#lurkus

SO, how do they grow? For starters, they go through 3 stages before they reach adulthood. Sparkling (you already know what that means), Automaton (equivalent to a child), protoform (teenager) and finally taxes, err, adulthood.

They undergo a process called "upbadging," where once they have gathered enough nutrients and have been at that stage for (depending on the stage they were on) a couple of megacycles, and yes, it does hurt. Their screams can echo for miles even after they're done screaming. They gather metal from the ground (or collected if they're on a non metal planet) and reform themselves. Slowly building up their frame over megacycles (years).

Sometimes their colors can change due to the metal colors they've collected/have on the planet.

Sparklings - 3 megacycles, Automaton - 12 megacycles, Protoform - 20 megacycles

Protoforms is when the cybertronian starts wanting to get their own alt mode, (similar to earthspark lore) and will collect scans to decide their alt mode. They have the choice to simply copy their creators' alt modes but it is not usual to have wildly different alt modes from their creators. Especially if they feel like another alt mode would suit their environment better. Protoforms are highly adaptable in that way.

Upbadging is often done in private, even away from their creators as a survival technique. Upbadging earlier is only dangerous when it comes to the protoform stage as upbadging too early is associated with mental issues as the programming cannot keep up with the physical frame.