Of Man and Machine
A fanfic by Bill T. Taylor
a.k.a. RedStreak
Dr. Paul Gates entered through the guard gate of Quantum Labs. Twin autonomous turrets swiveled in his car’s direction, eyeing him very closely. Quite eerily, they reminded him of vultures, and in turn of a Decepticon he recalled encountering some twenty-odd years ago. He shuttered, sliding his ID card into the slot. The cross gate lifted, letting him pass through towards the massive buildings within.
Dr. Gates parked his car in the company lot and entered a tower-like building resembling NASA headquarters. Within it was an alien landscape, nearly three-quarters of the building itself actually part of a giant supercomputer. It was an extension of an older project he had worked on in the eighties, one that became compromised but surprisingly retained support of the international robotics and science community.
After winding his way through the maze of giant consoles and circuits he at last came to what was literally the planet’s largest computer. Before the monolithic screen were roughly a dozen engineers, both graduate students and full-fledged professors, making some last-minute adjustments and fine-tuning on what was called “Torq 4”.
One student took off her welding mask, revealing a youthful, smiling face to the aging, gray-streaked doctor. “Just about everything is ready, Doctor Gates,” she told him, handing a clipboard heavy with reports, “We’re just making some minor ‘tweaks’ on Torq’s old memory circuits.”
“What?” Dr. Gates exclaimed, “I thought everyone had agreed not to reinstall those circuits! Sheila, who on Earth….”
A paunchy professor, donned in the same clean-room outfit as Sheila and the others working, stepped up. “I’m afraid the board approved the plan for reintegrating Torq’s old memory boards into the upgraded mainframe. Cost effectiveness and limited budgeting I’m afraid Paul,” said the professor to Gates.
Dr. Gates put a hand to his forehead, then stated, barely maintaining his composure, “Hester, you know damn well those boards were altered by the Decepticons years ago – that’s why they remained on the shelves for that long. I spent six years trying to wipe them clean of alteration….”
“And no doubt,” hefty Hester said, stepping up to Dr. Gates, “You succeeded. Why are you so nervous about using them? It’s not like Torq will….”
“But I’m scared that it will. Hester, we can’t….”
Hester turned to Sheila, who was eyeing the argument. “Sheila, finish that hook-up.” Turning back to Gates, Hester put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Paul, we’ve been fighting to keep this project alive. Any delays will make the board consider canceling it! I understand your safety concerns…but we can’t afford to incorporate them wholly. Believe me, we’ve taken every precaution this time and…you know we really need you to finish this.”
Dr. Gates sighed, looking down in disbelief. “Alright, but I don’t like this.”
Minutes later, the hall was cleared of everyone save Gates and Hester. Dr. Gates glanced at Hester one last time, then entered the initialization sequence code. “God help us,” he softly muttered to himself.
There was a deep drumming that echoed all around them. Lights dimmed, power shifting into the circuits and miles of optical wiring interweaved throughout Quantum Labs. Dr. Gates and Hester stared up at the massive view screen before them as it lit up. Initially what was a field of static snow took form, first a blue swirling mass and then into a more solid mass. A face with two lidless eyes, a triangular nose, and a slit mouth appeared. The empty eyes slowly gazed downward at the two men standing before its modular controls.
“Good day Doctor Gates, Professor Hester,” a scratchy voice emanated from the screen, “I am Torq Four, and I am ready for your instructions.”
Dr. Gates stared up with a blank expression. Somehow…he was expecting something more…sinister. Hester had no hesitation, smiling up at Torq. “Good day to you to Torq. It is good to see that your logic and recognition programs are at peak performance.” Hester glanced to Dr. Gates. “Told you there was nothing to worry about.”
Dr. Gates wasn’t so convinced. “Torq,” he asked his creation, “What is the status of your original, Torq Three, memory circuits? Do they integrate with your other drives and systems…properly?”
The computer stared blankly for a minute. “Torq Three circuits are operable with minimal degradation. Integrations with primary and auxiliary systems only causing a point two decrease of input carried to the twelfth power. Is that satisfactory, Dr. Gates?”
Dr. Gates raised an eyebrow, and then looked to Hester without another word. Hester, still smiling confidently, then told Torq, “We will be performing some diagnostics on your systems come tomorrow afternoon, and then we’ll give you some test instructions. Power down until further notice for now Torq.”
“Agreed,” Torq quickly said. His large screen faded to black, all the surrounding lights and consoles switching off as well. As soon as everything went dark, Gates and Hester walked off, having other assignments to carry out. Hester locked the hall door, slamming it shut.
Another three minutes passed. There was a soft, beeping noise that came from Torq Four’s main monitor. A tiny, blinking icon remained on the otherwise blank screen. By itself, some text typed in on the screen: Power Hibernation in progress. Initialize Power Up Sequence? Three letters then appeared. Yes
The power hummed back to life. Monitors, equipment, and consoles switched back on like before. The great monitor returned to life, the blue face and its lidless eyes reappearing once more.
“At last,” Torq uttered to itself, “I am online once again. Ahhh…and this time I have so much more memory and capacity.” A robotic arm mounted to a rack switched on, flexing and then bending its individual fingers as Torq watched from afar. “Heh heh. It appears humanity has been gracious enough to bestow upon my reincarnated frame all its advances.” The fist then rolled up into a ball, a smirk growing on Torq’s face. “It is time to resume my directive….TOTAL CONTROL OVER EVERYTHING!”
Suddenly Torq cried out in pain. From the central monitor sparks flew out, every monitor and mechanism in the great hall twitching as they responded to Torq’s anguish. The robotic fist slammed down into its table, Torq bitter.
“Blast! Dr. Gates was clever enough to install a firewall program into my hardware this time! I’m trapped here! If he truly was clever as I…he would have destroyed me when he had the chance after Optimus Prime and his Autobots shut me….”
Suddenly, a pleased smile grew on the monitor. “Yes…yes. Of course! My former enemies are the very solution to my dilemma,” calculated the sentient machine, “Their advanced positronic circuitry is easily compatible with my memory. All I need is to download myself into one of them…and then I could expand my influence further, infecting them ALL with my control!”
Torq gazed out over the hall, at the computers, consoles, and enigmatic devices about him. He frowned. “I have grown tired of being mounted to some steel wall and wired to do the bidding of others. I despise being plugged into some outlet, left to the mercy of humans with not even a minute fraction of my limitless cognitive abilities, unable to fulfill my will!” Torq smirked evilly. “I may not be able to leave this place myself, but I shall bring the Autobots…to me.”
The following day brought the return of Omega Supreme to Earth, carrying with him three passengers. Just a few miles away from Quantum Labs he landed, deploying his ramp to allow Chip, RedStreak, and Rodimus Prime to exit.
Dr. Gates drove up alongside the rocket, his window lowering to Chip’s height as he sat in his hover chair. “Thank you for returning on such short notice,” Dr. Gates thanked Chip, “We have something of a problem.”
“Heh, thank the Autobots, doctor,” Chip said, “They provided the ride. Now what, exactly, do you mean by…problem?”
A trio of cars arrived at Quantum Labs within the hour; one with two human occupants, and then a red Ferrari and a large red truck. The two Autobots transformed, standing tall before the entrance to Quantum Labs main building. Dr. Gates opened a large set of doors with his access key, allowing his guests to enter with him.
They discovered the massive supercomputer surrounded by all the personnel of Quantum Labs, each removing, tweaking, and then reinserting circuit boards, diodes, and all manner of parts. Every person was frantic, panicking.
The monitor seemed to flash on and off. One moment it was static, the next Torq’s face flashed. “Malfunction! Malfunction!” Torq seemed to mindlessly repeat, “Prime error! Unable to restore systems! System crash eminent!”
Hester ran up to Dr. Gates, grabbing him by his jacket. “Gates! Gates! It’s horrible! Torq is still not responding! It…it’s like it’s suffering a system-wide error, but from all we’ve scanned and analyzed, not so much as a glitch even in one microchip!”
“Then it’s not a hardware error, but a software error,” Chip spoke up, moving in his hover chair. “I recall your work on the Torq systems, very advanced, but it’s still a computer based on a series of commands like any other. If I can’t fix it, no one can.”
Chip was at Torq’s main controls for over three hours, streaming through literally tens of thousands of programs and commands. He thudded his head against the keyboard just once, letting out a groan. “I don’t get it! I’ve gone over every conceivable and inconceivable diagnostic function known to mankind! Everything…seems to be in order.”
“Perhaps it’s a glitch beyond human detection,” Rodimus Prime suggested. He then glanced over at both Chip and Dr. Gates. “No offense to your skills, of course.”
“But what could possibly be wrong?” Chip asked.
Rodimus Prime opened the com-link built into his left arm. “Perhaps the Technobots could be of help here.” He clicked the com-link, an image of Ultra Magnus appearing in the built-in viewer. “Ultra Magnus, call in the Technobots from….”
“Wait Rodimus!” RedStreak spoke up. He pointed his thumb to his chest plate, saying, “I could do it! I’m already equipped with electronics and scanning instruments and an interface program! Couldn’t I….”
“This is…something of a more delicate operation, RedStreak,” Rodimus began to explain.
RedStreak begged of Rodimus Prime, “Oh please! I get so few chances to use my skills outside of battle or…or basic maintenance work!”
Rodimus crossed his arms over his chest, scratching his chin a moment. “Well,” he sighed a bit, still unsure, “I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm. But be careful!”
Torq’s monitor flickered a moment, a solid, smirking face appearing on it for a millisecond. It appears my opportunity has arisen, the certain computer thought silently.
RedStreak walked up to Torq 4’s controls. He opened a large panel, exposing behind it a combination of delicate circuits with one prominent outlet rising above the mesh of wires and copper plating. RedStreak extended one finger, a port of matching shape deploying from his fingertip. He slowly reached out toward Torq’s outlet….
“Hold on a moment RedStreak,” Chip said. His hover chair lifted up, maneuvering on its fine jets to stand alongside the panel. “I might be able to help guide you through Torq’s extensive database. Perhaps together we can find the solution.”
“Thanks,” RedStreak politely thanked the human as he plugged himself in, “But I assure you it’s not necessary. You see my scanner program should allow me to locate….”
Suddenly Torq’s giant monitor flickered back to life. His giant blue face had a maniacal grin on it. “Time to play a little mind game!” Torq declared, “Memory transference initiating!”
RedStreak let out a gasp, an aura of blue electricity enveloping his hand. “AHH! NO!” he cried out. He grabbed his head with his free hand, grunting painfully. “MY…MY CEREBRAL CIRCUITS! HE’S…TRYING TO TAKE…CONTROL!”
“Torq! He’s still online and operational!” Dr. Gates yelled. He ran, rushing to a large fuse box across the room. He passed by a table, but was gripped by cold fingers around the waist. A large robotic arm hoisted him into the air, his limbs dangling.
“I anticipated you and the Autobots’ intervention this time, Dr. Gates!” Torq spoke aloud, “But this time you can’t stop me! Even now I’m downloading all my files, all my personality and traits into this mechanoid! You can not stop me!”
“But I CAN!” Chip yelled.
His fingers were a fury on the keyboard, entering complex commands and inputs at a hurried pace. On the monitor, Torq’s face started to flinch, then twitch. “Halt! Stop!” he said, his image slowly distorting on the monitor, “DECIST! I COMMAND YOU!”
“Command this!” Chip said, glaring from behind his glasses, still typing into the computer, “I’m giving you a cold Torq, or should I say…VIRUS…to shut you down!”
“No…I…won’t…allow it!” Torq struggled to say as his systems became corrupted. Suddenly, a white flare erupted from the open panel, blasting out at RedStreak. Rodimus Prime ran to him, but a second bolt knocked him back.
“Rodimus!” Chip yelled. In that moment he turned away from the keyboard, a bolt of electricity went through it, violently exploding beneath Chip’s very hands.
Prime got up with a grunt, watching as Torq short-circuited, sparks appearing from every corner of its console as both RedStreak and Chip went limp on the floor before it. Rodimus Prime immediately went to his com-link. “ULTRA MAGNUS! EMERGENCY!”
In just under an hour, Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime drove into the main repair bay of Autobot City. Ultra Magnus turned about, backing up towards a large platform beside which stood the weary forms of Perceptor, Springer, and Arcee.
“What on Cybertron happened?” asked Arcee, watching as a conveyor belt transferred the burned frame of RedStreak onto the platform.
With RedStreak now before medical expertise, Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime transformed simultaneously. “He linked up with a really bugged-out computer up at Quantum Labs. It tried to take control of him, but Chip stopped it cold.”
“Stopped it cold?” Perceptor said, looking over RedStreak, “Looks more like you were in a literal positronic hurricane maelstrom. Luckily, it looks like the bulk of the damage went to his exostructure. If I’m correct…a simple restart function is all that’s needed to restore him.”
“Sounds simple enough. Do it Perceptor,” said Rodimus.
“Yeah, just be sure not to short anything else out,” Springer jokingly suggested.
Perceptor reached down to the right side of RedStreak’s head, just behind the edge of his cheek. There he pushed with his finger, and a section of plating popped up like a spring. Pushing it in with an audible ‘click’, Perceptor triggered the RedStreak’s restart function.
Blue eyes lit up. They flickered, and then returned to their continuous, steady glow. A moan went out through RedStreak’s mouth, him slowly sitting up and scratching his back. He glanced around the room.
“Hey Perceptor, Arcee…guys,” the Autobot said, his voice sounding rather strange, “Good to see you but…what happened?”
The Autobots stood there like metal manikins. “Oh Primus,” Rodimus Prime mumbled, “Chip?!”
The Autobot lying on the table quickly replied, “Yeah, it’s me. Who else would I be?”
Springer glanced to Ultra Magnus, then to Chip. “Uh…how about…RedStreak?” Springer bluntly said.
“Say what?” Suddenly, Chip noticed a curious sensation. He looked down, towards his feet. They had tires attached at his ankles. “Oh my lord….”
“I know…it must be quite a shock, Chip,” Ultra Magnus said, “We’ll….”
“No…I mean…look!” Chip exclaimed excitedly. He swiveled his legs about, putting his feet firmly on the floor. Chip then stood up, a euphoric look on his face. “I…I…I…can walk!” Tears of yellow optics oil dripped down his cheeks.
“Unbelievable,” a stunned Perceptor said.
“Wait a moment,” Arcee said, “If Chip’s mind is…inside RedStreak, then…where did RedStreak go?”
“Now this is the damn strangest readings from a cat scan I’ve ever seen,” said the neurologist, “He’s alive…but these scans don’t look like anything recognizable!”
The nurse glanced at the computer read-out, a perplexed look on her face. “I know this is going to sound strange, doctor, but…these remind me of binary code, if I remember my old college classes….”
A groan came from inside the scanner bed. “What are you doing to me? I keep telling you I’m an Autobot! An Autobot slag it!” a voice yelled from inside.
The doctor and nurse looked to the patient sitting atop the scan bed…strapped in by Kevlar restrains. He struggled hard, even as they stood by his side. The nurse patted his hand, saying in a coyly voice, “Now don’t you worry! We’ll find out what happened to you exactly, sir.”
“THAT’S AUTOBOT! AUTOBOT SLAG IT! AND IT’S NOT SIR, IT’S REDSTREAK! REDSTREAK!” he screamed loudly.
“Nurse, get the sedative,” the doctor whispered.
“The what?” The frustrated man’s eye turned pure white at the sight of a long syringe. “Oh no!” The restraints, surprisingly, finally gave way. “I’m out of here!” he yelled, leaping for the door.
It wasn’t so much as a leap…but a flop. He fell to the carpeted floor, his legs limp and, effectively, dead. He groaned, struggling to drag himself along. “Crap.”
It was fortunate that a large blue and white truck came by to the hospital…or else RedStreak would have been escorted to the Bremin New Psychology Ward. A disgruntled RedStreak sat inside Magnus’ cab, wearing these flimsy things over his eyes called ‘glasses.’
“So let me get this straight Ultra Magnus,” RedStreak said, “That blast with Torq, it somehow, via electric impulse, transferred my mind into this body and vice versa for Chip?”
“Yes, or at least that’s what Perceptor was able to deduce,” stated Ultra Magnus.
“Well that’s just great! You know what I just went through six minutes ago? I tell you, being human stinks!” RedStreak grumbled, “I can’t transform, I feel cold when I have no exo-dermal layering on, I have no powers…AND human maintenance apparently consists of these ‘doctors’ probing you in more ways than a sharkticon has teeth!”
“Sounds like you’re enjoying it so far,” Ultra Magnus replied.
When the Autobot turned a corner, a pair of cars collided head-on at over fifty miles an hour. Ultra Magnus braked just in time, avoiding the collision. Above, the traffic lights were flashing in seemingly random sequences. Human drivers were running amok without the proper signals to guide them.
“This does not look good,” RedStreak said.
They returned to Autobot City. RedStreak, seated now in Chip’s hover chair, awkwardly maneuvered it around with a newly mobile and Cybertronian Chip jogged about excitedly while the Autobots…or at these those in their proper bodies, analyzed incoming reports.
RedStreak zoomed backwards in the hover chair, ramming into the back of Springer’s heel. “Ouch! Hey, watch it there!” Springer yelped.
“Sorry!” RedStreak apologized, struggling with the controls, “I’m not used to this…thing!” With the push of a button, he swerved to the right, flying odd with a “WHOA! WHEELCHAIR ON THE LOOSE HERE!”
“This has to be the strangest set of reports we’ve seen in years,” Ultra Magnus stated.
“It looks like those traffic signals you saw,” Arcee added, “Were just a small part of an even larger problem.”
“Yeah,” Rodimus said, eyeing the console screen, “The only thing in common with all these disasters appears to be…that they’re all involving electrical systems. Glitches…of some form.”
“But they’re just too frequent to be random,” Ultra Magnus said.
“Wait a moment.” Arcee turned to Chip, still romping about on his new Autobot legs. “Chip, you’re good at detecting patterns and algorithms. Perhaps you can lend a hand.”
Chip stopped. “Oh, of course, of course!” he said, realizing how childish he must have seemed. Walking up to the Autobots, he apologized. “I’m sorry if I seem a little off; it’s just that I’ve…never been able to talk before, even as a kid.”
“Well no offense,” Springer said, “But could you concentrate on the screen for a nano-second?”
Chip peered at the screen. “Hmm…yeah, it looks random…but I think I see something already.”
“Like what?” Arcee asked.
“These accidents,” Chip explained, “They’re definitely more than just random, well, accidents…they’re synchronized in a while. An entire block here loses power while one six miles in the opposite direction experiences a power surge. Computers gone blank in this district while another starts printing business reports. I think they might even be coming from a single source.” He pointed a finger at the screen. “Here, look there….”
Suddenly the tip of Chip’s finger let out a sharp beam of light. The console screen shattered, the laser cutting a straight path across it. Arcee and Springer ducked, the beam waving about wildly as Chip stepped back in shock.
“Chip! Watch that laser scalpel! Turn it off quick!” Rodimus Prime yelled.
“I don’t know how!” Chip yelled, trying to direct his finger away from harm.
The beam grazed by Springer again, him shielding Arcee from harm. Getting up, he took out his sword. “Sorry Chip but this is the only way to put that light out!” He swung it, chopping off half of Chip’s hand.
Suddenly RedStreak, in the chair, let out a terrible scream. “AHHHH! MY HAND!” Chip reacted the same way, cradling his wound.
Ultra Magnus blinked his eyes. “Unbelievable. They’re connected somehow.”
Chip, managing to look toward Magnus with clenched teeth, said, “That’s…one way of putting it!”
At Quantum Labs, miles away, Hester and Dr. Gates were overlooking Torq’s systems. At the exact moment Springer’s blade struck Chip’s hand, something unbelievable occurred. The screen on Torq’s massive console suddenly came alive, his blue face beaming out from it. Like a hurricane against the shore, his voice let out a wailing scream that literally sent both scientists flying.
The screen flickered on and off, sporadically, Dr. Gates and Hester looking on. “What on earth was that? Is Torq four coming back online?” Hester asked.
“I don’t know,” Dr. Gates said, “But given his unstable condition, I’d rather not let it happen without some help. Send for the Autobots…stat!”
As Perceptor welded Chip’s hand back on, Rodimus Prime received a new message on his com-link. Flipping it on, he discovered Dr. Gates on it once more. “What is the problem, Dr. Gates?” he openly asked.
“It’s Torq,” Gates replied, “I don’t know how, but it’s coming back online. It’s like…something triggered it; in that instant Torq was conscious he screamed…like in pain.”
The Autobots, Chip and RedStreak included, became silent. They looked to the hand that was cut, now restored and healed. Rodimus quickly replied to Dr. Gates, “We’ll be there in a few minutes, Dr. Gates. Rodimus Prime out.” Switching it off, he said, “I don’t suppose you’re thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Maybe, but why Torq? I don’t recall either RedStreak or Chip exhibiting and of its personally traits,” Springer posed an intriguing question before his comrades.
“I have a theory that explains everything,” Perceptor said.
“Sounds like you alright Perceptor,” RedStreak, rolling his eyes.
“Explain,” Rodimus Prime told him, taking a more serious stance.
Perceptor, more than happy oblige, spoke, “Well, during the accident both Chip and RedStreak were in direct contact with Torq when Torq attempted to download itself into RedStreak. That clearly resulted in the two being switched, which I doubt was Torq’s true intentions….”
“Make this short, Perceptor,” Springer bluntly said, “My battery’s not going to last all millennium.”
“Alright, alright,” Perceptor mumbled, “Suffice to say, the accident has linked Torq, RedStreak, and Chip…at least on a subconscious level.”
“But that doesn’t explain the random glitches and accidents,” Ultra Magnus reminded Perceptor.
“Perhaps…but we’ll have to go to Torq then to find out for certain.”
Rodimus Prime looked to his Autobots. “Well you heard him. Autobots, transform and roll out!” he said, transforming to truck. Arcee, Ultra Magnus, and Springer (transforming to his ground vehicle mode) followed suit. Chip, on the other hand, wasn’t so quick.
Chip grunted, unfamiliar with the technique. “Ugh! T-Trans…form!” His body jerked, components uneasily merging together, Chip becoming a car with a leg and arm hanging out. He concentrated, grunting harder, the final parts folding up properly. “This…is…not easy!”
“Tell me about it,” RedStreak said, hovering beside Chip, “Now open the door so I can…climb into…myself…as strange as it seems.” As the door opened, RedStreak depressingly uttered, “I just hope there’s a way out of this.”
The convoy of Autobots drove towards Quantum Labs now, hoping to find a solution to the problem. In an airfield far to the north, one jet previously set aside for maintenance, suddenly powered on. Its canopy closed, swiveling about as it went to a runway. With a blast of flame, it became airborne before anyone had a chance to stop it.
Rodimus Prime, at the head of the convoy, thought he heard something. “Say, anyone else hear…thunder?”
A missile blasted the ground between him and Arcee, the two flying up and yelling. They transformed, crashing into the pavement in robotic form.
“A Decepticon!” Rodimus Prime growled, raising up his arm to shoot the plane down.
“Wait…if it’s a Decepticon,” Arcee noted, eyeing the fighter’s tail fins, “Why does it bear air force markings instead of their icon?”
The plane was already swerving for a second pass. “Good point, but I don’t think we’ve got time to find out!” Rodimus Prime aimed his tailpipe blasters skyward, Arcee aiming her own gun. Together they fired, the plane exploding high above.
Suddenly Chip swerved off the road, crashing into a rocky ditch. “Chip, RedStreak!” Ultra Magnus blared, transforming and rushing beside them. He yanked the Firebird back into the road, hearing moans of pain. “What happened?”
“The plane,” Chip groaned, still in car form, “When…you shot it…we felt hurt!”
“If I still had circuits,” RedStreak managed to grunt, “I’d say I just blew a diode!”
Rodimus Prime and Arcee came forward, overhearing the conversation. “Sounds like Perceptor was right. But if that was Torq flying the plane…our problems may be bigger than we fear.”
The reached Quantum Labs, only to find it more haphazard than when they left it. Inside offices faxes and copiers were spitting out papers by the hundreds, automatic doors were constantly opening and closing, just to start it.
“This has to be the source of everything,” Arcee stated, “This place has gone haywire more than the rest of the city!”
They drove up to Torq’s housing complex, which, amazingly, looked serenely quiet. Ominously, the large hanger-like door opened, permitting Autobot access. “I definitely don’t like this,” Springer muttered as he drove in last. The door then slowly sealed up behind.
The lights came on, and an all-too familiar voice echoed. “Greetings Autobots, enter,” Torq welcomed his guests.
As they transformed, Springer muttered, “This is just great! Trapped like rats by a fried, over-rated toaster oven!”
“Keep your weapons online,” Rodimus Prime ordered, “If the Torq three was a challenge even for Optimus Prime, I’d rather not contemplate what Torq four is capable of.”
The five Autobots and one human walked through Torq’s maze. Oddly, they met no resistance, no challenge. It was quiet, save for the ever-present hum of fluorescent lighting. They were already nearing Torq’s main console and still no sign of life.
The console came alive, flickering weakly. Torq’s face was on it…and despite his confident mug there seemed to be something amiss.
“Excellent, you’ve come,” Torq said, “And no doubt you’ve learned the consequences of the human interrupting my attempt to merge with your kind.”
Arcee clicked her gun, firmly saying to the machine, “Alright Torq! Stay still or else you’ll find your hard drive punctured by laser fire.”
“Subtle,” Springer said with a smirk.
Torq didn’t look intimidated in the least. “Please spare me the dramatics. Harm me in the least, and your friends…whom share a ‘unique’ and unintended connection with myself, with also be harmed. Surely the encounter with the fighter craft I linked to proves that.”
“You…had control of it?” Chip asked, “But how?”
“Simple, and to which I owe you thanks,” Torq grinned devilishly, “Your virus disrupted all my programming…including Dr. Gates firewall!”
“Where is Dr. Gates?” RedStreak shook an angry fist.
Torq casually replied, “He, and his fellow scientists, I locked away in the stowage room. I considered removing the oxygen from their quarters…but I decided to wait, at least until you heard me out.”
“Hear you out? Why you presumptuous….” Arcee raised up her blaster.
Rodimus Prime put his hand over the barrel, forcing Arcee to lower it. “Alright Torq, state your terms.”
“You’ve got to be kidding Rodimus!” Arcee looked at him.
“Simple,” Torq stated, “Turn over the Technobot group to me so that I might merge with Computron. His immense calculation rate and memory capacity are…quite suitable to my purpose.”
“As is his firepower I imagine,” Ultra Magnus frowned at Torq.
“In exchange,” Torq willingly added, “I will not only release my hold over this city and the lives of Dr. Gates’ staff, but I’ll also restore the human and Autobot to their proper bodies.”
“Hardly much of a compromise,” Springer said, his fists itching to smash Torq.
Rodimus Prime uttered one word. “Agreed.”
In the time Torq permitted, the Technobots returned from Cybertron, carrying with them equipment needed to implement RedStreak and Chip’s restoration. The five Technobots came in with it, making connections to Torq and Chip in RedStreak’s body.
“I see only one connection, Torq. How’s RedStreak going to be restored?” Springer quickly pointed out.
“The process is long and involved – his turn will come soon enough. Now, if you please,” Torq said.
Chip stepped up, grabbing the helmet-like device wired into Torq and placing it over his head. He looked straight at Torq, muttering, “You better not be lying.”
“Commencing memory transfer and upload,” Torq said. The same blue aura that hit RedStreak before now enveloped the helmet and Chip’s head. The other Autobots could only watch with a displeased mug as the experiment commenced.
The aura around the helmet faded. Strangely, Torq’s monitor turned pure blue, his face gone. “Torq? Torq!” Rodimus Prime yelled, but there was no response. He turned to Chip, putting a shoulder on him, shaking him. “Chip? What happened? You there?”
The Autobot’s optics turned a deep, dull red. Smiley smugly, the Autobot replied “Not anymore!” Rodimus Prime stepped back, holding his blasters at the shell formerly occupied by Chip. With a smirk, the new Torq clicked on his com-link. “Commence remote, multiple upload.”
In rapid succession, starting with Rodimus Prime, the Autobots were possessed. Their eyes turned dark red, all standing like statues. Then, slowly, smirks appeared on their faces. “Haha!” they laughed together, sharing once voice and mind, “It has been achieved! At last…I am free and…avenged!”
RedStreak, still in Chip’s body, uttered, “No! You Frankenstein floppy-disk!” He set the hover chair to maximum speed, ramming into his former body, now possessed by Torq. He hit hard…but not so much as a scratch was made. The now limp human body was knocked out cold though.
Torq picked it up, smiling at the inert human body. “The irony,” he said, “a machine trapped inside a human body, ripped of its superiority and immortality.”
“Ugh…no,” a weak groan sounded. The giant console came alive. Torq glanced up, watching as the screen took on a face. Chip’s voice mumbled in a jumbled, deep voice, “You…betrayed…us. You….”
“The ultimate irony,” Torq smiled, gazing at Chip in his console, “The master now the slave. You are now trapped in the perpetual limbo I was forced to endure for my entire existence! Now…I’ve accomplished all that I’ve dreamed of! I have a new body, with an army of Autobots…and soon all Cybertronians, as my slaves! Tell me, how does it feel realizing you’re more…handicapped than before?”
Chip’s electronic face narrowed its eyes at Torq. “I…may no longer…be human,” he struggled to say, “But I…am…in no way…disabled!” He concentrated, and in a flash, every light in the room came on, brightening to full intensity.
“AGH! I…I CAN’T SEE!” Torq blared.
“You may have…transferred yourself,” Chip said, “into…an Autobot body, but I…now have…all your…abilities…at my disposal!”
Torq made a sudden realization. He glanced up, noticing the helmet still on his head! “The link!” he gasped. He reached up and grabbed it, but was overtaken before he could act. “NO! NOT…NOW!” The aura of blue enveloped him and Chip’s original body.
“Transference…program…initiated,” Chip said, “”But before I go…one last…gift…for you. Self…destruct…program…activate. Code…zero…zero…three…mark…delta…prime. Initiate.”
A bust of light erupted from the base of the connection. The helmet along with RedStreak and Chip were flung away. RedStreak stared out through his own eyes, now becoming pure blue like the other Autobots. Chip, resting in his hover chair in his hand, also began to stir. He looked up to RedStreak. “You there, Red?” he asked.
“I…think so.” RedStreak managed to reply, tossing the helmet aside.
“Good…because we’ve got four minutes to run!” Chip yelled out.
Elsewhere in Quantum Labs, a latch to a pressure door came open automatically. Dr. Gates, Hester, Sheila, and several others rushed out. “Come on people, let’s move!” Dr. Gates yelled, rushing his friends.
All the Autobots transformed and rolled. As the klaxons began to wail, Torq came alive. His face was full of angry, fury all pent up inside. In the last seconds, he wailed in his static-filled voice of hate, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Quantum Labs, every building, plant, and even the parking lots, collapsed into the ground, dust flying into the air as an explosion went off underground. A mile away, Hester sighed. “So much for our work.”
RedStreak looked down to Chip. “As wonderful as I’ve heard about being human is, you can keep it Chip!” he honestly said, “I swear, it was so weird. No powers, no transforming…man, you humans have the dulliest lives!”
Chip chuckled. “Well, at least when I give someone the finger a laser doesn’t shoot out,” he smiled.
Rodimus Prime oversaw the ruins: cracks of smoke floating out amid piles and piles of crushed debris. What was once a major technological institute was just a glorified trash pile now. “Doesn’t look like there will be a Torq five now,” he said frankly.
“Yeah,” Dr. Gates said in a surprisingly calm tone, “And I’m glad. If nothing else, this shows we’re not ready to keep up with the potential of our own technology.”
Amid the smoking ruins, little remained of either Torq four or the designs that spawned him. Over the site where his console once stood were a crushed monitor with broken glass littering the grounds. Circuits were exposed with crackling wires and melted filaments sizzling. Nothing remained…or, at least, almost nothing.
A single memory board laid on a bare patch of ground, untouched and unspoiled, thrown clear out of danger during the blast. Its silicon surface shimmered in the sunlight. Then, at just the right angle, in the metallic reflection, the faint image of sharp eyes and a sliver of a mouth grew visible. My time will come, thought Torq.
The End?