IDW - Lost Light #9

Title: Chasing the Infinite 

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Priscilla Tramontano

Colours by: Joana LaFuente 

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Story Consultant: Rachel Stevens

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

In Mengel's workshop on Troja Major, Nautica is shocked by how much the Catharsian merchant is charging for use of her Resus Cradle to revive Skids, and tries to barter anything she can to get him revived. Mengel is uninterested in most of her offers, but suggests that Nautica give her the grief felt over Skids' death, so she can sell it on to a third party. Velocity is wary of this, and think it's some sort of scam, since this doesn't seem very realistic in her opinion as a doctor, especially the part about reviving Skids by just his brain module, though Nautica dismisses this as Velocity not being a real doctor, due to her failing her exams nine times before passing. Mengel then claims that Skids' brain is almost too cold to revive, so she needs to up the price, and suggests that she takes away Nautica's feelings of friendship for Velocity for the price too....

Across town, in the bar, Anode tries talking away and assumes that Flame is the Grand Architect, as she has never met him before. Wipe-Out points out that he is actually just Flame, and cannot be the Architect. Flame reveals that he has been tasked with taking out all of the Architect's former employees, the Blacksmiths, since they no longer need them for his experiments. Anode begins to try and bribe for their escape, but ends up punching at her enemy instead. Anode transforms to her aerial mode and carries Lug and Wipe-out away, escaping from their attackers.

Flame is a bit confounded over this escape, but is soon distracted by news of their other target, "the Infinite", the coffin-bot from last issue, has been located and was killed by the Black Block Consortia. They decide to head off to see their local contact, unaware that the Infinite is starting to twitch from his hiding location.

Back at Mengel's place, Nautica is prepared for the procedure to remove her grief over Skids, and her friendship with Skids, the two Autobots talk this over, and they realize that Nautica blames Velocity for Skids' death, since it was her idea to use a spark spasm to supercharge the group for the battle with the DJD, leading to their friend's death. Velocity isn't happy, but agrees to allow Nautica to do this, since it's her choice and her life.

Nautica is soon strapped to the machine and Mengel starts the process of syphoning off her grief, but is called away by another visitor, leaving the Autobots alone.

Inside another room, Mengel meets with her new visitor, Flame, whom she assumes is there to congratulate her, or even pay her extra for successfully creating an Infinite, but Flame instead explains that they are there to recover the Resus Cradle from her, since they have reason to believe that she used it to falsify her method of creating the Infinite. Mengel denies that she has the device, but Flame doesn't believe her, and orders his troops to search the facility for it, and to destroy anything else they find, unaware that Velocity has been watching this through a security feed all along.

Anode lands at the site where the coffin-bot was murdered by the Black Block Consortia, where she locates some of his remains and gives it to Wipe-Out to examine, the other Blacksmith is shocked when he discovers that the fragment has information within it for an infinite number of alternate modes. Anode receives a call from Velocity, who has locked herself and Nautica inside the emotion syphon machine's room, and gives her their coordinates for help.

The Architect's troops break into the room and prepare to kill the two Autobots, but are soon stopped when Nautica breaks free from the machine, shoots them, then escapes with Velocity.

Outside, Anode and the others are looking for a way into the facility to help the Autobots, but soon don't need to bother when Nautica, in her mass-displaced alternate mode, smashes through the doors and they are told to run.

Later, having evaded their chasers, the group prepare to leave the planet, but Wipe-Out decides to remain behind, since he works better alone, but is willing to team up with them again in the future. Velocity is shocked when Nautica expresses no interest in recovering Skids' brain from Mengel's workshop, and seems to finally accept his death as his own choice. Wipe-Out explains the situation though, Mengel's machine removes all feelings or connections with the target of the grief, so Nautica no longer feels anything strongly about her former best friend Skids....

Later, Flame returns to The Grand Architect's Worldsweeper on a M.A.R.B. which he soon reveals is the Infinite, which has demonstrated the ability to restore itself from the dead by itself, which greatly impresses his employer. Flame then hands over the recovered Resus Cradle, which he has acquired from Mengel, which had a hand in creating the Inifite. The Architect, revealing himself as Scorponok, is impressed, but also finds the name stupid, and much prefers the name he remembers for it...the Magnificence....

Characters

Autobot

Nautica - Submarine Feelings for Skids removed

Velocity - Race Car

Skids - Van (Mentioned) Dead, Brain Module abandoned on Troja Major

Kaput (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Anode - Bi-Plane

Lug - Backpack Equipment

Wipe-Out - Car

Grand Architect's Forces

Scorponok/The Grand Architect - Scorpion Tank

Flame

The Infinite - Any Alternate Mode

Grand Architect's Troops

Other

Mengel Probably Killed by Flame and his Troops

Black Block Consortia Troops Probably Killed by Flame and his Troops

Notes

• It's mentioned here that none of the Grand Architect's troops are recognized by Anode and the others (except Flame). This likely means that they are either colonists (as hypothesized in this issue) or they were created by Blacksmiths in secret
• Though unmentioned here, it is likely that Flame was released from Garrus-9 by Scorponok when he left, and presumably also took Grimlock, whom we know was tortured by someone using the group's symbol since he vanished from Garrus-9 himself.
• It's revealed that Blacksmiths, and likely others, have the ability to perform "Close Readings" which allows them to identify an alternate mode by analysing a body part. Chromedome showed a similar ability in the past, where he could identify a person by how their transformation sounded.
• Nautica is shown to be capable of Mass-Shifting, at least a little bit, as she allows Velocity to ride inside her in vehicle mode.
• Wipe-Out decides to stay behind rather than join Anode and the others...why? Wouldn't it be safer for him to be with a ship full of other Transformers, given that he knows The Grand Architect is going after Blacksmiths now? I may be being prejudiced due to him usually being a Decepticon, but I think he's up to something....
• The Grand Architect is revealed to be Scorponok, having escaped from Garrus-9, presumably during Last Stand of the Wreckers
• The Resus Cradle is also revealed to be in fact the Magnificence, a McGuffin from the Furman days of the IDW continuity, which hasn't been seen since before All Hail Megatron. Not sure why Scorponok knows about it though, I'm pretty sure he was apart from the main plot involving the device when it was active.
• So presumably Hot Rod hid the Magnificence again after he used it during Revelations, and eventually it wound up in Mengel's hands...why didn't  Hot Rod either hide it in a more secure location or on his person to keep it safer? The latter would even make sense story-wise since it was his mission to locate the Magnificence in the first place that killed his original team, and this would be his self-imposed punishment for that mistake.
• Seriously? We have Flame, and a dead Skids, AND  a dead Transformer reviving machine, and yet NO ZOMBIE STORY?!?! You had better fix that in the future Roberts!!