With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Neruz · Jul 28, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
And not just the flesh-eating kind, either. Quite a few forms of plant-life have nasty poisons and acidic juices as a byproduct of maturing seeds or defensive adaptions. And some of those poisons and acids are quite tasty in weak quantities...

And some of them are not only toxic but also highly flammable.

Mr Zoat · Jul 28, 2024

GigaVanguard said:
Shouldn't.
Compelled.
Close.
Doing.
Your.

Thank you, corrected.

Neruz said:
And some of them are not only toxic but also highly flammable.

California: We have annual problems with wildfires. But what if the trees also exploded?

Neruz · Jul 28, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
California: We have annual problems with wildfires. But what if the trees also exploded?

But they're real fast growing hardwood you can make so much money with these aggressively homicidal trees.

Lord Ernest · Jul 28, 2024

I'm not sure if I've understood the Dominators' actual motivation for setting all this clusterfuck. I get that it essentially blew up in their faces and those directly responsable are now trapped and possibly lost in The Dream, but what were they trying to accomplish and why did their high caste bosses sent them to do this?

Also, wonder if we are gonna end up with a whole new Orange Lantern at the end of this, this eponymous Great-Mother. Personally, I would get rid of the whole place, Mother Star, parasyte Great-Mother and plant-sperm-drones all, but the Illustres doesn't think like that, to his eventual and innevitable detriment.

Neruz · Jul 28, 2024

Lord Ernest said:
I'm not sure if I've understood the Dominators' actual motivation for setting all this clusterfuck. I get that it essentially blew up in their faces and those directly responsable are now trapped and possibly lost in The Dream, but what were they trying to accomplish and why did their high caste bosses sent them to do this?

The Dominators are here to do what they always do: SCIENCE!

Stsword · Jul 28, 2024

Well I for one am disappointed that there were no fruit grenades.

Because explosive fruit is actually a thing.

View: https://youtu.be/9c0Uu04RpF4?si=-I-4wATkHk7zTF5S

Thoracto · Jul 28, 2024

So, uh, is it just me, or does breeding a Great-Daughter that has a connection to both the Orange Light and the Grey seem like a great way to trigger some kind of organic gray goo scenerio?
Not to mention the Dream powers and potential Star Conqueror aspects.
I hope Gary has good pull-out game, or whatever the equivalent is here.

Ardy · Jul 29, 2024

Thoracto said:
So, uh, is it just me, or does breeding a Great-Daughter that has a connection to both the Orange Light and the Grey seem like a great way to trigger some kind of organic gray goo scenerio?
Not to mention the Dream powers and potential Star Conqueror aspects.
I hope Gary has good pull-out game, or whatever the equivalent is here.

They're in space, so as long the SI can fuck up any kind of engines it makes that's lot a problem in the short term

Mr Zoat · Jul 29, 2024

16th April 2013
03:21 GMT -5

"You." I point to the ball that was confronting Lantern Son. "Beyond breeding, what are Great Mother's highest priorities right now?"

"Assess the qualities of the prospective mate for utility. If the prospective mate passes the assessment, then the rendering will begin."

"And how does it change her threat assessments?"

"I would not be communicating with you if you threatened the mating."

"And the Great Mother's other new priorities?"

I look up, and the vines have almost completely stopped moving. They have stopped shimmering, and I'm not feeling even slightly ill looking at them.

"Suspended."

"So if I try-" I point to the mound containing Swamp Thing. "-breaking into that, what happens?"

"We do not care. We will take no action."

"Neat. Thanks." I fly over to the larger containment unit, taking my x-ionised knives out of subspace. "Lantern Son, try breaking the other one open."

"Why?"

"Because it's part of what the aliens built, and getting rid of it will make freeing your mother easier."

Lantern Son drifts slowly past his brother to begin with, but when his brother takes no action against him he accelerates, forming some sort of construct probe tool.

Right. Let's-.

"Can I come out now?" Bleez says, already emerging from cover.

"Yes, actually." X-ionised knives are… Not cutting it. The slight shimmer… I'm going to guess that this is hard-wired into whatever system regulates the Dream-reality interaction. "And pass me that sword."

One of the other balls drifts closer. I think it was the one that melted my skin off. It doesn't really seem to have any particular purpose in its movements, but since they appear to be feeling helpful…

"Why are you coming this way?"

Bleez hesitates. "You wanted the sword."

"Not you. Thank you." I take the sword from her extremely carefully and then move it so that my right gauntlet is firmly holding the grip. "The ball closest to me."

"In the absence of an order from Great-Mother, we are spacing out so that we can respond to her commands when she is finished."

"Let me know if anything I do is harmful to Great Mother, and I'll stop at once."

But for now I cut… Yes, this sword is going in… Not 'easily', but easily enough for my current purposes. I'm sort of hoping that cutting a large enough hole in the exterior will cause the spells… Or technology, or Dream connection, to get disrupted.

"What is that sword made of?"

"It's a manifestation of desire. Think of it-" A chunk of the mound falls out, and I-. I form a railgun and try shooting it with a mage slayer. No, no effect. Keep cutting. "-as a sort of super-construct."

"Do other Lanterns use them?"

"No idea. I suspect that I can only do this due to being very powerful and being in a place where reality and Dream overlap dangerously. And I doubt that Morpheus will give me more Dream sand to use it in the field regularly."

The shimmer is… Changing. I'm having at least some effect. For a moment I consider 'Feed Me', but… I don't want to actively get on Morpheus's bad side, and I'm reasonably sure that's what would happen if I started eating his domain. Even if he let me pay my debt off, I don't really have the time. Keep cutting keep cutting-.

Something changes and the shimmering stops. Immediately I generate buzz saw constructs and slice cleanly through the mound, revealing…

Ah…

Something that looks a bit like a coral growth, a bit like a plant and… A bit like a computer? I mean… I assume that Swamp Thing could be-.

I switch to my plant manipulation construct and try empowering Swamp Thing, on the assumption that he's there, locked inside it. Nothing appears to happen, but I give it a moment…

For a moment I see a phantasmal green hand reach out through the mound, as if trying to grasp something. And then it's.. pulled.. back inside by… Something.

Okay. Possibilities. This could be an anchor, in which case the thing to do is destroy it. That would cause Swamp Thing to either snap back to Earth, appear on the Mother Star, or be stuck wherever he is at his current wavelength. Which is fine because he already knows how to change that and how to return to Earth on his own.

This could be some sort of physical portal to the Dream. Except rather than a neutral part of the Dream or a… What's the word? Totemic location, it's going to be alien starfish monster at best and Dominion booby trap at worst. And I doubt that Morpheus would care unless they were actively damaging his realm. Keeping a dead dream alive is something that he might find poetic or interesting.

Wait, is that..?

I reinforce my armour with a construct and shove, ripping the mound wide open and…

And revealing the dominator with vines inserted into their skin in a dozen places, organically 'wired' into it. Large red circle, though smaller than the overseers at the Starlag prison. And still alive, as far as I can tell. Looks like a similar system to the one which bound Mr. Stratham.

Asleep and dreaming.

But… Why? This dominator must be either one of the project leads or their apprentice. They wouldn't be wired into it by accident. This is deliberate. So is he like this because they need one of their own monitoring things from inside, or..?

I don't know.

I can't enter the Dream under my own power, and I doubt that I've got time to fly back to Earth, go to Erebos, fly through the gate and then find this from the other side. But these vines… Are… Still functional.

"Lantern Son!"

There's a slight delay, then he's behind me. "I have opened the mound but all that is inside is alien machinery."

"I know." I send my armour back to subspace, trusting in my environmental shield to keep me safe. "Can you wire me up like that?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I'm very stupid-. Because I need to get into the Dream like he is to find out what they're doing. Which should help me free your mother."

"This will cause you a great deal of pain."

"Don't worry. I can deal with graaaagh!"

BR549 · Jul 29, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Don't worry. I can deal with graaaagh!"

He could, in fact, not deal with it.

Darko · Jul 29, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Because I'm very stupid

Admitting that you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery.

Mr Zoat said:
"This will cause you a great deal of pain

You don't have to sound do eager.

Granted, if you spend any amount of time around him then you will be very eager.

moralrelativity · Jul 29, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
cutting a large enough hold in the exterior will

hold -> hole

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 29, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
03:21 GMT -5

"You." I point to the ball that was confronting Lantern Son. "Beyond breeding, what are Great Mother's highest priorities right now?"

"Assess the qualities of the prospective mate for utility. If the prospective mate passes the assessment, then the rendering will begin."

Well, she doesn't believe in long engagements, does she?

I do hope OL is braced for when Gary collapses as a construct and returns to his ring, because that is going to be quite the experiential data-dump.

"And how does it change her threat assessments?"

"I would not be communicating with you if you threatened the mating."

Logical enough. Get in the way, get annihilated.

"And the Great Mother's other new priorities?"

I look up, and the vines have almost completely stopped moving. They have stopped shimmering, and I'm not feeling even slightly ill looking at them.

Well, that's a bonus. No more sanity-draining aura.

"Suspended."

"So if I try-" I point to the mound containing Swamp Thing. "-breaking into that, what happens?"

Again, OL: What you only think contains Swamp Thing... Still working on a very shaky hypothesis here.

"We do not care. We will take no action."

"Neat. Thanks." I fly over to the larger containment unit, taking my x-ionised knives out of subspace. "Lantern Son, try breaking the other one open."

What's the bet it has protection along the liens of the 'concept of hardness' or something silly powerful?

"Why?"

"Because it's part of what the aliens built, and getting rid of it will make freeing your mother easier."

And you can blow off a bit of stress too. Can't tell me he hasn't been fretting this whole time.

Lantern Son drifts slowly past his brother to begin with, but when his brother takes no action against him he accelerates, forming some sort of construct probe tool.

Right. Let's-.

I bet the little brothers are kind of curious about all this too. As much as they can be curious, anyway.

"Can I come out now?" Bleez says, already emerging from cover.

"Yes, actually." X-ionised knives are… Not cutting it. The slight shimmer… I'm going to guess that this is hard-wired into whatever system regulates the Dream-reality interaction. "And pass me that sword."

Ah, fighting magic with magic? Good plan.

One of the other balls drifts closer. I think it was the one that melted my skin off. It doesn't really seem to have any particular purpose in its movements, but since they appear to be feeling helpful…

"Why are you coming this way?"

"am curious. funny meat things are funny."

Bleez hesitates. "You wanted the sword."

"Not you. Thank you." I take the sword from here extremely carefully and then move it so that my right gauntlet is firmly holding the grip. "The ball closest to me."

That sharp, eh? Not quite Death's Scythe sharp, but still not something you want to accidentally scratch yourself with.

"In the absence of an order from Great-Mother, we are spacing out so that we can respond to her commands when she is finished."

"Let me know if anything I do is harmful to Great Mother, and I'll stop at once."

I like that he hopes they'll give him a warning first.

But for now I cut… Yes, this sword is going in… Not 'easily', but easily enough for my current purposes. I'm sort of hoping that cutting a large enough hold in the exterior will cause the spells… Or technology, or Dream connection, to get disrupted.

"What is that sword made of?"

Ah, curious children. Better answer, or he'll just keep asking.

"It's a manifestation of desire. Think of it-" A chunk of the mound falls out, and I-. I form a railgun and try shooting it with a mage slayer. No, no effect. Keep cutting. "-as a sort of super-construct."

"Do other Lanterns use them?"

They wish. I mean, could you imagine Guy with a super-chainsaw? Or Hal with super boxing gloves.

"No idea. I suspect that I can only do this due to being very powerful and being in a place where reality and Dream overlap dangerously. And I doubt that Morpheus will give me more Dream sand to use it in the field regularly."

The shimmer is… Changing. I'm having at least some effect. For a moment I consider 'Feed Me', but… I don't want to actively get on Morpheus's bad side, and I'm reasonably sure that's what would happen if I started eating his domain. Even if he let me pay my debt off, I don't really have the time. Keep cutting keep cutting-.

True. Morpheus never forgets a debt, owed or credited, but he rarely forgives a slight.

Something changes and the shimmering stops. Immediately I generate buzz saw constructs and slice cleanly through the mound, revealing…

Ah…

Not what you expected?

Something that looks a bit like a coral growth, a bit like a plant and… A bit like a computer? I mean… I assume that Swamp Thing could be-.

I switch to my plant manipulation construct and try empowering Swamp Thing, on the assumption that he's there, locked inside it. Nothing appears to happen, but I give it a moment…

Gee, guess he's not in there, then...

For a moment I see a phantasmal green hand reach out through the mound, as if trying to grasp something. And then it's.. pulled.. back inside by… Something.

Okay. Possibilities. This could be an anchor, in which case the thing to do is destroy it. That would cause Swamp Thing to either snap back to Earth, appear on the Mother Star, or be stuck wherever he is at his current wavelength. Which is fine because he already knows how to change that and how to return to Earth on his own.

And if it isn't?

This could be some sort of physical portal to the Dream. Except rather than a neutral part of the Dream or a… What's the word? Totemic location, it's going to be alien starfish monster at best and Dominion booby trap at worst. And I doubt that Morpheus would care unless they were actively damaging his realm. Keeping a dead dream alive is something that he might find poetic or interesting.

Probably just out of mild curiosity, I suppose. He's probably seen things like that before, but each might be unique in manifestation...

Wait, is that..?

I reinforce my armour with a construct and shove, ripping the mound wide open and…

Brute strength. Always handy.

And revealing the dominator with vines inserted into their skin in a dozen places, organically 'wired' into it. Large red circle, though smaller than the overseers at the Starlag prison. And still alive, as far as I can tell. Looks like a similar system to the one which bound Mr. Stratham.

...Well, it ain't Swamp Thing. Maybe you guessed wrong. On the other hand, why is he in there?

Asleep and dreaming.

But… Why? This dominator must be either one of the project leads or their apprentice. They wouldn't be wired into it by accident. This is deliberate. So is he like this because they need one of their own monitoring things from inside, or..?

If he isn't the head researcher, it could probably be a student under him. Dominators are callous enough to toss their underlings into interesting occurrences just to see what happens...

I don't know.

I can't enter the Dream under my own power, and I doubt that I've got time to fly back to Earth, go to Erebos, fly through the gate and then find this from the other side. But these vines… Are… Still functional.

Oh, this is going to suck for you, isn't it?

"Lantern Son!"

There's a slight delay, then he's behind me. "I have opened the mound but all that it inside is alien machinery."

Well, two down. I doubt they're going to have any luck with the rest.

"I know." I send my armour back to subspace, trusting in my environmental shield to keep me safe. "Can you wire me up like that?"

"Yes. Why?"

It's a pity his communication isn't more nuanced. I could just see him thinking 'why would you want that? Oh, Great Mother, I'm working for a crazy person, aren't I?'

"Because I'm very stupid-. Because I need to get into the Dream like he is to find out what they're doing. Which should help me free your mother."

"This will cause you a great deal of pain."

"Don't worry. I can deal with graaaagh!"

Well, after you patch up the headache, OL, remember, you asked for this.

Somehow, I get the feeling this is going to get really strange. Let's hope he can get out of this as easy as he's getting into it. Because I doubt Lantern Son is going to have the initiative to do anything about it before Mommy is finished with Gary. And Bleez has no idea about any of this, so she's probably going to end up doing something foolish at some point...

Mr Zoat · Jul 29, 2024

moralrelativity said:
hold -> hole

Thank you, corrected.

Lord Ernest · Jul 29, 2024

Uh, that looks and sounds like a lotus-eater machine, so why does he want to go in as his first option? What's the exit strategy suppose to be?

Also, this "mating" sounds more like consuming someone for useful parts. And considering how Swamp Thing's rape was described, also sounds worse than how the Chimera Ants in Hunter x Hunter reproduce; at least they usually kill you before eating you.

Mr Zoat · Jul 30, 2024

28th June 2014
12:34 GMT -7:00

Axlegrease pulls over in the 'no parking' bay in front of a newly built restaurant. 'Ernesto's' is the name on the front, but I've got no idea if that's the name of the owner or the chain.

"Take as long as you want. They can't have found all of the battle sites."

She's getting a few odd looks from the passers-by. With the giant transforming cat out of the bag, it's common knowledge that out of place vehicles might be one of Earth's alien visitors. Jasper's new population isn't limited to the scientific and military personnel at Darkmount Base; giant robot tourism has started to become a thing, and if Axlegrease sticks around she's going to get surrounded fast.

I push open the passenger-side door and climb out. "We'll call you when we need pickup."

On the opposite side, Slipstream's avatar body nods. "And don't get in any fights. These people are paying for our exploration work."

"I understand. But anything they haven't claimed is fair game."

Slipstream walks around the front of Axlegrease's cab, shaking her head. "Not any wrecks that could be resurrected. Taking equipment is fine, but vehicon miners are… Basically the only civilians we have. And they can do work for us."

Axlegrease turns and pulls away, the confirmation of her 'driver-free' status causing a momentary burst of excitement in the small but growing crowd. Then she stops.

"Do you really think they'll resurrect vehicons? The fuel shortage doesn't exist anymore."

"Ah." Slipstream looks at me with a thoughtful expression on her clearly-inhuman face. "Why… Wouldn't they? They're not a threat to the Autobots, and a lot of them are technically civilians."

"Economics. Optimus returned the All-Spark to Cybertron. Eventually, new protoforms will emerge."

I nod. "Yes?"

"They will be full transformers, not low-power vehicons made to function at near-starvation fuel levels. The conditions that made creating them worthwhile no longer apply. It would be more effective to prepare fuel reserves for a new generation than use the Last Autobot to resurrect vehicons."

I roll my eyes. "And you're not just saying that because their parts are up for grabs."

"There's no reason to let their parts go to waste." She turns her front wheels and slowly pulls away. "I will recover them and we can see what happens."

I watch her go as she rejoins the light Jasper traffic. She might have a point, but…

Slipstream walks over to me, leaning into my side. "Do you think she's right?"

"No. The cost of energon has dropped immensely. It isn't an either-or. Even if they can't complete with full strength transformers, it makes more sense to use them as a labour force for the reconstruction than it does to abandon them."

She doesn't look convinced. "Then why haven't the Autobots tried resurrecting them?"

"If I had to guess, it's because human governments consider vehicon corpses on Earth to be their property and they don't want to start a fight over it. And because Decepticon disunity is in their interests. Resurrecting regular Decepticons is less of a problem because they're not unified yet, but a vehicon will immediately comply with the highest ranking Decepticon officer around."

Which is probably why the Autobots are setting up synthetic energon production centres in Vos and Tarn, despite there hardly being any Autobots from there. Megatron… Isn't exactly the most popular Decepticon in the universe, even if he's being a lot less confrontational these days. If Decepticons can just take their teams and live somewhere separate from him and his followers, a lot of them will. Heck, Heatseeker is fairly blatantly only here to do reconnaissance for the other Stunticons.

They fought for Megatron for millions of years, then the moment they can get fuel somewhere else…

"Hm." Slipstream sounds distracted as I wrap my left arm around her and pull-. "That-. That makes me think about how we used to be treated. 'Mass production cold-casts'… Low peak outputs…"

I give her a gentle tug, and she walks with me towards the restaurant entrance. "Then you're more empathetic than almost every other Decepticon there is."

She wrinkles her nose. "I don't think I like it."

"The empathy or the treatment?"

"Both, I think." She huffs air out through her nose. "My life would be easier if I just ignored it, but… That was basically how the War started." She frowns. "Am I wrong?"

"No, you're completely correct."

"And I don't want to live through-" I push the door open and we walk inside. "-another War, so I guess it makes sense to try avoiding that."

"It does, but that's not why. It's a bit high-concept, but… It's often in a person's short-term interest to be ruthless and aggressive, but you'll find… It's often in a person's long-term interest to be compassionate and open-handed." She flashes me an interrogative frown. "You know how many Decepticons have got rebranded since the truce?"

It's not the most violent Decepticons or the most ideologically committed, but there's a set of Decepticons who -like Slipstream- were mostly fighting for the right to not be property who upon arriving back on Cybertron after the truce took one look at the way modern Autobots and modern Decepticons behave and underwent the Rite of the Autobrand. And there are a few more who weren't prepared to go quite that far who have nonetheless integrated with Autobot society.

None have gone the other way.

She nods slowly. "Which… Is because they're… Nicer. And… I joined the Decepticons because I had a better life under Megatron than with… And with the old Lord High Governor dead, that pressure doesn't exist-."

"Hey!" Miss Nakadai is glaring at us, left hand on the table supporting her as she leans forwards and right hand waving at us. "We're over here! Stop blocking the gangway and sit down already!"

Ah-. Okay. Slipstream and I walk over to join them. Raf cringes slightly from the stares Miko's outburst attracted, and probably a little from the stares that Slipstream's obviously inhuman body is getting. Jack is… Taking said body in. Not checking her out, but… Assuring himself that I haven't been lying to him about what can be achieved with Cybertronian technology. And-.

"I didn't think they made that kinda robot-" Miko smirks as we sit down opposite them. "-outside of Japan!"

Slipstream frowns. "Japan doesn't make transformers. This body-."

Miko frowns, leaning forwards as she stares. "Wait. That's actually you?"

Slipstream shrugs. "It's an avatar. My spark case and brain module are still in my main body-."

Raf perks up slightly. "But if your main body is still in India… You're responding in real time! There's no lag!"

Jack sags slightly. "Huh."

Miko jerks her head around to stare at him. Then back to Slipstream. Then me. Then Jack. "No." She grins salaciously. "Way."

Jack blushes slightly, and I decide to spar him further embarrassment. "We could have one built for Bulkhead, too."

"Nah, Bulk's…" She slumps a little. "Busy."

"Ah, what was it-" Jack leans forwards. "-you wanted to talk to us about?"

The 'please don't talk about robot sex' goes loudly unsaid.

"Well, your summer holiday is coming up, and I wanted to get my bid in before Agent Fowler did."

He shakes his head. "Your… Bid?"

"Summer jobs. You have a rare skill set and I want to offer you employment. Interested?"

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 30, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
28th June 2014
12:34 GMT -7:00

Axlegrease pulls over in the 'no parking' bay in front of a newly built restaurant. 'Ernesto's' is the name on the front, but I've got no idea if that's the name of the owner or the chain.

"Take as long as you want. They can't have found all of the battle sites."

And there were a lot on Earth, often in remote and unexplored places. Usually the result of Decepticons mining crystallised Energon for their survival. Until Team Optimus arrived and busted the place up, often with heavy Vehicon casualties...

She's getting a few odd looks from the passers-by. With the giant transforming cat out of the bag, it's common knowledge that out of place vehicles might be one of Earth's alien visitors. Jasper's new population isn't limited to the scientific and military personnel at Darkmount Base; giant robot tourism has started to become a thing, and if Axlegrease sticks around she's going to get surrounded fast.

And even if she has altered her vehicle mode, she's probably still a magenta and indigo muscle car. That tends to get attention.

I push open the passenger-side door and climb out. "We'll call you when we need pickup."

On the opposite side, Slipstream's avatar body nods. "And don't get in any fights. These people are paying for our exploration work."

Slipstream is probably eye-catching no matter what she's wearing...

"I understand. But anything they haven't claimed is fair game."

Slipstream walks around the front of Axlegrease's cab, shaking her head. "Not any wrecks that could be resurrected. Taking equipment is fine, but vehicon miners are… Basically the only civilians we have. And they can do work for us."

They may not be as refined as 'proper' cybertronians, but they're still transformers.

Axlegrease turns and pulls away, the confirmation of her 'driver-free' status causing a momentary burst of excitement in the small but growing crowd. Then she stops.

"Do you really think they'll resurrect vehicons? The fuel shortage doesn't exist anymore."

Perhaps that's where the more individually-coloured ones seen in RiD15 came from...

"Ah." Slipstream looks at me with a thoughtful expression on her clearly-inhuman face. "Why… Wouldn't they? They're not a threat to the Autobots, and a lot of them are technically civilians."

"Economics. Optimus returned the All-Spark to Cybertron. Eventually, new protoforms will emerge."

Something that will probably be celebrated once it's finally happened.

I nod. "Yes?"

"They will be full transformers, not low-power vehicons made to function at near-starvation fuel levels. The conditions that made creating them worthwhile no longer apply. It would be more effective to prepare fuel reserves for a new generation than use the Last Autobot to resurrect vehicons."

Given that they have the ability to manufacture Synthetic Energon, it's unlikely scarcity will be a concern by then.

I roll my eyes. "And you're not just saying that because their parts are up for grabs."

"There's no reason to let their parts go to waste." She turns her front wheels and slowly pulls away. "I will recover them and we can see what happens."

...She just wants to snag some cheap wings, doesn't she?

I watch her go as she rejoins the light Jasper traffic. She might have a point, but…

Slipstream walks over to me, leaning into my side. "Do you think she's right?"

Eh, once some points, maybe. Vehicons were basically a servant species manufactured for service. Treating some cybertronians like that was what provoked the war in the first place.

"No. The cost of energon has dropped immensely. It isn't an either-or. Even if they can't complete with full strength transformers, it makes more sense to use them as a labour force for the reconstruction than it does to abandon them."

She doesn't look convinced. "Then why haven't the Autobots tried resurrecting them?"

Some of the resource arguments remind me of the Micromasters of G1. Cybertronians installed into downscaled frames for fuel-efficiency.

"If I had to guess, it's because human governments consider vehicon corpses on Earth to be their property and they don't want to start a fight over it. And because Decepticon disunity is in their interests. Resurrecting regular Decepticons is less of a problem because they're not unified yet, but a vehicon will immediately comply with the highest ranking Decepticon officer around."

Which is a troublesome detail. Obedience to a certain faction built into their base coding... I wonder what being revived by the Last Autobot would do to that?

Which is probably why the Autobots are setting up synthetic energon production centres in Vos and Tarn, despite there hardly being any Autobots from there. Megatron… Isn't exactly the most popular Decepticon in the universe, even if he's being a lot less confrontational these days. If Decepticons can just take their teams and live somewhere separate from him and his followers, a lot of them will. Heck, Heatseeker is fairly blatantly only here to do reconnaissance for the other Stunticons.

Reminds me of the post-Movie G1 Era, especially the Japanese fiction. After Galvatron, the Decepticons kind of fractured into individual warbands, each of whom cause their own trouble.

They fought for Megatron for millions of years, then the moment they can get fuel somewhere else…

"Hm." Slipstream sounds distracted as I wrap my left arm around her and pull-. "That-. That makes me think about how we used to be treated. 'Mass production cold-casts'… Low peak outputs…"

Don't put yourself down, lady. Look at what a supposed 'low-quality' femme has achieved...

I give her a gentle tug, and she walks with me towards the restaurant entrance. "Then you're more empathetic than almost every other Decepticon there is."

She wrinkles her nose. "I don't think I like it."

I wonder how much of that is down to Pull?

"The empathy or the treatment?"

"Both, I think." She huffs air out through her nose. "My life would be easier if I just ignored, but… That was basically how the War started." She frowns. "Am I wrong?"

It could always have been worse. Imagine if the Functionists actually got their plans through the Council...

"No, you're completely correct."

"And I don't want to live through-" I push the door open and we walk inside. "-another War, so I guess it makes sense to try avoiding that."

Well, unless they were very odd 'bots, no cybertronian would.

"It does, but that's not why. It's a bit high-concept, but… It's often in a person's short-term interest to be ruthless and aggressive, but you'll find… It's often in a person's long-term interest to be compassionate and open-handed." She flashes me an interrogative frown. "You know how many Decepticons have got rebranded since the truce?"

Because of old prejudice against the colours, or because of a shift in their political and emotional goals?

It's not the most violent Decepticons or the most ideologically committed, but there's a set of Decepticons who -like Slipstream- were mostly fighting for the right to not be property who upon arriving back on Cybertron after the truce took one look at the way modern Autobots and modern Decepticons behave and underwent the Rite of the Autobrand. And there are a few more who weren't prepared to go quite that far who have nonetheless integrated with Autobot society.

It'll be interesting to see how they find a place in the post-War culture that's developing.

None have gone the other way.

She nods slowly. "Which… Is because they're… Nicer. And… I joined the Decepticons because I had a better life under Megatron than with… And with the old Lord High Governor dead, that pressure doesn't exist-."

...Says something about the Decepticons' reputation, doesn't it?

"Hey!" Miss Nakadai is glaring at us, left hand on the table supporting her as she leans forwards and right hand waving at us. "We're over here! Stop blocking the gangway and sit down already!"

Ah-. Okay. Slipstream and I walk over to join them. Raf cringes slightly from the stares Miko's outburst attracted, and probably a little from the stares that Slipstream's obviously inhuman body is getting. Jack is… Taking said body in. Not checking her out, but… Assuring himself that I haven't been lying to him about what can be achieved with Cybertronian technology. And-.

Oh-ho. Meeting with the human youngsters, eh? I see Jack is definitely curious about the avatar technology's potential.

"I didn't think they made that kinda robot-" Miko smirks as we sit down opposite them. "-outside of Japan!"

Slipstream frowns. "Japan doesn't make transformers. This body-."

And really, that sort of thing is still very basic... Lands right in the Uncanny Valley, after all.

Miko frowns, leaning forwards as she stares. "Wait. That's actually you?"

Slipstream shrugs. "It's an avatar. My spark case and brain module are still in my main body-."

Wonder if she's feeling a little feminine jealousy that Slipstream is such a hottie?

Raf perks up slightly. "But if your main body is still in India… You're responding in real time! There's no lag!"

Jack sags slightly. "Huh."

And yes, that distance would have some light-speed lag. Most internet connections would have a ping of nearly a second. So I'm guessing the link is a quantum-entangled system.

Miko jerks her head around to stare at him. Then back to Slipstream. Then me. Then Jack. "No." She grins salaciously. "Way."

Jack blushes slightly, and I decide to spar him further embarrassment. "We could have one built for Bulkhead, too."

Yeah, she gets it.

"Nah, Bulk's…" She slumps a little. "Busy."

"Ah, what was it-" Jack leans forwards. "-you wanted to talk to us about?"

Enough embarrassing the kids. Down to business.

The 'please don't talk about robot sex' goes loudly unsaid.

"Well, your summer holiday is coming up, and I wanted to get my bid in before Agent Fowler did."

While they're too young to properly recruit, he would push for them to try an internship in his agency, I suspect.

He shakes his head. "Your… Bid?"

"Summer jobs. You have a rare skill set and I want to offer you employment. Interested?"

Jack especially has plenty of practice crawling around the innards of dead planetary-scale Cyberforms.

Interesting implications for the shape of the post-War cybertronian culture, there. What happens to the surviving Vehicons and all the low-rank sparked Decepticon recruits who didn't get killed off over the centuries? What happens because of their actions during the conflict? And then you have the part Humanity will play in it, even as a stimulus for change.

BR549 · Jul 30, 2024

I've sort-of headcanoned that surviving Vehicons (we saw some in Predacons Rising) were reformatted into the Guards we saw in RiD2015.

Thundersmight94 · Jul 30, 2024

Another thing I've been wondering about is what happened to Pull's ring? Does he still have it, or did he lose it after the event with Krona, or did the Gold Lanterns give him one of theirs?

Ngamer11 · Jul 30, 2024

Thundersmight94 said:
Another thing I've been wondering about is what happened to Pull's ring? Does he still have it, or did he lose it after the event with Krona, or did the Gold Lanterns give him one of theirs?

We're not even certain if Pull was one of the versions of Paul who experienced that event.

Someguy Somewhere · Jul 30, 2024

This Paul spent his ring charge reactivating slipstream when they first bumped into each other, but we never got to see his arrival POV to see how that worked out.

LazySloth13 · Jul 30, 2024

Another crossover event could have Paul/Paragon lead a team of his alternate selves who couldn't recharge their rings with part of the conflict being whatever villain or villains their fighting and helping them cope with having more power than they're used to since more exposure to the Orange Light of Avarice has a tendency to drive it's wielder insane with greed. Maybe something similar to the Anti-Life equation being used if not the Black Light of Death and the additional crossover characters get to temporarily use rings that embody the rest of the spectrum, such as fanart or actual comics that depicts Optimus Prime with a Green Lantern ring.

Mr Zoat · Jul 31, 2024

28th June 2014
12:39 GMT -7:00

Miko actually winces. "I'm… Going back to Japan for the summer break..? You know, see my parents. I don't think I can-."

I shrug. "We have a ground bridge."

"Oh. Then I'm totally there!"

Jack shakes his head. "Hold on. We-."

"Hey!" Miko smiles at him and extends her right hand. "I'm Miko! What's your name?"

He bows his head slightly. "Yeah. But you should ask what he wants us to do-"

She shakes her head, not understanding his problem. "Something involving transformers?"

"-and how much it pays. Internships usually aren't paid."

I nod. "Practical. About twelve times per hour what K.O. Burger does. And if anyone shoots at you then you get hazard pay rather than a deduction."

Miko fans her arms out to the side, staring at Jack in a 'you see, dummy?' kind of way.

"That's…" He looks away as he thinks it over. "That's.. pretty good. Actually… How many hours?"

"I'm assuming eight hours a day, five days a week, for six weeks? You can do more if you want, and if you want to do less then that's fine too."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Teaching transformers who are new to Earth how human society works."

Miko makes a dismissive gesture with her right hand. "That's easy. I'll get some tunes on, and-"

Slipstream shrugs. "Our team is comprised of Decepticons."

That appears to get through. "-oohhhh."

I nod. "I'm handling the-"

Slipstream glances at me. "We're handling."

I nod again. "-more difficult personalities ourselves, but it would cut down on our workload if we had people like you to act as advisers and go-betweens for the others."

Jack nods slowly. "How 'difficult'?"

Slipstream looks a little puzzled. "The ones we're handling?" He nods. "Ah… One's a duocon whose personalities hate each other, and the other... Probably wants to conquer Earth so he can have all the roads for himself."

I nod. "And he would step on you if he could. He still refuses to call me anything other than 'Squishy'."

Raf seems to become more focused. "What's a 'duocon'?"

I sigh. "One of Shockwave's experiments. He asked: 'Is it possible for a transformer to be split over multiple bodies?', and it turns out that the answer was 'Yes, but they really shouldn't'. Flywheels is alright as long as their two parts are separate-."

Miko nods. "Right, because they get one part each."

I shake my had. "No. They're still both in each of them, but they need to concentrate and so they don't have time to argue with each other."

Slipstream shrugs. "I think it's just Flywheels. Battletrap's a duocon, and he's fine. But Flywheels is difficult to deal with."

Raf hesitantly raises his right hand a little. I nod to him. "If Shockwave made him-. Ah, them, like that, can't he reverse it?"

I shrug. "Probably, but that would mean either erasing one personality or erasing both by integrating them into something new. And it would mean making one of their bodies primary and the other secondary, which has its own problems."

"How about giving them one body each?"

Slipstream winces. "They have one head. One set of arms and one set of legs. And Shockwave did something to their T-cog-." She frowns. "Both of their T-cogs..? To integrate the two parts… It would be difficult even if they both agreed to it."

Jack nods. "I.. don't think we're qualified for that. Who would we be dealing with?"

"Axlegrease, Nova Storm and Dreadwing." I drum the fingers of my right hand against the table. "Axlegrease is a salvage engineer and-"

"Wait, Dreadwing!?" Miko's eyes widen. "I thought he was dead!"

"-our medic."

Slipstream nods. "He was. But he got better."

"She'll need someone to explain how law and politics work so that she doesn't try looting any national monuments, but she won't threaten you. Dreadwing-" I give Miko a mildly reproachful look, which she ignores. "-has been on Earth before, but I don't think he tried finding out anything about human civilisation. He might ask you to explain a few things, but he'll probably keep to himself. What happened to his brother hit him really hard."

Miko pulls a face. "His brother nearly hit us really hard."

Slipstream gives her a flat look. "Don't get into a firefight if you're not prepared to get shot."

I wave my right hand back and forth. "We won't be getting you into firefights. The-."

Miko sags. "Awwww."

"The last transformer who needs an introduction to human civilisation is Nova Storm. She was one of Slipstream's team mates during the War. She seems nice enough."

Slipstream gives me an unimpressed look. "'Nice enough?"

"I.. don't know her as well as you do yet. Ah, she's-." I turn back to the youths. "She's a bit uncertain about the War being over, finding a new purpose and new interests that don't involve fighting."

Miko frowns. "Has she seen the internet?"

"We're-" I nod, and Slipstream mirrors my action. "-keeping her away from the internet for now."

Raf looks surprised. "Why? There's a lot of educational sites on the internet. Even if she was just watching videos, she could learn a lot about how we communicate."

I look at Raf. Then I look at Miko, who's is smirking and uncharacteristically refusing to meet my eyes, and then at Jack, who gives his head a small shake.

Ah… "I fear that a great deal of the internet assumes a certain cultural context that transformers don't have, and that it would be better if her initial exposure was supervised."

Miko bites her lip.

"Oh." Raf nods. "I thought you were worried about… Ah… 'Adult'.. stuff."

"So anyway, that's the job. We won't expect you to liaise with the Indian government, but you might need to pass along the occasional message. We have a ground bridge system that's fairly similar to the one you're used to, but we'll make sure that you know how it works. We can arrange a trip to Cybertron outside of your normal working hours if you want-"

"Yes!" / "You can?!"

Miko and Jack sit up, Miko raising her right fist into the air. Raf looks pleased, but doesn't say anything.

"-and I'm sure that if we let slip that you're working with us that your former partners will want to visit. So: what do you think?"

Ngamer11 · Jul 31, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I look at Raf. Then I look at Miko, who's is smirking and uncharacteristically refusing to meet my eyes, and the at Jack, who gives his head a small shake.

That should say 'then'.

Mr Zoat · Jul 31, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'then'.

Thank you, corrected.

moralrelativity · Jul 31, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
He still refuse to call me

refuse -> refuses

Ardy · Jul 31, 2024

Former partners? What happened to arcee or whatever her name was? The motorcycle that resulted in Jack getting the cyborg sex talk?

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 31, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
28th June 2014
12:39 GMT -7:00

Miko actually winces. "I'm… Going back to Japan for the summer break..? You know, see my parents. I don't think I can-."

I shrug. "We have a ground bridge.

"Oh. Then I'm totally there!"

Girl does not like commuting, does she? Well, unless she could ride her big green buddy. A honking great truck generally helps win any argument over right of way, road rage and other difficulties on the road. Especially if he busts out his wrecking ball mace-hand...

Jack shakes his head. "Hold on. We-."

"Hey!" Miko smiles at him and extends her right hand. "I'm Miko! What's your name?"

Yeah, you expect her to give this any forethought?

He bows his head slightly. "Yeah. But you should ask what he wants us to do-"

She shakes her head, not understanding his problem. "Something involving transformers?"

That goes without saying, of course. Otherwise he'd be looking for professionals. Not Interns.

"-and how much it pays. Internships usually aren't paid."

I nod. "Practical. About twelve times per hour what K.O. Burger does. And if anyone shoots at you then you get hazard pay rather than a deduction."

So, bit more of an apprenticeship than a casual internship.

Miko fans her arms out to the side, staring at Jack in a 'you see, dummy?' kind of way.

"That's…" He looks away as he thinks it over. "That's.. pretty good. Actually… How many hours?"

Clever. Especially considering Raf is still like thirteen. It has been a few months, after all.

"I'm assuming eight hours a day, five days a week, for six weeks? You can do more if you want, and if you want to do less then that's fine too."

"Doing what, exactly?"

Ah, here comes the sticking point.

"Teaching transformers who are new to Earth how human society works."

Miko makes a dismissive gesture with her right hand. "That's easy. I'll get some tunes on, and-"

I think he wants things more detailed than how to party, Miko.

Slipstream shrugs. "Our team is comprised of Decepticons."

That appears to get through. "-oohhhh."

Ah. Little trickier, given her experiences with the 'bad guys' of the war.

I nod. "I'm handling the-"

Slipstream glances at me. "We're handling."

Partners, after all.

I nod again. "-more difficult personalities ourselves, but it would cut down on our workload if we had people like you to act as advisers and go-betweens for the others."

Jack nods slowly. "How 'difficult'?"

As in 'likely to be hostile to organic life' difficult, or just 'quirky weird robot guys', you mean.

Slipstream looks a little puzzled. "The ones we're handling?" He nods. "Ah… One's a duocon whose personalities hate each other, and the other... Probably wants to conquer Earth so he can have all the roads for himself."

I nod. "And he would step on you if he could. He still refuse to call me anything other than 'Squishy'."

I suspect he's going to need a copy of the road rules for every nation on Earth hammered into his cortex.

Manually if need be.

Raf seems to become more focused. "What's a 'duocon'?"

I sigh. "One of Shockwave's experiments. He asked: 'Is it possible for a transformer to be split over multiple bodies?', and it turns out that the answer was 'Yes, but they really shouldn't'. Flywheels is alright as long as their two parts are separate-."

And if you think that's awkward, let's not get into Pretenders and their shells interacting. Especially on the Japanese side. Or BW Megatron and his beast-head hand-puppet show.

Miko nods. "Right, because they get one part each."

I shake my had. "No. They're still both in each of them, but they need to concentrate and so they don't have time to argue with each other."

I half expect a moment of them deciding 'who gets the jet half this time' plays out every time they separate.

Slipstream shrugs. "I think it's just Flywheels. Battletrap's a duocon, and he's fine. But Flywheels is difficult to deal with."

Raf hesitantly raises his right hand a little. I nod to him. "If Shockwave made him-. Ah, them, like that, can't he reverse it?"

I suspect Shockwave wasn't too concerned with their health afterwards beyond 'combat capable', much less how to undo the process.

I shrug. "Probably, but that would mean either erasing one personality or erasing both by integrating them into something new. And it would mean making one of their bodies primary and the other secondary, which has its own problems."

"How about giving them one body each?"

Or he learns how to split sparks, which is it own whole kettle of worms.

Slipstream winces. "They have one head. One set of arms and one set of legs. And Shockwave did something to their t-cog-." She frowns. "Both of their t-cogs..? To integrate the two parts… It would be difficult even if they both agreed to it."

Jack nods. "I.. don't think we're qualified for that. Who would we be dealing with?"

I'm not sure the English language is designed to discuss multi-bodied entities, either.

"Axlegrease, Nova Storm and Dreadwing." I drum the fingers of my right hand against the table. "Axlegrease is a salvage engineer and-"

"Wait, Dreadwing!?" Miko's eyes widen. "I though he was dead!"

Death is only temporary for cybertronians these days.

"-our medic."

Slipstream nods. "He was. But he got better."

Heck, consider the g1 era, before the concept of Sparks came in. The TV show had them just building new bots occasionally, while the comic had their personalities stored in modules small enough to be put in RC cars without any hassle. Their body being badly damaged was no great hassle except in repairing them.

"She'll need someone to explain how law and politics work so that she doesn't try looting any national monuments, but she won't threaten you. Dreadwing-" I give Miko a mildly reproachful look, which she ignores. "-has been on Earth before, but I don't think he tried finding out anything about human civilisation. He might ask you to explain a few things, but he'll probably keep to himself. What happened to his brother hit him really hard."

So please don't comment on the part you played in Skyquake's fates.

Miko pulls a face. "His brother nearly hit us really hard."

Slipstream gives her a flat look. "Don't get into a firefight if you're not prepared to get shot."

Which is honestly a major issue in the series. The Kids should never have been in that position, or involved in anything outside of the base. But humans gonna get into everything, and you need POV characters somehow...

I wave my right hand back and forth. "We won't be getting you into firefights. The-."

Miko sags. "Awwww."

You were just complaining about nearly dying.

Damn adrenaline junkie...

"The last transformer who needs an introduction to human civilisation is Nova Storm. She was one of Slipstreams team mates during the War. She seems nice enough."

Slipstream gives me an unimpressed look. "'Nice enough?"

Hey, it's still early days. She could have a dark, sadistic side just waiting for stress to break it out.

"I.. don't know her as well as you do yet. Ah, she's-." I turn back to the youths. "She's a bit uncertain about the War being over, finding a new purpose and new interests that don't involve fighting."

Miko frowns. "Has she seen the internet?"

Good god, can you imagine a transformer addicted to social media stuff?

"We're-" I nod, and Slipstream mirrors my action. "-keeping her away from the internet for now."

Raf looks surprised. "Why? There's a lot of educational sites on the internet. Even if she was just watching videos, she could learn a lot about how we communicate."

...Fortunately, you at least don't have to worry about her getting addicted to porn. That stuff is probably just confusing to her.

I look at Raf. Then I look at Miko, who's is smirking and uncharacteristically refusing to meet my eyes, and then at Jack, who gives his head a small shake.

Ah… "I fear that a great deal of the internet assumes a certain cultural context that transformers don't have, and that it would be better if her initial exposure was supervised."

Because people have already created rule 34 of the bots seen in public, haven't they?

Miko bites her lip.

"Oh." Raf nods. "I thought you were worried about… Ah… 'Adult'.. stuff."

Unless she develops an interest in xenocultural studies... I find that unlikely.

"So anyway, that's the job. We won't expect you to liaise with the Indian government, but you might need to pass along the occasional message. We have a ground bridge system that's fairly similar to the one you're used to, but we'll make sure that you know how it works. We can arrange a trip to Cybertron outside of your normal working hours if you want-"

Since they do have a space bridge relay in orbit. I have no doubt they have limited access to it. Probably requires discussion with Ratchet beforehand.

"Yes!" / "You can?!"

Miko and Jack sit up, Miko raising her right fist into the air. Raf looks pleased, but doesn't say anything.

"-and I'm sure that if we let slip that you're working with us that your former partners will want to visit. So: what do you think?"

I think you just won them over with that last detail.

This is going to be one hell of a summer job, even if it might be hard to talk about in any kind of 'what I did over Summer' discussion. Though I do hope they're careful about letting the kids anywhere near their transport while operations are underway. Would be amusing if the Decepticon Exploration Team did a better job of keeping them out of trouble than Team Optimus did...

Mr Zoat · Jul 31, 2024

moralrelativity said:
refuse -> refuses

Thank you, corrected.

Ardy said:
Former partners? What happened to arcee or whatever her name was? The motorcycle that resulted in Jack getting the cyborg sex talk?

They aren't working together any longer, due to them rebuilding Cybertron and the human children being in school.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Girl does not like commuting, does she? Well, unless she could ride her big green buddy. A honking great truck generally helps win any argument over right of way, road rage and other difficulties on the road.

You can't commute in a truck from Japan to India. Japan is an island with no bridge to mainland Asia.

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 31, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
You can't commute in a truck from Japan to India. Japan is an island with no bridge to mainland Asia.

...Yes, I know.

I meant in general. I mean, given some of the dashcam videos I've seen of both the worst American drivers and Indian traffic... Girl might find herself longing for her big green friend after a while.

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