[Video][Transmitting from the Junk Pile]

[mccrane]

I might have accidentally started the fireworks early.

[The edges of his plating are singed, and just behind him the very flaming carcass of an automobile is roaring in its death throes.]

Energon, it seems, is not a viable replacement for gasoline. [He is grateful he didn't try consuming it before this test, and even more grateful that he managed to start the vehicle from a distance.]

[Since. Ah. It exploded.]

I don't suppose anyone has any suggestions? Or a way to convert us to a different fuel source?

Or some wash-cloths and soap?

Comments

[Action!] You Earth robots are very forward

[sword_redemption]

You've...never been on your own?

[He flinches, hoping that doesn't sound bad. He just can't imagine.]

[He nods.] And losses tend to make war personal all too fast. Another thing that's hard to let go of.

Some did leave. We thought they were cowards. We thought they didn't care.

They didn't care. Not about our ideas for the future. [They were smart.]

[Drift's shoulders release as the other takes the gas cans. He's helped someone. That counts for a lot right now. One tick, medium sized.]

[Action!] We do face that direction, yes.

[mccrane]

I have conducted investigations on my own, and I have split from the group when my duty made it more efficient to do so, but never for more than a few days.

[He couldn't go far. If something major came up, Build Tiger would be needed, and it couldn't form without him.]

Are you happy to be gone, now, then?

[It's a question he's been wondering, while they've talked. Drift always seemed sad when talking about the war, but he'd been in it for so long...McCrane imagines it must be incredibly conflicting.]

[Please excuse him while he clutches onto this can tightly. This is a very, very big tick for him.]

[Action!] .....and literal, apparently.

[sword_redemption]

That...sounds nice.

[He can't hide the envy on his face. McCrane belonged. Unlike Drift, who, even now, had to fight for a place on the quest he started. How did it feel to belong, just like that? How did it feel not to have everything be a struggle?]

The war's over and we're looking for something better. Because we don't know how to do anything but fight.[He shrugs.] I miss them, but I...don't know if I want them to miss me.

[He's not sure if that's even answering the right question. But McCrane isn't here to hear his life story. He's here for the gasoline.] I can look for more?

[Action!] Wait, is there another meaning?

[mccrane]

Does it? [He's surprised.] I expected that you'd tell me it was immature...

[McCrane trails off, because he can see that look, and he's seen it often enough before to know what it means. He saw it with Drill Boy, on the outside looking in before they were able to accept him. He'd seen it with Duke, as well, not understanding why he was being singled out.]

I think you do want them to miss you, Drift. [His voice is softer, understanding.] Connections can't just go away, even when we're far from those we care about.

[He clutches onto the gasoline can, and shakes his head.] Later, yes, but not right now. I should be going to see Gunmax's fireworks...

[IDEA!]

Come with me, Drift?

[action ] and facepalm.

[sword_redemption]

Why would it be immature? To want to belong to something bigger than you? To take comfort in the fact you're not alone? [He doesn't get it.]

...but I shouldn't want them to. [That's the problem. He wants to be useful. But he's lost others close to him, and he doesn't want anyone to feel what he went through. Not for him.]

Come with you where? [Clueless.] I don't even know what fireworks are. [An embarrassed admission. Since he's finally seen the war over, he's been realizing how much of peacetime he doesn't understand.]

[action ] So much to learn!

[mccrane]

To have never stepped outside the boundaries. [He answers, simply, though there is the slightest trace of longing on his face. He misses Build Team.]

[This, he gets.] ...n...no. Perhaps not. Perhaps it is better for them to be able to move on, if we're not able to come back... [The idea sparks something within his Super AI, and it does not feel pleasant.] But I can't believe that. We're a team. We've all affected one another, for good and for bad. I would not trade that, even for the pain it causes to lose it.

[Yes, he definitely wants you to come. There can't be such terribly sad conversations just for him to leave you alone.]
Fireworks. Small, controlled explosions launched safely into the sky in celebration.
They should be beautiful. Gunmax and Korra have been working hard on them today.

[action ]

[sword_redemption]

Why should that matter? Believe me. You can cross the galaxy and still not see anything. Really see it.

[He'd been so blind in his loyalty to Megatron, he hadn't noticed anything else--where he was, what he was doing, who he was killing.]

Mine should move on. [Even though he hasn't--Gasket, Wing, they still weigh on him.]

But a team...[He's never had that.] I wouldn't know. I know it's not the same. [He doesn't have the greatest track records with authority. Much less a team.]

I'm not sure I see how explosions are beautiful? [Or rather he is, all too well, but doesn't want to imagine McCrane liking them like that.]

[action ]

[mccrane]

You have still seen much more than I have. [He can't even imagine travelling the galaxy. They could probably manage the solar system, but...everywhere? This is as far from home as he's ever been.]

They should move on, yes. And they will, just as we will if we become truly stuck here. [Practicality first. Always.] But it can still help to know that you are missed, and...

I find it difficult to believe that no one would be missing you.

You have made an impression upon us, after all. [He'd notice if you suddenly vanished, at least.]

But fireworks...they are safe. They're not the explosions of battle. [Even if he suddenly regrets phrasing them that way, since...well. You're fresh out of the war and all.] They're crafted, with many colors. It's like art.