Dear Vector Prime, what can you tell us about the transmorphers? Why was a freeway named after them? Thanks always for your time!
Dear Freeway Fond,
Oh, I see how you might have gotten mixed up. The region of Cybertron colloquially referred to as the Badlands is more properly called the “Morpher Flats”, after the relatively-high levels of tectonic activity in the area. Periodically, the landscape would undergo a transformation, plates rearranging themselves into a new configuration. The area was kept barren by this occasional process, and for a long time it was believed that large structures could not be built there. Politicians would avoid using the term “Badlands” in their rhetoric, but otherwise treated the region as an inconvenience inhabited by undesirables—best served as a dumping ground for the rest of the planet, somewhere trash and scrap would eventually vanish out-of-sight, swallowed up by the ground. When Cybertronian technology advanced to the point that a highway could be built through the region, elevated on state-of-the-art self-stabilizing foundations, it was promised that this would bring much-needed economic growth to the area—but after the road was completed, the small population of the area saw little benefit, aside from the permanent shelter afforded by the underside of the gleaming structure. So you see, the name “Transmorpher Freeway” is rather utilitarian, much as you might refer to a transcontinental highway on Earth—but this unassuming landmark, which many Cybertronians traverse each day without a second thought, hides a long history of governmental neglect.
Although, come to think of it, I know of a different Cybertron that once had a Transmorpher Freeway named not for a region, but for an individual. Senator Transmorpher was the prominent rival of popular bot-of-the-people Crosscut, and the two often clashed in the senate. Crosscut had secured funding for a radical public-works project, to build a much-needed Pancontinental Expressway connecting several key cities. Seeing an opportunity, Transmorpher cited laws of equity to demand that several other Torus States be given identical funding for the construction of a road—despite those Torus States having much smaller populations with little need for a superhighway, particularly as it would necessitate the demolition of certain cities along the planned route. Nonetheless, the proposal went through, and Transmorpher named the resulting road after himself. It saw little use, and failed to receive the ongoing funding it needed, quickly falling into disrepair.
When Crosscut left the senate to join the Autobots, Transmorpher immediately signed up to the Decepticons—which many viewed as hypocritical, as his voting record had previously sided against the movement at every opportunity. However, Transmorpher’s knack for securing resources was welcomed by the Decepticons, and he soon found himself in a comfortable position within the faction’s bureaucracy. There he stayed for most of the war, surviving against the odds. He would suggest new strategies, which unbeknownst to the rest of the Decepticons, were actually copied directly from Crosscut’s latest tactics with the Autobots. Still, he found some measure of success with them—if less than Crosscut had.
When Transmorpher caught wind of the fact that Crosscut was moving on to a career as a playwright, he immediately followed suit. Unfortunately for the world of theater, Transmorpher didn't have an artistic strut in his chassis. His plays were obviously derivative, blatant attempts to cash in on Crosscut's success—his most infamous works including My Trowel, Your Head and Creeping Information.
