Identification bolt
From Transformers Wiki
Congratulations, multiversal traveler, you have successfully completed Axiom Nexus Processing. Your new identification bolt (ID bolt for short, sometimes also tracking/tracker bolt, but don't take the connotations of that the wrong way) will help make your stay an efficient and productive one. With this device, you'll never have to worry about proving your identity to any TransTech that you meet. Instead, your name and universal stream of origin—as well as your personality and abilities—will be instantly known to them via a quick scan with their reader. This will eliminate the chance of any miscommunication or awkwardness while introducing yourself.
Since only TransTechs have the capability to read the ID bolts, we also will assign you a handy identification card that conveys the same information to any fellow offworlders you may meet in your travels. If you meet any offworlders who claim to be able to read the ID bolts, please report them to the Axiom Nexus Security Administration, as their miscommunication and/or misuse of advanced technology may be potentially hazardous to themselves and the people around them.
When you finally leave Axiom Nexus, your identification bolt will be removed by an appointed officer. Please do not attempt removal on your own! The bolt is designed to reattach itself to another part of your body if it or the body part it's attached to is removed, to help avoid accidental misplacement of the device and resulting identity loss.
We hope you enjoy your stay in Axiom Nexus. Your assigned guide will be along shortly to further assist you.
—The Axiom Nexus Department of Acclimation
Fiction
TransTech
Jackpot and Hubcap received their ID bolts after they finished with Processing. Their guide, Scattorshot, helpfully explained the purpose of both the bolts and the ID cards, as well as other information about the city.
After being in the wrong place at the wrong time had the two arrested on suspicion of murder, Hubcap tried pointing out that the specs on their ID cards proved they didn't have the firepower to have done the deed. That didn't help, however; the officers knew they hadn't done it, but wanted to use them as patsies to find out who did. Jackpot then thought that Officer Cheetor could use the ID bolts to find out who else was at the scene of the crime at the time. Turned out that didn't help either, as, unfortunately for all of them, the ID bolts couldn't be used to track location.
The bolts finally did prove useful, however, when the two Autobots were chased by the gang member buddies of the mech they'd been accused of killing. When one of them shot at Jackpot, the shot struck the middle of Jackpot's ID bolt and ricocheted into a police officer tailing them, sending the officer crashing to the ground. That started a chain reaction which downed a neon sign and electrocuted the gang members, leaving the two Autobots able to escape.
Hubcap was later able to use his identification card to his own advantage when he played a recorded confession from the real killer to some of the gang members, and waved his ID card to prove he genuinely had live recording capabilities.
Their ID bolts were eventually removed with an extractor, and the two sent on their "merry" way back to their home dimension. Gone Too Far
At a later time, several displaced GoBots found themselves going through their own dealings with Processing, with Bad Boy being especially not happy with the thought of getting an ID Bolt placed on him. In response to his protests, the medic installing it admitted that the bolts were for the TransTech's security, and explained how the bolts could only be removed by a spark transplant or special TransTech equipment.
When Bug Bite murdered another offworlder, Cheetor used the information from the victim's ID Bolt to discover he was one of Cryotek's employees.
Treds and Bad Boy later brought up the ID bolts as a bargaining chip with Swindle, pointing out that Swindle could get in big trouble for dealing with Bug Bite, since he had sneaked out of Processing without getting tagged with a bolt, and Swindle's refit would further disguise him.
Eventually, after finding a way to circumvent the TransTechs refusing to grant them leave from Axiom Nexus, the GoBots also took advantage of Stungun's ID bolt remover conveniently going missing in a place where the GoBots could find it. Withered Hope
Meanwhile, yet another set of travelers—Landquake, Skyfall, and Breakaway—received their own ID bolts from Processing, though much like Bad Boy they felt considerably ill at ease about them. Their guide, Alpha Trion, told them they would soon get used to the ID bolts. Transcendent: Part 1
Once they were out of TransTech audioshot, however, a very different reality showed itself. Trion claimed that the TransTechs were dangerous oppressors, Transcendent: Part 2 and he was using the spark-swapping abilities of his technician Topspin to move his followers from their old lowtech bodies to TransTech bodies—partly as a means of infiltration, and partly as a way to evade the ID bolts. Transcendent: Part 3
One of the unfortunate victims of the swapping was the former RoboCo CEO Bulletbike. He found himself mysteriously trapped one day in the lowtech body of one of his multiversal counterparts.
During his quest to find out what had happened to him, he received a scan from the proprietors of Swindle, Swindle and Swindle. They couldn't find any evidence of a spark transfer, but they did note that his ID bolt identified him as a Bulletbike, albeit one from Primax 095.0 Beta. When Bulletbike countered that they were lying, since offworlders couldn't read the bolts, the Swindles told him to not be so naive.
Later, Bulletbike tried to pass himself off to the C-Kar Technologies CEO Ego as "Wildfly", an employee in the R&D section of RoboCo. Ego initially played along, but eventually confronted Bulletbike with the fact that Bulletbike's ID bolt revealed he was lying. Unfortunately, that reveal just led to bigger problems... I, Lowtech
Notes
- The identification cards/bolts are at least partly an in-universe version of Tech Specs, as Hubcap's identification card contains "Strength=3" as part of its information.
