The Diego Diaries: Function Over Form (dd6 19)
-0-Around
He stood in the aisle with food items in his servos. The news had been more than he had experienced in a tough young life on the run with his family and fellow colonists. It was almost too difficult to grasp that the entire population the equal of a colonial city district here had been lured to their deaths, then murdered. Yet, it had happened. Footfalls behind him broke his shocked reverie. He turned to see his supervisor walking toward him. "Lan … you need to go home now. Your ada called for you to come. Just leave things in the cart and go home."
Lan looked at him uncomprehendingly, then put the two items back in the cart. "What do we do, Mr. Ter-bo?"
Ter-bo rested his servos on the youth's shoulders. "First, you go home to your family and see what they want you to do. Then, you need to stay with those who love you because Prime declared state mourning for the next ten orns. Understand?"
Lan stared at Ter-bo. "I think so."
"Come," Ter-bo said as he walked the stunned youngster to the front of the store where the door was located. The customers in the store were walking toward it too, some of them in shock, others with emotion. He paused by the door, then turned to the youth. "It will get better. No matter what, remember that."
"How?" Lan asked. He hugged Ter-bo tightly, then walked out the door with everyone else.
Ter-bo watched him go. "I don't know, son, but in the end, it usually does," he whispered. Then he walked back in to help shut the place down. By the end of the orn, only emergency services and those necessary to the safety and well-being of the colony would still be open.
-0-Outside
Lan walked to the street, then paused to look around. A lot of individuals were there, some huddled with others and some heading for home or wherever they were going. He walked through them to the Metro station, then went down to a crowded but nearly totally silent platform. Trains came and went, some letting people off, others taking them away. He finally got a space, grabbed a pole and stared at the floor. It felt so dense and intimate, the crowd around him that he avoided optic contact.
At his station, he climbed out and hurried to the street where a lot of individuals were also waiting, rushing, walking about dazedly, or making their way confusedly somewhere else. He hurried the six blocks to his building, then went up on an elevator in an empty lobby. The corridor to his apartment was empty as well. He paused as his door, then entered. His fathers and older sister were there.
"Ada?" he said. "What do we do?" he asked almost plaintively.
His atar hugged him tightly. "We do our best," he said. "It's all we can do."
-0-Special Environmental Conditions Ward, Autobot City Medical Center, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
They stared at each other, both sides silently assessing the situation as it stood. Two big fliers, both of them winged with a reptilian-styled face stared at the metallics who had them in their custody. The leader of their faction was assessing both of them as they stood stoically presenting themselves as unafraid. They had come to themselves after a hard fall through some kind of opening that they didn't understand. They were in a cage on a ship, then transferred via cage to this place to be put inside an environment that was suitable for their continuation.
["I am Optimus Prime. Your capture was not desired by me or my armada. We sought dialog but your leadership denied us."] he said.
One of them stepped closer. ["Return us to our people."]
["Why?"] Prowl asked coldly.
Both glanced at him, then each other. The first turned to Prime. ["We didn't ask for you to come. You came to our space and took over a small system. You attract trouble and we had to keep terrible threats away who were coming for them. You should send us home."]
["You assume that we can."] Prowl said as he walked around the cage to assess the inmates. One of them turned with him, watching him with a wary expression on his interesting face. His feathers were very colorful along with the other and if the Cybertronians knew more about them they would know that it indicated their age. ["You were after our tech and you didn't care about our dead. You wanted the tech and you were going to salvage our people for it, our dead."]
["Why would you care? You aren't real. You're machines. You could make more."] the first said defiantly.
["What about I kill you then wait for your people to make more of you? How would that work for you?"] Ironhide said darkly.
They stared at him and his family then turned back to Prime. ["You've created a war between your empire and ours. We won't forget this. Send us back and it's one strike against you that will be removed."]
["You seem to think we care,"] Prowl said as he paused beside Prime again. ["We can come and go without you knowing until it's too late. We can destroy worlds and flee without taking a single round of return fire. What makes you think we won't go to your systems and do the same thing to you that we did to those two worlds?"]
["You didn't allow us to collect our dead. No decent civilized people act that way. You seem to think that we would leave and not do right by our people. What makes you think we would?"] Hard Drive asked. ["They were our people."]
["We found them dead too. We didn't do that."] one of them said. ["We came there and found them all dead."]
["So you say."] Raptor glanced at Prime and the others. ["This one says he didn't kill our people. Do you really believe that? I think they killed them for the tech. I think they killed our people, our children, and babies to steal their tech."]
["No! We found them like that!"] the first said with rising concern. ["We traded with them. They were allies."]
["You just said they were enemies."] Optimus replied.
The two stared from one to the other of the big mechs standing before them, then the first stepped closer. ["We're just soldiers. We can no more make orders than you can fly. We just do what we're ordered to do. Let us go. Take us home."]
Prime stared at him, then turned to the guards. "Have you figured out what they require in terms of food and other sustenance?"
"Wheeljack and a doctor specialist are working on it now," the guard chief said. "We will deliver it when they come through."
Prime nodded. "Very well. They are quarantined. No one sees them without the okay of Prowl or me."
The guards nodded, then watched as Prime and his team walked toward the door and disappeared through it. It was silent again as the guards turned toward the two prisoners. They stared at each other, then the two aliens walked to a bench nearby to sit. They wouldn't speak to anyone again this night.
-0-Outside
They walked through the military airfield which was still all business. Only the most immediate and important activity would be in earnest for the next ten days. A period of state mourning had been declared which meant everything from schools to the corner supermarket was to close. Pharmacies, medical and civil safety agencies would be online but everyone else wouldn't.
The masses were still milling about as the sun began to set. Lights came on and held back the darkness as the pall of shock and grief overtook them here. It was the same everywhere else including Cybertron as the population there, used to mass destruction and merciless murder tried to wrap their processors around the idea that it was happening again. Right now, all was quiet. Prime and the senior team would be there for services as well when the time came in thirty orns.
They paused together, then broke up to go their separate ways. They would meet up in the morning at The Fortress and go over the situation including the two aliens and their disposition. Prime and Prowl would go home to check on things, then go back to work. Ironhide and his family would join them. Ratchet would organize everyone at home. It was all a mess but they were used to it. What was so poignant for all of them wasn't how fast they had managed this tragedy but how much it stung to have something this awful intrude on a life that was largely recovering from such things.
They broke up and walked to their towers or the metro lines for home.
-0-At home
"ADA! YOU COMED HERE TO ME, ORION!?"
Ratchet stared at the little mob either standing in high dudgeon on the floor or sitting in the arms of their huge brothers. "Yep."
Orion launched himself at Ratchet and was scooped up. It took a moment to hug and kiss everyone but when that was accomplished, it was bed time. They had already eaten so the kids were trundled off. Ironhide walked into the lounge of the big kid's area, then paused a moment. "We're going to check on the elders. When we get back, we can talk. Are you kids alright?" he asked.
They were sitting around the lounge solemn and silent. Nodding, Tru answered. "Mostly, Atar. Do you need help?"
"We're just checking in. You stay here and watch the infants. We'll be right back," Ironhide said, then walked down the hallway to the huge living room. Stepping out with Ratchet, he walked to the doorway of Ravel and Tie Down, then entered without knocking.
It took a moment to hug everyone including Chan, Corr, Appa Ratchet, and Docker who were still there. They were still a bit distraught but more composed than earlier. Tie Down stared upward at both. "What happened, Sonny? What does this mean?"
Ratchet ushered all of them to sit, then the two sat too. "Do you remember the Functionalists?" he asked.
"DO we? Who can forget them, the slaggers? They made my old atar work at something beneath his dignity because of their slagging book," Appa Ratchet said with still deeply felt anger. "Your old great grandpa was a good mech and smart. He wanted to make electronics but they said he could only be a laborer. They would beat you if you tried to be different. Their goons would come and beat you. HE WASTED HIS WHOLE LIFE!" Ratchet sniffled with emotional distress. "They deserve to be parted out. SMELTED!"
The others nodded. "They can't come here, Ratchet. We can't have them here," Docker said as she squeezed her bond's servo gently.
"They're in custody. We have them all and their families, the bureaucrats that helped them … everyone. What I want to know is … are you going to be okay? We have ten orns of state mourning. Do you have the things you need? We're going to be on short rations from the groceries because everything will be closed. Thank goodness that liquid energon is supplied to every home directly."
"Jetta is a far-sighted slagger," Ironhide said with a nod.
"That is a good son," Chan said nodding. "He takes good care of our daughter, Elita, and he takes care of us. We will be fine."
They chatted, then Ratchet and Ironhide arose. "No schools or anything including RTR Tools for the next ten orns, Ada. Understand?"
"We wouldn't desecrate the memories of our lost loved ones, Ratchet. We put a sign on our door," Ravel said.
Ratchet hugged him with a smile. "You're so cute. Please, don't get sick over this. Nothing can make it better but our solidarity."
"We have that already, Sonny," Appa Ratchet said. "Nothing is going to destroy that."
"Good. Get some sleep, then we can get together tomorrow. We have eleven kids without a place to go. This might just get hard," Ratchet said as they walked out the door. "Good night."
"Good night. Get some rest too," Docker said as she held the door.
"We will," Ratchet said, then watched as the door closed. Walking across the hallway, they entered the apartment of Alor and Blackjack. The other elders were there so everyone sat down. "What a slagging nightmare this is."
Raptor nodded as he held a sleeping Scout. "It can never happen again."
"It better not," Scout said as he sat next to Trooper. He looked at Ratchet. "We can all take care of the babies especially if you and Ironhide have duty."
"We probably do, Appa," Ratchet replied. "This is going to be an awful time for all of us."
-0-Outside in the darkness
Going from light pole to flag pole to banner hanger on Metroplex Highway 1, Public Works mechs and femmes drove slowly as they began to replace banners all over the colony. Down went those about the football championship, the Memorial or Remembrance Orn as it was called here for the dead coming up shortly, and other markers of the colony's life. Replacing them were banners that bore the emblem of The One, two servos holding Cybertron. They would stay up for the entire period of state mourning and solemn remembrance. They would only come down when that was over. Until then, it would be a very solemn and shaken community.
-0-TBC 5-27-17 edited 5-31-17