Chapter 14: The God in the Machine
BOOM.
The Transformer tore through the air, its thrusters carving a path of vapor through the sky as it ascended a thousand meters in a heartbeat. Inside the cockpit, Talon felt the immense power thrumming through the neural link, a symphony of controlled violence.
"Optimus Prime, initiate full combat diagnostics," Talon commanded.
"Acknowledged, My Lord."
The massive robot became a blur of motion against the blue canvas of the sky. It executed complex aerial maneuvers—sharp banks, Immelmann turns, and sudden dives—its colossal form moving with a grace that defied its size and mass.
"Transformation sequence test."
"Complying."
The Transformer descended, landing on the island's beach with a ground-shaking thud. Then, it began to change. The sound was a cacophony of grinding pistons and shifting alloy plates. In seconds, the robot folded in on itself, reconfiguring into a sleek, futuristic jet. Then, with another mechanical roar, it became the heavy truck once more. The sequences continued—a massive subterranean drill, a hydrodynamic submarine, and finally, back to the bipedal war-machine.
"All transformation sequences are optimal," Optimus Prime reported.
"Good. Now, for the main event. Take us to the seabed. The water will muffle the noise."
The Transformer crouched, its powerful leg actuators coiling like springs, and then launched itself in a tremendous leap, arcing high before plunging into the ocean. Just before impact, it seamlessly shifted into its submarine form, slicing into the depths with minimal disturbance.
Ten minutes later, they hovered in the crushing darkness of the deep sea.
"Revert to primary form."
The submarine unfolded back into the robot, its optical sensors casting twin beams of light in the abyssal gloom.
"Minigun deployment."
Twin multi-barreled cannons emerged from its shoulders.
"Open fire."
The silence of the deep was shattered by the muffled, thunderous thrum-thrum-thrum of high-caliber rounds ejecting from the barrels, creating temporary tunnels of cavitation in the water as they streaked into the darkness.
"Missile launcher."
A panel on its forearm slid open, revealing a launch tube.
"Target the seabed ridge ahead."
A single missile shot out, its propulsion a stream of bubbles. It struck the rocky outcrop. The resulting explosion was a deep, pressurized WHUMP that sent a colossal shockwave through the water, hurling the Transformer backward like a toy in a tsunami.
One by one, Talon tested the arsenal: flamethrowers that created brief, boiling spheres of superheated water; anti-personnel cluster munitions; rapid-fire Gatling guns; and pulse cannons that discharged devastating concussive blasts of energy.
Satisfied, he transformed into the drill and bored deep into the continental shelf, grinding through sediment and solid rock with contemptuous ease, testing the chassis's integrity under extreme geological pressure. Hundreds of meters down, he halted. All systems were green.
The drill erupted from the sea and flew back to the villa's landing pad. Talon emerged from the cockpit, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Optimus Prime, you have exceeded expectations. This chassis is a masterpiece."
"To serve the Lord is my primary function," the AI replied, the flattery now a programmed, yet pleasing, response.
"Enough. Flattery is a tool for others. I need you to find me the final resting places of the world's greatest deceased scientific minds."
"Scanning global archives, obituaries, and declassified files... Compiling list."
Minutes later, Optimus Prime began its report. "Targets located:
Dr. Abraham Erskine. Died 1943. Cause: Assassination. Legacy: Super-Soldier Serum.
Howard Stark. Died 1991. Cause: Orchestrated vehicular accident (HYDRA). Legacy: Arc Reactor Theory, Repulsor Technology.
Obadiah Stane. Died 2009. Cause: Fatal systems failure in 'Iron Monger' suit. Legacy: Large-scale exosuit weapon systems.
...List continues..."
"Perfect," Talon whispered, his ambition burning brighter than the reactor core. With the genes of these minds, his intellect would become a force of nature.
He spent the next month as a spectral grave robber, a ghost haunting the world's cemeteries under the cover of night. America, Germany, Russia, Japan—the Transformer carried him across the globe. He worked with cold efficiency, exhuming the remains of genius and extracting their precious genetic legacy.
As he extracted the tenth genetic template, the system's voice resonated in his mind once more.
"Ding. Host has successfully completed ten extractions. Reward: Evolutionary Catalyst."
Talon's breath caught. Another one. The last catalyst had transformed the Abomination's crude power into the sublime strength of the Titan. What could this one do? He would save it. For something truly special.
He continued his grim harvest, his mind expanding with each new integration. It was a feeling beyond knowledge; it was a fundamental shift in consciousness.
One month after he began, Talon Reeve stood in the center of his lab and felt like a god.
His mind was a supercomputer that dwarfed the combined processing power of the global network Optimus Prime commanded. When he looked at a complex machine, he didn't see a device; he saw its underlying principles, its quantum interactions, its potential energy states. He could perceive the faint shimmer of cosmic background radiation in the air, the subtle dance of particles.
"This... this is incredible," he breathed, unnerved and ecstatic by the sheer scale of his own cognition.
"My Lord," Optimus Prime's voice held a new note—awe. "I am detecting massive psionic emissions from your cerebral cortex. The energy signature is... interfering with my local processing nodes."
"Impossible," Talon murmured, but he knew it was true.
Psionic energy. Telekinesis.
His thoughts turned to the legendary Charles Xavier. Could he...?
He focused on a single toothpick lying on a workbench. He didn't move a muscle. He simply willed it to rise.
It trembled. Then, it lifted, hovering shakily a foot above the table.
A manic, triumphant laugh escaped his lips. The toothpick clattered back to the surface.
"Telepathy. Psychokinesis," he said, the words tasting like destiny. "Nothing can stand against a mind that can rewrite reality itself." He clenched his fist, his eyes burning with a terrifying new light. "This power... I must master it completely." The game was no longer about building an army. It was about becoming a singularity.