re_alignment | 02

[The majority of Swerve's time is now spent in the Hub, seeing as it's sort of a hub for the glyphless and he's sort of the bartender, so it comes as no surprise that the background of his video feed is the bar itself. It's pretty obviously the slow part of the day, made more-so by the fact that he's actually made himself a fancy tiered drink, delicate layers and crazy straw and all. Where is he even getting those? Whoooo knoooows. It's a mystery!]

Well, that whole thing was fun.

[If by 'fun', one meant 'kind of exhausting'. The whole thing was made worse by the very public and very obvious information regarding the Glyphless. BUT WE'RE NOT FOCUSING ON THAT RIGHT NOW because wow, just no. There is a limit to how much shit he can put up with while sober. Or just in general. Remember when hot to live in peace and an adventure that occasionally went robot pear-shaped were his only worries? Good times.]

So yeah, you know what's actually pretty obvious? We've got a ton of people here from about eight different universes with cybertronians, and quite a few without, and so on and so on. So I'm here thinking “Wow I'd like to know more about these places”. Basically, I'm wondering if alla you are up for some kinda information exchange or somethin'. Everyone shares a bit about where they come from. Or a lot. Up to you all in general. I'm just curious is all.

Oh! Right. Before I forget, raise your hand if you wanna learn to mix engex and all that good stuff, 'cos I do actually have to recharge every once in a while. Y'know... [He holds his hands a little close.] Just a bit. So it'd probably be a good idea to have someone else who knows how.

[Not you, Wing. You have, like, fifty jobs. When do you even sleep, seriously?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Don't argue with Science.]

What? If I knew the outcome? Maybe after a while. Could be pretty entertaining though, freakin' people out for a bit.

[Swerve tilts his head as far as he can and considers the thought for a while before shaking it.] Not that I remember. He's always been an Autobot. Scientist all the way, from what I remember. So you. A 'con? Really? How'd that happen?

Huh. [That's about all he's got to say on the subject of Megatron, a base expression of curiosity. They don't really run in the same circles back in his world.

That gets Jetfire a "Really?" sort of look.]

It's been going on for millions 'a years. Course I remember how it started. Maybe not as much as Prime or Ratchet, but enough. What d'you wanna know?

[But Science, don't be like that!]

I suppose, yes. [It shouldn't be amusing, but it sort of is. It reminds him somewhat of a few scientists in the spark-processor interface field talking about the possibilities of creating artificial telepathy.]

If I wanted to be incorrect, I could blame it all on Starscream. [Jetfire's not so much drinking what he's been given at this point as simply trailing a finger around the glass itself.] Since we were partners in the Academy. But it's partly connected to why I asked if you knew how it started, the reasonings for it...

Megatron talked about our supposedly suppressed purpose, the rights we had... what we ought to be doing and taking, and that the Council of Ancients were deciveing us. Keeping us as less than we could be. It made sense, back then... it simply seemed logical to do what we had to do. [He shrugs.]

I still wasn't sure if I should join, but Starscream managed to convince me. For a while.

[That "for a while" was still around a million years.]

So I was merely curious about the reasons behind it, in your reality.

[Science will be however it wants to be.]

Huh. Wasn't expecting to hear that, but I guess it makes sense. Going where friends go, I mean. I get that. Though it seems like your Megatron had a little more to say about the whole superiority thing.

[Swerve tilts his head in thought for a bit before nodding.] In my universe, my Cybertron, mostly it was the system we had. We were pretty strict about it, back before the war. If you had a function, you stuck with it, even if you could do something else. If you turned into an electron microscope, you were a scientist, even if you didn't like science. If you transformed into a digging machine, you were a miner, even if you were smart enough to be a scientist.

Mechs all over were getting sick of it, especially the labor mechs who were being outmoded. 'cons and bots wanted to fix it, they just had different ideas about how do it. So we started fighting for a few million years, and now pretty much everyone in the galaxy hates our race, and we're actually blacklisted by the Galactic Council.

[Jetfire just chuckles dryly and shrugs. There's not much he can say to that, unless they go into a very long and personal history. And even if he was inclined towards that, he's a bit too surprised by what Swerve just said.]

You... That's... not what I expected. We didn't have anything similar at all. While the Council of Ancients were closing off large parts of Cybertron, especially underground areas, and Megatron implied there was more than simple secrecy behind that, we didn't... Have anything similar to a caste system.

[The idea was utterly alien, and Jetfire drums his fingers against the cube as he thinks it over.]

What about the majority, who would be less easily classified vehicles? Excluding transport-class flyers, and cargo-carrying capable ground vehicles, most of us do not have something as simple to put in a function as an electron microscope.

[Frowning, Jetfire rubs his chin. Under that sort of society, he would possibly not have been able to do what he'd been doing practically forever now. Well, adding his weapons development/engineering as well...]

Wow, I did not recognize like... any of that from what we had going on in my world. At all. Weird.

[Swerve shrugs.] Yeah, that was kind of the problem. It was all pretty arbitrary. I mean, I turn into a car. Well, a buggy really. Small car. Whatever. Point is, I'm a metallurgist. Not really a lot to do with my alt mode.

Curious that things can be superficially similar - even more than what's simply suggested from the general theme of two factions and the war, and yet there's some... impressive differences.

[He nods, slowly, at that.] I suppose the mere force of social habit would've kept the system going, especially with the government behind it?

[Until, obviously, it got challenged enough to broke.]

Yeah. I guess if every universe was just exactly the same though, it'd be kind of pointless to have a bunch of them. Variety and all that.

[Swerve nods in agreement.] I was talking to Wing once about how we were kinda stagnant for a species all about adapting. There're some mechs who didn't even like it when other change jobs during the war. Perceptor wasn't always a sniper, y'know.

Points on a prism; they might all look similar, but at the simplest they all point in a slightly different direction.

[A slightly differently phrased agreement, but agreement nonetheless.]

Patterns are preferred, especially old patterns, even if we are more or less made for change... But it also means that any changes on a personal and social level would be resisted, even from someone who eagerly and easily switches between altmodes... or even between different types of such. [Jetfire pauses, helm tilting.] Ah. Was he a scientist previously?

[Not that Perceptor obviously wasn't capable of still doing science, that being preferred or not.]

Most of the ones that have been or are here seem to be.

02 - Video;

Action; I AM SO SLOW AND SO SORRY

Action; It'S OKAY

Action; c:

Action; :D and then Jetfire got difficult...

Action; oh god what have i gotten myself into

Action; I'm sorry 8c

Action;

Action;