[ 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

[gimmicky]

The affection was definitely welcomed--maybe previously Trailcutter had been too drunk to register it (if it'd happened at all), but now...? A small smile spreads at First Aid's little bumps. And maybe giving an affectionate one back.

"Nothing beyond being sober. I guess I disappeared for awhile, but you remember me coming back, right? That whole weird situation?"

Yeah, he certainly remembers it, and remembering when he came back to a shocked Bluestreak and First Aid on one of the escaped ships. Slowly, he lowers First Aid to the ground, hands going to his hips as he looks around.

"If I had to guess....Cybertron. But...if it is..."

He leans in, whispering. "Bet you five shanix it's all Starscream's fault."

[lifepersists]

The height difference made being lowered somewhat awkward, especially when First Aid had one hand full, but he settles as his feet touch the ground. His stare drifts to his hand, still pressed against Trailcutter's armor, and his fingers curl tight around the brain module, hiding it in his palm despite the slight stabbing as the receptors pushed into the seams.

"Yeah..." He remembered. And Trailcutter didn't seem to remember what happened after. His visor dims, but he giggles at the whisper.

"When isn't it his fault? He couldn't even lead his way out of a gift box if he tried."

He drops his hands slowly and looks up at Trailcutter, then pats his arm gently with his free hand.

"Let me get a look at you. You still feeling fine with sobriety? No pains in the fuel tank? Strange smelling emissions? Unexpected backfiring? Headache?"

[gimmicky]

He takes a step back, to allow First Aid some room as he lets him down, although his lip contorts up in a little sneer. "Believe me, I already got that spiel. Some other doctor beat you to the punch, despite me already saying I had a designated medic."

She's a little abrasive, that's all.

"But uh...since we're going through the motions, I'm pretty good, except for the whole 'displaced onto another planet' thing. I'm not sure if I'm just hallucinating you or not, but...I'll stick with the more positive option."

Hopefully that's SOMEWHAT helpful.

[lifepersists]

"Oh. Well, you don't have to just get care from me. I don't have exclusive rights or anything to you."

Silly Trailcutter. Don't you know medics share? Except when they totally don't. Sharing was usually convenient only when they already had more work than they could handle, otherwise medics tend to protect their claim on patients like glamorbots did rich conjunx eduras.

"Pretty sure you're not hallucinating me, though." He can't say the same for himself.

"You been to the city yet?"

[gimmicky]

"Trust me, I'd prefer if it was you. She was a little..."

Mean. Demanding. No bedside manners.

"So! Anyway. Not a hallucination, got it. As for the city...haven't really bothered to walk in. Mostly because...I thought it was just me, you know?"

[lifepersists]

You're going to make him blush, Trailcutter. If he could blush. He's barely holding back the urge to hug again.

"Get that. If there's others, they'll probably be heading for it, though."

He looks him over, just trying to assess things.

"You sure you're feeling all right?"

[gimmicky]

Well, it's true. He puts a lot of faith in you, First Aid. Ratchet did, certainly.

"Well, we're not doing any good just sitting here. I'd rather be on the move then dead weight anyway..."

HAHAHA.

But the question makes him pause. It's not as if it wasn't like First Aid to question, but...something pinged him strangely. Something like First Aid knows there's something wrong. Maybe there's added affects to sobriety....or something.

"Well uh...I get the shakes sometimes. Lack of effective drinks, you know. But I guess that's from being addicted."

[lifepersists]

First Aid fights the urge to flinch. If only Trailcutter knew what he was saying. He forces a smile (with his visor, okay) and gives the mech a reassuring pat on the arm.

"Most of that is psychological. Your frame is recovering from years of intoxication, but even then most of it is your brain missing the the high. Rung may have some suggestions on some exercises that may be helpful in alleviating that."

First Aid won't get over how surreal it is to touch Trailcutter, when not so long ago he was carefully picking up the pieces of his corpse. He turns and looks towards the city, venting. He's got this.

"At the very least, we should get some shelter." He transforms, waiting in his ambulance mode for Trailcutter.

[gimmicky]

The pat to his arm is comforting, and the smile broadens at the medic's words. Just the fact that he's recovering at all, that he's just STARTING to. Megatron may have been a bit rough in turning off his chip, but maybe this was just what he needed.

Yeah, things were looking up.

"Yeah, I'll definitely ask him when I get back!" Goals to work towards once the Lost Light reappeared.

His gaze follows First Aid's, towards the city, and no sooner had he transformed than a truck had soon after. "Good idea. Who knows how long we'll be stranded in this place! I'll follow your lead."