Cops and Robbers Ch-2

Chapter 2

The barracks were very quiet and dark, thought the glowing panes of plastic in Straightaway’s chassis provided adequate lighting as she led Skywarp, who turned out to be a dark purple and gray color, in; most of the upholders not on patrol had already engaged recharge for the night, only a few berths remained unoccupied. Sitting down at her desk, the fembot pulled out the data pad once more to continue her questioning as the bot stood in front of her. “How long do you intend to stay in Zetetic?” She demanded.

“If all goes well I would hope to only be staying for two days.” Skywarp intoned tiredly, he really wanted nothing more than to just find a berth and rest, leaving this tiring day behind him.

Straightaway noted this before continuing. “Where do you intend to be staying for that time?” 

“Well… Do you really need to know where it is that I will be staying?” He stalled, trying to remember if he had actually found a place before setting out two days earlier.

“The Mercury Sea is just noutside the building.” She replied, with the same tone she had been using since pulling him from the quicksilver, at the same time pointing out the bare arch that served as the main entrance to the barracks.

“Okay, Screamingstar said that I could stay at his home for the short time that I am here.” Skywarp said with as much confidence as he could muster this hour, trying to give the upholder a winning smile but she paid it no mind as she wrote more in the data pad.

“That won’t be possible.” She bluntly said, pale lavender face-plate remaining as phlegmatic as ever.

The gray faceplate went slack for a moment, mouth falling open in shock before he could stop it. Skywarp cycled his optics a few times then pulled himself mostly back together. “Why is that?” he asked in consternation.

“The rules are very clear on this matter. ‘Each room of lodging shall be occupied by on more than one being at a time.’” She easily quoted.

“But what about those with spark bonds?!” Skywarp exclaimed without waiting to making sure that the upholder captain had finished. 

“That is extraneous to the topic at hand.” Straightaway snapped at him. “As a citizen of Zetetic, Screamingstar should have known this.” The outsider tried to interject but she just kept talking. “Since you do not have a place of lodging already prepared, you will be
assigned one; however, as I have already said, you will need to stay the night here.”

“But-” The mech started, his optics dim with bemusement.

“That is all.” The upholder said with such finality that Skywarp closed his mouth right away. Closing and locking her data pad, the fembot
showed the bot to the bare berth that he would be spending his recharge cycle on. “Tomorrow I will take you to your place of lodging.” She stated as he sat down on the edge of the cold berth. Turning on her heal she marched down the long barracks, through the partition and into her recharge room. Lying down on her berth she quickly fell into a contented recharge, another day on the job well done.   

***

Skywarp sat on the berth, stewing; things had been going downhill since the moment his journey to Zetetic had begun. It all started this morning when he had missed the only transport going to the sequestered city, the next transport wouldn’t be leaving for a number of days, so he had had to fly all the way across the Mercury sea, he was a decent flier but that had been way too far for him to have to do in one go. And when he had finally reached the floating city of learning--who ever had the idea that a floating city would be a good thing to build was a class ‘A’ ignoramus, as far as he cared--he had found the gates closed. He couldn’t have just flown over because that was the fastest way to get himself locked up by the local police, and have a background check run. So he had just alighted on the small edge that was in front of the gates, deciding to wait until morning to enter the city, even though it put his schedule half a day behind. 

Skywarp lay back on the berth, grumbling at the complete injustice of the whole world. He hadn’t been on the ledge for more than a moment when he had slipped off and into the mercury below. The flier shivered as he remembered the feel of the liquid metal wrapping around his form, seeping into every crack in his armor. He had been so shocked by the feeling that he hadn’t immediately tried to
transform and fly out; by the time he had tried his alt-mode was so coated in the quicksilver that the jet’s engines couldn’t ignite. Once he had turned back into his true form he had found out that the mercury covering him made it impossible to climb back up on to the ledge. Then the fembot had found him.

He had thought he was saved, out of the proverbial desert of rust, when she had pulled him out of the sea and up onto the bulwarks that enclosed the entire city; until he had found out that she was an upholder. Upholders were notorious for their ability to stop any action that deviated even slightly from the set guidelines of each city they upheld. He had forgotten that upholders enforced the rules at Zetetic. The instant he learned that the fembot was also the captain of the upholders of Zetetic the outsider had known that he needed to tread carefully, and watch every word he said: he had no doubt that if this fembot had become a captain--of upholders no less--than she
could find every lie in his tail, given some time. He had to be careful with what he said about Nemesis, the warship that Screamingstar
was designing, he had no clue how much she knew about each Zetenies’ lives. Some Cybertronians said that the citizens of cities that upholders protected felt that they were close friends, and had no problem telling them everything that they did in their days.

He had decided to be vague, as vague as he could be without being flat out rude. That had not been the best idea, since she apparently had a one track CPU, dedicated wholly to getting on Zetenies Cybertronians to answer each of her questions. It was a nightmare come true for the jet: knowing he would most likely be caught red handed in his subterfuge by a being who wouldn’t accept a bribe.

The outsider turned off his optics. He knew he should have just stayed home in Shivaree, rather than coming to Zetetic to check on the
designing of a warship during a time of peace. But he was here so he might as well do his investigating.
 
Cops and Robbers Ch-1  

Cops and Robbers Ch-3