A/N: I know, I know, I should be working on my other story. But I hit a rut, and in the interim I became obsessed with other fandoms, one of which is Transformers. I'm totally inspired by Misgel's and Rian Moeru's stories, which at the top of the list is their co-authored series Metempsychosis/ Transference. If you haven't read that story and are a fan of Transformers, what's wrong with you? I encourage you to check it out as they are fantastic authors and have written one of the best fanfics of any fandom I've ever read.
As for this story, it will not be as long as my Time's Saga Series, but it's currently unknown exactly how long it will be. There is no update schedule set as of yet and this will be cross-posted on FF .net, AO3, and possibly Wattpad. I have three major arcs plotted out, with what I hope is a satisfactory ending, which equates to about three books. The title is purposeful, as I'll be drawing a few vague parallels to Aldous Huxley's classic. (Props to you if you managed to read that book without going a little stir-crazy.) As for the rating, I'm going to try and keep it Teen, but there will be heavy stuff. This first chapter is a good example of what's to come. Death, torture, possibly mentions of rape, suicide, and trigger warnings abound in this. What will not be in this story is explicit sexual content of any species, which seems so very prevalent in the Transformers fandom. (WHY!?) Romance takes a rain check in this one, as I'm far more interested in exploring the psychological repercussions of a transformed earth. I will try to space out the angst with humor and hope, but this is an overall darker series.
If you're up for it, sign the notice, please, and let's get started!
-The Friendly Critiquer
Synopsis: Megatron was not caught unaware. The battle for the Omega Lock on Cybertron was short and fierce, with the Tyrant the victor. He then proceeds to follow through with his threat and cyberforms Earth. Everyone must now learn to navigate this Brave New World. But what is the cost of surviving, and is it really worth the price once the dust settles?
Transformers: Prime
Brave New World - Gilded Earth
Everyone suffers their own personal hell. That is the third indisputable fact about life, other than death and taxes. I'm having to revisit my hell because somebody had the bright idea that my life would make a great lecture for future generations. So fine. I've done literally every other possible and impossible thing for humanity, writing down my viewpoint should be a cakewalk compared to some of the things I've suffered through (idiotic, pointless council meetings being at the top of the list there! Take note!).
~ Excerpt taken from Memoirs of Darby, Vol. 1
Chapter 1: Robots that can die
Numb.
Jack's whole body was numb. He didn't realize his body had a constant light shake. As he ran his fingers over his arms pins and needles raced across his nerves. He was freezing, but he didn't care if his core body temperature was dropping or that his appendages had the signs of early frostbite. He didn't care. He really didn't fragging care. If a slow, painful death was coming, he wholly deserved it a million times over.
Death would be the least he could offer for the sin of still being human. Of still being alive. All those people…
Every.
Single.
Person.
Earth… Earth was... It was Megatron's.
Jack pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. He thought he had long ago ran out of tears, but they started up again without permission. They ran down the sides of his motley red face, hot for a moment, before quickly adding to the agonizing chill. The deep breath he intended was cut short due to the overwhelming pain in his throat. Saying that it hurt was about as bland as saying that the sky was blue or that grass is green. It couldn't convey the layers and shades of the pain, and pressure, and the sensitivity his throat was like at the moment. It wasn't just his throat either. His knuckles were busted and shooting pain laced through his arms and elbows, legs and knees from when he foolishly tried breaking through the all-too-solid container.
But his heart… That pain made his physical injuries manageable. The cold did a great job of numbing his body. But his heart? It palpitated between a raging blue star's heat and the emptiness of space. And when it whiplashed between the two, he could only clutch his chest and heave.
There was a thin, keening sound beside him and instinctively he turned to it. Immediately he closed his eyes. He didn't want to see Miko again. Miko, the spunky go-getter who ran after giant robots with reckless abandon. Miko, who played her shriek music too loud and always had a couple of colored pencils shoved down her back pocket. Miko, the rebellious exchange student who always had a say in anything. Miko, who snuck up behind him and encouraged him to get on the saddle of the alien motorbike. Miko, who was now crumpled in on herself, her hair loose and tangled with her body spasming with tight jerks. Miko, who had frost creeping across her wet and soiled clothes. Miko, who breathlessly muttered in multiple languages, but with one word constantly repeated: "Bulkhead".
He had heard it all before in varying octaves and pitches. He had said it all before, too. Screamed it, bellowed it, pleaded and swore and babbled, all to no avail. Megatron wouldn't listen. He instead laughed in that twisted, mocking way of his, more than assured of his complete and utter victory. Because he had finally dealt the killing blow.
Jack was numb.
After Megatron's initial giddy breakdown, he had leered at the stunned Autobots and their humans. "What will you do now? Will you continue your reckless, worthless crusade even though your mighty leader is dead?"
Each word was an energon blast straight to the heart. It held such spite that each syllable seemed to hover for a moment before falling heavily on ears and audios alike. It was 'Bee who acted first. There was a scrambled, ear-splitting screech that was unlike anything Jack had heard from the scout before. A flash of yellow seemed to materialize before the giant mech, but Megatron was ready. Just like he was ready for his last opponent. Without hesitation he grabbed Bumblebee's cannon arm and twisted him around so swiftly that 'Bee's shot went wild.
Only, it didn't.
Having honed his skills in the Pits of Kaon, and eons of experience on the battlefield, Megatron was not only skilled in combat, he was clever. With the scout completely off-balance he had full control over the trajectory of the shot. And he did not waste it. Arcee had thrown herself high into the air to cross the distance needed to face the Lord of Decepticons from the side. Her bloodlusting bellow of grief turned into a high-pitched squeal of pain that Jack wished he never heard. It was higher pitched than a faulty transmission on a normal vehicle. And it was far more human.
He was pretty sure his heart stopped beating as he watched her fall. Her optics flickered on and off and her thin, metal lips were stretched in pure agony. Her beautiful blue frame crashed to the ground with a shock wave that shook Jack to his core. Her face had twisted away from him, so he couldn't see her optics. To see if they still had life in them. He shouted at her to get up. He screamed profanities that if his mother knew he knew he would be grounded until he was sixty. He begged her to twitch, to shudder, to do anything, just so he would know. He didn't feel the tears streaming down his face, or the fact that he had awkwardly knelt down in his cylindrical cage. He could feel his hands swelling with how hard he was banging on the glass, but he vehemently ignored that to continue his feverious, but futile, crusade. His obsessive ramblings were only cut short when a torrent of staticky, pain-filled wails crashed through his glass prison.
He looked up to see an image he would never forget for as long as he lived. Bumblebee was forced to one knee while bending backwards at an awkward angle as Megatron pushed against him. But the Lord of the Decepticons wasn't just holding him down. He was pushing his claws almost delicately into the scout's face. 'Bee thrashed and scratched with his one good servo while the other hung useless and broken at his side.
"Nooo! Stop it! Please! Bumblebee!"
Raf's cries were almost lost over the scout's own shouts, but not because he was his usual timid self. Raf was consumed with pain, being forced to watch as his best friend was slowly being torn apart. And he was scared. His fear bleed into his trembling pleadings that were now growing fainter. Jack instinctively hunched his shoulders up to his ears in pity, and sorrow, and self-loathing. What could he do, to stop the wrath of the tyrant? They were just… just kids. Frail, human kids. They stood no chance. Who was going to stop this atrocity?
A familiar war cry gave him hope. Bulkhead broke through the ranks of Eradicons and was charging straight for the Lord of the Decepticons, with Miko wholeheartedly cheering him on. Jack and Raf also joined in, cherishing the moment that the noble, green Wrecker provided them.
That spurred the mad leader into finishing his job early. With a sickening pop, Bee fell back with a staticy scream, his one good servo frantically patting the right side of his face. Megatron held the scout's optic triumphantly in his fingers, unaware or uncaring of the energon dripping off his claws. But in an instant the petty revenge with the scout was forgotten as the ruined optic was dropped carelessly in favor of unsheathing his blade.
There was a clang and a shower of sparks as Bulkhead's mace glanced off the sword, but the wrecker was unfazed. He kept a steady, furious attack of heavy blows that forced a startled grunt out of the tyrant. When Megatron had to quickly backpedal, Miko's cheers only grew louder. Her exuberance was cut short when her guardian's head rolled to a stop not twenty feet from her cylindrical prison.
There was a mortifying silence that stretched between the three humans. Jack didn't know what he felt then. His mind had ceased to process the friendly giant's sightless optics, or the energon oozing from the wrecker's fuel lines. Miko wasn't that far away, but Jack had a hard time hearing her breathless whisper over his own buzzing thoughts.
"Bulk...head?"
A quiet question. It was like she couldn't see the evidence before her. Like he just hadn't thrown his life away.
"Bulkhead!"
Jack flinched. Miko's scream was utterly horrifying. It was high pitched and animalistic. Instantly she changed. Jack wasn't sure how she did it, but the fear and hurt she clearly was feeling morphed into a blind hatred that was directed at the merciless warlord.
"I hate you! I HATE YOU! You fragging piece of pit-spawned-"
Jack tuned her out. He glanced to his other side when he heard Raf's heaving. The boy knelt at the bottom of his cage and his body wracked with sobs. Jack nearly lost his composure right then and there. Miko's anger made a lot of sense now. Surely feeling anger was better than this bitter hopelessness that had sunk deep into his chest.
They had lost. That last ditch effort cost them everything. There was no one left. But Jack knew that their war, their very lives, were forfeit the moment Optimus's spark had faded.
Unbidden, his eyes went back to the husk of the gentle giant. Optimus was still. His chest plates were ragged and torn, a stark contrast to his face which oddly seemed at peace. Jack faintly gasped when he saw movement next to the Prime. Like a ghost, Smokescreen rose up from the ground. An expression of pure torture crossed the young mech's features as he placed a reverent servo next to the grousome wound. He looked up sharply when Megatron's mad laughter cascaded across the battlefield.
"At last!" the tyrant crowed. "The Autobots fall before me. From their scout," Megatron ground his pede into 'Bee's ruined shoulder, eliciting another scream. The mad mech paused to revel in the scout's pain. Lazily, he turned his head to look at Optimus while speaking in a casual, nonchalant way, but Jack could hear the bitterness in his words. "To their Prime."
It was almost funny, how wide Megatron's optics became when he spotted the young recruit hovering protectively over Optimus. Smokescreen likewise froze under the tyrant's hard stare. Jack wasn't entirely sure what shifted in the next second, but Smokescreen clenched his denta together so hard Jack could hear them snap together even across the wide expanse.
"Get him!" Megatron roared to his troops, as he raised his own cannon.
Smokescreen flickered his optics first to the Omega Lock behind the tyrant, then to Jack.
Jack stiffened under that stare. Cybertronians may have been an alien species, but they were similar to humans. In a flash, Jack recalled the words spoken in awe and wonder soon after he had met the Autobots.
"Robots who get dizzy?" Miko had asked with legitimate curiosity.
"Robots with emotions…" Raf had followed up almost disbelieving.
"Robots… who can die." Jack himself uttered. He remembered that was a turning point for him. Accepting the fact that there were metallic aliens was surprisingly simple. But to admit that they were so similar to himself… that was heavy stuff.
The look Smokescreen gave him was just as heavy. There was unbridled desperateness and sorrow as the young mech unconsciously curled his fingers around his leader. Jack clenched his teeth.
He understood the unspoken question. The pleading behind those optics. The regret at the choice that had to be made. Jack didn't want to make the choice. He was scared. To prove it, a thrill of fear ran up his spine and he sucked in a breath. But he halted.
Robots who can die.
Purposefully, he ignored the helm laying before him.
Robots who can Die.
He shut out 'Bee's fading cries.
Robots who can DIE.
Arcee was still laying there, motionless.
ROBOTS WHO CAN DIE!
Optimus Prime, the noble leader of the Autobot cause, was dead.
Closing his eyes, he finished his breath. When he opened his eyes they had turned into ice-cold chips. He knew he would not, could not, regret his decision. Megatron had won. He just witnessed the mutilation of Bumblebee and the decapitation of Bulkhead. No more. Smokescreen had to run. He had too. And he couldn't take the humans with him, not with their liability. The Matrix of Leadership was more important than three human children and a severely injured Autobot. Smokescreen had to run. It was the right choice.
"Go."
Jack could scarcely get the word out without his whole body convulsing in fear. He hoped his face managed to stay hard and determined. But it was the permission Smokescreen needed. With grim sorrow, the playful sportscar closed his optics and fell through the ground with Optimus Prime. A massive explosion sent debris flying everywhere not a moment later.
The teenager didn't know what to feel. He thought there should have been some sense of relief or victory, that at least one Autobot was beyond the clutches of the Decepticons. But he was numb. He couldn't feel anything. Slowly, he sank fully to his knees and pressed his head against the glass. It vibrated with the primal growl Megatron let loose, and he flinched again.
He was tired. Slowly, he closed his eyes. He couldn't take this anymore. This wasn't how his day was supposed to go. A sharp bitter laugh, half-crazed, hiccuped from him. Was it really only a few hours ago he was falling asleep in English class? How could everything go so horribly wrong so quickly. It was insane.
He could feel himself slipping. It was a strange sensation. Part of him recoiled from the lack of control, but the exhausted part of him was grateful for the mundane, ridiculous thoughts flittering through his mind.
What was Sierra doing at a time like this? His boss was probably hopping mad right now for having missed the first half of his shift. Again. He needed to study for the upcoming math test. Calculus was a killer. Maybe he could get Raf to explain the concepts again? And he had to take out the trash before mom got home. Oh. Mom. He hadn't texted her, so she was probably freaking out. What was he going to tell her?
Mom.
Mom?
Through the haze, he heard Starscream's groveling stutters. "-far from me, my Lord, but what is the reason to continue cyberforming that mudball of a planet? Your baiting worked perfectly. Your arch nemesis is dead! Surely restoring Cybertron is far more importa-"
"Be silent, Starscream!"
Jack blinked blankly, but more of his mind focused on the conversation.
Megatron folded his hands behind his back and fully faced the Omega Lock. Jack couldn't see his expression, but he grew strangely irritated listening to him.
"It has taken me quite some time to fully comprehend that Earth and Cybertron have always been linked. Two halves of one whole; Primus and Unicron. And that to rule only one, would be to never truly rule either. And I will not rule over anything that is less than perfect. Earth must be cyberformed."
There was a tense, awkward silence, until Starscream shrugged his wings in submission. He took a few suliky steps back and in a neutral tone muttered, "Yes, Lord Megatron."
Jack lazily roved his eyes. He tilted his head back, much like Megatron was doing, to see a beautiful sight: Earth.
Earth was glowing. A beautiful array of swirling blue and green surrounded it. A spacebridge, his mind provided. And a powerful beam of light was shooting forth, as if it was trying to pierce his home.
Cybermatter.
Home. Megatron is trying to destroy my home. The thought should have come and went, like the millions of others in his head. But it kept coming back like an annonying mosquito. It reverberated in his skull, buzzing with urgency.
Home.
Another image began to appear repeatedly. It was a memory, not much more than a year ago. Mom was sitting across from him at the dinner table. A rare moment, as she hardly got time off to come home early enough to eat dinner with him. It was a simple meal. Oven baked tofu with a side of rice and microwaved vegetables. Bland, and rather tasteless, but mom was happy. There was a smile tugging at her lips, and the crow's feet around her eyes crinkled. She was tired, but she was paying attention to the stupid story he was telling her about his day. He had no idea what he was saying, only that the reaction of seeing her smile was more than worth whatever bad joke he was trying to tell. And it hurt.
Mom. Mom was on Earth.
MOM!
Clarity crashed down upon him. It was like when Vince snapped him with a rubber band in the middle of class. It was sharp. Painful. And caused him to react instantly.
"MEGATRON!"
All his righteous anger, all his pent up frustrations, all the heart-crushing agony and the deep-seated sorrow he felt in the last hour exploded outward in that one word. But it was like the dams had broken. Again, he felt himself losing control, but this time there was no hesitation. And it was a different sort of mind-numbing process. The clarity of his situation, of the billions of unwitting lives at stake, of his mother caught in the cross-fire of a war neither should have been in, caused fire to race through his veins. He was burning with feelings like he never had before.
"MEGATRON! Leave Earth alone! Leave my home alone, you bastard! There's no reason for you to do this! Listen to me!"
He knew he was going to regret it later, hitting the glass like that. But he didn't care. He would make Megatron listen to him, no matter what.
It seemed that his shouting worked, because Megatron's claws twitched, just before he snapped his head around to meet his cold red optics with Jack's own hot blue eyes. Something between a scowl and a sneer crossed his face as he stalked over.
Jack's heart thumped erratically in his chest, and he felt pressed to take a step backwards. But he swallowed back the urge and instead tilted back his head to keep the eye contact. He wanted to scream and to rage, but all the words died as Megatron stared down at him.
"Listen to you?" The Lord of Decepticons asked, composedly, quietly, almost curiously, with a slight tilt to his head. "And why, pray tell, should I listen to an insect?" The question came as a hiss and he enunciated the English term precisely.
Jack bared his teeth. He knew Megatron's insult was trying to rile him up, send him into a blind rage again, but he kept a tight lock on his control. With a shaky breath and a glare he hoped was intimidating, he growled back, "It's my home. You have no reason to be on Earth. You've won. Take over Cybertron, rebuild it, do whatever you want! But leave my planet alone."
Jack wished he was more intimidating. He wished his words had the power to back them up. He wished that Optimus was here to wipe that smug grin off the bastard's face.
Megatron reached down and plucked Jack's cage up with one servo. Bringing Jack to just below his eye level, the tyrant replied. "Oh? And what happens if I call Earth my home now? Then I can do as I wish, isn't that correct? I want to be able to enjoy where I live."
Jack's heart skipped a beat. His mind had a hard time understanding where Megatron was going with this. So he fell back to his initial argument. He spat back, "It isn't yours! Cybertron is your planet. So use the Omega Lock to fix the world you destroyed, and stay away from Earth!"
He knew he had crossed the line when Megatron narrowed his optics. There was an echoing, crackling sound, like a glacier breaking apart or a massive tree falling over. It made Jack flinch and he looked around wildly. Instinctively, he knew his life was in danger and he was correct. Looking up, he saw Megatron's nails digging into the thick glass. His heart leapt to his throat and he flung himself backwards, his back hitting against the seemingly fragile wall. His thoughts ran wild. He was on another planet. The Decepticons put him in this tube prison not only to transport him, but to keep him alive as a bargaining chip. If those claws broke through the glass, he was dead. Dead, dead. DEAD.
"So you understand your position, boy." Megatron mused. His voice turned husky and dark as he pinned the human with a haughty stare. "Earth. Is. Mine. I am Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons, Slayer of Primes, and conqueror of your world. I have no need to listen to anyone, least of all a pest like you."
Jack couldn't stop his trembling. He opened his mouth to tell the mech to shut-up, that he knew all that already, but fear of the imminent future prevented him from saying anything. What was he supposed to do? What could he say? He closed his eyes and shut his jaw as hard as it could. He was going to die.
Idly, Jack realized his heart was slowing down, returning to a normal, steady beat. When he opened his eyes, he found Megatron staring right back. With a huff of breath, he muttered, "It's my home."
The admission was quiet. There was pleading, obviously, to his tone, but there was a surprising amount of fierce possessiveness that he managed to bring back, despite the fate that awaited him. "It's my home," he repeated, steading his resolve, "To not fight for it means I wouldn't care much about it, now would it?"
Megatron stared at the young man for a moment longer. Jack stared right back, but he knew he lacked the fire from before. His hands trembled but for what reason he wasn't sure. As his mind went quietly, blessedly blank, he blinked slowly. That fog was coming back, and Jack struggled to hold on to anything; to his anger, his hate, the biting sorrow. But it was too much effort. His gaze drifted downward and his bangs fell into his eyes. His heart continued that same, slow, rhythmic pattern.
Abruptly, his world tilted and moved. The only warning he got was a bellow of, "Starscream!" before he realized he was flung through the air toward the seeker. Jack hissed when his head slammed against the clear wall and when he opened his eyes he saw the Decepticon insignia staring at him. His world shifted and moved again as Starscream struggled to keep a grip on the canister.
"My Lord?" the seeker squeaked.
"Take the humans back to the Nemesis."
"Lord Megatron, for what reason do we need to keep these filthy-"
"Are you questioning my orders, Starscream?"
Even Jack flinched at the cold tone. He felt the cage tremble in the Second Commander's arms. "No, sir," came the eventual reply. Before Megatron could answer him, Starscream pointed to some nearby Eradicons. "You there! Take the humans back to the Nemesis, as Our Lord commands."
Jack was jostled none-too-kindly as he was passed yet again.
"Oh, and Starscream," Jack shuddered at the purr that came from the conqueror. "The Omega Lock is transforming this world into something worthwhile. Something worth ruling. I've decided on the name of our new home: Gilded Earth."
