Radio:Skyfire to Spinister

[Skyfire]

// Spinister, do you have a moment? There are several things I would like to go over with you. //

[Spinister]

//Yeah?//

There is no sense that he's trying to be rude. He just tries to avoid saying much. These interviews are cramping his style.

[Skyfire]

// First, Starscream okayed my joining your combat exercises, so presumably I'm not stepping on any delicate political toes here. //

// Second, I'm starting to gather whatever information I can get on our mysterious extractions and arrivals here. Since you have already interviewed a number of people, I wondered if you gathered some of that information already--specifically, arrival locations and any observations on the actual transition from various arrivees. Any observed diagnostics are also of interest--though with battle-damaged arrivals like Midnight, I imagine there's that to allow for. //

// Third, in addition to Hook and Starscream, who else here has a scientific and/or engineering background? I will probably need to consult with others on theory and get some specialized instrumentation designed. //

// Finally, I'm not sure how to put this, but are pre-programmed emergency responses--'panic' reflexes--still a common design feature? If they are, how do you deal with them in training and combat? We explorers were built without them, or had them removed, because they proved to be very contra-survival in dealing with unknown, unexpected and unpredictable dangers. This world is full of the unexpected. I am concerned that without the proper training--or 'un-training'--we may lose people unnecessarily. //

[Spinister]

Spinister decides that if they have a near full turn out, he's handing the Decepticons whose capacities he knows better over to Needlenose once the preliminary exams are done. He won't be able to adequately observe anyone if everyone is there, and it'll test Needlenose's observational and educational abilities.

//Everyone just seems to 'wake up' here. No odd sensations. No memory of transit. So far as I know, there are arrival spots at the pole, the swamp, the plains, and the mines, but there have to be more.// Too many Autobots here for there not to be. He does add, //People can show up dead. I've already pointed out we need to monitor the arrival spots.//

//Needlenose is the finest circuit designer you'll ever find.// Bragging about his pupil? Spinister? //And he's okay at the other stuff.// Tempered with the truth. //Blackarachnia says she's a technician and weapons designer. Demolishor says he has basic tech knowledge. Dead End has some maintenance abilities. Lord Shockwave may be on par with Hook.//

He hasn't heard from Needlenose yet that Starfighter can do repairs. Spinister also does not mention his own abilities, because he's honestly not interested in using them that way, and he doesn't trust Skyfire that much.

//Panic?// Spinister loves it when they panic, they being the Autobots. It means he knows how disastrous it can be when his own side does the same. //I just-// -bludgeon the panic out of his students? Can't say that. //-train my students not to panic. Take Needlenose. He used to chicken out at the first sign of trouble.// Now, Needlenose is the first sign of trouble. //He's over that.//

[Skyfire]

// We've found dead mechs? Are they available for forensic analysis? // There's a certain eagerness to Skyfire's tone; it's actually the eagerness of a scientist who may be getting his hands on a possible source of information he can analyze in much greater detail than he can the living mechs who transferred over, but it might sound like something else to those who don't know him.

// I have the coordinates of my polar arrival point; do you have the exact coordinates of the other points, or know who might? Also, could you copy me your diagnostics records from just before and after your arrival? //

[Spinister]

Spinister has to level with Skyfire here, //Skyfire, we're severely low on parts here. We get a body; we use it for parts. Good Decepticons here wouldn't be up and active if we didn't. If we get a new one in, you can ask the medics if they'll let you get some readings first.//

//I do have the coordinates of the arrival sites. I'm afraid that my diagnostic records are not available. Those were purged days ago to free up space. Been pretty busy trying to figure out what the Autobots did to my partner.//

Cold day in the smelting pits, scientist, when Spinister lets anyone see his diagnostics.

[Skyfire]

There's a long silence. // Oh. Er, I see. Is this a common practice now? // Skyfire does sound a little disconcerted; he's done some things as field expedients to get home that more refined mechs safe at home in Cybertron would consider distasteful, but...

After a moment he recovers. // You don't use their memory banks or lasercores, do you? //

// Your partner? Needlenose? Would you like me to review the information you have and see if I can figure out anything? //

[Spinister]

//Desperate times, desperate measures. I'm not the medic here, but I haven't heard about anything like that.//

//Oh, we know what happened to him. The Autobots tested an experimental fuel on him, and it locked his transformation cog. Don't know about your folks, but ours tend to suffer a crippling melancholy if left incapable of transforming long enough.//

The best part? As far as Spinister knows, it's all true.

[Skyfire]

// Indeed. I've resorted to some rough expedients in the field, but it's not something I'd ever have expected to become the norm for Cybertron. // There's a wistful sound to Skyfire's voice, as if he's beginning to realize that even if he returns home to his own time and place, his Cybertron is a soon-to-vanish dream of a Golden Age that may have never really been.

// How is he doing, then? // Skyfire sounds concerned; he is, both for Needlenose and Hellbender. // It can be a problem for some individuals back home. I myself don't suffer from it; by necessity, I have to remain in shuttle mode for long periods. // Try years, if not decades for really long missions. // It is nice to be able to transform and stretch every so often, though. //

He'll need to talk to Hook, it sounds like. // I think that's all for now. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm hoping I can pull a project together and get some concrete information for Starscream on what's going on with the transitions. Just send me the coordinates, and I can at least see if there's a geographic pattern there. //

[Spinister]

The norm was the smelting pools.

//It isn't not transforming. It is the inability to do so,// Spinister clarifies. //We have to know that we can, even if we don't for a million years. Needlenose appears to be coping, but he's irritable, and Hellbender... took out a city block.//

Both of them have had the sky stripped from them, so it must hit even harder.

He sends the coordinates and says, //Keep me informed on whatever you figure out.//

[Spinister]

//Skyfire, your buddy wants radio silence. We may have a bug.//

[Skyfire]

// Acknowledged //