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Post by Long Haul on Nov 21, 2011 13:27:17 GMT -5
Long Haul's optics flare brighter, then dim. He dips his head forward, perhaps bringing to mind, if faintly, the impression of a bull ready to charge, and growls out, "Hook ain't a Decepticon."
And then he returns to working, adding in a calmer voice, "And anyways, I tend to finish first 'cos I understand that there's such a thing as tolerances."
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on Nov 23, 2011 20:51:48 GMT -5
"Of course you are flying, you are being-" Jetfire cuts himself off. "Were being- Well." Best to change the subject, perhaps. "I am not knowing why. It is for scientists to know, not Elite Guard soldiers."
Jetfire is paying more attention to what Hook is taking out of him than what he's putting into him, watching with an expression that's equal parts fascinated and queasy. "...What are going to do with extra parts of me?"
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Post by Slingshot on Nov 24, 2011 13:06:22 GMT -5
"He used to be," Slingshot mutters. Apparently he's just determined to get thumped. Or not thinking before he speaks. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
He just kind of watches with detached interest as Long Haul removes bits of him. Huh. "Tolerances? Like what kind of Gs you can take before you start breaking?"
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Nov 26, 2011 18:56:52 GMT -5
Hook stares at Jetfire, his expression oddly blank. Then, after a moment, he says scathingly, "Who told you that? That you didn't deserve to know? Because, soldier, it sounds like you have allowed others to make you powerless. If it pertains to your body, you deserve to know, and you need to understand. If you cannot question, you will never know truth."
After that diatribe, he answers Jetfire, "Someone," probably Long Haul, "will sort through the parts. That which can be re-used will, and that which cannot will be recycled."
Then Hook is called upon to answer more jetboi questions. "Not in this context. In this case, tolerance is the permissible limit or limits of variation in a value. For example, suppose that you could only pull a stated value of 10 Gs without breaking, but the acceptable variation in that value was +/- 1. That would mean that you could fail at 9 Gs... or possibly survive 11 Gs. As you can see, tolerance can be a matter of life or death! This is why my error tolerance is less than less than .00001% in most cases."
Unless he has to get really picky.
He's still operating on Jetfire while he rambles.
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Post by Long Haul on Nov 30, 2011 14:28:19 GMT -5
The parts that Long Haul are putting in Slingshot are also labeled.
One of the labels reads, "Air Raid."
He grunts and nods. "What Hook said. Thing about it is, let's say you put something together, it meets standards but it ain't perfect. Problem is, you go in and rework it, you're maybe putting more heat where heat shouldn't be, risking making the system weaker instead of stronger, so's them tolerances are there to keep folks from wrecking a system when trying to make it perfect. 'Course it's also there to remind folks that sometimes getting things done in a certain time frame ain't a bad thing." He looks up at Hook and snorts.
And yes. Long Haul will be the one sorting parts.
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on Dec 1, 2011 20:50:45 GMT -5
Jetfire stares at Hook, a little speechless, then says quietly, "I am thinking they are not wanting us to be knowing the truth"
And after being in this universe so long, he definitely thinks that his universe's Autobot didn't really have the best way of doing things. Sentinel Prime had said he wanted to go home, maybe change things, but... but...
He's just going to concentrate on understanding what Hook and Long Haul are saying about tolerances.
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Post by Slingshot on Dec 3, 2011 15:31:40 GMT -5
Slingshot's optic-band flashes in a blink as Hook chastises Jetfire. Huh. It's really kind of weird to agree with a Constructicon. But then again, this is the first time he's heard someone tell someone else off for not questioning things.
He cocks his head as Hook explains tolerances, and Long Haul expands on it. "Right." What's that thing First Aid does? "So you've got someone who can pull 10Gs without breaking, and you want to fix them so they can go higher. But when you start doing that, you weaken other parts, and you have tolerances to tell you when that's acceptable weakening and when it's not."
That is probably not the thing First Aid does.
He frowns at the label on his parts. "- I'm leaving this part out of the story when I tell the guys."
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Dec 3, 2011 20:46:48 GMT -5
"Ah. Now you're thinking," Hook says, half-smirking, when Jetfire says that perhaps they didn't want him to know the truth. "Good of you to finally start."
There is more he'd like to say, but he sort of... loses the words. The feeling is amazingly frustrating.
The part of him that once was Bonecrusher would like to break something.
He comments, "Something I saw happen, from time to time, was a Seeker having a more powerful engine installed... without a corresponding increase in structural strength. The engine would just yank out of him while in flight. Quite ghastly, but that's what one gets for inferior work."
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Post by Long Haul on Dec 4, 2011 15:56:50 GMT -5
Long Haul looks down at Slingshot, spies what he's looking at, and makes a staticy sound, similar to a throat being cleared. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. It's that reality that's best for getting parts for this thing. Some folks, erm, have started asking about where the bits come from. So maybe they can thank 'em or something along those lines. So's I started keeping track of it." He shrugs. It's one more bit of data to track, but it wasn't that hard to make the switch, as long as everything was labeled at the start.
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on Dec 7, 2011 1:31:17 GMT -5
Hey, that's kind of insulting! It makes him feel contrary. Jetfire frowns and mutters, "We are all being cogs in great Autobot machine. Scientist cogs are knowing science things, soldiers are knowing fighting things."
Surely there's nothing wrong with that so long as the people in charge aren't corrupt, right?
"But perhaps you should make the explanation to me of what exactly you are changing of my systems?"
The discussion of parts has him looking at the labels on his. Starscream? That makes him feel a little uneasy. He already has some of Starscream's coding in him after-all. Does he really want more of that badness-bot inside him?
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Post by Slingshot on Dec 7, 2011 12:26:06 GMT -5
Slingshot is torn between wincing and snickering at Hook's little story. On the one hand, Seekers suffering from their own stupidity. On the other hand, ow[/i].
"-You know, maybe I will tell Air Raid. 'Yeah, they cut up an alternate-universe guy with your name to use for my parts.' He'll try to beat me." The Aerialbot grins.
At least until Jetfire pops up with that bit to Hook. "'all cogs in the great Autobot machine'? Seriously?"
What is this Slingshot doesn't even.
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Dec 7, 2011 13:32:01 GMT -5
Hook approves of Long Haul tracking all possible data! It may come in handy someday.
He corrects Jetfire, "I'm not," on the topic of all of them being a part of the Great Autobot Machine, just a hint of a smile ghosting over his face, breaking through the concentration as he works. Then Hook winces, ever so slightly, like there's a stabbing pain behind his optic band. "Life, ah... life is much more complex than you think. You cannot simply do as others mean you to do for the sole reason that it is asked of you. If a law is unjust... is not the just thing to do to break it?"
The stabbing pain hurts worse this time. Hook cannot say what he would say next. The words won't come.
Reluctantly, Hook gives up and answers Jetfire's other question, "In order to fulfill the stated mission directive, you need to be able to physically transform into various bodily configurations, such as a leg, an arm, a torso, half a torso, or a pair of arms, while maintaining all of your original functionality. The morphcores from Breakaway's reality tend to lend themselves to the task more readily than others, due to their inherent design. Given enough time, I would of course advocate point-designing a new morphcore system from the ground up entirely..."
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Post by Long Haul on Dec 7, 2011 21:44:49 GMT -5
Long Haul grunts as he continues to work. "I've never been into 'cogspeak.' I'm thinking maybe the idea is to reassure folks that every little bit is important, and you know, as a los- log- as a supply specialist, I can tell you that's the truth, but the problem is with the whole cogs comparison is... cogs can be swapped out and easily replaced and thrown away. I know it's just a... a... whaddaya callit, a fancy comparison to make things simple and all, but make things too simple, and you start thinking about people as things, y'know?"
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on Dec 10, 2011 0:01:55 GMT -5
"The doing your part is not just because you are told. Is because you are wanting to and is for the good of the whole!" He looks moodily at the ceiling. "Is this so bad a thing if all cogs are considered important?"
It would work in a perfect world, right? Jetfire wants to believe in a perfect world. He wants to believe that the system he came online in could work. But he also knows very well that he doesn't live in a perfect world. He just doesn't like admitting it.
Sighing sadly, he tries to put on a more enthusiastic voice and says, "That is a lot of things to transform into!" He comes off a little flat.
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Post by Slingshot on Dec 10, 2011 17:00:43 GMT -5
"That sounds like something Silverbolt would say," Slingshot says, not quite accusingly, to Hook. He remembers the whole 'let's go back and take over' bit. The points Silverbolt made there (that he was a manipulative bastard and the Aerialbots needed the Autobots at least until the Decepticons stopped trying to kill them) would stick with him forever.
It's thinking of Silverbolt that softens his reply to Jetfire. "It's stupid. No one's ever going to consider everyone important. Not if they think you're easily replaceable too."
Yes, that's softer than his first thoughts.
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