As the summary said, this is the end of the world, set three years after Dark of the Moon. It contains a lot of oc x mech, and it's all slash. Reviews are loved 3
New Haven, compared to the rest of the world, was a safe place for humans to be despite its many flaws. Living at the compound was like living in a partially demolished ghetto. The houses were more like single roomed shacks with dirt floors, barely able to stand up against heavy rainfall. Survival was based on organic food grown in the barely fertile land and the fresh water pipes that seemed to spring a leak hours after they were repaired. The water collected in a makeshift fountain at the center of town, where humans had to bring a bucket if they wanted to take the resource back home, and bathhouses were erected on the east side of the city. There were no stores, no commercial buildings, though they were lucky enough to have a medical center, which seemed to be more like several conjoined shacks and the only structure lit by electricity. The small generator was not able to supply the entire compound with lights, so many of the humans relied on fire, something they were still able to make. Life was not luxurious or even moderately comfortable in New Haven, but the two hundred and seventeen humans that called it home were just happy to be alive.
Optimus Prime stood at the north end of the compound, bright blue optics looking over the short shacks with a weary sense of failure. Three years ago, Sentinel Prime had betrayed the Autobots, defecting to the Decepticons to ensure their race's survival. He activated the pillars, calling forth hundreds of their enemies before beginning to summon Cybertron itself, planning on enslaving the human race to force them to rebuild the lost planet. The Autobots were able to stop Sentinel, Optimus killing his old mentor himself, sending Cybertron back to oblivion. However, Megatron was not going down so easily. Outnumbered, the Prime had no choice but to order a retreat, the 'Bots saving as many humans as possible along the way. The devastation that consumed Chicago soon consumed the rest of the world. The capable military of every human country was crippled and destroyed, leaving the humans defenseless against the Decepticons, and even though they tried to fight back, it was a war the Autobots could not win. With Earth's surface a barren wasteland, the surviving mechs can only hope to keep what remaining humans there were safe. Yet, it didn't stop the creeping sense of failure that leaked into the Prime's spark whenever he looked at New Haven. Earth before was littered with tall, intricate structures, lush green nature and six billion humans. Now, Earth was about dead, a tiny patch of land in America dotted with wooden shacks and too few humans. The Autobots had failed this race, and the Prime would remember that for as long as he lived.
"Optimus!" a familiar voice shouted, making the mech in question tilt his helmet downward, blue optics targeting the small human that waited at his feet. Taking a step back, Optimus crouched down to one knee, so he could speak more easily with the child. During the end of the world, Humans seemed to help each other out more than they ever had in the past—this meant that any human with a skill that assisted New Haven, such as medical training, had a job. However, given they didn't have the equipment or resourced they once did, some jobs were nothing more than a title.
"Rutter, what do you need?" the mech asked. Rutter was no more than a child—nine years old—and currently being taken care of by Ratchet, the Autobot's Chief Medical Officer. The blonde boy had been a victim of Chicago, both parents killed, and had they not discovered him, he surely would have died as well.
"Ironhide and Ratchet are getting ready for my procedure," the child said thoughtfully, his hands clasping together behind his back as he rocked on the heels of his feet. Like many of the humans in New Haven, Rutter's clothing was tattered, worn and spotted with dirt, as well as specks of energon. Ratchet, in his spare time, was teaching the impressible human about mech forms and how to tend to them, and the young human was just appeased to be spending time with his newly adopted father figure. Optimus didn't have to search his processor for very long to figure out what the child meant by procedure—at both Ratchet and Ironhide's request, Rutter was going to become a Hyling, so he could better survive. Ratchet had done a lot of research on human children. When they were growing, nutrition and proper care was very important to their development, and the CMO wanted to make sure the boy grew up healthy, even if he was living in his race's worst nightmare. Ironhide, who had taken to becoming the child's guardian, agreed to become the donor. It was a medical procedure, where a mech donated a fragment of his spark, something completely harmless to him, to a human. Then, while the human is unconscious, because it causes a lot of pain otherwise, the spark fragment is implanted into their body, where it merges with both the skeletal and nervous system. At the same time, it enables the human to begin to produce receptors in their bloodstream, like they would produce red and white blood cells. The receptors give them heightened senses, and they can reproduce needed nutrients for a period of time before the human needs actual nourishment. Sometimes a human also gained an extra, passive ability with the receptors as well. The organic that received the spark fragment was then on referred to as a Hyling.
Several humans had already undergone this procedure, with a 100% success rate, but they had all been adults. There were some minor concerns for attempting it on a child, but the benefits outweighed the repercussions. Rutter's energy levels were low constantly, because there wasn't enough food to keep everyone full, and it seemed taking care of oneself came before taking care of a child.
"Are you concerned?" Optimus asked, curious how the child felt about it. Ratchet had explained what would happen while he was unconscious, but the Prime wasn't sure Rutter fully understood.
"No," he answered, his tone telling Optimus the boy was being honest. "I trust Ratchet." Optimus' optics blinked, before he nodded, more to himself than to Rutter. To the human child, it didn't matter what was going to happen—he trusted Ratchet entirely. He trusted Ratchet to protect him, to take care of him when other humans would not. The Autobot leader put his hand down, flat against Earth's surface, a silent invitation to Rutter to climb on.
Rutter looked over the large mech, over the blue and red paint, over the dirt spots and over where the 'Bot appeared to have rusted, before finally moving and climbing onto the hand presented to him, sitting down as Optimus curled his fingers a bit and lifted him into the air. Up high like he was, a smile graced his lips as he looked around. "It's really cool up high like this," he said eagerly, looking around. "Ratchet and Ironhide pick me up too, but they aren't as tall as you!" At this, Optimus let out a small chuckle as he began heading towards the medical center, knowing that Ratchet would be done with Ironhide soon, and then it'd be Rutter's turn.
"That is because I am a Prime," he answered easily.
"Leader of the Autobots, right?" the child asked, looking at Optimus with interested eyes. "That must be a cool job. You can do… leader stuff." Optimus was amused by the child, finding Rutter had a way of brightening his processor's dim thoughts. "Do you get to tell people what to do?"
"Yes, though there is far more work to be done than that."
"Is there a lot of paperwork?" Rutter made a disgusted face, wrinkling his nose and frowning. "Ratchet has a lot of paperwork. But he makes Bambi do it sometimes. Do you have a helper?"
"There used to be a lot of paperwork," he started. When the human leaders were around, it seemed they wanted paperwork for every little thing the Autobots did, and while it certainly got tedious, they did it regardless. Ratchet seemed to still be in the routine, from the sounds of it. Though he might just need something to give Bambi to do, to get the young male out of his circuits. "But not so much anymore." At mention of a helper, he considered it for a second, before speaking again. "I do not have a helper." Rutter frowned at that.
"If I wasn't Ironhide's helper, I'd help you!" he said, nodding eagerly.
"Thank you, Rutter." As Optimus rounded a corner, he was greeted by Ironhide, who looked from the Autobot leader to the young fleshling he had in his hand.
"There you are, I though Ratchet said not to go far…" Ironhide commented with a tuft of air, lifting his own hand up to relieve Optimus of the child. Rutter stood up, switching mech hands with a smile on his face.
"Optimus was looking sad, so I wanted to see what was wrong," he said innocently, making Ironhide's optics flicker to his leader briefly, before looking back to the organic he held. "Is Ratchet all done with your procedure?"
"Yes, now it is your turn." Optimus let his hand return to his side, idly thinking of how easy it had become for Ratchet to remove a spark fragment from a willing mech to the point that it took only minutes. His processor was interrupted with a fuzzy transmission that seemed to broadcast Sideswipe and Sunstreaker fighting with each other.
"I will see you later, Rutter, Ironhide. I must attend to the Twins, it seems they are fighting with each other again," he commented absently, a sigh leaving his vocal processor along with a heated tuff of air. Ironhide nodded to him.
"Bye Optimus!" Rutter exclaimed, waving the mech off. Ironhide turned, carrying the young human back to the medical shack, while the blonde sat on the edge of his hand kicking his feet innocently.
"Did your procedure hurt?" Rutter asked suddenly, looking up to his guardian.
"Not at all. I did not even feel it." Though, that was mostly because Ratchet had turned his pain receptors off. What the child did not know did not hurt him, especially in the event of him asking if Ratchet would turn his pain receptors off. Part of the reason for the humans going unconscious when they did the procedure was because they couldn't numb the part of him that needed to be cut open.
"Will I feel mine?"
"No," he answered easily, despite not knowing entirely whether the boy would. He hoped he wouldn't. Ironhide neared the makeshift med-bay, the building tall enough for the Autobots to walk inside, despite its shot-y structure. Ironhide let his optics survey the area, noting the CMO was not present, however, Bambi was. The young blonde haired human grinned up at Rutter from his seat at a desk.
"Hey Rutter!" he greeted. Ironhide crouched down, putting his hand to the dirt floor for the child to climb off and speak with his friend. Bambi, like a few others on the base, was a Hyling as well, receptors working in his bloodstream to keep his vitals and energy levels healthy. He had been the first to undergo the procedure, his mech donor being none other than Ratchet himself. It had been a trial and error, hopefully one that wouldn't claim the two lives involved.
"Bambi! I'm gonna become a Hyling, just like you!" Rutter exclaimed, his voice very obviously pleased. Bambi wasn't a tall kid, perhaps five foot seven, and was quite lanky in form, the receptors unable to put him at a healthy weight just yet. He was fair skinned with blonde, nearly orange hair that was a little long, extending to just below his earlobes. A silver piecing was in the corner of his bottom lip, and bright blue eyes looked down at the child he got up to greet.
"I heard! Are you excited?"
"Yes! 'Cause I get to share 'Hide's spark now!" Bambi glanced to Ironhide, cocking a slender eyebrow as a small smile of amusement came to his lips. The giant mech merely watched, letting out an almost inaudible huff. Bambi, like Ironhide, didn't correct the child, however; instead, he just let Rutter go on thinking he and Ironhide would be sharing a spark. The small human's demeanor suddenly changed as he put his hands together in an almost nervous gesture, glancing up at Ironhide before looking back to Bambi, moving closer to the older boy and gesturing for him to lean down. Bambi did as he asked, crouching so he was eye level with the shorter than average child.
"Does… does it hurt?" Rutter whispered, not wanting the mech to hear, even though his auditory receptors could detect his voice despite the hushed tone. Bambi looked back to Rutter honestly, a small smile coming to his lips as he pulled the front of his shirt up, showing the boy the faded, almost invisible scar over his heart. Rutter for a second looked horrified—he was already marred with so many scars from the Chicago takeover.
"See, this is where they set the spark fragment—you can't even feel it, and are asleep the entire time. You'll wake up, and won't even know it happened!" Bambi shared, smiling. Rutter looked at the small scar for a few moments, before the boy let his shirt cover it once more. Blue eyes flickered briefly to Ironhide, who still watched over them, patiently awaiting Ratchet's return. The mech was beginning to wonder if seeing the scar the procedure left would change Rutter's mind.
Ratchet came through the door, letting out a tuft of air in mild annoyance, having disappeared to break up the terror twins, unaware Optimus had gone to do the job himself. The structures in New Haven were already so feeble, there was no need to have two giant mechs rolling around in a fist fight. Blue optics flickered from his Hyling to his adopted fleshling, before moving to Ironhide. "Well, are you ready, Rutter?" he asked calmly, a little nervous though hid it well. This was the first time he'd be doing this procedure on a child—three other successful cases, but they were all adults.
Ironhide crouched down to better speak with his human charge. "If you are having second thoughts, little one, we do not have to go through with it," he reminded. If Rutter was uncomfortable with it, he'd be the last one to force the child into it. Rutter shook his head, smiling.
"Nope, I'm ready!" he said, nodding eagerly.
Over the course of the next ten minutes, Ratchet took Rutter and Ironhide back to one of the medical areas, where it was entirely prepped for surgery. Both Ratchet and Ironhide assumed their holoforms—for Ratchet it was easier to do surgery on a human that way, and for Ironhide he could hold the young human's hand as a means of comfort.
"You're one-hundred percent sure about this?" Ratchet asked, suddenly feeling a bit of nervousness creep into his spark. If Rutter said no, they could wait until he was older, until the results would guarantee.
"I'm one hundred and ten percent sure!" the child reiterated, giving a confident smile. The dark haired holoform nodded, before moving a mask over the boy's face, glancing at Ironhide's holoform.
"Monitor his vitals very closely; if they even so much as fluctuate below normal levels and I'm not already working to stabilize him, alert me to his condition." Ironhide nodded, his scanner already watching the human child as his blue eyes slid closed. Ratchet waited, calming himself and making sure Rutter was completely unconscious, before getting to work and begging Primus that everything turn out all right for his fleshling child.