Author's note. Written as a request for Tiedwithribbons.
This is obviously an AU world where a tyrant rules a broken urban society. More shall be revealed as the story goes on. By the way, Autobots and Deceptcions don't exist in this world, just transformers.
Just in case anyone's interested, the law mentioned in this chapter was true about a hundred years ago. Women were expected to quit their jobs when they married, it was the law for most professions. That only changed when things became more liberal.
Enjoy and please review.
Cybertron.
Thundercracker wearily trudged home from work, too tired even to fly. He'd just completed another monotonous and back breaking work cycle and he still had four block to go before he arrived home. He knew Skywarp would probably be home by now but Starscream wouldn't be.
His younger brother worked the graveyard shift at a laboratory which also doubled as a morgue. He cleaned up after the workers and generally manned the building. Essentially guard and janitor duty.
Thundercracker sighed, it was such a waste.
When they were younger, when things had been better, Starscream had been top of his class. If they hadn't all been forced to leave school early after their Creator's deaths, Starscream could have gone to higher education. And maybe even have become a scientist.
His dream had been to become a deep space explorer.
Thundercracker sighed again. They'd all had dreams.
Skywarp had wanted to be an aerial dancer, performing to large crowds with bright light displays. Instead, he flew around picking up waste and litter for a mere pittance.
The youngest brother often suffered from processor aches as he ended each work cycle shovelling the rubbish he'd picked up into huge vats. And then tipped those vats, when full, into large smelting pits. This was used to fuel several factories and housing estates.
Thundercracker wished his little brother didn't have to work in such a dirty, Sparkless job. But at least, he could spend a good portion of the day cycle flying so it wasn't all bad. Plus waste pickers were given an added cube of Energon so they could sustain themselves flying throughout the day.
Not that it was much, the lowest Grade there was and only just sustaining them. They could not indulge in any aerial antics that didn't involve picking up trash, they just didn't have the energy.
Thundercracker was glad his brother didn't work like a drone like he did. He worked in a large factory with many other transformers, ground pounders and flyers. It was heavy, dirty work that involved long boring hours doing the same thing over and over again.
There were no real skills gained, just the ability to work with blank minds. Thundercracker tried to keep his processor form slowing down by spending a little bit of time each morning and evening doing maths problems. It helped, somewhat, but he could never spend long on it since he was always so tired.
But at least they had each other and that was all that mattered.
In order to save credits for heating, they all slept in one berth, covered by numerous thermal blankets. Skywarp saved some of the rubbish he collected to patch up any cracks that appeared in the walls.
Since all their credits went on Energon, which cost more than it had when they were younger, they couldn't buy themselves treats. They couldn't go out, meet Femmes or anything like that.
Chances of starting their own family were less than zero. Even if they somehow managed to meet someone, how were they meant to support their mate let alone Sparklings?
The ruler of Cybertron had decreed a law that stated when a Femme Bonded, she could no longer work. She also had to produce a Sparkling as soon as possible. If she did within a Stellar Cycle of Bonding, the couple were presented with a full cube of Energon.
Galvatron wanted to ensure that the population stayed steady.
But most of those Sparklings didn't have much of a future. Only getting the most basic education, then they left their learning Centres as soon as possible to work. They needed to, to support their families and survive.
Thundercracker tried to push these depressing thoughts out of his mind, it wouldn't do him any good to dwell on them.
He finally arrived home and entered the old building that housed several apartments. The place stank of spilled oil and trans-fluid and there were often CyberRats. The building was in serious need of repair and the single lift didn't work. Thundercracker would have to use the broken rickety old stairs that led all the way to the top where his apartment was.
The first apartment he passed was dark and silent, the two Mechs that lived there were probably still asleep. Thundercracker knew they worked awful hours during the night cycle. He thought their names were Trailblazer and Windcharger.
The second apartment was dimly lit and belonged to a young couple. Thundercracker didn't know their names but knew the Femme was carrying their first child. He silently wished them luck.
The third apartment was dark but the sound of grunts, moans and thuds could be heard. A widowed Femme with two Younglings and a Sparkling lived there. She sold interface for credits in order to make ends meet, meaning strange Mechs came to her apartment every night cycle.
He didn't know much about the Mech that lived in the fourth apartment but there always seemed to be a strange small coming from it. There was a sickly sweet smell coming from it right now and Thundercracker suspected that the reclusive Mech produced narcotics. Produced and then sold them to bots who desperately wanted to escape their miserable exsistence.
Thundercracker hoped he and his brothers were never sucked into that world. If they spent their credits on narcotics, they wouldn't have any for Energon. And if they didn't consume Energon, their health would suffer and they'd be unable to work. And thus earn fewer credits.
The filth apartment was open and empty. The Mechs who'd lived there, Astrotrain and Bliztwing, had been thugs who'd terrorised the surrounding area. They'd finally been arrested and were now doing hard time in Kaon Prison. But everyone knew that once they were out, they'd be back and harder than ever.
And finally, at the sixth and last apartment, Thundercracker had reached home. There were three rooms in total in the shared apartment, a living area where they also stored their hard earned Energon. Then there was a tiny wash room that basically contained a shower and a cabinet filled with odds and ends. And finally at the back, there was their bedroom with its single berth large enough for three Seekers.
In fact, it was two berths that had been shoved together, and piled with blankets. This room also contained most of their merge passions which made the room cosy rather than cramped. It helped keep the heat in too.
Thundercracker first went to the storage tank that contained their Energon, keeping it fresh and at the right consistency. Thundercracker was quite proud of it, he and Starscream had worked on it so that it performed much better than it was meant to.
He poured himself a cube, slowly sipping it. Tomorrow, he'd need to top it up with the credits he'd earned. He'd need to do that after his work cycle of course, he didn't like getting up earlier than necessary, he really needed his recharge.
He knew Starscream would be topping up tonight once he got home, Skywarp had topped up yesterday. This was why it was vital that none of them missed any work, they were paid on different cycles. The Energon in the tank was soon consumed and needed to be topped up as often as was physically possible.
He wondered if Warp had eaten, the youngest Seeker tended to just go straight to berth after getting home.
"Warp, you awake?" he called as he headed to their bedroom.
Sure enough, when he entered, there was a Seeker shaped lump under all the blankets. This made Thundercracker chuckle, his little brother was so cute when he was asleep. He somehow slept in the oddest positions, his best involved sticking his aft up in the air.
"Warp, come on wake up, you need Energon," Thundercracker said gently as he went over to the berth.
But as he started to peel away the blankets, his Spark temperature suddenly plummeted. The sheets were soaking wet with sweat and as he pulled the covers back, he was met with a horrible sight.
There his brother lay, curled up and in the throes of fever. His whole body was secreting coolant and also shaking violently. His denta chattered as though he was freezing cold but heat was radiating off him.
"Warp," Thundercracker yelled in alarm and his brother's bleary red optics looked up at him.
"TC," he croaked. "I don't feel well."
His brother was sick, very sick. And when you got sick in this part of Cybertron, chances were, you wouldn't get better. If Thundercracker and Starscream didn't act fast, they could lose their little brother Skywarp permanently.
Author's note. Sorry for such a short chapter, I'll try to make the next one longer. In the next chapter, Thundercracker and Starscream try to work harder in order to earn enough credits to buy medicine but will it be enough? Find out next time, until then.