Coherent. Stuff. Headspace why you throw curveballs at me. Also. Blaster. Stop being a rare pokemon.
Just some short drabbles from Coherent about my ninjabots. And some world building. These may get incorporated into later chapters (if I ever get round to write more chapters...) or I'll leave them to stand alone and just write around them.
1. First meetings
The ninjabot couldn’t help himself, he chuckled quietly.
That didn’t improve Prowl’s disposition the slightest. His pride sub-routines had undergone significant development earlier in the orn and he was putting them through their paces. He glowered from his undignified sprawl on the dojo mats before climbing slowly to his feet.
“Hey,” Vibes called down, once he calmed himself. “I can show what you are doing wrong.”
Prowl’s frame stiffened and he turned away. “…You are laughing at me. Why should I want your help?”
The ninjabot sobered before offering a slightly apologetic smile. “Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you. I can remember being in that exact position a few thousand vorns ago. I was laughing at myself.”
The new spark hesitated for a moment then gave a rough jerk in acknowledgement. Vibes just about glided down to the mats before offering a servo. “M’name’s Vibes,” the ninjabot said somewhat lazily.
The XD95525 froze for a moment. “You’re the one who hit me,” he accused, ignoring the proffered servo.
The ninjabot gave him an apologetic smile. “Yeah. Really sorry about that, wasn’t exactly expecting the dojo door to suddenly open. It was quite a shock.” In more ways than one. The young mech’s appearance hadn’t startled Vibes; it was the painfully familiar spark signal on his scanners that had disconcerted him.
Prowl carefully considered his sincerity before deciding to accept it. He took the offered hand and pulled himself up. “Prowl,” he answered and when Vibes’ EM field brushed against his, he didn’t immediately tense the way he did to every other mechs’ field, aside from Yoketron and Immobilizer. Prowl’s optics widened, then he relaxed.
It had been a good decision to come back here.
Unbeknownst to him, Vibes did not share the same certainty. The ninjabot felt the pulse of a spark that he recognized almost as well as his own and wondered what they were getting into.
This could not possibly end well.
What could Yoketron possibly hope to achieve by this?
2. Heritage and Lockdown
There was something in the way Vibes held himself, the way his mind suddenly went quiet in their grid and his field went flat that tipped Prowl off. He turned a questioning gaze onto Lockdown and saw the bounty hunter was similarly still.
“You’ve met a kindled mech?” he asked eagerly.
Lockdown folded his arms across his chest. “Maybe,” he answered noncommittally. He was very determined to not look at Vibes.
“What was he like?” the young mech pressed on. “Would he-would his spark be naturally more in tune for processor over matter?”
“What the slag sort of stupid question is that, half-bit?” Lockdown grunted. “Have you been reading those ridiculous cyber-ninja drama stories on the infonet again?”
Prowl deflated and a hint of chagrin entered his field. “Maybe,” he hedged. So look, he might have got bored one orn. And curious. And he’d had a lot of spare time in his servos and one thing had led to the other…
The two ninjabots stopped and stared at him like he’d suddenly spouted another head. “You are actually filling your processor with such slag?” the bounty hunter smirked. “I can’t believe you read that stuff. And believed it. Seriously, how gullible can you get?”
“Just answer the question, please,” Prowl snapped in embarrassment.
“A kindled mech’s no different from an Allspark called mech,” Vibes spoke up quietly. “It doesn’t matter the way a mech is brought into the world, it is our experiences that make us unique.”
The bounty hunter scoffed at this. Typical whimsical cyber-ninja slag. “They are just as annoying as any other mech,” Lockdown growled dismissively.
Prowl picked up at that. “This kindled mech that you know-”
“-Was a pain in the aft. And had no more affinity for processor over matter than the rest of us. Why are you focused on this half-bit?”
Prowl stopped walking suddenly, folding his arms and glaring at his two mentors. Vibes paused but Lockdown continued on, unbothered that he was leaving his companions behind. If Prowl was going to be an uppity half-bit, good on him. Lockdown didn’t care. The young mech scowled at his retreating back once he realized he was being left bhind, then picked up his pace again.
“I just thought it was interesting that we’ve stopped kindling mechs just about everywhere. And now we rely on the Allspark completely. I was wondering if there is a perceivable difference between mechs created in different ways.”
“That fancy scientist has been talking to you again, hasn’t he?” The bounty hunter asked, pushing his way forward through the crowds of Praxus. “Tell him to mind his own business, brat. Forget about all the nonsense he spouts about your super special pre-set frequencies techno babble. It ain’t gonna lead him anywhere. Let the dead keep their secrets. The Allspark works in mysterious ways, just leave things at that.”
Prowl fell back with a frown as he considered Lockdown’s words. Fuse-Link had been long invested in monitoring his development and progress. And he knew the scientist was deeply curious about the memories imprinted on his spark. But Lockdown...Lockdown was right, why should they bother what was long gone? It wasn’t important to anyone but Fuse-Link but it would be Prowl who would have to bear the memories if they uncovered them. And that was something he wasn't not prepared to do.
Still. There were some things that he was curious about and Lockdown hadn’t answered his question! “This kindled mech that you know…”
Vibes couldn’t help it anymore, he started laughing quietly. Prowl paused and glanced between them. “I just want to know,” he protested.
Lockdown's engine rumbled in annoyance. "Fragging new programming and its accursed ability to get fixated on the stupidest things-"
“New spark,” Vibes said warmly, flicking Prowl’s helm. “We were brought online by the Quintessons. You know this.”
The young mech stopped. He gaped at them. “Oh.”
Lockdown began to leave them behind again. “Yes, oh. Idiot.”
“You were kindled. Yoketron was kindled.”
“If the next words out of your vocaliser is; ‘that’s why you are so good at processor over matter’, I will hurt you.” Lockdown’s tone made it clear he was deadly serious about this.
Sensing that he had reached the limits of the bounty hunter’s tolerance, Prowl fell quiet. He followed the two ninjabots as they made their way to Yoketron’s dojo. When they were a few blocks away, Lockdown came to a halt. It would seem this orn he had no intentions of coming any closer to his old master. It was not his way to say goodbye and Vibes and Prowl were long accustomed to it. Lockdown began to make his way back to the spaceport without another word when he felt the suddenly change in Vibe’s field. He froze and turned back to them.
“You know,” the red ninjabot spoke smoothly to Prowl, “There is a kindled mech that Lockdown and I are quite familiar that wasn’t brought online by the Quintessons. In fact…we got to see his entire creation process through. It was very fascinating.”
“Vibes,” Lockdown growled in warning.
The ninjabot shot him a look of pure smugness and directed Prowl away the bounty hunter. Lockdown took a hesitant step after them, torn between his desire to leave immediately and his pressing desire to shut Vibes up. “Really?” the young mech asked curiously.
“Why yes. We were intimately involved in the whole thing, if you will.”
Prowl’s optics were enormous. “Whoa. Really? Did you go all the way and split him?”
Vibes laughed quietly. “I'm afraid not. I was one of the donors but other mechs contributed to his creation, Dai Atlas, Devcon…Yoketron even. But of course, Lockdown here gave quite a lot.”
The new spark craned his head around but the bounty hunter had stormed off away from them in the crowds. He’d put quite a fair bit of distance between them and there was no catching up to him now to ask all the questions bouncing around his processor, as Lockdown would definitely vanish on him if Prowl pursued him.
“What was his name? The mech you created.”
“His name? His name is Deadlock.”
END
Timeline
A/N: Was toying about with Cybertronian reproduction and stuff and refining my ideas about this verse. I have some sort of weird fusion between kindling and budding, which I've somewhat modified into something I call splitting. And my cyber-ninjas all agreed that there had been some kindling going on in the ranks and then some came forward and boldly declared themselves to me.
Also Megatron gave Drift the name Deadlock. I was toying around whether to go with this, but headspace!Lockdown finally, finally woke up and grumbled something along the lines of, no supposed-progeny of his would have such a whimsical name. And then I was all stupidly delighted over the similarity between their names and stuff.
Hopefully Lockdown will keep talking to me so I can finally write out his meeting with Prowl.
Table of contents
1. First meetings
The ninjabot couldn’t help himself, he chuckled quietly.
That didn’t improve Prowl’s disposition the slightest. His pride sub-routines had undergone significant development earlier in the orn and he was putting them through their paces. He glowered from his undignified sprawl on the dojo mats before climbing slowly to his feet.
“Hey,” Vibes called down, once he calmed himself. “I can show what you are doing wrong.”
Prowl’s frame stiffened and he turned away. “…You are laughing at me. Why should I want your help?”
The ninjabot sobered before offering a slightly apologetic smile. “Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you. I can remember being in that exact position a few thousand vorns ago. I was laughing at myself.”
The new spark hesitated for a moment then gave a rough jerk in acknowledgement. Vibes just about glided down to the mats before offering a servo. “M’name’s Vibes,” the ninjabot said somewhat lazily.
The XD95525 froze for a moment. “You’re the one who hit me,” he accused, ignoring the proffered servo.
The ninjabot gave him an apologetic smile. “Yeah. Really sorry about that, wasn’t exactly expecting the dojo door to suddenly open. It was quite a shock.” In more ways than one. The young mech’s appearance hadn’t startled Vibes; it was the painfully familiar spark signal on his scanners that had disconcerted him.
Prowl carefully considered his sincerity before deciding to accept it. He took the offered hand and pulled himself up. “Prowl,” he answered and when Vibes’ EM field brushed against his, he didn’t immediately tense the way he did to every other mechs’ field, aside from Yoketron and Immobilizer. Prowl’s optics widened, then he relaxed.
It had been a good decision to come back here.
Unbeknownst to him, Vibes did not share the same certainty. The ninjabot felt the pulse of a spark that he recognized almost as well as his own and wondered what they were getting into.
This could not possibly end well.
What could Yoketron possibly hope to achieve by this?
2. Heritage and Lockdown
There was something in the way Vibes held himself, the way his mind suddenly went quiet in their grid and his field went flat that tipped Prowl off. He turned a questioning gaze onto Lockdown and saw the bounty hunter was similarly still.
“You’ve met a kindled mech?” he asked eagerly.
Lockdown folded his arms across his chest. “Maybe,” he answered noncommittally. He was very determined to not look at Vibes.
“What was he like?” the young mech pressed on. “Would he-would his spark be naturally more in tune for processor over matter?”
“What the slag sort of stupid question is that, half-bit?” Lockdown grunted. “Have you been reading those ridiculous cyber-ninja drama stories on the infonet again?”
Prowl deflated and a hint of chagrin entered his field. “Maybe,” he hedged. So look, he might have got bored one orn. And curious. And he’d had a lot of spare time in his servos and one thing had led to the other…
The two ninjabots stopped and stared at him like he’d suddenly spouted another head. “You are actually filling your processor with such slag?” the bounty hunter smirked. “I can’t believe you read that stuff. And believed it. Seriously, how gullible can you get?”
“Just answer the question, please,” Prowl snapped in embarrassment.
“A kindled mech’s no different from an Allspark called mech,” Vibes spoke up quietly. “It doesn’t matter the way a mech is brought into the world, it is our experiences that make us unique.”
The bounty hunter scoffed at this. Typical whimsical cyber-ninja slag. “They are just as annoying as any other mech,” Lockdown growled dismissively.
Prowl picked up at that. “This kindled mech that you know-”
“-Was a pain in the aft. And had no more affinity for processor over matter than the rest of us. Why are you focused on this half-bit?”
Prowl stopped walking suddenly, folding his arms and glaring at his two mentors. Vibes paused but Lockdown continued on, unbothered that he was leaving his companions behind. If Prowl was going to be an uppity half-bit, good on him. Lockdown didn’t care. The young mech scowled at his retreating back once he realized he was being left bhind, then picked up his pace again.
“I just thought it was interesting that we’ve stopped kindling mechs just about everywhere. And now we rely on the Allspark completely. I was wondering if there is a perceivable difference between mechs created in different ways.”
“That fancy scientist has been talking to you again, hasn’t he?” The bounty hunter asked, pushing his way forward through the crowds of Praxus. “Tell him to mind his own business, brat. Forget about all the nonsense he spouts about your super special pre-set frequencies techno babble. It ain’t gonna lead him anywhere. Let the dead keep their secrets. The Allspark works in mysterious ways, just leave things at that.”
Prowl fell back with a frown as he considered Lockdown’s words. Fuse-Link had been long invested in monitoring his development and progress. And he knew the scientist was deeply curious about the memories imprinted on his spark. But Lockdown...Lockdown was right, why should they bother what was long gone? It wasn’t important to anyone but Fuse-Link but it would be Prowl who would have to bear the memories if they uncovered them. And that was something he wasn't not prepared to do.
Still. There were some things that he was curious about and Lockdown hadn’t answered his question! “This kindled mech that you know…”
Vibes couldn’t help it anymore, he started laughing quietly. Prowl paused and glanced between them. “I just want to know,” he protested.
Lockdown's engine rumbled in annoyance. "Fragging new programming and its accursed ability to get fixated on the stupidest things-"
“New spark,” Vibes said warmly, flicking Prowl’s helm. “We were brought online by the Quintessons. You know this.”
The young mech stopped. He gaped at them. “Oh.”
Lockdown began to leave them behind again. “Yes, oh. Idiot.”
“You were kindled. Yoketron was kindled.”
“If the next words out of your vocaliser is; ‘that’s why you are so good at processor over matter’, I will hurt you.” Lockdown’s tone made it clear he was deadly serious about this.
Sensing that he had reached the limits of the bounty hunter’s tolerance, Prowl fell quiet. He followed the two ninjabots as they made their way to Yoketron’s dojo. When they were a few blocks away, Lockdown came to a halt. It would seem this orn he had no intentions of coming any closer to his old master. It was not his way to say goodbye and Vibes and Prowl were long accustomed to it. Lockdown began to make his way back to the spaceport without another word when he felt the suddenly change in Vibe’s field. He froze and turned back to them.
“You know,” the red ninjabot spoke smoothly to Prowl, “There is a kindled mech that Lockdown and I are quite familiar that wasn’t brought online by the Quintessons. In fact…we got to see his entire creation process through. It was very fascinating.”
“Vibes,” Lockdown growled in warning.
The ninjabot shot him a look of pure smugness and directed Prowl away the bounty hunter. Lockdown took a hesitant step after them, torn between his desire to leave immediately and his pressing desire to shut Vibes up. “Really?” the young mech asked curiously.
“Why yes. We were intimately involved in the whole thing, if you will.”
Prowl’s optics were enormous. “Whoa. Really? Did you go all the way and split him?”
Vibes laughed quietly. “I'm afraid not. I was one of the donors but other mechs contributed to his creation, Dai Atlas, Devcon…Yoketron even. But of course, Lockdown here gave quite a lot.”
The new spark craned his head around but the bounty hunter had stormed off away from them in the crowds. He’d put quite a fair bit of distance between them and there was no catching up to him now to ask all the questions bouncing around his processor, as Lockdown would definitely vanish on him if Prowl pursued him.
“What was his name? The mech you created.”
“His name? His name is Deadlock.”
END
Timeline
A/N: Was toying about with Cybertronian reproduction and stuff and refining my ideas about this verse. I have some sort of weird fusion between kindling and budding, which I've somewhat modified into something I call splitting. And my cyber-ninjas all agreed that there had been some kindling going on in the ranks and then some came forward and boldly declared themselves to me.
Also Megatron gave Drift the name Deadlock. I was toying around whether to go with this, but headspace!Lockdown finally, finally woke up and grumbled something along the lines of, no supposed-progeny of his would have such a whimsical name. And then I was all stupidly delighted over the similarity between their names and stuff.
Hopefully Lockdown will keep talking to me so I can finally write out his meeting with Prowl.
Table of contents