Author's Note (Mini-Story): The gang was finishing cleaning up the party.

D- "Did you have fun Allora?"

A- "Sure did. I can't wait to find what happens in this chapter."

L- "Then let's get going."

Ch.20 Crystals

I woke this morning without any dreams that I could recall. Not sure when exactly I fell asleep, but I must have gotten at least 8 hours of it.

Today, I got to see the Crystalhouse with Huffer. Yeah! Day 3 of Gaming and I get to check out crystals.

After being freaked out by Yoketron's guidebook, I figured it would be better to read up on Cybertronian Crystal growing. I had only just gotten to the different ways crystals are viewed on other worlds before conking out.

Going through my morning routine, all I could think about was what I had read last night in the crystal growing book.

The art of crystal growing this is not something unique to our world. There are many documented organic worlds of advanced civilization where crystal growing has become anything from between a hobby to a religion.

On the water filled world of Aquarius, there are crystallin caverns that are tended by priests. The caves must be protected from temperature changes in the water. Otherwise, the salt( formed by ionic element bonding)based gems would dissolve and the edges rounded. The caverns are considered places of healing and meditation.

In one of these caverns is a rare gem that can facilitate breathing underwater. The gems are known to absorb the oxygen surrounding it. The oxygen could then be released when heat is supplied. Aquiriens would only give these Aquaman Crystals , best translation meaning water being crystal, to valued allies since the crystals are hard to harvest.

On the planet of Junk, it is rare for a clear crystal to develop because of the planet's acidic atmosphere. The Junkiens highly value clear crystals, so it is common for trading parties from other planets to offer a crystal while saying the Universal Greeting.

One plant is completely made up of compound crystals. The being of this world of rightly named it, Crystal. The beings of this world don't see any value in crystals since they don't offer anything useful to everyday life.

Crystallans have a symbiotic relationship with chlorophyll-producing microbe in order to gain energy from their sun. They also live off of the molds and fungus that grow on the crystals. Their way of living is simple and plain, so traders often come with rare foods for the Crystallans in hopes of being allowed to chip a piece of rare gem off the planet.

Most organic worlds view crystals as rare commodities that have to be brought up from under their planet's soil. Often placing the gems in a rare metal holding for sacred places and everyday adornment. Some of these planets have developed means to replicate natural crystal formation with the help of pressure simulation.

They also have the hobby of growing salt based crystals in containers filled with salt supersaturated water with a seed crystal suspended on a string. The seed crystal is formed for the same salt within the water and allows the formation of more crystal on it when the saturation(amount of material dissolved in water) levels become too much for the water to hold.

The fabled race of Quintessons, the race that supposedly conquered our world before dying off, was rumored to view crystals for their electronic value. According to legend, they had machines capable of things that are considered impossible. And these machines only function by using crystals that had the ability to carry electric current and other concentrated forms of energy.

I wonder if Huffer would be interested in what I read last night. And how to invite Hannah with us this morning? It would be impossible to invite Hannah without revealing that I was either Huffer or Prowl. Maybe I can convince Huffer to invite Hound Gameside.

I had finally made it to the mess hall. Grabbing a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, I sat down at the usual table. Others started to filter into the room, grabbing something from the hot food line or a bowl of cereal. Kyle soon joined me.

Kyl- "When did you and Hannah want the aquaponic system to be ready again?"

Kar- "Next week. Hopefully by Monday. Hannah said yesterday that the fish could be coming in on Tuesday."

Kyl- "Are you willing to pull an all-nighter? With the half days, the system wouldn't be done till Friday next week."

Groan, "I was afraid of that. I do have a graveyard shift tomorrow. I could work on the system during the day and force myself to stay awake Gameside."

Kyl- "Would you be able to work on it alone? So far it's taken a few sets of hand."

Kar- "No idea. Maybe if we can hammer out a good part of it this afternoon, all I would have to worry about is testing the system. That is the bit that will take to longest. We don't want something to go wrong when the fish arrive."

Hannah walked up right then, "You two talking about the fish?"

Kyl- "Yes, we're trying to figure out if it's even possible to finish it by Monday. Karen says that she can work all day tomorrow since she has a graveyard shift tomorrow night."

H- "When are you planning on sleeping?"

Kar- "I have an afternoon shift Friday, so I can sleep in the morning."

H- "Would you be up for a sleepover then?"

Kar- "Friday?"

H- "Yeah, Kaylie said that Emily wanted to get the gals together Friday night. She could tell you more about it."

Kay- "I could tell Karen about what?"

Kyl- "The sleeper for the girls. *Gets up from his chair* I'll see you guys later. I've got stuff to finish up."

The girls- "See you later."

Once Kyle had left I turned back to Kaylie, "Sleepover?"

Kay- "Yeah, Emily is setting it up. She found out that you could sign out the Lounge for events so the cleaner drones don't clean up before the event is over. She thinks it will be fun to have all the girls over for a party Friday. You want to come?"

Kar- "Am I invited?"

H- "Emily said that all the girls are invited. She just hasn't had the time to send out emails yet because of training with Ironhide. Something about living up to her character."

"Oh," I wonder who she could be. Do I even remember what she looks like? I'll probably remember when I run into her.

Kar- "I'd like to come. It sounds fun. Plus it gives us a chance to know the other players better."

"You're not trying to figure who people play as, are you," Kaylie asked with a fake look of surprise on her face. She didn't have to guess since she already knew who was who.

"Nooo."

Since I was done with my bowl, I got up to head Gameside. Huffer would probably be logging in soon. Can't keep him waiting for Prowl.

"Bye guys."

H and Kay- "Bye."

I wave to David and Brandon as I passed them out the door. They waved back before going back into a heated whispered discussion. I hope that they weren't planning on any pranks.

I figured it would be best to head straight to the medbay before getting a cube this morning. Not bothering to know, I just walked straight into the bay and plopped myself onto the nearest berth to where Ratchet was currently working.

"Good morning, Ratchet."

"Morning."

He got straight to the exam. He probably hadn't had a cube yet either. With him being busy with the scanner, it was the best time to ask my question.

Is there any chance of me getting some training done before Friday? And how long do I have to come in every day? I do recall you saying that I would only have to come in once a week after the game started."

He ignored the first question, "That was before you got zapped by that app. If you're still fine next Friday, this can be a twice a week thing."

"Twice a week?"

"Yes, I don't care if you don't think it's necessary. I'll hunt you down if I have to."

"I'll be good. You don't have to hunt me down."

"Hmmph, You're free to go now."

I got up but paused because I remembered something. "Hey, Ratchet?"

"What?"

"DO you know how to download anti-virus software and anti-malware? Yesterday, I found out that I didn't have any."

"I'll look into it. Now get."

I left him typing in the new data into his computer.

Huffer was waiting outside the Mess Hall when I arrived.

"Good morning, Prowl. You finished an exam with Ratchet?"

"Yes. Did you already finish your cube this morning?"

"Sure did. I can wait for you. It's not like the place is going to be going anywhere anytime soon."

"I'll be quick."

There were some bots working on their morning cubes but the two that interested me the most were Blaster and Steeljaw. They were currently what looked like a silent conversation, were empty cubes forgotten. Blaster would wave his hands around like he was describing something, then share optic contact for a few moments before another set of hand waving.

Were they talking over the bond? Or was it over the comlinks? Did Steel even have a comlink yet?

While mixing my drink, I checked my comlink to find that Steeljaw's name had been added to the list. Cool, I could be able to hear what Steel way trying to say. But does he have to have his communicator on 24/7? That might be annoying. I'll just talk to him the same and if he feels the need to start a comlink, he will.

I grabbed my cube and sipped it as I made my way out of the room. Steeljaw noticed, shared a glance with Blaster. Blaster gave him a nod before Steel jumped down from the

table and joined me.

H- "You ready to go?"

P- "Yes. Is it alright if Steeljaw joins us?"

H- "You want to come with Steel? We're visiting a Crystalhouse I found yesterday."

Steel nodded his helm.

"You guys found a Crystalhouse?"

Perfect timing, it was Hound. And there was Mirage too. Great, I really hope that he isn't still miffed at me.

P- "Good morning Hound, Mirage. Huffer told me about a Crystalhouse he found yesterday and is about to show Steeljaw and me where it is."

Hu- "Umm… Would you two like to come? We can wait."

M- "I'm sorry but we have important things to do this morning. Like training. Good day."

Woooww, did he really have to rub my face plates into the fact that I couldn't train yet.

Hound lingered, "Sorry about that. He's a little ornery this morning. Is it alright if I track you down later Huffer. I would love to check it out."

Hu- "Sure."

Ho- "Thanks. Bye guys."

The trek to the Crystalhouse was longer than I expected. Path turning into a maze because of all of the cave in from the crash. The was one room that had a pool of an electrified liquid that we had to skirt around. Huffer was confident on where we were going, but why in the world would he go this deep exploring? It felt like we were nearing the other side of the ship.

From what little exploring I had done yesterday, it was probably that the port (Left) side of the ship had hit a side of a mountain. Since most of the command area seemed to be on the starboard(right) side of the ship, the wasn't an issue for the upcoming battles. But the exploration and scientific side of the ship appeared to be the port side, and that caused issues when trying to turn about the physics of this game.

Huffer stopped in front of a closed door, "Just to forewarn you, it looks it a mess in there. But it probably has stuff you'll interested in. Who knows, we could have the placed fixed."

The door creaked open. The sight too beautiful and saddening at the same time. The shelves that once contained crystals, mineral gravel, and chemical energon baths were tipped over and broken. Their contents spilled across the floor. The less resilient crystals had shattered, leaving a glittering river behind. There were burnt and melted spots were the wrong chemicals had come into contact with each other, causing a chain reaction.

Most of the energon had faded to a dull glow. Most of the crystals didn't give off the glow that they should have had from being exposed to energon. But some of the crystal fragments must have landed in the right puddles. They were glowing and new growth seemed to be growing on them. The light from the emergency lights and the glowing seed crystals made the room glow an eerie mix of purple.

"What do you think, Prowl? Can this be fixed?"

"It is possible, but the cleanup of the chemicals would make the process difficult. But it might be necessary to have the room restored, I have read that some of the crystals that should be present are vital for medical purposes. I find it unlikely that we can find the same crystal formation on this plant since most of the crystal originated on Cybertron."

"Where did you read that?"

"I own a copy of Praxian Gardens. It is very informative of the subject of Crystal growing."

He laughed, "It figures that your character would have a copy of that. How do you want to go about cleaning this up."

"I'll take a scan of this to Sciences. they may have a solution that should neutralize the compounds present. After the spills are cleaned, we would have to sort the crystals. We would need to find the correct pure types and find the best seeds to begin production again. We would also have to examine the natural crosses to find their properties."

"That sounds good, but we don't have a scanner."

"My doorwings should be sufficient."

Bring up my doorwing sensory information, I increased the input to a 100 percent. Perceptor and Wheeljack would need the best data available for this project. Just before coming fully online, I locked my joints to keep from keeling over.

The room has a variety of elements present. Many of the compounds are unstable and will explode if brought together. Broken wiring and plumbing. A variety of common and rare crystals are present.

Download the information about this room into an extra fold for transfer to Teletraan-1

Saving… Huffer and Steeljaw are currently tense and watching you closely. Information saved.

Return doorwings to normal functions. As my doorwings returned to normal, Steel's melted from relief. Huffer didn't relax until I shifted my fingers to show that I was back.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine, I have the information needed for Sciences." I wish that I reach that diamond over there.

Before we could leave, Steel leaped.

"Steeljaw!"

Author's Note (Mini-Story): Deep Thought pulls to a stop and the girls jump out.

L- "You really can't resist. Can you?"

A- "Sorry, Thought and I love cliffhangers."

Allora runs up to a mailbox, "Mail time.

Ok, first up CybertronianDefense. When you say Game Theory do you mean "the branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of strategies for dealing with competitive situations where the outcome of a participant's choice of action depends critically on the actions of other participants. Game theory has been applied to contexts in war, business, and biology."(google definition)? Wow. I didn't know that was a thing. Cool, you taught me something new.

Adelphe24, thanks and now I'm curious. What was the question?

OfLifeDeathAndBetween, glad you love this story and cool username. Why'd you pick it?

Mindmaze, Yes Karen was awesome. I love Jazz's interactions and I really wanted Prowl to tease him to but Thought told me that it was too early for that sort of thing. Cyber-ninja arts are cannon in the Animated Universe of Transformers. Yoketron was Prowl's mentor in that series. But the bit that about life lessons and being there for others was my own personal thoughts.

Guest1610 and Guest, don't ever think that about your work. You will never know unless you try.

Ok and here's a note about this chapter since guys might be curious. The planet names used at cannon and in G1 Rodimus gives Wreckgar a crystal while saying the universal greeting. The names for the planets come from a map of the milky way that Cosmos made in the Allspark Almanac. It a great resource full of fun easter eggs. See you guys next time."