Chapter Text
>> cd /conf/dir2/837sk-3dc/RP/
>> more COMM-priv-OP-mod-1b1-ba.txt
Optimus Prime/Optronix,
I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but I need to say it anyway.
For all I have done, I am sorry. Not fully understanding Primus’ Will is no excuse for me treating you as coldly and cruelly as I have for your entire existence. For leaving you to grapple with your sorrows alone, to rob you of your freedom of choice, for pushing you into a role you never wanted just to live in my shadow. For never telling you who you were, and your ties to Megatron. So much was kept from you to just maintain control, and that was wrong.
You deserved better. You deserve the universe now, for everything you have had to suffer in silence, and for all that you have fought to give to everyone that your spark has graced in life.
An apology does little to fix the problem: I hurt you. I took your chances at freedom and pushed you to become someone that you never wanted to be.
Please take care of yourself. Do whatever it takes to ensure that you become who you want to be. We will take care of the rest.
Should you ever wish to talk, or give me another good punch, feel free to contact me.
Warmest Regards,
Rodimus Prime,
Hot Rod
CH 6
Case File - 43-QN24-B8 - “Clockwise”
Final Report
Victim: Clockwise
Status: Offline; Frame cannot be retrieved.
Cause of Death: Accidental; Victim entered a restricted area and sustained fatal injuries while exploring condemned structures.
Statement:
The Victim entered an abandoned drainway beneath Polyhex Station between the dates of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. Through this complex the Victim entered a separate maintenance area, closed off to the public, and began setting up the area to paint a mural. The structure chosen was unstable, and collapsed while the Victim was inside. It was concluded that the area is too fragile for the Victim’s frame to be retrieved at this time, and arrangements for extraction will be made at a later date.
Feedback:
A greater push is needed to secure and repair abandoned and closed-off sectors. If immediate repairs are not available, the public should feel reassured that they will not unknowingly stumble into a location that is categorically unsafe. In addition, public awareness campaigns on the dangers of these spaces, and the legal consequences for entry, could help to deter any future casualties and injuries. Ultimately, it takes all Cybertronians to prevent disaster.
Additional - Internal:
All files for this case have been returned to the archive, including all video recordings, audio and interviews, case files, and personal logs that I have created. I have extended my deepest apologies and condolences to Clockwise’s Amica, Gears, and will no longer be pursuing any additional investigative ventures, or new caseloads. This case proved that I am not the right mech for the job, and that I must stick to the enforcer training guidelines as directed.
Clockwise deserved better. May Primus guide his spark back home.
Optronix, Dept. Officer
In Memoriam - Clockwise, Artistic Guidance
By Editorial Staff, Central City Post
SFE Q8.7Z4.2D
If you have ever traversed the Grand Concourse beneath Helex Station A, or passed by the Great Archival Hall of Kaon, then you have witnessed the artistic brilliance of one Clockwise.
A muralist and sculptor by trade, Clockwise started his life in the broadcast industry. Brilliant views of Cybertron from its highest highs to its lowest lows inspired him to capture these views in every medium that he could train his servos to manipulate. A sculpture of two scatterwings in mid-flight sits in the center of Iacon Raceway’s entry hall; a painting of Quintus Prime, arms outstretched as they smile down across Vos’ Crystal Gardens; a crystalline sun catcher of Primus and Unicron’s sparks glitters in the front window of Central City’s Space Bridge Delights. No matter where he went, these little gifts of life were spread.
Of Clockwise’s life, his Amica Endura, Gears, had this to say:
“The brightest spark in the universe has gone dark. But, he… would never want his absence to be thought of in that way. No. He’d want us to look at the things he left behind–his art, his studies, the little talks he’d give in the corner of a gallery–and find inspiration. Spread light, spread life, look to the past and take those gifts to make a good future. Not everything is what it looks like on the surface. Even the things that make you hurt can be used for good. So, that’s what we should all do to remember him. Yeah, even if it looks like slag, just. Make something. Write a dumb poem, a bad song, make a little sculpture of your pet glitchmouse that looks more like a box than a creature. And… always remember, your friends will love you and want you to succeed. Even if you feel like no one is in your corner, you can recharge easy knowing his spark is looking out for you.”
In celebration of Clockwise’s life and creative drive, the Cultural Museums of Kaon and Iacon will be hosting open exhibition nights over the next two deca-cycles, featuring both his work and any community-submitted pieces which follow the themes listed on the official datanet site [ERROR: NOT FOUND].
Clockwise’s estate, as run by Amicas Gears and DarkStar, requests that all donations be submitted to Central City School of the Arts, and the Archives Grand Concourse Repair Fund.
>> cd /conf/dir2/837sk-3dc/RP/
>> more COMM-priv-AT-sfe-q8-7Z4.2A.txt
Grand Archivist -
By now I am certain that you have seen the logs passing through regarding Sector U. We can find no records of when this space was initially shut down, or who authorized its deactivation, but its mere existence is causing me to question… everything.
A darkness exists in that place the likes of which I have never seen, or felt. The only thing that made it retreat long enough to retrieve Optronix was the Matrix–which tells me that my deepest fear may, in fact, be real.
I know Unicron has been gone for countless centuries; Omega Supreme’s victory is well-documented, and I have no grounds to question his might. However, something sinister is definitely clawing its way through Cybertron’s populace, and knowing now that it may be able to infect sectors where we have no way to completely shut things out leads me to believe that an impending war is the least of our concerns. In an absolute worst case scenario, we may just have to start destroying these places to prevent infection.
Please delete any incoming inquiries regarding Sector U. Direct anything else to my office directly.
As for Optronix, he has been incredibly disturbed by whatever it was he encountered in that space. I have not had the chance to view his body-cam footage, but I have restricted its access to just the two of us for now. According to his handlers, his temperament has changed considerably, but he refuses to speak on the matter. I’ll be keeping a much closer optic on him, moving forward, and for the moment I have sent him to investigate the Second Spark.
I want to tell him, Trion. This is wrong. But I don’t know what else we can do right now.
We, as a world, are not prepared for whatever darkness is looming out there in the cosmos. Not the Decepticon Council, not the Autobots, any of us. I will continue to perform my duties as directed, and will work to ensure that the Second Spark is secured. But, to be fully transparent with you?
I have never been more terrified in my life.
Rodimus Prime
Part 3 - Conclusions
LOG: #D12-248-92 - 4.9999999999
I can’t recharge anymore.
It’s so stupid how this all has made me feel this broken, this obsessed. Even something as simple as ordering fuel now just pushes me to just keep talking and talking. Tipped the poor mech at the sweets shop this morning, like, triple credits because he said SOMETHING that just grabbed at my rewired processor, and it made me rant for five solid breems about Unicron. Do you know how crazy that makes a guy look, and feel? I can never go back there.
But I’m tired. I’m angry. We fought for that long, that hard, we lost so much because of one mech’s inability to communicate. I read through everything I could find on both of them–everything that those two were supposed to do, and I just can’t stop being ANGRY.
Do you know what it’s like to suddenly feel bad for Megatron? Like, only for a few nanokliks, but how absolutely dipstick-crazy that makes you look? But no, I sat there for twenty breems crying like an idiot before purging. Glad he’s gone.
Then there’s. Unicron. We’re never going to be rid of him. We can’t be, or, apparently, all life out there will collapse. So many dreams about just… waking up and the black hole has reopened, or suddenly the world has gone dark and everyone is being consumed by some terrible black mass–like that stuff Optronix kept finding. That… Corruption. Whatever you want to call it.
I know I’m paranoid. I know I’m afraid, even if it’s baseless–but there is just so much documented evidence of this being BAD for everyone that I can’t push it out of my helm. So I sent all of this to Jetfire. To Rodimus. To Magnus. To any damned mech in power that will maybe LISTEN and come up with some sort of contingency plan. They didn’t before, and look where that put us. Nearly right back in the Well.
Alpha Trion’s been trying to get me to take time off. I spoke with him about all of this, finally, because I couldn’t take it anymore. Venting to your boss isn’t always a good idea, but I think he’s the only damn mech out there who has been sympathetic to any of this. He understands it. So, maybe he can help me push for all of this too.
We need transparency; the fear of mass panic can’t be an excuse to keep people from knowing that there may still be problems that have to be worked out. Keeping secrets nearly caused our species to go extinct. Just ask Optimus how he feels about secrets, I’m sure he’d love to talk about how great they are when he needs to fix something but doesn’t know where to start.
But why hide it once war had broken out? What was the point in keeping all of that under-wraps when our friends and family were ripping each other’s fuel lines out in an attempt to survive? And why hide it now, when Megatron is–presumably–dead and gone, and Optimus has fragged off to go hide in some isolated corner of space? Who is this hurting?!
Things could have ended earlier.
Everything Optronix saw down there was covered up. All of it. The layers of encryption on these case files for a dead artist are so deep that the only thing rivaling them is Jetfire’s own diaries where he’s dreaming about running off with Prime. Maybe they covered it up to keep him in line–don’t let him know exactly what it is he saw, and he’d stop asking questions and would get back to work.
But maybe, just maybe, it was covered up because they knew it wasn’t going away.
Maybe it’s still locked down because they know it’s still out there.
After all that humiliation in the energon conflict, I’ll bet my bumper that Unicron will absolutely have a score to settle. And that means we could all wake up tomorrow and be surrounded by corrupt nightmare drones.
I’m going to assume now that everything I was ever told about the war is a lie. The truth is in there somewhere, but I have to dig it all out and get it on the record. Revival or not, something of those days has to remain somewhere on this damned god’s body, and I’m going to find it. I’m going to shake our new great leaders down, and I’m going to make. Them. Keep. Us. Safe.
How? Well. I can’t go into all of the details here–not until the job is done. Trion knows my search history, he’ll figure it out probably before I even finish this journal. Basically, cruising around the back-end of the datanet led me to a mech who says they can get access to a lot of high security spaces underground, some of which line up with where that old Sector used to be. Called himself Noizemaze, which is a hell of a codename, but he definitely knew his stuff.
We’re going to go down there, and I’m going to see what might still be around. If it’s nothing, great–then I can move onto phase 2, and start researching Unicron and Primus, how all of that stupid business works, and I’ll make proposals myself to keep things going. I’m obviously not a scientist, but who cares. Someone needs to pick up the skills and go.
I caved and sent Optimus a message, too. It was probably a dead commlink code, but I figured he deserved at least some kind of apology after all of this. Someone’s finally seen what happened and is going to do something about it.
The relief I feel in just saying it is insurmountable. Maybe I’ll be able to recharge tonight.
Maybe Optronix and Clockwise will finally be able to find some peace themselves.
This will be okay. It’ll all be okay.
It shouldn’t take too long to get this over with. Let’s go spelunking.
Office of Data Analytics - New Central City Archives
From the desk of Alpha Trion, Lead Archivist
Date: MOD 00.1B1.E2
In an attempt to alleviate potential stress upon incoming Archivists and Data Clerks, certain tasks will now only be performed by myself, or any future Lead Archivist. These tasks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Archival of Prewar Governmental Documents, High and Top Security clearance only.
Certain permissions may be granted to lower-level Archivists and Clerks after receiving special training and clearance from the Cybertron Security Service.
Analytics of and relating to Governmental Figures, in High Security Documentation only.
Permission may be granted to lower-level Archivists and Clerks, but any additional analytics will be performed with a trained specialist in attendance at all times.
Archival and Study of Unicronian Influence.
All data relating to Unicron’s methods of infiltration, infection, and corruption will be reclassified, and attempts to study them will be granted to group studies only. We will be implementing several layers of accountability, therapy, and discussion to ensure that exposure to potential corruption is limited.
It is not my wish to hide information from the public; any and all who wish to access archives and our species’ history must be given the freedom to seek it out at any time they so choose. The only files that will be limited are those which pertain, specifically, to Unicron’s influence.
As of this cycle, Unicron’s physical manifestation is no more. The downside to this, of course, is that His Will has corrupted many corners of the cosmos, and is impossible to eradicate in its entirety. Primus tells us that Balance must be maintained–that Light cannot remain stable without the presence of Darkness–but seeking out the Chaos Bringer’s influence is dangerous for those who are not prepared.
The presence of Sector U, as it has been called, is still debatable; while it may no longer exist in a physical sense, the presence it housed remains. The energy it exuded corrupted and controlled, and studying it while unprepared leads to obsession and death.
As one of the few of Thirteen who remained with Cybertron, it is my sworn duty to ensure that our stories are written, and never forgotten. The future is hazy, uncertain; I must do all I can to ensure that it is safe, above all else.
We cannot fear this future, nor the unknown. Fear is what feeds corruption and darkness; fear is what doomed our people to war, death, and pain.
May this be a reminder to us all that we can do nothing in this life alone. Passion and obsession are a delicate balance, but it is possible to live and learn without slipping away.
Doppler’s fate is my responsibility. I did not stop him; I did not aid him as he needed; there was time to alter his course, but I did nothing to do so. Looking to his future, it is unclear–I pray he has not been lost. For now, I have told the enforcers to cease searching for him; I have a team who is already very well versed in finding those led astray by the Darkness, but interference from the outside could seal his fate. I have faith in their work. I have faith in Doppler.
And, ultimately, I must have faith that Unicron’s eventual return will be one where we will not fear Him, nor his motives. Primus bless us all.
Regards,
Alpha Trion
...
...
...
>> Welcome!
>>
>> User: ….
>> Pass: ….
>> cd /docs/users/logs/OP/sent/
>> Pass: ….
>> more dpl.txt
Greetings Doppler,
While I’m not certain how you were able to actually get through to this line, I’m not bothered in the slightest. No apologies are necessary. It isn’t often that I get asked questions about anything I used to work on during my Enforcer days, and enough time has passed that I’m mostly at peace with it.
I did all I could. I followed the trails, I kept all of my documents neat and orderly, and I put myself in positions that many of my colleagues never dared to go. I did it all for one mech, for his family, and all whose sparks had been touched by him and his work.
Clockwise still crosses my mind, now and then. One of the few personal possessions I have is actually a little sculpture of a petrorabbit that he made–Gears insisted that I take it, and it sits on my desk to this day, making sure I give every bit of paperwork I see just as much attention as all the others. I feel like he was someone that I would have benefited from knowing personally; his desire to teach and make everyone around him smile and grow is a powerful influence, and I’m trying now to take that with me everywhere I go.
I do apologize for all of the trouble this case has put you through. If I had known earlier how much about me is locked down, I would have lifted clearances before leaving Cybertron. I don’t have secrets to keep anymore. What’s the point when society found out the darkest facts about my existence at the same time I did, you know? (That is intended to be a bit humorous) But it sounds to me like you’ve done your homework, and I appreciate that. Feel free to put it out there; the more that beings throughout the cosmos know about what Unicron can do to others, the better society can learn to work together.
And if Jetfire has any problems with this, he can talk to me directly. My business, my rules.
If you ever wish to discuss this one-on-one, you can ping this line and it should patch you through. The war is over, and I hold no ill will towards anyone; you’re doing what you can to build a new life, and that is what you deserve. Keep up the good work.
When it comes to Unicron, and anything involving Him, I do urge you to take caution. Even with pure intent, He can still push His way into your every waking moment. Reach out and speak to someone if you feel any sort of way that isn’t normal–changes in recharge patterns, your ability to refuel, hearing sounds that don’t quite match up with where you are, anything. Collaboration and open communication are two of His biggest weaknesses. If you need me to be that person, I’m more than happy to step in and validate you.
The only mech who knows more about being torn asunder from within by Unicron is Megatron, and… I don’t know if I’m ready to speak on that just yet. But, you’ve seen the files. You understand, I trust.
Let me know what you find, if you feel comfortable in doing so. These days I’m just trying to be an ordinary mech, despite the universe’s arguments to the contrary. I’m here to help.
Stay safe out there. Be wary of anything that looks a little too dark to be real.
All the best,
Optimus Prime
Optronix