The Diego Diaries: Forward (dd6 26) (There may be an odd word here and there in a sentence. My mouse cursor needed set lower) :D
-0-CMO's Office
Hero sat on a small comfy chair on his ada's desk as a group of humans gathered on the floor on their Segway speedsters. Ratchet grinned at them. "I would offer you candy but you wouldn't like it."
Hero who was watching them as she ate candy smiled and waved. They smiled and waved back. Then Sheila Conroy rolled forward. :We just got permission to go out but we have to stay within 6 Cybertronian blocks of the Habitat: she said.
"Good idea. There's been fights and arrests. You don't need to get caught in the middle of that," Ratchet said.
:What were they fighting about, Ratchet?" Jesse Landon asked as she stood on her Segway with James Brooks-Spencer. They Looked worried but then so did a lot of them.
"Well, it's hard to tell with some of them. I think there were disagreements over whether to allow Prime to have them in the tribunal or charge the prison. A few of them have been over religion."
:Oh crap. Prime was afraid of that: Jessie said as the others nodded.
"We all are. Our people have had a hard time and think about the refugees still missing a great deal. We expect terrible things from the 'Cons and even other aliens but this was Cybertronian against Cybertronian, a massive and terrible thing. They were killed by our own in the most cowardly way possible. That's hard to digest."
:Do you think there will be more violence between religions? I thought the Clavis Aurea was different from the Functionalists: Michio asked.
:It is: Olivia Bowers said with no small amount of emotion. :It's as different as night and day:
:Are you Clavis, Ratchet? Is anyone in your family?: Jessie asked.
"I'm not but Turbine is related to them. Turbine's clan is slightly different. They straddle both of the major practices which are why they're so honored and important. They have both incorporated into a service-oriented model and they would die before dishonor. That's why they were given the secrets of both groups to keep. That's why they make holy relics and reliquaries. As for the others, half the femmes are … Greenlight, Lancer, and Moonracer are Clavis and so is Drift through the Knights and Circle. All of them are very upset about this."
:What can we do, Ratchet?: Olivia asked with a concerned expression.
"Just be your wonderful selves," Ratchet replied as he looked at Olivia, a most unlikely ally.
:I have requests for interviews from Earth that I reported to Jazz's office. I know I don't have to do that but I feel so protective of the moment that I want your blessing on this. I want to do this right to help everyone. I also chatted a moment ago with Chevron and Sela. They've noted that it'll be helpful to talk about this a bit though Master Cyclonus had his assistant fill me in. He's in meetings with the board to figure out what to do about anything becoming violent or difficult. I don't have a lot of the full history of things yet. I'm going to talk to Master Heatout before I go to IntraCom and that should help. What do you think, Ambassador?: she asked.
"I think that you'll be terrific about articulating what we've suffered. We could have held our peace and not have told Earth about this but we feel compelled by our friendship and alliances with humanity to be truthful and open about what's going on out there. Having this break in relations for three decaorns would be hard to explain with anything but the truth. I know you'll speak from your spark and do everyone here a service," Ratchet said.
Olivia looked at him with great regard. :I will certainly try:
"We know," Ratchet said as he stared at both her and her husband, Joe who was standing on the Segway with her. Joe Bowers was still too opaque for Ratchet to get a good bead on but Olivia was as true blue as they came. He felt a warm regard for her that was real. They would chat for a while, then most of them would toodle off to go with Olivia as she met with Heatout at the Central Labor Hall office, then onward to IntraCom for the interview.
Ratchet and Hero would do rounds.
Again.
-0-In the prison
Barron sat in the conference room of the Prison Control Center waiting for One of Twelve and his colleagues to arrive. They were charged with such heinous crimes that they were held to a legal procedure that was nearly unprecedented. They would face a Primal Tribunal where they would have to plead their case to Prime alone. They would have counsel and they would have resources at their disposal, as many as they needed. They could have witnesses speak for them and they could appeal any decision directly to the Pantheon via the Matrix. If such came about, Prime would do a vision journey to the Matrix to see what the Pantheon Themselves counseled, then hold to Their decision without exception or personal deviation even if it counteracted his own.
Barron would be their chief counsel along with Blackstone and fifteen of their best defenders. They were already going through the material gathered with more coming and it didn't look good at all. In fact, this was not the first genocide they perpetrated they were finding.
Allegedly.
He sighed. This would test his character but he and the others were bound and determined to do their job to the utmost of their ability to preserve and enact the heart and soul of Cybertronian law. They would by their actions show these mechs what was right and decent if it killed them. The door opened as a guard entered, then the nondescript individuals filed in to sit. Guards crowded the door. "I shall be fine, gentlemen. Are my associates coming?"
One looked out, then nodded to him. "They are, Abba. Call us. We'll be right here." He herded his guards out as the others entered, then closed the door. A minute flash across the far wall told the experienced optics of Barron that the one-way wall was activated. The guards could see in but no one could see out.
Everyone sat, arranged their gear, then Barron leaned forward in his seat. "I would like to tell all of you that this is a profoundly important meeting for you and your future. We are your counsel and it is in your greatest interest to assist us in helping your defense. I cannot stress too greatly how important it is that you discuss this with us as truthfully and fully as you can. What you tell us carries legal privilege and none of us are allowed without your permission to discuss it with anyone including Prime. The Prosecutor's Office has the entire database of your ships and they are working on the data from computers seized on your settlement planets. Help us defend you and you may escape infinite punitive stasis. Fight us and the end will be foretold now."
"They have disabled our ability to converse internally. We make our decisions communally," One of Twelve said as the others nodded.
"Your function is removed. I cannot get it back and I don't believe I would ask for it if I could. I will tell you truthfully … I am shocked and dismayed to a degree that shakes my faith and my spark at what this tribunal will be dealing with. I don't want any of you having agreements that I am not privy to," Barron replied.
"Then how can we expect a good defense?" Four of Twelve asked.
Blackstone glanced at Barron as the other attorneys tensed at the remarks. "You can expect it because we say so," he said. "You can expect it because we have ethics, empathy, and respect for our people and the laws of Cybertron. That's how you can foresee this procedure. You will only receive from us our utmost best based on our honor. If that's foreign-sounding or strange to your audials then that's on you."
It was silent a moment, then One nodded. "Very well. What do you wish to know and how will we do this?" he asked as the others began to listen so they could fulfill their individual part verbally of the thought process that made them a collective in the first place.
-0-IntraCom later that afternoon
She sat on a chair on a table contrasting herself with the size of the bots. Humans had been interviewed and appeared even on game shows on the channel, teams of humans against teams of Cybertronians competing for honor and bragging rights on any number of topics. Now, Olivia was going to talk about some of the questions that were making the rounds of Earth. She waited as the camera counted down.
"Hello, Autobot City. It's 1600 hours on the TMC and today, we're going to be talking to Olivia Bowers, a human who lives here with her husband or bond as we call them … General Joseph Bowers of N.E.S.T. Welcome, Mrs. Bowers," a young popular interviewer and the host of the morning 'wake up' show, "Good Morning, Autobot City!", Riga asked.
:Thank you, Riga. It's an honor to be here: she said earnestly.
He grinned. "It's my understanding that when you came here you found a lot of resonance with the Circle of Light and began to study with their on-world master, Heatout."
:That's right. I loved the idea of unity, that unity was the overriding theme of life ... unity and love. Both are expressions of love and love is the greatest force and power in the universe. I found in the teaching of the Circle and the philosophy of the Knights of Cybertron something that had been missing in me for most of my life. I found genuine purpose, a focus for my love on all that is as well as an overwhelming sensation of belonging to something more beautiful and inclusive than anything I ever encountered:
"You attend the university and take classes with the Circle. I understand you also teach beginner's classes of Circle philosophy to on-world humans as well as volunteer in the colony with your human philanthropic group, the Autobot City Ladies Auxilary."
:I do. I want to learn more about the universe and how this all interconnects. All of us who live here are eligible to attend university and a good three quarters of us do to great or small degree. I found interest in the others about what I was learning so I asked for and was granted permission to teach introductory classes. Part of what we're expected to do is serve the greater good. I try to do that within the Circle here and in the greater human community. The Auxilary is about the most fun I have. We work in the Temple, the Basilica, the Halls of Order, schools, hospitals, and other places that need willing hands. I'm more happy here than any other place I've been because I can serve the greater good for The People and for my own. We're trailblazing here and we feel it, the importance. That is what the Circle of Light and the related Clavis Aurea is all about."
"You were inducted into the Circle of Light shortly ago, the first human to be given the honor," Riga said with a grin. He was Circle himself and had been there when it happened.
She smiled. :I was. That was an indescribable experience for me. I will never forget it. I'm also studying to be inducted into the Knights of Cybertron:
"Then you're learning the martial arts side as well?" Riga asked with a chuckle.
:I am and I have the bruises to show for it. Sensei Willa at the Dai Atlas Dojo is my teacher: Olivia said with a smile. :My little practice sword looks like a toothpick in her servos:
Riga grinned. "You came here to answer questions from Earth that are of interest to the humans there. I have them and chose some that seemed to represent the majority gathered on our website. If you could answer them as best you can, we can perhaps do a public service here."
Olivia nodded. :I will do my best:
"The first question deals with the Functionalists themselves. What sort of factions exist here a man in Kansas asks and how do they fit within the overall unity. Given your efforts which are well known on Earth, what is your insight into this? I could say a lot about it but perhaps you can make it more clear to your fellow humans."
Olivia nodded. :The People have not always been free. There were factions in the past that held them down. One of them was the Functionalists who insured that what you were born as, that was what you would do. They were overthrown in the distant past and forgotten. They were cold and unfeeling, wiping out parts of the population that they felt had no value. The Prime and his armada found them a few days ago in the Benzuli region far away. It was there that they found another genocide by this group that was long believed dead and gone. They hide their indifference and cold-bloodedness behind religion, pretending to be following the pathways of the Guiding Hand, a major religious and philosophical form of belief among The People.
:They have no more relationship to the Guiding Hand than whales do to elephants. They're a group all their own and Master Cyclonus said it best when he said they hide behind religious elements without practicing religious principles. That happens on Earth too. People use religion as a shield and excuse for their behavior and make it awful for those who try to live up to the actual thing. Nothing the Functionalists do or represent is part of the actual practice and philosophy. They're criminals using religion to hide behind as they commit genocide.
"No one here or there should believe they represent anyone but themselves. I'm not Cybertronian and I can see the lies. I can see the deceit and cruel twisting of beautiful ideas and practices. I would hope everyone else can too. As for the factions, most of the population is related to the Temple while the others include the one I belong to, the Circle of Light, The Primus Peace Mission, several small sects that are ancient including the clan that Commander Turbine of Praxus leads are Guiding Hand. He's the grandfather of Ironhide and there's a Seeker clan lead by Breezy that protects and propagates very ancient practices, information and ideas that is partly Guiding Hand as well. That doesn't even include the Clavis Aurea who are related to those of us in the Circle and Mission. All of them are related either very closely or close enough. No one should believe that this group speaks for anyone but themselves. They have perverted beautiful ideas to justify genocide:
"Your planet has had a lot of strife. You have had genocides and wars. What do humans really think about our situation?" Riga asked.
:I can't speak for everyone but I think no one is happy when terrible things happen to others. When I first came here I was scared of you. It was so different yet so familiar. You yourselves were the different part but the way you do things and how you lived was similar. I came to believe that we have more in common than not. I believe that my species feels pain for you and sympathy. We've had troubles too and no one wants that for anyone. You have to be pretty empty to feel good about anyone elses unhappiness. I feel so badly. I think all of us do who lives here. It's such a privilege to be here. I have only love for The People over this event."
"There are a lot of humans that don't have any empathy or seemingly ability to relate to us. Yet you have dived in with everyone else and established a life here, joining some of our groups and taking up part of our philosophy," Riga said.
Olivia nodded. :It seems the thing to do, so natural. I've traveled all over the world with my husband during his career and I've tried to fit in wherever I was, sometimes making an effort and sometimes not. I like it here. I don't know how you can live here and not do this. I like this place better than anywhere I've ever been. I would live here even if Joe, my husband wasn't stationed here. This place fulfills me in ways I didn't even know needed it:
"There were mentions of religious strife in Prime's statement to The People. You've had religious strife on your planet in the past and you still do. What about that?"
Olivia nodded. :Fear is the basis for all disunity. Master Heatout said that fear is the great divider. We have to look past differences for similarities. They exist here, so many things in common. Fear of 'the other' makes people do terrible things. Religious strife happens all the time on Earth. I can relate to this and I truly hope that The People don't fall into the trap of holding others responsible for things they didn't do. No one here did anything wrong. Leave the blame to those who did the harm. They pervert truth to suit their agenda. It's not something humans aren't very well versed about. We have the same problems and we blame people who didn't do anything for the actions of others. I hate that a lot: Olivia said.
"What would you say to humans who might ask you about this?" Riga asked.
:I would tell them what I truly believe. Love is the answer. There can only be peace when there is love. Nothing else matters. You can be the richest person in the world and have everything your heart desires but when you die you go to the grave with nothing. The only thing that you take with you is love. That is the antidote to this kind of thinking. That is what I would say."
-0-TBC 6-4-17 edited 6-5-17