Okay, I'm really, really sorry for the long wait. No excuses apart from school and lack of inspiration. You know the drill.

I hope someone still reads and enjoy it. :)

XIII.

The InfoCore had two kinds of databases; one public, similar but much more restricted than the DataNet matrix which was available to all Cybertronians - and the part that contained all classified data gathered from various sources including Senate sessions, illegal Shanix movements, secret researches and undesirable results. This was the place only trained experts could enter and maintain and it was heavily protected with numerous shielding softwares, encoded polyline algorithms, variable passwords and misleading mimicry programs against anyone trying to break into the matrix.

Fortunately, Soundwave knew how to avoid or bypass each. Some of the protective programs he even helped to write.

He was again inside the InfoCore after almost a whole Cycle. He connected a shunt to the Panxia-interface area in his processor usually used to apply outside drives to amplify the signals and Soundwave leant back in his berth - most motor functions didn't work while one's consciousness was transferred along the information pathways. He knew he needed to be quick, the Core's security systems searched for entries from unregistered Cybertronians and Soundwave was sure his pattern had been deleted from the InfoCore's memory banks.

Travelling up and down, right and left on the roads of light, the telepath made sure to alter his pattern and wipe or at least modify his path would someone manage to track him down; he did not want anyone to find his current location or trap his consciousness in a cell loop. Finding the section about Crystal City - all about Crystal City - was child's play compared to hiding from the watchful optics and sensors of the security. Soundwave decided to download the entire set of files and sort them out later in the safety of his small room in Kaon. Getting away in time was the most important at the moment.

The process was almost finished when a fermion sanitizer appeared in the section and Soundwave put up a camouflage sequence as quickly as he could, breaking the download process. Intent on making the trip short, the moment he could no longer detect the sanitizer's presence he restarted and broke away just as the last file entered the shunt in his head. He cleaned the computational history and filled the blank time to make it look like nothing happened, and the telepath disconnected his mind slowly from the InfoCore's virtual world.

The blue mech took a deep vent as his senses returned, his optics blinked and eventually settled on his usual amber. He gave the shunt to Rumble who already had a datapad ready and connected the small device to it. Soundwave made sure all his systems were functioning properly before getting up from the berth. Ravage and Laserbeak parted to let him sit and walk over to the other berth where Frenzy lay.

He got worse not long after Soundwave left the arena and in his overheated state he couldn't enter recharge. He pushed himself up before his creator could have opened his panel to see his temperature, his arms shook but he put on a grin.

"I'm 'kay." he said, "You got ever'thin'?"

His words were slightly slurred, but Soundwave gave a nod and sat down next to the mini-mech.

"I'll sort it out and take it to Megatron."

Laserbeak carried two small icepacks in each her claws and Soundwave took them to put one to Frenzy's chest and the other to the back of his neck. They sat in silence for a while, Soundwave listened to his creation's even and deep ventilations and let him lean to his side while he reviewed the data he managed to gather and put them in order as he wanted to show to the champion.

"Would you like to meet Blaster?" he asked after a breem, causing several jumps in his creations' EM fields.

Surprise flashed between them as the siblings looked at each other, "Yeah!"

::Yes, we would like that.::

"Cool."

Seeing Frenzy's tired grin, Soundwave squeezed his shoulder and got up, Rumble took his place. Laserbeak flew to perch on the dual-spark's shoulder as he stood, promising to return as soon as he could from Megatron. Scrapper and Hook were soon to arrive to make the preparations to build in Soundwave's personal computer he had asked for. He promised he would return by then.

When he got near Megatron's quarters one floor above where he lived, the telepath was surprised to sense two presences in the room - Megatron's visitor being the Vosian senator himself. Soundwave did not expect Starscream to be there at the time, he knew the Senate was having sessions at that time of the deca-cycle. The Seeker's mind was hard to read, but his EM field was slightly vibrating, like a light mirage in hot air, all visible to Soundwave and he could see Megatron's wasn't calm either.

Their frequencies were in almost full harmony and Soundwave couldn't help feel he had interrupted an important conversation even though he had previously alerted Megatron he would be coming. Starscream crossed his arms in front of his chestplates as the dual-spark was invited into the room, his posture was straight and proud as always and his paintcoat shone even in the dim lights of Megatron's quarters, a wild contrast to their own frames - however, he did not even try to mask the annoyed expression that crept onto his face, although the feeling was directed towards the champion standing between them not at the fact that Soundwave brought a stop to whatever they were talking about.

"I'm sorry if the atmosphere seems to be... bristling." Megatron spoke and caste a sideways glance at the Seeker, "Our dearest senator sometimes needs to be dragged back to reality from his heights of grandiosity."

Starscream frowned, elegant dark features contorting, "Why, you can't comprehend the importance of—"

"Starscream—"

"—if you let me finish, you would see it for yourself. If you never dare jump over the limits, when will our dreams come true?"

All fell silent, Soundwave felt Laserbeak tense on his shoulder until Megatron spoke again, "The small things, Starscream. We need to take smaller leaps at a time to get to the bigger goals. Don't think I want to stop at one state - but Kaon first. Once it is under our control, with Vos supporting us, we can start our advance to the north."

The gladiator stepped up to Starscream, the Seeker's stance never wavered and he tilted his head ever so slightly when Megatron's hand came to rest upon his shoulder plate, "We need to focus our energy until we grow big enough to operate on more than one level."

"You have it all planned, don't you?" Starscream smirked, "And you feel the need to hold me back? I am only adding to your ideas... only making them grander. You need me, Megatron. Kaon is not the center of the world," the senator unfolded his arms and put his hands on his waist, "and you could live with the element of surprise if you already planted your forces and resources across the globe. You want to defeat the Senate, not just some little local government. Creating our own orbital post, or even just a satellite would help greatly in organizing your forces and... gather new robots for your army."

He stopped for a moment and turned back to Megatron, he took quick steps to stand before the grey mech, "I already told you we have fine astronomers and skilled engineers. There are capable mechanics here, as I heard. You yourself said we must cooperate. You shouldn't forget your own words before acting."

The hard glare was mostly gone from Megatron's optics now, Soundwave even dared call amusement and appreciation the shine that lit up in them as he listened to the noble flyer finish what he started.

"Why couldn't you tell me this in a normal tone earlier?"

Starscream huffed, "Because you clapped your audios like a youngling going in a tantrum. Didn't even give me a chance to voice my opinion."

Soundwave could understand the Seeker's frustration somewhat; he was the voice of the Vosian people, he was used to being able to speak whenever he wanted, whatever he wanted. No one told him to back off in his state. However, in the Senate there had been more than one occasions Starscream needed to shut his vocalizer because of a louder voice or because he was told to keep his words to himself - or simply no one cared what he had to say. This only thinned his patience even further and fed his growing resentment towards his fellow politicians and their methods.

Starscream was satisfied that he was once again in a leading position. That what he said mattered here and Megatron was willing to listen - though he could be just as temperamental if he didn't like what was being said. Starscream sometimes did overstep his boundaries and tried the gladiator's patience as well. But now Megatron seemed to be in a lighter mood compared to what Soundwave had come into.

"You will always have a say in this matter, Starscream." Megatron finally said, sensing what had set off the senator in the first place, "You just need to take in account... that you and we live in different worlds."

After a klick's pause, he added, "Yet."

Starscream's field was again in a mirage of waves, but he appeared calm on the outside. He turned to the dual-spark and his creation standing on the side, waiting patiently for their turn to join in the conversation.

"I think Soundwave didn't come to stand vigil over us." he tilted his head to meet Soundwave's optics - or rather, his visor.

"Come forth, Soundwave." Megatron turned fully to the telepath. Soundwave did walk up to them at last and gave Megatron the datapad he had been holding. Starscream walked over to the grey mech, grabbing his arm and leaning close to see what was on the datapad himself.

"I have told you about the research that is about to take place in Crystal City—"

"About to take place?" Starscream frowned and straightened up, "How could you possibly know about a project that hasn't even started yet? Even I haven't heard about any new projects in Crystal City."

"I have my sources."

Starscream's crimson optics narrowed, "Well..." he raised an optical ridge and tilted his head to the side, "I am eagerly awaiting to hear what you have to say, Soundwave."

"Vector Sigma?" Megatron's voice was heard, both mechs turned to see him study the activated datapad's contents.

"There are proofs of its existence." Soundwave turned to him, "And more and more findings point to Crystal City as one of the locations of a gate that lead to it."

Megatron straightened up and bore his optics into the other gladiator's, "Why did you find it important to share with me, Soundwave? Even if Vector Sigma existed and we found an... entrance, as these data suggest... what use would it be to us?"

"Not now - not yet." Soundwave replied with light bow of his head, "Not at this stage, but once we are ready... if such an entity of information were under our control, there would be nothing in this world that could stop us."

Starscream let out an amused huff, "And you called my inputs farfetched."

"Starscream," Megatron deactivated the datapad to, again, step up to the Seeker, "I never said we cannot aim for prodigious destinations, but as long as they're out of our reach, we do not set the plans into motion. For you, such superstitious goals may be easy to gain, but here it is different. If everything goes well, these plans we make will be responsible for the freedom and welfare of many Cybertronians who choose to follow us. We need to take into account what so many are capable of, how they can be controlled and manipulated into carrying out all these enormous tasks. That's why you, among others, must be with us and not among your silver clouds."

A black hand rose to squeeze the flyer's shoulder in a reassuring manner, "Because, as you said, I need you."

Starscream pushed his lips together into a thin line and reached out his hand for the datapad. Megatron gave it to him just as he felt Laserbeak land on his own shoulder plate; he unconsciously tilted his head slightly towards her and raised up his hand to stroke the mechanoid's beak. He did not see Soundwave reaching up to his chest plate and the frown behind his visor.

"I know a scientist from Crystal City." Starscream murmured and looked up, "His designation is Perceptor, a physicist and... well, a know-it-all, really. He lives in Iacon, but my intended's in contact with him right now, he could relate information to him and... he in turn will tell me. Every important progress they made."

"I don't think the scientist Perceptor is part of the excavation team." Soundwave added, his voice closer to a whisper than his normal tone.

"Get him to be, then."

"How, Starscream?"

The senator flashed a smile, "Well, use your creativity."

His last word just died away when Soundwave excused himself and swiftly left to where the ache in his spark guided him.

Crasher was used to noises around her, screaming and bloody quarrels did not upset her. But her mood just dropped considerably at the bangs from her neighbourhood that seemed to make her room tremble and formed a sizable crack on that side of the wall, and that was the reason she was now standing in front of Soundwave's door and decided to use her fist to knock. She was ready to shout her spark out to anybody who opened it for her,

"What the fr—" however, she wasn't ready for the sight that greeted her. Rumble opened the door, optics wide and EM field in soft tremors, but Crasher quickly saw past him, saw Frenzy struggling on the floor while Ravage tried to hold him down. Next to him pieces and fragments lay from the two dents on the wall that seemed to shatter through to her side as well.

Rumble immediately turned back, leaving Crasher to close the door behind her and now the two hurried back to Frenzy.

"The wall, I know." Rumble muttered, "Sorry."

Now from up close, Crasher could see the black twin's knuckles were purple with energon and Ravage had to bite down on his shoulder, even with her and Rumble there now to help, to hold him back. Crasher could feel the force that strained Frenzy's struts under her hands, the immense, unhealthy heat rolling down his frame and the strength with which he fought alone shocked her. She didn't expect the mini-mech to be that strong in his condition.

"Can't you do anything to stop it?" she asked and Rumble shook his head.

"Hook an' Scrapper are coming, I pinged them to hurry."

"Ravage!" Frenzy shouted, trying to free himself from the mechanoid's persistent hold, but he was finally weakening - his vents were wheezing and his limbs momentarily slacked before he continued his struggling.

"Be glad he can't activate his pile-drivers. This building wouldn't stand." Rumble tried to ease the tension, but the anxious frown kept returning to his features. Crasher watched his face as he looked at his twin - she remembered seeing his memories of his brother before his illness, the beaming young mech full of life and laughter. Frenzy was but a shadow of his former self; where he was loud he was quiet now, weak when he used to be strong and energetic, harsh even.

"What happened?" she asked quietly and tightened her hold on Frenzy's legs when he tried to kick out.

"He was overheating and... got fed up with all this." Frenzy's body heaved under his hands and a harsh cough tore from his throat, "His spark's flarin' and we tried to cool him down, but he kinda went into a rampage and the wall suffered."

Frenzy heaved again and unprocessed energon poured down his chin. His struggling ceased by then and his whole frame trembled from the overexertion, his fuel pump whined from the race. Ravage and Crasher let go of him, now only Rumble held him while his tank got rid of the last drop of energon in convulsing retches.

"Agh, there." Rumble patted his twin's back gently, "Nice one, bro'."

Frenzy panted and his whole body shook, but he managed to turn his head to the side to give his purple lookalike the ugliest glare he could muster, "Wan'me to purge on ya, lube-sucker gl'tchhead?"

"His dream would come true." Crasher chuckled and Rumble playfully rolled his optics.

"Yeah, yeah, don't have mercy, take it all out on me."

Frenzy coughed weakly one last time and raised a quivering hand to his aching head before turning to Crasher this time, "'m sorry... 'bout the wall."

"Well..." Crasher had long forgotten the reason she stormed to her neighbours and took Frenzy's hand, the digits slightly bent and stained with energon from punching the solid dutronium, "I forgive you if you promise to lend me these hands on my next match."

While she intended it as a joke, Rumble turned to her with a frown, "You're still having matches?"

Their optics met, "I will, eventually—"

At that moment, the room's door opened and four mechs strode in with quick steps. Soundwave hurried over to his trembling creation and picked him up to lay him on the berth and let Flatline kneel next to him, he already activated his in-built scanner and ran it through Frenzy's hot frame. Ravage jumped on the berth next to his younger brother and brushed his snout to his shoulder where he bit him.

"Frenzy did this?" Scrapper asked in shock, pointing to the holes and cracks on the wall opposite the berths.

"We wanted to put your new computer there anyway." Hook said from Frenzy's other side, he was examining the mini-mech's damaged hands.

::Crasher, Rumble:: the two heard Ravage in their heads, ::we'll handle things from here.::

Rumble cast one last glance at his twin - the rage was gone now, his optics paled and a dazed veil fell upon them - and left the room with the mini-con femme by his side. The door slid back into place behind them and Crasher turned around to face him, finally alone.

"Ravage wants us to talk?" Crasher asked quietly.

"Ehr... we should, shouldn't we?"

Crasher's gaze floated to the closed door and she crossed her arms, "I didn't think it was... this serious."

Rumble pulled a disgusted sneer, "You didn't see how the medics reacted once. He went into a... an oscillating seizure, yeah, that's what it's called... in the middle of the night and Soundwave rushed him to the nearest infirmary. Docs treated him because he was an "emergency case", but he had to leave once he was better because the berth was needed for those who could actually pay."

The other mini-con, however, wasn't surprised. She merely nodded, "I know. I saw it."

"How much did you see, really?"

"Pretty much." her tone quieted, "Just like you, I assume."

"Well... yeah, but I didn't do it on purpose." Rumble frowned, "Really, it... wasn't in the plan."

Crasher huffed, "Wasn't in the plan?" she asked, almost laughing out loud.

"You know, it takes two to merge." the mini-mech raised an optical ridge, "Why did you do it?"

Now it was Crasher's expression that soured and hardened, her frame tensed up, "It was a reaction. An answer to your question."

"Which you could have refused."

"Your point?"

"Is it about..." Rumble's voice trailed off when they saw one of the gladiators walk down the corridor and give them a curious look, but a tilt of Crasher's head and a hard glare sent him away, "Is it that I saw your memories or about the sparkling?"

"In that order?"

Rumble heaved a loud sigh and rolled his optics, "You're not making it easier." he grumbled, "Okay... knowing you, I get it why you're upset..."

"Happy to hear that."

"...but that wasn't the question."

Crasher glared at the purple mini-con for a long moment, the other was stubbornly waiting and wouldn't back down until he heard what he wanted. And why wouldn't she give it to him? Why not?

"I didn't... want to share it so soon, okay?" she started, her voice a tad softer than before, "My creators, the academy and... why I ran away, but since you felt it, I don't think I need to explain myself."

Rumble's stance relaxed somewhat when he saw he managed to get through to the headstrong femme, "Didn't wanna make you explain. I want to know what you want now 'cause you weren't really... talkative these past cycles."

Her shoulders sagging, the waves in Crasher's EM field seemed to smooth out to some degree. It never fully calmed; Rumble remembered how strange their creator's field felt when he was carrying Laserbeak and it was similar now with Crasher. His spark squeezed, but he refused to acknowledge it - he tried to concentrate solely on how the expressions changed on the purple face before him and the words that left Crasher's vocalizer,

"Soundwave told me you all would... welcome me in if I chose to ask."

"Yeah, that's right."

"You really won't leave?"

Rumble buried his face into his palm and pulled the other mini-con into a hug, "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Whenever I ask." Crasher allowed a small smile to her lips against Rumble's shoulder. It really wasn't that hard to relax into the arms that circled her.

He let her go, however, when the door opened and Flatline stepped out with Frenzy in his arm. His brother was limp and his optics offline, Rumble's joy immediately dropped and his frame tensed as he looked after the medic walking away to the repair ward. He turned around to see Soundwave stand in the door, a distant look in his golden optics.

"How is he?" Rumble asked, his creator's gaze met his.

"Stable." he replied in a monotone voice, "For now."

No more words were exchanged between the three; Rumble felt the digits of his fellow mini-con come to caress his upper arm in an effort to offer comfort and sympathy, but all he could see was his other half disappearing around the corner, without a trace.

A tiny frown emerged on Dean Perceptor's face on the screen. It had been mega-cycles since the last time anyone called him from his home state apart from Tumbler - even Highbrow didn't call him often now. To get a call from the senator of Crystal City would have been the last thing he expected in those cycles. It was not the first time he had talked to Senator Greenlight, they even met in person once - Cycles before she was elected as senator -, when Perceptor had been awarded after one of his achievements regarding the Geosynchronous Energon Bridge in the City, but the physicist didn't think he would be called now that he no longer worked at his former university.

Senator Greenlight attempted some small talk to ease the flow of the conversation, but Perceptor tried politely to avoid that. Chatting was not one of his strong points - he couldn't talk just for the sake of talking, only about specific subjects that mostly involved scientific theories, projects and the works of the Kimia Facility. Behind Greenlight, Senatorial Aide Contrail stood straight, his face stern and he never added to the conversation up until that point.

"If we are sufficiently informed," he started, "two of the new project's researchers are siblings of one of your scientists, archivist and linguist Rewind."

"Yes, that is right." Perceptor replied, he wasn't at all surprised Advisor Contrail knew of that piece of information. Anyone who searched into the mini-cons' public personal data could have found the connection between Rewind and the other two, Flipsides and Eject, who were part of the team getting ready to start their new excavation at the border of Crystal City, "Rewind is occupied in other projects right now, however, he has made paleolinguistical research previously and I'm sure he will provide his expertise on the subject once he is approached."

Then he added, "Which isn't likely to happen until the team uncovered something of interest that would require his input."

"According to the application we received from Glyph and her team," Contrail went on, "there is a high chance they will find artifacts that will need translation, thus I am certain Rewind will be approached in time."

"If he is," Perceptor's voice grew just a tiny bit harder, barely noticable, his expression remained serious, "he will have to discuss it with me first."

"Of course, dean." Senator Greenlight's light tone floated through the aether, "We would gladly welcome him to join the research, as well as you."

Perceptor's optical ridges shot up before he could have concealed his shock, "Me?"

"We would like to invite you as a scientific consultant." she said with a small, sincere smile.

There was only a microklick pause before Perceptor spoke, "My field is theoretical and applied physics, informatics and matter programming. Not history or archeology. Why would you want me to be their consultant?"

"The excavation site is in the Geosynchronous Energon Bridge's proximity," Contrail leant slightly forward, "where you had conducted research in the past. You are familiar with the geology of the area. Also, you are an acknowledged scientist not only in your own field; we would like you to help assess the scientific value of the team's findings."

This time, it took longer than a moment's hesitation before Perceptor answered, "I am... honored." he started, "But I have no time to take on anything new until the end of the Praxian Assembly. I need to focus on my scientists' and my own experiments to be ready for presentation, and so does Rewind."

"We understand, dean." soft concern framed Senator Greenlight's features, "Though I'm sure there won't be significant results until the end of the Assembly. Please, contact us when you come to a decision. Thank you for your time."

Perceptor made a slight, respectful bow of his head and the screen went black. Nothing moved for a moment until Greenlight turned around to Contrail and the Seeker smoothly sat down opposite her.

"This actually went easier than I expected."

Greenlight rose her optics to meet her advisor's.

"Contrail," the senator started quietly, "while I understand your reasoning, I agree with Perceptor; why not summon someone with an archeology-related expertise?"

Contrail heaved a sigh and leant forward in his seat, "Perceptor's fame in the scientific world is reason enough, his words have weight - and he is familiar with the geophysical properties of the aforementioned area. We can only gain from this project."

He leant back before he continued, a smirk forming on his lips, "Besides, even Dean Perceptor is bound by the law and tradition. If the government of his home state calls him he has to respond. We all work for the greater good and so does he in science's name... he will understand."

The young femme stood and Contrail also stood up in response, after all, it would have been disrespectful to just sit comfortably while his superior was standing.

"You are feeling more and more free to speak your mind lately." she spoke with calmness in her voice, but there was a barely noticable streak of cold in her light blue optics. "Would you be so confident if you had to defend your opinion against, say... Sentinel Prime himself?"

Advisor Contrail straightened to hide the stillborn movement to step back, the smile expired from his face and he tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, "Don't you trust me, senator?"

Greenlight sighed; her aide had always been good at counter-attacks, "I do trust you, you know it. But you need to be careful. You can't always have your way."

The smirk returned, "I shall keep myself to that." the words licked Greenlight's audios, "I would like to visit Vos the next cycle."

Greenlight nodded and watched the Seeker exit their office. The senator of Crystal City turned to walk up to the window looking out to the landscape of the Pess Pess region, the eastern border of which Crystal City lay. The tower was tall enough to see as far as the Mitteous Plateau on the far left and the range of the Tagan Heights fade away to mist down to the south. The Crystal City, true to its name, glistened in the sunlight, the windows of the curved, modernized buildings looked like thousands of sundrops as they reflected the rays of the afternoon light.

Senator Greenlight let go of the curtain and the thin material fell silkily back to its place. Only the wealthy and noble could afford such fabrics to decorate their living quarters. In fact, it was a gift from the Queen of Vos when she became senator; Contrail had already been there and the gift, among others, was meant to further represent the two states' good relations.

Maybe she should have dwelled more on her advisor's behavior, but her comm. link already sprang up in her head. Life never stopped around her ever since she was elected to represent her state and that was how it should have been; chasing her personal thoughts and questions to the back of her mind, Senator Greenlight answered the comm. and sat back down to her table, away from the high mountain range that's other end was where Vos rose to the heavens, the state of their best friends...

Dreams are both a blessing and a curse.

Starring at the ceiling from his berth, Shockwave's ventilation system slowly went offline as his cycling grew calmer and he finally took off his hand from his chest. He hadn't had a bad flux in deca-cycles and it started off so well, so real - he had been overjoyed to see his old teacher again after so long in their lab, just the other side of the corridor to where the office resided which the elder igniculicist now shared with him and Wheeljack. Jhiaxus promised him everything would be alright now, he got his spark back and they could continue working...

Why did it have to twist so horribly? Bend out of shape and mutate into a horror story left with a quaking spark and colors rushing before his optics...

Why do we dream?

Shockwave sat up and automatically raised a hand to activate his comm. link and call Wheeljack, but he stopped himself. His hand slowly floating back to his lap, Shockwave looked out of the wide window opposite his berth. The lights of the streetlamps and nearby buildings, the flashing advertisements of local bars shone inside his room, but he was no longer bothered by that. His optics stopped once on his table and gotten glued to the one spot that used to cure his loneliness what seemed like centuries ago.

The picture on the computer table was dark.

The young dean got up and stood above the digital plate and picked it up. Sensing his field, the pad activated to display the picture of the four of them - Jhiaxus, Wheeljack, Flamewar just at the start of her internship and him, standing in front of the Institute of Medical Genetics in Tesarus. Their master held a lecture there and brought them along since they had never been to Tesarus before.

They were all grinning, a small patch of black could still be seen on the side of Wheeljack's cheek, wimpled by his wide smile - the remainder of a smaller accident he caused in one of the student labs of the institute when he tried to create what he and Shockwave called "instant monster fluid"; corondum powder in water and a bit of mercury, heated and put on to vibrate on low frequency, except Wheeljack, in his excitement to show their creation to the Tesarian scientists, put the heater in larger wavelength than they originally used - Shockwave couldn't thank Primus enough that it only smoked.

Shockwave found himself smiling as he took in the faces on the picture and walked up to open the window a little. The cool nightly air and the sounds of the still excessive traffic of the Tarnian city center poured inside the room, but the mech welcomed the distraction now. He sat back down on the berth, clutching the visual pad and continued studying every little feature. His digits twitched again. Wheeljack was so far away now.

He called much less ever since their argument - he tried for some time to make Shockwave understand what he meant to say, but the geneticist stopped him every time, refusing to listen to excuses. They talked little apart from that and even Shockwave noticed how cool and distant he had become from him; not just from Wheeljack, but everyone else. And now, inside his dark room, he was truly and undeniably alone.

Curse these overflowing emotions... but...

Why couldn't he allow himself to be comforted this one time? All he knew was a lie now, the flux was all but a lie - like his life before his teacher's execution was a lie as well. But Wheeljack was real and he was pushing away this last strand that would still connect him to the times where they used to smile like that on the picture. And since he couldn't recharge anyway...

Shockwave lay back down, optics finding their way back to the ceiling and he let his hand move on its own accord to call to life the comm. link for the first time in mega-cycles. He could always tell himself later it was just a lie, too - but until then, he could let himself sink into it for just those faraway breems.

The picture on the bedside table went dark.

Sorry, I edited rather quickly, so sorry for any errors.

Night!