Rogues and Drones

Hive City is not where one could usually find Nautica, but the Camien researcher has developed something of a newfound interest in insecticons of late. And so she finds herself on the outskirts of the city once so well-known for its 'domesticated' hives, datapad in hand. It's an odd sight, to see a intellectual-caste femme crouching down next to a set of insecticon drones, silent to most Cybertronian observation. In truth, of course, she chatters away in wavespeech, watching to see how the drones react. Asking simple questions, and waiting to see if she receives answers. Most of the drones she's encountered, of course, are simple drones... non-sapient, no sense of 'self', largely just extensions of the local hive network's shared identity. Obviously, none of those she's found walking freely are the actual intelligence -- the Queen or Seeder -- at the center. Yet even among those simpler bugs, there are some who present clear enough signs of budding intelligence that the Camien suspects that, given time and space, those insecticons too would develop into full maturity as Kickback and the others have.
Harbinger is quietly sitting along the outer edge of the Insecticon 'city'.. not wishing to enter it, but a small part of her unable to stay away from other Insecticons so from time to time she eases that small pain by simply observing them from a distance, this time from a the top of a larger structure. She has been quiet and still for awhile, a small Insecitcon hunched up quietly in a darkened corner... but as she sits there, watching, something draws her attention and her head swivels a bit to the side. Her optics flare just a bit in the instive urge to hunt intruders on the hive, but a shiver forces that sensation away. She stands up quietly, a moment's concentration and she fades from view and starts moving, jumping from building to building and moving along their tops till she approaches from high above and peers over the side at the Autobot.. finally she picks up a very small piece of metal and drops it down onto the Femme's shoulder before she speaks +How are you speaking like that?+
The yelp of surprise that Nautica lets out at the sudden metal on her shoulder is audible both as sound and wavespeech. She glances up to try to see where it came from -- is there a flying insecticon overhead? -- even as she answers, +What, like this?+
Harbinger hmmss quietly to herself as she leans over the edge of the top, +You are not one of them... of us. How do you know about it?+ She considers, then finally starts to make her way down the building, taking her time so as not to disturb anything past her field then as she finally gets to the bottom she stands up, and lets the field fade, leaving her standing a few feet from Nautica.
The drones back away slightly at Harbinger's approach, perhaps set on-edge by the unfamiliar self-aware. Is it an intrusion into their territory? A foreign queen? A homeless one seeking a new hive? One scurries away, doubtless to communicate this confusion is communicated back to their own Queen or Seeder, to be mulled over. +I have friends who are. I am still learning, so I can help.+ She pauses, then rises and turns to face Harbinger. +Not all my words are right, yet, but I try.+
The red of Harbinger's optics follow the drone that scurries away, the instincts to hunt a threat causing her to remain very still but her gaze eventually moves back to Nautica after pausing over the drones, +How? Those.. who have tried to hunt me have used your.. speech. None have known how to speak clearly like you. Can others do this?+ She takes a half-step closer to the Femme but stops, some instinct telling her to keep her distance from the drones for now.
+No,+ Nautica replies, shaking her head. +Not most. Most don't even know that you /can/ speak. We don't... hear like this. Can't speak it. I changed myself so I could.+ Then she offers Harbinger a smile, and says aloud -- perhaps not knowing how to actually say her own name in wavespeech -- "I'm Nautica."
Harbinger's gaze remains on Nautica, simply watching her for the moment as she watches the other drones. Finally, a shift.. and a hand is raised, a quiet hissing as the claws that had overlayed them retract into her forearms and leaves a fully human-like hand, "Nautica.." The word is repeated slowly but clearly, and then almost out of the blue, "You are not as shiney.. as the shuttle was."
Nautica offers her hand to Harbinger, though pauses at her words. "'The shuttle'? Do you mean Blast Off? And... what do you mean by shiny? Like, chrome? Or is 'shiny' something else?"
Harbinger finally moves closer, though she does not take the offered hand at the moment, instead choosing to walk around Nautica once and stopping back infront of her before she reaches up and takes the offered hand slowly. It is clear she knows the gesture, or has seen it enough times, but beyond taking the offered hand she does nothing, and slips her speech back +Shiney... shiney is shiney.+ She reaches into a compartment on her side, and pulls out a few pieces of metal, each of which rather clearly reflects the limited light in the area.. one piece appears to be from a building sign, the other seems to vaguely resemble a bit of some mech's helmet. Though each seems of a differnt kind of metal, it should be rather clear its the reflectiveness that seems to draw her attention before she pts the pieces away.
+Oh. No. I...+ Nautica pauses, trying to figure out how in Primus' name to actually phrase this in wavespeech. In the meantime, she looks Harbinger over curiously. Perhaps it's the first time she's seen an obvious insecticon femme, much less a self-aware one; she's clearly curious. +I run under the shining liquid, where there is no light to make shiny.+ Unfortunately, she has no idea what the insecticons would call the Mithril Sea, or any other body of water. Instead, she turns her curiosity on Harbinger's situation. +Where are you from? Are you queen of your hive? Or... do you have no true hive, like my friend?+
Harbinger smiles at that, a rather honest one, +That is sad. All should be able to be shiney." And it is clear during that closer look that the Insecticon is likely far cleaner then many would be.. and a solid effort has been made to keep her as shiney as she can, and the Femme points downwards, "From there. Took many cycles to come here.. had to pass many hives to do so. Many tried to stop me. All failed." There is a touch of pride in her voice but her face seems to blank after that, +I am no Queen.. my hive.. is dead, for betraying me.+
Huh. Okay, that was not the response Nautica expected; she didn't even know a member of a hive /could/ eliminate the rest of the hive. Switching back to the language she can actually speak without trying to search for ways to express the things she doesn't yet have words for, she asks finally, "Your hive /betrayed/ you? I'm sorry."
Harbinger's head tilts to the side, "Why? You were not one of the hive.. or you would be dead as well." The statement is given with a curious undertone, then another shake of her head as if clearing it of some darker thought, "They wished for me to ..." She shakes her head again and looks back to Nautica, this time her face more serious, "Why are you trying to speak like us? We are... what was the term that is used.. disposables. Nothings."
"Not to /me/," Nautica replies fiercely, shaking her head. "You're... different. New. I like to /learn/, and there are many things I can learn from you. Maybe things I can teach you, too. And maybe I can help. Because I think most of why you are seen as disposable is that most bots don't know you /can/ be sapient, self-aware. Maybe if they did know, some would think differently." Or maybe, despite everything that's gone wrong of late, Nautica still has a strong streak of idealism.
"Then you are rare, Nautica.. most do not care to //loook// or they would know differnt.." She glances at the drones, "Nor do they care to learn." But part of what was said draws her attention back, and she looks to Nautica again, "Learn from me? What could I show you?" She turns and stalks closer to Nautica.. and that is the only way to decribe how she moves, though she still keeps those few drones at the corner of her view as she nears the other femme, +What.. is special about me? I choose.. to reject what the Queen commanded, I choose to raise my claws against my hive. That is the actions of something that should be disposed of, so why would a surfacewalker want to learn from me?+
"Not /you/ -- though I would love to learn whatever you can teach, too, because I value /anything/ I can learn -- but... you," Nautica clarifies, gesturing to the nearby drones in explanation. "All of you. You work together better. You /survive/ better, even when life is hard. We could stand to learn from that. And besides... I want to learn more about your culture, your life. I think you all /should/ be part a part of Cybertronian society." And then, as Harbinger shifts to wavespeech and stalks closer, Nautica frowns. +There is something special about /every/ bot. Every one of us brings something unique, something different, to the world.+
Harbinger looks to the drones again as Nautica points to them, +For the good of the hive..+ A moment passes before she looks back to Nautica, "Our culture? I could teach you little of that, I was a hunter and with so little to sustain us I was never at our hive. I rarely saw more then a few of us at any one time.. not till they tried to.." She pauses, a twitch of a mandible all that happens till she speaks again, "I am unusual, Nautica. I do not wish to be part of a hive, or learn it's ways. I was bestrayed by trusting in that before." She turns and walks towards the wall, a hand reaching up to get a hold before she starts to pull heself up then pauses, "I will... speak with you again. Answer what I can, but not here." She waves towards where there seems to be increased activity from within the hive area, "I choose to be alone, they do not.. I do not wish to kill more of them." She.. frowns, "If you.. wish to speak agian, how will I know?"
"You can find me..." Nautica pauses, perhaps realizing that having an insecticon come anywhere near where Nautica spends most of her time right now could be unwise. "You can find me at the Camien Embassy sometimes, often. Otherwise, do you have a comm frequency?" She doesn't know whether or not most insecticons even /have/ radio comms they use.
Harbinger considers for a long time agian, simply hanging from the wall as more activity builds from the Hive. After that long pause she nods and shares it with Nautica, but right after she just fades away.. and somehow her presense is felt moving away if not seen.
And out of the blue you hear from a bit of a distance away, "And bring something shiney! Or I won't talk!"
Category:NC Institute