Waverod's Corner Table

Lancer exited the ground bridge. In front of her, right where she expected to see Crystal City arising from the metallic plain, there was a most unexpected sight: a rectangular structure made of organic materials, mainly cellulose, sitting atop a mound covered in grass. A log cabin. "Ground bridge control, something has gone wrong. I appear to be on Earth." "Lancer, this is Cloudraker at ground bridge control. That's not possible. Everything reads as normal here, and the amount of power needed for space transport would have destroyed the bridge." "Cloudraker, this is definitely not Crystal City. There's a field of grass and a large wooden house." "Perhaps you have been diverted somehow? Let be do some checking." Cloudraker called up the part of the sensor grid which covered Crystal City. "Lancer, the sensor grid indicates that you arrived at the target coordinates. We are reading you in front of Crystal City. Strange....there's s

 "Planetary system ahead, captain." The navigator, Tara Lambert, was top of her field. "The sensors indicate a planet in the habitable zone." "Ewan, what do you detect?" Ewan Kemp, the science officer, took a closer look at the readings from the sensors. "Strange, captain. The planet in the habitable zone seems to be entirely made of metal. I am detecting energy usage consistent with life, however, and at a fairly sophisticated level, despite the absence of rock." Katy Lozano sat back in her captain's chair. Life in the absence of oxygen, sure. Life in the absence of water? Methane will do, in a pinch. Sophisticated life was found on rocky planets and moons, however. Sure, there are some lifeforms in the atmospheres of a few gas giants, relying on buoyancy and simple, waxy hydrocarbons. But a metallic planet? How does it not oxidize, especially in the presence of life? Countless reactions should happen between almost any metal hard enough to

That is strange , Waverod thought. Most unusual electromagnetic radiation. Gamma waves, undoubtedly. But what would cause this particular spectrum?  The waves he detected seemed to resonate. They were high energy, and short wavelength, but weak otherwise. They were on several frequencies, but not the randomness of white noise. The longest wavelength was twice as strong as the others, which were otherwise identical. Most oddly, if you took the longest wavelength as 1, the other wavelengths were fractions of it: 1/2, 1/3, 1/5, 1/8, and so on. The reciprocal Pedmas sequence, named for the ancient mathematician and scientist who investigated the sequence. Legend had it that he was one of Perceptor's teachers. A mystery, but it will have to wait. I have an appointment to keep. Waverod entered into Alpha Trion's study for the second study session. She was looking forward to what the old archivist had to show her in the Covenant. Alpha Trion punched up the passage they were to examine

"Welcome back," Alpha Trion greeted Waverod. "Are you ready?" "For what?" Waverod wasn't sure what Alpha Trion had in mind. "We're going to look at the Covenant of Primus. In particular, the post-Unicron stories. To understand the present, you must understand the past. Character types come back, transformed, of course. First, the end of the Alliance of the Primes." 一一一 The Fallen stood among the ruins of Unicron's body. "Is he dead?" Prima shook his head. "Unicron can't die. But his body is destroyed. He is not a threat, at least for now." "We should prepare for his return, however long it may be," The Fallen noted. Prima agreed. "Let us each think about how best to do so." Prima left. It was your powers combined which fell Unicron, The Fallen heard. "Who said that? Liege Maximo, is this one of your jokes?" But Liege Maximo was nowhere to be found. The voice returned. I am quite r

Optimus left Alpha Trion's office. His mentor gave him the data he needed, and he was going to meet with his senior staff. They needed to plan a course for the Ark before it launched. But his beginning conversation with the old bot still turned over in his head. It was difficult to make sense of much of the ancient lore, but there were certainly some anchor points, things that everyone would agree upon when discussing the stories. Primus the creator. Unicron the destroyer. Thirteen primes. The names of some of them: Prima, Solus Prime, Liege Maximo, Micronus Prime, Amalgamous Prime, Quintus Prime, Onyx Prime, Vector Prime, Nexus Prime. These all disappeared as the Age of Primes ended and the Well of All Sparks was ignited. Some of them went into the well to ignite it. Some of them were killed. Some went into a kind of exile, and simply were never heard from again. There was no consensus on which ones had which fate. Even if the ones who went into exile were still alive was debated.

 "Sorry, Alpha Trion, but that is all the time I have for today. I need to refuel briefly, then return to my patrols." Waverod was reluctant to leave -- to be in Alpha Trion's presence was deeply comforting for some reason, like his spark resonated unconsciously with the old scholar. "I understand. You have done well. Contact my office when you can come again. I have another passage that I think you will find most interesting." Waverod walked out. As she did she passed Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader, recently made Prime, was Alpha Trion's protégé back when he went by Orion Pax. Waverod gave a nod in greeting, which Optimus returned. He walked out of the office. Outside, she transformed and took off, her elongated aerial form akin to a tetrajet, but stretched. "Are you sure you want Waverod to know, Alpha Trion?" Optimus Prime's concern was not with trustworthiness, but with the difficulty that could result when either secret came out. "