#dr.hexbolt

[rogue-seeker]

Tw:  complicated xeno-ethics, discussion of child abuse, reprogramming, ex slavery, slave coding,  soundwave being unsettling, mention of sex. --- In which what's considered ethical in child care for Cybertronians isn't the same for humans. Especially for those mecha who survived the Gladiator Pits as slaves. 

(This has two chapters)

[voidwingsprime]

SOUP???

“Heated energon with macerated floaters is warm to the fuel-lines and digestive tanks after a long flight out in the cold hurricane winds of a gas giant.” -TC

// “Floaters are a type of xenomech fauna, characterized by inflatable gas-sacs and rubbery tendrils. A form of sky-plankton that Thundercracker’s people are fond of vaccuming up to eat. -Dr. Hexbolt

[rogue-seeker]

Drawing done of my OC: Hexbolt back when they were still a flesh human. The last surviving member of Soundwave’s adopted brood of humans, three centuries prior to Rogue Seeker.

crossposted to deviantart

Fic Tumblr and Ask/Rp blog  

Timeline Page

[rogue-seeker]

404: Brood 2/3 Done with copics, sharpies, gel pel, and dip pen.

From the notes of Dr.Hexbolt:

Green is not soothing to Cybertronians. It’s the color of stress and alarm, due to their home planet’s numerous acid rains.

Gold isn’t associated with wealth either. It’s a color and concept associated with with prey, due to the metal’s soft and common nature.

Here Buzzsaw uses these colors in this portrait of kir juni creator during an art therapy session.  A photo of Soundwave charging zir creations and Buzzsaw’s siblings Sundor and Wingthing was used as reference.

Buzzsaw has made great progress in kir therapy, especially in the use of color as abstract language and expression. Kir codeline, Voidwing and kir history as a deployer has made abstract communication difficult. Voidwing Deployers are prone to only using literal language due to their nature as surveilance, hunting, and scout frames for their creators.

The green and gold is used to demonstrate Buzzsaw’s anxiety about kir siblings and creator, with the gold showing undertones of vulnerability and the green being hurt by those ke cares about most. That Soundwave will harm kir siblings like ke was due to the unfortunate nature of natal-lock programming and that war, like with humans, does not produce healthy parenting behaviors. 

These notes have been publicly released with Buzzsaw’s permission.

WIP of drawing under read more

[rogue-seeker]

404: Grief. 1/3

Copics/Gel Pens/Dip Pen + Ink

Design of veil by Rito.

From the notes of Dr.Hexbolt:

Of the now extinct gladiator Seeker culture, only a few remnants survive. Here former Decepticon commander Soundwave displays zir veils woven for zir, by zir former Endura, Megatron.

Unable to fly and transformation protocols locked away, enslaved seekers were forced to battle insecticon challengers for the hives that owned them. Those gladiators who survived the fights, would melt down the frames from their foes and claim the Arachnofiber, from the few insecticon codelines that produced it.

Destroyed foes were eaten in grand victory feasts that the gladiators held in the pits and the remains casted into small trophies like the chains that Soundwave displays here.

Arachnofiber and steelsilk was processed into fine nanoweave cloth, a sign of survival and craftsmechship. Only elder gladiators like Megatron would live long enough to master such a delicate craft.

Unable to fly and claim the skies, such cloth was a sign of defiance to their masters and a method of self expression during their brutal oppression.

Megatron is survived by eir former partner, Soundwave and their plethora of creations. Most of eir former belongings have been passed down to their creations and the rest archived in the Memorial Archives.

Uncolored version underneath.

[rogue-seeker]

Fic Tumblr and Ask/Rp blog  

Timeline Page

crossposted to deviantart, ao3

Art produced by the Xenomech known as Laserbeak, in kir sessions of art therapy. Posted here with permission. Below is a transcript from a memory file shared by Laserbeak and Mx. Soundwave - Dr. Hexbolt. 

----

Laserbeak was the last of kir siblings not to be locked into stasis. Megatronus and Starscream were out, both of them on the front lines. Ke was docked onto her Juni, Soundwave. Ke had onlined to the quiet shadows of the Nemesis' bridge, with only the soft humming of the Titan's systems around kir and the steady pulsing of kir Creator's spark. Ke shifted kir wing plates, Laserbeak was as usual, nestled snugly within kir Juni's chest plates. Spindly digits rubbed over kir helm and backstruts. Plugged into kir creator, Soundwave allowed Laserbeak access to zir sensory feeds.

Through zir, ke saw an endless rain of holo screens, the pulsing biolights of kir creator's data cables, the audio livestreams from the war's front lines and the shrieks and the blaster fire- Soundwave shut it down and Laserbeak ceased kir shifting.

[This is why.] Ke read from kir creator's private dm system. Kir visor brightened as Laserbeak processed the glyphs. Marks of protection, wrapped around an egg, while glyphs of broken wings and sputtered sparks spiraled out. [Rest.] [?? I just woke up!] Laserbeak fired out kir own glyphs, of Cybertron's own twin moons and spread out wings and the neon blue of freshly spilled energon.

A wish for kir to fly under the twin gaze of the moons and enjoy the fresh night air, to feel the thrill of the hunt. Ke felt kir creator's digits on the back of kir helm, of the encryption locks bypassing. Kir back wing plates shifted in alarm. Laserbeak felt two digits press on the nape of kir neck cables. Of the sleep mode button commonly found in deployers and other such newbuild models. Kir visor flashed as Soundwave pressed down on the switch and Laserbeak felt kir systems run down and kir optcs dimmed. -- Soundwave ex-vented as ze felt Laserbeak fade back into recharge. Zir digits dug into palm plates. It wasn't fair to neither zirself nor Laserbeak. But there was no one else to command the Nemesis and provide communications, not as the war ground on. Ke was getting too old for this. To be docked and sent back into recharge with a mere flick of a switch. But... Kir getting upgrades into a sub-adult, sent into the front lines? Unthinkable. Ke was the last one not to be nearly killed on the front lines out of all zir brood. Ze resolved to make it up to Laserbeak during zir next off-shift.

[voidwingsprime]

The Mecha of Flock Aegis aka Meet the Cast

Since I got so many new followers and Skywarp has a close-knit flock, here’s some of them. Yes, this is a multi-muse blog.

Art by @thenamesblurrito​

Long post under readmore

Note on pronouns: Rogue Seeker mecha are nonbinary/alien-gendered, and pronouns are tied to trimorphic manufacturing roles/frame-types/codelines/ranks. When dealing with humans, they default to she/her. They/them is used primarily for multi-body/drone networked persons like Hexbolt.

Skywarp - sha/shi/shiself - refsheet (spoilers)

Second-In-Command of the Aegis, second wing to Thundercracker. Ex-decepticon.

As a member of the the Aegian Command Trine and an Elder Munidor, Skywarp takes shi duties seriously. Each and every mecha on shi ship is shi responsibility and Skywarp does shi best on making sure they are well cared for.

As a Munidor, Skywarp acts as mix of medic, engineer, mechanic, and midwife. Making sure young newbuilds on the ship are sparked into fresh working frames.

In shi free time, Skywarp is a massive troll. Sha is fond of screaming HEWWWWWOOOOO when interacting with humans and loves to record shiself pushing Starscream and Soundwave down the stairs when they annoy shi. These videos are released on Sparktreon: a patreon-like website where fleshies can subscribe and send Skywarp's flock money to see the latest nature documentaries on the everyday life of Cybertronians.

In battle and when growing fresh parts, Skywarp is a feral sadistic hunter.

Thundercracker - yre/yres/yres-self - 200 feet long (? idk, lengths are hard) - refsheet (spoilers) Winglord of the ship Aegis. Ex-decepticon and deserter.

Joined the Aegis with Skywarp as refugees, and they later earned the right to be the Command Trine. (Both co-rule with their creations cycling in as their Third Wing: Slipstream, Shadowrun, Nightstrike, and Misfire)

Unlike Starscream's high-strung dramatics and Skywarp's feral trolling, Thundercracker is a lot more levelheaded. As Winglord of Ship Aegis, Thundercracker is the emissary to United Nations.

In yres free time, Thundercracker writes screenplays, watches movies, games, listens to podcasts, watches SNAP, attends therapy and plays with yres therapy dog, Buster. TC also has a fine collection of alien life forms dating back to when yres did xenobiology with Skyfire and is looking forward to attaining more via Hexbolt and the United Nations.

When angry, Thundercracker's engines scream and no one else can get a word in. OR TC will just pick up the irritating mech, knock them out with a flick to the helm and then shove them inside of yrenself until they behave.

In battle, yre sonic cannons break glass, shatter metal, and cause other mecha to blue-screen.

Starscream - kha/khyr/khyr-self - 63 feet tall.

Aka asshole jet, rooster asshat, prick plane, etc by Willam Lennox.

The ex-Winglord of the Nemesis and former second in command of the former decepticon faction, Screamer has fallen from grace. Nuked to pieces by humanity three hundred years prior to the start of Rogue Seeker, Starscream was left for dead. Kha was later revived by a bored Hexbolt who was in need of a science project to stay alive.

With khyr former comrades dead and Megatron permanently deactivated, Starscream grieves the lost of khyr old flock but relishes being free of khyr former Lord. After waking up in the old NEST base nest to the downed ship of the Nemesis, Screamer spent khyr time between annoying investigating the humans and untangling the natal locks and programming Soundwave left in their creations.

Starscream now spends khyr time between NEST base and the ship Aegis, partnered with Hexbolt in their study of xenobiology. Relations between khyr trine members: Skywarp and Thundercracker are strained but slowly healing.  Despises Soundwave and considers William Lennox a lovely companion animal.

Soundwave - ze/zir/zir-self - 33 feet tall.

During the final battle, between Decepticons and the Autobot Hives, Soundwave bridged zirself over there. But Humanity betrayed Cybertronians and dropped nuclear bombs on both sides. Before ze could emerge from the bridge, the nukes fell and Soundwave got trapped in the Shadowzone for three hundred long years.

Ze has emerged into a world where the Decepticons are wiped out, zir Endura is dead, and zir creations are traumatized and wary after Soundwave worked so hard to keep them alive.

Widowed and unstable with grief, Soundwave reluctantly courts Skywarp out of belief they are one of two last elder Voidwings in existence. Plus it pisses off Starscream, which is always a plus.  Enemies to Co-Parents.

Dr.Hexbolt - they/them/them-self - Organic Intelligence of Nest Base - Uploaded Human - Drone Swarm - Xenobiologist

Three centuries prior and before the bombs fell, Soundwave was Decepticon PR, educating humanity on the crimes of the Autobots.  With zir creations in stasis pods to keep them safe from the war, Soundwave virtually adopted a few lonely young humans over the Internet to keep zir company.  (sending advice, teaching over video/text/calls, sending money, gaming, etc)

Hexbolt was one of these humans. Orphaned three times, Hexbolt survived the bombings, and later was drafted with their “adopted siblings” to remote pilot empty Cybertronian frames to clean up surviving Autobot hives.

Three centuries and several Ph.Ds later, Hexbolt survives as a digital copy of their original self. Said copy controls a network of drone bodies, of which several are mechframes. One of the oldest humans in existence, Hex spends their time crunching data, running simulations on Cybertronian xenobiology, aiding Search and Rescue during natural disasters, and stress-eating in their human replicant/gargoyle  frame.

They revived Starscream, in the hopes that reviving khyr, would lead to repairing the downed Nemesis.  (Human replicant face shown below, minus antennae. Art sourced from this character maker: https://www.dolldivine.com/cyberpunk.php)

William Lennox - he/his/him-self - Commander of the NEST base.

While Hexbolt runs the network and electronics of NEST, William Lennox handles the human end of things. Centuries of no xenomech activity means, NEST has become Siberia, where the UN sends its eccentric peacekeepers. It’s mostly become backup natural disaster relief, and only the memories of Uploads keep the UN from mothballing NEST. Nothing to do except keep a half-mad OI company in their futile attempts to wake up Starscream.

Until that attempt succeeds and Willam has to deal with a walking talking 63-foot headache named Starscream. Who later then finds the dreaded Soundwave, whose been MIA for 3 centuries.

With balls of steel, William Lennox has to keep NEST’ new cybertronian guests sane and non-hostile while dealing with Hexbolt freaking out from the return of their adopted parent.