voice, @Doc Knock

[paintjobs]

A quick question — does anyone among us have any background in synthesizing? I know the finer points of the science are probably a little beyond your evolutionary pay grade, and I’d usually know better than to run this by a bunch of humans and humans lookalikes, but, well… desperate times, as they say.

I’ve heard from the Qorral Mayor that their species hasn’t had much success with synthesizing argecite, but synthetic materials just so happens to be one of my specialties.

[ And sure, he’s had disastrous results before, but they were still results! He probably won’t accidentally make any vampire zombies here, it’s fine. ]

If any of you think you’d be of any use to efforts to engineer an artificial compound to replace argecite — synth-ar, you could say — feel free to speak up. The only hitch being that this backwater planet doesn’t have much in the way of laboratory equipment. The local blacksmith has been told to expect us stopping by with equipment requests, but I have to wonder if even that is enough. This is a ground-up operation if I’ve ever seen one.

Comments

[paintjobs]

[ red, huh. good taste. also helpful, because he is really, really bad at faces, expecting him to recognize a human from a broadcast is asking a lot. ]

Meet me at the eastern edge, then.

[ And he's there pretty quickly, if only because it doesn't take much to drive himself over. A shiny red Aston Martin with sort of ridiculous fancy gold rims idles at the edge of camp, waiting. ]

[secondnature]

[There's a car ...

That's the first thing that comes to mind when he walks up with a pouch full of argecite. He recalls being yelled at for taking this by one of the other recruits, but look at who's the smart one now.

Keith stares down at the car for a long moment before walking up to the side of it and looking inside, as if there should be a person in there.]

[paintjobs]

[ Ah, there he is. Probably. It's a human in red and he looks like he's looking for someone, so that seems right. The car itself makes a throat-clearing sound, which is hilarious because he definitely doesn't have a throat. ]

Pardon.

[ That's all the warning Keith gets before Knock Out transforms, metal plating clicking apart and folding itself instantly into an entirely new shape. Two legs form and hit the ground, and just a few instants later Knock Out, fully formed at nearly 20 feet tall, stands up with red glowing eyes focused down at the human at his feet. ]

Now then, your argecite?

[secondnature]

[The good thing about a robot changing and becoming something else is that he's accustomed to the idea of a robot changing and becoming something else. Good job Team Voltron.

He just stumbles back after a moment, eyes widening and then face going placid. He extends the sack, head canting to the side after a moment.]

Do you know what a Voltron is by any chance?

[paintjobs]

[ Oh, thank god. He was all ready for screaming and scrambling, he's glad they can skip that this time. More points to the red-wearing human. ]

No. [ He leans down, reaching to very delicately pluck up the sack in the tips of his claws. ] Should I?

[secondnature]

[Ah, a chance to brag about Voltron. He offers Knock Out a grin.]

It's only the most powerful robot in the universe made up of several robots. The parts of Voltron can transform like you. [He sizes Knock Out up for a moment.]

But they're a bit bigger than you are.

[paintjobs]

[ wow you can't just point out someone's (relatively) small size like that. His mouth presses together, looking unimpressed. ]

We call those combiners. And yes, most of their units are a little bigger than I am. [ in fact, many... cybertronians... are a little bigger than him. it's fine, he's not bothered. With a cock of one eyebrow: ] Most humans don't usually know about them.

[secondnature]

That's because I'm only one of five Voltron paladins. [Loki had mentioned that there might be other Keiths, and the multiverse explanation does back that up. Still. Still.]

There's only five parts of Voltron, so there aren't a whole lot of humans who know about them in the first place.

[He cants his head to the side.]

You don't need any kind of pilot, huh?

[paintjobs]

[ Ah, he knew it would be too much to hope for that this 'Voltron' business was something sentient. ]

Never have, never will, and the same goes for every other Cybertronian. We're an autonomous race. [ This all sounds like something he's said before. A lot. And while he speaks he carefully prises the sack of argecite open, scoping a bit of it out for inspection. ] Where did you come across this?

[secondnature]

I think my lion has a mind of her own, but it's hard to say. Everything Zenyatta told me makes me think so, especially since she's really picky about her pilots. [Keith could be rude about Lance and Blue, but he knows that the mind syncing means that Blue has to like Lance. That means Blue is picky and wants someone with stupid ice jokes like Lance. It's a weird logic, but Keith gets to the right place.]

Uh, as for that—[He shrugs.] I stole a bunch from the refinery after the earthquake. It seemed like a good idea. I've talked about synthesizing it with a couple people, but I didn't know where to begin.

[paintjobs]

[ Context suggests to him that 'lion' means 'part of Voltron robot', and he turns his attention back to Keith again from the argecite with a thoughtful narrowing of his eyes. ]

Is your lion here?

[ Is it weirder or more reassuring if there's other sentient robots out there, but they have to be driven around by humans? He's kind of leaning for the former. ]

[secondnature]

No ... [Keith gives a big sigh. It's really annoying.] She didn't come with me for some reason. I don't know where she is.

[paintjobs]

I see.

[ That... is probably for the best. It might be creepy to meet something like that. He studies Keith a few seconds longer, then turns back again to the argecite, and the few crystals of it he's captured on his clawtips. ]

Well, moving along, this is a good starting point. I'm sure they won't exactly be eager to part with what stores they do have if we're just going to be deconstructing it for a while. [ Another glance down. ] Would you be able to get more if we needed it?

[secondnature]

So long as they haven't managed to re-engage the security around the refinery. I doubt a whole lot of work is happening out there. [The fields are a mess. The mines are a mess. He also feels, going off what he's heard from other people, that there's a solid chance that more problems are going to occur there. It's the easiest way to protect the Qorral and stop the Deemers all at once, ensuring that the latter's "big goal" is basically impossible to achieve.

But Keith isn't involved in a lot of that, so ... really, he's just guessing off of some of the questions people asked him.]

[paintjobs]

[ A nod, and he finally tucks away that bag of argecite. Which means into some storage compartment on his body. Better than pockets!! ]

I may ask you for more, depending on how much we go through. [ And he eyes him for a few seconds, like he's debating saying this: ] Thanks.

[ thank yous are hard, ok ]

[secondnature]

Just let me know. [He'll probably need to ask for help, but he's fairly certain that none of his ... friends? He has friends, wow. None of his friends will mind him going back in.

He awkwardly gives a nod and then ... heads off.

Polite stuff is Really Hard.]