#Matrix Bearer

[autoacafiles]

Just a couple designs for Star Convoy and Megatron's first battle, for your enjoyment.

[pluralsword]

Some prime teamup photos we were finally able to do - full named shown Autobot cast of Prime, the IDW1 Autobot/Last Decepticon earth command team near the end of EXRID, and as many matrix/enigma bearers + smokescreen and pyra (potential primes) and primes as we could fit in front of Primus and our largest backdrop (ie all our autobot figures we have and two members of the Thirteen, and thanks to the first draft of TFTM, Daniel Witwicky).

[stonecrusherdrawsthearts]

[witchofthesouls]

Personal headcanon that Primes have a preference for odd or peculiar mates. They don't give a shit if their partner is a different species, some even consider it a bonus. Hybrids are most likely to happen since the Matrix of Leadership is all about Sparklings no matter the flavor.

Small human not afraid to object a Prime's decision despite the vast difference in power? Interest intensifies.

That's the true power of the Matrix. It has peculiar and varied tastes in mates, especially since it can compute the probability of viable offspring.

If it comes across something real interesting in genetics, powers, or feelings via its current bearer, then there's a high chance of pitter-pattering tiny feet in the near future.

[kytherion]

OOC (mun post)

My G-d he really is Senator Shockwave's brother.

@sharkteethies may have been right that he could get Epistemus to put on a whole body again

[nova--spark]

AU where the Matrix allows it's bearer to speak to Primes of the past

But also Primes of other worlds, other realities, with wisdom they need or do not have for their own home.

Imagine please, a young Orion who sees visions when the Matrix first binds itself to him, of many different versions of himself.

A version of himself in a world where he was no great warrior, just a humble repair worker, who stumbled onto fate accidentally with his crew, working hard to make something of himself.

A version of himself tutored by the Scribe, who was a friend to his greatest enemy, who's words were his sword.

A version of himself, or at least part of himself, bound to a descendant of his people, or perhaps even ancestor, who's form is that of a beast.

A version of himself, marred by war and betrayals by humanity, but still trying to hold on. Still trying to just keep his family alive.

A version of himself, who is brand new to this planet called 'Earth' still, and beginning to bond with humans. One who accepts that Cybertron cannot be home now, but maybe Earth can.

And each version of himself he sees, he can seek wisdom from.

And they too can seek out his.

[lunaforyou]

HI

Maybe you seen me in @transingthoseformers asks and wondered "Wow, what the fuck is wrong with this guy?"

Many years of catholic trauma

ANYWAYS, YES, I'M MAKING AN AU

So like, to understand this AU you need to understand three things

1) My genuine belief that tf1 Optimus will be tied or connected somehow in the creation of new sparklings

2) The fact that merging with the Matrix is considered "Interfacing" (IDW Optimus put it this way, not me)

3) My interpretation that the Matrix and the bearer are constantly spark merging.

I lied it's 4) My obsession with the Virgin Mary, she should have been at the cluuuub

So, the AU starts by Optimus somehow in the surface, his entire frame has been aching for a while but he is still needed to fight the Decepticons and the Quintessons.

Maybe a fight goes wrong, but it sends him panicking because his HUD just fucking told him "Emergence protocols initiated" and it's a little earlier because of the fight but that's not an impediment, the little one wants out and he wants out now

So you might want to guess, where does our dear Prime go to give birth?

.

.

.

.

That's right! The cave of the Primes! You get nothing for guessing correctly <3

Plot twist; Optimus didn't have a forge, another thing Sentinel took from the miners. The Matrix gave it back when restoring his frame, after all, it needed it for restoring the rest of the Primes. So yeah he freaks out a lot a lot

And yes! He is going through this TWELVE more times

The first one is Prima naturally, the little one gives Megatron a run for his money in "things that nearly killed Optimus multiple times" and almost gets stuck in the birth canal once or twice (Optimus doesn't want to think what would have happened to them both if his coding hadn't kicked in at the right moment) and Optimus can't see the little one without getting his carrier coding out of hand and deciding right then and there that he needed to find a sire for their sake. Also Optimus absolutely loves the little bastard like he hung the moons and the stars

And all the time, he felt the presence of other mechs in the cave with him. Someone definitely helped him stay upright, and he could squeeze his hand around a much much larger one when the contractions hit.

Right so he goes back to base, and everyone pretty much noticed how white and gold the sparkling is. Everyone assumes that somehow D-16 is the sire, keeping on brand with the platinated colors, and, well, Optimus doesn't correct them. Besides, it was just one sparkling, what harm could it do if a few rumors ran around here and there?

Ohhhh boy, not a week later, he discovers that maybe it won't be just one sparkling.

Also, I'm naming this au Primes Reborn, and you can't stop me

[tossawary]

I'm back to frequently thinking about a Transformers AU for SVSSS, because I love trying to fuse the worldbuilding (working across several different continuities of TF, admittedly) into something recognizable to both worlds that's also new. I also love pulling on the elements these worlds have in common: immortal beings, endless conflicts, switching bodies, cores of power, building yourself up to become a higher being, oppressive systems controlling entire worlds, people (characters) who were constructed and are discarded for specific purposes (profit and sometimes just entertainment) and are not always viewed as real people, the creator god might be just some guy over there, and so on.

For this AU, my story outline currently sticks to Cybertron and its surrounding space. I don't have any characters whom I want to make human, I have very specific backgrounds in mind for everyone already, and I have a plotline that doesn't require Earth or humans in any way. Though, for fun, I was absentmindedly fiddling with the idea of taking the characters of a different MXTX story (MDZS or TGCF) and making them into the humans of this AU.

I feel like Wei Wuxian would be one of those human characters who is basically already climbing into the seat before a transformer can finish introducing themselves as a giant space robot; oh, he is DOWN for whatever the fuck this is. However, if I was writing Wei Wuxian as a human in a TF AU, I don't know which SVSSS character I would pair him with as his "partner", as I personally would be far more interested in writing a story in which Lan Wangji and/or Wen Ning (both?) are Cybertronians. (Yes, obviously, Wei Wuxian would be a robotfucker for LWJ.) I'm leaning more towards Wen Ning, because there's the "I rebuilt this guy and turned him into an abomination who acts kind of in service to me" aspect, and also it's funny to imagine human Lan Wangji having to put up with his boyfriend's alien car being a part of the relationship.

With TGCF, making the characters into the humans of a TF AU for SVSSS feels like a reversal. Xie Lian's narrative everything arguably makes him an even better Cybertronian than any other MXTX character. The fall from being, say, a Prime and the Bearer of the Matrix to apparently being some poorly-maintained bot that spends its time picking up trash on Earth in the aftermath of some Cybertronian war? Delicious. Hua Cheng was some half-broken, half-starving, outlier freak, MTO discard saved by the new Prime EIGHT MILLION YEARS AND SEVERAL WARS AGO, and has never gotten over it and never will. And a lot of the other TGCF characters also match very nicely to TF worldbuilding: mmm, my brain likes chewing on the image of beautiful and terrifying, near-immortal robots falling from the "heavens". It's even easy to source internal TGCF characters as the humans if you need human characters, so there's no real need to make it into a crossover with MDZS or SVSSS.

So, ultimately, this TF AU for SVSSS is not going to be a crossover. I don't want it to be. But I did enjoy thinking about TF AUs for MDZS and TGCF as well, where the worldbuilding or character arcs fit nicely together, so I wanted to share that here.

[random-kido]

It is! I figured he can try unlocking a new one each time he is stuck in some sort of hardship where he requires their advice, but they are actually very hard to reach out to, so one of the 3 he's already unlocked has to be a messenger until he figures out how to be able to talk to the others.

Funny you mention that, I had at one point started playing with the idea that the matrix can connect krok to other living matrix bearers but wasn't sure how i'd work it in lol. I still might though, it's a very neat concept to work with :]

Actually losing my mind at the thought of krk prime in that camera angle when an anime character is going insane while he's conversing with the primes lmao

[simpingforbots]

Hello! I'm kinda new here in your blog and I saw those "what if a human ended on Cybertron" and I just love those stories they're so good

No need to do it now cuz idk if you are taking requests but could you make More of them? A part 6 with souls prime and amalgamous prime

hello there! thanks for letting me know that you like my stories and i will try my best as i am sort of new to Transformers. i got in to transformers thanks to Bay movies, Transformers prime, transformers animated and now Transformers One. So please forgive me if i might be incorrect. i will do my best.

What if human ended up in Transformers one.

part 6 (requests)

Solus Prime

(reade in this situation are female)

Being the first fembot of Cybertron is nothing easy, especialy when you have this much weight on your shoulders. Even if she found joy in creating things, the constant need for weapons was becoming exhausting. thankfully Megatronus were there to comfort her, even if they had some fights here and there, it was something good. So when something small and week showed up on surface of Cybertron, being chased by Quintessons, the injustice towards such pathetic creature fired Solus right up and they took care of those pathetic, ugly, disgusting bug creatures. They smashed them all with their hammer, letting their fiery side out along with all the frustration, all while YOU scrambled for safety to let those huge creatures duke it out. Though you did not stayed hidden for long as you wanted. A servo reached in to the hiding spot you were in, apparently not small enough for them to reach in at all, easily puling them out. After expecting this small creature they were shocked to see that it was as same frame as her, meaning she must be not the only fembot, even if in weird fleshy body. A small creature with no clear way of defending them self against harsh environment of Cybertron. So she takes you with to Iacon to keep you safe from anything dangerous and started working on creating something to help communicate. it is a bit hard as your little chirps were hard to decipherer, but signs were easy to learn. And let's just say you were also subjected to her little experiments as now SHE had a whole new reason to create.

Amalgamous Prime

Being the most unserious of all thirteen, Amalgamous felt a bit out of place time to time. he just wanted others to be a bit more... unserious all the time, this constant monogamy of data pads, meetings and fighting was surreally exhaustion for every one. He did felt a bit jealouse a bit of Solus and Megatronus since they started seeing each other, even if it was "privet secret" between 13 primes, he still wanted something else. He would venture to surface time to time, just exploring away, watching strange deer creatures "graze". Or change in to something else and joing his "subject" and wonder around Iacon. he found you in one of dark markets that he knew was illegal, yet still something about you caught his single optic. Purchasing you along with some book about "hoomans" he returned to the palace, knowing that now he had something to break the rutine. At first it was hard as you most of time hid away, to scared, but overtime you grew used to this strange bot, snickering quietly at his "tricks". after some time you were comfortable enough to laugh along side him at his little pranks.

Zeta Prime

So much responsibly for one bot - having matrix of leadership, being leader of 13 Primes, taking care of entire civilization and defending them from quinteson will be a tool to any one, no mater if they were born to do this. at first Zeta refused to believe that HE - the matrix bearer - was tiered, but in the end no one can escape the truth. It did not helped that a suden raid on Quintessons ship brought a small flesh being in to his existence. so much needed to be done so taking care of something so small and fragile was really not in his plans. But he was sort of stuck with you and just kept you in a cage, for your own safety of course, he does not want any bot to step on you by excident. If you behaved and did not flipped him off or yell something in strange language - you would be reworded by being let out of the cage and let to wonder his table while he was buissy. He would drift away from data pads just to play with you, rolling pen between him and you, chuckling seeing how hard you had to push just to roll it towards him, or simply watch you doodle inside one of the pads he would push towards you, giving the smallest pen he could find to doodle in, finding that it was one of a few ways you can communicate with him through doodles. and apparently he has a new name - Crown, about which he did not complain about.

part1 part2 part3 part4 part5

[autoacafiles]

[ask-one-d16]

Hi D! I was going to ask Orion this but he’s a few solar cycles behind on his asks and his box is shut. So maybe you can give me an answer to this.

Who are the 13 Primes specifically? Names? What role did each play in the group? I know VERY little about these guys so anything you know would be good.

Here, I’ll let him answer that…

Orion! 13 Primes. Go.

Prima, the first Prime and the embodiment of purity!

Alpha Trion, the wisest Prime!

Solus Prime, the master forger!

Megatronus Prime, the strongest of all! And D’s favorite, of course!

Quintus Prime, the first scientist!

Onyx Prime, the “Lord of Beasts” and the most in tune with Primus himself!

Zeta Prime, the Thirteenth of the Primes and the first bearer of the Matrix of Leadership! My personal favorite!

Alchemist Prime, who could see both the material world and the spiritual realm! He also invented high-grade!

Micronus Prime, the moral center of the Thirteen! He could lend his energy to the others, and he created the first minicons, who do the same for their bond partners!

Nexus Prime, the first combiner!

Amalgamous Prime, the original and most unpredictable transformer!

And Vector Prime, the guardian of time and space!

Good job, buddy.

Any time!

[finallyaplaceformyrobots]

Thinking about how tf1 would go if the matrix having a bearer meant that the thirteen primes got resurrected

just, Optimus coming up from the well/center of the earth or whatever with 13 other bots.

[moustawott]

Transformers One Official Novelization Worldbuilding and Lore Bits

Thanks to the Transformers One movie novelization, here are some worldbuilding facts that weren’t explicitly shown in the movie!

About Iacon city:

Cog-less bots can only work as miners, though the tier system (described later) suggests that they can move up or down a ladder of limited job options

All cog-less bots were born after the disappearance of the Matrix of Leadership

No cog-less bot has seen the surface

The book suggests that all Transformers bot, those who can transform into alt mode, were born before the disappearance of the Matrix of Leadership

Transformers can live anywhere they want in Iacon city, unlike miners

Miners have limited transport options: they can only use public transport or walk. The book also suggests that their access to the overall city is limited, said city being divided into main Iacon and the mining sectors

it is explained that Transformers rarely watch where they step when miners are around, often kicking miners as a result. Orion also notes that some will do it on purpose (yikes!)

There is a tier system that miners can climb. The movie has D-16 mention that tier 1 is the lowest. In the novel, D-16 is trying to reach tier 11 by the end of the current cycle. It is implied that D-16 is one of the fastest rank-climber amongst the miners

About Orion Pax:

His favourite Prime is Zeta Prime, who was the original bearer of the Matrix

Orion is passionate about learning the history of Cybertron, hence him often sneaking into the archives

Miscellaneous facts:

According to the novel, here are the Prime cogs each of the main 4 characters received: Orion has Prima's, D-16 has Onyx's, Elita has Alchemist's, and Bee has Micronus'

In some ways, the novel was better at telegraphing D-16's fall. The signs of him eventually getting tired of backing up Orion and failure to control his bloodthirst are more obvious to the reader.

Shoutout to the novel for also making Orion's motivations more obvious when it came to dealing with Sentinel: Orion knows that killing Sentinel won't actually solve the issue and believes Sentinel can be overthrown and stripped of his power without unnecessary violence. (My personal interpretation is that D-16 is using his desire for justice—more like vengeance really—to feel better about himself, not actually improve Cybertron. It’s the same logic those who support the death penalty have. They like the death penalty because it makes their own feelings better, no matter how ineffective the death penalty is for improving society.)

[lillified]

maybe a little bit too specific of a question. but. You mentioned that all cybertronians have "progenitors"- i was wondering if any of the original primes had contributed their parts to creating other bots? (follow up question if that's true: is it considered a "sacred bloodline" (energonline?)? are there small traces of the og primes in every cybertronian? something else?)

I love this question!!

Cybertronian lineages are a bit complicated—just to clarify the “progenitor” thing a little more, I’d say they’re sort of like fungus, coral, or jellyfish. When I say they contribute genetic material or parts to offspring, I mean that they literally do contribute physical parts of themselves which eventually grow into an entirely separate organism, and that reproduction can happen completely asexually, where the resulting Bot is a 1 to 1 clone, or “sexually,” where multiple ‘Bots contribute organic material to a single offspring resulting in not only greater variance, but a reduced negative physical impact on the “parents.”

While the exact historical timeline of most of the Primes is not known, it is concretely believed that, with one very notable exception, none of them have “ancestors.” Though they are known as originators, Cybertronians aren’t directly descended from them, and the early genetic groups were instead more like cousins or siblings to eachother. Those disparate groups eventually commingled and that resulted in the modern Cybertronian diaspora.

The reason for the Primes never “reproducing,” at least not publicly, is political/theological. There’s a lot of religious baggage tied up in the hierarchy of Cybertronian life where the Primes are the first and most perfect beings, so any one of them having a descendant would raise a lot of understandable questions about the Godhand and its implications on the rigid divine hierarchy’s mutability—in short, it would be a bit of a mess! The Matrices are a halfway solution to this problem, but before I get into those, I should probably mention the Notable Exception.

So, there is one Prime with technical “offspring,” and that is Quintus. The Quintessons are Quintus Prime’s creation, and though they were deliberately engineered in a process that is quite a bit more complicated, they do have his CNA. Their existence very famously led to the end of the feudal hierarchy and a new era of caste-based determinism where social value and divine right were assigned via function. The Quintessons brought about an era where old flesh was no longer immutable and absolute, opening the floodgates for the philosophy of mechanization and new flesh. This (and the fact that, well, most of the original Primes are dead now) is why he is the exception—every acting Prime knows that the Godhand is dangerous.

That said, though, there is certainly an impetus for successors, and that’s where the Matrix came about. Because the exchange of genetic material isn’t always 1 to 1, you don’t have to be a direct parent to pass on material to another ‘Bot, or vice versa. In the right conditions, with the right material, a Cybertronian can absorb somebody else’s material to become genetically similar to them.

A Matrix is an isolated piece of an original Prime. While it’s hardly enough to overwrite the host organism, the Matrix bearer essentially integrates that material, absorbing the polyp sort of like a parasitic twin in utero, and technically changing the bearer’s CNA. So, in that sense, you can say all Primes are descendants of the originals!

Sorry for the long response, I hope this gave you the info you were looking for! I loved this question and I’ve put a lot of thought into this subject :)

[lets-try-some-writing]

Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

Based off this post. Enjoy this short little thing.

Many times the Matrix was given, and many times its bearers writhed in agony at its touch. The priests told them they were worthy.

But Optimus knows he is not.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

The priests always said that he was worthy. Like every Prime before him, Optimus's frame forever ached with the weight of the holy relic he bore. Fire leapt in his fuel lines. His hydraulics burned with exertion that he had done nothing to earn. Every waking moment was a form of torture as the relic within him made its opinion quite clear.

He was not worthy.

━━━━━━

"Your station is the most holy on all of Cybertron. Bear this weight with pride." The priests smiled as he passed, gilded in gold and draped in fine cloths. The people cheered as they saw him step out of the Citadel. He despised it.

They did not know the pain that came from carrying the relic within him. They did not know that just like every single Prime who came before him, he was not intended for this station.

"Rise, Optimus Prime." The head priest blessed him as he stood before the masses. The Matrix burned within his spark chamber, reminding him that he did not belong.

"Glory to the Empire!" The people shouted in joy. Optimus remained still, his battlemask ever present as he watched the celebration. Whispers spoke in the back of his mind, murmurs offering wisdom even as his spark flared in quiet agony.

The price he paid for divine knowledge was high. Such was the consequence of imposing on Primus's most holy.

━━━━━━

"You make an excellent Prime." Ratchet smiled as Optimus passed by. The doctor affixed his brooch to his cape, and while the act was tender, the Matrix thrummed in warning. If his corrupted form was to taint the divinity of the Primes, he was to have no joy.

"Now we can make some real change!" Ironhide exclaimed with glee as he patted Optimus on the back. Optimus nodded, but he did not smile. He was not allowed to smile. The Matrix was clear.

Every decision he made was done with agony clouding his thoughts. He learned to stop twitching when the Matrix caused his nerves to shoot with pain. He quickly silenced his instinctual cries when his plating felt so tight around him that he might suffocate.

"You alright Prime?" Jazz asked after one long cycle of legislation discussion. Optimus said nothing. Voicing his pain would bring only suffering to those around him.

"Of course." He answered simply. Jazz didn't believe him. No one did.

━━━━━━

"The Decepticons have turned Kaon into a fortress. It won't be long until they march on Tarn too." Prowl frowned as he hunched over a map. Optimus stood still, his vision hazy as ghostly forms surrounded him. Their glares were so intense that he couldn't help the way his plating flared.

"You are not worthy." They whispered as Optimus pointed out a location on the map, the knowledge of his unworthy predecessors guiding his thoughts.

The forms of the old gods pressed up against him, their ghostly frames burning everywhere they touched. The only ones who did not harm him where those who shared his fate. Countless presences wrapping around him and shielding him from the wrath of the ancient horrors that denied him the holy rank he had been forced to bear.

"Send our forces to the northern border and prepare for war. Cybertron will not fall." The ghostly optics never left him as he made his declaration. They held no love for him.

━━━━━━

"Sir, we need you." Ultra Magnus reached out, touching Optimus's shoulder as he looked out over the remains of the burning city of Rodion. It had all happened so fast. The flames of war engulfed their world before he had the chance to react.

"Please Prime, guide us." His Council begged, pleading with what they saw as the most holy for salvation. Optimus had nothing to give. The Matrix denied him. He could give no blessings or assurances.

"Optimus, what are we going to do?" One by one his companions came to him for comfort. Optimus's spark burned with righteous fury every time he offered another battle plan instead of some sort of prophecy, a promise of peace.

His frame forever burned. The Matrix cursed him, but the people needed him.

He would make himself worthy, if only to give his people something to cling to.

━━━━━━

"Energon shortages are increasing. This war is devastating the planet." Perceptor noted clinically. The rest of the war council grew grim. They knew how far their people had fallen. Centuries of war were killing their world and they all knew it.

"If a true Prime had been chosen, this would have never come to pass." The old gods whispered, their digits digging under his plating and setting his circuits alight with agony. Optimus did not react. He had long learned to remain silent when the Matrix saw fit to punish him for his hubris.

How a mortal could have ever dreamed of carrying the Matrix was beyond him. And yet, he had to be worthy. Whatever the Matrix said, his people needed him. Perhaps he was not a proper Prime, but he was all that remained.

He would tear himself apart to be worthy of the mantle he bore.

━━━━━━

"Optimus, your frame is falling to pieces! You need to rest!" Ratchet demanded as Optimus stood watch. His digits were shaky, as was now his regular state of being. His plating was cracked, his hydraulics were weakened, his optics strained more with every passing cycle. Already he had been forced to permanently wear his mask just to hide his eternal frown. It hurt too much to pretend anymore. Such was the curse of his station.

The longer he stood in the place of a divine, the more he deteriorated. All those who came before him fell this way. Optimus merely endured because he had to.

"Pride shall be your downfall oh foolish mortal." Their whispers forever haunted his audials. He could hardly recharge anymore. And yet, while Megatron still reigned, he could not falter.

"Orion, please, this has got to stop." Jazz pleaded with him as they prepared to leave Cybertron. He wasn't sure if Jazz meant the war or his increasing distance from his troops. Optimus wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He had to be worthy... there was no other choice.

━━━━━━

"Prime." Megatron met his gaze, and Optimus returned it. What was the use in fighting anymore? After so very long, they had new concerns. Cybertron needed to be restored. Their war was irrelevant.

"Let us get this over with." Optimus murmured as the words of the Matrix drowned out all else. He wished it could all end.

His frame was battered and he had not recharged properly in millennia. His life was one of pain. The Matrix never allowed him a moment's rest, not while he defiled it with his very existence. Over and over it murmured-

"You are not worthy."

He knew it, and he believed it.

━━━━━━

"Sup OP!" Hot Rod held out his first, an Earth custom that he had picked up from Primus knows where. Optimus stalled as the eternal whispers quieted. Hot Rod tilted his helm in confusion as Optimus reached up with shaky digits to wipe at his face.

It didn't hurt anymore.

"You are worthy." His voice was breathless as his knees felt weak. Megatron came to support him as Optimus struggled to stand upright. The pain had begun to fade. The Matrix sang with joy as he set his gaze upon the warrior before him.

"Prime, you alright?" Hot Rod nervously came forward, unsure how to act. Optimus retracted his mask. Those gathered gasped as Optimus dropped to a knee, a smile on his face.

"You are worthy." He repeated, echoing the words of the gods within him.

"What? I don't get it? What's going on?" Optimus continued to smile as the Matrix pulsed within him. He knew what it desired and he had no interest in denying it. Soon, very soon.

Soon he would not need to be worthy.

━━━━━━

Vorns came and went. Optimus endured the pain. Hot Rod needed more time. He was not prepared for his station, not yet. The Matrix flared every time he approached the warrior, prodding but not demanding, not yet.

But finally, after what felt like an eternity, the time had come.

"Hot Rod, will you accept this station?" Optimus asked, and the warrior before him paused. The mecha gathered around paused in their steps, dropping whatever they were doing to stare. Optimus had come from nowhere. He could see why they were concerned.

However, he could not wait any longer. Not when salvation stood before him.

"I don't understand." Hot Rod stared in confusion. Optimus smiled.

"You will. For unlike me... you are worthy." His chest plating parted, the Matrix shone. For one in his functioning, Optimus felt its approval. This was the correct choice.

The relic tore away from him, and Optimus fell to a knee as he caught it and held it out to the mech before him. The Matrix burned his servos as he touched it, but the holy fire merely served to have him shake. His freedom stood before him.

Hot Rod reached out, his hesitation obvious up until he touched the relic. A smile spread across his face. He looked as though he had found a piece of himself long lost. Optimus smiled alongside him as the Matrix finally found its Prime.

"Rise, Rodimus Prime." A new Prime stood before him, holy flame his to command. Optimus relished in the flames that whipped across his plating. They burned, but not as the Matrix had tormented him for so long.

He was free.

He was not worthy.

But he did not need to be.