II

Orion thought about the last exciting thing that happened to him, on his way to the Iacon Prison House. He grinned at the thought of how it felt to standing beside his old friend Megatronus. Empowered, strong willed, connected, righteous, he felt like he could do anything, change the world. Megatronus had a view of the world that Orion hadn't considered. That this world wasn't right. It was corrupt, broken, in need of repair. Megatronus said he knew how to fix it. Orion was willing to walk with him.

He remembered walking into the High Council room, looking up at the towering councilmen. They seemed larger than life, beyond reality. They looked down upon Orion and Megatronus with judging optics, mumbling between themselves. He was frightened, stepping back, ready to run, when Megatronus marched forward. He accused them of being corrupt, crushing the spirit and life of the people of Cybertron. They laughed heartily at the end of Megatronus' speech, turning to each other with huge grins. Orion wanted to step forward, to say how he disagreed with Megatronus view of change, but suddenly one of the councilmen rose from his seat.

"How dare you threaten us and our purpose! We are hear to support Cybertronian, improve life, and continue forward!" shouted the councilman, pointing to Megatronus. "Guards! Seize this bot and his friend!"

The guard took hold of Orion and Megatronus. To Orion, it felt like his spark stopped. He could hardly move. His optics widened as he slowly turned to Megatronus. The larger bot snarled, glaring at the councilmen. His optics widened too, quickly turning to Orion. Megatronus shook his head, turning back to the councilmen.

"This bot is not with me!" he shouted. "He thought I was her to talk about the artifact history from the Iacon Hall of records! Orion had nothing to do with this…threat."

The councilmen conversed among themselves. Eventually, one stood up, waving to the guard to release Orion, shoving him to the ground. They continued to drag Megatronus as Orion slowly got back to his feet. Orion sighed, lifting his head toward the council. He wanted to speak but they were already dismissing, wandering away. It was too late. He turned around slowly, watching the doors slam behind Megatronus. Orion stood alone in the council hall, staring up at the ceiling.

"How could this have happened?" he whispered.

Orion shook his head, freeing himself from the memory. While that was last news worthy event on Cybertron for a while, Orion had always wondered what would've happened if he had stood up tot he council or if he'd stood beside Megatronus as he got arrested. Perhaps the sentence would've been less if he had. Regardless, Orion made a habit of visiting Megatronus when he had a chance, which was only once a month.

The Iacon Prison House was rather large, even though Iacon and its Council applauded the fact that they had zero crime. Orion wasn't sure how accurate that actual was. Upon entering, they searched you for weapons, deactivated your T-Cog momentarily, and then allowed you to enter a special room where a glass wall separates you from the inmate. Orion took his seat, waiting for Megatronus to get in, which often took a while since Megatronus was a rather rambunctious individual.

"Orion…" Megatronus grinned upon entering.

"Hello, Megatronus," sighed Orion. "As always I'm sorry…"

"You need to stop beating yourself up about this, Orion," assured Megatronus. "It's not that important anyway."

"Anything new?" grinned Orion.

"They're still trying to 'teach' me," shrugged Megatronus. "I'm learning just how screwed up this world is."

"Screwed up?" repeated Orion. "Everything's normal and boring."

"I envy your innocence," grinned Megatronus, rolling his optics. "This world isn't as peaceful as you think."

Orion saw the guards behind Megatronus step forward, as if ready to silence Megatronus before he said something he shouldn't. Megatronus spotted Orion's gaze and shrugged lightly.

"But what do I know," he chuckled. "I'm pretty insane anyway."

The guards stepped back.

"How's work?" Megatronus mumbled.

"Slow, boring, just like everything," Orion sighed, resting his head on one hand.

He perked, lifting his head, thinking back to the hallucination. The destroyed world. Orion groaned, leaning back. Megatronus grinned, perking and leaning forward.

"So…?" he purred.

"It's nothing. Just my headache again," Orion nodded.

"You need to find a doctor that will actually fix that," snapped Megatronus.

"I've been to doctors. They say there's nothing there. Nothing is wrong with me," argued Orion.

"You're raising your voice," commented Megatronus, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," panted Orion. "I'm fine."

"Are you?"

Orion groaned, turning away. Nothing. It was nothing, right? He felt his head pounding again as if right on cue. It was growing rapidly, forcing Orion to shut his optics again. Not again, he thought. Please not again. He begged his headache not to hallucinate again. It was frightening once, a second time would just force his hand. He would have to tell someone how insane he feels. Opening his optics slowly, he worried about what he would see.

"Oh no…" he groaned, shutting his optics again.

He had seen destruction again, though the flames from before were long gone, leaving the remains of a destroyed building. Megatronus was there, standing over Orion with red optics and clawed fingers dripping with Energon. IT was horrifying. Orion gulped, grinning lightly for Megatronus who was no doubt worrying about Orion.

"I need to go…back to work," stuttered Orion, slowly getting to his feet.

"Orion, tell me what's wrong," begged Megatronus.

"I'm fine," assured Orion, opening his optics again slowly. "I'll go the doctors, okay. If that'll make you happy."

"It would. I'm worried about you, little guy," grinned Megatronus. "If you see Soundwave, tell him not come today."

"Will do," nodded Orion, leaving.

What was going on?