Chapter Title: Of Names and Meanings
Disclaimer: I still don't make any money from this.
Challenge: What's in a name (Random prompt generator)
Rating: K
Characters/Pairings: Sam Witwicky, Wheeljack
Warnings/Comments: Unbeta'd Post-RoTF
Summary: The science team's project is made public and in visiting it and Wheeljack things are discussed of a cultural nature.

The first time Sam had seen one of the 'New Sparks', as they were being nicknamed he had thought it looked painfully small and couldn't see how it would be enough. The white ball of light could have easily fit in the hand of one of the Arcee units with room to spare, which compared to a human was pretty big, but, thinking in terms of the autobots it didn't seem like it would be enough. Yet, the bright green and white mech was placing the globe of light into a chest compartment, chasis if he remembered the term right from his sort of Cybertronian-English slang lessons, with a lot of confidence and cheer.

Of course, cheer in this particular mech was not all that uncommon, as Wheeljack could be bouncing with giddiness as a bomb went off right next to him. In this though, Sam felt certain as he leaned against the thick glass that let him watch while keeping the radiation from the spark away from him, was the good kind of cheer and not the maniacal type. After all, the engineer and Ratchet had been number crunching and debating on how to do this for two straight years when they weren't helping out in integrating new arrivals into the base or going out for the occasional Decepticon scuffle; so Wheeljack would be a bit more thoughtful in this then his latest oddball scheme or reverse engineering Decepticon weaponry.

It still made him uneasy though, as that cynical side that he had kept finding ways that this would fail and how even in a roundabout way it would be his fault. He wasn't certain just how much he would be to blame, but it would be his fault for some how getting their hopes up. That nasty little voice that was always ready to remind him of what he had done wrong since his first hearing of Archibald Witwicky and the 'Ice Man', which not even now at the age of twenty three could he readily forget.

"You want to come in and meet the new kids Sam?"

The sudden intrusion of Wheeljack's voice in his right ear had him jerking up from his slouched position on the glass. One hand already moving up to adjust the volume of the little communication device now affixed to his head. Once the ringing stopped he was already scrambling for the stairs and towards the door, part of him just as giddy as everyone else on base over this. Movement from ground to a large metal hand as easy to him now as if he had been doing it for his entire life. The swaying as he was lifted and deposited on the table that sat in front of the row of glass tubes.

"Why five of them 'jack?"

"Hmm, oh that's just how it worked out when everything was said and done. We didn't expect so many to volunteer for the procedure when we first talked about it. In a year when we know for certain how these kiddos have taken to it, we might actually have to have too many running around then we know what to do with if everyone keeps being this enthusiastic over it."

Sam didn't really blame anyone for that, as he watched the odd lights on the side of Wheeljack's head light up in a certain shade of blue that might have been happiness or some other positive emotion. (He was still learning how to read them, but he was better at it then Epps was at least.)

When the first meeting regarding this had happened most of the others had seemed overly stunned and disbelieving of what was being told to them. Enough so that even he wasn't certain if it would even get off the ground after Ratchet had explained the process that the big guys would have to go through to donate some of their sparks to the project. Yet a week after that meeting there had been a line of Autobots outside Optimus' office to volunteer for it.

"I don't think you'll lack babysitters though."

"Indeed, Ratchet thinks it might even be a good idea to have those like Major Lennox and other human parents give lectures and classes to all of the available bots on base.-"

He almost asked why on that until he remembered a Ratchet Conversation years ago on kids and Cybertronians. Hard to forget that conversation when he learned what he had done to his friends during Mission City.

"Especially considering that for the next earth decade they're going to be no more advance emotionally then human children in the age range of kindergartners, until we're certain their sparks are stabilizing and we can upgrade their basic programming with more sophisticating, if energy taxing systems. We figure it will also be a good idea to keep them with only a basic communication set up without internet access. Meaning anything we didn't already give them will have to be 'researched' the hard way as they grow."

He hadn't even noticed that the engineer had still been talking when he had zoned out until that last part.

"What are they getting program wise? Like are you going to…I don't know, download Cybertronian medicine 101 into one or more of them?"

"Oh no, since we're not factory building workers ready to begin upon onlining it was decided to let them 'grow up' and decide what they want to be when it comes time to upgrade them into bigger frames and larger processor capabilities. Prime is very keen on the whole freedom for all sentient beings. We're not even certain if we'll give them their designations, let them choose their designations, or give them temporary ones until they're older and thus can choose one to fit their choices in careers or to reflect their personalities."

"Wait, wait, wait, you guys do that? Is that why like Bluestreak is named as he is? And Smokescreen?"

The head fin like lights flashed again in what was definitely amusement that time at him.

"Yes, though our names have a bit more in variety and layers when it comes to what they describe in our actual language. Our English names are generalizations of our actual names and meanings so as to be pronounceable to your kind."

And here Wheeljack leaned closer to Sam as if he was telling a very important piece of gossip. Which he probably was as Sam had learned within months of living with the Autobots, that all of them were not above idle gossip like housewives talking over the fence to one another.

"I have it on good authority that Jazz just picked the name of the first genre of earth music that he heard because he couldn't find a good enough substitute in any earth language for his actual name, and still come off as friendly and approachable. Now, I think we'd be hard pressed to get him to go by his original designation again."

"So name changing isn't that uncommon for you guys?"

"A designation is to show who you are in our culture, meaning it would be easier to change a designation if you have changed in someway as well. Ratchet had lived under a different designation when he was a politician in Iacon, then when he became a medic he changed it to easily show such had happened to him."

It was a nice and also terrifying thought, considering how humans rarely changed their names. He really couldn't see himself changing his, even after everything he had gone through. He still felt like Sam who was a dork in school and was prone to talking a lot when nervous, he now was just Sam who also had giant transforming alien robots as friends and family in a weird sort of way. Yet it had a sort of thrill to the idea as well, like a rite of passage or something, being able to pick a name you know described you and you alone.

"…Well at least it'll be interesting to see what they'll be called in the end then."

Sam actually looked forward to seeing how these kids would be like through their names as he looked once more at the tanks holding them. The coming year would be interesting, especially for the fliers when he noticed one of them had what appeared to be helicopter rotors forming on his back.

Author's Corner

E-points to those who know who the five kiddos are, though it's probably obvious there. I'm also still willing to take any prompts you guys might have for this series. Just need a character, or characters, along with the prompt you want me to subject Sam to. I will work write for the prompts and post them as quickly as possible between 'plot chapters' like this one.