The home-brewed high grade is slowly settling in, Knock Out's optics taking on a slightly fuzzy glow that leaves faint halos of red around them. He purses his lips slightly, leaning back against an exam table as he swirls the high grade in the glass almost thoughtfully.
"In a manner of speaking," he says, shrugging, "but it's more complicated than that. Prime isn't a name, you know -- it's a title. The Prime is the bearer of the Leadership of Matrix."
He pauses to sip from the beaker again. He looks almost bored, as if Sollux could have picked a decidedly more captivating topic, but somehow his voice lacks the usual flippancy, not dripping with sarcasm. Seems like he considers it important enough for Sollux to know right now to give it to him straight. There aren't many people he'll do that courtesy for.
"The Matrix is an old Cybertronian artifact, and a very powerful one. Supposedly it houses the wisdom of all the Primes to come before it -- it's all very steeped in mysticism, so take it as you will -- at any rate, let's just say the Matrix and the Primes have been a...cornerstone of our society for some time. An institution, if you will. Not just any bot can bear the Matrix -- you have to be worthy, whatever that means. And when you take the Matrix...mmm, well. It changes you. Accessing all that wisdom and knowledge, interfacing with that kind of power, it has to."
Whatever Knock Out's personal opinions about the specifics of the Matrix or the Primacy that comes with it, it's clear he believes in the thing's power. It's impossible not to, not when you've been witness to Orion Pax and Optimus Prime both.
"Orion Pax is merely the bot who became Optimus Prime when he received the Matrix -- and the one he reverted to when Megatron robbed him of it."
no subject
"In a manner of speaking," he says, shrugging, "but it's more complicated than that. Prime isn't a name, you know -- it's a title. The Prime is the bearer of the Leadership of Matrix."
He pauses to sip from the beaker again. He looks almost bored, as if Sollux could have picked a decidedly more captivating topic, but somehow his voice lacks the usual flippancy, not dripping with sarcasm. Seems like he considers it important enough for Sollux to know right now to give it to him straight. There aren't many people he'll do that courtesy for.
"The Matrix is an old Cybertronian artifact, and a very powerful one. Supposedly it houses the wisdom of all the Primes to come before it -- it's all very steeped in mysticism, so take it as you will -- at any rate, let's just say the Matrix and the Primes have been a...cornerstone of our society for some time. An institution, if you will. Not just any bot can bear the Matrix -- you have to be worthy, whatever that means. And when you take the Matrix...mmm, well. It changes you. Accessing all that wisdom and knowledge, interfacing with that kind of power, it has to."
Whatever Knock Out's personal opinions about the specifics of the Matrix or the Primacy that comes with it, it's clear he believes in the thing's power. It's impossible not to, not when you've been witness to Orion Pax and Optimus Prime both.
"Orion Pax is merely the bot who became Optimus Prime when he received the Matrix -- and the one he reverted to when Megatron robbed him of it."