Chapter 6
“Wheeljack lie! Wheeljack is stupid Autobot!” Grimlock was still fuming about the space bridge incident.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I had nothing to do with what happened! I put absolutely nothing in that wasn’t in Perceptor’s blueprints,” responded Wheeljack, “Just because a new invention blows up or acts funny, doesn’t mean I’m the one who’s responsible!”
When Optimus and the others disappeared fourteen hours ago, none of the Autobots had panicked. They thought it was all part of the plan. But after a few minutes of waiting without receiving a call from Optimus, they began to worry. They had checked the coordinates, which were designated just outside the nearest city. They went there to see if Optimus and the others were there but they were not. When the Autobots checked Teletraan 1 to scan the globe and the rest of the galaxy for their signatures, there were no results. It was unanimously decided that there had been a disruption and the others were elsewhere in the galaxy. Since then the Autobots had been scanning every star cluster for as much as a sign.
Perceptor turned away from Teletraan 1. “Wheeljack, I highly doubt that this is an effective way of finding Optimus and the others. It could take us years to find them!”
“It’s the only way Perceptor,” Wheeljack said as he finished searching a star cluster, and moved on to the next one, “We don’t have a device that instantly tells us where anything is at any given moment.”
“Perhaps I could-“
“Don’t bother. I was only joking. Besides, something like that is logically impossible, and will you get out of my face!”
Wheeljack’s last line surprised Perceptor. He turned around to see that Wheeljack was actually referring to Grimlock, who had gotten a little too close to the mad scientist’s work.
“But me Grimlock want to help!”
“Trust me Grimlock, the best way you and everyone else can help is if you all just stand guard and watch out for the Decepticons. Perceptor and I have to stay focused!”
“Humph! Fine!” With that Grimlock stormed out of the base.
Wheeljack put his palm against his head briefly, and then resumed work. The two continued working for another half hour, when Perceptor brought up a startling idea.
“Wheeljack, a thought just hit me, what if we are looking in the wrong places?”
Wheeljack turned around. “I’m listening.”
“What if Optimus and the others were not transported to another part of this galaxy? What if they were sent to another dimension?”
“Another dimension?!” Wheeljack was caught completely off guard. “Perceptor, you’re the smartest and most logical Autobot I know! I could never imagine you saying that! That’s crazy even for me!”
“Look just hear me out,” Perceptor said. He grabbed a piece of paper and drew a circle on it. “Now Wheeljack, imagine this circle here is our world of existence,” Perceptor then drew a line down the middle of the paper and began dotting the half without the circle. “Now imagine this line separates us from all of these dimensions here, represented by the dots. Now I have reason to believe that if a normally functioning space bridge can defy the laws of physics, a chaotic space bridge can go beyond that,” Perceptor then drew a line that connected the circle to one of the dots.
“Perceptor you can’t be serious…”
“I am serious Wheeljack! In fact I’m going to that bridge right now to test my hypothesis on the coordinate grid!”
Perceptor quickly walked out of the room with Wheeljack following him. When the others saw Perceptor at the bridge and Wheeljack acting frantic, they came over.
“Hey, what’s going on over here?” Jazz asked.
Wheeljack put a hand on Perceptor’s shoulder. “Look, Perceptor, it’s just a waste of time don’t bother. Besides, even if your idea does work, who knows how many dimensions there are to check?”
“Did you say dimensions?” Blaster asked.
“Yeah. Apparently Perceptor has this crazy idea that Optimus and the others are in another dimension. Silly, right? Now I’m just trying to-“
Perceptor spoke up. “I did it.”
“What?”
“I did it. I reverse magnified the coordinate grid on this device so much that now I am actually seeing data about other worlds!”
“What? Let me see that!” Wheeljack got in close to the grid. He stared at it for a long time. “We gotta get this information to Teletraan 1 now!”
With some skill, the Autobots removed the space bridge’s data chip and inserted it into Teletraan 1. Teletraan 1 uploaded the data, and displayed it on its screen. The entire picture was a black canvas crowded with small white lights.
“Teletraan 1, what exactly are we looking at?” Wheeljack asked.
Teletraan 1 responded. “Visual on screen shows clusters of alternate dimensions.”
“How many are there?”
“Counting……….unable to properly calculate. Estimations are in the hundreds of trillions.”
“By Primus. Teletraan, can you gain a positive identification on Optimus’ or any of the other missing Autobots’ energy signatures?”
“Scanning……….identification confirmed.”
The Autobots cheered at this good news.
“However, results indicate an unspecific location. Signature emitting from this general cluster.” The screen zoomed in on one of the chart’s corners, but the picture still looked the same. “It will take time to pinpoint the exact destination of Optimus Prime and the others.”
The Autobots groaned in frustration. “How long will that take?” Jazz asked.
“Approximate time…..unknown.”
At the Decepticon underwater base…
Astrotrain leaned back on Megatron’s chair. “Heh! This is almost too perfect! Not only is Megatron gone, but those buffoons Starscream and Soundwave are missing too! Ah-ha-ha-ha! Looks like I’m calling the shots now!”
Ramjet walked up to Astrotrain. “Who said you get to be in charge now? It should be I, the mighty Ramjet who should lead the Decepticons!”
“Neither of you fools are fit to lead,” Blitzwing called out, “I should be the new leader!”
“None of you slagging morons are fit to lead,” a voice said behind the trio. It was Scrapper.
“Oh, and I suppose a little Constructicon like you will lead us to glory? I think not,” Astrotrain said.
“No, it will not be me,” Scrapper said calmly, “Unlike you idiots, I don’t dare attempt to usurp Megatron unless I know for sure he is offline. So, I assume he still functions, and so, I am participating in a rescue mission. Me, and the other Constructicons have contacted somebody more… competent than you three to lead us until we get Lord Megatron back.”
“Oh really, who?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Scrapper stepped to the side.
Out from the shadows of the hall emerged a large figure with a single eye in the middle of his otherwise featureless face.
“I will be your temporary leader until we get Lord Megatron back,” Shockwave said, “Now, get to work!”