audio;

[arnhaid]

There anyone out there hearin' this? We got some major water problems in the apartments here!

I'm gonna grab as many people as I can, get 'em outta here. Is there anywhere I can get 'em to that ain't underwater?

Krok, Spinister, Bucky. That means you guys too! Chromia, you hear me?

Comments

audio; wow who knew that tran and tram weren't the same things. NOT ME.

[heismymission]

Right.

[Even after months of having people concerned about him, it's still extremely strange. Steve, he kind of gets, since he saw the evidence of the man willing to throw his stupid life away. People like Ironhide, though? They didn't know him when he was an actual functioning person.

This isn't the time to think about that, anyway.]

If I can't find anyone after an hour, I'll be at the station.

audio; I DIDN'T NOTICE...

[arnhaid]

... Thanks, kid.

[Even if Bucky was always a functioning person the entire time Ironhide knew him... this exchange probably wouldn't have gone any differently.]

[He's a bodyguard. A protector. He always has been. And this human is his charge now.]

Good, I... I really don't wanna lose nobody else.

audio; ahaha good

[heismymission]

[He has to pause a moment to take in the robot's words. It's one thing to hover and tell him to stay in contact, but another entirely to say he'd be missed when he's gone. Bucky doesn't really know how to process that, except to try to reassure him.]

You won't. [And another pause for good measure.] I'll see you later.

audio;

[arnhaid]

[He sighs on the other end. It's good to hear that reassurance, honestly. Because it's just not fair -- finding everyone again only to lose them.]

[Ironhide has a big heart, but it's never been as well-protected as the rest of him.]

Yeah, kid. You will. Promise and everything.

action...

[heismymission]

Good.

[After hanging up, his search is mostly fruitless, seeing people that are already being helped, but he directs the occasional lone person in the direction of safety, getting plenty wet in the process. He's worked in worse conditions, though he wants to make certain little water gets into the inner workings of his arm, so he's cautious. It wouldn't do any good to have Stark have to replace the parts again.

He doesn't run into any problems, thankfully, so he heads to the sixth district after the hour is done. The flooding is... interesting to see from a different perspective. If he'd been his old self, he'd probably describe it more as devastating, but those days are past.]

action

[arnhaid]

[Ironhide is considerably more soggy than he should be. Slinging sandbags and wading into deep water to make sure no one was downing tends to get you soaked.]

[It's going to get uncomfortable later, but for now, he has an appointment to make. Slogging up to the tram station as promised.]

action

[heismymission]

[Bucky spots the bot easily from a distance--Ironhide sticks out easily, and the rain doesn't do anything to dull that bright red. It's almost comforting in a weird way, like a constant when the soldier is changing all the time. Ironhide, meanwhile, doesn't seem much different from when they first met. The mechanical part of him wonders if that's just his perception, and if it's even a good thing, but he sets it aside. It's unimportant.

He sticks his hands in his pockets and leans against a wall as the robot finally gets within speaking distance.]

How was it?

action

[arnhaid]

Wet.

[He shakes out his shoulders and arms for emphasis, scowling as the water drains out of cracks in plating. Honestly, it looks as if he has an entire lake in his frame. Gross. Water's nice to look at, but it needs to stay out of him.]

[It's only a few months -- for an Autobot, that's nothing.]

You?

keywords relevant

[heismymission]

[And for Bucky, a few months is all he can clearly remember, so it might as well be his whole life.]

Less wet, only because I want to avoid more of Stark's grumbling.

[Thankfully ignoring it largely keeps it from escalating, but it's annoying to deal with in the first place.]

Didn't find a lot of people to help. Looks like other people are doing most of the work.

thanks son :|

[arnhaid]

He givin' you a hard time?

[Unspoken is the offer to lean a little on the guy. Just in case.]

[He nods though, puffing out a vent of air.]

That's good, kinda. Good people are pitchin' in.

only honesty for robodad

[heismymission]

Nothing unbearable.

[And that's his acknowledgement and decline of the offer. Besides, if Ironhide "leaned" on him it would probably only get worse. Nothing really stops Tony from being his obnoxious self.]

... yeah. They can't really afford to let anyone die here.

[arnhaid]

Good to hear.

[He can't help it -- looking after people is what he does. If someone was bothering the kid, he'd probably try to take care of it.]

[Operative word being TRY.]

... that's true. Didn't really think of it like that.

[heismymission]

[It makes him wonder. He guesses this place really was dying before they came, but why? Did the miasma really prevent people from procreating? This magic stuff makes no sense to him.]

There aren't any children. The population must have been shrinking the past century.

[arnhaid]

Children?

[Sorry, Bucky. You're going to have to uh. Explain that one a little bit.]

[heismymission]

[Oh, right. Robots... don't grow, do they.]

Humans are smaller when they're younger. When we grow up, we're adults, but before that, we're children.

[arnhaid]

Oh. I gotcha. Newbies.

We don't got many of 'em either, from what I hear.

... 'cept we don't go around abducting people from other worlds to fill in the gaps.

[heismymission]

If they don't solve whatever's keeping them from having children, it won't matter how many of us they bring here.

It's probably connected with the miasma.

[arnhaid]

Unless the humans they bring here start doin' it for 'em... I know we're not gonna be makin' any more of us while we're here.

... You ever find out anything more about that?

[heismymission]

[He frowns slightly as he recalls what he's found so far, his mouth a thin line.]

A few things. [He doesn't know how much of it is relevant to the more current situation.] Only four people who were at the center of it when it happened survived.

[arnhaid]

Four?

[That's... alarming. He was under the impression there were a lot more people involved here.]

This somethin' we should probably talk about when the weather ain't trying to drown us?

[heismymission]

[Bucky looks out, watching the rain.]

Up to you. [He doesn't know what good any of the information he has will do them in the long run, honestly--it's not like he can do much but fight, and even then, Burns being involved limits that.

In any case, there very well might be more people who need their help right now.]

[arnhaid]

We should probably wait. I don't wanna leave someone in trouble while we're here chattin'.

But I wanna know. Anything that might help.

[heismymission]

Right. I'll tell you what I know when we have time.

[So... off to help more people they go.]

[arnhaid]

Thanks, kid.

... for the info. And... for stickin' around.

[heismymission]

I'm not going anywhere.

[Maybe he doesn't know that for certain, but like hell he's going to entertain the possibility--especially not if it means leaving would cause his friends any distress.]