re_alignment | [Audio] [Transmission from: Solian Temple]

[The audio starts up out of the blue, with only a brief pause at the beginning. Even so, every word seems deliberate and carefully chosen.]

Sorry about the timin'a this, but... I've been thinkin' a lot lately. Dangerous habit, I know.

This is the third multidimensional hub I've been in. I've gotten ripped out of dimensions more than I can explain. I've gone backwards in time twice... forwards once. Turned into a human and a cat. Heh, got haiku-powered jet boosters for a while. I rebuilt my own legs from scratch. I've had my processor picked over more times than I'd like. I've lost more friends than I ever wanted to... and made a few more than I've expected. Including a few that were too stubborn to give up on me when they should have. I've seen how how our wars start... and I've seen them end.

And the one ending was enough. Three hubs has been too much, and I'm too old. I know too much that would compromise this Cybertron's chance at having its own future.

I can't stay.

I have a few things to finish up, still, but in a week... I'm leaving. I've heard rumors of a place in the Outlands that could use someone like me, and I've dug out the clues I need to get there.

I'll be contacting a few of you individually; this is what the humans call the Season of Giving, and I have things to give you. Call them parting gifts if you will.

{{Individuals on this list will be getting special presents as listed, though if Barricade is so much as a passing acquaintance of his you can expect a few cubes of high grade left outside your door (or a six-pack of beer if you're human).))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They get worse from there, believe me. The one from Wheeljack and Bulkhead's world needs to be avoided and mine just needs to die. Again.
I swear I had no idea. I just thought blue and cyan looked good together.

Someone I know of mentioned him on the network. Regardless of anything he may have done... I believe him on that.
If they have needles like him... or cables like me... you have to be careful. That's how they get in, and most of them are not as scared as I am of using them to dig in and take whatever they find.

[But that's all he can say, really. Anymore, about the reason why he knows this... it's just too much. He lets his plating settle in their housings, motioning her close. C'mere you.]

Yeah, well...

Most people don't know I'm not anything but human. I don't think cables or er, needles work like that on people?

[As far as she knows, anyway...

But it's a sign of how far they've come that Sari rushes into Barricade's spiky arms without any hesitation, crashing into his plating and muffling a sniff.]

...You're gonna come back someday, right?

They don't. Which is why you need to be careful who finds out about you.

[Barricade automatically flattens his plating to avoid sharp edges, wrapping his arms around her as best he can. His engine kicks out a low, modulated rumbling noise.]

I might. And if I don't, Rumble probably will. You won't find either of us leaving this planet.

[When it's not the answer Sari was obviously looking for, the sniffle becomes a full-out sob, and she latches onto his armor as best as she can.]

S-Stupid jerk. You b-better come back sometime!

[The rumble of Barricade's engine hitches and gutters sharply, voice rough with an undercurrent of static in it. He can't cry, not really, but it's close.]

I'll try. But I won't make promises because I don't want to disappoint you.

Still gonna be disappointed - you're leaviiing!

[The whining is pure habit at this point. She still smooshes her face up against his armor, hiccuping between sobs. Sorry about the mucus, Cade.]

Better try. Send messages and stuff? With Rumble if nothin else?

I'd rather disappoint you less, then.

[Ah, he can deal with it. It's not like she's toxic or anything. He tightens his own grip carefully.]

With Rumble. That I can do. I'll send them as regularly as I can - or if there's anything I can warn you about. All right?

[Sari sighs, sniffling against armor.]

...I guess. It'll have to be enough, right?

[Definitely sulking.]

It must be. At least for a while.

But I do have a few things for you, to remember me by.

[Reluctantly, with a few stubborn snuffles, Sari pulls away, rubbing at her eyes.]

...Presents?

Mm-hmm. Exactly that.

[He carefully pops open his chest compartment and pulls out a datastick.]

It may not look like much, but it's got both of the things I prepared for you on it. The first are a few basic martial arts lessons from different disciplines as taught by my holoform, because I'd hate to leave you without a way to defend yourself. And the second is information I picked up about your home dimension while I was in a place called Axiom Nexus.

[Carefully, Sari accepts the datastick, looking it over. It really doesn't seem like much, at least until Barricade speaks. She manages a little grin, eying the stick with new interest.]

Really? That's cool!

What's Axiom Nexus though?

Axiom Nexus was a place not different from this one, actually. A Cybertron from a future that didn't see war... though there were portals there that spit all all sorts of folks like you and me. The natives had gotten dealing with us down to an art; they kept us in a cordoned-off city called Axiom Nexus until they could send us home.

I met a lot of folks from your dimension and asked them a lot of questions about your Cybertron. Even asked about their hatchlings... which I thought you might find particularly relevant.

Whoooaa.

[Sari looks torn between worry and fascination, glancing between the datastick and Barricade.]

What...what did they say about... Er. Things like me?

That. You will have to look to find out.

[He offers the datastick with a smile.]

I like you but I don't just give out answers. No fun in that.

Awwww! You're supposed to tell me!

[She pouts but takes the stick anyway - pocketing it before leaping up to clamber up his arm, perching herself on the least-pointy portion of his shoulder.]

...When are you leaving?

[The question is not entirely sniffle-free.]

Now that wouldn't be fair to all of the folks I've frustrated over the centuries with this sort of thing.

[He carefully shifts his plating as she climbs to give her handholds and places to put her feet until she makes it to his shoulder. He stands then.]

About a week. I'm hoping to delay long enough for Blurr to return from walkabout. So I'll be here a while yet.

[She's gotten pretty good at this 'climb the robot' thing over the years, even painfully spiny ones like Barricade.]

But you like me better than them though, right?

[She tries to sound perky, but it doesn't hide the sniffle.]

You'll... let me know before you go?

[Audio] [Transmission from: Solian Temple] - Twelfth Offense

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