eugenesis-text

to reprogram cerebral circuitry. It uses Psychoprobe technology to locate memory files pertaining to shortterm
recall and rewrites them.’
‘In short,’ said Prowl, ‘it wipes out people’s memories.’
‘Ah, I see… so I go back to 1984, grab Prime, throw him into battle against the Quintessons, wipe his
memory, deactivate him and dump him back in the past. You make it sound so reasonable.’
‘There’s no need to be flippant,’ said Prowl.
‘Flippant Prowl, I’m not the one suggesting that we resurrect a robot who’s been dead for twentyfive
years just to give us a helping hand. By the Golden Spires, what if Prime dies in 2012’
‘He’s not going to die,’ said Perceptor.
‘How can you be so sure We’re talking about dropping the Autobots’ greatest warrior into an
intergalactic war zone! The next few weeks could be the most dangerous of our lives!’
‘Prime will not die in 2012. He has to survive in order to return to the Ark and be reactivated by
Aunty. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’
‘I can see you’re not convinced by your own argument, Perceptor. What about parallel universes –
the very places Throwback spent seven years exploring. Much as you’d like to graft rules and logic onto
time, the fact remains that all we have is a handful of theories.’
‘It’s not as if our race have never time-jumped,’ said Prowl. ‘Perceptor’s theories are based on
evidence.’
‘What about the moral implications What gives us the right to snatch Optimus and expose him to
more warfare’
Prowl was prepared for this. ‘I see it differently,’ he said. ‘Optimus is destined to die in 1987 when a
human computer programmer blows him up.’
‘He was rebuilt in 1988,’ said Nightbeat. ‘He lived until 2005.’
‘His “resurrection” doesn’t count. Powermaster Prime was based on a copy of the original’s
personality. My Optimus died in 1987, three years after he woke up on Earth. The way I see it, we’re
giving him a chance to live that little bit longer… I knew him, Nightbeat. I know that he would cherish
the opportunity to live again, whatever the circumstances.’
‘It just seems so—’
‘What would you do’
Nightbeat thought of the object inside his chest. ‘What would I do I… I’d probably…’
The room fell silent for some time.
‘Nightbeat’ said Prowl softly. ‘We need an answer.’
‘Okay. Okay. I’ll do it.’
‘Well done. You’ve made the right decision. You’ll need to take a team with you. Take your pick.’
‘Hoist, Grapple and Sunstreaker. They’re good men. Experienced.’
Perceptor handed over the mind-purge. ‘You can use it in two ways,’ he said. ‘Either attach it to the
back of the subject’s head for guaranteed interface or activate the field generator here and create an outside
flow, a wider range. You should only need the former method: I doubt Prime will try to run away.’ The
joke fell flat. ‘I suggest you keep the mind-purge in a protected area – perhaps your chest compartment’
Nightbeat took the device and slotted it into his waist.
‘You’re to head for the Acid Wastes immediately,’ said Prowl. ‘Once you’ve reactivated Optimus,
brief him on the situation and bring him back here. We’ll plan our next move then. Good luck.’
Nightbeat hovered at the door, as if something had just occurred to him, but in the end he simply
nodded to his superiors and left.
‘He had some good arguments,’ said Prowl.
Perceptor did not take his eyes off the empty doorway.
‘I know.’
++ BOOTUP SEQUENCE GAMMA TWO INITIALIZED +++
+++ DEFENCE CODE [W.C.S. “ENDGAME”] +++
+++ CLEARANCE GRANTED [UMAGNUS BETA ZERO] +++
+++ FULL BODILY CONTROL ON-LINE +++
+++ DEPLOY_ +++