The Diego Diaries: Return Again, Turn Around (dd6 264)
-0-In a conference room that afternoon at Ops Center
Barron and his team sat at the table along with Blackstone, Coln-2 and their assistants, legal secretaries and case managers. Rung and Jarro for processor health, Ratchet for medical, and Prowl as scribe sat with the legal aide and the scheduler/private secretary for Optimus, Haret and Winslow, as they gathered to discuss the Functionalist case. Ironhide sat beside Optimus because he was a snoop and right servo go-to mech of the Prime. Or, so he said. The energy was dense and intense among the mechs.
"Lord Optimus," Barron began formally with a nod. The others nodded, too. "We are here to present the outline of the case involving the Functionalist Council and their group in relation to the genocide of the settlements near the Rim. We will present our outlines, then formally request a Primal Councilor Hearing for this matter. We all feel gravely enough about this that we accept that the Matrix and Pantheon will formally weigh in to discuss what resolution addresses this matter the most clearly."
Optimus nodded. "I agree. I would be loathe to decide this alone. I would need their wise counsel."
Barron glanced at the others, then began to outline the procedure that would follow given this was a case of the utmost seriousness and import to the Peace of the People. "We would call a gathering of those involved in the large courtroom of the Courthouse. It would be a closed gathering, Lord Optimus, to prevent anything from disrupting the proceedings. Because it would be, you would be responsible to tell the people what transpired and the outcome so they will understand that this was done to the greatest possible integrity we can provide.
"We would be there and I would marshal the case, that is, introduce the two sides, defender and prosecutor, address the laws under which we would be operating, the factors of the Matrix and Pantheon weighing in after verdict, then address things that arise in the course of case presentation.
"Coln-2 would proceed, laying out the case and its facts. That allows the defense and defendants to hear the facts and theories, thereby helping them to defend themselves more fully. When they finish, Blackstone will present the defense. He can call, or not, defendants to speak, though if they do, limited cross examination by prosecution will be then derived. Most of the time with an offense this great, the defendants decline. I'm told that they're prepared to speak if necessary, even against advice of counsel."
Blackstone nodded. "I'm going to ask that they not but they're strong willed, Lord Optimus."
Prime nodded. "I understand."
"At this point, the cases will be closed. There will be no closing arguments given that the facts and presentations. You will then be asked to listen to the case summary by me in which I read their statements or remarks, if any, then I will summarize the facts. At that point, the issue is yours to decide. When you have, when the sentence is delivered, the Matrix and Pantheon will either intervene or not on the verdict, depending on Their feelings about your decision. The verdict will be carried out immediately, whatever it is. Given that the Pantheon and Matrix weigh in, if They do, that is the appeal process that follows this hearing. If they decide that your sentence is not acceptable, They will give one themselves and it will be binding.
"The defendants will be the Council of 12 and 22 of their assistants. The remaining 872 who came here will be judged by you as well as lesser offenders. They are the secondary leaders, their families and the Council's dependents among the 2,500+ individuals who came. They were participants in the process and benefited greatly from the outcome to greater or lesser degrees. They were directors of the enslaved mechs and femmes that came with them. There's a portion of responsibility that they owe and we leave it up to you what constitutes restitution after great and long discussion about this."
"We believe, even the defense, that there's culpability among the adults for some portion of the problem. Evidence will be presented and both Coln and I will debate it. It would be up to you to decide their fate if you feel from Barron's summary that its warranted," Blackstone said. "We both agree, though, to the degree they share, that the others bear the greatest responsibility."
"What about the children? I am aware that they are in detention in the prison with their genitors. I am concerned about that," Optimus said. "They are blameless."
Barron nodded. "We made the conditions of their holding as optimal as possible. We haven't separated them due to the case needs and our desire to help families stay together. But this is proceeding to trial and because there's uncertainty, they will be cared for by the Guiding Hand community once their families are disposed of legally. Master Cyclonus has a plan in place through the Monastery to take the children in and find them places to live until their families are settled, released as not guilty or jailed for whatever term their crimes require. All of them have a place to go to with siblings and other related children who will be taken in together. Right now, the schools serve them and their overall needs are met."
"They are segregated from the main group and protected from that element? Do they have diversions?" Optimus asked.
"They do and they are," Barron said.
Prime looked relieved. "Thank you. I will speak to Cyclonus and offer more assistance if needed. Is Processor Health a part of this?"
"We are, Optimus. We meet with the children daily," Jarro said as Rung and their aides nodded. "We're going to certify the defendants for the trial and will speak to the others as well. I'm sure they'll want to know about their children and I will speak to that. We're working with all of them in the prison. The children are strange but receptive. However, the adults are tough nuts to crack."
"I know you will do your best," Optimus said encouragingly. "My major concern in the threat they pose and the debt they owe. I know all of you will do the very best possible and I thank you in advance for what you have done to make this moment possible. I also know that nothing we can do will ever undo or mitigate the magnitude of this matter. We must all do our best, without emotional distortion and with intense moral clarity."
They nodded.
"We'd like to do it, at least the start of it on Second Martian Wednesday," Barron said as he glanced at Prime's scheduler, Winslow. He was Prime's scheduler as well as private secretary. Glancing at his datapad, he turned to Prime. "We can do that, sir, if nothing comes up. We also can follow up the next two orns if needed. Right now, you have meetings with some officials on Earth but they're for later in the orn due to time discrepancies between Earth and Mars and can be disposed of electronically."
Prime glanced at Prowl who nodded. "Very well, Winslow. Please mark that time for this matter. I will be visiting the Temple before the hearing so I will need a joor before that. Is it clear?"
Winslow consulted. "Yes, sir, it is."
"Very well, then," Prime said. "Is there more to discuss or schedule?"
No one had anything more to add so they began to file out until there was no one but Winslow, Prime, Haret, Ironhide, and Ratchet. It was silent a moment, then Ratchet looked at Prime. "If they have to be held in stasis, is there room in the vault or what?"
"I have had Jetta on the problem since they were arrested," Prime said. "There will be enough space for the Twelve and for the others if necessary, the stasis chamber for the Insecticons has space." He was silent a moment. "I loathe such things."
"We know," Prowl said. "The danger they pose is colossal. The ancillary danger is to the Functionalists both here and in the Empire that aren't connected to them."
"I know," Prime said. "I am going to ban fundamental Functionalism. I am going to speak to Alpha, Lauren, Cyclonus, and Sela about it in order to have my perceptions and decision crystal clear. I would never ban a religious belief that was peaceful but this formulation of Functionalism, this branch of the Guiding Hand is dangerous, brutal and cultish. I want my views and decisions to be based on dispassionate facts and not revulsion over this act. The Council is for me a cult and a criminal cartel, not a religious belief system. They are criminals that have appropriated religion to be the cover for their criminal enterprise. I want my arguments to bear out what I feel is truth now. We cannot have this form of criminality loose among us or anyone else. As much as its obvious that they feel nothing for most of us, how much more terrible is their view of others?"
"I would hate to find out," Ratchet said.
They chatted a moment, then kicked back, almost willing themselves to shake off the darkness of this event. Ratchet glanced at Prowl. "How's it going?"
"They applied for a business of their own. Given their practice before, they will practically live in their offices. Maybe it'll be all for the better. The less they emotionally try my genitors, the better," Prowl said ruefully.
"Well … you can call me up. We can take them on a boozer, get compromising photos, then show them when they're sober," Ratchet said with a dazzling smile.
Prowl stared at him with a slow forming grin. "You don't think I won't take you up on that?"
No one there doubted it.
-0-Home, on toward dinner time
"How about this?"
Orion considered it, then smiled beautifully. "Good, you, Ho-Ho." He took the block, placed it on the empty space, then all of them stepped back to look.
Prowler who was holding his Little Blue Dog by its tail glanced upward at Orion. "I like that, Orion. You do good."
Orion looked at him, then smiled. "Po-Po good. Po-Po my she. I love Po-Po," he said. He hugged his brother, then walked to his sister, hugging her. "You my she, too."
They smiled at each other, then gathered more blocks. It was already almost taller than them but they were going higher. Their tower would be as tall as they could make it.
-0-Earth2
They sat by the window drinking coffee. James Johnson was back a few days now. It was interesting to see how he was being ignored by everyone but those who worked with him. Even the other security who answered only to Siso and the others in the Command Center, eight human men and a human woman who were ex-military and police from several different countries who were vetted and trained to Autobot standards, all nine of them, ignored the mercs. It was serious, the fallout from his stunt. A pretty woman passed by, walking purposefully toward the cafe and equally purposefully ignoring them. They watched her go by.
"Good looker," Carlos Ortega said. "There's a lot of good looking women here."
"They're ignoring you or did you notice?" Silvio asked with a grin. "I may have to start ignoring you, too, if I want to have feminine company."
"Fuck this," Johnson said grumpily. "This is just the day job."
"You ready to go home?" Sam asked curiously.
"No. I'm ready to go out and look around again," Johnson said.
"You're under house arrest," Lawrence said. "You couldn't go out if you wanted to go."
"When its over, I'm out." Johnson sat back. "Only 22 more days."
The afternoon would drag by until the group went out leaving Johnson behind to brood.
-0-That evening approaching dinner at home
"ADA!"
Ratchet peeked into Orion's room and noted a tower that should have been impossible for them to build but for the toy box upon which they stood. All four of them stood around the tower and smiled. Orion who was the 'boss hog' of the construction stood like Superman as he smiled gigantically. "SEE ADA!? LOOK AT DIS! PO-PO HELPEDED!"
Prowler who was holding his Little Blue Dog by the tail smiled. "I helped."
"HO-HO HELPEDED! PAX HELPEDED! I, ORION, HELPEDED!" Orion then turned to point at the tower and clipped a corner. It fell into a pile in the middle of four ultra shocked kids. They stared at it, then Orion, then Ratchet.
Ratchet who wanted to bust a gut laughing grinned at them. "Dinner. Go wash."
They ran out but for Orion who stared wordlessly at the pile. Ratchet walked to the wash rack, supervised, then rushed them out. Passing the berth room, he saw that Orion was still staring at the pile silently. Scooping him up, washing his tiny servos, they went to dinner where Orion would explain that he hadn't really knocked the tower down.
Like a typical kid his age.
It would be hilarious.
-0-On a balcony at The Residence some time later that evening
He stood on the balcony enjoying the crisp cold air on his neural net. It was pleasing in the way a cool breeze was on a hot day to humans. It was velvety dark, things were winding down and the night beyond was beautiful. Gathering his thoughts, he enjoyed a moment to unwind, consider a few problems on his processor and get ready for the next orn.
He considered his home for a moment as the sound of his children laughing reached him. He heard Prowl joking with them as he chased them around the house, then into their berth rooms. He grinned. It was everything. It was utterly unexpected.
He had lived in a lot of places, some of them for a decent amount of time, but nothing was home but here. No matter how fragged his orn had been, no matter how many problems or fights that ensued, the moment he hit the door to this place, everything was alright. The energy here created by his family, his children and bond, his genitors and Prowl's, the friends and events that happened here, all of it was home to him. All of it was brilliant and warm, enveloping him in such a deep warmth that nothing that happened out there could hold him down here.
He had lived on ships, in caves, on hard trackless ground. He had lived in buildings, warehouses, bombed out shells of places, craters in the ground, the open spaces in full elements, and sometimes in amazing luxury. It would be noticeable for anyone who knew him now how spartan all those spaces were. Even The Residence in Iacon held almost no personal items of him or his life. He didn't invest himself into them, so great were his travails and responsibilities. His life was transient, always changing for the better or more likely, for the worse. He was always coming and going, leaving places to find new ones.
He had become inured to the need for roots and comforts. He was almost immunized against hoping for such things for himself. To impart yourself into a place you might have to leave minutes later was a futile exercise and leaving things behind that told of you and your life invited troubles for you and anyone else that might be important to your life. It was often a bleak harried existence where the gentler and finer things that made life easier and better had no place.
"Primes don't party."
Arcee on Transformers: Prime had said so. That mech, that Prime was closer to the truth than he wanted to let on. That one bore the burdens of his office like a cross, grim and determined but self denying to a degree that was almost unbearable to watch. That Prime was him if Prowl had never shown up. He was Prime with all the burdens and none of the virtues of life. He was Prime without children and a home.
He loved his home. He loved every inch of it because everywhere he looked he saw the image of his life playing out. His son practicing his piano, his children chasing each other as they laughed hysterically, Prowl hiding behind doors during hide-and-seek, all of them crawling over him on the floor or the berth. He saw himself sitting at night working on a problem with Miss Kitty sitting on his lap purring contentedly. There was dinner at the big table with the family or friends. There was the sight of his genitors sitting on the couch explaining something in school that excited them. Their sweetness was almost painful for him to think about. There was an almost painful happiness in his spark. They were everything and so were Prowl's genitors. The addition of Prowl's amma and appa was problematic but all of them were determined that they wouldn't disrupt the life they fought to have for so long. He thought of his own, good natured quiet mechs who labored in steel, their huge frames dictating their futures and felt once again a pang for them. That they were safe in the Matrix was only partly comforting to him as he watched a ship fly upward into the dark sky.
When he walked into his house, he felt complete. He noted that it was less so when he was alone but still, this place and everything in it was home. Prowl would pose questions now and again … 'what do you think about this thing' or 'that thing'. He would give his opinion, then it would appear. It took a while to catch on but he did. Then he would say, 'Let us go out and look together?' They would amble out and discuss this and that thing together. Then they would enjoy a break at a cafe before going on to real world problems. It was something that they had both come to enjoy.
Their home was their collaboration just like their children, just like their pastimes and friendly get togethers. Dining after games, celebrating this and that thing accomplished by the children or the grand genitors … it was his life and he embraced it like a starving mech. He had known anger and irritation, disgust and even fear, but he had never felt hopelessness, even with Black Shadow. This was the line over which no enemy would cross. He was the Prime and he would prevail.
As he considered his life, something else was considering him. As he stared at the night sky filled with stars, the reflected lights from around him, the airfield, and the ships coming and going, everything faded away.
Nearby, collecting toys, Prowl peered into a berth room. "Go to recharge," he said with a grin.
"I haven't kissed Atar good night," Spirit said as he sat in his big boy berth in his berth room.
"I HAVEN'T EITHER!" -several others in different berth rooms weighing in.
Prowl laughed. "Stay put. I'll get him," he said as he walked down the corridor to the living room. Spotting Optimus on the balcony, he walked to the door, then stepped out. Halting his advance, he considered the big mech who was staring at the sky without noticing him. He couldn't. Prowl could detect no aura around Optimus so he stepped back inside and walked to the children's rooms. Leaning in, he grinned. "Atar is talking to the Pantheon. He will come when he's finished. Alright?"
"Which one, Ada? Lady Solus?" Spirit asked as Prowl tucked him in.
"We'll have to see, baby," Prowl said as he kissed his son.
He walked out and paused by the door to the balcony. There was no aura because the essence of Optimus Prime minus that part necessary to maintain his body was in the Matrix. He would stand by the door and wait until he returned. Then together, they would walk to the berth rooms of their children and kiss them all good night.
-0-TBC 2-3-18 edited 2-22-18
NOTES:
inured: (ih-nuur-d) immune from something