Firecracker ( TransTech )
Unfinished 2009 Story by David Willis
Firecracker didn’t have time for this. The patterned lights, the suspicious looks, the leading questions...he had better things to do. More exciting things to do ! His life here on Axiom Nexus had a pace. A plan. It was a loose plan, admittedly, which evolved to suit his whims but sitting here, in this room, under these lights – this was definitely not part of it
« Got places to be, man » - Firecracker raised his feet off the ground and slapped them down on the table in front of him, like a challenge
His host, the TransTech known as Cheetor, ignored the LowTech’s attitude. He shuffled the holopages scattered in front of him, searching, studying, his expression hiding behind a faceless mask. The glow from the computerwork glowed against his frame, highlighting the tall, wheeled shoulders. Like Firecracker, Cheetor was obviously built for speed. But he did not show it. Instead, Cheetor spent what felt to the Go-Bot like an eternity. Pointless reading. Evaluating. Eyes darting from page-to-page. What. The. Slag
Finally, Cheetor spoke - « How long have you been on Axiom Nexus ? »
Arms clasped behind his head, Firecracker chuckled - « Me ? Oh, I dunno. Seems like forever. Vorn, maybe ? Vorn an’ a half ? »
Back to reading
« Look, just tell me what I did. Tell me what I did an’ I can get back to my stuff, okay ? »
Cheetor stood up from the table. He was certainly tall, this one. Most of the TransTechs seemed huge, in fact. Huge, technological creatures, the TransTechs were. But Cheetor, whose legs stretched up for forever, seemed particularly tall, his arms folded behind his back - « In all your time here in the Offworlder Zones, have you ever seen an Optimus Prime ? A Megatron ? »
What a dumb question. Firecracker’s eyes left the conversation and started staring at the corner, bored - « Slag no. Those guys ain’t allowed in here. If they do end up here, you send ‘em right back. Everyone knows that ». When Firecracker first came to Axiom Nexus, it was a fairly conspicuous absence. So much of his old life had been dominated by a Prime and a Megatron. That was why, of course, those kinds of Transformers weren’t allowed in the city. They were too dangerous. Their personalities, measured on average across the multiverse, tended to be larger than life. Who wanted some Megatron-led insurrection in the Offworlder Zones ? Who wanted some fantastically-charismatic Prime rallying troops for a cause ? They weren’t the only personalities banned outright but theirs were missed the most. By some, anyway. And never for long
« Firecracker, you’re originally from the Primax cluster, correct ? Primax 095.0 Beta ? »
« Sure. Like that means anything to me anymore »
Cheetor tapped a few holokeys - « Just a few days ago, our Dimensional Sciences Minister cataloged a new universal stream » - more typing - « Tell me…who is this ? »
In the middle of the table, a familiar mechanoid was assembled from its holoprojectors. It was an Autobot, it was short and stocky, with thin arms and its chest was adorned with the hood of an Earth-style automobile. It was mostly red but with yellow legs punctuated with button-like sculpting. Its legs ended in small, pipe-like feet. Slowly, the projection rotated. Its head was blue, which was weird but it was no less familiar
« Easy. That’s me »
« No » - Cheetor corrected. He tapped another key. A name identified the holographic Autobot - « That is Optimus Prime »
***
Probation ? Whatever. Firecracker was let go and that’s all that really mattered
Cheetor told him he’d be watched for a period of time. If Firecracker was, it turned out, related to or a multiversal counterpart of Optimus Prime, he’d be wiped and quickly shown the door back to his home dimension. Firecracker would have felt threatened if the idea weren’t so ridiculous. Him ? An Optimus Prime ? He’d never given a speech in his life. He was no warrior, that’s for sure. And he wasn’t no truck. He was built for racing, plain and simple. Racing was it, as far as he was concerned. There was nothing more important than getting to where you were going. Did it even matter where you were going ? No ! Life meant motion and Firecracker wanted to feel as alive as possible
Firecracker was outside now, alone-except-for-the-mechs-he-was-told-would-shadow-him and so he transformed. All he had to do now was avoid “ Prime-like behavior “. That should be easy enough. He cranked up his engines and as every Transformer in the courtyard held their audio-sensors, he immediately broke the local speed limit
Few things pleased him more than dodging obstacles and other mechs at a speed he couldn’t bother to calculate. It was a game to him, a sport. The only thing that pleased him more was competition. Today, he had some. There was a blue car following him, Earth-style, with lighter blue flames on the hood surrounding an exposed engine. He was sure it wasn’t one of the TransTechs’ parole officers. No, this one was following him like it was in love. Firecracker was happy to oblige and he careened around a corner so tightly and with such ferocious grace that he couldn’t blame his stalker
Let’s see him do that !
But he did. The blue car was still behind him. Now this was getting interesting