Wheeljack happily shoved his loaded lab cart down the halls of the Ark. In his excitement, he had to resist the urge to run to his destination. He was walking so fast he almost was anyway. Red Alert bumped into the inventor, quite literally. "Oh! Sorry Red!" Wheeljack apologized, relinquishing his hold on the cart to offer his friend a hand up. Red Alert grasped the offered servo and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet by the slightly taller mech. "What is this?" Red Alert asked, paranoia starting to set in. Did this pose a danger to the security of the Ark? Knowing Wheeljack's track record didn't help the security director's unease. "Come with me to the command room, and you'll see!" Wheeljack said, his earfins flashing a brighter blue than usual in excitement. Red Alert's helm started to faintly spark at the horns. "I'll watch from the safety of the security monitor room!" Red Alert declared, dashing off in the direction of said room. Wheeljack shrugged. He put one leg up on the cart and used to other to propel the cart he now rode toward his destination.
Stopping his ride outside the double doors of the command room, he reached over and waved his servo over the electronic lock, entering the code wirelessly. The doors slid open to grant him entrance. He was forced to walk in the crowded control room, the main hub (besides the rec room) of the Ark. He swerved around the argument brewing between Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, which Ironhide had somehow been pulled into. He stopped his cart momentarily for Prowl to pass by, no doubt to put an end to the argument before Ironhide snapped and finally just shot one of the Twins. He swerved past Optimus, who was conversing with Ratchet about medical supplies. Bumblebee stood just behind Optimus, holding a datapad with a message from Elita 1 with details on a move of the Femme base on Cybertron close to his chassis, patiently waiting for his leader to finish.
Wheeljack finally ended ended his trek at Teletraan 1's console, directly next to the Sky Spy console that Jazz was typing away at. As the Sky Spy launched from the Ark, Jazz turned to Wheeljack. He was curious to see what the mad scientist had concocted this time now that the completion of his previous task left him free.
"What's up, 'Jack?" Jazz asked casually.
"I'm hooking my newest invention up to Teletraan 1." Wheeljack said, grabbing a few long wires dangling from the contraption on the cart and ducking under Teletraan 1.
"Why?"
"Well, It's a smaller model of a teleporter. I need to hook it up to Teletraan's advanced computers, or else whatever I throw through it will end up somewhere random." Wheeljack replied while splicing the contraption's wires with wires from Teletraan to connect the two.
"What's he doing this time?" Ratchet grumbled, stamping over to glare at whatever part of Wheeljack was visible, that now being his legs.
"I'm testing a new invention!" Wheeljack called from still being underneath Teletraan, elbow deep in its circuits.
"Why aint he in his lab?" Ironhide chimed in.
"I needed Teletraan for it to work. But don't worry, it's a small model, and it worked in every simulation I ran." Wheeljack assured, removing himself from under the console and adjusting a few knobs on the invention.
"Here goes nothing!" Wheeljack declared, flipping the large switch that activated the machine. Everybot present gathered around to watch the invention, which surprisingly hadn't exploded yet. Above the invention's flat disc of a platform, a spark of energy formed, which opened into a small rip on the air itself. Wheeljack started giddily taking readings. Everything was going perfect! Absolutely, wonderfully- Uh oh. "I know that look. Hit the deck!" Ratchet called. Everybot dove for the floor without hesitation. Even Sunstreaker seemed to forget his finish for a nanoclik as he flopped onto the floor. But it was in vain. The model exploded in a bright flash of light, blinding the watching security director as well as the camera he was watching through for a moment. When the light faded, the room was utterly devoid of life. Red Alert's helm sparked furiously and he crashed.
One parallel dimension over...
Nine Autobots lay out on the dusty ground of a mountain trail. Sitting up, Sideswipe complained "I feel like I got my helm bashed in by Megatron. Or maybe Omega Supreme just sat on me." "This dirt is ruining my finish!" Sunstreaker cried in dismay. Ironhide couldn't help but facepalm. "Wheeljack!" Ratchet yelled. Said Autobot instantly snapped upright, from where he had been the last to still be on the ground. "I'm up! Huh?" He said. "Where are we?" Jazz asked. "I don't know. The machine overloaded. I hadn't accounted for that much energy to come from Teletraan 1. I'd forgotten about the upgrade I gave it last week. All my simulations were based off the old Teletraan schematics." Wheeljack said pensively. Ratchet pulled a wrench out of subspace and aimed for Wheeljack's helm, which the white mech instinctively protected. "We could just be somewhere else on earth! Or we may be as far as another dimension. I designed it to do both." Wheeljack explained further, hoping to dissuade Ratchet from injuring him. But it was not to be. With his helm no longer vulnerable, Ratchet aimed for his exposed side. "Ow!" Wheeljack complained, instantly grabbing the sore spot and feeling how deep the new dent was. Ratchet glared at Wheeljack, but was satisfied with his punishment. For now.
Meanwhile...
Two men sat at a computer console. They were waiting. Just like every other day, they waited. For something, anything to be picked up by the satellite. Both held mugs in their hands. Black, just like the coffee within them. The white design was a logo, the Sector 7 logo to be exact. They monitored and controlled anything and everything to do with extraterrestrials.
Finally, something pinged. The men sat forward eagerly. Was it actually something? Or just another false alarm? Yes! It was real! "We got one." One whispered to the other. "We got one!" He repeated excitedly over the radio to his superiors. "Nine to be exact." the other man amended.