Optimus Prime waited nervously outside of his commander's office. Ultra Magnus had summoned him on an urgent matter, and he had absolutely no idea what it could be. He sighed, a gusty ex-vent of warm air. It was very strange to be not only back on Cybertron, but also free of the stigmas that had followed him for so long.
Now, Optimus Prime was no longer the failure, the Academy dropout, Instead he was the mech who had defeat Megatron and returned Omega Supreme, the AllSpark, and the Magnus Hammer to his homeworld.
The level of celebrity was actually kind of disconcerting to Optimus. Sure, he and his team had enjoyed the hero's treatment they had received from the human residents of Detroit, but it was a far different experience when they were being mobbed by fellow Cybertronians instead of by small organics who tended to keep a reasonable physical distance.
The double doors, opened smoothly into recessed walls as he approached. Optimus sternly commanded his tanks to stop their nervous fluttering.
"Sir?" He asked, maintaining his parade rest.
"Optimus." Said that deep, resonant voice. "I suppose you're wondering why the Council is here in my sitting room, instead of their usual haunts."
The Magnus sighed. He looked terribly tired and still unwell from his recent near-death. "Optimus Prime, you have more than proved yourself in the last few cycles. You and your team defeated Megatron and his closest lieutenants, recovered the Allspark and Omega Supreme, and bore the Magnus Hammer in battle. Both it and the Allspark have accepted you as a worthy leader, and the people of Cybertron love you."
He met Optimus's optics, his expression grave. "Now I am afraid that we must ask more of you. We may have their leader in custody, but many of Megatron's generals are still at large, spread throughout the galaxy, awaiting word of his escape, or of his offline, in which case another will rise to lead them. While he was missing, they were willing to bide their time, but now he is here, and they will do no such thing."
Optimus could feel his sense of foreboding growing as the Magnus spoke. He had a very bad feeling about what was coming.
The leader of the Autobots continued. "As long as Megatron is online, he is not a martyr to their cause. Unfortunately, this is offset by the fact that he is a grave danger even when contained by our best guards and security measures."
Xenon, one of the other council members, spoke. "However, we have a plan to ameliorate the danger presented by having Megatron in our custody. That, Optimus Prime, is where you come in."
Inside his new quarters, with his new, uh... roommate standing silently and furiously behind him, Optimus wondered what to do now.
'Slave programming'... A FRAGGING SLAVE PROGRAMMING.
From what he understood, it was something implanted in the hard drive of many Warframes considered 'dangerous and unstable,' and it was also one of the reasons for the start of the war. In short, slave programming is a program within a bot's CPU that compels it to obey any and all orders from its 'master,' without the power to refuse, and to protect him with its life if necessary.
And they reactivated this dormant program in Megatron.
The slave programming would easily accept that Optimus was Megatron's master, they said. He had spared the other's life when he should by all rights have taken it, and delivered him into captivity. Pit, he had personally put the stasis cuffs on his wrists. That made the Prime the logical choice as "master".
It would be a real feather in the council's proverbial cap if they could demonstrate to the populace that they could control and perhaps domesticate a threat like the fearsome leader of the enemy faction. Ugh, that idea made Optimus's tanks churn.
And that's why Optimus was here now. With Megatron, now a spark-linked slave to Optimus—the latter able to sense his feelings through the link— unable to deny him any desire, and clearly furious, but also, Optimus could feel a terror and deep fear beneath the anger.
Megatron should have been a slave before...