The Diego Diaries: Them 1 (680)
-0-That night
They sat together watching the teevee anticipating episode one of season two of Platoon: Autobot City. The television guide said it would be about the personal lives of the bots tonight. Everyone was filled with anticipation and so were the bars around town. The infants were already in their berths, the hoo-haw that preceding that as spectacular as ever.
"ADA!"
"WHAT?"
"YOU COMED TO GET ME?"
"I COMED, SLAGGER! GET OVER HERE!"
Shrieking and the sound of running peds filled the air as a brace of high end sparklings split up to run free. Ratchet who could've caught both of them with his optics closed 'missed'. They ran for Ironhide and his chair, grappling to climb up to 'home base' beforeBIG BAD ADA caught them.
They nearly made it.
*GRAB! HOIST!*
Two wild aft hombres hung upside down, one in each of his ada's servos."GOTCHA!" Ratchet said with a giant grin.
Orion and Praxus who were swaying upside down flapping their arms laughed loudly.
Sunspot who was sitting on their atar's lap with Hero and Spot grinned. "They're so cute."
"They are. I need a clothespin so I can hang them up for the night," Ratchet said with a grin. He held them out to Ironhide who kissed them, then carried them to their berths. It was noisy, funny and inevitable.
Returning a moment later, he held out his servos to Hero who reluctantly reached back. "Good night, Atar. Can I go with you tomorrow?" she asked. "I can help you with Prowler."
"I'll think about it," Ironhide said as he ignored Ratchet's nuclear optics. She disappeared to her own room for 'sleepy-bye'.
Dog and Sunspot who sat on Ironhide's lap snuggled in closer. "Ada is going for me next."
"You need to stealth him out of his big old peds," Ironhide said with a grin.
"He's too sneaky for me," Sunspot said with a grin.
Ratchet returned, then stared at the three. "Beddy-bye time, spud. You need your strength for carrier waves and drum lessons tomorrow."
He chuckled, then hugged Ironhide tightly. "Good night, Atar."
"Good night, Sunspot," Ironhide said as he hugged his son and dog. Both climbed down as one of them took Ratchet's servo. They walked into the hallway to the big berth were both slept. Ratchet would be out shortly and the show was nearly on. It was almost perfect, he thought as he patted his carry hold.
Ratchet walked out, then held out a servo. "Cough him up."
Ironhide glared at Ratchet, then popped Prowler out of his home away from home. Kissing him, he handed the infant over to Ratchet. "He's been bathed and all of it."
"I'd imagine," Ratchet said with a smirk. He disappeared down the hallway again.
Ironhide sat mildly steaming so when Ratchet came back he decided to press his luck. "OLD MECH! BEER! NOW!"
A pillow hit him in the face as Ratchet smirked past gathering the requisite beer and snacks for the show which might or might not show them and theirs. Sitting down to divvy things up, they flipped on the appropriate screen for the opening credits of 'Platoon: Autobot City'.
-0-Around the city and beyond
"Do you suppose they will get me in all my complexities?"
Thundercracker smirked. "I don't. How can you expect them?"
Starscream grinned, then glanced at Thundercracker who was lounging on the couch next to him. "Mystery. That is tonic for a bond."
"So that's what it is," Sky Warp said in his usual sarcastic manner.
-0-In a bar
They sat around a table in a room filled with bots out for the evening. All of the monitors in the place were turned to the proper channel, the sound turned down until it was shown. The bar was filled with soldiers, families, couples and groups of all manner of youngling.
Blurr who was tending bar even as he monitored the crowd was curious as well. It was a drinking game among the younger set to sit and watch the show in groups. If you saw yourself or anyone you knew, you took a shot. For Prime, you took two. For Prowl, you abstained. It would be a very drunk group in the bar tonight.
In all the bars around the colony.
-0-In an apartment in the clouds
They sat on the couch making out as they waited for the show to begin. It was quiet and dark in their apartment. The lights were down and all was well. Being young and randy, they took advantage of the down time to fool around. When the screen announced the show, they paused to look.
"It's about time."
"You and me both," Drift said as he sat back on the couch, handing a Kremzeek brand beer to Springer even as he took one for himself. They clicked them together, then Drift smirked. "Wreck 'n Rule."
"No other way," Springer said as he turned up the sound on the monitor.
-0-In an apartment up in the clouds
He sat with his genitors waiting for the show that the humans would be seeing on the planet nearby, Earth it was called. They hadn't much paid attention to the program before but now it was as if the flood gates opened and there wasn't enough time in an orn to learn about the colony and her people.
They sat together in the living room, boxes of takeout food half empty on the coffee table before them. They'd never been this informal with dining but that was then, this was now. As the show began to open, Como, Pawz and Default sat back to watch together.
-0-Opening credits
The camera panned over the mechs, each of them exuding something of themselves and their people with each moody shot. Scar, Drift and Springer, the twins and Kup, all of them showed up in the darkness, then the light only to return to the dark. The remote unknowable visage of Nitro and Revo passed by as the credits rolled, first in Cybertronian and then in English.
It was beautiful as the camera paused on Kup, very eerie and then over. The show had opened and it began. All over Autobot City, the populous paused to watch. Several billion humans on Earth did the same.
-0-(Opening scene: Sunrise at the Military Airfield in front of The Fortress. Bots were walking to ships, boarding or deplaning. Mechs with support equipment drive it to assist the flight crews in making ready. Cameras pass slowly in a circle showing the airfield, The Fortress, Fort Max and the top of the Temple's roof over the side of Max, then the main intersection of The City, Metroplex Highway 1 and 2.
(A big bot is walking, one with many tattoos. He is familiar, a bot from the show the previous year, a Seeker. An off screen voice began to ask questions)
"Where are you going, Nitro?" -0SV
"I have to go to a meeting in Ops Center, then to the Armory." (His voice is deep and utterly masculine, his bright optics direct) "I'm Master of Munitions for the colony."
"They just finished a mission. What happens when the ships and troops get back from one?" -off screen voice (OSV)
"We have to inventory the munitions and guns. Recall brings the bulk back to us where we check it over, then stockpile it in the armories. If there are deficiencies we make more and stock up. Guns that need repair, weapons that are loaners, swords and knives that need an edge … all of it is returned to the hub depots.
"Most mechs keep their personal arms with them and those who are active duty soldiers carry them on their bodies at all times. But some like to store them in the depots so we take them in and lock them up."
"Are there ever gun accidents here?" -off screen voice
(He shakes his helm) "Not among the pros. Sometimes someone will get over energized and shoot holes in the wall. But that almost never happens. We're professionals. We know what guns and knives can do. We keep them in trim. Only a fool keeps an unlocked weapon in their home. I have kids and I know better anyway."
"Are your kids going to be soldiers some day?" -off screen voice
(He glances down sharply) "Frag no. Ask the soldiers with kids and you'll get the same answer. They weren't raised to be soldiers. They wouldn't do well. No, they won't. My kids are going to be better than that." (Enters the subway and disappears)
(Cut to the hospital where a certain wild aft medico can be seen in the background. The camera pauses on a tiny femme doctor)
"What are you working on, Gypsy?" -off screen voice
(A pretty femme looks up directly at the camera) "Hi, Leonora Huttle. I'm doing my morning rounds."
"What can you tell us about femmes? There's so few around." -off screen voice
(Gypsy pauses a moment to think, then turns to the camera.) "We're few but that's because our society doesn't care about gender. We're all considered the same no matter what you see, all of us mech. We come to the world as we are. We understand gender but the only times we really acknowledge it is essentially when we're around others who practice gender.
"Humans have genders, male and female. The gender stuff we do is to make you feel comfortable. It isn't for us. We're just who we are. Femmes are here but they're few and probably always will be. Most sparks aren't this small and your protoform is made to fit you so femme designs are more common than before. As for numbers, I don't mind and neither do others. It just is what it is."
"You have children yourself. Tell me about them." -off screen voice
Gypsy smiled. "Do you have a couple of days to listen?"
(Cut to Ops Center. Everyone is working quietly and professionally. It looks stellar beyond futuristic. Three big individuals are sitting at Ops Center. The camera focuses on them) "Are you busy?" -off screen voice (OSV)
(Three exotically beautiful faces turn toward camera) "Maybe." (A smile softens the answer)
"I know that you're Elita-1. Who are your companions?" -OSV
"This is Lancer and that's Chromia." -Elita-1
"I talked to Gypsy earlier. I was wondering if you could explain the difference between femmes that look like her and yourselves?" -OSV
(Silent appraising stare. Elita-1 leans closer) "We're taller."
(Silent a moment) "Can you tell us more?" -OSV
(Silent appraising stare. All three) "No." -all three
(Silent a moment) "Thank you." -OSV
"Don't mention it." -Chromia
(Cut to Maccadam's Old Oil House)
"Your name is Blurr, right?" -OSV
(Handsome figure smirks as he leans against the bar) "I am."
"I understand that you're about the fastest Cybertronian on wheels." -OSV
"That's right." (Big mech smirks)
"How fast can you go?" -OSV
"On a flat surface that's long enough ... what you humans measure as mach two isn't a stretch."
(Silence a moment) "Whoa." -OSV
(Big mechanism smirks) "You're welcome."
(Cut to commercial that outlines three other shows that are coming up later)
-0-Around
"Well, you're in the show," Ironhide said as he glanced at Ratchet sitting next to him on his own chair. "Looked good, too."
"Why, thank you, Ironhide. You're pretty cute yourself."
"I think you're cute, too," a small voice said.
Ratchet grinned at Ironhide. "Might as well park him in your lap. Little mech might get tired hiding behind your chair."
Ironhide glanced down into the smiling face of his oldest youngest son. "Hop up here. I'll cover your optics if there's something you shouldn't see."
Sunspot smiled brilliantly, then climbed into Ironhide's lap to settle comfortably. Spot climbed into Ratchet's, walked in a circle twice, then settled.
"Dog's comfortable," Ironhide said with a grin.
"Glad that someone is," Ratchet groused.
Then they turned up the sound.
(Scene opens on a dojo in a tower in Tyger Pax. Mechs are 'shooting the shit' in the lounge of the huge space. Camera pans, then settles on the mechs)
"Kup, how are things going for you lately?" -OSV
"Slagging awesome." -Kup
"Who's this new mech?" -OSV
"This is a work and a wonder. This is a force of nature. This is Old Hercy." -Kup
(Grins and smirks bloom all around the room)
"Old Hercy or just Hercy?" -OSV
"Either. Neither." -Kup
"What's your story, Hercy?" -OSV
"I think I'm the oldest living Autobot soldier. I taught Unicron how to fight. The slagger. Ungrateful fragger."
"He was." -Kup, nodding in agreement
"What do you think of younger soldiers? Do you find that they're up to your standards? Do you like them?" (Camera switches to Springer and Drift lounging nearby)
(Older mech looks at the two bots, then back to the camera) "They'll do."
Riotous laughter fills the room.
-0-TBC April 11, 2014 edited 4-15-14 7-24-19