The Diego Diaries: Stuff (dd8 522)

=0=Ops Center, The Fortress, The City, Mars

"I ran the profiles in the Med database for about 100 of the high tones in the prison. I expected good health and for the most part got it. I also found out that a lot of dynastic bonds had occurred both in the recent as well as distant past. This group is almost hermetically sealed in their relationships.

"There are about 74.6% of the 100 individuals I checked who are very closely related genetically, like 'first-cousin-nearly-your sister/brother' related. Most of these bonds when they happened on Cybertron appeared to follow the pattern of the typical dynastic bond which almost never resulted in a real bond of any kind. They were transactional. I'll adopt your whoever and we can then combine our wealth, vision or plans to make a stronger base for both of us.

"Bonds like your genitors, Prowl, are very rare. Most of them aren't between anyone who would likely bond because they're fond of someone. These were business deals and that was that, business, politics and inheritance. Your genitors perhaps make up less than 1% of the dynastic bonds that happened," Ratchet said as Prowl nodded.

"Some of the bonds are old, the dynastic non-relationship ones," Ratchet said as he showed a complex chart of data and dates on his data pad that looked like three or four spider webs superimposed over each other. "The red lines are typical dynastic bonds that have only prurient or financial reasons for existing. Sentinel Prime's family has a chart like this, too, and it probably accounted for the speed of his rise to Prime.

"Now this one, the blue lines, they show the ones that resulted in an actual bond. The yellow lines show offspring that resulted from these bonds. Note the number and kind. These bonds are just one or two relationships apart from brother/sister relationships. They kept so close to their genetic pool, never bonding out of it, that they ran out of pairs that weren't closely related. I am going to compare the data of Homeland and that group who had the same problem to see if there's a correlation among them.

"The 'Cons actually did them a favor by running them out to the bigger ocean of possibilities that exists here. They were running out of possibilities and probably didn't understand the danger of it."

"What in the long run does this mean besides we may have a lot of genetic defects showing up in their children?" Prowl asked as Prime studied the data pad.

"That's just it. I detected only one mutation from this," Ratchet said tapping a key which isolated one bonded pair, the children of financiers that bonded and produced six children just before The Fall. "They were already self isolating into their sphere of money and power even before Cybertron fell and this pair is ground zero for the problem we're facing.

"It would appear that the mutation here has affected about three fourths of them to a great degree, the 75% number of the 100 I've studied. It's a processor defect, a rare thing overall to happen in this part of their body. It would account for their behavior. They're basically incapable as of this small assessment and that can change their perception regarding making good decisions based on the situation before them.

"When they refused to assist us in getting the chips out of everyone's helm, they were exhibiting their problem. They apparently can't reason from step one to step two, let alone all the others toward step ten. Their ability to reason is impaired and it isn't because they're being slaggers. I will say that's part of who they are. They can't reason because they can't."

Prime glanced up sharply. "Then you are saying that we have a group in our midst that can not read a situation and make good judgments about what to do?"

Ratchet nodded. "It's a small sample and they might just be an anomalous group that in the bigger group is less concentrated. But something tells me that this is how she rolls. We have to study those slaggers in the prison. They're a larger group. I need a Primal hold on all of them and teams organized to get their data. We don't need to hold them. We can do it remotely."

"You have it," Prime said. "Prowl, please call No-a and Martlee to come here. I will issue it. Will you get in touch with Processor Health?" he asked as he glanced at Ratchet.

"Done deal. It could be that the problem is small but given their behavior and their limited desires to mix, I would say this is a problem. They have explosive chips in their helms and they will fight us before cooperating. They don't see that helping us with this will save their families and friends from dying. They won't know any better if they have the mutation and they do. Its a change in the part of their processor that reasons and makes decisions. If its anywhere else I'll have to have Turquoise read it for me."

He tapped the data pad. The colors were back. "This is the starting point, these two," he said as that group became white lines in a maze. "I'm going to remove those who don't appear at this point to have a mutation. They might but I can't definitely detect it without them on the machines in the Genetics Lab." He tapped the data in, then the white lines extended to most of those there through one or both of the individuals.

"Frag," Prowl whispered as he glanced at the data. He rose to make the call to the judges as Prime stared at it grimly.

"This is not good at all," Prime said. "Not at all."

=0=At the prison

They sat around their pens watching the others around the prison, some of them extremely dangerous. It was tense in the area with everyone glaring murderous expressions of hatred at each other. The guards were beefed up given their behavior and they walked beats around all of them watching for anything. When a prisoner showed a violent tendency they were moved up a notch in the watch department.

The femme sat on a chair by the bars watching the guards in the towers. She knew they would shoot them if they ever broke out of here and the other guards as well. She had never been imprisoned. This was a new experience for her and the others. Their lives had been lived in relative peacefulness with trade between their colonies and transient traders giving them a good living.

When the 'Cons came they argued unwisely. The beatings some of them were given were instructive. Even they knew it was unwise to stay. The conversations on the lines they made between the several colonies burned up as they gathered to go. Those closest to the route they were ordered to use left and met up eventually with the bigger migration. The others would follow when they were organized.

Arguments when they reached the migration ensued with the leadership of that group necessitating the visitation of Dai Atlas and Star Saber. It was startling to see one of the Guiding Hand enter their ship and read them the riot act. She'd been uncertain for a bit over the encounter but it hadn't done much to settle the fire that burned in her. She was the nominal leader and she wasn't going to take slag from anyone.

When she saw a group of mechs walking from the gathering darkness with equipment heading their way she sat up straighter. What was going on, she thought. What new slag were they going to impose on her and her group? It was enough to bring them all to their feet in all ten pens that held them.

=0=Conference Room 1, The Fortress a short time before

"And that pretty much sums it up," Ratchet said as he turned to the group who was listening grimly.

"We need more data. We can locate the mutation in their CNA at this juncture along with any others if we use the portable lab to get it," a med tech geneticist named Pom said as he showed on another screen the marker in the endless data that was the only known mutation this far.

"I agree," Turquoise said. "I'll take the scans and read them. We can see if there's a counter marker that it trying to overcome this mess." He glanced at Prime and the others. "We are unique in our species in that we have internal repair systems that keep us going. They're set to optimal for our species and when they detect a problem they go after it to either repair it, shunt it around in a work around or isolate it so it doesn't do more damage. Its not unlikely that this falls into that category. Our processors can do a lot of repair but its more limited than the rest of us. Our CNA has limited self repair possibilities but you never know. I've seen miracles."

"I will get it to you," Ratchet said. "We're going to go to the pens of those held and scan them remotely. If we can just get a bead on this then we can plan what to do. Not only do we have chips in helms among a wide ranging group with more coming but we have this behavioral problem. I think I can guarantee that they won't cooperate for any of it."

Rung nodded, then glanced at Jarro. "I agree. I think we're as the humans say, 'fucked'."

Jarro grinned at the little mech's slight divergence. "I think that explains it thus far."

"We have to do this right, Prime. They could shoot and maybe harm themselves with the chips in the doing," Blackstone said worriedly.

Prime nodded. "We need them located. What has the Bureau of Refugees and the Housing Department said about lists?"

"They're preparing them," Prowl said. "Some of them weren't happy about being so spread out. Some of them threatened to change their housing themselves. Its likely knowing this that they did and its going to put some off for discovering where they are."

"Oh joy," Jetta said grimly. "We better as the humans say, 'haul ass'."

Prime nodded grimly.

=0=A half joor later at the prison holding area

Ratchet stood in the street that separated the pens from each other. He had their transponders listed and the scans would transfer their data into files he'd made for each of them. They were staring at him with murder in their optics. No one said a thing but they would if they hadn't been told to remain silent by the femme whose name was Fila.

Techs ran the machines including hand held devices that looked like pick up mikes for outside recording. They pointed them at the group and began.

Prime, Blackstone, a grim Coln-2, Jarro, a fascinated Rung, Prowl and Jetta stood nearby watching the show as Ultra Magnus and Ironhide joined them.

"What's up?" Ironhide asked.

"We have a problem. It could be that the defiance they gave us this far is genetic and something they can't control," Prowl said quietly.

"Oh frag," Ironhide said.

Everyone nodded.

=0=Two joors later in Ratchet's office at the Medical Tower

The data spun as Turquoise sat nearby working on what they had. Copperton was there watching him and the others as they waited grimly for the results.

The sun had faded some time back and it was dark outside, dark amid the usual lights that made the city a marvel to see. Yet even with that, it seemed sinister tonight.

The data stopped flowing, then formed in readable forms for Ratchet. He rose to walk to a big wall monitor and console on a desk. He sat and began to key it in. It flashed on the screen and as it did Turquoise rose to look at it.

He walked closer, then read. It was silent for a moment, then Turquoise glanced at Ratchet. "It would appear, Doctor, that they nearly all have the genetic mutation."

Ratchet nodded grimly. "What about mitigation, Turquoise?"

He turned to the data, then scrolled it slowly for a moment. "I can't discount it in some of this data but I'd have to study it more closely. I would say that if its as widespread in this group that its a given it is in the larger one." He turned to Prime and the others. "I will take this and give it my full attention. Somewhere in this has to be mitigation. Our internal processes never stop until our spark does."

"I would be relieved if you do, Turquoise. I want everyone here to be part of this task force. We have to find and monitor the whereabouts of those who are free." He glanced at Blackstone and Coln-2. "I just received the paperwork for the Primal Hold and I am going to ask them to make it an open warrant for those out there. Once they are all located we have to grab them at the same time. We cannot allow this to become a riot."

"The unrepentant high castes among us might see this as their chance," Coln-2 said.

"They can try," Prime replied coldly.

=0=TBC 9-12-2022

ESL

mitigation: (mitt-uh-gay-shun) anything that makes something better. Being sick can be mitigated by medicine and care.

hermetic, hermetically: (her-met-ik) (her-met-ik-lee) in a way that is completely airtight.

"hermetically sealed windows help to keep out cold air"

in a way that is insulated or protected from outside influences.

"hermetically sealed lives cut off from society"