Note: Autocon-Leader and I talk over this one rather often. It always brings laughter. This is pure comedic relief. Hope you enjoy the odd things my brain does…
Mechanical Pets
One: Meeting Misha
The strawberry-blonde sighed, looking at the lone rosy tarantula in the clear plastic tank. Of course this would happen! Of course the grey one would scuttle off! "One thing for it, then." She said, picking up the tank by the handle, "Gotta go an' find him." And so that's how she left her house, the plastic tank thumping gently against her knee, the pink-furred spider within watching the world through its eight eyes.
…..
"What is that?" Preceptor said aloud, looking down at the strange, grey, furry, eight-legged creature crawling across the floor of his lab. It looked like a large specimen of the creature humans classified as a spider, an arachnid. The scientist carefully scooped up the small (to him) animal, looking at it. The spider crouched calmly in his palm. He could only see two large black eyes that he was certain were looking at him, even though it was known that arachnids had a specific design. Eight legs, check; two body segments, check; pincers for holding and paralyzing prey, check; eight eyes, most likely check, but Perceptor figured the other six were too small for him to see.
"You don't spin webs, do you?" he said softly, trying to see the back end of his new fascination. "I don't see any spinnerets…are you a male, then?" He was trying to figure out this interesting creature. And it was such an amazing one! The design of its body was just as functional as any other animal on Earth, or plants, for that matter. The creatures looked the way they did due to what they ate, how they got it, and what enemies they had and their personal defenses. Spiders were one of the creatures Perceptor couldn't get a good look at, since humans tended to either be afraid of them, or they'd crush them underfoot.
"Such an amazing creature!" Perceptor murmured to himself, wanting to study this spider for hours. Naturally, it would be a carnivore, like the other spiders of this planet, but what sort of meat would it go for? And why did it have fur?
…..
Misha, the blonde holding the tank, looked up at the wide, square opening in the side of the dormant volcano. "Well, it seems like a tarantula-friendly place…I wonder how he got this far…" She stepped into the opening, noticing the sudden dryness that touched her skin, the subtle change in temperature. "Yep…feels like home to a fuzzy tarantula." She nodded, then checked on the pink-furred one. The rosy one was scuttling back and forth in the tank, almost like it was…pacing.
The young woman started forward again, her sneakers making the slightest of squeaks on the floor as she ventured further in. She tried to listen past the soft thumps her new pet made as its fuzzy body hit the sides of the tank. "Stop that!" she scolded, lifting the tank to eye-level. Two huge, black eyes gazed back, the smaller six ranged around the little head so that the tarantula could observe 360-degrees of its world at all times. "Don't you worry, we'll find 'im before the sun sets."She assured the pink spider that had stilled in the tank, crouched in the plastic box. Misha smiled at the arachnid before heading further into the strange, dry place.
The hallway she was walking down was huge, but Misha was rather small for her age, standing at a mere five-foot-three-inches. What would be big enough to need a space so large? An elephant maybe. But elephants were found in Africa, India, and zoos. And the occasional Renaissance Faire. Not way out here, under a long-inactive volcano! "This…is really weird." She said aloud, flinching slightly at how loud her voice sounded, bouncing off the metallic walls around her. She paused, her fingers tightening around the handle of the tank. It's still possible he could be here… she thought, not willing to speak aloud again.
…..
Perceptor looked up as a faint echo reached his audio receptors. After listening, and hearing no more, he went right back to studying the spider. After doing some looking on the Internet, he found out that this particular breed was called a 'tarantula' and were kept as pets in this area of the world. Further to the south, in the desert, they ran about freely. And yes, they were venomous. They ate meat, sure enough; bugs – as was typical – bats, birds, and frogs were also eaten.
"You are possibly the most amazing spider I've ever heard of!" the excited scientist told the arachnid as he recorded the information in his own files for later use. "But…if you're a pet to a human, what are you doing way out here in the Ark?"
The grey tarantula shifted a little, but otherwise did nothing.
The Autobot scientist noticed movement at the doorway to his lab, and looked up, expected to see Spike. Instead, it was a small femme human, holding onto a clear container, with a second fuzzy –arachnid – tarantula inside it. The one in the container was pink, though.
Perceptor looked over the femme, confused. He didn't recognize her at all. Her eyes lit up when she saw the grey tarantula that he was holding.
"Oh good! You found Megatron! May I have him back please?" she said, smiling as she came further into the room.
Perceptor could only stare at her in shock, hoping he had just heard her wrong. "I…beg your pardon?" he asked.
"My tarantula, Megatron. He ran away, and I've been looking for him." She stated, meeting Perceptor's gaze levelly, her green eyes not looking away from blue optics. "So...can I have Megatron back or not?"
Note: let the Insanity begin!