Splashdown

[Devon]

((Aug. 24th, 2027. 4:54 pm, Bartholdi Park))

Devon had wanted to take a bit of a vacation, thankfully his boss was fine with it so the young man took a bus north, he had always wanted to see New York, finally he had the money to do so, mostly due to his boss helping him out on that aspect. When one had known their boss for years, such things at times occurred. However what he had not expected was for people to gather around hearing him singing along with his MP3 player, he knew he sang well, he was a bar room singer after all and had wanted to make it big time for quite some time, but he didn't expect people to stop and just listen to him. However, he rolled with it, singing Blurry by Puddle of Mudd for the small group that had gathered. It was mostly a younger crowd, kids who stopped, their parents stopping with them, a few teens who stopped to listen who knew the song. It was an older song, yes, but it was one he loved and it seemed a good many of them did too. ". . .So make up your own ending, and let me know just how you feel. . ." he continued with the song as one teen girl got a little too close to him for comfort, causing Devon to take a step back and, regrettably for him, trip right into a fountain with a splash, yet even falling he did not miss a beat, that was until his MP3 player shorted out right as he was climbing out of the fountain. "Shit!" he exclaimed, pulling his MP3 player from his belt loop as some of the crowd who had been watching him sing started chuckling, including the girl who had gotten into his personal space. He just sighed, shaking his head and putting the player in his coat pocket, maybe, if he was lucky, he could save the poor thing. He just turned to walk away from the laughing crowd, soaked from the abs down and damp above. "Why do you hate me lady luck?" he muttered getting away from the crowd to escape the laughter.

[Wheeljack]

Wheeljack had decided to get away from the base for a bit, just to cruise around and relax for a while. Things had been rather hectic recently with Ironhide nearly killing Barricade when the Decepticon scout showed up unexpectedly, then Sideswipe's brother arriving and deciding that Ironhide would be a good prank target, which didn't end well, then Jazz being found and having to put him back together while trying to figure out what the slag to do with the young Decepticon who had helped to save Jazz, Wheeljack was just stressed and tired, figuring a drive would do him some good. But what he saw did not sit well with him when he passed a group of people laughing at a young guy who had fallen into a fountain and was now trying to just get away. His holoforn just shook his head then and pulled up to where the young man was walking. "Hey, you need a lift somewhere?" he asked, just looking to help someone who seemed on a luck downswing.

[Devon]

Devon looked over to where a man in a white and blue mustang had just pulled up, giving a small sigh of relief, well at least someone had the heart to not laugh at his misfortune. "I'm afraid I'd get your seats all wet, me and that fountain did just have a bit of an argument after all, and I'm pretty sure it won." the young man said, trying to make light of his situation at least a little. He then walked over to a bush, leaning down and pulling his skateboard which he had stashed under it out before walking up to the car, looking over it a little "Dude, sweet mustang though, have to admit, haven't seen one with this paint job before! And yes, I would like a ride, but it's up to you if you don't mind your seats getting a bit wet." he said smiling some and offering a hand to the guy in greeting "Name's Devon, so we can get introductions out the way." he added. OK, so he was wet, his MP3 player was dead, and he had gotten laughed at, at least someone was being nice about the whole thing.

[Wheeljack]

The man in the drivers seat chuckled a but and gave a dismissive shrug. "Eh, it'll dry, it's only water. Thanks, I try to take good care of mys... ride. Four wheels and an engine, gets me where I need to go so I better take good care of it right?" he responded, then accepted the offered hand. "Name's Jack. If I had a towel I'd offer it to ya. Hop in, I'll take ya home so you can dry off n get into something a bit less waterlogged." he added and popped open the passenger door for Devon so he could climb in.

[Devon]

Devon chuckled slightly "Hey, it's more than I got." he said patting his skateboard and walking around the car to get into the passenger seat, getting on the seat belt and closing the door as he placed the skateboard on the floorboard of the passenger side "Well nice to meet you Jack. Yea, the worst thing about it all is that I think my poor MP3 player is a goner, got drenched, sucks too, it's the only one I got." he said pulling the poor piece of electronic equipment from his pocket, looking it over as a little water dripped out it. "I'm staying at a hotel here actually, this is supposed to be my vacation, figures huh? It's the Hay-Adams hotel on 16th, slight bit of a drive, sort or took a bus to get here." he told him as he inspected his poor, poor MP3 player "Yea, he's dead Jim." he muttered, mostly to himself with a sigh, putting the player back in his coat pocket.

[Wheeljack]

Jack looked over at the MP3 player as Devon looked at it, running a passive scan on it just to see if... "You know, I might be able to fix that for ya." he offered and started driving towards the hotel. "I'm a mechanical and electronics engineer by trade, something of an inventor really. If you want, I can see about trying to salvage your player there while ya get cleaned up once we get to the hotel." Well, it was a thought at least, and if he could help at all, he was more than happy to try. Such was simply Wheeljack's way, cheerful and optimistic as he typically was.

[Devon]

"You're welcomed to try, I somehow doubt it could be too much worse off, well, unless it was crushed, but water's just as bad sometimes." he said, leaning back in the seat a bit to relax for the ride, though he froze at the sound of velcro trying to pull apart, feeling the shift of pressure around his torso. He just hoped that Jack didn't hear that, that would not be fun to explain on a first meeting. "So, an inventor huh? Pretty cool job to be in, I'm just a bar singer, it keeps the bills paid and food on the table. Hoping to make it big some day, but who doesn't?" he said, trying to continue conversation and distract from the velcro sound just in case Jack did hear it.

[Wheeljack]

Jack nodded as Devon spoke. He then tilted his head slightly as he regarded Devon curiously. Not only had he heard the Velcro, he felt Devon stiffen in response. "A singer, huh? That sounds like fun, actually. Me, I fix things or build things, depending on what's needed. But for fun, I drive. I'm actually something of a stunt racer on the side. I suppose I just like to drive and test the capabilities of what a car can do." He decided not to mention the Velcro sound, sensing that such a topic might be uncomfortable for the young man. Wheeljack's first thought was of a back brace that Devon might be wearing, though why he'd be wearing such a thing was beyond him, so he merely shrugged it off, figuring it was probably an injury or something that made it a requirement. Some humans simply had that hard of an early life, which bothered Wheeljack more than a little, but there was not much he could do about it.

[Devon]

Devon nodded at that "Stunt driving? Now that has got to be fun, I'm still saving up for a car myself, sort of have other things I need first, medical and all that." he said, leaving the topic very, very vague. Medical could mean anything damned near, so he figured it'd work to just say it that way, well, unless Jack asked what kind of medical, then he'd be out of luck, though most medical stuff people didn't save up for, they paid off later, this realization just dawned on Devon and he could kick himself for mentioning it. "I should have the items you need to try fixing the MP3 player at the hotel though, I normally bring a few odd things with me when I trave, sometimes something messes up and you never know what you're going to need to jerryrig it." he said with a chuckle, a chuckle which, due to the fact the wet velcro was already slipping, made it slip a bit more, making him cringe a little {Please don't come undone, oh please, please, please, I know the velcro's wet but please wait until I get to the room so I can run to the bathroom to fix it!} he thought, though he knew, velco didn't listen, and his luck wasn't exactly the best.

[Wheeljack]

Jack smiled at first, then glanced over at the mention of needing money for medical care. He listened for a moment, then heard the Velcro again. "How bad is it?" he asked, a note of concern in his voice as he looked over at Devon. "I know people sometimes get hurt and can't get anything done about it for a while because insurance doesn't like to pay for anything. It's a brace, isn't it? I heard the Velcro slipping, coming loose. Listen, I know a really excellent doctor, the best, he really is. Maybe he could help fix what's wrong, help give you a better quality of life." he suggested, thinking of Ratchet and his unmatched skills as a medic, even with humans. He had been on Earth for twenty years and had learned everything he could about human medical needs to the point he could literally do any procedure that was needed, from stitching a wound to repairing a joint, from heart surgery to brain surgery and spinal repair. Ratchet was just that good. Little did Jack know just what exactly the kind of surgery Devon actually needed really was.

[Devon]

"Huh?" Devon had heard what he said, but it was taking a moment to register, the young man looked away at that, oh well this conversation just got a bit more awkward "It's. . .just something I was born with, an inconvenience, mostly. . .Not life threatening or anything." he said, trying not to move so that binder didn't slip anymore "I guess you could call it a brace, it helps keep things, well, contained, the velcro got wet so it's starting to slip a bit, velcro and water don't exactly get along that well." he explained, looking towards Jack for a moment, trying to hide the worry and slight bit of fear in his face, though his eyes, that was a different story. "Sort of require a specialist for this kind of operation, most doctors don't have the training or experience with situations like mine, very, very few do honestly." he added. Well, good news was, Jack was aware something was there, so Devon putting an arm around his chest to hold the velcro in place wouldn't be too odd, which he did just that, really not wanting the thing to open on him. He did wonder how this guy would react to his secret, but he also knew that just saying it could end badly, many transgendered people were met with violence even from the nicest seeming of people, though some were open minded. Little did Devon know that it's be as simple as this Jack, whom was more than he seemed himself, running a scan on him to find out just what Devon's situation was.

[Vortex]

Above the streets of the city, moving through the clouds and sky, was a grey SH-2 Seasprite helicopter. Unlike others of its kind, it bore no markings, save a Decepticon insignia under the cockpit windshield. There was no pilot in the cockpit, but it was unlikely that many would notice that minor detail from the ground. The helicopter was Vortex, a member of the Combaticon gestalt, and an insane interrogator for the Decepticons.

"Hello...What's this?" He picked up an Autobot signal in the city, and while that wasn't necessarily anything new, it was how alone the Autobot appeared to be that caught his attention. "A new toy perhaps?" He moved in closer for a better look, wanting to find out which Autobot this was.

[Wheeljack]

Wheeljack smiled a bit at that. "You'd be surprised what expertise my friend has..." his voice trails off and he scowls darkly. "Great, one of them just had to come snooping around when I'm helping someone." he muttered with an exasperated sigh, picking up Vortex's unmasked signal. He then deeply masked his own and ducked into a multi-entrance parking structure, hoping to confuse the Decepticon and come out a different entrance. Jack looked at Devon then with a heavy sigh. "Whatever happens, just please promise me you won't freak out?" he asked, a bit hopeful, though not expecting too much knowing how some humans could be regarding his kind.

[Devon]

Devon shook his head slightly at that "It's not that simple. . .then again things normally aren't." he responded to the comment Jack made about the expertise his friend had thogh he looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow when he heard the comment about one of someone snooping around while he was helping someone out "One of who? Should I be ready to run or fight or something? Give me some heads up her man, the sound of that sigh tells me something's not quite right. And the sudden detour into a parking garage isn't exactly helping put me at ease any." he said, looking around a bit as he held his binder's connecting point, another part of the velcro slipping a little due to his movement. "Look, I won't freak out if you don't, because if I have to move around too much, I can't guarantee that you won't be in for a shock yourself." he told the man trying to figure out just who they were trying to lose using this parking garage. He knew if he did have to move too much his binder would come undone, the only thing keeping it from doing so now was luck and one of his hands, and in all honesty, he did not feel like dealing with even one more person freaking out about the fact he had breasts, though this whole evasive maneuver thing had him worrying a good bit.

[Vortex]

Vortex had spotted Wheeljack's form before the engineer had masked his signal, making Vortex chuckle. "Not going to get away that easily..." He stopped to the side of the parking garage. "Hmmm...What's the easiest way to get an Autobot out of a hole?" A giggle. "Easy; play on their greatest weakness." With that, he let loose with a volley of machine gun fire at the side of the structure, moving his way up over to the top. Once at the top, he continued firing, but this time directed his fire at the streets and cars. "Autobot, Autobot! Come out and play!"