The Butterfly Effect
"Gunpowder, your condition is unstable right now. You can't risk crossing the land bridge," the ambulance said worriedly.
After Raffi told him about the time they sneaked out to the mine and almost jumped off the land bridge while sitting on Steel Fork's body, he carefully checked Steel Fork's body condition: many values of the spark and the body were out of normal range, and the spark frequency fluctuated unstablely, but Steel Fork himself seemed to move freely, which explained why the ambulance hadn't noticed anything abnormal about Steel Fork's body for so long.
Optimus Prime has been infected by the Decepticons' biological weapon, Megatron's masterpiece—the Cybertronian Plague. The Autobots don't know where the antidote is, but since the virus originated from the Decepticons, they have no choice but to seek it out from them.
The partition was too large for infiltration, the steel fork was unstable, and the ambulance, being a medical unit, needed to remain at the base at all times. Therefore, Arcee and Bumblebee ultimately infiltrated the Decepticon's Retribution to find the antidote.
"Arcy, haven't you found the antidote yet?" the ambulance urged from the other end of the line. They didn't have much time left. They not only needed to find the formula for the antidote, but also needed to prepare it, which would take time. And Optimus Prime might not be able to hold on until the antidote was ready.
Arcee searched the Decepticon database but still couldn't find the antidote. Frustrated, she slammed her fist on the control panel and said:
"We've tried everything, but there's no antidote here!"
Meanwhile, Arcee was filled with rage but also despair. If the database didn't contain the antidote, she would have to seek it from Megatron, the Decepticon leader. But how could Megatron possibly hand over the antidote so easily?
The facts were laid bare: the virus was spreading rapidly, the disease was progressing quickly, life force was being lost, the bright paintwork was turning gray and broken under the erosion of the virus, the strong and healthy body was becoming weak and helpless, and the image of Optimus Prime lying on the charging bed, his optical mirrors flickering, echoed in the brain modules of all the Autobots.
If a cure isn't found, Optimus Prime will die.
Steel Fork wanted to touch the rotten, grayish part of Optimus Prime's armor, but the virus was contagious, so she restrained herself and instead reached her hand towards the land bridge when the ambulance wasn't looking.
Should she wait for Arcee and the others' fate, or risk her own safety to cross the land bridge? Between the leader's life and her own, Fork didn't have time to figure out which was more important. Time was of the essence; she only had time to clarify her impulse: to save the leader's life. So she decided to try, to go to the Retribution, to find Megatron.
This time, the ambulance didn't stop the forklift. He sighed softly, grabbed the control lever, and turned to open the land bridge for the Autobot he hadn't known for very long.
Fortunately, the anomaly did not spare the Fork that had traversed the time tunnel. Reaching the data room, she looked around. Arcee's figure appeared even smaller against the backdrop of the scrolling data on the screen. Bumblebee stood guard at the door, constantly alert to the Decepticons' arrival. Frustrated, she flipped her wings up and down and whispered, "Arcee, Bumblebee, you two keep searching here. I'll go look elsewhere."
Arcee stopped her: "No! It's too dangerous for you to go alone!"
"Don't worry." Steel Fork stepped out of the database, leaving behind the words "I'm very strong," before disappearing without a trace.
Bumblebee's two metallic eyebrows furrowed into a V-shape, and the aperture in his optical lens contracted and then expanded. He looked at Arcee with a troubled expression. Arcee turned to review the Decepticon data again and said to Bumblebee, "You stay with me. Fork will be fine on its own."
...
The Decepticon leader has been unhappy lately, with news of stolen energy mines constantly reaching him, meaning the Autobots have become stronger. Furthermore, Starscream, after surviving the Space Bridge explosion, was quiet for a while, but has recently started plotting again. Black Widow, who recently arrived on the Nemesis, is also restless; her knockdown and attack abilities are mediocre, her skills are unremarkable, but she's capable of performing her duties. What brings Megatron the most comfort is Soundwave, as diligent as ever, his most trusted subordinate, and his most capable old friend of many years!
At that moment, Megatron was inspecting the Nemesis in his machine, supervising his men's work. Just as he passed a storage room, the door suddenly opened from the inside, and before he could react, he was thrust into the storage room.
A hand slammed down on his silver, barrel-shaped helmet, forcing Megatron to the ground, face down and back to the ceiling, his hands sprawled on the floor, unable to lift. A familiar voice rang out; he recognized it immediately—it was Grimlock. "I must never let Shockwave create such uncontrollable test subjects again," Megatron thought angrily, feeling utterly controlled. (Given Frankenstein's freakish image, the assumption that Grimlock was Shockwave's test subject was always plausible.)
"Hand over the antidote to the Cybertronian plague, or you'll regret it!" Steel Fork threatened menacingly, mimicking a scene from a TV drama.
Megatron remained calm: "The Cybertronian plague? Someone on your side is dying?"
Having been guessed correctly, Steel Fork forced himself to remain calm and continued menacingly, "So what if it is! Hand over the antidote now!"
"Why should I save the Autobots? Give me a reason."
"No reason! Hand over the antidote, or you'll return to the AllSpark! I mean what I say!" Steel Fork was anxious, but she couldn't think of a valid reason to truly convince Megatron. Why save her enemy? Steel Fork herself couldn't understand it.
"If I die, you'll never get the antidote again." With the Decepticon leader's negotiating skills, dealing with a mere Steel Fork is nothing to him.
Completely outmaneuvered, Steel Fork had no choice but to give up on negotiations. But she had another option. She extended her data cable, located Megatron's data port, and plugged it directly into the interface.
Data interaction is reciprocal; during data interaction, two entities exchange data. If one entity activates data interception, it can prevent its own data from being output. Megatron activated data interception, while Grimlock, seeing nothing in the Decepticon leader's head, realized he had activated it and tried to both hack into the leader's brain module and prevent his own brain module from being hacked.
Megatron smiled slightly, his lips twitching weakly and barely perceptibly because his mask was pressed to the ground, but his tone was leisurely: "Give up, my 'firewall' has been personally upgraded by Shockwave. You can't crack it."
Steel Fork didn't speak; her CPU was running at full capacity, and the machine's temperature was rising rapidly.
The only sound in the small storage room was the whirring of the ventilation fan. Megatron could feel his body getting even hotter.
"What are you doing?!"
Arcee found no information about the antidote in the database. She decided to abandon the database and meet up with Steel Fork to see what progress she had made. Following the location information provided by Steel Fork, they found their way there, dodged the henchmen, and opened the door to the storage room, only to be met with a scene that was unsuitable for children and even somewhat disturbing. She quickly reached out and covered the optical sights of the nearby Bumblebee.
Megatron lay prone on the ground, his back to the ceiling. Grimlock knelt on top of him. Their rear panels were extremely close, almost touching; if Arcee wasn't mistaken, they were indeed pressed together. Worse still, Megatron lay there motionless, showing no sign of resistance, while Grimlock's upper body was also prone, seemingly engaged in some unknown activity! The roar of the ventilation fans was incredibly loud; Arcee couldn't tell which fan was making the noise, or if both were!
Bumblebee silently pulled Arcee's hand away.
"Arcy, you're here!" Steel Fork propped herself up, trying to turn around, but the data cable stopped her. She had to speak loudly with difficulty, "I'm hacking into Megatron's database!"
"Did you find anything?"
“No. His ‘firewall’ is very sophisticated; I’m trying to crack it.” Steel Fork said with difficulty, “Hmm… I’m trying. It’s a bit difficult…”
Bumblebee quietly approached the machine that had been forced to lie prone. He knelt on the ground, turned sideways, and looked at the Decepticon leader's visor. "Beep beep (Has Megatron gone offline?)"
"No, he's been awake the whole time!"
Bumblebee's red optics were wide open, facing the Autobot's blue optics. Bumblebee felt slightly startled, flapped his wings, and quickly got up and jumped away.
Arcee saw a data cable connecting the two machines and immediately asked, "How did you hack in?" She walked to the two machines and grasped the data cable. "This data cable? Data exchange? Stop it!"
"Why? But then I won't be able to find the antidote..." Stopped by Arcee, Steel Fork was disappointed. Her wings drooped down and hit Bumblebee who came from the side.
With a sigh, Arcee asked helplessly, "You can protect us now, right?"
"Um."
"Then release Megatron, and I'll talk to him."
"Will we really get the antidote...?"
Arcee gently placed her hand on the wing of the steel fork and said reassuringly, "Trust me."
Megatron was released, and he was finally able to stand up and face the Autobots. He regained his former imposing presence.
"Autobots, you want the antidote, don't you? Give me a reason."
"Beep beep beep".
At the Autobot base, Ratchet and Jack Laffey maintained contact with Arcee and the others. Hearing Bumblebee's words, Laffey explained, "Bumblebee told Megatron that Optimus Prime has been infected with the Cybertronian plague. If Optimus Prime dies from the plague, he will never have the chance to do it himself."
"So clever."
"That's really perverted."
"We've had this grudge for so many years, if I can't witness Optimus Prime taking his last breath..."
"Beep beep beep"
"You're really something, spy."
Megatron sent the antidote formula to his and Optimus Prime's private channel, saying, "Here's the antidote for you, get lost."
"Wait, where is it?" Steel Fork asked urgently.
The ambulance sent a message: Megatron did indeed give it to me, I've received the antidote, please come back soon!
At this moment, the miscellaneous troops arrived, all assuming a fighting stance.
Megatron raised his hand to stop him and announced:
"Let them go."
Red Spider was incredulous, his voice several decibels higher than usual: "Sir, you're just going to let them go like that?!"
"I told them to leave!"
Red Spider replied through gritted teeth, "Yes... sir."
And so, Optimus Prime's rust was cured, and the Autobots were able to live happily together again.
Back at base, watching the ambulance busily preparing the antidote, Steel Fork wanted to help. Arcee stopped her, saying, "Don't waste your time. Do you know why I didn't let you connect to Megatron's data back then?"
"What's wrong?"
“Data interaction is something that can only be done between very close machines, and data connection is similar.”
The steel fork looked a little aggrieved: "I think I did the right thing..."
“I’m not trying to condemn you or blame you for anything you did wrong. I’m just saying that what you did was inappropriate.” Arcee placed her hand on the drooping wing of the steel fork, rubbing and squeezing it slightly.
"Arcy, what are you doing!?" The wing was a little itchy; when it was pinched, she couldn't quite describe whether it hurt or felt uncomfortable. Steel Fork immediately jumped away, its wing standing high like a ruffled bird as it moved away from Arcie.
"Like this. Don't interact with a machine you're not close to or trust enough, and don't let it touch your wings. I think you should be more or less aware of this?"
"Steel fork—come and lend a hand!" came the urgent call from the ambulance in the distance.
Arcee faced the steel fork and nodded toward the direction from which the voice came—the ambulance: "Go."
"I'll go help, Arcee," Steel Fork said, waving as he ran.
"Remember what I said—"
"Okay—"
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