trans_9 | Test Drive

Entry tags:

Test Drive

"Stupid slagging diode-blooming meatship downgrading meee-eeeeee!" Sentinel roared his displeasure as he veered around another corner. He was still getting used to the different sense of balance with his reduced size. The change in mass was playing havoc on his handling. How did the damn Bumbler deal with the change?

He clipped another corner, not slowing down as he refused to give up. Hopefully none of those skittering organics would get in his way this time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The 'skittering organics' were apparently not inclined to comply with Sentinel Prime's wish for them to stay out of his way today. Jamie, at least, managed to see the 'bot coming in time to plaster himself to the fleshy wall of the ship in time to avoid a head-on collision, yelping his surprise.

This is getting ridiculous!

Sentinel skidded to another stop, almost taking out the hu-man with his side mirror. He didn't even bother transforming to get irate this time.

"What is WRONG with you organics? Can't you find safer places to wander around?" The vehicle practically hopped with rage, it's shocks making it rise and fall as he yelled.

Jamie remained where he was, staring at the miniature car as it bounced and shrieked at him. Sure, he'd seen weirder than that in his day, he just...wasn't expecting it at this particular point in time. He was about to shoot back a retort at the thing, something to the effect of 'Maybe you should watch where you're going' or 'Where are we supposed to wander around?', but he wasn't entirely sure what entities on this ship could and could not make his life a living hell, so he decided to play it safe and apologize, if only through gritted teeth.

"...sorry," he said tightly, his look flattening a little. "I'll try to keep an eye out for speeding things from now on."

"HMPH." Sentinel transformed, brushing off his tires.

"So what's your deal, hu-man? You are a hu-man, right?"

And that he really wasn't expecting. Jamie flailed, pressing back further against the wall, if that was even possible. The shock was only momentary, though, and he had to keep from staring; robots were kind of his schtick, after all, and seeing a new one never failed to intrigue him.

Even if this one seemed to have a serious attitude problem. "What do you mean, my 'deal'? I'm just...looking around the ship. And yeah, I'm a human." He paused and ventured, "What - ah. What are you, exactly?"

Servos, meet waist. Sentinel puffed out his torso-plate. "I... am Sentinel Prime. Member of the Autobot Elite Guard, one of the most valliant warriors on Cybertron!"

He looked down at the particularly small organic. "And by 'deal', I mean to ask what your irregularity is. Most of you hu-mans selected by this techno-organic nightmare seem to have some sort of special skill or genetic anomaly."

That name sounded familiar... "Sentinel Prime? I think we're on the same away team. Bravo, right?" Great. Jamie didn't entirely like the thought of being on a team with this pushy, pompous...whatever-he-was.

At the mention of 'irregularities,' Jamie bristled just a little, settling only when it became apparent that this was Sentinel's way of asking what kind of talents he had. "Um. Well, I'm a pilot and a strategist...and I can fix machines." If there were more robots like Sentinel on board, that last skill might come in even handier than Jamie'd thought.

"Well, I'm sure you're... an asset to it."

Ah, another mechanist. Perhaps this one was less petulant than the green-skinned one and the... crazed one. "What's your specialty in mechanics then? What kind of machines?"

"All kinds. Back home we have biomechanical combat mechs that I used to repair, but I've learned my way around a lot of different kinds of machines." Jamie's tone carried just a bit of a defensive edge to it.

"Are there any more from your world here, or are you the only one of your kind on board?" he ventured, then.

Sentinel focused on that. "Biomechanical? Like this place?" By Primus, that's vulgar.

"No, there seems to be one of my subordinates among the selectees, and reports of Decepticons... our sworn enemies, as well."

Jamie wrinkled his nose a bit. "Not...exactly. It just means they're machines that're alive. They can grow and react to stuff and feel pain like a regular animal, but their bodies are made of metal." Jamie found himself wondering just what made Sentinel Prime tick - if he was a manmade construct running on fancy AI the way the robots back home were, or if he was something else entirely - but wasn't sure how a question along those lines might've been received.

He frowned, then. "Your enemies. Are they dangerous? They won't try anything here, will they?"

Sentinel huffed. "Technological is a normal animal."

He opened one optic wider at the next question. "Oh they're the scum of the universe. But they wouldn't dare try anything with an Elite Guard member here to trounce them." He sported a cocky grin.

Jamie sincerely hoped that if Sentinel's description of his enemies was true, he had the skills to back up his boasting. Doubly so, actually, if they were going to be on the same team and Jamie'd have to trust the robot to watch his back on a mission. "Well, it's...good to know you're on the job, then."

He narrowed his eyes a little in contemplation. "Um. So there's an entire planet full of, uh...robots like you? Do they all transform into little cars and stuff, or is that just an...Elite Guard thing?"

"Oh there's more than just our home planet. We've got outposts throughout the galaxy as well. To answer your question though, yes, all of us transform. It's how we survive." He paused. "And there's nothing 'little' about my proper form! This damn bio-nightmare shrunk me down!"

He huffed and folded his arms across his torso. "Most of us do turn into terrestrial vehicle modes though; usually four-wheeled."

"You need to transform to survive?" Jamie wondered if it was like some mechanical version of evolution - adapting to one's environment and all. "How come you take those particular forms, 's there any reason? And - how big are you, normally?" he added, giving Sentinel a scrutinizing gaze. He was envisioning the robot's vehicle form being more in the range of a normal-sized car, scaled to carry humans - but if Sentinel was from an alien planet where, from all indications, humans didn't even exist, maybe his 'proper form' was considerably larger than that.

"We don't need to, but it helps a great deal. We usually attempt to scan modes that have some kind of correlation with our real vehicle modes." He grimaced. "And I'm normally grand and massive enough to form the full-sized version of that.. snow.. plow... thing."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject