Not a Child

Log Title: Not a Child Characters: Cerebros, Dust Devil, Jetfire, Scales Location: Gates of Iacon Date: November 11, 2019 TP: non-TP Summary: Cerebros, Dust Devil, and Scales discuss maturity levels As logged by  Scales

Log session starting at 11:31:15 on Monday, 11 November 2019.

'''Jetfire frowns at his workstation from the Aerospace division. This week was NOT productive. He was trying to get Dust Devil really into the operations of the Aerospace division. And unfortunately, there were emergencies that needed to be tended to, which resulted in Dust Devil spending more of his time onsite than in the lab where the REAL work happens. Now, Dust Devil's time has come to a close. He has to go back to Chromia. He is just finishing his report - giving a fully honest assessment of Dust Devil. He looks over at Dust Devil as he finishes his report. "To be honest, I would have liked another week of you here."'''

'''Scales trots into the area, looking around. Jetfire is easy to spot, at least.'''

'''Dust Devil frowns, "I didn't mean to be gone. W-woulda rather been here...." His expression is downcast as he tries to focus on what he saw and experienced and ends up shaking his head.'''

'''Jetfire shakes his head. "No...no, I'm not blaming you. Everyone was deployed where they needed to be. Still..., I'm disappointed I only got about half of what I had planned on initiating you in completed (which is still the equivalent of a flood)."'''

'''Scales hops up to a high place to perch and settle in, waiting her turn. She's a polite dragon, after all.'''

'''Jetfire looks at Scales and nods in greeting. He kneels down and offers an arm for Scales to crawl up and perch. He looks at Dust Devil. "However, if the choice was yours, I feel ... with a bit of guidance, you would make a more than adequate addition to the group."'''

'''Dust Devil frowns and spins his turbines in agitation. "Was too cold....and I bet if you asked chromia she'd gladly give me up ta finish yer week. I'm not exactly the model member of the team."'''

'''Jetfire frowns through his faceplate back. "Don't frown - it's a pretty coveted position, we don't just hire anyone. And given that I am the commander of the division, I'll decide whether or not you're a good fit."'''

Scales is happy to accept the perch on Jetfire's shoulder, blinking down at Dust Devil with a bit of sympathetic blue coloring her optics.

Dust Devil laughs, "You...you have a romanticized version of me in yer processor. And yes...I can be a very hard worker and do things above and beyond at times. But I can't run at that. I need my space, I need my freedom. And maybe it's cause I don't fly, but I can't deal with bein in a little cubicle week in and out. I need ta do my other jobs and explore and everythin else I tend ta do."

GAME: Jetfire PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of High difficulty.

Jetfire looks down and says drolly "Trust me, I don't have a romanticized version of you."

Scales takes out an energoodie and nibbles.

Dust Devil says, "THen why do you think you could put up with me being in an office and then disappearin fer a few days"

GAME: Jetfire PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of High difficulty.

'''Jetfire frowns and folds his arms, careful not to disturb Scales' balance. "Because, obvioulsly, you wouldn't disappear without alerting others. I mean...we can't have anarchy here."'''

'''Scales peers down curiously at that. Dust Devil and anarchy seem pretty friendly with each other, after all.'''

'''Cerebros listens in and sheepishly emerges, clearing his throat. "Uh...Jetfire, I was just thinking..." He looks up at Scales and then looks at Jetfire. "Obviously...we know...that Dust Devil will eventually become Stormfront someday, and help defeat the Fallen, but...I'm worried - if you push him too hard in one direction, he may become so resistant that he DOESN'T become Stormfront..." He adds sheepishly "And then...he doesn't exist, and then maybe...The Fallen... doesn't get defeated."'''

'''Jetfire looks at Cerebros and rubs his chin thoughtfully and says reluctantly. "That...is...a possibility." He nods at Cerebros and says tentitively "A...well-thought out observation." He then carefully sets Scales down and says "I'm due for a meeting with the Aerialbots - Dust Devil, I believe you have everything you came with when you entered our complex, but if you don't just reach out to me." He gives a respectful nod to the three.'''

GAME: Cerebros PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

Cerebros looks at Dust Devil and says in almost a panicked mode "Oh Primus, I didn't think that would work!"

'''Scales waves to Jetfire as he heads out, then grins up at Cerebros. "Why not? You used logic."'''

'''Dust Devil narrows his optics at the mention of Stormfront. "I.." but their talking makes him stop what he is going to say. Watching Jetfire leave he growls, "They won't stop tryin ta put me in their little mold."'''

'''Scales tilts her head at Dust Devil. "Maybe... now that they've seen what you could be, they feel bad about neglecting you?" she suggests.'''

'''Cerebros looks at both Scales and Dust Devil in alarm. "Oh no!" He stammers slightly. "I...I thought I was using 'humor' in this situation - but...he took it seriously!" He thinks aloud "I was dishonest to a superior officer! I believed I was just making a 'joke' as you call it!" He frets "If he found out I was being dishonest..." He looks at Dust Devil and Scales. "Oh no! Am I in trouble?!"'''

Dust Devil says, "Jetfire would take anything serious....WHy can't they understand that I need time to be me....and not just pushed inta whatever they want.""

'''Scales shakes her head. "You're probably not in trouble. I mean, if you want to explain the joke, you could. But Jetfire's also a smart guy. If he took it serious, then he meant what he said back."'''

Cerebros thinks alound "I should talk to him - and correct what I said. I was...just using a scenario I thought of as a joke! Like what you said 'humor' - but apparently, I failed at it, because he took it seriously!"

Cerebros nods at Scales and says nervously "I sure hope you're right!"

'''Dust Devil facepalms. "Not yer fault Cerebros. Jetfire is just as good at misunderstanding things even without help. He's oblivious to the obvious."'''

'''Cerebros frowns in confusion. "If that's true, then why is he leading the entire aerospace division?" Cerebros asks rhetorically.'''

'''Scales mms. "He's a bit thinky, right? But that can work with some people." She shrugs. "I dunno. He acts like an adult."'''

Dust Devil says, "Which is his problem. I'm not....Im' not ready ta fit in his box and he's gonna learn ta deal witht hat or deal with disappointment"

GAME: Cerebros PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of High difficulty.

Cerebros looks at Dust Devil and says hopefully "Well, you don't have to join the team, right?"

'''Scales tilts her head at Dust Devil. "Not ready to act like an adult, huh?"'''

Dust Devil glares at scales, "I shouldn't have ta try and be something I'm not ready ta be. I've curbed theworst of my behaviour already."

'''Cerebros nods eagerly. "I know how you feel! I don't want to be part of Fortress Maximus."'''

'''Scales flicks her tail and grins mischievously. "Could be worse. They could put you in charge of somethin'."'''

Dust Devil says, "It was different fer me Cerebros..You have everyone around you wantin ta be there fer you."

'''Cerebros frowns slighlty and looks away from Dust Devil. He looks at Scales and says in a slightly meek tone "I wouldn't mind bein' in charge of a library..."'''

'''Scales hehs. "Yeah, libraries usually don't try to shoot you or get disappointed in you if you say the wrong thing to them."'''

Dust Devil says, "Well if Fort Max hadn't been being such a slagger, I'd have given him access ta the info from Alpha Trion. Maybe when he's more mature too...I'll give it to ya both."

'''Cerebros looks at Scales and says in confusion "What's a 'slagger'?" He looks at Dust Devil. "It doesn't sound nice. Did he ... did WE upset you in any way?" He gestures to his chest. "Because 'I' am kind of part of Fortress Maximus."'''

'''Scales ums. "It kinda isn't nice. Sorta like calling somebody a bastard or a jerk in English."'''

'''Cerebros does a micro-second cross-reference with Earth terminology and flinches. "Oh wow...that ISN'T nice!"'''

Dust Devil says, "Slagger is a lot nicer than Smelterwaste. Or well we could teach him lots of other words...."

'''Scales ahs.. "Might get in trouble, though. You're not supposed to cuss in front of kids."'''

'''Cerebros nods and puffs his chest up a bit. "Yeah...yeah!" He adds "Fortress Maximus is coming here later - I know Spike an' him transformed a few times when they were on Earth. But I like what you said, Dust Devil." He gestures "When they come back, I'm just goin' to say 'Sorry, you guys look like you have it all under control with the transforming and everything. You can't MAKE me become part of a battle station if I think I'd be better off bein' like a librarian or an archivist."'''

Dust Devil says, "Then....I guess neither of you will be able to keep the library. So ferget I brought it up."

Cerebros frowns and shakes his head "What do you mean?"

Scales blinks.

Dust Devil sighs, "I Told you that ALL three of you were needed fer Fort Max ta be successful...ANd I'm not the only one. But you insist on takin part of the equation out and still tryin ta come up with the same answer. WHAT will happen when you take compassion out of such a powerful mech. There probably won't be a chance to apologize ta me or to whoever Fort Max smashes. What if it's Optimus....how well do you think you and spike will survive if something had to be done to Fort Max. What if Megatron gets ta him and makes more sense then trying things the more peaceful way. Then many might die. It's REALLY easy fer the con's side to make sense when yer angry and you feel life isn't fair.

Cerebros folds his arms and looks down, muttering slightly "Didn't really...think...of it that way..."

Cerebros pouts slightly "'still not fair..."

'''Scales hehs. "You mean nobody's told you life's not fair yet? I heard it often enough hangin' around kids on Earth."'''

'''Cerebros snorts at Scales slightly. "I...KNOW...life's not fair! I'm not...a CHILD." He gestures around. "I'm...old enough to know THAT."'''

'''Scales pulls out her blue toy ball and rolls on her back to bat it with her paws. "Did you know it takes humans twenty-five years to grow all the way up? Like, they can do grown-up stuff pretty early, after only twelve or thirteen years, but their brains keep shifting until they get to be twenty-five. Kinda like having your processor constantly updating itself for years."'''

'''Cerebros tilts his head in surprise at Scales. "But...Spike...he and his mate decided to procreate when he was only 23 (hello, unplanned pregnancy). Why didn't he wait until his brain was fully formed?"'''

'''Scales flings the ball in the air with her paws, catching it, and repeats. "I dunno.. but like I said, they can -do- grown-up stuff before getting all the way grown. Maybe they thought they were far enough along? There are humans that have kids younger than that all the time."'''

'''Cerebros shrugs and folds his arms. "I dunno...it just sounds...really irresponsible."'''

'''Scales catches the ball again and grins at Cerebros. "Like having Dusty teach you how to be an Autobot?"'''

'''Cerebros shakes his head. "But that's besides the point. We're different than humans. They HAVE to ...under go all of those 'upgrades' you call them before they're adults. We don't! So, I'm not like a six-month old, I AM NOT a CHILD." He gestures to Dust Devil. "Exactly! Both of you are helping me!"'''

GAME: Cerebros PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Immense difficulty.

Cerebros looks at Scales and says "When you said that about Dust Devil helping me to become an Autobot. That was 'humor,' right?"

'''Scales rolls the ball in her paws. "A little bit. But he -is- supposed to be helping you learn important stuff. Maybe not all the things you need to know. But some, right?" She turns over, sitting up with her paws on the ball. "Look. It's possible to create one of us that works on the human model, to leave part of the growth unfinished so it can be filled in by experience or being taught or whatever. That's doable. An' you're supposed to be a lot like Spike, right? To think in a similar fashion, if not with the same opinions."'''

GAME: Dust Devil PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Average difficulty.

Cerebros frowns and gestures "I already know everything I can learn from Spike."

'''Dust Devil looks at Scales when she comments about him reaching Cerebros to be an autobot. And the expression is well...hurt. "Ya ever think that part of the reason they picked me is cause they could point out that even with screwin up...I can succeed...at least sometimes."'''

Dust Devil says, "And if ya think you've learned everything you can from Spike....yer wrong. I still learn stuff from him every day. Spike himself is learnin stuff everyday. So unless he literally taught you everything and was ta die IMMEDIATELY afterward....you still can learn somethin from him. And it's is a childish thought ta think you've learned everythin ya can from a person or situation"

'''Scales trots over to headbump Dust Devil. "I think they wouldn't've picked you if you didn't have good stuff to teach, Dusty."'''

'''Cerebros doesn't exactly make eye contact with Dust Devil. "I dunno...maybe."'''

Cerebros says calmly "In general, do I have a lot to learn? Of course! But I am NOT a child!"

GAME: Scales FAILS a LEADERSHIP roll of Average difficulty.

'''Scales tilts her head at Cerebros, looking him up and down, then bounds for a terminal to pull up design specs and scans. She's curious now!'''

GAME: Dust Devil FAILS a LEADERSHIP roll of Above Average difficulty.

GAME: Cerebros PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

GAME: Dust Devil FAILS a LEADERSHIP roll of Average difficulty.

'''Cerebros catches a glimpse of what Scales pulls up. It's him! "What's that? What are you looking at?"'''

'''Dust Devil glares at Cerebros, "You ARE a child....ya have ta be or else ya wouldn't speak like that...." He turns from Cerebros, trying to behave.'''

GAME: Cerebros PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Immense difficulty.

'''Scales hmms. "One of the things about bein' a medic is gettin' access to things like people's specs and scans. Lookin' at my own and comparin' it to other people's is always pretty interestin'."'''

GAME: Scales PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Immense difficulty.

'''Cerebros tilts his head and takes a step at Dust Devil. "Oh...like what?" He folds his arms and gives Dust Devil a challenging glare.'''

Scales has multiple specs and scans up now, flicking between them as she compares and contrasts.

'''Cerebros looks on curiously. "Oh! Nice - like other Autobots who were created around the same time as me?"'''

'''Scales says in a distracted tone, "Yeah, kinda. For a really broad definition of same time with how long it's been since we had a buncha new builds." Most of her attention is on what she's looking at.'''

'''Much of Cerebros' centralized logic circuits, including the ever-growing 'links' to Fort Max and Spike - includes a lot 'elastic' routes of cognative development. In short, room for growth, immaturity, failure, and discovery.'''

'''Scales pulls up her own spec and a recent scan and points to them. "Look, I was built to work like a human- to 'grow' over time, an' you can see the difference if you know what you're lookin' for." And even to an untrained eye, the more recent scan looks both denser and more organized. "And this is somebody like, say, Typhoon." While there are changes on Typhoon, they're hard to pick out without knowing just what to look for, and both spec and scan seem composed and coherent.'''

'''Scales brings Cerebros' specs back up. "You've got more grounding than I did, but there's still a lot of room left open- to become whatever it is you need."'''

'''Cerebros leans in and looks at the scans - the schematics of Typhoon, the schematics of Scales, and the schematics of himself. His optics flash with wonder. "Huh...interesting."'''

'''Dust Devil doesn't precisely know what sort of scan he'd come up with. His life has been so weird to him.'''

Dust Devil says, "The Aerialbots had a bit of teenagerhood....rebellious..hell they even tried joinin the cons."

'''The internal speakers in the confines of the protected area near Iacon emits: Fortress Maximus has entered Cybertron airspace. Estimated time until arrival - 4 hours - 21 minutes. Cerebros scoffs slightly. "Wonderful."'''

'''Scales hehs at Dust Devil. "Even if you're designed standard, experience still makes a diff'rence," she agrees. "But havin' a bit of 'kid' in you isn't bad."'''

Dust Devil says, "But there's a similarity Scales...The aerialbots and Fort max and Cerebros had Alpha trion's hand in their makin. Vector Sigma might have it's own way of doin things"

'''Scales huhs. "I guess I know what I'm researchin' later, then."'''

GAME: Cerebros PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Immense difficulty.

Cerebros frowns and says "I know what I'm going to be doing, unfortunately. 'Get in and transform him and hold it together.' 'Now do it again.'"

'''Scales huffs. "I guess they might want to practice some tonight. But that's not going to be your whole -life-."'''

Log session ending at 17:17:58 on Monday, 11 November 2019.