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Post by Perceptor on Apr 5, 2011 21:23:38 GMT -5
Week 1, Day 4, Medical Bay. Semi-closed thread; PM to join.
True to his promise, Kup had not kept Perceptor imprisoned in the Brig for very long. Long enough to catch up on the defrag and rest he'd been missing while trying to take care of everyone and everything that had been damaged or injured in their escape from the Decepticons.
He feels guilty for having taken that time, too, even though even he can admit that he had badly needed it. This is why the moment that Kup had turned him loose, Perceptor has come back to Medical, to continue working on all the various things that still need done.
Like the CR pod being decontaminated. Or the coding from Springer's processor needing examined. The literally dozens of minor repairs for various individuals that still need to be completed.
And the medical check for certain moody swordsmechs who have just arrived from parts unknown.
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Post by Drift on Apr 5, 2011 21:49:50 GMT -5
(ooc: PercyPosing done with player permission. Bonus alliteration.)
There is so much wrong with this scenario. Starting with being ambulatory and going to medbay. Functional, healthy mechs did not go to medbay. Only weaklings and malingerers did, and Drift was neither.
And then...Perceptor. Drift didn't doubt that the scientist held a grudge about the whole, you know, shouting him down while he was in the brig thing. And now, the mech was going to get under Drift's dermal plating...the other way.
Probability of revenge? High.
And if Kup hadn't ordered this, he probably would have found a way to blow it off, but Drift had the idea that blowing off Kup, any Kup from any universe, would Not End Well.
Perceptor's doing...science-something when Drift walks in. With his back to the door. Seriously? Did the red mech have a micron of self-preservation? At all?
"RIGHT," Drift says, trying to make a point with the volume. "Paperwork. Let's get this over with." You know, because whatever Perceptor's doing couldn't possibly be as important as, you know, Drift hating being in medbay. Chop chop, nerd.
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 6, 2011 13:17:59 GMT -5
Stop thinking like a Decepticon, Drift. Healthy mechs go to Medical in order to stay healthy. Also? Perceptor has already used his entire revenge quotient for the whole year on Oil Slick; you're safe.
Well, mostly. You do have that incredibly interesting armor, after all.
Perceptor is not expecting any visitors, however, and the tool he is calibrating to test the contents of the CR pod for any further contamination goes flying as he nearly jumps out of his plating with a startled, "GAH!" He barely registers Drift as he scrambles to catch said tool, hands fumbling comically as he finally manages to snatch it out of the air and clutch it to his chest. Only then does he finally turn to face the door.
"Oh, ah, Drift," he stammers. "I, ah, was not expecting... Um, paperwork?"
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Post by Drift on Apr 6, 2011 13:38:19 GMT -5
Drift watches Perceptor's little one-item juggling show with a mixture of amusement and scorn. Protip, Perceptor: there's a war on. "Lucky it was just me showing up through this unlocked, unsecured door, instead of, you know, an enemy or something."
Don't you feel lucky, Perceptor?
"I don't know. Kup said I had to come down here. Get 'cleared' or something." He expects this 'clearing' will be extremely invasive. And painful. "So, just...sign whatever you have to sign and we're done."
Paperwork: Decepticon style.
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 6, 2011 13:58:33 GMT -5
Perceptor frowns as he runs sensitive fingers across his instrument to check for damage; luckily, it is intact and unbroken. "I find that locking and securing the door to the medical unit often restricts individuals from seeking care when they are in need of it," he replies stiffly as he sets his instrument aside. "As for an enemy penetrating this deeply into the ship while we are under way, and being able to do so without raising any sort of alarm in the process... One wonders, why would such an incredibly talented enemy attempt to infiltrate Medical rather than, say, the Bridge, or even my laboratory?"
He sighs - Drift seems to bring those out of him at a greater frequency than anyone else so far. "What do you do to relax, Drift? You do know how to relax, do you not?" he asks as he motions to one of the repair berths and gathers up some other equipment.
Sorry, Drift. No signature without the actual check-up.
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Post by Drift on Apr 6, 2011 14:06:57 GMT -5
Drift will never understand you and your freaky Autobot logic and common sense.
Drift will vault over your first refutation, and land squarely, with style, in the second. He wasn't a SiC for nothing. "If you take out Medical, you take out the enemy's ability to repair itself." In the face of protracted battle, denying reserves was a sound strategy.
"Or," he shrugged, pulling his Decepticon thinking cap more snugly around his helm, "a spy," not that he approves of such, "might plant contaminated stores. Bad for repair, bad for morale."
See? Drift isn't stupid.
He follows after Perceptor, balking at the berth. No way. He's fine upright, thankyouverymuch. He's not getting on some berth. That's for crippled mechs. "Relax when we've won," he mutters.
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 6, 2011 22:10:37 GMT -5
Oh, don't say that out loud, Drift; Perceptor would totally make it his mission to fix that.
"Ordinarily, I would agree with that summation," Perceptor replies, a thin frown flitting across his expression as Drift... hesitates. "However, there are materials and tools enough within my laboratory to act as a reserve medical unit." Which it has already been utilized as fairly recently, in fact.
That frown returns and deepens as Perceptor studies Drift for a long moment.
"Are you always this cheerful? Or have you unfettered the charm purely for my sake?" he asks drily, nodding, once again, toward the repair berth.
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Post by Drift on Apr 6, 2011 22:23:58 GMT -5
Wusses hesitate, Perceptor. This is straight up 'aw hellz naw' refusal to get on the berth. Which is exceedingly not-wussy. Because Drift is doing it. Obviously.
"All right," he sighs, "TWO spies." One to medbay, one to mess up Perceptor's lab. The one he couldn't seem to stay put in. Drift bets that lab had Special Awesome Security protocols, too, just like this place.
"What's to be 'cheerful' about?" He sounds incredulous. "War on. Mechs dying. Victory so far away we can't even imagine what it looks like." Well, Drift can, because he's been there. "Nothing to be cheerful about."
He sees your look and matches it with a chin-tipped glare. "Can examine me just fine like this."
Charm? What is that?
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 6, 2011 22:52:35 GMT -5
Perceptor cannot help but to smile at Drift's stubbornness. The obstinate refusal to back down or surrender to the current circumstances is almost childishly amusing to him.
"Plotting how you would single-handedly cripple the mighty Autobot armada, now?" he inquires. The thin smile wilts a little around the edges as he takes in the jagged, raw edges of Drift's very being. He is all... action and fury and sharp-edged, much like the blades he favors, and very, very dark, despite his pale plating.
"No one died," he replies gently. "For which, you bear some responsibility... and as such, credit for that small victory - for a victory I consider it." He wants to ask why Drift must focus so much on all the tragedy and despair and anger and pain rather than allowing himself to enjoy even the smallest, simplest things... but he remembers how little Drift had appreciated such questions during their chat in the Brig. It frustrates Perceptor to no end.
As does Drift's continued childishness.
"I suppose that I can," he replies drily. "I had merely thought that you might wish to be more comfortable while I perform a full systems' scan and examine your repairs to make sure that they are complete and integrating appropriately. It could take some time to complete, but if it is your desire to remain on your feet, then by all means. Never let it be said that I have attempted to impede an individual's desire for discomfort, after all."
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Post by Drift on Apr 7, 2011 6:57:01 GMT -5
Drift stiffens, hearing Perceptor's joke as some sort of accusation. "No. But someone should think like that, or else your battle plans are worthless."
Oh wait. From what he's seen of them, the Autobot battle plans are worthless.
"No one died, which is part of the problem." Not something for praise. Fraggin' Barricade got away. Oil Slick. There has been a serious deficiency in Drift's USRDA of killing lately. "How do you win unless you kill the enemy?" He knew Wing's answer. He had yet to hear from an Autobot.
Oh, this is going to hurt? Bring it on, nerdbot. Drift will educate you in some Decepticon stoicism. Also, his not-so-latent masochism.
"Repairs are fine," he balks. You know, with the excellent care he takes of himself. Except, not. He eyes Perceptor, and that bunch of tools he's gathered, warily. "You're...not a woman, right?"
Because Drift has taken a solemn oath against being touched by women.
(ooc: feel free to find a thousand things wrong with Drift....beyond the obvious)
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 7, 2011 19:09:20 GMT -5
"There is more to existence than winning. More to life than battles. We are more than mere weapons," Perceptor counters, shaking his head. His grandiose speech about how there needs to be less killing and more convincing, however, quite completely flies right out of his head at that last question.
"I-- wait, what?" he blurts, almost dropping everything in his hands in his surprise. "No, of course not. Why..."
"You... are not familiar with gender differentiation?"
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Post by Drift on Apr 7, 2011 19:22:22 GMT -5
Some of us, Perceptor. Some of us are more than weapons. Drift gives a lopsided grin. "For some of us, not starving to death was challenging enough. Never got around to any of your...fancier stuff."
Which he'd always derided as useless, the playthings of the rich and weak, until...New Crystal City.
Drift bridles at Perceptor's reaction. It was an honest question, wasn't it? Just like these overeducated snobs to try and make Drift feel stupid because he didn't have their posh lives before the war. "No. We don't have your stupid 'gender'. Or 'zombies'. Or cosmic rust. Or any of that."
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 7, 2011 20:02:56 GMT -5
It was an honest question, yes. About something so fundamental that Perceptor takes it for granted, because his reality didn't need some cockamaimie rationalization for the existence of females, damn you Simon Furman. He keeps forgetting that even the realities that share so many similarities - familiar analogs of familiar faces and such - can have some very fundamental differences.
"Simply because your reality does not have the same basis for comparison, does not make those concepts 'stupid', Drift." Perceptor pauses, struck by the mental image of Drift asking someone like Impactor or Swerve if they were a woman... and the resulting fallout. "Perhaps I should explain."
"Gender, itself, is nothing more than a classification of type. Some languages address aspects of their grammar by assigning, often arbitrarily, a 'gender' to nouns, pronouns, occasionally other participles. Such classification is merely a means by which to correctly conjugate, address, and show proper respect in regards to rank in most language. I can give you an example of such later, if you wish. I explain this aspect merely to demonstrate that the word 'gender' can be used to refer to different things."
He pauses to put his load of tools down, selecting from the assortment a scanner with an extension cable, which he disconnects.
"It can also be used to refer to certain characteristics of hardware. Typically, a binary system is specifically referenced - male and female. This," he explains, indicating the port on the scanner for the cord, "is generally considered a 'female' connector, while the jack that is inserted into the port is known as the 'male' connector."
"This differentiation is believed to have been directly inspired by the manner in which you utilized the concept earlier - that of sexual diversification with corresponding physical characteristics. In this specific instance, referencing a binary gender system of male and female. Man and woman."
"In many species, there are specific characteristics - physical, sexual, emotional, psychological - assigned to each 'gender', either masculine - male - or feminine - female. Am I making sense thus far?"
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Post by Drift on Apr 7, 2011 20:17:33 GMT -5
No, things that are self-evidently stupid are stupid, Perceptor.
He squirms at the wall of words Perceptor throws at his head. Still, Perceptor's actually trying to explain, and his explanation was way more thorough than Kup's had been. And more lucid than...whatever it was Twin Twist had said. "Yeah, heard about the grammar thing. Sorry, but some group deciding they get a special pronoun is...stupid."
He watches Perceptor's demonstration about the one part going into another with the connector. There's no way that doesn't look like a bad idea. He really hopes that doesn't have anything to do with this 'woman' thing.
He gives Perceptor a look that is halfway between 'askance' and 'dubious'. "Why only binary?" Two is a stupid number.
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 7, 2011 21:10:23 GMT -5
Perceptor frowns. "It is... a little more complicated than a group merely deciding that they 'get a special pronoun'," he replies. "The utilization of certain pronouns is merely an easier means of referencing fundamental differences with regards to the socio-sexual role of gender."
He thinks for a long moment and then turns to lean against the berth he had been trying to get Drift to have a seat on earlier. "Gender, in relation to the manner in which you asked me if I was a woman, is a fundamental part of, not only an affected individuals self-identity, but also the identity that other individuals who are familiar with gender concepts identify, identify with, and perceive that individual. It can be as deeply rooted, and as fiercely defended, as one's faction. It would be as if our language had invented a set of pronouns for those who wielded swords, and a different set for those who relied upon guns, and with inherent superiority attached to one or the other, depending upon which set one identified with. In such a case, to refer to a swordsmech like yourself with the pronouns of a ballisticsmech, would be insulting, or at the very least, confusing. That is something of an oversimplification of the differentiation between masculine and feminine identifiers, however, because gender is a very complex concept, even to those who have always been familiar with it."
Case in point? Farlane. He'll get to that later, in the advanced class.
"As for why a binary system specifically... There are other gender systems throughout the universe that utilize other numbers. Three genders, four, five..." Perceptor shrugs. "The reason for the Transformers in my reality adhering to a binary system is still a topic of study even now. In organic species, or other species that procreate sexually, there are some advantages to a binary system - characteristic diversity to enhance evolution, the ease of finding a suitable partner, the overt manner which can be used to determine the suitability of such a partner, the divergence in specific roles within the family unit, social structure..."
He trails off, suddenly realizing that he's rambling again... and Drift hasn't told him to shut up. He should probably not look this proverbial gift horse in the mouth.
"Based upon my observations, males of many species tend to have a size advantage over females. Males tend to be more appropriately designed to protect and defend his family unit, and thusly, are more suited to be combatants than females. Males also tend, because of this, to have heightened aggression subroutines or instincts. Masculine ideals generally favor size, strength, martial skill... power."
"Females, however, tend to be the caretakers, and the individuals who will actually produce the offspring within those species that reproduce sexually. The materials that form the progeny are absorbed from the female's body during it's development. Females tend toward softer lines, more fluid build. Often, females are physically weaker than males of the same species, but are generally far more empathetic, and are less restrained with their emotions. Typically, females are also more aesthetically appealing than their male counterparts, a strategy utilized in attracting the strongest, most viable mate."
"Granted, these are also oversimplified generalizations based upon the races which I am most familiar with that utilize such a binary system, as well as generalization gleaned from my own experiences in my reality, where females, while no longer common, due to the depredations of the war, are still extant. There are other races where these descriptions may be completely opposite, or have no bearing whatsoever. In the case of ourselves, however," he explains, waving one hand to indicate the average Transformer in general, "it is a fairly accurate representation."
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