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OPEN!!

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.

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Yeah, it had sort of been a petty comment to throw out. Bee knows Rodimus is likely to focus on THAT instead of other things. Stupid move, but Bumblebee has a habit of sinking down to Rodimus' maturity levels when the other 'Bot is around. He still waves it off dismissively, like it's not a big deal.

"Calm down, Rodimus. It was quick - right through my spark casing," he sighs. "And I'm pretty sure I was avenged and Cybertron saved, so there's that."

"Calm down? Are you seriously telling me to calm down right now? You just told me you're dead! That you died and it wasn't a big deal and "it was quick" and, and," he rubs his temples, a pained expression on his face. "Primus, Bee what am I, just, supposed to NOT be a little freaked out by all this?"

Coherent sentences are gone at this point, and he just sort of mumbles to himself, hands clenched in his hair as her looks down at the table. This is...this is a lot to take in. This is about a million miles south-southeast of what he was expecting. How is it even possible to import someone who is...was dead? And why, for that matter? He looks up suddenly, eyes wide.

"Bee you have to tell me what happened. Happens. What happened to you, to Cybertron...to...to everyone. Oh god, what about me? What if I died? Bee, did I die? What if we're all dead? What if ALL the imports are dead?" Rodimus is now reaching dangerous levels of metaphysical panic.

"Why should I get worked up Rodimus? There's nothing I can do to change it, is there? Can't I just be glad that I'm here right now? That I can make up for the time I don't have?" Bee questions, shrugging.

Rodimus had a near death experience. Bumblebee has had several. With the way Cybertronians tend to fight and get themselves mixed into big ordeals, death is pretty inevitable. Maybe he has come to terms with it is all. Then again why waste all that time and energy into panicking and freaking out over it when he can put into better use?

For once, though, Bee is both surprised and sympathetic. He honestly hadn't thought that Rodimus would get this worked up over it... The other guy is also blowing so much out of proportion that he just has to take pity. Thus with a sigh, Bee reaches over and knocks Rodimus on the head once.

"Hey Hot Rod. Earth to Hot Rod," he starts, purposefully using that name to get his attention. "You're not dead. Not everyone that's here is dead so calm down."

Unfortunately, as Bee draws back into his chair, there's no easy way to explain the circumstances leading to his death. He rubs at the back on his neck, free hand tapping the table with fingernails. "Shockwave had been planning this stunt for a really long time - since he got stranded on Earth. You know that ore Starscream found on Earth? Well there are others like it. Combine them all and Shockwave had this thing that was going to more or less destroy everything in the universe - past, present, and future - to perpetually fuel Cybertron. But it'd kill everyone in the process."

At least that had been Shockwave's plan... Or a summary of it that Rodimus can understand.

"I was leading a team of Autobots and Decepticons - Megatron included - to stop him. Skywarp got us in and Megatron beat down Galvatron... And I stopped him from killing the old guy. I was finally getting through to Megatron, Rodimus. He was starting to see that he had been wrong to start this war..." Bumblebee sighs, clearly put out. "And then I got shot. In the back. Not by Megatron, by the way."

Rodimus falls silent, listening to Bumblebee, feeling guilty about his impromptu demands, while it's Bee who...who died. He puts his head in his hands as he listens to the explanation, his shock growing as the facts are revealed. What the hell was going to go on in the future? As Bee nears the end, his head snaps back up.

"Hold up...this is. This is a lot. And I'm gonna not ask you to explain to me how perpetually fuelling Cybertron by killing EVERYONE makes any sense, and just chalk that up to Shockwavism," he waves a hand dismissively. He'd worry about that later. "But you cannot just drop this...this...bombshell on me about Megatron. You were getting through to him? Bee are we talking about the same Megatron here? Megatron, Megatron? Killed billions of people to fuel his mad war, Megatron? That Megatron? Are you sure we're from the same reality?"

"Chalking it up to time and space junk and nothing more," Bee chuckles, finally unwrapping that burger.

Then it's his turn to fall silent. There's a look of contemplation of his features as he reflects on the few conversations that he had with Megatron. He hadn't set out to change anything about the warlord. Bee really had only needed him for that space bridge that exists inside of him in order to save everyone from the undead Titan. Yet it had turned into more than that, huh? Maybe... Maybe he should have come to Megatron when he had originally asked for Bumblebee to talk. Refusing then had been because it never did anything to help Optimus along.

He stops, throwing a few more texts out before rubbing at his face. "We are, no doubt about it, Rodimus. It's just gotten a lot more complicated. Megatron saved us all when he had other plans he wanted to follow through with more. When the guy spoke to me, it was with genuine regret. He was so bold to say that he failed the Decepticon cause when he ordered the first attack."

It's a difficult thing, but Bumblebee actually believes that Megatron might be redeemable. Some think him foolish for it, but he's seen a glimpse of it like no one else has.

"Isn't it time, now that the war is over," Bee starts, pausing to bite his lip. "Isn't it time that we get over all of that hatred between us and move forward? How can all be one if we're still so divided?"

"Forgive me if I don't think that it's necessary for the good of our society us to 'be one' with a mass murderer," Rodimus says flatly, crossing his arms. He can't even believe what he's hearing. Rodimus can understand forgiveness, he can understand second chances, but they weren't talking about a little mistake or a bad decision here and there...they were talking about Megatron. How could Bumblebee have changed his opinion on the most vicious war criminal their race had ever seen in only the short span since he'd left Cybertron?

"I'm all for moving forward from the war Bee, and the hate that fuelled it. But...but there's a line. How do you justify holding that line if it can be forgiven?" He looks genuinely disgusted, putting a fist down on the table and leaning forward. "So what if he regrets it? He still did it. And d'you think he'd still have those regrets if he'd WON the war?"

"War makes murderers of everyone, Rodimus," Bee sighs, rubbing his temple. "They killed us. We killed them. Millions of organic lives were lost too and both factions are responsible for that."

It's not that he's changed his mind about Megatron's actions. There's just more depth to the guy than what he had originally thought. Bumblebee hasn't forgiven the Warlord either. How can he? Too many lives have been lost through this and saving Cybertron a few times isn't going to change that. Too much bad 'blood' there. The only thing that's changed is that Bee's jagged edges have started to smooth out. He doesn't want Megatron simply killed.

"If Megatron, out of all of the Decepticons can change, shouldn't that only give us more hope that we can move away from this?" Bee questions, this time more musing than actually answering. "Maybe you don't agree with me, but I remember how we first met, you know. And then there's Drift... We've given Decepticons and people who blew us up another chance. It would be an injustice to not at least give him one as well just because of who he is."

"I- " Rodimus is momentarily at a loss for words. Bumblebee's right of course. 'Course he's right. Anything else wouldn't be the 'Autobot way'. But somehow, what was right on paper still just doesn't feel right with Megatron. It doesn't feel great to have some of their past decisions dragged out in defense of that fact either.

"You're really starting to sound like a NAIL," Rodimus says with a sigh, putting a hand over his eyes. He doesn't mean it in a bad way, either. "Have you...had you worked everything out with them? All living together happily, all differences and prejudices set aside?" He looks up a Bee from behind his hand. "I hope they at least tried the bastard."

"I've been spending a lot of time with Metalhawk and Thundercracker lately," Bumblebee replies, a little rueful smile on his face. Maybe Metalhawk has rubbed off on him some. Then again, perhaps everything that had happened and the pressure of trying to 'rule' a cit going away just sort of helped Bee see things clearly again.

As the next questions come, he just shrugs. At this point it's really hard to tell what would have been reality once everything had settled and he had lived. Alas, that's not the case. Bumblebee really doesn't know how to answer that. Chances are that maybe some would have come around. He's not so optimistic that he's blind to reality though... There's a lot of hate to work through.

"Metalhawk and I are working on it here. Pretty easy considering we work together."

"Metalhawk, huh?" Rodimus thinks back; he'd only known Metalhawk very briefly. The guy had seemed...there's a word for it. Pushy? Condescending. Definitely condescending. But at the time, Rodimus hadn't had much patience for the NAILs in general. It was hard not to be bitter about the general attitude so many of the more outspoken ones had had. He remembers the protests and the signs, and the speeches and...ugh. A lot of it was understandable, but how Bumblebee'd managed to stay and put up with that...Rodimus has no idea. "So how's that...uhm...going?"

"We had a really rough start back on Cybertron," Bee explains, shifting about in his seat.

Part of that had been his own fault. Bumblebee had started shouting and trying to be this hard ass leader instead of, well, himself. He let things get out of hand and he can't entirely blame Prowl or the Decepticons for it. The truth is that there is a lot over the last year that he regrets. If he had a chance to do it over, he'd take it in a heartbeat.

"But we've talked it out here. It's not like we're best friends or anything, but it's progressing."

Rodimus looks off to the side thoughtfully for a long while. There's a lot of new information to process here...so much so that he's feeling more than a little overwhelmed. The idea of Bumblebee and Metalhawk getting along passably alone was worth a good deal of surprise - given the state of things when he'd left, Rodimus'd half expected a murder attempt.

There are still so many questions to be asked and he's not sure how even begin sorting through them. It might be best to keep it simple, for the time being...Rodimus was curious about the others as well. He sits up and looks abruptly back at Bumblebee.

"So what now? What have you been doing here? How long've you been here, even? I mean, you've been...you're organic, I nearly forgot! Metalhawk too? I - " he breaks off, and takes a breath. "Sorry. I've - sorry. That's a lot of questions. I've a lot. Lets just...what've you been doing here? Lets start with that..."

Hey, to be fair even Metalhawk and Bumblebee are surprised about the latest turn of events. Bumblebee thinks it's for the better and wishes that something like this could have happened back when it was important for them to work together. Hindsight, as the say...

He listens to Rodimus and his yammering, not at all bothered by it. The guy has a short attention span anyway so Bee can't really care all that much about what the other Autobot is blathering about. Too many questions are being thrown out at once. Thankfully, Rodimus finally decides on one to ask.

"What have I been doing here? Since each of us has been given a job, I've just been focusing on that and mending some of the friendships that I screwed up," Be replies. "My job is one of the city council's reps for other Imports."

Rodimus almost laughs, not out of malice but at the strange, almost sense of deja vu this gives him.

"That doesn't sound that different than what you were doing when I left Cybertron," he says with a grin. "Hell, it almost sounds like what Metalhawk was doing when I left Cybertron. Hope you're both better at it here than you were there..."

"It's not," Bee admits, throwing Rodimus a lopsided grin. Yes, he understands the irony in that. He kind of believes that the job selections are just that: made for ironic purposes.

"Thankfully it's much easier here than it was there. This Earth doesn't hold the hate and malice that the one we know does... The people here don't hate those that arrive and are willing to work with them."

In the end? It's a much better situation to start out with.

"Eh, yeah, okay. Fair enough," Rodimus says, with a slight smile. He looks around the food court, watching all the people going about their business. With that in mind he can see how Bumblebee might prefer this. "I guess I forgot what that's like...even compared to the earth in our world the people here seem...more willing to coexist."

"Although I suppose," He looks back at Bumblebee, still smiling. "If we're being honest, in our version, we brought the war with us."

"We could learn a lot from them," Bumblbee chuckles.

Despite the fact that change is something they had been created with, these humans certainly do a better job of it. They lead such short lives, but their ability to adapt is mind blowing. Here these people live on all parts of the globe - in all climates. Yes, there are cases of racism and mistrust to downright hate between certain countries and those of religion, but despite all of that Bumblebee can see what Thundercracker does. Humans create and see the world and universe in a way that they Cybertronians just don't. These people might war and fight as much as any race, but their arts, culture, and history are also passed down. Bee can't say the same for their own race.

After Rodimus' comment, Bee snaps out of his thoughts and glances back over. Yes, they had brought war upon Earth and a multitude of innocent planets. That had never been their intention, but it happened. Bee could make an argument about how it's really Shockwave that had started the mess on Earth, but it doesn't matter now. What's done is done.

"Hmm. You're right," he sighs. "We did bring it, but I had hoped that with some things with Spike being cleared up that relations would be better."

"Well they couldn't be that much worse," says Rodimus humourlessly. The Autobots and Decepticons alike had screwed things up pretty bad on a lot of worlds, but even by those standards what they had done to Earth had been a mess. And Spike...the mere mention of him makes Rodimus clench his fists; that was something he didn't want to even think about.

"I guess this is the Earth we never got to see then. It seems...peaceful. Ish. A lot moreso than we last saw it. Kind of dull. Not...the worst place to be stuck if you've gotta be." He glances back at Bumblebee. "Er...sorry. Not..."stuck". I know you're...this is great for you, I'm sure. This is just a bit...sedate, compared to where I'm coming from." Rodimus shakes his head, looking embarrassed. "Not that...ah. Sorry. I don't know how to talk people who've been - are presently. You know. Dead." Yes, perfect.

"The Cold War is still a thing so there's just as much tension politically speaking," the smaller of the two points out. This place may seem more peaceful, and it is in comparison, but there's still plenty of factors keeping people on the edge of their metaphorical seats.

As Rodimus stutters to find words, Bee just chuckles. He shakes his head, finishing off his meal. "You've never liked Earth, Rodimus. It's all right, I get it."

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