3rd Transmission - Action

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Hello Vertiline. And how are you this fine morning? Hopefully you're not doing anything that requires your being behind the forge.

But if you are, you'll probably notice a massive black robot loading a lot of oddly glowing cubes into his arms. Along with a small collection of nails and such, pilfered from the forge itself.

His armor is battered, and pitted with holes -- the largest being on his chest. This accomplished, he proceeds to stalk back off toward his pod, the cubes carried very carefully. Every motion makes his joints creak. Once he arrives at the pod, he unceremoniously dumps the cubes inside, before stepping back out again.

Ironhide, at the end of this errand, can be found hunkered down in front of his pod, drinking out of one of the cubes, and thoughtfully watching the sunrise. Occasionally, he chews on one of the nails.

Approach?]

Comments

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Ironhide grumbles something and waves a hand. No actual harm was done, anyway. He can't really complain.]

Just use rope.

[brittlenerves.livejournal.com]

[Xanth nods quickly. There's somewhere around here he could get rope, surely, and if he could pay them back with work, even better! Something to do and a way to leash his capybara all at once.

With the beast reined in, Xanth takes more notice of Ironhide's condition.]

A-Are you... um... you-- y-you know, uh... [he gestures to the huge freakin' hole in Ironhide's chest] o--okay?

[heavyweaponsbot]

Good. Make certain it happens.

[He blinks. For a moment, he appears confused as to what exactly Xanth is talking about. He's not leaking, unless he spilled some of the cube...

Then he glances down, at where the boy is gesturing. Oh.]

Hmn. Been better. Stopped hurting days ago, though.

[brittlenerves.livejournal.com]

D-Did it... was, uh, w--was it th...the m--mice?

[heavyweaponsbot]

No. Happened before I got here. We were engaged with our enemies.

[brittlenerves.livejournal.com]

A-And they... th-they just... t-took you r--right th-then?

[Xanth would be glad to be taken while "engaged with enemies", but he gets the feeling Ironhide is talking about something completely different.]

[heavyweaponsbot]

Yeah. Right then. Missile detonated, and I was here.

[He was literally in the process of running away from a giant explosion when he was called here.]

[brittlenerves.livejournal.com]

[What's a missile?

But even though Xanth has no clue what it is, that sounds like a very, very bad time to get picked up.]

I. I-I--

I'm--

I-I'm s--s-sorry.

[Not in an it's-his-fault way. More like a you-have-my-condolences way.]

[heavyweaponsbot]

... Why are you sorry?

[This does not compute. At all.]

[brittlenerves.livejournal.com]

[OH COME ON]

B--Because-- uh--

[Talking with Ironhide is really, really hard. He doesn't get these little social things that everyone else does. Those nuances are lost, and then so is Xanth.]

It, i-it's just, n-not-- not l-like, um, like th-that, I-I just. I-It, it's. A-A fff.

F-Figure of... s-speech?