[ti]Ep 3.5[/ti]Plain Sight [Miko, Open]

[Unit 74]

Episode 3.5 | Week 1 | Day 6
Mid Morning

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Their base was wonderful. Every day Unit 74 found places to clean, and friends to see. They didn’t always see him, but that was right, they were big mecha with important things to do. The cleaning unit wouldn't notice he spent little time doing anything else, having no concept of ‘too much work for too few scrubbers’. His work made him happy, and kept him mostly on the move. Though… sometimes he did get distracted.

Lower to the ground, the yellow Minicon was on his full foot. In the unusual position, the otherwise digitigrade mech rested his weight on his heel wheels. He was in a strange part of the base. Little furniture, a tiny viewing screen, it was a human space. While there were a few places meant for them, this was the children's entertainment area, different from workstations and the catwalks. Seventy-four knew this place also needed to be cleaned, every place needed to be cleaned! So, what was the diligent Minicon doing? He was standing in front of the couch, optics fixated on it, until his focus shifted. Small claws lightly poked at a throw pillow he held, before he put the specialized pads of his servo flat against it, drawing it away again to look at his palm, the middle digits bent in to feel it.

Fidgeting with the pillow, he moved it around to hold it at an angle, a corner in each servo, to gently tug and squish it. He had to be careful, very careful, so he didn’t hurt it. Already he had nearly snagged the small fibers of the cloth, much to his surprise. His claws were to help him climb, not to cause pain and destruction. Thankfully, that wasn't where his processor was. Had he ripped the fabric, it might have been different, but no harm was done.

 'We need to find Unit Butch',

It was an important decision, but not something he was going to do right away. Besides, the Minicon hadn't figured out who was supposed to be in the base when. Keeping track of so many people wasn't the same as knowing a single master's habits, and there was no measure of time to orient his chronometer. There was only his recharge cycle, and when the big mecha and humans came and went. It was early, but late enough that the rest of the Autobots were starting their day. There was something... different about it, a deviation from the previous days that he couldn't figure out. Everyone he'd seen so far was acting differently,

No one had explained Saturday.

---

Permission to reference Butch/Cass granted by Whip. Thank you

[Miko Nakadai]

Miko was deaf to the world around her, and technically breaking all sorts of rules - to the surprise of probably nobody. Instead of making her way along one of the many catwalks around Omega like the humans were supposed to, she found herself walking down the edge of one of the corridors.

It’d be fine, she figured - she’d done this probably hundreds of times and hadn’t been squished underfoot yet! Besides, should anyone come up behind her? She’d feel their heavy footsteps underneath her in the concrete way before she’d see them. Or hear them - if the almost deafeningly loud music that was coming out of her earbuds was anything to go by.

It was Saturday - which one basically her favorite day because it meant hanging at Omega for the majority of the time, rather than just a few hours after school. It probably also meant homework, but… eh, that could wait til tonight, given it was still pretty early in the day.

Or tomorrow.

Oooor… whenever she felt like it.

She wasn’t quite sure where everyone was at this hour - even Bulkhead had vanished somewhere after bridging her here - and so had decided to put herself front and center in the heart of the base itself; the Control Room. If anyone was on their way out or in to the base, that was the room they’d have to go through, meaning she could strike up a conversation or possibly tag along for some sort of awesome adventure!

Lost in the music, she would air guitar along to the chorus as she made her way up the few short steps to the little area that the children - and Bee, she supposed, since he watched the TV too - could call their ‘own’.

Only to freeze at seeing Unit 74 already there.

He seemed focused on the throw pillow, and she watched curiously for a moment as he squished it. Her host mom did that to the cushions on the couch sometimes, and she could only assume he was doing something similar.

Wait, wait! The music!

Quickly fumbling a hand into her pocket to turn the music off on her phone, she would reach up to pull the earbud free from one ear, tucking it into the top of the collar on her t-shirt so it didn’t hang loose.

“Hey Seventy-Four!” she beamed, waving - just in case for whatever reason he hadn’t seen her. “How goes?”

The last time she’d seen him it’d been super late - and she was glad to see that he’d settled into Omega pretty quickly!

[Unit 74]

Wait, Wrecker Miko had arrived?!

On instinct the minicon also froze, optics widening, but surprise quickly gave way to an eager smile, and a returned wave.

“Wrecker Miko returned to us!” bouncing lightly, he raised off his heel wheels, though only slightly. It would take time to get used to being ‘taller’. He still liked to keep low so everything would seem right. “We are happy to see her.  She has been missed ”

A pause as his optic ridges furrowed, helm tipping. They hadn’t seen each other since the first time, and as it wasn't for him to ask, no one would have explained her schedule to him... But, a good cleaning unit needed to observe, and learn. This left a puzzled mech, to try to piece together the events of the day.

“... Unit 74, thought it was still early.“

We are not sure if this unit is defective.

If anyone could hear his inner voice, the last would have come out anxious, as he held the throw pillow a little closer.

This unit is not defective! He answered his own collective concern, not sure if it mattered. It was better not to take the chance… in case there were masters to send him, wherever defective scrubbers went.

He will not be sent away by our friends, Caliber has said, there are no more masters. Spokes has said the same... His friends would know best, and even if that wasn’t enough for him to feel better (which it definitely was), he couldn’t remain distressed for too long. Impulses to hide were overridden as problematic, allowing his focus to return to important things.   The mystery of the girls presence, though wonderful, still wasn't solved.

“Seventy-four understands… ‘the children’ are at the school until later?”  Claws twitched around the pillow, reminding him that it was there. With his grip relaxing, the distraction of the fabric on his servos registered. If it weren’t for Miko’s presence, he likely would have been lost in his study of the human-y thing, but she was much more important.

[Miko Nakadai]

The initial reaction to her presence from the Minicon was met with a gentle hum of quiet understanding. He hadn’t been at the base very long, nor around humans much at all - and she’d noticed with a few Autobot arrivals that they seemed to have a brief moment of panic upon running into one of them at the base. Being hidden for so long, it made sense that they were a little jumpy!

Moving forward once she was sure he’d seen her, she’d smile at his words.

“Aw, I missed you too!” Her words were genuine, and the smile wouldn’t leave her face. There would always be a touch of pride when it came to him and Blades, as she had been the one to find both of them at once, and it was nice to see him again. “Are you settling in at Omega One okay?”

She could only assume so since he was up here just doing his own little thing, but she hoped he’d managed to get some recharge and Energon and had some time to relax. She knew the Autobots had a scheduled list of chores, and she also knew that some of those Autobots may feel inclined to pass their more boring jobs onto newcomers.

“Early? Oh, yeah - it is! Uh, well, sort of!” She nodded, continuing as she elaborated a little bit on his question. “Early for me to be here, anyway. Normally I’m not here at this hour, but it’s the weekend so I get to hang out pretty much all day!”

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her attention would then shift to the throw pillow.

“You like the pillow?” she laughed. “I think it came with the couch when they put it in here for us.”

It was kind of cute seeing just how gentle he was being with the thing - she, in comparison, had angrily thrown it at the wall a few times when getting frustrated at a video game.

[Unit 74]

“Unit 74 is happy to be with his friends” It was the best thing he could say about settling in. What was better than being with friends? The Minicon couldn’t think of anything, and that made the ‘weekend’ Miko spoke of that much more interesting. The whole day? What made this possible? Why couldn't it be the same every day?

Distracted from one puzzle by another, the cleaning unit looked down at the pillow when the girl drew his attention back to it.. Small claws flexed around it, still gentle, so the fabric only bunched under the points.

“He does, but…“ With another mindful squeeze, the scrubber thought about his fascination and how to explain it to Miko. “It is different'' Moving the pillow to balance it on a servo, facing up. He pressed it with a single digit, squishing down only a little, before bringing it back up. Optic ridges scrunched as he looked closely, before showing her. There wasn’t really anything to see of course. Even if humans had eyesight that could detect the ridges, it would look like texture in the metal.
Gripping the throw again, to turn it this way, then that.

“We detect small, coarse particulates... fibrous.” Pinching his thumb to a finger to rub them together, watching closely. "... It catches." Vocals trailed off as the ridges managed to prize the feeling away from his fingers. It was useful to be able to 'un-stick' things from his hands, but it was shortening his time to feel the strange earth thing. His optics returned to the pillow itself, derma pressing into a firm line. "It's porous.” Absorbent, his learning protocols matched similarities to other materials he had seen, despite the differences. But... What kind of cleaners was he supposed to use?

Our human brother will know. Unit Butch understands earth things, but we have not seen her.... We could ask Wrecker Miko...

Wreckers are soldiers, this Unit is not sure that Wrecker Miko will know.

Of course, she was wonderful regardless. Gaze refocusing on her, he remembered the other mystery, the more important one. The ‘pillow’ wouldn’t go anywhere, but she might. She had many friends she would need to see. Maybe even her favorite friend.

“Unit 74 has heard ‘weekend’ before. The humans in the medic building said it …” He also knew it meant the days that started and ended a 'week'. But, that didn’t help him understand why she was here. The Minicon wasn't too worried, questioning why she could be with them wasn't nearly as important as her being with them. “What will Wrecker Miko do for her weekend?” She sounded excited, that was enough to make him excited for her and whatever she did with her time. "Can this unit help?"

[Miko Nakadai]

Miko could only smile at the comment about friends - she knew Unit 74 hadn’t been here very long, but to hear him refer to everyone as friends was so heartwarming. Not that she didn’t think he wouldn’t fit in, the Autobots were all super accepting of newcomers! But he did seem shier than most, which did make things hard sometimes.

“Good! I’m glad!” she beamed.

Watching as the Minicon gave the pillow another gentle squeeze, she would nod at his words. It was cute watching him, in a way - he was being so overly cautious with the thing whereas most probably wouldn’t care too much about it.

“You can keep it if you want? Not that I know what you could really do with it!” she laughed. “It normally gets shoved out the way when we’re sitting on the couch, so it just kinda takes up space.”

Moving a few steps forward then just so she was closer and not lingering near the stairs, a finger would raise to tap her chin as the question was asked.

“Weeeelll… I should probably be doing homework, but eh! I have two whole days to do that!” lowering her hand some she would scoff, almost as if dismissing the idea of homework entirely. She knew Raf did his schoolwork here at base sometimes - though he did have a crazy, busy household and so it was probably way quieter here so he could focus. She meanwhile had a quiet home life, to the point it was almost too quiet at times, which was probably why she was here so often. Which then meant any chance of focus or study went completely out the window, and she found herself leaving it til the very last second on a Sunday.

“Normally I just hang out with Bulk, but I think he’s out on patrol. I could hang with you if you wanted some company. Do you have chores or stuff to do around the base? I could help!”

She knew that just as she did back at home, the Autobots also had tasks to do around the base. This place didn’t keep itself clean, after all - and while she was pretty avoidant in cleaning her own room, she’d totally be down for helping around Omega One!

[Unit 74]

“Keep it?” His voice was hushed, as Seventy-four held the pillow close. Was it alright? When there had been masters, it wasn’t allowed. Cleaning units were meant only to have things to fulfill their function.

Our friends have not said this unit could keep something before… but then, he hadn't found anything that wasn't needed for something important.

Seventy-four wasn’t sure, Wreckers were soldiers, so Miko would obviously know better than a cleaning unit? She was also human, maybe she didn’t know the rules? Puzzling over the possibility, Unit 74 wasn’t troubled. Even if he shouldn’t really have it, if did, it would have been because Miko wanted him to. It was a happy thought.

As Miko came closer, he settled back on his wheels, not because he was afraid or anxious. No, the human girl was friendly, even when she was dismissing her homework, the energy she gave off was positive. Her indomitable spirit might have had a wider range than the cheery default of the Minicon, but it still resonated with him. If she wasn’t a Wrecker already, she really could be a brother! But… she was still delicate on the outside. Protocols reminded him to be mindful.

“This unit isn’t sure. Usually, he does fun work until the big mecha go to the board. Then he asks if he has chores. “ Often Blades helped him, which was easier, since the medic already told him he didn’t mind. If Blades wasn’t there? He couldn’t not do his ‘chores’, so he would have to ask someone. “Would Miko like to come? Seventy-four would be happy to be with her, until her other friends are ready for her. “

It didn’t bother him to think that their time together would end when she was needed elsewhere. He couldn't have worked well with all of his brothers if he didn't know how to share. Still, that didn't mean he didn't understand how unfortunate it was they only had the 'weekend'.

“He does wonder… why every day can’t be ‘Saturday”

---

permission to reference Blades' assistance granted by Fox.  Thank you

[Miko Nakadai]

At the quiet question, Miko could only smile brightly, nodding.

“Uh-huh! If you want it! You can keep it in your quarters or something!”

She knew Bumblebee collected little knickknacks - things like CDs that he hung from the ceiling, as well as old cans and bottles that’d been cleaned out, and Bulk had a soft spot for rocks that sort of looked like animals, though they’d only managed to find two of those. While Unit 74 couldn’t really put a pillow on display like those things, it could be put on a berth or something. He was small enough to the point he could at least take comfort in it, most other Bots wouldn’t even really be able to pick it up at all without tearing the fabric.

Watching as he settled back on his wheels, she was quick to smile once more in reassurance. While she had been the first human to meet him, humans as a whole were probably such a weird concept that he - and others, she was sure - were still trying to get used to. Tiny, organic, and squishy - though way sturdier than they looked!

“Fun work?” she tilted her head curiously. Was that like the opposite of homework, because that wasn’t fun at all. It had her thinking just what the Autobots did when she and the other guys weren’t around. Probably lots of things, scouting, fighting Decepticons, going on awesome patrols… all the things that were no doubt considered too dangerous to take her along for.

At the question she perked up, nodding.

“I’d love to! I can be your assistant for the day!”

Between the two of them, they’d make quick work of whatever little chores he had assigned, and if he didn’t have any? Well, they could make their own fun doing something else around the base, she was sure!

“And ugh, right? A two day weekend is sooo not long enough.” she laughed. “Though Sunday is usually spent doing all the things I put off on Saturday…” a sheepish admittance, before she waved a hand.

“But it’s cool, I’d much rather help you today than do anything else!”

[Unit 74]

If he was a suspicious or paranoid mech, Seventy-four might have wondered how it was that Miko was different. With other Cybertronians, it would have been harder to get through his coding. After all, compliance could be a problem if mecha were telling him to do something the Master didn’t want. With Miko, the Minicon wanted her to be right. The pillow had become more special, since she had said he should have it. It felt more important than the small feeling that maybe this was against the rules?

“We will keep it, to remind this unit of Wrecker Miko”, he decided happily, thrilled at the idea. Though he couldn’t reason why the human girl was different, she simply was and that was good enough for him. The war hadn't forced the small Cybertronian to become cynical or jaded.

Holding out the pillow, he turned it a couple of times, helm tipped to the side as he figured out just what he would do. He wasn’t planning on going back to his quarters yet, but if he left it on the couch? What if Miko thought he didn’t really like it?

Our Miko has given this Unit a precious gift, she must not think he doesn’t appreciate her!

Carefully, Seventy-four settled the pillow behind his helm, adjusting it so that his handle would keep it right there. Maybe they would need to go to his room first, if he had chores. Until then, his servos would be free, in case they were needed.

“We can go to the board together!” he agreed, an exclamation of his excitement that they would be together, which was always better than alone. If he’d been more excitable, it could almost have been a ‘call to adventure’, as he raised up to his standard height. Though, a thought did, level out his spiking energy. “... Seventy-four should ask, are there rules he should know? We have rules so we don't impose on the big mecha. “ Humans had small frames, like cleaning units. He hadn't failed to realize that, if he had to be mindful, they might not be okay, if she wasn't noticed.

[Miko Nakadai]

“We will keep it, to remind this unit of Wrecker Miko”

"Aw!" she beamed. "I know your guy's rooms are kinda bare bones. Drab concrete walls and floors, booooring metal berth… no windows…"

Wow, the rooms really were kind of majorly depressing when she said it all out loud, though despite this she was still smiling.

"But we can make them cheery! I drew all kinds of pictures for Bulkhead's room, he let me set up my amp in there too and even let me draw on the wall a little bit to mix things up and add a bit of color!"

Was it allowed? Eeeeeh. Probably. She wasn't aware of any rule stating they couldn't decorate their rooms, heck Carbine and Thundercloud had demolished an entire wall in theirs and hadn't (to her knowledge) gotten in any trouble for it.

"So that pillow can be a great starting point!"

Making a mental note to help decorate Unit 74's room later, she could only smile as he tucked the pillow behind his head. Even though Cybertronians didn't use pillows or blankets in their day to day that she could tell, she hoped the sensation of it being there was comfy for him.

Nodding at his words - the smile wouldn't leave her face. Even if she should probably be doing homework or something, it could always wait til later. Getting new arrivals situated at the base was way more important, and helping him with his chores was kind of like work experience - it wasn't like she was wasting time playing a video game or something, and she was sure Optimus and the other 'adults' at base would appreciate her actually doing something to keep her out of trouble.

Taking a step back toward the small set of stairs, she paused at the question, a hand raising to tap absently at her chin.

"Uhhh. I mean, there are probably rules?"

No running in the hallways, always stick to the catwalks, don't climb up onto the control panel and try and answer calls on your own… ha ha… those were three that immediately sprang to mind. Though rules for Sev? She… wasn't sure.

"I know we humans have to be more careful since it's easy to get stepped on if someone isn't paying attention, but if I'm with you it should be fine!"

She hummed, nose wrinkling as she shrugged.

"We could always ask?"

She never thought she'd see the day when she wanted to actually stick to any sort of rules that'd been put in place, but she didn't want Unit 74 to get into trouble for doing something they weren't supposed to - even if they didn't know what those things even were.

[Unit 74]

“Unit 74 is content to know the rules for his human friends. Our concern is for Miko.” Like her smile, his cheer didn’t miss a beat, as he followed her lead, not thinking twice that she might be unsure or not know what she was doing (even though she indicated they needed to ask). “Our model wasn’t programmed to understand other worlds; this unit must learn what is safe for humans on his own.” That was a lot of learning to do, and it had to be done carefully. Miko wasn't a new surface, or cleaning solution. If a mistake was made, she would become damaged, possibly broken, and could not be replaced. Whether defective or broken, no unit could be replaced. It was the one thing the masters were wrong about… but the masters were never wrong.

The master couldn’t be wrong.

Lowering to his full pede, the Minicon stilled a moment, confused by conflicting thoughts, that soon died and faded away, returning to him to his more peaceful default. There wasn’t time for strange ideas anyway, as they were going to the board. Soon they would find out if he had chores, and more importantly, Miko would be with him. If she started down the stairs, Seventy-four would find another means to get down. Steps… Well, him sized steps were still an oddity. Instead he approached the safety rail, and with a spring cleared it to land easily on the floor of the control room.

He waited, patiently, but his thoughts were on what else she had said.

The way she was always moving, and her expressions communicated many things. It was the same when she spoke, many different ideas and pieces of information came together in a single conversation. The Minicon would have never guessed that there were mecha on the base that found Miko exhausting, or difficult to handle; he thought it was wonderful. There was much to ask all at once, so he started with what he understood the least, but it sounded important.

“Wrecker Miko, Unit 74 is wondering... what is an 'amp'?”

[Miko Nakadai]

"Oh! Don't be concerned - I'm good, promise!"

There was a sincerity to her words, and they were paired with a smile. While she could easily take advantage of Unit 74 being a newer arrival to the base and convince him to do things that broke almost every rule in the book, she didn't want to actually get him into trouble. It wouldn't be fair for one thing, plus he seemed like a nice bot. She'd been the one to find him in that parking lot, and had quickly grown attached - wanting to take him under her wing, even if that was probably a little silly.

"As long as I walk next to you through the corridors, we'll be okay. I'll stick to the side near the wall, too. Then it's extra safe!"

Normally she didn't care for that rule, it was way faster to just run down the corridor to wherever she wanted to go - which was either normally Bulkhead's quarters, or if he wasn't there? She'd usually go visit Carbine. But with Unit 74 here, she wanted to behave.

"As for learning what's safe for us, I can probably help you with that, too - or uh, if there's something I can't answer? I'm sure Optimus or maybe even Fowler can give you the rundown! He's a human, too!"

Stepping backward and down onto the first step so they could start their little adventure, she found herself pausing at the question, turning to look at Unit 74 as she mulled over how to even answer.

"An amp? Uhh - well, this one is a guitar amplifier!" she didn't want to get too technical, knowing that 'amp' could mean a couple of things. "I plug my guitar in and it's kind of like a speaker, I guess? It turns the signal from my playing into noise!"

She frowned then, though it wasn't for long, making her way down the rest of the steps – backward, of course.

"Or, it did, anyway! When I actually had a guitar."

She'd been saving for a new one, and had checked some out a while back - with Optimus of all people, which had been a little awkward - but she was still regretfully lacking in the guitar department, which probably suited the Autobots just fine.

"When I get a new one, I'll show you!" she grinned, quickly making her way over to the waiting minicon.

"Okay, I am ready to be your assistant!"