Chapter 20
Author's notes:
Not dead yet.
I have a few more chapters to post in the near future, too. :-)
-
"You sure about this, kid?" Rewind's fingers were delicate and swift as he wired a new data port in amongst the massed sensor arrays and scanners on Steeljaw's back. "I mean, I get you like Frenzy, but his master's not exactly the most upstanding of citizens."
"Soundwave's cool." Steeljaw spoke without moving his jaw so much as a micrometer. Still, Wheeljack scowled at him. 'Jack was removing his face plating to get at a data node that linked directly to Steeljaw's data processors. That work put Wheeljack's fingers perilously close to some powerful hydraulics.
"He's a hard worker, I'll give him that," Wheeljack allowed, speaking of Soundwave. "Not sure I'd trust the slagger, though. You be careful, Steelie."
Rewind added darkly, "I'll kill both of them if anything happens to you."
Steeljaw responded with a snarled, "NO! If this goes bad and I get hurt, do not take your grief out on Soundwave and Frenzy."
Rewind yanked his hands free of Steeljaw's complicated sensory arrays and their potent live capacitors, as if afraid Steeljaw would lunge and cause him to contact something dangerous. Wheeljack, by contrast, just moved his fingers clear of Steeljaw's exposed shoulder hydraulics. Steeljaw hadn't bothered to hide his horror and fury at Rewind's threat, but he hadn't moved, either. It had been purely a vocal outburst.
His brother grumbled, "Just sayin'. I don't trust them. You know, it wasn't my area of interest, but I remember the news stories from way back when. You do know Soundwave was wrapped up in some big scandal even before the war, something about a noble femme's will - they found him guilty of fraud and embezzlement and forgery and a whole slew of other charges."
"I didn't know that." Steeljaw blinked in surprise. Wheeljack, reassured by Steeljaw's utter lack of motion, returned to work. If Steeljaw moved his body, Wheeljack's fingers would be crushed, but Steeljaw was the model of self-restraint.
"Hm. I'm sure the Autobot version of his history's all classified like hell." Rewind drummed his fingers on his femoral plating for a moment. "But the news broadcasts won't be. You ought to check 'em out, brother. He's got a sneaky, selfish streak and he's a master manipulator."
"He is not!" Steeljaw denied. He had seen enough of Soundwave - and Frenzy - to assess Soundwave's personality. He'd concluded Soundwave was more-or-less a typical beta-code carrier. Soundwave's first priority was to care for and protect his symbionts and anyone else in his clan, his second was protecting his own aft, and loyalty to a cause or an ideal was ranked only after those needs were met. He had no desire to lead, and a hard-coded imperative to attach himself to a strong leader. Some might see him as cowardly, but that programming had kept carriers and symbionts as a race alive during the darkest times in Cybertronian history.
Blaster, by contrast, was all alpha carrier. His coding made him a leader by preference, willingly following only those who truly earned his respect. He was very focused on the big picture, and would always chose the greater good over the welfare of his own team.
Both types of coding were normal, and were needed. Carriers and symbionts had survived since before recorded history because alpha carriers and beta carriers complimented each other. As he'd heard Rewind himself put it a few times, alphas were needed to throw spears at the cyberwolves while the betas and symbionts of the clan ran for the home cave.
Softer, Steeljaw said, "He reminds me of my creators' carrier. He's normal, by our standards."
"We're talking about the same Soundwave that ended up Megatron's second in command within a solar year of joining the Decepticons? And who already has Ratchet's trust - and yours?" Rewind snorted, drawing Steeljaw's attention back to him. "I'm not saying he's dangerous, per se, just that he's damned good at playing people. Remember, I was a journalist for half a million years before the big lug we call Master Blaster saved my skinny aft."
"I haven't forgotten." Steeljaw's response was quiet, almost soothing.
Rewind was unwilling to let it rest, however. He insisted, "Soundwave's always had a strong, powerful mech as his sponsor. He always seemed loyal, and his masters always trusted him, but he also survived the fall of every master he ever associated with himself. He's no alpha carrier, but he's a canny beta, and you know how beta carriers are. Pecking order's everything. He's just taken that to an excessive extreme, and with serial masters."
"Most skilled carriers will have a pattern of powerful sponsors," Steeljaw said, voice completely controlled. "My first master was the lover of Sentinel Prime's cousin. Because he was trusted and well-connected, he was able to earn a number of positions heading exploration teams. Soundwave is no different."
"I don't trust him. He is different than most carriers. He chose evil over justice, even as the 'cons slaughtered most of our people." Rewind smacked him on the shoulder. "Now hold still while I work. And Blaster doesn't jump from master to master like Soundwave does. Not all carriers are on the hunt for a bigger, better, boss all the time."
"This war has caused the death of the majority of Cybertron's population, not just carriers, and some of those deaths were at the hands of Autobots. Rewind, I trust Soundwave and that's not blind trust. I've been watching him for a long time, as well. His priorities are appropriate for his coding. Blaster, by contrast, is an alpha. Historically, he would have led a clan. Soundwave, and those coded like him, would have followed mechs like our master."
He was irritated both by Rewind's attitude, and by the fact Rewind didn't trust him to sit still when his brother's hands were in dangerous places. "Rewind, Frenzy's the best thing that's happened to me ..." he shifted his optics upwards at Wheeljack, whose ear fins flashed an intensely curious rainbow of colors but who was otherwise silent, "... in a very long time. And Wheeljack, if you gossip about what we just said, you'll be finding mice in your lab for the next vorn."
Wheeljack's laugh was mirrored by a ripple of brilliant blues and purples across his fins. "Aww, don't worry about me. I figured something was up when Ratchet asked me if we had enough cybertronium to support a symbiont's gestation."
"What?" Steeljaw said, incredulously. His ears pinned flat. Rewind howled with laughter, sounding more like Eject than Steeljaw's sanest brother. Still without moving his body, Steeljaw managed to radiate horror as he exclaimed, "Oh, slag, no!"
Wheeljack snickered. "You know, that is a side effect of having certain kinds of fun. And it really pisses Ratchet off when he has to terminate sparklets for lack of resources. Your kind have sparklings so tiny we might be able to pull off a live birth, for once."
"Oh, hell no." Steeljaw stamped a foot for emphasis, since both their hands were currently in the clear. "Hell. No. I am not gestating in the middle of a fragging war, and we're not even merging, so slaggit no! It ain't happening. Tell Ratchet he can stuff that Cybertronian where the sun doesn't shine because he's a hell of a lot more likely to need it there than I am."
His sibling and Wheeljack both howled with laughter. Wheeljack, having finished attaching the delicate leads from the new dataport, ruffled Steeljaw's ears in what was certainly a deliberate effort to piss him off more. "I think you just told me more than I wanted to know about your 'facing habits, kitty."
"Yeah, now I need to bleach my processor." Rewind elbowed him playfully.
"We take turns," Steeljaw said, with as much dignity as he could muster. "It's all fun."
"Hmm. Frenzy could carry the bitlet ..." Rewind said thoughtfully.
"I'm bigger than he is. And it's always easier - and safer - for a quadruped to carry."
"So you would carry." Rewind poked him playfully.
"Not now!" he wailed.
"Would you, though?" Rewind persisted. He had a journalist's trained curiosity and a brother's love of teasing. Sometimes, Steeljaw wanted to slap him flat. This was definitely one of those times.
Between the glare he gave Rewind and the surge of rising anger across their bond, Rewind clearly realized he'd pushed Steeljaw far enough. Steeljaw was torqued off enough that Blaster pinged them in worry. "Oookay. I take it that subject is very off limits."
"Until I have a chance to talk to Frenzy about it, yes," Steeljaw ground out. He added, to both Blaster and Steeljaw, across their bond, :Boss, tell Rewind to stop being an aft.:
:Rewind, being an aft is Eject's job. Knock it off.: Blaster said, obligingly, and including Eject and the others in that comment.
:Oh, frag all of you.: Eject responded, cheerfully.
Ramhorn, voice as laconic as always, said slowly, :I think Steeljaw's too busy with Frenzy to frag you, Eject. You're not my type. Rewind is old enough to be your great-grandfather. Blaster isn't that type of Master. And I was napping.:
Steeljaw remembered that Ramhorn was almost as hard to embarrass as Frenzy.
Meanwhile, Wheeljack was oblivious to the byplay between Steeljaw and his family, and reacted to his discomfort with the idea of procreating with a snicker. Then he asked, "Rewind, you about done with that port?"
"Yep, all connected. Just a couple of clips left to hold the wires. Will you hold that brace up while I pull the wires through?" And with that, the two of them were back to business as they completed the rapid addition to Steeljaw's modifications.
The final step, after his metallic armored mane had been returned to place, was to repair his paint. It had been scuffed in the process of removing armor. Steeljaw's ears went flat when he saw the tiny spray cans that Wheeljack produced.
"Oh, no. No. No." He backed up, ears flattening and eyes narrowing to slits. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Stuff is designed to dry quick," Wheeljack said, with a shrug. "It'll look okay."
Rewind slapped him on the shoulder. "You volunteered, dingus. What, you think we can give you three coats of enamel and a good wax in twenty minutes?"
He slammed his optic shutters shut, and forced himself to stand still. "Okay, fine. Do it."
The spray paint was foul. His sense of smell was integral to his code, and could not - should not - be turned off. It was one of his greatest defenses, and at the moment, one of his worst weaknesses. In lieu of disabling his sense of smell entirely, he sucked air in through a filtered vent in his chest and reversed the flow so it went out his nasal passages. The filter should have gotten rid of the stink but he seemed to have an air leak. The smell of the spray paint was so strong he could taste it. The odor was literally painful and he stood stock still, feet braced, refusing to do anything that might cause them to mess up. Then they'd have to fix the mistake and that would mean he would be subjected to the raw fumes that much longer.
They were done after what felt like eons later, but was actually only eighteen minutes.
"Don't move until it's dry. Takes ten minutes." Wheeljack's ear fins swirled with merry reds and pinks. Steeljaw wondered if 'Jack actually had a sense of smell under his blast mask. There was no way that any mech with even standard olfactory sensors could be that cheerful in the presence of the choking cloud of paint stench.
"Peeyewwww, you stink," Frenzy's voice almost made him jump.
"Thank you for telling me. I didn't know." He couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice. He was not in a mood to be teased.
"Bet if we lit a match, you'd go boom," Frenzy walked around to where Steeljaw could see him. Steeljaw was trying very hard not to move. However, he narrowed his eyes in warning.
"Yeah. Imagine so." He could smell flammable solvents among the myriad of foul chemicals.
"Huh. At least it comes off easy with some acetone and we can paint you properly later." Frenzy rested his hands on his hips. "Soundwave added my hardline comm port. He managed to do it without scratching me up."
"My armor's a little more complicated to take off. It always gets scratched." He wasn't going to disparage Wheeljack's work. He also wasn't very thrilled about the idea of removing the paint from his plating with acetone, either, and couldn't quite keep the dour expression off his face. Acetone was nasty if it came in contact with protoform, so he would need to take his armor off for cleaning. He hated the vulnerability of being naked.
"You're always the one who gets scuffed up. Maybe I should keep a few of those cans of spray paint on hand." Frenzy smirked at him. "It'd stop suspicious questions every morning."
"No, it wouldn't. Giant paint stink, giant red flag." He transformed a single digit in the middle of his paw into a stubby finger and tapped it against the ground.
Frenzy looked down, saw the gesture, and burst into deeply amused laughter. "Skyfire's waiting when you're dry, Mouser. See you outside."
"Wait!" He didn't want to be left alone, and if he tried to walk, he would smear the paint as his joints flexed.
"Sorry, gotta go. Boss's mask needs a few more mods." Nonchalantly, Frenzy headed back out of Wheeljack's lab.
"Pit. How long until this crap dries?" He tried not to fidget.
Rewind imitated a human cough. "I think I'm done here. I'm gonna flee your stink, Steeljaw ..."
"Oh, slag you."
After Rewind had left, Wheeljack observed, in a teasing tone, "The smell will fade. With time. They won't avoid you forever."
"Slag you too."
"You're welcome. Give it another few minutes, then go stand outside in the sun. You'll be dry by the time Skyfire's ready to go."
"Thanks," he muttered.
"So would you really bear a sparkling?" Wheeljack asked, tone going gentler. His ear fins showed muted and quiet colors, not their usual psychedelic flashing brilliance.
"Slag you." Steeljaw wasn't in the mood for this discussion.
Wheeljack held both hands up defensively, displaying his empty palms. His ear fins swirled with worried blue. "Easy, Mouser. I'm not teasing."
He huffed. "It's too early. I haven't discussed it with Frenzy. I don't know."
"But would you? If Frenzy wanted to?"
Obviously, Wheeljack wasn't going to drop the subject. As he recalled, Wheeljack loved children, and had adopted and raised a few reformats in the past centuries. He was probably hoping to be an 'uncle' to a child in the near future, and Steeljaw felt his irritation lessen as he realized that.
Though he was reluctant to discuss the matter, Steeljaw admitted, "I'd like kids. And when this blasted war's over, it will be our duty to procreate. And … it'd do everyone good to have sparklings around."
Wheeljack nodded slowly. "And Cybertronium is in very limited supply, Steeljaw. Bear that in mind. Optimus and Ratchet would never pressure you, but I think you should be reminded of that."
He huffed a sigh. "And micro-sized sparklings need less Cybertronium to build viable protoforms. Right. Got it."
"We've tried to create protoforms that need no Cybertronium," Wheeljack said, then looked sharply up and away from Steeljaw. "Well. It's possible, but the results are imperfect."
-
Skyfire heard them coming before he saw them - Steeljaw and Frenzy were bickering over nothing in particular, at great volume and with a emphasis on insulting one another's character and ancestry. He would have smiled were he in root mode. Contrary to the opinions of many, Skyfire wasn't nearly as conservative or dignified as his bearing and cultured speech would suggest. He found the symbionts to be enjoyable company; their energy and enthusiastic approach to living was infectious.
Then he got a whiff of the residual paint fumes coming off Steeljaw's hasty paint job, and he kicked the cabin's air filters up to their highest setting. Steeljaw groaned as he heard the fans ramp up. "Sorry, Skyfire."
"No apologies necessary. It is merely a bad smell."
"It's my bad smell." Steeljaw sat on the deck next to the entry ramp to Skyfire's hold, a scant few feet inside. "I want to know why, if the paint's dry, it still stinks?"
"It is still offgassing many solvents from the paint," Skyfire offered, even though Steeljaw's comment had been more complaint than question. "There may be a noticeable odor for a few days."
"Slag's gonna melt my olfactory sensors," Steeljaw grumbled.
"You could always turn them off," Frenzy sat down next to him. "That's what I did about two seconds after I got a whiff of you."
"If you turned them off, why have you been bitching at me about the stink for the last twenty minutes?"
"Sensor echoes ..." Frenzy tried to claim, even as Steeljaw whacked him in the back of the head with his tail.
"Owe."
"Wimp." Steeljaw grinned, though the expression looked a bit strained. "And would you chose to offline your optics because the light was too bright?"
"No ..."
"My olfactory sensors are my primary sensors. Optics are tertiary after my hearing. It's how I can navigate in total darkness, as well as track anything, anywhere, in any atmosphere." Steeljaw sounded smug. "Losing vision doesn't bug me nearly as much as it would bug you."
"Sense of smell can't target something a mile away with a laser rifle," Frenzy pointed out.
Soundwave, who'd taken a seat against the cargo hold wall next to the two symbionts, reached out and whacked Frenzy on the other side the head with the back of his hand.
"What?" Frenzy demanded, turning to glare at his master as Skyfire raised the ramp, turned the interior lighting on, and taxied for the runway.
"Tactical analysis inadequate." Soundwave's rebuke was real; Skyfire was surprised by it, at first, then remembered what sort of environment they'd come from.
"Oh. Yeah. He's got a bunch of long range sensors on his back." Frenzy ran a hand over his face. "Some of which are passive. Right."
"I'm best used as a close range fighter." Steeljaw flopped over on his side, cheek landing on Soundwave's leg. "Blaster made sure I got the mods for ranged combat before I ever went into the field, however, my core programming's all about fighting up close and personal, and it suits my build."
"Cybercats, meant as guardians." Soundwave stroked Steeljaw's neck. "Once, golden age long ago, Iacon honor guard Prime carriers, feline symbionts, special division. Use: crowd control, threat detection."
"That would have been fun," Steeljaw's optics brightened at the thought.
"So all their symbionts had to be cats?" Frenzy asked, expression suddenly troubled. "What if a carrier wanted to join the honor guard, and was bonded to others?"
"Allowed. Bondmates, other work. Alternate, other symbionts reformat become feline."
Frenzy made an exaggerated shudder. "The level of core programming they'd need to change to make somebody like me into a feline symbiont would change who I am. No thank you."
"What, afraid of a little improvement?" Steeljaw grinned at him, without lifting his head from Soundwave's leg.
Frenzy bonked him with a closed fist on the shoulder. "No. I just like being me. And quit being so clingy to Soundwave, You're making him uncomfortable."
Steeljaw lifted his head a bit and rolled his optics up to look at Soundwave's expressionless face. Soundwave's hand stilled on Steeljaw's neck.
"Do I look too much like Ravage?" Steeljaw rolled over onto his chest. "I'm sorry. I was thoughtless."
"Resemblance Ravage strong, physical. No resemblance personality. Not cause of sorrow." Soundwave reached a hand out and stroked the young symbiont's head gently. "Frenzy correct, Soundwave uneasy physical contact Steeljaw."
"Because I'm not yours." Steeljaw looked sharply away from him. "Sorry. I told you, I'm always leaning on somebody. I'll try to remember to keep my paws to myself."
Skyfire was impressed - and a little amazed - when Soundwave reached out and pulled Steeljaw into his lap, and then did the same to a surprised Frenzy. While Skyfire powered up his engines up to take off, Soundwave said calmly, "Uneasy, yes. Steeljaw, desirable cassette. Soundwave would want, very much want, if Steeljaw single or Steeljaw maltreated. Soundwave not courting because Steeljaw happy. However, concern from Blaster reaction. Other mechs reaction, too. "
Soundwave stroked Steeljaw's head with one hand, while wrapping his other arm around Frenzy's body. He continued, "Unease, because desire, and because position ... difficult ... here. Soundwave, not wish risk trouble Blaster, others. Frenzy sense unease, misunderstand cause."
"You're afraid that Blaster's gonna get mad," Frenzy murmured. "Oh."
"And others. Blaster, popular. Soundwave, once Decepticon. Blaster friends defend Blaster honor, loss of symbiont loss of honor."
Sheepishly, Steeljaw said, "I'm not sure how much the rest of the crew grasps the fine points of carrier-symbiont relations, Soundwave. I already told you Blaster trusts me. If it worries you, though, I'll keep my paws off your plating in public. And, uh, no offense, but I ain't looking for a new master. "
Soundwave nodded slowly. "Wise idea. If circumstances different, though - Soundwave desire Steeljaw much. Soundwave admiration much. Important, no mistaken intentions current status."
"Thanks for the compliments." Steeljaw grinned. "You're pretty cool yourself, for an evil dude."
Skyfire launched himself airborn at that moment, but he did not miss Frenzy's indignant denial of Soundwave's evil-ness or Soundwave's eerie sounding laughter. Soundwave prevented Frenzy from whacking Steeljaw by the simple method of tightening his grip around Frenzy's middle. Steeljaw grinned a toothy grin.
"You're going to sleep with your brothers, if you keep that up," Frenzy finally said, settling back into Soundwave's lap. His optics were brightly amused, despite his irritated tone.
Soundwave spat static, suddenly looking alarmed, and said, "Skyfire."
Skyfire let a laugh of his own ripple through his frame. "Don't worry, Soundwave. Perceptor hypothesized that they were interfacing last week, and I confirmed his theory as I am tall enough to see over the room partition between our labs."
"Oops." Steeljaw at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. Frenzy, being Frenzy, simply grinned.
"How many know?" Frenzy asked, pragmatism surfacing. "We promised we'd keep our relationship quiet."
Steeljaw made a snorting noise and said in Cybertronian to his lover, "Quiet? You?"
Frenzy whacked him hard enough that the clang echoed through Skyfire's hold. "Speak English around Soundwave. And you know what I mean. Slaggit, English is so damn general sometimes."
Skyfire explained, "Percy and I know, plus First Aid made a guess about your relationship independent of our knowledge. Others, of course, suspect. I know they've been teasing you, but there is real suspicion behind the teasing. Smokescreen has a betting pool." Skyfire would have smiled had he been in root mode. As it was, he could not quite keep the mirth out of his voice. He knew some of the Autobots felt differently, but he thought the two symbionts were a good match.
Soundwave hissed static, getting their attention, and then said, "Practice required, utilization visor modifications. Suggest begin now. Skyfire, assistance requested."
"How can I help?" He was intrigued by their plans.
"Speak Cybertronian." Soundwave was handing connector cables to the two symbionts. "Steeljaw, translate to English, print to visor. Soundwave send response Frenzy. Frenzy respond via connection Soundwave vocalizer, imitate Soundwave speech patterns before damage neural circuits."
"Clever." Skyfire was impressed. It sounded complicated, but he suspected it would work well. Symbionts and carriers were built for teamwork.
The symbionts plugged in, amid a bit of ribald joking about plugging and male and female connectors. Soundwave finally silenced them both with a dark glare from behind his visor. Frenzy's apologetic, "Yes sir!" confirmed that the connection was working. Soundwave had, apparently, silently scolded him.
Skyfire made a throat clearing noise, then said in Cybertronian, "Can you understand me now?"
A couple klicks passed. Steeljaw glanced up at Soundwave, and then Frenzy mirrored him. The hardline wires swung loosely between them. Then Soundwave spoke from his real vocalizer, "Affirmative."
The tonalities and resonance in his voice changed. Skyfire could hear the difference between the visor's speakers and Soundwave's vocalizer instantly. There was also a trace more emotional pitch in that word. It sounded very natural.
It was easy to assume he was talking to Soundwave directly, if one ignored the two symbionts jacked into his visor and vocalizer. Skyfire continued in Cybertronian, "Excellent. I must say, you are nothing like what I expected. Your skills in the med bay and engineering have been noted and appreciated."
Soundwave nodded his head, then said - or rather, Frenzy said - "No gratitude is necessary. The work is enjoyable."
Frenzy snorted, and added in his own voice, from his own frame, "He's flattered by the compliment, though. Don't let him fool you."
Soundwave flicked Frenzy in the auditory sensor with one finger, then said, "Frenzy, behave. Emotional sharing, undesired."
Frenzy scowled up at him with absolute indignation in his expression. "I can't believe you just made me scold myself."
"Observation: Scolding well earned."
Skyfire found the mental whiplash jarring as he forcefully reminded himself that it was Frenzy telling himself that that the scolding was well earned, in his master's voice. Frenzy was apparently unamused, too, because he growled, "Oh, frag you."
"Hey, I thought you didn't swing that way with your boss," Steeljaw objected. This earned him a burst of static from Soundwave and an uplifted finger from Frenzy.
"I wouldn't frag you right now. You stink!"
"And you've got your olfactory sensors off. So shut the slag up already."
"But that smell would rub off on me!"
"Shut. The. Slag. Up."
Skyfire decided it was going to be a very entertaining flight. The bickering continued, with both symbionts switching over to Cybertronian at Soundwave's urging. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn the fluidly natural responses from Soundwave (even with Soundwave's uniquely formatted grammar) were entirely his. The fact that Frenzy was conversing with himself as he translated Soundwave's scrambled and mangled English into Cybertronian was very easy to overlook.
His estimation of the young symbionts' intelligence went up with every exchange, however. He tested Frenzy on some fairly technical subjects, and Frenzy (and Steeljaw) flawlessly pulled off the translation. Frenzy's English vocabulary was expansive and fluent. He easily conversed with Soundwave as 'himself' as well as translating Soundwave's garbled English replies into smoothly technical Cybertronium.
Skyfire found himself oddly saddened, as the full extent of Frenzy's intelligence became apparent to him. Steeljaw's brilliance was no surprise. He'd known the cybercat long enough to be well aware that Steelie's social intelligence was far above average, he had a substantial amount of formal education, and he had a keenly intuitive mind. However, Frenzy's usefulness in the med bay and in engineering did not mean genius; ordinary repairs and even complex feats of engineering were within the grasp of mechs of ordinary intelligence.
Frenzy's ability to translate from one language to another so smoothly and fluently hinted that there was something more to the symbiont than just a good work ethic and the ability to read a blueprint. It was most intriguing.
He wondered how many other 'cons were there like Frenzy? The Autobots often dismissed their enemies as uneducated brutes. Frenzy had no formal education, and Skyfire thought that his native intelligence had been wasted by the war, where he had functioned simply as a warrior and communications technician. He could have been so much more.
He resolved to make far more use of the young mech. He could not wait to see just how far Frenzy could go, with real science training.
-
The next step in testing their new mods came too quickly for Frenzy's preferences. He would have preferred to put docking with Soundwave off forever, and he wasn't entirely sure he had the fortitude to go through with this. However, while they could connect to the visor with external hard lines - or with a less secure radio transmission, if the situation required it - the goal was for both of them to communicate with Soundwave while discretely nestled within his chest.
:Can ... can you go first?: Frenzy asked of Steeljaw. He was unable to mask his apprehension, either from Soundwave (who could feel the full brunt of it) or from Steeljaw. Steeljaw might not have a bond with him, but his lover still possessed an uncanny ability to read his moods.
Steeljaw glanced up at Soundwave, who stood upright in the middle of Skyfire's hold. Skyfire folded subspace in all sorts of interesting ways. There should not have been the height inside a cargo jet for Soundwave to stand upright. However, Skyfire routinely transported Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and other enormous Autobots. Apparently, accomodation had been made for their frames.
Soundwave nodded acknowledgement of Steeljaw's glance in his direction, and opened his docking door. Inside, a rack of a full dozen empty slots awaited. This was clear evidence that Soundwave's own early life had been good; a stressed or malnourished carrier sparkling would grow fewer docking slots. Blaster only had eight slots, and Steeljaw ruthlessly squealched a hard-coded instinct that made him want to compare their physical attributes.
Soundwave's enormous docking rack made him strongly desirable. In prehistoric times, a sparkling who had been well-nourished and cared for generally meant that he was part of a large, successful, clan, with powerful creators.
He shuttered his optics for a second. :Love you, Blaster,: he thought across the bond at his master, impulsively, as guilt seized his spark. Though his reaction was instinctive, it felt like a betrayal, even if Blaster knew he was working this closely with Soundwave and trusted him. Blaster's calm acceptance of Steeljaw's work - and friendship - with Soundwave made his guilt even worse.
From somewhere in California he got a response that was utterly trusting, :Back atcha. See you in a little bit, Kitten.:
He pulsed warmth and love at his master, then initiated a transformation sequence and leaped at the same time. He didn't quite calculate the physics right - Blaster was a little shorter than Soundwave - but Soundwave caught him and neatly slotted him into a dock.
His HUD immediately displayed the message:
Initiate Docking Sequence Y/N?
Y
New carrier detected. Initiating compatability checks ... hardware compatible ... carrier drivers corrupted. Initiate disconnect Y/N?
N
Damn, he thought, savagely, though this was unsuprising. :Frenzy, tell Soundwave his docking drivers are corrupted. Someone's going to have to fix them.:
Frenzy was still connected to Soundwave's visor via a hard line, and presumably he used that to carry on a quick conversation. Then he informed Steeljaw, :Soundwave wants you to repair them.:
:Better if you do it, Sweetspark.: What Soundwave had proposed was very invasive.
:I'm, uh.:
Terrified out of his mind by the idea of docking, Steeljaw translated. :Got it. Can Soundwave lower his firewalls?:
:No. He doesn't really have any ability to modify his code.:
:Great. Warn him I'm going to hack him.:
:He's not thrilled about it, but he says go ahead. He said to remind you he can fry your circuits in the dock if you turn hostile.:
:Oh, wonderful. Tell him if he thinks I'm being hostile to warn me first before frying me, kthx?:
He turned is attention back to the docking initiation protocols. A skilled symbiont could hack a carrier, particularly a young or naive one. Trust between symbiont and carrier had to go both ways. In Soundwave's case, the hacker would need to be doubly skilled specifically because Soundwave's hardware was so damaged. It was inevitable that the damage would introduce creeping code errors. This problem was an annoyance, but not a surprise.
He instructed Soundwave's docking protocols:
Display: Error log.
Access denied.
Yeah, this was going to be a lot of fun.
Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as he'd feared. Ratchet had alluded to an epic battle when he'd hacked Soundwave's systems. However, five minutes later, Steeljaw was past the initial firewall, and had fooled the docking node into thinking his presence was a script running in the back ground. He swiftly changed permissions for the docking node so that he could fix the damned driver, and got to work. He was well aware that the only reason he was able to do so quickly was that Soundwave was not fighting him, could not fight him, and Ratchet had left some obvious holes in the firewall for quick medical access in an emergency.
What was left of the architecture of Soundwave's original firewalls and defensive routines was impressive. He saved notes for later review, knowing that he would learn a considerable amount from this exercise.
He sent another command to Soundwave's systems to initiate docking. The response, this time, was far less fragged up. His own HUD displayed the progress.
Docking protocols initiated.
New carrier recognized.
Initiating compatability check ... Hardware compatible.
Code update required to sync with carrier. Update code? Y/N.
And it turned out that the driver he'd fixed was non-standard. He examined it, realized it gave Soundwave a little more access to his memory modules than he cared to allow anyone, even his own master, and wrote a firewall for himself that specifically countered Soundwave's nosiness. Frenzy could share whatever the hell he wanted with his master; Steeljaw liked his privacy. He wasn't sure if Soundwave could still use the access his systems were asking for, but he wasn't taking chances.
To be fair, the permissions that Soundwave's docking protocols used were not outrageous or abusive. They were practical , designed for a team dedicated to collecting intelligence and rapid analysis of data. Rewind and Ramhorn both connected to Blaster with very similar protocols. However, Steeljaw was his own mech and he had memories that were private and which he didn't share with anyone.
Blaster's willingness to respect Steeljaw's privacy had been one major reason for Steeljaw's willingness to trust, and then love, him.
And as much as he was fond of Soundwave, damned if he'd let Soundwave have that kind of access to his memory and data files on a default setting. Even if Soundwave probably couldn't utilize the link.
His HUD informed him:
Docking successful.
Prepare for connection.
He felt additional cables automatically connect to his ports: electrical power, energon, sensor feeds, and a very high bandwidth connection to Soundwave's neural cortex. His power plant idled down and then clicked off as Soundwave's far more efficient systems took over his energy needs. Sensor feeds from Soundwave's own systems replaced his own; in effect, Soundwave became his eyes and ears.
Once completely docked, it became rapidly clear that Soundwave's circuits were fragged to the Pit and back. He had known it was bad. He had never realized that Soundwave had sustained enough damage to offline most mechs.
Where there should have been direct hardline verbal communication, there was only an echoing silence. He had never realized how much a warm, spoken, welcome mattered before. The input from Soundwave's inertial and attitude sensors were garbled beyond comprehension. His neural circuits were also not interpreting the proprioceptive and tactile input from his left leg correctly, which explained his limp and general unsteadiness. He also discovered Soundwave's reflexes that controlled balance and motion were lagged by several picoseconds, due to a bottleneck in his remaining hardware. The lag was insignificant for normal day-to-day responses, but Steeljaw suspected Soundwave's deficits would become very obvious if he had to move at high speeds.
Still, he could see and hear through Soundwave's sensors, and he was getting a steady supply of power. He relaxed, powering down his hydraulics, and shutting off the flow of coolant to all but his neural circuits. His respect for Soundwave kicked up a notch. He'd yet to hear Soundwave complain, and Steeljaw suspected his reaction to such damage would be bitter anger, denial, and grief.
:You ready, lover?: he asked Frenzy, wondering as if did if Frenzy was aware of the true depth of Soundwave's damage.
:Yeah.: The muted, emotionally flat tone from Frenzy warned him just how scared Frenzy was.
:When this is all over, I'm going to frag you until you offline,: he said, which was the first thing that popped into his mind as a way to distract Frenzy from overthinking the docking process. :I'm going to jump your struts like they've never been jumped before ...:
There was a solid thunk next to him as Frenzy slotted himself into the rack. :Thanks, Mouser.:
:Oh, you're so very welcome.: He put plenty of leer in his voice.
:Just lose the stink!: Frenzy's laugh sounded close to hysterical.
:You said you turned off your olfactory sensors.: He wasn't going to forget that.
:I am now plugged into Soundwave's sensory network. He can't shut his down.: Frenzy, at least, sounded annoyed. Annoyed wasn't terrified.
:Huh. Must be why I smell myself less now.: Soundwave's olfactory sensors were far less sensitive than Steeljaw's own.
Frenzy snickered at him.
In front of 'his' visual sensors, words from Soundwave appeared on Steeljaw's HUD, Steeljaw, gratitude. Task done well.
They had agreed previously that Soundwave's comments to them would be in blue, and Soundwave's comments directed at the outside world in red. These letters were blue.
Steeljaw accessed the visor and printed, in purple, No thanks necessary.
Frenzy added, in his chosen shade of green, Yeah, the bragging rights will be payment enough. He got to hack you, boss.
Discretion, requested. Soundwave replied immediately, and probably with some alarm.
Confidentiality, respected. :-) Steeljaw promised, and wished he was in root mode so he could swat Frenzy for being a jerk to his master. Instead, he transmitted a cartoon of himself smacking Frenzy; the visor's HUD was good enough to permit low resolution animation. Frenzy replied with an image of himself with his glossa sticking out and both index fingers upraised in a rude salute. Somewhat to his surprise, Soundwave responded with a line drawing of Frenzy sitting on a stool, facing a corner, his posture radiating indignation.
Soundwave stated, Frenzy also respect confidentiality.
Soundwave must have accompanied that statement with a strong emotional response, because all Frenzy said was, Yes sir.
Soundwave then said, Query Steeljaw: Meaning punctuation marks ":-)"
Hooboy. Apparently, nobody had bothered to teach Soundwave emoticons. He printed ten various marks with the emotion they represented stated after the emoticon.
Soundwave, understand. Symbols indicate emotions. New functionality requested visor: emoticon embedded with text affect speech tonalities. Modification time later.
:Okay, Mouser. I think you just broke my brain.: Frenzy's complaint could only be heard by Steeljaw, as it was transmitted over his comm.
Steeljaw chuckled over the comm at Frenzy, even as he printed the message for Soundwave, :I'll start compiling the code now, big guy. That's an easy mod for your visor. We can test it tonight.:
Once he was done responding to Soundwave, Steeljaw said to Frenzy privately, :Why the shock? It makes sense. I'm not surprised that Soundwave saw the opportunity immediately. Communications is his specialty for a reason.:
:My master and smilies? Does not compute.:
:Sometimes I think you don't give your master the credit he deserves. He's no drone.: Steeljaw found himself a little annoyed at Frenzy.
:He's laughed more in the last few weeks than I think he has since Fairwinds died, Mouser. It feels weird. You didn't know him before this ... before that happened. He also deliberately conceals his emotions from others for tactical reasons. Why would he want to be able to add emotion to his voice?.:
:He's got a lover now, and friends,: Steeljaw said, unconcerned. Frenzy's reaction struck him as strange. Soundwave's grief had been obvious, but so had his real enjoyment of Ratchet's company, and Steeljaw's own. He knew from his own personal experience that the death of loved ones did not stop the world from turning, and life went on. :And - regarding his mood, are you surprised that he's laughing because you think he should still be completely mourning your siblings?:
:Yeah.: The admission was softly spoken and reluctant.
:You laugh all the time,: Steeljaw pointed out. His irritation faded. He'd had this discussion with others, often. Steeljaw knew what loss was like. :Why should it be different for Soundwave?:
:Because ... because it wasn't my responsibility that they died.:
:Was it Soundwave's?:
:I ...: Frenzy trailed off, silent in his slot, and didn't answer.
:Frenzy, lover, does he grieve them?:
:Yeah. A lot.: Frenzy huffed an electronic sigh over the comm. :He thinks about them. I can tell. He hurts. At night … I think he cries sometimes, and we don't know it.:
:So. Whose fault was it that they died?: Steeljaw knew this was a dangerous question; that Frenzy could decide to blame the Autobots. Still, he was annoyed at Frenzy. Not mad, just irritated. Frenzy, much as he loved him, wasn't always the most emotionally astute mech, and Steeljaw's patience was limited.
:I don't know.: Frenzy's voice was miserable. :I … I can't even get mad about it anymore.:
:How about we simply concentrate on ending the war.: Steeljaw suddenly felt guilty for his annoyance. Frenzy was hurting too. He wished he could snuggle in close to Frenzy, even though - in this mood - Frenzy would likely resist the physical comfort. :We all bear fault, Frenzy. All of us.:
Soundwave, oblivious to their private conversation, said, Suggestion: practice communications time to landing, cooperation Skyfire willing.
Steeljaw was still trying to figure out what Soundwave meant when Frenzy accessed Soundwave's vocalizer and said, "Skyfire: Assistance requested. Will you converse with me? Speech practice is necessary."
"Sure, guys."
Plurality conversants recognized, please grammatically speak Soundwave one sentience. Please Cybertronian. Soundwave printed his comment to the visor for Frenzy to translate into Cybertronian.
Steeljaw was still puzzling his meaning out when Frenzy came up with a translation, "Please speak to me alone, and in Cybertronian. Symbiotic assistance will not be acknowledged in the field."
Skyfire made a throat-clearing noise, then said in Cybertronian, "As you know, I was created long before the war began and have been in stasis lock for many years. Soundwave, before I left on my last mission, I remember you were in the news. I was quite surprised to recognize your designation and speech patterns - your, uh, former speech patterns - among the Decepticons."
The actual statement he had made, of course, would have taken paragraphs to translate properly into English. The main content of Skyfire's statement was spoken simultaneously with an infrasound databurst containing specifics: exact time periods, the depth of Skyfire's stasis lock and the reason for it, the name of the news outlets, a brief summary of Skyfire's mission, and quick analysis of what set Soundwave's (original) speech patterns apart.
All of this was sent within the period of time a human would take to say a sentence or two. Soundwave, who was pecking letters in English out by blinking his optics at his HUD, was no faster in his responses than the average human was at speaking aloud.
Steeljaw waded through Skyfire's words, translated the basics into English, and printed an English summary of the critical points to Soundwave's visor with as little lag as he could manage. He then added a complete translation of the secondary data in a pop-up box that Soundwave could open and look at if he felt he needed more information about Skyfire's statement. The data would save to the visor's hard drive, and he could also review it later, at his convenience.
:He hates it when people remind him of those old news stories,: Frenzy commented, to Steeljaw.
:What news stories?:
:You didn't know?:
:I know he was involved in politics before the war, hooked up with Megatron, and then you lot were a pitload of trouble for us after that.:
:Thanks for compliment. We sure tried.:
At that moment, Soundwave responded to Skyfire, so he wasn't able to ask Frenzy more about his perspective of Soundwave's past. Steeljaw also realized had no hope of understanding Soundwave's scrambled words he'd posted in reaction to Skyfire's statement, but Frenzy apparently knew what he meant and said via Soundwave's vocalizer, "Few remember that time."
"Not many of your peers are old enough to remember." Steeljaw swiftly translated and printed Skyfire's Cybertronian words to Soundwave's visor before Skyfire added, "Or make the connection. Soundwave is not an unusual designation. Your appearance was different."
The only underlying data to Soundwave's words this time were observations on the ages of the various elder mechs living at the Ark. Steeljaw printed that data directly to Soundwave's screen, in the form of a table, for clarity's sake. Soundwave and Ratchet were among the two oldest mechs left alive anywhere. From a Cybertronian standpoint, older mechs were generally noted for having very strong personalities, and love affairs between the eldest tended to be complicated.
This was a source of much humor, if you were Cybertronian. The gentle teasing was obvious, to another Cybertronian.
"Affirmative." Soundwave said, then printed a comment directly to Frenzy, instructing him to send the observation in a databurst to Skyfire: Skyfire has fewer operational hours Bluestreak.
Skyfire just chuckled at the observation that his own chassis might be eons old, but his life experience was lacking. Steeljaw hadn't realized that Skyfire was legally younger than he was - than Frenzy was - and then mentally smacked himself upside the head. Skyfire had gone missing shortly after graduating from the academy. Of course he was young.
Skyfire asked, "Does Prime know the full story of what happened?"
"Unknown." Soundwave sat down in one of the jump seats beside a window, and stared out if for a long moment. The afternoon was hazy, with the horizon obscured by moisture in the air. "Prime, not at fault for conviction. Due to faulty data, flawed legal conclusion resulted."
"And does Ratchet know?"
"Ratchet knows I was partner bonded before." Soundwave sighed. Steeljaw found himself surprised by how natural Frenzy's translations sounded. "The medical evidence is unmistakable."
"So you were bonded to Senator Fairwinds."
"Affirmative. The physician was bribed and incorrect testimony given. Such a bonding was improbable. The conviction for fraud and for tampering with her will was logical, given the evidence presented as fact in court."
It was Skyfire's turn to sigh. "You should make sure Prime knows you don't blame him. I'm certain that your past bond, and the dates, would be part of your basic medical history. Prime has seen those reports, and has not forgotten your past. On the other hand, you may want to simply make sure Ratchet knows the details. I'm not sure Ratchet remembers what happened with you; he never was one for following the scandals involving the nobles and he may have deleted that data eons ago as irrelevant."
"Agreed."
"You don't blame Prime, do you?" Skyfire said, with sudden concern in his voice. "Knowing Optimus, he probably feels terribly guilty."
Soundwave's initial response was incomprehensible, even to Frenzy. Frenzy and Soundwave exchanged a couple of cryptic comments that Steeljaw couldn't follow, then Frenzy stated, with only a few moments delay, "Negative. Optimus is imperfect, and mortal. This cannot be faulted. Apology unnecessary."
"He means well." Skyfire said, then added, tone somewhat cautious, "Frenzy, you're doing a good job there, but you might want to cut back on the number of primary words and use more modifiers and data bursts. Otherwise, someone will think Soundwave found a dictionary."
Steeljaw translated this, though with some trepidation. However, Soundwave's reaction was simply to chuckle, his laugh reverberating through his real vocalizer. "Use of more words required to for comprehension of 'word salad' by others. Assumption: Frenzy's translations are accurate. Frenzy has spoken for Soundwave often, before."
"Oh?"
"Questions from others, frequent and vexing. Time, often limited. Frenzy, excellent mimic."
Frenzy transmitted a giggle to Steeljaw. :I don't think Starscream or Shockwave ever realized I can modify my own voice to sound like the boss if I need to.:
:That's hilarious.:
:It was efficient. The funniest part was that Megatron knew all about it, and never let on. So I got to boss half the army around at one time or another. They'd have stripped screws if they knew.:
:You ever fake out old Buckethead?:
:Never. I'm not that crazy.:
Skyfire, too, was laughing at the implication of 'Soundwave's' words. "So this isn't exactly a new job for Frenzy?"
"Negative. Real time translation is new. Speaking as Soundwave is not."
"Fascinating ," Skyfire said, "I ... oh, my."
Steeljaw translated Skyfire's exclamation to 'oh my' but what he'd actually said was a very polite, very cultured version of a swear word, surrounded by modifiers for 'trouble' and 'danger' and 'Decepticons' and with a hypersonic databurst that described three seekers. Skyfire added another databurst with specifics on heading, altitude, and speed.
Frenzy didn't bother with waiting for Soundwave's response. "Is Starscream with them?"
"Unknown." Skyfire's response was terse, in Cybertronian; the databurst indicated he'd received no pingback from their transponders.
Steeljaw was still translating the most important data into English when Soundwave said, "Starscream will not harm Skyfire."
"Let's test that theory some other day, shall we?" Skyfire added modifiers indicating betrayal, danger, and mistrust. The databurst included detailed information about Skyfire's evasive abilities, including the G's he could pull. He added terse instructions to Soundwave on how to secure himself to avoid being tossed around.
Steeljaw printed in English, "Buckle in to the jump seat. The straps are underneath."
Soundwave, no fool, was already hunting for them. The five point harness was just big enough to hold him in place. The extenders on the straps suggested that Optimus or one of the other very large mechs used this seat regularly.
Frenzy asked, :Skyfire, you're outgunned. You got backup coming?:
:They are twenty-five minutes away.:
:Plan?: Steeljaw's question was terse. He knew full well that the aerialbots were not a match for seekers, and that the twenty-five minute estimate was optimistic.
:I believe an expeditious retreat is in order.:
A low rumble shook the shuttle's chassis as auxiliary power systems fired online.
Soundwave observed, and Frenzy translated and spoke for him, "Your acceleration exceeds Seeker capability."
"That it does, my friend." Skyfire's engines roared and the sudden crush of gees flung Soundwave sideways in the jump seat. He caught himself with one hand against another seat as Skyfire added, "Starscream never once beat me in fair straight-line race."
Frenzy snickered. :Starscream's so proud of being the best flyer in this dimension. Bet that pissed him off.:
"I am simply designed with engines that have greater thrust per unit of body weight. I cannot best him in contests of agility or accuracy, however, and your combined mass will slow my acceleration somewhat." Skyfire's chassis creaked as his wings reconfigured into for high speed sub-orbital flight. "When I knew him in the past, he continually modified his engines in an attempt to best my acceleration abilities, but he was unable to defeat the basic limitations of his structural design."
:Yeah, well, he's had several thousand operational years since you guys were last buddies to fix that.: Frenzy felt the warning was due.
:I am now increasing the distance between ourselves and the seekers,: Skyfire informed him, somewhat archly. :I will attain orbit and make re-entry when there are fewer hostile fliers in the vicinity. The seekers will be reluctant to use the energon required to reach escape velocity in pursuit of myself as I am not a primary military target, and they are unaware of the identity of my passengers.:
At that moment, a flash of brilliant purple light lit the window. Skyfire banked hard, engines screaming at maximum thrust, chassis shuddering, struts creaking as he pushed his structural tolerances to the limit. Two seconds later, an explosive impact sent Skyfire careening out of control in a flat spin and all went black in Steeljaw's optics as the G-forces knocked both cassettes instantly off line.
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