Chapter Twenty One- T.M.I
Miko and Breakdown were watching a monster truck rally on TV, where the monster trucks jumped high and smashed other cars on their way.
"Hoo yeah!" Miko cheered while Breakdown groaned covering his face with his hand as the monster truck ran over the cars. "Munch." She yelled.
"Give it up for the baddest beast machines on the planet!" The announcer said from the TV.
"Would you mind lowering the volume?" Shockwave asked in irritation.
"Hey Knock Out! Check out the Monster Truck Rally Miko took me the last week!" Breakdown said.
"I compiled some highlights with my cell phone." Miko smiled as she took out her phone.
"Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators?" Knock Out asked before he shuddered. "Blood sport! I can't understand how you like that, Breakdown." Knock Out said getting back to work with Shockwave.
"Yeah!" Miko and Breakdown cheered.
"You could be helping Megatron in the field right now." Shockwave remarked.
"Aw, he doesn't need my help to save some ancient educational thing-a-ma-bob." Breakdown scoffed.
"The thing-a-ma-bob to which you refer happens to be a cybertronian data cylinder." Shockwave corrected as he pressed a button which made the television screen changed to the screen which Shockwave was seeing.
"Hey!" Miko yelled as Breakdown groaned.
"And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold. During the golden age, dozens of these cylinders were created. Each containing the sum total of cybertronian knowledge on any given subject: stellar cartography, medicine, ancient mythology. When the war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far possible from Autobot reach." Shockwave explained, making Miko yawn of boredom. "Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a…"
"Aw, T.M.I, dude!" Miko groaned.
"What?" Shockwave asked in confusion.
"Earth translation, too much information." Knock Out added.
"Switch it back, I want to see the hoedown showdown!" Breakdown demanded.
"Shockwave! Autobot ambush! The cylinder is at risk! We require backup!" Starscream said through the com-link.
"Backup's what I'm built for." Breakdown smirked as he crushed his fists and went to the ground bridge.
"Go bend some fenders, Breaky!" Miko cheered as she saw Breakdown run through the ground bridge portal.
"I have an important mission for you too, Miko." Knock Out smirked.
"Really?!" Miko asked in excitement.
"Yeah, the base needs to be at his best view for visits." Knock Out said as he handed her a mop.
"Ah!" Miko groaned as she picked it up.
But seeing that Knock Out and Shockwave were busy, she smirked, dropped the mop and went straight through the ground bridge while it was still open. When she came onto the battlefield, she covered her face from some flying debris. She looked up to see a huge fight before her. Megatron was fighting Smokescreen, Starscream was fighting Cliffjumper, Airachnid was with Arcee, Stinger was against Bumblebee, Soundwave was against the Wreckers and Breakdown was with the Autobot troopers and Aerobots. Breakdown knocked a Bot near to where she was. She looked up in shock and horror as it was about to crush her, but she jumped out of the way before it did. She hid behind a rock to continue watching the fight. She saw Megatron grabbing Smokescreen by the neck and punching him in the face.
"Decepticons, stand your ground! The artifact must not fall into enemy hands!" Megatron declared before he continued fighting.
Airachnid managed to trap Arcee with webs and run towards the cylinder, but she was tackled by Wheeljack in the process. Now he was the one running at it.
"Come to papa!" Wheeljack smirked.
He was near to it when Breakdown tackled him.
"Run to mommy!" Breakdown smiled, only to be attacked by Bulkhead from behind.
"Say uncle! Say it!" Bulkhead yelled grabbing his head.
Miko took the chance and dashed towards the cylinder. She hid behind it and used her phone.
"Shockwave, come in!" Miko said through the phone.
"Miko? This is an emergency channel! We need to keep it open for the other…! Wait! Where are you?" Shockwave asked.
"Duh! I'm with the thing-a-ma-bob!" Miko answered in frustration.
"The thing-a-ma…the data cylinder?!" Shockwave realized.
"Yes! Can you bridge it out of here?" Miko asked.
"I'll reactive arrival coordinates." Shockwave said.
Miko saw the ground bridge opened in the same place where she came from.
"Dude! Can you open it any closer?" Miko whined.
"Supply coordinates." Shockwave said.
"Uh…50 yards?" Miko guessed.
"Precise coordinates!" Shockwave specified.
After hid behind the cylinder because a shot almost hit her, Miko decided to take the cylinder to the ground bridge by her own. She tried to push it, but it was no use, so she decided to run back and got into a starting position.
"One…two…" She counted before she ran and kicked the cylinder, but she fell to the ground in the process.
Instead of moving, the cylinder started to glow as metal flags sprouted out.
"Whoa." Miko breathed.
Everyone turned towards the noise during the fight, and Breakdown was the most surprised.
"Miko?" Breakdown exclaimed as he saw her next to the cylinder expecting something bad. "No!" He said running at her, but Bulkhead hit him to the ground in front of the cylinder.
Then a red beam came from the cylinder and zapped Breakdown in the head. Once it stopped, he passed out.
"Breaky!" Miko cried as she ran towards him.
Smokescreen grabbed the cylinder and smirked. "You really took one for the team, Breakdown, my team."
A ground bridge appeared and all the Autobots went through it, as the remaining troopers transformed into jets and flew away. The Decepticons ran over to Breakdown as he slowly stood up.
"Breakdown, are you…"
"Fine. Didn't even smart." Breakdown interrupted Megatron as Miko smiled.
Now, at the base, Knock Out was running scans over Breakdown while everyone else went out of the base to search for the cylinder.
"I helped lose that thing. I wanna help find it! I need to get back in the field with Megatron." Breakdown protested as he went to stand.
"Ah, ah! You're under my watch now, Megatron's orders. I'm running a full scan on your neural network would be a wiser use of your time." Knock Out declared, sitting Breakdown back down.
"Come on, doc! There's nothing up there to scan!" Breakdown reasoned as he removed the cable connected to his head.
"He seems fine to me." Miko agreed.
Shockwave sighed. "Well, if you insist on making yourself useful, you can help Miko tidy up." Shockwave said as Knock Out passed the mop to Breakdown before they left.
"Rag, he's mad with power!" Miko groaned as Breakdown took the mop.
"That's Shockwave. Null vector squared alright." Breakdown remarked.
"What?" Miko questioned looking at Breakdown.
"Hey. We got any paint around here?" Breakdown asked as he messed with the mop.
"Art project, cool!" Miko smiled.
Meanwhile, the Autobots were analyzing the cylinder. But there was a problem with it.
"What do you mean it's empty?" Optimus demanded.
"Optimus, these cylinders are not unlike batteries. The data stored within them as a form of energy." Ratchet explained.
"It's scanned fully charged, that's how we located it to begin with. But now…" Wheeljack trailed off as he activated the cylinder, only for it to puff up in smoke.
"Dead battery." Bulkhead finished.
"Did you dropped it, you bulky one?" Elita One accused.
"No, master. I wasn't gonna touch the thing after it put the zap on Breakdown." Bulkhead defended.
"Hey, you think…" Bumblebee trailed off.
"I know. And I must find out what that vessel contained. When it comes to the secrets of the ancients, knowledge can be power." Optimus said.
Inside the Decepticon base…
"Seriously, Knock! You need to see what Breaky's painting in here!" Miko said as she walked up to Knock Out.
"Yes. I'm sure one hasn't truly lived until one has beheld Breakdown's take on Still Life with Lugnuts." Knock Out said sarcastically as he followed Miko.
"See? Did I tell you or what?" Miko exclaimed.
"The differential of 1/3 cubed is RDRR." Breakdown mumbled as he painted symbols on the wall.
"By the Allspark. Shockwave, come to see this!" Knock Out called out.
Shockwave's eye widened as he saw what Breakdown was painting. "That is not art. It's science." He corrected in shock.
When everyone was in the main hall, Knock Out ran a scan on Breakdown's head as he showed to the others.
"This hot spot you see in here is information. Data, living energy." Knock Out explained.
"Hold on. It's alive, it's on fire, and it's in Breakdown's brain?" Miko asked in disbelief.
"Chill, Miko. The data is only inhabiting a fraction of my brain. Infinitesimal by standard neural net densities. Wait, how do I know all that?" Breakdown asked in confusion.
"Based on what we witness during our skirmish, the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access." Megatron said.
"A security measure." Soundwave clarified.
"It would have jettison heavenward. Lost to the stars." Starscream continued.
"Except my fat engine block got in the way." Breakdown came in.
"Every Bot there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until Miko touches it?" Airachnid asked.
"The cylinders originated from Cybertron's golden age. Predating the Autobot/Decepticon division." Knock Out explained.
"So it would not consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat." Megatron added.
"Only alien life forms, such as humans." Starscream said.
"(So what now?)" Stinger asked.
"Are we staring at genius or gibberish?" Airachnid asked pointing the writing on the wall.
"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes, but these equations appear to be the formula for a synthetic energon." Shockwave declared.
"(This is our lucky day!)" Stinger exclaimed happy.
"We hit the mother lode?" Airachnid asked in excitement.
"Miko, do you understand what this means?" Breakdown asked to her, but she drew a blank. "Energon provides our fuel, our ammo, our life force! With the natural stuff in such short supply here on Earth, this could solve a whole lot of problems!" Breakdown explained.
"Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war." Megatron proclaimed.
"Or handing us the key to revitalizing Cybertron." Starscream added.
"We got the goods and all Optimus got was an empty bucket." Knock Out smirked.
"How often do I get to use my noggin to save the day?" Breakdown asked.
Moments later, Breakdown continued painting the formula on metal boards while he murmured it aloud.
"Aren't you done yet?" Miko whined.
"Gotta admit. It's weird seeing Breakdown in braniac mode." Airachnid remarked.
"(You got that right.)" Stinger added.
When Breakdown finished with the board, Starscream take it and dragged it so Breakdown could continue with another.
"Break time! How about a lightning round of TNT Street Racer Seven?" Miko proposed, but she groaned as Breakdown continues with painting the formula.
"Got another round for you to log, Shockwave!" Starscream informed as he and Stinger carried the metal board.
As Shockwave and Soundwave were passing the formula to the data base, Megatron was watching something that Knock Out had discovered.
"This is Breakdown's neural net as you saw it earlier. This scan was recorded just minutes ago. It is as I fear. The data seems to be actively and aggressively rewriting Breakdown's neural net. I had hoped he was purging the data, but it seems to be merely transcribing it as it…" Knock Out explained.
"Consumes his mind." Megatron finished.
"From all indications, by the time Breakdown completes the formula, his own thoughts, his memories, could be wiped clean." Knock Out theorized.
"But if we stop him, goodbye synthetic energon." Starscream sulked.
"You assume we possess a means of stopping him. I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the ancients." Knock Out said.
"I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed. No matter the cost." Megatron declared.
"If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we can somehow coax it back inside." Shockwave pondered.
"How are supposed to get it back from the Autobots?" Starscream asked.
"Optimus will bring it to us." Megatron answered.
Breakdown continued to paint the formula without stopping. Meanwhile, Miko walked over to Breakdown with her electric guitar. She heard Breakdown muttering something about amplified and smirked.
"You want amplified?" She asked as she plugged the cord to the speakers.
"Providing preceptor paradox is nothing of the kind." Breakdown ignored.
Miko strummed the note on the guitar, releasing a loud noise. Breakdown dropped the mop and covered his ears in pain.
"What is that?" Breakdown demanded.
"Metal! You love this song!" Miko answered.
"I'm trying to concentrate." Breakdown retorted.
"Urgh! You're starting to sound just like Shockwave!" Miko shouted.
"Who?" Breakdown asked.
That made Miko widened her eyes in shock, so she went to tell that to Knock Out.
"Knock! I think Breaky's losing his mind!" Miko told him, but the surprised look on his face help her realized. "You already know."
"Miko, we didn't want to frighten you. But rest assured, Megatron has a plan." Knock Out reassured.
"Megatron isn't Breakdown's doctor. I just need to know, when Breaky's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular old Breakdown, right?" Miko asked.
There was a silence between the two of them as Miko closed her eyes in pain. Meanwhile, Optimus was on the Ark's bridge when Bumblebee came towards him.
"Optimus Prime, we've detected a familiar energy profile." Bee informed.
"The data?" Optimus questioned.
"Breakdown must have left the shielded radius of their base." Wheeljack informed.
"We Wreckers will…" Bulkhead began.
"Fail me again?" Optimus growled.
"I will take care of this by myself." Elita One proposed.
"Are you sure of this, dear?" Optimus asked.
"Don't worry. You know that I can stand even against Megatron." She responded before she left along with an entire squadron of Aerobots.
In the middle of the night, Elita One flew towards the signal with the Aerobots. They all stopped in the air, transformed and landed on the ground. But she found a surprise.
"Megatron. You are certainly not the Decepticon I expected to find here. But let me guess, you rigged a transponder to mimic the frequency of the data I seek." Elita deduced.
"Elita, I have a proposal." Megatron began.
The other Autobots activated their weapons and prepared to fire, but Elita raised her hand, telling them to not attack, and they obeyed her.
"I'm…listening." She said.
"Surrender the cylinder and I will return it to you fully restored." Megatron offered.
"This trinket right here?" Elita smirked as she held the cylinder. "And pray tell, what trifles did it hold that you are so anxious to give away?"
"Accept my terms, and you will find out." Megatron answered.
Meanwhile at base, Miko was trying to make Breakdown remember.
"Do you remember any of your old mates from your team?" Miko asked anxiously.
"Who?" Breakdown asked as he continued writing the formula.
"The Stunticons!" Miko yelled. "Your best buds, besides me of course."
Breakdown didn't respond as he continued writing the formula.
Miko groaned. "Do you even know who I am?" She asked.
"Of course, you're…" Breakdown trailed off, trying to remember.
Miko's eyes looked at this with sadness as he didn't say anything and finished with another part of the formula on another board.
"Keep them coming, Breakdown." Knock Out encourage as he took the board away.
Miko looked back at Knock Out and thought of something. She walked over to the keyboard and typed in coordinates, activating the ground bridge. Next she grabbed the mop from Breakdown's hand and walked over to the ground bride.
"Come on. You wanna finish your formula, don't you?" Miko smiled.
Meanwhile, in the place where Megatron and his Decepticons were in front of Elita One…
"Do you accept my proposal?" Megatron asked.
"Lady Elita One." Smokescreen said through his com-link.
"Give me a moment." Elita requested as she walked away.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked.
"It's complicated." Elita answered.
"Well, the Wreckers and I may have located the bogey. Fully charged." Smokescreen said.
"Proceed." Elita said.
"Just one hitch. We don't have the cylinder." Smokey reminded.
"Then bring me the head of Breakdown." Elita instructed.
Miko brought Breakdown to the monster truck rally arena still attempting to refresh his memory.
"Look! You love monster trucks! Remember when we snuck in here after the show last week?" Miko asked.
"Mass times the fusion rate square is constant." Breakdown ignored as he painted more symbols on the wall.
"Is any of this ringing a bell?" Miko sighed.
"Bell curve? No, no, no. That wouldn't factor in." Breakdown shook his head.
"How about our Sunday morning dune bashings? Rocking out to Slash Monkey? Helping me with my homework? Ah, trick question, you know I don't do homework…don't you?" Miko slightly whimpered. "Okay. Forget the past! Starting now, we can make new memories."
Breakdown continued speaking more of the formula while painting it. Miko bit her lip and slightly clenched her fist to her chest.
"Breakdown, I know somewhere inside you, you'll always remember me. And I just want you to know…I'll never forget you." Miko said sadly as she hugged Breakdown's leg.
"Boo hoo! I'm shedding lubricant!" A voice called out sarcastically.
Miko widened her eyes as she turned around to see Smokescreen, Bulkhead and Wheeljack standing on the other side of the stadium.
"Follow me right now or these guys are gonna…steal the formula!" Miko yelled.
Breakdown widened his eyes and looked at her. "My equations!"
"Come on! Come on!" Miko beckoned Breakdown as she ran, which made Breakdown follow her.
"Not like Breakdown to run from a fight." Bulkhead remarked.
"I'm afraid our friend has a little too much to think." Wheeljack said after he jumped from the stands and landed in the arena with Bulkhead following him.
"Elita One, we are good." Smokescreen reported through the com-link.
Elita received the transmission.
"Megatron, upon careful consideration, if you want the cylinder, you'll have to take it." Elita declared.
The Aerobots began to attack, forcing the Decepticons to take cover and take down their enemies one by one. At the same time, the Wreckers and Smokescreen reached themselves in a parking full with lot of monster trucks.
"Okay then, fun and games." Smokescreen said slightly irritated as they separated to search for Breakdown. "Come out, come out wherever you are." Smokey tormented.
Inside the parking, Miko hid next to Breakdown, who was in vehicle form, and she tried to call Knock Out, but she only received static.
"The Bots are scrambling the signal." Miko groaned in frustration.
"But the trisector of the polygon is an integral subset!" Breakdown said about the formula.
"Quiet! And whatever you do, keep still. I'm going to see if I can get far enough to call for backup." Miko said as she ran away from him.
Some moments later, she was forced to hide because Wheeljack was searching very near. He knelt down and looked under the trucks, but he found nothing and walked away. Miko was hidden under the truck's bottom, when she saw Wheeljack away she landed and continued running. Bulkhead was smashing the monster trucks as he walked next to them.
"Breakdown. Is that you?" Bulkhead called out as he knelt down and tapped the glass of the window of another truck before smashing it.
Miko walked next to him, so he tried to reach her throwing a truck where he believed she was hidden.
"Bulkhead, forget the human. Games are only fun to play when you're winning." Wheeljack called out.
Miko tried to call for backup hidden under another track, but her phone still received only static, just the same moment when Smokescreen followed the signal's reading on the scanner.
"I think I'm warm." Smokescreen said as he stood in front of Breakdown.
Then Breakdown transformed and took out his mop and he muttered the formula once more as he painted a piece of the formula on Smokescreen's chest.
"You've painted me! You're going to regret that!" Smokescreen declared.
Then Bulkhead ran up to Breakdown and he hit Breakdown on his face, knocking him out. Miko heard the noise and saw Breakdown unconscious, with Wheeljack over him with his swords ready.
"Heads, you lose." Wheeljack smirked.
"No!" Miko screamed.
Meanwhile, the Decepticons finished killing all the Aerobots.
"Well in that case, no one gets it!" Elita declared as she crushed the cylinder and dropped it to the ground, before she transformed and flew away.
"Lord Megatron! Breakdown and Miko have abandoned base. I have their ground bridge coordinates." Knock Out reported through the com-link.
"Bridge us back, immediately." Megatron ordered.
In that moment, Miko watched in horror as Wheeljack was about to cut off Breakdown's head. Miko decided to take action and grabbed a metal pole with she tried to hit Wheeljack, but she missed, tripped and hit Breakdown's head. Suddenly Breakdown's eyes opened and glowing red. The Autobots gasped as two red beams shot from his eyes.
"Not again." Bulkhead cursed.
"Get down!" Smokescreen yelled as they three got to the floor.
"I did it again?" Miko asked in shock.
The red beams stopped shooting out of Breakdown's eyes and take off into outer space.
"Breakdown?" Miko asked as tears formed in her eyes.
Wheeljack scanned Breakdown for any remaining energy, but found nothing.
"Dead battery. Prime will peel our paint for losing that data." Wheeljack proclaimed.
"So we're gonna have to peel you." Bulkhead declared as Wheeljack began to approach his sword to her.
Then a ground bridge appeared and the Decepticons came to help.
"Or peel out of here." Smokescreen said as he, Wheeljack, Bulkhead ran off.
They crashed through a wall before they transformed and drove off. The Decepticons stopped attacking and heard a loud sound.
"Breakdown." Miko whimpered as she cried on Breakdown, with the Decepticons went around them.
They brought Breakdown back to base, who was lying in the medical bay unconscious while Knock Out ran scans over Breakdown.
"The data has been fully expelled, but Breakdown remains completely unresponsive." Knock Out reported.
"Because the energy took Breakdown's mind with it. Heavenward, lost to the stars. It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula. And it's my fault Breakdown's gone forever." Miko said sadly sobbing.
"Miko, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Autobot hands." Megatron reassured.
"If anyone would have backed that play, it's Breakdown." Starscream added.
"It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition. Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell; perhaps even a sound could trigger Breakdown's awakening." Shockwave informed.
Miko's eyes widened as she came with an idea. She plugged the cord to the speakers, held her guitar and played a random note. The sound echoed throughout base as Miko looked over to see Breakdown still unconscious. She hung her head sadly, until everyone heard a groaning sound as they turned to see Breakdown slowly waking up.
"Breakdown?" Miko asked hopefully.
Breakdown slowly sat up while humming the tunes of the song and pretending to strum a guitar.
"I love that song!" He smiled. "Miko!" Breakdown said looking at her, what made her smile again.