The Diego Diaries: Stuff 1 (679)
-0-Autobot City, Mars
Ratchet walked through the Infant ICU checking the status of the injured babies from the migration. They'd been grievously wounded from the explosion of a view port in a ship released by the Decepticons. Some of them had lost limbs while one had a bad processor injury. It was hard to take. He checked IV's, read the data and made suggestions. There was little to do beyond monitoring them and taking care of symptoms as they arose. Most of them would be fine. The little mech with the processor injury was worrying.
He walked through the rows of cribs, all of them spaced far enough apart for caregivers to work and genitors to sit. It was darkened in the room, the beep of machines and whispers of individuals the loudest sounds to be heard. He comforted genitors, friends and family as best he could. Their staff was the best anywhere to be found short of Cybertron.
He stepped out to go to his office where he would work all afternoon pausing only to check on the babies again. The three with spark chamber transfers would be going home the next orn. That part of this horror show was good.
-0-Underground
Sunstreaker found him sitting on a box of shells checking a data pad in his servos to make sure his figures matched. Nearby sliding along a crate while upright, Prowler babbled to himself. He paused when he saw Sunstreaker, patting the box happily in his delight. "Atar!"
Ironhide glanced at him, then Sunstreaker. "Hey. Don't tell anyone you saw him do that."
"Tell who?" Sunstreaker said with a grin. He sat on a box, too, staring at his infant brother with amusement. "This is going to get him yanked."
"Not if anyone knows," Ironhide said with pointed optics. He looked at the infant. "That's one smart little mech. He can speak a few words and walk along holding onto things. What brings you down here?"
Sunstreaker shrugged. "Nothing," he said offering his servos.
Prowler smiled brilliantly, then grabbed one. He ended up on Sunstreaker's arm. "ATAR!" he said looking up at the yellow Autobot's face.
"He appears to be confused," Sunstreaker said as he checked the infant's paint scheme. "Nice color."
"Old mech is insane," Ironhide said with a smile.
"Won't get an argument from me," Sunstreaker said with a chuckle. "Where are you going next?"
"Down track to the next station," Ironhide said standing up to go. "We're checking out the inventory. Little mech likes mini-con grenades."
"Does he," Sunstreaker said with a grin. He stood as the three continued onward down the system heading for the next hub nearby.
-0-Sciences
Perceptor walked into Wheeljack's big office parking himself at the computer terminal next to the one his bond was using. They sat companionably together working out their problems silently. Then Wheeljack grinned. "What do you think about Ratchet's question during the meeting, Percy?"
"Which one?" Perceptor asked with a slight distraction.
"The one about a sparkling?" Wheeljack asked.
Perceptor paused his work, then looked at Wheeljack. "Are you serious?" he asked with surprise.
"I think its a great question. How cute would an infant be if they looked like you with my finial audials?" Wheeljack asked, half seriously and half to be a pain in the aft to the scholarly mech sitting beside him.
"I believe it would be, too, Wheeljack but consider our life. Our work. Our schedules. I don't think that we can seriously entertain such a life change without a lot of thought and consideration," Perceptor said.
"We could keep it with us. A little bed nearby would do the trick. They have a lot of good care options here," Wheeljack said with a grin.
"They do," Perceptor said turning back to his work.
"Nothing more?" Wheeljack asked.
"Perhaps later," Perceptor said glancing nervously at his partner. "When we have more time. Later. Maybe."
Wheeljack grinned, then turned back to his work. They would work all orn in perfect harmony.
-0-On the street
Barricade, Stiletto and Scorponok walked together down the street pausing to watch as Blind Spot and Turmoil crossed the intersection nearby. The two walked toward them. A mob of armed guards were with them, all of them alert to the possibilities.
Blind Sport smirked. "Where are you headed?"
"Clubbing," Stiletto said with a grin. He stepped forward walking toward Club Cybertron. Scorponok followed leaving the others behind. Half of the guard detail went with them, the others waiting to see what was going to happen in the strained gathering before them.
Passersby stepped around them, put off by their security and the terrible aura of menace they exuded.
Blind Spot watched a young mech walk past, a good looking one, then grinned. "This beats being locked up."
"You can look. Don't even think you can touch," a big Seeker said as he shifted his rifle in his servos.
They looked at him, then Barricade grinned. "Sideways lost his privileges touching."
"He did?" Blind Spot asked. "Loser."
Turmoil stared down the street, walked to the Club nearby. They watched him, then as one followed.
-0-In an office in Terra
Como sat at a desk staring at the screen of his work station. He was part of an important project for the Foundry Exchange but he couldn't focus on the data. His son had committed a terrible crime. He'd opened his spark to his parents telling him of his terrible shame and confusion. He rejected their culture, their station, their family's hard won status in their caste, all of it. He'd poured out his thoughts, his tears punctuating his remorse as he tried to explain how much he was sorry for what he had done.
Sitting back, Como looked out the window staring at another tower nearby. He'd apologized to Prime, an act that brought more peace than he thought it would when he worked up his nerve to visit. He'd gone home to pace waiting for his shift, then considered what they could do.
It would be impossible to go back to the circle of friends that they'd made here, friends that had been part of their family life forever it seemed. They wouldn't understand and he didn't know what to tell them. He was still uncertain what he felt and how he'd come out at the other end of this harrowing ride, but he knew he'd be changed. None of them would be a part of what came before either. He and Pawz wouln't be going to anymore meetings of the Iacon Order nor would he attend his club.
That life was over.
He sat and looked at the screen concentrating on the figures as he made his way blindly to a new life.
-0-Blurr
He sat in the office of his bar going over the numbers and orders, all the work that mattered to making a place somewhere you'd want to come. The labels served here were the oldest, most famous, in short, the best. The ambiance was fabled and he was the mech in charge. Rising, he walked to the back room to check the stocks for the evening crowd.
Several groups had become regulars, all of them young, most of them soldiers. That some of them were the younglings of high castes made things 'interesting'. Tonight, 'Platoon: Autobot City' would debut its season two premiere. There were always big crowds in the bar when football or local shows were onscreen. It would debut on Earth and here. There would be lots of food and drink, hot helms and happy sparks in the bar tonight.
He had to be ready.
He would be.
-0-Club Cybertron
They sat at a couple of tables in the lounge off the bar and restaurant dining rooms. It was quiet as the lunch crowd was already gone and the evening not yet upon them. Games and music videos played on the screens, their sound turned down, adding to the quiet buzz of voices from the wait staff and the few others who were in for a quick bite or drink. A movement nearby caught their attention as a number of segways entered.
They watched the humans zoom in to head for a table where civilians were sitting. Blind Spot turned to the screen for a moment watching a missed shot on goal in a game, then glanced at the humans again. "Those fraggers killed Megatron and The Fallen. Or so I was told."
Barricade nodded. "They did. Megatron was revived by the AllSpark. A shard was found and used."
"They say the AllSpark is in the Temple," Blind Spot said.
"It is," Stiletto said with a nod. "So is the Flame and the Well. They sat that Primus granted their return here."
"Frag what they say," Barricade said. "Those little worms need slagging. I killed a lot of them. I was stuck on Earth for ages. I liked to kill them. They squish nicely."
Stiletto chuckled. "All in good time. We won't be here forever. Eventually, things will change."
"No one can get out of here. I've studied long and hard. I can't dig out and even if I could where would I go?" Scorponok asked.
"They've disabled all our special features," Stiletto said.
"Ratchet can detonate us remotely. He has the codes to our tracking devices coded to him alone," Scorponok said. "If he doesn't like our smiles, he can terminate us without any difficulty."
"I never liked that fragger," Blind Spot said. "I had him in my sights once. I couldn't take the shot."
"He has kids. A bunch of them," Barricade said. "He has that dumb little Seeker … the yellow and white one."
"Sunspot," Scorponok offered.
Barricade nodded. "That Seeker was a kid. A young one."
They considered that.
Blind Spot shrugged. "Fortunes of war."
"Useful information," Stiletto said.
"You'll never use it and if anyone in this colony thought that their younglings were in any danger from us, they'd smelt us slowly in the steel mill," Scorponok said.
"No one said anything about that. Know your enemy," Blind Spot said. "You never know when it'll matter."
"If you say so," Barricade said. He sat back with a slight grin on his face. If Blind Spot wanted to push his luck, he'd be happy to watch. If the colony didn't tear him limb from limb, the Matrix would.
-0-Ops Center, Mars
Prowl leaned back taking Sojourner out of his carry hold. Placing her in her little Seeker bag on the desk, he pushed a data pad toward Prime. Prime took both, kissing his daughter on her smiling little face before laying her on a blanket that Prowl placed for him on the huge desk top. Leaning back, he perused the information. "So they want to meet."
Prowl nodded. "They do. They want to break ground as soon as possible. We, on the other servo, need to hammer out the rules so that there are no misunderstandings between us and anyone else. This is going to be a hard thing, Optimus. They want autonomy."
Optimus nodded, his gaze fixed on his daughter's sweet face. "I do not like the idea of them having an autonomous settlement that is free of some kind of oversight. They are going to be trouble. They also would be more likely to have mistakes happen or even to cause discord if there are no firm ground rules between us."
Prowl nodded. "They might get fixed on exploiting this world for its resources. I don't like the idea of them excavating here. We take care of this planet. We get what we need from space. Other than the few excavations for energon and the cities proper themselves, there are no indications on the planet that anyone lives here."
Optimus nodded. "We will see to it that it stays that way. I think we need to have Ratchet here."
Prowl put out the call. They chatted about this and that, played with their daughter and joked together until Ratchet poked his helm into the room. "You rang?" he asked with a grin. He walked in, then sat on the couch next to Prowl. "Ironhide is hiding in the armory system with Prowler. I think little mech is beyond ready to go to school."
"That sounds ominous," Optimus said with a grin. "I must look into this situation. If there is a truancy epidemic happening here in Pleasantville, I must get on top of it."
Ratchet laughed, then nodded. "It might take a Matrix to catch him."
"Speaking of catching someone, we have an invite to Diego to speak to the humans about a permanent habitat here. We'll need to go to Earth and meet up with this group but we also need to hammer out the rules," Prowl said.
Prime nodded. "We have to make sure that things do not turn into another Diego, Daniels-style."
"Who is the human in charge?" Ratchet asked.
"There are several but the one we have to meet with to get this moving is someone named Brandon Clark," Prowl said.
-0-TBC April 10, 2014 7-24-19