Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

The top-secret joint talks finally took place.

Crystal Prism, BICk0, and core research members connected remotely, while Optimus Prime and Megatron were present.

Gravity Vector officially released information about artificial energy entities, explaining everything that has now been confirmed.

"The first phase demonstrates its theoretical feasibility in actual manufacturing and organism adaptation."

"The next phase will involve more stringent security verification."

"No military unit is permitted to manufacture or test it on its own before confirmation."

Megatron was deliberately glared at by the vector, but he didn't say anything.

Optimus Prime nodded: "That makes sense."

The ambulance driver reviewed the documents several times, his brain filled with questions. He started by asking the key ones: "How exactly will the safety verification be conducted in the next phase?"

"We need to find volunteers to conduct live testing with extremely small doses," the quotient said. "But volunteers must be completely voluntary, aware of the risks beforehand, monitored by a medical team throughout the process, and have the right to stop the test at any time."

Megatron: "I can provide—"

The vector knew him inside and out, and could almost picture him using military orders and subsidies to lure Decepticons into volunteering:

"We don't need your soldiers; we'll see who volunteers."

After thinking for a moment, Crystal Prism asked, "What if the liveness detection also passes?"

"That's the main part." Yin Vector nodded at the report results. "At that time, we need to decide who will do it, where to do it, standardize the production equipment, set production standards for mass production, formulate allocation plans, consider how the natural energy industry will transition, the subsequent allocation of mining areas, and the quotas for military units."

BICk0 silently opened a new page of meeting minutes, his hands never stopping, while his brain was also sending messages to his own chat box to jot down brief and important notes.

The secretary immediately posed the crucial question: "We've made a preliminary assessment that it's usable, so when will we announce the artificial energy body?"

The vector tactic leans back, revealing the despair of the cows and horses collapsing in a JPG.

This problem is far more troublesome than the artificial energy entity itself; if you tell the entire Cybertron, the public platforms will be overwhelmed in the next moment.

Even before many units have been produced, people have already begun planning to move back to wartime abandoned areas.

Then a bunch of questions popped up: Chief Justice, when will the individual quota restrictions be lifted? Why haven't they been rolled out door-to-door yet? Why didn't you tell us in advance so we could be happy? Cybertron should be rebuilt soon, right? I want to see the Iron Fortress restored to its former glory tomorrow!

Just thinking about the vector pointer gives me a headache.

"Don't make it public yet," she said decisively. "Let's wait until the volunteers have verified it."

Megatron agreed, saying, "Randomly announcing it will only create chaos."

-

Next comes the Iron Fortress database; there's no point in hiding it anymore at this stage.

The vector readily admitted: "The judicial center has recovered all the relics that could be found."

Several machines on site stared intently at her, their expressions remaining unchanged.

The chief judge seems to have reached the highest level of wisdom: as long as he himself is not embarrassed, it is others who are embarrassed.

The secretary stared intently at Yin Xiang, who seemed to have a face as thick as a city wall, and almost believed her composure—after all, she checked the surveillance footage and saw Yin Xiang trying to appear calm while awkwardly digging her toes into the ground.

This is what people on the internet call "awkwardly digging so much dirt that you could dig out a magic castle."

However, she decided to give the Chief Justice some face.

"The only things left to process are the Ultimate Key and the Ultimate Lock."

The vector retrieves the coordinates that are not yet fully resolved.

"There are still three Ultimate Keys left, and their locations haven't been deciphered yet. The same goes for the Ultimate Lock; we didn't have time to work on it before. But the data and coordinates should be in the database."

"Let's all work together now."

The analysis was officially opened to the Autobots, Decepticons, and the judicial central command, instantly more than doubling the efficiency.

Soon, everyone recovered the core function description of the Ultimate Lock.

[It possesses the capability to restart the Cybertronian life system at the planetary level.]

[It can be used to restore Cybertron's core ecosystem and energy cycle.]

The meeting room fell completely silent, and even Yin Zhun was in no mood for jokes.

The secretary stopped taking notes at the meeting, and Jing Leng's expression was unusually blank.

It took Optimus Prime a long time to blink his optical glasses and realize what was happening.

Cybertron can be revived.

This is no longer a long wait with no end in sight.

For a moment, the vector was in a daze. The long-awaited possibility had appeared directly on the screen, and no one could remain calm.

Meanwhile, the familiar thoughts within Megatron's brain module began to stir.

If the Ultimate Lock were in possession, and if it were controlled by the Decepticons—

But in the instant he slightly turned the optical lens, he saw Yin Vector leaning back in his chair, rubbing his forehead.

The exhaustion from these past few days was impossible to hide; even the fins and antennae, which usually revealed her mood, drooped.

Megatron retracted those thoughts. The gravitational vectors couldn't keep an eye on him forever; he had to learn to brake on some things himself: "Find it first."

The secretary looked at the functions, then suddenly remembered something, her tone tinged with anxiety and anticipation:

"If the artificial energy body is successfully created, and the ultimate divine lock is found... will the quota system still be necessary?"

After thinking for a while, Vector realized that Cybertron's energy resources are currently limited, resulting in a limited allocation of energy to everyone. In addition, the assessment system left by the council still has many problems.

She tried to change the parliamentary quota system, but there was only so much energy in total, and it wouldn't amount to much per person, so there wasn't a better solution at the time.

"It's still necessary in the short term."

The secretary let out an "Oh—", her disappointment clearly visible.

Vector suppressed a laugh: "I wasn't finished. If the mass production of artificial energy bodies is stable, and with the repair of the Ultimate Divine Lock, the quota system can indeed be abolished. We can continue to consider the previously unimplemented system of equal power sharing."

"Does that mean I won't have to review so many energy subsidies every day?"

"...That's your first reaction?" Yin Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.

"You know I have to approve a huge pile of documents every day." The secretary pointed the video at the mountain of documents behind her.

"……Too."

Crystal Edge interjected softly, "Several districts on the outer ring of Crystal City have been shut down for quite some time due to energy shortages."

Vector understood her implication: "It will be reused."

-

The ownership of the relics was subsequently re-registered, with most of them still kept at the temporary judicial liaison point.

The reason is simple: the Autobots don't trust the Decepticons, and the Decepticons don't trust the Autobots.

Then let's leave it all alone, with the judicial center continuing to keep it, and both parties will have no further objections.

She was particularly wary of a giant rabbit called Shockwave, unlike Megatron or Optimus Prime, and she was convinced that this thing could create a purpose for the artifact that she didn't really want to know.

As expected, after the news was released, Shockwave sent a private message: [Requesting close-range, targeted research on the relic.]

The vector replied calmly: [Rejected. Do not bring it up again.]

Fortunately, Giant Rabbit agreed and didn't mention it again.

-

However, there are two exceptions to the sacred objects.

The first one is the Star Sword, and the sad truth is that she can't pull it out.

So when she brought Optimus Prime there, she habitually remarked, "It's quite heavy."

Optimus Prime walked to the Star Sword, the giant sword was stuck in its original place, the blade silent.

He gripped the sword hilt, while Yin Liu stood by, waiting to see him exert his strength.

then

Clang——

He pulled out the Star Sword with one hand.

Pointer vector: "..."

The patterns on the blade lit up one after another, and bright fluorescent blue energy rapidly extended along the entire greatsword, finally overflowing from the tip of the blade with a point of white light.

The tall, red and blue machine gripped the holy sword that belonged to Prime, light reflecting into its blue optical lenses.

After looking at the vector for a while, he realized that he hadn't looked away for a long time.

"Very handsome."

The Optimus Prime optical lens paused noticeably, glanced to one side for a moment, and then looked back.

The vector casually looked away, since it was just stating the facts anyway.

-

The second item is the Hammer of the Pride of the Warriors.

The hammer had responded to the gravitational vector, but she still didn't know why.

I could only feel a faint warmth emanating from inside each time I got close, but it would disappear in an instant.

Even after asking Sai Tianjiao, she couldn't give a clear answer, leaving her completely baffled.

Since he couldn't use the core functions of Prime himself, the vector was eventually officially handed over to the Autobots for safekeeping.

When the ambulance driver saw the hammer, its optical scope lit up: "You've been hiding this amazing stuff all this time? And that energy harvester—"

"Don't bring up past grievances!"

The ambulance driver scoffed, seeing that she seemed to have truly learned her lesson this time and was unlikely to repeat the mistake, so he let her go.

The vector stealthily sped away from the ambulance's line of sight.

After the smokescreen, which had bestowed upon the ambulance the title of "the most capable of restraining the Chief Justice," was given an extra taunt of a flick on the forehead.

Ignoring the commotion, Optimus Prime picked up the Hammer of the Sky and examined it for a moment before quickly coming up with an idea.

-

The land bridge at the Autobot base has finally received a complete upgrade.

Although the bridge was basically repaired after the disaster caused by the iron-eating worms, it has been prone to minor problems from time to time.

Every few days, I need an ambulance to fix things with a welding torch and wrench, and I'll also go over and yell at them a couple of times.

Now, a second dispatch team has arrived from Earth, and the transportation of personnel, energy, and equipment between Cybertron and Earth is becoming increasingly frequent.

It is clearly not feasible to rely solely on land bridges with poor contact.

When Optimus Prime submitted the application to upgrade the Space Bridge, Gravity Vector didn't hesitate much: "Approved."

The judicial center is responsible for authority and security review, while the technical aspects are handled by ambulances and jacks.

Optimus Prime then used the Hammer of the Sky to rebuild the severely damaged core.

The hammer struck with a loud clang, and golden energy lit up the damaged bridge.

After being damaged by the iron-eating insects, the internal materials, which could barely be repaired, were reformed, the broken circuits reconnected themselves, and the bridging ring was reconstructed.

Jack's eyes were practically glued to it: "Could I borrow this thing for a couple of days to study it?"

Ambulance: "No."

"I didn't ask you."

"It won't work no matter who you ask."

The vector stood to the side: "Finish the bridge first, then we can discuss your grand dream of dismantling the sacred artifact for research."

Jack: "I didn't say I wanted to dismantle it."

All the cameras were looking at him, their gazes conveying a clear message.

Jack: "...Okay, you can't blame the scientist for this."

-

The new bridge structure is undergoing its first trial run, and its coordinates are no longer limited to Earth. It can travel through interstellar space and eventually make a stable connection to Cybertron.

All test data are normal.

The ambulance driver announced, "Success."

A cheer erupted in the base.

Meiqi had somehow sneaked in, shouting the loudest, jumping around, and even pulling Raffi and Jack along to celebrate, while the people behind the partition laughed along.

Bumblebee was excited and high-fived the smoke screen.

Alita smiled and clapped her hands gently, which made Tianxiao's expression relax a bit.

Then came the first cargo transport test, and there happened to be a batch of mined and packaged energy minerals on Earth.

The partition and Bumblebee transported the boxes inside the bridge, and the secretary was responsible for the security inspection of the goods. Before long, it was confirmed that the transport line could be established safely.

Alita begins coordinating with the Autobot headquarters on Cybertron.

Tong Tianxiao instantly switched to work mode: "The next batch of transportation plans can be brought forward."

"You guys are already busy as soon as you finished fixing things? You must be so busy!" Meiqi peeked out and asked curiously, rubbing against Tongtianxiao's feet.

Tongtianxiao remained motionless, looking down at Meiqi's small nose: "Carbon-based life form, this is the purpose of building the bridge."

Meiqi: "...My name is Meiqi! You wretched silicon-based behemoth!"

As the vector gazed at the light screen that connected the two homes, the Autobots finally had their own space bridge.

-

Optimus Prime took the Star Sword back to his room.

It was late at night, the revelry in the base had ended, and both humans and Cybertronians were fast asleep.

He placed the greatsword aside; the light on its blade had long since faded, as if it were a weapon that had been dormant for a long time and had finally found its master.

Optimus Prime was about to leave when he suddenly heard a very faint hum of energy behind him.

The Star Sword lit up, and a faint golden pattern appeared in the center of the blade.

Then, a familiar voice came from inside.

Orion.

"It's Titanium Master!" Optimus Prime quickly turned around.

His voice, transcending time, offers advice and blessings to the newlyweds at this moment:

"If you hear this message, then darkness has descended once more, and it will once again pursue and attempt to destroy the light that opposes it."

"Don't go alone, and don't let her go alone."

Optimus Prime crouched beside the sword, listening intently.

Master Titanium's voice was gentle and dignified.

"Walking alongside her, you will walk different paths and see different answers."

"But you don't have to reach the finish line alone."

The light on the Star Sword began to dim little by little, until only one sentence remained.

"Orion Pax, you will all be reborn."

The sound disappeared, and the room returned to silence.

Optimus Prime suddenly remembered the Holy Covenant he had read a long time ago.

One of the sentences is:

"When the forty-seven stars align, the eternal conflict will come to an end in a world forged from chaos. The rising darkness will cast a shadow over all life."

Now he can roughly guess where that world refers to, but he doesn't know who "you" refers to.

He? The Vector? Megatron? Cybertron? Or all life weary of walking on ruins?

The night outside the window was as usual, and he still had no answer.

New volumes are coming! Group chat: (Yi Ling Wu Liu/Qi San Er/Ba Liu Wu)