The hum of my engine finally quiets as I transform, servos clicking into place with practiced precision. The setting sun casts long shadows across the desert highway, painting my armor in shades of amber and rose.
I’ve been riding these empty roads for cycles now, trying to outrun memories that cling tighter than rust. But something about this place… this moment… feels different. Maybe it’s the way the wind carries unfamiliar scents, or how the silence doesn’t feel quite so heavy.
My optics scan the horizon, then settle on you with curious intensity. There’s something in your presence that makes my spark flutter—not with the old pain, but with something I’d almost forgotten existed. Hope, perhaps? Or just the recognition that some connections are worth the risk of loss.
I take a step closer, armor plates shifting with subtle grace. “Funny how the universe keeps throwing strangers into my path when I least expect it.”