Verity Carlo
- Verity Carlo is a human from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Make no mistake; Verity Simone Carlo is intelligent, nimble, resourceful, self-reliant, and cunning. Problem is, she likes to think she's tougher, smarter, and has more guts than pretty much everyone else. It's a good part of what allows her to maintain her rootless teen-aged existence hitch-hiking across the United States, living on theft and what little kindness she receives from strangers (although two mace sprays nestled in her backpack attest to how little she's willing to trust said strangers).
Something happened to Verity when she was a child, though, something that hurt her so badly that she refuses to form a serious bond with anyone or show any sign of fear. It's been with her so long that she abandoned several foster homes and (presumably) welcoming families when she was in her mid-teens. Because of that hurt Verity sees most people as marks, dupes or threats. Fear of getting hurt again keeps her moving when she maybe ought to settle down, and makes her abrasive and superior.
Whether it'll get her killed one day is anyone's guess, but joining the Wreckers sure doesn't help.
Fiction
2005 IDW continuity
Verity's life as a drifter changed forever when in Phoenix, Arizona when she spotted what she assumed was a long-distance salesman in possession of a palmtop computer. Pickpocketing a ticket from a nearby family, Verity followed the man onto a bus bound for Los Angeles and quickly stole the computer from his bag, then proceeded to fake an upset stomach to get the bus to pull over. Free and clear, she hitched a lift with passing motorist Hunter O'Nion... but what Verity had no way of knowing was that the victim of her theft was an agent of the Machination, and the computer held photographs of secret Decepticon bases on Earth. Possession of the device immediately made her and Hunter targets, and it was only a short time later they were attacked by Thundercracker. Fortunately, the Autobot Ratchet appeared to offer them aid. Infiltration #0 Though the alien conspiracy theorist Hunter understood the true nature of the alien robots they had found themselves caught between, Verity was less that convinced. Using the palmtop to make contact with her old friend Jimmy Pink, she had Ratchet take them to Jimmy's garage. There, Hunter stole a look through the palmtop and realized its significance—a breach of trust that caused Verity to storm out in anger... only to come running back a moment later, pursued by the Decepticons Runamuck and Runabout! Infiltration #1 Verity endured an outright panic attack as she, Jimmy, and Hunter were forced to flee along with Ratchet, but they were soon saved from the pursuing Decepticons by several Autobots from Ratchet's unit. Infiltration #2 Secret Raiders
Taken back to the Autobots' spaceship, the Ark-19, at the bottom of Lake Michigan, Verity and her friends were placed in a cell while the Autobots debated their next action. Verity tried to blackmail the 'bots into releasing them and giving them answers by threatening to delete all the data on the palmtop, but none of them took any notice. When unit leader Prowl refused to act on Ratchet's intel, the medic took matters into his own hands, releasing the three humans and studying the palmtop's data. Learning that the Decepticons had recently broken their normal infiltration protocol by relocating from a base in Nebraska to one in Oregon, Verity and her friends insisted that they be allowed to help by investigating the abandoned Nebraska facility. Infiltration #3
In short order, the subterranean based was located and Verity, Hunter, and Jimmy spelunked their way inside to investigate. Verity thought finding the corpses of people the Decepticons had turned into facsimiles was traumatic enough, but was paralyzed with fear upon rounding a corner and laying eyes upon Decepticon leader Megatron. Infiltration #4 Fortunately, Megatron had less than no interest in a mere human and ignored here. Still, Verity barely made it out of the base, nearly being buried alive when Skywarp and Blitzwing bombed it in order to cover their tracks. Infiltration #5 Rescued from the wreckage by her friends, Verity tried to act unbothered and objected when Ratchet tried to take them back to the Ark-19 rather than follow Megatron. Hunter and Jimmy admitted that they were overwhelmed and afraid, and that it was okay for Verity to feel that way too... whereupon she finally released her bottled-up emotions and burst into tears. Infiltration #6
Verity was bitterly unsurprised when Optimus Prime arrived and ordered the Autobots to return her and her friends to their normal lives, well acquainted with the feeling that she was unwanted. On the trip back home, however, they were attacked by agents of the Machination, who apparently killed Hunter and their escort Sunstreaker. Escalation #1 Verity was visibly distraught, but hope soon materialized when the Autobots examined Sunstreaker's remains and discovered they were phoney. Escalation #2 Believing that the Machination had Hunter and Sunstreaker captive, Verity combined her hacking skills with Jimmy's engineering know-how to track down likely Machination facilities, and they, Ratchet, and Ironhide disobeyed orders again to investigate one in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Escalation #3 Verity and Jimmy managed to break into the compound, hidden under an auto parts store, where Verity located a strange business card emblazoned only with an "M" before a security failsafe dosed the pair with knock-out gas. Escalation #4 Ironhide and Ratchet penetrated the facility Escalation #5 and safely extracted the pair, but the facility's self-destruct them went off, severely damaging Ironhide. Escalation #6
Returning to the Ark-19, Spotlight: Galvatron Verity handed the "M" card off to Autobot detective Nightbeat, whose studies of both it and the stolen palmtop prompted him to recommend the relocation of Ark-19. Verity and Jimmy found themselves shut out of the discussion, blown off and given vague answers when they tried to get some answers about the search for Hunter from Jazz. Devastation #1 Unfortunately, the vessel was shot down in mid-transit by Sixshot; Ratchet, Verity and Jimmy ejected in an escape pod before the crash. Devastation #2 Verity was injured by Sixshot's attack, but Ratchet's avatar was able to treat her wounds. Sixshot located the Autobot and his human guests and gave chase, forcing Ratchet to separate from the humans for their own protection. Devastation #3
As the other Autobots arrived and battled Sixshot, Verity and Jimmy tried to explain the situation of local law enforcement, who understandably didn't believe her. The officers' chatter revealed plans for an all-out airstrike on the warring parties, so the two humans stole a motorboat and police megaphone and used them to warn Ratchet of the incoming strike. With seconds to spare, Ratchet took the two humans along with him as the Autobots escaped via orbital bounce to the orbiting Ark-32, but the process was too traumatic for them to endure, causing their vital signs to cease. Devastation #4 Ratchet managed to restart their hearts after a dangerously long flatline, Devastation #5 and the pair remained aboard the Ark-32 to recuperate as it left orbit for Garrus-9. Devastation #6 A short time later, the hale and hearty Verity and Jimmy were reunited with Hunter after he was rescued from the Machination. Maximum Dinobots #5
The happy reunion, sadly, was not to last. Always running from others, Verity stowed herself away aboard Ultra Magnus's spaceship as he left to take the captive Shockwave, Scorponok, and Grimlock to Garrus-9, leaving a note for Hunter and Jimmy to explain her departure. In Word and Deed Once her presence on the ship was revealed to Magnus, she worked hard to prove her value to him, performing many important bridge duties and even acquiring a suit of powered armor for herself. She felt close to her "Uncle Magnus," though the only outward sign of affection he showed her was not immediately taking her right back to Earth.Last Stand of the Wreckers #1
About three years after Verity left Earth, she and Magnus were called in to transport the Autobot commando unit known as the Wreckers on a mission to the prison planet of Garrus-9, control of which had been seized by the Decepticon sadist Overlord. The new batch of rookie team members were taken aback by her presence; Rotorstorm assumed Magnus kept her around because she was a "good cleaner," leading Verity to mock his "cyber-sexism." Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 As the ship neared Garrus-9, Verity overheard Magnus informing Springer that, once the Wreckers had been dropped off, he would be heading to Earth in response to a summons from Prowl. Refusing to return to the world she had willingly left behind, Verity stowed away in one of the drop-pods with the Wreckers, preferring to join them on their deadly mission. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2
Verity and the Wreckers' pods crash-landed directly in front of Overlord, who immediately killed Rotorstorm. At Perceptor's instruction, Pyro bundled Verity into his chest cavity to keep her safe, but quickly forgot she was in there as the Wreckers fought to escape. Twisted up and unable to get his attention, Verity could do little but be carried along for the ride until the team arrived at their objective: the chamber containing the adjudication computer, Aequitas. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 While Perceptor worked to bring the computer online, Verity asked Wreckers historian and fanboy Ironfist to tell her a story to keep her mind occupied; he told her of the Wreckers' victory over their enemies Squadron X on Pova. Soon, it was revealed that Aequitas could only be unlocked by the willing donation of a spark—a dilemma that earned Pyro Verity's scorn when he voiced his belief that Ironfist should be the one to sacrifice himself, since Pyro had done too many "great things" to die that way. However, the issue was decided when Topspin stepped up and sacrificed himself to give him and his branched-spark brother Twin Twist a dignified death. As Verity mourned Topspin's death, Ironfist downloaded the contents of Aequitas into his brain. Soon after he completed the task, a new problem presented itself: The Decepticons were burning down the door to the chamber, and the only way to stop them was to use Aequitas to detonate the deterrence chip inside the head of every prisoner at G-9, which included Impactor. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
Though the others voted in favour of the move, Verity vigorously argued against it was able to convince Perceptor not to go through with it. Instead, Pyro volunteered to sacrifice himself, buying precious time for the others to run free. They made it outside and joined Springer against Overlord, causing the Phase Sixer tremendous damage...but he still kept coming. In the end, it was Verity who delivered the most crushing blow of all against Overlord when she told him that Megatron—who Overlord had rebelled against, and had spent his life obsessing over—was already dead, having never even spared Overlord a second thought. The beating Impactor subsequently gave Overlord was hardly necessary; Verity's revelation had defeated him in spirit.
The surviving Wreckers were collected by Ultra Magnus, who took them to Earth to deliver the Aqueitas data to Prowl. Alas, on the way there, Ironfist perished, the borrowed time he had been living on since one of his own cerebro-centric bullets, which had been making its way through his head since before the mission even began, finally running out. Emotionally devastated, Verity returned to "normal" life on Earth as best she could, penning a final volume of Wreckers: Declassified for Ironfist, number 332 in a 4-issue limited series. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
She still had one last thing to remember Ironfist by: a second backup he took of the Aequitas trials, secretly given to her for safe-keeping. In Word and Deed Stakeout, one of Magnus' allies in the Tyrest Accord, guarded her and the two became friends. Sins of the Wreckers #1 Sins of the Wreckers #2
Verity left an impression on the memories of many. Though he had never been outwardly warm to her, Ultra Magnus had genuinely considered her a friend, and used her likeness for his holomatter avatar. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Twenty Plus One Overlord remembered her well, as Chromedome saw when he used his mnemosurgery to view and edit the Decepticon's memories of his defeat. Remembrance Day And during his time spent opposing Onyx alongside Spike Witwicky, Jimmy Pink kept a picture of himself with Verity, Hunter, and Prowl to remind him of their adventures. Vs.
Several years passed, and Verity found herself growing sick. Tests conducted by Stakeout revealed that she was dying, due to "overexposure to intense energy of Cybertronian origin." Sins of the Wreckers #4 Proximity to Tranformers only made the pain worse, so Stakeout abandoned Verity for her own safety. On her own once again, Verity headed north to Nome, Alaska, hoping to fulfill a lifelong dream to see the Aurora Borealis before she died. Sins of the Wreckers #2 Scared and alone, Verity desperately felt the need to regain some measure of control in her life, and saw a chance to do so in the Aequitas data back-up. She and Ironfist had intended to expose Prowl with it, but instead, she used the data for blackmail, sending Prowl a threatening message in the hope that he would cut a deal with her, exchanging the information for life-saving treatment. Sins of the Wreckers #4 Prowl teleported to Earth to meet with her, but upon arrival was abducted by the mad scientist Tarantulas, creator of Aequitas, and an old ally of Prowl's who sought revenge for a past betrayal. Tarantulas's Chimeracon muscle, disguised as normal animals, hunted Verity across the frozen landscape in order to obtain the Aequitas data from her; she was nearly caught by Polar Claw until a repentant Stakeout arrived to save her. The pair were soon confronted by Arcee and the Wreckers, who had come to solve the mystery of Prowl's disappearance. Sins of the Wreckers #1
As the big 'bots talked, Verity and Stakeout reconciled, which resulted in Verity letting her guard down just enough for a Chimeracon rabbit to snatch the Aequitas data slug. Stakeout gave chase, running into the larger Chimeracon forces, and the Wreckers soon headed out to back him up. En route, Verity attempted to tell Springer about her condition, but they were attacked by Chimeracon leader Carnivac before she could finish. As battle broke out, Verity, Arcee, Springer, Hubcap, and Roadbuster made their way inside the body of the largest Chimeracon, Tidal Wave, Sins of the Wreckers #2 and used the portal built inside him to transport themselves to Tarantulas's secret base, the pocket dimension known as the Noisemaze. Though unaffected by the deleterious effects of the maze on Cybertronian senses, Verity was captured along with her disoriented comrades by the traitor Hubcap and handed over to Tarantulas for study. Sins of the Wreckers #3
Tarantulas discovered that it was not merely day-to-day contact with Transformers that had caused Verity to become sick; it was, in fact, the burst of energy released by Aequitas during Ironfist's download of its data. Sins of the Wreckers #4
Purely to score imaginary points by proving himself Prowl's superior, Tarantulas healed Verity's illness, Sins of the Wreckers #5 then held her prisoner as he subjected the others to his new guilt-extracting computer, Impetus. As Tarantulas grew more manic in his plan to ruin Prowl by releasing the Aequitas data, Hubcap finally had second thoughts and release Verity and the others, who quickly made their way to the heart of Tarantulas's base, the Tor, in order to destroy it. Sins of the Wreckers #4 While Arcee and Springer kept Tarantulas busy, Verity and Prowl recovered the Tor's crystalline power source, Obtenteum, and saw that it was forcibly fed to Tidal Wave, triggering an energy overload that caused the entire Noisemaze to implode.
In the wake of Tarantulas's defeat, now with her whole life ahead of her once again, Verity returned to Earth with Springer and finally got the chance to see the Northern Lights. Sins of the Wreckers #5
Verity and Springer hid out in a barn for two years, then left after Springer—shocked by the death of Kup—decided to meet up with Impactor. But on their way to the meeting, they were attacked by Decepticons who abducted Springer. Pursuing them, Verity came across what seemed to be a political rally by "Megan Guiglione," who turned out to be Overlord in disguise. Overlord kidnapped Verity, telling her he had never forgiven her for ending his fantasies of revenge against Megatron. He also introduced her to his new partner: Tarantulas! The two of them were working on a time travel experiment, though the partnership was tense and bitter, for which Verity teased them. Then Overlord announced that he was abandoning the original terms of their partnership in order to use the time machine to assassinate Megatron, for which Verity teased him some more. Overlord killed Tarantulas, and then Verity and Springer were able to defeat Overlord by using the time machine to send his disconnected vehicle halves into different eras. While interfacing with Tarantulas' computers, Verity also located the secret bank account for "Megan Guiglione"'s speaking tour; feeling personally owed for all the troubles the Cybertronian war had caused her, she wired the entire campaign fund, over $17 million, to herself. Verity then complied with Springer's final wish and helped send him back into the distant past so he could try to prevent the war from starting. And now the war was over at last for Verity Carlo, who for the first time in years headed back to her mother's home; Verity tearfully offered a greeting card "For my mother," and was accepted back. Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers
Notes
- Verity likes Volkswagen Beetles.
- In Last Stand of the Wreckers #1, Verity sports a small green alien head tattoo on the back of her right shoulder, in memory of her late friend Hunter O'Nion, who wore an "Alien Death Ray" shirt with a similar head on it throughout Infiltration.
- In Last Stand of the Wreckers #2, Verity is seen having a photo of herself, Hunter O'Nion and Jimmy Pink in their Infiltration-era clothes, acting goofy. One could say they never really had time to have such a picture taken, but the Autobots did have a camera trained on them while they had the three in custody.
- Verity's middle name, as established in Requiem of the Wreckers is "Simone" because of course.
- The children's storybook "I Am Optimus Prime" features a human ally to the Autobots based on Verity. Likewise, the two male human allies in the story are based on Hunter O'Nion and Jimmy Pink.
