Rumors

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.

There were two more names mentioned in the Covenant, but with far fewer stories attached. Alpha Trion was one such name, though most Cybertronians didn't realize that this was the same bot running the Iacon Archives. Most assumed that the archivist was named after the prime, or that it was simply a title held by the head archivist, much as "prime" was given to Autobot leaders bearing the Matrix, despite coming after the Age of Primes.

And two more primes had no names, even in the earliest passages and versions of the Covenant, let alone later legends. The Fallen, who was corrupted by Unicron, for reasons the legends never kept straight. Was he in charge of war, and found Unicron to be the ultimate weapon? Did he get too close to Unicron when the Thirteen were fighting the chaos bringer, and was corrupted accidentally? Did he fall for one of Liege Maximo's pranks far, far too hard? The legends claimed all of these, and more. Rumors were even more bizarre. Optimus Prime remembered one time, when he was an archivist himself known as Orion Pax, claim the Fallen never went anywhere, but that he had a phase shifter which was stuck on and so he still walked the planet, passing right through people, buildings, and everything else, leaving no trace. One thing about the Fallen was clear: his name was struck from even the earliest data tracks. It was part of his punishment, Optimus thought. No fame, no infamy, only legends about how he was a traitor.

The other unnamed prime was known popularly as the Arisen. That was usual both in the rumors, the legends, and readings of the ancient data tracks. But the Covenant held another term: "That One". Not a name, Optimus thought it was merely a placeholder. The Arisen's name was hidden from later generations, no one was sure why. If it was to prevent rumors, though Optimus knew that it hadn't work. Every time struggle had come over Cybertron, the Arisen would dominate discussions. He (She? Optimus wondered, because no gender was given in the earliest texts) would come and save Cybertron from whatever crisis occurred, no matter how small. The fact that the crises of the past had been solved without any primal intervention did nothing to stop these rumors.

The most recent rumors were that the Arisen had indeed come. The Arisen was Optimus, according to many bots. Optimus himself had his doubts. He didn't feel particularly heroic. He tried, as the Arisen had among the Thirteen, to bring people together, but did not see himself having much success. The Matrix was not an awakening for him, but a burden, often too heavy to bear.

Still, something like memories came up from time to time, at least since he was given the Matrix. Memories of someone entering the well, by choice. These memories, or whatever they were, came uninvited and unwanted, entering his mind unpredictably and staying briefly.

Rumors. Rumors and legends, neither perfectly accurate nor without some morsel of truth. Rumors were flying around Cybertron these days. Rumors said that he was going to lead a team off planet. (These rumors were true, though to find energon, not escape or exile. Megatron would likely follow him.) Rumors that the old Senate had survived, and were manipulating things behind the scenes, using both Autobots and Decepticons in some unlikely plan to retake control. (These were false; those Senators who survived Megatron's attack had joined one of the two factions, or indeed left the planet for exile. None of them were truly capable of looking past short term advantage to plan out a long term conspiracy.) Rumors that one or more of the Thirteen -- or even Primus -- would return and scour the planet in punishment for its sins. Rumors large and small. Rumors destroying reputations. Rumors setting expectations that no one could hope to meet. The rumors could be worse than defeat in battle, for troops demoralized by rumors could lose without even fighting. Sometimes, Optimus Prime thought, rumors were worse than Decepticons.

He finally entered his headquarters. "Perceptor, here is the data from Alpha Trion. Can you have some alternatives ready for tomorrow's staff meeting?"

"I'll do my best."