The Diego Diaries: Copycat (dd8 561)
=0=On the deck
They gathered in the room where the scientists were working to hash out what was known thus far. They received word as they did that Crader had arrived at Mars and was being taken to Metro Femme for his second round of spark transfer. They were discussing what would happen to him and the others at the moment.
"I ordered a measurement of Crader's spark to determine what he'd have to be transferred into and he has just the best measure at the high end of his spark size to fit what I think is the smallest and weakest format we can give. I'm thinking he might do well as a mini-con femme, the small ones. I thought we might try a bigger format to make the transmutation take longer but you had ideas about that, Perceptor," Ratchet asked the big tech mech.
"I do," Perceptor said. "We see this as partly genetic manipulation and partly protoform transformation through an unknown process. If we give him a big format I believe that it will mutate at the rate of whatever size you are. If you are tiny it will mutate at as fixed a rate as a big mech. Having a raving lunatic in the smallest protoform we can produce for his spark size, a mini-con femme, then we can meet the outcome with less force than if they were a full sized mech of any kind."
"What will this do to his already broken processor?" Prowl asked.
Ratchet glanced at that cool calm doppelganger of their own. "Nothing good but I think having him in stasis until he bursts out is a good thing. If he sees what he looks like it might make him pause and give us a jump start in getting him back under control."
"How many times can you safely transfer a spark, Ratchet?" Prime asked as they all felt a burst of ugliness pass through them as they contemplated that horrible idea.
"The way we do it, a lot. As long as the process is followed to a 'T' and the protoforms are as topnotch as ours, then he's good to go. If he had a clue he'd give it up but we're also studying if the process has a processor madness factor," Ratchet replied.
"We sent the data to Jarro and Rung who have their smart kids working on it. Turquoise is also coding the processor recordings that we've taken of both Crader and the older ones of the rest of them." Wheeljack glanced at Turquoise who sat at a code driver computer nearby.
"There are very strange makers on the CNA readouts, Lord Optimus and I have strange markers in their processor printouts. I'm working out the patterns now. I would venture to say that there's an almost one hundred percent probability that this alters the processor and relieves it of some of its possibilities, perhaps even the ability to be rational and think," Turquoise said.
It was silent a moment, then Jetta glanced at Prime. "Then its highly likely that this group is mentally impaired and incapable of making rational reasoned decisions," he said. "If that's true then we have a medical situation as well as everything else."
Prime nodded. "I would need the individuals that we hold to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb. I would like to have as much information about them as we can find. Denita and Stormy are also to be included. The answer lies with them, the whys, hows and what fors. We have to look as deep as we can."
He glanced at Barron who was here to help with the processes that would lead to a case later on. "Please oversee this, Barron, and consult on procedures. I do not want this to turn into something less than our standards unless the situation is so dire that it drives my decisions."
Barron bowed his helm. "You have great latitude and discretion with modified martial law anyway, Prime. It would take only a declaration by you to go full on. I realize that your integrity drives your decisions and therefore I will be happy to advise this process for you as you demand."
"Thank you, Barron. Unless there is no other path to keeping everyone safe, we have to be scrupulous that we do not take the easy path and end up on the slippery slope once more," Prime said. He glanced at the group. "What do we have thus far?"
Megatronus was sitting beside him as Prowl and Prowler stood by the wall. One was watching silently as the other took notes. "I am curious as well. Something tells me that even if they seem gone from here we are not going to be free of their menace until we catch them."
"I think that's correct, Lord Megatronus," Perceptor said. "We have discovered that the ships and individuals are mutating at a rate measurable to their internal time clocks. That is, children grow chronologically at the same rate. You go from one year old, to two, to three and so on together. But among them there are different factors of all manner that govern their maturation. Some children are small until they reach a certain age while others will be big and stay that way early on.
"Each of them appear by comparing data to be mutating at their own rate. That's important to know because we have Auntie working out a schedule for each in custody that will help us plot their rate of transformation. When they reach the critical area where they become a problem we can then do a spark transfer so they begin again. We can also take samples, then destroy their old protoforms so they don't go zombie on us again."
"Zombie?" Heretech asked.
Springer glanced at him. "Long story. I'll fill you in later."
Ratchet grinned. It was a long and truly funny story. At least to him.
"That will prevent them from becoming problematic if Auntie can crack their code," Wheeljack said.
"Auntie?" Megatronus asked.
"Our mainframe computer. Teletraan is sentient, very feminine and rather 'aunt-like' in her behavior so we call her that," Wheeljack replied.
Megatronus nodded. "I see."
Ratchet grinned. He really liked this Megatron.
"The next part is figuring out the substance lining the processor plates of both Stormy and Denita. Crader just confirmed that they were a failed part of this project. They took the process and came to a greater degree of success than Jhiaxus," Wheeljack continued.
"We believe that this is a combination of Jhiaxus's voodoo and a lot of alien tech, some of which is subtle and unclear to the optic. It could be scripts, devices as unobtrusive as the paint-like substance lining the femmes' processors … we aren't clear yet."
"Traachon said, 'if you can think it, you can do it'. Somehow the ability to visualize is part of this. That angle is strange. How do you detect how that works?" Ratchet said.
"Experimentation. Once we figure out the process we need a volunteer," Wheeljack said with a faint grin.
"That will not happen," Prime said. "We have to get there first. How do they jump and what is the feasibility of time travel? We have to assume they can or he would not have been so adamant about it. A joor's duration limitation is a blessing."
"Unless they target someone and go there directly," Ratchet said.
"Thanks, Ada, for that cheerful observation," Springer said dryly.
Ratchet grinned. "The point would be to go to do something specific. I'd joy ride but these mechs and femmes have no sense of humor. If they do this then they're going to aim for a goal."
"It would be likely," Megatronus. "If they wish to control our dimensions then they have to go through you or me."
Prime nodded. "I concur."
"Frag that," Prowler said darkly. He glanced at his grand genitors. "Amma, Appa, what do you know?"
Stealth considered that. "We're working it out. There are some novel ideas here and some we haven't gotten a handle upon. We're not novices with this sort of approach but find it frought with problems to those who attempt it and very dangerous. Its unstable to say the least so we abandoned it as a control study early on. Its just bad news."
"How so?" Megatronus asked.
"If you jump dimensions without a ship then you're subject to the stresses and dangers of being exposed to them without protection. Having a ship gives you safety and alleviated this. I could hypothesize that some of their mental instability arises from this process. Going through a dimensional membrane by ship is daunting enough. Imagine it without one," Stealth said.
"The mathematics of all of this is familiar to us. If Miler could assist we can get further along. His processor is magnificent for theoretical problems such as this and he understands our short hand," Shadow said.
Prowler nodded. "I'll call him."
"What is the bottom line for us at this moment?" Prime asked.
"We're working on the transmutation process with the assistance of Turquoise. That's a genetic inspired problem and will have to be tackled at that level of engagement. The ships are the realm of the titans and they have their best scientists working on it and the dimensional jump process," Wheeljack said. "Genetics has the femmes and when we find everything that's part of this process and remove it then we can restore them perhaps to a better function."
Perceptor nodded. "The time situation is not new to us. We have in the past but it was always a convoluted thing requiring ships and mass energy transfers and the like. It was dangerous, detrimental to the possibility of stable time lines and highly illegal in our culture and empire."
"There are a lot of theories about the past, Prime," Ratchet said. "The strongest and most highly likely is that if one could go back in time they couldn't change the past and likewise the future. Its generally considered and most theoretical physicists and time scientists fall into this particular category … the past is over and can't be altered no matter what you want or do. If they can go to the past they can't do any harm. Its a common fallacy and science fiction trope that this can be done when the mathematics and physics say emphatically enough, 'no'."
"That would be deeply comforting if true. Is there anyway to test it?" Prime asked.
"That's our job, Prime," Acroplex said from the doorway. "We have more experience with such things."
"Thank you," Prime said as the big mech bowed his helm respectfully.
"We need to find them, then tag their ships. We also need to remain in communication. I have no idea which dimensional plane they occupy at this moment but it will be a very bad thing for whoever is there," Prime said grimly.
Megatronus nodded. "I agree," he said solemnly.
=0=TBC 11-4-2022 HBJes
ESL:
Maturation: (mah-chur-ray-shun) the rate of growth someone/thing undertakes.
Trope: (troh-p) anything that's so overused that its a cliché or a yawner. The old fashioned moustached bad guy in a black cape tying Polly Purebread to the railroad tracks while Her Man™ in a white hat raced to save her just in time is a trope.
