[Several minutes after he ends the call with his Optimus Prime, Megatron responds again. He writes and rewrites his text several times to eliminate anything confrontational]
There may have been several. I underestimate neither you or our would-be assassin.
...Do you know if your books say anything on the topic of if any plants are fireproof? It may be a good precaution for the future.
[he forwards a list of botany-related books, as he has a basic copy of the database stored in his own files. just a backup for if this exact situation was to happen and he had to start gathering replacements.]
It'll be in these ones, if any. I'll keep them aside when I come across them.
Do you know if that little creature got all four of us? Her drive is admirable.
Thank you. That will go a long way towards rebuilding the lab.
[A sudden and abrupt pause in Megatron's typing makes the three dots vanish for a moment after reading the words 'all four of us.' He hadn't been aware there was yet another counterpart of his running around this ship to account for]
...I couldn't say. I do not have his contact information, in order to have reached out to him before now. I shall search the crew database and return to you with an answer.
I also have some soil and pots you can have. I have no need of them any longer.
He's another one that's given it up. Defected to the Autobots in penance. Last I saw him we were both in the brig. Some nonsense with the bridge forced us back into the aggressive and indiscriminate homicidal rage phase, so we ended up fighting. It was extremely ridiculous.
As far as I'm aware he doesn't leave his room much. I'm sure getting a job and being a productive member of our little society would do him and Antlers wonders, but what do I know?
Those will be made quick use of, trust me. Anything to make up for what has been lost will be appreciated.
Where did you come across them? Do you also have an interest in gardening or horticulture?
[He writes that last part almost on autopilot, press release style coming naturally to him after all these years, although he is still curious enough to ask the follow up]
[There is then another pause as he reads the next parts of the message again and again. He vaguely recalls a similar event being discussed during the long monologue of a meeting with Optimus shortly after his arrival, but he didn't know it could induce fury like that. It troubles him. A lot]
Is there any way to prevent these situations? The murderous rampages, specifically. The explosions are difficult to predict, I know. Especially when the assassins in question are about as unassuming as I ever believe anyone to be.
[unwilling to go into specifics, megatron just gets a clipped:] It's complicated.
[like that does anything other than raise more questions. surely nothing sinister could involve some flowerpots?]
No. This one was specifically due to an Autobot scientist meddling with things he should not have been meddling with. Usually, there is a precursor event. When there wasn't, what happened was annoying but benign. It pushed us both back into that mindset, unwillingly. [the unspoken being that the problem only existed due to the megatrons being themselves. back into that mindset-- what megatron hasn't been on a millions of years long murderous rampage?] What could be done? What could be done in your own universe if you abandoned all sanity and decided to be a despot again? I suppose the one thing here is that there are many who match or outdo our firepower that would not hesitate to put us down, unlike the Prime.
[Megatron's face twists while he listens to his other speak, but doesn't reply. Not at first. There is a few moments of quiet while he absorbs what was said. An idea being complicated clearly wouldn't stop his counterpart from explaining it if it suited him, which only left the idea that it was personal. That left very few options, but he chose not to linger on those possibilities]
[It also wouldn't be the first time he'd been confronted by those who could and would put him down like a rabid turbofox if it came down to it, but it was still a sobering thought. He still had so much to do and he was hardly willing to die now, before he saw it through]
How did it end? You obviously survived, but I am surprised a ship full of autobots and people like our assassin stopped short of carrying out that task if they thought it necessary.
[he doesn't see fit to explain why he doesn't, or that he's being genuinely honest and cannot remember. maybe this megatron will accuse him of lying or of being unreliable and insane, but-- he can't remember. whatever the bridge did put him so far off balance all he does remember is wanting and needing to kill people and conquer the ship, and the memories of putting his decepticons offline for not being good enough. shooting optimus and ripping the matrix out his chest to put him offline for good. watching the perfect decepticons sweep over a battlefield and leave nothing behind.
where he's standing and sorting books in the library, he has to stop for a minute and vent out heavily. angry with himself for being weak on top of everything else.]
If I had to guess, Ultra Magnus intervened and had some knowledge of what was going on, as well as the fact that neither of us are particularly prone to attempting to kill each other. It wore off when we were dumped in the cells, anyway.
[There is no response for several long moments, as Megatron digests this, rolling it around with a slight frown where he still lays in the medibay while a medic and vehicon nurse hover around him like particularly efficient scavengers]
Understandable. It wouldn't be the first time my own memory has been effected in one way or another. You at least have a better excuse than over-reliance on a hypercognizance shell...
Convenient that it eventually wore off, although I could and would argue that being around that one long enough would knock anyone out of high emotion and into unconsciousness...
At least it worked. And it wasn't necessary for one of those others you mentioned to try and offline either of you. Then we wouldn't have been able to have these little chats.
[aware of what the shells are but having never used one himself (does anyone in reality ever make the mistake of presuming this megatron is thinking?), he grimaces slightly. yes, he can see how something designed to give you the most obnoxious amount of data possible all at once could possibly affect the memory. he doesn't doubt when megatron was using it he simply didn't believe that it would affect him. terrible habit, to delude oneself into being the strongest and therefore untouched by the mundane. more than once he's insisted he could walk off being impaled or flex a limb back into place.]
Convenient, yes. I don't believe the effects were permanent for anyone. Just a lovely little taste or a reminder of what we could be and once were.
[he switches from the comm inside his head to his physical comm, just so he can stop and squint down at that notion. a very prickly part of him is saying that this counterpart is playing a longer game, that he's manipulating far more competently than antlers ever would. falling for it is just further proof of his own idiocy.
yet... this particular piece of information is important. it could make any notions of violence or hostility pointless.]
If you are to be deactivated, the space bridge will spit you back out a few days later fully healed. It is exactly as unpleasant as it sounds.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: text
There may have been several. I underestimate neither you or our would-be assassin.
...Do you know if your books say anything on the topic of if any plants are fireproof? It may be a good precaution for the future.
Re: text
[he forwards a list of botany-related books, as he has a basic copy of the database stored in his own files. just a backup for if this exact situation was to happen and he had to start gathering replacements.]
It'll be in these ones, if any. I'll keep them aside when I come across them.
Do you know if that little creature got all four of us?
Her drive is admirable.
no subject
[A sudden and abrupt pause in Megatron's typing makes the three dots vanish for a moment after reading the words 'all four of us.' He hadn't been aware there was yet another counterpart of his running around this ship to account for]
...I couldn't say. I do not have his contact information, in order to have reached out to him before now. I shall search the crew database and return to you with an answer.
no subject
He's another one that's given it up.
Defected to the Autobots in penance.
Last I saw him we were both in the brig. Some nonsense with the bridge forced us back into the aggressive and indiscriminate homicidal rage phase, so we ended up fighting.
It was extremely ridiculous.
As far as I'm aware he doesn't leave his room much.
I'm sure getting a job and being a productive member of our little society would do him and Antlers wonders, but what do I know?
no subject
Where did you come across them? Do you also have an interest in gardening or horticulture?
[He writes that last part almost on autopilot, press release style coming naturally to him after all these years, although he is still curious enough to ask the follow up]
[There is then another pause as he reads the next parts of the message again and again. He vaguely recalls a similar event being discussed during the long monologue of a meeting with Optimus shortly after his arrival, but he didn't know it could induce fury like that. It troubles him. A lot]
Is there any way to prevent these situations? The murderous rampages, specifically. The explosions are difficult to predict, I know. Especially when the assassins in question are about as unassuming as I ever believe anyone to be.
no subject
[like that does anything other than raise more questions. surely nothing sinister could involve some flowerpots?]
No. This one was specifically due to an Autobot scientist meddling with things he should not have been meddling with.
Usually, there is a precursor event. When there wasn't, what happened was annoying but benign.
It pushed us both back into that mindset, unwillingly. [the unspoken being that the problem only existed due to the megatrons being themselves. back into that mindset-- what megatron hasn't been on a millions of years long murderous rampage?] What could be done? What could be done in your own universe if you abandoned all sanity and decided to be a despot again?
I suppose the one thing here is that there are many who match or outdo our firepower that would not hesitate to put us down, unlike the Prime.
no subject
[It also wouldn't be the first time he'd been confronted by those who could and would put him down like a rabid turbofox if it came down to it, but it was still a sobering thought. He still had so much to do and he was hardly willing to die now, before he saw it through]
How did it end? You obviously survived, but I am surprised a ship full of autobots and people like our assassin stopped short of carrying out that task if they thought it necessary.
no subject
[he doesn't see fit to explain why he doesn't, or that he's being genuinely honest and cannot remember. maybe this megatron will accuse him of lying or of being unreliable and insane, but-- he can't remember. whatever the bridge did put him so far off balance all he does remember is wanting and needing to kill people and conquer the ship, and the memories of putting his decepticons offline for not being good enough. shooting optimus and ripping the matrix out his chest to put him offline for good. watching the perfect decepticons sweep over a battlefield and leave nothing behind.
where he's standing and sorting books in the library, he has to stop for a minute and vent out heavily. angry with himself for being weak on top of everything else.]
If I had to guess, Ultra Magnus intervened and had some knowledge of what was going on, as well as the fact that neither of us are particularly prone to attempting to kill each other.
It wore off when we were dumped in the cells, anyway.
no subject
Understandable. It wouldn't be the first time my own memory has been effected in one way or another. You at least have a better excuse than over-reliance on a hypercognizance shell...
Convenient that it eventually wore off, although I could and would argue that being around that one long enough would knock anyone
out of high emotion and into unconsciousness...
At least it worked. And it wasn't necessary for one of those others you mentioned to try and offline either of you. Then we wouldn't have been able to have these little chats.
no subject
Convenient, yes. I don't believe the effects were permanent for anyone.
Just a lovely little taste or a reminder of what we could be and once were.
[he switches from the comm inside his head to his physical comm, just so he can stop and squint down at that notion. a very prickly part of him is saying that this counterpart is playing a longer game, that he's manipulating far more competently than antlers ever would. falling for it is just further proof of his own idiocy.
yet... this particular piece of information is important. it could make any notions of violence or hostility pointless.]
If you are to be deactivated, the space bridge will spit you back out a few days later fully healed.
It is exactly as unpleasant as it sounds.