Y/n slowly ascended from where she crouched and walked next to the rock. She stopped when the Prime stood from where he sat. She couldn't believe it. Another Prime is alive--one that was thought dead for many eons. He was right in front of her!

As if in some trance, she approached him. 

"Alpha Trion...you're alive." She paused. She stood in front of him now.

Alpha Trion, slightly confused, opened his mouth to speak.

"Who are you? Do you accompany the miners?"

She felt a lump in her throat. She was stunned; he still sounded like his narrations in the archives. 

She put her servos over her chest plate, "My name is Y/n. I hail from Iacon." She paused as the Prime looked away. "I'm not here with the miners per se--I may be here for the same reason if they--somehow--came here looking for you..." 

"And...you're reason was built around the Matrix?" Alpha Trion asked quietly. Her thoughts returned, she did want to come here for the Matrix. 

A loud hum was heard outside the cave, but Y/n ignored it. She wanted to continue to speak with him. 

"Yes! I'm assisting in Sentinel Prime's search-"

Alpha Trion glared at her when she mentioned Sentinel's name, "Who are you to Sentinel?" 

Y/n widened her optics at his sudden rise in voice. She wondered why he would ask that. Perhaps the miners mentioned him?

"I'm...his...spouse."

He lowered his helm, letting out a long sigh. He limped away from where he stood to sit on a rock. Confused, Y/n followed him. 

"...why do you ask?" She questioned quietly. 

Alpha Trion turned to her, a look of sympathy in his optics, "Y/n, do you truly understand what you've put yourself in?"

Y/n gave him an incredulous look. 

"...what?"

Alpha Trion looked away. "Or has the truth been hidden from you?"

What truth? 

Y/n remained silent. She looked down at the ground, searching for a potential answer in her mind. 

What truth. What truth. What truth?

Alpha Trion was surely not broken. His spark was untouched by harm. He was only powered down. 

Powered down...

He knows something, then,

Does Sentinel know, too?

...

Why did he seem vexed at the mention of Sentinel?

...

He is not broken. Spark unharmed. He knows something.

Thoughts flooded her head. Alpha Trion sighed. He put his servo on her shoulder in a way to calm her.

"I have no good conscience if I don't tell you," he began, "I advise you to take this in as long you need: Sentinel is lying to you."

She felt her spark drop. What was the feeling? Heaviness, like carrying a boulder without warning? Or emptiness, everything within her was taken away by an unknown force? An Unknown force, a force unveiling an illusion?

An illusion?

Sentinel, lying to her? She can't believe it. She doesn't want to.

After a few seconds of uncomforting silence, Alpha Trion retrieved his servo, still keeping a sympathetic gaze on Y/n.

"Not only to you, Y/n," he continued, "To all of Cybertron."

"No," she shook her head.

"Due to the loss of the Matrix," Alpha Trion said, revealing a hologram of the artifact made of dust. The soft glow of the hologram intrigued Y/n from her thoughts, "Energon became scarce; everyone fled the surface. You may remember this. The surface was nothing but a wasteland, and Cybertron's hope relied on underground mines."

" I happen to know Sentinel is a traitor. He is no real Prime, a pathetic one at that. Those miners are his slaves. The only reason Cybertron remains is due to them being tricked into working more and more. Mining until they eventually drop dead."

"Sentinel desired the power of the Matrix. Though, he didn't understand its power. He made it vanish..."

The hologram spiraled into an image of the leader of the Quientessons. 

"Sentinel made a deal with those monsters. The Energon those miners die for is for them. That is why Sentinel remains; he betrayed us." He turned to the bodies of the other Primes. "He is lying to our people...to you"

The hologram dissolved, grains falling gracefully to the ground. 

...

Y/n couldn't speak. When she opened her mouth, nothing came out. 

...

Did he truly love her, then?

...

He loved her, right?

...

If Alpha Trion spoke the truth, it all makes sense. The reason for the cogless miners, a pile of cogs she saw ablaze in an infirmary once, mines in general. The cities underground--it all made logical sense...

As Y/n took this all in, ped steps were heard a few paces away. She looked in the direction they were heard, and she saw the quartet of bots. 

Confusion. Anger. Shock. Desolation.

What was she supposed to feel? 

B-127 was the first to notice her. "Y/n?"

The rest of the bots turned to her as if wanting to question her. 

D looked particularly angry, taking off his work tag and throwing it on the ground. His friends turned to him in concern.

D glared at Y/n, "You knew this, didn't you?" 

"D..." Orion put his servo on his friend's shoulder.

Elita slumped on the ground, putting her servo on her faceplate.

"Y/n," Alpha Trion looked at her, "you should be going back to Iacon..."

Y/n turned to him, wanting to ask him 'why?'

Alpha Trion seemed to have read her mind. "Sentinel is heading back now."

--

"Primus has a purpose for us all..." He told Orion as he led him down the tunnel. The image of Y/n lingered in his mind. Indeed, Primus does have a purpose for his creation, and some of those purposes are overcome by a need. 

Love. Love makes you blind; what kind of love hides the truth from you? What kind of love overlooks lies?  

Love? 

A/N-- hooray we're half-way through 😁Thanks for the amount of support the story is getting so far!! Anyway, exams are over, so I'll be updating a bit faster now ✨