Location: Sector AS24, Iacon, Cybertron
Perceptor watched as the delivery drone flew back to the business district. He had been brought to the door by the automated signal all drones gave when they arrived with a package. But something was off with todays delivery. The usual boxes had already been carried inside by him and his partner; boxes that contained chemicals and minerals for himself, and others that contained mechanical parts for the other resident of the housing unit-turned-laboratory. But there was an extra box sitting below the doorstep.
Big enough to comfortably fit a youngling turbohound, the metal crate was at least double the size of the next largest package they had received that day. Upon picking it up, Perceptor also observed that the mysterious package had a matching weight. He maneuvered his way through the lab and set the box down next to his main workstation. After he cleared a small area between the various rocks and equipment, he unclasped the lid of the box and lifted it from the rest. He propped the lid against the workbench and peered inside the box.
Perceptor's processor nearly stalled at the sight before him. Nestled inside the box, next to two cubes of med grade energon and a small datanote, was an adorable little sparkling. The small black femme was just old enough to survive without her carrier. Her limbs twitched slightly as her recharge presented her with fantasy worlds nearly beyond imagination. The only other thing in the box was the plush cybercat clutched tightly in the sparkling's grip.
Without a sound, Perceptor grabbed the energon and the datanote out of the box, electing to leave the sleeping sparkling undisturbed for now. He scanned the energon, deeming it to be of the right mix for first frame sparklings, before powering up the datanote. A screen projected from the device as it booted up and came online. The notepad automatically opened onto the screen, showing its latest note to Perceptor. The note was servo-written, in a writing style indicative of the high class.
Dear Perceptor and Wheeljack,
I know this is sudden for you both, but this is the last measure I have. This sparkling would be in grave danger if she were to stay with myself, so I must give her to you. I respect you both as scientists, and I have good word that you are two of the most trustworthy bots in this city. Please take care of this sparkling for me in every way that I cannot. My only request is that you keep the designation that I have given to her: Aerolyth. I do not know if I will ever be able to connect with you face-to-face, but please know that I wish you the best for the future.
Thank you forevermore and always.
As he read the note, Perceptor made his way up to the second level of the housing unit and into the lounge area. "Sweetspark, we got a special package you might be interested in." He imparted these words before going back the way he came. Pedesteps behind him let him know his sparkmate was following.
"What do you mean by that?" The engineer fell into step behind the scientist, headfins flashing a green of curiosity. They both traversed down the steps, coming back into the lab area. Perceptor reached the box first, and commanded his sparkmate to shutter his optics. Carefully scooping the sparkling into his arms, Perceptor walked over to his sparkmate.
"Hold out your arms," he instructed. His sparkmate did so, and Perceptor laid the recharging sparkling into the outstretched limbs.
Upon feeling the sudden weight in his arms, Wheeljack snapped open his optics. His fins flashed a deep purple, not unlike the color of the accents on the femmeling's armor, as he fumbled for his words. After a few kliks of stunned silence, Wheeljack finally managed to speak. "W…Where…How…Where did you get a sparkling?"
In response, Perceptor simply pointed at the crate the sparkling had arrived in. Wheeljack glanced down at it before training his eyes back on the tiny bot in his arms. "What's her designation?"
"The note that arrived with her," Perceptor replied, "said it is Aerolyth. I'm not sure why we were chosen for this, but the note made it clear her original creators feared for her life. But nevertheless, I believe we are now the caretakers of this femmeling."
"I don't think we can, Percy. We barely have time to keep up with our work demand as it is. There's no way we can add on taking care of this sparkling."
"I fear that we may put her in danger if we don't. Based on the information I found, at least one of her creators is in the high caste. It is likely the other creator is not of high caste, and you know as well as anyone what happens when a sparkling is born between high caste and low. If we don't take care of this sparkling…"
Perceptor didn't even want to finish that thought. He was now right in front of his sparkmate, gripping the other mech's arms tightly. They stared into each other's optics for what felt like joors before Wheeljack looked towards the floor.
"Fine," he relented. "But we are going to have to get some advice. I barely know anything about sparklings, Percy, and I know you aren't much better off."
Perceptor opened his mouth to retort when a soft coo came from below both of their helms. The duo looked down, bright cerulean optics staring into deep crimson, and suddenly the words in the note clicked for Perceptor. Any sparkling born between a military, servant, or manual labor caste bot and a high caste bot would receive extreme prejudice at best.
Wheeljack piped up, saying out loud what was going through his partner's cortex. "Well, her optics say that she came from a low caste, but her proto-armor is curved and elegant like the high caste femmes. I can see now why she ended up on our threshold."
Perceptor hummed an agreement, taking the sparkling from Wheeljack's servos. "I need you to go out and get the rest of the supplies we'll need to take care of her. Tomorrow we'll go and get her registered under our names."
Wheeljack nodded, exiting the lab in a few steps and heading towards the market district. Meanwhile, Perceptor started to get their dwelling in better shape for the sparkling, who was back to napping in her box. "This is going to be a long road. I just hope everything will be okay for us."
Alright! This rewrite is finally kicking off. I've been working on this for the past couple of months on and off, so I'm proud to finally have it up. I hope everyone who liked the old version is going to like this new one, and I hope I can get the next chapter out in a timely manner. Reviews always help move that along!