The Diego Diaries: Memory Hole (dd6 381)
-0-At the ward
It was dark in the room but for a small night light near the door for the nurses who were going to be checking on them in the upcoming orns and nights. Ratchet was here for the night tonight and the rest of this orn up to it after admitting them. There were seven beds here, six of them filled with small bots and the one for him. The room's walls were shifted and it was now a big private space for them with a small lounge near the window which looked out onto the desert beyond The City, toward Aerie Hill. It was nearing dinner time but they hadn't eaten, so weary were they that they lay down and drifted off.
Ironhide, his family, the mechs who were friends and adult children of the family had reluctantly gone off to do their jobs. Ratchet would update them but for now, the quiet of the room and their fright and exhaustion had been enough to send everyone to berths. Ratchet could use one now that the chaos was over and he had an idea of what they would need to do. Everyone had left and he was alone with them, something he didn't mind. He had always taken care of them before and now was no different.
He found silence coaxed memories, some beautiful and some not so much. He could see them younger, less care worn and more synced with their fate, all of them but Docker. His Amma never accepted that there would be no dreams for them, no future with hope and possibility. She railed against fate with her son, Tie Down and she did so again with her precious grandson, Ratchet.
His Amma Docker was a stand up femme. Always.
She lay nearby curled up in a thermal blanket, stunned and numb by the turn of events. They had survived together so long, through so many terrible events and circumstances, that now at the end of the rainbow the thought of losing someone had laid even her low. It had him as well. They were always a unit, a team, the seven of them. They were a clan. They were family. They were gifted and happy and made their way together.
When the war broke out, Ratchet had not been able to return to Iacon to find them anymore than anyone else. The world was in flames and they were on the other side. He couldn't see them through the haze of unbearable pain that enveloped all of them. He wondered as he sat in the chair by the window, sprawling with fatigue and the down turn of fright leaving his body what the humans would think if they understood their deep despairing capacity to understand pain and loss. He was sure most humans didn't. Their cars didn't mourn. Why should these strange aliens?
But mourn they did. The alcoholic consumption rate among their people was higher than most. Most had dreams from time to time, dreams of the events they witnessed, dreams of cataclysm and apocalypse. Some were ready to fight at every and any offense. Even though there was no stigma about getting mental and emotional support here, there were many who didn't even yet. Ignoring felt easier than confronting the horrors that dwelt in all of them for many. He would see to it that his genitors and grand genitors got more counseling than they had. This had demolished a lot of good, he could see, and they would have it. He, their life's goal, would see to it.
Life's goal …
Many were the stories they would tell him about their decisions for family, of the separation of his genitors, Ravel and Tie Down. Chan, Corr and Appa Ratchet had grown up together in the slums of the Jumble, living next door to each other and finding work in the same places. Docker had come from Uraya, an adventurous 'country femme' who had struck out for the big city to find her fortune. What she found was a jaunty mech named Ratchet who loved her at first sight. 'His Docker' he called her, his little femme. They had all become friends ... more than friends … they had become family as they worked and tried to build a future that held even a few of their dreams. They saved for a long time before they ventured into genitorhood, birthing two sons that were good and creative, gentle, honest and honorable. Ravel and Tie Down were always friends, growing up in each others houses, weathering the storms of fate and suppression as they grew to love each other.
There were celebrations when they bonded, his ammas would say. "Tie and Ravie, they were meant for each other."
It was a long haul through the process of creating their business, using their genius to make tools and weapons of such exquisite perfection that it attracted the optics of corporate predators who had created a law that allowed them to take over businesses that they wished without recourse for their true owners under some guise of 'protecting outstanding skills and products'. The business faction that backed the puppet Nominus had formulated it and the Senate had passed it. Forced Acquisitions, it was called. General Dynamic used the law to take control of RTR Tools, an artisan business and they kept the profits which were astronomical. His genitors got next to nothing and General Dynamic touted their creations as their own.
He had never gotten over that. He had never been able to reconcile the feelings he had for the theft of his genitor's genius, hard work and future. It still burned as brightly now as it did then. Nothing they could do would change any of it. General Dynamic called themselves investment brokers who 'helped' businesses like RTR Tools 'grow'. He pushed the thought away.
It was still white hot even now.
Someone stirred so he stood, then walked to the berth where Chan lay. He straightened his appa's blankets, then sat down in a chair beside him. He stared at Chan, a small mech with an incredible spirit, a tough body and amazing courage. He was an electrician like Docker. They all worked the same jobs, the four of them. They were very good, called up for a lot of good jobs by the Union Hall and looked out for each other. Appa Chan worked with Amma Docker on the electrical side of the tall steel buildings, wiring them for all manner of things. Appa Ratchet was good with electrical projects but better with electronics. He helped them when they worked on jobs for communications and on others by himself to ensure that computer systems worked the way they should.
Amma Corr was different. He was a high steel worker, someone who worked in the clouds of the huge buildings catching red hot rivets flung to him in a bucket, then slamming them into the steel girders with tongs and driving them in with a big rivet gun. They would cool and the seams would be unbreakable. When testing for rivets was made by the companies he worked for, no one ever found a flaw in his work. He was fast, strong, meticulous, and proud of his work. Chan was also quiet, gentle, sweet, unassuming, decent, honest, kind, loving … he was that and more. So were the others. They lavished all their love on him and Ratchet had bounded into life ready to shake the tree of conformity.
Without them, he would have perished or been imprisoned long ago.
They had helped him get through the long hazing blur that was University, rejoiced when he was in the Army and a shooting star in the medical corp and danced when he met Ironhide. He, in turn, had never relinquished his emotional and loving hold on his family, stealing medical supplies and food for them every time no one looked. He did it for others, never forgetting that the place he came from informed who he was. It was the place where they were, where love lived. He should have been caught but he never was. When he bonded, he had co-conspirators. He had Ironhide and his family helping him.
He would go into the ghettos and hold impromptu clinics, treating the sick, getting them medicine and food, doing for them what his family had done for him. He gave them unconditional love and support. Ratchet of Iacon had never and would never forget where he came from or who he was.
He was Ravel and Tie Down's son. He was the grandson of Ratchet, Chan and Corr of Iacon and Docker of Uraya. He was loved, protected, supported, forgiven, indulged, disciplined, held, nurtured, and sheltered young from the worst aspects of their condition as much as the six of them could. He was their future going forward. He was their greatest and most beloved dream.
Then the war came.
Everyone of them lost someone. Millions upon millions still didn't know. It was an obsession when migrations came to study the names list, to check out any familiar ones, then steel oneself for disappointment. It almost always came. Sometimes, someone would be lucky and strike pay dirt. Their stories were always published to give heart to others who still waited with crushed sparks for hope to come to their door as well.
When he had found his appa Ratchet, Ratchet the Younger nearly came apart at the seams. It was a miracle but it was also a huge flaming agony. He had one. Where were the other three? Most didn't think about it. The scenarios were too awful and the outcomes of what happened too real. But each reconciliation was a victory and as each victory happened, one could begin to dream even harder that they could have their own.
Ratchet felt a small hand on his shoulder. Glancing to the side, he saw the beautiful profile of Docker. "Amma, you should rest. You'll feel better in a couple of joors if you do."
"I know, Sonny." She looked at him with That Look, the one that bespoke love, protection, history, pride … the one she always gave him. "Thank you for coming so fast, grandson. I never was so frightened since they decided Corr was going to the Dead End."
Ratchet slipped his arm around her. "It's my honor and great love to take care of you. You did for me what I'm doing for you."
She nodded, then lay her helm on his. "You're our shining star, little mech, you and your family. We are the luckiest elders in the world."
It was silent, then Ratchet pulled her into his lap. She lay back and relaxed. "You were always a good little mech, Ratchet. Always were, always will be."
"Look who raised me? I'm only half crazy rather then all," Ratchet said with a slight grin.
She grinned herself, then snuggled closer. "When all is said and done, Sonny … the only thing that matters is love. You can't take anything else with you when your time comes. You only have memories and love. Remember that."
Ratchet kissed her helm. "I never forgot it, Amma."
He held her for a joor, then rose and carried her to her berth. Settling her small form down, he tucked her in. Staring at her, then checking everyone including Corr most carefully, he walked to the berth by the window and lay down wearily. He would tune into them with his alert programming, then drift off. In a few joors, he would order food in and they would eat it together as Amma Corr recharged onward in mild medical stasis. Until then, it was quiet and calm in the room.
-0-On the job
Drift and Springer sat in their office in Titan in the Metro District where he was situated for the unforeseeable future. It was quiet as they worked through the data stacked up. Drift rose, walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer. "Want one?"
Springer looked up and nodded. "Yeah. I'm hungry, too. Why don't you order something delivered."
"What?" Drift asked as he walked to the monitor to pull up takeout places on the screen. "Chinese? Tarn? Italian? High tone Iaconian?" He grinned. Mocking the mockers would never get old.
Springer grinned. "Chinese. Maybe Thai. Ada said its good eats."
"Okay," Drift said as he ordered Thai. Then he looked at Springer. "Poor Ada. He's a doctor. He can't fool himself."
Springer sat back. "I know. This is fragged. Corr should be good. Levee said so. I hope so. He's a really sweet little mech." He frowned. "I want to go to the prison and shake Sentinel until his arms fall off."
"He'd plant ya," Drift said. "You couldn't take him, though I admire the sentiment. I agree with it, too."
Springer stared at him. "You don't think I can take Sentinel?"
"Can you take Optimus?" Drift asked.
"To a dance. To dinner," Springer said with a grin.
Drift smirked back. "Same frame. Sentinel doesn't fight fair. Ask Sunstreaker."
"Probably, but maybe some fine orn he'll tunnel out and we can go after him. We'd bring him back but I'd like to give him a whirl. Maybe being in the prison took his edge," Springer said.
"I doubt it," Drift said with a grin.
"I do, too," Springer said as he looked at the table top. It wasn't shrinking no matter what they did. "This is fragged."
"I know," Drift said as he sat in his chair in front of the desk with a pile of work on his lap. "Goof off."
Springer grinned, then chuckled. "That's me. Goof off."
They would work together quietly until dinner, burning their brains out with the spicy food, then get their horses to ride their beat. They would also get a message from Ratchet that all was well in the hospital with the little mechs and femme that were the center of their family's happiness.
The evening would go by slowly on Mars.
-0-TBC 6 10-18. Edited 6-15-18 edited 6-18-18
NOTES!
kattenbelletje chapter 380 . 18h ago
OMG, this is so terrible. Poor Corr.
I did think it was kind of mean to lure the family to the hospital, by implying that Ratchet had a nice surprise. It nearly broke my heart :(
ME: I hear ya. They were so deprived, they have to be careful. The family didn't quite know how to handle this. No matter how this went, they were going to be sad. I remember having to tell two people on two different occasions someone had died and it was awful. HUGS! Dear heart. More to come.
Megatron Owes Me Money chapter 379 . Jun 9
I bet Harris is getting nervous about alien seers LOL!
ME: HE SHOULD! Mama Fig is one as well. She saw the femmes as ghosts. She also makes predictions. That sort of thing runs in my family on my mom's side. I love the idea of their seers. LOL! It would serve them well to have help with Owen.
Poptart chapter 379 . Jun 9
What the heck, you're still making fanfics of the Diego diaries? Jeeez, you've been working on this foreverrrrr lol
ME: I'M NUTS! I began this at the end of October in 2010. Then I posted it November 2, 2010. On November 2, 2018 it will be eight years, nearly every day. LOL! I love this. WELCOME POPTART! UNTIL ALL ARE ONE!
kattenbelletje chapter 377 . Jun 6
Great, the world is ending for the N'th time this decade. We got a doom and gloom preacher again.
ME: I'm surprise more spam doesn't make it through. :D It makes me chuckle. The religious spam and missionaries always seem to find me. :D HUGS!
Guest chapter 377 . Jun 6
Funny, fun, fun!
ME: They needed fun. I think when Optimus is feeling happy, no one is cuter. HUGS!
Sunstreaker's Girl chapter 377 . Jun 6
Lmao... Cousin slept on Ironhide's face! I can picture it in my head perfectly!
This was a hilarious chapter... I loved it!
ME: Between mice standing on Prowl's face and this, we have the animal kingdom representing. LOL! HUGS!
Leoness chapter 377 . Jun 6
The Ironhide side of the family is so flipping hilarious.
ME: I love them. They're so much like my own, its fun to write them. They're so confident and happy with this, they write themselves. HUGS!
Ragemoose chapter 377 . Jun 5
I love this family. They're so much fun. :D
ME: Sometimes, you get lucky. Raptor was the inspiration for the others. Some straight laced and others wild eyed. Showbiz and military. Odd and even almost. I love them, too. HUGS!