Language barrier au post 01:
Worldbuilding stuff post 01 for my fic Language Barrier basically about how Cybertronians reproduce in this au. No mechpreg for this universe tho sorry (but we do get dads!! Dads are a very important theme for this fic. i mean, its a shockdad fic so) (This is written semi in character, like its a document Skyfire wrote or something)
Where do protoforms come from?
Every living cybertronian was given life by the allspark, even cybertronians who were constructed in entirely different planets. This is done by newspark factories and their ability to remain linked to the allspark. To connect to the allspark in a manner to siphon sparks for protoforms one must first [insert a very lengthy explanation in how to specifically do that]
To create a protoform, factories construct these protoforms with metals provided by the planet. Most protoforms require cybertronian metals, but certain aspects can be substituted. Protometals are the only metal that can't be substituted.
Protometals are either acquired from recycled slag from cybertronian mortuary factories, or through drilling on cybertron, where protometal veins heal and regrow. Off world planets strictly use the recycling method, but still require protometal to be shipped in from time to time.
Each protoform only requires a drop to self replicate however, and will do so while energy is provided by the allspark connection to do so. (This can be done artificially, before its planted into a protoform mold even!)
Once all materials have been collected, so begins the first phase. The allspark sends out pulses, and each pulse sends out coding, and each strand of code has potential to become a new build. Fabricators (workers at the newspark factory) take these lines of code called protocode, lay them out and refine them. These codes are then held aside as they sift through appropriate protoform codes to assign the protocode to. Then they begin physical manifestations. The protocode and protoform code are then planted into a mold, and protometal is poured into the machine together, and the beginnings of a protoform is made.
There are methods of creating protoforms without combining it with code, in which only a shell is created, but this method is reserved for off world planets without methods of making protoforms, and other cases, such as war.
Of course, this does mean that any mech with enough knowledge and tools could hypothetically create a protoform on their own as long as they had a method of connecting to the allspark (Author is regretting writing step by step instructions on how to connect to the allspark via bluetooth), it is highly illegal to do this outside of authenticated factories.
Once the protoform has been fully formed, its identified either as a war build or a civilian build. This aspect cannot be fully controlled and can only be marginally influenced early on during the coding development stage.
War build protoforms will be at their full height and will have no need during their early vorns to have their armor replaced as they grow. There are arguments that their mental faculties are also equivalent to that of an adult, but these claims are false. All cybertronians require guidance as newbuilds, regardless if their frames have no growing to do.
As mentioned, their counterparts, the civilian frames have different protoforms that are smaller. They have fewer armor pieces that will grow over time until they've reached their full height after their final armor upgrade. Most civilian frames only require two armor upgrades, but some can require up to four, or more in cases of defective coding, or unique cases where such coding is applied by fabricators upon request by specially assigned future caretakers.
Once appropriate checks and preparations are made, the protoform is given a spark and the newbuilds life begins. They go by their factory assigned designation for their childhood, and only once they're assigned their true name, is it accepted that they have become an adult, assuming they have had both sets of their armor upgrades. It's not common, but having a name before your final armor upgrades can happen; you're simply declared a fully grown mech after the armor upgrade in such cases.
Once the newbuild has been onlined, they are assigned to a fellow group of newbuilds and then a mech who is commonly referred to as their guide. The guides job is to care for them and their group, and this is also the mech whose job it is to teach you how to speak. (In the old world, this was not the case as language was directly downloaded into your processor before you were even onlined. This new system however, has created a more affectionate culture. Guides are often associated with language, and it's become mildly inappropriate to teach someone language unless they are someone you are close with. It would imply that you think of the other mech as family.)
Upon onlining, the fellow new builds you are joined with are known as your batch unit or brothers (it's still a batch even if they're from another factory! The point is that you are raised together) With the batch and your guide, your groups is known as a family, including mecha who have been previously raised by the guide.
There are other kinds of family units, such as having a mentor instead of a guide, and those few mecha who have neither mentors nor guides, childsoldiers (in particular, civilian frame child soliders) and those on offworld planets whom are raised by multiple mentors and guides, but the concepts are all mostly the same.
