The Diego Diaries: PsyOps 6
-0-Youngling Day School, Autobot City, Mars
"They will have to be a lot faster to get this one."
"I noticed that."
"It's not like I don't want her in school. She's going to be a slagging great student just like the others."
"I can see that." (grin)
"I just think she needs time to grow into this … to have the advantages too."
"I agree." (solemn nod of helm)
"She's going to be in school forever once she starts so I think being on the outside, moving around the city and being with you and me makes sense."
"I think you're right." (slight smirk barely hidden)
"Why, we don't even know what her favorite munition is?"
"Unthinkable." (ginormous grin)
"How can we know she's getting what she needs?"
"I agree." (barely contained mirth)
Ironhide nodded, his optics fixed on the doorway to the classroom where Sunspot did his daily routine. Ratchet who was grinning broadly stood beside him watching the big mech as he went through his tortured argument for keeping his latest little sparkling free range so to speak.
They stood in the lobby with other genitors, most of which occupied the couches and chairs as they waited themselves. They stood to one side so that Ironhide could fume undisturbed. Ratchet looked up at his daughter who lay on her atar's arm in a white cocoon of blankets and booties. Hero was looking up at him as he swayed gently, her little white cap charmingly distinctive against the dark armor of her pa and her own. The cap had tiny holes in it to allow her finial points to poke out and it gave her a comical yet feminine aspect. Ratchet considered their morning earlier.
… earlier
He had gotten the infants up and running, all of the smaller ones washed and dried. Sunspot was now more than capable of his own shower but he loved that his old pa would wrap him in a towel when he finished rinsing himself off. When all the mechs were up and at it, Ironhide would attend to the delicate task of taking his delicate tiny daughter out of her crib to the wash bowl on the kitchen table. While Ratchet busied himself getting three little cribs up to specs, he was drizzling water over her tiny helm, her little blue optics twinkling up at him with pleasure.
"There you go," Ironhide said as he sluiced off the last bit of soap bubbles. "You look a caution." A warm towel received her and she lay on his arm cocooned with warmth as Ironhide emptied her pail into the kitchen sink. A sluice of water cleaned it and it was left there tilted to drain and dry. The others watched him from the floor as they waited for breakfast.
"ATAR!"
"What, Orion?"
"Her?"
Ironhide looked down at the three little mechs looking up at him. "Hero. Your brother named her." He glanced at Sunspot. "Genius name by the way," he said to the smiling little Seeker who nodded himself. "I like it."
"So do I," Ironhide said. He turned and walked to the couch where he sat, the other three following. They gathered around to look at her. She was without her softly knitted apparel. Things were still left to do.
Ratchet walked out and grinned. "Well, if that doesn't deserve a picture." He unsubbed his camera and snapped several. Subbing it, he moved to the kitchen counter and made breakfast. Sippy cups and a plate of 'ham and eggs' for the youngling were prepared and Ratchet parked them in front of each at the table. They began to partake eagerly. "What are you going to dress her in today?"
"Sunstreaker showed me the catalog. It is the new stuff. I have some more coming with little decals and stuff on them. They look real cute. Some femmes in Ireland crochet things and they made these little hats and booties on specs the Crafts Guild director made of her. The school said she needs to keep her little helm warm. I wonder why no one told me that with the mechs?"
"Actually, I didn't did I. Sorry about that, Ironhide. I guess I just figured they were really in good servos with you. You are a good servos on atar you know."
He looked up at Ratchet with serious optics. "We have a big job raising good sparklings. She's going to be a wonder just like the others."
Ratchet grinned. "You better feed her. I'll manage these younglings," he said as he watched Ironhide find the feeding tube. She smiled at him as he offered it and cozied down taking it readily. Several more snaps met that picture.
… Youngling Day School lobby
They watched mechs come and go, most of them with big grins. Others had looks of determination and concentration as they walked off with their bonds, art, datapads and badges in servos. Finally, Terradive looked out and waved them in. Moving through the crowd, they entered his classroom and paused as the Seeker closed the door. Moving to Ironhide, Terradive grinned. "She's so cute. Roto told me that we can't expect her for some time at school."
"Little femme has things to learn yet. When she's got it down she'll be here," Ironhide said warily. "Right now, she wants to stay with me. I asked her and she agreed."
"I can see that," Terradive said with a big grin. "Have a seat."
They both walked to the table where the younglings sat to read and work on group projects with Terradive. He gathered Sunspot's file and joined them. Sitting, he grinned. "Your little mech is doing very well. Let me show you. I want you to know that I asked Silverwing to come and give us an update on the Seeker end of things. We also have some film to show you about that."
Both nodded. Hero would have but she was dozing quite nicely in the big brawny arms of her atar.
"In the subject areas, Sunspot is doing quite well. As you know, he has a comprehension delay that makes it harder for him. That is the result of his life, the lack of nutrition and care he missed in the most formative orns."
"That is going to even out at some point won't it?" Ironhide asked with a veneer of anxiety poking out of his otherwise placid if intent expression.
"Sunspot is making up a lot of the gap but it could be that he won't ever be all that he could have been with care and protection. He's incredibly self motivated and I am clear that processors continue to work around things that stall them all the orns of a mechanism's life. Isn't that true?" he asked glancing at Ratchet.
Ratchet nodded. "It's like humans and their strokes. Their brains rewire and reroute all the human's life. They keep going and it keeps working until the end. For Sunspot, he will have circuits adjusting all his orns as long as he works at it. He will be a much better youngling everyday than he was the orn before because he wants to be, Ironhide," Ratchet said squeezing Ironhide's arm.
Ironhide nodded only slightly mollified. "We will help him. All his life. My son is going to go to college and be who and what he wants to be. I don't want him not having every opportunity," he said with emotion.
Terradive nodded. "Then all of us are on the same page. His strong suit is math and related sciences. Numbers are a straight line for him with very few detours. Reading is an altogether different language than mathematics though he is doing so much better than last time. He's still behind and its still a struggle."
"We read every night. He reads to me from his books and I read to him. When we walk I point out words and we work them out. He reads labels and such for me in the armory when he comes there. I see him doing better myself," Ironhide said nodding.
"That is very important, Ironhide. He will keep on going. His writing is great. Lots of detail and lots of imagination. He loves to write about the family and his grand genitors are something he always includes. Both pairs. Its all for the good," Terradive said.
"We work on his glyphs. He has a shaky servo he's so intent to be perfect. I tell him to do his best," Ironhide said remembering the joors of practice they would have in the evenings.
Terradive nodded. "It shows. He has improved a great deal." He showed them examples and it was clear to all that Sunspot had. Terradive showed them all manner of projects, reports and other detailed illustrative examples of Sunspot's intense growth and careful work. Sitting back, he grinned. "Children don't grow themselves. It takes a family and effort. As for Sunny's personal development, he has become a changed little mech since getting his firewalls rebuilt. He is even in his temperament. He doesn't have blue periods or moods. He's happy and himself. That was a miracle."
They both nodded. "It was," Ratchet said. "Jarro is a genius with that sort of treatment. I cannot tell you how fragile and ill structured his firewalls were. He made them himself without help. It makes me want to punch something thinking about that, how he never had instruction for himself."
"He has it now," Terradive said nodding. The door opened and a tall Seeker with a light blue paint scheme peered in. "Hi, Silverwing. Come in." He entered and met both genitors, sitting beside them at the table. "Silverwing is managing the case files of the Seeker younglings and he is overseeing Sunspot's. I am going to let him tell you about that."
They turned to Silverwing who subbed a datapad. He grinned. "I am going to be graduating from the University shortly with a degree in counseling, flight instruction for younglings as well as the teaching degree for classroom instruction. I am managing about forty youngling Seekers and organizing their progress in flight school. Sunspot is a very wonderful little mech who is learning to fly and develop a lot of primary skills that he never learned growing up. I am also the liaison for the mental health aspect of Sunspot's program with Jarro and his department. Because he is a seeker, he has a number of things that require Seeker assistance so that part of things falls to me."
They nodded again.
"We have Sunspot mentored to a number of mechs including Red Wing, Cloud Burst, Gold Wing and myself. Starscream personally inspects half of his instruction periods himself to make sure Sunspot has good support and knows that the adult Seeker community is there to help and protect him. Four joors a week he is pulled out of class and taken to the aerie where he is given pertinent teachings about flight, Seeker communication, Seeker interpersonal actions that he didn't get from his genitors and help in his transformation skills. He is deficient in every area but catching up nicely. He has increased his transformation time greatly, making him safer should he ever have to do so quickly.
"Since it is evident that he can transform at his age and grounder mechs and femmes still can't, you can see that there are things appropriate to Seekers that aren't evident among grounders that need instruction and supervision. He makes one very cute little jet."
"He likes the jet pattern. He saw an image of Starscream somewhere when he was on Earth as a jet plane and chose it. I didn't tell him about the rest," Ironhide said with a grin. "He sometimes practices at the apartment going from himself to the little jet and back again. Makes the other little mechs cry sometimes. They don't know where their brother went."
Silverwing laughed and nodded. "It is probably really strange," he said grinning. "But he's getting faster and smoother. Right now, we have him practicing taxiing around the courtyard in the housing development. He doesn't have the coordination or strength yet to do more than lift up slightly and touch down nearly immediately but he's getting braver. We don't want him to fall. We have mechs come out to watch him when he's there. They stand about ready to catch him if things go wrong. This little mech is one beloved little mechanism."
It was silent a moment, then Ironhide and Ratchet nodded. "He's a great little mech. I love him," Ironhide said emotionally.
"You would carry him on a pillow I think. So would I," Ratchet said nodding to the two.
"We feel the same way," Silverwing said. "We teach him about his culture, his family's clan and all the rest. The elders come and talk to him sometimes, the chiefs in particular. Everyone is upset about his situation. We don't allow our younglings to slip away like this. We would love to know how this happened. There would be paybacks I guarantee you."
They nodded. "Get in line," Ironhide said quietly.
Silverwing nodded. He looked at his datapad. "We have him on track to work on short lift offs and gentle touch downs. He is going to be part of a teaching group of older Seeker younglings who are learning the elder language we use to speak to each other privately and a lot of lore. That is also part of recovering who he is. Otherwise, he is a beautiful little mech with a lot of good going on right now. Starscream asked me to give you his regards on this youngling. He's very pleased with how happy and well he is now."
"Give Starscream our compliments back. We want Sunspot to be well and happy and that means recovering who he is as a Seeker," Ratchet said. Ironhide nodded. "He can have the best of two worlds."
Silverwing nodded. "I think he has," he said rising. "Any questions?"
"No," Ironhide said as Ratchet nodded. "Tell everyone that we appreciate what you're doing for him especially the elders. He needs to know who he is."
"I will," Silverwing said nodding to Terradive. He turned and walked out closing the door behind him.
"That's a good report," Ratchet said smiling at Ironhide.
The big mechanism nodded. "That is a good little mech. Sunspot is doing a lot better. Each time It gets better."
Terradive nodded. "It does. We keep going."
"He's going to be staying in this level for a while isn't he?" Ratchet asked. "Rambler has been accelerated."
"He has. The group I have is going to be here for a long time yet. We have a lot of deficiencies to overcome," Terradive said.
"They will overcome them, right?" Ironhide asked anxiously.
"They will. I expect them all to be an awesome set of adults working at great things for the city some day," Terradive said nodding.
Ratchet squeezed Ironhide's arm. "You are a good teacher, Terradive. We appreciate what you do for our youngling and all the others."
"I love this job. I never knew I wanted it. I never got a chance to go to school. I didn't care if I broke things back on Cybertron. I had nothing to look forward to so why care?" he said ruefully.
They nodded. "I hear ya," Ratchet said.
"But now, we command our own world and our own lives. There is nothing I wouldn't do for my little mechs and femmes," Terradive said fiercely. "We will remake our people and it will be better. It already is."
They nodded. Terradive downloaded films, gave them art and reports and loaded them with Sunny's badges for this and that. Rising, teasing about Roto and 'why the frag didn't you tell me you bonded?', they both headed for the door and out into the lobby. Nodding at Prowl and Prime who waited with a grin, they ambled to the door beyond.
The sunlight was bright as they headed for the apartment. Dropping off the wonders of academia earned by three out of their six progeny, they turned and headed back out making their way to the airfield. Omega was waiting and so were the genitors. Alor took Hero and kissed her. Both he and Blackjack kissed and fussed over her before reluctantly returning her to Ratchet. Ironhide leaned in and kissed her too. "Don't get too comfortable, femme. I'll be back and then you and your old pa will ride on the rails again."
Kissing Ratchet, Ironhide turned and they all three walked on board, the hatch closing behind them. Ratchet stepped back and watched as Omega began to gather himself to leave. He rose up and banked away heading upward at a startling rate. Soon he was gone from view. Ratchet glanced at Hero who was looking at him with unblinking baby optics. Grinning, Ratchet kissed her helm. "Let's go find your big brothers. I have a few joors off. We can go show them the error of their ways."
She grinned at Ratchet waving her tiny arms. Ratchet chuckled. "I can see your old pa's fixation," he said as they turned and began to walk back to the Cultural Center. As they did, Ratchet explained the sights and sounds they passed. Hero listened and watched him as he did. Ratchet could almost swear the little femme understood every word he said.
=0=TBC
2012 (11)