The Diego Diaries: Shrine (dd7
=0=Inside the cave
The air was close, hushed even and the smell of the earth and cold stone filled their senses. Rockwell stared at the cylinders, then glanced at Sun. "What do you want me to say?"
"Something authentic. Something you thought up yourself and you aren't repeating from the endless drip of parental contempt and social group conditioning that makes up most of what you believe. Can you hear it? The voices from the past are calling to us. Imagine how they felt here, desperate and fearful. They came here for comfort. They put the names in the boxes they made and brought them here because they believed that if they didn't the ones they knew and loved wouldn't make it to the Matrix."
Sun turned to stare at them. "Slavery is night time all the time. There is no light, no sun … there's no warmth. It never reaches you. There's only darkness always. Unless you ever felt it, you can't know. The closest thing that comes to it are the repressive systems. They're the cages you spend your entire life trying to leave and no matter where you go or where you look, there are no doors. It never ever leaves you. The only thing that matters besides the love you feel and give away is your freedom."
Ironhide felt the enormity of this place and what his uncle was saying. He wasn't just speaking for himself, he was speaking for the endless lines of mechs and femmes that had lived without hope, dreams or an end to the misery of their days. He'd felt it in the family all his life, the barrier through which he could never pass. They hadn't talked about it with him beyond the odd answer when he asked a question or had something to do with school. It wasn't something they talked about among anyone outside of their group.
Rockwell turned to Sun. He stared at him with a blank expression. He wasn't going to give up without a fight.
Sun considered that. "How do you like prison?"
"I hate it."
"I took your freedom away, the court and me. How does that feel? I did it and you don't like it. I don't care that you don't. For me to care about that, I would have to care about you. If I cared about you I would have to improve your lot in life because I'd be unable to cause you harm by my actions. Therefore, I've decided that in your case alone, I don't care." Sun watched for the tells. They were faint but they were there. "See how that works? I decided that you aren't worth caring about."
Sun glanced at Ironhide. "Don't care about him either, nephew. I've decided that he's unworthy of such considerations. There's nothing about him that's different from anyone else but the idea in my processor that he's inferior. He's equipment and that's all he is. When I get tired of him I'll consign him to Jack. I don't care what he feels because if I did I wouldn't be able to do this. So I strip you of your individuality, your feelings and dreams. I take away all of your privileges and if you want something you'll have to ask very nicely. If I don't think you deserve it and I probably won't, then you can't have it.
"I'll do that because I took away your right to exist as you wish. I took away your personhood, your individuality. You're no more important to me than a chair I sit in. You're a tool that I'll use and when I finish with your utility, you can go serve someone else. You have no right of appeal, no right to petition, no rights at all just because I say that you and what you represent has no value beyond that."
Ironhide watched Rockwell as Sun gave him the same life that his caste had given the great majority of their people with The System of Exception. He would only have that which the dominant group … his elders deemed he deserved.
Rockwell stared at Sun with hatred on his face. "You think you can tell me something here?"
"I don't know. That's up to you, slagger. I just stripped you of your caste and gave you the lowest one we got. How does it feel to be equipment, a tool to be used, then cast away?" Sun asked.
Rockwell shrugged.
"Even here in the holiest spot you'll ever know this side of the Temple, you're still a slagger. The Pantheon and Primus made Their intentions clear," Sun said. "I will never relent, infant. Get it straight. If you want it to be different, then The System will be over. Its in your hands." He glanced at Ironhide. "Get the others in here, infant."
Ironhide jolted, then walked to the door. Looking up the hill, he saw everyone but Ratchet. "Come down. Use the trail." He stood by the door waiting for the group to come while inside it was quiet.
"What have you found, Ironhide?" Prime asked as he paused by the door. Everyone gathered around staring with expectation into the space.
"We found a shrine, a hidden shrine," Ironhide said with more emotion than he thought he could feel about this poignant little place.
Prime looked surprised as the others murmured. He stepped past Ironhide and walked inside. Ironhide followed, then the others. Lights filled the place and other sights could be seen. There were geometric carvings into the ceiling, a common feature and one that signaled that this place was very, very old. The carvings were representations of the Pantheon before their full story was known.
Prime looked around, read the passage in Primal Vernacular, then looked at Sun. "This falls into your district. I will have you oversea the excavation and preservation."
Sun nodded. "It would be my honor."
Prime saw the cylinders with the name scrolls, then knelt. As he did he noticed a faint ped print in the dust and dirt near them. "A footprint."
A murmur of awe was heard, then it was silent again.
The rescue archaeologist of this area knelt to look. "This is a miracle. This is the oldest one that I know about. This ped print was left by someone who made this place. He glanced around but there was only this one. "Its so small."
"It was an information bot," Sun said. "Look at the prints on the wall."
They did, all of them. It was heavy and silent here.
The archaeologist turned to Sun. "Was it ever disturbed?"
"I don't think so. Consider how this place would have been pillaged," Sun said. "Its simplicity hints at its age. This," he said pointing to the cylinders, "are name scrolls of the dead."
"I've never seen those before," the scientist said with a trace of awe. "These places are so rare."
"They're sacred," Sun said. "They risked their lives to build this and keep the names together."
"They didn't believe they would reach the Matrix without being remembered," Lady Sela said.
Sun nodded. "It's easy to obliterate a person. Erase them from history or take away their freedom. This place is sacred space to me."
"To all of us, old friend," Prime said.
It would take a moment to settle the custody, for Prime to check for Primal artifacts that might need him before they began to file out to leave. An Autobot team would guard the spot until it was sorted out. In time, a building would be standing over it with it in the middle in pride of place. It would be a museum for visitors eventually.
Ships began to come with specialists to take care of the project and by the time the others minus Lady Sela who wanted to stay and perhaps assist, everyone went back to their jobs again. Sun and his two charges continued onward to a full inspection of the area. Ironhide and Rockwell would follow, Ironhide in his emotional regard for his uncle and Rockwell with his backpack.
=0=About the same time on Mars
Ratchet signed off with Ironhide whose heavy energy drew his attention. It was a glorious thing to find an old shrine from any era but one from the Quintessan Oppression was extraordinary. Those were so heavily hidden that only one other had been found. This was the oldest one recovered. It put a spring in his step as he walked to his office and sat. Tapping his comm button, he grinned. "Hello."
"Hi, Ratchet." Ravel smiled at him as voices of others called out hello somewhere in the background. "How are you?"
"Great. Just checking. We have to go on the town tomorrow night. You ready?" Ratchet asked.
"I am. Is Ironhide ready to babysit?" Ravel asked.
"Ironhide and I will have a boys night in, Ravel," Tie said off screen. "We've got it under control."
Ratchet laughed. "That doesn't give me confidence. Who's coming?"
"All of them. Lord Optimus, Venture, the twins, Springer and Drift are coming … they're taking a shift off. Optimus wants them to follow Ratchet and the rest but we convinced the boys that they would have more fun at the apartment with everyone else," Ravel said. "Hardie and all the mechs there. I was told that Rockwell, whoever that is, will be here as well."
Ratchet smiled. "You'll love Rockwell. He's a real comedian."
"That sounds wonderful," Ravel said in his oblivious kindness.
They chatted a bit longer, then signed off. Ratchet sat back, grinned at his genitor's sweetness, then began to get caught up on the work piled high on the desktop. It would be a pleasant afternoon.
=0=On a hillside
They stared down into the plain where a number of small towns were located. The area was cleared out of damage so that repair everywhere could commence, a train system ran through every one of the centers and the river that once flowed with energon was cleaned up and ready some day when it would be possible again. This was a very important flood plain and the swampy areas that dotted it following the old river were being restored.
"This is beautiful. I remember when it was undamaged. The reeds would grow fifty feet into the air and they had their lights at night, a soft blue color. It shimmered on the energon in the river. There were lots of night animals and birds. I loved to watch the fish and the other swimmers. This was a great place to come to get away. I used to camp here. It was nice to get out of the city," Sun said as the others listened.
He always told them of the areas they visited back in the orn when things were good and the sun shone in the sky. Even the shitty stuff was made easier with sunlight. He stared at the dark sky and the lights of the galaxy. "I'll be glad when we have a sun again. This place cannot be appreciated anywhere without light. Cybertron is a jewel when the sky is blue. Driving down the highway with the windows open, feeling the summer breeze and see Seekers flying overhead … that's perfection to me. Playing your music and taking a drive."
"I remember," Corrugate said.
"I imagine you do," Sun said with a grin. "You're an old slagger, too." He turned to look at the younger mechs in the group what included, to him, the 'little mech'. "You missed a lot. You missed the good orns when some things were yours without costing you a nickel. Being outside when the sun was shining, seeing the country when it was dawn. All of it is priceless. All of it. Nothing we can contrive can outdo that. I wish some of us had been smarter. But it wasn't to be."
"So now we're dumb?" Rockwell said in spite of himself. His fuse was lit and it wasn't helping him keep his equilibrium.
"Look around you. This isn't the combined work of smart people," Sun said. "War is failure. Slavery is failure. The death of a world, the destruction of a planet, the dispersal of helpless people into who the frag knows what, the endless privilege of the few over the dire needs of the many … yeah. That's stupid." Sun stared at Rockwell. "You, boy, have a lot to learn."
Rockwell spun and with the backpack in his servos swung it hard at Sun's helm.
=0=TBC 4-14-2020 4-22-2020