I, Lowtech

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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

Inside a sensor-dampened room, Cheetor and Stungun interrogate a damaged and uncooperative suspect. The mech demands to see his solicitor, but Stungun replies that Bulletbike's mouthpiece lacks sufficient clearance. Cheetor tells the unbelieving suspect that according to the Barax Act, his legal counsel can get involved...so long as he testifies to the investigating officers. 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 some time and eventually wakes up groggily. Lacking all but his most basic senses, Bulletbike watches as a big, dark shape appears in 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 an 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 businessman rises 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's equilibrium fails him, and he staggers to his knees above a puddle...in which he finally notices his appearance. To his great horror, the former TransTech realizes that someone has placed him into a lowtech body.

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. Fragments of dreams follow these memories, including feeling crushed in an 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 a Predacon named 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 his foe has fallen 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 uses it to dispose of him, knowing that the Axiom Nexus Security Administration is unlikely to look into the Heap. Picking up the shiv, Bulletbike begins to feel light, having spent most of his energy in the fight and falls into stasis lock.

Bulletbike is soon jolted awake by a concerned derelict. 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 actually 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. He thinks his fuel is leaking until he realizes his energon reserves are 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 disinfects his scraplet-infested arm with water, leaving Bulletbike eager to depart.

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. To make matters worse, Bulletbike is quickly embarrassed at the fact that he can't remember his account number either. Scrounge soon begins to tug at his shoulder, pointing out to Bulletbike his true face appearing on the holoprojected news feed. 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 fixating on him. As the world turns red, Bulletbike sees his true body gripping him in his hands and 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 fuel and reports of body-snatching. 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; 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 shop's 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 Bulletbike'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, 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 at two percent over cost. Their greed overriding their incredulity, the Swindles 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 are no indications of anything aside from prolonged stasis lock and inebriation, and when Bulletbike demands for them to do it again, Swindle 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 unbelieving Bulletbike that his ID bolt says he is a Bulletbike from Primax 095.0 Beta. The two try to recommend a mental health professional, but Bulletbike prepares 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 more closely. 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 passes to another fragmented memory, cutting to his 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 as 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 ask 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 further. 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; even though he has control over the majority of the planet's security forces, he still 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 his 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 the latter 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 ID bolt removed and is taken into the TransTech zone of Axiom Nexus. Ego mulls over the proposition, 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, not wanting to separate from his companion. 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 thing 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.

After infiltrating the warehouse, Bulletbike throws a spanner against the wall. The Vehidrone, upscaled from a Vehicon design confiscated from the offworlder Megatron, goes to investigate. Staying out of its scanner eye's line of sight, Bulletbike fires a low-intensity laser beam at the Vehidrone's optic band, burning out the pixels in that area. When the scanner beam collides with the pixels, its main optic band burns out, since including that in the internal diagnostic program would have cost millions. Only able to see through its peripheral and rear sensor systems, the drone fails to notice Bulletbike until he's right in front of the drone. Warning the unseen Bulletbike that he has thirty seconds to input maintenance codes, the Vehidrone is helpless as Bulletbike tears open its access panel and rip out the wires powering the sentry. Falling over, the Vehidrone's Processor Matrix is retrieved by Bulletbike. At his and Ego's meeting place, Bulletbike watches as Ego steps out of his transport, regarding his competitor with contempt. Handing him the Processor Matrix, Ego examines it and claims that Bulletbike could have taken it out of the junkyard. Bulletbike counters this by reminding him that all combat-grade artificial intelligence above Class Six are to be destroyed after deactivation. Ego asks for Bulletbike's name, and Bulletbike quickly comes up with the alias "Wildfly". Not questioning the name, Ego gives Bulletbike a signal dampener to hide his spark signature and has him enter the back of his transport. The back, filled with offworlder garbage scavenged by Ego, is a common sight among security checkpoints, and Ego assures Bulletbike that the guards will not look into it. Bulletbike reluctantly acquiescences, telling himself that Ego will pay for this indignity.

Arriving at Ego's building, Ego gives Bulletbike a tour, and the latter recognizes it from a previous discussion of a merger. Bulletbike, despite himself, notices the destructive potential of the weapons and "holy" relics. Ego tells the guard, an older TransTech named Aurik, that "Wildfly" is with him to tour and discusses possible donations to his collection. Ego takes Bulletbike to his office, where Ego stores the best of his collection, including the original Unicron-tainted Sword of Megatron, and a desk made from the shield of the Decepticon leader Scorponok made by Bricolo. Bulletbike knows that Ego is trying to intimidate him, and is disgusted by Ego's display of items that are the focal points of wars throughout the multiverse. Most of all, Bulletbike is disgusted by Ego's pretentious display of a seemingly ordinary plush lizard in the center of the room. Getting down to business, he throws a recording to Ego of his attack on the Vehidrone, explaining the weakness of the optic systems. Ego asks "Wildfly" how he came across this information; Bulletbike lies, telling him he used to work in research and development at RoboCo. After briefly letting it slip of his recent murders, which Ego ignores, Bulletbike watches as Ego heads to the window, reminiscing how phony it felt when he had to do layoffs. Turning around, Ego begins to increase in size, telling Bulletbike that there's no listing of "Wildfly" in RoboCo's employee files. Either Bulletbike is hiding information from the government, or "Wildfly's" a liar; Bulletbike's ID bolt confirms the latter. As Ego converts into his battle configuration, Bulletbike rushes forward, undeterred. Using the nucleon syringe he stole from the offworlder thug he murdered, Bulletbike pierces Ego's shifting armor. Ego begins to crush Bulletbike, but his constantly transforming form is adversely affected by the nucleon now replicating in his body. Severing Ego's hand with his gun and shiv, Bulletbike uses it to power down the shields containing the weapons. Grabbing the Sword of Megatron, Bulletbike finds Ego pulling himself towards his feet. Ego recognizes his old opponent at last, and Bulletbike decapitates him, putting the TransTech out of his misery. Bulletbike goes to grab the Jungle Planet Cyber Planet Key, but the mystical item refuses to allow Bulletbike to touch it, the soul of the Jungle Planet biting him. Bulletbike wonders how to get out of the building. Noticing he hasn't set off any alarms due to a dampening field, Bulletbike goes back to the room which Aurik guards, a preserved Requiem Blaster in his hands. Aurik begins to rush forward, realizing what Bulletbike is about to do, but Bulletbike blasts him, the TransTech's armor unable to stand against the power of the Mini-Con weapon. Grabbing an Autobot jetpack along with a few other artifacts, Bulletbike cleaves through the window and flies off to RoboCo's tower.

Bulletbike arrives and barges in, blasting his secretary, Cyclis, with an antimolecular reagent gun before she can call security. Feeling as though the thieving secretary is an acceptable loss, Bulletbike proceeds, blasting any security drone is his way. Nearing his handpicked security garrison on the third floor, Bulletbike retrieves a makeshift bomb, made from a Vok artifact, a Reconfiguration Matrix, and a zero-point energy catalyzer from Ego's climate control system. Opening the door slightly, Bulletbike throws in the bomb, and as the guards react too late, the bomb goes off. A transwarp barrier opens, the radiation wreaking havoc on all objects in its range, mutating the guards into new, strange forms. Bulletbike considers touching the energy, regarding the Vok as one of few races in the multiverse as advanced as the TransTech, but reacts too late to do so. Passing the offlined guards, hoping that some of them have survived for experimentation, Bulletbike heads down to his office, hearing the imposter's voice. The imposter Bulletbike is communicating with an unseen accomplice, begging for his help, but when he mentions that he's withdrawn half the security forces in the city, the accomplice uses this information to further his plans and cuts off the call. Bulletbike retrieves his sword from his subspace pocket and greets his nemesis. The imposter Bulletbike attempts to talk him down, but Bulletbike doesn't listen, using the engines in his feet to rush forward and cut off his real body's arm. Blasted by the remaining arm of the imposter, Bulletbike's sanity begins to crack, bashing his opponent and quickly losing track of who he is. The imposter drops all pretenses and begins to blast Bulletbike, telling him that he should have killed his counterpart when he had the chance. As Bulletbike hallucinates and the room turns red once more, the imposter Bulletbike notes that without his body, Bulletbike is nothing but rage. Bulletbike hallucinates that he is stabbed with thorns, but counters the hallucination by focusing on what's real, and tells his counterpart he forgot his only weakness: neither of them can fly. Pushing his engine to its limits, he rams the imposter into a window and watches as he falls. Figuring his nemesis dead, Bulletbike's madness consumes Him, and He considers Himself immortal. Suddenly, Bulletbike is confronted by Stungun and several other TransTech officers, who try to arrest Him for the murders of the offworlders and for His attempted murder of Bulletbike. Bulletbike, believing them to be in awe, tells them to wait as He retrieves what is His, stepping out the window and falling to His death below, ending the recording.

The interrogation of the other Bulletbike resumes, with the supposed TransTech calling the other Bulletbike a lunatic and a murderer. Stungun points out how he knew about his location and the Vehidrone's flaw, which could end up being a criminal charge of its own. Bulletbike claims he didn't know, bringing up that he wouldn't have called flawed security drones to protect himself, but Cheetor points out that the drones were recalled right as the Transwarp Complex attack began. Cheetor demands to know who Bulletbike's contact was, but the defeated mech simply demands to speak to his solicitor again. A tone rings at the door, and Starscream steps through, demanding a word with Cheetor alone. Starscream tells Cheetor that the Senate is not happy; numerous murders were committed right under Cheetor's nose, and Cheetor's failed to prevent the same murderer from offlining himself at Bulletbike's tower. Cheetor defends his partners' actions, noting the threat of the mutagenic bomb Bulletbike set off as well as the fact that the Vehidrones were set to kill anyone who tried to enter. Annoyed by Starscream's insults, Cheetor brings up the problems with the border security under Starscream's command. Watching as Stungun continues the interrogation, Starscream asks Cheetor if he's sure that he was involved with Alpha Trion, and Cheetor confirms, albeit as a patsy. Starscream still cannot believe Cheetor's spark swap theory, even if it makes sense, as their equipment is still unable to pick up signs of a procedure in either Bulletbike. Starscream, worried about the implication of the theory, demands it be covered up, and Cheetor assures him that he has assigned his most dedicated officers to the case. Cheetor tells Starscream that they found Scrounge and that Hoist is repairing him. Starscream, annoyed at the offworlder's pampering, orders him to be shipped off-dimension, knowing that, unlike the Swindles, he won't be able to stop himself from blabbing. Beginning to head for the interrogation room, Starscream has one last request: that Cheetor gets him answers. Entering the room, Starscream dismisses Stungun, telling him that Military Police is taking over, and begins a "vigorous" interrogation of Bulletbike.

Outside, Cheetor gives a troubled Stungun permission to speak freely. Nothing adds up; the off-world Bulletbike didn't have the intelligence to figure out the flaw of the Vehidrones and knew far too much about the TransTech Bulletbike and Ego's personal lives and life outside the Offworlder Zone. Cheetor agrees, knowing that Starscream is right; word about this cannot get out. Worried, Stungun asks Cheetor about regressing; the two officers have voluntarily taken out their clarity codecs, which regulated their morality, and Stungun is worried that if it was the TransTech Bulletbike who was the murderer, the same could happen to him. Cheetor reassures his partner, reminding him that while intended to make more ethical choices, the codecs do not make one a good person, reflecting that for all the Transcendents' advancements, they're the ones who need regulating systems, while millions of offworlders get along without them. The trick isn't to not have those feelings of anger and violence, but rather, to control them. The two leave prepared to face the aftermath...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

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-stained 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

• Mentioned characters include Strika, Emirate Xaaron, Unicron, Sideways, Sidestep, Swindle the First's Bulletbike, Twitcher F451, Cryotek, Corvo, Primus, Megatron, Megatron, Bricolo, Scorponok, Scorponok, the Vok, Gutcruncher, General Demolishor, Hoist, and two grease-stained chiselers.

Continuity notes

• Blastcharge and Hoist 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 past 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 the trio is heavily expanded on here.
• Backslash previously appeared in "Gone Too Far".
• References throughout the story imply that Bulletbike was the victim of Alpha Trion's conspiracy to get back to his home dimension. Among the last few memories Bulletbike has are hazy dreams of being held in an immense hand; evidently, this is Alpha Trion's spark-swapping follower, Topspin, who would later be confirmed to indeed be behind his spark swap. The conversation between Bulletbike and an unidentified Alpha Trion follower, meanwhile, makes mention of Trion's plans, which would be seen in the final two chapters of the club magazine storyline, "Transcendent", to attack the Transwarp Complex; Bulletbike's removal of security allowed for Trion and his followers to attack the complex, the events of which the prologue and epilogue take place directly after. Cheetor and Starscream still have various wounds and marks from the battle in that story.
• Events in Cheetor's precinct that have kept him occupied include the attempted rebellion by Gutcruncher in "Gone Too Far" and the actions of TransTech General Demolishor in "Withered Hope".
• The altercation with two "greased-stained chisellers" that Stungun mentions happened in "Gone Too Far", where Stungun was briefly angered by Jackpot punching him during his and Hubcap's escape from police headquarters.

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, a Marvel original The Transformers character, who was 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 toy as originally released with the diecast purple chest, while Swindle the Third is the version of the toy with the plastic grey chest.
  • Fun Publications original 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 The 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 The 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 The 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 The 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 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:
  • A sheet displaying various faction symbols, including: the original Generation 1 Autobot and Decepticon symbols; the Generation 2 Autobot and Decepticon symbols; the Beast Wars Maximal and Predacon symbols; the Beast Machines Maximal, Vehicon, and Dinobot symbols; the TransTech Autobot and Decepticon symbols; the Beast Wars Neo Blentron/Minion of Unicron symbol; both versions of the Playskool Go-Bots symbol; the Wrecker symbol, introduced in 3H Productions' comics; the Beast Machines-era Predacon symbol, seen in BotCon 2006 comic "Dawn of Future's Past"; the Japanese Generation 2 Cybertron Alliance symbol; the South American Generation 1 Optimus and Malignus symbols; and the Cyber Planet Key symbols for Velocitron, Jungle Planet, Earth, and Gigantion.
  • Generation 1 Pretender Beast Catilla's shell helmet.
  • Generation 1 Pretender Bludgeon's shell helmet.
  • Live-action movie Bumblebee's air freshener from his 70's Camaro alt-mode.
  • IDW Generation 1 Outback's arm, used by IDW Kup as a bludgeon in Spotlight: Kup.
  • Generation 1 Jetfire's toy arm guard.
  • Generation 1 Omega Supreme's alternate mode tracks.
  • Generation 1 Optimus Prime's Powermaster partner Hi-Q in engine mode.
  • Jars labeled with images of a Tyrannosaurus, a tarantula, and a gorilla, presumably referring to Beast Wars Megatron, Tarantulas, and Optimus Primal.
  • A box of empty Matrix of Leadership containers.
  • The IDW Generation 1 Magnificence.
  • The bird statue from issue #62 of the Marvel The Transformers comic.
  • Megatron's "lightsaber" from The Transformers: The Movie, along with Starscream's crown.
  • One of the Golden Disks from Beast Wars.
• Swindle, aside from examining the spark, also examines Bulletbike's laser core, a piece of technology mentioned several times 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 Vehidrones are an upscaled version of one of the Vehicons confiscated from Beast Machines Megatron. Based on its description in-story, it's presumably based on the Tank Drone design.
• Among the garbage in Ego's transport is a Teletraan-class computer.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

• The image of Ego's showroom contains a variety of easter eggs, including:

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 Square Enix's Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts II, two franchises 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 designer Derrick J. Wyatt.
• The Vehidrone's entire scheme (a large, clunky, shoddily-made robot with glaring flaws and a loud deep voice counting down compliance) is clearly based off of the ED-209 from the RoboCop films.
• Bulletbike notes that the Vehidrone has a "WVNG-class voice modulator", in reference to Hugo Weaving, voice actor for the live-action movie incarnation of Megatron.
• 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.
• Among Ego's collection is an Earth musical instrument made entirely of gold, referencing the golden fiddle from the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charles Daniels Band.
• The plush lizard in Ego's office is the Winslow, a central MacGuffin of Phil Foglio's Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire comics.
• The Ariga experiments are possibly named for Japanese manga artist, Hitoshi Ariga, who has created several manga for the Mega Man franchise, a favorite of Sepelak's.
• 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 psychological horror film American Psycho. Several story elements, such as Bulletbike's hallucinations, also seem to be inspired by various scenes in the film.

Errors

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

External links

• "I, Lowtech" at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club