capitalh | +1 confused alien nerd

Who: Orion Pax and YOU.
Where: Around Los Angeles.
When: The same day that Megatron shows up.
What: A semi truck asks you for help.
Warnings: ???

There's no precedent for this, really. No explanation that brings this sudden transition any closer to making sense. He's never been anywhere that isn't Cybertron before, and organic based planets like this are something he's only read about in the archives.

Thankfully, he figures, he can at least peace something together in terms of appropriate interspecies diplomacy. Because while he's managed to scan an appropriately sized alt form, his last one wasn't the shape he was expecting at all. With this much going wrong, he's going to need help.

It's late afternoon when you'll have a chance at noticing the large red and blue semi truck that seems to be following you around town. It is, inherently, not very subtle. It drives slowly, pursuing you with an almost shy looking trepidation, rolling forward and then hesitating the moment you look at it.

It's sticking to less populated areas for now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh.

Well if that was the case, he should have just said so.

Di relaxes a little and gives the truck a small nod.

"This is the sound end of Vine Street in Los Angeles, California." Di wasn't exactly familiar with this place. It was a huge city and she was a person much more accustomed to villages than towns...packets of civilization like this was a first for her and given how she had only recently started to venture out it was still a bit overwhelming. The troll didn't think she was really the most qualified for helping a lost alien find their way home but damn would she try.

He's silent for a long few moments, his engine rumbling gently. Without an expression there isn't a lot to go off of in terms of what he's thinking, but when he speaks up again it's a little more clear.

"...In what solar system does this planet California reside?"

....oh wow. This guy was really lost. How exactly did that happen? Had he crash landed here?

"Sorry. I should have been more specific. The planet we are on is Earth."

"I see." He falls silent again. It's sort of awkward. He has a lot to think about, at the moment.

Extremely puzzling.

"I apologize for the intrusion. I do not know by what method I came to be here."

Well, talk about your predicament. The guy (well, she assumed he was one from his voice anyway) didn't even know how he got here. Di couldn't help but be a touch skeptical about that, but these days she was skeptical about most everyone she met.

So. What could she do exactly?

"Hm. Well. I don't know how much help I can be. I'm a stranger on this planet and a recent arrival myself but I'll do what I can. What do you remember?"

"I remember attending to my duties on my home planet of Cybertron," he says. Really, there was more to it than that - he'd been involved in some heavy business, so far as he can recall. But he feels at ill ease trying to explain him and Megatronus's goals in this circumstance.

"I have not traveled off planet before, and I can think of little reason to leave. Yet it would seem that I have recently crash landed here in part of an interstellar vessel."

"Well, I can't imagine what might have brought you here but I will warn that I don't know how well Cybertrons are received. I know that there is at least one other around the city but I couldn't tell you too much about them---simply that they got in a tussle with someone I know."

She didn't know if that would be welcoming information or not. She knew she would be wary about hearing of other adult trolls around here.

He doesn't seem put off, at least. If they are another of his kind, it seems worth at least trying to talk to them.

"I would not be surprised if the indigenous lifeforms of this planet were dubious of our intent, given Cybertron's historical penchant for conquest." He sounds faintly disapproving of that, falling silent for a moment, contemplative. "It would be in my best interest to contact them - I have reason to believe there are significant gaps in my memory."

It would be to Di's benefit to just move on or direct the Cybertron elsewhere. She didn't know a thing about his kind, knew little about this planet, and wasn't sure how trustworthy he was. Yet even now she couldn't help but be sympathetic. Her own situation was uncomfortable and upsetting enough as it was. She couldn't imagine having no memory and no one to guide you.

He sounded sincere enough, but given that would the only clue she really had to go off of, she wasn't sure how much she could trust her instinct.

"I could ask my acquaintance about the Cybertron they met. See if maybe their description is familiar to you--or at least give you a starting point for where to find them." She wanted to be careful about this. After all, given how Sollux's encounter had gone reuniting that particular robot with another might not be a good idea. Yet if her impressions of this one so far was right, he might also be a calming presence.

"Such a reference point could prove to be helpful," he says, rolling forward a little more. "Your assistance is most appreciated."

He falls silent for another few moments, contemplating his plan of action.

"Though it may require a means of communication. If I might ask for your name...?"

Di tensed and for a moment imagined him continuing to roll forward in her direction until she became nothing more than a green smear on the sidewalk.

She had never been the most technologically minded troll. It wasn't that she disliked technology--no, definitely not. She saw its usefulness, admired those who understood it, and had tried to do so herself but something about it always eluded her. Maybe she just preferred to keep her own life simple. Coming across what seemed like a machine that was as fully sentient as her just made it all the more boggling.

Di had fought creatures bigger than this guy before, and infinitely more hostile but somehow she felt more nervous in his presence than she had when fighting against the wild beasts of Alternia and highbloods.

"Magdal. And yours?"

"I am Orion Pax," he says, the entire exchange feeling very formal. Which continues to be super weird to hear coming from a semi truck, but okay. "I am fortunate to have met a being so kind, today."

The kind response then made her feel guilty over her previous thoughts. Imagining someone willingly crushing her simply because they were a machine was hardly open minded and accepting. Aside from the initial following her around (which, she could now to a degree understand) Orion had been nothing but polite to her.

"It's not problem. I don't know of how much help I'll be, but I'll do what I can. How could I get back in contact with you?"

He silently thinks that over for a little while. He's never had to do something like this before, but he knows the process in theory.

"If you have a local communication device, I should be able to instruct you in enabling it to contact me via the Cybertronian broadcast system. Any assistance you can offer, however small, could be vital to my journey home."

Di pulled out a small phone from her back pocket. It wasn't a particularly fancy one, but it would do the job.

"I have this." She stepped a little closer and held it out to....one of his lights? Where the hell was his face?

"I'm not very good with technology." She admitted sheepishly.

"Thank you," the truck says. "It will suffice."

He proceeds to walk her through a series of steps that involves allowing some kind of wifi connection, and then downloading some kind of alien software. The software itself seems foolproof, even if the process is a little confusing.

He is very patient.

Di listens attentively as Orion explains. While she can't understand how this all works, following instructions is simple enough and she does that to a T. Maybe she would look into actually figuring out how this stuff worked later, but for that she didn't want to confuse herself.

"..alright. I think I got it." She gave a small nod before pocketing the phone.

"I'll let you know as soon as I get any information."

+1 confused alien nerd

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