[ INTRO LOG ]

[robotsatan]

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...

Comments

[milkruns]

Oh, well...hello there, giant tank. Luckily for Lock-On, June is used to giant talking robots who turn into vehicles, and so she doesn't look too intimidated. Besides, what is there to be intimidated by when this one is so polite? Frankly, June finds it charming, and she sounds like such a pleasant robot.

"Hello," June replies, raising an eyebrow. She's sort of delighted and amused. "Let me guess -- did you mysteriously wind up here with no idea of how you got here?"

[targetlocked]

"That is correct," Lock-On says, a little bit surprised. "Did that happen to you, too?"

Despite her surprise, Lock-On's bio-lights glow pleasantly. June's immediate willingness to chat is pretty nice, after all, and maybe she'll have some knowledge of what's going on. If not that, then maybe about the social situation.

[milkruns]

"I think it happened to everyone here," June says with a rueful smile, looking up at Lock-On. What a nice tank lady. She might be in the running for most polite Autobot so far. Sorry, Trailcutter, but don't worry, you're still cute.

"As far as I can tell, a bunch of Cybertronians -- and a couple of humans, too, just for kicks I guess -- just kind of got...zapped here all of a sudden. From what I understand, it's Cybertron...just not a Cybertron that anyone here knows."

[targetlocked]

So Lock-On was right about it being Cybertron. Kind of. "I have always wanted to visit Cybertron," she replies. Weird not-Cybertron or alternate-Cybertron or whatever-Cybertron is better than nothing, right?

Another bit of info catches her attention. "You are not a Cybertronian, so are you one of the humans you mentioned?"

[milkruns]

"That's right, I'm human. Wait, you've never been to Cybertron before? Aren't you an Autobot?"

June knows the planet's been wasted in other timelines besides her own, in some cases for a long, long time, and it makes sense that there'd be Cybertronians who'd be born -- or whatever -- off-planet during the war. June frowns at that thought. She hadn't considered what it must be like to be born so far away from what you're supposed to call home.

"I'm June, by the way. I knew some Autobots back home -- in my own world. From what I understand, there are people from different...universes here, or timelines, or -- don't ask me for the details, I couldn't explain it."

[targetlocked]

"It is nice to meet you, June. You may call me Lock-On."

Lock-On pauses. Talking or thinking about her creation always makes her feel a little ashamed, like she is less than those with actual ties to Cybertron and its culture.

"I am an Autobot, yes, but I am also a 'made to order' soldier. I was not created on Cybertron, and I was placed in an isolated training program as soon as I finished my required education. I have not seen...much of anything." She tries not to think about the fact that people like her were probably intended to be expendable and replaceable forces.

[milkruns]

"It's nice to meet you too, Lock-On," June says kindly, but she can't think of anything sadder than never having visited your own planet, honestly. Her face goes sympathetic, and since the giant tank lady obviously means her no harm, June has no qualms reaching up to pat Lock-On's treads.

"I'm sorry this is the state you found it in," June sighs. "I'm not from around here -- obviously -- but from what I understand...a war happened here, too, but no one I've seen here seems to be from this Cybertron, but alternate versions of it."

[targetlocked]

With most, Lock-On would have neutrally accepted the pats, and for some, she might have given a hands off the goods, buddy warning, but she feels differently with June. Maybe it's because June is small, or harmless, or...no, it's because she's kind – genuinely kind, and she shows it. June's sympathetic gesture goes a long way with Lock-On.

"That is strange," she says, momentarily bringing her attention to their surroundings. "I wonder what makes this Cybertron different, and what pulled us here. We will just have to investigate." They all just got here, and there must be plenty of clues and bits of information among the ruins. Then, brightly: "But I am curious about where you are from, too."

[milkruns]

"I mean, this is my first trip to Cybertron too, so I'm not sure, exactly..." June smiles, though, because this is one of the most pleasant conversations she's had since she got here. "Me? I'm from Earth -- I'm a human. I think there are one or two others here right now."

[targetlocked]

"I met another," says Lock-On, "but he seemed very alarmed when he saw me. I think I scared him." Maybe pointing her cannon at him gave him the incorrect impression that she wanted to murder him. It's just so hard to make eye contact as a tank, and who wants to walk around on legs? Not Lock-On.

"What is Earth like? Is it nice?"

[milkruns]

It is probably pretty reasonable that another human being might be terrified of a talking tank, but June's got kind of an adjusted baseline.

"It is nice! Nicer when it isn't being ravaged by Decepticons. Definitely a little greener than Cybertron, too. What about where you were stationed? What was that place like?"