Nexus. Near the Park. New friendships and a blast from the past?

[lumina-mechnics.livejournal.com]

"Are you sure you're all right?" the little blond haired girl in his hand asked again. "You're shaking."

That, and his systems were still trying to calm down after the pure shock of finding that she had teleported back to the Nexus with him. The rest of her “friends” were hopefully still back in the very tourist-trappy suburb of Portland, Oregon where he had deposited them after the ‘Con chase. The ‘Cons had been a bit tricky to ward off, but luckily, back up had arrived before the poor, craven shuttle mechanic became Swiss cheese a la Decepticons or short-circuited from sheer fright. So much for a 'quiet, boring, and peaceful' patrol in the suburbs. Cowardliness: 1, Wisdom of Autobot High Command: 0.

But it had all worked out. He and the kids were still alive, and he brought them back to their parents before they could get too worried. They had been grateful enough, all things considering, but he had left before too long, hoping for a chance to sit and think by himself before reporting back in with Prime.

So you can imagine his fright at discovering that, not only had one of the kids caught up with him, but that she had hitched a ride with him back to the Nexus.

"Y-yes. P-perfectly f-fine," Random stammered as he continued walking through the Nexus. He currently had no idea what to do. He probably should return her back to her parents, but . . . There was just something holding him back.

Comments

[random_xtras]

"Oh no!" exclaims a soft voice from over behind a big couch. "Murphy, the door closed. Now we can't go back, and Random said that I'm supposed to be on that shuttle!"

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Rosemary is about to say something in the contrary when the young femmebot's plight catches her ears. "That doesn't sound good." She looks over Random's hand briefly before she looks at Random quizzically. "Wait. Is she talking about you?"

Random shakes the O_o expression off his face. That voice was too familiar. "In here, you never know," he replies simply. Especially considering he has a 'Con alter--No, don't think about it.

"Aren't you gonna help them?"

Random squirmed sheepishly. "I should probably get you back to your parents . . ."

"But they need help!"

Random sighed. He'd insist on dropping her off first and then helping them, but by this time, he has realized that while he can get back where he left, he hasn't ever been able to get back to the Nexus when he left. "All right. you've convinced me"--Rosemary beamed right up at him--"but you're going home right after that."

Random carried Rosemary over to where the young femme and her companion were. "Are you two needing any help?"

[random_xtras]

Big blue optics and a wide blue optic band stare up at him with surprise, and then the slender silver femme frowns slightly as she looks at Random's badge. "Um...."

[Who are you?] beeps the little black bot in her arms, seeming to puff up a bit despite having no fur. [And what is that?]

That, of course, is Rosemary.

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"Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you," Random says as reassuringly as he can, trying hard to push the nagging fragment of information telling him that the little femmebot is familiar somehow to the back of his mind. "I just want to help."

"He's an Autobot," Rosemary contributes helpfully. Then she indicates Murphy as he tries to interrogate them. "Hey, that one sounds kinda like R2-D2!"

Or Hormah when she 'deedlebeeps,' Random thinks to himself. He then addresses the little mech, "Sorry, mech, I didn't understand a thing you just said. Can you speak English or Cybertronian?"

[random_xtras]

Murphy stares at the blue mech, and then beeps and mewls a little more slowly before shaking his head and looking up to Kia.

"What does 'autobot' mean?" asks Kia softly. Then she looks down at her little friend before looking up again. "He asked who you are and what your friend is."

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Random shrugs sheepishly in response to the staring.

Rosemary does some of her own staring and then frowns, wondering why the young femme--who at least looked like a Transformer herself--didn't know that, leaving Random to answer the questions.

"In my reality, an "Autobot" is a Cybertronian--or "Transformer"--who allies himself with the principles of freedom, liberty, and peace as opposed to Decepticons who only want war, tyranny, and world conquest." Deciding that might just be complicating things, Random adds, "Autobots are the 'good guys' of the Cybertronian race.

"And I'm Random, and this is . . . Rosemary? Is that right?"--Random looks down at girl in question for verification--"Yes, Rosemary. She's what's called a 'human.' They're the dominant species on a organic planet called 'Earth.'"

[random_xtras]

"Random!" Those big optics flicker with surprise as Murphy whistles. "But.... I'm confused."

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"You're reality has a 'Random,' doesn't it," Random says more like a statement, rather than a question. "You and your friend have inadvertently stepped out of your reality, Ki--Miss. This place is called 'The Nexus': a place where hundreds of realities can meet and interact with each other."

[random_xtras]

The little femme nods uncertainly, hugging Murphy close. "And I think I just walked into his dream."

[I told him it wasn't a dream,] says the black Minicon as he rests his elbows on Kia's arm. [I wonder if we can find more of those energon goodies the Christmas elf gave him for you.]

Kia, meanwhile, is studying this other Random, her expression frightened but calm. "We're supposed to be on the shuttle, Murphy. Not buying energon goodies."

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"Your Random has been here before?" Random asks distractedly. This Random is having a really hard time keeping himself from wanting to comfort this new Kia and from thinking about the other ones he has met. For the former, he wasn't sure how she would react to him or what her relationship with this 'other Random' was, and for the latter, it was just too painful to think about.

"Hmm." Random taps the side of his leg with his free hand. "I think I might be able to point you guys in the right direction. Do you know what a PINpoint is?"

Rosemary continues to observe the conversation with more patience than one would expect from a seven year old. This was quite interesting, but she was hoping that she could ask Random some questions about what was going on.

[random_xtras]

"I... don't know. He said he walked out of the reality, and he brought some of these back." One slender hand pulls a cinnaSeeker out of storage and shows it to the blue bot. "Um. No, I don't."

Murphy turns his head to look at the cookie, and then flails slightly and covers his optic band and scent receptors.

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"Hey, that's like the cookie the 'Con guy Blitzwing had," Rosemary says.

>.<.;;; Why'd she have to bring him up?! He was trying to forget him. Or at least of the processor-breaking information he had provided. Oi.

"Yes, it is," Random says when he has regained himself. "They didn't have them back in my reality. Do they have those in yours?"

"A PINpoint is a teleporter that works between realities," Random says looking around. "Closer to the Sign at least they have areas where you can pick them up. I don't see any around here . . ."

Rosemary chuckles quietly at Murphy's antics.

[random_xtras]

"No." Kia stows the cookie and shyly cuddles Murphy, who peeks between his fingers and then drops his hands to pat pat her reassuringly. "My Random got them somewhere else, from a Christmas Elf."

Then she looks around as well, her delicate face screwed up in a frown.

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"Yeah, he probably landed up here--" Random cuts himself off as he double takes. "Wait, he got them from a what?"

"There are Christmas elves here?" Rosemary asks at about the same. "I thought they all lived with Santa in the North Pole!"

Random raises his optic ridge in a confused expression. He had heard of "Christmas" from Hormah, but he had no idea what the rest of that was.

Not seeing any type of dispensers here immediately, he looks around for the Sign. "I think they'll be some over by the Sign if you'll follow me . . ."

[random_xtras]

"Murphy says Christmas Elves live in their own reality, but that they visit other realities to give people the gifts the Greatest Creator wants them to have," says Kia. "He says he doesn't know about anybody named Santa, though. They're just tall people who look a little like grown up versions of Rosemary."

Then she looks at the earnestly beeping and mewing Minicon as she takes a step toward Random. "I did? Oh!"

Big blue optics look up at the mech and his passenger. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you who we are. This is Murphy, and I'm Kia. We're part of the Rebel Alliance."

The last being added because Murphy's being cuddled in front of her badge at present.

[lumina-mechnics.livejournal.com]

"'Greatest Creator'? Do you mean Heavenly Father?" Rosemary asks. "'Cause Santa usually helps him reward all the children who have been good during the year as a reminder of the Greatest Gift He gave to each of us." Yep, she comes from a family who have attempted to both let their kids have the fun of opening presents on Christmas morning, but also keep the religious aspect of the holiday intact. "But elves usually have pointier ears." Rosemary tucks some of her hair behind her ear as if illustrating the point.

That confirmed it. Why did the Nexus feel the need to keep throwing her alternates at him?

But Random manages to smile. "That's okay. Pleasure to met you, Kia, Murphy."

Something seemed to click in Rosemary's mind at something Kia said, and she frowns while she tries to figure it out. "'Rebel Alliance'?"

[random_xtras]

The little femme smiles shyly, then replies to Rosemary, "The Greatest Creator is the One that built everything, including Primus. And then Primus made bots like me and Random. Yes. You know, the Rebels." She lowers Murphy to show her badge.

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"Oh," Rosemary replies, sounding slightly awed.

Oh dear, Random thought. This was getting really deep into the religion thing. He just hoped they weren't going to ask him about it.

Luckily for Random, Rosemary gets distracted by the last.

"Oh! That's why that was familiar! It's from Star Wars!" Rosemary exclaimed. "But . . . all the robots in the movies were smaller. I'm confused."

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"Star Wars?" One small confused face looks back at the smaller confused face, then drops to Murphy's.

Murphy shakes his head and shrugs, beeping a bit.

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"Yeah, it's a series of movies set in a galaxy a long time ago, and it's about some people who are fighting against this evil galactic empire. And it's got ship fights, really cool robots, Jedi, Sith, and an Evil Emperor in it. . . . But nobody like you guys." Rosemary frowns for a moment and then looks up at Random.

"Realities of all types come here," Random explains to Rosemary. "I've met several Transformers who came from universes that were completely different from ours, with different tech and different people in charge. Like, in one universe, the Autobots are led by a mech named Ultra Magnus instead of Optimus Prime."

Rosemary raises an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah, that's what I think."

Rosemary frowns in thought then exclaims, "Oh! Kinda like the Blitzwing we met earlier?"

Random's optic ridge twitches at that. "Yeah, exactly like that. The one in our reality isn't . . . doesn't have that many faces. So it's more than possible that there are different types of these 'Star Wars' universes that have at some point included Transformers." No, he's not gonna think on that for very long if he can help it.

[random_xtras]

Kia's going o.0 now, but then it changes to a sad expression and she's cuddling Murphy again.

"I knew a Jedi," she says softly. "But he crossed over while he was fighting with Nemesis Prime."

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Now it's really hard for Random to resist going over and hugging her when he sees how sad she is.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Rosemary asks gently. ". . . Wait, who's Nemesis Prime?"

[random_xtras]

"No. Scavenger. And Nemesis Prime is Emperor Galvatron's general." Kia hides her face on Murphy's helm as he mewls and pat pats her.

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Rosemary's eyebrow pops up in surprise before understanding dawns. "Oh, okay, things are vastly different there. 'Nemesis Prime' is your guys's Darth Vader. . . . But Obi-Wan came back as a 'ghost' in the movies. Maybe you'll be able to see your friend again?"

Random currently had no idea what to say. Scavenger was a Constructicon in his reality, and he didn't know the other two names outside the Nexus but knew they would likely not be the same even if his reality did have those mechs. He also had no idea what Rosemary was talking about. And he had no idea what kind of relationship Kia's Random might have had with Kia, so he didn't want to go over to try to comfort her.

As useful as ever.

[random_xtras]

"...Maybe," sayd Kia, her face still lowered. "I'm new enough that I can sense other stuff that the older bots can't pick up with their scanners. But Scavenger would probably talk to Hot Shot first, because he was his student."