The Airazors and the Bumblebees

[Knock Out]

"Because of what comes after." Wink-wink.

Ohhh, that was a mistake Clio, because now he's looking at you with a grin that says 'Challenge accepted'. He was interested in her, but only because she's pretty and has a kitty for a chest, but now she's forbidden fruit!

Fortunately, he's distracted by the sounds of roaring engines. The doctor turns around and heads over the couch Fracture is sitting on, half leaning against it, watching in interest with a quirked eyebrow...Only to roll his eyes and wave a hand dismissively when he sees what it is. "Oh, NASCAR. Ugly, sticker-clad junkheaps that drive around in circles. Woohoo, how exciting. Don't count on a crash either, sister. This is a safe sport."

[Clio]

Clio ignores Knock Out. She's not going to get into a cat fight with him over not harassing Lyzack. (Though he may start finding his workplace in the medbay is subtly out of order if she gets particularly annoyed at him.)

"Ah yes, of course, with Skystrike." That explains the bowing earlier. Ugh, to think of Lyzack forced to hang around thugs like Duskwing! Terrible state of affairs. Well, at least the Air Division 2iC seems to be a reasonable mech, if a bit stoic. "Are you settling well here? Being thrown into a new universe can be rather overwhelming."

She won't say it out loud, but what she's really wondering is if Lyzack is comfortable being a soldier, or is she should consider stealing her away as a lab assistant. Because the command staff would totally let her do that. A woman can dream.

[Fracture]

On the teevee, a black and red stock car is slowly edging out over the competition. A blue and yellow with startingly ugly decals nips at its heels, though.

"Put the pedal to the metal and ram him!" Fracture urges.

Then Knock Out says what he does, and she twists to give him an incredulous look. "You done spouting off? Or are drivers just that good in your universe?" She upticks her optics derisively. "A race without a crash is fragging rare.¹"


1. "There were 195 crashes and spins during NASCAR's 36-race season (5.4 per race) [in 2009] compared to 211 (5.9) [in '08] — an 8.5% drop and the lowest since 2002 (5.2)"
-- source[/size]

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

Their division leader was Slugslinger on top of having to deal with Duskwing. Sometimes, Skystrike rather envied the ground-based team for their lack of insipid idiots. At least the rest of the group was relatively sane.

As long as Lyzack herself agreed, Skystrike doesn’t particularly mind Clio stealing the seafoam jet away as a lab assistant. Some mechs were simply better that way; Starfighter certainly wasn’t supposed to have been fighting and he was excellent at what he did regardless.

At the mention of crashes, Skystrike peers curiously back at the screen again. If this race was as much of a death trap as Fracture says, why did humans willingly throw themselves into it? And would the Decepticons somehow be able to use that to their advantage? Or was it only for a particular group of humans?

[Lyzack]

"There is nothing about which to complain," Lyzack says stoically.

Complaining is the sacred right of all soldiers, but Lyzack isn't there yet.

This 'NASCAR' seems to be a thing of great contention among Fracture and Knock Out. Privately, Lyzack marvels over how self-assured Fracture is. She must be a strong warrior.

[Knock Out]

Damn. She schooled him. But he will not let him get her down. Knock Out just yawns obnoxiously at Fracture's reply, and tries to annoy the F1 car further by preferring to inspect his claw tips before answering her. "Mmmhmmm, of course, of course. But those crashes are so dull. You want spectacle? Watch a destruction derby race."

[Clio]

Nothing to complain about? Well that sounds like a diplomatic way of saying 'it kind of sucks'. But is it the job or the strange situation that has her down? Clio must pry! "You are fitting in well with your fellow fighter jets, then?"

She puts a slight emphasis on the word 'fighter'. Does Lyzack consider herself a warrior?

You could stop flirting and just ask her, darling, Patra says sleepily. And did she here something about races and crashes?

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

“The sort of crashes found in demolition derbies are the entire purpose of the event. Intentional and likely choreographed,” Skystrike cycles her optics in a blink and tilts her head slightly to peer at Knock Out and then at Fracture.

“The highlights of these races seem to be someone winning. The crashes are generally unintentional. Perhaps it is simply a difference in taste for the manner in which destruction is perpetuated?” The flier is a bit clueless about sports fan rivalries, of course.

[Fracture]

It's going to be a very sad day if Fracture has to explain the difference between fatalities and crashes.

"I don't want spectactle," she tells Knock Out. "I want Wrecker-look-alikes crashing."

So she wants spectacle. Just not the one he's suggesting.

[Lyzack]

"There have been no scuffles," Lyzack replies to Clio. Her brother would have had scuffles. Her brother would have networked, made contacts, and put holes through anyone who dared stand in his way. Slugslinger would be a new career now (perhaps one six feet under) is her brother was here.

She's not her brother.

So Lyzack has not caused trouble or tried to throw her weight around to establish dominance. The thought is laughable - she has no dominance to assert, but... she wonders. Would her brother disapprove? They seem to... expect her to be a warrior, here, just because of how her body was built. No one has ever expected that of her. If she fails their expectations, she's failing, isn't she? Her brother would not tolerate failure of any kind. Maybe she should be a warrior here, if that is what avoiding failure requires.

The rest of the conversation goes over her head. Car races? Wreckers? Bluh?

[Knock Out]

Skystrike's rather elaborate verbal response is met with a glare and a sharp response: "You think that I do not know that? But considering how Fracture here is chiming for a crash in her entertainment, it is better for her to watch something that suits her...'Standards'."

But then Fracture clarifies and knocks out his entire point. The doctor turns to face her again, annoyed, but also confused. "...Are Wreckers the same thing in your reality as in mine?"

[Clio]

"It is good to avoid needless intra-faction conflict, no? Best to save the energy for dealing with Autobots." However, as far as Clio is concerned, intra-faction conflict of the physical kind is inevitable among the warrior classes. Shooting a glance at Skystrike, she decides to take Patra's sarcastic advice. Casually, she asks, "Do you perhaps think you would be more comfortable in one of the less... combat-oriented divisions?"

Finding this conversation to be terribly boring and irrelevant to her interests - like a giant robot would ever act as her research assistant, even if Clio tempts her to the science side - Patra drops off Clio's back and transforms, drifting over to lean against the side of Fracture's couch and get a good view of the screen. She doesn't speak up, still feeling somewhat intimidated around giant robots.

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

Skystrike has heard of the Wreckers but detailed information on them hadn’t been listed on the database just yet. Instead of opting to further add to the conversation, she listens on now with interest.

Her attention is rather promptly split when she hears Clio’s proposal however. While the jet offers no outward indication of having heard it, she is listening intently to this too.

[Fracture]

"Engineers, aftheads, vicious little bastards," Fracture says to Knock Out. "Scanned cars like those. Soundwave was keeping an eye on them while we got other things dealt with."

One of the cars bounces off another's bumper, gets knocked back, then t-boned by yet another car. Fracture whoops!

[Lyzack]

"Comfort is not a matter of concern," Lyzack replies smoothly.

She has never been comfortable, and at this point, she has given up on the idea that she ever might be comfortable. At this point, Lyzack doesn't even know what would make her comfortable, not really. She has forgotten how it feels.

"What does it matter?" Lyzack asks. Where is Clio going with these questions?