Dreams and Nightmares

[Jazz]

((August 29th, 2027, D.C. Autobot/NEST base, Autobot living quarters))

After meeting up with Landmine and introducing him to Red Alert, Jazz had taken his leave and headed down to his underground quarters in his alt mode. He was utterly exhausted and was having a hard time standing let alone walking anywhere. Once he was inside his own room and the door shut, Jazz transformed and stumbled in the general direction of where his 'closet' was, the wall panel opening up for him as he approached.

But Jazz never reached it and he collapsed on the floor, laying face down. He struggled to get up after laying there a moment before he eventually just rolled onto his back, falling into recharge as he lay there sprawled on the floor of his quarters. There he remained for several hours, his room silent with him completely locked down in recharge. There was no outward sign of the insidious nightmares that had taken hold of him as he screamed and fought in vain trying to escape, save for the occasional twitch of a hand or foot.

While he laid there, Jazz was completely unaware of what occurred in the early morning hours, and at around 5:38 am, ten tiny little pods that were attached to his laser core finally tore open and ten little animal bods crawled out of their respective pods at nearly the same time, within seconds of each other. They remained curled up next to Jazz' laser core, listening to the soothing pulse of his Spark for a few minutes, but they soon grew restless and began moving around in his chest cavity, eventually finding their way out through openings in his shoulders and sides.

[Synchbots]

What emerged from the silver bot's frame were ten small robotic animals, five of them black, five of them white, each with softly glowing markings, a tiny glowing oval in the center of their backs, and a small black round spot (speaker) on their upper chest:

A 5.5 inch tall, 13 inch wingspan, all white owl with a glowing band along the top forward ridge of its wings and matching optics sat there on Jazz' shoulder, looking around the room calmly before hopping off and walking around with the others, its optics and wing markings flickering between white and green as it calmly took in its surroundings and kept an optic on the others.

A 5 inch tall white chinchilla, 12 inches long from nose to tail tip, with silver shoulders, two softly glowing rings wrapped around its chassis, one around his upper torso just below his shoulders, the other around its waist, and glowing optics the same color as the rings. It was a nervous little creature, its ears, tail, paws, and nose twitching as it moved around, its optics and markings flickering between white and amber in color.

A nearly 6 inch tall white dog, 13.5 inches from nose to tail, with metallic red ears resembling a Manchester terrier with two softly glowing rings wrapped around its chassis, one around its upper torso just behind its shoulders, the other around its waist, was bravely investigating this new place they had emerged into, sniffing about curiously, its optics and markings flickering between blue and white as it trotted around confidently.

A 5.5 inch tall, 13 inch wingspan, white falcon with metallic blue feet and claws and a glowing band along the top forward ridge of its wings and matching optics sat on Jazz' other shoulder opposite the owl, also looking around the room, optics and markings flickering between white and green. It spread its wings and took to the air instinctively, flying around the room a bit and surveying things from its lofty vantage point before landing on a ledge in the near by wall above Jazz' prone form, watching the others intently.

A white cat with black ears the same size as the dog sat there close to Jazz' shoulder, glowing rings around its waist and upper torso just like the dog and chinchilla, seemed content to stay put, its tail curled daintily around its paws, markings and optics glowing a steady green as it watched the others, a soft electronic purring sound emanating from the tiny cat bot.

A 5 inch long black Cecropia moth with long feathery white antennae crawled up onto Jazz' chest, slowly opening and closing its 15 inch span broad wings, the forward edge of the wings themselves rimmed in a soft glow and a single glowing ring outlining an eye-spot in the center of each of the four wings. It remained there, its markings and faceted optics showing white at first before gradually shifting to green as it sat there comfortably on its hosts chest for now.

A black rat with silver hips, 12 inch long from nose to tail, 4.5 inches tall at the shoulder, sat close to Jazz' dormant form for a moment, sniffing about before letting out an electronic squeak and went scampering around the room, its optics and glowing rings around its waist and upper torso showing bright blue as it ran around checking everything out, including the other animal bots, at least the ones it could get to on the floor or on Jazz' chassis, giving each one an electronic squeak of greeting as it went.

A black bot resembling a large, 15 inch leg span red kneed tarantula spider with metallic red thorax and abdomen tip, remained perched on Jazz' shoulder point, its legs highlighted in glowing bands at each joint, its abdomen decorated in fiber optic hairs that shone at the tips, glowing the same color as its leg markings and eight optics, which were at first white, then gradually shifted to green as it turned and crawled down off of Jazz and over to a wall, easily climbing up along one of the textured seams before opening the metallic red end of its abdomen and extruding faintly shimmering mono-filament threads and beginning to weave them contentedly, unsure of what to make, but happy to weave them none the less as it slowly makes a steadily growing cord, looping it carefully on one leg like a coiled rope.

A black, 14 inch long dragonfly with six metallic blue legs and four shimmering translucent wings immediately took to the air, flying over every part of the room as it went. Its long thin body bore a glowing line down either side from thorax to abdomen tip, matching in color with its faceted optics, which shone white as it flew around the room, utterly fascinated by everything it saw as it investigated this new world it found. It even investigated each of the other nine tiny bots and thoroughly investigated Jazz' chassis while they waited for him to wake up.

Slithering about on the floor was an all black 15 inch long snake with a solid glowing line down its back and a series of tiny glowing spots down each side of its slender form, matching its optics in color which were currently green as it moved around, gently approaching and nuzzling around each of the others as it went, greeting the ones it could reach before moving back to Jazz' still form and coiling itself up against the silver mech's arm, hoping their host and Master would awaken soon to greet them.

[Jazz]

Jazz remained unconscious and unaware of what was happening around him while the ten little bots explored the room. Nearly an hour passed after the little bots emerged as he laid there before he began to stir, moaning and twitching a bit in the grips of his nightmare. Gradually his movements grew in strength, causing the ones on and nearest to him to move away from him as all of their optics and markings turned amber, feeling the fear and pain he felt. It wasn't long before Jazz was thrashing violently, fighting the nightmare and screaming in agony and terror as he felt his frame being ripped apart in Megatron's grasp yet again, unable to escape the nightmare of his own death as it looped within his processor, trapping him in its insidious grip.

[Synchbots]

Fear of being crushed by his thrashing frame and fear of what was happening to their host and Master kept the ten tiny bots well away from him, gathering together in the farthest corner of the room, huddled and terrified, every one of them their optics and chassis markings glowing bright amber as they huddled in a tight ball together, unwilling to emerge from the far corner under Jazz' berth, watching helplessly while Jazz remained locked in his unseen nightmare on the floor near the other end of the room.

[Red Alert]

Red Alert had resumed his monitoring in his office after Landmine had gone to where the other larger bots were to recharge. He hadn't seen Jazz enter his room, but a quick rewind of the tapes showed that Jazz had in fact made it to his room. With a soft venting of air, Red Alert leaned back in his chair, watching the monitors. At around 0640, Red Alert heard screaming from the audio sensor by Jazz's room. Without thinking, he ran out of the security room and down the halls to where Jazz's room was, opening the door. "Jazz! Jazz, it's alright!" He knelt down next to Jazz and carefully took hold of one of his hands. "Jazz, wake up! It's just a nightmare. Jazz!"

[Jazz]

Jazz was not aware that Red Alert had come into his room, his frame arching, his feet kicking, his hands trying desperately to fend off whatever it was that was attacking him in his nightmare, screaming like he was when the others had found him on the beach in Newfoundland. When Red Alert grabbed hold of his hand, Jazz' optics flared brightly and he came right up off the floor with an Energon chilling cry, his other hand coming up to latch onto Red's shoulder, very nearly climbing into the red and white mech's lap, clinging to him for dear life. It took several minutes for Jazz to realize where he was and who had a hold of him, slowly calming down, his cooling systems cycling rapidly, venting hard and clinging to Red Alert. Eventually he just sat there in Red's arms, his head on his dear friend's shoulder.

As his panic subsided and he began to feel more calm again, he started to hear small frightened voices calling out to him in his processor and he lifted his head a bit, blinking in confusion and glancing around. That was when he finally spotted a soft amber glow coming from under his berth and he tilted his head slightly. ~"Red?"~ he murmured softly and looked back at his friend, then back to the amber glow. ~"Am I... hallucinating? What is that?"~ he asked, turning slightly towards his berth, though refusing to leave Red Alert's grasp.

[Synchbots]

Almost as if in response to his question, the amber glow seemed to move, shifting and growing a little brighter, then seemed to split apart into separate sources. Then finally, five little white animal bots and five black ones peeked out from under Jazz' berth, their optics and chassis lights bright amber, looking out at Jazz. A few soft quizzical yet fearful beeps emanated from the cluster of tiny bots then as Jazz could hear their frightened voices in his thoughts.

Jazz turned more fully towards them, growing curious now. ~"Hey, lil guys, it's okay."~ he offered and slowly reached out his large silver hand towards them. One of the group, the one resembling a dog with red ears, slowly stepped out, sniffing a bit as it inched closer, giving Red Alert wary glances and looking to Jazz as if searching for comfort and reassurance. It whuffed softly as it neared Jazz' hand, glancing at the unknown mech behind Jazz. //~"Safe?"~\\ it asked softly in Jazz's thoughts, frightened and uncertain as it approached. //~"Daddy okay now? Stranger... good? Not hurt daddy? Not hurt us?"~\\

The query made Jazz blink in surprise. ~"Daddy?"~ he blurted out softly, then looked at Red Alert, then back to the cluster of tiny bots, then to the apparently brave one. ~"Yeah, it's okay. Red Alert is a friend, he won't hurt you."~ he assured the small canine bot.

The white canine then moved forward and nuzzled Jazz' hand while slowly and tentatively, eight of the other nine tiny animal bots crept forward to join their 'brother', one by one approaching to touch, then nuzzle up against the silver bot's hand or legs. All but one, the little white chinchilla bot, frozen with fear, too scared to move from under the berth while the others softly called to it, trying to coax it into joining them.

[Red Alert]

When Jazz suddenly latched onto his shoulder an nearly pulled himself into his lap, Red Alert was frozen in shock for a moment, then carefully brought his free hand around to gently rub at Jazz's back. ~"It's alright, Jazz. I'm here. Nothing's hurting you."~ He spoke soothingly, continuing to rub Jazz's back. He spotted the forms hiding under Jazz's berth, but wanted to make sure that Jazz was alright before he started worrying about the strange forms.

When he heard Jazz speak, he turned his head to look at his close friend, then back at the berth for a moment before shaking his head. ~"You're not hallucinating, Jazz. I can see them too."~ He watched as the small white and red dog slowly made it's way towards Jazz. He could see the wariness in the bot's optics, and he had to give a small smile. ~"No, I wouldn't hurt you."~ He spoke after Jazz spoke to the small canine. He watched as eight more approached one by one, and also saw the tenth one remaining under the berth. ~"It's alright, little one."~ He spoke softly, holding his hand out towards the small chinchilla. ~"No one's going to hurt you."~

[Jazz]

Jazz greatly appreciated his friend's gentle comfort, and he could only chuckle as he looked at them all as the tiny bots gathered around him and snuggled against him, the amber glow of their tiny chassis and optics turning blue. ~"Where did you guys all come from, hmmm?"~ he asked, looking over at the timid one as Red Alert tried to coax it out only for the tiny white chinchilla to shy away a bit. Jazz got a series of beeps and chitters from the others in response to his question. ~"From... me?"~ he asked in astonishment and looked over at Red Alert, then back to them as they showed him their first memories of hearing his pulsing Spark, then emerging from darkness inside his chassis, moving around inside him, then crawling out through the small openings in his armor and exploring his room. Then it clicked in his head and he looked at his dear friend in astonishment. ~"Primus, Red, those silver gray things Jolt found attached to my laser core... they were pods, symbiote pods. These guys came from those pods."~ he explained, still rather a bit surprised. ~"I can hear their thoughts, they're talking to me, showing me things. They're symbiotes, Red. My symbiotes. No wonder it hurt so much when he tried to cut one of the pods off..."~ he added, thinking out loud.

At the mention of the attempt to remove one of them, the nervous chinchilla squeaked in panic and backed away further, a flash of pain and terror coming through the bond to Jazz. ~"Oh no... no no no... it's okay little one, it's okay. They didn't know, it's okay, I promise. I won't let them hurt you, I won't let them take you away."~ he urged gently, turning a bit so he could lay on his side with Red Alert behind him and the other nine tiny bots gathered in front of him, one arm stretched out towards the skittish one still under the berth. <~"Red, that little one was the one inside the pod Jolt tried to cut off. He's terrified, he remembers the pain and he's afraid of it happening again. Let me try n get him to come out, I think he'll respond better to me."~> he explained over secure coms so the little ones didn't hear it and get scared. ~"It's okay, I promise. Of course I want you to stay. Why would I want to keep them and not you too? It's okay, come on, come here lil one. Come join your brothers with me, please?"~ he coaxed softly.

[Synchbots]

The tiny white bot hesitated, then slowly started to inch its way out from under the berth, watching the red and white mech behind Jazz nervously. The chinchilla bot crept forward a couple steps, paused, crept forward a bit more, hesitated, took a few halting steps, eventually getting a little over half way when a movement from Red Alert made the skittish little bot squeak in terror and dart straight back under the berth again.

The dog like bot turned and trotted back under the berth after the chinchilla bot, nuzzling and trying to comfort the frightened one, and after a few minutes, managed to coax it into slowly following its canine brother out from under the berth. The skittish chinchilla crept along beside the canine as the bravest of the bunch walked slowly over to Jazz and the others. As skittish as the chinchilla was, as soon as it was within touching range of Jazz, however, it shot straight to him and clung to his chest for dear life, shaking uncontrollably as Jazz' arm curled around the tiny bot while the others gathered around and huddled against Jazz' chest. As he sat up again, he gathered them all in his arms and held them close, looking at a mix of five black and five white tiny chassis, all glowing a soft blue, except one, who remained amber as the others tried to comfort their scared sibling.

[Red Alert]

Red Alert did his best to hold still as Jazz attempted to coax the final bot out from under his berth, but the slight shift as he sat was unavoidable. Once the small chinchilla was out and clinging to Jazz, Red Alert vented softly. ~"Looks like the family's increased quite a bit now, Jazz."~ He commented in slight amusement.

[Jazz]

Jazz chuckled lightly at the observation. "Yeah, looks like it. What I don't understand is how or why? Last I heard, symbiotes only sprouted from healthy bots n only one or two at a time, n their pods were transparent like ours. Why were these guys so different? And how did it happen? I wasn't even remotely healthy." The whole thing confused Jazz, not that he was ungrateful, but from what he knew, what had occurred should have been impossible. Unless... "Do you think it was the Shard?" he asked Red Alert then, looking at him as he cradled his newly hatched little ones.

[Red Alert]

"Probably..." Red Alert replied, rubbing his chin in though. "With that in mind, it might be a good idea for you, and your new symbiotes, to get checked out and cleared with Ratchet. Or Wheeljack. Just in case."

[Jazz]

Jazz nodded at that and looked at the ten tiny animal bots cradled in his arms. "I will, but I want to spend some time getting to know these little guys first. I'd like you to stay, you're family too, n you should get to know each other." he said, looking to Red Alert as he spoke the second part. He saw Red Alert as family, as his brother, and he saw no reason his new symbiotes shouldn't get to know their uncle, or Red get to know the little animal bots. "Guys, this is Red Alert, my closest friend and brother. Red, meet Nocturne the owl, Bebop the little chinchilla, Reggae the puppy, Sonata the Falcon, Zydeco the kitty, Jive the moth, Techno the rat, Swing the spider, Toccata the dragonfly, and Rhapsody the snake. My little Synchbots." he introduced.

[Red Alert]

Red Alert nodded at Jazz's wish to remain in his room to get to know his new symbiotes first, though he would also make sure that Jazz did get to the medical bay later. "Why am I not surprised that their designations are also types of music?" He chuckled, reaching a hand out carefully to the nearest one.