The Diego Diaries: SCREAM! (dd6 168)
-0-Metro Femme
"WHAT!?"
-0-Around the colony
"I just got a message from Ratchet. He's miscalculated. He's separating at Metro Femme," Ravel said almost breathlessly. (If he could breathe, he would have been)
Tie stared at Ravel, then turned to the panel near the smelters. Hitting the master switch to bank them all at once, he gripped Ravel by the arm, then hustled to the store and the concourse outside. Fixing the 'be back shortly' sign, he hurried both of them toward the doors nearby on his way to Metro Femme.
Here and there …
"We gotta go," Springer said as Drift joined him.
"Why?" -everyone there in the lounge of the dojo
"Ada is separating at Metro Femme," Springer said as he hustled to the door with Drift in tow.
"WAIT FOR US!" -everyone there in the lounge of the dojo
Ops Center …
"Hey, Blue!"
Everyone and Blue turns to the door to see who the frag is yelling across the room. The twins, Hot Rod, Smokey, Blurr, and Sandstorm are standing in the doorway. "What?" Blue asked as he glanced around in a light bit of embarrassment.
"Ada is separating at Metro Femme," Sunstreaker said.
Bluestreak jumped up, waving over a trainee Home Guardsman to take his place. "Gotta motor," he said as he smiled at Prowl. They exited in seconds.
Prowl stared at the door. He glanced at Paragon who was grinning at him. "He's doing this to infuriate me. I consider this whole business insubordination. The penalty will be the confiscation of the sparkling," he said as he set down his datapad. "You have the conn. I have to arrest someone." He walked with a determined step to the doors and disappeared.
Paragon watched as the door opened and Optimus walked out. He grinned at Pari, then nodded. "I see you have the conn?"
"It would appear so," Paragon said with a smile.
"Carry on," Prime said with a smile of his own. He was out the door in seconds.
Paragon watched them go, then chuckled. "Why did I wait so long to defect?" he asked no one in particular. After alerting Arrow, he bent to the tasks at hand.
At an apartment … ME AND MY ARROW!
Arrow took the message, then grinned. Sitting down at the computer in the office of his apartment while his children took their nap, he called up the social media of the colony and began to put the word out. It was the start of loony tunes time in the Senior Staff.
Not far from the scene of the crime ...
Arcee stood in the doorway watching Magnus working as hard as usual. He was an amazingly handsome mech, huge and solid in his figure and integrity. "Hey, handsome."
He glanced up, then sat back with a slight smirk. "What brings you here to my office this time of the orn, Missy?"
"Ada is separating," Arcee said as she watched him frown slightly.
"How many is this then?" Magnus asked as he neatened his desk to leave.
"Seven or eight hundred, I think," she said with a grin as she turned to leave with him in tow. He would nod in agreement.
In a restaurant having lunch …
"Better eat faster," Moonracer said with a grin. "Ada is separating," she said to the other femmes and a few of their beaus.
They would get takeout boxes.
In a classroom studying to be a medic …
Partition messaged back that he had half a joor before dismissal and he would be there. It pleased him deeply to be included on the family's private mailing list. Unconditional love was still on a steep learning curve for him.
On an internal 'party' line
:We're going to be coming in shortly. I have Cargo and I'm keeping the slagger with me. Maybe being around normal stuff with normal mechs, he can be more so himself. Am I asking for too much?: -Raptor, smiling at Cargo as he carries bricks from a hole that took a round way back when and is now filled with water
:You are but I admire your pluck, Only One. I'm finishing up here. Funeral prayers for Cybertron. My turn. I'll meet you there: -Turbine, pausing from the chanting long enough to answer
:Turbine, I'm coming there. I'm here making some requisition orders for my district. I'll meet you at the Temple and we can walk over: -Delphi, doing what he was famed for … organizing
:Wait for me there! I'm coming from Vegas now: -Alor, walking to the door to come
:Who else? Aunt Lissie? Flint?: -Delphi, acting secretary to The Mob
:I'm coming. I'll meet you at Metro Femme. Aunt Lissie?: -Flint heading out the door to the bridge room from Fort Apache
:I'm already on my way. Meet you at Femme: -Aunt Lissie who was booking it back from a weather station on the TransWorld Highway after visiting a friend serving there
:Hardie? Are you there?: -Delphi taking roll
:I'm here. I'm going to bring Keystock. Meet you there: -Hard Drive watching as Keystock helped carry small children to a truck even as he carried a heavy backpack. He looked like slag. Hardie would let him carry a few more babies before they would retreat to Mars and Metro Femme.
Around …
MeAndMyArrow: "Ratchet is separating at Metro Femme. Just so you know." Arrow sat back from his new thread with a grin. This should trend in three … two … one …
BackDoorBore: "That mech has 800 kids. What's one more?" :D
DownTownHound: "I thought it was closer to Halloween?"
Protectobot4Bee: "I'm no expert on this subject but Gypsy told me that the more you have, the less likely they are to have a set date for separation. They can come early or hang on late."
The chat went on. Everywhere.
-0-Metro Femme
"WHAT!? HOW!? YOU'RE EARLY!"
"Now Ironhide ..."
-0-In the hallway at about the same time
Everyone funneled down the hallway. Ironhide and Ratchet turned to look at them. His family was on their way, Ratchet's family was here as were mechs came from everywhere, family and otherwise along with femmes. They gathered together and the hallway became silent. Ratchet and Ironhide stared at them, then each other. "Well, here we all are," Ratchet said with a laugh.
Huge laughter greeted that, then Elita stepped forward. "So, what do we do now?" she asked as Mack and Jetta along with everyone else grinned at the two.
"Well, I go in there and yell a lot. You lot stay out here and behave yourselves. By the way, no one gets to see, here or know about this one for three orns. OLD IRONHIDE HAD ONE JOB! ONE JOB!"
Ironhide frowned at Ratchet. "Slagger." He grinned. "You're a hard aft old mech but I get a new dollie."
Everyone laughed loudly, then Ratchet walked into the room to sit in the heated chair and get plugged in.
Perceptor and Wheeljack appeared to make sure the protoform was up to snuff, then joined everyone, mostly in the hallway, to wait. Immediate family that had arrived was inside. Prime and Prowl showed up, chatted a moment, then entered the room. It was darkened, Ratchet was relaxed and everyone was waiting.
"Well, when you're finished, I'll take the baby home. After all, they're all mine anyway," Prowl said to grins and laughter everywhere.
"Call Jarro. Prowl's having an episode," Ratchet said as a slight heaviness pressed on him. Then it passed. "This could take a while."
"That's fine," Prowl said as he sat in a chair. "It's not like we have ANYTHING ELSE TO DO!"
Huge laughter.
-0-In the hallway
"This feels familiar," Springer said as he sat on the floor leaning into the wall. Drift sat beside him. All the others had commandeered the chairs and couches. Some were leaning on the wall while others sat. A lot of mechs and femmes were here. Footfalls sounded as everyone looked down the corridor. Chromia and Maelstrom were walking their way. They paused at the edge of the crowd. "What's the word so far?"
"Nothing, reall-" Elita began.
"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAARGGHHHHHHHHHH!"
Everyone paused to allow the sound to filter through their neural nets, then Elita grinned. "I stand corrected."
Huge laughter.
-0-Inside
Ironhide wringed his servo which had just taken its first hit. "Ow."
"Frag you, Ironhide," Ratchet said as he relaxed again. "I wonder what they're laughing about out there."
"I don't know. This is what, the 47 infant?" Prowl asked archly.
Ratchet grinned. "Pretty good number considering I didn't 'born' them all."
"Behave, Sonny," Docker said as she fussed around him. "You need your strength."
"Yes, Loon. Obey the little femme," Prowl said with a grin.
"Football in three orns, Prowl. Praxus will lose. I feel it in my bones-AAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!"
-0-Outside
"Oh my." -everyone
"Makes you want to run right out and get sparked." -Springer throwing it out to be ornery.
"When can we expect it?" -everyone looking at Springer.
(Frowns) "Why are you looking at me?" -Springer having all the feels
"I don't know, Springer," Arcee said with a smirk as she sat on the floor next to a slightly smirking Magnus. "You seem the type."
(Bigger frown) "What's the type, Arcee? You mean like Magnus?" Springer countered because he could.
Magnus grinned a bit bigger. "You think I wouldn't?"
Everyone in the corridor blinked in surprise at the bad ass, by-the-book, stoic, genuinely dangerous mech who had as much integrity as Prime. Elita leaned forward, then glanced down the row. "Really, Magnus?"
Magnus looked at her, then sat back with a grin. "You seem to think its a bad thing. I don't see anything wrong with it, myself. Hound had an infant. I thought we've been through this before."
"Then you'd have one," Elita persisted.
"If that's what Arcee and I wanted, I wouldn't shirk my duty," Magnus said.
Elita grinned. "Never change, Magnus," she said sitting back. She grinned at Springer. "Wuss."
"So its going to be that way. Slap Springer around," Springer said. He glanced at a smirking Jetta. "What about you? You 'game'?"
Jetta considered that. "I haven't thought about it."
"Cop out. Easy out," Chromia said as she sat on the floor next to a hulking gigantic Maelstrom. He was grinning broadly at the fun.
"What about you, Chrome?" Springer asked. He smirked at her, his now sister and the hulking brother-in-law sitting next to her.
Chromia leaned into Maelstrom, then grinned. "If and when the time comes, I'll be there for Maelstrom."
It took a moment to sink in before the smirk on Maestrom's face disappeared.
As he nearly wrenched his helm off glancing down at a smirking Chromia, the big mechs of Ironhide's family wandered in. They were Scout and Trooper, an expectant Alor, a grinning Delphi and Turbine, a joyous Raptor, Blackjack and Hardie. Trailing along behind them was a mud covered, sulking Cargo and a beat down muddy Keystock toting a big backpack that looked to crush him. Behind all that came a happy, expectant Partition.
The whole gang was pretty much here.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
-0-TBC 10-24-17 edited 12-19-17
NOTE: When I was a kid, there were party lines. That is, there would be one line with half a dozen or more people who used it. Everyone had their own number and their own ring. When it rang your rings, you could talk to everyone else. However, anyone else on the line could listen in, the slaggers. You got expert at listening for the sound of someone picking up their phone to eavesdrop. LOL! That was when a phone number was just the last four numbers of what it is now or it was "Maryhill 4579". Ah, such were the orns. ;)