#bask of altihex

[yeenybeanies]

For the Tiny Whumpee prompts. 14. Fleeing for their life. Any one of your robot characters and their human(oid)

come get yer WHUMP

14. Fleeing for their life

transformers ( ocs ) | bask & erickson moore

1,284 words

some mild vorish themes and mentions, but nothing present or graphic

thanks for reading!!

Erickson ran. He ran faster than he'd ever run before––faster than he knew he could run. Adrenaline was a helluva thing, especially when he was running for his life. He sprinted over the dirt and the earth, ignoring how it clung to his soaked clothing.

He'd just been barfed up by a giant robot monitor lizard.

His boss had fed him to said giant robot monitor lizard, it had barfed him up after holding him for about an hour, and now he was running for his life.

"Wait!" A voice he'd never heard before called from behind him. Erickson dared to glance back over his shoulder, but he didn't see anything but––shit! The lizard was following him! Its red eyes stared him down. What looked like a forked tongue, just as red, flicked out from between its teeth-packed jaws.

Erickson did not wait. He pushed himself to run even faster. His lungs burned, and his muscles shrieked, but he was in survival mode.

"Please––wait!" The voice called again. Erickson didn't look. He took a sharp left, figuring that to be as good a direction as any in this unfamiliar landscape. Any direction that would get the lizard off of his trail was fine by him.

Unfortunately, it did not faze the lizard any. It followed after him, trotting, rapidly catching up. Erickson could feel his heart racing, pounding against his insides much like he'd been pounding against the lizard's.

"HELP!" He yelled hoarsely. Panic cracked his voice further, making his cry sound more like a desperate squeak.

"That's what I'm trying to do, if you'd just calm down a moment––!" The strange voice was right behind him, and so was the lizard. Erickson screamed, hands over his head, and tried to duck away from its jaws. It wasn't jaws that came for him, though: it was claws. He caught sight of the lizard's clawed hand at the last moment, just before it swept his legs out from under him. He fell forward with a shout, landing hard on his front. He dared not look up, not wanting to face whatever brutal death the lizard had in store for him.

"Are you quite finished?" Erickson tensed. Who the hell was speaking? Whoever they were, they sounded exasperated. He waited for another minute at least before peeked out from his curled-up position on the ground. Seeing the lizard looming over him, staring him down with those wicked eyes, understandably, did not bring him any sort of comfort. He yelped again and buried his head back into his arms.

"Doctor... Moore, was it?"

His name? The voice knew his name? Erickson peeked out from under his arms again.

"Who's there?" He asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

"Um... me?” The lizard tilted its head to the side, almost reminiscent of a puzzled dog. Its mouth didn’t move, but... the voice was definitely coming from it. “Yes, I can speak,” it said, as if sensing his confusion.

“You... you ate me!” Erickson blurted out, then immediately shrank back. His confidence had terrible timing when it came to standing up for himself. Shouting at a giant robot lizard that had already consumed him once was not the time.

The lizard, however, averted its gaze. It looked almost sheepish, if anything could be read on its face. “Er... yes. I apologize if I gave you a fright. You were never in any danger––not from me.” It sat down with a heavy thud and sighed. (Robot lizards could sigh?) “I chose not to reveal the extent of my intelligence to your people to protect myself, which turned out to be the correct course of action. If your organization––sorry, former organization––was willing to feed one of its own people to an unknown organism, I shudder to imagine what it would have done to me had it known that I am sapient.”

As the lizard spoke, Erickson slowly uncurled himself from the protective ball he’d formed. There was a lot going on. This being could speak. It (should he be calling it an “it”?) spoke with a clear intelligence, and showed emotion. It was alive. He’d suspected from the moment it was brought into his former organization’s facility that there was more to it than a mindless beast, but he hadn’t expected it to hold this much... humanity.

“Again, I apologize for startling you,” the lizard continued, “I also figured that, if you were being presented to me as something to consume, you were not on good standing with your organization, and it would be better for you if you were safely removed. Once I had you contained, I forced my way out of the enclosure and escaped.” It turned its head back to face Erickson. Being subjected to its gaze still sent chills down his spine, but he forced himself not to flinch away. “If I might ask: what prompted your former comrades to toss you into my enclosure?”

Erickson blinked and glanced down to his hands. He flexed his fingers, balling them into fists and easing them again. “I... was a whistleblower. Or I was planning to be one. Someone must have found out....”

“A... ‘whistleblower’?” The lizard settled down further onto its belly. Despite its distinctly robotic body, it moved with an uncanny fluidity and grace like that of an organic being.

“Um––I was going to snitch. I was going to report the unethical, illegal stuff that they were doing,” Erickson clarified. The lizard nodded in understanding. “Er... so, um, do you have a name? I mean––I assume you have a name....” 

The lizard perked up. “Ah! Yes, I am Bask of Altihex. I am a Cybertronian spacecraft engineer, though I, unfortunately, crash-landed on your planet.”

Cybertronian... Erickson’s jaw dropped. “You’re––wait, you’re Cybertronian?” Bask blinked, taken aback by his outburst. “You’re one of those transforming robots that turn into, like, cars and planes?” 

Bask couldn’t exactly frown, but he still somehow managed to relay the gesture. “No, I am not a vehicular Cybertronian. Cybertronians with beast modes, while uncommon, do exist.” 

Erickson was learning so much. While his fear and his discomfort with being eaten hadn’t left him just yet (as he was painfully aware that he was still covered in giant robot lizard stomach goo), his awe and curiosity were gradually taking over as the dominant feelings.

And then another feeling hit him like a train. Erickson’s blood ran cold. He smacked his hands to his head and stared down at the dirt caking his pants. “Oh my god. My family, my friends––everyone is going to think that I’m dead.”

How Bask managed to be so expressive without a human face was a mystery, but he clearly relayed a grimace. “Er... I suppose so. I’m afraid I hadn’t thought of that in the moment.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault. It’s just...” He dragged his hands down his face, only to immediately regret it. The goo and dirt were wholly unpleasant on his skin. “Eugh. And I still need to expose them. There was just... awful stuff happening in that building.”

Bask lowered his head to the ground to meet Erickson at eye level. While they were still intimidating, Erickson could now clearly see the intelligent liveliness in those red eyes. “If I can, I would like to help you. I feel like I owe it to you after giving you such a fright.” 

Of course. Erickson looked over Bask’s face, thinking. Of course! Bask was another witness. Bask had testimonials of the things done to him at the hands of the organization! (And Bask was currently his only way of getting anywhere in and out of this remote location.)

“You know what? I think you can help.”