Neos Mnestis

Part 6: Noct Somni

     Now that the mech was no longer silhouetted by the light Arcee could see that he was mainly red, with a few patches of white and yellow. The shape of his helm reminded her strongly of some kind of organic flying insect: maybe a wasp. It looked as though his alt mode would be very similar to her's, but with skates on the bottom instead of magnetic field generators.

     Glancing back she examined the other mech, RedInferno. He was almost all red, with a black helm and servos. He looked as though he would have some kind of ground or low altitude transporter alt mode; a glider pad or rolling tanker. The light was dimming but Arcee thought she saw some kind of emblem on his chest plate. His face was rather plain, giving him a kind of small town familiarity look that Arcee found kind of cute.

     In a surprisingly short time they reached the station, which looked nothing like any station or headquarters or base that Arcee had every seen before: she should have guessed. It was a rather small building, tucked between to rundown office complexes that probably should have been condemned a long time ago. There was no sign on the building to show that it was in any way, shape, or form, connected with the city's government. If someone asked Arcee about it she would tell them it was an abandoned housing unit awaiting a demolition team.

     The small mech palmed open the door and slid in; waiting just on the other side for the detainees and RedInferno. Arcee's opinion of the station changed the moment she walked in.

     It's not that the building was anything amazing on the interior, the fact that it actually looked almost just like any other police or security station Arcee had been in, was what really surprised her. The walls were painted a generic gray and a large image of the Iconolee seal covered most of the wall facing her. The terminals and computing systems looked a bit more advanced than what she had ever seen, not like she saw that many of them though.

     "I'm going to need you two to sit down over here." The large red mech behind her said, pointing over their helms toward a bench bolted to the wall a good distance away from the door and anything breakable. He sounded so friendly that Arcee found herself doing what he had said almost instantly; Prowl following at a more relaxed pace.

     Once Arcee sat down she looked back at the mech and, to her surprise, realized that the shape she had dimly seen on his chassis before was an Autobot insignia. the red on red made it a little hard to see, but it was there. Turning, Arcee looked at the other mech, wondering if he too was an Autobot, but no, the symbol he wore matched the triangular one on the wall.

     "RedJazz," the small mech said as the video screen he stood before lit up, showing a black and white visored mech on the other side. Arcee could just make out that this mech had a red Autobot brand on his shoulder.

     "I've told ya RedAlert, call me Jazz." The black and white one replied, an easy grin on his faceplate.

     RedAlert scowled at Jazz's words. "I picked up a femme and a mech for the violation of rule 198.70.14." He certainly was to the point. "The femme claims to be an Autobot." Arcee was sure she'd never heard a voice so full of disdain before.

     Jazz thought for a moment, then, his visor lighting up brightly, exclaimed, "Yes! Her designation is Arcee, she should have been here this morning. I was wondering what was taking so long." The mentioned femme let out a sigh of relief; the nightmare the day had been was almost over. "The mech wouldn't happen to be a Praxian Enforcer, would he?"

     "Yes, I am." Prowl spoke up from his seat next to Arcee.

     RedAlert huffed in annoyance, reaching to end the transmission. "I shall have RedInferno take them down to you then." He paused, and almost as an afterthought added, "RedJazz, I do not appreciate being left in the dark when it comes to what you and your Autobots will be doing in Icon. Be aware that if these occurrences continue I'll have no choice but to report the incidents to YellowDownshift. I'm sure he would be very pleased to know about them." Even though Arcee had know idea who YellowDownshift was, she could see a threat when it was right in front of her optics.

     The video screen became dark as RedAlert turned back to face the three Cybertronians behind him. "Take them to RedJazz. I am done with your service for today." His voice was flat, uncaring, and more than a little unnerving. As RedInferno assured the pair out of the main room, and into a passage which lead down to the Autobot base, he faced another computer screen, extended long flexible data cords from his sides, and began logging reports for the day, he also added one more note to his file on the Autobots stationed in Icon.

     Since he was a fellow Autobot, Arcee felt she could talk to the large mech. "So RedInferno-"

     He interrupted her, a bit of a laugh in his vocalizer. "Actually my name's simply Inferno. RedAlert's just kind of strict about using titles, even if he thinks they're unearned."

     "So... what do you guys do here normally?"

     "Nothing's normal 'round here femme." Inferno laughed as they entered the Autobot base, a good distance under the city.


     Arcee shook her helm and continued on to her quarters. She really shouldn't let herself dwell on the past like that, there was nothing to gain from doing so but sadness, and she had had enough of that.

     Falling onto her booth, Arcee was soon deep in recharge. If she had been awake, Arcee would have heard the ecose and felt the vibrations of a mech walking around and around in the housing complex. She would have heard a door slide open and closed, open and close, as someone walked into a room, out, in, back out, over and over. The walking faded away shortly before Arcee onlined the next day.