By 6 p.m. in London, darkness began to settle over the city. The Decepticon Barricade, disguised as a police car, waited near the Devonshire estate's perimeter. Once the crowd had dispersed and the surveillance drones were withdrawn, Barricade circled the estate before stopping in a secluded area. He opened a hidden compartment and released Frenzy, the spy robot.
Since infiltrating the estate earlier, Frenzy had been plagued by an unsettling feeling of being watched. No matter how many times he scanned his surroundings, he couldn't find anything suspicious.
What Frenzy didn't realize was that his movements were being monitored by a small, black robotic spider. It was the source of the surveillance that had been giving him paranoia.
Unlike most Transformers, Frenzy had no concept of subtle environmental clues. He didn't question why spiders would suddenly appear in the well-maintained hedgerows of a London estate in early March.
Since William had developed non-metallic reconnaissance spiders, he had replaced all of the metallic surveillance units on his properties. These non-metallic second-generation spider-bots were nearly impossible for even Decepticons to detect.
When William received Sunday's report about Frenzy's infiltration, he narrowed his eyes and sneered. "So, these Decepticon remnants decided to come looking for trouble. I was almost ready to forget about them."
"Shall I have the spy robot neutralized or captured, sir?"
William shook his head. "No, capturing him is easy, but let's see how far he gets. He can serve as a live test subject for both his infiltration abilities and our estate's defenses."
With his heightened powers, William could telekinetically immobilize any target within a one-kilometer radius, provided it weighed less than a ton. But for now, he was content to observe.
"Understood, sir."
Unaware that he was under constant surveillance, Frenzy continued his cautious infiltration. The unnerving sensation of being watched eventually faded, giving him a false sense of security. He rationalized that it must have been interference or paranoia.
After carefully navigating through shrubbery and other cover, he finally approached the spaceship. Just as he calculated how to climb beneath it, the ship suddenly activated and lifted two meters off the ground.
The sudden movement nearly caused Frenzy's main processor to crash. Unsure whether he had been detected or was simply unlucky, he panicked and transformed into a stereo speaker, then quickly morphed into a lawnmower to remain inconspicuous.
He waited in this form for several minutes, his sensors on high alert. When no threats materialized, he cautiously reverted to his robot form.
Having lost his chance to infiltrate the spaceship, Frenzy decided to refocus on another mission objective: finding the coordinates of William's secret base in the Sahara Desert.
He prowled the estate, searching for access points to underground facilities. However, after nearly an hour, he discovered that the estate had no traditional drainage system. Water was removed through narrow, finger-sized pipes, leaving no large openings for entry.
Unable to go underground and aware of the estate's formidable air defenses, Frenzy became increasingly desperate. Hiding in a thicket near the mansion's main entrance, he debated whether to risk walking up to the front door. The memory of past Decepticon failures, such as the disappearance of Blackout and the capture of Scorponok, kept him paralyzed with indecision.
Nervously twitching, Frenzy sent a transmission to Soundwave for advice.
Down in the estate's underground control center, William watched Frenzy's erratic behavior on the monitors and chuckled. "Is that little bot... scared?"
Amused by the thought, William observed the jittery Decepticon for a while longer. "If he's capable of fear and doesn't hold much status among the Decepticons, then there's a chance I could recruit him. As a spy and a small-sized bot, he might be more useful than the larger, attention-grabbing Decepticons."
With that thought, William focused his mental energy and pinpointed Frenzy's exact location. As soon as Frenzy finished his transmission to Soundwave, William teleported him off the estate.
Moments later, William appeared on Planet X17, where Frenzy had been imprisoned inside a reinforced metal containment cage. The small Decepticon was frantically thrashing and attacking the walls, only to realize the futility of his efforts.
"Use every method available," William ordered Sunday. "I want results. Make him obedient."
"Understood, sir."
Shifting his attention, William asked, "How's the research on the Decepticons' transformium progressing?"
"Apologies, sir," Sunday replied. "We've successfully analyzed and restructured the transformium molecules. However, no matter how we rearrange them, the resulting constructs still exhibit the behavioral patterns of Decepticon units. Over the past two months, our base's defense systems have had to destroy ten rogue prototypes. Achieving a fully obedient Transformer will require further experimentation."
William wasn't surprised by the report. "What about using Autobots as a template instead? Maybe that'll yield better results."
"That remains untested, sir. Would you like us to pursue that option?"
"Perhaps," William mused. "For now, how's the construction robot I activated with the AllSpark performing?"
"It appears stable and has been diligently working on the construction tasks you assigned."
"Good. Once Frenzy is conditioned, have him interact with the construction bot. Let's see if they influence each other in any way. If there are no adverse effects, activate a few more Transformers of different types to gather more data."
"Understood, sir. I'll provide regular progress updates."
Satisfied, William teleported back to the estate's underground command center. He instructed Sunday to prepare the equipment needed for his Mars mission.
William planned to build a small research base in the cavern where the spaceship had landed on Mars. This base would be designed to impress Earth's scientists and leaders. He had chosen Mars' Valles Marineris canyon as the location due to its vast size and the presence of flowing water in certain areas.
Water was crucial for any long-term settlement, and the canyon's location near the Martian equator provided relatively higher temperatures than other regions. Additionally, the natural rock formations would reduce construction costs by as much as 75%.
However, William intended to restrict the use of teleportation for transporting materials. By relying solely on spaceship logistics, he could maintain a sense of realism and prevent undue suspicion from Earth's authorities.
The geological stability of Mars, with no significant tectonic activity for millions of years, ensured that building within the canyon posed minimal risk of collapse or earthquakes. Everything was falling into place for his Mars colonization plan.
(End of Chapter)
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