[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Human Science [Raf, Cassandra]

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Episode 3 / Week 2 / Day 7 / Closed

It was a beautiful morning in Jasper, Nevada. And not only because of the fair weather and clear skies. Today was a big day, a "special" day, or so was Neon told. He was excited to finally get to know the Autobots' human friends a little better, and Raf was the perfect place to start. After all, from what the others told him, they shared more than a few interests.

When Neon learned that Raf was to attend a scientific event of some kind, he was over the moon at the chance to come along with the young human. And finally, today, he was to be his chaperone. This role would usually belong to Bumblebee, Raf's guardian, but Neon volunteered to take the Scout's place. It was a unique opportunity to fit in better. Neon couldn't let that slip, especially after Thunder chastised him so thoroughly for being oblivious to Earth customs last week.

Besides, Jasper was as safe as it got. There were so many humans out and about on a Sunday such as this. What could possibly go wrong?

---

Driving carefully by the sidewalk, Neon slowly ground to a halt in front of the Esquivel household. As a Toyota Corolla, he was an inconspicuous car, like dozen others on the street, safe for a light blue line going down the center of his hood. That single feature was Neon's and his alone.

Inside the car, his holoform sat in the driver's seat with both its hands firmly on the wheel. Neon chose for himself the form of a young man with russet-brown skin and curly umber hair. He wore a black hoodie and a pair of blue jeans, matching neatly to the black-white sneakers on his feet.

Neon adjusted his holoform's thick-rimmed square glasses, waiting for Raf inconspicuously, blending in. He then honked twice to signal his arrival so that Raf would know that his ride was here.

[Raf Esquivel]

A few moments later, and the front door opened. A small youth came slipping out, yanking his large backpack up onto his back as he ran down the pathway. The voice of a human woman suddenly became louder, in mid-sentence as the young man made his way towards the waiting car.

“ - to call if you need anything!”

“I won’t, Mama!” Raf yelled back over his shoulder.

When Raf had been asked to go to the science exhibit with Neon, he had felt a little awkward. Raf had been planning on going, of course, but he had expected Bumblebee would take him. It was always him and Bee, except for a few times when the yellow scout had been busy with something else. On those occasions, it would be Bulkhead, or even one of the other Autobots.

Raf had never ridden with Neon before.

He didn’t really know Neon very well, but he had been assured that the Autobot was quiet and calm, and that he really liked science. He also knew that he was supposed to be working with Neon on some things. This was as good a time to really meet him, he supposed.

He was still nervous, though. Raf felt more comfortable meeting the other Autobots when Bee was around......

Raf felt more comfortable when Bee was around, period.

Running up to the waiting car, Raf gently took a hold of the rear passenger door, and opened it. He didn’t want his mother to see the door opening by himself, but he didn’t want to yank on Neon either, so was as careful as possible.

“Hi Neon,” he said, low enough that his mother wouldn’t be able to hear, “I’m Raf.”

It was a lot easier getting inside Neon’s alt mode than Bumblebee’s. Bee was a two door, so Raf always had to sort of crawl/swim into the back seat to get comfortable. Neon was a lot more like his father’s car.

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The young man in the driver's seat first turned towards the door of Raf's house, acknowledging his "parental unit"—mother, as the humans termed her—with a friendly wave before regarding Raf in his backseat. It felt odd to be with a human for Neon, too. He could usually sense how others felt about him. Cybertronian emotions were easy to read with his abilities. But humans had no EMF. He could not tell if Raf was comfortable.

"Hello, Raf," Neon replied in much the same manner. Quietly. His tone was gentle and calm, comforting. He would not let on that he was about as nervous as Raf himself. This was uncharted territory for both of them, and since he had a good few thousand human lifetimes on the kid, Neon had to be an example—even if he was only slightly older than Raf in Cybertronian terms.

"I'm glad to be here. The Bots told me a lot about you, and since it seems we'll be working together in the future, I hope you'll have fun today. I realize I'm no Bumblebee, so if there's anything, just let me know. I'll do my best."

Neon tried to be reassuring. According to his research, young humans could be fickle in their emotions and feelings. Not unlike young Cybertronians such as himself, so Neon did his best to let Raf know that today was about him first and foremost. Besides, they could both really use the distraction. The road ahead was rough for the Autobots. Any free time a scientist like Neon had was a massive boon.

Then he finally spoke in a louder tone of voice: "Oh, and don't forget the seatbelt."

Safety first.

He waited for Raf to get comfortable and fashion his seatbelt, giving the young human all the time he needed, waiting for a good opportunity to depart, keeping an occasional eye on their surroundings for anything suspicious.

[Raf Esquivel]

Shutting the door behind him, Raf set his large backpack on the seat beside him, and paused, looking around.

It was so different from Bee’s interior. It wasn’t as....plush. Bee’s interior was really comfortable, the cushioning on the back seat super soft. When Raf sat back there he almost sank down into it a little. It was almost like it wrapped around Raf, cushioning him as well. More than once he had fallen asleep on a particularly long trip, Bee’s window down just enough that fresh air blew in on his face, with some really good tunes on the radio. Raf had a sneaking suspicion that sometimes, if it was late when they were out, that Bee turned on the heat a little and turned down the volume a small bit, to make sure Raf fell asleep. No matter how hard he tried, sometimes he didn’t even know he was falling asleep until he woke up either back at Omega, or at his house.

Neon’s words interrupted his thoughts, and he blinked.

“Oh, right!”

Raf settled back again, pulling the seat belt over and buckling it in place.

He was trying to think of how to start talking to Neon. They had already introduced themselves....

“Have you been in Jasper before? I think the Autobots all have to learn the layout or something, in case something happens here. Do you know where it is we’re going?”

It wouldn’t be too hard to give directions, if need be.

[Deleted]

Once he made sure Raf plugged in his seatbelt, Neon slowly set off to depart, leaving the curb gently before rejoining traffic. He seemed to have a general idea of where they were headed, as well as local traffic laws. In fact, they accounted for a very large portion of things that made sense to Neon on this planet. He made sure to be gentle with Raf, driving quite carefully even as they spoke.

"Don't worry, Raf. I've done my homework, but let me know if I make a wrong turn," Neon responded politely with a light chuckle at the end. Pattern-recognition was a great talent to have on the road, allowing Neon to adapt remarkably well.

"So," he changed the subject after a moment of silence, "What's it like? Science on Earth, I mean."

Neon figured that discussing their mutual interests could help them become friends, and ultimately, that's what he hoped for. Raf seemed like a nice kid to him, even if they both weren't exactly social butterflies.

[Raf Esquivel]

He watched out the window as they rolled away from his house.

Raf thought about Neon’s question, trying to figure out an answer. It was sort of hard to put into words, because he really wasn’t used to any other kind of science. He had nothing other than Earth science to compare it to.

“It’s...” he paused, young face frowning as he thought of how to word it. “I like it. I like science, but a lot don’t really understand it."

He looked out the window again as they continued to move, watching the people on the sidewalks, walking along.

“Science is popular when it’s cool. Like when it does cool things for people. Like smartphones, or computer games. When it’s not cool, when it’s more boring, no one is really interested. And it seems like the more numbers involved, the more boring people find it.”

He paused again, thinking.

“There are a lot of sections to science. There’s medicine, and computer science, and things to do with DNA and RNA, and physics....each section has it’s own rules and things.”

Raf knew he had been asked to work with Neon on some things, basically tying together Cybertronian and Earth science and tech, to try and get more out of the things at Omega. He was more than willing to try, he just...

He was nervous.

Raf had been a loner for so long, he never really learned how to work with others on really important things. He was used to just going his own way, doing his own thing. He didn’t mind working with Ratchet, because he knew Ratchet. He had met Ratchet long before he had started trying to help. And it had taken a little while, but he had relaxed with Bee and knew he could be himself, that Bee didn’t think he was a nerd or lame or anything. If anything, Bee encouraged him to talk about the stuff he liked, and that atmosphere of knowing he was safe from being laughed at or avoided made it easy to work.

He didn’t know Neon. Raf knew he was probably a nice person, but he felt really awkward and strained being in the presence of an unknown Autobot without Bee there to give him that little safety net.

“Have you ever been to a Science Exhibit before?”

[Deleted]

Neon continued to make the drive as safe and comfortable as he could for Raf. Not particularly because he'd noticed any nervousness in the human child, but more so because safety and comfort were Neon's prerogative. He took pride in his softer side, something many Autobots forgot over their millennia-spanning conflict.

And with a similarly gentle tone, he answered Raf's question: "There wasn't much time for that on Cybertron when I was your age."

...In human terms, at least. Neon was no longer as child-like as Raf and he had a good few thousand years on the kid, but he was still quite young by Cybertronian standards.

"But I am a scientist—an engineer, actually. I helped develop some of the technology we Autobots use. I'd be happy to show you my inventions whenever you're at base."

An excited tone filled the last few words. Neon seemed interested in the prospect of having somebody else besides Patch to share all his tools, blueprints, and gadgets with...That is if Raf even liked that sort of science. He only knew that the kid was good with computers, which didn't necessarily mean he had an affinity for the more hardware-oriented engineering.

[Raf Esquivel]

Raf blinked at Neon.

“You...you made some of the technology they use? Really? Like what?”

Raf was almost instantly hooked. He’d never met someone who actually developed tech before ( they tended not to hang around with 12 year olds), and he could only imagine the tech Cybertronians use.

“Like holoforms? Or their scanning signals? I have so many questions about some of those things. Especially holoforms!”

Raf leaned back again in his seat, looking out the side window, but kept talking.

“Like, do you guys just think up what you want to look like, or is it made for you? Do you see a picture of a human, and copy it? Because that would be sort of dangerous, especially if you ran into the person you’re copying. And where is it actually located inside you? And how can it sometimes pick things up or move stuff?”

He looked back towards Neon, “Our technology must seem really primitive to you, huh?”

[Deleted]

Neon's holoform chuckled lightly. It seemed to have a rather significant and detailed range of expression, not at all distinguishable from a real, bona fide human. The hardware he used was truly a cut above your run-of-the-mill holo found in the cockpits of jets or on the backs of two-wheelers.

Which was a rather apt thing to ponder, as Raf began to inquire about all sorts of things. Neon—in his usual mild-mannered and open demeanor—responded with a great level of enthusiasm, though he could scarcely match Raf's.

"Whoa, that's a lot of questions. But I will do my best to answer. Let's see..."

As Neon's voice trailed off, his true metal body shifted lanes and stopped at a nearby traffic light. Jasper was not a large town, so for the most part, he and Raf were more or less alone on the street. This was not unusual, but for Neon, it was a new experience regardless. This and that he had to take responsibility for a human child.

But such thoughts were better left unattended, Neon reasoned to himself as he continued to answer Raf's burning inquires. 

"Holoforms are much older than I am, Raf. I know mine happens to look like a human adult, but that's just to comply with your laws. I'm actually quite young for a Cybertronian."

He explained calmly as the light turned from red to orange to green. Before anybody knew, they were on their way once more.

"My specialty happens to be defensive technology such as shielding—and coincidentally—I dabble in projecting holographic imagery and matter as well, but I'm afraid none of my inventions or contributions are as valuable as the holoforms."

Passing a blue truck, Neon briefly paused the conversation to mind the vehicle, slowing down at the same time. He knew human drivers could be careless sometimes, and it would not do him well to put Raf in harm's way. Once the large vehicle passed, he sped up again and resumed where he left off.

"As for your other questions...That really depends on who you ask. There are as many types of holoprojectors as there are Autobots. But for my part, the holoform I use is completely unique. It took a lot of time and effort to render...Get all the details right."

Neon seemed very proud of his human avatar. Clearly, he was not one for half-measures if he went to such lengths for a simple addition to his disguise.

“Our technology must seem really primitive to you, huh?”

"Well, it is a bit...limited, but nobody can really blame you for that. I try not to think about how humans do in terms of tech, you know? Even being one of the youngest Cybertronians alive, I'm still hundreds and thousands of your Earth years old...and so are Patch and Bumblebee. Time, technology. It all has a different meaning to us...Of course, to the Decepticons, that's just an excuse to bully other species."

Neon's enthusiasm dipped a bit at the sound of that question. He did his best to answer honestly, but it seemed quite apparent that he did not like the topic, nor did he think Cybertronians were particularly superior to humans simply by the virtue of living longer or having more advanced technology. If anything, that was an indication he had a good spark and that he had it in the right place...

…Still, it made him uneasy to remember just how common such elitist attitudes are among Cybertronians, especially Decepticons.