Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.
Chapter Seven.
A/N: This is referencing the G1 Hound rather than the Movie Hound for what are probably obvious reasons.
Three days later.
Sam was sitting with Soundwave, as Soundwave described in detail the problems with finding a planet for humans to colonise, Sam nodding his head every so often. Usually when working Soundwave played music for Sam, but while Soundwave was dictating, and Sam was translating it into an easier-to-understand form and writing it down, background music was an unnecessary distraction.
The problem was finding an explanation that took into account all the problems, but would be understood by the humans involved. Sam figured that if he could understand it, so should most of the people who needed to know, but it wasn't quite as simple as that. It had to be couched in terms that neither insulted nor belittled those being addressed. They had to talk about it in terms that the humans involved would understand without actually talking down to them, and the difference between the two was a very fine line.
Neither could they deliberately make it slightly over their heads hoping they'd ask for clarification; the chances were that they would not ask, and thus the Cybertronians would not have their concerns adequately expressed. Sam was beginning to wonder if they should explain that they had dumbed it down to be certain the points they were making would be understood by all, but wasn't sure if that might be seen as an insult to the intelligence of the diplomats and generals involved.
The two were alone; Dr Syn, along with Frenzy, whose help he had requested, has been working in seclusion since Sam had finished unkinking Frenzy. The most Sam saw of the medic was when he popped in to make sure Sam had eaten, or needed to retrieve something from his stores. At first Sam worried he'd offended the medic somehow, but Soundwave assured the human that Dr Syn was just busy with what he was working on.
Sam, who was writing down potential wording, threw down his pen in frustration.
"Maybe we should ask them to send a couple of NASA's finest minds to the negotiations, explain it to them, and let them explain the issues?" Sam said in frustration. "Perhaps they can explain without humans thinking you and the Autobots are looking down on them. Or maybe they'll understand if we can somehow make this into a film or show rather than lines and lines of writing?"
"Hound-has-hologram-skill. Humans-require-explanation-from-both-factions. Would-this-work?" Soundwave asked.
"Yes, yes, if he could accompany our words with images, it should, would, work," Sam explained, looking up hopefully. "Us humans are visual creatures, we even have a saying around it, 'a picture speaks a thousand words.' If you could use the holograms to illustrate what the issues are, perhaps with hypothetical scenarios, it will probably get the message through. And maybe we should ask for one of those fine minds from NASA just in case, I'm pretty sure if they do need it dumbing down, it'll go down better coming from a fellow human on their side who's an expert in his field than from a Cybertronian."
"Continue-working-on-presentation-speech, Starscream-can-request-NASA-scientist," Soundwave said, his optics dimming as he sent a com to whom Sam presumed was Starscream.
"Want me to call 'Bee and ask him to ask Hound?" Sam asked.
"Negative,-already-done," Soundwave replied.
Sam bent his head back to his task, as Soundwave began speaking again, wondering where Soundwave had obtained Hound's com code. Then he recalled Optimus' remark about Soundwave knowing things he shouldn't, and decided to file it under that.
As for Soundwave, it seemed he wasn't telling.
oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo
Hound was just lining up a shot on the pool table when he pulled his shot and stood up, holding his hand up in what was either a universal sign for 'wait' or 'hold', or that Hound had learned from the humans he was so fascinated with. He paused as his optics dimmed, and then sighed.
"It seems my presence is required at the Decepticon Base tomorrow morning, 10AM local time, to work on a presentation to the humans about why we can't just take them to the nearest planets to colonise. My safety is, I am told, assured, as are the advantages for both of our factions of my participation." He bent, took his shot, and straightened again. "I'd just like to know how Soundwave got my com code, because I didn't give him it."
"What about your friend Sam? Being that he's Soundwave's family now?" Red Alert asked. Hound snorted.
"I didn't give it to Sam either, humans don't have built in comms, Sam wouldn't know a com code if it hit him in the face," Hound said.
"Prime did say Soundwave seems to know things he shouldn't, I guess we'll have to make your com code one of them," Red Alert said.
Hound nodded, and rounded the table to take his next shot.
oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo
A few hours later, interspersed with breaks for eating and going to the bathroom, and to help Sam's concentration, Sam figured most of the presentation speech was done. It would require fine tuning, and they'd have to try and anticipate the expected questions that would arise, but that could wait for another day.
Sam yawned and stretched, but stopped as Dr Syn walked in with a jovial look on his faceplates and a closed fist. At first Sam was a little nervous about the clenched fist, but as Dr Syn lowered it towards Sam, he noticed the fingers were curled around something lying in the medic's palm. Dr Syn uncurled his fingers to reveal a small pile of what appeared to be fabric.
"Here, finally it's finished, Dr Syn said. '"Have a look, Swiftstrike, what do you think?" Sam lifted the top item off the small pile in Dr Syn's hand, which appeared to be nothing more than a light, form-fitting T-shirt.
"That's just an underlayer, it's made for sports players who have to wear armour, like for football, karate, or taekwando," Dr Syn said. "To avoid sweat making things uncomfortable, or the parts of the armour from pinching or rubbing. Put it on and see how it fits." Sam spotted a well-known manufacturer's emblem on it, and put the T-shirt down, skinning off his hoody and tee before picking up the underlayer and putting it on. He eyed what he could see of it critically, it certainly clung close; Mikaela or even 'Bee might appreciate seeing him in it. He then reached for the second item on the pile, which shone a little in the overhead lights.
It looked like a very fine chain mail vest, but the size looked like it was made for a child, and it didn't weigh as much as he thought it would. He looked back at Dr Syn and said "I'm sure it will work, but it doesn't appear to be my size."
"It's designed to fit around you, a bit like the undershirt, without being too bulky and obvious. It's designed to expand, to stretch. Try it on, Swiftstrike, you'll see what I mean," Dr Syn replied. Sam was at first doubtful, but as he drew it on over his arms, it indeed seemed to stretch. A closer look showed it was a cleverly designed system where the links nestled up to each other when it was not being worn, but slid around each other and rotated to allow expansion when stretched. Sam pulled it on over his head, and found it did fit, again closely, moulding itself to the contours of his body, and it was more comfortable than he thought it would be. He reached over to a second, identical item, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"That's just a spare, I suggest you keep one here and take the other with you. If for some reason you forget it, or it gets damaged, you have a spare one here." Sam nodded in agreement, put the spare chain vest aside, and then picked up the last garment in the pile, which looked like an unassuming black turtleneck, until he held it up.
It was slightly heavier than he expected, but the first thing he noticed was the discreet but present Decepticon insignia on the left front over his chest. He noticed identical insignias on the tops of the sleeves, and a look at the back revealed a larger and less discreet insignia on the back. Above it on the back was printed "Assistant Tactial Officer Swiftstrike" in English, and below it was what Sam assumed was the same text in Cybertronian.
"This was Frenzy's idea, for during the negotiations, so people know what you are doing with us. The insignias hide power units to power the sensor web that would detect and divert laser blasts to the power absorption nodes concealed within the fabric. The neck has an insert made of the same material as your vest, to add some protection to your neck. I'm going to produce an identical one with other, human, designs on it to wear when we're not in negotiations, but you may need its protection here or outside. You can wash it without any issues in a washing machine, but we don't know how it would react to dry cleaning, so don't."
"Yeah, that's good to know, I'd get some strange looks if I wore this in the Autobot Base, Red Alert would probably throw a fit, and I wouldn't want to be wearing it upon my first introduction to any new arrivals, meeting some new arrivals earlier was bad enough without a Decepticon insignia in sight!" Sam remarked.
"The other one should be ready by the time you need to go back, but this one might be a useful thing to wear if you happen to see any of our new arrivals," Dr Syn said. He nodded. "Go ahead, try it on."
Sam felt the four insignia, and sure enough they concealed the fact that there was something under them. He pulled the turtleneck on over his head, over the chain mail vest, and had to admit the whole ensemble only felt marginally thicker than his usual clothes. Again, the turtleneck fit him well, and he decided that when he got the non-Decepticon version, he'd wear it if only to give Mikaela and Bumblebee something to look at. He stood up as Dr Syn produced a mirror, and turned to look at himself in it. He decided a smart black pair of trousers, or maybe a smart-casual pair of black Jeans, would improve the look.
"Well, you look very nice, Swiftstrike, Dr Syn and Frenzy have done a good job," said Barricade, making Sam jump. He looked around to see Barricade walking over to join Soundwave and Dr Syn.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Sam said. "You scared me!"
"I was not sneaking, you were too busy admiring yourself. With Soundwave and Dr Syn here you're probably safe to lose focus, but it might be an idea to get used to being aware of your surroundings. As you're an obvious target, you should always be prepared for a potential attack."
"I was checking out the work done, not myself, and I must say I'm impressed, and very grateful to Frenzy and Dr Syn both for putting in the effort to make me some protective wear," Sam said. He pulled his T-shirt over the top of the turtle neck and stood. "There, I don't even look like I'm wearing protective gear, this is cool." He suddenly cried out in surprise as Barricade lunged at him, enclosing him in his fist and holding him high.
"That's as close as they need to get, Swiftstrike, and the armour you are wearing will not prevent you from being crushed," he said. He paused before putting Sam gently back down and stepping back. "Even when you seem quite safe, be aware of potential escape routes, notice fire alarms, new people in areas who might be a threat, and anything out of the ordinary. Be aware of your surroundings, Swiftstrike, and you'll be more likely to avoid or react better to any threats, terrestrial or otherwise."
Sam nodded, remembering school fire alarms, and active shooter drills, and the earthquake safety drill his Dad occasionally still conducted, and the drills both Bases had run about what to do in the event of an attack by dissidents. "You're right, Barricade, I guess I've gotten complacent, or maybe only aware of the wrong things. I'll try to remember to know where I am in relation to everything and everyone in a situation."
"You've only been in a combat situation for a few years, and you're not military trained," Barricade allowed. "Just be aware, it's always a good idea, in a threat situation or not."
"Well right now, I think I need a meal, a shower, and a sleep, in that order," Sam said.
"What do you fancy tonight, Swiftstrike?" Barricade asked.
"Chinese sounds good, beef chow mein and some banana fritters?" Sam asked. "And are you sure you don't mind getting me food?"
"If I start minding, I'll tell you, but at the moment, no," Barricade said. He turned and exited. Sam turned to Soundwave and Dr Syn.
"I'm gonna take these off for now, I don't want to drop food over them before using them at the negotiations," Sam said, and quickly stripped off his upper garments and replaced the t-shirt, before roughly folding the protective wear and putting it in his area. Not that he'd used it to sleep in since arriving, it seemed that in Soundwave's chest he had no trouble getting to sleep. He wasn't sure if it was the smaller 'room' dimensions, the warm but not too warm temperature, or something else, but he wasn't complaining, and Soundwave didn't seem to mind.
Barricade returned with Sam's food and a selection of drinks; Sam thanked him and promised to unkink him early, when he got the time. Sam ate his food, as Soundwave told him he'd asked Hound to attend tomorrow morning, and about a few amendments he hoped would make the presentation text easier for the narrator. Then he went to the restroom before going for a shower, and brushed his teeth, changing from his day clothes into a tee he often wore at night, before wandering back through to the medic and Soundwave.
He yawned, as Soundwave bent and opened his chest, placing the air bed, which was stored inflated up against a wall, inside. "Swiftstrike-return?" he said, making the statement a question with an upward inflection, as he now did each night.
"Yes please," Sam said, and as Soundwave brought his hands down, stepped on to them. Soundwave lifted them and carefully placed the human into his Cassette compartment, as he had the last three nights. Sam curled up in the air bed as he had before, and again, within five minutes, was asleep.
"Swiftstrike-recharging," Soundwave told Dr Syn.
"Do you influence him, and make him sleep?" Dr Syn asked.
"Negative," Soundwave replied.
"Is it safe for him to sleep in there so close to your Spark?" the medic asked. "Humans are vulnerable to certain wavelengths of ionising radiation, some of which are emitted by our Sparks."
"Affirmative; Spark-force-shield-blocks-negative-radiation." Dr Syn spotted the unspoken statement in Soundwave's words.
"So there may be a factor in Spark energy that could be positive for him?" Dr Syn said. Having never before heard of an organic spending so much time close to a Cybertronian spark, Dr Syn was in uncharted territory.
"Unknown,-but-no-danger," Soundwave stated, before turning and walking away.
