The Diego Diaries: Free (dd8 113)
=0=Ratchet and the kids
They sat in the concession area eating confections that Ratchet was whipping up in the food stand nearby. He wore an apron and a chef's hat on his helm as he dazzled them with his fancy cookery. They'd spent the past few joors, it seemed like, riding on the roller coaster and ferris wheel among other things. It was hilarious and scream inducing as they used the empty fair ground for fun and games.
"This is good," Echo said as she at her corn dog and sipped her drink. "You cook good, Commander."
Snickers from the adults were met with a frown from their cheery host. "Fraggers."
"Where to now?" Drift asked as he ate his hot dogs.
"Well, there's so much to see. Eat up. I have places to go you don't even know about," Ratchet said as he flipped a funnel cake into the air.
They would.
=0=Moby Dicking
:LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!:
Prime who was floating in a bale of water inside a whale's belly watched Ebio Imperialis lose his shit nearby. He was beating on the insides of the whale with his fists while Cassio was floating next to him watching as well.
Cassio glanced at Prime. :You don't look too worried:
:Why should I?: Prime asked calmly. :You are the one holding back vital information to the well being of Primus. I am not the one He might have a disagreement with:
Cassio glanced around. :It will take more than this:
The scene immediately changed.
=0=On a ship going toward Perfection
The ship sailed across an invisible sea, its various parts creaking like a wooden four mastered sailing ship after which it was designed. Sitting at the back steering it with amusement, Primus Himself guided it along.
Will Lennox stared at him, studying His face and physique. He was simply the most beautiful figure of any kind he'd ever seen. His armor was so silvery, so white-silver, it was almost painful to look at. He sparkled, He shimmered wisdom and power. It was incredible to see the being who had formed the entire planet upon which they'd been brought.
"Its incredible isn't it," Niall Graham asked softly as he stepped closer to Will. "He's a god. They don't have to wonder. He's right there beneath their feet. I've never seen such a beautiful being."
"I know," Lennox replied. He walked closer to the big mech who glanced down at him with amusement. "Sir … You embody Cybertron."
"I do."
"You took on the role of being the planet for The People."
"I did."
"Is that … sort of the norm? Are planets like You embodied with a spirit or something? Or are You the only one?" Lennox asked as others turned from the view to listen.
Primus considered the humans, tiny toddlers beginning the exciting journey into growth and enlightenment. "All things are consciousness. All things. Nothing exists that does not have consciousness. You are unaware of it but even inanimate objects are conscious to whatever degree that they can be. All planets, comets, black holes, meteors, meteorites, quasars, asteroids … all that you see everywhere has consciousness. The level of it is the only difference. A chair is less conscious than a planet. Only the most highly advanced spirits embody something like a planet or black hole. Even the universe is conscious."
It was silent a moment, then Niall stepped closer. "The universe?"
Primus nodded. "The universe is a form of consciousness. It feels everything that you feel, all of it, then mirrors it back to you. If you feel love and joy, it gives you back those things. If you feel despair and hatred, then that is what you get. It strives with all its might to give you what you want.
"Some go through their lives wondering why things never change. That is why. You design your life by what you think and believe. Your spirit amplified through your brain is massively powerful. Enormously powerful. You are what you believe. Have you heard that before?" He asked.
"I have," Epps said. "My grandparents say that all the time. 'If you think you're nothing, you'll be nothing'."
Primus nodded. "What you believe and know you got first from your family, your belief systems and schools. The trick to life is to sift through all that and take what resonates with you to spark. All the rest, those parts that make you uneasy or are hard for you to believe … that's your spirit telling you to let them go. You hold onto the things that are not for you, those things people say or do to reinforce negativity. Consider what you believe and let most of it go. Most of it is wrong."
"That's easier said than done sometimes," Rick Harris said.
Primus nodded. "What you believe is what you become. What you believe is what happens to you. If you believe you have no worth, that you are not attractive or smart or good … then that is what you become. Your spirit will adopt that as true, then the universe will mirror it back to you because it wishes to give you what you want."
"No one wants to feel like that," Owen Harris said.
"But you do. You believe your programming, negative, positive. You adapt it as who you are when its 100% not who you are. Nothing that can be said negatively about you is you.
If you want to feel poorly, the universe will help you. It does so not out of malice but of love. Consider the universe to be a very loving mother. Whatever her children want, she strives to give. Seek love, joy, happiness and self love. Work on making that who you are and it will be yours."
"Its that simple," James Daniels said with a slight frown.
"It is. But you are children, toddlers barely out of your diapers as a species. You have much to learn before it even begins to make sense. But what I tell you is true. Your egos and the neediness you carry as individuals, even if its terrible, work against your spirit's liberation. You believe that you are what others say you are all too often. Nothing could be farther from the truth," Primus said quietly.
"What are we then?" Jason Daniels asked as he walked forward to stand beside his father.
"You are perfection created by Prime Source to go into the universe and have experiences. Your experiences teach you what you need to know to grow and from that information which you bring back at your passing helps Source learn and create even more. Its an infinite process of learning, growing and loving. If you do not get what you want in this, a very short life as a human, you will get what you need in the lives that follow," He said.
"You don't go to Heaven and stay there?" William Daniels asked with surprise.
"You can. Why would you?" Primus asked. He glanced ahead. "We are coming into port."
Everyone turned to watch the city appear almost immediately before them, then slide into the city itself. When the vessel stopped it disappeared and everyone was standing on a flat plaza made of light that stretched into a magnificent city filled with gigantic white buildings that wouldn't be out of place in ancient Greece or Rome.
Primus began to walk forward heading toward the biggest and most beautiful building in the seemingly infinite landscape of the light city. The humans hurried to follow Him.
"Why do I feel like I'm in Tron?" Epps asked as he hurried along beside Lennox.
"I hear ya," Lennox said.
=0=Ratchet and the civilians
They appeared out of nowhere in a swamp filled with beautiful vegetation and flowing water. There were also ponds, standing water here and there in this, a very warm humid wilderness area. The humans stared around, then noted there were on a flat boat with Kudon at the back poling them along. Ratchet stood at the prow staring around, then grinned at Kudon. "I know this place. Its being rehabbed now. Its the Great Swamp of Cybertron, the inland sea that is a national refuge for plants and animals.
"It is," Kudon said. "I think it would be nice to see this place at night."
With that, the light dimmed and it was dark but all around them the plants shimmered with light. Cybertronian plants had light patches, some of them regularly placed like strange tall lamps and others in bunches, singularly and some not at all. The area glowed with such beauty and peace that no one spoke for a while.
The boat floated onward as the humans glanced around themselves. Large insects flew, themselves glowing with lights as they moved along the gently flowing water. Far away in all directions it was only as bright as the plants.
"No one is allowed to come here but for a few camping areas," Kudon said. "Its a refuge and there is only animal and plant life. Its a wonder of our world."
"I always wanted to come here. Raptor used to come and camp here a lot," Ratchet replied as a number of sparkling bugs flew around, then past him.
"I love it here," Kudon said.
They would flat boat onward, hushed by the silence and beauty of this, a marvel of the universe.
=0=Prime
They appeared back on the silvery sand. There was nothing around them but the giant planets down the beach and the silvery ocean. They glanced around, then the Imperialis brothers turned on Prime. "What now?"
Prime shrugged. "I have no control over this. Its up to you, I believe, how long this goes on."
"We won't be giving the details, Prime," Cassio said. "We want what we want."
"Is that so," Prime said. "What about Primus? What about Cybertron? Do They matter to you or is their suffering irrelevant?"
Cassio stared at Prime. "You can rebuild Cybertron. You already are."
"You have not answered the question. What about Cybertron and Primus? When will They matter to you? When will you acknowledge the sacrifice that He gave to all of us to make sure we had a life?"
Cassio glanced around. "HEAR ME! YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE? I HAVE FREE WILL! I CAN CHOOSE OR NOT! I CHOOSE NOT!"
The words provoked no response.
"Its amazing to me, Cassio, that Primus can give up His life for us and you have nothing to say about that beyond mockery. He has never been first. Never. He gave up His entire life to make sure that His brother never found us. He gave up every dream and hope, every moment of peace to protect us. You have no feelings about that do you."
Cassio considered Prime. "I do. I just know that I have free will. Isn't that what they told us all the time? You have free will. Go out and live your life. Well, we have. No one can make us do anything because we have free will. Otherwise, they would have the data."
"You forget. Primus has free will as well," Prime said quietly. "You do not trump Him. What you are doing here is causing harm to Him. I do not believe that you will triumph in the end."
"Then the trigger will wipe the data and frankly, I don't care what happens next," Cassio said.
The water lapped against the shore as they stood facing each other, three implacable wills. Then they disappeared.
=0=TBC 03-14-2021
funnel cake: batter from a handheld funnel is dripped into boiling oil in a usually shallow pan like a frying pan, allowed to puff up to be cooked, then showered in powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar. Its a HUGE deal at state fairs in the USA and they put toppings and ice cream on many. Yum.