AN: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.
Remcy: *gulps* This isn't good at all.
Balm: *confused* What isn't good?
Remcy: *motions to chapter* It's my turn. *looks but doesn't see Authoress* Where's the Authoress?
Pandimala: *walks in* Authoress is out in the wilderness somewhere riding four-wheelers through the woods in the middle of nowhere.
Ch. 6: The Agency Finds You
Casius' 1st P.O.V.
I grumbled as I shifted through the blank test forms in front of me. Once every stellar cycle, I was to help pre-go through the bots signed up for our entrance exam. While it was common knowledge among the common bots that we would automatically accept the top five entrants of this exam…that wasn't quite true. Most of the time, we used this exam to let bots in, that's true, but when they got in, they went under the second half of the 'exam'. We would bring them to the Agency and, when they got to the main control room, which would obviously be empty, there would be an 'attack' on our systems. At that point almost all of the cadets would panic and run out of the room screaming. Actually, we hadn't had a prospect pass that part of the exam for thirty stellars now.
Bots these solars…they expected everything to happen in a certain way and for everything to be told to them. If there was a surprise, most bots would say that life was 'unfair' and that they would complain and try to use political means to get what they wanted. It was deplorable. What was worse, we were having to hire more and more of these brats by the solar.
Picking up the list of signed on candidates to take the test tomorrow, I sighed and shook my helm. More idiot bots. While five were guaranteed to pass the first part of the exam, I could tell that many of these bots would get into the CIA simply because they had sires and carriers who were in high office. One of the first designations on this list was called Klink, and I knew that his sire was an aide to councilfemme Setback. Definitely had some connections in high places that would let that slagging youngling into the CIA.
I scrolled down the list and, again, I found another name that registered with me. Remcy. His sire worked in cyber-engineering and had worked on many large projects that gave him a lot of connections…I even heard that he knew Ultra Magnus personally. Then his carrier was a space bridge technician who worked closely with headquarters to keep the nexus running. In short, this mech had all the connections in existence he needed to get into the CIA. Sometimes, I wished we functioned like the CBI in scouting out our recruits. But, we needed more bots than the CBI because we were spread out throughout all of our colonies…though recruitment could only happen on Cybertron.
There were many other bots on this list who had connections but it was those two that stood out to me. They would be spoiled rotten and, if they were able to get into the CIA, I would use every resource that I had possible to make their stay a living Pit and, if possible, get them to leave the CIA. There was a point when I was just starting out here when bots had to go through rigorous procedures to gain access to the CIA. Those were true agents. The ones that could use their processors to solve a problem but, if they were caught in a physical altercation, could defend themselves and maybe make a dent in the enemy forces.
But, with the list of bots before me and what I knew of them, I doubted that this group would harken the return of those old times. With a growl, I stood up, the blank tests in my servo, before I left my room at CIA headquarters to give the instructors this exam. I hoped that these idiots squirmed during this written part and then felt true fear when the second part of the test began. I was tired of these young upstarts coming in here thinking they were the right servo of Primus. They were going to have to go through the darkest depths of the Pit if they were going to try and earn my respect.
Remcy's 1st P.O.V.
"Thanks for walking with me 'Mala." I thanked the triple changer next to me as we left academy housing and made our way toward Metroplex. They had the testing in there because they could seal off all communication lines, even private messages, from the outside so there would be no chance of cheating happening.
My friend laughed from my right as we continued our travel. "It's no problem Rem. Zarron was out with Geo and Helio. For a bot who doesn't want to be a cyber-ninja, Zarron sure helps a lot of bots who want to train." We both laughed at that before she continued. "Balm is at a medical conference with Ratchet on Andellor, Tana is training with Kradox and Warpath, and Vox is working on some projects for the CBI. I'm so glad that he got in."
I nodded at that. Vox was really lucky to have gotten into his dream job already. Hopefully, after this solar, I would be able to claim the same thing as well. But, until this test was over, my dream was still out of reach. "Speaking on Vox, what have you heard from him about where he's living?" He had told me that he was moving to CBI headquarters, where most of the bots who worked their lived, but that place wasn't exactly small and I had to figure out where exactly he was staying. It wasn't against the rules to visit and I wanted to hang out with him here again. Going out with him and 'Mala a few solars ago was great and I hoped to be able to do it again.
Thankfully, Pandimala nodded before speaking. "Yeah, Vox says that his room number is 701 in side B of the housing department of the building. When you were studying with Fleetsight Minor the other solar, Vox called and asked me to come help him move in. Not a bad sized room for a fresh-bot at the CBI to be honest. Once you pass this and get into the CIA, then we'll have to go over there and meet him for a drink. This time it'll be on me."
Yeah…last time I had ended up covering the drinks for our meeting. Neither Vox nor Pandimala were happy about that. Both of them had argued but I promised I would let them buy me drinks next time we met up. I guess 'Mala wasn't going to give Vox a say in this and, while Vox could be stubborn at times, we both knew that Pandimala had to be the most stubborn Cybertronian in existence. I bet that, if we got Pandimala and Megatron in a room for a few solars that she could make Megatron surrender just from her stubbornness alone.
…Of course the odds of that happening were a billion credits to a half.
"Whatever you say 'Mala." I chuckled as we continued to walk down the streets.
It wasn't long before we arrived at Metroplex and both of us knew this was where we were going to have to part. I had to do this part alone but I was so glad that she was able to come this far with me. I knew that she had studying to do if she wanted to reach her own dream of becoming a Prime.
"Hey Rem…good luck in there." She said before she picked me up in a hug. I was used to it by now and so I laughed and nodded. She joined in and set me down before saying, "Of course, with how good you are, I doubt that you would need it."
"Thank's 'Mala. For everything." I really thanked her.
Back on that first solar of boot camp, I couldn't have imagined that we would have gotten this far by working together. If it wasn't for Pandimala, I may have been the one who dropped boot camp and shooting my chances of joining the CIA. But, Pandimala and all my friends had stuck with me through thick and thin to get to this point. She was really a great friend and I felt like nothing would ever change that. Nothing at,
I let out an oomph as a bot who was slightly taller than I was, though not close to Pandimala's own height, shoved passed me as he made his way up the stairs. He was a dark blue four-wheel mech with a light gray faceplate and light blue optics. He seemed to stand up straight, like he had a pipe stuck up his aft, and his optics glared down at me. "Why don't you watch where you are going? I can't believe scum like you are allowed to take this exam."
This bot had some nerve! I wasn't going to allow him to get away with that. "I don't know how some bot like you is going to be able to sit and take this exam with that pipe shoved up your aft." I shot back at this idiot.
He, of course, didn't like that and marched up so he and I were less than an arms-length apart, before he said, "My designation is Klink and if some turbo-rat like you has something against me, I'll beat it out of you. And I won't be alone."
I wasn't taking his threat for a nano. "Well Klink, my designation is Remcy and I don't care what sort of names you need to call me to make yourself feel like you've got some standing, and whatever cronies you have at your backplates to push forward your empty threats, I fight my own battles and I'm not so easy to push aside."
Immediately I had to retreat back as Klink tried to shove me but, in doing that, I wasn't ready for his servo transforming into a long blade and him pointing it at me. This wasn't good and, to my surprise, I didn't see Pandimala. Where did she get off to? Had she left before Klink had shown up? "How about you take out your weapon and let's see how empty my threats are."
While I wanted to do nothing more than take out my swords and deal this arrogant mech a lesson, we were in a public place and not in a designated training ring. Fighting outside of the rings was highly discouraged here in Iacon, especially here in front of Metroplex, and it would probably look bad to the CIA if I got into a fight right now. "While I would like nothing more than to take you on, Klink, I don't want to look bad to the CIA before I even have a chance to get in."
Anger flashed in Klink's optics before he growled and held up his sword at the ready. "Then I'll make you fight!" He then took a step to lunge at me.
However, the familiar black longsword appearing at his neck cables caused everybot around us to freeze, including Klink. "Put your sword away and I'll return mine. But, if you take one more step, I won't be afraid to use this." Pandimala's voice was heavier than I had ever heard it and the look in her optics was cold. It caused me to shiver. While I had never seen her like this before, Vox had told me a time when she had gotten mad at a bully when they were younger. Was this what it was like?
The area was so quiet around us that I heard Klink gulp as his optics widened in fear before he transformed his sword back into his servo and raised his servos up in surrender. As she promised, Pandimala removed her sword from his neck cables and put it back in her subspace before she walked back toward me. She must have moved out of sight when Klink bumped into me. Just like I had been witness to before, Pandimala moved way too quietly for somebot her size. It really wasn't fair for the rest of us. Of course, I was glad that she was on my side.
When Pandimala was standing by me, I saw Klink's optics focus in realization…though they stayed wide. "You…You're Pandimala. The triple changer." He then looked between the two of us before he narrowed his optics.
Pandimala nodded. "Yes, I'm the triple changer Pandimala. But, that doesn't really matter. If this was the time and place to fight, I wouldn't have stepped in. Remcy here would have been able to take you on fairly. But, as Remcy pointed out, this is neither the time nor the place to be fighting with each other. Now, both of you," She was now addressing me as well. "get inside and take this exam. If I hear of anymore trouble between the two of you this solar, I'll be putting the beating on both of you. This is neither the time nor the place for a fight."
Klink nodded and wasted no time in running inside of Metroplex. But, I hesitated and looked up to my friends with a smile. "Thanks for that 'Mala. You're a great friend."
She laughed and gave me a shove forward. "You are too Rem. Now, get in there and make the makers of this test regret giving it to you."
I laughed at that and nodded. "Yes 'Mala. Now, I better get inside. I'll call you when I'm done and out."
We both waved at each other before I made my way inside and walked toward the testing room. Once I was there, I walked inside and glanced around. In total, I could see forty mechs and femmes sitting down at desks waiting for the test to start. In a back corner, I saw Klink talking with a blue and black hauling mech and a silver and white racer femme…of course he was also keeping an optic on me as well. Didn't blame him really. Pandimala was pretty intimidating when you got on her bad side and that was the worse I had ever seen.
But, enough of that. I was here to take an exam and, to do that, I was going to need a seat. Thankfully, I saw one open in the front on my right side in the corner next to white femme who was a little shorter than I was with violet and green markings and medium blue optics. Behind me was a black mech with lavender markings and light blue optics. Once I sat down, I turned so I could see both of them before nodding. "Hi, the name's Remcy. Who are you two?"
The mech smiled and patted me on the back once before saying, "Blotto's my name. Nice to meet you Remcy!"
Then, the femme nodded. "Yeah, nice to meet you Remcy. My designation's Scorpi. Seems like you and Klinky over there had a run in."
I glanced back to Klink for a nano before motioning toward the idiot with my helm. "You know him?"
Blotto, to my surprise nodded, "Yeah, Scorpi and I've known him since we were in boot camp. Idiot almost got us 'offlined' so many times it wasn't even funny. If it wasn't for his sire working for councilfemme Setback he wouldn't be here now. We all heard how many strings his sire had to pull to get him through boot camp and into this exam. Primus knows how many he's going to have to pull to get Klink into the CIA."
Scorpi let out a snort before she nodded. "Bet he already got the answers for this exam today." She then motioned to me before saying, "So anyways, what happened between you and Klink?"
Again, I glanced back at Klink, and saw him continuing to talk to the bots around him, before I looked back to Scorpi and Blotto. "Well, he tried to intimidate me and belittle when I was walking in. I'm not a bot who gets pushed around. Trust me on that one. So, I took a verbal shot back at him. I guess he isn't used to that because he tried to get in my faceplate and threaten me. Well, thanks to training with one of my fellow boot camp cadets, and best friends, most bots don't intimidate me."
"Yeah," Scorpi agreed with a nod "Klink's used to everybot bowing toward him thanks to his sire. Of course, Blotto and I have family in high positions so he knows not to try too much with us and that we will snap back. But, a random bot like you Remcy, no offence, he was probably shocked when you did that."
Yeah…of course these bots, who seemed to be heading toward being my friends, didn't know the rest of the story. With how they seemed to react with Klink, I had a feeling that they would enjoy what was coming next.
"So what happened next?" Blotto encouraged me on.
Smirking, I continued the story. "Anyways, bots were watching us at this point and so I told him that I wasn't really affected by his empty threats and so he pulled out a blade and challenged me to fight him there on the steps."
Both of them widened their optics. "Really? Outside of the fighting rings?" Scorpi asked me in shock.
Nodding, I continued. "Yeah, and it was around this point when I realized that the friend that I came with had disappeared. I assumed that she had left before Klink had shown up but I hadn't realized. Anyways, I told him that I didn't want to ruin my chances with the CIA but he didn't like that and took a step to lunge at me with his sword. But, he only got to take that one step before he was stopped."
Both Blotto and Scorpi looked confused at that before Blotto spoke. "Why did he stop? From when we knew Klink, once he went to attack somebot he doesn't stop. What did you do to get him to stop after one step?"
Laughing I shook my helm. "Well, it wasn't me per say. Remember that friend I told you about? Well, for a bot her size, she can move better than a cyber-ninja. She had gotten next to him without him knowing and had her blade at his neck cables before he could take more than that step. She then got him to stand down and come in here before she wished me luck and I came in."
They both looked even more surprised. "Wait," Scorpi started, "a femme got Klink to stop? How? I mean, I've gotten the drop on Klink before and he wouldn't stand down. How did she?"
Continuing to laugh, I answered them. "I think it helps when that femme happens to be the only triple changer on the Autobot side and has a real mean swing with said sword. Plus, she's gotten a bit of a reputation."
I didn't think that their surprised looks could get anymore so but, to my surprise, they did and it took them a click before Scorpi spoke. "Wait…your friend…is Pandimala!?"
Smiling, I nodded. "Well, I don't know any other triple changer femme on the Autobot side. We did go to boot camp together and she, along with Balm, Zarron, Tana, and Vox are my close friends."
"Wow…" Blotto finally got out. "I can't believe that we know a bot that knows Pandimala. That's awesome." He was almost whispering it in an awe-stricken voice.
Well, since they seemed to be becoming friends, I decided that I should probably make introductions. "How about this? I'll give you both my comm line if I can have yours and I'll call you after this. I'm planning on calling Pandimala after I'm done with this exam to tell her how I did and she'll probably want to go out for drinks regardless. If we do, I'll call you both and if you aren't busy you can join us."
Both of them sent me their comm lines and nodded but did not speak. Of course, after they did, we didn't have time to speak as the proctor for the exam came in and I had to turn around so he would know that I was ready to take this. I had been waiting so many stellar cycles for this click and it was finally here. Once the test was set in front of me, I wasted no time in writing in my designation and getting started on the questions.
I stayed focused on my test and found myself almost flying through the questions. I wasn't sure who made this test but I was curious as to why these questions seemed so…simplistic. I mean, maybe it was just me. But, I was getting nervous just because they were kinda simple to answer. I would ask Blotto and Scorpi when the test was done how they thought about it. Hopefully this wasn't just me. If it was, then I was really nervous that I was answering these wrong. But, Zarron had taught me a trick when we were taking classes during boot camp and that was to never go back and change an answer unless you were one hundred percent sure that you were wrong the first time.
Since I wasn't, I continued on taking the test until, to my surprise, I soon found myself finishing the last written question. That seemed…awfully quick. While that was the last question, and I probably wouldn't fix any of the ones I already went through, I knew it would be smart to go back over the questions and see if I missed any the first time through.
But, as I started to look over the answers, something wasn't adding up right. The corner of the exam said that there were two thousand and five possible points but, with each question being worth five points each and there being four hundred questions…that should be only two thousand. I was missing something. I doubted that there had been some sort of mistake. At first my processor went to thinking that maybe they were counting points for names. But, I immediately took out that thought. This was an exam to determine if we were smart enough to get into the CIA and, if a bot needed to have points on an exam just to put their designation down…well they had issues.
But, nothing was coming to me at first and I couldn't figure out just what was wrong with this. Where were those extra points from? The test was pretty clear that each question was worth five points…no more and no less. This thought went through my processor as I scanned over the test. What the frag did this test person?...
Hang on…now that I was looking at the test…something wasn't right. I had noticed some typos early on during the test but, until now, I really didn't understand why there had been so many mistakes in this exam. But, now that I was looking at them more closely, I was seeing what was, hopefully, the final question. So, with five clicks left, I quickly wrote the question out at the bottom of the line before answering it.
"Time's up!" The instructor suddenly stated. I heard groans from the others around me but all I could do was sigh in relief. I had finished the test. Of course, whether or not I got a good grade on it was still to be determined. The instructor then picked up my test before saying, "Once I retrieve your tests, you may go and wait in the reception area. We will pull you aside one at a time to inform you if you are one of the five that will continue on. If you are not, you will exit through the north exit of Metroplex. The test is completely changed each stellar so the answers from this test will not be the same as any previous test or any future test." Since we had come in through the east exit, and the east exit was the one that the reception area was by, that meant that they wanted to keep those of us that hadn't gotten our scores yet in the dark about how many of the five had been picked.
But, since my exam had already been picked up, I didn't waste time and started to make my way to the reception area. Since Scorpi was next to me, she was soon following behind me. Of course, to avoid saying that we were cheating, neither of us said a word to each other until we got to the reception area. Then, however, all bets were off.
"Scrap that was a hard test." Scorpi started.
…Frag it! I was afraid that she was going to say that. If it wasn't for that last question I would have finished twenty clicks before the test time was over. This wasn't looking good for me at all. My processor was so wrapped up in this thought that I didn't hear anybot else come in until Blotto sat down on my other side. "Frag that was a hard test. I couldn't even finish the last question before they said that time was up. Anybot who finished that with time to spare had to be some sort of genius."
…This wasn't good.
"Hey Remcy…you're awfully quiet." Scorpi started as she stood in front of me, a concerned look on her faceplate. "How did you do on the test?"
I gulped but knew that there was no way that I could get out of answering this. So, it was better to just bite the shrapnel and get it out. "Well…if it wasn't for that last question I would have been done with all four hundred and one questions twenty clicks before it ended." I then hung my helm down. Frag this wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. After a few clicks of silence, I took a risk to glance up only to jump when both Blotto's and Scorpi's faceplates were really close to my faceplate. "Wha…what are you two doing?"
They both stared at me for a click more before Blotto finally spoke. "Mech…what are you talking about. There were only four hundred questions…weren't there?" That last part was asked in an increasing pitch. I couldn't tell if he was questioning me or feeling worried for himself.
So, I shook my head. "No…If you looked at the total points we could earn on the exam, it said that there were two thousand and five points available to earn. Each question was worth five points each, no more and no less. Since this was an exam to get us into the CIA I doubted that they were going to give us five points for putting our designations onto the exam. So, I read through it and, in short, I found a question hidden in the questions. But…I'm not sure if I was right about it. I mean, I would have finished twenty clicks early without the last question." I then put my helm in my servos. "I'm a failure."
The feeling of two servos helm slapping me immediately caused me to look back up and I saw that both Scorpi and Blotto were staring at me. "Remcy you not only finished the test early, but found a question hidden in the questions, and you think that you're a failure? I think you are probably,"
"Examinee Scorpi. Come and see your results." The proctor called Scorpi first.
She looked nervous and so I decided to give her some encouragement. "Don't worry Scorpi. You probably did great!" She nodded and gave me a nervous smile before she followed the proctor.
Almost two cycles passed since the end of the exam and, as of a couple of clicks ago, I was the only examinee left in the building. Like I wasn't already nervous enough. Now I had to wait until the end to see if I got in. Plus, with the odds against me since every other examinee had already been in the room, I probably didn't pass and they were going to ask me how I could do so badly on this.
Finally, the proctor walked into the room and I was nervous with how he seemed to be studying over me. That wasn't a good sign at all. "Examinee Remcy. Come and see your results."
I gulped but stood to follow the proctor. Hopefully I did well enough to pass the exam. This was my dream job and I had been working so hard on it all my existence that I couldn't imagine having to wait a whole stellar to try at it again. I might just go crazy if I couldn't get in now. But, as I followed behind the proctor to what seemed to be the testing room, I knew that this was only going to be resolved by sticking with it.
Scorpi's 1st P.O.V.
I found myself pacing in the holding room nervously. Fourth. I was the fourth best score on the test. I had been so relieved to hear those words that I had been in shock while I was led by Metalhawk to this waiting room that I shared with three others. Thankfully, about twenty clicks after I got here, Blotto had been escorted by Metalhawk and said that he had scored the fifth-place score. He had been relieved and, honestly, so had I. Blotto and I had been friends since we were younglings and had even gone through boot camp together. I wanted to stick with him through all of this.
After him, about maybe a cycle later, Fairlake came in. I couldn't hold back the small growl at the smug look on her faceplate. She had been sitting by Klink and I had a feeling that she had made a deal with Klink for some of the answers. Guess she made a better deal than Luftmetz, the other mech in that group. She had immediately bragged that she had the third highest score in the examinee class. It took all of my will to not snap at her. Her name might sound all fair and pretty and nice, but I knew that she had a spark of ice. She was cold and calculating. Fairlake was not a femme that you wanted to associate with.
About thirty clicks ago, Klink had been shown in, much to my disdain, and bragged how he had the second highest score on the test. None of us told him what we got, and I'm sure that made him slightly nervous. That was good. Neither Fairlake nor Klink knew that the only bot that was missing was the one with the best score on the exam. Depending on who walked through that door next, they might even think that either Blotto or I were the ones that got the highest.
I was nervous, now, just because it had been so long since Klink had come in. According to how he was going on, there had only been four bots left in the reception area…and that included Remcy. But, something was off. It had been two and a half cycles since I had gone in and, from what I gathered from overhearing Klink and Fairlake, and from what Blotto had told me, each interview only took around three clicks. With forty of us taking the exam, then the revealing of the scores should have only taken two cycles. But, it was already thirty clicks passed that. What was going on with this last bot? Maybe they thought that this bot cheated even more than most of us? Guess we wouldn't find out until…
The sound of the door opening caused me to glance up and I saw both Metalhawk and Sturis, the head of the CIA, walk in. Behind them, I felt my spark lift in relief when I saw Remcy…though he looked tired. When he looked toward Blotto and I, he smiled before he walked over to us. "Hey you two. Glad you made it as well."
I let out a laugh and helm slapped him. "Remcy you idiot. I told you that you did alright. And you were all nervous and such." I let out a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his helm. "But seriously, what took so long in you getting in here?"
He laughed and motioned to both Metalhawk and Sturis, who were talking amongst themselves, before continuing. "Well, they thought I cheated."
"Wouldn't surprise me. For you to get in here, even in fifth, means that scum like you had to cheat."
I growled and turned to see Fairlake and Klink walking up to us, Klink having had talked, and soon the two of them were standing in front of the three of us. From how Klink was acting all high and mighty, he probably thought Remcy had one of the lower scores. If I were to try and think like Klink, which I shuddered to do, I would probably say that he thought Blotto got the better score than he did. Frag would he be surprised when all of this came out.
Remcy, to my surprise, laughed at what Klink said. "Oh, sorry Klink. I really didn't cheat. See, that's what took so long with my revealing. They had to get Sturis there to come down and give me a grilling because I scored too well on my exam. Even brought a medic with him, Furnia, to scan my processor drives to confirm that I didn't cheat. Never realized drive scans were so tiring though." He then let out a laugh.
Wait…just how good did he do? I figured that Klink had to miss a few of them, but just how good did you have to do on the exam to get the head of the CIA to come down to the testing and then have a medic do a drive scan on your processor just to prove that you didn't cheat?
"So just what place did you get on the test Remcy?" Blotto asked him curiously.
However, before Remcy could answer that long-awaited question, Sturis walked over to us before saying, "Hello bots. I must say that I am impressed this solar. There have been few times that I have personally come to greet the top five scorers on this test." He then nodded. "As I'm sure you know, I am Sturis…head of the CIA and, from this click forth, your new boss. Your new housing will be placed inside of CIA headquarters and will be assigned to you at a later date. Now, are there any questions you have before we begin?"
"Sir," Klink started in a pompous attitude. "how did all of us rank against each other?"
Now, I might have been hallucinating, but I could almost swear that I saw Sturis smirk before he responded. "Curious as to how you stand up to your fellow inductees and they weren't so into sharing?" The question remained unanswered as Sturis continued. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to know how much each of you has to work to catch up with each other." He then paused before motining to Blotto. "Autobot Blotto scored one thousand nine hundred and five points out of the possible two thousand and five points available."
I gave Blotto a low high five, and I saw Remcy did too, before I leaned in and whispered. "Good job Blotto. That's a pretty high score."
"Autobot Scorpi," I straightened to attention as Sturis started to speak about my score. "scored one thousand, nine hundred, and sixty points out of the possible two thousand and five points."
"Great job Scorpi." Remcy whispered to me with Blotto nodding before Sturis continued.
"Autobot Fairlake scored one thousand, nine hundred, and seventy-five points out of the possible two thousand and five." He then turned to Klink, who I noticed was glaring at Remcy, before saying, "Autobot Klink scored one thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-five points out of the possible two thousand and five." Then, Sturis turned to Remcy and I noticed that the two of them were giving each other studying looks before Sturis finally spoke. "And Autobot Remcy had the top score of the class, and the highest score I've seen in my term, with a score of two thousand and five out of two thousand and five points."
While Klink and Fairlake stared at Remcy in shock, Blotto and I low-high-fived Remcy before Blotto whispered, "Man, I know who I'm going to if I have a problem."
Remcy looked embarrassed, a light blush on his faceplates, before Sturis continued. "Are there any more questions?" When none of us spoke, he nodded. "Very well then. We shall start with a tour of headquarters. Afterwards, you will be shown to your rooms and then you are free to bring in what you need of your own personal affects. Your assignments will be sent by message and you will be expected to report to them at zero six hundred tomorrow morning."
Casius' 1st P.O.V.
I growled quietly to myself as I watched Sturis give the five newbies a tour of the facility. The two bots that I was afraid would get in, Klink and Remcy, were the top two scorers on the exam. I was sure that Klink definitely cheated, but no bot was going to risk getting on the bad side of his sire to prove anything, but I wish that I could say the same about that Remcy.
That bot, there was no way that he cheated…as much as it looked like he did. True, I felt slighted that some little mech that had a parent in high society was able to, not only pass my test with a perfect score for the four hundred obvious questions, but he had been the only bot to find the last question that I had purposefully hidden in the exam to hopefully take out some of the ones that were close. But, it looked like I made the test too hard for normal bots. So, it was only the fragging brats with high connections or bots that barely made the cut or, as the exception, they were strangely attuned bots like this Remcy.
But, I wasn't going to change my view on this bot yet. Sure, he might actually have a knack for intelligence work, but he didn't show the extra effort that would show a true hard-working bot. As I watched the screen in front of me, I studied the five recruits. The silver and white femme, Fairlake, she was a piece of work. There were multiple altercations at Maccadams that had been redacted by a source. Thankfully, all of the files that I had on these rookies, and hopefully temporary rookies, were un-redacted thanks to a very close friend of mine.
Then, I glanced at the file of Klink. That was another screwed up brat. His sire worked with councilfemme Setback and, to compare it mildly, Fairlake only had a fraction of a fraction of the cover-ups that Klink had. This mech was the very embodiment of the kind of Cybertronian I despised the most, and I was going to very much hate working in the same agency as the mech. He was known to cause fights in public areas that would cause damage to both the bots in question and to the surrounding area and, at times, innocent bystanders. This was a reckless idiot who was a danger to those around him.
Movement on the screen in front of me caused me to focus on what was in front of me. It seemed like the final phase of the exam was starting. The alarm was sounding in the air and I heard Sturis' voice over the intercom saying to go to the basement level due to a cyber-attack. As I expected, Klink and Fairlake ran right out of the room where they had been left, the main communications room, and that left Remcy and the other two to follow.
But, to my surprise, Remcy immediately motioned to the command computers and the other two bots nodded before they sat down and started to type away. Speaking of the other two, I glanced at the black and lavender mech's file. His name was Blotto and I knew of his creators. Well, more his sire, who had helped work on Project Omega during the war. Pseubo. He seemed to make the impossible possible for that Project Omega and, due to that, I knew that he had connections. But, from how his creation was acting, I wasn't so sure anymore that he was raised with the premium grade in his servo. His carrier was a nice enough femme, Chama. She was a secretary at the Autobot Scouting Association's main building here in Iacon. Not so many connections as her bondmate but Chama was a very nice femme.
Maybe that was why this Blotto turned out so well. He didn't have many fights on his record and the ones that he had, according to the files, were mostly self-defense. He had just over decent marks on his exams from the Academy and I was curious as to what this mech could do. According to Sturis, he had been the fifth placed bot on the exam. Maybe there would be more to this mech than I thought.
Then, there was the white femme with green and violet markings. I picked up her file as I watched her type away at the console in front of her, seemingly following Remcy's orders; Scorpi. Her own creators were another matter. Kovil, her sire, and Midea, her carrier, were partners in the largest trading company on Cybertron; The Orxal Flue Trading Corporation. They controlled much of the trade on Cybertron, and even a lot off of Cybertron. To say that they had influence was an understatement. If they wanted to, Kovil and Midea could have Cybertron working at their beck and call. But, I had kept an optic on them and they just worked hard for their living. Of course, they had connections but I didn't hear much.
Scorpi seemed to be taking after her carrier and sire, and in a good way. From what I could see, she had connections with bots her own age that were on the rise. Of course, she seemed to be somewhat on the rise herself with how she was working now. She seemed to know what she was doing for the most part and only turned to Remcy every once in a while. Her past record showed a few more altercations than Blotto's did but, on most of them, witnesses had testified that she was provoked to the point of not having a choice but to fight. She would be another one that I would keep an optic out for.
Some frantic movement from Remcy caused me to focus on the brown mech with orange stripes. He was typing away at his console like his very existence depended on it. As much as I didn't like to be wrong, this mech seemed completely different from what I had pegged him as. Boryll, Remcy's sire, was a cyber-engineer that had many close connections with politicians here on Cybertron. I was pretty sure that Boryll was even considered a friend of Ultra Magnus. He was asked to do major projects all the time. Elbra, his carrier, was a space bridge technician that had many connections due to her efficiency. Both were nice enough and weren't into anything troubling from what little I could pull up before this exam.
Then, there was the mech himself; Remcy. Despite my obvious dislike of bots who had connections like Klink and Fairlake, I hadn't actually looked at his personal record. I guess I allowed Klink's file to speak for both of them. That wasn't right and so, while the three new recruits were typing away at the fake attack on the main system, I opened the young mech's file and read it. He was still a youngling at 1.85 million stellar cycles old. For his boot camp he was trained by…Kup? That old timer was in charge of his training? He was a very reputable bot and knew how to train younglings into decent bots. I looked over the mech's team and, at what I saw, I spared him another glance.
While there were a couple designations ringing a bell in my processor, it was one single designation that caused me to really take back my previous notions on Remcy. He was training with a femme that had, not long after her Academy training started, was given the nickname War Trap. It wasn't a flattering nickname but it described the femme in question pretty well. From her first solar of boot camp to the present, this femme was known for having the training equipment start using real rounds without explanation. The ICD was investigating her case but they had yet to even find a cause for the change. Remcy was more than capable of being in the field if he was in training camps with her since the beginning of her training. Pandimala. That femme was a magnet for disaster, from what I had heard, and so Remcy might just be something more than I thought.
Glancing back at the screen, I saw that Scorpi, Blotto, and Remcy had completed the second part of the test and were relaxing against the seats in the control room. Yes, I would have to keep my optics on these three. For now, though, I sent Sturis the signal that they had completed the second part of the exam and that it was alright to let everybot else up and to show the new recruits to their new rooms here.
Who knew what the future was going to bring?
Remcy: *relieved* That...wasn't so bad. I am in the CIA, no one got killed, and Pandimala got to be a bad-aft. All in all not bad.
Pandimala: *nods* Yes, and plus you are now clear for the chapters. Only three more to go before me. I wonder who will be next?
Authoress: *twigs and leaves in hair* Who knows? It could be anybot! *laughs evilly*
Pandimala: *raises optic ridge* You know that laugh loses its affect because of the state of your hair...right?
Authoress: *pouts* I know.
AN: And here it is folks! I hope you enjoyed seeing how Remcy got into the CIA! I had a lot of fun with the chapter and I threw in two new characters (as friends) just for the heck of it! *Scorpi and Blotto complain in background* Anywho, I didn't know who I was doing when I finished this chapter but, thankfully, I finished this a few days ago (there was no internet where I was so I couldn't upload it) so I do know who the next bot is. You will too because this is going to be...a double update! I was able to get the next bot's chapter done so you all won't have to wait for days for me to upload it!
On a side note, I enjoyed the part where Pandimala stopped Klink a little too much. *whistles innocently*
Oh, and I did base Klink off of a character from an older television show. If you can guess it I will be happy!
That's all for now though. Please leave a review, even if it is to say hello. Until then though, TTYL! *wants to cuddle with a puppy*
