The Diego Diaries Part 3

by arctapus

This is the story of Ratchet and Ironhide's prank war which goes global and intergalactic. It is essentially a humorous/dramatic love story. This is the third part because the second part is giving me fits for uploading just like part one. (It is currently in Part Eight) I love my readers. :D

456. Chapter 456

The Diego Diaries: Chat 1 T-Minus Two Orns/Four (dd3 456)

-0-At home

He heard a knock on the door, then rose to answer it. Opening the door, Ratchet looked out. There was no one there. Then he looked down. Someone was looking up at him with a smile. :Hi, Sheila. Come on in:

Ratchet turned to one side as the segway bearing the little human buzzed inside. He was glad to see her. He was glad to see anyone. Watching as she buzzed forward, then turned to look at him, Ratchet grinned. :What's up?:

She grinned back. :I was wanting to talk to you. I've never been inside a home of any of the soldiers. I hope you don't mind:

Ratchet nodded. :Sounds good to me: He walked to the chair he was sitting in before and sat. :So … what do you want to talk about?:

She looked around, then grinned. :A lot of things. I'm hoping you have some time:

Ratchet snickered. :I think I do:

She grinned, then stepped down to run to the window to peer outside. The view was spectacular. The airfield was visible along with the Fortress, Metroplex and the rest of the city beyond. :Your view is awesome:

:We like it. The other side of the building has the view of the other cities and the Industrial Park. We get to see all the rest plus the Temple:

:I love it: She turned to look at him. :I heard about the mission and how you're probably going. May I go with you when you leave? I'll be good: she said with a smile.

:Sure:

She blinked. :Really?:

Ratchet nodded. :I think I'm going. If I go you can come with me if Prime okays it:

:Wow. Thanks. I was wondering too, Ratchet … I was wondering if I could talk to you about things … your life and all. I have some things in my head that keep coming back up:

:Within the usual limitations, sure: Ratchet said.

Sheila considered that, then grinned. :When I came here I expected a lot of differences. I thought that all of the buildings would be strange and alien. But since I've been here all that I see is more than familiar … its almost eerily like home:

Ratchet considered that. :I can imagine. I know that we don't exactly match the alien configurations that you've come to expect. We're not carbon based or the like. I don't know if you've seen me in my true basic root mode before …:

:I did: Sheila said remembering the presentation that Ratchet had made with Wheeljack.

Ratchet nodded. :That's what we look like when we don't have alt formats. Our homes on Cybertron aren't much different. We've built our towers the same way but here there's room for us to spread out more. We've always lived with intense density of population as far as personal space goes. Our cities are tall to accommodate both our numbers and our tastes. We have intense community connectivity because of it:

:You make everything you create beautiful: Sheila said looking around the room. :Its comfortable and so homey. I was thinking that there was so much here that was home-like that it makes me wonder as a scientist, the similarities and the mathematical possibility that this would be your life and it would be so much like ours. The universe is supposed to be stranger than this:

Ratchet chuckled. :I'd think we'd be strange enough. Consider how we're humanoids, your species and mine. We need sleep and sustenance. Our basic formats are more alike than not. Perhaps you're looking down the wrong end of the telescope. Instead of differences as your starting form of reference, try similarities.

"One of the things that interests me in how you think is you insistence that there has to be water or this and that condition before life can exist. If those conditions aren't met then you decide that life can't possibly be where you're looking.

"Your criteria are so myopic it fascinates me. You have made yourselves and your standards for life such a narrow focus for possibility that you'd miss everything else if you were free to roam. We aren't carbon based. We aren't necessarily needful of water to exist. We don't breathe. In your scientific community, we don't exist:

:I've always wondered why we've done that:

:You limit yourself to searching for particular things. It means that you aren't looking for other things. Enceladus has water on the surface. There's water there, one of your golden criteria. But the kind of life that you represent is not possible due to other factors. I'll tell you that there's bacteria in the water:

She looked at him startled. :You've seen it?:

:We've found it. Some complex, some simple. The interactions of Enceladus and Saturn have made it a difficult unstable planet. It's deeply affected by Saturn's gravity. The surface water and that under the ice that covers most of it aren't as cold as other places because of the gravitational tidal action of Saturn. Its really a pretty good place for things to grow:

:I would love to see it: Sheila said.

:Ask Wheeljack and Percy. We have to be very very careful there. The bacteria have pride of place. Our best base location was Enceladus but the bacteria have to be respected. We don't want to harm where we go:

Sheila nodded, then looked around. :Your living room and kitchen … all of it reminds me of a nice apartment in New York or some place. It reminds me of any uptown apartment in a city on Earth: She paused to looked at the decorations and pictures. :Your kids are awesome:

Ratchet grinned. :I think so:

:You have a lot of kids. Is that typical?: Sheila asked as she studied the images on the wall. They were art from Sunstreaker of Cybertron and pictures both painted and snapped of everyone in the family.

:I don't know. I remember living in a place where having a lot of kids was hard sledding. Some families get huge. Mine is sort of patch work. Three adopted and four separated. We have a big family by most counts. Its been a long time since we had children around. I'm not really very clear anymore about that:

:I can imagine. All that war and running around: Sheila said. :Do you like to talk about the caste system or am I treading on thin ice here?:

Ratchet considered that. :The caste system was the most unjust and contemptible thing ever. When you have to be what your birth shunts you into, there's only misery ahead. Our planet was born with a gun in its mouth:

Sheila considered that. :How did you get to be a doctor if you were born into the low caste, Ratchet?:

:It's another unjust part of things, Sheila. Sometimes you stand out because you have a skill or talent that they need, like or want. I was a skilled tool-and-die maker with my folks. Our stuff is stellar and was incredibly valued. There was a belief that the skill I had could be transformed into medical ability. I was given a mercy posting at the University of Iacon Medical School. Full ride through. I passed and was allowed to graduate because I had skills and sometimes even a high caste gets sick:

:You must be still bitter: Sheila said nodding.

Ratchet considered that. :I guess I am sometimes though I work at letting that go. I'm bitter for the waste of lives and dreams. I'm bitter for everyone who didn't get a chance to get out of the trap. Even though I was let out to learn, I was still in my prison anyway. The System lasted until the bitter end and everyone had to remember to reflect and keep their place. That was hard, knowing my 'place'. I never accepted that and I'll tell you, I got slagged a few times. But I prevailed. Somewhere in my gut … in my spark is an indomitable will:

:We have or we had systems like that on Earth. I don't understand that kind of thinking. Imagine the talents, cures and amazing things that never got made, done or said:

Ratchet nodded. :My grandgenitors had dreams. They couldn't live them. They were prevented so they gave them to me. I had to live my life for more than just myself. I had to live it for them and my own genitors. I had to remember where I came from and never forget any of it.

"When you make your way up and out, you just can't live your life for yourself. You have to live it for everyone who didn't get a chance to do the same thing. I wish I could find the words to tell you what I think about the caste system. I saw it harm everything and everyone I ever loved:

Sheila was silent a moment. :There are rumors that the high castes are going to do something:

Ratchet nodded. :I heard that, too:

:What will you do about it, Ratchet? What if there's a rift?: Sheila asked.

Ratchet grinned slightly. :They'll be sorry they were separated. Prime won't allow it. I would rather lick Megatron's peds than frag with Optimus:

Sheila grinned. :He's pretty epic isn't he:

Ratchet chuckled. :I'd say so. Besides, they're a drop in the bucket to the greater population and none of them will go back into slavery willingly:

:Can I look around? Your place is epic, too: Sheila said.

:Knock yourself out: Ratchet said sitting back with a grin.

She smiled, then boarded the segway. She roared off exploring the infant's berth rooms, then buzzed back in. Passing him, she continued to the other end of the house. After a moment, she was back pulling up in front of him. :You have a great place, Ratchet. This would cost millions on Earth in London or New York City. I'm totally impressed:

:I grew up in a place called the Jumble. Funny thing was, Optimus grew up just a few blocks away. We never met until the army because the population was so dense that you really didn't know anyone beyond your block usually. I knew of him. He was a longshoreman who worked on the docks at the energon depot on the other side of town. We both come from Iacon. When things got bad, Optimus … Orion Pax got into the Equality Movement. Or so it was called in the beginning:

:What was the Jumble like?: she asked.

He considered that, the shambling tenement that he'd spent the most difficult, most loved portions of his early life. :It was a sprawling ghetto. We were only allowed to live in ghettos … restricted areas that were meant to house us out of sight of those who benefited at our expense. All the low caste workers of Iacon lived in the Jumble or the other ghetto on the other side of Iacon called the Warren. I lived in a rundown building like everyone else. Eight flights to a tiny two room apartment where I lived with my genitors. It was very hard, sometimes very hungry and tough. But I had loads of love. I had my grandgenitors and my folks. I had it all, really:

Sheila considered that. :What about the high castes? Did they even consider what a bad idea this was?:

:No. Does anyone on Earth right now understand how their indifference to suffering is lighting a ticking time bomb in your midst? Sometimes when you get tired of seeing your younglings hungry, the little things like getting killed or arrested don't seem so scary. At some point the bomb went off and we exploded:

:Your AllSpark … Its holy. Prime sent It away and you ended up here with us. If Its holy, how didIit not do something about this injustice?: Sheila asked knowing full well that she was skirting, barely, the edges of taboo.

Ratchet considered that. :We have free will. So do you. No one is going to rescue any of us. We have to stand up and move. Our revolution was a hellish thing. Entire groups of our people were over run. Too many died. It was hard and awful. That's why we can't forget. Well 'find our people and give them a chance. It's what we owe to all of our kind everywhere. This is the place we regroup and make our stand:

Sheila nodded. :The high castes worry me. Ironhide is a high caste isn't he, Ironhide and his family?:

Ratchet grinned. :Don't tell too many. He hates it. So does Prowl. Ironhide's genitors are really remarkable. They taught him to value everyone and to be good. He has the highest caste rank of any Cybertronian around. Warriors were valued from the beginning because they overthrew the First Tyranny. They congregated around Praxus and from there the Praxian Warrior Elite caste came to be.

"There's no one including the Prime that's higher. He considered it an anvil on his back. Alor, his ada, is mid caste. When Ali and Blackjack bonded they didn't have to get government permission. Ironhide and I did:

:What?!: Sheila asked with shock. :What do you mean?:

:I was low caste … basically merchandise or machinery. To bond up, especially to a high caste like Ironhide, I had to register then wait for a permit:

:A permit?: Sheila asked, her voice astounded.

:Yeah. I still have it somewhere I think. I had to get governmental permission to bond with old mech. There was a great deal of built in humiliation that we had to face placed there to discourage mixing:

:Mixing?: Sheila asked.

Ratchet nodded. :Mixing was really discouraged and I know that Ironhide had a few fights in the beginning because of me and our bond. Old mech is a stand up dude: Ratchet grinned. :Good thing he bonded to a doctor:

:No doubt: Sheila said with a grin. :People can be stupid:

Ratchet nodded. :They can:

:I'd love to go with you. If you think its okay, that is. I don't want to be a bother: Sheila said.

:You won't be: Ratchet said with a grin.

-0-At the Psych Ward in the Processor Health wing of the Sparkling, Youngling, Femme and Elder Hospital, Metroplex District, Autobot City, Mars, Postal District 1-A

He sat in a simple spare room, his fury intense. No one had allowed him to see his family or know what was happening. They'd brought him here after the courtroom brawl and there were things put inside him by techs. He'd been terrified and the doctors had put him into stasis because of his ceaseless struggle. Once monitors had been placed in his body, Sio had been left here with no one to talk to for over an orn.

The door sounded and he stood up to face it, wondering who or what was coming. A mech stepped inside, then paused. "Sio."

"Maybe," he said coldly. He shifted into an insolent posture as he considered the mech before him.

"I'm Jarro. I'm here to help you. You've been put into the hospital on a psych hold on the orders of the court. I'd like to talk to you about a number of things so that we can consider how to help you be able to leave here and not be a danger to yourself or anyone else."

"Is that so," Sio said with malice. "Where's my atar?"

"He's serving a sentence in jail because he assaulted a mech in the melee," Jarro answered smoothly.

"What? My father in jail?" Sio said with alarm. "That's preposterous."

"No, its reality," Jarro said calmly. "Right now we have to talk."

"Frag you. I'm not talking to anyone but my lawyer. Where's Fenix?" Sio asked.

"Fenix is not representing you at the moment. You're in a medical hold. When we help you gather yourself so that you aren't a danger, Fenix as your counsel will return. Until then, you're a patient in this hospital."

Sio looked at him, then considered the moment. He could fight them and be here forever or he could cooperate, fool them, then leave on his own. There were scores to settle and the only way to do them was to relax, see what happened and get out. He relaxed his body, then moved to sit on his bunk.

Jarro moved to sit on the other side. "Do you want to tell me about the brawl in the courtroom and the events that landed you there?"

Sio leaned back, then stared at the ceiling for a moment. This wasn't his first shrink. He knew the game. He nodded looking at Jarro with troubled optics. "Okay," he said. Then he began.

-0-TBC October 1, 2013 8-2-19

NOTE: I am guessing about bacteria on Enceladus. :D I would conjecture that life in this solar system would be along those lines. I also want to build some back stories in their lock down. :D Since this is sort of a G1 sensibility, Im going to try and explain from the human's side why things are so familiar in their living and style.