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The base was bustling today. Bumblebee and Raf were playing video games. Miko was bombarding Bulkhead with questions. June was telling Ratchet a story while he worked. Optimus was watching everyone in the corner.
Something was echoing in the tunnel entrance and out came Jack on Arcee. He hopped off and stepped aside for her to transform. “That was fun. What were we talking about again?”
“Holoforms.” Arcee said. Everyone in the room turned to look at them.
“Holoforms?”
“Yeah. We can project a hologram of ourselves.” They looked around at the multiple eyes and optics on them.
Ratchet sighed and shook his head. He was about to say something but decided not to.
“Can we see?” Miko asked, standing up now. Arcee nodded. She activated something in her wrist.
A slim pale woman materialised. She had blue eyes with pink in them. Her hair was short spiky blue with pink streaks. She was wearing a blue hoodie and jorts.
“Wow, Arcee.” Jack said. “You’re pretty.”
Arcee looked at her hand, her holoform doing the same. She noticed Jack staring at her. “Oh, this? It just copies what I do when I’m not controlling it.” Jack nodded.
Arcee turned towards Bee and Bulkhead expectantly. They looked at each other before Bee stood up and displayed his holoform.
He was a short dark skinned person with short fuzzy gold and black hair, like a bumblebee’s fuzz. He has large round blue eyes. He was wearing a yellow hoodie with yellow sweatpants and black sneakers.
Raf looked up at him in awe. “You look so cool, Bee!”
Bee beeped something. Raf’s shoulders fell, noticing he still couldn't talk.
“Now you, Bulk!” Miko turned to Bulkhead, jumping on her feet. Bulkhead activated his holoform.
Bulkhead’s holoform was tall and broad. He was dark skinned, like Bee but slightly lighter, with a black buzzcut. He had brown eyes. He was wearing a green jacket over a white shirt and green jorts.
Miko gasped and ran all the way down to get a closer look. “Sweet! You look strong!”
Bulkhead looked down at himself. “Huh.” He said.
“Up top!” Miko raised her hand, making Bulkhead raise his. Her hand went right through his. “Huh??”
“They’re just holograms.” Ratchet said. He noticed how everyone was looking at him expectantly. His holomatter materialized in front of him.
He was a short pale person with long white hair going down to his waist. Two chunks were going down his shoulders, tied in orange rubber. He had blue bespectacled eyes and freckles. He was wearing a sweater over his lab coat and red trousers.
June blinked. “I didn’t know you had long hair.”
“The holoform makes the descisions.” Ratchet muttered.
Miko could notice a pattern going on. Everyone looked like they had a bit of femininity in them. But also a bit of tomboyishness. She didn’t know what the word for that was.
She ran over to June and whispered in her ear. June smiled and turned to her. “Miko, that’s called androgyny.”
Arcee raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“It’s the in-between of masculinity and femininity. When you’re not quite boy or girl.”
Ratchet nodded. “If that's what you think we look like, it must be because we don’t have gender. And that seeped into our holoforms.”
Everyone turned to Optimus, who was watching everything. He blinked before realising what they wanted. He activated his own holoform.
A tall lightskinned person with accentuated features appeared in front of him. His hair was long, like Ratchet’s, coming down to his waist. They had silver highlights, like Arcee. He had icy blue eyes and thick eyebrows. He was wearing a red jacket over a black turtleneck and blue jeans.
June gasped. “You look so gorgeous…” she muttered.
Optimus looked down at himself. It seemed that Miko’s theory was right. He made a humming sound.
“You look kinda like Arcee.” Said Miko. She was right. They both had blue hair with streaks in them and blue eyes.
Optimus smiled. “That is because she is my daughter.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped. Jack looked at Arcee who looked away, embarrassed.
“Who’s the other parent?” Miko asked. Optimus frowned. It was clear he'd rather not talk about it.
The door to Agent Fowler’s office clicked open and he came out. “Prime!” He called. Then he looked down at everyone. “Who are all of you??”
Everyone looked around, not knowing what he meant until they realized he was talking about them.
Fowler’s eyes landed on Optimus’ holoform, his jaw fell open. He then checked himself before walking all the way down and going towards him. He smiled and held out his hand. “Greetings, I am William Agent Fowler. And who might you be?”
Optimus raised an eyebrow. “I am… Optimus Prime.” Fowler’s eyes widened at his voice and his jaw dropped. He brought his hand out to himself, blushing.
“Prime!?” He looked around at the unfamiliar people. “What’s all this!?”
“Agent Fowler. This is a holoform. Everyone is currently projecting their holoforms to show the children. “Optimus explained.
“Oh.” He looked around once again. “That is quite a useful tool.” He cleared his throat. “Anyways, I have a mission for you.”
Jack saw Miko was planning something and he sighed. He knew he couldn’t stop her from sneaking out, no matter how much he tried.