"So, I guess you're my new secretary, huh?" Sentinel crossed his legs. "Chariot, right?"
It was a misnomer Charoite often got and hated…who on Cybertron was named "Chariot," anyway? However, this was Sentinel Prime! Not to mention she had something very important to ask of him. It was part of the reason she took the position. "Oh, Charoite! Common mistake.
"Oh, my bad." Sentinel chuckled, "Anyway, I'd like to congratulate you. You're actually my first secretary! I usually prefer organize things myself or ask Airachnid do it if she's in a good mood, but there's some political matters that are getting more intense, so I thought it best to lessen my workload."
"Ha, politics, right?" Charoite remarked, trying to sound familiar.
"Haha, right." Sentinel leaned forward and folded his hands. "So, I wouldn't worry too much. Your job is kinda simple; you'll be organizing my meetings, managing my schedule, and create agendas and time my meetings."
"Okay! Wasn't worried! Got it!" Charoite nodded.
"Great!" Sentinel stood up. "I'll show you to your office and your room. I'm sure you'll do great, and who knows? Maybe if I find I can trust you enough, I'll let you come with us on one of our expeditions. Maybe you'll witness the Matrix of Leadership finally being found!"
"That would be amazing!" Charoite exclaimed louder than she meant to. She nearly laughed at Sentinel's brief stunned expression. "I'd be famous! And we'd have our energon back!"
"Pretty much, yeah! Then again, when you work for me, you're pretty much famous automatically. Come on!" Sentinel bent his arm and held it down.
"Oh wow! Okay!" Charoite tried to hook her arm in his, though she barely succeeded, given how much taller Sentinel was than her.
"Oh, uh, okay!" Sentinel dropped his arm. "Follow me!"
Sentinel lead Charoite to an elevator. He pressed a button with a downward arrow and the doors immediately opened. "After you!"
Charoite leapt into the elevator, Sentinel followed, then the elevator dropped down two floors.
Sentinel introduced Charoite to her desk and chair. Both had the same stone-like pattern of blue and gold like the couches, but the predominate color on the couches were gold rather than blue.
Charoite's room, which was a floor below, was about the size of her old apartment, but had a more luxurious appearance. The walls were golden, and her sleeping pod was as well. The floor however was the same rich blue as was on the couches and desk set—and Sentinel.
Charoite grinned and squealed. "This is amazing! Then again, you're Sentinel Prime, so yeah! Honestly, I was hoping it would be at least a step up from my old place, given I took the trouble of moving out, but this is like, ten steps up from my old place!"
"Glad you like it!" Sentinel gave her shoulder a playful tap. "We're kinda similar. We appreciate the finer things in life. Anyway, I'll let you get familiar with the place. I'll be back in an hour at the most to tell you the plan for tomorrow."
"Oh! Okay, thank you!"
During the hour, Charoite didn't only spend the time getting acquainted with her room, but also with the different floors of the building. On one of the lower floors, there was a room that had rows of sleeping pods she assumed were for Sentinel's guards, which surprised her, considering those blank-faced, golden bots weren't sentient beings like the transformers or miners. Just mere tools that could walk and fight. Then again, they likely had to recharge. The floor below the rows of pods had a bar and a row of game consoles. She was thrilled to discover none of them were coin-operated, but free!
After what didn't feel like a long gaming session—on all five games, Charoite gasped and hoped it hadn't yet been an hour. She spread her dark blue wings, which matched the trimming on her body, and zoomed up the staircase and back up to her room. She realized she should be grateful for this short opportunity to exercise her wings. She would hopefully use them for her dream very soon.
She was relieved to see Sentinel had just stepped off the elevator onto the floor.
"Ah! Charoite! Did some exploring, I see." Sentinel smiled as he approached her.
"Yeah! I didn't know you had free games and a bar!"
Sentinel burst out laughing. "Well, yeah! I mean, it's a big building, and I am Sentinel Prime!"
Charoite felt a mild sting. As if he implied she was stupid. Eh, probably didn't mean it that way. "Okay, good point!" She pointed a casual finger his way.
"So, I have to take a trip to the surface tomorrow. Another search for the Matrix. While I'm gone, I want you to allow in whoever's face is on my roster, which is on your desk. Depending on what they want or say, arrange meetings that fit my schedule, which I also put on your desk. Should be pretty simple, since everybody's gonna know I'm gone."
"Consider it done!"
"Great!" Sentinel gave her a wink. "Well, I'll see you hopefully soon!"
Tension rose in Charoite. She didn't know how long Sentinel would be gone, and she was scared she wouldn't get another opportunity to ask him her question.
"Wait!" Charoite called just as Sentinel turned around.
He turned back to her. "Yes?"
"There's something I've been wanting to ask you."
Sentinel smirked. "Really? Go on."
"So…the Iacon 5000 is a few months away, and I had been practicing for it forever. It's just…I was never able to get on the race roster because…"
Sentinel's expression slightly loosened. "Why?"
Charoite sighed and rolled her eyes. "I take it you know who Darkwing is? Flying transforming bot, deep voice?"
Sentinel's eyes shifted. "Yes…he's one of my best racers. He also oversees the mines."
Charoite didn't expect to suddenly feel such an amount of dread. Why did I think it would be so easy to ask him? "Well, I was at this gym, and Darkwing was there. I knew who he was, given he was a racer, and I saw him around here and there. He left before I did, and when I was flying some loops, I looked out the window and saw Darkwing bump into some gray miner. When the miner tried to walk away, it looked like Darkwing was getting mad at him, which was stupid, considering he was the one who bumped into the miner. I couldn't hear them, but it looked like the miner was trying to reason with him. He grabbed the miner and slammed him onto the ground, then punched him in the face."
Sentinel's eyes widened. "I see…"
"Something in me just snapped. I opened the window, flew out, then…basically did the same to Darkwing."
"You tackled Darkwing and punched him in the face?" Sentinel doubled over with laughter. "I mean, it kinda sounds like he had it coming, but you're just a little thing, even for a transforming bot!"
"Well…I probably caught him off-guard. I gotta say, it felt pretty good; I was protecting someone, and he always hogged the spaces at the gym. I was later embarrassed though, since a bunch of bots stared at me. Not to mention that what he did wasn't illegal."
Sentinel froze. He put his hand behind his head and looked off to the side. "Well, yeah; I'm…trying to work on some new laws that protect miners from getting treated like that by transformers."
Charoite's fear decreased more and more. Sentinel was being so understanding!
"The authorities saw it, and I got arrested and got probation. Somehow, the miner—I found out his name was D-16—testified against me!" Charoite rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. "Said I didn't have a right to intervene, since he was his superior!" I have a charge on my record now, I'm not qualified to race anymore, so I almost gave up on my dream. Then I saw you accepted my application for the secretarial position, even when I mentioned I had a misdemeanor battery charge. I thought that maybe since you allowed me to work for you, maybe you'd make an exception for me so I could race? Or make the rules about having a criminal record a little looser?"
Sentinel's eyes drifted off to the side. "Well, the criminal record rule is there to lessen the likelihood of cheaters being in the race; not to mention the cheating racers wouldn't say a lot about me. However, if my own secretary can't fly in the race, that would be…weird. It wouldn't look good for me. Okay! I'll tweak the rules, and you can race! Ha! You probably didn't even dent Darkwing, anyway!"
"Are you serious? No way! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Charoite darted over to Sentinel and gave him a tight squeeze. She gasped and backed away when she realized what she did.
"Don't mention it. Besides, your misdemeanor is actually part of the reason I hired you! I need someone who's willing to get their hands a little dirty. You'll be more willing to help me with my work no matter what it takes!"
Charoite felt even less anxious now. Something however felt a bit off about his last statement. How exactly would she be getting her hands dirty?
"Well, I'll gather Airachnid and my guards and take off now. I'm leaving a few guards here for your safety. Until next time, future legend!" Sentinel pointed at her with both hands before he flew down the staircase.