“I already told you, I don’t want any part of your war,” Override grunted to Optimus sitting in the seat across the booth’s table.
“No, I get it,” smirked Optimus. “You’re the Nitro Convoy, you do everything yourself. How’s that working out for you?”
“It’s-it’s-it’ssss…I’m sorry, I don’t mean to get off on the wrong foot here, but do I look at the blue lights or the thing on your helmet?” Optimus then looked at her in a deadpan manner. “It’s just…I’m a little overenergized and I can’t tell if you’re fake or-” Optimus then leaned closer to Override.
“I’m real. VERY real. I’m the realest thing you’re ever gonna meet.”
“…Just my luck.” Override’s optics then looked elsewhere. “Where’s the staff here?” Her optics flashed green briefly.
“Yep, partodium’s in the latest batch of Synth-en, ain’t it? That’s not looking too good.” Override cycled air through her olfactory sensors.
“It’s been worse.”
“We’ve secured the perimeter,” reported a femme’s voice, “but I don’t think we should hold it much longer. It might attract Decepticon attention.” Override looked to her left to see Blackarachnia hanging upside down from a rope she attached to the ceiling. The Nitro Convoy’s optics flickered as she tried to determine the reality of Blackarachnia.
“…You’re…fired?” It was the best Override could come up with.
“I’m an Autobot,” retorted Blackarachnia. “That’s not up to you.” She dropped down from the rope, sprayed something on the rope to make it dissolve into thin air, and sat next to Optimus as he put an arm around her shoulders.
“Override, I’d like you to meet my wife, the genius chemist and spy, Blackarachnia,” he introduced.
“Hi,” mumbled Override.
“I was tasked with gathering as much information as I could on you and your condition,” explained Blackarachnia. “Regretfully, that meant getting copies of all files related to you.”
“I suggest you apologize for that and delete those copies now,” grunted Override.
“You’ve been busy lately,” observed Optimus. “You made yourself a lab-rat for toxic Synth-en brews in an attempt to solve your planet’s fuel crisis, you made your predecessor your doctor, and you gave the Planet Cup to some random femme! Now, if I didn’t know any better-”
“You DON’T know better,” interrupted Override. “I didn’t give it to Shadow Striker, she fought me and took it.”
“Whoa, hold on, no, she TOOK it?! The Planet Cup, and she took it?! The symbol of your office, and she just TOOK it?! A femme walked into your home, kicked your aft, and took the Planet Cup?!” Optimus turned to Blackarachnia. “Is that possible?”
“Well, from what Blurr told us,” remarked Blackarachnia, “there are multiple security redundancies to prevent unauthorized hands from touching it until it’s given to the new Nitro Convoy.” Override resumed glaring at the two bots.
“…What do you want from me?” she finally sighed.
“What do we want from you?” asked Optimus. “Nuh uh! What do YOU want from ME?! You have become a problem, a problem that I have to deal with! Contrary to popular belief, you are NOT the center of my universe!”
“I get it, all right?!”
“I have bigger problems than you on Cybertron! Legs, hit her!” Blackarachnia then jabbed her fingers into Override’s neck. Override jolted from the shock of something being in jabbed into her. Blackarachnia’s fingers then deployed a chemical into her systems, then pulled her fingers out of Override’s neck.
“What are you gonna do?!” she snapped. “Steal my t-cog and sell it?! Could you not do anything awful for a few nano-cycles?!” Optimus and Blackarachnia then saw the green glow vanish from her optics. “What did she just do to me?!”
“What did I just do FOR you?” corrected Blackarachnia. “That’s terraxium trioxide. It’s gonna take the edge off.”
“Override, we’re trying to get you back to work,” explained Optimus.
“…Gimme a couple boxes of that stuff,” replied Override, “and I’ll be back on my feet.”
“It’s not a cure,” countered Blackarachnia. “It’s just something to ease the symptoms. It doesn’t look like this Synth-en stuff’s gonna be an easy fix given the Energon shortage.”
“Believe me, I’ve got a team that’s the best at this stuff,” grunted Override. “They’ve been trying to find a suitable binding agent that would be better than partodium and give off the same radiation as normal Energon. They’ve tried every combination, every permutation, of all known elements.”
“All known Velocitronian elements, perhaps,” replied Optimus, “but I bet you haven’t tried the elements of extraterrestrial periodic tables, have you?”
“…What do you mean extraterrestrial periodic tables?” asked Override, now giving Optimus her full attention.
Override’s science team had copies and samples of the other elements of Mobius, Nebulos, and Animatros. To say that they were confused was an understatement. “This is way too much!” muttered a Mech.
“Can any of them REALLY be a better binding agent than partodium?” asked a Femme.
“That’s what you guys are gonna find out,” called Override as she entered the room. “Start looking.” The science team stared at her. “…That’s an order!” At that, the science team got busy. As she turned to leave, she idly glanced at a display of what would be Velocitron’s second mobile city, dedicated to science and culture. It had a globe in the center and various pathways branching out from it with buildings dotting the areas in between the paths. Override then did a double-take on it. It looked oddly familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “…Hey. …Hey, someone! Over here!” A young mech with the alt-mode kibble of an alien open-top race car then approached her. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Clocker, Ma’am,” replied the mech nervously.
“Clocker, what does that look like to you?” She pointed to the display.
“…The shot-down science-centric mobile city?”
“I meant the shape of everything above the treads, what does it look like to you?” Clocker arched an eyebrow and looked.
“…I need a better angle,” he muttered. “Computer, project a wireframe over the display. I need something to manipulate.”
“Hey! Clocker! Get over here!” called a mech.
“Hold on,” replied Override. “I think Clocker’s gonna make a discovery.”
“That intern?! Don’t make me laugh!”
“Shut up and let him do it. You get back to work without him.” The mech scoffed, then returned to his work…only to do a double-take as Clocker turned the wireframe projection of the mobile city to give him a bird’s eye view.
“…I think I’m getting something, but…” Clocker trailed off.
“Lose the roads,” replied the formerly-disrespectful mech. Clocker turned to him. “Go on.”
“Do it,” Override said to Clocker. Clocker highlighted the roads, then swiped them away. He then got an idea.
“Let’s lose the streetlights and public art pieces too,” he mused. He highlighted them and swiped them away. “Let’s see, parking lots, entrances, exits, they should go too.” Once they were gone, it became more obvious. “Now that’s an atom if I ever saw it!” he declared. “Computer, create an atom over the wireframe. Structure it using the central sphere as the nucleus and the buildings as the protons and neutrons.” The computer did so and created an atom of 147 protons and neutrons, then it mapped out the electron cloud of 147.
“Hey! Guys!” called the mech. “Look up all the periodic tables to find an element of 147!”
“Found it!” replied a femme. “It’s called Borzonite! Rare on Nebulos, but it’s a common element in Velocitron’s sands!”
“Can we reconstruct the formula using Borzonite as a binding agent?” asked Clocker.
“What?!”
“Trust him!” called Override.
“…All right, beginning formula reconstruction with Borzonite as the binding agent.” She began the simulation and added the alien elements to the formula. “…Okay, we have something, but it requires the Nebulan element, Yorkonium, as a necessary step for a covalent bond.”
“We have the element, let’s try it,” declared Override.