Not Plans

Moonlight hasn't been seen around much lately. But, when you're a smuggler, not being seen is a good thing. Really. Every so often stuff just kinda SHOWS up. But this time, Moonlight herself is here, perhaps just to touch base. Either way, she's looking for Hot Rod.

Hot Rod's hard to miss, between his volume and his paint: "--HOW many bombs?" He's hanging outside Flareup's door, as though that weren't easy to guess from the word 'bomb'. He looks somewhere between appalled and impressed, and also very, very thoughtful. "Well. Don't make any more for a bit, okay? I need to think about that." The door nearly snaps shut on his fingers as he turns to leave. Flareup sends some sharp words in his wake. HOW DARE HE TELL HER NOT TO MAKE BOMBS, etc.

"Things running smoothly as always, hm?" Moonlight says as she comes upon Hot Rod having an arguement with Flareup's door. "Do you ever wonder sometimes how you got caught up in all this?" she asks, gesturing widely with her arms to indicate the whole 'rebel' thing.

"Every day, every night, and most hours of the day." Hot Rod says it cheerfully enough, projecting enough laughter to make even a death sentence a joke, but his gaze suggests honest bewilderment somewhere beneath it all. The grin he gives her is honest, however, as he paces back in the direction of the common areas. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts already. Whirl lasted at least twice as long before he went Autobot on us."

"Not in the least bit. I'm pretty comfortable where I stand. But, you seem a bit free spirited to be trying to organize anything, to be honest," Moonlight says, holding up her hands, in a 'no offense' gesture. Despite that, she's grinning as well. "That Whirl is quite the character though. I'm pretty sure you meant him when you said that I couldn't be as inappropriate as the last guy." She shakes her head a few times. "Kinda makes me wonder why he split; he seems to fit here more than with the shiny reds."

"That'd be him. He's not a bad guy, although he'd probably get mad at me for saying so." Hot Rod drops into a seat on an old, battered couch as they reach the common room. His posture is slouchish, yet expansive, perfectly comfortable in and in control of his space. "He's got his reasons. I might not agree, but it's his choice to make. So if you're not off to follow in his footsteps, what's up?"

"Nothing really. Just touching base, making sure things are alright...ish. Had a few bad days there when you were at the mercy of those thugs, eh?" Moonlight leans herself up against a wall so that she's facing Hot Rod. "You've got the damnedst luck, which is another reason I'm inclined to stick it out. Luck seeks out luck, and I've had my fair share of narrow escapes."

Hot Rod smiles and gestures at his slightly scorched paint. "Hammer out the dents, buff the scratches and I'm good to go again. It's not that I try to rely on luck--" Amid the many lies being told on Cybertron at the moment, this sentence deserves a place for consideration of the biggest lie of the moment. "--but I appreciate it. It's weird. The cops being gone -- you'd think things would be better, you know? It's not like they were actually doing any real /law enforcement/. They barely had a presence except to harass people. But maybe that's it. They weren't really here, so it doesn't feel that different without them. It's not like the Autobots are gone and the Senate's suddenly kind, after all."

Moonlight nods. "Well, I hate to say it, but you just might need a plan," she says slowly. "Cities are run on a certain amount of order; the can't exist without it when they get to a certain size." She idly runs a finger along the brim of her hat. "Now in a small group, where you know everyone, you can run on trust, an honor system, that sort of thing. But a city is big and full of strangers. It's easier to be selfish in that situation. Which is why there needs to be rules." She shrugs. "It sucks really, but them's the breaks."

Hastily holding his hands up, Hot Rod says, "I'm not -- I'm /really/ not running a city. No no no no no. No. Definitely not. I'm not even -- I'm not trying to have us take over law enforcement. I mean, for one, I'm not enforcing the Senate's laws. And for two -- I don't know, I think the first point was pretty good. Nyon's got a civil government. Senator. Whatever. I mean, they might not give a scrap, or even /help/, but at least they keep the lights on." Dropping his hands, he drums his fingers on the arm of the couch. "But I have been working with some other neighborhood leaders to make sure they've got like, neighborhood watches set up. Just because the cops never helped before doesn't mean that there won't still be people trying to take advantage of it."

Moonlight ahhs. "So you do have a plan then. Because there's no point in chasing out the bad guys if you just let more stomp on through. Networking is good, and /you/ don't have to do much more than be your own charming self and talk to people," she says. "Besides, you're not in a position to /run/ the city anyhow. As you said, there's already all that junk in place."

"Sort of. I mean, it's not like I really have a plan-/plan/ but it made sense, so that's what I've been doing," says Hot Rod with a rather too easygoing manner. "But if you've got ideas...?" He trails off with another gesture, turning his hand palm up. He's open to alternatives. "Things mostly work best when I find other people to do things." He flashes a grin, and says, "Networking. Delegating. I can totally handle charm and talk, but when we get into planning, that's when I look for someone else to do it."

Moonlight nods her head. "Well, I can't say I've ever had to lead anyone either, so I'm not in much of a better place than you. But I also know that to break the rules, you have to know what they are. And a lot of that comes from observing others." She shrugs. "You need to find yourself a good planner. Sort through the people of the city, and see who else has enough fire to do something about what's going on. Some of the miner folks, if they've been foremen or anything, they'd know a bit about planning. Or someone who manages in a factory. Things like that."

"Mm. I've done some of that. Reached out, talked to people. Most of the people in Nyon with fire to do something pack up and head for Kaon," Hot Rod admits with a faintly bitter echo to his words. "They don't want to stay here and help in a small way when they can join the Decepticons and change the world. Except the only way we /can/ change the world /is/ by starting small, I think. So I try to show them that. Just what do you think we're supposed to be planning, anyway? Like you said, running the city is a little--." He breaks off and gestures.

Moonlight purses her lips together. "That's a good question. I would just say support systems. Tally up who can do what, what skills they have and how much they're willing to use them. Who has access to what supplies? I don't know much about the local Senator and what he's about." She sighs. "But with the police mostly gone, maybe there are others who would like to come here from other cities, just as some people from here moved on to Kaon. I could nose around some other places and see what I can come up with..."

"Yeah. That and getting clinics set up has been pretty important. And keeping them supplied once up," Hot Rod adds. "Especially since most of them are unlicensed." He rolls his eyes in a broadly exasperated expression. "Just because they can't buy their way into exemption doesn't mean some of those medics aren't as good as any." Thoughtfully, he says, "I don't know who the Senator is." Then he dismisses the thought with a shake of his head. "But we're better off as far off radar as we can get. The S.C.U. thing has been terrible for that. Makes it hard to get things done when we're spending half our time on the run. We need to get Nyon stable before inviting people in, unless you're talking about highly skilled people, like medics or whatever. I mean -- we're always open to people. We might be taking in a pack of Velocitronians. But going look for refugees? Dangerous."

"I did mean skilled individuals in general, yes," Moonlight says. "Because it's what you need. The more folks you have that can do something to stabilize things, the sooner you can help others." She shrugs. "I don't know much about the Velocitornians personally, though I've heard about how they elect a leader. It's a bit strange, but, no weirder than any other place. How many do you think you'll be taking in?"

Hot Rod looks momentarily thoughtful, then suspicious. Mock-suspicious. Half-mock-suspicious, half-real-suspicious. "You're just trying to trick me into planning for a whole city again." He waves his hand and says, "Not more than a couple of hundred. It sounds like a lot, but they'll be good for smuggling so they should be able to support themselves pretty well. Fast, you know."

Moonlight has a full, long laugh at that. "No, no. Just going through things out loud to see what information pops out of you. You don't have to /do/ a thing as long as people get pointed in the right direction. You've got to remember, you're a native and I'm not, so there's a lot of stuff you know that you wouldn't think is important that just might be. Stuff you take for granted."

Regarding Moonlight somewhat doubtfully, Hot Rod slowly says, "Yeah, I guess. I don't really know what the people in other neighborhoods might be looking for. Although everyone always says medics. The real problem's energon, though. I mean, it always is, right? Maybe frame engineers that can help make people more fuel-efficient would help, too." He looks briefly guilty. He is so inefficient.

Moonlight smiles at Hot Rod. "Tell me again what it was you were supposed to be doing according to the Almighty Bosses With Their Heads Up Their Afts again," she says.

"Uhm, terrorism?" Hot Rod looks a bit vague on this topic, and then says, "Generally being a criminal, I guess. I think the Autobots still have it out for me. A--I haven't heard otherwise, anyway." He hiccups past the name so smoothly. "It seems to me like terrorism should involve way more blowing up government buildings and a lot less talking about rationing energon supplies and teaching self-defense, but what do I know. Self-defense probably is terrorism."

Moonlight shakes her head. "I meant the functionists. What did they say you were supposedly born to do?" she clarifies, leaning forward.

Hot Rod smiles. It's a little sharp. "Like that even matters." He hesitates, but it's not actually like it's that much of a secret. HE JUST HAS MORAL OBJECTIONS TO FUNCTIONISM. "Push boxes around. Run boxes around. I'm labor caste. Had a couple courier jobs. Before all of this. Why?"

Moonlight grins and jabs a finger in the mech's direction. "Because, you're NOT doing those things," she says. "The government didn't give you a single thing to help you do this, and you're doing it anyhow. You're breaking that mold." She paces a little bit. "What we really should be doing is pooling knoweldge as well. Anyone who has anything to teach should be teaching it to anyone who is willing to learn. Really stick it to that functionist nonsense. It's not violent, and in many different societies, it would even be considered a noble ambition...to better one's self."

"Huh. I hadn't thought about it from that angle." As Hot Rod does, the excitement visibly grows. "I mean teaching people to fight back, sure. Of course. Makes sense. But teaching other things? Train up our own medics, our own engineers. A lot of people won't want in since it's illegal, but if enough do--." He breaks off, gaze scanning the far wall as he allows his imagination to expand on the idea. "Funny to think that other place actually approve of that, given the way the Functionists punish people for it."

"No one should be considered expendable or obsolete because their form isn't popular. People being armed with skills and knowledge means they can disappear and find somewhere else to fit in," Moonlight says. "I mean, I can see why the goverment wouldn't want people physically fighting them, but it just shows how petty they are if they don't let people learn new skills. It can only make them look bad."

Hot Rod's voice is warm with enthusiasm as he says, "Yeah, it makes sense. I've helped more than a few disposables get full-frame rebuilds, too. Even before the YXes." He looks thoughtful as he says, "Kind of funny that it is such a big threat to them. I wouldn't say I took it for granted, exactly, but it's not something I thought about much. I know Nautica will help teach. Keep an eye out for people who seem like they've got something to teach, yeah? And make sure their spark is in the right place. /That/ is what we really need to bring to Nyon."

Moonlight tips her hat to Hot Rod. "Anyhow, I'd best get a move on. Not a lot of time to sit and chat for too long; after all, the world is hanging by a thread, right?" She winks and turns to leave. "Just keep doing what you've been doing and things will sort themselves out with a nudge here and a poke there."

"You nudge, I'll poke." Hot Rod unfolds himself from his seat to spring back upright. His gaze slides past her hat to meet her wink with a smile. If he ignores the hat, he can pretend it doesn't exist. "It's a good thought. Thanks."