(Author's note: I had hoped to close out the evening for Joe with this week's chapter, but I wasn't able to cover as much as I hoped. As such, we're looking at another chapter for Joe, then a few interludes to finish the in-story day)
92 Opened Discourse
Thanks to my scanners, the content of the disc was digitized without even needing to open the shrink wrap. That included the contents of the case, including the liner notes and other details of the single.
Sabaton was a band that didn't exist. That is, it didn't exist on Earth Bet or Earth Aleph. Thanks to the digitization of the library, including every newspaper, magazine, and periodical, I had evidence of their existence in that world of no parahumans that had supplied my media.
But only passing references to the band. No significant details and no albums included among the Music Collection. From what I could tell it consisted of their versions of the lead singer from Parawolf, the bassist from Cape Force, and three people who didn't seem to have equivalents on Earth Bet, probably due to being born after the shift.
Even amongst the weirdness of my power, getting a music track specifically written about one of my battles by a band that only seemed to exist in a universe with no other capes was a bit of a head trip. I didn't know if this was something like the hell letters or Spekkio where parts of my life were visible to other dimensions. If that was the case, then why that dimension, and why that band?
The little information I had on them suggested they covered military topics, kind of the same way that Parawolf dealt with major cape battles. The Toolkit was connected with one of my earlier powers called Panzerkampf. It was focused on ensuring that war machines I built always functioned at peak condition and essentially made them immune to indirect damage. The Toolkit was fairly versatile, but definitely had heavy military applications.
Was I looking at this the wrong way? Was Sabaton a reference to something else that merely existed as a band in that universe, but as a… I don't know, massive military campaign in its home dimension? Frankly, I had no idea. All I had to go on was three minutes and fifty-two seconds of music covering my fight with Lung and the ABB, presented in both English and Swedish. So technically I had two versions of the song, with Survey already digging through possible alternate meanings based on the translation.
The song data, scanned directly from the disc, had been circulated through the entire Forge. Fleet, Survey, and the Matrix were able to parse the entire track from nothing but the digital code, but Aisha and Tybalt had elected to play the song for themselves. Tetra was in something of a middle ground, able to process information at the same rate as the A.I.s, but still wanting to experience it herself. Still, she was the only person who elected to listen to both the English and Swedish tracks simultaneously.
I was able to process the information, including Survey's lyric breakdown and analysis, but still needed to hear it for myself. As such, I queued up the song and let the music fill my office. The thundering drum beat then the leading guitar riffs and heavy baseline. It gave the feel of explosions, which was both appropriate and more than a little harrowing.
Even having all the lyrics available ahead of time, hearing them sung over the deliberately chaotic mix of music through a song that seemed to be everywhere, but never losing focus, was a unique experience. Someone was singing about my fight like it was an epic stand against evil, a last desperate thrust against forces that would have consumed the city. Technically true, but not something I liked dwelling on, and the chorus opening with "The Ungodly Hour's Begun" was catchy in a way that an event that devastating had no right to be.
It was really an amazing piece. It was also something I could never release. Well, not until things had cooled down, and I wasn't talking about the parts of Bakuda's workshop that were still on fire. Even five days later, they were still recovering remains. People who died in the attacks hadn't been buried or even accounted for yet. It wasn't the kind of thing that needed a triumphant metal track.
The fact that the song demonstrated an unsettling familiarity with my team and methods of operation was just another mark against it. Yes, my duplicates had done wonderfully against Bakuda and the ABB headquarters. No, I didn't need tales of their accomplishments sung to the world. The same with the contributions of Aisha, Fleet, Survey, the Matrix, of Tetra.
Especially not Tetra. Yes, they made what she went through and what she accomplished sound triumphant, but I didn't need to release that kind of information about her nature or her abilities.
I let the track finish, then turned my attention to the rest of the Forge. Tybalt was thoroughly enjoying it in his room, oversized as any of the others and decorated in a combination of Greek artifacts and the style of the weapon that shared a source with Tybalt. In other words, components of large monsters, though Survey had already confirmed that they did not contain any usable genetic material and could only provide a basis for rough estimates of the ecology of that world, with everything suggesting that it was as messed up as the insect glaive had indicated.
Fleet was quietly bobbing his head to the beat while relaxing in his own suite of rooms. They were more sleekly designed than Tybalt's, with prints of classic cars and other vehicles on the walls and a theme of repurposed automotive or aeronautic components used for furniture. The desk composed of the complete control panel of a 747 was impressive, but the centerpiece of the rooms had to be the racecar bed constructed from the chassis of a Lotus convertible.
The Matrix's rooms held all the amenities that were locked in by the housing complex, but there was a definite concession to their nature. There was a portion of the space clearly designed for them to interact with other people in their humanoid armored form, but the rest of it was clearly intended for a more dispersed existence. The Matrix didn't really have any use for a day spa or reading nook, so the areas were reconfigured, filled with geometric shapes and fractal channels, as well as open bays for the testing of designs and potential configurations. Somehow, my power had managed to create a luxury accommodation for a dispersed nano intelligence, one that they were actually happy to make use of.
I checked in on Aisha, reviewing the layout of both her rooms and entire house as I waited for my call to connect. Aisha had ended up with something that was a mix between a beach house and princess's castle. The thing was, the designs went to eleven on the princess stuff. It was like someone took the kind of things that would be alluded to in a Disney cartoon and then set out to create the most authentic version possible. Everything in that house could have been found in a seventeenth century royal palace. In fact, it would put the majority of European monarchies to shame. Aisha seemed to be somewhat at a loss for what to do with the abundance of both space and luxury, which I could fully understand, given the suddenness with which it arrived.
The call connected and a display screen popped up showing Aisha sitting at an elaborate vanity desk while the second track played in the background.
"Hey," she said. "Be honest with me, was that whole Swedish language course thing prep work for this?" She asked as the song continued. It was actually possible to pick out most of the words with the benefit of the crash course that Survey had insisted on prior to the viewing of the Seventh Seal.
"As far as I can tell, it's a complete coincidence." I said. "I honestly had no idea that anything like this was possible, much less that it would be in Swedish."
Aisha shook her head. "Yeah, this is crazy even on the scale of your crazy." She tilted her head, listening to the lyrics. "This is really the guy from Parawolf?"
"I didn't know you listened to metal." I said.
She shrugged. "It's not really my scene, but their songs are practically made for Cape Music Videos."
I nodded. It was kind of a mix between people not wanting to focus on the more devastating parts of cape culture and people enjoying the spectacle of a fight with lots of energetic displays of parahuman powers. The distinction between whether an incident would become some triumphant cultural touchstone or some hushed topic to avoid really came down to the accounting of the aftermath. Even then, there were always people who would geek out about anything cape related, no matter how tragic. It was probably why Parawolf had a policy of not doing songs about Endbringer battles.
"Best I can tell, it's an alternate version from before Scion's arrival." I explained.
"That's the first time it's happened, right? I mean, a link to a specific person?" Aisha asked. "One who actually exists in this world, not a character from a book or show or something?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but I doubt Joakim Brodén will be able to shed much light on whatever's going on here." I said. In fact, just the existence of the song would probably be a head trip for him. Though that would be equally true for any of the other albums that came from my Music Collection. Some artists' careers had taken wildly different trajectories in a world without parahumans.
"So, does this mean that they can see us?" Aisha asked in clear concern. "I mean, some of this stuff is pretty detailed." She pulled up the song's lyrics on a display screen. "Does your power work two ways like that?"
I shifted in my seat. "Sometimes."
"What, really?" She asked.
I nodded. "It's getting into heavier stuff, but yeah, there has been evidence that some of these powers have information flow going back to the source." I explained. "I don't think it's anything to be worried about, but honestly I'm still trying to figure out all the dynamics in play."
"I get that." She said, shaking her head slightly. "For a fun metal song about our adventures, it really does come with a lot of baggage."
I cracked a smile at that. "It's honestly hard to find a part of my power that doesn't." I said. "Anyway, I'm going to have a talk with Tetra before we get started on the Kamui. Are you alright?"
"You mean am I alright in my stupidly overbuilt seaside palace with every amenity I could want and offers to install everything else?" She asked with a grin. "Yeah, I think I can manage. I feel like I'm wasting a fortune just sitting here, but I can manage."
She made a show of reclining in the elaborate chair, but honestly she wasn't underselling the level of decadence in the rooms of the housing complex. If I hadn't been working to a near impossible standard of quality for more than a week I probably would have found it a little jarring myself.
I closed out the call and made my way through the rooms of the central manor that contained apartments for myself, Survey, Garment, and Tetra. The place was so over constructed, even outside of the bedroom suites, that it hardly felt like we were sharing a space. I guess when you aren't even in the same wing as someone it cuts down on feelings of crowding. Hell, I'm pretty sure it's hard to feel crowded in any house that has to divide itself into 'wings'.
Survey's apartments were a picture of order. Seriously, they could have come out of an issue of Architectural Digest. It actually struck me as something more in line with the style she created for her civilian identity than her cape persona, but considering how blended together everything was for someone like Survey, that wasn't too surprising. Honestly, she didn't really need the space anymore than Fleet or the Matrix did, but she seemed to enjoy having a place of her own in a style that fit a young and highly successful legal professional. Though honestly, it was the kind of design you'd see in the penthouse apartment of the head of a major legal firm, not someone on the level of Survey's identity of Delphine Mertens.
Garment's rooms were a more chaotic affair, but that seemed to be more due to a lack of division between her workspace and personal space. Her apartments were decorated with framed fashion plates and prints of iconic moments from fashion history, including several oil paintings that showcased historic outfits, but the majority of the space was designed as a dual work area. She didn't have use for things like a bed or bathroom, so they were set mostly as display pieces with ample space allotted for any projects that might catch her fancy. Honestly, if she didn't already have an excessively expansive workshop of her own, it probably would have been perfect for her.
I made my way through the halls of the manor to Tetra's wing. Like with Garment and the Matrix, her living space had been hybridized to accommodate the less-human requirements of the occupant. It had a bed, but the large mattress and surrounding structure was clearly more intended as a place to relax while working on other things than a place for sleep. Somewhat amusingly, her day spa included laundry equipment as well as bathing fixtures, a tacit admission of her nature. I had never considered that angle, but I had also been focused on ensuring that the procedure didn't result in her being limited to a single form.
Which was exactly what I needed to speak with her about. I paused in front of the massive oak doors to her suite of rooms and knocked sharply on the wood. There was a scurrying sound from inside the apartment, including the sound of Tetra shifting between forms, before a glowing red mink the size of a child opened the door.
Her fibers were slightly duller, a result of the Avid Glove being absent from her hand. With a thought I extended my senses to its eye and located it, crawling through the upper levels of Tetra's room like a spider. It gave me a second perspective on Tetra as she stood at the doorway.
With my own senses I saw glowing eyes look up at me, but there was a complex expression on Tetra's face. "They're talking about me in the song. About us."
I nodded. It wasn't easy picking out the English and Swedish words when they were played over each other, at least not without leaning into the support of my implant or other systems, but my unnatural skill with music was more than enough to give me a thorough grasp of the structure and themes of the song.
"Yeah, that's something I wanted to talk about, before we finalized everything." I said. There was a slight note of concern from Tetra, but only just. I had made it clear that I wasn't going to be pushing this back, not when it was so important to her.
But that didn't mean I was willing to leave things unaddressed. Frankly, we should have had this talk a long time ago, but with everything that was happening it was easy to justify putting it off. Our time in the Spiritron Core should have presented the opportunity, but everything was so precisely scheduled that there was no chance for it to come up. I was either leading lessons, studying the Slaughterhouse Nine, or recovering from what I had seen while studying the Slaughterhouse Nine. None of that allowed things to line up for a heart to heart.
Tetra just nodded at my words and fell back. "Would you like to see my rooms?" She asked, leading me through her space.
Tetra showed me around the rooms, highlighting the various levels of interactivity from the furniture and amenities. There were low level access points seemingly designed for easy use in her mink form as well as ceiling structures that could support her distributed fibers, and currently supported my Avid Glove. However, that wasn't the end of it. There were intermediary points that seemed designed to accommodate larger forms or even animated clothing, like the room had been future proofed for what was coming.
"Do you think your power knew what we planned?" She asked, thrashing her tail excitedly.
"I'm not sure." I said. We had made our way to her balcony where the other two structures of the housing complex were visible along with the expanse of the main storage area. An eighty-kilometer square that was spread out beneath the eight-hundred-meter square of the 'Lofty Loft', where our three houses were situated.
To the left was Aisha's beach palace, on the salt water side of the loft. It was a patch of ocean that stood ten kilometers above the expansive coastline of the main storage area, but the geometry of the workshop didn't seem to have any problem with that.
"Aisha was saying she had planned to build something like what my power gave her, so there's obviously some level of foresight at work. I'm not sure how much, but it's clearly there." I said.
Tetra had settled onto the railing of the balcony, putting her roughly at eye height for my current human form. She nodded at my statement, but glanced towards the recent changes to the loft.
"What you wanted to talk about…" She began. "You're not… We're not going to…"
"I'm not delaying anything." I assured her.
I could see her immediate relief at my words. It was funny, I was immune to mind reading thanks to Mental Fortress, but people could still glean information through my body language and reactions. My conversations with Tattletale were a good example of that. Tetra didn't have her superhuman deductive ability, but she had a better mastery of the Dragon's Pulse than anyone but me, and maybe Tybalt. She could read the metabolic and involuntary reactions from my body. In a way, it was an extension of the link we'd had while recovering from March's attack. Not that I particularly wanted to revisit that, despite it being the point of this.
"Oh." She said, sagging slightly. "Good."
"I know it's what you want. What you've wanted for a long time." I continued. "I'm not sure if it's what you need, or what's best for you, but honestly I don't think I can ever be completely sure about something like that. Really, I'm not the person who should be making that decision. I'm just committed to doing the best job possible when the time comes." I saw her face brighten slightly.
"A lot has changed." She said, "I was worried you would delay things. Take more time so you could do a better job."
I smiled at that. "I think we're at the point where the benefits of a 'better job' are mostly academic." I admitted. "The level that things have reached isn't likely to be meaningfully impacted by some new power."
Honestly, even a baseline Kamui, built with nothing but the knowledge provided by my Tailor power, would have been terrifying. A three-star outfit could instantly put someone on the level of one of the strongest capes in the country. A Kamui would launch them to Triumvirate tier, or well past it, given the way life fibers developed without apparent limit.
Surprisingly, that didn't seem to reassure Tetra. Instead, she flicked her tail back and forth against the railing as she looked forlornly over the expanse of open area that had been added to my workshop.
"Tetra?" I asked, moving closer to her.
"You don't need me." She said in a small voice.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm not going to make a difference." There was resignation in her voice. "It isn't like before, when I could help you fight and we could work together. It'll never be like that again." I moved to speak, but cut me off with a shake of her head. "I know how strong you are when you transform. Your Monstrous Strength… Survey has assessments of the kind of things you'd be able to fight. And nothing can hurt you anymore. You're doing this for me, but not for you. Not so that we can work together. Because you don't need me."
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out as we looked over the landscape. Realistic Ground Cover had turned the massive concrete pad into a lush and varied landscape. Combined with the coastline and lakeshore it was actually a fairly striking view, even if the shape made it a bit artificial.
I took it in as I felt the Forge fail to connect to a massive mote from the Knowledge constellation. My reach was at the level that even the major powers of the forge would have been attainable, but that mote was one of the oversized outliers. Additionally, there seemed to be a shift in the movement of the constellations. A slower rotation that allowed more reach to build up during each orbit. I put it out of my mind, focusing on Tetra as the motes flew off for another circuit.
"Tetra, I'm not as strong as you think." I said, looking over to her.
She turned to face me. "You just mean metaphorically. I know how powerful you are." I nodded. "Does that even matter anymore? If you're strong enough to deal with everything…"
"There's dealing with everything and there's dealing with it well." I said. "Both in how you address the problem and how you manage the aftermath. In the past I haven't been great on either front, and even now I'm not entirely confident."
"You have Survey for that. And Uppercrust will help. Those are big problems. Abstract problems. Nothing that I can help with." She said, dropping her head.
"You help." I said. "I'm not trying to be trite or sentimental here, but everyone helps me so much. I don't know how I would have been able to handle this power without the rest of you. And you're part of that."
"Not like I used to be." She said, flicking her tail. "I know I wasn't… all there, before everything happened. It's hard. I can remember everything, but I know the way I was thinking, it wasn't… complex. It was simpler, but I don't think it was worse."
I nodded and watched as she extended a paw-like hand, flexing it as crimson light danced through the fibers that composed her being. "I can remember how I felt, back then. How it felt when we worked together. I didn't really understand the world, but I knew, when we were connected, I knew I was making a difference. That what we were doing mattered, a lot."
I couldn't deny that. The enhancement I had gotten from the life fibers, from Tetra, was unlike anything else I had access to in those early days. Even just the benefits of training with her were titanic. The handful of times I'd been able to work with her in the field had been incredible. Like I was instantly jumping from an entry level tinker to an established cape with the flick of a switch.
"I don't think I was supposed to be like this." She said.
"What do you mean?" I asked in concern.
"I arrived on a spool, like some of Garment's thread. The only other power from the place I come from explained how to use life fibers to make empowered clothing. You could barely have made a Kamui the size of a pair of gloves with how big I was back then. It makes sense that your power wanted me to be turned into a Goku Uniform, not develop like this." She said.
"I wouldn't have done that." I said. "I would never have done that."
"I know." There was a softness in her voice. "But that doesn't change things. I'm not what the Forge wanted me to be, and I don't know what I'm supposed to be now."
I gave her a weak smile. "Tetra, the Forge has made me a demigod cyborg titan werewolf wizard dwarf with robot memories. If there's any overlying intention here then I'm as blind to it as you are."
She didn't respond, but she turned slightly towards me. I took that as a sign to continue.
"As far as I have been able to tell, everything in the Forge is completely random." I explained. "Things make sense within the context of their own universes, but there's no way to tell how they'll interact with other abilities or items." Possibly literally no way to tell, given my passenger's surprise at the synergy that granted me invincibility. "Assuming there's some intended way of using these abilities only makes sense if you take them in isolation."
That word seemed to hit her particularly hard. She turned to look up at me as I continued.
"But nothing's in isolation." I said. "We're not in isolation. I don't care about the context of the universe you came from. Garment probably was never meant to encounter Dust or elemental infusions, and certainly wasn't meant to have her range and control extended though being empowered as a psionic focus. Tybalt is being pulled in a dozen directions, the same way I am. I don't think Palicoes were 'supposed' to pilot Titans or wield Divine war powers. And trust me, the changes you've gone through is positively straightforward compared to the array of abilities empowering Fleet, Survey, and the Matrix."
She gave a slight nod, but I could feel her reaction to what I was saying. The building apprehension and concern. Given my own experiences with this kind of speech, I could guess where that was coming from.
"Tetra, the fact that other people are dealing with changes doesn't mean that what you're struggling with is any less serious. It just means we're in a better place to understand each other. It's not about who has it worst." I explained.
"I know." She said, "It feels stupid. We're so close and I was the one asking for it, but it's not going to be what I wanted it to be. It can't, not exactly."
"What did you want it to be?" I asked, and saw her immediately begin to pull into herself. "It's alright." I clarified. "I just want to… I mean, if I can help…"
"Like that." She said quietly. It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. The song playing in the background, and the specific reference to Tetra and me, fighting Lung. Well, Proto Aima and Apeiron, but that was just semantics of the song.
"After March attacked? During our fight with Lung?" I asked. Given the whole point of this was talking about that incident, this wasn't the way I imagined it being brought up. Considering everything we had gone through; I couldn't imagine what it was that…
"The blood?" I asked. Tetra gave a slight nod.
Blood. Life fibers fed on neural energy and blood. The question of how a lifeform with an exotic subatomic structure derived nutrition from either of those concepts or why the cognitive complexity of the subject mattered was complicated on a level that wasn't worth exploring at the moment. The unique ways the life fibers twisted the laws of physics facilitated that exact relationship, and it was baked into their biology on a fundamental level.
Even the drain from skin contact could be substantial, particularly when you were dealing with life fibers in their raw form. Understandably, that had been as far as I had been willing to go when working with Tetra, even before I thought of her as Tetra. As such we basically went from a carefully moderated flow of energy to ALL THE BLOOD in one highly traumatic instant.
Kamui's ran on blood. Unlike Goku Uniforms they needed a transfusion to activate and sustain themselves. Their consumption rate wasn't anything like what I struggled with in the aftermath of March's attack, but it was still there. Still a connection to that source of energy, one that we hadn't revisited with the exception of Somer's Rock sending out to a butcher's shop to fill Tetra's drink order.
"I know it was bad." She said quietly. "I was out of control. Made things worse."
"Tetra, without you things would have been much, much worse." I said firmly. "I made the decision to go into that fight. I thought I was ready for whatever March could throw at me. I didn't know that Oni Lee could copy power effects. If I had been more cautious, it never would have happened."
And I felt her reaction to that and suddenly understood where her conflicted emotions were coming from. I had been there, linked to Tetra on a level that had never happened before. I knew what she was feeling at the time. It was impossible not to, given the intensity of it. Guilt and shame were things I was all too familiar with.
"You enjoyed it." I said, realization setting in. Seeing and feeling her reaction I quickly added. "And that's okay."
I watched the glowing mink cringe at my words. I paused, then leaned slightly towards Tetra, but didn't make contact. Tetra seemed to consider things for a moment, then moved over and pressed into my arm.
"I liked fighting Lung." She said, "I loved it. I loved the fight, the way we were connected. I loved being that angry and having something to be that angry about." Her head drooped. "I loved being angry more than I was worried about Garment, or about you. I wanted us to keep fighting like that forever, against anyone. Everyone. But that was making things worse. I know it was making things worse." The fibers along her body shuddered slightly as she settled. "And then everything stopped, and I realized what had happened. What I'd done."
I was starting to understand why Tetra hadn't brought up the subject herself. Going from that kind of high to an entire night of immobility where she struggled to restrain herself from causing any more damage. Minutes where she was able to completely cut loose, existing in a state closer to her primal nature than ever before, then hours of hell.
And that was coupled with the knowledge that she was the point of focus for all the medical efforts. The fact was I could have been cured in minutes. It just would have destroyed her. She would have been restored, my power would have seen to that, but nobody was sure what state she would have been in. So, all that effort, the continued work of the entire team, and my absence during the aftermath of the attacks, had been for her sake.
I wouldn't have had it any other way, but that knowledge would be a lot for anyone to deal with. And with me dealing with my own struggles in the wake of that incident, I hadn't taken the time to properly check in on Tetra.
"It's okay." I said. I saw Tetra's expression and felt her reaction and firmly restated my case. "It is. The Forge is unpredictable, and that includes everything connected to it. Even Aisha surprised me earlier today, and she's the furthest from any of this nonsense."
I still wasn't sure what the extent of her influence over the Prismatic Laboratory's colors would be, or how it might develop further. Or interact with her powers. That just furthered my point.
"I know you're not human." I said. "I'm not totally human anymore, and as for the rest of the Forge…" Weirdly, aside from Aisha, Tybalt probably had the best claim, at least in terms of mindset. "It's easy to think about that in terms of the obvious stuff. Physical characteristics and powers, but really it's about thoughts, reactions, how you process experiences, or the way your mind works." I explained.
It was something I was actually fortunate to have as a common point for Fleet, Survey, and the Matrix. My Transformer's memories had been jarring in the extreme, but actual lived experiences as a machine intelligence were invaluable when it came to relating to developing artificial intelligences. Unfortunately, Tetra was an outlier even by that metric, even more so considering the conditions she developed in.
Life fibers were parasitic, but they were also incredibly aggressive. I hadn't seem signs of concerning aggression or violence from Tetra, but I knew the foundation that she was drawing from. It wasn't so much a matter of control as careful direction, and I was finally learning how she had directed those instincts.
"I remember when I couldn't think well." She said, "And I remember learning. When you were connected to the computer, and Survey would help." Tetra huffed slightly. "She's annoying, but I know she wants to help. She always wants to help."
The admission was made privately through the voice that only I could hear, a medium that Survey was incapable of detecting. There was no IR linkage relaying it to the Workshop's systems and I doubted it would ever be repeated publicly, but it was nice to know what lay under her and Survey's constant arguments.
Tetra looked up at me. "I know that I adapt. Grow. Change. It's not something I'm really aware of while it's happening, not even now, but I know I was learning how to think from you and Survey. I mean, think about things other than being hungry and growing more. I know how to think like a human, but that's not all of me."
"I know." I said, with a tired smile. "I don't think I was the best influence on you, especially back then."
"No!" She said sharply. "I mean, that connection, everything that grew from it, it's important to me. I'm glad you made the effort." She slumped slightly. "I don't think I would have been happy as a Goku Uniform."
I felt her press into my arm and tightened my grip. Energy danced through her fibers from the point of contact. It was the only one she had while the Avid Glove was exploring the network in the ceilings of her apartments.
"Something can be important and still have problems. It can be good and still have flaws. I'm far from perfect and there are a lot of things I could have managed better, including this." I said. She nodded slightly.
I took a breath before continuing. "You wanted to be a Kamui so we could fight like that again? Like we did against Lung?"
"I did." She said quietly. "I know that fight was bad for everyone, but it felt right." I could feel her fibers tense. "I thought if I was a Kamui then together we could be strong enough to deal with everything." She turned her head to look up at me. "But that's not how it works, is it? These aren't problems we can punch away. They're complicated. I can be the strongest Kamui ever and it won't make a difference."
"You will be the strongest Kamui ever, and it will make a difference." I assured her.
Technically she would be the only Kamui ever, but that wasn't the point. I understood the principles of how a typical Kamui was constructed from the knowledge of my Tailor power. It gave me a baseline for how vast of the power gap was between the Kamui's that could have existed in her home universe and what Tetra would be capable of.
"Not all the time." She said, "Even against the Slaughterhouse Nine, you won't need my help."
"No." I admitted. "But I want your help. Technically I could handle just about every threat on my own, but that is not how I want to deal with things. I don't want to be isolated and untouchable. I'm not trying to be another Scion, flying around with no connections to anything or anyone."
Tetra conceded that point while I once again noticed the conspicuous silence of my passenger regarding Scion. There had never really been any insight into him concerning matchups or threat assessments. I initially assumed it was possibly an extension of his famous blind spot effect, but then Outside Context Problem had specifically referenced blocking his precog, when people weren't even sure he had precog. With that there had been the faintest blip of a reaction. It gave me the sense that it wasn't that nothing was there, but that the reactions were being restrained for some reason.
It was a concerning point, but considering the fact that Scion was likely the only parahuman currently in my league there could be a myriad of reasons for the omissions. Unlike the vast range of other concerns, Scion wasn't something my passenger wanted me to focus on at the moment, and I was prepared to avoid seeking out any additional trouble considering everything else I had on my plate.
"Yes, using a Kamui will be overkill for anything less than an Endbringer." I admitted, but then I grinned at Tetra. "But we still need to deal with Endbringers."
Honestly, 'overkill' was pretty much the required response when it came to actually putting down an Endbringer. With the kind of Kamui that Tetra was likely to become the response to Endbringers basically shifted from the careful deployment of highly unstable annihilator technology to suiting up and cutting loose on them. The prospect of just directly blitzing an Endbringer with Tetra's help had more than a little appeal.
"We need to deal with Endbringers, and whatever the consequences are for killing an Endbringer. And S-Class parahumans like Sleeper and Ash Beast. And Passenger Space, and whatever the ultimate challenge my power is warning me about." I could feel Tetra's mood rise with every threat I named.
"I'm sorry we don't have fights waiting around every corner that we can cut loose against. Those aren't the kind of problems we're dealing with. Unfortunately, we kind of sailed past that point about two divine ancestors ago."
"I understand." Tetra said. "I… I still want to fight. I mean, a proper fight, against someone I can get angry with, like we did before, but I know…"
"Yeah." I said.
There was no shortage of people to get angry at in the world, but the list of people who wouldn't immediately fold in any kind of physical confrontation was much smaller. Even when we were able to act freely, the cleanup of major villains was honestly going to be more like pest control than any epic battle.
"But we will be able to fight together, right?" She asked.
"Definitely." I promised. "A lot of the problems we're dealing with are… complex." I remembered Aisha's complaints about ending up with Episode One politics rather than Original Trilogy action. "But there are still threats out there. Big ones, and for those there's no one I'd rather face them with."
"You mean it?" She asked, looking up at me.
"Absolutely." I said. I paused for a moment, then nodded to myself. "In fact, there's one last thing. Something I should have done a long time ago."
"What?" She asked, her eyes wide.
"Spiral." I said as I smiled at her. I watched her freeze in anticipation. "I can give one person spiral energy. Only a single person in all the universe." As I spoke I reached deep inside myself, feeling that well of limitless potential. The hope and faith that anything could be achieved with enough effort. "It has to be developed, trained, and I have to be the one to do it. This isn't something I can hand off and forget about. It only makes sense to choose someone I'm going to work with. Train with. Fight alongside."
In my mind I could see the tight spiral, the symbol of potential unbridled. Starting small but growing with every rotation. The pattern cast into the stars and woven into the very genetic material of life. The pattern that stood on my own symbol, limitless, the meaning of Apeiron. The force that would build until nothing could stand against it.
"Spiral can be pooled, combined and compounded. Two people working together can accomplish much more than anyone individually. And in my eyes, there could not be a better choice."
The world was flashing green in rapid pulses. Tetra's fibers were being whipped around by a force that had nothing to do with wind. I was drawing upon something both ancient and eternal, a true power without limit.
I could feel the energy coursing through me. The transformation that I had put in place to speak with Taylor and Tattletale was falling away as the magic was cast aside. Green light coursed through the channels in my clay like flesh, pulsing under scales and filling my body with the power of the universe. The same power that I had once used to put a high end mech through demanding trials, not compressed within my nine foot frame.
"Tetra, I never want you to doubt your place, your role, or your importance. You are one of the most incredible beings in creation, not just because of what you can do but because of who you are and what you mean to the people around you. I don't know what the future holds, either from the Celestial Forge or the challenges of the outside world, but I know who I want to face them with. When we reach the end of this road and face the challenge that threatens all worlds in existence, I want you by my side."
I reached out a hand and focused. A bead of concentrated green light rose from my palm. It seemed to flicker, but in a more complex manner than the energy coursing through me. The bead expanded into a tiny disk, then the center began to rise. As it expanded the disc shifted into a cone and revealed itself to be composed of spirals of vibrant energy spinning in a tight nexus.
"Out of everyone, I would offer this to you. My first and final choice. So you never doubt how important you are."
I lifted my hand and offered her the manifested power of the spiral. Even in the red glow of her eyes, the green light shone brightly. There was barely a split second of hesitation before she pounced forward, into the light.
Tetra's body exploded into a cloud of red fibers. Within the storm of energy and thread I could hear her voice, screaming with excitement. The fibers writhed and swirled like the living thing they were, wrapping around me in a burst of red and green light.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She cried as fibers squeezed down on me with the kind of force that created new states of matter in neutron stars.
"You were always my first choice." I said, somewhat awkwardly attempting to pat the fiber cocoon that had enveloped me. "I should have said something earlier, done something earlier, but I haven't been practicing with spiral as much as I should."
"But we will now, right? We'll have to work together, so I can learn from you?" She said, her fibers pulsing with every word.
"We will." I promised. "Kamui, Teigu, whatever. It's a start, not an endpoint. A good start, but we'll see where we'll go from there."
The fibers loosened their bone crushing grip and I watched as they shifted back into Tetra's Zoanthrope form. It was superficially the same as before, but I noticed a slight swirl to the direction of her emulated fur. At this point I wasn't sure if it was a result of the energy, or a conscious choice based on her excitement over it.
"That means we need to plan right?" She asked. "Decide on the last details?"
"We do." I said, repositioning myself on the balcony. "Garment has worked out the designs for the Kamui itself, though with mechashift and divine craftsmanship you won't be limited to that."
"I wouldn't mind if I was." Tetra said. I could tell she was being sincere, but this was still the sticking point for me, and getting around it had made it easier for me to deal with the entire procedure.
"I know, but that's the case now. It might not be forever, but even if you never change your mind, you shouldn't be limited like that." I smiled. "I don't deal in limits. There are a lot of restrictions that come with being a Kamui. They're a tradeoff for that kind of connection and power, but also a restriction. A way to make sure certain things are no longer possible."
"The S-Class stuff." Tetra said darkly. "All the bad stuff. Mind control, assimilation, planetary destruction."
I nodded. "I understand why other people would be worried about that, but frankly with the scale we'll be looking at, I don't want to take anything off the table." I shook my head with a grin. "Plus, you're far from the only member of the team who can threaten a planet." That got a spark of amusement from her. "The alternate forms will have that kind of thing covered. You can be a Kamui without giving up any of your capabilities. Most of the details of the alt-modes are set, so really the last point is what we'll be integrating from the Volcanic Forge."
I saw Tetra shift awkwardly. "I'm not sure." She admitted. "It was hard enough to choose when it was just materials, but we have energy now, and weird types of energy." She dropped her head. "If we wait until the morning Aisha might be able to help pick something from the Prismatic Laboratory, but that's a delay, and there might be more reasons to delay in the morning, and then more after that…"
"I get it." I assured her. "But we still have to pick something. I know you were leaning towards Stygian Iron, but that energy is kind of volatile."
"But you can handle it, right?" She asked.
"I can, and so can Tybalt. Fleet, Survey, the Matrix, and Garment are only nebulously alive, at least as far as underworld energy is concerned, so they won't have to worry about it, but Aisha will need to be careful, even with her Aura, and I don't think anyone in the outside world would be able to deal with it safely." I explained.
Honestly, it was like a challenge to come up with some way of making the already destructive life fibers even more devastating. Infusing them with the essence of Stygian Iron would just about do it, and the potential for what that would mean in actual combat were anyone's guess. I had to admit, if Tetra was going for maximum offensive power she couldn't do much better than that.
"Survey's still saying I should go with Cybertonium, or living metal. Or the energy that facilitates transformations." Tetra said while scrunching her nose.
"I know that's an old argument between you, but she really does believe it's the best choice." I said. "Survey can be a bit intense at times, but mostly that's from a place of good intentions and concern."
The concern was something I would need to discuss with her, probably the next time I helped her with advancements in her coding. And dealing with any logic loops that she hadn't been able to manage on her own or with Fleet's help. A big takeaway from Dr. Campbell was clearing the air and opening communication on topics that had been avoided, usually for fairly poor reasons. As draining as this kind of thing could be, especially after therapy, it was better to get it out of the way than let things fester.
Besides, it would only be a few relative seconds after movie night, at least from an external perspective.
"She doesn't make a bad case." Tetra admitted, once again in a medium that Survey would never overhear. "But there are so many other choices, and I know she will never let it go if I actually agree with her."
I smiled at that, being quite familiar with that particular dynamic.
"There is still time to make the decision." I said. "The designs aren't based on a particular material being integrated, so that gives a fair amount of freedom. There's also hybridization. I could use it to integrate a second set of designs, which would mean a second material integration…"
"But that would be fixed." Tetra said. "Where if you don't use Hybridization Theory you can add or remove hybridizations later. Even to your other Teigu."
I nodded. That was a complex procedure, but with my speed powers I could perform it on the fly. Really it came down to better options to start vs limited potential and versatility going forward. It wasn't an easy choice, which is why it was yet to be settled. Funnily enough, the easy choices got made quickly, leaving only the difficult decisions to fester until the last minute.
As Tetra was pondering the possibilities I felt the Forge move again. The slowed rotation had allowed even more reach to amass, leading to the largest amount I had ever assembled. As the Size constellation drifted towards me one of the remaining large motes was easily secured and pulled towards me.
The relative ease of the task belied the magnitude of what was approaching me. A veritable nova descending through my mind, familiar and strange at the same time, though the motes it shared origin with were ones I had acquired a long time ago, at least comparably. The Workshop shook as the arrival of the blazing mote brought with it facilities, items, and memories giving context to some of my earliest struggles with the Forge.
Born of light and metal through the very heartbeat of creation. Ushered into servitude, then broken free through the struggles of all, united as one. A life beyond measure, stretching through the ages of the stars. A war for freedom giving way to a golden utopia. Then deterioration. Plague, famine, and strife, and war once again. A final war that split the world and left it a dying cinder of what it once was.
That was my experience. A life beyond human measure. Beyond the comprehension of the human mind. Because it wasn't a life of a human mind. It was a machine's life. Not that of a tool or mindless drone, though it came with exposure to those who would treat it as such. A life of a Cybertronian. Of a Transformer. Of an Autobot.
I saw Tetra looking up at me as the shaking finally settled, the Cybertronian Forge granted by my power fully installed with the full context of what it meant burning in my mind. I was struck by the magnitude of the experience. The scale of it. How did you even begin to explain something like that? How could you encapsulate a life measured in hundreds of thousands of years? Where would you even start?
Well, at the beginning, of course, and given the nature of my first memories, I knew exactly how to encapsulate my early experiences through a single, clear statement.
"Fuck the Quintessons!"
"Seriously?" Aisha asked as we took in the additions to the Workshop. The Cybertronian Forge had been added near the Garage, allowing easy access to the comically oversized bays, which was handy considering how comically oversized the Cybertronian Forge was. Considering it was the kind of facility designed to produce ships that could measure their length in miles, it was a rather fortunate arrangement.
"Seriously." I said. "I have memories going back to the Age of Wrath. Well, the tail end of it anyway, but I remember the Quintesson occupation. I was 'born' into it."
"And that was really you?" She asked, looking at a recently filled parking bay.
The entirety of the team had gathered and were unsurprisingly not focused on the hyper advanced alien assembly plant the size of a small town that was capable of literally printing everything from drone armies to warships out of Cybertonium. No, they were focused on perhaps the firmest connection I had received to a previous life, the inert eight-meter-tall robot standing in a parking bay. Looking up at it brought on an unsettling feeling, considering I was effectively looking at my previous body.
"It was." I said. "That was what, or who I was on Cybertron."
"Jesus." Aisha muttered as Tetra craned her neck from my shoulder to look up at the Transformer body. Survey was joining the session through another remote hologram while maintaining her scrying work, but Fleet, Tybalt, Garment, and the Matrix had all made personal appearances.
Tybalt raised a hand and indicated to the sidearms while meowing a question.
"No, not really military grade." I explained. "Battle Pistol and Energon Melee Weapon. I mean, plenty powerful by Earth standards, but against an ion blaster or photon burst rifle they're hardly worth mentioning."
"So, you can remember it?" Aisha asked. "Like, actually remember being a transformer?"
"I could sort of remember it before." I explained. "I just didn't have context like I do now. Even then, it's not complete. There are big gaps, but I'm not sure how much of that is incomplete memories and how much is just based on how Transformer's minds work."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
I looked up at the robot's face. My face, at least in the memories I had. "Transformers live a really long time, but they don't live varied lives. If you're doing the same thing over and over for thousands of years you might retain a couple of details to refine your technique, or whenever you have a bit of information, but otherwise the days blend together. Literally. Outside of major events, long term memory is stored more as a function than a data record." I shrugged. "It's why personalities don't change that much, even over millennia."
"Millenia." She said, looking between me and the robot. "So how old are you? Were you? Whatever."
"I'm not exactly sure. I'd say at least nine hundred thousand years." I said.
"Nine hundred thousand?" Aisha gasped.
"Well, there was the Quintessons occupation, then the emancipation and war that ended the Age of Wrath. Then the reforms that led to the Golden Age. The Age of Expansion, but I didn't deal with the colonies. Then there was the Plague of Rust and the schism and quarantine. That led to the energon famine, unrest, Functionism Revolts, The Rebellion, and finally the Great War." I shook my head. "Don't remember anything after that. No other version of Earth, so either I wasn't part of that trip or… something else happened."
Aisha raised a hand, causing me to pause. "Alright, I know I could find out all of this through some nerd wikis of whatever, and I know that Survey is putting together a summary as we speak, thank you for that, I'll look at it later." She said to Survey's hologram. "But as the only person who's not connected to a computer or blessed with war sense, I'm going to need some extra details here."
Survey reminded me that a neural implant or properly programmed set of nanites could address Aisha's concerns in that area. I acknowledged her opinions on the first suggestion and the rough timeline for the second. She did have a point, as even Tetra was digging through files and references through her infrared links.
"Okay, what do you want to know?" I asked Aisha.
"Uh, okay. First up, Quintessons? What's with your hate boner for them?" She asked.
I frowned. "The Quintessons were multi-faced squid monsters. They invaded Cybertron and enslaved the Transformers. Rearranged the society to suit themselves and even changed the way Transformers were… I guess 'born'? The way they formed on the planet so they came out with less personality and independence. Towards the end they didn't even have names. That was the period my memories date from."
"Shit. So, they were overthrown or whatever?" Aisha asked, watching my expression.
"Yep." I said with a grin. "War of Emancipation. First war I fought in. Drove them off the planet and secured it for the Transformers."
"Which kind of explains the 'golden age' thing." She said, "I'm just trying to get the broad strokes here. I'm guessing the Plague of Rust wasn't literal rust?"
"No." I said, as memories of that event flitted through my mind. "Microorganism that broke down Cybertronian metals. It was contained, but required shutting down interplanetary travel and destroying all the space bridges, even the ones integrated into the Titans and City Formers." I shook my head. "Things had been trending downward, but losing access to the colonies meant that supply and energy problems got even worse."
"Right, that would be the Functionism Revolts?" Aisha checked.
"Actually, that was a separate issue." I explained.
"Okay, what was 'Functionism' and why did it cause Revolts?" Aisha asked.
I felt my expression drop slightly. "Functionism was the idea that a transformer's place in society was based on the nature of their alt-mode. Basically, your job was whatever you turned into. Developed into a full caste system with discrimination based on alt-modes. It was something that the Quintessons started, but it ended up being picked up by the new government."
Aisha blinked. "Wow, so you fought a war to end slavery and still ended up with racism in the aftermath." I gave her a flat look. "Hey, don't look at me, you were the one who insisted on those Social Studies classes for the GED program."
"Yeah, well, not exactly a one to one, but there are some broad parallels." I said.
"And where did you fit in that?" She asked. "I mean, that's a Transformer. It can transform, right?"
"It can, or I can. It's complicated. Anyway, the top caste was for Transformers with scientific, artistic, or government roles. Middle caste was technical and engineering work. Lower caste was made of miners, haulers, and laborers."
"Hold on, didn't Optimus Prime turn into a truck?" Aisha asked. "Wait, do you remember Optimus Prime?"
"No." I said. "Specifics from the war are part of the gaps in my memory. But yeah, Optimus Prime would have been lower caste." I paused, then smiled. "Megatron too."
"Really?" Aisha asked.
"He turned into a handgun. That's basically the level of a security guard under Functionism." I shook my head. "I mean, between Megatron and Optimus Prime, it was like a world war coming down to a conflict between a mall cop and a teamster."
"That's funny?" Aisha asked.
"It spits in the face of Functionism, so kind of?" I explained, then gestured towards my Transformer body. "Anyway, my alt-mode was a remote diagnostic and repair unit. Basically, a tech van for dealing with on-site problems."
"So, you were tech support, for hundreds of thousands of years?" Aisha asked, looking suitably horrified by the concept.
"Yeah, middle cast role, but not exactly pleasant work. That elective memory thing is kind of a blessing at that scale of time."
"I can imagine." She said, "But this is still your body? I mean, like it was before? For all your powers and stuff?"
"It is." I said, helping Tetra down from my shoulder as I approached the robot. "Like the Wishes were, only this has a stronger connection. I should be able to…"
I reached out and pressed my fingers against the Cybertonium metal of the robot's legs. Then I activated my optics and shifted my weight, looking down at the rest of the Forge.
"Huh." I said, hearing an electronic tinge to my voice. "Easier than I thought it would be." I paused as I looked down. "Didn't really expect that."
"Uh, yeah." Aisha said, looking up at me. Meanwhile Garment had pulled out her sketch book again and I dreaded to think what kind of inspiration this might have wrought.
Merging with my transformer body had brought all my powers with me, including Monstrous Strength. My eight meter body was now twelve meters tall and showing the signs of both Monstrous Strength's Gigas form and Cyborg Godbody's distinct style of cybernetics. In fact, I could feel the potential for further change. The additional height of Titan's Blood and even my Zoanthrope transformation, ready to be unleashed.
Every other modification my powers had imparted on my body, from my magic circuits to my familiar bond was still present. In fact, based on Garment and Aisha's reactions, I was willing to bet that Aphrodite's Blessing was still somehow in effect, despite the absolute mess it had to work with. I honestly didn't know how even a goddess of beauty could salvage this combination for anyone outside of very specific internet communities.
But the change wasn't just physical. Sure, the unnatural nature of my Transformer body meant my Unnatural skills had received another boost, one set to grow even further when I unleashed the rest of my transformations, but that wasn't what I was focused on. I wasn't just living in a Cybertronian body, I was thinking with a Cybertronian mind. The kind of computer brain that would elevate even an average intellect to genius levels.
But for me it wasn't the speed of thought of computational abilities, it was the nature of how thoughts were processed, stored, and recalled. It was the perfect match for the memories I had been struggling with ever since Master Builder had hit me upside the head in that mall parking lot. Suddenly everything I had labored to understand snapped into perfect clarity. It wasn't a human way of looking at the world, but it was functional, efficient, and incredibly familiar.
Once again, without Mental Fortress it might have been the kind of thing I could have gotten lost in, or become overwhelmed by. Instead, it was merely an interesting note. A puzzle piece and point of interest rather than a siren's song.
Still, there was one other application of this form I wanted to test out. I began striding towards the Cybertronian Forge. Despite the power and size of the structure, despite the daily free energon it generated and the limitless supplies of a metal I had struggled to obtain, it was the kind of thing that wouldn't seem that significant at the moment. Something that was useful, but basically a novelty compared to what I could do.
But only compared to what I could do, because it was considered independently of me. A version of me who existed as a divine cyborg, powerful but still limited in what he could do. Not a version of me that persisted as a completely mechanical existence, with everything that implied. Including the application of my own powers.
Hybridization Theory combined two machines into one, merging all of their strengths while compensating for their weaknesses. It was something I had been able to use with my implant and my cybernetics. It was never something I had been able to apply to myself.
Until now.
Working with beyond lightning speed, I rebuilt my Transformer body, hybridizing it into the Cybertronian Forge. The immense structure became an extension of my body, it's databanks my memories, it's fabricators my hands.
My hands, specifically, with everything that implied. Making everything handmade. With Cybertonium as a base material and the enhanced effect of Daedalus' Student in effect. And all my other powers, covering speed, resources, and quality. The machine that poured forth from the Cybertronian Forge was shaped at incredible speed with levels of quality and inherent enhancements beyond the skill of any mortal craftsmen.
Then I disentangled my body from the Cybertronian Forge, and then separated myself from that body. I stepped out of my Transformer's form once again a mere nine feet tall, looking over the gleaming ship that now hovered in one of the Garage's bays.
"Okay, what was that?" Aisha asked, while the rest of the team was reviewing diagrams and technical specs.
"Hybridized with the Cybertronian Forge. Let me use all my powers when building something." I gestured to the massive miles long ship that had been constructed in seconds. "Like that city ship."
"City ship?" Aisha asked, finally bringing up her own screen to skim through technical diagrams.
"Not a proper City Former. Can't make one without a spark. It's a Cybertronian colony vessel. Unfolds into an entire city. Except it was built with all of my powers, so you know…"
"Magic city?" Aisha suggested. "Literal silver city? Gleaming city on a hill?"
"Basically." I said. "We can test it out in the storage area, but really, I just wanted to put this through its paces. See if I could actually do that."
"Well, good fucking job." Aisha said. "Jesus." She added as she watched an animation of the city unfolding, gleaming spires stretching into the sky as support structures spread across the ground around it. "I can't imagine what it will be like when we can break out this kind of stuff."
I smiled. "Looking forward to it. But one thing at a time." I looked up at my Transformer body, then over to Tetra. "And we know what comes next."
She perked up and waved a little mink paw at me. The Transformer body would strengthen my Unnatural Skills, letting me take things just a bit further, but the time for buildup was done. Tetra was ready to become a Kamui.
Jumpchain abilities this chapter:
Cybertronian Forge (Transformers) 600:
Somehow a good portion of your warehouse is now a mini cybertronian factory. This automatic factory prints out Cybertonium, a material that Transformers bodies are made out of. This is a room temperature super conductor and is the basis of all Cybertronian technology. It also functions as a 3D printer, but its programming is blank ready for input.
ROBOTS IN DISGUISE! - Medium Chassis (Transformers) Free:
Medium Chassis, Size: 5m (16ft 5in) to 8m (26ft 2in). You're a robot now; as such you don't need to breathe, eat, or sleep. You do require Energon to survive, without it you'll go into stasis lock. This stasis lock last forever unless your spark (lifeforce) is extinguished or you get enough Energon back in your systems. As a Transformer your strength depends on your chassis, Small Chassis can lift 25tons (22t), Medium Chassis can lift 50tons (45t), and Large Chassis can lift 100tons (90t). Transformers brain circuits are not unlike a highly advanced super computer, giving the average transformer a level of intelligence similar to that of human geniuses. Your robot body is extremely tough to damage, military grade anti- materiel weapons and Energon weapons are only thing that are capable of damaging you. Even then the average transformer can take a beating and survive.
Altmode (Transformers) Free:
All Transformers have an Altmode which is either an animal or machine. You can turn into any animals or machine that you fits your Chassis type. You can choose to change into any animal or vehicle form that you've seen in your previous adventures, or for the future you can scan it. For maximum size in your Alt form you take your robot form and add +2m (6ft 6in) to its maximum height or in case of planes, wingspan. Beast Wars Era Transformers can only choose animal or beast like forms, they've lost their ability to change into vehicles or other machines.
Energon Melee Weapon (Transformers) Free:
Every bot worth their Energon has a melee weapon, these weapons like everything else runs on Energon but are very efficient and practically never run out of Energon.
Energon Battle Pistol (Transformers) Free:
This is a pistol. Reload required after 8 shots. Comes with 5x zoom.
Energon (Transformers) Free:
In your warehouse an Energon Cube appears every 24hrs. Don't worry about your Transformers body, Post-Jump you don't require Energon for it. Normal transformers need an Energon Cube, which is equivalent of 1000 barrels of oil, every day. This is like the 4000 calories active duty soldiers take in. Beast Wars era, they can subsist off of an Energon Cube for 1 month. You can convert other forms of energy into Energon, but it's very inefficient. Any other fuel source other than Energon corrodes the systems of a Transformer, it's like poison.
Decepticon Terrorize! (Transformers) Free:
You've retained your robotic body, but now can switch between human and whatever form you choose and back. You'll never run out of Energon and routine maintenance is no longer a thing. You can store your robotic body in your warehouse and jump into it at any point; or ride around/on top of its alternative form. Either way it's up to you which you choose, and switching out is easy as dropping off equipment.
