The reason this fic is getting an M-rating is because it will talk about dark topics (Not as dark as my fic Two Worlds One Spark... I hope) there will be abuse of many kinds, depression, torture, and various other things. The first few chapters won't have much if any at all, but I promise I will make a warning at the beginning of each chapter that does contain a topic that may need a warning. Inspired by Detroit: Become Human (DBH)
Primes (In order of receiving Matrix) :
Prima
Primon
Onyx
Vector
Megatronus
Solus
Alchemist
Amalgamous
Quintus
Micronus
Nexus
Sentinel
Alpha
Time Units (Found on Tf wiki):
Astro-second: .498 seconds
Breem: 8.3 minutes
Cycle: 1.25 hours
Deca-cycle: ~3 weeks
Groon: ~1 hour
Klik: 1.2 minutes
Meta-cycle: 13 months
Orbital cycle: ~1 month
Solar cycle/lunar cycle: 1 day/1 night
Stellar cycle:~7.5 months
Deci-vorn: 8.3 years
Vorn: 83 years
Currency:
1 credit: ~60.25 shanix
1 cred card: 400 credits
Ch. 7
I can do this. Wicker says it's important to show that I'm willing to get my servos dirty for the Council. These mechs are corrupt and would do harm to Cybertron than good. Meister reminded himself as he looked at the blade that was in his servo with almost uncertainty. He memorized their faces, their habits, even their favorite way to drink energon Meister knew by spark. The AI was sitting in the back of a sketchy bar, watching his targets chat about something. Meister shifted into a rose gold Polyhexian femme and elegantly walked over to the bar right beside target number one.
"Vial of high grade and rust flakes." Meister changed his voice to match the tone that he wanted to get his targets' attention. The bartender nodded and started mixing 'her' drink. When it was handed to the patiently waiting AI, Meister made sure to slip in the small capsule that Alchemist made so he could consume energon. Movement caught Meister's attention and target number two moved to the other side of 'her'.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?" Target number two asked with a slightly overcharged smile. Meister had to play his part to a tee if he was going to get them both out of here and in the room that he was supposed to terminate them in.
"Well, I'm looking for a distraction. My conjux decided that his secretary was better than me." Meister remembered that these two often targeted mated femmes, so the brief narrative was just enough for them to instantly bite.
Target one decided to join in the conversation. His servo moved to the slender servo and comforted the spark broken femme. "Well he clearly doesn't know what he's missing."
"You think? I'm… I'm not that attractive." Meister said with fake innocence as with only a single shift of weight both mechs instantly locked optics onto 'her' aft. "And to think my heat cycle started."
The mechs both looked like Primus literally landed in their servos, and knew they just needed to get this perfect prize. "Say, my buddy and I were looking for a good time. Why don't he head back to our place and have a bit of fun?" Target one ran the back of his digits up the slender arm, distracting his target long enough for his partner to slip something into her drink. They both grinned when she elegantly sipped her tainted drink.
"Why not my place? I have soundproof walls." Her sweet, ignorant smile sealed the deal for the two. The two mechs onlined with groans and looked around, expecting to see the pretty femme standing in front of them, what they weren't expecting was a black and white Polyhexian mech. They started struggling and calling for help, but the mech shook his helm and picked up the blade from the table he was facing. "The walls are soundproof, remember? Did you think that drugging me was going to okay? Did drugging all those femmes when they were at their weakest was okay? Their lives lost, ruined because of you. Were those credits really worth it? Selling your own mates off worth it?"
The first target struggled hard with a growl, "you don't know what you're talking about! Who are you!?"
Meister folded his arms behind his back with a tilt of his helm and an innocent smile. "I can't be revealing that part to you, either of you, just yet. I find memory scanning with Cybertronians so interesting. You retain your memories in a different way compared to how we store ours. I wonder if it's because we have more memory chips than your species." He held up the dagger and gave it a slight flick, igniting the metal twine with a blue flame.
"What the frag is wrong with you?! Let us go!" Target two shouted as he pulled against his restraints until energon started leaking from his wrists.
"Nothing, Wi- my trainer told me that with mechs like you, to take my time with. And I'll let you go." Meister walked over to the mech on his left and sliced a small hole into his chest, ignoring the screams from the obvious pain he was inducing. His servo shook from his lack of experience. When he looked at his final result he frowned in disappointment at the jagged edges. "Not what he demanded, but that just means I need to adapt more."
Meister pulled the sliced metal further apart before carefully pulling the spark out, making sure the thin tendrils were still connected. "P-P-Put that back! What do you want from us!?"
The AI started at the spark that was glowing softly in his servo. He leaned in to get a closer look; the droid could feel the spark's warmth radiating near his face. "What do I want? Something you cannot give me. It's time I let you go to Primus now." He took the blade and severed the tendrils in one violent go. The mech released a loud agonizing scream before his chest arched with a short gasp, and he collapsed back on the chair that he was tied in.
"Y-You killed him! You killed him you psycho!" The remaining target rocked in his chair before he fell backwards, effectively breaking his wrists. Meister dropped the gray spark and went for the mech that was trying to escape. "Let me go! Let me go you murderer!"
Meister tilted his helm and fixed the Cybertronian upright. He pulled out the mech's hardline cable and gripped it tightly in his servo. "I am not a murderer; I avenged the lives you took. I saw everything that you did to those femmes and now you will feel what they felt." The AI sent edited files of the hundreds of victims him and his buddy took to their sick auction house. Meister carved another hole, this one being much neater than the first one, and pulled out the spark with the same gentleness. "You betrayed the trust of Primus and the faith of the Council. Goodbye."
"In other news, two deactivated Iaconian mechs found hanging on the top of the Alpha Room apartments. Enforcers were not able to find any prints besides the victims. There were no witnesses as of now, but chief Starburst had this to say: 'Whoever this killer was, is a newbie from the jagged cut in the spark chamber and both of their sparks were destroyed.' This is Magna from Global Cybertron Network signing off."
Wicker turned off the holovid with his arms crossed and an annoyed expression on the lower half of his face. "What happened tah bein' discreet Meister!? Commandment number one is-"
"Don't get caught. Ah know, but dah enforcers won't be able tah pin it on meh. Dah prints Ah left are gonna be all 'em and when they find out they went tah Zap's dah only suspect they're gonna have is a femme dat don't exist. Trust meh. Ah don't take my duties lightly." Meister assured his teacher while cleaning the energon off his servos.
The leader of Mask wanted to beat the bloody AI to a bloody pile of scraps, but he knew that this was a learning experience for both of them. "Next contract Ah give ya, yer takin' one of dah others with ya. Show ya how tah cut like a bloody professional. Now get outta here."
Meister nodded and headed back to Iacon where the twins were waiting for him at the front door of the manor. They shouted in excitement when they saw his silver from, jumping into his open arms. "What did I say about coming outside? What if someone sees you?" He reminded with a smile as he went inside with the younglings clinging to his frame.
"Alchemist said we could play outside after he looked at our coding." Saber threw his servos in the air with an excited shout.
"Yeah, he said he wanted to see what made us different from Cybertronian younglings. How was work?" Star asked with a curious look on his face. Meister had to start calling his visits to Helix as 'work' to keep the questions minimal. He didn't want to terrify either of the younglings with some of the things Wicker had him do.
The older AI carried them to the conservatory, knowing his code holder was there just from the mention of Alchemist studying the brothers. "Work was… gruesome. I will have to put the memory into a private folder before I let either of you read me." The conservatory doors opened up and there was the giant silver Prime mumbling to himself while scribbling down notes on a giant double-sided data board. "Hello Alch. That task that Wicker asked for me for is done. Was there anything you needed me to do?"
"Meister, perfect timing! Come, come!" The Prime sounded like he had been looking at the forsaken board for cycles. He stiffly sat Star and Saber down before ushering Meister onto the table and started scanning him with enthusiasm. "What was it that you said? Sorry, I just had a revelation. How old are you really? You said you're vorns old, but when were you brought online? How old is your frame? I looked at the young sparks; Star's code was written three vorns ago but was brought online only a deci-vorn ago. Saber was half that with almost exact coding to Saber's only a couple strands were different. Their frames are what a third and second stage youngling looks like. Do you get what I'm getting at?"
Meister watched Alchemist grab a cable that was connected to the datapad that he picked up and plugged it into the side of Meister's neck. "So even though we are written possibly vorns before we were brought online, we do not consider 'aging' until we are online. Star and Saber's ages make sense; the household droids and the creation droids were announced and released to the public at the same time. But there is a flaw in this whole thing," when he got the Prime's attention he continued. "You are aware that Star and I have both been recoded some time in our life cycle. Are you adding that into our current life?"
"Ah, right. I forgot about that part. Hmm, you said that you don't remember being recoded unless the coders told you. But they didn't tell either of you how long the span of your previous onlining, being recoded, and being onlined again was, did they?" Both of the AI shook their helms which got a nod in response. "So, unless we get that information from AL's database that data is irrelevant."
Alchemist started scanning his systems and started transferring the copy of Meister's codes to the data board. "First ten strands are basic AI coding strands, online… six vorns and then offlined for a vorn and back online a meta-cycle ago. Next five strands are interface protocols, basic signs of what a Carrier mech would have... one peculiar strand. All eight-hundred strands are common Polyhexian strand. Three more oddities. A thousand Modification strands."
"That is the second time you said that, what are these oddities?" Meister unplugged himself from the datapad.
"Oh! I don't know, both Star and Saber had odd strands that are not found in standard AI. Here, I'll show you." Alchemist went over to his terminal and rapidly started typing something before going back over to the board and pulled up coding lined up almost perfectly to Meister's except the droid's coding didn't overlap in some spots. The Prime circled the non-overlapped strands with a stylus. "See these? AI, regardless if they are made by Artificial Life or not, do not have these strands. I've seen these strands somewhere before, but I can't quite put my digit on it. Now mind you, this is while you're in your frame. Things may change when I take you out and compare your coding. It's like… transferring a spark like mine into a frame of say a Praxian. I don't have Praxian coding in me, but if I were to be placed into a Praxian frame new coding would replace parts of my old coding."
The older AI nodded slowly, somewhat understanding what was being explained. "I think I understand. What else makes us different from other AI, besides the odd coding and physically having a frame."
Saber and Star grew uninterested with the conversation while Meister only grew more curious. Alchemist scrolled through the two coding strands while giving his answers. "Well no AI needs interface coding, not unless you plan on sticking it in a frame. Even AI that are designed to look like a species, wouldn't need all the coding. They also don't need modification chips."
"What if we rewrote our coding to give us blue or red optics? And what about my mod? Would it change my coding as well?" The silver droid questioned while the Prime started circling more areas.
"Hm, I suppose we could do that. Like I said spark transfers can sometimes result in coding changes. As for your coding, we can test that out now. Hook back up to the datapad and we'll see what happens here." Alchemist went to the Polyhexian coding strands and waited for him to get ready. He watched the Polyhexian shift into a Praxian and saw coding changing from Polyhexian to Praxian plus additional wing coding appearing. "Amazing. Now can we see you change into a beast of some kind?"
Meister nodded and shifted into an astrofox before sitting down. Alchemist had that fascinated look in his optics. When he changed back into himself he shook his frame with a shiver. "I would assume it safe to say that my coding changes as I change. Would we call my mod a form of another transformation? Like those triple changers."
"Mmm… I wouldn't call them a true transformation since you can change your colors as well. I think maybe shifter would be more appropriate." Alchemist explained as he unplugged Meister. The AI nodded in agreement with the statement. The Prime looked at the silver Polyhexian with a curious expression. "Can I examine your… well your chip?"
The droid nodded and laid on the table with his chest plate opening. Star and Saber were now interested in what the adults were doing again. They stood on the tips of their peds to watch the Prime pull out their guardian's chip. "Alchem, what do we call our chips?" Star asked the Prime as he walked over to the microscope.
"Ooh, ooh. Since we're calling our life energon um… um… Synth- En, can we call our chips our pseudo-spark?" Saber suggested with a smile on his face. Alchemist nodded with an agreeing sound as he picked up a pair of tweezers.
The younglings both whimpered and ducked away, but the Prime was quick to comfort. "I won't hurt him, I promise. I just wish to see what Gearshaft has locked up behind these prongs." He just barely pulled one of the prongs back before the doorbell chimed through the entire house. Alchemist and the younglings were startled by the sound and his jump accidently sent the telescope and Meister's chip flying. The Prime dove for the chip, catching it before it could hit the ground.
"Meister! Is he okay?" The younglings ran over while Alchemist placed the chip safely back into the shell.
It took a bit before Meister onlined with his optics lighting up his visors. "Alch, I would appreciate not being thrown."
"I jumped, I'm sorry." Alchemist helped him up as Backdraft opened the door. The adults looked at the mech that was looking through the door, "yes Backdraft?"
Star and Saber hid behind the desk as the other Cybertronian entered with a visitor behind him. A femme stepped inside with her servos folded neatly in front of herself with a friendly smile on her face. The mech gestured to the femme, "Alchemist Prime sir, this is Tempest. She is the conjux of one of the minor lords."
"It is a pleasure being in the presence of a Prime. I had gotten word that you were possibly hosting two mechlings." She looked at th Prime with absolute concern in her words.
Meister glared at the femme and resisted the urge shift into a Predacon right then and there. He knew she was lying through her dentas and so did Alchemist. The Prime couldn't lie to her sense all of his staff have seen them playing around. "Younglings, come on out."
"Alch." The Polyhexian whipped his helm up to the Prime in disbelief while Star and Saber came out from behind the desk. The femme, Meister refused to remember her name, dropped to her knees with her arms opened and a relieved smile was on her face. The younglings looked up at Alchemist with their lips quivering, but he just nodded at the still waiting femme.
They went to her and the AI clenched his fists at how fake she was. "Thank you for returning my sons home. We looked everywhere for them, but to know our Prime was so generous to care for them just shows you were chosen wisely. What do you tell the nice Prime for caring for you?"
"Thank you." They both stuttered and were walked out the door. Meister ran for the closing door with his servo pressing against the cool metal.
Backdraft knew that the AI adored the little droids, so seeing him rushing through the door once it slid back open actually hurt. Meister booked it for the front doors as they were slammed shut in front of him again. He went for the nearest window and started smacking the window as he screamed out their names. Alchemist walked over to his friend and put his servo on his shoulder. The AI pressed his face into the thick armor as he started venting. "She's going to… to hurt them again! Alch, how could you send them back to her!? She's going to hurt them!"
"Meister, Meister I had to. I had to give them back to her, bots have seen them here." Alchemist didn't want to turn them over, but he legally had to now that they were claimed. He knew that his friend was going to have a hard time adjusting to not having them, but he also couldn't just pretend they weren't there. "We'll figure it out, we'll get them back I promise."
The Polyhexian nodded and revved his engines weakly. "Why would anyone tell that, that monster about Star and Saber?"
"I don't know Meister, but I'll figure it out I promise. I promised you all that none of you will be going back to Artificial Life and I will keep that promise." Alchemist put his servos on the small shoulders, feeling the tense cables in his shoulders. Meister didn't need or require intakes, but he found it relaxing as he tried to calm himself down. The droid looked up at his code holder with his servo wiping his face. "You go rest and we'll come up a way we can legally get those younglings back."
Once again Meister nodded and looked back out the window with his optics narrowing and a wave of a negative energy surged through him. I will get them back no matter the cost. He put on a smile to show the Prime that he was okay. "I trust you Alch."
At Wicker's place he tossed three neon blue clear pieces of plastic across his desk with a satisfied smile. Meister picked them up and looked at them curiously. "Dat's for takin' care of Tightrope and Overdrive a deca-cycle ago. And then dah rest is a down payment for yer next contract. Seems there's been word in dah Dead End dat someone is releasin' spark eaters onto dah empties, and since yer dah only one without a spark,"
"Ah won't be bothered by 'em. Alright, holoimages like last time?" Meister asked as he subspaced his payment. He started to leave before turning around with his frame shaking. "Wicker, Ah don't want dah rest of dah payment tah be credits. Ah need information on a femme who took somethin' from meh."
Wicker folded his servos behind his helm and propped his peds up. "Ya come back with dah good news and we'll discuss business." The droid nodded and exited the building with the coordinates being sent to his visor's HUD. When Meister returned to the distillery, he was covered in cuts, scuffs, and energon. The leader was paying one of the other Mask members until they both did a double take on their new member.
"Slag, ya lookin' like ya tried tah mate with a spark eater." The member that was in the office was an older Polyhexian that was properly named Warp, for his sick sense of humor. Wicker, of course, doubled over in laughter while Meister put his servos on his hips. "Oh, come on Meister dat slag was hilarious. Loosen up a bit."
"Wasn't expectin' tah walk into a nest of 'em." Meister looked at his arms with disgust before spitting out the energon that he still had in his mouth. "It's hard tah feel for a field when there is no spark tah read. Did ya know they smell like grime and rust?"
The two Polyhexians gave each other weirded out looks before laughing. "And dis is why Ah love ya Meister! Yer unconventional humor is so, so amusin'!" Wicker went over to the droid's side and threw his arm over his shoulder, completely ignoring the squelching sound that came from the energon splattering more. "Now about dat info. Who and why?"
"Tempest, mate tah a minor lord. She stole somethin' important from meh and Ah want it back." Meister growled out her name and his fists clenched.
The two other mechs looked at each other before looking back at the Polyhexian droid with dark smiles. "Do ya feel dat in yer frame? Dat overpowerin' burnin' feelin' in yer core? Do ya picture dis femme disapperin' from dah face of dah planet once she's in reach?" Wicker's entire tone and attitude changed while Warp locked themselves in the office and dimmed the lights. "Do ya just imagine drivin' dat dagger deep in her chest dat her spark splits in two?"
Meister's digits twitched with his servos curling more. "She took Star and Saber from me. I want to ruin her."
"Good, good hold onto dat anger dat hatred. Let dat emotion fuel yer soul, let it be yer inspiration. Dah Council will do only so much, but they refuse tah get their servos dirty. We may follow dah Council, but we do what we have, need tah in order tah see dat Cybertron is purged of dah evil it has." Wicker stood behind the AI with his servos holding onto his shoulders with a firm grip. Meister watched his visors being removed before Wicker's mask was brought to his face. "Let yerself open up tah what Ah see."
Meister closed his optics before reopening them and saw thousands of live feed cameras showing various parts the bad parts of every city. Wherever his optics looked the visors focused on the corresponding camera, and the camera moved wherever he looked. "This is how you find the information you need before giving us our contracts."
"We'll help return yer lost lil' bolts, but Ah want tah know yer gonna be willin' tah kill lives for Mask, turn yer back tah dah Council when dah inevitable happens, dat yer gonna do whatever it takes tah live." Wicker switched their visors faster than Meister could comprehend. The AI looked ahead, then his energon covered servos, and then finally turned around with his visors turning red.
"I am."
"Welcome tah Mask." Warp smiled beside Wicker.
Deca-cycles of patience and determination led to this moment. Meister had been with the Council, listening to what they decided to talk about when a message appeared in his visors. It was marked with just the glyph for 'm', but Meister knew exactly what it was, and he was quick to lean beside his Prime's receptor and whispered softly. "My fuel levels have lowered some since we decided to test out my Predacon form today."
"Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? I'll meet you at my office." Alchemist replied just as soft.
"I was thinking of going to the market and see if there was anything that struck my interest. If that is okay?" Meister tilted his helm with a smile.
The Prime was surprised at the request, but he was relieved to hear that his friend was wanting to explore again. "Of course, get whatever you want. I'll see you back home then."
Meister dipped his helm and left while opening the message. He was given a set of coordinates and several images of the femme that took Star and Saber away from him. The Polyhexian was going to wait until the lunar cycle to take them back, so in the mean time he had time to prepare for a much safer place for them to hide that wasn't going to be disturbed by anyone.
::Hi, my name is Quickshadow and I saw an ad saying you had some apartments available. Yeah I have time now to come see them.:: He put on a sweet tone, changed the harmonics a bit and quickly transformed before going off to Helix. The AI knew that Tempest and enforcers wouldn't think to look there, and with Mask around no one would be able to get them. He had to also change their features just enough to make them less likely to be found. Meister transformed and stepped into an alleyway before shifting his frame from his silver paintjob to a pure black frame with silver chrome flames on his chest plate. The Polyhexian decreased the size of his chest plate and bulked up his shoulder guards. He removed his visors and changed his optics to a blue color.
When Meister believed that he was good to go, he went inside the apartment with a smile. There was a yellow and orange Polyhexian that was sitting in an office that was blocked off except for a window and a hole at the bottom of it to slip credits through. "Ah, you must be the mech I spoke to on the comms. Quickshadow right? I'm Jumpstart."
"Yes, I'm moving back from Uraya. I was hoping to see any apartments that has one room, it's just me and my creations." Meister explained with a smile. The tenant looked through the window with confusion at the lack of creations. "Oh, they're at school. School just became too expensive."
The tenant scoffed in agreement, "you're telling me. Back in my day, school was so cheap I could have bought a school! Alright, I have two that are five hundred credits the first solar cycle of every deca-cycle. Small, there is a single quarters, a small living area, a small washroom, and a kitchen area. There is working electricity and water, if anything breaks just comm me. I'll be available between the ninth and sixteenth cycle of the solar cycle."
Meister nodded as he was led up the stairs, taking them to the second floor before heading to the back of the building. Jumpstart showed him around the place briefly and Meister smiled and looked at the mech. "I love it. If I had the credits now?"
"Are you sure you want this dump?" The tenant was weary of his eagerness.
Meister nodded, "it's perfect. We'll make do with it." The AI labeled and categorized the many projects he needed to do to make it a suitable place for them stay.
"Well alright, we'll take care of the paperwork and the place is yours." The tenant was surprised the creator took this room. Most of the other creators that he showed this one to freaked out.
After the paperwork and payment was done, Meister got the key card to the apartment. He thanked Jumpstart and went back to Iacon where he was going to get some things, like paint. Most of the basics like thermal blankets and cleaner he would just take from his room at Alchemist's. The AI felt bad for lying to his friend, but he had to do this. He had to save Star and Saber from that femme. When got what he needed from the manor and the shops at the marketplace, he went back to the apartment and dropped everything off.
By nightfall, Meister was sitting on the windowsill of what looked like a youngling's room. He was disguised as a small avian that had just decided to roost for the lunar cycle. There was crashing and screaming before the door slammed open with an enraged Tempest holding a paddle at two frightened younglings.
"Why do you keep trying to run away!? Am I not good enough for you freaks!? You refuse to consume any of the energon I make for you! You complain about going to school! Not going outside! I should take you back to Artificial Life and get my credits back!"
"No, please we're sorry." Star put himself between the crazed femme and his brother.
Meister watched her smack them both of them to the ground before leaving them, even locking them inside. He watched them hug each other tightly. "I want Meister, Star."
"I do too, but we can't get out." Star hugged his brother tightly before Meister tapped on the window with his beak. The two AI went to the window, opening it up and watched the avian fly inside, shifting back into Meister. They went to shout, but the older AI tapped a digit to his lips. "You found us."
"I've missed you both so much. Come on, I'm taking you both to a safe place." He picked them up and went for the windowsill before Saber stopped him. "Star we have to go."
"You're not going to make her disappear, are you?" He looked up at him with soft sniffles.
Meister looked at the locked door and then at the window. "No, no I won't hurt her. I want you both to hold on tightly okay, I'm going to be shifting a lot." He warned as their hold tightened around his neck. The Polyhexian crouched on the sill and leapt down. As soon as they were far enough, he shifted into a small Predacon silent their landing before shifting into a large transport vehicle. He started rolling out without turning his headlights on until they were on the road.
"Woah that was cool! Are we going back to Papa Alchemist's?" Saber asked as he looked around in the open cabin.
"No, I'm taking you to Helix. No one will be able to find you there. I got us a place to live, and I've got something for you both if you want them." Meister explained while keeping cool. Sure, he was paranoid, but it wasn't the fact he just stole younglings but rather that someone saw him use his mod. "I won't be able to stay with all the time, but with my work I'll come see you both a lot."
"Why can't we just stay with you at Alchem's? I can turn invisible and Saber can make holograms to hide behind." Star sniffled and hugged his knees to his chest.
Meister sighed and remained silent until they came to the Helix border. He shifted with them in his arms again, "Star, I can't lose either of you again. If someone saw you at the manor or if Alchemist saw you, I would have to give you back to that femme. Here, I have a better chance of protecting you both from being recoded or deleted."
"Okay. Can you stay with us tonight?" Saber rubbed his optics as they walked through the empty streets. Meister shifted into his Quickshadow persona, "woah pretty."
"Why thank you. And I will, I need to change your looks. Now I need to both read me so you know who we are going to be while we're here." Meister whispered as the small servos touched his chest. They pulled away after a bit and looked up at his optics. "This disguise will only be around when we need to be outside."
"Do we have to use different names too?" Star asked as they entered the apartment building.
Meister shook his helm and went straight up to the room with his senses on high alert. He swiped his card and entered swiftly. Saber and Star were sat down so Meister could return to normal. Over the deca-cycles while waiting for news on the brothers, he had time to put furniture in to fill up space as well as place some of the spare sound dampeners that Wicker had given him. "I know it's not as fancy as Alchemist's manor or your code holder's home, but it was the best I could do."
"That's okay, you wanted to keep us away from Carrier. Can you teach us how to take away the master file?" Star asked while Meister gave them the short tour. Saber saw the capsules that he remembered from Alchemist's home.
"Are we going to get energon!" Saber asked with extreme excitement, getting his brother to shush him. He ducked his helm and covered his mouth. "Whoops, I'm sorry."
Meister shook his helm with a big smile as he knelt down to their level. "It's okay Saber, that's why I have the sound dampeners. You can get excited as much as you want, but you do have to try and use your inside voices. I'll show you both how to remove the master file after we've fueled."
"You said you had a surprise for us. Was this your surprise?" Star asked as they watched Meister use a boxy machine that sat on one of the counters. Steam rose from the top of it as energon spewed out of a thin tube. The younglings both oohed and ahhed as Meister filled up three glasses full of energon and then dropped a capsule into each of the glasses. "Won't Alchemist find you though?"
"I work here on occasion, if he needs me then he will comm me. As for the surprise, I need to clean and repair you first." Meister handed two of the glasses to the younglings and followed them to the table to consume their energon. Star and Saber eagerly sat at the table with their energon being sat in front of them.
They quickly started drinking there energon-oil mix with a happy glow in their optics. "This is so good Meister! How come Founder Gearshaft didn't want us to have energon?" Star asked while kicking his legs happily. Meister shrugged while drinking the mixture too with a bit of thought.
"I don't know Star, but we won't have to worry about that anymore. Alchemist has enough of the capsules to not fear energon." Meister took his servos with a smile before standing up with an even bigger smile. "Now, are you ready for your surprises?"
The younglings both sat their cups down with excitement. Star and Saber were sat on the cheap couch while their new guardian went into the only berth room and returned with a large crate in his servos. Meister sat the crate down and opened it up with the younglings' excitement slowly turn into confusion. Inside the crate were two sets of armor that had a thin metal barrier that separated them. On the right side was a set made of washout white with red secondary on the shoulder plates, helm, and legs. On top of the armor pieces were a set of black antennae. The left side was also the same washout white except it had red, yellow, and blue accents. The two frames were designed the same except the left side didn't have the antennae like the right side.
"Alchemist and I had made these when we had you both staying with us. I managed to save them from being disposed and I wanted to give them to help you hide from them." Meister smiled and knelt beside the crate. "Do you want to put them on now?"
Saber grabbed one of the pieces from the left side and looked at it with a hum. "Can we put them on now? Papa Alchemist made them for us?"
The silver Polyhexian nodded with his visors coming off, "yes after I get you both cleaned. Papa Alchemist? You really like him?"
"Yeah, Papa Alchemist is really nice even if he had to give us back. Star and I know why he did it, and we aren't mad at Papa Alchemist. You and Papa Alchemist are still our creators." Saber sweetly said before hugging him with a small purr. "When Papa Alchemist and his friends tell everyone that we are just like them, we'll be able to see him again and live like a family!"
Star joined the hugging pair with just as much happiness as his brother. "Can we get clean now?"
"We sure can!" Meister scooped them up in his arms as he carried them to the small washroom. He turned on the water in the small shower and helped clean both of the younglings off with happy hums. Both Star and Saber laughed and played around while Meister cleaned all three of them up. Meister was carefully removing Saber's old armor when his comlink went off. ::Hello?::
::Meister, it's Vector Prime, Alchemist gave me your comm frequency. May I speak with you at Maccadam's?:: Vector Prime asked.
::I will head over in a groon. I have… something to do in Helix.:: Meister picked up one of the leg plating for Saber and attached it in place. He attached the other one while being used as a balance. ::Is that okay for you?::
::Yeah, oh and Meister. I hope you know what you are doing.:: Vector Prime commented before disconnecting from the comlink.
The older AI sighed with a bit of disappointment. He really wanted to stay with them, but he didn't want to cause a problem with the Prime. Star grabbed his servo and smiled with a sympathetic smile. "It's okay Meister, we'll behave while you're gone. Can you tuck us in at least?"
"Of course. How is the armor? Not too tight is it?" The silver droid questioned while placing the old armor pieces in the case. He was going to dispose of these pieces so there was no possible way that they could be found. Meister knew that now his Star and Saber were safe from Tempest or anyone that would take them away from him.
Both of them nodded with enthusiasm, "now we look pretty!" Star looked at his new frame with a big smile before jumping into his guardian's frame with a small happy purr. Meister hugged both of the mechlings in his arms with a matching purr. "Don't worry Meister, I can get us our fuel while you're gone."
"If you need anything, comm me. Now you two need to recharge." Meister picked them up with a nuzzle as he carried them into the berth room. The room had a large berth that took up most of the space, but it gave just enough room for a nightstand where a single lamp sat. He had a couple of datapads sitting on the nightstand as well, one contained several stories that he had read to them when they were still at Alchemist's manor while the other was one of the encyclopedias from his code holder's collection. He sat them down on the berth and tugged the thermal blankets down and over their frames. "Tomorrow, I will come back to actually spend time with you both."
He put his servos gently on their chests and traded information with them before nuzzling them once again. Star and Saber rolled over and held their servos tightly. Meister didn't want to leave this sight, but he had to go to Maccadam's before too late. He turned the lights off in all of the rooms and left Helix for downtown Iacon. The droid entered the bar where he was greeted by Maccadam with a cube of hot oil waiting for Meister. He sat on the stool with his servos cupping the jug of oil.
"I'm not giving them back to her," was the first thing that left the droid's mouth.
"I wasn't going to ask you to do that Meister. She won't be around long enough to take them from you anyways. I summoned you here to ask a question about you; well more like answer your question that has been burning in your processor." Maccadam was wiping up a spot of spilt energon. Meister looked at the bartender in surprise but had to force himself to remember who this mech really was, and what he could do. He sipped only a small bit of the oil in front of him.
The AI bowed his helm with a small sigh, "do you know what I am? Why Gearshaft made us?"
This time Maccadam sighed in disappointment with a shake of his helm. "Unfortunately, I do not. When I look in the past I see only increments of random events whereas in the future I see important events. Like the one I saw of those young AI you have hidden away, they are important somehow in your story Meister." He sat his cloth under the bar and leaned forward with his mustache twitching. "And just like this one I'm about to tell you. There will be a mech in the archives that will need your help, there will be a deep wound just under his left chest plate and another just near the sixth disc on his spinal strut. That is all I saw, but I cannot tell you how far into the future this is, but I can tell you there will be a mech of importance by the name Alpha Trion in power during this event."
"Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't you want to tell the Council?" Meister stored that information in the same area he stored his Helix memory files.
"Because it is a part of your story. This event will shape you into who Primus meant for you to be." Maccadam stroked his face again. Meister looked into the mucky liquid in his servos with a thoughtful gaze. He may have thought and verbally expressed his gratitude for having friends among the council but being told that he can make a difference to Cybertron, it made him smile even more at the thought. The droid jumped the bar and hugged the startled Cybertronian before the action was returned with a comforting feeling in his field.
Let me know what your thoughts are. If you'd like more let me know down in the comments :) In case you all were wondering, Star and Saber were named after the canon character Starsaber. Their new frame color and style are similar to what his TF: Victory colors are.
