The Diego Diaries: Budge (dd8 426)
=0=Med Center
It was very quiet in the room as Appa Ratchet sat beside the bed holding Budge of Iacon. He held that little mech's servo as he took in the shock of seeing a brother that he hadn't seen in eons of oceans of time. Lying silently in the med berth next to him, Mystic of Iacon was equally as silent.
Ratchet walked into the hallway where Chan and Tie Down stood with Ironhide and Prowl discussing quietly the situation before them. It was a miserable tale to tell.
"My Atar's brother and Mystic, they were with us all my earliest childhood until they heard about a way to make some money and advance our dream, to have a little shop together. They signed up to go to a work station near Junk but it wasn't there. We didn't know where they went but Junk was a lie. They just disappeared.
"When we tried to find out what happened the government didn't do anything. Shortly after that a message arrived saying that they loved where they were and would stay over, then return eventually. Eventually never happened," Tie said.
"They were trafficked then," Prowl said grimly. "I was working on trafficking, children and adults when the Army needed me. I figured I'd have more power and contacts as S.I.C. but every time I tried I was blocked. I never stopped investigating things until it became too hectic. Even in the Diaspora I looked. Someone had enough money and influence to cover things up really well. It had Primal imperatives stamped all over it."
"Sentinel," Ironhide said as he glanced at Ratchet. "How are they?"
"Doing better. You can't discount the effect of Class A energon on someone in their condition. They're rundown, overworked and show the effect of electrical control devices on their nervous systems. I can fix all of it but what they feel, I don't know. Maybe having Appa and everyone here will help out." Ratchet glanced in the doorway where Appa Ratchet was sitting with Docker standing behind him.
Corr was sitting with Mystic holding his servo.
"They just dumped them, Prowl. They dumped them on a planetoid and ran. I think they ran because the Knights were moving into that area and they had to flee," Ratchet said. "We have to go there and scour that place. We have to find anyone left and whatever we can to tell us who did this. Who knows how many little elders are there."
Prowl winced. "I'll get on it," he said. "I don't have words big enough to tell you how much I hate this. When will they come out?"
"I'm going to move them to the Medical Center at Central Point tomorrow and have them stay there through the graduated care program until we can have them with us. We're going to have to have housing close enough. I don't know what the building has available but I think we need that for them."
"If we have to move to another building to be with them, Ratchet, we can. I don't want them to be alone anymore," Chan said with a worried expression.
Ratchet hugged him. "One step at a time, Appa."
=0=Ops Center, early in the swing shift, 1500 joors to 0300 the following morning
She walked into the huge room toward the command table where Paragon was working on his shift's vast agenda. She paused before him and grinned as he looked up at her. "Hi, Eugenie."
"Hello, Pari," she said as she pulled a chair to sit. The two had been friends in college before Paragon had gone to the Autobot Military Academy. Now she was a senior detective slash lawyer on the
Committee for War Crimes. "How is the family?" she asked.
"The kids are growing like weeds. Arrow is loving his job. We both work days together now. I'm filling in for a mech having a family obligation."
"That's good. I heard that Arrow works in the Flight Center across the way," Eugenie said.
"He does. It took a bit but he finally was chosen so we could have the same schedule," Paragon said as he relaxed. "Its so much better than graveyard shifts."
Eugenie nodded. "I'm on call because of stuff, Stanix stuff. When that's over I'm back in the saddle. I just came to check on something I received from Ratchet." Her ada was a Queen in the Empress's Court. "What's this about elders being picked up after being dumped off somewhere? I got a call in from Ratchet but there isn't much to it yet."
Paragon's expression turned to coldness. "44 elders were dumped on a planet out where the Knights are exploring. Someone dumped them and ran. They appear to be a trafficked bunch from way, way back. Someone has been floating the Wheelus Faction as the broker. No word yet on the corporation that bought them." He shook his helm. "I don't know what you have to be to find that okay."
Eugenie nodded. "I know. I love cases like this. Its time for a burst of powerful justice. Its my great honor to deliver it," she said with a grim expression of her own.
They would sit and talk, Eugenie would get the few particulars of the case, Ratchet as a contact and then the wheels would roll.
Finally.
=0=At the Citadel, Greater Iacon, Cybertron at 2200 joors Cybertron time
Hard Drive cut up tiny sandwiches into smaller bites as the babies sat on the big conference table politely watching him. He put them on small cup plates then gave them to the kids.
"APPA!"
'What, Orion?" Hardie asked his most amusing infant.
"I LOVE YOU!" he said as he bit into his tiny sandwich.
"Appa loves you," Hardie replied as he sat down to watch them eat. Delphi, Raptor and Blackjack were with him in the ornate dining room for the Primes and his most senior general officers. "How was your new school today?"
"I liked it, Appa. You coming there?" Praxus asked with a big smile.
"I will. I hear that Hero is about two classrooms down from your sister," Hardie said.
"Hero is there," Praxus said as he smiled again. "Its fun."
"Do you miss your other school, baby?" Delphi asked.
"I do. Its fun there. Everyone in our group is here in our new school. Omi Neo and Omi Laret are there. They're our teachers again."
Orion nodded. "The shes dere. I love them shes."
"Omis love you, Orion," Hero said with a big smile. "I love having them with me at my school, Appa. ITS SO FUN! We get to eat lunch in the cafeteria again. I LOVE IT!"
"Done deal then," Raptor said. He grinned at the three. "I'll bring Halo here in a joor or two. They're still in school."
"They go three orns less than you, hence longer orns," Hardie said. "I approve. Now we have to steal her from Ironhide on those orns."
"Good luck with that," Delphi said with a chuckle, then he paused to take a message. Swearing softly, he glanced at the others. "Appa Ratchet had family show up from a priority rescue by the Knights, a brother and brother-in-law. They were trafficked a zillion years ago and abandoned on a planet to die. They're in the hospital and Ratch is pretty shaken."
"Are they going to be alright?" Hardie asked. He sat back grim faced. Few were the mechs who didn't know about the trafficking situation on the planet during the 'golden age'. "Frag."
Delphi nodded. "Ratchet said they're pretty fragged but should pull up pretty well. He's going to move them to the graduated care system at Central Point, then figure out where they'll live when they past muster there."
"Frag," Raptor said. "Do they need us to come?"
"Ratchet hopes we can help manage the kids. He's going to be with the two and the others are upset. They're staying to assist. Ironhide can take the kids but maybe helping at dinner time would be handy."
"We can do that," Blackjack said. "I'll contact Alor and we can get that organized. The big kids have clubs and such tonight. We need to get a handle on that, then things should be alright."
They would discuss things off line with Ratchet and Ironhide until their shifts were over and they could come home to assist.
=0=Ratchet
He stared at his brother, a mech he had missed with a dull ache all his life. They were the sons of a pair of mechs who'd been part of the First Revolution against the Quintessan Oppression, Immortals who were exempt like Hercy. The two looked like each other and were temperamentally polar opposites. Ratchet was outgoing, happy-go-lucky and feisty. Budge was quiet, very tuned into things and liked to do quiet activities like working steel into intricate designs and making up fantastical shapes and notions from his vivid introverted imagination.
When he met Mystic they were at a party where a lot of those present were as varied as imaginable. It was a Stanix mixer and a lot of bonds came from them.
Budge was working on a job there and was invited to the dance. Seer Clan didn't often mingle with others but Mystic was different. He was kind and good, seeking to know more about life than his clan could produce and looking for a good mech who would help him find it.
When he and Budge saw each other it was love at first sight. It was as if they were one half of the other and when they came together it was a whole spark at last. The restlessness of Mystic and the loneliness of Budge vanished. Wherever the other was, that was home.
Then they got a chance to make money to finance a small shop that his beloved brother Ratchet wanted for his family. They would go in together, Ratchet as a tooler, Budge assisting while making the designs for things that were wondrous and fanciful while Mystic plied his trade as a seer on site. It was their dream.
Then it turned into a nightmare when Budge and Mystic disappeared.
Over oceans of time Ratchet mourned the loss of his brother, his only surviving relation as far as he could tell. He'd learned in the colony that hope was always possible but given his age and the span of time he'd lived he'd learned to temper hope as they all did. To see his brother in the same room again was almost unimaginably painful.
He squeezed Budge's servo, then glanced at Mystic. He was still as sweet and good as he always was, though the wear and tear were evident. He would have to take them into servo and be the big brother that he never stopped being, dreaming in some small corner of his processor that this moment would eventually come.
It had. Now he had to take into hand all that followed and steer both of them back to the light. He would be a brother again.
=0=Eugenie
She walked back to the office from the Metro station nearby. She worked in a tower that was home to a lot of different departments that did a lot of things that were needed by the colony and Cybertron to get back on its feet. Her department, The Committee on War Crimes and Investigations took up an entire floor of the Legal Building on 14th and Severn in Bern.
She walked off the elevator, passed through the lobby and its swarm of worker bees, then down the corridor nearby to her big office with its amazing windows and tech out the wazoo. She entered after checking with her secretary, then walked to her desk to sit. Gathering her thoughts, she plugged in to call a number of individuals about the new case.
"Hello, Har-Lee," she said as she reached the Director of Special Investigations at the Watch Tower in Metrotitan. "This is Eugenie."
:Gee, how are you? Are you calling about the Slayer Case file?: a cheerful mech asked as he answered her call.
She grinned. "Not yet, pal. We have a new case, a nasty evil case."
:Oh frag: Har-Lee said. :What fresh hell is this one?:
She nodded in agreement. "Someone trafficked mechs a long time ago and when they were being nudged by the Knights dumped them on a planet to die. They're elders now, Har-Lee. They lost a lot of their lives being slaved for some fragging corporation. I want chapter and verse. I need a detective to be there for the interviews and case manage the Forensics for me."
:I'll volunteer: he said. :The only charge will be dinner and dancing along the way:
She grinned at this good looking big youthful appearing mech. "You drive a hard bargain."
He laughed. :Done deal?: he asked hopefully.
She grinned. "Done deal."
=0=TBC 5-4-2022
All notes will be answered tomorrow. I lost my phone and half my mind spending time to find it. I didn't so I got a new one, one taking a lifetime to figure out and then GUESS WHAT!? My old phone rang an alarm. Now I have a spare camera and computer. I ALWAYS do this. :D:D
Budge and Mystic are modeled after my Uncle Barney and Aunt Margaret. Hugs to both of them for being the gems of the earth. :D:D:D
