eugenesis-text

‘Ten days later a different me awoke on Fixit’s operating table. They’d found me half-buried in the
snow after involuntary systems shutdown. I’d been rebuilt with yet another new head – this one – after
medics spent two days trying to extricate Muzzle’s dead body from my neck.
‘Muzzle’s family had reclaimed the body while I was offline. They buried him in an Earthen
cemetery.’ Nightbeat scooped up the orb and turned it in the light. ‘This helmet was all that was left
behind. I’ve hidden it inside me ever since. In some lurid, rudimentary way, it means we’re still together.’
Optimus watched Nightbeat clip the orb back inside his chest, where it winked and nestled like a
naked Matrix.
‘I can’t describe the grief without somehow trivialising Muzzle’s death, but – but imagine losing a
limb. No, imagine losing an emotion. Imagine suddenly, without warning, being unable to feel sadness, or
anger, or joy. Muzzle’s death shut a part of me down… are you alright, Optimus’
‘Sorry’
‘You were staring at me.’
‘I was just thinking about what you said.’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to unload my emotional baggage.’
‘You did nothing wrong.’
‘I’ve never really told anybody before. Not like that, anyway – not so brutally. I’d be grateful if you
didn’t mention it to anyone else. Despite what I’ve just said, I like to keep my thoughts – and my past –
under wraps.’
‘In that sense we are alike.’
There was a long pause, both robots wondering what to say next. In the end it was Optimus that
spoke:
‘Nightbeat… you realise that you didn’t have to tell me any of that. I didn’t mean to pry.’
‘To tell you the truth, it’s a relief to get it off my chest.’
‘Nevertheless, I feel I owe you something in return… or maybe I just want to disencumber myself.’
‘Really, Prime, there’s no need to—’
‘Do you know why I joined the Autobots’
‘Excuse me’ Despite the rambling preamble, the question was so sudden, so brutal in its simplicity,
that it caught Nightbeat off guard. Besides, he knew why Optimus Prime (or Orion Pax, as he was known
before the Matrixmerge) had joined the Autobots: everyone knew. Hell, it was practically written into
everyone’s circuit boards; it was scribbled in the margins of the Autobot Codebook. Why had Prime joined
the Autobots Because he was the Chosen One, the Saviour. It was nothing less than Destiny, Destiny with
a big fat capital D. And even if Nightbeat – poor, cynical Nightbeat – had his doubts about fate, about the
certainty of chance and the paucity of choice, even if he waved away every so-called ‘validation’ of the
Primal Prophecies (hey, with good enough hindsight, you could spot anything), even if he did all that,
some things remained sacred. Prime’s pre-trodden path from morph-birth to Matrix Bearer was one of
them.
‘I know why you joined the Autobots,’ said Nightbeat. ‘Primus came to you in a dream and warned
you of the threat that Megatron posed. You alone took the Decepticon menace seriously, and lobbied the
Council to adopt an interventionist policy.’
‘Yes, that would be the accepted version of events.’
‘That’s not what happened’
‘Sometimes it’s easier to let others build stories up around you. Wherever it came from, the divine
intervention story got me noticed. While it held little sway over Tomaandi, Traachon and the other
councillors, it struck a chord with the general populace and made me famous outside Iacon.’
Nightbeat was listening intently now. There was candid and there was candid; he’d never heard
Optimus speak like this before.
‘I’ll tell you why I joined the Autobot military: because of Kospen Menti.’
‘I’m sorry, who’
‘You mean “what”. You’ll remember that I was once a champion athlete, known for my prowess in
the State Games. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the rules of the Games, but you have to obey
gladiatorial etiquette – fighting techniques extend to pitch and parry, cut and thrust. Mystical combat
disciplines like Metallikato and Circuit-Su are forbidden.’
‘And Kospen Menti…’