Aequitas

Aequitas is an Autobot supercomputer from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Don't tell Perceptor, but the password is "password".

Aequitas is a giant non-sentient computer that serves as the judge and jury for the Autobot prison Garrus-9, its culpability drive devoted entirely to calculating... guilt. In the courtroom of its chamber, it is given the evidence and testimony surrounding a case, then judges the suspect's very spark to see if it's found wanting, and whether or not the prisoner deserves rehabilitation or the mercy of spark extraction.

It also has one serious hell of a password-bypass security system that makes one hope the bosses are really good at not forgetting their passwords.

Fiction

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2005 IDW continuity

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The Aequitas computer was one of Mesothulas' many wartime inventions, produced during his partnership with Prowl. Although efficient, Autobot High Command had doubts about the ethics of a guilt-detecting computer. Sins of the Wreckers #3 After Hot Rod had secured the Magnificence from Ki-Aleta, he had it sent to Garrus-9 where, unbeknownst to the rank and file Autobots, it was entombed beneath Aequitas. The Ties That Bind A rumour did leak however that there was something buried beneath Aequitas, even going so far as to claim the supercomputer was built to conceal the treasure. Interiors When Grimlock was arrested, the Autobots removed the Magnificence from beneath Aequitas and stored it in the only place harder to break into than a fortified prison world: Grimlock's chest. The Ties That Bind

The many trials of Autobot war criminals using Aequitas sickened everyone who heard them, to the extent that Chief Justice Tyrest had the trials put on hold and ruled that the records would be kept secret until after the war. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 House of Ambus What nobody but Tyrest knew was that every Autobot on trial was 'constructed cold', a process he'd helped start. Steadily going mad at the implications, The Divided Self he vanished from the public eye.

Guilty on 300 counts of zombie making.

After discovering that Garrus-9 had fallen to the Decepticons, Prowl had Ultra Magnus relay a new objective to Springer: Aequitas, a name both 'bots recognized. Prowl didn't want the Decepticons getting access to a potential propaganda goldmine like the records of countless Autobot-committed atrocities. Unfortunately, as Aequitas was password protected and none of the Wreckers would know said password, they have to use the alternate method of access—that of lethal spark donation from a completely willing and non-coerced subject. Prowl had the terminally ill Ironfist transferred to the Wreckers, with the deal being that he could live his dream in exchange for sacrificing himself. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 Last Stand of the Wreckers #2 Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 Overlord, however, didn't care about the Aequitas records: he wanted "what's underneath" it, claiming the computer was built to hide something. Interiors

Springer didn't tell the Wreckers what Aequitas was or why it was important during the briefing, just that it being trapped among the Decepticons was a Very Bad Thing. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2 Perceptor was already aware of what the machine was and of its countermeasures. After the Wreckers infiltrated the prison, he led his team down to Aequitas's chamber, where it was protected by walls rendered impenetrable by vibrating at a special frequency. There, they found the Decepticons attempting to get in by using a dismembered and comatose Fortress Maximus as a "living lock pick".

After detaching Maximus from the door and inputting the appropriate access codes, the chamber door opened to reveal Aequitas to the curious Wreckers. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 When Perceptor revealed that Aequitas was a supercomputer, and that their mission was to download its contents, the other Wreckers were all less-than-impressed and advocated simply leaving before the Decepticons broke in. Still, Perceptor moved to initiate the download in spite of the protests, explaining to a questioning Pyro the computer's purpose. Unfortunately, he ran into the password issue: since Perceptor was needed to operate the computer, and Topspin and Twin Twist's branched spark meant that a sacrifice from Topspin would kill them both, that left Pyro and Ironfist as the only potential donors and Ironfist decided to stay quiet about his deal with Prowl. Pyro, for his part, went on a panicked rant about how he had better and more glorious plans for his eventual death than being a redshirt sacrifice to a computer, and that Ironfist should do it, as he had, as a laboratory-bound inventor, led less of a "worthy" life.

Warning: downloading Aequitas may turn you into a handsome prince.

After a moment of personal reflection, Ironfist agreed to be the sacrifice after all... Until Topspin spoke up, revealing that he knew through his link that Twin Twist was about to be tortured to death elsewhere anyway, so he would rather have them go out with a measure of dignity. The computer accepted Topspin's spark and rebooted itself. Perceptor then downloaded the contents of the computer into Ironfist's brain and wiped the computer's hard drive, and the knowledge of the truth in Aequitas's banks shook Ironfist's psyche.

By then, the Decepticons were about to break into the chamber. Perceptor noted that Aequitas could be used to activate the deterrence chips and kill all of the ex-prisoners, which would include their pursuers... and Impactor. It was a put to a vote: Perceptor voted yea, Pyro voted nay, and Ironfist used Aequitas's data to pass judgment by proxy that yes, Impactor deserved to die. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4

Although Verity convinced the Autobots not to use the deterrence chips, Ironfist used Aequitas' information to figure out the remote detonation code. Loading a gun with thousands of the chips which Springer used to shoot Overlord, Ironfist used the code to detonate the chips. The backlash from this rendered Ironfist unconscious. When he came to, Overlord was defeated. On the trip back to meet up with Ultra Magnus, Ironfist created a single copy of all of Aequitas' information. Sadly, Ironfist died from a terminal injury incurred in a lab accident, and the copy was handed over to Prowl. After a discussion with Ultra Magnus on the possible damage that could be caused if the Autobot rank-and-file knew what sort of monsters lived in their ranks, Prowl was left alone; Magnus said he thought it would be a disservice to both of them if he considered Prowl likely to destroy the copy and looked at it himself first.

Then Prowl contemplated exactly what to do with the Aequitas data slug, and started to apply some...pressure. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 At the last minute, he stopped; the memory slug remained on his desk. Police Action: Prologue After the war formally ended, however, Prowl didn't make the records public or mention them at all to the new leader Bumblebee.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Verity Carlo had possession of the second backup of the Aequitas data, given to her by Ironfist for safe keeping... In Word and Deed

Tyrest incorporated Aequitas technology into his space bridge so that only those who were free of personal guilt and at peace with themselves could pass beyond the portal's event horizon. This Calamitous Life

Mesothulas – now calling himself Tarantulas – would later create a successor to Aequitas named Impetus, which extracted guilt rather than calculate it. Sins of the Wreckers #3

Notes

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Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Aequitas (エクイタス Ekuitasu)
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