Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

The first earthquake occurred deep in the South Pacific Ocean, causing a submarine fault that had been stable for many years to suddenly shift and move.

The magnitude was not exaggerated; it only triggered a routine alert from the earthquake monitoring bureau.

Two hours later, an unusual sandstorm hit North Africa.

Satellite images did not reveal the exact cause of the massive sandstorm; meteorological authorities could only initially conclude that it was due to the combined effects of localized temperature differences and upper-level jet streams.

Then, the pressure under a long-dormant volcano in South America suddenly increased.

Anomalies occurred on the seabed of the Indian Ocean, and even in the Atlantic Ocean, cloud bands that did not originally meet the criteria for a tropical storm under normal circumstances underwent abnormal changes in less than forty minutes, completing changes that would normally take several days.

Each item seems to be explainable on its own, but when put together, they become quite eerie.

-

The temporary judicial liaison point was the first to receive the data summarized by Fuller.

Summary of Abnormal Geological and Meteorological Activities Worldwide

When Jiuqi dragged the first report onto the home screen, he was amusedly commenting, "Has Earth been acting a bit temperamental lately?"

But after reading many more copies, her smile disappeared.

AZ overlays data from different regions, displaying earthquake zones, air pressure changes, and geomagnetic vibrations on the planetary model.

One patch after another without a clear center.

When the vector returned, it was still holding the next phase of the artificial energy body volunteer review form.

"What's wrong with Fuller now?"

Nine-Seven turned the planet model towards her, and the vector instantly stopped in its tracks: "When did this start?"

"The first one was six Earth hours ago," AZ said. "But if we look back a few days, we find that there had been a small-scale anomaly four days earlier, but it didn't reach the alert threshold."

"And the frequency?" "It's increasing."

AZ brings up the timeline, and the markers for anomalous events become more densely packed as you move further along the timeline.

The mechanical dog, which had been lying down, raised its head and turned its ears, and the circular saw bird flew over as well.

Rumble and Confusion flanked the screen from either side, and surprisingly, neither of them reached out to tap randomly.

"What about the Autobots?"

97: "An ambulance has been contacted."

The main screen lit up, and the ambulance driver's face was even more grim than usual: "Besides those data, here's this too."

He sent over the scan results from the Autobot base.

The ambulance said, "There have been six unusual tremors underground in the past two Earth cycles."

After observing for a while, the vector pointer asked, "Energy reaction?"

"Very weak, unlike the influence of ordinary energy."

Before the vector could speak, the sound wave struck, delivering another set of data captured from Earth orbit by the Retribution signal.

[Earth's magnetic field fluctuations: Anomaly.]

[Underground energy noise: Continuously increasing.]

[Source: Unable to locate.]

The shockwave then followed: "The anomaly is not a single natural disaster."

Vector reference: "Do they share a common origin?"

"It cannot be proven at this time."

The ambulance driver quickly added, "I came to the same conclusion. It just means that everything has been acting up lately."

The vector was still looking at the slowly rotating planet model.

She suddenly remembered that line from the Magic Ball.

[The Cosmic Unicron is awakening.]

The antenna fins that draw the vector are gradually tightened.

AZ noticed her change: "What are you thinking about?"

The vector looked at the timeline again, where the light spots were becoming increasingly dense, as if the anomalous frequencies of the entire planet were rising at a similar rate.

The ambulance driver frowned and analyzed along with her: "This is just a common change, isn't it?"

After a moment, the vector finally spoke: "That means the entire Earth is in trouble."

The anomaly occurred simultaneously in multiple unrelated regions—like someone shaking the entire planet from the Earth's core.

The lingering hesitation vanished completely, and the gravitational vector declared bluntly: "It is the Cosmic Emperor."

Megatron had just connected when he heard her final conclusion, and his brain module instantly crashed for a second.

The ambulance fell completely silent. The only change in the brightness of the shockwave was a slight shift in the brightness of its single eye. The sound waves seemed to be trying to determine the probability of what was happening.

Jiuqi suddenly turned her head: "Are you sure?"

The vector picked up the terminal and immediately accessed the highest-risk contingency plan from the judicial center.

"I hope the probability isn't 100%."

-

From the temporary Earth contact point of the judicial center:

[Level 1 Planetary Threat Warning.]

[Stop all non-essential outings.]

[The Knights of Law within Earth's borders shall immediately return to their designated areas.]

[All members, please contact Cybertron's judicial center remotely.]

As commands were issued, all equipment within the contact point began operating simultaneously.

97 handed over all human affairs to the temporary system, and AZ opened interplanetary communication permissions.

Without warning, immediately check the emergency power supply.

The robotic dog ran towards the outer passage and closed the heavy isolation door of the contact point.

The circular sawbird flies to the highest point of the contact point to monitor for any possible anomalies.

AZ connects to Cybertron's judicial headquarters, and BICk0 appears on the main screen.

She just received a state of emergency notification, but she doesn't know the specifics yet.

"How-"

The gravitational vector didn't provide any foreshadowing: "Unicron may be awakening."

BICk0 turned his head to look at the data that had just been synchronized, and his expression changed drastically.

How many machines do you need?

"All existing Earth's Law Knights will be transferred to wartime units, and another batch will be transferred down. Priority will be given to heavy protection, rescue, medical, and long-range reconnaissance units."

BICk0 opened the personnel system: "Where's Crystal Prism?"

"Let her lead the first batch."

"Then I—" The secretary suddenly stopped, her gaze shifting back and forth between the Earth reinforcement list and the Judicial Central Headquarters' operational schedule.

Of course she wanted to go. In the past, whenever something happened to the gravitational vector, BICk0 wished she could grow wings and fly over to carry the gravitational vector away from the danger.

But this time she calmly said, "I'll stay on Cybertron."

BICk0 deleted his own name from the list of reinforcements he was about to add.

"I'll stay behind at the judicial center. If it's really at the level you're talking about, the Autobots, Decepticons, Lawbringers, and Predacon will all be transferred to Earth. If your communications break down, there will always be someone on Cybertron to grant permissions, allocate resources, and handle headquarters matters."

"The artificial energy body project is still here, and city affairs cannot be stopped. Cybertron cannot come to a standstill just because Earth is at war."

BICk0 paused briefly, then the assistant completely switched to the status of Acting Director of Cybertron's Judicial Center:

"I will prepare for the worst-case scenario of evacuation and takeover."

The once timid and cautious secretary now stands on her own, sitting in the highest office of the judicial center, making the most rational and calm judgments when faced with situations that could plunge two planets into war.

Looking at her, Yin Zongxiang couldn't help but smile slightly, his eyes narrowing with pride and admiration.

BICk0 felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze: "What's with that expression?"

The vector simply smiled and said, "Cybertron is yours."

BICk0 laughed too: "Then you can have Earth."

-

After the highest level of warning was issued, the Autobot base was the first to be placed under lockdown.

All non-essential outings were cancelled, weapon systems were unlocked, and the space bridge was switched to wartime mode.

While checking the energy reserves, the ambulance rushed the three children and Xiao Zhen into the base.

"No one is allowed to run around today."

Meiqi was about to raise her hand: "If you need help—"

"unnecessary."

Meiqi was furious at being blocked, so the partition quickly led her to a safe area.

Jack and Raphael were much more obedient, but they kept looking back at the main screen that kept displaying red warnings.

Arcee checks the weapons, Bumblebee and Smokescreen go to seal off the outer entrance, Alita redistributes ground patrol areas, and Ultra Magnus takes over emergency dispatch.

The Retribution began to prioritize defense, propulsion, and long-range scanning, shutting down most irrelevant communications with its sonic boom and dividing the ship's internal channels.

Starscream watched as the wartime systems kept lighting up, his wings involuntarily tensing: "So we're this tense even before the fighting starts?"

Knockdown replied remotely from the medical area: "We can pray this is only temporary."

Red Spider paused for two seconds: "I'm not comforted at all."

Wei Zhen issued the order from the center of the main control area.

Now that the Cosmic Emperor is truly here, his first feeling is actually displeasure.

-

The judicial center also began to operate under wartime command.

The Knights of Law were temporarily organized, and batches of medical supplies and emergency energy were transferred out of the warehouse, with all interplanetary transportation permissions being upgraded.

Some ordinary staff members didn't even know what had happened; they only knew that the highest-level authority area had suddenly been completely sealed off, and that the chief judge was issuing one emergency order after another from headquarters.

While maintaining contact with the homing vector, BICk0 has been adding Cybertron's medical towers, transport lines, and emergency reception areas to the backup plan.

If war really breaks out on Earth, wounded soldiers can be treated without waiting for approval.

She needs to prepare everything she might need in advance.

-

CrystalLens completed the handover in less than ten minutes.

The first batch of Law Balance Knights list was quickly sent to the Vector, and she was also ready to go. In the brief video report, she looked serious, and her matte, crystal-like armor was polished to a wartime state.

At the same time, Chong Yunxiao moved closer to Yin Xiangzong, and in beast form, his tail carefully wrapped around her ankle.

"The Giant Predator can participate."

Without standing on ceremony, the vector patted his head and asked, "How much time will it take?"

"The first batch has already been communicated."

"Don't bring everything at once," the Graviton Commander said quickly. "Cybertron also needs to conserve its power."

Chong Yunxiao nodded and asked, "What's the situation on Earth right now?"

The vector was directed toward the planet model, which was still displaying anomaly markers.

"The fight hasn't started yet, but it'll be soon."

-

Human governments have also declared a state of emergency, and Fuller is in an underground command center.

After reviewing the disaster statistics from the past few hours, his head felt like it was about to explode.

Then the vector pointer tells him: "[This may involve Unicron.]"

Fuller remained silent for a full ten seconds, making sure he hadn't misheard: "...Uh, a unicorn?"

[It is the Destroyer! The God of Darkness! The Cosmic Overlord, a symbol of death and suffering!]

"Okay?" Fuller tried to understand, rubbing his head with his eyes closed, and finally asked simply, "What do we need humans to do?"

[Treat this as a natural disaster: evacuate people from high-risk areas, prevent personnel from entering unstable zones, and refrain from launching any unprovoked attacks on any suddenly appearing unknown targets.]

Fuller's eyes snapped open: "What do you mean by a suddenly appearing target? Why did you specifically warn me?!"

"Precautionary clause".

Fuller felt he should buy major accident insurance and file for workers' compensation in advance.

What kind of secret agent handles all this mess?!

But he quickly jotted it down: "I will put all departments on emergency mode."

Vector: [The three children and Jane should remain at the Autobot base; they mustn't be allowed to wander off.]

With communications cut off, Fuller turned to look at the global disaster map, which had turned red, and muttered a curse under his breath.

-

After completing the first round of deployment, the vectoring unit finally took a short break, and the contact point fell into a brief silence.

The vector gazed at the rotating blue planet, and although it wasn't Earth in his own universe, the familiarity gave him a sense of home.

It's amazing how many disasters befell her home, not just Earth, but Cybertron as well.

A private message between Megatron and Optimus Prime suddenly appeared on the screen.

She snapped out of her reverie and simply initiated a new, top-level meeting: "I'm going to the meeting."

AZ: "Do you need us to connect?"

She took two steps out and then turned back: "Not for now, but be prepared to expand the scope of the meeting."

97: "Can't we finish discussing it with just three machines?"

"Soon it won't just be a matter between the three of us anymore."

-

The top-secret conference room is now closed.

Optimus Prime and Megatron connected to the communication at the same time, and judging from their expressions, they had both read the information.

The vector stood in the center: "Let me state my conclusion first: Unicron is awakening, and he is on Earth."

Megatron's optical mirror suddenly tightened.

Optimus Prime slowly lowered his gaze, not too surprised, but guessing and hearing it with his own ears are not the same thing.

"When did you find out?"

"I knew he was here a long time ago." Yin Xiang didn't care about feeling guilty. "But I only found out he's awake now."

The vector input sends global anomaly data, underground energy fluctuations, and a few warnings it received from the progenitor to the two machines.

Megatron's expression gradually darkened as he recalled his earlier thought of infusing his blood into his own spark.

But now the vector tells him that the master of that power is gradually awakening beneath their feet.

The vector has reopened a blank strategy.

"Furthermore, Unicron is not merely a body that can be directly destroyed."

Optimus Prime looked confused: "What do you mean?"

"It exists in a material form, and also in another form that is closer to consciousness, the anti-spark, or the energy entity."

"I don't know the specifics of how the two are connected, but one thing is basically certain."

Vector sighed, his mind racing: "Destroying just one of them won't help."

The meeting room fell silent once again.

After a long pause, Megatron said in a low voice, "So we need to deal with both sides at the same time."

Optimus Prime recalled the message that Master Talco had left him a few days ago, and his hand slowly clenched into a fist: "This war can no longer be kept secret."

"That's what I think too."

Therefore, the authority of the highest-level confidential meeting was expanded outwards.

The Autobots, Decepticons, the Judiciary, the Predacon, and the human liaisons—one communication link after another forms a giant spider web, with all members joining in.

It finally arrived, and the vector looked out the window.

Buried in the darkness of prophecy from the very beginning, it has now traversed one era after another and is finally awakening before them.