Screeeech—the yellow Volkswagen Beetle carved a half-circle arc in the sand, rear wheels kicking up countless grains. Then the gas pedal hit the floor as it charged toward the road on the other side, quickly disappearing from Bella's view.
"Heh, quite spirited."
Bella had long since stepped aside and didn't give chase.
Her obstacle was easy to pass, but the one waiting for Charlie and Bumblebee next wouldn't be so smooth.
Between minding other people's business and watching the show, she planned to split the difference. In the movie, the girl had turned danger into fortune, following along through all the chaos to the ending. It looked fun, but reality might not be so easy. Bullets had no eyes—who knew when she might get killed.
Bumblebee had a gentle personality, but if the girl died before his eyes, that puppy would turn into a wolf in seconds!
Bella planned to follow secretly. If everything went smoothly, she'd stay back and observe. If things went wrong, she'd help out!
But she needed proper preparation.
Assassin Brotherhood combat skills couldn't fight Transformers. The best way to deal with them was firearms—large caliber firearms.
She needed weapons, equipment, medicine, safe hiding places, and all kinds of tech devices.
Going from nothing to getting all this stuff would definitely take too long, and she didn't have the connections.
Agent 006's resources weren't enough at a time like this. Bella called old Professor Charles instead.
The old man agreed immediately, even saying he had a secret base in San Francisco he could give Bella directly. She could rest and train there, and if enemies discovered it, blowing it up was fine.
Such deep pockets!
Bella thanked the old man for his help and promised to borrow it for a while.
She planned to establish a superhero team in San Francisco, using this base as the team's headquarters. She'd even thought of the team name—Charlie's Angels!
"Fine, I completely agree." The old man worked efficiently. He gave her the address, and by the time Bella arrived, the personnel inside had all withdrawn.
Two floors total. The cover was a travel agency. In the neighbors' eyes, this agency had terrible business and had changed owners many times. Bella's arrival was just another new owner.
Bella checked both the first and second floors—typical office layout. The desks still had very professional travel itineraries, the phone lines were all real, as if people worked here daily.
She entered the security code and went into the basement. The feeling instantly changed.
Numerous cutting-edge-looking computers, racks hung densely with firearms, tactical knives, compound bows, hand crossbows, and a whole bunch of training equipment.
This was completely adequate as a secret base. Bella checked the ceiling—a full ten meters high. Optimus Prime might be a bit tight, but Bumblebee coming in would definitely be fine.
She didn't touch those computers. Bella didn't understand hacking techniques, and Shaw's skills were average too. What the two of them were good at was fighting!
Transformers involved a lot of issues and would directly oppose American intelligence agencies. Bella trusted Natasha but not S.H.I.E.L.D. She planned to handle this herself.
But when push came to shove, she realized she didn't have anyone skilled with computers.
"Do you know anyone in this area? The trustworthy kind." She asked Shaw.
"Take me home."
"Hm? ...You really know someone? Ah? I've met them too?"
Half an hour later, the pickup Shaw brought someone Bella remembered as a car thief—Ms. Groves, whom they'd met in Wisconsin. The hacker world's famous Root, now at the secret base.
"Isn't this person a car thief? She knows hacking too? Can we trust her?"
"Take me home!"
"...Uh? You saved her, and she saved you?" Bella muttered quietly.
Honestly, she lacked trust in strangers. She simply had too many secrets.
Root didn't care. She looked around at the equipment in the secret base on her own, occasionally exclaiming: "Really good stuff... What model processor is this? I've never seen it!"
She tapped away at things. Professor Charles's equipment had been modified by his X-Men—the hardware was extremely powerful, at least five years ahead of commercial products. Root, coming from civilian background, really hadn't seen it before.
But she had her own skills. She quickly adjusted the equipment according to her habits, then sat in the swivel chair looking at Bella: "So, which department do you want me to hack? Department of Defense? IRS?"
"Take me home." Seeing Bella still hesitating, Shaw expressed her trust at the right moment.
"All right, all right. I trust Shaw, so I'll trust you too, Ms. Groves."
"Call me Root."
"Root, well, what you're about to see might affect your worldview. I hope you can stay calm."
Root had been smiling the whole time. Now she suddenly pointed at Shaw: "More terrifying than her form of existence?"
Bella's words caught in her throat. How could she compare? One was an alien, one was a ghost—they didn't match at all!
"If you can make me exist like her, you can kill me right now. I wouldn't mind." Root said lightly.
Bella looked back at Shaw, then at the half-smiling Root. What was going on with these two? The atmosphere was strange. For a moment, she even felt like the third wheel...
"I can't guarantee that. Shaw's existence has many coincidental factors. Let's talk business."
She pulled out photos of Charlie Watson and Bumblebee at the beach. She could see clearly herself, but the camera didn't have that capability. With the distance too far, the image wasn't clear enough, but the general outline was visible.
"See this guy? Mechanical life form from beyond Earth. We need to rescue him from the government."
Having your worldview unshaken was impossible. Anyone suddenly discovering an alien in reality would feel shocked and panicked.
Fortunately, Shaw had really trained Root well. After brief disorientation came excitement: "Really interesting!? Can I chat with him later?"
"I can't guarantee that either."
The three 'people' began pre-battle preparations. Shaw excitedly checked various weapons and equipment, then loaded them bag by bag into the car. Root worked on hardware debugging. Bella summoned her magic carpet—Number Three and she had worked together, using powerful psionic abilities over several weeks to forcibly unlock it.
Sitting on the carpet, she floated two circles. Seeing Root could completely accept this degree of magical existence, she had nothing more to say.
As night fell, leaving Root at the base for technical support, Bella drove the pickup away from San Francisco and returned to Brighton Falls.