(Based on mine and my friend’s Transformers AU, I wanted to capture the scene here with my friend’s character Sky, so this idea relates back to a role-play we’ve been doing that links Mandroid, AKA Vic, together. This is how I saw their first meeting going, and I wanted to explore the psychological tension around it. Enjoy~)
Tagging @monocle-teacup as I thought you might enjoy this
And @turtwap as Sky belongs to Turtwap
Somehow, the sky itself seemed to reflect the turbulence and strife below that was brewing beneath it. Storm clouds rolled in like towering cathedrals, topped with unseen storms that crashed down like angry waves. There was an unnatural crimson glow emanating around the spire that had been summoned up from the Earth, like a needle of hatred piercing the night, flaring up for all to see. It’s base was beautiful, though. Crystalline Energon, as clear as ice and hard as diamond supported the base and glowed more softly. Here, the Earth’s natural Energon sink was being siphoned, stolen… By a toxic, parasitic thing that moved like a shadow, taking good hearts and minds with it into darkness. Fear. Hatred. Misunderstanding. Miscommunication. Subversion…. Atop the spire, lurked yet another victim. Here, what remained of a once brilliant man surveyed the horizon, waiting for something. Everything was just right, no missteps this time, no miscalculations. In having lost most of his human form, ‘Mandroid’ was now more of a weapon and more capable than ever before.
Sometimes, his mind wandered though. He saw his old life in those moments of reflection and in this isolated state he had never felt pain like it. He had no other human to turn to, so he turned to the memories he had instead. He had to have something to lean on, a reminder of *why* he was doing all of this. Why the Cybertronian race had to go, be eradicated, so that everyone on Earth, every human, every being, could finally be safe.
Would they ever *really* be safe though? Had people themselves ever lived without war?
Mandroid’s mind was wandering again. He quickly distracted himself. He thought about when he had been the happiest. All of the memories of his life felt sharper than ever. His days at school, his travels abroad, his parents…
No. He was not going to start thinking about his parents right now. Somehow, the thought of them ever finding out about any of this was more terrifying than him not completing his mission. In distraction, Mandroid looked up, through the top window in the weird, crab-like form he now inhabited, just his head, neck and spine. He was reduced to form of a snake, coiled inside a metal cage. His view on the world outside, much like his views in general, reduced to tiny windows and glaring blind spots.
It was raining, so he couldn’t even see that well through the top window, but still he lingered there. Mandroid had always loved the rain, now he couldn’t even feel it anymore. He leaned the side of his head against the inside of the metallic prison that was now his permanent enclosure. He was so depressed that it felt like hell was real. Mandroid’s mind had been made up though. His weapon would be perfect. Not only would it end all Cybertronian life, but also his life as well. Every Energon-based being. He looked forward to it.
The rain soon passed and Mandroid decided to go back to the stone chair that placed him directly next to his weapon. There he would remain, guarding it like a spider guarding a nesting chamber. This weapon was the most precious thing to him, because it would ensure a final solution on a scale like no human had ever known. After tonight, not a single Cybertronian would remain online. No amount of force could stop it.
Something caught the cyborg’s attention. What was that? Had someone dared to show up and fight him? Idly, he watched. Let them come. He had all the means in the world to take on even the heaviest hitting Cybertronian. He watched a pearlescent form close in, looking rather like a human machine. Was it a plane? It was eerie though, unlike any plane he’d ever scene. The colours weren’t of this world, the form was too perfect… Then, the plane veered, lowering like a bird as the familiar sound of a T-cog echoed, signalling the visitor’s true form. A Cybertronian. Mandroid watched through his main window as the being stood upright, wings folding back, then laying flat, signalling her mood. There was no denying it, this alien, this Cybertronian, was beautiful. As a roboticist, Mandroid had always appreciated machinery and engineering. The Cybertronians were simply unmatched. He knew the threat their near-perfect forms presented, their speed, size, firepower and strength, not to mention their intelligence. He *knew* that. What chance did humanity stand against them?
The femme approached and despite her height and strong build, she was incredibly elegant and commanding. Her optics shone a rare shade of azure blue, her face was pearlescent like the rest of her. When she took a step, the ground trembled. She looked capable and fearless, like a lioness. Mandroid felt the threat, and as a human by now all he’d have been able to do was run away. In this warped form though, finally he was capable too.
Whilst Sky represented beauty in all it’s forms, the same could hardly be said of Mandroid. When she looked upon him, having perhaps never seen what he looked like before all of this, now all that was human about him was his face. Even then, not even his face had been spared the ravages of what had been done to the rest of him. His once thick, ebony hair was now mostly gone. His once tanned skin, now ashen grey. Even his eyes were robotic, glaring red from under his hairless brows. The only thing about them that resembled anything human was their shape. The loss of his body and unnatural state of his being had also stressed what remained of him so much that he looked like he’d aged prematurely as well. This man looked like he was just waiting to die.
Sky kept her distance, just close enough that they could converse. Their gazes were locked, fists clenched. Neither spoke for a few moments, but then Sky went first.
“…. Nice view you’ve got all to yourself up here, huh. ‘Mandroid’…”
“It will be even nicer, when you and your’s are out of the picture.” Snarled the scientist, his four claw-like hands gripping the sides of the stone chair. His voice sounded weathered, eerie-calm and slightly mechanised.
“Yeah, about all that…” Sky began, as her expression turned stonier. She took another step, saw Mandroid react, the laser in his chest just ever so slightly illuminating, but she was careful and measured with her body language.
“Have you ever thought about that, I mean really thought about it? So, you get rid of all Cybertronians and then what? Everyone lives happily ever after? Mandroid, I’ve studied your history. Humans have had war as long as there’s been humans. With us gone, it isn’t the war that’s gone, is it?”
Mandroid looked like he was thinking about that. He *had* thought about it. She was right. And he didn’t want her to be, but she was. As a scientist, the truth was all that mattered.
“Well played, alien. Of course you’ve studied us, insofar as you now think you understand us. War is inevitable, but human wars are among *humans*. Your species present a threat we’ve never faced before and that is why you must all die. Tonight.”
Sky listened, but little sense was being made aside from the obvious.
“Oh yeah? So, I take it that all humans just have atomic weapons lying around waiting to throw at one another, huh? You guys make many devastating weapons. You use devastating tactics where the weapon is just the idea itself, spreading through every person. Don’t you think that’s sad? *Don’t you think that’s wrong*?”
Mandroid’s face said it all. He pursed his lips, blinked and his gaze shifted to the side for a moment, in contemplation. He stood up, his four arms making him look almost lovecraftian, like a dark entity from another dimension.
“You know what I think is wrong, alien? That you have the audacity to judge the actions of *my* species when you can’t even show up here with a better example to speak of. You bring your war here, and then preach about morality - Yet you destroyed your own world. Your entitlement brings you here, not your concern for those who already reside here.”
Sky sighed heavily, realising that every effort for conversation was more like a battle of egos now. She nodded, taking a moment to let things cool down. He was clearly spoiling for a fight, amped up on testosterone and being pushed the edge of living death as he was… Nobody was hearing anyone.
“You’re *right*. It sounds like our species have more in common than we both think.”
There was a moment then that felt strange, like the situation this was suddenly didn’t exist anymore. Mandroid had gotten closer, perhaps out of curiosity, or anger or that he just wanted to see her expression as he hurt her, it was hard to tell. His expression gave little away, but he was cautious, poised for a fight like a wild animal. The two of them began to circle, he had started it with his circling of her. She didn’t like that and wanted to counter it, yet despite it all the circle wasn’t growing larger, it was growing *smaller*. He never took his gaze from her, except to dart to the other windows if necessary, and he watched her body language, watched her wings rise up, or lay back.
There were no words, but there was a bizarre feeling of familiarity. Mandroid didn’t like it. He didn’t like unknowns. All his life, his world had consisted of what made sense, what worked and was was objectively true. Yet, there was a part of him that still appreciated the *unknown* - A feeling he’d also lived with all his life. Right now, that feeling was the strongest one he had. Distracted, Mandroid saw Sky’s arm move and he reacted as such. Sky had just reached out with her palm up, a sign of peace - He misinterpreted it and out of fear he lashed out. A lot happened at once, but every conceivable thing he could’ve done to get Sky away from him, he did not do. He didn’t use his laser. He didn’t use his extra arms. He looked shocked from his own inaction, and he felt himself being pinned against the cold stone cliff near the big chair.
Sky felt all his hands grab at her though, at her arms. He was strong, but it was the laser she was worried about. She pinned him with just enough force to hold him still, but not enough to crack the glass windows, even though it would’ve been too easy this close up.
Mandroid also realised he was now incredibly vulnerable. He relied on the oxygenated perfluorcarbons to stay alive. Inside the metallic body he inhabited, this strange mist was all that was keeping him alive. If any of his windows were broken, he’d quickly die as he was no longer equipped with human lungs in order to breathe the normal air outside. He became still, hearing his glass window creaking on her arm. They were almost face to face now, and neither of them could stop looking at the other. This wasn’t supposed to be how it went. Both of them were wondering why neither had acted and both of them felt a sense of ‘…Have we met before?’
Sky tried to gather her senses, tried to shake off whatever this lapse was. She had her chance to kill this pitiful creature, and yet she could not. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and calm, like a whisper. Like it was meant just for him.
“What’s your name? Your real name, I mean. If this is my last night on Earth, I’d prefer to at least know the name of the one who attempts to kill me.”
“…Victor. ‘Course it is. I’m Sky.”
Whilst Vic said nothing, his expression suggested that he found her name extremely fitting for her.
“Why can’t we find a different way, Victor? We could all learn from this.”
“All things that live, fight to survive. All things that survive, fight to live. What you ask cannot be in this universe. Peace is fleeting, but brutality is the way of things, Sky. The strong survive and if they can help it, the strong uphold the weak.”
Sky sighed pointedly, his words seemed ironic given the situation. A little more force and that damn window would shatter and he’d be out cold in 10 seconds and dead in a few minutes.
“Strength is a great responsibility, because sometimes it’s hard to know how best to use it for good. We both want to survive and we both fight to survive, but why do we *need* to fight? There is enough here for all, and there is so much that we Cybertronians could do for you.”
“If you can’t use your strength to destroy me, Sky, should you really be talking about how best to use it? Hahaha” His laugh was empty, hollow sounding and mirthless. She was getting nowhere with him. It was pitiful watching him, there was no joy in that laugh. He was simply going to do what he was going to do.
The two of them held each other’s gaze a little longer. That feeling of wanting to kill, harm or maim now strangely gone. The moment was weird, intimate somehow and had happened out of nowhere. Vic was so shocked that he couldn’t think of the best thing to do at first. He saw that Sky was growing frustrated, and the next thing he felt was the result of her frustration. He was thrown aside, although not enough to harm him, or shatter any of his windows despite that they all creaked when he hit the ground.
When he looked back, he saw her standing over him, gun pointed and flaring bright blue. He just stared right at her, watched her falter. He saw her mouth the word ‘fuck’.
He wanted her to fire at him.
“What are you waiting for, Sky? Do what you do best and destroy me. It’s the only chance you’re ever going to get. Think carefully. If you make the wrong choice, how will the rest of the tribe think of you then?” Victor hissed with vitriol and spite that was inhuman. He truly was a lost cause. Or was he? It was his eyes. Sky looked at him again, but she couldn’t kill him. She couldn’t take his life whilst looking at him, even though he was a monster, a creature…. Flesh and mechanics melded together on some other world, he himself was now part alien. Victor was now part of the very thing he despised. He had no one. He related to no one. Death was the kindest thing for him, but Sky lowered her gun. She turned away to leave, no more words to say. Victor was pushing himself to his feet as he heard her transform, and of course he watched her until she had gone. He could still hear her engines long after he’d lost sight of her. Even though every fibre of what was left of him strained under the weight of his thoughts, he wished she’d stayed a bit longer. He wished she’d been the one to send him on his way out of this world so that he didn’t have to be the one to do what he now knew he had to do. Why didn’t she stop him? *Why*? It made no sense. What he felt now, made no sense. Yet, here he was basking in it. With the spire almost fully charged, soon the torment of feeling would be over and now, it was inevitable.
