The humble Oryctolagus cuniculus, or White Rabbit if you prefer, slowly nibbled and munched at the green grass while the sun shines down upon its fur. The warming light mixed with the birds chirping and filling the air with their serene music, worked to create a peaceful and calm environment while the Rabbit enjoyed his grassy green breakfast. It was quite a nice day...
Until the ground began to slightly shake, with the Rabbit turning to the rock wall that was part of the mountain begin to visibly shift and chance, as the ground itself in front of the wall seemed to lower into a ramp while the rock split in half and moved apart, opening a doorway of some kind. Before the rabbit could actually see inside the opened door, the sound of deep rumbiling was heard as a massive purple metal behemoth sped out of the doorway toward the bunny, flying off the ramp and through the air before landing and driving off along the path deeper into the forest. The bunny fell back on its butt as it shook its head before turning back to see the doorway close.
Fluttershy was going to love hearing about this.
Shockwave was surprised that the planet had fully finished its rotation cycle and began a new one while he was in his laboratory, still expecting the cycle to be in its night phase. It would appear he was correct about this planet having a different form of time-zone, approximately having the sun set three hours late and rise three hours early, resulting in the disruption of the twenty-four hour day equation. Adjustments would have to be made to his internal clock as well as his time dilation theory when he returned to the lab.
Adapting to this world was one of his main goals with the field testing of the new Sonic Disruption Modulator, or SDM, an attachment to his main cannon which would help incapacitate all forms of creatures for research. It could also be used as a non-lethal method for dealing with the locals and allow him to make an escape before they spread the word of his existence. Even if they likely possessed primitive technology as seen by their cart, they could still pose a threat. Perhaps those farmers he had protected from death by timberwolf mauling would be able to tell their friends he was not a threat and should be left alone.
Though that was just the more expressive side of him having high hopes, the more logical scenario was they would believe he was either a product of hysteria and hallucination, or nobody would believe them. Either way, it would work in his favor and allow him to carry out his research both un-impeded and un-interrupted. However, studying the local populace could be an interesting side project... Perhaps engineering their technological advancement, biological enhancing their physiology and anatomy via subtle genetic tampering, perhaps even utilizing advanced psychological manipulation to convince them he was some sort of deity, the possibilities were endless.
But the most logical one, was taking the role of the observer.
Some say it was a boring role, but one can learn many things from simply observing the activities of a planet's wildlife. One can learn their habits, instincts, diet, combat experience, reproduction methods, mating rituals, and many other factors of local indigenous life. All of it can be learned from simply watching and learning.
Of course, he may have to get up close and personal, testing his own theories to gather data, as he was doing right now. Even if this test went awry, it would likely not affect him. And even if it did cause a form of damage to his chassis or his internal systems, he could simply make a quick retreat back to his lab for repairs. While said repairs would take time due to his laboratories limited power and equipment capabilities, it would not really matter, as being a Cybertronian granted the perk of theoretically possessing all the time in the world, or perhaps even the universe.
It would also give him a chance to check up on why his personality has seemingly split in two, especially with the two halves both having their own conscience.
However, Shockwaves heavy thinking was great enough to trigger his other half to speak inside his own head.
'You do realize I can hear what you think, yes?'
'Quiet, I am thinking to myself, and would prefer to have some privacy while I do so.'
'Well sadly we are stuck in the same head, so think quieter, because I am trying to think as well, and cannot do so because of your over-complicated self-indulging speech. Apologies for the outburst of course, but you know it to be true.'
'It is clear that this is no longer a mere psychological effect or technical fault.'
'You could possibly be suffering from Cybertronian Psychosis, as Split-Personality is a common symptom.'
'Ironic, most assumed we were already insane, now we potentially are, although we have not conducted a proper diagnosis.'
'Is the proper term really We? Technically it is just you, or me, but now that I think about it, it would cause some confusion. Perhaps if I transmuted myself into the Laboritories Central Computer System upon our return, we could solve both the lack of an AI to look after our facility, and also clear up some head space for you.'
'That would be a logical solution to the problem. However, how exactly would you achieve such a thing?'
'I recall us viewing the data records of the Decepticons activities before our arrival aboard the Nemesis, and according to the logs, the autobot Bumblebee managed to enter the mind of Megatron, who was in a state of Stasis recovering from intense injuries. According to the logs, Bumblebee utilized a Cortical Pyschic Patch to enter Megatron's mind, apparently to retrieve the formula for a cure to the Cybonic plague, which had infected-'
'You do not need to explain the whole log, simply state your point.'
'My point is, by connecting a cortical pyschic patch to the facilities mainframe, I should theoretically be able to access it and upload myself into the CPU. Thus, I will be out of your head, literally. Now then, let us focus on the task at hand.'
Shockwave's optic brightened as he rapidly shook his head, regaining his awareness while he observed his surroundings, seeing no notable changes to the environment, aside from a few more leaves on the ground, likely dislodged from the surrounding via wind force. Now having fully recovered from his heavy thought, he raised his hand and activated his audio recorder.
"Note to self, deep thinking and talking with your split personality results in reduction of sensory functions and environmental awareness. Not advisable to perform 'Deep-Thinking' during scenarios requiring high sensory aptitude."
Finishing the recording, Shockwave lowered his arm and continued walking along the path, his antenna raised to sense any form of sound. And while he did not hear any unusual sounds, he did hear a more familiar one...
The distinct growling of a Timberwolf. Quickly turning to see a singular wolf growling and snarling at him, Shockwave wondered how many of these wooden creatures were in this forest, and how they were all able to identify him. Perhaps they shared a type of psionic link, or are simply parts of a singular entity or potentially a Hivemind. Regardless, an oppurtunity to test the SDM, as Shockwave raised his cannon, diverting it's charge to the small sonar dish as it glowed and pulsed with purple energy, before firing a ringed pulse right at the wolf. Upon impact, a garbled electronic howl rang out and the creature howled before it broke into tiny pieces of wood and timber.
"Sonic Disruption Modulator test is officially a success. With tuning of power levels and creating an independent power supply to prevent charge delay, this weapon can be considered successful. It shall be useful for neutralizing targets with both lethal and non-lethal methods. Commence return vector to laboratory."
Shockwave said before transforming into his tank mode, driving down the path towards the mountain.
All the while, a tiny rabbit sat and watched the whole thing.