With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Mr Zoat]

16th June 2014
05:13 GMT +5:30

Clng, clng, clng…

I wake up, momentarily surprised by the still form of Slipstream's avatar lying half on and half off the right side of my body, her right arm across my chest and her faux-hair fins flattening themselves against my side. A moment to feel through our bond as my wakefulness begins to stir her alertness as her unconsciousness fills me with lassitude. Another moment and my eyes adjust to the gloom of our bedroom enough that I can see Slipstream's main body sitting next to our bed in robot mode, eyes closed.

I know that noise.

I try recovering my right arm, prompting Slipstream to squirm against me and become more aware of her environment. I don't know if Shockwave is just this good or if he put time studying humans for our benefit, but if it wasn't for the obviously unnatural colouration she could pass as human. She even breathes and has a pulse when there's absolutely no practical benefit to it, and apparently the system keeps going in her sleep.

One of her fins pops up as she turns her head to look up at me. A glance up shows that she's turned both of her heads.

"Whaaat?" / "Whaaat?"

And she's still too dopey to separate the two threads of her consciousness.

"She's up again."

Little Slipstream squirms a little more, this time… Deliberately pressing her chest into my side.

"So?" / "Uh-h."

Big Slipstream's brain module is still transforming to accept… 'Novel' stimuli, while Little Stripstream-. Little Slipstream's neural systems were designed to not be affected by her main self's confusion when it comes to instinctively mimicking human behaviour.

"So while I don't know how transformers react to extreme stress, I do know how humans react. And she's showing a lot of warning signs."

Little Slipstream is.. rubbing herself against me while Big Slipstream's right hand has drifted to her upper chassis. Which is armoured metal with no increased sensitivity at all relative to her other armour panels. Ghost sensation. Feedback from her avatar. I don't think she's quite as awake as I thought she was. It's actually… Possible that only one of her is fully awake.

Robotics is a fascinating subject.

"Go back to sleep." I half-slide half-twist out from under her, my face passing by hers and kissing her lips as she moues disappointedly. "I'll be back shortly."

"Mmm, she can come too."

…

I suppose that settles that question. Slipstream has rather gotten into 'human bonding', and… I suppose it's only natural that she'd start thinking about Nova Storm in those terms as well. Even if that wouldn't work because Nova Storm isn't configured to use an avatar and wouldn't trust Shockwave to do the work even if she was interested in participating, which given her somewhat uncertain reaction to me I'm not sure that she is.

And if Slipstream tries 'bonding' with her giant robot body, Nova Storm will mostly just be confused.

I get my feet on the floor and stand up, Little Slipstream falling face-first into the hole I leave in the bedding. I'm not exactly sure what her sense of smell is like, if only because she can't really describe it, so I've got no idea if she likes the smell of me or just doesn't notice it. I pick up a robe from the floor and wrap it around me, because while India is much too warm for sleeping in pyjamas I don't want to wander around naked.

I walk towards Big Slipstream, passing under her right leg and patting the featureless armour panel that makes up her crotch with my left hand. Her eyes come open again and she makes a faint hissing noise as if she were sucking in air through her teeth, thighs twitching as tries to process the tactile input. Interesting that sensation carries over like that, and… Now I'm wondering if this whole situation is giving her T-cog ideas.

Ducking under her left leg I head for the small door, exiting into the main hallway and following Nova Storm's silhouette. She's standing on the veranda, leaning a little carefully on the transformer-scale railing to watch the sunrise. Not something that she'd have seen often on Cybertron. While it did occasionally enter a star system and so have a star shine on its surface from relative close range, Cybertron never orbited anything and didn't rotate.

"Huh."

"I'm a little surprised that you're interested in this sort of thing."

She glances around and down as I approach, frowning faintly. "Oh."

"Sorry, Slipstream's still asleep." She looks away with a sigh. "Sunrises?"

She stares up at it, her posture relaxed as I come alongside her and start walking up the human scale gantry. "I never saw a star this close before."

"Then where does your name come from?"

"It comes from wanting one better than 'Static Charge Labourer Seven'." She makes a snorting noise. "One through twelve, all… Changed it, to something more exciting. And I'm probably the only one left."

"Do you want to talk about them?"

"No. Why? They were just like me. Exactly like me. It would be like talking about myself."

"Because they were an important part of your-" I reach the upper parapet and lean against the top of the railing myself, facing her. "-formative years."

"No. I just want to-. Be-. Now. I'm alive, Slippy's alive and… And we're not starving or being shot or electrocuted, and everything's good." She raises her right hand up to her face. "I don't know why I can't…"

I edge slowly closer to her, making sure not to startle her and giving her time to move away. "We humans have wars, too. Nothing like the scale of the Great War, but we don't live as long as you do anyway. It's a matter of proportion."

She sniffs. "I guess it's nice that aliens aren't any smarter than we are."

"We found that taking humans away from a combat zone and thrusting them into a peaceful civilian area is actually a really bad idea. Their brain is still prepared for combat, they're constantly on edge waiting for an attack that isn't coming, they take cover or start looking for a weapon if there's a loud noise…" I shrug. "I don't know if anyone's ever looked into post traumatic stress disorder in transformers. It could be that you don't get it. But I have been keeping tabs on your rest cycles, and you… Haven't."

Her heads doesn't turn away from the sunrise, but her eyes lock onto me. I've seen Slipstream's eyes do that, and it's usually right before she shoots something.

"You haven't had peace for a long time, and you need time to transition back to that… Heck, did you actually live through any time where you weren't a slave or a soldier?"

I hear the screech of twisting metal as her right hand clenches through the railing. For a moment she doesn't seem to notice, then she jerks her head around and stares at the mess she's made. Then she staggers back a step, dropping the twisted metal in her hand to the ground.

She stares down at it for a moment, then snorts weakly, shaking her head. "Hasn't Slippy told you?"

"She told me about her life." I nod. "But she's never really wanted to talk about her old team mates. It was painful, for obvious reasons. She missed.. all of you so much that she was desperate enough to try bonding with me. She didn't just shut down due to lack of fuel."

"I should be happy." She raises her head to look at me. "I should be happy-. This is-. I wanted to believe, you know? I wanted to think that Megatron-. That we could win, and everything would be fine." She shakes her head. "But I didn't. People died and died but what else was there? And then I wake up, and I'm here, and I couldn't ever hope that it would ever have been that good and I've been this close-" She raises her right hand, thumb and forefinger a few centimetres apart. "-to shooting my way through a wall because I thought there was something hiding in the shadows."

"I'm just impressed that you didn't."

"Didn't want to-. Give away our position."

"Nova Storm, you're not the only one who feels like this." I walk to the edge of the ripped area and try reaching out towards her, but she's too far away and I can't jump down from here to pat her foot. "I want to help. Slipstream wants to help. And if we can't, we can find people who can. You'll get better."

Her arms flop to her sides.

"I hope so."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
02:43 GMT -5

"This ship doesn't have a head, you know."

For a moment I'm frowning before I remember that 'head' in this context means 'toilet'.

"Ah, if you require one, my ring has a waste management facility."

"No, it's just-. We're going so slow, you know? You told me there was a giant super-monster and then we start crawling across the system like we're a pre-F.T.L. cargo tug."

"Yes, because I don't know what sort of detection equipment they might have set up."

Though I can obviously narrow it down to things that I can't detect. I do full active scans of the system a couple of times a day and I haven't detected anything, and that's ignoring things that I would pick up by default the moment they happened. Normally that would suggest they were limited to passive monitoring, or… Putting monitoring equipment physically on our satellites and using a bleed fracture pulse system..?

Would I..?

No, no, that would actually work, and I can't check for it now because that might alert whoever this is that I'm onto them.

I'll mention it to Batman when I get back.

"What are you afraid of a dead giant starfish detecting?"

"I'm afraid of the starfish detecting anything because we got very lucky when it broke out, and if it can still detect things then either it wasn't as dead as I thought it was or it has somehow become undead and I didn't notice."

"What's 'undead'?"

Huh-? … Oh, right. 99% of the universe doesn't have undead. Amazing what a narrow perspective you get…

"That's where a thing-. An organic being loses all vitality but keeps going anyway, usually by using magic. At a basic level there are spells to pull someone's soul back to the material world as a ghost, or animate a corpse in a controlled way. At the top end you get things like liches who bind their soul to an object and animate their own corpse, or vampires who sustain their existence by leaching vital energies from living things."

"Does Earth have those?"

"Vampires? Yes. It can be passed like a blood-borne infection, so it's actually quite hard to eliminate them completely. Though the ones who last any length of time tend to be intelligent enough to moderate their feeding and avoid reproducing too much. Liches…" I smile inside my armour. "Not any more."

But speaking of the Mother Star, we're only a light minute away. I asked Bleez to stick to passive sensors, but while Thanagarian sensors are good, they're not power ring-good.

Give me a better look.

Compliance.

And there it is. A giant starfish, one eye… On the far side, from our current angle of approach. Instead, we get a nice view of its vestigial mouth and… The lines of orifices from which it deployed the smaller types of star conqueror. I see a few… Tears and craters, presumably from where the rocky remains of the plutonian crust crashed back into it. No ships or structure and no signs of life.

Or… Unlife.

"Seems to be more or less the same as I left it."

I'd take a look with empathic vision, but Kent Nelson showed me how easy that was to detect for a magic user back when I was first starting out. And everything I've learned about magic since has confirmed that. My soul should be more strongly anchored to my body than Swamp Thing's was, but that's not something I feel like testing.

"Has that just been floating in your system?"

"Yes. For longer than my species has, actually."

Okay, as far as passive sensors go, my rune stone… We're a long way away, but in a thaumically inert environment…

I pick the stone out of an equipment pouch and hold it out.

Ah, I think that's a response, but I suppose that with my tattoos I'm fairly thaumically active. Oh well.

Heh. Part of me wants to just jump in and scan at full intensity, on the assumption that my fully accelerated decision-making processes are going to be faster than anything I could encounter. Stealth is all very well and good, but it's difficult to sneak up on something in space. Even something simple like infrared means that I'm having to have my rings absorb my heat, though the files Dox gave me seemed to indicate that some very sophisticated species sometimes forget about simple things at critical junctures; someone once nearly killed one of his father's avatars with a clay-covered explosive fired from a trebuchet.

But I don't want to risk Death Number Three, especially not knowing where my last clone ended up. Which means that a full visual inspection is the.. next…

"Is that thing turning around?"

Either that, or there's a surprisingly prescient black hole around and I didn't detect a change in local gravity fields.

"Nth metal isolates you from telepathic effects, right?"

"Up to a point!"

Yeah, I don't think my telepath baffles are rated to stop something like that, either. To say nothing of its telekinesis, though it's possible that it can't focus on something as small as me.

How long would it take me to generate enough neural chaff to affect-? Hah, no. The very structure of its decentralised neural network would make that… Impractical, particularly when its telekinesis could destroy the construct fairly instinctively so scrambling its thought processes wouldn't do much.

Does the fact it's moving mean that it's spotted us?

Ah…

How is it moving? It'll be a few seconds until I can passively detect heat from a thruster. The only way to easily detect telekinesis would be to monitor it's brain. Thanks to our rapprochement with the Green Lantern Corps I do know what a Mother Star's brain looks like when it uses its various abilities, but that still requires active sensors or something implanted into its flesh.

One enterprising Green Lantern managed that with microbots, once. Exactly once.

Gas thrusters? In theory it could harvest ice and turn it into gas, but I'm reasonably confident that someone would have noticed that by now if it was sending smaller star conquerors outside of itself. No, by the time I would see it moving I'd see the plume as well, that's-.

It's… Side-on to me now, and… That's not the right shape. The faintly scaled upper surface leading to the raised section containing the eye is…

It's..? Missing? And there's..? Some sort of plant-machinery? I'm seeing vines and… Glass? And tendrils of some sort and I can't tell whether they're plant vines or animal tissue. It doesn't look like anything that J or Alstair would make, or like what little I know of Dominion plant technology. And it's almost like I'm… Not seeing parts of it. I can see vines that are clearly part of a complex structure start and stop without rhyme or reason. I'd guess that they're moving out of phase or something, but confirming that would require very active monitoring-.

"What is-? What is it?"

"I have not the slightest idea. But I think it's too late to get away."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
02:47 GMT -5

"Is it looking at us?"

"It doesn't appear to have any eyes, so my guess would be 'no'. However, I stress that is just a guess."

"Is it coming this way?"

"Not at the moment. It's focused on turning around."

"Is… That where Swamp Thing went?"

"I really hope so, because if there are two things like that around here then I'm giving up and moving to Tamaran."

"Hah." … "So, what does it want?"

"Well, Mother Stars usually want to spread Star Conquerors to as many intelligent beings as possible for both their value as labourers and the improved intelligence they bring to the Star Conqueror collective. I also got the impression that the minds of the people being puppeted are added to a weird sort of dream realm inside the consciousness of the Mother Star, but that is based on a fleeting impression that I got from that one as it died."

"So is.. that a liche..?"

"Based on its appearance, I think what we're looking at is a parasite using the corpse as a host. I'm not familiar with this life form at all- " I upload an image to Maltus tagged for Hinon's attention and marked with the text 'what is this thing?'. "-but if we go with normal parasite lifecycles, it's going to reproduce and dump its young somewhere with a lot of potential hosts."

"Isn't that the same as a normal.. Mother Star..?"

"If we're really lucky, we're looking at a Star Conqueror parasite that can only infect them." I take another look at the… Thing which is now almost completely facing us. "And it's just looking at…" Quick check, considering gravity fields and orbital pathways. "Earth, directly, because it wants to infest the handful of Star Conquerors we still have."

"Um..?"

"Yes, I'm not feeling-"

Target in motion.

"-lucky. Ah… Well, that growth does look sort of plant-like, and we're looking for two elementals, so… The second most likely thing it might be parasitizing is plant elementals and we've got lots of them on Earth. Ah. And since I'm not detecting gravity manipulation I'm going to assume that it's not using gravity manipulation to fly, which means that an object that big going to Earth -even if it doesn't try and land, which isn't a certainty- would result in atmosphere loss, messed up tides and… A whole bunch of volcanic eruptions as the crust gets stressed. Aaaaand we might lose all our greenery and be left with an uninhabitable planet, depending on how its ability works. Orange Lantern to Justice League."

"Hey, Paul."

"Green Arrow, we have a large problem. Sending images."

"Ah. What is that?"

"Don't know. Which means that the Controllers probably don't know and the Guardians haven't put it on any database they've decided to share. Check with Guy or Jordan."

"I'll get right on that. Can you stop it?"

"I don't even know how it started. I'm going to start prodding now."

"Poking weird sea creatures is what killed Steve Irwin."

"I will remember that comment next time you face down a giant exotic alien. Orange Lantern out. Okay, Bleez?"

"You want to get closer, right?"

"Yes. Ah. And you've got a choice between coming with me or leaving the system, and I'm afraid that you've got to make it now."

"Ah… No offence..?"

I nod. "It's fine. Go."

Her ship wallows around, its manoeuvring systems nothing like as good as its primary drive. Then she's accelerating away, FTL drive engaging a moment

//

a moment-. What?

Bleez's ship flies towards the thing from the point in space where her F.T.L. burst ended, but-.

She wasn't aiming that way; her FTL system can only make her move in the direction of travel. And she's getting dangerously close to-

"AH!"

Tendrils pass by her rapidly braking ship on either side, threads of… Glass? Spinning between them, binding the ship and forming a.. ball around it? Parts of the ship start doing the same vanishing-and-reappearing thing as parts of the creature-

-and then I'm there, reality stabiliser construct on my back and x-ionised blades slicing at the… Stuff?

Ring, analysis?

Unable to comply.

And sticking construct armour around myself and gosh does this thing look bigger close up, because while I don't really expect construct armour to do anything I'd feel stupid if I didn't try.

Situation?

Okay, the phasing? It's not actually phasing because I can detect and block phasing, but that's what it looks like. The phasing effect appears to be reduced in an area around me but not completely stopped. That probably means that the stabiliser is interfering with part of the process rather than stopping the end result. Which means that it can still do-

Some sort of… Dissection laboratory shimmers in to being around us, techno-organic probe arms reaching for-

I see gaps in the structure, holes through which I can see what surrounded us a moment ago. Not subspace, but what?

-both me and Bleez's ship. X-ionised blades swing out to counter them, slicing just under the blade heads and separating them from their tendrils. Follow up swings start chopping the arms into thin slices-.

The walls of the dissection chamber pull… Away, twisting and shimmering and then reappearing, whole and intact, arms reaching out once more! Slice again-.

This time the arms I try and attack do the pull away-shimmer-return thing as I swing at them, returning to the attack a moment later.

Yes, that's about what I expected. But the glass stuff imprisoning Bleez's ship doesn't appear able to pull off that trick and I'm nearly through. One more cut-.

Bleez's ship metaphorically rockets free, darting around anything that look like it's reaching for her and trying to-.

"Stay close to the surface! If you pull away it can target you from a wider area."

Her ship immediately dips down, heading for a coral-like area that doesn't appear that active. I-.

The dissection chamber folds back into unreality once more, replaced by glass-bearing vines that are reaching for me-.

I head after Bleez, desperately trying to make sense of what I just saw.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
02:50 GMT -5

"Bleez, why did you come b-?"

"I didn't! I set course back to Mars! And then I was just back here!"

Huh. Unusual, but possible. There are ways to interfere with faster than light travel of course, that's what interdiction fields do. But doing what this… Thing appeared to do and just move someone travelling faster than light from one place to another… When the target's ship has an Nth metal hull which blocks a lot of exotic techniques…

I… Actually don't know how to do that. I mean, technically it could be done with sufficiently strong gravity but that would also do a lot of other stuff and almost certainly pancake the ship.

Three… Metre-wide glass balls with.. circuitry-like etchings on their surfaces, strange machinery inside and frantically waggling flagellum behind them crest a rise and surge towards-.

My railgun is slightly faster than Bleez's plasma pulse turret, left and right glass orbs shattering and melting, remains reduced to aimless mass. An electrical discharge from the third… In space, somehow, fails to penetrate my construct barrier and cuts out as my construct tendrils grapple it.

"Alright, one chance. Explain what the hell is going on here or I assimilate you and absorb the knowledge directly."

Bleez has her turret trained on it. "Is that intelligent?"

"I don't know, but I like to make the offer." I scan the remains of the other two, not really understanding what I'm seeing. Perhaps Dox can do something with it. "Three, two-."

"We work to make the Great-Mother whole."

That certainly sounded intelligent.

"And what does that involve?"

"Converting dead-parts into Great-Mother-parts. Repairs and sutures."

"Does your species have a name?"

"The Inside."

"Inside what?"

"Inside. Where we are made. Where we function in service to Great-Mother, that she and her daughters may live and breed. Inside which is not The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Is your mother the mother star?"

"No."

"Alright, are the vines part of your mother?"

"No. Added. Unwanted. Strange engrammatic programs changing Great-Mother. We try to make repairs, but are we repairing as she was or as she may become?"

"Were the three of you attacking us?"

"We would use you as parts to make repairs."

"Even though we're people?"

"Great-Mother is all. We must make repairs."

"Is Great-Mother this whole place?"

"Yes. But some parts are truer to Great-Mother than others."

"Describe Great-Mother."

"Great-Mother defines the Inside. Beyond Great-Mother is The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Does Great-Mother have defined physical characteristics?"

"The form of Great-Mother is malleable. Some systems are constants, but all can change."

"Why is Great-Mother here?"

"Aliens come to Great-Mother. My brothers and anti-body security drones destroy them. But then there came aliens that we could not destroy. We were blind to them. I do not know why. We sought them ferociously but only made targets of one another. They did something to Great-Mother and then the changes came. To us. To her. To Inside and Outside."

"Paul… What does any of that mean?"

"I'm not completely sure."

I've been thinking that a lot today.

"What do the aliens want Great-Mother to do?"

"To become something new for them."

"They brought her here?"

"She brought them here."

"Because they forced her to?"

"They altered Great-Mother and she brought them and us here. This is where she must be because they made it so."

"Do you know who these aliens are?"

"No."

"Would you recognise them if you saw them again?"

"My analytic equipment is designed to sustain Great-Mother, not study aliens of Outside."

So no, because he's task-specialised.

"Can you take us either to the aliens or to… Great-Mother's core intelligence?"

"No. I flashed my memories of both locations the moment I was captured by you."

…

Yeah, okay. Reasonably clever. But fortunately for me, the remains of his brothers are reasonably intact. Reading the brain of a corpse would require someone with a very specific skill set, but with a techno-organic brain and with a worked example already thoroughly scanned…

Bingo.

"Do you get attacked, flying around here?"

"No. I am part of the system. The aliens no longer delude us into attacking each other."

Might not work, but…

I roughly replicate the structure of the Ball Brothers' exterior, the strange glass-like substance and those circuits that my rings can decipher, and cover my armour in it before coating the hull of Bleez's ship in the same stuff. It won't fool a general intelligence, but hopefully any automated systems won't know the difference.

"Bleez, we're going to say 'hello' to Great Mother, and hopefully the people in control. Follow me closely, and stay alert."

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd June 2014
14:00 GMT +5:30

"Ladies and gentlemechs. Thank you for coming."

The giant robots cautiously examining each other in the giant briefing room turn their attention to where Slipstream stands on the stage. Then they realise that she's not talking and move their gaze to me, the tiny organic standing on the platform next to her.

"And for those of you who haven't visited before, welcome to Earth."

I tap a button and generate a hologram of my head to make things a little easier for them, prompting Heatseeker to grin, then tap Flywheels on their shoulder.

"Hey, check out how tiny that thing is!"

"The reason why we asked you here is simple: we are currently standing on a thin crust of rock spread over the recumbent body of Unicron. It's filled with dark energon-fuelled mechanimals and the local intelligent species -hello!- are worried about what happens if they ever get out."

Flywheels twitches, then slaps themselves.

"And why should you care? Because there's quite a lot of energon on this planet and the locals are happy to mine it for you. They're paying a bounty for just about anything involving Unicron; for mapping his interior, recovering useful technology-"

Axlegrease… Flexes her tools. Their placement seems almost random across her body, but they're clearly all plumbed in.

"-or just killing anything you find."

Heatseeker frowns, then takes a half step away and turns to his other side to ask if his other neighbour has noticed how tiny I am. Unfortunately for him, his other neighbour is the recently resurrected and decidedly unamused Dreadwing, who scowls and motions towards me with his head.

"More to the point, I imagine that you all have reasons to not want to be on Cyberton at the moment."

Dreadwing nods. Finding out what happened to his brother, then having Megatron execute him for trying to kill the one responsible… There are several good reasons why Ratchet was wiling to recommend him for resurrection. With Megatron inching his way back into a position of authority, Dreadwing has no desire to be on the same planet any longer.

"To be clear: this is a private enterprise apart from the Decepticon hierarchy that you're used to. You don't have to work here. If you work here for a while and later decide to leave, that's fine: you can leave at the end of the current mission."

Axlegrease shrugs. With transformer corpses across Cybertron being brought in so they can be destroyed if they were infected with dark energon or resurrected if they weren't, salvage options are running low for the first time since the war started. She doesn't really have anywhere else to go to get what she wants.

"And because this is a private enterprise, you get paid." I press another button and show a price list, finally getting Heatseeker's attention. "Here's a list of bounties we've already been offered. The total bounties accrued on a mission will be split evenly between all participants."

"I don't wanna share with him." / "Well, I don't wanna share with you."

The group… Stares at Flywheels for a moment. As a self-propelled gun/jet fighter Duocon, he's noticeably bigger than everyone else here, and it's more than a little unsettling to hear robots that size start arguing with themselves. We invited them because Shockwave asked us to, feeling… If not actually guilty, then at least accepting that their mental state is his fault. And naturally, not getting help from Shockwave is one of the few things both of them agree on. According to Shockwave, Flywheels and Battletrap both had similar problems with their split form, but while Battletrap learned to cope, Flywheels got gradually worse. They function fine in actual combat, but otherwise…

They slap themselves again.

Heatseeker frowns. "Okay, but seriously, does he get two shares or one?"

"One."

"Is that true for all Combiners, because…"

"Flywheels isn't a Combiner, they're a Duocon. One transformer in two bodies."

Heatseeker takes a closer look at them as their argument continues at a mutter. "Doesn't sound like one bot."

Slipstream shrugs. "He never said they weren't crazy."

Heatseeker flaps his arms to the side. "Yeah, 'cause that's the kinda guy I want in charge of a electron breacher."

Flywheels turns their head towards Heatseeker, hefting both of their guns. "We shoot straight." / "Both of us."

"Sure, buddy. I'm completely reassured."

Dreadwing looks thoughtful. "Breaching Unicron's interior took the combined might of Lord Megatron and Optimus Prime, as well as their most devoted followers. I am not convinced that this group will be able to replicate that feat."

Slipstream nods. "You haven't met Nova Storm or Pull yet, but you're right. We wouldn't be able to fly right to Unicron's core while he was trying to stop us. But we don't need to. Unicron's consciousness isn't there anymore. As far as we know, there isn't anything coordinating whatever's in there, and we're not in any kind of hurry. Our only objectives are, most importantly, not dying, and secondarily, making money." She shrugs. "If we see something we can't fight, we mark its location and pull back."

Dreadwing nods. "I am not familiar with Nova Storm and Pull. What are their capacities?"

"Nova Storm is a light frame flier like me. Pull is a heavy transporter. Strong, tough, and… A little slow."

"There is enough space inside parts of Unicron for aerial manoeuvring. But there are also far narrower spaces, as well as sufficient quantities of foes to swarm the larger chambers and hem in attackers." He looks around the group. "I am concerned that we are a little light-frame heavy."

Yeah, it was a blow that Munitions didn't want to take part, even after we made it clear that we could bridge him back to Cybertron after each mission. Dreadwing is a heavyweight flier and Flywheels has a middleweight ground component, but only my Pull body is a true heavyweight. Area effect attacks would be extremely dangerous… If this was a battle. And if Unicron's subsurface parasites were intelligent enough to realise that.

Fortunately, this came up in our rehearsals with Nova Storm, so Slipstream has an answer prepared. "That's so that it's easier to pull out. This isn't a war, and we're not trying to hit a specific objective. If we have to retreat early the only bad result is that we don't get paid as much."

Dreadwing bows his head slightly. "You are correct. I am… Unused to such mercenary behavior."

"And if things do go to the Pit, we just have to make sure we get the body back to Cybertron for resurrection."

Dreadwing's head comes back up, his humour noticeably worse. "And ensure that they are not infected with dark energon."

Slipstream nods sympathetically. "Yeah. Megatron personally infected most of my old team's bodies with dark energon when he tried to overrun Earth with Terrorcons, so I know how you feel."

Dreadwing nods, mollified. "I apologise for my presumption. I thought that you were making light of my loss. I should have appreciated that I was not alone in that regard."

Heatseeker waves at the price list. "What does any of that even mean?"

I glance at it myself. "That's the reward for taking part. The quantity of energon, because I assume that you want to stay fuelled and since this isn't a Decepticon operation, you don't get your expenses covered. Anything you earn after that, you can do what you like with it."

Slipstream nods. "I bought luxury accommodation with a team-sized oil bath, but I'm sure you can work out something to spend it on."

Now he looks interested. "Oh? What are the roads like around here?"

"Human labour is cheap, but they're not exactly Constructicons. It takes a lot longer to lay roads down."

"O-kay." He nods. "I'm interested." He looks at Axlegrease. "But what does the walking scrap yard bring to the table? Doesn't look that tough."

She waves a hydraulic cutting tool attachment. "I'm a salvage engineer. We're getting paid for the salvage we bring back. You don't even have a tow bar."

"I don't even want a tow bar."

"I can also work as a medic. Taking things apart is a good way of learning how they go together."

Heatseeker doesn't look impressed. "I-."

Dreadwing lays his right hand on Heatseeker's left shoulder, silencing him. "A useful combination of skills. Flywheels, have you made a decision?"

Flywheels goes quiet for a moment, then closes their eyes. Gradually, both hands come up with their thumbs raised.

Slipstream smiles. "Great. If we're all agreed, I'll talk to the others and arrange a planning session for our first journey into Unicron."

"Great!" Heatseeker turns to leave. "I'll be-."

I shake my head. "Staying here until I finish your orientation lecture. If you're going to be staying on Earth, you need to learn things about how everything here works."

He sneers at the idea. "Skew that. I'm not going to be lectured to by a squishy."

"They have fission bombs, Heatseeker." He stops. "And they will use them on you if you become a problem." And they will. By hiring Slipstream and I to deliver them, but there's no need to mention that. "I have to tell you how to behave once, then you're not my problem."

Dreadwing nods, gripping a little harder with the hand on Heatseeker's shoulder. "You will remain and you will listen."

Heatseaker turns back, shaking his hand off. "Fine. But this better be interesting."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
02:58 GMT -5

"This is not the entrance to the Great-Mother."

"Sure."

And what gives the game away is that it's clearly not part of the larger creature. Or exactly part of the stuff… Grafted? Onto the larger creature. Oh, some attempt has been made to match colouration and materials but it's far too close to being a normal Dominion hangar door for me to mistake it for a part of… This. Hiding it this close to the Mother Star's mouth was a clever move, because that's something that anyone who's had anything to do with Star Conquerors will instinctively avoid.

I watch as more of the glass ball creatures swim out from the modified Star Conqueror ducts. I'm not sure exactly what they're doing. Something to do with encouraging the growth of the new flesh?

"They should not be being released."

"Oh?"

"They are wrong, altered. They should be dismantled, their errors studied and avoided in future."

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be a review process for whatever 'safe' signal we're sending out. Which hopefully means that this is a small operation by a small number of dominators.

"Look… What do you want for your mother?"

"I do not want for Great-Mother. She wanted for us. Then the aliens came. Now she wants for them."

"Okay, you seem like a dutiful son. What sort of life does Great Mother want for herself?"

"I do not know. I know that my function was to absorb and convey data, and that that is what she wants from me and for me."

"Is there something that she wants from and for other members of your family?"

"She wants to find someone to sire a daughter. Our sister would then leave and fly into The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Is that more or less likely to happen with the aliens in command of her?"

"…" He wiggles a little. "Less… Likely..?"

"You don't sound very confident in that answer."

"I am not made for this."

"But you can learn new skills, right?"

"I… Can learn."

"And if it helped your Great Mother go back to doing the things she wanted to do before the aliens altered her..?"

The glass ball trembles for a moment.

"Is that something that you-?"

"It must be."

"Okay, good. So are you-?"

He space-swims towards the hangar door, lights inside him flickering.

"Hey, is it just me, or-" I turn towards Bleez's ship. "-is he… Kinda like..?"

"A space sperm, yes. I don't know whether he actually is or not, but there are only so many ways to build biological structures."

"So… Queen Hyathis didn't build this?"

"No, of course not. I have a good relationship with Queen Hyathis. If she wanted something from me, she'd just ask for it. Or-. Heck, she had to be invited to Thanagar, didn't she."

"… I mean… Yeah…"

"Even if she wanted to demand something with menaces, well… She did cure the Equality Plague. She could have just kept the equalised thanagarians as serfs. And she's… Busy in Antares right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Unlike you, I can just go there. She's… Consolidating."

"Consolidating, like..? She's rebuilding her forces after an attack..?"

"No, 'consolidating' like she just-." Um. "After she won a battle."

I should not be talking to a Thanagarian Empire intelligence asset about how Antares is now firmly under her control and they're next. I don't… I'm not sure exactly what I want out of that situation, but I doubt that…

"Was it a big battle? Because they have a lot of battles in Antares. It's sort of why we didn't want her as our queen."

Oh, I don't know. They know where she is. I'd be astonished if they didn't have at least a rough idea about what she's doing. So… Does telling her just mean that I don't irritate the Thanagarian government? Imply that I'm not backing her?

"It looked like a pretty big battle, but I can't say I'm an expert in the Antares War. By Reach standards it was barely a skirmish."

"Huh. Yeah, probably just the usual back and forth." The hangar doesn't open, but the… 'Space sperm' swims around to a side entrance and vanishes. "Has he just dumped us?"

"No. I felt his genuine desire. He'll be back. Ah, I've been meaning to ask; now that the Yellow Lantern who was stalking you has been disciplined, are you planning on hanging around? I'm happy to have you of course, but the Earth isn't really at its best right now and no one's really in a concert mood."

"I just… Really want to make sure."

"Fair enough. I-" The hangar door shudders for a moment, then opens at the standard rate. "-think we're in."

It's not that I don't think that Sinestro will keep his word. It's that I don't think that his recruitment tactics will result in him getting well-disciplined Lanterns, and one lacking the foresight to realise that his boss wasn't joking could cause Bleez real trouble.

The inside is… Ah, they've gone with the space-airlock design. Practical, and far easier to hide than a synthetic environmental barrier. The interior of the lock looks like it was cut through the Mother Star's body, and I can see where veins and arteries have been cauterised or blocked while the muscle and fat has been left bare. I suppose that it doesn't have to worry about rotting, exactly, though it's interesting that this part isn't being consumed by whatever's replacing the top side.

"Ew."

Bleez pilots her ship into the opening, and I follow her.

"I will never complain about Thanagarian Empire ship decoration again. Did they just cut a hole in this thing?"

"Looks like." The exterior door begins closing behind us, and I note that there's no interior lighting. I can still see fine and I'm sure that Bleez's ship has some sort of augmented vision system, but it's unusual by human standards. "Does your ship have shields?"

"Basic ones. I could just have waited outside."

"No, I can't mark two locations as friendly. If it comes to a fight, just keep out of the way or abandon your ship as a distraction. I can fly you back once we're done."

"That's what I was planning."

Then the interior door opens, and I see the dominator ship.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:02 GMT -5

It's a uniform sandy brown in colour, the habitation unit at the front a large egg-shape, one shared with the sealed arcologies of their homeworld. It will contain the laboratory, communications centre, quarters and… Hm, it's not a huge vessel, so they probably aren't bothering with internal segregation, which means that the galley is either for everyone or they've automated the ship's mundane functions. The habitation unit is clamped to the long oblong engineering module, which contains the drives, generator and either bunks for the low caste members of crew or charge points for the robots.

In their ideal universe, the high caste would be able to complete their mission without interacting with or even seeing their social inferiors.

Gunnery… Light. Some small energy mounts on the engineering portion of the ship, almost certainly automated and currently retracted into their protective cowling. There might be something in the forward section, but that seems unlikely. A vessel of this size doesn't have the generator capacity for one of the Dominion's 'fun' guns, and it doesn't have the internal volume to retract it. But now I look…

I… Think that's a heavy tractor beam. It can sort of be used as a weapon, but the tractor field won't form around large ships and all it does to small ships is hold them in place. But if they had to bring Great Mother here… Yes, that would make sense. It also gives me some idea of her likely mass; quite a bit bigger than the Dominion ship, and relatively solid. I'm not seeing any stealth technology that might explain how they avoided detection by our sensor arrays, but that should be well within the abilities of the Dominion.

"So… Who are they?"

"It's a Dominion ship. And it looks modern enough that they wouldn't have sold it to another species to use."

Hm. Yes, I'll have to risk it. I turn up my empathic vision-. And wince at the confusing feedback I'm getting from all around me, from the structure of the Mother Star itself.

U-ugh.

But… As far as I can tell, there's no one on board. Can't see through the walls here due to… I don't even know what that is. Some sort of echo of the Mother Star's incomprehensible desires? Something to do with the way its little patch of the Dream is collapsing… If it's even collapsing. I mean, it's not impossible that the Mother Star's soul is being pulled into the Dream due to it having such a big presence there anyway.

"Is it safe?"

"'Safe' is a very relative word." But knowing what those guns do, and the fact that they're currently powered down… "Assuming that you were just up against that ship, you should be able to keep out of its fire arcs or run."

"Ah, I'm a qualified pilot, not a military pilot. I know what an arc of fire is but I've got no idea how to keep out of one in a fight."

"The guns are on the long section at the back. Immediately in front of the ship or immediately behind it are out of its arcs of fire, though if you go too low at the front it can pick you up with its tractor beam."

"No, I mean, physically. I don't have those skills."

"It's amazing what you can learn to do-" I cautiously start flying into the docking bay, monitoring all directions with my rings and armour sensors. "-really quickly when someone's shooting at you."

Bleez activates her ship's thrusters, and… Takes me literally, flying over to just behind the Dominion ship's primary sublight drive. A little close, actually. If her shields and armour aren't good she's going to get kzinti lessoned if they get underway. Not from exhaust, but from the gravity distortion the dominators use to fly around.

Right, where-

The space sperm emerges from a cleft in the wall and swims over to us.

-next?

"The passageway is too small for your male."

I frown for a moment. "My male?"

"The grey featureless male that accompanied you."

"That's not a male. That's a ship. Like…" I point to the Dominion ship. "That."

"There is someone inside?"

"Yes."

"That is very strange. Can they leave?"

"Would staying here be safe?"

"With the Great-Mother altered, I do not think that anywhere is safe, even for me. Her mind is alien-altered."

"Bleez? Up to you, but I have to go on."

"Ugh. Yeah, I-. I'll get out. Can you make me a force field generator or something? This suit wasn't mean for hazardous environment work."

"Certainly. I'd offer to make you armour, but if you're not used to it then it might throw off your movements."

I fly over to her ship as she wriggles out of the void exit. There is actually an atmosphere here, but it's thin and nothing I'd want to try breathing. And… Huh. No, not a kinetic barrier. That would get in the way of her flying, and dominators don't generally usually use kinetic weapons. Instead… Ah, yes, a N.E.M.O. personal force field should work… Ah, strapped to her waist as part of her belt. Enter physical parameters so that it doesn't burn her wings off or something… Good.

She glances down at it, running her fingers over the casing. "What's it good for?"

"You saw the guns on their ship?"

"Y-es..?"

"Most of one hit. Then it will be completely overloaded and need to be replaced. If there are Dominion marines here it will probably take about four shots before failing, and it will come back up after about a minute. Don't get hit if you can avoid it."

"Overloaded-. Sure, but what happens to me?"

"Painful but non-crippling burns to whatever part of the body it hit. Possibly including blindness if it hit your head. But I already know what you look like in perfect health so fixing you afterwards won't be a problem."

"You know, I think one of the things I could learn real fast is how to wear armour?"

I shake my head. "Your best defence is avoiding being hit, and we don't have time for you to train how to use it."

"Not a problem if it was Nth metal. Thanagarians wear that like skin."

"Ah, sorry, but last time I made Nth metal I was having a psychotic episode. I can.. try again once we're finished here, but… It.. wouldn't be a good idea in a situation that calls for good judgement."

"If it's what I've got…" She looks around. "Where next?"

I turn to the ball. "Alright, we need to know where the aliens are, where Great Mother is and where Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man are."

"Who is Swamp Thing?"

"Plant elemental. Usually takes control of a bundle of plants to make a body for himself. Good Gumbo Man is similar, but older and slower."

"Oh. You mean grandfather."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:06 GMT -5

…

"I'm sorry, 'grandfather'?"

"The Great-Mother of Great-Mother harvested material from him to guide the creation of Great-Mother and of my uncles. Therefore, he is my grandfather. From him we derive the ability to manipulate certain forms of organic life as we might guide Great-Mother's flesh."

He never mentioned that to me. I mean, okay, there's no obvious reason why he would. I know that he'd left Earth before…

"This way."

He float-swims off towards a side… Passage, the door blocking access clearly Dominion style surrounded by Mother Star flesh. I don't detect any particular signal, but it opens when he approaches and remains open as Bleez and I fly through after him.

Bleez shakes her head. "I don't get it. I could get some kind of living ship getting another living ship pregnant, okay? And I guess one kind of magic plant could get another magic plant pregnant, so… Maybe we could use your guy to distract Hyathis or something?"

"Hyathis has already been to Earth and showed no interest in that sort of thing."

"But how does a plant-guy and a ship-woman make a space-sperm?"

"I imagine that she incorporated parts of his design inside her own mutable structure, or… Parts of his mental set-up in their neural pathways. Sexual reproduction isn't the only form of reproduction."

"Grandfather was vivisected while fully conscious, his brain and other organs removed and processed for data. We were surprised that he was still alive."

"… Vivisected?"

"Great-Mother of Great-Mother loved him greatly."

We.. both back off slightly as he continues down the corridor, the sides… I think we're in some sort of internal structure that's been… Cleared out. They're flatter than the entryway, with a slightly rough texture that…

I.. think there are vines growing beneath the surface. Or… On the other side of the membrane.

"That's not how love works."

"He made a body from her flesh, she used it to create new life. They were as close as two beings can be. Integrated and iterated. What else is love?" He sort of waves in the air. Regret? His emotions aren't easy to parse. "I thought that perhaps the aliens had led Great-Mother here so that she could make a daughter with the meat star. But it was dead, and echoes cannot love."

Bleez looks at me, but I'm not really sure what she's hoping that I'll say. Clearly something. Perhaps if we move on to less disturbing subjects.

"What are the aliens using Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man for?"

"The plants dream in the Green, dream of being plants. Great-Mother dreams the plant dream in the Green, but dreams of being Great-Mother."

Alien starship lucid dreaming in the Green. That… Could be worse than the Mother Star heading for Earth.

"But she is not of the Green. She could not move it. But the dead meat star has many dreams, and grandfather dreams of Green and meat."

Oh dear.

"What?"

"Ah, rough translation? The Mother Star has enough of a presence in the Dream for magic to happen and the unreal to become real. You know how those robot arms didn't look like they were coming from anywhere and just reappeared when I destroyed them?"

"Yes? Do you mean they weren't real?"

"I mean that around here that's not much of a distinction. The sort of growth that's happening here isn't natural. The Mother Star can exist at this size through a combination of psionics and Dream manipulation. The ball's mother is using the Elementals to Dream more of herself into being at the dominators' direction."

There's a branch in the corridor and the ball leads up… Upwards and inwards… I think towards where the eye orbit was?

She stares at me. "What?"

Yes, alright, if you're not familiar with the Dream that was probably a bit much. "Elementals power enslaved machine bad?"

"No, I understood all the words, I just-. This is normal here, isn't it?"

"Basically, yes. The number one reason why the Thanagarian Empire shouldn't ever conquer Earth isn't that it would be hard, it's that they'd have to deal with this stuff." Ugh. "Okay, so if your mother is as enmeshed in the Dream as I think that she'd need to be for that to work, how do we get her out?"

"Her mating instinct is very strong."

"Not it."

Bleez puffs her wings out slightly. "Huh?"

"It is stronger than the alien's programming. If a good mate was available, I think that she could leave the Dream while you dealt with the other matters."

"Wait, me?! No no. Thanagarians don't mate by vivisection! You're the one with the magic powers!"

"Black humour, Bleez. I doubt you're her type. Okay, ball? I need you to take us to somewhere with fungal structures."

"There are fungal structures in the alien's workshop. It is ahead of us."

Bleez makes a sort of chirping noise as her wing tips droop a little. "Because your construct thing can use that to make a body."

"Just so. I don't know if Gary is her thing, but I'd rather try him followed by my own Dream manipulation techniques rather than offer someone up to the libidinous alien spaceship monster. Ball, what do you think?"

"Great-Mothers are usually fairly picky. We sons are not."

"Well, we'll try it and see what happens. So, we pull her out of it-. Are the aliens controlling her with a particular device, or have they altered her entire body?"

"A device of the Green."

A Dominion computer? Current generation? I'll take that.

"And how are they keeping Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man contained?"

"Great-Mother copied the devices of her Great-Mother, that she used to contain grandfather. The aliens knew that she has that capacity."

"Right-oh. Does your great mother have any weapons?"

"Some. Why?"

"I think it might be best if we destroyed the remains of the Mother Star. I didn't bother before because I thought it made sense to treat it as a grave site, but if this sort of thing can happen…"

"The Great-Mother may help." We arrive at another door, this one clearly plant-based. "Here. This is where the Grey traces are."

"Alright, let's-."

The door opens, and it looks like the dominators prefer open-plan laboratories.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd June 2014
17:34 GMT +5:30

"…interesting context to what I had seen."

The doors slide open as Slipstream and Dreadwing stroll through, Slipstream nodding.

"That's what he's here for. You should ask him about anything that you don't understand, especially if you're planning on staying long term."

She walks over to the dispensary and presses the button to pour out a mug of energon.

"Want one?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Axlegrease moves her face between them and Pull's face. "Lift your left."

I raise my left arm as she applies her probes. Shockwave was able to provide our base's datacore with this body's fake schematics, but Axlegrease wants to get her own readings. With transformers having been at war for longer than recorded human history, most transformers aren't exactly factory standard as field repair upon field repair build up in the t-cog's memory. It doesn't really matter; since a shot to the spark case would kill a normal transformer and a shot to the brain module would kill me, there's no reason to allow her access to those systems. Arms, legs and t-cog on the other hand are systems that it will help a lot if she can repair them.

"Down, and lift your right."

I comply as Slipstream and Dreadwing head over to the waiting area, joining Nova Storm who refused to allow Axlegrease to work on her unless she saw her working on me first.

Dreadwing looks her over for a minute. "Nova Storm."

"Dreadwing." She maintains his gaze as if she was planning on saying something else… Then turns away and takes a swig from her own mug.

Dreadwing watches her for a moment as Slipstream sits down, then takes his own seat opposite her.

"It is a difficult adjustment."

Nova Storm shakes her head. "It tastes the same to me."

"Not being dead." She focuses on him, and he tilts his head slightly to the right, his free right hand going to the place on his chest where Megatron's shot burned through his entire chassis. "Were you not told?"

"Huh." Nova Storm glances at Slipstream, who just shrugs. "No."

"Down, left leg."

"Starscream, the one who infected my twin with dark energon, lay cowering before me. Had I been swifter with my blade then I would have finally extinguished his worthless spark. Instead, I wasted time grandstanding, and Megatron…"

"You got killed by Megatron?"

Dreadwing nods. "A not uncommon fate for Decepticons who failed to live up to his expectations. In my case, my unwillingness to put Starscream's usefulness ahead of the insult he dealt to my brother."

Nova Storm… Locks up, slight twitches-.

"Did you see it too?"

"That depends on what you are referring to. If you are talking about the All-Spark, then… I believe so. My memories are… Confused. I could not feel my own body, but I felt the presence of others… And even though I could not speak to them, their presence was… Comforting."

His eyes dip.

"But I did not feel my brother. Perhaps that is because I was not there long enough, and our shared spark would have eventually drawn us together. I do not know."

"Down. Right leg."

"I… Did." Dreadwing stares-. "Not-" She shakes her head. "-your brother. Other people I knew. Bright Spot. Low Charge. Shift Vector. A few others I only knew by sight. I couldn't… Talk to them, but I could feel them."

"Including your team mates?" She nods. "I assume that their bodies were corrupted by Megatron?"

"I think so. I haven't been brave enough to check."

"I think that you should. I intend to cleanse my brother's remains once I am finished here."

Nova Storm looks disturbed. "They just left them here?"

He nods solemnly. "He was left trapped in some form of shadow dimension as a result of a ground bridge malfunction, still animated by the dark energon which Starscream introduced into his system. It was profoundly disrespectful."

"Megatron wasn't exactly shy about using dark energon." The fingers of her right hand ball into a fist. "If he hadn't infected everyone he could find on Cybertron-. He could just have used it on Autobots!"

Dreadwing nods. "Then you could have regained your entire team."

"Down. Whole body." I rotate my head slowly towards her, keeping Pull's face blank. "You're done. I have my scans. Go."

I turn Pull's head to look at the screen behind her, which is showing an exploded view of Pull's components, and… What looks like a diagram of how they could be used to augment her. She follows my gaze and realises what I'm looking at.

"No sense in wasting parts. The Last Autobot doesn't need all of you to resurrect you. If attaching your armour to my chassis allows me to drag your core components out, isn't that better than leaving you there? And shouldn't I know how to make the attachment in advance?"

I make Pull's eyes blink slowly. "Yes?"

"Hm." She presses a button and the salvage diagram vanishes. "From the mouth of sparklings."

"I am not a sparkling, Doctor."

"And I'm not a Doctor, sparkling. Go, get out." She turns to the waiting area. "Nova Storm, you're next."

With slow and awkward motions I have Pull rise from the bier and then walk towards the waiting area, Nova Storm passing me in the opposite direction. I stop in front of Dreadwing, looking blankly down at him.

"And you are Pull."

I turn Pull's head towards Slipstream, who smiles and gestures at Dreadwing. I then turn Pull's head back towards him. "Hello."

I then walk over to Slipstream and sit down heavily on the floor besides her. She affects a mildly exasperated expression and pats me gently on the head. "He tries."

"Ah." Dreadwing reassesses Pull's appearance. "But his combat function is not impaired?"

"Not even a little." Slipstream leans forwards, drawing his attention to her. "So that's what you're here for? Your brother's funeral?"

"No, not simply that. His spark was not there, in the All-Spark. And if it is not there, where is it?"

"I don't know."

"Nova Storm said that her team mates were there, even after Megatron corrupted their bodies. My brother must be somewhere! I have accepted his death, but I will not accept his damnation."

"And…" Slipstream's eyes widen. "You think he ended up in Unicron?"

"I do not know. But it is the most obvious place to begin my search, and I will not serve under Megatron again. I will work here loyally for however long it takes to make sure that Skyquake's spark can return to the All-Spark."

Slipstream smiles. "Glad to know that you're motivated. Welcome onboard, Dreadwing."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:10 GMT -5

The chamber appears to be… A cylinder. The floor looks like it was gouged out of the Mother Star; I can see the vein and artery plugs as well as the exposed tissue all across the floor. There's a slight curve to it, though I don't know what the significance of that is. Looking… Up, I see…

I don't know how to describe…

There's a mass in the middle of the space. Down from the mass are vines which I immediately recognise as being part of a Dominion computer system. They attach to what looks like a Dominion field workshop at ground level, and seeing it puts most of the rest into perspective.

We're in the eye socket.

Attached to the mass are thick vines, visibly more natural-looking than what the computer system uses. They radiate outwards to the walls and upwards to where the top of the chamber is covered in them, which accounts to what I saw from above. The walls lack the plugs… No, the vines are acting as plugs, using the Mother Star's inactive circulatory system as anchor points.

Behind me, Bleez is heartily sick, her helmet's extraction system valiantly trying to siphon it away. I extend my environmental shield to her, and she shakily raises her right fist in a gesture of thanks.

The mass.

Okay. I… Don't think that it's entirely real. The vines seem fairly conventional, but when I try to see what's under the vines I instead get impressions. A coral growth. A programmable computronium plate. An oak with an infinitely long trunk but still possessing a canopy and roots. Crystals that glimmer with burning light. I assume that's Great Mother, held partially in the Dream and partly in conventional reality.

I honestly feel a little unwell myself.

Okay, let's… Stop looking at that.

In… Four places on the ground there are… Large plant structures not entirely unlike the thing that was holding Mr. Stratham, only more… Only much bigger, with a slight touch of the unreal about them. One is simply huge, almost as large as the central mass, and with computer vines connecting it to the anchor vines at a dozen places on its surface. The other three are nearly indistinguishable from one another in design, though one of them has a few more computer vines wiring it up.

Okay. The largest one is presumably holding Swamp Thing, and the ones with the extra wires has grown them for the benefit of Good Gumbo Man. I imagine that it would take a team of Venturia's best to make sense of any of this, and despite the legal situation their city was included in the Atlantean shield spell.

Does anything strike me as odd?

Yes. This is clearly a big operation. Just moving this stuff around would have taken some muscle. They've got the Great Mother's children helping, and… The unreal mobile laboratory on the upper surface, but where are the dominators? Where are the Dominion drones? Or labourers?

I do a passive multiphasic scan, but… No, not detecting anything intelligible that suggests they're using an exotic disguise. Are they.. on the Great Mother? I mean, that's… Possible.

Bleez is heartily sick again.

"I suggest not looking at it."

"Look at-. Chuh-huh! Ev'ry'ing!"

I encase her helmet in a completely opaque layer.

"Better?"

"I can-. Ugh. I can still feel it."

"That's odd. Your species shouldn't be sensitive enough to magic to be that-."

I close my eyes and try feeling for it myself. No, I'm… Not really getting anything. Oh, there's the shimmer that I… Suspect is a result of a weak connection to a collective unconscious, but nothing special. Nothing reaching out.

Where are the researchers?

"Do you know where the researchers are?"

"They are here."

"But where specifically?"

The ball squirms in the air, which I think means that he's feeling something like frustration. "They are here! You must free Great-Mother!"

"I will. I just want to make sure that I do it in a way that's safe for her."

He stops squirming. "Yes. Wise. I was too hasty."

"So now that you've calmed down a bit, if you can tell me anything more precise than 'they are here', that would be very helpful."

"The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything separates the Great-Mother from Green places. She could touch them, but only when she approached. The aliens could touch her through it. They knew the nature of the place, when Great-Mother knew little."

"Which… Was before they picked up Swamp Thing."

"Yes."

Trapping a ship? Sure. I could see dominators being able to do that. Taking control of her via the Green? No reason to assume that Swamp Thing is the only being who can alter his frequency, and that's the sort of intellectual puzzle dominators are really good at.

But-.

No.

"Have the aliens been walking around recently?"

"No."

Ah… Not sure whether that's good or bad.

"What?" Bleez looks turns her head around. "What happened?"

"I think that the dominators got stuck in their own Dream prison. Which means…"

I pick her up with a cloud construct and fly us both towards their work area. No automatic weapons, robotic guards, poison gasses or any of the other forms of attack that they could have employed.

The only real question is how much of this was built before they got caught, and how much was dreamed into being. Or perhaps I'm being too materialistic and that doesn't matter in a place like this.

So I need to find the portal they used -if they even used one- or…

Well. I didn't actually promise Euanthe. And she's on Earth anyway.

"Ring, connect to these computers."

"Compliance." Construct cables reach out and plug themselves in. "Warning: direct contact with Dominion computer core-. Error, not found."

"Yes, don't worry. Just request data from outside until you've got everything."

"Compliance."

And while that's working…

I generate the wave pattern for controlling plant life just as Medphyll showed me, and reach out for where I think they're keeping Swamp Thing.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:14 GMT -5

The ball judders. "Are you one flesh with the aliens?"

"Not as far as I know." I carefully avoid pushing the construct waveform forwards. If he's reacting badly, then there might be a serious problem with it. "Why do you ask?"

"I feel the Touch of the Unfindable-Wrong, as when the aliens made the Changes-That-Always-Were to Great-Mother. It is extremely unpleasant. Do not make it!"

Hm.

"You understand that I'm just trying to free your grandfather, and so shut down what the aliens are doing?"

"That Wrong-Touch cannot work!"

"Now, are you actually working that out yourself, or are you refusing because the dominators programmed your mother to make you believe that?"

"That knowledge is Unfindable!"

"Frustrating, isn't it? You understand that removing your mother from this will probably require damaging her? Can you countenance that?"

"Y.. es."

"You don't sound very sure. Gary, out you come."

Gary precipitates out of my ring, looking around. "This is too much for me to eat."

"Not a problem. Come on, ball-boy. What restrictions are you operating under? What can you do to finish the mission?"

"I-. I-. I was not made for this! I was made to serve and transfer data!"

"But you're doing it anyway."

"It is confusing, but Great-Mother needs me. I cannot fail. Even if I do not know how, the aliens must be removed."

I nod, and take out a spare orange power ring. "Do you have a name?"

"I am a son of Great-Mother."

"Son-Of-Great-Mother, you want to fix your mother, and I want you for the Orange Lantern Corps. Take this ring, and overcome your limitations."

I get the impression that the ball is looking at the ring.

"It is alien technology?"

"Do you care, if it fixes Great Mother?"

"No."

The ring jumps to the glass-like surface of the ball, and… The surface partially liquefies, ring oozing its way in, entering the interior and… Visibly connecting to the ball's internal systems.

"Hrhrhrhrhrhr…"

Bleez stares in his direction. "Is it supposed to do that? And if you're handing rings out, can I have one?"

"I'm afraid that you don't have the right mindset. Lantern Son?"

"I will reconfigure."

"Good for you. Gary?"

"Master?"

"Can you feel the construct I've got for controlling plants?"

He looks up at it. "A little."

"Good. I'm going to change it until I hit the wavelength for controlling fungus. I need you to tell me when I hit it. It will probably feel really weird and uncomfortable."

"I can do that, but there isn't much of the Grey here."

"No, but there's an open connection to the Dream. I want to change what it's dreaming about, and to the themes of rot and growing from corpses."

Bleez pulls her wings close. "Is that a good idea?"

"Are you a corpse?"

"Not yet, and I'm hoping that keeps being true."

"I do hope I never implied that Earth was a safe place. Right, let's see…"

Getting my head around etheric constructs was… Difficult. Not impossible; I've done stranger things before and since. But for Medphyll it was a natural extension of his species' natural abilities. For me it was blind-scribing; copying shapes that meant nothing to me in the hope that they meant something to someone else.

Now I get to try and write in Chinese.

And twist, bend that bit, pull it there…

"Nothing yet, Master."

"The day is young. How about-?"

"My brothers come." Orange flames waft within the ball. "Something has alerted them. It may even be the Great-Mother, altered as she has been."

Bleez wing-shrugs. "The last two weren't so hard."

"These are New-Brothers, made for Dream-Swimming and alien purposes. They know no other purpose."

"Armed?"

"We are halfway into the Dream-Under-The-Real. They will be armed with Real-And-Unreal-Thoughts."

"Bleez, you haven't studied lucid dreaming, have you?"

"What dreaming?"

"Oh. Well, now's a good-"

Gray ripples. "Master, you have it."

"-time to learn."

And he's right, I do have it. I felt a tiny bit of feedback when I hit it. There's some fungus here, or… Something close enough. Alien life forms can be manipulated by wavelengths similar to Earth life forms. So now I just do what I did with Kilowog and pour on the power.

Gary swells, and thin strands growing from the connecting vines extend and multiply. I guess that's where the fungus was.

"Gary, break through to Swamp Thing."

"Yes Master."

His giant hands slam into the containment unit, tendrils of orange pushing against… Something trying to keep him out.

"And then we can-."

Dozens of orifices open in the walls as the Brothers swarm at us!

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:18 GMT -5

I see the difference immediately. For one, their flagellum is a strange mixture of glass and vine, unlike the pure translucent material that Lantern Son has. For two, they're shimmering into and out of intangibility. For three, I'm getting… Impressions. Dripping acid from some. Entangling thorns from others. Snapping jaws and horrible poison. Suffocation and etiolation and dehydration.

The ways plants attack things.

I dismiss Bleez's mask. "Bleez, run and-."

What scans I can get show that the way back to the hangar is at least somewhat occupied. Bleez looks ready to flee anyway.

She needs a weapon that can-.

In a place beyond matter, we hold out our arm.

We desire a sword.

I pull my arm back, and… Ah. It looks a bit like a construct cutlass, but… It has the same not quite there quality-. As the balls that are rapidly approaching!

I hold the sword out. "Retreat cut off, take this, hide behind the mound, slash any that get close to you."

"Hu-?" I glare, and she snatches the sword. "Going!"

I turn the rotwave construct on the alien brothers as she flies away, but they appear not to have any fungus on them. I could switch back to regular plants, but using something that empowers plants around killer alien sperm plants sounds like a bad idea. That leaves-.

Brambles tighten around my right arm, spines digging into my skin, blood flowing-!

Point-agh! Point defence constructs open fire, low calibre railguns and pulse lasers enveloping the closest balls with their firepower. The balls shimmer, trying to evade by shifting itself further into the Dream. One above and to the right of me pulls back completely, and the feeling of brambles fades-

Acid drips from the pitcher, bubbling as it encounters my skin-!

-and is immediately replaced by the sensation of an acid burn! I begin tagging them in the ring's detection system because the ring can't actually see what they're using as a weapon.

Bleez takes cover behind Gumbo Man's containment unit, holding the sword like she knows what to do with it. Might have been better to start with that one due to its smaller size-.

Focus.

"Brothers, cease!" Lantern Son flies upwards. "We should not-!"

His epidermis turns black, as if he were a detextured object in a poorly made computer game. No orange light pokes through. Tracking… That one!

Tungsten pellets pelt one of the brothers, creating tiny fractures in its outer surface before it shimmers again, injuries discarded.

"Gary!"

"Working on it, Master."

My veins and throat constrict as other plants press against me from all sides!

Which is uncomfortable, but as long as the rings hold out I can feed my cells with that rather than with my blood. Won't be the first time.

"They will not listen."

Lantern Son is floating dejectedly a little way away, his half-brothers avoiding him and focusing on me. Fortunately my point defence constructs are pretty good at this, and they only get a fraction of a second to manifest their abilities before being chased into the immaterium. It still-.

My skin is coated in some sort of sticky burning gunk while something pins me in place!

That one!

"Lantern Son, anything you can do to keep them material would be greatly appreciated!"

Okay, Gary's doing his thing. Not much else I can do to help there. I could try wrecking stuff in the hope that doing so would disrupt their Dream powers, but that's not something I know enough to do safely. Destroying something might weaken it, or it might draw us all bodily into the Dream with no way out. Pulling something out of the Dream-.

For a moment I see a jungle of leaf-covered bones, reaching out for a distant point of warmth-.

And then I blink and-

"Warning! Serious injury!"

-I've lost most of my skin! My rings are resting against the bones of my fingers, held in place only by my gauntlets!

I replace my point defence turrets, the ball brother inflicting me with that sort of acid taking a gratifyingly melted hemisphere from one of my laser beams. Healing potion dispensers are kicking in, but regrowing most of my skin takes actual ring power.

Fungal fur is now covering a lot of both the Dominion floraware and the wall vines. At least that's going well.

"STOP!"

Lantern Son rises into the air, orange light shimmering around him. His brothers-. They wallow drunkenly, still shimmering but… I don't get the feel of plant-based violence from them.

"This does not help Great-Mother. This is not her purpose!"

One of the other balls stops shimmering and floats deliberately towards him.

"It is now. You should be happy with what is, brother, and not delude yourself by thinking that your desires for Great-Mother supersede her desires."

"Great-Mother is not herself!"

"Gary!"

"Having a little trouble, Master."

I check the fungal fur. Yes, that should be enough. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

"Thank you, Mast-"

I reach out to the fungus all around me, mired in the Dream. In their weak fungal dreams I see shared strands of desire, all too like those of my Construct-Lantern. Like enough that with a tug they become one and the same.

"-er?"

And all things have a desire to propagate.

The strands of fur closest to Gary drift like dandelion seeds onto his construct body, settling over it and creating a layer of pale grey which gradually conceals the orange.

And I wrap the desires of others to propagate around him.

Fungal growths that were further away shift in a wave as their essence transports itself in his direction, eventually reaching his feet and building up a fuzzy layer from there.

It shouldn't do much for anyone who isn't thinking about breeding; I don't feel compelled to copulate with him and Bleez is still keeping her head down. But if what Lantern Son told me is correct, it should draw the attention of-.

"Great-Mother's priority has changed." / "Great-Mother's priority has changed."

And then the vines explode from a bulge and drag Gary up!

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:21 GMT -5

"You." I point to the ball that was confronting Lantern Son. "Beyond breeding, what are Great Mother's highest priorities right now?"

"Assess the qualities of the prospective mate for utility. If the prospective mate passes the assessment, then the rendering will begin."

"And how does it change her threat assessments?"

"I would not be communicating with you if you threatened the mating."

"And the Great Mother's other new priorities?"

I look up, and the vines have almost completely stopped moving. They have stopped shimmering, and I'm not feeling even slightly ill looking at them.

"Suspended."

"So if I try-" I point to the mound containing Swamp Thing. "-breaking into that, what happens?"

"We do not care. We will take no action."

"Neat. Thanks." I fly over to the larger containment unit, taking my x-ionised knives out of subspace. "Lantern Son, try breaking the other one open."

"Why?"

"Because it's part of what the aliens built, and getting rid of it will make freeing your mother easier."

Lantern Son drifts slowly past his brother to begin with, but when his brother takes no action against him he accelerates, forming some sort of construct probe tool.

Right. Let's-.

"Can I come out now?" Bleez says, already emerging from cover.

"Yes, actually." X-ionised knives are… Not cutting it. The slight shimmer… I'm going to guess that this is hard-wired into whatever system regulates the Dream-reality interaction. "And pass me that sword."

One of the other balls drifts closer. I think it was the one that melted my skin off. It doesn't really seem to have any particular purpose in its movements, but since they appear to be feeling helpful…

"Why are you coming this way?"

Bleez hesitates. "You wanted the sword."

"Not you. Thank you." I take the sword from her extremely carefully and then move it so that my right gauntlet is firmly holding the grip. "The ball closest to me."

"In the absence of an order from Great-Mother, we are spacing out so that we can respond to her commands when she is finished."

"Let me know if anything I do is harmful to Great Mother, and I'll stop at once."

But for now I cut… Yes, this sword is going in… Not 'easily', but easily enough for my current purposes. I'm sort of hoping that cutting a large enough hole in the exterior will cause the spells… Or technology, or Dream connection, to get disrupted.

"What is that sword made of?"

"It's a manifestation of desire. Think of it-" A chunk of the mound falls out, and I-. I form a railgun and try shooting it with a mage slayer. No, no effect. Keep cutting. "-as a sort of super-construct."

"Do other Lanterns use them?"

"No idea. I suspect that I can only do this due to being very powerful and being in a place where reality and Dream overlap dangerously. And I doubt that Morpheus will give me more Dream sand to use it in the field regularly."

The shimmer is… Changing. I'm having at least some effect. For a moment I consider 'Feed Me', but… I don't want to actively get on Morpheus's bad side, and I'm reasonably sure that's what would happen if I started eating his domain. Even if he let me pay my debt off, I don't really have the time. Keep cutting keep cutting-.

Something changes and the shimmering stops. Immediately I generate buzz saw constructs and slice cleanly through the mound, revealing…

Ah…

Something that looks a bit like a coral growth, a bit like a plant and… A bit like a computer? I mean… I assume that Swamp Thing could be-.

I switch to my plant manipulation construct and try empowering Swamp Thing, on the assumption that he's there, locked inside it. Nothing appears to happen, but I give it a moment…

For a moment I see a phantasmal green hand reach out through the mound, as if trying to grasp something. And then it's.. pulled.. back inside by… Something.

Okay. Possibilities. This could be an anchor, in which case the thing to do is destroy it. That would cause Swamp Thing to either snap back to Earth, appear on the Mother Star, or be stuck wherever he is at his current wavelength. Which is fine because he already knows how to change that and how to return to Earth on his own.

This could be some sort of physical portal to the Dream. Except rather than a neutral part of the Dream or a… What's the word? Totemic location, it's going to be alien starfish monster at best and Dominion booby trap at worst. And I doubt that Morpheus would care unless they were actively damaging his realm. Keeping a dead dream alive is something that he might find poetic or interesting.

Wait, is that..?

I reinforce my armour with a construct and shove, ripping the mound wide open and…

And revealing the dominator with vines inserted into their skin in a dozen places, organically 'wired' into it. Large red circle, though smaller than the overseers at the Starlag prison. And still alive, as far as I can tell. Looks like a similar system to the one which bound Mr. Stratham.

Asleep and dreaming.

But… Why? This dominator must be either one of the project leads or their apprentice. They wouldn't be wired into it by accident. This is deliberate. So is he like this because they need one of their own monitoring things from inside, or..?

I don't know.

I can't enter the Dream under my own power, and I doubt that I've got time to fly back to Earth, go to Erebos, fly through the gate and then find this from the other side. But these vines… Are… Still functional.

"Lantern Son!"

There's a slight delay, then he's behind me. "I have opened the mound but all that is inside is alien machinery."

"I know." I send my armour back to subspace, trusting in my environmental shield to keep me safe. "Can you wire me up like that?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I'm very stupid-. Because I need to get into the Dream like he is to find out what they're doing. Which should help me free your mother."

"This will cause you a great deal of pain."

"Don't worry. I can deal with graaaagh!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th June 2014
12:34 GMT -7:00

Axlegrease pulls over in the 'no parking' bay in front of a newly built restaurant. 'Ernesto's' is the name on the front, but I've got no idea if that's the name of the owner or the chain.

"Take as long as you want. They can't have found all of the battle sites."

She's getting a few odd looks from the passers-by. With the giant transforming cat out of the bag, it's common knowledge that out of place vehicles might be one of Earth's alien visitors. Jasper's new population isn't limited to the scientific and military personnel at Darkmount Base; giant robot tourism has started to become a thing, and if Axlegrease sticks around she's going to get surrounded fast.

I push open the passenger-side door and climb out. "We'll call you when we need pickup."

On the opposite side, Slipstream's avatar body nods. "And don't get in any fights. These people are paying for our exploration work."

"I understand. But anything they haven't claimed is fair game."

Slipstream walks around the front of Axlegrease's cab, shaking her head. "Not any wrecks that could be resurrected. Taking equipment is fine, but vehicon miners are… Basically the only civilians we have. And they can do work for us."

Axlegrease turns and pulls away, the confirmation of her 'driver-free' status causing a momentary burst of excitement in the small but growing crowd. Then she stops.

"Do you really think they'll resurrect vehicons? The fuel shortage doesn't exist anymore."

"Ah." Slipstream looks at me with a thoughtful expression on her clearly-inhuman face. "Why… Wouldn't they? They're not a threat to the Autobots, and a lot of them are technically civilians."

"Economics. Optimus returned the All-Spark to Cybertron. Eventually, new protoforms will emerge."

I nod. "Yes?"

"They will be full transformers, not low-power vehicons made to function at near-starvation fuel levels. The conditions that made creating them worthwhile no longer apply. It would be more effective to prepare fuel reserves for a new generation than use the Last Autobot to resurrect vehicons."

I roll my eyes. "And you're not just saying that because their parts are up for grabs."

"There's no reason to let their parts go to waste." She turns her front wheels and slowly pulls away. "I will recover them and we can see what happens."

I watch her go as she rejoins the light Jasper traffic. She might have a point, but…

Slipstream walks over to me, leaning into my side. "Do you think she's right?"

"No. The cost of energon has dropped immensely. It isn't an either-or. Even if they can't complete with full strength transformers, it makes more sense to use them as a labour force for the reconstruction than it does to abandon them."

She doesn't look convinced. "Then why haven't the Autobots tried resurrecting them?"

"If I had to guess, it's because human governments consider vehicon corpses on Earth to be their property and they don't want to start a fight over it. And because Decepticon disunity is in their interests. Resurrecting regular Decepticons is less of a problem because they're not unified yet, but a vehicon will immediately comply with the highest ranking Decepticon officer around."

Which is probably why the Autobots are setting up synthetic energon production centres in Vos and Tarn, despite there hardly being any Autobots from there. Megatron… Isn't exactly the most popular Decepticon in the universe, even if he's being a lot less confrontational these days. If Decepticons can just take their teams and live somewhere separate from him and his followers, a lot of them will. Heck, Heatseeker is fairly blatantly only here to do reconnaissance for the other Stunticons.

They fought for Megatron for millions of years, then the moment they can get fuel somewhere else…

"Hm." Slipstream sounds distracted as I wrap my left arm around her and pull-. "That-. That makes me think about how we used to be treated. 'Mass production cold-casts'… Low peak outputs…"

I give her a gentle tug, and she walks with me towards the restaurant entrance. "Then you're more empathetic than almost every other Decepticon there is."

She wrinkles her nose. "I don't think I like it."

"The empathy or the treatment?"

"Both, I think." She huffs air out through her nose. "My life would be easier if I just ignored it, but… That was basically how the War started." She frowns. "Am I wrong?"

"No, you're completely correct."

"And I don't want to live through-" I push the door open and we walk inside. "-another War, so I guess it makes sense to try avoiding that."

"It does, but that's not why. It's a bit high-concept, but… It's often in a person's short-term interest to be ruthless and aggressive, but you'll find… It's often in a person's long-term interest to be compassionate and open-handed." She flashes me an interrogative frown. "You know how many Decepticons have got rebranded since the truce?"

It's not the most violent Decepticons or the most ideologically committed, but there's a set of Decepticons who -like Slipstream- were mostly fighting for the right to not be property who upon arriving back on Cybertron after the truce took one look at the way modern Autobots and modern Decepticons behave and underwent the Rite of the Autobrand. And there are a few more who weren't prepared to go quite that far who have nonetheless integrated with Autobot society.

None have gone the other way.

She nods slowly. "Which… Is because they're… Nicer. And… I joined the Decepticons because I had a better life under Megatron than with… And with the old Lord High Governor dead, that pressure doesn't exist-."

"Hey!" Miss Nakadai is glaring at us, left hand on the table supporting her as she leans forwards and right hand waving at us. "We're over here! Stop blocking the gangway and sit down already!"

Ah-. Okay. Slipstream and I walk over to join them. Raf cringes slightly from the stares Miko's outburst attracted, and probably a little from the stares that Slipstream's obviously inhuman body is getting. Jack is… Taking said body in. Not checking her out, but… Assuring himself that I haven't been lying to him about what can be achieved with Cybertronian technology. And-.

"I didn't think they made that kinda robot-" Miko smirks as we sit down opposite them. "-outside of Japan!"

Slipstream frowns. "Japan doesn't make transformers. This body-."

Miko frowns, leaning forwards as she stares. "Wait. That's actually you?"

Slipstream shrugs. "It's an avatar. My spark case and brain module are still in my main body-."

Raf perks up slightly. "But if your main body is still in India… You're responding in real time! There's no lag!"

Jack sags slightly. "Huh."

Miko jerks her head around to stare at him. Then back to Slipstream. Then me. Then Jack. "No." She grins salaciously. "Way."

Jack blushes slightly, and I decide to spar him further embarrassment. "We could have one built for Bulkhead, too."

"Nah, Bulk's…" She slumps a little. "Busy."

"Ah, what was it-" Jack leans forwards. "-you wanted to talk to us about?"

The 'please don't talk about robot sex' goes loudly unsaid.

"Well, your summer holiday is coming up, and I wanted to get my bid in before Agent Fowler did."

He shakes his head. "Your… Bid?"

"Summer jobs. You have a rare skill set and I want to offer you employment. Interested?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th June 2014
12:39 GMT -7:00

Miko actually winces. "I'm… Going back to Japan for the summer break..? You know, see my parents. I don't think I can-."

I shrug. "We have a ground bridge."

"Oh. Then I'm totally there!"

Jack shakes his head. "Hold on. We-."

"Hey!" Miko smiles at him and extends her right hand. "I'm Miko! What's your name?"

He bows his head slightly. "Yeah. But you should ask what he wants us to do-"

She shakes her head, not understanding his problem. "Something involving transformers?"

"-and how much it pays. Internships usually aren't paid."

I nod. "Practical. About twelve times per hour what K.O. Burger does. And if anyone shoots at you then you get hazard pay rather than a deduction."

Miko fans her arms out to the side, staring at Jack in a 'you see, dummy?' kind of way.

"That's…" He looks away as he thinks it over. "That's.. pretty good. Actually… How many hours?"

"I'm assuming eight hours a day, five days a week, for six weeks? You can do more if you want, and if you want to do less then that's fine too."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Teaching transformers who are new to Earth how human society works."

Miko makes a dismissive gesture with her right hand. "That's easy. I'll get some tunes on, and-"

Slipstream shrugs. "Our team is comprised of Decepticons."

That appears to get through. "-oohhhh."

I nod. "I'm handling the-"

Slipstream glances at me. "We're handling."

I nod again. "-more difficult personalities ourselves, but it would cut down on our workload if we had people like you to act as advisers and go-betweens for the others."

Jack nods slowly. "How 'difficult'?"

Slipstream looks a little puzzled. "The ones we're handling?" He nods. "Ah… One's a duocon whose personalities hate each other, and the other... Probably wants to conquer Earth so he can have all the roads for himself."

I nod. "And he would step on you if he could. He still refuses to call me anything other than 'Squishy'."

Raf seems to become more focused. "What's a 'duocon'?"

I sigh. "One of Shockwave's experiments. He asked: 'Is it possible for a transformer to be split over multiple bodies?', and it turns out that the answer was 'Yes, but they really shouldn't'. Flywheels is alright as long as their two parts are separate-."

Miko nods. "Right, because they get one part each."

I shake my had. "No. They're still both in each of them, but they need to concentrate and so they don't have time to argue with each other."

Slipstream shrugs. "I think it's just Flywheels. Battletrap's a duocon, and he's fine. But Flywheels is difficult to deal with."

Raf hesitantly raises his right hand a little. I nod to him. "If Shockwave made him-. Ah, them, like that, can't he reverse it?"

I shrug. "Probably, but that would mean either erasing one personality or erasing both by integrating them into something new. And it would mean making one of their bodies primary and the other secondary, which has its own problems."

"How about giving them one body each?"

Slipstream winces. "They have one head. One set of arms and one set of legs. And Shockwave did something to their T-cog-." She frowns. "Both of their T-cogs..? To integrate the two parts… It would be difficult even if they both agreed to it."

Jack nods. "I.. don't think we're qualified for that. Who would we be dealing with?"

"Axlegrease, Nova Storm and Dreadwing." I drum the fingers of my right hand against the table. "Axlegrease is a salvage engineer and-"

"Wait, Dreadwing!?" Miko's eyes widen. "I thought he was dead!"

"-our medic."

Slipstream nods. "He was. But he got better."

"She'll need someone to explain how law and politics work so that she doesn't try looting any national monuments, but she won't threaten you. Dreadwing-" I give Miko a mildly reproachful look, which she ignores. "-has been on Earth before, but I don't think he tried finding out anything about human civilisation. He might ask you to explain a few things, but he'll probably keep to himself. What happened to his brother hit him really hard."

Miko pulls a face. "His brother nearly hit us really hard."

Slipstream gives her a flat look. "Don't get into a firefight if you're not prepared to get shot."

I wave my right hand back and forth. "We won't be getting you into firefights. The-."

Miko sags. "Awwww."

"The last transformer who needs an introduction to human civilisation is Nova Storm. She was one of Slipstream's team mates during the War. She seems nice enough."

Slipstream gives me an unimpressed look. "'Nice enough?"

"I.. don't know her as well as you do yet. Ah, she's-." I turn back to the youths. "She's a bit uncertain about the War being over, finding a new purpose and new interests that don't involve fighting."

Miko frowns. "Has she seen the internet?"

"We're-" I nod, and Slipstream mirrors my action. "-keeping her away from the internet for now."

Raf looks surprised. "Why? There's a lot of educational sites on the internet. Even if she was just watching videos, she could learn a lot about how we communicate."

I look at Raf. Then I look at Miko, who's is smirking and uncharacteristically refusing to meet my eyes, and then at Jack, who gives his head a small shake.

Ah… "I fear that a great deal of the internet assumes a certain cultural context that transformers don't have, and that it would be better if her initial exposure was supervised."

Miko bites her lip.

"Oh." Raf nods. "I thought you were worried about… Ah… 'Adult'.. stuff."

"So anyway, that's the job. We won't expect you to liaise with the Indian government, but you might need to pass along the occasional message. We have a ground bridge system that's fairly similar to the one you're used to, but we'll make sure that you know how it works. We can arrange a trip to Cybertron outside of your normal working hours if you want-"

"Yes!" / "You can?!"

Miko and Jack sit up, Miko raising her right fist into the air. Raf looks pleased, but doesn't say anything.

"-and I'm sure that if we let slip that you're working with us that your former partners will want to visit. So: what do you think?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:25 GMT -5

I'm… Pinned to a wall.

I think.

I can feel tiny points of attachments stabbing into my arms, legs and back. My arms are forced up, something… Something solid holding them in place at an awkward angle.

"Researcher, you were supposed to deactivate the device, not enter it yourself. Why did you deviate from protocol?"

I try turning my head, but that's being held in place too. There's a little give in the structure, but… My bones feel…

I can't move. I can't even move my eyes.

Who was talking? There's nothing in my visual field except a vine-covered wall a short distance opposite me. The phrasing sounds like something that a dominator might say, but I can't tell where it's coming from.

Can I talk?

"Can-?"

Good, okay. In the Dream. Can't see enough to judge the nature of the local environment. Which means that that dominator is probably the dominator in Swamp Thing's pod.

"Speak!"

Whatever form I've taken in the Dream, my rings are still on my fingers. So I could probably assimilate my surroundings. But on the grounds that I'm not stupid enough to anger Morpheus or give him a toe hold in the orange light, I instead reach out cautiously, feeling…

Feeling the solid bark of my flesh, the grip of my aerial rootlets on the porous brick behind me, the vitality flowing into me from my leaves.

The intersection between the local Dream and my mind. Take it.

I feel the… Really weird sensation as my roots retract, bark becoming more flexible and-. Ah! I pull free of the vine-mass, mobility restored and-. I'm still a plant-man with the outline of my power armour, but I'm free and-.

"Explain how you did that!"

I close my eyes-. Which doesn't work in the Dream. Alright, I unfocus my eyes and mentally orientate on the sound, then fly towards it. Once I stop moving, I focus on what's in front of me.

A dominator outlined in vines, stuck to the wall-. Enmeshed-? No, he's… Part of it.

"Explain who you are."

"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. You got greedy and got spotted."

"That is frustrating, but it was within the variables for this mission. Do you intend to offer terms, or will you kill me?"

"That depends on a lot of things. You will undergo a telepathic trawl before you go anywhere. Given that, being helpful now increase the chance of a favourable outcome for you."

"I understand."

"The ship… Great Mother, is currently mating with a fungus creature I brought with me. Is there a way to disconnect her from the machinery you built to connect her to the Mother Star without killing her? And is there an easy way to remove the programming you entered into her?"

"Not easy. Researcher was trying to reach it, but what we built has fallen too far into the metaphysical realms. It is likely here in some sense." He hesitates. "The ship's presence has receded. If we are fortunate, Researcher will reach the objective without us."

"I'm not feeling lucky. You?"

"Not everything can be deduced from available information. But the accumulated evidence suggests that it would be unwise to depend upon it."

"Right." I reach one plant-hand forwards and lay it on his bark-chest. "This will be uncomfortable."

"New knowledge is worth-"

I reach for where his psyche intersects with the Dream. Take that too.

"-any khtkhtkh…"

And pull.

"Nrrrrrrgh…"​

The dominator takes the form of a robed humanoid with other vines running through his body, looking a little like he's got shipworms stuck halfway out of him.

They're writhing. But that could mean almost anything, from his inquisitiveness to some sort of spy from Great Mother that has wormed its way into his psyche. Assuming that was his pain-noise he made a moment ago, it doesn't sound like they're hurting him.

I look up, and there's a blank sky with its own sun. Good show, then up we go.

"Any other dominators here?"

"None I have heard. If they survive, then they are elsewhere."

"How many are here in total?"

"If I tell you, I require that you send a copy of our research to the homeworld."

"I was going to offer to rescue them, but if you want to make it hard…"

"The data is more important than our lives. The Mother Star represented a unique opportunity, which will now be lost."

"I will agree to leave your data intact. Given recent Dominion actions, I do not believe that sharing data with your government is in Earth's interest."

"Accepted. There are four of us. Researcher, Shipwright, Coordinator and me, Biotechnologist."

"Not a lot of people for a ship like that."

"The AI ship's drones sufficed. Suffering a mild inconvenience is well worth it for novel data."

"Data? You're not top caste, then."

"No. That is above our station. Though we may ascend if what we learn produces important developments."

"Okay then…"

We finally get to the top of the two walls, and I can… See. Huh. Okay, mapping-. This part is the same as the streets the Mother Star showed me, now covered in vines and… Larger. The sun is a glowing light above, but strands of sunlight reach down and touch the city is a dozen places I can see. Naturally, they don't burn their surroundings but rather cause a plethora of novel plants to grow around them.

"There." Biotechnologist points, towards… Ah, of course. The one direction in which things are covered in fungus, and bits of what look like Mother Star are visible in the morass. "The connector units were fungal, to make it harder for her to usurp them."

"So the thing which destroys them will…" No, wait. Gary already absorbed them. This is not literal. It's being held together by the dream of fungus, so…

"Will be there."

I shake my head as I start flying in that direction. I'll work something out once I see what I'm dealing with.

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th July 2014
10:03 GMT +5:30

"…perfectly adequate." Dreadwing doesn't look at Jack's question, eyes fixed on Skyquake's now-recumbent body as Axlegrease makes it a little more presentable. "I have no desire for conflict with your kind. You have nothing that I want."

"Ah… Okay."

Jack glances up to where Axlegrease is considering the practicality of reattaching Skyquake's severed arm. She appears to give up on repairing the linkages and instead activates the tools she needs for opening the arm's plating. Raf watches from his position on a nearby chirurgical table with an expression of rapt fascination on his face.

"I'm… Sorry."

"For what?"

"The.. arm."

"What about it?"

"That… That was us."

Dreadwing blinks. "How?"

"Miko-. When we got stuck in the shadowzone, Skyquake attacked us. Starscream's arm was there, and we managed to make his missile fire. It…" He gestures vaguely. "Hit him in the arm."

Dreadwing considers for a moment, then gives his head a very small shake. "Your initiative should be commended. But that thing was not my brother."

Jack nods slowly. "Do you.. want to talk about him?"

"What purpose would it serve?"

"I know there… Because of how many transformers died in the War, there probably aren't that many other transformers who.. remember him. With humans, when someone dies, we usually get together and talk about our memories of them."

"Half of me is dead. Words cannot do justice to what I feel, either the absence or the betrayal." Jack sags a little. "Still, I suppose that there is no harm in recounting his deeds to you. Perhaps when Axlegrease has completed her work, and you can see him as he was."

Jack nods. "Sure."

"But for now, be gone."

Jack looks up at him for a moment, then nods. "Sure."

He turns and heads towards the exit, glancing back at Dreadwing once, then shrugging to himself. Then he spots me and slows down awkwardly. "Hey, Boss." He glances back again. "Ah…"

I shrug. "If he doesn't want to talk yet then he doesn't want to talk yet. You can't help someone who doesn't want anything from you."

"I could.. go and help Miko?"

I shake my head and motion with my left hand for him to follow as I lead the way over to one of the 'coping with transformer scale distances' karts. "While it should be impossible for a couple of humans to 'crowd' a transformer, Nova Storm is a… A little jumpy. I think-" We both sit down, and I accelerate us out of the medical bay and towards the command suite. "-it's probably best if we leave them to get accustomed to each other. I'll show you how our command and control setup works, and we can-."

My personal communicator bleeps. I'm not.. feeling anything from Slipstream, who wanted to hang around while Miko and Nova Storm get to know each other. Nova Storm hasn't had any… 'Outbursts' or anything like that, but she's mostly been interacting with other Decepticons. Something else, then.

"Excuse me. Answer."

"Sir, we have a message from Cybertron. The Autobots want to send someone to speak with you."

Hm. Not sure why. There's a protocol in place for hiring people for scraplet removal, so they hardly need to speak to me about that. I doubt that they've got a problem paying me; the radical differences in our economies are why it was such a good deal for both parties. I turn left, heading for the receiving room.

"That's fine. I'll be at the receiving room in about thirty seconds."

It has signal boosters for a small scale space bridge, as well as a beacon that makes it easier to precisely lock onto the location. It also has the thickest armour in the facility and a couple of small fission warheads concealed in the walls just in case. I remember that the Michael Bay films made it seem like transformers were relatively easy to kill with human weapons. The reality is that they've very much not. A well fed transformer won't even feel anything short of an anti-armour missile or an anti-tank round, and the shot would need to hit the weaker parts of their armour repeatedly to penetrate. Fission warheads are just about the only thing we've got that stands a good chance of putting one down promptly.

"Ah, who-?" Jack looks at me for permission to ask, and I nod. "Who are they sending?"

"She said that her name was 'Arcee'."

"Arcee's coming back to Earth?"

"Ah, yes? She did not say how long she intends to stay."

Checking up on us, obviously. The only other real possibility is that the Autobots think that the Americans are making off with things they're not supposed to and they want me as a counterbalance, but that isn't very likely. There are advantages to making trades with a cash payment rather than something nebulous like 'technology transfers' or 'future support', but-. Well, Optimus Prime seemed like a spirit-of-the-agreement type, but I'm not sure about the new Councillors.

I turn off into the receiving room, the heavily reinforced transformer-scale doors closing behind us.

"Okay, I'm here." I pull the kart over in the designated parking spot and we both get out. "Activate the beacon and tell her to come through at her leisure."

"Yes, sir."

I end the call, and notice Jack twitching.

"Looking forwards to seeing her?"

"Yeah! Of course I am."

"Going to talk to her about..?" I tap the back of my neck.

"I…" He exhales sharply. "Yeah. I mean, I have to. I tried-. Bringing it up before, but I don't think she understood what I was saying. I-. I'll just have to be really clear. Direct."

"It's not just that. When I came to talk to you about getting access to Vector Sigma, I tried raising it then."

His eyes widen. "What?"

"But I'm not sure she really got it. Transformers don't have our family structures, so telling her that you want to be her boyfriend won't really mean anything."

"How did you do it with Slipstream?"

"I explained everything; evolutionary psychology, reproductive biology, modern sociology… Everything. And I kept treating her like my girlfriend. And-. Oh, and… Transformer teams usually comprise of between four and six individuals, and that's their… Family-equivalent. So you might need to explicitly specify that you want a-"

Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.

"-one-to-one relationship."

He takes a deep breath as he faces the swirling spacebridge aperture. and nods firmly. "Yeah. I can do that."

Arcee walks through, smiling as she spots him. "Hey, Jack."

He smiles broadly as he heads towards her. "H-hey, Arcee. How.. are you?"

"Good. I had some really great news. I wanted to introduce you to-

And then a large white and blue Autobot strolls through just before the spacebridge snaps shut. Jack… Clearly doesn't recognise him. I don't either.

Arcee half-turns to him. "-my partner, Tailgate."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:30 GMT -5

"Do you know what happens if the others are not awake when the connection is severed?"

"Not precisely."

We've passed the place where the streets are covered in vines and have moved on to the place where the streets are made of wood and other pieces of plant matter. It reminds me a little of the.. anthropomorphised plant world that.. god-mode Swamp Thing took exception to… In the comics.

Oh dear.

But it makes sense.

"Then, approximately?"

"Spiritual damage. They'd wake up, but they wouldn't be all there. Half-asleep the whole time, until their dream-self could remerge when their body slept. With Morpheus back in charge that should only take a couple of days; he's got people for that, and doesn't like his realm being a mess."

"Who is 'Morpheus'?"

"Morpheus is the being whose toes your operation was treading on. The ruler of the Dream. Which may not sound like all that much, until you realise that just about everyone sleeps, dreams, and can be driven mad."

"How does he drive his targets mad?"

"The one time I saw him do it? An artist was… Gaining inspiration by abusing a friend of his. He asked the artist to release them, and the artist refused. So Morpheus responded by giving him so much inspiration that he couldn't function. Within a few seconds he was drawing pictures on the nearby walls in his own blood in an effort to capture the visions he was seeing in a permanent fashion."

"An interesting notion. Was he successful?"

"At what?"

"Drawing with his blood."

No, because that never happened and he's… He was in prison, before the Anti-Life. I haven't checked on him since.

Add that to the slate.

Added.

"Not well. Human blood isn't good for drawing, and bare brick isn't good for drawing on."

"I see. But within a controlled framework, where he was provided with a prepared surface and other tools, it might be that he could be maximally productive in such a fashion. Perhaps I could volunteer for a test?"

"Have you ever dreamed before?"

"Yes."

"Then he almost certainly knows enough about you to inflict on you a punishment you wouldn't enjoy."

No attacks. I imagine that would be different if Great Mother weren't distracted. And Gary hasn't reappeared at my ring… Yet. And when he does I'll know everything that he learned, including the experience of being vivisected.

I… Should try and get him out before that happens. And now that we're reaching the fungus…

"Where was Shipwright?"

"On board the bioship, with Coordinator."

"Do they have any distinguishing features?"

"Shipwright is quite good with ships. Coordinator-."

"I spotted the pattern. And I think I know roughly where your colleagues are."

"How?"

"Researcher tried to disconnect the point where Swamp Thing is connected to Great Mother, so will probably be where he is. And I know where that is. Shipwright and Coordinator will be where Great Mother connects, which is here. Great Mother is currently mating, and isn't really fungal herself. So this is either from the connection fungus or from my aide. In either case, the logical place for them to be is here. And…"

Medphyll's lessons made it clear that the construct doesn't just empower plants, but… Effectively hypnotises them. Which means I hope that I can reach out for desire patterns most similar to those of Biotechnologist and nudge it into releasing them.

So let's give that a go.

Below us, fronds and mycelium wave and waggle. There doesn't appear to be any real direction to it though. Okay, maintain that construct with one hand, and with the other reach out for dominator-desires…

Found you. Both of you.

Now use the fungus control construct to push the attachment points away from them… Yes, definite concrete commands seem to work better. It… Might be possible to detach the Great Mother from here, but I'm going to leave that for Plan B.

"I suspect that and that are my colleagues."

Two construct snakes reach down from me, biting the two… Fungal objects, and pumping dream venom into their bodies to take control of the interface. That appears to make them 'wake up' a little, and the first thing they both do is take stock of their new forms. Fungus-infected coral by the looks of things, though it's possible that's what Great Mother looks like inside. I have the snakes bite down harder and pull them towards Biotechnologist and myself.

The dominator with a fruiting body sticking out through his left eye socket considers us for a moment. "We have surrendered?"

Biotechnologist makes an affirmative gesture. "Yes. Our situation is not viable."

The dominator with a Mohican of head-coral repeats the gesture. "That is a generous interpretation of the available data. How will we leave?"

"Swamp Thing is powering the overlap?" Another affirmative gesture from Biotechnologist. "Now that Great Mother is distracted and the containment vessel breached, I intend to wake him up and motivate him to leave on his own."

Biotechnologist looks unconvinced. "We compelled him to sleep deeply. And it will be difficult to locate his psyche here."

"Already done. The design of the buildings was throwing me off, but…"

I pull us all upwards into the not-sky.

"You made this place with Swamp Thing's power. So, naturally…"

The four of us look down at Swamp Thing's face, ridges and troughs made of vine-covered buildings and streets. His eyes are shut, but his sleep looks peaceful.

"He's the whole thing. And he's got a wife and daughter to go back to."

I reach into the Honden, building a road out of the desire to travel and a door out of the need for companionship and lay it at his feet. I take images from his desires and hold them before him as a lure.

"Swamp Thing. You are needed elsewhere."

Two enormous eyes slowly open, and I just about spot the dominator in the middle of the left one as the city below us collapses as Swamp Thing moves.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
03:35 GMT -5

Ugh. I-.

"Bleez, sword?"

I open my eyes, and it seems that Bleez has… Alright, correctly identified the greatest potential manageable threat and taken appropriate precautions. If something else came through in my body, she'd have a reasonable chance of killing my body by slicing through my gorget. And through me.

She lowers it, still regarding me with suspicious caution.

The remains of the containment unit around us comes apart, undulating across the ground as… Swamp Thing assembles himself a new body from the most 'real' bits of plant available. At the moment he's just a face stuck on the Dominion plant computer, but he'll have that under control soon.

"Orange Lantern." Swamp Thing's eyes look towards me. "I think that I am awake."

I try closing my eyes… Yes, I can close them. Pain? Ow, yes, that's working.

"I think we're awake, too." The mortal form of the dominator I rescued collapses to the ground as the containment pod vanishes completely. "Biotechnologist?"

It takes a moment, then his eyes open. "Subjectively, that was an unpleasant experience."

Filaments reach out, and I bind his arms behind his back before hoisting him to his feet.

"You do not trust me." He considers me for a moment. "I am pleased by your rationality."

I look up, and… Vines and other plant parts are either dropping down to join up with Swamp Thing or vanishing into non-existence. I can already see parts of what I assume to be Great Mother. She's slightly bigger than the Dominion ship, but is still utterly dwarfed by the eye.. chamber-.

"Does this room have an atmosphere shield?"

"It did. I believe that it is part of the plant person's head now."

"Swamp Thing? I'd really appreciate it if you could maintain-."

"For the benefit of my captors. No doubt you want to interrogate them further."

"I offered to keep them alive in exchange for cooperation. Ah, in other news, Good Gumbo-."

"I know. He can stay where he is for now. The Parliament has caused me enough hardship."

"He was trying to help-. Fine. Ah, also, the-." I point to Great Mother. "That ship was-."

"Created using me." His head drops from the vines above onto the newly created humanoid body below, which… Sort of knits it into place. "I don't know what I should do about that."

"Grandfather." Lantern Son floats towards him, stopping a short distance away at head height. "We did not expect that you survived mating with Great-Mother of Great-Mother. Her memories record your complete destruction."

"It was once observed to me that you do not kill a plant by shooting it in the head. Your grandmother was remiss if she believed that she captured my nature by examining a body I created in a panic using only her body."

"If she knew that, she might seek you out again."

"That would be… Unwise. I have learned a great deal since last time we met."

"That would not discourage her. She loves you."

Swamp Thing doesn't have the most readable face, but I can still recognise disgust.

"Ah, incidentally, we're looking for the physical forms of three more dominators. And we need to remove the link between Great Mother and the Dream, and while I'm sure that your feud with the Parliament is-."

"I have disconnected my predecessor and brought him back to the material world. The link to the Dream using the Green is gone. My… Daughter should be waking. I can do nothing for the dead star."

"I can perform a ritual funeral once everything else is taken care of. That should… Fix that."

"Good." He raises his right foot and the vines beneath him undulate, vomiting forth a somewhat battered dominator.

Biotechnologist regards him for a moment. "Researcher. He was in the correct place. The others will be aboard the biological ship."

I use a construct to pick Researcher up and then bind his arms. None of his injuries are serious so I'll let him keep them.

"Lantern Son, could you please communicate with Great Mother… Ah…" I look around. "That we're going to free her, but would appreciate it if-" I look up, and through the thin film of the Dominion atmosphere shield I can see the black of space and the tiny twinkling stars. "-she could cooperate with us to resolve this problem. Then she'll be free to leave."

"And her daughter?"

"Ah. So, she's..?"

"She found Gary acceptable and is analysing him. Dissection will not start for several hours. Then she will generate a template for her daughter."

"That's fine. He can't feel pain. I'm not even sure that he has a concept of pain."

"He will, by the time she is done."

…

Okay.

"The dominators?"

"They-."

Biotechnologist makes a negative gesture with his right hand. "The data is more important than their lives. We would rather have her sensor logs."

"I suspect that she would rather kill them and keep the records. But… We might be able to offer repayment for your help."

"It's not about repayment. These dominators knew how to capture Great Mother. It is highly likely that they kept records for their people. That means that other dominators know how to capture Great Mother again in the future, and Great Mother's Great Mother and Great Aunts and Great Sisters and all other members of her species. We need them alive so that we can interrogate them and learn how they did it."

His internal lights flicker for a moment.

"You are correct, and Great-Mother agrees." Part of her hull undulates and two dominators fall out-.

I catch them in a cushion construct just before they hit the floor.

"And your brothers? And half-brothers?"

One floats closer. "Great-Mother is sacrosanct. We will all comply."

"Glad to hear it." I exhale. "Okay. I think we're done here for now." I turn to Bleez. "Still glad you came along?"

"Next time, I'm just staying on Earth."

I shake my head solemnly. "That wouldn't be any better."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th July 2014
20:56 GMT +5:30

"So, ah, yeah." The white Autobot with electric blue decals slumps slightly, his right arm dropping from where he was gesturing to go limp on the table. "He means a lot to Arcee, but he doesn't seem to like me at all."

I smile, and he starts looking uncomfortable.

"See, I know the War's over and everything, but I still get a little nervous when I see a 'con smile like that."

One of me… One of my bodies, the body with all the essential bits in it is sitting in the workshop with Tailgate, Arcee's newly resurrected partner. Tortured to death by that psycho Airachnid, and now wondering why Jack doesn't want to have him on their team. // I'm also watching a film about a little drone driving around a spaceship filled with fat humans. Two channels, one me.

"How do you think I feel about letting a couple of Autobots into my home?"

He thinks that over and then shrugs, relaxing slightly. "So… What am I doing wrong?"

"You know, Paul told me this would happen, but I honestly didn't think it would happen this quickly."

"Paul. That's your… Human business partner-."

"Conjunx endura."

"Oh. I'd… Heard something about-." He shakes his head, then looks at me curiously. "I gotta ask: how does that work?"

"He got a lot of Nebulon implants, I got an avatar module."

He frowns. "What for? You can talk to him just fine as you are. He's the one who needed a modification to feel your spark." His frown deepens. "Do humans have a spark? Is there an adaptor?"

I snort with my avatar, prompting Paul to look at her/me. I have her/me wave his concern off. "Given where we are, I think we're lucky they don't."

"Oooh, right." He nods. "Unicron. Do Unicron's creatures have sparks?"

"I don't know. We usually don't leave enough in one piece to tell for sure, and Axlegrease isn't really a researcher."

"Fair enough. So why'd you get an avatar?"

"Because humans have their own bonding rituals and traditions, and they're… Some of them are hard to do when we're this physically different."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense." And I can't help but smile. He.. doesn't get it. It's… Huh. Yeah, it's a shame that Seaspray didn't survive. It would be nice to have someone to compare notes with. "But what's that got to do with me and Jack?"

"Basically, transformer teams are between four and six transformers, right?"

"I've seen a couple that had eight, and when your team mates start dying-. Yeah, okay, I know what you mean. What about it?"

"To put it simply, human teams are two, plus the sparklings they're mentoring. They work with other humans, but by their standards that's a different kind of relationship."

He frowns. "Why?"

"It's to do with how their-. How they make new humans by combining biological data inside the humans with an internal fabricator."

"An internal-?" He stares. "Is that common?"

"It's about half of them. You'll learn to spot them once you've been here a while. Humans don't live as long as we do, so they have to build their replacements faster." I shake my head. "If you really want to know the details, you can talk to Paul about it. My avatar is with him right now if you want me to ask him to come here."

"No, that's… Fine." He looks thoughtful. "So Jack doesn't like me, because if I'm Arcee's partner then he can't be."

"Pretty much."

"Heh." He smiles. "Silly human. How do I tell him he's full of crude?"

"Basically, you can't. It's instinctive, like transforming is for us. If Arcee had called you her team mate, or squad mate, or an old friend, that would have been fine." Probably. "Partner implies that you've got a one-to-one relationship, like how theirs are."

His face gets a bit broody, something I've seen Nova Storm do after a few quarts of high grade. "Everyone else on Team Delta got turned into Terrorcons, so they won't be coming back."

I raise my own mug in salute. "'til all are one."

He nods, and tilts his own towards me. "You?"

I nod back. "Probably. Most of them, definitely. We won't know until we go through all of the wreckage. Nothing either of us can do about it now."

"No. But I can do something about Arcee and Jack." His eyes narrow thoughtfully. "Do humans get a lot bigger as they age?"

"No."

"Are they stronger than they look?"

"I don't have much contact with other aliens." Except Axlegrease, but she's got to be at least ninety percent transformer by now. "They're a lot weaker and squishier than us."

"So… Huh. Okay, so what exactly does your human partner do?"

"He gave me a reason to go on living. Something to do with my life that wasn't fighting a war I didn't really care about any more. Did Arcee tell you a lot about Jack?"

"Yeah, a few things."

"Did any of it involve the two of them fighting side by side?"

"Not… Exactly. He could sneak in places where she'd have been spotted, and… She smiles a lot when she talks about spending time with him exploring the Earth or just hanging out with him." He nods slowly. "Stuff that has nothing to do with the War."

"Paul helped me be a person. Everything I've done since I met him… These are the first things I did… Free. Free of Megatron or that sump sucker Straxus. Do you even remember what you did before the War?"

"Secure courier. I don't think I'll go back to it, though." He looks at me… What is that? Sympathy? "If I'd been working for Straxus I'd have joined the Decepticons, too. He was the worst."

"No. But he was close."

"If you say so. So, is there any reason why I wouldn't want Arcee to be-. To have Jack as a human-type partner?"

"A lot of the things I do with Paul are… Human-bonding things. Things that would seem… Weird to most transformers because we don't work like that. Jack wants to do those things with Arcee."

He thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "Does she want to do those things with him?"

"I don't think she understands exactly what they are."

"Could you demonstrate for her?"

//

"Slipstream? Are you okay?"

My body-. I'm-. My avatar body is doing that-. Laughing, on the… Floor? Paul's looking down at me. I manage to get my right arm under control and point it towards the refectory. "Tailgate asked if-. Hah! If we could demonstrate human-transformer 'things' for Arcee." Shockwave's programming makes it/me gasp for a breath I don't need, but that need feels… Weirdly good and… Appropriate, somehow?

Paul sighs. "Or we could just explain them first."

What was it that human in that said? "'No one can be told what the Matrix is.' Or in our case what it feels like to have your T-cog adapt your body for human bonding practices."

"I think I'd like to try starting by telling her."

"Okay." // "We could."

Tailgate looks confused. Of course, he's got even less understanding than Arcee.

"But you should probably clear the air with Jack first."

And maybe we should talk to Shockwave about getting him a transtector body prepared as well.

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th July 2014
22:27 GMT +5:30

"…keeping his bumper clean. Don't think I've forgotten how bad an influence on you he was."

Ah, the directional microphone. And being bonded to its owner so that if you close your eyes a little you can hear and see what's happening as if you were there. Perfect for eavesdropping on personal conversations just in case they've actually done the mature adult thing and had an open and honest conversation about their feelings. Slipstream is usually too noisy to take advantage of it, but since she changed back from 'Earth jet' to 'Cybertronian interceptor' she's been able to include an anti-gravity system that lets her hover or fly slowly but silently.

"That was one time."

They've parked up on the side of a mountain near our base, and are just staring out into the dark. For obvious reasons we sited the base a decent distance away from inhabited areas, but not far enough to make the commute impossible. There are several towns within driving distance, and the new roads that were put in as part of the cost of us basing ourselves here are some of the best in India.

Not that that's saying much…

"Bulkhead's as happy as I've ever seen him working on reconstruction with the vehicons. And Ratchet's working with the Last Autobot preparing wrecks for resurrection. And I still want to know why you have a problem with Tailgate."

"I don't have a problem with Tailgate! It's just-. You know, I haven't seen you for months-"

In Slipstream's rear cockpit seat, I roll my eyes. "Oh, for goodness sake."

In the front seat, little Slipstream glances back. "Why isn't he just telling her?"

"Because he's a teenager whose physical maturity has rushed ahead of his mental maturity. And he's actually more mature than Miko."

"-and I was hoping-."

Their parking area is suddenly illuminated, and then there's a-

TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE!

-noise as… Tailgate transforms and walks closer. "Hey there!"

"Great."

"Jack-."

"No, no, it's okay." Tailgate raises his right hand in a dismissive motion. "I just got done having Slipstream explain a whole lot about human relationships to me, and I want to be completely clear."

Mini-Slipstream snort. "This should be good."

"You're the one who taught him."

"There's only so much I can do in a day. It took you a lot longer to explain things to me."

"I thought that coming on too strong when I was the first person you'd spoken to in years wasn't really on."

Below us, Jack folds his arms defensively across his chest. "Okay?"

Tailgate crouches down, probably trying to reduce the height different but really just emphasising it. "Arcee's my partner in the same way that human police officers have partners, or human soldiers work in fireteams. We work together, and we're good friends. Like she is with Bulkhead and Bumblebee."

"Right?"

"Now, I've never had any kinda conjunx so I can't honestly say I know what that's like, but I don't think about Arcee differently to how I thought about all the other 'bots on our team."

Arcee gives him an unamused look. "Thanks, Tailgate."

"Okay, maybe a little closer because we usually teamed up when Delta Team split into pairs-. What I mean is, how I think about Arcee is like that and not like something else. As far as I'm concerned, you can try and do your human bonding thing and it's all good."

Jack was very clearly not ready to hear it that directly. And from the way her eyebrows just shot up I'm not.. completely sure that Arcee was either.

"Excuse me?"

But at least Jack's relaxed his arms. "Okay. That-. Thank you?"

"No problem!" Tailgate extends his right fist towards Jack and watches him expectantly.

Jack takes a moment, glances at the increasingly bewildered Arcee and then taps his own right fist against the far larger intermediate phalange of Tailgate's ring finger.

Tailgate smiles. "We okay now?"

"Ah. Yeah, okay. Sure."

"Glad to hear it!" He stands up and turns around. "Arcee, my purely platonic partner?"

"Yeah?"

"I got nothing to say about this situation at all. You're even further off the map than usual."

"Thanks, Tailgate."

He waves and then-

TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE!

-drives off.

I nod. "Now that's the adult way to handle things. Polite, direct, leaving no room for misunderstanding. Not letting things fester."

Slipstream and I watch and Jack and Arcee awkwardly avoid looking at each other.

"Shouldn't they start singing about now?"

"I told you, Indian daytime television rots your brain module. We should go-."

TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE!

I can feel her intent… And her location relative to me as I start to fall. So this time I don't even react, just lifting my right arm slightly to that it's easier for her to grab me before I can gain momentum. Slipstream's other hand grabs her avatar as she controls her descent, falling through the air for a few moments before landing lightly in front of Arcee and Jack. Arcee's arms jerk up, but she controls her reaction before her guns pop out, which is a major improvement. Slipstream spots that and smiles before putting her avatar and me on the ground.

"This is an intervention." / "This is an intervention."

Both of Slipstream's bodies speak, which at least makes it obvious to Arcee what the purple human next to me is. Arcee stares at her for a moment, then looks up at big Slipstream, then down to me. "Ah…"

Jack looks at me. "Were you listening?"

I nod. "Of course we were. You obviously need a wingman."

He cringes. "Can I take Tailgate instead? He seems cool."

Arcee raises her hands. "Okay, stop. I think I'm missing something important, and-" Her eyes fix on me. "-you're going to explain what it is or I'm going to start getting angry."

"Short version?" Jack cringes harder as I smile. "Jack wants the same sort of relationship with you that I have with Slipstream."

"Okay, what's strange about that? I've been thinking about requesting assignment back to Earth anyway." Jack's face brightens up. "That was why I brought Tailgate."

"Continuing the short version, humans and transformers form different sorts of social bonds due to differences in our physiology. Transformers naturally form task-adapted teams."

Arcee nods. "I do know how transformers socialise. You may not have noticed, but I am one."

"Humans form clusters based on… Ah… Manufacturing new humans. Jack was raised by his mother. The term 'mother' means-."

"She fabricated him inside her body." I raise my eyebrows. "Miko explained it. I didn't reallyohh."

She looks down at Jack, who -and I'm mildly impressed by this- meets her eyes.

"Jack, I can't do that."

"That isn't-. I know, but that's… That's how I feel about you."

I nod. "The human brain is not a rational thing."

Slipstream nods. "Neither's ours. But in the same way as your brain module thinks he makes a good team mate despite the fact that he's a tiny alien, his thinks that you'll make a good mother for his children despite needing an adaptor-" Her avatar poses suggestively, a motion almost certainly lost on Arcee. "-to be compatible. I'd say 'go for it', but I'm pretty biased."

"And that's… Different to a normal team mate."

I nod. "Different to a normal conjunx endura, too." Her eyebrows raise. "Why did you think I got all these implants?"

Some of the tension leaves Arcee's frame, her eyes not really focusing on anything. "I… I don't know what that's… Like."

I glare at Jack and start frantically pointing at Arcee. And it takes him a moment, but then he girds his loins and walks over to her, resting his right hand on her left leg.

"Maybe we could… Like… Find out together?"

…

I give him six out of ten.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th April 2013
04:57 GMT -5

"What foul and forsaken womb could produce such a maliferous monstrosity?"

I was a little surprised that Lord Malvolio was the one who responded to my alert, but I can't fault Mr. Queen for his judgement. Or Lantern Savenlovich for realising that she was way out of her depth.

Biotechnologist bows his head slightly, which my rings helpfully inform me indicates that he's ashamed of his ignorance. "That has been a matter of some speculation, though with so few examples to study little progress has been made. We-."

"They absorb people's minds until they get psychically powerful enough to make themselves unreal, then just ignore the physical laws that would prevent them getting this big." Biotechnologist stares at me while Malvolio continues to study the interior of the eye socket. "What do you mean, 'few examples'?"

"Ancient records. Fossilised remains. Occasional communication intercepts from Green Lanterns. These were shared with us when we located this creature. How do you know?"

"A familiarity with the real operational mechanics of the universe, and direct mental contact with this Mother Star as it died. It's not that hard to work out once you know the rules. I thought that was how you knew to use the Dream?"

"This was an information gathering exercise. We had no certainty that this was possible."

"Are there more monsters of its irksome ilk secreted between the stars?"

"Maybe." I shrug. "The Green Lantern Corps thought that they got them all, then this one turned up. Being optimistic, it's possible that they double-checked their work after they started showing up around Earth, but being realistic, the universe is a very big place."

In front of us, Swamp Thing clears the last of the vines away from Great Mother.

"How is Sector One Six Three Four?"

"I have made good the mad misrule of the wanton warlords and careless churls. Mine authority and autarky are resolutely restored."

"No problem with the Green Lantern Corps?"

"Nay, for a nonce. They hold a virtuous vigil that malefactors and mountebanks may not breach my boarder." He glances my way for a moment. "In either direction. And how fairs the cradle of Creation now that the dirge of despair is expunged from the Earth?"

"Well, it… Could be worse."

"Ah?"

"It could be on fire too."

"Ah." He strokes his chin. "Is there aught mine domains might offer in aid?"

"I… I don't know. The Orange Lantern Corps has a plan for reconstructing a world after a Reach occupation, but this is… Ah… Different."

"What weighs with the wardens of want?"

That makes me stare at him.

"How long did it take you to talk like that automatically?"

He turns to face me with a smile. "I fixed upon it during mine first speech to the masses of mine new home. I had never given a speech, save 'pon the stage. After so many years, I can scarce stand to speak otherwise. But what of mine beneficent boon?"

I… Don't know. At this point we're not looking at starvation. Infrastructure is… Coming online gradually. Training a group of aliens who aren't familiar with Earth standards would… It wouldn't be quick…

In places where governments are still there, fixing things is a matter of time. In places where the governments died off, replacing them is a matter of inclination. The main issue will be places like China where the system is so universal that taking parts of it out has created… In effect, created Balkanisation. People on the spot took control and did the best job they could, and in theory they're almost all loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, but… That doesn't necessarily mean that they're loyal to the particular people who have achieved seniority in Beijing. Or even in the regional capital. There's an internal election coming up, and it looks like it might get bloody.

Surprisingly, Russia's doing better in that regard. Perhaps we should try implementing Mafia Federalism in more places?

"I don't know. I appreciate the offer, but you'd have to ask Batman."

"Great-Mother?" Lantern Son floats up to… His mother, I suppose. She doesn't have a face or obvious eyes, so I'm not exactly sure how that attracts her attention. "Is your mating successful?"

"It is in progress. Analysis of this mate is time consuming."

"We will have a sister?"

"Eventually, yes. Now that the thought-twist aliens are gone and my mind is my own, I see no need to hurry."

I covertly motion for Biotechnologist to back away, but he ignores it and walks forwards.

"Are the records my colleagues made intact?"

"You. You suborned me." The sons in the area begin drifting towards him in a menacing manner. "Explain yourself."

"You are a fascinating object of study. A wonder of biotechnology. I could happily spend years divining the workings of your systems. It is a misfortune for me that research on Star Conquerors is more in demand by my superiors."

"I was a tool?"

"That was not my preference. You are worth study in your own right. But the Dominion has many ships, and few opportunities to study the unreal made real. If I had the data we gathered on you, they may come to feel differently. Your temporal weaving ability in particular would have many uses under our control."

I take a few steps closer.

"Great Mother, have you given thought to what you will do next? We're planning on moving the remains of the Mother Star, so you'll need to make a decision relatively soon."

"I will remain near the World-Of-Father while I complete my daughter. Perhaps longer. Memory logs suggest that there are many interesting creatures here."

Biotechnologist makes an affirmative gesture. "That is certainly true! We had planned future expeditions here."

"Wait, future-?" I frown. "You mean to tell me that you haven't been collecting metahuman DNA?"

"No? None of us have the required specialisation. This work took all of our time. Your species is worth studying, but we have limits."

Great. So either they don't know about it, or it's someone else.

"Swamp Thing? Are you..? Ah. Willing to-?"

"I have little interest in acting as a father to her. But she touches the Green, and that is my domain. I will watch her."

"Thank you."

Okay, I think we're done here. Just need to remove the rest of the Dominion systems, and then we can copy the Green Lantern Corps and throw the corpse into the sun.

Once bitten, permanently shy.

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th July 2014
08:57 GMT +5:30

Ratchet's eyes grow slowly wider as he completes his scans of Slipstream's larger body. Arcee and Jack are at the other end of the console, Jack standing on it and Arcee standing next to it. They're close enough to touch, but I think Jack's still trying to work out what the rules for that are.

Little Slipstream is sitting next to me a little further down the console. I thought about bringing my Pull body, but it's easier to keep things a secret if they're actually secret. And since most parts of Cybertron aren't adapted for people our size, I'm back to being carried a lot.

I say 'most parts' because enough midget transformers have come back that there's now a part of Iacon which has been redeveloped for things my size. Have to take a look before we leave.

"What.. have.. you.. done?"

Big Slipstream remains motionless on the scanner bed, but little Slipstream shrugs. "Can you narrow it down?"

Ratchet turns his head towards us while gesturing emphatically at the screen displaying the results with his right hand.

"Do you know what this means?"

"I know what it means for me." She shrugs again. "I guess Shockwave made some modifications to-."

"'Some modifications'-!" Ratchet throws his hands up, head jerking back and forth as he tries to get his thoughts in order. "When you first came to me I thought that you were using Nebulon technology, but this is far beyond anything I've ever seen before."

Ah. Huh?

Slipstream looks at me, but I just look blank. Yes, everything after the initial implants was made by Shockwave, but I… Thought he was just using Nebulon systems. Nebulon is a long way from here -and honestly not all that friendly to giant robots these days- and it just made more sense to get it done locally.

Big Slipstream props herself up slightly. "It's not?"

Ratchet gestures to the screen again. I can sort of tell what it's showing -Slipsteam's brain module- but I don't understand enough detail to know why he's so excited.

"Nebulon technology relies on bespoke implants, customised and calibrated individually to each transformer and organic who use them. It takes a great deal of fine tuning before they give the users anything like the degree of synchronicity that the two of you have."

Little Slipstream leans into me, grasping my right hand in both of hers.

"Did you hear? He said we have a high degree of synchronicity."

"I had worked that out, darling. I hear your thoughts in my head."

Ratchet points at me with his left hand. "That exactly! You haven't known each other nearly long enough to have a bond that deep! And that's if you were both transformers. Human neuroplasticity falls off tremendously in adulthood, and transformers can't-."

His hands drop as he grabs the scanner and moves it down Slipstream's body. Then he freezes, staring at the readout.

"By the All-Spark."

I'd make a joke about where he's scanning, but Slipstream's main body doesn't have breasts.

Slipstream's grip on my hand tightens a little. "What is it?"

"Your… T-cog. I've never seen anything-. Who did this?"

Her good humour appears to evaporates, but I can feel that it's a front. "You can tell me what's got you so worried, first."

"Well, I think I've found out why your bond is so strong. And why there are hardly any modifications to your brain module." He expands the image… Oh, that's… Not what a T-cog normally looks like. Little Slipstream looks down at her chest for a moment before remembering that that's the wrong body. "Unlike a normal T-cog, yours is in constant communication with this… This module. Parts of the interface remind me of Scorponok's work on synthesized protoplasm, but… Transmetal? That's Vok technology. I can't even tell what it's doing."

We were looking for transmetal samples. I suppose that if anyone on Cybertron had then it would be Shockwave. Slipstream is just sort of staring at the image of her T-cog, but I still don't quite understand-.

Ratchet starts pressing things. "Whatever you just did, keep doing it."

Alright. I try to grasp how she feels about this. Slipstream was fine going under the knife to make this work, but a T-cog is an important part of a transformer's identity. Shockwave… No, she's… Worried about it going wrong? I suppose that makes sense; if Shockwave made it then he's going to be the only one who knows how to repair it. It might not even be regenerated by a transformer's normal healing processes.

"The T-cog is… Drawing data from that module before communicating with Slipstream's brain module."

Little Slipstream looks up at him. "Should I be worried?"

He gives her a frustrated glance. "It's a little late for that now." He returns his attention to the screen, pulling up more diagrams. "The protoplasm interface was designed to allow transformers to process tactile data from pseudo-organic skin. Transmetal isn't well understood, though some of our older records suggest that it could enable transformers to adopt organic-seeming alt-modes."

His right fist moves to his chin as he thinks.

"The T-cog is not capable of scanning organic forms. Similarly, our brain modules are not capable of mirroring some aspects of organic psychology. Nebulon technology requires that every point of connection be manually entered, but this… I think that whoever made this… Was trying to 'teach' the T-cog how organic forms work." His eyes focus on me. "Using Slipstream's connection to you to do it."

I nod slowly. "So Slipstream will… Be able to scan large animals to transform into?"

"No! That would require transmetal in every part of her body. I.. think her T-cog is… Gradually reconfiguring the structure of her body so that it is capable of mirroring organic forms."

Little Slipstream nods. "Transforming my brain module so that I can feel Paul's thoughts without having a human brain."

"It's not just that. I can see dozens of minor changes in your body compared to last time I scanned you. I have no idea what the ultimate outcome of this could be! And you!" He points at me. "Don't think that I don't know a transtector interface when I see one!" Busted. "I take it that your new body has a T-cog of the same design?"

"I… Don't know. Probably. Transforming-" Arcee and Jack are staring at me. "-feels weird." I turn to Jack. "Oh, come on. The transformers have an excuse but did it really not seem strange to you that Slipstream was hanging out with a transformer named 'Pull'? Who's never seen in the same room as me?"

He stares at me for a moment, then facepalms.

"It will feel less weird as your T-cog gathers more data, though since it can't transform your organic brain in the way that it can a transformer brain module I doubt that the effect will be quite as extreme. On the other hand… I suppose that there's no reason why transmetal's ability to bridge the gap between cybernetic and organic would only go in one direction." He shakes his head. "But that is well beyond my field of expertise."

Arcee looks around… Uncertainly for a moment. "Is it safe?"

"I have no idea. I take it this is Shockwave's work?"

Slipstream and I nod.

"Shockwave is a genius inventor, but even his designs take time to perfect." He focuses on Arcee and Jack. "I cannot in good conscience advise that you adopt these modifications at this time. And-" He turns to Slipstream and I. "-I want both of you to come here every Earth day for the foreseeable future so that I can try and keep track of how it's changing you."

I shrug. "Surely Axlegrease-?"

"This is cutting edge cyber-organic technology, not field repairs! This is well beyond her abilities." He calms down slightly, shaking his head. "And it may well be beyond mine."

"Okay." I nod. "Jack can't get implants for another year anyway. I don't mind you scanning…" I glance at Slipstream, who nods. "Us, if it helps."

Ratchet sighs. "That will have to do."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th July 2014
23:17 GMT +5:30

Slipstream leans back into me. "This is something I've never tried before."

I try rearranging the position of Pull's hands around her abdomen. Giant robot bodies aren't really designed for this. We both have large armoured panels that don't give much in the way of tactile feedback covering most of our bodies, and the size difference is… Not enough to enable her to sleep in my metaphorical cockpit, but enough that it feels a little awkward to me.

"How do you mean?"

Plus, I-. Okay, I can sleep while plugged into Pull. The supports are good enough, and I'm not getting all that much sensory feedback from my body like this anyway. The Pull body is comfortable in just about any position, lacking any of the muscles, bones and circulatory system that my body has which cause cramps or paresthesia. I just don't feel comfortable ignoring my actual body for long periods of time. Unlike the Pull body, it is actually essential to my life.

"Recharging with someone." A-. "With a-. Transformer. Even with my.. team, we just had berths near each other."

I incline my head to try nuzzling her, but she's far too short for that. Alright, assuming that she's mostly drawing on her T-cog's interpretation of human behaviour for this, moving my legs in a little and-.

BEEP.

And someone's ringing our doorbell. And that was the transformer-scale bell, so… Flywheels don't socialise, Dreadwing would either leave it until morning or bang on the door with his fist, Heatseeker is still at the track, Axelgrease would sent us a message electronically… Probably Nova Storm, then. Not the first time she's wanted to be around us during her recharge cycle.

"Open." / "Open."

Slipstream looks up at me with a lazy smile. "You read my mind. She-."

The door hisses open and Arcee walks in and I-. And Slipstream, I can feel her accessing the memory and I can feel the memory of what Tailgate suggested.

Arcee stops just inside the room, her eyes glowing as she adjusts to the low light levels. There's a mobile data terminal in her hands, and… Her body language suggests that she's… Uncomfortable? Which is odd, because while a human might find walking in on a couple snuggled up together awkward there isn't an equivalent thing with transformers. Heck, combiner teams will plug themselves into each other in public and then fight people.

"Ah. Hey."

She actually raises her left hand in greeting. Yes, nervous. Awkward.

Slipstream looks up at her. "Did you want something?"

"Yeah. I need to talk to you."

"Right now?

Her eyes dart to her terminal for an instant. Oh right, I know where this is going.

"Um. Yeah."

I put my palms on the ground to get up, but Slipstream doesn't move. Right, this doesn't feel awkward to her. And… I mean, we're basically fully clothed like this. The only odd thing about this is that Arcee is standing up while we're sitting-.

Arcee sits down opposite us.

"I had a… Conversation, with Jack."

I nod Pull's head. "Yes. Good. It-."

"I don't think I understand the…" She half-raises her terminal and then lowers it-. What has she been watching? "Bonding."

Slipstream makes a circling motion with her right hand. "Which part?"

"Why is it fun? Outside of manufacturing new humans, all Jack could say is 'it feels really good'."

Slipstream nods. "It does."

"But… How? Why? If I have to rewire my T-cog, I want to know what I'm getting into."

I feel Slipstream thinking the joke at the same time as I feel her feeling me think the joke, and we both realise that Arcee wouldn't get it. Slipstream wants to say it anyway-

-but accepts my feeling that it really wouldn't be helpful.

I consider for a moment. Explaining it to a human wouldn't be hard, but I know from Slipstream that transformers don't have any sort of intuitive understanding of the area. Heck, Slipstream basically just went along with my suggestions. I should know enough now to bridge the gulf in understanding, but first…

"What's on the terminal?"

"Research material."

Slipstream lets out an amused snort. "For humans, there's a big difference between entertainment and educational."

Which we have explored in detail. But Arcee just frowns and raises the screen to show us-. A diagram of the human nervous system.

"This doesn't make sense to me."

I make Pull's head nod. "Did you do any research on evolutionary psychology?"

"No. What's that?"

"Alright. As I understand it, Primus made the first thirteen transformers, and they designed the next generation, and then after they all vanished the All-Spark discharged energy to animate pieces of metal based on those early templates. Then you invented cold casting and vehicons…" She nods cautiously. "Most species that I've seen records on don't do it like that. There might be some mythology relating to a creator deity, but none that I've seen have as direct a relationship with theirs as transformers have with Primus. Most species who claim to have been created by a god can't provide the design schematics. And without wanting to sound like a hardcore Functionalist, a lot of what you are made for relates to your alt-mode. Generally, you'll feel like you're doing what you're made for when you're using it for something, preferably with a group of like-minded transformers."

"So what do humans do?"

"Despite coming from the body of Unicron, we started out as simple chemical reactions which became living slime after being hit by lightning."

She frowns. "How does that make a human?"

"A few billion years of iteration. Some mixes of chemicals survived and reproduced, and some didn't. They were changed in small ways by their environment and then either survived and reproduced more and flourished, or didn't and died out. Over millions of years some slime gained complexity, becoming multicellular organisms. Because they weren't deliberately crafted by an intelligent designer but rather refined by their environment, their instincts developed tendencies that generally made them more likely to reproduce. We weren't programmed to form teams, but those creatures who cooperated slightly better were slightly more likely to survive and reproduce than those who didn't and so something like teams naturally emerged; we get the same positive feeling, but as a result of iteration rather than design."

I raise Pull's eyebrows.

"With me so far?"

"I think so."

"Use this as a guide to further study. There's plenty of information out there. Now, reproductive desires themselves are too abstract a thing for iteration to generate. Rather, we develop positive feelings about objective things relating to it. Socialising with people who have the characteristics which evolution tells us lead to good relationships and healthy children. Having sex with them, raising the resulting children, it all gives us the same sort of positive feeling that teamwork does transformers, in addition to the concentrations of nerves which -in the case of sex- makes the simple mechanical act pleasurable. The fact that Jack can't reproduce with you doesn't signify because the instincts which have led his brain to regard you as a good mate developed around other humans and not giant robots."

"So it's like…" She looks at Slipstream, probably because half of that went over her head. "Successful teamwork?"

Slipstream nods. "Successful teamwork completing a project, getting to a safe location and being able to put your weapons away and refuelling when you were getting low. None of that's quite right, but it's the best I can explain it."

Arcee thinks for a moment.

"That doesn't… Sound.. too strange." She gets up, and walks towards the door. Once there, she hesitates. "Thanks. I'll… Think about it some more."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Equity

19th April 2013
23:11 GMT

There's a brightly glowing crowd of Orange Lanterns loitering around the training arena as I descend through the Maltus atmosphere. A few towards the back of the crowd glance up at me, and I give them a pleased nod at their situational awareness. Maltus is about as safe as anywhere in N.E.M.O. space, but it never hurts to be at least a little on guard.

A giant orange fist smashes Lantern Ragnar into the ground and I can barely feel that it's there. He responds by trying to crumble it but it shifts form even as the outer edge starts to give way, binding his body and locking him in place. He struggles against it for a moment, then orange light begins being pulled from his ring and into his opponent. Sighing, he bows his head.

"You have bested me." The bonds around him vanish, and he pulls himself upright. "My position is yours, if you want it."

"No. You are a better teacher than I. Removing you would be foolish and disrespectful. It is… Not what I want."

I gently push my way through the crowd, and then through the barrier separating the arena from the stands. And I'm sure that I'm beaming like an idiot.

It worked.

"Lantern Xalitan Xor." He looks up at me as I come in to land. He looks… More relaxed than I've seen him before. Even with Onigar, his need to be prepared for violence is so much a part of him that he couldn't let it go. Now? "You look well."

"Illustres. I… Feel well. Everything… Makes.. sense now."

I amp up my empathic vision, curious what it looks like from the outside. Ah, yes, I see. Everything that makes him him is still there, still solid, but there's… The system isn't under pressure in the same way anymore. There's a flow between all parts that he didn't use to have, and the system as a whole is less rigid-.

I feel a slight pressure on my own desires, and pull back to the material universe to watch his eyes glowing.

"I… Can barely see you." He frowns faintly. "I can see all others clearly. Am I..? Not..?"

"Lantern Xor, you know what my tattoos do. I'm impressed that you can see anything."

"But I want to be certain."

I nod. "Alright, one way to do that. Let's go and talk to the Ophidian about it."

I rise up into the air and Xalitan follows me as we turn towards the Orange Central Power Battery. Not really necessary of course, but-. He's done it. It works. And even better, he's not one of the ones who wants to kill me and take my place.

Beneath us, Lantern Ragnar turns to the audience.

"That is the power that is within reach of all of us! Powerful as the Illustres is, he does not need to be unique! For all of those who doubted the use of spiritual training, look-" He gestures up as we fly away "-at what Lantern Xor has become!"

Lantern Xor looks contemplative. "That is excessive. I have not changed as much as he implies."

"Your new power is the result of your efforts to understand and reflect on your nature. The final step is a large one, but you've been heading in this direction since we met at least. Oh, just a moment."

I turn in the air, waving my right hand. After a moment Lantern Son flies down to us.

"I was uncertain if I was supposed to keep following you."

"Up to you. Lantern Xor, this is Lantern Son of Great Mother. He'll be working in our Sector."

"Welcome to the Orange Lantern Corps, Lantern Son of Great Mother. What world are you from?"

"I am from Great-Mother. In your terms she is a sophont spaceship, and I am an intelligent part of her reproductive system."

Xor's puzzlement grows. "When you say that you are a part of her reproductive system, what do you mean?"

"I am an efficient way of transferring design data from Great-Mother to others of her species. Outside of that role, I act as a defence and repair drone. Mentally, I am…" Orange lights flicker inside him. "Was, more simple than you and the Illustres. Now, I am not sure what I am, but I know that there are many things which could threaten Great-Mother and that is a task I am well equipped to perform."

"I was someone else's weapon." Xalitan makes an affirmative gesture. "I advise you to consider things beyond that. I achieved my current level of power by… Understanding that many people are someone's Great Mother, and that there are many threats to all of them."

"I shall consider that. There are many things about how I am now that I do not understand."

We land-. Xalitan and I land on the plaza containing the Orange Central Power Battery. There are defences around it, but the Battery itself is perfectly visible from the outside. There are a few Lanterns here, the more religious types who make formally venerating the Ophidian part of their day. There is also a party of… Tourists? Taking in the sights. And a Controller, probably making sure that it's working correctly. Hinon has people for that sort of thing now.

"Lantern Son, please stay out here. Lantern Xor, with me."

"I will comply."

Xalitan follows me, looking into the orange light ahead of us curiously.

"Is this dangerous?"

"It shouldn't be. Honestly, even-." I frown. "Did you ever experience an orange light overload?"

"No."

"But you've seen it before in others?"

"I have."

"That's probably the worst that would happen. At worst… Some psyche damage. She's not aggressive with Orange Lanterns, but she can be overwhelming."

"And when she knows me?"

"Then I show you how I teleport interstellar distances. And I suppose that she might want to get to know you better; explaining mortal affairs to her is one of my-." I glance at him. "Our jobs. Do you want a formal investiture ceremony, for your new station?"

"For myself? No. I will leave it to Clarissi Dox as to whether I should have one for the Orange Lantern Corps and for N.E.M.O.."

I nod. "Sensible. I doubt there'll be anyone in the Corps who won't know by the end of the day anyway. Oh." I tap him on the chest with my right hand, the Clicker characters for 'Enlightened' appearing as part of his rank insignia. "But you will have to take that, I'm afraid."

He looks down. "I shall bear it as best I can."

We approach the housing of the Central Power Battery and stop, and I reach out towards the Ophidian. Her consciousness feels… Sleepy? As she exists as one with the desires of the entire Corps. But then she feels two of me and suddenly we're the focus of her attention.

Xalitan's eyes widen as he fully perceives her, and she stares down at him.

"My Agent, what is this?"

"My Embodiment. This is progress."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2282
06:02 GMT -6

"…no, there's no need to-."

And he's gone. Ugh. I just wanted to check in with the President's office to see if there was anything that urgently needed my attention. I didn't even think the satellite relay went to his residence yet. I just-.

"Mister Krono. Or should I say 'Ambassador'?"

"Mister President, thank you for speaking to me. They really didn't need to wake you."

President Grant Columbus Hayes of the New California Republic snorts. "I'm sleeping lightly anyway. Legion assassins nearly got to me two days ago. Besides, hearing from you is usually the highlight of my day."

"How?! What happened?!"

"Frumentarii snipers took a shot at me during a state visit to the Boneyard. Good job Mariah was quick with the telekinetic barriers or the second shot would have hit me in the head. The real scary part was that they had backups hidden in the crowd. Bleeding from the lung is even less fun when you've got madmen with gladiuses charging at you and your car is too hemmed in to move."

I nod. Mariah Colson is one of my people, charged with keeping President Hayes alive. And unlike the two I assigned to Elder Lyons, she's a mature adult.

"Fortunately the next truck up had Brotherhood Paladins in it. Pretty hard to knife someone in a T Fifty One."

"Anyone on our side hurt?"

"Seventeen dead, and about forty injured. The snipers killed security guards and book store workers before taking their posts, and the knife-men cut their way through the crowd. On the plus side, your people took a few of them prisoner, and they've been winding up what's left of that network."

I nod. "The war?"

"The Legion's still fighting. We're winning, but it's a bloody business. Our friends in Rio Grande are having trouble crossing the river, and the robots-." He snorts quietly. "I don't know why I'm surprised."

"Problem?"

"WARDEN says that his standing orders only extend to maintaining law and order within the borders of Colorado and New Mexico. Sallow ended up just ceding the territory when he realised that WARDEN's robots weren't pursuing past that. Oh, and Doki's got some other-. Heh, some other poor sap to play Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor with."

Oh dear. "Have there been more kidnappings?"

"Not from the West Coast. There may have been an ARGUS sighting in the Mojave, but we've been getting that sort of report from all over ever since the first time. How was Britain?"

"As good as I could expect. I've got some examples of a new form of circuitry they've developed which might interest you, and some wool samples your tailor might like."

"'New form'? You mean it doesn't use vacuum tubes?"

"Just so. The end product is more easy to disrupt with EMP but can manage a lot more operations per second than regular vacuum tubes while being far easier to manufacture than micro vacuum tubes."

"That's.. interesting. I'm not sure that we wouldn't be better off sticking with what we've got, but we can take a look. What sort of state is their government in?"

I snort-chuckle. "Technically, they have one. They're a ghoul-ruled gerontocracy, though they don't call them 'ghouls' in Britain. Queen Elizabeth is still alive and reigning and there isn't any major opposition. They're currently consolidating control and skirmishing with the other European countries out at sea. Assuming nothing changes, the island of Great Britain should be solidly under their control inside twenty years. I'm going to talk to Santa Anna and Elder Törni about the possibility of opening up transatlantic shipping routes."

"Good." He sighs. "Diana's offered us cotton seeds to get us started, but it'll take us a long time to grow enough to be commercially viable. And… I know that we're going to beat the Legion, but I'm not sure how we're going to pacify-"

"This is Doki-"

"-Ariz-tzzzzzzz."

"Mister President?"

"-Doki for Robot City Productions-"

"Doki, this is a private conversation-."

"-preeeeeeeeeesenting the second ever instalment of..! Drum roll sound effect!"

I hear the drum roll coming from the speakers as I turn the saucer to the north-west and accelerate.

"The Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor! Broadcasting to everywhere! Whether you want to listen or not! Sponsored by the goddess Hecate!"

Okay, so nothing untoward happened during the first episode, other than the initial kidnappings, but if she's grabbed people from halfway across the continent again-.

"Our eligible bachelor this morning is a man with mysterious past! A hunky frame! A surprisingly well-trimmed beard on a face that isn't anything like as scarred as it was supposed to be! In-tro-ducing Legate-"

Ah?

"-Lanius of the Hidebark tribe!"

I accelerate more.

"Once I am free of these bonds, I will slay everyone within range of my voice."

That's his voice.

"Competing for the affection of this redoubtable warrior! Tanya 'Ant Agonizer' Christoff! That name is a pun!"

"I don't call myself that any more! I gave it up!"

"She controls giant ants and uses them to ravage the wasteland!"

"It was one town! And I barely ravaged it at all!"

"She's honest, industrious and prudent!"

"I thought I was a comic book supervillain! How is that honest? Or prudent?"

"And competing against her for the privilege of dating the Monster of the East! 'First name not found' Mckinley of The Executives!"

"You think you can acquire and merge me? I'll teach you the true meaning of hostile acquisition!"

"She's a violent killer with ahistorical beliefs about the pre-war civilisation she's based her life on!"

"I'll liquidate your entire family!"

"And she has highly effective leadership skills!"

"I'll take days to strip your assets!

"And lastly, Paladin Justinia Hayman of the Midwest Chapter! Her own father told her: 'You are the last in a legacy of failures', and based on what's happening in Arizona right now, well, so is our bachelor! She's also very good at fighting and is completely merciless!"

"Machine, I will destroy you. Not for trying to humiliate me, but to safeguard humanity against your madness. And I will kill the raider and the mad ant-woman as well."

"I'll downsize your Human Resources!" / "What did I do?"

"For the first round! Insert wheel spin sound effect, because it's time for a Cooking Catastrophe!"

I accelerate again.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th July 2014
21:23 GMT +5:30

Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.

I lead the way through the ground bridge -or maybe that should be underground bridge, waving in the direction of our secure storage area as Arcee, Slipstream and Tailgate follow me through.

"We didn't think keeping them on the surface was a good idea."

Tailgate isn't listening, his attention fixed on the walls and ceilings of Unicron's interior. Arcee in the meantime looks at me sceptically. "I thought you were selling parts."

Pull's head nods. "Yes, and once we've delivered whatever we sold to a secure facility then it stops being our problem. But until then, we leave it down here."

I amble towards the chamber set aside for Unicronian storage.

"Since we're in Unicron, dark energon's not exactly in short supply."

I feel Slipstream's amusement at Arcee's visible disgruntlement. "Do you sell that, too?"

Slipstream shrugs nonchalantly. "You remember when Unicron started waking up? Or when Megatron used his dark energon crystal to raise an army of terrorcons on Earth?" Arcee nods cautiously. "That left… Quite a lot of dark energon on the surface. Terrorcons don't have much liquid dark energon in their systems, but there were a lot of terrorcons, and a lot of the ones we located were drained using human equipment before we got to them."

"Scrap."

"And small dark energon crystals got recovered from at least one eruption site. The American government let us take some for disposal, but I'm sure that they've got more in storage somewhere."

I nod as I turn back towards them. "We haven't wanted to draw attention to them, in case more countries start digging for them."

Tailgate returns his attention to his immediate surroundings, peering at Pull-. At Pull's optics. "Still.. can't.. get over you being in that guy."

"There is no 'guy'. I'm a transtector, not a headmaster." Ah. "Unless you recognise him. I did sort of consider the idea that Shockwave might have used someone's body rather than build it from scratch."

"Creep-y."

I nod with Pull's head. "Yes. And on that note, here are the transformer corpses we're draining of fuel."

Axlegrease built up a system for assembling frames for them to hang from, battered bodies clamped in place at the chest, arms, legs and head, the frame supporting the draining tubes which feed into the pump system drawing out the dark energon. Most of what we're getting is sludge with just a little dark energon, so we've got filter tanks for that as well once a batch of draining is done.

Tailgate and Arcee both wince at the sight. I wave Pull's right hand in a circle.

"Yes, it's ghoulish, but they're literally ghouls. If you've got a better idea, I'm all auditory pickups."

Tailgate girds his… Um. Girders, and takes a closer look at one of the inanimate revenants. "Couldn't you take them apart first?"

Slipstream shakes her head. "That would just make it take longer. And risk exposing whoever did it to dark energon. There's only one Decepticon immune to the effects of dark energon and that's only because the tox-en already in his system is worse. And I don't think that bringing Toxitron to Unicron would end well for anyone."

Tailgate turns his head to stare at her, baffled. "Tox-en? How is he still alive?"

Slipstream shrugs. "Shockwave."

I nod Pull's head. "Tox-en was an early failed attempt to create synthetic energon. But Shockwave, being the logical being that he is, decided that if tox-en couldn't fuel transformers as they are, that didn't necessarily mean that he couldn't modify a transformer so they could be fuelled by it."

Acree nods. "That's Shockwave alright."

Tailgate looks discomported. "And it worked?"

Slipstream and I look at each other uncomfortably. Toxitron was one of Shockwave's surviving projects that Shockwave asked us to help. But he took exception to our 'shiny shiny chassis' and tried 'fixing' us… With acid.

As one, we raise our right hands horizontally and wiggle them back and forth.

Tailgate smiles. "Heh. It really is like you've been bonded for gigacycles. I don't even know what that gesture means."

"It means 'kind of'." Arcee has moved to examine the wrecks more closely. "How old are these?"

Pull's body shrugs. "We're not sure. Carbon dating doesn't work for materials from outside of this solar system. Based on the designs… Some of them are pre-War."

She turns back, looking puzzled. "Pre-War? I thought everything on Earth was from early-War caches?"

"Well, Unicron certainly isn't. It's not impossible that some of these date from the Quintesson Occupation. Or earlier. If early transformers worked out where Unicron was and set up watchers to warn if he ever woke up…"

"Which we forgot about when the Quints took over. What killed them?"

Pull's body shrugs again. "Unicron's defences? Starvation? It's just a theory. We're trying to identify as many of the bodies as possible, but the records aren't in good shape. We've had more luck asking old transformers if they recognise them than getting archive data."

Tailgate look down the rows of salvaged Terrorcons. "Have you found any who aren't Terrorcons?"

"That would be too easy." I lead the way between the rows of dead transformers. "Did you ever finish decoding the Iacon database? After the Star Sabre and the Forge of Solus Prime got discovered, I got the impression that it… Stopped being relevant."

Arcee glances at me suspiciously. "Why do you wanna know?"

"If there were any stasis pods contemporary with these remains, it could clear up a lot of things." I give her a wan smile. "Don't worry. Even if we found something, we'd just trade it to you. We don't need bigger weapons or fancy technology to be happy here."

"For what?"

I take a moment to… Unfocus, trying to hear Slipstream's feelings on the subject. Yes, that's what I thought, too.

"Depends what we find. If we actually get something valuable like the Requiem Blaster… Our own energon production plant? Earth has energon, but it never hurts to have reserves. A small or medium sized ship, maybe? There must be some smaller warships you don't really need anymore, now that the War's over."

Slipstream nods. "Or if it's just an Autobot data module in a stasis pod, we probably owe Ratchet that much for our checkups."

"If it-."

The dim lights embedded in Unicron's internal walls flicker, winds gust out of nowhere as we all deploy our weapons, pointing them in all directions!

"Lantern Pull." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears near Pull's feet. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't think Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

"I'm not really a Lantern." I switch Pull's guns back into hands and kneel before the Controller. "But I owe you a great deal already. What can I do for you?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2282
06:18 GMT -6

Banshees. Why did it have to be banshees?

Radiation makes everything bigger, stronger and more aggressive. Everyone in the wasteland -particularly those who've never studied physics- takes that as a truism. Or maybe it's pre-War mad scientists meddling in things they shouldn't, or post-War mad scientists sticking snake DNA into dogs, or post-War scientists taking stuff pre-War scientists made, and-.

There are a lot of nasty mutants around. So really I shouldn't complain about giant mutant bats -which technically aren't giant mutant vampire bats, it's just that their new size means that we're all food-sized- because they're just one amongst hundreds.

My saucer's disintegrator cannons traverse and fire, atomising the left side of one banshee and causing the rest of it to smash into the side of the canyon.

And then I hear the screech.

The saucer has optical stealth. That's not the same as being undetectable, as those mechaniods I fought with the Enclave Iowa National Guard showed. Sufficiently high resolution optical sensors can pick up the slight distortion in the air as the stealth field fails to perfectly replicate its environment. Electromagnetic sensors can detect the ion wake created by the thrusters.

And banshees can detect the sound of their shrieks being echoed-

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

-off any object in range!

The sun's up! They should all be asleep by now! And it's not just that they can hear where I am, oh no, that would be far too easy! Their screech-. Agh! It hits the right frequency to stun most people, and-

I shoot another one through the head, but the swarm is already turning and while I'm resistant to their screeching I'm certainly not immune. Especially now that they're-

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

-actually… Agh, facing me.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

My right arm seizes up and I'm forced to turn the saucer by pulling on the controls with telekinesis. It turns nose-up, inertia controls and thrusters allowing me to change vector far faster than the banshees which infest the canyons of Colorado. Traverse the cannon again, fire and-. And miss, because the flock isn't moving in the way I expect them to.

And I could get away like this, but that would defeat the objective.

**Tanya!**

Who said that?!

**The telepath leading the bats away. Can you-?**

**That crazy robot said there were ants around here-**

**Yes, good. I need you to-.**

**-but they're not East Coast ants! I don't have the right pheromones!**

Ah.

**Can you get the right-**

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

Somewhere behind me, something bursts.

**-pheromones?**

**Oh, sure. I just need to find out where the colony keeps its queen, get to her, then rub her glands without getting eaten.**

**Ah.** There's a sudden cessation of humming as my ion thrusters shut down, a sound I didn't really notice until it wasn't there any more. **I assume that's as impossible as it sounds?**

**Ah, okay, I might… If I can get larva pheromones, I could get taken to the queen. She wouldn't attack a larva.**

I've still got gravity control, but I'm losing speed as the air drags against the hull. Which means that the banshees are gaining on me.

**Can you get larva pheromones?**

**No! Larva don't leave the nest until they're fully grown! [Deep breath] Okay, okay, if I can find an ant that's been to the nursery recently, I might be able to get enough larva pheromone to fake it. But I'll have to get the nest's regular pheromone so the warrior ants don't attack me first, and that-.**

**I trust you to handle that.**

I turn the saucer around on its central axis so that I'm facing down towards the gaining banshee flock and the ground beneath them. Disintegrator fire and gravity drive off.

And down I go, two banshees dropping out of formation with carbonised wings. The rest move away as I fire again which gives me just enough room to push through their formation-

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

-and get a nose bleed as-.

Pchh!

As the disintegrator takes a hit on the unarmoured portion and the safety shutdown kicks in, because overloading disintegrator cannons are no one's friend. Optic camouflage is offline as well, but that doesn't matter because the banshees can't see well during the day.

**Why are you here?**

**That's the challenge! Ah, are ants telepathic?**

**Not as far as I know. And I thought the challenge was 'cooking'.**

**Cooking Catastrophe! We have to fight for our ingredients! The Brotherhood woman got dumped in the river with the river crawlers and the weird raider… I don't know what that thing was she's supposed to fight!**

**And you're fighting for bat meat?**

**No! Apparently their shit makes tubers grow real good! That.. Doki robot.. thing wanted a vegetarian option!**

Clunk.

I look the banshee that's just landed on my canopy directly in the eyes, and I'm pretty sure that it's looking back.

"kEE-kuh!"

I grip its vocal cords with telekinesis and pull! It staggers sideways, claws scrabbling at the hull of the saucer to keep its grip!

"Kkuh-! Kkuh-!"

No you-. Oh, the ground's getting rather close.

I grab the controls with my functioning hand and pull, the saucer shifting to apply its gravity repulsor behind and down. Immediately I feel the g-force and feel more than a little glad for my FEV enhancements. Shit, ah, aim like that towards the canyon because I'm still falling and I'm having to move the repulsor angle on a curve because the banshees are still after me and I can't afford to lose momentum..!

At least the one hanging on the front lost its-

A claw stabs through the underside gun cupola and into the flight compartment!

-grip?

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2282
06:20 GMT -6

"kEE-kuh!"

I get a telekinetic grip on its throat just fast enough to prevent it giving me a brain aneurysm, then stand and side-step to avoid its flailing claw!

Klang! Klang! Klang! Shing!

And there goes my chair, falling to the deck as its stem is severed! The only reason why I can't hear the air roaring through the hull puncture is because the banshee's body is blocking it. If I had time I could remove its control of its motor neurons or force it to fall asleep but I've got a canyon coming up-.

Faster than I was expecting! Darn it, these controls are not responsive when used like this! I'm too fast to be this wallowy! Left-straight, jink right, down a little because the pursuing banshees are trying to follow from above and I want to force them to fly around the obstacles too. Extend telekinetic sense forward-.

Agh, no, too fast and too confusing. I kick the chair into the rear of the cockpit as I try and focus-.

Up a little, hard-right to hard-left…

Klang! Klang!

I could draw my pistol and shoot it, but given how tough they are it wouldn't be a certain kill and it would mess up the saucer even more.

"Get-!"

I try kicking the claw and hit it more by accident than skill. The blow doesn't hurt it but it does confirm to it that-

Klangklangklang!

-there's something in here. I-

Shit-left-jinkright!

-am flying an aircraft and-.

I take my hand off the control for a half-second in order to switch the turret to 'rotate'. The motors strain to turn against the mass of a giant bat, but it's not as if the bat has good leverage. Not if it wants to keep trying to stab me with its claw.

Then back on the controls, and… Uh, 'feel the Force' and use Prescience.

And just like that I can feel what's coming and what I should do/will do. I feel it as the banshee's head turns away and I have time to focus on fixing the damage inside my right arm that's preventing me using it. I don't even need to look as I steer around a bend in the canyon with the newly repaired arm while simultaneously sidestepping the banshee's claw-stab. It's a useful ability, but-.

Then the expected confusion sets in as I see what's ahead from each position I could be occupying, and feel the proper actions to take from each of them. The range of possibilities is limited and I can work out which one is the real one, but-.

Turn it off turn it off aaaaagh..!

Project that confusion into the banshee and swing the saucer just so-.

The saucer shakes and then lurches slightly as the banshee gets knocked off, but I've got both hands on the controls and… Sensors are still working. The flock is still mostly following me-

**Are you in yet?**

**Yes! I think someone was feeding these ants. They're nothing like as aggressive as on the East Coast.**

This part of Colorado used to be controlled by the Canyon Raiders, descendants of the criminals housed in Tibbets Prison before the War. Apart from the small cul-de-sac that houses Vault 27, whose power armoured Ghost Divisions would have been perfectly happy to feed ant colonies to block the approach for their larger and more powerful neighbour.

**Do they have spitters?**

**Ah, I think so? Usually, only the Queen can do that, but some of the workers here look like they've got-.**

**Okay good. Find a place where they can muster, get them there and then tell me.**

**They're not that smart! I have to lay pheromone trails-.**

**Tell me once you've done it.**

The people of Vault 27 never built anti-air guns, because no one in this part of the world really used aircraft except Eagle Rock, and they only use blimps. And with banshees being big enough to pick up someone in power armour and fly away with them I doubt that they'd appreciate it if I bring the flock to them. Ants on the other hand… Lose some soldiers and workers, gain some food, and lack the intelligence to blame the man who made it happen.

Alright, that can-.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

Woomp.

Darn it.

New banshees, coming from the caves-. No, just one, but the saucer's gravity drive-. Inertia shield into crash mode, aim down as best I can… That part of the canyon floor looks reasonably level. Vault 27 is some way ahead but I can probably pay them to haul the wreck to their exterior settlements until I can get a recovery crew over here… The people of Eagle Rock are on good terms with my soon-to-be father-in-law, so even if their blimps aren't exactly fast they'll get here eventually.

I really hope that no one mined-.

KCHHUCHHHHbngCKRRRRHHHHHH!

The inertia shield flares and fails immediately, and that takes care of what little downwards momentum I have left. Lateral momentum is partially absorbed, resulting in the saucer skipping like a thrown stone across the canyon floor. I'm thrown into the control panel at the second impact, not the first as I'd been braced for, and… Ah, I'm a little bruised but far less injured than I have any right to be thanks to West-Tek's finest biotechnology. Third hit-

CNCH!

-and we're sliding and I do not have time to waste! I pull the emergency canopy release-

Chngchngchng!

-and then brace myself and lift, shoving it out of the hull and sending it crashing to the ground.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

One banshee in close proximity with a flock to follow. I vault out of the saucer as I reach out telepathically, trying to feel for Tanya-. There she is. Okay, not-. Bend knees as I land and then sprint. Not great but manageable. Personal inertia shield to active, because that should absorb at least one physical attack from a diving banshee. Other options…

I glance up and back for a fraction of a second, then alter my direction so that I'm running towards a rock column jutting out from the canyon wall.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

I focus my telekinesis on my own body, adding a little oomph to my motions. Actual experts can use this ability for true super strength… For a while at least. I'm a lot more limited but then I only need to be fast enough-.

I feel the change it the banshee's mental state as it begins its dive, and at once I stop enhancing myself and implant strongly the idea that the air in front of me is clear. If it had more than a fraction of a second to think things through that wouldn't work, but as it is-.

I thrust my right leg down, throwing myself to the side as the banshee skims past me and slams into the rock pillar! I hit the ground, frantically drawing my pistol as-

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

-it flails around in pain and confusion. Soon fix that. Pistol up, charge, two hands and aim-.

The banshee twists its head around to face me-

"kEEEEEEEEEYYY-!"

-and I fire, burning a hole through its skull and into its brain.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

And the flock are still coming. I really need to start prioritising training beastmasters. These things would be really useful if we could control them.

I holster my pistol and start running again.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2282
06:25 GMT -6

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

Breathe, breathe…

The forced evolutionary virus is great, but it doesn't mean that I can get away with sprinting indefinitely and it definitely doesn't make anaerobic respiration efficient.

**Tanya, I don't like to be a nag, but-.**

**We're just about ready! But… The queen's come with me. I think she thinks I'm a new queen or something.**

**Is that important?**

I take a half-second to glance back at the flock. Definitely closer, but they seem to have decided that they're better served by letting me tire myself out rather than diving down as fast as they can.

**I don't know. I don't know these ants. Some types can have nests with multiple queens but with others the new queens take half the workers and soldiers and leave to start their own nest. I've never seen a situation where the old queen chooses to hang out with a new queen.**

I look around at the cliff sides surrounding me and spot the small tunnel entrances that show that this is ant territory. That might explain why the banshees are hanging back. I didn't think they were intelligent enough for something like that, but… Maybe?

**I'm sure that entomologists of the future will thank you for your work. I'm bringing the banshees to you.**

**Not to me! They didn't even give me a gun and I lost my ripper trying to fight off that giant robot! All I've got is a tiny knife!**

**I'm bringing the banshees to your ambush point, and I'm finding the ambush point by homing in on you. If you're too far away then I won't find it.**

**Okay. There's an old semi-collapsed tunnel. I'm in some sort of maintenance tunnel near that, and the ants are poised to swarm in.**

**Anything I need to worry-**

The sand to my left erupts with angry ant, and I have to use telekinesis to dodge a blob of something that makes the sand hiss when it lands.

**-about, like burrowed ants?**

**Most of the workers have pulled back, but leaving soldier ants as sentries-**

**I just ran past one.**

**-and oh. Okay, it's probably emitting a warning pheromone, so the other ants will be on guard.**

**How do ants sense their targets?**

**Vision and smell. Ah, depending on how close you were, you probably got covered in the warning pheromone, so you can't just outrun it.**

**Not a problem.**

I can just about hear the warrior ant chasing after me, maintaining a surprisingly quick pace even if it can't quite keep up with me. And of course it can't smell the banshees at all from down here, but it's probably continuing to emit that warning pheromone as long as it chases me. So while I could telepathically muffle its senses, I don't. I let it keep-.

What's that?

I jink left and slow, turning and heading towards the opposite canyon wall. A small chance that the banshees will use this opportunity to dive, but I think I've got time and I… Yes, there it is. I grab a small device that was dropped near the canyon wall before turning back to my original course and accelerating again. The ant isn't quite as agile as me and has to actually stop to change direction. So I haven't lost my lead but…

What is this?

It looks a little like a speaker, and there's a radio receiver built into it. Did Doki plant these so that she could communicate with the contestants? I… Think I can… Hear some sort of… Quiet noise? Static? Getting any kind of signal in a canyon isn't easy, as even long wave would struggle to get down here. Don't know. I put it in one of my robe's pockets of later analysis.

And I turn the corner-

Buried ant! Dodge!

-and I see the unfinished section of pre-War road leading to a porous pile of rubble which forms the shape of an amphitheatre. And this time I use my telekinetic sense to feel-. Ants. Lots of them. But that passage over there feels more like a complete utility tunnel of the sort I've seen in dozens of pre-War subterranean structures.

And the entrance…

**Can you open the door?**

**Not without squeezing past two royal guard ants while smelling like someone they're supposed to guard with their lives.**

**Right.** I feel more ants buried in the ground nearby, and the ones in the rocks are preparing to attack as they smell the danger pheromone on me. So I slow to a halt, turn and aim my pistol at the flock just above the canyon rim. **Drawing the banshees in now.**

I fire and miss, the range being too long for the relatively slow bolt of plasma to be at all accurate. I fire and miss again, but they're getting the idea that I'm an actual threat they need to deal with rather than something they can wait to die of dehydration. About half swoop into the canyon in my direction while the rest begin flapping to get over my head.

**My control of these ants isn't precise. If they decide to go-.**

**Understood. Apropos of nothing, would you like ant control psychic powers?**

**Uh, what? You mean-. You can control ants? If you can-? Why am I here?**

**Specialisation. I can talk to you and do other things but I'm not good at controlling animals.**

**Ah… I don't know. That was a… My parents got killed by giant ants, and then I… I got convinced that ants were some sort of amazing super species. I don't think making ants my whole life again would be a good idea.**

Fair enough.

**I do know a guy, though.**

**Oh?**

**Yeah. After I… Had some sense talked into me by this… Really hot guy, I ended up meeting this ant researcher who was trying to make ants less dangerous by making them smaller-**

**Oh? That sounds-.**

**-by injecting their eggs with some kinda virus. He ended up giving them the ability to breathe fire.**

**Maybe not, then. I'd rather have someone who knows that giant mutant ants aren't the solution to all of life's problems than someone who thinks: 'giant mutant ants: dangerous, but could they be more dangerous?'.**

**I think he only killed that town by accident…**

…

I might need to send more people to Washington before too long.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

Here we go! Banshees flying along the canyon are approaching slowly in order to use their screech, while two of those above me are tucking their wings in to swoop! I start running towards the centre of the amphitheatre, firing half-aimed shots at the banshees above me. An ant unburies itself to my right and another sticks its head out through a hole, but I dash past them in a blur before their acid sprays can hit me.

"kEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYAH!"

The ants behind me shudder, turning their attention to-. The low-flying flock has increased their speed, and I can feel the increased aggression from them. Not sure what's doing that-.

**The ants are going crazy! Whatever you're doing-**

I reach into my robes, trigger my Stealth Boy and dash over to a nearby overhang.

**-you better-.**

Banshees jostle for position, sonic energy able to detect me perfectly well. The ants on the other hand…

**Let them attack.**

And then the carnage begins.