Chapter Text
Log Entry — Optimus Prime
Date: August 10, 1990
Location: Earth — Island Nation Identified as “England”
This is Optimus Prime. After receiving Bumblebee’s transmission confirming he had located the AllSpark, I initiated immediate departure from Cybertron’s outer orbit and made for Earth. However, during atmospheric entry, something went wrong.
I have landed on a small island nation known as England, seventeen Earth years in the past, far from the coordinates Bumblebee provided. For now, I am in concealment, awaiting further data and ensuring my presence remains undetected. The human civilization of this era is not yet prepared to encounter our kind.
Yet, I have detected a unique and unstable energy pattern emanating from a region designated Little Whinging, Surrey. It bears similarities to Cybertronian signatures—though altered, organic, and unlike anything I have previously encountered.
I will proceed to investigate. However, the mission remains unchanged: locate the AllSpark, protect humanity, and ensure our survival.
End Log
Driving through Little Whinging, Optimus noticed a commotion—a group of human boys running. Their laughter and shouts weren’t kind. They were sharp, cruel, and carried the scent of fear that even he, an alien machine, could sense.
Not liking this, Optimus quietly eased himself into an alleyway, sensors dimmed. He intended only to observe. Yet, to his surprise, a girl rounded the corner and ran straight toward him.
Before he could process what was happening, the passenger door opened, and the little human climbed inside.
Optimus turned his gaze toward the cab interior, optics widening slightly at the small intruder now crouched in the passenger footwell. She was breathing heavily—short, shallow gasps that trembled in her chest. A human girl, perhaps ten years of age, dressed in clothes far too large for her small frame. Her hair was a wild, tangled black, and a faint scar shaped like a lightning bolt gleamed on her forehead when she lifted her face.
“Hello?” she whispered after a moment, voice trembling. “Is someone there?”
When silence met her, she fidgeted, nervous fingers twisting the hem of her oversized shirt. “Sorry, I’ll just… I’ll just leave…”
But before she could reach for the door, the voices of her pursuers—the boys from earlier—echoed down the alley.
“Where’d she go?”
“Freak! Come out!”
Optimus’s optics narrowed. These human children were not unlike the bullies of Cybertron’s lower sectors—cruel for the sake of cruelty.
He rumbled his engines.
The deep, growling sound filled the narrow alleyway, echoing off the brick walls. The boys froze, eyes wide, then screamed and scattered in all directions. Inside his cab, the little girl shivered violently, curling into herself. She whimpered—a small, broken sound that cut through his spark chamber like static. And beneath that fear, Optimus felt something else. Power. Ancient and vast, yet fragile. Not energon, but a different current altogether—alive and wild. The same power that had brought him here was the reason why he was investigating this town.
He dimmed his lights and shut off his engine, letting the silence return. The child stirred after a long moment, slowly crawling up into the passenger seat.
She peeked out the window, watching until the boys vanished from sight. A small sigh of relief escaped her, followed by a shiver.
On a gentle impulse, Optimus activated the truck’s internal heaters. Warm air filled the cab.
“Hello, little one,” he said softly.
She yelped and sat up straight, eyes darting around wildly. “Wh-who’s there?”
“I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots.”
Her wide green eyes were fixed on the dashboard. “You’re… not just a truck, then.”
“No,” he replied, his tone calm, patient. “I am an Autobot from the planet Cybertron.”
The girl blinked, staring at the windshield, then looked up at the sky as if she might glimpse the stars through the clouds. “You’re an alien.”
Optimus noted the awe in her tone, but also something else—weariness. The voice of someone who didn’t often dare to hope.
“Yes,” he said simply.
She hesitated. “Why are you here?”
“I came because one of my kind signaled that he had found the AllSpark. But… something went wrong when I entered your atmosphere.”
Her eyes widened, curiosity pushing past her fear. “There’s more of you? What’s—what’s Cybertron? Did something happen to it?”
The question stilled him. He hadn’t expected empathy from such a young human. “Yes,” he admitted at last, voice heavy with memory. “There was a civil war. My planet… was lost.”
Her small hand came to rest on the passenger door beside her, fingers brushing against the cold metal. “Are all of you… alive like this?”
“Yes. We are sentient robotic beings—Autobots and Decepticons alike.”
She studied the door beneath her fingertips, then looked toward the dashboard again. “What are you, exactly?”
Optimus hesitated before returning the question. “And what are you, little one? I can feel your power even before you entered my cab. How did you know I was here?”
Her eyes widened, and she hugged her knees to her chest. “I don’t know what I am, Uncle Vermen says I’m a freak, since I do weird stuff all the time.”
“I do not think you are a freak, little one.”
I felt you,” she whispered. “Your emotions…you-you seemed like a- a protector. And then you were worried about me. No one ever does that.”
Something in her voice—small, honest—tightened the wires in his spark chamber.
“What is your name?” he asked gently.
The girl hesitated, then gave a small, shy smile. “My name is Harriette Potter,” she said quietly. “But… you can call me Hari.”