Introduction: This one happens waaaay back when Soundwave was still in school. It would actually have fit in pretty neatly between two other chapters of Many Voices, right after they got their alt modes, but I hadn't written it at the time, so here it is now instead. Just a reminder of the way things used to be. :) Also, you get to meet some nomads. Nomads are cool.

The knock at my door at the crack of dawn dragged me from recharge. I moaned as I sat up, already knowing it was Searchlight.

Ravage got up and bounded over to the door before I sat up. The entry request chimed and I got up and dragged myself over to the door to open it before he could knock again.

"'Wave!" he said. "I just had this great idea..."

"No."

"But..."

"No."

"Just hear me out. Please, I can..."

"Talk me into it?"

"I can try at least," Searchlight said.

I sighed and backed up so he could come in. Ravage hopped up onto my shoulders as I sat down on the berth and Searchlight stood by my desk.

"So," he said. "When I came out of recharge this orn, I had this brilliant realization."

I stared at him, waiting for him to get around to telling me his idea so I could shoot it down. I had been looking forward to getting extra recharge this orn since we didn't have school.

"We have alt modes now. Flying alt modes, no less. If we want to go visit my creators we don't have to take the mass transit. We can fly.

I let silence fall for a few astroseconds. "Not that well."

We'd only had our alt modes for a few decaorns.

"We'll be flying high enough that there won't be anything to crash into," Searchlight said. "It'll be fine."

"We've never flown that far," I said. "And if one of us crashed we'd be stra-anded."

"Which is what comms are for."

I sighed.

"Come on, I thought you'd be excited," Searchlight said. "This means you can go visit Laserbeak whenever you want. And I bet flying is much faster than the transit, so it won't even take that long to get there. Look, if you don't want to come this time, I can try it out by myself."

I shook my helm.

"Come on, mech, I want to see my creators."

"Right now?"

"Yeah." Let's go! Come on, what could possibly happen?

I shook my helm. "Give me ten breems."

"Awesome!"

"This is a bad idea."

"It's fine."

I shook my helm. I was only going because if I didn't, he would go by himself, and he knew that.

Meet me out front of the school in ten breems.

I sat back down on my berth with a moan. I'd thought about this before, and had been looking forward to the freedom of traveling long-distance by myself, but not yet. I didn't think the general lack of things to crash into would prevent us from getting in trouble. Searchlight was very talented at finding trouble to get into.

I brought Ravage to Searchlight's room and tapped in the code.

Ratchet looked up from his desk when I came in. Hmm... I wonder where Searchlight is... "Good orn."

"Can you watch Ravage?"

"No." Why would I need to watch Ravage? What is he going to be doing? And I'm not a free babysitter.

"Please!" Ravage said, hopping off my shoulders onto Searchlight's desk. "Soundwave and Searchlight are going to be gone all orn."

"Where are you going?"

"Iacon," I said.

"Take Ravage with you, can't you? I thought that didn't cost an extra ticket."

"They can't take me, they're going to fly."

Ratchet froze. They what?

I stood in the doorway, waiting for him to start yelling, but he mastered himself.

"Fragging idiot, going to get himself offlined... whatever... I don't care."

He wasn't even going to try to help me talk Searchlight out of it? "Sure."

"I don't. Go have fun dying."

Ok then. I turned to walk away.

"Make sure you refuel before you go," Ratchet said. "If you run out, you actually will offline."

That was a good point.

"And don't leave your death cat with me, I need to study."

I walked away. He didn't mind, and Ravage would get bored bothering him after a while.

I went to the energon hall and got a cube, which I swapped for an empty one and took with me. I was more self-confident than I'd been back when Searchlight had first shown up at the school, but I still didn't like listening to mecha watch me eat. I refueled in my room and then went outside to meet Searchlight.

He was talking to Breeze, who was none too certain about our proposed adventure.

"...could wait and do this in a quartex or so..."

"What else am I going to do all orn? Honestly, I don't see what's wrong with this."

Breeze crossed her arms, doorwings flicking nervously. "I thought you said you were done doing dangerous things."

"But... it's not dangerous! There's not anything to crash into. If anything, this will be boring because we're flying across the wasteland and there'll be nothing to see. We'll be fine! Oh, there you are, 'Wave. Ready?"

I shrugged.

Soundwave, do something. Stop him.

I shrugged again.

"Come on," Breeze said.

"Nothing will happen," Searchlight insisted.

"Something always happens."

"But I'll be fine. I always am."

Breeze relaxed a little. "I guess that's true. This isn't nearly as dangerous as the Sea of Rust. But I still think something will happen, because it's you."

"Yeah," Searchlight said. "But like I said, we'll be fine."

Breeze sighed. "Ok." Honestly, I think I'm just jealous they can't take me with them. "Well, don't die. And don't yell at me either, Searchlight, that's not nice."

"Sorry," Searchlight said. "Well... we'll see you this off-cycle. Ready, 'Wave?"

I nodded.

Searchlight transformed and I followed his lead. We left Breeze standing in front of the school, watching us go.

From the sky you could see the city laid out beneath with rocks and tiny pinprick mecha.

Searchlight commed me.

"Yeah?" I said.

"It's like a map."

It did kind of look like a map. "Brilliant observation. I wonder why."

There was a moment of hesitation. "Right. I deserved that."

He flew down closer to the tops of the buildings. It was like he was trying to crash. I stayed a little higher, enjoying the feeling of being completely alone in my own helm.

It took a long time, it seemed, to get out of the sector, and the outer city. Not as long as the mass transit, though, and Searchlight couldn't play games on his datapad to pass the time, so he got bored pretty quickly, but other than that it was fine.

It was long and exhausting and Searchlight started to run low on fuel, but it was only about a joor and a half before we got to outer Iacon.

I was relieved and Searchlight tried not to be but he was just a little disappointed that nothing interesting had happened.

Searchlight's creators were surprised and happy to see him, though they were somewhat disapproving of our method of getting there.

We took Laserbeak and went to the park for a few joors, then went back to the symbiot shelter and spent time there. Keepsake insisted we leave with plenty of time to get home before sunset. She sent us to the apartment to get energon first, which was good because flying took a lot of fuel. Honestly, I'd rather have taken the mass transit back. I was tired already from flying here and Searchlight, who was less fuel efficient and also not as good at flying was even more so.

But we didn't want to use credit if we didn't have to. So we flew.

But we forgot to check the weather.

"Do you think we could get above the clouds?"

I looked up at the heavy greenish-black clouds above us. "We'd have to fly through them."

"Yeah. Think we could do that?"

"No. We should land," I said. I couldn't believe this. I'd started to think that for once we'd get lucky and nothing terrible would happen.

The first drops of rain stung my wings and I angled down toward the ground, looking for a cave or something.

"You ok? The ground is flat so I don't think we'll fare better down there."

"Yes we will," I replied as a gust of wind hit me, along with a spattering of acid rain.

"Ok, I'm coming." Searchlight said.

He'd better be. Visibility dropped as the rain fell harder, but I thought I saw something in the distance that looked like a crack in the ground.

"Can you follow me?"

"Whoa, I can barely see you and this wind is getting crazy."

"That's why we should land. But there might be a way down to the lower levels." I braced myself against the pain and kept flying. A low cloud of steam rose up to meet me, and I just barely realized how close I was to the ground in time to pull up and transform. I rolled to a stop, gasping and choking. "Searchlight?"

"Scrap, where did you go?"

"The clouds below are right above the surface. Be careful not to crash."

"Got it."

The rain was coming down in earnest now, and I could feel it eating away at my paint. I heard something crash nearby.

"Searchlight?"

No answer.

"Searchlight, did you land?"

"Yes."

Well, I didn't think we were going back to civilization any time soon. I stretched my range out until I could hear him, and started making my way toward him. He was struggling to his pedes, trying to cover his optics.

"Come on!" I said, and pulled him toward the darkness I'd seen. The rain lightened a little, but the wind got even stronger.

By the time we reached the chasm, the rain had picked up again, and unlike in the cities, there were no stairs going down.

"We'll have to jump!" Searchlight said.

I nodded, and let myself fall. I transformed and flew under an overhang. Searchlight followed me and crashed into the wall.

I sat against the wall, venting deeply, and playing with my sensory grid, trying to get rid of the burning sensation all over my frame.

Searchlight moaned and got up. The rain was still coming down, and pouring in from the edges of the chasm as well.

"Ow, everything hurts," he said. "Are you ok?"

I nodded.

"Ratchet's going to kill us."

I nodded again.

Searchlight got a comm. from Keepsake.

Actually… she might kill me before Ratchet does. He answered. "Hi."

"Searchlight, are you still flying home? You need to change course or seek shelter. I just found out there's an acid rain storm between Iacon and Kalis."

"We saw that," Searchlight replied. I'm glad this is an internal comm. Maybe I can play this off. "Don't worry, we've taken shelter. Do you know how long the storm's going to go?"

"All off-cycle. I'm so sorry, mechlings."

We'll miss school tomorrow. Not going to complain about that. "Oh, really? Ok."

"You didn't get rained on, did you?"

"Nope," Searchlight said. "Don't worry, we're fine."

Silence on the other end. Searchlight shuttered his optics, hoping she'd believe him.

"Ok. I'm glad you're all right."

The burning in my vents intensified, and I started coughing, bracing myself against the ground.

On second thought, if I tell her, will they be able to get mecha out here to help us? We need to wash this acid off as soon as possible. If she got the right mecha involved, then maybe we could get an emergency groundbridge or something, but I don't want to worry her.

"Stay safe. Do you have any energon?"

Searchlight looked at me and I nodded. I had grabbed a couple of extra cubes from Keepsake and Cam's cupboard, just in case.

"Yep, Soundwave has some."

"Ok, I'll check in in a few joors."

"We might end up deeper underground, where we won't get a signal," Searchlight said. "But don't worry, you know we can handle ourselves."

"Don't you dare go exploring and get lost."

"We won't." Get lost at least. And… maybe we shouldn't go exploring either. I feel like someone dropped me into a smelting pit.

"Promise me."

"I promise, Keepsake."

"Ok."

"I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye." Searchlight cut the comm. and leaned on the wall. He'd gotten some acid in his optics and it was really hurting. I coughed some more before getting up. A gust of wind blew some rain in our direction.

"You get some in your vents?"

I nodded.

"Yikes. Ugh, we might not want to go exploring, but we've got to get somewhere with better shelter. Come on."

I followed him along the shelf we were on. We walked for a long time, trying to ignore the pain, and avoid the occasional shower of acid, until we came to a branching passageway that led deeper.

Searchlight led us down the passage a while before coming to a stop. He sat down against the wall with a groan. The bottoms of our pedes had been badly burned from the walk along that ledge where the rain had flooded the ground.

I leaned over, coughing more. Every vent was agony.

Well, this is great, Searchlight thought. Can you die from acid burn? We were only out in the rain for a breem or so, but we were completely soaked.

"I don't think…" I gasped. "…I don't think we'll die."

I feel like I'm dying. "Ok. We need to keep moving then."

"Why?" I was about ready to collapse.

Because I need something to take my mind off of this, and besides, maybe we can find some pool of something non-acidic that we can wash off in.

I sincerely doubted that, but sighed and nodded slightly.

He got up, gritting his denta, and kept going. We need a light. I don't have anything for a light… but I think… do you see something glowing at the end of this tunnel?

It did seem like there was some glow

We got to the end of the passage and found a deep, wide cavern, lit by glowing blue cracks in the distant ground.

"Wow," Searchlight said. "Want to go down there? We'd probably be pretty safe from the rain."

I coughed. "And… from Keepsake co-omming you."

"Well, that too. But I wonder where that light's coming from."

"The core?"

"Probably." Searchlight leaped off of the ledge and transformed to circle down toward the bottom. I followed him. The atmosphere rushing past my wings stung like rain, and I knew flying didn't feel really great for Searchlight either. We both managed to land without crashing this time, though.

Searchlight walked over to the nearest crack. "Wow," he said, kneeling by it. "Does this seem brighter than normal cave lighting?"

I shrugged. There were a lot of things that glowed down here.

Searchlight stood and looked around. There were passages going in all directions. The sounds of the rain were barely an echo all the way down here. He wondered where all those passages led.

I lay down on the ground. "Please don't."

"Ok," Searchlight said, and sat.

Silence fell, save for the distant sound of rain.

It lasted about three breems, and then I had to cough some more.

"You really don't sound good," Searchlight said. "Don't pass out on me or anything, mech."

I'd try not to.

Searchlight got up. I won't leave the cavern, I just want to see if you can see anything down those passages.

I commed him. "Ok."

He walked away, limping slightly, but caring more about seeing the whole cavern than about his pedes hurting. He left my range and I was almost recharging when he commed me again.

"'Wave, you aren't leaking are you?"

"What?"

"There's energon over here."

What? I rolled over and slowly got to my pedes, then limped to the middle of the cavern, where Searchlight was. Sure enough, there were several drops of energon, and a small puddle as well.

"This looks fresh. I wonder…" Is someone else down here? Is someone hurt? Who else would be down here?

I sat by the energon. I should be curious too, but I just felt exhausted and the pain was making me dizzy.

"'Wave? Are you ok?"

"I do-on't… know."

Frag, it must be bad if he's stuttering. He looked down at himself. I'm feeling kind of weak too. "If someone else is down here, maybe they can help us… or…" he looked at the energon. "Maybe they need help."

"Does it taste reprocessed?"

Good point. Searchlight dipped his finger in the energon, and hesitantly tasted it. "I don't know" he said. "But it doesn't taste like normal energon." I guess he can't try. He can't taste anything.

I shook my helm.

"You stay here," Searchlight said. "I'll see if I can find any other signs of mecha. Because we need help."

I nodded, and let him go, then curled up on the ground. Within a breem, I was unconscious.

"'Wave!"

I gasped, coming out of recharge with a start. A fresh wave of pain washed over me.

Searchlight sighed. I was scared for a moment, I thought you were in stasis or something. I'm not leaving you behind again.

I checked my internal clock. It had been half a joor.

"Did you…"

He had gone exploring.

"Mech, I found something down one of the passages. Like scuff marks on the ground and the walls as if a bunch of mecha passed through here. And judging by the fresh energon here, they might not be too far off." At least I think it looks like scuff marks. My vision's a little blurry because I got some acid in my optics.

I sat up, wincing.

"What if we've found a whole band of robbers or something?"

"Then… we're scrapped."

"Come on, let's go see if we can find anyone." He held out a hand and I let him pull me to my pedes. If nothing else, maybe we can convince them to give us some solvent or something.

His paint was flaking off in large patches, and he was having a hard time venting as well. We walked down the dark passage, until we got to the place he'd been talking about. Sure enough, there were scuff marks, and what looked like the footprints of many mecha wherever there was dust.

"See?"

I nodded.

"Robbers."

I commed him because I didn't want to talk. "Are you sure that's a possibility? Why would there be robbers way out here? There's no one to rob from."

"It's where they hide their spoils, like in the holovids."

I shook my helm.

"And I bet they murdered someone back there, and hid the body."

"Hid it from who?"

"Play along, I'm trying to turn this into an adventure."

"You're not helping." I leaned against the wall.

We came to a six-way intersection.

"Hmm…" Searchlight said. "Help me figure out which way they went." Come on, mech. I know you're tired, but I don't think recharge will help. We need to find someone who can help us. I know it's probably not robbers, and I know this isn't an adventure, but I need you to keep going."

I nodded and walked to the center of the intersection, studying the ground.

"This way," Searchlight said, and led us down one of the passages. Before long, we came to a four-way intersection, and took a direction that led us down a ramp to an eight way intersection.

Before long, we were completely lost. We tried to backtrack, but we must have gotten mixed up somewhere. Eventually, I'd had enough. I sat down in one of the passages and leaned against the wall, turning my screen off. Searchlight sighed and sat down across from me.

"Sorry," he said. "I thought we could find someone."

I shook my helm.

We sat for a few breems.

And then something impossible happened.

Someone came into my range.

I looked up. Searchlight noticed the motion and shot a questioning thought at me.

"Someone's coming," I said over the comm.

Someone who'd been following us, looking for us. Someone who didn't sound like he wanted to help us.

"What?" Searchlight sat up straight. "Are you serious?"

I nodded, getting warily to my pedes and looking into the darkness of the passage we'd come down. I could see his glowing blue optics, and now that I was listening for it, I could hear his pedes hitting the ground.

Searchlight got up as well. "Do they know we're here?"

"Yes."

"Friendly?"

"No."

"Great. Should we run?"

"Maybe…" I said. "…Yes."

He was coming closer. He could see us too.

"Let's go," Searchlight said, and turned to run the other way. I followed, but the mech behind us started running too, chasing us. We made it to the nearest crossroads, but he was gaining ground, and I was barely staying on my pedes.

"Come on," Searchlight grabbed me and pulled me into the nearest passage. We crouched low to the ground, trying to stay in the shadows.

An enormous mech charged into the crossroads, and then stopped, pulling a staff from subspace. It had a glowing crystal at the end of it.

Which way did they go? I can't hear them running… I can hear venting, though. They're still here somewhere.

I stilled my vents and commed Searchlight to tell him to do the same. We might have trained, but both of us were weak, and I really didn't think we could take this mech in a fight.

If we jump him from behind…

"No, Searchlight."

What have we got to lose?

The mech spun and held out his glowing staff toward us. Searchlight got to his pedes and into a ready fighting stance. I'll distract him and you can get away.

What? The mech narrowed his optics. This is just a couple of mechlings… I thought it might be… I suppose they could have poisoned the spring. "What are you doing here?" he asked sternly, and Searchlight straightened, recognizing the patterns on his paint.

"You're a nomad," he said.

The mech's expression didn't change. "Who are you?"

"We're just…" Searchlight glanced back at me, then looked up again. "We…" Should I tell him the truth? Or is he still going to attack us?

"You can tell him."

"What?" The nomad was even more suspicious now that we seemed to be having a private conversation.

"We're lost. We were flying to Kalis, but then the storm hit and we had to take shelter down here."

I don't believe them… though they do look like they were outside in the rain.

I got up, still leaning against the wall.

"Hmm…" the mech said. I was hoping to find the poisoner, so we could figure out if there was an antidote… "Come with me."

Searchlight glanced at me. Should we?

We didn't really have a choice at this point. I shrugged.

That doesn't help.

Well, if I nodded and this turned out badly, then he'd blame me. The mech was significantly less hostile at this point, though he was still suspicious that we'd poisoned some sort of energon spring or something. And if he decided we were enemies, Searchlight and I were in trouble. He was huge and he carried himself with grace and confidence that bespoke some sort of training.

He took a different passageway, and we followed him.

"So…" Searchlight said. "Where are we going?"

"Camp," The mech replied.

"There's a whole camp of you?"

"It would be foolish to travel alone," the mech said. This mechling asks a lot of questions, while his friend is completely silent.

"So there really are nomads out here? I've heard you never go to cities. You think they're profane or something."

"No." Not exactly. "Each of us has his or her own reasons for leaving society," The mech said. "And not all groups of nomads are the same." Sometimes I do wonder how things have changed in the vorns I've been away. But I don't question my decision.

"Cool," Searchlight said. "What kind of reasons?"

He's a talker for certain… and the quiet one is falling behind. He stopped and turned to wait for me to catch up.

"Sorry," I gasped, stumbling over to them.

He's not well… camp is several klicks away. I shouldn't make him walk.

You can lean on me, Searchlight thought.

I shook my helm. I didn't think he was strong enough for that right now.

My alt mode is too big for this passage. I can't carry them like that. "Can you drive?"

"We're both fliers."

"Hmm…" The mech said again. "All right. Take this, and please don't break it." He handed his staff to Searchlight, who held it carefully.

I realized I didn't have a choice in the matter, and let him pick me up and carry me. Searchlight leaned on the staff, and managed to keep up, though he was struggling. This mech's thoughts kept me online, though. He seemed old. Not as old as Yoketron, but several hundred vorns at least. His nomadic tribe had come to a liquid energon spring that had been poisoned, and they were still trying to figure out who and how. I picked up that someone had gotten sick because of it, and they were hoping to find a culprit and a cure.

I sincerely hoped that we'd be able to convince them we had nothing to do with it. Nomads were supposed to be peaceful, but if they were like this mech, they weren't defenseless. And they operated outside normal laws, mostly because there was no one to stop them. Either they'd help us, or we were going to be in a lot of trouble. But I was starting to think we'd be all right.

"You're probably hurting," the mech said. I can feel the acid on this one. They must have been telling the truth about that rain. "We have medics back at our camp who can help you."

"Thanks," Searchlight said.

"You're fortunate we were nearby, and that I found you."

"How did you know we were there?"

"The tunnels echo. When you're used to the way they sound, you can hear when something out of the ordinary happens in them. I wasn't sure because of the rain, but I thought I heard something, and went to investigate."

We came to a crossroads and the nomad led the way down one of the six passages.

"How do you find your way around this place?"

"There are patterns," the nomad said. "With Primus, there are always patterns."

I tilted my helm to the side slightly as he thought about the way the underground of the planet was constructed. This mech had been around the entire planet, in the shallow parts and the deep parts, and even down to the core itself.

"What…?"

"I have a few questions for you, first."

Searchlight sighed. "Ok."

"How old are you?"

"Um… almost five vorns."

"You're not even an adult. What were you doing all the way out here by yourself?"

"I live in Iacon, but go to school in Kalis," Searchlight explained. "My friend and I just got our alt modes, and I wanted to fly home for the orn. Getting there was fine. But we… didn't check the weather before we headed back."

The mech nodded thoughtfully.

I had another coughing fit and Searchlight looked up at me, worried. "I think he got some of the rain in his vents," he said. "Do you…?"

"He'll be all right," the nomad said.

Searchlight nodded as my coughing died down. You know, he was terrifying at first, but now I'm glad we have this mech with us.

I had to agree. I probably wouldn't have been able to keep going much farther, and we'd been completely lost.

At the next intersection, Searchlight leaned against the wall, venting hard.

"Mechling?"

"I'm ok, I just need a break."

"I can take a tu-urn walking," I said quietly.

"No," Searchlight insisted. "I'm fine. Give me a breem."

The mech nodded and we waited for about half a breem before Searchlight got up again and we kept going. He was to the point of collapse when we finally came in sight of the camp. It was larger than Searchlight had expected. There were sixty or seventy—maybe even close to a hundred mecha.

A femme approached when she saw us coming.

I realized that my range was large enough to be a problem.

"What…?" the femme said. "So you did hear something. Who is this?"

"Some mechlings."

"Vagabonds? They need new paint."

"They were out in the rain."

"Oh, Primus beneath," the femme said. "What are you dragging them all over the place for? You should have contacted us! Bring them, quickly…is that one conscious?"

I nodded, and shifted, and the big nomad set me down, and took his glowing staff to subspace it. He supported Searchlight as we walked toward the camp, and the femme ducked under my arm to help me. Others called out to us and came over to find out what was going on. They didn't see outsiders very often.

Another femme—this one a medic—joined us before long, and had us brought to a temporary shelter. I listened as the news of our arrival spread around the camp. Our rescuer stood outside the shelter we were in and got tired very quickly of answering questions. The others stopped bothering him after a few breems, recognizing his mood.

All of these mecha knew each other very well. Some of them had been traveling together for hundreds of vorns.

The medic scanned me. I was feeling dizzy because of the number of mecha in my processor.

"Hmm…" she said. "You'll be all right, you're covered in acid burn. Both of you were out in the rain, were you? Foolish mechlings. Who do you belong to? When the storm's over, we'll have to get you back home."

"We'll be able to get back home on our own," Searchlight said as she scanned him.

"Your optics are damaged." Not badly. I should be able to fix them with what I have.

Searchlight frowned.

"But your friend is hurt worse." She turned back to me, and helped me sit up so she could access my sensory grid. "Mechling, you need to rest while I work. Will you trust me enough to let me put you into stasis?"

I hesitated, then nodded. She didn't mean us any harm. I relaxed as she turned off my pain receptors and started shutting me down. Being forced into stasis was frightening, and it was hard not to fight it, but after a few astroseconds, I let my systems go offline.

When I regained consciousness, my range was a little smaller, but still too big. I didn't hurt, but that was partly because my pain settings were still very low. Searchlight was sitting outside with some of the nomads, asking them questions and listening to them tell stories. The medic sat on the ground nearby, meditating. She un-shuttered her optics when I sat up.

She was also very old, and I found myself wondering what it was about this life that allowed mecha to live so long without fading.

"Welcome back to the land of the online," she said. "Feel better?"

I nodded.

She pulled a crystal container full of energon out of subspace and handed it to me. "Drink this and then you can go reassure your chatty friend that you're all right."

I hesitated, feeling uncomfortable, but I knew she wasn't going to let me leave without drinking it, so I opened the port in my shoulder and poured it in. She watched thoughtfully. Well, that's a sloppy way to resolve that issue. And I suppose the replacement for his faceplate is alright, but he's got some strange things going on with his helm—processor, voice, box, everything… whoever repaired him after whatever took his faceplate from him must have been a very poor medic.

The events surrounding the accident that had killed my creators were one of the few things Crescent had been successful in keeping from me, so I didn't know much about the medic who'd saved my life.

Also, no medic had ever been able to find anything wrong with my voice box before.

"Well, run along."

I wanted to ask her about it, but she hadn't said it out loud, and she was now just annoyed and wanted me to leave so she could keep meditating.

"Thank you," I said.

Her expression softened. "You're very welcome, mechling," she said. The other one thanked me as well. These are good fledglings. Sometimes I worry about the way they raise their creations in those city-states, but I suppose good mecha can be found everywhere.

I left and went to go join Searchlight. He made room for me and I sat down next to him. A mech in the circle got up and went to go inform whoever was in charge that I was online again.

"…And then I… oh, welcome," the mech who'd been talking said. "It's good to meet you."

I nodded.

The big mech who'd found us came over as well, though he didn't join the circle.

"Are you well, mechling?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Thank you." A lot of my paint was gone—it had probably come off when they'd cleaned the acid off of me. And if it weren't for my pain grid being turned down, I'd probably hurt. But my vents felt clearer, and that energon felt good in my tanks.

The mech smiled slightly and nodded to me before leaving. Something had been nagging in the back of my processor about him, but it wasn't until he thought about it that I realized what it was. A lot of these mecha reminded me a little of Yoketron. It was because they'd spoken to Primus. The mech who'd helped us, that medic femme, and the mech Searchlight had been engaged in conversation with.

Everyone watched as the large mech walked away.

Searchlight turned to me. 'Wave, these mecha are crazy awesome. They just wander around Cybertron, exploring and mapping and watching as things change over the centivorns. I mean… part of me thinks that's amazing, and another part thinks it would be processor-numbingly boring, but either way it's awesome.

The mech who'd been talking to Searchlight leaned forward, studying me with bright optics. "What's your designation, friend?"

"Soundwave," I said.

"Are you from Iacon too?"

"No, Kalis," I said.

I wonder what happened to his faceplate. It would probably be rude to ask.

"Do you like it there?" someone asked

"Have you traveled anywhere else?" another put in.

They did this to me too. You don't like questions, though. Maybe I can…

I shrugged. "I've traveled a little," I said quietly. The fact that I had too many mecha in my processor certainly wasn't helping me feel less overwhelmed.

…change the subject. "Hey," Searchlight said. "Who is that mech?" he jerked his helm toward our retreating rescuer. "The one who saved us."

"Oh him?" A femme across the circle said. "Fortress Maximus. He's a good mech—we're sorry if he scared you, he can be a little intimidating."

"Yeah," Searchlight said. "A little.. you know, he said something on our way here," Searchlight said. "He told me you all have different reasons for being here. I'm curious…"

Mecha glanced at each other, thinking about their reasons. It was true they were varied. Some had run from society, some had been pushed away. Some had come seeking something and had found it here.

"A lot of us, including Fort Max himself, came to get away from government corruption," the mech on the other side of me said. "Instead of conforming to the injustices of society, we decided to leave, and follow Primus's paths instead."

There was general nodding.

"I came seeking enlightenment," the mech who'd been talking to Searchlight before said. "Or at least… further enlightenment. I'd recently found out for myself just how real Primus was, and I needed to be around other mecha who believed the way I do." He looked at me and I saw him notice that Primus had spoken to me as well.

They're also super religious, Searchlight thought at me. And some of them are probably actually crazy.

He didn't understand. There was something peaceful about them—about this way of life. I couldn't feel it, because there was too much commotion in my helm, but I could feel them feel it. They were close to each other, and close to Cybertron itself.

A couple of mecha came over. "Come with us," one of them said. "Our leader would like to speak with you."

Searchlight and I got up and left the group, who waved at us, hoping we'd come back and talk when we were done, though some of them seemed to think we'd be talking to their leader for a long time.

Their leader was sitting outside the camp, also meditating. Fortress Maximus was there too, to stand guard, and also to tell his side of the story.

The leader of these nomads was old like Yoketron was old, and he felt it even more than our Circuit-Su master. He didn't move until we were already right next to him. And then he waved for us to sit down in front of him.

The two who'd brought us left and it was just the four of us.

"Welcome, mechlings," the old mech said. "You are fortunate we were nearby. Are you well?"

"Yes," Searchlight said. "Thank you very much for your help."

He nodded. "What are your designations?"

"I'm Searchlight, this is Soundwave," Searchlight said.

"Good to meet you both. I am Dai Atlas, and we are the Circle of Light."

Searchlight nodded.

"You are free to stay with us for as long as you like," Dai Atlas said. "We are not currently going the direction of Kalis, but we can send you with some guides if you need to find your way…"

"We're both fliers," Searchlight said. "We can get home, as soon as the storm's over."

Dai Atlas nodded. "Perhaps you'll stay a few decaorns anyway."

Decaorns… Frag, no. Breeze and Ratchet and my creators are probably worried sick already. They'd be sending out search parties if we disappeared for decaorns. And we'd be really behind on classwork. This is a good excuse for missing one orn, but missing decaorns… "We'd like to, but we have to get back to school and… you know."

Dai Atlas nodded. I forget how busy their world is. It isn't healthy. We have all this time in which to live and experience, and yet they burn themselves out so quickly by rushing around... "That is all right."

"Is there anything we can do to repay you for your kindness?" Searchlight said.

"Yes," Dai Atlas replied. "At least, there may be. Perhaps some of them told you, but we traverse this globe, navigating between natural springs of energon. There is one very near here, but many levels beneath the surface. And… it has been poisoned. When Fortress Maximus first saw you he thought you might have something to do with it. Do you know anything about this? Do you know anything that could have caused it?"

Searchlight looked at me, and I shook my helm.

"No," Searchlight said. "I didn't even know there was an energon spring anywhere near here. We were really just passing through and had to seek shelter from the storm."

He seems truthful. I will believe them. "Well, thank you in any case. I've found that knowledge often comes from the least likely of sources," Dai Atlas said.

"You were far from any exits when I found you," Fortress Maximus said. "You wandered after leaving the surface. Did you see anything out of the usual?"

"Well…" Searchlight said. "I don't think so, except… there was some energon on the ground in this big cavern… possibly somewhere you and your mecha stayed in the past, because it was near where we first saw your footprints."

"Hmm…"

"It tasted weird. Like that energon your medic gave me."

Dai Atlas and Fortress Maximus looked at each other.

"Probably nothing," Fortress Maximus said. "We did set up camp last decaorn back in that direction. Someone could have spilled their energon and failed to clean it up."

"Everything bears investigation at this point," Dai Atlas said. I'm deeply troubled. I would like for there to be some sort of simple explanation, like someone poisoning the spring. If the poison came up with the energon, then the problem may go as deep as the Core. But the Core can't be poisoned... "Thank you, Searchlight and Soundwave."

Searchlight nodded.

"You may return to the others if you want," Dai Atlas said. "Unless you have any questions or requests."

"We… wouldn't want to bother you, sir," Searchlight said. He seems really old and stuffy. He sounds like he might just start spouting religious nonsense if we keep talking to him. I wonder if he's older than Master Yoketron... but I don't know if asking him how old he is would be polite. Maybe I can ask one of the others.

Dai Atlas looked at me. This one has spoken to Primus… that is strange. Primus has spoken very little of late. "Soundwave, may I ask you a question in private?"

I nodded, then turned to Searchlight and nodded to him as well. He went back toward the light and conversation of the group.

Fortress Maximus hesitated, but Dai Atlas stood, and suddenly, though he still felt very old, he no longer seemed frail in any way. "Fortress Maximus, I can see you are concerned, but I'm certain I will not be in danger. You may remain here. Come, mechling. Walk with me."

We walked away from the camp, for which I was very grateful.

Dai Atlas waited until we were out of hearing range of everyone else, and then turned, so we were going in a wide circle around their camp.

"How old are you, Soundwave?"

"Almost five vorns," I said.

"That is remarkable," Dai Atlas said, studying me carefully. There's something else familiar about him… I'm not sure what… "Do you know why that is remarkable?"

I shook my helm, though I did know.

"Very few mecha in the last three decavorns have heard Primus's voice."

I nodded. Then I looked up, realizing that if anyone could explain that to me, Dai Atlas could. "I… have a question about that."

"You may ask it."

"I… I had climbed to the top of a cliff, and there were these pillars… I had…" I remembered why I'd never asked anyone about this. It was hard to separate the story from my abilities. "My hands were scraped up and I'd lost part of a finger… While I was up there I heard a voice. All it said was "sparkling" but after it spoke, the pillars started to sink back in, and my hands were healed. I never understood it."

Dai Atlas frowned.

"Do you know what those pillars were?"

The pillars? Yes, but this is still baffling. "Primus created this world not simply to be our home, but to be his frame. He protects and cares for us. Certain things move and shift, keeping us in alignment with the sun, allowing atmosphere to penetrate and circulate through the center of the planet, moving rust and debris and draining away the acid rain so that we have a clean place on which to dwell. Is this no longer common knowledge?"

I shook my helm. "They don't teach it in schools." Some mecha didn't even believe Primus existed. Crescent didn't think about it much, and I had to admit I'd questioned once or twice.

"Hmm…" Dai Atlas said. I wonder what they do teach then. But this is intriguing… "I am more interested in why Primus chose to speak to you."

"I don't know," I said.

There must be something. He does not act without a reason. "There is no shame in that. There are many things I do not know. Probably at the end of my life, there will be more things I don't know than things I do. That is the way of existence—there is always more to learn." Troubling things are happening. Energon wells poisoned, mecha losing the knowledge of Primus. It is as if our great creator is fading… though I can hardly dare to think that might be the case. "Keep this question in your processor," Dai Atlas said. "Keep searching for an answer. Primus speaks rarely these cycles. You must have some significance, some role to play."

I looked down. All things considered, I'd rather not have a significant role to play in the grand scheme of things. I had enough problems already.

We made a full circuit of the camp, and I listened to Dai Atlas talk about Primus and Cybertron and the universe. There was something good about this group of mecha—something peaceful. If there weren't so many of them, I'd be tempted to join them. I was certain they'd welcome me.

Once we'd come back to where Fortress Maximus was waiting, Dai Atlas stopped.

"Thank you for speaking with me," the ancient mech said. "You may return to your friend. If you are to leave us next orn, then the both of you must rest before your journey."

"Thank you," I said, then nodded to Fortress Maximus, who returned the gesture approvingly. I wandered back toward the rest of the group where—true to form—Searchlight was now the center of attention.

One of the friendlier mechs he'd been talking to before was teaching him how to fight with a staff, while half of the camp watched excitedly. They'd cleared out a big circle for them to move around in, and everyone was calling out advice and encouragement. I sat with the rest and watched. After a while one of the older femmes came over and told everyone off for making so much noise, insisting that mecha were trying to get some recharge before they had to break camp and move the next orn.

Searchlight and his new friend walked over to me as everyone dispersed, talking animatedly.

"You're very good for your age," the other mech said.

"Are you kidding me?" Searchlight replied. "I was on the ground more often than I was on my pedes."

"But you have talent, and wonderful form—you just need fifty more vorns of practice."

Searchlight shook his helm. "Are you serious?"

The mech laughed. The staff probably isn't this mechling's weapon anyway. He has the strength for it, but he's not conservative enough.

"Hey, 'Wave," Searchlight said, sitting down next to me with a sigh. "What did you talk with that old mech about?"

I shrugged. "Universe nonsense."

Searchlight nodded. "I thought as much." I learned some cool new tricks. I wonder if Yoketron can fight with a staff—do you think he'd teach me some different weapons if I asked him?

I shrugged again.

"Universe nonsense?" Searchlight's friend said, somewhat offended. "Our leader is very wise. I'm sure whatever he said…"

"Soundwave didn't mean to be disrespectful," Searchlight said. "Honest. It's just an inside joke."

"Ok," the mech said. "Well, in any case, I'm sure you're tired, and you should rest before you leave next orn."

"Yeah," Searchlight said. "I guess."

"Come, I'll find…" he trailed off as the medic from before came over, looking somewhat cross.

"I want those two near my tent this off-cycle, just to make sure," she said. "And far away from you, Wing. You'll keep them up all off-cycle with your ceaseless chatter."

Searchlight smirked a little. I think Ratchet would get along pretty well with this femme, don't you?

I was grateful I didn't have a facial expression because I wouldn't have been able to contain a smile.

"Ok, ok," the mech said good-naturedly, and swung his staff up across his shoulders. "Recharge well, all right?" He called over his shoulder as he walked away.

I didn't recharge well. My range was too large, and the pain kicked in before it shrank small enough that it wasn't so much of a problem. But I didn't want to raise questions about why I needed to rest far away from everyone else, so I didn't say anything.

I did manage to shut down for a little while, but not nearly long enough, and by the time the camp started to get up, I had a bad processor ache.

They insisted that we stay a little longer, so the medic could make sure we were all right. She wasn't very pleased with the fact that I had a processor ache, and made me promise to have one of "those useless city medics" take some proper scans and find out what was wrong when I got back.

Searchlight went around and said goodbye to the friends he'd made, many of whom gave us directions about how to get back to the surface, and a few who even offered to take us there. But it wasn't too complicated, and I'd been able to develop maps just from listening to various mecha think about what route we should take. There were even a couple of good shortcuts since we were fliers.

The sun had risen by the time we reached the surface of Cybertron. Searchlight commed Keepsake first to let her know we were ok, and then we flew all the way back to Kalis. By then, I was definitely not up for going to class. I needed to go make sure my symbiots were all right. Ratchet would probably have remembered to feed them, but I wanted to make sure, and they were probably worried about me.

Even though classes had already started, Ratchet and Breeze were waiting in my room.

"What the pit did you do?" Ratchet demanded as soon as we came in. "Recharge all off-cycle in the rain?"

"No," Searchlight said. "We found a camp of nomads to hang out with."

Ratchet glared at him. I am not in the mood to put up with your sarcasm.

He looks skeptical. "No really," Searchlight said. "We found a camp of nomads and they took us in. We met their leader, Dai Atlas…"

"What?" Ratchet said. "He's not real… I mean, even if he was, he'd be more than a thousand vorns old."

"Yeah," Searchlight said. "That's possible. Master Yoketron's that old."

Ratchet shook his helm. "You and your fragging stories."

"I'm telling the truth! Tell him, Soundwave."

I shrugged. "We met Dai Atlas."

Ratchet stared at me. "This is some sort of joke. You actually…. You actually tried to cross the uninhabited lands in between Iacon and Kalis during an acid rain storm and actually ended up getting rescued by an old historical folk tale and his band of nomads?" I can't believe this. He's got to be joking.

"Well, unless they were all lying about who they were," Searchlight said.

"Maybe you were hallucinating," Ratchet grumbled. That is not fair. I can't even imagine… that mech is supposed to know everything.

"Their medic was kind of crabby," Searchlight said. "Reminded me of you, actually."

Ratchet glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"And if I was hallucinating, then why isn't there any acid on me?" Searchlight asked. "I mean…" he looked down. "There's not much paint either."

"You two should probably do something about that before you go to class," Breeze said. "And Searchlight, why didn't you comm. me when you got back to the surface? We were worried sick. Fortunately, Keepsake let me know once you'd talked to her, but..."

"Oh, sorry," Searchlight said. "I totally forgot."

Breeze glared at him. He forgot that I might be concerned about him spending an off-cycle out in an acid rain storm?

Everyone's always upset at me. Searchlight glanced at me. Why are they never mad at you? You could have remembered to let Breeze and Ratchet know we were all right.

Ravage jumped up onto my shoulders, and I had to grab the doorframe to steady myself. I needed to get some actual recharge now that my range was back to normal.

"Well, I'm going to class," Ratchet said. "As long as neither of you are hurt."

"Nope. The nomad medic repaired us," Searchlight said. "So we're fine."

Ratchet turned his glare on me. "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "Tired," I said.

"Then get some recharge!" Ratchet stormed out of my room and down the hall. Idiots. Nomads, caves, acid rain—I told them it wasn't a good idea to go flying all the way to Iacon so soon after getting their alt modes.

Breeze left as well, glaring over her shoulder at Searchlight. At least they're ok. No one got badly hurt. I almost wish I could have been there for the nomads, though. That sounds like it was really interesting.

I shut my door and Ravage hopped off of me onto my berth and looked up at me, tail flicking.

"I'm sorry," I said, before he could complain about being worried.

He deflated a little. Next time I won't let him go without taking me.

I shook my helm, and lay down on the berth.

Next time, I'd take the mass transit.

Notes:

1. Yeah, so in my headcanon, the city-states don't cover the entire face of the planet. There's a lot of empty wilderness, and there are a whole bunch of nomadic tribes who wander around between the cities. They survive off of energon springs and the like. I decided to make the Circle of Light one of them. :)

2. Also, I'm pretty sure Fort Max isn't canonically part of the Circle of Light, but I kind of wanted him to be, because I thought he'd make an awesome nomad. He'll join the Autobots later, after the war starts.