The Diego Diaries: Moving On (dd6 163)
-0-Later that evening
"What was your day like?" Ratchet asked as he reclined.
Ironhide walked from the washroom, then reclined as well. He called down the lights, then relaxed. "I had ice cream, the Hub at Terra is exceeding expectations with the new leadership there and I enjoyed myself. You?"
"Three processor operations," Ratchet said. "All of them went well. Give them a few orns and they're on their peds again. I ran into some humans around noon."
"Which ones?"
"Leonora Huttle."
"What did she want? A closeup?" Ironhide asked as Ratchet rolled over and settled in.
Ratchet chuckled. "No. She wanted to know about bonds. She was invited to a bonding ceremony. No one we know. Someone who works at IntraCom who likes her. She had a great time but she had a lot of questions."
"Like what?" Ironhide asked.
"She wanted to know about relationships. She wanted to know what we called them. What they were like. A lot of things," Ratchet said.
"You told her what?" Ironhide asked.
"Well, she wanted to know so I told her what I could. Conjunx endura. There. I said it." Ratchet grinned. "She was interested in how things worked. She really gave me a long look when I told her that we had to register to bond, you and me."
"Serves her right for asking. I like her, though. She's a good one," Ironhide said.
"I agree. By the way, football starts this weekend. I was told about it by a sports writer who was visiting a friend at the Center. Did you get the news yet?" Ratchet asked.
"No," Ironhide said. "What's the new stuff. I know we have double teams."
"Well, all the games are going to be played here. None of the sites on Cybertron are up to it. They fly in here and play, then go back home. We're going to have three games an orn for four orns. Until we have more stadiums or some ready back there, we have to expand the football dates here. The first will be a night game on Second Friday. Then three games each First and Second Saturday and First and Second Sunday. It rotates somehow and it all works out. Password and the League got with Sciences to make the scheduling."
"Sounds like a lot. What is Prime going to do?" Ironhide asked.
"He's going to the night game to start the season and the one on Second Sunday. Unless, of course, there's a disaster," Ratchet said. "By the way, I have to check on the alternate universe bots tomorrow. They need their annual checkups and I want to see how Kudon is doing. He seems to have fully recovered from his operation. Slagger. He's as big a wuss on that side as here. Does Prime hear from Megatron at all?"
Ironhide grinned. "It's weird hearing his name in a good way. Yes, he does. They talk through Tennyson. He's hunting more slaggers down and hopes to give them to us. It's either that or put them in punitive stasis. Apparently, he's too soft sparked to do that."
"Weird, indeed," Ratchet said. "I wonder how big a problem Prowl is there? He was so in love with their Optimus, the slagger. I hope he holds up."
"He's Prowl. He has a strut of titanium up his aft," Ironhide said. "By the way, how are you feeling?"
"Fine. We have approximately 13 more orns. Then you have to frag off and not be a slagger. If I find that you peeked or cheated in any way, I'm going to call down an Iacon sanction on your aft. I'm going to dictate the terms, too."
"You wouldn't do that," Ironhide said with a grin.
Silence.
"Uh, Ratchet? You're just … messing with me."
Silence.
"Frag."
Ratchet grinned. "These are your slagging rules and you were the slagger who had only one thing to do, Ironhide. ONE THING!"
"Sh," he said. "You don't want to wake up our 37 children do ya?"
Ratchet grinned. "Maybe. What about trick-or-treat?"
"I have it. The infants and I are going to the Center and have Amma and Appa help them get ready to do that. They have ideas," Ironhide said. He grinned. "They let me dress up for fun when I was a kid. They were always humoring me. I got spray painted a lot as different things. It was fun. I got to play with the costumes and props."
"So, Orion comes by it naturally?" Ratchet asked.
Ironhide grinned. "Chip off the old block."
"I can see that," Ratchet said with a grin. "Good night, Ironhide."
"Good night, conjunx endura," Ironhide said with a chuckle.
It was silent as Phobos crossed the sky heading on an endless orbit across a mostly empty planet.
-0-Morning
"What about lunch?" Ratchet asked as he checked the datapad with information about the kids and their schedules. Fireball was going to a weather station on the TransWorld Highway with his class.
He shrugged. "They don't have any food or rest stops out there yet but they're planning them," Fireball said. He had forgotten to tell Ratchet like any kid would that he needed to bring a lunch along. He was going today and would be gone all day.
"You kids don't have lunches on field trips?" Ratchet asked with surprise.
"They bring snacks." Fireball sat at the table with Sunspot on his lap. He was going on his first on-world field trip with his class on a school bus. It would be a long drive on the TransWorld Highway. But it was expected that everyone would have a great time with the weather station equipment. It would then conclude with a long drive back. "I forgot to tell you about bringing a lunch. Sorry, Ada."
Ratchet stared at the three big kids who were holding a number of infants. "Who else needs one?"
"Not us. Just Fireball," Quasar said as Genesis nodded.
"Alright," Ratchet said. "Let me put one together." He reached into cupboards, pulling things out, then began to whip together 'sandwiches', cookies, 'chips', 'veggie sticks', candy, donuts, and a couple of bottles of a popular 'soft drink'. In short, he put together a dream lunch for a kid that he considered would be mighty tasty for himself. He pulled out a small pack, took things out of it, then filled it to the brim. Fastening it shut with effort, he handed it to Fireball. "Here you go. That should help. You infants need to write things down on the board by the door so we can stay on top of this. You will never go somewhere without lunches."
"Thanks, Ada," Fireball said as he stood. He gathered his backpack, then the hefty lunch, then Orion. "We'll put them on the bus. Theirs comes before ours, Ada."
"Good sons," Ratchet said with a grin as he cleaned the counter.
Infants were chased down, snugged into onesies, hooked up with harnesses and book bags, then handed around for kisses. The big kids took the little kids minus Prowler, then all of them walked out. Ratchet stared at the door, then Partition and Ironhide. "That's the greatest thing that ever happened, them stepping up to do that."
Ironhide grinned. "They're growing up. I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
"I'll do both. I have to visit the prison and do physicals with the inmates," Ratchet said.
"Can I come? I can help you," Partition said.
"You do every day. What's your schedule, infant?" Ratchet asked.
"I have basic, the last three orns, then full time medical for the field medic certification. Then I have to go to my schools. I'm going for airborne and for tactical." Partition grinned. "The more exciting, the better."
"As long as you don't get hurt. You do know, don't you, that if you get through your schools that you get put into the regular rotation. You could end up at Diego Garcia or Cybertron on duty. Or maybe the bases around the system," Ratchet said.
"That would be awesome," Partition said as he rose. He grabbed his books. "I have a study group for the medic certification. I want to ace the test."
"You will," Ratchet said with a grin.
He grinned back, then nodded to both. He was out the door at a trot. It closed quietly. Ironhide stared at it, then Ratchet. "What's the word on the others?"
"Burris is doing good work at the hospital. He's a strange one. He's got a lot of emotions but I'm not sure what they are. I'm glad he loves Anders so much that he's trying. I don't think its … I don't want to say genuine. I just think its confused but he's determined to do something about things. I want to help him and I will. Keystock and Cargo are slogging through slag on Cybertron and should be home in a few orns. I heard that Anders really likes working at Full Circle. Joon and Edict are taking him into servo. It's a good thing. I don't have good feelings about Keystock. He's sneaky. Cargo is quiet but he's not as smart as he thinks he is. Burris loves Anders more than he hates things as they are. He could actually make movement. That's my hope, anyway. I don't know how you can work around the regular folks and not be changed by it. Genuine is not a feature of high caste living."
"What about the two in the Processor Center? Sunee and Sio?" Ironhide asked as he stood up to wait by the door for Ratchet so they could go.
"Slow fits and stops kind of progress. They're going to be there a long time. Their hard headed knuckleheads. I don't know how that will turn out but Rung is like a burr. Once he sticks to you, he's there forever." Ratchet walked to the door, then they stepped out heading for the world once more. Ironhide would go with Ratchet. He was going to see the alternate dimensional prisoners and they were as dangerous as it got.
-0-At the Prison
They walked together with an armed guard. The prison sector they were heading for was the most dangerous place of all. Most of the others would kill you if they grabbed you and if their demands weren't met. Some in the special lockups were nuts enough to kill you because that was who they were … stone cold killers. This group, however, was a strange one. They were mirror opposites of their counterparts in this dimension but they were also unpredictable in their cunning and straight up badness.
They reached the overall enclosure, then were let through the triple gates and hot fences to the inside where the individual barracks were held behind highly charged fences. Ignoring alt Ironhide who grinned at him as alt Springer lounged next to him, he walked along the path, then reached the farthest enclosure that now had a screening wall surrounding it. It enclosed alt Jetta. Getting inside, Ratchet and Ironhide along with their guard walked to the barracks and rapped on the door. "Jetta! This is Ratchet. I'm coming in."
There was no answer. Ratchet tugged on the door but it didn't open. "Rip it off, Ironhide."
Ironhide pushed past, gripped the handle, then pulled the door off its hinges. Ratchet entered, then saw Jetta lying on the floor in a pool of energon. He knelt and began to staunch the several flows that had been pierced by an reworked eating utensil lying nearby. "Get a runabout. We have to med-evac him now."
Ironhide nodded, then alerted the guard tower outside. In seconds, a runabout was hovering in to land. Two medics ran out of it with kits and an energon container as the runabout touched down in the foreground of the enclosure. Entering, they assisted Ratchet with Jetta. As they did, he on lined his optics. "Where am I?" Jetta asked groggily.
"In good hands, Jetta. Just relax," Ratchet said as he hooked in the energon pump. It hummed into life replacing his lost energon swiftly. Jetta's body relaxed as it did. "We need him in secured care. Take him and when I'm done here I'll come. Notify Jarro that this happened. Rung is his physician. We may have to move him to the Processor Center in a secured holding cell with around the clock observation." Ratchet looked around, noting the cameras and the angles. "He arranged things to this to allow this. We need to bolt things down so they can't hide from the cameras. Slagger. He's a mess. You can take him now," Ratchet said as he scanned the groggy figure.
The medics ran out to get a stretcher, then gently loaded and secured the slowly reviving figure. Ratchet gathered their gear and carried it to the runabout. Stepping back, the ship rose and flew swiftly to the Center nearby. Ratchet watched it go, then walked back inside. Inspecting the scene, taking images of the site, he turned to the Officer of the Orn. "You might want to check with Hauser at the Watch. He's Chief of Detectives. I think, given the severity of his actions, that it should be handled forensically so that if there's a criminal component to this its covered. I have taken images for medical but they're more thorough."
The Officer of the Orn nodded, then walked outside to place the call. Hauser would come himself to inspect the scene and prepare a case for Coln-2 and Jarro to discuss. He would be sworn to secrecy about the nature of the prisoners when he came and he would keep his word.
Ratchet and his group walked out of the fence, then turned to the right to go to the lockup that held Kudon, Neo and the others. They would be waiting for him when he came.
-0-TBC 10-18-17 edited 12-19-17
NOTES:
A Conjunx Endura is a Transformer's significant other, an individual that they deeply love. In human terms, Conjunx Endurae are the equivalent of spouses; for example, when the life of a Transformer is threatened to the point of unconsciousness, it falls upon their Conjunx Endura to make medical decisions on their behalf. Traditionally, a Transformer chooses a prospective partner through the ritual known as the Conjunx Ritus: four acts of affection and mutual kindness which cement the bond between the two individuals. bonded pair may be referred to as Junxies as an affectionate nickname.
Some Transformers think close relationships like these are embarrassing. Bluntly asking a stranger about their Conjunx is considered a bit gauche.
"I've always been terrified that you'd die before I did, because you and me apart strikes me as intensely wrong."—Part of Rewind's final message to his Conjunx Endura, "The Gloaming
Apparently, the Rewind bond is a beautiful story. Its out there. I will try and find it and post it here.