The Diego Diaries: New 2 (627)
-0-Ops Center, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean, Earth
He paused by the door, gear bag in servo. He was heading back home to his conundrum. The remarks that Jolt had made stuck with him even if they were probably not applicable to his situation. His own life as a mid to low caste mech had been unusual. He shouldn't have had the advantages that he had but he had. His grandada had made sure of that. He had all the advantages possible because the System was afraid of Devcon.
He had been raised intensely carefully in a predatory system which allowed no mistakes. Even when they could have made life difficult for him and his father, they didn't dare. They were the son and grandson of Devcon and no one was willing to frag with that.
His education had been stellar and he had achieved good grades. He had learned sports, music, art and other advantages that his castes had to acquire on their own. He had been raised to be mannerly and good sparked. His enthusiasms he possessed because they hadn't been beaten out of him by the dead ends and inequities of life that would have been his lot if his grandada hadn't wanted more. Devcon had worked toward a goal for him and his father to have everything and risked everything to make it happen.
He stood by the door and waited for Jolt who was heading toward him with his own stuff. They walked to the bridge room entering the furious ring of energy to Luna Base. After a wait there for the new shift to come through along with a few crates of electronics for the base, they entered and made it to the Municipal Airport at Autobot City.
A human tour had just left, all of them waving at the pair. Jolt and Smokey had grinned, waving back. Then Jolt punched his shoulder. Nodding at a bot nearby, he grinned. "Your chaperone is here."
Smokey glanced that direction, then scowled. "Oh great."
"Stop whining. You at least have someone who cares what happens to you. If you don't like it, mech up or shut up," Jolt said. "See ya later." He turned and walked off after waving to Moda. Moda grinned and waved back, waiting as his pouty son walked to stand before him. "Do you know how embarrassing it is when you do that?" Smokey asked.
Moda hugged his son. "Yes." He turned and began to walk toward the city, exiting the airport door.
Smokey turned to hurry, catching up as he walked toward the city along the pedestrian footpath that wove its way through the ships and cargo of the busy interplanetary airport. "Well?" he asked, pacing himself to his father's rather leisurely stroll.
"Well what, son?" Moda asked with a slight grin.
"You're enjoying this aren't you," Smokey accused with a frown.
"No."
"It sure looks like it," Smokey said hotly.
Moda paused. "I find nothing about this fun. I do however find your pouty face adorable. It reminds me of when you were a child."
"I'm not a child! I grew up," Smokey retorted.
"We know," Moda said his expression becoming serious. "There isn't an orn when we were parted that I don't regret. We missed a lot of that, your maturing. You are a great son. You're smart, decent, brave and kind sparked. What family wouldn't be proud of such a youngster?"
"I want to be grown up, Atar. I don't think you understand that I am. I want experiences. I want adventure. I want someone to pal around with, to have fun with. I want to have a chance to have a … a … someone to be involved with." Smokey looked at his father who was listening intently. "So?" he asked in exasperation.
"So do we," Moda said. "The orn I become a grandparent will be the second happiest one of my life. Until then, I am a father, a Praxian father and I have responsibilities. One of them is to look after you, my magnum opus and see to it that your impetuous youth doesn't strand your ship of dreams on a sandbar."
"Where is everyone? I want to talk to everyone," Smokey said as he girded his guts for the Moment of Truth all Praxian younglings eventually have with their usually overly protective genitors. It was inevitable with or without invoking.
Moda paused. "They are at your grandgenitor's apartment. Shall we go?" He turned and continued onward.
Smokey who was surprised at the turn of events jolted, then hurried to catch up. They walked together, a father asking his son about his tour of duty and a son answering his father's questions.
-0-That afternoon up high
They stood in a half circle around a chair staring at a baby who lay on a blanket that lay on a pillow on the lap of her genitor. They were silent and awestruck. So was the cat who sat on the back of the chair peering over the shoulder of Prowl.
"She's so small." Spirit leaned closer and touched her tiny ped. "Her little ped is so small." He looked at Prowl, then smiled brightly. "Her ped is so cute!" he said with a chuckle.
Prowl grinned. "It is. All of her is small."
They nodded, then Rambler touched her servo, feeling her tiny digits and hand gently. "So small, Ada. I like her a lot. What is her name?"
Prowl glanced at Optimus who was sitting in the next chair, a look of peaceful contentment on his handsome face. He nodded, then told them. They looked at him a moment, then T-Bar nodded. "What does it mean, Atar?"
Optimus told him even as he picked up Miracle so he could see better.
"That's a good name, Atar," Spirit said, his optics riveted on the surprise sparkling that was going to stay with them, a designated femme*. He patted her leg, a tiny thin thing and grinned. "She is so small." He looked at Prowl. "Can I hold her?"
Prowl nodded, then glanced at Prime who stood. "Sit on the couch, younglings. Atar will help you each hold her."
They turned and climbed onto the couch, then sat expectantly. Their cat, Miss Kitty joined them sitting between Spirit and Rambler most primly.
Optimus gently took the infant blanket and all, then turned to the boys. He laid her on Spirit's lap and helped him with his arms to hold her. Sitting back down again, he grinned. Prowl snapped images and would continue to do so as each of the boys held their new sister. She for her part would be happy. Miracle on the other servo wasn't. He sat on Prowl's lap and pouted.
He hadn't meant to nearly pull her leg off.
-0-In an apartment
They entered, the three inside rising to hug their wayward youngling. Taking his bag, Moda set it by the door. Devcon, Smokescreen and Tress hugged Smokey and he hugged them back. When that was accomplished, he stood staring at them nervously. Moda turned to his family. "Smokescreen wants to talk to us."
They looked at him and he looked at them, his insides shriveling a bit. Devcon nodded, then sat. "Why don't we all sit and let him talk." Everyone glanced at Dev, then sat down looking at the nervous youngling.
He for his part shifted uncomfortably. "Uh … uh ..." He was silent a moment, then he looked at Devcon. "Is there any of that pie left, Grandada?"
Dev nodded. "I will fix it for you with the sauce when you tell us what's on your processor, youngling."
Smokey looked at him, then the others. He turned to sit and rubbed his servos on his knees. "Okay," he said gathering his thoughts together. He looked at them, the four most important individuals of his life. He considered what they had done for him, the sacrifices and dangers they had undertaken for him. They were his heroes. "I wanted to talk about the invocation."
They nodded, their expressions solemn and expectant. This was the moment they knew was coming. The moment when an invoked youngling would press the issue. They waited as they were expected for him to say his piece. In the end, the ones who had final say were the oldest members of the family. Devcon and Smokescreen trumped even Moda and Tress for any decision that would come of this.
"I know you love me. I know what you did to give me a great life and hey! I had one. You four are the best. You are the ones I fight for … among other things … and I love you so much. I respect you too. You and Grandatar are my heroes because you have adventures. You DO things that are EXCITING and I WANT that. I've been a kid so long I think I'll never be a grown up. At least, not for you. I want to be. I want a relationship. I want to KICK 'CON TAILPIPE! I want to learn how to be a great soldier and do all the warrior stuff. I want you to want this for me too. I will go to school." He frowned. "I don't like it. It's not very exciting to study chemistry and physics but I know you want it, so I'll do it. I know you want the best for me. I just want you to let me make my mistakes and try to live my life. It isn't like I'm going to really frag up. All four of you showed me how to be a mech and how to be a good person. I just want you to let me try to be who I am."
It was silent a moment, then Smokescreen sat forward a bit. "What do you really want to do, grandson? Tell us what you really want."
"I want to be a kick aft soldier. I want to have a … friend. Someone to go out with and hang with. I like Hot Rod and he likes me. I want to have a chance to be an adult and maybe I'll screw up but I won't do things that are stupid just to be stupid. You taught me better than that."
Devcon who watched Smokey's face when he spoke understood the youngling well. Everyone told him when he himself had hung out with Smokescreen, Senior that he was a fool. No one interfered but they made sure their contempt for the relationship was clear. Both had had a lot of strife in their bond but they had hung on to each other because in the end love was there. Now they were at a point in the process where the company of the other was only exceeded in desire between them by the company of their children and grandchild.
"You want a mech to face with," Devcon said.
Smokey blinked. "What's wrong with that? I'm … I have needs too."
Dev smirked slightly. "We are all aware of that. We just know Roddy pretty well. We had hopes for someone less … storied."
Smokey sat back, then got a determined expression on his face. He folded his arms across his chassis. "I want him."
"We can see that," Smokescreen said. He glanced at Devcon. "I think we should cut him slack. Suspend the invocation for now and let the youngling have a chance to find out for himself."
Devcon nodded. "With caveats," he said rising. He held out his servo. "Come with me. Obey me. Then we will suspend, not end the invocation. It remains on file with the Office of the Primes. We can bring it online in a blink of an optic. Do you understand?"
Smokey gripped his grandada's servo, then stood. He nodded solemnly, then turned following Devcon out the door. The door closed on the other three. Moda looked at his father. "We're going to regret this aren't we."
Smokescreen grinned. "Not as much as we would if your ada wasn't as smart as he is."
-0-At the CMO's Office
Devcon rapped on the doorjamb catching Ratchet's attention. Behind him watching warily, Smokey stood. Ratchet sat back with a grin. "Dev. What brings you here?"
Dev nodded toward his pensive grandson. "The youngling. He wants off his invocation. He wants a relationship. I don't want sparklings yet for him, even accidentally. He thinks he wants to be an adult so I'm here to make sure if he frags up its not forever."
Ratchet nodded, then stood. He walked to the door and paused. "Come on. I'll fix you up."
Dev followed Ratchet who was reluctantly followed by Smokey. Into a medical suite they went, pausing to watch Ratchet pull things out of a cupboard. He turned to look at the wary youngling. "On the med berth, Smokey. If you want to frag around, you better do it protected."
"I'm not going to frag around," he said sitting on the med berth.
"Who is the object of affection?" Ratchet asked Dev as he set things on the med berth beside the youngling.
"Hot Rod," Dev replied with a slight smirk.
"Oh frag," Ratchet said pushing the youngling down to lay flat. "I better get this right then," he said with a chuckle.
Smokey for his part didn't laugh.
-0-An hour later
He had walked around the city absorbing new hardware and software. His grandada had hugged him, then watched as he walked off to 'find friends'. Devcon considered that, then felt less intense given the side trip to the Mad Doctor and his spangles to prevent sparking. He turned and headed back to his apartment and the long talk he and Smokescreen would have with his nervous son and bond.
-0-At Old Maccadam's
He walked in scanning the crowd. Hot Rod was sitting at the bar talking to the bartender. Walking up, he sat down beside the big mech. "Hi."
Hot Rod turned to Smokey, then grinned. "Hi," he said as he looked around the room.
"They aren't with me. I have asked them to suspend the invocation for a while and let me have a life," Smokey said.
"They did?" Hot Rod asked with surprise.
"Yeah. They can," he said sliding his servo over Hot Rod's.
Hot Rod nodded. "That's good news," he said. "Come on. Let's go somewhere and talk."
Smokey stood, then turned following Hot Rod out of the door. They would go to his apartment and at some point in the afternoon they would talk.
-0-TBC February 17, 2014 Edited 2-17-14
NOTE: *I am experimenting with the femme thing, still working it out in my head. Jhiaxus introduced gender into the CNA of the population with his twisted experiments. The first victims, Elita, Arcee and their team are really mechs who give off an aura of femininity from the experimentation that the mech population recognizes as different about them, thus using pronouns such as 'she' and 'her'. It ticks them off but they have resigned themselves somewhat to it, although in the book it drives Arcee into homicidal mania.
Because they were first, they look like they did before the experiments. The start of this experiment was internal before becoming external. But now that the CNA reflects even this much of a gender distinction in a formerly gender neutral species, it is now showing up in the population down the line in a more concrete manner. Not only can sparks come into the world as femmes, they can be kitted out with the requisite protoforms as well, thus the 'designated' femmes by personality now have the option of a protoform that recognizes that distinction. What was once a wholly mech population now recognizes something different and accommodates those notions in form as well as function.
I am still working out the fascinating IDW "Spotlight: Arcee" in all its ramifications one of which is why the femmes of that era don't look like the femmes of the modern era like Gypsy and Hero. Over time, for me, the notion of femmes has grown and been refined in the population as they began to come through their separations as femmes, ending in the more feminized formats of those two rather than the original 'femmes' like Arcee and Elita who really are mechs with a 'strange distinction' other mechs recognize instinctively and react to unconsciously. Nothing about them should be anything but mech but for Jhiaxus and his experiment, something the victims are still trying to deal with.
I hope this makes sense. I am still working it out myself. I love this fandom. Even the canon stuff is amazing and open to all manner of possibilities. :D