his thoughts. "Is there something you need, Miko?"

"I'm bored," Miko replied, crossing her arms like a small child who had been told that they weren't allowed to get the toy they wanted. "I don't have anything to do. No one has anything fun to talk about."

Optimus nodded to show he understood her reasoning. "Are both Jack and Rafael busy at the moment?"

"Rafael's playing a weird video game. The robot's cool, but there's too many puzzles," Miko explained. "Jack isn't here."

Optimus seemed to tilt his head slightly at what Miko said. Miko almost laughed at such an innocent gesture coming from someone like Optimus. Before she had the chance to giggle about it, Optimus spoke up again. "Do you know where Jack is?"

"He's off racing with Vince," Miko said with a dismissive gesture. She stopped walking for a moment, blinking, then she started moving again and looked back up to the Autobot leader. "Ah. He told me not to tell you that."

At first, Optimus said nothing, then he gave a small nod. "I see."

The silence that came after was strange. It wasn't uncomfortable, just strange. The Autobot base wasn't usually so quiet. Miko didn't like quiet. Quiet wasn't entertaining. A piano was no match for an electric guitar. Her host parents were no match for Bulkhead. Miko decided that she didn't want quiet any longer, so she let her eyes gaze back up to Optimus.

"What did you do today?" Miko asked suddenly. Optimus looked down at the small child walking next to him, still curious about why she was still staying with him. None the less, he answered her question.

"Before you and Rafael had arrived, Ratchet had detected an Energon signal. Bumblebee and I went to investigate, only to find that it was a Decepticon trap," Optimus said, his voice making his words sound like an amazing tale, even though it was just a simple explanation. "Bumblebee was able to push through them quickly, and he had succeeded in-"

"That's not what I asked," Miko interrupted, rolling her eyes. "If I wanted to know what Bumblebee did, I would talk to Raf'. I asked, 'what did you do today'?"

After she asked that, again, Miko realized that they had arrived back in the main room of the base. Ratchet was still messing with the GroundBridge, but he appeared to have solved the issue he was trying to fix before. Rafael was telling Bumblebee how he managed to get through a puzzle that was apparently so complex it made the Autobot slouch heavily and stare at the screen with wide optics.

Bulkhead wasn't back. Miko would have to keep talking to Optimus.

Miko skipped back up the stairs, spinning around on the catwalk to locate Optimus, who had proceeded to look over Ratchet's progress. Ratchet proudly reported his success, and Optimus gave a small smile, along with placing a gentle hand on the medic's shoulder in thanks before he began to walk away again, heading back towards to hallway.

"Oh no you don't!" Miko called, and everyone in the room turned to look at her, Ratchet with exasperation, Rafael and Bumblebee with surprise, and Optimus with a surprising calm, considering the child had just yelled at him. Miko crossed her arms. "You still haven't answered my question."

Optimus turned around fully and watched Miko for a moment, eyeing her carefully, before he nodded silently and walked back over to the catwalk, close where Miko stood.

"I'll make it even easier for you," Miko said with a smirk. She waltzed over to where she could clearly see the Autobot leader and leaned against the railing. Miko shifted her footing so that one boot was planted firmly on the floor, while the other only touched with the tip. She crossed her arms. "Did you do anything alone today?"

Optimus said nothing for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes."

"What did'cha do?" Miko asked, tapping her fingers lazily on the railing.

Again, Optimus' response was delayed, as if he had trouble thinking of what he should say. "I was investigating a possible Decepticon sighting, after Agent Fowler reported that civilians had witnessed a vehicle speeding without a driver. I had already been driving closest to where the sighting occurred, but when I arrived I was informed that it was a false alarm."

"Bo-ring!" Miko sang, kicking the floor lightly with her boot. "Are you always working? Why don't you do anything fun?"

"We are at war, Miko," Ratchet stepped in, pausing his recalibrations. "We don't have time for anything you would consider 'fun'."

"You seemed to think our science projects were very 'fun'," Miko countered.

Ratchet went quiet quickly, then he grumbled something under his breath as he returned to his work.

Miko gave a victorious smirk, then she turned back to Optimus. "Okay, so you don't do anything fun now. What did you do when you were Orion Pax?"

The name and question seemed to catch Optimus by surprise, but he swiftly regained his calm demeanor and answered. "I was an archivist for the Iacon Hall of Records."

Miko waited for him to continue, and when he didn't she rolled her eyes again and decided to help him along. "What did you do?"

Optimus spoke carefully, though Miko didn't understand why. "I sorted information, which was often concerning historical documents or records, and I would direct others to that information if they requested so."

"So you were a librarian," Miko concluded, eyelids half-covering her eyes in mock boredom. Miko smirked again. "Fowler was right."

Optimus watched Miko for a moment, though he didn't deny the child's claim. That was enough confirmation for Miko. She gave a short laugh, than she stood up straight.

"Come on," Miko drawled, throwing a fake punch in the air. "Where's the action? Tell me about the fights!"

"When I was Orion Pax, there was no war," Optimus explained. "I had never fought anyone before then."

Miko groaned, throwing her head back. "You gotta give me something, here! Did you ever get into a big argument? Ever got a punch thrown at you? A thumb war? Did anyone ever try to beat someone up?"

Optimus went quiet once again. His posture hadn't changed the entire time he and Miko had been speaking. The others in the room were surprised that he wasn't getting annoyed with Miko's constant questioning. Though, they knew that it was Optimus.

After a moment, Optimus nodded. "Once."

"'Once' what?" Miko snapped to attention, leaning against the railing eagerly. "Which one; a beating or a punch?"

"Neither," Optimus shook his head. "An engineer and a seeker began arguing in one of the lower levels of the Hall of Records. Many were concerned that they would end up hurting someone if they were not calmed immediately."

"So what?" Miko asked excitedly, almost jumping with enthusiasm. "Did you beat them to a pulp? Did you throw them out of the building?"

Optimus paused. "I managed to defuse the situation with words."

Miko stayed completely still for a moment, then her shoulders slumped and she stared at the Autobot leader with disbelief. "What."

"There was some confusion that the seeker had stolen something from the engineer, but the seeker claimed he had acquired the object through other means," Optimus explained, expression unchanged. "I informed the engineer that he had forgotten the object in one of the higher towers. They apologized and parted ways."

Miko gaped at him. Surely Optimus was kidding. His life could not have actually been that dull.

"So, Orion was just a little goody-two-shoes, then," Miko summarized, wiggling her fingers in the air teasingly.

Optimus did not completely understand the term she used, though he didn't ask about it. Miko snorted, then she huffed, glancing towards the entrance to the base yet again. Bulkhead still wasn't back. Miko was beginning to think that the video game would be more entertaining than the talk she was having right then. She looked over to Rafael and Bumblebee, both having stopped eavesdropping on their conversation, and returned to solving puzzles over and over and over...

Miko looked back up at Optimus, resting her chin on her hands. She had to think of something else.

"Okay, let's go back to more recent events," Miko said. Optimus nodded, and then Miko spoke again. "I know this was a while ago, but I never got a chance to ask about the details. What happened when you went into Unicron?"

Before Optimus could say anything in return, a loud beeping could be heard coming from the monitors where Ratchet stood. Ratchet shut off the alarm and looked over something that had popped up on the screen.

"An underground Energon deposit," Ratchet reported, sounding surprised. He adjusted a few more settings on the monitor, and a map opened up, a circle surrounding the area in which the Energon was detected. Somewhere farther North than Nevada. Miko wasn't exactly the best at geography, so she couldn't tell exactly where.

"Are there any Decepticon signals in that vicinity?" Optimus asked, stepping towards the Autobot medic.

Ratchet shook his head. "None. If we're lucky, their sensors haven't detected it yet."

Optimus nodded before speaking. "I will investigate the area."

Ratchet nodded in return, walking over to the GroundBridge controls and pulling a switch. The GroundBridge whirled to life, colors dancing on the frames of the nearby Autobots. Optimus took a few steps and stood directly in front of the portal, preparing to transform, and Miko assumed 'roll out'.

Miko suddenly perked up. "Can I come?"

Both Ratchet and Optimus looked over to her, the former with disapproval, and Miko could tell that the latter was going to object, so she spoke first.

"Come on!" Miko pleaded, arching her back. "You let Jack go with Arcee when you detected Energon that other time! Sure Airachnid ended up being there but that was just a coincidence!"

Optimus didn't reply at first, debating internally about what he should do. Then, he gave a nod, transforming into his vehicle mode and opening his passenger door. Miko pumped a fist in the air and hissed an exclamation of excitement before running down the steps, almost tripping over her own feet as she came up to Optimus' passenger seat. Miko hopped inside, Optimus securing her with his seatbelt before starting his engine. Ratchet watched on as his leader and the human child drove right into the GroundBridge, and after he was certain that they made it through to the other side, he pushed the controls back, and the light instantly vanished.