Boondocker
Rookie
General Contractor at Large and Sanitation Engineer Second-Class
Pickup Man
Posts: 216
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Post by Boondocker on Apr 13, 2008 18:51:31 GMT -5
Boondocker sighs once Makeshift is gone.
"If'n y'all don' mind me askin', Miz Arcee...jus' what d'y'all make'a all this? Bein' brought hyar, this stuff 'bout evil versions of us that might invade... Ah dunno whut t' think about it all."
'Course, the janitorial mech hadn't faced much in the way of a full-scale battle. In his home reality, it would be a few years before Autobot City got assaulted.
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Post by Makeshift on Apr 13, 2008 19:34:03 GMT -5
Humming machines, metal walls, straight lines, clean angles....over organic stone and soil. For a moment, Makeshift is reminded of the moon base, only with more air. It's not a comforting feeling.
Shaking his head and shoving the nerves back, the Mini-con continues onwards, mapping sensors ticking away. There's something unsettling about that pumping sound. He hasn't had the chance to directly study organics much, but it almost sounds like....what did they call it....a heart.
He pushes open a door to his left and steps through. Odd....there's mirrors on the wall at about his shoulder height over metal bowls with a drain in them. And on the other side, in small booths of some kind, are white bowls half-filled with stagnant water. He tapped a lever on one of them, nearly jumping as water poured into the bowl, flushing down the drain.
It's too bad he can't read the local language very well. Otherwise the restroom sign on the door probably would've explained everything.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Apr 13, 2008 19:49:53 GMT -5
Arcee shakes her head. "I don't know, Boondocker, I really don't know. I mean, back when we'd only get rare reports from Optimus Prime and his crew operation on Earth, I heard some pretty strange things. Energy crystals connected to a planet's core, giant eggs left on an asteroid that was supposed to be a food source, the Decepticons opening a disco to try and hypnotize humans, and some kind of female ninja robot..."
She shakes her head again. "And then I get transfered to Earth and I discover it's all true. I really don't know what to think, except that anything's possible."
She reflects further. "Or, as Ironhide once put it, "Somethings, things just happen.'"
***
Inside, the noises will persist. The most rhythmic of them, however, will become clearer. It is most definitely coming from the main control room, and it is definitely the sound of something banging into something else.
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Boondocker
Rookie
General Contractor at Large and Sanitation Engineer Second-Class
Pickup Man
Posts: 216
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Post by Boondocker on Apr 13, 2008 20:54:03 GMT -5
Boondocker sighs once more, this time more lightly. "Ah s'pose so. I heard 'bout most o' that m'self. Kinda crazy, ah reckon."
He falls silent for a moment, then laughs. "Guess this place ain't all that different from home, then. Jus' ain't no big blue griffamajiggers. Then again, that's probably a good thing."
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Post by Makeshift on Apr 14, 2008 5:55:33 GMT -5
Leaving the strange watering room behind, Makeshift continues his trek. He pokes into other doors here and there, mostly finding storage closets, offices, and other rooms of the type. One rather large room, filled with rows of tables and the stale smell of food rotted to the point of nothingness, is investigated a bit extra, but the cafeteria reveals nothing of interest. Aside from small differences to account for the locals' extra appendages, the room and its adjoining kitchen could've been dropped into any workplace on half a dozen worlds without much fuss.
All along, it's obvious the place was abandoned in a hurry, just like the rest of the world. There's paperwork left laying on desks, the occasional jacket or other article hanging on a chair, and lumps that were once snacks scattered around. One large office contains what looks like it was once an aquarium of some kind, but the water is long dried up, the organisms inside are little more than dust and bones, and the pumps that once circulated air into the tank have burned out. That Unicron thing must've really spooked the locals.
And all along, there's that thumping sound, growing louder and louder, until finally Makeshift finds himself outside what looks like a control room. Of course, he can only guess at that, since the sign on the door is as illegible to him as the rest, but the doors are larger, sturdier-looking, and seem like they're designed to lock tight. A quick push, however, shows him that the locals, in their rush, didn't bother.
Pausing in front of the door, Makeshift switches on his radio. //Arcee, Boondocker, I've reached what looks like a control room. I'm going to send you the maps I've made so far, just in case something goes wrong.// Ever the optimist, this one. Once acknowledged, he'll begin transmitting the maps, which are noticeably more detailed than the environmental road maps from before, down to details like desk and chair orientation, and include brief notes on bits he's poked around on the way and callouts showing doors and passages he hasn't explored yet. Only once that is done will he cautiously push the control room door open, again leading with his right gun-hand and sweeping the room.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Apr 14, 2008 17:37:58 GMT -5
Arcee laughs. "I'm still convinced Slingshot made that one up, and I've seen the video logs." Certainly some of what the Earth-based crew had encountered was comical, almost the sort of thing one might have found in Daniel's Saturday morning cartoons. She nods, tapping the side of her head absently as she answers Makeshift's radio response. //Understood, Makeshift. Be careful.// *** Inside the control room, Makeshift may be surprised to see a robot 1, pushing a broom. With caterpillar treads instead of legs, it seems to be stuck trying to go forward, banging its arms (and the broom it's carrying) on the control panel occasionally. It's beeping, upon closer listening, may in fact be basic binary cursing. --- For a picture of the robot, see here: img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Zylly/2260-0032a.jpg
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Boondocker
Rookie
General Contractor at Large and Sanitation Engineer Second-Class
Pickup Man
Posts: 216
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Post by Boondocker on Apr 15, 2008 16:00:50 GMT -5
"Yeah, it were a lil' crazy..." he says, relaxing a bit, though snapping back to attention once Makeshift transmits. //Ten-four, good buddy. Jes' watch y'self.//
Boondocker has nothing against crazy cartoon stuff. He'd rather they be facing that now than what's coming up, honestly.
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Post by Makeshift on Apr 15, 2008 18:21:03 GMT -5
Well, this is...almost anticlimactic. A maintenance robot hitting buttons. Makeshift pauses in the doorway, watching for a moment. And listening; binary is like a second language to Mini-cons. This robot has quite a vocabulary.
He steps into the room, spreading his fingers just enough to not be directly aiming at the robot, but keeping them forward all the same. Just out of reach of that broom, he speaks up. "Er.....I come in peace?"
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Apr 15, 2008 20:07:00 GMT -5
Arcee would certainly agree with that, if she knew.
She casts a worried glance toward the comm. tower. "Hope it goes okay in there..."
***
The cleaning robot doesn't seem to notice him. It just keeps on trying to go forward, failing, and cursing.
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Boondocker
Rookie
General Contractor at Large and Sanitation Engineer Second-Class
Pickup Man
Posts: 216
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Post by Boondocker on Apr 15, 2008 20:25:54 GMT -5
Boondocker nods, but smiles. "Me too. S'pose it is so far. Ain't heard nothin' go boom yet, so..."
Keyword being 'yet'. Here's hoping Not-Johnny-5 is more friendly with Makeshift than he is with walls.
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Post by Makeshift on Apr 16, 2008 5:39:05 GMT -5
Makeshift watches the robot bang the wall for a few more seconds, then realizes with a sigh that it probably doesn't understand English. He steps to the side of it, still staying out of that broom's reach, and switches to binary. <Do not be alarmed. I don't want to damage you.>
While waiting for a response, he also sends a message to the others. //There's some kind of robot in here with a broom. It looks like its treads are stuck on forward, it's just banging into a console and swearing in binary. I'm gonna try talking to it.//
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Apr 16, 2008 20:18:49 GMT -5
"I hope so too," Arcee says. Suddenly, she brings her pistol up, tensing and looking around. "I think I heard something," she adds. "Let's check it out."
She gets Makeshift's message. //Understood, Makeshift. Good luck. We just heard something out here... going to investigate. We'll maintain radio contract.//
***
The robot actually stops in its progress to process Makeshift's binary message, and turns its head to look at him. <I must clean. I must clean. I must clean. So much dirt!>
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Boondocker
Rookie
General Contractor at Large and Sanitation Engineer Second-Class
Pickup Man
Posts: 216
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Post by Boondocker on Apr 16, 2008 20:41:12 GMT -5
Boondocker nods, then tenses some himself at Arcee's revelation, drawing out his own pistol, glancing back and forth. He switches to Arcee's frequency for communication, slowly looking back at where he came from. //Y'did? Which way did it come from?//
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Post by Makeshift on Apr 17, 2008 5:48:57 GMT -5
If he were capable of facial expressions, Makeshift would look mildly surprised. As it is, the slight tilt of his head might be enough. Who knew binary would be the universal language? <Are you damaged? You seem to be stuck.>
//Good luck. If it's a local robot, try speaking binary. This one seems to understand it just fine.// It doesn't occur to him that everyone else might not speak binary as easily as a Mini-con.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Apr 17, 2008 21:29:23 GMT -5
Arcee frowns, pointing off in the direction she's pretty certain she heard the sound from. "This way," she says, taking the lead. She sticks close to the side of the nearest structure, stopping every now and then to listen. Just barely, she can hear some kind of whooshing noise. Air being circulated somehow.
//Er... not all of us speak that, Makeshift.//
***
The cleaning robot pauses to look around again. //How did it get so dirty in here?//
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