Voice modulator might be broken, could be stasis stuttering. Just take it slow…
“Can you look at me please?” Roaster asks Headbite.
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Headbite began to chew on the Energon and decided to comply. After all, the Autobot wasn’t shooting at her, and Autobots had never been very deceptive from her observations.
She chittered a little, “Where am I, I?” she mumbled out.
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Axis laughed in kind.
“I suppose not.”
Then there was the knock at the door.
“Speaking of secrets.”
She walked to the door and greeted the minicon with an enthusiastic smile.
“Beta Maxx! You’ll be perfect. Please come in. I have an important project for you.”
Axis then stepped to the side to allow him entry.
Niko cautiously hid behind Roaster’s leg. Though he couldn’t help but peek his head around and watch, as he was equal parts terrified and fascinated by the Insecticon.
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Headbite, if she’s paying attention, would noticed there’s no emblem on Roaster’s body. She’s most likely a neutral.
“You’re on Cybertron. Your ship got wrecked, only a few pods were recovered. Some good folks have kept your pod operational. Understand so far?”
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Headbite was not paying attention, it was much easier to just stereotype. After all, Roaster looked about the same shape as an Autobot and was talking all friendly like…
Headbite chittered, “Oh…um…how long…was I going, going…why did, did they do that, that? War? Isn’t yes, yes war…Autobots?”
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"Holy scrap," the surprise in the other voice was discernable even through the modulation software. "Now that is worth making a fuss over."
“Yeah, just about,” the insecticon replies. “Won’t cost you anything just to get your ship looked at; gotta see what the problem is first before doing any real work.”
“Yes, so I’ve been told,” Beta Maxx replies. “Well, ‘lay it on me’, as the humans say.”
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“You were in stasis for a long long time.” Roaster pauses, trying to think of a better way to tell the mantis. “It has been more than twenty million years since your ship wrecked. You are in the future now. There is no war, there are no Autobots.”
She pauses again, staring right into Headbite’s eyes. “There are no Decepticons. There are only Cybertronians now. And we’re here to help you.”
“That’s nice. My ship is back in Iacon, it will take me a bit to get it over here. Mind if I look at some of your mod options before I fetch it?” Tokamak asked.
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Just then, Aralysa takes the moment to step forwards. In the kindest, most supportive tone the Hecatan bot can manage, she replies to the disoriented Insecticon.
“Yeah, the war is over. It’s been over for a long time.” Stonefist, meanwhile, relaxes upon seeing that the strange mantis bot doesn’t appear to be a threat.
“No problem,” the insecticon says. He points a thumb over at a terminal nearby. “Have a look through that kiosk, see if there’s something you like. I can also answer any more questions you’ve got.”
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She glances out at the bots in confusion, “But…why…why, was I just…left, left here?” she said looking around with a bit of concern and a chitter.
The Insecticon looked at Roaster again and warbled a little, “Oh, help? Ah, ah, help…That’s nice I think, think,” she mumbled out looking almost guilty.
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“Thanks,” Tokamak responds and goes over to the kiosk. He scrolls through options with the intention of only pretending to consider. But then he saw some engine mods and faster atmospheric and got distracted going from option to option. There was a lot more potential options in modifying for space races than he really gave credit.
When he comes back from the rabbit hole he asks, “Say, work on any interesting ships lately? With Cybertron open to the galaxy again, I bet some cool vessels have come through.”
“Your pod was damaged. They weren’t sure they could open it without hurting you. It just took time to figure out how to do it safely.” Roaster was lying, but putting on a convincing voice was just part of the showbiz life.
“But now you’re awake. So what’s your name? I don’t think it was identified on your pod.”
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The two occupants of note stepped out arguing. One was a large Insecticon wasp type standing quite large, and the other a human wearing a white and orange space suit.
Apacritia, the name of the Insecticon in question, glanced down at the human in an angry glare, “Listen, listen you little splatter of a brat. I’m going to beat that bleeding heart of a Prime into little bits.”
The human, one Calvin Heimer, just shrugged, “Listen, beating up your own species god of choice seems a wee bit foolish is all. If you want to, that’s your all’s funeral.” He chuckled as he adjusted his gold visor to flip up so people could see his face.
Apacritia glared down at him motioning with one of her barbed harpoons, “Pathetic, I’m going to do what I want to do, and you can’t stop me.”
There was a chuckle, and Calvin shrugged, “Sure can’t ma’am, sure can’t…” he said as he strutted forward to keep match with the larger bot. No he couldn’t stop the crazed lunatic, but hey, why not watch the fight? Should be fun at the very least.
Headbite eased up, “Oh, I see, I see,” she said lowering down as to appear less threatening, “I’m Headbite…cause of um, well my creator made my alt-mode, alt-mode a mantis, and uh…” she warbled looking around, “I um, will not be biting any heads…that’s just uh…my name…”
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I see the Decepticons had fun naming this one. It’s cute…I should make a mechanimal cracker and see if she bites off its head.
“Good to see you Headbite. I know this is a lot to take in, but you’re doing great. Better than expected, actually. Though there might be something wrong with your voice, you’re repeating certain words a lot. If it’s alright with you, could I come close and do a diagnostic? Just want to make sure there’s no damage from resting in stasis.”
Roaster then looks down at Niko and gives a cautious smile. “See, it will be fine,” she whispers to him. (@MaxinePrimal)
“I can make you whatever treat you’d like when this is over. Fewer things help heal a spark than some sweets as I always say.” She said as she looks back to Headbite.
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“Oh, oh, ok,” she mumbled as she moved to follow Roaster. She seemed nice enough, “Do you have copper, copper?” she inquired her head quirking to the side, “Copper is very tasty, tasty,” the bot exclaimed mumbling.
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“I take it as so. What’s the plan going for it. Want me to secure it? Dig into it’s importance? Track down further leads?”
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“Thats a definite yes.”
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Conjoint walked about behind Tokamak with an air of disassociation with present events, as if he was too busy tuning in to his own thoughts. In reality, however, his eyes were traveling over every bolt and panel of every piece of equipment, every toiling bot, and every disassembled contraption. Conjoint learned early on what kind of equipment might actually be designed to kill you, and the warning signs they gave seemed to be reflected in organic life - same language, different words.
Even so, this guy’s getting a little too involved with the act. Vehicle mods aren’t THAT interesting. Okay maybe some of them are, but I thought we had a job to do here. When’s he going to ask the big-
There it is.
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Though she doesn’t show it, she is surprised to see that the insecticon was ready not only for her to come close, but to follow her as well. Thinking on it more, that would be for the best. Better to look over Headbite somewhere more private and figure out what to do with her.
“I need to check, but I have plenty of other things too,” Roaster says with a grin.
Careful not to hurt Niko when she moves, Roaster goes to Headbite’s side and, if allowed, wraps one of her arms around Headbite’s arm. Now facing the other bots and crowd does reality really start to hit her. This isn’t an empty set, this isn’t some performance act. There are people, watching her. They could see and hear everything. And any one of them could break her little lie to keep Headbite calm. This had to be prevented fast.
“Hey Headbite? This is Niko,” Roaster says and motions down to the little mikesu. “He’s a friend. Niko, could you help disperse the crowd? I know everyone’s excited and nervous of waking up Headbite, but we need a clear path. If you could help with that too Firestorm, that would be great.”
Looking to Stonefist and Aralysa, she makes a quick analysis and says to Stonefist, “Mr. Bold, could you find and remind me where the medical facility is in this place?”
Pointing to Aralysa she says, “You’re constructed, right? Come with me to help analyze Headbite. Could always use more hands.”
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“Sure have!” the insecticon says, his eyes lighting up beneath the goggles. “All these older species, like the nebulons and the humans? Their ships are completely different now- a lot happens in twenty million years, I guess. And with how widespread they are, you get a whole lotta different styles and techniques. And then you got the younger ones, like the mikesu and the lithonians. Lithonian ships are creepy; they’ve got no crew quarters, no command consoles, none of that. The crew tuck their excursion chassis into pods and upload themselves into their ship’s computers. It’s cool, but it’s so weird crawling through one. You feel like you’re being watched the whole time.”
“Track down the journal, yeah,” Ivory’s informant tells him. "Make sure it’s secure. Whoever’s behind this is probably gonna try and nab it again. They’ll probably send better guys next time, too."
“Well, I hope you can find them, then,” Headcase responds.
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“Thank you.” Kitai replies. He leaves the office. What now…
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