The Diego Diaries: Cloud (dd7 356)
=0=Out there
"Ironhide, what do you remember?" Turbine asked. "Before we came on the ship? What were you doing?"
Ironhide stared at his grand amma, then the others. "I was at the Military Academy. They wanted me to come and look over the officer candidates. You know that. I stayed over at your house with Appa last night." He turned to Turbine with clenched fists. "What's going on?"
"We don't know yet," Turbine said. He looked at Prime. "What was the last thing on your mind before just now? What were you doing and where was it?"
Optimus stared at the stranger before him, then the others. "I was going to work. I am a longshoreman and I manage a dock in Iacon."
"What's your name then?" Prowl asked.
"Orion Pax," Optimus said.
Prowl stared at him, then stepped toward him. "Open your spark chamber."
Optimus took a step backward, then Ratchet approached him. "I'm a doctor. It's alright. Please. Open your spark chamber a moment."
He stared at Ratchet, then Prowl, then the others. Then he released the latch. The Matrix was not only not there, there was no place to put it. That reformatting that Primes go through reshaped them into the gigantic and familiar Primal frame. The space for a Matrix that came with it wasn't there. The mech before them was the mech who was a civilian pre-accension to the Primeship. It was likely from his youthful appearance that he was also pre-revolutionary Orion Pax as well.
"The Matrix," Prowl gasped. "Its gone."
=0=The Temple in Autobot City a short time after
Templar walked into the niche where the Matrix Flame was housed to attend to It, a device that burned constantly in conjunction with the spark of the Matrix Bearer. It was in sync with it and was an easy way to determine the health and whereabouts of a Prime. He walked in, then stumbled to a halt in surprise. The Matrix Flame was out. Laying on the floor in front of the altar where the brazier was held, the Matrix of Leadership, the Autobot Creation Matrix lay.
That was a terrifying sight, all of it, but to make it worse, the Matrix Itself was dark. The luminous blue jewel that was a fragment of the Spark of Primus Himself was as dead as could be.
Templar crept closer, his body beginning to shake with fright. He knelt on the floor, then gingerly reached out to touch the relic. He did and nothing came of it, no sign of life, no surge of energy to acknowledge him. He stared at It and the Flame in horror, then staggered to his feet. He then ran blindly out of the niche, halted in the vast open space where the Well and AllSpark were located, then sprinted to the offices and living space for the priests, religious and visitors nearby.
=0=There
It was intensely silent as they stared at the empty space where the Matrix should have been. The two mechs were growing with disquiet as the elevator disgorged a number of individuals who hurried forward to the group.
Coming to a halt, Ultra Magnus stared at Prime and not Prime. Before him a youngling mech stood, one of great power, a natural intelligence that seemed to cling to him like an aura and the charisma that would lead him into the Pantheon of his people. He stared at Optimus, then glanced at Prowl.
"Something happened. That light mass shot out and encompassed us. When it faded Optimus and Ironhide were changed. No one else. Just them," Prowl said.
Ultra Magnus stared at Prime. "Do you know me?" he asked.
Optimus stared at him with a pained expression. "I know your energy," he said, then he glanced at the others with Magnus. "I know your energy, too, but I do not know why."
"Then we need to tell you what we do know," Magnus said as he glanced at Prowl.
Turbine stepped closer. "I'm Turbine of Praxus. I'm a Maker of the Elder Clan. I'd like to tell you what happened and hope you understand and believe me. I do believe that you can trust what I say because of who I am," he said showing his tattoos on the side of his helm and those on his arms. "Do you understand who and what I am?"
Ironhide nodded, then glanced at Optimus.
That young mech nodded, but he didn't look any more relieved. "I do," he said bowing his helm in respect.
Turbine glanced at Prowl. "I need to know what you can tell me," he said. "Add what I don't tell them now."
Prowl walked to the computer nearby and began to work furiously.
Turbine watched him, then turned to the two uneasy mechs. "We came here to study an energy anomaly, a very old and intriguing one. When we did, we scanned it. When our scans touched it, it touched us back. All of us were briefly engulfed in energy, then it was gone. When it was, the two of you were the only ones here who were changed."
"How?" Optimus asked. "How did I get here? This is a ship in space. I have never been in space."
"You don't remember?" Turbine asked.
He shook his helm. "No."
"Before the energy struck us you were both different mechs living a life you made for yourselves a long time in the future from what you've just told us about your memories now. You aren't in the future per se. You've just had a … reset happen to you that made you forget your present life now. Your life that you have up to now is missing. Who and what you are now, where you live and what you do is missing," Turbine said. "It would appear that you are yourselves in your distant youth. You, Ironhide are still a trainer for the army. You, Orion Pax are still a longshoreman working on the docks in Iacon."
Optimus stared at him, then the others. "That is who I am."
"Then," Turbine said. "Now? You're much, much more. Both of you are. Do you recognize anyone in this room?"
Ironhide glanced around, then nodded. "Some of them. You."
Turbine glanced at Optimus. "You don't remember most of us but you can recognize energy. Is there anyone in this room that you recognize that way?"
Optimus looked at everyone there, studying some of them before glancing back at Turbine. "Some of them. Deion, RC, Jetta. I recognize your energy but you are all different. Changed."
"Time has passed, Orion. A very long time and many events have as well of which you were an integral part. You were and are the center of much that has happened for us and our people and without you there doing your part, Cybertron would've been lost a long time ago in a civil war that came about because of The System of Exception," Turbine said. "Do you remember your family? Your personal one?"
Prime stared at him. "My atar and ada, Tagg and Kestrel of Iacon. Then there's Omi Corsair and Omi Imaldo. I feel something of RC and Jetta but I do not recognize them but for Jetta."
Jetta stepped closer. "I'm here, Orion. I don't know what happened but you look like yourself when we were younger and worked at laboring jobs in The System."
"What is happening, Jetta? I do not understand this," he replied. "Who am I here?" he asked glancing around at foreign territory. "Why?"
"This is going to sound strange, Orion, but all of us are here. Deion," he said nodding to Magnus, "and RC. Listen and understand that we wouldn't lie to you. Okay? We were and always will be family."
Optimus nodded as he stared at them with a pinched expression on his handsome face. "All right."
"We had a lot of ideas about changing Cybertron and we worked on them. There was a revolution and we had a huge war. There's a lot of time and battles between us now and then. You ended up the Prime of Cybertron and we're here in a new place rebuilding our planet. We have Cybertron back from the Decepticons and Megatron and we're rebuilding that, too. You lead all that effort and all of us, Orion. Do you remember?" Jetta asked with a trace of anxiety.
Optimus stared at him for a moment, then shook his helm. He shifted nervously. "I cannot be Prime. There is no way that I can be Prime. Nominus is Prime."
"Nominus was assassinated by Sentinel Major who assumed the Primeship. You became the head of the Peace Movement and in the end the Matrix chose you. There was a lot of war between then and now," Turbine said. "We've defeated them on Cybertron and the local group and Megatron is elsewhere. You're the leader of the Empire. You're Optimus Prime."
It was silent as a tomb.
"I cannot believe that. Megatron … what does this mean? Megatronus and I are friends," he said.
"This is impossible," Prowl said as his nerves threatened to explode. "You're more than just Prime. You're a bond and have children, grandchildren … you play on two adult sports teams and you lead billions of individuals." Prowl stepped closer. "You are bonded to me."
Prime stared at him, the struggle clear on his face. Then he stepped back slightly in his unease. "I do not remember that."
Prowl spun on the others. "I want to know what happened. I need to know if they're harmed in any way. Ratchet … do what it takes to find out what happened and how we can fix this. Do whatever it takes with whoever it takes but find out what's going on."
Ratchet startled, then turned to the two. "I need to take you to med bay so we can figure out what happened."
The two stared at him, then each other.
Turbine stepped closer to both. "Let's go. I'll go with you and so will the others." With that, Turbine tugged on both their arms to have them follow, then they did. It was a silent group that walked to the elevator, a strained ride to the med bay and a short walk to the diagnostic equipment that would allow them to see what they could.
Both mechs sat down, both got plugged in and everyone waited tensely as the numbers began to spin. Arcee and Magnus stepped closer to Optimus as Jetta sat down beside Prime on the med berth. It would take a while to figure out what they could.
=0=Temple
They ran back to the niche and gathered before the altar. The Flame was out and a darkened Matrix lay on the floor. How it got there was unknown. Why both were dark was also unknown. The Flame will go out to signal the death of a Prime or his departure from this dimension. It went out every Festival when Optimus went to the Matrix and reignited as It always did when he returned. But the Matrix Itself never went out. It always shone with the luminous blue light of their Creator God. It was almost too terrifying to wonder if Optimus Prime was lost, Primus Himself or both given the circumstances.
Lauren knelt and gingerly touched the relic on the floor. It was usually light, warm and exuded sentience. Now it was just another piece of metal cast aside. He picked it up, rose, then stared at the Flame. His spark was fluttering. Then he put in a call.
=0=There
The data finally lined up so Ratchet could read it. He turned to the others. "There's nothing obviously physically nor psychologically wrong with either. Their scans from before match up though both of them are much younger then they are now. Prime himself is a kid, a pre-Primal conversion kid. Ironhide is a younger mech, too. Their processor patterns show only minor deviations here but deeper ones on Mars could tell us more."
Prowl who was pacing paused. He looked at Prime. "You may not know this now but you are my bond. We have children of our own and grandchildren. We have a life and share it with a big extended family. That's who you are. This is a strange thing that we'll figure out. Until then, I don't want you to be afraid of us or what's happening. It had a beginning and we'll find out how to end this and restore you back to all of us."
Prime stared at him, then the others. "I have no memories of you."
:Blaster to Prowl: came over the intercom speakers nearby.
"Prowl here," he said as everyone quieted to listen.
:I have a call from Lauren on Mars. It's urgent: Blaster replied.
"Patch it through to me internal line only," Prowl said, then he listened. It was clear he was talking to someone, then he turned to the others with a grim face. "The Matrix Flame is extinguished in the Temple on Mars. Lauren said that they found the Matrix lying on the floor in front of the altar. It's also extinguished," he said.
=0=TBC 8-18-2020