[ti]Ep 2[/ti]Wreckers Day Out (Closed)

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(Set sometime in the afternoon, day 4, week 1, Ep 2)

Several rounds of modification and intense field testing later, Wheeljack was certain that Miko's gauntlet was finished. He'd picked up with finalising its functionality, to ensure that the spectacular mess they'd made of Wonder Woman was not to be repeated.

Two more test dummies went the way of their Amazonian predecessor before he got things right. Wheeljack then went through several more rounds of field tests before he was satisfied. The third dummy had survived them without a scratch. The bubble shield maintained its integrity and it had held up without any defects against the Wrecker's plasma blasts and the occasional grenade he'd chucked at it, out in a secluded gully.

Once that was sorted, it was back to the lab again for the other changes Wheeljack needed to make. In all honesty, this probably was the harder part, making the gauntlet user friendly to a human. All too often Wheeljack would think that all he needed to do was make one small, particular change because then the gauntlet would be able to do a certain thing if given a command wirelessly, only to remember that nope, the end user didn't have an inbuilt transmitter.

In the end, the Wrecker had gone with the solution he'd come up with originally. A small ridge now ran lengthwise from top to bottom down the gauntlet. It was a thin rectangular strip of touch sensitive material. Should Miko run a finger along the entire length, it would unlock the internal machinery that was keeping it to a set diameter, thus allowing it to be adjusted. Locking it up again was a matter of repeating the action -or if it was left at a given diameter for at least half a minute, the gauntlet would automatically lock again by itself.

Pushing three fingers down on the strip would activate the bubble around the user, in what Wheeljack thought of as its default mode: the hard light layering itself into a bubble at the right distance. All five fingers was its emergency mode, the layers forming immediately around her, then pushing out to form the protective bubble. It would cost more energy and overheat faster, meaning shorter usage and longer cooldown before the gauntlet could be used again but it would also ensure that no objects were caught underneath the bubble when it formed. Again, to turn off the shield prematurely was simply a matter of pushing down with the same amount of fingers, or allowing its own internal timer to kick in and flick itself off.

The Wrecker was often left feeling proud of whatever came out of his workshop, simply because he was usually short-changed on material and the level of technology he was working with was a few thousand years behind what he once had. That being said, he was exceptionally pleased with what he'd managed to accomplish in this one small, sleek piece of machinery. It honestly would have never worked for something the scale of a Cybertronian but a human was small enough for the hard light to be a viable and practical option as a means of defense.

Now to get it onto its owner…

Fortunately, Miko was a pretty much a permanent feature around Bot base these days. Since Wheeljack hadn't exactly been sure how long this latest round of testing and modification would go, he hadn't asked her to join him in his lab. His tentative estimation for when he'd actually finish had a range that spanned across several days. Still, he was confident that he could be sure to find the human somewhere around without venturing too far.

The Wrecker stuck the gauntlet and its charging pad in his subspace before quickly clearing up his work bench. He wiped his hands on a cleaning rag which he disposed off on his way out the door. One quick ping to the door controls and it locked behind him as he stepped outside.

The first place Wheeljack decided to head to was the rec room, with the control room his second stop should he fail to find Miko in the rec room. Both were always a good bet and in the event that the human in question wasn't there, chances were good that there would be somebody there who had seen her and knew where she was.

The base was oddly quiet as Wheeljack walked down its hallways. Yesterday's raid on MECH had left it in a sombre mood, even an outsider such as the Wrecker had taken note. Quite unpleasant business, as it had turned out.

And yet despite that stark reminder of the dangers that lurked within the human world, Wheeljack could still feel that itchiness beneath his plates that meant his time here was coming to an end. It was near maddening and the Wrecker would be very surprised to find himself still in the base by the week's end. Not today though, but it was enough that he wanted to spend the rest of the day out and about.

Perhaps he'd take Miko with him. Go for a drive around town then venture out to someplace where they could put the gauntlet through its paces.

The door to the rec room loomed ahead of Wheeljack. Deciding that yes, these were his plans for the rest of the day, the Wrecker strode in.

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Waiting wasn't really Miko's strong suit. Neither was patience. Really, anything in the calm department gave the young Wrecker trouble. She knew Jackie was busy working on the gauntlet. That he needed the time and energy to make sure it didn't explode her like the WW mannequin. She couldn't even read the comics now without shuddering at the memory. Just pop, there go the arms. And she couldn't tell Jack and Raf about it because...well, it was fun to have a secret. And if Prime found out they were the ones that threw the mannequin off of the cliff, he'd probably shake both of them like maracas. 

But waiting was torture! She wanted to bust into his lab and stick to his side like glue. She wanted to see the progress in action. Even if all the technical stuff was boring. She wanted results! She wanted something! Instead, she got endless homework and tedious pacing when Bulk wasn't taking her out. It was hard to wait around. She had to constantly remind herself not to walk to the lab and scratch at the door like a kitten wanting in. 

She got really good at racing Raf in the game. Her frustration turned to something tangible, even if it was a stupid game. She almost beat Jack's score. But she couldn't quite focus enough to ply herself. Her gaze was always straying down the hall toward the direction of the lab. Any day now. Had to be! But every day stretched out and she didn't even see the other Wrecker. Inside she was dying to know how the progress was going. 

By the time Wheeljack did get around to checking the rec room, she had given up on her homework and had flung the notebook onto the floor with a loud splat. Ugh, if she had to look at one more fraction she was going to choke. She pulled a pillow over her face and groaned in sheer self pity. Why didn't Raf just do her homework for her like she begged? It would be so easy! He liked this stuff. And while she wasn't bad at it, that didn't mean she enjoyed it.

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It looked like Wheeljack's first guess had been spot on. His gaze scanned across the room as he'd walked in and he was quick to spot the frustrated flop of teen Wrecker.

There was a notebook lying in a pile of defeat not far from Miko. One optic ridge quirked up the Wrecker's face as he took in the scene.

Huh.

Honestly, not how he was expecting to find the human.

"Hey Miko," he called out in greeting as he approached. "Sorry it took so long but its done now."

The Wrecker went down on one knee and held out his hand, retrieving the gauntlet from subspace. It sat directly in the middle of his palm. Wheeljack nodded at the notebook. "Homework giving you trouble?"

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"It's this stupid math!" 

The reply was muffled under the pillow. Given the day of the week, the same thing could be said for English (a stupid language), Science (a boring field because she couldn't blow anything up), or Biology. She actually liked Biology, though. She once got to dissect a starfish. That had been kind of gross and kind of cool. Mostly gross. They put her off of pickled food for a good while after that. 

It took Miko a good second to realize that she was being addressed by Jackie. She was so used to him being busy that she answered automatically, assuming it was Bulk or...well, that's about it. Bee had a distinctive chirp that she couldn't understand at all. Prime wouldn't ask and Ratchet would outright ignore her. Which was just as well. She would have asked Ratchet for help if he'd just stop being so old and mean.

"Oh hey," she flung the pillow aside and sat up quickly like a marionette who had her strings pulled. "Is that it?!" She stared at the center of his palm and was polite enough not to go all Golem and grab the thing to her chest while screaming "MINE." And they say she had no control over herself. Pft, she had loads of it! 

"Can we try it out?! Let's go right now! Are you going to shoot at me??" A child should not have looked half as excited at the prospect of being shot at as Miko did in that moment. 

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A variety of responses flitted around Wheeljack's processor core, mainly centred on how maths was pretty great, actually and without it, he wouldn't have been able to build the neat little piece of tech that was sitting in his palm.

While technically true, it didn't really help with Miko's problem. He bit back those responses and instead settled on:

"Don't let the doc hear you say that. He'll never let you hear the end of it."

Wheeljack watched, amused, as Miko suddenly jolted into motion, throwing off the pillow and sitting up straight to stare up at him. "This is it," he confirmed.

He cracked a grin at the human's enthusiasm to try it out. It also completely escaped Wheeljack's notice that shooting Miko probably fell under those guidelines of 'Things To Never Ever Do At The Omega Base'.

"Sure thing," he answered. Wheeljack did at least have the presence of mind to add, "Not here though." He jerked his head towards the exit. "Probably should put some distance between us and here. Blasters and the indoors aren't the best mix."

The Wrecker cocked an optic ridge at Miko. "You can take the gauntlet," he said drolly. "Ain't like there's much use of me hanging on to it."

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Some would reverently treat a gift given to them by otherworldly aliens. They'd handle it as if it were glass and hide it away or encase it in protective box to keep it safe. They'd cherish the gesture and marvel at the generosity ingrained in the gift giving.

Miko just snatched the gauntlet up after hopping and dancing in place like a loon. Holding it over her head, Triforce style, she then turned it over and over in her hands to look at every inch of it. This was so cool!! She couldn't wait to wear it. Raf and Jack were going to be so stoked! Accept, she couldn't tell them. Darn! The less word got out about the tech, the better. Some well meaning adult would try and take it from her. Because that's what adults did. They took cool junk away from well meaning teenagers.

"This is the most amazing thing to happen to me! ....this week!" She hugged the gauntlet close and smiled up at Jackie with clear hero worship written on her face. It was almost painful how much she was growing to idolize him and Bulkhead. A sensible adult would see a warning flag there. That perhaps her nearly fanatical view of the two Wreckers blinded her to more pressing matters. Or self survival. But, no one had, so!

"Let's go! I wanna see how this bad boy works! By the way, did you hear that the police found Wonder Woman? Crazy, right?" She was already thudding down the stairs that led to ground level.  

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Wheeljack straightened up after Miko snatched the gauntlet from his grasp. He watched as she excitedly checked over his gift, a small pleased smile curling the edge of his lips.

"Just this week? Dang, I'm slipping, gonna have to up my game at this rate," Wheeljack responded, warmly. He was flattered however with Miko's obvious appreciation for the gauntlet.

He was also kinda not thinking about the fact he was definitely going to bail on the Omega base by the end of the week. At least, the Wrecker wasn't thinking about it in this very moment. So, there really wasn't going to be much opportunity in the near future for him to be the highlight of Miko's week.

Wheeljack waited for Miko to join him on the ground level before heading from the control room. The Wrecker, upon their last outing, had heard plenty about not driving in the hallways. While usually he lived for such confrontations with command, he currently had no desires for a repeat experience. Especially if it would cause a delay in their exit from the base. Better to do it quietly and attract much less attention towards the two Wreckers.

"Huh, hadn't heard that." Mainly because Wheeljack didn't pay much attention to the local human news. "Guess we hadn't done a good job of dumping her body like I'd thought," the Wrecker remarked as they walked. He thought over this a moment then shrugged. "We should work on that next time."

Anyone not in the know who overheard this line of conversation probably would have found it alarming.

Wheeljack recalled the conversation they'd had last time. "So Miko, have you come up with any names for my swords yet?"

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Luckily Raf and Jack seemed to not be in the immediate vicinity but Miko liked to think they'd just duck their head and ignore that seriously questionable line about the body. Most in the base would. Except Prime. He had that whole moral thing down pat. Ratchet just discounted their words by default, Miko was led to believe. Arcee was the only one she wasn't certain about. The two didn't really cross paths that much. 

"I'm torn," she said, still hugging the gauntlet to her chest. She took nearly ten steps for every one he made making her job to keep up. "We could name it after some legendary sword but that's kinda lame. Everyone has an Excalibur." She wrinkled her nose, for a moment growing uncharacteristically quiet in thought. 

"Don't you guys have any myths like that? You know the whole enchanted blade kind of thing?" Now that she'd asked it, she was relatively curious. Her own culture had several myths and old tales that were pretty cool but she didn't want to hear those again. She wanted to know if the Bots had any. Didn't every culture?

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Wheeljack had no idea what an Excalibur was. A quick perusal of the Internet got him magic swords, hotels and dehydrators. Given the current line of the conversation, he kinda figured Miko meant the first one.

"Enchanted mythical swords huh?" Wheeljack mulled the question over. He was more of a bot of the hard sciences but that didn't mean he was ignorant of the more mythical parts of Cybertronian culture. "Think I've got one that ticks all those boxes."

"The Star Saber's probably the most famous weapon in Cybertronian mythology. Has the 'weapon of unimaginable power' thing going for it. Legend has it that it was forged by Solus Prime," Wheeljack frowned at himself, unsure how much Miko knew about Cybertronian culture and whether the name meant anything to her. "Uh, one of the Thirteen."

That…still didn't mean much. "The Thirteen being the first Transformers supposedly ever created by Primus to battle Unicron, the chaos bringer. He's the doom and gloom type, does the whole 'end of times' schtick. Also answers to 'Lord of Chaos' and 'Planet Eater' so that should give you some idea of why he's the villain in our legends. Anyway, the story goes that Solas Prime -she was the cool one, by the way- forged a whole bunch of powerful weapons and tools to aid the Thirteen in their battle. Most of her creations went on to become legendary items in their own right, so in terms of Cybertronian mythology, you really can't get any higher than that."

And thus, that was the short version of Cybertron's creation myth as narrated by Wheeljack.