The Diego Diaries: Skills (480) edited
-0-At the scene
The smoke lessened, then began to fizzle out in the lank atmosphere of Mars. Inferno who was the Emergency Manager On Scene in the playbook for disasters that had been revised after Metroplex stood in the center of the traffic directing fire fighters into the building. He had gone up himself because that is who he was. Having got a sense of things, he had ordered the power cut to prevent electrical trouble on top of everything else.
Prime and Prowl stood nearby watching along with Ironhide and Blackjack who had come out earlier leading the shocked stenographers and other office workers doing night shift preparation for court the next orn. That would have to be curtailed.
They had been turned over to the medics who were waiting for casualties. Cameras from IntraComm were filming along with those of the human filmmakers. It was crowded, noisy but organized and efficient. Ratchet finally stepped out of the building, then walked to Prime. "No one is left in there."
Prime nodded. "Good. No injuries?"
"None beyond upset," Ratchet said. He glanced to one side watching the twins as they stared at the building with varying expressions of outrage and wretchedness. He walked over to them and hugged Sunstreaker tightly. Sunstreaker finally after a moment hugged back. "I'm sorry, son."
Sunstreaker looked at him. "They did this. Those fraggers blew up my work. Thank Primus Sadee took her stuff home to work on or she would have lost all her gallery exhibits."
Ratchet nodded. "We will take care of this the right way. Isn't that right, son?"
He stared at Ratchet, then the building. "I don't know."
"Then they win. Any time they can get you into trouble, they win."
Sideswipe watched Sunstreaker, the seething rage of his loss flooding their bond. "We will get them, Sunny. They will go to prison. Not us."
They stood together watching as the forensics team led by Cirrius enter the building with their equipment.
-0-Inside
They walked across the lobby of the building that has been the first museum of the city. It had occupied first three, then all seven floors on one side of the building. Three levels below ground were storage for museum exhibits. When they began to take empty store fronts on the street side of the building a proposal for a proper museum down the highway and north of its present location was made and approved. That was done and the building here was largely dedicated to the Courthouse and jail.
The courthouse occupied all seven levels of the building spreading out all along the space once occupied by antiques, educational displays and their most sacred relics. The ground floor led to the administrative division led by the Clerk of Court. The second and third floors were offices of lawyers both of the defense and prosecution as well as conference rooms.
The fourth floor was the law library. The fifth and sixth floors were courtrooms, several small ones and three big ones, big enough for Prime Hearings. The seventh floor was the domain of Probation and Social Services-Judicial Division.
Below the ground floor was the jail which at this moment was empty of prisoners. Given that Dex had been taken to the Psych Ward in the Metroplex Hospital, he was spared this debacle. Three levels of lock ups were available from day cells for the drunks to long term as well as security lock ups on the bottom floor. It was a full service facility.
Across the hallway from the Courthouse the few remaining businesses that hadn't gone elsewhere hung on. Two of them were on the ground floor. The rest were on the third including the Dai Atlas Dojo and the studio for Sunstreaker. The other artists who hadn't left were two stories below and untouched.
Scanning the battered terrain, stepping over acoustic tiles that had fallen almost as one from the ceiling, they scanned the surroundings of the first floor. It had taken concussive damage but nothing more. The engineers would have to verify their results but the building on the ground floor bore no structural damage that would compromise its integrity. They turned and continued onward up the stairs.
-0-Outside
Bluestreak came up pausing beside Sunstreaker. "Oh Sunny! I'm so sorry!"
Sunstreaker enveloped him tightly in his arms. "We'll get them for this."
"Optimus will find the ones who did this, Sunny. You aren't going to do anything that will get you arrested will you? I don't want our family life torn apart over this." Bluestreak glanced at Sideswipe who nodded. He turned to look at the building which was awash in mechs doing this and that, some bringing out burned and shattered debris. It was being loaded onto a non-sentient truck for Sciences to examine later. Wheeljack and Perceptor were inside the building taking out debris once Cirrius cleared it floor by floor.
It would take a while for everything to be removed. By the time the light was breaking over the curve of the mountain the repair teams were analyzing the space, figuring out repairs and getting the ball on the move.
Optimus on the other servo would be discussing the possibility of full martial law with his officers.
-0-Main conference room, Ops Center, The Fortress, Autobot City, Mars
The senior Autobots and a number of selected civilians sat around the big conference table discussing what they knew, what they could do and how they could do it. As they did Alor considered a number of things. Then he turned to a computer console and called Jazz to assist him. He went over the data he needed, then turned to Prime. "Sir, I don't want to break up the conversation but I was bothering over things for a few orns and it came to me just now."
Everyone paused, then looked at Alor. Alor was the 'Prowl' before Prowl, one of the most respected analysts, strategists and military thinkers in the Autobots. A 'capture, not kill' order had been placed on Alor from the beginning due to his experience, smarts and mathematical-musical thought process.
"The big problem for them was delivery. It would seem then that one of them has the ability to become invisible with enhancements. They don't get picked up on sensors either. The only bot with that proclivity I know about is Mirage." He paused a moment. "A few orns ago Jazz mentioned that Special Ops was placing sensors and detectors around the new business the younglings opened in Tyger Pax. Those sensors were outside looking in rather than inside. We are not clear how much security if any they employ beyond their own careful considerations."
Everyone waited.
"Given that we can't see inside, we can certainly watch them come and go."
"That's true, Alie, but where are you going with this?" Blackjack asked.
"We can see them come and go. Consider … you have an explosive device and you want to take it to the intended place of detonation. You would have to either blank it out or give it to a mech who could stow it in his hold and blank it that way. The mech would have to leave, then come back. He would leave invisible and come back invisible."
"How does that help us, Ada? We know that," Ironhide asked.
"Maybe he doesn't become invisible until he reaches the doors. Once inside, he flashes back on. He is visible until he leaves because the place is new and the windows aren't factored into their security equations," Alor said.
Jazz nodded, then rose turning to the computers. He input data a moment, then sat again with a remote device. The big monitor came on and the view of the mechs working and lounging in their new business could be seen. The huge windows were no problem for the two dozen detection devices and cameras trained upon their business. Every square inch of it was on view.
"The device detonated two joors ago. Find the images, Jazz, of their business from 2.5 joors ago," Alor said.
The film flashed forward, then slowed to normal. There were mechs sitting in the workroom whose door was ajar. They were talking, laughing and it appeared that someone was using tools. What for was not clear. Then the twins rolled into view on the street in front of the building.
Everyone inside watched as they chatted together, then turned to move on. The mechs inside the office watched them, then one of them stood. He held something that had no visible substance in his servos, then tucked it into subspace as he walked to the door and the hallway. That is when he disappeared. Jazz paused the tape. He glanced at Alor with a grin. "Nice catch."
Alor grinned. "Check the time stamp." Jazz did. "Continue, Jazz."
The film rolled onward, then the door to the business opened by itself. After a second, the mech who had left materialized again. "What is the time, Jazz?"
He checked and called it out. Alor sat back. "That is exactly three Terran minutes before the device detonated. Coincidence? I think not."
-0-A joor later
A rap on the door was met by a youngling mech. Springer grinned. "Hi, boys. Can we come inside?"
-0-A joor later
They sat in a conference room in Ops Center surrounded by security mechs chosen to overawe them. They sat without saying a word, hints of the turmoil they felt suffusing them. They didn't look at each other but affected diffident posture and expressions.
Outside in the hallway Optimus, Barron, Blackstone, Fenix and Ironhide stood together discussing the situation. Springer and Drift along with Wheeljack and Perceptor were waiting outside the business of the younglings in Tyger Pax for the okay to search its premises.
"I would like to talk to my clients," Fenix said. "I would like to advise them of their rights and discuss this matter before you speak to them."
Prowl walked up and paused. "They haven't invoked," he said. "We therefore have the right to talk to them. They were advised of their rights by the Watch when they were picked up."
Optimus nodded. "Until they invoke they are open to questioning. Prowl."
Prowl nodded, then turned and walked to the door. Entering, he walked to the table and sat placing a datapad before him. The walls were opaque so the younglings had no way of knowing they were being watched. The two-way mirror exposed the whole scene without exposing them.
"I would like to remind you that you have been apprised of your rights. You do not need to answer even one of my questions but I will ask them," Prowl said coldly, the police detective firmly in place.
No one spoke. They just sat staring at him insolently. He considered the futility of this effort but set his processor to learning all the things they were telling him without words.
"We have evidence that you have been the source of the bombings in the colony these past few orns. I would like to know your whereabouts at the time of each bombing if you will be so kind," Prowl said coldly. He looked at all of them with a level gaze, one that seasoned soldiers found hard to return.
No one answered.
"We know that one of you can become invisible, a neat trick. We know that you can dampen your signature. It wouldn't take much for Ratchet to unwind you and find the source of your antics," Prowl said.
One of them, Gravity sat up straighter. "We invoke. I would also say unless you have hard evidence that you let us go."
Prowl looked at him a moment, then leaned slightly forward. "You have invoked. But understand this. If there is martial law declared over this, you have nothing."
The younglings stared at him, then glanced away sitting back in their chairs with as much insolence as they could manage. Prowl arose, then turned and walked to the door leaving them behind with their enormous heavily armed caretakers.
-0-In the corridor outside
Prowl paused before them. "They invoked."
Optimus nodded. He looked at Fenix. "I am assuming you will represent them."
He nodded. Blackstone turned to him. "You will need help. I am prepared to give it."
"I appreciate that, Blackstone but I would prefer to organize this case, then see if more assistance is in order. We have a number of legals in the club," Fenix said.
Blackstone nodded. "Don't be foolish. Call me if you need help."
Fenix nodded, then turned and walked to the door. He entered and waited as the mechs stepped out. Turning to the window, he nodded. Prowl dialed down the intercom. They stood and watched as the four gathered around Fenix to talk.
-0-TBC October 21, 2013