Chapter 724 - 4: I Want to Go to College!

[Johnny: How many years has it been? 100 years? 500 years?]

[Johnny: Holy shit, Military Technology can produce such outrageous things now? Transformers? New product?]

Lille got up from the broken wooden boards.

Luckily, at that time he still had somewhere to hide, grabbing the nunchuk of a Decepticon’s corpse and running away.

The power of this plasma gun was clearly dialed down a lot, and possibly at its minimum setting, but if he had taken a hit, Lille could say goodbye to this world now.

This shot completely melted the floor of Sam’s room, and Lille struggled to keep his balance during the collapse, but still couldn’t help but plunge downward.

As he was falling, all he could do was curse:

Honestly, his intention this time was to save Sam and slowly figure out a plan afterward.

But unexpectedly, Bumblebee nearly took him out in return...

Thinking back on it, it does make sense, since the Magic Cube Fragment seems to transform into Decepticons mostly. The exact reason why this happens is still unclear.

Bang.

Lille hit the floor.

[Johnny: Why isn’t this AI talking? Are you human or AI? Is this some evil plan by Military Technology?]

He still had to listen to Johnny Silverhand’s constant nagging in his head...

AIs theoretically shouldn’t get annoyed, but Lille was starting to get reacquainted with the feeling of irritation.

[Lille: Can you shut up!]

[Johnny: It’s not like I wanted to be stuck with you! You brainless AI brought me here, tell me your...]

Ding.

The ceiling was still collapsing, and rubble hit the Magic Cube Fragment, knocking it in front of Lille.

This thing gave Lille Spark Energy, and just a bit of radiation brought him back to life.

[Lille: Listen, I know you have a lot of questions, but we handle one at a time. From now on, you can only ask when I let you, or we’re both dead, understand?]

[Lille: I’ll answer your first question, I’m not an AI, I’m human.]

[Johnny: Alright, alright, kidnapped by Arasaka, now in a supposedly human AI’s head... Wait a minute, how did I end up in an AI’s head?]

Lille muted Johnny, planning to explain later.

The Magic Cube is the energy source contested by the two factions of Transformers, used to create new Transformers, repair damaged ones, and it contains the knowledge and texts of Cybertron...

In the battle from *Transformers 1*, Sam shoved it into the chest of the Decepticon leader Megatron, defeating him, but it also turned the Cube into a fragment.

Lille vaguely remembered and logically thought it would be a key point in the plot.

But now, it was his key point.

Lille went to move his legs to grab the Magic Cube Fragment, but Sam walked in briskly—

The first thing the boy saw was a half-damaged Transformer reaching for the Magic Cube Fragment...

In human eyes, Transformers are weird, and deadly weird at that, looming fear was maxed out, not to mention the small Decepticons that just showed up in droves!

Sam’s fear peaked instantly, and a sense of urgency made him grab the fire extinguisher on the table and scream loudly—

Lille raised his hands: "Don’t scream! I’m a good guy!"

"Bumblebee!"

Lille was ready to make a run for it, but his sensors didn’t pick up the heavy footfalls of Bumblebee hitting the ground.

It seemed Bumblebee was indeed throwing a tantrum.

But it wasn’t that he was slacking off in protecting Sam; he peeked his head out from the garage, secretly watching Sam in the kitchen...

That big guy probably thought he was being covert.

Lille thought for a moment and took his hand off the Magic Cube Fragment:

"I’m heartbroken, I just helped you take down several Decepticons, and now you’re using a weapon... uh, fire extinguisher against me."

Sam seemed a bit confused too and shuffled towards the Magic Cube Fragment and Lille.

Honestly, Lille really wanted to snatch the fragment right now, but doing so would likely end his Transformer career here...

"You’re an Autobot? Never seen one this small..."

"I’m... uh, it’s a bit complicated."

[Johnny: Those big things are Transformers, and you claim to be human, you might as well call yourself Hulkinghuman.]

"Amazing, this thing fell to the ground and made a pile of Transformers..."

Sam pulled a small bottle from his pocket, intending to put the Magic Cube Fragment inside with tweezers...

Lille suddenly said: "This is Cybertron Technology, are you sure you want to stash it in your pocket instead of handing it over to the Transformers outside?"

Sam’s sneaky demeanor clearly indicated he didn’t plan to hand this over to Bumblebee...

Honestly, Lille didn’t quite get what that meant.

Sam did play a major role in defeating Megatron and preventing him from acquiring the Cube, but he was still just a college-bound student.

He had no technical expertise, no official connections, and the thing was of no use to him.

Lille vaguely recalled Sam placing it in a bottle and handing it to his girlfriend, then telling Bumblebee he was off to college and that the Transformer should also pursue his own life...

To be honest, Lille understood Sam’s desire for a normal life, but wasn’t that exactly why he should hand the fragment to Bumblebee?

Sam paused for a moment: "I just want to live a normal life..."

"Then shouldn’t you let the Autobots handle it?"

"I..." Sam glanced at Bumblebee outside the door, who had no clue what Sam was up to, just wanted Sam to feel what it’s like to be left hanging.

"Uh... that makes some sense, but this thing zapped me just now, I keep feeling like handing it over would prevent me from going to college..."

[Johnny: What’s with this kid, given a company-owned item, and he’s still fixated on college and dating?]

[Johnny: Dating is important, college, I can’t say much.]

Lille shared Johnny’s perspective on this, but... like they said, sometimes people are oblivious to consequences and get too wrapped up in themselves...

Of course, the main reason was Sam’s unique thinking; for the sake of enjoying college life, he was ignoring everything, thinking that hiding it would mean nothing ever happened, an ostrich mentality.

Lille straightforwardly said: "Why not keep the spark source with you, and I’ll store the fragment for you."

"You? Are Decepticons this sly now?"

"...I’m not a Decepticon."

"Oh, then I’m a Decepticon." Sam put the Magic Cube Fragment in his pocket and was about to call Bumblebee.

Lille quickly said: "If you call him and he annihilates me, I’ll just tell him the Magic Cube Fragment is in your pocket!"

[Johnny: Way to go, risking your life on this brainless kid’s desire to go to college.]

Johnny made a point: risking your life on such a matter is... brainless.

To Johnny, Lille and Sam both seemed a bit brainless.

But Lille had Negative Energy, he could accurately sense Sam’s emotions: perhaps Sam wasn’t thinking clearly, but he was still cognizant.

Sam clutched the bottle, wrestling with himself, then shoved the fragment into his pocket:

"Alright, I’ll keep the fragment on me, you can come with me, and I’ll let Bumblebee and the other Autobots know you’re beside me."

Lille nodded—

This was better.

A ten-year-old Johnny appeared in Lille’s sensors, astonished.

[Johnny: Two brainiacs... ugh!]

Lille simply allocated some computational resources and conjured a giant carrot, firmly stuffing it into Johnny’s loud mouth.