Chapter Text
Lifting the plastic bag to the elder quietly, Meixing offers a small smile to ease his seemingly startled figure. Shanghai, though always bustling with noise, seems to be just a tad more loud tonight. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the distance and the people of the neighborhood were getting restless. But because they are far away and the Chinese youth prioritizes her work first, deliveries still have to be made.
"Try not to each too fast this time, yeye. It'll help you sleep better," she says.
The elder's weary eyes soften and he takes the bag from her. "Thank you, xiaomei. This old man certainly will try. Return home safely."
She bows in response to the other's concern before the door closes firmly. Meixing crosses off his name from her notepad, noting that there were no more deliveries for the night and it was finally time for her to go home. The restaurant had been quite busy these days and her parents are begrudgingly allowed her to help out. They both would have preferred that she focus on her studies in order to make her university process go smoothly, but her mother had strained her back the other day and they needed the help.
This way too, neither of them could lecture her about not helping out enough (even when they acted as if they didn't need her help). A win-win situation, if she were honest. And she gets to practice riding electric scooters! It would have been a useful skill to develop if she gets to a university deep into the city.
She sighs, seating herself quietly and starting up the scooter. "Aiyah, it's another late night. I wonder if I can get my homework done in time."
That is, if she would get home safely in order to do her homework. Because just as those words left her mouth, one silver blur and three colored blurs crash through the apartment she was just at. She blinks once before surprise expresses itself vividly on her sharp features. Though a good majority of Chinese neighborhoods ignored whatever strife is in their vicinity, Meixing's presence there and the fact that she is still young causes her to stick her nose in other people's business sometimes.
Leaping off the scooter and running back to the building where she just delivered, she frantically calls out for him.
"Yeye? Yeye, are you alright?" Going to the hole in the wall, relief replaces fear when she sees the elder, sitting at his table with his food, wrinkled eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"... Xiaomei, did you see that? Those were metal aliens."
"... Hm?" Did Father put something strange in the shrimp? That had to be it. After telling the elder that he should remember to call someone in the morning, Meixing smiles wryly and excuses herself, settling on her scooter again. Aliens, huh? Maybe creativity is become a trend among elders these days.
Then, she tilts her head. Perhaps it is because of his old age that he had mistaken cars for aliens... but? Curiosity flickers in her brown hues before she starts up the scooter and drives off in the opposite direction of where home was-
- To where she had seen the motorcycles and silver blur go.
"Mother will be very angry," she sighs to herself. Because Meixing is an only child, her family is quite protective over her. Helping the restaurant with deliveries is by the influence of her Father, and even if there was a risk of not being "safe"... if she could help the business and bring money in, they usually had no complaints. Neither did she, in that case. They would pay for her education anyway, so it was just a matter of choosing where to go.
Of course, these thoughts flee her mind immediately when she hears the roar of an engine. In her mirror, she takes note of a car accelerating towards her. Her eyes widen and in panic, she moves to the side so that the driver would drive past her- and she has no such luck. It continues driving, in her direction, and she lets out a startled screech just as the car suddenly splits in half.
Correction: it gets cut in half by something else.
Meixing slams on her brakes immediately- she'd be damned if she kept on driving and collided with wherever the destroyed car was going- but scooters... don't really go that fast. When they collide with a large bump in the road, however, they do launch petite Chinese girls into the air and onto the ground. It isn't really a high arch, thus the fall isn't dangerous, but when she collides with the ground she could only let out a curse and sit up, glaring at whoever was responsible.
"Damn, I'm good~"
"Hey! I'll sue you!" Her voice, shrill with anger and fear, rings throughout the street. There is the destroyed silver car and a-
... Was that a metal alien?
Their eyes meet, glowing blue against brown. Her mouth is agape and she is quite torn between yelling at it or running away, in case she is next. Silence fills the air between them, but it seems as if the metal being is even more apprehensive than her.
"A human saw me..." It speaks English, but Meixing can only understand bits of it. She didn't study English too much- it was just a course in high school, but she is better at reading and writing it since memorization isn't too difficult.
"Who are you?" Her voice, shaky in tone, travels to the other. She tenderly cradles her arm, bruised from her fall, and tilts her head up, defensive yet curious. "Will you kill me next?" Not that she is too keen on welcoming death. But if this being answers her question, she can brace herself for that release. Though she's terrified, shaking to her core and wishing she could run, she cannot summon the strength to her legs. If only she could have left a will to her parents...!
"I'm Heng Pao. A, uh... protector?" The metal... thing replies back- in Chinese? They had spoken in English earlier, how strange; she hadn't expected for something like it to be bilingual. Their words were hesitant, as if it didn't know what to say. It makes small movements towards her, as if it wants to grab her, but also pauses, as if it didn't. "And - hey! Take that back! We don't kill for fun. We're the ones who protect you puny, weak humans-"
And then it pauses.
Meixing frowns and scoots farther away, her back hitting the wall behind her. "Who... is we?" Her eyes glance towards the car he had destroyed. Were they... the same thing? But this one is more antsy now, glancing from her to the distant city. As if... it is debating between something.
"Slag, everyone's busy. What do I do?" It begins pacing on its wheels, and suddenly it very much reminds her of the times when she was debating on whether or not she should enter a class late. The action is surprisingly human of it, despite it towering over her significantly. She finds herself relaxing despite the situation she is in right now. "Do I take her with me? She saw me and that Decepticon, so it should be Optimus that decides what to do with her. But I have to fight more- ughhhh."
Meixing blinks curiously. What are they saying? They aren't making any move to hurt her, like they had said... so is it really harmless- well, harmless isn't the word. It had destroyed something, and those blades on its arms are certainly not there for show.
Suddenly, it turns to her.
"Can you keep a secret?" They say to her urgently now. Their attention causes her to yelp and retreat further into the wall, if it were possible. "I don't have time to deal with you-" She pales at the use of the word. "- and my allies need me, so I'm gonna go fight now. Don't tell anyone or-" It pauses. "It'll be, uh, dangerous. Okay. Crap, that's Optimus over the-!" And before she can respond, the metal alien transforms into a car and drives out to... what?
"..." Meixing blinks again, rubbing at her eyes and squinting in the distance. There is... another giant... alien? It's deeper in the city... but it is quite far away, so it wouldn't be reaching here anytime soon. "The wind... is quite strong tonight." The youth rises to her feet unsteadily, exhaling and looking to where the one she had just met... Sideswipe, was it? A strange name, but for a... thing like that, it should be fitting.
After ensuring that her scooter is working and that the... car 'Heng Pao' destroyed isn't going to move anymore, she picks up a white cloth with the strange insignia etched into it. It flew from the direction that Heng Pao went to, and though she never had gone sky-diving before...
"A parachute, isn't it?" She squints at it. It... should be related to him and what he was. Leaving it here would raise suspicion about it, so she'll take it with her. She's sure to hear about this in the news though- the motorcycles, this silver car... not exactly a discreet way of doing whatever it was they were doing, especially if it was supposed to be a secret.
"... Hmm. I think I know where I want to go for university now." The Chinese girls nods firmly. Though fear of these beings is still dominant, she had seen something that she was sure was supposed to be a secret. If she is the only one to know, then naturally she'd want to know more. If... being harmless is their claim, it would be okay if she knew more.
She supposed being nosy would be her downfall one day though.