Day 22
"Tell us the truth," Bumblebee growled at Perceptor very late at night inside of his room. Him, Blurr, and Skywarp had tried to get Perceptor to talk for several a couple of hours before they decided that one should keep watch while the other two recharged for a bit to make sure Perceptor was always watched by someone. Bumblebee had volunteered for the two, who were recharging right now, so the scout was questioning the scientist.
"I… I really want to, but I can't," Perceptor insisted as he looked very guilty, avoiding Bumblebee's gaze while fidgeting with his hands. "If I do… you would never trust me again. My reputation would be in tatters. I would have no one…" The monocle-wearing mech trembled greatly as he said that.
"Look… Perceptor, whatever it is, we can handle it so long as you're not the mole," Bumblebee insisted to him firmly but gently.
"I'm not working for Monobear!" Perceptor insisted as he looked back to Bumblebee hesitantly before turning away again. "I could… never do that to all of you. Especially to you, Bumblebee. Don't you remember all that I've taught you?" The scout sighed at that as he remembered his first few years alive. The moment he was created, he was constantly endangered by going out and scouting enemy compounds and patrols, but when he wasn't doing that, he was trying to get educated, with Perceptor being the one to be the one of those who tried to teach him. Emphasis on tried.
"Bumblebee, will you listen to me?" Perceptor requested in a firm matter. The two were in Perceptor's office, with the two of them sitting on opposite sides of a desk. "I keep trying to teach you, but you're not listening to me."
"I know, I know," Bumblebee insisted to him while holding his hands up in a defensive. "I've just been busy with other stuff. Somebody must scout those command posts, you know?
"I'm quite aware, but your last scouting mission was three days ago. You should've had enough time to brush up on your chemistry," Perceptor insisted to him with an annoyed huff. "Or have you been having more fun outdoors than actually studying."
"No, no, that's not the case!" Bumblebee insisted before going quiet at Perceptor's intense gaze. "…Okay, maybe just a little bit." The scientist scoffed at him before leaning in again.
"Listen, if you don't want to further your study, fine. You've already been created with the necessary data to function and fight, but you can expand your memory banks to take in even more. When the war is over, you'll need it to find another job."
"When the war is over, I'll be known as a war hero," the scout remarked back to him with a roll of his optics. "I won't need much of an education with I'll have a reputation like that." At that, the scientist rolled his optics in a similar fashion.
"But for how long?" the scientist pointed out to him. "The day after it ends, you're bathing in glory. A year after, people still look up to you. A decade later, more people forget about the individuals. A century later, you're just another person who fought in the war who no one cares for." The scout grew uncomfortable as the older bot was badgering him. "I know that it is just the follies of youth that's making you think this is the right course for you, but you need to grow up and fast. For both your career in the war and when its all over. The difference between was and peace is stark, and I want you prepare for it, so long as we actually do win." That was always the most important part. War is always uncertain and both sides have already had plenty of casualties.
"…Sorry," Bumblebee said with a gulp as he looked down guiltily. "I'm not exactly the smartest."
"Yes you are," Perceptor insisted to him with a soften glare. "I can tell that you are very bright for your age. It just needs to be developed and nurtured. The choice of whether that happens is up to you, Bumblebee" The young mech looked back up to him, a sliver of a smile on his face.
"T-thanks," he said to the mech.
"It's no problem."
"You were always so insistent on my education," Bumblebee muttered. "Didn't think anybody would care for educating me until you came and you made me better. I remember you starting a few years after your, well…" He didn't want to sat it, but Perceptor answered for him.
"After I was imprisoned by the Decepticons. It was a… dark time for me," Perceptor remarked to him with a sigh. "Vortex was quite cruel to me, but I withstood it until I could escape."
"Yeah… you were pretty lucky," Bumblebee admitted with a smile. "Your escape plan was pretty clever. Using an exposes piece of metal to break the stasis cuffs, stealing a guard's grenade to create a way out, and hacking a ship to fly out of there. Pretty brave of you. I'm honestly surprised it work."
"Well, you can blame me for them increasing their security standards," the scientist remarked with a chuckle. "They wouldn't make their security detail that sloppy again."
"Still… you were held captive for five years," Bumblebee reminded him with a frown. "I thought I wouldn't ever see you again…" The yellow mech was shaking slightly at that, before he felt Perceptor's hand on his, making him calm again.
"Bumblebee… I was gone a long time, but every night I was there, all I could think about was you," Perceptor insisted to him as he tighten his grip on him. "That is why I can't possibly be working for Monobear. It would mean betraying you and I would never do that. You and I both know that." Bumblebee gulped as he could start to feel coolant getting ready to come out of his optics. It was hard for him to think of Perceptor as a traitor, but the facts don't lie. All the other suspects' secrets have been confirmed, which just leaves the scientist's secret left to be exposed. To make it worse, his reaction to it confirmed that his secret was bad enough to hide, which made Bumblebee felt worse. He knew, whether Perceptor was a mole or no, that this was going to altar his perspective on him forever.
"I want to believe you… I really do. You were so cold to everyone until you escaped the Decepticons. You were so much kinder to me after that…" Bumblebee remarked to him softly.
"Being with the Decepticons gave me a… change in perspective on my icy outlook," Perceptor confirmed to him with a sad nod. "Being subjected to Vortex's… advanced interrogation techniques will make one think about their actions while they wait for escape, including me."
"I imagine it can be…" the younger mech agreed with him with a sigh. "I'm glad I was never in his clutches."
"As am I… it's something I would not like you to experience," Perceptor agreed with him. "Although… I could always tell you were troubled after what happened with Devola." The scout winced at the mention of that accursed place. Perceptor noticed but didn't let up as he continued. "I'm always seeing you put up a brave face, when you are really completely miserable. I also know you've been seeing Rung ever since that incident, as well as the fact that Crosshairs has been having both therapy and physical therapy since the incident. Regardless of the lies the higher-ups tell everyone, I know a lie when I hear one and the facts don't line up in the slightest. I imagine your secret involves that, right?" Perceptor questioned him, seeing Bumblebee's face turned into a deep frown with his optics dotting around the room in worriment.
"It's… it's complicated, but it's true that the official report on it was largely falsified," Bumblebee confirmed to him with a nod. "They were worried about the lost of moral that would occur if the whole truth of the situation. It was a giant clusterfuck. We were all lucky to get out alive. Well… sort of. Crosshairs was sure close to half-dead when all was said and done. He was in a coma for several years after it thanks to a lot of damages he got and fractured memory banks."
"So, the reports that Crosshairs went on another mission after that was a complete lie," Perceptor remarked with an interested hum. "Let me guess: Ratchet was the one who did his surgery and aided the coverup?"
"Yeah… reluctantly," the scout admitted with a deep frown. "He didn't want to, and he wouldn't had if Optimus had convinced him into keeping quiet about that. If there was one mech who could do it, it was Optimus, but I remember that the talk took a long time."
"Not surprising in the slightest," Perceptor murmured with a hum. "The two have been old friends for so long. At least they're in the well together now…" the scientist said solemnly, and Bumblebee gritted his teeth at that.
"Optimus… Ratchet…" he whispered.
"And who knows how many more." The hand tighten around his. "For all we know… all of us in here are the last ones alive."
"That… can't be. I won't believed that!" Bumblebee insisted as he choked down a sob. "There's… so many people out there. So many people I know. So many friends…"
"We all know people, Bumblebee. Friends, allies, colleagues, and the like," the monocle-wearing mech reminded him
"I-I know, but-"
"Yes, yes, I know. It's natural to think of yourself first before anyone else in a high-risk situation such as this," Perceptor remarked back to him with a soft pat to the hand. "I have been thinking of my many scientific colleagues out there, the potential loss of research, and the destruction of so much of what we have built. It's terrifying to think of the regression of our society again."
"Yeah… I never felt peace before until the war was over. I felt so… lost, strangely enough. Like… I had no idea what I was supposed to do," the yellow mech admitted.
"Peace is something we all have to adjust to, but I imagine as a warborn, it was harder for you than most," the scientist admitted glumly. "I'm sorry for you."
"Yeah, well… we got new problems now," Bumblebee insisted to him. "And I will do my best to protect everyone, even if I have to give me life."
"I rather not lose anyone else, especially you," Perceptor insisted to Bumblebee in an annoyed fashion. "Losing Ratchet was hard enough on me. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you as well."
"Yeah, well… only in emergencies, you know?" the scout remarked back to him with a grin. "Can't have Cybertron lose its best scientist." That got the scientist to laugh at that.
"I suppose so."
"You two are too damn sappy," came another voice as the two turned to see Skywarp awake and walking now, heading to the entrance with Laserbeak resting on his shoulder. "Heading out for a bit to get some energon and visit my room really quick. Give me five minutes. If I'm not back, go look for me."
"Right, we can do that," Bumblebee nodded to him.
"Keep an optic on him," Skywarp reminded the scout with a glare to the scientist before heading out with Laserbeak. Perceptor sighed as the seeker left.
"It's evident that nobody here trusts me…"
"Well, we have to doubt you, but that's to just make sure we can still trust you," Bumblebee insisted. "We've doubted a lot of people, like Skywarp, at the trials. When they're declared innocent, our trust in them strengthens. That why I must doubt you now, so that I believe in you more if the truth exonerates you." The scientist hummed to that as he nervously tapped his thumb against the back of Bumblebee's hand.
"I'm not the mole… but I know you won't trust me once the truth is revealed," he insisted to the young mech with a groan.
"Perceptor…" Bumblebee groaned to him in an annoyed fashion "So long as you're not working with that bear, I'll trust you. Got it?"
"F-fine… I just… can't say it…" the scientist continued to deflect his request as the scout rolled his optics.
'Dear Primus, Perceptor. Just admit it.'
XXX
Laserbeak beeped up to his owner as they entered a room. Although it wasn't Skywarp's room, as he declared to the ones in the room, but that of the deceased Ultimate Logician. The minicon was obviously confused as to why the seeker would enter the room of the mech that was planning on killing him if they didn't get killed themselves. It was hard for Laserbeak to feel any sympathy for Shockwave's demise. Soundwave had always respected Soundwave, but with how quick and easy it was for him to kill the one-optic scientist, it's clear Soundwave never really liked the deranged scientist and his experiments, which the minicon agreed with completely.
"I'll explain it in a little bit," Skywarp assured the bandaged pet with a pat on the head as he entered the charred room. The room was still blackened from the fire, the bots that clean the school obviously not thinking that cleaning it was worthy of their time, the only thing they decided worthy of clean-up was the corpse of the deceased mech. The seeker hummed to himself as he surveyed the room before heading over to the spot where he died, right at the middle of the room, which was the darkest part of the room. The mech sighed as he took a seat by where he perished, not minding if any of the charred bits stick to him.
"…You wonder why Shockwave thought it would be easy to fool me into taking his poison?" Skywarp asked the minicon with a look to them. The bird tilted their head at confusion at him before beeping up to him. "Right. No one else found it odd that he would find it easiest to kill me. They probably all just thought because I'm stupid. Well… it's not that. And just so you know, I'm not stupid." The minicon beeped to him in agreement. He's spent enough time with Skywarp to know that the seeker was smarter then he let on.
"Right, right, anyway, the fact of the matter is, me and Shockwave… understand each other. More importantly, I understood how he suffered," Skywarp said to Laserbeak with a light growl and the bird tilted their head in a questioning matter before beeping to him. "What I'm saying is that I was a victim of empurta and shadowplay." The bird jumped at that, almost falling off, but Skywarp brought a hand up to the bird to keep him still on his shoulder. "Sorry for the shocking reveal, but it's the truth."
Now the minicon was interested as he quickly beeped to Skywarp his questions. "Remember the story about Skywatch I told Ratchet about?" Skywarp questioned the bird as he grasped the necklace that he wore. The bird beeped to him an affirmative. "Yeah, well… that isn't the end of it. Skywatch was connected with some powerful people. After his suicide, they did some digging and my name came up often. They learned what I did to him and they took me off the streets one day, about a week after Skywatch's suicide. What happened after that is a jumbled mess, but the next coherent thought I have is waking up on the streets, my head and hands replaced claws and a head with just a single optic and no memory of who I was. A fragging cyclops with wings roaming about on my own, a pariah in the city that didn't know who he was or why he was like that. No one wants to associate with empurta victims. They all know that we've been marked," he said with disgust as he punched the floor, knocking small bits of ash into the air.
Laserbeak gave a soft whirring sound to the teleporting mech before leaning in to softly rub his head against the mech's neck. Skywarp calmed down at the affectionate touch from the minicon and used his hand to pat at the minicon affectionately. "Thanks, Laserbeak. Sorry for telling you all this, but… I feel that now's the time. When thing are going this bad." The minicon nodded to him in understanding before using more persuasive beeps. "You want to know more?" A nod. "Right, okay… I can tell you that. But only the important stuff. The messy details I'll leave for another time… we we're no longer in such a bad situation." Laserbeak nodded to him in understanding before urging the seeker on.
"Right, anyway… after some time and roaming about the planet, I ended up meeting Megatron one day… well, more like attempting to steal from him…"
"What are you doing here?" asked the tall and imposing figure of Megatron as he grasped Skywarp by the neck and pinning him to a wall. Skywarp was the same as he was in the modern day, but with claws and a single-optic head. His paint job was looking old and slightly rusted. His fuel tank was running low and he desperately needed energon. So in intruded on a place with the hopes of finding some energon to use and just so happened to get face-to-face with a gladiator. He always had the worse luck.
"Wait. Please! I… I need energon. Please," Skywarp begged him as the much larger mech scowled down at him.
"Nothing is given, you worthless scoundrel," Megatron cursed him out before deciding to toy with the empurta victim. "If you want some energon, just escape from my grip." Skywarp gasped as the hand tighten around him. "Although your time is running out…" The seeker knew that he had one-way out and that was using his warping capabilities, but he had almost no fuel left to spare. He had no idea if he could even do it, but still, it was his only chance of surviving this before getting his neck crushed, as it was already starting to do as he felt it denting in. The empurta victim offlined his own optic as he just concentrated all his energy into warping literally any distance away from the gladiator. His systems warned him of the possible malfunctions that would occur if he did it, but he ignored it as he just hoped for the best and attempted to warp.
In that moment, the grip around his neck was gone as he fell to the floor with weak legs that collapsed the moment he landed. The seeker groaned as he heard an audible gasp from beside him before he heard the footsteps shuffle right next him. "You… what was that?"
"E-energon. Please…" Skywarp begged him weakly as he onlined his optics again to weakly look back up at the imposing mech. The mech looked at him oddly before relenting. He wasn't about to be hypocrite. He grabbed the cube and set it in front of the seeker, who thought it was a joke. "Don't got a mouth, you idiot." Megatron blinked with a frown, just realizing this, before grabbing the cube again and looking for an injector for the empurta victim to use. After a minute of searching, Megatron had found an ejector and quickly filled it up before returning to the languishing mech with it in hand and setting it in front of the mech. The seeker grabbed it and quickly injected it into his arm where one of the main lines ran through. The warning signal faded away short after to a much subtler alarm warning him that his fuel tanks were still low. He didn't care much for that. All he cared for was that he was alive for now and Megatron was willing to talk to him at the meantime, which was better than him attempting to kill him by a large degree.
"Your name… what is it?" Megatron inquired to him as Skywarp got himself off the ground and was sitting up now to talk to the gladiator with his expressionless face.
"Name? Well… not sure who I am. Call myself Skywarp. That's all you have to go on for me," the seeker remarked to Megatron.
Laserbeak chirped to him. "No, Skywarp wasn't the name I was designated with. Truth be told, I still don't remember my real name. Despite all the probing that Shockwave did to my head, we still haven't found it, yet I'm able to recall all the memories of Skywatch perfectly. My mind works in strange ways…" he murmured before the bird beeped to him again. "My name? Oh, it came from an old comic from the Golden Age. Found it in an old area for rubbish that it was tossed in. 'The Adventures of Skywarp!' That was the title of it." The bird chirped inquisitively to him at that. "Yeah, I'll look for some copies for you to show you. Might still be some around. Would be a fun read, as I explained it to Megatron."
"So… your name is from an old comic?" Megatron asked in disbelief.
"Well… yeah. I got nothing else to go on for my identity. My memory banks are completely wiped are completely empty or at the very least, hidden deep within me somewhere. It's almost like I'm a newly-made mech. But I know I not. My body has been through the experiences that could only come many years of existence. I know I'm older then I am, but it's lost to me… which SUCKS! It sucks a whole lot!" Skywarp growled out.
"You sure can act immature at times…" Megatron remarked back to him at the seeker's ending outburst.
"Well, it's true, you know. It sucks. Would love if it didn't suck, but as of now, it completely sucks," Skywarp continued to emphasize his point.
"I get it, I get it," the gladiator brushed him with an annoyed sighed. "Truth be told, I felt like my mind was tinkered as well… but I have no proof of it."
"Tinkered? Not wiped?" Skywarp questioned him.
"No, not wiped. Just… tinkered. It's odd and hard to explain, but I got a feeling about this, and it distresses me. I can't just ignore this feeling…" Megatron growled.
"But you're just a gladiator, right?" Skywarp asked him. "Why would anyone want to tinker with your memory?"
"Probably because I wish to be more than what I am," the bigger mech hummed to him with a hand to his chin in a thoughtful matter. "This form of society we live in… it is unjust, and I can't accept living in it for much longer. I want to change it, whether it'll be bloodless or not. And you, Skywarp, are further proof that change must be done."
"Woah, woah, hey, if there's a revolution, I don't want to be part of it. I just want to live, that's it," Skywarp insisted to him in an annoyed tone.
"Huh, you still haven't realized that revolution is necessary, but I find it impossible to blame you in your state," Megatron murmured. "Your previous thoughts were robbed from you, leaving you with nothing but the people you meet, the people who ostracize you… including me, I must admit."
"Huh?"
"Skywarp, people like you… empurta victims. You are known as the troublemakers of society. Ones who the powers that be sought fit to physical scar you for potentially the rest of your life," Megatron explained as he leaned in to the faceless mech. "No one cares for you. We're trained to not care for you. If I killed you, not a single soul would care that I did it. Because that's all your kind are: pariahs to the world." Even though Skywarp's face was face less, he was obviously distressed with something. Thinking it all over to make sure he was right.
"…What the scrap is a pariah?" Skywarp wondered as he scratched his head and Megatron visibly flinched at how his big, important speech was deflated.
"A pariah is basically an outcast. People not accepted by society. Nobody likes them," Megatron simplified his language for the mech.
"Oh! Got it. Sorry. Didn't have anybody teach me anything. Or… well, don't remember anyone teaching me," the seeker admitted in an annoyed tone.
"Well, I wasn't taught by anyone either. I'm self-taught," Megatron admitted to him with a hum. "People in my position of society don't get an education. All they care for is us following their every order and not have our own thoughts."
"Hmm… if you say so," Skywarp said, unsure of his claims and Megatron could tell that Skywarp, with his limited education, was unable to comprehend all of what he was telling him. All this talk to get Skywarp on board with his revolution until he was able to think about it more properly.
"...Skywarp," the mech sighed reluctantly. "Would you… like me to be a teacher of sorts to you?"
"Huh? What do you me?" Skywarp asked.
"I'm not the smartest mech, but I can teach you some things. Some math, some literature, and especially science, particularly anatomy," Megatron explained to him. "I've always longed to be a doctor, but I know I can't be like that with our current society… but I still taught myself enough. Let me teach you," he said earnestly to Skywarp as he placed a hand on the shoulder of the confused seeker. Skywarp's face betrayed nothing, but his body language spoke enough for himself, as he was clutching himself for any answers to give.
"…We can give it a shot," Skywarp agreed with a nod to the larger mech. "See if I… like it, you know?"
"Of course… just a chance. If you like it, we cam keep it going somehow. I'll see how to make it work. Deal?" Megatron asked him.
"Right… sounds good to me."
"Anyway, after our first time meeting each other, we swapped com-links and Megatron promised to call on me when the need arose before sending me off with plenty of energon. I had no idea of his plans for rebellion at that point, but I didn't care. I got someone to accept me. That was good enough. However… things change when his rebellion went into full gear and Megatron made his plans known to me… as well as a few others."
"What?! You want me to accept that thing as part of the elite trine!" Starscream was arguing with Megatron inside the latter's room with Thundercracker, Shockwave, and Skywarp in attendance, the purple seeker looking timider then usual with the knowledge the two were currently arguing over him.
"My word is final Starscream. You picked one of your choosing," the Decepticon leader said with a nod over to the blue seeker, who was looking very annoyed at having to watch more verbal sparring matches between the two heads of the army, "and now I'll make one of my choosing for you and I've determined Skywarp to be the best choice for filling out your trine. His warping capabilities are unequal by anyone else in the army."
"It hasn't even gotten the mark!" Starscream barked back, pointing out the lack of the Decepticon icon on the purple seeker. "And you intend to push it into a high-ranking position without even vetting it?"
"Your degrading comment of empurta victims are noted," Shockwave mentioned from the side and Starscream's face was scrunching up in realization that he probably should watch what he says before calming himself down.
"…Why is Shockwave even here?" the Second-in-Command questioned the leader.
"Well, I brought him here so that we can discuss our compromise. I didn't intend to just force him on you with nothing changed. What I'm willing to do is simple. Shockwave here will produce a new head and a pair of hands for Skywarp and you will take him under your wing as a member of the elite trine. Simple," Megatron explained to him as he crossed his arms to the red seeker.
"Ah, so that is why you brought me here. My skills with medical operations are capable, but not my main forte. I could feasible get it done, but it will take some time," Shockwave stated to Megatron.
"Not a problem with me. Any problems with that, Starscream?" the leader questioned him. Starscream face was scrunched in a look of disgust at having to bargain with the leader before thinking through it.
"…If Shockwave's operations work and he looks normal, then I'll consider it, but I want him vetted," Starscream still insisted. "None of us ever heard of this mysterious 'Skywarp' until literally right now. I want more answers!"
"Well then, that will be difficult, considering that Skywarp's past is unknown to even himself," Megatron remarked back to him as he trailed over to the one-optic seeker, who was looking nervous as a hand from Megatron was placed on his shoulder. " He has no friends. No allies. No persons of interests. Literally nothing except for me. I hope Shockwave can uncover more info during their time together, but that is up to Skywarp to do if he's determined to recover some of his memories." Skywarp felt another pat on his shoulder, this one more in a stern matter before he spoke. "Plus, before he undergoes the operation, I'll make sure he takes the mark of the Decepticon, as all of is have already done."
"They better," Starscream growled as he turned his glare to Skywarp. "Listen, you whelp. The elite trine is a serious rank in the army and the fact you're being placed there instead of Ramjet, Acid Rain, or even Bitmaster is an insult to them if you don't prove your worth, got it?"
"Of course! Uh, sir?" Skywarp replied nervously to his new commandeer, who simply glared at him before walking off, not saying another word. "Well… that could've gone better."
"Better? With Starscream, I think that was our best-case scenario," Megatron assured him with a pat on the back. "I'll help smooth things over with him, but you just concentrate on working with Shockwave to get your new body."
"Right… got it," Skywarp murmured as he looked over to the much larger empurta victim in the room, who was looking down at him.
"So long as you don't disturb any of my experiments, we should be able to get along," Shockwave informed him simply before walking off. "Come to my lab whenever you're ready." He exited the room shortly thereafter, with Thundercracker coming over to wrap a comforting arm around the purple seeker.
"Hey, sorry for your first meeting with Starscream to be like that. He's… well, more than a bit hot-headed, but I'll be making sure he tolerates you… 'Skywarp,' correct?" Thundercracker prompted him.
"Y-yeah," the empurta victim nodded to him.
"Right. Skywarp… anyway, don't worry too much about it," the blue seeker assured him. "Like Megatron, I'll smooth things over with him as well, although I imagine I'll be more effective. No one here knows Starscream longer than me… much as I regret it at times."
"Well, you're invaluable for keeping him in line," Megatron remarked to him with a huff. "Make sure he treats Skywarp fairly, understood?"
"I'll do the best I can," Thundercracker confirmed to him. "Speaking of Skywarp, who else may know about him?"
"I rather no one knows about Skywarp until he had undergone surgery and has his new body. I don't want anyone else discriminating against him just because of him being an empurta victim, got it?" Megatron requested of him.
"Right, I'll make sure word of our final trine member doesn't anyone else until he's complete," the blue seeker nodded as he gave another sympathetic pat to Skywarp before heading out. "I'm going to seek out Starscream and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"That would be most helpful," Megatron nods to him as the blue seeker exited the room, leaving Megatron and the empurta seeker alone.
"Well… that was an awkward first meeting," Skywarp remarked to Megatron with a sigh to him as Megatron continued to pat him on the shoulder in a comforting matter.
"Maybe so… but I assure you, you'll fit in with everyone. As whomever you want to be. You can be Skywarp… or whatever your memory uncovers," the Decepticon leader assured him. "You can be whoever you want to be in the Decepticons."
"I can be whatever I want to be in the Decepticon army… I can forge an identity of my own. Truth be told, that was what I wanted most inside of the army. A new identity of my own. I didn't care much for the idea of reclaiming my past identity. I just… wanted to learn a thing or two about myself. Mainly why I was targeted for empurta and all that other stuff. Of course, that's what Shockwave was for…"
"What the hell is that?" Skywarp asked Shockwave with a gulp as he laid on a medical slab.
"This here is a cortical patch. This here will allow me to examine your memories to a basic degree," Shockwave informed him as he typed inside of his computer a bit before starting. "It's no where close to the efficiency of mnemosurgery, but it's still a viable alternative. Just don't expect me to create a miracle and have you recall every single one of your memories, understood?"
"I got it, I got it," Skywarp insisted to him with a wave of his hand. "I just want to know… will it hurt?"
"Only briefly," Shockwave assured him as he grabbed the cortical cord and brought it over to the mech on the slab. The cord was connected one side to the computer while the other end was empty, ready to connect to Skywarp's head. "Just relax and let me examine as much of your memories that will be allowed to me."
"I find it hard to relax with you as my ward," Skywarp sniped back at him with a huff, but relented as he tried to relax on the slab. Emphasis on tried as he fidgeted on the slab constantly as he eyed the sharp-looking cord.
"The more you move, the more it'll hurt," Shockwave warned him as he got behind the seeker. That made the seeker even more nervous, but he tried to calm himself down as the mech demanded, trying to keep himself still for the scientist. The scientist hummed as he watched for the perfect moment that Skywarp hold still before inserting it into the back of his head, making Skywarp gasped as he grasped the edge of the bed.
"OW! Slag," Skywarp yelled out from the intrusion of the cord, the thin prongs pushing into his head.
"It wasn't that bad. I've subjected myself to it as well," Shockwave insisted as he walked back to his computer and started attempting to access Skywarp's memories to the best of his abilities.
"So… we're both, uh, what do you call it?"
"Empurta victims," Shockwave told him dispassionately while he worked. "Our arms and heads were removed and replaced with these faceless heads and claws."
"Right, right…" Skywarp murmured with a hum. "And empurta means they fiddled with our memories, right?"
"No, that's another process," the logician explained to him. "I first realized that when conferring with other empurta victims and they remembered everything before the process. Thus, the memory tampering is a separate process that the ones in power inflict on others"
"Oh… okay," the seeker said as he accepted the information. "Got a name for it?"
"It has not been verified, but I do believe it is called Shadowplay. I need more data on this to confirm this hypothesis," the scientist stated to him. "All information on the process is fragmented at best and requires more pieces to complete the puzzle."
"Fragging weird…" Skywarp murmured as he rubbed his finger against the edge of the bed. "Why would they want to tamper with our memory?"
"I do not know, but likely than not, we knew something they didn't want us to know, so they made sure we wouldn't tell anyone anything. The empurta is just another way of making sure we no one will seek us out," the mech explained to Skywarp.
"Fraggers," he growled in anger as Shockwave continued to sort and patch up Skywarp's memories.
"It is quite… distasteful, but an effective way of quelling dissidents," Shockwave remarked to him.
"Judging by how you act, they did more then screwed with your memory," Skywarp remarked to him.
"It is quite possible. My memories of my former self are scattered, but from I've found, I used to be quite emotional. Such a terrifying thought to me now. I rather not have such trifling things anymore," Shockwave explained to him.
"Trifling?"
"It means I consider emotions unimportant things to have," Shockwave explained to him. "They would impede on my research and I cannot have that happen. My research is more important then anything else."
"That's… scary," Skywarp insisted with a gulp. 'Why am I all alone in this room with a mad mech?' he thought to himself.
"Hmm… Skywarp, going through the fragments, there's one mech that keeps popping up," the scientist informed him while he sifted through the memories before picking one to show to him. "Do they seem familiar to you?"
"Hmm…?" the seeker hummed as he looked at the screen shown to him. The mech on the screen was another seeker that was white with gold lining and bright blue optics. They were immaculate looking, with not a single scratch on them and the light reflecting off them. Upon seeing this image, Skywarp couldn't help feeling a strange sense of comfort coming over him, but he had no idea why. "I… I must know them, but I'm not sure how. They make me feel… nice."
"Hmm… curious," Shockwave murmured to himself as he continued to maneuver around Skywarp's memories as best he could. "Considering how often they appear, I would hazard a guess that they are very important to you in some way."
"No slag," Skywarp remarked back to him. "Way to point out the obvious."
"I find it appropriate to point it out. All that we know is built upon the basics and obvious," Shockwave remarked to him. "It is pretty important that all variables are known to us."
"Right… 'variables' are very… important," Skywarp agreed, unsure of what that meant as he concentrated on the various images appearing on the screen. It was hard to take in all that he saw on the screen, but it was enough for him to get some ideas of his former self. He was certainly not as poor as he was now, with many images of a high-rise society being seen. Seeing all that only served to infuriate him even more as he realized that the good life was taken forcibly from him.
"Bastards…" he growled lightly as he watched more images come on screen before seeing something that made him instinctually gasp. "Stop!" Shockwave did so at the image on screen, which showed a necklace in his hand.
"A piece of jewelry?" the scientist said with a hum. "Looks expensive and valuable…" He looked over to see that Skywarp was staring blankly at the screen, looking the necklace over before grunting as he brought his hands to his head as images filtered inside of his head.
"Fraaaaag… I know… I… still have this," Skywarp said in mental pain as more still images appeared inside his mind. Images of him holding the necklace, wearing the necklace, and hiding the necklace. As if on instinct, a hatch on his right leg opened and Skywarp stuck his hand in it, much to the disbelief of Shockwave as he watched him. The hatch on his leg was another subspace area that Skywarp dug around in before he grasped onto something. The seeker quivered slightly as he took it out of the hatch to show the necklace that was on screen now in his hand. "This is it… the necklace… from… Skywatch." He said the name that he never said before as if it came naturally to him as he clung the necklace against him.
Shockwave examined this emotional outburst from Skywarp with interest before speaking. "So… do you remember everything now?" Skywarp barely reacted to the question as he kept the necklace close to him before he spoke.
"I… I doubt. I just remember the name. That's it. I remember loving him, but that's it," Skywarp informed with a sift whine. "And he… loved me too. This… was proof of it." Skywarp was quiet now as Shockwave hummed to the information before coming over and starting to disengage the cortical patch.
"We'll continue this another time. You're too emotional for us to proceed onward," Shockwave said to him as he removed the cord from his head. "It's too hard to sift through your memories like this."
"Right, right," Skywarp nodded to him with a sigh.
"See if you can naturally recall your memories in this state. That will help the next time we do this," the scientist suggested to him as he rolled the cord up.
"Yeah… I'll do that."
"I didn't get much of my memory after that," Skywarp admitted to the minicon with a sigh. "I recall small things about myself, but the main thing I remembered was Skywatch. It really is a shame that he isn't alive anymore. I haven't cared for anyone more than him." Laserbeak beeped to him with a nod as he spoke and continued to comfort his owner. "Thanks… guess we should go. Don't need Bumblebee worrying about us," Skywarp remarked as he got up and noticed the ash on the lower half of his body. "Might as well clean myself before heading back there… hope Shockwave don't mind me using his shower," Skywarp said with a chuckle, with the minicon mimicking him as he went to the closed bathroom door and opened it.
Or try to, as it stayed closed, which puzzled the seeker as to why it was closed before growing suspicious. The door was locked from the inside, which meant someone on the inside of the room had locked the door. Skywarp scowled as he harshly knocked on the door. "Alright! I know someone's hiding in there. Open up or else I'll warp inside!" As he issued his threat, he readied himself in case the one inside was willing to resort to violence to escape the room. As he kept his guard, the bathroom unlocked and creaked open.
"Calm down, calm down, calm down," urged the smooth voice of Jazz as he revealed himself and had his hands up in a surrender pose. "It's just me. Don't mind me being here." Skywarp scowled at the accomplished spy as he looked him over to see that he had some datapads in hand as well as some clipped to his hips.
"What are you here for?" Skywarp questioned him as he kept his guard up. He knew better then to be calm around the spy.
"Well, uh, I'm here for… information on Shockwave," Jazz reluctantly admitted to him with a sigh. "I'm hoping there's something for me to find and I found these assorted datapads here to examine."
"Why do you think he's got anything?" Skywarp asked him with a head tilt that Laserbeak mimicked as well.
"Well… that would be involving disclosing information that I don't feel comfortable admitting to you now,' Jazz explained to him with a gulp.
"Did you hear everything I said to Laserbeak?" Skywarp asked him with an intense glare and he could see him visibly flinch at the question.
"Well… it's not like I intended to do so, but I may've… heard you talk to Laserbeak about yourself," Jazz confirmed to him with a nervous. "Sorry about your past as well. Never knew you shared the same fate as Shockwave…"
"Well… it was a closely guarded secret," Skywarp confirmed to him with a grunt. "Starscream couldn't stand the humiliation of having someone like me in his trine, so he had to get me 'fixed' before letting me join."
"I inferred as much…" the Autobot said with a knowing nod. "I figured Old Screamer would protest against having a 'broken' seeker on board. He was always a bit of a bigot."
"Yeah… but eventually, you get used to him being your bigot," the former empurta victim remarked with a scowl. "He ever started to like me a bit after some time… not as much as Thundercracker, but it's better then being despised by him."
"Yeah… I suppose so," Jazz agreed with him.
"Sure is and since you've heard me blabbering about my own secrets, why don't you explain some of your owns?" Skywarp requested as he leaned in to get more in his face. "I don't like exposing my secrets and you've really irked me with all your secrets you're hiding. I still remember the secrets you hid in the third trail. Who knows what other secrets you're hiding." Jazz was feeling really nervous now as Skywarp was leaning in even more and he knew he wasn't getting out of this room without divulging some secrets.
"Alright, alright, let's stay calm," Jazz attempted to placate him as he continued to defensively put his hands up. "I'm trying not to let too many people in on my plans, alright. I'm investigating this pretty closely and I have my suspicions about Shockwave."
"Shockwave? In case you don't remember, he was the first one of us to die," Skywarp reminded him with a condescending pat on the head, much to the annoyance of Jazz that Skywarp was being condescending to him. "No way would the first person to get killed be involved."
"You may think that, but judging from the evidence I've found, it looks like he was involved in some major scandals with the school alongside Chromedome," the spy explained to him quickly in low tones.
"Shockwave and Chromedome? That's a weird combo," the warper remarked back to him suspiciously. "Why would those two be in cahoots together?"
"I don't know but all the evidence I've found suggests the two were working together somehow and I need to figure out exactly what the connection between the two is," Jazz said to him with a pleading tone. "That's why I snatched all the datapads from this room to see if Shockwave potentially left something behind that could tie it all together and I was about to leave when I heard you coming."
"So you were planning to hide out in the commode until I left, right?" the seeker remarked with a scowl.
"Well… yeah, but that's because it's dangerous to be talk to people in the middle of the night," Jazz reminded him as he nervously rubbed the side of the head. "I mean, after what happened to Vortex, Counterpunch, and Mirage, it's really not a good idea to be out at night with another person."
"Blast Off got killed right in front of everyone. I think that's enough to show that just being this damn academy is bad for your health," Skywarp insisted to him with a scowl. "At this point, you need protection to keep you alive, not going out alone and hoping you don't get shank by anyone."
"Skywarp… I'm a spy. I do solo, clandestine operations all the time. It's my thing. Quite frankly, that should be my talent instead of audiophile. I mean, I do like listening and playing my music, but spying and wetwork is my thing. Don't know how it isn't," Jazz said with a huff, obviously insulted. "Could there be a better spy than me…?"
"Don't know. Don't care. You were a thorn in our side during the war, but that's over now," Skywarp remarked with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"It's never over," the spy said with a sigh. "Truth is… Optimus still has me engaged in spying operations." Skywarp visibly recoiled to the information.
"WHAT?! Seriously?" Skywarp asked with him with a loud growl, as Laserbeak clinged tightly to his shoulder.
"Yeah, well, I doubt it matters much to admit it now since the world has gone to hell again, but it's the truth. Optimus had me doing some spy work on the Decepticons and NAILs to determine if any duplicity was going on. Fact is, we were all still paranoid over you, so I was sent to do some hacking and spying on meetings to determine if anything was going on," Jazz explained to him.
"You fragger! You really have that little trust in us?" Skywarp badgered him.
"It wasn't you, it was Starscream!" the spy explained. "We don't trust him in the slightest and Metalhawk was always the detractor, criticizing every move and decision we make. I had to spy on you all to make sure nothing was going on."
"How long has this been going on?" the seeker hissed.
"We started it five years after peace was called and it's still going on," the audiophile explained to him. "We've always kept watch over you. Yet, in the end… it seemed we were keeping our optics on the wrong people this whole time." Jazz started slouching as his face curled up into sadness. "All of our spying on Decepticons and NAILs ended up with nothing while these terrorists set up this death trap to watch us suffer. I should've been more thorough in my investigation of the academy, but it's too late now. We're stuck in this place with no way out… but I want to put my skills to good use again." He gripped his fist in determination at that. "I will do everything I can to get us out of here alive. That is a promise."
Skywarp looked deep into his Jazz's blue optics. He could see that they were fill with determination to see this out and the seeker knew this was genuine, which meant he was worth trusting. "Well… I think I can all agree to that, so long as you're willing to be honest with me. I'm getting really tire of all this deception."
"Says the Decepticon," Jazz remarked to him with a huff and Skywarp paused at that before chuckling.
"Fair point. Our name wasn't really good for our public image, but still, you guys can be really deceptive as well," Skywarp reminded him. "The whole situation with Counterpunch shows that."
"And I apologize for that, honestly. War makes us take desperate measures to win, that's for sure," the spy admitted to him sorrowfully. "Still, I'll help as much as I can. If you want to help, come to my room tomorrow and I'll tell you what I've found. Deal?"
"Done deal," Skywarp agreed with a nod to him. "For now, I got to get back to watching Perceptor."
"Yeah… I hate to think of him as a traitor, but we can't afford to let our guard down around him," the spy agreed with a nod. "Keep a good watch over him."
"You got it and watch your back! You're no good to me dead."