Override stopped by her favorite hang-out, the Circle, as Blurr brought the Autobots up to speed. The Circle is, or rather, WAS, a major club for racers. She stood at the red walkway and looked up at the once-proud sign. She closed her eyes and thought back to the evening of the race that decided her current political position. She imagined herself all clean and polished, her lipstick as sharp as her cocky smile as the lights of the cameras caused her armor to sparkle. The sides of the walkway had barriers as the news crews started asking her questions and congratulating her on her win. It was then that someone asked something that seemed odd at the time. “Override, Ma’am, what are your thoughts on the Mobius Crisis?”
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“What is your take on the current activities concerning the Autobots and Decepticons over the supposed war against the Chaos Bringer and what it means-?”
“The what now?”
“…Surely you know what’s happening? You watch the news?”
“Friendo, I don’t WATCH the news, I AM the news!” She entered the Circle with her entourage and was immediately bombarded by music and lights. She was dancing with all sorts of mechs and femmes, shimmying against their frames and letting them caress her. After a good solid hour, she sauntered over to the bar. “Hold your tears back, boys and girls!” she called. “Just gotta fill my tank and then you’ll be feeling me on you once again!” She sat next to a purple mech with his tires attached to a backpack. “Hey there! Dirt Boss, yeah?” she asked the Mech.
“That’s me, the self-proclaimed seediest bot on Velocitron!” joked the mech. “Want a drink?”
“Why else would I be here?” chuckled Override. Dirt Boss then called to the bartender.
“Hey! Two cubes here!” The bartender then poured them each a cube of liquid Energon. The two bots then clinked their cubes and guzzled them.
“More Energon!” called Override once they finished. Her optics then caught sight of a pair of mechs sitting in a booth with some sort of device fastened to their heads, connecting them to a strange machine. “Hey, Dirt Boss!” she called as they got their refills. “Know anything about that?” She pointed to the machine.
“The bots that made it call it ‘Simultronic’, something that creates ‘reality inside reality’,” replied Dirt Boss. Override looked at the permanently dazed expressions of the bots hooked up to the machine.
“Looks like they’re frying their brains. Who would ever want to run from a world like this?”
“No kidding. Hey, one more round?”
“Sure thing! Then I better see you on the dance floor! You don’t wanna miss me shimmying up to you, do you?”
“Sounds like something I wouldn’t DARE miss! Bartender, one more round!”
“Don’t you bots ever slow down?” asked the bartender as he poured out one more cube for each of them. Override made an exaggerated gasp and put her hand to her chest in mock horror.
“‘Slow’? Us?! You insult us! Wealth! Fame! Endless upgrades! Racing forever! Velocitron FOREVER!”
“VELOCITRON FOREVER!” called everyone in the Circle. Their cheers then faded as Override returned to the present day. The Circle was dim, empty, and quiet. Override walked down the now-faded red walkway and entered the club to see only one bot hooked up to a Simultronic machine in a booth by himself. The bartender was now in danger of cleaning his cubes again.
“This place still dead?” asked Override.
“There’s a fuel shortage, remember?” grunted the bartender. Override simply put her Shanix onto the counter.
“Is this enough for a bottle?” she hissed. The bartender looked at the amount, then grabbed a bottle and empty cube.
“Knock yourself out. Really, do that.” Override took the bottle and cube and made her way to an empty booth. It was a booth with a Simultronic machine. She poured herself some Energon, then took out a device and put her finger to it. It opened an Energon tube in her finger and took a reading.
“Innermost Energon Toxicity: 62%,” it reported. Override looked at the stray cranium connection draped across the table. She held it in her hand briefly.
“Didn’t you call it a brain frier a year ago?” asked a voice. Override looked up to see…
“Dirt Boss?” she asked.
“Glad you still remember me from that night,” chuckled Dirt Boss. “May I?” He indicated he wanted to sit across from her. She nodded and he sat down. “You know, from your comment about Simultronic last year, I figured you and I agreed that such a device was for the weak, not the strong.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m just visiting a friend. I was told this became a hangout for you, even after you announced the fuel crisis. Tell me, have you ever felt loss? Remorse?” Override’s optics flickered. “…Let me put it this way: how much do you REALLY care about those around you?” Override snorted at that question.
“If this is gonna be a conversation about how cold and arrogant I am, trust me, I’ve heard them all before!”
“From people scared of your gifts, I’ll wager.” Dirt Boss’ face then became sympathetic. “Believe me, I understand you better than anyone you’ve ever known! Tell me, what do you REALLY care about, my friend?”
“Racing.”
“Just the racing?” Override then hesitated.
“…No. The crowds. When I can feel them behind me. The lights. The roar. And that moment, that one single moment, when I know what I’m doing really matters.”
“Power. It’s POWER you care about.” Override arched her eyebrow at Dirt Boss’ statement. “Power over the crowd! Power over those around you! Like me, you have a single-minded devotion to achieve! You have little time for those around you and care only for what YOU want! What YOU can get! Others would want you to believe that these qualities are bad, not my group!”
“Group?” Override arched an eyebrow again. Dirt Boss continued.
“Our belief is simple, only the strong should rule! YOU are strong, Override, my friend! You’re superior to everyone around you! At the moment, I lead a group that exists to bring freedom to those like yourself! Freedom from that which exists to deprive Velocitron of what we TRULY deserve! That which took away your dream! We call ourselves the Vehicular Constructs, the Vehicons!” He handed her a business card-shaped piece of metal with the Vehicons symbol on it. “We could really use someone with your gifts, your clarity. Like I said, I command them at the moment, but I’m perfectly willing to let the Nitro Convoy take the helm. This will give you what you want, freedom from the Racer’s Curse! All those races, all those victories, and you STILL felt hollow, didn’t you? Rule or serve, Override. You’ll know what to do.” He then left the building. Override examined the metal card, then she spent her remaining time finishing off her bottle. She put the empty bottle and cube back at the bar, then left the Circle.
Dirt Boss smirked as he saw Override leave the Circle. “She’ll join us,” he remarked to someone in the ally.
“I should hope so, for your sake,” rasped the bot shrouded by the ally’s shadows.
“Relax, she’s young and malleable. She’ll come around to our way of thinking.”
“I suffered two setbacks on the way here, one on Nebulos and the other on Animatros. Both were the result of arrogant idiots thinking that their one single plan was fool-proof!” The mystery bot stepped out of the ally to reveal Megatron looming over Dirt Boss. “I trust YOU aren’t an arrogant idiot?”
“N-No, my Lord!” gulped Dirt Boss. “I’m not an arrogant idiot! I have backup plans should my main plan go south!” Megatron’s sweet smile didn’t reach his optics.
“Good. It would be nice to have at least ONE colony flying Decepticon colors.”