The Diego Diaries: Onward (dd8 581)
=0=The day going forward
Ratchet worked in the office getting the decks cleared and caught up on the situation around the colony, Gliese and Cybertron. There was the usual reporting on trends they were watching over, the reports on the chips that were extracted from the unusual former high castes in the prison, updates on the few alt universe prisoners that were still activated, a children's project to see if there was much difference between the growth and wellness of kids that hadn't had terrible lives on world or on the trail here and those who had, same with elders, same with sub adults mechs and femmes, a review of the new updated beginner's training manual that the kids had made for the mentorship program which he would have to sign off on 'because we want our training manuals, Commander, to be spot on perfect' -the Kids, a tour of his private patients both here and in homes and care centers all over the place and lunch with Old Mech.
His orn was packed.
=0=Las Vegas, Nevada, Earth
Alor sat down and read the reports from the Officer of the Day, then glanced at the sensor mapping that the White ship flying toward what they hoped was their home had to say.
Not much.
They were still speeding along, for them, and there would be a long wait before they reached anywhere that might have interesting or habitable worlds for organics like themselves. When he caught up he took a cuppa something and a donut or several to the lounge nearby with a stack of datapads. Some of them would even include work.
It would be a long quiet day on shift.
=0=On Cybertron
They sat in the big conference room in The Citadel in Iacon going over the progress of all the districts on world. They were doing well, at or exceeding building projections, removing, repairing and clearing up those things that Primus hadn't done Himself such as rivers, streams and other transport arteries for the energon that was just starting to emerge deep in the planet. He was beginning to recover in the areas that mattered, those that circulated His essence throughout His body. The pathways had to be ready to receive His 'blood'.
Soundwave who was overseeing the reporting from the field about the progress of land rehabilitation, a daunting task that included the oceans and seas of the planet gave his report, then sat silently listening attentively to what the others said about transportation, the camps, food and medical as well as the rising business sectors of the growing entrepreneurial class sweeping the world. It was heartening to hear to a home boy and maddening to a mech with his ambitions.
The meeting led by Hard Drive and facilitated by his two former top aides was a sour duty that he had to put in once a decaorn. When it was over he would walk to his townhouse, eat a lunch with his cassettes, then check on the acquisition of a small book, an ancient one that held handwritten legends of the Pantheon that was rumored to be owned by one of the leading members of the Revolutionary Council of the First War for Freedom, none other than HRD-DRV himself.
His morning would pass slowly.
=0=Sideswipe
He skated along the highway heading toward the Energon Administration Central Office on the highway down from the Mausoleum. He had to drop off some documents that needed a signature and then head for The Fortress to do more deliveries. He liked the job. It beat being on Charon which Sunstreaker was. He could rove, shoot the shit with slaggers along the way, meet Bluestreak for lunch at their favorite steak house in Centurion, pick up gossip and keep himself 'toned' for his real job, teaching combat skills and fighting. Now that they'd trounced their opponent and was the Comet's opponent in the championship game shortly, all was well in his world.
His morning would be speedy and full of amusements.
=0=Partition
He reported for duty at Watch Substation 46 where he was chief duty medic and a beat cop. He loved his job which allowed him to have experiences at the work he loved, helping hurt individuals while assisting his fellows do their duty as Watchmen. He was attending night classes at the Medical School of the University of Mars. He was training for his certification as a doctor of elders, hoping to specialize in elder call outs while working as a cop. There was a need and he aimed to fill it.
Lancer was working with the team at Special Ops. They were going with their set to the Valles on the weekend after the championship basketball game between Kaon and the Crater Comets. Everyone was going including his brothers and his brother Inweld's pre-bond, a cute femme Watchmen who was studying to be a social worker for at-risk kids for the Watch's Task Force for such, Teesie of Helex.
It was going to be an epic three orns.
=0=Ironhide
He walked through the bridge at Altihex to pass a number of Autobot runners heading for parts unknown to deliver who knew what. This was the freight bridge that connected to Cybertron through the Industrial Park City's chief transport depot, Transport Hub 10 at Warehouse 16 in Industrial Park 12. It was the one that delivered all the necessaries requested through the Foundry Exchange-Off World Orders/Cybertron that didn't require sky cranes to lift. He walked past stacks of computer components that he knew were going to augment the nexus hub for Teletraan 1 which was located at Altihex.
That city was a bubbling pot of rising aspirations and towers. It was as peppy or even more so than when he used to come here as a kid to visit his 'aunts'. Several old femmes had been a family support to Alor growing up and they were as family to Ironhide. He didn't know where they were but given their fortitude he expected them to walk into his house and lift him off his peds.
They had a 'little mech' problem as well, his Omi/Auntie Pic, Lietta and Meep. They were 'bachelor' sisters who liked each other so much, the freedom of their company and shared a deep scholarship in art history that mechs were second place all the way. They never bonded, they had a house so filled with art, some they made themselves and others from every artist beginning in pre-history to the modern times that matters that it actually rivaled museums.
They were such connoisseurs of art that they could spot a genius before he was 'discovered' and helped so many of their most gifted and talented artists that entire chapters of their cultural history consisted of their lives and efforts for The People.
When he looked into what Prime was going about today, he would see to it that they detoured to the house where they had lived, a vast sprawling lair that held more mysteries than he could have even imagined existed. Maybe, just maybe there might be some tiny scrap left of their fabled art collection. It was with a bounce in his step that Ironhide walked out into the brightly lit 'day' of Altihex to find Prime and be his right servo, go-to mech.
No one did it better.
=0=School, outside during the mid morning break
"You asked Ada?" Verilas asked with surprise.
Santee nodded. "I did. He said he would think about it. I can imagine he'd have to talk to Appa and Ammas. If they're going to have their friends come and stay it'll be so crowded. What do you think?" he asked anxiously. "Would it be a good idea?"
Eight handsome kids stared at Santee.
"I would love it having you with us. But its a lot," Genesis said as Quadrus and Fireball nodded. "Where would you recharge?"
The bell sounded so they began to walk to the building together. Rambler and Coros joined them as they went inside. The orn was only one quarter over.
=0=At a set of class rooms in the Autobot City Unified School District Central Office, Metrotitan
They passed in the corridor, one group heading to the pool while one group came back from it. Hero spotted Orion and Praxus sauntering along in their line as she did in hers. "ORION! PRAXUS! HI!"
Orion spotted Hero. "HO-HO! HI! I LOVE YOU!" He stepped out of line to hug Hero, then Ferrie, then Todo, then Banty, then Toby, then Micro, then …
At some point they would journey onward until the corridor became quiet again. Moments later, another door would open and Bron-E would walk out with her finalized class list trailing along behind her. A reshuffle had occurred and she was the beneficiary of the 'new' kids. Following along behind her to go to the Library would be among others Sojourner and Solus Prime along with Uraya and Iacon. It would be a happy chatty mostly femme group that would follow Bron-E to the library and a long discussion about the antics of little elephants and spotted leopards in the story, 'If I Were An Elephant Or a Leopard'.
They would decide they wanted to be both.
=0=In a classroom in Centurion
Sunspot took notes as Mr. Terradive described the attributes of a reef and how it helped a shoreline and the water it occupied. It wasn't any reef, however. It was the one at the Mithril Sea on Cybertron. In every chair in the room kids were taking notes, asking good questions and learning about how reefs were the 'canary in the mine shaft' of the health of the bodies of water, etc that they lived in. When they were sick so was the entire ecosystem.
Terradive was introducing the six decaorn segment of instruction in the rotating curriculum that was biology. They had closed out chemistry for now, putting it back into the rotation when it would come up again later on. They were going to learn biology based on Mars, Cybertron, the solar planets in the Sol System and a place called Spartacan IV-C. It was a faraway solar system of such oddities and extreme strangeness that it had become a major source of study by Cybertronian scientists since the Golden Age.
It was part of their study because the laws of physics didn't seem to apply there and the biology was so different and strange that it was a genuine treat to teach it to children who were always bedazzled by its incredible variations on what most would consider 'normal'. This was going to be a great time to learn in his class.
Standing in the corner of the room by the windows, the Christmas Surprise tree that they put up together when they arrived that morning was sparkling with lights and decorations. At the top would be a pair of hands holding Cybertron. Around the windows would be bunches of lights that were replications of Earth, Mars and Cybertron. They sparkled as well.
The kids, human and Cybertronian bent to the task as their teacher stood in front of the massive monitor that held all the images and information he gathered and put together to show what Cybertronian 'coral' was like and why it was so important to the watery ecosystems of their biggest bodies of liquid on world.
It would be awesome in Mr. Terradive's class that orn.
=0=Around
Ratchet grinned at the sweet little couple staring at him as they sat on their couch. Sitting and standing around the room were the children and grandchildren of the pair listening as Ratchet talked about their genitors' improvement. "You two are a caution. I get to cut back on your medication. Your protoform is at 82%. You're making it on your own now. You can go to physical therapy on an expanded schedule because you can now put stress on it to make it stronger."
They smiled at him, then the little femme patted his servo. "You did us a service. We made something for you." She got up, then walked to the kitchen. Returning with a tray, she handed it to him.
Ratchet looked at it, then her. He grinned. "How did you know this was my favorite thing in the whole world?"
She smiled. "You remind me of my kids. Thank you, Doctor Ratchet. I will make you more." She stared at him, then he got it.
He happily ate most of the plate of small round cookie-like disks that tasted ALMOST as good as his Amma Corr's. It would be a happy chat in the apartment for a bit before Ratchet walked onward to his next patient. He would have five of the cookies to go with him. He wouldn't give a single one to Ironhide.
They were ALMOST as good as Amma Corr's. Ironhide could get his own cookies.
It would be a very peaceful morning for everyone after the past few decaorns of slag.
=0=TBC 12-03-2022
Miners used to keep canaries in cages in mines. If they fell over dead then there was a gas leak and they had to get out fast. Being a 'canary in a mine shaft' is to be someone who warns of danger.