Chapter 21

                                    

                                          
Saphira and Jack walk around the lobby while Ratchet focuses on trying to fix the ground bridge. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Miko and Raf were already exploring the tunnels for any sign of the scraplets and to destroy what they could. Though, after seeing how quickly just one scraplet can cause damage on the autobots, Saphira worried just how the bots would even handle a swarm. Especially after what Bulkhead had described.
She shuddered a little and looked at Jack worryingly. "You know...the scraplets would be a major problem for us too if they were out in the world."
"What makes you say that?" Jack asked her curiously as he glanced around the room.
"Well...we have a lot of things that are made of metal," Saphira explained, she looked at the spanner in her hand and held it out. "Like this tool here. Your crowbar is also metal. Even if the scraplets don't have transformers to feed on, they will have alternatives. Such as cars, ships, planes, powerlines and so on. Can you imagine the chaos that would cause? Even our guns are metal."
He listened to her and nodded slowly. "You have a good point. If there was a way to send the scraplets somewhere on this planet where they could be destroyed that would be beneficial."
"Yeah, like into a volcano," Saphira said with a huff. "Of course, there would need to be some kind of encouragement for them to want to leave anyway. The scraplets don't come off very smart, all they want is to eat. And if eating metal is how they breed too..."
"You would be correct about that, Saphira," Ratchet said, not looking up from his work on the ground bridge system. "And you are also correct about how scraplets would impact your world. Getting rid of them is a priority! And so, we can bring our bots home safely."
Saphira looked at the tunnel of the ground bridge, she glanced at her watch and saw it had already been a couple hours. She knew the autobots could stand the cold better than humans, but she worried how long it would even take for their systems to reach the blue zone. She sighed as she began to pace. She was worried, scared and upset at the same time. Jack watched her pace for a moment before looking around the room. So far, there was nothing.
Saphira and Jack gasp when the lights dim again, but they come back on. Saphira continued pacing, it helped her think and she did glance around the lobby for any sign of the scraplets. So far, there was nothing. She did pause when she heard the patter of their feet echoing, she hummed and looked around, even though she did not see any. At least not yet.
Another ten minutes pass and things were still tense. Jack looked over to Ratchet who was still on one knee by the panel. "How's it going over there?" Jack asked anxiously. Saphira looked over to him with a worried expression as she knew Ratchet had changed the damaged conduits, though it seemed the bridge still was not receiving power.
"I wish I knew about that stuff so I could help," Saphira mumbled to herself, thankful no one else heard her.
"I've repaired the damaged conductors, and rerouted the central conduits," Ratchet responded to Jack in a worried, irritated voice. "But the ground bridge still won't receive power!" Saphira jumped when the autobot punched the ground.
She opened her mouth to say something when she heard the pitter patter of scraplet feet again, causing her to tense and felt goose bumps on her skin. She looked around, holding the tool in her hand ready, however she spotted a lot of them on the wall above them. They were just hanging on the wall like flies at the moment. Saphira hoped they would stay up there, though that hope was quickly diminished as their purple eyes turn towards Ratchet and opened their mouths, and the horrid, screwdriver sound filled the room. And to both her and Jack's shock, the tiny bots jump off the wall and began to fly.