Transformers and Philosophy by John Shook

Author:John Shook
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780812698145
Publisher: Open Court
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Counseling Session 4

Nice to see you today, Optimus. I wasn’t expecting you until next week, but my secretary informed me that you just had to see me. So, what’s on your mind?

Well, Doctor. I mean, Sara, I have been thinking about something you said in the last session. You said honesty is essential for counseling to work, or something like that.

Yes, I remember.

I am afraid I have not been totally honest with you.

Oh?

Well, remember how I told you about my breakdown?

Of course.

Well, there is more to it. Something happened before my truck broke down that day.

I’m listening.

Well, I almost killed somebody. I did not, but I came close.

Tell me about it.

This happened just after Sam saved my life, when I was on constant alert-mode, when I was not shutting down at all. You have to understand, I thought I was doing the right thing, being the best guardian I could be. It all happened so fast . . .

I understand. This was after Jazz died, after your battle with Megatron, when you were fearing another attack.

Yes. I had to be on guard twenty-four hours a day.

Wow. That must have been stressful.

Yes. It was an honest mistake. You know I am not a bad person—or a bad machine, I should say.

I know. Help me understand what happened.

Well, it happened late one night, when I was on guard outside of Sam’s house. I was sitting in my truck in case a Decepticon decided to launch a raid and that is when I noticed some movement in a car parked across from me. I thought at the time, that the car had moved, as if it was transforming into some war machine, and that is when I jumped into action. In an instant I suddenly transformed, grabbed the car, and hoisted it into the air. I was just a moment away from smashing it, but when I looked closer—hoping to find a set of eyes to stare into and say “This is for Jazz!”—the only eyes I saw were those of a human. You should have seen the look on this kid’s face.

Wow.

I know. There we were, frozen—our eyes locked together for what seemed like an eternity.

This was a really powerful experience for you. And for the kid too, I imagine . . .

It was. I remember thinking, what if I had acted just a second sooner and killed this kid? Then I would be no better than the Decepticons. I would be a murderer.

And how would you have felt?

Terrible.

And why is that?

I would have taken the life of a human!

Okay. And yet, you caught yourself before you hurt this kid, right?

Right. Once I realized there was a person inside the car, just some kid, I lowered the car down to the ground. The kid was in shock. The two of us just looked at each other in total silence and then I slowly drove away.

Did you tell Sam or any of the Autobots what happened that night?

I have not told anyone until now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.