psl.

[theycalledmeacurse]

the mutant and the machine.

Comments

[redcosmedic]

"Yes?" Knock Out agrees quizzically, not understanding the source of her confusion. "I told you that the day we met. It's not the same as—"

He stops, mentally replaying his last remark back to himself, and then ex-vents a loud, exasperated huff. "Primus save me from languages without modifiers. English really does just tack any random suffix onto a word and call it a day, doesn't it? Where is that phone we bought? I have an idea."

While she retrieves the cell, Knock Out offers a heavily condensed explanation. "Velocitron was one of Cybertron's colony worlds. A cyberformed planet, given its own Well of Sparks, pioneered by the Titan-class mech called Navitas."

When she returns with the phone, he takes it and connects it to a cable that snakes out from beneath his plating — the same one that he uses to charge the device while he was in vehicle mode. Whatever he does isn't visible, but when he hands it back to Rogue, there is a new program on the screen.

"All right, let's try this. My species is Cybertronian," he begins, and an alien glyph immediately pops up on the phone's screen. Underneath it offers an English set of translations: species/order[taxonomy]/identification[personal/collective].

"My 'nationality', if you will, is Velocitronian," he continues, and the phone displays a new glyph along with subspecies/genus[taxonomy]/identification[personal/collective]. "Though Velocitronians are physically distinct from homeworld Cybertronians—" The glyphs change again to accommodate. Every time he uses the words in a different context, the glyphs update accordingly, even though in English, it's the same spoken term.

"However I immigrated to Cybertron, so my residency status is legally Cybertronian... you see where we start running into a problem in English?" he deadpans.

[theycalledmeacurse]

Confusing. Fascinating. Mind-boggling. What she witnesses on the phone display in those few minutes is all of those things and more. So much more. She takes in the examples he gives and the way the glyphs change as the meaning changes and it astounds her. When he finally finishes, she just looks up at him with awe etched into her expression.

"Is everything you say like this?" she asks him, gesturing with the phone. "Have I just been missing half of what you mean all this time?"

[redcosmedic]

"Yes," Knock Out replies with a faint shrug. And then, realizing that seems a little rude in its bluntness, he amends, "But not intentionally, I know that. I try to mind what I say and how I say it."

He considers for a moment, then elaborates his explanation. Like his subspace, this was something he never really thought about explaining before, but a little extra information wouldn't hurt. "Mecha have EM fields... think of it like very localized wifi, open to anyone within range. Our language is comprised of two halves. The spoken element, which broadly includes four categories: tones, clicks, trills, and vocalizations, and the broadcast glyphic element, used for modifiers or short burst communications. It's our 'tone of voice' in a way, and any singular spoken word could be tagged with dozens of potential modifiers."

He grasps for an easy example, nodding at the phone so that she knows to watch the screen again. "To say 'good morning' to someone but tag it like this--" On the screen, a new shape and the translation of afternoon[time]/misrepresentation[deliberate]/humour beneath. "--Means it's probably afternoon, and you're pointing out that they slept in."

Knock Out picks up another circuit and begins attaching it in place on the scanner. "Humans don't have EM fields, so there's nothing for me to project to. So perhaps the phone will help bridge the gap."

[theycalledmeacurse]

There are some times when she genuinely forgets that Knock Out isn't from Earth. She never forgets that he isn't human, that would be pretty impossible considering he's made of metal and can turn into a car, but she's so used to mutants who seem inhuman that he could easily be one of them. But then moments like these occur and she is reminded of their startling differences.

Looking down at the phone in her hands, she's quiet for a moment before wrapping her arms around herself. "Thank you for explaining it to me, sugar," she tells him with sincerity. "And for putting this together so I can understand you better. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me."

She's always tried so hard to understand the people she cares about, to fully grasp who they are and what's important to them. The fact that she's been missing so much of Knock Out before now... It weighs heavily on her heart.

[redcosmedic]

Rogue may not have an EM field, but she does have expressive body language for the most part. While her words are genuine, her movements tell him something's still bothering her.

"... that's not all, is it," he says, a little less question and a little more statement.

[theycalledmeacurse]

Her mouth opens to reply and then closes again, the protest dying before it's lived. She hadn't expected him to pick up on anything but he's surprised her, calling her out on something apparently quite obvious.

After a few moments of silence, she shrugs, visibly unsettled by the subject. "I feel guilty," she explains, "for having missed so much all this time. I've always tried hard to understand you, and now it turns out I never really stood a chance at it."

She feels guilty for it, and sad... and small.

[redcosmedic]

Knock Out finally stops what he's doing to give Rogue his full attention, expression a mix of consternation and compassion. "You shouldn't. We're not the same. You don't hold me to human standards, why would I hold you to a mecha one? As long as we're finding a middle ground, we're doing all right."

Her phone chirps sincerity/emphasis/reassurance in glyphs, even as Knock Out's tone softens further. "And you do understand me, Rogue. Moreso than I'd have ever expected from someone else. I'm grateful for it."

[theycalledmeacurse]

Glancing down to see the glyphs that pass on her phone, she can't help the smile as he offers her a sweet assurance. The words are a balm to her soul and she's so grateful that he's shared them with her.

"You mean a lot to me, Knock Out," she tells him in turn, meaning every word sincerely. "Thank you for letting me have the chance to understand you."

But do you understand me?

It's a question she wants so badly to ask, the words on her lips but refusing to budge further than that. Because she knows the answer and to hear him confirm it... All she's ever wanted in life is for someone to understand and accept her for who she is, but it's a gift she's always been denied. Even now, when she's given so much to help so many, she's still the outcast kept from that most basic human desire.

Determined not to let her mood falter and dip into darkness, she stretches her arms above her head, arching her back... and changes the subject. "I was thinking of making some coffee, I still feel kinda out of it."

[redcosmedic]

"Coffee sounds like a good idea," he answers, and his smile turns impish as he returns to his tools for the scanner.

Red optics glint with mirth as he adds, "Good to know that I can still impress. Who knew certain techniques would translate so well?"

[theycalledmeacurse]

The second she sees that smile change, she knows it's coming. Not how, exactly, but she knows without a doubt that the teasing will follow in 3... 2... And he does not disappoint.

"I meant from the nap!" she informs him with mock outrage, trying and failing to hide her smile before she turns to head for the kitchen. Before she's out of range, she 'mutters' loudly enough for him to hear, "Ridiculous alien..."

[redcosmedic]

Knock Out's laughter trails after her to the kitchen, his hearing having no problem picking up her words. His frame felt light and pleasantly relaxed, and Rogue's good-humored reply has him settled that things are balanced between them again. It was such a contrast from her disjointed, unnerving vacancy during the incident leading up to Cerebro's opening — as if the two states couldn't exist in the same space.

His fuel tank pings him sullenly, cycling on empty volume; he ignores it. He knows he's pinning his hopes on the two potential mine locations in more western states, but he's otherwise out of options. If the scanner didn't yield anything...

Well, he'd cross that bridge if it came.