The stars were brighter that night.
Zayden sat cross-legged on the rooftop of Mikaela's garage, the soft hum of power flickering from the Omnitrix as it pulsed in sync with his breathing. The battle earlier had drained more than just his energy—it had shaken something inside him.
Something old… and buried.
Mikaela had long gone to bed after a few hours of laughing, teasing, and asking the occasional "Are you sure you're not a robot?" Zayden liked her. More than he probably should. She saw through the layers. Even if she didn't understand all of him yet… she wanted to.
But now, as the world around him quieted, the Omnitrix pulsed again—this time with a slow, rhythmic beat unlike any warning or transformation cue he'd felt before.
> "Entering Dream Link protocol," whispered the A.I. within, NEX.
"This frequency aligns with dormant Cybertronian soul codes. Preparing connection…"
Zayden blinked. "Wait, what?"
His vision blurred, his body locked—and suddenly, gravity didn't apply.
---
He floated.
Not in air, but in something deeper—a sea of light and echoing sound, like memory woven with metal. Energy strands flowed past him like star trails. The Omnitrix glowed brighter than ever before, but no longer green. Blue. Deep blue, like the core of a Cybertronian spark.
Zayden felt… weightless. Whole.
Then—a voice.
"Do you hear us, Child of Many Forms?"
The world reshaped itself instantly. Zayden now stood in a colossal metallic hall stretching into infinity. Gleaming symbols pulsed on the walls—ancient Cybertronian, older than any he'd ever seen.
A silhouette stepped forward from the light.
Tall. Noble. Silver and blue armor etched with battle scars, optics glowing gold.
Alpha Trion.
Zayden knew the name from what little he'd read in the files the Omnitrix granted access to. One of the original Primes. A guardian of wisdom.
"W-why am I seeing this?" Zayden asked.
"Because the Omnitrix you carry is not just recalibrated—it is rewritten. Aligned not only to DNA, but to Spark codes. Cybertron and Galvan Prime share a forgotten link."
Behind Alpha Trion, more shapes formed—shimmering ghostly outlines of ancient Cybertronians. Some bore swords. Others, cannons. One had wings of blazing fire.
"You are the anomaly who was born from the collapse of one universe into another. A fragment soul placed into a timeline not your own. But now—your path is intertwined with ours."
Zayden looked around, heart thundering. "I didn't ask for any of this. I just wanted to live again…"
"And so you were granted life. But with it comes choice. The Decepticons have begun to move. Earth's timeline grows unstable. Without you, the Matrix will never awaken in the hands of its rightful bearer."
Zayden's breath caught. "You mean… Optimus?"
Alpha Trion nodded slowly.
"But even he cannot win this alone. You carry the capacity to shift the tide—not because of the Omnitrix, but because of you. The boy who remembers pain, who chooses to protect without command. That heart… is rarer than any relic."
The hall trembled—reality flickering.
"Wait!" Zayden called out. "Why show me this now?"
"Because you must understand who watches you in the shadows."
Suddenly, the hall cracked open like glass.
Through the splinters of dreamspace, Zayden saw her—sleek, black-purple armor, spider legs folded into a hunched stance atop a rooftop. Her optics gleamed with hunger.
Airachnid.
> "She hunts not for conquest… but for you."
Alpha Trion's voice echoed as the world collapsed.
---
Zayden woke with a gasp, eyes snapping open, sweat dripping down his face.
He was still on the roof.
Still in the night.
But his heartbeat was roaring in his ears.
"What the hell was that?" he whispered.
The Omnitrix flickered blue once before returning to green.
He stared at it, jaw tightening.
"Airachnid…" he murmured. "She's not just a Decepticon."
She was something else entirely.
Something ancient.
And she was looking for him.
---
Far from the garage, on a mountaintop under cloaked shadow, Airachnid crouched beside a canyon ravine. Her optics flickered as she absorbed dream-radiation trails—energy left behind by deep mental projections. Her sharp fingers traced the rock.
"So… he's beginning to awaken," she hissed.
Behind her, a half-dead Insecticon trembled.
"My Queen, the scouts report the Omnitrix bearer's strength grows. Should we wait for Lord Megatron's signal?"
She turned slowly, eyes gleaming.
"No. Megatron does not understand what this boy truly is."
She smiled darkly, venomously.
"But I do."
She lifted her claw, piercing the Insecticon's spark chamber effortlessly.
He shrieked—and then went silent.
Her eyes turned upward, scanning the sky where stars blinked.
"He's dreaming of our world now," she whispered.
"…soon, he'll dream of me."
---
Back in the garage, Zayden pulled on a hoodie and paced. He glanced toward Mikaela's door. She was safe. For now.
He looked at the Omnitrix again, the glow dimmer now, like it, too, was resting after what it had shown him.
He took a deep breath.
He wasn't just some isekai fluke anymore. He wasn't just a hero with a cheat code.
He was connected to something deeper.
Cybertron's dreams were calling.
And soon, Earth's fate would burn in the forge of those dreams.