“One must do one’s utmost to ensure the stability of our Alliance. To that end, my company has kept safe the most dangerous and valuable assets of both humanity and Cybertron, so you can rest assured a mere diamond will be safe.” — Deadbolt, speaking in an ad for Deadbolt Securities
The concept of subspace storage sounds like magic to many. After all, doesn’t “extradimensional box” sound like something from a popular RPG? Well, believe it or not, it’s one of the most popular storage solutions for governments across the galaxy, with many people from the Torchbearers to the National Security Force using it to store items whose mere existence causes planets to tremble. In subspace, a weapon of mass destruction can be hidden from all but two people: the weapon’s owner, and the bot who owns the most secure subspace provider in existence: Deadbolt.
Deadbolt was once a young Cybertronian who longed for adventure, and found it. He was impressively skilled, working as a builder of locks. But he also knew how to pick them, and made a profitable business selling secrets from customers to companies like Swindle & Co., who were quite glad to know about new technologies, hidden materials, and books better left unread. It wasn’t until he was cornered in a warehouse by the Iacon police that Deadbolt began rethinking this line of business.
During his time in prison, he began working on drafts of a new business: a storage facility that would surpass that of any planet. It relied on blockchain and subspace: a customer would pay for a digital key corresponding to a subspace container, ranging in size from a human-sized locker to a whole warehouse. The only person who could unlock the container was the customer, but to keep the key active, the customer would have to pay a fee. By using subspace, the business would no longer need a massive building, and would also be safe from theft.
As it turned out, his parole officer, Gantry, also liked the idea, so much so that he bought a half-ownership of the company. And so, after his release, Deadbolt opened his business with the blessing of Iacon’s law enforcement (who had secured permission to monitor the operation until Deadbolt could be assumed to be operating legitimately). The business prospered, thanks to a massive ad campaign across the galaxy. Eventually, by the time of Transformers: Dawn of a New Age, it had become a trusted repository of government secrets, alien artifacts, and mysteries beyond even the owner’s comprehension.