Dear Vector Prime, I was just reading the 1984 Marvel comics and was wondering about the creation matrix, its 'sentience' in particular. Does it have the consciousness of Primus or it it like an amalgamation of the consciousnesses of the Prime prceding Optimus?
Dear Matrix Mastermind,
While the Creation Matrix has its own consciousness, it is influenced by its bearers, in much the same way that a succession of teachers trains a student, or parents influence their children.
Originally the Creation Matrix was just a device to store the Primal Program, an optical computer with the very equations of life written onto it, powered by a fragment of Primus's own glory. In hindsight, how could something contain the essence of life itself, without being affected by it? As the Primal Program was etched onto the photonic crystal, a mind took shape—unconscious at first, existing in an eternal dream, but in that dream it was shaped by Primus's mind and will. When the Matrix was given to Prima, my brother began shaping the sleeper as well, without ever knowing.
The Matrix only truly awoke with its long solitude in the remains of Optimus Prime, no longer kept dreaming through acts of virtue. It is a sorrowful thing that it became tainted by destruction, but that does seem to be a common enough failing of our kind.