randomplaces | IDW Cutoff's 'verse. Autobot base on Earth. Walking With a Ghost.

Cutoff scowled when she caught a flash of white turning the corner up ahead, then paused as she heard the song that Jazz was playing. Distracted from thoughts of yelling at the Communications Officer, she instead leaned her shoulder against the wall and thought of the ghost that she walked with.

Her creator.

She couldn't even remember the bot's name anymore, only that he'd been about the same size and shape as she was, and that he was as hard to take as her too. That last memory wasn't pleasant, maybe she needed to remember the son of a glitch more often so that she could run her own brand of biotch instead of his.

No matter which way you go
No matter which way you stay
You're out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind

Still, even when she couldn't remember the scrapheap, she could remember what he'd said the day she came online.

"Hmm. Great, a defective spark. Well, I guess as long as it functions well enough to fight it's all good."

Cutoff's lip curled as she heard the words again in her mind, her hand clenching unconsciously as though on the irritating mech's main fuel line. But even being called defective hadn't galled her as much as what he'd said later, after she knew herself and had interacted with other races.

"Female? No you're not. Cybertronians don't have gender, and our preferred pronoun when we interact with organics is 'he'. Now knock it off before I see about some remedial reprogramming for you."

She hadn't 'knocked it off'. Thankfully the reprogramming had stopped being an option soon after that, but the older mech had never stopped abusing her desire to be female and his own firm belief that she was only a defective 'male'. Daily he'd drilled the pronoun choice into her, till finally one day she'd just left and never returned.

I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don't insist
I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don't insist

"Hey, man, you okay?"

Cutoff blinked, and then scowled at Jazz. "I'm not a man."

"Mech then. Sorry, Cutoff." The white and black mech frowned with concern. "Question still stands though."

Cutoff's scowl deepened. "No. But I will be."

As Jazz watched with confusion she turned and headed toward the repair bay, resolutely exorcising her ghost and casting him far away.

No matter which way you go
No matter which way you stay
You're out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind

Ratchet looked up as she entered, his usual cheerful grin appearing despite knowing that she'd probably just give him a verbal slap in the face as soon as she opened her mouth. "Hey, Cutoff! What do you need?"

She settled on a table and lay back, icy optics glaring at the ceiling. "I need something set straight. Make me female."

No matter which way you go
No matter which way you stay
You're out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind

I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don't insist
I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don't insist

No matter which way you go
No matter which way you stay
You're out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind

I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don't insist
I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don't insist

No matter which way you go
No matter which way you stay
You're out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind

I was walking with a ghost
I was walking with a ghost

Out of my mind, out of my mind
(I said please)
Out of my mind, out of my mind
(I said please)

You're out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind
Out of my mind, out of my mind

I was walking with a ghost
I was walking with a ghost
I was walking with a ghost
I was walking with a ghost
I was walking with a ghost
I was walking with a ghost

((Song copyright Tegan and Sara Quin))