re_alignment | VIDEO;

So I get it. Things can be a little dark sometimes. That's, like, life you know? It gets dim, you get scared.

But y'know what I find? You can't let it hold you back.

[Soundwave rolls his shoulders back once, then slides his keytar from his back, letting it rest into his hands.]

Let's do this. And hey! If you know the words, all the better; I think it gets more power if people sing with me.

[So Soundwave begins to play on his keytar. As he starts, a holographic background forms behind him, intensely realistic as the galaxy almost seems to move in behind him, sliding under his feet as there's darkness -- but stars sparkling.

And he sings.]

[When he finishes, the images go away and Soundwave seems satisfied, nodding once to the video feed before ending it.]

-=-=-

[LOCKED: First Aid, Ratchet, Barricade, Drift, Wing]

...So a couple of things.

First off, uh. I don't know if Wing is awake or not, and if you are dude, I'm. I'm really sorry about what happened, but this message is important, okay? If yer mad, you don't gotta talk to me any.

But this is about Vandal. And a bit of me, I guess.

First thing's first: I'm fessin' up. Couple of you know, but all of you should. Technical side? I have really sensitive sound equipment. Real sensitive. Which means, I can read electrical signals from processors and organic brains sensitive. I'unno, most people call it bein' psychic or a telepath, but whatever. I can read thoughts, but I generally don't 'cuz, hey, I got a sense of privacy.

Problem is, when I recharge, I don't control it as well. Which means, I... other people's thoughts and dreams leak on over to me.

Long story short, Vandal sleeps in my back seat sometimes. She's got-- she's seen some crap and somethin' about her brain is different than a normal human's. I couldn't make sense of a lot of it. There's... a signal almost inside of her. An infection. A map. I can't explain it real well without a real investigation, wh-which I'm... I'm not gonna do. But there's a lot of scrap inside of her mind.

She needs help. I figured I'd let you dudes know. I tried to upload better dreams for her, but it ain't workin' real well. Lasts like ten minutes before it crumbles apart.

But yeah. There you go. Dunno what we can do, but ... figured it was worth telling.

-=-=-

[ooc: After hearing the song, your character should feel inspired and motivated towards hope and confidence! This effect can be as long as a week, or it can fade in a few hours.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...what happened to Wing? What did you do?

[He's still in Medibay, flat on his back, after his run in with Prism, so he's not in great shape. ]

[He frowns.] If you know you do this when you recharge, why do you let Vandal near you?

...Had an accident. Ratchet says he'll be okay.

'Cuz it's usually not such a big deal? Vandal's different from other humans, Drift. Ain't that more important right now?

What kind of accident? [He's not angry, he's upset. Something happened to Wing and he wasn't there, he missed when he was needed and now Wing's hurt.]

What's more important is that she doesn't get it made worse.

I... had a. A bad dream. And I freaked out and I sent out a pulse and it knocked him out and... and yeah. What's worse is that I asked him to watch me for awhile when I tried to recharge.

I know.

[About a dozen emotions flare across his face, and then he cuts the feed to voice, because he doesn't trust his ability to juggle his voice and his facial expressions. Soundwave, at least, has a mask. Drift wishes right now he had one.]

[When he speaks, his voice is muffled, his hand over his face, Luxord's card reading blazingly fresh in his mind.]

_{You don't have to tell me. I'm sorry. What's between you and Wing is...not my business.}

[A sigh, like surrender.]

What should we do about Vandal?

N-no, you're... friends. You deserve to know. I was just-- I'm still ashamed of what happened.

I'm not sure, entirely. I know a lot about processors; I just started to learn about human brains. I'd... I'd have to have a deeper look to know what to do. But I don't know if that's the answer.

Friends. [That must be how Wing described it. All right. Friends. It's better than nothing, and more than Drift deserved, honestly.]

If you can't help it, you can't help it. And...[The strain in his voice is probably palpable] you said he'd recover.

[And be happy. Drift hoped.]

...so why are you telling me about Vandal? What do you think I can do?

Am I wrong? You two seem real close.

Yeah. Ratchet told me he would. I... I'll make sure he does.

You're Vandal's friend. Wouldn't you wanna know?

Yes. We have...a history. [He'll leave it at that.]

You'll make sure. [Sure, why not drive the nails in a bit deeper, Soundwave.] It's...good of you to take care of him. Considering.

What's the point of knowing something bad if you can't do anything to fix it? [As much as he tries, Drift isn't a cerebral mech.]

Is it... bad? You two are, like. Attached to the hip.

Sure I will. I mean, it's my fault, dude. [SOB HE HAS NO IDEA.]

...You mean, you wouldn't wanna know something is going on with your friends?

I got him killed. I don't know why he even talks to me.

[Another sigh. ]_{Please take care of him}.

I do, but....what do I do with this? Talk to her? [That'll go well.] Watch out for her? [He's asking earnestly. He wants to do something.]

You-- I don't understand. I mean... if you wanna talk about... it? [That was admittedly some shocking news to hear. They seem like two peas in a pod; what the heck?]

I will.

Whatever your spark feels is right, dude. Blame me even if you gotta.

I think, I don't know, I remind him of his home. Like he's homesick and I'm the only thing he has.

[He shrugs. Sounds like you've got enough drama: you don't need to hear about his.]

I wouldn't blame you. Not for caring about someone else.

I guess... I don't know if I still understand. You got him killed, but you're friends. So what happened?

[This is Soundwave not minding. He wants to know.]

And you care about Vandal, right?

Yeah it's....really complicated. [Frag. All right. Short version.] He saved my life. In return, I betrayed his whole city which he died protecting.

[A sigh.] Honestly I don't know why he even talks to me. ...talked. [Since apparently that's not so much anymore.]

...yes.

...Yeahhh, sounds complicated. ... I think I kinda understand, though.

Talked? You don't anymore? Why? Because of what happened...?

Then why did you say something like that, if you do.

[A soft laugh.]Better than I do, probably.

I haven't....recently. [And Wing didn't respond to his call for help, which was a mixed blessing.] He didn't tell me you were, uh, close.

[He cycles a vent of air, confused. He hates being in the Medibay, but maybe Ratchet's right and he shouldn't move.]

I care about Vandal. But I don't know what to do to help her. She didn't trust me enough to tell me any of this. Maybe I don't...have a right with her, either.

[Congratulations, Soundwave, you just blew up two of his closest relationships in one post.]

...Yeah, I've gotten plenty of people scrapped. [That's one of the more depressing things he's admitted.]

Well, we're friends, so I guess there's that. But I don't think I know him any better than you do, dude.

She didn't tell me either, Drift. But if you care, you can't... can't just say stuff like "What's the point of knowing something bad if you can't do anything to fix it?" That's careless and emberless. That's ... that's almost cruel.

You find a way. You don't give up. That's what you do. I told you because I know you're friends, and you don't... you're just giving up.

[He's going to try really hard not to sound jealous. Because he's not. If this is what makes Wing happy, then that's what it should be.]

He trusts you. That's something important.

[A frustrated sound.]

No, it's not cruel. [He sounds hurt.] I just, I guess I don't know how to do this. How to not want to help. How to know something bad that the person didn't trust telling you and how to do anything with it. It's not giving up. It's...I don't know what it is.

Guess there's that.

[He doesn't enjoy making you hurt, Drift, but he felt it needed to be said.] No, that's... giving up. How could you not want to help? Just... there's stuff you don't wanna tell your friends sometimes, right? Because it's embarrassing, or it's painful. You don't want to burden your friends.

It happens. I dunno if that's what's up with Vandal. But I don't think it's because she doesn't trust you.

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[Video] sorry for this

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