robothell | [ 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...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

what do u mean stormy is exactly as he appears obviously

"Among other things! He added a million features." Like the little light that went on as soon as that sentence was out of her mouth. "Ha, there's the exaggeration indicator."

Talking about Brainstorm and her wrench inevitably led to thinking about what was going on with the disappearing crew and the badly-damaged Lost Light, and her mood sank again. "I hope he's okay. I hope everyone is."

"Ironic he's never put it on any of his inventions."

A soft revelation as they walk, Optimus inspecting the wrench slightly more before bringing up another one of the devices the wrench had been upgraded with. It's like watching an older man fiddle with new technology, to be honest.

Those eyes widen as he activates another, softly handing it back before lasers come out of it (you know they would).

"Do you...have reason to believe there's danger?" He certainly wouldn't be surprised, but it did give a sinking feeling to his spark.

gosh optimus it's only a megawatt laser that's basically a toy okay

"Do I have reason to--" Nautica's laugh was hollow at best as she accepted her wrench back. "Prime, first we found a coffin with Rodimus' body in it--while Rodimus was alive and well and giving Megatron headaches like always--and then the ship and most of the crew disappeared. The handful of us who were left escaped in the Rodpod...and then we found the Lost Light again, orbiting a planet. It was cut in half, leaking quantum foam, and showing no life signs." Even Nautica's upbeat good nature was no match for that, and she looked up at Optimus plaintively, as though he could fix it from here by force of will.

Did Brainstorm tell you that because never listen to Brainstorm.

But as he listens to her, his hand slowly (and probably involuntarily) reaches up and presses two fingers to the bridge of his nose. The fact that there are two Rodimus(Rodimii?) running around was a blood-pressure rise waiting to happen was enough. But the crew disappearing, the SHIP disappearing, and then reappearing shattered?

"The captains, were they accounted for?"

"The only people still around are the ones who weren't there for the Lost Light's initial launch, so...Megatron, Nightbeat, Skids, Riptide, Getaway, Ravage, and me."

Yep, she sure did just say Ravage was there.

"It has to be some kind of fault in the quantum engines, but I'm not sure what. Nightbeat and I had split off from the others" the better to get brutally murdered, like you do "to search for survivors of whatever happened...we found Brainstorm's briefcase in the lift, and then I found myself here--" She stopped short, looking stricken as something occurred to her. "...Right after we opened the briefcase."

Nautica liked Brainstorm more than he deserved, but even she was perfectly willing to blame some kind of universe-altering event on him.

"...Ravage?"

Sorry, but he doesn't remember Megatron sneaking the cat aboard. That would have been something he'd have liked to know. But that's a conversation for another time, with another mech.

For now, the problem she'd mentioned earlier.

"Briefcase? You mean...Brainstorm's briefcase."

"Right. We--Nightbeat and I--found it abandoned in the lift with the locks damaged. He opened it, but nothing happened, and it was empty...or at least that's what it seemed like. Now I'm not so sure."

She grimaced down at the offending briefcase. "Of course, just because one thing came before another doesn't mean the first caused she second."

But Brainstorm, though.

"May I?"

He holds his hand out, to inspect the briefcase. To be honest, he didn't want to look inside, and he wouldn't unless given permission. Because if Nautica didn't know what was inside, he didn't want to risk it a second time in an unstable environment.

"What do you think could be inside?"

Nautica handed the briefcase over without hesitation. Optimus had that effect on people.

"The locks were forced when we found it, and I'm wondering if whatever it was might have been stolen...or--or maybe if just opening it is the trigger for something."

Trying to think like Brainstorm gave her a headache.

He takes it gently, almost..hesitantly. There's not much to be seen from the outside, but he runs a hand over it, checking for heat signatures, any abnormalities. By all appearances, it seemed to be just an ordinary briefcase.

But then again, that's what Brainstorm would have wanted it to look like, wouldn't it?

"Stolen...were there any booby traps inside?"

Ones that actually trap boobies, perchance?

Oh god the Dad jokes are so strong they're ripping holes through to other continuities.

"I'm not dead or curled up on the ground convinced my existence is a futile mockery of life, so I don't think so. It didn't look like there was anything that had been set off before, either."

Nautica shrugged, at a loss. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, Prime, but..." she trailed off, though the unspoken "...it's Brainstorm" was still quite clear.

This is just the beginning, Nautica, just the beginning.

"Why would you--"

No wait, that's actually a very Brainstorm-like booby trap. His argument slowly dissipates as he hands the briefcase back.

"Hold onto it."

That's his only advice he can give for the moment. "And don't open it."

"Yes, sir." Nautica took the briefcase back with a nod. She hadn't been planning to open it, anyway.

After a moment of silence: "How are Chromia and Windblade? If you know, I mean."

At the question, his head tilts to the side.

"I've had no word from Cybertron since my arrival to Earth. Although..."

A pause.

"I was on my way back, when I was taken."

"Oh." Nautica didn't hide her disappointment as well as she thought.

"I'm sure they're fine," she said, ostensibly to Optimus, but directed somewhere in the vicinity of her own feet. She was as lousy a liar as she was an actress.

It's obvious it's just a facade. And while he's not exactly one to know what to say in a situation such as this, he'll definitely try for her. A hand rests on her shoulder, gripping it ever so slightly.

"Windblade is strong, and Chromia is...certainly more so. And with Ironhide there, I'm sure they're doing just fine."

...

"I'll make sure to check on them when I arrive back to our Cybertron."

Optimus' hand engulfed her entire shoulder, and she looked at it for a moment before raising her head to look at him, solemn. "You've got that backwards, you know. Chromia's a trained fighter, yes, but Windblade's the strongest of us."

His eyes look back down, matching her solemn ones with a reassured nod.

"A trained fighter, and a good friend. Windblade will be just fine, then."

It reminded him a lot of himself and Ironhide, really. And when Ironhide was lost, so was his strength.

[ INTRO LOG ]

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