Chapter 1
The arrival
Blue optics admired the outrageously beautiful landscapes. They focused now on the glass ceiling of the train. Through it the passenger could contemplate the floating towers and the little forms flyling over them, going in all direction and emitting lights, like fireflies calling for a mate. The passenger who happened to be a simple youngling, was mesmerized by what he saw. This vision excited his system to an unberable point. He was overheating and starting to smell which grasped the attention of the three mechs sitting beside and in the two seats in front of him. But he didn't care, his legs were shaking up and down over and over again, his energon was coursing so rapidly in his lines that he felt as if he was going to overload.
Then a voice announced his stop :
«Vos Central Station»
At the moment the yellow youngling heard the announcement, he jumped out of his seat startling the passengers in the process. He ran to the opening doors of the train, quivering a little bit. Once he was out of the train he looked around him. The multicolored crystal ceiling of the station caught his optics instantly. Whoever made this ceiling by assembling diverse crystals wanted to tell a story. A long one at that. He noticed various iconic Vosian heroes, the past royalties, mythical creatures, local legends and of course the sons of Kraoles, the seekers that embodied perfection, beauty and the tenaciousness of carriers, the Kraolites. This is what the youngling came here for, this is what he desires to become. A Kraolite, the untouchable manifestation of a mech's desires. It is said, that a mech who dares to touch a Kraolite will perish, poisoned by the Kraolite's highly toxic protoform(skin). The poison they inherited from their Kraole mothers. Coulant accumulated in the corners of the youngling's optics. He was incredibly excited and this caused his emotions to emerge.
He wiped his the tears and activated his precious turbo boosters, he had to save shanix for 2 megacycles(3 human months) to be able to get this upgrade before moving to Vos. He worked all the orbital cycle(day). He had 3 jobs, the morning he worked as a sparklingsitter then he had to run to help his carrier in his beauty shop and after sunset he went to autoboot camp to clean the training fields. He hated his job at the autoboot camp, not only because the class was mostly composed of obnoxious mechs but also because the camp reminded him that he failed and dishonored his family. Two vorns ago, when he was 13, his carrier begged him to join the autobots, in honor of his deactivated sire who was an autobot warrior until his last klik(second). When the young one was accepted in the camp, he found himself in the middle of brutes aside from the Bulkhead, the gentle giant who became his best friend and later boyfriend. The rest of the mechs bullied him because of his size and because he is a carrier. So he started pulling pranks, everytime one of them was mean to him. His pranks were the reasons why he was expelled. The main reason was because Bulkhead and him made a tower fall over Sentinel Prime, the drill sergeant. His carrier was really disappointed when he saw his sparkling come back home before passing the final tests.
«At least you tried.» his carrier told him.
Everything happens for a reason. Now he was heading to Vatkavalax, the principle office responsable for the registration of all the Kraolite apprentices. They call the apprentices «Lakoi». When he arrived to office, he was surprised by the long waiting line. Many, many carriers of all colors, all sizes, from all regions were waiting and filling datapads with personal informations. Most were seekers obviously, but there was a servoful of grounders. They were all so beautiful, the yellow carrier felt intimidated suddenly. His beauty pales in comparaison to theirs and their curves were far more accentuated than his, specially when it came to the seekers. This is why seeker Kraolites still dominated the business despite the ever growing Kraolite grounder community. Back in the days of the reign of prince Starscream the first, only seeker carriers were allowed to become Kraolites. Vos was always infatuated with their traditions. The vosians still follow many of their old traditions and are always reluctant to change them, even if it's a little bit. Grounders were finally allowed in the secret world of Kraolites only 40 vorns ago. This fact alone says a lot about the love of the inhabitants of Vos for their culture.
The yellow carrier sat next to an orange and white half seeker half grounder. The orange one was extremely nervous, he was mumbling something really fast. He was probably reciting what he would say once it was his turn to speak to the «Aloika», the mother Kraolites. An old carrier who used to be a Kraolite but now occupies the Aloika role, he guides the young Lakoies through the difficulties of the apprenticehood to become an accomplished Kraolite. The yellow youngling decided to speak, he thought that maybe if he spoke to somebot he would be less anxious.
«What's up...my name's Bumblebee. What's yours ?» Bumblebee finally asked.
The other looked at him and spoke with a heavy Vosian accent.
«My name being Jetfire, how many vorns you old ?»
Damn, that accent ! thought Bumblebee.
« I can barely understand a thing about what you are saying. If you asked for my age, i'm 15.»
«Me and Jetstorm are 16 »
«Who's Jetstorm ?»
«My twin» Said the Jetfire pointing his blue and white brother sitting next to him as he was looking at a datapad
«Oh, you and your twin are both trying to become Lakoies.»
«Well, yes, our carrier and our grandcarrier were Kraolites before profession left behind to start family.» Jetfire proudly declared.
«Uh-huh.» Bumblebee responded nonchalantly. There was period of silence before Bee spoke again.
« You guys look familiar, have we meet before ?»
«I not think so, my and Jetsorm be direct descendant of Prince Starscream the first. That be probably the reason» Blurr answered honestly.
« Oh frag ! Are you serious ? You guys are super rich then ?! Your lives must be a party everyday. » Bee exlcaimed, now interested in what the other had to say.
« To all honest with you, we be not exactly happy. Much pressure, very much pressure because we expected are to be polite, beautiful, have manners etx. it drives crazy, you know. We be forced to excercise, learn traditional «Tratikodao» dance, constantly be looking at mirror so we maintain beauty and perfection. Drones always follow you, looking after you.»
Bumblebee couldn't believe what he had just heared. This wasn't that bad. He always wanted to have a bunch of drones take care of him for a day or two. But then again he would get annoyed if they were constantly behind him. After he processed what the other had said, the yellow youngling continued the conversation looking at his pedes.
«Why are Jetfire...i mean Jetstorm and you become Kraolites, if you guys were brought up with all the essential knowledge of Kraolites ? Wouldn't you be running away or something ?»
«Don't wrong get us, we like all that. It's part of who we being but sometimes being stuck in the royal towers for most day, learning nothing except how being beautiful and well mannered becomes boring very quickly.» Responded Jetstorm butting in the conversation.
«When it comes to me, becoming a Kraolite has always been my dream, a way to prove myself to the world. Back at home in Polyhex, my carrier pushed me into autoboot camp. It did not go as planned. I was expelled for defending myself from bullying. A green mech named Wasp and his stupid buddy Ironhide were the worst. Wasp pushed me around all the time. When no one was looking, he touched me in inappropriate places. He even tried to interface with me.»
The twins let out a muffled gasp. Bumblebee looked up towards them and noticed that they weren't the only ones listening. Suddenly almost half of the carriers waiting had gone silent and were staring at the 15 vorns old grounder. One of the seekers standing in line asked.
«Did he...force you to interface ?» Bee directed his optics to the red and white seeker.
«No. Thanks to Primus» He replied after a joor(minute) of silence, the palms of his servos joined together as if he was praying.
Rape was a common crime committed against carriers on Cybertron, specially in Kaon, Kaonites and their ancestors are the most violent bots in the entire history. Carriers rarely go out past certain hours and avoid some streets not only in Kaon but also here in Vos one of the safest city-state on the planet. That was also a reason why Bumblebee wanted to become a Kraolite. By entering in this business, it would be like having a revenge on the stronger gender. He would entertain them, seduce them but they'll never be able to touch him.
As silence took over again, the carriers in the room returned to their initial discussions. Bumblebee started to listen the questions of the Aloika. He asked the grounder in front of him, if he had at least an average knowledge of the Vosian language, if he had a lover or if he was bonded to someone, even if it seemed strange to be bonded at that age. Then came the question that made Bee's world crumble, the Aloika asked if the grounder was virgin. That simple question made Bumblebee's processor go bezerk. Bumblebee was not a virgin, far from that. His interfacing life was really active. Even if he wasn't a promiscuous carrier and only did it with his boyfriends, he had many of them. He started dating back when he was in his last vorns of elementary academy. When he reached 13, he wasn't «pure» anymore.
Do they control that as well ? Do they ask the Lakoies to sit on a berth and spread their legs so they can guarantee their purity to the customers ? It kinda made sense if you thought about it. Kraolites are suppose to embody what makes carriers attractive, the frailty, the purity, the beauty and the talent.
How is Bee going to pass this one he does not know. He begins to get anxious again. Jetfire noticed his fidgeting.
«What's wrong, Bumblebee ?»
«I'm not virgin» whispered the yellow vehicle.
«So us neither.» admitted Jetstorm slightly lifting his shoulders.
« Didn't you hear the Aloika ask this grounder if he was a virgin ?!» Bee exclaimed while pointing at the said grounder who now was writing on a datapad.
«Slag ! Slag ! Slag ! Guys, i'm never becoming a Kraolite ! I don't want to be active anymore !» The youngling already lamented.
«Now calm down, you just tell lie. Don't say you aren't virgin.» Stated the blue youngling smirking.
«Oh yeah, right ! Imagine if Aloika verifies ! » Bee cried out as he was yielding to hysteria.
«Don't worry, Bee, The Aloika spread not our legs to check valves.» Finally said the Orange Vosian vehicle while rolling his optics.
«How can you be sure of that ?» Questioned the hyperactive carrier, his arms now crossed as he slightly bobbed his head from side to side like a sassy earth lady.
«We already passed test, it's not the first time. » answered the duo feeling exasperated.
«Ha ! You see slaggers, they didn't let you pass because you weren't pure.»
« Shut the frag up !That not was the reason why we become not Kraolite, we gave up the first attempt. We fell love with somebot.» The pair was now angry, looking down to the metallic ground.
« Oh ! You have a bondmate ?» Bee asked as his curiosity took the best of him. Jetfire frowned a little.
« We had boyfriend but he sent to prison and be executed there.» Murmured sadly the orange carrier.
«I'm so sorry.» Apologized the yellow youngling.
After sometime, Bumblebee turn came. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh. He smiled at the Aloika who smiled in return before putting his Stoic mask from before. Bumblebee had to noticed that despite his age, the Aloika was still gorgeous and who ever he was bonded to must be really happy. His dark purple finish of his helm was so shiney, it contrasted with the light purple on his forehelm that faded to white on the rest of his delicate face.
«What is your designation ?»
«Bumblebee, siya(Formal term for carriers like sir, ma'am).» Articulated politely the young one.
« From where do you hail from ?» The Aloika demanded while stared at him. He detected the youngling's anxiety.
« Polyhex, siya.» Bumblebee blurted out, now fascinated by the etched marks on the Siya's helm and the decoration hanging behind his auditive sensors pointed backwards.
«Do you know what the energon marks mean ?»
«What...uh...no,no i don't know !» Stammered Bee, surprised by the unexpected question.
« These marks represent the suffering of the Lakoies, when they're on the rust grain road to become a Kraolite. You'll have yours too if you pass the test and the Lakoi stage.»
Bumblebee cringed at the thought of having someone carve into his helm plating until energon lines are visible. After being asked if he was virgin, to which Bee responded with a lie, he was given a datapad to fill. The datapad was a sort of contract, confirming that he gave up his Cybertronian transforming rights and he accepted all the demands that came with training to become a Kraolite.
The demands were clear.
1. Giving up on transformation. This particular rule originated from one of Ekvatine's legend. It is said that when Ekvatine bonded with Vector Prime, he abandoned his vehicle mode. He stopped transforming to show his bondmate that he had given him his power, his force and the authority over his frame.
2. Romantic involvement or interfacing is forbidden. If a carrier desires to get involved in a relationship and start a family, he has to retire and needs first to address to the Aloika responsible for him, so the Aloika strips him from his responsibilities.
3. Romantic involvment or interfacing with a customer is forbidden. During the old days a Lakoi or Kraolites who sold his frame like simple pleasurebot was sentenced to death. Some stellar-cycles later, the penalty was lowered to getting the pleasure nub of your valve cut. Nowadays, if a Kraolite does sleeps with a customer his «Akshoi»(Lakoi/Kraolite house) will be shut down along with the neighboring Akshoies.
4. Lakoies are not allowed to contact their relatives by any means.
5. Last but not least Lakoies are not allowed to get out of the Akshoi without the accompaniment of a Kraolite.
Eyeing this list, Bumblebee had to step back. He needed a moment to think clearly what he was getting himself into. This was going to be his job for the rest of his life, he could always give up on the way but it wasn't a possibility in Bee's mind. If he started something, he finished it. That's how it is, that's how his carrier had raised him.
After a 5 long joor were spend thinking. The yellow bot slowly signed the datapad. He placed the datapad in the Aloika's hand.