Crossing IDW(2)

The Speaker's voice, like a rusty gear, faltered on the word "rejection." Shockwave watched as his bill was discarded, the data board carrying his ideals lying forlornly in the trash can. Forced to sit in the conference room, listening to the eternally monotonous speeches on stage, two vibrant figures quietly appeared in his processor. One was his like-minded friend Orion, and the other was his newly made good friend, Steel Fork.

When it came to Grimfork, the spark link on her body hadn't disappeared even after traversing the universe, a phenomenon that truly amazed and intrigued Shockwave. He was drawn to the experience of crossing the universe, to Grimfork and the mysteries hidden behind her powers, and became fascinated by it.

Just now, Senator Shockwave made a decision: I'll go find the steel fork later.

Perhaps it was the connection between them that hadn't disappeared despite crossing the universe, causing their sparks to attract and complement each other. Perhaps it was Steel Fork's simple mind, or perhaps it was because she came from another universe and had never been influenced by functionalism. Steel Fork often brought him different perspectives and made his depressed mood peaceful and pleasant.

After leaving the conference room, Senator Shockwave returned to the Advanced Institute of Technology and went to Steel Fork's room. He opened the door and asked, "Steel Fork, what are your thoughts on functionalism?"

The IDW universe hasn't experienced the four-million-year civil war yet, and the forms and flavors of pre-war social energy blocks are far more diverse than post-war ones. Steel Fork is currently mixing the many different flavored "drinks" and "snacks" the senator bought for her; different combinations always result in different flavors, and Steel Fork enjoys new tastes.

Upon seeing the senator arrive, her conditioned reflex, honed by the TFP shockwave, made her stop what she was doing, stand straight facing him, and answer his question, which sounded like a teacher quizzing a student on their political stance: "Eh? Me? I don't know how to say it."

Senator Shockwave waved his hand helplessly, signaling her to relax: "I'm not here to check your homework, don't be nervous."

She had only been in the IDW universe for a short time, but that was enough time for Steel Fork to feel uncomfortable with those functionalists. She raised her eyebrows and made an indignant face: "I think functionalism is rotten! I can do whatever I want, why do they have to tell me what to do? Super annoying!"

"Why are you suddenly asking these questions?" As clever as Steel Fork was, he immediately thought of the term he knew from human society: "school bullying." Could it be that Senator Shockwave was being bullied?

"If anyone bullies you, just tell me, and I'll send them all to meet U-ball!" Steel Fork said, waving his fist as he spoke, the wings on his back flapping wildly in the performance.

She suddenly remembered the last time she couldn't help but punch someone, and it took Senator Shockwave a lot of persuasion to finally calm things down. Feeling guilty, she quickly retorted, "Of course, we'll call Orion over too. He's a police officer and knows how to hit someone without getting you into trouble!"

Having someone say something to cheer you up can always instantly lift your spirits, as the senator with the shockwave couldn't help but remark:

She's so cute!

A pair of servers passed through the space beneath Steel Fork's arms and embraced her waist. Shockwave's faceplate pressed against Steel Fork's breastplate, carefully feeling her genuine and always uplifting magnetic field, and quietly listening to the reassuring frequency of the spark in her spark chamber.

The senator hugged the machine back to him, and could feel the vibrations from the speaker through his chest armor: "Feeling better? If you still don't feel well, I'll go find Orion."

"Thank you." Senator Shockwave, relieved of the intrigue and brief respite from his work, said cheerfully, "Hmm... but I don't think those people deserve such punishment, so let's not go looking for them yet."

...

After spending several months together, Shockwave and Steel Fork quickly became close. For Shockwave, Steel Fork, a pure and innocent spark who had not yet been too harmed by society, made him feel at ease, while Steel Fork, who had no relatives or friends, no social connections, and was all alone, aroused his compassion.

For Steelforge, Senator Shockwave provided her with an energy cube, a place to live, and was very kind, so of course she liked him (Shockwave did the same things in the TFP version, but he wasn't kind). Steelforge had a spark link with Shockwave in the original universe, and that link didn't disappear in the IDW universe; the spark frequencies of Shockwave are the same in both universes.

Although Senator Shockwave did not fuse with Steel Fork and had no spark link with her, both were influenced by the spark link and had a high affinity for each other. This affinity acted as a catalyst, accelerating the warming of their feelings for one another.

"Aren't you two being a little too intimate?" Orion asked, arms crossed, scrutinizing the two who were always inseparable and would hug each other whenever they were happy.

"Huh, really?" Steel Fork revealed a clear but confused look in his eyes.

"It's alright, Orion, you're making a fuss over nothing." Shockwave, now sporting a paint job matching Steel Fork's, hugged Steel Fork from behind, rubbed her visor, and said to Orion, "She just likes hugs, and so do I. Besides, don't you think hugs are cute?"

Steel Fork nodded, opened his arms to Orion and said, "Want a hug? Trust me, it'll be very comfortable."

Under the expectant gazes of the two, Orion waved his hand, but before he could say his refusal, Steel Fork pulled him into a hug.

"Don't look like you've given up on life, Orion!"

...

...

...

Rodimus Prime and his crew use Little Zhuge's Time Suitcase to travel through time to stop him from killing Orion and saving their timeline. To do this, they follow Little Zhuge to the pre-war Old Man Mac's Bar. To find Little Zhuge, they split up.

Spinning Blade saw the hammer and the anvil—his enemies. He immediately kicked them both to the ground. His companion, anxiously saying things like, "You can't affect time and space, you'll kill my future self! You can't hit them!", tried to stop him. So Spinning Blade had to explain to his companion, giving a long explanation, including, "They're tracking the shockwave."

The TFP steel fork that suddenly appeared asked, "Why are they tracking Shockwave?"

She floated in the air and landed on the ground, putting down the Shockwave senator she had been holding like a princess.

"Hello, this is Senator Shockwave. Could you explain why they are tracking me?"

"Wait, buddy?" Spinning Blade's lightbulb eyes widened as he pointed at TFP Steel Fork and Shockwave Councilor with scissor hands. "How did you guys get here?"

"We were going to Old Man Mike's Old Oil Bar, and then suddenly things got chaotic. So we just looked around to see if anyone needed our help." Steel Fork glanced at the "corpses" on the ground, knocked down by the spinning blade, and asked, "Why did you hit them?"

"They destroyed my tools, my workshop!"

I support you. Keep it up!

The computer genius stepped forward, trying to stop Spinning Blade from continuing: "Spinning Blade, you can't kill them now. If they die, who knows what will happen a year from now... Anyway, killing them will kill me too!"

"Is this the most convincing argument you've come up with?" Spinning Blade didn't want to listen to the computer genius.

While Blade was brutally beating his enemy and a passerby who was traveling with him and had been targeted by his foes, IDW Steel Fork, who was traveling with him, rushed in front of Senator Shockwave before her companions could even react. She didn't use her powers, but relied on the inherent qualities of her machine to move. Her machine moved at high speed, scraping against the air and making a whooshing sound. She was about to unleash a powerful punch that was about to hit the senator's visor, but then abruptly stopped in mid-air, unable to move forward any further—IDW Steel Fork's fist had directly "crashed" into the barrier that TFP Steel Fork had created using her powers.

Shockwave Senator was stunned, TFP Steel Fork was puzzled, and IDW Steel Fork frowned. Everyone present was drawn to the commotion. Spin Blade stopped his beating and turned to look with his enemies.

What's going on?

Seeing this, the computer genius shouted anxiously, "Calm down, Steel Fork! We can't interfere too much!"

"Hmm... You know my name? But I've never seen you before." TFP Steel Fork squinted through his optics and said, "You guys aren't very good. To clear yourselves of suspicion, tell me why they were tracking Shockwave? What are you here for? Why did you attack Shockwave?"

When idw saw that she couldn't hit Shockwave, she withdrew her fork. She touched the brain module hanging around her neck and stared quietly at the Shockwave senator.

Her voice was so soft it seemed to dissipate in the wind, but TFP Steel Fork still caught it: "Is this how you used to be?"

"What?"

idw steel fork did not respond; she remained fixed on Shockwave senator, as if trying to etch him deeply into the flame, refusing to shift her gaze even slightly.

Feeling immense pressure under the serious yet slightly mournful gaze of a stranger, Senator Shockwave stammered, "Um... Miss, do we know each other?"

The cleaning fluid slowly accumulated at the optical lens, the liquid piling up more and more, but it didn't break down and run down the faceplate. Only glistening tears appeared on the IDW Steel Fork's optical lens. She shouted loudly, as if afraid that the Shockwave Councilor wouldn't hear her: "Steel Fork, born in the Elyon region 2,502,500 years in the future, is a green spark!"

"She never regrets having you as her guardian."

The clockwork that silently approached the IDW steel fork could only pat her gently in comfort.

The superpower detected a familiar spark frequency on this unfamiliar machine—exactly the same as her own. TFP Steel Fork understood everything: this was herself in this world. But according to her, she hadn't even been born in this world yet, so how could she be here? Why was she so sad? Would something terrible happen to Shockwave in the future? But regardless, she looked genuinely heartbroken…

TFP Steel Fork turned to Shockwave and said, "You made her cry. You need to comfort her and hug her."

“I would have gone even if you hadn’t told me.” Senator Shockwave approached IDW Steel Fork, gently placed his hand on her shoulder, and kept a gentlemanly distance, saying, “Although I don’t know what happened… I’m sorry.”

idw's steel fork tightly gripped the machine in front of him, its visor burying itself into the opponent's chest armor.

Senator Shockwave gently held her in his arms, while the server lightly patted her back armor—a common comforting posture.

TFP Steel Fork heard a soft whisper from the two of them:

"Shockwave will be framed by Parliament a year from now. He will be arrested and subjected to the five tortures and shadow puppetry."

After saying that, idw released the shockwave with the steel fork and quietly observed his reaction.

Cybertron's night was so dark, but thankfully there were many lights. The light, though not enough to make the night as bright as day, was enough to make one see Senator Shockwave's helpless smile, illuminating his firm and bright gaze: "As a senator, I was prepared for this to happen. Hmm... it seems I need to be more careful. Thank you for your prediction, Miss."

The computer whiz who had been watching from the sidelines leaned over and extended a hand, saying, "I am her companion. Hello, Congressman, I've heard so much about you."

“Hello, I am Shockwave.” Senator Shockwave reached out and shook the computer freak’s hand. Then, for a moment, his gaze became unfocused, indicating that his memory of what had just happened had been erased. “Who are you?”

Seeing this, TFP Steel Fork pulled the senator back a step and refused to shake hands. Under IDW Steel Fork's pleading gaze, she assured him, "Time travel, right? Time travel is easy for me to understand. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

It seems the TFP steel fork's journey with IDW will only end when the shockwave is confirmed to be safe?

The teleportation began, and strange light enveloped Spinblade, Computer Genius, Clockwork, and IDW Steel Fork. The spacetime jump started, and their figures quickly became illusory.

TFP Steel Fork spread her arms wide and waved wildly, as if afraid they wouldn't see her. She was still very happy to see her own self in another world.

Although confused, the senator waved his hand in response.

"goodbye!"

With one hand tightly gripping the clockwork mechanism, idw waved goodbye with the other, "Goodbye!"

Senator Shockwave then bid farewell: "Um... goodbye?"

Mini-theater:

Rodimus Prime: Clockwork, clockwork, what does the steel fork look like in another universe? You must have recorded it!

The clockwork is broadcasting images from inside the IDW steel fork.

Ever since seeing Shockwave again, IDW Steel Fork has been in a low mood. Holding the Clockwork is like holding a soft doll, which makes her feel comforted.

Computer genius: Can you please release the development spline...?

idw, holding the steel fork tightly, stood a little further away: No.

I might write about the idw steel fork later, I'll keep that a secret for now.