Alright! There's a reasonably high chance that I'm going to be doing a lot of writing starting Monday, because I'm going on a three week training course to the other side of the country and won't spend so much time gaming. Primus give me strength.
Anyhoo! Hope you all enjoy this one!
It was done.
It took five months, but it was finally done.
Their base was fully set up, electricity, plumping, heating.
Enough berthrooms for them all, with room to expand, and enough amenities to support their needs.
Behind his mask, Optimus couldn't wipe the beaming grin off his faceplates.
He was standing in the rec room, an actual rec room.
They hadn't had one of these since Polihex was bombed into non-existence.
Jazz had already claimed the bar in the corner as his personal pet project, the mech already rustling around loading the shelves with all sorts of mineral additives he'd been collecting since they'd arrived in Hawaii.
Prowl was already perched on one of the barstools, working on one of his datapads.
He'd spotted Jazz steal at least two kisses already.
It was refreshing to see.
He glanced over to where they'd managed to make a to-scale pool table.
Hound had discovered an affinity for it after being dragged into a bar by a group of tourists he'd ended up hiking with.
They'd managed to make the pool cues out of some spare metal, and the balls were bowling balls that had had their finger holes filled in.
He could imagine there being some fairly intense games in the future.
Deciding to go check on a few other places, he stepped out, knowing that his top active priority was to go speak with N-0V4 and Wheeljack, now that their shared lab was finally all set up.
The lights inside were dimmed when he opened the door.
Both occupants helms swung around.
He noted that N-0V4 had recently topped up the blue dye for her optics, he couldn't spy any red in them yet. He closed the door behind him, knowing they'd designed the lab to be pretty much everything proof, it took a few moments for the massive door to close and lock. "Any luck yet?" He asked.
N-0V4 offered him a weary smile. "Not yet, we're still working on getting the scanner to tune to the right frequency, but we're having some difficulties…"
"Difficulties?" He enquired, moving to observe the screens the two scientists were looking at.
He'll be the first to admit, he wasn't the most scientifically gifted mech about, most of what was displayed went right over his helm, but the remnant frequency from the Allspark was pretty obvious with how it was displayed as a complicated waveform on the screen directly in the middle.
"Yes, the frequency we're using is what was left behind after the Allspark was lost, which means it is a much weaker reading than what the Allspark produces outright…" N-0V4 explained.
"So we took that into consideration, and decreased the sensitivity of the scanner by 40%, thinking that would be enough." Wheeljack continued, picking up the scanner that was on the desk between them.
"We turned it on down here to make sure it worked, and well…" N-0V4 looked to Wheeljack, who after a moments hesitation, turned it on.
The scanner screamed, blaring a painful whitenoise that had Optimus and N-0V4 clutching at their audios for the few moments it took for Wheeljack to turn it back off.
N-0V4 cleared her vox. "We're… still working on the sensitivity… we don't know how long after the Allspark was jettisoned this reading was taken. Which means we have two possible problems."
"Best case scenario, the reading was taken after a period of time long enough for the frequency to become incredibly faint, meaning Skyfire likely took it long after all the chaos surrounding the incident calmed down. Meaning that the Allspark's actual output is insanely high, and our scanner is being buffeted from all angles, making it impossible to gauge the direction it is in."
Optimus held his servo up. "Wait, you mean, it is here, the scanner is picking up the Allsparks unique frequency?!" He asked, his excitement building.
They glanced at each other, and N-0V4 offered him a tentative smile. "It sure does look like it Optimus." She answered him.
He could have leapt for joy.
He did laugh, really laugh as he pulled both of them up into a tight hug. "It's here! It's here!" He cheered as they laughed and joined in on the private little celebration.
One he set them both down, Wheeljack cleared his throat. "Well, that's where the worst case scenario becomes… a thing… the Allspark was given as a gift by Primus so that we could, you know, bolster the population faster than our natural method… it… likely wasn't designed to be… unphased by being shot out of a cannon… or the forces of entry into Earth… It could very well be that it… shattered on the way in, and caught the right angle that it rained down all over the place."
His finals had drooped further and further as Wheeljack continued to explain, dread sinking in.
N-0V4 got up. "But hey! If it's signal is this strong, it is probably still intact! We just need to keep turning down the sensitivity!" She explained, trying to raise his spirits some more.
And that's what they did, Optimus watching and staying out of the way as they brought the sensitivity down to just five percent.
Once again, it screamed.
Wheeljack shut it right back off. "Pits be damned how potent is this thing?!" He exclaimed. "It's acting like it's in the room with us!"
N-0V4 hummed. "Maybe there's something we're missing here… The Allspark likely arrived here Millions of years ago… and we've dug through millions of years worth of volcanic rock to make this base… perhaps when it arrived, it's output was absorbed by the porous rock into its very structure? Take it up to the surface and check? I'll start working on a secondary even less sensitive sensor." She suggested, already reaching into one of the shelf cubbies to pull out a new scanner.
Wheeljack nodded. "Yeah, we can try that, still dark out, c'mon Prime."
Soon they were above ground, and Wheeljack had turned it down to just two percent.
"Here goes our hearing." He mumbled, and flicked it on.
It didn't scream.
Wheeljack blinked. "What…" He mumbled, swinging the device around.
At one point, it did beep, and he swung back to that point.
A steady stream of beeps left the scanner.
To their surprise, it was from the direction of the Hangar the access point to their base was hidden in.
"Perhaps N's suggestion about the ground radiation was correct?" Optimus mused as they walked back over.
"Then we go back down and see what layer of rock it is? Then we just figure out how old it is and go from there!" Wheeljack exclaimed excitedly, before Optimus managed to get him to quiet down.
The scientist acquiesced that, staying quiet as they both followed the beeps.
They got only got a bit louder when they reached the base's level.
Both of them frowned behind their masks.
"Maybe I turned it down too much? But that's a big change… from five to two percent…" He mumbled.
Luckily most bots were enjoying their newly installed berths… or trying to break them, so they were free to roam about, trying to find out why the scanner wasn't screaming as much anymore.
When no answers came, they went back to the lab.
As soon as the heavy door creaked open, the scanner lit up with a shrill scream.
N-0V4 jumped in her seat, looking over in surprise as Wheeljack fumbled to turn off the scanner, not wanting it to risk waking any bot up anymore than they would be from the racket. "Sorry!" He hissed, both mechs stepping inside and closing the door behind them.
N-0V4's wings twitched. "So… no luck?"
Wheeljack scowled. "I don't get it… it barely reacted at all outside, but as soon as the door opens, it goes crazy…"
N-0V4 frowned. "Maybe the scanner is picking up something else? Here, I finished setting up this one, it's has a quarter of the sensitivity as that one." She held out the scanner to him.
He hummed, dropping the sensitivity down to five and turned it on.
A steady thrumming beep answered them.
Optic ridges raise, Wheeljack aimed it about, the sound varying. "Maybe…" He mumbled, beginning to walk around.
Optic ridges furrowed however, when it got quieter in any direction other than the computers.
Wheeljack investigated, only for the sound to decreased again.
Optimus watched all of this, concerned. "Wheeljack, may I try something?" He asked.
Wheeljack nodded. "Sure thing Prime, see if you can make sense of this."
He hummed, and aimed it directly at N-0V4.
The scanner got even louder, and stayed like that as he stepped around the Seeker, who's jaw was starting to fall open.
Optimus hummed. "N… I think we need to go to the med bay…"
She gulped and nodded.
Ratchet wasn't the most enthused to be hailed, he'd been working the nightshift at the hospital, but had managed to excuse himself for the night and had turned off his holoform.
"Alright, what did you two manage to do on the first night of having your lab?" He asked, looking between N-0V4 and Wheeljack, confused when he realised neither of them were smouldering or missing limbs. "Why are neither of you smouldering?"
N-0V4 let out a small chuckle. "Hello to you too Ratchet… Optimus?"
"Can you check N's spark signature for us Ratchet?" He asked. "It's for a project."
Ratchet looked to N-0V4 with concern. "Alright… but no playing with her systems Wheeljack, understood?"
Wheeljack saluted. "Can do."
Ratchet rolled his optics and pulled out his much more advanced scanner. "Alright, up on the berth, and you two, get out."
They didn't need to be told twice and quickly made themselves scarce.
Ratchet put the scanner back down. "Alright, spill. What's going on here. I need to know if you two are going to do something stupid and if I need to be on standby for it."
Ratchet would have to know sooner or later she decided. "We… may be trying to locate the Allspark… Optimus found records from my Grandsire that pointed to Earth… that's why it was chosen… it's somewhere on the planet." She admitted.
He blinked, seemingly turning over that information in his helm. "And they want to scan you… why?"
"Because we have a record of what the Allsparks' frequency was… but the scanner keeps going crazy around me…" She admitted.
He hummed, picking his medical scanner up. "Project it for me."
She nodded, projecting the frequency so he could look at it.
He looked it over. "That's not a spark signature if that's what you're worrying about." He copied it onto his scanner and fiddled with his settings. "Let's see what this one says. It only scans a very small area, it's meant to find anomalies in the spark, but I've tinkered with it over the war to give it some more versatility…" He got it running and aimed it over her spark chamber.
Only a soft beep came out.
"Alright, so, confirmed, it's not your spark chamber… So…" He nudged her to roll on her side and aimed at the turbine mounted between her wings.
Same small beep.
"Well… it's picking up something, but not there either…"
He paused for a minute, and looked down towards her abdomen. "N… Did Shockwave ever say… what he was doing to you?"
She gulped. "He… He just said… he was making me more… efficient…"
"Well, you certainly are, we've been aware for a long time you need a lot less energon than most seekers… Alright… are you okay with me scanning that area?"
She took a moment before nodding. "I am… do it."
The scanner lit up with a loud, insistent string of beeps.
Ratchet turned it off. "Exact match… But there's no way Shockwave could have gotten access to the Allspark… he wasn't online when it was jettisoned…"
She sat up, servo going to her abdomen. "Then… what's inside me?"
Ratchet pulled in a vent. "Quite honestly? I have no idea… but it has the same frequency as the Allspark. We're going to figure this out, somehow."
Rubs hands together Hee hee!
Until next time!
Moon.