Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

When the Autobot base welcomed its first three human babies, the scene was quite lively.

Meiqi jumped off Arcee, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, her head was already turned towards the Autobots.

The base's metal walls, control consoles, and even the land bridge that wasn't yet operational all caught her eye.

Jack stood next to Arcee, who had reverted to her robot form, and became much more cautious.

After getting out of the passenger seat of the Bumblebee, Raphael didn't run around but looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

Optimus Prime slowly walked out of the main control area, and the three children looked up at the same time.

"Wow—" Meiqi exclaimed, while Jack and Raphael also looked up in awe.

Optimus Prime was quite used to the first reactions humans had to him. He slowly knelt down on one knee and looked down at the three children:

"Welcome, children."

Why am I experiencing something like "Welcome to the alien secret base"?! Jack feels like his ordinary high school life is waving goodbye.

Meiqi, without any hesitation or reservation, exclaimed, "Wow! You're their leader?"

Optimus Prime answered seriously, "I am the leader of the Autobots."

Meiqi succinctly stated, "That's the boss!"

Jazz covered his mouth with laughter from behind, while Smokescreen couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Meiqi immediately spotted a new target: "What's your name?"

Smokescreen paused for a moment, then perked up: "Smokescreen."

"What can you transform into?" "A sports car! It's so cool! It's a pity Arcee always says my vehicle form is too flashy."

"Is it fast?" "Definitely! I can even go 150 in one gear—"

Just as Smokescreen was about to give a detailed introduction to the performance of her sports car, the ambulance cut in: "Don't encourage reckless driving; she's still a human child."

Smokescreen: "Aww~ Okay."

Meiqi then turned her head to look around again and immediately noticed the partition. Her gaze swept from the bottom of the partition all the way up to the top of her head.

"Wow--!!"

The person in the partition seemed a little tense and tentatively asked, "Uh, what's wrong?"

"You're so big! How much do you weigh?" "Um—"

"Can you turn into a truck? Or an off-road vehicle? Oh! I bet you're a Jeep! By the way, where are your wheels? Can you punch through a wall? Why aren't you the boss? Oh my god, how tall are you?"

The partition had no idea which question to answer first, but Meiqi excitedly stepped forward: "Can we be friends?"

He glanced at the human girl, the size of a figurine, then at Jack beside him, who seemed completely unfazed, and finally nodded hesitantly: "Okay, okay?"

"That's awesome!! I absolutely have to take you to see a rock band!"

The jazz musician remarked from the side, "Humans are really efficient at making friends."

Arcee: "Humans are so strange."

-

Meanwhile, Bumblebee was still talking to Raphael.

Bumblebee still remembered how he accidentally crushed the other person's remote-controlled car yesterday: "Sorry about yesterday, that model..."

Raphael quickly waved his hand: "It's really alright."

"I can buy you one." "No need, no need."

"Really? I didn't see it." "It's really okay."

Bumblebee still felt a little guilty, so he spoke faster and faster, and the last syllable even had a slight electronic beep.

Raphael paused for a moment, then continued smoothly, "It's okay, I actually prefer playing video games, so it's fine if the little car is gone."

The bumblebee was momentarily stunned, then became even more enthusiastic.

There are actually humans who can understand the beeping sounds he makes when he's in a hurry!?

-

Jack, on the other hand, most wanted to know when he could go home.

He watched as the ambulance used scanning equipment to examine them, explaining with a sour face:

"I need to check if you have any tracking devices on you, and your physiological structure is too fragile. I really don't understand you humans."

Meiqi's ears only picked up on keywords like "alien device," and she quickly scanned them: "Scan me first!"

Ambulance driver: "Stand still."

"What kind of equipment is this? How does it work? Oh! Will it emit radiation? Can I see the data later?"

"...Be quiet for a moment. I can look at the data; humans can't understand it anyway."

The ambulance driver felt the base had become noisier.

-

The basic inspection had just ended when a notification came from outside the base that the specially built elevator connecting the outside to the inside had started operating.

Jazz glanced at the control panel: "Fuller's here."

Jack and Raphael looked up at the same time, and Meiqi blurted out, "Who?"

Arcee: "People from the human government."

The three children finally quieted down.

Not long after, Fuller strode out of the elevator, his face pale and clearly angry.

"What you've done is outrageous! I've received reports from the highways! Unusual armed helicopters, multiple flashy vehicles flying off the elevated highway, and illegal speeding and overtaking causing rear-end collisions on the elevated highway!"

Arcee crossed her arms and remained silent. Fuller glared at her: "Three children are involved!"

Meiqi raised her hand and interjected, "But I wasn't on the highway, so I'm fine."

Fuller turned his head through gritted teeth and said, "It has nothing to do with whether we're on the highway or not!"

Optimus Prime stepped forward to block the children: "We are already handling this matter. Black Widow, who is involved in this matter, will be reviewed again, and her violation record has been handed over to the judicial authorities."

Fuller nodded: "Now let's talk about the children."

He pointed to Jack, Raphael, and Maggie: "I'm going to take them to the government, document the situation, reassess it, and we'll take care of their follow-up."

Arcee frowned and stepped forward: "Black Widow has already remembered them, and human facilities may not be able to handle a Cybertronian attack."

"But I can't leave three children in an alien secret military base!"

The base fell silent instantly; the children's safety was of paramount importance.

Optimus Prime backed down slightly: "We respect the human government's right to govern its citizens, but the risks are not yet confirmed, and I do not recommend that they leave immediately."

Fuller's expression softened slightly, but he didn't back down, clearly still intending to take the three children back.

Jack stood in the middle and suddenly felt like he was being discussed as a rare animal, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Just then, the land bridge notification sounded.

The ambulance was connected to the land bridge, and the authorization logo of the judicial center was displayed simultaneously on the screen.

97 walked out of the blue-green passage first, followed closely by AZ, who walked very quietly.

Finally, there was the vector. She still had a small medical monitoring patch hanging on her right temple, indicating that she was still under medical observation. As soon as she walked out of the passage, the base fell silent.

Jack glanced around, and the previously noisy Smoke Screen instantly stood up straight. Arcee also looked serious, and even Fuller stopped and turned to face her.

Vector glanced at Fuller and Optimus Prime, followed by the three human children protected behind Arcee and Optimus Prime.

"Agent Fuller." Vector finally looked at him and greeted him.

"Chief Justice." Fuller nodded slightly, maintaining his composure.

The three children stared at her intently, especially Meiqi, who was about to rush towards her, but Jack grabbed her arm.

The vector approached Agent Fuller, who instinctively straightened up as he stood on the platform.

"I have seen your protection application and relocation request, but the Autobots also submitted a temporary resettlement plan."

Fuller asked, "And what's your opinion?"

"First, let's clarify the concepts." Vector turned to the side so that he could see Fuller, the Autobots, and the three children at the same time. "They are human citizens and children, so the final decision on their long-term guardianship, placement, and personal safety rests with human society."

Fuller was clearly pleased with her statement.

Vector continued: "Neither the judicial center nor the Autobots will take them for themselves, but it's not appropriate to transfer them directly to government facilities right now, not even human military bases are safe enough."

"The current threat comes from Cybertronian life, but the Autobots have a more sophisticated tracking, defense, and investigation mechanism."

"Moreover, they have just completed a basic safety check and still need comprehensive supervision and screening."

"Are you in such a hurry to take them away for protection, or for a confidential investigation?"

Fuller frowned, paused for a moment, and then said, "We have them all—"

"Then let's separate them." Ignoring Fuller's gaze, Vector added calmly, "They are not suspects now, and even if it involves issues of knowledge, they did not actively participate."

Fuller was silent for a moment, then Meiqi spoke first, without any guilt: "But I followed along on my own initiative."

Vector: ...Why is this child deliberately increasing the complexity of the case!

"Then we'll consider this human separately." The vector gauge looked at Fuller with a calm and reasonable expression.