Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Skyfire, Prowl, Wheeljack, Mirage, Aerialbots and more!
Disclaimer: Not mine, Hasbro's and other people.
Universe: G1
Warning/Content: Interface mention, censorship talk,
Summary: It is discovered that Skyfire possesses a large movie collection from the Golden Days. Here is the reaction from the mechs on board of the Ark.
Author's Note: For the 2013 Fic Trader. This story tries to explore movies and entertainment within the Cybertronian culture. The story deviated from my original idea. More on that in the end notes.
Recipient : HurricaneFoundry The whole fic trade. I forgot to reply on the fic trader journal for the May check-in. So, the fic is a gift for all. I fails :P.
Beta: ayngelcat
Words: 5,500 +
Work Text:
Skyfire wasn't the most sociable 'bot on the Ark. He didn't actively avoid the other crew members, but he never outright sought them out. If people were together in the Rec Room, he would enter, grab a cube of energon, chat for a few moments with those that greeted him, and then slowly retire to the lab or quarters after taking in his meal.
When he entered the Rec Room this time around, certain individuals were getting ready for a movie night, with Spike and Carly preparing the entertainment for the evening. As Spike set up the movie player, Carly got ready to present what the feature was about.
Half-paying attention, Skyfire headed towards the energon dispenser. As it started to fill up, he orbited around the gathered group. They looked so excited about watching the movie. He heard someone express a nostalgic keen that the movie sounded so much like the old Cybertron classic Unknown Fall.
"I have that one" remarked Skyfire absentmindedly to Mirage. He had been the one that had made the comparison between the Unkown Fall and the earth movie.
"I beg your pardon?" inquired Mirage. Skyfire glanced towards the energon dispenser and noticed it wasn't even half-full. Either his portion were amazingly too big or the dispenser had a nozzle issue. He should check it out sometime.
"I have it," repeated Skyfire, removing his thoughts from the dispenser. The shocked face of Mirage was starting him to make him wary. The surrounding mechs were also suddenly paying attention to their conversation, and it made Skyfire slightly uneasy. He continued talking to ease his worry. "Yeah, it was one of the movies I downloaded before my … last expedition."
Mirage seemed to want to say something urgently, but stayed speechless. Instead, Tracks butted his way in. "You wouldn't also have The Last Crook, would you?" he asked with hope in his optics.
"Let me check… Interstellar voyages can be rather long, so I downloaded almost everything that was out before I left." Skyfire hoped that his answer would quell Tracks' desperation, but it didn't deter the other mechs from listening in, with hopeful looks on their faces. Skyfire had an inkling that each and every one would soon request something from his databanks. "Yeah, I've got something by that name."
"Sweet Primus!" Cried Tracks. "We must put it on now!"
"No, I would prefer the Unkown Fall," responded Mirage, his voice having turned argumentative.
"Once I saw this movie. It had an amazing soundtrack, it went – ding, ding, ding zimmer sang. I never learned the title, but that part was awesome. Can you check if you have it?" The request came from Blaster.
"Oh, I know! Find something with Hexadecimal! She was a fantastic actress. Or maybe something with Rivertwist if you guys want something more action heavy?"
"Skyfire, d'you have Thorn's Moon? It was made by the illustrious Recoil-Beat."
"How about a documentary featuring Cybertron's Golden Age?" said someone else.
"Who care what plays! So long as it's from Cybertron!" He didn't know who cried out that last request, because everyone had suddenly started bombarding him. It might have been one of the minibots that was hidden by the larger mechs who were invading his personal space. Everyone had started leaning in and clamouring for something.
The flock seemed to agree with the last all turned their optics towards Skyfire. He had no choice but to agree - it was not like he would refuse anyway. Deciding to take the easy way, he pulled out Unknown Fall from his databanks. It was immediately transferred and the mechs took their places around the projection and settled down.
Everyone fell silent as the first frames appeared on the screen. Even though the movie was a mystery-detective, people grew sad as they watched. The old recorded Cybetronian landscape was hitting them deep within their sparks.
Now, Skyfire felt bad for bringing the movie subject up. He gathered his filled up cube and retreated to his quarters to erase the struck look of the Autobots.
Inside his quarters, Skyfire started to drink down his cube. Picking up a discarded datapad, he started reading. It would help him clear his mind of the situation he had left behind in the Rec Room. He understood their reaction - he'd revealed that he possessed relics from the past that everyone thought were lost.
Skyfire had trouble himself, wrapping his mind over the loss of his home planet. For him, it was still as he left it; even if the current situation had been explained and even shown to him. In fact, it was so hard to swallow that he half denied it.
But the other Autobots had seen their planet suffer and had lived on it until it until it was practically destroyed.
Skyfire sighed, and turned off the pad. He couldn't concentrate on it. The movies he held in his databank felt heavy. He'd never had much interest in them. By habit, whenever he'd left Cybertron for a long expedition, he'd downloaded them even if he'd hardly watched any of them. As he had explained, interstellar travels were long and sometimes he'd used the movies to fill the vacuum of silence around him.
He briefly wondered why the Ark didn't have such a repertoire. Then he remembered that all of the databanks had been used for the war effort. When the Autobots left, their first thought hadn't been the conservation of entertainment, but survival.
As he contemplated what he should do, his comm. link beeped. It was Prowl.
Skyfire took the call apprehensively. A call from the second-in-command was never a good sign. However, this call didn't come with the shrill cry of an urgency siren.
"Skyfire, I'd like you to report to my office," said Prowl, his voice calm and levelled.
"Sure, I'll be there straight away." Skyfire stood up and left his quarters. The hallways were eerily silent, as if everyone was gone. 'Or hanging in the Rec Room,' he mused.
The small trek to Prowl's office was uneventful. He tried to think why he had been called, but part of him knew it was because of the commotion he'd left by sharing the knowledge of his movie collection.
He rang the door chime. The door slid open without any need for him to announce himself.
Prowl was sitting behind his desk, three monitor screens glowing in front of him as his digits flew on the keyboards. He raised his head and nodded to Skyfire to come in. He kept writing as Skyfire approached. Prowl wasn't a mech that could allow himself to waste a second in his day.
When the shuttle stood in front of him, Prowl closed off the monitors and gave Skyfire his full attention.
"Good evening, Skyfire," he greeted politely. Then he got straight down to business. "Do you know why I called you?"
Skyfire ex-vented softly. "It's about the Rec Room, isn't it? The movie night."
"Indeed."
"I'm sorry?" Offered Skyfire, unsure how he should respond in this situation. It wasn't as though he'd committed any crime, but he had left most of the army homesick. An officer was, of course, bound to be bothered by that.
Prowl waived his apology aside. "You did nothing wrong. You simply shared the fact that you possess untold wonders from the time before Cybertron's desecration. I doubt you had any malicious intent behind the act, but I believe that your collection could have been better presented to the crew.
"Right," agreed Skyfire. He partly felt reassured, but he still wondered why he had been called.
"I have called you here to ask you to create order out of this discovery," Prowl said. "Had we enough free space in Teletraan, then I would ask you to download your movie banks there. Sadly, we don't have the resources. And converting the quantity you seem to possess into a human medium would be ridiculous."
Skyfire did a quick calculation of transferring all his movie baggage into VHS format. It wasn't just ridiculous – it was impossible. The Earth just didn't have enough raw materials to create the physical tape necessary for the transfer. Skyfire never realised how vast his collection was. It was hardly noticeable to him.
"So, we need to find an acceptable solution, avoid negative influences and prevent the movies from falling into the wrong hands."
"Wrong hands?" Skyfire cried. "But these are ordinary movies. I doubt the Decepticons could misuse them." Although - now that he thought of it, there was a large part of his collection that belonged to Starscream. His ex-partner hasd always complained about carrying his own material, and begged Skyfire to do it for him.
"Not the Decepticons - the Humans. Although they are our greatest allies, we don't want to share such sensitive information."
Skyfire frowned. "In movies? What could be seen as sensitive information?"
"Consider this, Prowl said. "Weapons – even if dated information to us, are still revolutionary for them. As for advance science – some movies do portray accuracy. Divulging anatomy may reveal our physical weaknesses."
"Then there is Religion," Prowl went on. "Think of the protestation if the humans heard about our theology and how it contradicts all of their knowledge. Finally, think about: Reproduction. Humans are are sensitive when it comes to intimacy within their own race; it would be very difficult for them to understand how we engage in sex and reproduce. Need I say more to elaborate my point?"
Skyfire was a smart mech. He quickly understood Prowl, and felt annoyed by the condescending tone that came at the end. He bristled slightly and asked: "So, none of the movies must fall into human hands."
"Not unless they have passed approval by a committee after careful screening."
"You mean - Censorship," clarified Skyfire with a clipped tone. He never did like the censorship of information.
"Yes."
Skyfire ex-vented. Despite his opposition, he could do that. It was not like he had human friends to call his own.
"You need to be particularly careful to who you lend these movies," Prowl went on. "You especially need to responsibly review what you offer to Bumblebee or Tracks, to be certain nothing dangerous is leaked to their human friends."
"Wait, I'll have to review..?"
"Yes. The committee isn't created yet, and the mechs will want to get their hands on the movies as soon as possible after tonight's taste. Had I the time, I would do it myself. But I have a war to handle."
Skyfire felt insulted. It was said as if he wasn't part of the war. But he kept calm. Prowl probably didn't mean anything by it.
"You're a good mech with seemingly good judgement. Make sure that the younger mechs aren't too influenced by what they see," Prowl said.
"Influenced?" Skyfire dared to ask.
"Yes." Prowl answered simply. Then he elaborated. "Say they watch an epic tale about the Gladiators, where those warriors are tragic heroes. Most of the army know that Megatron participated in those kinds of fight. Let's say that the movie romantically explores such life. They might feel differently about Megatron – might see him as a tragic hero. I do not want to see unexpected propaganda for our enemies through a fabricated tale."
"So, you don't want them to – feel sympathy towards the Decepticon because of a fictional tale..."
"Yes. That's exactly so. Before offering anything, watch it beforehand. If you feel it's acceptable, then you can transfer them a copy. I'd also like a report on everything viewed, why you deemed it acceptable and to who it was given. I'll be sending over guideline to help you in your judgement."
"…" Skyfire held off his comment. He had never had a lot of interaction with Prowl before, but he started to understand why the Twins found him difficult to cope with. He had to remind himself that everything the mech was doing was for the sake of army. Prowl wasn't doing this out of malice as much as he would have liked to believe. So, Skyfire acquiesced to the demand.
"Good. That is all. You may leave." Prowl expected the shuttle to turn away and leave. The second-in-command returned his focus on his monitors and went back to work without a second thought.
Uncomfortable, Skyfire stepped out of the office. It didn't take long before his message box pinged with a new message. It was the guidelines Prowl had mentioned. He guessed he should take a look at it and start working on this new assignment.
He took a glance at it, and clenched his denta together. So much censor.
OoOoOoo
Skyfire was abruptly awakened by his door chime being continuously pounded on. Blearily, he stood up from his recharge berth. He had fallen offline on it without even realising. He had started the triage and tried to watch multiple movies at the same time until they'd lulled him to sleep. So far, from what he checked, only a hand-full of movies could pass Prowl's guidelines.
'Damned guidelines', though Skyfire. They included what Prowl had spoken of: Weapons and technology, anatomy and sexual reproduction, religion… But they went to such ridiculous extremes. For instances, a movie could only be considered romantically admissible if there was a male-looking individual trying to establish a long term relationship with a female-looking individual. If the characters seemed to be the same gender that humans perceived, it had to be removed.
Polyamorous relationships were also banned. And of course, no sexual activity scene could be present in any of them.
If the bell hasn't ringed again, then Skyfire would have started ranting out loud about them. He told himself to dothat later, and opened the door. There stood Mirage with Hound trailing behind him.
"Good morning Skyfire, hope I'm not bothering."
"Well, you did just wake me up," Skyfire answered dryly. Mirage looked uncomfortable and Hound, embarrassed. Skyfire hadn't meant for his words to cause that reaction. He'd meant it as a fact. He shook his head and smiled, as if to pass it off as a joke. "What can I do for you?"
"Ah, well, as you mentioned yesterday that you possessed numerous motion pictures; I was hoping to maybe borrow some? I'd like to show Hound a few classics."
Skyfire wasn't surprised by this demand. He'd expected some today, thought maybe not so early.
"Of course," said Skyfire. "However, Prowl asked me to review everything before lending them. I've got a couple titles that are…" He was going to say 'safe', but his critical mind asked 'safe from what?' So he thought of the best term to use as Mirage patiently waited, "up to Autobot standard."
Mirage frowned, and Hound stood confused. "Autobot standard?" repeated Mirage.
"Yeah, it's … something Prowl wants."
"Oh. Very well then. Do the titles you reviewed contain Dancing Towers or The adventure of the turbofox …?"
Skyfire searched through his databanks. Both titles were there, but he hadn't reviewed them yet. He'd watched Dancing Towers in the past. It was a heavily passionate-based love story between a young Tower Mech and his numerous dancing instructors. He remembered that some scene had sparked controversy because the position the Tower Mech could get into was naturally impossible. Nonetheless, it violated Prowl's guidelines.
For a moment, Skyfire contemplated lying to Mirage, saying that he didn't have it. Instead, he promptly informed the special ops mech that it was not approved according to the Autobot standard.
Mirage stared incredulously up at him. "What? Why not?!"
"There are too many sex scenes."
Mirage tried to wrap his mind around this argument. "How is that a reason?" he protested. "Are they afraid that the Autobots will fall into decadence? Primus, all our interface routines are disabled after all."
That's true, recalled Skyfire. When the energy shortage had started, everyone had turned off their interface drivers to conserve as much energy as possible. Skyfire's own had become disabled when he fell into stasis after crash landing in the ice. Because no one around had them on, it had been easy to forget to activate them.
There was, after all, a time was all of Cybertron had them disabled, and sexual reproduction had been stopped. Vector Sigma had been put in place for that reason. The government at the time had commissioned raunchy movies like , Dancing Towers, to stimulate the population into reactivating their sexual protocols. It had helped the population remember how enjoyable sex is and to restabilise the demography.
"Sorry. Honestly, I find Prowl's attitude a bit absurd," Skyfire confessed. "I'll look into the other movie to see if it complies with the guidelines."
"No, don't trouble yourself," said Mirage. "I've got another idea what to do for the day."
He smiled mischievously, and took Hound's hand. As he moved out of Skyfire's view, the shuttle wondered what suddenly went through the noblemech's head. He sensed it would be disreputable. Luckily, he would have had nothing to do with it; after all he hadn't provided anything that could have influenced Mirage in any way.
Seeing as he was now up, Skyfire decided to head to the labs to work on the reviews. Being in the workplace would help him stay online.
"Oh, Skyfire, just the mech I wanted to see. Tell me you've got a copy of Science: Interrobang!" Wheeljack asked the moment Skyfire stepped in the lab.
Skyfire didn't have to check for that movie. He had it, and had watched it numerous times in the past. It was mock-documentary about deep science. Everyone that had spent at least a Vorn in an academy knew of this film. Mainstream audience had never understood why it held such a cult following with the science orientated mechs. They found it boring and absurd. Only one who knew the theories would 'get' the humour.
"I do actually," Skyfire started to say. He knew by Wheeljack's flashing earfins that he was going to be asked to lend him the movie. But he couldn't, because of Prowl's damned guidelines. It tore his spark to disappoint his friend.
"Fantastic! I've been dying to see it again-"
"Sorry Wheeljack," Skyfire swiftly interrupted before the other mech got his hopes up. "I can't lend it to you."
"Wha..? Come on, you gotta be kindin' me right? What did I ever do to you?" protested Wheeljack, insulted by Skyfire's refusal. Skyfire sighed and summoned a holographic image above his arm of the guidelines Prowl sent. Each viewing seemed to add more rules.
He lowered his arm to Wheeljack's optics and highlighted the section that banned scientific movies.
"That's nonsense!" Wheeljack protested again.
"I know," agreed a disheartened Skyfire.
"Total trash! What the pit are those guidelines?!"
"Prowl would like that I follow those rules until a committee is formed to officially review the movies before they are offered to the crew. In the meantime, he would like that I follow these until said committee is formed."
This calmed Wheeljack down a bit. It didn't relieve Skyfire all that much though.
"Okay, okay," said Wheeljack "Makes senses. When's the committee getting set up? Who's gonna be on it?"
Skyfire shrugged. "From what I managed to gather, the committee is a very low priority, so maybe it'll take a few years until everything is reviewed. And Prowl' probably will be the head of it– controlling veto right and everything."
Wheeljack hissed from Skyfire's premonition. "You ain't serious, are ya?"
Skyfire shrugged again. "I hope I'm just being pessimistic."
Wheeljack looked at the guideline list again. "What's this part..?! ,There must be no mention of Praxus under any circumstances? ,"
"He must've added that recently. Guess he doesn't want Bluestreak upset."
"This is utter sewage!"
"I know," agreed Skyfire. Having Wheeljack loudly rant in his stead was starting to make Skyfire better. Not that he enjoyed seeing his friend upset. But it was more like his anger at the situation was being vented out as Wheeljack's fins flashed red.
"You'd better not be following all this load!" warned Wheeljack as he angrily strutted around the lab.
"Well, they are direct orders."
"Smelter! So ya ain't going to lend me Science: Interrobang?"
"No, sorry I can't lend it." An idea formed in Skyfire's processor as he said those words. "However," Skyfire started – and then waited while Wheeljack cursed up a storm. "However," he started again after Wheeljack payed attention to him. "I have to review all the movies before they are banned. I was thinking – maybe I could do this task here. On that monitor. Right. There."
Wheeljack followed Skyfire's pointing finger towards the small screen in the corner of the room. The earfins flashed a merry yellow.
"Far be it for me to stop you in your work Skyfire, my good mech. I'll gladly let you work in the lab and use the monitor. Right. There."
"Good," said Skyfire. "Pull up a chair and help me with the review, then. I think I could use a second opinion,after all."
"Of course, of course. I'm glad to help!" Wheeljack sat down seriously, and got ready for the most important movie watching session of his life. His field buzzed giddily when the first flicker appeared on screen.
Skyfire didn't feel any guilt from using this loophole into Prowl's order. He even felt rather proud. The guidelines were useless in his opinion. And he never did like censorship to protect the innocent.
The next mech that came up to Skyfire about a movie was Smokescreen. He didn't start his conversation about movies, but Skyfire could guess that was why the Praxian had sought out his company. They'd only exchanged greetings in the past, or a polite decline - in Skyfire's case - to participate in a gambling game.
Smokescreen maintained a charming smile as they spoke; and he was doing most of the talking, continuing as Skyfire nodded in agreement. It was obvious that Smokescreen had heard about the guidelines; maybe he had spoken to Mirage or even to Prowl himself. It didn't deter him, however.
As Smokescreen went on, he dropped hints about different movies. Skyfire pretended to not understand the reference, thus avoiding being the one offering to lend the titles. If Smokescreen wanted a movie, he should straight up ask for it. It would probably be in the banned section anyway, consideringthe type of movie that Smokescreen was trying to obtain.
Skyfire might have felt guilty about stringing Smokescreen along for the past hour. But the company was pleasant and, if he was honest with himself, it made him feel better making someone annoyed because he himself was in a frustrating situation. Of course, that was starting to wear off now.
"So, d'you think it might be possible, to … y'know?"
"Look, Smokescreen," Skyfire said, "I'm sorry, but I can't give you anything you're asking for."
"Huh? But I'm not really asking anything Skyfire," Smokescreen gave a nervous chuckle. "We were just having a nice conversation. And who knows, maybe certain favours could be... exchanged?" A large smile, a wink and a nudge tried to convince Skyfire. It failed.
"Sorry. No," declared Skyfire a bit harshly. Throwing his hands up in defeat, Smokescreen stepped away.
"Oh, no harm done," he answered pleasantly. "If you ever change your mind, I'm way up for negotiations."
"Very well," Skyfire answered, giving a tired sigh and nod.
"I'll be seeing you around then, big guy." Smokescreen patted the shuttle's large arm before removing himself with a skip and a whistle. Skyfire found that strange, and for a moment he wondered if Smokescreen had attempted a sleight of hand and hacked something in the movie database.
But he found no trace of an infraction. It must be time to retire for the evening; he had done a lot of movie reviews, and his mind felt numb with the simple and repetitive plots. It was lucky that Wheeljack had kept him company and helped him set up a triage.
Before heading to his quarters, Skyfire took a detour to the Rec Room to gather his evening rations. The mechs seemed to have put in a continuously loop whereby played the first – and only - movie that had left his repertoire.
Skyfire tried to be subtle as he reached the dispenser, but whereas before he never got a second glance when he went to retrieve his evening ration, now he was immediately noticed. Now, it seemed, everyone was keeping track of his steps like they were wondering who would stand up and ask for another movie.
It was Bluestreak that finally came to his side.
"Hi Skyfire!" He greeted enthusiastically.
"Hello Bluestreak," Skyfire was not in a good mood for a conversation. Thus, he only gave a curt greeting and didn't ask how the other was feeling. Not that this would have stopped Bluestreak from pursuing a conversation.
"I really enjoyed Unknown Fall."
"That's nice."
"It's the first Cybertronian movie I got to see!" The young mech exclaimed. The words twisted Skyfire's spark. Somehow, keeping all of the movies because of Prowl's stupid rule left a bitter taste in his mouth. "I was wondering if you had anything else you could lend? I'm not picky. Just anything will do." Bluestreak smiled up eagerly, his optics shining brightly with hope.
Sadly, with all the guidelines Prowl gave, none of the movies he reviewed could be acceptable. Also, if Prowl had put in place a specific rule to protect Bluestreak from seeing anything from Praxus, Skyfire wondered what punishment he would get from the second-in-command if he were to show something inappropriate.
However, the cute and talkative mech's pleading eyes were overriding Skyfire's sense of self-preservation. He gave a wry smile. "I've got … something," he answered. "But…" Bluestreak perked up, "but, DON'T share it with the others, alright?"
"Huh, but why…?" Bluestreak looked puzzled.
"It's... It's... Oh, never mind." Skyfire felt unable to disappoint the youngster. "Show it to whoever you like." He picked from his databank a movie that almost made the cut. But then he remembered that the sudden passionate interface scene at the end had put it straight in the banned pile.
He recalled that Wheeljack was the one to place that movie there; Skyfire had remembered watching it in the past and had been ready to put it in the 'okay' pile without reviewing the ending. Wheeljack had been engrossed during the watching, and had wanted to finish it. It was then that he had cheekily informed Skyfire that it failed one criterion.
The news had only made Skyfire's already morose day worse.
"What's wrong?," asked a concerned and confused Bluestreak.
"Nothing, I'll – er - deal with the consequences. Have fun, alright?"
Bluestreak felt uncertain in accepting the chip with the movie. But the glances from the rest of the room soon renewed his eagerness. "Thanks Skyfire!"
"It's nothing." Skyfire waved. Picking up his energon cube, he retreated to the hallways, pleading to Primus not to encounter another mech until he could isolate himself in his quarters.
Primus, did not answer his prayer. Awaiting him down the hall were the Aerialbots. When they saw him come near, they pushed Silverbolt forward with murmured encouragements of 'ask him' and 'come on'. Skyfire did a pre-emptive sigh, but greeted the Air Commander nicely. He liked Silverbolt. It wasn't the mech's fault that his brothers were badgering him to bother Skyfire about the movies.
"Hi Skyfire," welcomed Silverbolt. Half of the other Aerialbots tried to act aloof, whilst the others giddily waited for the interaction.
"Hello Silverbolt, how are you?" Skyfire attempted to make awkward small talk.
"Fine, thank you. And you?"
"Oh, all right. But, I'm constantly being bothered about lending movies," pointed out Skyfire - making the situation more awkward. It didn't work. For a second, he thought that maybe Silverbolt would back down from asking a title. But the turbo-puppy optics his brothers gave when he tried to turn away made him press forward with his request.
"That's a shame… And, I'm sorry to ask, but we would be interested in seeing some that you have."
"Of course," nodded Skyfire, unsurprised. "Which ones?"
"We.. don't know. We don't know what was made before we were created. We hoped that watching stories made before our time would… I don't know, connect us more?"
"Oh," Skyfire said. That was actually a very good reason.
"And anything with flight manoeuvres would be greatly appreciated. If we can study some, it'll improve our battle skills, I'm sure." Added Silverbolt.
"With Seekers!" piped up one of the brothers in the background.
Skyfire didn't even bother to check Prowl's list. He knew it was banned. Still, he pulled out a file that he knew would please the Aerialbots. It was Starscream's folder that contained exactly that they desired. Flight competitions, world records as well as the widely acclaimed Game of the Sky Throne.
That was a powerful adaptation of what had been, at the time the bestselling fictional publication on Cybertron. It was about an antiquated Seeker society with fantasy elements thrown around. Not to mention the gratuitous interfacing scene that gave Seekers their reputation. Starscream had been a great fan of the series.
Skyfire wasted no time in giving Silverbolt a copy of the full folder. He didn't want to sift through it. The faster it was transferred, the faster he could forget about Starscream's belongings in his memory drive.
Silverbolt thanked Skyfire. He seemed concerned by the sudden mood shift, but his brothers clamoured around him, preventing him from saying any more to the shuttle. Skyfire took the opportunity to move away and find an alternate route to seek refuge in his quarters.
However, as he turned the corner, there stood Optimus Prime at the other end motioning to him that he would like to speak.
Skyfire sighed, and headed towards the leader of the Autobots. His spark flitted slightly, partly guilt for his actions and partly nervousness from being in the Prime's presence. When he came near, he calmed down; feeling the soothing and warm field that Optimus was exuding.
"Good evening Prime, sir."
"Good evening Skyfire. No need to stand to attention. I've come to request a favour."
If this was for transportation, then Skyfire was readily available once he finished his energon cube. But, from the enthusiasm that came from Optimus' field he feared that like other mech, Optimus would ask for a movie he wouldn't be able to provide.
Then, Skyfire thought for a second; Optimus outranked Prowl. Whatever he wanted, he could take. Optimus could even be his answer to avoid Prowl's censorship.
"What can I do for you, Optimus?" Skyfire asked slightly more eager than before with helping the Prime.
"I have heard that you possess a vast collection of videos from Cybertron. Do you have a live recording of the Hymn?"
The Hymn was a song that would always play during religious precession. It lasted for hours and recounted the key events in the Covenant of Primus. It was awe inspiring music, with the minor falls and major lifts at the right timing. It was divine to witness in person such a performance. Sadly, all the Cantors were long gone. Skyfire might be the only one left with a version.
The Hymn was in Prowl's forbidden list – as too religious.
"I do have a version… several in fact," he confessed. "However," he left the sentence hanging trying to find the right way to express himself. Wrongly said, Optimus might sacrifice his need and agree with his second-in-command, and not lift the censorship.
"However…?" Optimus pressed gently.
"It's been black listed by Prowl. Of course, if I tell him that you're the one that requested it, it should be alright. But you mustn't share it with anyone."
Optimus tilted his head in confusion. Skyfire took it as his cue to continue. "Not everyone is allowed to watch it. Just like the other items in the list." He supplied the list to Optimus, guessing that the leader's next question might be to see this. Optimus frowned at it, seeming at a loss when it came to certain titles.
"Prowl gave you this to follow?"
"Yes sir."
"But, why?" Optimus asked, trying to understand the reasoning his second-in-command had. Skyfire truthfully told him what Prowl had said the other day.
"I honestly don't believe in censorship, Optimus," confided Skyfire. "I believe that people should be allowed to make their own decision in regards to what they want to watch."
"Indeed," intoned Optimus as he skimmed through the long list. Skyfire felt that Optimus would take his opinion into account and would have a conversation with his second-in-command. The most Skyfire could hope for would be more accommodating rules. He took out a datachip with a simple version of the Hymn.
"Here's a copy."
"Thank you. I'll have a word with Prowl. This list blocks most interesting cultural knowledge. It would do some good to everyone to view their origins."
"Oh, thank you, Optimus," returned Skyfire to his leader. "Actually - I might have already leaked a few movies out that could cause me some trouble with him."
"I do not condone disobeying orders from superiors," chided Optimus.
"I meant no wrong from it," defended Skyfire, feeling ashamed by Optimus' gentle reprimand. "It was getting difficult to refuse with reasons I did not believe in."
Optimus nodded in understanding. "I see. Please do keep to his demands until everything is dealt with."
"Of course."
Optimus bid him a good evening, allowing Skyfire to retreat to his quarters.
OoOoOo
After an excruciating two days of dodging most mechs and refusing movies to those that cornered him, Skyfire received an updated version of Prowl's banned list. It seemed that Optimus had managed a compromise. There were still some titles that couldn't be lent, but at least the allowed movies were more numerous now than the other way around.
And movies with sex scenes proved most popular; however, given that demand for these greatly exceeded supplies, most mechs decided to enable their interface drivers, turning to the real thing when they couldn't get their servos on screen images of sex.
Skyfire had to not only dodge the movie request, but also interface pings. He gladly accepted his week's punishment in the brig for disobeying Prowl's order.
Notes: My mind wanted to make a bigger fic, but time made me limit it. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, mechs started turning on their interface drivers when they remembered that sex exists because of the movies. But I felt bad turning the fic too much into smut when I started rather Gen about it, and had trouble to correctly insert it. And, I felt it distracted too much from the movie focus. So there's nothing on-screen. Just minor hints like Mirage dragging Hound to turn on their interface drive. And Smokescreen was actually flirting with Skyfire for a tumble –not a movie. I also wanted a scene with Perceptor trying to get laid with Skyfire; but I cut that out. And of course, the Aerialbots all turned theirs on after watching Game of the Sky Throne. Most of them would go and pursue Seekers in a fictitious courting ritual, whereas Silverbolt would use the fictitious courtship on Skyfire. With hilarious results.
I hope you enjoyed the read. Please review!