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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 6, 2010 11:22:42 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron considers. Rodimus Prime is saying that this bird statue might be missing; might have gone missing long ago. Botanica is saying that something that should have been here never was. He bites his lip, frowning thoughtfully, and he puts his free arm behind his head, leaning back.
He says slowly, "Nightbeat implied that this bird statue was like our Matrix, and our Matrix, at least, contains the distilled essence of a god." Okay, two gods, half a madman, a bunch of dead Primes, a Quintesson, and Buster Witwicky; Rodimus Prime needs to stop collecting supernatural figures as if they were Pokemon. Eeesh, is he going to stuff the Chronarchitect in there next? "Maybe the bird statue was different. Maybe it was just a relic of vast power. Perhaps there was even a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation for it."
"Or perhaps..." His voice turns almost dreamy, and his gaze is distant. "...perhaps our Pz-Zazz also contained a trapped and fallen god, and this Pz-Zazz does not."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 7, 2010 7:30:11 GMT -5
Rodimus shakes his head. "But there's... there's still the bird imagry. Enough of it to be more than a coincidence, anyway," he says, frustrated.
Then he sighs and rubs his forehead.
"I think I'm just spinning my wheels here. We don't have enough information to be sure of anything and... and..."
He sighs and looks towards the ground, expression defeated.
"And that's not why we're here, anyway."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 8, 2010 0:08:54 GMT -5
Botanica tries to gently rest a hand on Rodimus's shoulder. "We don't know why we're here, Rodimus, but one thing has held true from reality to reality: Autobots- or Maximals as the case may be- protect. Standing aside and watching something die, especially when we can hear it, feel it's pain, is not an easy thing."
She looks over at Xaaron. "In each, we've touched so many worlds, spread influences and aide across the galaxies. I find it hard to believe that we are... retracing steps on a whim, so to speak. He is a trickster and a manipulator as much as a he is a champion of light, and we are still His children." She shakes her head, "But such thoughts are distracting."
Now she looks away from them both, "I...if we wanted to try for more information from a more...direct source, I could try a partial merge. Try to connect on the level it seems to want from me. But...I haven't wanted to do that without an anchor."
And either of the two mechs here would serve that purpose.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 8, 2010 19:41:48 GMT -5
"But some of us come from realities without Primus, at all," Emirate Xaaron points out, ever the devil's advocate.
Emirate Xaaron looks over at Tiny and scritches her on the ruff of her neck. This isn't their fight, he wants to say, but he remembers talking to Rodimus Prime about the difference between warriors and protectors.
Maybe all that was meant for his life was fighting Unicron, but that's not really something to live for. That's something to die for. Primus was supposed to protect life, and yes, Unicron needs to be done away with to protect life, but there's more to it than just getting rid of Unicron, much more than meets the eye. Can Emirate Xaaron do less?
"What do you need out of an anchor?"
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 8, 2010 23:22:09 GMT -5
Rodimus Prime looks almost... hopeful as Botanica suggests a means of learning more. Some action... any action... something to combat this helplessness. Rodimus has needed this the way, well, plants need rain. He casts Emirate Xaaron an almost grateful look when the Autobot leader seems to be encouraging the thought in this direction, but doesn't say anything, just listening with interest to Botanica's answer.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 9, 2010 0:19:19 GMT -5
Botancia shakes her head at Xaaron's point about Primus, and counters with, "No, they don't know of a Primus in their reality. Gods exist beyond the boundaries of reality by their very definition." She cuts her eyes over to Rodimus, then back to Xaaron, "Perhaps He simply chose to work through a proxy in some realities rather than create his warriors directly."
She settles back on the bench and sighs.
"To answer your question. I need a... grounding force to keep me from being pulled to far in. Normally, this wouldn't be a concern for me. But it hurts so much...I fear that its pain may overwhelm me, and I don't want to risk losing myself. Since you both have a connection to, well, what I am connected to, either of your would do."
"But...I would prefer if it were not Rodimus," she finishes, tone apologetic. She can't quite look at the Prime, though.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 9, 2010 10:22:11 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron shrugs. "I'm not arrogant enough to think that gods have to be a multiversal constant, but it's a possibility."
But hmm, what's with that look from Rodimus Prime?
Emirate Xaaron's optical ridge quirks at Botanica's oh-so-specific phrasing. She would prefer not Rodimus. It isn't that she actually wants Emirate Xaaron for her experiment. "Ah. You want a psychic watchdog. I haven't really tried psychic links with anyone but... nevermind."
He leans over and ties Tiny's leash to the side of the bench and then kneels down on the ground in front of the bench and Botanica, his knees protesting loudly. Then, Emirate Xaaron holds out his hand to Botanica, offering it to her. The pose somewhat resembles a knight courting a lady, seeking to kiss her on the hand, but really, he just doesn't want to fall off a bench if this goes wrong. Better to start on the ground in the first place.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 9, 2010 14:14:46 GMT -5
Rodimus rubs the back of his head lightly and points out, "I... have sensed lifeforce, like what we've got, in those from other realities." He's mentioned as much to Emirate Xaaron in the past, but the Emirate appears mostly to be playing Devil's Advocate, anyway.
He rubs the bridge of his nose, apparently not taking offense when Botanica says she doesn't want him to help. Then, as he reaches over to give Tiny more scritchies, he asks, "Is there anything I can do?"
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 9, 2010 22:56:14 GMT -5
Rodimus may carry the Matrix, but for what she needs now, for the link that would be established...he would be anything but steadying. Botanica's careful phrasing was chosen because she was rather afraid that if she asked Xaaron out right, he would refuse her. The strength and steadiness of the Emirate is what she needs if she is going to do this.
At some point, those two really need to have a good core to spark talk.
"Thank you Emirate," she says as she reaches out to take that offered hand. She smiles. "Though, you'll be my bedrock, which is much more risky for us both. It will be Rodimus who is the watchdog, if he's willing. " Botanica looks over at the Boy Prime, "You need to...keep a line on me, so to speak, on us both, as I don't know how Emirate Xaaron will be affected by the link. If something seems amiss, well- I'm fairly sure you'd notice, and be able to pull us both out of it."
Now she looks back at Xaaron, "You told me once you could sense our life forces. You just need to...expand that awareness a bit. I'll reach out to you first."
Botancia's eyes close and her head bows as she does just that, reaching out psychically for that so-attractive steadiness is Emirate's Xaaron's own psychic field. Once she makes that connection (the ease of which is entirely up to Xaaron's player), Botanica extends her physical roots as far down into the soil as they will go.
Then she opens herself to the wounded soul of Pz-Zazz.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 10, 2010 10:24:00 GMT -5
Or maybe that just means that life is life, Rodimus Prime.
Emirate Xaaron moves his other hand to his forehead, to steady it and brace it. Passing out and smacking his head on the ground would also be less than stellar.
Now then.
Botanica wishes to directly connect. Y/N?
The connection is the not the smoothest or easiest thing in the world. Emirate Xaaron is very, very prickly and guarded. He is someone who habitually refuses to let anyone in, refuses to let anyone touch him emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, as merely a matter of course. He is his own rock and island, shedding no tears and feeling no pain.
So this is sort of like building a rickety Indiana Jones rope bridge to Alcatraz and then expecting to be able to lay high speed fibre optic cable along the bridge.
During a typhoon.
And all of this is with Emirate Xaaron doing his utmost to cooperate. So yes, Alcatraz has tossed a raft made out of ponchos into the cold, treacherous water of a show of faith and good will towards this bridge-building project.
But oh, this is weird, really weird, and that is... weird doesn't even begin to describe it. What is this? Emirate Xaaron doesn't even...
What.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 10, 2010 20:54:47 GMT -5
Rodimus dips his head in a nod.
"Sure, I can do that," the Boy Prime answers. He squirms a little before settling down to watch, although in many ways this may well have been the most difficult thing Botanica could have asked of him.
He's never been all that good at just standing back and letting others handle the fight.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 10, 2010 23:04:22 GMT -5
The link with Emirate Xaaron is a two-way street, and Botanica can feel his confusion quite clearly. She tries to erect a...buffer of sorts between him and the anxious green, but his own defense may negate that effort.
Don't try and focus on the whole. Just focus on my lifeforce, and on keeping yourself grounded.
He may not even catch the thought, but reaching out to him in such a manner is more natural to her right now than speaking.
Then the pain hits.
The pain, and the fear. Soul-numbing, paralyzing fear. Botanica staggers under the onslaught, mentally and physically. Her body slumps half-over on the bench, and her grip on Xaaron's hand tightens. Her mental grip tries to tighten as well, automatically reaching out for the Emirate's steadiness.
But she doesn't let go or draw back. She's trying to break through the screaming to the why.
Why? What has you so frightened?
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 11, 2010 13:09:41 GMT -5
Earlier, Emirate Xaaron noted that he doesn't really understand how Tiny is 'growing'. Tiny is a machine. He can imagine that maybe she has self-repair nanites that do extensive remodelling of her structure, but that gets a bit fuzzy. Pretender shells and binary bonds... not something he ever had the chance to study in great deal; he was more a fan of Micromasters and Triple-Changers. By the time Perceptor discovers TNA in G2, Emirate Xaaron will be dead.
So living organic cells blow his mind. Rodimus Prime can probably hear Emirate Xaaron's cooling fans whirring into overdrive to keep his processors from cooking. The main reason why he hasn't fallen over is that he's already sitting on the ground, kneeling, with an arm bracing his head.
What in the Celestial Spires is a centriole and why is he seeing them? Is this like a bridge cable mooring? And then there's chlorophyll and that's absolutely nothing like a photovoltaic cells, and why is this disappointing him? And...
Focus. Grounded. This is all nonsense gobbledygook rushing through his head right now, but it's all made out of the same building blocks. The carbon in a sugar is the same carbon (plus or minus some neutrons) in steel. The atom, and then diving down, electrons, leptons, quarks...
Focus. Grounded. He's touching the ground. If this was an electric circuit, everything would end up here, in the end, assuming a common ground. But common ground, what common ground can there be when his headache is getting worse even just thinking about...
...that's not why his headache is getting worse. It's a part of it, yes, but headache is getting worse because there's fear on the other side, insensate fear.
I have walked through the City of Fear, Botanica, and never forget, you'll come out of this. Don't lose yourself.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 11, 2010 21:58:28 GMT -5
Rodimus opens his mouth and starts to move forward when he sees Botanica slump suddenly, and then he frowns and draws back. No... no... can't interfere now.
He frowns and reaches for Tiny again, reaching up to rub the top of her head. "It's okay, girl. They'll be all right," he says, reassuring himself as much as anything else.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 11, 2010 22:52:29 GMT -5
Botanica's mental grip on Xaaron shudders under another answering wave of fear coming from the planet. She grabs at the Emirate both with her mind and with her other set of hands as she automatically tries to use her ability to "hook" herself more fully into Xaaron's psychic field. She'd tried to keep the connection as surface as possible out of respect for the Emirate's privacy and station, but now she's reacting to what really amounts as a psychic attack.
I know that I will come out if it, because you are with me.
Botanica gathers her own strength along with whatever Xaaron will lend her and pushes back against the fear, pushes hard.
It gives. Just a little. But the planet still screams and cries and reaches for that small island of nourishment and comfort that is Botanica and Emirate Xaaron.
So young...so much pain...frightened...hi-
The planet pushes back, tries to overwhelm again. Botanica cries out.
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