eugenesis-text

‘Things are different now. Your mission was called into question the moment Rodimus was injured
and Thunderclash went missing. Now it looks like we have an army of Quintessons poised to invade
Cybertron… we’re living in a different world to the one two days ago.’
‘What do you want me to do’
‘There’s no easy way of saying this…’ Prowl was making subtle gesticulations with his hands,
weighing up words. In the end he put it to Nightbeat as casually as he could:
‘We want you to bring back Optimus Prime.’
Ultra Magnus ducked underneath enemy fire and landed belly-down in a trench. Arcee was already
crouching in the mud and metal, frantically trying to repair the rocket pack in her lap. A headless
Sharkticon smoked quietly by her side.
‘Clamper and Fly-by-wire are dead,’ she said simply. ‘Springer’s OD’d on RustBuster and the obs
tower is crumbling. We’re losing, Magnus. We have to do something.’
‘I know.’ Ultra Magnus looked at the lasers skimming overhead and leaned into his wrist
communicator. ‘How are things down there, Mindwipe’
‘Bad. No, scratch that: they’re very bad. The caverns are on the verge of collapse and the moat has
already sprung a leak. We’ll be flooded in—’
‘Listen to me. I want you to initiate Endgame.’
‘Endgame You mean Metroplex I can’t do that.’
‘Nonsense. I gave you the boot-up codes on your arrival.’
‘But awakening Metroplex… The City’s unstable enough as it is without tampering with its
foundations.’
‘Mindwipe, we’re being slaughtered up here! Activate Metroplex this instant or I’ll have you on the
first shuttle back to Darkmount!’
Nightbeat felt Prowl and Perceptor’s eyes bearing down on him, trying to read his expression.
Eventually, something soft and inaudible slipped from his lips.
Prowl cocked his head. ‘What was that’
‘I said you’re out of your mind.’
‘Now come on, Nightbeat, don’t just dismiss this out of hand. I know it’s a lot to take in.’
‘A lot to take in! One minute you’re showing me surveillance footage, the next you’re asking me to
go back in time and get Optimus Prime Has either of you thought this through Perceptor! How can you
even entertain such an idea And you, Prowl – what in Primus’s name made—’
‘You want to know why’ snapped Prowl. ‘You want to know why I’m sending you Because I
shouldn’t be leading us. Not with the Quintessons about to attack, not with Rodimus hurtling towards
shutdown, not with all… all this mess. The Autobots need proper guidance, proper direction.’
‘But Optimus Prime’
‘You think I haven’t searched for an alternative Optimus is the only one who can lead us against the
Quintessons. We need him.’
‘But…’ Nightbeat looked to Perceptor for guidance. For sanity. ‘But you can’t just nip back in time
and borrow somebody. What about causality What about the timeline God knows what could happen!’
‘You’re overreacting,’ said Perceptor. ‘As Prowl says, we’ve given this a lot of thought. This is a way
to “borrow” Optimus and return him without altering the timeline. You travel back to the Ark while it's
buried under Mount St Hilary, before the eruption reactivates the crew. You bring him to 2012 and, after
he has aided us, you deactivate him and return him to the Ark, thus allowing the timeline to continue
without any interruption.’
Nightbeat re-ran the theory in his head. ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘If Prime is destined to fight in a future war,
why did he never mention it to anyone Why didn’t he mention it to you, Prowl, his best friend’
Perceptor reached under the roundtable and took out an intricate contraption. ‘What if Optimus
never remembered his experiences in 2012’ he asked, holding out his hand. ‘This is the end product of a
top-secret project we’ve been working on since Mindwipe defected. It’s a prototype mind-purge, designed