The Diego Diaries: Copycat (dd8 552)
=0=Tennyson
"What led you to this, Ratchet?" Wheeljack asked as he considered the possibilities.
"I don't know. It just feels like a progression. Consider that whatever Jhiaxus wanted to do or interested him, all he had to do was round up unsuspecting mechs to experiment upon and he was allowed. There were never consequences so nothing that interested him was ever too much.
"Think about it. All of it is about redesigning our frame and its capabilities, though never for the better. He was always tinkering and making more and better weapons, us included. I can't imagine what a house of horrors Jhiaxus has going on if he's still operating somewhere. Right now we're looking at the brass ring, a mech or femme that can traverse dimensions with nearly invincible armor with Crader and his group They won't need ships though it appears that he's working on making ships sentient, at least as much as he needs to control them and have some greater features with them being able to think. He started somewhere, the femmes being nearly step one.
"Stormy and Denita fit a number of ideas and they feel to me to be intermediate to Crader, like a step that didn't pan out. They were bigger than the usual femmes and had the ability to shift their sparks dimensionally. They traveled without bodies to do what they wanted, then shifted into some kind of pretender shell to form a body where they landed. It feels like that wasn't enough. It feels like an abandoned project to me," Ratchet said.
"We need to re-evaluate them, both of them and interview Traachon to figure this out. Burris might be of help since he's on our side now. Maybe Maddow has a clue," Wheeljack said as he considered the next steps.
"Traachon is here? With Millow and their children?" Stealth asked with a slight surprise.
Ratchet glanced at him. "He is. He's in the Processor Center. He got to meet the Pantheon during one of the two Special Circumstances Primal Hearings. To say it shook his world view is an understatement."
Stealth stared at Ratchet as if considering things. "Millow is here?"
"Millow is with him there. He's wound so tightly I feared suicide," Ratchet said. "Stormy and Denita are in protective stasis given their special functions and their efforts to break the alliance between us and Earth by making plans for mayhem with a declared enemy of The People. Their son, Waldeen is out of there having the same problem as his atar. He's living on his own now at Central Point in transitional housing and working at the Stable. Its a long story but they're a mess as a family."
Stealth nodded. "They always were," he said softly. "I would like to be there when this happens. If he has information he might not know what it all means. If one of us listens in we might be able to pick up the thread."
"That would be a good thing, Amma," Prowl said. "Get this organized, Ratchet. Give me a summary of your thoughts so I can crib sheet them to the others. This is priority one."
Ratchet nodded, then glanced at Stealth. "We can go now."
Stealth nodded, then followed Ratchet after pausing to have an off line with Shadow. They entered the elevator to disappear.
Prowl stared at the elevator feeling ambivalent about the moment, then turned to the others. "Does this help at all?"
Shadow nodded. "I do believe it gives us a pathway to follow."
Perceptor nodded. "I agree," he said as he turned with Wheeljack to walk back to the conference room to work.
Shadow stared at Prowl, then nodded. "I must continue, Grandson."
"Are you hungry?" Prowl asked as he felt a wave of solicitous concern come through his processor.
Shadow paused as he turned to go, then glanced at the tense figure before him. "That would be helpful, Prowl. Perhaps for all of us."
"It will be done," Prowl said with a burst of pleasure however small. He watched his grandfather walk away, an enigma wrapped in a density that was nearly impossible to pierce. As he did he felt a sense of compassion that was fleeting for him but always there. He walked to the table and ordered food for everyone including the bridge crew and himself. He glanced at Optimus. "Are you hungry?"
Prime sat down on his chair, then glanced at Prowl. "I am unclear. Perhaps I am. Its been a long orn."
Prowl nodded. "I will order food for you as well." He did, then sat down again to ponder on a renegade that had been a cancer on the body of their people for too long.
Jhiaxus.
=0=Bridge room at The Fortress
They walked out into the bridge room, then hurried upstairs to go to Processor Health. It was a silent walk as both made their way through the late afternoon crowds. Reaching the Center they entered, bypassed security, then went to the eight floor where Traachon was sitting in the sun room at the end of the corridor talking with Rung and Jarro.
"Why don't you pull up a chair to sit at the door to listen. If there's something you need to ask or whatever comes up we can go from there. Right now we have good rapport with him. He's getting there but he's still got a ways to go," Ratchet said.
Stealth nodded, then pulled a chair up to the doorway to sit and listen.
Ratchet entered, then caught his optic. "Hi, Traachon. You look well today."
"I feel well, Ratchet. Waldeen and I ride every day, then eat lunch at the cafe nearby," Traachon said as if he were listing off Olympian challenges met, which in some way they were for him and his family.
"I'm going to have to ride with you. I'm awfully pleased for both of you," Ratchet said. He sat, glanced at the others who nodded, then leaned slightly forward to Traachon. "You know I made you a project, you and your family. So have the Praxians. We want all of you out and about. Nothing like family together, Traachon."
He nodded. "I know. I am aware of why you are here and if I can help my daughters be free, then tell me what you need. I think that The Powers would want it."
"Did you see Them at the Convocation?" Ratchet asked. "They were so filled with love for all of us."
"I am unclear about me," Traachon said.
"I'm not. I got to be with Primus at the Prison. He's so happy with us, He wants us to soar. He said He didn't leave anyone out for any reason."
Traachon stared at him, then a slightly hopeful expression appeared on his face. "I hope that[s so. There's so much I can't remember. Its like the past is so far away. I think of it almost as another land."
"That's a good way to start the way back," Ratchet said gently. "Sometimes living in this moment is a good way to go when the past feels bad."
Traachon nodded. "I've seen Them more than once now. I heard Them speak. They don't want what we wanted. I find that … strange but … I don't know."
"You don't have to know everything right away. No one is going to judge you, Traachon. But The People need you to help them," Ratchet said. "I know you love your femmes. Those two femmes need to be free. They need to chase around and dance. They're young and have a wide road ahead. But you have to help me help them and you. What happened that they could do what they do?"
Traachon stared at Ratchet as if trying to remember. He sat back lost in thought. "There was a mech with two daughters. He loved them but he wasn't good. He was part of a group experiment that was going to make our people invincible. It was for the good, do you see?" he asked.
Ratchet, Rung and Jarro were discussing this turn off line. It appeared that the only way he could speak about this and his part of it was as if relating a story. "I see. What happened then?" Ratchet asked as he sat back to listen and glean what could be had.
"Well, he was told that the future lay dimensionally. The doctor was doing very good research he said. He needed some helpers to make it work. He asked the mech if his daughters could join the project. It was for the good of Cybertron, see? We were a great people and our future was open ended. If we could learn what he was trying to teach we would be invincible. No one would harm us and we could go anywhere and do anything we wanted. The man believed it." Traachon thought a moment, then nodded. "He did."
"Okay. What happened then?" Ratchet asked gently.
"Well, they were part of the project. It wasn't hurtful. They were given this and that embellishment and upgrade. It was soon evident that they could leave their bodies and send their sparks elsewhere to make a shell for it when they arrived. Then they discovered they could go through dimensions, not very far but far enough. They could also travel in their own, this one. That was a surprise. No one knew that dimensional travel without a ship was possible. The doctor discovered it by accident."
Ratchet considered that. "What did he use to do it?"
Traachon considered things a moment, then shook his helm. "I don't know. The doctor never said much. He said that the processor was key. If you can think it you can do it." He thought a moment. "I don't know more. I think that the experiment failed to meet the doctor's goals so he closed it down. The daughters still could do this one thing but not the whole one. They were bigger because they were treated with CNA supplements to grow, then modified. It was safe. He said it was. The father wouldn't jeopardize his daughters. They were beautiful, strong and smart."
Traachon thought a moment, then sat back. "I don't remember any other part of the story. That's all that comes to me."
"If you get more you'd say so, right?" Ratchet asked as Traachon nodded. "What was the doctor's name. Do you remember?"
Traachon thought and thought. "His name was Jhiaxus."
A chill filled the room, then Ratchet rose. "You're a work and wonder, Traachon. You have no idea how you helped us. Thank you."
"I hope so," Traachon said with the same slight off kilter sensitivity.
Ratchet walked out to the corridor with Jarro while Rung continued to chat with Traachon. He glanced at Stealth and Jarro. "Well, we know the crabbed claw of Jhiaxus is central to our misery again." He glanced down the corridor as Burris walked toward them.
Burris glanced at Stealth, then Ratchet. "I came, Doctor."
"Burris, come with me," Ratchet said as he walked to a conference room to sit with Jarro and Stealth. He swore Burris to keep secrets, then informed him of the problem.
Burris stared at them with alarm. "That's … that's Jhiaxus isn't it."
Ratchet nodded. "What do you know about this slag, Burris? I'm asking as a friend, not a cop."
Burris stared at Ratchet, then relaxed. "I know," he said almost gratefully. "It was a … what do they call it? A shit show. Jhiaxus wanted to make super soldiers and he wanted to get leaders under his control. He sold Traachon on a weird notion to have individuals who could travel though dimensions and do all manner of weird slag. Denita and Stormy were two of his guinea pigs. He wanted my kids but I put my ped down. I tried to talk Traachon out of it. These were his kids but you can't know how bull headed he can be."
"I can," Stealth said quietly. "Then you have next to nothing to add, Burris?"
Burris glanced at Stealth. "No. I told him I didn't even want to hear it. He was using my nieces in his experiment and anyone who believes Jhiaxus needs their screws adjusted. It was one of the worst arguments my cousin and I ever had, the idea of Denita and Stormy ending up this way."
It was silent a moment, then Ratchet stood. "Thanks, Burris. You helped a lot."
Burris rose. "I hope so, Ratchet. I've done a lot of things I'm sorry and ashamed for. But I loved my family. This is something that haunts me to this orn."
Ratchet squeezed his shoulder. "Maybe we can now help the femmes to have a life again."
Burris looked hopeful. "Do you think so? They're very good girls overall."
Ratchet grinned. "We're going to try."
=0=TBC 10-22-2022
ESL:
ambivalent: (am-biv-oh-lent) to not have a strong feeling about something/one or to have no real feelings or position. Its not uncaring, its more undecided. Not feeling anything one way or another about something yet.
solicitous: (so-liss-uh-tiss) to ask about and care for someone, to see to anothers needs.
off kilter: something that's slightly not right or even.
