Close encounters

[10_20_15_5_50]

Who: Subzero, Hiro, Sam.
What: A chance meeting, away in the woods.
Where: On the path to/from the outdoor theatre in the Northwest.
When: Shortly after Subzero’s leg got reattached.
Warnings: Possibly language. Good job, Sam.


“I’m telling you, a lot of the charm of drive-in theatres---even if ours isn’t strictly a drive-in---is that they’re a little bit old-fashioned. It doesn’t need lasers, and it doesn’t need fireworks, except okay maybe fireworks for special occasions but as those’d be exceptions that’s beside the point.” Sam shook her head and turned up her hands, smiling but still attempting ‘adamant.’ “Point is, instead of a pre-show show there’s social time. Look at opening night! It was nice to have that time free for people to check in with each other, fuss over seats, fuss over snacks, fix some skirts up… Resounding success, and a little like the way movies at the movies used to be.”

She glanced at the path so as to be sure she wouldn’t be tripped by any treacherous roots or rocks before turning her attention (and eyes!) to Hiro, unwilling to miss the teen’s reaction.

“When I was younger, there were sometimes wait screens with trivia, but no ads before a movie began.”

Comments

[diagnosispuberty]

"Knock Out probably has fun everywhere." Hiro pauses at Sam's reproach, having been about to try and climb onto Subzero's head. Thinking better of it, he plops down cross-legged on the Cybertronian's shoulder, patting at the side of his head reassuringly. "Don't worry, I've got great balance. Not gonna fall."

Then, because he thinks about these sorts of things: "So we're the first humans you've met or seen ever? How d'you know we aren't poisonous or feed on metal?" Hiro, stop it.

[greater_than_zero]

"I'll certainly have to do that. Are there really so many here who've been to your planet?"

Yeah, Hiro, you keep believing that, he's still going to keep things locked up for now to make sure you've got a stable perch. Change your mind about climbing his head and he'll pluck you off his face, though.

And then a bit of a wry look. "You are, and I don't. But the discovery is worth the risk." Though now a part of him is wondering, even as he's pretty sure poison and metal eating won't be an issue considering how the question was posed.

[10_20_15_5_50]

"Oh, yeah," Sam answered immediately. "Knock Out, Breakdown, Jadewing, Thundercracker, Drift, Jetstorm, Soundwave, and Wheeljack off the top of my head, and more I'm missing. Ask around, you'll get a lot answering. And,"

She'd turned her attention to Hiro once more.

"You're right. He's got the attitude." It was acknowledged approvingly; the medic was usually irreverent and often snarky, which spoke to Sam, who was herself usually irreverent... and often snarky. Shades of that snark would surface as she again addressed her new acquaintance, smiling at the entire exchange. "You do now? If you're willing to take ou---okay, maybe just my word for it."

[diagnosispuberty]

Another consoling pat for Subzero. "I never met any of them when I was on earth, though. I would've said that mechanized figures that big were implausible, so you aren't alone in that. But there's tons of the big guys hanging out around here,and they can explain stuff."

Have a scrunchy-faced glare, Sam, because how dare you besmirch him in front of the big cool dude? Totally unfair; you're getting your pillow turned into a robotic spider tonight.

[greater_than_zero]

Zero chuckled and finally decided to reach up to try to pick Hiro off his shoulder. It's easier to talk to you, kiddo, when he can see you.

"I guess I do. I'll certainly say the encounter so far has been quite enlightening, and fun." If he manages to get Hiro back into his hand he'll lift bot humans up to face level, getting a close look at both of them.

[10_20_15_5_50]

How dare? Readily, because and in spite of Hiro's sense of humour---and remembering other instances in which he'd deliberately misrepresented (parts of) planet Earth for fun.

"I never so much as saw any on Earth." More of a musing, the remark wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. "And alts or not, I would know."

Sam shifted again as Subzero moved collect the kid, turning a little so as to face the Cybertronian straight-on once brought up nearer eye level. "Good! I'm glad; terrible for a first impression to be boring. Given the specifics of this one, it would be a kind of anti-accomplishment."

[diagnosispuberty]

Hiro is a normally wiggly and squirmy little guy, but he lets himself be plucked, settling back to sit cross-legged on Subzero's hand. See, Sam? He can be less than troublesome when the notion grabs him.

"Got any deep scientific questions? Anything goes, except gross reproduction stuff. Ask Sam about that."

...well. MILDLY less troublesome.

[greater_than_zero]

"Scientific questions? Many, though I guess I should start with the basics, such as what things are called." Zero looks around at the trees with a pointed look.

[10_20_15_5_50]

At the instruction, Sam shot Hiro a look of indignant surprise. After a a moment, it faded into a contemplative attitude, and... she shrugged. Despite being lumped in with 'the kids' as often as not (as was to be expected, with friends and acquaintances eons old,) she was one, a grown-ass woman, and two, not especially easy to gross out or embarrass. No sell, you little shit; she would step up... and speak up, grinning.

"Well, to your right you'll see trees, to your left you'll see trees, ahead you'll see trees, and if I may direct your attention down you'll see grass and some other stuff. Generally, organic life is divided into 'plants' and 'animals,' and if it's green and stationary it's very often a plant. They aren't always green, though."

[diagnosispuberty]

Sam, you are now an adult, and as such will be considered one by the tiny dweeb currently under your care. It's a lot of responsibility to keep this noodle from killing himself. Try not to freak out.

As for Subzero, he's going to have to be quick, since Hiro has sat still for approximately 35 seconds and that's way too long. He'll hop up, gesturing at the trees around them. "The green's cause of the chlorophyll-- that's a pigment found in the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplasts in the leaves. The chloroplasts are the organelles that carry out photosynthesis, and they just happen to be green."

Science!!

[greater_than_zero]

Zero looked around and down as directed, then gave Sam an amused smile. "Stuff. Would that be a scientific term?"

He listens closely to Hiro's jabber, butba lot of that is new to him and so soundsnlike just gibberish. "Are you a scientist as well or is this common knowledge for your people?"

[10_20_15_5_50]

So far, so good.

"Streak of smartaft? I like you already." Sam rolled onto one hip to better look down, past the side of the hand she sat on, steadying herself with one hand. "I say 'stuff' as we've got all sorts of ground cover---the grass, some moss, dandelions, johnny-jump-ups... and none of these are scientific terms. For that, there's a binomial nomenclature system which has organisms categorized in branching groups, but I unfortunately don't remember many examples."

[diagnosispuberty]

Hiro is very pleased to find that Subzero is a fellow scientist and a bit of a snarker -- just like him! Only about 100 times as big and probably also able to fly. "The photosynthesis stuff is pretty basic stuff, but I took a couple AP bio classes in high school." Watch him leave it up to Sam to explain that Hiro isn't the typical age to know quite this much about stuff.

And then, prompted by Sam saying big words -- "That's the true grass, poaceae, makes up 20% of Earth's ground cover. Dandelions are family plantae, order asterales, family asteraceae, genus taraxacum, tap-rooted, perennial, herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere."

....okay now he's just showing off.

[greater_than_zero]

He chuckles. Well, no better way to make friends than to get someone to smile, yeah? He listens again to both of them, clearly fascinated with all of this. "It sounds like I've got my work cut out for me if I'm going to understand any of this."

And yeah, he knows a show-off when he sees one.

But...how about a change of subject, hm? "So how long have you two been here? And...you're not...native to this Cybertron, are you?" Hey, legit question with all the other organic life forms around here, okay?

[10_20_15_5_50]

Ah, but would the big guy prove to be as much of an out-and-out brat? Only time would tell.

Rolling her eyes at her housemate's showboating, Sam considered finding something---a sock, perhaps---to throw at him, but decided against it, as it was at least a good example of the categorization she'd mentioned and not overly obnoxious.

Yet.

"Me? Around seven months. Him, a little less. More like... Five?" She glanced to Hiro for confirmation or correction, before shaking her head at Subzero's second question. "Native to Earth's icy north and still, at times, horribly homesick. That said, I was wanting to ask: according to your GPS, what should be here?"

[diagnosispuberty]

You mean "brat" in a very affectionate way, don't you, Sam?

Still, Hiro is genuinely excited to get to teach a (big cool enormous metallic possibly-flight-capable) new arrival all about cool science things, and is already plotting to get his hands on as many informational programs and books as humanly possible.

The question gets a shake of his head, and mercifully Hiro sits down again. "Nah, I'm from Earth too. Not the same as Sam's Earth, though. Til I got here I never met any robots bigger than a person."

[greater_than_zero]

Brat is entirely possible. You'll just have to wait and find out.

"Months? Hn, sounds like I'm going to have to relearn how time is tracked too." So both from this "earth" place huh? He'll definitely take any information Hiro is willing to share. He'll make a quick and eager student.

As for GPS? "Well..." He looks around at all the trees. "The outskirts of Vos, actually. Nice place, full of flight frames here...there. Primus it's strange to see it like this. Don't get me wrong, all of this," said with a very gentle gesture at the trees...that may or may not include the two sitting in his palms, "it's fascinating, but it's...wrong too."

[10_20_15_5_50]

While Hiro's wording prompted a sidelong glance, Sam didn't comment on it, but instead nodded in sympathy as Subzero spoke. "The time thing is some hassle. I'm figuring what the date would be by day count, but I know it's not actually accurate because the day/night cycle here is longer than it is on Earth. Also, I have been negligent in not learning Cybertronian time measurement. Spoiled by everyone who's been to Earth, I guess---I gotta get on that." She turned her hands up, apologetic.

"For what it's worth, I can kinda get you on the 'wrongness,' or at least an idea of the weirdness. When he," she jerked her head towards Hiro, "and I stumbled onto the fact we were from two different Earths with two different histories, it was like 'uh, okay, so the cities that I know of aren't all those cities, for a start.'"

[diagnosispuberty]

"We're on a planet-based cycle, mostly. Rotation of the planet, rotation of the solar system, position of the moon." Hiro nods thoughtfully, propping his chin in his hand as he slowly meanders his way up Subzero's wrist (again). "Super nature-based. Kinda funny we've stuck with it for this long."

Hiro frowns a little, thoughtfully, trying to imagine if instead of this weird Cybertron place he'd been placed in a San Fransokyo where everything is juuuuust slightly...off. Then he gets distracted by the idea of all the Cybertronians trying to ride the trolley and just chuckles to himself.

[greater_than_zero]

Zero nods. "Probably something much easier to follow when on your planet, I'm sure."

He gave Hiro a curious glance, but instead asked another question. "So since you are here, where are you staying? And...what do you use for fuel? I...can't imagine energon mixes well with organic bodies."

[10_20_15_5_50]

"Yeah..."

Following Subzero's gaze to her housemate, Sam shrugged and answered: "The Hub. Some of the apartments there are sized for humans, and any that aren't already occupied are open to be taken, so I just sort of settled into a neat one I found was free. It's actually really nice. And,"

Oh.

"I'm trying to think of a way to answer that that doesn't sound kind of awful... but there may not be a way, so I'm just going to be blunt?" She brought her hands up to shoulder height, before allowing them to fall to her lap. "Some plants, some animals. Herbivores eat mainly plants, carnivores eat mainly other animals; humans are omnivores, and so can eat a wide variety of things."

[diagnosispuberty]

Hiro adds cheerfully: "Plus they've got appliances and everything." This is said very casually, like he hasn't turned each and every one of these appliances into a moving, semi-sentient robot.

Oh dear, poor Sam, answering the awkward questions. Hiro is only trying to help when he interjects: "Most organic species -- uh, the ones we eat -- have lower mental processing capabilities than humans? If...that helps?"

[greater_than_zero]

Give him a moment to process that, and then he'll look properly horrified. They eat other organic beings? Not other humans, though...that'd be like...him eating his drone! That's just...disturbing.

"I... see. I...guess I don't know what I was expecting..."

[10_20_15_5_50]

At least he'd been warned it would sound 'kind of awful,' even if 'kind of awful' might've been a mild understatement.

"I don't know what you were expecting, either, but I'd like to stress that it isn't as indiscriminate as it might initially sound. Eventually you'll learn some about how food's prepared, and sort of see... even if there are some parts of it you'll probably forever regard as kind of... well, probably horrible. This isn't helping." Burying her face in both hands, Sam tried not to laugh and succeeded before straightening to look Subzero in the optic again. "Thing is, we gotta eat. Food isn't just energy for an organic body---it's raw materials, too. Different foods are better or worse sources of the things the body needs to function, so the wider the variety is generally the better, but trust me, there are taboos. Anything self-aware? Widely recognized as off the table."

Through force of will she did not flinch, though the phrasing was unintentional.

"So to speak."

[diagnosispuberty]

Hiro's trying his best to think about this from Subzero's point of view -- not only are there large, complex organic life forms, but some of them eat each other. Sam's trying her best to tiptoe around the fact that honestly, parts of this whole carnivore thing are legitimately horrifying, so he butts in with some science jargon to try and lessen the blow.

"Pretty much all life forms do that to some extent, though, even the herbivores, though they stick to the plant stuff. Goes back to that whole complexity of the species thing -- the more advanced and powerful an animal is, the more other animals it can hunt as prey."

Then he pauses and amends: "Well, up until humans. We're pretty much the only species that has enough cerebral processing power to conceptualize wide-spread civilization, so even though technically most apex predators could totally eat us, we're top of the food chain. Unless you're lost in the woods with a bear."

Another pause. "This...isn't helping, is it?"