A Valuable Lesson

"That fight was so cool! Especially the way you took out that last 'Con!"

"Miko, I asked you to look away." Bulkhead rumbled. "And you weren't supposed to be there in the first place."

The pair of voices floated out of the open ground bridge.

Addie poked her head out of the curtain covering the basket chair. Sounded like Miko had snuck out on another mission. She shook her head. That girl was going to find herself in a situation she couldn't handle if she kept this up. It didn't help that she seemed to think it was more of a game than anything.

'I can see it now,' she thought to herself. '"Mr. and Mrs. Nakadai, we regret to inform you that your daughter has gone missing. As of yet, we have no suspects, but dredging along the edges of Lake Mead is scheduled to start in thirty-six hours. We will, of course, keep you updated." Yeah, that'll go over well and do wonders for Japanese-American relations…' An eye roll followed that.

She had seen the Autobots try to impress upon the girl the seriousness of her actions, but it all seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Perhaps...

Sighing, she climbed out of the basket chair and steeled herself for a long and heavy conversation.

"Miko, could you wait for me at the bottom of the stairs? I need your help with something."

The girl hopped off of her guardian's servo. "Sure!"

"Great. Let me grab it from my forge." She opened a private link to Optimus on her way to retrieve it. :Could you keep the others from interfering? This is going to look very harsh, but it is a lesson she is going to need to learn if she stays here.:

The big mech gave her a feeling of curiosity, so she sent him the gist of her plan. He frowned.

:Very well. Though I do not entirely approve, the other methods we have used do not seem to be effective. Perhaps this will make its way through.: The Prime began gathering his team by the main console.

:Thank you.: She shut the channel as she walked out carrying a large cat carrier and a shoebox. Setting the carrier on the floor in front of the stairs, she perched on the bottom step and patted the spot next to her. Miko sat.

"I hear you snuck through the ground bridge again."

The teen crossed her arms defensively. "Yeah. And?"

Addie waved a hand. "I'm not trying to criticize you here. I was just curious. How'd the mission go?"

"It was great!" Miko smiled and relaxed, becoming more animated. "We found a bunch of 'Cons guarding a small mine, and Bulkhead pounded the scrap out of them! The last one, he punched it so hard, the 'Con's head came off! 

"I see. I take it your guardian wasn't too happy to have you there?"

The teen scrunched up her nose. "Bulk's just being stuffy right now." She glanced at the objects Addie had brought out. "So what's in the crate?"

"What I wanted your help with." At her words, the Autobots all gathered around to watch. The boys peeked over the railing, a warning look from Optimus keeping them at the top of the stairs.

She opened the shoebox, removed and shook out the large square of white fabric inside, then draped it over the open box and placed it between them.

Opening the door of the cage on the floor, she gently pulled out a dust-colored rabbit. One of the back legs was splinted.

"Meet Henry. He's a desert hare."

The teen squealed. "He's so cute! Can I hold him?"

"Sure!" She smiled at the girl's innocent enthusiasm. The hare was placed in her lap, with great care taken to arrange his leg so he sat comfortably. Wiggling his ears, Henry began sniffing and investigating the human holding him.

"He's about eight months old. His leg was broken when I found him. Looked like a hawk had tried to carry him off and dropped him on a rock. You can see the claw marks on the back of his head."

Miko was enthusiastically petting the animal in her lap. "Aww, poor thing."

"I've been trying to treat him for the last four months, but that leg has refused to heal." She sobered and shook her head. "Unfortunately, at this point, he needs put down. My first choice would be an injection, but I don't have access to the supplies, and none of the vets I know accept wild patients. Which means it needs done the old-fashioned way. This is where I need your help."

Addie pulled one of her daggers out of a wrist sheath and offered it to the teen handle first, keeping a carefully blank face. The watching 'Bots took a collective gasp.

"What? No, I can't do that!" Miko shoved the hand away.

The woman tapped the handle against her other palm. "Would it be better for him to live the rest of his life in pain and misery? His leg will never heal, and every step he takes hurts him more and more." She offered the knife once more. This time the teen took it… 

Only to throw it across the room. "No! You can't make me!"

The red-head nodded. "Alright then. I won't."

Miko gave a sigh of relief, and lifted her hand to stroke the hare.

Quick as a flash, Addie's hands darted in and snapped Henry's neck. The crack echoed through the base. Everyone flinched at the sound.

The hare gave a single kick with his good leg, then went limp across her knees. The teen jumped back in shock, hands flying to her mouth.

"He's dead?!" Tears began streaming down her cheeks. "You monster!!"

"Am I? His death was quick and as painless as I could make it."

"But you killed him!!" she sobbed.

"Yes, I did. If you wish to call me a monster, then that is a label I will take. But I have a question for you first."

Miko sniffled. "What?"

"Look at Bulkhead. Right in the eyes." She waited until the teen did so. "Is he a monster too?"

She snapped her head around. "No! How could you even ask a question like that!?"

Addie glanced at the green mech with an apology in her eyes. He gazed back with sorrow and understanding. "Why? Bulkhead's kill count is higher than mine is. And those that he has killed have been of much higher intelligence and self-awareness than this rabbit." She gently picked Henry up off of Miko's lap and placed him in the box, fabric pillowing around his body. 

The girl began crying harder.

"I'll tell you. Bulkhead fights for a reason. To protect his home and family. And now you." The woman shook her head. "He didn't want to be embroiled in a war. No good person wants to fight. But just sitting back and letting the tyrants win is almost as bad as joining them. 'All it takes for evil to win is for good men to stand by and do nothing.' The Decepticons are sentient beings, with thoughts and feelings, family and friends, same as you. But there are two things that set you apart. Firstly, their bodies are made of metal, not organic matter. And second… They chose to align themselves with and serve a madman bent on the domination of every living thing."

She held out a tissue, and Miko took it hesitantly. "Look at the Autobots again." The pink-haired teen blew her nose, then turned her face to the 'Bots. "Really look at them. They aren't just 'giant robots'. In all the ways that are important, they are just as human as you and I. They don't want to fight. But Megatron has made them refugees from their planet, chasing them from their home all the way across the galaxy, and aims to wipe them from existence.

"This is not a game. People have been hurt. And good people are forced to do things that they don't want to do, such as kill another sentient being." Addie clasped her hands in her lap. "Bulkhead is not proud of some of the things he's done. He knows what war is, and what it can do. And when he asks you to look away, it's out of concern for you. He wants to protect you from more than just physical threats. Do you understand now?"

By this time, Miko had mostly dried her face and was looking at Addie with dawning comprehension. "I understand."

"If you are going to insist on sneaking off on missions, you need to learn obedience. If your guardian tells you to do something, you need to do it. Immediately. And you will need to learn to defend yourself. That means physical training with the 'Bots and asking Ratchet for lessons in Cybertronian basic anatomy. If you disregard any of these stipulations, I will not hesitate to go all the way to Japan to speak with your parents." The teen pulled a face, aghast. "Are. we. clear?"

"Yes."

"War is not a pleasant thing. And while incredible things are found during times of war, they are often used for terrible purposes. Look at nuclear energy. It is powerful and efficient. And it was possible through the discovery of the splitting of the atom. But that discovery was used for something else first. Can you guess what it was?" She looked at the girl.

Miko thought for a moment, then looked at the floor. "Hiroshima tomo Nagasaki," she whispered, her native accent thickening for a moment.

"Yes. A great tragedy for Japan, and a dark chapter in American history. Families were broken, buildings and property were annihilated, and new heights of destruction were reached. Was it effective in ending that side of the war? Yes. But could that have been achieved in a different way? We will never know."

Adelheid canted her head to look her full in the face. "If Megatron wins, he will do much worse than atomic bombs and internment camps to humans and Cybertronians. That is why they fight."

The woman folded the cloth over the rabbit and put the lid on the box. 

"Will you be alright?"

The teen shrugged and turned away. Addie sighed and picked up the makeshift casket before standing.

"If you will excuse me, I have a burial to perform, and an apology to make."

Everyone watched in silence as she walked up the stairs to the elevator leading outside.