Survival isn't Living

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Matriarch of the 2nd Iaconian Circuit Court.” the enforcer assigned to the court system announced. The audience rose and within the large dull gray room, the dark colored mech on trial stood next to his smaller and thinner public defender. To their left was the prosecution which consisted of more intimidating mechs than even Barricade wanted to deal with.  Then scattered around the room were several highly armed enforcers, yet even they weren’t as intimidating as the large booming mech that began to address the audience.

The prosecution began with introductions to the would be jury. They asked questions of the audience, probed them, gave them hypothetical situations and everything in between. Then the defense did the same, all the while Barricade was privy to know who the defense recommended for the jury. However Barricade didn’t really care. There were mechs and femmes within the audience that actively stated they wanted to see the Terrorcon hang. However Barricade just didn’t care about what their words were.

To him the entire process was a joke. Jury selection was tedious and a waste of time. Within day one of the trial, they selected 20 mechs and femmes who would spend the next three listening to the case. Three whole and long days of evidence and boring jargon.

And it was an atrociously long three days that made Barricade just wish that this could just end. There was no need to have all this fuss over him. Time wasted by hundreds of others for his sake. He could already tell what the jury would pick. He knew it would be guilty. He knew his punishment would have been worse than anything he suffered from before. At this point he was missing the days of Kaon at its darkest when life or death were determined by a single mech. In those days, Barricade carried out the punishments even and he had taken extreme pride in his work.

But his twisted processor wouldn’t save him like it used to. Not when he could see the glares from those in the jury. They were supposed to remain impartial, but Barricade could see processors were made up as soon as day one. The defense saw it too, however nothing was said. A fact which the dark colored Terrorcon was thankful for. There was no need for time wasted.

However come the second day, a witness was called that many in the jury paid close attention to. It was an odd being, appearing knight like but having some sort of beast like features. The being was introduced as Dragoon, the only known specialist on Terrorcons. Even Barricade was intrigued as this stranger had been researching Terrorcons for centuries.

“Dragoon, how do you know the defendant?” the Prosecution asked with his booming vocals that carried and echoed about the spacious room.

“I don’t know the defendant personally, however I have dug into Decepticon records of his existence and experimentation as he is one of two, previously three, living Terrorcons that share the same traits as he does.” the strange mech explained. His facial plates appeared to be covered by armor. An odd feature for what everyone thought was previously a civilian.

“And what is Barricade exactly?”

“A rare form of Terrorcon that is born from injection of Dark Energon that combines with the still living CNA of a recently deceased Cybertronian. In most cases the Dark Energon fuses with one’s spark or simply the processors to reanimate an individual or in the case of individuals like Megatron, gives the illusion of control over Dark Energon. In the case of Barricade and 489 other individuals, their CNA was possessed and altered by this substance in addition to spark and processors. This is why this particular kind of Terrorcon has three stages to its awakening, as we call it.” the oddity explained.

“And those three stages?”

“The first stage is what many would assume would be a Terrorcon. Zombie like, mindless, aggressive, and so on. The second stage still retains the hyper aggression but self awareness. Then there’s the third which is what we would assume Barricade to be in right now, which is full awareness and a more jaded desire to feed.”

“Is there a possibility of a fourth stage?” the prosecution asked, at this point he shifted slightly to stand more towards the defense table. “A stage similar to what has been exhibited which is appears to be psychosis?”

“There is a lack of study in this regard as Barricade is one of two living individuals who are infused with Dark Energon at a CNA level.” the stranger responded as he shifted on the stand.

“So its fair to saw we won’t know?”

“Yes. It’s also impossible to ever know. The actions that resulted in this behavior change could be psychological more than physiological. Or it could be vice versa. It may be a sign of deterioration of Barricade’s processors or functions. There are scans of his processors that show acute stress which is often a sign of any Cybertronian’s functions shutting down.”

“And..” there was a pause as the large prosecuting mech shifted back over to his table. “Is the possibility of possession on the table?”

“Oh yes. Unicron is a documented being thanks to the exploration of Earth by both Autobots and Decepticons. What we thought was a helm scratching anomaly for many centuries is proven real, however recently dormant, or so we have been lead to believe. It is entirely possible that Unicron is far more active than we believe.”

“And what proof have we of this?”

“Well there are more documented attacks from stray Terrorcons than there have ever been. The correlation however is muddled with the larger population of Cybertron now rising since the Well of Sparks has been revitalized and a larger population of Terrorcons as well, a result of Megatron bringing Dark Energon to the planet and raising the dead for his intent of destruction on Earth.” Dragoon explained, again shifting in his chair. “It should also be noted that Terrorcons like Barricade had been previously in stasis up until recently. Though this data is inclusive as well because many Terrorcons like Barricade went into stasis as their food sources became less available.”

“In other words, because Cybertronians were leaving the planet in the Great Exodus, they went into stasis in order to keep from starving”

“That is accurate.” Dragoon responded with a certainty in his vocals.

“So you in your professional opinion, what could have caused Barricade to suddenly turn to murder when he previously hadn’t done so since his time in the Decepticon army?”

“My opinion holds no bearing in the court system.” Dragoon stated plainly. “However the facts are that Barricade is an underfed Terrorcon. His systems cannot be sustained on Energon alone. His rations could have lead to the degradation of control. Except even that isn’t possible as Barricade did not consume any of his victims, rather just killed or turned them.”

“So if not an instinct of starvation, then what?”

“A number of possibilities. As I said, processor degradation is a crucial factor to consider, however given auditory and visual hallucinations, we are looking at either extreme stress which triggered his fight or flight response, or possession.” Dragoon summarized. There stood a standing silence for a time while the prosecution collected his thoughts.

“In the case of extreme stress, what would we see?”

“A continuing behavioral pattern. Barricade was documented to have as he described ‘blacked out’ only a handful of times. Each time he had been in a different setting, though in two instances, restrained and caged in some way. While he could have been stressed, he was open and free the last time he went notably more aggressive. Yet since that time, he has remained in control. Possession is the more likely possibility”

“Could this be an illusion he perpetuated in his processors and convinced himself of? Could it be an act of a cold blooded murderer?”

“I don’t agree with this statement.” Dragoon defended. “Were it true, he wouldn’t have been previously described as calm and gentle in nature.”

Thank you, Dragoon.”

The defense began to cross examine the strange mech, but it wasn’t anything that had changed in response. Simply more concluding  what was previously stated. Barricade could see there was a sense of uneasiness that the prosecution displayed. As if they hadn’t expected the strange beast to testify in that regard.

The rest of the day went on interrogating the individual in which there was never any indication that Dragoon was tiring. He was definitely an oddity to Barricade, but little else was determined. What Barricade did know is that the third day the jury would go into deliberation. Even with all the evidence before hand being all over the place. Even his own friends or enemies had been across the board. Some didn’t even really know what to say about him.

The third day came, closing arguments were given. The prosecution was stirring, pointing to the idea that Barricade was not of sound mind due to degradation and should be kept from society at all costs. The defense was Barricade was not guilty of his actions as he had no knowledge or control of him committing them. That he was merely a puppet being used for a grander and unknown scheme.

Ultimately though it was up to the Jury. Of which the spent nearly two more days deliberating about. It seemed to never end but finally their verdict returned.

“Have you reached a unanimous verdict?”

“We have” replied the delegated foreman.

“And what did you find?”

“We find the defendant guilty of 17 charges of 2nd degree murder.”

Barricade’s spark sunk. He knew the law well enough that even with such a massive charge, it was not one they would put him down for. He would continue to live his unnatural life, however in some sort of confined state.

But the jury wasn’t done there. They were also tasked with deciding the punishment.

“And what punishment has the jury concluded?” the judge asked as officially as she could.

“We find the defendant to serve his time in a maximum security facility until he has been psychologically evaluated to be freed. Upon the end of his his incarceration, we decree the defendant serve the city of Kaon to repay the debt of those lost lives by caring for their final resting place.”

There was a sudden cry from an audience member. “Blasphemy! Kaonites don’t preserve their dead! We return their remains to Cybertron!” He was prepared to utter more, however the enforcers restrained him and took him away. There was an additional outcry from a few other members, but after a few more arrests, the rest of the visiting Kaonites hushed up.

“A grave keeper?” Barricade asked his attorney. “They are right, we don’t preserve our dead.”

“Iacon is in control of Kaon now. There was a senator appointed from the Cybertronian Council. The same ones you begged and pleaded to in order to allocate resources to Kaon to rebuild it.”

“You mean...Prime….And all those others?”

“More like those like Elita.”

Barricade let out a long sigh. He had never wanted to crawl more into a corner than ever at this point. He sought to revive Kaon, granted for selfish purposes, but he fought to keep the culture intact. Now all he could see is Kaon becoming a cultural wasteland, or worse, the wasteland it once was.

“So Iacon now controls Kaon?”

“Yup.”

There wasn’t much else that Barricade could say to that. He merely sat in silence. In his failure. Soon the jury was allowed to leave, return to their normal lives. But Barricade was forced to look over data for when he would be released.

“Parole…”

“That was the best we could work out.”

“So I will be a parolee and confined to a currently non-existent graveyard for the rest of my life.” Barricade asked as he looked over the datawork.

“Yes. They will outfit you with a tracking system and upon your release they will give you strict instructions which you can see here.” the defending attorney explained as he scrolled through the information.

Barricade read over everything and felt his spark sink further. “So...I can’t leave the cemetery grounds...I’m not allowed to have physical contact with anyone unless approved by the courts….and if anyone shows up at the cemetary I’m supposed to do...fragging what? Bury myself?”

“There will be a house provided where you will have to go when visitors arrive.”

“And how am I supposed to live?”

“You’ll be provided the same medical care you had been receiving from Iacon previous to Kaon having been set up.” the defender spoke.

“.................you’re kidding.” Barricade was appalled. “So I will have set weekly rations. Rations that even that expert said were not enough.”

“There will be amendments to that I’m sure. But all in due time. For now, you’ll have to focus on returning to a better state of mind.”

But his twisted processor wouldn’t save him like it used to. Not when he could see the glares from those in the jury. They were supposed to remain impartial, but Barricade could see processors were made up as soon as day one. The defense saw it too, however nothing was said. A fact which the dark colored Terrorcon was thankful for. There was no need for time wasted.

However come the second day, a witness was called that many in the jury paid close attention to. It was an odd being, appearing knight like but having some sort of beast like features. The being was introduced as Dragoon, the only known specialist on Terrorcons. Even Barricade was intrigued as this stranger had been researching Terrorcons for centuries.

“Dragoon, how do you know the defendant?” the Prosecution asked with his booming vocals that carried and echoed about the spacious room.

“I don’t know the defendant personally, however I have dug into Decepticon records of his existence and experimentation as he is one of two, previously three, living Terrorcons that share the same traits as he does.” the strange mech explained. His facial plates appeared to be covered by armor. An odd feature for what everyone thought was previously a civilian.

“And what is Barricade exactly?”

“A rare form of Terrorcon that is born from injection of Dark Energon that combines with the still living CNA of a recently deceased Cybertronian. In most cases the Dark Energon fuses with one’s spark or simply the processors to reanimate an individual or in the case of individuals like Megatron, gives the illusion of control over Dark Energon. In the case of Barricade and 489 other individuals, their CNA was possessed and altered by this substance in addition to spark and processors. This is why this particular kind of Terrorcon has three stages to its awakening, as we call it.” the oddity explained.

“And those three stages?”

“The first stage is what many would assume would be a Terrorcon. Zombie like, mindless, aggressive, and so on. The second stage still retains the hyper aggression but self awareness. Then there’s the third which is what we would assume Barricade to be in right now, which is full awareness and a more jaded desire to feed.”

“Is there a possibility of a fourth stage?” the prosecution asked, at this point he shifted slightly to stand more towards the defense table. “A stage similar to what has been exhibited which is appears to be psychosis?”

“There is a lack of study in this regard as Barricade is one of two living individuals who are infused with Dark Energon at a CNA level.” the stranger responded as he shifted on the stand.

“So its fair to saw we won’t know?”

“Yes. It’s also impossible to ever know. The actions that resulted in this behavior change could be psychological more than physiological. Or it could be vice versa. It may be a sign of deterioration of Barricade’s processors or functions. There are scans of his processors that show acute stress which is often a sign of any Cybertronian’s functions shutting down.”

“And..” there was a pause as the large prosecuting mech shifted back over to his table. “Is the possibility of possession on the table?”

“Oh yes. Unicron is a documented being thanks to the exploration of Earth by both Autobots and Decepticons. What we thought was a helm scratching anomaly for many centuries is proven real, however recently dormant, or so we have been lead to believe. It is entirely possible that Unicron is far more active than we believe.”

“And what proof have we of this?”

“Well there are more documented attacks from stray Terrorcons than there have ever been. The correlation however is muddled with the larger population of Cybertron now rising since the Well of Sparks has been revitalized and a larger population of Terrorcons as well, a result of Megatron bringing Dark Energon to the planet and raising the dead for his intent of destruction on Earth.” Dragoon explained, again shifting in his chair. “It should also be noted that Terrorcons like Barricade had been previously in stasis up until recently. Though this data is inclusive as well because many Terrorcons like Barricade went into stasis as their food sources became less available.”

“In other words, because Cybertronians were leaving the planet in the Great Exodus, they went into stasis in order to keep from starving”

“That is accurate.” Dragoon responded with a certainty in his vocals.

“So you in your professional opinion, what could have caused Barricade to suddenly turn to murder when he previously hadn’t done so since his time in the Decepticon army?”

“My opinion holds no bearing in the court system.” Dragoon stated plainly. “However the facts are that Barricade is an underfed Terrorcon. His systems cannot be sustained on Energon alone. His rations could have lead to the degradation of control. Except even that isn’t possible as Barricade did not consume any of his victims, rather just killed or turned them.”

“So if not an instinct of starvation, then what?”

“A number of possibilities. As I said, processor degradation is a crucial factor to consider, however given auditory and visual hallucinations, we are looking at either extreme stress which triggered his fight or flight response, or possession.” Dragoon summarized. There stood a standing silence for a time while the prosecution collected his thoughts.

“In the case of extreme stress, what would we see?”

“A continuing behavioral pattern. Barricade was documented to have as he described ‘blacked out’ only a handful of times. Each time he had been in a different setting, though in two instances, restrained and caged in some way. While he could have been stressed, he was open and free the last time he went notably more aggressive. Yet since that time, he has remained in control. Possession is the more likely possibility”

“Could this be an illusion he perpetuated in his processors and convinced himself of? Could it be an act of a cold blooded murderer?”

“I don’t agree with this statement.” Dragoon defended. “Were it true, he wouldn’t have been previously described as calm and gentle in nature.”

Thank you, Dragoon.”

The defense began to cross examine the strange mech, but it wasn’t anything that had changed in response. Simply more concluding  what was previously stated. Barricade could see there was a sense of uneasiness that the prosecution displayed. As if they hadn’t expected the strange beast to testify in that regard.

The rest of the day went on interrogating the individual in which there was never any indication that Dragoon was tiring. He was definitely an oddity to Barricade, but little else was determined. What Barricade did know is that the third day the jury would go into deliberation. Even with all the evidence before hand being all over the place. Even his own friends or enemies had been across the board. Some didn’t even really know what to say about him.

The third day came, closing arguments were given. The prosecution was stirring, pointing to the idea that Barricade was not of sound mind due to degradation and should be kept from society at all costs. The defense was Barricade was not guilty of his actions as he had no knowledge or control of him committing them. That he was merely a puppet being used for a grander and unknown scheme.

Ultimately though it was up to the Jury. Of which the spent nearly two more days deliberating about. It seemed to never end but finally their verdict returned.

“Have you reached a unanimous verdict?”

“We have” replied the delegated foreman.

“And what did you find?”

“We find the defendant guilty of 17 charges of 2nd degree murder.”

Barricade’s spark sunk. He knew the law well enough that even with such a massive charge, it was not one they would put him down for. He would continue to live his unnatural life, however in some sort of confined state.

But the jury wasn’t done there. They were also tasked with deciding the punishment.

“And what punishment has the jury concluded?” the judge asked as officially as she could.

“We find the defendant to serve his time in a maximum security facility until he has been psychologically evaluated to be freed. Upon the end of his his incarceration, we decree the defendant serve the city of Kaon to repay the debt of those lost lives by caring for their final resting place.”

There was a sudden cry from an audience member. “Blasphemy! Kaonites don’t preserve their dead! We return their remains to Cybertron!” He was prepared to utter more, however the enforcers restrained him and took him away. There was an additional outcry from a few other members, but after a few more arrests, the rest of the visiting Kaonites hushed up.

“A grave keeper?” Barricade asked his attorney. “They are right, we don’t preserve our dead.”

“Iacon is in control of Kaon now. There was a senator appointed from the Cybertronian Council. The same ones you begged and pleaded to in order to allocate resources to Kaon to rebuild it.”

“You mean...Prime….And all those others?”

“More like those like Elita.”

Barricade let out a long sigh. He had never wanted to crawl more into a corner than ever at this point. He sought to revive Kaon, granted for selfish purposes, but he fought to keep the culture intact. Now all he could see is Kaon becoming a cultural wasteland, or worse, the wasteland it once was.

“So Iacon now controls Kaon?”

“Yup.”

There wasn’t much else that Barricade could say to that. He merely sat in silence. In his failure. Soon the jury was allowed to leave, return to their normal lives. But Barricade was forced to look over data for when he would be released.

“Parole…”

“That was the best we could work out.”

“So I will be a parolee and confined to a currently non-existent graveyard for the rest of my life.” Barricade asked as he looked over the datawork.

“Yes. They will outfit you with a tracking system and upon your release they will give you strict instructions which you can see here.” the defending attorney explained as he scrolled through the information.

Barricade read over everything and felt his spark sink further. “So...I can’t leave the cemetery grounds...I’m not allowed to have physical contact with anyone unless approved by the courts….and if anyone shows up at the cemetary I’m supposed to do...fragging what? Bury myself?”

“There will be a house provided where you will have to go when visitors arrive.”

“And how am I supposed to live?”

“You’ll be provided the same medical care you had been receiving from Iacon previous to Kaon having been set up.” the defender spoke.

“.................you’re kidding.” Barricade was appalled. “So I will have set weekly rations. Rations that even that expert said were not enough.”

“There will be amendments to that I’m sure. But all in due time. For now, you’ll have to focus on returning to a better state of mind.”