The Diego Diaries: Searchin' (dd6 621)
=0=At the habitat door dividing things
They stared at each other, low end statured minis on one side of the line and the human soldiers on the other. The habitat doors behind them had closed, the room atmosphere returned and they met at the halfway point, a clutch of six mini-cons laden with gear and meters the size of frying pans as well as the soldiers.
Their leader, Flip ... the redoubtable Flip, father of 'Jim-Jam the Magnificent' (in his processor, Jim Jam's that is), his brothers, Lob, father of Pokey 'Who's Lucky He Isn't In There' (or so his father said the last time he was arrested for joyful singing with the others), Coreolus, the father of Hopalong (or as he was known around his house after his last arrest with the others as 'Go Along'), Sparky, father of 'Flim Flam The Still Grounded' and Sample, father of Sipple ('the Simple') smiled up at the soldiers. Doing the same, last but not least, there was the still unbonded youngest brother of all of them, Mushy, their spokesman.
Like that.
Mini-cons …
"Hi, Lennox. We're here to find the glitch," Flip said with a giant smile.
Five others joined them as they stared upward to the humans staring downward. Though they were all about five feet tall, the mechs, it still seemed that the humans were just that much taller.
"Uh, I heard about that. What's going on?" Lennox said as the only one who knew what was really going on and had given in to the macabre sense of humor of the mini-con forensics experts. He was also the only human there who knew they were. Everyone else would believe they were electricians, the slaggers.
"Well," Flip said as he warmed to the story, "we found a glitch at the Hangar District Main Transfer Station and we think it might head this way. So we're going from the big frame hangars over here and then to Sciences to track it down."
"What if it happens here?" Bobby Epps said as the garrison crowded around.
"Well, I think that you'll have five or six seconds to run to the safety chambers and get inside before you suffocate like fish out of water," Flip replied, then smiled a huge smile.
Everyone stared at the mini-cons, then each other, then Lennox, then the mini-cons. Then they all said the same thing: "What the fuck?!"
Moments later …
They'd tracked down all the animals in the habitat and put them into the chambers ensuring that if things went south the animals would live to tell the tale.
Or not.
It was then that the garrison did what the mini-cons hoped they'd do. They would find, nonchalantly of course, a reason to sit down within running distance of the rows of safety chambers that could be found on one side of each floor of every human habitation. There were enough to hold twice as many as lived here which was a good thing since this place was usually stuffed fuller than a garbage can on pick up day.
Flip grinned, then winked at Lennox. "How about the garrison turning over the ops center to Prowl and let us do this from there on down to the sub basements. We have to track the slagging glitch. It's a terrible foe." He leaned in to Lennox, glanced slightly at the nervous crew watching, then said, "Terrible."
Lennox stared at the little slaggers, then nodded with a ghost of a smirk. "Alright. Niall, get that done, then move everyone out. These slaggers have priority as per the charters."
Niall who was staring at them with loathing nodded, then walked to Ops Center to make it so. The crew came out in varying stages of fear and loathing themselves as the little slaggers then walked in to pretend to search. He watched them go, then turned to Lennox. "I sent a message for no one to come here. What the hell is going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Lennox said as he glanced around the room filled with concerned soldiers and a few of their dependents. / … it isn't of course … heh-heh-heh … what would we do without mini-cons? … before this is over, I might want to find out .../ "Why don't you find a seat near a chamber. I'll go with them and see how fast this is going to go."
Everyone found a seat near the containments while inside, dogs that were big enough were standing on their back legs to peer out with waggy tails and the usual smiles all dogs have everywhere when they love and are loved. It was one tense group hanging around outside though.
Lennox walked in and noted that the slaggers were plugged in. They were searching for messages, ghosted or otherwise as they scanned EVERYTHING. None of them were talking unless it was off line so he waited. It would take a while.
=0=Down the road sitting on the curb or the tailgate of the M-F-L or Mobile Forensics Lab
Optimus Prime sat on the tailgate of the big lab truck where Percy sat among the consoles inside corresponding with the mini-cons who were doing the leg work at the habitat down the street. Beside him sat Sky who was assisting and directing the operation.
Ratchet and Prowl stood side-by-side waiting with Drift, Hercy and Kup. Partition who was off duty and Lancer who was going on shortly waited beside him. He was very interested in forensics as well.
"What do you suppose they'll find, Abba?" Partition asked Ratchet.
"Well, maybe messaging, perhaps equipment … I would think they'd have that hidden well and maybe even booby trapped. I don't think if they have our stuff that they're planning to get caught with it any time soon," Ratchet replied as the others nodded.
"I hope they make a mistake. We have less than three orns before I have to make a decision about letting the humans go back. What is the status on the humans in protective custody?" Prime asked.
"They're mouthy and unappreciative," Ratchet said with a smile. "I can't imagine why. I went by and scanned them this morning and no one is happy. Just so you know."
That's not unexpected," Sky said. "They don't get the nuances of living with us. You kill someone or you're a target, you get a vacation in protective custody."
"Maybe we can make a brochure," Ratchet said as they all laughed.
Meanwhile, inside …
They walked out, paused together near the humans to talk off line together with serious expressions, then turned to Lennox. "We have to go floor by floor to get this figured out. Right now, we think its here but we have to do the whole system to find out."
"Then go. What do you want us to do?" Lennox asked as he began to follow the others.
Sample glanced at the group, then Lennox with a concerned expression. "Stay with the safety chambers. I would if I was you." With that, he followed his brothers to the elevator with Lennox and went down.
It was silent a moment, then the men and family members glanced at each other. Several of them moved their chairs closer to the doors. It would be tense and silent in the room for the next few.
=0=Going down one floor
"You clowns are having a good time aren't you?" Lennox asked as he leaned against the elevator door with a grin.
"What's the fun, Lennox, if there's no fun?" Coreolus aka Co-Co asked. The others chuckled as they nodded. "Those bums up there haven't got a clue. We're all army here, regular army, and if you can't prank your own who can you prank?"
"You got me there. By the way, what about your kids? Are they staying out of trouble?" Lennox asked as the elevator stopped and the door opened.
They looked at him, then Sparky looked offended. "In trouble? Please. We're mini-cons. It's in the Code," he said as they all exited with a guffaw and back slap.
Lennox followed them with a grin.
=0=Outside, down the roadblock
"The team is pranking the humans. They're making them think the habitat will fail any minute and they have five seconds to get into a safety chamber," Sky said with a chuckle. "The humans are falling for it."
"They know better," Prowl said with a frown. "They have a joor before the air inside is depleted even with a breach. The slaggers are lying."
"They're pranking, Prowler. Fun. As in having it. Verb. The act of having a good time. Look it up," Ratchet said with a giant dazzling smile. "You know you wanna."
Prowl stared at him. "I hate you."
Guffaws were had by all.
=0=Inside
They went through all the apartments just in case as they went down to the second sub floor where the studios and barracks for single men and women were located. Going through each, checking if there was anything stashed there or if they could trace anything networked out, they finally reached the efficiency studio apartment of Colin Anderson of N.E.S.T. Australia who with Horst Mueller of N.E.S.T. Germany was one of the two identified 'ringers'.
Flip turned to the group. "Mush and me will go in and scan. If we find anything I'll tell Mushy to go out and tell you but I won't let on. If they have cameras it'll show us alerting and we don't want that. I'll go through the process and then come out as well. We'll do Mueller's apartment, then meet up on the next floor up. We've scanned that and nothing out of the order or Cybertronian alerts. We're scanning to sub atomic particle level, Lennox and even if its made on Earth the structures will alert if they're our tech no matter point of origin."
Lennox nodded, then watched as Flip and Mushy opened the door to walk inside. The lights came on and the small open spaced painfully neat room could be seen. They began to work out their search, then Mushy left the room. Flip walked to the electrical wall box by the stove, opened it and began to do scans and other work for the contents therein.
After a moment, he stopped, then walked out. Nodding to the team, he and Mushy entered Mueller's apartment, were inside, then came out together. Making a show of checking their gear in case there were cameras watching, they headed toward the elevator and entered as a group. The door closed and they went upward.
Reaching the deck, they exited the elevator, then gathered round Flip. He considered his data, then glanced at Lennox. "They have our tech, Lennox. But there's a problem. They also armed their room with our tech. If we go in and do anything about it, it'll not only alert each other but their control as well," Flip asked.
"Where is their control?" Lennox asked with dread.
"Earth," Flip said. "Their control is on Earth."
=0=Outside listening in
"Well, that sort of tells the story. Where on Earth and who?" Ratchet asked as Percy and Sky listened in.
"We'll have to check it out," Sky said. "We'll have to figure out how to tap it to trace it down to Earth and whatever cell or control group runs them."
"Can you do that?" Prime asked. "Without alerting anyone?"
"Give us a few joors, Optimus," Percy said. "At least they're not here to complicate things."
=0=Charon
The four humans settled into the small (for bots) apartment block enclosed in a protective case that would be their home away from home. They had a barracks living quarters, living room, kitchen and 'the facilities' as the humans liked to call them. It would be communal but they were soldiers so who cared.
They settled in, then walked out to see the sights. Their habitat box was settled near the door of Ops Center so they could look out into the rec room and back into the operational center as they wanted. There was enough space for them to sit in chairs in the enclosed space patio to watch the show.
Sitting nearby watching them as he reported for duty, Sunstreaker noted that two of the soldiers he didn't know. He knew Jack Paxton and Trevor Smith. He liked both of them. He didn't know the other two. Why they were here, he would have to pry out of Ada but they were so this might actually be fun he thought as he began to track bogies in the far, far distant reaches of Prime's Sphere of Influence.
=0=TBC 3-26-19 4-6-19