Temptest stood, afraid, as Optimus guided her servo into the brightness of his spark chamber. His digits were gentle all the way to their destination, where he wrapped her servo around the matrix of leadership.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She took a moment to resync her processor and calm down. The last time they had been in this position wasn't nearly as relaxing. By putting the matrix in her possession, detached from himself, Optimus was handing her his entire soul. Every memory he had and every part of himself aside from the memories attached solely to his spark.

How could someone ever be ready to hold something so precious?

"I don't want to hurt you," Temptest told him.

"You won't," he assured her. "You couldn't if you tried."

Optimus began to retract their servos, gently pulling the matrix away, and it suddenly went dark. Optimus's optics flickered and he stumbled back, his servos slipping away from her frame. He landed softly on the berth and moaned quietly.

After a moment, he sat up and looked at her, the same innocent, confused expression on his face. It sent a pang of hurt through her spark. He winced.

"Hello?" he asked, looking at the matrix. "This is happening again?"

Temptest looked at the matrix, worried he would think she was a criminal because she kept taking the matrix out of him. "Um, yes. Optimus, uh, he wanted me to meet you."

"Optimus Prime, right?" Orion questioned. "I should assume he's usually the guy wearing my body, right?"

"Yeah."

Orion shook his helm. "Well, at least you're the first person to give me a straight answer about that. Between Megatronus, Starscream, the organic thing, the second Megatronus, and Ratchet, I was getting confused."

Temptest sat down in Optimus's chair. "Yeah... Sorry about that."

Orion looked around. "So, what exactly is going on?"

"Errr..." Temptest pursed her derma. "Do you really want to know? It sucks."

Orion gave her a look. "I'm an archivist... usually. Knowledge is never a bad thing."

Temptest laughed. "I would have to disagree."

"Facts never hurt anyone," Orion frowned. "People just used those facts the wrong way. I doubt I could do anything bad if I wanted to. I'd just like to know what everyone else thinks is common knowledge."

"There's a war," Temptest informed him. "Megatron and you, Optimus, have been fighting each other for a very long time. Cybertron is dead. Uh, we're on Earth. The organics are called humans. They're usually nice. We know a few of them."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense with what I keep onlining to." Orion took a minute to internalize that before nodding in understanding. "Well, what do you want to know?"

Temptest considered the question. "I think Optimus wanted to know about you. He said he'd like to have met you."

"I see," Orion blushed. "I don't know what to tell him about that. I mean, what are you supposed to say to a Prime?"

Temptest laughed. "I remember being awed by him too. He is amazing. You'd love him. He is very calm, collected, considerate. Kind too. Sometimes it blows my mind how he acts."

"You really like him?" Orion asked. "Is that why he wanted you to meet me? Are you both trying to sparkbond?"

Temptest felt her fans kick on. "No! I just— we're friends. I don't think Primes have sparkmates."

"Why not?" Orion frowned. "I've read about plenty of Primes who have mated."

Temptest opened her intake to explain, but the explanation evaded her. What, did she think he was too holy, too perfect, to be a real mech? He was a Prime, after all.

But he was Orion too.

"I don't know," Temptest looked down. "I never really thought about it."

Orion smiled. "Well, if it's any consolation, I think he likes you. What kind of normal mech would give someone their entire memory core? Twice?"

"An incredible selfless mech," Temptest answered. "Optimus isn't normal by a landslide."

Orion nodded. "Figures. How long have you two known each other?"

"Oh, I haven't known him too long. I'm from another dimension."

Orion blinked. "You're from what now?"

Temptest smiled. Orion was really quite cute. "Another dimension."

He shook his helm. "I thought we would have time machines in the future, but I guess dimensional bridges are cool too. How did you guys manage to find Solis Prime's vault?"

"Solis Prime's vault?" Temptest repeated.

"Yeah, the vault where all the incredibly powerful relics are. The one's Solis Prime built and then locked away to keep them away from the Quintessons?" Orion frowned as Temptest grew more and more confused. "The vault. It's a famous vault. You guys did get the transdimensional relic out of it, right?"

Temptest placed her servo over her spark and winced as it squeezed a little. "I don't really know where it came from."

Orion shook his helm. "How could you not have heard about it? Whoever found the relic also found a ton of incredibly powerful devices like the Chamber of Time, or the Light Reactor, or the Mirror of Infinity, or the Silencer, or– Well, you get the point. Ring any bells?"

"Uh, no?"

Orion tapped his chin and huffed. "Maybe whoever found the vault is from another dimension and that's why you've never heard of it."

"Wouldn't there be one in every dimension, then?"

Orion snorted. "No, of course not. According to the archives, Solis Prime hid the vault between the very layers of reality. There can only be one because every Solis Prime that ever existed put every vault in the exact same level of existence. Melded them, I guess. I wasn't a science major."

"That's... disturbing," Temptest furrowed her brows. If Ultra Magnus really was from another dimension like Starscream said, his real leader could have been the guy who found this vault, hence Magnus running around with the transdimensional relic.

That didn't help prove which Ultra Magnus was sitting in the Autobot base, but it did prove whoever was behind the original Ultra Magnus's schemes is a greater threat than they thought. Not exactly the revelation she was looking for, but it was a warning of what was to come.

"You figured all this out as an archivist before the war even began?" Temptest asked Orion incredulously.

He nodded. "You should pick up a book sometime."

"Maybe I will," Temptest muttered seriously. "I need to tell Optimus about this."

Orion sighed. "I have to go then?"

Temptest looked between him and the matrix. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

He nodded. "I suppose it was inevitable."

"You seem pretty calm about being replaced with a Prime," Temptest noted. "Doesn't it hurt to know that someone else is living your life for you?"

Orion shook his helm. "I knew what I signed up for. Besides, some part of me is still out there, doing great things."

She smiled. "I'll make sure it stays that way."

The archivist opened his chassis, bearing his spark to her yet again, and Temptest held the matrix out to it. A beam of light split the air between them before the spark pulled the matrix in. Soon enough, Optimus was standing there, his optics momentarily white before he plopped down on the berth with a heavy sigh.

Temptest stepped forward as he closed his chassis. "Optimus, you look exhausted. Are you okay?"

"I am," he assured her. "There has been a lot of strain on my spark recently. I didn't realize removing the matrix again would take such a toll."

Temptest nodded. "I see."

He looked up at her hopefully. "How was Orion?"

"Filled with knowledge and craving knowledge," Temptest answered. "He had some good insight on our situation."

"He did?" Optimus raised a brow. "What exactly did he reveal?"

Temptest tilted her helm. "I'll wait to tell you later. You should rest."

"I'll be fine," Optimus waved it off.

She shook her helm. "No. You really should rest. Spark energy fluctuations are not good. Your spark offlined not long ago. You've been dealing with matrix merges and removals, as well as my erratic emotions. I don't want your spark losing more energy than it can make up for. Have you talked to Ratchet about it?"

"No," he admitted.

Temptest sighed. "You should do that later then."

Optimus nodded slowly and leaned back against the berth. Temptest took a seat in his chair again.

"Did Orion say anything else?" Optimus questioned.

"We talked about you, about spar—er, about some other stuff... and then the important stuff. He seemed like a good bot. Very polite," Temptest answered. "I think you would have liked him."

"I should hope so," Optimus agreed.

Temptest leaned back, letting her thoughts follow a particular strand of her conversation with Orion Pax. She looked at Optimus and hummed lightly.

"Optimus?"

"Yes?"

Temptest folded her digits in her lap. "I understand we are facing difficult times right now, and that you want to remain passive for the other Autobots, but I have a proposal."

"Go on," Optimus nodded.

"Would you like to go on a date?"

Optimus stared, his intake slightly parted. "Pardon?"

"A date," Temptest clarified. "I know an island we could go to when things calm down a bit. Just for a few hours. Have a little fun."

"I—" Optimus stammered, his face turning uncharacteristically blue as he processed her request and attempted to figure out what the best response was. "I think that I would enjoy that," he answered finally.

Temptest smiled victoriously. "Good."