The Diego Diaries: Things (598) edited
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars
"We have confirmation that the team has reached Gliese 581 g," Twin Twist said putting a datapad down on the table in front of Paragon. He perused it, then nodded. "Return signal and tell them to keep an optic out. There is movement twenty light years away from them. We can't yet determine intention."
Twin Twist nodded, then returned to his station. The afternoon would continue onward.
-0-In the crib room with the shorties
Mr. Toto, Neo, Laret, Nova and Mr. Ombre, a brand new sparkling school teacher looked at them. Four tiny sparklings trying to look casual in one crib looked up at them. Nova grinned turning his focus on Orion. "I suppose this is your idea?"
Olo looked at Nova. "No. I do this."
Everyone looked at Olo with surprise. "You did? You little ring leader, you," Nova said with a grin. "You decided to come together for the good of mech kind did you?"
Olo looked at him, then the others a moment. She looked up at Nova and nodded. "Yes." She had no real idea what Nova meant but he was smiling when he said it so it had to be good. Good was all Olo had ever experienced. Her humongous genitors, a pair of quarrymen were awash with delight over their little princess so she only had love and devotion. Hooliganism wasn't a word in her vocabulary. "You mad at me?"
All of the adults took a moment to melt around the edges as the snow white spotless femme looked at them anxiously. Nova leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Nope."
She looked at them with great relief. "Orion was playing. I want to play with him. He's good. Orion is good," she asked looking at the others. Everyone including Orion nodded in agreement.
"TO-TO! OLO GOOD! SHE GOOD! I LOVE OLO! I LOVE BOO! I LOVE EEMEE! I LOVE THEM! GOOD THEM! YOU GOOD TOO?" he asked looking at the adults with great hope.
They chuckled, then Roto lifted Orion up for a hug. "We try to be, sparkling. We love you and all of you too."
Standing in cribs in the rest of the row and around the room, other sparklings watched including Han. He looked at Orion who was sitting on Roto's arm. "HE BAD!"
Everyone turned to Han who paused a moment, then frowned and gritted his guts to continue. "I HERE! HE BAD! I GOOD! HE BAD! BAD HIM!"
"Someone is grumpy about waking up," Hallin said picking Han up. He sat on her arm staring at Orion. Then he leaned forward to swat Orion on the arm. It landed, not hard but connecting.
Everyone looked at Han with amazement including Orion. Then he frowned. Orion turned gripping Roto's face. "HAN BAD! HAN ME! HE BAD! HE VERY BAD, TO-TO! YOU ME! I HIM BAD! GO HIM THERE!?"
Roto snorted, then nodded. "The chair seems like a compromise. I personally want to punt both of you."
Orion grinned, then looked at Han smugly. "You bad. To-To go you there. HA! HA!"
There would be two bots sitting in the Orion and Han Memorial Time Out Corner for a short stay.
In the time out …
Orion stared at the wall. It was the first orn in many that he had been here. His focus, always lazer-like had kept him on the job and off the radar of his nemesis. Han had been busy too. The curriculum of infant school while not incomprehensible nonetheless required his full attention. Blocks didn't get stacked by themselves nor did dogs get paddled in the swimming pool without his participation.
Both of them had actually played well in group games together, swept up in the moment. When chase happened during free time, both would participate running madly, laughing and squeeing loudly as they ran about the big classroom together. It was in the tiny moments, the bits of time here and there that things fell apart.
Like now.
Olo, Bleu and Mimi were nearby, a story read to them by Hallin occupying their time. They had been sad, Olo even tearful when the two little mechs were plucked from their high horses and put into sparkling prison. Olo ever the gentle soul that she was felt blame. Mimi ever being her best femme friend felt Olo's blame burden. Bleu ever the sweet little pal felt terrible for everyone. However, the story of Max and his disappearing bag helped.
Orion glanced toward Han who was moping in his chair. Han paused, then glanced at Orion with a cross expression. "You bad," he whispered.
For a sparkling.
"No. You bad," Orion said with his own 'whisper' and cross look. They stared at each other, then the wall, then each other again. "This bad. My hate this."
Han nodded. "I hate it too. You go play? Run?"
Orion nodded. "Good, run. Play running. Bad this."
Han nodded, then looked at the group nearby. Roto paused his work to look at the pair. Han looked at Orion. "Come you me."
Orion looked at him a moment, then the group. Roto sensing something satanic about to erupt nearby ducked his helm even as he looked at them from the corner of his optics. Han who saw no one was actually looking directly at them glanced at Orion. "You come me. Do this. I do this. You do this. We do this and them not bad us."
Orion considered that, then watched as Han stood up. Blinking, Orion turned to stand. That was when Han stepped forward to hug him.
-0-Armory
He leaned against a huge crate of banded bullet bandoliers for machine guns. Mountains of death resided in the huge boxes that were stacked to the ceiling. Sitting on a box gumming a cookie, Prowler smiled with delight. His old pa held a cookie out to him allowing the infant to chomp to his heart's delight. It was 'cookie time' for the pair, a break in their canter through Boom-Boom Land, the many and sundry arsenals of the colony.
"You like that?" Ironhide asked as he took a bite himself, then held the cookie out again.
Prowler looked at him smiling a gigantic baby smile, the kind that can drop charging elephants by mere proximity. "A!"
Ironhide grinned. "Don't say that too loud. Your old ada will take you away and where will I be without a work buddy?"
"A! A!A!A!" Prowler said pausing to look at his old pa with a giant smile and sparkling optics.
"I will be as sad a mech as the universe ever saw the orn you go to school," Ironhide said as he held out the cookie. "I think I'll need a spark transplant because the one I have will probably sputter out."
Prowler who was gnawing on the cookie, his tiny servos gripping his father's digits had no further comment.
-0-In "IT'S A SLAGGING MIRACLE! CAN I HEAR AN AMEN!?" Land
Han stepped forward to envelope Orion in his little arms. He held on to Orion tightly as the little black mech stood stunned into immobility at his nemesis bot's AUDACITY! He wasn't the only one. Roto ran a quick diagnostic on his optics at the sight himself.
Finally, with great reluctance Orion hugged Han back. It was more to keep from tipping over rather than from change of spark. It did however make the intended events happen.
Nova, Hallin, Ombre, Roto, Neo, and Laret who stood nearby helping a little mech build something with over sized giant Legos paused. They looked at the Miracle of the Corner with incredulity. Roto nearly hovered up, then paused.
Han who was hugging Orion was also staring at the group with side optics. Orion who was being hugged looked at them with the biggest roundest optical expression he could make.
Yes, he was surprised too.
"Han, you what?" Orion 'whispered'.
"You, me, do this. Them be see us. We be okay," Han said laying out his master plan for fooling the Authorities. Yes, he was showing criminal mastermind tendencies even at this age.
"We do what? Go them?" Orion said as Han hung on him like an overly ripe avocado waiting to be picked. "We go them? What?"
"No," Han 'whispered' back. "You stay. They come you and me. Stay."
Mr. Roto finally got his second wind, then walked to the pair. They both looked up with the roundest most innocent optics they could muster. "What's happening here? Are we still in the Age of Miracles or is this some sinister plan of world domination waiting to unfold."
Neither of them understood a word but they did know how to smile. They both did. They both turned on the biggest, cheesiest, most sincerely insincere mega smiles they possessed.
Roto, Ombre, Nova, Leret, Neo and Hallin stared at them completely flummoxed.
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars
They entered together walking to the table nearby. "Update?" Prowl asked as Ratchet pulled a chair out to sit.
Paragon glanced up, then nodded. "The group for Gliese 581 g arrived there. We have a disturbance 20 light years away from them which remains unidentified. Slacker was shown the error of his ways when he came to inspect my former base. The group there is ready to guard anyone sent to upgrade or do modifications. They have changed the command codes and other data over."
Prowl nodded, then pulled a chair to sit himself. "Good. Tell Jetta that the refit is go."
Paragon sent the message, then sat back. "All is well so far."
Prowl nodded. "Good. Ratchet is going to be giving a presentation to a large audience of humans in two orns. It will be part of a regulations rewrite and upgrade that is ongoing on Earth. There is going to be an Autobot process added to the Code of Military Conduct to disallow any more incidences from happening between humans and aliens."
Paragon nodded. "Will you be attending as well?"
"For part of it," Prowl said. "I will standby until the end to close the conference. Until then, I will be here. We have genitor conferences shortly. I will be in and out of the Center.
Paragon nodded. Ratchet who watched the interchange grinned. "Conferences. What a mixed bag that is."
"For some of us," Prowl replied with a smirk. "You wanted high end optimal sparklings. You can't complain now."
"I know. Actually, Orion is doing very well lately," Ratchet replied.
-0-In a room next to the classroom, standing on a table side-by-side, surrounded
Orion and Han stood on a table looking nervously around themselves. Ombre, Roto, Nova, Neo and Laret along with Hallin sat in chairs around the table. Standing in the doorway with a big grin on his face, Herling watched. Nova had called him in for the fun. The sparklings were inside a circle of appraising optics, their nervousness barely concealed. Roto leaned forward on his elbows. "So ... sparklings ... talk. What is going on?"
Orion looked at him, then affected the most (in)sincere expression of innocence he could manage. "Me? I go there. I not bad but go there."
Han who was looking at him, glanced at Roto. "I was good. Not me."
"Why did you hug? Are you friends?" Roto asked.
They glanced at each other, both of them nervously twitching, their little servos clutching, then clenching. Han turned to Roto, then walked over to stand before him as casually as he could manage. "I hug him. Him hug me. We hug."
"Why?" Roto persisted with a grin on his face.
Han paused to think, then turned to look at Orion. Orion who was watching the others looked at Han uncertainly. He blinked, then looked at Roto. "What?"
"Why? Why did you hug? Are you friends now?" Roto asked gently, his amusement rising along with everyone else in the room.
Orion stared at Han, the nemesis bot of his dreams, then Roto again. "No," he said blowing the whole thing out of the water.
Han looked at Orion, then frowned deeply. He looked at Roto, then managed a nice expression. "He not bad. No him to say that. We good," he said as he turned to walk to Orion. He took Orion's servo into his own, then turned to the others with a grin. "See?"
Orion looked at Han missing the undercurrents of deviancy Han was weaving as he tried to get the two of them out of detention. Orion whose processor was less convoluted looked at his little servo being held by Han. "What you?" he asked with a gathering frown.
"Sh." Han leaned in to 'whisper'. "Come me. We go run. Not there."
Orion stared at him blankly for a moment, then it sunk in. He stared at Han. "We go play?"
Han frowned again, leaning closer. "Sh."
Orion who got it watched as Han turned to stand by his side. He took Orion's servo into his own, then turned on the biggest, cheesiest, most (in)sincere smile he could manage.
Orion who was watching Han glanced at the others. Then he did the same thing.
TBC January 24, 2014
In case you didn't see it in the update I put on the last piece, Justin Beiber was arrested drunk driving a yellow Lambo.
Another kid with him was arrested while driving a red Lambo. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! ;)