Ep 1.5 Juvenile Delinquency (closed)

[Deleted]

(Set day 7, week 1)

It had been a long time since Skywarp had been stationed on a battle ship. Or was beholden to military discipline. His solitary travels throughout the 'verse was the longest he'd ever been away from military life, in fact. Despite this, he fell back into the routine of a strictly regulated life pretty easily.

Which meant the novelty of being back with the Decepticons wore off fast and it had taken him less than a planetary cycle before he was utterly bored.

Skywarp stalked down the halls of the Nemesis, bowling over any unfortunate Vehicon that failed to get out of his path in time. Roaming the corridors was turning into his thing when he was in between shifts. He was beginning to become intimately familiar with their finer details. The Seeker might not have much of an attention span but once something made the long and difficult journey into his processor, it tended to stick. There was a permanent stain of something gruesome in the corner of one of the corridors on the flight deck. One of the vent panels was loose down by the living quarters and was yet to be fixed. Not that Skywarp had bothered mentioning this to anyone. That would require effort and mean actually being useful over something that wasn't his job.

The Seeker wandered past the cargo bay then headed up a level. He came to a stop in an empty hallway,

Huh.

Someone, a Vehicon probably, had left a cart stacked high with supply crates unattended. Maybe they'd been called away temporarily or to report for patrol or had been instructed to leave the cart just where it was. Nevertheless, it was there, out of place. No one else was around.

And Skywarp was bored.

He twiddled his thumbs for a moment, rocked back on his heels. He tilted his head and glanced up and down the hallway to make sure he was alone then shrugged. A quick check of the Nemesis's schematics revealed that there was a storage closet behind one of the doors only a few meters away. It contained cleaning supplies only.

Skywarp had it long beaten into him that if he was going to cause trouble or wreck mischief on an active war-ship, he should curb himself so as not to compromise the safety of the base in case of emergencies. They couldn't remove his impulses to play pranks altogether but they'd tempered him enough that at least he spent a few astroseconds thinking about whatever silly thing he was going to do before he did it. No one would be require access to the cleaning supplies if the Nemesis came under attack, unless they wanted to hide themselves in the storage closet. And if the contents of the crates were needed somewhere urgently, they would have not been left unattended in a hallway.

So, in the grand scale of things, it was Skywarp's not-so humble opinion that relocating the supply crates to in front of the storage closet would cause no harm to the functioning of the Nemesis, except perhaps delay the Vehicon who was shipping them around. It was a small prank, quite pathetic by Skywarp's standards really but he was bored and had nothing better to do.

The Seeker hauled one crate off the cart and started restacking.

[Deleted]

The world within the Nemesis was, Megatron was finding, a mix of monotony and uniqueness.

Thanks to military practicality (and perhaps the symbolic origins of their cause as well, he thought), every corridor and bulkhead was almost identical beneath the dim lights. Inside, the bulk of the crew were of two almost identical mass-produced frametypes, and though many had evolved unique personalities and energies all their own, most of the Eradicons still registered as drones.

The officers were from a variety of backgrounds and bore their own distinctive frametypes and characters. On the whole, Megatron had found himself towering over the vast majority of them.

Not the case with this Seeker, however. He'd noticed the black and purple flier peripherally as he was walking, but had quickly given the mech the full focus of his attention.

Skywarp, the rudimentary algorithm in charge of identifying his crew supplied. There was a telling blankness where an indication of trustworthiness ought to have been. Either Skywarp had done nothing for his Commander to form an opinion and was an unknown; was perfectly neutral; or was so catastrophically untrustworthy that the scale had gone past 0 into nothingness.

That the Seeker appeared to be relocating a pallet-worth of crates and blocking a door with them, smiling as he did so, wasn't particularly inspiring...

It was strange and annoying more than malicious, Megatron decided.

Hopefully. Those crates could be filled with anything.

He ought to leave the Seeker to whatever this was, but curiosity got the better of him. It had been happening a lot this last week, and had always led to some interesting, if unexpected, revelation.

Megatron signaled his presence with an engine shift, as a human would clear their throat to announce themselves, and folded his arms across his chest. His optics were narrowed in perplexity, but on his visage, the expression could easily be read as a scowl.

[Deleted]

The effect was immediate.

Skywarp's wings stiffened and flared with alarm. He turned around to face whoever had caught him in the act, a sheepish grin plastered across his face. Once he realised who was behind him -Lord Megatron!- he lost that expression though.

A real smile, honest and delighted, filled Skywarp's face. "Lord Megatron!" he trilled warmly, pleased to see his master out and about. Starscream had said that the big mech had been indisposed, though conveniently hadn't mentioned how long it would last. "It's good to see you, master."

Were Skywarp a more...verbose and articulate mech, he might have instead said something about how much it was an honour to be back in his master's company, not something so simple and casual. As it was, Skywarp settled on unabashed beaming at the Decepticon warlord for several long moments before Megatron's expression registered with him.

His master didn't look pleased.

His spark withered slightly, Skywarp swung his helm to look at the storage closet door and the crates stacked around it. Oh, yeah, that's right. That. No wonder Megatron didn't look happy. "Sorry, Lord Megatron! I'll fix that up and put them back," Skywarp said, putting his words into actions immediately.

It wouldn't take him all that long. Hopefully, he could do it fast enough to avoid angering Megatron, if he hadn't already.

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There was something disconcerting about such a large mech behaving so cheerfully. From what he'd found, the larger mechs on board the ship (typically frontliners) were hardened personalities, and bore their impressive frames with a near-somber countenance bordering on downright surly.

Fairwinds had remarked several times that he himself was normally mush more 'reserved' and 'serious business' than his current memory-free personality matrix had left him. Megatron had not quite know how to take that, though the cassette had been quick to assure that it wasn't a complaint but merely an observation. Then she'd prattled on for several minutes using phrases such as 'cool factors', 'stone cold' and 'rawsome' and he'd tuned her out. He'd reached his own conclusions about the shift in his countenance between the start and the current day in the war, and was not inclined to waste time ruminating upon the losses and gains of the change.

Skywarp's size was close to his own, and his wings made him particularly broad and top-heavy. It made air of excitable mischief about him all the more strange. Megatron wondered if the Seeker was throttled, like Fairwinds, or just naturally happy.

After centuries of decimating war, 'just naturally happy' tended to imply some degree of lunacy. He elected to proceed with caution.

Megatron turned his helm towards the door, tracking Skywarp's efforts to relocate the crates with his optics. "Was that intended for someone in particular?" he asked with a note of genuine, dubious curiosity. "Or are you merely... bored?"

[Deleted]

Skywarp hauled the last of the crates back stop the trolley. He tilted his head at Lord Megatron's question.

"I was bored," he admitted honestly, his shoulders falling slightly. The seeker's wings have an uncomfortable flick. "The crates wouldn't have been left out here if they were important. And that's well, just a cleaning closet."

The big mech lifted his head and gave his master a curious stare, focusing on the mech he hadn't seen in a very long time. Megatron was still as fearsome as he'd been all those vorns ago, when Skywarp had sworn to sworn to serve the cause. "How about you, master? I was worried when Starscream said you'd been damaged."

One did not normally show open concern for the Decepticon warlord. But it had been so long that Skywarp had been living on his own terms that even he was forgetting those unspoken rules that had been instilled into him as a Decepticon.

The seeker had kept away, like he'd been told, not wanting to bother his lord during the initial recovery period. But it was good to see Megatron out and about now.

[Deleted]

Skywarp's answer was honest, direct and unapologetic. The Seeker's inquiry as to his health was equally sincere. Having seen most of his interactions in the last week bracketed with some degree of anxiety, Megatron found the frank response very refreshing.

Not that he was inclined to trust him. As 'first' impressions went, being caught hiding crates in a cleaning closet wasn't stellar. Harmless, it seemed, but unprofessional.

It had become apparent that this was par the course for a bored soldier on the Nemesis.

"I'm well with the exception of some disorientation," he replied, taking a few steps closer to the Seeker. He suspected that Skywarp would be a good candidate for conversation - as per his mandated interactions with crew members.

Megatron raised a hand and gestured vaguely towards the side of his helm that had been damaged in the firefight. "Disconnection from my memory bank is a temporary measure whilst neural pathways heal. Unfortunately, it means that I only know names, and have little clue as to what everyone here does."

Implied in the statement was a query as to what Skywarp should have been doing when he'd been caught getting up to mischief.

[Deleted]

Skywarp's optics were keener than most. He examined the area of his master's helm carefully where Megatron had vaguely gestured to. Nothing however seemed amiss. Knockout had done his work well.

While the big seeker knew his master had been injured, Starscream had been rather light on details. Skywarp paid full attention as Megatron explained the damage. Disorientation and a disconnect from his memory bank. Right.

Right.

Rigggght.

So…

Ah.

Wait.

Lord Megatron didn't remember anyone.

Lord Megatron didn't remember Skywarp!

(Skywarp hadn't quite processed the temporary part of Megatron's problem yet).

"You don't remember me?" Skywarp asked in a small, forlorn voice. Distress was about to bleed into his tone until he controlled himself with effort. It was not Lord Megatron's fault after all. His master had some processor damage. And while it was nothing like the kind that been a permanent feature for all of Skywarp's existence, no doubt it had to be strange and unfamiliar to Megatron.

Skywarp's processor sometimes moved in odd ways, connecting experiences and events in ways that were unexpected. He frowned suddenly as something occurred to him. "I remember, people treat me differently when they learnt about me," the big seeker blurted, gesturing vaguely to his own head. It took a moment before...wait-Megatron didn't know Skywarp anymore. "The throttling," he added dismissively, distracted as he tried to articulate his thoughts and concerns clearly. He cocked his helm to the side and peered intently at his master. "No one's done that to you, right? Been mean and nasty?"

It would take Skywarp a little longer before it occurred to him that no one would probably dare to treat Lord Megatron any differently. For now, an odd empathy had sparked at the mention of shared damage. He blinked as it occurred to him that if Megatron didn't know anything about Skywarp, then perhaps he should share something to make it a little bit more even between the two of them. Megatron had said he didn't know what anyone did, so the seeker decided to start there.

"I got here...uhhh four planetary cycles ago. 'm a front-liner. Starscream says I should be off killing Autobots but so far, all I've been assigned is heavy lifting."

[Deleted]

The inquiry as to how he'd been treated was unexpected - the genuine concern behind it as much as the phrasing. Almost everyone Megatron had encountered these last few days had met him with the utmost respect and care.

Skywarp's personal connection made the offered empathy easier to understand. Megatron was aware of throttling through exposure to Fairwinds, but her situation seemed to be quite different to the Seeker's. From the way he spoke, his was an unintended result or byproduct of something else. For Fairwinds, the restricted development of her emotive personality core had been a deliberate act which she now wore as a badge of honor.

"No, everyone has been very accommodating." It was a safe reply - honest, but completely omitting the more peculiar events that had transpired. Some of the crew had warmed to him remarkably once they became use to him not only being 'off duty' but 'off the psychological burden and wear of centuries of leading half a population in war'.

Megatron took a few steps towards the Seeker, his posture easier now than it had been when he'd first seen Skywarp.

"I only know of what I've read in reports, but we do not seem to prioritize taking the fight to the Autobots here. Our attention is divided between finding the enemy base, stockpiling energon and skirmishes with... various groups."

And an ongoing hunt for Dark Energon, but Megatron had gleaned enough to know that that wasn't a topic for general discussion. Or as Fairwinds had so helpfully put it: 'you don't share that stuff and most of us are totally cool with that. Like seriously: scary-ick.'

[Deleted]

Megatron had been treated well. That was good and Skywarp was pleased. ...Yes, of course Megatron would have. Still, never hurt to make sure. Skywarp gave a simple nod at this confirmation.

He continued nodding when Megatron went on to clarify the current position the Decepticon forces were in. Yes, he already knew all of this. And while it was frustrating for Skywarp to have no outlets that he readily enjoyed , this was Megatron's will (or had been, when he'd had an undamaged processor) and so he'd abide by it.

Skywarp hummed thoughtfully. Those sort of jobs didn't exactly play to his strengths but Lord Megatron no longer knew this. "I'm not very good at those things," he admitted apologetically. The big seeker gestured to his head once again, then mimicked Starscream's screechy voice with uncanny accuracy. He'd had that voice screaming in his audials for a very long time after all. "Skywarp, why can't you concentrate for just one astrosecond?"

He shrugged. "I try but it's hard."

[Deleted]

It was a strange thing to hear as much as it was a difficult thing to admit: struggling. Self-sufficiency and a bullheaded will to power on and survive seemed to be an ingrained and cultivated skill within the Decepticon ideal, from what Megatron had observed. In the corridors, in public, everyone walked with the weight and expectations of the same badge.

You got into trouble, you didn't whine - you got yourself out of it. You were a Decepticon first, a soldier second, and an individual after anything else you were required to be for the Cause.

Talking to individuals privately, however, had revealed to him what a diverse lot the Decepticon flagship comprised of. Mecha who had only seemed solid and fixed on fulfilling their duty had been revealed to be skittish, humble, brimming with nervous energy, mischievous, concerned and even playful. Megatron found himself wondering once again if he would have seen these sides of his subordinates were he 'in his right mind'.

He wondered at what Skywarp might reveal given how readily he'd disclosed himself so far.

The officers mess was nearby and he had not taken his ration yet. Megatron inclined his helm and motioned down the corridor with one hand, projecting welcome and company at the large Seeker. His intention was to walk and talk, and he turned slightly to indicate as such.

"You must have skills other than combat," he offered in what he figured was a reasonable assumption to make. "You're stationed on the Decepticon flagship."

[Deleted]

Obediently Skywarp followed, keeping pace with Megatron's long stride easily. He trotted eagerly after the big mech.

"You must have skills other than combat. You're stationed on the Decepticon flagship."

The big seeker frowned at the floor as he rolled Megatron's statement around in his head. Other skills? No, not really. All his life he'd been used for his raw strength. And there had been limited opportunities to branch out. As an experimental test subject, he'd been required merely to survive, as a soldier in Vos's military, he'd been required to learn how to fight and not much more. His circumstances had changed little when he'd moved to the Decepticons.

So much of his processor was tied to his warp drive. It consumed his every waking moment with constant calculations and quantum equations. Skywarp had made do with the limited amount of processing power available to him and he'd enthusiastically channelled what remained into what everyone had required most of him. Which was usually hitting or shooting other people. Anything more complicated than that was liable to get lost and buried underneath the ceaseless flow of space bridge calculations.

"I can teleport," he offered up to Megatron. Unlike with Flatline, this time Skywarp didn't mind sharing about his ability. Megatron was his master after all and had once been in possession of this very information. Plus, you know, he wasn't a science type. Always a bonus. "'s what causes the throttling actually. One of the original prototypes for a personal warp drives." Skywarp jabbed a thumb at himself.

"I mean, I could tell you the precise calculations on how to open up a space bridge from here to Cybertron off the top of my head," Skywarp shrugged again, dismissively. "That seems impressive until you realise that the Nemesis has more than enough processing power that anyone with access to the bridge terminal can do that."

It was unlikely that any of Skywarp's...fine qualities had earned him a place on the flagship, other than the mere fact that there were no other places he could be stationed on Earth without being at risk of compromising the Decepticon cause.

[Deleted]

Teleportation was... impressive, to say the least. Megatron knew Skywarp had that ability, but simultaneously he hadn't known until the Seeker told him. It was a boggling duality that made his processor throb and his tank do a queasy little churn, as if the universe kept pitching at a slight angle around him.

Trying to think about both knowing and not knowing about his crew was more trouble than it was worth.

Megatron gave the tall mech a sidelong look, his brows raised. "That's a powerful ability to possess," he replied with utmost sincerity. "I can only begin to imagine the advantage it brings in battle."

Two long strides took them to the corner and around, further down the corridor. It became steadily busier further down the walkway, beyond the officer's mess, and the sound of walking pedes and hushed tones filtered back to them. The location meant that idle chatter in the corridor was minimal: too close to the officers to risk gossip being overheard.

Megatron reflected on Skywarp's comment about his throttling being related to that ability as some kind of cost. Though, if he really could calculate the necessary algorithms to plot a spacebridge to Cybertron, then his intelligence certainly hadn't suffered.

The childishness of throttling combined with the power to teleport. He shuddered internally of the thought of Fairwinds having that combination.

He arched a speculative brow at the Seeker. "You must have gotten up to some real mischief teleporting yourself about. Far more than hiding stock in cupboards."

[Deleted]

That's a powerful ability to possess. I can only begin to imagine the advantage it brings in battle.

"Heh!"

Skywarp might have not been built as a soldier. But his specialised design had leant it self well to combat on multiple counts, even if by accident. A happy one, really. Able to appear at any point in the battlefield was immeasurably useful, both in offense and in defence. How many times had he simply flickered himself out of harms way? Or behind an enemy to blow their helm off with a well placed shot? And certainly no one could have foreseen that the throttling of Skywarp's mind in favour of his warp drive would have left him with his freakish understanding of physics that was oh so very useful in a fight.

"It's useful," he chuckled, pleased for it to be recognised as such. "Really useful. Really, really, really useful."

You must have gotten up to some real mischief teleporting yourself about. Far more than hiding stock in cupboards.

Skywarp was caught, conflicted by his usual raw honesty with his master against the fact that confessing to his mischief tended to not go down well. His past transgressions had been long dealt with and while Skywarp had not resented his punishments, as he fully deserved them, he was also not keen to go through them again in case Megatron, in his memory-less state, thought it was appropriate.

Still, his master had asked Skywarp a question and the seeker could do no less to answer honestly, regardless of the state of Megatron's memory.

"Yeeees," Skywarp hedged slowly, and, despite his misgivings, he couldn't help the satisfied smirk spreading across his face at the recollection. "It certainly helps in moving objects -and people- to places they have no reason to be. Especially behind locked doors." He laughed suddenly. "Locked doors. Pfffft."

The seeker cheered up immensely as another thought occurred to him. "And just going places! Exploring! I love exploring. It's my favourite. Or one of my favourites, anyway. Without needing to ugh, fill out a ground bridge log. Just whoosh and you're there. Any place from here with just a thought."

Skywarp cast a curious look over at Megatron. "Would you like to do that? Go exploring? Have you been down to the planet yet?"

[Deleted]

Skywarp was mischief personified, Megatron concluded to himself. He'd thought that Fairwinds was the peak of what was tolerated on board this ship, but apparently there was a whole other league to bat in.

The Seeker's loose longwave was easy to absorb, and Megatron let the field buffet against his own in earnest little eddies and sparks. It was unconsciously relaxing; quite different to the feelings that what Skywarp was saying induced, which were setting off mental warning bells.

"I have been confined to the ship since I sustained the injury that has led to this memory partition," he replied, repaying honesty with honesty.

'Confined' was precisely the word for it, too. Unable to do anything meaningful or productive, Megatron had found himself at a loose end. Vertigo struck hard and pained his healing circuits when he tried to spar, so physical exertion was out. He could barely hold conversations with the crew, on the whole. There was truly only so long he could sit and read, and even less time could be spent watching programs with Fairwinds. His jaunt into the bulkhead with Ghost Wind had been the highlight of his week, so far.

Megatron folded his arms with a rumble. "Soundwave," he went on quietly, "is ever-vigilant of my recovery. I eluded him for a matter of hours, over which he was quite displeased. I suspect he will get more creative in enforcing whatever he believes is for my own good should I dodge his monitoring again."

He cast a look down the corridor, contemplative, then looked back to Skywarp with a sigh. "The planet appears deeply foreign, from what I have gathered. Organic matter and all manner of inferior lifeforms and contaminants.

[Deleted]

Fortunately, the thought of taking Megatron down to the surface had only just occurred to Skywarp and it was shot down just as fast, so the seeker didn't have a lot of time to get excited about it. It would have been great, even though Skywarp did not know precisely what he would do with Megatron if they had paid a visit to the human world. His plans had extended to the asking and going part and not an inch further.

In all honesty, he cared little for Earth and knew precious little about it. Skywarp knew what he could and could not do ("Stay out of sight! Always! Don't let a single human see you! "And don't blow up one of their settlements either! And don't think about it either, in fact, just don't go anywhere on the surface without permission."). So the level of knowledge he had was probably around the same as Megatron in his current state.

"Sounds about right," he answered with a shrug. "I visited their data network that they call...the internet. It didn't make much sense but it was built from some very nice algorithms."

Out of sheer boredom, Skywarp had ventured out into the world of the interwebs. 'Not making sense to him' was an understatement. He could appreciate the math behind it, constructing the search algorithms that allowed humans to navigate the internet with ease. As for the actual content...well, that was well beyond the seeker's understanding. He barely understood how his own species worked, an alien one was totally out of his experience.

The seeker frowned to himself as he pondered over Megatron's enforced confinement to the Nemesis. The idea of his master being restricted anywhere was almost a ridiculous concept, this was Megatron after all. Soundwave was...well, Soundwave. Freaky and quiet and knowing waaay too much for one mech but also a total nerd with almost zilch armour. Like many, many other things, how Soundwave had been able to sway Megatron into one place escaped the big seeker.

It also escaped Skywarp's notice, that he himself could quite easily go wherever he wanted to go but chose not to simply because Starscream had told him to stay put. Self reflection was not one of Skywarp's strong points.

"So if you can't go anywhere or do anything that Soundwave doesn't want you to do, what can you do?" Skywarp asked curiously.

Things that Soundwave could potentially disapprove of seemed like an awfully broad category.