robothell | [ INTRO LOG ]

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[ INTRO LOG ]

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 no one in sight -- right at first, anyway -- 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.

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, with the bits and pieces left behind and a few determined minds, it wouldn't be too hard to build a working, if rudimentary, one...

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The reaction warrants Mayday deeply bemused stare. Deciding his company was probably not going to be tolerated for long, Aftermath points to the hole blown through his knee.

"Do you know where to get medical supplies?"

Mayday's response is another squeak as he hunches up and draws his knees closer together, trying to make himself as tiny as physically possibly while still maintaining a standing position.

So far the big scary-looking guy hasn't tried to murder him horribly. That's... that's a good sign?

He finally shakes his head 'no' at the question.

Aftermath does the brow-less equivalent of raising a brow at the reaction. He knew he was admittedly rather intimidating, but it never made trying to deal with scared people any less awkward.

"Thank you," he says abruptly, inclining his head before turning to go.

"W-wait!" Mayday calls out without thinking, then glances around rapidly as if looking for who said that. Then he stares at Aftermath and begins to stutter.

"You- I mean, I- do you- h-have you seen- I, uh- where?" One question at a time, Mayday! You can do it!

He pauses with his mouth open wide as he waits for his processors to actually settle on one complete sentence.

There is another long stretch of silence in answer as Aftermath struggles to interpret the jumble of words being lobbed at him. He wasn't at the top of his game as it was, but he'd interacted with millions of people at this point in his life and it doesn't take quite so long.

"I do not know where we are. The stars indicate Cybertron, but the city, technology and architecture are unfamiliar," he begins, inclining his head slightly. "I have seen other mechs around, but they seem to be in a similar predicament. You see, they have all just awoken here, pulled from random places- and even different times. Perhaps even different worlds. It's all very curious."

Mayday gapes at Aftermath for a long moment, brain slowly processing the string of information being tossed at him. Overall, though, it kind of just confirms what he'd suspected.

Wrapping his arms around his head with a whine, he moans, "What is my life?"

"You don't seem too surprised."

Then again, Aftermath hadn't been too surprised either. You see some weird stuff during the war. Admittedly not trans-dimensional weird stuff but weird stuff nonetheless.

"This... isn't exactly... the first time this has happened to me?" He slowly folds up into a crouch, carefully touching the ground with nothing but his feet. Holding his head tighter, he proceeds to make a spectacle of himself. "Why? Why me? I'm not even important."

"... That is extremely unfortunate." He debates trying to console the small mech but it's difficult to squat down with a bad knee and he doesn't think the fellow would appreciate it considering how terrified he had been.

"You don't understand!" Mayday unfolds enough to flail his arms, sounding a little hysterical. "I made friends last time."

He fixes his gaze on Aftermath and says in a hushed voice, "Do you know how hard that is for me?"

"I'm afraid I'm not terribly familiar with you at all," Aftermath admits after a few seconds of silence.

Then, by way of somewhat belated introduction, "My name is Aftermath."

"It's really hard!" Mayday shouts, voice shrill, throwing his arms up.

The introduction short-circuits his bout of drama and he stares dumbly at Aftermath for a moment before finally putting his arms down and answering, "Um, I'm Mayday."

"It's nice to meet you."

The circumstances could be a bit better though. It's a lot easier to be polite and patient when he wasn't feeling so sluggish and pained.

"We should stick together for a while. There are others here and I'm certain they will group up at some point."

Mayday doesn't offer a hand to shake or return the sentiment that it's nice to meet Aftermath. He simply smiles awkwardly and twiddles his fingers in a little wave.

"Oh! Um. Stick together. Yes." He shifts restlessly, then adds, "I'm, uh, I'm not a hostage am I? I mean, you're... Are you- Decepticon?"

"I am, certain intra-faction disagreements on the subject aside. And I am also hardly in any condition to make you my hostage."

Mayday would have to stand still long enough for Aftermath to limp over. Gun pointing might help, but if the mech was sensible, he'd just run off.

Mayday looks a little faint when Aftermath acknowledges his allegiances. He looks even fainter when he glances down at the Decepticon's wounded knee, vague whining noises slipping out of his vocalizer. Injuries make him feel sick.

"Um, I could-" He shudders at the idea of touching someone's wound. "Maybe I-" He shivers at the thought of being that close to a Decepticon. "Er-" Okay, everything about offering to help repair Aftermath's knee sounds like a terrible idea. He laughs, awkwardly. "You know what, never mind?"

There's another extended moment of silence wherein Aftermath just gives Mayday a decidedly more bemused look.

"Well," he shrugs after a moment. "Alright."

What was that all about?

"Have you seen any maps around?"

Mayday laughs at Aftermath's bemused look. It is the most awkward and sad laugh in the universe. He resists the urge to bang his head against something.

"Um," he begins eloquently. "I've seen a lot of rubble around." That would be a 'no'. "And these weird plant things? They're kind of creeping me out."

This guy was kind of terrible at answering questions. At least he answered the questions eventually, if in a somewhat roundabout way.

"We should try and find some kind of transportation hub then," he decides and turns to start limping off.

Mayday is just terrible at being a social being in general. Be lucky, Aftermath, he used to be even worse!

Distracted from glaring suspiciously at plants, he says, "Oh! Uh. Transportation hub. Yes."

Mayday is already trailing along like a cringing puppy before he asks, "Why?"

"Because I need to see if there is some kind of map to a place where there might be medical supplies. If we're lucky, we'll find something that hadn't been fried or isn't digital."

Aftermath was getting kind of tired about explaining this whole 'medical need' thing, especially when he had a giant hold in his knee.

"Right, right." Honestly, Mayday has been doing his best not to think about Aftermath's knee. It makes him feel kind of I'll to do so. And kind of guilty, which really isn't fair, because why should he feel guilty?!

He's not a medic! And this guy is a Deception! Wouldn't helping him be treason or something? Except Aftermath is being pretty nice and not trying to murder him - unless this is all some sort of trap-?!

...no, that's stupid. Why would anyone need a trap to catch Mayday? Aftermath could just grab him if he wanted to catch him, and chances are Mayday wouldn't be able to break free.

So there's a guy who's being kind of nice to him and he's here, an engineer with some first aid training and he's feeling awfully like he should be helping. Ugh, what a terrible feeling.

"I MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP WITH YOUR LEG."

Wait, who said that. Oh Allspark, it was him, he said it. Dammit, mouth, he hasn't made a decision yet!

Cringing, Mayday comes to grips with the fact that what's said cannot be unsaid.

The shout nearly makes Aftermath jump out of his shell, good Primus. He trips and staggers before catching himself on a wall and staring back at Mayday in bewilderment.

"I. Well," He manages after a few long seconds. "That would be very kind of you."

"I can... I can... t-temporary patch?" Mayday cringes harder and lifts up one of his hands, transforming it into a plasma torch. "Maybe?"

He can hardly look at Aftermath and his... his wound. Oh sweet Allspark, why didn't he keep his dumb mouth shut? This is going to be terrible!

Mayday looked like he was about to blow a plug and that... did not scream very reassuring to Aftermath. Fortunately, most of the discomfort is hidden by his mask, but...

"You... look a little uncomfortable."

[ INTRO LOG ]

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