"Solis. That is not how a femme should sit."
"Argh!" Tiny black servos were flung in the air, their owner sticking out their lower lip in a pout. "But it's comfortable!" The femmeling protested, irritation flaring in her field as she glared at the bigger mech.
Shockwave vented heavily. The little creature before him was most adept at getting a rise out of him, and it irritated the scientist to no end. "Solis. You have to learn how to behave if you wish to..." The scientist hesitated here, as he usually did. "Serve a Lord. One day, Megatron will be emperor of Cybertron, and you will be expected to serve him."
Solis mimicked the behemoth when Shockwave wasn't paying particular attention to her, quickly fixing her expression before her guardian could pick up on it. The scientist would no doubt lecture her on being 'disrespectful.'
"I don't want to be anyone's servant!" The youngling protested, pouting again. "I want to be my own bot and do what I want! I want to explore and be a scientist!"
Staring at the young femme before him, Shockwave vented heavily again, audios flicking in irritation. "I have told you many times before, Solis. Such is not the case for sparklings like you. Sparklings are expected to obey their caretakers, and that is what you must do." The scientist held up a servo to stop Solis' oncoming protest. "End of discussion. You're arguments are never logical."
Venting heavily, Solis slumped in her seat before the scientist's console, crossing her arms over her little chestplate, grumbling under her vents as her guardian continued with his current studies.
Solis hated having to sit still. Being a lively sparkling, she loved motion and adventure, held an innate thirst for knowledge. Most of which was denied her, though many could argue that Shockwave didn't mean to deny her these things. He taught her what he thought would be necessary for her role as Megatron's mate, and the rest of it could be narrowed down to his extreme inexperience with sparklings and their needs.
Swinging her legs, Solis glared down at the ground, wishing she would be allowed up and sent off to play, maybe even with St3v3, if he was off duty. But she was in time out... Something to be expected when a certain red femme manages to mix together several volatile chemicals and cause Shockwave's lab to be filled with dangerous fumes and toxins. Therefore, restricting the mech's work to his office console.
"Solis. Stop swinging your legs. And sit up." Shockwave chided without even looking away from his screen, single optic fixed on whatever
Not for the first time, Solis wondered if Primus hated her.
Solis vented loudly as she listened to her surrogate creator drone on and on about the functions of a Cybertronian's frame and the effects of rust, wrinkling her olfactory sensor at the big mech. "Gross!" She squealed, Shockwave ceasing his teaching and giving her a cold glare. He wasn't the least bit fazed. Disgust over how rust affected the frame, particularly the more private areas, was highly illogical, after all.
"Solis. Must I repeat that you listen and stop interrupting me?" The scientist demanded, they young femme, now about 6 vorns, huffed a loud exvent, smacking her faceplates down into her arms. "But they're so loooong!" She complained.
Fighting the urge to scream himself, Shockwave took a deep vent before speaking again. "As I have said many times, Solis. It is important for you to learn. Your complaints are illogical and unwelcome." The mech chided from where he sat across from the femme he had raised since she began to function. "Now sit up, and listen. Then you will be able to go."
Solis sat back, not bothering to pout or scowl at the big mech. Neither had the desired effect on the cold scientist, and, not for the first time, she wondered if something was wrong with Shockwave so that he couldn't feel like the vehicons and she herself could. "Fine." She vented, realizing Shockwave was patiently waiting for her to acknowledge him verbally.
As Shockwave went on with his teaching, voice droning on and on, Solis allowed her processor to wonder. She hadn't known anything but the facility that she lived in, Shockwave having forbidden her from leaving like the vehicons did. Where they went, Solis was curious to know. St3v3 brought back the strangest things for her, and she would love to see where they came from.
"Solis. Were you even listening?" Shockwave's slightly irritated tone cut through the femmeling's thoughts, Solis quickly smiling and nodding.
Staring at the red youngling before him, Shockwave leaned back in his seat. "Alright then, Solis." He spoke slowly, seeing her faceplates light up. "What was the last thing I said?" The way the femme's faceplates fell caused a curl of amusement to wind it's devious way through the scientist, though he squashed it as quickly as it had arisen.
"That.... Um.... I don't remember." Solis finally admitted, looking up at the purple behemoth with a stricken expression.
Shockwave vented loudly, shutting down the datapad on the table between them. "Very well. Since you are so distracted, it would be illogical to continue." The scientist stated, holding up a digit when Solis looked about ready to bolt from her seat. "However, I expect you to practice your Kaonite."
Nodding eagerly, Solis all but bounced in her seat before Shockwave signalled that she was dismissed, the femmeling shooting out of her seat and racing from the room before the scientist could change his processor.
"St3v3! St3v3!" Solis called happily as she stormed the vehicon's barracks.
"Greetings, Solis." The vehicon's engine hummed pleasantly as he obligingly scooped the youngling up into his arms.
Squirming happily in the lithe mech's arms, Solis grinned at the vehicon sitting in the chair opposite her favourite vehicon's. "Hello!" She giggled. "Who're you?"
The vehicon looked entirely taken aback by the sparkling's presence, and was seemingly at a loss of words as to how to respond to the vibrant femme's question, glancing back and forth between St3v3 and the red sparkling.
St3v3's engines rumbled with amusement. "Solis, this is S3th." The vehicon grinned, his face mask removed as it always was within the relative safety of the barracks. "He just arrived here."
Solis grinned at the new mech, now dubbed S3th, and felt excitement rise in her chassis. "Oh! Where'd you come from? Have you been outside? Did you used to live outside but then St3v3 found you?" The femme bubbled, seemingly overwhelming S3th, who sputtered.
Silence was short as S3th seemed to finally found his voicebox. "Of course I've been outside! Hasn't everone?" He asked in a seemingly perturbed way. "And no, I was sent here from the Nemesis." He added as an afterthought.
Giggling as she cuddled close to St3v3, Solis cocked her helm. "I've never been outside. But St3v3 brings me things!" The red femme announced, hugging said vehicon as tightly as her little arms could. "What is a nemethisis?" She asked, olfactory sensor wrinkling as she attempted to pronounce the word.
S3th stared at the sparkling in shock. What sparkling has never been outside? He inwardly thought, but a glance at St3v3's faceplates told him not to ask. At least not yet. Once the sparkling, Solis, he corrected himself, left, he would inquire. "Nemesis." S3th responded, a smile cracking across his faceplates. "It's a warship."
The way Solis' optics was endearing, and S3th caught himself smiling a little wider. He had thought being assigned to Shockwave's laboratory would be terribly boring and uneventful, but the presence of the sparkling quickly shattered those thoughts.
"A warship? Tell me about it!" Solis pleaded, gripping St3v3's arms from where they were wrapped around her abdominal plating, holding her in his lap carefully. The sparkling settled back and fell silent, patiently waiting for S3th to speak.
"I... Wouldn't know what to tell you." S3th responded, glancing up at his friend then back at the sparkling, who looked upset now. "But I can tell you about Earth?"
"Earth?" Solis asked, cocking her helm. "Who is Earth?"
St3v3 laughed and nuzzled the little red helm now. "Not who, Solis. Earth is a what. A planet." He explained, the sparkling looking quite surprised at that. "What is a planet?" She asked, S3th, again, being surprised by the lack of knowledge this sparkling seemed to have. "Well, it's uh..."
"Solis." St3v3 cut in, picking the sparkling up and setting her on the floor. "Why don't you go find D4v3? I heard he's got a double shift tonight." He offered, Solis lighting up. "Does that mean he'll play with me?" She asked.
Laughing, St3v3 bopped the femmeling's olfactory sensor. "If you ask nicely, he might."
Barely were the words out of his mouth before Solis was gone, shooting out the door, little pedestep quickly fading.
S3th's POV
Once he was certain Solis was out of audio range, S3th turned his accusatory gaze onto his new companion, St3v3. "Why doesn't she know anything? And why does she say she's never been outside?" He demanded.
S3th watched the other vehicon as St3v3 vented loudly and scrubbed a servo over his faceplates before speaking. "Solis is... A special case."
Silence fell, and S3th realized that St3v3 was very much unsettled by the subject, but that only fanned the flames of his desire to know more about the sparkling. "How so? Where are her creators?" He added.
St3v3 vented heavily, clearly seeing his new comrade wasn't going to let this drop. "I don't know where Solis came from. Only that Shockwave returned to base after a scouting mission and had her. He said he had found her crying in some rubble, and the carrier had deactivated when the building collapsed." The vehicon hesitated before continuing. "Shockwave's raised Solis ever since, and he doesn't let her go outside or teach her all that much... Just what's necessary he says."
Frowning deeply, S3th shook his helm. "Why wouldn't he let her go outside?" The vehicon asked, St3v3 shrugging. "Rumor is he's afraid that she'll be offlined by Insecticons or some sort of scavengers... Nabbed by any rogues."
Silence fell for several moment. "But...?" S3th prodded, sensing that there was more to that than St3v3 seemed keen on sharing.
Glancing around, St3v3 leaned closer. "If Shockwave really feared for Solis' safety to keep her from playing outside... Why doesn't he take her out himself? Or let one of us monitor her?" He questioned softly.
S3th nodded slowly before voicing the question that had been nagging at him earlier. "And the carrier?" He asked.
The uneasy look that passed over St3v3's faceplates caused a shiver to run through the vehicon. "Some of us retraced Shockwave's tracks... There was no body... Just a lotta energon."
Realization dawned and S3th's optics widened as he leaned forwards now. "You think Shockwave killed Solis' carrier?" He whispered in shock.
St3v3's level gaze sent a shudder down the newcomer's backstruts, but that was nothing to the coldness that settled around his spark at the other's next words... "There's no one else on this planet, is there?"