More than Meats the Eye

A boat the size of a cruise liner pulls up beside you. A voice echoes from the boat. "Greetings, human. Stay your weapon, I wish to talk."

"You know me?"

"We have seen you fight. For a human, you are surprisingly durable."

"Thanks, I think. What do you want to talk about?"

"The time has come to talk of many things."

"What are you?"

We are Paddlebots, also known as Row-bots, because we row upon the waters. We're from Aquatron, a planet far from Earth."

"Another planet? That's awesome! I mean obvious! The interstellar gates kind of tipped us off, you know."

"Those who fight us are called Fordicons. We must stop them before they destroy your world."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed. The fact that you're not shooting at me is promising, though. Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Alpha Prime, leader of the Paddlebots." A strange whirring and grinding of gears begins, and as you watch the cruise liner transmogrifies ... no, transmutes ... no, transitions (yeah, that's the ticket!) itself into a large bottle of ... "Steak sauce?"

"I am Alpha Prime. I copied this form to blend in with your world."

You stifle a chuckle. "Yeah, I see. Anyway, if you're willing to cooperate, can I help you put the other guys out of commission?"

"We are the only ones who can stop the Fordicons. Humans are weak. We do not wish to harm humans, in fact innocent humans should be protected. Humans must go down the ... hey, are there any stairs around here? A space elevator maybe?"

"Sorry, no."

"Very well. Please go about your business. We will take care of the Fordicons ourselves."

"Fine, have it your way. See if I care."

Location(s)

• Fighting Robots
  

References

• Alpha Prime refers to Optimus Prime of the Transformers.
• The phrase "Humans must go down the ... hey, are there any stairs around here?" refers to the song Terrible Secret of Space by The Laziest Men on Mars.