So what?

 "Mech or femme?"

"Both."

"I'm not sure how to process that."

"Isn't that your problem?" Waverod sighed internally. "Look. We aren't organics. We don't need waste disposal facilities at all, let alone ones needlessly segregated by gender. Given the ratio of mechs to femmes among Cybertronians, same-gender relationships are not only accepted, they're common. This isn't a biological information processing research lab. Why does it even matter?"

"We need this information for our basic demographic files."

"But why? It's just information processing. In the end, the data we start with and the conclusions we come to are what matter. The data, and the nature of the subject under consideration, provide far tighter constraints on our thinking than whichever Prime we think like."

"But I need to put something in your file. Without a complete file you can't access this data center."

"I gave you an answer. Both."

"But it's a nonstandard answer. The options are--"

"You have an answer, Circuitcrash." A kindly, ancient voice came over the intercom. Alpha Trion was who Waverod was there to meet; at the elderly bot's request, Waverod was to study the Covenant of Primus, looking for nuances in the ancient languages contained therein. "That's all that matters."

"But, sir -- does this bot process information like Solus Prime, or like you and your brothers?"

"That's not important. How well Waverod processes information is, and from what I've read, they do it pretty well. Just put 'both' in the slot where you usually put 'mech' or femme' and let them in.'

"Yes, sir."

He updated Waverod's file, and the doors opened. "The doors will now recognize your appearance and energy signature, Waverod." Circuitcrash was polite enough, but the frustration was clearly audible underneath the surface of his words.

Once inside the doors, Waverod was greeted by Alpha Trion. "Circuitcrash is efficient at data entry, but sometimes his thinking is a little too...binary. Your unusual response was more than he could conceive."

"I've seen it before, unfortunately. So, hoe may I assist you?"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Destiny

 "Sorry, Alpha Trion, but that is all the time I have for today. I need to refuel briefly, then return to my patrols." Waverod was reluctant to leave -- to be in Alpha Trion's presence was deeply comforting for some reason, like his spark resonated unconsciously with the old scholar. "I understand. You have done well. Contact my office when you can come again. I have another passage that I think you will find most interesting." Waverod walked out. As she did she passed Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader, recently made Prime, was Alpha Trion's protégé back when he went by Orion Pax. Waverod gave a nod in greeting, which Optimus returned. He walked out of the office. Outside, she transformed and took off, her elongated aerial form akin to a tetrajet, but stretched. "Are you sure you want Waverod to know, Alpha Trion?" Optimus Prime's concern was not with trustworthiness, but with the difficulty that could result when either secret came out. "...
Read more

Both

 "Are you a mech or a femme?" Waverod hated that question for several reasons. What did it even matter? There was no significant aspect of Cybertronian culture that hinged on the difference. It's just a different way to process information; it rarely mattered in terms of biology, let alone functions, skills, or allegiance. "Are you a mech or a femme?" These terms weren't used in the most ancient datatracks. Before contact with organic planets, there weren't really even words for the concepts. The closest you could come was something like "One who processes information in the minority way" for femme, and "One who processes information in the majority way" for mech. Even those phrases were only used incidentally, when needed to explain how someone came to a conclusion. The pre-contact Covenant of Primus uses the first of these phrases maybe five times (four times referring to Solus Prime), and the latter once. "Are you a mech or a ...
Read more

Let's Kill Who?

Hauler stepped outside the chamber. "It's done. My greatest shame is no more." Ever since that day, millions of years ago, he had regretted the role he played in Megatron's creation. All the deaths are now gone. His fellow Constructicons would now remain builders rather than destroyers. Cybertron would remain in the golden age that followed the Great Expulsion. Just a few key conversations did it. Convincing Scrapper had been the key, but he'd done it. Megatron was not built. Megatron never existed. He triggered the return remote. Wheeljack greeted him as he returned to his present. "You made it safe? You succeeded?" "I did, Wheeljack. I talked with my fellow Constructicons. They understood. We did not build Megatron." "Who's Megatron?" Wheeljack's response startled me. This was the whole point of our mission. We had spent the last five years, reconstructing captured Decepticon schematics, improving them, just so I could go ba...
Read more