We are a literate, intermediate to advanced AU Transformers RPG Based off of the first season of TFP with dashes of other incarnations sprinkled here or there. Characters from any continuity are welcome however must be restyled to match the TFPrime universe.
Active, with ongoing plotlines, we are always willing to integrate new characters into storylines once incorporated into the setting.
It wouldn't do wonders for Rhinox's morale, it must be said, but there were other considerations at play here. Rhinox had made it clear to Rattrap long ago that he wouldn't try to protect him from the consequences of his more questionable decisions, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to nudge things on a less inevitable-rodent-lynching path.
"I'll work on it," he promised. "It likely won't stop entirely, but I think I can get him to dial it down." He smiled a little. "If nothing else, I can always pick him up by his ankles and shake him until bolts fly out."
Jazz smiled at that image. Rhinox's familiarity with Rattrap's behavior was comforting. "Why do I get the feeling that it wouldn't be the first time?"
"I haven't checked everywhere but did find a few in some of the quarters. That's the main problem I see. No one wants to be spied on while they're sleepin'. Or--" Jazz grinned. "--doin' anything else in their berth. Now I'm sure that's the 'good stuff', but if we can slow that slag down--" Jazz shrugged, the gesture eloquent with don't sweat the details.
Jazz curled his legs into a lotus position again, chin resting on his hands. "'magine other option is routine 'bug sweeps', but really...that'd let the turbocat out of the bag. Have to explain why I need 'em, and hey, if 'cons are getting in, why is that? Too many questions. 'n too much work. Yuck, work."
Rhinox chuckled. "Right. I'll try to fix it so you have to do as little work as possible."
He nodded to the camera in Jazz's hand. "It looks like you're already pretty good at finding those things, but if you like I can show you how I search for them. I know where all the ones he keeps in my quarters are." He shrugged easily. "I don't get up to anything I don't want him to see in there, and it keeps him happy to keep tabs on me."
It keeps him happy to keep tabs on me. Ah, that was a piece Jazz had been missing. Pervery was one thing, but he'd left his talk with Rattrap feeling like that wasn't the whole story. If Rattrap was using his spying as a backhanded way to keep an eye on those he cared about, though, that made more sense.
"Yeah," Jazz said, eyeing the camera idly. "I pick 'em up by optic, then by power signature, mostly. If you've got any other methods, though, yeah, I'd love to know. Don't have any real idea how many I've missed, y'know?"
He turned the camera in his hands around, admiring it again. "Gotta admit, it's a nice little design. Looks like he cobbles them together from bits and scraps. I can do somethin' similar, but not this well." He waved a claw vaguely. "No real engineering up here, just weldin' scrap together and seein' if it works."
Rhinox snickered. "Yeah, that's pretty much how he works. He comes up with some unorthodox solutions, which is fine when his builds don't blow up in his face."
"My methods are less about looking," he continued, "and more about knowing how Rattrap thinks. He likes to use his small size to his advantage, use any small crevice he can find. You have to turn your processor sideways a bit, but it can be managed." Especially, he suspected, for a mech like Jazz.
Jazz laughed. "Yeah, I noticed. He likes tucking them in seams and corners."
One had been tucked up in a rafter above Ironhide's berth, camouflaged as a rivet. Jazz had had to admire Rattrap's dedication on that one.
"Might nab him to help me hide the next round of security cameras."
Jazz looked at the camera thoughtfully. "Actually...I think these're better than what I've been cobbling together. Been trying to make my parts stash last longer by experimenting with the humans' tech, but I think Rattrap did a better job of it." He looked up at Rhinox, then held out the camera to him. "You think you could show me how to put this together? What parts it needs, and all? Then I could make more." He grinned. "Cross-training!"
<<Feel free to drift into techy talk and fade to black? >>
Rhinox took the camera from Jazz, turning it over gently in his large hands. It really was a good piece of work: no extraneous parts, low-power system, just as much memory as it needed. If there was one thing Rattrap knew how to build, it was cameras.
"Sure," he answered, grinning back, and showed Jazz the back end. "He actually machines the chassis out of whatever scrap's lying around. But if you open it up-" he popped the back piece off deftly - "it's all found components. The wiring, for instance..."