Chapter 2 – unfair
A/N: Orn - About 13 Earth days
Rock Bottom
By Eminem
This song is dedicated to all the happy people,
All the happy people who have real nice lives,
And have no idea of what it's like to be broken.
Echo's POV
I awoke the next morning and found I was curled up against the cold beside my hut, like usual.
I went out and grabbed some energon, gulping it down and heading out. No-one was awake and I had no real reason to hang around. They hadn't even cared when I finally came home from hospital yesterday.
The first, smaller sun, the blue Prima, was only just rising, bathing everything in a blue-grey light, like the moon. I changed and flew out of the 'Con headquarters. It had been set up in the biggest 'Con gathering on Cybertron; the Kaon Slums. That's why we're called the Kaoncons. Although we couldn't get anywhere better, it was a good place to set up. It meant that these mechs and femmes who lived around here had some form of protection and comfort. There were military shacks all through the Slums, guard/watch buildings (well, you can't call them towers) ringing the whole place. Each military place was marked with a brown door. Each military place had a huge underground bomb shelter, in case the 'Bots decide to attack.
The whole place, which covered almost the entire city-state, was only just starting to wake up. As I flew, I saw Cybertronians coming out of their tiny huts, starting the day, beginning various jobs, all looking tired.
I arrived at school long before anyone arrived. I sat beside the large metal building, and waited a while before anyone came, watching as the larger ball of raging fire, Fallen, rose up and slowly chased Prima across the azure sky. I didn't know how long it was, and couldn't be bothered to check my internal chronometer.
The first one to turn up was the headmaster, a really nice guy. "Hello Echo. How long have you been here?" he asked.
I shrugged, standing up as he unlocked the door, "Not long."
He nodded and we both entered the school. I sat by my locker, waiting for friends to turn up, thinking silently to myself. Time passed, and again I couldn't be bothered to check how much. Students started turning up, they smiled and nodded silent greeting which I returned as they passed. I noticed a glint in their optics, something cold and negative.
More time passed, and when there were heaps of students there, they gathered as if on a silent signal. They backed me into a corner, raising weapons they had kept hidden until now. Even though I was a couple of heads taller than them, they heavily outnumbered and outgunned me, and I didn't want to kill or hurt them or destroy the building just to escape (I was too soft for that), and because of all of that, I was scared, albeit slightly.
"What's going on?" I asked them, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
"We know your secret, Echo," one femme snarled, "You're a Kaoncon!"
Oh slag. At least they didn't know I could transform.
The femme roared, "Kill him!"
I didn't have a chance to react before they hit me with everything they had, shooting, kicking, punching, tearing, shocking, yelling, swearing, biting, whipping. I curled up into a protective ball. There was no way I would return the violence.
"I won't fight you!" I shouted, but it was almost swallowed by the roars of the crowd, "I won't run from those I call friends!"
"You're a 'Con!" someone barked, "a disgusting, horrible, violent 'Con! You deserve to die!" they obviously didn't see the irony in that.
Energon and a strange red liquid pooled around me. I tried to protect my spark as best as I could so that I might have some kind of chance of surviving, although I think that might be in vain. My armour was thicker than theirs, so it was harder to penetrate and harder to kill me, but they were getting pretty close. They smashed my visor and cut one of my burning crimson optics.
Over my screams and the yelling crowd, I heard Nightspot and Firmament shout in unison, "What the pit are you doing?!"
I couldn't see them, the energon in my eyes made everything look weird. My hearing was still good, and I cringed when someone boomed, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Everyone went quiet.
"Echo's a Kaoncon!" someone shouted, "We were teaching him a lesson!"
"Is this some kind of sick joke?!" the newcomer demanded, "Step aside!"
They silently shuffled away and formed a wide path. I curled up tighter, not wanting to be so exposed. I felt so vulnerable, unable to feel one leg, everything hurting, my systems struggling to keep on working. My left optic was blind.
I heard heavy footsteps approaching me. Someone tall stopped before me. I could feel rather than saw all those optics on me and I tried to push myself into the wall.
"Stand up," the voice of the figure before me growled.
I tried to stand up, but I think I only had one leg or it was paralysed. I fell right back down, unused to having only one thing to support me.
"Stand up!" the figure barked.
I used the wall to support me as I tried to stand up, but I couldn't. A large hand grabbed me roughly and hauled me up. A face was shoved close to mine and I recognised it instantly.
"Headmaster," I rasped, "why?"
"Because you're a Kaoncon spy!" he snarled, "for your crime, you must die!"
What crime? For being created? What had I done that was so bad I deserved to die? Come to school so I could get educated? Try and look for a better life? Try and understand the Autobots? Think differently? Should I die because I wanted freedom and justice? I thought that was what the 'Bots were all about, freedom, truth and justice.
If so, and I deserved to die for what I believed in, they should all be deactivated too.
A fist punched me, the other hand releasing me and I fell to the ground. There was cruel laughing and then a chant.
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
"No! Don't! Please!" I begged, "I'll change! I swear to Primus I'll be good!"
Silence fell over the ground, an anxious, waiting silence as the headmaster placed a foot on my neck and started crushing it. The silence was shattered when two voices yelled.
"Don't! What the Pit did he even do wrong?"
"Yeah! Ya kill 'im and ya'll be as bad as the 'Cons!"
Firmament. Nightspot. Primus, I owed those two my life.
The foot hesitated and lifted after a moment. The headmaster's voice hissed right in my audio receptor, "Run. Run far and fast and never come back. If I ever see your disgusting face again, I will rip your spark out... if you even have one."
I nodded, trying to keep my tears at bay. My spark was breaking. I considered this school my home and the students and staff my family. Now they wanted me dead.
I dragged myself with only my arms as fast as I could. They laughed their heads off at me. I had never been so humiliated in my entire existence. I was lifted up by two sets of hands.
"Don' worry, Echo, we don' care tha' ya 'Con," Nightspot said, smiling.
"We'll help you. Now, where do you need to go?" Firmament asked.
oOo
The two Primus sent angels named Firmament and Nightspot got me patched up. Turns out that Firmament is quite good at that. Then we had to figure out what to do.
"Well, I can't stay here," I stated, "You heard the headmaster; I show my face again and he'll kill me. He and the others will probably spread the word until everyone knows. So... I have to get out of here."
"Leave?" Nightspot asked, "As in leave Cybertron? Tha's extreme. There's gotta be another way—"
"No," I interrupted, "I have to go."
"But—" Firmament began.
"Look, which would you rather: my death or my safety?"
"... Neither of us wants you to leave."
I embraced them both, "I don't want to go, and I really don't want to leave you guys. Forget the 'Cons I live with, you're my real brothers, my family. I'll return someday."
"When?" they murmured, their arms wrapped around me protectively.
"I don't know," I admitted, "just someday. I'll come back when I hear a call or whatever. I'll just come back when I can, alright?"
"Promise?" Firmament pulled back and looked me in the optics.
"Shake on it?" Nightspot added, and both of them stuck out their hands. I shook them both and the deal was made. I was bound to my promise, according the unwritten laws of Youth World.
"You know the new exploration ship?" I questioned, "The KAB-2?" everyone knew about it. The KAB-2 was an enormous deep space exploration ship named after the new metal discovered recently: KAB-2. It was extremely strong, very lightweight and the only way to melt it was with extreme heat for a long time, and quiet flexible at the same time. It was the perfect material for a ship.
"Yeah."
"What about if I sneaked aboard it? There'll be a pretty big skeleton crew, since the ship itself is so big, and half of them will be in stasis pods anyway, with more to spare. If I could get into one of those, I could get away from Cybertron and no-one would even notice. It could work! But I'll need your help."
They looked at each other and were silent for a minute, before nodding slowly.
oOo
The KAB was due to take off in three orns, but there were already crew members living on it. My friends and I kept our senses on high as we crept through the halls. Nightspot had stolen a map and was guiding us through the massive (as in five decks with a max of 800 active crew members) ship.
He turned left and we followed him soundlessly down the long and partially lit hall. So far we hadn't run into anyone and were relieved. But we were still extremely cautious. If anyone found out that they were aiding me, we were all dead.
Finally, we made it to the stasis pod room. Thank Primus, we hadn't run into anyone and I hoped no-one ran into my friends as they left.
The pods were pretty big, big enough for me with room to spare. We found an unoccupied one and I turned to say goodbye.
Before I could even say anything, they tackle-hugged me, knocking me to the ground. I was a bit surprised at first but then pulled them close and fought back tears. My spark was twisting painfully so much that I was sure it would break. This was it.
They were the closest thing to brothers I had and there was a very good chance I would never see them again, despite my promise.
"Remember y-your promis-se," Firmament choked. He was crying. I could feel the wetness of his tears against my shoulder.
"I-I will," I whispered, also crying. We were all weeping.
"Puh-please don' g-go," Nightspot begged, wrapping his arms around my neck tightly, "Ya th' be-es' friend Ah eva had."
My spark shattered.
I gripped them tightly. I didn't want to go – they were the only real family I had ever had – but I couldn't stay – my life would be spent hiding and in fear of being recognized and killed. I murmured in their audios, "I'll c-come back, I s-swear. B-but I have t-to go before I ca-an ret-turn."
They got off me and helped me to my feet. I opened the lid of the stasis pod and looked back at them. Tears were streaming down Nightspot's face and Firmament was trying to keep them at bay, but a few still escaped.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and stopped myself from weeping for a moment. "Don't cry. Just live life to the full and wait for me. I can't and won't break my promise." I held their optics for a moment, then stepped inside the pod and shut the lid.
At that moment, I shattered my promise into a million tiny little pieces.