eugenesis-text

A moment later, the Delphi crew was assembled in the main hall. Wheeljack hugged the podium and
waited for the last Autobots to take their seats. Swerve, Pincher and Sygnet sat to the corner of the stage,
crossed their legs and nonchalantly studied databoards while waiting for the speaker to begin.
‘First off,’ began Wheeljack, ‘a disclaimer. What you are about to hear is a preliminary report based
on first-hand observations and recent discoveries. I felt it necessary to address you now, at this early stage,
because our findings have serious implications for everyone.’ He clicked a remote and a schematic of the
Inhibitor Chip appeared on screen. Magnified thousands of times over, it still looked obscenely complex, as
if hundreds of circuit boards had been saturated with x-rays. ‘You’re looking at a manufactured microchip,
cold-heat construction, streamed nano-soldering. Very cheap, very nasty.
‘This “Inhibitor Chip” extracted from Galvatron’s rib cage is a paralysis tool based on our own Claw.
Its overriding function is to prevent transformation. We detected two chips inside Galvatron; the other one
is lodged firmly in his neural cluster, and that’s the one we’re concerned about.
‘We believe that this sample was implanted while Galvatron was in an alternate mode. Because it
wasn’t embedded in the neural cluster it was relatively easy to extract. Removing the original chip would
probably have killed him.
‘We think that the chip buries itself in the inner-cortical segment of the brain module and breaks
down transformation protocols by muting dialogue between neural processors and the morphcore… Yes,
Siren’
‘How did Galvatron manage to transform’
‘He has unique antiviral systems – an added extra from Unicron.’
Siren folded his arms. ‘So to summarise, Wheeljack, the prisoners have been given an internal
Inhibitor Claw.’
‘It’s not quite that simple. It seems the chip may have some unsavoury side effects: passivity, loss of
self-awareness, reduced reaction time, depression, psychosis – the list is potentially endless. What’s more,
the symptoms may be unique to each host.’
Someone in the audience muttered ‘Nucleon’.
‘You said that Galvatron’s inner defence systems disarmed the Inhibitor chip.’
‘Yes, Nightbeat. We’re hoping to introduce similar systems into non-chipped Transformers. A
vaccination program, if you will.’
‘But the prisoners, the ones who have already been injected – would the anti-virals work
retroactively’
‘No. It would be impossible to break communication between brain and morphcore without killing
them.’
‘So does this mean that the captives will never be able to transform again’
‘Yes. I’m afraid it does.’
A crowd of Autobots ran into the open, ignoring Prowl’s weak warning. To hell with security, they
thought, this was their friend.
Kup lay facedown in the sun, the warmth finding its way into paper-cuts and heat-sores. As Jackpot
and Getaway lifted him up, the ground seemed to retain a chalk line of shed casing and red lubricant (and
lubricant should never be red). Hot Rod rolled into a ditch and quietly fell apart. Throwback scooped him
up while the Technobots dissected the MARB.
Prowl teetered on the brink of the Institute, scratching his palms. He wondered where the rest of
them were. Where was Rad Where were Rev-Tone and Quark and Rapido
Inside the Institute, Slapdash placed Kup’s body on a circuit slab. Chromedome moved in with
bodyscanners and energon packs. Autobots fanned out like a Greek chorus, hungry for surgical action: y-
incisions and cutaways and vacuum-snaps. Red Alert shouted medical jargon he only half-understood while
Chromedome lashed the patient with arterial wiring (engen feeds, life-support – the usual waxy pipelines).
Kup jolted upright, screamed, and was pushed back down. He was branded with scalpel burns and
pinched by a dozen healing hands.
‘Where are the others’ said Prowl, shuffling quietly into the room. Time-lagged, somehow
condemned to play catch-up, he slipped into the crowd to repeat the question no one else would ask. Some
Autobots granted passage, others blocked him, forcing a diversion. He wandered towards the surgical