Shockwave never enjoyed being restricted. Give him a rule, and the first thing he’ll do is analyze it for loopholes. Should he detect none, he’ll devise a way to get away with breaking it. The practice may sound inherently immoral, but rarely did he ever come across situations in which it was logical to disregard major policies... Until he became infatuated with creating new life, of course.
Cybertron’s laws regarding the creation of new cybertronians had become strict ever since cold construction became common practice. Either you existed out of Primus’ own will, or you were needed for menial labor. Sparklings developed by any other means were considered unnecessary, a waste of resources. Only the wealthy could afford to have them without facing any major repercussions.
Shockwave did not care for this. For a variety of reasons, but the most pertinent being that he couldn’t make the Cybertronians he wanted to create. He had so many ideas for what their species was capable of, how much more adaptable their kind would be to foreign planets, if only he could make the adjustments he desired....
You would think, being a university student, that Shockwave would not have the time, resources, or energy for creating an illegal dragon Cybertronian. You would then be underestimating the mech’s unnatural sense of persistence when it came to his pet projects. Thus, Skylynx was created, whether the system cared for it or not.
The sparkling was above average in size, as expected, and incredibly clumsy, but given enough time, Shockwave knew it would grow to be an incredibly graceful beast. There was a single problem he hadn’t accounted for, however.... Shockwave could not possibly expend the energy necessary to tend to such a babe alone.
Brainstorm was not nearly responsible enough to tend to such a delicate project....Wheeljack meant well, but Shockwave deemed the engineer’s personal quarters to be unsafe at this sensitive phase of his creation’s development. No, there was only one person he could reasonably approach to assist him...
Perceptor was shocked, to say the least. By Shockwave blatantly disregarding international laws? No. By the fact that the sparkling could split into two parts and recombine? Yes, but not as much as he felt he should be. No, what struck him was the fact that Shockwave approached him in the middle of the night to politely request that they raise a child together. So casually, too, as if he were asking Perceptor to keep an optic on a potted plant for a week or two.
It took a bit of convincing, to say the least, but he eventually agreed. Shockwave appreciated that Perceptor was so quick to see reason. Percy, meanwhile, was left wondering if this was Shockwave’s way of romantically propositioning him....Not that it mattered if it was, of course. He was interested in the results of this project too, after all.
Shockwave isn’t malicious by any stretch of the means, but he does occasionally get a kick out of surprising or spooking people with his morbid sense of humor. After all, if people are going to be scared of you for looking “weird”, may as well roll with it. To his own surprise, however, Perceptor is capable of playing along with razor sharp wit. It’s entertaining for both parties until an offhand comment manages to coerce a smile out of Perceptor. It stops Shockwave in his tracks almost immediately. He was unused to generating such reactions from people, yes, but for something so endearing to come from someone he regards as well disciplined.... The gesture registers as being the most genuine display of happiness that he personally caused.
Later, alone in his quarters, Shockwave ponders upon the fact that he never knew himself capable of having a positive effect on people until now.