How did you destroy web world? That was coolest thing I saw
I can see a universe where I did destroy the strange world, Torkulon—in peering into my mind, it had already sealed its own fate! That idiot rock believed itself to be so very clinical, so independent from the beings that walked its surface, so informed on the vagaries of the mind. In truth, it had a mind of its own, and its theory of mind was shown to be baseless in the face of my living proof. I learned its secret, when it beheld my thoughts... my thoughts... no. No!
Fool! Idiot! When will you humans understand that I am not that Galvatron! Keep confusing me with another, will you!? Well, all I can say is- RRAAAAGH!
Had a lot of fun doing these guys!
Info under the cut
The planet Torkulon was once a lush jungle-like world, the Torkuli, while advanced, were not space-faring.
Then a meteorite hit. Then things started dying.
The planet had become victim to a parasitic organism that fed off brainwaves, using it’s symbiotic Alya to help to gather victims into it’s growing web as the Alya got to eat any plant matter or leftover bodies.
The Torkuli didn’t have any appropriate combative methods to deal with the galactic invader, the quick spread, Alya, decreasing food sources along with their own dwindling numbers.
In order to save their species the Torkuli figured they could ‘bargain’ with the invading entity.
This is how Torkulon became what it is. In exchange for their species ‘survival’ they agreed to continually feed the parasite. The web-like creature agreed and infected them too but didn’t kill them or feed off them.
These living-implants allow the Torkuli to control the webbing to move to their desires, honed via the communicator they wear on their belts, it also allows them to communicate with others. This also allows them to effectively command and control the Alya to build things they need.
Thus the Torkuli ‘survived’ but they’re not a whole much more than ‘hollow’ puppets. It was only now they finally branched out into the galaxy.
While parading as a Psychiatric facility it’s generally known that those ‘patients’ sent there tend not to come back.
This usually means that they often take in ‘patients’ from… less than reputable sources. This is how the Quintessons know of it.
Awful convenient to have potential whistleblowers or traitors dumped there to have their consciousness devoured.
If some of the Decepticons more… hidden documents were brought to light the Autobots would’ve known where some of their spies have gone.
Due to this the Torkuli actually had a small, veeeeeeery brief, interest in seeing if they could somehow ‘retrieve’ Megatron from Galvatrons mind. It failed.
They make people sign documents as a precaution, especially helps when the few people who think it’s a mostly genuine place bring family members or others to them in hopes of good care. Especially as they cover pretty much every loophole in it.
Due to being hidden behind some encrypted locks and his panic at the threatened mutiny Cyclonus wasn’t aware of Torkulon’s more insidious side. Although given the Quintessons suggested it to him, he probably should’ve avoided it from the get-go.
Speaking of, the Quintessons themselves had sent a message beforehand that they’d sent someone their way, a rather unpredictable fellow, and he was to have his consciousness removed.
Obviously, this didn’t go as planned as Galvatrons panic/fear-fuelled response to having his mind forcefully entered against his will was to furiously shut down and attack the assaulting party.
Which was bad for it considering he now knew where the parasite’s ‘core’ was.
The core was left barely alive, leaving a very angry planet and inhabitants.
The Alya can pick up small things with their antennae.
Like ants the antennae also touch and stroke things to examine them.
They can excrete the parasites webbing from either end.
They have 3 pairs of specialised limbs. The front pair are equipped with strong bladed tips, excellent for digging, self-defence and for breaking into skulls. The middle pair are the most dexterous and used for handling larger items or for moving and articulating the web. The final pair are strong legs primarily for locomotion, although they can’t really walk without a third leg on the ground, but they can stand with only the last two limbs.
PRESENTING! Webworld but it’s a Season 1 / 2 episode.
Just been discussing an idea with @galvatronsthighs where Webworld takes place during season 1 / 2 instead, and it’s entirely about Starscream trying to get Megatron committed to Torkulon hospital.
He slips five dollars under the table like: “Yes. He’s very unstable. How much do I have to pay to get him committed for life? Actually, let's cut out the middle-bot here. Just go straight to the lobotomy."
All this time Megatron is screaming in corner wrapped up in purple goo.
"See look! He's clearly feral! Beyond help! Really I'm saving you money by suggesting the harshest treatments first!"
The plan backfires when they decide Starscream is clearly in need of treatment as well: "Clearly delusional. With bouts of egotism and paranoia." And manage to easily trick him into a cell by going "Please sit right here, this is where our best, most esteemed customers stay" "Finally!" [web closes in] "Oh."
Now they’re both locked up and scheduled for a lobotomy (because Torkulon is the worst). And so Megatron starts just ripping into Starscream “Oh brilliant plan! It worked so well! You must be so proud of yourself!” and the two of them end up kicking each other rather than devising a plan to escape.
But when one of the Torkulons is sent to check in on them they knock him out mid-scuffle and nick the control unit before fighting their way to freedom.
Finally work together, staging a dramatic escape and fly back home.
They arrive back on the Nemesis bragging about how awesome their escape was, and then Megatron remembers how he got into this situation in the first place... and the episode ends with Megatron chasing Starscream down the halls of the Nemesis.
Are there any humans or organic creatures who live in Axiom Nexus?
Dear Organic Ontologist,
Although much rarer than the billions of Cybertronians who call the massive city home, Axiom Nexus does contain a sizeable demographic of organic beings. Some of them, mostly humans and Nebulans, were once binary-bonded to Transformers who were accidentally transported to the realm, while others arrived through dimensional expeditions gone awry or freak spacebridge accidents—in some rare cases, these arrivals might even hail from realms beyond the reach of our own multiverse. Once, these new arrivals were once quietly taken aside and returned to their home realities, supposedly “for their own safety”; in reality, of course, this was a political move designed to appease the bio-phobic inhabitants of Cybertron at that time. I do believe that one of my alternate selves once misinterpreted this policy as having persisted into the present day.
Other dimensionally-displaced Cybertronians unintentionally smuggled spores, bacterium, and insect eggs to Cybertron, birthing infestations of invasive species that proved difficult to dislodge. Amidst the scrap piles and garbage heaps of the planet’s underbelly, a strange ecosystem evolved, one that could even support the sentient organics who scrabbled for existence on the margins of society. On the margins, indeed—for as more and more organics wound up arriving, however, exile was simply not an option. Some lucky organics that made it through the labyrinthine bureaucracy were shunted into exclusive levels of the city tailored to their biologies; the vast majority, however—including overlooked Powermasters, criminals on the run, or simply those who could not afford the exorbitant costs—found themselves consigned to the lower levels of the city. These forgotten organics carried on with their lives, living and loving and breeding and dying, and as their numbers swelled a new demographic took shape. Of the millions of organics who currently inhabit the city, more than three-quarters were actually born on Cybertron!
A tangle of run-down railyards, factories, and warehouses near Seeker-shinai became the Skein, a bustling shantytown where humans, Torkuli, and Abraxans farmed illegally imported fungi and traded upgrades and scrap metal for precious offworld food and water. The off-grid community of Little Nebulos sprang up near the Heap, where cast-off Nebulans, including a sizeable population of ex-Headmasters and Targetmasters, made a living selling kitschy merchandise to Cybertronian tourists. And all but the bravest Cybertronians were advised to keep clear from Carbon Alley and its expert pickpockets and mechanics—for any mechanoids foolhardy enough to power down there might find themselves waking up on cinderblocks.
After becoming a part of the interdimensional Convoy, however, the human Clayton “Hawk” Abernathy used his new position to campaign for an increased awareness of the issues facing this overlooked minority group. In time, his activism reached Senator Nautica, head of the planet’s extensive diplomatic corps, who immediately realized that—with the Shroud forcing the inhabitants of Cybertron to look inwards—they could do more to help the marginalized members of their society. Since then, she has used her considerable wealth and personal connections to commission Bio-Zone Alpha in one of the city’s upscale neighborhoods. This new planned community mixes TransTech engineering with alien architecture; towering hydroponic spires grow crops tailored for a thousand different organic species, and open parks aim to replicate the natural environments of some of the most common non-Cybertronian species who inhabit Axiom Nexus. Though this sanctuary is still under construction, it is already home to thousands of aliens—humans, Nebulans, Elonians, Devisens, Andalites, Velgrox, and Voin, to name a few—but despite the official name, most residents refer to their new home as “Abernathy Heights.”
Was the standard Cybertronian mental illness treatment really "ship them off to Torkulon", or is the example I'm thinking of just a sign of how desperate the bot involved was? Did the Torkulonians really lobotomize patients that didn't do well with talk therapy and use them to feed their hungry planet? Was their planet ever destroyed by an angry almost-victim? Thanks for answering!
Sadly, it’s not an exaggeration.
The problem with Torkulon was that it developed a single, standard set of procedures for dealing with the mentally ill — mainly centering around counseling and impulse control. Torkuli firmly believed that this one-size-fits-all treatment could be successfully applied to any being, no matter which planet they hailed from or how things were conducted back home. Many races who were having trouble with their mental health systems were eager to believe this.
Needless to say, the approach didn’t work. And that led to countless patients being fed to the Alya.
That they eventually cut back on this had less to do with a single patient infecting their planet’s webbing and more to do with supply and demand. The worlds began to wise up, do their own homework, and seek more innovative treatment solutions. In the interest of keeping those credits rolling, the Torkuli eventually followed suit.
But that’s not to say that they’ve abandoned their old ways entirely. The Alya solution still happens every now and again.
