Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 159 AZ-91101-The Oath of the Wandering Shadow

The outskirts of the old incubator are filled with collapsed walls and abandoned support towers, with night seeping through the cracks and spreading across the ruins.

In the distance, the Judicial Center, towering almost to the sky and standing high in Crystal City, faintly shines through the clouds like a lighthouse placed in the darkness.

After leaving the old incubator, the vector did not completely relax.

The Black Widow's webs didn't actually entangle her, but the feeling of being spied on, evaluated, and tried to be locked in a cabinet still lingered on the surface of her armor.

"Eek!" She shivered, rubbed her arms, and decided to raise Black Widow's danger level again.

AZ stopped in his tracks: "Guiding Vector."

She turned around; AZ rarely called her that way.

He lacked his usual ease and composure, and he no longer had the bad habit of knowing everything but deliberately saying nothing. His voice was soft and low.

The mechanical dog stopped and looked up at AZ.

AZ glanced at the mechanical dog: "I hope only the gravitational vector can hear what I'm about to say."

The mechanical dog remained motionless and silent, first looking at the gravitational vector.

Yin Xiang lowered his head and patted his head: "Go ahead and wait for me."

The mechanical dog nodded quietly, turned around and walked to sit down under the broken overpass. It wasn't too far away, but its ears drooped so it wouldn't eavesdrop.

The vector looked at AZ again: "Speak."

AZ stood before her, with the dim starlight of the suburbs behind him. The scattered lights reflecting off him always seemed unsteady.

He was naturally adept at placing himself between light and shadow; getting closer made him seem clearer, while from a distance, one would suddenly realize that he could retreat into an unknown crevices at any time.

He said softly, "I have many names... The Thousand-Faced One is the one that more people know."

The wind blew through the broken walls, bringing with it a soft rustling sound of metal scraping against each other, causing the vector to slowly straighten up and the optical mirror to widen.

"The black market, old city-states, intelligence networks, powerful figures who don't want their names in public records, and employers who are even less suited to be written into the judicial record," AZ said. "They know the 'Man-Faced Man.'"

"They'll buy information from this name, change identities, reset relationships, find connections, and of course, scare off unsuspecting newbies."

He spoke calmly, as if it were just a rumor that had nothing to do with him.

"But they don't know who I am."

The vector paused for a moment, looking at him: "What about AZ?"

AZ was silent for a moment, then the optical mirror flickered slightly, and the sound became even softer.

"AZ-91101 is the earliest one." He paused, "and it's the one I told you about."

The vector didn't know how to respond for a moment.

This isn't the kind of answer that says "I've been lying to you all along," so it's a difficult one to handle.

AZ didn't give her a pseudonym. He used the oldest, earliest, and deepest-hidden number from among many faces to interact with her.

Yin Xiang took a deep breath, a mix of emotions swirling within him, and slowly said, "So you used your truest name to do the most suspicious things."

AZ pursed her lips slightly and chuckled softly, "Is this the charge you gave me?"

"Just an evaluation."

He stopped circling around.

"I've spoken to many names and many machines," AZ said. "Some names have only been used once, some have lived for millions of years, and some are still circulating on the black market."

"But I've always used the original number when I talk to you."

The vector stared at him for a few seconds: "You're telling me now, it's because of Black Widow?"

"Not just that."

"Elite Guard?"

"Not just that."

"...Because I look too busy to beat you up today?"

AZ's smile widened: "That might have to be taken into account."

Vector: "I'll add it later."

I accept.

"I've seen many organizations assemble their forces," he said. "They use fear, self-interest, faith, and even bigger and newer lies to cover up old lies. There are many methods, some elegant, some ugly."

"You use it too."

AZ looked at her, neither confirming nor denying the existence of the vector.

"You'll threaten, make deals, use your status to suppress controversy, and say things that make many people uncomfortable. You don't mind getting your hands dirty."

"Should I say thank you?" The vector stared at him, hands on its hips.

"It's a compliment," he said in a low voice. "You take naming everything very seriously."

"Shockwave is not innocent just because he is needed. Grimlock shouldn't have destroyed the third tower out of anger. Black Widow won't be absolved of her crimes just because she can provide Insectoid. The Elite Guard isn't obligated to follow you unconditionally just because Alita is going."

He paused for a second, then continued:

"You put the choice back in their hands and clearly explain the consequences."

He shifted his gaze slightly: "It sounds like I'm really good at causing trouble for everyone."

"Many machines just create trouble," AZ said. "You make trouble."

The vector's gaze refocused on his mask, and it suddenly dawned on him that he was explaining more than just an identity.

He was giving his unvarnished truth, which was harder than admitting that he was called the Thousand-Faced Man.

AZ raised her hand and lightly pressed her fingertips against her chest, causing her camouflage layer to change.

The outline, long folded within, finally emerged. The gentle, quiet lines of the outer layer, which made the machine overlook danger, gradually receded, and the dark armor surfaced from the shadows. The shoulder and back structure was broad, with edges as sharp as the night's own wings. Several slender spikes were visible along the head and back, and the optics turned a cold white, shining sparsely in the darkness.

His entire machine seemed to be forged from the night—black, sharp, and silent.

Those rumors have finally come to fruition—the Thousand-Faced Man.

The vector looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

AZ was looking at her too.

He stood there quietly, simply displaying it, carefully presenting the knife that had been hidden under his sleeve to her.

Finally, the vector said, "So this is what you look like."

AZ: "One of the 'original' ones."

Why do you speak so complicatedly?

AZ chuckled softly and admitted, "It's a problem with the machine itself."

He then slowly took a step closer to her and knelt down on one knee.

The vector was stunned.

He humbled himself, revealing to her the true form that belonged to rumors and shadows, and the name that had been wandering for too long finally chose to settle down.

"I never took sides," AZ said.

"Because many sides are not worth it."

"I have many faces, know many roads, have interesting names, and have collected many voices that I don't want the world to hear."

"I will give them to you."

"I will be there for you when you need me, in a place where you can't see me."

"To hear your unheard words, to become your shadow."

He raised the optical lens; the white light was cold and austere, without flinching.

"The Thousand-Faced Man will not pledge allegiance to any machine."

"But AZ-91101 swears an oath to you."

The night wind seemed to pause briefly, and the perception of the vector automatically suppressed all irrelevant noise at that moment.

She looked down at him, and some human memories subconsciously popped into her mind.

Stories and rituals—knights, oaths, swords resting on shoulders.

She wasn't sure if Cybertron had the same etiquette, but she knew she didn't want to be disrespectful.

Yin Xiang lowered his head slightly, his voice steady: "You can stand behind me, but don't disappear into the shadows."

AZ still held her head high, gazing steadily at her.

She continued, "If what you want is recognition."

She raised her left arm, and an energy blade silently slashed out from the outer armor of her left arm.

A bluish-green light shone in the night, illuminating AZ's dark shoulder armor and tinging part of it with blue.

"I'll give it to you."

She gently touched his right shoulder with the back of her blade, the first time.

Then move to the left shoulder, the second time.

Her movements were gentle, and she did not hurt him in the slightest.

Thus, AZ, this black line that had been drifting for too long, was finally anchored to a real point.

The energy blade retracted from the vector: "Get up, AZ-91101."

"I accept your vows and acknowledge you as you are."

This time, AZ nodded slightly, unlike any gesture Qianmianke had made at the trading table. Instead, he was completing a confirmation and declaration that he himself found sweet.

After a while, he slowly stood up.

In his true form, he appeared sharp and unfamiliar. But when he looked at the vector, a faint smile returned.

"Where did that set of moves you just did come from?" he asked.

The vector surface remained unfazed: "It's very far away, don't ask."

AZ smiled and said, "Okay."

The vector looked at him and asked, "Are you going to keep this as your true form?"

"It depends."

"You still have a knack for giving answers that sound like you haven't said anything at all."

"Professional habits".

"This profession will also be included in the personnel file in the future."

"I'm starting to regret taking the oath."

"No."

In the distance, the mechanical dog stood up and leisurely walked back to their side.

He looked up at AZ, the optical mirror resting quietly on his newly revealed sharp features.

"You've changed," the robotic dog said.

AZ: "I guess so."

The mechanical dog moved closer, its movement resembling a sniff: "It still smells like you."

The vector looked at AZ: "He said you passed."

AZ smiled: "It's an honor."

The mechanical dog moved to the side of the vector's feet, as if the solemn event that was unsuitable for being observed had never happened.

The eighth day is almost over; they have six days left.

Yin Xiang gazed at the distant Crystal City: "Let's go back, we have a lot to do tomorrow."

AZ stood beside her, finally deciding where she should stand.

They headed towards Crystal City.

Starlight fell behind them, and the old incubation chamber sank back into darkness.

And a wandering shadow that once had countless names chose to stay by her side in its original name.