Slow Boat To China

[Emirate Xaaron]

Emirate Xaaron likes to keep people off-balance. He doesn't even do it intentionally. He also likes to praise people when they're doing it right, and Grimlock's being remarkably diplomatic, for Grimlock.

He ambles along to follow Kup. Kup said Emirate Xaaron wasn't going out there alone, so Emirate Xaaron is assuming that means he's stuck tagging along with Kup.

Emirate Xaaron looks over his shoulder, and comments, "I have full confidence in you, Grimlock."

He has full confidence in Grimlock being more fireproof than Kup, anyway.

[Kup]

Kup replaces the fire extinguisher and groans faintly at Grimlock's question, covering his face with his free hand. "Name, timestamp, skills, abilities, talents, ask her what she thinks we should know about her, and then ask any questions that answering the other ones get you wondering about," the 'elder' explains to Grimlock. He looks down at Bambi a moment and sighs, muttering, "I'm gonna have to assign a follow-up to this one, aren't I?"

He doesn't know that Botanica will be there, after all.

"Y'got it, Grimlock? I don't have time to write down the questions now, but I'll see about putting a standard list on the database soon."

He then turns towards Emirate Xaaron, "You said something about wanting to talk to the station master, Emirate?"

[Grimlock]

Then Xaaron adds confidence to the praise. Careful, Emirate - Grimlock's ego might pop from how much you're feeding it!

That bit causes Grimlock to nod at Kup. "Yeah, me Grimlock got it under control." He claps his fist to his chest a couple of times as he brags.

Well, time to get to it! Grimlock turns, looking down at Bambi. "You say name 'Bambi', right?"

...what kind of name is that for a Dinobot, anyway?

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Things go bam when Dinobots hit them, duh.

Bambi listens very intently as Kup rattles off the list of questions. Wow, this is like getting a peek at the final exam before the final! She peers up at Kup, all innocence.

She confirms, "Me Bambi! Me just say that. You no hear right?"

So she's asking her own questions right back. No one told her not to, and questions come naturally to her.

[Emirate Xaaron]

OOC: Hmm, maybe split off into a thread of Grimlock interviewing Bambi and a thread of Kup and Emirate Xaaron doing stuff?

---

Emirate Xaaron says, "Botanica will be about soon to assist with skills assessment. When you're done, have her report to Mirage down on the surface." He winks one optic off at Grimlock. Emirate Xaaron may bee a jerk, but he's fair about it, at least. What Grimlock had to endure, the little one won't escape.

He does worry a bit that Grimlock might lose charge of the situation, but Botanica should be of some assistance there, if she doesn't get into a snit.

Emirate Xaaron walks alongside Kup and holds up a hand as if to pat him in the back affably, but his voice drops, "Oh yes. There's just this tiny matter..."

[Kup]

Kup returns Bambi's innocent look with a suspicious one, then he glances up at Grimlock. Finally, down at Emirate Xaaron, and when he mentions Botanica's impending arrival, he nods. "Ah, good." The plant lady makes him more than a little uncomfortable, as much for what she represents as for what she is, but Kup has a vauge idea that it'll be harder from Bambi to pull the cyber-wool over her optical sensors than it might be with Grimlock.

Kup's back is possibly patted - he doesn't prevent it. As he walks alongside Xaaron, leaving Bambi and Grimlock behind, he does ask, "Yeah? Does it need to be dealt with before or after the dockmaster?"

OOC: Good idea. Opening a new thread now.

[Shanodin]

Botanica arrives as Emirate Xaaron and Kup are leaving. All things considered...that's likely not a bad thing. She gives the pair a nod and a quick wave. Grimlock gets a (slightly thin) smile and slight inclination of her head before she turns her attention to the newly arrived Dinobot.

"Greetings. I am Botanica," she says, offering her hand to the stowaway. Not that she expects much. Slag and Grimlock have not exactly convinced Botanica that Dinobots understand such niceties. "As a scientist of sorts, you would fall under mine and Wedge's purview, so the Emirate asked me to find out where your talents lie."

Her focus shifts again to Grimlock, "You are doing the interview itself, however, yes?"

It should be mentioned that Botanica is actually in robot mode for once. Can't be too careful with Dinobots, you know.

[Grimlock]

Grimlock peers at Bambi, and he'd scowl if he could. "Of course me hear - me Grimlock just want to confirm!"

Xaaron...winked at Grimlock? Why did he--oh, wait. Mirage. Very sneaky, Xaaron. Very sneaky. He's not sure about exposing a fellow Dinobot to Mirage, but there's the possibility it will annoy the spy. That, Grimlock approves of.

Grimlock files that away, and goes for the next question. "Kup want timestamp from when you last in home if you got it." After he asks, Botanica shows up, and Grimlock nods to the question. "Me Grimlock doing interview, yes." He motions at the little raptor. "Her Bambi." Then he motions to Botanica. "Her plant lady. We Dinobots nice to plant lady." What he doesn't add is how they will possibly get thunderstruck if they aren't nice.

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi visibly sniffs at Botanica, and it is plain that she isn't sure what to make of Botanica. She sticks out her hand stiffly, and she grunts, "Me Bambi. You Botanica smell like calla lily, but that no perfume. Hnn. You plant?"

They have animals and machines. Why not plants? Why not fungi? (They're real fun guys.)

She provides a timestamp, which puts here somewhere between Season One and Season Two of Animated.

Being nice to the plant lady makes perfect sense to her - Botanica is not a car, therefore she is fine for Dinobots to like. But. "Her Botanica have to prove self. Me respect no come free." Bambi narrows her optics and demands, "Want see CV. You Botanica bring any publications?"

[Shanodin]

Botanica smiles as Bambi takes her hand, and that smile wides as the Dinobot actually asks to see her qualifications.

Maybe low intelligence isn't a cross-dimensional trait of the sub-group, after all.

"I'd hardly expect anyone to give respect without my earning it, but that doesn't change the fact that I have earned enough of high command's respect to be a division commander." She laughs as she withdraws her hand, "I don't make a habit of carrying my work history about with me, but I will be happy to download it onto a datapad for your later perusal. Once the interview is done of course. I will answer whatever questions you may have as best I can, in the meantime."

"And to answer that first- yes, I am a plant. Zantedeschia Alata Utricularia is the exact species I mimic, a mobile, carnivorous lily from Chlorexia. Evolution favored the green over the mammalian there, you see."

"Grimlock, if I may suggest...," Botanica looks from Dinobot to Dinobot, "There is a sitting area a short distance up the way. It would be more comfortable, and we would not be blocking the hall, then."

[Grimlock]

Grimlock takes note of the response in regards to the timestamp. Once Bambi makes the comment about respect, Grimlock adjusts a bit. He doesn't like the sound of that, and...

Botanica agrees with it. Huh. Grimlock's not sure what to think of this. He's more used to instilling respect, not earning it. His lack of progress with Slag should serve as a testament to Grimlock as to how flawed this way of thinking is, but alas, he's not observant enough to pick up on it.

Once Botanica stops talking with big words, and directs Grimlock to have them move, the Dinobot simply nods, heading off to the area directed.

Grimlock's not sure about Bambi. She's ...smarter than Grimlock. This could be troublesome.

While he's walking, though, he starts the next question. "What Bambi good at other than smashing Blitzwing's face?"

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi snorts and waves a hand dismissively, insisting, "Mammals overrated. They all, 'Look at us; we warm-blooded; we doing placental birth.' Bah. Shark can do placental birth. Shark is fish. It no thing."

Nose in the air, she concludes, "Besides, everyone know dinosaurs best."

Yes, she is a Dinobot. Trying to get a Dinobot to admit dinosaurian inferiority is probably a losing proposition.

Bambi looks at Botanica curiously, "You no carry it with you? You no have space?" Bambi has hammerspace! This biases her world.

She answers Grimlock a bit huffily, "Me Bambi have C.V.." She holds up a piece of paper that more or less reads like her tech spec and list of skills on the wiki.

[Shanodin]

Botanica is becoming more and more pleased the more she hears. This Bambi may yet prove to be a true intellectual, speech defect aside.

Once they reach the sitting area, Botanica takes a seat. She'd like to get a closer look at Bambi's C.V., but Grimlock is in charge of the interview, so he gets first grab. So she says to the Dinobot leader, "If I might see that when you are done, please?"

Wait? Can Grimlock read?

"In the meantime...No, I don't have subspace capabilities. It appears to be one of the trade offs of the organic integration." She touches the side of her head, and the barely-visible radio resting there, "Along with internal communications. For reference my frequency is <random numbers>."

"So you have an interest in the evolutionary sciences, Bambi?

[Grimlock]

Hmm. Grimlock might not be able to keep up with a lot of what Bambi is talking about, but at least she's got the right kind of ego.

Grimlock does not take a seat, for he is not inclined to sitting down unless he has nothing to do. And even then, that's not for long until the boredom takes hold and he wanders off to find something entertaining.

And yes, Grimlock can read! Most of it, anyway. The information on the paper is recorded, and then held out to Botanica. Whatever he can't decipher from it, Kup probably can. After all, he's Kup! He knows everything. "...what 'CV' stand for, anyway?" he asks.

Grimlock then ticks off stuff on one hand, murmuring to himself as he goes down Kup's list. "...me think that cover everything, other than if there anything you Bambi think us should know. And whatever Botanica want to ask."

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi leaps up onto the chair back from a standing jump and crouches atop the chair back, like a gargoyle, for a moment. Then, she drops down into the seat. She looks distinctly uncomfortable - it's not the shape of the chair itself, though the chair is too big for her - it's that she's sitting in a chair at all.

She pauses a moment, pulls out another C.V., and offers it to Botanica, clarifying, "Me Bambi study palaeontology and archaeology." Not realistic, but she's a cartoon dinosaur. Then, she adds, "That C.V. not cover mission to Tibet. Curriculum vitae. It stuff you do while alive. Stuff done while dead kind of boring, unless you mummy or fossil or something."

Bambi concludes in a growl, "You Autobots should know him Optimus Prime no good."