Seven

Prowl was an okay dude. Like, he totally meant well. He didn't make such dick moves without the best intentions of the Autobots at spark.

Of course, the majority of the Autobots, low rank and rankles, didn't see it that way. It had been one of the worst orders to be uttered from that accused stick in the mud. Worse still, the order had been backed up by Optimus. Some saw that as a betrayal. He personally didn't mind it so much, after all, it wasn't like they hadn't had such situations before, only recently at the Ark. Of course, that's why it bothered so many, it only seemed like yesterday that they'd finally been free of that smelly hole in the mountain, small, cramped and generally dated. The promise of a new Autobot base, a city no less, was extremely appealing to everyone, whether they said so or not. New, clean, modern, spacious. It was something that got people through the long cycles where they were stuck in a cramped, smelly, dirty – literally, there was dirt, little cell with at least three others.

Prowl had done some math, as he tended to do. Math with the intention of saving resources. The tactician had calculated, and then had those double checked by a bunch of the science bots, that single and double room accommodation amongst the non-officers was expending energy that could be saved by 3.7% a day if they were to go into communal quarters. Eight to a room, with a shared wash rack for ten rooms. There were no longer private lounges or offices. Likewise, their possession, such as they were, were now allocated to lockers. For those considered essential operational personnel, they had six to a room. Some of the officers of lower ranks even found themselves doubled up, oftentimes it was four, as some didn't want rumours to be spread regarding their bunkmates.

The discomfort of lack of space was compounded for those on the subordinates of the Autobot army by communal work spaces. Beachcomber worked in a lab, he had his own little office, even though it was more like the human equivalent of a broom cupboard, but it had a small window that afforded some natural light. Well, when natural light was able to penetrate the thickness of the smog and whatever else lingered in the atmosphere. For all those grunts, it was some kind of monitor duty, or maintenance, or they were allocated to an officer for a few shifts to sort something out. And while patrolling was quite calming for some, the benefits of a bit of "alone time" was downplayed by the reality of substandard roads – if there were any, difficult terrain, the annoyance of the smog and its associated particles getting into one's vents, not to mention the risk of the randomly occurring acid rain. Autobot science could peg where it was going to show up next only about 62% of the time.

When he first saw Earth from the shuttle window, it was amazing. Nothing like Cybertron. It looked so clean, the hues of blue and green like nothing he'd ever laid optics upon. His first foot tread on this world was one he'd never forget. The smell, the sounds, the sights, it was all so much to take in. A stunning beauty that he thought he'd enjoy for vorns to come. The abundance of life had always filled his spark with such hope. That from some random cell that managed to survive the primordial ooze, all this diversity, including his human friends, could be birthed from such a humble beginning. Yet, within less than half a vorn, the humans had managed to screw it all up. Now the view from space was one of a planet darkened, filthy looking sphere of, well, quite frankly, trash.

Today was one of those days that were worse then usual. There were more of those than there were the slightly more pleasant of "dim" days. With the recent Decepticon attacks, the sky was blacked out by the nastiness of burning cities, and other things he preferred not to ponder too long on, or at all if he could help it. Sadly, he couldn't. He pitied the humans, for the considered majority, they were just trying to scrape a living, to feed and clothe the kids they could have, maybe to try and keep dear Aunt Ngaire out of the euthanasia centres. Elections, when they did happen, were rigged, so for all those wee bi-pedal organics out there, they had nothing to do with what their nasty leadership was doing. Of course, with the crack downs on free speech and protest, even internet surveys on people's private Facebook accounts, it was hard to gauge just where people sat on the political spectrum these days. With that said, there always seemed to very "accurate" polls on their feelings regarding the Autobots.

His compassion for the humans aside, his spark really lay with the other organics of this world, everything from the ants he used to feed outside the Ark with Sparkplug's twinkie surplus, to the birds in the sky. There'd been massive extinction events across all continents. Zoos and breeding programmes were far too expensive, most had shut down. People also couldn't find the time or the money to take the family there. The question asked often, how can we feed these tigers when we can barely manage to get food on our own plates?

What a horrible world this had become. He'd tried several times in the last 20 years to get off, even Cybertron or one of its desolate moons seemed like a better option. A thoroughly lengthy discussion with Skids post the initiation of ANZIN had him convinced that Earth was falling into a hole it wouldn't be able to pull itself out of it. It proved very true, perhaps more so than expected.

Beachcomber released air through his vents, wiped what a human would classify as a tear from his optic and looked down at his recent mound of work. Nothing overly taxing, most of his time now was spent on geological surveys, screening for sources of energy that might be utilised for Autobot purposes, working with the other science bots on cleansing contaminated resources and trying to come up with ways to stretch what they already had. Occasionally Jazz would swan in and drop something on his desk, Top Secret of course. What the Deceptions were up to. Jazz had two questions each time, was it possible for the 'Cons to pull this off, and could the Autobots jump to it before them? The last ten years he'd never given a "yes".

There was nothing that exciting on today's agenda. Today, today he was looking over air quality statistics, a usual topic after any kind of major attack. He'd then run some tests checking the purifiers and what efficiency they were running at, check to make sure there weren't any malfunctions brewing, and then write a report about everything. That part he never much cared for. At least the work kept him busy, kept him occupied, kept his mind wandering to places that he'd rather not drift into. The gloominess brought by memories of carnage were bad enough, but he oftentimes debated with himself if reminiscing of Earth's natural splendour was worse. Bluestreak once told him how Prowl hated talking about the Crystal Gardens. That place was something special indeed, Beachcomber went there every time he found himself visiting Praxis. He'd also seen it in ruins. There was a deep sense of sadness that overcame him as he wandered through the broken crystals, the remains of shards jutting out of the charred and melted grounds. It was likely the Autobot so many claimed as sparkless, didn't want to, or couldn't, deal with the pain that such memories gave him.

The morning chugged along at a reasonable pace. He was able to find his attention remaining focussed on the task at hand, his mind didn't drift to the past. Whether Cybertron or Earth. He didn't check his internal chronometer until he heard her voice drifting in softly, slightly accented, she was clearly engaged in a thoroughly interesting conversation with Perceptor. 1452hrs. Beachcomber grinned, decided he'd worked long enough, and stepped out of his measly office to see the new comer.

"Miri!"

Beaming, lifting his arms in greeting and optics glowing, not caring at all if he was being rude.

"BC. Oh my gosh! I had heard you were stationed in England".

"Don't know where you heard that rumour, but ain't a word of it truth".

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Ooh, you know, I bet you'd love to have a look at this. I was working over in Hawaii, when I came across this".

She lifted the chunk of rock up for his perusal. He squatted to take it gently from her grip.

"Perceptor's very interested in it, which I was right to think he would be. The humans obviously don't have the science or the money to tinker with this gem, but I thought given its readings and its weird properties, you guys would really appreciate it".

"You scanned this, Percy?"

"But of course. Miriam is quite correct. The sample is quite high in energon concentrate bindings, an unusual trait for any earthen composite mineral. Definitely beyond current human science, regardless of nationality. A thorough analysis will be needed, and Miriam has graciously gifted this sample to us for such a purpose. I do believe it is highly likely to yield promising results in our current energon investigations".

"Really, Miri? Christmas come early that you can start giving away prezzies now?"

"Well, you heard Perceptor, this thing is beyond human science, and quite frankly, I have enough paper weights".

"You found this on the mainland, I take it?"

"Actually, no. We were diving off the edge of the stop, were trying to find where the lava cracks were starting. A few of our sensors showed some recent activity around the North-Eastern edge of the stall. Water was stunning to swim in, but highly toxic. Went down there, poked about in shitty visibility and then found a bunch of rocks. Some useful, some pretty, some completely worthless, and this".

"Your bosses know you got this, I mean, you're not going to get in trouble sneaking us this piece?"

"Honestly, the way things are going over at that department, no one's going to notice, and if they do, they're not going to care. People don't' get paid enough to care about someone lifting a rock. Anyway, I did get permission to have it as a trinket".

"Well, I wouldn't want to make a criminal out of you".

He chuckled softly.

"Guessin' you want first dibs on this?"

Pivoting on his foot he offered the small rock to Perceptor, who was only too happy to take it. He lifted it from the geologist's hand, nodded politely to their human visitor and left. Mumbling to himself.

"He's getting worse?"

"Yeah. Been like that for a few years now".

"Mum said it started after dad passed".

"That's what the doc bot reckons".

"I wondered a lot if I should have visited more, especially after".

"Nah, don't guilt yourself, Miri, Percy has so much else going on, it's hard to really pin point this all down to that one event. Not diminishing your dad or nothing, but well, last few decades have been hard on everyone. Perce always buries himself in his work when he doesn't want to deal with those pesky emotions and junk".

"And how about you, BC? How've you been?"

A long drawn out sigh, followed by a smile that didn't really mean much.

"You know, same ole same ole, as the human idiom goes".

He shrugged and then flopped on the floor in front of her.

"I miss the greens, the blues, miss the life. I hate the fighting and the mindless destruction, especially when it seems ole Meg face doesn't have a purpose to it. Lot of chatter that maybe he's not in control any more, either of his troops or of his faculties".

"The footage from the attacks was playing everywhere when I passed through this morning".

"I wouldn't be surprised, there's not much else they play on the old idiot box any more…. You actually got a place to stay, and when you head back?"

"Well, those new tourist laws hit hard. I've got one week, which all things considered is probably plenty of time. Not much to see, not many people to visit, main reason was seeing you guys. Plus, I need to get home, the hubby's no good with all six of them. As for where I'm staying, got a hotel just outside the AB City zone, more like a bed & breakfast on an old farm. Quaint, friendly, affordable. And seems clean enough. Not much more you can hope for these days".

"That sounds comfy, wait, what… six now? As in six kids?"

"Hahah, yeah, didn't you get the email? Honestly, you may not have, she came early, we weren't sure if she was going to make it, but there by the grace of God, she pulled through. Spent a day short of four months in the hospital. They were great, though. Not like here. They would have just tossed her in the nearest garbage can after scooping out her organs. Hell, here I wouldn't have even been able to have two they would have burned my uterus out".

She noticed the strikingly uncomfortable look etched on his face plates.

"Sorry, I tend to get a bit animated about it. Hard to see what's become of America. Well, I guess you know that better than most".

"It is what it is, glad your kid is okay, name?"

"Koko".

"Nice. After your sister? What did she think of that?"

"Well, I hope she doesn't mind, I mean, it's not like we can ask her".

Another slightly confused look passed over the Autobot's face.

"Oh… didn't you know? I thought you may have. Koko died. In the New Delhi thing".

An extremely uncomfortable silence passed between them, neither sure how to break it for fear of seeming tactless. There was still honour, if not memory, to be given to the dead. Well, at least in civilised conversation, a rarity most days.

"Aww, I didn't know that, I'm real sorry, Miri".

"That's okay, I don't think many people knew, and to be honest, with that kind of death toll, individuals tend to get lost. She went in a mass grave, we know where she is, but it doesn't seem right to ask them to dig her up just so we can cremate her and stash her ashes back home. Plus, you know, there's still a lot of fear over what happened, the contamination of the bodies, that sort of thing".

"Even Ratchet was a little weirded out by it all, none of us had any answers, and I know Perceptor gave it an awful lot of time. No idea that Koko…"

Voice trailing off, as with both hands he cupped his face.

"Primus damn this world, sometimes".

"Him and God both".

Extending her arm, she placed her hand on the highest point of his leg she could reach.

He offered a small, albeit sincere, smile.

"In other news, perhaps somewhat more light-hearted, I heard an interesting rumour. Maybe you already know about it?"

"Always up for some goss".

His smile a little cheerier, even if his tanks still churned.

"The young master Witwicky is back state-side. Full time, too, from what I heard".

"I did not hear that, and if anyone else had that sort of intel would be all around base by now… who told you that?"

There was almost a hint of suspect disbelief in his voice, but he tried to dim it down as not to offend her.

"It's slightly complicated. So, Carly's parents, her father had a sister, that sister had a child who is very close with Carly's parents. The child being Carly's cousin, yeah? So, the complicated bit, is that cousin had a child, daughter, also, all different last names because they took their husband's when they married. Now, she's also extremely close, or rather was, with Carly's mother. She kept abreast of all the goings on with Daniel. I met the cousin's daughter while she was visiting for a family reunion, and I was in the area for business, and we really hit it off, to the point we kept correspondence, because, who doesn't want a pen pal in England? Actually, it was Wales at the time. So, through that slightly convoluted mess, I heard that Daniel is somewhere on the West Coast. Not sure where, just that he's an English teacher. Also, the cousin's daughter, Ester, she's a real gossip".

"Oh".

"Just oh?"

"Never thought he'd come back, to be honest".

"It's a strange place to want to come back, home or not, the place is the economic equivalent of a seriously blocked toilet, and it's not like English teachers are in high demand. Yet, that's what Ester said was happening, with that said, she has a history of getting the wrong end of the stick".

"Maybe not, it does seem like the kind of thing you don't mishear. Well, maybe the English teacher bit".

"You could always have Red or Jazz run a security check, if you guys were that interested".

"We always kind of decided to leave the boy be. Prime was apparently quite insistent. His parents are dead because of our war. He was just a kid, you know. He deserved a normal childhood. Well, that was sort of the unspoken decision".

"Yeah, but so were Spike and Carly when they got involved".

"I wanna say different times, but I think we all know that's bullshit".

"War's pretty shitty, huh?"

"Understatement of the vorn, Miriam, understatement of the vorn".

ooOOoo