The Diego Diaries: Change, It's A Process (Inevitability) (dd7 58)
=0=Conference room at The Fortress, The Brig
It was funereal in the room as the two young mechs tried to figure out what to say to Optimus. All of their notions and ideas were thrown to the wind.
Pico set his cup down. "I'm so tired. Everything that I know is wrong. I don't know what else to say but that. My family is going to be confused but I'm not going back. All of the suffering and war … I don't know what to do. I want you to tell me, Lord Optimus, what to do." Pico looked at him with desperate emotion in his optics.
Prime sat back. "When things change this much it can be hard to find your way. There are many who can help you. We do not hold the need for counseling and other forms of processor health against anyone. All of us need a sounding board and kindness sometimes," he said quietly. "You have to find a way to reconcile your emotions and find balance again before you take up some task that will assist our people. You cannot build a house on a shaky foundation. It is admirable for both of you to find in this situation something that is true about what happened."
"Its … its gut wrenching," Carbide said with raw emotion on his face. "I had to help dig dead babies out of holes. I had to take their little body parts and carry them to the workers. They'd laid there forever, all alone. No one was … no one could save them. No one was there when they died. It … its a nightmare and I don't know how to wake up."
The door opened as Ratchet and Jarro stepped in, called by Ironhide moments earlier. They glanced at Prime who nodded, then pulled chairs to sit.
"I hear that you two youngsters have a crisis point," Ratchet said gently. "You do know that all of us here want to help you and only have your best interests in mind."
Pico stared at Ratchet, then burst into tears. He folded his arms on the table, laid his helm down, then wailed with sorrow. Carbide who was sitting beside him began to cry without a sound.
Ratchet glanced at Jarro, then scanned both of them. He dialed in a sedative script, then wifi-ed it to them. It took a moment, then both relaxed slightly. "I gave you something for the edge, infants. Right now, you need us to help you. I want both of you at the Processor Hospital for an overnight evaluation. When that's complete and you've had a good night's rest, then we can sit down and talk about this. You're not unusual and you're not crazy. You've had a wake up call and it wasn't pleasant. But it was necessary. Do you understand?"
They stared at Ratchet, then Pico sagged. "I feel so terrible. I'm so sorry. I never knew. I never thought about things like this until I saw Cybertron. It's so broken and the people … they're so great, they're so good. They … we were wrong about everything. I feel so low."
Ratchet nodded. "I have friends who can help you and I will, too. Right now, let's go to the Center and get you checked in. You can sleep. I have things that can help you. It's always better in the morning." He glanced at Prime. "I take it that they're out of jail now."
Hardie glanced at Ratchet, then nodded. "We can talk about what's next tomorrow. Families will be a problem and if that happens we'll take these two in ourselves. There's no going back now." He looked at the two mechs who were varying stages of distraught. "You do know that, infants. No going back. Ever. The door is open and you walked through which is to your credit. You have empathy and kindness in you. Now its time to grow it and stand in the sunlight. No more will you ever be the same mechs."
"I don't want to be," Carbide said with agony.
Ratchet who conversed off line with Jarro looked at the two. "We're having a van come take you there and Jarro is going with you. I'll be there after I take a look at Rockwell."
"He tried to beat us up. He's not changed. He saw the same thing as us and he … he hasn't changed," Pico said with an agonized tone. "I don't understand him. I don't know how you can go there to see that and not be changed."
"Well, we'll see about him. All I want for you is to rest and think about what we can do to help you and your families. The old ways are gone and never coming back. You did good here, though I know it doesn't feel like it," Ratchet said. He stood. "I'm going to see Rockwell."
Ironhide stood. "I'm coming."
"Me, too," Sun said as he stood. "A member of the court and all," he said with a grin.
"Only the handsomest mechs, Sun. Only the handsomest," Ratchet said with a chuckle.
"Then that lets The Kid out," Sun said as he chuckled at Hardie. That mech grinned back.
Jarro stood as well. "Come on, Pico, Carbide. The van is here." He glanced at Ratchet. "Film it. Then meet me, please."
"On it, Jari," Ratchet said as he watched the two rise wearily, then follow Jarro out.
Prime stood as well. "Since this is a parade, I will come as well."
Ratchet grinned. "As I said," he replied as he walked to the door, "only the handsomest mechs."
Laughter followed that, then silence.
Rockwell was one hard shelled slagger. That was no laughing matter in and of itself.
=0=On the way to the Center
They sat in the vehicle on nice seats as the van drove through The City. They were lank and weary, as if the entire core of their being had been stripped out and nothing put back in there to replace it. Essentially, that was the problem before them. All that they knew was bunk. What would replace it and how could they find it?
When they arrived, the van drove into the back high security entrance, climbed out, then walked slowly to an elevator. Riding upward, they bypassed the desk to arrive in a bright airy hallway with alcoves, bay windows and other places for patients to sit and watch the streets below and the towers all around them. No one was there at the moment as they walked toward a ward at the end of the long, long corridor.
They entered, then Jarro and a nurse helped them to hook up, get the right scripts to recharge, then climb into one of the six beds in the room. When the two lay back they were already in sleepy land. Putting security on them so they could be attended, both stepped out to walk back to the desk at the elevators where the nurse worked.
There they would go over the protocols and restrictions necessary for the two to be undisturbed. Then Jarro would take a ride downstairs to wait for Ratchet.
It wouldn't be long.
=0=Jail cell block, The Fortress, The Brig
Rockwell sat on a bunk watching as Ratchet walked in. Several mechs including Hardie, Ironhide and Prime were waiting at the door, then Sun followed Ratchet. When they reached him, they gave him their full attention. He sat back to stare at them defiantly.
"You look comfortable," Ratchet said.
"I can't complain," Rockwell said coldly.
"That's not what I remember. If memory serves me, that's all you do," Ratchet said. "Care to unload?"
"Not to you, slagger. I have nothing to say to you," Rockwell said.
"Well, I have a few things to tell you then," Ratchet replied. "Both Pico and Carbide are in the Processor Center on overnight stays. They have a conscience and were moved to emotional turmoil over digging out dead babies on Cybertron. I'm sort of interested in your take on that."
Rockwell stared at him. "You're going to psychoanalyze me here, are you?"
"No," Ratchet said. "But I can order it. I can put you on a psych hold and keep you forever."
"That sounds like the Clampdown, *Shockwave*," Rockwell said bitterly.
"And who's aft did that piece of legislation roll out of?" Ratchet asked. "I don't remember having a say in it. It would appear that you think you should even now."
"Frag you, Ratchet. Get to the point," Rockwell said coldly.
"Alright. The point is, Pico and Carbide because they understand things a bit better are now on different status than you. Right now, they need something more than crawling around Cybertron retrieving body parts. They're going on a different path forward. You're stuck on a dead end road, the Caste Court owns your aft and I don't see you getting off it any time soon. Correct?" Ratchet asked.
"I don't have to discuss myself with you or anyone else," Rockwell said.
"How about answering the question? How about I pull rank on you and make you do it?" Sun asked. "If The System is that valuable to you, that revered, then you have to obey me. You can't pick or choose what you'll honor and obey. Either all of it means something or none of it does."
Rockwell stared at him silently.
Ratchet grinned at Sun. "I've sat through a bunch of caste courts and every time someone points out that simple fact, they clam up. He has nothing to say in reply. Either all of it is obeyed or none of it is. If none of it is, then what's the slagging point here? You're fragged if you do or don't do. Right, Rockwell?"
Rockwell stared at Ratchet with anger and disgust. "I'm not going to discuss my values and other important ideas and history with you. You can't make me."
"But I can," Sun said. "That's the crux isn't it? I can make you do anything I say. I can make Prime come over here and lick my peds." He stepped closer to the bars. "Even a Prime would have to do it."
"Then why don't you?" Rockwell replied.
Sun stared at him, then stepped back. "Because Optimus Prime is the only mech since Prima and Guardian that makes me proud to be Cybertronian. It mystified me how you can be so proud of being Cybertronian, that you throw your uber patriotism in everyone's face all the time, yet you slur and insult your fellow Cybertronians. Why do you hate Cybertron?" Sun stared at him with his command gaze, an unwavering stare that few could return for very long.
"I'm not talking anymore. I have that right," Rockwell said.
"You only have the rights I allow you," Sun said. He grinned humorlessly. "Sort of makes you something less than a vaunted high caste to have to obey me when I tell you to jump. How about you come out of there and make me a sandwich. I feel a bit peckish."
Rockwell stared at Sun, then turned his gaze elsewhere with fury on his face.
Sun moved to stand in his line of sight again. "You will stay here and then come with me on my rounds when we go to Cybertron. From now on, I claim you. Understand?"
Rockwell stared at him coldly, then nodded barely perceptively.
Sun stared longer, then turned toward the others. "I think Mr. Rockwell needs some alone time. I think we need to put a Chronicles in these cells for some light reading."
Ratchet smirked at him, then the two walked toward the door with Hardie and Ratchet trailing.
Prime watched them go, then turned toward Rockwell. "Your fate is in your servos. Choose wisely." With that, he walked out himself.
Rockwell watched him go, then settled in for a long night.
=0=TBC 8-10-19