Differences 4
A Transformers Prime Fanfiction
Set Before "Trickster"
It was odd, Jack mused a bit detached, how one's stomach could just up and decide to secede from one's body. At the moment it felt like his entire digestive tract was attempting to vacate its traditional place in favor of crawling under the nearest table to hide. Not that he could blame his wayward intestines. The rest of him was pretty much in the same boat. His hand flexed around the yellow pencil that was currently idling on the paper his eyes refused to focus on.
Recycle. Optimus Prime had used the word with hesitation, as if he knew very well that it failed to convey the proper meaning. The steady noise, like but distinct from crumpling metal demanded Jack's attention again and he gave his head a brisk shake. Not that that did much good. From the moment he had realized the source of the sound it had become an insidious constant; preventing him from giving his attention to anything else. The accompanying image seized his mind and his fingers tightened again while his stomach rolled; Optimus causally chewing his own servos like they were some kind of peanut brittle.
Jack wasn't entirely certain why he was still here. The ever thoughtful Prime had given him the perfect excuse to leave. The noise was distracting him from his studies. A particularly loud grinding crunch sent a shiver down the human's spine and set his teeth on edge. There was no reason to stay, but something held him to the spot as the long seconds dragged on and he tried to ignore the grating sound.
Optimus's cerulean optics never left the screen as he poured over the latest data, but for the processor that had once gathered and sorted the mass of information that poured into his one station in the Iacon Hall of Records what information they possessed was painfully small. Even with most of his processor dedicated to decoding the complex Iacon Database much of his processor was left free to observe the world around him.
Few, perhaps only Ratchet, truly understood how very aware the Prime was at all times. Many were the whispered conversations he had overheard and ignored for the sake of privacy. This awareness had not served him over well in his position on Cybertron, drawing his attention away from the tasks assigned him. But in the millennia he had been involved in this war it had save his spark and the sparks of his Autobots countless times. The strongest facet of this was his ability to sense the moods of his soldiers.
The Prime allowed his awareness to pause on the human currently sitting at one of the desks. It was clear that something was bothering the youth. He had been struggling over the same simple calculation for nearly half an hour now. It was equally clear however that Jack was fighting to hide his discomfort from the leader of the Autobots. For the moment The Cybertronian decided to respect the youth's privacy. Jack would share the problem with him in his own time.
The human had finally finished the mathematics problem when the sound of squealing tires filled the silo heralding the arrival of Miko and her guardian followed by a smaller yellow muscle car. He glanced over at the red and blue form in front of the monitor; glad of the distraction but concerned about the near tactless girl's reaction to the half eaten hand. Standing quickly the raven haired youth moved to intercept the slim Asian, but the nimble girl had already spotted the biohazard box and was instantly scrambling up the steps to get a closer look.
"Heya Boss Bot!" She called up cheerfully. "Watch ya got in there? The Hatchet doesn't usually like messy stuff near the computer. How'd you get him to let you keep whatever that is, oh!" The girl's honey colored eyes widened in shock as Jack came up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder at the same time she identified the object in the suspension. "Frag! What is that doing there?"
"Miko!" Bulkhead gasped out. "Where did you hear language like that?"
"Like what?" the slim Asian demanded.
The ex-Wrecker stuttered and glanced helplessly at Optimus. The Prime hid a small smile and turned his attention to the girl.
"Frag is not a word to be used in most situations," he explained delicately.
"Arcee uses it," Miko pointed out. "And finding a hand in a bucket isn't what I'd call most situations."
The Prime made a note to speak to his second in command privately and knelt down to address the girl while he formulated his response. Underlying these thoughts was a sudden glimmer of understanding regarding Jack's behavior.
"It is a word expressive of great emotion and tainted with deep anger and disgust. While there are situations when it can be appropriate I sincerely hope you never experience any such conditions. It is foul language and unbecoming of a being of your intelligence."
"Right," Miko consented dismissively. "Frag's a four-letter word. Back to the main question. What is that doing there?" she pointed in macabre fascination at the remains of the severed appendage.
Optimus stood and delicately lifted the remaining palm and servos out of the fluid.
"While Ratchet is capable of constructing perfectly functional servos and joints there are certain elements necessary to our function not available off of Cybertron, most importantly cybartronium. Our reserves were depleted long ago necessitating that we recycle and reabsorb these trace elements."
"So what method do you use for that?" Raf asked an intense curiosity burning behind his glasses.
In reply the red and blue mech reached out and snapped off a fragment of the black palm.
"The degenerative gel disrupts the molecular bonds weakening the mesh and metal for mechanical separation and chemical absorption," the Prime explained carefully. "I then take small manageable fragments and absorb them through specially adapted receptors in my oral cavity after mechanically processing them in this manner."
The younger boy's eyes widened in shock as Optimus popped the section of mesh into his mouth and began chewing. The sound of warping metal filled the suddenly dead quiet silo until it was interrupted by a harsh hacking noise from Miko.
"That is so scrapping gross!" she shrieked out dramatically clutching her stomach. "I can't believe you just did that! That's your hand!"
Optimus arched an optic ridge at her but was more concerned with Raf's reaction. The boy was turning a fascinating shade of green and shaking a little. The Prime knelt down to assess the human but Raf suddenly bolted straight for a nearby trash can and proceeded to purge whatever biomatter he had been processing for digestion. Jack was at the smaller boy's side in a moment rubbing his back soothingly and holding him up. In response to a quick signal from Optimus Ratchet came striding out of the back caverns and immediately scanned the boy.
"I can detect nothing wrong," he stated with a confused frown.
"It's nothing really," Raf gasped out, "I just, I just-" the boy shot a guilty look over at Optimus and returned his attention to the bucket when he saw the great mandibles working steadily on the mesh fragment.
"It's just that that's scraping gross!" Miko repeated pointing to the Prime's faceplates. "Cool, but gross. I mean you're eating your hand, hak…" she clutched at her stomach and let out a moan.
"Miko seriously it's not that bad," Bulkhead tried to sooth her.
"So right, but I still think I better get outta here before I heave on you."
The ex-Wrecker shot an apologetic look at Optimus, who nodded with an understanding smile, and scooped Miko up before transforming and peeling out of the base. The Prime returned the focus of his attention to the two males. Raf was trying to stutter an apology between the random contractions of his diaphragm. Jack was quietly soothing him as he ran his hand over the smaller boy's back in circles. The red and blue mech noted that all signs of stress had left the raven haired youth now that he was concentrating on tending to his friend.
"Perhaps it would be best if you went to assist Bumblebee with the weekly inventory," Ratchet suggested gruffly, "but first come to the med bay with me and get something to drink to quiet your internals."
Raf nodded weakly and with a guilty glance at Optimus scrambled into Ratchet's outstretched hand. The medic carried him across the base and into the med bay asking a string of clinical questions as they went. Optimus returned his attention to Jack who had taken to his homework again and was very deliberately ignoring the Prime.
"Jackson?" the mech felt a slight twinge of discomfort when the youth flinched at his voice.
"Yes Optimus?"
"May I assume that you find this procedure unappealing as the others?"
The human hesitated, one hand gripping the book he held while the other came up to rub the back of his neck.
"I, no. I mean, I guess, maybe a little."
"There is no reason for you to remain here if you find the process disturbing," Optimus pointed out gently. "I would not be offended if you chose to work elsewhere in the base."
"I know that," Jack stated a bit too forcefully.
"There are several offices that would be quite comfortable work spaces, or I could open a bridge home for you."
"No thanks, it's really not that bad. I'll just stay here."
"Very well," the Prime stated softly and returned to his work.
Jack picked up his text book again and took a deep breath. He had learned to read the leader of the Autobots to a small degree over the months he had spent under the Cybertronian's care. From the tone of that last statement the conversation was not over.