Ratchet was beyond angry as he stormed into the rec room, locking the armor of his wrist back into place as he did so. Wheeljack, who was trailing behind Ratchet, closed and locked the rec room doors to avoid anyone walking in that wasn't supposed to be on the receiving end of Ratchet's wrath. Like Optimus Prime for example. Ratchet did a sweep of the room to be sure that most of his targets were there. They were, and most of the bots he wasn't angry with were elsewhere. As soon as Wheeljack had moved off to get them both a cube of Energon, Ratchet unleashed his anger on the bots in the room.

"I hope that one of you, any one bot, can explain to me why all of a sudden Prime is an enemy where he was once practically Primus himself to every Autobot on the Ark. Explain to me, why the slag, one fragging change made each of you into a Decepticon? Every slagging one of you is an idiot," Ratchet snarled, looking around the room with violence pouring from his optics, suffocating the mechs in the room where they sat. "Optimus Prime is the same bot he was when you didn't know his secret. He didn't change all of a sudden, unlike each of you. He's afraid of you all. Don't you see? Those with the difference in their coding frighten us, and so we hunt and kill them! And they're the risk? We slaughtered them! Adults, younglings, sparklings even, mech or femme. Optimus watched others like him die for us to feel secure. Medics turned them away because of a single difference! He nearly died because other medics I worked with were going to send him away without repairs. Let me tell you something. He should be the one turning us out, not the other way around. He fights for each one of you, and yet we're just about ready to hand him over to the Decepticons! We owe him more than we can ever hope to repay."

There was a stunned silence that followed as the Autobots thought over what Ratchet had said, or in this case shouted. The pure anger in his tone had stunned the others completely until Gears found his voice. "What about what we've heard about the fanged bots? They kill without mercy. Are you saying that we're supposed to just forget it?"

"Prime doesn't kill without mercy! Do you know how hard it is to get him to even drink Energon? He's not a killer! Just because he has fangs doesn't mean it changes who he is. You won't look past it," Ratchet snapped. A cube of Energon was gently pushed into his servo. He looked to Wheeljack in slight surprise.

"Calm down, Ratchet," Wheeljack said softly. He moved away and took a seat at one of the free tables, motioning for Ratchet to follow. The CMO looked around the room once more before sighing. He gave up on the others and took a seat in front of the inventor, starting up a calm conversation as if he hadn't been angry in the first place. Startling Wheeljack was a waste of time since the inventor had been supporting, and had even done a lot of research about what caused the coding change and its effects, and had been for quite some time.

Sunstreaker, who had been seated at a table on the other side of the room from where Ratchet was, glared at the medic's back. Sideswipe wasn't present in the room, and it had put Sunstreaker in a bad mood before Ratchet had come into the room and started to yell. He had gone to the Rec Room to try to improve his mood. That obviously wasn't going to work. He downed the rest of his half-empty cube before leaving the room. He had a red twin to track down.

He opened his end of the bond again, feeling Sideswipe's emotions on the edge of his mind. Sideswipe was out on patrol, cruising through the nearby town in search of Decepticons. He transformed and rushed through the halls, nearly knocking over a few bots, until he was outside in the fresh air. Bright light hit him along with the soft caress of fresh air. He ignored both, rushing down the road as fast as possible. His target wasn't fair, just cruising along the road.

~Why don't you slow down and come talk to me?~

~Sunny, I have to focus on my patrol.~

~That Prime sent you on?~

~Yeah, so?~

~'So'? 'So'? He's one of those… things! He lied to us! Sides, don't you get it? He betrayed us!~

~He didn't betray us! He's terrified of what we'll do to him, so just shut up. Leave the poor mech alone.~

Sunstreaker suddenly pulled out in front of his twin, forcing him to a stop. Sideswipe finally just transformed, and Sunstreaker did the same.

"I'm serious," Sideswipe hissed, "Leave Prime alone." And that was when Sunstreaker realized something was off about the situation. All he had to do, was find out what.