Chapter 14
He drinks the new medical grade energon despite his reflexive suspicions of its integrity.
Basically a large care package from Ratchet had been delivered with the essentials for his… current state.
However, Gears wouldn't put it past the Cons to switch out the Autobots' more refined stuff with their own, but that's a surprisingly difficult idea to entertain at the moment. Especially when Starscream of all mechs (who's programmed to protect a newspark) brings out some old lab equipment (that he apparently owns and knows how to use) and checks a sample to ensure its quality.
Seriously though…. Gears thought himself observant, and yet he would have never guessed Starscream to be a scientist. Too screechy.
He sips lightly at the cube the seeker offered him, the energon bitter yet resting comfortably in his systems. The feeling is a small comfort. One he hopes will keep his processor off the fact that he still can't feel his newspark and that he has no carrier programing. These seekers will probably be better equipped to raise his sparkling and that's a frightening concept for the mini to swallow.
He shakes his helm and finishes off the rest of the energon just as a towering triplechanger drops off the last of the supplies.
"By the way, Megatron wants the Autobot in the control room." Blitswing says while already making his way out and into the hall.
It's impressive how little the massive mech cares for Starscream's following demand for further explanation, and leaves. Very few (if any) Autobots would pull something like that with Optimus or Prowl. Here it seems common place to disrespect the commanding officers .
Starscream looks reluctant to part with his little set up of equipment and energon samples, his irritation clear in his expression and taut wings.
He motions to the rest of his trine to come to him. Skywarp notices and trudges over with an exaggerated optic roll. Thundercracker on the other servo…. He's still watching TV, fully immersing himself in whatever show he could find. Skywarp is all too happy to swat the blue seeker's helm as he passes by, finally breaking the mech's gaze from the monitor.
The conehead trio try and volunteer to come along, but Starscream orders them to finish putting away the new supplies. With a chorus of soft groans, they get to it.
Gears doesn't move.
He is promptly scooped up by Skywarp, who gives a wide slag-eating grin to the protesting mini.
The Autobot agrees to go along with them if only Skywarp puts him "the frag down" so he can walk on his own. Last thing he wants is to know personally how humiliating it is to be toted around like a sparkling surrounded by enemy soldiers.
He walks slow.
Last time he saw Megatron, the mech had given his second in command the order to take out his circuit.
Everything about this day has gone sour.
The minibot and his escorts are taken aback when the warlord is nowhere to be seen, only Soundwave and the main monitor which reveals the guardian of Cybertron. Shockwave directs his single optic to the mechs entering the room.
"What is this? What could you possibly want?" Starscream huffs, crossing his arms. "Shouldn't you be busy?"
The purple cyclops doesn't look at all affected by the seeker's clear annoyance. He simply tilts his expressionless helm.
"I have a few questions for our guest." He says quite plainly.
The mini steps around the trine leader's legs to respond in kind.
"I don't feel particularly chatty at the moment." Gears says in his flattest tone.
The mech on screen straightens, his head fins twitching forwards and his yellow optic glowing brighter. The Autobot tries to read into what those movements could mean, but he's never spent much time around a faceless cybertronian to know what to look for.
How frustrating.
"You understand the potential of your circuit, correct? Just as I can discern your unwillingness to part with it, no matter the circumstances." Shockwave prompts. "I believe it's within everyone's best interests we talk, rather than the alternative."
Gears is too busy now glaring at the purple scientist to notice the worried/annoyed glances shared between the seekers around him… It sounds like a threat. Whether or not Shockwave meant it as such (often observing things outside of any social perspective) it lacks empathy.
The red and blue Autobot tries to hide the building tension in his frame by gesturing impatiently for the other mech to get on with it.
"Were you created with that circuit?" Shockwave asks.
It takes a click or two for the minibot to force out a single word. "No." he finally answers.
Suddenly (where he hadn't been able to before) he can tell that the scientist is intrigued with his answer. The large bot leaned forwards (in a similar way Preceptor would when examining a new specimen) and his head fins twitch (reminiscent of how Wheeljack's would light up and blink in excitement).
Contrary to these visual queues, his voice gives nothing away.
"What reason did a medic see fit to give their patient outdated tech-?"
A growl escapes the minibot's vocalizer, confusing all others present. Even Soundwave (who has kept silent this whole time) looks up from the console to watch the increasingly irritated mech.
"I guess it wouldn't make sense to you, now would it? You haven't seen what happens." Gears says through clenched denta. "I rather my circuit card bleed my spark dry than become some half-scrapped happy drone every time I'm low on energy!"
His frame is shaking.
The three seekers nod to each other in resolve to remove their charge before he does something drastic, like punch the monitor. Stress is the last thing a carrier needs, especially this one.
Starscream shoots his fellow officer a warning glare that goes unheeded.
"I see." Shockwave continues as if the mech he's questioning isn't on the verge of a raging fit. "And what was the designation of the medic who gave you your circuit?"
"Doesn't matter cause he's long DEAD!"
Thundercracker has his servos on the carrier's shoulder struts, trying to be comforting as well as keep the mech from lashing out. Skywarp is humming with energy, his warp field ready should they need it. Starscream turns his gaze to the communications officer, who quickly moves to end the transmission.
The trine hauls the enraged minibot out of the control room. The small bot is only further irritated, throwing out curses and insults the entire way.
Three questions was all it took to completely set Gears off…. Three questions sent the mini's spark into a frenzy…The same spark sharing space with a far smaller and weaker one.
It wasn't often in Ramjet's memory (as shoddy and forgetful as that is) that he watched a carrier brake down in anger. Sadness? Depression? Anxiety? Those were common place mood swings for a carrying mech…
….but anger was a rare thing.
All emotional extremes could effect a newspark badly, but rage left a cybertronian's spark racing and fluctuating hard enough to be heard through armor plating.
Maybe it could be the fault of the mini's lack of proper coding, but he needs to understand what he's doing is dangerous.
The rest of the seekers are trying to talk Gears down, and it's not going well. In fact, it's annoying the carrier even further. His pacing and loud puffs of his vents continue to increase steadily.
Starscream left to get the new spark scanner (courtesy of Ratchet) and the seemingly flawless teamwork the two trines had settled into upon learning of a carrier was visibly faltering.
Each of the seekers had different angles in which they were attempting to coax the Autobot, but each strategy contradicted one of the others.
Skywarp had taken to insulting Shockwave while Dirge simply agreed with everything Gears said (only serving to encourage the mini instead of appease him). Thundercracker kept switching between telling the two to stop and asking Gears to slow his venting (annoying him further). Then, of course, Thrust kept interrupting everyone just to state how obviously distressed Gears was (annoying everyone).
Ramjet is not the best with words, usually dealing out a heavy punch to deal with his problems, and yet he thinks he knows exactly what it is the carrier needs to hear.
The white conehead revs his engine. It's not near as loud as Thundercracker or Thrust could manage, but it does what it needs to. Everyone falls silent.
Well… everyone except Gears.
"Are you trying to break my audials?!" the little mech shouts.
Ramjet strides towards the minibot with an unimpressed air about him and kneels down on a single knee.
"You're scaring the newspark." He says pointing to the other's chassis.
A flash of fear is painfully obvious in the mini's optics… before being replaced with a sneer.
Unacceptable. The carrier needs to understand.
"Your newspark might be hurt, but you rather be angry." The conehead insists with a disappointed frown. "Fix yourself."
Gears lets his helm drop and exvents. Still obviously irritated, but at least its slower. More steady. Its okay if he's frustrated as long as its not too extreme. As long as he allows his spark to settle.
Pleased with his work, Ramjet stands back up.
He's surprised to see the two seekers not part of his trine looking to him gratefully. The last time a member of the command trine acknowledged something positive from the coneheads was vorns and stellar-cycles ago.
It's a welcome change.
Despite the desire to revel and gloat, his coding reminds him that now is not the time. They have a carrier (traditional or not) to care for. Old tensions and grandstanding between fellow seekers has little value in comparison.
The carrier is no longer venting harshly.
"Screamer is sure taking his sweet time with that scanner." Gears mutters tiredly, "Just… just get me a mirror or something."
Quietly the seekers watch as the Autobot escorts himself into his own room.
A mirror is hastily procured.
Note: I will finish this. No matter how long it takes. I apologize if this chapter isn't my best. I was struggling with it for so long that I finally decided to post it and move on. Next chapter will be better, promise!