[so very open!]

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

This ship... was huge. And 'huge' didn't even seem to be a big enough word. Gargantuan. Cavernous. Ratchet's logical mind was struggling to understand how something on this scale was possible, but then again, common sense pointed out, they were dealing with interdenominational world eaters and planets full of people sleeping in pods. Logic didn't seem to have a very good hold on this situation.

He had detoured briefly to the medical wing earlier, but he knew better- if he went in there now, he'd be gone. Even a glimpse was enough to convince him that he was going to spend days just figuring the basics out. And the last thing he wanted was a week from now to realize that he didn't even know Stacy's basic layout. So he was starting with the City.

The sky was a nice touch, if somewhat startling at first. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when he started out, but he was very quickly wondering if he'd taken on more than he could handle. There seemed to be more of this place than he would have thought there to be room for and he was getting the distinct feeling that maybe aimless wandering was going to get him lost.

At least he could say it would be an adventure.

[OOC: Sort of bendytime'd? I'd meant to get this up earlier. 8B Ratch is wandering around the City, sticking his nose into all kinds of places in the name of exploration. Please feel free to tag with impunity! <3 ]

Comments

[drowpaladin.livejournal.com]

Ratchet could probably feel someone watching him. Nevermind that person was not in clear view.

May had been exploring the city herself, but the sight of the rather large robot had made her duck out of sight. She wasn't certain what it was, and while she liked certain aspects of the strangeness she'd encountered so far, a giant armored knight was a little out of her league.

So she'd ducked into the shadowy portion of a fallen building. Still, the white blonde color of her hair probably stuck out of the shadows like a sore thumb.

Too bad she didn't realize that.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, Ratchet knew that feeling although recently it had been associated with hordes of slavering robo-bugs. As such he didn't immediately stop to investigate until he happened to catch a flash of movement out of the corner of his optic range.

He turned abruptly, ready to open fire in defense if he had to, but it seemed like what or whoever was in the area was alone. "I can see you."

[drowpaladin.livejournal.com]

Busted.

In some ways, Maydril was just like every other teenager. So she did pout a bit as she slipped out of her hiding place, hands on her hips. Her sword, while bared, wasn't particularly brandished, as that fist was on her hip, the tip settled on the ground behind her.

"You were meant to," she said. "Eventually." As in, once she'd figured out what was going on.

"What are you, some sort of...odd armored knight? Or something?"

Because that was the epitome of diplomacy, May. Your father would not be pleased.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

Ratchet gave the young woman that stepped out a quick glance over, noting the peculiarities- the dark skin, light hair and pointed ears most notably. Certainly not human, but apparently a warrior none-the-less based on her weapon and gear. Her sword in particular was given more than a passing glance. He had seen Drift in action and it had fostered a healthy appreciation for the damage one could do with a bladed weapon.

"Oh, good. As long as you meant to be spotted," he quipped in answer to her excuse. Then to the question that followed, "Armored? Yes, I suppose so. A knight, no. I'm a doctor." He looked fairly proud to be saying it, too.

[drowpaladin.livejournal.com]

"A doctor?" That much at least was familiar. Even if he were like no doctor she'd ever seen.

"Are you supposed to be a man made of armor, then? You aren't like anyone I've ever seen before." Then again, that might very well apply in reverse, too.

She dipped a little curtsey despite her armor. "I'm Maydril val Mandrian. Or May, if you prefer." Apparently she'd just remembered that she was supposed to have manners.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

Indeed it could, and he says as much: "I could say the same for you; you're a little different from the humans I know. But yes, I'm metal, top to bottom."

Her curtsy gets a smile in return. "You certainly have an interesting way of meeting people, May, but it's nice to meet you. I'm Ratchet, new inductee to this ship."

[drowpaladin.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that, I can explain. I am not fully human, only half." That should explain that. And maybe open up a whole entire kettle of fish.

"I was curious. I suppose I learned that technique from my mother--following and hiding. I am also new. Did you wake up in the slime too? I did not see you...although many people are taller than I am, so I suppose that is why."

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

There was a fun little house and sprouting garden deep within the City, just far enough inside to make its placement rather unusual. The identity of its sole inhabitant probably did not make it any less weird.

Aeneas was outside in said garden, installing what looked like several rows of solar lighting pointing inward from the patch extremities. The alien’s tools made a neat path from the front of the building towards his location and, currently immersed in his work (and several inches of black loam), he was blissfully unaware of any potential visitors.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

He was getting far enough into the depths of the City that he was wondering if maybe he should head back before he got completely turned around, but that was when he spotted the out of place vegetation. A little garden, complete with house and it looked well tended. The line of equipment was given a curious glance before he started following it around, stepping carefully to avoid crushing anything; even at a fraction of the height he was used to possessing, there was still that distinct awareness that he was big and metal and that was cause enough to watch his footing.

"Hello?" He wasn't usually one to intrude, but curiosity was getting the better of him. Whoever was back here seemed to be building something.

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

Something large and heavy was coming his way. Aeneas perked his auricles and craned his neck to get a better look at this newcomer.

…Huh. A robot. Was it one of Stacy’s constructs? No, no, it wasn’t organic enough—nor was he sure Stacy even required solid constructs, since she got along fine with her AI systems and tentacles. The only other likely explanation was that it was actually a crewmember, a sentient machine of some sort…how odd.

Well, no need to stare! Aeneas stood and nodded his head politely, giving his ear a nervous scratch before glancing back up. “Y-Yes. Hello.”

There was an awkward pause.

“…Can I, ah, help you?”

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

Ratchet's attention had been caught by the strange creature in the garden, not to mention what it had been working on so the pause went mostly unnoticed before he remembered manners. "Oh! I was exploring the city and ended up here... I didn't know if anyone was in. Sorry- my name's Ratchet. Stacy woke me up a few days ago, so I'm still trying to get my bearings around here." He may or may not, in fact, be lost.

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

Yes, manners—those tipped him off, not to mention his apologetic tone that bordered on awkward and the story. This was, indeed, a crew member. Curiosity piqued, Aeneas tried on a smile in his brow and trilled pleasantly, lacing his voice with a deep purr that rattled his throat and feathers.

“You must have wandered for some time then in order to end up here.” He paused and instinctively reached for an ear. “—Uhm. I am Aeneas. It is nice to meet you. Would you...”

”'...like something to eat'? No, because he's a robot. Robots do not eat. At least most of them don't.”

“...Are you lost?”

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

The introductions made, such as they were, Ratchet grinned and made some attempt to appear a little more comfortable. "Yes and no. I'm not sure where here is exactly but it's not like I had anywhere I was trying to get to."

Okay, curiosity was getting the better of him. "..What're you working on, if you don't mind me asking?"

[ms_pepperpotts]

Pepper was also learning the layout of the ship, following a map she had found in the history of the communication handset she had been given shortly after she woken up. She couldn't help Tony if she had no idea of where to go, or what was going on.

Pepper had found the vital parts of the ship first, then made her way through the rest of the ship on a lightning trip, winding up at the City.

She wandered through the streets, keeping a wary ear and eye out for anything strange.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

The City was full of strange things! Like the patch of random architecture Ratchet had been inspecting that he could almost swear had some sort rudimentary neural system, but composed entirely of a crystalline matrix so densely packed that-

Movement caught his eye and he glanced over his shoulder to see the woman he recognized from the pod room passing down an intersecting street. Making note of his location to come back to later, he moved to catch up with her.

"Pepper!"

[ms_pepperpotts]

Hearing her name called, Pepper stopped, looking for the location of the voice. Seeing Ratchet, she waved, and waited for him to catch up.

She looked around, wondering at the strange architecture of some of the buildings.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

"Fascinating isn't it?" he said as he approached, noting her attention on the surrounding buildings. "I'm no archeologist, but this place has collected an impressive number of different buildings." A pause then as he came to a stop and he gave her a quick glance over.

"Holding up well enough around here?"

[ms_pepperpotts]

Pepper looked around again, her trained eye noticing some buildings looked awfully familiar. "Some of them remind me of home."

Answering his first question, Pepper smiled at Ratchet. "Tolerably. I've set myself to learn the layout of the ship, and I've made an appointment to obtain something other than this plantsuit." She laughed, then continued. "You're lucky in that. You don't require clothing."

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

He had noticed a few buildings that looked like they could have come from earth. Especially the large cathedral dominating an area not too far away; maybe Pepper had seen it as well. Nothing had struck him as particularly Cybertronian, but he supposed that there must not have been much to take from the world anyway. Maybe that pile of rubble over there was from home.

"Yeah, I dodged the photon blast on that one, but some of the suit's properties might be worth investigating for integration. I'll have to see if I can get the specs from Stacy." He shrugged a little; the theory was only half baked right now, but from what he'd read, the plantsuits seemed to work much more efficiently than some of his own systems. He considered it worth looking into. "You don't waste any time getting settled in though, do you?"

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

John was walking through the city on his way to pick more supplies when he spotted the robot. While he had known there were some on board he was still surprised. Most of the others that were partial or fully robotic could pass as human at first glance, but there was no mistaking this one for anything other than metal. Well, there was nothing he could do about it. The crew had made it clear they felt comfortable with these things walking around free, and he wasn't going to ruin what little good will he'd obtained by starting anything.

However that didn't mean he couldn't try, and spot some weaknesses in it's construction as he passed by, pretending to be busy with his omnicomm.

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

It was actually one of the things Ratchet had taken a liking to around this place: the fact that he could actually enjoy human company instead of having to worry if one of them was going to try shutting him down when he wasn't looking. It was a nice change of pace but of course expecting it to be that way for everyone was perhaps a bit too much to ask.

The man passing him drew his attention away from the surrounding architecture and the human phrase about the 'hairs on the back of one's neck' came to mind. The prickly feeling was hard to ignore. He watched the human pass by, turning to keep an optic on him; curious but on edge regardless.

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

He'd certainly drawn the thing's attention. Nothing he could do about it now, except react to it. Stopping he turned around, and glared at the machine. "Can I help you with something?"

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

Oh. There's the look he's been missing. Yay. "Sorry, I thought there was a surreptitious staring contest going on. Who won, me or you?"

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

Metal with a smart mouth? That was certainly different, though whether, or not it was a good thing remained to be seen. Taking a step closer he locked eyes with it. The design wasn't like anything he'd seen before, and since it looked like there was going to be an argument he might as well get a closer look while he could. "Who said it was over?"

[talks2stoplight.livejournal.com]

Ratchet held his ground, refusing to let himself be intimidated but tensed up regardless, ready to make a break for it if he had to. Being brave was one thing... being a target was another entirely. "Well now it's just plain staring and seeing as I don't need to blink, maybe you should quit while you're ahead."