Soundwave rarely ever got angry, but this world was certainly trying to get him to snap. The copy of Breakdown had dragged him straight into the repair bay and was now chastising him for 'starting a fight with the Autobots' and 'wrecking his finish'. He had to sit there for a solid Earthen hour while Breakdown buffed his frame. He had to admit though, it was amusing to see the normally brutish bot care so deeply about vanity.
But he had better things to do than worry about his paint job. He needed to get back to the REAL Decepticons and the REAL Megatron.

He left the repair bay, his frame shining vividly, no thanks to Breakdown's excessive buffing. Soundwave hated it. Being shiny like this meant that even a single light source would reflect off of you and give away your position, which is why he kept his frame mostly dull. Though he knew full well if Knockout wasn't so terrified of him, he would have buffed the spymaster ten times over.
Soundwave clenched his fists in frustration. Of all the universes to end up in, he was sent to the most annoying one possible. Figures.

He'd have to get some peace and quiet. He had long since hooked himself up to the ship's systems. It was surprisingly identical to the Nemesis so he had no trouble getting all the information and clearance he needed. This included a layout of the ship, which was also fairly similar to the Nemesis. Soundwave activated a ground bridge right in front of himself and walked through to the next set of coordinates, that being his private quarters. He needed silence to think properly and plan ahead. Since it was highly unlikely that anyone was going to barge into his room unannounced outside of emergencies, there was very little chance he was going to be distra-

Slam!

Soundwave tripped on something and fell face first into the metal floors. When he raised his helm to look up, he saw why.
The room was a complete trainwreck. Posters were haphazardly plastered on the wall, the bed was littered with useless knick-knacks, the desk had a stack of empty energon cubes to one side and their were a few stains on the floor. Soundwave immediately tried to get up and felt nausea creep in as he felt something sticky on his chest. It was obvious the floor had not been polished in a good while and yet the place was miraculously devoid of pests.
The spymaster tip-toed through the messy room, trying to keep as much of his pedes away from the floor as possible. He made it to the desk and attempted to prop himself on the chair but quickly reeled back when his hand stuck to that too. There was no doubt about it. This room was absolutely disgusting.

Luckily, the monitor that was on the desk was perfectly clean. Soundwave extended a data cable from his body and attempted to access its contents. Instantly, he was sent to a rather primitive password entry screen. Above it was a single question:
What must be defended at all cost? (Reminder: password is in all caps, spaces are not valid.)

Soundwave attempted to bypass the password but for whatever reason, he simply couldn't. Whoever designed the security for this computer made it so that even the spy couldn't break in. Clever. Annoying, but clever. It seemed he'd have to guess the password. Taking both the question and the context of the world he was in into deep consideration, Soundwave attempted to answer.

HUMANITY
Access denied.

He tried a different one, though it was still in the same vein as the last answer.

EARTH
Access denied.

Soundwave allowed himself to vent in frustration.

DECEPTICONCAUSE
Access denied. Displaying secondary hint.

A hint? Well it was better than nothing. Soundwave read the next sentence that appeared.

Look at your chest.

...what.

Soundwave tensed angrily. What was the point of that? How did that help him exactly? Still, he looked down at his chest. As expected, he saw nothing. Nothing but him and Laserbeak, who was quietly docked on him.

Wait...
Soundwave stilled as his optics shifted from Laserbeak to the display. There was no way. And yet...
What must be defended at all cost?
In spite of himself, Soundwave carefully typed in a single name.

LASERBEAK.
...
Password accepted. Logging in user 51R_50UNDWAV3...

Soundwave shook his helm and refocused.
There didn't seem to be too much on the computer, although he did find some small personal-looking files. One appeared to be a private diary and the other a massive folder titled Memory_Drives filled with many images. He swiftly downloaded them all just to be safe.
As soon as the download finished, Soundwave turned off the monitor and opened up another ground bridge behind him to get out of the disgusting room as soon as possible.

But as soon as he stepped through, he ran face first into something large. "Ah-! Oh, Sir Soundwave!"
Soundwave looked up into the single blue optic of the gold Shockwave. "I was wondering why there was a ground bridge", he laughed nervously, "In fact, I almost stepped through to see where it led until you came in." Soundwave said nothing.
Shockwave fidgeted, desperate for some kind of response. Then his fins perked up as an idea came to him. "I was actually looking for you!", He lied. "You see, I'm still not entirely sure what happened to you in the cube we found in the cave and I was wondering if I could interview you... For some.... Insight... Maybe have a bit of high-grade as well. B-but you don't have to! It's just a s-suggestion..."

Soundwave considered it. While he wasn't really a drinker and was even less of a conversationalist, he WAS interested in this Shockwave's research notes about the cube. Perhaps he could find a way to get back home. Hopeful, Soundwave nodded approvingly. Shockwave's fins wiggled. "Oh, really? I mean, excellent! I'll clean up in my lab at once. Just let me know when you're on your way, alright?" Shockwave practically jogged to his lab, which was certainly an unusual sight for Soundwave.
Then again, there weren't many options to get the cube in his possession.

He could just go there as soon as Shockwave prepared his lab, but Soundwave decided to make some use of the extra free time. He had an assortment of files and classified documents in his possession, and he wanted to get a feel for this odd ship. After all, if he discovered he was there for the long haul, he had to be ready to blend in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soundwave sorted through the last of the files he had on hand. The diary gave him an insight into the mind of this world's version of him, but that was mostly about it. For whatever reason, the diary's content ranged primarily from three topics: Pointless escapades with the human girl named Miko, gossip, and (the strangest of all the topics) Shockwave and the theoretical ways he did specific tasks despite having only one functioning hand and no mouth. Other than that, there were... Highly personal self reflections that Soundwave did not want to think about.

Though his doppelganger acted fairly immature, Soundwave found his battle records to be quite prolific and respectable. It seemed that battle prowess was not lost between worlds.
He decided to do one final sweep of the ship (which he found was called the Interceptor) to get used to his hopefully temporary home before going to meet Shockwave.

It was strange to walk through the halls and not see a single Vehicon, but then again, Soundwave usually didn't pay the cannon fodder any mind.
With no additional files to review, Soundwave checked his chronometer and discovered it was the seventeenth hour of the solar cycle. With nothing else to do, Soundwave decided to head for Shockwave's lab to take him up on his offer. Though he didn't drink high grade, he at least wanted access to the files on the cube.
He entered a corridor leading to Shockwave's on-ship lab but was stopped when he saw that the door leading to the hall was locked. Strange, as that should only be the case if an Autobot were to find their way onto the ship. Another annoyance to be sure but one that could be easily removed unlike all the other ones.

Soundwave located the emergency door controls by the lock and swiftly overrode them. Within moments, the door snapped open. But when Soundwave prepared to continue his walk, he saw why the door was locked.

In front of him was this world's Megatron. Accompanying him was a slender white seeker with bright red accents and blue optics. Judging by the frame, it appeared to be a doppelganger of Starscream. But the most striking thing about the two was how Soundwave found them.

Which is to say that the warlord had the seeker pinned to the wall while the latter wrapped his long legs around Megatron's waist. It was clear that the two were being highly intimate. And for whatever reason, they apparently thought that the best place for that was in the middle of the hallway.
Soundwave's hacking of the door had not gone unnoticed unfortunately.
The copy of Starscream squeaked in embarrassment as he struggled to find words. "S-Sir Soundwave! We, uh- I was- T-this isn't what it looks like!"
Soundwave's vision darted to Megatron, who was desperately trying not to look back, his expression sheepish.

While he was aware that things were different in this world, the last thing Soundwave expected to see was Starscream and Megatron being romantic. So unsurprisingly, Soundwave felt disgusted by the sight of his leader getting touchy with the Air Commander and swiftly turned around. As he did so, he activated a ground bridge to Shockwave's lab, not wanting to wander into another couple refusing to show their affection privately and normally.

Soundwave vented. After what he just witnessed, he'd take all the high grade Shockwave had.