Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jazz had just about given up on getting any further on the dig that day and was getting ready to tell everyone to pack up when Plier finally got the LIDAR drone up and running. They were only scanning a small area of the ancient temple complex, but Jazz needed enough evidence to show there was more to get his dig more funding next season.

Well, to hopefully get more funding. Cybertronian politics being what they were, even at the university level, looking back on the past could go out of fashion real quick. Temple of Primus was usually good about chipping in to excavate religious sites, though, especially if it backed up what they were teaching.

Jazz thought this temple might be older, though. Maybe for one of the cults that had sprung up around the time Cybertronians had started moving off-world, not long after the founding of what were now the great city-states. This world was one of the earlier attempted colonies, long abandoned with the planet not cyber-formed. There was another expedition working on the city a few mega-miles away, where you could still see some buildings, and they'd only found any indication of the temple complex by accident. There didn't even seem to be roads heading here from the city, though they could have been covered over by organic matter in the millennia since the site had been abandoned. The temple complex didn't appear in any records, but those were fragmentary, and any mention might have been lost. Jazz's team only knew to dig here because a member of the other team had been exploring and found some artifacts under a layer of leaves. The artifacts, only fragments, were near an animal burrow and had probably been churned to the surface by whatever had made it. A test trench followed, finding foundation walls and more artifacts, which were broken but enough to justify a further excavation.

Plier sent up the drone and monitored it while it followed its program and swept the target area. The drone could work in the dark but Jazz liked to have the site under wraps for the night by sunset. The scan data would have to be processed anyway, so they'd know where to put a test trench.

The following day, everyone gathered around to check out the scan data. Sometimes, picking something out could take a bit, but this time…

Jazz, leaning over Plier's shoulder, whistled. "Damn. There's a lot there!"

"Seasons worth," Plier agreed.

"No kidding. Find me a good spot to dig a test trench or three, yeah?"

"You got it, boss."

Plier ran a quick scan and highlighted the most complete areas of the dig. Jazz scanned the LIDAR results, trying to decide on a location for a test trench and finally found one.

"Right there," he said, drawing a circle around the spot on the screen. "Looks like a room that might be pretty intact." It might have an intact floor and some of the walls, which in a temple this old probably had mosaics or other artwork. Valuable, sure, but also the kind of thing rich mecha donating to archaeological digs liked to see. Jazz liked them, too, but he was more interested in learning about how people lived. Sure, their art was a big part of that, but it wasn't the only part.

"Looks good to me," Plier said. "And the other sites?"

"Yeah, get Glyph and 'Bee to put 'em in at the north and south corners on the opposite sides." Jazz straightened up and looked at his team, gathered in the dappled sunlight of an alien world. "Alright. Let's dig!"

No matter how enthusiastic you were, proper excavation took time and patience. Excavator stripped the leaf mould and soil away in careful inches, but it still took most of a day to get down to where Jazz wanted to be in his test trench. He'd been right about the floor and partial wall, but there was one thing he hadn't predicted.

The pause at the first test trench let the others know something was up, and it didn't take long before they'd gathered around.

"Find something exciting, Jazz?" Bumblebee asked, peering over the edge of the trench.

"Found something weird," Jazz replied.

"Weird can be exciting." Bumblebee pointed out. "What is it?"

"This looks like some movie-style slag," Jazz warned him, "but we found a hidden door in the floor." A murmur rippled through the crowd, but Jazz held up a hand for silence. "Remember, it doesn't mean there's anything under it," Jazz warned. "Or at least not anything exciting. Sure, it could be a floor vault, but it could just be access to the power supply in a weird place. We won't know until we open it up."

Opening it up wasn't as simple as it looked: the electronic keypad had run out of power long ago, but the physical components were rusted shut. You couldn't just yank and break in an excavation; you had to try and do as little damage as possible. By the time Jazz got through, most of the others had wandered back to their tasks, though Bumblebee had switched with Plier and stuck around. He helped Jazz pry the door up on equally rusty hinges, and they looked inside. A plain titanium box was in the small space. Jazz meticulously documented the find with coordinates, video, and still images before carefully lifting it out and bringing it to the temp shelter where they were holding any artifacts they found.

Since the box was corrosion-proof, it opened pretty easily and when it did…

"Is that the —" Bumblebeee immediately cut himself off and switched to tight-burst comms. 'Is that the Matrix?'

Jazz stared into the box and carefully did not touch the artifact. "Sure looks like it. Could be a replica, though?" Something that sacred, made sense that mecha might want a tangible symbol to venerate. Except Jazz had never heard of that among any of Cybertron's religious practices, past or present. But this place had been forgotten for a long time.

"It's got to be," Bumblebee said, not sounding convinced. "Because…because if it's not, what's the one on Cybertron? I mean, there's not more than one Matrix, right?"

"Right," Jazz said. That would have been recorded at some point, for sure. It had to be a replica. They'd all seen the real one, displayed at the centennial festivals, shining brightly in Sentinel Prime's chest. Hell, Jazz had even seen it himself when he'd managed to attend a festival in person, and he'd been pretty close, able to see the metal and the jewel in the centre, every part of it looking perfect and holy.

It hadn't given him the same feeling as the one in the box, though. Maybe…maybe he just hadn't been close enough?

"Gotta be a replica," Jazz decided, closing the box again. "Must've been forgotten," in a corrosion-proof box under a floor, "when the place was abandoned."

"Yeah," Bumblebee said. "Got to be. Maybe we should just…tell everyone it's too fragile to be examined while we're here?"

"Nah, don't think that'll work. Better to be upfront." And maybe, just maybe, make sure everyone was telling the same story.

Chapter Text

The team was up later than usual since everyone was abuzz with excitement about finding a Matrix replica, something that hadn't been found on any other digs. Still, Jazz eventually got them settled, reminding them they had to work tomorrow. He didn't know if they slept; Primus knew he couldn't shut down. He could've forced it, but that was a bad habit to get into. Besides, he usually didn't have a problem; it was just…he couldn't stop thinking about the Matrix in the artifact shelter. There was just something about it he couldn't get out of his head. It had to be a replica, but the nagging feeling that it might not be kept him up all night. He was tempted to go check on it, maybe look it over for any indication of where it had come from, but resisted, telling himself he should rest and recharge. It didn't work, but he tried his best to sleep.

At least he was up bright and early with the rest of the camp. There was some buzz about yesterday's find at breakfast, and Jazz finally agreed to let everyone see it, figuring it might help calm down some of the speculation.

It would probably cause some more but he couldn't help that.

The mecha nearest to the box stepped back when Jazz opened it, and he was sure the Matrix had more of a glow than it had the previous evening. It had to be because of the sunlight, which was stronger in the morning than it had been late yesterday afternoon. Then, everyone gravitated back towards it, all talking simultaneously. Most of it related to how this would affect studies of ancient Cybertronian religious practices, but Glyph spoke up with the one thing Jazz had hoped no one would think of.

"What if it's real?"

That got them a moment of silence before everyone started talking at once again, this time so loudly that Jazz finally had to use a burst of sound from his speakers to get everyone's attention.

"That's the kinda thing we don't want getting spread around, okay?" he said. "And if you wonder why, stop and think about what we'd be saying. Any of you really want to be responsible for the rumour we've got a fake Prime sitting at the head of the government?"

Not just Sentinel, either. Given the site's age, if this was real, it'd been sitting in its box, under that floor in a slowly decaying building, since the days of Nominus Prime. If this were the real Matrix, it'd mean that every Prime since Nominus was a fake, and so was the Matrix he had supposedly left behind.

"It's got to be the other way around," Jazz continued. "At least until we can get some real experts to look at it."

"Like who?" Bumblebeee asked.

"Matrix Guardian?" Jazz guessed, though no one'd heard from Alpha Trion in vorn. "Temple priests? Anyone who's got a real interest in making sure the right mech winds up as Prime. Maybe someone back at the university. No idea what's gonna happen when I explain why we need one, though."

"Uh," Glyph put in, "did you log it as an artifact yet? Because those get transmitted back to Iacon every night, so…"

Jazz shook his head. "Just the box when I recorded its location." He'd been holding off on recording it until he talked to the team, even though he knew this wasn't something you could keep secret. "Why? You think we need to worry about surprise visitors? 'Cause if anyone involved with the dig at any level knew this was here, why'd they let us come?"

That seemed to settle everyone down, and after a little more discussion, Jazz got everyone back on track and into their test trenches. The Matrix went back into storage and Jazz tried to forget about it as he got back to work.

A couple of cycles passed, and the chatter around the Matrix died down as other artifacts were found. Even without the replica, the site would have been a rich source of information on ancient Cybertronian religious practices, and there was plenty to distract Jazz's team. Jazz got pretty distracted, too, but he could never forget the Matrix, patiently sitting in its titanium box in artifact storage. He still hadn't recorded it with the other artifacts, but the idea of what a pile of slag that would cause held him back.

At least, not if anyone who remembered it was there was still around. Cybertronians lived a long time, but not forever. If this was real and it had been here since Nova Prime had left Cybertron, that was Ages ago. Jazz could only think of a handful of Cybertronians that old and even fewer who were still actively involved in anything outside their Towers or Senate accommodations. The only time you might see one at a dig was when it'd been prettied up for a photo op, and there was some impressive-looking bit of something they wanted to look important next to.

Jazz's friend Ratchet liked to say, 'Whatever you're sure is coming, you're fifty percent wrong.' As usual, Ratchet was in the other fifty percent, something Jazz doubted the mech would be surprised to hear. Base camp, located near the other site on the planet, the city, called in just at the point where everyone was starting to relax, and Jazz was getting more wound up. Ever since he was newly protoformed, he'd had an extra sense for stuff about to go sideways, and he was getting that feeling now.

"Calling to advise you have a VIP en route," base camp informed him. "You're never gonna guess who."

"Good news, I'm guessing?" Jazz asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Mech, I have no idea how to answer that," the other mech said frankly. "You've got Alpha Trion on his way. Who knows anything about him?

Jazz stopped dead, mind spinning. Alpha Trion was one of those ancient mecha he'd been thinking about earlier. He wasn't a Senator any longer, but he'd had the title of Matrix Guardian for Jazz didn't know how long. But since there was a Matrix Bearer, there wasn't anything for the Guardian to do. Not since Nova Prime had left the Matrix behind on Cybertron for safekeeping before disappearing into space.

"Yeah, sure," Jazz said, more faintly than he'd have liked. "If any mech other than the Prime could tell a replica from the real thing, it would be this one. "Thanks for the heads-up."

A visitor incoming from base camp would be there in a couple of joors. Jazz gathered his team and gave them a quick run-down. There was a protocol for VIP visitors, and it mostly boiled down to 'get rid of the worst of the dust and put breakable stuff out of reach.' They'd all been through it before, but this time was different.

"How're we gonna play this out, Jazz?" Bumblebee asked.

"Alpha Trion is going to know whether this is for real or not," Jazz said. "No point telling anything but the plain-metal truth: no paint, no gloss. Just...do what you do normally, and I'll handle the veep."

It was tense on the dig site until Alpha Trion showed up. He arrived in his alt, something Jazz hadn't even known he used and which set him apart from most of the usual veeps right away. Alpha Trion was also accompanied by a pair of mecha who looked like civilians and moved like military, not even trying to hide it. Jazz instantly marked them as guards. The boxy red one said something to the slender blue one, and they split up and started to circle the camp. Military, yes, but Jazz didn't read them as a threat; they were too relaxed.

Alpha Trion had also transformed and stood still as he looked over the dig, attention clearly caught by the shelter holding the Matrix. Jazz had no idea how to feel about that, but it meant they'd been on the right track by planning to keep everything honest, especially since it would bring them trouble either way.

"I take it you know why I am here," Alpha Trion said when Jazz approached, dispensing entirely with greeting.

"Yeah," Jazz said.

Alpha Trion nodded in the direction of artifact storage. "Lead the way, then."

Jazz did. He was aware that everyone was watching them, and work had stopped. Probably wasn't going to restart anytime soon, but writing off a partial workday wasn't the worst-case scenario.

Wordlessly, Jazz brought the titanium box out of storage and opened it. Alpha Trion seemed to smile – Jazz wasn't sure how to read that expression – and reached into the box to touch the Matrix. The Matrix jewel flared brightly for a nano-klik, taking away Jazz's remaining hope that it might be a fake. The feeling that had washed over him with that light…it had to be real.

A dozen questions crowded Jazz's mind at once. The one that pushed its way through was, "How come it's here?" followed almost immediately by, "What's that on Cybertron, then?"

"All excellent questions that will be answered in time," Alpha Trion replied, which did not help Jazz at all. He gave Jazz a curious look, with the weight of…something else layered behind the curiosity. "You've not taken from the box yet?"

"Nah, mech," Jazz said. "I think I got enough trouble coming my way because of this without looking for more."

Jazz had expected Alpha Trion to try and insist he pick the Matrix up, but the ancient mech just chuckled and closed the box, sealing the Matrix away and draining some of the tension from Jazz's shoulders. Not all of it, because he knew more was coming.

"This will fall out as they are meant to," Alpha Trion said mysteriously. "But I am afraid you are correct about trouble coming your way. I think it would be best if you returned to Cybertron with me."

Jazz couldn't disagree with that. He wasn't sure how Alpha Trion had known to come there but it seemed likely he'd recognized the description of the box because the mech sure hadn't seemed surprised by this Matrix. If he could work it out, someone else could, and they might not be as cool and collected about it as the ancient mech seemed to be.

"What about my team?" Jazz asked. "They going too? We've barely gotten started on the dig."

"They will be fine. Ironhide and Chromia will ensure their safety."

"There's just the two of them, though," Jazz pointed out, from a desire to delay and to make sure his team was safe.

"Ironhide and Chromia are more than capable of defending your team," Alpha Trion replied. "And with you and the Matrix returning to Cybertron with me, there will be little reason for anyone to bother them."

Yeah, made sense, and it wasn't like his team was completely helpless anyway. Plus, if anyone else was coming, Jazz'd be one step ahead of them. And, he wanted answers.

"Alright," Jazz said finally. "Let's go."

There were way fewer questions than Jazz had anticipated when he told the group what was going on. Only Bumblebee really protested, but he picked up pretty quickly on how serious Jazz was.

"Okay," the mini-bot said with a shrug, giving in. "I guess I can't stop you from going, but I'm not letting you go alone!"

Jazz definitely didn't object to a friendly and familiar face along. Alpha Trion said nothing about it, only gave instructions to the blue guard, Chromia, and then they were leaving. Jazz hoped he'd be able to come back and finish the dig, but he had a bad feeling about that. It wasn't until they left orbit that Alpha Trion turned to Jazz and remarked that he'd never followed up on his second question. For a moment, Jazz couldn't remember what it was.

"…yeah," he said after a brief hesitation. "What is that on Cybertron?" Because the Matrix was supposed to be in Prime's chest, or at least pretty near him, not sitting in a footlocker on a ship, metaphysically buzzing away at the edge of Jazz's awareness. "Cuz it's not the Matrix, but I've gotten close enough to it to know it's not a hunk of pretty metal and crystal either." Another question occurred to him. "And how come you didn't come looking for the real deal before now?"

"There will be, as I'm sure you can imagine, consequences for revealing the lie of the Primes," Alpha Trion said. "Aside from that, it was not found because it was not time for it to be found."

Jazz and Bumblebee exchanged glances.

"So, uh, any idea what's going on to make it time now?" Bumblebee asked.

"A change is coming for Cybertron, and a new Prime must come with it," Alpha Trion replied.

"The current Prime's not gonna be too happy about that," Jazz pointed out. "Or the Senate. Or the Temple. Whichever one's been lying about us having a true Prime is really gonna be slagged off."

"With our luck so far, that'll be the Temple and the Senate," Bumblebee commented. He seemed to mistake Jazz's look of dread for a request for an explanation because he went on. "I mean, the priests pick candidates for Prime, right? So they'd have to know they haven't got the real Matrix. But it's the Senate who'd want a Prime they can control or who'll agree with them on everything, right?"

"You are correct," Alpha Trion answered, a little too serenely for Jazz's liking. "And I'm sure you're wondering why I've not acted. The simplest answer is that one requires a true Prime to defeat a false Prime."

Great, Jazz thought, still aware of the Matrix nearby. Aloud, he said, "Got any candidates in mind?"

Alpha Trion turned just far enough in the pilot's seat to look at Jazz. "Oh…I may have someone in mind, yes."

Wonderful. Just what Jazz had been hoping he would say. Really. He slumped down in his seat a little.

No pressure.