The Diego Diaries: Festival (dd7 40)
=0=Upstairs
"Ada?"
"What, Rambler?" Prowl looked around the corner from the wash rack where he was bathing Sojourner while Solus stood next to him on the floor.
"Can Sunspot come up for a little while?" he asked with a bright hopeful smile. Standing with him was T-Bar and Spirit.
"Yes," Prowl said with a grin.
Three young mechs ran for Spirit's berth room where they were 'facetiming' with Sunspot. Huge laughter rolled out of there as Prowl returned to the task before him.
Standing on the table specific to the little ones, Sojourner was covered in a cloud of bubbles. She smiled at Prowl as he gently rubbed here with a huge sponge. "You going to do Solus and Possibility, Ada?" she asked.
"And Miracle. Him, too," Prowl said with a grin. Two little mechs who had just wandered in were standing on the floor looking up as they watched Sojie. Both of them were their usual amazing level of cleanliness but both would be getting extra care on their armor as would everyone else.
Optimus had been ambushed by the twins earlier in the morning and he, himself had gotten a detail and buff during his noon break. Both looked good and so would the tiny Optimus Prime lookalikes standing on the floor around him.
"Ada?" Possibility asked as he swayed on his little peds. A week before, he'd pulled himself upward, then set off at a mad pace on his tiny peds which directed him straight into a wall. He had surprised everyone with his ability to walk but he was still working on the landing.
Both Prowl and Prime had been taken by surprise. None of the kids, themselves were. Apparently, he had been trying to walk for some time.
"What?" Prowl asked as the baby stepped forward, then fell onto his tiny aft.
Possibility looked up at Prowl, then smiled. "Ada."
"What?" Prowl asked as he gently sprayed Sojourner.
"ADA!" he said, then chuckled a fat baby chuckle.
The other kids grinned at him as Solus and Miracle tugged him back up to his tiny peds again. His beautiful simple pure white Optimus Prime format was immaculate already. He smiled at the kids, then fell down again.
"Ada, Possibility can't walk very good," Solus said as she tugged at him again.
"He shouldn't be walking at all," Prowl said with a grin as the infants struggled to help the wobbly baby up again. "He's smart and fast. Just like all of you."
Solus steadied the happy baby, then glanced up at Prowl. "He's small."
"He is. Let's hope he stays that way a while," Prowl said as he toweled off Sojie.
Possibility fell down on his bottom once again. Even he laughed with the others.
=0=Downstairs
"ADA!"
"WHAT!?"
"BWAHAHAHA! LOU DOIN' MY SHE!"
"What did he say, Hero?"
"He said you copied him, Ada."
[Silence a moment]
"How?" Ratchet asked as he held Praxus and Halo in his arms.
Hero smiled, then shrugged.
Ratchet laughed loudly, then watched as Sunspot stepped into the room to go upstairs.
"I'm going to Uncle Prowl's house now," Sunspot said as he carried his favorite airplane with him.
"Come back when you're called, infant. Festival is tomorrow," Ratchet said.
"I WILL!" he said as he walked out the door. It closed behind him.
Ironhide came seething out of the wash rack. "THERE YOU ARE!" he bellowed.
Five little kids bellowed back, then ran in all directions. They hid where they could or stood under the table shivering with excitement. The two in Ratchet's grip wiggled until he set them down before dropping them.
Halo ran in a circle, then straight to the red chair where she pressed her little face into the seat so she could 'hide'.
Praxus ran to the table, then to the cupboard nearby. Opening it, he climbed into it squeezing himself into a space filled with cleaning things. The door didn't close completely.
As usual.
Ratchet stared at them, then Ironhide. "You sure know how to clear a room."
"Don't I? I AM IRONHIDE! I KNOW HOW TO CLEAR A ROOM AND MAKE THE SHORTIES HIDE!"
Squeals from everywhere greeted that as Orion ran from the table to the chair where Halo was pressing her face. He slipped behind it as Prowler walked toward Ratchet dragging his little bear behind him. He stopped in front of them, then smiled.
"Prowler … I wonder where everyone is? I can't find them," Ratchet said with a grin.
He grinned back, then pointed to Halo. "There Hay-Ho."
Ironhide grinned at his daughter, then his son. "I think she must have camo on. I don't see her."
Prowler smiled, then walked to Halo who was still 'hidden' with her face pressed against the seat of the chair. He patted her arm and she looked up at him, then smiled. "Hay-Ho … Atar wants to give you a bath."
Halo stared at him, then glanced at Ironhide. She squealed, then pressed her face back down.
Ironhide and Ratchet who were busting a gut off line glanced around. "Where did they go?"
They'd chase them a moment, wash their tiny afts, then plant them on their berths. No separate rooms tonight other than their own. The Siren was going to sound in two and a half joors and then all bets were off. The sooner these slaggers were in bed, the sooner they could stuff their faces for the fasting ahead.
It would take a bit of time. Good thing that the older kids were staying overnight with their ammas and appa.
=0=At the Port of Autobot City, Refugees and Immigration, Big Frame Yard District
They kept coming, a steady drone of newcomers all of whom were stoked to be here, helpful and infinitely grateful. They were aware that the Festival of Primus was soon to announce itself through the traditional siren, one that signaled the beginning of the Solemnities and Reflection as well as the Fast.
No one who didn't or couldn't do it was required to comply but a lot did out of respect for Primus and gratitude for their new lives. There were the usual shifts of individuals who would take them into servo, help them to their new homes, answer questions, demonstrate any number of things, then head back for more. Shifts of colonials came and went, helping their people the way most of them were helped.
When the siren sounded, the flow would be cut until midnight Martian time the next orn. The last few thousand individual refugees would stagger on world, get their assistance, then go to a new life to collapse in luxury and count their blessings.
It would go on for just under two more joors.
=0=Night Patrol
They rode past clubs that would be closing down in less than a joor and a half. The business districts of nearly everywhere were already shut down. The Chamber of Commerce had decided to facilitate everyone's family time that business joors would end at 1600 on the TMC for everyone but bars, clubs and restaurants. A poll was taken, consensus reached and thus, A New Rule. They would close at 1600 joors across the colony, then hospitality would shut down at 2200 joors.
So far, there were no arrests going on. There were a few fights to break up but nothing that warranted arrests. Everyone seemed to understand how unseemly that would be if such a thing occurred. Mostly, their evening patrol consisted of helping newbies, settling arguments and stopping the odd fight.
It was a miraculous evening for all concerned.
=0=2150 Joors, TMC
The ships settled, ending their tours of this and that part of the system. Mechs who were technicians for various installations or devices in space were coming home, leaving everything on automation. The lights of the airfield were bright and the illumination almost surreal as they walked onward toward metro stations, highways, cabs or homes nearby. All commercial and military flights beyond the simplest routings would be halted until after midnight the following orn.
The bases everywhere beyond the solar system were put on automation with a mech in overall management shifting in and out every joor. Everyone would have their time off but for that short time apiece. No matter where anyone was, the Blessings would reach them and the entire ceremony would be heavily covered for broadcast everywhere including enemy camps. Cybertron would get the entire ceremonial but the humans would receive one that was edited.
In less than a joor, the siren would sound and the Solemnities would begin.
=0=Alternative individuals in Special Circumstances Detention, Autobot City Military and Civilian Prison
Alt Neo and Alt Kudon sat on their couch watching television. It was what they did in the evening, gathering intel as they tried to cipher out their new life. Luckily, they were caged together without other inmates making things more difficult than they already were.
Food would be offered or not, their choice and they would have a front row seat via their television. They had no idea what a Festival was nor did they know half the deities that were in play for this one. Their world and its culture were much different they were finding. How that would help them was unknown but what was known was their determination to find a way out of jail.
Images would flicker across the screen in their darkened quarters as they watched The Hourly News and a special program, "Festival of Primus-2019." It would be tremendously enlightening.
=0=Tower
The mech who held the honor of signaling both the start and end of the Festival of Primus from its inception here stood on the platform at the top of Fort Max in the cold darkness of night. He was waiting for the moment to come to pass where he'd unlock a large box, press the button and once again set the wheels of their culture in motion.
He had done it from orn one and was given the honor every year. His Stanix family were deeply proud and let everyone know that their son was the one who signaled all of it.
He was pretty proud, too.
T-minus 42 minutes.
=0=By the big windows in the living room staring down at the airfield
Prowl and Prime stood side-by-side watching the colony wind down. In a few moments, the siren would signal and no one in the house but the children would eat again for another orn. It was silent, just them and Miss Kitty sitting on the piano nearby. The lights were low, Prime had his arm around Prowl's shoulder and nothing needed said.
It was perfect.
=0=Downstairs
They sat in their chairs slagging down the last of the ice cream, cookies and Celebration cake. In ten minutes, the siren would sound and things would be slim pickings for a while. The children's pre-prepared food boxes were nearby courtesy of Ammas and Appas from Ratchet's side of the gene pool.
Standing by Ironhide's peds, Robby the Bruce waited for his share of the bounty. No one ever said that cows had to fast.
Or dogs.
Bugs.
Owls and ponies.
Like that.
"Pass the chips, hoarder."
"Get your own, slagger. A mech has to maintain their frame. Do you think I get this by skimping or sharing?"
Ratchet grinned. "No. Cheapo."
Ironhide grinned. "Can't make me feel badly."
"No, you're slagging shameless, Ironhide."
"Ada? Lou me?" a tiny voice said.
Both of them looked down.
Orion looked up with a dazzling smile.
He got one chip and a relaunch into his little big boy bed. He made it just as the siren rang out over the colony.
"Frag," Ratchet and Ironhide said as they walked out to see the stash on the table that would have to wait.
=0=On a tower
He opened the box, checked the time, then pressed the button. He held it as the sound rolled out over the plain. Everyone from The Resort to the farthest habitat would hear it, pause to listen, then know that introspection could commence. He held it for a full minute, then released the button. He looked out at the glittering landscape of home, then locked the box. It was a short walk down and a shorter cab ride to home and family.
The Festival of Prime had officially begun.
=0=TBC 7-17-19
ESL
inception (in-sep-shun) the beginning of something