OPEN!!

[worstprime]

WHO: Rodimus and OPEN
WHERE: Heropa; Arcade and foodcourt
WHEN: July 18th or therabouts
WHAT: Trying to figure out human culture, getting excessively into cheap arcade games
WARNINGS: None ATM!

Rodimus is immediately regretting how little attention he paid to humans and their culture in general during his last stint on Earth. He'd never really bothered to pick up on any of the subtleties of their interactions...never really needed to. Okay, honestly, he'd never really picked up on the broad strokes either. Same excuse.

Now, holomatter avatar all fired up and ready to go*, he's ready to do some ""research"". Get the lay of the land; pick up some basic Earth culture....stuff.

*Rodimus' holomatter avatar is of a young, colourfully dressed woman, who appears to be in her early twenties.



A. ARCADE

This seems like a reasonably popular place for people to gather and do things that look enjoyable. Rodimus spends a good long while lurking around the outskirts of the arcade before actually going in.  He's figured out that the humans come here to play games, and that to play those games they use currency.  The games in question definitely look interesting, although he's not yet sure how they all work or what the object of some of them is.  On paper, he's here to just do some observation, and sticks to that, spending some time milling between people playing skeeball, air hockey and some miscellaneous computer-screen based games, occasionally asking painfully blunt questions about what they are doing or how it works.  They all seem fairly simple, but the humans in general seem entertained.  Many of the games seem to be competitive in nature, and pit two or more individuals against one another.

The longer he spends watching people, the more the urge to actually try these games out begins to grow on him though...




B. FOOD COURT NEAR ARCADE

Although his holomatter avatar neither needs or is able to eat, Rodimus figures this is a good place to try and get some cues about human behaviours.  Food seems pretty integral to the culture here, so why not?  There's a small food court right near the arcade that's filled with several small stalls and kiosks selling both meals and snack food of a wide variety.  He spends an indefinite period of time watching hot dogs rolling in a small, self-contained ecosystem.

The sheer volume and variety of food and drinks available for purchase here is overwhelming to Rodimus...and he can't he even eat any of it.  How humans even manage to decide on a daily basis is beyond him.  He watches in rapt interest as the people at the juice bar make smoothies, and abject horror as others consume some fleshy nuggets from cardboard containers.  There's a lot to learn here, and he's got no idea where to start.  In the process, he's generally making himself a nuisance, hanging around too closely to people while they order, watching them eat, asking the employees prying questions about their food preparation processes that if his holomatter avatar were less charmingly disarming they might mistake otherwise her for a health inspector.

Comments

[slingshots]

She's fresh off patrol, tired, and mostly just drifting through the arcade for the nostalgia of it — nevermind that the aesthetic is totally off, the idea is the same at least — but she can't totally turn off that Bat-awareness. So she notices it when there's a woman in the arcade not actually playing anything. She wonders, briefly, if that means she's casing the joint, but discards the idea pretty fast. She's not looking at any of the right stuff for that, not even subtly.

So she drifts in nearer, totally casual, and glances up at the colorful stranger when she's close enough to make it look like a coincidence.

"You actually gonna try any of these, or just watch all day?"

[worstprime]

Rodimus takes a moment to notice that someone his talking to him. He glances around, to be certain she's not mistaken or trying to talk to someone nearby.

"I...er," he shrugs non-committally. "I'm just sort of, checking things out, really." He gives her a quick side-long glance. The girl who asked the question looks normal enough, like any other person he might stumble upon in the arcade...possibly a good opportunity to pry for a bit more info. "Besides, I don't have any of my...um...metal...those metal bits. The...the currency. There." Ultra smooth.

[slingshots]

'Those metal bits', right. So this person isn't native to a setting like this. Carrie flicks a glance over Rodimus quickly, one more once-over. Well-dressed, weird but decent fashion, doesn't seem too weirded out by the clothes... not to mention, she's handling the setting pretty well, doesn't seem too overwhelmed. So she's probably not from a world in the past. Maybe the future, where they've done away with metal money, or something?

She reaches into a pocket and pulls out enough tokens for two games, then holds them out. "Problem solved," she says, a tiny smirk along with it.

[worstprime]

Rodimus is surprised by how quickly she takes out the coins. He would probably be suspicious if he were an even remotely suspicious bot, but instead grins, thrilled at the local custom of sharing games with strangers. That she might be no more native than him doesn't even cross his mind; at the moment it's preoccupied with the single-track desire to actually play one of these ridiculous games he's been watching human children play for hours on end. The smile vanishes as he realises his other problem.

"Ah. Yeah," he starts unsurely. "Maybe not "solved"...I actually don't know how to play....well, any of this." He's not sure if this is unusual or not, and so tries quickly to come up with an excuse for his lapse of what might be common knowledge. "....I'm from....Detroit." That's a real place.

[slingshots]

Her eyebrows rise with that. Detroit. Yeah. Real wasteland of culture over there, huh. But there's more clues — she either recently checked out a map for a cover story, or knows a world kind of like the one Carrie is from. It's possible she's just not originally from it.

"S'not actually much a problem, spud. You figure all these guys showed up knowing all the games?" She gestures with a nod out toward everyone else in the arcade. "Pick one, I'll show you."

[worstprime]

Rodimus looks around thoughtfully for a moment. He's been here for a couple hours and there's a lot of games he'd been itching to try, but really there was only only answer.

He runs over to a nearby table, slamming hands down on its smooth white surface. "This one!" He calls, triumphantly; he knows in his spark that "air hockey" is the best answer.

[slingshots]

Oh, good choice. She follows after more sedately, because it's important to keep up that cool kid aura of calmness, and makes for the opposite side of the table.

"Yeah? A two person game — feeling competitive?" She grins a little, stooping to push a few more coins into her side of it.

[worstprime]

"Competitive? Me? Me?" Rodimus implores, as he absently picks up one of the plastic blue paddles he's been watching people play the game with all afternoon. He thinks he's got a basic idea of how the game works, but there are probably some subtleties he'd overlooked...although, how hard could it really be? "I'm always feeling competitive. As long as you're not afraid to get beat by someone as inexperienced as me..."

He's feeling pretty good about this. Sure it's just for "research" but why not have a little fun in the process? Human's were pretty clumsy creatures from what he'd seen...their games, while distracting bits of entertainment sure, probably weren't going to be all that challenging.

[slingshots]

"Uh huh." Her new friend is confident, at least that much can be said. Carrie can appreciate that. She smiles placidly, bending again to grab one of the pucks as the table whirs to life between them.

"First round I'll go easy, til you get the hang of it."

That's what she says, anyway, but then almost before she's done speaking, she's slapped the puck onto the table and swept her paddle toward it, knocking it directly for the opposite goal.

[worstprime]

Rodimus barely has time to react at all, and suddenly the puck is neatly in the goal box and the little electronic counter on the edge of the table has given his opponent a '1'. Okay, maybe this game was a little more complex than he'd initially thought. Nothing a little time to get used to it wouldn't solve though.

"Hey, hey I wasn't even ready!" He insists indignantly. He's going to pay better attention this time for certain. He drops the puck back on the table and hits it into play. There's not really a lot of rules it seems....just...hit the little plastic thing into the goal box. Simple.

[slingshots]

"That's the first lesson." She grins. "Always be ready."

And true to the lesson she's already dropped a little lower, hand light on her paddle and ready to swing it out. Which she does, as soon as Rodimus hits the puck toward her. Arcade games: totally her thing. So she knocks it, again, in a swift beeline straight for the lefthand corner of the goal.

[worstprime]

Rodimus makes a quick attempt at blocking the puck, and nearly does, but it skates off the corner of the paddle and into the goal nonetheless.

"Scrap!" He slams a fist down on the corner of the table. Okay, this game was definitely a bit harder than he'd anticipated. The rules were simple, yes, but there did seem to be a considerable amount of skill involved that his opponent had....more of.

"I - I just haven't had a chance to get used to it yet," he says, more to himself than to Carrie. When he retrieves the puck and hits it toward her goal, it's a lot more aggressively, and maybe not very well aimed, either.

[slingshots]

"Uh huh." She grins, mostly to herself, and twitches the paddle to the side in time to deflect a score. It bounces over to Rodimus's side of the table again, and Carrie keeps her eyes locked on it even as she goes for a carefully casual tone when she asks, "So, name?"

Casual, while everything is super easy: the secret of being a true Cool Kid.

food court

[taselikeabee]

Depending upon if Rodimus paid any mind to Bumblebee's avatar, he may or may not recognize Bumeblebee as he zigs and zags through the food court. There's a tray in his hands and Bee juggles a cell phone on his shoulder. To Rodimus it likely looks ridiculous. To Bee? It's pretty much the normal way of life - at least it has been for a little over two months at this point. Truth is, he's likely talking to Metalhawk about work or translating some human custom. Somehow the little Autobot has become the guy's personal translator.

What Rodimus will recognize immediately is the Autobrand on the shirt he's wearing. Bee has taken the time to get a few of them made - it just feels too odd not to wear the symbol of his faction.

Re: food court

[worstprime]

If Bumblebee's right on one count, it's that Rodimus does think this looks ridiculous...but no more so than any of the countless other who've come and gone in this showcase of human folly doing the same ridiculous things. He's been watching this sort of thing for nearly an hour and it's long ceased being interesting in the slightest. He's hunched over a small table now, playing with a straw wrapper and only halfway paying attention to going-ons around him. He doesn't even take any particular notice of Bumblebee's avatar; it occurs to him only in passing that it does look distantly familiar (a fact he immediately shoves aside mentally, because after a point, watching all these humans, they're really starting to run together).

What he most definitely does recognise is the Autobrand. It's the first time he's laid eyes on one since importing, and it immediately grabs his full attention. He sits up, abandoning his straw wrapper, craning to get a better look. He can't think of a single good reason an actual, regular, from-earth human would be sporting the Autobot insignia, but he's not going to jump to any conclusions just yet.

Rather, he decides to carefully, quietly make a complete ass of himself by sidling suspiciously closer to the stranger, watching them like a hawk in a manner that's not even remotely subtle.

[taselikeabee]

The main difference here is that Bee is human. Completely human. Despite that, he's still very much himself. He can feel those eyes on him and, unlike Rodimus, is more discrete on how he observes people. It's not hard for him to notice that stranger shifting closer and watching him with interest. Bumblebee has to wonder why... The little Autobot is pretty decent at fitting in - he wouldn't be a very good espionage agent if he hadn't the skill.

There's something off about the chick watching him... After a few minutes, Bumblebee figures it out. See, the holomatter avatars are very good at disguises. Problem is that there happens to be one flaw. The hair tends to not come out so well and if someone, like Bee, knows about it then it's easy to tell.

He pushes himself up from the seat, taking his tray with him. Bumblebee hangs up, making a passing comment or two. Sure enough, he's going to sit right where Rodimus is, dropping the tray on the table and all.

"I know every Cybertronian here and their avatars... And none of them have that as theirs," he says, waving a hand at Rodimus. "So want to tell me who you are?"

[worstprime]

"Hm. Well, I mean, clearly you don't," Rodimus can't resist pointing out, sarcastically, folding his arms on his chest. This stranger pretty quickly caught on to both Rodimus watching her (okay so, maybe his covert operating was...rusty) and on Rodimus' holomatter avatar's true nature. So either he was dealing with someone who knew an awful lot about Cybertronian technology, or a Cybertronian's avatar itself. She looks pretty well-and-truly human though...Rodimus isn't an expert by ANY means, but this isn't reading as a hard-light avatar to him. Which left the first option.

"You haven't really given me any good reason to let you know who I am," Rodimus says casually. "How 'bout we start with you, then, and how you've got so much familiarity with Cybertronians and their avatars?"

[taselikeabee]

Great. It's a mouthy one. Just what they need, clearly. Bumblebee has enough of a headache with Metalhawk some days. He doesn't want to have to babysit two arrogant bots. Why can't people be more like Thundercracker and be the silent but no less demanding type? At least the ex-Seeker actually has a sense of decorum.

Then again, Bee can't fault this one for being suspicious, but he pretty much assumes Decepticons don't use avatars and if this guy is one, then Bee would be dealing with a lot more chaos right now. So that rules a Con out. Neutral, possible. Autobot is also a possibility. One would think that an Autobot would be pretty straight forward, but alas.

"I have so much familiarity because," he starts, motioning to his own symbol, "I happen to be one. Just fleshy unless I decide otherwise."

[worstprime]

Gross. Well, at least they were forthcoming. Rodimus is surprised by the prospect, but not a lot of things are making sense on this planet nowadays, so why not this? He's still suspicious of the unknown stranger, but now that he knows they're tentatively Cybertronian (or at least say they are; fact, unproven.) and they are wearing an Autobrand...that doesn't seem like something a Decepticon would do for any reason. Especially not if they were walking around as a human. There's a lot of stuff going on around here that Rodimus doesn't claim to understand, but some things just....wouldn't happen.

"Well, I guess that....explains...some things," Rodimus says slowly. "Raises a lot more questions though, really..."

He leans back thoughtfully, sizing up the other...bot...human...whatever. "I s'pose it can't hurt to introduce myself," he says at last. "I'm hoping you're not just wearing that Autobrand for fun. The name's Rodimus. Rodimus...uh. Yeah, actually let's just go with Rodimus. Since you're Cybertronian, as you say you are, there's a pretty good chance you've heard of me." Kind of a big deal.

[taselikeabee]

"Rodimus..."

Perfect. Bee rubs a hand over his face and leans back in the chair with a groan. It's not that Rodimus is the worst possible person to come here. No, he's really not. They're allies, even if not the closest of friends. The guy is pretty damn entitled and about as selfish as Starscream. Honestly, the only difference between them is that Rodimus some times has a conscience and is stupidly forward.

With a sigh, Bumblebee snatches up his phone to shoot a group text at Thundercracker and Metalhawk. They deserve to know at least. Thundercracker isn't likely going to care all that much as long as he's left alone, but Metalhawk is a different story. For all that Bee knows, Metalhawk might still think the Lost Light crew dead - which isn't the case.

"At least it's not Prowl," he mutters, shoving some food in his face and all but ignoring Rodimus for thirty seconds. "It's me, Bumblebee, and now you're gonna tell me the last thing you remember doing before showing up here."

[worstprime]

Rodimus stares blankly for a moment. Bumblebee. Bumblebee. What are the odds? What...what are the odds? Rodimus shakes his head slightly. It's not that he's not happy that the first Cybertronian he's encountered on Earth is Bee...he's just reeling. Even before showing up here it'd been more than a year since he'd seen Bumblebee or anyone else they'd left on Cybertron and it's not exactly like they'd parted on sweet words, either. At least it's not Prowl, he has time to think to himself, distantly.

"Sorry," he says at last, frowning. "I'm just, uh, a bit in shock."

He pauses a moment, considering Bee's (kinda pushy) question, before leaning forward, arms crossed on the table. "Er, let me think. Last thing I remember before here was, we (you know, my crew and I) had just left Luna-1. Which, by the way, I've got to tell you all about, because it was INCREDIBLE. Did you, did you see that whole...well, I mean, it's'not really a good thing...but that whole, half the population almost dying thing?" Rodimus looks eagerly at Bee, smiling broadly. "Stopped that, you know. Me and, you know...the crew. Saved everyone." He looks pretty pleased with himself.

[taselikeabee]

Bumblebee waves it off, like the dumbfounded expression doesn't mean much. "Don't worry about it. I've gotten it from Metalhawk and Thundercracker both."

This tells Rodimus who from their reality is here. Bee knows he is going to have to explain all of that and he will. He owes Rodimus that much. Right now, though, he has to access what the other Autobot does know. Rodimus isn't from his point in time, that much he knows. That means he doesn't know that Bumblebee's... Best not talk about that for the time being.

What he is surprised about is that whole incident. There had been people in the street - on all factions - falling over in pain and he distinctly remembers not knowing what to do about it. It had ended almost as soon as it had stopped, but man it had felt like an eternity.

"You're going to tell me about that and don't let me forget," he says, somehow falling more into that gruff tone he had taken to during that year. It makes him wince. That's not something he really wants to go back to.

Bee rolls his shoulders and then leans forward. "I think I need to fill you in on things here first before we can talk about the stuff that had been going on back home - I am interested, Rodimus, don't think I'm not... But what's going on here and now is important too and, well. There is a variation of Starscream here and he's already pulled a stupid stunt."

[worstprime]

"You're kidding me right?" Rodimus says, his disbelief plain on his face. "I mean not about Starscream pulling a stupid stunt -THAT I believe - but a "variation" of Starscream? Like there being one, regular Starscream wasn't bad enough..."

He puts his head in his hands. This is...strange. This whole world has really thrown him for a loop, and frankly it was almost less bizarre before learning there were other Cybertronians here as well. Still, at least Bee's a familiar...ah...face. After a moment, he looks back up, lays his hands flat on the table and gives Bumblebee a hard look.

"Okay, alright. Just....tell me what you need to tell me. This can't really get any more strange than it already has, right?"

[taselikeabee]

"Yeah... I'm not kidding about this guy. The Starscream here is a complete joke, too," Bee snorts, continuing to text a bit while snatching up fries to eat.

At least Rodimus is being reasonable and listening to boot. There's always a first time for everything. Now whether or not the other Autobot will believe him is a completely different story.

"You got the spiel about how we got here and all that happy stuff, right?" he asks. "Well we're kind of not just yanked here from our homes - but different times and dimensions too. Metalhawk and me? We're from what you'd call the future. Thundercracker? Hard to say... But there's a Starscream here that's from a different dimension. He looks, sounds, and acts different than the one we know - for better or worse."

There's the first part. Now Bumblebee is going to wait for the inevitable flip out.

[worstprime]

Of course Rodimus had gotten the whole spiel about how they had gotten here, and had even paid attention for a good three quarters of it, but if they'd talked about this - about different timelines and alternate dimensions - he hadn't heard it. It turns out things here could absolutely be stranger than they had already been so far.

The inevitable flip out, does indeed come, and it comes with the force of a delayed flip out that's been building for days.

"W - I don't, hold on...." Rodimus gestures helplessly for a moment, his voice rushed and growing more frantic with each word. "You're telling me - no you're, you're seriously telling me that not only are we dealing with Starscreams from alternate dimensions, but we're not even...we're not even all from the same timeline. We didn't just get transported to weird, Earth-not-Earth, but we got transported to weird Earth-not-Earth in some kind of mish-mashed, time-fragged inter-dimensional remix!?" He breaks off with an exaggerated huff, looking a little lost for words, before putting his hands up to his head. "I shouldn't be surprised by this, but you know what, I actually am?"

He seems like he's going to go on, but instead merely stares blankly at Bumblebee for an extended period...until that evolves into a vicious, blame-filled glare, and he slams his hands on the table between them.

"And why are you eating French fries? BEE YOU'RE FROM THE FUTRE AND YOU'RE JUST SITTING THERE. EATING FRENCH FRIES."