Chapter 33: Tradeoffs are Logical

Remnant, City of Mantle

Leaving Atlas with the Relic of Creation had been a simple affair. Atlesian technology was so easy to disseminate in comparison to Cybertronian technology. Penny's entire programming had been rebuilt from the ground up.

Had she been born biologically, this would be a much more challenging endeavor. Human and faunus nature, however advanced, were ultimately flawed because even with sentience and greater intelligence than any animal on Remnant, everything a persona said or did was in service of a few simple primitive motivations: survival and procreation, both in order to further the species.

Cybertronians did not have such a need to reproduce. Before it was jettisoned into space, it was where new life originated from. Although relationships between bots and femmes were very common, the ultimate product was a simple union of sparks and processors, nothing more and nothing less.

In short, primitive animal nature ultimately held back an otherwise promising species that had some potential, albeit not to the same degree as a Cybertronian, hence why he felt the need to completely destroy Penny's old A.I. and rebuild it from scratch. Her retained personality was merely a convenience for the sake of drawing less suspicion. In an instant, she could become just as logical as him.

Shockwave knew that his nature was off putting to many and despite its illogicalities, emotions were a necessary tool to endear oneself to the local population. Perhaps one day, the farce could be removed entirely, but for now, it had its uses.

On a side note, there was also the curious nature of procreation. To the scientist's mind, it was very straightforward; both male and female provided half of the genetic code, 23 chromosomes via copulation. With the inheritance of genes came the inheritance of genetic strengths and flaws. There was the potential for both and depending upon the history of the male and female heavily dictated the resulting child.

The Decepticon considered such a method of continuing the species to be archaic. There were far too many variables that were ultimately left to chance. Parents could not dictate the sex of their child, they could not dictate the good or bad traits that were inherited, and ultimately, a newborn infant was helpless for at least the first few years of their life, meaning that a constant dedication of resources and time was needed before a child was capable of standing on its own two feet.

Yet for all of its inefficiencies, it was all that was available. Cloning was faster, but it did not promote genetic variation, which was necessary for the survival of a species. Variation promoted adaptability, which was crucial to surviving the unexpected.

Shockwave had pondered more on this subject because he was curious to see if perhaps if he were to submit himself to such a task, would any offspring of his blood produce any results that could mark them as Cybertronian, and if so, what would that look like genetically.

Would the superior overwrite the inferior?

What sort of traits and genes would be inherited?

Would conception even be viable?

However risky procreation was by the factors that were present, it did present him a question with an answer he did not know.

And as with any subject that he was not knowledgeable about, there was only one logical course of action.

To educate himself.

But another time.

Red eye and optic stared at the Staff of Creation. "The amount of energy radiating off of this item is highly unusual."

Even from a surface scan, he could see that much.

"I have interrogated the spirit within. It claims that it can create anything from nothing." Penny's personality made an otherwise spartan report somewhat peppy. "Although given the immense power it proclaims, I find it impossible that it can derive anything from nothing. Such logic ignores what is physically possible and descends into the fantastic."

Normally, that was a sentiment he would agree with.

However, Primus and Unicron would say otherwise.

Shockwave bypassed that train of thought. "What else has the spirit revealed?"

"Only one creation can exist at a time." Penny sounded disappointed at this prospect. "And it seems the last person to use the staff wished for Atlas to float as it is now."

He understood the problem immediately. "If Atlas falls without warning, it along with Mantle will be destroyed and the lives of both cities will be lost."

That amount of lives that would die and the technology that would be lost was a high cost to pay. While Cybertronian technology was vastly superior, there was hardly enough to be used within the outpost in the ruins of Mountain Glenn let alone worldwide use. Recovering from such a loss would take a lot of time.

"Its viability for deployment will need to be considered first." Shockwave grasped the ancient relic. "Otherwise, any conclusions we make will be incomplete, thus illogical. What is its name?"

Penny said one word. "Ambrosius."

He gently held it in his hand. When the swirls of blue began to cascade all around, he did not lose focus. He kept his vision clearly on the mass forming before him.

"Released again for the second time in a relatively short period." The male figure took one look at him and began to scrutinize. "And you are… you appear Faunus, you possess the traits, the genetics, yet you're so… alien. Who created you?"

Shockwave was not interested in small talk. "My creator is irrelevant to this conversation. You say you are capable of creating anything? What proof do you have of such a claim?"

"Did you not see the floating city? That was all me." Ambrosius flexed his muscular body as if the posturing was a clear display of his abilities. "I promise that the only limit is what you can imagine."

Shockwave brought out the hologram of his plans for a space bridge. "Even for something as complex as this?"

"Yes, and might I say I would gladly take on this project." The spirit was clearly enthralled by the opportunity. "The wonders of the universe are right at our fingertips. I assume that you wanting this done means you've somewhere to be other than on Remnant."

The Decepticon nodded his head. "A most logical conclusion. Yes, I seek to return to my homeworld and this is the fastest means of doing so."

"I see. And what is home for one such as yourself?" Ambrosius placed his head in the palm of his hands.

Shockwave did not miss a beat. "Cybertron, the fifth planet in the Alpha Centauri system."

"And pray tell, what is life like on your planet?" Ambrosius questioned further.

It was a question that had no bearing on the topic at hand. "Can the space bridge be built and will Atlas fall upon a new creation?"

"Ruin my fun, why don't you." Despite the dissatisfaction at not getting his answer, the man in the relic said his piece. "Yes to both of your question. And I would usually give the spiel of being careful what you wish for, but given what I've seen, I don't think that lecture is necessary. You've covered most of the bases fairly well."

Taking the word of a spirit was risky, but if it was true and he wished for a demonstration, Atlas and Mantle were doomed.

But the possibility that he could return to Cybertron was simply too massive to ignore and he he was unlikely to find another solution with a much faster timeline.

So far during his stay on Remnant, he had been doing everything logical in order to further this world, one piece at a time.

But for the chance to return to his origins?

Even if he valued human and faunus lives more so that the Grimm, a Cyberonian life was worth far more than all the life on this planet.

"So, are we doing this?" Ambrosius posed the question.

Shockwave nodded. "Yes, but not here. I have a location in mind and a designated site for such a creation."

Condemning millions to death was a decision that was not to be taken lightly.

But Shockwave had made such decisions before.

The Cybonic Plague was a project he was heavily involved in and it was the deadliest weapon unleashed during the war, even more so than the Constructicons and the Predacons. Millions of offlined Autobots and even some unfortunate Decepticons were the result and the scientist had not flinched.

A few million human and faunus deaths?

An acceptable trade off if he could reach Cybertron. Even an Autobot's life was worth more to him than the entire population of Remnant.

Of course, everything he had worked for on Remnant would need to be overseen by someone trustworthy and capable. Too much time and effort had been put here to just go to waste.

Ambrosius was satisfied with the answer. "Very well. Just call me when and I'll get started right away."

Within seconds, the blue man disappeared into the Staff of Creation, leaving Penny and Shockwave.

The latter mentally began to instruct Emerald.

This planet will take time to cultivate.

Fortunately, Cybertronians, provided that they have energon to sustain themselves, were effectively immortal.

Time was not a concern.


RWBY - - - Transformers


Emerald had immediately set out to prepare the ground bridge to be worked on upon being relayed the instructions from Shockwave.

Amber had to stay behind to watch over the newly commissioned clone. Necessary information for survival and combat would be uploaded via cortical psychic patch. It would seem that the man in charge would personally oversee the upload himself. The details were complex and far above the mind manipulator's area of expertise. She understood enough to supervise and that was all she card about.

That being said, it was astonishing that a single man was capable of doing all of these projects virtually on his own. Logic dictated all of this, but somehow the method to his madness seemed more than that.

Emerald knew that asking questions was the quickest way to not be alive. That's why she usually didn't, but when her every waking moment wasn't spent trying to survive day to day, now she had all the time in the world to observe and consider.

Shockwave was a man that she knew as the one person she acknowledged over everyone else. Let the fools of the world call themselves the best or the greatest. They were insignificant when compared to her master. Although she couldn't quite quantify his true abilities in a impartial manner like he could, her gut instinct told her one thing: he was not to be trifled with lest an early grave was preferable.

She had questions, but she would never voice them.

She wouldn't ask why he wanted a space bridge.

When he entered the room with a ginger-haired girl in tow, she didn't ask questions. She was likely another servant.

The staff in his hand?

She assumed that was the Staff of Creation.

When he stabbed the golden weapon into the ground, it began to swirl with blue energy. The ruby-eyed girl couldn't help but gasp at the phenomenon and she couldn't help but widen her eyes at the sight of a blue floating man.

…who was wearing virtually nothing at all.

"Are we there yet?" A very energetic voice asked.

Shockwave spoke next. "Yes. This is the ground bridge. It will need to be converted into a ground bridge."

"One question: how do you intend to power this device?" The blue man in gold chains posed a second question. "Transportation lightyears away requires an enormous amount of energy, the likes of which dust can't provide because it doesn't function outside of Remnant."

Shockwave held up a vial of blue liquid. "This is energon, the lifeblood of Cybertronians. I will create a synthetic version to power the space bridge. For now, dust will provide ample power to function as a ground bridge."

"So I see. You know, I can include that as part of this project. Normally, I don't add a second part to my creations, but I can make an exception."

The faunus man merely shook his head. "In the event that you are used by someone else, I want to ensure that I only lose one asset, not two."

"Smart man." Blue nodded his head in approval. "Very well. Allow me to work my magic. Ladies and gentleman, stand back."

Another swirl of blue light. The ground bridge was massive on its own and yet the mist surrounded all of it so effortlessly, touching every part. As it did, the entirety of the device began to shine a bright white.

Emerald shielded her eyes in order prevent herself from being blinded, even temporarily. Even through her hands, she could still see brightness that would last for a while longer. Even when it faded away, she didn't release the shield for her eyes.

"Ah, truly a masterpiece." The blue man seemed pleased with his work.

Finally, the green-haired girl allowed herself to see once more. Immediately, she assessed if there were any noticeable changes to the ground bridge.

At a brief glance, nothing seemed different.

It took her a moment to realize it, but the blue man had disappeared as well.

Weird.

"Emerald, prepare the space bridge for a test jump." Shockwave issued his order. "A coordinate is being sent to your scroll."

The dark-skinned girl fished for her device in her pocket. There was a single text message with a long string of numbers.

She took a deep breath. "I'm on it."

It had taken some time, but she had learned to punch in coordinates for the ground bridge. Now she simply had to do the same for the space bridge.

Same concept, different scale.

After a few minutes of working through the coordinates, she observed her work on the screen.

Emerald took a deep breath in, then out. "Space bridge has the coordinates, activating it… now."

The familiar green swirling shape took form along with a burst of sound to indicate its opening.

Shockwave stepped forward, the ginger-haired girl doing so as well. "Stand by for further instructions."

"Yes, sir." The illusionist replied.

She let her hands fall to her side as she witnessed the two of them enter the space bridge, grabbing the Staff of Creation with them.

It took only a few moments for their figures to disappear into the unknown. She wasn't sure if she could believe they were traveling into space. Remnant didn't have a single means of reaching space and now she had been placed in charge of a machine that could effectively bring anyone and anything to anywhere in space.

Yeah, it sounded a little crazy.

Emerald walked away from the console to stare into the abyss of energy. All she could do now was wait for them to come back to confirm what was on the other side.

Patience was a virtue, but not one that the former thief always had full control of. In certain situations, she could utilize it like a master.

At this moment? Not so much.

Shockwave was the beginning and the end for her.

Without him?

She was nothing.

And she hated that feeling.

The silence that followed was unsettling; usually she was content to let silence permeate all around her with little worry on the mind. She began to unconsciously flex her fists open and close, only realizing the fact after a few passing moments.

Without Amber to supervise and occasionally comment on what was going on, the atmosphere was less comforting.

…I know that I'm not getting used to her. Emerald despised the fact that she had to try and convince herself otherwise.


Transformers - - - RWBY


The familiar feeling of no gravity registered to Shockwave's processors as he found himself deposited into the blackness of space.

And therein was the problem.

Where there should have been a massive planet largely devoid of life, there was nothing at all.

There was no planet Cybertron nor the moon that orbited it. There were no major objects all around. The only things visible were the stars that shined brightly around and the closest ones were likely lightyears away.

Shockwave rechecked the coordinates that he had provided Emerald with. He wanted to know if perhaps he had made a mistake in the location. When he came back negative on that, he then began to assess if perhaps there was something wrong on his aide's end. That too came back inconclusive. Emerald was not one to make a simple mistake; she had used the ground bridge without difficulty. The space bridge was not all that much more difficult to learn. She was not at fault nor was the equipment.

Due to his and Penny's location, he could not reach out on the coms to see if perhaps the unexpected had occurred.

If this was where Cybertron was supposed to be, how could a planet's disappearance be explained?

The scientist began to rapidly call upon his memories to piece together every single detail that had occurred prior to his arrival to Remnant.

He had been engaged with the Autobots.

They had disrupted standard procedures with the bridge in order to facilitate their escape to Optimus Prime's location and were sabotaging a key asset to the Decepticon cause.

What exactly had the Autobot called Arcee done?

She had initially overridden the energon containment protocols. That by itself was not enough to cause irreversible damage. However, if left to its own devices, a space bridge with an excess of energon injection could cause numerous problems that would translate into the results during transportation.

Damage to the actual space bridge itself was one such possibility.

Another outcome was damaging the person or object that was being transported.

A third was transporting to the wrong location entirely.

All of which would result in a disabled or destroyed space bridge.

The third possibility in particular was the one that was most viable in this particular situation. Not only was the Decepticon marooned in an unfamiliar world, but his entire body had been transformed. Until now, he could not explain the transformation.

Now he had a new theory.

And if it was proven correct.

Shockwave spoke to his companion, although he did not face her. "We have all that we need."

"Yes, master!" Penny was enthusiastic as always.

Adjusting his body, he slowly made his way back to the space bridge still in existence. All the while, his mind began to formulate his new working theory.

Cybertron is gone, which should be impossible. As far as I was aware, there were no weapons of mass destruction on either side that could obliterate the planet. Additionally, there were no reported objects from space that could knock the planet from orbit or cause catastrophic damage. Also, there was no evidence to indicate that our sun was in the process of dying in the immediate future.

The scientist realized that he had failed to account for another obvious factor. He glanced in the direction of the sun, or at least where one ought to be.

And there was none.

Again, he was certain that his coordinates were not wrong.

Nothing is where it is supposed to be.

Before his form descended into the space bridge, he did a quick reverse-triangulation in order to determine Remnant's rough location. He would have to perform numerous jumps in order to confirm the planet's exact location but knowing that was good for him.

It is illogical; I can use the coordinates to travel to places within the known universe, but it seems like planets and stars are not where they are supposed to be.

The scientist remained silent as he felt the familiar feeling of ground beneath his feet and gravity giving his body weight. He simply pondered on the unexpected complications that had come up.

"Sir?" Emerald's voice called to him. "Did you…"

Shockwave regarded his assistant. "There was nothing."

It took a microsecond for him to realize that in those three words, there was a bite in his tone that he was not used to hearing.

The normally logical and level-headed scientist sounded almost… bitter.

The realization made him quickly reign himself in, although the surprise at his unexpected show of emotion was disconcerting. If Emerald of Penny noticed his momentary slip, they did not comment on it or indicate that they saw otherwise.

The former Decepticon simply took his leave of the space bridge room. Although he had to confirm for certain that his theory was correct, he knew that the chances of him being wrong were almost non-existent.

But reality often cared little for what anyone wanted or thought.

It simply was.

Cybertron was not where it was supposed to be.

Nor were any of the planets and major objects within the system.

And it was doubtful if it would ever make an appearance.

At least, not in this universe.

His musings were interrupted when he entered his main laboratory to see Amber approach him swiftly, her face desperate and her movements erratic.

Shockwave rarely saw her like this, so he turned to her. "What is it?"

"It's Atlas!" Amber's voice was frantic, and she failed to grasp how close she was to touching him. "It's fallen from its place in the sky!"

It took a microsecond for the Cybertronian-Faunus hybrid to put the words together.

In response, he uttered two words. "I see."

He quickly tapped into his internal systems to see if he could connect to the bug that he had planted deep within Atlas's city-wide system.

He could not.

It looked like the man within the Staff of Creation had been telling the truth.


RWBY - - - Transformers


Amber's time was now split between caring for Shael's growing pet specimen as well as the clone of Cinder Fall. It felt odd the position that she was in, but she was hardly complaining; nurturing them both was fulfilling and it was a far better choice than simply waiting for Headmaster Ozpin to lift his travel restrictions on her.

That being said, the one thing she felt could use some improvement were the surroundings. She understood that this was a lab first and foremost, but it was so stark and spartan in nature that it felt alien.

Of course, the Fall Maiden dared not to touch or modify the room. She didn't think that Mr. Watson would be particularly upset if she did either. It was not in his nature, but she had a feeling that her presence wouldn't be appreciated.

For now, the Cinder clone, simply designated as Number 001, was simply being looked after. She was due for a memory upload and supposed when she got it, it would mean the end of babysitting. The dark-haired doppelganger would become self-sufficient.

Amber wasn't sure what to call her, but calling her by a number felt too detached, but calling her Cinder didn't seem right either. Although they shared the same physical features, they didn't share the personality.

She couldn't think of a name, so she just talked to her like she would talk to a baby, her experience in that being restricted to what she saw from other people. It wasn't much, but most people knew nothing about parenting until they became parents. Plus, she had help as well, so her situation could be worse.

Currently, the infant in a woman's body was sleeping, leaving the Fall Maiden to contemplate to herself. Without Shockwave or Emerald around, she felt strangely alone. Solitude was something she was used to during her travels, but now that she had virtually nowhere to go, her two sources of interaction were all she had to retain some semblance of sanity.

The only other source of attention was her scroll and more often than not, she kept that restricted to what was going on in the world and keeping up to date on news regarding the kingdoms. Unlike people her age who lived normal lives, she wasn't a huge fan of browsing or treating her scroll like it was her life.

Amber, with nothing urgent to do, decided to catch up on some news. When she powered on the device, she instantly got a strange message on her screen.

Long-range communication is now no longer functioning. User access restricted to in-kingdom transmissions.

That prompted a frown from her. She didn't know the details about the CCTV towers, but she understood that if even one went down, the entire system was effectively gridlocked. Maintenance of the towers was never disruptive to the service. Maybe the connection time lagged, but never did it go down fully.

Something was wrong.

The Fall Maiden then began to see what sort of information that she could find and since long-range communication was out, that left what she could find locally, and just like the message said, local channels of information were still up and running and it appeared that news channels were running.

So she tuned in.

"The reports are unconfirmed at this time, however, video footage captured by civilians and security footage from various locations around the city indicated freefall. Following shortly was the collapse of all outgoing and incoming communication between the kingdoms. At this time, the Council of Vale is attempting to reconnect with the other kingdom via pilot runners and they warn those with friends and family outside the kingdom that rapid responses will be very difficult to achieve."

Amber switched the channel.

This time, Vox News displayed a person who appeared to be filming using their scroll. The video was shaky and it looked like everything that was not secured to the ground or anything else was either floating around or moving every which way possible.

The most prominent sound was that the sound was so deafening that even the multitude of screams, the sound of destruction nearly shattered the lives of those that could be seen.

The Fall Maiden felt her blood curdle even though she was not personally witnessing it. Her free left hand curled into a fist, her eyes dead-focused on the screen.

It didn't make sense. Why would Atlas, the most technologically advanced kingdom on Remnant, fall to the surface of the planet so suddenly? Surely, Atlesian scientists wouldn't have neglected such a critical necessity for life in the sky.

As in-control as Amber had to be given her status as a maiden, even she wasn't immune to the sheer horror that the shaky videos and unconfirmed reports were putting out. More importantly, she was freaking out about something that may or may not even have been substantiated.

That meant she had to contact Ozpin.

…but did she really want to know the truth?

Fortunately, she didn't need to be the one to initiate that conversation.

A call notification came up along with a name.

The headmaster.

"Yes, sir?" Amber was grateful it was only a voice call.

Ozpin's question was swift. "Have you seen the news?"

"Atlas." The woman decided to cut straight to the point. "It is true."

Silence for a moment, then one word. "Yes."

"...by the gods." It wasn't surprising, and yet it took her breath away.

"Where are you right now?" Ozpin's hardened voice was clear.

Amber ran a hand over her face. "I'm at Professor Watson's lab. I'm watching over his project."

The silence this time lasted longer.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Fifteen.

"Sir?" Amber inquired.

He seemed to snap out of it, yet still remaining distant. "It's nothing. It is imperative that you remain on guard. Trust no one."

That was the last that she heard before he abruptly cut her off.

And those words…

Then she heard the door open and in came Shockwave, alongside Emerald and a new girl entered. The ginger head looked a little too chipper for this kind of environment, but that was neither here nor there.

When she rushed to him, Shael regarded her in the same cool manner he always did. "What is it?"

"It's Atlas!" Amber wanted to be just as calm as him, but she was failing. "It's fallen from its place in the sky!"

She was certain that even the destruction at Atlas and Mantle along with the human and faunus cost would evoke something out of him. Even something with a heart of steel couldn't possibly ignore such a tragedy.

But Shael's only reaction was a slight raised eyebrow, a moment of contemplation, and then two words. "I see."

He then simply moved past her to begin working on something else. His two female companions followed him. Emerald stopped briefly to give her a shake of the head before moving on.

Amber wasn't sure what she should be thinking, what she should feel.

She expected more.

Something more emotional.

Then again, when had he even been anything other than logical?

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Shockwave connect a line to the back of his head and then observe the Cinder Fall clone, who was now connected to a cranial device. This was probably the cortical psychic patch that was discussed in the notes.

It was just business as usual for all of them.

She was the only one that was freaking out.

…maybe she was the crazy one.

Perhaps she ought to get herself under control; she was the Fall Maiden, charged with great responsibility and burden. Atlas was not even her domain to worry about. There were four maidens, each charged with responsibilities within their own respective kingdoms.

…what about the Winter Maiden?

Amber lifted her head to see a pair of green eyes staring at her, causing her to yelp in surprise and jumping back.

"Salutations, fellow maiden!" Penny saluted her. "It is a pleasure to meet you!"

Amber relaxed for a moment. "Yes, a pleasure to…wait, what did you just say?"

"It is a pleasure to meet you!" The ginger head repeated herself.

The brunette closed the gap, grasping onto the shoulders of the younger girl. "No, before that."

"Salutations, fellow maiden!"

What?

How did…

Amber shifted her eyes to the now working Shael Watson.


I'm back finally. I'm at my new duty station and I'm more or less done the training that I started this year. If you want to know the details, go to my profile page. Safe to say, I should have a bit more time on my hands, although barely.

So Atlas and Mantle are gone, and the Staff of Creation has done its thing. Yeah, lets just say that the world of Remnant is effectively fucked up and expect to see more of that down the line.

I'll be honest, I'm trying to reorient myself to storytelling since I've been busy with Army life, so I appear somewhat distant or my writing seems a bit aimless, that's me trying to reread and recall. Please be patient with me.

Thoughts on this chapter? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.