Ferronix
One week later the residents of Maestro's neighborhood awoke to a rude shock. The old robot had sold his beautiful home to an upper class 'family' from Iacon and was moving to the more rural, backlot town of Ferronix where he had purchased a small dwelling along the outskirts. He was leaving almost everything behind – mainly furniture – taking only a stack of metal sheets and datapads, and a few other essential items.
Orchestra ran up to him as he stood outside his old home obviously waiting for someone or something to come along.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, almost demanded.
"A very good morning to you too," Maestro replied.
"Can the jokes alright. What do you think you're doing! I haven't seen you step outside for almost a week and now suddenly you're going away! Why!"
"I need the money," Maestro said simply.
"Money? You have money! Enough to last you till you die."
"But not enough for what I plan to do. I thought about what you said that day and came to the conclusion that you were wrong. As long as there is life, music will always be a part of it – as an escape, as motivation, as comfort. Music is the heart and soul of life Orchestra. I thought I could count on you of all people to understand that. Without music, without the Arts, what are we but the mindless, empty, metallic shells we were created to be? Nothing but emotionless drones. What you said to me goes against everything we ever fought that war for."
"So you're just going to drop everything and leave all you've ever known to go off and create a new robot that you don't even know will work?"
"It's a risk I'm willing to take. I kept my promise to Chord, I looked after you all these years. But you don't need my protection anymore."
A small green truck rounded the corner and began to head towards them.
"Goodbye Orchestra. If you ever change your mind, look for me in Ferronix."
Saying that, Maestro loaded his few things into the back truck section, got into the cab and drove off. He sighed. He hated conflict of any kind, especially between friends, but sometimes there was nothing for it. He crossed his arms over his chest and began to hum a tune to himself. There was no need for him to drive. The truck was one of those Transformers. The transport company he had contacted had sent him because he was the only one willing to go into Ferronix.
"That's quite a nice tune you got there," a voice said and Maestro figured the robot could still talk while in alt mode. "What's it called?"
"Nothing really. It was just a random melody."
"Ah I see. Sounds lovely though."
"Thank you." Maestro frowned then. "Your voice sounds somewhat familiar. Have we met before?"
"I was just going to ask you that. Say, aren't you that old geezer from Freeflow's bar? The one who was sitting there and trying to overcharge his systems?"
"Geezer? Look who's talking. Yes I remember you now. You're the old guy from the South aren't you?"
"Levatron to be exact. Beautiful city, or at least it was."
"Was? What happened? Why did you leave?"
"Fighting. A bunch of turbo-rabid young punks strolled in there and started causing trouble. Said they want to take over the place. Over my rusting carcass. And I didn't leave. I came up to Polyhex to get some fuel and supplies. Needed some extra credits so I went over to the transport company to see if anyone needed a lift along the way. They tell me some mech needs a ride into Ferronix."
"Which was me I'm guessing."
"Yeah. And by way of introduction, the name's Pickup."
"I'm Maestro."
"Well Maestro, if I may ask you the same question you asked me, what's a gentlemech like you from Polyhex doing moving in with the riff-raff in Ferronix?"
"I needed the money."
"Pardon me for saying this, but you looked like you already had enough to last you for the rest of your existence. Folk in Polyhex usually do."
"Its not enough for what I have to do."
"What's that?"
"You said it yourself in the bar that night."
Pickup nearly braked to a halt, but recovered in time so that he didn't alter his speed. "You're going to create your own robots?"
"Robot. I need only one."
"Heh, well if that doesn't take the oil cake. Do you have any idea of what you're getting in to?"
"Not really. If I did I don't think I'd have the courage to go through with it."
"Now there's something you don't hear everyday. We could use a few of you old-timers down at Levatron."
Maestro stroked his chin. "Since you brought up Levatron again, tell me about these trouble-making robots. Why are they causing trouble?"
"Like I said, they want to take over the place. Some of 'em even bragging that they're going to take over the whole of Cybertron some day, can you believe the circuits?" If Pickup had been in robot form he would have been shaking his head. "Some of them are claiming descent from the old military hardware robots that occupied Cybertron when the planet was still young. Got too much high-grade energon clogging their brain components if you ask me. They'll never be able to take Levatron, let alone the whole of Cybertron."
"So there's no reason for us to worry?"
"Well, places like Iacon and Polyhex needn't worry. All them decent, upper-class, well-to-do folks there with their sophisticated technology. You however, now you're going to Ferronix. Folks there don't take too kindly to out-of-town mechs coming in, especially those from Iacon and Polyhex. If I were you I'd keep a low profile and not mention where you're from unless absolutely necessary."
"I'll remember that. Thanks for the advice."
It took longer to reach Ferronix than Maestro had expected – a little over two weeks to be exact – and that was including all the short cuts Pickup used. Still at least he wasn't bored. Freeflow had been right. Pickup did know how to tell a story, and Maestro found them highly entertaining. Finally one day…
"We're almost there," Pickup announced.
Maestro looked out through the glass as Pickup drove through the streets. If Polyhex's pristine neighborhoods were considered to be a form of heaven, then the town of Ferronix was the proverbial hell.
Most of the buildings lacked any color, having been reduced to various shades of black and grey. Much like himself, he thought wryly. Some were in various stages of destruction, ranging from cracks running up the walls to others with actual pieces of the walls missing. Few lights shone from within these buildings. Fires sprang up at regular intervals along the streets – mainly in the alleys.
Many of the robots too were not as well-preserved as their Polyhex counterparts. Some were gathered around the fires heating canisters of energon, while others lay sprawled along the roadsides, too weak to be of much use to anyone. For a moment Maestro wondered if he wanted to bring a young, innocent robot into… this.
"Its like they never moved on after the First Great War," he said. "I remember many of the towns looked like this.'
"They didn't," Pickup said. "They tried to, but they didn't have the funds. But don't let appearances discourage you. Ferronixians may not like upstart rich folk coming in and trying to show off their airs, but some of them are an honest bunch of bots you'll never find anywhere else – not even in Iacon. I've met a few of them down in Levatron."
Two days later the truck rounded a bend into the south-western district and after a short drive through the neighborhood, he came to a halt. "Here we are."
Maestro got out of the cab and gathered his things, allowing Pickup to transform to his robot mode. Both of them looked at Maestro's new residence.
It was a relatively small house, made of the same material as much of the other buildings in Ferronix, and much like them, had faded to a dull black color. It was located outside the main Ferronix area and there was a lot of empty land between it and the next dwelling.
"Look on the bright side," Pickup said. "At least you wont have pesky neighbors snooping around and trying to find out what you're doing."
"I just hope the place isn't going to fall down as soon as I push the door open," Maestro said.
"Only one way to find out pal."
But as shoddy as it looked from the outside, it was really quite firm and solid. It had a total of one room as you entered, and two rooms beyond that. To his surprise, Maestro found that he actually liked the place. It was even sparsely furnished.
"Well it works for me," he said after a while.
"That's good to hear," Pickup replied, "'Cause I've got to be on my way now."
Maestro walked him outside. "How much do I owe you?"
"Y'know what," Pickup faced him. "Keep your credits. Its on me and Primus knows you need the money more than I do. You just make that new robot and hopefully when you do I'll still be around to meet him."
"It's a deal Pickup, thank you," Maestro replied.
"Don't mention it." Pickup transformed back to his vehicle mode. "Good luck." He drove off.
Maestro watched him till he faded away into the distance, then went back into his new home. It was time to get started.
He spent the rest of that day, and the whole of the next adapting the house to his own needs. The large table that had occupied the front room was pushed to into one of the smaller rooms to serve as the platform on which he would create his new robot. All his drawings and designs were stuck up on the wall for reference. The other little room he took as his own quarters.
It was then he realized that to start building his robot, he was going to have to get all the equipment, in addition to a couple of recharge berths. Habit almost made him put out a call for a couple of engineers and mechanics to come in and install everything for him, before he realized that this was Ferronix and not Polyhex, and if he wanted anything done, he was going to have to do it himself.
So on the second day after his arrival, Maestro headed out into the main district of Ferronix on foot. And as he walked the streets he knew that, despite his coloration almost matching that of the city, he was probably the oldest mech many of the inhabitants had ever seen. In fact, as he passed the various groups of robots who were gathered on the streets, his audios often picked up words that sounded a lot like 'old geezer'. He also came to the startling realization that many, if not all, of Ferronix's residents were Transformers.
At last he turned into a doorway that led to what he thought looked like an equipment store. He went up to the bot at the counter.
"Do you sell recharge berths here?" he asked.
The bot made a noise that sounded like a grunt and inclined his head to the far wall on his right. Maestro saw a stack of old recharge bunks piled on top of each other. Not exactly what he had in mind, but they would have to do.
"How much for two of them?"
The mech gave him a quick once-over. "Fifteen credits for each of them."
"Very well." Maestro paid him.
After storing the money carefully in a box, the bot stood up and came out from behind the counter.
"So what kind of transformation do you have?" he asked. "Gotta know whether I can load these on you or have you tow them."
"Oh, I'm not a Transformer," Maestro replied.
The bot stared at him incredulously for a moment.
"I was created a long time ago, before transforming was even heard of," Maestro explained.
The bot disappeared into the back without a word and for a minute Maestro wondered if he had scared him off, but he came out a few moments later pushing a trolley in front of him onto which he loaded two recharge berths. Then he wheeled it over to Maestro.
"You can use this," he said. "As long as you can promise you'll bring it back here tomorrow because if my boss finds out he'll fire me for sure. I'm only giving this to you because I've heard the stories that the robots who fought in the first great wars were honorable."
"It'll be back here first thing in the morning," Maestro assured him.
Getting the rechargers from the store back to the house was quite an event, not only for Maestro, but for many of the robots who stopped to stare. They obviously didn't see this type of thing everyday. He was glad when at last the town was behind him and his own home ahead.
Never said building a new Transformer from scratch was easy...
Maestro's not one to call it quits just because other people dont see things his way... count on that... and Pickup is canon by the way.. can anyone guess who he is?