FALLING -- chapter 1 (a TF D&D fic)
Hey folks! My spouse and I have been playing a Transformers D&D campaign recently and it's been soooo much fun! I thought I would do a little written account/fic of the story as we went along. It started with me just making notes of what had happened in the sessions, and then I thought I might use it as a bit of a writing exercise, and well... I made a sideblog, and here it is! I do not claim that this is any good, and while I'm proud of myself for even writing this much (I haven't done so in a loooong time), it still feels off and I may do another draft or two. I do intend to post more chapters (and have bits and pieces already finished), so if you find it interesting, there will hopefully be more to come!
SYNOPSIS: A newly forged Cybertronian comes online for the first time and finds themselves in for a rocky start to their new life.
WARNINGS: sleep paralysis (no shadow demons tho), anxiety/panic attacks, loss/lack of senses
Forgive me if I don’t tag something correctly! I’m new to this. Just shoot me a message and I’ll tag it/put it in the warnings!
Story (and a notes section just as long lmao) below the cut.
CHAPTER ONE -- you are here!
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER ONE.
At first, there was nothing. A vague existence floating somewhere, devoid of light, devoid of sound, devoid of cognizance.
And then, something.
"Hello?"
It was a funny thing, processing consciousness for the first time. To become something out of nothing... to perceive. Senses were new, but somehow already familiar -- everything was, actually. They had never existed before, and yet, in a way, they already had. They knew things despite never having learned them. They understood language but had never communicated. They had never heard-
"Hello?" it echoed. "Can you hear me?"
Wait, no, they had heard! Someone had been trying to talk to them. They tried to respond, but something was wrong; awareness was rapidly filling them, but control was not. They put all of their willpower into doing something, anything, any kind of movement or sound or something they could do to show that they were here, they were trying. But their efforts seemed to go to waste as they strained against whatever unseen force was keeping them from-
"-coming online," the voice said. "Their vitals are steady, the scans show activity in the brain module, but they're not responding. Maybe..."
They felt something, heard noises -- shifting metal... someone was opening their chest panel! Something important was in there, something that needed protecting. Processors kicked up and their fans whirred as their panic began to intensify. If they could just move they could-
"Hey Wing? I think we should take them to an examination room."
And then they were moving, or being moved, rather; they still could not access their frame, though they could sense that whatever it was they were laying on was being propelled forward. Their ride pulled to a stop and they heard the voice again, and then a few different ones. One of them was louder than the rest -- they must have been right next to them. "Hmm. You're right about it being strange, Lightbright. It is not supposed to be that color, but otherwise, I can't identify anything wrong with it." They felt pressure on their neck, and an uncomfortable sensation as if someone were fiddling around inside of it. Another unfamiliar voice said, "Their voice-box seems to be in working condition as well. There's nothing physically stopping them from speaking."
At this, their distress grew. If it wasn't physical, then what was wrong with them? Was it all in their head? And why was it so damn loud... The noise in the room had picked up significantly: the last two speakers began bouncing ideas off of each other, things were whoosh-ing and click-ing and clang-ing around them, and the sound of their own systems going into overdrive had mingled with the anxiety of being unable to communicate, and it sent them reeling.
Then something grabbed their hand. It startled them at first, to have another sensation join the fray, but what held them was warm and... and solid. The world slowed down some as their mind focused in on the touch, and for the first time it felt like they were grounded by something -- a small tether wrapped around their finger. Their fans quieted a smidge.
>Can you hear me?<
This time they felt it. It was the voice -- the one that had first spoken to them -- but rather than hearing it projected through the void with all of the other noise, it seemed to come through the tether. It was strong and direct, yet somehow still soft and unabrasive.
A thought struck them. Maybe, if they followed the link to its source... They concentrated on their fingers, sending a short, simple message: >Yes.<
For a moment, they thought they had failed to get through. But after a brief pause, they received a reply. >Are you in any pain?<
They hesitated. They were scared, and everything had gotten pretty overwhelming for a bit, but they were in no physical pain, so they decided to answer: >No.<
>Do you have a name?<
This one tripped them up. They scoured their data banks, searching for answer, but found none that were theirs. There was a nagging feeling that they should have one, but if they did, it was inaccessible at the moment... just like everything else.
Alarm shot through them as the tether moved, and they were afraid that it was going to disconnect and leave them alone again. It was still there, just slightly more distant, and they reluctantly let their focus drift further from their anchoring hand to see what might be going on. Had someone else entered? There seemed to be more voices now, though it was difficult to make out what they were saying. It was like everything was slowly becoming a wall of static, but a voice once again asked, barely audible -
"What is your name?"
Did... that come through the tether? It sure didn't feel like it, but it also didn't sound like it was coming from through their audial receptors. It wasn't the one who had linked with them, nor did it seem to be any of the other voices they had heard prior; perhaps it was one of the new arrivals? That didn't seem right either. Did it even matter? They didn't know how to respond anyway. Their processor ached -- so many things were happening around them, yet they still had no answers. By this point, they were running on empty and all they wanted to do was rest. Instead, the static only grew louder.
"Do you have a name?"
The question thundered around them, jolting them awake with a force that threatened to shatter their whole being. The breath had been knocked out of them -- or had they screamed? Their frame throbbed and strained against itself, and their head felt like it would burst at any moment. "Do you have a name?" echoed around the void until an answer was forced out of them, and they roared-
"NO!"
And then, there was nothing again. No sounds, no feelings, no tether, no thoughts. Just... nothing.
"Good."
The only thing in that existed in that moment was that voice.
"Then I shall grant you one," it said. "Are you ready to receive your name?”
“...Yes," they replied. They were barely aware that they had.
"Then from now on, you will be Requiem Fall... of Grand Mal."
Something finally clicked inside them. An identity was being etched into their spark, and it fluttered.
"Now... open your eyes."
With a sharp intake through their vents, they felt their frame fall to hit the berth beneath them. Requiem's optics were open, and they realized that someone was standing over them -- a white mech with red accenting -- peering down with concern. Aside from a couple of beeping monitors, everything was quiet. They held the gaze of the nearby bot for a moment, then let it dart around the room. Several others were standing to off to the sides, and they were all staring at Requiem. After a moment, the first mech took Requiem's hands in his and asked-
>Are you in any pain?<
>No.< they replied.
>Can you sit up?<
They pushed themselves up off the slab with little effort, turning their head to face the other bot. Another bot -- more slender than the first with a teal blue frame -- stepped forward, holding her left hand in her right. Her voice was comforting and familiar, and he recognized it as the first one he had heard -- and the one that first spoke hand with them. "Can you tell us anything? Do you have a name?"
Through their hands, Requiem replied, >Requiem Fall of Grand Mal.< The white mech's brow furrowed and they took a step back, releasing Requiem's hands for a moment to document something in the datapad. His optics flickered a few times between the pad and Requiem, as if he was unsure what to make of their answer. Their fingers interlaced once more and the bot asked, >Can... can you tell me what Grand Mal is?<
Requiem blinked, confused. They had just told them, hadn't they? >It is part of the name that was given to me.< they stated flatly. The bot studied Requiem's optics with a quiet intensity before they vented softly, disconnected, and reached for the datapad to make another note. Passing it to the teal bot -- Lightbright, was it? -- they gestured toward the door to the room and asked, "Would you like to go for a walk?"
--
NOTES: Sooo! I know this isn't written very well, but I'm rusty and I was never very good to begin with, lol. (-w-; ) Anyway, this is based on a campaign my spouse is running, set in a version of the Transformers universe. It's heavily inspired by IDW1, with dashes of Prime and other continuities here and there. I started writing this as a way of having a record of our sessions, and we thought we might as well post it here! We do not claim to be any good, but by golly are we having fun with it. I'm running a party of four on my own, and of course my spouse is doing the rest as the DM. I'm the only reliable player he's got, lol, and I also couldn't decide on what kind of character I wanted to be, so we just went for this! As we played, Requiem was actually last in the line-up, but in the timeline they wake first. Plus, they've basically become the main character -- this is partially due to the fact that they're a warlock, and the act of establishing a connection with their patron has just given them more to do in the story so far. And I just think they're neat!! The circumstances of said connection, and really the character themselves, wound up changing course right out the gate. Though the DM started the "coming online" sequence pretty much the same as the others, something about the way it happened made me hesitate, and then it just kind of snowballed from there into a different direction that I found really interesting and wanted to explore.
Some notes regarding the writing style:
- I'm a big fan of punctuation, given that my ADHD brain always has a million notes about everything mid-thought, but I'm never quite sure if I over- or mis-use it and make it obnoxious to read; there were times where I had a bunch of commas and/or dashes and/or semi-colons in one sentence, and it just felt clunky, but after breaking them down into shorter sentences it still feels weird? I do think the flow could be improved significantly, though I'm not quite sure how, and I went back and forth between things on pretty well every line.
- I've never written Transformers or robots in general before, so some of the language used regarding anatomy and functions may be repetitive or more human-leaning as I figure out what works for me and what feels too clunky for my tastes.
- I couldn't quite decide how to fit both my/my character's perspectives and those of the DM's/other characters' into one narrative, so it's missing a few things and may be kind of sloppy. I don't know if I'm quite happy with it... it was quite a challenge to attempt to write from the perspective of a character who is essentially a newborn adult, and who's processing the concept of identity while dealing with "sleep" paralysis and sensory issues, leading to/on top of an existential crisis. A few things were changed or fabricated a bit as I transitioned from play session > notes made afterward > prose story, either by the aforementioned point-of-view choices, being unable to remember certain details, or things just not quite lining up right. I may come back to this and re-write it, or at least write a different version of it, or maybe not. ¯*(ツ)*/¯
- Kind of piggy-backing off the last point, I think technically Requiem wouldn't shorten their name, even in their head, and would refer to themselves as Requiem Fall -- actually, probably the full Requiem Fall of Grand Mal -- but it felt really clunky to write and hard to remember to do, considering I as the player refer to them just as Requiem. Technically it's still written in third-person, but it's from Requiem's perspective, so I debated on going back to change it... but eh.
- Similarly, despite Requiem not knowing the other bots' pronouns, I went ahead and used them for ease of reference. I'll touch on gender a bit down below. May go back and change that, may not.
As I said, a few things wound up missing from the narrative. Here are a few things that came up during play that didn’t here:
- Most of the other bots' reactions, particularly Lightbright's, wound up getting cut. I think originally, Requiem opened their eyes earlier, then got overwhelmed and closed them again, and then opens them back up when the voice instructs them to, so they saw a few more things than I wound up writing in. I couldn't remember exactly how things went down to get to this point, so I fudged it with a bit of a ret-con -- this is definitely one of the things I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate back in for a potential new draft.
- Anyway, Lightbright gets visibly excited when she finds a successful method of communication (which is chirolinguistics, aka "speaking hand", from IDW1's MTMTE -- I figured that the words 'yes' and 'no' were the easiest messages to get across, even through paralysis, and especially since extremities tend to be some of the first things to wake up).
- Lightbright is also holding Requiem's hand when they hear the voice 'yell' at them (it wasn't actually yell, but more the idea that this voice came through clear as day amidst all of the rabble and static, but that it was so startling and overwhelming that it felt like an attack -- p sure I had rolled a nat 1), and when that happens their body seizes up, meaning that Lightbright's hand is in the line of fire, and the others help pry her out (and that's why she's holding her hand when she speaks later). Requiem's scream and their "NO" in response was also vocalized out loud, and probably scared the bejeebus out of everyone!
- Lightbright is Requiem's blacksmith, also a concept from IDW1 (and also IDW2, I think? though I haven't read it yet). Basically, they're like a midwife that serves as a guide during the forging process. TFWiki's got a great article about it.
- Kaput is the doctor that checks out Requiem's spark in the examination room, and the one that confirms their voice-box is working is Electroprobe. We'll find out the white and red mech's identity in the next chapter, but these two probably won't come up again, at least not for a while.
- Speaking of Electroprobe, who is an OC NPC my spouse created, they're named so after the tool used in the game Operation... by Hasbro. ;) He thought of how Lightbright had their name taken from the Lite-Brite product, also by Hasbro, and thought it would be fun to toss in a few more references with some of the NPCs. You'll meet a few more in the next chapter or so!
- Newly forged Cybertronians (and presumably cold-constructed bots as well, though the practice isn't really used anymore, I would assume) are fed a 'starter package' of information during the forging process. It is directly uploaded to their brain module before they come online, and includes all of the basics one would need to get up to speed, or at least get close. Things like body functions, languages, cultural facts, history, etc., though some of the context may be missing -- basically, they have access to the Cybertronian version of the Internet right out the gate, and the means to comprehend the world around them. In play, the ease with which they are able to access this information (like if somebody starts talking about the war, or some other historical event or person) is usually decided by something like a History check.
- In this version of Cybertronian culture, the default when referring to someone you don't know is 'they/them', though bots may adopt different pronouns and refer to/introduce themselves as such. The concept of gender wasn't hard-wired into Cybertronians originally, and really only came into play once they began interacting with other planets/cultures; some folks decided they liked it and rolled with it, until it spread and became common. These concepts are now included in forging 'starter package', and I imagine that bots kind of just use their preference(s) instinctually, though of course it may change over time.
I am welcome to critique, both technical and... narrative(? I don't know if that's quite the word or not), though keep in mind that some of these things may not change given that it's a retelling of a collaborative and building narrative and it is tuned primarily for our enjoyment. On the flip side, some of it is likely to change, as I discover more about the world that I'm not privy to at the moment. Also we forget things a lot, so even during the actual session a decent amount of accidental retcons happen.
I will admit, particularly during the next part, it feels like it treads into Mary Sue territory... and that's another reason why I'm a little nervous to share all this. But like I said, we never said it was good, just fun and perfect for us. If all this turns out to be is a writing exercise/chronicling of our campaign, that's totally fine and all it was really meant to be! But if someone else has fun with it along the way, well that's great, too! :))
And finally, just 'cause I want to note it for myself, the bots introduced in this chapter are:
Lightbright (canon character, she/her?) A blacksmith -- the one who helped forge Requiem.
Wing (canon, he/him?) Also a blacksmith? I would assume so, though technically I don't think the DM has confirmed it, and also Requiem wouldn't really know anyway. Went to get the unnamed doctor(?) after helping Lightbright move Requiem.
Kaput (canon, ???/???) Spark specialist.
Electroprobe (OC, they/them) Anatomy specialist?
????? (?????, ???/???) Doctor? I mean, they're white and red and in a medical facility, so something of the sort at least.
Requiem Fall (of Grand Mal) (player character, they/them) Newly forged. Has had a bit of a rough morning.
