Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 193 Painless Motherhood

One by one, the life support lines in the central cylindrical culture chamber were loosened, and the massive machine sank into the chamber.

First, its head appeared, then its claws, and finally its massive, folded wings and tail.

Standing outside the culture chamber, looking up at it, the vector suddenly realized that he had been somewhat impulsive when he pressed the confirmation button, but he couldn't not press it, since they were already there.

Whether they can understand, whether they possess independent consciousness, and whether they will only have combat instincts programmed into them after waking up—these questions remain unanswered through the incubation chamber.

Shockwave stood in front of the console running the wake-up process, while Vector was watching and felt another surge of inexplicable anger.

-

The outer wall of the culture chamber is opened.

Cold white mist billowed out, spreading along the ground like clouds. The massive dragon-shaped machine was exposed to the mine air, with traces of damp culture fluid still on its armor.

A few seconds later, its claw tip twitched.

Don't rush to constrain the vector diagram yet; treat the oscillation wave as is.

The gigantic monster inside the incubation chamber slowly raised its head.

His neck was as long as that of a Western dragon, and his giant wings were not fully open, but stretched slightly behind him.

His optical mirror lit up, and he first looked at the shock wave, then at the gravitational vector, identifying the two first things to appear in his world.

The shockwave opened its mouth: "Stop."

The giant, ferocious claws retracted.

Shockwave continued, "Bow your head."

It paused for a moment, then slowly and awkwardly lowered its neck.

The large size of the machine made even this simple maneuver difficult. The tail veered slightly off course and crashed into the mounting frame, causing it to deform.

Looking over, the giant ferocious creature also glanced down at its own tail, and then quietly retracted it.

After carefully considering his words, Yin Zong said, "He's... not fully awake yet?"

Shockwave replied: "Consciousness is being established; basic instructions can be understood at this stage, but self-definition is still unstable."

"So now it's like being a freshman?"

"Yes."

The monstrous creature looked down at her, its head drooping, yet it still resembled a metallic mountain ridge hatched from an incubation chamber. Its sharp fangs appeared imposing in the cold light, and rows of tooth-like exoskeletons were tucked into its lower jaw.

He is not attacking at the moment; instead, he is attempting to communicate: "Can you understand me?"

The enormous, menacing optical mirror flashed.

Shockwave chimed in from the side, "The language analysis is not yet complete."

The vector continued to stare at the gigantic monster: "Don't move."

He obediently stopped for a while before bringing his head close to hers, his nose near hers, and spraying the air carrying the scent of the culture medium onto her hands.

Shockwave explains: "The Megalodon possesses a high degree of group consciousness and territorial awareness. During the initial awakening phase, it will include the first stable individuals it comes into contact with in its close kinship-level group identification."

"This mechanism helps young individuals quickly establish safe boundaries in the nest environment."

Upon hearing this, Yin Vector sensed something was amiss: "What does 'close relative level' mean?"

The shockwave paused for a moment.

"If we use a low-precision analogy from a civilization that practices interbreeding, it is close to the concept of parents."

The mine was quiet. Guiding Vector slowly turned its head to look at the giant, ferocious creature that was bowing its head in front of it, and then looked at Shockwave with a lingering gaze.

Shockwave's expression was completely unreadable; after all, he had no face at all, as if he were merely offering a rigorous academic explanation.

"So what does he consider you and me to be now?"

Shockwave said, "Initial guardianship object."

"...I can become a mother painlessly?"

Shockwave looked at her: "That analogy isn't very precise, but it can be used for easier understanding."

The giant, ferocious creature suddenly let out a somewhat incoherent cry.

Hesitantly, Yin Zongfu patted his head to comfort him.

A newly created clone, a prehistoric life form of Cybertron, a large flying behemoth, and it is also suspected that she is being used as a monitoring device.

She felt that sooner or later, the judicial center would become a hybrid of a children's shelter, a postwar court, a psychological rehabilitation center, and a prehistoric behemoth breeding ground in her hands.

"He can't stay here."

Shockwave: "The laboratory is equipped with complete life support facilities."

"But they can't stay in the perpetually dark mines; they need a spacious, habitable environment."

She opened her communication channel and connected to the judicial central command: "BICk0".

"Prepare the regulatory files for the monstrous project, notify the Medical Tower to establish a temporary assessment team, and suspend all non-essential access to the high-altitude platform at the top of the Judicial Center."

BICk0 paused for a second: "Uh... what's the purpose?"

Vector pinched his brow again: "I'll explain the details later; it's used for building nests."

There was another moment of silence on the other end of the line: "...Okay?"

Shockwave has begun to consider the feasibility: "The high-altitude platform needs to be modified."

"You're in charge."

"We need ecological simulation parameters." "You provide them."

"The Giant Predator requires a very large amount of space to roam." "So you'd better start making arrangements now."

Shockwave had no objection: "Accept."

-

The Giant Frenzied project was announced two weeks later.

The vector was not hidden; these things are too dangerous, and it's best to put them out in the open so that all machines know about them.

Panic first filled Cybertron's public channels.

This is normal. No one can remain calm after just ending the Quintesson crisis and hearing the Chief Justice announce that the judicial center is about to house a batch of prehistoric Cybertronian clones.

Some people are asking if the Predacon will attack the city; others are strongly questioning whether Shockwave's circuitry was damaged by Megatron; still others are starting to dig into Aquitron's public archives.

These archives were vectorized and uploaded into public systems after the war.

The previous suppression was to prevent the Quintessons from using the chaos to disrupt public opinion and order within Cybertron. Now that the war is over, all publicly available battlefield records have been filed into the public archives.

The citizens of Cybertron gained a full understanding of the battle they had not witnessed, and how the Graviton Vector, in a very short time after its return, dealt with a crisis that shook the order of Cybertron.

The panic was temporarily brought under control, after all, the announcement of the Giant Frenzied Project ended with a signature: Chief Judge Citing Vector.

Even if many people are panicking, they are at least willing to wait for her to give a result.

-

The high-altitude platform at the top of the judicial center was cleared out, and part of it that was originally used for external patrol docking was dismantled.

Shockwave provides parameters for the colossal lair, the medical tower confirms the life status, and the judicial center is responsible for access control and security boundaries.

The platform is surrounded by high-strength guardrails and energy buffer nets, with a support frame in the center that can accommodate large flying individuals. The energy supply and life support monitoring system are connected below, and take-off and landing airspace is reserved around the perimeter.

The entire judicial center is actually difficult to describe from a distance; it looks like it's topped with half an eggshell.

BICk0 is recording losses, while the shockwave is confirming the ecological simulation status nearby.

The vector was taming the largest giant monstrous beast, and there were other giant monstrous beasts beside him, which had also hatched in the last two days and were now standing in a row in front of her.

"First, no flying around."

"Second, you are not allowed to approach residential areas or attack Cybertronian citizens."

They responded softly a few times.

After she finished training, the largest giant monster gently rubbed against the vector's arm. Although the force was barely controlled, the vector was still pushed back half a step.

"No one is allowed to hitchhike."

The giant, ferocious creature responded with a low growl.

Megatron's communication came through at that moment, and the vector was immediately connected.

Megatron's voice was restrained: "What did Shockwave clone?"

He turned to look at the shock wave, standing ramrod straight.

"you do not know?"

Megatron paused for a second, then said, "I'm asking you."

I really don't know.

Vector took a deep breath and looked at Shockwave again: "You didn't report this to Megatron?"

The shockwave answered, "No."

"Does Optimus Prime know this?"

No relevant sharing records.

The vector fell silent, and Megatron fell silent as well.

The wind blew between them on the platform; silence was the Cambridge of tonight.

Only the giant monsters, peeking out and carelessly trying to entice Vector's hand and Shockwave's leg, continued to do so.

Shockwave explained: "This project is a private project."

In despair, she closed the optical lens, never knowing how much disaster this damned shockwave would bring her.

"I thought at least Megatron would know."

Shockwave said calmly, "Full information disclosure recipient: Chief Judge."

Megatron coldly replied, "Shockwave."

Shockwave switched to communication: "Megatron, sir."

"I'll explain later."

"learn."

The vector force gripped the philtrum tightly, though it was already useless: "Line up! All of you line up!"

Megatron snorted and finally said, "I'm coming to the judicial center right away."

"No entry into the nest."

Megatron: "..."

"This also includes Optimus Prime."

Shockwave added: "The Giant Predator may be territorially wary of large, unfamiliar mechs."

"You should have said that sooner!" the vector exclaimed angrily.

"Only now could a large, unfamiliar machine visit the nest."

"Shut up!!"

The vector suddenly leaped up and punched his rabbit-like, now very obstructive antenna. The giant monsters were all startled, watching as the monitor punched another monitor.

Shockwave covered the antenna and shut down the transmitter.