Log Title: Plants but not Spies Characters: Red Alert, Scales Location: Iacon - Hall of Records Date: April 19, 2020 TP: non-TP Summary: Scales and Red Alert discuss gardens As logged by Scales
Log session starting at 15:52:08 on Sunday, 19 April 2020.
Scales is in the hall of records, looking for information about plants or maybe even some ancient seeds or something. Who knows what's back in these vaults?
Red Alert stalks into Hall of Records, scanning this way and that between the stacks of mainframes. He moves as quietly as possible, although with his headlamps activated, he's very easy to spot. He comes around the corner and jumps when he sees Scales. "Oh! Scales!" he exclaims. "Have you seen anything strange around here? I just have this... feeling." His blue optics widen, and he glances around as if hearing elusive spirits only he can detect.
Scales blinks up at Red Alert. "Um... it's been quiet back here." She pauses to check the time. "Oh, wow. I've been back here most of the day already." The little dragon's been focused on her task.
Red Alert nods slowly. "I thought I heard..." He tries to shake it off. "No, I'm sure that's just me being paranoid again," he says with a nervous laugh. "On what are you working?" he asks Scales with interest, going out of his way to try to be friendly and not at all off-putting and anxiety-inducing. He seems to realize belatedly he has his rifle in his hand, so he stows it away, looking slightly embarrassed. He turns off his chest-mounted headlights.
Scales brightens, literally as her optics take on the cheerful, happy colors of her enthusiasm. "Chromia said that if I put together a plan an' everything on how to build an' take care of it, then I can have the garden I asked about! So I'm lookin' up Cybertronian plants so I can figure out what goes with what."
Red Alert's optics widen again. "Oh, yes! But you need to be aware of dangerous hypersquirrels! They'll dig up your plants fast than you can plant them! I could arrange an auto-turret tha-" He clears his vocalizer. "I mean, that sounds lovely. Restful. I could... use some time in a garden. I've been trying to... relax. More. Take time off." He forces a smile. It's... uncomfortable. "Is there... any way I could help?" He glances at the archive terminal.
Scales ooohs. "Well, I guess you might know which plants are dangerous to keep, huh?" she says. "I mean, I've been lookin' into that, too, but I don't think anybody's really gathered it all together, so it's easier to ask people who might now."
"Oh, yes!" Red Alert replies enthusiastically, happy to share his knowledge. "Backblast would know more than I, but I can certainly give you a list of those crystal flora that SEEM beautiful but give off deadly radiation that's hard to detect but subtly corrupting over time! Even plants can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing!" He seems to realize he's raising his voice again within the quiet of the archives and gives another embarrassed smile. He clears his vocalizer.
Scales nods. "That'd be good." She takes a moment to think. "Would you want to help build the garden an' keep it up once it's all put together? It'll still need to be worked on from time to time even after everything's set up an' planted."
If Red Alert were human, he might cry. "That... that would be lovely," he says quietly. "I know of some plants that are not dangerous, of course," he offers. "There were some in Translucentica Heights that had beautiful gardens. I'll admit... I was somewhat envious back then of their little areas of respite from the world." He offers a fragile smile. "I remember some of the layouts," he says. "I mapped them in my mind in case I had to chase a perpetrator through them," he admits.
Scales ohs! and pulls out a datapad she's been working on, offering it up. "Can you add them to my notes? More ideas would be great!" She doesn't care why Red Alert took the time to memorize the information, it's still helpful to have.
"Ce-certainly!" Red Alert agrees with a smile. He takes the datapad and scans it for backdoors, Trojans, and viruses, before downloading his information into an external dataslug and then plugging THAT slug into Scales' tablet. He uploads a list of dangerous plants; a list of safe, pretty plants indigenous to the Iacon Plain; and several garden layout suggestions that maximize beauty, irrigation, and pockets of restful solitude. He then removes the slug and quietly destroys it just in case.
Scales sorts through the papers she's been looking at while Red Alert does his thing. Technically, there's no rush. When he's all done and she gets it back, she browses through what he's put on it. "oh, this is great, thanks!" The little dragon looks up, clutching the datapad. "Um, so, do you have a favorite plant?"
"I... I do!" Red Alert replies, obviously touched that anyone might show any interest in his preferences. "The weeping ruby is my personal favorite. The energon within seems to internally flow and swirl like running liquid. We used to have more in the city, but they were mostly harvested during the Great Shutdown. Dust Devil might know where some still flourish, though, if they're not all extinct," he frowns.
Scales oohs. "That sounds really nice!" She looks down at some of the papers. "I'm gonna need a lot of help actually finding the plants that I want to use. I don't really know Cybertron all that well. I hope they're still out there to find."
"I... I have a pretty advanced sensor suite," Red Alert understates modestly. "Maybe if you gave me some perimeters, I could help scan? Maybe I can work with Backblast and Dust Devil, if they'll have me." I mean, Red HAS shot at Dust Devil before. "Flower-hunting might be just the break I need," he says with a tenuous smile. "Would you want to focus in remote spots within the city, or beyond the Great Dome?" he asks.
Scales grins at him. "I was hopin' to get plants an' flowers from -all over-!" she says, throwing her paws wide. "Plants from here would probably grow best here, but a lot of gardens have exotic plants, too. So if I can have some of those, that'd be really neat!"
Red Alert nods enthusiastically. "I'll do some research as well and talk to some people I know who owe me some favors." That's the closest thing Red has to friends, aside from Inferno. "I will find these and bring them to you. Perhaps Gears can help me harvest them!" he thinks aloud. Gears - now there's someone with whom to relax and pick flowers. "I'll start straight away!" He gives Scales a more confident grin and turns to head back out of the hall.
Log session ending at 17:23:18 on Sunday, 19 April 2020.