The Diego Diaries: Cloudy (dd7 384)
=0=In the conference room
Prowl was perusing the data pad with the latest updated information of the location of Xylon aka Rotor. The room was quiet as Orion and Ironhide watched Prowl.
Ratchet was watching both of them. They looked nervous and out of place. Leaning closer to Prowl, he asked, "Have you eaten lately?"
Prowl glanced up, then at the two young mechs. "Uh, no. I'll order something in."
"Why don't you both go and get lunch? You've been running around enough to find things," Ratchet said.
Orion glanced at Prowl, then Ironhide. Then he stood.
Ironhide stood as well. "What do you want to eat?" he asked Ratchet.
Ratchet gave them both a dazzling smile. "Surprise me."
Ironhide grinned, then glanced at Prowl almost as if to get permission.
Prowl was staring at Orion with a slightly doubting expression, then nodded. "Surprise me as well." He grinned at Orion who grinned back.
The two mechs walked toward the door, then left the room.
Ratchet and Prowl watched them go. "Why do I have a feeling that this is what its going to feel like when Orion and Praxus want to go on the town?"
Prowl nodded. "I feel like my genitors."
Ratchet grinned. "Grandgenitor, you mean."
=0=Outside heading toward town
They walked through the Rec Room, then through the courtyard after respectfully stopping to speak to the little elders who seemed pleased with the attention. Usually it was a nod or a snarky remark together rather than the time both were giving to the little antiques. Apparently, Ironhide of Praxus and Orion Pax of Iacon were raised right.
They stepped out and walked along the sidewalk to town. It was silent a moment, then Orion glanced at Ironhide. "You are supposed to be my best friend."
Ironhide nodded. "You, too, for me."
"I have no memory of that," Orion said as he nodded to a number of passing mechs. One of them touched him.
"They think you have the Matrix," Ironhide said.
"I know," Orion replied. "I have a replica of It where It should be from the tech we have. It feels weird to see It."
"I can't imagine it myself," Ironhide said. It was silent a moment. "I think we're going to have a shooting war."
"I am afraid of that as well. Phase sixers are not inconsequential opponents apparently," Orion replied as they stopped at the junction crossing to wait for the light to change. Traffic was brisk.
"You're supposed to handle it," Ironhide said. "I'm supposed to help you."
Orion turned to him. "Neither of us are in any position to do that."
"Why? Ratchet told me that when you were made Prime, that very moment the war broke out, you stepped into the job like it was yours forever. You weren't a soldier. You just stepped in. What's the difference now?" Ironhide asked.
"I had a Matrix. I do not have one now," Orion said as they began to walk across the street as the light changed. "I believe that makes a very good difference."
"Maybe. What if it doesn't? What if the Matrix … having It or not makes no difference?" Ironhide asked. "My Appa Hardie and Amma Delphi were there when the Matrix chose Guardian. I asked them once if the Matrix spoke very much and they said It didn't. Mostly, It was there as a symbol of authority and to help a decent Prime to do the job. Given that we don't have them very often it would seem, decent Primes, maybe it isn't that big of a help? What if you could do the job? What would it take? Confidence?"
Orion stopped, then turned to Ironhide. "Are you saying if there is a shooting war out of this that I should act as a real Prime?"
"You are a real Prime," Ironhide said. "Think about it. You're the one the Matrix will choose someday. You weren't a soldier. You didn't fight battles during the revolution, I'm told, and you were smart and a natural. I don't think your smarts and leadership possibilities came from the Matrix. You just got more authority and learned a new skill set by just doing the job. The strategy part of this you already had and you still do."
"The revolution is only starting. The Matrix has not chosen me," Orion said. "Megatron and I are still friends. Mostly."
"I think you can do it," Ironhide said. He glanced down the street. "Have you been to the Temple yet?"
"No," Orion said as he stared at the glittering dome that towered among the buildings. "I do not know what the relics will think if I go there."
"You never know unless you find out," Ironhide said as he glanced at Orion. He turned to face him. "You and I are supposed to be brothers. You're supposed to be the greatest fighting Prime in our history. You made this place happen and you never gave up no matter how bad it got. You see the people," he said glancing around. "They touch you for the blessing. I never saw a Prime get that before. How do you know what you really know unless you try."
"I do not have the training to be a Prime," Orion said doubtfully.
"I do. I graduated from the Academy," Ironhide said.
"When?" Orion asked with a slight grin.
Ironhide frowned. "A while ago."
Orion grinned at him, then glanced down the street toward the Temple. "I never got to go to Simfur to see the relics. Prowl says that the Allspark is there and the Well. He says the Flame went out but the rest of them are there."
"Then lets go ask someone," Ironhide said. "The Pantheon will know who you are."
Orion stared at him doubtfully. "Apparently They are not talking."
Ironhide grinned slightly. "Then we ask nicely." He glanced down the street, then at Prime. "We have to be a team, Orion. Someday we'll be brothers. If we do this together, we can figure out things faster. You're the Prime and I'm your bodyguard. We're friends. I don't know why this happened but I'm willing to follow my instincts and they tell me now that we have to be who we are here. It might help something happen."
Orion stared at him a moment in silence. "I feel like a spare tire."
"So do I," Ironhide said with a some relief. Someone had said it out loud.
"Prowl is very concerned about this getting out of hand and he wants both of us protected and out of the way of trouble," Orion said. "But I'm a longshoreman and I'm used to being useful."
"I'm a soldier," Ironhide said. "I know. We have to assert ourselves or we're going to be kept wrapped up in cotton."
Orion nodded. "I do not know how it will be received but I know I want to do something useful."
"Me, too," Ironhide said. "Maybe the Temple will tell us."
With that, the two walked onward through the crowd some of whom touched Orion in passing. They reached the gate, paused to look around, then walked up the path to the platform and the Temple Itself beyond. It was mid morning so the traffic inside was light.
=0=Conference Room
"I wonder what's keeping them?" Ratchet said as he lounged on a chair.
Prowl was working on three other things as he waited for the blinking light called Rotor aka Xylon to make his way toward Polity and his group. At this rate, they had several joors to act. "I didn't think it'd be a good idea to send them off like this," he said glancing toward Ratchet. "Go find them."
"Give them a moment, Prowler. You're his frag toy, not his mama."
Prowl smirked at Ratchet. "You're a savage. He's a youngster."
"He's a mighty sexy youngster. Don't tell me you haven't …" Ratchet asked boldly.
"Haven't what?" Prowl asked.
"Fragged."
Prowl stared at Ratchet coolly, then leaned back to fold his arms across his broad chest. "Do I read you your rights before I drag you to jail or what?"
"He's old enough. I know. I'm a doctor," Ratchet said with a slightly lewd expression.
Prowl gagged in spite of himself. "You need help."
"You have then."
Prowl frowned. "You need a padded cell."
"Did you know Ironhide tried to … I wouldn't call it seduction … more like begging like a big old kid," Ratchet said as both of them laughed. "I decided what the frag but he had to work for it."
Prowl smirked at him a moment. "I find my gag reflex winding up to let go here but for the sake of argument, leaving out the gory and I do mean gory details … spill."
Ratchet smirked back. "I told him if he got a note from his mommy and papa then I would."
Prowl felt a howling wind of laughter rising up from his peds. "You asked his genitors to write a note saying they'd allow him to face with you?"
Ratchet dazzled Prowl with a smile. "Yep."
"And?"
"Well, given my ravishing looks and general overall sexiness that humans can't see with an electron microscope, he took me up on it. But it gets better. He went to Alie and 'Jack who gave him a note. Then they sent him to Hardie, Delphi, Raptor and Turbine. They said if he didn't get their permission, too, then no."
Prowl stared at him with an astonished expression, then it changed to a grin. "I thought there was something wrong with all of you but I needed proof. Now I have it."
Ratchet laughed a moment. "He had to get permission from his nanas and papas. Poor little goofball. Obviously, he's impervious to embarrassment."
"No doubt," Prowl said. "Then if I asked to see said note he would hand it over without complaint?"
"He'd die first," Ratchet said with a giant laugh.
Prowl joined him.
=0=At the Temple
They entered, paused long enough to look around, then walked to the balcony railing that kept one from falling over the side. Ironhide had been to the Temple often. His amma was a Maker and knew some of the oldest prayers and practices known to all of them. He had even been made to sing there, helping with some of the convoluted prayers that had choruses for multiple voices. Orion hadn't ever been here so it was an impressed pair of young mechs who reached the railing at the edge of the mezzanine of the first floor.
"That's the Allspark. I don't know what Its doing here. There's also one in Simfur. All the relics but the Matrix are in both places. Amma isn't sure that They aren't both the same thing. He says multiversal singularities can exist in all places at the same time. Primus is a multiversal singularity."
Orion nodded. "I find It beautiful." He looked down at the misty blue Well. "Everyone should be able to come here, not just those who can afford it. This belongs to all of us."
"You won't get an argument from me," Ironhide said.
They stared at both, then walked to the stairs to descend.
=0=Conference room
"I can't imagine that can be fun or … you know," Prowl said.
"What?" Ratchet said though he 'knew'. Prowl was an uptight prig.
"I'm not playing this game with you. You're a coarse loon and that's that," Prowl said.
"You mean you don't toss each other around when you face?" Ratchet asked.
"My facing life is off limits to loons," Prowl said. "And no, we don't. My bond isn't a monster truck and bull riding maniac who can't separate reality from fiction."
Ratchet chuckled. "How sad for you."
"How good for the furniture," Prowl said. "I wonder what's keeping them?"
=0=At the Temple
They stopped before the Well of Allsparks to stare into its blue depths. The mist that always seemed to hang around and over It was there, soft and white. There was no one around the area. The sound of children's voices could be heard nearby, but not on this floor. They were alone.
Ironhide stared at the undulating blue liquid remembering a lot of times when they would visit here with ammas and appas or not. It was a good memory that happened not so long ago but now might as well have been on another world in another galaxy. He glanced at Orion who was staring at It, too. This was his first visit and it showed. Everyone who ever saw the relics were dazzled. "You feel anything?"
Orion who was lost in thought glanced at him. "No."
=0=TBC 9-21-2020 1-24-2020
Happy Autumn, Northern Hemisphere. Happy Spring, Southern Hemisphere. :D:D:D