Chapter 15: The Forgotten
The air in the cell was as cold as it was dark. Tracer could feel the air gradually settle into stagnation as he waited. Time slipped away after the enforcer brought him back after the fight in the Colosseum. He had survived, and yet he remained their prisoner. The entire corridor was deserted save him. Tracer stared at the bars that separated him from the outside world.
Tracer turned away from the bars and looked at the crack in the far wall of the cell. It was the quickest of glances he dared to make. He couldn't see through the shadow inside, but the broken shaft was still there from before. He knew there were cameras and some means to pick up his voice. Someone was surely watching him at this very moment. Until he knew he was being watched by someone he trusts he would sit with his back to the wall and wait.
After Razor escorted him back to his cell, Tracer turned to flash a smug, arrogant smile to the guard. Razor was speechless the entire time, and promptly marched away without a single word. Tracer took in some air to cool his overworked systems. Ever since his fight in the Colosseum, he expected to find the Quintesson's waiting for him around every corner. Ready to punish him for his unruly display.
The voice he heard before never returned. Whoever it was had access to the surveillance, the intercom, and the cell's locks. One possible answer was that whoever it was must have been in the dungeon's main control centre. Someone with the rank and clearance to walk in without rousing suspicion, perhaps the resistance has secret passages into the control centre. 'Which is more likely? He asked himself. Could it be that some elite drone could betray their creators, or that the resistance is organized enough to carry out this precise chain of events? Could it really have been Escia? Or is this all some trick by the Quintessons?' The very thought that he could be killed or set free at any moment made him feel indifferent. He's still a part in someone else's plans, still ignorant and powerless as to what part he had yet to play.
"Well," Tracer muttered, softly at first "where are you now?" His voice grew until it pierced the silence far off into the dungeon. He accepted his death was going to happen. Some keener mind than his has already planned everything out. He listened to the creaks and drips echoing through the dungeon, waiting for the voice from before to return. "You knew everything else. You knew the weapon they'd give me; you knew I'd be facing an enforcer. You didn't say anything about him having a spark! I don't know what's so special about me. So I lived. Is that all? I made it out of one fight, what's next," his voice grew louder "am I gunna have to kill in the next match? What's the point of all this?"
"Are you even listening," he whispered again long after his echoes died off "is anyone listening?" he felt a chill over his body. Of course nobody is watching him, he's just one disobedient protofrom out of several thousands. Next to nothing.
Tracer looked into the empty cell across the way. He listened to the sounds of the dungeon as he closed his optics. Somewhere another cell opened. Bars creaked as the night air brought coolness through the dungeon. He could hear lights struggling to glow. The far off sound of feet marching. He wanted to open his optics and be somewhere else. He imagined the open landscape outside the city. An endless horizon of wild, churning hills. Metallic shards as tall as buildings that reflect the sun off one slope, the moons off another. Tracer had seen a few polished peaks in the wastes, they seem to turn invisible as they perfectly reflect the sky around them. A sky of stars rolling over as cool evening wind washed over him. A distant geyser of liquid energon. 'The Quintessons can have any other world,' he thought to himself, 'they should never have taken this one.' He felt a moment of calmness. 'It belongs to the sparks.' Somewhere, a cell opened.
"That protoform must hear," Tracer opened his optics, someone was in the cell across the corridor. It was hard to see in the darkness. He could make out a thin form, sitting against the far wall of the cell. They seemed to be focused on acting relaxed, mirroring Tracers posture. Tracer knew immediately this robot had no idea what relaxed feels like "Drone held in prison too long."
"And what do you care?" Tracer chuckled "Drones don't care what they do. You don't have a mind of your own. What do you care if you're locked up?"
"That protoform sees value in itself. Yes. And judges its morality based on how much value it believes to bear. Value. No value. Right. Wrong. Always changing. It cannot know its worth until it has something that is always true."
"Every 'truth' I've been told was a lie! Don't recite you're polished drone logic at me. You only know what you're told, there's nothing to learn; nothing to challenge. You want something true? Sparks are alive and drones aren't! You're all copies. You can keep your functions. You can keep your protocols. In the end, you and I both know you don't actually need bars to stay put in your prison. Now, if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone."
"Bars." The drone worked the word slowly out of its vocal processors. "Drone has bars: the code. And code must run."
"So you miss having something to do, is that it? Are you dying of boredom? Hah, I'd like to see that!"
"That protoform does not understand. Drone is not the mechanics without. Components can be replaced. A vessel holds all and still none of what it contains. That protoform sees a drone, it does not see the code that holds together against the encroaching entropy. That protoform must listen. Spark and Code need not be enemies."
"That's too bad. Everything you know is what you're programmed for. The Quintessons already made all your decisions for you. Yeah, maybe that's like a prison too I guess. But so what? What do you want me to do about it? I can't reprogram you. What good would it do me if I could? Can you open this cell? Can you break out of this dungeon? Why don't you take a lesson from the protoforms you hate so much and just give up!"
"Do you even know where this leads?" TL asked. The passageway was narrow. All three protoforms ducked between piles of scrap and columns supporting the city above. It had taken their optics time to adjust to the near total darkness. The glow of their very sparks from inside their chests was more than any other light source down here.
"I never said I did." Chiron answered, looking behind the travelling trio as he stepped softly through the darkness.
"How do you know it's safe then?"
"Well, safe is a relative term," Chiron chuckled, "I could have let you guys escape and wait for the recorders to review the surveillance cameras where a platform operator reveals he's a protoform in disguise. Would that be safe? No, but would I be any worse off taking the secret passage out and it ends up being a trap? No. So—again—thank you for dragging me into your shenanigans."
The ex-drone assembler perked up. "[fizz-click-fizz] you're welcome!"
"Well I've been through secret passages before," said TL, "and they didn't lead to any trap. We should be safe as long as they don't find the entrance back there."
"Which they might." interjected Chiron.
"I thought you tried to throw them off."
"Key word, tried. That little fall I had was right in front of a camera."
"Well nice going."
"I couldn't just leave the platform. It'd be a dead giveaway where the entrance was. At least now they have to look through all the security footage, they'd only need to check a couple dozen spaces before they find the door. And if they think there's a secret door, they might just demolish the whole place until they find it."
They journeyed on through the abandoned catacombs. Occasionally the ceiling opened up into a network of conduits and cables. Sometimes the light outside trickled faintly down through the grates on the surface. Shadows of vehicles casually passed above unaware of the hidden world underfoot.
Chiron seemed drawn to the lead. He seemed paranoid there was danger around every corner and behind every shadow. He gestured silently when he heard the faintest sound. He would be walking one moment and in an instant he'd vanish behind the nearest alcove. TL noticed he always looked over each new chamber, not only for danger, but also how best to take cover if danger comes.
Chiron became increasingly frustrated with the assembler, who couldn't keep quiet longer than a microcycle before talking to himself about everything from different types of axial anchors to the efficiency of riding the outward wave of a supernova with versus without neutrino-resistant paneling. Despite sounding overwhelmingly thrilled explaining it, he never stopped to ask if either of his companions understood a word he was saying. Which they certainly did not.
The passageway changed direction frequently. Panels appeared to be removed from dozens of substructures to keep the path they were on cordoned off from the outside world. Sometimes they could hear underground factories still hard at work behind the walls. The general pathway was always down. Columns supporting the city were soon passing overhead, giving way to tunnels carved through the planet's metal crust. As they continued into the tunnels the substrata around them became increasingly luminous with mineral energon.
"Tracer said he was in these tunnels before," TL said "well, maybe not these exact tunnels, but probably ones like them. He didn't want to talk about it. He said there were very bad things down there."
"For all you know he was talking about the resistance," said Chiron "they won't exactly have a big sign saying 'secret base this way, please show yourselves in.' More like we'll come across broken robots impaled on spikes with a message written in hydraulic oil that read 'turn back or die.'"
"They wouldn't really hurt us would they?" asked TL.
"Only if they see us as a threat. So, maybe."
TL groaned as she thought "So shouldn't we, I dunno, call out and see if anyone answers?"
"They're in these tunnels to hide in the first place," said Chiron "They're not exactly waiting to rush up and meet the first strangers that come down here… unless they have a tactical advantage."
"I'd say five against three is a pretty good advantage!" A voice cracked out of the shadows behind them. Before Chiron could turn around he counted two more creeping up out of the shadows. If there were five, he couldn't begin a guess where the last two were. They carried sharp spears and short blades made from scrap. The one who spoke stepped slowly up to the suspicious newcomers.
"Easy now," TL said "we're not here for a fight. Are you the resistance?"
The leader smiled as he drew a long, curved blade. "Maybe we are, maybe we're not. Maybe you should just tell us what you're doing down here before things get ugly."
The assembler began to stammer "[fizz-click-fizz] Stowing sector 3, Taurus Luna, find Alpha Trion."
The leader turned in surprise "What do you know about Alpha Trion?"
"If you're the resistance he should be your leader," TL looked around to see if she could recognize any faces. "Tracer told me he's the oldest protoform. He blew up the generator where the Colosseum is now. Look, I used to be a… well there were others like… I need to know if any of them… have any females made it to you?"
The leader answered sharply "We're the ones who ask the questions. How did you get here?"
Chiron nodded his head casually. "The way we came goes behind the stowing sector. There's one of your symbols in one of the stowing compartments."
The leader was strolling from one interloper to the next. Stopping in front of the fidgeting ex-drone, he glared close at the randomized expressions that flashed on his face. "An assembler… how did you get a spark?"
TL spoke up "Tracer stole a spark and gave it to him."
"I didn't ask you!"
"We'll he's got a memory problem, I'm just saving you some time. He'll probably list off every tool and hardware in existence before he remembers what you just asked."
The leader stood directly in front of TL "Are you all... friends of Tracer?"
"I knew him for one day. Before he broke into the Quintesson's palace, I guess he made it out and gave a spark to this assembler, and told him to seek me out."
"Why you?"
"I really don't know, actually! Like I said he knew me one day. So yeah, he said we have to find Alpha Trion, right? As if I had the first clue where to look."
The leader moved again and stood face to face with Chiron. TL couldn't read Chiron at all. She wanted to say he was nervous, but his face always looked tense, with a hint of smug. It looked like the leader could read it too, which made him more discourteous. "What about you… platform operator, if I'm not mistaken? Are you going to tell me Tracer gave you your spark too? Right before he pushed you all through the secret passage? You'll probably say you came here completely by accident."
Chiron's smile widened, "Oh believe me, I'm definitely not in this by choice." he said pointed to TL. "She tried to kill me."
"I said I was sorry!"
Chiron paused in bafflement "You never did!"
"Well, okay. I was really thinking about it though."
The leader stomped over and shoved TL onto her knees, "I've heard enough! Put them in with the other one. If they give you any trouble, start cutting out optics."
Chiron counted the protoforms that came to restrain them. He wanted to say he knew there weren't actually five but thought against it before he spoke. He'll wait for the right time.
After all their wrists were bound the assembler looked down rather excitedly at the restraints, "[fizz-click-fizz] Ah, radial-locking clamps! I've been looking everywhere for these. Also, what's happening?"
Chiron whispered, trying to stay close to his disappointing fellow escapees, "They're going to interrogate us. We'll be separated so we can't corroborate any alibis."
TL whispered back, much to Chirons disappointment. "Why would we make up alibis?"
The guards were giving the prisoners a strange look. Chiron tried to whisper inconspicuously. "We won't… well scatterbrain here could tell any number of stories. But if we tell two different stories they'll say at least one of us is lying and have us both killed."
The assembler chimed in, fully audible in a way he only could. "[fizz-click-fizz] Who's scatterbrain?"
TL sighed, "He means you, but that's not actually your name."
"I like the sound of it… Scatterbrain! What are all of your names? [fizz-click-fizz] Axle is a pretty common name, I pretty much fix an Axle once every day. But that's nowhere close to how many Silverbolts I've seen. Protoforms think its good luck to have something made out of silver. It's purely out of necessity, sometimes I run out of the hardened steel bolts and I have to make new ones out of whatever's lying around. Protoforms are such sentimental beings. Wait… aw darn."
They came up to a sealed door and the guards shoved them inside and closed the door behind them. The chamber glowed with the energon crystals in the walls. There were a few heaps of unsorted scrap. In one corner sat a solemn looking robot. His arms were resting on his knees with his head staring down at the floor. He didn't move at all as three new bodies shuffled about the chamber.
TL found her own corner and looked back at Chiron, "How do you know they'll interrogate us?"
Chiron shuffled his weight as he tested the strength of the restraints. "Because when I was in the stowing complex, all I could think about is what will happen when they catch me. It just makes sense they'd question everyone thoroughly. I had time to think about escape plans, and backup plans if those failed. For me, staying alive was all about keeping two steps ahead of anyone looking for me. If I ever got pulled in for questioning, I needed to know every way they might try to catch me in a lie."
TL's optics shifted between her companions before settling on the new protoform who wasn't irritating her. "What's your story?"
He lifted his head, meeting TL with a piercing look that cut into her very spark. "I used to be a worker."
She sat down next to him, "Were you here looking for the resistance?"
The protoform swayed as he stared back at her. "Why would I do that?"
TL felt herself laugh, "They're setting us free from the Quintessons!"
Chrion stared down at the restraints on his wrists, muttering, "I'm not sure she understands where we are right now." He looked over to Scatterbrain, who had a sudden look of being deep in thought.
"[fizz-click-fizz] I've invented a way to see what's around corners, the optic sensors already work splendidly. I just need to figure out how to make the solid matter of the walls become translucent."
Chiron groaned and rolled his head around as he tried to squirm out of his restraints.
The sitting protoform stroked his chin as he looked at TL, "Ah. They set you free, did they?"
"Well, no we found our own way here." TL said.
"So you freed yourself?"
"Well, yeah. I guess," she stammered, "but we only came because we thought there'd be some place to escape to."
"And what if they won't help you?" The protoform hummed. He had the look of someone lost, and ready to give up. He's reached the end of some long quest and seemed crippled with despair. "What if the freedom you seek is nowhere to be found?"
TL exploded, "Look, ugh… we don't know. Alright? What's with all the questions? Are you saying the resistance is a lie? There's no one to help us?"
The protoform optics glazed over. "Thousands of protoforms are killed by enforcers. And when they cry out for someone, anyone to save them, there is no reply. I left to search for anyone who would save my friends. I returned from my search finding nothing, only to learn many of my friends were killed. Now you're here too, is the cause that drives you to save all of them on the surface, or can we only ever save ourselves?"
"No, I don't want to be like that." TL said, "Someone saved my life once. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them, I'd be waiting to be given out like every other female. Someone risked their life for me. I don't even know if she made it out. Maybe she was killed and I never got the chance to thank her. I would do anything to repay that."
The protoform's voice lowered, "Even if you had to kill?"
"Apparently." She couldn't help herself from flashing a mischievous smile toward Chiron.
The protoform turned to Chiron, "You don't agree…"
Chiron pointed at her accusingly, "She didn't know how to find the way here! If I hadn't been there she'd have been caught and unsparked. You're not in the manufacturing sector anymore, not every problem is solved by shoving your way to a fixed objective. Survival is a moving target. Always going on the offensive is a huge step, and if you don't pick your battles, you could be taking your biggest steps right into the jaws of defeat. You need to think twice before you go shoving the nearest bystander over a ledge!" Chiron and TL stared at each other. For a moment, nobody spoke or moved as the contempt steeped between them. It was the protoform on the floor who finally broke the silence.
"What if there are protoforms who don't want to be free? What if they choose not to leave the city?"
TL paced around trying not to even look at Chiron. "We can convince them. We have to show them the Quintessons are evil. If they've only ever been told one side they won't know how thin the lies can be."
Chiron kicked over a pile of scrap. "That won't do anything! You want to waste time debating right and wrong with every single worker up there? Protoforms are stubborn, no amount of logic and lecturing will change their minds. I should have just stayed and found a new identity. I can't believe I followed you here. If the resistance is full of robots like you, this whole thing's been a waste!"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll just let you walk right on out of here. You can't go back."
"I can! You think you're smart passing yourself off as a male, I passed myself as a drone and even you fell for it. Trust me. I watched protoforms as brave as you killed in the streets. Being brave doesn't make the danger any less real; it doesn't make you invincible."
TL was done arguing. She stared at the wall as her cooling vents took in air to calm her overheating spark. She looked again to the sitting protoform. "Well what about you? Why did you want to join the resistance?"
"Because every protoform ever made was intended to work itself to death."
Scatterbrain interrupted, "I wasn't, [vzzz-blip] I was sparked by a rogue protoform."
TL turned in amusement, "That's right! And Tracer gave it to you. You're like the first one ever to be made by another protoform. That means… Chiron?" She realized Chiron was staring at the sitting protoform with a look of shock on his face. She was starting to think nothing took him by surprise, apparently that was wrong.
"How did I not see it?" Chiron said, almost whispering. "You're not a prisoner, you're here to test us! You're Alpha Trion!"
The protoform stood up slowly. TL tried to gauge how old he must really be. But compared to all the parts she'd fixed on the Quintesson's ship it didn't surprise her that every protoform is brand-new by comparison. He smiled at Chiron, "How do you know?"
"I didn't see your face last time. But I heard your voice. I was there in the old generator you destroyed."
"And I know each of you. Chiron, you're secrets are many. Taurus Luna, always rises to a challenge. And… "
"Scatterbrain, Sir!"
Alpha Trion smiled at the ex-drone and raised his hand gently, "You're voices will all be heard."
"So you know who we are, have you been following us?" asked Chiron.
"No one has followed you." he turned back to Scatterbrain. "Tracer had given you something, hadn't he?"
Scatterbrain opened a panel in his torso. He was shocked himself to see there was something tucked away inside. "Tracer had me make him this: a precision fluid injector with liquid energon."
"What's so important about energon?" asked TL.
"Energon sustains sparks." Alpha Trion said calmly.
"But… it's everywhere. If everyone knew—"
"We could sustain millions of protoforms. Completely free ourselves from the Quintessons."
The locks on the door unlatched as the door opened. Two of the scouts entered, being led by a female protoform. Her feet snapped on the ground as she walked with her chin held high. Her narrow eyes scanned the occupants in the room.
"Prisoner," she said to Alpha Trion "come with me for questioning."
Alpha Trion smiled. "There's no need for that now, Escia. One of our new friends figured out our little game." He held out the new device.
The female looked at it puzzled. "Where did that come from?"
"A gift… from Tracer." Alpha Trion said with certain satisfaction.
"Bring it to Torch in the infirmary. He has had little luck with his own inventions."
"I think Torch would appreciate the aid of the former assembler who built it. I leave our remaining friends with you. I think you'll find good use for each of them." Alpha Trion escorted Scatterbrain out of the chamber.
TL took a step towards the female in charge. "What's going on here?" she asked.
"Alpha Trion doesn't call just anyone 'friend'. He has a keen eye for reading people's intentions. He has a way to see who someone really is, what they value most, whether they're trustworthy or not. He just looks at them. I've seen him when he does it, it's more than seeing. He looks at them like they're fractures in glass, invisible until you turn it to the right angle. Without saying a word he can learn your darkest secrets. He's been this way after the energon brought him back. I thought I lost him that day. The energon saved him, but I think his spark didn't come all the way back. Wherever sparks go, part of him is still there. I'd give anything to see what he sees, then I get this sense he can't remember what it means to feel alive. He doesn't care for his own life the way he used to." She shuttered and looked away before looking back to her captives, "I've had protoforms I'd trust with my life. Then Alpha Trion drops a whisper in my audio receptors and suddenly I see the traitor beneath. I do what I can to lead these robots but in the end we're always one cycle away from the Quintessons closing in and unsparking everyone. We may not have the best, but without complete trust we're lost."
TL sighed. "Alpha Trion asked us a bunch of questions. He asked what I hoped to find, and what it would mean if I didn't find it. Before we join you I need to hear what exactly the resistance is. I want to know if it's everything I believed it was."
"I wonder the same thing," Escia said "every single day. I watched my friends unsparked before my eyes. I lost the one I cared for most. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is order anyone to their death. I already told you we don't have the best. We're barely keeping our camps from being discovered by enforcers, we're not ready to run any major missions on the surface. We need all the help we can get. Alpha Trion gave you to me with his blessing. If you want to join us, I only need to know where I can best use you. What you know and what you can do is critical to keeping all of us alive. The hardest job has been finding workers to go to the surface and install more switchgraves. We have to reroute our main passages into the city to avoid detection. The way you came for example, it needs to be sealed now."
"That won't do anything." said Chiron
Escia turned to face Chiron. "Why not?"
"If you weld a reinforced steel panel over a wall, the Quintessons will rip it off and follow it right back to you. It may take them time, but they will be hot on your trail. And if you collapse the tunnel you'll lose an asset you may need again. I saw several places that lead to other unused passages, you need to open those up. Any enforcers would need to split up teams to search them all. If you use your terrain you can have small teams waiting in ambush or even set up traps."
Escia smiled "If you want, I can give you all of maps of the tunnel networks. I've only had a small team looking after them until now. Changes in tunnels are happening often, it's hard for one protoform to plan out that many tunnels all at once."
Chiron shrugged "I was just saying you guys can do better. That doesn't mean I want to be your new tunnel master."
The smile on Escia's face vanished "Long tunnels, short tunnels, many or few, I don't care. My worst fear is the Quintessons finding us just as easily as you three did. If you think they can't then we'll all be dead that much sooner. They've already found ones we thought were our best kept secrets, and I have Tracer to thank for that."
TL shuddered "You're not saying he led the Quintessons to you?"
Escia glared "The last time I saw him, he was trying to seize me and take me back to the Quintessons. Alpha Trion personally went looking for him a few days ago, and shared with me his greatest weakness: Tracer is conflicted inside. Maybe he'd help us. Maybe he won't. Alpha Trion sees something there, but there's no telling which side he'll take. We have only one reliable passage into the palace grounds. And if the Quintessons suspect, they will certainly find it. Traps are closing around us. Weeks of preparing for our strike against them and he's thrown it all down the shaft to save a single spark. It's hard to tell which side he's on no matter what he does. He may want to help, but his actions put the Quintessons that much closer to finding our trail."
"That spark is the reason we're here. It just followed your prophet out that door. Tracer is helping you whether you trust him or not."
"Tracer is a wild card. I can't use him, and Alpha Trion knows it. We have to find another way inside the palace, we'll have to deal with a sentry garrison that's been doubled and the Quintessons keep getting closer to finding us. But for everything I know he's no good for, the people up there only see a hero. He fought an enforcer in the arena this morning. I've never heard of an enforcer who refused to kill. I've never heard someone insult the Quintessons be allowed to walk away. Nobody knows why, but it looks like the Quintessons are afraid of something. People are talking. They see something in Tracer that inspires them. There have already been fights in the streets. Sooner or later they'll kill an enforcer. Then the Quintessons won't have a choice but to start the massacres again. Maybe they'll unspark every protoform this time, wipe the slate clean and start fresh. I can't let that happen. I need to save our people" Escia paused as she slowly drew in cool air "but I also need to save what gives them the greatest hope, even if I know it's false hope."
"You need him." TL said.
Escia corrected her "The resistance needs him."
"How are you going to rescue him?"
"I can't. We don't have the numbers to get past all the enforcers. And I already said I'm not sending anyone out to die, especially for one like him."
"How much time before his next arena match?"
"I don't know. It could be tomorrow or two days from now. We're not really interested in keeping up with current events inside the city."
"Chiron, I hope you reconsider taking the job offer. I know only you can work out the best possible way in and out of the Colosseum. We might even need some traps to cover our exit after we rescue Tracer."
Chiron slouched against a wall. "We? You're actually serious?"
"I promise to leave you alone and help you get as many workers as you need to get those tunnels ready."
Chiron chuckled as he strolled over behind the scout who found them in the tunnel. "You guys don't need me. You've got a master strategist right here. He can hide three scouts in near complete darkness… or was it five? I can't remember. All I know is you have the body-type of a factory cutter, not a combat cutter. Which means…" The scout drew his blade as Chiron stepped in close and grabbed his wrists. The two grappled and tumbled until Chiron pried the blade out of his hand and pressed the blade to his chest.
"Like I was saying: which means your strikes hinge upon your target staying perfectly still, and you can be easily overpowered in close quarters. Now, this has been bugging me for a while now, were there really five scouts or just three?"
The scout lay helpless beneath Chirons weight. He looked at the edge of his own blade poised above his spark chamber. He closed his optics, ashamed. "Three"
Chiron lifted himself off the scout before tossing the blade away in disgust. "I hate seeing the dull trying bright ideas. Alright I'll take the job, as long as this one talks to her so that I don't have to. You all heard her say she'd leave me alone. If I never have to talk to her again, we'll all get along famously."
"Yes… sir." The scout said scornfully.
Escia narrowed her optics, "Just remember, newbie, if you ever hold a blade to any of my trusted troops just to make your point you'll find yourself reassigned to the most degrading position I can find."
"It won't happen again." Chiron said calmly.
TL looked anxiously at Escia. "And what job do you need me to do?"
"I can see you're not without skill..." Escia said, leading to the exit. "but more importantly, I can tell you have faith that guides you."
Tracer's optics were closed. He tried to remember being in the Colosseum. Standing alone in the centre, looking out at all the faces in the audience. He tried to put a face on each one, but every time he could only recall faces he knew. TL, the assembler, Lug, Kaetor, Razor, Alpha Trion, Escia… 'Who do I think I'm fooling? I'm nobody's hero.'
"That protoform is focused on where he wants to be. He should be focused on where he is." Tracer opened his optics. He'd tried to ignore the drone in the other cell.
"Shut up" he answered "You're locked in here same as me." The drone cocked its head as he looked around his tiny chamber.
"Drone is imprisoned. But cage is different. Drone can see keys, that protoform can't even see the locks."
Tracer didn't like how this drone kept talking. "We're behind the same locks! I can see them right in front of me! You don't even know what you're talking about."
The drone stood at attention. Turned slowly and stepped toward the bars. "That protoform opened the locks before. Made them disappear."
"I didn't open them, someone somewhere was controlling the locks… but wait, you weren't here before. How do you know that?"
"Drone saw. Drone can only watch, but could not speak. Drone knows much that protoform must hear."
"Where do I know you from?"
The other prisoner stepped close to the bars, Tracer knew he'd seen him before somewhere. The drone came into the light, revealing a recycled head and other mismatched parts. Tracer thought about how many protoforms he knew were made of a jumble of random parts.
Tracer felt the sudden sting of fear pierce his spark. "That's my body—just how when I was… But, how?"
The form across the hall leaned into the bars. Holding a fixed stare at Tracer, he raised his arm and dragged it through the bars. Passing through solid metal as though it were nothing but smoke. "Drone had a body, until that protoform—that spark—stole it. That Protoform: conscious; drone: subconscious." One foot followed and the drone stepped beyond the bars of his cell. "That protoform… is ready to listen."