Vroom Vroom

[dee_lorean81]

[There is a DeLorean, heavily modified, doing laps in an empty, paved part of the Nexus. One might wonder what the driver is doing -- practicing for a race? Working on their turning? Just burning rubber because they're bored?

And then one might get a little closer -- and see that there IS no driver.

. . .perhaps it might be fairer to say that the car is bored.]

Comments

[dee_lorean81]

[firm nod] Very bad, yeah.

When I'm like this, yeah! Dad taught me. It was a pretty weird experience -- when you're usually a bunch of metal and electronics, you try to avoid sand and salt water.

[palmerthing]

Well then, would you like to go swimming with me? I've found that water which isn't freezing is really nice after Hell if I know how long stuck in ice.

[dee_lorean81]

Sure thing! Come on, it's just this way! [and she'll lead the way over to a windswept beach, with the surf crashing over rock breakers sticking out into the water]

[palmerthing]

*Palmer isn't even slightly offput by the crashing of the waves, but then he's basically immune to most damage. And he does side-eye her a bit, because small girls are a lot easier to hurt than amorphous entities, even girls who are also cars. But when she doesn't show any sign of being battered to pieces against the rock or caught by some hidden undertow he relaxes.

*And starts to change, because humans are really not optimized for swimming. They're okay at floating, but that's about it. Some snakelike, many-finned creature from the other side of the Milky Way is far better at it.*

[dee_lorean81]

[Dee knows to stay away from the rocks -- her human form can be hurt, after all! But she's been to this beach a couple of times now, and she's pretty good at finding the right spot to ride the waves to shore without being swept into a breaker. She tumbles over a couple of times in the surf, laughing --

Then spots Palmer transforming and sits on the sand for a minute, the waves splashing her as she watches] Oooooh. . .that's a lot of fins.

[palmerthing]

*It laughs a strange chittering laugh and nods, flipping all the fins and generally showing off a bit before diving into the waves and winding itself around a rock. A dozen flippers grip the stone, another dozen or two left to trail it the water. It makes sure to keep an eye on the other not-human, feeling more protective than it probably would for the real thing, but mostly it's just enjoying the surf.

*After a bit of time spent sunning itself it figures out a way to speak like this and winds its way a little closer.* I like swimming, it's like flying but less effort. Water's not too cold here, either.

[dee_lorean81]

[Dee continues body-surfing for a bit, then scrambles to the rocks herself to sit for a while -- far enough away from Fin-Snake-Palmer to be safe, of course. Though the new shape is really neat to look at]

[she nods as it strikes up a conversation] Hey, flying's pretty darn rad! Though I guess for me you can't really compare the two -- I can only fly as a DeLorean and swim as a human.

[palmerthing]

You can fly as a car? *Something about its expression implies raising an eyebrow that it doesn't actually have.* Why can you fly as a car?

[dee_lorean81]

Future tech from my home world -- in that version of 2015, flying cars are a thing, and the original version of Doc Brown who built me had all the necessary stuff installed on me. Granted, it was shot to shit after I was struck by lightning and sent back to the Old West, but after I ended up here, Dad managed to repair it enough for me to get back off the ground. Doesn't work as well as it used to, but. . . [she shrugs in a "I'll take what I can get" way]

[palmerthing]

Man, it's kinda nice to not be the only bizarre person around. *It grins, showing off needle teeth.* Especially since yours it a kind of bizarre that I'm not too jealous of. *Something mechanical doesn't interest the Thing, although learning to make his own might.*

[dee_lorean81]

[Dee giggles] Oh, there's lots of bizarre here, trust me. [she tilts her head] Er -- how do you mean?

[palmerthing]

*Somehow a completely inhuman face manages to wince perfectly.* Can't assimilate metal. No cells to infect. Which means that my instincts don't immediately start berating me for not eating the cool thing.

[dee_lorean81]

Ooooooh. Well, uh, glad I don't tick that box then. Probably means I'm the safest person to hang around you.

[palmerthing]

Yeah, probably. Not that I mind the rest of your family, but you do feel a bit safer to be around.

[dee_lorean81]

Even like this? [because, well, she is flesh at the moment]

[palmerthing]

Not as much as the other way, but even just knowing that you could become something artificial helps on its own.

[dee_lorean81]

Huh. Guess that's good to know. [she picks up a handful of sand and lets it drip through her fingers] So if the Things ever met the Transformers, they'd be up a creek without a paddle, at least infection-wise.

[palmerthing]

The what? Oh, robots. *Sorry, two years too early.* Infection-wise, sure, but I doubt we'd especially care. What use are robots to us? A world of metal creatures would just be ignored.

If they actually wanted to fight us it might be different, but then we'd either be people with weapons or they'd be fighting a war against animals for some reason.

[dee_lorean81]

Transforming robots! Only not like me, they go from kinda humanoid-shaped robots to cars and planes and stuff like that. But they're cool. And I see -- so anything that can't be infected kinda gets dumped in the 'ignore' category unless it's actively hostile?

[palmerthing]

Yeah, generally. Hostile or useful in a way we can deal with. *Which can vary widely depending on what they're being and why.* I guess I'd be willing to talk with one if it had something interesting to say? I mean, I'm talking to you and all.

[dee_lorean81]

I guess that makes sense, given you guys are all about the infection. . .and heh, well, I'm glad I'm interesting enough to deal with! Though the Transformers have got this whole war and hiding on earth and stuff going on, so they'd probably have some cool stories, at least. Depending on who you met.

[palmerthing]

Being a person is hard. I'm getting better about that, but . . . *It attempts a shrug, sinking into the water a bit more. Water is definitely nice, it thinks.* War is a needless mess, but the stories can definitely be interesting.

[dee_lorean81]

It can be hard, yeah! I'm kinda lucky that whatever changed me gave me like, the basics, but. . .it's just weird, ya know? [she shrugs] And yeah -- I mean, in our world, it's cartoons and movies and comic books and all that.

[palmerthing]

Yeah. I got more than the basics but that's maybe not for the best. *It shifts a bit, becoming something with a long fringe instead of a lot of flippers.* Movies? I mean, I suppose they managed with us, so . . .

[dee_lorean81]

With all the extra stuff came the existential angst, I'm guessing? [she digs a little hole in the sand, just because she can] Yeah -- it's weird, knowing in some other verse you're fictional. I can't even watch the final movie of the trilogy I'm from to the end.