Things didn't go back to normal, or even get much better. Rivet was still dead, and nothing they did could fix that. Photodraft still repaired anyone who was hurt, and Megatronus still stopped them from stealing each others' energon, but they were just going through the motions.
That was all right, though. Megatronus didn't want it to get better. He didn't want to feel again.
But slowly, inevitably, Rivet's death faded, and just the fact that Megatronus and Photodraft still meddled in the affairs of the others around them changed things.
Their little group of miners started to become what it had before, only without Rivet. And despite the gaping hole in the dynamic, it was still better than loneliness. Because of Photodraft, mechs died less often in their unit than in others, and they started to get that false sense of security that allowed them to trade designations. Eventually, a sort of conservative kinship grew between them, because they were all suffering in the same bleak situation.
And then a mech died and was replaced by an old veteran of the mines, who would have none of their fellowship.
He showed up during the off-shift time. Megatronus came half out of recharge, enough to recognize that the guards were there and then that they had gone again.
The next shift, as always, Megatronus got up when Spiral shouted at them, and got in line. They saved a spot near the front for him, possibly out of deference, possibly to ensure that no one would try to steal their energon. Megatronus noticed the newcomer—an old battered-looking mech with no paint job to speak of and a scarred faceplate. He got in line about a third of the way through and shot a glare in Megatronus's direction when he caught him looking.
Megatronus downed his energon and stood in his usual spot, waiting patiently for everyone to go past. He could take their energon, and they knew it, but they also trusted him not to. He appreciated that trust. He liked it.
The new mech glared harder as if daring Megatronus to try stealing from him, or maybe warning him against it. Megatronus let him scurry past with his energon, and even smiled at him.
When the new mech was finished he came and stood across from Megatronus, waiting. A mech whose designation was Mudskimmer limped through, near the end of the line. His pede had gotten crushed under one of the drills' wheels just two shifts ago, and he'd barely made it back.
As soon as Mudskimmer came through, the new mech moved to intercept him, but Megatronus calmly stepped in the way. He'd needed to do this a few times before, when they got newcomers who didn't know that the rules of this team were different.
Mudskimmer hobbled past and drank his energon, and the new mech stared incredulously at Megatronus while the rest of the line went through. Megatronus smiled at him again.
They walked to work. A few times, Megatronus found himself next to the new mech, and he tried to start a conversation. It wouldn't work yet, of course, but if he was persistent, he could usually get them to talk to him after a few orns, even if they only did it so he'd leave them alone.
They walked back at the end of the shift. There had been no new injuries, but there were a few old ones that Photodraft looked at. There was scattered talking, and even a little joking as everyone settled down to recharge, and as soon as the guards were gone, the new mech marched straight up to Megatronus.
"You," he said. "What is your slagging problem?"
Megatronus shrugged. "I don't know."
"Just who do you think you are? Are you responsible for this madness?" He gestured to where Photodraft was carefully checking over Mudskimmer's pede.
"Look," Megatronus said. "I know things are a little different in this team, but you're going to have to cope. Most mechs find they like it better this way. I should warn you. though, that nomech steals anyone else's energon here. I'd suggest you don't try it again next shift."
The new mech's optics blazed in the darkness. "This is the pits of the inferno," he said. "It's every mech for himself here."
"Not on this team," Megatronus said firmly. "You'll get used to it."
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"No. If an orn is a shift, I'd say I've been here half a vorn."
"Then you're stubborn. They'll wipe that foolish grin off of your faceplate or they'll kill you, eventually."
"How long have you been here?"
"Go get fragged,"
Megatronus shrugged. "Like I said, you'll just have to get used to the way we do things."
"Can't slagging believe this," the mech grumbled as he turned to walk away.
"Hey," one of the others said. "Megatronus is right, you know."
The new mech hesitated, and surveyed the dimly-lit room. "You're all idiots," he said. "Every last one of you thinks you agree with him, don't you? You're all just idiots. He's a fragging sparkling, you can see it in his optics. He doesn't know anything."
No one refuted him, and he curled up and went into recharge. Megatronus took his usual place by the side of the wall and Photodraft came over to sit next to him and take inventory. They'd managed, through combined effort, to amass a small supply of useful things. They had a half-full bottle of energon, and another container with a little bit of solvent at the bottom, two rags, and plenty of temp plating, as well as Photodraft's little torch and his knife.
"This one's going to be tough," Photodraft said quietly.
"He talked to me at the end of the first shift," Megatronus said. "I don't think he'll be much trouble."
"If you say so," Photodraft put everything back into his subspace and curled up, facing away from Megatronus. Megatronus turned the other way. Photodraft still wasn't the same—they couldn't really go back to when Rivet had been alive. But they would keep going anyway.
"Get up you slagging excuses for scrap heaps! Shift starts in two breems!"
Megatronus dragged himself to his pedes. He was always, always tired. The others sometimes complained about it, especially the larger mechs. They weren't given enough energon to truly sustain themselves. Inevitably, one orn, they'd just get so worn out that they collapsed and offlined. Megatronus had seen it happen.
He wasn't intending to let it happen to him. He was pretty sure he'd be killed by something else anyway. There were plenty of other ways to go. In the next energon explosion, or cave-in, or after offending Spiral one too many times.
"Let's go!" Spiral said.
They lined up and followed him out into the hallway. Megatronus almost wasn't paying attention as the line went past, until the new mech jumped on Mudskimmer, knocking the energon from his hands and shoving him to the ground. Megatronus grabbed the new mech and dragged him off. The container of energon spilled about half its contents before Mudskimmer grabbed it again, then scrambled way, downing it as fast as he could. Megatronus slammed his fist into the other mech's snarling faceplate twice before Spiral and the other guards broke up the fight with their energon whips.
"Hey, dead mech," Spiral said. "If this becomes a problem, you're going to have to be at the end of the line every shift."
Megatronus didn't acknowledge what Spiral had said. He didn't trust himself not to snap at the guard, and he knew that wouldn't end well if he did.
They trudged out to start their shift. Megatronus walked next to the new mech, because he needed to make something clear. "I might be just a little naïve," he said quietly. "But I hope you're under no illusions that I'm some sort of saint. If you can't keep to your own rations and leave the injured alone, you will regret it."
The mech didn't make any move to let Megatronus know he'd heard, but Megatronus didn't need an acknowledgment.
He would keep an optic on this mech though. A few like him had tried again the second shift, but there was something different about this one. Maybe Photodraft was right about him being trouble.
About a quarter of the way through the shift, Megatronus saw the new mech walk over to the guards. Curious, he watched out of the corner of an optic, as the mech said something quietly to them.
Spiral laughed out loud and shook his helm, then pointed back to the rest of the group. "Get back to work. It's not a problem."
"I warn you," The new mech said, loud enough that Megatronus could hear this time.
"Oh, cut the slag, none of the others really care," Spiral got out his energon whip. "Watch, I'll prove it." Spiral looked up and met Megatronus's optics. Everyone stopped working. The guard's gaze flickered, and he looked around, frowning.
What had the new mech said to him? And why had everyone stopped? Megatronus went back to work, and the rest of them followed suit.
"See?" the new mech said. "He's dangerous. They all listen to him."
Spiral shook his helm and led his guards over to where Megatronus was standing.
Megatronus didn't fight as a guard grabbed either arm and forced him to his knees. He could have fought and overpowered all three of them, but it wouldn't have stopped the pain, it would just have prolonged the inevitable, and then they might be angry enough to kill him.
"This is Kaon," Spiral said. "Maybe this mech's insanity is a little contagious, but the moment he gets himself killed, the rest of them will go back to what they were before." He swung his whip and it burned across Megatronus's back. "He can bully them into being nice about the energon." He swung again. Megatronus gritted his denta and forced himself not to flinch. "He can coax their designations from them." He swung harder this time. "But at the end of the orn, none of them is going to lift a servo in his aid." The whip hit the back of his helm this time, and the barbed end of it caught the edge of his faceplate. Megatronus couldn't keep in a short gasp. He looked up. The other mechs were all watching. Some of them looked angry. One of the larger ones took half a step forward.
No. No, don't, don't. Megatronus set his faceplate and shook his helm slightly. If any of them intervened, they would prove Spiral wrong, and then there would be consequences. Megatronus didn't want any of them to die because of him.
Spiral hit him a few more times, and then had the guards release him. Megatronus got to his pedes with energon dripping down his back and his faceplate, and went back to work. Photodraft approached him, but he warned the other mech away with a murderous glare. Not now. That had been too close.
The rest of the shift was agony, but it wasn't bad enough that Megatronus couldn't keep working. At the end of the orn, several of the others surrounded him as they walked back, not touching him but there to catch him in case he fell. He appreciated that.
They got back to the cave, and the guards left and locked the door.
"Megatronus," Photodraft hurried over to him. "Turn around, I need to clean that out."
"It's ok, Photo."
"No," Photodraft said. "It is not."
"I said I'm fine," Megatronus told him. "It's not as bad as the last time."
"Don't be ridiculous," another mech said, grabbing Megatronus's shoulder and shoving him toward Photodraft.
"Ow!"
"Hey!" Photodraft said, "Don't hurt him, Primus. Just kneel down, Megatronus."
Megatronus sighed and did as Photodraft had told him. He bore patiently the sting of the solvent-damp rag on his back. Photodraft cleaned off his injured faceplate as well. "This will probably scar," he said. "Normally it wouldn't, but you aren't getting enough energon, so it won't heal as quickly. I'd better seal it up, though," he got out his torch. Megatronus shuttered his optics.
"This is going to hurt a lot more than it did when Spiral hit you."
Megatronus nodded once.
Photodraft wasn't wrong. Megatron shook with the effort of holding still. His faceplate still felt like it was on fire long after Photodraft took the torch away.
"I'm going to put a little plating on your back too," Photodraft said. "Do you want to lie down?"
"Give me a breem or so," Megatronus said, tempted to reach up and touch his faceplate, but knowing that was a bad idea. He un-shuttered his optics and got up.
"You fragging glitch," someone said. Megatronus looked over and saw the new mech facing off with Alloy, the largest mech in the group and the first one Photodraft had helped. He was flanked by several of the others. The new mech was outnumbered, but still scowling.
"You thought you could get away with that?" Alloy said. "Well, you were wrong."
"Wait," Megatronus walked over.
Alloy rounded on him. "You know what nearly happened? I swear we nearly tried to get up and stop Spiral."
"But you didn't," Megatronus said.
Alloy hesitated, then bowed his helm. "I'm sorry…"
"No, that's not what I meant," Megatronus said. "And just so we're clear, I don't want any of that in the future either. Attacking the guards is foolisness."
"We know that," Alloy said, meeting Megatronus's optics. "That's why we want to teach this glitch a lesson, so he knows that he can't bait us like that."
"He just doesn't understand," Megatronus slipped past Alloy. "He's new here. He's been broken for a long time."
The mech snarled. "Get away from me."
"This is a warning," Megatronus said. "Maybe making friends down here isn't smart, but neither is making enemies. If you can't join us, you can at least leave us in peace. You're lucky it's me you hurt, because if it was anyone else, I wouldn't be feeling so generous. We'll let you off this time. But if you get any of these mechs hurt in the future, including me, then I won't step in."
The new mech grabbed Megatronus and turned around to slam him into the wall. Open wounds ground against the rough cave surface and Megatronus gasped, blinded by the pain. Then Alloy grabbed the new mech and dragged him off, and Megatronus slumped to the ground.
He let someone pull him back to his pedes as the others converged on the new mech.
"Let him up!" Megatronus said.
"Shut up," Alloy growled, slamming the other mech into the ground.
They didn't hurt him very badly, and when they did finally let him up, he retreated into his corner. Photodraft checked Megatronus's wounds again to make sure they were clean enough, and then started putting plating on them. Megatronus focused on staying quiet so those around could recharge. He noticed Alloy scowling at him from across the room, though, and wasn't surprised when the mech approached as soon as Photodraft was done.
"I need to talk to you," he said.
Megatronus, who'd been lying face-down on the ground, got painfully to his knees. "Really?"
"Yes," Alloy growled. He grabbed Megatronus by the throat and pulled him up to his pedes. Megatronus let him, though Photodraft got up with a shout of alarm. "You think you're better than us," Alloy said. "Don't you? You think you're the only one with a spark in here, don't you?"
Megatronus met his optics.
"You think it's your job to protect us poor broken mechs who've been down here too long. Well I'm fragging sick of it, so you'd better either frag off or give us some more credit. I've got a spark, Megatronus. We all do, all right? So let us protect our friends, like you protect yours." He let go.
Megatronus relaxed, then nodded. "All right."
"Also," Alloy said. "If Spiral puts you at the back of the line, I'll make sure everyone gets their energon."
"Thank you."
Alloy nodded once, and walked away.
Photodraft let out a hissing, relieved vent.
"It's ok," Megatronus said. "Let's try to get some recharge before we have to get up for next shift."
Photodraft nodded.
The mech didn't try to steal anyone's energon next shift. The fact that Alloy stood next to Megatronus, arms crossed and glaring, might have had something to do with it. He watched, though, with a look in his optics that made Megatronus feel uneasy.
They went three shifts like that. Megatronus's wounds healed and Alloy stood next to him at the energon line, and the new mech just kept watching. Megatronus almost couldn't stand it, but he wasn't going to be the first to break the silence, so he waited. Eventually, he knew the mech would come to him.
At the end of the third shift, he was proven right. The old, scarred mech came over to where Megatronus and Photodraft were working on Mudskimmer's still-crushed pede. Photodraft was working, at least, and Megatronus was distracting Mudskimmer. The appendage was still far from healed, and Photodraft needed to check it for infection. Mudskimmer was telling a story about a femme he'd known before the mines, punctuated by winces and quiet gasps of pain, alongside occasional muttered apologies from Photodraft. Then the injured mech stopped mid-sentence and looked up with a guarded expression on his faceplate. Megatronus followed his gaze and saw the newcomer glaring down at him.
"Good off-shift, friend," Megatronus said.
The mech scowled.
Megatronus turned away, bracing himself in case the mech standing behind him decided to kick him. But he didn't.
"So are you going to try to escape?"
The question took him off guard and Megatronus turned around again. "What?"
"You're building up a little following here. If you're going to get us out of the mines, I want in."
"Absolutely not," Photodraft hissed. "If they think you're planning an escape attempt, they just kill you. There are plenty of poor sparks to replace you."
Alloy and a few others came over as well.
"Then what did you promise them?" the new mech asked, "To make them so loyal."
"Mech, I haven't promised anyone anything." That was a lie. He'd promised Rivet he'd be Photodraft's brother in the case that Rivet had died. "You can't make promises down here. You of all mechs ought to know that, seeing as you're so fully against our way of doing things."
"What's this?" Alloy asked.
"I asked if you're planning an escape attempt," the mech glared at Alloy.
Alloy looked to Megatronus, then back. "Are you trying to get us killed, mech? Is that what this is? You want to tell us you'll be loyal, then turn tail and go tell Spiral to get us killed?"
The mech glared.
"Well, it doesn't matter in any case," Megatronus said. "We haven't planned any escape attempts. I'm not sure where I'd start with that anyway, seeing as I don't have any memories of anywhere but the mines."
"Not that I couldn't get you killed just by pretending you were planning an escape attempt," the mech said.
"Didn't you already try that?" Megatronus asked. "Weren't you trying to warn Spiral that these mechs were loyal to each other."
"To you," the mech said. "And telling him you're planning an escape attempt is different. He'd kill you. All of you. I could do that."
They were all silent for a breem.
"Well," Megatronus said. "I suppose you could do that, and there wouldn't be much we could do to stop you."
"But I won't, so long as you count me in if you're planning to escape."
"But we aren't," Photodraft said. "So what use is that?"
"I think you could," the mech met Megatronus's optics, and Megatronus didn't trust the burning intensity in his expression. "I've never seen this before."
"We have nowhere to go," Megatronus said.
"Anywhere's better than this pit."
"It's not about getting out, it's about living as long as we can."
The mech glared. "You're a fool," he snapped, and stormed away.
They went back to working on Mudskimmer's pede.
"You know," Alloy said, "If you did plan an escape attempt, I'd back you. But I don't think we'd want him along."
Megtronus half-smiled. "I can agree with you there, friend."
"I'm not your friend," Alloy planted a pede on his shoulder, and shoved him over. Megatronus grabbed Alloy's leg and pulled him down as well.
"Fine," he said. "No friends down here, right?"
Alloy and the others left them in peace.
"We are not planning an escape attempt," Photodraft said. "Please, Megatronus."
"Don't worry," Megatronus said, but he couldn't help thinking about the possibility. They were fighting. They weren't fighting each other, or the guards, they were fighting the mines themselves. And they were fighting a losing battle. Every time someone offlined, all of them took a step closer to that same fate, and they all knew that it would eventually be their turn. Alloy would pass on, Mudskimmer, Megatronus, Photodraft. All of them would be there one shift and gone the next. Would it be that way if they managed to escape? Everyone told him it would be better. There were medics, there was the sky. Megatronus desperately wanted to see the sky. If they could escape…
But he didn't know how they'd manage that. They could overpower the guards, but did anyone know the way out? And the guards would call for back-up, and they'd have to fight all the way, and even if they got out, so many of them would die. No. Escaping was not an option. Not unless he could find a way to get all of them out safely.
He would keep thinking about it though.