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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Written by: Jim Lee jimlee@princeton.edu http://www.princeton.edu/~jimlee/tf.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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.