My Madness, My Saving Sanity

Chapter Twenty: Revelations

By: Nightelfcrawler

Author's note: While this is G1 based, I've made Starscream a blend of his G1 and Armada personalities just because I find the dichotomy of it fascinating. It takes place in no particular timeline, following no particular events. Also, please review politely. If you haven't something nice to say, keep it to yourself please. Also, I despise nitpicking, please don't make comments about grammar or single spelling mistakes. Enjoy the story, don't be picky.

Further note: I have officially finished the story, so I'll be posting the chapters quicker now. Once done here, it's on to the How it Will Be story I've been working on. Anyone with ideas they might like to see, feel free to email them to me! I have the plot down, but I would welcome any input for things people might like implemented in the story.

- - - - - - - -

Ratchet mused as the screen lit up before him. There certainly WAS a lot of data here… now that it was un-encrypted, he could see just how MUCH of it there was, which did startle him a bit. "All right my slippery friend… let's see just what you've got in here that's so important to back up your whole life, shall we…" He connected the cables to the silent figure of the mech laying half-constructed on the table. He'd managed to create the skeletal frame and all the vital components, and was in the middle of installing the armor once more. This time, it was going faster, given he'd had to repair Starscream at least twice now. However, now that the data was ready, his curiosity was getting the best of him. Ratchet leaned back and watched the data flash over the screen as it transferred from the data file into the silent mech's CPU.

But as the data downloaded, Ratchet began to frown more and more at what he read. Unlike Skywarp, he could keep up with the flow of data and read it more in depth, and after a few moments he punched a button freezing the screen at one entry. "Now this isn't right…" He murmured quietly. "What are you playing at…?" He scrolled through the next several pages, frowning, then made his decision. "Prime? Better get down here. You'll want to take a look at this."

It wasn't long before the Autobot commander was at his side, studying the data with interest. "Are you certain this was all from the single data file?"

"Yes. This is some of the earlier entries…" Ratchet agreed frowning. "But it's not right… these aren't the memories of Starscream, but someone called Sunstar. It's also ancient… and I do mean ancient. This dates back… well… before our records do, Optimus."

The two were quiet as they read through a few entries, then Optimus spoke up quietly. "How many different mechs contributed to this?"

"Let's see…" Ratchet began to scan for names, and a list popped up. "Sunstar was the first… then there was Stormblast, Stealthstorm, Starfire…" He scanned the list. "It goes on and on, Optimus… at least twenty different mechs contributed to this file. Do you think this is a legacy from his creators?"

"…it could be." Optimus said slowly, though his voice sounded strange as he scanned the list. "Ratchet… I recall some of these names… The later few are listed in some of Cybertron's own history… I recall reading about some scientific accomplishments by these mechs… but they died ages before I was sparked, and likely before you were as well… with the exception of this one." His finger hovered over the last name before Starscream's was listed. "Nightstar. She was a femme… a very old femme. She taught at the Science Academy, if I recall. I seem to remember no one liked her very much, but all agreed she was brilliant. She had made many accomplishments."

"Yes… I recall meeting her once. Unpleasant femme, but she knew her stuff… went offline shortly after I started medical training, an accident in her lab I was told."

Optimus was silent for a long time, staring at the name with narrow optics. "Can you pull up the date of her death?"

"Certainly." Ratchet typed in the name to Teletran, and studied the date as it displayed. "Only a few mega-cycles before the start of the wars… why?"

"Can you pull up Starscream's creation date from the data?"

"Probably…" Ratchet ran a scan into the data, and studied the information, records and log files, journals of a young mech growing up, stored there with everything else. Starscream was nothing if thorough… "Judging from his first few entries here, he would have been sparked around the same date."

"I thought so…" Optimus said softly. "Ratchet, you mentioned his spark was unique."

"Yes…?" Ratchet frowned. "Why?"

Optimus pinched his nose plates slightly and sighed. "I do believe I am about to regret saying this… as ironic as it seems…" His optics opened as he studied the dates displayed before them. "There is an old tale passed down among Primes… something that I never took seriously… but I begin to wonder if there might be some truth to it." His optics shifted back to Ratchet. "The legend of the immortal spark."

"Immortal spark?" Ratchet blinked. "I've heard sparkling tales of that… a mech whose spark cannot be extinguished under any circumstance… cursed or blessed to pass their energy from one body to the next for eternity…" He snorted. "You're saying STARSCREAM has such a spark?"

"It's possible. I've never seen any images of what it could look like, however it was always said to look physically different… it was said that the spark came directly from Primus, an offshoot from his very life-force, a part of him…unique and unable to be doused or stopped from it's course…."

"This could just be records from his creators passed on to him. I've seen this many times…"

"This thorough?" Optimus asked quietly, staring at the medic with a critical gaze. "These kinds of records this detailed could only have been imprinted upon the spark and then carefully recorded each lifetime. Data gathered, stored and passed on. I've heard the Immortal Spark remembers everything."

"Then why does he lose his memory after severe injuries?"

"It could be a defect with his physical build, not his spark."

"Then theoretically this data would come back without uploading it?"

"I don't profess to know the mechanics, but theoretically as this is a new fresh body… yes."

Ratchet shook his head. "I still can't believe that… He could have just meticulously recorded information and uploaded it for his own reference… it's Starscream. He's obsessive."

"True… but that doesn't explain why his spark is different."

"It could be just a mutation…"

"Possible… however I would like to test it."

"What?" Ratchet stared at his commander with a look of shock. "Just HOW do you wish to test it?"

"You can stabilize a spark if it loses power for a short time, correct? It is not an instant process?"

"Well, yes…. A spark can exist for a few minutes without energy on it's own, but after that… Optimus, it's putting his life at risk!"

"I realize that." Optimus said seriously. "But I have faith in your abilities. If you tell me you cannot safely restore him once we notice his spark losing stability, I will not pursue this."

Ratchet frowned, staring at the spark floating in the transparent casing he'd built for it, force-field glimmering with light as it pulsed lazily. Starscream looked content, as if he were simply taking a vacation within the small crystalline prism. "I can do it." He finally admitted with a sigh. He hated to lie in order to protect a life from risk, and he had to admit he was curious about the situation. On the other hand, he was concerned nonetheless that something might go horribly wrong and they'd be responsible for a life. "You'd better be right, though…"

"I hope I am…" Optimus murmured.

Ratchet approached the containment chamber and began to prepare to shut it down, powering the back-up system for a quick cable change as needed. After moments of silence he turned to his commander, and nodded. Optimus watched as Ratchet cut the power. The force-field shut down, and the hum of power died off into silence.

For the longest moment, nothing happened.

Then, the spark began to flicker brighter, as if panicked by what was going on. Immediately, it shot forward, and ran into the crystalline surface that still kept it contained and was forced back as it couldn't pass through the thick crystal walls. Normally crystal was conductive to energy, even spark energy, but this rare ironically charged variety instead repulsed energy, keeping it within it's hollow surfaced once charged. The charge didn't wear off for some time, thus the spark was trapped within. It flickered faster, but did not dim… instead, it seemed to brighten, as if waking.

The power had been off for five minutes now.

"Primus…" Ratchet whispered quietly. "I don't believe it…"

Optimus smiled faintly and shook his head. "It is quite impressive. I nearly didn't believe it was possible myself, but it seems our stubborn friend has just disproved our doubts…."

"What does this mean then… his spark chamber was crushed, he still survived… he truly cannot die?"

"I'm not certain… But the legends say it is true immortality, the spark cannot disperse it's energy, nor decay. I'm not about to test the various ways a spark can be extinguished just to see if he can live through it. But this does answer some questions… if he truly did actually LIVE these lives… it would make sense he would record all the information he could, it explains why he's so intelligent… he has knowledge passed down from previous lives."

"I wonder if he knew all this, though." Ratchet mused. "For all we know, he's got the data but never actually knew where it came from, just kept up the record like his predecessors. He didn't seem to be aware of his spark's unique properties."

"It's possible he found out or had suspicions and chose to wipe that data to keep from dwelling on it, or perhaps that he was never aware of the unique properties of his spark at all, as you say." Optimus studied the pulsing spark in the crystal with a thoughtful look. "Nonetheless, if this is true… it means that he has a very important legacy."

"You think this is significant?"

"I'm not certain. I suppose the only thing we can do is ask Starscream himself. Who knows what secrets he's been hiding, knowing this…"

"I've asked Skywarp and Thundercracker to create files of their memories from the past several months so that when he wakes he won't revert to the Starscream we all were familiar with before his downfall. Nothing worse than to have the Decepticon part of him rearing it's ugly head all over again."

"Take precautions just in case." Optimus warned. "I will want to speak with him the moment he awakes."

"I can arrange for you to have some solo time with him when I revive him. I think it's important we find out more about this before allowing him back on his feet and to speak with his comrades. There's no telling what his mental state could be like when he wakes. After all, despite the memories Thundercracker, Skywarp and Skyfire gave me from their own data files, he's going to revert to the old Decepticon we both well know."

"Good point. Make sure his weapons are disabled before you re-activate him."

"Already done."