Stubborn to the end

Omitted for brevity. In short, the Autobots interrogated the Faceless Man, but out of humanitarian considerations, they didn't use excessive interrogation methods. Coercion and bribery were all ineffective. Their attempts to use extreme measures, such as a 100,000-volt electric shock or the tit-for-tat Jack, were thwarted. Grimlock's short time on Earth meant he hadn't had enough access to classified information to crack the Faceless Man's encrypted internal systems. The Autobots didn't obtain much useful information. However, given their familiarity with the Nemesis, perhaps the information the Faceless Man possessed wasn't so important to them now?

Afterwards, the Thousand-Faced Man was locked in a cell converted from an empty room in the base. His energy was maintained at the most basic level, just enough to survive, and his hands, feet, and transforming gears were restricted by special devices.

As for Steel Fork, she felt like she had acquired a new toy. But why couldn't Shockwave, or the Autobots, be considered her toys? They were all Cybertronians, with one head, two arms, and two legs, and capable of making amusing reactions at times. Steel Fork shook her head and decided not to dwell on such questions.

A server gently, with barely perceptible force, caressed the Thousand Faces' abdominal armor—the transforming gear was located there, and the steel fork was using its supernatural abilities to sense and construct the structure of this organ within the processor.

"Your transformation into a jack really looks like one. Can you transform into other people? How are your transformation gears different from others? Can you transform into a human?" She applied a little force and pressed down, curious: How would the Thousand Faces' unique transformation gears and body structure be different from her own?

Feeling as if gently brushed by a feather, Thousand Faces felt a ticklish sensation on his abdominal armor as it was pressed. His body involuntarily trembled slightly and heated up, the ventilation fan suddenly turning on, emitting a "whooshing" sound as the blades rubbed against the air at high speed. A sudden, needle-like stinging pain shot through his arm. His body was spread out in a starfish position, bound, and Thousand Faces could not look down or bend over to look. He could only see the wings behind the fork tilting up, and through the audio receiver, he heard her slightly amused voice: "If your arm detaches, can you regenerate an arm? Can you continue to transform? Can you still become a fully-fledged Cybertronian like Jack?"

The Thousand-Faced Man saw an eerie light flickering inside the Cybertronian optical lens of the creature named Steel Fork. She was smiling, but the Thousand-Faced Man didn't really want to know what that smile meant.

"I wonder what your energy drink tastes like?"

The stinging pain in his arm persisted; Thousand Faces knew his energy fluid must be leaking. He could almost hear the liquid dripping onto the ground. His will to survive surged. He recalled the torture and experimental experiences of the Cybertronians he had endured—armor shattered, tubing exposed, energy fluid seeping from the cracks in their machines with flickering embers. He hadn't felt anything for such scenes before, but now, captured, he desperately wanted to live, at least to live a complete life, free from inhuman suffering, until after the war. He felt this hope might still exist among the Autobots, but now he wasn't so sure.

Then, Qianmian Keqi focused his energy and will on the vocal cords, concentrating all his power and intention into the speaker, and screamed with what was probably the loudest sound he could produce in his life:

"Aa ...

...

"Where did Grimfork go?" Arcee looked around the base. Ratchet and Optimus Prime were working, and Block and Bumblebee were playing ball, but Grimfork was nowhere to be seen.

"He's probably playing with the Thousand-Faced Man in the cell," the partition replied. Yesterday, he saw Steel Fork and Meiqi carrying a bucket of paint to the cell, and when he followed them, he saw a Thousand-Faced Man with a big painted face.

Arcee raised an eyebrow, somewhat suspicious: "Has she been spending too much time with Psychic lately? You know, Grimfork was a Decepticon before, and Psychic is also a Decepticon."

The player holding the ball paused for a moment, exchanged a glance with Bumblebee, saw hesitation in the other's optics, and then said with some uncertainty, "Is...it alright?"

Screams came from the cell.

The Autobots immediately set off. Ratchet put the wrench aside, Optimus Prime dropped the documents he was working on, Bumblebee threw down the iron ball, and Bumblebee, who wasn't carrying anything, rushed to the front. They all ran towards the prison.

...

"Hehe, you really took it seriously." The eerie smile was no longer eerie, but the Thousand-Faced Guest felt that the warm flame of the Cybertronian in front of him could speak such cold words. "Don't worry, if I dismantle you, I'll have to waste energy trying to repair you. Besides, I'm not that interested in your mechanical structure. I won't take you apart. Hey, your energy fluid doesn't smell anything special."

How could there be such a guy among the Autobots? Isn't Optimus Prime supposed to be upright? How could the soldiers he trained be like this? Thousand-Faced Man thought with grief and indignation. He turned his head and saw the fully armed Autobots rushing over. He was immediately filled with gratitude, as if he had seen a savior.

"Take her away! I don't want to be in the same room as her!"

Seeing that nothing particularly dangerous was happening, the Autobots disarmed. Optimus Prime said helplessly, "Grimfork, even prisoners of war should be respected. The difference between us and the Decepticons is precisely because we adhere to this principle."

"What, I didn't do anything, did I? And you guys came here with hand cannons." Steel Fork sneered.

“I don’t object to you coming to see the Faceless Man, but you can’t go too far.” Optimus Prime’s voice remained calm.

Steel Fork snorted coldly again, turned its head away from Optimus Prime, stared at the wall, and said nothing more.

"..."

"Hey! Steel Fork, I need your help. The land bridge needs some repairs, and the equipment also needs fixing after the partition was damaged."

Seeing that Optimus Prime didn't know what to say, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Ratchet hurriedly said, as Steel Fork turned to look at him, "Let's go."

The steel fork followed the ambulance.

"Beep beep beep. (Is the steel fork angry?)" Bumblebee poked at the partition.

The partition scratched its head: "Well... a little bit, what's there to be angry about? But it's quite funny to see the Thousand-Faced Guest being teased."

Arcee: "Indeed."

"We definitely want her to play ball with us next time!"

...

Steel Fork remained silent. As he picked up the wrench, Ambulance couldn't help but observe her—and the wings behind her. Steel Fork's emotions were easy to discern; the large wings on her back directly betrayed their owner's mood. Wings raised high indicated excitement, while drooping indicated depression. Not only Ambulance, but everyone in the base could identify Steel Fork by her wings—those large wings were simply too conspicuous. He breathed a sigh of relief. The wings behind Steel Fork were neither drooping nor raised high, but in a naturally relaxed position. It seemed her emotions were relatively calm, but the expression on her visor suggested that her mood was definitely not good.

"Steel Fork, are you angry?"

Asking a question you already know the answer to.

The welding torch emitted a high-temperature flame, and the broken parts of the instrument were welded together. Taking advantage of the sparks from the high-temperature welding, the steel fork deliberately made an extremely loud sound: "No—there—."

Exhausted, Ratchet sighed and said, "Optimus Prime didn't mean to blame you."

"The leader's paint job and the machine look great, so I'm really not angry." Grimfork was practically talking through her own eyes, because when she snorted, she was looking at the wall, not Optimus Prime!

Whatever. The medical officer didn't know what to say next. He turned back to work at the control panel, the steel fork indeed helping him with a lot of repairs.

Oh no, is the ambulance upset? What's it upset about? She misinterpreted the momentary silence as a sign that the ambulance was sulking.

"An ambulance? Are you angry?" Steel Fork asked, leaning closer.

"No—no—," the ambulance driver said loudly and helplessly. "I won't get upset over such a small thing."

Oh, is the ambulance talking about me? Steel Fork awkwardly flapped its wing and continued, "Actually..."

The interface on the control panel remained frozen. The ambulance driver appeared indifferent, but in reality, all his attention was focused on the sound of the steel fork.

“I don’t quite understand what you mean by rights and obligations. Optimus Prime… The leader says to respect life, but I don’t understand why we should respect it. Arcee seems to dislike the Faceless Man so much, I just scared him a little, I’ve already shown him a lot of respect.” Grimfork paused, swallowing the “you” next to the speaker, and continued to express her confusion, “I feel like we’re completely different. Some things I think are normal, you find strange, but I don’t understand some of your ideas at all.”

“Every individual on Cybertron is different, so there’s no need to strive to be like us. You don’t need to rush to understand concepts like ‘human rights’ and ‘respect’; you’ll gradually come to understand them. Even now, there are still many people who don’t understand what you’re talking about or even think like you. They’re not as good as you!”

The ambulance felt a soft spot in its heart being touched by Steel Fork's words; this was still just a child. Since the war began, both Divine Forging and Cold Forging machines had to grow rapidly from the moment they first went online. Most blindly followed their respective leaders, or were swept to the battlefield and destroyed by the tides of time, or survived with a host of post-war complications. Machines that still retained this innocence and naivety were rare; even Bumblebee had become a qualified warrior.

Optimus Prime, who had arrived unnoticed, overheard the entire conversation. He stepped forward and said, "Perhaps a patrol will help you better understand why we adhere to these principles. Steel Fork, would you like to patrol with me?"

"But I don't have a vehicle mode yet. Aren't I supposed to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary?"

The ambulance next to them complained, "Isn't it because you're always complaining and unwilling to scan the vehicle's form?"

Steel Fork chuckled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"I recently developed a new form, so I can leave the base without using the vehicle form."

"What?"

As Steel Fork closed its optical lens, took a deep breath, raised its wings, and trembled slightly, as if it were straining. Then, it vanished—literally vanished, invisible and intangible.

"What?!" the ambulance driver exclaimed in surprise. He reached out incredulously towards the fork, only to find his hand grasping at empty air.

Fortunately, the steel fork's voice could still be heard: "This was inspired by an anime that Raffi watched. I was thinking about whether I could become invisible so I wouldn't be afraid to go out. I was thinking about whether I could connect the space in front of my machine with the space behind it so that light could pass directly through my machine. Then I discovered that not only light, but everything else could not touch me, and I could not touch anything either. The sound you are hearing now is also my voice simulated by vibrating the air with my special ability."

The ambulance driver roughly understood what the steel fork meant: "That's amazing! It's somewhat similar to the principle of a land bridge, but not quite the same... What effect will this have on your body?"

"Energy is being used up quickly, but it won't be used up if I don't move, so I can still manage."

"Let's go back to the base." Optimus Prime, after his initial surprise, quickly accepted and understood Grimlock's new form, saying, "We also have a mission to explore the super-energy mineral deposits. We are very unlikely to encounter humans, so the vehicle form is not necessary."

"Okay." Steel Fork was slightly disappointed. "Wasn't I super cool just now! Raffi and the others haven't seen me when I'm invisible yet!"

...

As they exited the base, Grimlock, in its Cybertronian aircraft form, leaned close to Optimus Prime and whispered:

"Um... um..."

The Autobot leader's voice was deep and gentle, with a soothing magic, "What's wrong, Grimfork?"

"Leader, did you hear me say your paint job looks good?"

“Yes.” In the tense magnetic field of the Cybertronian aircraft beside him, Optimus Prime said, “Thank you for your praise. It is a good thing to sincerely praise others. You did a good job, and it is also a good thing to accept praise from others.”

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment." The plane excitedly spun around in the air like a top, revolving around the red and blue truck while also rotating on its own axis.

"leader!"

"What's wrong, Grimfork?" Despite having been called out once before, Optimus Prime still answered patiently.

"Would you like to fly?" Fearing Optimus Prime might disagree, Grimlock added, "Flying in the air increases speed and improves visibility, making our patrols more efficient. It feels really good, do you want to try it?"

"Steel Fork, I believe in your abilities, but..."

The steel fork stopped spinning, interrupting him, and said, "Leader, can you transform into human form?"

"sure."

Optimus Prime assumed Grimfork would use his powers to lift him into the air, having witnessed Grimfork doing so with Rafijac. But he never expected Grimfork to have him straddle the nose of the Cybertronian aircraft. Obeying Grimfork's request, he transformed into human form, and the aircraft rapidly descended, weaving between his stabilizers, then, taking advantage of his momentary lapse in balance, scooped him up, its tail engines suddenly blasting flames towards the ground. Grimfork accelerated, and before Optimus Prime could utter a word, they were thousands of meters in the air.

The Autobot leader sat on his back, and as the rear panel pressed against the aircraft's outer shell, Steel Fork felt its heavy weight and said in a rather pleasant mood:

"How is it, Leader? The view from the sky is quite nice, isn't it!"

This was really not in accordance with conventional etiquette and rules, but since they had already ascended to a high altitude, Optimus Prime sighed and decided to take a look at the scenery as Fork had suggested.

It was morning, and the air quality was quite good. Looking down, one could see the ground directly without any obstruction. A few clouds drifted by, and under the clear blue sky, the asphalt road that often ran under the tires of red and blue trucks wound its way through the red and yellow Gobi Desert. He could clearly see scattered clumps of dry grass on the slightly flat ground beside the road.

Luckily, there are no Decepticons around here.

Even though they were high in the sky and moving at high speed, Optimus Prime couldn't sense any airflow.

Looking at the Cybertronian aircraft beneath him—the newest member of the Autobots—Optimus Prime decided to begin a conversation. As the leader of the Autobots, it was his responsibility to guide Grimlock into becoming an upright and kind Cybertronian, but this was not something that could be done overnight; a single conversation or a few words of instruction would not be enough to change her mind.

Even if the impact is minor, he shouldn't give up. Who knows if this tiny effect might actually improve an otherwise bleak future?

"Steel Fork, why are you threatening the Thousand-Faced Man?"

"Intimidate? I was just teasing him. It's pointless to waste our energy. You said we can't hurt him, so is it okay if I tease him?"

"Everything should be done in moderation. You may not have any malicious intent, but if you cross a certain line, teasing him will turn into intimidation."

“‘Degree’ ‘Boundary’… Okay, Leader, you’re right.”

“I’m not just referring to this one thing. I will slowly teach you what ‘moderation’ means. It’s okay if you don’t understand, as long as you’re willing.”

"Well... we don't need to, do we? They've pretty much covered that in TV dramas."

Optimus Prime sighed.

Grimfork's behavior was sometimes morally inappropriate, but she hadn't done anything too outrageous, so there was really no need to dwell on the Thousand Faces incident and condemn her. Optimus Prime had intended to have a private talk with Grimfork during patrol. He realized that Grimfork had already been instructed once, and she had watched a lot of television with humans—especially Laffey, who watched many educational channels. She knew many principles, and she had already processed the rules and regulations regarding what she could and couldn't do, what she should and shouldn't do. Reading through the rules and regulations and then tearing them up—the Thunder Rescue Team might be a good fit for her. If Grimfork were really in the Thunder Rescue Team, wouldn't Ultra Magnus have a headache?

Optimus Prime considered opening his speech generator several times, then an idea popped into his head—was Grimfork getting too bored? He spoke:

"Why didn't you join Steel Fork, Baffle, and Bumblebee when they were playing with heavy balls?"

"Heavy ball? I find it too boring. I don't want to play."

"You can only judge whether a heavy ball is fun when you're actually involved."

"I've never seen you play this before, why don't you play, Leader?"

"Would my involvement make Bumblebee and Bulkhead uncomfortable?"

After a moment's thought, Steel Fork said, "I'll play, and you play too. Let's play first and then see if we feel comfortable."

"Alright," the leader said reluctantly, "at least it was the first step."

"Leader, would you like to try a somersault? I promise I won't let you fall!"

...

The steel fork was trapped in the space separated by the supernatural power, and a sound came from there.

It was the sound of an ambulance.

“Optimus Prime, I don’t want to add to your burden, but our energy reserves are running low, Intellectual…”

“We cannot harm lives that cannot take up arms. I understand your concerns, ambulance, I will find a way.”

Outside the silent cell, where only a single ember flickers, a figure with a pair of wings appears from the void.

"What are the differences between the Thousand Faces, Iron-Eating Bug, Whirlpool Fox, and Cybertronians? They all have a spark, rely on super energy bodies to sustain life, and even the Mini-King's size and structure are not much different from Laserbeak, yet it is still a Cybertronian."

With his hands and feet bound by the device, Thousand Faces swung his arms, trying to transform, only to find in vain that the body and the transformation gears were locked. He sighed, then relaxed the entire body. Based on his understanding of the Autobots, they wouldn't do anything to him.

"Um... Cybertronians can talk, but Iron-Eating Bugs, Whirlpool Foxes, and Laserbeaks can't, right?"

“'We are the same kind of people'.”

Yes, that's right.

Steel Fork poured out his deepest thoughts: "I've thought about this for a long time. How should I put it... You all say we can't eat our own kind. Shockwave doesn't want me to eat him; he's afraid of dying, and I understand. Seeing the grunts being... drained of energy fluid through the partition would make him uncomfortable. It's a pity that the excess Cybertronians' energy can't be fully utilized, even though we're clearly lacking in energy. The Iron Eaters will eat the extra individuals, but we can't. Why can't we? I don't like your... views on your own kind, and I don't like the views imposed on me by my own kind. If there's enough energy, I don't mind you living; Cybertronian energy fluid doesn't taste good anyway. But I'm sorry, Ratchet says there's not enough energy."

Bumblebee and the Optimus Prime are about to start their ball-throwing game again, and this time Optimus Prime has decided to join them, but where is Grimfork?

When they found the jack's cell, the person who saw the scene inside through the partition screamed first.

"You've arrived."

The Thousand Faces' chest hatch shattered into pieces, revealing a large hole that exposed the damaged energy pipelines inside. Similar to the scene with the grunts, the energy liquid flowed out of the energy pipelines in the hatch like a stream, dissipating and hovering at mid-height of the machine.

The ignition chamber was empty, but the corners of Steel Fork's mouth glowed with a colored fluorescence—residual energy fluid that had not been cleaned up in time, and her red optical glasses emitted a crazy and blood-red light.