Starlit Vigil

[Shanodin]

Day 8, Event Horizon Biosphere, open

---

It is rather quiet and peaceful in the biosphere, the simulated night sky lit by star and moonlight. The night birds call softly now and again, adding their voices to the chirp of crickets and croaking of frogs. The wildlife here has long been accustomed to Botanica's presence.

She is in the cultivated garden near the biosphere entrance, easily seen by any who enter. The night flowers are blooming, their heavy perfume drifting through the air.

Botancia breathes deep, exhaling in a drawn out sigh. It is so wonderfully peaceful here. A pity that peace is soon to be shattered.

"I'm not sure who's getting punished more," she mutters, "Sentinel Prime or myself. Speaking of, he should be here any moment."

[Sentinel Prime]

Sentinel Prime has been indoctrinated to be afraid of aliens and organic life. He's worse about it than some are, because in his quest to be a perfect little officer, he's made the party line his line. Being a xenophobic bigot is the way to get ahead, okay?

Well, it was.

He's become aware that his old ways of thinking won't get him far in this reality, but it's been so hard to change the bad habits of a lifespan. Oh sure, Elita-1 down-regulated a lot of his thought processes; completely shut down a few, but the ones that aren't shut down are still there. He's even aware that it's a bit of shame that the only reason he even wants to make a change is that he's more likely to be accepted and given power if he makes a change. It's not like he actually wants to better himself. Not right now.

So Sentinel Prime doesn't quite look at the grass like he expects it to kill him, and his parade perfect at-attention salute when he arrives is respectful, but he can't quite get all the fear out of his optics, can't quite keep his hand from shaking; his voice from quavering just so, "Botanica, ma'am."

[Shanodin]

"Sentinel," Botanica answers with a nod, "Please, I'm not really military. Saluting isn't really necessary."

She smiles, "But the show of respect is appreciated all the same."

Botanica nods her head toward an iron bench nearby.

"Let's sit and talk a few minutes first. I'd like to go over what needs doing tonight, and what I expect from you here."

[Sentinel Prime]

"Ma'am," Sentinel Prime replies seriously, "with all due respect, I am really military," and All Spark save me from civilians.

He carefully makes his way over to the iron bench. To someone playing close attention, Sentinel Prime rather has the look of someone who expects to be assaulted in a rather disgusting manner at any moment.

[Shanodin]

Botanica's smile doesn't falter, but a sad cast shadows her eyes at Sentinel's assertions- sad and perhaps, pity. "I know, Sentinel. I know." She sounds.. tired. Worn.

She sits down on the bench and smooths her vine skirt, pretending all the while not to notice Sentinel's tension. Once the Prime is settled, she clasps her hands in her lap and begins.

"We will be heading into the mangrove swamp tonight. There is a patch of Carnivaliene that needs to be thinned; it is threatening to choke out the root systems of the smaller brush."

"The swamp is one of the more delicate parts of this artificial ecosystem. You will have to tread lightly and follow my directions exactly. Unfortunately, you are quite likely to get rather dirty."

Botanica sighs, "To be plain about things, I need to know you aren't going to snap and go charging out of the swamp like a mad thing. I'd rather reschedule your work shift than risk irreparable damage to this place."

[Sentinel Prime]

"Har har har," Sentinel Prime says sourly, making a spinning gesture with his hand next to his head, "that Sentinel Prime, he's crazy and goes haring off like a moron. For your information, I am afraid of spiders. I even put a database post up explaining why because I'm sick of repeating the story." He puts his hands on his hips and looks Botanica over, chewing his lip. "But I can guarantee to you I won't snap or charge right now, even if there are spiders."

Go have his own private mental breakdown in the shower after, maybe, but he won't right now in front of this fierce tiger lily. His ego couldn't handle the humiliation. Sentinel Prime's not as afraid of things as he used to be, after Elita-1 royally jacked up his head, anyway, and even if the fear's not all gone, he'll handle this. He has to. If he can't handle this, there's no hope, and Sentinel Prime refuses to think that way.

[Shanodin]

"Yes, you did, and your post was rather informative," Botanica says with a sigh, "You've also exhibited behavior that indicates that you have issues with dealing with organic material in general, and have admitted that such is a part of your ingrained learned behavior. You aren't as bad as Mayday, but when one is under stress...," she trails off and spreads her hands.

"I wasn't trying to be deliberately give offense Sentinel. This is my home and much more besides. Safeguarding it is more important than you know."

She rises and moves over to pick up a small bundle of cloth. She nods to the similar bundle remaining. "Grab that please, and we'll get to it."

OOC: Sentinel, you cool with a skip to the swamp?

[Sentinel Prime]

OOC: Coo' by me!

- - -

"If there's one thing I can do, ma'am, it's follow protocol. You just tell me what to do and what not to do, and there will be no problems," Sentinel Prime assures smoothly.

Sentinel Prime grabs the bundle rather gingerly, and then he's off after Botanica. He does step lightly, instead of his usual stomping tromp, but it's just as much the fact he's afraid of what he's walking on as it is his desire to please and impress his superior.

[Shanodin]

Botanica leads Sentinel along one of the graveled paths, and then off into the woods and toward the mangrove swamp. The path she takes is the only one that could accommodate Sentinel Prime's size. It is, in fact exactly the correct size for him, and though some branches and grasses come within a whisper of his plating, they never touch him.

It's almost as if the path was made- or is being made- specifically for Sentinel.

When they reach the swamp itself, Botanica pauses and turns. "We need to to that grouping over there," she points at a mossy tangle of roots that has effectively made an island slightly off-center of the main water body, "There are stepping stones just under the water's edge."

"I will transform and go first. I will hover a few moments over each stone. Follow, but be careful."

Botanica then transforms and does just as she says.

[Sentinel Prime]

Sentinel Prime does manage to notice the odd behaviour of the plants. With a lot of his normal mentality offlined, while he may still be self-absorbed by default, he's less self-absorbed, at least, and he has very good reasons to be paying attention right now. He muses aloud, "They can transform and get out of the way, like structures on Cybertron..."

He watches her handle the stepping stones, and he adds, "If it's all the same to you, ma'am, I think I'll stay in robot mode." He doesn't think transforming right now would be so hot an idea for him.

Sentinel Prime tries to be careful, he really does, but rain's enough to make him transform back into robot mode - he can't handle driving in it - and he slips and falls here, into the deep, murky waters. The package lands on the stone. Sentinel Prime lands deep underwater, into the soft swamp bottom, where he can't even see the light above the water. He should panic.

He feels nothing at all.

There's no thrashing, no flailing, no spray of frantic bubbles reaching the surface. After that initial splash when he went down, the water is eerily calm.

Underwater, Sentinel Prime gets his bearings back and radios, voice flat as the water above, //Sorry about that, ma'am. I think I found the column of the stepping stone. Will it support my weight if I try to climb it?//

[Shanodin]

When Sentinel falls, Botanica curses loudly and long. Thankfully though, the Prime is handling falling in a murky swamp much better than she would ever have expected.

She transforms back into plant mode, settling carefully down on one of the stones. It means her vines are in water, but that is what she intended.

//It would. Or I can extend a vine down and pull you up. Alternately, you could walk across the bottom of the swamp to the island.//

//Are you all right, Sentinel? I know not every mech is built for total submersion.//

[Sentinel Prime]

//All things considered, ma'am, I expect it would be easiest if I just walked along the bottom. If I fell once, I might fall again. Gotta admit, I don't do too well when the going gets slippery. Only problem with that is, there's a parcel up there I have to carry,// Sentinel Prime replies, entirely too rationally. //Give me a minute. I'll climb back up.//

He used to be a drill sergeant! Where would he be if he couldn't climb a pole?

It takes him a few tries, but he finally manages to shimmy his way back up, one now-grimy hand breaking the surface and then the other, before he levers himself all the way up and back onto the stepping stone. He bends to grab the bundle, commenting, "Hope it getting a bit wet isn't a problem, ma'am."

Sentinel Prime doesn't seem to have noticed yet that he's absolutely filthy.

[Shanodin]

Botanica eyes Sentinel warily. This lack of reaction is rather out of character. Maybe he really is trying to move past his conditioning.

"It will be fine. The inner layer is lined with oilskin to keep the contents relatively dry, and there are no electronics in the pack."

Once Sentinel decides for sure upon his method of reaching the island, Botanica will transform and continue hovering over to it.

Skip skip sip to the island?

[Sentinel Prime]

OOC: As you wish, ma'am!

- - -

Sentinel Prime notices that Botanica is looking at him oddly, so he looks down at himself. Oh. He's filthy.

Oh.

He should probably freak out about that or something, he supposes. Loudly, too loudly, Sentinel Prime complains, "Ugh, this is so disgusting! I'm going to need to shower for cycles, and I still won't be clean. Gross, gross, gross."

The Prime doth protest a bit much.

But he carries the parcel, and he's more careful, so this time, there's no more falling off stepping stones for him.

[Shanodin]

Yeah, that isn't making Botanica feel better Sentinel. The delay made his protests seem entirely too forced. Hrm.

The island is really a cluster of trees whose roots have tangled, catching silt. The mineral rich silt allowed for smaller trees and brush to grow, and it is the interconnected network of large and small roots that form the spongy ground upon which they walk.

It's a tight squeeze through the trees, but it isn't a large island. Really, Sentinel could probably walk across it in a dozen strides or less. Botanica points to a brilliantly-colored flowering vine which has spread across a large patch of the ground and up the sides of one tree. The tree's leaves are drooping slightly, and its bark color is off compared to the others near it.

"The Carnivaliene is a parasitic plant. It serves a necessary function, helping to break down certain elements in the soil, but it has spread too large for this small a space. We are going to divide it down to one-eighth it's current bunch size."

"If you could get the hand spade and rake out of your pack, please?"