eugenesis-text

He settled into the pilot’s seat and headed for the Acid Wastes.
‘Did you see that’
‘Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god…’
‘Sevax, will you shut up! Jolup, punch him out!’
‘I’m okay, I’m okay! It’s just – their heads…’
The three Quintecons were picking their way through a carpet of Quintesson bodies.
‘I’ve never known anyone to blabber via internal radio,’ said Jolup. ‘Everyone’s dead. Deal with it.’
Ryknia pointed to the horizon. ‘Look, guys: Quantax is splitting on us.’
‘Where’s he heading’
‘Good question. Let’s find out.’
When Optimus Prime rebooted his audio receptors he’d expected to hear a wave of top-heavy reverb
and some standard reception crackle. He was unprepared for the frantic, fuzz-box yells coming from his
wrist communicator:
‘What the hell happened, Optimus You’ve not been responding!’
‘Nightbeat I think we’ve just won.’
‘Good. Great. Wonderful. You know what I’m still panicking. The wormhole’s closing up. I need
you and Thundercracker back here immediately.’
‘There are still a number of Tridents to take care of. I’ll be there as soon as—’
‘I’m not giving you a choice. In a few moments one of two things will happen: the wormhole will
contract and disappear, or the Acid Wastes will be scraped off the face of the planet. Either way, you’ll be
stuck here, 30 years ahead of yourself, and then what Best case scenario, we’re all stuck in some weird
alternate universe. Worst case scenario, Time Wars II. So get Thundercracker, get transport, and get down
here now!’
‘We’re going round in circles!’ yelled Ultra Magnus, and punched the wall with his one remaining
arm. ‘What do we do now’
‘What do we do now’ mimicked Galvatron in his best ‘whining Magnus’ voice. ‘Look, last time
round I grabbed some telearmour and jumped to Cybertron. I didn’t need to look for a way out.’
Another quake pulled the ceiling open in a downpour of rust and osmium piping. Death’s Head and
Siren fell into the corridor, both looking the worse for wear.
‘Should have guessed it was you two, eh’ snorted Death’s Head. ‘Who else argues when the world’s
falling apart’
‘What happened to your arm, Magnus’ asked Siren.
‘It’s a long story.’
Siren proudly held up the Matrix. ‘Look what we found. Some Quint had it hanging ‘round his neck,
attached to a trembler device.’
Ultra Magnus looked at the Matrix as if it was about to explode. Had Xenon been telling the truth
Was the Primal repository just an alien supercomputer imbued with sentient software A glowing ball of
mass-produced thought glass that had been stolen, stashed and studied for millions of years before it was
even glimpsed by Cybertronian eyes Could everything – their race, their religion, their destiny – be traced
back to an interstellar smash and grab by a race of arrogant scientists eager to escape into the Metarealm It
didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Everyone follow me,’ said Death’s Head, and led them onto a balcony overlooking the main hangar,
where a feeble sprinkler system flicked rainbows of dirty water onto a single line of Tridents. A broken
lighting rig hung from the eaves and touched the floor.
They were climbing down the rigging when a rectangular warp-gate appeared at the far side of the
hangar, too huge and violent to make any sound. Dotted with neutrino-fields, flux-matter and warp gleam,
the light it threw did not so much bounce off the rest of the hangar as pass through it, searching for surfaces
that could truly capture its essence.