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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 14, 2011 20:55:21 GMT -5
Month 3, Week 1, Day 7- - - Sentinel Prime is futzing with his bonsai tree. It does not seem to understand that growing branches at angles that are not right angles is patently unacceptable and is punishable by pruning and wire. He keeps dithering on whether or not to keep it in his office full time or not. The thing is, he doesn't trust Breakaway with his tree alone, so he keeps taking it back to his room when he's not in the office. He has an appointment with Optimus, and he's still pretty confused about that, but right now, Sentinel Prime's mind isn't there. He's practically forgotten the appointment entirely. Sentinel Prime is entirely focused on wiring this one branch in place at exactly a right angle. It's as close as he'll ever get to the blank mind of Zen. This is going to be so difficult to explain when Optimus walks in on him. The door isn't locked.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 16, 2011 10:42:16 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime really doesn't need to be all that worried about Breakaway messing with his tree. The flyboy may be a loose cannon who doesn't play by the rules, but there are some lines you just don't cross, and messing with another man's tree is one of them. Unless he somehow managed to get hold of a tiny roll of toilet paper. Then all bets are off.
The door swishes open and Optimus walks in. "Sentinel? It wasn't locked," he says as he stands to attention. "Nice tree. Hope I'm not interrupting."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 16, 2011 14:01:13 GMT -5
The first thought that occurs to Sentinel Prime is to try to stuff his tree in the bottom drawer of his desk, as if it was a bottle of Black Tar of Thentis from ol' Maccadam's. The second thought is, You idiot! Who puts a tree in a drawer? So he ends up sliding the tree over to the side of his desk, so it isn't between him and Optimus as they speak. Sentinel Prime just pushes it lightly with the tips of his fingers, as if denying that it exists. Then Optimus just has to go and assert the reality of the tree, and it's a compliment, and Sentinel Prime can't resist compliments. So he explains lamely, "Uh, yeah, it's a... bonsai. Botanica had us do those one day. Mine's the best, because it looks like an antennae farm." "But no! You're fine. You... have an appointment, anyway," Sentinel Prime adds hastily, and he sets down his reel of wire over next to the tree. Since Optimus has caught him off guard, Sentinel Prime can't hide his rather puzzled expression. He's plainly baffled that Optimus is here.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 17, 2011 16:38:50 GMT -5
"It . . . certainly does," Optimus agrees. "You have questions for me?" he asks. He's baffled by Sentinel Prime's bafflement. He'd have thought Sentinel would be loving this.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 17, 2011 17:07:06 GMT -5
Optimus knows that Sentinel Prime is a huge jerk. Optimus is generally not crazy. Why would he willingly submit himself to more Sentinel Prime than he has to? Optimus doesn't usually acknowledge the sheer awesome that is Sentinel Prime, after all.
Sentinel Prime recovers, decides to go back to pretending that the bonsai tree does not exist, and calls up his list of questions. He replies, "I certainly do! Lots of them. Such as: why do you want to do this?"
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 18, 2011 19:58:33 GMT -5
Optimus falls naturally into an 'at ease' position, feet spread, hands clasped behind his back. Or it might be 'parade rest.' His player isn't really sure.
"I think it's the right place for me. I've met aliens before, on Earth, and even befriended them. It's critical that we maintain good relations wherever we can and, well, I know how to put on a good face." Plus, someone has to keep Sentinel and Elita-1 out of trouble!
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 19, 2011 19:04:45 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime is actually a little troubled that Optimus says 'good face'. Yes, that's what Sentinel Prime wants, it's just... he thought Optimus actually was the good one. Then Prowl told him about that debacle with the Dinobots. No, this Optimus hasn't done that yet, but... Sentinel Prime finds it hard to reconcile. People don't change that much that quickly!
(People ought to think about that when they think about Sentinel Prime.)
Sentinel Prime continues, sounding bored in a carefully fashioned careless fashion, "Now, I know you're fine with boredom... but since you just mentioning befriending aliens and maintaining good relations, how will you handle it if we make contact with a species that seems friendly enough, but once our guards are down, they make a sincere and concerted effort to kill us all?"
He gives Optimus a hard look. They both know what happened.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 20, 2011 11:22:04 GMT -5
Optimus is the good one! It's just that 'I know how to put on a good face' is more polite than 'I'm a better person than you and we both know it.' That's just not the sort of thing you say to someone who you're asking to be your CO. Also, Optimus didn't know the Dinobots were people and they had just done major damage to Detroit. So there.
"I'd fight back while trying to prevent any loss of Autobot- or Maximal, life. It's a sad fact, but not everyone can be reasoned with."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 21, 2011 20:51:27 GMT -5
The way Prowl said, it sounded like Prowl said they were people, and Optimus ignored Prowl. Sentinel Prime doesn't know what was really the real story.
Sentinel Prime twitches a bit when Optimus says not everyone can be reasoned with. Aside from the fact that Sentinel Prime is sometimes the poster child for unreasonable... Optimus sure keeps trying to reason with Blackarachnia.
How, he should ask how Optimus feels about performing, but Optimus already kind of answered that, so... "What are your opinions on Cybertronian-xeno relations?"
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 22, 2011 21:15:31 GMT -5
Prowl's kind of a jerk, so Optimus didn't really listen to him. Plus, when you're in command, what you say has to be the final word. Prowl wasn't even supposed to be there! They just found him meditating in the middle of nowhere trying to complete the training he washed out of. Anyway, Sentinel Prime doesn't have room to talk. He never listens to his cyber-ninja, and he's got a cool beatnik one with nunchucks.
Optimus Prime considered his words carefully before he responded to that last question. There's no reason to twitch. Sentinel used the words 'sincere' and 'concerted,' i.e. the aliens are definitely hostile and trying to kill us. Blackarachnia, on the other servo, can totally be saved! She's just misguided. And bitter. And self-loathing. And angry at the world. (And a horrible mutant.)
"After having spent a little time on Earth, I think our isolationist policies back home were a mistake. Friendly aliens have a lot to teach us, and we have a lot to teach them. If we proceed cautiously, we stand to gain a lot from interaction and trade with other species."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 25, 2011 21:02:36 GMT -5
"Hmm, that's kind of funny," Sentinel Prime comments, of Optimus's answer, but he doesn't elaborate. "Explain how you've acted in a team setting and what you accomplished out of it."
This should be a gimme question! Sentinel Prime wonders how Optimus'll screw it up, because he will, because he's Optimus.
Or maybe Optimus will surprise him. Wouldn't that be nice.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 28, 2011 12:24:47 GMT -5
"I led a space bridge repair crew for several [whatever weird unit of outer-space time we're using today]. I kept the younger members of the team engaged and on task despite the often repetitive nature of the work. I also led the team when we found the AllSpark, defeated Megatron, and established friendly relations with an alien species. I work well in a team setting, either giving or following orders."
Optimus's resume may be short, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 29, 2011 21:16:15 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime looks visibly unhappy over Optimus's resume, because he's supposed to. For good measure, he looks a bit incredulous, too. He's even patronisingly polite as he just moves onto the next question, la dee da, "Yeah. That's nice. So how do you react when someone knows a topic better than you do?"
Sentinel Prime should be jealous or wrapped in delusional disbelief over Optimus's accomplishments, possibly both simultaneously. He shouldn't be quite this blase. There should be more of a venomous bite to his patronising condescension, at the very least!
What's wrong with him? Sentinel Prime knows, and he wonders if Optimus will notice. It's such a fine line to toe, acting out his own personality, and it's one of the frustrations of his life that he can't always get himself right.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 30, 2011 11:22:10 GMT -5
Optimus does notice Sentinel's odd behavior, but he doesn't comment on it. Sentinel has been acting un-Sentinel-like for a while now, what with willingly touching trees and being nice to people. Maybe he's just assimilating into the culture here? One can hope. Anyway, one does not tell one's potential boss they're acting funny at a job interview.
"When someone knows a topic better than me? It's an everyday occurence. There are lots of things I know nothing about. You have to defer to their expertise." Optimus is thinking about Bulkhead here. He always needed careful guidance, except when it came to space bridges.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 31, 2011 22:39:58 GMT -5
"Really," Sentinel Prime says flatly, that whole thing that Prowl related still nagging at him. No, this Optimus has not done this yet and likely never will, but it just.... bugs him.
He moves on to the next question, "Do you feel you can reasonably handle this time commitment?"
Maintenance Prime slagging well better have the time for it! What the frak else is he doing with his life? Elita-1, possibly.
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