Well, it took far longer than I had anticipated, but here, at long last, is the next chapter. The previous four chapters have also been edited, but the changes are mostly to improve readability, so it's not necessary to reread them. The only important change is that the brief mention of Starscream as Winglord has been removed.
A note on terminology: In my headcanon, Soundwave and Blaster are members of a telepathic race called Empaths. I don't use the racial name very often because individuals are usually defined by the strength of their ability (Soundwave is a telepath, Blaster is a sympath), but the word does come up in this chapter, so I wanted to mention it to avoid confusion.
And yes, I named the program. Humans name computer programs all the time, so hopefully that doesn't seem weird.
Everything is gonna change
Nothing's gonna be the same
What we know is good and gone
The life we lived has come undone
-Nightmare, Arshad
The ability to act was a useful skill to have, and Megatron had learned early in the war that the best actors were the ones who could make themselves truly feel the emotions they wanted to convey. It was a trick he had used many times to add energy and power to his speeches, but it served another useful purpose as well: To hide his true emotions from Empaths like Soundwave. As a general rule he trusted Soundwave, so he rarely felt the need to shield his mind in this manner. But this time, when he called Soundwave to the War Room to discuss their next target, he hid everything he currently felt behind an air of quiet satisfaction. His conversation with Starscream had finally erased his doubts about reprogramming him, but that was all Soundwave needed to know.
The warlord leaned back in his chair, humming thoughtfully as he studied the datapad his Third had just handed him. After a few moments he glanced up at the telepath and asked, "Are you sure the Autobots will turn up for this event?"
"Affirmative," Soundwave replied. "Meetings between human leaders: of interest to Autobots. We have targeted many important humans in the past."
"Yes," Megatron agreed, his voice colored by dark amusement. "A pity the Autobots have come to expect it." He set down the datapad and motioned to the table the two officers were seated at. "I wish to see this meeting place."
The telepath silently activated the holoprojector built into the heavy table, bringing up a three-dimensional image of planet Earth. The hologram rotated so that the Arabian Peninsula faced up, and a red rectangle appeared on the small landmass as Soundwave entered a set of coordinates. The rectangle flashed once, then the hologram flattened into a sea of sand interrupted by a few broad-leafed trees. The image was dominated by a human palace of relatively simple design, with multiple towers reaching towards the sky.
"The meeting is in two weeks," Soundwave said as Megatron studied the desert terrain. "The human prince befriended by the Aerialbots will be in attendance."
"So the Aerialbots will likely be there as well," Megatron mused. "Do we have enough energon to last us two weeks?"
"Affirmative. However, it would be close. Suggestion: stage at least one raid prior to attack."
"I'll keep that in mind. How many Autobots can we expect to be there?"
"Probability of more than ten Autobots attending: low."
"I don't know whether the Autobots are arrogant, or simply stupid," Megatron muttered scathingly. "Still, it shouldn't be hard to draw them out. A Trine of Seekers scouting the area a day in advance should insure a reasonable turnout."
"The Autobots may suspect a trap if Decepticon activity is noticed before the meeting," Soundwave pointed out, but Megatron only laughed.
"Do you honestly believe Prime will care? The fool knowingly walks into traps all the time, and his little hero complex would never allow him to do otherwise. He won't risk endangering the humans simply because we may be planning something. And even if he does expect a trick, he'll never guess what our true target is."
Soundwave didn't reply, and Megatron glanced sidelong at him as he shut off the holotable, silently reviewing the almost curt statements the telepath had made throughout the meeting. Then the warlord smirked in amusement and leaned back in his chair again. "So, Soundwave, what has you in such a bad mood today? Are you still upset with me for doubting you about Starscream?"
The addressed mech tilted his head to one side. "Soundwave: not upset," he said, but Megatron waved a dismissive hand.
"I don't blame you for being angry. After all, you are my most loyal officer. The least I can do is trust that you know what you're doing. But I spoke to Starscream earlier, and he confirmed that he needs time to adjust. You have my permission to do whatever is necessary to help him, though I expect you to tell me beforehand if that involves hacking him again."
Megatron's voice hardened on the last words, and he shot Soundwave a pointed look. The telepath dipped his head in acknowledgement of the order, but did nothing to show what he thought of it. Megatron watched him a moment longer, then laced his fingers together over his chest and continued.
"He's also proven to be just as obedient as you promised. More so than I had anticipated, in fact. Were you aware that his new programming can override his self-preservation instinct?"
This time Soundwave's visor dimmed slightly, as though his optics had narrowed. But his voice was as calm as ever when he said, "Affirmative. Obedience programs were not designed to allow the subject to put its own well-being before its master's."
Megatron snorted. "Call it what it is, Soundwave. What we've done to Starscream is slavery, and pretty words aren't going to change that." He stood up and retrieved the datapad from the table, stowing it in his subspace. "That's everything I need. You can return to your duties now."
He turned and headed from the room without waiting for an answer, knowing the telepath wouldn't argue with such a clear dismissal. He carefully maintained a sense of vague amusement all the way to his quarters, but the moment the door slid shut behind him it was replaced by a rush of uneasiness, irritation and disgust.
This had been a mistake. He knew that now, just as he knew it was too late to undo it. Even if he ordered the program removed, the damage was already done. Starscream would be more rebellious than ever if his freedom was returned, and there was no telling what lengths he would be willing to go to for revenge. But beyond that... being reprogrammed had hurt him, and to remove the program would mean it was for nothing. There was no reason to care about that, but Megatron couldn't seem to ignore the fact that Starscream would suffer whether he was programmed for obedience or not. If that was the case, wouldn't it be better to leave him as he was and avoid the disastrous fallout of freeing him?
Megatron released a tired ventilation and raised one tightly clenched fist to waist-level, staring down at it as he slowly opened it. He had never touched a living spark before. Torn them from the chests of his enemies and crushed them with his bare hands, yes. But that couldn't be compared to holding one, trapping it in the cage of his fingers and feeling the fear-quickened pulse of energy against his palm. He couldn't deny that it had been deeply satisfying to see Starscream so scared and vulnerable, at least at first. But that was before the true magnitude of what he was doing sank in. The Seeker's life had been in his hands, in the most literal way possible, and it still was. A single careless order was all it would take to get him killed, and Starscream would be helpless to stop it. Primus, he couldn't even protect his own spark...
Megatron's hand closed again, but he barely noticed. He had meant it when he claimed responsibility for what happened to Starscream. What that meant beyond simply keeping him alive and functioning, he wasn't sure yet. But getting him through the adaptation stage would be a good start.
Which led Megatron to the problem of what he should do about Soundwave. He was beginning to suspect that the telepath was trying to get rid of Starscream, and the fact that he hadn't warned Megatron to be careful with his orders supported that. There could be other explanations, of course, but this seemed the most likely. Soundwave was a loyal Decepticon, and if he thought it would be in the best interests of the faction to deal with a known traitor, he would do it. Even if it required him to go against his leader's wishes.
Maybe it was for the better, Megatron mused as he crossed his barren quarters to sink down on the berth. Starscream certainly deserved it, and Megatron himself obviously had some weakness that kept him from just finishing the Seeker. Maybe it would be better to let someone else do what he couldn't. And yet...
For the most part, Megatron trusted Soundwave. But there were times when he didn't, not completely, and this was one of them. If Soundwave did want Starscream dead, he was going against orders to achieve his goal. If he didn't, he was still up to something Megatron wouldn't approve of, because he wouldn't keep it a secret otherwise. Either way he was hiding something, and he was far better at it than Starscream.
There was a reason why Soundwave wasn't Second in Command.
Megatron shut off his optics briefly, then stood and moved to the desk at the foot of his berth, already knowing that he wouldn't get any recharge. He didn't know for sure what Soundwave was up to, but the telepath had made a mistake by involving Starscream. The Seeker couldn't keep a secret to save his life, and Megatron fully intended to check on him regularly to see how Soundwave's "treatment" was progressing. If he found any sign that Soundwave had hacked him again, or threatened his life, there would be consequences.
No one double-crossed Megatron, even for the benefit of the Decepticons.
Starscream had retreated to his quarters almost immediately after Megatron left, too shaken by what had happened to risk interacting with others. Having his spark handled without his consent hadn't been as bad as having Soundwave in his head, but it had been bad enough. He could still feel the gentle pressure of a hand on his spark, and it made him squirm uncomfortably to know he'd been touched there of all places. It was practically sparkrape, and that... that was just wrong. But then, so were hacking and reprogramming, and he'd already been subjected to both. Why not throw sparkrape in there too?
The Seeker stared miserably at the ceiling above his berth, hands twitching and curling at his sides as he struggled to make sense of his confused thoughts. Soundwave had claimed that right and wrong had no place in war. Starscream had denied that, but what if he was right? The Decepticons would resort to hacking when other forms of interrogation failed, and they had reprogrammed a few bots too. Was that wrong, or did the war mean it was okay? Either way, how could it ever be right to deal with troublesome soldiers the same way they did enemies?
Starscream had told Skywarp that if they trained the same way they fought, they would need repairs after every session. He knew that was true, so shouldn't the same principle apply to hacking? But if it did, how could anyone justify what had been done to him? Even Shockwave wouldn't be able to do that, if only because it was illogical to damage one's allies. So how could Megatron and Soundwave do it?
Starscream rolled onto his side and stared unseeingly at the wall, optics dimmed by sad confusion. He just didn't understand why all of this was happening to him. What had he done that was so wrong? Maybe he argued a lot, but he really didn't defy Megatron that often, and whatever others said, he wasn't a traitor. He hadn't even done anything wrong lately, at least that he was aware of. Why would Megatron order something like this without provocation? What about Soundwave? Did he really think their leader had gone too far, or was it just another lie? Why had he even lied in the first place?
There were too many questions Starscream didn't have the answers to, and that included the most important question of how he was going to get out of this mess. Soundwave obviously wasn't going to be any help, and Megatron had made it clear that he wanted to see the Seeker broken, so there was no point in talking to him. Shockwave... even if Starscream could contact him, he wasn't about to trust his mind to a scientist with a history of performing horrible experiments on unwilling subjects. But there was literally no one else he could go to. He didn't know any other Decepticons who had a working knowledge of coding, or even any influence with Megatron.
Of course, there were other bots in the universe who weren't Decepticons... But there was no point in thinking like that. The Neutrals in the war had long since scattered to the stars, and no Autobot would ever consider helping him. Even if they did, how could he be sure they wouldn't take the opportunity to make their own changes? Anyone who got into his mind would have a chance to frag him up even more than he already had been. How could he risk that? This program needed to be removed, and soon, but how could he trust anyone with his mind after what Soundwave had done to him?
He rolled again, flicking his wings out of the way as he settled on his front. Then he shut off his optics and hid his face in his arms, trying to ignore the hollow ache clawing at his insides. There was no way out, was there? This program was going to take away everything he was, and he couldn't stop it because he couldn't trust anyone. He was a slave now, less than the lowest bot, and that was all he would ever be. Megatron had finally won.
"This isn't fair," he muttered, not caring how childish he sounded. He had been reprogrammed for no reason he could discern, his own mind was being turned against him, and there was nowhere he could go for help. It wasn't fair, and it was made all the worse by his own extensive knowledge of coding. He had spent more than three decades studying the subject before he finally wrote his virus, and he'd learned even more while recovering from the damage it caused. But everything he knew was useless to him now, just because he couldn't change his own fragging code.
Well. Unless he wrote another virus. But was it really worth the risk? He knew he had trouble responding appropriately in social situations, and another mistake like the last one could shut down his social center entirely. He might not make a mistake, but there was no way to know for sure until it was too late. These things were just too complicated to run accurate simulations for.
He gave a low groan of helpless frustration and twisted until he was on his back again. Then he pressed a hand to his chest and started rubbing the curved glass of his cockpit, wishing he could remove the phantom sensations from his spark by doing so. Why did Megatron have to be so stupid all the time? He was always messing with things he didn't understand, and more often than not it ended badly, but did he ever learn? Of course not! The oh-so-mighty leader of the Decepticons never made mistakes, and it was treasonous to even suggest that such a thing was possible!
For a few moments Starscream glared at the ceiling, fingers curled into claws on his cockpit. Then he gave a low snarl and pushed himself from the berth, beginning to pace as his anger doubled back on itself. Why hadn't he brought up what he'd discovered about this new program when Megatron was asking all those questions about it? He'd been handed the perfect opportunity and hadn't said anything! How did he expect to fix things if he kept panicking, freezing up, and doing crazy slag like going to Soundwave for help?
"Oh, frag it all!" he burst out. He hooked his chair with a foot mid-stride and pivoted, hurling it into a wall with enough force that it ricocheted. Then he kicked the berth as he passed, and slammed his fist into the wall on his way out the door. He needed to break something or shoot something or... something! Anything that would let him stop thinking!
His optics brightened and his wings hiked up when he stalked around a corner and saw Soundwave coming toward him. He could think of only one reason why the telepath would be down this way, and that reason shattered any self-restraint he had left.
"And where do you think you're going?" he demanded loudly, coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hall. Soundwave stopped as well, head tilting as he regarded the furious Seeker.
"Soundwave: looking for Starscream," he answered calmly. "You were unwell last night. I wished to check on you."
"'Unwell'," Starscream repeated slowly, as though the word was a previously unknown curse. "What an impactful way you have of putting things. Listening to you, one would think I was merely a bit sick instead of having a fragging panic attack!"
His voice went up in both volume and pitch as he spoke, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Even as angry as he was, he couldn't quite repress the fear that sent gentle tremors through his wings and down into his hands. But he took a single step forward, then another, trying to pass off the shaking as rage-induced as he began to shout.
"What makes you think I'd want you checking on me anyway? I know what you did! You said you only reprogrammed me because you had no choice, but if that was true, you wouldn't have used the program you did! Slaggit, Soundwave, of all the programs you could have used on me, why the frag did you choose Euthenra's Virus?"
"It was a perfectly legal program before the war-" Soundwave began, but Starscream cut him off with a sharp laugh.
"Oh, well! As long as I was enslaved through legal means, it's okay, isn't it?" he sneered. "Never mind that your 'perfectly legal program' was controversial even among slave owners! It was illegal in five City-states which permitted the use of slave programming, and why? Because unlike all the other 'legal' programs, this one doesn't just control a bot's body, it frags up their minds. How could you do this to me?"
"You ignore the reasons why it was legal in other City-states," Soundwave said as Starscream stopped advancing just out of armsreach, glaring murderously up at him. "It has a low glitch-rate and is only damaging when removed. Subjects eventually obey their masters willingly, and grow content in their roles. It is less cruel than programs which bring about obedience through force."
"But it does use force!" Starscream screeched slightly hysterically. "It's forcing me to change my habits and emotional responses, and- and how can you say it's not damaging? Does mental and emotional damage mean nothing to you?"
"Starscream, calm down," Soundwave said sternly. "Your systems can't handle this much stress right now." He stepped forward, but Starscream ducked around him and quickly backed away, raising his weapons as Soundwave half-turned to watch him.
"Stay away from me," the Seeker hissed savagely. "It's your fault that I'm like this. Yours. You hacked me, you fragged me up. I can't handle stress because of you, and I am stressed because of you. You say you want to help me? Then leave me alone. Because I don't want anything to do with you."
"You're overreacting-" Soundwave began, but those two words were more than Starscream could take.
"I FRAGGING WELL AM NOT OVERREACTING! And if you think I'm going to just forgive you after what you did, think again! I'd have to be completely insane to even consider it! Just stay away from me and stop acting like you're on my side! It's sickening!"
He didn't wait for a response, already turning away as he spat out the last words. He stormed down the hall as though the possibility of being attacked from behind had never occurred to him, when in reality it was all he could think about. But nothing happened, and as soon as he turned the nearest corner, he ran. He ran from the fear that had rooted so firmly in his spark and the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in his own body. Ran from the nagging thoughts that said he would regret losing his temper, and that he was asking to be hurt again. He ran from the dark impulses that would prefer any kind of physical pain to the wounds inside, the ones no medic could mend.
He ran, but he couldn't escape.
Maybe he never would.
This, Soundwave reflected, was exactly why he'd checked the security cameras to make sure this sector was empty before coming to speak with Starscream. The temperamental flier always transitioned from fear to anger sooner or later, and Soundwave had known there would be a lot of shouting when it happened. Given the nature of Starscream's rant, it seemed to have been a good thing that he made sure no one was around to hear it.
There was no reason to stay here any longer, so Soundwave went back the way he'd come, visor dimmed in thought. It was inconvenient that Starscream had figured out which program had been used on him, but not unexpected. His reaction to that knowledge was no surprise either, considering how Vos had been one of the City-states in which obedience programs were illegal. But the extremity of that reaction made no sense. There were countless shell programs which hadn't been legal in any City-state, ones which were designed to cause pain or override a bot's personality entirely rather than merely influence their behavior. Some could even kill the subject. In many ways Euthenra's Virus was one of the most benevolent programs of its type. So why was Starscream acting like Soundwave had tried to kill him?
Well, no matter. His anger had been accounted for, and even if Soundwave couldn't gain his trust, the program would take care of that once the telepath was registered as his master. The real problem was his stress levels, not his refusal to be anywhere near Soundwave. Some form of intervention would be required if he didn't calm down soon, and Soundwave would rather not have to do anything that might scare him again. Perhaps it would be best to give him some space, at least for a few days. Starscream clearly believed that he'd been damaged in some way, and he had a habit of retreating into isolation when he was injured physically. His current agitation could easily be a manifestation of that same behavior.
Soundwave entered the Command Center and glanced around, taking note of Starscream's absence. If Soundwave's theory was correct, the Seeker would probably be working from his lab for the next few days. The telepath knew he was still on base though, because Frenzy was watching the security cameras from Soundwave's office. He would call if it looked like Starscream was heading out.
There was no sign of Megatron either, which Soundwave observed in disgust. He wanted to believe that the warlord was still concerned about the state of the army. He really did. But it was hard when Megatron was rarely around unless there was a plan to put into motion. He never seemed to think about anything except his next plan.
Well, that wasn't entirely true, Soundwave thought darkly as he seated himself in front of a monitor. He had been watching the cameras personally when Megatron went after Starscream in the training room, and he knew what had happened. Soundwave had known that that Megatron would abuse his new power over Starscream, at least in the beginning. But what he'd seen was just disturbing, and it was made more so by Megatron's satisfaction during the strategy meeting afterward.
Soundwave glared at the screen in front of him as he got to work, still turning this worrisome new variable over in his mind. With any luck at all, Megatron would lose interest in tormenting Starscream now that the Seeker could no longer respond in the way he was used to. But how much danger would Starscream be in until they reached that point?
As you can probably guess, Euthenra's Virus was named after its developer (Euthenra was derived from euthanasia). Though not a true virus, it became known as such in scientific circles because of its side effects. Most bots neither know nor care what individual programs are called, which is why Megatron never asked Soundwave about it.
Also, horrible though the idea is, shell programs which can kill are canon. The concept was used in Beast Wars.
Anyway, in the next chapter we'll get some new perspectives from a couple bots who don't know what's going on. Hopefully it won't take another nine months to write this one.
