The Diego Diaries: Trials and Tribulations (dd6 432)

-0-Courtroom

They came one after the other telling tales of greed, hatred, criminality, and malicious indifference. They told of their incarcerations, their mistreatment and the loss of their businesses and homes. They told of family and friends disappearing, of knocks on doors in the night. They told of guilt by association. A long line of witnesses stood in the stand and told their tales, some of them coldly, some with anger and some with wild emotion. They spoke of the Clampdown, of laws past that were oppressive, of family, friends and even towns lost to the machinations of the government and the two defendants. Some even spoke of personal encounters with them. It was then that Ratchet saw the door open and his genitors walk in. They hesitated as a surprised Springer whispered to them. Nodding, they walked toward Ratchet and sat down next to him. Ratchet stared at them in surprise. :What are you doing here?:

:We came to testify: Tie Down said as Ravel nodded.

:You didn't say a word: Ratchet said.

:We didn't want to worry you: Ravel said.

"I would like to call Tie Down of Iacon to the stand," Coln then said.

All of them sitting on the bench stared at him, then Tie Down stood. He squeezed Ravel's servo, then walked to the stand to take the oath and face whatever came. Ratchet watched him with a feeling of overwhelming pride and a need to obliterate everyone in the room if they so much as frowned at his little dad.

"Tie Down of Iacon, please tell us about yourself and your business," Coln asked gently.

He was nervous but determined as he complied. "I am Tie Down of Iacon. I lived in the Jumble with my bond, Ravel of Iacon and our only son, Ratchet. We were low caste and worked hard. We managed to figure out how to make tools in a different way, swords, knives, anything made of metal. We had a knack for it so we began a little shop called RTR Tools. 'Ravel, Tie Down and Ratchet'. It was small but we made our tools and managed to grow the shop. It wasn't big but it was artisan and highly respected. I say so because everyone said so, not because I'm a braggart," he said quietly.

Coln grinned slightly. "We know, Tie," he replied.

"We began to get clients and had a lot of different groups interested in our business though we never sought them out. We kept it to ourselves, turning away investors because we wanted to leave this for our son. We wanted our Ratchet to have a way out of poverty and if there were others involved, they might trick us. We provided for our baby and helped our genitors. Our elders were very smart and capable but they didn't get the living that they deserved. You do know that wages were set by the Senate with their wage and price control law and they weren't very generous."

"It was well known, Tie Down, that you and your business created the best tools, dies, weapons, knives, and other ornaments possibly ever manufactured by Cybertronians. Your processes were your own, correct?" Coln asked. He, himself now possessed a dagger of stunning quality that matched one his great grandfather had once owned down to the etching on its luminous blade. Whenever he touched it, the blade felt alive. No one in the room was unaware of RTR Tools.

He nodded. "When the law was passed in the Senate that allowed corporations and huge businesses to steal smaller ones, Galaxy Industries who jumped on us right away demanded our processes and formulas. We didn't give them and Larken even threatened us with jail. You see," he said leaning forward slightly, "we make them old school. It's not just formulas and processes. You have to add the prayers and chants as well, asking Solus to make them holy so who has them is safer. You have to make them in the right order and put things in that only we know, the two of us and Ratchet, our son. We make them but They help us." He leaned slightly forward. "The Pantheon."

"The Pantheon?" Coln asked.

Tie nodded. "Yes. I made a knife for you, Coln-2. Did you notice the quality and the etchings?"

"I do," Coln said. "My great grandfather had one just like it from your shop. I treasure this one."

Tie nodded. "It was made with help from somewhere else. Up there," he said pointing toward the ceiling. "Our swords come to their conclusion with sentience. So does everything we make. Everything. Circle kids come for their first sword or a Knight will come and ask for a specific kind. We make them, then The Process must be undertaken if they're to go home with the one we make them for. Sometimes they won't because the recipient isn't honorable enough."

"What is The Process?" Coln asked.

"We let the sword decide if they will become the partner of the bearer. We do that with all our manufactures. The sword will decide. So will the other things. We create a partnership between object and bearer. Sometimes they won't accept the bearer and its a big wake up call when it happens. It will shock the bearer if they try to take them away and they don't want to go. If Galaxy had our formulas, they couldn't create the things we manufacture. It took them forever to understand that because they're greedy and mean but they finally did. They wanted us to teach it but they came to understand, finally, that you're born to do this. It chooses you. We can't teach those who aren't predisposed to understand. Our son did. He's a magnificent metallurgist. I think everyone forgets that. Ratchet can make as fine a sword as you can find and the Pantheon helps him. You see, we revere Solus Prime. She's our patron for our profession."

They listened to him, this guileless and kindly individual with a gift. He was the soul of their people. He was everyone else, everywhere. Coln listened. "Tie Down, what happened with Galaxy Industries?"

Tie frowned slightly. "The Senate passed a law that big industries could take over smaller ones and include them into their business without their consent or compensation and there was nothing we could do about it. One morning, they came. They told me that they were taking us over and that we would receive a small wage. We were to turn over our processes because they now belonged to them. I was so surprised. My Ravel, he cried for orns and orns. We could do nothing about it. They said it was to 'preserve and grow unique artisan talents' like ours for the good of the Empire. I tell you, Mr. Coln, it was stealing. They stole our business and our little mech's future. I will never forgive them."

"What happened to your income?" Coln asked.

"We lost 95% of it. We were saving to start another business, one for our genitors to become independent construction contractors. They were amazing electricians and steelworkers. We were saving for that and it was taken away. My ada never recovered from it. She was always railing against the system, taking chances to keep someone safe or free of this but there was no freedom. It was taken away, what little we had, and a lot of us lost our dreams. They made everyone believe that our works were their ideas and formulas. No one can now or could then do what we do. They condemned us to hunger and poverty. We had to make things for others and none of the benefit was ours. Our dream for our little mech was destroyed." Tie glanced at a pensive Ravel and Ratchet. They sat together holding servos. "My genitors and Ravel's suffered as well. They were gentle and good. They are gentle and good. It breaks your spark, Coln, the things these two mechs and the others did. Chan and Corr have never rebounded. They were broken by this. Why would they steal our business and say they created it themselves?"

"I don't know," Coln said. "Now? What is it like now, Tie Down?"

He smiled. "It's everything. We scrimped along to get Ratchet through the schools we could find and he was given a full scholarship to medical school. Our little mech graduated first in his class from the University," he said proudly as Ravel nodded. "He had a terrible time. The high castes treated him terribly but he persisted because he has a gift. He's a great doctor. We work here in our own business doing what we do for ourselves and our family. We're showing the babies how this works. Our genitors are here and they're going to the University. They're very smart and doing so well." He grinned, then continued. "We have our little babies, our grandchildren, our son-in-law, Ironhide, his family … this is the Matrix for us." He thought a moment. "It could have been like this on Cybertron but they wouldn't let it." He looked at Contrail and Decimus. "I feel very badly for both of you. I would rather be dead than be you."

"Thank you, Tie Down," Coln said as he sat.

"No questions," Blackstone said.

Tie Down stepped down and Ravel stepped up, his nervous son watching with clenched fists from nearby. He took the oath, then nervously turned toward Coln.

"Ravel, thank you. Do you remember ever seeing either of the defendants before in person before today?" Coln asked.

Ravel glanced at them, then turned more fully toward Coln. "Yes, Mr. Coln. I saw Decimus come into the shop with his son, then Contrail came in once with Ratbat. Tie Down wasn't there. I was alone at the time. I was shocked both times to see them." He stepped closer to Prime. "I was afraid of Contrail and Ratbat."

"Why?" Coln asked.

"Ratbat is so rude. He acts like he wants to kill you. Contrail was rude. He was also mean. He wanted to take things without paying for them. I was afraid he would hit me." Ravel frowned. "Ratbat was low caste and Contrail, too, yet they acted like they were Primes. They should have known better being they were low caste. You should have KNOWN better than to treat other low castes so badly. I believe you did but you didn't care. Either of you. They were no higher than me. They were promoted because everyone wanted mini-con and Seeker representatives but they acted like they were legacies." He glanced at them with a frown, then moved closer to Optimus. "Awful and mean with no manners."

Ratchet watched him with a bursting spark. This was almost unheard of, his little ada speaking up so bravely. He wanted to sing to the gods with pride and love. Ironhide squeezed Ratchet's servo. Ratchet squeezed back.

"Did they take things without paying for them, Ravel?" Coln asked.

"They did. Contrail took a tool kit. I told them not to and threatened to tell the authorities. They laughed. They said they were the authorities. I didn't allow them to take weapons. The swords would reject them because they were holy, I tell you. Ratbat took one into hand and said it would be going with him. It sparked him. It sparked hard and he dropped it. I told them none of the things we make are just 'things'. They were all sentient. Contrail took a tool kit and they left. We were made to pay for the tool kit ourselves. We told the Galaxy agent who came by for our sales that Contrail stole the kit and he said it didn't matter. He had to make the books balance. He couldn't help us because he was a slave, too. We suffered a long time paying off the tool kit." He frowned at the pair, staring at them without flinching.

"What about Galaxy?" Coln asked.

"They always sent their agent. He was low caste and hated what he did but he had a family to feed as well so he did what he did. They always wanted more. They always took our beautiful things away," Ravel said. "They even ended up in museums and shows with their names on it like they made them. They were very great liars and thieves in my experience." He shook his head. "They were so cruel. They seemed to go out of their way to be cruel and mean. They stole everything they could from everyone. I know some who refused to make their beautiful things any longer because they didn't want them stolen. They did other jobs and skills weren't acted upon. Some of these individuals were making things that are now lost. They harmed our culture and our ability to do beautiful things from their greed and hatred. When the law was passed it was very hard. Contrail and Decimus voted for it. They voted to legalize theft. It was stealing but they didn't care did you," Ravel said to both as he placed his servo on Prime's arm.

Prime felt Ravel's grief, his anger and fear. He pulsed warmth to the little mech who glanced at him, then nodded his helm in respect. "We did our best, Lord Optimus. It was never going to be good enough to give our genitors and son the life they deserved. These two are part of the group that made that possible."

"I have no more questions," Coln said as he sat. "Thank you, Ravel."

"No questions," Blackstone said.

Ravel hesitated, then bowed to Prime. He walked to Tie Down and sat. Ratchet slid his arm around both of them and pulled them closer. Several more witnesses of this type were heard, then Coln closed his case. "I rest my case, Lord Optimus," he said as he sat down.

Prime nodded, then glanced at Blackstone. "Blackstone, please begin."

Blackstone arose, then bowed to Prime. "Thank you, Lord Optimus. I call to the stand Jarro."

Springer opened the door, leaned out, then stepped back as Jarro entered. He was a tall mech with a beautiful paint scheme. He walked to the stand, took the oath, then turned to Blackstone. Blackstone glanced up from his datapad. "Jarro, thank you. I would like you to tell us about the defendants, their personality and mental condition, the events that perhaps shaped their worldview, and what motivates them. It would be very helpful to discuss the underlying guidance systems, if you will, of these individuals in light of all that has transpired."

"I would be delighted. First of all, my colleagues and I had a terrible time getting cooperation from either of them. Until the actual date of this trial and its special circumstances was announced to them, they were resisting any semblance of cooperation. Until the possibility of the Pantheon weighing in was explained to them they seemed indifferent to the dangers they were facing. As it was, they cooperated enough that after that my colleagues and I could administer testing and interviews that could give us a good window into them and their thinking. I will start with Decimus first.

"The interviews were difficult but they got easier the closer this orn came. Decimus had the usual high caste upbringing of great wealth, education and opportunity. He was a legacy in relation to the Senate and inherited the seat from his family who held it from the times of the Quintessans. They were functionaries in that administration and remained there through the Functionalist Tyranny up to The Fall. His family garnered influence in the energy business and cornered control of it early on. It brought almost unspeakable wealth and along with that, privilege and a sense of entitlement.

"After a lot of work, interviews and testing, we have come to the conclusion that Decimus, and Contrail as well suffer from anti-social personality disorder with a possibility of traits of dissocial personality disorder. I would also state that both of them exhibit psychopathic personalities. I will outline them for you now … first and foremost, they're callous about the feelings and well being of others. They exhibit intense indifference to the suffering of others, a trait that's declarative of this personality type. Other indications are glibness, superficial charm, grandiosity … enormous egotism that may not be supported by evidence. Decimus in particular possesses this trait to a great degree. His sense of his own superiority is extreme.

"Pathological lying, a sense of cunning and manipulation, poor behavior controls, a lack of remorse or sense of guilt over what they've both done and contributed toward, and shallow affect … the most shallow and superficial emotional response to great catastrophe or suffering are strong features of both. They have no ability to regret what they're charged with nor do they care that bad things happened to others because of what they did or contributed toward. They aren't capable of it. Their processors are silent in those areas when tested. It's also a factor in their disorder to blame others first even though it shows an extreme callousness or disallows the facts. Blaming a person for being killed by your own gun, saying that they made you do it or its somehow their fault is an example of this kind of thinking. They both have it in large quantities.

"Their greed and the idea that the resources of our people were theirs for the taking is part of the parasitic lifestyle portion of this condition. All things were theirs and if someone let them take it, well, too bad for them. They have poor impulse control, thus they did things that defy logic, such the laws and actions that contributed to The Fall. To tighten the screws of the Clampdown during the unrest in some idea that it would halt the protests was an example of the inability they both possess to understand how anyone else would react or feel under oppressive conditions.

"They're irresponsible in the extreme, do not take responsibility for their actions … everyone else is at fault, not them, are versatile in the types and kinds of criminal activity they willingly participate in, they have no fear whatsoever of what might happen … fear is not a part of their emotional vocabulary, have no concept of the needs of others and frankly, are blindly living their life in a dangerous, egomaniacal and parasitic manner among everyone else. When you have this many personalities in the government, media and business competing together it's no surprise that Cybertron fell given that this was the dominate personality type in control at the time."

"Those are serious attributes for a serious condition," Blackstone said.

Jarro nodded. "They are. Psychopathic personalities are dangerous and suffer from serious conceptual failures. Understand, not all psychopaths are killers, but most remorseless killers are psychopaths. They were the majority in charge during the downfall and thus, it should surprise no one that given complete control of the levers of power, this should have happened. Their desires trumped the reality of what they did so they marched onward off the cliff." Jarro consulted his datapad. "Each question on the profile scores either 0, 1 or 2. Zero means none, one means maybe and two means yes. Given that there are 20 concepts and behaviors tested, the normal non-psychopathic individual usually scores under 5 with 0 meaning you have none of them. You can score 22 or less if you're a non-psychopathic criminal and not meet the data for the condition. A person scoring at least 30 identifies as a possible psychopath. Anyone above that presents psychopathic."

"What were their scores when you finished your testing and interviews, Jarro?" Blackstone asked.

"Both of them scored 40. Forty is the highest score possible. Both of these individuals are psychopaths with anti-social personality disorder. They are extreme examples of both," Jarro said.

It was silent a moment. Then Blackstone spoke again. "Tell me, Jarro, about the culpability of someone suffering this mind and behavioral set. How do you become such a person?"

Jarro thought a moment. "We're not completely certain, but its probably a combination of nature and nurture. Some of it comes to you in your CNA and some through the circumstances of your life. Consider how many individuals just testified who had terrible lives. There were no types we have under discussion here that I could see in them superficially as they testified. Those individuals tend to support my assumption that your CNA is a big determinant of what you become. Add how you live and are raised and that will magnify what you already have. I'm leaning toward that as a framework for how this works.

"Then one must consider the fact that Seekers were considered even lower on the social scale than low castes themselves so Contrail could have that as a factor of his behavior, the treatment he received as one. We must consider that as well," Jarro said.

"Then having a terrible life isn't the sole determinant of what you become," Blackstone said.

"No. It's part of it. I think circumstances can exacerbate things but understand, you're born with this potential. You can treat these people and they can change even if the dead issues as I like to think of them, core values like empathy and concern for others never come to be part of the patient's personality. These are very dangerous people because too many of them attain power and create chaos. You find a lot of them in the entertainment, business, media, and political fields. They gravitate toward positions that feed their ego, allow them to act out however they feel and to be powerful. The entitlement they feel is colossal. Absolutely colossal."

"How much control do they have over what they do? If this is a mental condition, then what part of this is beyond their ability to control?" Blackstone asked.

It was deeply, deeply quiet and tense in the room. Then Jarro shifted. "Ah, that's the rub isn't it."

-0-TBC 8-5-18 edited 8-12-18

ESL

exacerbate: to make worse