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"No way." Red Alert whispered, staring in acute horror at the data pad. "No way, please oh please no."
Inferno entered the security room at that moment, "Red, what's the matter?"
Red Alert turned to Inferno waving a datapad at Inferno. Jazz, peeking over Infernos shoulder got to see Red Alert the closest he could get to full blown hysterics without going glitchy. "What's wrong Inferno? Everything is!"
Prowl's voice crackled over the comm. link asking, "Red Alert, what's the code for the storage room?"
"Why-"
"Ratchet requested it."
"Ah, I'll open the doors up here, and fill out the pads needed later." Red Alert said, typing distractedly into the computer.
Inferno pulled the datapad from where Red Alert had set it aside to open the door, and read it. Jazz leaned below Inferno's arms, looking up at the datapad. Inferno obligingly lowered it, and they both looked up at the scowling Red Alert. "Red, who's this?"
Red Alert mumbled something that couldn't quiet be heard. Inferno sighed as he said impatiently, "Well, Red, who's Cameralift?"
"My teacher. The one who taught me how to be a security mech." Red Alert said, staring at the ground. "He's going to be so furious."
Overreacting -came the two instant thoughts from Inferno and Jazz.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The entire Ark was curious about what sort of mech Red Alerts teacher would be. "He's gotta have the patience of Primus."
"Nah, Red Alert would've learned fast if it meant that his glitch would have something new to occupy itself with." The other mech laughed.
Red Alert was distinctly nervous, and shifted from foot to foot, peering up at the sky every so often, as they waited for the shuttle filled with mechs to land upon earth.
Several earth dignitaries were also awaiting the arrival of the mechs, for several higher ranked officials of Cybertron were also coming.
When the shuttle was spotted, Red Alert groaned, looking as if he would very much like to kill himself. Inferno felt sorry for his mate, but he couldn't go to the miserable Red Alert. While their relationship was the best known secret, it wouldn't of looked good in front of the officials.
Jazz, nearby Red Alert smiled as he said, "So, what's so bad about him?"
Red Alert watched for a moment as the shuttle landed, and the door opened. When he finally spoke it was nearly lost. "He'll think I've been lax with my security measures."
Jazz allowed an inward snort. Red Alert was anything but lax, and Jazz wondered if Red Alert was close to glitching again. No spark of blue ran through his horns however, so Jazz was forced to discount that theory.
A mech no bigger then Red Alert strode out of the doorway. He surveyed the crowds with a quick sweep and instantly spotted Red Alert. Red Alert looked pale. "Slag." He croaked. "He's furious."
"Red Alert!" The voice boomed across the distance, full of crackling power and anger. "I want to talk to you now!"
Red Alert gulped, a trait picked up from the humans and he hissed, "Tell Inferno that if I don't appear in three cycles I'm dead and go ahead and find the will-chip I recorded."
0o0o0o0o0o0o
The twins looked at each other, and then at their older brother as he nervously motioned to the mech. Both walked off, Red Alert twitchy and about ready to scream, the other mech supremely confident and angry. "What do you thinks going to happen?"
"Red Alert is about to be yelled at." Sunstreakers optics became slightly cruel as he said, "Shall we go listen in?"
0o0o0o0o0
The twins put their auditory receptors to the door, listening intently. "What sort of security measures were those! All of those cameras were outdated and easily fooled."
"Sir, the humans have not reached the same level of technology, and Prime ordered that we were to use human technology around humans-"
"That isn't an excuse!"
The twins jumped as the mech slammed a fist on the counter. "I've heard nothing but bad things about you since you came aboard Red Alert! Letting anyone get away with any prank, no matter how small! I thought I taught you better then that! You should've set up at least 10 secret cameras around the edge of the perimeter instead of just the two that you did use-"
"Sir." Red Alerts tone was slightly timid. "I used five. The other three were hidden amongst the trees."
"You mean those organic things?"
"Yessir."
There was a short silence, then Cameralift asked thoughtfully, "How long have you been on Earth Red Alert?"
"Several years onlined. We spent a few millennium offlined."
"Thought as much. I want to see all of your records."
Red Alert seemed about ready to protest, and the mech growled, "NOW!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
By the time Cameralift was done, the twins had gotten a wire into the room, and were currently recording it and broadcasting it to certain members of the Ark. Only those who asked like Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Inferno. Bumblebee had said that he was unwilling to eavesdrop, but he wouldn't mind an account of it afterwards.
Red Alert stared at Cameralift inside of the room, remembering all of the different techniques that the mech had taught him to set up an area for maximum security. Heh, I'm untrusting out of my glitch, he never did trust anyone originally.
Cameralift looked up from the reports, growling, "You let someone into the storerooms without getting permission?"
"It was a request from the second in command, and Ratchet had requested it-"
"That doesn't matter! He, no matter how high, should've written out the proper forms. Do you even know what he got?"
"Extra tubing to fix the twins-"
"And there's another point of problem. Why haven't you stopped their pranking in process? You obviously have caught signs that they were going to prank."
"Well, I thought it would be best to let them prank or else they'll get into even worse trouble, and this way I could monitor their pranks to make sure the wrong mech didn't-"
"Don't you talk back to me!" Cameralift roared. Red Alert flinched, and the twins looked at each other, fuming. "Moreover, what's this about Mirage, and the Aerial bots? Letting a mech wander about the Ark invisible-"
"Sir, he-"
Red Alerts protest was lost in the resounding crash as Cameralift snarled, "I said don't talk! What has happened to you? Did the organics mess with your CPU? You were coming along so beautifully on Cybertron. You didn't walk into a room without scanning it five times at the least, you never went anywhere that you didn't secure the area. You might of drabbled in rescue missions with that mech Inferno, but you never once slipped! You had the perfect record. Then once you got to this planet you got worse!"
Red Alert was about to say something, but Cameralift drowned it out. "You started out well. In your reports you presented various places for Decepticons to attack, and you kept up a stiff standard. However, as time goes on your reports become sloppier and less detailed."
Prowl thought back as he listened in to all of the times that he had thanked Primus that Red Alert was at last listening to him and not putting any more of his conspiracy theories inside.
Red Alert made a slight noise, to be overridden by Cameralift. "Moreover your attachment to Inferno is well known even on Cybertron."
A heavy silence descended, and Prime suddenly had the urge to walk down and stop Cameralift before he said something to potentially damage Red Alerts and Inferno's relationship. "I thought I broke you of all attachment to other mechs. I also thought I had taught you to keep the cameras up and running even if mechs were interfacing right in front of it."
Red Alert said in a tiny voice, from somewhere in the back of his vocalizer, "Sir, Inferno's helped me, and I do want the members of the Ark to have their privacy-"
"Privacy? Red Alert, we are security. Mechs privacy is not part of our job description. We are paid to make sure they don't have a private life. Moreover, you are not supposed to have a private life."
Red Alert made a slight motion. A single glare made him stop dead. "It looks like I'll have to reteach you everything."
Red Alert nodded, optics fixed on the ground. "Yes sir."
Cameralift sighed, motioning slightly. "Red Alert, this is for your good. I don't want you to be left without a job after this war ends. But I can't give you my business if you aren't good enough."
"I know sir." Red Alert whispered, and he dragged his optics to look miserably up at Cameralift. "I'll do my best to relearn everything Cameralift."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Prime scowled at the table in front of him. The two mechs had left the room to look over the base just after Red Alert had promised to relearn everything. All of those bad habits that we thought we were fixing were just habits that he developed under Cameralift.
Prime sighed to himself, turning over the puzzle of his security director over in his mind. Who and what is Cameralift to Red Alert? Moreover, what did Cameralift do to teach Red Alert? Inferno has been unhappy with the arrival of Cameralift, and he can catch some of Red Alerts feeling across their bond. Of course, it may be the fact that Cameralift has so much power over Red Alert…
Prime never thought he'd see a time when Red Alert meekly accepted corrections to his way of doing things, no matter who it was. The last time Prime had attempted to make a correction, Red Alert had broadcasted several embarrassing images to the Ark. Prime never tried it again, and nobody below him dared after hearing the stories that circulated.
A slight, hidden smile twitched under Primes faceplate as he contemplated some of the rumors. It went from confessing his undying love to Bumblebee, to Bumblebee calling him 'mother' in front of the Arks crew when Bumblebee was just a sparkling, and the bots were raising him.
The truth was, it was simply a drunk Prime singing one of the greatest hit songs off key and horribly. Red Alert had thankfully kept some of the much juicer blackmail under wraps. At least this way no one outside of the Ark was quiet sure what exactly had been shown.
The door slid open to reveal a fuming Prowl. "Prime, I want Cameralift gone."
"Why?"
"Firstly, he is completely reprogramming all of the codes to the door. Red Alert changed them just last month, and he insists on changing them once a week, if not every day."
"That's… impractical."
"I know. So get in there and tell him to stop!"
"It's out of my hands." Prime said, sighing. "I can't get him removed unless he engages in some sort of behavior that is not condoned. And I don't think he is any time soon."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The twins nodded as they kept the bucket of paint balanced carefully between them. They were counting on Red Alerts sense of paranoia to make him cautiously round the corner, or for his angry shout to warn them. They were going to nail Cameralift, however, if it landed them in the brig for vorns.
Prowl instead rounded the corner, optics clear and dark. "Twins. I take that is for Cameralift?"
"Yeah, I don't like the things he was saying." Sideswipe said, smiling. "It's a little crude, but anything more elaborate will be caught."
Prowl thought for a moment, before smiling suddenly. "Unless, it wasn't against him, instead…"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Red Alert knew something was off, especially with Prowl calling him to Primes office, but he went.
As Red Alert left, his uneasy apparent even to those who didn't know him, Prowl motioned to Cameralift. "I wish to talk to you as well in my room."
Cameralift nodded, and they walked in the direction of Prowls office. "So, when did you meet Red Alert?"
"He cam to my school to be trained in engineering. Just how to fix small things, because no one trusted him to do anymore." Cameralift chuckled as the thought brought on a warm pride. "I decided to look him over, and to give him basic security training because everyone needed it, not just security mechs. He turned out to be a natural, and when I heard about his glitch, it all made sense."
"I heard rumors that you wish to make him take over your business when you pass on."
"That's true enough. When the War came, I donated all of my workers who were willing to the Autobot forces. Red Alert had to fake sanity, and I taught it to him, fooling the recruiters into thinking they had picked up a perfectly sane mech." Cameralift smile was feral. "Red Alert didn't surprise me in the least when he told me that he had gotten this far."
Prowl said nothing. Cameralift is obsessed. He doesn't even realize how Red Alerts been acting since he's gotten here. Red Alert was finally beginning to relax enough to keep his conspiracy theories out of his reports. Please Primus, I don't want to go through that again.
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Because, quiet frankly, my last one sucked. So I'm redoing this. Not completely, I kept the beginning because it was good, but everyone who's reviewed has agreed that the ending wasn't the best. And as a writer, it is my duty to give you the best I can get, so stay tuned for the next part. Inferno and Red Alert are going to get a little down time.