I, Lowtech

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It is being brought.
It is being brought.
Oh, he's doin' somethin'...

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« TransTech »

I'm starting with the Man in the Mirror/
I'm asking him to change his ways...
"I, Lowtech"
Publisher Fun Publications
First published September 17, 2008
Written by Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak
Illustration by Nick Roche
Colors by Winston Bolen
Continuity TransTech
Page count 47

A high-ranking TransTech businessman finds himself inexplicably trapped inside a lowtech body, and will stop at nothing to regain what is rightfully his.

Synopsis

Events from the prologue are in italics

Inside a dampened room, Cheetor and Stungun interrogate a damaged and uncooperative suspect. The mech demands to see his solicitor, but Stungun tells him that mouthpiece doesn't have the clearance. Cheetor tells the unbelieving suspect that according to the Barax Act, his legal counsel can get his information...so long as he testifies to the police investigation. The outraged suspect refuses, and Cheetor, content to wait, sets up a datacon, playing back the damaged and fragmented memories of one Bulletbike...

The TransTech businessman Bulletbike is trapped in darkness, feeling as though something is smothering him. Feeling a sensation of falling, Bulletbike cuts offline for sometime, until groggily waking up. With all his senses but the most basic ones missing, Bulletbike watches as a big, dark shape appears on his low-rez vision. The shape, prodding him with a cudgel, demands he gets up, and as Bulletbike struggles to get to his feet, he notices that he's not in the Auron District, and that the mech prodding him is a lowtech (quickly mentally correcting himself to "offworlder"). Bulletbike asks the robot who he is, and when the large robot tells him that he's Officer Blastcharge, the confused Bulletbike notices the Axiom Nexus Security Administration badge, realizing he's in the Offworlder Zone. Angered by the cop's insults, the TransTech buisnessman gets up to his full height, proclaiming himself to be the 37th richest mech on Cybertron and CEO of RoboCo, and threatens to call Blastcharge's commander. As the cop laughs, Bulletbike equillibrium fails him, and he staggers onto his hands and knees above a puddle...in which he finally notices his appearance. Someone has put him into a lowtech body, horrifying the former TransTech.

The sensory input briefly overloads Bulletbike, and Blastcharge helps him out, pointing him to Widow's Cafe Cybertronian. Blastcharge transforms and drives off with one final insult, leaving Bulletbike to stew. Looking over his new primitive form, Bulletbike tries to figure out how he ended up like this. His last memory was of the party celebrating the defense contract between RoboCo and the Senate. Unusually, he surged out after 8 or 9 cycles, despite his advanced systems; Bulletbike figures someone put something in his drink. All that comes after that are hazy dreams, crushed in a immense hand, and he reflects that the urban legends of offworlder spark swaps are true after all. Noticing the similarity between his treatment and those of murderers and transit bandits, he wonders if a vigilante has done this to him for "actions" his lawyers have ensured aren't technically illegal. Suddenly, Bulletbike is interrupted by the Predacon, Sling, who asks for the time and some fuel. Bulletbike notices the shiv in the Predacon's hand, and tries to get away. Sling edges forth to steal his fuel, but the struggling Bulletbike punches him in the face, and begins to run off. Sling, having transformed into his beast mode, prepares to kill his victim. Bulletbike holds the Predacon's mouth back with his arm as his free hand grabs a pipe, knocking him in the head over and over until he thinks he's knocked him into stasis lock. Unfortunately, as Bulletbike gets up, he realizes that he's killed the Predacon. Horrified, Bulletbike drags his corpse to a nearby refuse chute, and throws him in there, knowing that the Axiom Nexus Security Administration is unlikely to look into the Heap. Picking up the shiv, Bulletbike begins to feel light, the fight having burned most of his energy, and falls into stasis lock.

Bulletbike is soon jolted awake by a concerned derelict, who gets him up. Bulletbike doesn't even have enough energy to speak, and the Autobot derelict gives him a foul smelling and even worse tasting brew, which nevertheless re-energizes him. Asked by the derelict for his name, Bulletbike tells him who he is, and is surprised when the robot believes him, telling the former TransTech that no one believes who he is either. Taking a swig, the derelict tells him that people call him Scrounge, but that he's really Emirate Xaaron of Primax 093.0 Epsilon. Scrounge claims that he was able to get in past the security, but someone took his Matrix, causing him to downgrade into this form, and asks Bulletbike if he's seen it. Bulletbike plays along, telling him he hasn't, and asks Scrounge to help him find his way to an EconTerm. Scrounge agrees, although not before he asks for some fuel, and the pair transform. Pained by his transformation, Bulletbike is annoyed by the simplicity of his form, and is amazed by Scrounge's "vehicular" mode-a disk. Bulletbike's parts barely fit together, and his fuel is leaking, with his energon reserves burning at an increased rate. Along the way, Bulletbike gets the chance to truly observe the Offworlder Zone for the first time; Bulletbike notices as the conditions improve upon each level, and feels unnerved at how unnoticed he is. Still, he complains to himself as exhaust blows into him, and a bot nearly walks into him while he spritzes his scraplet infested arm, leaving Bulletbike eager to get out of here.

Arriving at the EconTerm, Bulletbike tries to have his onboard computer (called a custodian) retrieve his access codes, only to quickly realize he doesn't have his computer anymore. Trying to remember his account number, Bulletibke is quickly embarrassed at the fact that he can't remember that, either. Scrounge soon begins to tug at his shoulder, pointing out to Bulletbike his true face appearing on the holoprojected newsfeed. Bulletbike tells his companion that it's probably just a recording. The recording, however, begins giving a speech Bulletbike only wrote and never gave, even changing some of the wording, calling the Offworlders a threat to no one but themselves. Bulletbike is horrified, having realized the truth, and begins to hallucinate, feeling the eyes of everyone around him on him. As the world turns red, Bulletbike sees his true body gripping him in his hands, crushing him. Scrounge, having nearly been hurt by Bulletbike, brings him back to reality, and Bulletbike apologizes to his companion. Bulletbike tells Scrounge that someone (whom the latter identifies as Bulletbike's nemesis) has stolen his body. Telling his companion to meet him back in three megacycles, Bulletbike watches as Scrounge rolls off, going to the Heap to look around for reports of body snatching and fuel. Bulletbike heads the opposite way, spying a bot he recognizes as one of the Omnicons, Skyblast, having employed some Omnicons in his factory. The Omnicon's armor, shining white, indicates his wealth, and Bulletbike sneaks up behind him with his stolen shiv, telling the Autobot jet to cooperate and hand over his money. As Skyblast attempts to form some energon blades, Bulletbike thrusts his shiv into the bot, and before he can scream, snaps the robot's neck, killing him. Bulletbike feels odd; all throughout his life, he felt sick for even the tiniest amount of violence, but all he feels now is power. Taking the bot to a nearby dumpster, he grabs the dead bot's loaded cred-key, and heads off.

Heading to Swindle, Swindle and Swindle, the body-shop, Bulletbike enters, with the jingle getting stuck in his head. Greeted by Swindle the Second and Swindle the Third, Bulletbike tells them he needs a full body examination, and when the two tell him about their discount for ANSA, Freelance Police Legion, and the Fully Bonded Bounty Hunter Consortium, Bulletbike tells them he's not a cop. Delighted, the two get down to real business, and ask for Bulletibke's name. The two express genuine admiration at the name, pointing Bulletbike to a poster of himself in his true body, filling him with anger. Bulletbike tells the two that he is the real Bulletbike. The two hardly miss a beat, and scan over him; recognizing the body as a newer model, the pair call out their senior partner, Swindle the First. Wanting to hasten the process along, Bulletbike tells them that if they can get him verifiable evidence of a spark transplant, he will get them a lifetime supply of reactor couplings 2 percent over cost. Their greed overriding their incredulity, the Swindle's take him to the back, putting him into an ancient medical restraint. Swindle the first has him sign their contracts, and preps for some "localized shutdowns," knocking Bulletbike offline. Awakening, the briefly furious Bulletbike demands to know what they've found. Swindle the Third informs him that there's no indications of anything aside from prolonged stasis long and inebriation, and when Bulletbike demands for them to do it again, Swinlde the First informs him that due to the illegality of spark transplants, their scanners are top of the line; the tests were as accurate as possible. Swindle the Third informs him that stasis lock in newer models can cause side-effects, including dissociative episodes. Swindle the First tells an unbeliving Bulletbike that his i.d. bolt says he is a Bulletbike from Primax 095.0 Beta. The two try to recommend a mental health professional, but Bulletbike goes to leave. Stopping him, the two tell him of his injuries, with stress fractures in transformation joints and numerous other mechanical issues. Bulletbike asks if the cost of repairs can be covered by the unsuccessful diagnostic, but is told by Swindle that he should have read the contract closer. Still, he has enough money for repairs, and the pair ask if he wants his firing systems and subspace storage pocket systems restored. Bulletbike agrees, briefly considering killing them, but decides against it when realizing the amount of security they have.

Bulletbike's memories begin to fragment some more, cutting to him stealing something from an offworlder thug he murders, and later to another new report with his nemesis, who tells the offworlder population that he owes everything to them. Bulletbike begins to hallucinate again, when the news report shifts to Andromeda, informing the populace of a series of murders; namely, the murders committed by Bulletbike. A rough eyewitness description has been simulated, and when a passing Autobot tries to as Bulletbike for the time, he notices the similarity. Running off, the Autobot is chased by Bulletbike, who bashes him with a rod until he dies. Shifting some storage crates, he makes the body look like a sleeping derelict, and wanders off, contemplating his situation some more. He knows he can't keep killing, or else the trail will lead back to him. Bulletbike tries to think of a reason behind the impersonation; he does have control over the majority of the planet's security forces, but even so, he couldn't take it from the Senate's command. He wonders if his hated rival, Ego of C-Kar Technologies, is behind it, but figures even he wouldn't do this. Wondering if there are others in his situation, Bulletbike snaps back to reality when he is greeted by Scrounge. Briefly worried about his companion discovering the body before realizing they're back in their meeting spot, Bulletbike comes up with a plan. Asked for a communications node, Scrounge tells Bulletbike there's one at Cryotek's establishment, The Blue Deployer, but is worried, knowing the TransTech doesn't like derelicts messing with their stuff. Bulletbike dismisses Scrounge's concerns, and the pair head off to their destination.

At The Blue Deployer, Bulletbike calls Ego using a personal number his competitor gave in an attempt to be friendly. Bulletbike, not giving his name, tells Ego he knows he won't be rich for much longer, and that he can offer something that will topple down Bulletbike and RoboCo. Telling an indecisive Ego that he could give this information to Corvo, CEO of BioDyne instead, his competitor agrees to listen to Bulletbike. Steeling himself, Bulletbike tells Ego that RoboCo's Vehidrones are rushed and slipshod, and that armed with the right information, any lowtech could take one down. Bulletbike demands that in exchange for this information, he has his i.d. bolt removed and is taken into the TransTech zone of Axiom Nexus. Ego stews, unwilling to give him more than a pass for information that might not be real, but Bulletbike pushes him, finally convincing him to commit the felony of getting him out of the Offworlder Zone. Bulletbike tells him to meet him at Vionax Tower in the Arclight District. Hanging up, Bulletbike considers his options, and figures that the D-Wy warehouse district is his safest bet. Roused from his thoughts by Scrounge, who is running away from one of Cryotek's workers, Bulletbike is briefly terrified, thinking the thug is the Omnicon he saw earlier, before recognizing that he just shares a body type with him. As the Predacon rants, Bulletbike drives off, feeling strangely exhilarated. After escaping, Bulletbike tells Scrounge that he has to go alone from here. Scrounge is worried, wanting his companion to stay down here with him. Bulletbike considers the possibility of his nemesis taking Scrounge and torturing him, and considering Scrounge's delusions and derelict body, begins to move his hands towards his neck...but Bulletbike can't bring himself to kill the closest he's ever had to a friend. Bulletbike tells Scrounge that he will tell him if he finds his Matrix, and turns away as Scrounge rolls off, unable to watch as his friend bounces into the walls and pedestrians. Bulletbike ensures to himself that Scrounge, even with his limitations, is a good bot, and goes off to reclaim what is his.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Predacons Others

Quotes

"Who are you?"
"Officer Blastcharge, but if you don't get up in the next cycle, it's going to be 'Sir Please Stop Thumping Me Across The Alleyway.'"

—Bulletbike & Blastcharge trade pleasantries


"Good day, friend, welcome to Swindle, Swindle and Swindle. I'm Swindle the Second, but you can call me Swindle. This here is Swindle the Third, but you can call him Swindle too. What can we do ya for?"

—A Swindle greets his new customer


"And exactly where were you during Bulletbike's rampage and the solar cycles leading up to it, Commander Cheetor? Do you routinely allow murderers to wander your precinct unmolested?"
"Just off the top of my processor... the Gutcruncher rebellion and the ongoing black market raids, two riots, the incident with General Demolishor, sixteen murders unrelated to this case, twelve armed robberies, three major traffic snarls, fifty-six minor accidents, and four inter-faction rumbles. Plus, all the times the Senate has 'requested' my personal appearance. We're stretched thin even with the assistance of the Freelance Police Legion. If we're pointing servos, however, border security, which is under your jurisdiction, was egregiously lax in investigating Ego's transport. Personally, I'd be worried about what else is slipping through."
"That matter is being investigated, I assure you."

—Starscream and Cheetor discuss a typical week in the Offworlder Zones


"If Bulletbike is what can happen when the system fails... why take the risk in voluntarily removing [the clarity codecs]?"
"Did you know that some organics willingly ingest non-lethal doses of deadly poisons?"
"Uh, no, sir?"
"It's to build up an immunity. Small, careful doses. Their body learns to fight it. Eventually, they can handle amounts that would, under normal conditions, kill them. So, think of this as building up an immunity to the urge to kill."
"I... guess that makes sense, sir. But I lost my temper with those two grease-stain chiselers, what if..."
"Don't worry, I wanted to knock their smug little heads together too. Millions of supposedly 'lower' mechanoids in this city have gone gigavorns without crossing the line. We're supposed to be 'transcendent'... if we need some piece of code implanted in us to foster basic morality, then what's the point? The trick isn't not having those feelings, Stungun. It's learning how to handle them. We augment the body, but not the spark. That takes hard work. ...besides, if you crossed that line, you'd be wearing a restraining bolt before you hit the ground."

—Stungun and Cheetor

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Blastcharge previously appeared in "Withered Hope". The Widow's Cafe Cybertronian also appeared in that story, having first appeared in "Gone Too Far", along with Cryotek and The Blue Deployer.
  • At one point in the story Bulletbike rolls pass Animated Bumblebee and BotCon exclusive Flareup; Bumblebee and Flareup appeared together in BotCon 2008 script reading "Bee in the City".
  • Swindle, Swindle and Swindle previously appeared in "Withered Hope", and is heavily expanded on here.
  • Backslash previously appeared in "Gone Too Far".

Transformer references

  • TransTech Bulletbike's original body (and Generation 2 Bulletbike's current one) is based off the Beast Machines Thrust toy.
  • As is standard for the TransTech stories, plenty of offworlders from various franchises show up. Aside from Generation 2 Power Master Bulletbike's body, these include:
    • Generation 1 Skids, who shows up in the preview.
    • The Universe version of Beast Machines Blastcharge.
    • Beast Wars Neo Sling.
    • Scrounge is a Marvel original Transformers character, introduced in issue #17.
    • Animated Bumblebee and BotCon 2005 exclusive Flareup.
    • Live-action movie Frenzy.
    • Energon Skyblast.
    • Swindle the First is based on the Generation 2 toy of Swindle. Swindle the Second is the Generation 1 with the diecast purple chest, while Swindle the Third has the plastic grey chest.
    • Fun Publications orginal Beast Era character Backslash.
  • The "rough simulation image" of Bulletbike in the preview is an extremely toy accurate drawing of him, down to the connected feet and flat face.
  • The line, "Unit Designate PM4-Bulletbike," refers to the offworlder Bulletbike's Power Master ID number. His home universe, Primax 095.0 Beta, is the universe of his tech specs, taken from his release year.
  • Bulletbike notes he only had his echolocation senses for a quartex, a unit of time introduced in the first Transformers episode.
  • Blastcharge sarcastically responds to Bulletbike's claims by telling him he's "Grand Admiral Strika the Sixth," a TransTech version of the Beast Machines character.
  • Blastcharge tells Bulletbike to hurry before the Junkion Sanitation Service comes to pick up the garbage; Junkions first appeared in The Transformers: The Movie.
  • The insult "empty" is used throughout the story; empties are derelict, often unaffiliated Transformers introduced in the Marvel Comics, who are forced to scavenge for what little energy they have.
  • Bulletbike is confused by the lettering on his feet, not realizing it's upside down; the letters are from the sticker on his toy, reading "BULLETBIKE PM4".
  • Foods and drinks served at Bulletbike's party include: Schaeffer Energy (from Victory episode Battle Up of Wrath!!), Isidrite (from Transformers cartoon episode Webworld), and polonium spritzers (from the previous two TransTech stories).
  • Bulletbike swears by Nexus Zero, home of the Vok from Beast Wars.
  • Xaaron was an Autobot commander introduced in the Marvel UK Transformers comic.
  • Scrounge isn't very good at being Xaaron. He claims he has a Matrix and that he's from universe Primax 093.0 Epsilon. Decoding that technobabble allegedly pegs him as an Emirate Xaaron from Transformers Fan Club fiction published in 1993. Yyyyyeah.
  • Scraplets are metal eating parasites from the Marvel Transformers comics; the only thing that could cure an infestation was water.
  • Scrounge notes that Bulletbike's custodian system is like the onboard computer the "animal-type bolts" talk to; in Beast Wars, Maximals and Predacons would speak aloud to their computers when performing various actions.
  • Scrounge tells Bulletbike to let him tell of his supposed "encounter" with Unicron and Sideways.
  • Bulletbike notes that Omnicons hail from the Aurex Cluster (aka the various Unicron Trilogy fictions) and notes of their ability to shape raw energon.
  • Bulletbike remembers that he once got angry at one of his workers, Sidestep, for misaligning his energon drip, and threw a chronometer at him.
  • The image for the Swindle, Swindle and Swindle shop is filled with various easter eggs, including:
  • Swindle, aside from examining the spark, also examines Bulletbike's laser core, a piece of technology mentioned several time in the Generation 1 cartoon that various fictions have linked to the spark.
  • Swindle tries to recommend Twitcher F451, the movieverse Real Gear Robot, to Bulletbike as a mental health technician.
  • Subspace storage pockets, having appeared in several other stories by Sepelak and Troop, are a fan-made concept, based on the occasional odd instance of the Transformers cartoon showing Transformer weapons appearing and disappearing in a flash of light.
  • Ego takes his name from the French-Canadian release of Generation 1 Starscream; his company, C-Kar Technologies, is named for the subgroup Starscream belongs to.
  • Corvo takes his name from the Italian release of Generation 1 Skywarp.
  • The image of Ego's showroom contains a variety of easter eggs, including:
  • Fittingly, the last bit of dialogue between Ego and Bulletbike mirrors Starscream's brief dialogue with Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie.
  • Likewise, "Bricolo" is Scrapper's French-Canadian name. And he's an artist making furniture out of Transformer parts.
  • The two "grease-stain chiselers" Stungun mentions are Jackpot and Hubcap, who ran afoul of the local police (and just about everyone else) in "Gone Too Far".
  • Cheetor and Stungun muse that the whole Bulletbike fiasco could easily be set straight if only they could explain how TransTech Bulletbike's spark ended up in the lowtech Bulletbike's body. (As it stood, there was no evidence of spark transfer, so that wasn't a viable theory.) Additionally, the impostor Bulletbike recalls much of his forces to his building to protect him from the rampaging lowtech Bulletbike. This has the added effect of leaving the Transwarp Complex open to attack. Taking into consideration the events of the Transcendent story, an answer (confirmed in a flashback in "The Coming Storm: Part 1") appears. Topspin's spark-manipulation abilities would easily explain the spark transfer, setting up the removal of the guards from the Transwarp Complex, allowing Alpha Trion to escape to his home world.

Real-world references

  • The title is probably a reference to Isaac Asimov's famous story collection, I, Robot. While I, Robot is not the first appearance of the "I, Noun" formulation (I, Claudius, for example), it's certainly the most famous involving robots. (I, Robot-Master! is a much clearer case.)
  • Bulletbike's home is in the Auron District, possibly named for the character from Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts II, two franchise which author Greg Sepelak has a..."love-hate" relationship with.
  • Blastcharge tells Bulletbike that "you don't have to go home, but you can't defrag here," paraphrasing lyrics from Closing Time by Semisonic.
  • Blastcharge sarcastically tells Bulletbike that he's part of the "gaussing Smart Patrol," named for the video game and accompanying Devo album.
  • Autopol, the TransTech Zone's police, is named for international organization Interpol.
  • Part of the diagnostic that reads out when Bulletbike drinks reads "TAS2R38-42"; TAS2R38 is one of the bitter taste receptors in humans.
  • Corvo's company, BioDyne, is named for Cyberdyne Systems, creators of Skynet from the Terminator films.
  • "Isen Power Station" and a "D-wy warehouse district" are mentioned as places Vehidrones can be found, references to Transformers Animated main story writer Marty Isenberg and main character designerDerrick J. Wyatt.
  • The plush lizard in Ego's office is the Winslow, a central MacGuffin of Phil Foglio's "Buck Godot: Zap Gun For Hire" comics.
  • At one point Bulletbike thinks that the force of a Vehidrone's voice is "one degree shy of sadistic", a line from the song "SenSurround" by They Might Be Giants.
  • Bulletbike also notes that the Vehidrone has a "WVNG-class voice modulator", which might be a reference to Hugo Weaving.
  • "Isen Power Station" and a "D-wy warehouse district" are mentioned as places Vehidrones can be found, a possible reference to a certain pair of Animated creators.
  • While talking to Ego. Bulletbike apparently says he works in 'murders and executions', which Ego responds with he also worked in 'mergers and acquisitions', mirroring a scene from the horror film American Psycho.

Errors

  • The data-con is referred to as a datacon, missing the hyphen.
  • Isidrite is misspelled as "isodrite".
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