Henrietta’s Prologue
“Where has he gone?...”
Doctor Henrietta Grimaldi-Reyes’ fingers tapped worriedly against her desk, her other hand frantically clicking the keys for her tracking system.
The large monitor, one of three, reflected blue light off her and her office surroundings while she continued to click. Every click she made brought up the same message.
-- SUBJECT NOT FOUND.
Sighing, she leaned back in her chair, pushing her glasses up to rub her tired eyes. She had been searching for nearly half the day and there was still no sign of Bumblebee. She turned to the monitor to her left and quickly tapped more keys; her screen filled with the face of the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime.
“Any success, Optimus?”
“None so far,” Optimus replied, looking as exhausted as Henrietta did. “Damn… the Decepticons must have really hit him hard to take out my tracking system.”
“We will find him. Please do not worry, Henrietta,” Optimus reassured her. “Bumblebee is one of my closest allies and has gotten out of heavier situations. He will be fine.”
The Decepticons had tried to ambush some of the Autobots who were scouting, which included Bumblebee. From what she could gather, Bumblebee sustained some heavy damage, was unable to contact HACI and could not be tracked down. Even though she trusted Optimus’ words, she wished Bumblebee would be found safe soon.
Her wish was granted, suddenly, when she received a report that Bumblebee had been found. Immediately, Optimus told her he would meet her in the bunker, and Henrietta left her desk in a hurry.
---
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Henrietta sighed as she looked over Bumblebee’s damages. “We were all very worried.”
Bumblebee let out a rough metallic noise, readjusting to allow Henrietta to see more of the damage. With one hand, she typed down the damages on her laptop for her “medical” team to begin repairs. Henrietta noted the patches of duct tape holding his parts together. She was surprised by how precise it all was, for someone she assumed would have no experience with robots before.
“You did well to hide yourself where you did,” Optimus said, nodding his approval at Bumblebee. “I’m glad this is the worst of it.”
Bumblebee let out an exhausted noise and flinched when he leaned too far on his arm.
“There, there,” Henrietta cooed, softly like a mother would to her child. She even patted his arm like it would help the pain. “We will get you fixed up in no time.”
As the medical team came forward to start the repairs on Bumblebee, Henrietta paused them for a moment. “What did you say the human’s name was?” Bumblebee paused for a moment, before the garbled voice of his radio cut through the air. “Midori. Midori Hanakawa.”
“Hmm… Midori, huh?...” The doctor pondered, her glasses giving off a gleam Optimus knew too well at this point.
“Henrietta, what are you planning?” “Oh nothing, Optimus,” She said in a cheery tone, smiling at her large robotic companion. “We will just be going on a little trip soon. Please wait for me outside.”
Optimus paused before nodding and headed off outside. The doctor smiled as she headed back to her office. Henrietta had all the tools at her disposal to find the exact location for their trip.
---
“We are an organization called HACI,” Henrietta said smoothly to the confused-looking woman named Midori. It was like she had this practiced down to an art. “It is short for the Human-Autobot Cooperation Initiative.”
She explained to Midori what that entailed; the Autobots were a group of vehicle-robots who were on Earth to protect themselves and humanity from their enemies, the Decepticons.
“They want to take over the Earth and rule over us,” Henrietta chuckled. “And we can’t have that, can we?...”
The Autobots relied on human companions to help them in battle and as a mutual benefit to keep each other safe. It was considered a “power-up” of sorts that was built on lots of technology and a strong bond of trust. Henrietta’s job was ensuring that the connections between Autobot and human companions were safe and beneficial to both parties, as the main developer.
“We call it BIT. We test humans who are considered compatible with the Autobots and take it from there. You learn together, train together, fight together… and make sure you’re both safe.”
Henrietta leaned back in her chair, amused by the confusion on Midori’s face.
“Bumblebee, the robot you saved, seemed to take quite the liking to you,” Henrietta pushed her glasses up with two fingers before smiling brightly at Midori. “And he has been without a suitable partner for some time.”
While Midori was still taking all this in, Henrietta leaned forward, her chin in her hands.
“I would like to officially offer you a position on the team, if you are willing.”