The Diego Diaries: Redeem (dd6 37) Here you go, Leoness! :D
Today's segment. :D
-0-Somewhere else
The room faded and Prime was gone to another place. Watching him with degrees of awe and expectation, one could hear a pin drop in the room. Elsewhere, it was different.
Optimus Prime stood on a busy street in Simfur. Bots were going about their business and the traffic was thick. He looked around himself, then noticed no one seemed to see him. One even walked through him, a slightly disorienting experience. Turning, he paused in surprise. Standing on the sidewalk was his namesake, Orion. He smiled. "Come wif me." Then the little mech walked forward into the street and all its brisk traffic.
Startling, Prime followed the baby until he was on the other side sidewalk. The traffic had driven though them. He knelt. "Orion … where are we? Can anyone see us?"
Orion smiled broadly and patted Prime's ped. "No. Shes not see me, Orion and Otis. Comed you to me there," he said pointing down the street. He turned that way and began to walk.
Prime rose to follow, noting that this was Simfur before the war. This was one of his favorite cities on-world and he felt every ounce of its great beauty as he followed the tiny child heading in the direction of the Temple. Winding this way and that, they finally arrived.
Orion stared at the steps, then Prime. "OTIS! YOU HELPEDED ME, ORION?!"
Prime grinned, then gently plucked the baby from the ground. Together, they went forward into the grounds, then up to the great door. Inside, there was light. Entering, they walked to the railing that protected the AllSpark and Well from visitors such as Orion falling in. As they stood silently watching it together, it began to gather light on its surface. Light arced across the AllSpark like lightning bursts and as it did the illumination grew.
Glancing around, Prime noted that he and Orion were the only ones there. "Orion, what do we do now?"
Orion who was standing on his servo glanced upward at Prime. "You want help with Proteus. You came for advice," the tiny bot said.
Prime who was startled for a moment at the adult language coming from the language-impaired baby nodded. "I do. I have the power of life and death, yet this mech who has terrible crimes to his credit has sought and found redemption. I require counsel for my decision."
"What do you want yourself? What would you, Orion Pax, seek for this mech?" Orion asked.
"Mercy. Hope. I am weary of prisons and punishments," Prime said. "But I am Prime and I have to think more globally. It's not my job to imprint my own personal beliefs and mores on this situation. The crimes in question are deplorable."
"But you are still Orion Pax," Orion said.
Prime nodded. "I am but I am now Optimus Prime."
"You can't separate them, Optimus. You are one and both. Both of them inform your opinions and decisions. For you to divide one away from the other would be a mistake. You argue about duality here when you already know the answer."
Prime stared at the tiny bot, then grinned. "You are very wise, Orion."
Orion smiled brilliantly. "I, Orion knowed things. I doing with the shes. You doing with the shes. Do the thing you doing. You know."
Prime grinned slightly, then raised Orion to kiss his tiny helm. "I do what I do for you and everyone else. I have to make sure that my decisions do not backfire some fine orn when we do not see it coming."
"That is true," Orion said with a nod. "What does your spark tell you about this?"
Prime considered that. "It tells me that mercy is preferrable. It tells me that a life without it is no life. It tells me that he has changed and perhaps all of us have."
"Then you know what to do," Orion said with a brilliant smile. "I, Orion, am glad to help you, Orion Pax of Iacon, Optimus Prime of everywhere. You make US here very happy. Don't over think."
Prime grinned. "I will try not to. Which one are you by the way?" he asked as Orion stared up at him with a smile.
"I, Orion. I doing with the shes. I go der and do this and that. I go der and bees with my shes. Or so I'm told by a very cute, very small little kid," the Orion figure said. He grinned, then hugged Prime's thumb. Turning on Prime's servo to face the AllSpark and the Well, he leaped off and dove into the Well disappearing immediately.
Prime who for a moment had to hold himself back to follow 'Orion' watched as the Well began to churn. It rose upward, the blue liquid center, then a figure began to form out of it, a figure of great beauty. Prime knelt down and bowed his helm. "Lord Primus. I am honored."
"I would agree about you, Optimus, but what sort of father would I be if I didn't?" the figure asked with a cheerful tone. "Rise, please."
Optimus stood slowly, his optics never leaving the silvery golden figure of the mech whose mission he represented in third dimensional space and time. "Lord, I came here to find wisdom and guidance."
"I know," Primus said. "I came here to give it to you. I rather enjoyed my format. That infant is a lot of fun I would think. He is your namesake?"
"He is and he is a very loved child," Prime replied.
Primus nodded. "I am very well pleased with your progress, My son. I am happy with things and I know you will find the Omega Keys. I know you wish Me to tell you but where would be the fun in that?" he asked with a grin. "You know that I will be pleased with your decision. I know you will think outside the box. It would be easy to be them but you aren't, so I am with you in this instance. This is why I chose you, My beloved son. You can think beyond the predictable and generally acceptable levels of possibility."
Prime nodded. "Thank you, Lord Primus. Your assistance is appreciated more than You can know."
Primus smiled. "I had a notion," he said. He nodded. "Go and do your duty, My dear one. You always have and you always will be honorable. I am well pleased."
With that, Optimus Prime was back in a conference room on Mars.
-0-Back
Prime sat up straighter in his chair and glanced around the room. Everyone waiting watched him with varying degrees of fear, awe and uncertainty. Prime thought a moment as he gathered his thoughts, then leaned forward on his elbows. "I have discussed this with Lord Primus Himself."
Proteus gasped, then gripped Maduro's servo tighter. It was incredibly tense in the room as they stared at Prime. Optimus leaned on his elbows as he formulated what he wanted to say. He looked at Proteus who looked resigned but afraid. "Proteus, you have done terrible things and you know it. That works in your favor with me and with the Powers. I could sentence you to permanent stasis but that is not a punishment that I can tolerate and still believe in a just society. I can put you in prison for a long time but it will not undo anything that has happened.
"I will sentence you for two vorns of service to the colony. You will work at whatever you are asked to do. You will do it to a high level of ability and without complaint. I am asking you, Heatout, to take him on part of the work day to do whatever work you see fit to assign to him. The rest of the orn, you will report to the prison to assist Warden Gee-Gee in her efforts to reform prisoners and to represent them in their hearings.
"I will allow you to live with your bond who I am ordering you to take care of, to assist him to a better condition and manner of life. You will also allow Ratchet and his reconstruction team to modify your format so that you can move around in our society without anyone knowing who you once were. Since Proteus is a common name, I see no reason to change that. You are now Proteus of Kaon, a city and city-state that suffered greatly from your actions and inactions. Proteus of Iacon no longer exists. If you prove to be less than the mech you say you are and who we hope you now have become, I will revoke these conditions and you will be deactivated for five vorns. At the end of the sentence, we will meet again and discuss removing you from the control of the state permanently. Do you understand?" Prime asked.
Proteus stared at Prime without comprehension. He blinked, then looked at Maduro who was in a world of suffering all his own. Glancing at Prime, he half rose, then sat again. "Are you offering me mercy? Do I get to be with Maduro and help somehow? Is that possible?"
"Slag yeah," Ironhide said. "It's because he's Prime, Proteus. That's why it's possible."
Proteus stared at Prime, then stood, his grasp of Maduro's servo tightly gripped. He bowed from the waist, then stared at Prime with emotion. "I will not let you down," he said. "You are indeed The One Who Comes."
"Ratchet, please take both of them to the hospital. I expect that you will do the honors but please … assist Maduro," Prime said.
Ratchet stood. "I will. Rung and Jarro, I will be referring both to you but especially Maduro. I may keep him in overnight with Proteus. Then we can get this ball rolling."
Jarro and Rung nodded. Proteus turned to Sherrod and Blackstone, then bowed deeply. He bowed to Heatout. "I am forever in your debt. There is nothing you can ask that I won't do." He turned to Gee-Gee. "Warden, I am yours to command." He looked at Heatout. "Tell me what to do and I will do it. It doesn't matter. I am yours."
Heatout nodded. "I will be waiting at the Halls. When you can come, do."
Proteus nodded, then helped Marduro to his peds. He glanced at Prime with great emotion on his face. "Thank you," he managed around it.
Prime nodded. Ratchet led them out followed by Rung and Jarro. The door shut, then Heatout turned to Prime. "You surprise me every orn."
"He's The One Who Comes," Gee-Gee said as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm not surprised."
"Gratified," Blackstone said as Sherrod nodded. "I suspect this will be the last good hearing on this group that we have."
No one argued.
-0-In the hospital
Maduro sat on a med berth with plugs galore in him. It was agonizing for him to go to the hospital through the public so Ratchet ordered a medivac. He was run down, low in a number of areas that would account for some of his condition but most of his trouble was emotional and psychological. He was unable to bear the burden of the things Proteus had done. He was sensitive and decent so the whole business of life on Cybertron was an agony. Here, he hid away qualifying for full disability. What he needed he could order brought, so he hid away, agonized and lonely.
"What can we do for him, Doctor?" Proteus asked fearfully.
"He's going to be a full time patient of Processor Health with daily sessions until we get a bead on his condition. You'll attend too. Right now, he's staying overnight. We're going to get you squared away so you can take him home and get on with your life." Ratchet stared at Proteus. "I never believed you were hopeless. Much."
Proteus grinned faintly. "Thanks. I deserved that."
Ratchet grinned, then signaled an orderly to take Maduro to a room for rest and rehabilitation via transfunsion and internal defragging of some of his programming. Proteus walked with him and when he was lying down and underway, he turned to Ratchet. "What now, Doctor?"
"You come with me and we get you revamped. If anyone out there saw you now they would tear you from limb-to-limb. Remember ... Proteus of Iacon is dead and gone. Proteus of Kaon was born today. How long he lives is up to you."
Proteus nodded, then glanced at Maduro who looked relaxed at last. "Proteus of Kaon has to live forever," he said, then he followed Ratchet out of the room.
-0-Mid orn the next day
Proteus, changed completely in form and still reverberating over the concept of freedom walked into the Halls of Order. He looked around, then saw the directory. Walking to the elevator, he want up, then headed for the office of Heatout. Entering, he asked to see the boss and was let into the big mech's office.
Bent over a map with several books open around him on a big table in the corner of the well lit and well appointed office, Heatout didn't notice him at first. "Heatout? It's me, Proteus," he asked somewhat uncertainly.
Heatout looked up, then smiled. "Proteus! You look completely different. It's a good look. I suppose you came to work?"
"I did," he said.
"How is Maduro?" Heatout asked as he walked to the door and out to the hallway.
Proteus followed. "He's staying over one more night. They found some treatments that will help him. He's much better now."
Heatout stopped before a door at the end of the long hall. "I'm glad. How are you?"
"Penitent. Extremely grateful," he said with emotional emphasis.
Heatout grinned. "Good. How about this?" he asked as he reached into the small room and brought out a broom.
Proteus looked at it, then laughed. "I would be honored."
They chatted a moment, then Proteus took the broom and began to work. That closet would become his office, the one he would have more fond memories about than any other and nowhere in the colony would a building be more lovingly cleaned than this one.
-0-TBC 6-14-17 edited 6-15-17
ESL: mores: (more-ays) - the beliefs and actions that you hold for yourself or your society/group holds Example: "He was a pacifist and his mores dictated that he didn't fight anyone."