Blight stands in the middle of a street, looking entirely lost. Pixel sits humbly on his shoulder, looking lost himself. Neither appear very aware of the other.
He would hear juliana sobbing slightly, on a bench nearby, if he was present enough to listen.
Epsilon was trying to figure out how in heck Facelift had gotten to another continent in so short a time.
âŚitâs not like anyone here can teleport! he thought.
Zepar sent Shadowraker to scout ahead for any more loose prisoners while he and the Terrorcon follow Gatecrasher.
Facelift also laughs.
âHa! Ha-ha-ha! Hahahahahahahahaha! OH-ho-hohohohoho! HOOOOOOoooooh youâre serious,â he suddenly realizes. âYouâre not joking.â
The four-armed neutral shakes his head. âNope.â
Deus suddenly stops, as the roar of the engines had gone. He looks around, searching for a hint as to where to go next.
âDid he teleport?â Thrift wonders. âCan he teleport? He can teleport and heâs been holding out on me?!â
The canister also contained a datacard offering an explanation of the upgrade.
Corona smiles and emits a short laugh.
âIâm flattered,â she says.
Currently, Salvationâs population of prisoners was being moved out of the Fleetcarrier. Many of her detention facilities were in pieces now, thanks to the repair protocol, and so she was currently unfit to house them, as the earlier riots had demonstrated.
âI donât know.â Epsilon said, âIs that even possible here? I thought Skywarp was one of the few, if not the only one, with that ability.â
Spectrum tilts her head in confusion.
âCome with us,â the four-armed neutral offers. âWeâll explain on the way.â
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Spectrum looked at Facelift and shrugged.
Blight narrows his eye, trying to locate the source of the noise. He was trained to be able to detect sounds of distress.
Daria looks at him,
before heading in the direction she heard the engines last.
âI think it was this way.â
Scrapshot and Driftburn reach for the data card at the same time hitting each other and jumping back.
âOi!â
Both cried as they bounced back
Driftburn snapped,
âVâere!â
Scrapshot tilted his head,
âOi?â
Driftburn takes a step forward<
âVâere over!â
Scrapshot steps back,
âWelpâŚemâŚâ
Drfitburn grabs the data card to see what explanation it gave about this so called âupgradeâ.
Actaeon smiles,
âIn that case let me show you to the ship.â
It would be coming from a small side street.
If he turned and went into it, he would find a small park.
Which Blight did, trudging his way. Pixel offered no resistance.
The park was beautiful little spot, a small fountain bubbled in the center, with some benches around it. On one of them sat Juliana, sobbing softly into her hands.
Facelift and the neutrals assume their vehicle modes.
âAlright, lead the wayâŚâ the doctor begrudgingly says.
Deus follows her, his footsteps producing heavy thuds as he jogs.
A tiny, blue hologram of Lady Corona materializes above the datacard.
âHello, Driftburn!â the hologram recites. "O-or is it Scrapshot? Whatever. It doesnât really matter does it?
"Youâve probably figured out what your new upgrade does by now, one way or the other, and you might be wondering what exactly it does. Itâs simple, really: Your spark has been split in two, and each half now resides in each of your robot modes, which can now separate, as well. Iâve been told that itâs a disorienting experience at first, but youâll get used to it.
âYouâre a bot living two lives, Driftburn⌠Scrapshot⌠whatever. Anyways, perhaps this could help you see the benefits of that, while at the same time realizing that youâre more of a singular entity than you might think. If that makes any sense.â
Corona motions for Actaeon to lead on, gesturing toward the looming visage of Salvation.
Aboard Salvation, Sprocket and Grommet enter their shared laboratory, followed by Shockwave. The two scientists were once again fighting, which was of no surprise to anyone who knew of their relationship.
âWell, of course Iâm gonna need to get some more data,â says Sprocket. âRun some more tests, and such-nâ-such. But we could start applying the Omega Keyâs cybermatter-generating properties after Salvation gets put back together! A few drops of the stuff, and SideStepâs already on the mend; imagine what we could do if we had a proper supply of it!â
âYes, yes, yes,â Grommet sighs. âYouâve just made history- youâve only said variations of that phrase for the past day!â
âDoesnât make it any less true, does it?â Sprocket quips, shrugging his shoulders smugly. âIâm unlocking the secrets of the ancients; and youâre strapping guns to turbofoxes. I think youâre just envious of my accomplishment.â
âOh, plea-â Grommet begins to retort, before he accidentally places a foot into a hole in the floor and stumbles. Quickly stepping away from the hole after regaining his balance, he grumbles:
âConfound this repair protocol! Itâs so bloody inconvenient!â
âYeah, Iâll level with you there,â Sprocket agrees. âHard to get work done when all your stuffâs-â
The Autobot suddenly quiets, the red lights on his cheeks fading to black as he looks suspiciously around his half of the lab.
âSprocket?â Grommet reacts, his telescoping eye dilating.
âSomethingâs missing,â Sprocket mumbles, more to himself than anyone else, but loud enough so that Grommet and Shockwave could hear. Immediately, he descends upon a pile of artifacts on one of the tables, sifting though it.
âHow can you tell?â Grommet dryly deadpans. âThis place is a gddmn sty.â
âI can just tell, alright; I can feel it!â Sprocket retorts, continuing his frantic search as he jumps from one part of the lab to the next. The relics and datapads he threw aside hang in the air as the spaceportâs mechanisms catch and begin to clean them.
âSuch a lack of proper scientific discipline and cleanlinessâŚâ Shockwave notes in his usual terse monotone as he took a high-tech multi-tool to the injuries he had sustained in the earlier riot.
âYeah, well, we canât all be the brightest mind alive with unlimited funds and a giant-aft tower in the middle of Kaon, now can we?â Sprocket shoots back as he continues his investigation. He backs away from another pile, this one also failing to yield the missing object- whatever it was- and looks around the lab for any sign of what he was looking forâŚ
âŚHis eyes fall upon an empty, shattered case off in the back corner of the room, its pieces aglow with a blue light as the spaceportâs cybermatter generators worked to slowly put it back together.
Sprocket stares wide-eyed at the empty case, realizing now what exactly had been taken as the sinking feeling of dread begins to set in. The lights on his cheeks flicker for a moment before he manages to dumbly sputter out:
âThis⌠is a problem.â
Shockwave and Grommet follow his gaze, and quickly arrive at a similar conclusion.
âNo slag, genius,â Grommet quips.
âIndeed,â Shockwave affirms.
Actaeon makes his way to the Salvation, leading the way for Corona.
Daria continues on until she stops, ending where she believed the sound came from.
Scrapshot looks at the hologram,
âMenaâ
Driftburn nods,
âUnsouled.â
Scrapshot sighs,
âAyâŚI guess we should find her?â
Driftburn shakes his head,
âNay. Iâll go you⌠donât move.â
Driftburn runs off looking to see if he could find the person responsible.
Actaeon would be able to see the mass exodus of prisoners from Salvation, escorted by guards.
Daria and Deus would happen upon an entrance into the spaceportâs service tunnels.
Corona could be found with Acateon on one of the spaceportâs many bridges.
Spectrum hops onto Facelift.
Facelift rumbles along in his tank mode, following his kidnappers along the patches of worn road peeking out of the dirt and biomechanical foliage. More glowing white fissures could be seen all around, accompanied by crystal formations of blue, red, purple, and green. The jungle canopy blocked out much of the sunlight, allowing the fissures and crystals to fill in the darkness with deep, other-wordly glows. Strange mechanimals dart between the trees in the distance, and shadowy silhouettes of spectral figures could be seen.
âOh, umâŚâ Blight stammered. âIs- Is everything alright, Juliana?â