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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 10, 2009 19:16:47 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron was never really into video games. He always had other ways to occupy his time.
He is, however, poking around the lounge and looking at the video games now. Emirate Xaaron is frowning in a sort of meaningful way as he looks through the various titles.
It's not that he's an old fashioned square and thinks they're a waste of time or anything.
It's that a dear friend of Emirate Xaaron's killed himself over video games.
And these people just keep them out where anyone can get them?
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 10, 2009 20:09:14 GMT -5
Here comes a new challenger!
Optimus Prime has had a lot to think about, what with friends from home showing up and dropping information bombshells on him. He has made his way into the lounge, and sees none other than the Gillnan Autobots' leader perusing the video gaming collection.
Huh. Optimus clears his throat. "All due respect, sir, but I never would have expected you to be a gamer." He's making friendly conversation as he is surprised by this revelation, he's not trying to be snide.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 10, 2009 20:28:33 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron looks just a tiny bit pained as Optimus Prime mistakes him for a gamer, but the looks if fleeting, and he's smoothly under control soon enough.
He replies, a little too quickly, "I don't do video games," as if they were some sort of drug.
Other games? Certainly. Emirate Xaaron plays a mean game of full-stasis.
He squints at Optimus Prime and inquires awkwardly, "Do you?"
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 11, 2009 17:04:29 GMT -5
"Oh, no." Optimus says. "Well, not yet. At least, when I was taken from my... when I arrived here, I hadn't been playing them. I'd only learned of them in the last few megacycles with a human friend of ours from earth. One of my crew had really taken to them. Supposedly the louder and the more violent, the better." He shrugs. "Maybe I would have gotten into them, if I had stayed there long enough?" Optimus wonders if he could ask Prowl that.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 11, 2009 19:20:43 GMT -5
Ah, good! There is still time! Emirate Xaaron attempts to reach up to place a hand on Optimus Prime's back, and he advises in a low voice, "Just don't... get too involved with video games. They're not real. I mean, it's possible that, at some point, the characters in a video game might develop into real intelligence, but these games, at least are... just games. That's all. They're not worth dying over. So if you ever end up feeling that you have compromised your ethics by killing some of the characters in these games and you feel that the only way you can atone is killing yourself, please stop and think about all the real people who care about you."
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 11, 2009 19:41:44 GMT -5
Optimus' optics go wide as Xaaron offers his heartfelt advice. His mouth goes slack as he tries to work out exactly what the leader of the Autobots thinks he's preventing with this reassurance.
After what feels like a full five megacycles, he slowly closes his mouth. "...Okay. Uhm. Thank you? For the concern. I will certainly keep that in mind, Emirate."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 11, 2009 20:19:24 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron considers how gobsmacked Optimus Prime looks. He rubs the back of his head with a hand, and he admits, "The Optimus Prime in my reality was a very dear friend of mine. Our Megatron challenged him to a video game. Optimus Prime won, but he killed some of the characters in the video game in the process, and he was so distraught that he committed suicide. I just don't want that to happen to you."
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 11, 2009 20:25:46 GMT -5
Q: How do you fluster an Optimus more than tell him his namesakes are, generally speaking, Supreme Commanders?
A: Inform him that one of his other selves committed suicide over a video game.
"Emirate... there are things I would willingly give my life for. The Autobot cause. The All Spark. Those closest to me. But over some form of electrical entertainment, I..." he shakes his head, "I am not the Optimus you knew, though that is no reason why we cannot also be friends. I'm very sorry for your loss, but on my spark, I promise you that I have no overinflated conceptions of the importance of a leisure activity."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 11, 2009 20:36:37 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron waves a hand dismissively and assures, "I know that you two are very different people. However, there tend to be certain trends across universes, and just in case there was any chance of trouble, I wanted to head it off at the pass."
He shrugs and adds, "He got better, anyway. I reamed him out."
Emirate Xaaron looks at Optimus Prime speculatively and concludes, "Thank you, though. Sounds like you aren't lacking in the common sense department."
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 11, 2009 20:46:46 GMT -5
"...That's very kind of you to say, sir." Perhaps suicide isn't such a big thing when you can easily 'get better' from it.
Though all this talk of video games has let to curiosity from Optimus Prime. He finds himself now leaning down and casually perusing the collection. "How did we come across all of these games? Are they all Gillnanese?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 11, 2009 20:54:59 GMT -5
No, suicide is still a pretty big thing to be taken seriously. Optimus Primes, though, just aren't very good at staying dead.
Emirate Xaaron shakes his head and explains, "Some Autobots had video games on them when they were pulled. These would be copies from their private collections, though some are Gillananese. What's this one... Super Mario Kart?"
He pulls out a game at random to study it.
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 11, 2009 21:03:33 GMT -5
Optimus Prime takes a look at the one Xaaron is looking at. "Huh. So they go on small motorized go-carts... including a turtle, a bigger turtle, some kind of oversized human primate and... a sapient fungi?" And where is all the blood? Sari and Bumblebee have taught him that gratuitous violence is a staple in any video game.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 11, 2009 21:17:40 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron points out, "Botanica is a plant. No reason why fungi cannot drive go-karts."
A lot of really weird things stop seeming really weird when you are a time-travelling robot from space.
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jul 11, 2009 21:37:44 GMT -5
"Botanica is a techno-organic, I don't know any kind of unaltered flora that would be able to do that." Optimus pauses. "Though there's no reason why this fungi creature couldn't also be a techno-organic. Either way, it's an unusual assemblage of characters, and a very confusing concept." Then again, perhaps pretending you're racing a car tends to lose its interest when you turn into a vehicle yourself.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 11, 2009 21:52:18 GMT -5
Playing devil's advocate, Emirate Xaaron observes, "She scanned her alternate form on a planet where plants were the dominant lifeforms, which would suggest to me that there are non-techno-organic versions out there somewhere. Perhaps we will run into them."
Would that be awkward for Botanica? He really has no idea.
Perusing the titles, he looks over Command & Conquer. This one actually sounds vaguely interesting!
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