Optimus Prime—no, just Orion, as he preferred to call himself these days—let out a long sigh as he wiped the last streak of oil off the metallic floor. He stepped back, optics narrowing with satisfaction at the gleaming surface

"Another job well done" he murmured to himself

"Hey, Orion!" a voice called. A small, round-bodied alien waddled up to him waving one of its stubby appendages. "Great work, as always! Gotta say, you're the best janitor we've had in cycles. No one cleans like you!"

Orion—Optimus, but who was that?—smiled faintly, nodding. He didn't know why, but work like this felt… familiar. Not the cleaning, but the routine. The discipline. The responsibility.

If only he could remember where he came from

Meanwhile while on earth

"We need Optimus," Arcee growled, arms crossed

"Optimus is dead," Starscream said dramatically though there was a nervous twitch in his wings. "Or lost, which is practically the same thing."

"Negative," Soundwave suddenly spoke, his visor lighting up with a new transmission The room fell silent

Megatron narrowed his optics "What do you mean 'negative'?"

Soundwave silently played a video feed. The Autobots and Decepticons all gathered around, optics widening as they watched

There, on some random backwater planet Optimus Prime—mopping a floor

Everyone stared

"He's… a janitor" Bulkhead finally said

"And getting paid for it," Knockout added squinting at the video "Huh Guess the mighty Optimus Prime figured out capitalism before we did"

Megatron's optics twitched "We are all going to die if we do not retrieve him"

And so the greatest scavenger hunt in Cybertronian history began

Orion had just finished organizing the cleaning supplies when the doors to his workplace burst open

He turned mildly startled to see a group of towering robots storming in A grey and purple mech in particular stepped forward, his crimson optics locking onto Orion

"OPTIMUS PRIME," Megatron boomed

"Who?" Orion replied

Arcee groaned "Oh come on"

"We're not here to hurt you," Ratchet said