Blackarachnia and Silverbolt stood somewhat nervously within the old Axalon Bridge as Rhinox scowled at them.

"So this alien device zapped you two and disappeared?" said Rhinox

"Yeah." replied Blackarachnia

"When we woke up the obelisk was gone and our equilibrium circuits seemed to be offline." Finished Silverbolt

Rhinox grunted in assent and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Hrm, well, I’d still like to give you a complete overhaul just in case. There’s no telling what effects that alien energy could have had on your systems."

"Is that really necessary?" said Silverbolt anxiously

"Would you rather keel over and go offline?" replied Rhinox

Silverbolt exchanged glances with Blackarachnia. He guessed he didn’t want to take any chances.

"Very well, I’ll go first since we only have one CR chamber," said Silverbolt

"Stay next to the base," said Rhinox to Blackarachnia, "at least until I can give you the all clear."

Blackarachnia nodded, grinned at Silverbolt and left hurriedly. She wasn’t too keen on a physical exam by Rhinox. The last time had nearly killed her, through no fault of Rhinoxes of course, still, it gave her a certain amount of dread.

"How long will this take?" said Silverbolt

"Less then a megacycle if nothing is wrong," said Rhinox "Now, into the CR chamber."

*

Blackarachnia sat atop a ridge watching the stars, the same ridge where she and Silverbolt had talked when her Predacon shell program had destabilized when she had failed to make herself a Transmetal 2. Silverbolt was nearly done with his overhaul but she couldn’t bring herself back into the maximal base just yet.

She couldn’t shake the feeling of uncertainty. She felt fine, and yet… something was amiss. As if something had been misplaced, but she knew not what. It was troubling her in much the same way as an itch that cannot be scratched.

She looked again to the stars, losing herself in thought and dread alike.

"Stay away!" Screamed a voice faintly

She looked around frantically, trying to identify where it came from and who had screamed it so.

"Get away from me you freak!"it screamed again

Suddenly fearful, she stood up, her sensors registering nothing, nothing at all.

"Get your hands off me! You’re not him!" it screamed

"I’m hearing voices," said Blackarachnia "And talking to myself, bad signs all round."

She walked back towards the maximal base, forcing herself to be calm. Panicking now would only make things worse. Still, she cast a fearful glance over her shoulder.

"I warned you…"trailed the voice

A chill ran down Blackarachnia’s spine.

The voice was hers.

*

Silverbolt emerged from the CR chamber with a relieved expression on his face.

"You’re all fine Silverbolt, just make sure you oil up your wing mechanism a little more regularly," said Rhinox as Blackarachnia walked in "Ah, Blackarachnia, just in time. Hop in." he beckoned to the CR Chamber.

Blackarachnia hesitated a moment. Bravado would be better then fear, she mused.

"Let’s get the ball bearing rolling." she said, wearing a false grin as she sauntered into the CR Chamber.

She gave a wink to a worried Silverbolt as the door to the CR Chamber closed over her.

Rhinox began tapping away at keys immediately; schematics of Blackarachnia came up on his screen which he studied within moments before flicking to charts which escaped Silverbolts meager understanding of regeneration and repair.

"Well?" asked Silverbolt anxiously.

"Well what?" replied Rhinox tersely "She’s saturated with the same alien radiation that blew the sensors earlier same as you were. It’s simple enough to drain out of her system and isn’t lethal anyhow. Her body looks like it’s in good condition and… hello…" he trailed

"What? What did you find?" said Silverbolt, getting more worried

"A voided warranty perhaps?" taunted Rattrap as he walked in for his turn at watch, trying to annoy Silverbolt

Silverbolt glared at Rattrap, growling softly.

"Cut it out both of you!" yelled Rhinox, ending any conflict before it could begin, "I’ve found something here."

"Well?" said Silverbolt, his anxiety palpable, "What have they done to my beloved?"

Rhinox shot Silverbolt an annoyed glance "It looks like a whole mess of data got dumped into her core at some point. I can’t make head or tail of any of it though and it’s below her awareness threshold."

"Oh that sounds like no problem at all!" wailed Rattrap, "Dump a nice little program in her core to make her go nuts and kill us all," Rattrap sighed, "We’re all gonna die."

Rhinox sighed, "We don’t know if it’s a virus at all. We know these aliens aren’t the same ones we’ve been running afoul of in the past. They could be friendly."

"Oh sure!" said Rattrap sarcastically, "Since when have we met any aliens here that didn’t want to vape us big green?"

Rhinox dismissed Rattrap with a wave of his hand, the germ of an idea glimmering across his green and gold face.

"Blackarachnia, can you hear me?" said Rhinox

"Uh, yeah," said Blackarachnia through a set of speakers, "Did you find anything? I’m getting a little tired of being in here." She hadn’t heard a thing from before; the CR Chamber was sound proof.

"We’ve found a mass of data in your subconscious programming," Rhinox said apprehensively, "We’re not sure what it is and it looks like a few bits of data have already emerged into your conscious mind."

Well that’s just Prime, thought Blackarachnia as she emerged from the CR chamber. Silverbolt was quick to put a comforting arm and wing around her shoulder, more for his own comfort and relief then hers.

"Could you extract the data? See what it is maybe?" said Blackarachnia, her voice the very model of false calm.

"I’d like to wait till Optimus gets back before I start poking around your core consciousness." Huffed Rhinox, "And he’s overdue as it is looking for Depth Charge."

Blackarachnia nodded in understanding and began to walk out with Silverbolt in tow towards their quarters. She needed to sleep.

"Hold up Silverbolt," said Rhinox, "I need you to head to Optimus last position. If I’m right they could be in trouble."

Silverbolt nodded and turned his gaze to Blackarachnia, his heart torn between his duty his and love, embracing her tightly, he whispered "Be safe my love, until I return."

The two left the Axalon Bridge in each others arms as Rhinox looked on, helplessness anxiety and sympathy brewing within him.

"You know you could’ve started pokin’ around her core before Optimus came back. He hasn’t been gone that long." said Rattrap

"Yeah," Admitted Rhinox, "but… what if they did do something to her? What if that thing submerged in her core is a virus after all?"

Rattrap was taken aback. There was an edge of fear in Rhinoxes voice that made him uneasy. Few things scared calm rhino much at all.

"Then Primus help ‘dat fembot." Lamented Rattrap uncharacteristically.

*

Blackarachnia laid on the bed that she and Silverbolt had come to share, failing utterly in her attempts to sleep. Whenever insomnia struck, she would often talk with Silverbolt until she felt ready to shut down for the night, even if he wasn’t awake she’d often find herself whispering softly to him, and he’d murmur back things unintelligible but caring.

Right now though, Silverbolt was out there, looking for Optimus and Depth Charge. The fish-bots never-ending vendetta against Rampage had taken Silverbolt away from her and silently she whispered a small string curses against him.

She turned over on her side and sighed softly. She hated to force sleep upon herself, it felt far more fitting to allow it to come naturally.

"Computer initiate sleep cycle, 4 megacycle duration." She whispered, feeling blessed unconsciousness overtake her.

*

Rattrap yawned. His watch was nearly over, and though he’d gotten more then his fair share of sleep, he was still dog tired. Cheetor walked in looking worried.

"Hey Rattrap, come take a look at this will ya?" said Cheetor

"Kid, where the slag ya been? Yer late for yer shift again." whined Rattrap.

He was lying of course. Cheetor was never late for his shift, but he preferred it when the cat took over early. It meant less time on watch and more time lazing about or scrapping predacons for him.

Still, he thought, better see what the kid was so worked up about.

Rattrap rounded the corner where the Transmetal 2 cheetah stood and was taken aback. He rubbed his optics in disbelief.

Blackarachnia walked dazedly away from them, feeling the wall with her right arm as she went and using her left arm to rub the right as though it were cold.

"Uh, legs, you feelin’ okay?"

Blackarachnia turned around groggily and looked at Rattrap. "Cold," she shivered, "So… cold…"

Her optics were darkened and she had a lost expression on her face.

"Jumpin’ gyros she must be sleep walkin’!" exclaimed Cheetor

Rattrap scowled at Cheetor, then scowled at Blackarachnia, the germ of an idea growing in his head.

"Go wake up Horn Head," said Rattrap, "I’ll handle sleepin’ beauty here."

"What’re you gonna do?" asked Cheetor, uneasy.

"She says she’s cold, and I know a nice warm CR chamber with her name on it. Now go get big green."

As Cheetor jogged to Rhinoxes quarters, Blackarachnia had begun to shiver.

Not Good, thought Rattrap, not good at all.

Shivering was an old defensive mechanism against extreme cold. The vibrations caused would prevent mech fluid from crystallizing within the body. It only ever kicked in when the thermal units present inside couldn’t keep the vital fluid above freezing.

"Oh legs," he said, trying to keep the irreverence in his voice as best he could, "I uh, got a nice warm fire here to keep us warm." He said.

"A fire?" said Blackarachnia, the prospect of warmth injecting hope in her quavering voice.

"Uh yeah," said Rattrap, "Its right over here."

He gingerly led her over, encouraging her to follow his voice.

"That’s it, just a little further," he encouraged

She stepped into the CR chamber obliviously. Rattrap quickly closed the hatch behind her just as Cheetor and a tired Rhinox and Cheetor jogged in.

"What the slag is the big emergency?" demanded Rhinox tiredly

"The spider decided to go for a midnight stroll in her sleep. I managed to get her into the CR chamber though." stated Rattrap matter-of-factly.

"You didn’t wake her did you?" asked Rhinox

"Uh, no, why not?" asked Rattrap

"It’s never good to wake a sleep walker," said Rhinox as he sat down, tapping away at keys on the console.

"She said she was feeling cold," said Cheetor, "Out loud and everything was she dreaming maybe?"

"She’s not cold at all!" exclaimed Rhinox in surprise, "If anything she should be feeling hot. Her thermal units are all on maximum."

"Uh, forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but we’re in a volcano here. It isn’t exactly an uh, paradise for ice if you know what I mean." said Rattrap

"Quiet," said Rhinox with mild annoyance, "her temperature software is registering deep cold."

"Is that why she feels cold? She thinks she’s cold?" said Cheetor

"Exactly," confirmed Rhinox, "and what’s more, her internal safety protocols won’t disengage her thermal units to let her cool off. If we don’t do something soon she’ll cook herself into stasis lock."

Rhinox tapped a few keys and brought up a display showing her temperature. A few more degrees and it would redline, meaning her mech fluid would begin to boil within her.

Rhinox knew what he had to do. He knew he had no choice now.

"Computer, access Blackarachnia peripheral consciousness." He uttered

The computer beeped and granted him access.

"Shutdown autonomic systems and engage CR life support functions." Said Rhinox, feeling defeated.

"What the slag are you doing?!" exclaimed Cheetor

"Yeah!" yelped Rattrap, "Why’d you vape her auto-whatsit systems for?"

Primus forgive me, thought Rhinox, but I had no slagging choice!