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robot satan ([personal profile] robotsatan) wrote in [community profile] robothell2015-03-05 09:12 pm

[ INTRO LOG #2 ]

You don't know how you got here. One minute you were walking, sleeping, maybe dead -- then you're here, your feet suddenly carrying you down an empty street. Where's here?

Any Cybertronian would recognize this as their home planet, Cybertron, but it's not a Cybertron they've ever known. It has all the familiar hallmarks, but none of the specifics -- the city isn't one anyone here could identify, and even at a glance it's obvious that no one's set foot on the planet's surface in hundreds of years. The city and its surrounding areas all bear the marks of devastating war, of dust and rust collected over centuries. With other people relatively scarce, there's plenty to explore. In fact, if you start walking, you'll find that your feet may just carry you in one particular direction.

Despite its obvious ruin and aeons-long abandonment, the city and surrounding areas do bear some signs of recent habitation. There's a small but growing population of other people, Cybertronian and otherwise, and there's evidence of their presence -- areas of the city that have been cleaned up for use, intact rooms in ruins of buildings where people have set up to live, a few terminals here and there that have been restored to power.

A) The crater.
On one edge of the city is a massive crater left by some wartime weapon that seems to have taken out a large chunk of the surrounding metropolitan area. At the center of the crater it's broken through the surface of the terrain to reveal what looks like it might be a promising energon deposit. There is some strange but native vegetation growing around the edges, too, that no Cybertronian would be able to identify -- small, metallic, brittle-looking sprouts that bear a curiously organic-looking fruit of some kind that doesn't look like it's intended for consumption by any natives of the planet. In one rocky nook of the crater, light catches on the surface of a pool of water, which seems strangely out of place on Cybertron. On closer inspection, it seems that somehow an underground water source has formed a spring in the crater.

B) The center of the city.
If you follow where your feet seem to want to carry you, you'll find yourself in the middle of the ruined city. It seems that the center of the city was once home to a massive forum, and some of the pillars and structures still stand. At the very center of the forum is a massive, elaborately constructed fountain, although it has now long since run dry of whatever used to fill it. One of the low, inner walls of the forum has a terminal embedded in its surface, although it looks curiously ancient, out of place with the rest of the city, and unlike the rest of the technology still left around, there doesn't seem to be any way to power it on or operate it. There are a few scattered pools of water and a few of the strange metallic plants in the city, too, but they're not quite as plentiful as in the crater.

The planet was obviously once home to a massive network of communication relays, but those have all been long since destroyed. However, a few enterprising transplants have worked together to set up a working local network, which can be accessed via any one of the public terminals, any built-in comms systems your character might have (audio only), or a handheld device produced by one of the people who set up the network.
primebyproxy: (The usual ridiculous spark of hope…)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-04-11 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"But–" But how can they not care he wants to ask. How could they know? Magnus very nearly shakes Rodimus as though that will make everything make sense again. "But how?" is all he manages, with a dozen other questions packed into those two words. "And who is the Lost Light? I don't – I don't understand."
primebyproxy: (Think about it.)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-04-11 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
How could anything be worse than what's already happened? Magnus power cycles his optics to clear the feed and refocuses on the smaller Autobot, trying not to frown too deeply. He doesn't want to seem angry when he isn't.

"Just tell me," he says. "Tell me what's happening. Why I'm not in my cell, where everyone else has gone… why… why the drones aren't in the sky."

[personal profile] sciencetank 2015-04-12 07:49 am (UTC)(link)


"I've... never been in a cell in my lifetime," he says, mystified. In all his experience, he can't remember a time when he'd even be near a cell. Much less inside one.

Not to mention... Optimus' huge friend had crushed Megatron. He hadn't returned.

"I'm afraid, perhaps, this is a case of mistaken identity."
planate: (o_o)

[personal profile] planate 2015-04-12 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Pipes vents a few times.

"Weeeell, so far all we've figured out is that this is not the Cybertron any of us know and also it wants us to learn to work together. Also, the multiple universe theory is apparently true because not everyone here is from the same timeline."

A beat.

"Also, organic plants!"

This is Pipes trying and probably failing to soften the blow.
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (THINKING THINKY THOUGHTS)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-04-13 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
"You died. Or not you, but someone in the armor. And he wasn't actually dead, but that's how we found out." He's such a helper. He can talk about his ship, however. "The Lost Light is my ship. Crew of two hundred Autobots out looking for the Knights of Cybertron!"

Yeah, okay, that part never actually gets old.
rodders: (I'M NICK ROCHE'S FAVORITE)

IT'S BEAUTIFUL

[personal profile] rodders 2015-04-22 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"But it hasn't happened to me!" He protests, as if that makes all the different with regards to Magnus and her unshakable conviction. "I've been here for ages, Magnus. Ages."

A few weeks, give or take.
smallandincharge: It... irritates me (Don't say I'm irritable)

IM GLAD YOURE ENJOYING IT

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-04-23 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"That is -- completely irrelevant!" Magnus snaps, making a broad swiping motion with her hand that nearly hits Rodimus in the face. "This is not about you, Rodimus, this is about Brainstorm, and how he -- how he nearly..." Magnus deflates with a sigh and pinches the bridge of her nose. "And now I've lost my train of thought entirely. Wonderful. What were we even talking about?"
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (THIS IS GONNA BE FUN)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-04-25 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Uh. Brainstorm? Time travel." He's lost it, too, and grins sheepishly - but winningly, somehow - up at her. "C'mon, Magnus. I've been here for a while. Most everyone's here too. We've got this."

They've got this even more now that she's here, his other point in the trinity that is him, Drift, and her. That's what's important here.
smallandincharge: I think it just means... ugh. (Ugh)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-04-25 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
Magnus gives Rodimus an odd look. Not harsh, just... odd. "Yes, it seems that you often do 'got this', somehow. I'll never quite understand how you manage it."
Ultra Magnus vents another sigh, as she contemplates the ruined landscape. "So. How about you try and tell me where, exactly, 'here' is?"
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (UGH MATURITY)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-04-25 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Rodimus shrugs, feeling as if this falls into the category of things Magnus says along with the stuff about how she doesn't think she has that 'whatever it is' that makes him him. Magnus doesn't ever give herself enough credit as far as Rodimus is concerned.

"Cybertron, just not our Cybertron." Ah yes, that's very clear, Rodimus. "The energon is green."
smallandincharge: Seriously Rodimus (This is absurd and illogical)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-04-25 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, yes, I had assumed as much --" Magnus breaks off. "The energon is what?" She stares at Rodimus in disbelief. "How is that remotely -- how could Brainstorm have -- is it all curdled, or -- what does that even mean?"
primebyproxy: (And you know what?)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-04-26 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
Magnus has never heard of any Knights of Cybertron. It sounds like a grand fairy tale of some sort, really.

What's more important to him right now is the rest of Rodimus' answer: that somewhere, there was someone else who wore his armour, or armour like his. That somewhere, there was another bot who carried his name, and died thus. Someone this bot thought – thinks? – of as a friend.

What does he even say to that?

"…O-oh," he mumbles as he lets go of Rodimus and sinks to his knees, exhaustion taking over once again. He's too tired for this, and he hangs his head as he tries to think. He might be too tired for that, too.
primebyproxy: (Peace… wouldn't have worked…)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-04-26 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
It isn't that Magnus doesn't process what he's told; he does. But it's all so bizarre and nonsensical that he has to run it back through more than once in an attempt to parse it properly.

This is a mistake on his part, as he goes into a loop trying to understand the idea that he's been pulled away from one Cybertron to another. Or that there was even a multiple universe theory.

Something audibly pops and his optics go dark. Then he simply topples over.
planate: (booty)

[personal profile] planate 2015-04-27 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Uh, Magnus...?"

Pipes' optics widen when he realises what's about to happen, skittering backwards in a complete panic. BOY HOWDY IT SURE WOULD BE AWKWARD IF HE GOT CRUSHED TWICE!!

He just about manages to avoid it, ending up sitting in front of him and wandering what the hell to do now. He taps Magnus's helmet a few times. Fuck.

"...Don't be unconscious for more than an hour, alright? I hear that's bad for you. I'm gonna try and contact a medic."
primebyproxy: (It all fell apart.)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-04-27 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
That particular command stops Ultra Magnus cold – though in his condition, it still takes him a second or two before he can actually stop his mass. He stares at Sentinel in bewilderment; student of his Prime he may be, but the war he's had to fight has coloured his opinions rather heavily against just this sort of thing.

"But – sir?" he stammers out, not ready to outright question the Prime but unsure all the same.
staygoldponybot: best friend i ever had (i once worked with a man for three years)

[personal profile] staygoldponybot 2015-04-27 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Listen, Sentinel loves unfair murder as much as the next guy, but there was that time he almost DIED.

He dims his optics and shakes his head.

"I know." GOD does he know. He puts a hand on Magnus' shoulder. "We don't have enough here to justify acts of violence."

Also, Optimus would probably kick his shit in again.
primebyproxy: (They looked to me.)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-04-27 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"…" Mistaken identity? But – no, this is definitely Perceptor, he's sure of it. Magnus' look of befuddlement slowly changes to one of worry as he takes in his surroundings again, turning in a ponderously slow circle before coming back to Perceptor.

Or someone who somehow isn't Perceptor.

"I don't understand," says Magnus. "You're – you're Perceptor, though, aren't you?" He can't be that addled.
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (MAYBE CHROMEDOME GOT ME)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-04-28 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
He shrugs. "It's just green. Tastes the same. I guess, it's not like we've got a choice."

Drink green energon or starve. Rodimus knows which one he'd rather do.
smallandincharge: Seriously Rodimus (This is absurd and illogical)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-05-01 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
"But, you don't understand," Ultra Magnus protests weakly. "The color of unrefined energon comes from its fundamental chemical properties - how it refracts light on an atomic level. It can't just... be green, it has to become green, or be made green, or -- something! That's how energon works! That's how the universe works!" Magnus is looking legitimately distressed at this point.
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (OKAY SO THAT'S A GOOD POINT)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-05-02 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
Another friendly pat as Magnus collapses, before it clicks that maybe something isn't quite right about this entire situation.

"Hey, I know it's a lot to deal with. Trust me - bit of a headache when I found out. Still! One Magnus is as good as another." And yet another pat. "I'll take you to meet my crew. Well, except Megatron."

And here he makes a face of disgust, because he's STILL not over that.
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (WHY THIS)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-05-02 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hey, hey," he says, putting a comforting hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her down. "Don't think about it to much, Magnus."

It's always been a problem for her, he knows, but he can do his duty to get her to stop.
smallandincharge: I think it just means... ugh. (Ugh)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-05-02 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Ultra Magnus turns to look at Rodimus for a long moment. Then she abruptly crumples into a sitting position on the ground with a thunderous clang, face resting in her hands. "I just want things to make... sense. Why is that always so much to ask?"
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (IT'S CONFUSING)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-05-09 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
"C'mon Magnus, it's not that bad."

It is. It is that bad, Rodimus, you can't see it because every day of your life is like this.
smallandincharge: Seriously Rodimus (This is absurd and illogical)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-05-09 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"-- and the endless optimism!" Ultra Magnus exclaims, abruptly turning the conversation back by two minutes. "I don't know how you manage that, either. Keeping your chin up for the sake of the troops is one thing, but you always manage to be so --" Magnus gestures vaguely with one hand in Rodimus' direction, in a gesture that somehow seems to encompass all of his Rodimus-ness -- but then her arm slumps back down again in silent defeat, her face still pressed into her other hand.
Edited 2015-05-09 22:50 (UTC)
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (ENJOY DEATH MEGATRON)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-05-10 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hey," he says, tone more sincere now than he was a second ago - although he always means what he says a good chunk of the time. His grip curls on her arm, smile still in place like it always is. "That's because it's my job. Just like yours is to be overly organized and clean things obsessively."

Another flash of a grin as he pulls his hand away. "And anyway, I think everyone would think you'd been Shadowplayed if you started acting cheerful and smiling at everyone."

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