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Firestormers: Human Relations

By Trixter

"So what's Nebulos like?" Jaye asked cheerfully, trying desperately to break the uneasy silence that had prevailed since she and Lube had started on their trip. She had known from the start that the Nebulan was none too fond of her, and she had decided to just take it in stride, but the combination of his silence and the loss of the electromagnetic background noise she had grown so used to since the onset of her electrical powers was starting to unnerve her. Their Cybertron escort Crankcase wasn't much help, being too busy concentrating on driving on the treacherously snowy roads leading from the Transformer Earthbase to the nearest human town to engage in any conversation with his passengers - or to gripe about it much, to their relief. And since Lube, sitting with his arms crossed and staring resolutely out the windshield at the barren, snowy landscape, didn't seem to be preparing to start up a discussion anytime soon the teenage girl felt she had to take it upon herself before the silence drove her mad.

"Hmm?" He turned to where she was sitting with her arm draped over the steering wheel, making a halfhearted attempt at looking like she was controlling the vehicle. She was only fifteen years old, not old enough to legally drive, but though Lube was significantly older than her, she had the advantage of a driver's license that, though fake, was good enough to fool even the police. And since Crankcase was doing the driving anyway, it was doubtful any policeman would see a need to pull them over. Lube himself had been less than happy with the idea, but since the girl wasn't actually controlling the vehicle there wasn't much he could say about it.

"Your home planet. Nebulos. I was just curious about what it was like."

He sighed and ran a hand through his close-cropped blond hair. The dim, pale-blue light of the late near-Arctic dawn was just starting to get strong enough that she could make out his thin, angular face. "It was a bit like here, really. Blue sky, green vegetation, similar atmosphere..."

"I figured as much. I mean, with you guys looking so much like us, and you didn't seem to be having any trouble breathing or anything." Jaye smiled to herself. "When I set out to find the Transformer base I'd never have guessed I'd also run into another alien race that looks exactly like humans." She half-consciously started toying with a lock of hair from the side that had turned green.

"You do realize Nebulans and Earth humans are more different than we look, right?" Lube asked pointedly.

"I know, I know. For one thing, you age slower, right?" She cocked her head and looked at him thoughtfully. "How old are you, anyway?"

He thought for a moment. "Nebulos has a slightly slower rotation than Earth, but not significantly so. According to the conversion formula I got from the Autobots I'm about fifty-eight in Earth years."

Jaye's eyes widened. "Wow, you don't look a day over thirty! So what are the people there like? Is the culture anything like here? Are you Nebulans more advanced than us?"

"It's a little hard for me to compare it to here, having only been here for a short time," he pointed out. "Now, admittedly, my teammates are inordinately fond of Earth entertainments, but I hardly believe one can get an accurate impression of your planet from watching 'Star Trek'."

Jaye laughed, shaking her head. "You've got that right. I guess that's why I was told I'll be acting as sort of a guide for you. Since your Firestormer team's going to be here on Earth for a while, it can't hurt for you to learn to blend in with the natives."

Lube reached into his pocket and handed her a slip of paper. "Speaking of my teammates, they wanted me to give you this. It's a list of recorded music discs they want us to pick up while we're in town."

The piece of notebook paper was folded with perfect symmetry, and as she opened it she found that Lube's handwriting was neat and precice, pretty much how she would have expected it to be had she given the matter any thought. She smiled as she read over the list. "Let's see...Upstart wants some They Might Be Giants, Trixter wants some R.E.M., Air Raid wants some Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Slapdash wants some Barenaked Ladies. Should all be easy enough to get."

"I assumed those were names of actual performing groups. For one thing my partner, for all his other shortcomings, is hardly the sort to be requesting anything involving nude women."

Jaye laughed. "It's sort of a tradition of sorts for popular music performers to give their groups offbeat names. There's even a ska band down in the U.S. called The Decepticonz."

Lube raised an eyebrow. "That's amusing, considering that most actual Decepticons have little love for humans."

"Aww, that's hardly fair." She patted Crankcase's dashboard. "You like me just fine, don't ya?"

"Hmm?" The Decepticon's voice came from more-or-less the vicinity of the dashboard. "Erm, well, you seem okay enough for a squishy and all..."

"See, Crankcase here doesn't hate me." She turned to grin broadly at the Nebulan but thought better of it when she noticed him giving her possibly the sternest look she had ever encountered. Instead she sighed and decided maybe making small talk wasn't such a good idea after all.

* * *

An awkward hour later, on Jaye's instruction, Crankcase pulled into the parking lot of a small shopping mall. "We'll try not to take too long," she reassured him as she and Lube stepped out onto the icy pavement. She stared disapprovingly at the mall. "Then again, I don't think we could take long if we tried." Jaye looked up at the grey sky as they made their way to the building. A shockingly cold wind was blowing, kicking up clouds of loose snow. "I don't like the looks of those clouds. Anyway," she said, turning to her Nebulan companion, "this is a shopping mall. Sorta. They're usually a little bigger," she added apologetically. "It's just a bunch of shops in one big building."

"I'm somewhat familiar with the concept, yes," Lube said. "I expect it's heated," he added, tugging the collar of his jacket closed.

"Yep. We're here for clothes. And we might as well get those CDs for your friends here, too. The US government's apparently set the Transformers up with some plastic, so I'll take care of the tab with the Visa they gave me." They passed through the doors into the blissful heat of the mall and Jaye went straight for a thick vertical post with a map on one side in the middle of the corridor. She examined the list of stores for a moment. "Hmm, I recognize a few of these stores, but no men's clothing stores. Guess we'll have to look around."

She wandered down the main hallway of the mall, Lube following close behind her. As she kept an eye out for a promising-looking store she tried to imagine what it must be like for him to be seeing a shopping mall for the first time. In a way it was fortunate that it was such a small one. An all-out three-story 200-store monstrosity like she was used to would probably be a bit overwhelming. Finally they came to a store half-taken up by what seemed to Jaye reasonably stylish men's casual wear. She turned to Lube. "Here, this looks like a good place," she said quietly. "I could give you fashion advice, but I doubt you'd want any from me." She gave him a half-smile and indicated her faded black T-shirt and oversized jeans that had seen better days, a sharp contrast to his clean, pressed navy slacks and workshirt. "Here, at least, what you wear is really just a matter of personality. Just find something you like and I'll tell you if it's so bad it'll make you stand out."

As Lube searched through the racks for something to his liking, Jaye wandered over to the women's side of the store and did some browsing herself. Most of it was a little "nice" for her tastes, but a good pair of jeans was still a good pair of jeans. As she picked out a few things to try on Lube came over to show her what he had found. Jaye grinned as he showed her his assortment of conservatively-colored slacks and button-down shirts. "That's exactly the sort of stuff I'd have expected you to choose," she smiled.

Lube frowned. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No! It fits your personality very well. Very...respectable," she nodded. "I mean it," she added earnestly. "Now go and try it all on."

* * *

An hour and a half later, having acquired several shopping bags between them, Jaye and Lube stepped out of the mall and into a world of frigid, blowing, almost solid whiteness. Jaye winced as the sharp, snow-laden wind hit her exposed face. "The weather doesn't seem to have gotten any friendlier," Lube commented as he zipped up his jacket.

"I'm getting a bit hungry," Jaye said, trying to tuck her chin into the collar of her own bulky, oversized coat. "I've got some cash on me, maybe we should find some fast food and see if this storm dies down any before heading back. I'm sure Crankcase is a good driver, but you can only drive so well when you can't see the road."

"Agreed. I could do with a bite to eat myself." The Nebulan stopped walking and looked around the parking lot, trying to see through the thick wall of falling snow. He lifted his wrist communicator and pressed a button. "Crankcase, this is Lube. We're having trouble with visibility out here. Could you please flash your headlights a few times to help us locate you?" A bright light cut through the snow ahead and to the right of them. "Okay, we see you. Thank you."

"Took you long enough," Crankcase grumbled as they got inside.

"We just wanna make one last stop before heading back to the base. And we'll make it quick," Jaye assured him.

"Do you know how boring it is sitting in a parking lot for hours?" the Decepticon continued, refusing to let the girl's reassurances faze him. "And it's just been getting colder and wetter and I just know my joints'll be aching once I can finally get back into robot mode..."

"Speaking of cold," Lube interrupted, "would you please turn the heat on?"

"Oh...erm...there." Warm air started gushing from the vents in his dashboard. "So where did you want to go now?"

"I saw a McDonald's on the way into town. Just start back the way we came and I'll tell you where to stop. Ever had hamburgers, Lube?"

* * *

"So what do you normally like to eat, anyway?" Jaye asked Lube as Crankcase pulled into the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant. "I noticed the pantry in the little kitchenette at the base was pretty well-stocked, but it was mostly canned stuff. And those awful-looking space ration packs."

"Since I got here I've been eating a lot of that canned pasta, the rings in the red sauce with meatballs. And those noodles you boil, with the flavoring packets."

Jaye grinned. "Spaghetti-Os and ramen noodles. You're a true bachelor."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing bad, at least." She opened her door. "C'mon, I'll order for you. You Powermasters eat a lot, right?"

"More than average for either of our species, yes," he answered as he stepped out into the snow.

"Okay. I'll order something for you." They walked to the building and into the warmth of the restaruant. "Go ahead and sit down," she said, waving him toward the dining area. "I'll get the food and be there in a minute." She went to the counter and ordered a Big Mac and fries for herself and five plain double cheeseburgers for Lube. As she waited for the food she glanced over at the tables and found Lube staring sullenly out the window. The girl wondered for a moment when the last time he had seen Nebulos was. She remembered hearing somewhere that all the Nebulans that had become involved with the Transformers had been exiled from their home planet. Was being on an organic planet so much like his home making him homesick? She felt sorry for him. Maybe that was why he had been in such a bad mood all day. Then again, it seemed he was always in a bad mood to some degree.

After filling their drink cups, Jaye set the food on the table and sat down across from Lube. "These are mine," she said, taking her burger, fries, and Mountain Dew off the tray. "The rest is yours. I hope it's enough for you. I ordered it plain 'cause I was afraid all the condiments would be kinda overkill if you're not used to them. And here, I got you Hi-C." She handed him his drink. "Usually people drink carbonated stuff with fast food, but I didn't know if you'd like the bubbles. This is fruity."

Lube looked up from unwrapping one of his cheeseburgers and gestured toward Jaye's drink. "Is that what one normally drinks, then?" The girl nodded. "Then I'm glad you didn't get me any. It's a very unpleasant color." He eyed the cheeseburger suspiciously as Jaye started shoveling down her own sandwich. "What's this yellow stuff?"

"It's cheese," she answered around a mouthful of Big Mac. "Just eat it, it's good."

Lube took a small, tentative bite and chewed thoughtfully. "Well, it's edible." He took a larger bite. "Quite good, actually."

"Glad you like it." Jaye gazed out the window at the still heavily falling snow. "We should go somewhere warm. You need to see what this planet is like on an actual nice day." She turned back to find the Nebulan already halfway through his second cheeseburger. "Hey, there're a couple of jet Transformers on your team, right? Air Raid and Upstart? Maybe they could fly us to Florida or something for a day or two."

"I could look into it. It's not like they have anything better to do. I'm sure Trixter would love to go, too. She couldn't fly that far on her own, but we could probably borrow a shuttlecraft. She and Slapdash both have been whining about the snow since the day we arrived. I do have a project I've been working on with some of the other engineers, though. I'm pushing it being away from the base today as it is."

"It's okay, it was just an idea," she sighed. "I've never been to Florida, anyway. I'm sure it's overrated." The pair ate in silence for a few minutes. "Lube," Jaye said finally, "do you think maybe I could be binary-bonded to someone?"

"Probably not, unless there was some kind of emergency. Why?"

"I wanna leave this planet, and I know there's no way I could get a place on a Firestormer team just by myself. You ever see 'Star Wars'?" Lube nodded. "I wanna be like Han Solo. Ever since I was a kid I had this dream that I wanted to be a starship pilot and...and I actually could now. Hard as it is for me to believe it, I actually could do that now. But I couldn't do it without being a Powermaster or a Headmaster or something like you Nebulans."

He looked at her skeptically over his growing stack of empty cheeseburger wrappers. "So you want to throw away your life here on Earth to chase a childhood daydream?"

"I've already thrown it away to live at the Transformers' base," she pointed out, nibbling on the remnants of her french fries. "My parents died years ago, and there was no one in Toronto I cared enough about to stay there for. I don't have any attachment to this stupid mudball."

"I...I thought the same way when I left Nebulos," Lube said quietly. "Even if I had had much of a choice after being binary-bonded to Slapdash, I saw it as a chance to learn a wealth of new things, to see alien technologies at work. I've always been a scientist and an engineer, after all."

"You get homesick, sometimes?"

"I get homesick a great deal, Jaye. My mother died when I was very young, and my father, who raised me, died a year before I left. I put all my effort into my work and had no particularly close friends. And still, even with no one I had been attached to, I find myself wishing I could walk through the gardens of Koraja one more time, or watch the sun set over the Laran Mountains..."

Jaye put a hand over his, trying to be comforting. "I...I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Lube sighed. "I've been in an awful mood today and I've been taking an inordinate amount of it out on you. You're a good kid, Jaye. You could stand to get some clothes that fit better, but you're a good kid. You have plenty of time ahead of you to make mistakes. I don't want to see you making them already."

"I don't know why you care, but I guess I'm kinda glad you do," Jaye said quietly. "I...I guess I'm not really used to anyone caring if I screw up my life. So you never had a family back on Nebulos?" she asked.

"Like a wife and kids? Nothing of the sort. Not even a girlfriend, really."

"Do you ever regret it?"

"Sometimes."

Sipping at the last of her drink, Jaye looked out the window and noticed the snowstorm had let up. "Well, it looks like we should be able to go, if you're ready."

Lube gestured to the empty wrappers on the tray in front of him. "I'm finished. It probably is a good idea to get going before Crankcase gets any crankier."

"That was awful," Jaye grinned. Then she realized that was the first thing even close to a joke she had ever heard Lube make. Jaye piled all their wrappers on the tray and emptied it into the trash. "Y'know, if it'd help to talk sometimes, you can talk to me. I'd love to hear about Nebulos," Jaye offered as they pulled on their coats and started for the door.

"I'l...keep that in mind, Jaye." Smiling, he put a hand on her shoulder as they walked out the door. "Thank you."