[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 ] 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.