Rodimus to Nightbeat

[Rodimus Prime]

Month 6, Week 2, Day 4. As of M6W2D1, quite a few Autobots would have been missing.

There's something... wrong with the sound of the radio message. There's more static than there should be, but at the same time, Rodimus's voice, while mostly the same, seems to lack some of the robotic reverberation that it normally has.

// Nightbeat, Rodimus speaking. Are you there? Nightbeat, come in? //

He'll try a couple more times, sure, but by this point, he doesn't have much hope for a reply.

[Nightbeat]

//Rodimus! Primus, am I glad to hear your voice! What's going on? Where are you!? It's chaos up here! Half the crew disappeared without a trace! What happened down there? One minute scanners were showing some kind of weird pulse of energy from your location, and the next 'bots are disappearing.//

[Rodimus Prime]

//Nightbeat! Thank gods, I got through to someone!//

//So they're all missing? Any idea how far that pulse went? Who's missing? Seaspinner! Hear from her?//

Then he seems to realize that he has some things to explain, too.

//I'm not positive what happened. That base we were investigating, it was built around some sort of... of Earth life force. Seaspinner and I found a sort of... of energy well at the center, but before we could figure out what it was, a group of Decepticons came crashing through the wall, everything went white, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in Detroit.//

[Nightbeat]

//Haven't heard from the spider-shark. At last count we're missing . . . sweet spires of Iacon, the list of people we aren't missing is probably shorter. We've lost Sentinel Prime, unless he's turned invisible for his third act, Mirage, Oracle, Arcee, Blurr, Kinky Pinky, Whirligig, Twin Twist, Guzzle, that little glitch Wheelie,// pause, disgusted tone, //Hook,// normal tone, //Breakaway and Mayday, Spy Shot, Pincher, Pee-Dee, Slingshot, Kup, Bambi, Skyblast, Holi, Rattrap, Dinobot (the little Maximal one), Override, Impactor, and Swerve. And Emirate Xaaron's gone too.

Rodimus, if the 'Cons attack us now, we're scrap.// The detective shuts up to listen to the Prime.

//So, business as usual and the 'Cons crashed the party . . . more business as usual. You need a spacebridge? And can you boost your signal any? You're coming in really weak; I'm afraid I'm gonna lose you.//

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus sighs heavily. //Great. Just... great.//

He pauses. //No signal boost. Not with the equipment I've got. And I'm not sure about the spacebridge. Have any organics besides the Nebulans used it?//

//Nightbeat, you're not going to believe this, but... I'm... I'm human.// A pause. //Mostly.//

[Nightbeat]

There's a long pause, long enough that Rodimus might wonder if he lost the signal. Cybertron's greatest detective is so deep in thought he can't even manage a snarky comment.

//Okay,// comes over the radio, with a slight stereo effect to it, as though Muzzle's and Nightbeat's mouths are both speaking at once. This happens occasionally when they're both shocked. //Let's assume for the sake of argument that this isn't some bizarre practical joke and you are human. Mostly? What's 'mostly'? And I dunno what all the spacebridge has been tested on, I'll have to dig up Perceptor's notes. We can still come get you in a shuttle if you don't want to bridge back.//

[Rodimus Prime]

//Well, I've... I've still got the Matrix, only it seems to have... merged with my chest. It's not painful or anything, there's just a point where the flesh stops and the metal Matrix casing beings. Considering what part of a human is supposed to go there, I'm... not really sure how that works. I also seem to have some powers.// He coughs. //If you caught anything from the Detroit news about a flaming guy stopping a mugging last night? That might have been me.//

[Nightbeat]

//Oddly enough, chief, I wasn't making like a Junkion and channel-surfing the Earth signals last night.// Nightbeat sighs over the radio. //Well, at least we know where it is and the 'Cons don't have it.//

[Rodimus Prime]

//There's a good chance this thing affected them, too. There's no reason to assume the force is... particular.//

[Nightbeat]

//If that's the case, then we probably don't need to worry about them attacking us. Though they could be lurking anywhere. Pity humanity.//

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus sighs. //No kidding.//

//I'll take you up on that shuttle ride, but I think it might be a good idea for me to set up down here. Might make it easier to find everyone.//

[Nightbeat]

//Alright. I can send down supplies if you need.// If you want a quick way to get your superhero outfit, Rodimus, this is the time to request Nightbeat synthesize one using outer space technology.

[Rodimus Prime]

//Sure. Here's what I need...// and he starts to list off a few basic supplies, some equipment, and yes, a costume.

//Let's meet in Belle Isle Park, night, though make sure you get permissions to land. We should hopefully be able to avoid notice out there, and I don't have to cross any national boarders.//

[Nightbeat]

Nightbeat is from Marvel, so he doesn't question the costume. //How about I do you one better and send Muzzle? We can land the shuttle somewhere out of the way and drive out to you. I can carry the equipment out to you incognito. We ought to try to avoid tipping off the 'Cons, no telling where they are.//

[Rodimus Prime]

//Good idea. I'm at <medium-cheap cost apartment complex>. You can give me a fuller update then.//

//Until I manage to get ahold of the supplies, I won't always be able to answer my frequency. I don't have a built in radio anymore, and this thing's too big to carry around.//

//But I do have a cell phone, which mostly works better, except that it's kind of traceable.//