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Ratchet scowled at the clock. When he had heard that a youngling with a paranoia glitch was in the city, he had jumped at the chance to study it. Of course, if the youngling seemed to be able to vanish for long periods of time without anyone noticing… Already the idea was shaping up to be a bad one.
Ratchet turned as the door hissed open. A youngling was ushered into the room, the youngling looking as if he would rather die then take another step. Ratchet frowned, and looked at the femme. She took a deep breath. "Ratchet, I'd like you to meet Red Alert. He's the one with the glitch."
Red Alerts hands clenched slightly, as he glared at the doctor, distrust and hatred rolling off of him. Ratchet rocked back onto his heels. "I see. Very well, can I talk to him alone?"
Instantly Red Alert tensed further, as he looked from the femme to Ratchet. Ratchet quickly changed his CPU. "Never mind. Please stay."
Red Alert relaxed slightly, apparently trusting of the femme. Ratchet sat down, so he was optic level with Red Alert. Confusion flittered through the younglings optics for a moment. Ratchet grimaced inwardly. He was going have to be careful with this one. "So, Red Alert, have you been to doctors before?"
Red Alert said nothing, until the femme nudged him. Then, grudgingly he nodded. Great, no wonder he's so tense. He must have been trotted through a whole bunch of wannabies who didn't know what they were doing. "Very well, how many?"
Red Alert looked up at the femme, scowling. She made a slight motion, and he looked back at Ratchet. "A hundred."
Ratchet wondered if Red Alert was exaggerating. "Very well, how many can you name?"
Red Alert took a deep breath, and launched into his list. As Red Alert listed off the names, Ratchets spark sank. Too many. Much too many. There was no way he'd be able to talk to them and find how Red Alert reacted to certain things, or what they had found out from him. "Wait, name the mechs you've stayed with for at least five vorns." Ratchet interrupted.
Red Alert was silent, and then shook his head. Ratchet winced. If Red Alert hadn't been with any of them for the mandatory five vorns, then he was still an untreated mech. But, it was clear from the defensive pose that Red Alert took; the doc bots had left a lasting impression, and not one of them good.
0o0o0o0o
Red Alert glared at this 'Ratchet' wondering what his real name was. All too often the names were fake, as well as the entire operation that they did. He should know. He had to endure twenty of them, all of them aiming for money. Ratchet sighed, and he stood up, stretching. "Thank you for telling me that Red Alert."
Red Alert wondered what he was going to do with the list of names. "I've got to get back to the base, and talk to my commander. Maybe he'll let you in so we can talk there later."
Ratchet left, leaving behind a severely confused Red Alert. The femme sprinted after him, calling, "Wait! What about your payment?"
Ratchet turned to look at Red Alert, who stared back, coiling tighter and tighter. Why is he staring? He wondered, and tensed even further as Ratchet shook his head. "I'll tell you later." Red Alert tensed further. Step one: bait your hook was complete.
Next for step two: hook your prey. Red Alert wondered how Ratchet was going to do this. "I'll talk to you later about payment. This time it can be free." Step two complete.
"No." Red Alert snapped, glaring. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're another one of those scammers aren't you? The ones who want to dissect my CPU with a torch."
Ratchets optics dimmed for a second, and he bent down to look Red Alert in the optics. "If that's what you believe doctors do, then its untrue. I'd like to help you out with your glitch-"
"-Step three complete. Lying." Red Alert snarled back, and fled into the night.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Ratchet sighed, one hand covering his optics. The femme who had guided Red Alert in, stood flabbergasted. "Step three?"
"He's referring to the steps that a good con man makes in order to get a lot of money." Ratchet explained, wondering how he was supposed to get the younglings trust. "I'm guessing his creators were one of those who were taken in by a bunch of shams, am I correct?"
"We don't know. He was left here one night without an explanation. He seemed to have expected it, for he didn't raise a fuss like most of the others, and we've had several doctors to come look at him. That's why we wanted you, because we wanted you to confirm what the rest have been saying."
"What might that be?"
"That his glitch will fry his CPU before too much longer."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Inferno sat up straighter in his cell as footsteps sounded, echoing through the building. A guard appeared, and unlocked the door. "You're out. Too bad about being locked up. Last night it's said that the famous Ratchet landed."
"Oh really, what for?"
"No one knows."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Red Alert curled up on his recharge booth, ignoring his growling energon processor. He wasn't going to come out until everyone was quiet, so that way no one could tease him about having a glitch. Red Alert looked out the window, and saw the first brilliant light creeping across the sky. He paused, amazed at himself.
He had gone nearly two days without energon, and didn't feel too bad off. Red Alert wondered if it was just a hallucination created by the lack of recharge and decided that it had to be that. He got up, and moved into the kitchen, deciding that he would stand against the teasing.
The kitchen was busy, bustling with a large number of younglings, some of them older then even Red Alert. Red Alert took a deep breath, and plunged into the chaos, fighting his way to get a cube.
His hand landed on the last one, and he quickly ran off with it before anyone else could get there.
Quietly he sidled around the edge of the building, until he was nearly completely invisible. Silently he sipped at the cube, taking it slow. No need to rush his only meal of the day. He would get snacks from what he could scrounge from the rats down in the sewers.
A white van pulled up to the building. Red Alert stiffened, and decided to make good his escape. There was no way he was going to be poked, prodded, and asked stupid questions. Red Alert silently slipped off, unnoticed by all.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Ratchet groaned as once again Red Alert had disappeared. How the slag was he supposed to find out if Red Alerts glitch was lethal or not, if he couldn't even find the sparkling? "Call me when he gets back, and don't allow him to escape. I might bring up his glitch, but it's the only way to make sure."
0o0o0o0o0o0o
Inferno waved a cube of high-grade as he crowed, "Three cheers for the general who couldn't help but get hit by the ghost!" Laughter followed Infernos shout, and several bots in the corner shook their heads.
Red Alert moved through the underground beneath Inferno, listening to the conversations. He paused and listened in consternation as several mechs talked. "I'm telling you, the ghost is getting too big of a liability! He can turn on us."
"And he's helped us. I say we allow him to continue roaming around."
"Just kill him and get it over with." Proclaimed a third. "If we can't trust him, then might as well get rid of him."
Red Alert stiffened, hands clenching. How dare they! After all I've done for them. He turned, and froze as footsteps sounded through the sewers. When did a decepticon come this close to the surface? Quietly he wove through the darkness.
The single decepticon made his way through the sewers, nervous as hundreds of voices poured down from above. Red Alert let out a sharp whistling sound, making the decepticon flinch and turn fast, gun pointing. A light flashed in front of him, and quickly the Decepticon charged, figuring that he could take out whoever it was.
He had no chance to scream as he was dropped into the pit filled with hungry rats, all waiting for fresh energon.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
For the next few days, Inferno visited Red Alert in the sewers, talking to the Ghost, while Red Alert avoided his home like the plague. As Inferno rambled on, Red Alert found himself listening all the more to Infernos random ramblings.
Although Red Alert only barely ever replied, Inferno didn't seem put off by this at all. In fact, he seemed encouraged, and Red Alert found himself talking more and more. It was on the second day that he realized, I'm happy. For the first time in Vorns, I'm glad to know someone.
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Aww, sweet Inferno, visiting a mech he hardly even knows. And Red Alert actually stopped to take time and listen out of his busy Decepticon killing schedule!