"I can't believe you did that," Opal said, pounding Tracks on the chest. "You slag filled husk of rust. He must have been devastated. How would you feel if someone did that to you?"

"I felt awful," Tracks admitted. In fact the guilt was still gnawing at his insides and the pain in Soundwave's voice still echoed in his head. "But I couldn't let Megatron have all of those infant sparks."

"No," Opal's tone was bitter. "You condemned any spark he created to death."

"He doesn't have to touch sparks with anyone," Tracks countered.

"You don't understand his situation over there," Opal snapped back. "Other than his creations, he has no friends. His only choice is to submit to the other Decepticons because he fears what they will do to them."

"If it's so bad for him there then why did he chose to stay? Why didn't he take my offer and come with me?"

"Because it was the Autobots and their council who condemned him and his creations from the start," Opal explained. "He was the first of his kind to be discovered. He was attacked for it. He had three sparks in his secondary spark chamber and they were destroyed. He sided with the Decepticons because he believes in what they say they are fighting for. Megatron has promised him so much and so Soundwave is loyal to him. He tolerates what he has to because he believes that, in the end, it will all be worth it."

Tracks looked at the ground and sighed. "I wonder where I would be if I had known what I am before the war. If I had suffered the way he had."

"Who knows," Opal shrugged. Tracks could see that she was still mad but she let the issue drop, for now. "What is important now is that we put an end to this war and save our world." She looked around the spa. "I think we are ready to open. So the least we can do now is offer support for the Autobots. Maybe they will come to their senses before it is too late."

Tracks managed a smile. "I'll go out and tell some of the others." He left the spa, eager to be away from her anger.

He walked through the ship's corridors and saw how some areas were coming along in their repairs. It almost looked as good as it did before they left Cybertron. As he passed one area he had to stop. Mirage was in the ship's refreshment area, cleaning it up. It wasn't like the pampered bot to get his hands dirty with physical labor.

"What are you doing?" Tracks asked as he entered the room.

Mirage looked up from his work, "Prime said that if I clean this place up then I can turn it into a bar."

"A bar?" Tracks looked around the room. "Why would you want to open a bar?"

"Why would you want to take part in the spa?" Mirage asked in return. He then waved his hand to dismiss any answer Tracks was about to give. Mirage looked around the room as he spoke. "I want to do something to help the others relax and unwind. Thanks to the Decepticons, I have a feeling that we are going to be stuck on this planet for a long time. We might as well make the best of it. Besides, I've been running my own tests on the different fuels on this world and I think I have come up with new drinks that I can serve the others."

"Well if you ever need a break," Tracks said, "the spa is ready to open. You can get a nice hot oil bath and a good cleaning."

"And you will be working at the spa?" Mirage asked, glancing over at Tracks.

"Yeah," Tracks nodded. "Opal has taught me a lot. I won't be able to do everything she can but I will be able to do some things to help the others relax." Tracks held up his hands, "I don't have the delicate tools in my fingers like she does. Mostly I'll be assisting."

Mirage stood and walked over to Tracks. "Did she teach you how to get better connections? You will be like the spas back home, right?"

"She has," Tracks answered, smiling at his friend. "And we will. Prime is alright with it. It's actually easy once you know what to look for."

Mirage placed his hand on Tracks' chest. "Do you think you could connect us? I could use a little break after all of this work. And it's been too long since I was able to find a good connection with someone." Before Tracks could respond, Mirage's hand moved down and grabbed hold of Tracks'. "Let's go to the back room."

"Alright," Tracks said and allowed Mirage to pull him into the back.

The back room was full of tanks with energon and other fuels. All of the Autobots' energon reserve and whatever they were able to get from the humans seemed to have been kept in there. It showed the level of trust Prime had in Mirage to take care of the precious commodity.

Mirage pinned Tracks against the wall and pressed in close, opening his chest plate. Like Tracks, Mirage was from Iacon so their circuits were similar. Back on Cybertron, Mirage was also being groomed for the council and was nearly half a millennia ahead of Tracks in his training. He had become one of Tracks' mentors and they quickly became friends. Mirage was old enough to remember what Cybertron was like before the war, even before the rebellion had started.

Tracks opened his chest plate and got to work connecting to Mirage. Before, they were only able to achieve two connections but achieving more was easy to do now that Tracks understood how they all worked. Once Tracks reached five connections, Mirage leaned in and husked, "More."

They didn't have to stop at five. It was just all that was required to achieve a spark touch. Since he wasn't intending on touching sparks with Mirage, Tracks indulged Mirage by finding three more connections. Mirage pressed up against Tracks as the pleasurable sensations continued to build between them.

"Open your spark chamber," Mirage requested, pressing his forehead against Tracks'. Tracks remembered Opal's words, warning Tracks not to indulge himself in a spark touch too often. But Mirage was his close friend so he opened his chamber up anyway and allowed Mirage access.

It wasn't as shocking an experience as his first time but it was still enough to cloud Tracks' mind. He held on to Mirage as the shockwaves of pleasure coursed through him, increasing with each pulsating beat. When he reached his peak, Tracks' legs buckled but Mirage managed to hold him up. And then it was done.

Tracks moved to disconnect them but Mirage stayed pressed in close. "I frequented the spas before the females went into hiding. It was my favorite past time, even though they didn't always let me touch sparks with them. When they left I managed to find a male with whom I was able to touch sparks but it wasn't the same. I've been with a few other males over the millennia and they all felt different from the females. A commoner who had never been able to afford the spa wouldn't be able to tell but I could. I still can."

He move in closer and kept his voice low. "I know what you are. How could you lie to me? I thought we were friends."

"I just found out," Tracks said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "I was too afraid to say anything to anyone."

"Of course you're afraid," Mirage replied. "Who knows what the others will say once they find out. Though, to be honest, the way you have conducted yourself has left several of them suspicious. Your kind always seems to be a little loose when it comes to partners. Like the females, you just whore yourselfers out. Have you started to make those abominations?"

"The sparks that I can create are no different than your spark," Tracks argued, his voice trembling from the pain caused my Mirage's words.

"That's what all of your kind say," Mirage growled. "My spark was cut from Primus. I am pure. The sparks you create are unnatural. It goes against Primus' design."

"No," Tracks tried to push Mirage off. "Those are the lies of the council. Only the original thirteen were cut from Primus. Your spark was created like any other, through spark touch."

"You create sparks through spark touch?" Mirage pulled back. "Did you make one from our spark touch? Just now?"

Tracks shook his head, "I don't think so but it's still all new to me. I'll have to check to make sure."

"I don't want to have any part in your creations," Mirage said, disconnecting himself from Tracks. "It's not natural."

"Did you not listen to me? All sparks are created through spark touch," Tracks snapped. "All of them. The females have creator sparks. That was their purpose, to create life. But somehow I ended up with one. My protoform emerged from Iacon as well," Tracks said, pointing to himself. "I was being groomed to be a council member, just like you."

"You would have been put in your place the moment the council discovered what you were," Mirage said in disgust. "You would have never been allowed to join the council."

"Put in my place?" Tracks repeated in disbelief. "How can you still be talking like that? You have been fighting beside bots from all over Cybertron. You have formed friendships with bots from Kalis."

"They fight knowing that when the war is over they will all return to their places," Mirage said. "It is the Autobot way and I still believe in it. There is an order to things. Protoforms emerge from their factories when there is a need for them. Those who come from Kalis need to remain is Kalis. That's what they were made for. If they try to move up then that takes the jobs from the ones who were made in the factories in those locations, and they can't do the job as well as the ones designed for it."

"You're right," Tracks sat down on the floor and looked up at his friend. "Primus knows when a new bot is needed to fill a job and a protoform emerges. But the spark comes from Vector Sigma and Vector Sigma is filled with the sparks created by the females. New protoforms were emerging almost daily down in the mining colonies. You and I are nearly half a million years apart and there were no protoforms to emerge from Iacon between us. There are bots who are living longer because of the war than they would have if they had done the job they were designed for. I don't believe in the Decepticon way but the time that has passed has showed me that there was more that the council could have done for Cybertron as a whole. I know one thing for sure. When this war is over I hope I will be able to be on the council and I will make sure that all bots are cared for so they won't feel the need to leave the life they are destined for."

Mirage slid down the wall to sit on the floor next to Tracks. Cradling his head in his hands, Mirage let out a deep sigh. "I want to make Cybertron better for them too. Before the war I never would have considered a friendship with someone other than a bot out of Iacon. I thought you were crazy for admiring Jazz like you did." Tracks must have had a look of surprise because Mirage laughed. "It was obvious how you felt about him. And back then I looked down on you for it. But today…, I don't know. I can't imagine my life without bots like Ironhide in it."

Tracks nudged Mirage, "It's amazing how much we've changed."

They sat in silence for a moment and then Mirage looked over at Tracks. "We have. And… I think I have changed enough to accept this new revelation." He considered Tracks for a moment before asking, "So how do you make sparks and does this mean that you are actually… female?"

Tracks felt himself smile and he shook his head. "I don't feel like a female. I would prefer to be referred to as 'him'." He placed his hand over his secondary spark chamber. "I will create sparks randomly through spark touch and they will mature in a small chamber in my body. Do you want to see the one I have?" Mirage nodded and Tracks opened the chamber to show him.

Mirage leaned in to look at the small spark. "If it takes a spark touch to make them and that one isn't mine, who helped you make it?"

Tracks placed his hand behind his head and chuckled, "Jazz."

Mirage joined in the laughter. "I guess it's a dream come true for you." When their laughter died, Mirage asked. "If all sparks come from spark touch, why didn't we know about it? Why the secrecy?"

Closing the chamber, Tracks leaned against the wall and looked up. "Do you have time for a long story?"

"Sure," Mirage nodded, leaning back against the wall. "I've got some time."