REFLECTIONS
The lights glittered in the night sky of Cybertron, dancing
before his optical sensors. Leaning against his doorway, Hound
performed what passed for a Transformer, a soft sigh. As he
watched the reflections of the fireworks cascade against the
metallic surface of his home, Hound suddenly felt very, very
alone.
"Such beauty. Such delicious, delirious harmony. Only the
humans could dare to turn the whistles of rockets and the booms
of explosions into an expression of joy. Who else would have the
gall, the nerve, the IMAGINATION, to do that?" An explosion of
another round of pyros flared up. Hound watched the smoky
dendrils of this latest barrage drift slowly out of sight.
"So many years, so many battles. How many lives, how many
friends have I known in that time?" he thought. So many lost to
a war that neither side would ever win. And he knew it would
never be won. No matter how optimistic the others were, no
matter how many victories they won. "It never ends," he said.
Startled by his own voice, Hound looked around him to see if
anyone had heard his voiced thought. No one did. And so Hound
returned to his gloom.
Though he pretended to be happy when around the others, Hound
harbored no hope. That was his luxury. A luxury Prime could
never afford. Hound did not envy his leader. He remembered when
Prime was a junior officer. He'd met him once. On a patrol.
Hound focused on the memory, and smiled. Prime had been one go-
lucky 'bot in his youth. But then again, so had they all. They
had known peace; they had known beauty; they had known...
No. "Too late, you damn fool." He'd been about to say love.
But he would have been wrong. Hound had never known what love
was, and neither had any other 'bot he was fairly sure. Until...
"Push it out." Well, no one understood the happiness it brought
and the burden it bore as much as he did. Hound knew this for a
fact. Sure, strong friendships were forged, loyalties given.
But never...love. Hound wished she were here. "I give up."
Hound WANTED to remember. There had been that one...being --
person -- human. And she was gone now. She had taught him that
love was not given, it was grown. And before he knew it, he had
loved her. And the strangest part was that after he knew it, he
didn't know how he could ever have NOT known it. And again, for
the trillionth time, Hound secretly wished he were human. The
curse of his metal body, while granting him long life, ensured
long ago that he would most probably live to see HER die. And so
he had. When war had again come to Earth. He HATED the
Decepticons. He wondered how in Primus' name the Transformers
could have given birth to the degenerate race that was the
Decepticons.
And as soon as anger flashed within Hound, it subsided, and
ebbed deep into his servos, leaving him enervated. How long had
he known war? Known death? Known that the enemy he fought was
not embodied just in the dreaded insignia of the Decepticons, but
present in himself as well? Present in everyone. "We both walk
a fine line. We both fight, we both kill. Presumably WE kill so
we won't HAVE to kill. For all the sense that makes. Primus!"
Hound went inside. Just as suddenly, he heard a beep at his
door. There stood Bluestreak, staring at him. "Yes?" Hound
said.
Bluestreak, uncharacteristically silent, finally said, "I
don't know what to say, Hound. I don't really know why I dropped
by. I just saw you standing outside and --." Recovering
himself, Bluestreak joked, "So you enjoying our victory
celebrations for Draga Lapid?" and tried to laugh. It was Hound's
turn to be silent. Hound studied him for a second, and asked him in.
They sat there in silence. Bluestreak finally asked, "How long has it
been since you played your light-harp?"
Hound replied, "A long time." In silence, they sat and watched
the fireworks outside. And sat.
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Written by: Jim Lee
jimlee@princeton.edu
http://www.princeton.edu/~jimlee/tf.html
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TRADEMARK INFORMATION
All specific names included herein are trademarks and are so
acknowledged: Hasbro, Inc.
Any trademarks not mentioned here are still hypothetically
acknowledged.
COPYRIGHT
This article is copyright 1997, Jim Lee. All rights reserved.
Feel free to keep a copy on your websites or whatever, as long as
I am credited as the author.
(
geocities.com/temple_of_primus)