"You idiot! Why did you give him the Ilis Equation?"

Shockwave intently listened to Headmaster shout violently at the professor down the hallway; they believed they were completely out of earshot. Shockwave could still make out the bitter argument clearly, but that might have been due to the dials affixed to his audio receptors. He could increase or completely shut out how much he could hear.

The Iacon Council was incredibly quiet, the only commotion uttering from the aged ventilation overhead. Shockwave was told to remain on a glossy, ebony bench in the hallway, awaiting the Council's decision. Mother was standing before him, also attentive to the muffled hollering.

"It was randomized! I had no choice who got what equation."

"You could have at least given him something that wouldn't endanger us all! You know he is gifted. Why wouldn't you give him something about fluids mixing or even just velocity principles?"

"It was an accident!"

"Accidents, accidents! Those are what kills us all! There are warlords out there that would be so damn happy to have the information Shockwave just created. I praise him for solving something so incredibly complex, but this solution must be kept as top secret information. If it really even is the solution."

Headmaster bumbled out of the room he and the professor had hidden themselves away in, his armor clanking loudly as he approached Shockwave and Mother. The professor remained in the room, probably still enraged.

"Any word yet?" he asked, utilizing his hands to stop his gleaming wing blades from swaying back and forth.

"No," Mother responded, her simplistic head lowered. "Is it really that bad?"

Headmaster's cerulean eyes widened as shock poured over him; he didn't realize he had an audience. "It could be," he muttered.

"I'm sorry." Shockwave pulled his knees to his boxy chest, his frail hands trembling.

"Oh, you did nothing wrong, Shockwave!" Headmaster slipped in beside the pupil, stroking his back carefully. "You just made history, do you know that?"

"Really?"

"Yes, really! We will have to keep this information under wraps though, and you have to promise you won't tell anyone the solution."

"I don't remember it anymore."

Headmaster's narrow brow lowered as he became swamped with confusion.

"How do you not remember?"

"I don't know. I just could see the solution written out on my tablet, so I copied it, and then it went away. Now I don't remember it anymore."

Headmaster gazed at Mother, begging for a logical explanation for Shockwave's experience. Maybe visions such as this were incredibly common for him.

"You said you just saw it?" Mother asked, her rusty hands neatly clasped at her slender waist.

"Yes. It felt like my brain just exploded."

"Do you feel okay now?"

"Yeah. But I want it to happen again."

"Why?"

"It felt really good, like I had a lot of power."

Headmaster and Mother remained quiet, unsure of how to respond to Shockwave's sudden affinity for prestige.

"It was like I knew everything, but then it all went away. I wish I had a way to see into my subconscious to know how much I really do know."

A Council member hastily slipped out of the auditorium the trio was waiting outside of, and a violet cloak was draped over her sharp shoulders. "Shockwave?"

The youngling turned his attention towards her, swinging his feet over the side of the curvy bench.

"Come in. Are you two his parents?"

Headmaster nodded towards Mother. "She is."

"Shockwave and mother, please come in."

Headmaster became desperate to tag along; he had become somewhat Shockwave's father over the past few solar-cycles. "I am the Institute's headmaster. I don't want to intrude, but -"

"Oh, yes, please do come in." The Council member ushered them in, pushing them further into the room as they slipped through the doorway.

The Council room was gigantic, and a rainbow of Cybertronians gazed welcomingly down at the uncertain guests before them. Some seats were occupied by flickering holomatter figures. The female that had greeted them strode to the head of the room, a beautiful grin pasted to her face.

"Shockwave, please step forward."

Shockwave scuttled up to her, his eye lowered, flustered yet again by unexpected attention. The female gripped his shoulders, her fingers strong, and turned him towards the doorway, making him visible to everyone present. Her hands flew away and something dense dropped around his neck, swinging like Headmaster's loose wings.

"Shockwave, congratulations on solving the Ilis equation. Your solution has successfully passed all simulations and gained approval from the Iacon Council's scientists."

Glorious applause broke out, and Shockwave gazed around, a new sensation flowering in his spark. This...this attention felt very good. They didn't gawk at him like he was a strange insect; it was respect they were giving him. Shockwave lifted his hand, slipping the medal into his palm, staring at the Council insignia carved into it.

"In addition to your historical achievement, you are also the youngest Cybertronian to solve an unsolved equation."

She dropped another shimmering medal around his neck, and Shockwave couldn't help but to do a little ecstatic skip where he was standing. A few chuckles echoed vibrantly around the Council, and Headmaster's fingers slipped over his lovely mouth, his optics joyfully filling with lubricant. Mother rushed forward, embracing her little son.

"I am so proud of you!" she squealed.

"Finally," The Council member dropped yet another medal around his neck, and the medallion clanked against the other two. "you set a record for fastest solving. Congratulations, Shockwave."

Headmaster sprinted forward in the midst of the applause, pulling Mother and Shockwave into his wide embrace. Tears slithered down his cheeks, plopping against Shockwave's head.

"Good job, little one," Headmaster cried, crushing him against his white, polished chest.

. . .

Shockwave hurried along with the group, dashing frenziedly around adults that were casually ambling through the hallways of the Hall of Records.

It had been a stressful night, and Shockwave had been given little time to recharge. The Council had locked his solution away, protecting it from entering the wrong hands. Shockwave understood their concern, and he had no emotional attachment to the solution. He, Mother, and Headmaster had also been instructed diligently to never share information about the Ilis Equation Solution, including that Shockwave had solved it. His identity had to be protected. School was out for the day, but any students that witnessed Shockwave solving it were brought back in to also be instructed.

Brainstorm delicately tapped his tablet against an illuminated lockpad next to the main Database's door, and the bulky doors hissed open, allowing the cluster of children to pour in, admiring the tower above. A hole was ripped into the ceiling, allowing floating platforms to pass through into the rings of computers above.

Crosshairs scampered away, and the rest of the miniature tribe tagged along, wondering what he was interested in. He bounded up to a desk, gazing excitedly up at the Cybertronian poised behind it.

"How old are you?" Crosshairs hollered, bouncing on his toes.

The elderly Cybertronian ceased typing, and he looked down at the green bundle of delight before him. He was obviously humored by the little guest's inquiry.

"How old am I?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Dude, stop bothering Alpha Trion." Ratchet snatched his arm, brutally tugging him away.

Crosshairs freed himself from Ratchet's grip and delivered a flurry of light punches to his chest, forcing him back.

"I am not bothered." Alpha Trion rounded the desk, revealing his surprisingly muscular stature. A worn, muddy cloak flowed across his back and draped over his head, making his wise eyes appear brighter. "Cybertronians your age...amuse me."

"Yeah, he thinks you're a clown, Crosshairs." Wheeljack tightly bear hugged his comrade, attempting to lift him off the ground and drag him away.

Crosshairs was quite a bit taller than Wheeljack, placing them in a strange predicament. Wheeljack bent his back, almost to the point where it appeared painful, but Crosshairs' toes still managed to scrape the ground. They toppled over, and Crosshairs broke out into a fit of giggles, crawling away from his captor. Rung watched them tussle around on the floor.

"Ugh, I'm going," Ratchet grumbled, and he dashed off to the catalogs to search for where the information he desired was located. Soundwave trotted after him, more interested in knowledge than drama.

"So, how old are you?" Crosshairs sat on the ground, his optics sparkling with mischief.

"Oh, let me remember." Alpha Trion's eyes glazed over has he pondered about his age for a minute. "Maybe around a billion?"

"Whoa!" Crosshairs cried, leaping to his feet. "I wanna be that old one day!"

"You will be, don't you worry." Alpha Trion returned to his perch behind the desk, his fingers fluttering away across a keyboard.

Crosshairs clambered up onto the clean desk, attempting to get a look at Alpha Trion's screen. "What are you doing?"

His unruly invasion of the elder's space was met with rambunctious shouts from his onlookers, commanding him to get off the table. Shockwave snagged Crosshairs' feet, yanking him to the ground. Alpha Trion watched merrily from his seat, entertained by the struggle before him.

"Which of you had passes to get in here?" Alpha Trion inquired.

"Everyone except Rung and him," Brainstorm snarled. "We brought them along to be nice."

"Makes sense," Alpha Trion muttered, returning to his archiving.

The group bumbled away, leaving Shockwave with the elder. Shockwave kneaded his hands, shy and timid to ask his question. Alpha Trion's spine creaked as he leaned over the desk, gazing thoughtfully at Shockwave's small form.

"Yes, Shockwave?"

Shockwave's head ripped upward, cautious about how Alpha Trion was aware of his name.

"I helped to secure your Ilis solution. Very amazing and impressive work, young one. Did you need to ask me something?"

"Uh, yeah. Is there anything about the brain here?"

Alpha Trion stood powerfully, but some weakness was evident in his slightly crooked, damaged knees. "I think there is something over there."

Shockwave scampered after Alpha Trion, clutching onto his thick cloak to remain at his side. Alpha Trion gently nudged Shockwave onto one of the platforms, this one docked away and ready for flight. The platform surged up underneath them, delivering them to the first glowing ring of archived data. Alpha Trion tapped a few screens, commanding a hole to split open in the wall. He reached his rugged hands into the opening, pulling out a few datapads.

Alpha Trion put them into Shockwave's hands. "This is what we have available for your level of clearance."

Alpha Trion delivered Shockwave back to the ground level, and a boy around his own age skipped up to Alpha Trion, handing him a stack of datapads. The Hall of Records' light bounced off his polished red and blue armor, casting bands of sparkles through the air. Shockwave was briefly transfixed by the illumination playing across his body before Shockwave yelled "Thank you!" and dashed off to an abandoned corner of the Database.

The information stored away on the tablets was fantastic, and even though he was only gifted three datapads, enormous amounts of material was available to study. He could hear the distant calls of his friends as they rode gleefully up and down on the platforms, gathering their own mini datapads to read later. Shockwave's hands drifted up to his head, his fingers sliding along the long dials on his audio receptors. He forced the vertical stem downward until it touched the horizonal stem, and the world became as quiet as could be.

Soundwave eventually discovered Shockwave huddled away, and he snuggled in beside him, quietly reading his own tablet, trying not to disturb Shockwave's intense reading. The others eventually left the Hall of Records, leaving them alone to silently learn. Soundwave slipped his arm around Shockwave's elbow, linking them together. Shockwave opened his ears up again, gazing quietly at Soundwave.

Soundwave stared into Shockwave's watching eye. "Are you lonely?"

"Lonely? How could I be lonely with all of you guys?"

"I don't know, but I feel lonely sometimes when I am around everyone. I don't really feel lonely around you, though."

"Why?"

"I guess 'cause were both kinda special. You got so many ideas and I got this thing." Soundwave gestured to the vacant compartment embedded in his chest. "Not really sure what it is for just yet."

Soundwave leaned toward Shockwave, pressing his broad mouth plate against the side of Shockwave's long head. A quick, warm shock passed through Shockwave's nervous system, making him feel jittery and accepted. Soundwave sent another spark through his friend, this time starting at his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Shockwave asked.

"It's kisses but for people with no mouths."

"Kisses? For me?"

"Yeah, special people deserve special things."

"How do you do it?"

"Not really sure, but I kinda just touch my face to you and a little surge spreads through my chest like..."

Soundwave launched a comforting jolt again, and Shockwave pressed the side of his head against Soundwave's, trying to force his own shock. His arms tensed up, his tight fingers trembling.

"You're trying too hard; just let your energy flow into me."

Shockwave calmed himself down, and a rumble of electricity erupted upward, transferring into Soundwave. Soundwave darted away, as if something had spooked him.

"Whoa, that was a big one! It felt good, but just be a little bit more gentle."

Soundwave crawled back over to his new young lover, and they shot sparks through each other a couple more times before curling up to read more of the Database information. This relationship felt alien to Shockwave; he had never experienced physical affection from another Cybertronian before. But, even though it was strange, it felt wonderful.