Functionist Universe
The Functionist Universe, universal stream designation Primax 1114.26 Gamma, was born as a divergent timeline from Primax 1005.19 Gamma, created when Perceptor tampered with the paradox locks of Brainstorm's time travel device. In this universe, Megatron as he was known never came to exist, meaning that the Great War never occurred. His history-defining absence drastically changed the course of the timeline, creating a world where the Functionist Council had eliminated the Senate entirely and established a brutal theocracy. Thus, the entirety of Cybertron adhered to the fascist ideals of Functionism, where one's form defined their function. However, the entirety of other alien species in the universe were spared from becoming collateral damage in the Cybertronian civil war.
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Two million years ago, the Functionist Council and the Senate came to loggerheads over the use of Nova Prime's stockpile of frozen sparks to increase the planet's population. The Functionist Council deemed the practice heretical against the teaching of Adaptus. In response, the Senate sealed Vector Sigma behind a wall of impenetrable ununtrium. In turn, the Council gathered an army of devoted followers, seized the Matrix of Leadership, and executed Nominus Prime and the Senate for blasphemy. A World Misplaced
Some time thereafter, they outlawed the intellectual class and deported all Transformers who had been constructed cold. From their headquarters in The Cog, they determined which classes still had value and which no longer had a purpose. When a class was deemed obsolete, they were "recalled" by lethally detonating obsolescence chips that the council had installed in the heads of every Cybertronian. The reasoning behind this mass murder of the populace was that "by downsizing the population, the Council is honoring the Guiding Hand -- principally Adaptus -- and reducing demand for finite energy supplies. Mass recalls should therefore be regarded as acts of both sacrifice and pragmatism." In reality, however, many of the recalls (the intellectual class likely among them) were motivated by the fear that they would act against the Council. Predestination: An Expert's Guide Despite this, the council grudgingly allowed any 'bot to seek refuge in five cities thought to belong to the Guiding Hand. A World Misplaced Rewind would later recall that the laser pointers had been recalled in 6th cycle, 351 in an event known as the Dark Dawn.
They continued to practice empurata on dissenters, until it became so commonplace it lost its effectiveness; when that happened, they began replacing Transformers' heads with monitors that removed their ability to speak, replacing it with text that scrolled across the screen. Known as "flatheads," their faces were considered Council property and the Functionist Council could co-opt the screens to display their own messages of unity if the subject continued speaking out of turn. Some Transformers would attempt to pose as higher-class citizens by attaching kibble to themselves to give the appearance of a more useful alt mode; as a result, the Council's functionaries began directly inspecting the transformation cogs of suspicious 'bots. By the present day, even animals were being added to the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy.
At some point, the Primal Vanguard was sent to Luna 2 to fight the Black Box Consortia for control of the moon. After half a million years of fighting, the Council agreed to peace terms that gave the moon to the Consortia. With no more need to travel to the moon, the astro class was subsequently recalled and the Primal Vanguard returned to Cybertron. En route, the Council had all of the soldiers' eyes replaced with new ones that would allow the Council to watch the populace through them. When this test proved effective, they decided to roll this compulsory upgrade to the rest of the population. Around this same time, the "willfully non-employed" began rebelling against the Functionist Council, rejecting alt modes altogether and rallying around a figure known as "The Useless One". The Council violently suppressed them and prevented their revolts from being broadcast to the populace. Shortly thereafter, they ordered the data slugs recalled as their ability to store information could be used against their government. The Custom-Made Now
As it turned out, the Functionist Council was well aware of the identity of "The Useless One", as they had him locked away because his unidentifiable alt mode created a serious problem for the taxonomy. However, when a janitorial class worker happened to figure out his purpose, the Council decided that he would need to be destroyed lest his very existence put an end to their entire system. Said Useless One, however, taunted Councillor One-of-Twelve that his death would do nothing to delay their inevitable doom. Predestination: An Expert's Guide
Eighteen months later, Councillor and Matrix-carrier Six-of-Twelve began preparing for a war that "Primus" told him was coming; transplanting the sparks of Cybertronians into members of the construction and military classes in an effort to fortify Cybertron against the impending conflict. Disgusted by this blasphemy, Councilor Nine-of-Twelve defected, joining the Anti-Vocationist League and turning his city of Adaptica into a refuge for those deemed "obsolete" by the Council. A World Misplaced
Shortly afterwards, a dozen Autobots from another universe warped onto Cybertron: the Lost Light exiles trying to reach their own Cybertron! Twelve-of-Twelve and a Functionary shock squad, with several captured and blinded protestors in tow, arrived to arrest them for trespassing in a social exclusion zone. Some Other Cybertron As it turned out, they had arrived on the eve of "Revelation Day": the day when the Council would announce what the Useless One was for. After encountering the Anti-Vocationist League and escaping the Functionaries, the castaways travelled to Kalis, where they watched as the Council unveiled "Rung"'s supposed alternate mode: a gigantic drilling platform that would allow them to reach Vector Sigma. But this dramatic proclamation was quickly overshadowed by the shocking return of Luna 2! A World Misplaced
Ask Vector Prime
Vector Prime was surprised when Primax 1114.26 Gamma suddenly popped fully formed into existence in the multiverse; the gradual formation of splinter timelines was a far more common phenomenon. He noted that although it was an unpleasant reality for Cybertronians, he had seen far worse. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/16
Notes
- The Functionist Universe's universal stream designation, given in the Facebook edition of Ask Vector Prime, comes from the release date of "The Custom-Made Now", in which the universe debuted.
- The presence of the Camiens Hot Shot and Anode on Cybertron suggests that in this universe, Cybertron has re-established contact with at least some of the thirteen Titan colonies. Considering that at least one colony was founded to escape Functionist doctrine, "first contact" might not have gone very smoothly.
- In the main timeline, female Transformers no longer exist on Cybertron, having vanished sometime after the end of the First Cybertronian Civil War and before the Golden Age. In this timeline, however, at least one female-identifying Transformer exists. It's possible that this Transformer may have been born on one of the colony worlds and subsequently emigrated to Cybertron. Alternately, it could be that she has voluntarily changed her appearance and/or gender expression; James Roberts has not discounted the possibility of transgender Transformers in addition to Arcee.[1]
