FicWad

Most mechs didn't know him at all.

Several thought that he was just an old mech who liked to stay closed in his workshop for hours on end.

There was an Autobot that looked up to him as his creator. And yet that Autobot didn't know much about him either.

However, there were also a select few who knew Alpha Trion from a long while back. Back to a time when Cybertron didn't belong to mechs at all, but to five-faced creatures that kept their creations enslaved in order to do their bidding. And those select few joined Alpha Trion in that desperate heroic effort that finally drove the hated creatures away, and thus form a new order in Cybertron - one of peace and prosperity.

It was one of those select few mechs who was now driving to Alpha Trion's workshop. He was transformed into a large Cybertronian pick-up truck, able to hold in his trunk all kinds of cargo without straining a single circuit.

This time though, Wellspring was carrying something more important than the energon cubes he was used to delivering.

At last, Wellspring caught sight of the workshop. He stopped in front of the door gently, not wishing to disturb his cargo.

"Alpha Trion!"

He waited for a few moments, but there was no answer. No answer, that is, but for the continuous banging of metal.

Naturally, the burgundy-coloured mech thought. "Alpha Trion!" he cried out again, louder this time.

Finally, the banging stopped and, a few moments later, Alpha Trion opened a window to look outside.

"Wellspring? What are you doing here?" he asked in a surprised tone. However, he paused at the next moment, obviously realising something. "Am I supposed to do a maintenance check on you?"

"No, nothing like that," Wellspring answered. "Just come out here for a minute."

Alpha Trion looked at the pick-up truck quite puzzled. "Can't you just walk in?"

"I would, if I could," Wellspring answered. "Now hurry up, I want to show you something."

That seemed to convince Alpha Trion. A few minutes later, he stepped out of the door, looking at Wellspring curiously.

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong with your transformation cog?"

"No," Wellspring said. "It's just that my hands are rather full... sort of speak."

"Full?" Alpha Trion echoed.

"Look in my trunk."

Alpha Trion complied and walked at his friend's side. He was surprised to see another mech lying in there - a lifeless one for that matter.

"Who's this?" Alpha Trion asked.

"I don't know," Wellspring said. "I haven't named him yet."

"Really?" Alpha Trion was certainly intrigued now. He picked the mech in his arms carefully so as not to jostle him too much, and then turned to Wellspring. "Why don't you transform so we can continue our talk inside?"

"Of course," Wellspring said, already turning into his robot form. Alpha Trion smiled at the mech that was now practically towering over him with his broad frame, then turned on his heel to enter his workshop again.

His optics shone mirthfully as he remembered to add something very important.

"And watch those chevrons of yours as you walk through the door. I don't have any gold paint this time."

"Don't worry. I never repeat my mistakes," Wellspring said with a chuckle and ducked.

--------------------

Alpha Trion poured some energon on two small cubes before walking over to Wellspring. The burgundy-coloured mech was sitting on a chair in the main room, his fingers stroking idly his white moustache and certainly anxious to hear his friend's opinion about his plan.

Alpha Trion still didn't speak though, wishing to contemplate matters carefully. He quietly handed one of the energon cubes to Wellspring and then sat across him, regarding him for a while. His gaze drifted to the motionless mech who was now lying on a large table nearby.

"So..." he finally said, "You actually built him from scratch on your own?"

Wellspring nodded. "Down to the last bolt in his circuitry."

"Hmm." Alpha Trion approached the lying mech and looked at him with quite the scrutiny from head to toe. Wellspring came up to his side as well, eager to hear what Alpha Trion had to say.

In the end, Alpha Trion smiled and turned to his friend. "Impressive. You've certainly outdone yourself. Muse would have been proud."

Though Wellspring nodded and smiled back, his smile was weak and rather sad. "Well, she would certainly be taken aback to see I created a mech and brought him to life."

"Ah... so that's why you came here," Alpha Trion said. "You want the key to Vector Sigma."

"Yes," Wellspring said. He looked at the mech and patted the grey head affectionately. "I'm tired of being alone, Alpha Trion."

"You could have bonded again, you know," Alpha Trion pointed out.

"I only loved her."

Alpha Trion sighed and his optics locked on the lifeless form again. It was quite clear that Wellspring created the mech out of love for the female Autobot he had lost during the rebellion. In fact, Alpha Trion could see that Wellspring created the mech just so that he somewhat resembled her. Though the mech's body was more boxy, he was coloured white, red and green just like Muse, and he even had back fins like hers.

Except... his head was different. His face-plate didn't have any lip components, because Wellspring couldn't find any matching ones. Fortunately, the addition of head speakers solved that problem easily enough.

Yes, Alpha Trion's praise was quite sincere: Wellspring had done a very good job.

And yet...

"Are you sure you want to activate him?" Alpha Trion asked.

Wellspring didn't hesitate in his answer. "I've already told you: I want the company. I'd rather have someone who can follow into my footsteps once I become one with the Matrix."

"There's a war brewing, Wellspring. We both know that those rumours of flying mechs that bring destruction to every city they pass from aren't unfounded. Cybertron will soon need warriors."

"I wasn't a warrior either when I joined your cause," Wellspring reasoned. "None of us were. Yet we fought."

"And we only won because we outnumbered the Quintessons," Alpha Trion said. "This time things will be quite different."

"Engineers can still offer an advantage."

"Not when they can't fend for themselves."

Wellspring opened his lip components to voice his objections, but he stopped midway. He sighed instead.

"Point taken. I suppose I wanted to believe it wouldn't come down to that."

Alpha Trion nodded his understanding. Muse had died in battle, so it was only natural Wellspring didn't want his creation to have the same fate.

But activating the mech meant a lot to Wellspring...

And so Alpha Trion finally made up his mind.

"Wait here." Before Wellspring had the chance to ask him where he was going, Alpha Trion had entered his laboratory. It didn't take him long to find the shoulder cannon he had stored amid the other metal parts. Smiling broadly, he went back to the room where Wellspring was and handed the item to his friend.

Wellspring was certainly surprised. "That's a magnetic disruptor."

"Powerful enough to throw any opponent off balance," Alpha Trion said. "I think it will fit him."

"Indeed," Wellspring agreed. He faced Alpha Trion. "Thank you."

"It's the least I can do," Alpha Trion said. "Well... except maybe for this as well." And with that, he opened his forearm to take out a small rectangular object which shone brilliantly in his hand.

Wellspring's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "So you're... giving it to me?"

Alpha Trion nodded. "If any guardians try to harm you, just show it to them. They will let you through to Vector Sigma."

Wellspring nodded his understanding, his face-plate positively beaming. He picked up the key as though he was offered the whole universe.

Because, in a way... he was.

-----------------------

Wellspring was aware that his quest would have been a trying one from the moment Alpha Trion gave him the key to Vector Sigma. However, it wasn't difficult because he had to face Vector Sigma's guards. They let him be as soon as he showed them the key.

What made his task difficult was the way to Vector Sigma. For Wellspring had to travel to the very core of Cybertron on a path that included narrow, maze-like corridors, more than a few dead ends, malfunctioning light and even crumbled circuitries ready to electrocute any unsuspecting mech. And, because of that, he couldn't transform.

It was for that reason that he was now carrying his creation in his arms.

"You know," Wellspring said, hoping somehow that his voice would fill the emptiness that surrounded them both, "Maybe I should have built you with lighter materials." He looked at the expressionless face with a smirk. "Because if you think I'm going to admit I'm just getting too old for heavy weights, you've got another thing coming."

The mech remained silent, naturally. So Wellspring sighed and shifted his arms to get a better hold on his son.

"Son..."

Wellspring definitely liked the sound of that.

"Will you call me father, I wonder..."

It was with that thought that the powerful mech renewed his efforts, determination fuelling his spark.

And also regret.

"I wish your mother were here." Muse would have definitely wanted to see the mech that resembled her so much - the mech that could have been part of her if fate had been kinder. "Although I doubt she would want you to spend more than a couple of hours at the workshop." Wellspring chuckled at the realisation. "She'd rather teach you some of her infamous steering manoeuvres."

Before Wellspring could help it, images of his bondmate filled his processor. Images that belonged to the past and yet he remembered them as clearly as if they happened only yesterday. Images of her driving beside him, performing stunts that he could only dream of, and images of him feeling like his spark burned brighter when she was with him.

That kind of driving skill was one of the reasons that he was drawn to her and, finally, loved her.

It was also the kind of driving skill that she applied when it was time for the rebelling mechs to fight the Quintessons. For when the rebels needed someone that could dodge the enemy fire fast enough and carry messages, she was one of the first to volunteer. And she had been good at her job, one of the best in fact.

That is... until the enemy fire caught up with her.

A soft plinking sound cut Wellspring off his musings. He looked down, for the first time realising that tears had started trickling down his face-plate, and even a couple of drops landed on his son's torso.

"I'm sorry," Wellspring said gently, holding the mech closer in reassurance. "I'm old and filled with too many memories. You'll have your share of them as the time passes."

At that moment, Alpha Trion's words replayed in Wellspring's mind.

There is a war brewing. And this time things are going to be quite different.

For the first time since he had started his journey down to the core, Wellspring's steps faltered. Thoughts started plaguing his mind that perhaps he shouldn't do this. If war broke out, his son would taste nothing but the bitterness of desolation, the pain and loss of loved ones, hopelessness and despair - just like he had. What right did he have in bringing his creation to such a world just because he didn't want to be alone?

What if his actions were motivated by selfishness alone?

Another team of guards stepped in front of him, guns aimed threateningly at his direction. Knowing what to do, Wellspring knelt and held up the key to Vector Sigma, all the while nestling his son protectively.

The guards stopped advancing at once. They opened a path for him instead.

It was as he still held up the key that everything became quite clear to the burgundy-coloured mech.

If Alpha Trion believed that Wellspring shouldn't have gone through with his plan, he wouldn't have given him the key, or indeed the magnetic disruptor that was now gracing his son's shoulder. In fact, he would never have agreed to help if he believed Wellspring's intentions were purely selfish. He would be the first one to tell Wellspring that what he was doing was wrong.

That should be enough assurance.

Wellspring looked at his son's face-plate and caressed it affectionately, a small smile forming on his lip components.

"I will trust your judgement, Alpha Trion."

And with that, he lifted his son and marched on.

Vector Sigma was quite close now. Wellspring could feel it.

------------------

Wellspring couldn't help but become overwhelmed with a sense of awe as he entered the room that contained the core known as Vector Sigma. For it was then that Wellspring saw towering over him in all its brilliant glory the master computer that had given life to all Cybertronians and, hopefully, would give life to one more.

Feeling quite small and humble, Wellspring held up the key slowly, almost reverently, and approached the panel.

He didn't insert the key, for uncertainty started plaguing his mind again. After all, who was he to ask for such a precious thing from a mechanism so powerful that seemed to keep the fate of everyone in its grasp? Wellsping was one mech, a mere speck in the grand plan of things. Why would Vector Sigma want to grant him such a wish?

More importantly... what if Vector Sigma didn't grant it, for those same reasons?

At the next moment, Wellspring shook his head. He could expect the worst, but he would never really know anything unless he tried. Because, if it meant hearing his name coming out from his creation's speakers, or handing down his wisdom and knowledge to someone who could put it to good use when Wellspring passed on; if it meant sharing every moment of his remaining life so that the happy ones became more joyous and the sad ones less painful... then Wellspring had to try.

He owed his son that much.

And just like that, he inserted the key to Vector Sigma. Light emanated from every crack and crevice of the core, almost blinding Wellsping; yet Wellspring wasn't afraid anymore.

"I am Vector Sigma," a voice sounded, reverberating through the entire hall. "Before Cybertron was, I was. Who activates me?"

"I, Wellspring, an Autobot engineer."

"Why did you do it?"

Wellspring pointed at the lying mech beside him. "I want you to give life to my son. Fill his spark with kindness and care for his friends; courage to fight against any wrong that he witnesses; thirst for knowledge and sturdiness to materialise any idea that he will visualise.

"Make him worthy of the gift you will be granting him."

The words had hardly escaped Wellsping's lip components, when a ray of light sprang from the core, surrounding the white mech. All Wellspring could do was watch in numbing confusion, hoping that his request wouldn't be denied. And once the light was gone, the burgundy-coloured mech knelt beside his creation, holding him tenderly in his arms and asking him to wake up.

Suddenly, a pair of bright blue optics locked on Wellspring's face-plate, and Wellspring knew then that it was done. He smiled at the - now - functioning mech.

"Welcome, my son," he said softly.

The mech blinked, and his head speakers flashed for the first time in his life as he asked: "Are you.... my father?"

The old engineer nodded. "I'm Wellspring. What's your name?"

The mech's face-plate reflected his frowning expression, but his countenance brightened when he finally came up with the answer.

"I'm Wheeljack."

The End