Chương 23: LOG-022.

Backbite was proving a bit... well, primitive.

"N-nice predacon... here you... go?" Oh the predacon could comprehend orders well enough, and a brief look through his processor with a cortical psychic patch did confirm actual conscious thought, but...

"Why is it looking at me like that?" The blue hunter was a bit unintelligent compared to the likes of Indomina. His thoughts were more like that of a particularly well trained hound than an actual person. Ironic, considering his origins.

"Ah! Let go! Let go of my pede you animal!" Just another factor to note down. I'd need to rectify the issue when other possible candidates for reforging inevitably began to show themselves.

"Shockwave! Heeeelp!" Glancing up from my datapad, I paused briefly upon taking in the almost amusing sight of an upside down Knockout, hanging from the one pede firmly trapped in my creation's large maw. At my silent stare, the medic spluttered, gesturing to a dropped pack of energon pellets.

"It didn't even look at them!" Then he cringed as the short shriek of a large serrated tooth brushing against metal echoed across the flight deck. A few spectating vehicons winced.

"My finish! Shockwave! Make it let go!" Shaking my helm, I waved a servo at the pair.

"Backbite, release Knockout. He is not a viable form of sustenance. Nor a toy." The draconic cybertronian glanced down at the red mech dangling from it's mouth, then promptly let go with a chuff, dropping Knockout on his helm. I glanced back down at my datapad, ignoring his groan of pain and or despair.

"Subject A-1 has certainly proven adaptation of existing frames to new formats a viable alternative to outright growing new predacons. An excellent insight. Although transformation into a bipedal form still doesn't seem to have occurred to it." My fellow Decepticon just mumbled angrily, slowly pushing himself to his pedes, carefully maintaining a level of distance with his tormenter, who in turn was currently occupied sniffing at the spilled energon pellets.

"Well I'm glad my misfortune is advancing your oh so important scientific endeavors. As... fun as this is, might I ask just why you dragged me out to assist in this... what did you call it?" I tilted my helm towards the now feasting predacon.

"Motor-system and general fuel intake test." The medic nodded, crossing his arms and accepting a cube of energon from a nearby Zaku.

"Yes. That. Just why am I here?" Turning around, I began to make my way into the Nemesis' interior flight deck.

"It's probably best if I show you. This was mostly just a reason to get you out of your medical bay. You've been cooped up in there for cycles." Rolling his crimson optics, the medic scoffed.

"Well it's not like I have anything else to do. All of the vehicons are practically sparkling and there's only so many times I can buff my own chassis before it becomes redundant." He didn't hesitate to follow me though.

We'd made our way deeper into the Nemesis, and as we did so I began to speak.

"As you know, I have been occupying myself with certain non-time sensitive projects while the rest of our little coalition have been busy preparing for our return to Earth." I silently nodded to a pair of vehicons as we turned a corner, then resumed.

"Indomina and the archaeological team I assigned to her have already arrived and are currently searching for a sample of predacon remains matching the parameters I have set." Another corner, we were close to my lab now.

"Optimus Prime has of course left to acquire the Allspark, and the rest of the Autobots are currently on standby, awaiting his return." Finally, I stopped, placing my servo against the sensor outside my lab's door. I gestured to the entrance, waving Knockout forward.

"Dreadwing and Soundwave are likewise busy coordinating the rest of our efforts. Please enter. I believe you will find this of... interest." The medic quirked a browplate, shrugged and strode inside. Then he stopped, and I walked past him. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" I was of course referring to the small device floating in the center of the lab, suspended midair by an anti-grav projector. Knockout stepped up to the gizmo, leaning forward to inspect it. It looked somewhat like a scarab of sorts. If said scarab was made out of a dull grey metal and had no eyes of any sort.

"Groovy... so what is it?" Striding past the mech, I grabbed the scarab by one of it's legs, pulling it out of the anti-grav field. I held it up, inspecting it for a moment.

"If I have calibrated everything correctly... a way of convincing ancient technology that the wearer is, in fact, a Prime." I made my way to a nearby console, namely the one still hooked up to an inactive Forge of Solus Prime as Knockout choked out a response.

"W-wait. What!? I mean-I knew you said it was just some... fancy code or something that controlled it, but you actually managed to crack it? Already?" Nodding, I booted up the console, setting the scarab down next to it.

"Yes. I actually achieved several breakthroughs in deciphering the IFF thanks to Optimus." Knockout stepped up next to me, staring down at the metallic bug in a new light.

"So, what? That thing just makes you a Prime? Just like that? And just how did Optimus help?" I input an activation command, removing the cables attached to the Forge's head. I left the diagnostic module attached to it's side, however.

"Not quite. The process of becoming a Prime appears to involve extensive physical upgrades to one's frame alongside the introduction of the IFF into the chosen cybertronian's system. You could consider it a 'badge' of sorts." Turning, I picked up the now active scarab, the servo sized device skittering it's six legs while in my grip.

"What this does is effectively disguise itself as said badge. Forging and projecting a false, if extremely convincing, IFF. As for just how Optimus assisted in my discovery... we spoke briefly before his departure." I tapped the scarab on it's 'head', even as it settled down, resting in my servo.

"Due to my existing familiarity with the signal emitted from Megatron's adapted servo, I was successful in scanning and recording Optimus' own emitted signature. After comparing the two, I was also then successful in isolating the relevant parts that meant 'Prime' compared to the ones that merely identified the cybertronian in question." Turning to face Knockout, I held out the scarab.

"Now, expose your spark, please." The medic stared at me. Then he processed my request.

"What? No! Why?!" I looked down at the robo-bug held in my servo, bobbing it up and down for emphasis.

"It requires a central anchoring point to draw energy from in order to consistently emit the signal. Ergo, a spark. In a roundabout way, I suppose it could be considered an extremely basic form of symbiotic minicon." The Decepticon stared down at the little spider, arms protectively crossed over his chassis.

"Uhuh... so why me then? Surely you'd prefer to use it yourself. Or perhaps give it to one of your Zakus?" I shook my helm.

"This is merely a prototype. My own spark will require a larger model to accommodate the increased energy output that a heavy chassis like mine naturally produces. The Zaku would require the opposite. A smaller, more economic model would be necessary." Holding up the scarab, I shrugged my shoulders.

"It is merely a test model, and I felt your frame and spark would best represent a... model cybertronian body." It was certainly more polite than saying that the speedster was pretty average among cybertronians, thus making him a perfect testbed for my latest creation. Knockout slowly lowered his arms, a pensive expression taking over his faceplate.

"I... suppose I could give it a try. And I'll be able to use the Forge?" I nodded.

"Correct. The charging device required a fair amount of energon to function, but the Forge is once again fully operational. Assuming this test is successful, I will be able to produce more refined models." I inclined my helm.

"More importantly, with Prime level 'access', I will be one step closer to understanding the underlying technology behind the device itself." I tilted my helm.

"I suppose once I create my own device, I will be capable of upgrading your frame to match your falsified status. How do you feel about becoming a triple changer?" Knockout clenched his servos, then looked to the ceiling, shaking his helm even as his chest began to open up.

"Tempted... alright! Just make it quick, will you?" I leaned forward, even as the glow of the medic's spark washed over my optic, colouring my vision. The... intimacy of the moment was not lost on me. Even if it was more of a trust thing. Exposing one's spark was typically only done with a beloved partner in order to interface. Or for a relevant medical procedure.

"I will be gentle." Though I supposed this did technically fall under the umbrella of a medical operation. Hm. Carefully reaching past his armoured plates and into Knockout's sparkchamber, I slowly pressed the scarab against the pulsating crystal floating within his chassis. There was a single, quiet chirp. Then the symbiote's six legs wrapped around the spark, prompting a gasp from the medic. Careful not to jostle anything, I removed my servo.

"You may seal your sparkchamber now." Knockout's forward armour hastily snapped shut, the Grounder letting out a shaky, mostly unnecessary breath even as I turned around, typing a new command into the console as it continued to spit responses back at me. [ACTIVATING FIBBER PROGRAM.] [BEGINNING FIBBER DIAGNOSTIC.] [BEGINNING FORGE DIAGNOSTIC.]" Woah... that feels... huh." I looked up.

"Yes?" The crimson mech waved me off.

"Nothing big. Just registering a slight increase in energon expenditure." Nodding, I gestured to the Forge with the barrel of my cannon.

"Expected. The device requires a miniscule amount of energon to remain functional. It will draw it directly from your systems." Knockout nodded, approaching the oversized hammer.

"So... do I just... pick it up?" I moved my barrel to point at a nearby table, a small pile of scrap layed out upon it.

"Attempt to use the Forge. Create whatever you wish. I will observe the background processes at work." The medic shrugged, grabbing the Forge. I glanced at the console as his taloned digits wrapped around the relic's handle. [ESTABLISHING LINK TO USER.] [BEGINNING HANDSHAKE PROTOCOL.] [USER CONFIRMED, IFF IDENTIFIED.] [COLONEL LEVEL AUTHORITY ACKNOWLEDGED.] Colonel? Interesting. Some kind of linguistic quirk? Or perhaps a translation error. Regardless, something to look into.

Knockout's face turned surprised when he managed to lift it with seeming ease, as if the large hammer weighed a mere fraction of it's size. [LINK TO USER ESTABLISHED.]"Huh. It's... light." I stared at the screen for a moment, before pointing at the scrap table.

"It appears the falsification program passed the test. Proceed." Nodding, the Decepticon hefted the Forge, swaggering over to the table. Lifting it over his shoulder, Knockout entered a more grounded stance, and began to swing. [LINKING RELEVANT LIBRARIES TO USER.] Smash.

"Intuitive!" I glanced at the grinning Decepticon as he continued to hammer away at the scrap pile.

"Elaborate?" The medic continued to swing as he spoke.

"It's like-I can picture it-being built-while I do it!" Turning back to inspect the readout, I noted the new lines of code, alongside the recorded messages said code was being translated into. [ACCESSING USER-PROCESSOR.] [SCHEMATIC CONFIRMED: OMNI-WELDER.] [ACTIVATING MASKING PROGRAM.] [ACTIVATING NANO-LATHE SYSTEM.] Soundwave's lexicon really was proving invaluable. A few more swings, and it was done.

What had been a pile of essentially worthless metal and scrapped circuitry had been reassembled into a valuable medical tool. Knockout lifted up the Forge, resting it over his shoulder and picking up the freshly made omni-welder with a spare servo. The red medic turned, flashing me a smirk.

"Well, far be it from me to make assumptions but I'd say we can consider your prototype a resounding success Shockwave." I tilted my helm, then nodded.

"Indeed. A most valuable scientific discovery." That's when Soundwave pinged me, informing me of the Iron Will's return. Convenient. And excellent timing on Optimus' part, honestly.