Unbiased Logic

Unbiased Logic

The battlefield suddenly fell disturbingly quiet.  Computron paused, making the calculations necessary to decide his next move.  It took a little longer than usual however, because his current enemy wasn't behaving as predicted.  Computron was used to brute force; to blind mad rage and aggression, and a hunger for death and mayhem.  The enemy however, stood there, calculating and cold, and far more cunning than anything the Technobot combiner had faced before.

In fact, the enemy stood there now, watching Computron with an amused smile on his face, waiting for the Autobot to make the next move.  It wasn't long before Computron reached a decision.  The casualties were in acceptable limits, and the potential reward would be a great one indeed.

Heedless of the part inside his processor that was screaming for him to stop, Computron reached out and condemned a handful of innocent humans to death.

---

"Noooo!"

Lightspeed awoke from recharge with a loud enough cry that it woke up the other Technobots, who had until then been recharging alongside the red mech.

"What the slag, Lightspeed?" Strafe mumbled, speech only a little slower than the usual quick rambling it would have been, were he fully awake.  "You just decide to scream while everyone's recharging or what?  A scream like that made me think we were gonna see some action, but there's no action and I..."

The Technobot flier promptly fell back asleep mid-sentence.  Lightspeed shook his head and sighed at his gestalt mate, before he realised that two other pairs of optics were watching him expectantly.  Nosecone was only just waking from recharge now, optics blearily blinking on and off as his processor warmed up.

He ever so slowly looked between Lightspeed and the inquisitive glares of Scattershot and Afterburner.

"What's going on?" Nosecone asked.

"Yes Lightspeed.  What is going on?" Scattershot repeated, making note of the tension in his gestalt mate's frame.

"Oh? Oh, it's nothing," Lightspeed said, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.

"You wake everyone else up with your screaming," Scattershot looked doubtful, "your whole frame is shaking, and you expect us to believe it's nothing?"

Lightspeed checked through his memory banks.  The images had been so clear; so real at the time, and so very, very frightening.  But they hadn't made sense.  Of course the Technobots hadn't just been fighting.  It almost seemed like...

"I think..." Lightspeed hesitated before continuing, "I had a dream."

Afterburner's immediate response was to throw a nearby data-pad at his gestalt-mate, which bounced off Lightspeed's helm with a small 'thunk'.

"You're not a human Lightspeed," Afterburner grumbled as he rolled over so that he was no longer facing the other Technobots.  "Go back into recharge."

"But... I saw these things in my processor," Lightspeed blinked a couple of times and stared down at the berth he was sitting on as he tried to make sense of it all.  "What else could it be?"

"It's possible that you've got a glitch," Scattershot suggested before he too lay back down, fully intent on getting a few more cycles of recharge.  "You should probably get your processor checked out tomorrow."

Lightspeed did not lie down again just yet, unwilling to go back into recharge after what he had just seen.

"What was it?"

Lightspeed had almost completely forgotten about Nosecone until the drill decided to speak.

"Huh?"

"What was your dream about?"

"It was a... what do the humans call it when it's scary? A nighthorse?"

Nosecone shook his head.  "I don't recall.  Sorry."

"Well, it was bad at any rate."

"What happened?"

"Computron..." Lightspeed paused, trying to work out if there was any softer way to say this.  "Computron killed some humans and there was nothing I could do to stop it."

---

"A dream you say?" Perceptor inquired as he continued to fiddle with something on the bench.  Whatever is was, it had occupied his attention before the Technobot had entered the room, and he had yet to put it down.

"Yes.  First Aid checked it out and there's apparently nothing wrong with my processor."

Perceptor finally put the Petri dish and tweezers he had been holding down on the bench and turned to face Lightspeed, a friendly smile on his face.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  I've heard reports of it happening before with certain newer models.  By all accounts these so-called dreams are completely harmless."

Perceptor took a seat on a nearby stretch of empty bench and gestured for Lightspeed to join him.

"I must confess to finding this particular phenomenon absolutely fascinating, although I've never had the chance to study it.  Would you mind telling me a little more about your dream?"

Lightspeed squirmed on the bench, unsure if he wanted to tell anyone outside his gestalt.

"Well, it's not exactly a good dream..." he hinted, hoping that the microscope would drop the subject.

Perceptor smiled gently at Lightspeed, before looking off at some random point at the other side of the room.

"You know, the humans believe that dreams are their brain's way of processing memories and subconscious thoughts in order to better catalogue and understand the data," Perceptor spoke.  "Apparently many of their dreams are highly symbolic and make no logical sense when viewed from the outside."

Perceptor paused, and Lightspeed wondered if there had been a point to Perceptor telling him that.  As fascinating as he found the information, it seemed rather pointless.

"The Cybertronian processor and the human brain are not all that dissimilar.  There are many mysteries; subconscious anomalies and the like, that we do not understand, and have no way of predicting or controlling."

"And my dreams could help you understand that?" Lightspeed asked, surprised at how weary his own voice sounded.  "Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Perceptor smiled again and shook his head.

"Whatever images your processor created, you are not responsible for them.  They are simply random fragments of information based upon the cornucopia of situations and feelings you have experienced recently.  I for one will not judge you based on their content."

Lightspeed smiled, surprised to have found Perceptor so understanding.  The older mech did have a good, rational way of looking at things, and a sense of curiosity that rivalled the Technobot's.  Maybe Perceptor would be able to help him understand it.

"We were in a battle," Lightspeed began slowly as he tried to remember as much as possible about the dream.  "I can't remember whether we started off as individuals or not, but we were Computron soon enough.  There was... I don't know who it was; some Decepticon gestalt team that we hadn't fought before."

"It's all right," Perceptor prompted.  "Names and details really aren't important."

Lightspeed nodded and continued.

"We were fighting for a little bit.  For a while we were winning.  It didn't look like the Decepticons had any chance for victory, but then they managed to grab some humans and take them as hostages.  We stood there calculating everything for a moment, but if felt like the others weren't listening to me at all."

Lightspeed paused, letting Perceptor know the young Technobot found this next part particularly difficult to talk about.

"Computron decided to finish off the Decepticon combiner, which unfortunately meant the humans were killed as well.  Oh Perceptor, it was horrible!  Do you think Computron would actually make a decision like that?"

Part of him needed to hear that it was nonsense; that the dream meant nothing and Computron was unlikely to ever make the same decision if the situation happened in the real world.  Perceptor seemed to be giving this some genuine thought however, and when he spoke, the words were not nearly as comforting as Lightspeed had anticipated.

"You must remember that Computron is highly intelligent, and operates almost completely on logic, and logic does not make concession for emotions.  No doubt he considered how many more humans and Autobots would die if this Decepticon was left alive and found the number high enough to justify sacrificing the lives of the hostages."

"But that can't be right," Lightspeed said, shaking his head slowly.  "I thought Computron was programmed to protect?"

"He is, but just because a particular group of humans are placed in front of you then does that really mean they're more worthy of protecting than everyone else?  It's pure unbiased logic Lightspeed.  You may feel differently, but that is how Computron operates.  Perhaps this dream of yours was simply your processor coming to that realisation.  I shouldn't worry about it too much though.  It probably didn't mean anything at all except that you've ingested some bad energon."

He had been wrong.  Perceptor's words hadn't been useful or comforting at all.

---

Lightspeed stared at the glowing purple cube of energon as he continued his attempts to convince himself that the whole thing was ridiculous and he should put it out of his mind for good.  Something was still bugging him about it though, and he poked at the cube, feeling unusually frustrated. Somewhere along the line he had lost his hunger as well.

"Liigghhttspeeeeeed..."

A pair of hands poked and pulled at his helm and Lightspeed didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"What is it Strafe?"

"Gee, that's a fine way to greet your brother.  Here I am, all worried about you and you can't even give me a proper hello."

"Worried about me? Why?"

"You're acting weird again."

Again?  Lightspeed wondered what Strafe meant but let it slide for now.

"Sorry about that Strafe.  Can I ask you something?"

"Sure.  Why not?"

"You see this cube of energon here?" Lightspeed sat up straighter and pointed at it.

"Yeah.  What about it?"

"Well, let's say that if you sacrificed this cube now by blowing it up or something, then you could possibly have a small pile of cubes in the future, would you do it?  I should emphasise that you don't know whether or not you'll get those other cubes or how many there will be.  It's just probable that you will get some."

Strafe stared long and hard at the cube.

"I don't know," he finally answered.  "It would depend.  Has that cube got any of that supplement stuff of yours in it because that stuff tastes nasty?"

Lightspeed sighed.  Had he been in a better mood he probably would have laughed.

"It doesn't matter.  Let's just say that the other cubes will be exactly the same as the one here."

"But I don't know how many I'll get?  I might not get any at all?"

"Yeah."

Strafe stared at the cube for a while longer, before shaking his head.

"Nope.  Wouldn't do it."

Lightspeed smiled to himself.  See, it's not just me.  Strafe wouldn't either.  Where's that perfect logic of yours now?

"I know a lot of Bots who would though, depending on the odds."

"It's all right Strafe.  It's enough that you said you wouldn't."

Strafe continued to stare at the cube, before giving it a poke as Lightspeed had done earlier, and then he turned to Lightspeed.

"We're not really talking about energon cubes here, are we?"

"No Strafe.  We're not."

---

Things went on as normal for the next couple of Earth days, and Lightspeed almost forgot about the dream, and stopped worrying about whether or not Perceptor had been right about Computron's pure logic.

Then they received orders to roll out.  No-one had been expecting it, which meant only one thing; a Decepticon attack.  Considering Prime had specifically ordered the Technobots that probably meant a combiner as well.

Lightspeed felt a cold wave flush through his circuits as he drove out of the base with his brothers, remembering his dream now with a horrible sense of foreboding.

---

The location was a power plant not too far from the Autobot base.  The staff had already been evacuated, which would make things easier, and Lightspeed relaxed a little as soon as he heard.  The power plant was, however, close enough to the nearest city that they would have to make sure things didn't get out of hand.  If they weren't careful then a stray shot could hit a building or car.

The Technobots could see their enemy quite a while before they had reached the site.  There must have been other Decepticons collecting energon inside the plant, but the huge combiner simply roamed around the outside, probably on guard, but seemingly more interested in smashing any nearby trees and man-made objects than keeping a lookout for Autobots.

"The others will be here soon to free the base," Scattershot explained as they crouched out of sight of the other combiner.  "We just take out that guy; Bruticus.  I know we haven't fought the Combaticons before but I'm sure it'll be easy for us."  He stood up then, an eager grin forming on his face.  "All right Technobots!  It's party time!"

The five mechs joined together to form Computron in a dance Lightspeed couldn't have resisted even if he tried.  Computron soon stood proud, and what was left of Lightspeed felt the calm and completeness that usually came when the Technobots were combined, but lurking beneath that was that feeling of apprehension that refused to leave.  This all seemed far too familiar.

Bruticus must have realised someone else was there, because he stopped the random destruction he had previously been concentrating on and turned around to grin at Computron.  He charged towards the Autobot combiner, apparently aiming to simply tackle him and fight hand-to-hand.

Computron stayed where he was, watching this new opponent's every move.

"Calculating estimated attack pattern.  Analysing possible avoidance manoeuvres."

Lightspeed felt the buzz of combined processors working out speed, probabilities and every tiny variable down to the last rock on the ground or gust of wind with more precision than was possible for any one mech.  If they were lucky then Computron would be able to quickly side-step the attack, leaving an opening to shoot the other mech.  If not then Computron would be able to twist as the other mech grabbed him; change the angle of the attack so that as they fell it would be easy for the Autobot to roll around and end up on top of Bruticus.

It was slow yes, but it was precise, and when the Decepticon was in front of them they were prepared to make the step sideways.

Bruticus however did not follow the anticipated course of action.  He stopped just short, and stood directly in front of Computron, still grinning.  This didn't follow any scenario Computron had predicted, and for a moment the Autobot combiner froze as his processor worked overtime in an attempt to predict what would happen next.

As soon as the thinking process began again, Bruticus swung a fist around to slam into Computron's torso.  That part of Computron was made of Scattershot, but all the other Technobots felt the same pain as the metal crumpled beneath the impact and Computron fell to the ground.

Bruticus was on top of the Autobot before Computron could calculate a solution that would allow them to avoid the oncoming attack, and he slammed his foot against the injured chest as he spoke.

"I'm not made out of idiot Terrocons," Bruticus growled.  "We've heard of you, and I know now you really are too slow to beat us."

Computron had however been thinking quite calmly and logically, and had spared none of his attention on the pain or the Decepticon's words.

"Calculating pattern of return fire."  Computron's speech was garbled because of the continual damage to his central component, but his accuracy was not.  Bruticus was about to land another kick when Computron's arm raised and fired at a spot directly in the centre of the other combiner.

Hitting that particular spot on Abominus would have caused the Terrorcons to fall back into their individual pieces.  Bruticus was not Abominus though, and simply let out a roar of pain before staggering back with a hand to his chest.

Computron got back to his feet and faced the Decepticon.

"Conclusion; fight from a distance."

The Autobot's combined processor was a blur of thought as all the new data they had on their opponent joined what they already knew.  A dozen different possible courses of action were calculated.  This enemy was certainly more unpredictable than the Technobots were used to, but it was still just a matter of working out what actions were most likely, and planning tactics in response.  Pure simple logic could find the answer to any attack Bruticus threw at them.

The two combiners circled each other warily, and after a few seconds Bruticus fired the first shot.  Computron dodged, having anticipated a similar course of action.  The shot just brushed against his shoulder, and he fired several shots in response.

Bruticus jumped back from these shots, evading each one.  Computron watched his movements carefully however, adding these responses to the data he had already collected on the Decepticon.  A couple more wayward shots from Bruticus and then Computron made his move.

He fired one shot directly at Bruticus, and then the next where he had calculated Bruticus would move to.  The tactic worked, and the Decepticon combiner practically jumped straight into the blast, then fell to his knees in pain, lower body shaking from the new wound on his hip.

Computron heard a loud noise behind him, and used the precious moments he estimated Bruticus would be down for to glance behind him at the power plant.  Evidently the other Autobots had arrived and the battle had begun inside the complex.

Computron turned his attention back to Bruticus just in time to dodge a shot that would have gone straight through his helm.  The action had been hasty and uncalculated however, and Computron lost his balance, falling to his knees in a similar position to his current enemy.

Another shot pierced Computron's leg.  Lightspeed was aware of the damage to the combiner as a whole before it registered that he himself had been hit and was probably going to need a long stint in the repair bay after this was over.
Computron didn't allow time for self pity however, and they were soon back on their feet and firing after Bruticus.

They continued to fire at each other; both now able to read the movements of their adversary more accurately.  Shots pierced Computron's shoulder and Bruticus's foot, before Computron managed to land a rather nasty shot to the Decepticon combiner's right knee, and he fell to the ground.

A triumphant cheer came from a small distance away, and Computron looked over to discover it was coming from the power plant.  The battle had taken the two combiners further away from the main battle than the Autobot had realised.  A couple of Decepticons appeared, flying away from the complex as fast as they could, and the individual components of Computron were happy to realise the cry had meant that the Autobots were victorious.

Computron didn't show it though.  His expression remained blank as he approached Bruticus; weapon pointed straight at the Decepticon combiner's helm.

"Surrender," he demanded.

Bruticus scowled at him.  "Think you're so slagging smart, don't you?"

"Repeating request; surrender."

"No."

There was no time to think, let alone plan a course of action and react, as Bruticus brought his gun up to fire a single well-aimed shot.  Computron did what little he could, bracing against the impact, but it never came.

A split second later a thunderous 'boom' came from behind Computron and he whirled around to see the shot had its target; not Computron, but a nearby apartment building.  One corner of the building had collapsed, and Computron watched as a large piece of the highest level slid off completely, falling to the floor with a sickening crash.

A high-pitched human scream came from the building, and Computron quickly found the source.  A woman had been knocked to the edge of second highest floor, and she hung on for dear life over the fifteen storey drop.  She was already injured from the initial explosion, and her grip wasn't as strong as it should be.  As Computron watched another figure slid over to grab onto her arms and try to pull her up.  Judging by his size he was only a child; the woman's son perhaps.

If he had been capable of emotion, Computron would have been highly annoyed at himself.  Why hadn't he noticed how close they were to the city?

Bruticus looked up at Computron and smiled.

"Guess you'll just have to let us go so you can go and save those poor defenseless humans."

The part of Computron that was Lightspeed was frozen in shock.  He had a feeling he knew where this was going, and he didn't like it at all.

Computron kept his gun aimed at Bruticus while he calculated possible consequences of both courses of action, weighing benefits and casualties against one another as though they were no less quantifiable than say, energon cubes, all the while ignoring the screams of the two humans behind him.

Lightspeed could hear them though; and the sound sent cold shivers all through what was left of his spark.

Capturing, or possibly even killing Bruticus had its advantages; an entire team put out of commission, giving them a great tactical advantage even without taking into consideration what an interrogation might reveal.  Surely that was worth more than the lives of two insignificant humans.

No!  No it's not!  Can't you hear what you're thinking of doing? Lightspeed's thoughts screamed, and he found himself actually trying to resist Computron's control for the first time in his life.

But this is only logic, Computron answered back coldly, keeping Lightspeed exactly where he was.

And logic doesn't care that two innocents are about to die?

No.  It doesn't.

Another scream came from the woman, and if he concentrated hard enough Computron could hear the cries of the boy as well.  "Please Mom, just hold on!"

No... Lightspeed said firmly. I won't let you do this.

He pulled away from Computron with one almighty shove, and soon felt himself in his individual body once more as it began to transform back to robot mode, causing the rest of Computron to collapse and fall apart on top of him.

He ignored his brother's groans and the sudden sharp pain in his legs, and struggled out from under them as fast as he could.  He ran towards the building as fast as he could, glancing back to see the other Technobots getting to their feet, and Bruticus in the process of making a swift getaway.

There was a sickening crunch up ahead as the building collapsed further, and Lightspeed watched in horror as the woman and then her son began to fall.  He ran as fast as he possibly could, and managed to jump up and catch the woman and boy just before they fell to the ground.  He held them close in both arms as he rolled, his own momentum carrying them a fair way before he rolled to a stop.

Both humans were shaking as Lightspeed placed them back on the ground.  The boy began to cry in relief, and his mother wrapped her arms around him, whispering words of comfort for a while before she turned to Lightspeed with a smile on her face.

"Thank you," she said simply, and Lightspeed noticed her own eyes were welling up with tears as well.

---

Lightspeed was helping another human down from the third floor when his brothers arrived.  Afterburner gave him a stern look, and as soon as the man in Lightspeed's hands had been placed safely on the ground, gave Lightspeed a gentle whack on the helm.

"Hey!" Scattershot called out and Afterburner stepped back with a sheepish grin.  The leader of the Technobots approached Lightspeed with his arms folded in front of his chest.

"So," Scattershot began, a serious tone to his voice.  "You let Bruticus get away."

"Yes," Lightspeed answered.  "Yes I did."

Scattershot continued to frown, and Lightspeed wondered how badly he was going to be reprimanded for his actions.  However, the next action the Technobot leader took was to throw his arms around Lightspeed's shoulders in a tight hug.

"Thank you," Scattershot whispered.  "If you hadn't stopped us then well..."
Lightspeed nodded.  He didn't have to hear the rest of his brother's words to know what he wanted to say.

Scattershot pulled back from the hug, and his face turned serious again.

"Don't thank me.  I don't think I would have been prepared for this if it wasn't for that dream I had," Lightspeed said.  "Maybe it was a gift from Primus."

Scattershot looked doubtful.

"You know how unbelievably illogical what you just said was?"

"Yes," Lightspeed replied with a smile on his face.  "Yes I do."

It didn't matter one bit.  Logic could go to the Pit for all he cared.