EDITED ON 10-7-15.

Chapter Three

An Innocent Variable

Beta-read by Cairistona

The first thing Alchana felt as she gradually woke up was the unpleasant feeling of nothing tingling in her tentacles. Without moving, she tried to recall where she had left off in her work before exhaustion had overcome her forcefully. Alchana groaned irritably, and she twitched her tentacles roughly to stimulate the return of feeling.

It did not take long for her to regain sensation as her mind picked up seamlessly from where it had left off the previous rotation. She had completed almost all the necessary hardware replacements with the exceptions of a select few components that she did not have immediate access to at the time. She had also taken the time to properly design a new visage in order to differentiate it from the other drones; it was also a small step to spite the P'Thian brothers. Alchana looked over the new drone scathingly, eyeing every detail to be sure there were no mistakes made in her exhausted state, not that she expected to find any.

Tiron chose that moment to levitate into the lab. Alchana sighed as the tension that had eased between her shoulders snapped firmly back into place as soon as she realized she was not alone.

"You may enter." She stated with a slight breath of annoyance.

"I see you have accomplished much by enduring through the late joors of the night cycle." He observed, pointedly not acknowledging the fact that he didn't need her permission to enter the lab.

"Surely by now you realize that I am not one to be slack when there is work to be done." Alchana sneered.

"Of course not." Tiron had moved closer in order to finish his inspection of her drone, "Your presence here is proof of that." He added in reference to having found her passed out in the lab.

Alchana's snarled softly, and her gaze landed harshly on Tiron. He meant no disrespect, she was sure of that, but sometimes it was good to remind him of his place. He seemed to realize this, and when he spoke next, it was in a much more subdued tone.

"I'd noticed that you redesigned its facial plating." he stated with a hint of curiosity.

Alchana smirked slightly, "I found your brother's design to be distasteful. A most unsuitable aspect for something you plan on spending many quartex working with."

Tiron nodded and continued his inspection, "That is understandable." He reached inside the drone's frame with a tentacle and absently adjusted a few wires to his liking, "There are several major components that have yet to be installed." He hesitated, wondering just how wise it would be to point out an error to his colleague. He decided to ask anyways, keeping in mind that Alchana made plans for many things without telling him unless he asked. "You do realize that we will have to obtain a more stable form of the energon crystal to suitably sustain the prototype for any length of time."

"So you noticed, did you?" Alchana said dryly; it was an obvious fact that the raw crystal was not a viable option as a long term power source. "The whole point of these upgrades was to incorporate the stability the ore provides the crystal. Without it, the raw feedback of the raw energon crystals would destroy the prototype within breems."

Tiron tensed up slightly. He knew only a little bit about the newly discovered energon crystals, and even less about the ore they worked so hard to have delivered to the lab. Most discoveries were held for study for vorns before being given over to scientists to be used. This, however, was not the case where the energon crystals or the stabilizing ore were concerned.

"I only hope that you understand the risk that comes with using such untired materials." Tiron stated slowly, cautiously.

Alchana sighed heavily, "It is the only option available to me, and I intend to use my resources to their fullest." She spoke rhythmically, as if trying to convince herself.

Tiron frowned, his forehead creasing with disapproval. Alchana saw the look and scowled.

"It will be perfectly stable if handled properly." She argued through clenched teeth. He only seemed to be concerned for the safety risks, not the idea of using the materials. Still, this fact irked her and so she reassured him with strained patience. "You can rest assured that I will handle the ores properly."

It was her colleague's turn to sigh, and Alchana knew that he wouldn't argue with her anymore. That was one of the main reasons she kept him around for so long; he knew when to quit and just stand by her decisions. Any other quint would either argue for the sake of argument or stand down without a word. And truthfully, she enjoyed a good argument… but only with the right kind of person.

"I …understand Alchana." Tiron finally ended up saying, his tone resigned. He knew that she knew what she was getting into He would just have to trust her. Alchana always knew what she was doing, though, so he knew his trust in her wouldn't be misplaced.

"Very good." She paused and looked around the lab. The other scientists had arrived and were scuffling around their workstations, picking up their projects from the previous rotation. "Shall we get to work then? I will need you to contact Overseer Remin to see about getting another small supply of energon crystals…" She continued listing a few more things that she needed picked up immediately; a materials request form would take too long to be filled.

Once done telling Tiron what items she needed, Alchana moved onward to finish what minor adjustments she could on the prototype without the parts she needed. Tiron's wry expression quickly turned into a darkened glower as he realized that it would take him a good three joors to get everything on her list.

Al he had really wanted was to further inspect the reformatted drone; it was a beautifully complex weave of machinery that had captured his utmost attention as an engineer.

"Excuse me, Sir, for interrupting."

Tiron looked around, coming out of his thoughtful daze. There was a younger single faced quintesson trying to get his attention. He was obviously very new to the lab and seemed somewhat skittish when he looked up at him.

"Yes?" He asked cautiously, normally the newbie technicians didn't bother their higher ups.

"The Honorable Professor Duani requested that I go to the factory complex to pick up some components for the prototype drone." The young technician faltered and looked downward, his tentacles wringing themselves anxiously.

"Go on." Tiron encouraged him with a slight edge of annoyance. Alchana had probably given a list to someone else for the more minor pieces of equipment. No doubt whoever that particular quint was had passed his task on the youngling; a common enough occurrence within the lab's pecking order.

"Well, you see, sir..." he paused again before resuming eye contact with a fiercely determined glint in his eyes. He could do this. "I don't know exactly where to go, or how to carry out my task."

Tiron looked back down at the young quint, now giving him his full attention. It took a lot in his opinion to ask help from a higher up. He had known several other, unnamed colleagues of his, who would rather float around until someone else did the job for them. It was obvious to Tiron that this young one had his pride.

Tiron sighed; he had nothing better to do at the moment, and he was headed the same direction in any case. So why not?, he figured. He was headed to the same place after all.

"You had best come with me..." He stopped, realizing he had no idea who this technician was.

"Hemir, Sir." the youngling supplied, dipping his head respectfully as he introduced himself. "Hemir-Attra of Betois, junior Technician. I was transferred to Yaos just over three rotations ago."

Tiron nodded thoughtfully and gestured for him to follow. The factory complex, while easy to find for the most part, was not an easy place to navigate -especially when you did not know what to look for.

Several breems later, Hemir stood beside Tiron looking around in awe. The building itself was immense, and colossal spires spewed exhaust while the noise of machinery drummed loudly in the background. The distracting noise was enough to make everyone within a hic's distance want to get as far away as possible. How the engineers and technicians here managed to work with such a distraction was anyone's guess.

It was amazing.

Tiron himself was rather disdainful of the place; it was loud, dirty, and upon entering the complex with his young charge, Tiron discovered that it was just as disorganized as it was the last time he visited. Several workers were scurrying to and fro carrying various and sundry papers or schematics while others were arguing over how something or other should be designed. The chaos sustained within the factory was astounding; Tiron honestly believed he would be driven out of his mind if forced to work in such an environment. Yet, somehow, they managed to keep up the famed recognition of being the top producing factory complex in the Citadel.

"There's plenty of time to admire the view later; you have a task to perform." Tiron abruptly stated, distracting the younger technician from his sight-seeing.

"Yes, sir!" he said and nodded eagerly. Tiron was slightly baffled by this display of emotion; what reason was there for excitement? He had never known anyone, save Alchana, who found such joviality in a simple job. But then again, his colleague was known for her extreme mood swings. That still didn't explain Hemir's odd display though.

Shaking his head, Tiron began to weave his way through the complex to the station where the order would be carried out the quickest. He had been here too long already, and his head throbbed with painful reminders of the loud drumming that filled the buildings.

"The pathways leading through the building are very... misleading. It would be best if you pay attention if you are required to navigate them alone." Tiron warned and complained at the same time. He couldn't count the number of times Bithon had gotten lost and had needed someone, namely him, to guide him out of the maze-like complex.

"Should I compose a holo-map for future reference?" Hemir asked as he began setting up a program on his data pad without waiting for a response. With his little to no ranking, he expected that he would be sent on similar errand runs quite often. That was just the way of things.

"That would be wise." Tiron intoned, slightly impressed. Perhaps this young quint would be worthy of further interest. He would have to discuss it with Alchana... or perhaps not. He knew that she would not be pleased at the inclusion of yet another into her personal agenda. Especially a youngling with absolutely no outside influence.

He pondered this quickly; he did not even know enough about this youngling to tell how he would view their plans. Tiron knew that many of the general population found the occupational tyranny of the Judges to be distasteful, but for all he knew Hemir could be one of the many faithful.

Maybe he could find a way to mentor him, without involving him in personal affairs. Tiron was so deep in thought that he hardly acknowledged when they arrived in front of the doorway of the Overseers office.

'Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself.' Tiron thought as he noticed the highly expectant look he was receiving from Hemir, too expectant.

"I hope you realize I will not be doing your task for you."

"Oh... Of course not, Sir." the youngling looked slightly downcast but quickly straightened himself before adding respectfully, "I thank you for your assistance in accompanying me here."

Hemir shouldn't have expected anything more from the older quint. Of course, Tiron wouldn't do the job for him, he barely knew the quint! How could he have made such a foolish mistake so easily?

Tiron gave a barely perceptible nod of acknowledgement, completely unaware of the younger quintesson's inner thoughts. "I will wait here as I have business of my own to attend to once you are finished."

Hemir did not reply, but instead he faced the doorway and passed a stiff tentacle over the entry sensor. The doors opened with a swoosh and closed quickly behind him. 'Well, this is it then', he thought nervously as he went through the doorway.

Tiron sighed exasperatedly and shook his head for the second time that rotation. He hoped the Overseer wouldn't be too hard on him; Overseer Vaix wasn't known for his enthusiasm when it came to specialized orders. Especially from the research and development departments.

Just then, a ping came from the communications relays built into Tiron's personal data pad. It was a much newer model than that of Hemir's, capable of many useful and equally un-useful things. He opened the program immediately when it notified him of who was contacting him.

'Tiron here Alchana.'

'Good. I need you to consult with Overseer Vaix about the problems concerning the energy feedback you mentioned earlier with the prototypes overhauled systems.'

'So, we're actually calling them prototypes now are we?' Tiron tapped out, purposely jabbing at her non-existent sense of humor through the text-based relay. 'The next thing we'll be doing is naming them and asking them what color paint they want!' he sent back sarcastically.

'What does how we label them as have to do with anything!?' She responded quickly, and he imagined she was furiously glowering at the console she was at. 'Just get his opinion, will you? I need to deal with Slovak. Alchana out.' The inferred 'again' was left out. Slovak, the poor squid, was probably whining about something or other like he always was.

Tiron chuckled; the relay communications were enjoyable. He always could manage to tease her safely without having to be in her presence. Bithon always scolded him, saying that such things were childish, but coming from him that was more of a compliment. Concern for whatever punishment Alchana had in store for Slovak was nonexistent, brief amusement in its place. Alchana had probably just used Slovak as an excuse to cut the conversation short.

Tiron had already planned on talking to the overseer in any case since he had already navigated the complex while escorting Hemir. There was little point in putting it off; a couple of joors were unlikely to change vorns of accumulated gruffness.

Tiron sighed and leaned against the wall opposite the Overseer's office, wondering vaguely how long it would take Hemir. He estimated that it would either take a relatively short amount of time or that he would be waiting for at least two groons. There was a fifty-fifty chance either way, depending on how Overseer Vaix viewed the youngling.

Just for the fun of it, Tiron waged a bet against himself. If it took less than two breems, then he would confront the possibility of mentoring the young technician; if it took more than a groon then he would simply forget the idea had ever crossed his mind.

A few breems later the doorway slide open to reveal a very smug looking Hemir. Longer than the wagered two breems, but still surprisingly quick. Tiron raised a questioning eyebrow; he had not been expecting him to look so pleased with himself after dealing with the ornery overseer.

"I have successfully made the request for the parts that the Honorable Alchana required." Hemir stated proudly, basking in the surprise shown by the older engineer. Once he had figured out how susceptible Overseer Vaix was to flattery it had been easy enough to make the request.

"Very well. Return to the lab and report to Alchana, I will follow shortly." Tiron paused before praising the youngling briefly; "You have performed admirably, Hemir-Attra." He fought to prevent himself from chuckling at the beaming grin Hemir gave him. "Dismissed."

The young technician dipped his head respectfully before levitating down the hall. 'If only we all had such innocent devotion to life.' Tiron thought mournfully. Things hadn't always been so dark in the Citadel, he reminisced regretfully. There had once been a time where science was his joy in life, but that had been before the Judges had come into power. Now he had involved himself in things that drained away such free emotions, living in the shadows of deception and fear of discovery. But that is what he was fighting against, wasn't it?

The Judges had ruled for nearly a thousand vorns, far longer than any quint had a right to live. When they first came into power, long before Tiron had matured, they had been strict, but generous. But as the decavorns passed they became more and more greedy, and the empire grew cold under their leadership. At first Tiron hadn't felt it as harshly as the lesser quints, after the accident though... He had since changed his views.

Tiron sighed, shaking off his dreary train of thought, and entered the overseer's office. After this, he still had to find the mining overseer to get the crystal samples he needed. There was little point in pondering internal gloom. He had many tasks to perform, and he preferred to be a quick as possible about it. If anything Tiron was efficient.

Just so that you know, the communications relay is not the same as a com link. I would consider it more like texting or instant messaging. Proper comm. links between cybertronians will be introduced far later in the story.

You guys will have to tell me what you think of Hemir. For me, he is going to be a little spot of fluff within the story, so expect to see more of him. His interactions with Tiron are adorable!

Thank you all for reading, reviews make me type faster and constructive criticism is dearly loved. Special thanks to the amazing Cairistona for betaing this story despite her busy schedule.