"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" declared Skyfire, the usually calm bot startling the other occupants of the room as he entered the base. "I will allow no such thing."

"You won't allow what?" Perceptor asked distractedly, barley glancing over his shoulder. He had been so busy sciencing on the computer he didn't catch what Wheeljack had proposed.

"Skyfire, calm down. Be rational-" Prowl started to say.

Skyfire crossed the room to Perceptor and gently picked him up and held him protectively.

"And why do you want him anyway?" Prowl asked Wheeljack, perplexed. "From what we know about you, you prefer a more... hands on approach, where Perceptor has a more scientific, detailed one. I mean- he took half an hour comparing just your optic colors!"

"Alright, fine. I'll leave him be." Wheeljack scratched the back of his neck a little sheepishly. "Too be honest, I don't exactly know where my universe's Perceptor is, or even if he's still alive. I was going to give you our Ratchet instead- the one from where I'm from looks different, a lot more orange and grumpy than your guy- and hope you didn't notice"

Ironhide gave a rough bark of a laugh. "It's alright Skyfire. I'll keep an eye on him. You can put Perceptor down now"

Optimus glanced back at his Wheeljack, who was finishing up the last of Blaster's repairs while Jazz sat next to him, talking and waving his arms excitedly. Ratchet had started cleaning and putting away the equipment. Then he looked back to the other Wheeljack. He was so similar, but at the same time, a complete stranger.

Lost in thought, Optimus didn't notice Jazz until he was snapping his fingers in front of his face.

"-ime? Prime!"

"My apologies, Jazz. My mind was… elsewhere. What was it you were saying?"

"No worries, man. Just wanted to see if you wanted to come with to check out Wheeljack's new device"

"New device?" Optimus asked concernedly. He looked to the corner with the large, sheet covered object. "That one over there?"

Wheeljack took this as his que.

"Gentlemen, I present to you; the screenless projector!" he said dramatically, pulling the cover off to reveal a cylindrical device with a lense at the top. "By stacking the light particles vertically, we eliminate the need of a backdrop completely! And more importantly, since it doesn't need a screen, we can use it virtually anywhere!"

"Wheeljack, that's brilliant!" Perceptor exclaimed, still in Skyfire's arms even though Ironhide said he could put him down. "Skyfire, if you don't mind" He gestured towards the ground. "I'd like to get a closer look at Wheeljack's new device"

He put him back on his feet, though slowly and nervously. Skyfire still didn't trust that this other Wheeljack wouldn't go back on his word on not taking Perceptor back to his other reality, despite Ironhide's reassurances that he wouldn't let that happen. Not only was he worried about losing a fellow Autobot, but one that he considered a close friend. While the other Autobots weren't antagonistic towards him, few spoke to him unless they needed a ride somewhere or help reaching a high placed object.

Perceptor was there for him whenever he needed to talk, and the two spent countless hours together under the stars.

Optimus took him out of his nervous daydreaming with a comforting hand on his back.

"Do not worry, Skyfire. We will keep close watch on him"

Skyfire still worried, but his shoulders, which he didn't even realise were tense, relaxed.

Optimus turned back to Jazz.

"Indeed I shall. How are you planning to test it?"

Jazz smiled.


A few hours later, outside the base, Wheeljack and Perceptor were setting up the contraption while Ironhide introduced the newcomer Wheeljack to the Autobots returning from their missions.

"Alright, so that guy over there talking to Jazz over there? That's Blaster-" Ironhide began.

"Aren't those the two you said cause 'auditory mayhem'?" Wheeljack asked.

"Well, yeah, but we're outside now, so it shouldn't be as bad. Fancy wheels over there is Tracks, and the human with him is Raoul"

"What about that one over there? The one talking to himself"

"That there's Hound, and he's talking to Mirage"

"Let me guess, he's invisible" Wheeljack said sarcastically.

"Yep" Ironhide said, ignoring the sarcasm. "Hey Mirage! Show yourself!" he shouted.

In a shimmer of light, Mirage appeared next to Hound.

"Well would you look at that. An invisible Autobot"

"And Hound can make holograms"

"Wait- if he can make holograms, what do you need that projector- thingy for?"

Ironhide just shrugged.

"For when he's not on base, I guess. Hound's our expert tracker, so he goes on patrol a lot"

Wheeljack hummed.

"I remember your copbot, Prowl, saying something about Bumblebee. Which one is he?"

"Yellow one over there" Ironhide said with a vague head tilt to his right.

Wheeljack followed the tilt to a shiny yellow bot talking to an equally shiny red one. The yellow bot paused to sneer at him before resuming his conversation.

Wheeljack was disappointed.

"That's Bumblebee?" Wheeljack finally said, eyebrows scrunched in disbelief.

"No, no, that's Sunstreaker. Bot next to him is his brother, Sideswipe. They're almost more trouble than they're worth. That's Bumblebee, and the two humans with him are Spike and Carly"

This time Wheeljack was shocked. Bumblebee, oblivious that he was being talked about, was listening to Carly talk while Spike cooked at the portable grill.

"That's Bumblebee?" Wheeljack didn't see any other yellow bots around. "It's just- he's so-"

Wheeljack made some vague gestures.

"So what?"

"Short!" Wheeljack said, louder than he intended. Bumblebee looked up at that.

Ironhide waved.

"Hey Ironhide! Hi Wheeljack!" Bumblebee responded, waving back before continuing his conversation.

"He can talk?" Wheeljack asked, still amazed.

"Duh, yeah? Of course he can talk!" a short red bot cut in. "Just because us minibots are short doesn't mean you can talk all over us!"

He then stormed over to join Bumblebee, and his mood slightly improved.

"That's Cliffjumper" Ironhide supplied.

"I'm not sure if I can be surprised by anything anymore. I know there was a Cliffjumper back home, but he's- he's not around anymore"

Ironhide nodded in understanding, and was about to reply when the ground started to shake.