Given to Fly

Deus Ex Machina

"Which is why it is important your path is clear when you do know," the Prime retorted.

Marty's hazel hues bored into his blue ones. "There's no way outta this, is there?"

"I'm afraid not."

But indeed there was. The ground bridge opened up and in ran Bulkhead and Miko.

The girl was firing off random things about ancient Greeks and Cybertron, but she ended up plugging her phone into the computer.

"What she means is we think we saw an Energon harvester at the site," Bulkhead translated as a picture popped up on the computer.

It displayed a fresco of a Greek god holding a yellow sphere. Optimius looked at it and nodded. "It is indeed an energon harvester -- A powerful tool created by the ancients to remove raw energon from any source."

"Greek gods knew autobots?" Raf asked.

"No," Optimius told them. "The ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages. This fresco was likely a signpost indicating a harvester's location hidden somewhere on this planet."

"Uh, Optimus," said Jack. "if the harvester removes energon from anything, and you all have energon pumping inside you..."

"In Decepticon hands, the harvester would be a devastating weapon," the Prime confirmed.

"See?" Miko turned to her guardian. "You were a genius to total that painting."

"Miko's not wrong," Arcee added. "How can the Cons find the harvester without the fresco?"

"With high-speed internet," Raf answered. "If you do an image search for 'Greek god' and 'golden orb', this pops up–" he held up his laptop to show a statue of a Greek god holding the harvester. "–It's in a museum."

"That the real deal?" Marty asked as she looked.

"Contact Agent Fowler," Optimius ordered.

Ratchet did just that, but instead of the grumpy agent, a recorded message played.

"You've reached special agent William Fowler. I'm currently on an intensive training retreat and unavailable until Tuesday."

"I hate talking to machines," Ratchet grumbled.

Optimius hummed in thought. "Without Agent Fowler's direct aid, we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jack stammered. "'Confiscate'? As in steal museum property?"

"That sounds illegal," Raf noted.

"I do not wish to break human law," Optimius told them. "but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We must act covertly."

"Okay, n-no offense, Optimus," Jack said. "but covertly and giant robots don't really go together. Museums are public. A-and they have guards and security cameras."

"Sounds like a job for us," Marty smirked.

"We're small enough to sneak in, and we're not a government secret," Miko added enthusiastically.

Bulkhead scratched his head. "Miko, I'm not sure that's wise."

"But it may be our best option, Bulkhead," Optimius said. "The longer we debate, the more time we give the Decepticons."

)()()()()(

Marty stood on a scissor lift with the other kids in front of the ground bridge, listening as Optimius gave them their instructions.