Author's note:
This chapter is very long and contains a lot of science and research, there are 65 entries and not everything here is important to the rest of the story.
The most important details of this chapter will be mentioned in the next chapter and future chapters, so you can skip this chapter if you want.
This chapter is only if you want to know about Professor Helix' life and research in detail as well as follow him through his discoveries.
CHAPTER 8
Audio Log of Professor Helix
Entry #1
Solar cycle 1, orbital cycle 1, lunar cycle 1, stellar cycle 1.
My name is Professor Helix of Vos University. Today, disaster has hit Vos.
I was conducting an experiment in my personal lab in the basement when a great explosion happened above ground. The tremor made me fall over and hit my head against one of the counters, knocking me unconscious.
After an uncertain amount of time, I finally awoke, and everything was quiet. I left the basement and found my entire house gone - along with the rest of Vos City.
I could see only smoldering ruins, raging flames and single bots darting through the sky, screaming while desperately trying to get away from the fire.
I immediately returned to my lab and firmly shut the door. I did not wish for any of my specimens to get damaged.
For it is extremely important research I am running here.
I am trying to find a way to save the metalo-plants of our world. For they are in deep decline, and it only gets worse as the years pass.
The war has been going on for millions of years now, and there's no indication that it's going to stop anytime soon. It seems Vos has been hit by the war as well.
After returning to my lab, I tried to access the Grid to find out why Vos was bombed. It would appear a mysterious missile hit the city shortly after Tarn was bombed. There are rumors going on that Winglord Starscream and Lord Shockwave of Tarn have something to do with this.
I personally do not care who's responsible for this city's destruction. In fact, I am only glad it happened.
Hopefully the destruction of Vos will reduce the amount of waste found in the surrounding Energon deposits.
I am only glad that my lab is reinforced with durabyllium. Had it not been, I would have been a goner.
Though my situation is not looking so good either. For while I am Vosian, I am but a simple Grounder, and thus Energon gathering will be a hard, may I even say an impossible task.
The good news is, I still have plenty of Energon here in my lab, normally used for experiments. But now, it seems I must conserve my Energon for the time being, until I can figure something out.
It is recommended to consume one whole standard Energon cube once per week, but I know Cybertronians can go longer without. Months, even years.
Though this requires stasis lock, and I have no time to go into stasis. I must continue my research, for the future of all of Cybertron.
For now, I will wait with my next refuelling until next month. Until then, I shall work.
Entry #2
Solar cycle 31, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 2, stellar cycle 1.
Today I refuelled for the first time in a month. It was very hard, but I managed to resist the temptation for thirty solar cycles. I do not think I could have handled going another month without Energon. It seems appropriate then that I refuel once a month. That should leave me functional for another five years.
Not a lot of time, given my research. But my life is hardly more important than the future of Cybertron. If I am to only live for another five years, then I shall work to the best of my abilities, and nothing shall distract me or deter me.
In the course of the first month since Vos' destruction, it seems the Seekers have left Cybertron and been posted on an orbital space station known as Trypticon. I do not know what kind of place Trypticon Station is, but I have heard rumors over the Grid that a substance known as "Dark Energon" is produced there. Again, I do not know what this Dark Energon is, but it does not sound good.
Regardless of what Trypticon or Dark Energon are, or what Starscream has decided to do now that his dear city is gone, I will not get involved in any business going on outside.
I only left my lab once this month, about a week ago, just to see what the situation is out there. It would seem the entire city has become void of life now. Not even a single mechanimal pet or Flier in the sky did I see.
I collected as many samples of dead Vosians, domesticated mechanimals and metalo-plants as I could find. Things aren't looking good, from what I found in their CNA.
The pollution from the Energon deposits surrounding the cities are having an effect on the residents of the cities. Even if they do not consume it, the particles in the air from evaporated Energon contain these toxins, and the Cybertronians are inhaling them in their ventilation systems without knowing it.
The effect does not take place right away, as the dosages of these toxins in the gas are small, but over time, the bots will be weakened and need more Energon to survive, as the toxins drain them of energy, little by little. And refining the polluted Energon of the cities doesn't make things better.
The Energon itself may be safe to consume, but the toxic waste product from the refining process... it is destructive, to say the least. Even more so than when it was connected to the Energon itself. I fear the power of the toxic waste may soon be discovered, and in the hands of madmechs like Megatron, it would become a nightmarish bio-weapon.
This contamination in the Energon isn't just within the residents of the cities. It is within all of us, including me. Only time may tell when the toxicity will take me down as well.
I must conduct further research to find out if anything can be done about the toxicity in a specimen already poisoned. It will be most important for everyone's future, both Cybertronians and Cybertron itself.
Entry #3
Solar cycle 61, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 3, stellar cycle 1.
Waiting another month for refuelling seemed even harder than the first time. Hopefully I will grow used to it, eventually. I cannot afford to waste the Energon.
Over the last month, I have researched the toxicity in Cybertronians and mechanimals and have confirmed it is indeed due to industrial waste.
When comparing their samples to samples I have acquired in the wild a few years ago, I discovered the wild specimens have no toxicity in them.
Is this because of the cleaner Energon found in nature? When I saw these deposits for the first time, I could not believe my own eyes. Clean raw Energon, ready for consumption, no need for refining. It was almost too good to be true.
But it is true. There are still clean deposits in this world, and it seems everyone is unaware of it. Only I know about this, as far as I know.
I feel ashamed as a scientist and biologist that I did not know about these deposits sooner. But since discovering them, I am more determined than ever to cleanse Cybertron of pollution. However difficult and impossible that may be.
Because of my current isolation and my Primus-forsaken ground mode, my research is limited. I do have a few species of metalo-plants and test mechanimals I can study, however, though that may not last for long.
I must see why the Energon in the wild is so different from the Energon in the cities. Further experimentation is required.
Entry #4
Solar cycle 91, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 4, stellar cycle 1.
Waiting for my next Energon cube was easier this month than the previous two, as I hoped. That said, I still feel deprived of energy, but hopefully my systems will get used to the new routine soon.
I decided to sow seeds of the same species in two different enviroments, a pure environment with no pollution, and a contaminated field.
So far, none of the seeds have sprouted yet, neither the one with pure Energon nor the one with crude Energon. I only recently sowed them, however, so it may take some time before either sprout.
I will continue to monitor their status.
Entry #5
Solar cycle 121, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 5, stellar cycle 1.
The seeds have by now sprouted in both their containment fields. The sprouts in the pure soil seem to be growing faster than the ones in the polluted soil, as hypothesized.
I am uncertain how the polluted Energon will affect the sprouts' growth or condition. Only time will tell.
Until then, I shall continue monitoring their status.
Entry #6
Solar cycle 151, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 6, stellar cycle 1.
The sprouts have by now grown to sufficient sizes for gathering samples to study. Again, the pure saplings seem to grow faster and have a more healthy coloration than the contaminated saplings. The polluted saplings have dark patches in random places, but more prominent on the leaves.
Now to find out how the pollution has affected the plants. I will update at a later point.
Entry #7
Solar cycle 181, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 7, stellar cycle 1.
Something amazing happened last month!
As expected, the pollution has a deteriorating effect on the metalo-plants, causing them to grow slower and get diseased.
But then I discovered something else. The Energon remaining in the polluted plants' containment field have no signs of toxicity anymore! It's all gone!
The plants must have absorbed the toxins in the Energon, purifying it. I tested a sample of the changed Energon. It has been completely refined!
Metalo-plants seem to be important in the natural refining process of Energon.
But how does it affect the plant itself? Will it die out sooner than its healthy counterpart? Will it continue to be smaller?
Further study is needed!
Entry #8
Solar cycle 211, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 8, stellar cycle 1.
Another amazing thing has happened in the last month.
Rather than deteriorating from the polluted Energon, the smaller saplings seem to have expelled the toxins from themselves somehow! How did they do that?
The saplings are still small, but the dark patches are slowly beginning to disappear. And they seem to be growing slightly faster too.
The healthy saplings are beginning to grow buds. When they bear fruit, I will use the new seeds for further research.
My discoveries these last few months are utmost interesting. I must experiment with other species to see if they do the same.
Hopefully the contaminated saplings will survive long enough to bear fruit, so I can examine the long-term effect of the pollution.
Until then, I shall wait and watch.
Entry #9
Solar cycle 241, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 9, stellar cycle 1.
The healthy saplings have now bloomed, and I am assisting them in pollinating each other. If only I had some beryllium-bees, this would have been so much easier.
Which reminds me, I have to collect samples of various mechanimals as well. If only I can find a good time to leave my lab so I can collect them.
The contaminated saplings are growing at a normal rate now, and they too have begun to grow buds. I am curious how the contamination has affected their offspring.
When they bear fruit, I shall test the new plants in healthy soil to see if the contamination has any effect on future generations.
I have also begun sowing seeds of different species of smaller plants, in contaminated and pure soil. Some have sprouted while others are still freshly sowed.
Like the tree specimens, the new plants are growing slower with contaminated Energon than with clean Energon.
I am looking forward to see if all metalo-plants cleanse Energon, or if it is only a certain species.
It could mean hope for the future of Cybertron's Energon deposits.
I will continue monitoring their status.
Entry #10
Solar cycle 271, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 10, stellar cycle 1.
The tree saplings have now both begun to grow fruits, the contaminated saplings being still smaller than the pure ones, but bearing fruit just like the rest. The fruits seem to be of random size on either side, some growing faster than others, regardless of impurities.
The fruits are still too small to examine. I will wait until they are large enough to harvest and study.
In the meantime, my other plants have all sprouted, some growing into saplings. Like with the first specimens, the contaminated plants are growing slower than their healthy counterparts.
Some plants are growing faster than others, depending on the species. As I study them, I can see the crude Energon in some of the fields growing brighter and less toxic. It is still contaminated, but the plants are indeed refining the Energon!
This explains why the Energon I found in forests is always so clean and pure. The metalo-plants are a natural refinery!
But while the Energon is purified, I am still concerned what this means for the metalo-plants themselves.
While the contaminated trees seemed to expell the pollution over time, the dark patches now having completely disappeared, they are still smaller and less developed than the healthy ones. They seem to produce fruit at the same rate as the healthy plants, however, despite the size differences. Curious.
The fruits will take some time to mature and carry seeds. When they have grown to a sufficient size, I shall harvest a few from each field and see how the contamination has affected the next generation of the plants.
Hopefully by the beginning of the next year, I will be able to go out and search for mechanimal specimens to study as well.
Entry #11
Solar cycle 301, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 11, stellar cycle 1.
The fruits are growing larger, but they still need a little more time before I can harvest them and examine their seeds.
By now, my systems have gotten used to refuelling once per month, so now I can conduct my research without a problem.
Naturally, since I am also using the Energon I refuel on, it makes it more pressing for me to ration my Energon. I still have a large stock of pure Energon, however, and I mostly use crude Energon for research, now that I have become curious about metalo-plants' ability to refine Energon. Am I saying Energon too many times?
Anyway, the other plants are growing steadily. The contaminated plants have by now completely purified the Energon they are feeding on. They too have gained dark patches on their leaves and stems. I assume those are the areas where the toxins are most potent.
I will take a few samples of the leaves to check if I am correct.
On that note, I should also take leaf samples of the contaminated tree. Maybe I will get a clue as to how it got rid of the contamination? Or if it might actually still be there?
I will continue my study.
Entry #12
Solar cycle 331, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 12, stellar cycle 1.
As I suspected, the dark patches of the contaminated plants are more potent in toxins than the lighter parts of the metal. On the contaminated tree, it seems as if the toxicity is completely gone after all. Though it does seem to have changed its molecular structure, as well as parts of its CNA...
I decided to also take leaf samples of the healthy tree and compare the results. The contamination has indeed caused a mutation in the tree and changed its CNA. It is growing at a slower rate, but while being smaller, it seems to mature at the same time as the healthy tree.
The fruits are now big enough to harvest, and I have picked a few from each tree, both the healthy ones and the contaminated ones. I studied the structure of the mesh in the healthy and contaminated fruits, and while the CNA in the contaminated fruits does seem to be different from the pure ones, it contains no toxins.
The contamination seems to have changed how the species looks and grows, but does it function differently too? How will its offspring fare? Will they be able to refine crude Energon as easily as their parent plants? How will the contamination affect them? How will they grow in pure Energon? How will they grow in Energon refined by their parent plants?
So many questions, so little time!
And I still have to find out how the metalo-plants are getting rid of the contamination!
I am so excited for what I will find out next year!
Entry #13
Solar cycle 361, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 1, stellar cycle 2.
A year has now passed since the destruction of Vos. A year since I completely isolated myself within my lab. And a year since I sowed the seeds of the future.
With the new year, I have sowed a new generation of metalo-trees. I will keep the pure seeds and fruits for future studies and for conservation, as I suspect the war will most likely take a toll on Cybertron's nature.
Nobot knows I'm down here, learning things most scientists haven't figured out in their entire lifetimes! Nobot knows what I am doing for them, for everyone.
But I do not care if the world knows about me or my accomplishments. All I care about is making sure Cybertron has a future. And I will gladly lay down my life for my planet. Until then, I will do what I can, to the best of my abilities.
Anyhow, the other plants I sowed have also grown fruits or seeds. The Energon in the contaminated fields have been completely purified and the plants themselves are starting to lose their dark patches, just like with the tree specimens.
I have deduced that the metalo-plants are using some sort of natural repellant for toxins to expel them and keep the plants alive. I do not yet know how they do it, but if they can absorb toxins and expel them without jeopardizing their descendants, then this could solve all our Energon problems! Well, most, at least. I hope so.
Like I said, it's still just a theory. I have yet to see how the contaminated seeds will grow with pure Energon and more crude Energon.
If the change in CNA only affects how large the plants grow or how they look, it may not be much of a problem. Metalo-plants seem to change and evolve all the time. Perhaps what I am witnessing here is an example of evolution? Are my plants adapting to a more hostile environment?
I will continue to monitor their progress. I am planning to leave soon to obtain samples from mechanimal species as well.
I still have a few robo-rodents in my lab that are still alive, but I have yet to conduct solid research on them. My focus has been entirely on the metalo-plants, but I will need to study the mechanimals as well, to see how they develop as their enviroment changes.
And for that, I will need several species to study.
Entry #14
Solar cycle 391, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 2, stellar cycle 2.
I have just returned from a rare expedition to the open landscape outside of Vos. I left the door locked before I left and made sure the mechanimals in my care had something to eat. I fed them with the fruits from my pure tree. Because of the confined space, the trees have stopped growing.
I was gone for three days, collecting various mechanimal species or CNA samples from these to study. I went to a forest of osmium-oaks that is situated nearby. It has a river of completely purified Energon. The sight took me back, reminding me of those few other times I had been out studying the natural environments of Cybertron.
Of the living mechanimals, I only took small specimens, as my lab, though large, has limited space and is not nearly big enough for anything bigger than turbofoxes to live in. And I will not bring a turbofox into my lab, it would simply destroy everything!
So instead I study lilleths, dexi-squirrels and petro-rabbits, as well as a few robotoppossums along with my helio-hamsters and guinea pigatrons already living in my lab. The birds are not happy to be trapped in small cages, nor are the other mechanimals, but I cannot let them run wild in my lab. I need them as specimens to further conduct my research.
You may be able to hear them chirp and scream in the background. It may be cruel to trap them in here, but I'm doing this for the future of Cybertron. A few lives must be sacrificed in order to restore life on the planet as a whole.
For now, I am giving them fuel so they can recover on the scary event of capture. Until then, I shall continue my study of the metalo-plants.
The new seeds have by now sprouted, in both fields. Like last year, the seeds in the contaminated field are growing slower than the ones in the pure field. The seeds in the pure field seem to be growing at a normal rate, like the pure plants of first year. The ones in the contaminated field seem to be growing about as slow as their contaminated parent plants did.
The growth rate seems to be the same as the specimens of year one. Whether this means they will grow to the same extent as their parents or if both will grow smaller is yet to be seen.
I suppose I will find out by the end of the year.
Like with the trees, I have also sowed new seeds of the other plants and harvested the old ones for study and consumption. As metalo-fruits and meshetables have a quantity of Energon within them, it makes it easier for me to endure each long month of not refuelling. I could potentially survive longer down here, as long as I have enough Energon for the plants.
I will study how the new plants will fare in a polluted environment, if it has any effect on their base CNA, if the dark patches that are to come will disappear or stay, and whether or not the contaminated fruits are safe to eat.
For the first generation of contaminated plants, their fruits seemed stable and edible.
When the next batch of fruits arrive, I will have to test their quality on the test mechanimals. Perhaps even test the contaminated leaves to see if they have an effect on them.
Until then, I will continue my study.
Entry #15
Solar cycle 421, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 3, stellar cycle 2.
The second generation of trees are growing bigger, though they are still small saplings. The saplings in crude Energon are starting to develop those toxic dark patches on their leaves and stems. At the same time, the Energon seems to be getting brighter and more pure. The two changes seem to be linked.
The saplings in the pure Energon continue to grow at a normal rate and still do not show any sign of toxicity. The results so far seem promising.
The other plants are also growing at a normal rate in the pure Energon, while the ones in polluted Energon grow as slowly as their ancestors did. The polluted ones are also growing dark patches and seem to be purifying the Energon they stand in.
I will have to continue making new generations until I can be sure that the contamination mutation is indeed not inheritable and does not change the species as a whole, but only the individual's CNA.
Five years simply does not seem like enough time, and it probably isn't either. Hopefully nothing will change over the next three years. If it does, then I'm back to square one.
I am anxious to test out the contaminated plants on the mechanimals I have, but it still will take time. By my calculations, like last year, it may take another seven months before these trees begin to bear fruit, and a few more before they can be harvested for study and a new generation.
I also have to study closely to see what happens to the toxins the metalo-plants are expelling. After all, nothing just disappears. It simply changes to a different...
...wait. If they are expelling the toxins from themselves, to both purify the Energon, the soil and themselves... does that mean the toxins are now in the air around me?
Oh dear. This is a most concerning thought I have just gained. I must conduct further research and test the air quality in here, to make sure I am not walking around in a death field.
I do hope I am wrong. Please, Primus, let me be wrong...
Entry #16
Solar cycle 451, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 4, stellar cycle 2.
I have bad news.
As I feared, the expelling of the toxins from the metalo-plants themselves has led to poor air quality around me. I have been venting toxic air this entire year I have been isolated down here. Who knows what it has done to my systems? Or worse yet, what it has done to the mechanimals I keep around here?
The Energon is purified, the soil is cleansed and the metalo-plants have cured themselves. But the air has become toxic. Cybertronian life can only just barely handle these toxins. If organic creatures were to enter here, they would succumb immediately.
This means that while the natural environments are safe, the air quality has become so bad, no organic life can live here or even visit here. Not that it really matters, since organic life was never supposed to live here anyway. But even if we Cybertronians do not rely on oxygen, nitrogen or hydrogen to survive like organic aliens do, the toxins in the air can still affect our internal systems. It simply happens much, much slower to us than to organics.
My next project will be to test if the toxins inside a living creature can be purified within the creature's lifetime, or if we're all doomed the moment we vent in this polluted air. Hopefully the former.
Well, I suppose there are no better test subjects than myself and the mechanimals with the air in here.
Oh, right, the report on the metalo-plants.
The saplings and smaller plants are all beginning to expell the toxins from themselves and losing their dark patches, little by little. They seem to be doing it at approximately the same rate as their ancestors. Promising for the plants and the Energon, but again, an uncertain future for mechanimals and Cybertronians.
Perhaps now would be a good time to test the contaminated leaves on the mechanimals.
I will keep you updated.
Entry #17
Solar cycle 481, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 5, stellar cycle 2.
I took samples from the contaminated plants while their leaves still had those dark patches of toxins on them. Without the base plant, the leaves are now unable to expel the toxins from themselves.
I fed a leaf to one of the helio-hamsters. At first nothing seemed to happen, but over the course of the next few days, it started to get sick, and a week after consumption, the subject died. Contaminated metalo-plants seem to be deadly as long as they have those dark patches.
I also fed a leaf with lighter dark patches and thus less potent toxins to another helio-hamster. It was fine for a week before getting sick and died two weeks after consumption.
When the contaminated plants had gotten rid of all its dark patches, I fed another leaf to a third helio-hamster. This time, the mechanimal survived with no repercussions. It is still alive today, three weeks after consumption, and looking quite healthy. This seems promising.
I also fed one of each mechanimal with some Energon refined by the metalo-plants. No deaths. No diseases. No repercussions.
I fed one of the guinea pigatrons with Energon halfway done with purification. It survived for a week before falling ill and dying the next day.
The tree saplings have now both grown buds at approximately the same time and rate. The saplings in the now refined Energon have expelled all their toxins into the air.
It will be interesting to see how this new generation have been affected by new contamination or a pure environment, as well as how their seeds will grow and fare the next year.
So far both sets of specimens seem to be growing at the same rate and size as their ancestors did. Hopefully the next generation will do the same.
I still have to figure out what to do about the air quality in here. Perhaps if I can collect it somehow to study, maybe even purify it somehow...
Hmm... could it perhaps be possible to contaminate a cube of pure Energon with the bad air quality in here? How would that affect the Energon? How would it affect the metalo-plants? How would it further affect the air quality afterwards?
It seems I have just come up with my next project. That is, along with my other project, to test how the toxins in living beings can be expelled.
Two projects at once. As well as my main project. Oh dear.
Hopefully I can make a schedule out of this. This is utmost important and interesting.
Until next time.
Entry #18
Solar cycle 511, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 6, stellar cycle 2.
By using a special vacuum device, I have managed to collect all the contaminated air in the lab. I did an air quality test afterwards and confirmed the air is now sterile.
The polluted air now resides within the vacuum, and I have inserted the pollution into one of the refined Energon cubes. As expected, the color of the Energon has changed from bright cyan to cyan, dark blue and black. The pure Energon has now become crude. I will use this for my next batch of plants, when the trees bear fruit and I can harvest the seeds. Then I will know if my theory is correct.
I deduce I have three or four more years to live in until I run out of Energon, or until the pollution destroys me. I hope that will be enough time to check if my theory is correct.
The trees have started to bloom, so it is now time to help them get pollinated. I really could use some beryllium-bees. Unfortunately those would make my research harder to conduct. Even with a hive I could close on my own. I do not need more mouths to feed and care for than necessary. Getting more will simply make my research harder to get conducted.
Despite how long I have lived in solitude now, I feel no loneliness or regret of staying behind while everyone else evacuated. This is what I was meant to do. This is who I was meant to be. An invisible hero. One that fights for the future of Cybertron without anyone knowing.
Why do I keep making these audio-logs, anyway? Well...
I suppose I make them to keep myself sane. And, perhaps, because I believe it is important that anyone who finds this will know what to do, when my time comes. Because I know I will not survive to save the planet. I will only survive long enough to provide the necessary knowledge to pass on to the next researcher.
Let the warriors fight their battle in the field. The real hero stands right here, staring at the plants growing. Really. Slowly.
It may not seem exciting to a soldier, but to a scientist like me, this is where the real battle takes place. This is where the real excitement is.
Knowledge is everything. Remember that.
Strength isn't everything. You must be smart and considerate. You must use your head.
And don't let anybot tell you you aren't important. Because you are. You are the most important bot on this world. You are the one who's really saving everyone's lives by doing this. And you are sacrificing your very self to do this. And no one will ever know.
Except for the one who eventually finds this log.
I will end this entry now, before I get carried away.
Entry #19
Solar cycle 541, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 7, stellar cycle 2.
I have harvested the seeds and fruits of the smaller plants and begun the next batch hereof. This time, I will use the cube of Energon I contaminated with the air pollution in the lab to test how the plants will purify this, and later how the air quality will be afterwards.
Since the smaller plants grow faster than the trees, this will make for quicker research, though the trees are also important in this project.
Speaking of the trees, their flowers have turned into small fruits, growing at approximately the same rate, even between the tall healthy trees and the smaller impure ones. So far, things seem to be as they were last year.
I forgot that it didn't take an entire year to get mature fruits with seeds from the last batch. It only took nine months, though I got confused by the number of my log entries that I thought it took an entire year for these plants to grow. What a relief!
This means I have more time to create new generations in the time I have left to live in. The smaller plants take only a few months to be ready to get harvested, so that's even better.
I have a few more cubes of crude Energon gathered from the polluted deposits in the cities. For now, though, I will use the one cube I contaminated myself on the smaller plants' new seeds.
I hope my hypothesis is correct. I suppose I will see in four months, when the new smaller plants are ready to be harvested.
Entry #20
Solar cycle 571, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 8, stellar cycle 2.
The fruits on the trees are growing bigger and are almost ready to be harvested. I can't tell you how excited I am for this batch. Both sets of specimens are growing at normal rates now, both growing the same size as their parent plants did last year. Both are completely toxin-free.
The new smaller plants have sprouted and are growing steadily. The plants growing in the field contaminated by my own toxic Energon cocktail are growing at a slower rate than those growing in pure Energon, as the other batches have. So far, nothing seems to have changed from the other generations.
I am beginning to see dark patches steadily forming on the leaves of the small plants. The Energon is still crude, but it seems to be slowly losing its darker colorations.
I wish I could do more experiments and research on the mechanimals I have in my care, but until the Energon is refined and the plants bear fruit, there is not much for me to do with those little fellows.
Thankfully, the trees should be harvestable in the next month, and I can start another batch.
Should I use one of the already crude Energon cubes, or should I wait until the Energon in the smaller plants' containment fields has been purified so I can examine the air quality? So far, the air still seems to be sterile, but it will most certainly change.
Then again, there was so much pollution trapped in the air here for an entire year, so even from a single cube, the quality should still be cleaner now than before.
Again another example of why it's a shame I don't have enough time left to live in. Though hopefully I can figure out if what I'm thinking is just a theory or if it's fact.
There are still three more months until the smaller plants can be harvested, though at this rate, they should purify the Energon by next month, and then expel the toxins the next month. That's two months until I can sow the next batch of seeds from the fruit trees...
No matter. I still have a month to decide. Until then, I shall simply observe and take notes.
Entry #21
Solar cycle 601, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 9, stellar cycle 2.
The fruits from the trees are now big enough to be harvested. As with the previous batch, these fruits are completely toxin-free, in both the specimens growing in pure Energon and in those that grew in contaminated Energon. Nothing seems to have changed from the previous two generations, which seems very promising.
The smaller plants have now attained their signature dark patches in the contaminated fields, and the Energon in them seems to have been purely refined. I tested some of it on one of the lilleths, but I have yet to see results, though a week has already passed and the bird is still alive and well.
I have not yet tried the refined Energon by the plants myself. While I can see it is clean, I hesitate, for I do not wish to jeopardize my health, given how little time I have left already. So I will merely continue to fuel on these factory-refined cubes.
Now that the Energon has been refined by the plants, they will be spending the next month expelling the toxins. Doing that should make the air quality in here worse.
For that reason, I have decided to postpone the sowing of the next generation of fruit tree seeds. First I need to see if the pollution in the new air creates a less contaminated cube or if the contamination will be the same.
Naturally, as the air quality was immensely bad before, this contamination will most certainly be an improvement. Therefore, I must recycle the pollution over the next half year, to see if the quality of the air particles will improve in any way.
For now, at least, it seems the experiment with the fruit trees has proven that metalo-plants will purify and refine crude Energon, absorb the toxins and then expel them into the air to purify themselves. The metalo-plants do not absorb the pollution in the air, unlike us Cybertronians and mechanimals.
I have also confirmed that despite the reduced growth in contaminated metalo-plants, their offspring are not affected by the pollution and will grow at normal rate. Fruits from a cured contaminated metalo-plant are also pure and completely safe to eat.
These discoveries have never been made before in the known history of Cybertron. This could change everything.
This could save Cybertron.
Now I know the metalo-plants can be saved, as can the Energon. But can we be saved? Can the mechanimals?
Do the metalo-plants purify the air quality as well? How many times does a crude Energon cube have to be refined before there is no more pollution hanging in the air?
These are new questions I must answer.
For now, I will focus only on the smaller plants that grow and mature faster than the fruit trees.
I will most certainly get results faster this way.
Maybe even find a solution before I go offline.
Entry #22
Solar cycle 631, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 10, stellar cycle 2.
I have stored the seeds of the fruit trees I have grown away into small boxes with the previous generations. They are the ones labelled "Pygmy palladium-papaya".
Now I can focus my entire attention on the meshetables I am growing. As expected, the dark patches have by now disappeared, which means the toxins have all been expelled into the air in this lab. I will need to collect it with my vacuum device later.
The lilleth I fed with purified Energon is still alive and well. I gave some of the robo-rodents samples of the cured leaves, and they are all still alive and healthy as well.
By next month, the plants should yield seeds and fruits that I can create a new batch with, using a new cube of pure Energon that I will contaminate with the pollution now gathered in the air around me.
Naturally, the air pollution will not be as dramatic as before, but I will use its quality as a basis for the next batch. When the next batch absorbs the toxins and expel them into the air, I will test the quality of the new air to see if anything has changed.
If nothing changes by then, I will be back to square one.
If something changes... then there may be hope.
For now, I must keep my plants and mechanimals... and myself... alive.
Entry #23
Solar cycle 661, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 11, stellar cycle 2.
I have collected the polluted air in my vacuum machine and tested its quality. As expected, it is much cleaner than earlier, but then again, this time I did use only one cube and did not let more pollution accumulate. The real test begins now.
I have contaminated a new cube of factory-refined pure Energon. The color is still dark, but instead of black, the darkest patches are merely very dark blue. Is that a sign?
The plants are starting to bear fruit and expel seeds. I will collect them and start a new batch, which I will then use this new crude cube on.
If the metalo-plants can cleanse the air over several generations, perhaps Cybertron's toxic atmosphere could eventually be purified, if we plant and sow enough metalo-plants around the globe, rather than just felling forests and jungles to make way for more cities.
There does seem to be a connection between city pollution and purity in nature. As well as a connection between the decline in forests and the higher pollution in the air and Energon around the cities.
I sincerely hope my theory is correct.
I suppose I will find out in four months.
Entry #24
Solar cycle 691, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 12, stellar cycle 2.
The seeds I have sowed and contaminated with crude Energon have now sprouted and begun to grow. Like the previous generations, the contaminated plants are growing slower than the healthy ones. So far, they seem identical aside from size difference, as usual. By next month, the contaminated plants should have developed dark patches as they absorb the toxins in the Energon. And across the month after that, they should expel that toxin and cure themselves.
And then I will know if I am correct.
I feel like I am wasting those mechanimals I have trapped in cages next room. Soon, I will think of a way to make use of them.
Even with a solution to improving the current air quality, I have yet to find out if those contaminated with pollution will decline indefinitely, or if something can be done to expel that toxin from our bodies and thus save us. Make us stronger.
Perhaps the toxin is in our very Energon and not just our metal?
That will be my next project. My next experiment.
Entry #25
Solar cycle 721, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 1, stellar cycle 3.
Two years have now passed since the destruction of Vos and my isolation in this lab.
The plants have now purified the Energon and absorbed the toxins within themselves. The dark patches are as prominent as ever.
As for my new project, I have begun with the first experiment.
I have studied my own Energon as well as the Energon of the wild mechanimals I captured and the ones I have domesticated.
The mechanimals live in a sterile room seperate from this one, so the wild ones have not been affected by the poor air quality there has been in here lately. I have, on the other hand.
The Energon of the wild mechanimals seems void of toxins, while my domesticated robo-rodents have traces of toxins within them, having lived in the city their entire lives.
As for my own Energon... it doesn't look good. I have more toxins in my Energon than all my test subjects combined. Maybe even more than my metalo-plant specimens have had in them.
I did not feel weak before, but now that I'm looking at my stats... I'm beginning to feel a bit dizzy. Of course, it could just be my hypochondria.
Regardless, this level of pollution in my own Energon is not a good sign. Another reason why I think I do not have long left to live in, even though I feel nowhere near death. Even despite how long I wait with refuelling.
I have a new theory. And it too involves metalo-plants.
I am not sure if this will work, but I will have to try.
Luckily I still have leftover metalo-fruits and meshetables from previous generations, all pure or cured. I will have to test my contaminated guinea pigatrons and other robo-rodents.
I may even have to conduct experiments on myself, seeing as how I need it the most.
I will update soon.
Entry #26
Solar cycle 751, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 2, stellar cycle 3.
The dark patches of the plants have now disappeared, which means the pollution is in the air once again. Both Energon and metalo-plants are now refined and cured.
I will collect the air soon enough and check its quality before contaminating another Energon cube to see if anything has changed since last time.
In the meantime, I have fed two of the contaminated guinea pigatrons with pure and cured metalo-fruits and meshetables respectively every day. Both seem to have the same effect.
The guinea pigatrons' immune systems seem to be improving, as do their armor quality. Furthermore, the level of toxins in their Energon seems to be decreasing!
It's not much, it's barely five percent improvement... but it's something. Even if it's a small improvement, it's still improvement.
I will have to further test this on more individuals, including myself.
I have tested the quality of my own Energon once a week for the past month, while I do not eat anything and have started to wear a filter mask. Nothing has either improved nor worsened. It is constant.
Now, over the next month, I will eat one metalo-fruit or meshetable every day and see if I make any improvements as time passes.
For this, I will again have to postpone sowing the new seeds, as I will need the air in here to be sterile for precise results.
I will end this entry now, so I can check the quality of the air and the new cube I am going to contaminate, as well as test my own Energon yet again to get a basis.
I hope dearly this works...
Entry #27
Solar cycle 781, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 3, stellar cycle 3.
Good news. Very good news, actually.
I collected all the pollution in the air in this lab and read its quality. As I hoped, the quality of the air has improved since last time, though not by much.
I then contaminated another cube of pure Energon. This time, the darkest color of the pollution was almost identical to the indigo among the cyan in the Energon. The colors are getting brighter. Not by much, but there is definitely an improvement taking place here!
Furthermore, I did as I said I would in the last entry and consumed one metalo-fruit or meshetable every day over the last month.
Like the previous month, I did a weekly check on my own Energon, and the toxins have decreased by five percent now! It's still a small change, considering how much pollution there is in my system, but still, can you believe it?
Metalo-plants can remove pollution, whether it's from Energon in natural deposits or within Cybertronians and mechanimals.
By contaminating Energon and feeding the metalo-plants with it, they absorb the impurities and refine the Energon, making it clean and safe to consume.
Furthermore, eating metalo-plants seems to have the same effect. The metalo-fruits or meshetables absorb the toxins from one's Energon, though only a small percentage, and then the toxins are released through one's venting.
But how do metalo-plants convert toxins into free particles that do not pollute their surroundings? What kind of process goes on inside those metalo-plants when they convert poison into clean air?
It is now clear to me that it has become more important than ever to save the metalo-plants and plant and sow more of them around the globe.
I have learned so much these last two years, probably more than the highest arch-scientists in the most pristine academies have ever learned in their entire lives.
I must now see how many times I have to use the same pollution derived from the original vacuum before the air quality is absolutely all clean.
It may take a while. But I will get there eventually.
If I survive long enough, that is.
Entry #28
Solar cycle 811, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 4, stellar cycle 3.
I have now finally sowed new seeds and used a contaminated cube on one of the batches. The plants have already sprouted by now. By next month, they will once again absorb the toxins of the Energon.
In the meantime, while I am noting how many times it takes to completely purify the air and Energon in the deposits, I will also test how much time will pass until a contaminated individual is toxin-free, by consuming metalo-plants every day.
Luckily, I still have my palladium-papaya trees from the first two batches. They have begun to bear fruit once again, and I have already harvested a good deal of them. These will help with this next experiment I have, along with my ever-growing meshetables.
Since palladium is a precious metal, it should last for a good long time before rusting, so I can focus my attention on only feeding one or two individuals with contamination. And perhaps myself as well.
So far, I am testing two of my guinea pigatrons, the ones whose Energon I managed to improve as I mentioned last time. By this time, their Energon has improved in quality a little bit more, though toxins can still be found in their streams.
I have not continued feeding myself with metalo-plants yet, as I want to see if it is possible to purify a creature with lower toxin levels first. If they can be completely purified, then perhaps there is hope for all of us. Maybe even me.
Or maybe not me. For I may already be too far gone to be saved, especially if the improvements continue at this rate.
This just goes to show that it takes years to create something, seconds to destroy it, and then even more years to fix the problems.
Even if I cannot be saved, hopefully the future of Cybertron can be.
There used to be an old saying. "The seeds of the future lie buried in the past". I never quite understood what that meant, neither did anyone else.
Now, I think I am beginning to understand somehow.
Only by burying the seeds in the past can the future be saved. Or am I getting this all wrong?
Does the saying not have anything to do with actual seeds? Is it simply a mere metaphor?
Well, I am a biologist, not a philosopher.
As long as I can help Cybertron, it does not matter what these sayings mean.
Entry #29
Solar cycle 841, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 5, stellar cycle 3.
The plants have now grown bigger and absorbed the toxins of the Energon, gaining dark patches and purifying the Energon. Now they should begin to expel the toxins into the air, hopefully resulting in cleaner air than before.
I know I said last month that I wanted to test how many times it would take for a single polluted Energon cube to be completely toxin-free along with the air quality, but I just gained an idea for another experiment.
I still have the remains of my dead mechanimal test subjects, those who have died from poisoning. A thought occured to me last month: What happens to the pollution within a dead mechanimal or Cybertronian?
Normal poison or venom from certain species of mechanimals simply dissipate once the victim is deceased, sometimes it is re-absorbed by the venomous or poisonous predator when eaten. But this is pollution from indrustrial waste and warfare, not biological. What happens to a carcass polluted with toxic waste?
I did an examination from one of the helio-hamsters that died from eating toxic leaves. Even with how much time has passed since its death now, it still has the pollution within itself. My guess is that if a predator such as a turbofox was to eat this helio-hamster, the predator would get poisoned too, maybe even die from it.
But if mechanimals and Cybertronians die before they can be cured of pollution, what happens then? How does the toxic remnants get handled? What happens to the body after death?
To answer this question, I decided to grind the helio-hamster into powder and checked to see if the pollution was still there and at the same levels. Which it was.
Afterwards, I decided that, instead of sowing new seeds, I placed the toxic powder into the pots of two of my healthy palladium-papaya trees. I wanted to see what would happen when polluted soil from a mechanimal is introduced to a tree that is already grown.
Furthermore, I have given one of the trees pure Energon to feed on, while the second tree has been given contaminated Energon from industrial waste.
Now, a month later, both of the trees are sporting dark patches on their leaves like they did when they were growing up. The patches on the tree in pure Energon are lighter than the ones on the other tree, in polluted Energon. Curious.
Furthermore, the trees are also starting to carry new fruits, though they are still too small to be harvested yet. The new fruits, as well as some of the older fruits, seem to be getting dark spots as well. I wonder what this means for the seeds inside?
At least from the last few months, I have learned that metalo-plants do indeed cleanse the air slowly by absorbing toxins from Energon and then expelling them.
Still, I wonder why they do it...?
Entry #30
Solar cycle 871, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 6, stellar cycle 3.
The smaller plants have now expelled the toxins and lost their dark patches. I will collect the polluted air at a later point.
The trees have also lost their dark patches on the leaves, which means they have expelled the toxins and cleansed both the Energon and the soil they were in. I tested the soil, and it is as clean as the Energon.
The fruits, however, still retain the dark patches and they do not seem to be going away. They may still be toxic.
Some of the fruits are now big enough to be harvested, and I decided to examine them. The mesh contains potent poison, and the seeds seem to be contaminated as well. I wonder what this means for the plants that grow from the seeds?
I decided to feed one of the guinea pigatrons with one of the contaminated fruits. It lived for a few days before growing ill and dying the next day.
Curious, I decided to sow some of the seeds from the toxic fruits. I placed some in pure Energon and some in contaminated Energon. They have not sprouted yet, but probably will within the next month.
Other than this new project of mine, I have also decided to test out how the air pollution affects the offspring of mechanimals.
Since my robo-rodents are fast breeders, I used some retrorats for this side project. Two retrorats were caught in the wild and are toxin-free, two others were caught in the city and contain pollution. I decided to breed them with each other and have all four carry.
I bred the two healthy retrorats for healthy offspring, the two contaminated ones for contaminated offspring, and then I bred one healthy and one poisoned with each other. I want to see if a healthy retrorat carrying a poisoned one's podlings will have healthy or contaminated offspring, and vice versa.
Furthermore, I have managed to cure one of my helio-hamsters from pollution. I decided to breed that one as well, to see what happens to its offspring when it has been polluted but isn't anymore.
I also decided to breed a pair of healthy dexi-squirrels and then feed one of them with mild pollution. Now I am feeding it with pure metalo-plants every day to see if I can cure it before its offspring emerge, so I can see what happens to them.
The carrying robo-rodents have been carrying for a month now and will likely deliver next month. Then I shall see how their offspring fare, as well as get new test subjects.
If an individual cannot be cured of pollution, hopefully the future generations can at least be secured.
Hopefully.
Entry #31
Solar cycle 901, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 7, stellar cycle 3.
The contaminated tree seeds have by now sprouted, and both have dark patches already from emergence. Both sets are growing much slower than their healthy ancestors did, but particularly the ones in contaminated Energon.
It will be interesting to see how polluted seeds will fare and what will happen with the Energon that is contaminated. How well will this impaired plant absorb the toxins, if at all? How will their offspring fare?
Furthermore, I have harvested the smaller plants for their fruits and seeds for new batches. I have also collected the polluted air and contaminated a new cube with it. It seems to be less polluted than last time, despite the additional pollution from the soil I made, along with more polluted cubes. It is almost the same amount as last time, however.
Also, my robo-rodents have now delivered their offspring. Most of them are either dead or abnormal.
The podlings from contaminated parents and parents that were poisoned during the carrying are all dead. The ones from parents that are both healthy and contaminated are alive but also either sick or with abnormal features, here among extra or fewer limbs, senseless or paralyzed. Only the offspring of healthy parents seem to be healthy themselves.
This does not bode well for the future of the mechanimals of this world. However, the helio-hamster that used to be contaminated but was cured, has yielded living, healthy offspring. This is good news, at least.
It would seem contaminated individuals either yield dead or handicapped offspring. They may as well have been rendered infertile by the toxins.
Upon seeing their offspring as dead, one of the parent retrorats ate its young. It was a gruesome, yet fascinating sight to see. It would seem that the offspring inherit its parents' toxicity, for the infant-eater died today, a week later.
So it would seem that only healthy and cured individuals can yield functional offspring. The only upside to this is that Cybertronians mostly emerge from the Well of All Sparks and only rarely emerge from other bots. Sparklings are a sign of very strong love and close bonds, however, so some Conjunx Endura decide to get them out of love and the desire to care for something small and vulnerable, and which is made from themselves.
But if these bots are polluted just like these mechanimals, they may be in for great disappointment and tragedy instead. Personally, I do not see a problem with this, as it is unnatural for bots to be created this way.
But even if we Cybertronians do not have a serious problem with the pollution when it comes to new generations of bots, it is still concerning that it poses a threat to the mechanimals of this world.
Mechanimals turn into soil when they die. This soil becomes a part of Cybertron itself and feeds the metalo-plants, and thus us. The living metal we are all made of comes from Cybertron itself. Cybertron recycles the metal gained from dead mechanimals and metalo-plants to create new bodies for new Sparks emerging from the Well.
Unlike us Cybertronians, mechanimals do not emerge from the Well. They have Sparks, but they are not the same as our Sparks. Most mechanimals either do not transform, or they transform into something other than bots, like how singlehorns turn into rockets, or petro-rabbits turn into spheres.
If the mechanimals die out, they do not come back. Not like we Cybertronians do. They will be forever gone. The only thing left of them will be their CNA.
If the mechanimals do not return, there will be no new metal for new Cybertronians to get frames from. There will thus be a limit to how many Cybertronians will be able to emerge at a time. Our species as a total might even go extinct.
This is the reason why we must conserve our metalo-plants and mechanimals, even if only CNA samples of them.
Without nature, Cybertron will end up devoid of life. Regardless of the AllSpark's power.
I will not let that happen. So I will continue to fight and research.
Entry #32
Solar cycle 931, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 8, stellar cycle 3.
The contaminated tree seeds have now grown a little bigger, but the saplings are much smaller at this point than their ancestors were. Furthermore, while the seeds in the contaminated Energon does seem to be absorbing the toxins from the Energon, it isn't much, and since they already have dark patches, they instead seem to be getting even more black, with only a few light patches here and there. The other saplings in the clean Energon have not changed how they look.
Next month, I will hopefully see how well the contaminated saplings have absorbed the toxins from the Energon. Hopefully it will be clean, just taking a bit longer than its ancestors.
The surviving robo-rodent podlings are growing well, but they may first be fully mature next month and thus ready to breed again. I see no pollution in the ones from the cured helio-hamster. There is some pollution in the handicapped ones, but I suspect I may only be able to breed the blind and deaf ones to see how their offspring will fare. The paralyzed and abnormal ones appear to be infertile, as far as I've examined them.
If the contaminated robo-rodents can get healthy offspring, perhaps there is hope for future generations after all. If their offspring are also all handicapped, I may have to accept the possibility that only healthy or cured individuals can have functional descendants.
I will learn what happens in three or four months before I can draw my conclusion with the mechanimals.
As for the metalo-plants, I still have to see how future generations of contaminated seeds will fare, and if the pollution can be bred out of them over several generations.
As long as it's possible to breed the pollution out of either metalo-plants or mechanimals, there is hope for nature on Cybertron.
I do still also have to figure out what happens to the toxins absorbed by the metalo-plants, however. And I also have to figure out why they absorb the toxins and slightly purify the air in the progress.
And finally, I have to figure out how the pollution in the air can be completely purified. It is certain that collecting all the polluted air manually to then contaminate Energon with, to afterwards get absorbed and expelled by metalo-plants, to only slightly purify the expelled air, is very bothersome.
I wonder if there is an easier solution to this problem...?
Entry #33
Solar cycle 961, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 9, stellar cycle 3.
The new robo-rodents are now mature and I can use them to breed a new generation, so I can see how the handicapped retrorats' offspring will fare. I have bred them with the healthy youngsters.
It will take another two months before I will know the results.
In the meantime, the contaminated tree saplings have grown a bit larger, but are still growing slowly. The saplings in contaminated Energon seem to have absorbed all the pollution in the Energon, but they still have not expelled it into the air. I ran a test on the Energon afterwards, and it seems to still have a very small percentage of pollution in it, however.
It may take another month for the saplings to expel the toxins into the air. So I will have to wait another month with an idea I recently came up with.
I want to gather the polluted air so I can test if Energon can pick up the pollution from the air, rather than just me pumping the Energon with the waste.
After all, the pollution in the Energon can't all be from solid or liquid waste. There must be some from the air as well.
I also still do not know why the metalo-plants absorb toxins in the first place. Nor why there seems to be less toxins in the air after absorption and expelling.
Are the metalo-plants converting some of the particles in the pollution to something they can use in their frames? And if so, then what?
So many questions, so few answers...
Entry #34
Solar cycle 991, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 10, stellar cycle 3.
The contaminated saplings have now expelled the toxins into the air, but they still retain their original black patches from emergence. I collected the pollution in the air in my vacuum device. The toxin levels seem to be higher than before, which is concerning.
Instead of pumping the pollution into an Energon cube, I have deployed a special tall cube, filled it halfway with Energon and then inserted the pollution into the free space at the top.
The Energon seems to be getting contaminated slightly, though it only seems to absorb the bottom of the polluted air in the cube. The pollution at the top of the cube remains untouched.
This certainly shows how there can be so much pollution in Cybertron's atmosphere yet it isn't all absorbed by the Energon around the globe. If only the lowest parts of the polluted air gets absorbed, as a haze crawling across the land, then there is still a vast majority of pollution trapped everywhere else in the airspace of Cybertron.
This is most troublesome. I had hoped the Energon itself would absorb all the pollution regardless of its altitude, but alas, it is not that easy after all.
If it had been that easy, the pollution would not have been as big a problem as it is.
The metalo-plants do not absorb the pollution in the air, only via metal soil and Energon. The Energon only absorbs the pollution closest to the ground. The metal soil only obtains pollution via dead mechanimals when they rust and disintegrate.
So how do we get rid of the pollution in the air? How do we cleanse Cybertron's atmosphere? Is it impossible? Have we already doomed our planet with all our industry and warfare? Is Cybertron destined to be a dead world?
As far as air pollution goes, I seem to have reached a dead end. If collecting the polluted air manually is what it takes, then only Fliers will be able to do this.
But there's no way anyone would help me with this, as times are now. Everyone would rather fight a war or scurry around in the wild or the ruins of cities than actually helping our planet.
I do not believe Cybertron can be saved anytime soon. The war will have to end before Cybertron can be properly cared for. Everyone will have to settle their differences so they can help our world.
Even if Cybertron cannot be saved right now, I can still make sure that it can be in the future. No matter how far into the future it is.
Entry #35
Solar cycle 1021, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 11, stellar cycle 3.
The contaminated trees have now begun to grow buds, despite being much smaller than their ancestors. Both sets' buds are getting dark spots as well. Soon I will be able to see how the mutation has affected these trees' offspring.
Furthermore, the handicapped robo-rodents have now birthed their podlings. As far as I've examined them so far, the podlings seem to have low levels of toxins in them, but it is too soon to tell if they too are handicapped or not. Their eyes and ears are still closed, and it may take another week or two to see the results.
Hopefully breeding the handicapped retrorats with healthy ones will have resulted in at least some of the podlings being healthy. If they are all handicapped, then there may be nothing I can do to improve their family line. Though perhaps I could try feeding them with pure metalo-plants and then see if that will remove the toxins from their bodies, both the handicapped parents and their offspring with mild toxicity in them.
I recently did some research on the Grid, and I came across something interesting.
Across certain regions of Cybertron, acid rain sometimes occurs and corrodes the ground, as well as contaminating natural Energon deposits. Acid rain isn't uncommon on Cybertron, in fact the rainiest place on Cybertron is the Acid Wastes where it rains acid half the year around. Despite this, however, it is said that certain species of metalo-plants live there, such as azaleas.
In fact, most metalo-plant species seem either resistant or immune to acid rain, wherever it falls. It corrodes the metallic ground and infects the Energon, but it seems to have no effect on the plants. Much like how the polluted air doesn't get absorbed by them. Interesting.
Could the acid rain and polluted atmosphere be linked somehow? Could this be how metalo-plants naturally get rid of pollution and send it out again as clean air?
Could it be that the pollution in the air is released as acid rain and then absorbed by the ground and Energon, to then get absorbed and expelled by the metalo-plants? Could this be how the pollution problem can be solved?
But even if acid rain is the answer to getting rid of the air pollution, I still have yet to learn how acid rain occurs.
What has to happen in order for air pollution to condensate into acid rain? Is it temperature? A certain climate? Why does only certain regions of Cybertron pour acid rain?
These are, unfortunately, questions that are nearly impossible for me to answer, as I am neither a flight frame nor do I have access to a ship that I can use to study the pollution and acid rain myself. I will have to rely on textbooks, which, unfortunately, are not very accurate.
The textbooks I have in my lab on biology, chemistry and physics are accurate ones that I have either written myself or confirmed them to be true, having been written by reliable sources. Geography, however, is not one of the textbooks I have in here. And even if I did have one, I doubt it would be accurate.
So many scientists have little care for our planet or what any of the science actually means. When it comes to natural science, biology, information is very scarce and inaccurate. Almost any other kind of science is fairly accurate and documented, but for some reason, we Cybertronians simply do not care about the nature of our planet. We only care about our cities, industry and conquest, and anything that gets in our way has to be eliminated, and everything else is to be ignored.
I am ashamed to be part of this cold, sparkless race. But I will not let that get to me. I am doing what no other Cybertronians have ever done, which is care about my planet.
Others might say I am crazy, delusional and need to get therapy. But I do not think there is anything wrong with taking the state of the world's metalo-plants and mechanimals seriously. On the other hand, I think there's something very wrong with everyone else, since they don't care about Cybertron.
Hopefully, the future generations of Cybertron will care more for our world than the current population does.
If not, then what hope is there for Cybertron?
Entry #36
Solar cycle 1051, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 12, stellar cycle 3.
The contaminated trees have begun to bloom, though their flowers are having dark patches, just like the buds they used to be. For curiosity's sake, I decided to use another contaminated cube on one of the trees to see if it will have any effect on the fruits that are to come, and thus the seeds. Suppose I will have to wait three months to find out.
I have now examined the new retrorats, and as I hoped, a bunch of them seem to be normal, despite their low levels of toxins. Some of them continue to be blind, deaf or both, however. But since it seems at least some of them are healthy, though contaminated, there might be hope.
I will breed a healthy and a handicapped retrorat next month, when they are fully mature, so I can see if their offspring will be healthy or handicapped as well.
I also did some more research on acid rain. It seems that the reason why acid rain occurs more often in certain regions of Cybertron is because there needs to be a certain temperature for the clouds of pollution to condensate, much like with Energon clouds. The climate seems to be important too, and the Acid Wastes has a cool and damp climate throughout most of the year, so that might explain why it rains so often there, creating its unique environment.
We're reaching the end of the year, which means I will have another two or so years left to live in. Two years left to continue my research. Not long enough.
I still have plenty of Energon, but I use most of it for my experiments, and it will not last forever.
I could take some of the empty cubes to the osmium forest nearby to fill them up with the Energon from the river. It seems clean enough to be used for fuel and experiments.
But with these expeditions come certain risks as well. Risks such as being ambushed by bandits or getting attacked by wild mechanimals like turbofoxes or gridwolves. Or even Scraplets or Insecticons.
Because the metalo-plant known as the Scraplet-Trapper has been declining in the recent centuries, the population of Scraplets and Insecticons have increased, especially the former.
As far as I know, there may be one single jungle left on Cybertron where the Scraplet-Trapper exists. And who's to say how long that jungle will continue to exist, with the war going on and everything?
If only I could reach this jungle, so I could at least acquire a CNA sample of a Scraplet-Trapper, then its species might be able to get saved.
Scraplet-Trappers do not need to get pollinated to reproduce, unlike most other metalo-plants. They act like metal-fungi, releasing spores to land in a suitable spot to grow into a new plant. As a biologist, I must say Scraplet-Trappers are my favorite metalo-plants. They are like a hybrid of metalo-plant and metal-fungi. Very fascinating beings. It's such a shame they are near extinct.
Unfortunately, the jungle I spoke of is located too far away for me to reach and return safely. I could, of course, perhaps contact the Autobots and request an escort to the jungle and back again, but I doubt they will grant my wish.
Plus, if they find this place, they might try to destroy my research or worse yet, claim it for themselves and misuse it.
Good thing this place is locked in a very complex way, since I am a very anxious bot with trust-issues.
I once asked the Autobot leader for help, in exactly this sort of situation, but he turned me down, rudely, even. Zeta Prime is just like everyone else. He is a blind fool, he understands nothing of what is going on in the world, outside his cozy little castle in Iacon.
After getting rejected, I never tried asking the Autobots for help again. It's no use. And there's no way I could ask the Decepticons for help. They might give me help, but only in order to seize my work for themselves and misuse it. That's the kind of mech Megatron is, and that's the kind of scientist Shockwave is. I cannot trust the Decepticons with this. I mean, it's in their name! Deception! With an extra 'c'!
Anyway, because of this complex locking system I installed, as well as the entire lab being made of durabyllium, including the key itself, no one will get in here without the key, and I have it on me, at all times.
Though that may have to change soon. At some point. Not right now, but some time in the future.
When my time comes.
Entry #37
Solar cycle 1081, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 1, stellar cycle 4.
Three years have now passed since the destruction of Vos, and since I began my isolation in the lab. My Energon stash is starting to look small, though there are still plenty of cubes left for another one or two years.
The contaminated trees have now grown small fruits, again growing much slower than their ancestors, and they too have dark patches like the flowers did. Furthermore, the fruits on the tree sitting in contaminated Energon seem to be mostly black, with only a few light patches of the fruits' natural color. The tree itself is growing even wider dark patches, along with its leaves, like it's once again absorbing the pollution from the Energon.
If the fruits these contaminated trees are anything to go for, it is likely these blackish fruits will stay this color regardless of the Energon's refining process by the tree. I wonder just how potent the toxins must be in these fruits for them to be this black. I wonder how the seeds may have been affected.
On another note, the new retrorats have now fully matured, and I have bred a pair of handicapped rats with a pair of healthy ones. Hopefully I will get promising results in two months.
I just realized that I have not had an oil bath or shower for three years. My lab doesn't have either installed, and with the world at war and Vos destroyed, and I being a Grounder and alone, I have not really had the chance to clean myself. Now that I've realized this, I am beginning to notice several white spots and lines on my armor. At least there doesn't seem to be any oxidation, probably thanks to my somewhat new steady diet of platinum. Precious metals are good against oxidation such as rust.
Since oil is a non-metallic substance, consisting entirely of carbon, hydrogen and sometimes oxygen, it is scarce on our planet. In fact, natural oil is only found at oil springs around volcanoes, and even these are not common due to the way we Cybertronians have adapted the planet to our benefit and comfort. It isn't really certain why oil is only found around volcanoes. There's not even oil inside the volcanoes themselves, they just have regular molten iron, more commonly known as lava.
There have been claims of finding oil pits around smelting pools, which are more common than volcanoes and less prone to eruption, but I have not seen solid evidence to proof these claims.
Despite the scarcity of oil locations on Cybertron, there seems to be enough that the high caste society can enjoy a good oil bath when they need or want to. Oil is important for the Cybertronian body, to lubricate our joints and to keep our optics moist, clean and functional. Fortunately oil in our bodies doesn't disappear as quickly as Energon does, which means we don't have to bathe or shower as often as we need to consume Energon.
The Energon deposits on Cybertron is produced by Cybertron itself. It makes sense, since Cybertron itself is a living organism, and we Cybertronians are more similar to millions of tiny micro-organisms such as bacteria in comparison. We feed off the planet's own supply of Energon and oil while it continues to live on. It's fascinating to think about.
Still, even if we won't run out of Energon, I wonder if the same thing goes for oil? Or any other non-metallic element that exists on this metal world, for that matter?
I have heard certain bots - mostly the religious - talk about the possibility that Cybertron's very core may be Primus himself. I am not religious myself, but I do find the theory interesting. Since Cybertron is clearly alive, it wouldn't surprise me if it is our very creator that provides us with the Energon and substances we need.
But even if our creator god really does reside in our planet or not, it is still evident that our planet is alive and can be affected by changes on it.
And... there is also a possibility, a very likely possibility even... that our planet could die.
If Cybertron dies... what will happen to the Energon and oil? Will it all disappear? Will it stay?
...I think I'll end this log now before I start to get nightmares.
Entry #38
Solar cycle 1111, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 2, stellar cycle 4.
The fruits on the contaminated trees have grown bigger, though are smaller than the fruits of previous trees at this point. I am not sure if they will be fully grown by next month or if they will even grow much bigger than this. Regardless, I will harvest the fruits from the trees next month so I can examine them.
The fruits on the tree in contaminated Energon have become solid black now, with not a single light spot on either of them. It's even smaller than the spotted fruits on the other trees. The Energon still seems to be largely polluted, as if the tree isn't absorbing all the toxins properly...
The fruits on the other contaminated trees in clean Energon continue to have dark spots, but seemingly not as potent as the black fruits on the one tree. Despite growing in clean Energon, it seems the fruits are polluted from the beginning, simply because the trees they hang in are polluted since being seeds.
It will be interesting to see how much pollution will be let into the air within the next month from the one tree. And even more so what the potent toxins have done to the seeds of its fruits.
I will continue to monitor their progress.
Entry #39
Solar cycle 1141, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 3, stellar cycle 4.
I have now harvested the fruits from the new trees, despite the fact that they are still quite small. I opened a few of them up, and they all seem to have seeds inside, though not many, especially in the black fruits. They are not dangerous to the touch, but I have no doubt a bite from either of them will cause illness and eventual deactivation.
I examined the fruits through my microscope, and the solid black fruits do indeed seem to have very potent toxicity than the spotted fruits. Now that I have looked closer at them, there seems to be traces of carbon in the dark areas. The carbon levels in the black fruits are especially high.
Of all the non-metallic elements on Cybertron, carbon seems to be the most common of them, especially considering it's what oil is mostly made up of, as well as being found in several compounds such as carbon monoxide from black smoke, or alloys such as steel...
I wonder if the carbon is the main source of the pollution in the air, not to mention these metalo-plants? It would make sense why the plants gain dark or black patches in the areas of concentrated carbon, since the element is black in color...
I will have to research this further.
In the meantime, the retrorats I bred two months ago have now birthed new podlings. In both pairs, with a healthy carrier and a handicapped carrier, the podlings seem to have the same result. Both rats have birthed seven podlings, but it is too soon to tell if any of them are handicapped. I will find out in a week or two.
The contaminated tree in polluted Energon has also expelled some of the toxins it absorbed, but it still retains its dark patches. I gathered the pollution in my vacuum device, and it seems to be more potent than last generation, which is concerning.
Perhaps the pollution in the seeds have made the plants weaker and less effective at absorbing and expelling the new contamination?
I wonder if the pollution can be bred out of them, like it seemingly can with the mechanimals?
I will collect the seeds from the spotted fruits and the black fruits and see how the pollution has affected the next generation.
I will cross my fingers for the next year.
Entry #40
Solar cycle 1171, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 4, stellar cycle 4.
Because of dwindling Energon supplies, I have decided to sow seeds in only four containment fields. Two of the toxic seeds from one of the black fruits, and two seeds from one of the spotted fruits. I have used a contaminated cube on a potent seed and one on a less potent seed. The other two seeds are getting pure Energon.
The seeds have sprouted by now, and I am seeing some clear differences here.
Firstly, one sprout in contaminated Energon has dark spots like its ancestor.
Secondly, the other spotted sprout, which grows in pure Energon, seems to have slightly lighter patches, though they are still dark, but not pitch-black like on the other sprout. I'd say dark gray, if anything.
Thirdly, both sprouts of the black fruit are completely black, both the one in pure Energon and the one in contaminated Energon. I am curious to see if anything will change as they grow.
On another note, the retrorat podlings have grown old enough that I can examine them. From what I can tell, out of the fourteen podlings, only two of them seem to be handicapped, and neither are siblings. One podling is blind, the other is deaf. The other twelve rats seem to be healthy.
This is promising for the mechanimals, in any case. It would seem that contaminated mechanimals can become healthy by consuming pure Energon and metalo-fruits for an extended period of time. And even if they remain contaminated, it seems the pollution can be bred out of them over a few generations, as long as they mate with a healthy partner.
And even if they die without passing on their genes, the pollution will gather on the ground and be absorbed by nearby metalo-plants. The metalo-plants seemingly use some of the pollution's components to build their structures, and the rest is released as cleaner air.
Now that I know the mechanimals and Cybertronians can survive and be cured of this pollution, I can return to focus entirely on the development of the metalo-plants.
This means I will have to dispose of the majority of my robo-rodent subjects and lilleths, but it is necessary to make the Energon last longer. I will release the ones that are healthy and euthanize the polluted ones. They've been suffering for too long now, and they've served their purpose. They deserve to be released from the pain they are experiencing.
Now though, I must see if anything can be done about the pollution in the trees I have. My next project will be to breed those toxic dark patches out of the spotted trees. As well as see what will happen to the offspring of the black plants with potent toxins.
Until next time.
Entry #41
Solar cycle 1201, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 5, stellar cycle 4.
The saplings have grown bigger, the one with light spots faster so than the one with dark spots and especially the two black saplings.
The spotted sapling in contaminated Energon has started developing more dark patches, as it is absorbing the pollution in the Energon. The two black saplings seem to be growing at approximately the same rate, both in pure and in contaminated Energon. So far, there are no signs the one in contaminated Energon is absorbing the toxins.
As I said in the last entry, I have disposed of my mechanimal subjects. A surprisingly large number of them were healthy and thus fit for surviving in the wild. I euthanized the blind and deaf subjects first, as they would be unable to survive in the wild, and would probably contaminate predators eating them anyway. I examined each other specimen to check their pollution levels before deciding their fate.
I have deduced that as long as the toxin levels are below twenty percent, the specimens are not in danger of getting affected by the pollution, though the healthiest ones seem to have toxin levels at ten percent or lower. Above twenty percent, I begin to see changes in the genetic codes and in the health of the specimen.
I have tried to come up with theoretical numbers for the danger levels of the toxins, based on my findings, research and experiments.
At twenty percent or more, an individual would have its genetic coding changed and it would more easily get sick.
At thirty percent, an individual would get even more easily sick and slightly weakened.
At forty percent, an individual would get highly weakened and very easily sick.
At fifty percent, the toxins would start to get lethal, and an individual would die within a millennium.
At sixty percent, an individual would die within a century.
At seventy percent, an individual would die within a decade.
At seventy-five percent, an individual would die within five years.
At eighty percent, an individual would die within a year.
At eighty-five percent, an individual would die within a month.
At ninety-percent, an individual would die within a week.
At ninety-five percent, an individual would die within a day.
At ninety-six percent, an individual would die within half a day.
At ninety-seven percent, an individual would die within an hour.
At ninety-eight percent, an individual would die within half an hour.
At ninety-nine percent, an individual would die within minutes.
And finally, at one hundred percent, an individual would die within seconds.
Basically, from ninety-five percent and upwards, there's nothing that can save you from the toxins. Even at seventy-five percent, you can only slow down the breakdown of your body, but you can't be cured.
Remember when I said in an earlier entry that I tested my own Energon?
When I first tested it, I was on a dangerously high seventy percent. Now, in the last month, my latest test has shown my levels to be a little over sixty percent. I am still in the danger zone, and I am even unaware how long I have had this level of contamination, so I am unsure if I have managed to slow down the deterioration process or not.
If lack of Energon isn't going to kill me, the pollution will, eventually.
It's just a matter of time.
Hopefully I will have found a solution to our problems before then.
Entry #42
Solar cycle 1231, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 6, stellar cycle 4.
I forgot to mention in the last entry that, while I euthanized all the handicapped mechanimals and released the healthy ones, I did keep a few contaminated ones that aren't handicapped. I could still use them to test the potency of this generation's platinum-papaya trees' fruits, when the time comes.
I kept seven critters, a lilleth, a retrorat, a guinea pigatron, a helio-hamster, a robotoppossum, a dexi-squirrel and a petro-rabbit. They have all shown to react similarly to the same doses of poison and at approximately the same rate.
Regarding the trees, the saplings have grown slightly larger, and the one in contaminated Energon seems to have absorbed all the pollution in its field. No change in either of the black saplings' fields nor to their structure. The contaminated Energon remained polluted. I will give it another month before drawing conclusions.
On another note, I have speculated what would happen if, hypothetically, the metalo-plants were to disappear from Cybertron altogether. Whether from pollution such as this one, or through abuse from the Cybertronian population.
Basically, without the metalo-plants, Cybertron's natural Energon deposits would become polluted just like the kind found in and around cities. We would have to rely on our technological refineries to cleanse the Energon. While this is the way we normally do it, without the metalo-plants to absorb the toxins, the waste is simply dumped into the sewers or released into the air and will grow more and more potent.
In the end, I believe the air will be so toxic, not even we Cybertronians would be able to live here anymore.
Without the metalo-plants, not only will the atmosphere become toxic, the herbivorous mechanimals such as petro-rabbits and dexi-squirrels will have nothing to feed on. Even the Energon they live off on will be so toxic they will perish. And without the smaller mechanimals, there is nothing for the larger predators to eat, and they will starve to death as well.
In the end, Cybertron will be left a toxic wasteland. Only we Cybertronians would be left, and maybe not even then.
As such, it is very important that we conserve the metalo-plants of Cybertron, even if only their seeds, roots, leaves or other CNA samples.
Pit, even conserving samples of mechanimals may prove important. Although most mechanimals emerge from the Well of All Sparks like we Cybertronians, there has not been much new life coming out of the AllSpark lately. The last time something emerged from the Well was about a century ago or so, from what I recall. Maybe more, maybe less. I don't listen very often to the radio or read news on the Grid.
Regardless, it seems as if the AllSpark is creating less and less life in the recent millennia. Perhaps it is aware of the war and on some higher plane refuses to send more of Primus' Sparklings to the world to be slaughtered in the next moment? That's what makes sense to me, anyway.
Even with the tens of thousands of lives already lost in this war, the AllSpark refuses to provide the Autobots and Decepticons with more troops. If anything, any new life emerging from the Well may be simple mechanimals, incapable of participating in the war.
If I was religious, I would say Primus is punishing the warmongers for what they're doing to Cybertron and its wildlife. As a biologist, that is exactly what I think.
But even if the mechanimals will eventually return via the Well, I am uncertain about the metalo-plants. There are no real records or documents on the origin of the metalo-plants, whether they came from the Well as well, or if they appeared by different means.
While mechanimals do have Sparks, metalo-plants don't seem to have them. In fact, they don't even seem to contain organs of any sort, unless you count leaves and roots as organs, I suppose.
Interestingly, there have been reports of trees being sawed over, and years later, new trees began growing from the stumps. However, if the roots are damaged or removed, the plant does not grow back. If anything, it would seem the metalo-plants' debatable organs would reside within the roots.
I have tried cutting open such roots and found nothing. Not even a tiny solid Spark. Nothing.
How are metalo-plants alive? How do they survive without anything but Energon and metal soil? How are they alive without any organs and even exclusively reproducing on their own? Where did the original metalo-plants come from?
Despite how much I have learned about metalo-plants within the last three and a half years, there is still so much mystery surrounding them. So much more to learn and find out.
Too much for the short life I have left.
While the mechanimals will eventually return via the Well, the metalo-plants will likely not.
So to anyone who might be listening to this log at some point in the future... when I'm gone and dead... you must collect as many seeds, leaves, roots and CNA samples from as many different species of metalo-plants, trees and smaller plants, as possible.
This is a task I am unfortunately incapable of.
All I can do is research and provide you with the information necessary to carry on this mission.
A mission to save the future of Cybertron.
Entry #43
Solar cycle 1261, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 7, stellar cycle 4.
The saplings have grown a bit bigger, they are starting to look like actual trees despite their small sizes. The spotted sapling that was given contaminated Energon has now lost the spots it gained from absorbing the pollution, which means the pollution is once again in the air. I will collect it later.
As I suspected, the two black saplings are still growing at the same rate, and the Energon in the contaminated field is as contaminated as it started out.
It would seem that when the toxicity levels in a metalo-plant is potent enough, the plant becomes unable to absorb and expel any contamination in its environment. This is worrisome, and worse yet, it seems there is nothing to be done to cure the plant.
Not even the tree in the pure Energon is showing any improvements. It is still black and growing as slowly as its fellow.
At least the spotted trees are showing signs of improvement. The spotted tree in the pure Energon is growing steadily, and the other spotted tree is also starting to grow slightly faster, despite having grown in contaminated Energon.
I decided to take a sample of the contaminated Energon for later examination and comparison. I will compare it to the air pollution later on, as well as one of the toxic fruits when they appear to see if there are any similarities. I will also have to use one of my mechanimals for testing the fruits to see what it is that kills them.
Is it the carbon? Or are there other components? I believe there was also some sulphur, maybe phosphorus? I don't really remember.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the potent toxicity will affect the black trees' fruits, as well as how the spotted trees' offspring will fare when it has not been affected by pollution during reproduction.
Hopefully all the trees will bud in the next month.
Entry #44
Solar cycle 1291, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 8, stellar cycle 4.
All the trees have started budding, even the toxic black trees. All four trees are still small, especially the black ones, but that doesn't seem to stop them from maturing around the same rate as their ancestors.
I wish I had more Energon to keep more subjects, not just metalo-plants, but also mechanimals. And, of course, myself.
But to keep myself alive long enough to also perform as much research as I can for the future, I have to restrict myself.
If only I had been forged a Flier. A Seeker, even. Had I been a Seeker, everything would be so much easier, perhaps even effortless.
Yes, I know, Seekers are not a race, it's not something you're born as, it's something you earn. I have heard this speech from plenty of Seekers in my life, even Sky Commander Starscream at some point, I believe.
But still, Seekers are the best Fliers on Cybertron. They're strong, fast, smart, skilled and they can fly. In my opinion, they are the perfect bots. Any bot that can fly is already closer to perfection than any perfect Grounder.
Fliers can get anywhere they want without restrictions. Fliers can easily get out of the city, into the forest for an expedition and get back again without problems. Grounders like I can't. There's too much at risk.
If I was to go out again, it would be too dangerous to go alone, especially as I don't really have any weapons on me. Unless you call a laser pointer and a fire extinguisher weapons, that is. Which I don't.
Seekers have such great advantages. They can fly, so they can get anywhere. They are also strong and skilled, as they are Air Warriors and trained for combat, both in the air and on the ground, up close or ranged.
Furthermore, Seekers are smart, I have not met or heard about a single Seeker that wasn't smart in some way, whether in science, strategy or combat. In fact, the Seekers are actually a hybrid class, they are both warriors and scientists!
Becoming a Seeker is incredibly difficult, as you not only have to prove yourself as a superior Flier with complete control over your flight mode, you also need to be physically strong and fast, and you need to be smart to know what to do in any kind of situation, whether science or combat. Passing the Seeker test is one of the most difficult tests on Cybertron. Only the best bots become Seekers.
In case you haven't noticed, I quite admire the Seekers. After all, almost all Seekers come from Vos, or at least live in Vos, as this is where the Cybertronian Air Command resides. Well, used to reside, anyway. Before Vos was destroyed.
We Vosians were proud of our Seeker military. We had the finest Air Warriors and Fliers on Cybertron. We are often forgotten by other cities and city-states, but thanks to our Seekers, especially that ambitious and attention-seeking Starscream, the rest of Cybertron does not forget us, and they even respect us.
Well, maybe except for Tarn. Who knows, I don't know anyone from Tarn.
When I was younger, I wanted to become a Seeker. Imagine my disappointment when I learned only Fliers are allowed as Seekers. For obvious reasons. And I got quite ridiculed for trying to get in or even wishing to become a Seeker.
Still, I never lost my admiration for the Seekers, despite whatever trouble they - mostly Starscream - got into with other bots or cities. Seekers are powerful, mighty warriors of the sky, they fly faster than any other Fliers, they have amazing agility and skills to dodge their opponents' attacks, and all Seekers have some level of scientific knowledge. Even those regarded as stupid are still smarter than most bots. So you can imagine the really smart ones are about or above the level of Shockwave.
Many Fliers strive to become Seekers. Even I, a Grounder, wished to be a Seeker.
Now though... they're all gone. Well, from Vos, anyway.
Rumors have it the Seekers are still alive, on some orbital space station. Wait, didn't I mention this in another entry? Maybe I did, my memory isn't what it used to be.
Why do I wish to become a Seeker, a Flier no less?
Well, I already told you the reasons why. Fliers can go anywhere, thus I would easily be able to go out and retrieve as much Energon as I needed to survive. I would probably be able to last much longer, even with my current toxicity levels.
But it would be even better if I was a Seeker. If I was a Seeker, I could do anything, even on my own. Nothing would stop me.
Like I said, Seekers are powerful. Perhaps the most powerful of Fliers on Cybertron. Despite being lighter in weight and smaller in size than many heavy builds, such as tank-formers, they are about as powerful as the latter. Basically, they have the weight of a light build and physical strength of a heavy build. Combined, they are fast and furious. They are the only bots who can potentially survive on their own, the best and most powerful of them might even be able to take down a small army on their own.
There are no bots with as much potential in power and skill as Seekers. They are the best.
In my opinion, of course. But I'm right. And you can't say I'm wrong.
Because you can't talk back at me on this recording.
Because when you hear this, I will be dead.
I will have the last word.
Entry #45
Solar cycle 1321, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 9, stellar cycle 4.
The four trees have started to bloom, the black ones included. While the spotted trees have dark spots on their flowers, the black trees have black flowers. It is quite intriguing to observe these shiny black metalo-plants. Beautiful, yet deadly.
Now I have to pollinate the flowers, including the toxic black ones. Soon they will grow into fruits... maybe.
The potency of the toxins in the black trees makes me uncertain if the trees are fertile or not. The polluted Energon in the one containment field remains polluted without change. It seems these trees truly have become incapable of refining Energon now.
If the trees are still fertile, will their offspring be unable to refine Energon as well?
Could I be producing a new type of trees that could replace the healthy trees and thus render Cybertron's nature unable to cleanse natural Energon deposits?
If that is the case, we could all be in serious trouble.
I suppose I will learn in two or three months.
Entry #46
Solar cycle 1351, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 10, stellar cycle 4.
The flowers have now been replaced by small fruits, like usual. The black trees have also grown fruits, black and shiny like the rest of the trees.
So far, the black trees seem to be fertile, which doesn't bode well.
In two months' time, I will be able to harvest them and see the state of the seeds and to see just how potent the toxins are. After all, I still have seven mechanimals left in my lab.
As for the spotted trees, their fruits have dark spots as well, though they seem to be slightly lighter on one tree than the other. The tree that was fed with clean Energon has lighter spotted fruits than the one that purified a cube of contaminated Energon. Interesting.
Not much else to report.
I will continue to observe and take notes.
Entry #47
Solar cycle 1381, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 11, stellar cycle 4.
The fruits have grown bigger, albeit still small compared to the other trees. Especially the black fruits are smaller than the spotted fruits, though they are growing steadily. I suspect while the fruits may not be ripe at the same time as the others, I should still be able to examine the seeds inside.
Next month, I will conduct tests on the black fruits and test the toxicity on one of my remaining mechanimal subjects.
With the year soon coming to an end, I will have to find out what my next step is, depending on the result I get in a month.
Until then, I shall wait patiently and observe.
Entry #48
Solar cycle 1411, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 12, stellar cycle 4.
We are ending the year, and with it, I have news about my latest study.
I have harvested the fruits of the four trees, where two of them are spotted and two of them are black and toxic. I examined the spotted fruits first and kept the seeds to sow them later.
Afterwards I examined the black fruits to check the state of the seeds.
But as I opened them up, I was surprised to find... nothing. No seeds. Nowhere.
The fruits are seedless. The trees yielded fruits, but they bear no seeds.
The toxic trees are infertile after all. The toxicity must be so potent it completely destroyed the trees' ability to reproduce.
This, at least, means that the deadly trees cannot spread to dominate the healthy metalo-plants and render the planet unable to refine Energon naturally.
That alone is a reflief to know. This means the metalo-plants are not doomed, no matter how badly they get polluted.
Cybertron has ensured that extreme contamination cannot be passed on and spread among the beings' kin. It is a genius strategy from nature's side, one that ensures survival and prevents extinction. Somewhat, at least.
The spotted trees are still fertile and bear fruits with seeds inside. I tested two of the spotted fruits on my remaining guinea pigatron and retrorat. I fed the guinea pigatron with a fruit with black spots. It lived for three days before falling ill and dying a day later.
The retrorat was fed a fruit with slightly lighter spots, from the tree that fed on clean Energon. The rat lived for four days before becoming sick and dying two days later.
I also tested one of the black fruits on my remaining helio-hamster. It died within minutes of consumption. I now have only four mechanimals left in the lab.
The fact that the retrorat lived two days longer than the guinea pigatron after consuming a seemingly less toxic fruit is promising.
Perhaps by feeding new trees exclusively clean Energon, its offspring will eventually become healthy metalo-plants again with fruits that don't kill their consumers?
It seems now I have gained a clearer understanding of how metalo-plants work in the refining of Energon, as well as what effect pollution has on the environment.
The black trees have toxicity levels of 100% potency, making them deadly. If you eat from these trees, you die almost instantly, and there is seemingly nothing that will save you.
Thankfully, these trees are infertile, so their lineage has already ended. I will destroy the trees as soon as I examine what the toxins are made of, now that I have it in its purest, deadly form.
As for the spotted trees, I have decided to sow the seeds of the lighter spotted tree and feed it with only clean Energon now.
We are entering the fifth year of my isolation, which means I don't have much time left.
I will most likely not be able to complete my research.
The best thing I can do now is clean the air in here as much as I can, dispose of the pollution in the Energon and trees I have as well as possible, before I die.
Because even when I die, my research cannot be abandoned. It cannot be ignored. It has to be continued.
Even if I am not the one continuing it.
So if someone else is to take over for me when my time comes, I better have the place be as little hazardous as possible.
No more feeding the trees contaminated Energon. No more polluting the clean Energon I have.
I have to make this work.
Entry #49
Solar cycle 1441, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 1, stellar cycle 5.
Four years have now passed since Vos was destroyed and I secluded myself inside this lab. There isn't much Energon left in my storage. If I am to continue my experiments, I may not even have enough left for a whole year. I will have to use these cubes extremely wisely now.
For that reason, I have chosen to only care for two trees now, both of them which I feed with clean Energon. As for the rest of my contaminated Energon, the contaminated trees and fruits, I have fed all those to the older trees still alive and healthy in the lab. First, of course, I made sure to harvest all the fruits on them so they don't create more polluted fruits.
It takes about three months for each tree to fully absorb and expel the pollution in their containment fields, whether it be the Energon or the soil.
But by feeding all the trees, minus the two that have recently sprouted with slightly lighter dark spots, the refining and cleansing process should go faster. In theory, anyway.
I did say before that I was not going to contaminate any more cubes or pollute any more air, but it is also hazardous to keep the pollution in solid form, as someone could accidentally eat something and die. Maybe. I don't know, I just like to take precautions.
Even if those precautions mean the air is going to be very polluted in here now.
Anyway, to talk about something else, I decided to examine the chemical make-up of the black trees and their fruits, to see what the pollution is made up of.
It seems the pollution has almost entirely changed the palladium of the plants' natural composition, and the pollution seems to be largely made of carbon. There is also a smaller percentage of sulphur and phosphorus, but carbon is the main component here. Where does all this carbon come from?
From what I recall, the air on Cybertron contains various non-metals, carbon included, usually in the form of carbon dioxide, but usually they don't do any harm to the environment.
However, when certain changes in the air and environment take place, such as a fire, the carbon dioxide involved sometimes gets turned into a substance known as carbon monoxide, very toxic and dangerous. Perhaps the carbon monoxide waste from a fire could potentially pollute nearby Energon, whether a cloud or a stream, thus contaminating the entire deposit?
The industrial work in the cities have used a lot of fire and heat to smelt metals to create materials for construction. And accidents do happen. And fires do tend to grow out of control.
Could this be part of the reason why the Energon in the cities is so contaminated and dangerous to the touch? Is it all because of carbon monoxide?
There could be other elements in play too, of course. The small amount of sulphur and phosphorus could also do some damage, and there may be others as well that are too small for my current equipment to detect. But because of their small percentages, I strongly believe the toxicity is due to the carbon.
Other than the carbon dioxide in the air, Cybertron has oil springs with oil in it, which also contains carbon, and there are plenty of areas that has steel and other alloys with carbon as a component. Cybertron is full of carbon, we just don't notice it because it's never in its purest form.
The only place I know of that consisted of pure carbon is Crystal City. I have never been there, despite my advanced intellect and its elite science institute, but from what I have researched about it, it seems the crystals are made of diamond, one of the hardest crystalline objects in the galaxy and one of only two substances that are made of pure carbon. The other is graphite, which looks closer to coal and stains like it too. But even coal is not pure carbon - it may also consist of hydrogen, sulphur, phosphorus and other non-metals.
Diamonds are extremely rare on Cybertron, and Crystal City was the only of its kind. I watched on the Grid when it was destroyed. Despite the tragedy, it was... extraordinarily beautiful. Like with the deadly black fruits I grew. It was a beauty that shall never be repeated, for it was both a tragedy, and there is not enough diamond to make another Crystal City.
Crystal City will never be rebuilt in the glory it used to be. Its era has ended.
Like I said, carbon exists in many forms and in many components. It is everywhere, but we never notice it, which is probably why I didn't think of carbon as the source of the pollution until just recently.
Oh, and just to clarify, I am not saying that carbon is the villain here. It is not carbon that is dangerous here. After all, steel is a good and strong metal, which contains iron and carbon, and oil is essential to our health as a lubricate, and it is made of carbon and hydrogen.
The true villain here is carbon monoxide. Which is created through incomplete burning of something. It doesn't really matter what it is, because there is so much carbon dioxide around us that there will always be remnants of coal and carbon after a fire goes out. Even when we get burn marks on our armor, the blackness is a result of the carbon being exposed on our armor. We contain carbon, even if just a very tiny small amount. Even if we are not carbon-based life-forms, we still contain carbon. After all, there are carbon-based life-forms that contain metal. From what I have heard, anyway.
This could also explain why the trees absorb some of the carbon. They make the carbon part of their dexterity, but only a small amount, as they do not seem to absorb enough to contaminate themselves permanently, and the air expelled is still largely polluted, though slightly cleaner than before.
If it is carbon monoxide which causes the pollution, there is not much we can do to eliminate it or prevent it.
The only thing we can do is try to find cleaner ways to producing certain things and in the smelting of metal for construction materials. As well as make sure fires don't get out of hand and don't produce black smoke. It is the black smoke that contains carbon monoxide and which is toxic and dangerous, even to bots.
Hopefully the toxins I have fed my old trees with will get cleansed enough to make this lab safe to work and live in, by the time I have to go.
I hope I have enough time left...
Entry #50
Solar cycle 1471, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 2, stellar cycle 5.
The saplings are growing larger, at a slightly faster pace than the previous ones, thanks to the exclusive diet of clean Energon. The spots seem to be lighter than their predecessors, even lighter than the fruits they came from. This is promising.
The other trees are getting dark spots from absorbing the toxins from their contaminated Energon and soil, which I made by grinding up the toxic black trees and fruits, as well as the other spotted trees and fruits, as I do not want these things to end up in the wrong hands, or to accidentally get eaten by some idiotic fool. I want just the clean, healthy trees in here.
The saplings are not getting any contaminated Energon or soil, so they do not get any darker spots than they already have, and they continue to grow steadily.
So far, so good. In two months, the toxins should be completely expelled into the air, which I can then collect.
The trees should not be making new fruits for another three months, so I am not worried that I will accidentally make new toxic fruits.
Once they start to bud, however, it will take another four months before I can give them more contaminated Energon or soil to cleanse. And even with the number of trees I currently have, it may not be enough time for me.
I really don't want to have to store toxic substances in my lab, but I don't want to have to plunge it into the environment either. Nature already has enough to deal with at the moment without my interference.
I just have to do what I can until I run out of Energon.
And then figure something out then.
Entry #51
Solar cycle 1501, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 3, stellar cycle 5.
The saplings are growing bigger, faster without having to absorb and expel pollution. In two months, they should start budding.
As for the other trees, the Energon and soil in their containment fields seem to be almost completely toxin-free, which means they will soon start to expel the toxins into the air whilst making some of the carbon part of their structure.
I am a bit concerned how polluted the air is going to be in here afterwards, but I am already too contaminated myself to be saved. I'll just have to make do with the time I have left to make sure the pollution is as thinned out in here as possible.
I have a little over twenty Energon cubes left, which isn't much, especially with my experiments and everything. Especially considering the number of trees I have which I give polluted Energon once every few months now.
I really wish I could just go outside and get Energon. I could just go quickly over to the osmium forest and get some Energon from the river. I could live longer. I could do my experiments longer.
... but no. I can't.
There is a possibility I will be attacked while out there. And I alone can do nothing to defend myself.
Besides, I recently checked my pollution levels, and they don't look good.
And, for the first time since I started this project, I don't feel so good either. I don't know if this is my hypochondria, or if I'm actually starting to get sick.
I'm not even entirely sure if this pollution in the air is enough to actually kill a Cybertronian, even if hundreds or thousands of years pass, millions even. I don't know.
I can only estimate. But it doesn't look good. And this much pollution can't be good for anyone, not even us bots that are made of metal and don't breathe gasses to survive, but only for ventilation.
All I know is... I don't feel well. I've been feeling a bit dizzy today. Not much, but still noticable compared to the majority of my life.
I don't know if this is due to the pollution in my body, but my hypochondria says so.
I will just have to stay strong and see how it goes throughout the next month.
Entry #52
Solar cycle 1531, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 4, stellar cycle 5.
Waiting for my next Energon cube wasn't so easy this month. Even after my years of rationing now and having gotten used to one cube a month, I was near fatigue just a week ago. The dizziness that began last month also hasn't gotten away. I wouldn't say it's gotten worse, but it hasn't gone better either.
I feel awful, and I don't even know if what I say is entirely grammatical correctly. Honestly, I don't care anymore if what I say is correctly executed or not. I just need to get my message across.
Anyways, about the saplings. They've grown bigger, there seems to be something that looks like the beginning of buds, which is faster than they have gone thus far.
As for the adult trees, their spots have disappeared now, which means the pollution is in the air now. I will collect it later with my vacuum machine and check its potency. The toxins, I mean. In the air.
I sincerely hope this dizziness will disappear within the next month. I will eat some healthy fruits to lessen the need for more Energon, and hopefully to sate the dizziness I have in my head.
Only time will tell, I guess.
Entry #53
Solar cycle 1561, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 5, stellar cycle 5.
The small trees have budded now, and the buds are already starting to open into flowers. Clearly, feeding them with clean Energon is better than with contaminated Energon.
Speaking of clean Energon, I feel a little better today than last month, with the help of some palladium-papayas from the healthy trees, and a cube of clean Energon just now. The dizziness has decreased a bit, but it hasn't gone entirely away. Hopefully enough that my grammar is better now.
Oh well, the small worries of life.
I am excited to see how the light-spotted trees' flowers and fruits will look like, and what their offspring will look when growing in likewise clean Energon.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the older trees have also starting budding, so I can't give them contaminated Energon now. This should mean that the fruits will grow normally.
Also, I collected all the polluted air in here, and Primus, the pollution is worse than when I first discovered the polluted air in the lab.
I am uncertain whether to contaminate any Energon cubes and how many, or if I should keep the pollution in the vacuum machine, at least until the fruits can be harvested.
I suppose I will just wait and see until next month.
Entry #54
Solar cycle 1591, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 6, stellar cycle 5.
This is madness.
Last month, the dizziness I had in my head had almost disappeared thanks to a steady diet of healthy palladium-papaya fruits, but now I have run out, and two days ago I not only got dizziness in my head again, but now I also have a headache. Even after taking my monthly Energon cube, it hasn't gone away.
I feel awful, but hopefully it will decrease throughout the day. I will not have any more edible fruits in another three months. I hope it's not just the fruits that keep the pain at bay. Hopefully the pure Energon will as well, even if only for a little bit.
Anyways, for the report.
All the trees have bloomed, and I have pollinated all of them.
Did I ever explain how I pollinate them without beryllium-bees? I don't think I did.
Well, in that case, perhaps I should take some time to do just that.
So, in case you don't know, metalo-plants sprout flowers which send off a sweet scent that attracts insectoids such as beryllium-bees. The beryllium-bees land on the flowers and suck up sweet nectar produced by the plant itself, which they return to their hive with to turn into honey, which is very nutritious and sweet and is good against oxidation and tastes excellent in oil tea.
Anyways, while the beryllium-bees suck up that sweet nectar, their legs and bodies are caught in tiny magnetic metal atoms, which are the pollen of the flower they sit upon. When the bee takes off and lands on another flower of the same species, the metal pollen gets attracted by the other flower and sticks to it, thus fertilizing the flower. Afterwards, a fruit will start to grow, which has seeds inside, which can spawn a new plant.
This is how metalo-plants reproduce in the wild, using nectar to attract beryllium-bees, and as you now know, beryllium-bees are extremely important for this process.
I'm not sure how the plants produce nectar or what it's made of, since honey is a rarity, especially now with the dwindling nature. But it appears the plants only produce nectar to attract the beryllium-bees for pollination. Perhaps I should sample some of the nectar from my trees and take a closer look at it.
Regardless, from what I have researched, this is also the case of organic plants on alien worlds and how they reproduce.
But Cybertron is a metallic planet, and all life originally comes from the AllSpark. That is, all life that has a Spark.
But metalo-plants have no Sparks, at least none of which have been documented yet. So where did they originate from?
I have been thinking about the possibility of tiny, elusive Sparks existing in the roots of the plants, but I have been unable to conduct this research.
Hey, wait a second... I do have trees in my lab, and they have roots. Maybe I could cut one of them up and check the roots for Sparks?
As much as I hate to sacrifice one of my valuable trees, it seems I have to do it.
For science. For clarity. For the truth.
I will update you next month.
Entry #55
Solar cycle 1621, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 7, stellar cycle 5.
So I did what I said I'd do last month. I took one of my healthy trees and cut it over, then pulled up the roots and dissect them to check its inner anatomy.
Nothing. I found nothing. No Spark, not even anything resembling a solid extinguished Spark from having killed the plant. Nothing.
Or are the plants' Sparks so miniscule, so elusive that the moment I uproot them and cut them open, the Spark extinguishes, and the solid body becomes indistinguishable from the rest of the plant?
I can only theorize. I do not want to sacrifice another plant to confirm speculations on whether metalo-plants have Sparks or not.
In any case, aside from the failed test, the other trees have started to grow small fruits. The light-spotted new trees seem to be growing fruits almost without spots. I can barely make out very slightly darker spots on the fruits than on the rest of the trees. This looks promising.
I also tried sampling some of the nectar from both one of the light-spotted trees and one of the older healthy trees to examine its structure. What I found is very interesting.
In the nectar from the spotted tree, which only received pure Energon, I found only palladium, Energon and iron from the soil. The nectar is a bluish gray color and pretty liquid.
In the nectar of the healthy tree, however, I found so many elements. Not only did I find palladium, Energon and iron from the soil, I also found traces of carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, aluminium, lithium, magnesium, potassium... I found so many metals and even non-metals! Not just that, but rather than the blue-gray color and the liquid texture of the spotted tree, this nectar is a reddish orange, kind of like fire, and it's solid, like tiny sticky crystals.
The tree I took this nectar from is one of the trees that recently were given contaminated Energon, absorbed the pollution, purified the Energon and expelled the toxins.
I think I have finally discovered what the metalo-plants are using the pollution for!
Nectar! It's nectar!
Think about it. These trees have absorbed so much pollution with so many impurities from both Energon and soil, but their frames are still only made of palladium! And while the trees do expel the pollution from themselves later, they seem to only release half or a fraction of what they originally absorbed. Where did the rest go?
Nothing just disappears. It simply turns into something else. And in this case, it's nectar.
The trees themselves don't need these extra metals and non-metals, since they only consist of a single metal, in this case palladium.
But beryllium-bees are attracted to this sweet nectar, filled with various metals and non-metals. While the plants don't seem to make a use of them, mechanimals and bots are made of various elements, even some non-metals like carbon. And since nectar and honey are full of anti-oxidants, it's good against oxidation and makes you healthier.
So the plants must produce nectar in order to attract beryllium-bees, because the bees need these elements, and in turn the plants get themselves pollinated so they can reproduce. It's a win-win situation for both sides!
This has to be it. This has to be the reason why metalo-plants absorb this pollution and keeps part of it while expelling the rest.
If only I had beryllium-bees to make honey so I could compare the results with the nectar and see if this theory of mine is actually true...
Since I am a scientist, I can unfortunately not claim this as being true, as it is, like I said before, just a theory. But it's a very solid theory, in my opinion.
If I had enough time, I would look further into this...
There is still one problem about this though.
Why do the metalo-plants only absorb part of the pollution and not the whole thing? Especially carbon seems to be released in great quantities, while sulphur and phosphorus seem to be released in smaller amounts.
Perhaps too much carbon is bad for the plants, just as it is for us bots and the mechanimals. Even if carbon partly makes up steel, a good and strong metal, too much carbon can be dangerous. Especially when it exists in the form of carbon monoxide, which is really toxic and the main part of this pollution problem in the first place. There's too much of it in our atmosphere, Energon and the ground for even the metalo-plants to completely purify.
So now I have apparently found a... possible... answer to why the plants absorb and expel pollution, what they use it for and how it works in the ecosystem of Cybertron.
But... despite this... this knowledge still doesn't give me an answer or even an idea of how to create a cure for those contaminated. I know the origin and function of this pollution, but I still don't know how to solve our crisis.
I still believe the metalo-plants are part of the solution. There are fewer metalo-plants on Cybertron that in the past, and the pollution levels on Cybertron have increased. Perhaps if more metalo-plants were planted and sowed, more of the pollution could be absorbed, converted and purified so our environment wouldn't be hazardous anymore. Maybe even enough for organic life to visit.
But as long as this war is going on, no one can focus on saving the nature of our world. We'll have to wait until the fighting ends. And that could take several thousands or millions of years more.
Until then... I will do what I can to document my findings, keep my research safe and hope it will be continued by others when my time comes.
Now, back to the state of the trees. I am not done with my report yet. I got a little side-tracked there.
So, like I said, the fruits are growing, and the ones on the spotted trees barely have any spots on them, which is a promising development. When the fruits are fully grown, I will sow a few chosen seeds and test a fruit on one of my mechanimals, to see if it survives, and if not, how long it takes before it dies fromt the toxicity.
As for myself, my headache has only grown worse since last month. I can barely keep my thoughts together, I can barely write down my notes properly, I can barely write the written form of my journal entries correctly.
The Energon cube I consumed today did nothing. I feel just as horrible as I did before consuming it.
I am certain another cube of Energon would decrease the pain... but I don't have much Energon left, and I still have to take care of the pollution in my vacuum machine.
Just so I don't get tempted, I am going to put the pollution in half the remaining cubes, one cube for each tree I have... more or less, anyway. I have about eighteen trees in total, I think.
There are so many of them now, and it hurts to think.
I really hope this pain will disappear once I have access to healthy fruits again.
Entry #56
Solar cycle 1651, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 8, stellar cycle 5.
You have no idea how hard it was to pronounce all that correctly. My head hurts so badly, and my vision is starting to get blurry from the pain.
Every day the pain seems to get worse, and the monthly cube of Energon does literally nothing to sate the pain.
My only hope for relief now is the fruits that will ripe in the next month. The fruits are bigger but not ripe yet, so I can't eat them yet.
I am still interested to see how the light-spotted fruits on the two young trees are though, but my headache severely cuts my motivation to continue.
But... I am a strong Vosian. I will push through.
Just one more month. I can do this.
You just wait and see.
Entry #57
Solar cycle 1681, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 9, stellar cycle 5.
I feel a little better today, now that the fruits are ripe and I have harvested them, and I immediately ate a bunch of them along with my monthly cube, until the pain disappeared. I have many fruits now to eat, but if I have to eat a bunch every day to keep the pain away, I don't know how much longer I will last.
Can you die from pain alone? The little research I've done on it suggests yes, you can. So even if the cause of this pain doesn't kill me, the pain itself might bring my systems to an overload and I'll die anyway.
I just noticed today that we're nearing the end of my fifth year in isolation and solitude. Could that have anything to do with my recent headaches? Could this new constant pain and dizziness be a sign?
Ugh, the pain has gone away for now, but now I am worrying for when it will return and what it means! I'm having a really bad time here!
Let's focus on something else. The report.
Right, the report. So like I said earlier, the fruits on the trees have matured and I have harvested them all. I ate the fruits from the healthy trees and sampled some seeds from the spotted trees. I also fed my dexi-squirrel with one of the spotted fruits. Only time will tell if the robo-rodent will survive through the next month.
If not, I will only have three mechanimals left, a lilleth, a petro-rabbit and a robotoppossom. If I have enough time left, I may be able to feed one of them with a fruit of the next generation to see if they will survive completely.
But... if I don't have enough time... what will become of the remaining mechanimal subjects I have?
What will become of my trees and smaller metalo-plants?
What will become of the life I have grown in this lab?
If I die... I will have to either release or kill the mechanimals before I go. But the plants... there's nothing I can do about the plants.
I am uncertain how long metalo-plants can survive without Energon, as I am also uncertain if anyone will ever find this place after I die.
One thing I do know is that metalo-plants do not require much Energon to survive or grow. After all, for each new tree I have sowed and grown, I have only spent one Energon cube, from sprouting to growing mature harvestable fruits!
The Energon is most concentrated in the fruits, which makes sense as the seeds inside would need plenty of Energon and metallic nutrients to grow up into trees. Some seeds even grow inside living bots or mechanimals, sprouting with the nutrients and Energon found inside the bodies of these. In these cases, the host will usually die, though some individuals may be able to purge their tanks in time for the seeds to sprout without being trapped in the host's systems. This, of course, is a win-win situation for both the plant and the mechanimal. Certain species of mechanimals have other ways to... dispose of the sprouts, though these cases are pretty rare and take after many organic alien species.
I suppose I will just have to leave my metalo-plants behind and hope for the best. As long as the seeds of their fruits survive, everything will be fine. Seeds can still sprout even if they are dry and centuries or milennia old and have not been supplied with Energon in all that time. I have done such research earlier in my life.
Anyway, on another note, I have taken the seeds of the spotted trees and sowed a few chosen seeds into two new containment fields. The fruits themselves seem to have very little contamination in them, which will hopefully be even less in this next generation there is to come with these new seeds.
Also, now that the older trees have been harvested of their healthy fruits, I have finally added one contaminated Energon cube to each tree. There do seem to be eighteen healthy trees in total.
Palladium-papaya trees grow new fruits pretty quickly compared to other species of metalo-trees, so these should start to bud in four months already. Which means this could be the last time I use contaminated Energon on my trees.
Hopefully the contamination will be gone or at least almost gone by the next three months.
Otherwise, I will have to come up with a plan for how to dispose of it.
But no plan I can think up has a happy ending.
I suppose I will have to wait and see.
Entry #58
Solar cycle 1711, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 10, stellar cycle 5.
The new seeds have sprouted now, and so far, they seem to be spotless. This is very promising. I hope this means what I think it means.
The older trees are starting to gain dark spots, implying they are absorbing the toxins from the Energon they have been fed with last month. In another two months, they should completely expel these toxins into the air, so I can collect it and analyze the potency of it.
I should also tell you about the dexi-squirrel I fed a light-spotted fruit with. Surprisingly, it is still alive today, though seems a bit ill, like myself. I have fed it some healthy fruits to see if it makes a difference, and it does seem to be doing a little better today than the other days.
The fact that the mechanimal is still alive a month after consuming the contaminated fruit, though ill, is a huge step in my research. I will continue to feed it healthy fruits along with myself and see if it survives, and, to the extent, if it will eventually become toxin-free.
As for myself, I have fed myself with a few fruits every day since last month and feel fine. I am starting to get dizzy again though, but I do not have that Primus-forsaken headache I had earlier. Now, though, if I am to monitor this dexi-squirrel's health, I will have to cut back my supply of palladium-papayas for myself and use them on my dexi-squirrel.
This, of course, will mean more headaches for me in the next time. But I suppose it doesn't matter much.
I have only four Energon cubes left. Even if I don't use any more of it on my trees, I still only have enough for three more months. Maybe four.
But my mechanimals have to fuel too. Though these are contaminated specimens, so no matter how healthy and lively they may seem, I cannot release them into the wild.
When my time comes, I will have to put them down, like I did with the other contaminated specimens. I cannot risk they pass on their contamination to their offspring, or even to the predators that may eventually eat them.
But before that time comes, I will first have to see if the dexi-squirrel will recover from its illness and how much pollution it has left.
If its pollution levels are low enough, or even gone - though I very much doubt that will happen - I may allow it to live and release it into the wild afterwards.
But, well, only time will tell.
Let's hope for the best.
Entry #59
Solar cycle 1741, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 11, stellar cycle 5.
Guess what? The headache I had a few months ago has returned, and it's worse than ever.
Well, I'm probably only saying that because it hurts like the Pits! I actually don't know if it's better or worse than last time, but it doesn't matter, because it hurts like the Pits!
I have only two cubes left now. I spent one cube on feeding my remaining mechanimals. And I have fed the remaining palladium-papayas to my dexi-squirrel, whilst only eating one myself every day since last month. And only eating one daily seems to not be enough to thwart off the pain.
Despite my immense pain and suffering and dizziness and what not, the dexi-squirrel seems to be doing fine. By now, it has recovered from its illness and seems sound as before consuming the spotted fruit. This seems promising.
Unfortunately, after I examined its systems, while it has recovered from its illness, it still has a twenty-one percent pollution level. It is just one percent above the acceptable amount of contamination in living beings... but I'm not sure how to handle this.
I stated myself in an earlier entry that if an individual has pollution levels of twenty percent or lower, it is as good as healthy and out of danger, but beyond twenty percent, it gets more easily sick and has a risk of passing the pollution on to its offspring or the predator that eats it.
Is twenty-one percent high enough to kill it, or is it low enough to let it live?
...
I don't know. I don't know what to do with this.
It seems healthy... and I have put it through so much stress and pain, it would be cruel to just rip away its chance for a happy healthy life.
Then again... it would also be cruel to allow it to live in further pain and suffering if it turns out it is not completely healthy, or it could get sick again. It would be cruel to let it continue to live after all the pain and suffering it's gone through.
This is quite a dilemma... I don't know what to do...
...
We'll make the decision on another date. For now, the report.
The sprouts are growing into fine saplings, still spotless and seemingly healthy and growing big and fast. The older trees are starting to loose their dark spots, and the Energon in their containment fields is looking clean and refined, so the trees are starting to expel the toxins into the air once again.
Next month, when the trees have expelled the toxins, I will collect the air and examine the toxin levels to see how much it has improved since last time.
I may also have to make a decision next month or the month after about what to do with my mechanimals, especially the dexi-squirrel.
...
I think I'll end this entry now, before I get carried away and mark my growing depression.
Entry #60
Solar cycle 1771, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 12, stellar cycle 5.
We are ending the year, and with it, something else as well.
Now that I only have one cube of Energon left, and the cube I fed my mechanimals with has run dry since last month, I don't have enough Energon left to keep all of us alive.
As such, I have just put down the lilleth, petro-rabbit and robotoppossom a few hours earlier today. Now it's just me and the dexi-squirrel.
I have decided to keep the little guy alive, since he seems to be healthy despite his continuous twenty-one percent pollution levels.
Maybe he's fine. Maybe he can survive in the wild and even have offspring and get eaten without passing on that tiny amount of contamination he has in him to anyone else.
Maybe he can have a happy life in the wild.
So until then, I will keep him around, now rather as a pet than a subject, I guess. I kind of want to name him, but know it's a bad idea. If I name him, I will never be able to let him go.
Regardless, I have no palladium-papayas left for either of us, so for me it means headaches that get worse as the days go by. As for the dexi-squirrel... well, we'll have to see if he stays healthy or not. I do hope he does, but if I'm anything to go for, I wouldn't count on it.
Then again, I have a lot more pollution in me than he does. Last I checked, I think I still had about fifty-four pollution in me. Which is an improvement, of course, considering my earlier sixty-something percent, but it's still above the fatal zone.
And considering the state I have been in lately, and considering we are ending the fifth year of my solitude soon, the amount of years I first estimated I would have left to live in, I don't think there's anything I can do for myself anymore.
Originally, I just meant that my five years estimated time left was due to the amount of Energon I had left in my storage. But now, I have come to realize, it is also because of the pollution inside me.
Had I had more Energon, I might have lived longer than the five years I estimated five years ago, even despite my pollution levels. Pit, if I had enough Energon and a team to help me, I might even have been able to find a way to cure myself and others, with the research I've done in the past five years and the discoveries I've made, as well as find an actual cure to this illness.
But sadly, I am a scientist of low funds and alone in a ruined city, almost out of Energon, sick and not strong or well-equipped enough to survive even one more trip to the outside to get more Energon.
I did go out to the osmium forest once several years ago, and it may have sounded like nothing happened, but I was scared the whole time I was out. I was lucky no one showed up, bots or mechanimals, to attack me. I might not be so lucky a second time.
I wonder how I'm going to secure this lab and still make sure someone can find this place? After all, my research is most important...
I'll figure something out later.
For now, I want to tell you how it's going with my trees. The saplings are growing bigger and faster without being polluted by contaminated Energon, and the older trees' dark spots have completely disappeared, which means they have expelled all the toxins into the air. I have collected it in my vacuum machine and examined it.
The pollution levels do seem to be about halved, but there's still too much of it. Frag!
If I give my trees the same pollution again now, they may be able to purify more of it within the next few months, but they will likely bud next month, and then the fruits will become contaminated, and then I have even more problems to deal with!
Which means I have to dispose of this pollution in some other way...
I do have an idea in mind... but I don't like it.
I hope I won't have to use it.
Entry #61
Solar cycle 1801, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 1, stellar cycle 6.
Five years have now passed since Vos was bombed. And I have just now used up my last Energon cube.
I also have some sad news to deliver.
My dexi-squirrel, who seemed to be doing fine a month ago, got sick again last week, and while he didn't die like the others, he continued being in pain, feverish and whimpering. It was a sad sight to see, and I know just how he felt. I too am in great pain, but I have to hold on for the remainder of my research.
But I could not allow this pain to continue for the robo-rodent, so I had no choice but to euthanize him a few hours ago. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. I was beginning to really like the little fellow.
I also failed to not name him. I ended up calling him Dexter. Fitting name, isn't it?
Naming him made it even harder for me to put an end to his life, but as it turns out, twenty-one percent was just too high after all. I can't believe that one percentage makes so much difference.
I am also uncertain what to do with his body. With the other remaining mechanimals, I did the same as the last time I put down my specimens, I grinded them into powder, but I do not have any trees to give the pollution or enough time left to purify the contamination.
I don't know what to do now. I am getting stressed out now that I don't have any Energon left, my head feels like it's about to explode, I can't think straight, I can't use my trees right now because they are creating new fruits, and I can't go outside to get new Energon because I was forged with this forsaken Grounder body!
...
As you can hear, I am quite upset over Dexter's death. As well as for my situation.
With five years passed, my Energon storage gone and the pollution starting to grab a hold of me, I know my time is quickly slipping away.
And since my death seems inevitable, I suppose I know what to do with the remaining pollution I have left in my vacuum machine.
I will use it on myself. When my time comes.
While this much pollution might not be enough to kill a healthy bot on the spot, it might be enough to kill a dying bot.
So... rather than wait for death to come, when my time arrives, I will simply put an end to it right away. Even if it will be very painful for a short while.
Hopefully it will be short.
I... I can barely keep my composure with all this talk about my death... and the growing realization lately that I really am going to die soon.
Oh Primus... I don't like this... I still have research left to do. I still have discoveries to make, I still have to find a cure, so contaminated bots and mechanimals can survive even after having had high pollution levels over the fatal zone.
I am... I don't know how much more I can take of this...
...
A-about the trees...
The saplings are growing bigger, they should be budding soon. The older trees have started budding, they should become flowers in the next month.
I... I need to make a plan for what I have to do from now on.
I will update you soon.
I hope I can survive the next month without Energon or fruits.
Entry #62
Solar cycle 1831, orbital cycle 5, lunar cycle 2, stellar cycle 6.
Ugh... I don't feel so good. I'm hungry, and dizzy, and have a major headache. I feel awful.
And worse yet, I have no Energon to consume and make it all better. I'm just realizing now that the end is truly coming. I'm scared.
But... but I have to be strong. Like the Seekers. Think of the Seekers, Helix. Think of Starscream, Jetfire, Slipstream, the strongest and bravest of the Seekers, the Air Commanders of Vos' military. I must be strong like them. I must push on. I must endure.
Okay... okay, I feel a little better now. Not much, but mentally I feel a bit stronger.
So... the small trees have started budding, and the bigger trees are blooming. The small trees' buds are spotless like the rest of the trees, which is very good. Very promising. It's a good sign.
Okay, now that the report is over, I have something more important to relay in this entry, as I do not know how much time I have left.
First, I must clarify that I am dedicating this entire audio-log to you, the bot who finds this lab and my journal.
You are the one who has to continue my research, keep this lab safe and make sure Cybertron's metalo-plants will survive, no matter how this war will turn out.
Secondly, I want you to know, that I will go outside in a moment and throw my key away. But I will lock the door before the key is thrown outside, so that I will be locked in here, so I do not have a way to escape and change my mind about this.
If you're listening to this audio-log, then you obviously have succeeded in finding it, unlocking the door and finding this lab. In that case, congratulations! You are now the head scientist of this lab and the research within!
The key, lock and door, like the rest of this lab, are made of durabyllium and will thus not be able to be destroyed. This lab can only be accessed via the key, and the key is not a normal key. It's not a key-card or any of those old long ones with a strangely shaped tip and a loop in the other end.
No, this key is a ring. More specifically, it's a ring for the middle digit, you cannot wield it on any other finger, remember that. The ring itself has a special pattern of an hourglass, this is a very important detail.
Now, as for the lock, it is a very complex one. It doesn't have a key-hole or a crevice for a key-card. Instead, it's got a hollowed section that has the same pattern as the hourglass on the ring, as well as the roundness of the ring socket itself, but also with four fingers clenched into a fist surrounding it, the ring being on the middle finger.
Uh, this, of course, means that you have to have five fingers to be able to unlock and enter this lab. I, uh... didn't really think about that.
I am truly sorry for all four-fingered or three-fingered or even none-fingered bots. But this is how I have designed my lock, please don't judge me for it.
Anyway, I actually don't know why I'm explaining all this, because if you find this audio-log, you've already figured out the puzzle and thus there's no need for me to explain it!
The only thing that's really important for you to know about the ring is that under no circumstances whatsoever must you lose the ring, lock yourself in this lab with the ring outside, OR ESPECIALLY NOT LOCK YOURSELF OUTSIDE THE LAB WITH THE RING INSIDE IT! IF THE RING IS LOCKED INSIDE THE LAB, IT CAN NEVER BE OPENED AGAIN AND ALL MY RESEARCH WILL BE LOST AND WASTED AND I WILL HAVE SACRIFICED MY LIFE AND OTHER LIVES FOR ABSOLUTELY NO FRAGGING REASON! DO YOU HEAR ME?! DO NOT LOSE THAT RING!
Ahem.
Now that we've covered that, let's move on to the next item of importance.
In this lab, I have several textbooks on various subjects, but the most important ones are my biology books that I have written myself. You will know them by the signature of Professor Helix of Vos University. Don't bother with the other books, they are highly inaccurate. Mine are the correct ones. Read them.
Furthermore, I have various pieces of equipment for the research and experiments I have conducted, equipment that you will use yourself when you continue my research.
I doubt my metalo-plants are still alive by the time you discover this lab, so don't bother trying to make new ones.
Instead, what I want you to do is go out and collect as many seeds of as many different species of metalo-plants, both trees, grasses, flowers, bushes, reed, meshetables, vines and other plants, as possible. They are very important for this planet, and also for our health and the health of the mechanimals that depend on them in the wild.
I have plenty of small cubes in the various cabinets for you to store the seeds in. I also have a label maker, make sure to label each cube with the name of the species you decide to store its seeds of in. Don't mix the various species in the same cubes, it could mean disaster, and it could turn out that a species you thought had plenty of specimens of is actually extinct because you put the wrong seeds in the cube.
Also, some seeds might not function well among other species, so some might actually die while they are stored away. Make sure that doesn't happen by keeping the species apart in their own containers.
If you run out of small cubes, there are over a hundred large cubes that used to contain Energon, they can be used too.
I would also ask of you to collect samples of mechanimals, but that task is less important, as mechanimals do emerge from the Well like us Cybertronians. And as such, the mechanimals will return some day, even if it will be a long time.
Just in case, however, you can collect samples of some species of mechanimals, especially endangered ones, but don't collect more than ten samples of each species, as the plants take top priority, and I only have so many empty cubes.
Also, as for the mechanimal samples, they obviously don't come to life like metalo-plants do, but it is becoming well-known these days that certain scientists have successfully cloned other bots with empty Protoforms, gained from random bots and stripped off their armor and life, reduced to blank Protoforms to be used for cloning of other already existing bots. These Protoforms could potentially still become their own bots again with a large enough supply of Energon, but they will most likely be used for cloning and thus lose their individuality, though it is possible they could obtain individuality with time.
Anyway, don't use these Protoforms to clone your mechanimal samples. They're two different species and physiologies and it won't work.
But I have heard rumors that the Decepticon scientist named Shockwave is trying to clone Predacons from fossilized remains found here on Cybertron. What he intends to do with them is beyond my knowledge, but certainly Megatron intends to use them in their war against the Autobots. It would not bode well for Cybertron if such horrid creatures were brought back from extinction.
How did I come across these rumors, you ask?
Uh... well...
I surf on the Grid a lot lately. I don't really have anything else to do. I find some obscure articles, videos, news and footages now and then. I think there's a spy among the Decepticons, since there are some secret pages about the Decepticons' plans, such as the plan to clone Predacons. Hopefully this spy will be able to stay hidden and won't be caught blue-handed.
I wonder if there's also a spy among the Autobots? If there's a spy among the Decepticons, and considering the length of this war and all their struggles, it is highly likely both sides have a spy among the other faction.
Where was I? Oh yes, information about the lab.
There are also a few devices in the lab that do some different things. I'm not going to explain what they all do, I will simply leave a datapad with instructions by each of them for you to read yourself.
I can tell you a bit about a few of them though.
Firstly, there's my contaminometer, which is what I call my device to detect pollution in a bot, mechanimal or metalo-plant. Simply take a sample of your Energon, put it in the socket in the device as shown in the instructions, and after a few minutes the device will tell you how polluted you are and how high a percentage you contain. In the same datapad you will also find the description of each pollution percentage to compare to your own, so you can see if you have to worry for your health or not.
Secondly, I have a couple of empty audio-logs in a corner somewhere, which you can use to make your own journal and continue my research and conduct your own. Feel free to make use of it. If you want a copy of this audio-log for some reason, perhaps to make sure it isn't lost, you can easily copy it to one of the empty logs, though it may take some time to download everything as... this is starting to become quite a long log.
Thirdly, I have my vacuum machine, which you will use if you have any suspicions of pollution in the air inside the lab, and to check the potency of the pollution here. Alternately, you can also use it to measure the pollution in this or other cities, as well as forests or Energon deposits for how clean or polluted they are. For the Energon deposits, you can simply use the contaminometer though. I will leave instructions on a datapad on how to use the vacuum machine later.
I also have a label maker, like I said earlier, but that shouldn't be too difficult to figure out how to use. I have a few label makers, just in case. I will leave a datapad for instructions nonetheless, just in case.
I also have a protective visor and a mouth mask lying around somewhere, which you can use if you have to enter an especially contaminated area, or to protect yourself from bio-weapons. I'm not sure if either Autobots or Decepticons are using bio-weapons, but one can never be too careful. I will leave instructions on how to install them onto your face later.
Let's see... is there anything else...? I can't really think of anything...
There aren't any other devices in here that are important for me to talk about in this entry. Whatever other devices are in here, I will just leave instructions on datapads for you to read and figure out for yourself. It shouldn't be a problem. I will try to be as pedagogical as possible. Maybe I'll even leave a few drawings in there if I have the energy to do it.
I will have to conserve my energy as much and as efficiently as possible from now on, so there's not much I can do now.
I will go and throw my key outside now and lock myself in here, so I can wait for death to come.
I will see how long I will last.
If I survive until next month, I will give you an update.
Oh, one more thing. This thing that I have where I take a cube once a month and make a journal entry each month? You don't have to do that as well.
Just fuel when you can, especially if you're a flight frame, because then you can do so much more than I can.
And as for the entries, just make an entry when you feel it's appropriate. It doesn't have to be as part of a specific routine.
This is just one of my eccentricies, my obsessions, my routines to keep me sane and calm. I get easily stressed out if my routines are broken, so I stubbornly keep up with them. Though now, one of these routines are broken, and I do feel a bit stressed already.
But it's nothing you have to concern yourself with. If you have the same needs, you do what you have to do to keep yourself sane and calm. If not, well, you still do what you need to do to keep yourself sane and calm.
Just take care of yourself, stranger.
Make sure you live and survive, and I hope dearly that you will continue my research for me.
Well... until next time. Maybe.
Entry #63
Solar cycle 1861, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 3, stellar cycle 6.
Two months without Energon. It's barely to stand.
My headache and dizziness is growing worse and worse and worse by the day.
But I'm still alive. Surprisingly.
Like I said in the previous entry, I have thrown the key to this lab outside, and I have locked myself inside. Now I cannot escape, I have no Energon, and I am only waiting for Primus to take me back to the AllSpark.
Now that I know there's no escape for me, I feel strangely calm. Yet at the same time stressed, because I am wondering how much longer I have to wait. How much longer I have to feel this pain in my head and the rest of my frame, as the pain is starting to spread all over my body.
Okay, forget about calm. I am never calm, especially now.
Now, the trees.
The smaller trees are blooming, and the older trees are growing small fruits. I pollinated the older trees, I forgot to mention that the last time, and I have just earlier today pollinated the smaller trees' flowers. They are spotless, like the rest of the trees. I am so anxious to see if the fruits will be the same.
Seeing the healthy trees with fruits now, I hope I will survive long enough to be able to eat them. Hopefully eating them will allow me to live a little longer. Be able to conduct my research just a bit longer.
As for the smaller trees...
...wait. I made a mistake.
No... no, no, no! No! I made a mistake!
I killed the rest of my mechanimal subjects prematurely!
I don't know yet if these trees' fruits are healthy or if they still contain pollution. And now, without my mechanimal subjects, I can't find out if they would get sick from eating them or not.
I mean, they look healthy, they don't have any spots whatsoever, but one can never be sure.
Perhaps... I will have to sample one of the fruits when they come and see if there are any traces left of the toxins of their ancestors. But there will not be any fruits on those two trees until next month.
And who knows if I will be able to survive that long? I barely survived two months without Energon.
Can I really survive three?
I mean, I could go into stasis lock and thus I could survive for milennia without Energon, until someone finds me and maybe is able to save me.
...but no. I can't. I can't be selfish anymore.
My future is fading away as the days go by now. Every day I watch my life flash before my eyes, wondering if my time has finally come. Stressing out, and disappointed that Primus continues to make me wait.
Perhaps this is my punishment? For making my mechanimal subjects suffer like they did, for the sake of my research? Is that it?
Is this my punishment for trying to save Cybertron? For trying to find a solution through unethical means?
No matter. If this is my punishment, then I will take it. I will wait, no matter how long I must wait.
The only thing that matters is making sure Cybertron's metalo-plants will survive to make sure the rest of Cybertron survives as well.
Give me your best shot, Primus. I don't fear death.
...
Not much, anyway.
...
Okay, I am a bit scared. But mostly because of the unknown. And because of the waiting.
Just... don't make me wait much longer, please? Don't make me suffer more than necessary, okay?
Listen to me, begging a deity for mercy, like some priest. I am a scientist, not religious.
I... don't know what else to say.
I am in pain. And I am waiting.
I'll... update you next month.
If I'm still alive then...
Entry #64
Solar cycle 1891, orbital cycle 4, lunar cycle 4, stellar cycle 6.
Ugh... I feel so weak...
Three months without Energon is... really hard on me.
Let's get this over with quickly.
The small trees are finally growing fruits, and I have plucked one of the small fruits prematurely, to examine it. It seems healthy enough. I don't see any pollution in it. Maybe one percent or five percent, but that is lower than ten percent and nothing to worry about.
As far as I'm concerned, I have just bred the toxins out of this lineage of palladium-papaya trees. That, at least, I can call a successful experiment.
So... to conclude, pollution can be bred out of both mechanimals and metalo-plants over a few generations. As long as they are fed with pure, clean Energon, the toxins will eventually disappear.
I still do not have an answer to the problem with the pollution in the air, and I likely won't for what little time I have left to live in.
I may sound fine right now, but I am incredibly weak. I am starving, I am in deep and utter pain, and I am straining myself so much just to stand up and keep my voice from trembling.
...
Yeah, I don't think I have long left. A few days maybe. A week tops. Definitely not another month.
The bigger trees' fruits have grown bigger, but... they're still not ripe yet. I can't eat them yet.
This is so cruel... right there in front of me, eighteen trees filled with fruits that are almost ripe, and I can't eat them yet.
Why can't I eat premature fruits, you ask?
Well... you see, when fruits are still growing, they are incredibly hard, even those made of precious soft metals like palladium. Furthermore, they taste incredibly bitter or sour and are mostly inedible. For the fruits to be ripe, they have to easily pop off the branches they are attached to. If they don't budge with a light pull, they are not ripe yet, and you are better off not eating them.
I have tested all the fruits on the trees today and yesterday, and none of them are ripe. I will continue testing them the next few days, for as long as I live yet, to see if they are ready.
I may become desperate though. Maybe desperate enough to try eating unripe fruits anyway.
...
I don't really want to end this entry.
This... may be my last entry, the last time I'm talking to someone. And that someone... is not even listening right now, as I am talking. It's a recorder I'm talking to. Someone in the future.
That's... actually fascinating. I am speaking to the future. As someone from the past.
This... is a... what's it called... a time box? A time message? I can't really recall its term...
Well, whatever it's called, this is a message to the future.
If there still is a future, that is.
If I could, I would go out and collect the specimens I need for the rest of my research. I would go out there myself and collect the seeds and samples of mechanimals that are necessary.
But I can't. I am stuck here.
It is up to you to continue my research, stranger. It's up to you to collect the seeds and mechanimal samples.
Mechanimal samples can be anything from teeth, claws, horns, optics, ears, pelt spikes, shells, eggs or anything else you can find.
The mechanimals will only be able to be brought back with the help of cloning devices, which you will have to figure out yourself.
The seeds, as well as leaves, roots, bark, stems or whatever else you can find of various metalo-plants, especially meshetables as many of these don't have seeds, you will have to keep in safe storage and wait for the right time until you can sow them and grow new plants to inhabit Cybertron.
Make sure the metalo-plants are sowed and planted before you bring back the mechanimals.
The mechanimals will need the plants to survive on.
Continue my research. Teach others what you have learned here. Make sure the Cybertronians of the future know what to do to keep our planet safe, alive and healthy.
Make sure you find a solution to the problem with the pollution in the air. No matter the methods necessary. No matter how unethical methods you must use.
I have scanned the entire lab and made sure everything in here is sterile and clean. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to air pollution in here.
If you are contaminated yourself... do what you must to cure yourself. You are very important in my research, to continue my research. Make sure you are healthy yourself.
I wish I could meet you... I feel like I have bonded with someone I do not know the name of, someone I have not met, someone I will never meet, someone I will never come face to face with. It's... kind of sad... but at the same time... a relief.
I hope... you feel the same bond that I feel right now, bot of the future.
I hope you will use my research well, and that you will thrive and prosper, and that you will find a solution.
I hope you become the hero we all need right now.
Please save Cybertron.
Do it for me.
For Professor Helix.
Your friend... and teacher.
...
I will end this now. As much as I hate to.
If I survive through the next month... I will make sure to update you.
If not... I will... probably not.
...
Goodbye for now.
Entry #... 65
Solar cycle... 1893... orbital cycle... 4... lunar cycle... 4... stellar cycle... 6...
I... cannot... do this... anymore... My strength... is slipping... My consciousness... is fading...
I have made... much progress... over the last five years... but it is... not enough...
I still haven't... collected the specimens... needed...
I need... someone to... take over for me...
Whoever is out there... listening... please... help me.
I don't have long... so I will make this quick.
I have locked... the door. The key... is outside somewhere... waiting for someone... to find it.
The lab is made... of durabyllium. Nothing... will penetrate it. Only... the key will open... the lab.
The lab... is sterile. This room... is safe to stay in.
You must continue my... research... in my stead. You must... help save Cybertron... in the long run.
Find and collect as many... specimens of... metalo-plants and... mechanimals as you can...
Keep the CNA samples... safe. The small cubes will do. As will... the larger ones.
If you are a scientist... please, do what you can... to continue my research...
If you are not a scientist... learn. There are datapads in the shelves... which will teach you what you need... to know...
I do not care... if you are a good bot, or bad... just please... have some consideration for our planet...
Use my log for your own research... if you skipped ahead to the last entry... I bet you did... after all, sixty-five entries is a lot... heheh...
Remember me or forget me... I do not care. All I care about... is that Cybertron will still be there... when I return from the Well of All Sparks...
Use my knowledge... and use it to expand your own...
Make your own discoveries... and do what I could not... find a solution to our predicament...
Do not let the Autobots... and Decepticons... destroy Cybertron.
Be the hero... that no one will notice. The hero... who will save us all...
A true hero does not care for fame... and a true scientist does not care for Shanix... and a true Cybertronian does not give up...
I give you my legacy, stranger... May you use it well...
...
My time... has come...
I cannot... hold on... any longer...
I will now... join with the AllSpark... and hope... for the future...
'Til all... are one...
...
...
...
*click*