This is a rewrite of Dance of Sparks that I took down some time ago. I wrote some background stories under Maze of Sparks to build the world, and it changed considerably from the original story line.
Dance of Sparks 1
The Great Cybertronian war ended in a way no one expected.
Wheeljack invented a way to get energon from sunlight in space; with this new resource, the Autobots built a new Ark, hoping to find and found a new colony away from Earth.
Optimus heard that Shockwave planned a shocking act, and raced to Cybertron to stop him, Megatron right behind him. They were too late; Shockwave released the Fallen, who in turn began a ritual to awake Unicron. Decepticons and Autobot s fought together, until Optimus Prime woke Primus, who sent the Fallen away.
All of those who fought the Fallen were terribly wounded, and close to dying. To them Primus gave the choice, to rest in the Well or be healed, but bound to rebuild Cybertron. To Megatron he gave one further duty- to protect the holder of the Matrix of Purity, Optimus, who gave up his right to hold weapons for the new Matrix. Together, they arranged to bring the Decepticons to Cybertron for purification, and then the Autobots.
But the Autobots on Earth believed that Optimus died, and prepared to flee into space to the new Ark. When the Decepticons arrived, Skyfire raced away with the former officers of the Autobots, and disappeared in a terrible explosion, leaving nothing behind. The Decepticons took the Autobots left back to Cybertron, took away their weapons, and set them to help with the rebuilding. Purified, they treated the Autobots decently, laying the foundation for integration.
The Prime discovered that a program existed to enable a Cybertronian to bud a sparkling. Some could sire and carry, and some only sire, depending on the resonance of the spark. All of the Autobots were able to carry and bud a sparkling, but only a small percentage of Decepticons could. The offspring of two Autobots could carry.
Thus the Autobots were treasured as carriers, but limited because they alone held the ability to grow the population.
And only a few knew the secret behind the explosion…and that the Matrix of Leadership found a new bearer....
"He's beautiful," the deep blue and purple mech cooed at the sparkling Seeker. The sparkling blinked up at the new face with blue optics and chirred. "Hello to you too, Lightwind," he added with a smile. The sparkling cooed back and allowed his uncle to take him without fuss.
"Charming him already, Wayfinder?" Both the mechs turned to look at the sparkling's sire, Lightstorm. He was a tall Seeker, silver and blue in a striking pattern. "He's just gotten to where he'll let me carry him."
Behind Wayfinder, an orange and blue doorwinged femme pulled a container from her subspace. "A selection of Mixmaster's best energon goodies, for when the new parents need some comfort," she said with a smile. "Parenthood seems to suit both of you so far! Especially Illusion."
"That's because his great-creator Sweetwings had an orn off yesterday, Quid," Illusion said wryly. "She came over and ordered me into recharge. When I powered back up, the place was clean, too." He took the container and walked over to a partially enclosed refueling area to store it.
"She said after patching up mechs who should know better and listening to wailing sparklings getting their antiviral updates, quiet quarters with a healthy sparkling was better than a spa treatment," Lightstorm said, and laughed. After Liquidator admired the sparkling, Wayfinder carried him over to the refueling area.
"What kind of arrangements have you and Illusion made for taking care of the sparkling when he goes back to work with Sharpster?" Liquidator asked.
Just then the door pinged. At Lightstorm's answering ping, the door slid open, and a three vorn old dark blue and orange door-winged sparkling came in with a tall door-winged orange and silver mech and a smaller grounder who was pale blue and white with optics that matched her armor. Illusion came out carrying the sparkling to greet the new guests, "Sharpster, it's good to see you and Harmony." Soon after Wayfinder emerged with three cubes.
Seeing the four siblings together, Lightstorm could see that all of them bore a strong resemblance to each other in the shape of the helm and the blue coloring. Both Liquidator and Sharpster had their sire Swindle's orange coloring, reflected in the sparkling with them, and the purple optics that most offspring of Decepticons and Autobots possessed. Illusion's armor had his sire Seaspray's's blue as well as the blue of his creator Smokescreen.
Like Illusion, Wayfinder's optics were the blue of their parents, both former Autobots and therefore both creators. He wondered who contributed the deep colors that darkened Smokescreen's blue and red to the deep blue and purple in Wayfinder. So did everyone who knew the lovely mech. Unfortunately, the only ones who knew for certain went to the Well several vorns ago.
As soon as he caught sight of Wayfinder, the sparkling squealed and rushed over, shouting, "Wayfinder!" He rammed against Wayfinder's lower legs and hugged them. "Did you bring me a puzzle? Will you help me put it together?"
Wayfinder laughed as he handed the cubes over to the purple-opticked mechs and knelt by the sparkling. "Liquidator has the puzzle. Remember your manners, Affinity, and ask very sweetly for it."
He sent an amused glance at his Decepticon sister as the sparkling bounced over and assumed a formal posture. He stood up straight, lifted his lavender optics to his aunt, and said, "May I have the puzzle, please?"
"You may," she said, extending an approving field over him and pulling the package from subspace to give him. He remembered to thank her before rushing back over to Wayfinder and pulling him to the refueling station, where a table and stools stood. Illusion carried the sparkling over, to be joined by Harmony. Three cubes sat on the table, and the three blue-opticked mechs took them. Affinity scrambled to the stool and grabbed the package.
Sharpster turned to Liquidator and Lightstorm. "Quid, Storm, good to see you. Have you gotten used to the new addition yet?' he asked after drinking part of his cube.
"I'm not afraid to pick him up anymore, Sharpster," the Seeker admitted. "He glanced over at the refueling area and his field almost glowed with fondness as he saw Illusion refueling the sparkling while Wayfinder lined up puzzle pieces for Affinity to choose from and Harmony chatted, gesturing as he talked. He put his cube on a small shelf near a lovely lighting fixture of matched colored pieces. The fixture started as a gift puzzle from Lightstorm to his partner after they discovered he carried. Illusion finished it the last days of his carrying. He touched it lightly and turned his attention back to his guests.
Liquidator looked around the living quarters in approval. Like most starting couples, Lightwind and Illusion found quarters in a living complex in the outer areas of Kaon, quite some distance from the older, inner part of the city; this one catered to both grounders and fliers, with a balcony for the flier and a lift for the grounder. "I do like the layout of these quarters. It's comfortable."
"Did Sweetwings say when Illusion can start back to work?" Sharpster asked. "Harmony made sure we had an extra sparkling berth for the nursery, so Illusion will only need to bring the sparkling's toys and refueling container, and we'll add Illusion to the sparkling care schedule."
"In another deca-orn, she said," Lightwind told him. "Enough time for Lightwing to settle into a refueling schedule so Illusion can recharge decently. You can manage that long without him, I hope?"
Quid sipped from her cube as Sharpster said, "We can manage, but I admit I miss him, he knows exactly where everything is. The other workers have to hunt for anything we don't use daily." He looked over, his field taking on a similar feel to Lightstorm's as he watched his sparkling and carrier. Then his purple optics, much like Liquidator's, lit on his blue-opticked brother and he frowned.
Liquidator knew her sibling well enough that she swiftly asked, "Did you get that contract for the new project the Administration is starting?"
"An Administrative contract?" Lightstorm asked, his attention caught. "Does it include your rebuilding tax?"
Over in the refueling nook, the three blue-opticked mechs glanced over at the Decepticons. "Whew, she got him off the subject," Illusion said softly as Lightstorm recharged on his shoulder.
Wayfinder vented and nodded. Affinity fussed when she failed to match a piece for the third time. Wayfinder showed her several options; the second fit and he continued to match pieces happily. "I haven't found a Decepticon yet who is willing to let his partner keep dancing," he said.
"I know you love to dance," Harmony said, "but you're a creator. Don't you want little ones? You're really good with them, and all creators need to create to be truly fulfilled."
Wayfinder shared a glance with Illusion. "He's so naïve," Illusion send via a private com.
"He went to one of the inner city schools for potential creators only, because they thought they could find a decent Seeker trine for him," Wayfinder sent back. "The only reason his creator enrolled him in the matchmaker program is that he was a grounder in a Seeker family and he didn't like the trines that courted him." Sharpster was one of the few mechs that was a good match that her family could accept without getting backlash from the Seekers. Out loud he said, "Sharpster never told you I was raised at the Temple through my sparklinghood?"
"Of course," he said, confused.
"Did he ever tell you what they told me before I left?"
Harmony looked from one brother to the others. "No. It never came up, I guess. He said you didn't know who your sire was, and I know that does cause some problems."
"Some problems," Illusion echoed. "Harmony, he can't accept any partner who has an Autobot carrier for two generations, with maybe three exceptions, all fliers where he would run into the same problem you did." Without the scandal of your sire murdering your carrier, he thought to himself.
"And," Wayfinder added, his light tone masking his very serious words, "they told me that something was different about my spark resonance."
Harmony took in a sharp vent. "Oh, Pits." Spark resonance determined the ability of a mech to carry. "I understand." Affinity looked up at his creator, sensing his creator's field become disturbed; Harmony pulled it in and helped him with his puzzle for a while. Wayfinder still felt the dismay in Harmony's field, and a whisper of swirling thoughts. After reassuring his sparkling, Harmony asked, "But they don't know anything for certain?"
"They said I would have the same chance as most Decepticons," Wayfinder told her. "It's all right, Harmony. I've decided that if a mech cares about me enough, we'll find alternatives." He let his field touch the mech so distressed for him, and calmed it gently. Harmony relaxed. "But don't mention the matter to Sharpster. He'll only get upset, say it wasn't a formal evaluation and we should ignore it."
"Sharpster doesn't want to believe it because he wants you to partner with one of his friends and work for him full-time instead of just doing the interviews for the difficult matches," Illusion said wryly.
"He really does care about both of you," Harmony told them earnestly. "He said that if it weren't for the two of you, he and Quid wouldn't have their own businesses and that both of you deserve to be settled with a good partner or cohort."
"We know that," Wayfinder assured him, stroking his field just a little more. "But that worked both ways, Harmony, and our creator helped us, too. Swindle wanted all of us to work for him." He paused. "You do know what happened with our creator and their sire?"
Harmony nodded. "Creator and his partner told me. That must have been horrible." His armors shuddered just a little.
"Creator set everything up for us," Wayfinder said softly. "Sharpster told you about how they got their businesses from Swindle, right? That they both made bets with him?"
"Quin that she could make a profit running a business without high grade, and Sharpster with the matchmaking business?" he asked. They nodded. "They filed formal contracts saying that if they made a profit in the first vorn, they owned the business."
"And became our protectors," Illusion added quietly. "If they lost, they had to take over one of his businesses and run it the way he wanted." His optics met his sibling's. Wayfinder had his field locked down. "And he intended to offer both of us as breeders to whoever paid the most. He had a deal worked out with someone in the budding registry. Quinn and Sharpster promised they would get us to the Temple whatever it took but there's no way of knowing if they could have done it."
"When they both fulfilled the contracts," Wayfinder said quietly, "Creator exposed Swindle's underground empire. He waited until all of us were secure first. He made a deal with the Enforcers that they would leave us alone before he gave them the information."
Someone tipped Swindle off. He tried to force Smokescreen to go into hiding with him. There was an Enforcer recording of Swindle holding on to Smokescreen and collapsing the building on both of them. The Administration confiscated all of Swindle's property but they honored the Enforcer's bargain with Smokescreen after viewing the contracts and quietly investigating both businesses.
"My great carrier has the opposite problem," Harmony said, trying to change the subject.
Lightstorm looked over at the blue-eyed mechs as Quin and Sharpster discussed how the rebuilding tax affected their various businesses. "Do you know," he said, "a lot of mechs our age envy you, having thriving businesses so young."
"We didn't want to work with Sire," Quid said. "Creator warned us that he was into some illegal dealings and we would be better on our own. We didn't know he wanted all of us safe before he exposed Sire. He didn't even tell Wayfinder what he planned."
Sharpster looked over at his creator partner and siblings. "We all worked hard," Sharpster said, "but without Creator and Wayfinder, Quin would be helping finish Vos and I would be working in the asteroids. I found a datapad with Sire's plans. I would front for his hackers and Quin for his pimps."
Lightstorm frowned, not familiar with the term. Quin explained, adding, "Swindle forced several mechs and fems to work at interface for pay after they borrowed from him at high interest and could not pay him back. When a neutral tried that in Iacon, the Prime found out and made a planet-wide proclamation that if a mech chose to sell his chassis that was his choice to make, but forcing a mech into doing the same, especially to pay off a debt, was illegal."
"So prostitution is not illegal, but pimping is," Sharpster summed up. "Swindle would tell the debtors to work with a particular mech, who was the pimp. They're all on hard labor at Praxus."
Quin said, "When he signed off on the completion of the contract, Sire said he didn't know whether to be proud of us or torqued at us for beating him." She vented. "Wayfinder worked his pedes to the struts for both of us. Between working at the club for me, and tweeking the program and doing the final interviews for Sharpster, we both managed to make a profit."
Lightstorm regarded the purple and blue mech thoughtfully. For quite some time he thought Sharpster led the family, but he knew now he was wrong.
Like many another mech his age, there seemed to be no carrier he could court that his sire- and the Seeker community- would approve. His family connections were good, but all the carriers he knew were either partnered, too close in kinship, or too young. Like many another mech, he desired the lovely Wayfinder with his dark colors, his graceful movement, and his calm demeanor. One quiet night at the club, more on impulse than anything else, he asked if Wayfinder would consider a courtship. If he couldn't get a winged, rotary, or doorwinged mech, why not a pretty grounder? He figured with Wayfinder could handle the bar, they could find him a job at his sire's business doing sales or customer service, which required the same kinds of skills.
Wayfinder gave him a lovely smile. "I'm so flattered a Seeker would even look at a grounder like me. But one of my conditions is that I keep dancing." That was not acceptable to Lightstorm and they both knew it. "But there are a few mechs in my sibling's matchmaker database who might suit you."
Lightstorm grumbled about the expense, considering that the database was unlikely to have many choices for his frame type. Wayfinder commed Sharpster for a mild discount. His curiosity piqued, the Seeker paid and filled out the lengthy questionnaire.
Sharpster contacted him soon after and asked him to allow a personal interview with Wayfinder at no added expense. Surprised and hopeful, Lightstorm accepted. Wayfinder talked to him for over a joor in a private room at the club. The next orn, Sharpster called the Seeker into his office and explained that they did find several matches, but he felt Lightstorm should know that the one of the matches they found was Sharpster's sibling. Then he handed him a datapad with the match information.
Of the choices, one was a doorwinged mech with an Autobot carrier, Sharpster's sibling. The others were rotaries or flier, offspring of neutral parents. As promised, all of them met the criteria he specified, but once he met Illusion, he never bothered with the others.
Lightstorm realized why Illusion was not snapped up by a Seeker partner or trine within a vorn after he reached adulthood, like any other door-winged or winged carrier. Swindle wanted to use both of Smokescreen's potential carrier offspring as breeders, so he allowed both of them to be educated at the private Temple school outside of Kaon, limiting their connections in Kaon and keeping them from meeting potential suitors or the parents of potential suitors.
Once he reached maturity, Illusion worked in Sharpster's office in the outskirts of Kaon, which kept him from meeting many fliers. Since Quin managed a popular club and Sharpster ran a matchmaking program, they could search for a perfect match for their sibling without pressure from the Seekers.
But the one whose judgement they relied on stood behind the bar and danced for public entertainment. Wayfinder ran this family, the way his own creator ran Lightstorm's family. No matter how much Quin and Sharpster argued, Wayfinder would stay right where he wanted until some outside force intervened.
He thanked Primus that Wayfinder used his skills to run a club and find matches between partners. How far would Swindle's underground empire have lasted if he looked past the mech's looks and discovered his management skills? He pushed the thoughts from his head when he got a com from his creator.
After their guests left, he told Illusion about the problem. Illusion looked thoughtful, and asked a few careful questions. "Harmony's creator is having the same problem," he mused. "Wayfinder thinks he can help."