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Starscream cast his optics quietly over the frosty room. He was cold, but he didn't say l dare let his engines heat here. Not when he was standing in a room full of frozen sparks, kept at an every so specific temperature to keep them inert but viable. It was an honor to be here, one he had paid quite a bit for with both shanix and reputation. If he was going to be a father, he wanted to pick the perfect spark to forge.
A spark tender draws out a tray from one of the racks. It's lined with sparks of different colors and sizes, all with an accompanying data pad.
“These are the most promising, sir. They meet the specifications you provided perfectly: high likelihood of flight capable frames and strong energy signatures. They'll be reserved for high ranking officials.”
Red optics flick over each data pad. It's true that they have all of the data points Starscream is looking for. And yet…
Starscream looks around the room. Another tender is futzing about with a canister, wearing significant protection on his servos and arms as he places the spark on a dolly.
“What is he doing? I thought I was the first to choose a new spark.”
Starscream’s chaperone glances over before shaking his head. “That spark isn't viable, unfortunately. Somehow, the frozen core cracked. No telling what could come from a broken spark. We have no choice but to extinguish it.”
Starscream purses his derma before striding over to the dolly and its occupant. The tenders quickly try to stop him, but before they can, he scoops the spark up into his servos.
It warms quickly, the frost clearing to reveal a lovely pink color. The crack that the tender mentioned melts away as the spark thaws from Starscream's warmth. In moments, the spark is flaring, bright and strong and fully thawed in the cold storage room.
“There. It looks plenty viable to me.” He turns his optics to the tenders. “I've chosen. See to it that you don't lose it between here and the Forge.”
One of the tenders quickly takes the spark, hurrying to rush it to be fully forged. The other escorts Starscream from the room, lecturing him on how dangerous thawing a spark outside of a controlled environment is.
Starscream simply lets the tender scold him. He has his Forgeling, and that's what matters for now.