Recently completed a reread, and it was just as delightful.

I feel compelled to ask, though: is Shingoji unaware of Olaf Petersson, or did she simply not recall in that moment that aspect of Optimus Prime? In fact, I also went and re-read Transformers: Flesh and Steel, and noticed a peculiar detail: like a Friend, Optimus Prime's "beast" mode has clothes that are a part of him. Gives me the (deeply unlikely) idea that the transmode virus (or some mutated descendant thereof) might be a necessary factor in the creation of Friends.

Obviously, it couldn't have been deliberate at the time of Flesh and Steel's writing, but I'm curious if that tiny parallel between the clothing of Friends and that of Optimus Prime is something you've been waiting for other people to spot, or if it's something that I'm getting way too excited about.