Chromia and Dion's way to Iacon was through an abandoned subway track. They had been walking all day and through the cracks in the ceiling of the tracks it looked like they going into the night as well.
"Hey. Can't you guys transform? Isn't that a thing you can do?" Orion asked.
"Not at the moment no." Dion answered.
"We're still too young. Our systems aren't strong enough to handle the activation of our T-Cogs yet." Chromia explained. "Well, your Cybertronian. I would think that you'd know that."
Orion looked down at his pedes. "No. I'm not."
"Sorry?" Dion asked.
"Oh. I just forgot!" Orion replied with a forced smile.
Dion smiled back. "So, uh, you plan on telling us why these tools are so important?"
"No." Orion answered.
"Eh. I tried." Dion shrugged before turning back around.
Orion looked at the two younglings. He continued to wonder. Why were they orphaned and living on the streets? Last time he had been told Cybertron housed a fair and just society. In his mind that didn't sound like the kind of place where anyone would live in poverty.
Then again, the Quintessons had claimed to build a "fair and just" society. Orion had witnessed that attempt and knew it was wrong...but perhaps he just didn't know what fair and just meant.
Still, Chromia and Dion were younglings who were living—no, surviving— off of scrappy Energon, that they had gotten used to it. Orion shuddered at the thought. Anyone who got used to Energon like that was either really desperate or completely insane.
The curiosity continued to build up within Orion's processor to the point where he thought he would short circuit because of it. So he asked.
"Why don't you two have a home? Or money? Or creators?" Orion asked.
Dion and Chromia halted their walking abruptly. They turned to Orion.
"It's a long story." Dion muttered.
"We'd prefer not to go into detail...but basically, we lost our creators in–in an accident." Chromia continued. "We were practically thrown out on the street."
"Why? Didn't anyone try to help you?" Orion asked.
"No. We're from Kaon. Orphans aren't uncommon there. That and, well, it's Kaon. Home to the lowest of the lowest castes. No one with any power or influence in any of the higher castes give a flying frag about any of us in the lower castes." Dion explained.
''Wait, you said that your friend, Ariel, was a part of this crazy rich family. How do you know her?" Orion asked.
Chromia and Dion smiled.
"When we first started out on the streets we weren't as...civil as we are now." Chromia began. "We were barely out of sparklinghood and we were alone to fend for ourselves on the street. We were like animals. Not living. Barely surviving. We did whatever we could to get Energon scraps. We dug through every scrap yard and stole from anyone we believed we could take down. That's how we met Ariel...we're here."
Chromia had stopped in her tracks. They reached the end of the track and light was pouring from it.
"We'll tell you the rest later. C'mon." Chromia said.
Chromia, Dion, and Orion passed through the small opening and emerged from the sub tracks and came up in the beautifully sparkling city of Iacon.
Orion couldn't help but gasp in awe of the sheer majesty of Iacon. The skyscrapers were several shades of gold and silver. Glass buildings reflected the currently prominent sun light across the rest of the city. Even the population seemed to shine.
"Wow. Just. Wow." Orion gasped.
"Yeah." Dion agreed.
"Come on you two. We still got some ways to go before we get to Ariel's family estate." Chromia spoke.
They began walking once again. Orion was still trying to take every sight around him in. He was turning and straining his neck cables trying to look at everything at once. He didn't notice when Dion had stopped in front of him.
"And here we are." Dion announced.
Orion's jaw dropped. Estate? More like a small castle! The main building was made of white stone with gold trim outlining the roof, doors, and windows. The land was massive and gated. The large silver gate was guarded by large security mechs and cameras.
"When you said rich–" Orion began.
"We meant rich. Super crazy insane royalty rich." Dion finished with a nod.
"So what? We just, walk in?" Orion asked.
"Ha! Yeah right! Maybe if we had a tenth of the money they had then maybe we could walk right by without them pointing their blasters at us." Chromia laughed. "Nah. We're gonna have to sneak in."
"How? How do you plan on sneaking into Fort Rich over here?" Orion demanded.
"The same way we do every time. C'mon." Chromia replied.
Orion followed Chromia and Dion to a far and slightly isolated corner of the walls. Dion bent down and lifted up a stone in the sidewalk, revealing the previously hidden tunnel that led beneath the surface of the estate grounds.
"Here we go. C'mon." Dion announced as he went down into the tunnel. Chromia followed suit and Orion went next.
When Orion was in the dark tunnel, Dion pushed past him and brought the stone back and sealed the opening, hiding the tunnel once again.
"I can't see anything guys." Orion spoke. Then a bright light shone in his face. Chromia was holding a flashlight.
"Better?" Chromia asked playfully.
Orion rubbed his optics. "Yeah. Much better."
Chromia smiled and began to walk through the tunnel. Orion and Dion followed. It wasn't very long before they came to the end of the line.
Chromia stepped up on the tips of her pedes and lifted up a hatch in the top of the tunnel. When it opened it revealed a ladder leading up towards what Orion could only guess was the main building.
The three younglings climbed up the tall ladder and emerged in a large room.
The room was large but mostly empty and rather dull. The room had little colour with only gold lining the doors. A small, single berth pushed to a far corner of the room.
"Where is this Ariel?" Orion asked.
"Hmm. She could be anywhere on the estate property. Usually if she leaves her room she'd leave us a...message!" Chromia exclaimed as she found a data pad beneath the berth. She activated it and a recorded audio message played.
Hello Chromia and Dion. If you come today, the reason you're listening to this instead of talking to me, it's because I'm down in the mess hall or the foyer with my creators and the visiting Prax family. They're meeting about this business joint account something or other, I really don't know. Hopefully, by the time you get here it'll almost be done. Hopefully. I'll see you later.
PS, Since you'd probably ignore this recording of me warning you against looking in on the meeting, I'll just sternly tell you, don't you dare get caught!
The recording ended and the siblings smiled at each other. Then ran out of the room.
"Hey! Guys!" Orion called.
"You stay here Orion. Stay here. Stay quiet. Stay safe." Dion ordered before following his sister.
Orion sighed and shrugged. "Okay. Guess I'll just...stay here, quiet, and safe."
Yeah! The real adventure begins next chapter! So, any guesses as to what Im making Orion Pax and in turn Optimus Prime?
Comment and review!