re_alignment_logs | The Binding

Entry tags:

The Binding

Who: Kagerou and Alpha Trion
What: Kagerou has agreed to become Alpha Trion's Initiate. This is the ceremony in which this is made real.
When: As the threat of the monsters is dying down
Where: Alpha Trion's temple
Notes:
This is a closed log. Shouldn't be any violence within, though there may be ~~excessive beard stroking~~ some interesting conversation. Note also that A3's initiation ceremony will differ from other Firstforged's ceremonies.

~

With the threat of the nearby badlands diminished and Megatronus and his ilk charging forth to lead the fray, Alpha Trion had been busy writing. There was much to record, and much to oversee, and it was important after all to make certain that these early deeds were chronicled. It made the work done more...official.

Important.

Necessary, even, especially as he'd found that the more he wrote down, the more became clear.

Cybertron was forming and these Refugees, like the last, were directing it.

He was going to need more help, if he was going to keep it all straight.

That, at least, he'd already had a volunteer for.

"Kagerou," he spoke, activating his built-in Link device. "It is time. When you are ready, come alone to my library."

He left the chanel open just in case, and looked toward the bookshelf in the back of the room. It had been a long time since he'd had an Initiate.

It was going to be nice to have one again.

~

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Even though he'd been expecting the call for some time now, actually hearing it was somewhat startling. Given everything happening lately, he'd been understandably distracted.

"Ah... yes. Just... just a few minutes."

Considering he'd been atop the police roof again, and all. Hopefully, such a thing wouldn't be held against him. He couldn't let Kay go unprotected -- not after her admission. Not after all they'd been through together.

He left her a message, though. Promising he'd return as soon as possible, reassuring her he would be just fine...

And then took off.

Alpha Trion liked to believe that, if any adjectives were to be used to describe him, 'patient' would have been one at the top of the list. He was content to wait, and contemplate, and prepare.

He'd to the point where he'd spend so long waiting, contemplating, and preparing that Nexus had needed to bring him sustenance to prevent his collapse. That had been an exciting day for all of the wrong reasons.

This was an exciting day for all of the right reasons, in contrast, and if he felt a tad bit nervous underneath it all he certainly was not going to show it.

He knew what had to be done.

"You can use the balcony if you'd like," he transmitted, and made certain that the doors to the library's balcony were open for the ninja-bot to arrive.

He sent a brief affirmative, before focusing on arriving as speedily as possible. It probably wouldn't do to keep Trion waiting, regardless of his patience. Thankfully, while he was smaller than a Cybertronian, he was also fairly quick.

So it wasn't long before he landed on the balcony, touching down as lightly and quietly as possible.

"I'm... here," he called out, also hesitantly. Did he go inside? Or wait out here?

Suddenly, he felt a lot of hesitation. A lot of reservation. Did he really want to do this? Would everything really be okay?

... It had to be. For Kay's sake.

Despite his supposed patience, it was hard for Alpha Trion to not pick up a book as he waited, scrolling through the contents without seeing them. He was certain that he'd have found advanced decoupage to be interesting at any other point in time, but right now his optics kept flicking back toward the window, waiting for the shadow to pass by outside.

"Come in, my friend," he replied, setting the datapad down in one of the many reading nooks. "Everything has been prepared."

With a gesture, he indicated that the other was welcome inside.

"Do your friends know you're here? It may be a few hours before we are finished."

He'd been in here before, to be sure. This was not a new location for him to be in. But all the same, he still felt uneasy. Nervous. Even when he was admitted in. He hovered awkwardly in the doorway, his wings fluttering, flicking, as if he couldn't decide what he wanted to do with them.

"All right..."

A hesitant step. He might as well have been the shadow he claimed to be, for all the sound he made moving forward.

"I told Kay," he said. "... She's the only one who would worry."

"I would not want for Kay to worry," he smiled, thinking on the young human and his own interactions with her. "But I think it would take more than you vanishing for an afternoon to alarm her."

It was good Kagerou had a friend in her, besides. Sometimes the binding could be...strenuous.

Thankfully, it was less so with his methods than it was with the methods of some of his brethren.

"I would like you to follow me. And, as I have asked you before, I want you to tell no one of what you see."

Nodding his head towards one of the walls of bookshelves, Alpha Trion started towards it. On it were innumerable datapads, some obviously Cybertronian, others obviously alien. A few paper books were stationed there, as well, with human-sized ones stacked several volumes high.

Reaching out, he began switching datapads with care.

"Stand close to me."

"Not after... things that have happened," he said. It was vague, and he knew it. But he didn't particularly like to get into the details of what happened with Overlord.

He nodded in answer. There was no one, besides maybe a handful, he would even think to tell in the first place. His time here hadn't been... terribly social -- more the opposite. Lonely.

He watched, now, rather than dwelling on it all. As if he were trying to memorize which ones moved where. Then again, this was what he was made to do -- observe and document.

"All right..."

And, again, he did as told. There was still a hesitance to his movements, but he went to stand near the living robot all the same.

"In which case...should this take longer than expected I will be sure to send an Acolyte to let her know."

The motions were complex, but Kagerou would be able to remember a few of them for now. The rest were difficult to observe on purpose, as this was a sequence that Alpha Trion did not want others to know.

When the last book slid into place he became remarkably still, resisting the urge to reach out and make certain Kagerou was close enough. The earth-made robot was, he knew.

A moment later, he watched as the room became hazy, as if seen through a filter, and the strange electromagnetic tang of reality shifting filled his sensors.

Then, the floor dropped away.

This part he was used to, and as much as he'd been trying NOT to reach out to help keep Kagerou steady, he did so nonetheless just in case.

The haze turned to darkness as the two of them descended, dropping into what might have been the underbelly of the temple...or what might have been somewhere else entirely.

Alpha Trion knew.

He knew, but would not say, and kept quiet as space moved around them.

It was difficult to say the exact moment when it stopped.

He knew it by the tiny prick of light that lay before them, unmoving, a small glow amidst a suddenly cavernous darkness. There were no walls, here, or boundaries that could be seen or felt.

There was just the small but brilliant glow ahead of the Dias, and on the Dias the Tome, and on the Tome the Quill.

"All things are recorded here," he spoke, softly, his voice vanishing into the seemingly endless space. "So, too, will you be."

He moved towards the Dias, and beckoned Kagerou to follow still.

He blinked, taken aback by the offer. "I... thank you."

No, there was no way to memories all the movements. Maybe someone who was more than simply a prototype would have better luck. Maybe. Or... maybe someone who was actually alive. No way for him to know for sure.

And when everything began to happen, he had to fight the urge to react. Instead, he went stock-still, reverting to programming, to what base instincts he had. When startled, when uncertain, be still.

Be still.

As terrifyingly bizarre as all this was, stillness and quiet would see him through. As it always should. Even when scans couldn't detect the structure of the room they were in -- were they in a room?

The voice wasn't expected -- as if, in his study of the area, he'd forgotten he wasn't alone. He followed after, silent step after silent step.

"I will...?"

"You will," Alpha Trion confirmed, reaching the Dias.

At its base there was a step, enough of one that Kagerou could stand upon it and be of a height almost equal to his Firstforged. Indicating that he should stand upon it, Alpha Trion reached for The Quill, removing it carefully from the crystalline field that it nestled within. It was still warm to the touch, filled with the potential energy of a thousand destinies taking a thousand paths, touching a thousand planets and spiraling off into fractal-like dimensions, and the field glimmered for a moment as he brought The Quill to bear and opened The Tome.

"This book has many names," he said, and looked to Kagerou. "It is a record of this world and others tied to it--not just a record of the past, but of the future as well. How this Cybertron is forged will be affected by the writing within--and the writing within will be affected by how this Cybertron is forged. They are bound, and we, the Firstforged, are bound, and you, the Refugee, will become bound by its fate."

He held out The Quill.

"Give me your hand, Kagerou."

Well, if that didn't sound foreboding enough...

He shivered, and wrapped his arms around himself. Not because of any real chill, but, more because it was a comfort. He did as indicated, though, looking around as if he expected something to explode, or leap out at him. And then he turned his attention to the other robot, watching in curious, concerned silence.

"What... happens to it, happens to the world?" he asked, testing to see if he understood. "And we're... we're written down in there somehow?"

It made it all sound inescapable. Unchangeable. As if there were nothing he could do to alter the course of his life -- just as it had been, back in Japan. How he'd tried, and the end result had been the same.

His optic widened a little, and he stared at the object held toward him for a long, silent moment.

It will be something that is distinctly different about you and he...

In that instant of memory, the words, and the thousand abrupt remembrances of moments he wasn't alone, he nearly refused. What right did he have, to change himself so completely from the one he was designed to live for? To separate himself.

-- I will not be killed.

But he'd already done that, hadn't he? In the instant he'd decided to flee. The day he decided to alter his engine, in order to survive. He was, already, irrevocably different.

Forgive me, please, Shadowmaru.

He held out his hand.

It shook.

"What you do in life has an impact on those around you, and on the places you visit, and on the way the light reflects. In understanding how every pattern unfolds, the future becomes clearer..."

With his other hand, he reached out, turning the filled pages of The Tome one by one, until it seemed another book was overlaid on top of it, its pages blank.

"But even words can change, in time. Your actions can change them, and your perceptions can change them."

The Quill reached out, towards the mesh of Kagerou's wrist joint. With a fast, accurate prick, the sharp tip broke the surface of the material and further down, drawing liquid from the other's fuel-lines.

For a moment, it glowed brighter.

Then, it withdrew, and Alpha Trion pressed it into Kagerou's shaking hand.

"I am asking you to bind yourself to me. To become my Initiate, and help direct the future. If you accept..." He gestured to the blank page of the book. "Then all you need to do is write your name."

"Like... memories?"

He could make his memories, others could make memories of him, and... things like that. That made sense enough to him.

Still, even as he watched, he couldn't help the feeling of apprehension, the nagging doubt, and the desire for someone to be here beside him. He didn't want to do this alone -- he wasn't made to be alone.

"You mean to say it's up to... me. To change things?"

The prick was unexpected. He nearly jerked his hand back, staring down at his wrist in something akin to fear. He hadn't been told anything about that part.

Sign his name.

And then Kay would be safer. His memories would be safer. This... was what he had to do, to live.

He took it. And, with halting, uncertain strokes, laid down the katakana making up his name.

カゲロウ

"It is very much like memories." He smiled to Kagerou, pleased that his soon-to-be Initiate understood the concept. "But it is like memories that never fade, and cannot be erased. We have the power to make change, yes, but we must be careful with this power that we wield--for if things are recorded incorrectly, then it may be that they never occurred."

A history unrecorded was a history unremembered. His work was important for that reason, and for many other reasons besides, and now he would have help with it, again.

As Kagerou wrote each character, he watched, aware of the marks made as if he were writing them himself. His bond with Kagerou would be better for this, and already he could feel their tiny thread of connection as it strengthened, drawing from his power, the Tome, and the holder of the Quill.

Remembering what happened the last time this Right was performed, he reached for Kagerou, placing a hand upon his arm in case the energy sapped from him was too great. His previous Initiate had fainted at this stage, and it was not surprising.

The Quill took much, when it borrowed from another's fuel.

"There is one last thing to do, Kagerou," he said, gently, and reached to take the Quill. "How are you feeling?"

"... Cannot be erased," he echoed, quietly. It sounded too good to be true. He shook his head. "I would never... never take someone's memories. I could never take who they are from them."

Memories made someone a person. They gave them life. If this whole business of history was similar, maybe he could do this, after all. It was a tenuous possibility -- mostly due to his lack of self-worth than anything else.

His hand shook. More violently than before. He barely finished the last character before it felt as if his systems were trying to shut down. Warnings flashed over his targeting sight -- low energy warnings, mostly. He felt his frame begin to slump forward.

No.

Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was determination, but he forced his optic back online. Forced his legs to lock into a standing position. He would not bow. He would not give in. Whatever was happening... he had to see it through.

For Kay.

"Tired," he ground out, voice catching. "Fine. Tired..."

"Then you understand how important--and how delicate--this work is."

Recorded history involved the memories of an entire world. One step at a time, he believed Kagerou could make great contributions because of that.

His will, if nothing else, was a testament.

Alpha Trion did not remove his gentle grip from Kagerou's arm, however, helping to keep the other steady and preparing for the final part of the ritual, both at once. With the Quill in his other hand, he deftly punctured his own fuel line.

"When this is done, it will sap the remainder of your energy," he warned. "If you fight it, it could be damaging. For this...you must trust me."

His thumb ran over Kagerou's Glyph, and he held the Quill above it.

"I will return you safely to the surface, when you sleep."

Hoping that Kagerou understood, he brought the Quill-tip down over the Glyph, and began scribing bright, magenta characters along the edges of it, enhancing the mark with intricate lines that held a piece of his own power and essence.

It took from him, as well.

It took, and it gave to both of them.

"Yes. I... yes, I do."

Because there was nothing more important than memories. At least, from his perspective. Memory loss was the same thing as dying, as far as he was concerned. Killing the Chieftain had been bad enough... he could never do that to so many.

He watched Trion, his visible optic flicking around to track his movements. He kept leaning heavily, fighting to stay upright, despite the warning. But, at last, he nodded.

What other choice was there?

"All right..."

Even so, he turned his head to watch, trying to see exactly what Trion was doing with his mark. Glyph. Thing. It made him shiver a little, seeing it written on like that. He wasn't even sure what exactly it was doing. It looked... fascinating, really. He wanted to watch it as long as he could...

But something like dizziness was overtaking him. His optic flickered, head rolling on his neck, despite his attempts to stay on his feet.

"I trust you, too."

Alpha Trion trusted Kagerou with this ritual, and he would soon trust him with much, much more.

The last of the marking finished, he caught Kagerou before the other could fall and took a moment, sagging against the Dias in the darkness as well. It was not glowing as brightly, but it would replenish itself in time, as he would, and as Kagerou would.

"It is done. Recharge now, and when you wake..." He sighed. "The world will be a different place."

It wouldn't be entirely different, but there would be a change. One couldn't go through this and not experience some difference.

Laying Kagerou down, he stood, replacing the Quill into its field and lifting the new, smaller book the Tome had generated off of the original. This would be Kagerou's Tome, and Alpha Trion would have assignments for him to write down, soon enough.

For now, he would return to the surface, place Kagerou into a room of his own--nicer than the standard Refugee rooms, and closer to his library, with the book beside him.

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The Binding

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We can end here~ I shall send a PM with further details.