Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

As soon as Agent Fuller's helicopter flew out of the base area, several Autobots surrounded Graviton.

Smokescreen tried to speak several times, but was pushed aside by the Bumblebee next to it. Finally, the two young machines spoke at the same time, and the base hall was thrown into chaos.

"Your Honor, I'll ask first! Just one question, no, maybe a few, but all quickly—"

Bumblebee's voice suddenly rose: "You clearly said yesterday that I would go first!"

Smokescreen retorted, "Now we should proceed according to the order in which the questions were asked!"

Arcee: "Who ranked you in order?"

The partitioned side tried to mediate: "Why don't we all sit down and talk it over?"

"Slowly?" The ambulance driver, carrying a diagnostic instrument, approached, his face grim, interrupting all other calls. "She recently fell into a coma, then went to the Retribution ship, retrieving ten dangerous devices in a row, and just now she had such a long talk with the human government. How long are you planning to leave her standing here being questioned?"

Smokescreen whispered, "So what do you want to do?"

"Let's go to the medical room first."

"Why should you go first?"

The ambulance raised the testing equipment, and Yan Mu looked at the medical officer's face, but ultimately swallowed the rest of her sentence.

Medical authority is to some extent higher than that of the leader at the Autobot base.

Arcee crossed her arms: "I'm second."

"I'm third!" Smokescreen immediately declared.

Bumblebee grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Then I'm fourth."

Partition: "I'm fine with anything."

The jazz musician, who had been leaning against the wall the whole time, smiled when he heard this and said, "I'm last."

The vector watched as they actually started arranging the order: "Can I refuse?"

"No." Ambulance lane.

The other machines nodded in unison, a rare occurrence.

Optimus Prime stood not far away, not joining in. When the vector looked at him, he quietly looked away, showing no intention of helping her.

This machine had asked her a few days ago to respect the choices of other machines, and now it's immediately putting theory into practice.

Her retribution came swiftly.

-

The moment the medical room door closed, the ambulance put her on the examination table.

"I've done a full test," the vector indicator reminded me.

"I didn't do it."

"The precision of the judicial central medical system is about the same as that of the Autobots."

"It's different." The ambulance moved the scanning frame over and examined the brain module from the ignition chamber all the way up.

The vector could only sit, as light slowly swept across the surface of the outer armor. The fire was stable, the brain module was functioning normally, there was no abnormal load in the memory area, and there were no traces of unfamiliar consciousness in the body.

All the data matched her previous test results, but the ambulance still checked her twice more.

"If there's no problem, why are you frowning?"

The ambulance driver put down the diagnostic equipment: "Are you sure you're alright?"

The vector paused for a moment: "Isn't the detection result written there?"

"That's not what I was asking."

The medical room fell silent. An ambulance stood before her, its expression still grim, but not because any illness had been discovered.

"You died once," he said. "Then you woke up on a completely unfamiliar planet, your body damaged, with no identity. Then you went through war, a coma, and a whole bunch of other messy things."

"It's all in the past," said the vector.

"You always say that," the ambulance driver's tone hardened. "Does that mean as long as the system is still working and you can get up and work, everything is over for you?"

That sounds familiar... Why is every machine suddenly researching her problem? These research findings could practically be compiled into a paper!

"What do you want to say?" Vector asked helplessly.

The ambulance looked at her and said, "I'm wondering if I've ever been a good medical officer."

The vector was stunned: "What?"

"I have examined your body, treated your injuries, and know that your spark structure is different from other Cybertronians, but I don't know what you experienced when you first woke up."

That's not your problem.

"I am a medical officer."

"Medical officers are not omniscient or omnipotent."

"But the medical officer isn't just responsible for patching armor and reconnecting wiring!" the ambulance suddenly raised its voice.

A slight knocking sound came from outside the door; probably one of the eavesdropping devices had been startled and bumped into the wall.

The ambulance glared at the door, and silence immediately returned outside.

He looked at the vector again, his voice softening: "I know you have no obligation to say, since medicine can't explain these things. But I still feel that perhaps I've never let you think that some things can be left to the medical officer."

After a moment of silence, Yin Xiang said, "No. I was just unsure of what had happened back then. Once I accepted my current identity, that past no longer had any impact, and I no longer needed treatment."

Ambulance driver: "How do you know you don't need it?"

"Because I'm fine now."

"here we go again."

The wise man of the vector is to shut up.

The ambulance driver took a long breath: "I only want you to promise me one thing."

The vector had a bad feeling.

"Notify me immediately of any abnormalities related to consciousness, memory, or the spark."

Just as Yin Xiang was about to say "as much as possible," she met the ambulance's glare and finally whispered, "...Okay."

The ambulance driver's expression finally softened, and he reached out and pressed heavily on her shoulder armor: "Also, once you return to Cybertron from Earth, I'm going to give you another full checkup."

"Why another checkup?"

"Because your spark has experienced two life forms."

"What does this have to do with changing planets?"

"We don't know at the moment."

"Then what are you checking?"

"That's why we need to check!"

The medical logic has fallen into a closed loop, leading to the abandonment of the debate.

The ambulance opened its doors, and the several Transformers outside immediately dispersed, pretending they had just happened to be standing near the medical room.

"Next," the ambulance driver said impatiently.

Arcee walked in.

The smokescreen tried to peek inside, but the ambulance shoved it back, and the door closed again.

-

Arcee didn't sit down; she stood in front of the examination table, crossed her arms, and looked at the vector for a while.

Will you stay with the humans?

She didn't lay any groundwork or ask her why she had kept it a secret before.

The vector replied, "I will stay on Earth for a while."

Arcee frowned. "No, I meant if you would choose to be human again."

The optical mirror of the vector sensor flickered slightly: "I have no way to turn back into a human."

"What if there's a way?" Arcee asked directly.

The vector did not answer immediately, nor did Arcee urge her.

She had lost too many opportunities. Some died right before her eyes, some didn't even have time to leave a last word. Now she just wanted to know if the vector had also chosen a different path.

"I don't know what I would think if I really had that choice," Vector finally said, Arcee's shoulder armor tightening slightly. "But I won't give up my identity and life on Cybertron just because I'm going back to Earth. Cybertron is also my home."

"And what about us?" Arcee lowered her arm. "Forget about the Autobot faction issue, I'm asking about us."

Yin Xiang then looked at her seriously and said, word by word, "I will not leave you."

Arcee's expression finally relaxed: "If you choose humanity, I won't say you're wrong."

She took a step closer and grasped the vector's forearm: "But don't disappear without a trace. Please, at least let me know where you've gone."

He shook her hand and said, "Okay."

Arcee didn't linger; she turned and walked towards the door, then paused for a moment:

"Your past experiences won't change our shared memories. I just need to confirm that you're still willing to stand by us."

"Of course I'd like to."

Arcee nodded and smiled. As she opened the door, the smoke almost rushed in with the door.

"Is it my turn?"

Bumblebee issued a series of strong protests from behind.

Arcee walked between the two young machines, leaving behind the words "You guys figure it out yourselves," and then walked away without looking back.

-

As the smoke entered the medical room, before the door was even fully closed, it began to say, "Your Honor, were you really human before?"

"right."

How tall is it?

After roughly comparing the vectors, Smoke Screen looked down at the height and exclaimed, "So small?!"

"……right."

"Shorter than my legs?"

"Say it again, and I'll take your leg off to compare."

The smokescreen immediately changed the question: "Have you ever driven before?"

"I've driven human vehicles."

The smokescreen-like vehicle doors suddenly flapped open: "So you've driven something similar to our vehicle form before? Don't you think that after we transform, we're like...?"

He suddenly stopped.

"Like what?" Yili asked.

"It's nothing."

Smokescreen had clearly thought of a rather impolite metaphor on the spur of the moment, but managed to stop himself from saying it.

He quickly changed the subject: "So you lived twice?"

"Yes."

The smoke cleared, and all the jumbled questions suddenly stopped. He stood there, and the car door flaps slowly closed: "Does it hurt?"

The vector paused for a moment: "When you died?"

The smoke screen nodded.

"I can't remember clearly, but I was more troubled when my body wasn't in good condition at the beginning."

Vector had only intended to lighten the mood with a half-joking remark, but then it noticed that Smokescreen's expression turned very sad, an expression that she wasn't good at handling.

"It's been a long time."

"But that still hurts..." Smokescreen kicked the ground, then after a few seconds whispered, "Your Honor won't abandon us, will you?"

Now we've finally arrived at the real issue.

Smokescreen always has a lot to say, talking about ideals, leaders, battles, and what kind of hero he will become in the future.

But now he just stood there a little flustered, as if the machine he had been looking up at for too long was suddenly telling him that everything belonged to another chapter of his life.

"No," said the vector.

Smokescreen immediately looked up: "Really?"

"real."

"Even if you return to humanity's planet?"

"The Earth won't turn me back into someone else."

"That's wonderful!" The smoke screen instantly cleared. "I knew Your Honor wouldn't abandon us! Actually, I wasn't that worried, I just needed to confirm. After all, you've done so much, and the judicial system has so much work to do. Cybertron can't do without you, and we—"

The sound of an ambulance siren came from outside: "Tell me what you need to say and then come out!"

The smokescreen raised its voice: "Right away!"

Then, turning back, she lowered her voice and continued, "One last question: if—and I mean if—humans knew of our existence, would they make us their toys?"

The vector stared at him expressionlessly: "Get out."

"So it really will?"

"go out."

As she was being pushed out of the medical room, she kept looking back, asking, "Will you take my place?"

The door closed in front of him.

-

Bumblebee waited a long time, but when he came in, he didn't immediately ask any questions like Smokescreen did.

He hesitated several times, as if trying to figure out where to begin, without prompting him.

After a while, Bumblebee raised his head and said, "This is really hard to believe."

He circled the vector, as if trying to find some trace of her former humanity in her current form, but of course he couldn't see anything.

“You taught me this before,” Bumblebee continued, “You can’t decide who a machine is just because of its sound, its body, or its manufacturing method.”

The vector nodded slightly.

"You said it yourself, the subject has the right to define itself." Bumblebee pointed at her. "So, the same goes for this time. You say you are the key vector, then you are."

The medical room was quiet for a moment. She hadn't expected him to repeat what she had said before.

Bumblebee looked at her with his dog-like eyes through his optical glasses, his gaze full of earnestness and trust: "You've taught me a lot and trusted me, so no matter what other machines say, I'll stand by your side."

"I even learned a trick from humans online." Bumblebee then raised his fist, took her hand with his other hand, made a fist with it, and gently touched it to his own.

The vector couldn't help but chuckle; the metal pieces touched lightly together, seemingly carrying warmth.

"But would humans really make robot toys like us?"

Vector reference: "Did the smokescreen send you to ask that?"

Bumblebee immediately shook his head, but the car door wing twitched nervously.

"go out."

He let out a string of laughs, then turned and left.

-

After entering the medical room through the partition, he closed the door and stood there scratching his head: "I'm not very good at talking about this... I don't really understand things like the human soul, past lives, and the continuity of the subject."

"It's okay."

"But I've thought about it." Looking at her through the partition, his tone carried the serious air characteristic of the Thunder Rescue Team. "You fought alongside us, saved us, and helped many machines, both people I knew and didn't know."

He paused for a moment: "So whatever you were before doesn't affect the fact that you'll always be my partner."

The partition only believes in things that have been shared.

The vector smiled and said, "Thank you."

"If I ever cause you any trouble because of this in the future, feel free to call me."

"And then what are you going to do?"

After thinking for a while, the partition originally wanted to blurt out "beat him up," but changed it to: "First, I'll ask you if you can hit him. If you can't, I'll just stand there and scare him."

Pointer vector: "..."

Well, this probably shows that the long-term education provided by the judicial center has yielded quite good results.

The partition extended a huge palm, guiding the vector to place its hand on it. Its fingers carefully closed briefly, then quickly opened again.

"Anyway," he said, "you don't have to worry about me not understanding. I may be slow-witted, but a partner doesn't need to understand everything."

Before leaving the partition, he turned back and added, "The smokescreen made me ask if humans have toys like his."

"no."

"real?"

"..."

The partition nodded: "I'll tell him."

Why does it sound like he still has some regrets?

-

The door to the medical room opened again, and it was much quieter outside.

The ambulance returned to the control panel to continue its work. Arcee stood on the high platform, while Smoke was grabbing the partition and questioning the human toy. Bumblebee chimed in from the side, adding fuel to the fire, and the scene grew increasingly noisy.

Optimus Prime didn't approach, only glancing at the Graviton Vector from afar.

There was only one machine left, and Jazz was still leaning against the original wall.

As Yin Vector walked out of the medical room, he smiled and said, "The last troublesome one."

Jazz stepped away from the wall, slowly walked over, and chuckled to himself.

"What are you going to ask?"

Jazz looked around: "Shall we find a quieter place?"

While the other Autobots were busy with their own things, the audio receiver was clearly pointed in this direction.

The vector pointer looked around and said, "Okay."

The jazz led her to the rest area on the other side of the base, and after walking a distance, he said, "They've finished asking you questions now."

His tone was gentle: "I want to ask about the past."