Episode 2 (Pilot) - Happy Anniversary Part 2 

The red avatar hummed as the little orbs worked around him “I am truly sorry that your evening got spoiled, but Two here had to ground bridge you here to save you from the Decepticon who was after him. If he learned that you two owned a Matrix shard, you would have become targets then and there too.” 

“Ground bridge?” Orion scratched his head. 

“It’s when I open a portal that leads to almost anywhere on Earth. In this case, from that ditch we were falling down to the Ark here.” Teletraan-2 explained “Like I said, I have the ability to detect shards of the Matrix and Decepticons want to steal me for that.” 

“Seven, if you please?” Teletraan-1 instructed another orb who ‘nodded’ and lit up as a hatch opened displaying the husks of what once was the casing that held the Matrix and then, a hologram of what it looked like before when it was intact and whole appeared over it “The Matrix of Leadership is an artefact that is as old as our home world Cybertron. It has the power to create, destroy or remake entire worlds, but its powers only work when in the hands of the ruler of Cybertron: a Prime. The citizens were known as Transformers. A race of robotic organisms blessed with the ability to transform. Cybertron was famous for being the most technologically advanced society and enjoyed many, many long eons of peace and prosperity.” 

Orion and Ariel looked at the holographic images of the Matrix, the other worldy technological cities and the planet Cybertron itself, but then the images turned dark and violent with war, destruction and conflict. 

“But... One day, our planet became socially split into two factions. The Autobots and the Decepticons. For thousands of years, these two factions remained at war of which the prize was the Matrix itself along with being Cybertron’s ruler. The final war was between the Prime who lead the Autobots and Megatron who lead the Decepticons.” Teletraan-1 went on. 

“Oh my... How did the final war end?” Ariel shuddered at the images. 

The orbs all froze and Teletraan-1's expression sank “With EVERYONE losing. The final war ended with the destruction of Cybertron and the end of Transformerkind.” 

Orion winced at the hologram of Cybertron turning into a dead barren planet. 

“Just before it was too late, the Autobot sage Alpha Trion managed to take the Matrix and sent us all away and the Matrix itself with Teletraan-2 far away from the planet. However... it turned out the Matrix was cracked. Once Two landed here, awoke last and got out of statis, the effect of the damage came to pass of which the Matrix exploded, and the pieces spread across the Earth. For the past twenty-six years, we have been trying to find the pieces, but in all that time, all we could do was protect the single shard we had.” Teletraan-1 shook his head as another hatch opened to show the single shard. 

Orion examined it “Ah, so THAT is why it is your mission to put the Matrix back together. You want to bring your planet back to life, but you said that the final war ended with the Transformerkind ending yet you mentioned that the Decepticons are here on Earth and invaded it.” 

“Heh. I did and I stand by it, but in order for the Decepticons, that is the few that were left, to survive long term and adapt to the Earth, they had to change their bodies in such a way that they were no longer Transformers. With what remained of their old tech, they became a hybrid of Transformer and human. In other words, cyborgs on a genetic level: Pretenders.” Teletraan-1 explained with visuals “With that... they have been walking and hiding in plain sight among your people while also looking for the Matrix shards and upon identifying Two here, they seek to hunt and capture him. Ironically... they made more progress than we did. According to Five here, they already put together half of it. Right now, they have the edge and Megatron, who survived, will succeed in making he Matrix whole before we do and he intends to not only revive Cybertron, but also remake it into his own image. In code, it sounds like we want the same thing, but we want to save Cybertron and return it to its peaceful state while freeing your planet. Megatron, who unfortunately survived, wants to use it to create a new Cybertron where he rules it along with Earth with an iron fist and even expand this empire.” 

“That's terrible! Mr. One, you should bring this to the attention of the government and the army. Maybe even the whole world! I’m sure they would help you.” Ariel suggested. 

Teletraan-1 avatar looked down and then at her “That was the first thing we did twenty-six years ago, Mrs. Pax, but it turns out that the Decepticons had been here MUCH longer than us and had time to gain control in very subtle ways. They are in your governments, armies and even big global companies all over the world. There is nowhere for us to turn except... you.” 

“Us?” Orion and Ariel repeated in unison. 

“Mm-hmm. You are our last hope. You see, because the last Prime was an Autobot, so if someone finds a shard and gets imbued with its power in such a way that they too become a Pretender, but one of the Autobot faction. This imbument happens the very moment you touch a shard with your bare hands.” Teletraan-1 explained. 

Orion raised his hands “Um, I’m afraid there’s been a mistake then. I may have had this shard for a long time, but I think I would notice if I was a cyborg in the last few years. I mean, look at me? I’m 100% human. My genetics will say so too.” 

Teletraan-1 smirked “Mr. Pax, you have chimerism, correct?” 

“Well... yes. Why? What does having a rare genetic trait have to do with this?” he raised his brow. 

Teletraan-1 chuckles “All Transformers have chimerism as it is necessary for them to be able to transform as transforming is them switching from one set of genetics being active to the other. Well, sure you look human and according to your technology, you’re a human with chimerism, but you don’t have two sets of DNA. You have a set of DNA and CNA.” 

“I don’t think so. I mean, I have never even transformed into anything in my entire life. If I had such an ability, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I would have used it especially when it came to... well... I think you can imagine. I think.” Orion gestured to his hair and figure. 

The AI burst out laughing “Mr. Pax, transforming doesn’t work like that. You don’t transform into anything you want at will. As a Pretender, you can change from human to a bot. And the reason you never have up until now isn’t because you can’t, it’s because you don’t know how. It’s a... bodily function you never had to use before. You need only a trigger to make you do it once and you can do it for life. Two?” 

“Yes, sir.” Two hovered over to Orion and his side retracted out a tube which quickly stung him in his right shoulder “It’s ok. It’s just a tiny shot of energon.” 

“Ah! Argh...” Orion rubbed his shoulder and then his body clenched as one could see his arteries glowing purple through his skin “Ahhh.... everything tingles!!” 

“Honey!” Ariel reached out, but Two interrupted her by giving her an energon shot in the back “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.... urrrrrrrrgh...” 

The two of them twitched and winced as their bodies ached to do something until their eyes glowed bright blue, their skin and hair became metallic and robotic looking. In a few seconds, their bodies became clothed in armors. Orion’s armor was red and blue with white pants, a helmet that resembled a trucker’s cap and a mask that covered his mouth and nose. Ariel’s was a hot pink armor with wings, a helmet that resembled a crown, her midrift showed and her hair was now much longer with a huge effect where it was pink on top and red at the bottom. 

“Ah, you both look absolutely magnificent!” Two complimented them. 

“Oh, my lord! We’re robots!” Orion commented as he looked at his reflection “But... But we can’t be robots!” 

“We have day jobs and lives! You said we can transform, so how do we transform back into human beings?!” Ariel asked and as if on cue, they reverted back into their human forms and their armors seemed to disappear. 

“Like THAT. All you need to do is... will yourselves into transforming.” Teletraan-1 laughed. 

Orion frowned up at him “I beg your pardon ,Mr. One, but as much as we sympathize with your situation, even with our transforming powers, what do you expect my wife and I to do? She’s a kindergarten teacher and I’m a carpenter.” 

Teletraan-2 “I expect you to fight. You MUST after all. It’s not just my planet that is in danger. It’s yours too. As I said before, Megatron wants to enslave your planet. He already has in a way, but under your noses. If he becomes open about it, trust me, he will NOT be kind.” 

“Two.” Teletraan-1 gave the orb a stern look making him back off “I understand that this is a lot to take in, so I will let you think about it. Two, open a ground bridge to return to Mr. and Mrs. Pax home. Oh, and repair their car before sending it back too.” 

“Yes, sir.” he grumbled. 

They followed the orb back to where the car was. Meanwhile, back in the dark room, Megatron sits in the shadows while speaking to Steeljaw on the phone. 

“So Teletraan-2 ground bridged away with two humans?” he asked while smoking his pipe. 

“Yeah, boss, and the lady had a Matrix shard. I’ll send you an image of the couple now.” Steeljaw informed him while sitting on a rock in the woods in human form with his eyes glowing red. 

On a huge screen before Megatron, the awkward images of Orion an Ariel are shown “Mm-hmm. That’s definitely a Matrix shard, but you lost it.” 

“Yes...” Steeljaw hung his head in shame. 

Megatron thought for a moment before smiling wickedly “But maybe we can still use this to our advantage. I have an idea.” 

Back at the Pax’s residence, the car pulled into the driveway and Orion stepped out with Teletraan-2, back in the form of an owl, fluttered out and perched onto the mailbox as Ariel stepped out of the car from the passenger’s side. 

Orion cleared his throat “Thank you, Two.” 

The owl just glared at him. 

“Look, we gave you the shard and if you need help you can trust AND rely on, perhaps you should recruit a soldier or a police officer.” Orion groaned while trying to be patient. 

“It’s not that simple. You are targets and... it’s not for nothing that the Matrix shard landed in YOUR hands. You were chosen by Primus himself for a reason.” Teletraan-2 lectured. 

“Two, it was just luck and it only wound in my hands after because Orion gave it to me though I didn’t know AIs could be spiritual.” Ariel commented. 

“When one loses everything, belief is all you have left. Whether you are created or born. I pray you two NEVER find out what that is like.” Teletraan-2 looked away from them making them feel guilty “You are involved whether you want to be or not.” 

With that, he flew away and Orion let out a long sigh “Well, at least we still have the coffee beans and I REALLY want a cup now. I can’t sleep after this anyway.”