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Post by Mirage on Sept 13, 2007 22:20:09 GMT -5
After a few minutes of maneuvering, Mirage manages to get Tiny situated across Holi's seats. The dragonette only protested a little, though she did look more than a little put out.
Mirage joins the smaller bots in vehicle mode. Getting into that mode is easy; however, getting out may not be, if the tension in his joints is any indication. He could use a de-frag cycle, for stress relief, if no other reason.
He waits for Holi to lead the way, as the Micromaster seems to have somwhere in mind.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Sept 14, 2007 12:47:58 GMT -5
And we're ready to go! Holi gets rolling after a momentary hangup with Tiny nosing at his dashboard console – and did that ever feel funny – but waits to speak until the other members of the party have, one hopes it's safe to assume, caught up with him. We're all Fast vehicles here.
"I think we should look for something like a shopping district first," Holi begins to outline his plan for this little outing. "Humans keep all sorts of electronics and stuff like that in stores, and there are always plenty of stores in shopping districts. Maybe the people here did that, too." Holi rather hopes they did. Oh look, Tiny's peering out the front passenger window. "And maybe we'll find some other things the doctor needs while we're at it." Though when Holi thinks about it, Perceptor would probably appreciate computer parts as much as Wedge.
Then a wholly different thought occurs to the Micromaster.
"Um… does everyone know what a shopping district is like?" he asks, very hesitantly. He should have thought to ask that first.
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Wheelie
Rookie
Can't sleep. Sharkticons will eat me.
Posts: 191
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Post by Wheelie on Sept 14, 2007 14:38:21 GMT -5
"Afraid I don't, didn't see many while on the run. And by the way, what's a hu-mon?" Wheelie asks, genuine curiosity penetrating his rhyming cadence.
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Post by Mirage on Sept 14, 2007 15:14:58 GMT -5
“I am only familiar with the merchant districts of Cybertron, myself. Though I imagine there might be some similarities. Your vehicle mode is rather singular, Holi.” He adds, “Kup called you a ‘Micromaster’; I confess, I am unfamiliar with the term.”
Running from what, Mirage wonders, when Wheelie (literally) chimes in, The Society for the Preservation of Proper Vocalization? Whoever programmed Wheelie’s speech patterns must have been hitting the high-grade at the time. However, the smaller bot had given voice to one of Mirage’s own questions.
“Yes, Holi, if you could explain the term ‘human’, it might put things in better context for us.”
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Sept 14, 2007 20:13:36 GMT -5
Since cars can't make slack-jawed faces of shock unless they're in an animated Disney movie, Holi hits a halfway sort of fishtail, much to the supreme displeasure of Tiny. He snaps back to while she screeches and latches onto a seat. That's going to leave a mark.
Wheelie and Mirage don't know what humans are? But– but– humans! You know, small, soft, a little prone to making strange noises if you hug them too tightly? (That only happened once, honest, and there was a long lecture from Commander Star Saber and Commander Ginrai and Holi wasn't allowed to play with Jan for a whole month! He also had to apologise. Many times.) The Galactic Defence Force owed a lot to them!
Oh, wait. If Wheelie was from as far back as his timestamp implied, then they didn't even have the Galactic Defence Force then. And… Holi has no idea when Mirage is from.
"Um, humans. They're from Earth, which is… sort of like this planet, I guess," he explains. "Um… they aren't machine like us – they're really fragile and sort of soft. They're small, too. Just a little bit smaller than me, even! Most of them. Some are about my height. We do a lot to help them and keep Deszaras from stealing their energy. Commander Star Saber adopted Jan – he's my friend and I have to look out for him an awful lot – after his parents were killed because of Deszaras' soldiers." Holi tries to sound professional and calm about that, like Blacker would, but the anger creeps into his voice anyway. Jan is his friend, after all.
Oh, right. He's supposed to be explaining humans. …How much more can he say, really?
"I… guess that's all to say," he murmurs uncertainly. He has plenty of data on human culture and such in his memory banks, but explaining it all is another matter. "And shopping districts are usually really bright. Lots of colours to get your attention. And full of… stuff." Stuff they might be able to use. That's the important part. Wait, he has to explain Micromasters, too? Wow. Mirage and Wheelie don't seem to know much, do they? "That's right," Holi chimes proudly, "I'm a Micromaster. Captain of the Rescue Patrol, too!" Okay, he couldn't help a little bit of boasting. It's over, promise. "We're from Micro. That's actually in Sector Two, and Commander Ginrai is there now– OW!" Tiny seems to have slipped her muzzle. "Ow! That isn't edible!"
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Wheelie
Rookie
Can't sleep. Sharkticons will eat me.
Posts: 191
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Post by Wheelie on Sept 14, 2007 20:52:08 GMT -5
If he were in robot mode right now, Wheelie would be giving Holi a look that suggested the Micromaster needed his head examined. Between information overload and things that simply didn't make any sense...
"Wait, this makes less sense than a hole-filled kettle? How can something live, if it isn't metal?"
Wheelie has, after all, never encountered anything other than mechanoid lifeforms. Sure, certain parts of the Quintessons were a bit squishy, but they seemed primarily machine based.
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Post by Mirage on Sept 14, 2007 22:20:59 GMT -5
Mirage is now more than a little confused. Perhaps his reality isn’t the true odd one out after all. To top it off, the Micromaster sounds confused by their confusion. A data download would probably be a better option; it would allow him to sort through the information at his leisure, at least.
Unlike Wheelie, Mirage is less surprised by the thought of non-mechanical life than the idea that Holi and his ilk would work so closely with such creatures. If they cannot even protect themselves and their resources, of what use where they?
“You reality sounds…interesting to say the least, Holi. If you’ve data files you would not mind sharing later, I would like to learn more." Mirage continues, "Xaaron mentioned something about a ‘Terran’ language that some of the others here use; is that the language of your humans as well?”
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Sept 15, 2007 16:09:37 GMT -5
"How they live? Um…." Holi has data on that, too, but Mirage has a good suggestion. This is probably one of those cases where a transfer would be so much easier than trying to explain it all. How sad that neither of Holi's companions has met humans! He'll be more than glad to teach them, though!
And were Mirage to ask Holi why they protect the humans, well, he'd tell the taller Autobot that it's really very simple: that's what Autobots do.
"I can give you the data later, if you want," says the Micromaster, the last of that directed to Wheelie, of course. He knows Mirage is interested. "And humans have lots of different languages, Mirage, sir. I only have packs for a couple." Oh, thank goodness. Tiny has given up chewing on Holi's headrests. Big surprise, he doesn't taste like batteries.
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Wheelie
Rookie
Can't sleep. Sharkticons will eat me.
Posts: 191
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Post by Wheelie on Sept 15, 2007 21:54:11 GMT -5
"Share and share alike I say, that'll do it, that's the way!" Wheelie bubbles.
Still, he feels the need for sharing something in return, for what information's been given so far. "So humans are good, and some of us are good and some are bad, hard to tell, that makes me sad. But worst thing you'll ever set your optics on, is one of those five-faced Quintessons!"
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Post by Mirage on Sept 15, 2007 22:23:33 GMT -5
Mirage only half-listens as the smaller bots converse, and so misses Wheelie's revelation. Not that it would make anymore sense to him than Holi's.
He is really just now beginning to process how…different this place is to Cybertron. Up to now he’s been too busy asking and answering questions. Though there are a few more he’s like answered. Such as where are all the stars? And why is this place so absurdly bright?
He starts to fall back behind the others, partially to better commit the streets to memory, and partially so he can get better images of the buildings for later reference. Who- or what- ever had inhabited this place was obviously scaled closer to the youngsters’ size. The district they were currently passing through might have been a residential area; similar looking dwellings, all with one street-facing entrance, windows. Some attempts at individuality appear to have been made, as they have a varied, though muted, color palette. The structures are entirely too close together for Mirage’s taste. He likes some space between himself and his neighbors.
A bright splash of green in his peripheries intrigues him. With a quick, “Hold up a minute,” to his companions, Mirage backs up and zips down a side street. It’s a cul-de-sac, but there are no buildings at the end. Instead, it is a more or less open area, and yes, green- in varying shades- is the predominate color. There are paths which wind around various structures; some do appear to be fabricated. Others are tall and thin, with a crowning cluster of green….scales, maybe? And some resemble spikey green walls.
He transforms, and if the others have followed him they might notice that it much slower and a bit stilted compared to his previous one. “Facinating,” he murmurs, as he reaches for one of the taller green…things.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Sept 16, 2007 18:37:50 GMT -5
"Quintesson…?" The word doesn't quite ring a bell. Maybe Holi read something about it in a file a long while back. Poor Wheelie, running from… whatever it was chasing him. The Quintesson thing, maybe? "…Well, I sure hope we never see one here," Holi says with very genuine enthusiasm, more for Wheelie's sake than his own. Though something with five faces must be pretty scary!
And then there Mirage goes.
"Mirage, sir, wait please!" Holi calls after the blue and white car, a bit too late. Oh boy. Detour time. Holi slows and swings a careful U-turn – let's not upset Tiny again, shall we? – and follows Mirage with a little consternation. This isn't finding a shopping district; this is finding a– "…A park?"
If Holi could blink in surprise, he would. It looks sort of like a park, at least. Greenery, pathways, people could probably sit on those things over there…. Everything looks a bit overgrown.
"I didn't know you liked parks!" Holi exclaims as Tiny scrabbles forward to get a look out the windshield.
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Wheelie
Rookie
Can't sleep. Sharkticons will eat me.
Posts: 191
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Post by Wheelie on Sept 16, 2007 20:08:13 GMT -5
Wheelie pulls up beside Holi and transforms back to his robot mode. He looks around, seemingly serene. His optics scan everywhere, looking for places to hide, places he could run to, things he could climb, and things he could use as weapons, along with locations that dangers might come from.
His slingshot drops into his right hand, a firerock into his left. Just in case.
"Why was this made? Why is it here? What use are those strange things that are near?" He points toward what just might be playground equipment.
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Post by Mirage on Sept 17, 2007 12:13:58 GMT -5
Holi’s arrival prompts Mirage’s hand to stop just short of the structure’s gently swaying appendages. Turning, he gives the Micromaster a slightly apologetic look. Inwardly, Mirage berates himself. Some master spy he is. Go ahead and touch the strange looking alien contraption. Nothing will happen, surely. Idiot! He might as well paint himself red and be done with it.
“My apologies, Holi, for the detour. The colors caught my attention.” Looking across the area, he continues, “Though there do appear to be additional buildings of some sort on the other side. Perhaps they are the type you seek?”
A park? Well, he supposes this bears some resemblance to one. Its architects had obviously taken some care in the placement of the various structures. Those looked like benches upon which one could rest. The paths weaved in and out, but seemed to eventually lead to and away from the structure at the center… a statue of some sort maybe? Overall, it was fairly pleasing to the optics, even if some of the structures were a bit asymmetrical.
At Wheelie’s inquiry, Mirage glances his way. He notes the smaller bot’s slingshot, but summarily dismisses it. The structures Wheelie points to are rather curious; one set actually resembles the boy’s weapon; slings suspended by chains from a rod. Curious. He shugs, then gives Holi a questioning glance.
"I don't suppose you also happen to recognize these structures," he says, gesturing toward the structure he'd been examining.
Little Holi has apparently become Wheelie and Mirage’s personal encyclopedia!
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Sept 17, 2007 22:38:41 GMT -5
Time for yet another patented Holi explanation. Really, you two, you could've picked a more coherent encyclopaedia.
"I think it's a park, Wheelie," he starts. Tiny keeps shooting suspicious looks at the dashboard console, through which the Micromaster's voice pipes internally while he can be heard externally though his siren bells. "Humans build parks so they have places to go outside if they want. Safe places where they can have fun and enjoy the nice weather. Maybe these people did the same?" It seems reasonable. This definitely looks like a park. "Um…." Well, that thing Wheelie's staring at looks like a… what's the word…. That's it! "That might be a swing-set!" he exclaims and starts tentatively across the grass toward said.
Then he stops, carefully, and turns back when Mirage again addresses him.
"…Mirage, sir," he says with a bubbly giggle, "that's a tree!" It looks a little bit different from most trees on Earth, but the basic idea seems the same.
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Wheelie
Rookie
Can't sleep. Sharkticons will eat me.
Posts: 191
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Post by Wheelie on Sept 18, 2007 18:24:56 GMT -5
Wheelie gives the whole thing the suspicious look of a child, suddenly exposed to childhood things, while having lacked a childhood himself.
"All for fun? Just for play? I don't believe it, no how, no way! What's that like? To not have to run? To make your time for friends and fun? Can it be real, does it exist? Tell me, truly, people can live like this?"
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