Editing Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=38
|prev=Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet
|next=
|image=MTMTE38 regcvr.jpg
|title="Elegant Chaos Part 3:<br>Predestination: An Expert's Guide"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[March 4]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=February 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}

'''Faced with the choice of allowing Megatron to be created, or damning Cybertron in order to create a better universe, the time-travelling ''Lost Light''ers learn that there truly is no future but that which they make for themselves.'''

==Synopsis==

Realizing his life is in danger, [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] lashes out at [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], demanding that he be sent back in time to save himself. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] restrains the former [[Decepticon]], and he and Perceptor insist that [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] has the matter well in hand. Megatron is unconvinced, given Rodimus's track record, but the decision is out of his hands: Perceptor sends Rodimus's team back in time, draining the last of the power from the ship's [[quantum generator]]s. 

In the distant past, in [[Con Facility 113]], [[Brainstorm]] aims his gun at the [[reproduction|constructed cold]] Megatron's half-built form, but is suddenly taken out by a whirlwind-generating "[[grenado]]" hurled by Rodimus as he and his team materialize on the scene. Consulting the facility computers, [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] observes that Brainstorm has tried to delete information on Megatron from them, and calls upon [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] to help him fill in the blanks, but Rewind finds that his database has now been completely overwritten with the history of the alternate timeline. Brainstorm has not yet been stopped! The scientist recover and draws his gun once more, but Rung—having seen in the computer records that Brainstorm had been hesitating for ten long minutes before they arrived—is able to talk him into standing down. Brainstorm explains that he never wanted to kill anyone: he had intended to track Megatron through time using a [[spark]]print taken from him during his therapy session with Rung, planning simply to steer him away from "life-changing events", only to have his hand forced when he realized part-way into his journey that he was following a print accidentally taken from ''Rung'' instead. At that point, Brainstorm's injuries take their toll and he keels over... but just as he hits the floor, ''Rewind'' uses his gun to kill Megatron instead!

The shaken archivist shares what his overwritten database has told him: that if Megatron dies, although Cybertron will be consigned to a dystopian [[Functionism|Functionist]]-governed future, the ''rest of the universe'' will be spared the devastation of the Transformers' war. No one can really argue against his logic... except for [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], who refuses to let the Functionists "win". Grabbing Megatron's body when nobody is looking and snatching the [[Point One Percenter]] spark taken from [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]] from Brainstorm's chest compartment, he locks himself in a nearby room and implants the spark into Megatron's body. With this action, Whirl ensures the safety of the existing timeline: Magnus contacts Rodimus let him know that time has begun moving again, but that, with the quantum engines out of power, they are now stranded in the past. To spare them this fate, Tailgate suggests they use the [[time phone]] to try and prevent the ''[[Lost Light]]'' from taking off in the first place, altering their destinies. Together, the group sends a message to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] on the ship's launch day, warning their future selves of all the dangers that they will face on their journey—though as [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] points out, if it was successful, all the ''good'' they have done on their trip will also not happen. Rodimus cuts off Cyclonus's rant and hands him Whirl's gun: though they cannot travel through time, Perceptor ''can'' teleport them one last time to a location on Cybertron that may hold the key to their salvation.

After Rodimus and Cyclonus have left, the weakened Brainstorm explains his motivations to Rewind: originally, he had created the time machine in order to save [[Quark]], the unrequited love of his life, from dying in [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore prison]]. Following the original Rewind's death and Chromedome's emotional breakdown, however, Brainstorm decided to expand the scope of his mission, and decided to save as many lives as possible by preventing the war. Afterward, [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] asks Rewind to explain exactly where Rodimus and Cyclonus have gone; Rewind tells him they have gone to [[Unitrex]], the city in which the first interstellar starships were created. Pulling up an image of the region from his database, Rewind is struck by the sight of some very familiar fuel quills poking up from below the city...

Rodimus and Cyclonus arrive in a secret facility underneath Unitrex, where they are accosted by a security guard and his pack of [[turbofox]]es. Cyclonus deals with the guard, blasting him with Whirl's gun and locking his spasming form in a nearby room with his pets, while Rodimus speeds on ahead, locating the experimental generator that Perceptor has sent them to find. At Perceptor's direction, using information gained from the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s own engines, Rodimus makes a few modifications to the generator to turn it into a functional quantum engine, then plugs the case into it in order to charge it for a jump back to the future. As Cyclonus rejoins him, Rodimus ensures that he has brought Whirl's gun with him—they cannot leave an experimental weapon from Brainstorm's future arsenal lying about in the past, though Cyclonus can't read the scientist's terrible handwriting on the handle, and does not realize he shot the guard with a "[[Sparkeater Gun]]". Adding to the weirdness of the day, the entire complex suddenly disappears around them, shunted into the future by the newly-fashioned quantum engine—little do the pair realize that they have just been responsible for ''creating'' the ''Lost Light'' they will come to call home! 

The next day, after everyone has returned to their proper place and time, things get back to normal aboard the ''Lost Light''. Brainstorm is in the brig; Chromedome and Rewind now sleep in the same room once more; everyone enjoys a movie screening and a singalong in ''[[Swerve's]]''; and Megatron retires to his quarters to silently regard his [[Rodimus Star]]. Rung pays a visit to Perceptor's lab to talk over recent events—Perceptor explains that the crew were ''always'' supposed to travel through time, their actions having always been part of history, and that the alternate "functionist timeline" only came into being accidentally, as a result of his tampering with the time machine's paradox locks. Further, he speculates that that alternate timeline may now actually exists as its own parallel universe...

...which is shown to be the case, as, across time and space, [[Functionist Council]] member [[One-of-Twelve]] is summoned by [[Quark]] with news of a world-shaking discovery made by janitorial 'bot [[Sweep (IDW)|Sweep]]. Dubbing Sweep "alt mode exalted" for his contributions, One-of-Twelve bring the news before the 'bot to whom it pertains: the captive Rung, "The Useless One", held prisoner due to the mystery of his [[alternate mode]]. But that mystery has now been solved, and the threat that the truth of Rung's form poses to the Functionists' regime demands his execution. But as One-of-Twelve holds a gun on him, Rung merely encourages him to pull the trigger, as doing so will only herald the beginning of the end...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (5)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (6)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (7)
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (8)
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (10)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (11)
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (12)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (15)
*[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] (16)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (17)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (18)

|c2=
*[[Brainstorm]] (4)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (19)

|c4=
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (9)
*[[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]]-to-be (13)
*''[[Quark]]'' (14)
*[[One-of-Twelve]] (20)
*[[Sweep (IDW)|Sweep]] (21)
}}

==Quotes==

"'''Rodimus?''' You want me to put my '''life''' in the hands of an Autobot who '''somersaults''' onto the bridge? An Autobot who pretends to be '''dead''' if you ask him a difficult question? An Autobot who, in response to a crisis in morale perpetuated by his own '''woeful''' captaincy, introduced a '''reward system''' based on his own '''face?'''"<br>
"You were happy to leave this to Rodimus when you thought it was '''Prime's''' life on the line..."<br>
"What? Don't be clever, it makes you sound stupid. <small>God, now I'm starting to '''sound''' like him.</small>"
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Ultra Magnus''' on Rodimus, and [[Rodimus Star]]s


"Neatest handwriting. You?"<br>
"''Sigh.'' For abandoning my evil ways."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Megatron''' on the attributes that earned them their Rodimus Stars


"The old '''time-traveling''' grenade trick!"<br>
"'''Is''' it old?"<br>
"It is now."
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Tailgate'''


"Holy '''heck''', that was intense! And it was '''exactly''' like the climax to [[Crosscut (Autobot)|Crosscut]]'s '''play'''—except Brainstorm isn't a giant turbofox and the gun isn't a shovel and we're not trapped inside a carnival mirror and none of us are speaking in rhyme!" 
:—'''Tailgate''', after Rung gets Brainstorm to stand down


"I never '''set out''' to kill anyone. All I wanted to was stop the war by steering Megatron away from '''life-changing events'''. <br>
"No one cares."<br>
"You say that, Whirl, but maybe—"<br>
"<big>'''♪'''</big> No one cares what you have to say...! <big>'''♫'''</big>" 
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Whirl'''


"Cyclonus thought you'd traced the wrong energy signature. I said, 'Percy, make a mistake? The last time '''that''' happened it turned out '''physics''' had screwed up.' Ha!"
:—'''Rodimus''', to Perceptor


"I am '''so''' lost. '''Loved''' the pink flying sled—but that bit when he watches himself playing guitar? I mean, '''what?'''"<br>
"It's from the first one!"<br>
"There's a first one?"
:—'''Tailgate''' and '''Riptide''' on ''Back to the Future Part II''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Whirl mentions that this issue takes place in the middle of the "[[Silver Harvest]]", the name given in [[Twenty Plus One|issue #31]] to the discovery of Tyrest's stockpile of Matrix-born sparks, which was itself originally alluded to in [[Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|issue #19]].
*The data on Megatron erased by Brainstorm includes his batch code. It was originally established that Megatron had no batch code ''waaaay'' back in [[Chaos Theory Part 1|issue #22]] of the [[The Transformers (IDW)|2009-2011 ongoing series]].
*While not explicitly stated, this issue does provide a possible explanation why Megatron is so adamant about keeping his mode of creation secret.  As he's a Point One Percenter spark in a cold constructed body, chances are he wasn't so sure of the answer himself.
*Brainstorm's sparkprint of Rung was taken back in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|issue #28]], during the short blackout that showed the audience an x-ray view of Rung and Megatron. We assumed at the time that the blackout itself was the first of what would be many subsequent power outages that accompanied the slow quantum erasure of the ship and its crew, but perhaps it was, as Megatron suggested at the time, simply a power surge caused by the activation of Brainstorm's scanner.
*It was in the same issue that Megatron talked about the Maccadam's brawl during his therapy session, which Brainstorm was able to learn about because he was standing outside the room at the time.
*Brainstorm collected the Point One Percenter spark from Luna 1 in [[Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|issue #17]]. 
*At long last, Tailgate is revealed to be the sender of the warning message we heard all the way back in [[Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|issue #1]], in an attempt to warn the crew of all the terrible things that await them on their journey: Tailgate himself warns "Don't open the coffin" containing the alternate Rodimus's corpse, in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]]; Rodimus cautions "Don't let [[Legislator|them]] take [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]" to Luna 1, as seen in issue #19; Rung urges "Don't go to [[Delphi]]", where the twin terrors of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] and [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] lurk, from issues [[Life After the Big Bang|#4]] and [[How Ratchet Got His Hands Back|#5]]; Chromedome guards the mistake he made in [[Remembrance Day|issue #14]], "Do not look in the basement", where [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] is imprisoned; and Riptide completes the message by warning them not to trust Brainstorm, but as we saw in issue #1, this part of the transmission was lost.
*Brainstorm makes reference to when he was "sort of dead once", as seen in the closing chapters of "[[Dark Cybertron]]".
*Quark was captured during the fall of [[K'th Kinsere]], a location brought out several times during Roberts's works; the Decepticons' attack on it was specifically described in issue #31. He was incarcerated in [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore]] prison, previously mentioned in "[[Bullets]]".
*Brainstorm's love for Quark probably explains, to some extent, his fanboyish "please notice me sempai" infatuation with Perceptor beyond his being a rival scientist—he's also a microscope, like Quark, and Quark was always designed to resemble [[Perceptor (Animated)|''Animated'' Perceptor]].
*As is made obvious by the story though apparently not actually realized by any of the characters, Rodimus and Cyclonus do not simply visit a "secret base", but are actually teleported inside the younger version of the ''Lost Light'' itself, ''inside'' said base. The launch pad they find themselves on when the ship disappears is labelled "U1", the previous name of the ship, as revealed in issue #31. Essentially "perfected" by its own future crew, the ship is sent into the future, where it will be found by the NAILs who then sold it to Drift in issue #31. How the NAILs ''knew'' its original name remains a question, though...
*And of course, the unfortunate guard, mutated by the Sparkeater Gun, becomes the [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] that menaced the ship in [[Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|issue #3]], and has been locked in the chamber it was freed from since the very beginning. The remains of three turbofoxes were found in the cell in issue #3, but presumably these weren't the ''original'' three turbofoxes we see in this issue; in #3, Rodimus speculated that the [[NAIL]]s who would eventually come to own the ''Lost Light'' were feeding the sparkeater the creatures to keep it docile, and issue #31 seemed to back that assertion up by revealing that said NAILs had stolen a brace of turbofoxes from the ''[[Alchemy-Seven]]''. Perhaps they were inspired to use turbofoxes after they saw what the Sparkeater did to the ones it was first locked up with.
*All this would also mean that the poor fellow Whirl shot with the gun last issue also turned into a sparkeater. Could that guy and whatever he got up to after being mutated have been the ''origin'' of the sparkeater myth, in turn inspiring Brainstorm to create the gun in the first place?? Oh, no, I've gone cross-eyed, Basil.
*"The Useless One" was originally mentioned in our first glimpse of the "Functionist timeline" in [[The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|issue #35]], and is here confirmed to be that timeline's version of Rung, thought it was fairly easy to deduce at the time. To no-one's great surprise, we here receive our first implication that his alternate mode is part of something much greater...
*Perceptor notes that the Functionist timeline may function as a starting point for additional alternate timelines. Although the concept of alternate timelines and parallel universes was discounted as impossible back in issue 35, they are a long-standing concept in Transformers - so it's possible that the Transformers multiverse was created through Brainstorm's briefcase.
*Perceptor mentions that his actions tampering with Brainstorm's time machine accidentally created the conditions for the existence of parallel universes.  But if their timeline hadn't started to collapse and the Functionist timeline hadn't started to intrude, Rewind's database wouldn't have been overwritten.  If Rewind's database hadn't been overwritten, he wouldn't have had the motivation to destroy Megatron's original spark.  Furthermore, the revelation of the Functionist dystopia was also what prompted Whirl to save Megatron's life by transplanting the new spark, preserving the timeline.  So that means Perceptor accidentally creating parallel universes must also have been preordained to occur.  So the multiverse and all its infinite timelines were always destined to exist.  My head hurts.

===Transformers references===
*The pistol Brainstorm trains on Megatron (which is also brandished by One-of-Twelve on the final page) is based on Megatron's original Generation 1 Walther P38 [[alternate mode]], sans the [[fusion cannon]]/scope and stock attachments, but retaining its barrel-extending silencer.
*Megatron was constructed cold in "[[Con Facility 113]]," yet another of Roberts's many references to [[113 (disambiguation)|the number]].
*The title of this issue, "Predestination: An Expert's Guide", parallels the title of issue #30, "Predestination: A Beginner's Guide."
* The harness in which alternate-universe Rung is suspended is a callback to the similar apparatus that contained Overlord beneath the ''Lost Light'' - they are even presented to us in the same quarter-view looking-up angle.

===Real-life references===
*You don't need us to tell you that the 'bots are watching ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II}}''—which is, of course, about characters travelling back in time to put history to rights and avert a terrible alternate timeline from happening, just like this story has been. Tailgate missed out on seeing the {{w|Back to the Future|first one}}, but Cyclonus evidently didn't, since he is able to lead everyone in a singalong of "{{w|The Power of Love (Huey Lewis and the News song)|The Power of Love}}" by {{w|Huey Lewis and the News}}, which doesn't appear (properly) in the sequel. "The Power of love," the song intones, "might just save your life"—a fitting summation of the emotions revealed this issue to have secretly driven the storyline.
*Whirl likes the film well enough, but he'd rather have ''{{w|Alphaville (film)|Alphaville}}''—it's directed by Jean-Luc Godard, whose work he expressed a fondness form in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|issue #30]].

===Errors===
*When spotting the familiar fuel quills of the ''Lost Light'', Rewind says "They looks awfully familiar", rather than "That looks" or "They look".
* Cyclonus urges the others at the bar to swing along with a hearty "Altogether!" rather than a correct "All together!"

===Other trivia===
*Originally intended for release in February 2015, continuing delays afflicting multiple IDW titles as a result of port closures on the west coast of America saw this issue pushed to the first week of March.
*On the day of this issue's release, "#mtmte" was a trending topic on Tumblr, meaning that the comic was one of the most talked-about topics on the entire platform (itself one of the top 25 internet destinations as ranked by traffic) in the whole world.

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMRBCCDTl7s It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)]" by {{w|R.E.M.}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXS8FmruAQg Good Goodnight]" by {{w|Aqualung (musician)|Aqualung}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSo1yr9aHpM If the World Ends]" by {{w|Guillemots (band)|Guillemots}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o10hgnG5YC8 Where Are They Now?]" by {{w|Gene (band)|Gene}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Brainstorm, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Rodimus tries to separate Whirl and Rewind, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Megatron in a {{w|Coast Salish art}} style, by [[Jeffrey Veregge]]

<gallery>
File:MTMTE38 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE38 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE38 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
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*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' #6
*IDW ''Edward Scissorhands'' comic
*IDW ''Skylanders Champions'' comic (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-38-idw-2015 Preview]