re_alignment | 02 || OTA Video / Private for DW Starscream

[Hello there, Cybertron. It's been a bit too long since Blondie here last bombarded you all with questions, hasn't it? Well, fret not, for she has another, and this time... it has less to do with technical difficulties or new arrival syndrome and more to do with art withdrawals.]

So, I've been thinking. Paint --well, oil paint-- is basically just pigment and medium, so it really isn't hard to make. Sure, it takes a while to dry but... I'm kind of used to having a lot of color on my walls, and it feels gloomy living without them.

[Actually, the entire city could use more color in her opinion, but that's a bit rude to say aloud. Best to start off with her own living quarters.]

Does anyone know what I could use for pigment and quick-drying oil? Back on Earth, most of the ingredients were plant-based and well... that seems like a bad idea here.

[She doesn't want to raid the pantry and waste perfectly good food just for the sake of her art. That's just thoughtless and selfish, and she certainly wouldn't be able to bring herself to do that.

So, who wants to help little miss painter here make some art?

After the video, she quickly switches the feed so it's no longer public. Did she do it right? She hopes so. Well, here goes nothing.

Private to Starscream:]

I'm sorry I took so long to call, but people were acting funny for a while; I thought it would be best to wait until things calmed down. But um... I'm ready for that tour whenever you're free.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Then it's definitely a good thing you get to do what works well with your interests.

[Rapunzel doesn't know much about science beyond baking, some botany, and what she could teach herself of astrology, but it sounds like there's plenty for him to do with it.

O-oh dear, caught red handed. She grins, something of a bashful gesture, and busies her hands with stroking a lock of hair. It's a nervous habit.]

You wouldn't be wrong. Then again, I guess I can't help but be curious. Everything is so new. And I do mean everything, not just robots or this planet. I, um... kind of lived a sheltered life before all this.

Indeed.

[He smiles and then chuckles at her reaction.]

Had a... ah, caretaker? that was far too protective?

Well, she was protective for good reason. But yes, Mother made sure I was kept out of danger at all times...

[She hesitates.]

So I kind of sort of stayed inside. Every day.

[For eighteen years.]

[He stares for a moment and slowly starts to frown.]

That sounds... ah, a tad excessive, unless the climate and atmosphere outside was lethally dangerous and you had no protective gear or vehicle.

Actually, it was pretty mild every season except for winter. And I'm fairly certain there were no vehicles anywhere in the area.

[That really isn't making anything better, is it? She lets out a quiet sigh, momentarily pursing her lips as she tries to figure out how to best explain.]

Mother... she raised me in the best way she knew how. I know it seems really strange and extreme and odd to a lot of people, but for me... that was normal, you know?

I mean, I wanted to go outside... enough to where everyday I had to convince myself I didn't. There's no doubt I honestly wanted to see the world, and once I was able to, I didn't completely want to go back. But... I don't know... my tower still seems like a normal home to me, even when I'm farther away from it than I've ever been... and even after everything I've seen and experienced.

[Not really, and Jetfire's frown deepen somewhat before he shakes his helm.]

Best way she knew how, perhaps, but obviously not in a way that was suited to you or your development. It sounds like you were getting more of what you needed, though, before you got here, or?

Oh! Well, sort of. Yes.

[It really wasn't a conventional leaving of the nest.]

I was out of the tower for the first time ever on a journey to see the floating lanterns, but... the Lambda kind of brought me here before I could even reach the city.

Ah. Hopefully you'll be able to go back and finish that journey. Floating lanterns?

[Of course he understand the concept and general idea, but she's obviously talking about something specific.]

I hope so.

Oh! Yes, lanterns. I mean, I've never seen the kind used in the festival up close, but Flynn described them to me. They're kind of like... any of the small lamps here, but made with paper and wire, and they're lit with a small candle instead of... whatever powers the lights here. The heat from he candle causes them to rise, and the light of the flame makes them glow like a star.

[Which... reminds her of something, causing her to softly chuckle at the memory.]

Actually, when I was small, I used to think they were special stars that only appeared once a year.

[Her memory makes Jetfire chuckle as well, and he nods.]

I believe we have something similar as well. They haven't been used in a long while, as they were for celebrations like the lanterns you mention are, but they functioned in the same way, if made in other... ah, materials.

And as for what lights things here... Electricity is a form of energy, like heat.

[Extremely simplified, but hopefully that would work, and it was very difficult to keep it as simple as he just had.]

You do? What are those ones like?

[She wants to know, can you show her something familiar about the strangest lightning? Speaking of...]

Right, that stuff. It's supposed to be like lightning, right? Just made by something other than clouds.

[And way more impractical than fire in her 18th century mindset.]

Like... hm. This. [The image that pops up on the screen is probably very similar to the lanterns Rapunzel is used to, though it's also not just a normal fire flame by the colour of it.] Different gases are used for light and heat to make it float.

And ah... it is like lightning yes. Though far more controlled and much less violatile, as a bolt of lightning carries more energy in it than the... er, power used by machinery and equipment using electricty.

02 || OTA Video / Private for DW Starscream

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