The Diego Diaries: Prodigal Son (dd8 338)

=0=On a plane of existence out there

"You expect to find Him then, this mech I tricked into a planet that could be anywhere in the universe?" Primus asked.

"That is why I am here," Megatron said. "I feel that He is sleeping but within the power of my enhanced features to find. When I do I will awaken Him and by His side finish what He started."

Primus grinned. "He never has partners nor does He care about the feelings of others. He is Chaos. I am Order. Duality at its most bare. You have no value to Him beyond your utility. Once you awaken Him He will kill you because that is His nature. You would do better coming to My side. At least I would allow you to live your misguided life. He will not."

"That's another thing I must solve for myself," Megatron said forcefully.

"Yes. About that," Primus said as He sat back with amusement.

It was still between them as both stared at the other. The big immortal spirit of a planet and a people, perhaps one of the beings responsible for part of the creation of the universe was a sight to behold as Megatron stoically calculated his opponent. It was his way, to observe and find the weak chinks in his opponent's armor. It was clear to him that this being probably had none and was three thoughts ahead of where his mental train was headed.

"You would be right about that," Primus said startling Megatron slightly.

"You would read my mind? That doesn't seem very 'free will' of You to do that,' Megatron said slightly petulantly. Then he corrected himself. "All of this talk about free will. Life is there for the taking. I have no fear of You. What is the worst that can happen? You kill me? I will still triumph because I choose my path myself."

Primus nodded. "Most of it was chosen before you were born and came here. You are on your own path but where it crosses with Mine I will be there waiting for you. No one is allowed to have their free will and others, too. We are not spheroids to be pillaged for your entertainment and advancement. We have invited you to come to live on our bodies and experience your life wishes. We did not and do not invite you to cause Us harm."

"You caused it when you gave the Matrix to Optimus Prime. I care not what You call him or that he's your personal son. I care for my own ideas and advancement. I have things to offer, things that are needed."

"You are chaos, Megatron. You calculate your path like a machine but you never see what you pass until you break it, then call it beautiful. Cybertron was always beautiful. Its a rare thing, a metallic planet. There are so few in the universe that they constitute a special class. I gave you everything you needed and every time I did you broke it. The Quintessans. The Functionalist Council. The councils that promoted and oversaw the System of Exception. Then the ego burst of civil war because you weren't selected and Optimus was. There was never a moment when you acknowledged Me and my sovereignty."

"You never spoke to us. You never made Yourself known. All we had was misery and poverty, the death of dreams. No one ever saw us. There was always plenty for them and hang the cost. But us? If you ask for a crumb to feed your starving child they always said, 'How will we pay for that?' It was intolerable and You were silent." Megatron stepped out onto the surface before him and it held. He walked toward Primus seething with rage.

"How can you judge me? How can you come here and judge me when we all prayed for you and you were silent?" he asked. He stared upward into the oddly compassionate face of a mech he had admired until The Fallen had overwhelmed his thoughts and the ideal of Unicron became his north star.

"I never stopped speaking to you," Primus corrected. "You stopped listening to Me."

Megatron considered that as he glanced around. Then he looked upward again. "So you say." He walked past the chair where Primus sat, staring up, down and around at all that he could see. It wasn't much in all. Turning to stare at Primus again, he considered the big mech appraisingly. "What do You have in store for me? Death. Worse? I have no fear of anyone. Everyone should fear me."

"Tell me about these people you chase, the Borg," Primus asked.

"You have a flaw? I would think You would already know," Megatron replied. "These beings are tenacious but ultimately not in our class. They have the ability to adapt but they never did. They came close but it wasn't enough. We killed many queens, females of terrible aspect and an insect-like indifference to fear. They were never enough for us, but then who is, really?"

"Who indeed," Primus replied with the ghost of a smile. "You have no problem with this event, crossing oceans of space to hunt them."

"No. Why should I? They fired first, oddly enough," Megatron said. "But then You knew that. Its somewhere in Your prodigious memory banks."

"I have much there. I am not just the warrior god of our people, I exist all over the place. I would also say that Cybertron is My favorite planet for all the obvious reasons and then some. It was a struggle to create it so that all of you could live there," Primus said.

"Well, we couldn't. I could not live on a planet that didn't value me beyond my utility. When you don't allow people to live decently you invite a knife to your throat," Megatron replied. "I am that knife."

"You had promise in the beginning. I had a great deal of interest in which path you would take. But you took the predictable one, the one that soothed your ego the most. Its a pity that you and Optimus didn't find accord. It might have changed everything. It would have been enough," Primus replied.

"You do not find me interesting now then," Megatron asked.

"I do. I just don't enjoy watching your mayhem. The Borg are destroyed here. The few that remain will fizzle out. Its the way it should be. They were never meant to survive much longer because they are a nihilistic society bent on attaining a goal they could never reach. Perfection," Primus said. "Now what We have to do is decide about you. Whatever do We do about Megatron?" he asked with a slight grin.

"Yes," Megatron said as he walked closer to Primus. "Whatever shall You do with Megatron?"

"I think it might be fun to reset," Primus said, then He snapped His fingers. Everything around him disappeared including Megatron.

"That was interesting," a voice said from nearby in the shadows.

Primus glanced over to see Thirteen standing nearby watching as He had the whole conversation. "What do You think, My Son?" he asked.

Thirteen, the God ruler of a dimensional plane where Cybertron had never known anything but grace and progress, peace and prosperity stepped closer to His father. "I think it will keep them occupied for a very great time and eliminate a problem from this dimension altogether. Will you return him to his own dimension and Optimus when he finishes here?"

"It all depends upon how it goes with Optimus." Primus grinned. "There are very few dimensions where You are not a prince. I am glad that You made contact with Optimus. He's a very wonderful version of You if I say so Myself."

Thirteen glanced at His father. "From you, that's a very great compliment."

With that, both of them disappeared. It was silent once again.

=0=On a ship's bridge

Megatron startled, then glanced around. Things were the same but he felt he'd been somewhere, somehow for a moment. He glanced at the conn. "What is our status?"

The pilot glanced at him. "We arrived at our destination. The signal that brought us here through the bridge jump is gone however. Why and how is not known."

"Lord Megatron, our space bridges are burned out. An unknown overload flooded them in transport and we're … we're stuck out here," the tactical officer announced.

Megatron considered that. "We are only stuck if I say we are. We will find our way back." He moved to sit, then a klaxon sounded. "What is happening?"

Tactical glanced his way. "A ship is coming."

"What kind of ship?" Megatron asked as his son, Galvatron walked over to stand beside him.

"A cube," tactical said. "A message is incoming."

:Unknown ship, we are the Borg. Prepared to be boarded. Resistance is futile:

A strong scanning beam crossed the bridge from side to side then disappeared.

Megatron considered that, then sat back with a grin. "Well, well. This is unexpected. Scan them and get ready to fight. Perhaps our dilemma just solved itself."

They did.

It did.

=0=On the same dimensional plane at the Residence of the Prime, Iacon

Sentinel glanced up as the door opened. Thirteen had arrived, coming into the private quarters in time for dinner. "You look well. What did He say?"

"They had a chat," Thirteen said as he pulled a chair to sit and talk to his bond. "He is going to use Megatron to solve the problem of the Borg here. That problem is eliminated from our timeline and Optimus has more time himself without Megatron's return. The Borg are an unfortunate anomaly that wasn't supposed to be in either dimensional timeline."

Sentinel nodded. "I know. The energy floes have created havoc across many dimensional planes. I would have hated to be there when Father and Unicron made them happen. Exploding a nest of stars was a bold stroke for Unicron. But now it bleeds across multiple dimensions allowing time shifts that aren't suppose to happen."

"Vector tracks them. It will be resolved as Father proposes. As for us, I am hungry. Dine with me," Thirteen said as he rose.

Sentinel rose with him and they walked to the door to go to eat in the private dining room nearby.

Megatron would begin a march across the endless expansion of the Delta Quadrant toward a home he wouldn't remember had fallen to Prime.

Prime would have once more the time he needed to consolidate his power, save his people and move Cybertron and its empire worlds to safety.

The Borg who weren't supposed to be in either dimension would be resolved. They wouldn't like how it worked out for them but once more the suffering civilizations of the Delta Quadrant in both dimensional planes would remember the day with fireworks.

=0=TBC 1-3-2022

Shorter than intended without the notes yet. Tomorrow. Tonight I can't stay awake. HUGS! Notes tomorrow.