Everyone managed to check in on Teletraan to see how he was doing. It felt like a long half-hour for everyone. Maria…was a little on edge. “So…they’re from a planet of naturally-occurring robots?” she asked Shadow as she saw the whole thing.
“Yep,” replied Shadow.
“And…this is new to them?”
“Uh huh.”
“…Huh.”
“…Maria, what is it?”
“Shadow, how can this appear normal to you?! I was dead for 50 years, you were eaten up by revenge for a bit, then you fought the Black Arms, you joined G.U.N. after that, then you get caught up in all sorts of shenanigans that frequently pit you against my cousin, now calling himself Dr. Eggman (even though I’m sure his degree was revoked a long time ago), then robots that can think and feel like a biological organism land here, then you get caught up in their second civil war, then you tell me that you helped banish their version of the devil and met the actual creator of this planet, and, just to really put icing on the cake, characters from our stories come to life and we had to save one another’s butts, and I was resurrected by Morgane Le Fay herself and put into a Mobian body similar to yours, and now we’re going to space and our Autobot friends’ A.I. is raising an offspring within the span of 30 minutes!” Maria then started panting, her stress clear on her face. Shadow said nothing as Maria spoke, he felt it would be rude of him to interrupt. A few seconds after she was finished, he gave her a reassuring hug.
“It’s a lot to take in,” he soothed. “I promise you though, I WILL help you through this.” Maria steadied her breathing after Shadow’s reassurance. They stayed in that position for a long time. Just then, a call rang throughout the base.
“Everyone, Teletraan’s back!” announced the caller, Scattershot. “He wants us all to be in the command center to reveal his kid!” Shadow looked to Maria with a look of concern.
“I’m fine now, Shadow,” she assured him. “I guess I just needed to rant a bit. Let’s go see Teletraan’s kid.” They joined everyone else in the command center to see Teletraan’s avatar on the screen.
“Everyone, thanks for checking in with me and my kid,” he began. “It helped me know that I wasn’t raising them alone. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern computation, a program developed on its own from my own code. Would you like to see her?”
“So it’s a girl A.I.?” asked Optimus.
“Bingo.”
“Then let’s see her!”
“Everyone, presenting the daughter of Teletraan 1, the newest Tactical Artificial Intelligence!” A human woman dressed in a maroon Japanese Policewoman’s outfit appeared next to Teletraan’s avatar. Her hat had the Autobot symbol set over a gold background and she wore a set of headphones modeled to look like siren lights with a microphone on the left side. Her eyes were dark lavender, and she had brown hair.
“Hello, everyone!” greeted the woman. “I am the Tactical Artificial Intelligence, but you can call me T-AI!”
“Good to finally meet you, T-AI,” returned Optimus. “I’m Optimus Prime, these are my bots and friends.”
“Good to meet you all!” cheered T-AI. “I’m eager to be put through my paces as I coordinate planetary action for those staying behind.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Dad and I already had a few discussions about this, and I’m sure. I’ll monitor Mobius for any and all threats.”
“Splendid! I can’t wait to see how you handle the planet in Teletraan’s absence.”
“Oh, she can handle it just fine,” replied Teletraan. “She’s the daughter of a genius, snarky A.I.”
The time to leave finally came the next day. The ones staying behind were the Technobots, Cosmos, Blaster, the Round Table Knights, Guinevere, Merlin, Aleena, Team Chaotix, Omega, Big, Cream, Vanilla, and Topaz. The ones going to space were divided up as followed; Arcee, Blackarachnia, Goldbug, Jazz, Optimus Prime, Perceptor, Ratchet, Sparkplug, Stormfront, Yoketron, Natalie, Shahra, Sira, and Trema were going on the Ark with Optimus in charge, Cliffjumper, Dust Up, Jumpstream, Pyra Magna, Rust Dust, Skyburst, Stormclash, Strongarm, Windblade, Alexis, Amy, Cosmo, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails would board the Blue Typhoon with Tails in command, and the crew of the Fang would consist of Grimlock, Slag, Slash, Sludge, Snarl, Swoop, Maria, Rouge, and Shadow with Grimlock as Captain. The Decepticons had already left a day ahead of them, so the time to go was NOW. Optimus and those going to space faced those staying behind and said a few goodbyes. “Blaster, you take care of these crazy kids,” directed Optimus.
“Yes, Sir!” replied Blaster. “Mobius will be exactly as you left it, Sir!” Sonic then spoke to Aleena.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised. “I’ll have a lot to tell you!”
“Please, make sure you take care of yourself,” urged Aleena. Amy then talked to Cream.
“When I come back, do you want to start your magic training?” she asked.
“Yes, please!” answered the young rabbit. Teletraan spoke to T-AI.
“Now, you be good for them,” he remarked. “Make sure you scan for viruses daily, keep the VPN up to date, don’t let any dangerous programs into your systems-”
“Daaad!” groaned T-AI. “I can take care of myself! I’m a grown woman!”
“I know, but I can’t help but worry.” He then hugged T-AI. “I’ll come back, sweetie, I promise.”
“I’ll miss you, Daddy.” Alexis and Topaz then said their goodbyes.
“You keep Team Dark in line, you hear?” ordered Topaz.
“Understood, Ma’am,” answered Alexis as she saluted.
“And come back alive, I won’t have G.U.N. lose you OR Shadow and Rouge.”
“We will, Ma’am, I promise.” Merlin and Sira were the last people to say their goodbyes.
“Merlin, I trust you can handle the Erazor Djinn?”
“Quite easily,” assured the wizard. “Now, since he’s been freed from service, he can’t be bound again, but I have a variety of weapons at my disposal.”
“Perfect. Oh, tell me how Lancelot and Guinevere’s wedding goes, will you?”
“I shall, indeed. Good luck, Sira Mayworth.” Sira bowed and joined everyone.
“Everything’s ready,” reported Teletraan.
“Beam us up,” replied Optimus. Everyone was taken up in the transporter beams and placed in their respective ships. They all reported ready to go. It would take a while for the Warp Field Drivers to get to speed, so Blackarachnia decided to see Optimus have just a little fun with the situation.
“Teletraan, play the instrumental version of the first Star Trek opening,” she called.
“What?!” asked Teletraan.
“I want to hear someone say ‘to boldly go’ and Optimus is a fan of the show, so…?”
“Go ahead, Teletraan,” urged Optimus. “I’ve always wanted to say it.” Teletraan smiled.
“Playing music,” he reported. The familiar opening notes of the first Star Trek opening then played on the bridge.
“…Space, the final frontier!” began Optimus. “These are the voyages of the starships Ark, Blue Typhoon, and Fang. Their ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!”
“Warp Field Drivers ready!” called Teletraan.
“Take us out!” The ships adjusted their headings, the engines spun to life, then they all sped away from Mobius at speeds one can only dream of! Their journey across the stars has begun!