Cyberformed: Inbox

[petrifiedshadow]

"Hello, this is, um, Starflight. Sorry I did not answer right away but please leave a message and I'll try and get back to you as soon as possible."

Text | Voice | Video | Action


Art Source: pencilcat on tumblr

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Text: UN: cybercatastrophe

[cybercatastrophe]

I have overheard whispers to the effect that you might have pillows.

I have no money.

Do you like perfume? I don't have much of that either, but I do have some.

Ravage Stanixa (Decepticon)

[petrifiedshadow]

Don't worry, you do not need to pay me. I don't own them. They're supposed to be for improving the rooms for organics but I don't see what you can't have some since there aren't that many of us.

I'll have to look through what we have, but do you have a favorite color? Do you like really soft pillows or firmer ones? You probably want larger ones if you're a Cybertronian, right?

un: cybercatastrophe

[cybercatastrophe]

My favourite colours are purple, black and red, but I'm honestly not that picky.

I'm a feliformer--a sapient Cybertronian, but instead of going back and forth between a vehicle and a biped, I go back and forth between a bipedal cat person and a quadrupedal cat person. I'm smaller than most of them, but bigger than a human. Would it be an intrusion if I stopped by to have a look?

I can't recall the last time I had a room all to myself, except for the ones that had bars. I've always lived with family, lovers, or close companions. I was part of a litter of four in a creche of eight: four cats, four birds.

It's a little scary, to be perfectly honest.

[petrifiedshadow]

Yeah, that will be ok. A lot of it is in storage closet B on the fourth floor, I can meet you there if you want.

I had no idea there were Cybertronians like that! That's really cool. I've been getting more used to being the only quadruped around but it's still a bit weird sometimes.

I can relate. I grew up with four other dragonets and we shared a sleeping cave all our lives growing up. We were always together, all hatched on the same night. When I got here and was given my own room I found it really hard to sleep. Thankfully Cody agreed to move in with me, which has been nice. It's not the same but at least now I'm not alone.

Text == > action

[cybercatastrophe]

I will meet you there then.

Two of the people I used to share space with are here but they both have lovers now. I'll get used to it faster if the room is more comfortable.

There are a lot of therioformers, but we used to be an oppressed class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ravage pads down the hall in quad mode, and she kind of hopes this Starflight person has a bag, because pillows big enough for her to nap on are not going to fit very well in her subspace. She isn't sure what a dragonet is, so she's glad she gets there first, to wait, because it'll be easier for Starflight to recognise her than vice-versa.

[petrifiedshadow]

Yeah that does sound awkward.

I'll meet you there.

-------

"Hello, sorry for the wait. I'm Starflight," he said as he finally neared the designated rendezvous. Ravage was very distinct so he was certain he had the right person, and Starflight was a bit fascinated. She was the first mech he'd met who wasn't more humanoid, even from his time on the Moira.

"Sorry I forgot to ask your name earlier."

[cybercatastrophe]

"Ravage," says Ravage, though she thought she'd said so. "I had no idea what a dragonet was. Probably should have thought to do a database search but here you are. You look like some of the Warworlders do, only organic. My friend Esmeral turns into something a lot like you. I'm a femme, too, a she--I'm not like some of the femmes where you can just tell, so."

[petrifiedshadow]

"Oh, thanks for letting me know, I’ll remember that. And you probably wouldn't have found anything if you had done a search, anyway. 'Dragonet' is what young dragons are called, but I've never heard anyone use it who wasn't from Pyrrhia, and so far I haven’t found Pyrrhia in any databases yet. It never occurred to me there might be mechanical beings similar to dragons; I’ve never heard of a warworlder before,” he rambled, a nervous habit when he met someone new.

“Anyway this is the right room, I bet we can find some stuff you’ll like.” He opened the door and led the way in. Inside was an assortment of furnishings and raw materials carefully arranged on shelves and in stacks on the walls: cushions, rugs, some furniture, wood, fabric, and more. Much of it was still in bags from the store, and the whole thing was extremely organized (Ultra Magnus had seen to that).

[cybercatastrophe]

"The Warworlders are people who broke off from the Decepticon movement long ago," Ravage explained; she didn't mind rambling at all. "They don't all look like you--only some of them do. Like the Camiens sort of got lost and forgotten about by the Autobots, we were out of touch with them for a long time. This is the first time you've used the word 'dragon' in our conversation--and that one I have heard before, but on Earth you're believed to be mythical creatures."

Ravage picked out some large cushions and a table which was low for her, but wouldn't have been for a human. She could turn them into a Warworlds-style sitting area where she could read and drink energon and possibly talk to her friends, if they came to visit her. She found a few lengths of fabric that she liked, as well.

There were a lot more things than she'd expected, but she'd lived most of her life in a communist sort of household and it didn't occur to her to take more things than she really needed, though she had a luxurious nature when she wasn't on the job (which for millions of years, had been "practically never"). One elaborate piece of fabric didn't look like it would be pleasant to lie or sit on, but... "Do you think I could put this up on a wall? And how will I get it all back to my room?"

[petrifiedshadow]

"Yeah, I, um, get that a lot. The Earth legend part, I mean. It's weird that so many people know what dragons are but have never seen one. I'm the only one I've ever run into in space. Can you tell me more about Camiens? I've never heard of them."

He waited patiently as she picked out what she wanted.

"I don't see why not, there isn't a plan for most of this yet. I'll help carry everything over to your room." He circled her selection, thinking through the best strategy. There were a couple ways he could manage it.

"It might take a few trips, but none of it is really heavy so I can fly it over, so it shouldn't take too long."

[cybercatastrophe]

"Flying them? That would be very kind of you. I was hoping there would be some kind of transport cart, but if you're willing to help I'd appreciate it," said Ravage. She bundled the fabrics around one of the smaller pillows, the one she meant to put on her recharge slab, because her head wasn't shaped like that of most mechs and sometimes it got uncomfortable when she came out of recharge.

"Also as far as the wall hanging--I was wondering if we had some way to hang it up on the wall. I might put curtains up around my recharge slab later. I like to sleep in enclosed spaces if I don't have anyone with me," she explained as they prepared to go.

"I don't really know much about Camiens, I've only known three of them, and one of them kept trying to pet me which was very annoying. But Windblade is one of them." Ravage smiled. "I'm a Decepticon. Not an Autobot. But I don't bite, unless I'm given reason to."

[petrifiedshadow]

"Oh, there, um, might be. I kind of assumed if there were a cart it would be an awkward size for me. It's hard to know if things are going to be too big or small for me."

He bundled up the rest of the cushions and fabrics into a pile, stacking it in a way that seemed easy to squish down and carry without dropping anything.

"I bet we could figure something out. Maybe there's a way we can attach a hook or a rod to the ceiling that you could hang the fabric on? They got a lot of extra supplies for building things we could look through. Though we might need to get someone taller to help. Where's your room? I'm guessing on one of the other floors?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"Yes. Not far. I can ask one of my friends to help if we need, although I want the fabric where I can see it well, not necessarily where Megatron could." Ravage smiled. "Ah... in case I do have to call a friend, pronouns?" She doesn't want to assume. "I've never met anyone like you before. There might be a way to tell things like that but if so I don't know what it is."

[petrifiedshadow]

"I'm a boy, so he I guess? I mostly meant to, um, help attach something to the ceiling, not necessarily hang it up that high."

He jumped up into the air, hovering for a moment before swooping down to gather up the bundle of cushions and fabrics, holding them tight to his chest and flying into the hallway to wait for Ravage.

"Which way is it?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"Well, it seems to me you could do that, if you wanted, since you can fly." Ravage grinned. "Thanks again for your help. It's this way." She held the door as best she could, since she was carrying a bundle too, and led the way.

[petrifiedshadow]

"Thank you for getting the door! I could try, but it's kind of hard to hover that close to the ceiling, and the surface is so smooth I'm not sure I could hang from it like you sometimes can in caves, and I'm not very good at that anyway."

He followed after her in the air, the silver scales on the underside of his wings glinting in the bright light of the hallways.

[cybercatastrophe]

"No problem," said Ravage. When they got to her suite it was immediately apparent that even when she stood bipedally, the room was too big for her. "I could've asked for a smaller place," she said, "but then I wouldn't be able to have most of my friends over. My four closest friends are all a lot bigger than I am. When I went to visit Megatron, he had to help me up just so I could sit on his berth."

[petrifiedshadow]

"That makes sense, and it's really considerate of you," he said as he landed and placed his cargo in a tidy pile against the wall so she could arrange everything how she wanted later. "I kind of wish I'd picked out a bigger room. It was fine for just me and Cody but they gave him a big award for the competition they had and it, takes up a lot of space."

With the cushions and fabric in a satisfactorily stable stack, Starflight turned to where her berth was, looking up at the high ceiling.

"By the way which, um, Megatron are you friends with again?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"My Megatron is big and silver, with filigree scrollwork on his chest," Ravage replies. "Not the really mean one. When I was smaller, I used to sit in his lap like an Earth cat. Was this from the roomba thing? And who is Cody again?"

[petrifiedshadow]

"Oh, that sounds like the Megatron who was on the Moira. I talked to him a few times, but not here. Most of the cybertronians I recognize from there haven't recognized me so he's probably a different version." He fiddled with the MID comm device on his wrist, which hadn't been able to connect to the Moira's network since he got here. "To be honest I've– I've been avoiding all of them anyway, I was told they were dangerous."

"Cody is one of the humans. He's pretty small and has yellow fur on his head. Or– I guess they call it hair? It was for the roomba thing, but I didn't go."

[cybercatastrophe]

"You're lucky you didn't go. Someone got murdered," Ravage said flatly, as she began to arrange the cushions and the table on the floor. "Cody is the tiny one! I remember him now. I was worried about him. I'm glad he's all right. And Megatrons are dangerous, but we can all be dangerous. The thing about Megatrons is that they're military leaders. They lead the Decepticons. I'm a Decepticon. In some universes, like mine--the Decepticon movement was a revolution against a horrible, oppressive government. I have been told that there are universes where they're just imperialist looters."

She lifts up the patterned, embroidered fabric. It would not be comfortable to lie upon, but...

She unrolls it and folds it in half, very long. "Can we suspend this from the ceiling, right over my berth? So that I have kind of a curtain around my bed, and the light hits the sparkles and the colours filter the brightness?"

[petrifiedshadow]

"I– I heard about that. Cody left before it happened so he wasn't there. I'm glad Verity is ok now."

He listened to her explanation with his head tilted to one side, "I mean, I avoid a lot of the Autobots, too. They're just all so big. What you're describing sounds kind of like the Talons of Peace, almost. The Talons are an underground movement trying to stop the War of Succession. A lot of them are pacifists who are trying to stop the fighting, but some can be very scary and dangerous. Like Kestrel." It wasn't exactly the same, but he understood the kind of overwhelming oppression that would lead to a revolution like the one she was describing.

He moved towards the fabric where she had it folded. He reached out, feeling the texture under his claws, "That would be really pretty! I can't fly all the way to the ceiling, but I can hold it up if you want to see how it looks."

[cybercatastrophe]

"That would be nice. I didn't know there were limits on how high you could fly, but then, you're not Laserbeak, and you're not a Seeker, so I shouldn't assume." Ravage smiles. "I'll have to ask Tiny Soundwave if his bird can do it sometime."

[petrifiedshadow]

"It's not that I can't fly that high, but my wings are going to hit the ceiling if I'm not careful. That why I was thinking someone tall could attach a hook or something to hang it."

With that he grabbed the folded part of the fabric and arranged the rest of it as she described on either side of the berth. He moved so he would have more room and jumped into the air, wings flapping to gain altitude. He hovered as high as he could, his wingtips brushing the ceiling every few beats.

"How's this?"

[cybercatastrophe]

"Perfect!" says Ravage, clapping her hands. "And yes, of course we can attach a hook, but can you get close enough to hang it? If not don't worry, we can ask someone else. Did you perhaps bring the hook? I didn't know where they were. I could make one out of wire if we need to."