The Diego Diaries: Surprise 3 (561) edited
NOTE: I am going to do something I never do in stories and use real names of real people here. I am using names of sportscasters/writers that I like or chose because I want international representation. I don't know the Europeans but I like their names and it allows more universal human participation. :D Thanks. I don't like to use real people as you may have noticed without their permission but on this relatively benign section I will. Hugs! LET'S PLAY FOOTBALL!
-0-Here we go...
-0-At the stadium
A bunch of humans buzzed in and took their places. All of the families of humans living on Mars were coming including a few extras. The scientists had sundry family and/or spousal units, reporters cum broadcast types from ESPN, Great Britain and Sports Illustrated were there as well and a number of friends from NASA and the MCA were along for THE SHOW! NASA had a ginormous betting pool going on with the MCA. Point men and women were required. It was acknowledged among them as well as among most of the human thermometers of public opinion that this would be the most watched world wide broadcast ever shown on Terran TV.
The newbies stood with the veterans, the over-sized world that they were in even if INCREDIBLY familiar to them still a vast inscrutable place. Mikaela, Sam, Jessie and others were paired up with newbies to explain things and listen with great pride and pleasure the comments of the newbies about the overall awesomeness of the place. They did have a downloaded interview in the residence and a run up to the arrival of the press earlier.
-0-Earlier
Jessie Landon, Mikaela Banes who was press agent-in-chief for all things Autobot Nation, Sam Witwicky and his visiting guest, Carly of all people as well as Judy and Ron Witwicky met the crew and sports writers/casters who were visiting. They had arrived with a passel of family, getting some idea of the city by talking with them while waiting for the space bridge jump.
Stepping out, their bones still ringing, they were gathered up by their welcoming committee. :Hi: Jessie Landon said stepping forward. :Welcome to Mars!:
Keith Olbermann of ESPN Sports and Ryan Hunt of Sports Illustrated Magazine stepped off to be followed by Bob Costas as well as Sue Barker and Matt Roberts of the United Kingdom. They gathered around Jessie and the others. :Thank you for meeting us. We are most of us for the first time speechless: Olbermann said with a grin.
Jessie laughed. :You'll get over it. You are honored guests of Autobot Nation. Allow me to introduce some of the people who are going to be helping you. It is highly suggested that you do what we tell you every time we tell you. You will also ride with a veteran preferably soldier because we want no accidents to happen. This place is awesome and the locals have their proximity sensors on at all times but this is large scale living and it requires some adjustment to be completely safe. Just falling off a curb hurts like hell:
They nodded. :We are yours to command: Costas said.
:Good. This is Mikaela Banes who is Director for Public Relations and Communications for Autobot Nation upon appointment by the Prime: Jessie began. :These others are Sam Witwicky, Business Agent for Autobot Nation, his parents, Judy and Ron Witwicky and this is Carly, a friend of their family:
They looked at each other, then the newbies. :Hi: Sam said.
They nodded back. :What do we do now?: Ryan Hunt asked.
An Autobot walked toward them, then knelt. :Do you need help, Jessie?: he asked.
The humans looked up at the improbable being kneeling down to speak closer to their level. He was an extraordinary sight. Young appearing, truly handsome in a way even humans could relate to, he was symmetrical in design and familiar in an odd way that was hard to define. Almost all humans who met them had the same mix of feelings.
:We're good to go, Smokey. We're going to take them to the Sciences Habitat, then the game. Are you going to the big stadium or do you have duty?: Jessie asked.
:I have duty now. If you are good to go, so am I: He grinned. :My Ama figured out the schedule so I could have this duty:
:Then we let you off. Are you going to the game with Roddy?: Jessie asked with a big smirk.
:Oh yeah!: Smokey said with a big grin. :Who else?:
:Your Ama and Appa? I imagine they will be close by: Judy Witwicky said with a smirk.
Smokey's smile dampened a bit as he nodded. :Sometimes being Praxian is fragged:
:Ask Ironhide: Jessie said with a chuckle.
He laughed, then nodded. :I know. If you are alright …:
:Go: Jessie said. :See ya at the game. I suppose you're supporting Praxus …:
:FRAG YEAH!: he said standing up to his nearly 25 foot height. He grinned, then nodded. Turning, he walked away, an elegant miracle of construction.
The humans watching turned to Jessie and Judy. :That was awesome: -all of them
:It was. Wait until you meet his Appa and Ama: Ron Witwicky said with a smile.
They all turned and began to walk to the segways parked nearby. They would be at the Habitat in no time.
-0-Several minutes later
Introductions were made as they gathered in the Sciences Habitat. Film crews from the Platoon show would film any interviews that would be made by the visitors for broadcast on Terran television. Right now they were waiting for Will Lennox to come and brief them on the rules of the road. They sat and gathered in the huge space, the dome above and around them offering panoramic views of the city which was filled with bots heading for the game or viewing parties here and there.
"This is an incredible sphere," Bob Costas said as he looked around. It was vast, held all common rooms on the flat first floor and more people than had ever been in the space, such was the awesomeness of the day.
Jessie nodded, then clapped her hands. "Why don't you sit and I will tell you things you need to know that will help you understand the surroundings before you. Everyone of us who are here and live among the Cybertronians are well versed on a lot of stuff and will help you if you ask. Any question is good."
Everyone sat and turned to her, this bright cheery woman who was adored by Autobots civilian and military everywhere. "Some of us have Cybertronian citizenship, something the Prime conferred on us through friendship and brotherhood. We are a band of brothers and sisters, both sides and we are as proud of that as we are anything. All of us and our families have citizenship here. We put in time here because this is home and we love these people. We respect and love them. We want you to do that too.
"There are taboo topics. Their religion, their intimacies, their sacred beliefs … those are taboo. You have to be an incredibly close friend to know such things. The Temple was off limits but I got permission from Prowl to take all of you there after the game. I also got permission for you to stay here for a couple of days to sightsee and get a feel for the people and this place."
A huge eruption of emotion met that and it included the scientists and others who had been here a while who had not gotten permission all that time.
"Jessie, what made Prime change his mind? And thank you, sweetie. I owe you large," Sheila Conroy said with immense delight.
"You are welcome," Jessie said with a smile. "He thinks if you come and look at things that are important, you will understand why they will die defending not just this place and this system but Earth itself. They have limitations. No pictures. No cameras of any kind. The priests will be there including the head priest, Armour. They will answer what they can. You will LOVE them. I LOVE them! They are so gentle and kind. They are holy to me.
"We also get to tour a number of artifacts which they have retrieved and they will explain them as much as they feel you should know. Remember … this is the most holy spot known to them outside of the Well of AllSparks on Cybertron. It is like every holy place on Earth rolled into one. You have to act accordingly. We are representing Earth when we go there."
Everyone nodded. "Will we be staying here?" Ryan Hunt of Sports Illustrated asked.
"There are three habitats fit for human habitation on Mars. There is this, the first one. There is the Tower Habitation in the Mare Tranquilitatis where we stay and is our official residence when any of us are here. Then there is N.E.S.T. HQ which is over on Cultural Center Road. All of them accommodate us and our families as well as any visiting humans who come here. We will be parting you out. The games and holidays on their calendars always draw us as well as family members so we will be bunking double in some places. We will make sure you are safe. What you have to do is remember. Gear up wrong and you will be dead in 30 seconds. We can't leave any of the habitats unless the scans that they have us pass through signify that we are geared up right. The hatches won't open. Don't frag around outside. Okay?"
All nodded.
"It's not so bad," Judy Witwicky said in her upbeat manner. "It makes you have helmet hair but what the hell? We're on Mars with giant robots."
Laughter greeted that. Jessie grinned. "Isn't that the truth. The bot assigned to us when you arrived is so adorable, if I were Cybertronian I would seriously chase him. I will use him as an example. Smokescreen is the son of Moda, an accountant with a forensics accounting specialty. His ada, Tress is a computer technician specializing in deep space communications. He is a tech on the Trigger, that huge gun shaped space bridge that you see in orbit.
"Moda is the son of Smokescreen the elder and Devcon. Smokescreen is a long time Autobot soldier who was with Prime from the beginning. Before that, he was a gambler. Devcon is a long time Autobot but worked outside the limits of the army to do things that needed to be done. He almost always worked alone. He was a bounty hunter taking out the worst of the worst and if Dev ever got on your trail, you were doomed. He is incredibly specialized and about the most handsome Cybertronian you will ever meet.
"They are a really tight loving unit with Smokey, the young bot we saw at the airport the entire focus of their family and its future. He's a great soldier but really green. He also is a reluctant college student as per family orders and a really fun kid to race around with. They are like any family with love for each other and dreams. Any family on Earth can fit their mold. If you look for differences, they are there but I look for similarities and find them everywhere. One of the things that comes up by newbie visitors is how much like us they are in many ways including how they live.
"Smokescreen and Devcon were born and raised in Praxus, the city-state on Cybertron. Their cultural mores and such, the way they live and raise their kids are sort of specific. The family elders have a lot to say about their kids and can step in and make things go away if they don't like how they are going. They don't do it often but its there and has legal standing in the law. Ratchet and Ironhide raise their younglings Praxian because Ironhide is Praxian and Ratchet is a good egg.
"Smokey is crazy about Hot Rod, a good looking good time bot who has a reputation as a player. Devcon in particular doesn't like it so he keeps a clear optic on both of them. He can and he will break it up if its bad for Smokey. Smokescreen, their son and son-in-law will back him on it too. That is how Praxians are. I asked Ratchet how many times he had ever heard of a Praxian doing that and he told me Ironhide had never seen one. Bluestreak, their son-in-law had only seen it twice himself. Apparently, the idea of it is often all it takes to make bad things not happen. Or make playahs behave."
The habitat hatch opened as Will Lennox entered. He paused, then glanced at Jessie. "You tell them what I asked, Jessie?"
"Most of it," She said glancing at the humans. "They will not step on you. They have proximity sensors going. You are never off their field of view. They won't answer personal questions and they are really mannerly and helpful. They are also tons of fun. They like us and we want it to stay that way."
Lennox nodded. "That's right. Don't ask personal questions unless you know them really well which you don't. You can take pictures on your personal cameras but expect them to be ruined. We have cameras that we can lend the newbies for the stay over. They are designed for life outside and shielded against radiation. You can download your pictures when you leave but the cameras stay for newcomers. There are places you can't photograph. Ops Center for security reasons, the Temple for taboo reasons. It used to be that if you so much as discussed the person of the Prime you would be booted off world immediately. Now you can talk about him and even take his picture. I would caution you to use respect. Optimus Prime is over 9 million years of age. Our ancestors were still apes in trees when he was born. He is also more than just a soldier and leader. He is the moral, spiritual and ethical center of the life of this place and her people. Insult Prime, you insult everyone and everything Cybertronian. That will land you in a world of shit.
"They are incredibly helpful and kind. They want your visit to be fun and happy. We will show you the city including the newest residents, the city-formers. You probably saw them when they came in including the difficulties with Metrotitan. He was so ill he almost hurt himself and everyone else. Everyone here is a refugee. Almost all of them have harrowing tales to tell. Respect is the key word here.
"Jessie asked Prime and got permission for you to go to the Temple tomorrow and even see the relics. Thanks to Jessie and her friendship with the bots, you get to see what no one else can. I would expect you to respect the few rules. No pictures. No questions. Armour has agreed to take you on the tour and tell you what you can know. I would discourage questions. That you get to go at all is a miracle."
"You have been there, right?" Sue Barker asked.
"We have. We have been both there and inside for holy days but we will not be talking about it or what happened. We will abide by the rules for the honor of being included. I don't want to break the trust we have here. I won't do it. I would ask you to honor that because we have been given amazing trust by these people. We love them and honor them. We hope you will learn to do the same."
"Ask us something hard," Keith Olbermann said quietly. He grinned. "Hi, Ma. I'm on Mars," he said to great laughter all around.
Lennox grinned. "If the camera sees you, say so. It will show you where you sit. They have just under 200 camera angles covered. We will be sitting on a special deck built on the center field line. It has Day Watch … the police standing in front of it to deflect any flying bodies. I will tell you, this game scares the shit out of me. Its like low flying planes coming together when the lines collide."
"Praxus is going to have the size advantage on Kaon, correct?" Matt Roberts asked. "I remember the first game. They were huge and Blurr is as fast as it gets."
"Blurr was a professional athlete before the war and no one ever beat him in the races that they held on Cybertron. By the way, they are building a race track south of the city for races again. That is the national sport of Cybertron, racing. Blurr will be key. On the flats he can reach mach two."
They absorbed that, then the sportscasters swore silently. "What the hell," Bob Costas said. "What can Kaon do about that?"
"Pray?" Jessie asked. They laughed, then Jessie shook her helm. "My twins had better have a crow bar up their subspace because it is going to be awesome."
"Subspace?" Sue Barker asked.
That is when they gathered up to go to the game.
-0-TBC December 22, 2013
NOTE: my spell checker glitches now and I am not sure what to do about it. 'All' becomes 'Awe' and 'awesome' becomes 'allsome'. 'The' becomes 'Axe'. Combine that with a jumping cursor and you have my life. :D I could freak out but I am too comfortable sitting here typing this. My cat is off her catnip inspired hallucinatory tour of the solar system. That is a win-win for both of us. I will be writing constantly for now because a football game is coming and so is Christmas Surprise. I am going to be adding a lot of side bits like the humans above because if I can't be there, I want reports. :D:D:D
Hugs and much love to Aww, (uh... all) -me