robot hell voice test

[towardspeace]

His surroundings are unfamiliar, but as soon as Megatron takes a step he knows he's on Cybertron. He can feel it, the pull of its living spark to his own, even though the abandoned city around him is no city he can recognise. It feels right under his feet, in a way one never notices other worlds don't until one returns. It feels like home.

His optics narrow.

Not only does it look like no real Cybertronian city, it looks nothing like the revived Cybertron he remembers. More importantly, he cannot account for his presence here, and this world's uncanny comfort feels eerie and wrong on account of it.

His mouth set in a grim line, Megatron scans the immediate vicinity for some kind of hint as to what the hell has happened here, and finds nothing – nothing but a movement out of the corner of his eye.

He wouldn't categorise what he feels as fear, but, not for the first time since his trial, he wishes he were still armed, still strong. But there's no less authority or confidence in his voice on account of it as he barks, "Who goes there?"

Comments

[scrubsandheels]

"So what you're telling me is this is your fault somehow," June says, sounding aggravated. Maybe that's not entirely fair, but then again, this is Megatron. June feels pretty comfortable blaming him for whatever right now.

She lets out a groan of dismay and presses the heel of her hand to her forehead, shaking her head. "I'm getting a headache. Let me get this straight -- you're from some kind of…alternate universe? Do I have that right? An alternate universe where you -- Megatron -- become an Autobot."

By the sound of it, this is not a very convincing proposal for June. Unfortunately it is also the only thing that makes even remotely any sense.

[towardspeace]

"The fault of one of my crew," he corrects her irritably, "an idiot and most likely a traitor. But yes, much though I hate to put forward this ridiculous idea, it seems to account most neatly for these incongruities. Of course, the real question is the matter of how exactly we are to find our way off this... incarnation of Cybertron. I have enough to attend to without this absurd predicament on top of everything else, and you..." He looks down at her skeptically. "...No doubt your Autobot friends will be concerned for your absence."

[scrubsandheels]

Idiots and traitors, fantastic. What does the word traitor mean to someone who defected from his own movement, anyway? June still doesn't get what's up with that, and she sure as hell doesn't trust him. Moreover, she definitely doesn't like his tone.

"Yes, they will," June says pointedly, giving him a steely Mom Look. "In fact, I'm sure they already are. So? Any ideas as to how we get out of here and back home?"

[towardspeace]

What does it mean indeed. Why don't you ask him. That will be fun for everyone, I bet

For his part Megatron doesn't much like her tone, so it's with rather less sympathy than he could have mustered up that he returns that with an equally steely Dad Look, replies, unhelpfully, "No, none whatsoever," and begins to make his way across the street to take a look at one of the more intact buildings.

[scrubsandheels]

June stares at him in wide-eyed shock for a full moment or so before she lets out an indignant noise and triples her stride to catch up to him. Talk about legs that go for miles. June could probably be more careful about staying out of Megatron's way, but honestly her indignation trumps her immediate sense of personal safety enough that she's willing to get awfully close to make sure he notices her.

"Oh, no you don't! As far as I know, we're the only two people on this entire planet -- you can't just walk away like that!"

[towardspeace]

He turns to fix her with a sharp look. "Do you have any experience with space bridges? Any kind of wormhole technology?"

[scrubsandheels]

June jumps a half-step back when he turns, returning that look with a glare. "Well -- of course not! I'm a nurse, not a -- rocket scientist!"

[towardspeace]

"Then you are no more use to me than the rubble in this street," he snaps. "I will find some means of resolving this situation, but I will not require your assistance."

[scrubsandheels]

June bristles angrily, taking another step toward him. She sure doesn't feel secure in the notion that Megatron's plan to resolve this necessarily includes her. "And where do you think you get off, talking to someone like that? You can't just leave me here!"

[towardspeace]

Fuck's sake. Humans.

His eyes narrow. He turns to face her more fully.

"Would you prefer me to carry you?"

[scrubsandheels]

"What? God, no. I don't trust you half as far as you could throw me yet." June plants her hands on her hips and purses her lips at him. "It wouldn't kill you to slow down the pace a little, though. But if you're going to help me, we have other concerns besides just getting back to where we came from."

[towardspeace]

"You are taking an extremely demanding tone for someone asking for help," says Megatron flatly. "What are your other concerns?"

[milkruns]

Megatron's attitude is really starting to grate on her, and honestly, the more the reality of the situation sinks in, the more daunting it seems. June curls her hands into fists at her sides, huffing out a sigh.

"Well, I think we can safely assume that finding a way back out of here is going to take more than a day or two. Humans need to eat regularly, and correct me if I'm wrong, but Cybertron isn't exactly a one-stop shop for organic food." June crosses her arms; she'd rather look angry than worried, but it flickers across her face anyway. "I'd rather not starve to death before I get home, thanks."

[towardspeace]

The look Megatron gives her in response to that is practically exasperated. "Then I suppose we must endeavour to get you home as quickly as possible," he says, optics narrowed. "You are correct – if this Cybertron is anything like the real one then there will be little here that an organic life form can consume."

[milkruns]

Well, not exactly a ringing endorsement, but at least they agree on something. Her posture shifts and she's hugging her arms to her sides instead, unable to keep the worry from breaking through on her face. "I have to get back. I have a son at home."

[towardspeace]

Ah yes. Human familial relations. Megatron hasn't really bothered remembering more than he has to about humans, and he also doesn't really care. However... he's going to be stuck with this one for a while, and he can't dismiss the possibility that they might at some point be joined by the friends she mentioned... in which eventuality he'd prefer not to be immediately clapped in irons by alternate reality Autobots even less willing to buy the idea of his defection than this human is. He might as well make a vaguely positive impression – or at least avoid making her any more actively upset than necessary.

"... My grasp of the precise implications of 'son' is a little loose, I'm afraid," he says, glancing down the long street they've stopped in the middle of. "But if you're going to explain I suggest you do so while we walk; clearly we cannot afford to stand around."

That glance becomes a longer look, and a look of faint suspicion crosses his face. Something about that direction in particular seems to draw him to it, for no reason he can account for. He doesn't like it. But something has to be exerting that effect, and while he's disinclined to blindly obey this foreign impulse, it bears investigating... especially when right now it's the only lead he has to pursue.

[milkruns]

Well, that was a...slightly more sympathetic response than she was expecting from Megatron. Only slightly, but even so, there's a considering look on June's face as she nods.

"Yeah -- of course, let's go." June starts walking in strides as long as she can manage, obviously determined not to be left behind. She's far less cognizant of the strange pull exerted on both of them -- this just seems like the right direction to head in. "Cybertronians don't have much of a family structure, do you? I mean, in a caretaking sense, anyway."

[towardspeace]

"No," he says, glancing down at her as she hurries to keep up with him – fortunately he's not in too much of a hurry, because he has to admit that going more slowly means they're less likely to miss anything important. "We don't have offspring or progenitors as species like yours do – the only social bonds in Cybertronian society are elective ones."

[milkruns]

"Mm. That's what I thought." June's still looking thoughtfully up at Megatron, surprised that he's even engaging her. It'd be perfectly easy for him to refuse to talk at all, because she still wouldn't have much of a choice but to follow him, but she decides not to remark on it. This is good. Part of her can't believe she's having a family chat with Megatron of all people, but this day is already weird. Might as well just release it.

"It's kind of a big deal for humans. Humans aren't born fully formed, not the way you guys seem to be -- they take a long time to grow and develop. It's our responsibility to raise our children, especially the ones we produce ourselves." June's hand goes to her pocket, closing around her cell phone. "And for us, it's a very close bond. We have -- what did you call it? -- elective relationships too, and those are important, too. There's just...something incredibly important about family for humans. I don't know how to explain it. Something like...a sense of love and responsibility, but it's more than that. I'd do anything for my son."

[towardspeace]

"Hmm," says Megatron. He doesn't seem particularly impressed by the idea, but he does look thoughtful. "I wonder whether that kind of investment in future generations might have curbed our civil war sooner." He looks at June. "But then, perhaps not. In my experience humans seem rather keen to kill one another."

[milkruns]

June frowns a little at that, but she sighs, shaking her head. "That may be so, but humans are just as capable of empathy and compassion and peace -- and I know Cybertronians are, too."

Whether Megatron is capable of those things remains to be seen as far as June is concerned, because come on. It's Megatron. Polite as he is now, she gets the strong sense he is only just tolerating her.

"I can't say our wars are any better than yours, but they're at least shorter -- and at least we've never made someone else's planet our battleground. And sometimes they're in the interest of future generations...not that I endorse it."

[towardspeace]

He vents out a short huff of air, and shakes his head. "My war was for the good of all Cybertron, when it began," he says. "Of course, it did not go as it should have... but war rarely does, does it?"