The Diego Diaries: Stuff (dd8 93)
(I have a jumping cursor so if you find weird words here and there that's why. I usually edit the next morning but I'm going to add a pre edit review before I post these and edit again in the morning.) HUGS! (I also have an autocorrect problem. I think its time for a new computer. LOL!)
=0=On the street
"Where are you going?"
"Elsewhere," Ironhide said as he patted his chassis. "We have stuff to do."
"Child Find sent me a notice," Ratchet said as his elders stared with amusement at their little mech.
"Frag Child Find. Let them find their own child. I got mine," Ironhide said as he stepped toward the Metro and disappeared in seconds.
It was silent a moment, then Sun grinned. "That mech is a mess."
Ratchet dazzled them with a smile. "You just noticed?" he said through it.
Huge laughter greeted that as they began to disperse. Soon it was only Hardie, Sun, Jack and Ratchet. Sun turned to Ratchet and the others. "You ready for this?"
"Yep," Hardie said with a grin. "We better motor."
They walked toward the Metro and one of the many entrances that would take them below the city to the massive and various underground marvel that was the Central Labor Hall or as it was locally known, 'The Old City of Autobot City'.
=0=Prowl
He sat at the command table going over the datapads that each of his five assistants had left for him with data that outlined the sit-rep for each of their own focuses. Legal had outlined the Primal trials with special circumstances that faced them. There was the Wheelus Faction, the Sun Base situation and one other that was still just a notation as the legal beagles of Mars worked out their disposition. He didn't personally care. Two were bad enough.
Sun Base was going to be a big one with lots of witnesses and the absolute conviction on his part that the Pantheon would intervene. How could one quantify crimes on this scale and get anything near what was necessary to achieve balance again? He was glad that they had such a mechanism. It was one of their many glories.
Optimus walked into the Ops Center from his office, pausing by the table. "Anything of great import?"
"No. We have a couple of Primal Hearings with Special Circumstances coming up. Then there's the business of Polity. Of all the slaggers out there with delusions of grandeur, he's the one we bagged," Prowl said.
Prime grinned. "He is. Maybe a visit one of these orns. I can bring a fruit basket perhaps."
Prowl grinned. "I'll pack it specially for you."
=0=In an armory down below
Halo walked along behind Ironhide as he did his daily inspections. There were rows of new bombs and other weaponry and he wanted to make sure it was up to snuff. Also, he had to show her a few of the new things and get her 'take on it'. She grinned as she looked at her reflection in the shiny casings stacked to the ceiling all around her. "Atar?"
He slowed, then looked down. "What, Princess?"
"I doin'," she said as she paused, then pointed to her little slightly distorted image in the glossy curved surface of a shell casing. "I doin' me. I, Halo seed dis."
Ironhide grinned as he bent down to look, then he stood up and shook his helm. "I think I nearly blinded myself from your cuteness."
She looked up at him, then smiled. "YOU FUNNY! I LOVE LOU!"
Ironhide grinned at her, then picked her up. "I love lou, too. Ice cream?"
"KEEM!? WE DOIN'?"
"We doin'," Ironhide said as he slid her into his hold. "Keem is on the way." With that, he walked to the elevator and the short ride to a cafe in a small storefront nearby. Keem would be had and it would be great.
=0=At a hearing in the Central Labor Council General Meeting Room #37
They sat together, Hardie, Sun, Jack, Ratchet, Rockwell, Periodic and both sets of their genitors. It was as uncomfortable as one could expect. Hardie was running the meeting because this was a possible chance for Rockwell to be freed from caste court supervision.
"And that's the extent of his progress toward the goals set by the court," Sun said with a grin. "The adoption was a frill I added myself."
Neither set of genitors made a comment but their auras were awful and everyone knew that part was anathema to their sensibilities. They were related to Sun of Praxus and there was nothing that could be done about it. Even if it was more ceremonial than anything else, it was still a tie to a mech that the four of them obviously loathed.
"What do you plan to do if this ends the custodial portion of your sentence, Rockwell?" Hardie asked.
Rockwell and Periodic sat side-by-side. Rockwell glanced at him, then Hardie. "I want to work at my profession. I'm a lawyer and good at it. Friends have a firm and they want me to join it. They do research for the government regarding human laws, treaties, contracts and the like."
"Would you enjoy that?" Hardie asked.
"I would," Rockwell said. "I always liked the law. This is different so I think its a challenge. Doing legal research into alien customs and behavior has always been interesting to me."
"What about you, Periodic? This has been chaotic," Hardie asked.
"I want Rocky to be happy. He's a very good lawyer and I think if it makes him happy then I'm for it," Periodic said evenly.
They'd been through the mill and counseling, the two of them. Apparently, that made the difference in the new paradigm, that and the fact that the Pantheon was done with bullshit.
"What about you?" Hardie asked as he glanced at Periodic and Rockwell's genitors.
They stared at him stiffly.
"My son is ready to start on his own. I want him to have all the rights and privileges he deserves," Rockwell's father said.
"Deserves or is granted by virtue of caste?" Sun asked.
"The Pantheon, apparently, made that a moot issue," his father replied stiffly.
"But not for you," Sun suggested.
"What I want and what is possible aren't the same. My son is the issue. He wants his freedom and he's earned it. I hope you can see that," the big mech said.
The others nodded.
"Well, I think he's ready. He's a new mech. You on the other hand aren't. You still have the same problems but its my hope that you don't undermine Rockwell. He earned his freedom from the court. I have also asked for commutation of his legal issues regarding his conduct in the migration and here by Prime who granted it," Hardie said.
Rockwell looked wilted for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you," he said as Periodic nodded.
"Well, is there anyone here who objects to a discharge of the sentence against Rockwell?"
Ratchet grinned. "Not from me. What about you, Dad?" he asked Sun.
Sun laughed loudly. He'd have none. Rockwell would walk out a free and very changed mech.
=0=Ratchet, later on
He sat at his desk going over slag with a datapad laying open nearby. On it was a flier giving the general information for Halo to report for a screening for Child Find. She was of the age where she was school eligible and would have to attend some form of formal education as per the rules of the road. It could be a Sparkling school, a prep school or any other configuration of a private institution. It could be a religious school as such was to be had at the Temple for a limited number of children or the Monastery of the Clavis Aurea, also for a limited number of children. Other little private schools existed but the Circle was the largest one in the colony with campuses in fifteen different places.
The one that most of the family's infants attended was the flag ship of that group moved from Terra into the Business Plaza here in The City occupying the entire third floor of the building. It was located so conveniently that Prowler was delivered there every morning by his Amma and Appa who worked two floors below at RTR Tools unless things came up.
They often came up.
Ratchet sat back to consider the conundrum that this notice presented. Either Ironhide would have to entirely home school her himself, a thing that was sort of common here among those most traumatized by their lives or put her into the academy. It would be a terribly wrenching thing for a mech who'd her with him since her birth.
He grinned. It'd be amusing to watch him crawl for another. That he'd do so would be the fun. That Ratchet would put his big old ped down was even more fun. They had a lot of dependents underaged. Between cows and kids, they were good.
"Ratchet?"
He glanced up at Lim-Lee. "Yes?"
"There's been an accident at Earth2. I think you might want to go there," Lim-Lee said.
"Any information?" he asked as he rose to go.
"No," Lim-Lee said. "They have to report it but there's no information so far."
"I'm on my way," Ratchet said as he walked out, hit the elevator to the 24th floor, then took the bridge to the parking lot of Earth2.
=0=Inside Earth2
There was very little going on to signal that anything had happened to anyone as a small car ran down the road to the big elevators. It entered, then went up immediately. On board was Owen Harris, Jason Daniels and Cindy Tomas.
They drove out of the elevator on the third floor, crossed the expanse, then pulled to a stop. Getting out, they gathered around a small crowd that included a medic that had been bridged in from N.E.S.T. Someone was laying on the ground and there was a heavy light fixture laying nearby.
"What happened?" Owen asked.
"We don't know. The light overhead must have fallen and hit him," someone said. "We called the medics when we found him."
By then, a tall figure stepped out of the elevator, scanned the scene, then walked briskly to the gathered group. He paused behind them, noting everything from his elevated state. A man was laying on his back, blood was pooled by him and he looked awful. A heavy light was laying nearby and he put two and two together. Glancing upward, he noted one of them missing from the multi-spectrum array over this patch of the field under cultivation. "What happened?" Ratchet asked.
Sargent Corey McFarlane glanced up at Ratchet. "That light fixture fell from the ceiling and struck him, Ratchet. It glanced off but its pretty bad."
Ratchet subbed a meter, then scanned the downed man. "He's got a skull fracture. There's some damage to his shoulder. He needed to be moved from here and have the attention of a surgeon. I detect a brain bleed. It can be attended to right away and he should recover."
"On it," the N.E.S.T. medic said. "We're bridging in a surgeon from Earth and Phoebe is going to assist. We just have to move him."
Ratchet nodded, then watched as a stretcher was brought over and the man loaded. It was only when he was wheeled away that Ratchet took a moment to examine the light fixture. He scanned it, photographed it, then glanced at a solemn Harris and company. "Don't touch that until Forensics goes over it. I've sent for a tech and a public works specialist in accidents to come and check this out. If its tech failure then we need to go over the entire array system here and elsewhere."
Owen nodded. "Very well. By the way, I have a request in for an appointment with Prime. What are the odds he'll change his mind?"
Ratchet considered that. "Your argument must be compelling and reasoned. Just saying this is the way we always did things won't cut it. You used to 'always do' slavery once upon a time, too. Tell him how it helps the greater good and helps people who work here. Even though this is a great opportunity and people really want to be here, its a lot to ask to give up a freer life in a safer place to come here and live in a terrarium.
"Prime loves people. He cares about them, their well being and progress. If you always remember that, then you have even ground with him for discussion. Fall below that and get used to losing." Ratchet glanced upward. "Frag this." He glanced at the group. "They're here. Let them figure it out. Our metals rarely fail in these situations. I know. I'm a master metallurgist myself."
The elevator opened and two mechs walked out, one bearing the tattoos of the Watch and its Forensics Division and the other flashes from Public Works and Industrial Safety Administration on their shoulders. Crossing the floor, they paused by Ratchet, had an off line conversation, then glanced upward. An array was missing a large multi-spectrum light.
"How the frag did that fall?" the public works guy asked.
"Damned if I know," Ratchet said with a grin. "I expect you'll take custody of that light?"
He nodded.
"It fell and nearly killed a human just now," Ratchet said.
The two mechs glanced at each other, then Ratchet.
"Will he be okay?" the tech asked.
"I think so but its a long haul for him to get back," Ratchet said. "I suppose that's part of his contract, the time to recover?"
Owen Harris nodded. "We have that covered."
"Good," Ratchet said. "That's the sort of thing that pleases Optimus. Just so you know."
The Watch tech had glanced at the light, then without warning, thrusters in his peds kicked on. They roared as up he went to check out the placement of the light on the array arm.
Jumping back in surprise, the humans gathered watched with amazement as the Seeker tech, young and obviously not well versed in human foibles checked out the light's attachment mount. He took images, then removed the part that was still there. He then lightly came down to stand on his peds. Glancing at the light fixture, he subbed the piece he'd removed from above. "I'll take that to the office. We can test it. Its sort of twisted." He glanced at the humans. "Do you feel the earthquakes we have here?"
The humans glanced at each other, then him. "No."
"We have them all the time, mostly undetected by organics. If the metal was defective and I'm not saying it was, then it might be the cause." He glanced at Ratchet. "I'm only speculating."
Ratchet nodded. "No one here is going to take speculation as gospel. Do you need help with that?"
"I got it," he said as he picked it up. He glanced at the public works mech. "Come to the office with me. We can test this and try to figure out what happened. The joins of the others appear to be fine." He held out a small datapad with the images he'd taken.
The public works mech looked at them, then Ratchet. "They look fine. We're going to go over all of them in all the habitats. We won't have an answer for a bit. We're going to make sure we get this nailed because the human got hurt."
Ratchet nodded. "Good. I need a report and so does Prowl and Prime. Springer needs one as well."
"What about us?" Owen asked.
"There will be a hearing on this. Someone got hurt and we have to discuss it. You will get a report as well," Ratchet said. "I need a report on the human and to know if there's anything we can do for him or his family as well as the owners of this facility. We'll be in touch." He then walked to the door with the two youngsters to disappear.
They watched him go, then Owen glanced upward. "I hope it wasn't sabotage."
"How would they get up there, whoever it might be?" Cindy asked.
Owen shrugged. "I don't know. I'm holding out for metal failure. I don't want anyone under the arrays until we know."
They walked to the vehicle, climbed in and buzzed away.
=0=Later in a lab
"So your conclusion is what?" Springer asked as he and Drift stood beside the techs and Sky.
"Metal failure."
=0=Earth
"Good evening. Welcome to Live At Six. I'm Gina Wayne and these are my colleagues Martin Wendle, Stuart Barney and Jim Kessel."
Three men sitting in an informal array of couches and chairs grinned at the camera. Their program was highly rated on their channel and millions viewed them both conventionally and on line.
She grinned at them, then read from a teleprompter. "Today it was reported that an unnamed man who lives and works at Earth2 Habitat on Mars was struck and nearly killed by an overhead fixture that presents multi-spectrum lighting in the agricultural portion of the facility. It's unknown what caused the light to fall and the extent of the injuries of the victim along with his identity are being withheld.
"It is known that a neurologist was bridged from Earth to Mars to assist Doctor Phoebe Grant in surgery immediately after this was reported. The outcome of the surgery is unknown. It would appear that a news blackout is in place about this event." She looked at her colleagues. "So … what do you suppose this is about?"
They would speculate on it luridly for the next two hours.
=0=TBC 02-16-2021 02-17-2021