Could have gone a lot worse....

[actuallyselfish]

After the battle in Paradigm City, the Sol Machine known as ShelLancer trudges it's way back into the hanger bay, docks in a gantry, and powers down

A weary figure in mechanic's overalls clambers out of the cockpit, and after a bit of flailing, descends on one of the cherry picker platforms.

"What the heck was I thinking?" Dido groans, slumping down onto a bench. "I panicked, made stupid calls. And that Decepticon leader thinks I'm a turtle ninja transformer now...!"

She smiles. "...but Hot Damn, I saved some lives out there! Not bad, Dido. Not bad at–"

She looks up at ShelLancer...and finally notices the major damage it's taken: melted armor, broken off spikes, and an endless amount of scratches and dents. All of which needs to be fixed.



"–AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Comments

[actuallyselfish]

"But–!"

Dido chokes off what she was going to say. "Yeah. It's the same thing you've been telling everyone lately: help others, but don't break yourself in the process."

She twiddles her thumbs. "Still...do you think we should ask around for an expert in dimensional science?"

[herodrawing]

Exactly! I mean... if you return, that's already good, right? It means you survived.

Unless you return in a barely working unit and then collapse dead right after delivering news of victory. That'd be bad, let's try to avoid that!

[dolorous_sensei]

No, I'm just... Well, now you're saying it, you're making me feel bad about it, sorry.

[actuallyselfish]

"...well that doesn't make sense." Dido says. "Why anyone, let alone robots, be born evil?"

[actuallyselfish]

"Ug." Dido says with a groan. "No you're making me feel bad about making you feel bad! It's an ever-descending spiral of gloom!"

She turns to Walt urgently. "Quick! Say something cheerful!"

[ugyuuya]

Not quite, we try not to do that too much but some people are just so much more fun to tease than others, like Tarisa.

As for why I came by I figured I'd see if you were doing better than last time since it shook you up so badly before.

[tiger_ken]

...thats a good question. I mean, the scrolls obviously don't say anything on it, but, well...

Ki is supposed to be the energy of living things. But in the case of my clans, it seemed to have a particular link to sol energy - that lf our personal star. So... I guess... maybe? But like it'd be a different kind of ki? Like... if ours is orange, there's would be... purple.

[cloningblues]

Good question. No, not born... But perhaps programmed? If you can program a personality into a sentient robot...

How do the Transformers reproduce, anyway?

[majestic_keiki]

Maintaining the robots is so they can be used to fight, not a goal in itself. And damage is part of fighting.

[dolorous_sensei]

Oh... uh... At least you're getting paid for this!

[actuallyselfish]

"This is something we should experiment with!" Dido says snapping her fingers.

"We'll train up your Ki sense, then use it to check out the Ki of all the aliens we have on staff!"

Dido strokes her chin. "I wonder...would the Autobots, as living robots, have Ki?"

[actuallyselfish]

"Damn straight I will!" Dido says. "I mean, there's a reason the ShelLancer's an armored beast!"

She stares into space for a moment, then chuckles.

"You know what the freaky thing is about all this, Izuru?"

[actuallyselfish]

"With a machine shop and raw materials?" Dido muses.

"Didn't Optimus say something about the AllSpark or something?"

[actuallyselfish]

Dido rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

"Yeah...I guess I'm not used to thinking like that. Up to this point, I've only worked with civilian power loaders and prototype testing, you know? When those mechs get damaged, it's because someone screwed up. But here with the UG..."

[cloningblues]

I never heard about it. Great, now I have to know! I should probably just ask Optimus.

...As soon as I figure out how to make it not sound awkward like hell.

[herodrawing]

Freaky thing, what're you talking about?

[majestic_keiki]

Yes, here we're actually fighting real enemies trying to intentionally damage or destroy our units. Damage is bound to happen.

[tiger_ken]

This plan...

[Why does he feel it'll go wrong somewhere? As for the autobots...]

Well... With them, I'd say so. Of some kind, maybe not even ki per se. Its just... well, they have a concept of the afterlife, and Optimus even carries a piece of it around with him.

[actuallyselfish]

"Back when I was on the design committee for ShelLancer, I pushed for it to be equipped with lightweight ceramic armor." Dido explained.

"Ceramic's cheaper and easier to replace, and I thought ShelLancer was just going to be a big publicity stunt for Solaris. You know, hauled out for disaster relief and Kaiju runts."

Sweat trickles down her temple. "If I hadn't been overruled that day, those Decepticons would have blown me to bits."

[actuallyselfish]

"When two Autobots love each other very much..." Dido says in a sing-song.

[actuallyselfish]

"...True." Dido admits. "I am raking in more cash."

She gestures to Walt. "C'mon! Say some more cheerful things!"

[herodrawing]

I guess we can't afford to take things not seriously. Everything's gotta be made combat ready and such.

[cloningblues]

Stop that, it's a serious question. Have you even seen female Autobots?

[dolorous_sensei]

Uhm... and you're still alive!

[actuallyselfish]

"...why would Autobots have sexual characteristics one way or the other?" Dido asks, bemused.

"There's not exactly a need for them to swap DNA...or nurse their young."