Meanwhile, as the other seekers flew back to the underground citadel of Vos, Starglider and her friend Opal were enjoying their time in the base where they hoped to find a mate. "I hope we find someone soon, as I wish to return to our home" Starglider mentioned.
"Patience, Glider" Opal replied. "You won't attract anyone with that attitude."
Glider sighed, her friend was right and glider knew it. "So are you hoping for an aerial bot or a grounder?" glider asked.
"I don't care. Whoever Primus has picked for me is good enough" Opal stated. She wasn't picky, she just wanted someone who would love her and the sparklings she carried.
"Well, I hope I get a flying bot" Glider stated.
"Why is that?" Opal asked, a bit concerned at her friend's sudden change.
"I don't know if a grounder would be willing to accept the sparklings I carry" Starglider mentioned in all seriousness.
"And what if an aerial bot won't accept them?" Opal asked.
"Then I don't know" Glider asked.
"Well, what if Primus brings a grounder bot to you who will accept the little ones? Would you accept that?" Opal asked, wondering if it was the acceptance of the sparklings or the perceived bias of grounders versus flyers that was causing this in Starglider.
Glider thought for a moment before saying, "then that would be fine. I just want to make sure whoever comes along is willing to accept that I have these sparklings already growing inside me and that they won't make me give them up."
Opal was relieved. She had feared her friend had suddenly grown a distaste for grounders. That wasn't the case at all. Like Opal, Starglider was worried that she wouldn't find a bot who could love both her and accept the sparklings. "I am sure Primus will bring us the right bots in time. Until then, we can start by meeting more mechs and femmes from around this base. Maybe our mates lie amongst them."
"Agreed" Starglider stated and they both headed out to meet more bots.
Meanwhile, back at the underground citadel of Vos, the exploratory team had started making progress on what needed to be fixed, even though the citadel seemed in good condition. "I think they will appreciate that we have tried to find what needs fixing" Sheetrock stated, hoping the seekers would return soon.
"I hope so as well, but seekers are a hard bot to predict how they will react" armor added.
"Let's just do our best and hope they will be happy" Burst stated, accidentally bumping into something.
"watch out" Crash called out. The item that Burst had bumped into fell to the floor, causing the outer layer to split in two and break apart. "Now you did it."
"Wow" Armor stated as the shiny object gleamed in the light. "what is that?"
"I don't know, but I plan to ask the seekers when they return" Burst stated.
"I think I would take it to the temple of Primus" Sheetrock stated, fearing it might be something that would harm bots if not in the right place.
"I agree" Armor stated.
"But is it safe to touch?" Crash asked. "What if that was part of the thing that put those seekers into suspended animation?"
The others looked to the young bot, surprised he had something so important sounding, as usually Crash was one to whine and not contribute. "What?" Armor asked, not believing her audios.
"Well, I was just thinking. If those bots were put in suspended animation just before this place was abandoned, it would stand to reason that those seekers who did the suspending most likely left in such a hurry that they forgot to clean up" Crash stated, wanting to at least keep Armor safe.
"I hate to say it, but he really does have a point. Maybe we should wait until they return to move this object" Armor stated, not realizing that she had just made Crash feel like he was walking on Cloud nine.
"I agree, for now, let's leave it" Sheetrock stated and the others agreed and then moved on. They hoped the seekers would soon return and provide answers.
Unaware that the exploratory group was still in their home, the first wave of seekers, the three bonded groups that headed home first, soon arrived. They carefully flew down into the citadel. Thankfully, it was just the way they left it with one minor exception. They could hear something that sounded like part of the machine that had placed them in suspended animation. "You get the feeling something is off?" Stingray asked.
"Yeah, and now that I listen closer, I hear a familiar sound, as if from that one machine, and I hear voices" Nightfall stated.
"You think those grounders are still here?" Sunsetter asked.
"It is possible and likely" Stunray answered.
"Come, let's find them before they get into trouble" Pearl added.
"Agreed, let's go forth" Rainer said. And so the six seekers who had returned set out to find the grounders who were still in the citadel. They quickly located them.
"What have you done?" Nightfall asked, mentioning the sound, unaware that the grounders didn't hear it as their audios weren't set for such a tone.
"What do you mean?" Burst asked, totally caught off guard.
"That sound" Pearl added.
"What sound?" Armor asked, puzzled.
"Wait…. You don't hear that high-pitched tone?" Rainer asked.
"No. is there one?" Sheetrock asked.
"We can hear it. Tell us, has anything strange occurred while we were gone?" Stingray asked.
"Well, Burst accidentally knocked an object over and it's covering was cracked and fell apart" Crash explained.
"Show us this object" Stunray demanded.
"Right this way" Burst stated, leading the whole group to the area. "This is it. That orb accidentally fell and cracked its outer coating when it fell. We wanted to move it, as we thought it was something important but then we reconsidered as it might have been part of the machine that put you guys in suspended animation and so we left it, as we wanted to ask you about it before we did anything with it."
The seekers looked at the object and recognized it instantly. "It is good that you did not move it. If you have touched it with your bare hands, you would have ended up in suspended animation" Nightfall stated.
"But then how do we get it out of here?" Crash asked.
"In one of these buildings there are special gloves that will allow us to move in and put it in a safe place" Pearl stated.
"Then let's get looking" Burst stated and all agreed and started to look in the citadel for the special gloves so that the orb could safely be placed away so it would do no harm.