Chapter 8
Relics
Year: 2015
Many years have passed since the Unicron incident, the planet still suffers deep wounds from the attack during that time, the Autobots have recovered a lot of the damage made. Towers have been reconstructed, path ways have been remade and even thought the Decepitcon remain at large in the universe their brief attacks on Cybertron are always unsuccessful and the Autobots have even made a constant power supply allowing for the planet to be permanently energized.
Having spent many years with the Autobots and made various friends, Wheelie still feels alone as if simply being on Cybertron isn't his calling. Spending vorns alone he would often explore unpopulated sectors of Cybertron trying to find what he is lacking.
Rolling along in his Cybertronian sports car mode he neared the edge of a fissures in the ground, he transformed and strolled along to the side of the old wound Unicron inflicted on Cybertron and looked down into the deep voice which reached so deep no light could escape from the bottom of the chasm.
Staring into the abyss he felt a gentle tugging pulling him closer to the edge, calling him to explore the darkness. He began to experience vertigo as he felt his body began to topple over the edge.
He reverted back to his standard operating settings when a high pitch whining noise broke the silence. Looking around to see in the distance a blue distorted streak of light heading towards him at an incredible speed, Wheelie already knows what is approaching.
The light reached Wheelie suddenly and flipped vertically slowing down revealing the form of Blurr.
" ." Blur garbled.
"Slow down and rest so I can digest"
"YouAreNeededForAnUrgentMeetingBackAtIacon." Blurr informed Wheelie.
Wheelie found it unsettling that his presents seems so vital as he is rarely called upon. Wheelie followed Blurr's lead in transforming and they raced back to civilisation.
They raced though the golden brown metal city of Iacon, passed bots doing their day to day routines, accelerating though the streets as streaks of blue and orange light as they approached the centre of the city.
The road they travelled along come to an end as unfilled moat surrounds a dome like structure, a bridge extended from the building's entrance and connected with the road allowing Blurr and Wheelie to cross.
Once inside they both transformed and walked though the busy central room to the ready room of Rodimus Prime. As they entered the room, Rodimus Prime is sitting in a command chair pressing the screens of various monitors connected to the chair giving him info readouts. He looked up from his panels to see the two mehcs walk in.
"Thank you for responding so quickly. Blurr I must talk with Wheelie in private." Rodimus Prime instructed as he began to rise from his seat, the monitors began to fold away into the chair and then it retracted into the floor as he stood up.
"YesCommander." Said Blurr as he saluted and left the room.
The remaining bots watched Blurr leave and Rodimus Prime directed his attention back to Wheelie when he was sure the doors were closed and said,
"The reason why I have called you here today is that during my last regeneration cycle the Matrix itself spoke to me and it called for you."
"I am honoured to answer the call, I hope I don't fall."
Wheelie said shocked that the ancient artefact chose him for a mission when it is an object that that rarely communicates with our level of existence.
"It is mysterious in its meaning, most of it is just jumbled images that I don't understand but one thing was very clear.. you must venture alone to Vector Sigma!" Rodimus Prime detailed to Wheelie.
"The super computer that gave us all life? What would it want from me, what could it possible be?" Wheelie wondered.
"That's a good question, I don't like the idea of you exploring the inner layers of Cybertron alone. I think the only way to have any questions answered it to entre the Matrix itself."
"Into the Matrix? I'm not so sure. How do we open it and could we endure?"
"Only one way to find out." With that Rodimus Prime's car bonnet component that covered his chest opened. It stuck out, blocking his view of the inside but Wheelie could see the inner workings of wires and mechanised engine parts. In the centre of these and taking front centre stage is the Matrix, a mechanical housing of yellow spherical object in the in the size ratio of a human to mech would be the equivalent of a football. At the centre of is a blue electrically glowing ball which is the source of its mystical power, so much raw power glows from it that it looks like it could atomise the city. Either side are curved rectangular handles with 3 finger grips each side, Rodimus Prime removed the Matrix from his chest cavity with these and held it infornt oif him as the cover closed bank on itself.
As the Matrix is held in front of the two mechs it suddenly gave out a burst of luminous blue energy which filled the room for a second before dying down to a shimmer bathing them in its blue aura.
Rodimus Prime slowly pulled the handles away which started to open the core leaving the inner energy suspended in mid air. Both bots looked at it in awe for a few seconds partly hypnotized by the glow and partly in suspense for what will happen next.
A violent event horizon erupted from the energy orb looking like a horizontal waterfall caused Wheelie to jump back as he is directly in its line. As soon as it came is dissipated again but not before it ejected something form the energy stream and the Matrix once again became sealed.
The object landed on the floor, it is a small flat rectangle device that sloped down on one side more then the other giving it a key like look.
Wheelie picked it up to take a closer look, he began to scan it in an effort to find out more about it.
"Hey! Did I give you permission to touch me?" A voice coming from the device laughed as Wheelie held it up. On hearing this, Wheelie immediately let go of the device and it flew back changing shape into a small purple mech with a red face guard and gold chest plates.
"Who are you?" A curious Rodimus Prime quizzed the mysterious mech.
"I'm designated Beta Maxx, as Alpha Trion is the Alpha I am the Beta." Beta Maxx chirpily said.
"Hang on, you known Alpha Trion?" Wheelie asked.
"I certainly do." Beta Maxx boasted. "Eons ago he became a sage of Cybertron and as such his responsibility was to safeguard Vector Sigma."
"The visions I had from the Matrix, what connection does Wheelie have with Vector Sigma and what does this have to do with you?" Rodimus Prime butted in.
Beta Maxx looked up at the mech that towered over Wheelie who in turn towered over Beta Maxx. He then replied,
"The device you hold that you refer to as the Matrix is not just a mystical energy source but has the potential for an infinite amount of uses. For millions of years I have been lying in wait in a matrix of dimensional bridges that exist between your realities' Matrix and Vector Sigma who is a Multidimensional singularity super computer that exists is every continuity at once and the Matrix in each continuity tethers Vector Sigma to that reality like an anchor which he would otherwise destabilise from and no longer function in that realm."
"I don't know what I missed but I don't know how I'm involved with this." A confused Wheelie said.
"Vector Sigma sees all and knows all. It can tell you all that has happened and can accurately predict what will happen. It only communicates to a Prime at a time of extreme urgency. If it has contacted your Prime about you hten its will must be carried out." Beta Maxx said very seriously all of a sudden to Wheelie.
"And you're its messenger?" Rodimus Prime suggested.
"I wish!" Beta Maxx laughed reverting back to his old self again, "My job is much more involved, I'm its key."
"You're the key to Vector Sigma?" Rodimus Prime questioned in shock. "The key was destroyed decades ago after Megatron used it."
Beta Maxx threw his hands in the air and laughed,
"That old thing? That's just a circuit breaker, a replica to replace the original while its no available, mainly.. me!" Beta Maxx smiled impressed by his own self importance. "I unlock the true potential of Vector Sigma and from the sounds of it, you're gonna need it."
"Then we must reach it and find out what it desires." Rodimus Prime said commandingly.
"I will transform into the key and store myself in Wheelie chest. That way my maps of Cybertron will be uploaded straight into his neo-cortex and we can pinpoint the location."
Wheelie hatch on his chest that doubles as the cockpit for the alt mode opened and Beta Maxx transformed back into his rectangular key mode again and slotted into a spare data port amongst other controls on the dash board. The hatch sealed itself again and Wheelie said,
"I don't mean to boast but I know the entrance to Vector Sigma is close."
Rodimus Prime half smiled at the little mech, glad that he is taking charge of the situation and confidently said,
"Lets transform and roll out."
Flipping back into mech mode Wheelie and Rodimus Prime left a trail of dust behind them as they reached a familiar gorge. As they looked down into the vast expanse Rodimus Prime remised,
"This planet has changed so much over the years. We have done out best to repair it from a war zone but some things well never be the same, even the moons are gone. Unicron greatly wounded this planet."
"Having opened a path to Vector Sigma, I hope I can lift this planets stigma."
Wheelie tried to comfort Rodimus Prime.
"I wish you all of Primus' spark Autobot Wheelie, may you light our darkest hour."
With that Wheelie descended into the dark unknown using an Energon chain-cable to abseil into the unknown craves he lowered himself not knowing what he would find but focusing on the Energon chain which would carry on extending until it ran out of energy.
All light had ceased to fill the location as Wheelie had lost track of how long he had been descending for until eventually his feed made more of a clang then had been against the wall.
Turning on the main beam installed into the top of his cranial unit, it illumined the surface to reveal a floor. Dismounting from the rope he looked around to mostly see rubble. The twisted and shattered shards to metal funnelled along into tare are in a nearby wall, Wheelie made his way into it feeling his primal programming directing towards it.
The makeshift archway crumbled the further Wheelie made his way into it, ending sideways as it closed around him he became grateful he wasn't a larger mech for the first time. Being one of the smallest Autobots had helped him be a survivalist in many situations.
Finally breaking free from the clutch of jagged metal crushing him he slid though to a dimly lit location.
Yet again he is in what seems like a bottomless gorge but this one seems mech-made with sculpted sides with hull plating this is well lit and pathways sticking out on ledges just wide enough for one mech to walk along, these stretched off into the never ending distance. His internal maps directed him along the path passing archways leading off in other directions until he reached one that he didn't know if his map is telling him to go though or if he is being pulled towards it by fate.
Entering a new hall way to which seemed inside an enclosed structure away from the mech-made gorge, Wheelie made his way along the dimly lit way until he came across a mech slumped against the wall, laying lifeless in status lock but Wheelie couldn't tell if it was from Energon depletion or battle damage so he decided to take a closer look.
The mech is larger the Wheelie but that's not unusual as most mechs are, this one is probably average height for a Cybertronian and of a slim build with slightly more bulk in the upper torso which came out to a square taking up the centre of his chest sloping up to his neck. Each shoulder has cylindrical mounts to them that looked like aesthetic design with this cranial unit between them, being a stranded design with slats running along the centre of the helmet forming a Mohawk effect and a visor that came down across his optics coming to a point on the centre, shielding the top of his nose.
His general colour scheme is a light blue with his arms, lower legs and visor being black. The only other hints of colour on him are two slats either side of his chest being purple and his face plate which from the visor down is red.
Quickly realising the danger Wheelie scanned over the mechs body for a fraction symbol but detected none, Wheelie thought this could mean one of three things. The first being that the sign has simple worn off after being deactivated in these conditions for so long, the second is that this mech never chose a fraction to side which could make his even more unpredictable then a Decepitcon or the only other option Wheelie could think of is that he is an ancient mech that predates even the great war before fractions had been assigned and knew nothing of the Autobot/Decepitcon conflict.
There is only one way to find out for sure, Wheelie opened a small hatch on the unknown mechs chest which revealed an access port. A finger tip flipped back and a needle extended from it, he inputted it into the hatches port and infused him with a small amount of his innermost Energon.
Some LEDs glowed up around the ports as unknown mechs systems came back online with his visor glowing as his optics activated and he raised his head looking like he is about to say something, he grabbed the side of his head and winced with pain before weakly asking,
"Who…"
"Wheelie is my name and you look in pain." Wheelie said cheerfully to calm the disorientated mech but leaned in closer to show concern.
The new mech slowly turned his hand around pointing to himself and used the small amount of strength he had to say,
"whee… lie.."
"Wheelie is mine. I'm unsure of yours, maybe if you could think some more?"
Looking blankly at Wheelie blankly for a few moments he brought himself upright as his motor function programs loaded up. Being the usual double height of Wheelie, he started to talk more coherently as his vocal processor fully activated,
"I.. am called… Lobos?"
He seemed unsure of this and it is more of a question towards Wheelie hen a statement.
"Now Lobos is our friend, he can follow us to the end." Wheelie smiled at this new companion.
"Follow you… I shall…" Lobos quietly replied
They walked through various rooms and corridors until they reached a room that is a dead end. Wheelie moved into the room to see if there is a way out, as he did a red beam is emitted from the centre of the ceiling which swept the room. The hue of the room covered in the red beam turned purple as a loud clanking siren sound is made and a monotone robotic voice bellowed,
"DECEPTICON INTRUDER DETECTED! SECURITY PROTOCAL ACTIAVTED!"
Wheelie calls out to the room,
"No Decepticons are here, you do not need to fear."
Wheelie turned around as he heard Lobos fall to his knees grabbing his head and before Wheelie could say anything he let out a blood curdling robotic scream with a look of pain and rage on his face.
As he calmed down his body mimicked slow heavy breathing as he slowly rose from his knees, hunched over on his back he slowly brought himself up to his full height which also revealed a sinister grin on his faceplate.
"Lobos, the scan detected a Decepitcon we should go now." Wheelie informed him.
A long low chuckle came from Lobos who then said,
"Little Autobot your end is near, for my true designation is Bomb-burst. I have terrorised the Autobots throughout the ages, being something they whispered Autobot out that they prey will not eliminate them from the shadows. Your ancestors managed to drain me of my Energon and put me into status lock for a Galactic-cycle until you reactivated me. You are the first Energon-rich Protoform I have seen in a very long time.. I need your Energon!" Bomb-Burst glitched as he took some stets towards Wheelie looking ravenous and insane. A terrified Wheelie backed away unsure where to go in the dead-end room and then one of the metal floor tiles he stepped on glowed up red the room's sentinel voice bellowed again,
"ROOM CONFIGERATION ACTIVATED!"
The ground Wheelie is standing on then opened up and flipped down becoming a flight of stairs that he lost balance on as he walked backwards on and fell down.
Tumbling down the newly formed stairs he slammed into the adjacent wall, quickly recovering to see Bomb-Burst's haunting image darting straight at him, his hand extended like a Grim Reaper's reaching for a soul – he intended to extract Wheelie's spark.
To avoid, Wheelie side rolled which made Bomb-Burst crash into the same wall. Wheelie leaned against the wall he rolled into and the metal panels slid apart making a new passageway that Wheelie fell into. Before Wheelie even hit the ground it to reconfigured, flipping the floor panels out and Wheelie is in free fall. The floor has become a vertical drop and one seemingly without end, to brace himself Wheelie extended all his limbs into walls of the claustrophobes nightmare causing drag which is making sparks fly and lights the way to the rapidly approaching ground which he promptly smashed into.
Quickly recovering, he shuffled himself forward with no real room to maneuver himself from a sitting position. Seeing a literal light at the end of the tunnel, he headed towards it with his spark for salvation in the coffin-like shaft. When suddenly, to his surprise, the panels next to his right leg tore open and a hand reached forth and clasped at plating on Wheelie's leg as to drag him to hell.
The strength behind the hand forced him towards the now opened panel but not before Wheelie yanked back with all his might. Tearing off half his leg plating, exposing circuitry which sparked as it tore and wires which bleed Energon.
Bomb-Burst's hand grasped for Wheelie who is just out of reach as Bomb-Burst's fingers striped the bottom part of Wheelie's leg of its paint work. Wheelie scrambled backwards away from the disembodied tool of destruction and as he did the shaft gave way on him, either though another room reconfiguration or it taking to much damage but Wheelie did fall.
He scraped along uneven surfaces and bashed against platforms while in freefall. Eventually hitting the ground it took a while to get his sensors activated but once he did he realised he is out in the underground canyon hallway again and inches away from toppling over the presupus.
As Wheelie tried to move back an almighty sounds of whiring rotas sounded as a blue jet with twin turbines set in its wings hovered up form the depths and its lasers began to charge.
"I'm going to enjoy eliminating you, you irritating little glitch." Bomb-Burst cackled.
Purple energy gathered around the chamber of Bomb-Burst's gun barrels as the lasers powered up to their maximum level to obliterate Wheelie when suddenly one of the hover turbines that kept him aloft in the air sparked and exploded in shower of yellow electrical charge as Bomb-Burst span out of control into the abyss. Once his spiralling jet sound disappeared there was no more sound from him, not even an explosion from him hitting something, just an eerie silence.
Sat up laying on the ground, Wheelie is still shuddering from the strain and has his Energon slingshots held up from his attack.
"This annoying little glitch just laid you to rest in that ditch." Wheelie gloated as he slowly recovered by bringing himself to his feet again. Returning his slingshot to its holster, the torn away section revealed his exoskeleton which has pistons extend and put the weapon into place before retracting back into the damaged limb.
Accessing the location of his destination in his internal data banks he began the journey again. Limping at first due to his damage until his stabilisers compensated for it.
Walking along endless corridors Wheelie could feel his journey coming to an end as he came to a room at the end of a walkway. Infront of his is a panel to the side of the door that locks it.
"Don't worry, I got this." The chirpy voice of Beta Maxx said as Wheelie's chest hatch opened and Beta Maxx flew out in his key mode and fitted into the card reader lock which released the door mechanism.
Wheelie strolled though the door with Beta Maxx ejecting himself from the panel, transforming in mid air and chasing after Wheelie.
Entering the room Wheelie slowly walked in unsure of what lay ahead of him but he met it bravely head on. The room is a large sphere shape that the floor bowed down towards the centre and in the middle of the room slightly above the ground is a gridded sphere that dwarfed Wheelie in its magnitude of size. It is a dingy golden brown colour with a diamonds formation pattern scored into its surface circling in a diagonal direction along it.
Standing infront of the monolithic object, struck in the thought process that he is infront of then super computer that brought life to all Cybertronians.
"It's been a fun ride short stuff but this is the end of the road for me." Beta Maxx walked into the room after Wheelie and then stood by him, tiny in comparison.
"Can I know where you go?" Wheelie questioned.
"Once I merge with Vector Sigma I won't be able to uncombine from him again and I'm the component that's needed to active him."
"Wheelie will not do this if Beta Maxx cant make it though this."
"Its my fate, shorty. Its why I'm here." Beta Maxx laughed and with that he transformed into his key mode and slotted onto one of the diamond slots that looked like the panel was missing out of Vector Sigma.
The sphere began to arise from its resting position in the floor and a golden shine emanated from it as energy flowed out from in between its plating formations and once it raised itself to be towering above Wheelie its echoing commanding voice boomed around the room,
"I am Vector Sigma. Before Cybertron was, I was."
"I am Wheelie, you sent for me?" Wheelie responded.
"Affirmative." Vector Sigma voice boomed. All the diamond shaped surface parts began to glow intensely as more energy poured out inbetween them as they floated away from their positions while keeping their circumference.
Electricity bolts hovered back towards the energy ball which is contained inside the sphere as the fragments of Vector Sigma's shell floated further away and the front part reformatted allowing an entrance to be formed into it,
"Entre… and become one… with the Allspark…"
Wheelie looked shocked and said,
"Wheelie unsure how much he endure."
After a few moments passed in the silent room, Wheelie took his first staep towards Vector Sigma. Walking thought the archways into the light that absorbed him.
A blinding light over loaded his optics until they compensated, Wheelie didn't feel disembodied but he is floating though a nothingness again which is a dark cloudy nebular with swams of electrons passing by.
As his optics analysed the electrons and zoomed in on then it identified them as mathematical formulas heavily encoded in ancient Cybertronian binary contained in electrical pluses as the basis for cybernetic life. This is where mechanised life began.
Some of the electrons charged to a glowing yellow and formed together into a gridded skull formation that resembled a robotic cranial unit.
"Greetings." The wireframe head said in its metallic voice. "I am Primeus, architect of the Cybertronian design and bringer of life. I am communicating to you in this disembodied form from my true body deep inside the layers of Cybertron. I have summoned you here for a purpose, you must power down here until released, upon which point you must fulfil your density that's built into your primal programming.
"I have a fate? I thought me being here was a mistake." Wheelie questioned.
"You are one of the most important core components in Cybertronian design, with out you there will be no species."
Wheelie is taken back and says,
"If it is my fate, then I must hibernate."
With that more electrons turned yellow and gathered around him in an Energon cocoon where his systems powered down and he went into a deep slumber resting within the confines of Cybertron, with Vector Sigma being his tomb keeping him safe until he emerges.
