Chapter Text
Cybertron.
A planet that is cyber.
A million year civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons drained the lives and resources of the once flourishing planet.
What remains is a celestial husk filled with a warring robotic species. Cybertron no longer produces energy for its inhabitants. The Well of Sparks, the birthing spot of the cybertorian sparks, their essence, is empty. Whatever unused sparks are left are sparse, hidden.
Because of this, no more cybertronians can be created. The species is now down to fewer than a hundred individuals alive.
Yet, the civil war continues. The Decepticons have developed a new strategy. They were desperate for another energy-rich planet. They sought an alien population that would join their fight to conquer the universe.
-
A tall, lanky, purple robot glared down at a monitor with his single yellow eye. Shockwave started making inputs on the screen. His lab was dark, all energy was being sent to the circular platform in the middle of the room. The perimeter of the platform pulsated with a blue light every few seconds.
Soundwave and Reflector walked in. Shockwave stared at both of them.
"Is it ready?" Soundwave asked with a stiff monotone voice.
"It will be in a moment.”
Reflector looked down at his body before looking back up at Shockwave, "So like, what's my alt-mode now?"
"Your alt-mode is of the inhabitant's photography device. Their dominant species has a habit of creating small mechanical machines." Shockwave answered, his attention now back on the monitor.
"Is one of the planet's creatures going to scoop me up? Because if it's like last time, then-" Reflector was cut off.
The platform let out a high pitched hum, it's base flooded the room with a light blue glow. Soundwave stepped on top of it with Reflector following quickly. The dome roof of the lab moved apart.
"You will both be sent to an isolated area, an unused building," Shockwave said. "There should be no intelligent beings to disturb you. Collect any information you can. Then, send the signal."
Soundwave nodded. Even if Reflector had any more questions it did not matter as he and Soundwave were beamed onto the target, planet Earth.
-
The Amazing Digital Circus
A circus that is amazing and is digital.
An AI ringmaster, Caine, had once been the master of this circus. He tried to entertain his human guests who were trapped in this digital world.
However, the six humans that were still around were not fond of the ringmaster's adventures. Caine grew frustrated with his own lack of ability and the humans' reactions to him. He crashed out.
In an attempt to stop Caine, he was accidentally deleted. The six humans were now trapped in a crumbling circus. They also discovered they were cooked because they were merely brain scans and could not return to the real world.
However, repairing the colorless circus proved to be a great morale booster. They all found themselves reconnecting with one another, mostly.
-
Ragatha was trying to patch a large hole in one of the walls. Her attempts to conjure a large enough shape to fill it continuously failed.
"Why can't I just..." Ragatha nearly stabilized a large square in front of her before it disappeared completely.
Gangle came up behind her. "Sometimes, it helps just filling them with smaller pieces," she said, in a soft tone.
Ragatha turned to her with a smile. "Right, I don't know why I didn't think of that. Guess I'm just a little distracted right now."
"Do you want some help?"
"I mean, only if you want to."
Gangle began to conjure some shapes to fill the hole. Ragatha added her own. The two were tired. They enjoyed the friendly interaction without the stress of banter. Ragatha looked over to Gangle. She wasn't really focused on the conjuring. Gangle's mind was lost in thought. Ragatha wanted to reach out and check up on her. But she feared that it would be too intrusive. That Gangle would feel pressured to share what she's processing.
Pomni walked over with a worried expression.
"Has anyone seen Jax today?"
Ragatha and Gangle looked at each other. "I saw him earlier near the stage," Ragatha said. "I asked if he wanted to join me and Kinger. He, uh, mumbled something about how gagging himself to death sounded like a better idea."
"Do you know where he went off to after that?" Pomni asked.
Ragatha shook her head.
"Maybe he just needs some time by himself," Gangle said.
"All he's been doing is staying by himself. I'm just a little worried that if we leave him alone for too long he might... y'know?" Pomni sighed. "I think it's time we have a talk with him."
"I- Are you sure that's the best idea? After all Jax isn't really close to me or Gangle for that matter. And if he is dealing with some heavy emotions then he might..." Ragatha imagined what an upset Jax would do to her if she tried to force him to open up.
"He wouldn't take you up on the offer," Gangle added. "He knows you care about him. He'll come back when he feels ready."
"Shouldn't we at least try?"
"Pomni... I don't really want to speak to Jax right now." A tear fell from Gangle's mask.
Pomni came closer and put her arm around Gangle. "You're right, I'm sorry for trying to push it." She looked up at the patched up hole in the wall. "You guys did a really good job."
"Thanks," Gangle said, a small smile forming on her mask.
-
An 80s boombox and a 90s Sony Handycam camera were teleported into the overgrown entrance of the C&A building. The uncut grass covered Soundwave and Reflector.
"No life spotted" Soundwave said. "Lazerbeak, eject."
The boombox shot out a red and black cassette. The cassette transformed into a robotic bird. Lazerbeak swooped down, grabbed both of them, and flew into the second story through a broken window.
Reflector tried to transform in the hallway only be find his robot mode was too large. He whacked his head on the ceiling. "Oww! Why is this place so cramp?" He exclaimed, transforming back into a camera.
Soundwave remained in his boombox mode. "Rumble, eject."
A purple cassette shot out, transforming into a robot about the size of a human.
Cobwebs covered different devices. The office water fountain was filled with mold. There were multiple holes in the ceiling. As Rumble took in his surroundings, his grin kept growing.
"Looks like someone already busted up this joint before I could!" Rumble said, looking around. He then picked up Reflector.
"Hey! Hands off!" Reflector shouted.
"Relax. Megatron's gonna want some pictures of this crummy place."
"Images, optional. Retrieval, necessary." Soundwave commanded.
Rumble tossed Reflector on the dirty carpet. "Alright, alright. I'll get to work."
Lazerbeak was already flying in and out of different rooms. He tossed the findings in a pile next to Soundwave. A framed image, broken pieces of a coffee mug, a keyboard that had fallen on the floor. Rumble searched around for anything interesting.
“Hey, Lazerbeak, you think Shockwave would want to look at this?” Rumble asked, picking up a pile of papers.
Lazerbeak just glared at him.
“Yeah, probably not.” Rumble put the papers down. His eyes were caught by what was written on the paper.
The paper read, “The brain scans were a bust. I really thought I was onto something. I mean, in a sense, I did it. The scans really captured something unique about the participants. It was not a simple collection of basic attributes. They were something more. But what's the point if they can’t even be used? All that money, all that time.”
“Wow, this planet whines just about as much as you do, Reflector.”
Rumble opened a door to his right. Inside was another decaying office room with dusty monitors. However, there was a desk away from the other cubicles. It was near the left corner, surrounded by machines that Rumble could not make out. On the desk was another console and next to it, a headset. Every other device had lost power decades ago. Yet Rumble could hear the faint buzz of the headset, as if there was still some charge left in it.
“What the?” Rumble said, poking the device and monitor.
Lazerbeak returned to the pile. It had now amassed to a pile of printers, filing cabinets, and other inorganic parts. Soundwave picked up a noise outside the building. It was a voice from one of the Earth creatures.
“You guys are going to love this place. A couple of friends and I found this place a while ago, and I don’t think we even explored half of the rooms.”
The human was talking to others. Soundwave could make out four sets of footsteps heading inside.
“Rumble, Lazerbeak, return immediately,” Soundwave exclaimed.
Rumble had the headset in his hands. It reminded him of a vizor. The kind his optics were stored in. Before he could try it on, Soundwave’s command reached the room. “Yeah, um, coming!” Rumble placed the headset on the computer and ran with them both.
“This is Soundwave to Shockwave. The planet’s inhabitants are coming near. Open up the Space Bridge.”
Rumble put his finds on the pile. Lazerbeak transformed back into a cassette and flew into Soundwave. The human footsteps were becoming louder. They were already exploring the building.
“Hello? Is there anyone else here? We were just looking around. We can totally leave.” The human voice said from the first floor.
Rumble took out his blaster from his back. “Don’t worry Soundwave, if these bozos get any closer, I’ll make sure they’re nothing but dust.” Rumble whispered, staring down a dark hallway.
“What was that?” The voice shot out again. Clearly, Rumble wasn’t very quiet. The humans were walking up the stairs.
“Rumble, do not engage.”
Rumble lowered his arms and turned to Soundwave, “Alright fine, but if-” Rumble turned his head back again.
Across the hall, Abigail Brooks was now staring directly at the Decepticon in front of the giant pile of machinery.
“What the hell?!” Abigail yelled, dropping her phone.
“Heyyyyy…” Rumble said, slowly aiming his gun at the human.
Not a second later, a blue beam fell from the heavens and engulfed Rumble and the rest. It dissolved as quickly as it had shot down.
Abigail and her friends were left facing an empty hallway and a new hole in the ceiling.
-
Inside the digital circus, Jax was aura-melancholy-loner-near-abstraction-farming by the main stage again. He leaned his right shoulder on the wooden base with his arms crossed. His eyes twitched back and forth as he looked down at the checkered floor.
Zooble walked by. Seeing Jax, they gave a slight wave, “Hey.”
Jax lifted his head. He stared at them long enough for Zooble to know he saw the gesture. He then turned around and ignored them.
“Whatever.” Zooble said, rolling their eyes.
Zooble and Jax’s bodies were then thrown at 120mph at the wall of the tent. Ragatha, Pomni, Gangle, and Kinger were flung to the exact location. Their bodies ragdolled against each other as they all collided. Ragtha’s hair got caught in Zooble’s arm mesh. Kinger’s eyes clipped into Jax’s body. The game pushed them out of these impossible positions only for their models to be dragged back. The force that had jolted them to the wall stopped. They collided onto the floor, one on top of the other.
Pomni yanked her foot out of Gangle’s ribbons. “Sorry.”
Kinger pushed himself out and repositioned his bucket. “Is everyone alright?”
Jax looked up, holding his arm. “What… what was that!?”