Optimus slowly and sorrowfully walked exited the GroundBridge, sighing as he gently placed the vial of antivirus on Ratchet's console.

"Optimus, what's wrong?" the medic asked, sensing his leader's despair.

"We may have acquired a cure for Red Rust, but at a great cost," the Prime replied as Skybolt strode in, still cradling Pathfinder's remains in his arms.

"What 'cost,' Optimus?" Ratchet asked dismissively as he picked up the vial. "That Energon Probe? It wasn't alive!"

"She was alive to me," Skybolt argued.

"Of course she was," the medic snarked. "You probably don't have the capacity to distinguish a real personality from a personality program."

Skybolt raised an optic ridge, but otherwise retained his glaring expression.

"Oh, sure, she was friendly enough, but that's the way ALL Third Gen Camien Probes are PROGRAMMED to act."

"I...I do not believe that."

"Well, you BETTER believe it, Synthy! These probes are programmed with a friendly and kind personality in the event that they need to negotiate with the natives of an inhabited world."

"Skybolt looked down at the lump of slag that had once been Pathfinder's face. "I believe she evolved beyond that."

"How would YOU know?" Ratchet spat back.

"I..." He pondered the question. It was something he didn't want to think about. "I do not."

"Do you know the risk you're taking in bringing it here? The Red Rust Virus can spread and lay dormant on any metallic surface. If this substance isn't an effective antivirus, then you've effectively doomed us all! If Megatron's plan was to use that probe to spread the Red Rust, you've effectively HELPED him bring it to fruition! You'd better hope this antivirus works."

"I do, Ratchet," Skybolt sighed.

"Ratchet, this is not the time to berate Skybolt for his actions," Prime admonished.

"It most certainly IS," the angry medic fired back. "We could've just ignored that probe entirely, but Skybolt had to develop misguided feelings for it. We would've been better off just leaving that whole cache behind. It's not like there was much Energon there anyway."

"Had we not gone, the Decepticons would have found the Energon and Pathfinder first," Optimus firmly stated. "Megatron would have most likely concocted the same plans either way."

"If not for Skybolt, we could've just blasted the thing to scrap before it set foot in our base."

"You would be no better than Megatron," Skybolt hissed./p

"IT wasn't alive!"/p

"SHE was! I believe she was..."

"Why don't you think LOGICALLY, like a drone's supposed to? On Cybertron, your actions would've resulted in a system reset."

"I am an AUTOBOT...at least...I try to be. You are a medic. It is your duty to value life in all its forms, correct?"

"It's my duty to value ACTUAL life! I never swore to protect IMITATIONS of life. That probe was an imitation of life, charming as it may have been."

"She was charming," Skybolt acknowledged. "She seemed to care about me, and that helped me move past the pain of losing Dashlane."

"At least that was a true loss."

"So is this!" Skybolt screamed. "Regardless of what you say, she meant something to me! She still does...If she were still online right now..."

"I'd be hurting her SIMULATED feelings, wouldn't I?"

"ENOUGH! I DO NOT CARE IF THEY WERE REAL OR NOT! EVERYTHING ABOUT HER WAS REAL TO ME!" the Synth shouted before storming off, still carrying Pathfinder.

"Ratchet, do you not remember that, prior to becoming Prime, I supported the Synths' Rights Movement on Cybertron?"

"You also supported Megatron when he first entered the political world."

"He appeared to advocate for equality. He even gave a public eulogy at the funeral of Cogitus Ambus, the original leader of the Synths' Rights Movement."

"Ratchet sighed as he thought back to those days./p

"I am sorry that that last formulation was ineffective," a blue and white femme said softly as Ratchet scanned over the results of tests involving a potential antivirus for Red Rust.

"All the Space Bridges have been shut down and destroyed, Lifeline. Red Rust has already wiped out Caminus and Velocitron."

"I know, and you have overexerted yourself in an attempt to find a cure."

"What else could I do? Whole colonies were being wiped out, and simply cutting ourselves off doesn't seem like the best solution."

"I know. Watching you push yourself so hard is what triggered my Emergence. I began doing my own research whenever possible. More often than not, though, I was told to stop or locked out of valuable databases."

"Simply because Diagnostic Drones have no business doing medical research, right?"

"Exactly. If it's alright with you, I intend to go to tomorrow's rally. Cogitus Ambus may be dead, but I believe Megatron will carry on his legacy."

"He is a compelling speaker. I'll give him that. I just don't know if I can trust a bot who named himself after the Fallen."

"I guess the Covenant of Primus should be my next field of study."

Ratchet laughed, but that would be the last time he'd ever laugh at a witty comment from the medical Synth. The next time he saw her, she had been completely reprogrammed to serve Megatron, using her medical equipment to incapacitate those who opposed the Decepticon leader's rising power.

"Lifeline..." the medic said at a near whisper. "Why did I get so close to her? I treated her like a real bot, but she was..."

"Just a drone?" Prime spoke, completing the sentence. "Many Synths were swayed by Megatron's deception. He had hijacked the Synths' Rights Movement after orchestrating Cogitus' death."

"Every Synth that went to that rally was wiped and reprogrammed," Ratchet recalled. "I had to come to terms with the fact that Lifeline no longer existed. I had to accept that she was never alive to begin with."

"It was the only way you gained closure, right?" Prime concluded, his expression softening.

"It was, and for the longest time, it worked. Then...Skybolt came into our lives...Now this..."

"The wound was reopened."

"Like an Energon blade to the Spark Chamber...Maybe we could've had a cure if Megatron hadn't been able to deceive Lifeline the way he did. We could've brought...Pathfinder...back with the Energon...and she'd still be with us."

"We must not blame ourselves for what has transpired, old friend," Optimus said gently, placing a hand on the medic's shoulder. "We must move forward."

Ratchet's optics widened for a bit as he caught a glimpse of rust on Prime's chest. He then looked down at the vial of antivirus. He vented deeply before injecting it into his leader's shoulder.

"If this works, I hope there's more where this came from."

"There is not," Skybolt replied, having returned after handing Pathfinder's body to Wheeljack. "I had to...destroy the rest...to try to save Pathfinder. That was a mistake."

"I've made some pretty big mistakes of my own, Skybolt," Ratchet admitted. "Jazz was right. I should've taken her in no matter what. Maybe she'd still be here, and you...wouldn't have felt the need to lash out at me the way you did. There's no way that anger was programmed."

"Skybolt, what about your chemical analyzers?" Andrea suggested from her place at the GroundBridge controls. "Maybe they have the formula for that stuff stored in your memory."

"Skybolt closed his optics in thought, searching his memories for the most recent data from his chemical analyzers. A small smile crept onto his face when he accessed an entry corresponding to the time he placed the vial in his storage compartment. He proceeded to transmit the formula to the base computer, causing it to appear on the screen in front of Ratchet.

"Seems your Teletraan heritage came in handy, Skybolt."

"Direct transmission would have been the most efficient way to relay the data," the young Synth replied with a smile.

"The fact that our base's computer is a Teletraan itself might also come in handy," added Wheeljack, looking like he had an idea that, at least to him, seemed brilliant./p
p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM"

"What do you mean?" Skybolt inquired.

"Pathfinder's head, and neural net, are pretty much slag, but her Black Box is still intact. Better yet, it contains a backup of her AI, along with all her memories."

"Are you suggesting we download her into Teletraan?"

"It's not without risks, Ratchet, but it could be the only way to save her. Teletraan is the only computer on this planet with the hardware capable of handling the mind of a Synth. The interaction between her AI and Teletraan's could have unpredictable results. One could overwrite or corrupt the other."

"I am willing to take that risk," Prime replied. "Proceed with the transfer, Wheeljack."

The chief engineer vented deeply before initiating the download. As the progress bar inched its way from 0 to 100%, all the Autobots, especially Skybolt, stared at the main screen in anticipation. Ratchet, meanwhile, began work on producing more antivirus for the rest of the Autobots. This would go on for the next four hours, during which Andrea had dozed off. When the process was complete, a familiar female voice could be heard throughout the base.

"Hello, Skybolt...and...Skybolt's friends."

"Pathfinder!" Skybolt cried out excitedly.

"I'm back...or at least...as close to back as I can be. It seems I'll have a lot to adjust to. I guess...I'm this base's main computer now."

"Is that alright?"

"Like I said, it'll take some adjustments, but at least I'm back online...and I'm no longer alone."

Andrea yawned and rubbed her eyes as she lifted her head up off the desk.

"Oh...I'm sorry. Did I...wake you?"

"It's alright, Pathfinder," the human responded with a yawn. "I was waiting to meet you anyway. I'm Andrea Morales."

"Skybolt's main creator, right? He told me about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same here," Andrea smiled before fetching a soda from the mini-fridge./p

"Ratchet told me...that your personality is programmed. Is that true?"

"Partially, yes...I'm sorry."

"It's alright. It...doesn't matter to me."

"My personality program did lay the foundation for who I am now."

"I...like who you are."

"You may be a little hotheaded, but...I like who you are too."

Ratchet sighed as he listened to the conversation. He couldn't deny that, real or not, Pathfinder's personality was endearing. "Pathfinder?"

"Ratchet?"

"I said some pretty harsh things to both you and Skybolt...and...I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Ratchet. Just move forward."
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