[fic] Metamorphosis, Chapter 21

[wyntir_knight]

Chapter 21


Soundwave stood in the room he had designated as a med bay watching over the still forms of Red Eye and Starbolt. He had repaired their physical damage as best as the limited resources at his disposal allowed, but they remained non-functional. Regardless of what he did, they refused to come back online and it had become obvious that the problem was psychological rather than physical.

“What’s the problem with them?” Megatron asked as he strode into the room.

“Unknown,” Soundwave replied.

Megatron came up to stand beside Soundwave and he looked down at the two silent forms.

“Are these two really necessary? Why are you wasting out limited time and resources on them?” Megatron asked.

Soundwave turned to his commander and considered his next words carefully.

“Galvatron’s ineffective leadership laid waste to the Decepticons. We have neither the resources nor the allies to restore the Empire,” Soundwave said. “Starbolt can provide us with allies among the mechannibals. When directed properly, they are formidable shock troops.”

“All right,” Megatron said. “I’ll accept that. What reason can you give to keep Red Eye? He is a traitor. His actions put us at risk of attack by both the Neutrals and the Autobots. He is egotistical impetuous, and he has proven that he cannot follow even the most basic of orders. What makes you think that he won’t be another Starscream?”

Again, Soundwave paused before responding.

“Starscream had delusions of leadership. Red Eye has no such ambition. Additionally, Thundercracker and Skywarp need to be in a trine to be fully effective.”

“I’m still not convinced,” Megatron replied.

“Red Eye has evolved since his betrayal. He has proven himself to be a skilled warrior, he has contacts throughout the galaxy that we can make use of, and he has proven himself to be loyal.”

“Loyal to the Decepticon cause or to you?” Megatron asked.

“Irrelevant,” Soundwave replied. “He is loyal to me. I am loyal to you. You are the Decepticon cause.”

Megatron paused at this, seeming to consider this last statement.

“Very well,” he said finally. “I want them online and functional before the end of the stellar. And I want us off Cybertron by moons' rise tomorrow.”

“Acknowledged,” Soundwave intoned as Megatron left the room.

He turned his attention back to Red Eye. He had ceased his moaning and shaking but his hands still twitched feebly as if grasping or stroking something. Soundwave gently placed one hand on Red Eye’s forehead and the other on his chest directly over his Spark chamber. Red Eye arched slightly into the touch and moaned softly. Once the Seeker had calmed again Soundwave stretched his mind out and began the process of scanning Red Eye’s thoughts. The Seeker’s mind was turned inward, completely unaware of the outside world. Soundwave moved from system to system and found nothing wrong until he came to what appeared to be a large blank wall. He reached up with his mind’s hand to touch it and was facinated by the almost organic way the dark surface tried to flow away from him. After a moment's concerted effort he succeeded in making contact -- and was thrown back violently.

“GET OUT!” Red Eye screamed.

x-x-x

Soundwave came back online with a surprised gasp.

“Boss?” Rumble asked. “Boss, you okay?”

“Wow! I didn't know that Red Eye was that strong,” Frenzy said, an appreciative tone in his voice.

Soundwave looked around before responding. He had been thrown across the room by a single shove from Red Eye.

“Affirmative,” he replied after running a full system diagnosis and finding nothing more than a few dents on his back.

“What happened?” Frenzy asked as he and his twin helped Soundwave to stand. “Why'd he do that?”

“Insufficient information,” Soundwave replied as he approached Red Eye.

The Seeker showed no signs of damage, though his twitching hands were moving more rapidly and his engine was beginning to rev softly.

“What’s wrong with him?” Frenzy asked as he stared at the Seeker.

“If I didn’t know better I’d figure that he was dreamin’ about interfacin’,” Rumble replied.

Soundwave considered his cassette’s comment and found that he could not dismiss the possibility. Whatever Red Eye was experiencing, he did not want it to end, and something, or someone, was granting him mental blocks unlike any Soundwave had faced before.

He brought his diagnostic systems back up and continued his study of Red Eye. The Seeker's turbines began to spin gently in a half-hearted attempt to keep up with his gently reving engine, and his half-shuttered optics held a strange and flickering glow. With an uncharacteristic sigh, he touched Red Eye’s head gently, and opened a panel in the Seeker’s left temple. With a flick of his wrist, Soundwave released data cables from his forearms and plugged himself into Red Eye’s processor.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, boss?” Rumble asked.

“There is no alternative,” Soundwave replied.

He blocked out his cassettes and the outside world. His body stiffened in anticipation of the connection, and he slowly allowed a portion of himself to flow into Red Eye. This was far too intimate as far as Soundwave was concerned but he pressed on, regardless of his personal discomfort.

This time, the connection was far more clinical. Red Eye’s program flashed before Soundwave’s optics at the speed of thought. Ones and zeroes ran in lines that created patterns, and those patterns made up everything that was Red Eye. Almost everything. Without a Spark, a Cybertronian was nothing more than an advanced CPU. But in this case, the Spark was irrelevant. Whatever it was that was attacking Red Eye, it was going after his program.

Soundwave moved through the code quickly, ignoring everything that was irrelevant, focusing all of his attention on finding what wasn't supposed to be there. It didn't take him long to find the pattern that was out of place. An alien program had forced its way in and was -- Soundwave paused. The program was not rewriting Red Eye's code; in fact, it wasn't causing any damage at all. It was simply distracting the Seeker, keeping him occupied and trapped in his own mind.

Soundwave focused on the alien code, observing it until it became more than code. In his processors, the ones and zeroes coalesced into an image. Nothing more than the most basic of line drawings to begin with, it quickly filled out until it became reality -- or a close proximity of it. Finally, he was able to see what Red Eye thought he was experiencing.

As far as the Seeker was concerned, he was back in his quarters with Starbolt. He was being pinned down by the mechannibal as she was forcing him into overload so that she could feed off of the energy. Red Eye writhed and moaned, arching into her touch. At the same time, though, he batted at her ineffectually, protesting what was being done. But he didn’t have the strength or the will to put up much of a defence and she continued her ministrations, laughing merrily at his protests.

Soundwave had seen enough. He pulled away from the scene, allowing his mind’s eye to unfocus until all that was left were the lines of code. Slowly he began to study them working at them, gently pulling and separating the numbers. Suddenly, the code changed, turned, and the focus was no longer on Red Eye, and the program was no longer benign. Soundwave steeled himself, preparing his mind for the upcoming attack. He continued to unravel the virus while at the same time, putting up walls around himself as the alien program began its attack on his systems.

He shivered as the virus stroked his systems into arousal, convincing him that Starbolt had him pinned to her berth; that she was feeding off of him again, as she had done once before. He took his attention off his attack and focused instead on his defence. He focused his will into a sharp wedge and lashed out in a focused attack against the virus, driving it away from him, while at the same time placing a deep firewall around himself. The virus threw itself at the wall, buffeting and attacking searching for a way in, for a way to strike back at Soundwave. Keeping part of his attention on the wall, he returned to unravelling the lines of code, breaking it up, trapping it and sealing it away for removal.

While only minutes of real time passed, Soundwave felt as if he had been working for hours. Attack and defence; defence and attack; gaining and losing ground, before gaining it back again. Finally Soundwave’s will proved more powerful than the virus. Trapping it firmly for later disposal, he pulled out of Red Eye’s mind, and leaned heavily against the berth.

“You okay boss?” Rumble asked.

“Did it work?” Frenzy added.

“Affirmative to both queries,” Soundwave replied.

“Wha – what happened?” Red Eye groaned.

“You were attacked by a virus,” Soundwave replied.

“A virus? It wasn’t Starbolt?” Red Eye asked.

“No, but you were meant to believe that it was,” Soundwave replied.

“Is tha' - is what I just experienced - is that what she really wants t' do t' me?” Red Eye asked wearily.

“Affirmative,” Soundwave replied simply.

“But when we fought th' security system she just ate them,” Red Eye asked.

Soundwave paused, considering his answer.

“It is the difference between energon goodies and high-grade,” he said finally.

Leaving Red Eye to consider that response, Soundwave turned his attention to Starbolt. The process of bringing her out would be similar, but he would have to be far more careful. While Starbolt was mechanical, her programing would be significantly different. And only a fool would forget that she was a predator. Soundwave ran his fingers over his chest over the spot where his spark chamber was housed. He knew first hand just what Starbolt was capable of when she was feeding. He would never again underestimate her.

He steeled himself for this experience. With a quick twist of his wrist, he plugged his data cable into Starbolt's chest and prepared for this battle.

x-x-x

Megatron walked the halls of the Cybertronian underground, examining the rooms and equipment, gauging the possibility of turning the whole thing into the new Decepticon stronghold.

“The security systems will make this difficult, but it’s nothing that we can’t deal with,” he said to no one in particular.

He was about to enter a room that looked like it was intended to be a storage space of some kind when Soundwave walked up behind him.

“What news do you have?” Megatron asked.

“Lord Megatron,” Soundwave said. “I have completed my repairs and Red Eye is arranging for transportation off Cybertron.”

“Good,” Megatron replied. “But that’s not everything. You could have told me that over the communicator.”

“I have obtained information that will affect your future plans,” Soundwave replied.

“What is it?” Megatron growled.

“While I was removing the virus from Starbolt’s program I was contacted by a third party,” Soundwave explained. “I have reason to believe that Galvatron is in the process of restoring Unicron. If he succeeds Cybertron will be at risk.”

“How is reliable is the contact?” Megtron asked.

“I have had contact with him in the past and have no reason to distrust this information,” Soundwave replied. “Unicron’s head showed signs of activity. I believe it is possible that this so-called god could be restored, and if he is, we are all at risk.”

Megatron turned and considered Soundwave for a long time before replying.

“I’ll keep that information in mind, but it will not change anything for the moment. Right now, my priority is to get my Decepticons back in working order. Until that time, Cybertron and this ‘god’ will have to wait.”

Comments

[ladyrhiannon873.livejournal.com]

Great chapter.Can't wait til the next one.