Found Family...

[primus_seeress]

*Auspex is again kneeling before the central mosaic, palms flat to the ground, in commune with Primus*

*All the strange things that have come... sparks created from incomplete slivers, more free-sparks, injured sparks that refuse to be comforted... friends that try her patience, assumptions that have been made... Why now, why all at once, like this? Auspex confesses that she is tired, that she can only invest herself emotionally in so many people, before she begins losing herself. Primus is all that she has, to sustain her in this... and she could use some of that, right about now...*

Comments

[random_xtras]

"Through an exchange of a portion of spark code." Hope trembles with uncertainty, and is smoothed by that laughter from below.

[primus_seeress]

*she nods a bit* All right... but how do you do that, in this case? I'm not sure I have a suitable frame of reference. *The bonds she's used to dealing with are a great deal closer than this should be*

[random_xtras]

"Well." He blinks, a little startled by the question. "Direct data transfer." One finger taps at a small hatch on his wrist. "Spark encoding taken in that way seems to be automatically directed toward one's spark."

[primus_seeress]

*Auspex blinks* Ah. There are different methods in various universes... I see how that could change the nature of the bond, and allow various degrees of depth. *she thinks this over for a few moments, always finding new spiritual practices to be fascinating*

All right then, it seems safe enough - and I had close ties to a few servants, here in my own reality; it might be a good thing for me to have such ties, again, and I am no longer bound to only my own reality. And also... *she smiles with fond amusement* I want to keep track of you, in case your spark performs any more unusual stunts; I would like to find you again.

[random_xtras]

He blinks, and then blushes sheepishly, feeling of apology. "Well, the bond between mates is instituted through a different interface, so you don't have to worry about this one going too deep. And... I don't think I'm going to be doing any more strange things. I'm not planning it."

[primus_seeress]

*she laughs quietly* I thought as much; no, I'm not expecting the bond to... go where it shouldn't, as it were. And I trust Primus to keep your spark in the form it's in, for however long is necessary. I'm not worried. *Her smile is reassuring*

I suppose you need a data-port, then? *she finds a panel for such a purpose on her forearm, letting it slide aside as she moves a bit closer, silently offering him her wrist*

[random_xtras]

"We're going to be mentally linked," he warns her. "You'd better put up firewalls to keep me away from things you don't want me to see."

[primus_seeress]

*She nods, dimming her optics to confer with Primus for a moment. Mostly, she needs to withhold the secrets that those she has spoken to have charged her to keep. Servants do sometimes confer with other servants about difficult problems they encounter, but rarely are the subjects mentioned by name; those names, and those likenesses, Primus will protect.

She really has no secrets of her own; all her thoughts and actions are known to Primus, and anything she may have learned in her many vorns could be useful to other servants, as well. With a final expression of thanks, and a shrugging off of residual unease, her optics brighten again*

Very well, then.

[random_xtras]

He pushes aside the panel on his own wrist and pulls out the slender wire, then pauses to look at the connector on her data port and reconfigure the plug so that it will fit. As he does so she'll feel his own nervousness. He's afraid of hurting her or messing up the transfer in some way. After all, this isn't just a computer he's linking to... and Primus is laughing again.

He shakes his head slightly and makes the connection.

And Auspex finds herself in a memory of running swiftly over a plain, four feet pounding in rhythm against the metalic ground. Joy comes with memory, and thankful exultation in this gift of freedom and speed.

[primus_seeress]

*Auspex puzzles over this impression - is this his altmode? What is it? - his joy is understood and appreciated, even though she doesn't completely understand why it is so, other than the fulfillment of doing what one was built to do. Some things are instinctive, she supposes...*

*She shares her feelings about her charges and friends in quick succession, from the present, and back further: Jetstorm, his brothers, Scourge, Cureall, Thrust, Blackstar, Snowcat, Demolishor, the zambonis, Perceptor, Ratchet (several of them), so many others from the Nexus, and more from her own world: her creators and teachers, fellow servants, long-time acquaintances, people she's helped over the vorns - some still living, some not, some unknown... it's obvious her life is about her people, and serving them brings her so much joy, even as she does her best to hold them through their pain.*

[random_xtras]

Altmode, yes. An image of it comes to her, slender legs and tossing head.

And then he's intent on the images she's sharing as a faint buzz sings softly at the edge of their shared awareness. He sees Blackout now and wordlessly expresses his surprise at the size and configuration of the femme, then ponders Thrust for a moment before contemplating the Ratchets and the others. Her creators receive special attention. He's curious about that concept, being very much a standard factory child himself in his upbringing. Other than Spike and herself he's never formed any truly close bonds, even with the members of the unit that he served with since his graduation. Such bonds are viewed as just too risky, and no one is willing to take that risk anymore. Most of the rest of his memories are battle, clambering over rocks in his alt mode with damaged comrades on his back, answering questions, offering comfort in times of pain, listening to the fluctuation in the Allspark song and knowing that this explosion has decreased his unit.... And always the slight curiosity about what lay behind the firewall that covered his past.

And as the sharing and sifting continues his hand closes around hers once more.

[primus_seeress]

*It seems to be an Earth creature... very much like the unicorn form that Perceptor once held. She has a slightly humorous musing, and wonders if Strata and Photon would compare notes with him, if they met.*

*Auspex was created in a largely communal environment; she, and a small handful of others, were activated in a large temple - they were designed and built by three of the dozen or so resident mechs, who had the necessary building skills. Though she was aware of which ones they were, and thanked Primus for their skills, she often thought of the others as creators, also, and her buildmates as siblings.
That had been hundreds of thousands of vorns ago, and most have been lost to time... though not memory, as Blazer may see. But she has others to care for, and the ones who are gone are with Primus and the others. In that, she is content.*

*She curiously examines his memories of war, expressing sympathy at his own losses... until she catches that hint of faint Allspark song. She focuses on that, amazed wonderment clear in her thoughts; he can hear that... it's faint enough that it doesn't call, as it might, but it's definitely there, and she finds it strangely comforting.*

*she squeezes his hand absently, an acknowledgement*

[random_xtras]

-It's been the backdrop of my life.- He tilts his head to catch a comforting murmur from Primus, then smiles and points out to Auspex that other presence that he can sometimes feel. Primus's creator, the One who died for humans, and to redeem all of Creation. He's so caught up in the communion that he's forgotten the reason that they instituted it.

[primus_seeress]

*Auspex greets Primus's presence brightly, but pauses for a moment, at the suggestion of the Greater Creator. She knows who he is, and she knows that Primus knows him, and she knows what he has told her about him... still, all her experience with him is through Primus, and the sense of his presence makes her feel inexplicably shy; she retreats back to the familiarity of her lesser Creator's power.*

*Sibling bond, she reminds him, with a trace of amusement*