Transformers Prime: A New Beginning

Chapter 27: T.M.I

Normal Perspective:

Two weeks had passed since Michael's counterpart arrived in their world. Not much happened after that. Michael's strange memory fluxes had stopped, and he was now back to his normal self again, which everyone was pleased with.

One day, Miko, Bulkhead, Jessica, and Starscream were watching a compilation of videos Miko had recorded at a Monster Truck Rally that she had taken Bulkhead to the week before on the base's TV, which Michael had replaced following the destruction of the previous one.

Jack was working at the KO Burger. Vince was grounded for breaking his curfew again. And Raf was still trying to catch up on his schoolwork.

The poor preteen had been spending so much time at the base that he had fallen behind on his schoolwork, and the work had piled up. Whenever he finished one assignment, another three needed doing. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew he had to get it done, lest he wanted a lecture from his teacher, or worse, his mother.

Jessica wasn't all that into Monster Trucks like Miko and Bulkhead were, but decided to watch it anyway.

Starscream also watched, but only because he had nothing else to do.

"I fail to see how this is entertaining." The seeker said as he watched the monster trucks jump over ramps and crush scrapped vehicles on the TV.

"You don't find anything entertaining? Do you?" Jessica asked as she looked at him.

Starscream just snorted, knowing that anything he did find entertaining would probably either be offensive to the Autobots, or was something they couldn't do. He walked over to the other side of the room instead and stayed quiet.

Bulkhead and Miko kept being loud, and they had the TV blasting, which quickly annoyed Ratchet.

"Would you mind lowing the volume?" The CMO asked, sounding like he was trying not to yell at them.

"Hey Ratch, check out the Monster Truck Rally Miko took me to last week." Bulkhead said, not at all doing what the medic asked.

"I compiled some highlights with my cellphone!" Miko said as she held her phone up.

"Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators?" Ratchet asked, not at all seeing how that was fun or enjoyable, and he shuddered at the thought of it. "Bloodsport!" 

"YEAH!" Bulkhead and Miko said together, which made Jessica wince slightly.

"You could be helping Optimus in the field right now." Ratchet said, knowing that it was true, yet the Wrecker was instead just watching TV.

"Ah he doesn't need my help to find some ancient educational... thingamabob." Bulkhead replied dismissively, not taking his optics off the TV.

"The 'thingamabob' to which you refer, happens to be a Cybertronian Data Cylinder." Ratchet said, and pressed something on the console that changed the channel on the TV to the screen on the console, which showed a blue replicated version of the Cylinder in question, interrupting the video compilation, much to Bulkhead and Miko's disappointment, but to Starscream's and Jessica's amusement. "And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold."

Ratchet then pressed something else, which made more Cylinders appear on the screen.

"During the Golden Age, dozens of these Cylinders were created." The CMO began, as Miko and Bulkhead grew more and more bored with each passing second. "Each containing the sum total of Cybertronian knowledge on any given subject. Stellar Cartography. Medicine. Ancient Mythology. When the war broke out, the Cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far as possible from Decepticon reach. Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a-"