Cybertronain Reproduction/Propagation
(notes & credits below)
New Cybertronians begin life in the Well of All Sparks, which periodically casts them out in the forms of meteors of Sparks and biomechanical plasma (which provides the genetics to the sentio metallico to form their bodies).
These meteors land in a few select locations of exposed protomatter on the planet’s surface called “hotspots” where they are forged into protoforms, effectively the fetal stage of Cybertronian development.
Inactive hot spots have a solid but fluid surface, like kinda like water beds. In the weeks before an emergence of sparks this surface will dissolve and start boiling violently When the meteors strike the boiling hot spot the surface with re-solidify to form lifepods (resembling the eggs of some organic species) imbedded into stalagmite-looking spires when they land in the pool and after a period of development are ready to open in the presence of 1- 2 adult Cybertronians who become the sparkling’s Guardians in a process called Imprinting. The Imprinting process is as thus:
At the time when the pods are ready to open vetted volunteers are admitted into the hotspot so that the pods open in the presence of the adults.
2. The Spark chambers of the sparkling and Guardians opens to create a telempathic bond that will fade when the sparkling is matured. Simultaneously cables connect the sparkling and adults to create hardline connections will connect the adults and the newborn to pass along nanites containing CNA data for armor and strut structure, immunological data, language packets, and hyper-refined engergon to nourish the sparkling. The Structural and Immunological CNA is probably the most important since they can learn language "the hard way" but there is no way to make up for missing out on the physical stuff. (Any natural hardline connections aside from this process are very rare, and so are mechs who posses the cabling to do so, Soundwave being one prominent example.)
3. Their custody of the sparkling is legally finalized and the new family returns home to settle the new child and begin family life. In most polities it is legally prohibited to have more than 3 sparklings of dependent age at the same time.
4. Sparklings are rather smooth and featureless as far as kibble is concerned, and are only lightly colored; their plating/altmodes and coloring develops as they age. Their colors come in/finalize first. Cybertronians are able to transform when they enter youngling-hood, which is developmentally equivalent to humans beginning their adolescence. The altmodes of the sparklings and their Guardians and siblings have nothing to do with CNA inheritance; and while they do have measurable, traceable levels of CNA in common family resemblance is basically non-existent.
Notes
Ful disclosure: this headcanon came into existence mostly because the more i thought about it, the more i hated the concept of creators/sires/carriers/just the idea of Cybertronians being in anyway self-propagating. That being said, i ironically have zero issues with lil bot babies. Please don't ask for an explanation for that because i do not have one.
So this is inspired from about 3 sources: the Prime Series finale (partly because the "crawling from the Well method of reaching the surface was always only 2nd tier canon, and i feel like that doesn't work for my personal AU in which Cybertron is not a united planet/one world governmet); IDW1's hot spots (obvs; again it just feels better at explaining why the planet has multiple disparate cultures); and the works of Foxbear, who wrote my favorite TFP AU series which i think everyone should read. Now.
I'm tempted to say that the natural sheen of an individuals mesh is dependent on the altmodes of their Guardians, "military vehicles" being visually duller but more physically resilient and "civilain vehicles" being brighter but being less all- around durable; however within only a few generations the genes would be spread into the population so widely and unevenly that the visual cue would probably mean nothing, so....???
