AN: Here's the next chapter for ya'll! I finally introduced Perceptor and his creators! I hope everyone likes this one. I'm trying to pick up the pacing a little bit. I still haven't decided where to end it, but I've got a lot of story to cover between now and whenever that happens to be. If things feel like they're going to fast, let me know. Please, if you're reading, let me know what you think, good or bad. I appreciate any kind of feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

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It took a few orns for Red to get used to his new body, just as Ratchet had said. When he finally felt up to it, Sideswipe took him back to Wheeljack's. As usual, he was there before Perceptor. Wheeljack's indicators flashed a brighter, happy blue when he spoke to Red. "You're finally back!" he said.

Red smiled cautiously. "Yes," he answered. Sideswipe had just left him at the door, needing to get to the warehouse early for a drop off. "Wheeljack, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Can you teach me about security systems?"

Wheeljack was admittedly a little surprised. They'd never even looked at security systems before. Perceptor preferred more scientific and inventive pursuits, and Red had never shown a preference, happy to go along with whatever Perceptor had decided to learn about that orn. "Why do you want to know about those?"

"Sideswipe has been having a problem with his at the warehouse. I want to know how to fix it. I need to know." Wheeljack barely caught the catch in Red's vocalize when he spoke of needing to know. Ratchet had warned him plenty in advance about Red's glitch. They had both been a little relieved when it didn't manifest while he was a sparkling. If it did decide to manifest itself now in this way, it shouldn't be too catastrophic. Younglings could handle a lot more than sparklings. And worse things had happened than being obsessed with security.

"Sure, we can learn about them. I don't know too much, to be honest, but I'll find out what I can and I'll give you access through my terminal to databases about them like I do for Perceptor sometimes. If you want some hands on experience, I'm sure Sideswipe could tell you about his or I could ask Ironhide if he knows anyone at the Academy-"

"No!" Red broke in, sounding near panic. "I'm not going anywhere near the Academy!"

Wheeljack held up his hands in a calming gesture. "I'm sorry, I forgot. No registration number. After you get one, though, you should see about getting formal training at the Academy if you're interested in security. Ironhide was telling me just the other day about a topnotch security mech just graduating."

The door slid open and Perceptor stepped through. He smiled when he saw his friend. "You're here! Your upgrade looks fantastic!" he exclaimed. He slowly circled Red, looking over every bit of his friend's new body. Red fidgeted under the scrutiny, but didn't mind nearly as much as he thought he was going to. "That's more of a warrior build, isn't it? Parts of it look like Ironhide's."

"Well, Ironhide is an older model," Wheeljack broke in. "This is a more modern style for fighting mechs, much more streamlined, allowing for better range of motion and flexibility."

"That makes sense. Chromia is always worrying about his joints being twisted wrong while he's training new recruits. I'm guessing newer models don't have that many problems in those areas?"

"Hardly at all. They still have some; of course, because they're overworking their bodies anyway as soldiers, but it's much less wear than Ironhide's. Kind of like how your armor is more resistant to corrosives and general explosions than mine is."

Red couldn't help but smile. "Security systems, Wheeljack," he prodded, trying to get them back on track for what he wanted for the day.

"Oh, right. We're going to learn about security systems for a little while today. Once I get Red settled with the basics, we can get back to what you were working on."

"That's fine," Perceptor agreed. "We've been doing what I want the whole time anyway. It couldn't hurt to learn about security systems, I'm sure. Learn a little bit of everything if I can."

Wheeljack smiled behind his facemask and followed his two students into his lab space.

--

Later that orn, Sideswipe came into Wheeljack's apartment. He stopped as soon as he entered, unable to hide his surprise at hearing an unknown voice. They were in another room, so he didn't have to worry about the slide being noticed. Whoever the mech was, they had a slight warp in their vocalizer, giving him a sort of drawl in his speech. That had to be Perceptor's creator. Wheeljack had mentioned the vocalizer warp was something that all members of this family unity had. Something about all of them being field officers and the distinct vocal pattern helped their troops pick out their orders.

But he'd never met Perceptor's creators. He made sure to come before they did to pick Red up to avoid any unnecessary questioning about being Red's creator. He quickly regained his composure as Red looked out into the main room.

"Sideswipe," Red said as a greeting. He walked out of the lab and over to Sideswipe. Perceptor was not far behind him.

"Hello, Sideswipe," Perceptor said, nodding his head slightly in respect.

"Hey, Perceptor, how have you been?" Sideswipe asked, trying to keep from letting any nervousness bleed into his vocalizer. From the look on Red's face, he didn't manage it one hundred percent.

Wheeljack walked out into the main room, followed by a large red fighter model mech. "Ah, Sideswipe, right on time," he said. "This is Ironhide, Perceptor's creator and a friend of mine and Ratchet's since our Academy days."

Ironhide nodded a greeting. "Perceptor talks about yer younglin' all the time, but today's th' first day I've met either o' ya. Nice ta finally get th' chance."

"Likewise," Sideswipe answered. There was a brief period of silence before Ironhide turned to say goodbye to Wheeljack.

"Gotta be gettin' back. Chromia's got some new disk she wants ta show me. Some silly play or somethin' I'm sure." Ironhide put a hand on Perceptor's shoulder and steered him towards the door. "I'll be seein' ya."

After the door slid closed, Red moved closer to Sideswipe's side. "Why does Ironhide make you so nervous?" he asked frankly. Both twins had noticed once Red had started talking, he'd picked up Sunstreaker's unfortunate habit of picking the worst times to say exactly what was on his processors.

"He hasn't even asked about Red's registration, if that's what bothers you," Wheeljack said.

"That's definitely part of it. I mean, I knew Perceptor would talk about Red to his creators. He talks about everything. It's highly unusual for two mechs to have a sparkling, let alone to unbounded mechs."

"I've never told him how you and Sunny are related," Red said. "It isn't something he needs to know. The only reason he knows about Sunny at all is because Wheeljack asks about him sometimes."

"Still, if he starts asking around about Red's registration…There's not a bot in Iacon that doesn't know about Ironhide. He's the fragging Weapons Officer for the Autobots. If he puts it up to the security mechs to stick their noses into it, it won't take long for them to realize we have nothing for Red."

Red shivered slightly and slid closer, allowing him to feel the slight heat radiating off Sideswipe's chassis. He couldn't really fit comfortably up against Sideswipe anymore, but he'd take whatever comfort he could.

"He won't do that," Wheeljack attempted to reassure him. "If anything, he'll come to me and Ratchet first. Primus, Ratchet and I have spoken about you two with him occasionally when we have a chance to meet and catch up. You and Sunstreaker like your privacy, so we've never asked you to go meet him or Chromia with us. He never did anything about us raising you two."

Sideswipe relaxed slightly. That was true. Ratchet and Wheeljack had never had much of a chance to tell him and Sunstreaker about their time in the Academy. They'd graduated not long before meeting the two younglings, and between teaching them and their own work, there wasn't much time for anything other than trying to deal with what life had dealt them. He'd known Wheeljack knew Ironhide, but had never bothered connecting that to being Perceptor's creator. It would make sense, though, that Ratchet and Wheeljack would have told Ironhide about the twins. They had been very close friends at one point. 

At the time, though, Ironhide had not been an officer and could not start investigations on his own. And what business did a weapons mech have with younglings with neglectful creators? It certainly wouldn't have helped him in his chosen career path. Neither, now, would doing any investigating about Red.

"I guess that's the best I can ask for," Sideswipe said softly. "I'm working on a way to get Red registered, but I haven't been able to get in touch with my contact for awhile. Once he's registered, we won't have to worry about it." Sideswipe put a hand on Red's elbow, turning him towards the door.

"Ironhide's a good mech, Sides. He won't do anything to hurt his creation's friend."

Sideswipe nodded, trying to take the reassurance for what it was. The sooner he could get Red registered, the better.

He had to go see Swindle.