"You're keeping a giant alien robot here like it's some kind of museum piece?!" John Keller barked, visibly angry. "If it were up to me, this thing would've been scrap metal decades ago."
"He's not a threat," Tom replied firmly. "He's been frozen for millennia. Keeping him like this is crucial to our studies. Everything we have today as our technology, our knowledge, was born from what we discovered by studying this robot."
"That may have been true in the past," Keller countered, eyes fixed on the frozen giant, "but now, this thing is an outrageous risk."
Fowler stepped forward.
"With all due respect, sir... the real risks are the ones not trapped in ice."
Simmons seized the opportunity, always ready to dramatize.
"Our true enemy is the Decepticons, sir. They're here, now. And they have an army."
Keller turned abruptly. "And why haven't you dealt with them yet?"
"Because they know how to hide," Simmons said flatly. "Cloaking technology, distortion fields... and mastery over spatial translocation."
"You mean... teleportation?" Keller looked incredulous, nearly on the verge of a meltdown.
"In the most absurd form possible, yes." Simmons shrugged, as if talking about the weather.
Tom gestured with his head, changing tone.
"Follow me. It's time you saw the reason behind all this."
They walked down long, reinforced corridors until they reached a maximum-security area. Two scientists awaited them, dressed in radiation-protection suits and equipped with magnetic gear. "You're going to need this," one of them said, handing over the suits. "Gravity doesn't work quite right in there."
John Keller raised his eyes, staring at the radiation suit, but what caught his attention most was the scientist's comment about gravity. "Sorry, what do you mean by gravity not working?"
"You'll see soon enough. This was a surprise even for me," Simmons said as he began putting on the suit, alongside Tom.
When the reinforced door opened, a silent and eerie wave washed over them. The environment felt... different.
There, in the center of the room, floated an icosahedral object, slowly rotating as if untouched by the laws of physics. It was about two meters in diameter, with a golden shell pulsating with glowing alien symbols.
Gravity was unstable, several scientists floated, tethered by magnetic cords. Some used the microgravity to propel themselves with precision across the room. Simple tools and small stones orbited the artifact like natural satellites.
Keller and Fowler were stunned.
"That... is the Jewel?" the Secretary asked, awestruck and uneasy.
"Yes," Tom replied solemnly. "I present to you NBE-00."
"NBE-00?" Fowler repeated slowly.
Simmons stepped forward, pointing at the artifact.
"It activated the exact moment the alien forest appeared. The very same second. The energy it emits... is identical."
"So it created the forest?" Keller was still trying to grasp the concept.
"It's a complicated answer... somewhere between yes and no," said Tom, looking directly at Keller. "The energy distorting gravity here is the same that created the forest. But... that event wasn't intentional."
"Wasn't intentional?" Keller frowned. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
One of the scientists, holding a tablet, intervened. He seemed hesitant to approach the floating artifact.
"Think of this object as a... cocoon," he said. "It's reacting to the forest's energy because, at some point, it retained that same energy within itself."
He pointed to the data on his tablet.
"The radiation that transformed the forest is the same being emitted now by this artifact... but the real source of that energy isn't here."
Keller and Fowler exchanged confused glances.
Then, a woman also wearing a radiation suit stepped forward and explained more clearly:
"Imagine this artifact like an antenna capturing sunlight. It doesn't have the sun inside it, but it carries traces of solar energy in its structure. What happened to the forest... was as if the 'sun' passed through."
She pointed to the floating artifact, where equipment still orbited it.
"When that massive energy wave emerged, the artifact reacted... as if the 'sun' had returned. But what we're seeing here is just... the echo."
Simmons crossed his arms, wrapping up in his usual blunt style:
"In other words... the true source of the energy is out there. Not here." He pointed at NBE-00. "This is just a reflection. A fragment of a much greater power."
"And what do you mean by 'out there'?" Keller raised his voice. "You're telling me the energy just walked away?!"
Simmons smirked slightly, as cynical as ever.
"Basically, yes." He paused dramatically. "Remember the boy from Zero Event? The one who saved one of Sector 7's founders?"
Fowler, already anticipating the answer, widened his eyes.
"You're saying he... is the source?"
"Not by choice," Tom replied. "But yes... he's our little walking sun."
Silence fell like a bomb.
"YOU'RE TELLING ME," Keller exploded, "THAT A RADIOACTIVE TEENAGER IS WANDERING FREELY ACROSS THE UNITED STATES LIKE A NORMAL CITIZEN?!"
"Technically, yes," Simmons replied, unphased. "But relax... he's not a threat. Quite the opposite."
"Relax?!" Keller stepped forward. "You hid this from the entire federal government. If that kid sneezes, we turn into cosmic dust!"
"We didn't hide him, we just kept him off the radar," said Tom, trying to maintain a calm tone. "We've been protecting him. And now... we need to find him again, and that's the problem."
Simmons began to explain, his voice steady despite the tension in the air, knowing he needed to calm the Secretary of Defense:
"We used the same principle Albert Einstein applied decades ago. We synchronized the frequency of the radiation emitted by the boy with the artifact. Sounds simple, but it's anything but easy."
He crossed his arms, staring at the NBE-00 as it floated in the center of the room.
"For the past twenty-five years, he was monitored. Constantly. Dozens of military satellites were always aimed at him."
"And why didn't you capture him?" Keller asked, still clearly outraged by the entire situation.
"Because we knew that could trigger something catastrophic," Tom replied. "And now... we have an incident as proof we were right."
A brief silence fell over the room.
"A few weeks ago, he disappeared," Tom continued. "Took a new car and vanished. After a while, we tracked signals in Europe. But then... he vanished again."
Simmons added:
"When the forest appeared and the artifact activated at the exact same time, we were sure Lux was back in the United States."
"Lux?" Keller questioned. "Who is this boy, anyway?"
Fowler stepped closer too, clearly just as curious as the Secretary of Defense.
"We don't know his real name," Tom said. "But currently he goes by Lux. And even though he looks like a regular human... the truth is, he's much older than he appears."
"We have a detailed list of his personality, behavior, decisions, and patterns. Everything we've gathered points to one thing—he would never cause intentional harm. The forest? Probably an accident. A power collapse, a loss of control, or something along those lines," Simmons said.
Fowler frowned.
"Lux..." he murmured. His eyes widened slightly. "He was involved in two minor incidents when the Decepticons attacked..."
The pieces started to fit. He looked at the artifact, recalling what Optimus had told him in their last meeting: "It has the power to create worlds… to fill them with life."
He whispered:
"Don't tell me that... no way..."
Fowler turned, resolute.
"I need to speak with Optimus. Now."
Before anyone could react, a young operator from Sector 7's tech division rushed in, panting, wearing the same radiation suit as the others—no fool would expose themselves and develop multiple cancers.
"Gentlemen! We're being hacked! The systems are being invaded… and we can't keep up with the speed of the breach!"
Tom didn't even blink.
"Decepticons."
He turned calmly to the others.
"Activate the contingency protocol. Now."
Fowler watched, confused by how calm Tom and Simmons were.
"You both seem way too relaxed for what's going on. Why aren't you panicking?"
Tom replied with a slight, restrained smile. "Because we predicted this. You can't win a computer war against the Decepticons." He motioned for them to leave the NBE-00 chamber. "All critical information about NBEs and any alien technology in Sector 7 is stored on paper, physically locked in vaults, and in a closed server that only runs locally, right here in this base. No external connection. No internet. No remote access."
Simmons added arrogantly, "We're cloaked for now. There's no way they know we're here."
After leaving the protected chamber of NBE-00, the group proceeded down heavily reinforced corridors to Sector 7's Operations Room. The room was lit by high-resolution screens, many of them displaying code and constantly updating global maps. The sounds of keyboards, alerts, and operator voices filled the air.
Tom entered first, carefully observing his specialists as they handled the digital chaos.
"Any update on the breach?" he asked gravely.
One of the analysts, sweating under pressure, responded while typing furiously:
"They accessed the satellites... but as soon as we detected the breach, we wiped all sensitive data from recent operations."
Tom stepped closer, staring at the screen with intense eyes.
"Did they get anything?"
"We don't know, sir."
Simmons crossed his arms, feeling irritated but aware that what really mattered wasn't at stake. He hated feeling helpless. He wished he could make his move to deal with the situation, but unfortunately, digital combat was far from his area of expertise—drawing a gun and shooting.
Tom turned to everyone in the room, his expression hardened.
"Even if the Decepticons find out something about Lux, they won't be able to track him. They'll be just like us, with no starting point to find him." he said firmly. "The radioactive wave caused by the forest is still interfering with Energon sensors. None of their systems can detect energy signatures accurately in this chaos."
Fowler crossed his arms, still worried.
"But that won't last forever."
"Exactly," Simmons replied. "We have a very short window before they adapt their technology to the distortion. We need a plan before the Decepticons gain the upper hand."
Fowler stepped forward, ready to grab his communicator.
"I'm going to inform Optimus. If he learns about Lux's involvement and the Jewel, he might help us..."
"No," Tom said, cutting him off immediately. "No contact with the Autobots while we're under digital attack."
Fowler turned, surprised.
"They're our best shot at fixing this."
"And they are. But right now, we're vulnerable. Even an encrypted transmission can be intercepted, redirected, or used against us. Until we have full control of the situation... no external communication." He sighed heavily. "We know Lux has a connection to the Cybertronians, but if we give the Decepticons even an indirect confirmation of what Lux truly is, we'll lose this planet."