The Diego Diaries: Cat and Mouse (dd6 630)
LEONESS: I hear you about things Earth could use. This morning I saw a headline about a kid who accidentally discovered and made a battery that if memory serves me could last 400 YEARS. I want one. Two. Several. :D:D:D
=0=At Unidad in the auditorium
Ratchet rose and turned to the big mechs with him. :What about a caste court to settle this sort of slag before it gets out of hand. This kid is one of the Harris group, the Earth's version of high castes. I looked at all their social media when I heard they were coming and its bad:
:What kind of authority do you have here, O' Liaison?: Raptor asked with a grin.
:Full when infractions happen with caveats. I think this falls within my discretion: Ratchet said. :I'll check with Prime's lawyer: He paused a moment in concentration for a conversation with someone in the office at the Ops Center.
Behind them, the audience sat tense and anxious as they watched the big bots apparently discuss their kids' future. Carly and Sam stood with the bots, both of them waiting with less anxiety and more curiosity. The kids looked tense but fronted a nonchalance that none of them really felt. Even Walters was feeling the burn.
Ratchet glanced at the pair, then grinned. {We're go. Hardie is even coming. He's in the center to get some data for his district. He's on the way}
{This might be interesting} Raptor said with a chuckle. {Are you going to inform them?}
{On it} Ratchet said as he turned back to the group. Glancing down at Sam and Carly, he grinned slightly. "We're going to have a hearing. Its going to be a caste court. It would appear that our infants here are feeling a bit of entitlement and its causing problems. Far be it for me to decide so I've asked Hardie to convene a court to hear this and decide what's appropriate for its outcome."
Owen Harris stood, then walked up to steps to the stage followed by Clark Walters and Pierre Beliveau. As he did, a hummer carrying Will Lennox and Niall Graham entered the parking lot outside on the other end of the building and drove into the habitat entrance. Parking in a far lane reserved for vehicles who visitors, they got out and ran for the door. They were called to come by Ratchet.
"What's happening, Ambassador?" Harris asked.
"I have discretion in this case as it was granted to me by Carly due to the special circumstances of this occasion. It's a combined unit here, this event with the two habitats so I'm going to nip this slag in the bud." He smiled his usual beautiful smile to kill time before the arrival of the soldiers and Hard Drive. "What we're going to do is have a caste court to decide the outcome of this problem because it reeks of entitlement and who knows more about the consequences of unchecked entitlement than us?"
"This is a spat between kids, Ambassador. It's an ugly episode but a caste court? Isn't that severe?" Perry Beliveau asked with surprise.
"What the hell is a caste court?" Clark Walters asked with growing alarm. "My son isn't going to be tried in a court, any court."
"And that's the problem, Mr. Walters. Your son apparently doesn't know the meaning of natural consequences. I would also like to remind you that you have no power here when the rules are broken to overlook, buy off or otherwise mitigate the consequences that stem from this sort of thing. I'm the final word liaison wise here or should I pass this overhead to Prime?" Ratchet asked.
Walters stared at him, then his son and wife who were showing at last something emotionally more normal than before.
At that moment Lennox and Graham jogged in, climbed the steps, then huddled with Carly, Sam, Ratchet who knelt, Walters, Harris and Beliveau. Raptor and Ironhide stepped back with a grin as they listened and watched the whole thing.
:They need to give me that kid. I just checked his social media. Did you see the picture of him with the three sports cars? Calling everyone else a 'plebe' and bragging about his stuff… where have we seen that before?:
Ironhide nodded. :I hear you, Appa. This might be what's needed here. Old mech might be on to something. For once:
"You mean 'again'," Raptor prompted as he smiled at his grandson.
Ironhide grinned, then glanced at the audience. They looked filled with foreboding and anxiety. Maybe it was a good thing this happening. But what the frag in the end would he know?
Ratchet stood, then looked at the group. As he did, the elegant figure of Hard Drive entered the room and walked to the stage. Raptor had filled him in on the way over so he nodded to Ratchet.
Ratchet looked at the group again. "I'm convening a caste court to hear and decide this matter. Because it appears to have elements of arrogant entitlement and self regard, we're concerned that it be dealt with and not become a recurring theme. I will tell you that very few individuals throughout this or any other universe are more well versed in spotting this than us. And there are few as well versed in the inevitable consequences to others of this behavior unchecked." He glanced at the group. "You ready?"
Hardie nodded. "I am. We are."
"This is General of the Army Emeritus Hard Drive of Praxus, soldier and Immortal. This is his son, Raptor of Praxus, himself a General of the Army Emeritus. This is their grandson, Commander Ironhide of Praxus, Master of the Autobot Armed Forces and Master of Munitions and Armaments of the Autobot Armed Forces. He is also the hand picked body guard of the Prime of Cybertron."
:You left out the part about how I'm the sexiest slagger in the army: Ironhide said as he stared at the group watching with gathering foreboding.
:They can't know everything, Only One: Ratchet replied as all of them began to laugh uproariously.
On the inside.
"You're aware of Colonel Will Lennox … congrats on the promotion by the way," Ratchet said as Lennox smirked. "And you, too, Niall. This is now Major Niall Graham of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. They will be your advocates."
Both of them glanced at Ratchet. "We are?" Lennox asked.
"You are. Meet with your clients. Choose them up and be ready to go when you are," Ratchet said.
Lennox and Graham stepped to one side and by the time they walked down to the group watching them, Lennox had the hard job. He nodded to Barnett Walters to step aside with him and he did grudgingly with his mom and dad. The other two kids went with Graham along with their families and the two affected girls.
Harris looked up at Ratchet. "What will this prove?"
"That slaggers with holier-than-thou attitudes will pay a price here that they should've paid for on Earth some time back. We find that fostering bad attitudes in kids leads to some of the worst adults possible. You know what high caste entitlement did to us. We won't allow it here," Ratchet replied.
Lennox was in a heated argument which it appeared he prevailed. He turned to Ratchet and waved his hand. Graham did the same so Ratchet gestured all of them to sit again.
"I'm turning this over to General Hard Drive. General?" Ratchet said as he walked to the side to sit on the floor and watch.
Hardie stared at the humans on the stage until they got it and stepped off. Sitting again, everyone waited. It was tense as frag. He stared at all of them, then began. "I am General Hard Drive of Praxus, the most senior Praxian Elite Warrior class known to exist and a member of The Immortals. This is my son, Raptor, a general of the army as well and my great grandson, Ironhide of Praxus. We are called here to listen to a situation and find resolution. You are bound by our findings and you are expected to speak your case with truth and honor. Lies will go against you in this court. You are warned.
He turned to the others. "Raptor, you will be a judge. Ironhide, you will run the court and keep good order." He turned to the humans. "Niall Graham, present your case." With that, all of the mechs on the court dialed down to 15% emotions.
Niall jolted a moment, then stood. He walked closer to the stage, then turned to the girls. "Lynn Mott, please tell the court what happened. Don't leave anything out but don't add what didn't happen. The truth matters here."
Lynn Mott stood up, her affect one of profound fear and unease. She walked to stand beside Graham, then took his hand. "Is something going to happen to my brother?" she whispered.
Graham stepped in front of her, then leaned closer. "Don't be afraid. These are the best mechs I know."
She stared at him a moment, then nodded. Looking at the mechs who stood in a row, their dark brooding faces a frightening thing to see, she began. "My friend and I, Kadie Thomas walked into the Pub … the little cafe we have on C Street. A lot of us go there for a snack and to hang out after school. Its a nice place. When we sat down, I saw my brother and his friends across the way. Someone was sitting by himself near our table, that guy," she said glancing at Walters. "That's him."
"What happened then?" Niall asked gently.
"He started to talk to us, sort of flirting, I guess," she began.
A snort was heard as everyone glanced at Walters. Lennox leaned in to whisper and Walters sat up straighter.
"Continue, Lynn," Graham prompted.
"We sort of went along … he was new, from Earth2 so we sorta didn't mind. Then he wanted us to go out to the lake with him, just him and us. We were supposed to go home and do our homework, our parents expect it, so we told him. That's when he started to call us things, saying things that we didn't like."
"What did he say?" Niall asked as every father button in him got depressed.
Hard.
Images of his son, Niall and his daughter, Aedh flashed through his mind.
"He said to come anyway and when we said no he said it was okay because he thought we were fat and ugly. He said he didn't want to hang out with ugly girls anyway."
It was funereal in the room as the parents of Barrett looked suitably embarrassed and the others aghast.
Graham squeezed her hand. "What happened next?"
"He went on and on. He said that there were other girls in the habitat who'd love to hang out with him and they were all prettier. My brother heard this and got up. He came over and told us to go. Then he turned around to that kid and they began to argue."
"What was said?" Graham asked.
"He said he didn't like what that kid was saying, my brother said. He said he'd kick his … he'd punch him if he didn't leave and shut his mouth. That kid … Barrett? … he got up and said come on and do it. He said he had martial arts training and he'd kick my brother's ass." She caught herself, then glanced at her family. "I was afraid for everyone."
"Then the fighting began or was there more?" Graham asked.
She nodded. "He said that he could buy and sell all of us including our parents. That we were nothing and that he was famous on Instagram, that he was so rich that he could do what he wanted. He called my brother a plebe, whatever that is. He then punched my brother."
"Did he throw the first punch or did your brother? It's important to know," Graham asked.
She nodded. "My father told us that fighting is the last thing you do but if you ever get into one make sure the other guy hits you first. Then its their fault, the fight, and not yours in the law."
Graham nodded. "What happened then?"
"It sorta went all fast. I guess the waiter there, Jerry, called the Watch because one showed up, Michael Higgenbotham and took them into custody. All three of them." She glanced at her family, then Graham.
"Is there more?" Graham asked.
"No."
"Have a seat. I want Lawrence Mott to come up," Graham said.
He passed his sister who he nodded to as she walked back to sit wanly next to her mom. Larry stood beside Graham stoically but tensely. It was evident that he was scared but not willing to show it.
"You heard your sister speak to this. Anything to add or clarify? We desire the truth above all," Graham said.
"No. She got it right. I was amazed at what he did, that guy," Mott said as he glanced with anger at Barrett. "He came here to be safe and the first thing he does is insult some of us. I don't know who he's supposed to be on Earth but he's just another person here."
Graham nodded, then glanced at the other two kids, Kadie and Lucas Thomas. "You heard the same. Do you have anything to add or change?"
"No," Kadie said nervously. "I don't know why this happened. Everyone gets along here."
"He talked like this to my sister and her friend. He thinks he's somebody," Lucas Thomas said as he glared at Walters.
"I am," Walters said before Lennox leaned in again. Annie Walters looked faint. Clark looked tense and slightly afraid. He leaned toward his son and whispered. Barrett sat back angry but silent.
Graham who was watching turned to the court. "We are concluded, your honors."
Hardie nodded, then glanced at Lennox. "Present your case, Colonel."
Will Lennox stood with a sense of futility, fury and doom. He walked to the steps. "Your honor, we aren't disputing the facts," he began before Barrett stood in surprise and fury.
"WHAT!?" he began before Lennox turned on him. With the force of his glare, Barrett stepped back. His mother grabbed his hand and tugged him down.
Lennox turned to the court. "We aren't disputing the facts. They have four witnesses to our one. The security tapes alone will back them up. Are you going to show them?" he asked Ratchet.
"I have them already for the judges when they call for them," Ratchet said. "Do you want to see them?"
Lennox wavered, then shook his head. "No. Not really. We aren't disputing the facts." He turned to the court. "What we would like is something that's going to allow this to be sorted out in a good way.
"Barrett Walters is an entitled kid. He seems to never have paid consequences for his actions and that means there's a set of parents at fault as well. Kids do what they learn and know. Apparently, he was taught that no one counts in any manner but himself. I'm asking for leniency and another chance. I know how you all feel about high caste entitlement but I'd hope that you figure out what to do about this in a way that's positive and not negative. That's all I'm going to say here. I trust your wisdom, Generals. Ironhide," he said as he nodded to the court.
"What kind of defense is this?" Clark Walters said as he stood.
"The only one that fits. Unless you want to see and hear the video of your son attacking girls," Lennox said darkly.
Clark stared at him, then sat slowly again.
It was silent a moment, then Hardie spoke. "I am now going to ponder this with the court. You will stay seated until we read the findings. You will abide by the decision of this court. The only appeal of the findings is to write a request to the court for a review of either presented evidence that is in dispute given more and consequential evidence or to present something new for consideration. There is no other appeal and since we were asked to sit for this, then the findings are final."
Then he seemed to shut down. Inside, the three went over the evidence and reviewed the films that Ratchet sent to them. It was silent, tense and scary. No one knew the extent of the ability of the court to make their kids pay a penalty. Everyone watching had forgotten that they were watching dedicated fathers and grandfathers grapple with a decent solution to the problem.
Lennox and Graham walked up the steps toward Ratchet. They chatted quietly a moment as they waited for the findings. It would be a tense and foreboding wait.
=0=TBC 4-5-19 edited 4-7-19