The Sound of Silence: Chapter Summaries Chapter One: Sweet Dreams are Made of These Galloway gives Sam

an offer to learn to be a liaison for the governemt to the Autobots. He accepts, learns about the new cease-fire truce with the Decepticons, meets suave and cool Dylan Gould (official Decepticon liaison) who Sam takes a liking to, who takes over and gives him a tour of the base, sets him up for the night, and then takes him to the White House the next day to receive shiny medals for his efforts. He meets Carly, becomes infatuated, and Dylans a jerk that just has to push him towards the pretty girl and embarrass himself. But he gets Carly number out of it. His training goes by, his reunites with Ratchet and Bee, and got used to the Decepticons. Then Galloway corners him and he gets hijacked and taken to a secret facility where he gets experimented on and tortured. Yeah, not good. Chapter Two: They Want to Abuse You Unable to remember the experimenting, Sams soon back in school and doesnt understand why hes feelingoff. Soon, he goes to another government-training break, only to learn he left abruptly last time, without a goodbye, from Dylan. He gets along better with Decepticons, has to keep learning the trade, and even got a text from Carly back. Then Galloway tries to corner him again, but Sam has a bad feeling and underhandedly ropes Dylan into helping with an excuse to get away. He tells Dylan of his bad feeling and they get out of there. However, the next day Sam has to get back and in the break room, drinks a cup of coffee from Galloway that makes him out of it, and easy to take away. Sams taken away and Dylan gets suspicious, mildly confronting Galloway and even voicing his worries to Bee and Barricade. With Sam, they start chemical testing, and when hes back to school, he gets violently sick, leading to his roommate to frantically call for help and Starscream coming over and picking him up, rushing him back to Base. He gets treated, Galloway visits an unconscious Sam and tries to apologize, and Dylan worries in his visit. Chapter Three: They Say Youre Getting Better Two of trine visit and express their concern, but nothing is found and Sam tries to get back to normal after he goes back. Things become routine and Sam thinks things are okay. On his next break, Dylans the one who picks him up, and Sam gets flustered and embarrassed, hoping not to look like an idiot, especially not that he knows Dylan is. He gets alien bodyguards while on his break, and exasperated deals with them. But then Project Alice is activated near the end, and Sam is programmed and made easier to kidnap out of there. Invasive and radiation experiments are performed. Chapter Four: But You Dont Feel Any Better Sam cant concentrate in class, and Dylan visits and kidnaps him for a weekend out. He spends the weekend with Dylan and Carly at the racetrack, encounters Mikaela, and Dylan and Carly team up to snub the other girl and tease/flirt with Sam (though he doesnt know, but at least Mikaela and Trent) do. Mikaela gets angry and tries to have the last word, but Dylan nonchalantly snarks back at her and playfully kisses Sam. Carly casually asks if Dylan likes Sam, but he evades the question. Ratchet freaks out about Sams scans, and he ends up back on the table. To avoid facing the experimentation, Sam withdraws into his own head and seeks comfort in a Mikaela illusion.

Chapter Five: One Step Closer to the Edge The head doctor of the experiments actually talks to him, and Sam is mentally dazedly hysterical. He gets hobbled and he retreats into his head with Mikaela. More invasive experiments occur and then hes back in school. His concentration is worse than ever, and he starts to lose focus more often. On break, it becomes completely noticeable, worrying everyone. One occasion freaks out Dylan, and Sam thinks maybe a drive would help. Dylan volunteers to go with him and they take Bee out. Sam falls asleep and Bee confronts Dylan about his true feelings about Sam, and he admits to liking Sam more than friendship but refusing to pursue the other further. Sam becomes violently sick and has to be taken back to base quickly, where Galloway initially refuses to get him long term help and instead have him go back to school due to contractual obligations, but then later retracts his decision and has Sam transported out to get medical help, to the protest of everyone who had wanted to keep him there and in the care of Ratchet and N.E.S.T. doctors. Galloway gets confronted and accused about Sams aversion and wariness of him, with connections to the strange goings on (especially on his health) surrounding Sam. Chapter Six: Ghost in the Shell Galloway manages to barely get clean of the confrontation, but many are still suspicious about him. Worried about getting caught and feeling a guilty conscious, he refuses to keep doing his part in Sams kidnappings and experiments. However, he reluctantly agrees to keep going, after being convinced to put himself in suspension, fix papers and have the head doctor smuggled into the base as the replacement, and that itll only last to finish off the year before they leave Sam alone. Sam wakes up to the head doctor telling him what theyve been doing to him, he throws up, and they start experimenting with the AllSpark energy in him. He cant take anymore, retreats in his head with his Mikaela, resigns to the truth and refuses Mikaelas image. Hes put back into school, and is close to graduation. His parents cant come because his mother has to do surgery, but hes surprised on the day to see Dylan, Carly, Bee, Barricade, and Starscream there. They go out to celebrate, and Sams mother goes into surgery, unknowing her surgical doctor is the very same one whos been experimenting on her son. Chapter Seven: Time is Running Out Sam is finally starting his full-time internship, and unknowingly meets the head doctor of his experiments, whos there as Galloways temp. Uneasy around him, but not able to remember anything of his experiments, Sam tries to go about things normally. He spends time with Carly on a date, and they kiss. Things seem to be going up. One night, he goes drinking with the guys and Dylan ends up kissing him. Confused, he walks around the base to clear his head, before he gets taken and kidnapped. This time, contrary to the deal, its more permanent. Chapter Eight: Hold On The experiments are going full-throttle and theres no rest. Its borderline torture at times. Meanwhile, back in base, everyone notices Sam is gone and they begin to panic. After searching and no clues about his whereabouts, Grams brings up the reason why he had mentioned the abandoned sector of the building, that time with Galloway. They search security tapes watching the entrance, as there werent any in there, and see all the times Sams been going in there. They search for Galloway, and have no luck at first. With Sam, he keeps drifting in and out of it, and

in his head, instead of Mikaela its Carly now, that he sees, and who encourages him to fight back. Chapter Nine: Wont Let You Bury It They find Galloway, who at first doesnt admit to anything. But then he reluctantly begins to talk, and he tells them all that he knows. Unfortunately, he doesnt know any details or specifics, and definitely where Sam is. Right after, Galloway is attempted to be assassinated, only he survives. Instead of finishing the job, the black agents take him and use him as incentive to make Sam cooperative. They begin their next experiment, seeing Sam buried underground and how long it takes him to get out. Instead of seeing Carly, he seeing Dylan now, for some reason. Chapter Ten: Wont Let You Smother It Galloway is trying to help Sam keep it together, while he is continuously being experimented and tortured. The head doctor is still working on base and no ones the wiser. The group looking for Sam is incredibly frustrated and angry that they havent found him, especially since Galloway went AWOL on them. They look for more clues and find a security tape Wheelie left behind, and see what really happened each time in that empty hanger with Sam. Experiments with the AllSpark energy is continued, and they somehow turn Sam into a girl. They also proceed to fit Sams body with cybernetic implants, using synthetic muscle and carbon fiber frames, leaving her vulnerable and unable to move much. She gets taken advantage of by several Black Agents. AllSpark!Dylan tries to comfort her. Chapter Eleven: Wont Let You Murder It Sam is more withdrawn than usual. To get used to her cybernetic implants, they have her practicing the violin, eating pasta, and various other exercises. Shes put up against soldiers for evaluation, set on a treadmill to monitor stats (and endurance and stamina), put under a huge computerized weight bearing down on her to see how much she can endure and lift, and pulling computerized stretched ropes to the ground. Galloway is forced to watch over as her handler. She snaps and tries to escape, injuring many people and even murdering someone. She doesnt succeed and is dragged back. Chapter Twelve: Im Drowning Seeing how well she did in her escape, they begin to formally train her more in combat. Continuing to use Galloway as hostage, they teach her hand to hand, how to use a knife, and then move onto guns. Teaching her how to take it apart and then put it back together, the different types, and then how to shoot one before setting her onto a course. Because of her aliensparked brain and her new implants, shes learning unnaturally fast and doing well. They begin to condition triggers into her. They use the AllSpark to try to make her implants durable, and they succeed at the same time as the AllSpark takes the material they used and integrate it into Sams biology, making her sort of a new breed of Cybertronian. Chapter Thirteen: The Predators For field testing, they send her out a couple times to do a few missions. She does well, but shes beginning to crack. AllSpark!Dylan continues to be there for her, even when theyre strapping her onto a gurney and practicing electroshock therapy on her. Meanwhile, the group left behind continue to look for him and are still unsuccessful in locating Sam. Galloway

manages to send them a message of the physical changes, using a vague note and a barely understandable picture. Galloway then proceeds to break Sam out. Chapter Fourteen: Lead Me Home Sam is barely keeping it together, and Galloway has to make sure shes alright at the same time as he has to make sure theyre on the clear. Trying to make sure no ones following, he drives them cross country, with his destination Mexico. She keeps having conversations and seeing AllSpark!Dylan outside of her head, no longer hiding her hallucination and making Galloway worry. He debates trying to reach out to the others, but fears being traced by the Black Agents. He makes several stops, and finally crosses the border. Chapter Fifteen: Hunting the Prey Galloway has set them up somewhere secluded, and is barely avoiding the Cartel. Sam is out of it completely now, seeing things and even AllSpark!Dylan is worrying and doing his best to hold her onto reality. Deciding that he cannot help like this, he pulls Sam back into her mindscape and reveals the mindscape that is sculpted and shared by the AllSpark. The AllSpark tells her what it is clearly, that she is now to be the new AllSpark once she has fully absorbed the AllSpark energy, until its time for the history to also be imparted. Then the AllSpark, still in Dylans form, proceeds to kiss her and put her into a coma until its time to wake her. Outside, Galloway freaks out at her comatose body and makes the decision to send a messageusing the Cartel to help. He sends a message to Bruce Brazos, who gives the message to Jerry Wang. Jerry sends it on to Dylan, who finally has something to help their search. Chapter Sixteen: Run, Run Dylan, Soundwave, Bee make one team to go after Galloway. The other lead they were given, tells them where the base is. Optimus and the trine take care of the base, with Will and Epps. Meanwhile, back on base, the head doctor has figured out they know, while at the same hes recognized by Judy, who tells Gram. Gram puts it together, but before he can act, the head doctor activates the virus he snuck into a lot of the Bots and Cons systems, starts shooting and activating explosives as he makes his getaway. Chapter Seventeen: Many Thanks are Giving Dylans group makes it to where Galloway and Sam are, and they almost take Galloway out until he manages to explain a bit. Then they find out the knocked out Sam, surprising them on the change (now that theyve actually seen it) and panicking them at her condition. Dylan reaches out and ends getting knocked out. The base is finally taken cared of, with the secret organization surrendering. The government wraps things up, finds a whole boat load of illegal things, and Optimus and his group go back to the base, only to find chaos. Grams is in critical condition, and both of Sams parents are dead. The Cybertronians that had been in base are all in the process of debugging themselves, with some of them having to shut down and be in stasis. Dylan finds himself in Sams mindscape, seeing the AllSpark mirror of himself. AllSpark!Dylan leads him to Sam, and sees her floating and unconscious. He kisses her awake, but neither of them wake up to the real world. Meanwhile, RL, their bodies are being prepped for travel back to base. Chapter Eighteen: Can You Hear Me?

Sam and Dylan spend a little time together in her mindscape, and its almost as if nothing had happened. Optimus, as kin to Sam, manages to enter her mind and help the two out. Galloway is being held in isolation, while Sam is being informed of her familys fate. She grieves a lot, and mourns as she flitters between everyone, spending the most time with Dylan. Though, when she finds out about Galloway, she pulls herself together enough to adamantly demand his release. The head doctor is still out there, as they are informed. Chapter Nineteen: Mission Italia They go through the files and documents they recovered, and see some of the projects and investments the organization had been investing in. The first one, requires them to travel all the way to Italy. Dylan, Sam, and Bee are in the Italian governments Social Welfare Agency, thats gearing up to start the cyborg program. She meets Angelica and freaks out. To cheer her up, Dylan and Bee take her out to have fun in Italy, and end up bringing Sam back when she feels better, at her request. She talks to Angelica and gives her a talk, knowing for here, there was nothing she or her government could really do. Chapter Twenty: Going Under the Umbrella She, Starscream, and Barricade go to the next project, which is something called the Umbrella Corporation. There, they find out what some of the samples from Sam have been done with, and though uneasy, nothing seems amiss. However, they run into some disturbing things, and Sam becomes horrified and upset about it. Starscream and Barricade attempt to console her, before going back and destroying the files and samples, as well as the things Umbrella has developed from observing the samples. Chapter Twenty One: Organ Failure The next stop is whats being done to her original organs, her organs regenerated from those organs, and organs cloned from those organs (taking this trip with Optimus and Megatron). Something about a clone and cloning and an islandas well as some kind of reposition of organs program. They also figure out something about genetic splicing, the Dark Angel program with chimera genes and soldier program, and all the testing done on Sam that led to advancements in formulas and cures. Chapter Twenty Two: Playing with Dolls Dylan and Sam reach the last spot, which is some place called the Dollhouse, in their very backyard of Washington D.C. Unable to really do anything about this project either, they look around and unhappily note whats being done. However, the more Sam learns about the process, the more she wants to use it. Near the end of her time there, she makes the decision to do it and go through with removing her memory. Dylan finds out and tries to stop her, only to realize hes too late. Chapter Twenty Three: Its Done and Over Sams memory is gone, and they all decide to try to give her a new life. Shes working in Accuretta, and happily living with Carly and with a normal life. They try to stay away, but they cant, and starting with Dylan (who introduces himself to her again, after personally coming to get one of his usual updates on her from Jerry Wang) and Soundwave, whos later given to her as a gift.

Chapter Twenty Four: Stalwart End The head doctor is back and he activates one of her triggers. She heads over to the base and begins to attack, first sneakily and quickly begins to just launch an assault. It takes a long time before they subdue her, but they have to restrain her in order to stop her from attacking. Galloway recognizes whats happened and informs the others that shes been triggered. They begin the long process of reconditioning her. Chapter Twenty Five: Proud Mary After shes been reconditioned, its discovered that because of it and being triggered, her memories have come back and the device implanted by the organization that was the prototype from the Dollhouse has been destroyed. Sam tries to readjust to everything, as well as sorting out and merging memories.