Glances Into a Spark - Savior
Title: Glances Into a Spark - Savior
Fandom: Transformers
Characters/pairings: ensemble
Rating: PG
Summary: Oneshots about any and possibly all of the movie cast, and then some.
Warnings: language
Notes: Old writing, in it's mostly original format (very minor corrections may have been made)
Table of Contents
o o o
It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years.
John Von Neumann (ca. 1949)
o o o
Miles gave a slow stretch and tucked his arm beneath his head. To his left, his elbow lightly bumped Sam's shoulder, and the curve of a huge, metal, yellow head barely edged into his field of vision, and beneath their backs was a prickly scrub that only barely earned the name of 'grass' and over them all arched an aching blue expanse of Nevada sky. Lazily, the boy lifted his non-pillow hand and pointed at the sky above. "And that one looks like a bunny with a bazooka."
Sam snorted laughter. "A bunny missing a leg, maybe."
"He's a war-torn bunny," Miles replied easily. "Farmer John stole his lucky rabbit's foot years ago, and now they're locked in constant battle."
There was a whrr-kik as Bumblebee tipped his head to one side, processors working to puzzle out the picture Miles painted. "I don't think I'll ever understand the way the human imagination works," he said.
Miles shook his head sadly. Bumblebee could only 'see' shapes in the clouds after they were pointed out to him. Miles considered that fact tragic, but unsurprising. He didn't think his computer had a very good imagination, either. "'s cool, 'Bee," He said reassuringly. "We don't understand it, either."
Bumblebee sat up, and Miles watched him warily. The whole 'giant alien from Outer Space' thing was still new to him, and he wasn't -quite- sure he trusted Sam's new car-turned-companion, or Sam's girlfriend and -her- bike-turned-companion. And, okay, maybe he was a bit jealous. It was hard not to be, with giant intelligent robots like Bumblebee and Arcee and that big semi Miles had to meet before Sam would introduce him to Bumblebee running around.
As he was still absently gazing at the robot, Miles noticed when Bumblebee's head snapped around to stare at something. He also noticed when Bumblebee twisted and rolled up into a crouch, an insectile mask over his face, and his hand morphed into something that whooped and hummed and sounded like it was charging up towards something painful.
"Bumblebee?" Sam asked, and Miles found himself shocked to hear actual fear in his friend's voice. "'Bee, what is it?"
"I don't know, so stay back," Bumblebee replied tersely. He aimed his transformed hand at a copse of bushes some distance away. "Show yourself!"
It looked like a crab. A large white-black-green crab with too many legs. It slunk out of the bushes like a kicked dog, multiple legs ticking against desert-dead shrubbery. Two mantis-like claws hovered in front of the bulk of it's body, almost seeming to shield the things face. Gleaming, poison-green eyes peered at them from behind the upraised limbs, tracking between the humans and the upright Camaro.
Bumblebee said something to it in high, squabbling Cybertronian, short and sharp. The thing let out a much simpler electronic sound that sounded to Miles a lot like fear, and dropped, yanking in the multitude of arms and legs, and the boy realized the creature had turned into, of all things, an Xbox 360.
Sam sucked in his breath. "I think that thing's from Mission City," He said slowly. "When I dropped the Cube, there was a guy on the street with a 360." His eyes went wide. "Jesus, 'Bee, Mission City is on the other side of the state."
Bumblebee flipped his mask back with a short jerk of his head. "I don't like this," He said. "All of the Cube's other creations were insane. Why is this one different?"
Miles thought of Sam's wild story, about the cell phone and the car and the Mountain Dew machine brought to life with the Cube. "Maybe it's because it's got such a big brain," He suggested. "I mean, an Xbox has got a lot bigger processor than a cell phone."
Sam stared at his friend in disbelief, but Bumblebee looked thoughtful. "It's possible," He conceded. "Maybe they were not so much insane, but more like they completely lacked the mental capacity to control themselves."
"They shot at us because they were stupid?" Sam asked in disbelief.
The Xbox shifted, part of it's casing lifting up to let a single eye peer out at them. It made another noise, musical rapid-fire beeping, and Miles thought about old MIDIs from old games. Bumblebee listened to it, head cocked. "It's speaking hexadecimal," He said. "Its grammar is horrible." He beeped back at it, and the thing slowly unfolded again, rising up with visible caution, still beeping. "It remembers you from Mission City," Bumblebee continued, looking at Sam. "I think it thinks it belongs to you. It's like what we would call a drone, just barely sentient. How it found it's way here, I have no idea."
Sam blanched slightly. "What would I do with a mutant 360?" He muttered under his breath.
Miles peered at the thing. "Is it safe?" He asked curiously. Bumblebee shrugged, and Miles stepped around the robot's leg towards the thing.
"What are you doing?" Sam hissed. "That thing could be a Decepticon for all you know."
"It's fine, I know what I'm doing," Miles shot back over his shoulder. The Xbox sank lower as he approached, looking for all the world like one of the scared cats his mother often rescued from the streets. Miles crouched in front of it, hugging his knees. "Hey little guy," He said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt ya."
"Miles, I suggest you get away from it," Bumblebee warned. "Sam's right, it could be dangerous."
"It's scared," Miles said, keeping his tone soft still. "It's all alone and doesn't have anywhere to go. That right? You just want a friend, huh?" It rose up slightly, like a wary dog stretching his nose out to sniff an outstretched hand. "You need a home?" Miles continued. "I think 'Bee'll get jealous if Sam takes you home, but I don't have my own alien robot yet." He reached out slowly, and though it flinched back slightly, it let him rest his hand on the flat back behind it's eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me," Sam murmured.
"Nope, no joke," Miles said, his thumb tracing a comforting little circle on the tiny robot's back. "I can't go leaving a poor, defenseless Xbox to fend for itself, what would my mom say?"
The thing let out a happy little chitter and scrambled at Miles, knocking him back on his butt. Bemused, the teen watched it curl up into an Xbox again in his lap, buzzing faintly like an electronic cat's purr. Miles grinned over his shoulder at Bumblebee. "Hey ma, it followed me home, can I keep it?"
Bumblebee shrugged. "That's up to Optimus," He said, standing. "I've contacted him about it, he wants to meet it." The yellow robot shifted back into his own alternate form, popping open his doors in invitation. Casting one last wary glance at the Xbox, Sam climbed in the driver's seat. Carefully tucking the sentient console under his arm, Miles followed after his friend.
All of a sudden, he wasn't so jealous anymore.
Fandom: Transformers
Characters/pairings: ensemble
Rating: PG
Summary: Oneshots about any and possibly all of the movie cast, and then some.
Warnings: language
Notes: Old writing, in it's mostly original format (very minor corrections may have been made)
Table of Contents
o o o
It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years.
John Von Neumann (ca. 1949)
o o o
Miles gave a slow stretch and tucked his arm beneath his head. To his left, his elbow lightly bumped Sam's shoulder, and the curve of a huge, metal, yellow head barely edged into his field of vision, and beneath their backs was a prickly scrub that only barely earned the name of 'grass' and over them all arched an aching blue expanse of Nevada sky. Lazily, the boy lifted his non-pillow hand and pointed at the sky above. "And that one looks like a bunny with a bazooka."
Sam snorted laughter. "A bunny missing a leg, maybe."
"He's a war-torn bunny," Miles replied easily. "Farmer John stole his lucky rabbit's foot years ago, and now they're locked in constant battle."
There was a whrr-kik as Bumblebee tipped his head to one side, processors working to puzzle out the picture Miles painted. "I don't think I'll ever understand the way the human imagination works," he said.
Miles shook his head sadly. Bumblebee could only 'see' shapes in the clouds after they were pointed out to him. Miles considered that fact tragic, but unsurprising. He didn't think his computer had a very good imagination, either. "'s cool, 'Bee," He said reassuringly. "We don't understand it, either."
Bumblebee sat up, and Miles watched him warily. The whole 'giant alien from Outer Space' thing was still new to him, and he wasn't -quite- sure he trusted Sam's new car-turned-companion, or Sam's girlfriend and -her- bike-turned-companion. And, okay, maybe he was a bit jealous. It was hard not to be, with giant intelligent robots like Bumblebee and Arcee and that big semi Miles had to meet before Sam would introduce him to Bumblebee running around.
As he was still absently gazing at the robot, Miles noticed when Bumblebee's head snapped around to stare at something. He also noticed when Bumblebee twisted and rolled up into a crouch, an insectile mask over his face, and his hand morphed into something that whooped and hummed and sounded like it was charging up towards something painful.
"Bumblebee?" Sam asked, and Miles found himself shocked to hear actual fear in his friend's voice. "'Bee, what is it?"
"I don't know, so stay back," Bumblebee replied tersely. He aimed his transformed hand at a copse of bushes some distance away. "Show yourself!"
It looked like a crab. A large white-black-green crab with too many legs. It slunk out of the bushes like a kicked dog, multiple legs ticking against desert-dead shrubbery. Two mantis-like claws hovered in front of the bulk of it's body, almost seeming to shield the things face. Gleaming, poison-green eyes peered at them from behind the upraised limbs, tracking between the humans and the upright Camaro.
Bumblebee said something to it in high, squabbling Cybertronian, short and sharp. The thing let out a much simpler electronic sound that sounded to Miles a lot like fear, and dropped, yanking in the multitude of arms and legs, and the boy realized the creature had turned into, of all things, an Xbox 360.
Sam sucked in his breath. "I think that thing's from Mission City," He said slowly. "When I dropped the Cube, there was a guy on the street with a 360." His eyes went wide. "Jesus, 'Bee, Mission City is on the other side of the state."
Bumblebee flipped his mask back with a short jerk of his head. "I don't like this," He said. "All of the Cube's other creations were insane. Why is this one different?"
Miles thought of Sam's wild story, about the cell phone and the car and the Mountain Dew machine brought to life with the Cube. "Maybe it's because it's got such a big brain," He suggested. "I mean, an Xbox has got a lot bigger processor than a cell phone."
Sam stared at his friend in disbelief, but Bumblebee looked thoughtful. "It's possible," He conceded. "Maybe they were not so much insane, but more like they completely lacked the mental capacity to control themselves."
"They shot at us because they were stupid?" Sam asked in disbelief.
The Xbox shifted, part of it's casing lifting up to let a single eye peer out at them. It made another noise, musical rapid-fire beeping, and Miles thought about old MIDIs from old games. Bumblebee listened to it, head cocked. "It's speaking hexadecimal," He said. "Its grammar is horrible." He beeped back at it, and the thing slowly unfolded again, rising up with visible caution, still beeping. "It remembers you from Mission City," Bumblebee continued, looking at Sam. "I think it thinks it belongs to you. It's like what we would call a drone, just barely sentient. How it found it's way here, I have no idea."
Sam blanched slightly. "What would I do with a mutant 360?" He muttered under his breath.
Miles peered at the thing. "Is it safe?" He asked curiously. Bumblebee shrugged, and Miles stepped around the robot's leg towards the thing.
"What are you doing?" Sam hissed. "That thing could be a Decepticon for all you know."
"It's fine, I know what I'm doing," Miles shot back over his shoulder. The Xbox sank lower as he approached, looking for all the world like one of the scared cats his mother often rescued from the streets. Miles crouched in front of it, hugging his knees. "Hey little guy," He said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt ya."
"Miles, I suggest you get away from it," Bumblebee warned. "Sam's right, it could be dangerous."
"It's scared," Miles said, keeping his tone soft still. "It's all alone and doesn't have anywhere to go. That right? You just want a friend, huh?" It rose up slightly, like a wary dog stretching his nose out to sniff an outstretched hand. "You need a home?" Miles continued. "I think 'Bee'll get jealous if Sam takes you home, but I don't have my own alien robot yet." He reached out slowly, and though it flinched back slightly, it let him rest his hand on the flat back behind it's eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me," Sam murmured.
"Nope, no joke," Miles said, his thumb tracing a comforting little circle on the tiny robot's back. "I can't go leaving a poor, defenseless Xbox to fend for itself, what would my mom say?"
The thing let out a happy little chitter and scrambled at Miles, knocking him back on his butt. Bemused, the teen watched it curl up into an Xbox again in his lap, buzzing faintly like an electronic cat's purr. Miles grinned over his shoulder at Bumblebee. "Hey ma, it followed me home, can I keep it?"
Bumblebee shrugged. "That's up to Optimus," He said, standing. "I've contacted him about it, he wants to meet it." The yellow robot shifted back into his own alternate form, popping open his doors in invitation. Casting one last wary glance at the Xbox, Sam climbed in the driver's seat. Carefully tucking the sentient console under his arm, Miles followed after his friend.
All of a sudden, he wasn't so jealous anymore.