Chapter 161 – Lecture Hall

(MPOV)

I woke up. My chronometer stated that I didn't need to be online for another hour, but I was awake. And I had stuff to do.

::. Optimus.:: I whispered.

"Mmn?" my bot muttered.

I couldn't help but smile.

"I need to borrow your trailer," I whispered.

"You made the damn thing," Optimus muttered with a snort. "It is ours my spark."

I laughed softly.

"Good recharge my spark, I will see you in twenty eight point nine breem."

"Point nine?" my Optimus snorted softly.

"I'm counting the seconds until I see you again," I murmured into his audio receptors. Optimus smiled somewhat, I rose and summoned my armour.

"Point eight," he stated quietly. I turned to look at him, he'd rolled to lay on his back, his optics dimly online to look at me. "I will see you first," he rumbled with a small smile.

I couldn't resist striding over and pressing a gentle kiss to that smile.

"Point nine," I murmured, smiling before I strode to the corridor.

::. Point eight.:: my Optimus rumbled over our private comm. I waited another minute and smirked.

::. Point eight.:: I sent with that smirk.

::. Point seven.::

::. Go back to your recharge my spark.:: I laughed softly.

::. Mm, point. Seven.::

I rolled my optics and idly pulled the trailer into the med-bay, loading up the holoformatic generators I'd built the night before. Seedling neurals went into my subspace and I shrugged into my Peterbilt alt-mode, connecting to the trailer and hitting the road.

I lightly touched my air-horn in recognition to the soldiers opening the doors for me and enjoyed the morning as I drove to Sentinel's soon-to-be lecture hall.

(OPOV)

Optimus strode into the central and couldn't hold back the snort of laughter.

The majority of the unit were leaning interestedly toward the centre, obviously deep in debating conversation. He waved an idle servo for them to remain seated, taking his usual place.

"Please," he rumbled in the silence. "Continue."

"Right, I still give nine to one odds Soundwave would whip Shockwave." Brains rasped out immediately.

"Insecticon scrap," Ironhide snorted.

"Righ' it's more two tae one odds," Jetfire snorted. "Shockwave'd 'ave tae be fighting agin' a crippled Soundwave!"

"How theh scrap do yeh figger tha?" Jazz snorted.

"Yer given me three tae one agin' Shockwave righ'?"

"Yeh," Jazz nodded.

"Soundwave could scrap me sorry aft wi' one servo torn off."

"Ah don't buhlieve yah."

"Believe you me, youngling, I do nae want tae tango wi' Soundwave. Used tae spar with me 'e did-"

"But that was Soundwave one!" Prowl interjected with a snort. "He's not a telepath anymore."

"It's th' same Soundwave." Jetfire stated sternly.

"They scrapped the original Soundwave!"

"'Is signature's th' same."

"Of course his signature's the same!" Ironhide snorted. "He's Soundw-"

"Nae!" Jetfire stated flatly. "'Is spark signature's the same, Nae tae sparks gie' th' same signature, 'e's the same Soundwave what allowed me tae win so's I weren't slagged!"

"There has to be a mistake," Prowl muttered.

"Many's the memory I've deleted Enforcer. There've bin times I could nae remember me name, orns when I've bin so over-charged I could'na remember how tae fly, but I ne'er forget a spark." Jetfire growled.

Silence.

"If he's the same Soundwave, we have a bigger problem than we first thought," Ironhide rumbled flatly. "Megatron's gotta know by now, and you don't get more loyal than Soundwave."

Brains snorted.

"What?" Wheelie asked curiously.

"Dumb Auto-bots," Brains rasped with a snort.

Optimus couldn't help but bristle slightly.

"Define," he rumbled flatly, glaring at the tiny bot.

"Soundwave ain't loyal to Megatron, he's loyal to the Lord High Protector." Brains rasped with a snort. "And he's been loyal to the past two Lord High Protectors."

Optimus cycled his optics in the silence.

"Try it this way, who's the Lord High Protector?" Brains smirked around himself.

Megatron. On all of the data-streams, in the vast majority of the sparks in this universe, Megatron was still the Lord High Protector. The title had never been stripped from him, or more accurately, Optimus had never designated a replacement Protector upon Megatron's death.

"I bet Five rell o' high grade that the second Prime re-designates the title to some-bot else, Soundwave'll be there less than eight hours later askin' for his orders." Brains grinned.

Optimus sat, frowning.

"Ironhide?" he rumbled quietly.

"No."

"What?"

"I am not gonna be Lord High Protector any more than I'm gonna be a Lieutenant."

"Well then who the scrap am I supposed to appoint?" Optimus rumbled in irritation, looking around himself.

"Make your mate the High Protector," Sentinel stated in amusement. "You are to be co-rulers regardless, making her the High Protector would simply formalize it."

"Aye," Jetfire grinned. "She's already stated that her first priority after ensuring this rock isn't ravaged is Cybertron's revival and protection..."

Optimus looked around at the viciously grinning bots surrounding him.

"You are attempting to satisfy not one, but two bets," he rumbled calmly.

"Ach, jus' do it youngling," Jetfire snorted, grinning at him. "Promise we'll no' let yer mate offline ye."

Optimus rolled his optics and sent the pertinent data-streams, in five breem, every Cybertronian spark within the solar system would recognize his Kae as the Lady High Protector.

(MPOV)

I couldn't stop smirking. The humans were staring at me. I didn't care.

They were gonna get locked out in a few minutes anyway, I had work to do.

"Archangel?" the head delegate asked curiously.

"It's perfect. I'll see you later," I grinned.

"Uh..."

"Out, the lot of you," I smirked at them.

"But..."

"I have work to do, and no time to dilly-dally around," I grinned. "Besides, if you're in here, it means I need to focus on not accidentally hurting one of you. Comprende?"

The humans beat a hasty retreat, I smirked and drew a load of spare neurals out of my subspace. The fact that I had a subspace was cause for no end of entertainment for me. The flight-deck trailer sat patiently beside me, but I needed some infrastructure first.

I cycled a deep breath and then synced my processors, easing my smug satisfaction with the room, replacing it with calm patience and concentration.

One of the cells of energon I was carrying in my torso – Sentinel's attestation that I was insane to carry them in my legs finally winning out – drained into my systems as the neural fibres came alive in my hands, growing and twining along my arms.

I strode to the wall and began directing the neurals, smiling as they immediately took to the walls, creeping to ground and ceiling. They began glowing in earnest, twining around themselves into vines, those vines twisting into veritable tree-trunks. Across the ceiling a shelter of wire, somehow giving the vague appearance of a forest's canopy with the thick vines and trunks splitting apart to mesh together. A neural cathedral. The end corners of the room became obscured, what had been a roughly rectangular room became fully circular. An amphitheatre.

The basic infrastructure continued to grow, the time/space continuum field that still knotted my processors increasing the space within as I turned my attention to the flight-deck, lightly digging out the holo-projectors. My Optimus and I could easily control one or two holoforms connecting a human into the mindspace. But now? We were talking hundreds. It was a couple of hour's work to install every projector, one for every ten humans. Finished, I glanced around and nodded as the final neural-vine lightly shifted into place, connecting into the projector.

Now to test it.

I accessed the building's controls and tripped the breakers feeding electricity into this section, completely cutting the power and any feasible electromagnetic interference.

Absolute blackness.

Perfect.

My vision settled into night-mode, and I strode to one of the five seats I'd left for bots who chose to attend and settled into my own, lightly accessing the control and bringing up the lighting.

Tiny bulbs of energon began to grow amidst the tendrils, blooming like thousands of glowing flowers amidst the vines.

The humans would think it beautiful for all that it was entirely alien.

I had absolutely no doubt Sentinel and my Optimus would think it absolutely gorgeous.

Actually...

I couldn't help a broad smirk. I opened up one of the fuel lines and allowed liquid energon to lightly cascade among the neurals before gravity-feeds collected it again.

My Optimus was a sucker for any type of falls.

I onlined the holo-projectors and smirked all the more as five hundred comfortable seats emerged from the vines, giving every appearance that they belonged there. The five bot-sized chairs were easily concealable, Sentinel would be able to tone up and down the dramatic to his spark's content. A data-stream lightly touched my spark, obviously from my Optimus.

Something about the Lord High Protector. I shrugged and looked around again, I'd ask him later. I glanced at my chronometer and smirked, settling somewhat more into my seat and concealing myself there.

Optimus would be bringing Sentinel soon.

(SePOV)

Sentinel felt the connection settle into place, recognizing his newest pupil, mate of the Prime as the Lady High Protector.

It was an easy transition, the sense of her protectiveness far exceeding the destructive nature of the former. Optimus grinned at him and transformed among his unit.

Kae was expecting he and Optimus, however most of the unit wished to see his lecture hall.

Sentinel would be lying if he stated he wasn't at least interested in what his young pupil had devised. However, his dignity and pride held him in check, refusing his desire to grin and vibrate in anticipation.

Sentinel transformed, followed his young friend out of the headquarters and into the human's city proper. Five breem of driving and they pulled into one of the lots the humans left their non-sentient vehicles in. A few humans were standing impatiently near one of the bay doors, watching them.

"Archangel says you guys are supposed to see it first," one of the men stated with a small pout. "She says it's so if she needs to tweak anything we don't have our hearts set on the original form."

Sentinel blinked.

Nobody had seen the space as yet.

::. Kae to Optimus.:: her voice murmured on the Primary. ::. Are you coming?.::

::. We are here, my Kae.:: Optimus sent with a low laugh. ::. Where?.::

::. Enter in the third bay door on the right.:: she commanded.

Anyone could hear that grin.

Optimus transformed, and Sentinel followed hot on his heelstruts. They ducked through the door, closely followed by the rest of the bots whom had accompanied them and watched curiously as the door closed behind them.

Absolute darkness, made more so by entering into the room from the bright sunlight.

Sentinel grinned in the darkness, evidently, his young pupil had as much flair for the dramatic as he.

Then, softly, tiny energon spheres began winking into being until they were surrounded by thousands of minute lights, casting a gentle, soothing glow throughout the neural cathedral.

It was absolutely exquisite, a tiny piece of their home. What little resentment that had grown in his spark at being 'forced' to teach vanished. He was going to spend fifty orn surrounded by beauty.

He wanted nothing more in that moment than to envelop the young femme into an embrace and press a long kiss to her forehead; to remind her of how deeply cherished she was.

However, he could not seem to find her.

Until of course, she emerged, sneaking up behind her mate.

At that point of course, Optimus had become entranced by the energon falls, a hand reaching out to gently stroke the neural vines over which the energon burbled merrily down the wall.

"Point nine," Mikaela murmured softly in his auditory receptors, winding her arms around her mech's waist.

"Every time you accomplish such a thing," Optimus rumbled softly. "I promise myself to not underestimate you, beloved mate; but then you achieve the unthinkable and stun me once more."

"Will it serve?" Archangel asked innocently.

As if there were any question.

"It is perfection," Sentinel rumbled contentedly, settling into the central chair and leaning back somewhat.

To be perfectly honest he was quite certain he would be happy to remain in this chair for the full fifty orn.

After he'd hugged her.

Sentinel rose and caught his young friend's mate, dragging her into an enveloping hug.

"It is absolute perfection," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead.