Are you guys happy now? Chapter. Boom. Posted. Made it happen. Got happy followers. I love when you guys review. Shout out to RangerBlack for PMing me a while back. Boom. ... Bang.

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Breakdown grumbled as Knockout held another scanner over him, fighting to bat it away, "So, you gonna explain to me why I'm pretty much naked of paint? Or what's going on?"

The red medic smiled at the scanner's results and shook his helm, "When I'm ready and you're blue, we'll talk. For now," he held up a buffer, "buff me."

Starscream pulled away from the med bay door, done with spying for the cycle. As he walked down the hall to look for someone to talk to, he felt the voice at the back of his helm, silently asking how he was.

"You don't have to be so quiet," the seeker said softly, "If you have a burning question, you can ask."

I did not want to bring up something you may not have the answers to yet.

"About Breakdown?"

Let us start with that, then move on from there.

Starscream smiled a little, "Ratchet could only explain it as a misfired link up from the processor to the spark," he explained, "Breakdown's spark is in his chassis, and when it tried to communicate with his processor, the first memory he was given was his last, which involved a very nasty encounter with Airachnid. So, he tried to fight her off."

But she was not there and he was not fighting her.

"No, he attacked us while reliving what had happened," the seeker hmmed, "I think things finally started to settle after he awoke from the sedative. It allowed the link up to stop firing as hard. But Knockout's still going to have a lot of work to do with him before he's ready to move about this ship. He has been gone for quite some time…"

What does this mean for other planned clones?

Starscream shrugged, slowing his pace as he thought about it, "You know, before I answer that, I would just like to point out that really, the chassis' and spark chamber are cloned, but the sparks are the originals," he smirked, "This changes my answer from before. I wouldn't be 'cloned', I would just be given a very similar looking body and chamber for my spark to reside."

I see.

"But back to your question, the cloned chassis' are being worked on as we speak. It will be difficult though. Ratchet only has a limited number of samples from both Cliffjumper and the Prime. So they can't afford to make mistakes or try something new with these two."

But do you still feel as though they should not be attempting this?

"I do."

The statement was made without hesitation. Starscream was standing by his convictions.

I commend you for being so firm about this, Starscream. But are you going to do anything about it?

"Should I?"

I am asking you if you think you should. I do not want you to regret taking, or not taking, any actions against this.

Starscream sighed, turning a corner, "I don't think it's up to me to stop them if they do this. If this is what they need, then fine. I'm allowing that to have some peace in me. They are the ones who will have to live with the decision and the mechs, so I don't really see how it affects me too much. I'm not bound here by an unbreakable tether."

That is true. And I am pleased to see you being so passive about this.

The seeker smiled a bit, "When I'm not attacked, I don't need to defend or attack back. It's rather pleasant."

Would things have been different if you had been left alone, or helped, during certain times in the war?

Starscream paused, thinking for only a moment, "I truly cannot say. Predictions made on the past, at least as it pertains to me, are not entirely trustworthy. Would I be here, helping them now, or talking to you, if things had been different? If one thing had changed in my past? As Shockwave would put it, the variables would be too great in number to prove an accurate conclusion."

You would not be here, would you? Your past would have changed.

"And I could have likely been killed or left to die, you can never hope that a change to the past would have helped a person's future," the seeker grumbled, walking along, "My actions, and the actions of others, led me here. Here has been fine. I do not need to dwell on the past and woe over what could have been achieved…"

Starscream, I am s-

"Yo, Screamer!"

Starscream growled, turning to look back, "Smokescreen, for the love of Primus, if you do not stop using that nickname, I will end you."

The blue mech smirked, running to the seeker's side, "Yeah, sure, sure, just listen. So Ratchet and Shockwave were saying how now that Breakdown's back, they could, if you wanted to, bring back Megatron. What do you think?"

Starscream scoffed, "I think I'm not going to give that mech another millionth chance. He's been brought back from the dead so often it's become mandatory whenever the universe finds itself in incessant boredom. He's dead, now he's back, now he's dead again… This time, let's let him lie."

Smokescreen shrugged, "If that's what you think-"

"Correction, it's what I want," the seeker pursed, thinking it over, "Nothing could have saved Megatron from the turmoil Unicron left him in. Now, he can see the rebuilding of this world without being tormented," he glanced at the blue mech, "And what of you? Has your opinion changed?"

Smokescreen sighed, "I want to say it hasn't, but seeing Breakdown back and watching Knockout go on and on about how it feels like old times is making me change my mind. I'd love for Optimus to come back, we all would."

The conflict was written all over the mech. The pain on his faceplates, the way he balled his servos into fists, even the way he walked told the seeker he was fighting himself. It was hard to watch.

Reach out gently. He came to you. Simply ask questions as I have done for you. Let him realize on his own.

Starscream smirked. No wonder the voice was so deceptively kind. He'd ask the questions he already knew Starscream had the answers for and just didn't want to admit.

I have never deceived you, Starscream. I only allowed you to figure out the answers to the questions on your own.

So says the mystery voice in his helm.

The seeker cleared his throat, the pair turning the corner, "Well, you may have said a firm 'no' before, but that doesn't mean you were wrong. When we all gave our opinions, none of us were. It was just how we felt about the matter. So why do you feel as though you should hang on to the first answer you gave?"

Smokescreen shrugged again, "I need to have my priorities straight. I can't be second-guessing myself… If we somehow get Optimus back and the backup Matrix you found keeps him as a Prime, that means the age of Primes is back in play. That means I could end up a Prime one day, you know?"

Starscream nodded, "And you feel as though you should stand by your convictions."

"Yeah, shouldn't I?"

"Should you? Even when new information could change your decision?"

The blue mech almost missed a step, thinking on the matter, "But…"

Starscream chuckled, "Let's take a basic scenario, shall we? Say you're in a war, now don't go into a flashback on me, we're just taking an example… You're in a war and have just been told that the enemy plans on camping for the night a short distance away from you. Scouts tell you it's the perfect opportunity for an ambush. You could end the war with little damage to either side. What do you do?"

Smokescreen smiled, "Easy, of course I take the chance!"

The seeker held up a digit, stopping the mech, "Ah, ah, newsflash, the camp was a trap, but you don't realize it until you're nearly upon them. Do you change the plan? Or risk the unknown?"

The blue mech frowned, "You're kidding, right? There's no way I'd let me or my troops into a trap, I'd need to rethink-" he paused abruptly, sheepishly turning away, "Oh."

Starscream smiled, "'Oh' is right," he shook his helm, walking slower, "New information isn't a bad thing. And if you want to change your decision from earlier, then I'm not going to think little of you."

Smokescreen crossed his arms, "What makes you think I need your approval?"

Starscream stopped, wings flared up as he gently tapped his chin, "Oh, I don't know, the fact that you came to me to ask about Megatron to see if my opinion changed. Because I won't change mine, you feel uncomfortable changing yours," he rested a servo on his hip, "I'm not going to hang over you and demand you stick to a side, Smokey, but you need to choose based on what you think is right, even with new information coming into play. I still think Prime and Cliffjumper should remain at rest, but that decision is coming from the past I had with them. I can't guarantee how well we would all take to their resurrection or how well they would be able to adapt to all the changes."

Smokescreen frowned a little, "Then what about Breakdown? Why'd you help him?"

The seeker shrugged, "Because Knockout needed that. If Breakdown wasn't going to work out, he needed to end it himself, not the former Autobots. That wouldn't have been kind to him."

The blue mech hmmed and both started walking again, their pedfalls echoing in the hallways.

Smokescreen shuddered after a moment, "You ever feel creeped out in this place? It feels so dead."

Starscream rolled his optics, "Well, when there were more drones running around, you couldn't get enough peace to yourself. I happen to like the quiet."

A sound whispered passed the pair as they walked and Smokescreen shuddered again. The seeker chuckled, looking to poke fun at the mech, then stopped cold when he heard the noise again. It wasn't coming from the inside of the ship, it was circling, outside. And there was more than just one.

"Starscream," came Shockwave's COMM to the gray mech, "I need to inform you that the Predacons have arrived to speak with Ultra Magnus."

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Aww yeah, fly boys in the house. Unlike REAL Prime universe, I remembered they still existed. AND could cause problems. Sorry Screamer. Now scream.