Farewell, Friend
by Michael Greenhut
notes: This story belongs to the TV continuum, and covers the early years between Skyfire and Starscream while they were scientists, showing how and why Starscream became the petty, power-hungry warrior we all know and love to hate.
Skyfire Journal 7E data entry #4
Facts: the carbon puddles are so microscopic that creatures one fiftieth our size would need extensive microscopic technology to see them. Magnified at full power, these puddles resemble insects by shape and behavior. Far simpler than the simplest micro-scraplet, but insects all the same.
Hypothesis: These carbon "puddles" are, in fact, extremely primitive life forms.
Notes: Life forms, made of carbon! Non-metallic! "Intriguing," Shockwave told me. He sounded as if he were admitting to a bad habit. "But have you begun to test this hypothesis, Skyfire? I see you have not. You need not assume disappointment, but save your enthusiasm for the results."
Shockwave is our team leader, and as usual, he is correct. Much testing is always needed before hypothesis can become theory. I fear this prospect has excited me too soon; there is much research that has not yet even begun. Shockwave might put me on leave if he thinks I've lost my objectivity.
I still remember his initial advice when he made me part of this team: "Subjectivity is for subjects. Logic is the observer's only passion. Remember that, Skyfire, if you wish your uphold your immaculate reputation in our laboratory."
Unfortunately, I cannot study these samples further. When I told Starscream my hypothesis, he was so eager to re-examine our findings that he accidentally destroyed them with the heat given off by his instruments. Starscream is oft a professional partner who compliments my work well, but his overzealousness makes mine look like idle curiosity.
I've proposed another trip to Planet 3. Shockwave insists on that name for it, since it is the third planet from that yellow star. It will take us at least a quarter vorn to save up the energy.
-----
Skyfire Journal 7E data entry #5
Facts: Following a rather unscientific whim, I reexamined the destroyed data! I found eight puddles! There were only two when I took the sample! I've ruled out the possibiliy of taking more than I intended. The quantity was accounted for thirty-six times before we departed Planet 3.
Hypothesis: These "puddles" can reproduce.
Notes: There were two, then there were eight. What else need I record? We're burning the midnight fuel, hoping to return to Planet 3 earlier than originally planned. Shockwave was hesitant, but Perceptor, the new assistant team leader, convinced him to keep the project going.
Still, there are eight others in our team. I cannot assume Starscream and I will be chosen again, even if the initial findings belong to us.
end log
"Skyfire, transform already!" Starscream called from the ground, the whirlwind of snow already covering him.
It's too late, comrade, thought Skyfire. His landing algorithm had had a bug in it for as long as he could remember, and these new weather conditions on Planet 3 only made it worse. He could feel his code stuck in an infinite loop as it tried to execute. Memory would leak from his system until he blacked out . . . unless . . .
He went lower and fired, clearing a path in a particularly large snowbank. He flew straight, trying to reduce his speed as the white avalanche came down . . .
He awoke to Starscream's crooked smile, his arm cannons smoking. "You ever going to get that fixed? At this rate I'll use up my energy defrosting you and we'll never make it back to Cybertron."
Skyfire transformed. "Sorry, friend. It's part of my core programming. Only A-3 himself can fix it, and he's a busy bot. I . . . I am grateful, as always."
Starscream helped him up. "Heh! We've known each other for over a thousand vorns, and you're still painfully formal. Besides, you've pulled me out of the fire often enough."
"Yes, I suppose," Skyfire answered, activating his internal defroster. I'm so large and powerful, yet so helpless. Where would I be without my friends? "Thank you again, Starscream. We'd . . . better get started. There is much work to be done."
"Yeah. Old one eye'll question the productivity of these expeditions if all we do is build snow forts with our afterburners. So c'mon, let's find more of these life forms and go home. I can feel my oil crystalizing!"
"But . . . oil doesn't crystalize, does it?"
"The point, oh literal colleague, is that I'm freezing my tail off!"
Skyfire smiled. "Ah, yes. Point taken." Somehow, I don't mind the cold quite as much as he seems to. If only I could remain here for a little while, observe the weather patterns, watch these 'clouds', study their shapes, their movement. They're strangely fascinating . . . nothing like anything on Cybertron . . . Still, I don't think Starscream's aesthetic tastes align with my own.
Starscream Journal 4E data entry #6
Facts: There's only one fact. I'm a klutz! I almost destroyed the second sample. Fortunately Skyfire stopped me in time and told me how to adjust the instruments. It's amazing how such a tough-looking bot can handle things with a surgeon's precision.
Hypothesis: If life can exist inside this carbon-based skin, it will make no mark on the history of the universe; it is too weak, too fragile. Some natural disaster or another will destroy it.
Notes: I thought if we kept a supply of these . . . puddles on cybertron, they might survive under the right conditions. This excited Skyfire, and we kept the discussion secret until old one-eye paid us a visit. "Curiosity is admirable," he said, "but only as an aid to reason. Attempting to raise carbon-based material in a purely mechanical environment is illogical. I admire the work you two have done until this point, but I'm afraid we must let nature take its course."
Skyfire started to protest, but Shockwave silenced him with a hand. "Conclusion: Whether or not this material can develop life is irrelevant to the grand scheme of things, as it will be of no practical use to advancing our society."
"Surely," said my partner, "There are things worthy of study that don't involve our society?"
"Illogical, Skyfire," answered one-eye in his perpetually pained tone. "We are scientists, not philosophers. We strive toward practical achievements. We are energy, we are medicine, we are technological advancements.
"You've gone so far as to assume your hypothesis that these puddles are living creatures is a scientific fact. You've even skipped the testing and theory phases, and this only shows how clouded your reasoning has become. You are diligent workers, perhaps excessively so. I am placing you on leave so you might regain your perspective. Then I will find other projects for you."
Bah! That's old one-eye for you. He's so logical he forgets how to be curious! One day he'll analyze his own soul and get stuck in an infinite loop, that's what I say.
I share Skyfire's enthusiasm, if not his blind fascination with Planet 3's climate and geography. Though I'm still shocked at how fragile these puddle-organisms are. Can such fragile things really evolve the way we did? I suppose time makes all things possible. I convinced Skyfire to plan another trip. I know he wanted it, it was only a matter of cutting through those thick layers of his personality that make him such a straight edge. One has to be crazier than some of those empties that roam around the Dead End in order to defy Shockwave, and only I'm that crazy. I guess I'll have to be the moral support in this duo. Heh!
end log
Skyfire Journal 7E data entry #6
Notes: I loathe to abuse the purpose of the scientific log, but I am . . . frustrated, to say the least. Shockwave terminated our experiment, and not even Perceptor could change his mind. Now that I'm on "leave", I may as well record my more personal thoughts in here.
There are new robots visiting our area. Everyone admires them for their power, and their ability to fly even in primary mode. If one of them so much as says 'hello' to one of my teammates, they melt like a puddle of loose energon and forget how to speak.
Even Shockwave seems swayed by them. Shockwave. Our team leader, the center of all logic and reason. I spied him conversing with the leader of these new robots, he who calls himself Megatron. At first, the conversations were fairly casual.
"You have an excellent staff, Shockwave. I admire your accomplishments," Megatron said. Already, I detected a suggestive edge in his tone. As to what it suggested, I wasn't sure.
"Thank you," Shockwave answered. He can sound so . . . humble, when he deems it appropriate. "We work at optimum efficiency. Several of our theories on energon conversion are on their way to becoming law."
"And that, my friend, is one of my primary interests," said Megatron. The more he spoke, the less I liked his tone. "I studied it myself some Vorns ago, but I'm afraid I had no head for it. Ah, well, I must be off. I shall visit you again soon."
The next time he returned, the conversation lasted longer. Alas, I only heard the end of it.
"Have you worked much in defensive technology?" Megatron asked.
Shockwave repeated a list of our projects. "External structure reinforcements for both buildings and our physical bodies. Nuclear hardened hulls. Force fields, for the meteor showers that--"
"Ah, I was thinking more along the lines of weaponry."
"Well . . . no . . . we haven't delved--"
"Show me your hand," said Megatron, who grabbed Shockwave's probe-hand without waiting for permission. "Ahh . . ."
"It's a probing instrument, used for study," said Shockwave.
"But it could be so much more. Defensive engineering is the spirit of the times, my dear Shockwave. It would do wonders for your...erm...business. But I must take leave. Consider my words."
"I shall, Megatron," Shockwave answered with a salute as Megatron flew off.
I then made myself scarce. Social science is hardly my department, but I believe our leader will consider Megatron's words very strongly. Shockwave has this clinical way of following logic to the letter. This, I'm learning, includes violating the science guild's code of ethics. It is said that Shockwave saved our race from the latest scraplet plague by "neutralizing" the group of infected Cybertronians and eradicating the entire scraplet colony. For that, the guild temporarily rescinded his license and even had him locked away on charges of murder and genocide, until they realized he was among the best and most sorely needed scientists in our community. I don't think Shockwave does these things out of malice, but rather, out of what he considers to be the purest form of reason. He is truly a creature of the mind, and little else.
As for Megatron, I know almost nothing of him. I would like to meet him myself, I am curious to learn more about who he is and what cause he supports, but I would not share a mug of energon with him.
That is all for now. I will meet with Starscream soon. I look forward to our plans, though I am somewhat apprehensive about the two of us acting on our own initiative. Still, if I am right, these carbon things . . . life forms, if we are correct . . . I cannot ignore their potential.
end log
Starscream Journal 4E data entry #6
Notes: Pah! Old one-eye's "logic" will doom this entire guild! He sees everything around him, and his hindsight is remarkable.
Ahh, Skyfire, your curiosity rivals even mine. If only you had the aggression to back it. But that's where I come into play, is it not? You wouldn't have the steel manifolds to chase half your dreams if it weren't for me. How many times have I argued with Shockwave in your place?
Gah, I can't sit still. At least we're on our way to Planet 3, though one-eye must know what we're up to by now. I look forward to a warm exile from the guild. And Skyfire . . . my poor, immaculate friend will have a nasty stain on his record.
Still, I have no regrets. My boundless appetite for knowledge drove me to become a scientist in the first place. The more I absorb, the more I crave. It's just who I am!
There is clearly much more to these frail carbon puddles than meets the eye. Ignoring a new form of life, a new galaxy of knowledge dangled right before my optic sensors, goes against everything I stand for!
One-eye can go pleasure himself. The whole guild can follow him, for all I care.
Skyfire will stand by me. He's the only one left who is not afraid of my ambition – he's always stared it straight on, with that big, goofy, warm grin of his. If nothing else, that is my final comfort, should this whole expedition fail.
end log
"Skyfire! Where are you?! Skyfire!" Panic threatened to overload Starscream's circuits. Thess ice storms were far worse than any during their last visit. The world was white. No matter where he flew, there was no sanctuary.
He transformed to robot mode, screaming, crashing into a great, snowy . . . tomb? Could he lie here, deactivate, forget Cybertron? He would be recorded missing, the details of his defiance largely unknown.
But Skyfire . . .
Starscream had searched half the planet or more. He'd been here for nearly a vorn. The first ice storm had torn Skyfire away, almost as soon as they'd entered the lower atmosphere and dropped out in flight modes. He had convinced Skyfire to come here, he had made the poor bot cast aside his inhibitions. He had destroyed Skyfire. He should deactivate.
Skyfire would want him to return. He would honor that.
He was alone. He was friendless. What could he possibly do when he reached home? Run into old one-eye's loving, compassionate arms?
#
"Starscream!" It was the closest thing to surprise that Shockwave had ever shown, at least that Starscream could remember. "I . . . is that you? We gave up looking for you half a vorn ago. We were not even sure you were still here on Cybertron."
"Heh," Starscream said, cursing silently. "Wanna throw a party?"
A moment later, he noticed why Shockwave looked different. There was a strange purple insignia on his chest. Starscream had seen it before . . . some of those newer robots wore it, and it had been growing in popularity before his last expedition to Planet 3. He'd dismissed it as a passing fad, an affectation, but on Shockwave's chassis, it somehow looked more serious. What did it mean?
Old one-eye's companion, a large silhouette until this moment, came forward. "Greetings, Starscream. I am Megatron. I take it you've heard of me?"
Starscream tensed, taking a step backward, the panic returning. "I . . . y—yes. A pleasure, mighty Megatron. B—but what brings you to the science guild's main headquarters?"
"The guild is no more," said Shockwave in his most characteristic deadpan tone.
"Starscream," began Megatron, "I hear you were something of an oppressed soul at the guild. You were feared for your drive, your ambition, your hunger. Is that so?"
"Well, I—yes . . ."
"Ahh," Megatron smiled. The smile both frightened and inspired Starscream. "Tell me, how much do you know about the Decepticon alliance?"
"Aha, heh, nothing, really . . ." Starscream hated how he sounded. Hadn't he once been the backbone of the guild? The one who argued with cold, creepy one-eye?
"Then you have much to learn," said Megatron. "I would like to be your teacher. We are bringing order to the chaotic stagnation of cybertronian society. Already we have reduced crime, fortified a third of our planet, united many of the lesser cities with a . . . common vision.
"With the decepticons, Starscream, ambition is a virtue. You will have ample opportunity to satiate it. You will find the camaraderie, the fulfilling sense of competition you so longed for at the guild. You will have many colleagues, many . . . friends at your own level."
Friends? Skyfire was lost. Starscream had no friends left. Yet . . . would he find new friends, with Megatron? Comrades who would encourage his ambition? "I . . ."
"There is no time for uncertainty," Megatron said. "Decide now! Decepticons do not ponder opportunities! We strike while the iron is hot!"
"I . . . I will join you," Starscream said, feeling a strange relief.
"Good!"
Megatron's handshake was powerful, startling. "I must warn you, though. You craved knowledge as a scientist. Knowledge is important, of course, but it is only one wing. Your craving might be given a new direction, once you undergo our...procedure."
Starscream went cold, backing away again, but Megatron still had him by the hand. "P—procedure?"
Megatron waved dismissively. "Oh, it's very simple and painless, my dear Starscream. Shockwave was allowed to forego it, since he had the exact mindset I look for when I recruit. Your programming, I'm afraid, need polishing. Only some . . . minor adjustments."
"But--!"
Starscream struggled, but it was too late. A round, multi-armed machine had come around the corner and was rolling toward them. Toward him. Before he knew what was happening, the machine was trapping him with its arm-coils. He found himself pulled downward, a strange probe jabbing the back of his head.
"Behold," said Megatron, "My 'robo-smasher', as some of the more primitive-minded fools call it. Hold tight, Starscream. It will make you into a fine warrior, and a more assertive thinker."
"Megatron," said Shockwave's voice. "Is this wise? I know Starscream. He often felt isolated among my staff. Your re-programming device might have unpredictable effects on his mind."
"Ah, but Shockwave, excepting you, predictability is a disease to be purged." Megatron's laughter was the last sound Starscream heard before he lost consciousness.