Author's Notes: Well, I didn't mean for the Decepticons to dominate this chapter, but the flow of this one works better without a diversion from the character arc presented here. Also, for the past few months I had been trying to only upload new chapters on Friday, but I'm getting sick of that. I work better if I can be unpredictable, so I'm going back to posting whenever I feel like it. In this chapter I loosely based Frenzy's personlity off his initial IDW self, just to make the character feel a little less comical than his G1 self. I hope you guys like this chapter, and that I can read your lovely reviews :)
Chapter 27
Frenzied
After the Damocles mission had failed Cylas had been given to Knockout to do with as he pleased and Soundwave had gone back to trying to solve a very difficult puzzle. He had taken VS-5001 and PLX-7205 to the brig, but had not informed Megatron of what he was doing. Soundwave didn't like to keep secrets from his master and friend, but if that Vehicon was indeed his poor little Frenzy then he could allow nothing to stand in the way of getting his symbiote back...not even Megatron.
It had been a couple days since Soundwave had first been told about Frenzy's possible transformation into a drone, and his research wasn't yielding much in the way of results. Yes, Frenzy's last known location had been Polyhex and PLX-7205 had been built in Polyhex during the final siege of the city-state, but that was all circumstantial evidence. Soundwave needed more.
The memories of that fateful night, a night Soundwave had worked so hard to suppress from his processor, were returning with full force. Frenzy had gone on so many spy missions in his life, but he had died when he was on guard duty; a much more mundane task than what the minicon was used to. Megatron himself had regretfully informed Soundwave that Frenzy had been terminated by an unruly prisoner and was assured that the Autobot that did this to Frenzy had been punished, but now Soundwave wondered if Megatron had lied to him.
After exhaustive searching and little to show for it, Soundwave decided that there was only one way to find out the truth, though it was a risky option. He would have to order Knockout to restore the drone's memories. If it was Frenzy then Soundwave would have his symbiote back, and if it was a miserable Autobot then Soundwave would kill it. Either way it was the quickest method to uncovering the truth.
Soundwave made his way toward the medbay, but before the doors even opened he could hear desperate masculine screams. He recognized the voice as belonging to Cylas, and when the door opened it only confirmed Soundwave's assumption.
Cylas was strapped to a medical berth, and Knockout was hovering over him with his shock prod at the ready. Cylas's look of fear was almost unnerving, though Soundwave had seen such looks before. He was surprised at the utter glee Knockout was exhibiting at the moment however. While Knockout was a careless individual and could be vindictive when it came to his paint job, Soundwave had never seen the mech in full-on revenge mode before.
"No, not the acid! Not again!" Cylas pleaded, "Don't you recognize me, Knockout? It's me, Breakdown! I'm Breakdown!"
"Say it again," Knockout lilted as he hovered a jar of acrid liquid over Cylas's helm, "Make me believe it this time, and maybe I'll stop."
Soundwave waited to be noticed, but Knockout was too focused on his current prey to give heed to the communications officer. As Soundwave observed the torture session his gaze drifted over to the pile of Vehicon parts in the corner that was slowly starting to take up a lot of space in the medbay. It reminded Soundwave of just how lazy Knockout had become since Breakdown had died. Now that Knockout was the only medical professional on board the ship he was virtually untouchable. If Frenzy was brought here then who was to say he would get proper medical treatment from the prissy medic?
Soundwave thought for a moment on what could be done about this. The Eradicon that had brought all this to Soundwave's attention claimed to be Thundercracker. That would fit his serial number since Megatron had punished him for betraying the cause by freeing Autobot Jazz. He had also claimed that Starscream was the one that performed the surgery that freed his processor from its programming prison. If Starscream freed Thundercracker's mind, the he could free Frenzy's as well.
His mind made up, Soundwave silently walked out of the medbay; his pede steps drowned out by Cylas's screams for mercy. Knockout was not an option anymore. If Soundwave wanted to save his symbiote he would have to go through Starscream.
Starscream waited for Thundercracker to contact him for over a day with no results. He feared that his brother had been discovered by Megatron somehow and could have either been killed or else had a new chip implanted into his processor. It didn't help Starscream's pessimism that he hadn't refueled since Thundercracker left. They were out of energon, yet Starscream didn't want to leave to search for more until he was sure Thundercracker would return, hopefully with more Vehicons to turn to their side.
Starscream was about to give up when he got the comm he was hoping for.
/Starscream, we're gonna need a ground bridge. I'm returning with two others in tow./
/You found two Vehicons? This is very good news indeed,/ Starscream replied gleefully as he steepled his claws together, /Are they Vehicons or Eradicons?/
/Um, one is a Vehicon, and the other is...Soundwave,/ Thundercracker admitted sheepishly.
/Soundwave!? Are you insane?/ Starscream screeched into the comm, /He'll tell Megatron where I am! He'll kill us both! Abort the mission! Repeat, abort the mission!/
/I can't,/ Thundercracker replied ruefully, /Soundwave is bringing us, well...you're not gonna believe this Starscream, but Frenzy was turned into a Vehicon drone. Soundwave won't turn us in if he ever wants Frenzy back./
/Frenzy? The symbiote?/ Starscream asked incredulously, /I heard he died during a prison riot./
/Oh yeah? Well what did you hear about me?/ Thundercracker asked rhetorically.
Starscream couldn't say anything more. It was honestly more shocking learning about Frenzy than it was learning about Thundercracker though. Starscream understood that Megatron would lie to him. Megatron had grown to hate Starscream, so it would make sense that Starscream's trine meant nothing to him. Soundwave however...that was Megatron's only true friend. How could Megatron punish one of his best friend's children in such a cruel and unnatural manner? No, children wasn't even the right word. Symbiotes were literally a piece of their host's spark. Frenzy, like Laserbeak, was an actual part of Soundwave.
/Starscream, where's that bridge?/ Thundercracker asked impatiently.
/Oh, right. Sorry,/ Starscream stammered, lost in his own thoughts for a moment, /I'm activating the bridge now. I just hope this is the right decision./
The swirling lime green vortex came into being, and a moment later two fliers entered the room; one with a car strapped to the underside. After everyone had landed they transformed; one grey Eradicon, one purple Vehicon, and one midnight blue mech. Even after knowing him for so many vorns Starscream was still slightly terrified of Soundwave, though being a fugitive made this feeling even worse than usual.
"H-Hello, Soundwave," Starscream stuttered as he subconsciously backed away from the slender yet imposing figure, "I heard that you needed...my...assistance, with something, yes?"
Soundwave pointed to the confused looking Vehicon standing stock still in the middle of the room.
"Repair him," Soundwave commanded in Megatron's voice.
"I-I-I'm not broken!" The Vehicon stammered nervously; knowing what repair meant in context lately, "It's this Eradicon! He claims to be your trine brother, a real mech! He's delusional, and he wants to take me down with him!"
"That is my brother," Starscream informed him, much to the drone's shock, "And you are most likely Soundwave's symbiote. Now, get on the table. I promise that the procedure is not fatal. Whether it restores your memories or not is more of a crap shoot."
Soundwave heard this, and immediately took a menacing step toward Starscream.
"But, uh, I'm getting better at it!" Starscream assured the silent mech so he wouldn't incur Soundwave's wrath, "Don't worry, we'll fix this. If this is indeed Frenzy, then he will wake up remembering everything. If he is not, then nothing was lost and we can shoot the newly restored Autobot before he or she becomes a threat."
"Wait, what was that last part?" The Vehicon asked apprehensively.
"He said get on the table," Thundercracker interjected threateningly, "Do you disobey real mechs?"
Thundercracker hated to use such a tactic, but he knew from personal experience that it would make the process go faster. Just as predicted, Frenzy rushed over to the operating table and stared straight up at the ceiling in compliance with Starscream's original order.
"This will work, right?" Soundwave asked in Knockout's voice.
"Of course it will work," Starscream replied defensively, "Just sit down so I can concentrate! I can't work with you hovering over me like that!"
Soundwave would normally never allow Starscream to speak to him that way, but he was too worried about Frenzy to argue. He sat down on the floor against the wall, and was soon joined by the Eradicon that was apparently Thundercracker. The situation didn't even feel real to Soundwave. He had mourned for the loss of five of his symbiotes and had carried that emptiness in his spark for so long. He was protective of Laserbeak because he was all he had left. To even imagine getting one of his own back, even in a Vehicon's form, felt too good to be true. If it was true though, the question became how did this happen? He only hoped Frenzy could answer that for him.
Starscream turned off the pain receptors of the drone and began to induce stasis in the Vehicon. PLX-7205 didn't know what was going to happen to him during this surgery, but he hoped that he didn't wake up on the Decepticons' enemies list. If what everyone said was true though, he was going to earn a very favored place with Soundwave, Megatron's most trusted officer. If that were the case, then any pain he experienced would be worth it...
..."And the winner of the qualifying match is Soundwave!" The referee shouted, followed by the roaring of the crowds.
They were in the gladiatorial pits of Kaon, Soundwave and his six symbiotes, and Soundwave had bested yet another opponent. The loser was allowed to limp away, which was the preferred outcome for the family of seven. Soundwave and his symbiotes were forced to fight since they were slaves of a rich mech named Surefire, but they didn't enjoy killing their opponents and preferred to avoid it when they could.
Soundwave's symbiotes made Soundwave look tougher since they each comprised a part of him. Rumble and Frenzy were Soundwave's shoulder guards, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were Soundwave's chest plate and back plate respectively, Ratbat was Soundwave's shield, and Ravage was an arm cannon attached to Soundwave's right forearm. The combination of this armor made Soundwave look much bigger than he actually was.
Back in their stable, which was the term for a gladiator's room, Soundwave wanted to just deflate and fall over. He knew better than to do that however. To show weakness even in downtime risked earning a beating from his master. Instead he carefully walked to his dresser and sat down as deliberately as he could so the cameras would pick up no pain or even relaxation from him.
"Hey Soundwave, how much energon do we have?" Rumble asked as soon as everyone had transformed into robot mode.
"Don't make him get up," Ratbat admonished, "Go check the cupboard yourself!"
Rumble harrumphed at Ratbat but did as he was told. When he checked for energon he found four small packets of energon sweets. It wasn't the type of fuel that would last, but if they were very careful everyone could get a little. Rumble passed out each tiny square carefully, but Soundwave insisted he had already refueled earlier and didn't need it. They knew he was lying, but they also knew he wouldn't take energon if it meant his symbiotes got less. Reluctantly everyone except Soundwave started eating.
"I saw rust spots suddenly pop up on our enemy today," Frenzy quietly said to Rumble, "Were they really there?"
"No, Frenzy," Rumble replied casually, "I got cobalt flavor. Which one did you get?"
"Copper," Frenzy shrugged, "Wanna trade?"
"Yeah," Rumble replied.
They traded their candies and both ate a little faster since they were enjoying their so-called meal more.
"Hey Rumble."
"Yeah, Frenzy?"
"I also saw an audience member hit the mech next to him with a briefcase. Did that happen?"
"I don't know," Rumble replied, "I wasn't looking at the audience."
"Oh, okay."
Frenzy only talked to Rumble about the hallucinations he saw from time to time. From the moment he was built his processor had been defective. He was as smart and capable as his siblings in most respects, but every now and then he would see something that wasn't there. Sometimes it was as harmless as seeing a figure standing there that didn't exist, and sometimes it was as bad as seeing someone's face melt off or seeing someone wielding a weapon coming for Soundwave. Soundwave was very patient with Frenzy, and his siblings didn't make him feel bad about it, but they still kept the condition a secret from Surefire lest Frenzy be killed and melted down for parts.
It wasn't fair. Frenzy knew of rich mechs that had this same condition. They would just get their processor rewired at a medic and never had to suffer the delusions again. Soundwave was a slave though, and therefore had no money. Whatever he had was given to him by his master, and he would never be able to afford to fix his creation. Frenzy eventually learned to live with it, and would just ask Rumble what was real since his twin didn't suffer from the illusion defect...
...In the Decepticon ranks all of Soundwave's symbiotes had been assigned to become spies for Megatron's cause since they were among the smallest members of the Decepticons. Frenzy hated this job because a spy with the illusion defect wasn't reliable, but they would get around this problem by having Frenzy always work with one of his siblings.
Soundwave and Megatron were friends, but Soundwave was a protective host. He figured that Megatron, being raised in the same dismissive system that was so prevalent on their world, would consider a defective Decepticon useless and order Frenzy to be executed. Soundwave could never let that happen, so he never told his new master about his creation's condition.
For many vorns this worked well for the team, but eventually their failures caught up with them. Ratbat was the first to die when Soundwave used him as a shield per usual, unaware that their opponent had been firing corrosive acid pellets. They were too far away from the nearest medbay to save Ratbat, and Soundwave felt personally responsible for his youngest symbiote's demise.
The next one to go was Buzzsaw when Soundwave was shot from behind and the cannon blast penetrated Buzzsaw's armor. It had been an experimental weapon they had never faced before, and after what Soundwave did to that mech Frenzy would've been surprised if the weapon was ever used again.
For a long time the four remaining symbiotes did well as espionage agents. The only one Soundwave would even take into battle anymore was Ravage since the cat-con turned into a cannon. As it turned out it wouldn't even be an enemy that got to the metallic feline. During the battle of Gilgahex Ravage contracted cosmic rust along with over two dozen other warriors. Before the plague was contained 16 Decepticons had died, including Ravage. The medic had said Ravage's body was just too small to fight off the infection.
This left only three; Rumble, Frenzy, and Laserbeak. Soundwave was now especially worried about them going on missions for Megatron. The symbiotes assured Soundwave that they were qualified however, and he compromised by allowing them to spy but never again to engage in frontal combat.
This idea worked for a while, but then something went wrong.
It had all gone well for most of their mission. Rumble and Frenzy were supposed to go into Iacon, learn about the Prime's latest plan of attack, and return to Kaon with the information. Getting the information was surprisingly easy. With the recent loss of Prowl the Autobots were still trying to regain their bearings and figure out who would be the new commander of the New Polyhex space station. The twins learned that there would be a massive cargo shuttle going to that space station to deliver energon, and that Jazz was going to be its new commander.
Rumble and Frenzy wasted no time heading back to their home base to divulge this information. As it turned out it wouldn't be an Autobot that dealt them a fatal blow that orn. On their way through the Mangan Desert Rumble's pede stepped on a land mine; killing him instantly and injuring Frenzy.
Frenzy had managed to comm Soundwave for help, but there was nothing to be done for Rumble; who was little more than a few shards of metal at that point. Soundwave tended to Frenzy for his entire recovery, and vowed that Frenzy would never be put in such a position again.
...Frenzy was so bored. He had been serving as a prison guard in Polyhex for two orns, and he was already bored out of his processor. Frenzy didn't want to be a prison guard, but Soundwave had asked Megatron to give Frenzy a position where he wouldn't have to be on the front lines. Megatron himself had given Frenzy this post guarding Autobots and Empties that had been captured alive, so Frenzy couldn't exactly say no.
There were a few other guards; Brawl, Demolisher, and their medic Vortex. Frenzy didn't know any of them very well and he didn't care to. He knew they were just guarding future Vehicon parts, so it seemed ridiculous to become emotionally invested in any part of this slagging operation.
With this thought in mind Frenzy made his rounds marching along the electrified fence that separated the prisoners from the rest of the world. Most of the Autobots he saw were the standard retrofitted civilians-turned-warriors. They were taller than him, they all looked either hopeless or angry, and most of them had already been beaten to slag and starved of energon. It was pretty easy to keep this group in line.
As Frenzy looked inside the fence however his optic caught sight of a mech that was just as small as he was. The Autobot symbiote was a solid red color with tiny blue optics, and was using a piece of scrap metal to draw on the ground next to the fence. Frenzy wasn't used to seeing other symbiotes since his kind was so rare, and despite the different factions he felt compelled to talk to this new prisoner.
"Hey half pint, who are you?" Frenzy asked rudely to disguise his genuine interest.
"Get lost, Decepticon creep," The tiny Autobot growled, "I've had a real bad orn, and I'd rather not have to look at your ugly mug right now."
"Yeah, well too bad. I'm the guard around here and if I want you to look at me you'll stare at me all orn long!" Frenzy snapped in an effort to intimidate the newcomer.
"Just leave me alone," The Autobot sighed wearily, "You're winning, okay? You've lobbed a double pass and now the ball is crushing your opponents. You've taken our homes, destroyed our culture, and killed our loved ones. What more could you possibly do to me that hasn't already been done?"
Normally Frenzy wouldn't care about an Autobot complaining about their precious former way of life. He knew what the caste system had done to their world, he had lived it, but this felt different. Frenzy wondered if he was just imagining things since he had lost Rumble, but he couldn't help but wonder...
"Did you lose a host or a sibling?" Frenzy asked.
"My twin," The Autobot replied matter-of-factly, "Just last orn. I...I don't know what to do without him. My host has been pretty upset too. He's been quiet since we got here. He's never quiet! Everything's falling apart! Why has this war been in overtime for so long? Why can't this nightmare just end already!?"
"You're not gonna believe this, but I had a twin too, and I lost him just a few stellar cycles ago," Frenzy related, "His name was Rumble, and he was the one that kept me sane. I don't think I'm sane without him, and to be honest I'm not even sure you're real."
"I'm real, though I wish I wasn't," The Autobot symbiote replied, "So your dead twin's name was Rumble. I guess that makes you Frenzy."
"Yeah. How'd you know?" Frenzy asked in shock.
"My host was assigned to spy on Soundwave," The Autobot informed him, "Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Soundwave sees everything."
"Yeah, he does," Frenzy chuckled lightly, happy for the change in subject, "So, what's your designation, Autobot?"
"Eject," The Autobot replied, "My brother's name was Rewind. Pit, it's so weird to say was. My host's name is Blaster, and he's around here somewhere. He only had us two symbiotes, though his spark looks ready to split any orn now so he might make more."
"So what part of your host are you?" Frenzy asked curiously.
"Right shoulder guard," Eject answered.
"No fragging way! Me too!" Frenzy cried out happily, "Wow, we both had twins and both have the same alt mode. Mech, I wish you were a Decepticon. It feels like we were meant to be best friends."
"I wouldn't go that far, but it is nice to meet another team player," Eject replied sincerely, "So many mechs I see out there are only in it for themselves. We symbiotes though, we know the meaning of teamwork."
"Ain't it the truth?" Frenzy replied agreeably, "Listen Eject, I'm not supposed to do this, but how would you like me to get you and your host some energon? I know hosts require a lot of fuel to keep themselves going, and you need to keep your strength up after being severed from such a close sibling bond."
"Why are you so concerned about me? I'm an Autobot," Eject pointed out, "You 'Cons are trying to exterminate us."
"I...uh...well..." Frenzy stammered, not knowing how to answer, "I don't know why I wanna help you, but I do. Come on Eject, it's foolish to turn down free sympathy. Just let me help you now, and we'll figure out what to do later. Maybe I can get Soundwave to put in a good word for you and Blaster; get you guys transferred to a better prison camp. Maybe one where they give out energon."
"That's a terrible plan," Eject replied flatly, but then in a softer tone said, "Thanks."
...For the next five orns Frenzy faithfully brought two energon cubes to his post and threw them over the fence for Eject and Blaster. Frenzy didn't speak to Blaster much, but he and Eject had spoken about every subject they could think of. They would talk about their lost brothers, their plans for the future, and more. As it turned out Eject was interested in sports and enjoyed hearing Frenzy's stories about back when he was a gladiator with Soundwave and the other cassettes.
On this particular orn Frenzy showed up as usual to the spot at the fence where he would talk to Eject, but instead of waiting for him Eject was running around the grounds like a madmech.
"What are you doing?" Frenzy asked as he watched Eject's frantic pacing.
"Frenzy! Thank the Allspark!" Eject shouted hurriedly, "Listen, you're a guard here right? You know what's going on in this place, right?"
"Dude, calm down," Frenzy interjected when he saw how distressed Eject looked, "What happened?"
"When I woke up a bunch of mechs and femmes were missing from the barracks, including Blaster! When I went to sleep I was on his shoulder like usual, but when I woke up I was on the berth alone! Please, where did they all go? Frenzy, tell me the truth! What happened to them?"
"I don't know," Frenzy shrugged, "Maybe Brawl finally got around to installing that mess hall we talked about. Don't worry, I'll help you look for him. We'll find him and everything will be alright."
"Thanks, pal," Eject replied gratefully, "It ain't like him to ditch like that."
Frenzy walked around the fence until he found an entrance where he could enter the general prisoner's quarters. He didn't want to alarm Eject by telling him, but Frenzy had never really explored the prison yard. He always guarded from the outside and then when his shift was over he would eat in the officers' mess hall and then go to his own quarters to recharge.
As Frenzy and Eject walked he saw a small shack that he could tell gave Eject chills. When Frenzy saw the sign on the door that read medbay he understood why. Vortex was nothing more than a glorified butcher that enjoyed the suffering of his victims way too much for Frenzy's taste. Having him as a medic was like having Megatron as...well, a medic.
They walked for several breems until they finally found a bunch of the missing mechs in line near a large cube shaped building with Demolisher guarding the door.
"See? They're all in line. It's gotta be a new mess hall," Frenzy assured his new friend, "Blaster's probably already inside chowing down."
"Whew, thank goodness," Eject sighed in relief, "We should go in though, just to make sure."
"Yeah, good idea," Frenzy nodded, "We're pretty small, so we should be able to get in and out undetected. You know, just in case it's a work detail or something."
Eject nodded and together they walked between the legs of several prisoners to get to the front of the line. Before they could reach it however, Demolisher called for everyone to hurry up and get inside. When the crowd started walking Frenzy and Eject were carried away with the rest of the mob.
When everyone was inside the doors closed abruptly behind them. Frenzy and Eject tried to look around to see what was going on, and Frenzy noted that the door didn't have motion recognition for the inside. So, it was locked to them and could only be opened from the outside. There was also nothing in this room except the entrance door and another door on the other side. The crowds murmured, but no one seemed to know where they actually were.
"Hey Frenzy, what's going on?" Eject hissed, "Where are we?"
Frenzy looked at the thickness of the metal walls, the door, and the other door that had yet to open. Frenzy had seen facilities similar to this one before in other cities, but he didn't know there was one directly in the Polyhex Prison Camp. If his suspicions were correct however...
"Aw, scrap," Frenzy cursed under his breath.
"What is it?" Eject asked, a growing sense of dread of the unknown.
As the soft spoken murmurs continued, Frenzy suddenly hopped on top of a prisoner's shoulders and shouted "Everybody listen to me!"
Everyone turned to him questioningly, knowing he was one of their Decepticon guards.
"Everyone, we gotta bust down this door!" Frenzy cried out, "The room is soundproof and comm signals don't work in here. We don't have much time, move!"
"But why?" An elderly mech asked in confusion.
"Because we're all about to be turned to scrap!" Frenzy yelled as quickly as he could, "Behind that door is a machine that disassembles live mechs and uses their parts to make Vehicons! We're all gonna die if we don't get out!"
"What!?" Eject shouted in outrage and shock.
Everyone else however was panicking, finally understanding what was at stake. They followed Frenzy's advice and started using the bulk of their bodies to slam into the door to try to save themselves. The room shook, but the door and the walls didn't budge. Whether it was the strength of the door or the lack of fuel in their systems, the prisoners couldn't break free. Frenzy and Eject found themselves pushed to the front of the room where the assembly door was. The crowd continued to push, but nothing was working.
Suddenly, the assembly door opened, causing the crowd to scream when they saw the large claw coming straight toward them. Everyone backed away, and the claw grabbed hold of Eject's torso and started dragging him away.
"No!" Frenzy screamed as he lunged for Eject.
Frenzy grabbed hold of Eject's arms and tried to pull him away from the gaping maw of the soulless insatiable beast. Frenzy's heels dug into the floor and his joints nearly dislocated from the strain. Hard as he pulled however, it was having little effect as the claw continued to pull Eject closer to his doom.
"Let go of me, Frenzy!" Eject shouted, "You can still save yourself! I can buy you guys some time, just help them tear down the door!"
"No way slagger! I'm not leaving you!" Frenzy insisted as he pulled even harder.
For the next two breems the crowd tried to break down the door while Frenzy pulled on Eject's arms in an effort to free him. Frenzy's strength waned however, and it was getting harder to keep up the struggle against a machine that would never get tired. The claw finally won when Frenzy could no longer pull, but he didn't let go. Frenzy and Eject were forced into the disassembly chamber together, and faced the acid and claws of death together...
...Frenzy awoke realizing that he had failed. He was in a dark room on an operating table, and he remembered that Soundwave had brought him to Starscream to get his memories back. So, it had happened. Frenzy was a Vehicon, and if Eject still lived then he was a Vehicon too.
As the Vehicon turned his helm the first thing he saw was Soundwave and Starscream standing next to his berth. Starscream looked nervous, and Soundwave's visor gave away nothing.
"Well? Aren't you going to say anything, drone?" Starscream asked impatiently.
Soundwave waited to see if this Vehicon was Frenzy or someone else. His intakes stalled, and he found himself oddly hoping that this shell of a mech was his symbiote. The Vehicon turned his visor to Soundwave, and then uttered the words that left no doubt in the host's processor.
"Soundwave...Are you real?"