Jun. 4th, 2010 01:46 pm
Snippet: Damn kids
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justboltsThe bit below was supposed to be a future scene in "Fusion Cannon Wedding" and I wrote it out as much to kick-start my interest in working on that fic again, as to help me figure out some of Soundwave's mentality.
Also, I freaking love the Cassettes and their relationship with Soundwave, and I'm going through a bit of an obsession with them.
This scene gives insight into how he plans to deal with Starscream in the long-term and full-fill Megatron's request to make Starscream a more model soldier (good luck, dude). At the same time, all it REALLY does is provide Cassette backstory -- and they aren't the focus of the fic. I can easily cut it down to two sentences, which clearly means that I should.
So, out of the main fic it goes and into a side bit.
---
Soundwave knew himself to be a mech of power and skill, possessing superior strength, abilities, and intellect.
He also knew that sufficient numbers could overpower even the most superior of individual mechs. It was with that in mind that he had, all those vorn ago, gone on to build the Cassettes; his own personal army of soldiers loyal unto death.
It had been unmitigated disaster.
Newly activated mechs, it turned out, were both impressionable and utterly addicted to attention and approval. When denied it, they became sullen, withdrawn, and rebellious. Punishment for transgressions, especially physical punishment, only exasperated the condition. The symbioses software and hardware he'd built into them, instead of inspiring greater loyalty, became a source of resentment. After all, no matter how hurt or angry they got at him, no matter how far they ran away, they would have to return to survive.
Soundwave, who'd always believed himself immune to the emotions of others, had been disturbed by the extent their discontent affected him. When they realized running away got them no where, they would spend joor sitting in the corner they'd commandeered as "their spot" with whatever trinkets they'd stolen -- one of many habits he'd been startled to find they'd picked up without his awareness -- and seemed to fill up the entire room with how hard they were pretending he didn't exist. It made concentrating on anything, from his work to the few hobbies he indulged, nearly impossible. By the same token, synchronizing with them, never a fun activity to begin with, soon became a singularly unpleasant experience.
The Decepticon medics he went to for advice told him to just delete their clearly defective personality matrices and make a second go of it.
He'd done so -- and regretted it instantly. The very first attempt at synchronization sent his symbioses protocols into a revolt. He may not have liked his Cassettes, but their personalities had been firmly imprinted onto his systems. Being linked up to two unfamiliar processors when he was instinctively expecting the familiar, had felt like being invaded. He'd been forced to remove them before full synchronization could take place.
Seeing no other recourse, he'd put the Cassettes into stasis, and spent the next several megacyles with the painful ache of a missing body part.
The practical solution, at that point, would have been to scrap the entire plan. Host programing as integrated as his couldn't be fully removed, but it could be deactivated, doing away with the lingering unease. The Cassette frames could be dismantled and sold for parts, and while attempting to return their sparks to the adoption network he'd taken them from would be more trouble than it was worth, there was a market for everything, including slightly used new-sparks.
He'd picked up the first small frame with the intent of taking it apart and found that he couldn't. The same feeling that gripped him when tossing out their stolen toys and repairing the damages they'd wrought on his personal chambers claimed him again.
He decided it was the feeling of failure. He didn't like it.
So instead, he did what he'd been built for. He gathered data.
It took him about a vorn, all together, to adjust both his quarters and his habits accordingly. He'd never had to learn about what it took to make another mech happy or been in a position to provide it. Weakness, shame, fear, and insecurity were the tools of his trade, but all were useless when it came to creating obedient soldiers that would work efficiently alongside him. When everything was in place, he re-activated the Cassettes.
In enumerable ways, Rumble and Frenzy were not their predecessors. The affects of having their own personal space and belongings, of being rewarded for appropriate behavior instead of just being expected to perform it, of structured boundaries that were reinforced with context-appropriate reprimands, were almost immediate. They were energetic, curious about and alert to their surroundings, and took clear enjoyment out of following his lead. When self-sufficient enough to be allowed out on their own, they returned because they wanted to share what they found with him, not because they didn't have a choice. Whereas synchronization before had been a chore, with Rumble and Frenzy it was reassuring and relaxing.
Yet, in certain small ways, they were exactly the same. Their anger was piercingly familiar. Their coveting of shiny objects to the point of theft was familiar, and for the most part, harmless enough that he permitted it as long as they were discreet. The same for their fondness for wanton destruction.
Though, he reflected as he stared down at his belongings scattered across the corridor, perhaps he should have put more energy into discouraging the latter.
----
Yes, Soundwave treated them like drones the first time around and was utterly confused as to why this didn't work.
Also, I freaking love the Cassettes and their relationship with Soundwave, and I'm going through a bit of an obsession with them.
This scene gives insight into how he plans to deal with Starscream in the long-term and full-fill Megatron's request to make Starscream a more model soldier (good luck, dude). At the same time, all it REALLY does is provide Cassette backstory -- and they aren't the focus of the fic. I can easily cut it down to two sentences, which clearly means that I should.
So, out of the main fic it goes and into a side bit.
---
Soundwave knew himself to be a mech of power and skill, possessing superior strength, abilities, and intellect.
He also knew that sufficient numbers could overpower even the most superior of individual mechs. It was with that in mind that he had, all those vorn ago, gone on to build the Cassettes; his own personal army of soldiers loyal unto death.
It had been unmitigated disaster.
Newly activated mechs, it turned out, were both impressionable and utterly addicted to attention and approval. When denied it, they became sullen, withdrawn, and rebellious. Punishment for transgressions, especially physical punishment, only exasperated the condition. The symbioses software and hardware he'd built into them, instead of inspiring greater loyalty, became a source of resentment. After all, no matter how hurt or angry they got at him, no matter how far they ran away, they would have to return to survive.
Soundwave, who'd always believed himself immune to the emotions of others, had been disturbed by the extent their discontent affected him. When they realized running away got them no where, they would spend joor sitting in the corner they'd commandeered as "their spot" with whatever trinkets they'd stolen -- one of many habits he'd been startled to find they'd picked up without his awareness -- and seemed to fill up the entire room with how hard they were pretending he didn't exist. It made concentrating on anything, from his work to the few hobbies he indulged, nearly impossible. By the same token, synchronizing with them, never a fun activity to begin with, soon became a singularly unpleasant experience.
The Decepticon medics he went to for advice told him to just delete their clearly defective personality matrices and make a second go of it.
He'd done so -- and regretted it instantly. The very first attempt at synchronization sent his symbioses protocols into a revolt. He may not have liked his Cassettes, but their personalities had been firmly imprinted onto his systems. Being linked up to two unfamiliar processors when he was instinctively expecting the familiar, had felt like being invaded. He'd been forced to remove them before full synchronization could take place.
Seeing no other recourse, he'd put the Cassettes into stasis, and spent the next several megacyles with the painful ache of a missing body part.
The practical solution, at that point, would have been to scrap the entire plan. Host programing as integrated as his couldn't be fully removed, but it could be deactivated, doing away with the lingering unease. The Cassette frames could be dismantled and sold for parts, and while attempting to return their sparks to the adoption network he'd taken them from would be more trouble than it was worth, there was a market for everything, including slightly used new-sparks.
He'd picked up the first small frame with the intent of taking it apart and found that he couldn't. The same feeling that gripped him when tossing out their stolen toys and repairing the damages they'd wrought on his personal chambers claimed him again.
He decided it was the feeling of failure. He didn't like it.
So instead, he did what he'd been built for. He gathered data.
It took him about a vorn, all together, to adjust both his quarters and his habits accordingly. He'd never had to learn about what it took to make another mech happy or been in a position to provide it. Weakness, shame, fear, and insecurity were the tools of his trade, but all were useless when it came to creating obedient soldiers that would work efficiently alongside him. When everything was in place, he re-activated the Cassettes.
In enumerable ways, Rumble and Frenzy were not their predecessors. The affects of having their own personal space and belongings, of being rewarded for appropriate behavior instead of just being expected to perform it, of structured boundaries that were reinforced with context-appropriate reprimands, were almost immediate. They were energetic, curious about and alert to their surroundings, and took clear enjoyment out of following his lead. When self-sufficient enough to be allowed out on their own, they returned because they wanted to share what they found with him, not because they didn't have a choice. Whereas synchronization before had been a chore, with Rumble and Frenzy it was reassuring and relaxing.
Yet, in certain small ways, they were exactly the same. Their anger was piercingly familiar. Their coveting of shiny objects to the point of theft was familiar, and for the most part, harmless enough that he permitted it as long as they were discreet. The same for their fondness for wanton destruction.
Though, he reflected as he stared down at his belongings scattered across the corridor, perhaps he should have put more energy into discouraging the latter.
----
Yes, Soundwave treated them like drones the first time around and was utterly confused as to why this didn't work.
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Yes, Soundwave treated them like drones the first time around and was utterly confused as to why this didn't work.
Oh, Soundwave. *pat pat* You'll get it eventually...
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learning healthy (well, functional, it's not really... healthy) emotional interaction
Come now, enforced co-dependence is totally heal...thy.
Yessss for obsessions... Soundwave's little family is so interesting, because they seem to get along with each other in ways most 'Cons just don't. Then there's the whole thing of the Cassettes spending most of their time in Soundwave's frigging chest and the how and why they were built that way. So many interesting questions to explore~ There will defiantly be more, even if just as tangential side fics to main story lines.
Oh, Soundwave. *pat pat*
He gets better!!
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I hope that was helpful instead of the confusing babble it looks like. D:
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And the last line is just a facemelt.
Adorable! Thanks for sharing!
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*GRINS*
I love it. Oh, Rumble. Oh, Frenzy.
Oh, Soundwave.
*GRINS*
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Translated: YES. OH MY GOSH. *rolling around* Are you psychic? Is it my birthday? All week I have done nothing but think about Soundwave and the Cassettes. How the Cassettes interact with Soundwave, how they interact with each other, etc, etc, so to check my flist tonight and see this, oh. *swoon* (o(
That aside, this is beautiful. I love all their behavioral issues and Soundwave refusing to just dismiss them as a failed experiment and move on. I keep scrolling back up to read it again.