The Diego Diaries: Moving Forward (dd8 369)

=0=Out in the boondocks

The ship scanned a wide ranging area before picking up on a signal from a rough stretch of open terrain.

"I think I have something," Taro, the pilot said. He angled the ship downward to settle near the signal after alerting Springer and the search team.

The hatch opened as Partition jumped out with his kit followed by Lancer and an orderly from the hospital who came to help. He ran toward a deep hole and slid to a stop. Turning his lights downward he saw a dust covered figure curled up below. Sliding down the side of the hole, he walked toward the figure and knelt. Putting his servo gently on a small slender arm, he patted her. "Amma? Are you ok?"

There was no movement from the little femme who was covered in a layer of fine dust. She looked like she'd tumbled downward, hitting rocks on the way to leave mars in her sweet shiny finish. She was silent and tightly wound in the fetal position.

Partition scanned her, sensing that she was in a state of mild stasis probably brought on by the fall. He looked upward at the others staring down at him in the light of the runabout. "We need to get her out of here and at the Med Center fast." Reaching into his kit, he pulled out a slotted device for her neck port to send her condition to the Center which he was texting as he worked.

A sled attached to a rope was being lowered to his position, one that was braced by the pilot and the Watchman who had come with Partition. He pulled it over, removed the straps and arranged the cushioned pad inside. He turned to her, then with enormous care gently pulled her toward him to place on the sled. She didn't move but fell limp in his gentle grip. Arranging her on the sled, he covered her with a blanket, then coupled the straps to hold her in place.

Glancing up, he stood. "Pull her up gently. I'll come up behind and guide her from this end."

The rope tightened, then slowly and carefully the sled was pulled up with Partition following, staggering up the sliding rocky sides of the hole. She disappeared over the lip of the tiny crater so he hurried to follow.

It took a moment to arrange her for transport but they finally loaded her, then jumped aboard as the runabout took off for Autobot City and the Medical Center there.

=0=Earlier

"Ada?"

He peeked into the berth room where his genitors slept with her medication in his servo. He paused in the moonlight with a rush of such frigid fear that it was almost nauseating. He dropped it, then searched the room, the apartment and the hallway of their apartment. He couldn't find either his father or his mother.

Rushing back into the apartment, Bando hit the 'panic button' that was set up by Home Health Care and their genitor's social worker, Paxton, for all families who were taking care of mentally impaired individuals or those who have extreme disabilities in their homes. He felt the world spin as his bond and two kids stared at him.

"Where's Appa and Amma, Atar?" his sub adult son asked.

"I DON'T KNOW!" he replied as the world around him broke into a million bits of shattered emotions.

=0=Moments later

A group arrived at the apartment to see a distraught femme and a young mech waiting for them in the hallway with several others who lived there. One of them, their social worker named Paxton paused before them. "Lind-D, what happened?"

"Amma and Appa are missing! Bando came to give Amma her medicine and found the room empty," Lind-D said as she rung her servos with fright.

"Where's Bando now?" Sever who was a Watchman attached to the substation that was kept at the Med Center to accompany social workers on calls like this glanced around at the group gathering from other apartments.

"He's looking for them. He took Milo. They left a moment ago," Lind-D said as she clutched her younger son to her body. "I'm so frightened about this."

"We have an all call for vulnerable individuals out and the sensor grid is on it," Sever said. "We need to get Milo and Bando back here. This will be handled by us faster if we don't worry about them rushing around."

"I called him to come. I'll do it again," she said as the elevator opened and a distraught mech and his emotional son stepped out of it. "PAXTON! DID YOU FIND THEM!?"

"We're here to get this going. An all call is out and the Watch and Army are using the grid to find them. Just come inside and …" Paxton paused a moment to take an internal call, then turned to Bando. "They just found your atar and are flying him to the Med Center. He's awake but confused."

"What about my ada?" Bando asked.

"They're still looking," Paxton said.

"WHAT! AREN'T THEY TOGETHER!?" Bando asked frantically.

"Come. Let's go the Med Center. You know they'll find her so lets get there and wait," Paxton said.

"If you want the children to stay with us, Lind-D," an elderly femme said who lived across the hallway and was waiting with them, "we can help that way."

A moment of anguished ruckus was had, then they thanked their neighbors profusely. All of them would go to the Medical Center together.

=0=Earlier

They wheeled him into the emergency room, then hooked him up. The elder care specialist on duty was rushed in and he worked on the data. Glancing at the emergency room doctor, he thought a moment. "I think someone hasn't been taking their medications."

"There's a femme missing, too, one that's even more troubled than him," the doctor said as he read the data on a pad in his servo. "Severe situational dementia and very progressed protoform wasting. They came from a colony that was chased around and their ability to care for themselves properly was compromised. We need to blitz this little mech to get him back on track."

The specialist nodded. "I agree," he said as they worked together to save the little mech.

=0=In an apartment in Bern listening to the news

"The Emergency Command Center issued an update on the missing elders. The mech of the couple was found and is currently receiving care at the Autobot City Medical Center. He was found by himself sitting on a light platform on the highway leading toward Aerie Hill. A femme, his bond, has not been found yet. Both of them suffer from conditions that impair them and are considered to be highly endangered and vulnerable elders.

"The Watch found the mech and are currently looking for his bond. They are cared for by their adult children and appear to have wandered away from their home. No foul play is believed to be a part of this sad story," Jacx said as he reported in from the Autobot City Medical Center. "If you find her, a petite femme with a white and blue paint scheme, please contact the Emergency Command Center at 919. It is critical that this little femme is found. Her name is Jezzy and she hails from Uraya on Cybertron. Again, the contact number if you find her is 919. Please stay with her and comfort her. She is a critical care patient and moving her without professional help could be harmful."

"What the frag," Arrow said as he sat on the couch folding children's environmental gear. Paragon sat beside him with a concerned expression. "Their family must be dying over this."

Paragon stood. "I know. I'll be back shortly, Arrow. I have to look into this." With that, Paragon walked to the door and left.

Playing on the floor nearby were their two children, growing like weeds without a care in the world.

"Do good, Parie," Arrow said as the door closed silently.

=0=Arrival

They arrived at the Med Center with Paxton and his team. Heading upward to the Emergency floor, he leaned against the wall watching the family. They were distraught and would soon be followed by two other brothers and a sister with spouses in tow. It was an awful situation and he faced the same problem that had led to this moment, getting them to put their genitors into care until they returned to good health and their senses some fine orn. It was like that a lot, children of elders that weren't used to the idea that care was for everyone and felt the age old need to take care of themselves. Being included in every aspect of your society's life and abundance was a process for too many who came here from terrible places and life lived on Cybertron in the orn.

The door opened so they walked out together.

The floor was doing box office with shootings, stabbings, fights and other mayhem. It was expected on this, a game day starting a new sport season as well as the aftermath of the attack which was still resonating through the colony.

Paxton led them to a lounge. "I'll see how its going. You wait here for your family and try to relax. You can't wander on this floor but I can. Wait for me." He walked onward toward the nurse's station and the word.

Bando and the others watched him go, then slowly walked into the lounge to sit. He would be deeply relieved when his siblings and in-laws showed up. A few minutes after them, so would Paragon.

=0=On the way a bit later

They flew the silent patient toward Autobot City, flying priority clearance in their altitude lane. Upward over the city they flew to land on the pad at the top. It would take a bit of time to remove her to the waiting orderlies as Partition secured her medical equipment.

=0=Earlier

Paragon stood in the doorway watching the group gathered. They were distraught. He walked in to sit. "Hello."

Everyone glanced at him, none of them recognizing this very familiar individual in the state they were in.

"My name is Commander Paragon of Iacon. I am in command of the Operational Center during the day shift and part of the Prime's Senior General staff. I want to talk to you about your genitors and their situation. I just saw the reports on the Hourly News."

They stared at him with flashes of fright. Old habits about authority died hard. Then Bando who apparently was the oldest and boldest stood. "My genitors?"

Paragon nodded. "I am the individual who carries the brief for elders and other individuals who require special care due to their disabilities. I brought a need to Prime and he gave me free hand to fix what I saw as a big problem for families and those who suffered long term disabilities or required long term recovery settings. All of the programs in the colony I helped devise including the recovery centers and now the planned development called Center Point in the Midlands."

"That's the place where they put people who are sick or need help living. My genitors are living with me and we, all of us take care of them," Bando said as some of the others, but not all of them nodded.

"I want to tell you about an option available to your genitors that I want you to think about from their point of view. I had the same problem as you, taking care of a severely injured grandparent and even though my family could afford great care there was no quality of life for my amma. It came to me that we have another chance here and therefore, I decided to make options available to families struggling with this the way mine did."

Bando sat and the room became silent.

"Central Point is a graduated living facility development with full time medical and social care for those who live there. It was designed to provide everything those who are limited for whatever reason would need to feel included and fully served in their life. There's a medical center where those the most troubled can live in a hospital with a lot of amenities and attention. Experts in all the relevant fields are going to be on duty orn and night.

"The next step in the progression is a group home with small apartment style rooms arrayed around a central group facility where those who are living there can have a sense of independence while being assisted communally with the same level of care. The dining is communal and there are things to do and activities to join or not. The last level is an apartment with daily visits from caregivers to ensure that all is well.

"We wanted a place for them to be happy and well served so that families taking care of them could recover as well. Caretaker disease is a real thing. Do you work?" Paragon asked.

"No," Bando said. "None of us have a job yet because we take care of our genitors."

"You do it at home and do you take them out?" he asked.

"No." Bando stared at the floor. "They're still too sick but the prognosis is supposed to be good. They haven't been so good lately but they have an appointment tomorrow."

"You do know that if things don't look good you can come in any time," Paragon said. "We want all of our people to get well and be their best. Especially our elders."

Paxton glanced in, then walked in to sit. "Hi, Paragon. You're here?"

"I want them to consider the options available for their elders," Paragon replied.

"I hear you," Paxton said. Then he turned to the group. "Your atar is in a state of debilitation but they're working to right that. Has he and your ada been hiding his medication?"

They stared at Paragon and Paxton silently. It was evident that all of them had been caught by surprise at the question.

=0=TBC 02-17-2022