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Title: Getting the SCIENCE! Gang Together PCs: Wheeljack, Torque, Brainstorm Location: Wheeljack's Workshop Date: 02 December 2014 Summary: Wheeljack gets visits from an anticipated guest- and someone more unexpected. |
++ Wheeljack's Workshop ++ Technoversity Outskirts ++ Iacon ++
Welcome to the Jackhammer v1.3!
What started out as an abandoned storage shed on the outskirts of the nearby technoversities has been retrofitted into Wheeljack's personal workshop. It's a sizable open space that now lays cluttered with all manner of half-finished projects of varying sizes, shapes and designs. The reinforced walls are reminiscent of a starcraft and at the far end of the space is a raised cockpit-like area, with a chair set before a bevy of monitors and other displays. Central to the worshop is a pulsing generator, fueled by the various steam, wind and solar panels its connected to that cover the roof.
There are several work stations set up around the worshop, either for different purposes or individuals, with multi-purposeful carts that are auto-mated, to share tools between them. There are five stations in all, each with its own locker, drafting table and chair.
There are multiple burnt or scorch marks on the walls, ceiling and floor with a mounting pile of scrap in the recycle bins in the corners.
Smoke. So much smoke.
If he had (a revealed) mouth, he might be coughing - that is, if he breathed in air. As it is, Wheeljack comes stumbling out of his workshop waving his hands in front of his face to try and clear his optics. "Well, THAT shouldn'ta' happened...," he mutters as he looks back at what he's wrought. There's a rumble of a small explosion as something else goes off. "GUess I know what I'm doin' this afternoon," he finishes.
The workshop is at the egdes of the technoversity grounds - likely for just this reason. Wheeljack is a bot of ... a certain reputation ... which no doubt, being in scienctific circles, his intended guest is well aware of. Wheeljack had sent out selective invitations to a few, one of them being Brainstorm's 'boss' - and two of the three have already answered it. It's that last that he's been rather hopeful for aaaaaaand had been working on something to try and impress his intended guest with. Wheeljack draws out a small remote device and depresses the blue button with a sigh as this causes the vents in the lab to both spray anti-flammable foam and suction air from the space.
Brainstorm is indeed (finally) coming to see just what this was all about. But hey- he's an Engineer, some might even say a "mad scientist"... and people like him work at their own pace, with their own agendas, and their own sense of time. Time itself, of course, being malleable to those skilled enough to work it. But... that's neither here nor there. Brainstorm is coming.... at a time of his own choosing. Well that, and possibly because he had a few little... accidents of the sort Wheeljack just experienced.
Spotting the smoke, then Wheeljack himself, the turquiose jet strides up, seeming to grin under the faceplate. "Heh- I see you've been busy. Wheeljack, I presume?" He tilts his head at the device. "Oh- you've got one of those, too? Don't you hate it when that happens?" He points up at the smoke, not seeming too perturbed or disturbed by the chaos at all.
"Yeah yeah," Wheeljack raises a hand to both indicate that it is indeed him but also to wave off the 'help'. Being close to the technoversities, he's rather accustomed to officials coming down on him for 'disturbances' such as this. "I didn't mean to uncouple the magnetic barrier to cause the distabilization in the inverted laser matrix but that's what.... oh." He shuts up pretty quickly when he realizes who this is, who literally just dropped out of the sky.
"You're Brainstorm!"
Yes, Wheeljack is excited, so much so that he forgets that his laboratory/workshop was on fire. He scrambles to pat himself down, as if he's in need of something but whatever that urgency is, it's lost when he realizes he has to focus on the here and now, on the who is here before him. "Right," he clears his vocalizer. Wheeljack is not a businessman so his potential pitch is bound to be horrible, yet he is an inventor, one driven to create a better tomorrow. To that end he knows he will need some help, so he's searched out and reached out to a select few that he thinks, well, can help make that happen. "You know, don't you? Where Cybertronn is headed, what's coming? I see it too."
Wheeljack takes a pause here for a moment as he leans back to get a better look of Brainstorm. Yep! Exactly as he expected! "Sorry if I'm a little nervous, I didn't expect you today, though don't get me wrong! I'm sure glad you came! Well, I supose it was more that I was hoping you'd come by any day... the others, they already came and... Yeah, I'm ramblin'," he realizes. He looks back tot he workshop as it stops venting and the smoke has cleared. "Sorry, bit jumbled as they," he thumbs back to the technoversity, "Are saddlin' me with some sad assistant type, supposed to arrive today. Guess now I got somethin' they can do for me, hah!"
Brainstorm raises a hand, looking quite important and magnanimous. "No need to fret, my friend! I can see you have a passion for SCIENCE... and that means taking risks! Not being content to stay on the safe and trampled path, but willing to think of new possibilities, and then reach out and GRAB them! I LIKE it!"
He then comes closer, and if Wheeljack allows, grabs him by the shoulder for a arm-armed almost-hug. His other hand sweeps the area. "You bet I see where Cybertron is heading, and if we don't THINK BIG, think FAR and aren't willing to take some risks, then our planet could be in trouble." He pulls back and looks at the scientist. "Assistant, eh? Any idea who?" He looks back at the smoke. "So.... what'd you call me here for? Who else answered the call?"
Sad assistant type? Tch! Wheeljack will be in for a surprise. Anyway, the technoversity folks told her to follow the smoke and look for a mech with a blinking face, which Torque sort of raised a brow at, but in the end she took the assignment and took a transport to Iacon.
With the column of smoke as her guide, the femme makes her way through the city before finally coming upon the mech in question and his shop. Seems he's got company, though.. "Uh, 'scuse me." She pipes up with a clear of her vocals during her approach, antennas twitching curiously and a datapad under one arm. "Don't mean to interrupt, but I'm lookin' for a mech named Wheeljack. I'm guessing that's you?" The charred scientist draws her amber gaze first and a soft smirk with hand extending to shake. "Heh, they weren't kidding about you.. Anyway, name's Torque. The Technoversity sent me to help you out." As for Brainstorm, he gets a bright smile and san offer to shake. "And you must be Brainstorm. Hard to miss a mech with your reputation."
He likes it! Wheeljack is grinning from ear-to-ear under that faceplate as Brainstorm seems to be IN without much selling being needed. "Big trouble," he agrees, not in/under arm of Brainstorm as, of course, he'll be almost-hugged! Embraced by a peer? Why not! "The escalation in armaments, the building of 'sides'... the dwindling energy, the approach of blackouts... our collateral lack of expansion, the potential threat of invasion - again - ... yes, yes!" He sounds so relieved to know that *someone else* can see it too. "I asked you to come here to see, well, this," he gestures tot he shed-would-be-workshop, what with its solar panels and windmills on the roof. "A place where we could get away from the distractions out there and focus on savin' Cybertron. I reached out to Starscream, of COURSE. His work on tranitional energy solutions alone... ahem. Nautica, the Camien too, whose theories are certainly very stimulatin'."
He stops though when they're approached by a mech? Jackie steps away from Brainstorm and holds up his hands in a 'I got this' kind of gesture. He can repair his lab on his own. "Wait, yeah... that's me," he blinks. "You're Torque? I...w ell, I imagined someone..." He holds out his hands to suggest someone... larger, what with a name like that. "I heard about you...," he thinks? Jackie peers at her, clearly, not having expected her at all.
Brainstorm looks over as Torque makes an entrance. When she extends a hand he happily accepts, shaking her hand eagerly, especially after her comment on his reputation. He seems to puff up a little as he says, "Pleased to meet you, Torque! Well, yes, glad my name is gaining the recognition it deserves! You'd be surprised the resistance I've met along the way..." he looks to both of them. "The haters, the doubters, the skeptics... the safety inspectors. Pfft." He waves a hand again.
Listening to Wheeljack, Brainstorm seems to like everything he hears. "Yes, exactly! We're at risk of stagnation... or else mutual destruction. I'm not too keen on either, really." He pauses at the mention of Starscream. "Interesting! He's got me working on a...er, project over in Vos right now. Kinda top secret at the moment, but yeah... he certainly seems to be a supporter of the sciences." Nautica gets a familiar look, too. "She was here? Recently?" There's a flash of something- was it hopefulness? Then it's gone again, replaced by a more neutral look. "Well... I look forward to seeing her again, too. Is she well?"
"Heh, well that tends to happen when big minds try to think up new stuff. Sometimes I think some folks are afraid of change." Torque beams to Brainstorm, though it falters some in favor of a raised brow at Wheeljack. "Imagined someone bigger and tougher?" She cracks a smirk and chuckles. "I may be average sized, but don't let that fool yah. You'll see." As for hearing of her, she cants head slightly and allows optics to wander in thought. "You have? Well, I mean I can't say I'm as well known as Brainstorm over here. Maybe some of the Technoversity folks mentioned me? I'm friends with a few of 'em, which is why they called me out here. ...So what'd you need help with, anyway? Aside from the cleanup?" She leans slightly to look past him at his shop.
"Tougness ain't the proper scale I was thinkin' of. You look plenty tough enough," Hweeljack assesses. Torque looks plenty beat up. "Just... bigger. It's a big name to fill out," he shares, since his mind is going there. "We're all created knowing our names. We self-identify and follow a path that mirrors that name in our function, either in what we do or wish to do best. I'm not one to suggest I know better, to think that your name is 'wrong'... just, expected more .... omph? Maybe there's more to you Torque," he winks, "Than meets the eye."
Wheeljack then blinks to Brainstorm. Hey, if he's interested in Nautica too, then maybe he can spin that into a selling point to get ol' Stormy here to commit! "She looked well, I guess? Nothin' seemed wrong. I don't know nothin' about Camiens though..." He's wholly unaware of her involvement with the Institute, only that she mentioned it. "She seemed... hesitant? Unsure. I think oce I told her I wasn't interested in politics, that really none of us could be, well, that helped. Seemed like a good idea to Starscream too." He's downright giddy to share that. "Havin' someone like Starscreamonboard..." Well, he's impressed with himself. Jackie is good and doesn't ask about things he doesn't need to know, so he won't pry into what BS is working on for Starscream. Rather, he'd like to focus on what could be build here.
"Well, originally when the bolts in charge over there," he thumbs to the technoversities, "Said they were sending' me someone, I thought it'd be for clean-up and other busywork. Clearly though, you got some gears in your head and a fire in your spark, so... who knows now! I need help with everythin'," he chuckles open heartedly. "It's no small task, let me tell you, but here," he gestures tot he smothering ruins of his - no, everyone's - workshop, "We can build anything. Experiment, test, work together. Without prying eyes or political interests. A free space to invent! Maybe it's a positronic wave inducer or a hyperfrequency tunneler that we need to come up with. But when the problems seem so huge," he looks to Brainstorm here as he KNOWS that BS gets it (and in secret why he was so hopeful to have a fellow thinker like him), "The solutions gotta' be even MORE bold."
Brainstorm grins under his faceplate at Torque before looking at Wheeljack. "Hey, I like this new assistant of yours, Jack. Can I call you Jack? Agreed, Torque. I think we're all of like minds here, then. BIG minds." He listens to Wheeljack and nods. "Hey, I think a lot of us are "more than meets the eye, heh." He looks back to the burning building. "But mechs- and femmes- like us? We make a habit out of it. A habit of always thinking ahead, thinking bigger, thinking what others dare not to... it's what they count on us for, after all."
Brainstorm seems happy to hear about Nautica. "Good, good. I wanna talk to her sometime..." He nods. "Yeah... politics and science make a rotten mix, if you ask me. Keep 'em seperate, I say." Brainstorm only seems happier at the rest, and his own yellow optics seem to gleam at the mention of being BOLD. "Oh now you're just totally speaking my language. I think you and I are gonna get along just fiiine~, Wheeljack. Jack. Jackie?" He starts rubbing his hands together. "Yeah... I could use a secondary location for a few experiements of my own... I've got some weapons in development, too... just in case, ya know?"
If Torque could breach the fourth wall and get that joke she'd be rolling her optics so hard right now. But seeing as she can't she simply blinks in surprise, antennas perking and a faint blush hinting her cheeks. "I uh.. I suppose so.." She never really thought of herself as special, but there's certainly attributes about her people wouldn't expect.
Back on topic, she rubs her chin at the thought of building stuff and experimenting, nodding and glowing with excitement. "Well, I've got a few ideas I never really had the tech in my shop to make. It'd be nice to get some of 'em out into the development stage. Oh and uh.." She pauses, rubbing the back of her neck. "Figured I'd let you know, this is sort of a secondary job for me. I've got a shop over in Kalis, so I'll have to split my time. I'll be here when I can, and you're more than welcome to come on over." She also has another sort of job, but.. no need to let tem know about that. "But anyway, lemme help you out while I'm here. Stsrt by cleaning up this mess.." She just shakes her head at the state of the shop while making her way in.
"Hey, if we don't have the tech we need here, we'll build it!" Jackie is sounding more confident by the moment, especially since others seem to signing on. First Starscream and now everyone else... his dream team! Even the new wildcard that is Torque. "Well, seems like Brainstorm has work for Starscream, Natuica has... Camien stuff? ... and Sarscream has a whole city to rule, so..." The only one without something else to help keep him busy is Wheeljack. "We'll make it work when we can!" He looks to Brainstorm. "Whatever you want to call me as long as you say 'yes' to this, you're welcome to!" So many exclaimations!
He does hold up his hands to suggest 'stop' though. "No weapons," he says firmly. "At least not intentionally. If either side gets a hint of what we could brew up in here, well... there's no tellin' what they'd seek to have us do. We need to be about the future, about moving forward, not tearing bots apart because of things that have already happened. Besides, we'll have our hands busy creating solutions to be worried about wasting time on bombs and bullets!" Oh, how idealistist he still is.
Wheeljack then looks at his workshop and considers. "I'll get it myself. I made it, I'll clean it up. In the morning," he adds as he turns to Torque. "Right now, you should show us this shop of yours." That seems far more engaging that dusting up soot.
Brainstorm hmms, for the first time. "Well... but.... what happens if the future DOES include warfare or weapons? You think that stuff ever really goes away? Even if we turned into a completelky peaceful planet, there's no tellin' what hostile aliens might try sometime down the line. I tell ya, Jackie, weapons are *needed*. Even if they're simply... defensive weapons. And don't think so narrowly- weapons aren't just "bullets and bombs"... they can help defend the weak- sometimes literally. Slag, I've got a mind to invent a weapon that can tell if you're a good guy, or a bad guy, and react accordingly!"
As Torque looks into the workshop, Brainstorm looks interesting in checking it out, too. "Yeah, let's see what's here. I always like to see other scientists' labs!"
Torque stops halfway to the entrance and turns back to the two, catching up on the debate for and against weapons. "Well.." She ponders. "Sometimes weapons are needed for defense, yeah, but I don't think we should worry about them right now. There's a lot of other stuff we've gotta worry about. And if the need for weapons comes down the pipe then I think we'll deal with it then."
While Brainstorm checks out the exploded workshop, Torque looks a bit unsuredly at Wheeljack's suggestion. "..You sure? It's not much, I'll admit.. And it's a bit of a ride to Kalis. But I mean, if you really want.." She looks off in the direction of the shuttle port, not exactly used to folks actually wanting to see her place.
Wheeljack is very much of Torque's thinking, so to know it warms him to her more. He's not one to want to make problems but rather head them off then whey present themselves. He's not foolish enough to think that weapons would never be needed - he has his own, afterall. They all do. Yet, it's a problem he'd prefer to tackle when he actually has to, so he'll delay it now all he can... yet Brainstorm makes a good point. One of Jackie's fears is how they have stopped, as a race of explorers, looking outward. This only makes them vulnerable. "Defensive only," he mutters as an agreement. He can see the logic in that.
That's when it clicks for Jackie and he points at Torque. "Pit fighters and racers! That's where I heard of ya' from. That shop in Kalis, it's one they've talked about." He grins... nott hat anyone can see it. "I tend to lend my wrench to many of them too," he explains. "Some of them even mentioned a tough femme that knocked more than a few bolts loose, come to think of it..."
Oh, they want to stay here and look?! Jackie forgets about Torque's shop for the moment as he moves intot he foam-and-soot-covered space he's been 'gifted'. He's eager to show it off. "Let me..." He whips out his remote again and punches a few buttons. With a flicker the lights come back on and equipment hums back to life.
Within the space it would appear that three of the five work stations have already seen some use. One that's likely barely been touched but has a number of datapads littering it, and another that's similar in the lack of use (yet) but has a bunch of new tools layed on it. The center one, that's practically crawling with all manner of devices, grim and stuff has a thick box stuffed under it, labeled 'DANGER: DO NOT OPEN'.
In the 'cockpit' on the displays are various readouts and recordings of what Jackie was working on prior to the explosion that sent him rushing out, as well as a (paused) musical station, and one monitor that shows the edit mode for a intranet feed of a fansite dedicated to, you guessed it, Starscream.
Brainstorm shakes his head a bit. "But by the time you realize you need 'em, it might be too late. better to be prepared- and then some." Then Wheeljack offers a compromise. The engineer taps his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm." Then he beams. "Alright, it's a deal! I've got some things in mind- forcefields that sap intruders' willpower, missiles that seek out evil intent and hone in on it, just some small stuff like that!" He waves it off as if it's common-place, everyday stuff. Of course, to someone like him it is.
At the mention of pit fighters, he looks at Torque as if a bit impressed. "You go in those things and fight? Aren't those... fights to the death?" As they walk into the building, Brainstorm is immediately attracted to the box labeled "Danger: Do Not Open". "Ooo- what's in here?"
Welp, looks like she's been found out! Any nervousness begins to fade and Torque chuckles warmly. "Had no idea I was being talked about. But yeah, that'd be me. Got a detailing and body shop up front the race folk from Ibex mostly use, and yah know, any who wanna look a bit fancier. Get a lot of mechs from Kaon in my clinic, though. I do what I can to help 'em out."
Stepping inside with the others, Torque does her best to step around the foam sprayed about, cleaning what she can and trying not to mess up the placement of things. Only when they talk about her fighting does she turn somewhat sheepish, "Ah.. yeah, I go in the pit now and then. It's decent cash if you can stand gettin' beat up." A bit shameful to admit, but she tries to stay positive and perks up at Brainstorm, shaking her head. "No, those're pretty much just the high tier fights. I'm around middle tier right now, though I don't plan to go much higher. I'm not really to get slagged just yet." She smirks and wipes away some foam from a set of tools.
Wheeljack follows Torque in. "I just wasn't seein' it before. There it is," he winks as she explains. "Bigger. Just like I said." He's... pretty impressed. Pit fighting isn't anything he could do but the racing... that's stuff he's admired from afar. If Torque can do her thing maybe he should take the plunge as well?
Sidenote: encouragement feels great!
"That one's Nautica's," Jackie mentions as Torque brushes at the tools there. "This one," he gestures to the one witht he datapads (and also the biggest of any of the stations), "Is Starscream's. Guess that leaves two up for grabs? Whichever one you wa-...!" Suddenly he rushes to his own station to get between Brainstorm and that box! "Not that!" He actually looks afraid. "Until I find a safe way to dispose of it, it stays in there! It could ruin us all," he shakes. "Trust me," he begs. Instead he tries to distract Brainstorm another way. He backs up to the raised 'cockpit' dias area and turns to a set of monitors where he pulls up a live feed to somewhere in space that is accompanied with various readouts. "Here, look... it's some priliminary stuff I have on wormholes, I was hoping *you* of all bots could help me look into them. We've used space bridges before, sure, but these are more... natural... to the fabric of space, and if my data is correct, also time!" How fascinating is that?!
Brainstorm ahhhs at Torque. "Ok, yeah." He stands straight, trying to look brave. "Heh, I'm sure I'd do really well in those... be an interesting testing ground for some of my experimental weapons." He almost looks like he's considering it, then..."But I'm /far, far/ too busy a mech to find the time. Tsk." Also, he's a complete coward and is not deliberately getting anywhere near a death match.
Then Wheeljack's reaction to... the box... just piques his interest. "Oho~... What IS in there, I wonder...." He almost looks about ready to try darting around Wheeljack and getting to the box anyway... and then the scientist has to go and do... that. The turquoise jet's optics light up. "You have WHAT?!" He rushes over to the dias take a look. "This is... fascinating! How many universes do you think this might link up to? Any idea where- or when? Have you sent any probes yet? Have you picked up any sign of black holes, supernovas or any other phenomenom nearby that could interfere with a looksee?"
Wheeljack feels both sudden shame that he's so willing to share EVERYTHING with his intended fri-... work pals? ... yet not what's in the box as well as relief. For some reason, he half wonders if he didn't just save Cybertron from certain doom by keeping Brainstorm out of there. That also excites Jackie because it is so very thrilling to find someone else so openly excited by the possible. He waves to Roque as he moves to join Brainstorm. "Pick one? Not like you can leave; you've been assigned to me! Hah," he grinsa s he couldn't be happier. Finally, the lugheads at the technoversity did something right. With a *sha-UUNNK* his faceplate slides out of the way to show his beaming grim. Welcome aboard, Torque!
Wheeljack then turns the chair for Brainstorm to take. "Other universes? I never even ... we should find out," he decides. He leans in to dial up the access tot he remote probe he has up there before handing off those controls to Brainstorm. "All I have are ideas, but let's agree to find the answers... together."
Brainstorm totally BEAMS as Wheeljack hands him the controls. Is it enouhg to make him forget the "Do Not Open" box? Heck no. But at least he's thoroughly distracted now... new toys! New things to explore! New ideas! Best of all- new possibiltiies! He chuckles with delight in a way that would make any mad scientist proud. "Oh, you never know. It could be! There's no telling what something like this could lead to..." He sits down and kicks his feet up, totally enraptured now. "Yep yep... think I'm gonna like it here!"
Torque is an enthusiest when it comes to interesting tools, so she can't help but admire Nautica's collection while cleaning them of soot and foam. "Never met this Nautica, but she's got some good taste." As for Starscream's bench, she gives it a skeptical look. "I'd heard Starscream used to be a sciencey type. Guess being a figurehead was more his speed, though." It's going to be so weird working alongside the ruler of Vos..
A glance back to Wheeljack as he passes catches her somewhat off guard when she comes face to face with.. well, his face! "I uh.." She's a bit stunned, but quickly recovers and grins back, nodding. "Right. Don't worry, I think we'll do some great things together. Now, while you two mechs talk all that super sciencey stuff, I'll be cleaning up." And so she does, not as on par in the fields of science as folks like Wheeljack, Brainstorm, or Perceptor. No, instead she focuses on actually making this place able to be worked in again.