The Diego Diaries: All Around the Watch Tower (dd7 271)
=0=Youngling Day School, Centurion, in a conference room
They sat and stood around the room, fifty kids, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet and Herling. Each side stared at each other in silence.
"You know, infants, that everyone panicked for a moment when we discovered you weren't here," Herling began.
No one said anything at first, then Coros stood. "I'm the leader. Its my responsibility. I take all the blame. Anything that happens next happens to me."
The kids glanced at each other, then Coros. Almost as one they stood. "We all will have what happens to Coros," Pulley said.
The others nodded.
Stand off.
"That's very noble of you, Coros and all of you," Herling said. "You certainly practice unity."
"You tell us to think for ourselves, Mr. Herling," Coros said as he sat again. "We did. We had to find out if things were alright and what we could do to help. We made the plan and acted."
Herling stared at them, then Magnus. He did, indeed.
"Have you alerted genitors?" Magnus asked.
He nodded. "Its protocol. We told them where they were and they agreed to speak to their children at the end of school at home rather than coming here. They want them back in the classroom," Herling said.
Magnus nodded, then looked at the kids. "You did what you felt was correct. It would've helped others to know where you were. I don't fault your thinking, your unity and caring about the team. I do have a small problem in execution."
"They wouldn't have let us go there, Mr. Magnus," Echo said. She then stood up on her chair so she could see over the table. Her tiny white and yellow self with tiny femme wings was astonishingly cute. "We made a decision as a team. We felt it best. We're ready to take our punishment together. Coros is right. We thought about it, then decided."
Everyone there nodded in agreement.
It was silent a moment, then Ratchet leaned forward onto his elbows. "Let's think about this. Your plan and goals were met and executed very well. Your obligations to other things sort of fell short. What would you do differently?"
They glanced at each other, then Pulley sat forward with a slightly defiant expression. "We could've told but they would've said no. Right, Mr. Herling?"
Herling considered the question. "Probably."
"We were taught that everyone matters, that we serve everyone in the colony and the Empire. For us to think about ourselves first would make that hard to do. We knew that we'd get into trouble but we were ready to take that on to make sure that the Commander and The Boss were okay." Pulley leaned forward. "We love them."
Everyone nodded.
"They treat us good," Echo said. "They care about us."
"They do. When I was first here I didn't care about anything. I didn't understand that all of us are one. Now I do. That means we have a responsibility to each other to make sure we're alright. The Commander and The Boss make us feel like we matter. All of the mechs and femmes do. They teach us great stuff. I get to shoot, ride horses … I take riding lessons after school. I get to see the science part and go on ride arounds every three decaorns. We get to walk a beat every three decaorns, too. Its fun. Then we come to the hospital and get to work with our doctor-mentors. We learn a lot and we can help. We even made our own tattoo. This is where we get better," Coros said. "This is where we change and when we do so do our families. I never saw before how it looked like when high castes did what they did. I don't ever want that again."
Everyone nodded.
"Until this, we never really knew each other," Echo said. "I never would be friends with Sil before this but we are now. Best friends."
Sil smiled. "We are."
"We have clubs and lessons to learn things. We hang out together and have fun. It happened here, with this group," Pulley said.
It was silent again.
"Well, how about we make a pact. Before you go and do anything that takes you from here, you call Commander Magnus or me and clear it. We can be helpful to your progress if you do," Ratchet said. "We won't be able to help you with the genitors but we can help coordinate with the schools. How about that?" Ratchet asked Magnus and Herling.
The kids stared at Herling with hopeful expressions.
He considered that. "I can agree with that. If I know what's happening, that there's adequate thinking behind it and that it'll be adult supervised … we can go case-by-case on your ideas."
The kids relaxed.
Echo leaned forward putting her tiny servos on the table top. "Are our genitors mad?"
Herling grinned. "I can't speak for them but they were scared for a moment. They know you're safe now and its up to you to make it right with them."
"We will," Echo said with a smile. "They want us to be good."
Ratchet chuckled. Even Magnus grinned as Herling stood. "A bus is waiting to take fifteen of you to Youngling Day 15. The rest of you must go to your classrooms. Do it without detours or dawdling."
The kids rose and filed out, some of them following a bus driver who would take them to school.
The adults watched them go.
"I love those kids," Ratchet said.
"I do, too," Herling said with a chuckle. "There's just something about kids feeling their way forward."
"Well, this can't happen again. I think the point was made," Magnus said.
"Spoken like a true truant officer," Ratchet said with a dazzling smile.
"How did that happen?" Magnus said as they walked to the elevator.
"You're qualified, Magnus. Tyrest Treaty enforcer … truant officer. One follows the other," Ratchet said as they stepped into an elevator.
"My way or the hard way?" Magnus asked with a small grin. "Somehow, I don't think the School Board would approve."
"I got that covered," Ratchet said as the door closed.
=0=Shortly later in the hospital room again
"And that was that," Ratchet said as the mechs chuckled.
Tie and Ravel were at work with the promise to see them at their earliest opportunity with the others. The mechs were there including Prime and Prowl.
"I just want to see someone else in a med berth. Not me," Prime had said to universal agreement.
"When do they parole us?" Springer had asked.
"You can go home tomorrow, Springer. I'd respectfully suggest an immediate detailing," Ratchet said. "As for The Boss here," he said to universal snickering, "Two more orns, then home for a decaorn with home health care and therapy."
"That's too long," Drift said.
"Two more orns, then here for a decaorn," Ratchet replied.
"On the other hand," Drift said to universal scorn.
=0=Elsewhere
They gathered in an apartment, a group of hardcore mechs that had managed to make it through the screenings at the Port. At the head of their group, a small femme sat on a chair watching the mechs as they opened food boxes to parcel it out. She was Niso of Stanix, the great granddaughter of a queen from a respectable family. She'd fallen for a mech outside of the clans and had bonded with him. Even though it didn't disqualify or expel her, none of her own were happy about it. They had a small son who was the apple of their optics. Niso and Intel of Slaughter City were part of a road rage gang that operated out of Kolkular, the capital of Kaon, the City-State.
Life had been good on Cybertron being the bond of a 'bad boy' and she had a flair that they'd elevated toward leadership, planning and trading with other gangs. She'd seen the twins from a distance here and it put her on her toes. She'd be known to them and after finding out their status as sons-in-law of the Prime himself, she'd taken a lower profile while gathering intel on their situation.
There were five gangs identified with theirs being the last one outstanding. They left their new sign here and there to let the others know someone else was around and to keep them off guard. They were called the Shadow gang by the Watch, something that appealed to her. She took her food, then began to eat. Soon school would be out and their son, a sweet little mech who had no idea what atar and nana did for a living would come home and become the center of their lives once more. It would be a nice quiet afternoon.
=0=Up there
The therapist came in with a jolly attitude and laid down the law with both of them. They'd been dozing off after the mob left and when Clapper came in to tell them how it would be they were jolted out of a nice sleep. He smiled at both. "You two are mine. I'm going to help you get back on your peds so you can go chase the bad guys again. Here's what we're going to do."
He outlined it in graphic detail. Springer would have five orns of therapy twice a day with re-evaluation at the end for an additional period of days. Drift would be his for three decaorns with re-evaluation then. He smiled, patted their peds, then left to go to his next victims.
It was quiet in the room.
Springer glanced over at Drift, admiring his profile a moment. "What the frag was that?"
"Torture," Drift said with a grin. He would've looked at Springer but he was in a neck brace. He would remain that way for four orns minimum. Sometimes life was just fragged.
=0=Lucien
He glanced at the new data pad handed to him with the latest important news that would require a statement pronto on it. Picking it up, he read it. Then he pondered who the human was they were discussing on the Earth. Sitting back, he called up the data on the computer screen. Given that the request for 'worker-resident' status was on the request, it shocked him when Lucien read the screen before him. He pondered it again, then put in a call for Ratchet. :Lucien to Ratchet:
:Ratchet here:
:Can you come here a moment? I have a request for immigration you might want to take care of yourself:
:On my way:
Lucien set it aside, then returned to the work he was doing. It was fascinating in spite of himself.
=0=Moments later
Ratchet read the data pad, then grinned slightly. "Well, doesn't this beat all?"
"You aren't going to okay that are you?" Lucien asked out of curiosity.
"Sometimes, my dear Lucien, its better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in." Ratchet grinned at him. "An American President with a colorful vocabulary said that once."
Lucien grinned slightly. "If you say so. When will the next group arrive at Prima Station?"
"Tomorrow," Ratchet said. "I have to be there. It'll be 2,000 workers and their families, about 7,000 in all. When things get going I'm going to have you go there to go over business law and the procedure for that stuff."
Lucien nodded. "Alright."
"Thanks, Lucien, for this," Ratchet said as he glanced at the data pad again. "I'll get with Optimus."
"What's Harris's game?" Lucien asked.
Ratchet glanced at him, then grinned. "Why, multiple world domination, of course. See ya," he said as he swished out the door.
Lucien watched him go, then grinned slightly. "Oh, that," he said with a slight chuckle. Then he returned to his work.
=0=Prime's office in The Fortress
"What the frag," Prowl said.
"Succinct and to the point," Ratchet said. "What do you think? You know it'll be fun."
Prime glanced up from the data pad. "If you say so, Ratchet." He thought for a moment. "Make it so."
=0=TBC 5-3-2020 5-8-2020