Transmetal driver

What can't it do?

The Transmetal driver, referred to by the Vok as a Datasphere, is a small spherical device that Megatron obtained while on prehistoric Earth (exactly how he came across it is unknown), where many other traces of the Vok were found. It served as a receptacle of scanned data the Vok accumulated from one of the Beast Warriors (presumably Optimus Primal), but according to an analysis by the Maximals' computer it was altered by Megatron. The driver was a necessary part of a transformation into a Transmetal 2.

Fiction

Beast Wars cartoon continuity

Beast Wars cartoon

Megatron initially used the driver as part of the machine that gave Dinobot II life. The transmetal driver seems to give off the same type of energy/radiation as the quantum surge, perhaps in a stronger dose.

The Vok use the Datasphere to kitbash everything to look like Optimus Prime.

Cheetor and Depth Charge destroyed Megatron's machine, but not before Cheetor got a full dose of the driver's energy, turning him into a Transmetal 2. Depth Charge recovered the driver and threw it into the lava around the Ark. However, Blackarachnia saved the device Feral Scream Part 1 and tried to use it on herself. Silverbolt interrupted the process before it could finish, causing damage to Blackarachnia's internal systems that eventually caused her core consciousness to crash, but the driver mysteriously resurrected her and changed her into a Transmetal 2. Crossing the Rubicon

3H comics

After the Beast Wars had ended, the datasphere was used by the Vok to create a leader to guide a group of warriors against Tarantulas, who had become a great danger to the timestream by infusing the Vok's powers into himself. Combining the knowledge from the datasphere, the ability of the Matrix of Leadership to give life (stored inside Optimus Prime on the Ark), and Quickstrike's control harness for Optimal Optimus, the Vok assembled Primal Prime. Primeval Dawn Part 1

Bot Shots

Shockwave used a transmetal driver to boost his power whenever logic dictated. Shockwave's online bio

The AllSpark Almanac

One of the many mods Ironfist gave Cheetor was a Transmetal driver patch. The AllSpark Almanac Addendum

Swindle's Spiel

Swindle, Swindle and Swindle had a Transmetal driver software patch for cyber-limbic programs to deal with uncontrolled outlier abilities. Swindle's Spiel, 2015/10/05

Notes

• The Transmetal Driver is one of the more murky elements of Beast Wars' narrative, showing up without hint nor explanation in Megatron's possession in "Feral Scream Part 1". To date, its origin nor how Megatron came to modify it have never been explained in any capacity.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Transmetal Driver (トランスメタル・ドライバー Toransumetaru Doraibā)