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TFP: Universal Observations

wow, compared to my other chapters, this one is so short! but then again, it's an interlude. and a brief one at that. also it kinda got away from me and became mostly focused on raf and stuff. but still! important and it flowed just fine so its good with me!

this chapter is around 4.8k, almost a quarter to the last two chapters XD

anyway, i hope you guys enjoy!

ACT I: Interlude - I -

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

The Nemesis

[ UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION DE-ACTIVATEDSTANDBY MODE ACTIVATED ]

"Wait, what's happening?" Starscream questioned, optics narrowing as he watched the screen- it no longer showed the Alien Mecha universe, instead going into the options and then entering standby mode. The screen dimming to almost nonexistent as it did so.

Knock Out frowned, "I believe… that the Autobots and humans are done viewing for the day?" He haphazardly guessed, which was the correct answer but it still baffled him when things were clearly getting more interesting by the minute!

"What? Why? Why would they stop now? There's more information to be gained!" Stopping now would be foolish! Although the Decepticons had no access to Vector Sigma or even the key, being able to see what it looked like would surely be advantageous in their future plans. Not to mention, the chance in finding out where Vector Sigma could possibly be…

The scientist within the seeker, reawakened from attempting to make sense of the corrupted and incomplete blueprints of the Observer, the mech that had enjoyed learning science and history and gaining knowledge- it craved to know such things.

Soundwave stepped forward, a set of numbers appearing on his visor- it was a clock, the time set to the timezone of the country they were hovering above. "The time?" Megatron frowned, perplexed over why Soundwave was bringing up the time, "What of it?"

"Ahh, I see." Knock Out realized and was quick to enlighten his confused comrades, "The Autobot's humans are still children no? Then they are to be subjected underneath a strict curfew, it is around this time that children would return to their homes to refuel- ah, eat dinner, do homework, and then sleep for school the next day." Besides him, Breakdown nodded in agreement. Who knew watching human media would end up coming in handy? It certainly gave them insight to the little, yet somehow important things like timing and human schedules. "So that is probably the reason why they've stopped watching tonight."

It was the children who were the ones in control of the Observer after all, and being humans and children, they couldn't stay with the Autobots forever. Not unless they were forced to, anyway.

Arachnid snorted derisively, "So what now? We wait for them to come back after they've gone to school?" She questioned with obvious disdain at the thought. She wasn't alone, Megatron looked deeply annoyed by the thought while Starscream scowled but seemed thoughtful but surprisingly didn't seem as irritated at the other two.

Soundwave shook his helm, visor changing from the digital clock to instead show the Earth's human calender. Marking the date today before marking the day afterwards, tomorrow. Knock Out immediately understood with a chuckle, "No. I imagine we won't have to wait for so long. Tomorrow is a Saturday, humans don't typically go to school on the weekends. I imagine they would return as soon as possible to continue the viewing. Which would give us… perhaps, fourteen hours? Fifteen? At the very least, it should be less than twenty."

"And if it's the weekend, then that's almost two whole days of them watching the Observer. Maybe." Breakdown added in.

"Hmm, humans are certainly more lenient in terms of their education." Starscream noted quietly with disapproval, remembering his long joors, cycles even, of lessons with little to no breaks unless allotted in advance.

Megatron's glossa clicked in disapproval, "Tsk, if only we had main control over the Observer. Then we wouldn't have to wait for children to come back to the Autobot base and resume its functions." Alas, there wasn't much they could do, short of trying to find where the humans were… hmm. Perhaps… "Less than twenty hours you said, Knock Out? Very well. Then I conclude this meeting, we will reconvene when the Observer activates again."

With that said, the warlord stood from his seat and stalked out of the room once more. This time with his helm high and gait with his usual dark confidence, a contrast to how he left in silence earlier on.

"Soundwave, I'd like to speak with you about my future mission of possibly retrieving the Apex Armor." Arachnid spoke aloud, aiming a sly smile at a now glowering Starscream. Though she frowned when a certain medic tapped at Starscream's arm, gaining his attention and gesturing to his datapad.

"Hey Starscream, earlier you mentioned something about the Observer that's stayed on my processor for a bit. Mind if we talk more about it?" Knock Out questioned with a small grin.

Surprised, but only for a moment, Starscream then nodded as he quickly recomposed himself. "Hmph! Of course! What is it that stumps you, Knock Out?"

"Let's talk over energon, come on."

Soundwave watched as Breakdown, Knock Out and Starscream left together. Leaving him with a slightly sour femme arachnoid who quickly turned her attention back to Soundwave to do as she said; speak with him about the possible whereabouts of the Apex Armor.

The mech provides the needed information, but is keenly aware of the femme's intent and interests. Perhaps the rest of the Decepticons present had forgotten, her counterpart's introduction in that strange world with actors and peace. But Soundwave did not, and he is certain his master didn't either.

He will assign vehicons to her mission to aid her… and keep an optic on her. And to ensure that the Autobots continue to be in the dark at the fact the Decepticons were capable of watching whatever they were doing with the Observer, watching the same thing as they were, Soundwave wordlessly emphasized discretion to Arachnid and scheduled her expedition during next week.

Soundwave imagined that she would rather be around to watch the contents of the Observer as well, they all did.

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

Omega Outpost One

.: —aving WORDS Prime, you hear me?! I'll see you tomorrow, Fowler, OUT. :.

Optimus Prime was unable to withhold the sigh that left his dermas as the irritated human ended the call. He was thankful that only Ratchet was around to see him in such a less than ideal state. Letting the stress of the day finally appear on his faceplate, for the moment anyway.

"Done with the call?" The medic asks knowingly from the console, "I take it Agent Fowler was less than pleased to find out about the Observer and its functions at this time of hour?"

Less than pleased was certainly an understatement, and yet, it hadn't gone as bad as Optimus would have thought it would. "Indeed, however it is my fault for neglecting to tell him about the Observer's appearance as soon as possible. Although it is a Cybertronian artifact, Agent Fowler is still our liaison and thus, should know about important events that happen within the base."

Ratchet gave a hum of indifference, "Perhaps. What about the fact we intend to continue using the Observer? I certainly hope he doesn't think we'll be handing it over to the human government any time soon."

Optimus shook his helm, "It is unlikely that Agent Fowler will tell his superiors about the Observer, not when it is connected to the children. He is… fond of them." He says with a small smile on his derma. "He has yet to tell his superiors about any involvement pertaining to the children, he will not do so now. Although I believe he will attempt to join us in our viewing tomorrow."

"Psh, well that is going to be interesting." Ratchet mused with some mirth before frowning, "Are you sure we should be doing this Optimus? Looking into other worlds, using an unknown cybertronian relic- pits, we don't even know if it's actually cybertronian! Could be disguised for all we know! Which is none."

The Prime turned towards the medic, a gentle look of reassurance on his faceplate. "I understand your apprehension Ratchet, but do not worry. The Observer is safe, I have been meaning to tell you this, but since its activation, the Matrix has been… not necessarily restless, but active. Far more than usual." He revealed with slight guilt.

Taken aback, Ratchet immediately went over, a thunderous yet concerned look on his faceplate. "The Matrix has been active?! You should have told me as soon as it happened!"

Privately, Optimus would think that Ratchet would sound extraordinarily like Agent Fowler in those words. Outwardly, he held his servos up in a helpless attempt to stave off the vexed medic. "It was during the second world's viewing, it was a feeling deep within my chestplates. Before my very spark, I felt a slight… I cannot describe it exactly, but what I did feel was not painful. I assure you."

"Just because it doesn't feel painful doesn't mean it might not be nothing! Come here so I can give you a full frame scan!" Ratchet snapped, dragging the Prime towards the medic-oriented area of the hanger. Optimus stumbled over, exasperated but feeling warm at Ratchet's unerring care.

The medic grumbled something unpleasant in a low tone as he stuck his leader and old friend into the medical chamber so he could get a full scan over Optimus' body, getting the full information for his internal and external systems.

As the Autobot Leader did his best to stand still for the scan, his optics whirred as the medic grumbled during the entire process. He lets silence permeate for a little while before he was unable to help himself, "Ratchet, are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Ratchet repeated incredulously, giving his Prime and friend a look. "I should be asking you that!"

Optimus shook his helm slightly, "You have been… quite worked up since the beginning, old friend. I know you do not approve our use of the Observe—" He was firmly interrupted by the medic's scoff.

"What I don't approve is you, neglecting to tell me, your medic, that the ancient artifact lodged in your chestplates is active and doing Primus knows what to you!" Ratchet retorted, glaring at him fully through the glass as he pressed against the console. "It may have been eons since you first got the Matrix Optimus, but don't think I will ever forget what you looked like when you came stumbling back to Alpha Trion and I."

The Autobot Leader flinched back, remembering how his frame had been a contradiction of familiar, unfamiliarity. He'd grown bigger, his limbs lengthened, plates thickened and his torso had never felt heavier. Only rivaled to the imaginary weight that settled on his shoulders once he truly began to comprehend the extent of his reformatting and possession of the ancient relic of his planet.

Orion Pax was no more, Optimus Prime was needed instead.

"My apologies, Ratchet." Optimus murmured regretfully, "However my questions still stands. Are you alright?"

Ratchet lets out a deep vent at the repeated question before reluctantly answering, "I'm… fine. Seeing what we've seen was not on any agenda today, we were lucky that nothing important seemed to have happened with the Decepticons that needed our attention. However at the same time, that is also quite worrying."

Ratchet made a good point, although there'd been no reported trouble or sighting with the Decepticons, it was always a concern when they were quiet for too long or if they simply hadn't shown up in a while. It usually meant they were plotting something grand.

"And now we're dedicating nearly the entire day tomorrow to watching alternate worlds…" Ratchet trailed off, grimacing at the imagined disasters that might happen with them distracted with such a thing.

Optimus was slightly worried as well, however, he didn't let it show. "We will ensure to keep vigilant for possible Decepticon sightings, we have gone through weekends without patrolling before. Should anything happen, we will know." Because, despite it all, the Decepticons will eventually make enough noise to be noticed.

They always did.

Ratchet made a disgruntled noise as his optics looked over to the screens, reading the information the scans were providing him of Optimus' current state and health. To the medic's relief, he was as healthy as he could be in their current circumstances. The only difference was the slight jolt of energy coming from Optimus' chest, where the Matrix was, the energy readings weren't anything concerning however.

"Alright, all your vitals are normal. Your health is stable, other than a slight spike of energy from the Matrix, nothing seems to have changed." Ratchet said as he disengaged the scans, freeing the Prime from the chamber.

Optimus had known he was fine, but it was always reassuring to hear it from his medic. If anything, it helped reassure Ratchet that Optimus was fine. "That is good to hear."

Ratchet watched him exit the medical chamber, although he didn't have to worry about Optimus' health, he was still apprehensive over why the Matrix was acting up. "So, what does this mean? The Matrix being more active than usual." He clarified, crossing his arms across his chassis.

Optimus' faceplate twisted into a deeply thoughtful expression before giving up into a low sigh, "I do not know, I believe the Observer and the Matrix to be connected somehow. But to know this, to find out for sure, the Observer must be repaired. At least enough that it could possibly aid us… However we must keep in mind that mech's warning."

Both mechs paused, Ratchet frowned as he stared at Optimus.

"What mech?"

[ ------ TFP : UO ------ ]

Jasper Nevada

"Alright hermanito, you've been clingy since last night. You even asked to sleep in my bed, which you haven't done since you were even littler than you were now. What's up?"

I want to spend time with you and the rest of the family, Raf wants to say to his older brother, chest full of mixed feelings from what he'd seen and learned from yesterday. I found a me that doesn't have his family anymore, and I never want that to happen to me here. I want to cherish the time we have together, but you're all so busy and I can't explain why I feel this way to you without mentioning the Autobots.

Instead, Raf just smiled, swallowing down the words and feelings he wanted to say and replied with; "Just missed you Javi, good luck with your interview!" Javier gives him a look, he doesn't believe Raf, but the young man was in a hurry and all Raf could do was wave him goodbye as he left to hopefully nail that interview he's been preparing for.

"No retort on how you aren't little? Something is up." Raf jumps slightly as his sneaky older cousin spoke from behind him.

"Alma!" Raf complained as she laughed slightly, he glared at her before huffing. "Nothing's up! Nothi- Alma, Alma, don't you dare!" He shrieked as Alma got that mischievous look on her face, her arms up and hands making grabbing motions. He knows exactly what she wants to do. "I just did my hair, I don't wanna fix it!"

She lunges and it's a standard wrestling match in the Esquivel household during the weekends. With Raf trying hard to keep his hair neat while his cousin attempted to mess it up. Thankfully for Raf, his tía intervenes. Poking her head into the living room, "Okay, okay! Kids! Enough! Keep quiet! Isa's still asleep with Hugo! Don't go waking them up!"

At that, his cousin reluctantly gives up and Raf survives the morning without spending some more time in the bathroom trying to fix his hair. "Ugh, fiine." Alma looks back at him with a genuine look of concern. "Seriously though Raf, you've been a bit weird since you came home. You good?"

Raf took in a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm good Alms. Let's go help tía with breakfast." As much as he wants to tell her, she wouldn't understand. Not only that, Raf would be in big trouble if he told her, or his family, about the Autobots. Trouble from both sides. Keeping the Autobots a secret from his family was hard when all he wanted to do was talk about them- and he did, somewhat. He never told them about aliens, just changed a few details and even then, it wasn't often he'd tell his family about his other friends other than Bee, Miko and Jack.

Bee especially.

Speaking of which, Bee was going to come and pick him up a few hours after breakfast. And for the rest of the day, he and the others would continue to watch other worlds using the Observer.

Such an amazing piece of technology, the ability to watch other universes? And the fact it was stumping even Ratchet? One of, if not the smartest people that Raf has ever known and probably will ever know?

Raf couldn't miss the opportunity.

Because, even if he wanted to spend more time with his family- which he really, really did. He couldn't, not without disrupting their day and explaining why he wanted to do so. That would be selfish of him, too selfish really.

How could he explain that he wanted to cherish their presence and lives because his other counterpart lost his family? All of them, by the looks of it? No Esquivel was left. Just Raf, and he hates the thought of it. Terrified of the thought of it. Because as much as his family is too busy, he knows they love him, and they would have done everything they could, to make sure he was okay.

Did Senscript's family do that as well? Was that why Senscript was alive?

Another reason why he wanted to go back, he… he wanted to know more about his other self. The kid that lost his family and was adopted by some smart man only to be used for something that Raf was very sure was illegal.

He heard Ratchet, understood the medic's curses and Neo Cybex language- vaguely. It was harder to understand than Bumblebee's binary beeps, but he picked a few things up from Ratchet and was making headway into it. Ratchet probably forgot about that, and Raf wasn't going to remind him because Ratchet was a lot more honest when he was talking in Neo Cybex.

Child soldiers, illegal experiments, the possible effects of linking a biological system to a mechanical one. It both terrified yet kind of fascinated Raf. Another reason why his family couldn't know about the Autobots, he doubts they'd let him continue watching the Observer.

"Make sure to bring back the container, okay Rafael?" His mama asks him, having woken up half-way into breakfast. "And let me know if they like the salsa."

His tía scoffed, "Of course they'll like the salsa, Isa, it's genuine Mexican salsa- even better, it's Mama's recipe! Pair that with your tacos- I won't be surprised if Raf comes back with the containers licked clean!" She exclaimed with her head high, smirking at the fond yet exasperated look his mama sent her as well as the disgusted look that he and Alma shared.

"I'll make sure to bring them back, they'll be washed properly." Was Raf's only reply, but he had to agree with his tía. Abuela's recipe for salsa was amazing, all the other ones he's had just don't compare. He knows his friends are going to love his mama's cooking.

It was a shame that the Autobots couldn't eat food, he wanted Bee to taste his family's cooking and hear what he thinks.

Speaking of Bee…

He heard the honking from outside, perking as he did one last check over his backpack- making sure the container of leftovers, salsa and some other snacks were secure before jogging over to kiss his mama's cheek and pinch his baby brother's adorably chubby face. "That's Bobby, I'm going now! I'll be back for dinner!"

"Alright, have fun Rafael. Don't forget to do your homework!"

"I will mama, bye! Bye Hugo!"

Alma waved from her place by her mama's side at the sink, "Bye Raf! Say hi to Bobby for me- love his car. Seriously. I really gotta meet him someday."

Raf kept up his smile even as he broke a sweat while his tía hummed in agreement. "We all do, have fun at Jack's and say hi to June for us!" They thought he was spending the day having a movie marathon with Jack and Miko at Jack's house, it was times like this that Raf was kind of relieved that Jack's mom knew about the Autobots. Made it easier for his, Miko and Jack's to make excuses with her support, especially since his parents and tía liked June.

Apparently she was one of the nurses that helped his mama during her pregnancy with Hugo. So that was nice.

"I will, bye tía, bye Alma!"

With that, he was out the door as soon as possible. Scrambling towards the yellow and black camero, opening the backseat and climbing in with practiced ease. "Hey Bee, Alma says hi!"

.: Aw, well tell her I say hi back. Or well, Bobby says hi. :. Bee replied with a whirring laugh, waiting for Raf to secure himself and his backpack before driving off towards base. .: What's Bobby short for again? :.

"Usually Robert, or Roberto." Raf answered with a grin. As much as he liked Bumblebee's name, he couldn't exactly tell his family 'Bee' was short for 'Bumblebee'. So he said Robert, which then turned to Bobby because that made more sense, and then it was finally shortened to Raf's preferred nickname for him; Bee. "The name mostly comes from Ancient Germanic, meaning 'bright fame'."

Bumblebee snorted, a glitch-like sound that used to worry Raf when he wasn't used and didn't know how Bee usually sounded. .: Right. I don't think 'bright fame' is a good name for a scout. We're supposed to lay low, y'know. :.

"Maybe! But didn't you say at one point, if you weren't a scout, you wanted to be a racer?" Raf countered, "It's a good name! Besides, I think you'd usually go for Bobby or, y'know, Bee anyway. So it doesn't really matter, it's just stuff for my parents to know so they don't think you're a total stranger that keeps hanging around me."

.: Fair enough. :. Bee agreed before switching to a more important topic. .: Ratchet wants us at base as soon as possible, he wants to see if the Observer's internal stuff was repaired enough to do more things. Something about random word selection? :.

Raf immediately understood and nodded, "Got it, we'll head on straight to base then." He'd wanted to stop by a store for some more food but he'll just leave it up to Jack and Miko, all else fails? Take out was always an option.

And with that, Raf was at base as soon as possible.

Surprisingly though, he wasn't the first one there.

"Agent Fowler!" He exclaimed as Bee let him out, the older man was standing at the ground floor of the main hanger. Guess Optimus really did tell him about the Observer, the agent was glaring up at the relic that was on the left platform by the console. He stopped glaring when Raf called out to him again.

Fowler finally looked at him, disgruntled, he definitely wasn't happy about the situation. "Morning Raf. You're here early."

"I requested him to come early so we can check on the repairs of the Observer." Ratchet grunted, emerging from one of the base's tunnels, "Optimus is doing a solo patrol at the moment but he'll be finished soon. He'll arrive with the other children." He said, preemptively answering the question Raf had about the Autobot leader.

"Oh! Okay, gimme a moment, I gotta put the leftovers in the fridge for later." Raf said, quickly running over to the little kitchen area of the hanger. It wasn't much of a kitchen really, it had a fridge, a microwave, a cupboard and that was it. The base's actual kitchen was much deeper within. "Agent Fowler, my mama made tacos and salsa, feel free to have some when you're hungry!"

Agent Fowler's scowl softened slightly, "Sounds great Raf, thanks."

Minutes later, Agent Fowler's scowl returned at full force as Raf approached the Observer Orb. The agent following closely after him, "Doesn't look damaged."

"Like I said before, Agent Fowler, the damage is all internal. Within a connected pocket dimension that is nearly twice the size of the Nemesis." Ratchet replied with clear annoyance, most of it wasn't aimed at the human.

Raf nodded, fascinated by that fact. "Yeah, though you really wouldn't be able to tell." He couldn't help but knock on the orb's metal surface, it looked as pristine as it first appeared. Ancient Cybertronian glyphs etched into the metal with gold- it looked more of an art piece than a powerful observation device. One that had an internal circuitry the size of two decepticon warships.

.: So, what's the damage now? How repaired is it? :. Bumblebee asked as he walked up to stand besides Ratchet.

"That's what we're going to find out now." Raf said before turning to the Observer. "Observer; deactivate standby mode."

[ STANDBY MODE DEACTIVATED ;ACTIVATE UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION; YES / NO ]

( Elsewhere, the chief communications officer alerts his lord of the artifact's activation. It was time to gather once more. )

"No." The others weren't here yet and they wanted to check on it internally. "Now, let's see how repaired are you…"

Answer?

Barely enough for a deep dive diagnostic; aka, nowhere near even a quarter fixed.

However, it was fixed. Manually handling the holographic system was a lot easier, much smoother than before. There was barely any lag between Raf's inputs into the keys as he and Ratchet scoured its systems which were still mostly corrupted and inaccessible.

Ratchet let out a groan when he realized the input settings were still out of reach, and that the 'word selection' when the Observer listened for keywords to other universes would still be random. Nevermind transferring access ownership to the Autobots- he, Miko and Jack were still the only ones who could use the Observer right now.

Just as the rest of the team and Raf's friends were arriving back at base, Raf found something interesting. "Hm?"

It was a video file, or at least, it seemed to be? It was still very corrupted but it was in the process of repairing itself. It was actually almost half-finished.

"Found something?" Ratchet asked, noticing the file as well. In the background, he can hear Miko and Jack greet each other, the bots, Optimus, Agent Fowler, but Raf was more focused on the mysterious file. "A video file? It's corrupted…"

"Not as corrupted as everything else on the Observer." Raf pointed out, moving it centerfold of the holographic screen. "It's been repairing alongside the Observer, I think it's something important? It's being prioritized alongside the Observer's base systems. It's almost almost halfway done."

Raf finagled with the systems and managed to even bring up an estimated repair completion status as well as something of a repair log. Looks like it started repairing when they accidentally went to that 'Actor' universe, where it repaired the fastest before slowing down when it got to the 'Mecha' world. "Good work Rafael!" Ratchet praised, making the boy grin widely with pride. "Interesting. A file's repair speed depending on which world we observe? Again, the genius of this artifact's creation and conception is always marred by its weird and awkward requirements."

"I guess that means we should try watching the Actor world first just to see if we can fully repair the video file?" Raf asked, glancing over to the others who were still talking amongst themselves but he could see Agent Fowler, Miko, Jack, Bee and Bulkhead glance over from time to time. They were probably waiting on both Raf and Ratchet to give the all clear, or just announce the start of things.

Ratchet gave a thoughtful hum, "If the file is being being prioritized in being repaired alongside the internal systems, then it should be important… I do want to see what's on it, let's tell the others."

It wasn't exactly the plan, Raf was pretty sure they were supposed to watch 'Alien Mecha' first but the opportunity to see a video stored on the Observer was too good. Besides, the Actor world wasn't too bad- he was a fictional character sure but the actor playing him seemed really cool! So were everyone else's actors, even the Decepticons!

He has to wonder if Rung will be there again.

Actually, didn't he somehow boot them out of watching the world? Raf did a quick check and—

[ UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION CEASED DUE TO OTHER UNIT'S INTERFERENCE.UNIVERSE AVAILABLE FOR PURVIEW WITHIN UNIVERSE LIBRARYUNIVERSE DATA AVAILABLE FOR CURRENT CONTINUITY: THREE (3) - SHATTERED GLASS (JM-DESIGN) [AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING] - SHOW ACTING (RU-DESIGN) [AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING] - ALIEN MECHA (NO-DESIGN) [AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING] SEARCH FOR NEW UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION? ACCEPT / DECLINE ]

Oh!

'Show Acting' was previously unavailable but now it wasn't! Did that mean they could access the universe now? Cool!

Raf grinned, waving at Miko, Jack and Agent Fowler as they came over- Ratchet was explaining on what was going on.

Today was going to be a long, but interesting day. Thankfully they had tons of food and drinks this time.

( On a warship far away, a meeting was being held once more. )

[ ----- TFP : UO ----- ]

THATS RIGHT, WE'RE GOING BACK TO ACTOR AU BECAUSE HONESTLY? THAT UNIVERSE EXPLORATION WAS CRIMINALLY SHORT AND I DEF NEEDED TO WRITE MORE OF IT

and also a sprinkle of plot right there, whats the video file? just wait and see AHAHAHAHAHAHAH >:D

anyway i hope you guys enjoyed, sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. this month has been a little rough at the end but im glad to have been able to update once more before it ended.

hopefully next chapter won't take as long but knowing how long these chapters are going to be... well, we'll see.

also yes, raf's family are mostly ocs because theres no real info about them. had to be ocs really. will they show up again? perhaps! will they be important? no comment! either way, i'll see you all next time!

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Chapter 9 of TFP: Universal Observations

you know the drill! ao3 update first and foremost! gotta keep those ao3 readers invested :D

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hiaii!!! just wanted to say, i LOVE uo so much. I literally let out a squeal whenever the fic updates lolol,,, I'm a little confused tho, what does sparkling (no mecha) au means? I've seen it mentioned sometimes but I'm still a little slow ughjsjdhg 💔

dont worry! i havent explained sparkling (no mecha) au and i wont explain it because i cant! not right now! not without spoiling a few things. its going to be reacted to at some point and by then, the explanation will be provided :D

its going to take a while though so please be patient! speaking of uo... :)

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I read in Ao3 that their be few crossovers universe Aus they be seeing. Will one of the them be where The their war takes place in Taisho Era Japan instead of the present making it a crossover with Demon Slayer? because that would be cool and I also read your Dance of the Fire Bot fanfic. I know that scenario will be a little difficult but I don't know why, I just like the Idea of Tanjiro and Optimus meeting, they make a cute father and son dynamic in my opinion.

sorry fo th every long wait but at some point, yes, i do want to make them react to maybe fire bot but there's no promises since i've got other plans in play

speaking of fire bot, with the new movie out i may shift back over there after i watch the movie. who knows. again, no promises. the brainrot for universal observations is real.

two certain enablers arent helping it either lol

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A Ship Called "Home"

Hi :)

So this chapter broke the 2k prologue rule and I don't doubt it won't happen again with Prologue 3 🧍‍♂️

Admittedly I had trouble with this chapter because there should be a lot more context to what's happening with the residence of Dimension 3945, but once my other fics get hoped it'll all make sense. If not, then I'm sorry UnU

Hope you enjoy the brewing chaos regardless :)

Prologue II: Dimension 3945

The road to recovery on Cybertron was slow, agonizingly so, and perhaps that was exactly how most wanted it. 

No rapid revolutions. No grand declarations. Just time. Time to breathe, to rebuild, to mourn.

After millions of vorns of war. Autobot against Decepticon, it had taken an external threat, the Quintessons, to force two ancient enemies into an alliance. And even then, the price had been steep. Countless lives, infrastructure shattered. Victory had come, yes, but it had not come clean.

The war might have ended, but peace had not yet begun.

Optimus Prime sat in silence in his berth, armor dulled from neglect, his optics dimmed from exhaustion. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d entered a recharge cycle without being pulled out of it by crisis reports or reconstruction briefings. His joints creaked each time he moved, the once-fluid grace of his motion now reduced to tired shifts and half-rotations. His processor throbbed with the constant heat of overuse, edges of thoughts blurring from strain.

Ratchet would have said something—no, snapped something—about his condition, had the medic not been running himself ragged tending to the wounded. Both Autobot and Decepticon alike, designation no longer mattered in the med bay, anyone that has an injury gets treated by medics from both factions.

Today he’s supposed to have another meeting. But this time it’s between high commanders from ‘bots and ‘cons, an attempt at governance if you will.

The topic? the future of Cybertron.

In all his vorns of leadership, Optimus didn’t really think he prepared for peace. Not the theoretical ideal of it, no. The real, messy aftermath of surviving a war too long. He was aware that would be the last thing he would know after banishing Megatron all those vorns again, as well as when Quintessons started invading their home.

What did peace even look like for a Prime forged prepared for war?

He had carried the Matrix longer than any of its original bearers. Their sparks were long gone long since extinguished, but their voices remained, whispering from the relic, murmuring in the recesses of his mind. They guided him. They questioned him. They criticized him. But now? Now, there was only silence.

Maybe this is their way of briefly giving him some peace after all that has happened, whatever the reason Optimus appreciates it nonetheless.

Megatron had laid down his weapon. So had he. But what now? 

What happens when the silence grows too long, when the people begin to miss the noise, the certainty, the war?

Optimus didn’t want to find out.

Optimus scans the room.

Smokescreen sat nearest to the edge of the table, idly flicking a pristine shanix coin between his digit. The crisp clink of metal echoed through the silence, too sharp in the otherwise still room. How he’d managed to keep it in such good condition through war and invasion was anyone’s guess. Then again, Optimus wouldn’t be surprised if it had been pried from Swindle after some absurd bet went sideways—probably with a smile and a wink.

Across from Smokescreen, Bumblebee tapped his own digits against the desk, slow, rhythmic, maybe a little irritated even. His optics tracked the door every few kliks, impatience worn openly on his faceplates.

Blaster busied himself at the far end of the room, fingers gliding over a retooled comms unit. Clearly more comfortable with doing what he does best than with politics. Optimus understands sentiment really, he’d rather be doing anything else.

Then there was Ultra Magnus, standing as though bolted into place, arms crossed in a way that managed to look somehow more rigid than usual. Optimus hadn't thought it possible for the enforcer to become even stiffer, and yet, Magnus continued to redefine the limits of posturing.

Elita-1 had her back facing everyone as she gazed through the window. Her optics fixed on what remained of Iacon city, cracked spires, hollowed towers, the streets in absolute rumble. The city was in more ruins than what both Autobots and Decepticons left it.

Prowl, is thankfully away from the table and is instead leaning silently against the far wall. His frame still, to most. But Optimus knew beneath that slightly cracked visor, the tactician’s processor was already dissecting this meeting into several potential branching paths, calculating outcomes before they existed. Optimus is a little worried that he might overheat his processor if he keeps at it.

The silence was broken by Blaster shifting in his chair. “Prime, they’re here.”

Optimus’s optics brightened just slightly. He rose slowly from his seat, the ache in his joints protesting with every shift.

The sound of hydraulics and heavy pedes echoed beyond the doors.

One by one, the Decepticons entered.

Megatron barely looks as graceful as he does, so Optimus counts it as a win. The former warlord strides into the room with his armor scorched in places he hasn’t bothered to polish, fusion cannon conspicuously absent, optics dim but still having a sharp edge to it.

They both nod to one another, and more Decepticons trickle in. Soundwave, mute and unreadable as ever, follows Megatron by his side as usual. Shockwave isn't far behind him but Optimus saw the nervous flicker in the scientist's optic at the sight of Elita-1, who didn’t spare the scientist a glance.

Starscream enters with his trine in tow. His wings are hiked too high, stiff with barely-contained unease masquerading as arrogance. His optics flick over the room, calculating, mistrustful. When he meets Optimus’ gaze, he doesn't look away, but he doesn't look for long either. Skywarp teleports ahead of his trinemates, earning startled glances and causing Thundercracker to sigh and Starscream to roll his optics.

Barricade brought up the rear. He didn’t sit down, and instead leaned against a wall with his arms crossed directly across from Prowl, his optics glaring at the other mech, and from what Optimus can see, Prowl isn’t really paying him any attention at all.

All things considered, this is definitely an unusual pair of mechs boxed in with one another. Especially when nearly everyone here had some sort of personal problem with each other, Blaster and Soundwave haven't torn each other to shreds yet so that's— wait nevermind Soundwave immediately started sending out waves of smugness through his EM field and Blaster's optics are flickering out of annoyance. Wonderful.

Optimus won't be surprised if Shockwave doesn’t speak at all in this meeting, he genuinely doesn't get the scientist’s fear of Elita-1 at all but then again a lot of mechs are afraid of his second-in-command.

Starscream and Bumblebee are… friendly in a sense, he supposes, both of them aren’t too overly antagonistic with each other, nor is it seemingly one-sided like Shockwave and Elita-1’s and primus forbid it ever become anything like Barricade and Prowl. 

Optimus can’t really say for sure with Smokescreen, Magnus, Skywarp and Thundercracker but Magnus has a problem with anyone breaking the law really.

For a beat, no one spoke.

Blaster’s digits paused mid-type. Smokescreen’s coin spun to a halt on the table. Ultra Magnus’s frame, somehow, grew even more unmoving.

Optimus resets his vocalizer. “I see that everyone appears to be behaving well. So, let us begin—”

“Hold up,” Blaster said, servo raised, catching everyone’s attention.

They did not get far at all.

Really, it’s almost comical how they barely even started and something already managed to interrupt the meeting.

“We’re getting an incoming transmission.”

Starscream scowled, “Can’t this wait?”

“I swear this is important.” Blaster pressed a few buttons on the comms unit, then his optics narrowed.“They’re calling themselves… the Lost Light.”

Multiple optics shuttered.

“The, what?” Barricade’s doorwings twitched. “That’s some Autobot project, isn’t it? One of yours?”

“No.” Prowl’s voice was flat. Sharp. “It’s not.”

Ultra Magnus reset his vocalizer. “No half-measures. If there’s an unknown vessel broadcasting on our frequencies, we owe it courtesy—then caution.” He tapped his gauntlet. “I’ll dispatch a patrol if things go sideways.”

Blaster turned back to the console. “The transmission’s already playing. Audio only. Should I patch it through?”

Optimus nodded. “Let’s hear it.”

“Attention citizens of this dimension—this is Rodimus, captain of the starship Lost Light, speaking to you not as a conqueror, not as a threat, but as a traveler… and a friend... We’re just passing through—though we do tend to leave things a little better than we found them. Usually…”

“Rodimus?” Bumblebee muttered, then raised an optical ridge. “Did he say dimension?”

Elita-1’s optics narrowed. “This can’t be real.”

“But what about the meeting?!” Starscream threw his servos upward. “We can’t just pause diplomacy for a science fiction plotline!”

Smokescreen rolled his optics. “We won’t be having a meeting if those weirdos crash-land on us.”

Starscream glared. “I’ll have you know I studied political science, earned my degree before you could even stabilize your warping abilities. And like it or not, this alliance is a powder keg. While yes we have patched the holes, we don’t have a framework for a sustainable government. You think Decepticons are going to respect a signed treaty just because Megatron and Optimus shook hands? No. They’re looking for cracks. And if this 'Rodimus' proves dangerous, it'll be more than a crack—it'll be a rupture.”

Prowl nodded slowly, arms still crossed. “He’s not wrong.”

The room quieted a little at that.

“At best, we’ve achieved a ceasefire, not cohesion,” Prowl continued. “Despite this alliance, there are parties on all sides watching every movement, waiting for something to justify old grudges. A sudden unknown—a ship appearing out of nowhere, claiming to be from another dimension, could cause mass panic. Worse, it could give the extremists something to rally around.”

Starscream crossed his arms, smug.

“That said,” Prowl added, visor flickering briefly, “we have to get ahead of it.”

Starscream’s wings twitched slightly, the beginnings of a frown forming.

Prowl pushed off the wall, taking a slow step forward. “This meeting—this entire summit—wasn’t even meant to be public yet. This was a rehearsal. A controlled environment, to prove to ourselves that high command from both sides could sit down and function without tearing each other apart. Once we had that groundwork, then we’d announce a formal joint structure to the masses.”

“But now?” He gestured toward the console. “Now we’ve got an interdimensional wildcard with no warning. We can’t afford to look fractured when they land—or worse, if they turn out to be hostile.”

“So what.” Smokescreen muttered, flipping the shanix coin once again. “We ditch the meeting and make this our test run?”

Prowl’s visor gleamed. “Exactly. If we handle this well, if we show we can be civil to off-world visitors and cooperate regardless of old faction lines, then we send a message. Peace is possible. And if we can’t?”

He glanced at Megatron, then Optimus. “Then we prove peace was an illusion, and the war had never ended.”

Optimus shuttered his optics. “I agree with Prowl’s assessment. We do not have enough time to discuss these matters unfortunately, who knows what would happen if someone else got ahold of this transmission, I do not mean to undermine our communication officer’s abilities. But we have to act now.”

Starscream looked like he wanted to scoff but held it in. “Whatever you say, my Prime.” The seeker ignored the look Megatron shot at him.

Optimus turns to Blaster to see him already replying to the Lost Light. "Your intent has been acknowledged and appreciated. I am not alone in receiving your signal. The Decepticon Soundwave is also monitoring this frequency and has authorized continued contact. We are coordinating a response and will provide you with navigation data shortly. Stand by."

“Transmit coordinates. Send them to Outpost Aegis. If this… Rodimus is who he says he is, we’ll bring him in peacefully.”

Megatron hums “And if he isn’t?”

“Then we ask questions,” Optimus replied. “Lots of them.”

Soundwave stepped forward. “Soundwave: will accompany the greeting party.”

Blaster added, “So will I. If it really is… a version of me, I want to see it.”

Optimus nodded. “Then everyone, prepare to—”

The doors slammed open with a hydraulic clang.

“Tch. Quite typical,” said a voice cool and dry. “A council formed, decisions made, and yet not a single consultation with any non-aligned voices. Admirable consistency, truly.”

“Damus,” Optimus said slowly. The orange mech quarked an optical ridge at him, but let him continue. “It has been a while… How have you and the DJD been?” 

He really wasn’t going to question how the mech even found this room. But Optimus can’t really be surprised, after all, they just seem to be everywhere and anywhere at once.

Damus tilted his helm slightly. Behind him, Amp had his arms loosely folded, visor not giving anything away, and the twin tesla coils mounted on his shoulders cackled with electricity, and the Pet by his side. 

Forestock isn’t even bothering to give anyone a glance, digits sliding over the edge of his faceplate, Optimus is silently praying that the gunformer doesn’t unhinge his own face again. 

Scissorsaw was prodding one of his own blades with a digit, muttering something about tensile durability and Crucible just… stared silently.

Optimus noted that their medics were currently absent.

Elita-1’s optics were narrowed. “You’ve made your point multiple times. And while I don’t disagree with your criticisms, barging into a closed diplomatic summit isn’t exactly the way to build bridges.”

Damus turned to face her. “Nor is exclusion. I wasn’t requesting entry. I was asserting it.”

“Semantics,” Elita-1 replied coolly. “But since you’re here now. Let’s make it worth something.”

Ultra Magnus stepped forward this time. “You’re not wrong to be angry,” he said. “But procedure exists for a reason. We were trying to avoid chaos, not erase you.”

“You know what I find remarkable? To think you call this peace. To us, it looks like a ceasefire with better PR. You may have stopped firing weapons, but you never stopped treating the rest of us like bystanders in a story we never agreed to be part of.”

“Oh great,” someone muttered. Optimus guessed it was Skywarp. “Are you still on about the pits damned war?”

Damus didn't flinch. “Oh, absolutely. Because we remember. While your two factions were too busy collapsing cities and mining sparks for ideology, some of us were holding the pieces together. So when a new potential threat arrives, forgive us if we’d prefer not to be left out of the welcoming committee.”

“We’re not at war anymore,” Elita-1 said tightly.

“No, but you’re still treating Cybertron like a two-player game,” Damus replied.

That hit harder than anyone in the room seemed willing to admit.

Silence followed and Optimus ex-vented slowly, servo resting near the table edge as he considered the words.

Right.

Because the truth was, Damus had a point.

This was exactly the kind of old grudge Prowl had been warning everyone about, considering the tactician said “parties on all sides,” Optimus can’t help but be ashamed to admit that the thought of Neutrals had slipped his processor.

The DJD—Dissonant Judgment Derision. are one of the strongest long lasting Neutrals throughout all the history of Cybertron, and they were only composed of eight total members. Their criticism of both Autobots and Decepticons had been sharp, and, more often than not... justified. They’d only gone quiet when the Quintessons arrived—when the existential threat had temporarily forced unity.

But now that the enemy is gone?

They were speaking again.

Loudly.

Visibly.

Unapologetically.

Optimus’ gaze swept over the room. Smokescreen’s doorwings twitched uncomfortably. Bumblebee stared at Damus with an unreadable expression. Elita-1 and Prowl both had their arms crossed while Ultra Magnus looked visibly uncomfortable. 

He can’t tell what expressions Soundwave had, neither with Skywarp and Thundercracker as well because of their respective facial masks but both seekers' wings had the lightest of twitches, whilst their trine leader gritted his denta. 

Barricade was scowling and Shockwave still hadn’t said anything. 

Megatron looked away for a brief moment, jaw set.

He and many others had always defaulted to Autobot and Decepticon, because that had been the norm. Even when the Quintessons invaded, many mechs didn’t think it was a “unified cybertron” moment, but a unified autobot-decepticon moment, because that’s what it had been all about for the past million vorns. But Cybertron was larger than that. Had always been larger than that.

Optimus met Damus’ gaze, and this time, when he raised his servo gently. “You’re right, Damus.”

Megatron nodded in agreement, his expression tight. “You’ve earned the right to be present.”

The warlord pressed on. “I won't pretend the past can be smoothed over with apologies. But I am aware we need to do better now, all of us do. That includes giving voice to those who were never given a seat. You kept Cybertron and others alive in your own way. I recognize that. So… if you’re willing to speak, we are prepared to listen.”

Damus’ optics flickered, once, twice, and a third time. Then he turned to Amp. “Contact, Pharma, Ambulon, and Nickel. Tell them to meet us at Outpost Aegis”

Amp clicked his glossa, tilting his helm slightly. “Of course.”

Optimus smiled from under his mask, and tried his best to keep feeling relief from leaking out through his EM field. .: You should become a poet. :.

.: Don’t test it Prime. :. Despite that, Megatron smirked in his direction.

Optimus ignores the looks Bumblebee and Elita-1 are giving him.

Megatron ignores the looks Starscream, Shockwave and Soundwave are giving him as well. 

“Soundwave, Blaster, you know what to do.” The respective mechs looked at each other, and Blaster tried not to sigh.

Ultra Magnus straightened. “I’ll accompany the response team as well.”

“Thank you, Ultra Magnus… Everyone, roll out!”

So :)

I bet you didn't expect that cast of characters did you?

So now you know of what Dimension 3945 residence think of this, or well, what the high commanders think. I reckon a random ship arriving out of no where after dealing with a techno organic invasion would not end well.

Next Chapter we're going back to the Lost Light's POV :)

[NEXT]

[PREV]

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I love your Universal observations fic.

One of the best reaction fics I ever read💖✨. Looking forwatd to how things Progress, maybe the kids Will have a sleepover with the cons(if that happens when the Sparkling AU (No Mecha) is introduced sw will have a Great time☺️). Have any more au's ideas ?

thanks!! had a bit of a struggle with it with a few irl happenings but we got there!

hohoho, the progression will be something- and maybe! not right now though, nobody even knows that the cons are watching alongside them XD

thats going to be one hell of a shock for sure

Sparkling Au (No Mecha)... heheheheHEHAHEAHEEHAHHEHEHHEAHA

ahem

sparkling no mecha au is going to be great :) it wont be for a long, long while, but it's pretty much on the list of the bigger aus will be covering in the story...

as for other aus- yes! i have about... three apocalypse aus, with one important one coming up in act 2, and then a few other aus, a couple of crossovers. we'll see what happens. but for now, im focusing on two important ones for act 1

actor au and alien mecha au

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TFP: Universal Observations

and so the trend of each chapter just, gaining more and more words and becoming more monstrous in terms of word count continues.

this chapter is 15.4k yeah, just a few hundred words more than the last chapter SOLELY BECAUSE this is the chapter before the interlude. the interlude is either gonna be shorter or, rung help me, longer. we'll see

at any rate! on with the show!

ACT I: Alien Mecha - V -

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

Omega Outpost One

[ "So, your old mentor was either an accomplice or perhaps even facilitated the theft of various artifacts and relics ranging from the Apex Armor to even the Forge of Solus Prime…" Megatron started some time after the others left, Optimus was leaning against the table with his servos, a look of fatigue slowly appearing on his faceplate. "Perhaps there's more to that old mech than I originally thought."

"He is… inscrutable, at times." Optimus admitted tiredly, "I had always worried there were things he was not telling me, important details that he avoided revealing to me… But this?" He took in a deep vent, his expression going stoic before he was abruptly surprised by the feeling of Megatron's servo on his cheek.

"Stop." Megatron said softly, yet firmly, red optics staring into his. "You are upset, Optimus. Let yourself feel upset."

Optimus narrowed his optics, "There is little time for me to feel upset, Alpha Trion's current state is fragile as it is. We must go to him and ask while we still can." He argued but Megatron stepped closer, pulling Optimus close to press their helms together. One servo still on his cheek, the other wrapping around the Prime's waist intimately.

"Fine. We'll go, but don't think I haven't noticed your reliance on the Matrix's suppressors lately. Again. Even Ratchet has noticed. We'll talk about this later, Optimus." Optimus' expression twisted before giving a sigh of defeat in the face of Megatron's stern look.

"… Very well." Megatron searched through Optimus' optics before nodding in satisfaction, leaning in for a brief kiss. "You've turned into a worrier." Optimus muttered afterwards, a soft look on his faceplate.

Megatron smirked, "With a Prime like you? Who wouldn't?" ]

"Pause."

Jack didn't need anyone to tell him to pause the screen, not after- well that. But maybe it was a bad idea to pause right there and then because frozen on the screen was the rather intimate sight of mecha Megatron leaning his head against Optimus' with a smirk, both leaders looking too soft for each other.

"I knew it."

Jack blinked, glancing over to Miko incredulously, the girl was grinning widely at the screen with an 'aha!' type of look. "… Knew what?" He probably shouldn't have asked but, well, curiosity and all that…

"That they were like, more!" She exclaimed, gesturing to the screen with a triumphant look. "I've been suspecting it ever since Megatron saved Optimus earlier on! They were totally flirting on the battlefield-"

Raf tugged on Miko's arm, hesitant, "Uh, Miko? Maybe… not now?" He tried, nodding to the frozen Autobots that had looks of horror and confusion on their faces. He's never seen their eye- uh, optics? So wide before.

Miko's triumphant expression faltered and she looked around a bit cautiously, "… Uh, you guys… okay?"

Clearly not, Jack wanted to say but held his tongue. Mostly because the question unleashed a cacophony of noise from the Autobots making him, Miko and Raf cover their ears as the bots spoke over each other in layers and in Neo Cybex- their species' main language.

Jack and Miko had no idea what they were saying, but it was loud and aggressive- Raf's face looked pinched and distressed as he glanced between each Autobot who stood once more. Wildly gesticulating to each other, to the screen, to Optimus, to each other, with varying expressions of emotions that kept changing.

Alright, they weren't just not okay- they were… upset, to say the least.

Honestly calling them upset was an understatement. Optimus was struggling to keep the team calm, he kept faltering, glancing back to the screen with this weird look on his face and then to Ratchet who looked torn between furious, worried, concerned, horrified- there was a lot of emotions on the alien doctor's face. But the moment Ratchet saw Optimus' look of helplessness?

The medic took in a deep breath and shouted, thankfully in English. "ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!" His servos were tight over his datapad, Jack was surprised the thing hadn't cracked from how tight it looked like he was holding it. "That's enough."

"But Ratchet-" Arcee tried to start but was swiftly interrupted by the medic. "Enough." He gave her a look and that seemed enough to make her back off, but she didn't look happy. Ratchet was the same, but he was making an effort to stay calm. Or at least, give Optimus time to recompose himself.

"Autobots," Optimus started, gaining their attention once again. He was firmly looking away from the screen, even when the others couldn't help but look back to it as he spoke. "I know this situation is… unprecedented, and… distressing. However we must keep in mind that this is an alternate universe. What happens in this universe, the moments, the people, the— relationships… They are out of our control, and likely, the things that we see will not or cannot be applied here."

Was it just Jack or was there something else underneath Optimus' stern tone? There was some reassurance sure but like, there was… something else there. That Jack couldn't exactly name…

( Once there was an archivist and a gladiator.

Once they were friends.

They could have been more.

The archivist is gone, the ex-gladiator snarled to himself. Emotions, thoughts and feelings from a life before the war bubbling to the surface before focusing back to what he's just saw. That damned kiss, that softness, that intimacy… Had he not once craved it from the archivist once?

The archivist is gone, all that is left is the Prime.

So how could his other ever think of the Prime when their archivist was the one who won their spark? And then betrayed their trust? )

It might not just be Jack because Ratchet is giving Optimus a look, something complicated, something helpless yet angry, something old. And Optimus… is looking away from him. Face completely stoic, but his eyes… are sad and confused, and other emotions that Jack can't really decipher. Then it all disappears and his eyes are inscrutable, unknowable. It's kinda startling, but the emotions that were there were just... gone. A calm look replacing them.

He looks back to Miko, thinks about what she was about to say back then. Her words are probably more accurate than she realized in more ways than one, in more worlds than one, but unlike the 'Mecha' universe, theirs is…

Clearly, there was more history between Megatron and Optimus Prime than Jack realized.

History that Jack can't really ask about, not now. He's not even sure if he wants to ask in the first place. Tensions and emotions were too high and Jack was hesitant to break it, unsure of what the outcome would be. Still, it begged the important question…

"So… do we continue or should we take another break?" He asked, loud enough to gain everyone's attention. "I get it if you like, need to take a break from uh, this." He waves a hand, not exactly gesturing to the screen but he's pretty sure they all got what he meant.

"Honestly, we can pick this up again tomor—"

"Aw, what? No! We can't just stop here and now!" Miko interrupted, honestly Jack had been expecting her to interrupt sooner. "What'd we even do for the rest of our time here at base? We still got an hour 'till we gotta go home! So King Con and Optimus are like, dating there, super weird and disturbing for you guys. I know. But it's not all there is! There's a mystery going on over there and our counterparts are like, on Cybertron! Also, also, the Observer can't repair itself if we don't watch it so…" She tried to persuade, not wanting to stop just yet.

Jack sighed, rubbing his eyelids, "While you do have a point that the Observer can't be repaired without being watched Miko, doesn't mean we can't just continue tomorrow. It's not like the Observer's going anywhere." Sure, it did come out of nowhere in the Autobot base but there'd been a reason for that. Jack doubts it was going to just… disappear so soon, not when it was in need of repairs. It was probably why it come here in the first place or whatever.

Why it chose them in the first place, Jack didn't know and maybe he didn't want to.

"Ultimately, it's up to bots here. While the three of us have control over the Observer, they also deserve the right to want to continue or not." Jack insisted firmly. It had been by sheer dumb luck that he, Miko and Raf got control over the Observer. And in all honesty, it shouldn't have been them.

This was cybertronian tech they were dealing with, even more than that, it was from another dimension- it was way above their league and non-existent payroll. The controls should've been one of the Autobots, Optimus more likely.

Miko pouted, "Raf?" She tried, looking over to the youngest of their trio only to frown when the boy fiddled with his fingers and glasses.

"I do wanna keep watching but!" Raf continued hastily, giving Miko a look. "It's not fair to make the bots watch something they don't wanna watch, Miko."

The girl looked around, seeing the conflicted faces of their alien guardian and friends. A twinge of guilt briefly appearing before she shook her head and sighed, "Yeah, good point." She begrudgingly backed off with a nod. "So? What's the verdict? We stoppin' here or is it on with the show?"

The Autobots exchanged uneasy looks, "… Those in favor of continuing the viewing?" Optimus questioned quietly, his servo raises. After a moment, Bumblebee's servo raises as well as Arcee, which surprised Jack considering their reaction to Megatron kissing Optimus earlier on but y'know what. He wasn't going to question it.

"Really Bee? Arcee?" Bulkhead gaped, confused by their decision. Ratchet looked like he swallowed a lemon, or a cybertronian-equivalent of something extremely sour.

Bumblebee whirred, beeping and speaking that binary language that Jack, unfortunately, couldn't understand. "Bee says he wants to see the others, wants to see Senscript wake up and Cybertron. Also himself, if he's there." Raf translated to Jack and Miko.

Arcee shrugged, rubbing her neck with a sigh. "… There's a mystery about the missing relics going on, plus… Cliff's there. Maybe… Tailgate is too." Tailgate? Who was…

Jack suddenly thought about the first time he met Arachnid, of the spider-bot's taunts to Arcee about a previous partner. Ah.

Ratchet let out a deep sigh, pressing his fingers into his eyelids. "Fine. We're outnumbered, we'll continue watching this… until the children have to go home." Jack feels a little guilty because the medic sounds frustrated and tired, but a part of him- the dumb little monkey brain part that liked watching interesting stuff on TV- couldn't help but look forward to seeing more of 'Alien Mecha' universe.

Because it wasn't everyday that you would peer into an entirely different reality where things were extremely different.

Still, Jack wouldn't have complained if the Autobots had decided otherwise. "Alright, we'll continue watching. But at any point, if uh, anyone wants to stop for some reason. Just, let us know, okay?" He questioned, just to make sure to the bots that they still had a choice to watching or not. He still stood by the fact that he, Miko and Raf probably shouldn't have control over something like the Observer after all. "We'll stop no matter what."

"Thanks Jack." Arcee said with a small smile, something that the other bots mirrored along with a little nod of acknowledgement. Jack felt a bit flustered by it but smiled back reassuringly, waving off the thanks.

"Anytime."

Miko clapped once, "Alright! On with the show it is! Observer! Hit it! Continue!" She declared with fanfare, looking back to the frozen screen of Megatron and Optimus looking softly at each other. The scene lingered for a moment before thankfully changing.

( On a warship, a controlled pandemonium happened within a viewing room. A seeker was torn between laughing or shrieking, going between both at a moment's notice. An ex-Wrecker was silently being shaken by a stammering medic, only moving when the medic nearly fell out of his chair to catch him. A femme was frozen in place, yet her optics were searching, calculating.

They did not notice their silent final member leaving the room, leaving behind a precious companion before following after their warlord leader. The only one who was not surprised by the turn of events, not really. He finds the warlord within the nearest training room, snarling and punching the wall.

"What is it Soundwave?! Unless it's something important, leave me be."

Despite the command, the silent mech continued to stand there, before their visor turned on as back in the room, streamed by his flying companion, the screen moved once more.

The warlord paused, sneering. "The Autobots have decided to continue watching? That was surprisingly quick of them." The mech does not comment on the hint of bitterness in his lord's voiceprint. "… Just what is going on within that base." And though there were rumors of the silent mech's abilities, he does not have them. Yet he does not need them to know the silent question going through his lord's processor.

What is going on within Optimus Prime's mind. )

[ A small boy sat on a chair, wires and patches connected to him as he tried not to move. In his hands, was an old and partially broken yellow toy car that he focused on as there were murmurs and beeping all around him. ]

"Raf! It's you!" Miko exclaimed immediately when they saw the little boy on the screen. He looked so… small, and disheveled with how messy his hair was while in that medical gown.

Jack noticed something, "The edges of the screen are tinted white again." He mumbled, frowning as he remembered the last time it happened. Taking a deep breath and trying not to remember-

"JACK!" "Take Jack and run—"

Welp, too late. Jack shook his head desperately, not wanting to think of his mother's hypothetical and implied death. Even in another world. Instead, he focused on the screen again.

In his field of view, he can see Ratchet both relieved yet glaring at the screen. Probably relieved at the fact they were no longer looking at uh, both Mecha Megatron and Optimus but not liking the fact he was seeing Mech Raf hooked up to something else. They all suspected what this was, where Raf was.

The uniform in the background worn by one of the faceless men confirmed it when they wandered by the screen. Raf- Senscript, was with MECH. Whatever this was, they were testing Raf and none of them liked that.

( "Hmph, it's ridiculous just how small humans can be. Senscript is even smaller than his counterpart here." A seeker snorted, shaking his helm. )

[ "..igh sync-rate…""Haven't seen that since Batch-00 with that girl…""And that boy from Batch-05…""..uck gold, kid's an orphan so MECH…"

At the word 'orphan', the boy winced, clutching his toy car with a scowl on his face. Eyes narrowed and shining, wet, but not a single tear formed. ]

Jack tensed the moment the word 'orphan' was used, his eyes immediately darting over to the pale and wide-eyed face of his friend. "Raf…"

"I'm… an orphan, there?" Raf whispered, hugging himself and holding on to his elbows as he tried to imagine that. Jack knew of Raf's family, two older siblings and one baby sibling. A large family that, even though they were busy and Raf confessed that he sometimes felt like he couldn't be heard in his family, still loved him all the same. But there?

Senscript's family was gone.

Senscript was alone.

Miko reached over to give him a one-armed hug, trying to give reassurance to the pale-faced boy. "It's gonna be okay. Your family's alright here and hey, Mecha Raf gets to meet us pretty early since we're at MECH too." She tried to say optimistically.

The bots watched on with sadness, Bee beeping and whirring something that had Raf smiling weakly in gratitude.

Jack however, couldn't help but wonder how both he and Miko ended up with MECH in the first place. Were they orphans too? Jack probably was, the implications about his mother were clear but his father… he hasn't seen that man in years. Was he dead too if Jack was with MECH?

"And that boy from Batch-05…"

And Miko…

"Haven't seen that since Batch-00 with that girl…"

He glanced over to her, she didn't seem to be wondering the same thing. Focusing more on Raf. He shook his head, focusing back to the screen. Tensing once again as Shockwave came into view, a spotlight appeared on both Senscript and Shockwave while the rest of the world seemed to disappear.

What?

( "How cinematic." A medic murmured and then frowned, "Wait, the last time we saw a scene with white frosting the edges… it was at the very beginning when Tailbreaker was asleep, no?"

An arachnoid femme smiled sharply, nodding to him, "Asleep… dreaming about his mother's death." )

[ Shockwave stood before him, tall, hands behind his back and the red lenses of his cycloptic mask gleaming red. "Rafael Esquivel." The man started, voice monotone. "You have a high synchronization rate with mecha technology. Do you understand what that means?"

The boy paused, gripping the yellow car tightly before nodding. "I can… pilot one. A mecha."

"Good. You're smart, as I suspected you are. We've cross referenced your scores from both school and the written test we had you do before this examination. It's impressive, you're more than qualified than to pilot a mecha." The man tilted his head, "MECH is interested in potential pilots, regardless of age. You will be chosen, you will be made into a pilot. You will have no choice."

"I won't have a choice?"

"No. However, the type of pilot they will make you- I believe to be wrong. They see another potential striker, I see something more. So I will give you a choice. You will still become a pilot, but you can choose a different class type than the one that MECH intends for you to have."

The young boy glanced up at him before down to his toy car, he fidgeted with the wheels, each one mismatched and different. "… What's the catch? You're giving me a choice, but it's not for free. You want something from me."

He glanced up when the man huffed, "Like I said; smart… I need that. And your high synchronization. I intend to take custody of you, make you my assistant. You will aid me in my experiments and projects, you will aid me in reaching my over all goal." Suddenly, there was a pilot's helmet in his hands, he was positioning it over the boy's head.

"What's your goal?" The boy asked, nose bleeding onto his yellow car. "What am I suppose to do?"

Shockwave didn't hesitate, sliding the helm over the boy's head. It's a perfect fit.

"Find him."

And the world around him turned green with alien text. ]

"This isn't a flashback, or a memory," not completely anyway, "it's a dream!" Jack realized abruptly having sensed something wrong the moment he noticed the white tinted edges that looked so similar to how they first started watching the universe. Senscript was asleep, and he was dreaming, or at least, Jack was pretty sure of it by now.

Especially when Shockwave suddenly produced a pilot's helmet out of fragging nowhere.

Bumblebee had been tense the entire time Shockwave had appeared on screen before young Raf, whirring and beeping quietly, only growing louder the moment he saw Senscript's nose bleed again and shouting something like a protest when Shockwave slid the helmet over the boy's head.

The others weren't doing any better, just as tense and wary and just as concerned. Ratchet swearing lowly in Neo Cybex- Jack didn't understand it sure, but did the medic forget that Raf could understand him? Speaking of Raf, the poor kid was pale, holding on to Miko as he watched the entire thing. Did he regret wanting to continue watching?

Jack scooted a bit closer to Raf and Miko, slipping a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. When Raf looked over, Jack gave him a reassuring smile. Something Raf appreciated with a small smile of his own and a nod. Jack looked over to Miko, she had a small look of regret but was stubbornly keeping quiet, when she noticed Jack's gaze, she gave him a defiant look.

It turned slightly apologetic when her eyes darted back to the screen.

( "Oh yeah, seems like the kid's dreaming." An Ex-Wrecker commented, "Humans don't have subspaces for stuff like that helmet to just appear."

His medic conjunx hummed in agreement, "Though some pretend they do, magicians and illusionists- I'll admit, their attempts are pretty good but it's all tricks and admittedly impressive skills, sleight of hand. Clever little things…"

"Considering their current age of technology, subspacing is way out of their league for the moment." A Seeker muttered to himself, raising an optic ridge as the screen turned green. "Find who?"

That was an important question that both sides had been silently asking. )

[ "Find him."

The world was green as veils of shifting text and words dropped from the sky. Each letter changing from one language to the next, indecipherable from how it constantly transformed. The boy was suddenly older, in a pilot's suit tailored to him, the helmet still firmly on his head as he looked around with gritted teeth.

"Find him."

A cord was connected to the back of the helmet, disappearing into the shadows between the shifting curtains of text, script and code. Numbers, letters, symbols, recognizable the not. The spotlight above the boy shifted from its fluorescent white to an ominous and heavy red as the veils began to flap and sway from an unseen wind. Scripture flying off the dark fabric and into the air, beginning to swirl around him.

"Find him."

Shockwave's voice echoed, as Senscript desperately tried to catch the letters, to make them stop changing, to put them together, to decode the information that was beginning to swarm him. The cord coiling around his feet as he continued to piece together numbers, letters and symbols that kept changing despite his attempts.

"Find—"

His nose was still bleeding, the letters began to fall on his feet, turning to green sludge that was quickly growing to his waist as he struggled, agonizingly decoding letter by letter, each one glitching as if struggling to keep still.

P R - J E - T

"—Him!"

C - I M E R -

He looks up, the sludge overtaking his neck to see Shockwave. A titan looking down on him, the red glow of his mask's single optic lens giving Senscript the spotlight before the boy sunk into darkness. A hand feebly reaching out before disappearing down below as well. ]

"What the fuck."

In any other situation, Jack would probably reprimand Miko for the actual, visceral human swear she made. But she said it softly, with feeling, feelings that Jack was probably feeling and couldn't exactly explain because-

Well, Miko said it pretty accurately, another reason why Jack didn't do anything else but weakly nudge the girl above Raf's head.

What the fuck indeed.

Raf was giving the screen an understandably confused and concerned look- they all were. Them, the bots, Jack even gave the faint thought of amusement that the cons would be looking at the screen with the same emotions too if they were watching.

But they weren't. Still, it was a funny thought.

( "What the frag." )

"Are… are all human dreams that… concerning?" Bulkhead hesitantly questioned, looking over to them on the couch.

Right, cybertronians didn't really dream. They had recharge fluxes which were mostly just fragments of memory files buffering through their processors from time to time before being filed away again- or something. Jack needs to pay attention more when the bots explained things, which he usually did, but the whole situation that lead up to Raf asking if cybertronians had dreams had been long and Jack had been pretty exhausted from a particularly bad shift as his job at Knock Out Burgers. (Did the Decepticon even know there was a fast food joint that had his name on it? He probably wouldn't like it considering it was human food and all that, but still.)

"Um, weird? Definitely, sometimes even weirder." Miko answered with a shrug, "But concerning like that? Not really?"

"Not unless you endured something traumatic I assume." Ratchet muttered, optics narrowed down at his datapad with an angry frown. He was probably looking up stuff about humans again, Jack wonders what he typed in.

Maybe something like, 'Humans weird dreams'?

Or even, 'Concerning dreams'.

'What effects a dream'?

Jack shook his head, he got distracted there for a moment but was snapped out of it when he heard the angry revving from Raf's favorite bot. Bumblebee was glaring at the screen, beeping something kind of quietly, something underneath his breath maybe? "I guess. Still, that ending- those letters, were those something he legit found or just something his dream conjured up?" Jack couldn't help but question. "Senscript was looking through that Quintesson Commander's head for a while now, and by the looks of things, Shockwave had a private goal or mission for him to do."

"Find him." Arcee repeated with a grimace, "Question is, who's him?"

( "So humans experience 'dreams' that are influenced by their memories, or information they gain as they grow up. Major events can influence their state of unconsciousness and have reoccurring dreams- basically it's a more nonsensical flux state for them." A medic said aloud, daring to be a bit louder in his findings now that their leader was currently not present. "Oh, however, some humans don't experience dreams. So they end up recharging like us, interesting."

A seeker hummed, reaching over to open a new website on the medic's datapad. The medic grunted but strangely did not protest. "Humans are strange creatures, trying to find symbolisms and meaning in their chaotic organic fluxes. These dreams are influenced by memory and information, yet some claim to have prophetic dreams or dreams related to the divine… The mental state of Senscript depicts something important though, Shockwave has clearly appointed him with an important task the moment he was chosen for MECH's mecha program."

"He wants the kid to find someone the Quintessons are related to, we don't know who, why, where, or what the frag he wants." An ex-wrecker muttered, a bit uncomfortable in his seat.

An arachnoid femme chuckled, "Must be rather important, for Senscript to dream of such things… It's rather obvious what he found in the end, assuming he did find something legitimate- although the letters were shifting, I believe we know what it spells out; Project Chimera…" )

[ Senscript woke up with a choked gasp, body aching and sight completely black. He didn't panic though, feeling the familiar weight on his head. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see, but that was just fine with him as he felt someone tap against his palm in morse code.

S-A-F-E

Safe, they were safe. Not back at base though, otherwise he'd be feeling a line in his veins and wires on his skin. "Water…" He rasped, feeling his dry throat. His entire body felt like one big throbbing wound, which was normal since he probably underwent majority of the symptoms of clock out unconscious.

He felt someone -the hand was thick, Jack, Tailbreaker- lift his head and offer water to him. He drank in sips, knowing better than to just drink in big gulps. He took his time, if things were urgent then his teammates would've let him know.

Senscript refused the offered water after a few minutes, brows furrowing as he regained enough composure. "Need my shades." He said aloud as his hand went to the headphones on his head. He cranked down the noise-canceling effect, bracing himself for any loud noises but was thankful not to hear anything. "What's our status?" ]

"He's used to waking up blinded and deaf." Ratchet muttered lowly, but it was loud enough that Jack heard it anyway. It made him grimace alongside the medic as he thought of how Senscript was at the beginning. Sensitive to light and sound… not to mention the clock out symptoms.

Senscript was Jack's age right now, and Jack couldn't stand it when he stubbed his toe. He can't even imagine or fathom the pain that Senscript must be feeling. The pain of the pilots who suffered from clock out, detaching from their mechas and suffering the consequences of directly connecting to hundreds of tons of steel.

But he can imagine what type it is, being the son of a nurse who's visited the hospital multiple times exposed him to different kinds of pains. From what he can see, these symptoms were mostly chronic pain, something involving the mecha pilot's nervous systems, obviously. Still, that didn't really fill Jack with confidence, chronic pain shouldn't be felt by teens his age…

Then again, it was pretty obvious that teens his age shouldn't be piloting mechas.

"Morse code." Raf muttered, nodding to himself.

Jack hummed, "Guess pilots would obviously know morse code for emergencies." The only morse code he knew was S-O-S, mostly because his mother made him learn it… maybe he should learn more, just in case. He'll see if Miko was up to learn with him.

[ "Buckle up Raf, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore." Was what he first heard as his blindfold was taken off, though he kept his eyes closed until he could feel shades slide onto his face.

"What does that mean Mi… ko?" Senscript questioned, a bit annoyed but his annoyance dropped at the end as he immediately noticed the abnormally large room they were in. The space was large enough to fit multiple mechas- as demonstrated by Senscript's and an unknown mecha standing in the corner.

What really caught his attention though, was the fact the furniture of the room, aside from the immediate ones around him, were clearly fit for mechas. There was a gigantic roller chair in the room, alongside a desk, as well as a large slab of metal that looked like a cot. On the walls were a couple of screens that were depicting a language he both recognized and did not recognize. "What."

Tailbreaker sighed while Wrecker gave him a gigantic grin, excitedly gesturing to a man that Senscript had never met personally but knew for several reasons. "… Wheeljack?" The man waved from where he lounged on a roughly-made couch.

"There's a lot to talk about." Tailbreaker told him bluntly. ]

While his counterpart explained what happened to an increasingly gaping Senscript, Jack couldn't help but think again on how his counterpart came to become part of MECH. Become a pilot. A child soldier, as Ratchet had darkly said earlier on.

The brash, teenage part of him bristled at being called a child but seeing the part of the dream of where Senscript was essentially recruited into MECH without another choice as a kid- Ratchet was right. That part had to have been a memory, some parts had been a bit too vivid, and it made sense considering Senscript was Jack's age now and… Miko had been the same age when she first met Wheeljack years ago.

Child soldiers.

It's not something he expected to hear outside of fiction or even history, and even then, school education tended to gloss over that tidbit. Hell, he knows his maternal grandfather had joined the army underaged, but he'd been around- what, 17? 18? Barely at start of adulthood, just at the end of being a teenager.

But this… this was going even younger. Recruiting when they weren't even ten years old. How old had Jack been when they recruited him? Recruited Miko?

It made a sick feeling swirl in his stomach as he thought more into it, he doesn't know how his counterpart could deal with that. Could deal with his friends being forced into danger like that- he was already stressed whenever Miko jumped into something voluntarily and inevitably dragging him and Raf with her. He's both impressed and concerned for Tailbreaker, distractedly watching him explain their situation to Senscript.

Tailbreaker's mom was dead, his father probably was too, by the looks of things he didn't have any extended family. If some things stayed the same despite being in another world, his grandparents probably died when Tailbreaker was young which left him vulnerable. Recruited by MECH to become a pilot at a way, too early age. Killing aliens that were trying to invade his home planet, having watched probably thousands of people get killed by said aliens and now they were on another planet entirely.

MECH didn't seem to personally care that three of their pilots were gone- only that their investments were wasted and their mechas and precious prototype were missing. Did anyone even miss Tailbreaker back on earth? Or were the only ones who would miss him by his side or dead?

Jack jolted in place when he felt a small hand grasp his elbow, he looked to his side to see Raf giving him a concerned look. "Jack? You okay?" He asked quietly, grasping his sleeve in a tight, yet grounding and comforting way. It's not that funny, but it was the other way around just a few minutes ago.

Dammit.

The eldest teen took in a deep breath, held it in until his chest began to ache a bit before letting go. Giving his friend a reassuring smile, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Just— overthinking… things."

Overthinking of how Tailbreaker was probably feeling, how stressed he was underneath that calm demeanor and how much he missed his mom. Because that's what Jack would probably feel.

[ "… That explains some of the files I managed to decode." Was Senscript's response after the explanation. Surprising the three pilots as he sat up with a loud groan, Tailbreaker was quick to help him up, making sure he was comfortable even.

"Files?" Tailbreaker asked in the meanwhile before it immediately clicked, "From the XT- no, the Quintesson Commander? You actually managed to get information and files from that thing's head?"

Senscript nodded, wincing at the motion but he spoke. "I did- live and field testing with the cortical psychic patch was a success." He even sounded a bit proud and smug over the fact.

"A success?" Wrecker repeated in disbelief, "Raf, you got knocked unconscious by that commander! You were connected to its brain and it messed you up! Thankfully Ratchet's scans said there wasn't any internal bleeding in your head, but clearly it knocked a screw or two loose in there!"

Senscript scowled at her, "I still succeeded in gaining information from the Quintessons- not all of the info is decoded. I'm not sure if I got everything from the commander's processors, I just need to clock into my me—" He was just about to get off the bed before a hand firmly stopped him.

"No." Tailbreaker interrupted sternly, "You need to rest, your senses are heightened, you're clearly not over clock out yet and you haven't even eaten anything. You've just had water."

The younger pilot reared back, "But the info—" I need to find him!

"Can wait." Tailbreaker interrupted again, rifling through a bag to get out a ration bar and offer it to him. "You know as much as I do how important taking care of our health is, Raf. Besides, we're going to need it." Senscript frowned but accepted the bar anyway, giving him a questioning look from underneath his shades. "We're meeting with the leaders of Cybertron in a few hours." ]

"Find who?" Miko groaned, even she was disapproving at the fact Senscript wanted to get back into his mecha- he looked like scrap! And even though she didn't know if being unconscious counted as rest, he still looked like he needed like, a nap! "Just who is it that Doc Shock wants Raf to find? And just what does he want with that info anyway?"

"No idea, but considering it's Shockwave? Nothing good." Bulkhead grunted, wary and concerned. "I'm just wondering why Raf's willing to do so much for Shockwave. Raf's smart, no matter the universe. He'd know that Shockwave ain't up to anything good."

Ratchet grunted, scowling down to his datapad. "Just because he's smart doesn't mean he won't be unaffected by the fact that Shockwave took him into his custody. I find that humans get emotionally attached to even the strangest of beings despite prior interactions being less than… optimistic." He muttered, tapping the screen a bit aggressively.

It took Jack a moment to think over his words before he snorted, something that Arcee noticed and quickly concluded the same thing herself. She smirked, aiming it at the medic, "You mean like how Miko, Jack and Raf are attached to you Ratchet, despite you being a grump?" She teased, barely able to stifle her laughter at the glare she got from said grump of a medic.

Arcee's smirk turned into a full on grin as Jack and his friends laughed and giggled, Bulkhead and Bumblebee trying not to laugh and earn the ire of the medic, even Optimus looked visibly amused. Aiming a look at the medic that had him wordlessly spluttering.

Still, Jack's laugh didn't last long as he thought about what Ratchet said because he had a point. Senscript was young, even if he was smart, he'd get attached to Shockwave one way or another. Especially if Shockwave was smart enough, which he probably was, to treat him decently enough to form those attachments. And telling how Senscript was willing to get back into the mech so soon, by his determination to find this mysterious 'him' for the scientist- he'd succeeded.

Jack could only hope that either Senscript would break that attachment now that he was away from Shockwave, or that Shockwave was better as a human than a mech. Better than the terrifying mech the bots made his counterpart to be. Humans were rarely completely emotionless after all, Shockwave had to think Senscript was more than just a means to an end right?

…

[ Senscript gave a thoughtful noise, "Optimus Prime and Lord Megatron right?"

"Yea-P!" Wrecker confirmed, exaggerating the last letter with a slight pop. "Wheeljack's been telling us all about them while you were down, apparently 'Prime' is like, an old and religious title- think Pope but for space alien robots."

Wheeljack nodded, "Yeah, and technically it's Lord High Protector Megatron- but that's a mouthful so Lord Megatron or Lord Protector is usually more common. Prime looks over the Autobots and civilian matters of Cybertron while Lord Protector goes over the Decepticon and military but when it comes to Neutrals or outsiders like us, they handle it together. Same with real important stuff, like the Quintessons. 'Course, they also prod into each other's domains on some occasion, usually when they have to but yeah."

The youngest pilot frowned, "Is there a difference between Autobots and Decepticons?"

Wheeljack paused, "… They're factions, used to be at war with each other before the Quintessons."

The three MECH pilots shared a look. "They were at war with each other?" Wrecker repeated with a frown, "So like, when the Quintessons came they set aside their differences and worked together? It's not that farfetched, back home, tons of countries worked together…"

"The enemy of my enemy is an ally." Tailbreaker muttered, making Wheeljack nod. "Better to stand together than fight each other and another enemy who clearly wants you both dead." ]

"It's a military title." Arcee murmured, a pinched, uncomfortable look on her face. "I don't think I'm comfortable with Megatron leading the military but honestly, it fits the fragger."

Bulkhead grunted in agreement, hard-eyed and scowling. "Can't exactly imagine him doing anything else." He admitted, trying to imagine the tyrant in any other position other than leading a military- so used to seeing the silver mech in combat or leading decepticon soldiers that trying to think of him doing otherwise was genuinely baffling.

"Is the title 'Prime' actually a religious one? I thought it meant you'd be leading the whole of Cybertron if it weren't for the Decepticons." Jack asked in a curious tone, looking over to the one who bore said title. Both Miko and Raf were similarly curious. Curious enough that they temporarily paused the viewing, Raf calling it out this time, since it was clear the explanation was going to take a while.

Optimus hummed, approving over the human's want to learn more about Cybertron and its culture and history. "Somewhat. In the beginning, there were religious connections to the title of 'Prime', stemming back to the first Thirteen Primes, however over time- the role of Prime became more of a political leadership title presiding over Cybertron. Even after the main artifact that bestowed the title of 'Prime', was temporarily lost."

Miko tilted her head, "Main artifact? What's that? What gave bots the title?" From the sounds of things, Jack had thought that maybe they had voted in Primes like presidents or maybe it was a bloodline thing like old royalty. But if it was an artifact that gave cybertronians the title of Prime…

"The Matrix of Leadership." Optimus told them with a quiet tone that held weight to it. The very name of it seemed to charge the air, the Autobots nodding with him in pride with a type of awe. Matrix of Leadership, that certainly sounded important. Also, it was in the very name itself- Leadership. No wonder they'd use it to decide who was in charge.

But… didn't Optimus say it was temporarily lost though? What had happened?

Before Jack could even ask that, Miko surprisingly came in with a question of her own. "Matrix- didn't Megatron mention that earlier on?" She questioned, freezing the atmosphere as she continued. "Something, something… relying on it, or something?"

The antenna-like dials on Optimus' head flicked, something flashed over Optimus' face before he was back to normal. His eyes though… they were a bit dimmer than before. Miko frowned before looking thoughtful again, "Hey wait, does that mean you have the Matrix of Leadership? I mean, you're Optimus Prime after all."

Strangely, Optimus didn't reply, it was Ratchet who did instead. "Indeed, Optimus bears the Matrix of Leadership, although beforehand- he was also nominated as Prime by council vote." Ratchet told her with a stiff nod. "At the time though, he was not known as Optimus Prime, but instead; Orion Pax."

All three humans blinked, "Orion Pax." Raf echoed, clearly thinking of the actor who played Optimus Prime in the previous world. "Like Orion Nox?"

"It was a surprise, to say the least, to see the mech and hear his designation." Ratchet said, relaxing a bit with a small chuckle. Nudging Optimus whose eyes glowed a bit brighter, a small smile appearing on his face. "It seems that Orion Nox will share Jackson Darby's predicament in sharing a similar names to the roles they play should they decide to… reveal Optimus' origins. If it is the same."

Jack snorted, a small grin on his face as he remembered the exasperation his counterpart had at the fact he was sharing a name with a fictional character… with him. He wasn't a fictional character here but- well, yeah. Just what were the chances, huh?

( The Decepticons within the room wondered just why the viewing was paused, annoyed by the lack of control they had over the Observer and its shown contents. Still, they took the time to review what they'd seen so far, spanning from the first world to the current.

Though soon enough, there were a few snide comments being exchanged between an irate seeker and a sly arachnoid, a vain medic and his usually lax conjunx watched with tense silence until the medic finally chimed in with a barbed comment of his own, aimed at the femme who grinned sharply at him and his conjunx.

Although before she could retort, the door opened to reveal their warlord leader who had left earlier on without a word, followed closely by his ever silent third in command and communicators officer. Effectively silencing the brewing argument that would've started within the room.

The warlord scowled at the platitudes and simpering at his return, ceasing them as soon as possible in favor of having his third in command continue his duties and to take note of the definition of 'Lord High Protector'.

The title hadn't been fully explained, there was clearly more to it than just control over the military and his own faction. Just like there was clearly more to it to him and the alternate version of his nemesis… not that he would bring it to light. Nobody dared to do so, though it was no doubt still at the forefront of their processors.

That intimate moment… The warlord firmly ignored it.

Now was not the time, nor was any time if he had anything to say about it.

A part of him dreaded for what was to come, for what would be shown. However the potential knowledge that would come would have to be worth it.

It had to be.

Yet a small part of him, a part he had thought he had killed long ago, was hungry and yearning. )

[ "Yep, and for factions that were at war with each other- they're doing pretty damn well working together 'gainst the Quints." Wheeljack said, leaning back against the couch.

Senscript frowned, "Do they know why the Quintessons are attacking them? We still don't know why they're attacking Earth of all places."

"Wouldn't you know now though? You were the one who was in that commander's head." Wrecker pointed out though was surprised when Senscript waved her assumption away with an irritated sigh.

"You really think I'd know everything in that thing's head? I still haven't decoded and decrypted what I managed to get before it booted me out! What happened to it anyway?"

He took another sip of water while Tailbreaker grunted out a reply, "Dead. It landed first on Cybertron after that portal-" "Spacebridge." Both Wheeljack and Senscript corrected, though Wheeljack sent Senscript a look of surprise but nodded in understanding when Senscript pointed at his head and mouthed 'cortical patch link'. "Spacebridge, right, thanks- kidnapped us and took us to an entirely new location. Miko… ended up landing on it, crushed its head."

Wrecker gave a disgusted noise, groaning to herself, "Pretty sure most of it was scraped off while running around for safety but I think some of its brains is still in the crevices of my mecha's foot. That's going to be a nightmare to get without the clean-up crew, ugh." She looked over to the still somewhat dirty mechas that were in the room, her own was outside to conserve some space.

"Don't worry girl, I gotcha." Wheeljack soothed, grinning widely with a glint of wickedness. "Considering I've been stuck here on my own fighting the Quints with the bots and cons- you didn't think I wouldn't come up with something for cleaning Quint guts did you?"

Wrecker cheered from where she sat, "Wheeljack, you're a fucking saint!" ]

"Oh, ew, I didn't think about how gross it would be to clean up Quintesson guts." Miko said with a similarly disgusted look on her face.

"Piloting a mecha and fighting aliens is cool and all, but of course we gotta deal with the aftermath." Jack laughed, amused by Miko's disgust. Which he did share, but he was just glad that he wasn't a pilot- not only for the very obvious red signs of child soldier, fighting aliens, life in constant danger in the suit; but also the little things like that.

The most he's had to clean up was cleaning up messes from work, which could be pretty gross depending on what happened but cleaning up the blood and guts of an alien off a giant mecha suit? No thanks!

"At the very least, you guys can get out and clean the suits- but us cybertronians, we gotta deal with stuff like that ourselves." Arcee pointed out both amused yet dismayed. All three humans cringed, imagining having to clean up something that bad on their own bodies- it was bad enough as flesh and blood but seeing the seams and corners, nooks and crannies on the bots, Jack shuddered.

Bee beeped something, whatever it was, Raf gave Bee a look of pity and sympathy. "Aw, that's awful Bee. Um, I know Cybertronian baths are different and all, but would a carwash be nice? I know a good one that you and the other bots might enjoy."

The Autobots perked and Miko sat up, "Oh! Oh! Is it the one to the west of Jaspers? I know that place!" She tilted her head, looking over the bots. "It's been like, how many years since you guys were on Earth? Have you been in a carwash?"

"A few times, bit hard to get in though considering we don't have drivers." Bulkhead sighed, somewhat disappointed. "Or money to use them. Fowler sometimes helps actually, but not often."

Miko frowned before letting out a thoughtful hum, "Well, we should check it out at some point! You're looking a bit dusty anyway Bulk!"

The heavy mech looked over himself, "Am I really?"

( A medic who liked looking his best shuddered, "I am so glad the Nemesis has decent washracks, it can't compare to a high-end oil bath and spa but it's certainly good enough. I can't imagine what primitive way those Autobots are doing to stay clean- they don't even buffer themselves regularly!" He groaned to his conjunx who gave him an amused and exasperated look for his dramatics.

Although he wasn't as colorful as his medical comrade, a seeker couldn't help but nod in agreement. Grimacing over the thought of the washing stations that Earth had for their vehicles. Although some did look rather… compelling to try- not that he ever would. )

[ Wheeljack gave her a smug look before it changed into a thoughtful one, "Say kid, you got any info on the Apex Armor? That thing you guys found? I haven't seen Mags or the others be this jittery since the attack on Caminus- a cybertronian colony nearby."

Senscript huffed at being called a kid but paused, "A bit? It was something I was reading on before that commander screwed me over… There might be more data in my mecha that I'll need to look into, but basically it's some powerful ancient weapon kind of deal. It was the priority of the commander to excavate it from Earth and take it back to… Quintessa?"

"Quintessa… that's a two-fold name, it's the Quintesson's home planet and the name of their head honcho. The big bad empress herself; Quintessa." Wheeljack explained, a shadowy slim figure appearing behind him with multiple glowing green eyes and lines as well as numerous tentacles coming from the shadows.

"Quintessa?" Wrecker repeated with her nose scrunching in distaste and confusion, "What is up with these names? Quintessons, Quintessa- what's next? Quinteflons or something?" She and Wheeljack shared a snicker, grinning widely.

Tailbreaker looked over to Wheeljack, "You didn't answer Raf's question, why are the Quintessons attacking Earth? Or Cybertron for that matter?"

The amusement fell from Wheeljack's face and he sighed, "Nothing much different from when a country invades on our planet kid; power, resources, maybe even something religious. I think it's all three for Cybertron, I think ours was just caught in the crossfire since the Apex Armor was on it- or maybe it's just another world to conquer for them. Who knows, any attempts for negotiations or deals were pretty much ignored."

Wheeljack's voice continued as the scene changed to Optimus and Megatron walking down the halls of a medical facility, led by Ratchet.

"Peace ain't an option for the Quintessons, and whatever they want, they're determined to get." ]

"Quintessa…" Optimus murmured, looking deep in thought. Ratchet gave him a look and the Prime shook his head, focusing back on the screen and Jack wondered what he'd been thinking about.

Miko snickered to herself, "Quinteflon." She laughed with Wheeljack and her other, sharing a grin with Bulkhead who found it just as funny. "You gotta admit, the naming sucks."

"Doesn't matter if the names suck, they're still a threat to Earth." Jack pointed out, making her pout.

"And we're back to Optimus and Megatron." Arcee muttered, glancing between the two on the screen with a pointed frown. Well, at the very least, they weren't being… intimate on screen again. And Ratchet was there, so things were bound to stay professional.

Bee tilted his head, beeping something and pointing to the screen. "Bee says they're in a medical facility in Helex. He recognizes the halls." Raf translated to both Jack and Miko. "Guess this is where Alpha Trion is staying."

( "The names are rather… lacking, I would've thought of something more impressive from the ones trying to invade and take over our planet."

The racing medic flinched in surprise when his leader let out a dark chuckle, "You would think so… until one remembers that one of the Thirteen was named Quintus Prime." His subordinates straightened in shock, finally remembering one of the venerated Primes of old.

"Are you suggesting that there is a connection between Quintus Prime, the Quintessons and this Quintessa character?" The seeker questioned before pausing, realizing quite quickly the point his leader was trying to make.

A single-optic'd mech grunted, "I mean, when you say it all together like that… All three of them start with Quint- it'd be one slag of a coincidence if they weren't at least connected to each other somewhat."

"Once is happenstance, twice a coincidence, thrice and it's a pattern." A femme commented, intrigued by the connections they were finding.

"Although this is the first time I've heard of Quintessa, the fact that there is so little information about the Quintessons among our history is suspicious." Their warlord of a leader murmured quietly, it was something that he'd been thinking of the moment it was confirmed what they were facing were Quintessons on screen in that world. "Either way, the names do not matter. What matters more, is the information this might bring." )

[ "Bringing him online from stasis is going to put risks and setbacks on his state." Ratchet mentioned as the three mechs headed down the halls of Helex's medical facility. "The more time he's awake, the more the virus eats at his processor and frame- not to mention the chance it might majorly mutate again. We can only modify your formula so much in so little time to combat whatever new symptoms and effects it'll create." He mentions, glancing over to Megatron.

Both Optimus and Megatron looked grim, "As much as it pains me to do so, we need answers, Ratchet. Answers that must be given as soon as possible."

"Has there been cases of the virus mutating again? I've not heard anything from the researchers so I can only assume either no, or that my current formula stands well enough against it." Megatron said, dermas pressed thinly but there was a glint in his optics- something akin to slight pride.

Ratchet nodded, "So far there were only a few small mutations, nothing the researchers couldn't handle. The current formula is formidable I'll give you that." He scoffed, a small rueful, heavy smirk on his faceplate as they stopped before a set of doors. "To think, the same cure of the plague you manufactured is the basis to the vaccine and possible cure for the biological nightmare that is the Quintesson's plague. I don't think I'd ever say this in any other situation, but I'm glad we didn't kill you when we had the chance." He half-joked, not even wincing when it fell flat.

Megatron briefly looked torn, between regret and pride before he shook his helm. "So am I." He replied softly, Optimus said nothing, but merely brushed a servo against Megatron's.

Ratchet vented before reaching over the servoscanner and numberlock to open the thick, medical doors, revealing a large room filled with medical stasis pods of several sizes. There were two attendees, checking over the pods, "Come back later." Ratchet instructed strictly to the femme and mech attendees who wordlessly nodded and left as swiftly as possible. ]

"Alpha Trion is truly alive… but in need of severe medical care." Optimus said quietly, looking gravely at screen while he listened to his, Ratchet and Megatron's Mecha selves talk.

Ratchet frowned, "A virus, one that consumes a mech's processor and frame when they're awake? Almost sounds like cybonic plague…" Not so soon after he said it, his other mentions cybonic plague and the whole team shuddered and glared at the screen. "It is like the cybonic plague, only we've traded one madmech who created for an alien species that managed to tweak it so that the cure to said plague doesn't seem to fully work." The medic theorized with a gripe, scowling darkly.

"Wow Ratchet…" Jack muttered underneath his breath at the flat half-joke that didn't really land right, not that either versions of the medic seemed to have any regrets about it. If anything, Ratchet, his Ratchet, looked a little vindictive over it.

Bulkhead snorted, "Never thought I'd hear Ratchet say that to mean ol' buckethead but there he did. Nice one Ratch."

"Don't call me that." Despite the slight reprimand, Ratchet smirked then frowned at Megatron's torn look before he scoffed. Muttering something quiet enough that Jack couldn't hear.

( "Hm, seems like the formula I created can cure more than just the cybonic plague. How fortunate of the Autobots." A warlord smirked, though he was less than pleased by the lack of a retort from his other to the medic. Not even a barbed quip, his other self has truly fallen from grace. Which wouldn't have been that bad considering it was a necessity- the eldest MECH pilot had been correct after all, 'the enemy of my enemy is an ally'. And yet, he shouldn't have let himself be insulted by that paltry half-joke.

A vain medic leaned closer to a seeker, "Did the Big M really manufacture the cybonic plague all by himself? I heard rumors, but I was stationed in sectors away from that whole mess, thank Primus." He asked in hushed tones.

The seeker withheld a snort, "No, although I will give credit in his creativity and the fact he led the project himself- our Lord is a more of a combat mech than a science one… He had Shockwave and a few other scientists assist him, however he managed to create and then hoard the cure's formula all to himself. So that is still quite impressive." He begrudgingly replied, reluctant to praise the warlord any more than he had to. Especially when it came to science. )

[ The three mechs approved a certain large stasis pod laying horizontally on a berth, the glass was completely white, covered in frost. All their vents were accompanied with small puffs of visible fog, their internal heating systems activating from how cold the room was.

Ratchet moved to the pod's control panel, activating it to show the vital signs and a generic picture of Alpha Trion on screen. "Alright, I'm deactivating the pod's cryo-stasis inducer and slowly bringing him online." He slid his digits across the screen, and the pod slowly tilted, the berth adjusting to let the leaders see and comfortably talk with the old mech.

The glass slowly cleared, revealing the sorry state of the ancient mech within. His frame was pale, the color seeping into either grey or a sickly dark green, rust and dark green decay ate at his plates and cables. Some parts of his frame looked caved in, while some looked bulbous, the metal rounding unnaturally as if something underneath was growing and was about to pop. The metallic plates that resembled a beard had been corroded and was far shorter than it should be compared to the picture on the pod's control panel. He was missing an arm, and as he slowly opened his optics, one of his optic was dark and covered in a thin disgustingly dark green film, signaling that he only had one working optic left.

"… O—rion…?" The old mech rasped, his voice glitching rightly. Single optic looking at Optimus through the glass of the stasis pod. ]

Everyone (both on base and on a certain warship) lurched backward on instinct, making various noises of disgust and horror. Jack withholding the urge to gag, wanting to look away but strangely, and morbidly, he couldn't.

"Sweet merciful Primus." Ratchet whispered, reeling at the state the old cybertronian was in. It was far worse than the cybonic plague! At least the infected energon only caused rust and internal decay, not… not whatever this was! "Frame contortion, plate-warping, extreme rust and decay, energon and protoform discoloration—"

The medic stopped as Bumblebee nudged him with a low whirring noise, realizing he'd been trying to analyze the visible symptoms out loud which was distressing the Autobots- Optimus especially. The Prime looked devastated at the sight of his mentor and friend's state on screen. "Alpha Trion… Oh, what happened to you?" He whispered with overwhelming grief and immediately the medic was by his side, a firm hand on the Autobot leader's shoulder.

Jack hasn't seen Optimus this openly emotional before, the times that Optimus seemed to be like that were rare but Jack just wished it was a happier time instead of… this.

"… The Quintessons did that?" Arcee whispered, shuddering to herself with wide, fearful optics. "That is so much worse than the Cybonic plague. Primus."

Bulkhead gritted his dentae, trying to smile reassuringly at Miko's worried look but failing. "Frag… Ok, yeah, Ratchet was right. If- scrap, if buckethead's cure managed to uh, stop that. Great, good, glad they didn't kill him when they had the chance." He tried to joke, but just like the joke he'd been trying to repeat, it fell flat.

Optimus actually flinched when Alpha Trion said Optimus' old name, Jack watched with concern as the Prime's face went through several emotions before becoming a stone wall. Indecipherable, stoic, his eyes were dimmed. "Optimus?" Ratchet whispered quietly and the Prime shook his head, taking in a deep vent, resolutely looking at the screen with a concerning calm look.

Jack couldn't help but think that something was wrong.

( A medic let out a terrified and disgusted shout, throwing himself into his conjunx's side to bury his faceplate in the mech's chassis. Not wanting to see the horrific sight that offended his vain sensibilities, "Fragging Primus! Keep that thing away from me!" The medic wailed, muffled by his lover's plating. "I actually prefer the Cybonic Plague than THAT!"

His big lover made a disgusted noise but comforted his smaller conjunx to the best of his abilities. "There, there Knock Out- it's in another universe. Your frame's fine, you wont end up like that old guy." He soothed, sharing the medic's relief at the fact they were merely watching this and that this wasn't happening at all in their universe. Biological warfare had been horrendous here, but at least it didn't last that long considering the risks it had in infecting their own ranks.

"That is horrendous." A seeker gagged, and for once, a femme arachnoid voiced her own agreement and distaste to the sickness being shown.

Even their warlord leader had a look revulsion on his faceplate, yet his optics were slightly calculating. "It's somewhat similar to my Cybonic Plague, or at least, it was in the beginning if my cure was able to fight off its effects. The Autobot doctor had mentioned that its capable of mutating as well… what a terrifying plague that not even I would have considered creating." By his side, a faceless mech nodded in agreement.

"To think that Alpha Trion has managed to survive till now… although, I do not see his survival as a thing of triumph. At this point, it'd be more merciful to finally put him to eternal rest rather than let him suffer this indignity." He continued, a rare moment of pity shown for an Autobot, for the old Head Archivist at that… Though his faceplate twinges and optics harden when he hears the name the sick mech says, dentae gritting hard at the name. )

[ Optimus twitched, but spoke softly to the ailing mech. "… It's Optimus, old friend. Do you remember me?" He looked on with sad, yet desperate hope that he did. He sighed in relief when the old mech nodded after a moment.

"Ah, right… Right, you're a Prime, now… As you… should be, yes. Yes… My apologies. My memory— isn't what it once was." Alpha Trion rasped, his single optic slowly glancing around. "I am… still sick? No, I was- I was infected. There is a plague going on. You must- You must be careful, Orion. The Quintessons, they're poisoning us. Infe-infecting us with, with horrible viruses."

Optimus' relief turned into slight grief, "I know. They did. It's alright now Alpha Trion, the plague is over. Majority of our people are safe now."

Alpha Trion let out a small, incomprehensible murmur, but he seemed happy to hear those words.

Megatron stood slightly to the side with Ratchet, "More of his memory is missing, he's forgotten the plague's over. And he's calling Optimus, Orion, again. " He murmured to the doctor who had a pinched expression on his faceplate.

"He was one of the first victims of the Quintesson plague, he carried the other infected into safety and insisted on everyone else be treated first." Ratchet replied quietly with a sigh, "It's a miracle he's still functioning as he is now… And with how far gone he is, and how old his frame is, I doubt we'll be able to cure him. The only thing we can do, is ensure he sleeps comfortably until the very end."

Optimus lets his grief linger before his optics dimmed and his expression turned calm. "My friend, I'm sorry to wake you from your peace but this is urgent. Important. You need to remember, to tell us. Why did you let Rung steal from the Archive's Vaults?"

Immediately, Alpha Trion's sparkrate spiked, the slow and steady beeps from his vitals grew fast as the mech jolted slightly in the pod. His sole servo pressed against the glass of his pod weakly, smearing green sludge that leaked from the seams of his digits. "Rung? Rung? Is he here? Is he back? Rung?" ]

"God, at least when Optimus had Cybonic Plague, he remembered us all. And could mostly see?" Jack couldn't help but mutter, wincing at how horrible Alpha Trion's memory seemed to be. Calling Optimus his old name again, going on about how there was a plague around- he didn't seem to register both Megatron or Ratchet were there with Optimus.

"He should've let himself get treated." Arcee murmured, but nodded with apparent respect at the old bot's actions. Saving other infected people first? Guy was a hero, a good person. Jack hated seeing good people like Alpha Trion end up like this. Didn't feel right.

And there it happened again, Optimus' eyes dimming and him just becoming totally calm out of nowhere. Jack also noticed the concerned looks that Mecha Megatron shared with Ratchet- never thought he'd see that happen. But it happened to Optimus there just like here, he looked over to the Prime whose face was still calm, but his optics were glowing a bit brighter again and he was frowning.

He and the others jolted when Alpha Trion suddenly became way more active- the way the slow and steady beeping suddenly skyrocketed, the way he moved his hand against the glass of the pod and smearing something against it. "That- is that- what is that?" Raf asked shakily, really not liking the sludge that was staining the glass.

"Infected energon?" Miko guessed haphazardly with a scrunched up nose of disgust, "It's coming out of his hands…"

"And from between the seams too, ough." Bulkhead added with a wince and a shake of his head.

Bumblebee whirred something, pointing to the screen with some distress but it sounded like a question. Ratchet shook his head, "My counterpart has a point, although I don't have all the information, it is unlikely that Alpha Trion would make any type of recovery. It is either to let him stay in medical stasis until the end or…" The medic trailed off and Jack, being the son of a nurse, who has spent his fair share of time in the wards of a hospital, immediately got it and he grimaced.

It was either keep him in a coma until he died, or pull the plug on him and put an end to his misery. Neither were great options, not for a hero like him and Jack wished there was a true cure for the old guy. A way for him to recover, but it didn't seem like it.

"Just what happened between him and Rung?" Miko grumbled, frustrated but intrigued by the connection to this random guy they just met in another dimension. That Rung had been cryptic; he had his own Observer and was clearly more experienced with it.

This world's Rung was apparently a psychiatrist and a thief.

It made Jack wonder if their world had a Rung too, and what he was doing right now… Problem was, none of the bots knew him. In fact, they seemed to have trouble consistently remembering him too.

( Tensions spiked slightly when the warlord let out a disgruntled growl at the ancient mech on screen, displeased by the use of an old name he'd rather not remember. He'd tolerated it in the last world because the mech using said name wasn't exactly the same to the archivist he remembers and knows, same with the mech. But now? He aimed a glare at the mech, only abating when curiosity overtook his annoyance.

A medic who cared a lot about his vanity cringed and squeezed himself tighter into his lover's hold, "Of course it leaks between the seams. Ghastly." The medic practically whined, though there was a genuine sliver of fear that had his larger love holding him protectively, as if to shield him from the plague countless of worlds away.

"The old mech's processors are faltering." His current femme colleague noted, "Getting straight answers from him will be difficult." She correctly predicted, something a seeker and a silent mech nodded in agreement to. )

[ "He's not here. He's missing, Alpha Trion." Optimus said, quickly recovering from his recoil of shock. "He visited you before Iacon fell, what did you speak about? Why did you let him steal from the Vaults? Who is Rung?" He questioned firmly, hoping to find a legible answer from the mech before something bad happened.

"Rung is… Rung is…" Alpha Trion leaned back against his stasis pod, servo splatting against his side, still leaking sluggishly. "Primus… He needed them. Needed to e-ensure that, the Quintessons… didn't get the relics. To secure… our future. I… forgot him, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I forgot you… Primus, Rung, I'm sorry- I should have done better. We should have- sorry, so sorry." Liquid gathered at his optics, tainted and faint from actual lubricant tears but enough gathered as a droplet of green mixed with pale silvery blue slid across his faceplate.

All three mechs' optics widened at the sight, Optimus was especially speechless, having never seen his mentor and old friend cry before. "Alpha Trion? Alpha Trion." He heard an erratic beeping come from the control panel, the medic was immediately at the helm, pressing frantically against the screen. "Ratchet?!"

"His sparkrate isn't returning to normal! The virus is accelerating throughout his frame- I need to put him into stasis again!"

Megatron's servos clenched uncertainly, "He hasn't even properly answered any of the questions."

"Tough! He can't at the moment and probably never will if you keep trying at this rate!" Ratchet snapped back, sliding his servos across the panel, "Activating cryo-stasis inducer, I'm putting him back under again."

Optimus looked distressed but he noticed Alpha Trion speaking as the pod hissed out more cold air. "Rung… needed to know the future… He wanted- to change it. He could change it. So I… helped him… Gave him what he needed… Gave him more… I— am sorry Optimus. I gave him… the key… didn't get… destroyed, needed it to save… us…" The glass fogged over, turning completely white as the mech was once again within deep cryo-enforced stasis.

A flash of Alpha Trion, healthier, gave a slight bow and nod to the Prime. "Optimus- no, My Prime. I would like to borrow the key to Vector Sigma. I have a few things I need to attend to there, I will return it when I am done."

Optimus smiled in the memory only for another memory to flash forward, Alpha Trion, still healthy yet injured, gave the Prime a guilty and solemn look. "I'm sorry Optimus, the key was within my office when the bombs fell. It must have been destroyed by now." The red and blue mech's finials flicked low, a look of stunned horror on his faceplate.

Optimus reeled back, bumping into Megatron who gave him a worried look. "Optimus?"

"The key to Vector Sigma wasn't destroyed?" Optimus suddenly whispered, optics practically pinpricks. ]

One question answered, several hundred more just cropped up. Jack's pretty sure that's just what happened, but another thing that's happened is that Optimus was suddenly standing up. His eyes just as wide in the screen, those antenna- uh, finials Jack thinks they're called? They've twitched low, the tips practically touching Optimus' shoulders. It makes him look… frightened, in a way.

But he wasn't afraid, no, not really. Spooked is what Jack would call it, and very, very concerned. Same thing for all the bots as well, Ratchet especially. "The key to Vector Sigma?!" The medic repeated, spluttering and nearly dropping the datapad in his hands.

Jack hears Raf call for another 'pause!', the screen freezing at the scene of a shaken Optimus Prime, being supported by a concerned Megatron with Ratchet coming over, looking just as concerned. It was probably the right call considering this might be another long explanation, Jack could already tell.

"What's the key to Vector Sigma?" Miko called out in question, glancing between the squirming, worried Autobots. "What's Vector Sigma anyway?"

"That's…" Arcee hesitated, a complicated look on her face before looking over to Optimus and Ratchet. Optimus took in a breath, or vent, visibly recomposing himself. Jack was almost relieved for some reason, instead of whatever was happening earlier- with Optimus suddenly becoming calm but with eyes just, dim, Optimus was gathering himself again.

"Vector Sigma is an ancient, mystical mainframe and power source on Cybertron. It contains a power and knowledge similar to the Matrix, it is said that should anything happen to the Matrix; Vector Sigma is the most likely solution to whatever has happened." Optimus explained almost reluctantly, quietly, a serious and thoughtful look on his face. "However, Vector Sigma is also hidden and locked away. The only way to find it and access it, is with the key of Vector Sigma. That of which there is only one in existence."

Ratchet nodded, looking just as solemn. "And Optimus is the only one to have it, as he is the Prime and wielder of the Matrix of Leadership. And only those he deems trustworthy enough, can even use it as it has a unique bio-lock that will only work for Optimus himself, and whoever he entrusts the key to."

"So when Optimus, other Optimus, handed over the key to Alpha Trion…" Jack started wearily, looking over to them with a complicated expression. "And the guy said, well he lied, but he said that the key was destroyed? What would've been like, the result?"

Both older mechs grimaced, "It would have been catastrophic news to say the least." Ratchet informed, pressing his fingers against his face. "Vector Sigma is connected to the core of Cybertron, to Primus' very spark or so it is said."

"It is how I earned the Matrix of Leadership, along with Alpha Trion's assistance." Optimus revealed, Jack, Miko and Raf leaning in from their seats on the couch as the Prime continued. "When Cybertron was dying, Alpha Trion instructed me to venture towards the core of Cybertron. He gave me the key to Vector Sigma, and with that, I was able to find Vector Sigma and use it to navigate my way to the core, where I was bestowed the Matrix of Leadership from the heart of Cybertron."

Bumblebee whirred something a bit excitedly, making Raf let out a faint 'woah' of awe. "From Primus himself?"

"Wicked." Miko breathed with a nod and an impressed grin.

Both of their awe was quickly dropped as Ratchet continued, "I cannot imagine the repercussions of what would happen if the key had actually been destroyed. And while it is fortunate that their key is intact, the fact that Alpha Trion had tricked Optimus into thinking it was destroyed is…"

"Pretty messed up?" Raf offered tentatively.

Arcee snorted, "I think it's an understatement but essentially, I guess. Might've caused a panic to those that knew. Question is, or well, one of them is that why? Why lie about the destruction of the key? Why give the key to Rung?"

"Didn't you hear, it was to save our people or something." Bulkhead pointed out but he didn't seem too sure, he sounded disgruntled actually. "The real questions are like, what did Alpha Trion mean in 'see the future', 'change the future' and what was Rung's plan to save us? From what? The Quintessons? Whatever plan he did, didn't seem to turn out alright considering he's uh, not around." All really valid questions from both Arcee and Bulkhead.

Rung was dead, he took artifacts from the bot's important vaults as well as this legendary key to a mystical, legendary place and he died. Somewhere, out there, without a solid explanation of what happened or what even his plan on 'saving everyone' was.

Optimus sighed, "While I cannot answer the other questions, I suspect that Alpha Trion's words of 'showing Rung the future' were quite literal. I had always suspected my mentor of being capable of glimpsing into the future of certain events. He always had so much knowledge and foresight on certain things and topics, it seemed preternatural." He explained and Jack stared at him as he revealed that maybe, his old friend and teacher could've seen the future. Was it just normal for bots to be able to see stuff they shouldn't?

Before the Observer, Jack would've taken the explanation with a grain of salt but considering they were peering into other universes using Cybertronian tech? He's more than willing to believe now. Actually… "Do you think the Observer came from him? Or that Alpha Trion used the Observers somehow?" He asked the question aloud because it would make sense.

They all looked over to him in surprise before falling into thought, "I mean, it'd make sense? Just like, look into another world where it's a bit more in the future. Or maybe the Observer have a future setting that we don't know about." Miko supported, looking more than excited at the prospect of seeing the future even though they were literally watching other worlds right now.

"It might? I wouldn't be surprised at this point." Bulkhead agreed, with Arcee and Bumblebee nodding with him.

Optimus however, didn't look very convinced. "Perhaps, however we cannot be too sure. I never recalled seeing Alpha Trion with this artifact whatsoever. My initial suspicion to him being able to peer into the future was through the use of another artifact called The Covenant of Primus. It is said the book was filled with prophecies and events written of the future, but encrypted and nearly illegible to the normal optics."

Ratchet nodded in agreement, siding with Optimus. "That old mech always did tote around a metal book with him. Rarely saw him without it."

"Huh, well, it still could mean these Observer came from Alpha Trion somehow? Just because he had the uh, Covenant of Primus? Doesn't mean he wouldn't also have the Observer." Raf said, it was a weak theory but it was one of the only ones they had at the moment besides from 'spontaneous dimensional travel' from the Observers themselves right into their base, which really was likely but it was good to have other options or theories because you never know.

Ratchet hummed, still not convinced but gave an indulgent nod to the youngest human. "It still wouldn't explain how the Observer got into our base without our notice, if the Observer had been from Alpha Trion, I imagine he would have sent it through the Vaults' emergency pods- where relics would be ejected from the Hall of Record Vaults and into space for safekeeping. Even if he somehow packed it into our inventory long before we left, we would've noticed much sooner than now." He briefly explained with Optimus giving his quiet agreement, and again, he had a point. "Remember, we found it in the middle of storage where it wasn't there before."

It looked like 'spontaneous dimensional travel' really was the only option as to how they got the Observer in the first place. It still left a lot of questions but it didn't seem like they would be getting answers to it any time soon.

Speaking of time…

Jack jolted as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, who was calling him? No wait, it wasn't a call, it was an alarm. "Hate to be the breaker of bad news, but guys, it's time to pack it up and head home." He mentioned aloud, reminding everyone of what time it was.

The bots checked the time -they had internal clocks or something- and nodded, "Time to get going I guess." Bulkhead seemed torn between relieved and disappointed, which Jack can't blame him. It's been one hell of a day.

"Aw, what? Has it been an hour already?" Miko groaned, obviously hating the thought of leaving. "Why don't we like- have a sleep over tonight, huh? We could call our parents- well, my host parents, Raf's parents and Jack's mom and ask to stay over at a friends house! Aka, here."

Raf was surprisingly the first to protest with a shake of his head, "Can't Miko, not tonight. I actually want to head home- tonight's one of those rare nights where all my family's together and… I want to spend time with them. Mom's making homemade tacos and salsa, I haven't had that in a while!" Raf exclaimed, smiling brightly.

It made Jack think back to the fact that Senscript didn't have any family in the Mecha world, that probably added into Raf wanting to eat with his family. He never took them for granted, but it was clear he wanted to cherish the moments he had with them.

And honestly, Jack can't blame him.

Jack wanted to head home and give his mom a hug.

Miko wilted with disappointment, "Darn…"

Jack huffed at her attitude but reached over to poke her, "Hey, tomorrow's a weekend and none of us have anything to do. We can continue watching tomorrow." This would hopefully give the bots plenty of time to just… process everything, god knows Jack was going to need it.

She continued pouting before perking as she thought of something, "Oh! Y'know what- yeah! Yeah! We'll continue watching tomorrow, all day! Which means, we gotta get snacks! Tons of it! Watching something is always better when you got something to munch on." She grinned, hopping to her feet.

"That sounds great actually, I could bring over leftovers from dinner- you guys will love my mom's cooking." Raf said, grinning widely while Jack chuckled.

He hadn't expected anything that weird or eventful today, but he should've known. Knowing the Autobots, hanging around them and his friends? Something bound to happen eventually, even if that something was looking into alternate universes.

At least the Autobots were just as flabbergasted about it as they were.

It didn't long for Raf to put the Observer into standby mode, the floating screens disappearing with the spherical object's faint lighting dimming to nonexistent- it couldn't actually turn off, according to Raf. Or if it could, Raf couldn't find how to turn it off with how jank and messed up the controls were at the moment. There was plenty of features to the Observers that they couldn't access from how internally damaged it was, and they didn't really know when the Observer would be completely fixed.

Ratchet stored the Observer in the corner of the main hanger, they were going to resume watching tomorrow, Optimus even willing to have everyone take the day off from patrols so they could do so. Jack… was a little concerned for the leader of the Autobots, he seemed tired but he did want to continue watching the Observers, or so he said anyway.

"Safe travels, Jack, Miko, Raf. And have a good night." Optimus said before they left, and as Jack climbed onto to Arcee, he faintly heard Optimus continue. "Ratchet, patch me in with Agent Fowler."

Ah right… Jack has to wonder what Agent Fowler was going to do with the new… cybertronian relic in Autobot hands. He probably wouldn't be happy at what was going on, definitely didn't help that they didn't exactly tell Agent Fowler the moment the Observer started showing them different worlds? They all got so caught up with watching, it just didn't occur to them they should probably be telling him about it.

Would Agent Fowler try to confiscate the Observer? Jack suddenly thought as he and Arcee drove out on the open road, underneath the night sky. Could he do that? He was an agent to the government and he'd imagine the government would be really interested in something like the Observer but… the Observer was technically the Autobot's property wasn't it? It was cybertronian of origins, even if it was currently tied to him, Miko and Raf.

Did that mean it belonged to them for now?

Just more questions he didn't think to ask until he was semi-alone with his thoughts, leaving Arcee to mostly drive as he was kind of distracted and a bit too much in his head. Which he really shouldn't do while driving but thankfully, he had an alien friend making sure he didn't crash from his inattentiveness.

Something she noticed.

"Dollar for your thoughts, Jack?" Arcee asked as they neared Jack's home in the Jasper's suburbs, snapping Jack out of his train of thought.

"Uh, I think it's suppose to be penny for your thoughts." Jack corrected with a slight smile.

Arcee snorted, "And here I thought your thoughts were worth more than that Jack, had to be if you were distracted the whole drive." She teased, slowing down as they reached his house. He could already see his mom's car in the driveway, the sight of it made a strange lump appear in his throat. "… Jack? You okay?"

Jack shook his head, "No- wait, I mean, yeah. Yeah, I'm good. I just… today's been a lot, hasn't it Arcee?" He questioned with a sigh, Arcee coming to a stop right at the driveway. He steadied them both with a leg, taking in a deep breath for a moment. "With the Observer, and the reveal of multiple worlds and just… It's been weird."

"Oh absolutely." Arcee agreed while Jack finally got off of her, taking off his helmet. "But not exactly a bad weird, even with uh, certain events happening. It's certainly made the day more interesting at least."

"Yeah." Jack chuckled with her, before looking at her- kind of wishing she was in her root mode so he could see her face. Even after all this time, it was a bit awkward to talk to a motorcycle. "What about you? You good Arcee?" There'd been multiple times during the viewing that he noticed her looking at him, especially during the Alien Mecha world, it happened usually when his counterpart spoke.

Unbeknownst to him, a part of her was still reeling at how adult Mecha Jack sounded so much like her old partner Tailgate.

Arcee was silent for a moment before her wheels moved her forward a bit, "I'm good Jack. Just… well, like you said, today's been a lot. Interesting for sure, but a lot. You have a nice night, Jack." Her holographic driver, Sadie, flickered to life. Intending to drive back to base, but she stopped. "You're going to tell June about the Observer?"

Right, his mom knew about the Autobots now and one of the conditions she had was that Jack had to tell her important things going on with the bots. Jack tried not to tell her about the really dangerous stuff though, like the cave-in, since that'd be too much and she'd probably freak out and forbid Jack from seeing the bots again. He hasn't even told her everything that happened yet. Maybe one day, when she couldn't exactly ground him or forbid him from seeing his friends.

This though…

"It couldn't hurt to tell her about it, could it? I forgot to ask Optimus if I could tell her though…" Jack hesitated, torn between wanting to tell her (because frankly, as weird as it was, it was still pretty cool) or not.

"Give me a moment, I can comm Optimus, see what he says." Arcee offers and Jack nods, waiting for a moment before Arcee repositioned her motorcycle alt to face Jack. "He says it's alright to tell her, he'll be telling Agent Fowler. With how those two stay in touch, she'd find out eventually, probably better you tell her now than later."

Jack made a face before nodding, "Alright, yeah. Good point." He reached over to pat Arcee's windshield. He had tried to pat Sadie the hologram before which ended up with him almost falling over. "Thanks Arcee, good night."

"Good night Jack."

Jack watched Arcee leave, heading inside while checking his phone as he turned around when he couldn't see her anymore. Already Miko was sending text after text about plans for tomorrow; she was going to bring as many snacks as she can. Raf sent a few texts as well, how he was home and an admittedly great picture of a feast on a table, those tacos did look good…

His stomach growled, surprising him before his mom's voice outright startled him. "Great timing Jack, I just finished dinner." His mom said from the doorway to the kitchen, holding a few plates in hand. She grinned, amused by his briefly offended look from being startled out of nowhere. "Come on, I wanna know what happened with the bots today."

Jack paused before a smile appeared on his face, "Let me help you with that mom."

Setting up the table was easy work, but it was his turn to surprise his mother when he ended up hugging her after the plates and food were set down. Unable to stop himself from reaching out for her. "Woah! Okay, we're hugging." June laughed, a bit confused and concerned but happily reciprocating. "What's the special occasion? You okay?" There was a bit more concern bleeding into her tone when she noticed him tighten his hug.

Jack thought about his other self, the pilot, the soldier, the young man who lost his mother at such a young age. He finally pulled back and gave her a lopsided smile, "I'm fine, really. But you won't believe what happened today, mom."

Tomorrow, he's going to continue watching his other self's life. See wonders or tragedies or whatever else the Observer had in store.

But tonight? He sits down for dinner with his mom, enjoying the little things.

Little did Jack know, this was only the prelude to something more.

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

WE GOT THE FIRST BATCH OF CHAPTERS OUUUT! next chapter isnt going to be a reaction chapter, but a much needed interlude! because remember, this happens at the end of the week for the kids so the next day is the weekend where they can react to so much more!

also we all need that interlude, we went through;

2 Chapters of Shattered Glass 3 Chapters of Show Actor Au 5 Chapters of Alien Mecha Au

with each chapter gradually growing in word count.

that is ten chapters of reactions almost nonstop, in the span of several hours for the bots, cons and kids. they need a break and to process. and so do i. thank you SO MUCH for the support and the reads. im so glad you guys are enjoying it and i hope youll continue to enjoy it!

disappointed that there's no con pov in the ending chapter? dont worry, we'll be getting to them in the next chapter. also sorry it took a while, i got sick and stuff happened but the show goes on. next chapter will hopefully take sooner but no promises.

anyway, see yall next time!

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Chapter 8 of TFP: Universal Observations is up on Ao3!

while i do feel bad that ao3 is lagging behind, i also enjoy having an extra chapter or two waiting in the wings hehe

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"Model Orion Pax" -Part 3-

SO SORRY about the wait everyone!! Studies, summer and life has kept me busy, but it’s finally here! As an apology, I tried to make the cover prettier and longer this edition of the comic!! Anyways hope you enjoy :D!! ( @nonsscrapheap Hi!! I know you’ve been waiting an update for a while so I wanted to tag you in it!! This is my thank you gift for the amazing chapters of the Universal Observations story as well!!)

Haha I left you all with a cliffhanger LOL!

Since we’re only missing Ratchet I thought it would be a good opportunity to start seeing the ‘Cons reactions now! So be prepared for that in the next update hehe 😈

Anyways thanks for reading :D!!

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another quick late night rung while im still here

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A Ship Called "Home"

Hi :)

This wasn't really the first fic I expected to go public but it would make sense the long run. Would like to thank @delicioustarong and @nonsscrapheap for fueling the brainrot, couldn't have made it this far without them.

Now despite this being relatively short It's going to contain some small elements from The Echo Garden, hence explaining Soundwave's presence. But for now enjoy the brewing chaos :)

Prologue I: Dimension 3945

The Lost Light hovered in deep space.

“Great,” Rodimus said, lounging sideways in the captain’s chair like it owed him shanix. “Everything's fine right? No spontaneous combustion this time right?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Brainstorm muttered from behind his terminal. “Depending on how this dimension interprets gravitational curvature, we could still explode. Just... in a really interesting way.”

Rodimus groaned. “You always know how to ruin a perfectly good jump with science.”

"Science is the only reason you survive jumps, Co-captain," Perceptor replied sharply without looking up.

“Correction,” Minimus interjected from the side, arms crossed. “We survive because everyone else compensates for his recklessness.”

Rodimus shrugged. “Well yeah. Delegation. It’s what great leaders do.”

Drift leaned on the console beside him. “Is this the part where you give another speech about bold leadership and fate?”

“Nope.” Rodimus stood and stretched with a dramatic flair. “This is the part where we hurl ourselves into the multiverse yet again and pray that whatever’s on the other side isn’t fire, teeth, or that dimension with the gelatin clones.”

“Do not remind me,” Megatron murmured quietly from the back of the room. “They were disturbingly polite.”

“Didn’t one of them try to court you?” asked Rodimus

“I said do NOT remind me.”

There was a short silence.

Brainstorm peeked around from behind a console. “Just for the record, I still say we shouldn’t have left dimension 3944 until I finished testing the emotion-hacking energon.”

“Pretty sure that stuff made Rewind cry uncontrollably for three joors,” Drift raised at optical ridge at the scientist.

“He was watching a data documentary.” Brainstorm protested.

“It was a traffic cam.”

"Anyways!" Rodimus flexed his joints. "Enough about that, dimension 3945 is locked in and ready to explore!"

“This jump should be stable. No anomalies detected.” Perceptor said.

“For once,” Rodimus muttered. “Last time, I swear my stabilisers existed three kliks before the rest of me.”

“Maybe next time they can leave your intake behind,” Megatron said dryly.

Rodimus ignored him and instead clapped his servos together. “Alright team, attitudes positive, and no one mention the dimension where we turned into rubber duckies.”

“That was ONE time,” Brainstorm shouted.

A deep rumble shook the ship, then everything stilled.

Perceptor hummed. “Jump successful. Welcome to Dimension 3945. No signs of immediate hostility… yet.”

Minimus leaned forward. “Any signs of civilization?”

“Advanced,” Perceptor confirmed. “We’re picking up faint tech signals. Matching Autobot and Decepticon encryption patterns… but they’re unusually synchronized.”

“That’s not normal,” Drift said.

Megatron stepped forward slowly, arms crossed. “Nor is it reassuring.”

“C’mon, when has anything about us been normal?” Rodimus gave a lopsided smile and reached for the comms button.

“Wait—Rodimus—”

click

“Attention citizens of this dimension—this is Rodimus, captain of the starship Lost Light, speaking to you not as a conqueror, not as a threat, but as a traveler… and a friend. If our arrival startled you, know this: the Lost Light comes in peace. We're just passing through—though we do tend to leave things a little better than we found them. Usually. So, on behalf of the entire crew of the Lost Light… we respectfully ask for safe passage, open minds, and maybe a map. We’re still figuring out where exactly 'here' is. Rodimus out.”

The transmission clicked off, and Rodimus spun around with his usual swagger. “Boom. Nailed it. That’s how you do diplomacy.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Minimus said, datapad already in hand. “Because I distinctly recall asking you to run any first contact messages by me before transmission.”

Rodimus grinned. “Yeah, I ran it by you. Mentally. Super fast. You must’ve missed it.”

Minimus narrowed his optics. “You forgot again.”

“Forgot again is such a loaded phrase.”

Drift leaned against a wall, arms crossed. “Don’t worry, Mins—"

"Do NOT call me that."

"—I’m sure next time, the locals won’t arm their planetary defense grid because Rodimus opened with ‘We come in peace.’”

“Hey!” Rodimus shouted. “I'm charismatic, I'm irresistable, everyone loves me and my speeches.”

“Yes. Because seeing a giant star ship, and equally giant individuals really calms people down, and your speeches.” Megatron said, deadpan.

"Listen Megs, I have something that you lack, it's called. Charisma, in fact I had so much charisma that I killed an entire infestation of personality ticks."

“By ‘I’ you mean ‘we,’” Megatron replied. “Because we both killed them.”

Rodimus rolled his optics.

“Incoming signal,” Blaster announced, already pulling it up. “Encrypted, but not hostile. Audio only.”

Rodimus leaned forward. “Put it through.”

A smooth voice crackled to life.

"Lost Light—this is Blaster, Autobot's Head Communications ffficer. Your message has been received, Rodimus." The tone was formal and diplomatic. "Your intent has been acknowledged and appreciated. I am not alone in receiving your signal. The Decepticon Soundwave is also monitoring this frequency and has authorized continued contact. We are coordinating a response and will provide you with navigation data shortly. Stand by."

Rodimus stiffened, and for a moment, he thought he’d misheard. He turned slowly toward Blaster, who was frozen at his station.

"Blaster?" he asked carefully. "Did he just say—?"

"Yeah," Blaster breathed, still staring at his screen in disbelief. "That was me. Or… him. I mean—it’s not my voice at all, but I'm alive, and a Soundwave as well?"

All optics turned to their Soundwave. He remained utterly silent.

Megatron narrows his optics. “If a Soundwave is cooperating with Autobots… something must have happened.”

Rodimus turned to the side. "Percy? Brainstorm? So what happened to duplicates not being allowed in the same dimension? I thought that wasn't possible"

"Because it shouldn't be," Perceptor said, expression tight with disbelief as he typed furiously into his datapad “In all 3945 dimensions we’ve traveled, we’ve only ever arrived in one where our crew either never existed… or had already been deceased. All of it remained consistent—until now, so something changed. The question is: what?”

"As the ship's genius," Brainstorm piped up. "even I'm confused about this. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty as much as the next mech but I haven't even worked on fixing this problem ever since dimension 2020 and we all know how that went." Perceptor nodded in agreement.

Rodimus stood silent for a klik, optics narrowing. "So let me get this straight—we're probably in a dimension where not only do we exist, but we're alive? Another me? Another you? Another Megatron too? Are we sure this isn't another Cyberutopia?"

Drift opened his intake.

Rodimus pointed. “Don’t answer that.”

Blaster straightened suddenly. “They’re responding again—same frequency. Patchin’ it through.”

"Lost Light—this is Communications Officer Blaster. Your signal is verified and logged. We're transmitting landing coordinates now. Expect company. No hostilities. Just... a lot of questions. Coordinates incoming.”

Rodimus raised a servo triumphantly. "SHIP-WIDE MEETING!"

Minimus sputtered. "Now hold on a klik Rodimus you can't just—"

"So great of you mechs to attend this last breem meeting." Rodimus ignored the long, spark-weary glare Minimus shot him from the corner. "I know most of you are grumpy from being interrupted from your drinking and all that slag but I promise you all that this is important."

"Just get to the point!"

"Shut up Whirl! Anyways—we are about to make history!” Rodimus said. “For the first time in all our dimension-hopping escapades, we’ve landed in a universe where we’re not just footnotes or casualties. We’re alive, mostly. Here. Now. With names. And oil preferences, probably.”

There was silence. Then there were many voices at once.

"Wait," said Swerve. "So, if there's another me, and he's alive… Am I legally allowed to high-five him? Or is that one of those time-law things?"

Rodimus pointed at the mini-bot. “Excellent question, Swerve. I have absolutely no idea!”

“That’s not even remotely reassuring.” Swerve muttered.

"Do not touch yourself," Perceptor muttered absently. Then, realizing how that sounded, quickly added, "I mean your counterpart. Don’t—physically interact. We don’t know the consequences. Yet."

"That’s also not reassuring," Swerve mumbled, visibly sweating.

Skids raised a servo. “What if we’ve already messed something up just by being here? Like... what if our presence destabilizes this universe?”

“Then we leave it slightly worse than we found it,” Rodimus said cheerfully. “Which, honestly, is still better than usual!”

Minimus pinched the bridge of his nasal ridge. “I cannot believe you’re treating this like a motivational pep rally.”

“I believe in preparation,” Rodimus replied. “And right now, we prepare by not panicking. Unless the other me has a better paint job. Then we panic.”

A few quiet chuckles broke the tension.

“Look, I don’t know what we’re walking into,” Rodimus admitted. “But they sent coordinates. No weapons charged. No warnings. They know who we are and they didn’t shoot us out of the sky. That’s already a win. And let’s face it, when’s the last time any of us saw a version of ourselves that wasn’t dead, missing, or well disappointing?”

“That’s a little grim,” Chromedome murmured.

“It’s also not wrong.” Rewind said.

Rodimus clapped his servos together. “When we go down, we have our weapons holstered, we play it cool, we don’t freak anyone out.”

“Define ‘holstered,’” Whirl called from the back.

“Do not high-five yourselves. Do not kiss yourselves. And absolutely do not get into existential debates with your alternate selves unless you’re absolutely sure you can win. Dismissed!”

The crew began to murmur and shuffle out, excitement mounting under the nerves.

In the hallway, Rewind turned to Chromedome. “If we see another you, what do you want to do?”

Chromedome looked thoughtful. “Honestly? Make sure he never touches mnemosurgery.”

Nearby, Whirl whispered to Tailgate, “I am going to try and kiss myself. Just saying.”

“Please don’t.”

Just beyond the corner, Nautica and Nightbeat were in a discussion.

“If their Blaster and Soundwave are working together,” Nightbeat said, “maybe their war ended differently. Maybe it never even started the way ours did.”

Nautica’s optics glowed. “Or maybe they reached peace earlier. Unified communications. Can you imagine the implications for science alone?”

“You're thinking science?” Nightbeat's visor flickered. “I’m thinking we’re walking into a paradox soup.”

Rodimus turned to his commanding officers. "I think that meeting was a success."

Minimus gave a weary sigh while Megatron raised an optical ridge. “By your standards, that probably qualifies as a masterclass.”

Drift patted Rodimus' pauldron. "I think you did great."

A cable yanked Rodimus clean off his pedes, causing Drift to laugh. "See, even Soundwave agrees."

Rodimus twists his frame to face the visored mech, giving him a cheeky grin. "Aww babe, don't be jealous. I'll never replace you."

Soundwave stared silently.

The cable dropped him.

“Ow...”

Updates schedule? Undecided, just know that tumblr gets them sooner than AO3.

Questions? Happy to answer them.

Prologue I? Out of IV

Time? It's 3 AM I'm going to bed.

[NEXT]

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and so the plans begin...

HYPE

SO MUCH HYPE

Guess who finished reading MTMTE and Lost Light!

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Lost Light

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Behold! https://www.tumblr.com/nitroland/788400882550226944/sc-chapter-1?source=share Swap au!

niiice!

i was given the opportunity to beta-read this and it was pretty good! granted i was very surprised by how things went, i won't spoil- those who are curious, go right ahead and read!

all in all, i'm looking forward to how things develop!

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i like . these guys

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I’m so sorry in advance, but I completely lost my mind thanks to that Armada x Prime crossover snippet, the Armada!Starscream Self-Insert you created, and Hokori_ii’s Starhound fanfic 💕❤️‍🔥. The result? I somehow created an AU inside another AU — and this ridiculous mess was born 🫠:

If there were a “wasp waist and towering hips” contest, who would win: Optimus Prime or Earthspark Soundwave?

Question 100% sponsored by Miko.

It all started because I just wanted to give Armada!Starscream a friend or ally in his quest for the Omega Key… and somehow ended up dropping a Self-Insert Earthspark Soundwave into the Prime universe.

The guilty party? Not me. Blame the SoundStar ship for making Si/Soundwave real 😭💔.

This poor Si/Soundwave, who crash-landed completely alone (not even a single Ravage for emotional support), is now desperately searching for that damn Key, dodging the Autobot–Decepticon plot like it’s radioactive, and just wants to escape this cursed Unicron-core planet and live a quiet, peaceful life with Armada!Starscream and his Minicons… on a fully restored Cybertron.

Don’t judge me. This cooked itself 🥲

my dude, my guy, reader of mine- do not ever apologize for this because you know what?

I LITERALLY WAS THINKING OF MAKING A SELF INSERT OF EARTHSPARK SOUNDWAVE! i didn't know where to send the SI, be it in idw, another continuity or prime- BUT CLEARLY THIS IS DEFINITELY A SIGN THAT I DO NEED TO MAKE SELF INSERT EARTHSPARK SOUNDWAVE A THING IN THE FUTURE. WHICH I WILL- i'm just really preoccupied at the moment. ask @kevinformers-ibw they know whats up.

also @delicioustarong and i both agree that earthspark soundwave wins, sorry prime optimus UnU es' waist and hip game are just better.

and ough, i haven't thought of armada starscream in a hot moment. having them both together? thats—

====== Armada x Prime x Earthspark ======

This was a scrap show.

That was Jack's main thought as he stared at the surprising sight of Megatron's face buried underneath rock and stone.

He, Miko, Bulkhead and Arcee had just been around to check some energon signal that Bulkhead had found along the way to Miko's concert. A concert that Jack was now thinking they might miss, which wasn't that bad for him, but Miko would sure be bummed out.

If he could even find her from this mess.

A mess caused by the fragging warlord trapped in front of him. Shooting all those shots from his arm cannon had caused the cave in! And now here he was, faced with a dilemma;

The Decepticon Leader was trapped and helpless in front of him, and as the damned guy was saying, it was a perfect opportunity to just... kill him. End the war, the Autobots' main enemy would be gone and they'd essentially win the war right?

It's tempting.

So tempting.

To just turn the drill right back at his smug face but—

"Well? What are you waiting for? Think of the glory, seize the day!" Megatron taunted, "Optimus would."

Jack took in a deep breath, setting a glare at the trapped warlord and with confidence he probably wouldn't have if he was free, he firmly disagreed. "No. He wouldn't, not like this."

Optimus wouldn't kill a trapped and helpless person, not even if it was Megatron. At least, that's what Jack thinks of the wise and stoic leader of the Autobots. He was righteous, a hero, a good leader and person.

And a part of Jack relaxed, the human part, the part of his teenage innocence- Jack would not be a killer today. He was not a killer, period.

He wouldn't give Megatron the satisfaction of turning Jack into one.

Just as Jack was about to leave, about to leave Megatron behind and try to find his friends— CRASH! Went a nearby wall, a large arm bursting through along with a panicked voice.

"Swindle?! Sonar! Runway?! Jetstorm! Is that you?!" Jack had no idea who that was, or who those names belonged to- though they seemed kind of familiar?

From the dust and darkness stood one- no, two cybertronians. One had glowing orange eyes, and the other was just a glowing red line. Jack stiffened, unsure of what to do or whether or not they were friend or foe.

He couldn't see any badges- wait, no badges?

Orange eyes, red wings and body, those names... Was this the guy that Bulkhead had talked about a couple of weeks ago? The Neutral called Armada?

"What is going on?! Who goes there?!" Jack yelped, having forgotten the fact that Megatron was still present, still stuck in a wall of rock and stone.

Armada's eyes widened before they narrowed, his worried look turned into something scornful. "Oh frag no." The two bots came over, giving Jack a better look on the second bot.

There wasn't much light in the cave, but from what Jack could see as his vision got used to the darkness, was the fact the mech was slightly taller than Armada, had a red glowing visor and a mask that covered their lower face and was probably blue? They were built... kinda like Optimus, in the way their waist was uh- kinda small but other than that, they were built strong-looking. There was even a cannon on their shoulder that made Jack tense.

Jack had been worried with them getting closer but it seemed like he wasn't their target, they didn't even acknowledge him aside from shoving him and the big drill he was on away- "Wha- hey!" He'd stumbled a bit from that.

He regretted speaking up, the other bot, name still unknown, looked over to him. Red glowing visor seemingly peering into his very soul. Thankfully it didn't last long as the bot turned away to look at Armada who crouched slightly to sneer at Megatron. "Should've known you were the cause of the cave-in."

The Decepticon leader narrowed his eyes, "And who might you be? I never forget a faceplate, yet I've no idea who you are."

"None of your fragging business." Armada snapped back, scowling at the warlord. Woah, the look on his face was intense, before it turned thoughtful, then determined. He straightened, took a step back before- okay wow, Bulkhead wasn't kidding! The bot was detaching a wing!

Jack, and he's pretty sure Megatron too, were shocked to see such a sight. Even more when the wing extended and hummed to life as a laser sword. Again, woah!

That was... actually, pretty cool. Though it left the bot a little lopsided, being honest. Just one wing... Kind of worth it and fair to have a laser sword though, Jack thinks.

Megatron however gave a calculated look, "Ah, I see. You're that Neutral that Breakdown reported to me- Armada was it? A curious seeker, you've surprised even I with that little trick of yours. Fascinating." His calculated look turned into a wide grin, he began taunting again. "But just what do you intend to do with that bright little sword of yours? Are you aiming to do what this pathetic human cannot? Kill the Decepticon's Leader?!"

Jack took a step back at the unhinged-sounding laughter that came from the silver tyrant. "Do it then! I've heard of your opinion- you loathe both Autobots and Decepticons for the war! Well? End it then! Here's your chance! Better you than those damnable Autobots! Haha! Hahahaha!"

"Shut up!" Armada snarled, lifting an arm with the full intent to stab into the hole right into Megatron's face- only for the bot that came with them to swiftly intervene. Putting themselves between Armada and the trapped leader, much to everyone else's surprise. "Soundblaster! What do you think you're doing?! Move aside!"

The bot, Soundblaster (eerily close to Soundwave, unfortunately), shook their head. "Armada; not allowed to kill Lord Megatron." Lord Megatron? Jack thought with dread seeded in his stomach. Only the Decepticons dared to call the con that. "Consequences will come abound should he kill Lord Megatron now. Remember what we discussed."

Armada reared back, visibly faltered before growling. "We both know that might not be the case! There's an equal amount of chance that if I kill this piece of slag right now, it would do all of us a favor!"

"Armada; once said you wouldn't intervene with Autobots or Decepticons. Would stay Neutral, would not side with either. Kill Lord Megatron, you side with Autobots." Soundblaster said, arms crossing over his -he had a deep, masculine voice- chest. "We had an agreement, no siding unless absolutely necessary. We stay Neutral, we focus onwards. We survive. We live."

With every word, the seeker wilted. Scowl wavering and a look of frustration and exasperation on his face that conflicted with other emotions that Jack couldn't tell- either because it was too dark or because he really didn't know these guys enough to even try and decipher what the hell was going on here.

All he knew so far was that Armada was far more willing to kill Megatron than Jack, but Soundblaster, for whatever reason, was talking him down from it.

"Fragging, slagging, scrap-fragger-" Armada cursed mindlessly before reluctantly folding his sword back into his wing and reattaching it behind him- that still was weird but also cool. "Fine! It would've ended up as a problem if I killed him anyway!" He sniffed in an oddly familiar way. Jack couldn't tell why.

"Priority; the minicons." Soundblaster nodded, "Apologies, J— the human there was small object that I sensed, thought he was a minicon. Almost same height, senses are unclear so deep underneath the ground." He gestured to Jack, who stiffened when both bots looked at him.

Armada looked him over before huffing, "Apology accepted, with how small humans are- it's easy to be mistaken." Jack would be offended, if he wasn't so tense. "Hey, human. Is there another human around? I don't want Soundblaster to mistake another human as one of my minicons again!"

Scrap, uh... ah, frag it. "There's... there's another human around yeah. You're not going to..."

Armada rolled his eyes, "Whatever you're thinking about- no! We don't hurt humans, no point. Soundblaster?"

Soundblaster said nothing, holding up his palms to show they were glowing. Jack was almost expecting an attack but instead, the bot lightly slapped the wall, and a small wave of light washed over the room, fading as it got farther and farther. For a moment, silence before Soundblaster tilted his helm. "Sensing major movement of multiple small figures in one pocket of air. Soundblaster; believes to have found the minicons." He slapped the wall again with his glowing hands. "... Approximating five sets of pedes."

"Five?" Armada murmured, before glancing back at Jack. "I suppose you're in luck human, the other human you're looking for is probably with my minicons. Come with us, we will find them together, the drill you have there will at least make things easier for Soundblaster and I."

... Well, Jack wasn't going to look at this gift horse in the mouth. If they were willing to help, sure. Why not. Jack just wanted to find Arcee, Miko, Bulkhead and leave. If he finds Miko, there's a large chance Bulkhead is nearby.

"Fine. Let's go then."

Just as they were about to leave, Megatron made himself known again. "Wait! Stop right there!"

Armada groaned but Soundblaster immediately turned to look at the tyrant, Jack was worried as the bot was even willing to kneel on one knee to meet with Megatron's face properly. The con was looking at him intensely, so intensely that Jack shivered even though that gaze wasn't aimed at him.

"You convinced your companion to spare me, why?"

Soundblaster didn't answer for a moment, before he bowed his head. "Faction; Neutral, Armada and I discussed not to interfere with eit—"

"Cut the scrap!" Megatron growled with an indignant, almost offended look on his face. "You have another motive! You... have a lingering loyalty." He said, his indignant tone quickly turning into a realization. Intrigued yet subtly angry. "You were one of mine. A Decepticon! Yet you've defected, abandoned your cause." That was exactly what Jack was afraid of.

Soundblaster flinched, Armada was quick to stand besides Soundblaster, hand on the bot's shoulder before he snarled at the trapped warrior in the stone wall. "He abandoned nothing! If anything he was abandoned! By you!"

What? What did that mean?

Megatron looked taken aback, before his eyes narrowed, "I do not even recall ever meeting Soundblaster. I am still the Decepticon Leader, I have abandoned no one!"

Armada snarled again, opening his mouth to retort before Soundblaster nudged him. His mouth shut with a click before he looked away, stepping back as Soundblaster finally looked back towards Megatron. "Soundblaster... was a Decepticon follower, Lord Megatron's follower, but not anymore." Megatron's eyes flashed with fury at the admittance but Soundblaster wasn't done speaking. "Lor... Megatron, was the one who abandoned the original Decepticon cause."

Huh.

Even Armada looked surprised as Megatron stared at Soundblaster for a moment before growling low. "How dare you accuse me of that- you know NOTHING!"

"Soundblaster; does not know everything. Truth." Soundblaster admitted, rising to his feet. "But Soundblaster knows this; Lord Megatronus once fought for the freedom of the oppressed. And now, Warlord Megatron seeks out suppression of Cybertron and all lifeforms. Original Decepticon cause... is no longer followed. Sounblaster will only follow the mech that promised freedom for the shackled he once was apart of, safety for the weak that were stomped on, equity and equality for all who could not have it for the sole reason of their class, their alt-mode, and their creation... Soundblaster will not follow the mech that killed Cybertron, our home."

Stunned, the warlord could only watch as Soundblaster turned around and started to walk away. "Priority; minicons. Come." He gestured for Jack and Armada to follow.

Armada brightened, grinning widely as he immediately followed after his... friend? Ally? Teammate? Jack didn't know. And Jack took one last look at Megatron, who was still staring at Sounblaster leaving, before he finally followed after them as well on the drill.

This was... one of the weirdest days he's had.

The Autobots were going to want to know about this... yet Jack now had questions of his own, mostly of what Soundblaster said. He never really thought about the Decepticon as thoroughly as he was now- never asked why they formed, why Megatron led them. He thought it was just the generic 'evil warlord, power, greed' type thing but now it seemed like there was more to the story than meets the eye.

And Jack wanted to know now.

But first? Finding his friends and getting the fuck out of here.

====== Armada x Prime x Earthspark ======

BWAHAHAHAHASASHDAPSUDHPS okay yeah this went a bit more serious than i originally intended but yknow what? im not complaining!

in a less serious note, megatron was totally watching soundblaster's ass as he left. watching those hips sway— AHEM AHEM anyway!

yeah! have this snippet! i dont know if i'll be doing the self insert earthspark soundwave (soundblaster now ig) in prime WITH armada but this was a fun thing to think about!

i would totally think armada and soundblasters as amicas here, bestest of friends who are just trying to revive cybertron and live.

as for why soundblaster saved megatron... its a mix of things- soundblaster retains some memories of earthspark soundwave, and even though soundwave there hated megatron's betrayal, he still ended up getting some lingering loyalty and stuff. also the self insert was definitely a megatron fan- not mindless, they knew that megatron did awful things and etc.

so it was a conflict of 'wait maybe we can fix him' and 'no we shouldnt interfere with the story aside from making sure cybertron revives early and stuff'

before ending up as 'fuck it, we ball. this megatron fucked up and got off the path' and etc. etc.

also once again thanks to @lovckett for creating the WONDERFUL idea of self insert!armada!starscream in prime (i hope to see it update again but NO RUSH! NO PRESSURE! GO ON YOUR OWN PACE) and now i'll go back to lurking and planning for Universal Observation because yes that's still brainrotting my head and still my priority right now

toodles!