The Diego Diaries: Swan (666)
-0-In the Metro-former District
They stood watching as Hydrax began to rise into the sky as he transformed. The sound was enormous, the spectacle of change so rapid that most of it was hard to follow. When he finally stood it was evident on both of them that they had sustained damage and wounds that had been repaired on the run or by internal systems stepping up. It would be hard to tell how their symbionts fared as they were still out of sight as yet.
Then again, given their age they might not have them. No one really knew.
When Hydrax stood, he turned with a smile and looked at his son who was held in Hex's arms. He leaned in to touch Swan's little face, as if by 'little', one could use such words for a 792 foot infant. He smiled as they talked together off line. Then Hydrax turned to look at the others who waited on the road nearby, tiny Cybertronians he had never hoped to see in his lifetime of hardship and running. "Prime, we are most pleased with the accommodation. Our son will remain with us even in our seated formats until his pad is ready. Then we will manage him in the orn-to-orn scheme of things."
"We are here to help you, to accommodate your son as well. What do you wish to do?" Prime asked.
"We will format into our natural state, but we wish to talk to Swan for a moment," Hydrax said turning to Hex and the little botlet that nestled in his father's arms.
They stood watching, then Ratchet looked at Optimus. "That little mech should not be able to transform into anything let alone a ship. He should be in root mode only. His transformational cog should be as underdeveloped as any sparkling his age."
"It might be a modification of his format or maybe when he came into being he was fully developed in that instance," Prime suggested. "I don't know. I just know that this is going to be interesting."
"I asked Kappa to come," Ratchet said rapping Prime's shoulder. They all turned to watch as the great vessel and beauty, Kappa Supreme walked in a roundabout way to the site. With her was Xantium, Omega, Silverbolt, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Zeta. Sitting on her shoulder like a deformed parrot, Swoop came along for the ride.
They paused on the other side of the road, then Kappa smiled at Prime. "I see that we have a miraculous being among us. We would be extremely pleased to help with the care of this infant."
Hex turned to them, then slowly knelt. He set the little format of his son on the ground, then patted him gently. "Transform, Swan," he said softly.
One could almost feel the smile inside the ship format as the tiny infant complied. Swiftly even for a little mech, he transformed until he stood upright, his little red antennas snapping into place on either side of his cute little face. He looked at his atar with a smile, then turned to look at the others. They were his size, or just a bit taller and more substantial. He was still small and undeveloped. He stared at them a moment, then looked up to his genitors. "Ada, who are they? They're my size."
Hydrax grinned. "They are. They are your family."
Swan considered that, then turned to look at them. He smiled brilliantly. "Hi. I'm Swan and I like to play. Do you?"
Kappa grinned, then nodded. "We love to play. Don't we?" she asked looking at the others who stood together behind her.
"We do," Zeta said with a grin.
Silverbolt looked at Omega. "He's a baby and already he is about as tall as you, Omega."
"I see," Omega said with a nod. "How old is Swan?" he asked looking upward at his doting parents.
"He is a sparkling," Hydrax said with great pride. "He is very young but very intelligent. He has very good manners. We want him to be loved by others."
"That is evident to see," Kappa said with a grin.
"What is that?" Swan asked pointing at Swoop.
Swoop looked at him, then Kappa. "Who is this little ship?"
"He is the child of my brothers. He is Swan, Swoop. He's a child," Kappa said.
"Do you like to play?" Swan asked hopefully of the strange avian transformer.
"No," Swoop said.
Swan's expression fell. Swoop nearly fell off Kappa's shoulder when Xantium rapped him on the back of his strange skull. He glanced over his shoulder with a frown. "You hurt Swoop."
"Swoop deserved it." Xantium looked at the infant. "We like to play. Ignore that crow. He has no class."
Kappa snorted. "Coming from you?"
Xantium smirked.
They chatted a moment, the genitors beaming as the infant was exclaimed over, then Jetta walked across the pad to where they stood. "Anytime you want to do this, Hydrax and Hex, we're ready to help you."
Hydrax nodded. "I will go first." He turned to his son, then caressed his helm gently. "I will take station, Swan. You stand with Atar until I finish. Then you can sit with me as he does. Just like all the times before. Do you understand?"
Swan nodded with a smile. "I do."
Hydrax rose, then turned to walk to the pad from which he would operate his life in the colony. Given that they served two functions in the elder times, guardian and habitation, this was the life that all of them to a mech or femme chose as their preferred mode. He looked at the array of the foundational pad which had been designed for him in consultation with the others, then nodded. "This is going to do well. I am assuming that the infrastructure will be attached in the usual manner?"
Jetta nodded. "We will do that below ground to make it easier for you to accommodate as well as detach if needed. We have learned a lot from Fort Max and Metroplex."
"They are admirable teachers," Hydrax said as he paused in the right angle for his return to city format. "Please step back. Hex, please hold Swan until I am ready to assist him."
Huge servos reached down and gently gripped the smiling infant. Up he went to watch his ada transform. Everyone else moved back and braced for the inevitable displacement of air and energy along with blowing dust and rocks as a massive mechanism began to come downward in an ever broadening basal format. The sound was extraordinary as Hydrax did and by the time he was settled on the ground everyone in the vicinity had a layer of dust on their armor.
The thud was loud, then it was over. Hex whispered to Swan for a moment, then leaned down setting the infant gently on the ground. He looked up with a smile, then turned and ran for Hydrax. He went around the side of his ada, then paused leaning on his superstructure as he looked up at his atar. His atar was grinning down at his boy as if memorizing him. Then he moved to his pad next to Hydrax. Around them, the three who were already there and Titan who had gone around the entire city scape in root mode to reach them watched with genuinely spark warming happiness.
Hex began and with an ease that was almost impossible to fathom was soon sitting on his city base completely transformed. Titan moved closer, his expression intense as if listening to internal communication. Then he moved to his site to seat himself. The same energetic overflow blew against everyone and only subsided when Titan did. As they turned to look, all four of the giants were on their pads in their preferred mode. Leaning on Hydrax's superstructure, a little miniature of the three stared at them with intense interest.
He looked at his genitors, then turned to walk closer to Prime and the others. "Are you going to stay here? Is this a city? I've never seen a real city before. We were always running away. We lived all over the place. Do you have toys? I like toys. My ada makes me toys. I like to collect rocks."
Kappa looked at him with a grin. "We need to collect rocks then."
He smiled at her, then looked at the ground. "I see rocks here. They look all one color. I know my colors," he said looking up at Kappa with a smile. "I can count too. I know how to read a little bit. My ada and atar like to tell me stories when I have to recharge."
"You are due a nap, Swan," a voice said gently.
They all turned to the big formats nearby suddenly aware of the energy of interlocked sensors upon them. He turned to them, then ran to Hydrax hugging him when he arrived. "I don't want to nap, Ada."
"You must," Hydrax said. "How will you be ready for school and friends if you don't rest?"
"School? I get to go?" Swan asked with surprise and rising enthusiasm. "I want friends."
For a moment no one said a word, then Prime stepped closer. "You will be meeting with Herling who is our school director, Hydrax. He will help us meet Swan's needs. We will make sure he has a good life here."
"That pleases us tremendously," Hex said from nearby over the communications line that all the giants used to speak with anyone not their format. "We are so worried about ensuring Swan gets everything he needs and deserves. He is our magnum opus. He is our greatest joy. We will assist in every way in all matters pertaining to him."
"Consider that sentiment mutual," Prime said with a grin. He looked at the pad where the infant would be resting. "Do you wish a hangar for Swan? Do you want him in the elements or is a hangar suitable?"
Hydrax spoke. "That would be wonderful. I would require that the hangar doors be along the side so we can see him. He is very young and needs our attention."
Ratchet grinned. "He appears to have thrived on that."
"We have done our best. There are hunters out there that were relentless. We have barely managed to stay away from them. This is such a remarkable relief, this place. We are so happy that Swan is here and safe at last," Hydrax said with emotion.
"We are too," Prime said. "Kappa … can you and your family help with the infant? We all want him to be happy and safe here."
"Consider it done, Prime," Omega said as he watched the infant argue on an internal line about having to format back to a ship and rest on the pad next to his ada. He would refuel when he did so and when he was awake again, Kappa would be there to take him for a walk. She would hear about life on the run, about how wonderful a little mech's genitors were because they 'knew everything and did everything and weren't afraid of anyone. They even knew Primus'.
They watched as he moped to his pad, then transformed. A tiny ship sat on the ground next to his giant genitors. A crew linked him to a fuel line which would take the entirety of his nap time to accomplish its mission. During that time, the little mech would fall into a peaceful recharge. At no point then or at any other time would he ever be off the radar of his hyper vigilant genitors.
-0-Late that night
He walked along the road looking at the sky, noting new stars. The formats of his 'uncles' were lit up along the streets leading to and into them as well as some of the apartments they supplied to their residents. He paused, then glanced at his genitors. Even though he was on their sensors, they were pre-occupied with the several things they would need to help him get into school and the few tiny repairs his format required over a lifetime of running.
He grinned, then turned to walk to 'Uncle Acroplex'. That worthy was running subsystem diagnostics and so wasn't aware that a very tall, very curious little mech was paused at the edge of his precincts. The little mech looked at the design of Acroplex's city layout, then moved closer. Some of the apartments in the towers before him were still lit but he couldn't see anyone. He considered that, then reached out to tap the tower. For a moment nothing happened, then lights came on.
Mechs and a femme ran into the living rooms of their apartments, expressions of concern on their faces. One of them was yelling 'earthquake' at the top of their vocal capacitor.
It was awesome.
Swan leaned closer peering into that window when the mech turned, then froze. Filling his window were the shining bright yellow optics of a miniature version of Metroplex. He stared at the mech looking into his apartment, then stepped backward instinctively. "What the frag?" he said to no one in particular.
Swan on the other servo smiled and leaned ever closer.
-0-TBC March 29, 2014