Omega's Conundrum

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« The Transformers Spotlight: Orion Pax
File:SpotlightOP cvrA.jpg
"Omega's Conundrum"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published December 12, 2012
Cover date December 2012
Written by James Roberts
Pencils by Steve Kurth
Inks by Juan Castro
Colors by Jesus Aburtov and Graphikslava
Letters by Shawn Lee
Editor John Barber
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Post-Megatron: Origin, pre-Autocracy

On a mission to carry out a prisoner exchange, Orion Pax puts his new body to the test against Bludgeon.

Synopsis

Four million years ago and ten thousand miles above Cybertron's surface, Orion Pax is bound to a shuttle on a crash-course with Iacon, with no doubt in his mind that he should have gone with Plan B...

Some time earlier, at Autobot headquarters, Wheeljack, Kaput and Rung oversee the mechanical, medical and psychological aspects of Orion Pax's hasty refit into a new, tougher body in preparation for a dangerous mission he is about to embark on. Although a little disappointed to have lost his "lucky faceplate", Pax is happy with the new form, and eager to carry out the duty assigned to him by Zeta Prime: escorting a Decepticon prisoner to a rendezvous point within the treacherous Rust Spot, there to exchange him for the captured Ratchet. Pax is joined on his mission by hostage negotiator Nightbeat, who provides a detailed briefing of the dangers of the Rust Spot, and the venerable Alpha Trion, leading expert in Cybertronian topography. As they prepare to leave, Nightbeat quickly loses patience with the elderly Transformer's pearls of wisdom, as he muses on the foundling Autobot faction's adoption of a longstanding cultural emblem called the "First Face" as their insignia, and applies the old logical paradox called "Omega's Conundrum" to the locked trailer containing the prisoner for transport: how can they be sure there's anything in there if they don't open it?

113 kliks into their journey through the Rust Spot, Pax inquires how Alpha Trion knows so much about it, and the old sage reveals that he explored it, and the rest of the planet, with the fabled Metroplex in ages past. The trio are attacked mid-sentence by local monstrosities known as Slicers, but the gung-ho Pax charges into action and they soon have the creatures in retreat (though Pax takes one of their blades to the face and blames the lack of his faceplate for the injury). The trailer is sprung open in the fight, but the prisoner doesn't get far... or rather, prisoners. The captives turn out to be a pair of spark-bonded Decepticon twins named Rack and Ruin who were responsible for a bombing at the G'th Semane spaceport. Puzzled at Megatron's willingness to turn over an important figure like Ratchet in exchange for these two grunts, Pax talks with the pair, who prove even more harmless than expected when they reveal they can't even transform, having pushed their transformation cogs too far practising the high-speed process of "instantaneous conversion". Pax talks about the Decepticon philosophy with them, and they admit to fear that Megatron will kill them. Moments later, a trio of Seekers led by Thundercracker arrive to escort Prime's team to the location for the exchange.

Presently, the group arrives at the Decepticons' bolthole, where Bludgeon welcomes them. With the unarmed Autobots surrounded, the Decepticons seize Alpha Trion: capturing him has been their true objective all along, so that he may lead them to Metroplex, whose dimension-transcending abilities will be used to create a space bridge. Allowed to go free by Bludgeon on Megatron's order, Orion poses Omega's Conundrum to the skeletal Decepticon with a wry twist: sometimes, a box can be both empty and full, as he demonstrates by triggering the release of a cache of concealed weaponry from within his trailer. A firefight erupts, during which Rack and Ruin offer to lead the Autobots to safety; Pax covers their escape, but is captured himself and promptly tied to a shuttle by Bludgeon with intent to be fired at the nearest population centre by Bludgeon for no reason other than sheer theatricality. Thundercracker is angry at the killing of civilians, but Bludgeon brushes off his concerns, patiently listens to Pax's stalling tactics as the Autobot foresees a future for him as a figure of failure, then shoots him into the sky. "Fortunately", Pax deduces that the shuttle is going to crash clear of any cities... until it collides with another passing craft and is deflected onto a trajectory that points it straight at Iacon. Remembering Rack and Ruin's advice, Pax shuts down his transformation cog safeties and tries instantaneous conversion, snapping his bonds with the speed of his transformation. Pax takes control of the shuttle and crash-lands it clear of the city, his new body taking the experience in stride, leaving him battered but still intact. It's a good body, Pax thinks, as he sits among the wreckage—it's just missing one thing. Scooping up a piece of metal from the debris, he silently fixes it over his face in emulation of his old faceplate.

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

"If you're changing shape and your body resists, don't force it—it probably isn't meant to bend that way."

—Kaput


"See, you're a big picture guy. For me, it's all about the details. Look closely at something and it'll make sense. If it doesn't, look closer."

—Nightbeat


"You know, for a public intellectual, you're pretty hand with your fists."
"I've been—urgh—involved in some very heated debates."

—Nightbeat and Alpha Trion


"Pax still chatting?"
"It appears so."
"Waste. Of. Time."
"Sometimes, time wasted is time well spent."
"See, if that's supposed to be profound, it's just—you know what? I don't care."

—Nightbeat and Alpha Trion


"I've hurt him in ways that only a doctor would understand."

—Bludgeon on his treatment of Ratchet


"This is madness. I demand to see Megatron."
"He's busy—but I'll tell him you dropped by. He... talks about you sometimes. When he's tired."
"What does he say?"
"Best not ask. It would make both of us feel uncomfortable."

—Orion Pax and Bludgeon


"I may not be as smart as Alpha Trion... but I can say "bring it on" in 4,000 languages!"

—Orion Pax

Notes

  • Orion Pax previously appeared with the new body he receives in this story in Spotlight: Blurr, published four years prior to this issue. A continuity error arose nearly three years later when Pax appeared in author James Roberts's "Chaos Theory", set earlier than Spotlight: Blurr, with an entirely different body that was not hugely different from his Cybertronian Optimus Prime form as seen in 2006's Stormbringer. This story, taking place between the two, patches that hole, explaining how Pax switching from his "Chaos Theory" body to his Spotlight: Blurr body, and notes his intent to switch back in the near future.
  • Kaput puts in his first pictoral appearance, having previously been mentioned in Roberts's prose stories "Bullets" and "Zero Point".
  • Kaput is the latest character to have trouble remembering Rung's name, something which has been a running gag since More than Meets the Eye #1.
  • Nightbeat appears in the same design as he did waaaay back in his original Spotlight issue. Ratchet, Wheeljack and Acid Storm appear in their modern bodies, despite being seen in different bodies in stories set near this one. We'll probably need another Spotlight series to clear this up.
  • Nightbeat is given the profession of hostage negotiator here; this likely means he was the unnamed hostage negotiator friend of Chromedome's mentioned in More than Meets the Eye #10.
  • The Toxic Sludge Swamps originate with Snaptrap's bio. "Zero Point" was their first mention in IDW continuity, where they were noted to be the home of the Slicers, who get to appear in this story.
  • "Omega's Conundrum" is a Transformer variation on the "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment, with both essentially stating that the contents of a closed box are unknowable. As the story's title, besides the direct use of the paradox to refer to the contents of Pax's trailer, it also appears to thematically allude to Pax's desire in the final scene to have a faceplate, which—surely not coincidentally—hides much of his face from view and makes his expressions as "unknowable" as a closed box.
  • Pax's team travels 113 kliks into the Rust Spot, another of the many uses of the number by Roberts.
  • Alpha Trion appears to transform into either the "Tumbler", from Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy of films, or a "Spinner" from the film Blade Runner. The model sheet for him in the back of The Transformers: Ironhide depicted a different, flying altmode.
  • Trion refers to the Diaclona Tribe, named, of course, for the Transformers' progenitor toyline, Diaclone.
  • The G'th Semane spaceport was previously mentioned in "Zero Point", where the Biblical allegory of its name was more relevant.
  • Pax refers to Killmaster (with the wand), first heard of back in More than Meets the Eye #5.
  • While wondering about combiners, Pax remarks that the technology is an obsession of Megatron's "newest favorite." Whoever this might be goes unsaid; Shockwave would be the obvious implication, given the character's history in fiction of tinkering with new methods of transformation, but he's had basically nothing to do with the combiners of the IDW universe. He was the student of the technology's creator, though.

Errors

  • On page 14, "bodyguards" is spelled "bodygaurds".

Covers (3)

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