121/Cadet Roddy

**Hot Rod has posed:**
Middle of week, what the hell, when will it be over, Hot Rod complains to himself inwardly, dragging his feet to class. He's half awake, last night he'd nearly run all the waves at the training simulator dry pounding out his frustration about the Autobots seen digging through Destructor remains in Nyon.

 Oops, he'd forgotten the lecture data pads. Oh well.

 He shuffles into the back, twenty breems late and slides into a chair in the back, resting his helm in his hands, already bored and exhausted.

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee is already there, although she arrived right on time instead of early, so she is relegated to sit near the back this time, forfeiting her usual spot in the front. But despite this, she's brought all of her materials and has the datapad on, listening attentively until Hot Rod plunks down beside her. She gives him a sidelong glance, but doesn't say anything because not only is class in session, but she isn't sure if he remembers her or not. It's been a while. This is the LAST place she thought she'd ever see him, but...there he is! The Ny-GONE guy.

**Prowl has posed:**
And to top it all off, today guess who is up front? That's right, Prowl. Not that he enjoys this sort of thing, but rather sees it as necessary...after all he and Ultra Magnus are the ones who know the material being taught best out of everyone. Literally down to the last letter, or punctuation, in Magnus' case.

    Everyone looks rather bored, though none of them are quite as blatantly expressive as Hot Rod. Heads turn when he walks in, and Prowl directs a rather pointed glare at him. "Hot Rod." he addresses the young Nyonian. "Section 45E, Subsection delta, paragraph 9, lines 11-18. State the rationale for the cited regulation."

**Hot Rod has posed:**
Hot Rod doesn't notice Arcee, or even hear Prowl's question. He's gone all Walter Mitty on the whole class, daydreaming about rebuilding Nyon among other things. That, and he's half idle.

 "..."

His his whole body inadvertently begins to slump left, towards Arcee.

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee smirks, and gives Rod a slight shove so he's not falling into her personal space. How embarassing, and the entire class must be looking, too! To avert the awkwardness of the situation, she puts on her best poker face and raises her hand. "Permission to answer," she requests, inwardly hoping she can pull Prowl's attention off of the embarassing spectacle of Rod in a classroom.

**Prowl has posed:**
Oh, yes. The entire classroom is indeed looking. Quite a few of them are sniggering, too, and pointing.There is a moment of awkward silence. "Hot Rod? Are you all right?" Prowl asks, but then Arcee jumps in. He nods toward the fembot. "Go ahead, Arcee."

**Hot Rod has posed:**
When Arcee shoves him, he startles completely awake, shouting an obscene curse in the process -- loud enough for the whole class to hear.

 He scowls, but when he notices Arcee is sitting next to him, he mutters, "Dammit..." terribly embarrassed.

 He frowns at Prowl. "Never mind that," he says, "if you repeat the question, I can answer it. I just uh... was thinking about something else momentarily."

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee looks like she's about to answer the question, but then Rod decides to return from his meditative journey and join in on the discussion. This surprises her, because he definitely looked disengaged to her. She glances at Prowl for a moment, then leans toward Rod and quietly whispers the lecture question into his audial.

**Prowl has posed:**
Prowl sighs and repeats the question. "Section 45E, Subsection delta, paragraph 9, lines 11-18. State the rationale for the cited regulation."

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"Right," Hot Rod says, "I knew that, in fact, I just remembered it, you don't need to repeat yourself, /commander/."

 "<Thanks>" he radios Arcee, elbowing her playfully.

 Of course, he doesn't know the answer to the question.

 "Alright," he says, "I'll answer the question, if you answer me this. What exactly do you plan on doing with technology that can raze an entire city, the same kind that not so long ago, we were trying to prevent from causing destruction? How do you determine when the times are desperate enough to call for 'desperate measures?'" He folds his arms.

**Prowl has posed:**
"You are not answering the question." Prowl states evenly. Clearly he does not actually know the answer. "This is neither the time, nor the place, to discuss the validity of Prime's decisions regarding salvage operations." He nods toward Arcee. "Arcee? You may now answer the question as stated previously."

**Arcee has posed:**
Some students in the class groan audibly. Others grin and shake their heads. Some look visibly annoyed.

Arcee has none of these reactions, but she is interested in seeing how this plays out. Rod's trying to deflect, obviously...

When Prowl calls on her to continue, Arcee glances over in Rod's direction with wide optics, then looks back at Prowl. "The regulation was originally developed in Vos to prevent injuries to mechs with non-flyer modes by providing transformation zones specifically for mechs with flyer modes. Casualties statistically dropped, so most polities have adapted this zone around pedestrian ground spaces."

**Hot Rod has posed:**
Hot Rod doesn't give a slag. Yeah, he's at it again, so what??

 He stands up, folding his arms and looking exasperated. "Right, which bozo made /that/ up? If everyone always looked around at intersections, and during landing and taking off like they're /supposed/ to, that wouldn't even be necessary." He's totally guilty of not doing the aforementioned, but now isn't a good time to mention that.

**Hot Rod has posed:**
Hot Rod says, "Basically, the rationale was because some damn idiot said so. Isn't that how all the rules are? Some prude among the higher ups spouted it and it became the law, because no one ever bothered to question it."

 "By the way, you didn't answer /my/ question. If now isn't a good time to discuss Prime's decisions, when is? /If/ they were even Prime's decisions in the first place?" He narrows his optics, leaning against the wall."

**Prowl has posed:**
Prowl nods toward Arcee. "That is correct." Then he looks at Hot Rod, his face still expressionless. "Well, they were not exclusively Prime's decisions, but he knew of them. They were the Convocation's decision, either to modify the old code written by the Senate or keep it as it is. And yes, you are right, if everyone kept careful watch for obstacles and pedestrians, it would not be necessary but there will always be a...portion of the populace who tend to act -before- taking careful stock of their surroundings." Yeah, Hot Rod, he means people like -you-. "Now, since you seem to be so eager to discuss the efficacy of our governing body's decisions, perhaps you would like to state your case in an essay. Get it finished by next megacycle and maybe I'll see that it goes before the Convocation."

    At this, there is a faint, yet audible "Ooooh" from various other cadets in the room. Too bad for Hot Rod, he gets extra assignments!

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee smirks slightly, as Prowl gives Hot Rod another assignment to do. This is definitely one of the more entertaining classes she's attended, because it's always interesting to get someone bold or impetuous enough to begin a counter-argument with an unyielding proctor such as Prowl.

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"..Frag the Convocation!" Hot Rod blurts angrily, "If Prime were allowed to call the shots like he should be /allowed/ to, there'd be a lot less bullslag happening all the damn time! Do you know why Cybertron is so fragged up? Do you know why Nyon is a pile of ash? Because of people like /you/. Because everyone was, and still is too afraid speak up against oppression and laws that don't make sense. Well, you can know one thing. I am not afraid. And if I'm the only one, then'll I'll be the only one not afraid. Not afraid to speak up for myself, and for those who get steamrolled by authority and functions. "

 He clenches his fists, leaning forward in a heated manner. He doesn't like being singled out, even if how Prowl said it was indirect.

 "Maybe... Maybe my aft," he growls, "They're gonna get to see it alright, I'll make sure of that," he grumbles. He turns sharply on his heel and storms out of the classroom, going out into the hallway adjacent to the classroom to sulk.

**Prowl has posed:**
A low chuckle can be heard as Hot Rod throws a tantrum and storms out. "Hah, what a wreck." Someone can be heard muttering.

    Prowl just watches him go with a shrug. "...if Prime were allowed to make unilateral decisions, would he not be exactly like those who preceded him? In fact, he would be even more powerful, he would essentially be a dictator, a tyrant." he shakes his head. "He'd never agree to that kind of authority."

    "Anyway, moving on." The class continues then, leaving Hot Rod to sulk alone, until it is adjourned about a cycle later. Some of the other cadets cast scornful looks Hot Rod's way, though others seem to feel sorry for him. None of them really stop to try to encourage him though. Except maybe Arcee.

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee does remain for the remainder of the lesson, but as soon as class adjourns, she heads into the hallway and begins glancing around. When she spots Hot Rod sulking sadly in an adjacent classroom, she heads in to check on him. "You okay in here?" she asks with quiet concern.

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"I'm fine," Hot Rod snaps, his arms resting on his knees, expression distant and unhappy.

 Then his expression softens. "Sorry," he says, sighing and getting up. "I don't even know why I'm here," he says, sounding irritated and disillusioned. "Everyone here just follows orders, without thinking. I mean, helloooo, you have cerebral circuitry, think for your own damn self," he grumbles, folding his arms.

**Arcee has posed:**
"The academy is built around the whole idea of conformity," Arcee admits. "But I don't think you should give up that easily, because maybe there's a lot of students who think like you do, only you have the courage to actually confront the instructors. It's part of what learning is all about, understanding different viewpoints, right?"

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"Which is stupid," He blurts quickly. "Give up? Over my dead chassis, dammit! This is only the beginning." Hot Rod clenches a fists, looking determined. "I'm not afraid," he says, "I just said I wasn't. It's getting them to take their slagging blinders off." He sighs, looking annoyed again. "There's a difference between seeing things differently and not agreeing. I don't agree. That won't change."

**Blurr has posed:**
Suddenly, someone else familiar pokes his head in to the lecture room. "Hey Arcee, wanna run some sims later?" Yeah, it's Blurr. The former racer glances at Hot Rod and his sour mood. "Er, and Hot Rod can come too, how about it?" he grins. "I'm sure we could teach a cadet a few moves, maybe give him a chance to vent on some training drones."

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee smiles slightly. "Good," she says. "Because that makes the lectures far more interesting. Next time, stick around for the whole thing. Who knows, your spark's energy may be contagious." And then suddenly, Blurr arrives! "Hey, that sounds like a good idea. What do you think, Rod, are you in?"

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"Fine," he says a bit grumpily, "but what the hell do I need to learn from you? I got myself covered, okay?" he says. But Hot Rod follows them anyway, still brooding a little bit.

 He's quiet for a while as they head for simulators. He glances around the halls, arms still folded. "Huh, guess you're really the only girl around here," he comments offhandedly and out of the blue, "wonder why the hell that is."

**Blurr has posed:**
Blurr laughs. Oh, such ignorant cadets! "Uh, why are you at this academy?" he asks. "To learn, right? If you already knew everything why would you even be here?"

    He considers the question about Arcee being the only femme. "Well there aren't very many of her type around in general, either. From what I've read, most of them were forged on the colony worlds."

**Arcee has posed:**
"We all have something to learn. Sometimes, I feel like I'm all trained out, and then suddenly I learn a brand new skill. So you just never know," Arcee mentions. Then, she considers what Rod's said. "Oh, come on, I'm not the /only/ one, there's, uhhh...I mean there's..." She stares at the ground, looking puzzled. Failing to find any examples, she waves her hand. "There's probably some around here! And yes, definitely from the colony worlds."

**Hot Rod has posed:**
Hot Rod fumes. "Because I can't be an Autobot otherwise," he says, "but at this point, I'm not even sure I want to be one," he grumbles.

 "Yeah, I know that," he says, "but I see femmes other places, as medics or secretaries, but Arcee's the only one here," he says, "at least that I've seen," he admits. "That's not a good answer," he points out. "I mean, what kind of statement is this? Females in the military are supposed to be few and far in between?" he scoffs. "Geez...guess I see more and more inequality all the time."

**Blurr has posed:**
"She's not the only one!" Blurr points out. "I mean, there's Flux--she's a first year cadet, Echo and Ember bunk on the sixth floor, they're going into Intel next metacycle, and the field medic one, I forget her name. Uhh...Sprocket? She's real nice." He grins at Hot Rod. "See you just need to get out more, talk to your classmates instead of arguing with your instructors. We all know it gets you nothing and nowhere except additional work to do on top of everything else." Yeah, he's already been hearing about Hot Rod's habits from the other students.

    He shrugs. "And if you don't want to be an Autobot then don't be. Withdraw from the academy, no one's stopping you."

**Arcee has posed:**
"Femmes are definitely welcome here," Arcee adds, nodding. "Why aren't there more of them? Great question. There should be more. It's an individual choice, I think different femmes will have different reasons for joining. But I've never seen one turned away from the Academy for that reason alone."

**Quickswitch has posed:**
From the Training Simulator, a very large armored drill tank rolls into view, "Hey gang! A new recruit?" Quickswitch bursts into transformation even as friendly exhuberence bursts throughout his systems. Lucky day. "You know, I don't know why there aren't more femmes in the Autobots," he taps his chin with a digit contemplatively, "But I wouldn't encourage leaving just yet or because of it, though you're certainly free to, erm, I didn't catch your name?" Quickswitch asks, the slightest hint of prickliness to his vocalizer, "Besides," the sixchanger winks and chuckles, "The best part of bein' an Autobot is trashin' all those Decepticons. I'm Quickswitch."

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"All /not/ Autobots yet," Hot Rod says, "And medics don't count," he replies, "They only fix people, they don't really fight."

 He scowls at Blurr. "What do I look like? A slagging introvert? Hmph." He folds his arms. "I do other things besides challenge the stupid authorities around here. And you can't tell me what to do. I'll do whatever the hell I like, whether it earns me more work or not," he says.

 "And then what, become a Decepticon? Megatron almost murder Bumblebee in cold blood. Yeah, /no/. And now isn't the time to be a neutral." He thinks of Swivel, and his expression grows pained.

 He shakes his helm at Arcee. "Of course not, but they could turn them away or not graduate them for any almost any other fragging reasons. If you think that there should be more femmes in the military, you should definitely vouch for it. I bet there's too many girls out there thinking they'll get steamrolled by the likes of someone like Prowl. And well, I'm saying they shouldn't be afraid. Femmes can be everything mechs are, and probably more if they wanted to be."

 Hot Rod is surprised by Quickswitch's presence, and he jumps back, startled by his sheer size. "Uh, yeah, don't you know who I am? Hot Rod, from ... " he trails off, frowning and looking distant again. "You know they're not all violent bastards," he says, arching a brow ridge at the six changer.

**Blurr has posed:**
"Well I was just mentioning those because you're more likely to be be familiar with them since you're still a cadet." Blurr shrugs. "I'm sure there are more that I don't know about, since I'm not a student But there are definitely plenty of fembots in our ranks. I mean, I could show you the roster. It's not a majority of course but they're not a majority in general anyway. Like I said, mostly on colony worlds."

    He waves to Quickswitch as the sixchanger approaches. "Hey Quick. Nyon. He's from Nyon. Or what was Nyon. He's the one who blew it up, actually, or so I hear. Mister 'Ny-GONE', as they say." He jokes, chuckling a little and clapping Hot Rod on the back. Yeah, he thought that clever. "We didn't say they were, Rod. But they do need to be stopped." he says, his expression sobering at that.

**Arcee has posed:**
"If I can be an inspiration to any femme who wants to join...heh, I mean, I'll try to set that example, but I still have a long way to go to be an 'ideal' in this organization," Arcee chuckles. She waves cheerfully when she spots the unmistakable form of Quickswitch. "Hi! How've you been??"

**Quickswitch has posed:**
As Hot Rod jumps back, Quickswitch's expression softens, "Relax.. I won't hurt you.." he says with a soft voice and expression, "I know the Decepticons aren't all violent.." and the sixchanger's voice thins and sharpens, right into an honest but bald-faced contradiction. His optics narrow as Hot Rod speaks, "Though you're entitled to your opinion, I suppose." Quickswitch raises his hands to his face and rubs at it, as a caccophany of personalities rush to appraise the new recruit.

"I am fine, Arcee," the assault unit responds, "I will be going now."

**Quickswitch has posed:**
Quickswitch then transforms into his Laser Cannon mode and floats off abruptly.

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"In the overwhelming minority," Hot Rod scoffs, arms still folded. "Whatever. Colony worlds or not, there should be more. The military shouldn't be male-centric. Or anything-centric, really. Anyone should be free to become whatever the want, and if they want to join, no one should make that journey hard for them."

 Hot Rod jerks away from Blurr's hand as if it were a scathing hot frying pan. He glares at the speedster. "Shut /up/," he snarls, "It's not like I had a choice," he growls, "do you think the Nyonians would have rather been used to fuel Zeta's screwed up technology?" His optics flash angrily.

 Hot Rod arches his brow ridges at Arcee. "Really? Doesn't seem like it. I mean, I kinda always thought you were there, already."

 Hot Rod observes Quickswitch's behavior and immediately recognizes him as someone who is probably often lonely and avoided. "Hey.." he places a hand on his arm. "Don't leave yet, okay? We were gonna run through some waves, do you want to joint us?"

**Quickswitch has posed:**
Quickswitch, floating in Cannon mode, turns around a moment, "I'd be happy to join you, but maybe at another time. Just think it's better right now if I don't. Better if I recharge," the mutant Cybertronian floats further away, Quickswitch mutters to--or among?--himself as he in Laser Cannon mode floats away...

**Blurr has posed:**
The speedster looks rather shocked at Hot Rod's dramatic reaction to the joke. He holds his hands up defensively. "Primus'diodesIwasjustkiddingokay?NoneedtogetsotouchylikethatnopeIjustthoughtitwasafunnywordplaythat'sallokay?!"

    He vents some air, calming himself down before continuing."And besides, there aren't any rules against femmes." Blurr points out. "There just aren't that many of them in the general population, that can't be helped. But whatever, if you don't like it here, then leave. No one is forcing you to become anything you don't want to become." He shrugs. "Well anyway I'm going to go get those sims set up. Just come in whenever you're ready." He enters the simulator then, the door sliding shut behind him.

**Arcee has posed:**
Arcee smiles slightly. "Thanks for thinking so," she tells Hot Rod as Quickswitch prepares to move out, "But I just like making that my goal. If today I did okay, then my goal for next time is to do even better." As Blurr zips into the training room, she chuckles. "Blurr doesn't have time for this. Or anything else," she jokes.

**Quickswitch has posed:**
It's just another day at the Autobot Academy when Quickswitch is entering, or leaving. Around a corner there's a sudden flash of light and a boom, with a terrible shout, 'OUTTA MY WAY!!" and several cadets (including a femme) running down past Arcee and Hot Rod with panicked looks on their faces as they scramble for any doorway.

**Hot Rod has posed:**
"It's not funny," Hot Rod growls at Blurr, "Thousands of people died." Then his expression grows pained and he waves dismissively. "Okay, it's fine, whatever. Just.. don't mention it again. Ever."

 Hot Rod watches Blurr zip into the training room, frowning a little. Then he glances over at Arcee. "Stop trying so hard," he says to Arcee, "no matter what anyone says or thinks, you're good enough, just the way you are. Don't ever change for anyone. Not for Prowl, or.. or anyone. Just be you."

 He startles when he hears the commotion and sees the students running down the hallway, looking for an exit. His brow ridges furrow and he glances in Quickswitch's direction. "Hey uh," he says to Arcee, "You go have fun with Blurr. I'll train with you guys another time. I'm gonna make sure he's gonna be okay," he says, and follows the six changer out.