Settling After The Dust

[Override]

OOC: This takes place on day 14. There is time for some new S2 Autobot arrivals to have taken place. Override would have arrived on Day 13. Also, repairs are underway, but any character who wants to RP having been repaired to a mobile state can. This also takes place in the tunnels nearer the Open Air Temple. This seen is open to all Autobot escapees.

Override walks through the tunnels, using her feet and everything, but oh, it's almost painful. These things are obviously made to be driven in, and a good portion of her spark longs to test them out. Not too long ago, she wouldn't have been able to ignore that part, but times have changed. She's changed.

For now, she's exploring the immediate area of camp and looking to perhaps get to know her new teammates. The stink of defeat hangs heavy on this place, with everyone looking like part of pit crew of a speedster who's just suffered a crushing defeat, only worse. The feeling is completely unlike anything she's encountered so far with the Autobots back home, but she refuses to let it lower her spirits.

The Velocitronian idea of leadership is often a bit different than that of other species. Override rules a planet, but she doesn't lead by giving orders. She just keeps going, and simply by refusing to stop encourages those around her to roll with her. She'll help these Autobots to keep moving by refusing to quit herself, because one thing about Override that hasn't changed is the fact that she never quits.

Though just exploring, not racing, she walks briskly and with a purpose, and thus it is that she almost runs into the other Autobot when rounding a sharp corner. Almost, but Override's reflexes are superb, and she pulls herself up short then steps back before the other even has time to realize there had been a near-collision. Her smile is bright and friendly, and she holds out her right hand for a handshake. "Hey there! Name's Override! Good to meet you!"

---

So who did she almost run into? Why, that's for the next poster to decide!

[Grimlock]

Around the corner is a terrifying sight! A large, lumbering mechanical monster, wires and circuits visible all over, a few sparking from time to time. The mighty Dinobot Commander now looks more like one of Bumblebee's kind than his own, but that's 'cause he lacks armor. Blue optics blink, peering down at the shiny new femme, Grimlock leaning down slooowly after abruptly stopping.

"...me Grimlock. Me naked" he says, and eyes the hand. Stepping back, Grimlock transforms, painfully, sparking a few times before shaking her hand. "Me Dinobot Commander."

[Tracks]

Tracks picks his way through the tunnels, still feeling more than a little displaced. This weighty sense of defeat isn't something the warrior's is accustomed to. The dark and enclosed spaces of these tunnels are far from the bright and busy Earth cityscape that he's grown to love. So Tracks walks, stopping ever few minutes to run a thumb over his not-quite-as-glossy-as-before finish as if checking to see what added damage the atmosphere down here is doing to his plating.

Pity the poor mechanisms that have the surprising honor of spotting Grimlock bared to the world. Well, that would be Tracks's own personal opinion when he first rounds a sharp bend and halts at the sight of some painful looking contortion that turns out to be the armorless Dinobot commander. But who's the---ah, Override then.

"Well, I suppose I have the pleasure of making your acquaintance as well, madame," says Tracks, voice clear and smooth as he saunters over, hand outstretched and red face swept with a dazzling smile. "The name's Tracks, I take it you've recently arrived as well?"

Grimlock gets a hesitant nod and an even more hesitant extended hand. All he knows about the Dinobots is that they're a troublesome group that had something to do with those strange portals from Dinobot Island.

[Override]

"So I see," Override responds to Grimlock's declaration of nudity. Her handshake is firm and confident, though, of course, her grip isn't so strong as a Dinobot's. "Unusual alternate mode there. Are you from Jungle Planet, by any chance?"

Why wouldn't other realities have Jungle Planets, after all? For that matter, why shouldn't they have Velocitrons?

Orange face meets red, and when Override's done shaking Grimlock's hand she turns to accept Tracks'. She returns his smile as well, but when she's done with it it contains just the barest hint of the cocky smirk that she's never entirely rid of.

"That's right," she answers. "Just arrived yesterday." When she drops the handshake she looks the other carbot up and down, familiarizing herself with a stranger. "Tracks, huh? Name sounds like it could be Velocitronian," she says approvingly.

[Grimlock]

"Me Grimlock never heard of 'Jungle Planet'." He was offline during the radio conversations, after all! "Me Grimlock from Earth. Ratchet and Wheeljack build me Grimlock and other Dinobots based on dinosaurs from Earth's past."

Grimlock notes the strength in the handshake, impressed. He'd never met a female Autobot with that strong a grip. Granted, he'd never shook hands with a fembot that he could remember. Plus, Grimlock had also never met Elita-1 and her group.

Grimlock then turns to Tracks, taking a moment to remember him. Lucky for Grimlock, the suave little 'Vette introduces himself, so Grimlock doesn't have to try and remember his name. "You both new here, then?"

[Tracks]

Velocitronian is a word that Tracks is utterly unfamiliar with. But Override's tone of voice makes it sound like a good thing and he can certainly deal with that. "Well, if it meets your approval then all is good." She certainly doesn't seem like a stick-in-the-mud at this rate. Tracks finds himself returning her smirk with a curiously amused raised optic ridge of his own as he scans over her.

'Suave little 'Vette'. Tracks could get used to being thought of like that. It'll only be slightly strange, coming from Grimlock and all. Okay, make that really strange.

"Yes, new would be the word for it," Tracks chuckles wryly. "New and attempting to adjust to this place and situation since arriving yesterday." He turns to look back at Override. "Must have arrived a bit late if I managed to miss you then."

No, he's not quite flirting. He's just got his charm turned on high, something that often happens around people that Tracks is warming up to.<sup>1


1</sup> Meeting with Raoul excluded because Tracks's charm was very much smothered by his ability for snark. Who wouldn't be in a "most foul humor" after being "shot at, smashed up, and stolen three times" in one night?

[Override]

"Earth, huh? Never knew they had creatures like that." Yes, she's assuming that dinosaurs aren't extinct. Why should someone give someone an extinct creature for an alternate mode?

She briefly considers answering Grimlock's question about being 'new', but she had just said she arrived yesterday! Looks like it's not just this guy's body that's slow!

She flashes Tracks a brief, wider grin and says, "Eh, showing up after I've been and gone doesn't always make someone 'late.' It's just the way things usually work." The smile fades somewhat and instead she looks a touch embarrassed. "What's unusual is me having to get up to speed."

Now she turns back to Grimlock, as the only one who's been here for some time, and asks, "So, is what I've heard right, about these tunnels not having been all checked out yet?" Because a bit of a race and a bit of exploration all in one... that sounds downright pleasant.

[Grimlock]

Grimlock isn't thinking about Tracks like that. He may be a big dumb doofus, but even a big dumb doofus can recognize someone being smooth. Like a really dumb human talking about The Fonz!

He turns to Override's first question: "Me Grimlock remember that Spike say Dinosaurs ext...exi...gone for very long time."

And then the second question after she talks again to Tracks - "Me think so. Me only been online little bit today..." Grimlock turns his head away as he says this, wounded pride evident from not only having been beaten in combat, but enough that he had to be rebuilt.

[Makeshift]

Makeshift has been doing everything he can to keep busy since the retreat. Scouting, hauling material, even just blowing dust away with his rotors to clean an area for the medics. Anything to keep the claustrophobia at bay. His damage is repaired, but several panels and most of his tail still show unpainted metal. He's been leaving the cosmetic repairs until everyone is functional again. The Mini-con symbol on his leg noticeably stands out.

And it looks like now a conversation could help keep him occupied. Whee, new people!

"Hey!" He waves in greeting, pausing just long enough to give them a chance to spot him down around their shins. Maybe he can talk someone into a lift to avoid neck strain. "You must be Override and Tracks."

[Tracks]

"I think the word you're looking for is 'extinct', Grimlock," Tracks supplies, his voice containing no signs of mockery as he looks over the Dinobot commander with an appraising optic. Actually getting to meet one of the infamous brainchildren of Wheeljack is quite a surprise. He doesn't seem that menacing or ornery, quite the opposite in fact. So why the complaints? "Then you can join us in a bit of an exploration then?"

A surprised laugh makes its way out of Tracks's vocalizer at Override's comments. "'Just the way things usually work'?" The warrior's expression is jovial if slightly bemused. "What in Vector Sigma is that supposed to mean?"

The new voice that chimes in comes with no visible body. Well, it comes with no visible body until Tracks glances down, an action he's more used to taking when spending time with Raoul. His surprised expression probably becomes even more visible as he crouches down to be at eye-level with the strange little bot. "Your assumption is correct, and whom may I have the pleasure of addressing?" One charcoal hand goes out. "I would be Tracks."

[Override]

"Extint, huh? All right." She shrugs. Override finds the idea strange, but then, she finds animal alternate modes strange in general. On Velocitron, secondary modes are for transport and, of course, speed. On Earth, they're for disguise. On Jungle Planet? Combat flexibility, perhaps, but they provide that for everyone else, too.

There's a somewhat smug smirk delivered to Tracks. Back home, of course, she wouldn't have to explain herself, but this isn't back home. "I mean that the most most folks are used to seeing of me are my rear fins and the dust I kick up," she answers, not humble in the least. "And... what's Vector Sigma?"

Then a new voice grabs her attention. She looks around, and then down. "Oh, hey! A Mini-Con!" she exclaims. Uh-oh! Someone who knows what they are! "Yeah, I'm Override," the racer confirms.

[Grimlock]

Well, it's not like Grimlock chose his altmode. He still thinks that it's awesome all the same. Not Michael Bay Brand Awesome, though. Grimlock's had enough of going a'splodey today.

Grimlock waves a bit down at Makeshift. "How Makeshift doing? Him happen to know how Perceptor and First Aid doing at repairs on others?"

[Makeshift]

Makeshift shakes Tracks' hand about as well as he can, given his clumsy claw-fingers. "I'm Makeshift. Still apparently the shortest guy on the planet."

He gives Override a slightly wary look. "You.....know what a Mini-con is?" Nobody else had recognized his race without an explanation first. That somebody now does, naturally, makes him edgy. He's heard her story over the broadband, and it didn't sound like his world (and he's certainly never heard of Velocitron), but he's not getting his hopes up just yet.

"Everyone's functioning again, at least," he replies to Grimlock. "They might not all be conscious yet, but they're out of the critical zone. A few more days, maybe less, we'll have everyone up and running again."

OOC note: Makeshift's not actually a medic, so that last paragraph may or may not be entirely accurate, depending on how people want to play out the repairs. He's just being optimistic.

[Tracks]

No exploding. Especially around Tracks's beautiful frame.

"If you don't mind me saying this, but 'Is that so?'" The look Tracks shoots back at Override is slightly taken aback, both at her grin and response. Nonetheless, there's also a challenging gleam in his optics as he tilts his head in an oh-so gentlemanly half-nod. "I take it that 'Vector Sigma' is something you haven't been caught up on either? Vector Sigma is a megacomputer on Cybertron that is responsible for giving life to most Cybertronians. Well---my universe's Cybertron, that is. You don't have anything similar?" He's steadily getting used to this whole 'seperate worlds' kind of thing. Who knows though? Maybe Override's world has something of Vector Sigma's like.

Attention on Makeshift, Tracks peers at the tiny bot. Or rather, now there's a name of sorts: 'Mini-con'. Descriptive enough, though he isn't quite sure how the 'con' suffix plays in. Hopefully, not in any way that he's familiar with.

But speaking of the injured..."Grimlock, are you alright yourself to be wandering around in such a state?" Think of all the horrid things that could get into all that open circuitry. Tracks shivers at the thought are mostly internalized.

[Override]

"Well, sure," Override answers in response to the question on whether or not she knows what a Mini-con is, her palms up in a shrug. "There were three that hung out with the Autobots, and one with Vector Prime. Just really small Transformers, right? I think someone said something about them being from Gigantion?" It doesn't occur to Override to question Makeshift's ability to talk because, well, Jolt can talk. Perhaps it's a trait shared by some, but not others.

"And yeah, that's so," Override's grin widens for a moment, then she shakes her head. "But actually, I had only recently been to Cybertron for the first time right before I got pulled here. I'm from Velocitron, and only even heard of 'Cybertron' recently, though that's apparently where our ancestors originally came from."

As for where new Transformers come from, it's not a question addressed in the Cybertron series, but it probably involves Cyber Planet Keys doing naughty things with native species.