The Diego Diaries: A New Orn (dd6 48)
NOTE: I remember someone asked a time back about how you pronounce Alejate, Ramcharger's father's name. I pronounce it (aly-sah-tay) but it could be wrong. There are Spanish speakers here who might correct that. I apologize for not getting your question answered sooner. Yes. I am a doofus. :D ON WITH THE SHOW!
-0-Morning two orns later ...
He walked to his classroom with a list of names that were being considered for inclusion in their school. 33 human kids from the new habitat wanted a full immersion experience in the new paradigm. Some of the older kids had asked for it too. He would have two of them if testing allowed. Given that he was a doctoral specialist in teaching children with impairments, educational deficiencies, emotional difficulties, and other impediments, Terradive would receive two of the humans if their own educational attainment wasn't up to Cybertronian standards for Intermediate School.
Pretty good for a low caste-no caste Seeker hoodlum turned Decepticon from the old orns.
It would be highly likely that the 22 teenagers in the group would find themselves here in Youngling Day, sitting in classrooms with kids younger than themselves as they worked to learn what the average kid on-world already knew. There were kids from 37 countries on Earth who were here, most of them staying with their own school. But the more adventurous wanted to try to come along with the bots and the bots were ready to take them.
Roto was leading the teams that would evaluate both the students and their parents. Raising children was a team effort and they would discuss what it meant to have a child in Cybertronian schools with the adults. It would be exciting times. Maybe.
He grinned as he entered his room, the lights coming on with his presence. He walked to his desk in a corner nearby and lay his work down. Glancing around the room, he noted all was in order. His kids were proud of their room and kept it in tip-top condition. Led by his 'most dedicated helper', Sunspot, the kids in his classroom were on the job. He walked to the windows to look out noting that Seeker patrols were coming in over the horizon from their deep space patrols. Shifts were changing and by the time he was down at the playground watching his 24 kids playing, a new group would be leaving on patrol.
A sense of peacefulness overtook him, flooding his senses as images of himself as a rabble-rousing kid without options came to mind. He still remembered that angry kid when something triggered memories of his lonely sad past life but Terri wasn't him any longer. He was Terradive, master and mentor teacher, bond to Roto, director for special education for the district and master-mentor teacher himself, auxiliary Autobot in the air force, and friend to all who came to him. He was as content as he felt anyone could be though sometimes it still shocked him that he was.
The door opened as Lyrica peeked in. "Hi, smiley."
He turned to her, his teaching partner, a famous university professor, champion of the underdog, friend to all walked in. "Hi, yourself. What's the word?" he asked with a grin.
"The word, my friend, is donuts in the teacher's lounge. Come with me. I need some advice about my unit on the evolution of Seeker flight during the Golden Age." She grinned at him, this miracle of redemption that was gifted beyond imagining. That he also kept guns in his locker was a comfort as well.
"Let's go," Terradive said as he walked with her to the door which closed silently behind them.
-0-At Earth2
The team walked in led by Roto who knelt to speak to the teachers who were there. Earth2 International School #2 behind Earth 1 wouldn't be opening for a week as they were organizing and finishing their own testing for now. It allowed staff to assist the team with Roto. "You are Roto, right?" Sam Thomas asked as he looked up to the bots before him. "I'm going to be the director for our schools here."
Roto knelt. "I'm Roto, Director for Special Education for our district. We're here to test and consider placement for the children that you want to send to us. We've already accepted the 14 infants. Now we're here for the other 33. Is there a place we can go?"
"Follow me," Sam said as he entered the little four wheeled vehicle waiting to drive to the school complex nearby. The team did.
-0-At the Temple
Ferri and Hero stood together holding servos. They clutched their best dollies as they followed their teacher to the banister that prevented falls by those coming to see the Allspark. The tiny class, six very bright accelerated children were going to the Well and listen as Lady Sela told them stories about it, about Onyx and Micronus Prime, about the connection to Cybertron, and all its many fabled legends. They gathered at the railing and peered downward.
"My brother, Orion, fell into that," Hero said as the others turned toward her. "Mimi fell in, then he grabbed her ped. She pulled him in."
"What happened, Hero?" Feri asked with enormously wide optics.
"Uncle Optimus jumped in to find them. Orion and Mimi met Onyx Prime. He was nice," she said turning to look at all of them. "Onyx Prime is nice."
Sela who had arrived smiled at the remark. "That's because They love us, infants."
They turned to Sela. "Can we go see him too?" -all of them
-0-On the street …
Public Works moved from every other light pole and flag to the next as they replaced some of the banners there with those hailing the Festival of Primus. All over the colony, preparations for the festival were well under way. In windows of shops, two small signs could be seen. One of them was the cupped hands of The One holding Cybertron in memorium of their disaster and the other was the festival banner.
In about 21 orns, the festival siren would be sounded and fasting (probably) as well as mass self-reflection (maybe) would happen for an entire orn. During that time, everything but the most essential departments and areas would be closed with transport on and off world curtailed. It would be a quiet time everywhere as Cybertron also prepared to join the celebration and reflection. Everywhere in the free areas of Empire, The People were working toward their redemption and included in that was full and equal participation in the celebration of their warrior god, the Great Primus.
Buses of humans went along the roads heading for their outings with good cheer. It was a lighter mood that greeted them as they rumbled along. The funeral was in ten orns and they would lose a day of jaunting around outside because of it but few carped. These were historic times and they could say they were here.
Bots walked everywhere getting back into their lives as the shock of the genocide had a chance to work its way downward through their sparks and processors. There was a simmering rage in the community about it as odd acts of vandalism as well as fights occurred here and there. What didn't happen was major insurrection or massed violence against those who had links, were functionalists themselves or were perceived to belong to that point of view. The few functionalists in the community were on the security alert grid but so far it was just a precaution.
Springer and Drift had drawn up the security plan for the festival and the days leading up to and following it. Hot spots were parted out to various substations and bad actors factored in. All of the mechs who had day paroles would be held over at the prison. No one would be on the streets given the situation through the Festival and they would be penned up during the funeral. There would be too many individuals on the streets to take the risk.
There would only be eleven orns separating the funeral from the Festival. Anything could happen.
-0-Hard Drive and the Gang
They sat together in a coffee shop in Iacon going over the request that had been sent to Hard Drive some time before. Ironhide, Ratchet, Turbine, Delphi, Blackjack, and Raptor had joined Hardie to discuss the petition of Partitian to end the shunning. There was a process and it was designed to be excrutiating and humbling for the supplicant.
Given that shunning was the last and worst possible punishment to give a high caste to get them into line, the process of ending it was seen as having to be equally as awful to push home the point that even high castes could become powerless if they stepped over the line. The belief was that if it was, then the miscreants would straighten up and fly right. Hard Drive grinned at his son. "This is going to be awful."
"I know. Do you think this kid will get it? I sort of think watching Lucien having to do this is about the best thing ever," Raptor said with a chuckle. "When do you want to do this? I would think we need to get it over soon."
Hardie nodded. "I cleared it with Optimus and he says tomorrow onward is fine. He has to go to Cybertron for a few orns shortly, maybe even staying over, so we have to book this and get it done."
"What about notifying the congregation?" Turbine asked with a grin.
"We're going to go transponders. The message is already out. Only those who were there get to come," Hardie said. "No one needs to see or hear about this beyond the necessary group."
"Oh great. When?" Ironhide asked with a wince.
"How about tomorrow afternoon? Same place, different time. I was thinking 1800 hours on the TMC," Hardie said. "I'll let Piro know to come. He can run the record."
"I may have to get liquored up after this," Ironhide said with a grin.
"You can't hold it," Raptor said as he beamed at his little mech.
The rest of the conversation was one 'little mech' arguing his liquor tolerances with his elders until they showed him the film from their last excursion. His pout afterward only made them love him more.
The cutie.
-0-Partition
He received the response from Hard Drive over internal communications. He sent the message to his family and got fussy, nervous replies back. No one was looking forward to this but it had to happen to end the shunning. No one in the colony was allowed to even acknowledge their presence among their former caste and it was a powerful punch in the face.
Partition thought about the meet up all shift as he worked on data. It would be a long afternoon.
-0-At the house
Ratchet walked into the apartment after a detour with the fam and looked around. He grinned. The military life had its benefits. The place was immaculate. Walking through the massive apartment, pausing by each door to peer inside, he was flooded with memories. Orion as a baby, Praxus as a toddler who smiled at everything, sweet Hero helping with the laundry, Prowler following anyone who would talk to him … all of it was precious. Now they had more children, three big kids that lived here all the time and six who didn't. That didn't account for the adults living on their own.
Or the grandchildren. Who could forget the grandchildren.
Or Dawg and Bob.
Ratchet stood in the doorway of the berth room that was Sunspot's. The bunks were still there and so were most of the things that hung on the walls that belonged to Bos, Reflector and Co-D. They asked if 'their stuff' could remain so 'when they came to spend the night it would feel like home, Ada', so they did. All of it was there but them. It was a bittersweet thing, letting the kids go. What they did now was make it as easy to come back as they could.
And they did.
Bos was going to spend the night tonight.
That would mean treats, maybe a new game, something awesome for dinner and the like. Ratchet walked to the office, got his household datapad, then booked it for the door. He was going grocery shopping to feed his cast of thousands. The door closed silently behind him.
-0-TBC 6-25-17 edited 6-26-17
NOTES:
beaming: when someone beams at another person, they are looking at them with a combination of pride and love.