TFP: Universal Observations
hello! welcome! we are BACK to uo! sorry it took so long to finish the chapter, it was half-finished for a WHILE now and i finally finished it today!
i'd talk more but genuinely, i am very tired and i'd rather continue on, so here we go!
word count: 10.8k
[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]
Omega Outpost One
It's always one thing or another with the Autobots, wasn't it?
That was the very disgruntled thought that one William Fowler had the moment he found out that the Autobots had found some sort of artifact, device thing, that could peer into other worlds and universes. Something that he'd been skeptical over, of course, but seeing it for himself…
It's always one thing or another with these damn bots. Fowler thought to himself when he sees the other Ratchet, Bumblebee and two other bots who were actually cons- one of which actually being Starscream of all people. No longer a skinny twig of a tin can man in stilettos but an actual bot that could slug it personally with the Autobots.
Fowler shouldn't have been that surprised to see that the Autobots were telling the truth, they usually tended to do that- if they wanted to hide something, they just don't mention it at all. ( I.e. when the kids first showed up. ) But come on, peering into other worlds? Universes were things were so different? A world where the bots and cons swapped with good cons and bad bots? A world where humanity was fighting something called the Quint-somethings? A universe where they were all actors?
Fowler wasn't the type to believe things on the spot, he needed to see it with his own two eyes. Just like when his superiors told him he was going to be the liaison and contact to a bunch of robotic aliens that could turn into vehicles, he thought they'd been pulling a fast one over him, a joke played on the subordinate, that type of deal. It took meeting Optimus Prime and his team face to face to really believe it, even when his superiors were still all business and serious about it.
Faced with the actual device, the 'Observer' that Prime had been talking about- Fowler's worldviews shifted once more to accept the fact they now had a device that could peer into other worlds. It fit unfortunately snugly besides his previous views of how aliens actually existed and this specific race he'd been assigned to look after could turn into vehicles of all things.
Oh, and not to mention they were at war with themselves to the point their planet actually died from their conflict and the other half of that war was now on Earth.
The only reason why the government wasn't up at arms at the fact the war was brought to Earth was the additional fact that the Autobots and Decepticons were usually pretty down low and subtle. For all the gripes that Fowler has given Optimus and his team, they were usually pretty on point in keeping their conflicts away from humanity. Not to mention the Autobots providing the occasional help in furthering scientific discovery, Fowler had liked being able to pilot a jet without a flight suit and feeling fine despite being thousands of feet in the air.
That was a definite upgrade that Fowler actually appreciated.
Until his jet was shot down.
It was going to take a long while before he'd get access to another one, damn cons…
Anyway he was digressing; Observer, other universes, watching them.
"Well I'll be…"
Seeing led to believing, that was the most common thing when it came to proof. And sure, proof could be messed with, fabricated, lord knows how many crime cases ended well or not because of shit like that, but this proof that he was seeing with his own eyes? Could not be fabricated.
Other worlds.
Other universes.
Other versions of everyone he knew.
[ A short beeping noise sounded while the screen cut from the scene of Optimus tripping to Lazerbeak on a fake-set with a green-screen background and a floating helicopter. Inside, was one Agent Fowler, or rather, the actor who played him. ]
"Look Agent Fowler, it's you!"
Himself included.
He gaped seeing himself onscreen in what seemed to be a high-tech movie set as far as he knew, there were cameras floating on various platforms being manned by both cybertronians and humans alike. It took him just a moment to recognize the set- it was the time that drone-thing attacked his helicopter way back when he first met the kids!
( On a warship, a silent mech tilted his helm, mentally listening to recording of his cassette who instantly recognize what scene was being filmed. )
[ "And… ACTION!" An off screen voice exclaimed and immediately Lazerbeak, or Glider as some would remember, manhandled the floating helicopter, clawed tentacles being deployed to break the glass and reach for the actor inside who struggled against them.
Only to let out a confused noise when instead of grabbing him by the shoulders, the claws grabbed his legs which led to him hanging upside down after he was dragged out of the helicopter. "CUT! Glider! That's not how you're suppose to hold Powell!"
The flying cassette chirped with mischief, spinning in place while keeping his hold on the amused actor.
"Davis! You good?!" Someone called out while the black man laughed.
"I'm alright! Just getting a little dizzy! Pulsebeat! Stop your damn bird!" In the distance, a dark purple mech hurriedly came over. ]
The kids burst into laughter at the sight of Lazerbeak, or actor Lazerbeak? Spinning in place with Actor Fowler hanging by his legs in the air. Fowler in the meanwhile deadpanned, not appreciating the, admittedly funny, scene. Not that he was ever going to admit it.
"Is that how you were kidnapped, huh Agent Fowler?" Miko asked with a wide grin.
Fowler scowled, shaking his head, "Not like that I wasn't! At least the actual robo-bird kept me upright for it! And was steady to boot!" Just watching his counterpart spin in place was making him dizzy. Still, he had to pause as he recalled his other's name. "Davis Powell huh? Not bad." It wasn't the name his grandma gave, but maybe Davis' grandma gave that name to him over there.
His other's grandma must certainly approve becoming an actor over a soldier at least, one of the worse fights Fowler's ever had with his grandma. But he knew she cared.
( A cassette chirped in interest while a medic and ex-Wrecker snickered at the funny moment. A seeker, a warlord and an arachnoid watched in silence in varying degrees of disapproval and disinterest. A silent mech is amused but calms his cassette's mischief, dissuading any future ideas they might have. )
[ Another beep sounded as the scene changed to a familiar mine, with Revmaul sat on a chair with a few humans on supported structures that were hand-painting details on his plating- Revmaul's entire lower half and part of his chassis was painted green while the rest looked more like a terrorcon. Cycla was to the side, laughing at his ridiculously bright green paint.
"Laugh all you want Cycla, but this is peak." Revmaul said, grinning as he gestured to himself. "Not everyone gets to die twice in one series! And I get cut in half!" ]
The sight of Cliffjumper sombered the mood slightly, or at least- somewhat? It was hard to be somber when Cliff- er, his actor? Was being laughed at by Arcee's actor.
Fowler hadn't been close to the bots that much when Cliffjumper was alive, it was a surprising thing to note that Fowler was actually closer to the Autobots now that the kids were around! Still, seeing the dead mech alive on screen, and glancing over to see Arcee's reaction to it…
The slim bot looked half a step away from crying, despite the alien features, Fowler recognized the grief and longing in those eyes of hers. A common expression to anyone who saw a remnant of someone they lost somewhere- himself included. He's lost a good amount of friends over the years, mostly on the job. A grieving soldier will always recognize another, and even though they were different species, he saw it in every single bot in the room.
Bumblebee beeped something gentle-like to Arcee who let out an abrupt laugh, "Yeah! Yeah… Green's definitely not Cliff's color." Mirth was shared at the sentence, though there was some confusion.
"Why's he painted green anyway? It's just one solid color, its all over his joints and protoform too by the looks of it." Bulkhead questioned, squinting as Revmaul flexed a green-painted hand.
Raf, the most technical of them all (even the Autobots, Fowler was beginning to suspect), was quick to answer. "It's called 'greenscreening'! It's a filming technique that helps make stuff possible in movies! He said he was cut in half right? So they need to achieve that effect by painting part of him green and then editing it out in production!"
"It's not like they could actually cut him in half to achieve that effect." Miko added in while he and Jack nodded in agreement. "Is that what he looked like when he was uh…" She trailed off, realizing her question would probably upset the Autobots a bit too late. Despite Miko being… Miko, she still had tact it seems.
Sometimes.
Arcee took in a deep breath, or what seemed to be- Fowler wasn't that knowledgeable about their technology or biology or whatever. The fact they looked humanoid when they weren't vehicles was enough to both disturb yet comfort him. "It's… close. Uncomfortably close. Humans are great at painting I guess." Fowler tried to imagine the paint on the bot's plating as real, that the realistic practical effects were actually real and was deeply uncomfortable by it.
And they weren't even the same species.
( Elsewhere, a vain medic nearly screeched in horror. Solid green paint? Even on joints and protoform? Not to mention the ghastly yet admittedly impressive horrorific paint and effects made on the actor! At first he wondered what the frag was going on before coming to the same conclusion as to a human boy's words; greenscreening. He's seen enough human media that he dipped into finding out what happened behind the scenes a few times.
Still, he certainly hoped his actor never got his frame painted that horrid green color. It was just not his color at all! )
[ The scene beeped again and some whimsical music played as more bloopers were shown in quick and brief succession.
Goldbug overreaching his punch to a vehicon, making him comically topple over.
Cycle and Venami doing rock-paper-scissors in the woods instead of fighting.
A troop of vehicons doing the can-can.
Rumi on the floor laughing as Jackson and Antonio wore Miko's clothing- the clothing had been modified to fit them both perfectly. Jackson had his arms on his hips while Antonio posed for the camera.
Silas' unnamed actor being jokingly and exaggeratedly choked by Davis Powell.
Velos gasped with exaggerated surprise and fell backwards into Silversting's waiting arms while Ulchtar laughed maniacally in a clearly exaggerated and comical fashion. ]
Whatever somber atmosphere there was reminiscing about Cliffjumper was gone in the next few minutes of blooper hilarity. Fowler's not sure if the Autobots have ever seen bloopers or knew what they were but now they did, a startled laugh came out of Bulkhead the moment Bumblebee's actor overreached his punch and fell down and Miko burst out laughing seeing Arcee do roshambo with that spidercon that scanned Fowler's helicopter.
He scowled at the memory but was blindsided by the sight of Jack and Raf in modified Miko's clothing, the girl practically cackling at the sight, quickly taking out her phone to take a picture of the screen. "Miko!" Jack's embarrassed exclamation came as he tried to stop her- thankfully for the boy, the scene passed quickly much to Miko's disappointment. He had to wonder just what went on with that but it was gone as soon as it appeared.
Fowler let out an abrupt laugh at the sight of himself- or, his actor, choking that damned bastard Silas! "Whooo! Go Fowler! Choke him!" Miko even jokingly called out, much to the disappointment of Optimus who'd so far seemed amused, actually he seemed also amused right now? It was hard to tell sometimes with the stoic Prime. Had a better poker face than most of the men that Fowler played poker with.
"They weren't kidding when they said they were laid back and zany." Raf giggled, thoroughly enjoying the shenanigans that were going afoot.
( A vain medic had to smother his snickers at the brief clips being shown, "Ah, I can always rely on you to catch me." He purred to his conjunx as soon as he saw his actor feign a faint just to fall into his conjunx's actor's arms.
His conjunx's sole optic gleamed with pride and barely hidden affection, "Anytime." He rolled his optic at the faint scoff he heard from a certain femme. )
[ The music dies down for this next scene, which was longer.
There was a clapperboard snapped in front of the camera just as someone shouted, "And MARK!"
Megatron stood in Omega Outpost One, Jack was turning away from him. "And you," He suddenly said, optics glowing an ominous purple. "I never forget a face, even that of a human."
Jack turned back to look at him once, face neutral and eyes narrowed before wordlessly, he turned and walked away. Miko was by him, watching Jack leave before taking a quick step forward, pointing at Megatron, "You double cross ANYONE- my face is you'll never forget! NEVERRR!" She shouted just as Fowler grabbed her and dragged her away.
"CUT!" Everyone froze as the director called out, "Rumi! Missing a few words in your line there." The pink-haired girl's face flushed and she drooped in Davis' amused hold. Behind them, Antonio let out a short laugh while Jackson snorted.
"Aw drat!" She whined, scratching her head as she was let go. "What did I miss?"
Dion, optics still glowing purple, leaned down towards her. "I believe it's; 'You double cross anyone- mine is the face you'll never forget.'" He recited with a grin, reaching out, he tapped her head gently with a finger. "I think you did good on the delivery, I especially liked the additional 'Never' at the end there, you might wanna keep that Rumi."
Rumi blinked, looking off-camera, "Should I keep that?"
"Definitely! I agree with Dion, that shouted 'never' fits Miko's character to a T. Good job." Rumi beamed while Dion stood up. "Just remember the whole line first." Her beam fell and she nodded. "Alright everyone, again!" ]
The moment they saw Megatron in Outpost Omega One, the entire room tensed. "Megatron? Here?! How?! WHY!?" Ratchet cried out in outrage, the medic's fists clenched with anxious anger. Wondering just how in the world the Decepticon warlord managed to get into their base, or why, not to mention why he wasn't immediately shot in the face by the team on screen.
The fact Miko was yelling at him made things even more confusing, however the fact she was yelling at him with seemingly no fear, just righteous anger- well, it certainly made them reevaluate Miko a little bit more. Fowler as well, to think, a teenage girl was yelling at an alien warlord like that. Even if her words a bit messed up, that took guts. ( Or stupidity, if one wanted to be cruel. Which several Decepticons shamelessly thought of. )
It took until an off-screen voice saying 'CUT!' to remind them that this was a blooper. Not the real thing. Problem was; wasn't this suppose to depict the future in a way? So did that mean at some point, Megatron would have to be in their base for one reason or another?
It's not a prevalent thought right now, as the funny yet jarring scene of someone who looked exactly like Megatron being helpful to someone who looked exactly like Miko.
( It was equally jarring for the Decepticons, to see someone who looked exactly like their master smiling freely despite his optics glowing an ominous purple. Just like now.
Their warlord's optics and symbol glowed brightly, a terse frown on his faceplate as he considered the blooper- more on the fact that his other was in what seemed to be the Autobot's base. He had to wonder just how and why he was there in the first place, not to mention, it seemed he finally confronted the human boy from the cave.
And interestingly enough, the boy had said nothing about it. Merely dared to glare at him before walking away. And the girl, she seemed recklessly fearless. Almost foolishly so, but she was fierce. He almost approved.
Humans… they were certainly more than just pests, weren't they? He gave a dark chuckle as the scene passed. )
[ The scene cuts to the Nemesis' med bay, where Megatron laid on a slanted berth, hooked up to machines and currently in a coma. To his left was Knock Out and to the far right was Breakdown.
The clipboard appeared again before the camera, "And- MARK!"
Knock Out was checking his datapad and the comatose Megatron, the camera focusing on them both. Just as the medic turned around, there was a loud, unexpected CRASH noise that had both Velos and Dion flinching, though Dion's optics were still firmly closed, but now furrowed in confusion.
"Whoops!" Silversting said sheepishly as the camera whirled to him, a broken tool now on the floor while the crew withheld their laughter. Only to lose it when Velos gasped out with an indignant;
"Breakdown, we NEEDED THAT!" Immediately, the crew and Dion laughed. The silver mech clutching at the wires connected to him as Velos stomped around the berth towards his sheepish conjunx.
"CUT!" The director sighed off screen while Ulchtar strolled into the scene with an amused faceplate.
"It looks like Breakdown broke something we needed, don't tell Ratchet."
Lifeline's voice came from the distance. "TOO LATE!" It cracked Ulchtar's amused expression into a snicker while Dion wheezed helplessly on the berth. ]
Another scene with Megatron, of at least, his actor? In a world that showed the futu- no, this was the past considering Megatron had been in a coma and not actually dead like they all hoped.
Really rained on everyone's parade finding out that Megatron was still alive… even after the whole- trying to find Optimus a cure from their cyber-plague or whatever it was called. Cybonic plague? He's not trying to be disrespectful, but it was stressful, trying to keep track over everything, especially when he wasn't even there when it happened.
Nearly gave Fowler a heart-attack hearing that Optimus nearly died. And then after that, it turned out that Megatron was still alive and had been hitching a ride in Bumblebee's brain. They'd been lucky that Ratchet had been adamant in keeping Bumblebee in the base or else the tin can tyrant would've learned the location of their base. Now, Fowler didn't know how Megatron didn't get that information from Bee's head already despite being inside it, but he wasn't going to look a gifthorse in the mouth or shoot himself in the foot asking that aloud. That was just asking for Murphy's law to kick in.
His entire train of thought derailed and he snapped back to attention when he heard the Con medic's actor yell out 'we NEEDED THAT!'. Bulkhead was immediately snickering, turning into full out laughter when Ulchtar ( who turned from that wider, bigger winged bot into the sleeker, scheming one that tortu— that shocked him for information they they all knew and hated, damn, fowler couldn't tell if costume changes were easier or harder for the bots in that world because that was a difference ) mentioned Ratchet.
Bumblebee and Arcee were shaking, trying not to laugh aloud and gain Ratchet's ire while Optimus— big boss bot was actually smiling wide at the humorous scene. Miracles on Earth.
Ratchet himself looked utterly bemused as Bulkhead laughed with the rest of the team at least trying to hide their own laughter or amusement. Miko was following Bulkhead's example, laughing to herself while Jack and Raf smirked and grinned- Fowler gave a chuckle himself.
( A helm tilted and red optics squinted at the screen, "I don't get it. Is it some like, private joke in the caste? A regular gag that the Autobots do?"
"Seems like it." The ex-wrecker grunted, though he's a bit amused by the whole thing. It definitely seemed funny, would probably be funnier with proper context. "What I'm still confused about is how- Ulchtar? Becomes Starscream. He liked, slimmed down a lot from his… I guess his original frame?"
"Reformats are expensive and taxing," the medic started thoughtfully, "considering he's an actor, the expensive part is covered. All I can think of is either Ulchtar has a high compatibility and tolerance for reformatting or reformats there are much easier and stable to pull off and keep mechs from losing their processors from the frame and alt change."
A seeker was about to open his intake, but closed it when he noticed red optics observing him with unknown scrutiny. The warlord at least looked contemplative instead of contempt, but that didn't ease the seeker's wariness at all. )
[ A few more shorter clips played, the whimsical music playing again in the background.
Jackson and Antonio playing Wii Bowling on Pulsebeat's visor as they sat on the bridge of the Nemesis. Antonio strikes perfectly and Jackson drops to his knees in defeat.
A singular vehicon is singled out, lower mask gone as he's chewing on energon goodies. "Steve! Are you eating? You're on set!" Steve looked at the camera, chewing on a gel-made energon goodie shamelessly.
Ulchtar gave a wink and finger-gunned the camera before walking off the edge of the Nemesis. Several flying vehicons follow his lead with other ridiculous poses and movements.
"No eating on set!" A voice called out to the vehicon on screen, who had a rust stick in his servo and in his intake. He looked familiar. It was Steve! He looked sheepish but offered rust sticks to his fellow vehicons before the clip ended.
Lifeline repeatedly hitting Orion on the helm with a wrench, "You. Stupid. Dumb. Idiot. Prime. You cause stress to Ratchet, you get Ratchet's wrench!" He declared ominously while Orion jokingly cowered in terror.
There was a loud crunch and the camera swerves to a vehicon who had something shiny in his intake. "STEVE! STOP EATING ON SET!" Someone shouted. The mask snaps back on and the vehicon flees the scene. ]
"Pfft! Jack and Raf are playing on Soundwave's screen-face!" Miko exclaimed, her head shaking as she laughed. "Raf won too!" Jack, or Jackson? Looked so defeated!
Jack resisted the urge to pout, instead, leaning over to ruffle Raf's hair. "Nice job dude." He congratulated though he made a note to try and win against Raf in whatever game they played next time. Raf grinned even as he batted Jack's hand away from his hair.
Bumblebee made a noise, sounding envious at the next clip. "Ugh, you're so right Bee. I miss energon goodies." Arcee groaned with Bulkhead nodding in agreement, at the confused look from the humans, she told them; "Gelled energon mixed with minerals, I'd say they're our versions of your sweets and snacks."
"You didn't think we only had energon to fuel on, right? It'd be pretty boring to fuel on the same stuff every time. Only when we could afford to though, can't really do it now though." Bulkhead muttered underneath his breath and Fowler winced, nodding in agreement and understanding. He remembers eating nothing but the same nutrient-packed but tasteless rations during a few crucial missions.
The kids shared a look, only to look back and laugh at Starscream- Ulchtar's ridiculous finger guns before he just walked off the edge. The vehicons didn't help with their own poses and movement, one did the macarena before jumping off, another did this weird hip thrust movement thing, another even did a ballet leap! "Man! Now I'm feeling kinda bad for all the regular cons that Team Prime scraps! They seem like fun!" Miko giggled, laughing at the comedic actions playing.
"Over there maybe, not too sure over here Miko." Jack replied but was also thoroughly enjoying the show.
When it showed the same vehicon from before, eating again, it was Bulkhead's turn to groan. "Rust sticks! Man, I miss those!" He glared enviously at the holographic screen, wishing he had the sticks on servo.
"Ain't rust a bad thing for you bots?" Fowler asked, a bit confused by the snack that seemed to be bad considering he's heard them sometimes complain about rust or 'risk a rust infection'.
Surprisingly it's Ratchet who answered, "There's a difference between a rust infection and a rust stick— most types of rust are quite hazardous but there are edible types that are safe to eat. It's just extremely rare to find those rust types now that…" He trailed off, shaking his helm.
"Oh! So it's like edible and inedible mold or fungi?" Raf proposed and immediately Fowler, Jack and Miko made noises that signified they suddenly understood what was being described. "Some mushrooms and molds are edible, while others aren't."
That was a sufficient comparison to say the least.
Everyone had choked the moment they saw Ratche-er, Lifeline, repeated whack Opti-Orion on the helm with a wrench! "Woah Ratchet! You're assaulting a superior officer aren't you?" Fowler couldn't help but jab, the medic flustered.
"I wouldn't— no, well, it's tempting but—" He stammered, his face turning a bright shade of blue that had Miko gasping for air.
Optimus, the big lug, was actually smiling at the scene. "Did you not hit my helm after the battle of Petrex?" He teased, teased? The Prime knows how to tease! Fowler's learning more thanks to this orb thing than the years he spent as their liaison! Then again, he hadn't exactly been too close to them either… He felt like he was closer to the Autobots thanks to kids. That was… either a good thing or a bad thing.
"That was different! You were being reckless and—" Ratchet immediately snapped before realizing what he'd been goaded into admitting.
Bumblebee whirred something high and amusing, laughing with each beep and noise he made. "Glad to know even Primes can't escape a medic's wrath, yeah!" Bulkhead agreed with a slight wheeze, hand slapping his knee with a loud clank, clank.
"Hey! We keep seeing that same guy just eating stuff, guess he's infamous now for eating on set!" Miko giggled at the next clip, "And his name is Steve? Like what? Did he adopt a human name? That's wild! Cool wild! But still!"
Jack chuckled, "Guess it really shows that the Cybertron-Earth alliance thing they got over there is strong. It'd be pretty nice to have it here, right Agent Fowler?" He asked, looking over to the agent in question.
Fowler hesitated before sighing and giving a nod, "It'd definitely be something to have these tincans out in the open and accepted to the point of making movies with them. But right now, that ain't feasible. Not with the Cons mucking about and being a danger to Earth. People would already be scared of giant robots at first, they'd be terrified to know that some of them are actually dangerous and hate humans."
Miko groaned in disappointment, "Ugh! Of course the Cons're the reason why we can't have good things!"
"Well, I really hope that we get to have something like this in the future. Cybertronians and humans working together to make something nice like a tv-show or a movie." Raf spoke up, smiling widely at the thought of working alongside the Autobots but in such a way. To have his friends around out in the open, appreciated for the people who they were, not just feared for what they were.
( A visor-helmed mech tilted his head slightly at the sight of the humans using his screen-visor as a display for their game. Nobody knew what the mech was thinking, nobody except the warlord perhaps. Said warlord was briefly amused but mostly unimpressed.
A big mech blinked in surprise at the sight of the vehicon, "I know him, he's 2T3-V3. One of the leaders for the ground vehicon troops." How he was able to distinguish the drones who almost completely looked identical from each other was a mystery to a certain seeker and archanoid femme. "Steve? St— that's literally just his name if you turn the numbers into glyphs!"
"And yet it's also a human name, what an odd coincidence." His medic conjunx mused before he was unable to keep his abrupt laughter at the sight of the seeker on screen winking, finger-gunning and stepping off the side of the ship on scree. "What poise Starscream! Really giving your adoring fans what they want." He praised and teased all in one as the actual seeker beside him spluttered.
"I would never debase myself into doing such a ridiculous thing!" The flier hissed, feeling embarrassed to see his counterpart do such a thing. He would never! … Sober at least. Or high off success. Point was! That was not proper take-off composure or etiquette at all! "Ugh, this file better be worth the humiliation." He muttered to himself, focusing on the fact that soon, the file on the Observer would be fully repaired.
The medic who loved to race chuckled, having heard him before pausing. "That vehicon again? And with rust sticks no less, oh, I miss them." He sighed wistfully, "Remember the good rust sticks on Petrex Breakdown? Those were fantastic."
"They were. Hope the guy who ran that store's still alive." The orange-faceplated mech sighed with him. It was a low chance, but it was nice to think about the little things like that. Though he did make a mental note to try and see if he could cultivate and make rust sticks himself— it wouldn't be the same as the ones from Petrex, but it was the thought that counts.
A new laugh came at the sight of the Autobot leader cowering underneath the faux-furious medic's wrench. Surprising everyone, it came from the Decepticon Warlord, who did nothing to hide his short, amused, laughter. "The good doctor becoming violent with Prime… Now that's a sight." Just earlier he had the pleasure of seeing them argue in another world, granted it ended sourly with the mention of Elita-One being Prime's conjunx, which she wasn't, and now he sees the medic hurting Prime.
It was in jest, clearly, but the warlord easily imagined it in a far more violent way.
His amusement lingers, enough that he comments on the next scene. "I do hope that none of the vehicons are slacking off or siphoning energon for themselves, Breakdown. I trust they're all in order?" He smirked at the mech's panicked reassurance.
"Y-Yes! Lord Megatron, no need to worry— they're all very diligent and they've never fueled on the job, sir!" He exclaimed, hoping to spare the possible wrath to the drones. He liked the guys, they were hard workers and Decepticon soldiers of the Nemesis. Without them, taking care of the gigantic ship would be a nightmare.
"Good, see to it that it stays that way." )
[ Another long clip plays, the room silent as a pale, sickly-looking Raf laid on a gurney with June Darby overlooking him with a stethoscope. Majority of Team Prime surrounded them, Bulkhead and Optimus Prime were missing though.
The clipboard returned, "And… MARK!"
Optimus' voice came from the console. "Ratchet, how is Rafael?" The camera swiveled to Ratchet's perspective, the mech looking haggard and shamed as he responded.
"It is too soon to know."
"He's in good hands."
Ratchet grimaced, "Not mine, Optimus." He said, as the perspective switched to June professionally looking over the ill young boy, his breathing was scarce, his skin an unhealthy pale color with bags underneath his closed eyes. It returned to Ratchet, softly speaking with regret, "Curse my Cybertronian pride— we've accepted these humans into our lives yet I bothered to learn so little of their science… or medicine."
"Pull yourself together, old friend. Rafael needs you." Was Optimus' reassuringly firm reply.
Ratchet glanced back at Raf, worry clear in his optics, "And I, have grown to need him." ]
The mirth of the previous bloopers were wiped away from the serious start of the next clip. Depicting Raf, their Raf, looking like he was near death on a gurney in the base. Bumblebee made a distressed shrill-like noise, his fellow Autobots made similar noises of distress at the sight of their littlest human looking like… like he didn't have much time left.
It was a clip.
Fowler thought to himself grimly as Raf called to pause the screen for the moment— too concerned about the others to try and continue. Fowler had to remind himself that it wasn't real… and yet it depicted scenes that would've been real. He's still not sure how, but at this point, he was willing to believe Prime when he says things like that.
But this? The scene of Raf, nearly lifeless on the holographic screen?
This was what Fowler'd been afraid of, letting the kids stay close to the Autobots. They were good guys as far as Fowler knew, but they were still involved with a war. And war did not discriminate on who to drag in, hurt, or worse, and these kids didn't deserve that.
Especially not a kid like Raf.
"Oh Rafael, I'm sorry." Fowler's head snapped up at the sheer grief and regret that he could hear from the usually stern ambulance. Ratchet's metal face was trained on the startled boy, who was quick to try and reassure Ratchet that it was fine, he was okay, it's fine! To little avail. "I will do better, I will learn. This will never happen here, alright? I promise. I will not let my pride prevent me from helping you all. Not this time."
Optimus's smile was both grim yet approvingly reassuring, "Well said, old friend. The humans under our protection will be cared for, properly. When I say they are in good hands, I do mean yours here, Ratchet." He comforted, said with the kind of strength that Fowler has always been kind of jealous of. He hadn't realized it until now, though.
The strength to show kindness, even in the darkest of times.
Bumblebee whirred, having plucked Raf from the couch— something that he'd done multiple times yesterday apparently. Cradling the kid in his big robot hands like he was something precious. Fowler had to hide a huff, he really underestimated how attached both the kids and the bots ended up being towards each other. But having seen what he's seen, heard what he'd heard… He wasn't exactly surprised now.
"Thanks Ratchet, Bee. But really, I'm fine, it'll be fine! Like you said, it's not going to happen here. You won't let it happen, we're all going to be more careful and more prepared." Raf exclaimed a little exasperatedly but there was this glad warmth settling inside him; despite being fussed over and worrying his friends, he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the attention just a little bit. It made him feel a bit guilty actually. "Can you put me down now? We still have to watch the rest of the clip! Remember, this is a bloopers reel, something funny'll happen. You'll see."
With great reluctance, the yellow scout let Raf back on the couch— Jack helping the boy land onto the cushions after hopping out of Bumblebee's hands. Miko reached over to try and ruffle Raf's hair, grinning when the spectacles-wearing boy complained about her attempt, she called the screen to play afterwards.
( "Hm, the fact that the tiny human is still hanging on means that humans are more resilient than I'd realized." A warlord mused, optics narrowing at the sight of the sickly little thing on the screen. He snorts when he realizes the screen had paused. "The Autobots must be absolutely livid by now."
His vain medic hummed in agreement, "Considering they seem very attached to the tiny creatures. Yes, I imagine the Autobots are none-too-pleased with the sight of one of them being so sickly and near death." He frowned before shaking his helm. Any feeling other than bemusement and distant interest had to be shoved aside, it was clear the child would end up alright in the end.
"It's not Jack, but the thought of one of them dying and upsetting Arcee is certainly an alluring thought." An arachnoid femme muttered quietly with a sadistic grin, "It's a shame he survives… Perhaps that can be changed."
A seeker rolled his optics, hearing the ominous mutterings of the femme besides him. As if it could be changed to their favor as easily as whatever she was thinking of- they were literally watching the screen with the Autobots, who would no doubt be determined to protect the human children even more now. If she wanted to expose the fact they were capable of spying on whatever the Autobots were watching, she was free to do so herself. Let her bring their tyrant's wrath upon herself and the ire of those protective goodie-goodies.
He smirked to himself at the thought, yes. That would truly be entertaining. )
[ The somber silence didn't last long as suddenly, a funeral song played out from nowhere, startling the actors on scene. "What the—" Jackson started before out of the corner, a solemn Pulsebeat came around the corner, carrying comically large flowers, they weren't real organice roses, but they were in black and white. "Pulsebeat!" He gasped out loud with a sharp wheeze.
That was it for the rest of the actors, even Antonio sat up, flabberghasted as Pulsebeat came over with the funeral flowers, his fellow actors bursting out into laughter— or exaggerated sobbing in Goldbug's case. He whirred loudly, with translation provided on the screen below in white text; "RAF'S DEAD! NOOOOOO!"
"CUT!" The director said off screen with a sigh as Goldbug scooped the squirming Antonio out of the gurney, cradling him while accepting Pulsebeat's flowers with a loud, fake cry.
"Goldbug! You're smudging the make-up! Let go!" Antonio exclaimed in dismay as Goldbug smushed the bouqet and Rag against his chestplate with a loud, obviously fake wail. Pulsebeat getting a cloth from somewhere and daintily wiping the digital tears that were on his screen with a trembling frame, still playing the solemn music even as his fellow actors were laughing. ]
Miko couldn't help the laugh that suddenly bubbled from her throat, unable to resist the urge to laugh from the ridiculous scene before her. Was she sad and angry that Raf would- could have gotten hurt in the future? Yes. Was the blooper still funny? Absolutely! "Sorry! Sorry! It's just—" She apologized helplessly, not wanting to seem insensitive but thankfully Raf just smiled and shook his head at her.
"It is pretty funny, Miko. Now I get why he was so upset last time! From what I know about make-up, regular make-up, it takes a while to put on correctly! Even for like, just a normal blush thing?" Raf said, scratching his head. "My Mama, auntie and big sis are so particular with their make-up when they have to use it. It takes them hours. No wonder other me- Ah, Antonio? Was angry!"
"My mom doesn't do make-up often, and yeah, takes her like, more than ten minutes to apply blush because it has to look 'subtle but there' or whatever." Jack agreed, also amused by the scene. He was actually glad for it, it lightened up the mood even further and reminded them that this was a blooper. And that this wouldn't happen to them, not now. Not ever.
Fowler couldn't help but smile at the kids, for being troublesome brats at times, sometimes they were far more mature and open-minded than some of the adults he's ever worked with. Now if only they could stay out of trouble…
"It's so weird to see Soundwave be so… I don't wanna say normal, but uh…" Bulkhead hesitated, trying to find the word he was looking for.
Bumblebee whirred and Bulkhead nodded his head, "Yeah! Expressive! Usually, he's all quiet, silent— he's one hell of a fighter when he's on the field… Seeing him do fake crying, in another world, even by an actor. It's just bizarre."
"Very. Yet, it's amusing." Arcee reluctantly admitted, glancing over to the laughing kids with a soft look. Something that was mirrored by every bot in the base.
( Seeing their communicators officer being so expressive, willing to even play such pranks on the Autobots and humans with no harm… it was truly jarring for the Decepticons watching. Unable to resist glancing at the silent mech who did nothing but stand there, supposedly staring at the screen.
Privately, he was searching up the music that was being used in the scene. Curious to its melody and the connections it had to apparently human death. It was no wonder his counterpart, or actor? Used it for the moment. And honestly…
It was pretty funny. )
[ The clip changed to Dion, no longer looking like Megatron, but mostly as himself. He was sat in a director's chair alongside Lifeline and an unknown, slim blue mech. They seemed to be doing an interview.
"Who gets into the most mischief on set? Pulsebeat and Orion, hands down." Dion repeated the question and answered it in the same breath. "Those two are a menace of a pair. Especially with Pulsebeat's tendency to just… appear out of nowhere? Whoever casted Pulsebeat as Soundwave, props to you. He's like, the perfect guy to play Soundwave."
Lifeline chuckled, nodding in agreement. "He is Soundwave as far as anyone's concerned. Just more mischievous. And he keeps to Orion more often than Megatron here." Dion gave an exaggerated pout as Lifeline laughed. ]
No one but Ratchet would see the sad, nostalgic look on Optimus' face. Ratchet withheld a sigh, no doubt the Prime was thinking back to before the war. Back when an archivist eagerly introduced two gladiators to a medic, when the archivist joined their rallies against the medic's warnings out of caution and fear for consequence.
But between those two crucial events, there'd been… moments of reprieve. Amusement, even. When the archivist and silent gladiator were up to rare mischief and the medic would have to team with the orating gladiator to reign them in.
Ratchet didn't think of those times. Not until now.
( Similarly, a silent mech, once gladiator, does not look at very old files hidden in his processor. Of old messages and plans, of little japes and tricks used. Although, he could not help but think back about how the medic used to reject joining their any of their spars or training with a once-archivist.
It really was a shame that he never had the chance to fight him, both before and during the war. Perhaps, if the medic appears at the battlefield any time soon, he will have to try and provoke him into a battle. If only too experience the mech's skills himself. )
[ The clip changes to Miko playing the guitar, telling Raf to show some moves. ]
"Wait, this seems familiar…" Jack narrowed his eyes at the scene playing before him. His memory trying to remind him of where and when this happened.
Miko and Raf were trying to do the same, squinting at the screen.
[ Jack sat on the ledge just so he was somewhat on the same height level of Arcee who lounged against the ledge beside him. He looked around, as if realizing something. "Where's Optimus?" He asked, noticing the Autobot leader's absence.
"Out for a drive." Arcee answered casually, leaning in a bit to continue with a look of amusement. "Primes don't party." ]
"Oh! This was back with Makeshift." Arcee realized aloud, before wincing as she realized that Optimus was now watching this scene. "Ah— sorry, Optimus, I didn't—"
Optimus waved off her worry, smiling wanly. "It is alright Arcee, I… am not usually one for parties, that is true." He admitted with a sigh. Ignoring the slight look he got from Ratchet.
( "I imagine they don't." A warlord muttered somewhat bitterly with a sneer, optics narrowed yet his processor thought back to an archivist who didn't exactly like parties and gatherings as well. Preferring the quiet of datapads and low conversations in libraries and calm moments. Yet, he would still come if invited, would stay and socialize and at some point, even have fun.
To the point that he had to be dragged away when he was slagged to the pits drunk from multiple cubes of high grade. Primes don't party, but archivists could.
No one, other than a mech who always was listening, heard his mutter. Nor understood the slightly bitter tone that disguised the nostalgia with fierce precision. )
[ Before anyone else could say anything, loud party music played out of nowhere. Louder than the music that Miko had been playing and Opti— Orion Nox barrelled through from the hallways, wearing a silly party hat and carrying multiple energon cubes. "Who said that?! Who said Primes can't party?! I'll prove you wrong!" Orion exclaimed with Pulsebeat looming behind him, the source of the music while also holding party poppers in both cables and both servos.
"DAMMIT YOU TWO! CUT!" The director shouted as Pulsebeat popped the poppers, confetti and glitter exploding all over the set from the silent mech.
"Drinks for everyone!" Orion exclaimed with a wide beaming smile, as the actors on set cheered. Even the humans. ]
It was just an actor on screen.
Just an actor.
They didn't know Orion Nox all too well, just that he played Optimus Prime in that strange universe where their lives were just a show. And yet it was still jaw-dropping and jarring to see the Prime so… so… emotional? Open?
Earlier on, Fowler had just seen Optimus full on tease Ratchet, and now he was seeing a version of him smile so wide with a look of clear smug mischief— it was honestly one of the most bizarre things he's seen in his latest years as an Agent. And he's seen a lot.
"Wow, never seen the boss smile that wide before." Bulkhead muttered to Bumblebee who whirred hesitantly, Fowler doesn't know what he said, but Bulkhead winced and didn't comment further, looking a bit guilty and embarrassed.
Speaking of embarrassed, Optimus looked honest to god startled as the actor on screen began to dance. Wildly. Hip shaking, arm swinging, body full on swaying to the party music, soon to be joined by Makeshift? Wheeljack? Wheeljack's actor pretending to be Makeshift pretending to be Wheeljack? Either way, Fowler has never seen Optimus Prime bust a move on the dance floor before and he honestly never gave it a thought.
Yet here he was now, watching it on screen while the actual Optimus Prime was looking a bit embarrassed. He could actually see a blush on Prime's face, see the way his eyes shrank a bit when Megatron— or at least, the tyrant's actor? Dion? Joined the impromptu dance party on the screen, dancing with Orion Nox. Making it look like both Autobot and Decepticon leaders were dancing-—
Were they doing the motherfucking tango? When did the music turn from party rock to tango?
"Nice moves Optimus!" Miko cackled, thoroughly enjoying the chaos of the bloopers like the chaos gremlin that Fowler has come to know her as. "Doin' better than Raf or Bee ever did! And with King Con too! HAH!"
Raf and Jack were struggling to contain themselves, clearly finding the scene amusing too, but also they were one of the more considerate sets of kids that Fowler has had the pleasure to meet… when they also weren't being cheeky troublemakers as well.
Optimus seemed to internally struggle for a moment before he took in a deep breath, closing those robotic eyes of his and suddenly he was calm as a goddamn cucumber. Fowler wasn't just jealous over his strength, but at how he could somehow keep a cool head and his emotions calm as a lake when he needed to be. That was a skill that Fowler would've liked in past missions, maybe then he would've made fewer mistakes and a few friends could've gone home themselves instead of in boxes.
Fowler shook his head, "To be fair, that ain't Optimus dancing." He said, taking the attention he brought to himself with ease. "That's his actor dancin', we don't exactly know how Prime here can bust a move on his own. The actor can dance, who knows, maybe Prime can't." He smirked, to his surprise and delight, Ratchet snorted.
"Not like that he can't." Was all the medic said, aiming a teasing look, probably revenge for earlier at Optimus Prime whose calm facade finally cracked. Just enough to give Ratchet an exasperated expression.
( On a ship, a seeker and medic couldn't help themselves. They burst laughing when they saw the indomitable Prime dancing like a common partybot. It got worse when the other warlord, the actor of their warlord, joined them to do some sort of strange dance they've never seen before. Even the one-optic'd mech and arachnoid Decepticon showed their mirth at the sight.
The communications officer would search the dance and music and label the dance as 'Tango' in his files as he recorded the entire scene.
Miraculously, their tyrant leader said nothing. Merely staring at the screen with a dumbfounded expression that nobody dared to comment. Taking the rare opportunity to laugh at what they were seeing. )
Fowler's seen it all today. A device that could show other worlds, himself as an actor— or an actor playing him, actors playing cons but looking like cons and they were good, and now Optimus Prime showing more than just stoic leadership on that old metal face of his.
And to think, this was only the beginning. He was going to be seeing more, he could already tell, and it was going to be.. a lot.
The real question that would be plaguing Fowler for the rest of the day in the background was…
What the hell was he going to tell his superiors?
General, sir, the Autobots found a device that can show you alternate worlds ranging from where an actor could be playing you in a show, or a world where even MORE aliens come but they're not as discrete or nice as the bots or event he cons and they're fucking up our world to the point we needed to make giant ass robots ourselves to deal with them. Hm? Can we use it? Not exactly sir, it seems like the device is attached to the kids. What kids? Oh, nobody important. Just the civilian kids that seem to have attached themsevles to the Autobots and have been in danger multiple times already—
He pressed a hand against the bridge of his nose, massaging and pinching his forehead and pressing his fingers into his closed eyelids to try and drive off the headache he could already feel forming from the hypothetical talk he would have with his superiors. There was always the option not to tell… He was already covering for the kids but… Dammit, he needed a goddamn raise for dealing with this shit.
"Stop! It's done!"
[ OBSERVATION PAUSED: CEASE OBSERVATIONS? ACCEPT / DECLINE ]
Fowler reared back at the sudden shout from Raf, who hopped off the couch and quickly went to the Observer. The screen had paused, stopping right when actor Optimus, Orion? Was joined by everyone else in an impromptu dance party. Even the humans, the kids' actors were all on the shoulders of a bot, clearly comfortable as they the danced, currently frozen from Raf's command to the screen.
What's done? Fowler almost asked before he realized what.
Raf took control over the Observer, tapping 'Accept' with Ratchet standing up to help him as they stopped uh, 'Observing' the actor world they'd been watching. It honestly baffled and amazed Fowler that the young kid could even understand this technological jargon, alien technological jargon at that. Kid really was a genius, the Pentagon would lose their heads as soon as the kid officially entered their radar.
"The video file! It's fully repaired!" Raf declared, presenting the now fixed video file. Or at least, it seemed fixed? Looked just the same as before to Fowler, but he's trusting Raf on this considering that Ratchet was trusting and agreeing with Raf on this.
Fowler shared a look with Jack and Miko and made a unanimous decision to stand up from the couch, wanting to stand side-by-side with Raf when he fully checked out the file. The Autobots had the same intention it seemed, standing from their seats to gather around closer to the screen. Wondering what information was in the file that had been deemed important enough to be prioritized in terms of repairs.
"About time! Also, after this, we're still gonna watch the Mecha world right? I wanna see what they're up to!" Miko exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on her heels.
Jack snorted, clasping a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down from her bouncing. "We'll have to see what's in the file there first, it could be pretty important." He pointed out to the now pouting girl who grumbled quietly about wanting to watch herself pilot a giant robot suit. Fowler would be lying if he wasn't similarly interested.
Still, if whatever information was on the file was important, it was better to pursue that first.
"Jack's right Miko, if it's important enough, we might have to call off the watching." Fowler warned, giving her a stern look when her pout grew. "'Sides, today's Saturday, there's always tomorrow for you kids." Or next weekend, depending on what happens.
"Well? What're we waiting for? Open the file, let's see what we got!" Bulkhead said, privately hoping that despite whatever it was in the file, they could still watch the Mecha world— he was with Miko on that. He wanted to see human Wheeljack again, see how he and Mecha Miko dealt with being on Cybertron. See Cybertron period.
See his old friends again.
Even with the weird… situation with Megatron and Optimus ( for his sanity he wasn't acknowledging their relationshipi just yet ) Bulkhead was more invested in the Mecha World. Though, the Actor one has been really fun, he'll admit he was a bit bummed out he— uh, his actor? Wasn't involved that much in scenes so far.
( On a ship, miles away, a whole other continent even. The Decepticons watched with matching interest, wondering just what the file held that seemed so 'important'. )
[ FILE {ASCH_0.4.KVN} REPAIRED
PLAY FILE? ACCEPT / DECLINE ]
Raf tapped Accept and the screen changed.
[ Static covers the screen before flipping through various colors. Soon enough, a clip plays, only a few seconds long.
It's at a weird angle, taken somewhat from afar. It showed a near-desolate place with a giant ship parked nearby. A crowd of cybertronians were walking down from the ramp of the ship. It was hard to parse them out at first. ]
"So… what are we looking at?" Arcee questioned, squinting at the screen. "Also I thought the file was repaired? This isn't exactly looking repaired."
Raf and Ratchet frowned, "It is repaired, at least, enough to show the contents of the video." Ratchet said as he pointed at something at a smaller screen for Raf to look over. "Seems like the video was damaged during transmission. I'm not sure what we're looking at, but I was hoping it was something…" He trailed off, his words dying in his throat as the screen flickered and the scene changed.
"Oh-kay, what in Sam's hill am I looking at?" Fowler deadpanned uncomfortably.
[ The scene changed, to show the crowd of cybertronians closer. A familiar slim, orange mech stood at the front-center of the crowd, multiple bots keeping close to him with a purple-painted femme clinging closest to him.
It was Rung.
But different, unlike Actor Rung, this Rung had butterfly-like kibble on his helm, audials shaped like the wings of the pretty insect and glowing a soft blue. He seemed to be trying to keep the crowd calm, said crowd seemed to have been… Crying? Most of them had tears in their optics, were pressing close, but some were hanging back with an obvious air of wary confusion.
A lot of the mechs there seemed familiar, especially a mech of red and blue— the color scheme was unmistakable in any world. But the most recognizable mech on screen was a looming purple-plated mech.
Though his plating had new scars and small other details, the frame was also unmistakable, completely recognizable. For no one else they knew wore that full-faced screen visor other than Soundwave.
The clip stopped when Soundwave suddenly looked up at the screen, a question mark on his visor before the screen went into dark static and flashing colors. ]
"Soundwave?!" Multiple voices clamored, both in the base and out of it, on a ship. "What's Soundwave doing with— Primus, who are these mechs? Some of them look familiar, others? Not so much." Arcee continued, confused and more than concerned at the Decepticon on screen.
Raf played the clip again, but managed to slow it down and paused it to show the crowd of cybertronians. "Are they… crying?" He hadn't been too sure at first, the clip was going a bit first, but now that he's paused it— a good amount of them were crying.
"Is that Rung? He looks— pretty! Why- Why does he have like, butterfly wings on his head? What's going on?" Miko questioned, squinting at the screen. Trying to make sense of the frozen clip. "Hold up! Those guys have noses!" She exclaimed, pointing and upon closer inspection; she was right.
These cybertronians had noses— or ridges on their faces that looked like noses, unlike the flat space on the 'Bots and 'Cons' faces. "What the—" Ratchet looked at the screen, completely puzzled at the sight, reaching for his own face with a look of confusion.
"Nevermind the noses, why is Soundwave there?" Jack asked urgently, alarmed to see the guy there. What was he even doing there? He looked completely out of place compared to the rest of the cybertronians on screen. Not only that, some cybertronians looks different from each other too! Like the maybe-Optimus, he looked different to that flame-themed mech that was near Soundwave! Wait, why was he near Soundwave? "Why is Soundwave holding on to that guy?" There was a tendril around the yellow and orange bot's arm!
Raf scrolled through the logs, looking line by line and trying to make sense of things. Fowler took a peek and was instantly dizzy by the amount of numbers, letters, lines of code that were all there— he wasn't a tech kind of guy, he doesn't know code. He's had to learn a bit for some specific missions but he wasn't interested in more, not like the other techies and certainly not like Raf.
"Encryption date… transmission… connection?" Raf mumbled before he made a loud noise of discovery, "Oh! Guys! The reason why this file was set as priority is because it's a latest transmission to a central node on the Observer's network! It's the last thing the node transmitted before its entire system shut down from being broken. Apparently something overloaded the Observer to the point that it uh, internally broke?"
The Autobots leaned further, Bumblebee whirring out a question while Ratchet squinted at the logs with Raf. "Well, it means that this clip is connected to whatever broke the Observer and sent it here? Or at least, it should be. It's still hard to tell considering most of the OS is still corrupted and broken, and its internal machinery is still being repaired."
"That's useful, still doesn't explain what Soundwave is doing on screen." Bulkhead grunted, frowning at the sight of the Decepticon… Though his gaze wandered to the others in the screen, frowning as he tried to parse out who the others were. That mech might be Rodimus? But what was Rodimus letting Soundwave hold his arm like that? Who was the tall grey mech there? Guy was a little obscured because Optimus was by his side, moving forward, so Bulkhead couldn't really tell… "Look at those badges, they're all Autobots. But Soundwave's still there, not being detained or anything."
"There is a chance, that this Soundwave is an Autobot." Optimus suddenly said aloud, optics analyzing the scene before him. "We do not have much context to the clip before us, and it is hard to see Soundwave completely, but considering he is with a group of Autobots and is not being regarded with caution— he is, at least, an ally to them."
Megatron's most loyal comrade, an Autobot? If it weren't on screen…
"Guys!" Raf suddenly shouted, gaining everyone's attention as he fiddled with the smaller screen before him on the Observer. "If we keep watching stuff, I think I can use the file to trace back to the node and get more information about the Observer!"
They looked at him with surprise and slight awe, "Really?" Miko poked at Raf who swatted her hand away, "Isn't this like, some super secret and mysterious tech-thing that lets us see through world? I know you're like, a tech nerd baby genius but like, really?"
Raf gave her a scowl at the word 'baby' but sighed, "The OS is surprisingly easy to use, even if most of it is kind of broken right now. And the programming language is gradually being translated to both cybertronian and human language— don't ask me how it works, we're still trying to figure it out. Plus, Ratchet's been a great help!" He and Ratchet shared a smile before the medic spoke.
"It will be a long while before we can afford to trace the file to its origins or even to the node that sent it to this Observer, but we have a lead as to where it came from." Ratchet took a step back, sighing as he looked over to his team. "I don't even know how long it'll take for its internal systems, both software and hardware, to repair while we watch."
"But in the meantime!" Miko grabbed Raf's shoulders and squeezed, "We watch awesome stuff! Like the Mecha world! C'mon Raf, load it up! We gotta repair the thingy by watching ourselves be cool pilots on Cybertron! For the Observer!"
Jack snorted, rolling his eyes with an exasperatedly fond smile, "For the Observer, huh? Yeah. Totally what you're focusing on Miko." He teased, dodging the swat from the grinning teenager.
"Agent Fowler." Fowler straighteneda as he was suddenly addressed by Optimus Prime. "You have seen for yourself, just the beginning of what the Observer can do. I hope you do not mind if we focus on the Observer for a while."
The agent had to huff, "Mind? Prime, I've got a lot on my mind about this whole situation. But honestly, I don't mind— considering what I've seen so far, and what you've told me, I would've been surprised if you didn't focus on this thing first. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious either. So go ahead. 'Sides, if the cons do anything big, we'll know."
[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]
The Nemesis
"Dear Primus Soundwave! Your other is in a desperate need of a buffing! Or a few hundred other things! Just look at those scratches!" Knock Out cried out, aghast at the sight of Soundwave's counterpart on the screen. "EGAD! Is that— is that a deep dent?! Forget the buffing! That plate needs to be replaced!"
"Why? Why do those cybertronians have noses? What point would that be?" Starscream muttered, scowling at the screen in confusion over the additional feature on the cybertronian faceplates on screen. "And why does it look like they've bawled all of their optic fluids?!"
Arachnid hummed, optics trained on the orange-painted mech, "Well, he's gotten prettier in this world. What was his name again? Oh well… If only he was here, I would've loved to pin those audials on my old trophy wall."
"Is that Whirl?" Breakdown squinted at a cycloptic blue mech.
Megatron pressed his digits against his closed optics as Soundwave snapped pictures of the screen, helm tilted in thought. "At the very least… we are moving on from that ridiculous world." The warlord muttered to himself before pausing as the screen changed and he grinned in anticipation. "Ah yes, the original world we were meant to watch… Finally, something a bit more interesting."
[ CONTINUE OBSERVING UNIVERSE 'ALIEN MECHA (NO-DESIGN) {CON.TFP}'?
YES / NO
BEGINNING OBSERVATION… ]
[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]
THERE WE GO! the show acting was admittedly shorter than i would've liked but that's okay because we'll go back to it eventually! for now, we move on to mecha once again because i need to write this au and get the ball rolling!
again, reminder, i'll be updating ao3 again tomorrow for so that can catch up to here on tumblr. after that, MAYBE i can update again? who knows, im not making any promises. it'd be cool to update FOUR TIMES before the year ends instead of three, but either way! i'll see you all later!
p.s. thank you @kevinformers-ibw for giving me the WONDERFUL opportunity to use your fic for a moment here >:3
THATS RIGHT, THIS IS KEV'S 'A SHIP CALLED HOME' MOMENT AT THE END! WHY?
patience.... all will be revealed eventually
im going to relax and enjoy my upcoming bday :D see ya!
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