Tales of the Intermezzo - Virus Warning A Transformers Universe Story copyright 2001 by Dave Van Domelen based on properties owned by Hasbro =========================================================================== "intermezzo - n. A brief entertainment between two acts of a play." - American Heritage Dictionary "I like Grimlock," Pushbutton burbled happily, a series of chirps and whoops that formed a binary language only Mainframe and a few others could understand. "'Me Grimlock say we should fight UNLOGICAL!' Yay! Fight!" "WE are not going to be fighting, logically or ILLOGICALLY," Mainframe snarled at his trigger-happy partner. "We need to start working on the calculations of energy distribution in the bodies of those of us infected by Nucleon, so that Wheeljack and First Aid will have a theoretical basis for their experiments towards finding a cure." "Awwwww," Pushbutton whined. "I wanna fight Decepticons. It's my faaaaavorite thing to dooooo." "No. I need you here, to check my equations. They must be PERFECT." * * * * "Come on, Mainframe," Fixit cajoled. "Everyone else has had the Nucleon flushed from their systems. The cure works, it's safe." "It's flawed," Mainframe insisted. "I haven't been able to nail down the thirteenth order term in the antiproton wave solution...for all I know, it may even be divergent." The Micromaster medic sighed. "It's good enough, even Prowl has used it. Don't you want to be able to transform again?" Mainframe shrugged. "My transformation isn't much to look at. I turn into a stationary computer...I can do that by just sitting down. No, I'd rather wait until I can perfect the cure, the risks outweigh the benefits in my case." "Risk? Gentlemen...risk is our business!" Pushbutton warbled. "What did he say?" Fixit cocked his head to look up at Mainframe's partner. Small as it was, it still towered over the Micro. "Nothing of consequence," Mainframe waved a hand dismissively. "He spends more time than he should monitoring human entertainment frequencies when he SHOULD be WORKING." Fixit looked skeptical, but shrugged and turned to leave. "Be sure to keep me up to date on your work, then. But if you change your mind, let me know." "Don't concern yourself. Besides, unless some other reason to rid myself of Nucleon presents itself, it would just be a waste of resources to flush it from my system. I work just as well in one form as another." With the medic gone and Pushbutton put back to work for the moment, Mainframe spared a few clicks to reflect. The truth was that the Nucleon made him BETTER than he was before. He was smarter, more insightful, his processing speed was faster, his storage space was larger. He could do more for the Autobot cause with the Nucleon than without it. It helped him focus in a way he'd never been able to before, and he was not about to lose that edge. He'd even violated Prime's edict and obtained a small additional supply of Nucleon, using a little bit any time he felt blocked on a problem. One of those infusions had finally broken the puzzle of the twelfth term, making the cure possible. Too bad Pushbutton was barely above the level of a drone. A little Nucleon might make him more efficient and less irritating, but early experiments during the initial rush of Nucleon use had demonstrated that a servobot like Pushbutton could not handle the energy source. Still, he did his job well enough when he could be convinced to stop watching...what was he watching now? Some sort of primate, in another Earth vid. Mainframe sighed. He would overcome this, like he overcame everything else. The cure WOULD be perfect. * * * * "Prime, I'm worried about Mainframe." "Why, Ratchet? Is he neglecting his maint cycles? He's certainly driven enough to work right through one." Ratchet shook his head. "Physically, he's fine. The Nucleon is keeping his body running at peak efficiency...in fact, he's probably in better shape than anyone else on Moonbase One, except for you. But you're right about his, well, let's be honest...obsession. He's become withdrawn and paranoid, worse than Red Alert ever was. Oh, the paranoia makes him terrific at his job, the Decepticons haven't penetrated our early warning grid since we put him on the job. But it can't be good for him." Prime nodded. "I've noticed he's still working on the Nucleon cure as well." "Yeah, and that's another thing," Ratchet interrrupted. "He's worked out the theoretical basis to fifty decimal points. I could flush the Nucleon from him with no side effects at all..." Prime unconsciously rubbed the weak spot in his side, a defect that had been left by the Nucleon flushing process in its early form. "...but he refuses to let me use it on him. Insists I wait until he has it perfected." "I was worried something like this might happen," Prime sighed. "Years ago, Grimlock said that Transformers had to transform, and I think he'd hit on something. In the time before we found the cure, I noticed that we were all becoming more extreme versions of ourselves...our personalities were becoming sharper and more focused. Grimlock was more aggressive and childlike, I found myself becoming too concerned with the fate of those under my command to make any decisions, and so forth. The Nucleon may not have had any physical effect on Mainframe, but it has damaged his mind." "Is that your clinical opinion?" Ratchet smirked. "Never mind, I happen to agree. For his own good, Mainframe has to have the Nucleon removed from his system, before he goes all the way around the bend." "Agreed. Before you leave for Earth, make sure someone takes care of it." Mainframe turned off the screen fed by the spyeye he'd placed in the command deck. "They think I'm insane. They want to take away my Nucleon, make me as stupid as the rest of them. LOBOTOMIZE me, to use a human term. Well, they won't get away with it!" "Boss?" Pushbutton trembled, pointing at another screen. "What is...ah. A Decepticon virus, an attempt to breach our security grid again. Soundwave is so predictable, he tries this every orbit about this time. Perhaps he should succeed this time. Yes, that would make for a nice distraction...a little Decepticon attack, I could steal a shuttle and slip away before they can get their hands on me. Maybe I could even join the Decepticons...they respect talent, they wouldn't try to wipe my circuits because I threaten their egalitarian sensibilities." "No, I can't let you betray the Autobots!" Pushbutton shrilled, transforming into his weapon form and powering up his cannon. "You can't stop me, you prattling idiot! Override command X-X-Omega." Pushbutton shrieked in pain, unable to articulate his distress. The screams cut off suddenly as a small wisp of smoke emerged from Pushbutton's now-inert body. "No point in bringing you with me when I leave. I have no need for data about capering primates or advertising jingles. Good bye." And with that, Mainframe deactivated the defenses he'd installed against Decepticon virus intrusion, and Laserbeak soared through the detection systems as if they didn't exist.... * * * * Thegodofdeathiscomingforme. IcanhidefromtheAutobots,Icanhidefromthe Decepticons,thismoonisabigplacebigbigbigplace. Pushbuttonisbymyside,yes, loyalPushbuttonwithhisscarymonkeys. Heisrespectfullysilentnow,buthewillface theendwithme. MaybeifIthinkevenfasterthegodofdeathwon'tbeabletofindme.... ============================================================================= Author's Notes: Three things inspired me to write this story. The main thing was the nagging question of why Laserbeak was able to just fly right up to the command deck on Moonbase One and overhear Prime without being detected. The second was Furman's short story set years after G1 #80, in which he established that being unable to transform for an extended period could drive a Transformer mad, a point that was picked up on (or independently devised) in the Beast Wars episode "Law of the Jungle." I think I'm remembering the title correctly. The third thing can be found in the gallery section of www.superdeformers.com, you'll know it when you see it. Okay, there was a fourth thing. The extended "VIRUS WARNING" thread on a.t.t.fanfic a while back. After deciding I wanted some traitor to deactivate the defenses and let Laserbeak in, I pondered a while for the right person. I settled on Mainframe, since he'd likely be in charge of the systems that needed deactivating. But why would he do it? Nucleon-induced madness. So I tied this story into the sub-universe I used for Perchance and Face, leaving Mainframe the only one still around in 2005 with Nucleon in his circuits. Finally, I modeled Pushbutton's personality after GIR from Invader Zim. }->