Maelstrom Chapter 33
Conversations in the Kitchen: Chapter 4 "Hoping you Like Me Too"
Part J
Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original Maelstrom Comics and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.
Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored! This scene contains strong language, violence, and sex. Rated M for adult themes! This chapter has something for everyone. It has violence, sex, humor. It has Matrix issues, Jabez issues, and Decepticons. It has cannon-twisting history, ass kicking, and angst...duh.
Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Story and OC characters are mine. Critiques adored!
Conversations in the Kitchen
Chapter 4
Part J
Continued from Part I
Lancer's eyes glowed and Rodimus grimaced, baring his teeth.
"Right," he finally said huskily. "My kids. Statistically very improbable little people. Edana is a class one empath at age six. She sees far beyond normal human vision on both the infra-red and ultra-violet ends. She is both physically and mentally advanced for a human child that age and she has a latent potential to be a class one pyrokenetic which may or may not develop when she hits puberty."
"She'll be able to burn things?" Marissa asked incredulously.
"A class one pyrokenetic can burn things on a planet-changing scale whether or not they are actually flammable," Lancer said.
"We are not really looking forward to dealing with an angsty teenager that can cause fires," Rodimus sighed.
"Geez...good luck!" Spike said.
"What about Alexandra?" Magnus asked.
"I told Marissa earlier," Lancer responded quietly. " We can't get a reading on Alex. We just know at the rate she's growing she will reach puberty before her sister. She has never been sick, not once. Nothing upsets her stomach, no teething, no colic, no nothing. She is always comfortable. She never shivers or sweats. Scans just seem to not happen. Robert nearly killed me when I used the Sigma Beta to try and analyze her. He said it was doing so many calculations it ceased running the rest of the ship and nearly crashed our gravity and life-support programs and their back-up systems."
"What...what does that mean?" Carly cried.
Lancer and Rodimus shrugged.
"Hey Rodi?" Hot Rod asked. "Do you think Edana can connect to a Matrix crystal like you and Lancer can?" It was an innocent enough question - he was thinking about inheriting things from your parents, as he had apparently inherited Optimus' sensitivity to the crystal.
Rodimus' head snapped around like a viper. Lancer's did exactly the same at the same instant. They both stared at Hot Rod as if he were an unsavory stranger bearing the worst of news.
"Sorry!" he cringed, all of his earlier rage and bravado squashed by the unnerving twin stares.
"Well?' Magnus prompted, hoping to get his nephew off the hook. "Can she?"
Rodimus' eyes turned inward. "I don't know," he finally confessed. "She...she might. I can't think of anything specific, but she sees so much of the spectrum we hear her talking about things she sees that we can't all the time. If she can feel it...she probably just associates it with Optimus. I haven't carried it in her lifetime, except for once, and she wasn't there."
"There's the ones on the Maelstrom too, Rodimus," Lancer frowned. "She's been surrounded by them since she was a toddler. If she senses them, she probably assumes we all do."
"Well...that's it then," Rodimus whispered. "If they're breeding for Matrix sensitivity that explains why I was so...busy... that day." His frown deepened into a rabid snarl and he slammed his fist down onto Carly's mahogany table knuckles first. "I am fed up with being taken advantage of because I can talk to a fucking rock!"
This statement raised a few eyebrows, not that anyone blamed him.
"It still makes no sense to me though," Spike persisted. "Why would they want that? If the Matrix crystals are the basis for their technology and culture like you said, why would they want to breed that into another species? It's what makes them special...what makes them able to do what they do."
Magnus nodded. "He's right. They're throwing their best advantage to the wind. Even if they thought they could contain every mutant bred on Earth, which obviously they can't," he said, nodding to Lancer. "All it would take would be one breeding pair to be stolen or escape...then their monopoly on instant memory transfer and all the rest of it would be lost. You don't risk your advantage without a desperate reason."
"Desperate..." Rodimus mumbled, his eyes narrowed to squints. Thoughts flashed between him and Lancer in a full psych -merge. They didn't do this often...it was tiring and it scared Lancer with how deep they could go, but it allowed them to pour through their separate memories as if they were truly of one mind, and at a much faster speed than they could normally manage.
Lancer pulled up from their link a bit and asked the others an odd question. "How many sapient species would you say are bipeds in this dimension?"
Marissa and Magnus looked at each other in confusion. "Um...why...?" Marissa asked.
"Just tell me," Lancer growled, although they knew she wasn't angry with them.
"I don't know an exact number," Magnus said. "Perceptor might know, but I'd say less than two percent...why?"
"About the same then. Bipeds...stupid design," Lancer said. "Frees up the hands, sure, but lots of species just add extra limbs. Solves that problem nicely. Trust me, there are times I bless my tail...especially when Edana goes right and Alex goes left. But two-footed locomotion...bad. Every step a controlled fall. Guts and throat exposed and vulnerable, not to mention the groin. Every major joint also exposed from the fore or the rear. I should know...I take advantage don't I? Why would a race of robots whose functions range from construction to demolition, from ponderous strength to escape velocity speed...why in the hell would such heavy, towering hulks be fucking bipeds in their root form? In our universe, it's to copy the Jabez blue-print for humans. We are essentially the same species....but why are humans bipeds? If the Jabez wanted better warriors to sell the could have modeled after any number of more physically powerful species. Mutant powers? The Drazi have more than their share of teleporters, telepaths, fore-seers, and so on AND they are stronger, tougher, and live five to six hundred years. Why then? Why are humans bipeds? Who do we resemble?"
"The Jabez?" Foul Play said. She was the only one detached enough to actually put it into words.
"Right," Lancer growled. "The Jabez."
"But...why?" Hot Rod asked.
His twin stood shakily, unable to sit in spite of his exhaustion. He held himself up with his arms braced wide on the edge of the table.
"Simple. If we are right, and some disaster befell these people way back when, it nearly wipe them out. You know I've never seen or even heard rumors of a Jabez female? The Maelstrom crew 'interviews' every slaver and Sponsor they take down by having Kain strip their minds. I 'interview' them my own way. None ever, ever, have mentioned dealing with a Jabez female. They are selling mutants to fund their research, but the real goal is to build something they can breed with."
"Ew," Arcee said.
"But their hands...their eyes!" Carly cried at the same moment.
"Tinker-toys," Lancer said. "It's the Matrix sensitivity they need to work on. My guess is they get it fairly regularly, but it doesn't breed true for some reason. So they have controlled facilities, but they let Earth run wild just in case. Even our life-span is short... like fruit flies. Faster generations for faster production. Maybe, in Rodimus, they were hoping to take a shortcut to a viable breeding male."
"You realize Lady assassin, that if you are right then our daughters are the answer to their prayers," Rodimus said coldly.
"They haven't got a prayer," Lancer hissed.
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Carly broke up their meeting by heading off to make dinner and exacting a promise that they would come eat when she was done.
Rodimus promised with less reluctance than she'd feared. "I need to think about this...to strategize what we'll do if it turns out to be true, but I think I've fried my brain enough for one day."
He glanced at Springer with a faint smirk, and then raised his eyebrows when Springer merely grimaced. "What? Nothing about my brains being pre-fried or refried or over-cooked already?"
Springer glared at him and then threw a furtive glance at Arcee.
Rodimus looked from one to the other. "You know, I should have guessed Arcee was the key to getting Springer to watch his mouth! Wonderful! I shall implement this at home when we get there. 'Whipped! Table for one!' This's almost as good at the day I realized how to get Blurr to shut up!"
"Oh?" Magnus asked. "How do you do it?"
"I pick him off the floor! Some humans can't talk if you hold their hands still, but with him, it's the feet!" Rodimus explained smugly.
"I know," Magnus grinned. "I do the same thing!"
They smirked at each other and Magnus helped Rodi into the living room. He tried to spare Rodi's dignity a bit by making it look more like they were just going together. In actuality, Magnus carried most of Rodi's weight all the way to the couch. Lancer followed.
In a complete breech of house-hold etiquette, Rodimus lay down lengthwise on the couch, leaving the rest of the many bodies to scatter around the room on the floor and odd chairs. The only exception was Rodi's mate who grabbed him by the shoulders, lifted him, and slid herself under his head so he rested in her lap. He didn't look like he minded, but he did frown a bit when she immediately fell to sleep.
"My poor Lancer," he said, mostly to himself. He caught Marissa eyeing him and shrugged. "In some ways this stuff upsets her more than it does me. I've never had much use for me. She loves me, and she's put up with all of this before she fully got over the leech thing. This has really been a vacation for the record books."
"Maybe you should get a new travel agent," Hot Rod said from the floor. He wasn't looking at his twin, being busy loading up a new video game Spike had bought for laughs.
Rodimus bit his lips, looked ready to say something, and then just shook his head.
Hot Rod seemed to sense his twin's consternation and turned to look at him. "What?" the younger version said sharply. He was clearly still fuming.
"Nothing...sometimes this twin stuff creeps me out too, that's all," Rodimus said.
"Whatever," Hot Rod said harshly. He had no idea what game Spike bought but he was hoping for LOTS of lasers and explosions. Rodimus rested his head back down on Lancer's lap and closed his eyes.
Hot Rod's video game was short on lasers, but it had explosions and bunnies, lots of bunnies.
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By the end of the next night they were all taking turns fighting for the controller and laughing like crazed loons over demented rabbit gladiator games - including Magnus and Rodimus who were challenging each other on the fronts of high score, best time, and who could laugh the most demented laugh. No one challenged Lancer in the last department though, she was in a league by herself.
By the end of the night after that, Spike was complaining the no man had the right to avoid animal protein the way Rodi did and still put on muscle mass with such alarming speed.
The morning after that, Lancer scared everyone out of bed with a silent invasion of their rooms and a knife at their throats. Training sessions were back on with a vengeance.
Later that day, news came in from Optimus. The whole gang crowded into Spike's office to listen. Optimus told them Wheeljack and Perceptor had found a way to transfer crystal data. They felt they were on the verge of a breakthrough with the programing as well. The testing on the morphing chamber was going well too. Estimated time of completion for all projects- three weeks.
Arcee and Springer cheered when they heard that news, and ran off together to enjoy the pool. Spike and Carly were happy too. Carly proclaimed a special dinner which meant Spike was off to the grocery store for the second time that day. Foul Play got up and silently left the room, and Marissa grew pale. Then she smiled quite wide and went off to help Carly set the table. She whistled.
Rodimus leaned back in Spike's office chair and pursed his lips. Lancer patted his shoulder and headed after Marissa. His hands laced across his stomach and his thumbs tapped together. He threw a glance at Hot Rod who was looking in the direction Foul Play had gone with obvious confusion. Magnus, on Rodi's other side, looked somewhat stunned.
"Three weeks," Magnus muttered to himself.
"That's not much time," Rodimus observed unnecessarily.
"All this time I've been counting the days, hoping this all would end, but three weeks," Magnus said. He turned to look down at Rodi who met his eyes unblinkingly. Marissa whistled, a bit off key from the kitchen. "Is...is this what you and Lancer felt when you...when you were getting ready to part?"
"Not the same. We didn't have much warning. We were marooned forever for all we knew, but the teleport belt finally picked up a jump point and went off one night while we were... We both nearly jumped out of our skins. I..I almost smashed it honestly, but I didn't. After that it was just packing and jumping and finding our way back to Cybertron. Not much time to worry or say goodbye."
Hot Rod wandered off as well.
"You had no real time to think did you?"
"That was probably a good thing," Rodimus confessed.
"What would you have done with three weeks Rodimus?"
Rodimus grinned. "Funny you should ask," he said.
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That evening they held a full house meeting, and Rodimus laid out an elaborate plan, taking all their input. No idea was too outrageous. Some portions required a vote and then a logistical discussion. There were key elements Rodimus would not budge on, as well as certain areas they had to agree on, but each of them was allowed an option that was entirely for themselves.
Thus began the legendary road-trip.
Rodimus and Lancer felt strongly that there were certain things a Transformer who was experiencing humanity needed to try - either to understand humans better or just for the sheer fun of it. They mapped out the next three weeks almost to the minute. Rodimus insisted on hitting the ocean, a few coaster parks, and of all places, the Everglades. Lancer included horse-back riding. Carly wanted to add scuba diving, although they decided they could only afford time for snorkeling. Marissa asked for a hot-air balloon flight. Spike's addition would take them furthest from home - caving at Mammoth cave.
The Autobots all got to pick something they wanted to try. Arcee wanted to go dancing at a nightclub.
"We already did that!" Springer protested. He did not look fondly back on that evening in spite of how it ended up.
"No we didn't! Rodimus and I were the only ones who danced and I was so...distracted I hardly remember! Besides! I don't want to dance with HIM anyway! No offense Rodi!"
"Oh my broken heart!" Rodimus said, throwing the back of his hand up over his eyes. Lancer hit him.
Hot Rod wanted to try water-skiing, but again, the time to learn wasn't available, so he had to settle for jet skis and parasailing. He didn't seem too disappointed.
Foul Play didn't know what she wanted.
"I don't know enough to choose!" she protested defensively. "It's not that I won't make a choice, I just don't know what's out there!"
Lancer came to her rescue. "You want a trip to an ice-cream parlor," she told her student.
"I do?" Foul Play asked.
"Yes."
"OK! I want a trip to an ice-cream parlor!" Foul Play demanded with authority. "What's an ice-cream parlor?"
They all laughed, even she laughed. It felt good, and it felt so very fragile.
It was Magnus' request that brought tears to Carly's eyes and froze Marissa in her seat.
"I want twenty-four hours alone with Marissa," he asked quietly.
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Rodimus and Spike made the most of that computer and booked four rooms at a resort on Miami beach. They were able to fill most of the water-sport requests and the horse-back riding all at one place. Reservations on a private tour boat covered the snorkeling trip and the para-sailing. There were jet skis that could be rented by the hour - although Rodimus finally had to have Lancer short out Hot Rod and Foul Play's jet ski before they would come in for dinner.
After dinner, and a nice walk on the beach, they found a small ice-cream parlor. Lancer informed Foul Play about the civilized custom of allowing customers a small taste of each flavor. The Decepticon tried each and every one and ended up with a five flavor banana split with three kinds of syrup, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Placed in front of her, it eclipsed her face....not that the rest of them had any less. The clerk had the awe-inspiring and unprecedented experience of actually seeing someone finish one of their large treats by themselves....three times over. He wasn't as shocked by the two enormous men as he was by the slender, black-haired woman though. She seemed very happy. So was the clerk. He got a big tip.
Next it was off to the Everglades where they took an air boat ride and hiked around in fascination and confusion.
"Why did you want us to come here?" Hot Rod asked his twin.
"You aren't enjoying yourself?" Rodimus asked. He had gone back to carrying Daniel almost full time again. The baby looked at Hot Rod with a quizzical expression too, almost as if mirroring Rodi's question.
"Well...yeah, but it's so...well...quiet," Hot Rod said dubiously.
Rodimus raised an eyebrow. They were surrounded by croaking wading birds and squawking invisible frogs. Once in a while an alligator would roar and make Carly jump.
"OK, fine," Hot Rod said, "quiet isn't a good word but..." He didn't want to say dull. It wasn't dull, it was actually pretty interesting, but it seemed so...so very un-Hot Roddish. His twin was only 30 odd years old, and this trip seemed like something out of a retirement planner.
Rodimus had that self-satisfied, know-it-all look on his face that told Hot Rod the asshole pretty much knew exactly what Hot Rod was thinking and found it amusing.
"You aren't gonna answer me are you?" Hot Rod sighed.
Rodimus grinned and caught up with Lancer who was hanging on to the back of Foul Play's capris.
"Girl! Do not fall in!" Lancer was saying.
Foul Play was bent double over the railing trying to get a better look at the water.
"I want to see all those little thingies in the water! They are everywhere," Foul Play said, undeterred.
"So are the gators," Lancer reminded her. "Leave the minnows alone - you can see them better over there in the shade."
Arcee and Springer were watching a nest of fledgling egrets getting fed. Spike was incredulously filming a pack of vultures pulling on the tail of a large, sunning alligator for the apparent fun of it. Marissa was pointing out a hunting osprey to Magnus and they tracked it until it caught something and carried it away.
"My mom and dad would like this place," Hot Rod admitted. "There's just life...everywhere." He looked at his twin. "You brought us here to remind us we need to protect places like this too, didn't you?"
"Nah," Rodimus said. "Would I do something like that? I just think the vultures are funny! They fuck with the gators every morning. It keeps them amused until the thermals warm up."
"Why are there so many different kinds of bugs here?" Foul Play wanted to know. "Look Hot Rod! This one has your colors!" She held up a four inch long, red and yellow grasshopper that crawled happily all over her hand and up her arm. "It's nothing like Kickback at all!"
"Ok, fine!" Hot Rod said to his twin. "I hate it when you look so smug!"
Then they went north, and they actually rented a Winnebego to do it. The thought of going any long distance with ths bunch cramped in a mini-van was enough to give Spike nervous ticks.
Then it was a full five days in Tampa and Orlando. The adventures they had were as numerous and diverse as stars in the sky...at least once they convinced Hot Rod and Foul Play that ALL roller coasters were worth trying and that their first was not merely a mind-blowingly fun fluke.
"Humans understand flying after all!" Foul Play had shrieked with joy as they went down the first vertical drop. Hot Rod just laughed uncontrollably all the way down. The two of them were holding hands up over their heads, and afterwards they just wanted to go back on the same ride again and again. Once Rodi assured them that most coasters induced similar euphoria, they tore off on their own and weren't seen again under it was time to rendevous at the gates. (They were prompt - Magnus and Rodimus had threatened them with staying in the hotel the next day if they weren't on time.) The only disappointment was there were a few rides Magnus and Springer had to sit out on because the restraints simply wouldn't close around them.
Adrenaline addictions well sated, the next journey was a totally different sort of ride. They went up as couples for two hour tours in hot air balloons, per Marissa's wishes. They all took away something different from the nearly silent ride, but that night there was a lot of hand holding and not much conversation.
Some of the best experiences were unplanned however. They stopped at an all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut buffet for lunch as they drove and revolutionized the lives of every one of the Autobots - except Rodimus of course. He looked a little disgusted at the amount of food they packed away. The manager of the restaurant nearly had a heart-attack. Spike simply wondered why he hadn't thought of this until they were almost ready to leave his care.
They stopped for hot peanuts along the roadside as they headed north. Picnicked at a rest stop and were hounded by over-fed, semi-tame racoons. Spotted a bear walking along the roadside as they headed into the mountains and discovered Lancer had an unexpected talent for identifying birds.
She grinned nervously over the eyebrows this raised. "I wasn't born an assassin ya know," she told them, with a hint of a growl. They all decided it was best not to press the issue.
At Mammoth Cave (Spike's request) they didn't have hotel rooms, they had little wood-side cabins. They spent two nights there and Magnus almost flew down a ravine when a great horned owl called from a tree he and Marissa were walking under to get back to their cabin after dark.
Spike was right about the cave. It amazed them and it was something they would never be able to experience once back in robot form, but they found the myriad fire-flies on the surface just as fascinating.
Standing in a clearing surrounded by flickering insects, Foul Play turned to Hot Rod and said, "My people will never understand this! I am trying to imagine explaining how...how amazing this is and every scenario I think of ends with me getting shot. They need to know about this...but I don't know how to tell them when I go home."
Hot Rod didn't say anything, he just grabbed her and held on. He'd never pressure her, but he didn't want her to talk about going home like it was inevitable.
They headed south by a slightly different route and stayed in St. Augustine. There they were given Magnus' request. Twenty-four hours alone with their partner, except for Rodi and Lancer. Rodimus both gratified and saddened Carly by offering to watch Daniel for that time period. She hugged him as she handed her son's heavy luggage of diapers, formula, and fresh clothing. She was thankful for time with her husband, but knew this was Rodi's way of saying goodbye to her son. She only wished Daniel was old enough to remember this strange, sad man who loved him so much.
Each couple made the most of their twenty four hours in their own way.
The drive back to Miami was pretty much silent, except for Rodimus who spent his non-driving time talking to Danny and trying to teach him to say "dam", as that was Edana's first word. Spike and Carly raised eyebrows at each other and silently agreed not to interfere, but also prayed Rodimus was unsuccessful. Marissa had an unexpected allergy attack which made her eyes run all day and everyone kindly decided not to wonder aloud that they'd never realized she had allergies. It must have been contagious. Foul Play, Hot Rod, and Magnus all suffered short rounds of it too.
When they got back, Spike contacted Metroplex. Optimus told him that the morphing chamber was in final testing and the teleporter was as finished as it would ever be. They had three days.
Rodimus requested a meeting with Optimus, Elita, and Ratchet. He brought Magnus along, but wouldn't let any of the others come. He drove, and Magnus sat on the driver's side without saying a word. He just looked out the window and blinked a lot. Damned allergies.
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When they got to Prime's office, Elita let them in with a smile, and Optimus was sitting at his desk, looking a bit nervous. They hadn't seen Rodimus since the conversation with Primus, but Magnus and Spike had kept them updated on the visiting Prime's struggle to review his memories. Optimus was a bit concerned this meeting was to go further rounds over the Matrix and the Jabez, but that wasn't Rodimus concern.
"Morning everyone," he waved cheerfully. He was in human form and he gave a pale looking Magnus a push towards a seat. "I guess you are wondering why I wanted to talk, but wouldn't tell you why over the phone."
"You are right about that," Optimus said.
"I want to talk to you about your humanized gang and I don't want them to have any preconceptions. The only reason I brought Magnus in on this is that he's their direct superior and he will need to keep an eye on his troops as well as himself."
This caught Magnus' attention. He was depressed, but he was still Ultra Magnus and his troops always took priority.
"Go on," Optimus said, exchanging a long worried look with his mate.
"I just want you to be aware of how much this whole thing will have changed your people. Even when it's over, it won't be over. You would think that once they are back to normal that all will be well, but I can tell you from personal experience that the adjustment back to robot form is just as hard as learning to be human. There will be real physical and emotional consequences and as their doctor and their leaders you should be on guard for them," Rodimus said seriously.
"What do you mean?" Ratchet asked.
"Sensory deprivation for one," Rodimus said. "It is so hard to adjust to the pure level of sensation you get as a human, but once you do, an Autobot's body feels...numb. Disconnected. Like it isn't even really yours. I've currently got two Autobots who can morph back and forth like I do. Magnus and Jazz. Both of them use this as part of our covert operations and Magnus has Marissa to spend time with, but if either of them are strictly in Autobot form for more than a few days at a time, they both start complaining. Magnus doesn't run into that trouble much because he does go home to Marissa almost every night, but if I have Jazz running a long operation he gets...agitated."
"Jazz?" Elita asked incredulously. "Agitated?"
"Sometimes down-right cranky, Elita," Rodimus told her. "I know that seems impossible given his personality but he gets depressed and irritable because he feels claustrophobic in his own body. I have no idea if your guys will be able to morph back and forth as we do. I can tell you, after Lancer left me I spent a full year as an Autobot. I was sick with trying to sever our link, and exhausted trying to set up all the security and do my job and fend off slavers, but thinking back, I also think a lot of it was also just being me again. By the end of that year, I was readjusting, and going human again came as a renewed shock, but it took a full year to stop having thoughts that my sensors weren't working or that something was wrong. I'm not saying your guys won't readjust. I'm saying it will take a LONG time and you need to watch them."
Ratchet frowned. "Your sensory systems are more intricate than most Rodimus," he said.
"Yeah...and I still suffered from it. That should tell you something. There is also the injury factor. I am required to report to med-bay after every fight for a quick check-over, and I think you should set that up for your guys too until you know they've readjusted."
"Why?" Ratchet asked. His calendar was full enough without a troop coming in after every fight automatically.
"Because humans get banged up on a daily basis and learn to ignore it. Between that and the lower sensation level I have let minor breaches in my fuel lines run me nearly dry without realizing. I'm pretty much over that by now, but First Aid is paranoid and won't drop it, not that I ever give anyone reason to worry or anything."
"Of course you don't," Elita said facetiously.
Ratchet nodded in understanding. "Maybe I can implant some kind of extra sensitive warning sensor to keep them on their toes. It will help them adjust."
Rodimus cocked his head sideways at Ratchet, smiled slightly, and shook his head.
"What?" the medical specialist asked.
"That's a good idea," Rodimus said. "I could have used it seven years ago."
"Anything else?" Optimus asked.
"Just watch them for depression. There are things they will miss. If they can go back and forth without too much risk, I'd recommend considering it now and then. Jazz and Magnus both have special quarters set up for their human alter-egos. We've given them identities, fake families, the works. That's part of the covert operations we run though. You guys might not need to invent pasts for you people, but you might want to set up quarters they can use for a few days at a time. It will keep them healthy and you won't have to bother the Witwickies. They can stay on base and out of trouble," Rodimus suggested.
Elita snorted. "None of these people need to be off base to find trouble, Rodimus...or haven't you noticed?"
Rodi blinked innocently at her, "Trouble? Moi? Why would I notice a thing like that?" He blinked stupidly at her a few more times and then dove right into his next, greatest concern. "While we're on the subject, I want to know what you plan to do for Foul Play?"
Optimus frowned. "I think that's between us and our son Rodimus. I know you're his twin but..."
Rodimus shook his head. "You misunderstand me Op," he interrupted. "The relationship with Hot Rod isn't the issue...or rather, it isn't the main issue. You are going to need to do something about her whether or not she stays with your son. You can not simply send her home."
Continued in Part K