Troja Major

Chapter 7 - A Visitation

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The Museum of Curios and Rumored Objects was packed full of attendees, all there for a glimpse of the newest exhibit at its premiere showing. Frankly, Nautica was surprised so many had come to see it. At least two hundred people were there to gape at a jar of grey dust—two hundred people who had never known the unassuming little psychiatrist—never known the strange, dangerous journey they'd undertaken—two hundred people that had braved the rough weather that evening to attend. Rain had fallen for three days now, interspersed with violent rounds of fire-hail. "It's to be expected," the Curator repeatedly said with an enigmatic smile every time someone mentioned it.

The Curator's crystal chamber had been given its own corner, darkened by velvet drapes and lit with a couple of spotlights. The attendees thronged to it, mouths agape in wonder or screwed up tight with doubt. About half of the crowd was Lunarian, and Vision was much excited to meet so many of his own kind. He was all smiles and effervescence as he mingled with his harvest-mates, and for the most part they were excited to meet him too—a hundred or more mechs with the same sort of look and the same sort of build and usually the same surname. The rest were a mix of visiting Cybertronians, local dignitaries, and a few local business interests. Nautica immediately spotted Madame Verax—tall and elegant and gowned in rich blue. She was a local celebrity, known for her ability to defy the laws of time and look into the future and into the past. Nautica wondered if the fact that she never missed a good party had some connection to her talents. It would be a wicked joy to listen to her and Brainstorm have a conversation. And of course Rodimus was there, a celebrity himself for his part in Cybertronian history. He moved at the center of the crowd, a glass of engex in hand, regaling a group of starry-eyed Lunarians with his first-hand knowledge of both the Matrix of Leadership and his major part in what everyone was now calling the Benzene Showdown.

"I should have charged admission for tonight," the Curator chuckled, approaching Nautica where she stood toward the back of the room. "Oh well. At least Lunarians aren't big drinkers. More of sippers, if that even." He emptied his glass of engex and waved at one of the hired waiters, who was promptly there to refill it. "Top off Nautica too," he instructed with a nod at her cup.

Nautica pulled her own empty glass away. "I've had enough, thank you."

The Curator gave an amused huff. "You're saying no to another glass? I'm guessing you must have ended up with the wrong glass to start with." He took her glass away and held it up to the light for inspection. Then he walked over to the side table and swapped it for a clean one, which he put into her hand with a sly smile. "Trust me on this one, dear. The caterers brought two varieties of engex," he said quietly. "One is for the VIP list, which you're on."

She humored the Curator and let the waiter fill the new glass. The Curator watched carefully as she sniffed at it, and then sipped at it. Nautica was quite surprised to find the new drink far more to her liking, which meant she'd have to stick around the party a bit longer.

"See... I told you," smirked the Curator. His optics were immediately drawn to a brown-skinned alien with large compound eyes. "Oh! There's the mayor. Excuse me while I go schmooze meaningfully."

Nautica sighed and looked about again,eventually deciding to head over to Krang and hang out with him. She wasn't completely sure why tonight was bothering her so much. It was just her amica's lifeless remains in the fancy jar, the dust that had been left when he died. While she hadn't been there herself to see Rung's end, Solomus and Adaptus' battle to the death resulted in the pair of them simultaneously disintegrating into the same metallicpowder. Not long after, when the little Decepticon had put an end to Epistimus' possessed rantings, he too had collapsed into dust. But the past few days had been restless ones, overwhelmed by memories of Rung. Sleepless nights had him hovering in every thought.