nexus_sages | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Until he joined the crew of the Lost Light, Pipes had only ever been on Cybertron and space stations. And so, he joined up to see the universe, and have adventures, and make friends. He was very eager, very enthusiastic, very excited to be on his way.

Unfortunately, most people don't really like being around someone who's very eager, very enthusiastic, and very excited. Most people find that very annoying. So the making friends thing didn't really pan out all that well.

And as for adventures...mostly, he got hurt. He got shot and sick and hurt. Which...are sort like adventures. Maybe? At least he got to see some of the universe. He also got to see a lot of the medibay.

Then he saw the bottom of Overlord's foot. A few times, actually.

And then? Then, well. Then he died.

And that's where we come in...

A small mech wanders into the Nexus...well, he's small by Cybertronian standards. To the average humanoid, sixteen feet is possibly not that small. It's funny how that works, isn't it?

He looks around, optics bewildered behind their visor shield. "Um," he says after a moment, fingers twisting together with soft metallic whirs. "Um, is this the Afterspark? Cos...this is not at all what I was picturing."

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Not a nice whiskey, no, but give him a strong engex and a crazy-straw, and he’ll be super into it.

“Yeah, no, you’re right. I should do this. Avoiding the issue won’t make it go away, right? Right. Okay. So. I’m gonna sit down and then. Then we’ll work this out. I’ll work this out.”

"Right." She glances around and then juts her chin in the direction of a wall that should be sturdy enough to serve as a bench for him. "We'll figure this out."

He nods and sits carefully, folding his hands in his lap. "Right. So. Do I, uh, do I just...start with what I remember?"

"That's probably the easiest place to start," she agrees after a moment's thought. Ver curls up on the wall near him, far enough back that she's not going to strain herself looking up at him. "I've never done this before, so... can't say I'm entirely sure."

"I've never done this before either...so...if we both thing it's the place to start, then it must be so." He nods solemnly. "So. So I was on the ship. The Lost Light. It's a hop ship, y'know?" Because she'll totally know what he's talking about. "And. And, um, it was movie night and I was in a hurry cos I hate to miss the beginning."

She can make some educated guesses from context. A 'hop ship' sounds like something meant for long-distance travel, possibly in space. (She has met people and read things, and let's face it, that's not so unheard of where she's from.) (Also her possibly racist belief that robot societies have to be more technologically advanced, because robots.) "And since you were in a hurry, you...?"

She's pretty close on all of that...even the vaguely racist notion that robots have to be more technically advanced. Because they kind of are.

"I went into my alt-mode, so I could go faster. And then I ran into, um, Primus, I don't even know who he was, but he was huge and I ran into his leg. I should've been paying more attention, but I was in a hurry. I apologized, but..." He shakes his head. "I guess I made him mad, 'cos then he smashed me up. With his foot."

She doesn't mean to be racist, she isn't even really aware of the racism. She is imperfect and has tried very hard to accept all the kinds of people there were back home and that's a lot of change for any one person to manage in a lifetime.

"Alt-mode?" And now he's lost her. "I'm sorry that happened."

It's not terribly racist, and he wouldn't be offended if he knew.

"Oh, uh. I can...well. My people, where I come from, we can change into other things. Vehicles, mostly, sometimes animals. And my friend Rewind turned into a giant memory stick, can you imagine? Then there's mono-formers, but now I'm getting off the subject and I don't much like to talk politics. Anyway. Alt-mode. Alternate. So...like I am now? That's Robot-mode. That's basically the default. But see, we can also do this..."

He stands and moves a little bit away before transforming into a small vehicle with to large exhaust pipes. "See? Alt-mode!"

She'd be grateful for the little mercies in life if she knew.

Politics? Losing her again. But she'll take as much in as she can. Other questions can, she supposes, wait for later. Plus now he's suddenly a car. That was.

Well.

He did warn her.

"Wow. That's... how are you still talking?"

Alt-modes (or the lack thereof) are Very Serious Business to some Cybertronians. Wars have been fought. People have died. It's all been kind of a mess.

But yes, he's suddenly a car. And he did warn her.

"...uh. Same way I was talking before? Should I not be able to talk?"

Where she comes from, some people have 'alt-modes' in that they're Mutants or Inhumans or have magic or are shapeshifting aliens. That last one is more literal.

"I..." She pauses, takes a breath, and thinks about it. "I guess it's not that different. Sorry. I'm not used to cars talking." No, she never saw that show on tv. Or that one, either. "So... did Primus hurt you on purpose, or do you think maybe it was an accident if he didn't see you?"

"...if they don't talk, how do they communicate? Never mind. Not important." He pauses. "Oh! No, no, uh, it wasn't Primus, Primus is The Creator-God. I'm, I'm sorry. This all must be so confusing to you. The guy that hurt me, he totally meant to do it. He stomped me so much, there was no way it was an accident. Plus, he was looking right at me while he was doing it. It. It was pretty bad."

"They don't. The cars where I came from weren't sentient."

She thinks back, realizes where she misunderstood, and hums softly. Then she shakes her head. "I'm sorry. That must have been horrible."

"What, so they're just...cars...?" The idea of non-sentient cars is just too weird for him and he shifts back, frowning slightly and sitting on the ground.

He's silent for a moment, then sighs. "...thanks. It was pretty bad, yeah. I just hope he didn't hurt anyone else. Especially not anyone important."

"Yeah. Just machinery that people have to steer for themselves, even." That might have been changing soon, except nothing's changing there anymore. Fucking Incursions. On the other hand, her world ended in the poetically-appropriate fire. No stomping. That's something like a mercy.

"I hope so too." She very much doubts it stopped. It sounds too much like an attack, an invasion of some kind. Maybe the rest of his crew lucked out, and it won't hurt her to let him hold onto that hope.

I very much doubts it stopped as well, but he has to hope. "...I sounded the alarm, at least. So. So maybe they had a chance?"

Hope is important. Important enough for her to envy the people who can have it so easily. (Sometimes, you only know the value of a thing by the empty space its lacking leaves.)

He needs his hope, so she'll try to offer him a little reinforcement. Is touching considered comforting for robots? Let's see how it goes. Her hands are so small against him. "Yeah. You died a hero. That's a noble thing."

The touch is comforting and he gives her an almost shy look. "...d'you really think so? A hero?"

Good to know their species have that in common. "Yeah. You were scared and hurting and you thought about saving your friends. That's heroic to me."

And she would know. The 616 was kinda an expert in heroes.

She does seem to know what she's talking about, so he'll accept it.

He's quiet for a few long moments, then quietly says "...thank you."

The thanks is answered with a thin smile. She knows just how much that kind of idea does and does not help.

"Some people say I ended up here because it's how I can be a hero," she offers after another quiet moment. "I couldn't find a way to save my universe, but we found a way to save some others from the same thing... and I have to be here to recognize the people who need the information."

He glances at her, head tilted. "...your whole universe</> is gone....?" At least it was only his life he lost. "...wow, that's. That's rough."

She nods, lips pressed tight together, and doesn't say anything for another long while.

"It's not great, but... life here is pretty good. And I'm glad I can help other people avoid what happened." She reclaims her hands to wrap her arms around her legs. "I'm not always sure there's as much reason for what happens as people want to believe, but it's kind of nice to think we're not just here because of random chance."

He wraps his own arms around his legs. "I guess you're right...and maybe there is a reason I'm here." Because he's not going to think about randomness. "Maybe Primus sent me here. Maybe it was like when he took my friend, Shock...or was it Ore...? I don't remember which one, but the quantum engine stuck him in a wall? And then, even though he was dead, he woke up again? And. And then, Primus called him and he disappeared."

It actually had nothing to do with Primus, and everything to do with the quantum engine, but he was just...going with the Primus thing.