Far away in the Asteroid Belt deep in space, an asteroid two kilometers in diameter sped in a single direction. With no point of reference, no matter how fast it moved, it still seemed like a fallen leaf drifting aimlessly through the universe.
The "Corn" asteroid trailed a faint blue glow. Countless mechanical pillars were spraying plasma into space.
The two asteroids had begun with a considerable relative velocity, but they had traveled along separate, non-intersecting orbits. Now that the "Corn" asteroid had changed its orbit and accelerated with the mechanical pillars, their relative velocity had become even greater.
All of this was to build enough kinetic energy to strike the "Igniter" and alter its orbit.
"Correcting the kinetic energy model..."
"Correcting the kinetic energy model..."
According to the original kinetic energy model, the asteroid's current speed was already sufficient. However, the Quantum Computers carried by the mechanical pillars were still refining the kinetic energy model between the two, striving for maximum precision.
"In three minutes, 'Corn' will collide with 'Igniter.' Optimus Prime will detach from 'Corn.'"
The mechanical pillars carrying Artificial Intelligence issued the command. All the mechanical pillars inside the "Corn" asteroid stopped spraying plasma. The mechanical claws embedded at their tops slowly loosened and retracted from the asteroid, while the Ion Engines controlling their direction began accelerating in reverse, pulling away from the asteroid.
In less than a minute, all the mechanical pillars had detached from the "Corn" asteroid. Only the trackers remained on it.
If space could serve as a canvas, one could see the trajectories of the "Corn" and "Igniter" asteroids extending continuously until they intersected at a single point.
The "Igniter" was now clearly in sight.
"One-minute collision countdown. 60... 59... 58..."
The countdown began. From "Corn's" perspective, the "Igniter" grew larger and larger.