#multi room audio system
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teamvisual · 8 months ago
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paxtonvaldovinos · 1 year ago
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Smart Home Solutions at Palm Beach Audio Visions
At Palm Beach Audio Visions (PBAV), we are passionate about delivering exceptional audio visual, home automation, lighting, and technology integration solutions for residential and commercial projects. From the initial concept to the final system deployment, we are dedicated to ensuring that projects are completed on time and within budget while exceeding industry standards for quality. Our team of experienced professionals brings a wealth of expertise in the high-end market and a strong focus on building lasting relationships with our clients. Feel free to visit us!
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immersivetechnologies · 27 days ago
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Best Home Automation Installation in Gurgaon for a Smarter Lifestyle
The greatest home automation installation services for contemporary living are provided by Immersive Technologies, a top supplier of smart home solutions in Gurgaon. Immersive technologies turn regular houses into intelligent environments with anything from sophisticated security and entertainment systems to smart lighting and climate management. Homeowners benefit from increased convenience, security, and energy efficiency through professional installation, voice assistant integration, and remote access, which makes daily life easier and more intelligent.
Visit Our Website: www.immersivetech.in
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immersivetech21w · 1 month ago
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Why Every Modern Home in Gurgaon Needs Home Automation Services
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Home automation is no longer a luxury in today's rapidly changing world, where technology permeates every part of our lives. Investing in home automation Services is the best way for homeowners in Gurgaon, a city renowned for its cutting-edge technology and modern lifestyle, to improve comfort, security, and energy efficiency.
At Immersive Technologies, our specialty is providing state-of-the-art home automation systems that are customized to Gurgaon residents' specific requirements. Here are some reasons why every contemporary Gurgaon home ought to invest in smart automation right now.
What Is Home Automation?
The simplest definition of best home automation Services is the ability to use voice commands or your smartphone to control many aspects of your house, such as the lights, security systems, air conditioning, entertainment devices, and more. Envision lowering the temperature, locking doors, or shutting off lights all from the comfort of your couch. At its core, home automation is about convenience.
Gurgaon’s Lifestyle Demands Smart Solutions
Gated neighborhoods, upscale residences, and business offices abound in Gurgaon. The residents manage social, familial, and professional obligations in their hectic life. Services for home automation offer an unparalleled degree of convenience for such a fast-paced lifestyle.
Safety First: Smart lighting controls and thermostats cut down on waste, which lowers your expenses.
Energy Efficiency: Smart lighting controls and thermostats cut down on waste, which lowers your expenses.
Comfort & Convenience: Everyday life is made easier by smart appliances, climate management, and automated lighting.
How Immersive Technologies Makes Your Home Smarter
We at Immersive Technologies don't think there is a one-size-fits-all solution. Our professionals collaborate with you to create a unique home automation system that properly suits your needs both financially and lifestyle-wise. We provide flawless installations with premium equipment for everything from basic configurations like automatic lights to completely integrated smart homes.
Benefits of Home Automation Services in Gurgaon
1. Enhanced Security
Gurgaon residents are particularly concerned about their safety. Our home automation solutions, which include motion sensors, smart locks, video doorbells, and 24-hour surveillance, keep your house safe even while you're not home.
2. Energy Savings
It is more crucial than ever to use energy efficiently because electricity bills are rising. Immersive Technologies' smart lighting and HVAC control solutions maximize energy use, lowering utility costs and your carbon footprint.
3. Remote Accessibility
Use your smartphone or voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant to easily control your house whether you're at work, on the road, or just in a different room.
4. Increased Property Value
In the real estate market, smarter homes are more sought after. Purchasing home automation enhances your quality of life and increases the market value of your house.
The Future Is Smart — Don’t Get Left Behind
Since smart home technology is developing so quickly, houses without home automation Services run the risk of becoming obsolete.  Your house should keep up with Gurgaon's transformation into a smart city.  By selecting Immersive Technologies, you may upgrade and scale your living area to meet future needs.
Why Choose Immersive Technologies?
Customized Solutions: We customize systems according to your tastes and the design of your house.
Trusted Brands: Only dependable, top-notch equipment is installed by us.
Expert Support: Our staff is there to support you at every stage, from consultation to installation and aftercare.
Local Expertise: As specialists headquartered in Gurgaon, we are aware of the particular requirements of the city.
Ready to Upgrade Your Gurgaon Home?
Now is the best moment to start living smartly since it's here to stay. For a free consultation, get in touch with Immersive Technologies. Together, we can improve the energy efficiency, safety, and intelligence of your house.
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bybespoke · 4 months ago
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Experience seamless whole-home audio with Bespoke’s Multi-Room Audio System in Adelaide. Enjoy crystal-clear sound in every room, effortlessly controlled via smartphone or voice commands. Contact Us.
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dutcotennantllc · 6 months ago
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Multi-Room Audio Management with Zone Controllers
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Learn how Zone Controllers offer the ultimate solution for seamless audio control across multiple rooms. Whether you're managing a home, office, or commercial space, these devices ensure easy, synchronized audio distribution, providing superior flexibility and convenience. Learn how integrating zone controllers can enhance your sound system for a more tailored and enjoyable listening experience.
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minxipinxi · 3 months ago
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🎮 Love & Deepspace – One Year Later: A Deep Dive into Achievements, Controversies, and Future Hopes 🎮
Since its launch, Love & Deepspace (LADS) has evolved significantly, introducing new features, quality-of-life improvements, and (of course) sparking debates about monetization. Here's a comprehensive, detailed look at what the game has accomplished, where it shines, and where it could do better.
🌟 Major Improvements & New Features
1. Lunar Shop Overhaul 🌙
Before:
Ranking up 5★ memories only gave 50 Lunar Crystals, which felt unrewarding.
Players had no meaningful way to spend excess crystals.
Now:
Lunar Crystals can be exchanged for exclusive outfits and accessories.
The first outfit (inspired by a meme!) was a fun addition.
Problem:
Outfits cost 100 crystals per color variant: forcing players to grind (or spend) for multiple copies of 5★ memories.
The system has a finite limit: once you max out standard banner memories, crystals stop accumulating unless you pull on limited banners.
Verdict: A step in the right direction, but too restrictive. Let players unlock color variants freely!
2. Memory Growth Bonus (A Lifesaver for Leveling) 📈
Before:
Leveling memories past 60 required insane resources, making progression tedious.
Now:
A growth bonus significantly reduces the grind for multi-banner memories.
Problem:
Myth memories (solo banners) don’t benefit from this system.
High-level players still face bottlenecks when upgrading beyond 60.
Verdict: A great addition, but should be expanded to all memory types.
3. Glint Photo Booth & AR Snapshot (A Fan Favorite!) 📸
Why It’s Great:
Allows creative photo-taking with LIs and MC.
Sparked huge community engagement (players share edits, memes, and stories).
Controversy:
Some speculate this feature was only added because revenue allowed it (no official confirmation).
Raises questions about whether F2P-friendly content depends on profit margins.
Verdict: One of the best social features: hope they keep expanding it!
4. 4★ Memories with Dynamic Dates (A Mixed Bag) 💘
What Changed:
Promise Cards (paid 4★ memories) now include visual novel-style dates.
More immersive than before, but not as deep as 5★ memories.
Problems:
Paywalled: only available via the Promise system.
Some players prefer audio-only dates (like in Secret Times) for multitasking.
Verdict: Nice for spenders, but should be more accessible.
5. Hairstyles & Accessories (Cute but Costly) 💇‍♂️🐱
The Good:
New cat ears, tails, and hairstyles added customization depth where early banners bundled accessories with outfits (e.g., Yes, Cat Caretaker Event).
The Bad:
Later banners split hairstyles from outfits, forcing extra pulls (e.g., Tomorrow's Catch-22 Event) locked hairstyles behind additional gacha layers.
Verdict: A fun addition, but predatory monetization hurts player trust.
6. Abyssal Chaos (Rewarding but Flawed) ⚔️
What It Offers:
A roguelike mode with deduction puzzles, lore, and rewards.
Completing it grants ~10.7 pulls over 6-8 weeks.
Problems:
Rewards are one-time only (no refreshes).
Grindy and time-consuming—many players skip it after the first run.
Verdict: Could be much better if rewards reset bi-weekly.
7. "With Him" Room Customization (Needs More Life) 🏠
Improvements:
Expanded room size and more furniture options.
Missing Elements:
No visible LI presence (unlike Destiny Café, where they interact).
No rewards for decorating—reduces incentive to engage.
Verdict: Needs real-time LI interactions (e.g., reading, sleeping).
8. Free 20 Pulls (Thank You, CN Players!) 🎁
How It Happened:
Global received 20 free pulls only because CN servers topped revenue charts.
Proves global players rely on CN spending for rewards.
Verdict: Appreciated, but highlights global-server inequality.
9. Reruns: Good Idea, Bad Execution 🔄
The Good:
Reruns arrived earlier than expected (some gachas wait 2-3 years).
The Bad:
Myth banners only last 7 days: forcing rushed decisions.
Packs are pricier, removing budget-friendly options.
Verdict: Reruns are necessary, but FOMO tactics are unfair.
💸 The Big Issue: Aggressive Monetization
While LADS has improved gameplay, many updates push spending:
Lunar Shop = Requires dupes for outfits.
Split hairstyles = More pulls needed.
Abyssal Chaos = Rewards are too scarce.
Rerun tactics = Limited-time pressure.
How to Fix It? ✔ Bundle hairstyles with outfits. ✔ Refresh Abyssal Chaos rewards bi-weekly. ✔ Give global players more free pulls (not just CN-dependent).
🎭 Final Thoughts: Love It, But Stay Critical
LADS has grown impressively in storytelling, animation, and features. However, monetization is getting greedier, making it harder for F2P/low-spenders/dolphins to keep up.
What’s Next?
Will the developers listen to feedback and adjust?
Can they balance profit with player satisfaction?
And remember: stay vocal about fair treatment! ✊
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bad-and-drawn-that-way · 1 year ago
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HEAR ME OUT- DUMBIFICATION, DEGRADATION AND PRAISE WITH VOX
THOUGHTS??
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I also have a headcanon request that I'll do separately in list form! This is actually a scene from a scrapped multi-chapter fic idea I had for a secretary reader. As to why it was scrapped, I didn't know how to finish it so I ✨gave up! ✨
Ngl this is actually only half of the scene, there's scraps of this whole extra kinky round-two thing with some casual exhibitionism, but we'll see how this does first. That being said, enjoy!
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At Your Service [Vox x Secretary Reader] NSFW AS FUCK
(NSFW writing under the cut. Minors stay away <3)
It was an early morning like any other. Vox is sitting at his desk, looking over the paperwork he had from yesterday. It’s far too early and his bougie oversized office offered little comfort as you sleepily walked in. Hearing the door open, Vox looked up and smirked as he noticed the coffee in your hand.
"Good morning." he greeted you, motioning to a chair for you to take a seat.
"Morning," you smile a bit tiredly as you enter the room. You were never much of a morning person. Once the initial adrenaline of stepping out of your house had burned out, you needed the extra caffeine boost to keep your energy going.
A yawn slipped past your lips as you sat in the chair across from his desk.
"Wimp," Vox chuckled, poking fun at your inability to start a morning as early as him. It had become a regular topic of banter that started most of your work mornings together.
"Capitalist cocksucker," you wave him off. "Not everyone can be up at the ass crack of dawn in a freshly pressed suit, Sir. A few more sips of this stuff and I'll be good to go." You say as you lift your coffee to your lips.
You hum and lick some foam off your lip as you pull out your laptop. "Any changes to today's agenda I need to know about?" you ask him.
Vox smirked, rolling his eyes as he pulled up one of the hundreds of tabs he had open on his computer. "I can tell you're still a bit tired, but if you're sure... " he paused for a moment, glancing over his schedule."Yes, actually. There has been a small change to the overall plan. We're going to be running a new campaign today, so I'll need you to be ready to assist with that."
"What would you like me to oversee?
"I want you to be over on the promotion side for this new campaign," he said as he looked up from his paperwork. "Make sure that we get maximum visibility on this. The security system may have been a spur-of-the-moment idea, but it could bring in huge fucking numbers if we pull it off. I want as many people as possible to know about it and twice as many sales as views minimum.”
You nod, take notes, and start writing an email draft to get meetings scheduled. "Do you want the visual hypnosis team to work on the campaign or the auditory team?" It was common knowledge that Vox had hypnotic abilities, but it was less common to know how it had been incorporated throughout his entire company. Inductions were slipped into nearly every advertisement, program, and product that the company made.
"Have both of the hypnosis teams work on it," he answered. "We'll have the visual team focus primarily on the advertising for the campaign, and the audial team will work on creating the sounds and audio to slip in. We want this to be a very effective campaign, so the more hypnotic technology we can put into work, the better."
You stop typing, looking up at him incredulously. “Are you sure? The last time we doubled down on inductions we had to do that whole cover story to explain why half of hell turned into braindead zombies for a week.”
“It’ll be fine,” Vox waved off your concerns. “That was years ago and we’re better at this shit now. We can always blame it on Alastor somehow if shit goes wrong.”
You nod along, "If you’re sure. I've personally been incredibly susceptible to the combination, so forgive me if I don’t watch any of your programs for the next month," you say idly without thinking.
You didn’t notice as Vox paused. You didn’t notice the toothy grin that could have prepared you for what was to come either. "How susceptible were you previously to hypnosis?"
You nod along, not listening to his question as you finish sending the email to the hypnosis teams. Your brain catches up with you as you hit send and you freeze like a deer in the headlights. The look on your flushed face was priceless and Vox would have burst out laughing if he wasn’t so invested in hearing your answer. "I, uh.." you look away from him, "I was focused and said too much out loud. You weren't supposed to hear that."
His eyes were still on you, a clear look of curiosity flashing across his expression.
"You're right, I wasn't supposed to hear that,” He grinned. “But you said it and you’re not getting out of this that easily. You said that you are quite susceptible?"
You cringe, knowing you couldn't dodge a direct question from your boss. Even if he was an ass and an absolute man-child. "I..." you bite your lip curling in on yourself and crossing your legs as you take a sudden great interest in your laptop. "Yeah, I may have... experimented a bit."
His eyebrows raised, and he leaned slightly over to get a better look at you.
"Experiments?" he spoke softly. "What type of experiments?"
You sputter, your entire body flushing as you stammer out a panicked reply, "I, ah, um.. don't know if that would be a-appropriate to um.."
He chuckled slightly, now seeming rather amused by your reaction. "I assure you, I've heard much worse than whatever you may be worried about telling me."
"E-even so," you try to reason. "It's embarrassing. It's one thing to do it, it's another to tell your boss about it."
His eyebrows raised further. "You've done hypnotic experiments on yourself, and you're embarrassed to tell me about it?” He chuckles and rests his screen on his hand. “Yeah, no. You’re not getting out of this. What exactly did you do?"
You stare at him, before sighing and opening up a blank document. It was too mortifying to say out loud. He may have the power to squeeze the information out of you for his entertainment, but you’d be damned if you gave him the satisfaction of saying it out loud. You silently type up that you've tried being hypnotized both sober and when high and how you had done free-use edging with a group while high and hypnotized. Without a word you turn the laptop around so he can read it, your face on fire as you look anywhere but at him.
He had been expecting something a bit more tame, but now he was intrigued. It seemed that you had quite the mind on you to explore such risky topics. When he finished reading it, he raised his eyebrows even further, seemingly somewhat impressed.
"Well, I'll be damned," he commented. "That's not what I expected... What made you wanna try such things?"
"I like the feeling of it," you muttered as you turned the laptop around and promptly deleted the damning text.
His eyebrows raised a bit, intrigued. "You like the feeling of being hypnotized? You like letting someone else be in control of you?"
You pressed your lips together, blushing hard as he asked his question.
"Is that a yes then?" he inquired, his grin growing as the pixels under his mouth went dead. "You don't want to give me a straight answer, but the way you're stuttering and blushing makes it pretty clear that you do."
"S-Shut up," you bite back at his call-out as you finally look back at him.
Vox laughs as he just keeps winning the game he’d caught you in. "I think I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"
"Y-Yes, sir." You say, cringing as you realize that sounded completely different given the topic compared to when you usually called him that during work hours.
He chuckled again, finding your response more than a bit amusing. "Well then, I take it that you have no issues with me being in complete control over you, then?"
You would combust into flames if you could. Your legs clenched together as you took in his question. You looked down at your laptop, stammering as you felt yourself quickly slipping into his grasp. "T-The campaign-"
"Yes, yes, yes," he interrupts you, seeming rather amused by this. "We'll talk about the campaign after that. I'm more interested in how much control you're willing to give up to me right here and now."
"I..." you pause, staring down at your hands clenched on top of your laptop. Were you really about to do this? Fuck it.
You look up at him and nod.
A grin appeared on his face as you nodded, even more amused now that this little bit was going exactly the way he had hoped. The two of you had flirted here and there, but never anything more than the occasional passing comment. If anything, it had just been a part of the playful and teasing game you’d be playing together for the past few months with you as his assistant.
He had no idea if you had ever truly noticed his advances or the way he’d stare at your ass in that pencil skirt you always wore during meeting days. But now he had the chance to unravel every last secret that’d been out of reach. Vox was nothing if not an opportunist.
"Good girl," he said softly. "Are you ready for me to control you now?"
You stand, going to place your phone and laptop on a nearby table. You stop and take a shaky breath, smoothing out your pencil skirt. You turn and walk back to him, this time hesitating instead of simply sitting in the chair across from his desk.
"Yes."
He smiles at your obedience and hesitation, noting the way that you smoothed down your skirt. You had already given up quite a lot of control to him, and it seemed that it was just going to be even easier from this point on.
"Then come here," he said softly, motioning for you to do so.
Your heart was pounding hard in your chest and you felt how hot your cheeks were as you stepped forward and moved to stand before him. His attention had been on every part of you, taking in every inch of you. He didn’t have to sneak in glances like before, he could just take it all in on his own time. He was enjoying the way that he seemed to be able to control you with a seemingly simple command. And to think he’d barely lifted a finger.
His eyes moved downwards as you stood in front of him, and his expression became a bit more serious than mere amusement.
"Let your skirt fall to your ankles," he instructed.
You practically shivered at the command, screaming internally at how embarrassed you felt and yet squirming at how just a short command from him was enough to send sparks through your body.
Your face flushed as you slowly undid the zipper on the side of your hip, taking a sharp breath before letting the fabric fall to the floor. You hugged yourself as you looked to the side, stepping out of your skirt and standing half-exposed in front of him.
He couldn't help but smirk as you did exactly as he commanded. Your legs were now exposed, and he noted how they were quivering slightly.
"Good girl," he smirked. "Now, let's step this up."
"But you’re still wearing too much. Let’s move on to your top next, shall we?" he suggested with a spark of playful amusement.
Oh god, was he really going to make you do this? It would have been one thing if he had been the one undressing you, but the fact he was making you do it for him like this was going to be the double death of you. You shakily undo the buttons of your blouse, trying to keep your heart rate under control as you pull it over your head and let it fall to the floor by your skirt.
You look at Vox, hoping he’d finally have some mercy and touch you himself, but he only lazily drags his gaze over your body with a hum of approval. "And finally?"
You were only left in your bra, underwear, sheer black thigh-high tights, and your heels. You felt incredibly vulnerable in his large office. Anyone could come in through the door and the windows that overlooked the city suddenly felt far more exposing than they ever had before.
You could see the spark of excitement begin to rise in him as you bit your lip and paused. Your hesitation was only making this a bit more exciting for him. He could hardly keep up the playful mask when his claws were threatening to tear into the armrest of his chair.
"Go on... " he said softly and slowly, his voice now beginning to become a bit huskier.
You took another shaky breath as you slowly reached back to unclasp your bra. You shook just knowing he was looking at you. That he was pursuing this. It made you hyper-aware in every way as you tossed the garment to the side and then finally stepped out of your underwear.
His gaze on your body was intense once more, seeming to take in every inch of you. He could not stop himself from being intrigued by your body and by just how vulnerable you were right now.
Your shaking was making it even more enticing to him. "Good girl," he said softly. You move to undo the garter and roll down your tights, when he stops you. Leave those. They’re perfect.” The dead pixels under his mouth might as well have been drool with the way his eyes hungrily took in the sight of the tights pressing into your skin so perfectly. 
“Are you ready to move on to the last step?"
You take a deep breath before lowering to your knees in front of him and nodding. You'd never done anything like this with a single person, finding it so much easier in a group. His lone, laser focus on you made you feel every twitch and spark and overwhelmed you in the best of ways.
"Yes, Sir."
He looked down at you once more, this time taking in all of your body as you were now kneeling, your hands resting on his chair.
"Now..." he said quietly as he reached down in a rare moment of tenderness as he lifted your chin. "I want to ask you a very simple question, but you must answer honestly. Do you enjoy this? Do you enjoy giving up your control to me?"
The smallest moan slips past your lips without your permission. Despite your embarrassment, you answer truthfully. “Yes. I love it a lot, actually.."
He smirked at the moan and the truth in your words. You were enjoying this... he could tell. You truly loved giving up your control to him. And he loved taking it.
"Good girl," he said with a soft chuckle at your veracity. "Very, very good girl. You enjoy letting me take c̶o̸m̶p̴l̶e̵t̵e̵ control of you, don't you?"
You take a deep breath, feeling your body relax a bit as you feel a bit of yourself give into him as you finally gather the nerve to look him in the eye. "Yes, Sir."
His expression seemed to shift a bit as you gave in even more. His amusement was more apparent now, as he now had you exactly where he wanted you.
"I love that you enjoy this so much," he said softly. "Does it make it more fun for you to know that you are pleasing me?"
You nod, shifting on your knees. "It does," you say earnestly. "Your approval isn't something easy to earn."
The slight shift you made was enough to cause him to smirk once more. Every time you moved, he would find something new about you that appealed to him.
"I approve of this tremendously," he grinned. "It is obvious that you enjoy giving up your control over me and letting me take control of you. It is clear that you enjoy giving me pleasure."
You let out a hot breath, your eyes darting down to between his legs as he mentioned giving him pleasure. You weren’t subtle about it either. Vox chuckled, amused more now than any other time during the interactions you two have had so far. You whine, your fists clenching where they rested on top of your thighs. Your chest shifted with every movement as you waited for his instruction.
"So eager," he breathed. He reached down and tucked your hair behind your ear as he committed the view to memory. "Go on, then,” he purred. “Show me what you’re willing to do for this.”
"I'm happy to give you a demonstration," you say to him with a smirk. Vox chuckled, happy to see some of your usual sass seep into the moment. He just knew you had a bratty side to you. The duality of how eager you seemed to submit and that bit of knowledge filled him with anticipation for all the different sides of you he wanted to see.
You scoot forward and reach for the zipper of his slacks. You chuckle as his breath hitches when you slowly pull down. He moans softly as your hand only continues following a path down as you palm him slowly over his slacks. There was already a bulge formed there that made you twitch with delight.
Looking up, you see Vox watching you with wide eyes. The smirk on his face only grew larger as you slowly pulled down his slacks and boxers You could feel the heat of his gaze on you, his breath becoming more and more audible with every slow movement.
You hum with pleasure as you focus your attention on his half-hard cock in your hand. It was easier to let go and forget your insecurities when you had him in front of you like this. For as much as you’d fantasized about him, you had never dared to dream you’d find yourself in this situation with him. You lean down and use your hand to slowly pump him before you lock eyes with him and lick a trail across the underside of his cock.
“F̷̮͛u̷̞͗c̵̹̈́k̸̝̎i̷̝͝n̶̗̎g̷̭͒ hell,” Vox swore, his grip on his chair tightening. His breath got increasingly more audible, his throat hoarse from his attempts at restraining any noise he might make. He’d been dreaming of this for far too long. He had you pegged all wrong. He always thought you were innocent. Flirty, but he couldn’t truly imagine you’d have a side like this. You always seemed too pure despite your sass. How happy was he, to be proven wrong.
"Good girl," Vox huskily breathed as his fingers tangled in your hair.
You lower down to press a kiss to the head of his cock. He hissed as you sucked lightly and collected his pre-cum on your tongue. You let your tongue loll out for a moment to show him before you lower yourself and take him in your mouth. Your tongue swirls around the tip of him and your fingers dig into his thighs as you bob your head shallowly. You tease him with subtle motions before you start to take his length down your throat in earnest.
Every movement you made only increased the heat of the situation exponentially and Vox found his cool demeanor quickly fading as he panted above you. “F̷̰͠u̵͕̅c̵̠̓k̸̞͊i̵̢͊n̵͓̅g̷̤̃ ̶̠̋ḫ̵̑e̵̩̾l̶̦͋l̶̩͆,” he gasped as your tongue lapped at the base of his cock. How the fuck were you doing that when he was jammed past your non-existent gag reflex? 
You hummed around him, your eyes watering as you choked on him. He could see the mirth in your eyes and he knew you’d be teasing him with a snarky remark if you weren’t too busy drooling on his dick like a goddamn champ.
Vox lets out a stuttering breath. As hot as it was, he wasn’t going to let you just get away with keeping your attitude intact. Out of selfish pleasure, he let you continue your ministrations for a moment longer before his fingers tugged at your hair, bringing your attention back to him.
You let him pull you off of his member, your tongue hanging out as you catch your breath and smile dumbly at him. His expression remained very much one of satisfaction and admiration as he observed you. That dumbly, innocent smile of yours was rather endearing to him, as it went hand in hand with the way you were acting.
"You really are quite the little showstopper, aren’t you?" he said quietly as he took in your porn-quality face. He idly wondered how the hell you ended up working for him and not Valentino. He was not about to complain about the unexpected victory.
You hummed happily, letting yourself go more for him. It was such a stark contrast to how tense you were when you were working. He'd never seen this side of you before and he hadn't even hypnotized you yet.
He had now realized just why you got so tense when he approached you with that offer. You enjoyed this in such a way that it was almost intoxicating, that it was almost addictive. It was a stark contrast to the version of you he knew that strived for greatness and top results at all times. You must have been so wound up from it all that you just whiplashed into the complete opposite frame of mind to release.
If you were already like this in front of him, then what would you be like after he had you completely under his control?
You nod, smirking as some drool fell to your chest from when you had your mouth on him moments ago.” What can I say?” you say teasingly. “Oral fixations keep a girl eager.”
Vox grinned with the look of a hungry predator as his eyes roamed all over you. Every god damned inch.
“You actually want this, don’t you?” He chuckled. “You want me to turn you into a brain-dead d̶͈͊ȍ̴̪l̵̺͊ḽ̸̏.”
"Please," you whisper as you look up at him with pleading eyes.
You could see the hunger within his eyes as you said that single fucking word. It didn’t take lifting a single finger for you to desperately plead for his control. You’d been wanting this just as bad as he had. The whole goddamned time. Vox buried his face in his hands and you looked at him with concern. You couldn’t see the way he grinned or feel how his body trembled slightly. You could only gasp as your vision was filled with black and red spirals when he lowered his hands and looked at you with a wicked grin.
You sit back on your knees, your eyelids growing heavy as your mouth falls open. Your body felt like it was floating and it was enough to make you feel like you were high. The hypnotic effect of his demonic abilities was how he'd reached the powerful position of an overlord. Even if you hadn't been so susceptible, you would have been powerless under his gaze as a normal person. 
Any hypnosis you’d experienced before took many sessions of induction. It took a bond, trust, and a lot of mental bandwidth to be so vulnerable. But Vox could just drop you at a whim. And the pull of his tide dragging you under was stronger than anything you’d ever succumbed to before.
You were blissfully unaware as Vox’s expression shifted into feral joy. Your submission. This control. It was all his for the taking. You were giving him everything he’d ever craved and he could already tell that once he properly tasted this power, he’d never want to let go. He’d become an addict, for sure.
Your mind and body felt like they were floating. All you could see was Vox as your empty and needy self waited for his command. Your body felt almost weightless now, every sense and thought centered solely on him. His commands were all that you cared about now, his desires were now like law to you, and your body, empty as it was, only had one desire.
"I want you to do as I ask without question, do you understand?" he asked, his voice shaking with delight and raw hunger.
"Yes," you sigh, your every breath feeling heavy as you’re pulled deeper under his spell.
He had already gotten you to admit you were a submissive slut and he already got you to strip for him. All before he had even used his power on you. Now? Now, he could make you do or tell him anything he wanted. You were his.
"Good girl," he grinned. "I want you to stand up and walk over to that door over there," he said, pointing to one of the nearby doors to the room. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir," you say calmly. Whereas before your embarrassment left you feeling exposed, you now felt relaxed and light. Your embarrassment and insecurities didn’t exist under Vox’s control. There was only the need to satisfy him and be blessed with ecstasy in return.
You walked over to the door in nothing but your sheer thigh-high tights and heels. You place both of your hands on the door and stand with your hips out, waiting for Vox.
Vox glitched hard and admired the way that you followed these commands so easily. This was his. He found himself growing more addicted and possessive by the second. His mind was already buzzing with all the ways he could mold you to his every need and desire. He’d never felt so in control of another person like this and it satiated a dark craving in him.
"Now, I want you to take off those tights and throw them over to me."
You bend over in front of him, fully exposed, yet carefree as you peel off your tights and hand them to him with a relaxed look on your face. Vox sparked again as he got a full view of your need for him. Once your tights were off, you handed them over to him calmly.  All you could think about was pleasing him and satisfying him. Your anxiety and self-conscious tendencies were washed away.
Vox ordered you to put your hands behind your back. He grinned and tied your wrists together with one of the stockings. He snatched your underwear from the forgotten bundle of clothing by his desk and made you open your mouth for him. He stuffed them in and used the other stocking to tie around your mouth. 
Now that you were completely bound, your mind was completely free to focus on the feelings and sensations you were experiencing. He dropped the hypnotic spell on you and you gasped into your gag as your mind cleared and he pushed you forward so your face and tits were flush against the door. You shuddered hard and let out a broken moan as his palm rubbed against your leaking cunt.
Vox grinned and leaned down to speak by your ear as he slid his fingers in. “You have n̷͙̈o̷̹̎ idea how much I can’t wait to fucking d̷̲͆e̶̗͘s̴̳̈t̸͚̆r̷͎͒o̸͙͊ỹ̸̝ ̸̞̉y̷̰̓ǒ̵̦u̵̬͂.”
Your gasps and moans were muffled by the fabric in your mouth and you pushed against him as he roughly played with you. His hand slammed your head against the door and held you in place as his fingers curled and scissored inside of your sloppy heat. Tears pricked your eyes as your heart and mind raced. You were completely vulnerable to him, but now your embarrassment was rearing his head at the worst (b̴̼̊è̶͔s̶͜͝t̶̹̽) possible moment. 
The chance that there could be anyone on the other side of the door had you thrashing desperately against Vox’s ministrations. Vox delighted in your internal struggle and couldn’t help himself as his claws dug into the back of your hair so he could pull you back hard. “I’m going to make sure e̶͖͌v̷̞͐e̶͈̽r̶̡̂y̸̨͊o̵̤̚n̴̦̈́e̴̥͌ ̵͜͠k̵̜̔n̷̝̈́ǒ̷̮w̷͎̅s̸͓̈́ who̸̩͂ ̶͔̀y̸͎̐ő̸̳u̸̗͊ ̶̞̏f̶͎̔u̷̠̅ć̵͈k̶͙̚i̴̜̿n̸̘͐g̷̨̿ ̸͔̌ belong to,” he growled as he lifted one of your legs and slipped himself inside of you.
Your eyes rolled back and you screamed into your gag as he slipped in and out of you with ease. He’d been so hard from the build-up of it all and you were literally dripping for him by this point. Vox growled and lost control as he picked up the pace of his actions, moving you around to different areas of the office and fucking you in as many positions as possible. He wanted you exposed. He wanted you defenseless. He wanted you marked in the blood and bruises of his ownership. He wanted to ḋ̴̥ó̶̰m̵̯̕i̷̗͗n̴͈̽a̵̱̒t̶̤̎ȇ̸͚ you. And he would.
Neither of you could keep track of the amount of times you’d come. Your mixed desire was dripping from your cunt as he’d buried himself deep inside of you every time one of you peaked. This was all he wanted. That was all you wanted. No more thinking, no more emotions, just the sheer fucking pleasure.
Your eyes rolled back into your head as you cried from how good he made you feel. He knew how to unravel you into nothing more than a babbling mess with every clever touch and command. It was becoming too much and yet you felt like you wanted more of it. You were overwhelmed as you felt yourself quickly approaching an orgasm.
“That’s it,” Vox growled as he fucked you against his desk. He chuckled darkly as he smacked your ass. “Fucking do it, c̴͖͆o̵͕͋m̷̟̉ẽ̵̞.”
You threw your head back and screamed as your entire body convulsed around him. You couldn't do anything but take his relentless thrusts as he pounded you into the desk. Vox growled, nearly on the verge of cumming himself when he suddenly rips himself off of you. You let out a muffled sob as you clench around nothing.
Your entire world is suddenly filled with bright blue electricity as you feel everything shift suddenly. You almost fall, but are caught by Vox’s hands. You squint as your eyes adjust to the sudden change of lighting and Vox undoes the gag around your mouth as you realize you’re now in his surveillance room. 
Your eyes go wide and you gasp and you see yourself on the monitors with Vox crouched over you. Every screen was showing a live feed of you from several different angles, showing how vulnerable you were in this situation. The footage of you was quite an entertaining sight for Vox as his wires came out of nowhere and threw you onto his chair.
"V-Vox,” you gasp as you look up at him with wide eyes. The overlord’s grin stretches wide as he grabs onto your shaking legs.
It was the first time you'd actually used his name.
At work, you were professional. In his office, you were playful. However now that he had you in his lair, he would mark a new side of you… Here, you were your true self, fully and utterly submissive. Here was his favorite.
You couldn't help but moan shamelessly as he lifted you with his cables and sat in the chair beneath you. You threw your head back with a scream as he dropped you onto his cock and turned the chair so you had an eyeful of each and every monitor with your shameful display recorded. 
You moan as you bounce yourself on him, meeting every one of his feral thrusts. Your mind was completely gone. Every grunt and growl that slipped from his lips only fueled your need. The marks on your hips and back from where his sharp nails clawed in burned just as deliciously as the stretch of him inside you.
Pain and pleasure all in one were now filling your mind. His grunts and growls were becoming louder, as were yours. You couldn't control it. This situation was pushing you further and further toward the edge.
You leaned into him, gasping as he made you lose your mind.
"P-please." You begged.
"Beg for it," he said growled, "Beg f̸̼̑ó̶̙r̴̠̀ ̵̫́m̴̡̾è̸̼."
You moan low as you desperately plead with him. "Please Vox, plus fucking break me! Please please please, Sir, please I'll be good. I'll do anything, please, Sir, fucking please!"
"You'll do anything for me," he said, with a grin on his face as he saw you getting more desperate with your plea. The red recording symbol on all of the screens wasn’t enough to make you see the incoming danger. You were too overwhelmed with the pleasure quaking through your body as Vox pumped into your sloppy cunt.
Your entire body shook hard as his movements suddenly stopped. A long whine of frustration and the roll of your hips made Vox grin. You were so desperate for him in the moment, you didn't notice the gravity of the position you were in.
"Fucking please don’t stop, I'll do anything Vox, please," you begged as you desperately rutted against him.
"I'm going to give you exactly what you want," he grinned as he whispered in your ear. "If you do everything I say from now on, then I'll give you everything you want. Sound like a deal?"
You sob, nodding rapidly against him. "Fuck, please, yes! It's a deal, so please!"
Vox suddenly thrusts up into you hard, making you scream as the room flashes with electricity. The deal was made and the pact was sealed.
"Good girl," he said quietly and calmly, as he pet your hair.
His grin was downright sinister as he pulled your head back.
"You're mine now."
Your eyes went wide as you realized the gravity of what you had just done in the heat of the moment. "Wait, I-" you gasp as you're cut off as Vox starts to mercilessly pound into your heat.
"I heard what you said," he grins as his claws dig into your hips and draw blood. "I heard it a̸̩̎l̴͚͗l̷̖̓.. And I'm going to hold you to e̵̻̐v̶͎͌é̵͉r̶͕͊y̷̳̍ word of that agreement."
If you thought Vox was rough before, it was nothing compared to how he used you now. He tossed you around like a toy and you sobbed as he broke you.
Your eyes were crossed as you screamed and took everything he had to give you. "Vox, Vox, Sir, fucking please!" You babbled, practically worshipping how he destroyed you now that he owned your soul. It was too good to care about the consequences. It was too much. All you could think of was how badly you needed him.
Your screams and moans were now all he could hear as you completely lost it. He was using everything that he could to break you and he seemed to enjoy every second of it. He was doing you dirty, but it was also exactly what you desired. All you wanted now was his approval, as he completely controlled and dominated you in body and spirit.
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pitchburgh · 1 month ago
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I don't think I showed you guys my stereo setup yet? :3
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It's been a work in progress for a while, but I finally got it all set up and I'm sooo pleased with how it looks and sounds.
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The Pioneer six-tape changer is the heart of my setup - I actually specifically hunted down the other units to go with it. This was my dad's tape deck when I was a little kid, and was how I first heard the Grateful Dead and Yes and many other incredible artists. I put the cow sticker on there when I was four or five years old and it's been there ever since.
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Full details of the equipment below:
1. Technics SB-T200 tower speakers (2003) (not pictured) which were a $6 auction score and didn't even need any repair work hell yeah. These are connected via banana plug and speaker wire to:
2. Pioneer SX-2600 Stereo Receiver (1989), which in turn takes audio input from:
3. Pioneer PD-201 Compact Disc player (1992)
4. Pioneer CT-M6R Multi-Cassette Changer (1989), which again takes SIX tapes and is sooooo special to me
5. Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT belt drive turntable
6. And finally, 3.5mm aux cable so I'm ready for anything
7. It's all connected to a Pioneer DT-560 audio digital timer (1985), mostly for easy power management and to have a clock in the room
Setup took a couple hours, but a big part of that was that I kept changing my mind about which components to put where, haha. This was sooo much fun to put together overall!
All of my fellow music enjoyers should ABSOLUTELY put together a "grown-up" stereo system like this. It was way easier (and more affordable) than I would have expected. Your turn now. gogogo!!
(bonus pic from this morning since you read this far thanks I love you)
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phoebepheebsphibs · 11 months ago
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Double-Mutated Mikey
Chapter 40: Biofilm
Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club
Prev || Next
Donatello races down the hallway, checking his trackers every few minutes to make sure everything is going smoothly with the others. After this is over, he's thinking of adding hidden cameras to their masks as well, so he can also see where they are, not just know their longitude and latitude. What good is knowing where a person is if you can't know what's going on?
Donnie started getting into the trackers phase when they'd first come up against the Foot Clan, and Raph had accidentally eaten a tracker meant for a salami paper stack. That had been the inspiration to start tagging his family. He'd installed the subdermal trackers sometime after then, working on different updates and methods of inserting them under the skin or under their shells when they weren't looking or conscious or aware or -- well, you get the idea.
But as time went on, he'd started thinking maybe adding a visual or audio aspect to the tracers was a good idea. It was starting to annoy him that his brothers and father would go places alone for long periods of time and he wouldn't know why or what was happening. Donnie would never consider himself 'clingy'. Or at least, he'd never admit that he was. Donnie was just... concerned for their well-being. And it always seemed like their well-being was coming into question whenever he was not with them. He should have added the video/audio feed to the trackers a long time ago.
He'd have known what was taking Leo so long to get them back after they'd been portaled to Tahiti.
He'd have known what Leo and Papa were doing with Big Mama while they dealt with the Shredder.
He'd have known where the Shredder and the Foot Lieutenant and Foot Brute and Cassandra took Splinter and Barry when they attacked their old lair.
He'd have known what the Krang were doing with Raphael when he was captured.
He'd have known what happened to Leo in the Prison Dimension.
He'd have known about Mikey's captivity and recapture.
He'd have known how to be the genius they all needed him to be.
He'd have known how to be a better brother...
Donnie swallows the thoughts and keeps on moving. He turns a corner and sees a strange laboratory, filled with machines and mechanisms and lasers and weird gadgets that Donnie would be more than happy to take home with him... But it also has what looks like a few medical devices stored in there as well. A CT scanner, an X-ray machine, other devices that Donatello recognizes from science-fiction films and spy movies that definitely won't be found in any normal hospital.
This looks like the kind of place that a man specialized in engineering and robotics would be hiding in...
Donnie sneaks over to the room, not caring about dodging cameras. The building's been evacuated, and even if it hadn't been, everybody already knows that they're here.
The door was left open by a careless employee trying to leave in a hurry. Perfect! Donnie's ninpo can create all kinds of stuff, but making small items to hack into things like security systems takes a lot of brainpower. And -- you didn't hear it from him -- it's difficult. His ninpo works like his mind, building the items piece by piece, engineering the weapons or defense mechs however he sees it in his head. And while he is a genius, even geniuses have trouble keeping track of hundreds of thousands of lines of programming. Even a small item like the USB flash drive he gave April earlier would take a lot of internal interfacing and coding... it's exhausting. But not impossible.
But fortunately, it isn't necessary.
Donatello sneaks in cautiously. It's strange how the room is a Frankenstein mashup between a doctor's office and a robotics lab. Secretly, Donnie is taking mental notes on how to incorporate some of these ideas and designs into his own lab.
There are desks covered with tools and blueprints. Cabinets with vials and liters of mysterious multi-coloured liquids. Tables with a few unpacked boxes stuffed with strange items and labels scribbled messily onto the cardboard. On one said table is a crate. Poking out of said crate, Donatello can see a wooden staff with purple wraps, two familiar blue hilts for what he can assume are twin katanas, and the edges of a battleshell.
"Our stuff!" he whispers to himself. They definitely need to get those back...
Donnie rushes to the box and starts rummaging through it. Yep, it's all here... Dee's gear, Leo's swords, Raph's sai. He reaches in and retrieves the weapons, looking them over for anything like tags or trackers that the TCRI or EPF would have placed on them. They look fine...
"My goggles!" Dee cheers, grabbing them quickly and placing them over his eyes to inspect the software. "Oh, thank God they didn't mess with my babies..."
"Don't thank Him just yet!" a voice cries out from behind him.
Donnie yipes before ducking, narrowly avoiding a swing from a madman behind him. He doesn't look like a guard, but instead wears a standard white lab coat. His hair is wild and unkempt, dark eyebags sag on his face, his chin is stubbled with untended scruff. By the looks of it, his only diet is caffeine and the suffering of others. He must be a scientist, then. His voice sounds familiar; Donnie's sure he's seen or heard him before...
"You were on the video files from the previous building!" he realizes, quickly grabbing his bō from the box and readying himself. "You made Mikey fight monsters in the Interaction room..."
"I see someone's been doing some research!" the man chuckles, his eyes wide and firey. "I'm flattered you recognized me. The name's Dr. Rod Timothy, not that you'll have much of a mind to recall that after I finish with you!!"
Donnie dodges as Dr. Timothy grabs a futuristic weapon from the table and fires it at him. Burning red blasts of light fly through the air. Dee ducks quickly, jumping to the side as he tries to come up with a weapon of his own. His mind always goes straight to the extreme -- 'go big or go home,' 'more bang for your buck', etc. Typically, the villains he fights are durable and super-strong mutants, they require bigger weapons like missiles and giant drills or hammers, etc. Humans are small, easy to break, but fierce and determined. They're harder to gauge, and Donnie has to search his mind for a weapon he can use against him without actually causing too much damage. Not just to the human, but also to the building itself. So missiles are off the menu.
Donnie's palm fills with parts and pieces that instantly grow together and attach in method and order, creating a mini grenade. He taps a button and sends the round object flying towards the scientist. It lands just a few feet in front of him and -- BOOM -- the flash grenade goes off, blinding the man as Dee uses his goggles to guide him through the room and find a place to hide.
"AGH!" Timothy screams, covering his watering eyes as he staggers around. "Y-you... you see, this is exactly why I was hoping you'd come here..."
Donnie peeks out from behind a giant scanner, watching as the mad scientist stumbles around chuckling.
"You creatures always have such a strange tolerance... it's superhuman...!"
The man looks up and looks around, pupils dilating like crazy as he frantically flails his arms and hands, feeling for something.
"And soon, I will be too..."
He really is insane, Donnie thinks to himself.
"If you're so keen on mutants, why'd you experiment on my brother?!" Donnie snarls.
Dr. Timothy reels around and stares blindly in Dee's direction, trying to listen as Donnie ninjas away to a new location to watch Timothy... and lure him into a trap.
"Oh, yes," Timothy laughs, the tears from his watering eyes streaming down his face. "You're brother was loads of fun. I enjoyed our little exercises and examinations thoroughly... Such a fun little plaything, a wonderful puzzle to take apart and put back together."
"Anyone ever tell you to get psychiatric help?" Donnie growls.
"More often than you'd think," Timothy cackles. "But they don't see the necessity of my methods! The vision! They're all sniveling, spineless, mindless plebeians who cannot understand the future..."
"What future is that?" Donnie asks, purposefully directing the man towards the far back of the room.
"Oh, one that you'd approve of!" Timothy laughs, blinking quickly, eyes darting back and forth. "A future free of humans. A future of mutants."
"What are you talking about?" Donnie asks, genuinely confused. "Chaplin wants to eradicate the mutants, why --"
"Oh, he's nothing more than a COWARD!!" Timothy bellows, fist pounding on the side of the table and sending small items flying. "He's a pathetic hatemonger who can't see that the only way for humanity to advance is to literally advance as a species and evolve! He thinks that what we need is to take out the competition!"
Dr. Timothy smiles so wide, his face contorts as though it's made of flabby plastic.
"I say we need to switch flags."
Donnie purposely knocks over small rolling cart of supplies, causing Dr. Timothy to stagger towards the sound.
"Chaplin is a visionary, though. And a golden goose. I never would have been able to pursue my research without his funding..."
"Well, the golden goose won't be laying anymore eggs for you psychopaths," Donnie huffs. "Chaplin's dead."
Timothy grunts at the news. Donnie can't tell if he's laughing, or making strange sad noises. The deranged fiend turns to stare blankly at the table, almost wistfully, reminiscing his fellow evil scientist.
"Well... he was a very significant man. Powerful, resourceful, determined... but I can't say that I'm not a little glad that he's gone."
"Oh?" Donnie chuckles. "No love lost between coworkers?"
"I had respect for the man, it's true," Timothy grumbles, reaching across the table strewn with supplies as he feels his way around. His fingers curl over a few of the objects laid before him as he moves forwards. "But his values and ideals were misguided and foolish. Only the strong come out on top."
"I'd like to think the smart ones have a pretty good chance, too..." Donnie remarks, stepping into a side room and waiting for Dr. Timothy to tag along.
"Oh, I agree!" he laughs, following Donnie's voice into the dark room. "Which is why I hate to see you die."
Timothy grips one of the items pulled from the table and clicks a button. A long laser-weapon activates, and he laughs as he runs in after the softshell.
"Nice sword-axe-laser-combo," Donnie smirks. "Where'd you get it? Hollywood Studios in Florida?"
"Do you like it?" Dr. Timothy grins sarcastically. "It's just one of the few things I thought to bring with me for this climactic stand-off..."
He presses a button and the door behind him slams shut with a mechanical hiss. Dr. Rod Timothy brandishes the weapon casually at the mutant teen who cooly holds his bō staff out at the man as well, ready for a duel.
"Does this room look familiar?" Timothy cackles. "If you really did the research, then it should. It's the same as the one your sweet little science experiment of a sibling was made to fight in! Only right we made another one for the experiments to follow... And I can't wait to see what happens to you in it."
Donatello smiles.
"You want me to fight you? The same way you made my baby brother fight your mutant monsters?"
"Oh, you can fight one of my monsters too if you want!" Timothy shrieks with laughter, holding up a small remote control. "With a push of a button, they can come pouring in. But for now, I want to see what you can do. See what parts of you to keep and what to... scrap."
Donnie sneers.
"So this is an assessment, then."
"I suppose so," Dr. Timothy shrugs. "But we'll see who wins."
Timothy charges, laser weapon at the ready. Donatello grips his bō staff and swings it, blocking Timothy's attack. A purple shield forms and pushes him back. Timothy grunts with effort as his feet skid across the tiles. He laughs hysterically, eyes growing ever wider.
He charges again, swinging the battleaxe around before striking again. Donnie's battleshell opens up and reveals a small jetpack, which takes him up into the air. He launches over Timothy and lands behind him, clicking a hidden button on the shoulder pad and activating a wire that wraps around the mad scientist. Dee launches again and prepares to strap the man from the ceiling and literally leave him hanging.
Dr. Timothy squirms about and manages to pull an arm out, fumbling with the laser device and cutting the line. As Timothy freefalls, Donnie's jetpack crashes him into the ceiling as it attempts and fails to compensate for the sudden loss of weight. Timothy pulls another device he'd taken from the table and points it at Donnie. A small gun, almost like a pistol, which fires out a sudden blue blast at Dee's jetpack. The rotors freeze, ice covers the exhaust ports, and the whole jetpack itself malfunctions and sends Dee crashing to the ground.
"Your brother showed a severe aversion to cold, so in order to keep him in line we created a series of ice-generating weapons like this handy little prototype," Timothy boasts, twirling the pistol around like it's a toy.
Donnie growls in fury. Timothy fires a few more shots, blasting the turtle in the arm and leg as he tries to get back up from the fall. Donnie yells in pain as his limbs suffer from ice burn and start to turn red and swollen from the cold blasts. Shards of frost and ice crystals form on the skin. Donnie gasps from the pain and starts rubbing his limbs, careful not to let the injuries turn into frostbite. Timothy fires another shot, but this time Donnie is careful to dodge it, jumping out of the way despite the pain. Timothy fires again. Dee swings his bō at the man, creating shield that blocks the blast. He swings again, dissolving the shield and reforming it to create a replica pistol that fires directly at the weapon, clogging the barrel of Timothy's gun with ice.
"That was good!" Timothy laughs, dropping the gun before his fingers freeze to the metal. "Nice deflection! And it's clear that I could not defeat you physically. Your mutant genetics must have enhanced your bone structure and muscle mass, yes?"
"That's one theory," Donnie snarks at him. "Or you could just be a weak old guy with a pathetic toy gun."
Dr. Timothy laughs again.
"I'm technically not old, I'm 36."
"That's old, dude."
"Kids these days..." Dr. Timothy sighs. "If brawn cannot win, then perhaps brains shall..."
Dr. Timothy starts clicking buttons on the remote, setting off a few movement-tracking firearms. Donnie recognizes the sleek black metal machine guns from some of Mikey's recorded sessions in the Interaction Room. Dee creates another shield and avoids the torrent of bullets and darts that fly as Dr. Timothy advances again.
"Let's see how you fare against two threats at once!"
Donnie ducks back, hand and staff flying forward as he thinks up a quick weapon to make for his defense. A purple ninpo hologram forms over the wood, creating an imitation of his old tech-bo. A giant mechanical fist ignites at one end, and Dr. Timothy and Donatello exchange blow for blow, guarding and attacking as the two simultaneously dodge bullets from above.
"Where do you come up with these weapon ideas? Jupiter Jim's 19th Return to the Moon?"
"Two distractions at once, and he still finds the mental capacity for a rib!" Timothy laughs. "I should spar with my creations more often..."
"I am not your creation!" Donnie yells. "AND NEITHER IS MY BROTHER!!!"
Donnie suddenly snaps, kicking Dr. Timothy in the chest and sending him back into the wall. Timothy's weapon knocked from his hand, Donnie grabs it and flings the laser cutter towards the turrets, tearing them in half and destroying them completely.
"Very well done!" Timothy chuckles nervously, as he half-struggles to get up. "Well done indeed! You are quite the adversary. But, I would wonder how well you'd fare after I become one of YOU!"
Donnie watches in confusion as the scientist pulls a syringe from his pocket. It's glowing green.
"This is a mutation formula that I've reverse-engineered from some samples I found over the years. Your brother is one of them, true... but the majority of the formula comes from a few mosquitos we found buzzing around..."
"Draxum's ooze," Donnie gapes, his voice a horrified hush. "You're going to mutate yourself?!"
"It's about time I evolved into the higher species!" Timothy cackles madly, his mind fully gone. "And now with Chaplin out of the way, there's no stopping me!!"
"Wait!" Donnie tries to warn. "You don't know what that will do to you!!"
"I know exactly what will happen!" Timothy screams back. "I will finally be the apex predator!! Now watch as I become a random creature of mass destruction!!"
Timothy stabs the syringe into his arm, the re-created ooze seeping into his veins.
"Random?" Donnie questions. "No, you'll just turn into the last biological organism you came into contact with."
"Wait, what?" Timothy questions, sobering for one second. "What do you mean, the last thing biological organism?"
"The ooze combines your DNA with that of whatever you touched last. Didn't you know that?"
"No! How would I know that?!" Timothy screeches, gripping his sides in pain as the ooze starts to recreate him.
"Looks like somebody didn't do their homework after all..."
"What am I going to become?!" Timothy shrieks, his whole frame shaking.
"Well, what did you touch last?"
"YOU!"
"No, you never actually touched me," Donnie clarifies. "You're wearing gloves, and your weapons hit mine, but we never came into actual contact -- details matter in science, you know..."
"W-WHAT'S HAPPENING TO M-M-MEEEEEE?!?!" Timothy screams, his voice fluctuating and gargling as he begins to sweat profusely.
It's not sweat.
His skin is melting.
Donnie watches with a sickened expression as Dr. Timothy's body begins to turn into a sludge, the skin tone changing into a slimy fungus-green, every part of him slowly dissolving and gooping together in a way that turns Donnie's stomach. He looks away, and forces himself to keep away even as the man screams and pleads for mercy and help. His voice is literally drowned out as his vocal chords liquify along with the rest of him.
It goes quiet. Donnie shakily turns to see what has become of the poor deranged man. Nothing remains but a puddle of gelatinous ooze wobbling on the floor several feet ahead of him.
"L-looks like your reverse-engineered formula wasn't complete," Donnie gulps. "Or maybe the ooze really did transform you into the last thing you touched... which would have been the ooze itself. Whatever the solution, I'm not going to stick around for --"
A gurgling scream tears the room apart, as the gelatinous blob starts moving, shifting, and reforming into a sloppy mess of a man.
"Lₒₒₖ wₕₐₜ yₒᵤ'ᵥₑ dₒₙₑ ₜₒ ₘe!" Timothy shrieks, his voice a wobbly, watery mess as he slowly pulls himself together. "I wₐₛ mₑₐₙt ₜₒ ᵇe ₐ fᵢₑᵣcₑ ₘᵤₜaₙt! Nₒₜ ₐ ᵇₗᵤbᵇeᵣᵢₙg … ₜhᵢₙg!!"
The newly transformed Timothy charges at Donnie, his arm elongating and stretching like those slappy hand things Mikey was obsessed with at the age of six. Donnie dodges it at the last second, the hand slinging across the room and sticking to a panel on the wall. It rips the panel straight off, revealing a section of machinery hidden behind it.
"Whoah!" Donnie yells, dodging once again as the arm comes slinging back.
"I dᵢdₙ'ₜ wₐₙₜ ₜhiₛ!" Timothy screeches as he continues his tantrum. "I wₐₛ sᵤpₚₒₛₑd ₜₒ bₑ ₜₕₑ ₐₚeₓ ₚᵣₑdₐₜₒᵣ, ₙoₜ ₛₒₘe ₚₐₜₕₑₜᵢc ₛₗᵤdgₑ fᵣₒₘ ₜₕₑ ᵇoᵗₜₒₘ ₒf ᵗₕₑ fₒₒd cₕaᵢₙ! ᴺᵒᵗ a gˡoʳⁱᶠᵢₑᵈ aₘebₐ! ₙₒₜ ₐ Lᵢvᵢₙg Wₐₗₖᵢₙg MUD PUDDLE!!"
Timothy's body morphs again, his form splattering in twenty different directions and splashing onto several frames and tiles from the walls, ceiling, and floor. He pulls them apart, releasing a robotic arm that reaches down and attempts to attack the two of them. Donnie slides to the side and avoids the robo-arm. Dr. Timothy's tentacle releases from a section of the wall and accidentally tangles around the mechanism, getting stuck inside the gears and causing it to malfunction. The arm swings back and forth, trying to catch Donnie or Dr. Timothy before becoming hopelessly trapped in the glue-like goo that the scientist has become.
"Wₕₐₜ ₕₐᵥₑ yₒᵤ ᵈᵒₙₑ! ᵂₕₐₜ ₕᵃᵛe yoᵤ dₒₙe! Wₕₐₜ ₕₐᵥₑ yᵒu ᵈoₙₑ!" Timothy wails as he flails about the room.
His arms knock loose the devices hanging from the ceiling. They come crashing down, splatting Timothy flat and trapping him momentarily.
"Sorry doc, but this was all you," Donnie states, dodging one of the slimy appendages before tuck and rolling towards the door. "And no offense, but I've had enough slimy tentacle-induced sensory issues for one year, so I'll just see myself out..."
"Yᵒᵤ ₕₐᵥₑ ₜo ₕeˡᵖ ₘₑ!" Timothy screams, reaching out for the ninja in desperation.
"There's nothing I can do for you now, Tim," Donnie scoffs as he picks up the remote from the floor, avoiding Timothy's sludge and slime. "You wanted to be a mutant, so now you're a mutant. Congrats, welcome to the family."
Donnie stares down at the remote and all the little buttons it comes equipped with. He presses one, and the door opens.
"But don't worry. After everything you did to my brother, I won't just leave you here alone to rot..."
Donnie turns to face the mutant man, and gives him a cold smile before pressing every button on the remote.
"You said something about 'monsters flooding in at the push of a button,' right?" Donnie asks, his smile becoming almost like a snarl. "How about I leave you with some company?"
Every trapdoor in the room opens up, and hundreds of glowing red eyes appear from the darkness. The sounds of snarling and growling and howling and yowling starts to fill the enclosure.
"ᴺᵒ… ʸᵒᵘ caₙ'ₜ ₗₑₐᵥₑ ₘe ₗiₖₑ ₜₕiˢ!" Dr. Timothy begs.
"You said you wanted to be a mutant," Donnie sighs, clicking the button to close the door. "You can chill with your own kind now. See how long you last."
"Nᴺᴼ0oₒo0Oᴼ--!!!"
The doors close just as the monsters creep in and pounce for the slime man.
Donnie blinks for a moment before exhaling loudly.
"...Karma... is absolutely insane."
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teamvisual · 8 months ago
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paxtonvaldovinos · 1 year ago
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Enhance Your Home with Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades
In the era of smart homes, window treatments have evolved far beyond traditional curtains and blinds. Lutron, a leader in smart home technology, offers a revolutionary solution with its Smart Window Electric Shades. These innovative shades combine advanced technology, elegant design, and user-friendly features to provide unparalleled convenience and comfort. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades, how they work, and why they are a perfect addition to any modern home.
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What Are Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades?
Automated window coverings, Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades, can be operated from a distance via voice commands, a tablet, or a smartphone. Thanks to the quiet and effective motors that drive these shades, smooth and accurate adjustments are possible. Lutron shades, which come in various designs, materials, and hues, may blend in with any interior design while offering practical advantages like light control, privacy, and energy efficiency.
Benefits of Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades
Convenience and Control: With Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades, you can easily control the amount of natural light entering your home. Using the Lutron app, you can raise, lower, or adjust your shades with a simple tap on your smartphone or tablet. Additionally, these shades can be integrated with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit, allowing you to control them using voice commands.
Energy Efficiency: Lutron shades can significantly enhance your home’s energy efficiency. They automatically adjust based on the time of day and help regulate indoor temperatures. During the summer, the shades can be lowered to block out heat, reducing the need for air conditioning. In the winter, they can let in natural sunlight, helping warm your home and reduce heating costs.
Enhanced Privacy and Security: Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades offer increased privacy and security. You can schedule the shades to close at specific times, ensuring your home remains private, especially during the evening. Additionally, while you’re away, you can program your shades to open and close at different times to give the appearance that someone is home, deterring potential intruders.
Aesthetic Appeal: With many different materials, colors, and patterns, you may personalize these shades to complement your interior decor perfectly. Lutron offers solutions that can improve the visual appeal of any room, whether you prefer the sleek appearance of roller shades or the elegance of draperies.
Smart Integration: Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades integrate seamlessly with other smart home systems. This means you can create custom scenes that involve multiple smart devices. For example, you can create a “Movie Night” scene where the shades are lower, the lights dim, and your home theater system is turned on, all with a single command.
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How Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades Work
Lutron shades operate using advanced motorized technology that ensures smooth and quiet operation. Here’s a brief overview of how they work:
Installation: Professional installation is recommended for Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades to ensure they are correctly fitted and integrated with your home’s electrical system. A certified installer will measure your windows, help you choose the right shades, and set up the system.
Control: Once installed, you can control the shades using the Lutron app, a wall-mounted keypad, or voice commands. The app allows you to set schedules, create scenes, and easily adjust individual shades or groups of shades.
Automation: Lutron shades can be programmed to operate automatically based on your preferences. You can set them to open in the morning to let in natural light and close in the evening for privacy. To maximize energy efficiency, sensors can also change the shades according to how much sunshine enters the space.
Why Choose Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades?
Lutron has pioneered smart home technology for decades and is known for its high-quality products and innovative solutions. Choosing Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades means investing in a reliable, durable, and stylish solution for your home. These shades enhance your comfort and convenience and add value to your property.
Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades are a fantastic addition to any home, offering a blend of modern technology and elegant design. With benefits ranging from improved energy efficiency to enhanced privacy and seamless integration with other smart devices, these shades provide a comprehensive solution for today’s smart home needs. Transform your home with Lutron Smart Window Electric Shades from Palm Beach Audio Visions! Experience unmatched convenience, energy efficiency, and elegant design. Control your shades with ease using your smartphone or voice commands. Schedule your consultation today and elevate your living space with cutting-edge bright window solutions!
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maxtalksalarmclocks · 20 days ago
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Life in Stereo: Four Alarm Clocks with Separate Speakers
Human beings have two ears. When you hear sound, the sound waves reach both of your ears, but at different times. Based on the time difference between when sound reaches one ear and when it reaches the other, your brain can figure out where in the room the sound is coming from.
When you listen to music on an alarm clock, the sound waves are originating from one place: the alarm clock. So your brain is able to tell that the sound is coming from the alarm clock. But that's not very immersive. The music sounds like it's coming from one tiny little spot in the room.
So we came up with something called stereo sound (short for stereophonic sound). Stereo sound has two different channels of audio: left and right. And Wikipedia has this to say about it (after the jump):
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"During two-channel stereo recording, two microphones are placed in strategically chosen locations relative to the sound source, with both recording simultaneously. The two recorded channels will be similar, but each will have distinct time-of-arrival and sound-pressure-level information. During playback, the listener's brain uses those subtle differences in timing and sound level to triangulate the positions of the recorded objects."
The goal of stereo sound is to reproduce the differences in audio between your left ear and your right ear that allow you to sense location. This way, even if the audio is still coming from just one or two locations, your brain will be tricked into thinking that the sound is all around you. When you listen to music on headphones, you don't perceive it as coming from the headphones and being blasted into your ears. It sounds like you're inside of the music, and it's taking up your whole room. And that's because your headphones are sending slightly different sound waves to both of your ears, replicating the differences in sound waves you would hear if you were actually in the room with the instruments.
But here's the thing. It's very easy to send different sounds to each ear when you have headphones pointed into your ears. Play one sound in the left ear, play a slightly different sound in the right, done. But it is much harder to control what your ears hear when the device isn't right up against your ears. There are lots of alarm clocks that support stereo sound. They have two speakers! But the speakers are right next to each other, in basically the same location in the room. So rather than your left ear hearing the left speaker and your right ear hearing the right speaker, both ears hear both speakers. There's still a difference between when the sound waves reach one ear and reach the other. But that difference is because of where the clock is in the room, not because of how the left and right audio channels are separated in the actual audio. (By the time they reach your ears, they're basically no longer separated at all.) So you perceive the sound as coming from a little tiny object in a specific spot in the room, same as if the clock just had one speaker.
So what's the solution? The solution is to move the two speakers apart. If the left speaker is actually on the left of the room, and the right speaker is actually on the right of the room, it's more likely that you will hear the left sounds in your left ear, and the right sounds in your right ear. Then, when there is a difference between those sounds that comes from the audio itself, you are more likely to perceive that difference properly, which makes you feel as though the music is coming from all around your room (not just from two speakers).
There are many stereo (and surround) sound systems that have multiple speakers you can place around your room. That way, left audio comes from the left, and right audio comes from the right, resulting in an immersive experience without headphones. But this multi-part device design is a lot more rare on alarm clocks.
But it's not unheard of! Today, I want to show you four alarm clocks with separate speakers that you can position for optimal stereo sound. This is quite the rabbit hole we're about to go down, and we'll kick it off by looking at the...
Sangean WR-50P
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Sangean is a Taiwanese manufacturer of radios, and somehow, despite all odds, they very much still exist. In fact, they are a little bit beloved, and this model, the WR-50P, retails for about $215 and is a top pick of Wirecutter.
This machine is a radio first, alarm clock second. It's quite a robust radio, with a giant extending antenna for FM reception, connections for an external AM antenna, digital tuning with presets and a "seek" feature, support for RDS (a feature that shows song names and other info for FM radio), a remote control, optional outputs to headphones or a subwoofer, and obscure radio-related settings beyond the scope of this post. And it also has Bluetooth and an aux-in jack if you want your own music instead of radio!
On top of that, for something that isn't an alarm clock first, the WR-50P is a surprisingly robust alarm clock! Sangean equipped this machine with a date display, programmable snooze duration, dual alarms that can go off once / daily / on weekdays only / on weekends only, and the ability to choose the alarm volume and radio station independently per alarm. That's a lot!
But the reason we're discussing this machine is its two-piece design. You can actually buy just the main unit (shown on the left in the photo above), the WR-50, and get all the features but with just a single speaker. Or you can buy the combined set, the WR-50P, which includes the extra speaker shown on the right (model SP-40) for stereo sound. The secondary speaker pulls power and audio from the main unit using a 6-foot cable, which is not as long as one might hope, but is long enough to get some distance between these two machines so you can point that left speaker at your left ear, and that right speaker at your right ear.
The photo below shows all the rear connections of these machines, including the red jack that allows you to connect the main unit and the extra speaker.
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Sangean says on their website, "Though some may say the radio is a thing of the past, we believe that it remains a timeless medium that plays a part in every scenario. The beauty amplified in sound waves holds no prejudice towards age or group and can be produced effortlessly by our products." That's a lovely sentiment.
You know what does hold prejudice toward a particular group? The choice to label this machine's secondary speaker as the "Slave Speaker." Literally. Look at the photo above and read the back.
Wikipedia explains that master/slave terms are often used in technology to describe situations where one device controls another. AND THOSE TERMS SHOULDN'T BE USED, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
Don't worry though, y'all. I'm sure Sangean didn't mean anything by this, because they are a Good Company with Corporate Social Responsibility Programs:
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Look! They have "office vegetation management." That absolves all their sins.
Anyway. Rant over. I do want to say one thing about the WR-50P before we proceed. If you're using this as a radio first and alarm clock second, finding space for both speakers isn't terribly hard. You could put them on a table or your bookshelves. But if you're using this as an alarm clock first and radio second, this setup might be harder to position. You could put both speakers on your nightstand, but then they're both pointing at the same side of your head, which hurts the stereo separation.
You could put the main unit on your nightstand and the secondary speaker on a nightstand on the other side of your bed. But the 6-foot cord isn't long enough to traverse a king-size bed (which Google says is 6 1/3' wide). Plus, does your partner really want a giant speaker that doesn't do anything else taking up half their nightstand? They already have to make room for their own alarm clock and all their other tchotchkes. Double-plus, you probably want the main unit on your side of the bed, but Sangean has the units factory-programmed so that the main unit is always the left channel, and the secondary speaker is always the right channel. You're out of luck if you're on the right side of the bed.
Another option is to put both speakers across the room, past the foot of your bed, as if you were finding space for a TV. You could control the system with the remote control, but checking the time from bed would require a lot of craning your neck. I don't know that the WR-50P is designed to provide both the stereo experience and the alarm clock experience at the same time. Clearly, we need a better option.
Sony ICF-IR7
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And we have one! Meet the Sony ICF-IR7. Introduced circa 1991, the ICF-IR7 has huge, one-and-a-half-foot tall speakers. They’re huge for good reason. Each speaker unit contains two actual speakers: a regular one, and a woofer, which is a speaker that produces bass sounds. So you get stereo separation and improved bass. My back-of-the-napkin math suggests the inflation-adjusted cost of this system is somewhere between $400 and $700, but at least you were getting your money’s worth.
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Because the speakers are huge, you probably wouldn’t want them on your nightstand. Indeed, Sony designed this system so you could place the speakers across the room from you, in both corners of your space. You can see this arrangement in the diagram above. But like I discussed with the Sangean system, putting your alarm clock across the room creates problems. The only way to control it is with a remote control, and who wants to hold a remote in the air every time you need to change a setting? And changing settings or checking the time would get really frustrating if the screen was all the way over there.
But unlike Sangean, Sony thought of this. Meet the "remote commander."
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The remote commander is the third piece of the ICF-IR7's puzzle. For the record, "remote commander" isn't a term Sony invented for the ICF-IR7. They used to use that term all the time to describe their remote controls. (What can I say? Sony is weird. Exhibit A: the Rolly.) But unlike your typical remote control, the ICF-IR7's remote commander looks like a typical alarm clock.
Sony's solution for moving the speakers away from your nightstand is to deconstruct the alarm clock. The remote commander includes all of the system's controls (except the Mega Bass dial), and it also includes the clock display. And it lives on your nightstand, so that the controls and display are accessible even if the two speaker units are far away.
In deconstructing the typical alarm clock, Sony had to do a lot of weird stuff, and most of the weirdness owes to connectivity. You see, the two speaker units of the ICF-IR7 connect with wires, which isn't too weird. Below are the rear panels of both speaker units. The left speaker plugs into a wall outlet, and two wires connect the left speaker to the right speaker, which draws its power from the left speaker (so it doesn't need a separate outlet).
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But it's one thing to run wires across the back of your bedroom between both speakers. You might be able to hide them behind a console or table. It's another thing to run wires across the side of your bedroom, to connect the speakers to the remote commander. So Sony doesn't do that. Instead, the remote commander runs on batteries (though you can plug it into an outlet with an optional AC adapter), and it sends commands to the left speaker unit wirelessly, via infrared. This is where things get really weird.
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Most wireless devices in our home use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or another radio-based wireless protocol. These protocols are super-handy. They can send a ton of data in two directions quickly. They rely on radio waves that can pass through walls and objects, so the Wi-Fi doesn't go out when someone walks between the computer and the router. And they're digital, which means signals rarely get distorted, and communication streams don't interfere with one another.
But in 1991, Wi-Fi would not be introduced for 6 more years, and Bluetooth for 7. There were home devices that used radio-frequency-based ("RF") wireless communication. But they were analog, which meant interference was common. (If you and your neighbor both had a cordless phone, and your phones were communicating with their base stations on the same wireless channel, it was possible for you to hear your neighbor's conversation over your cordless handset. Yikes.)
Sony smartly decided to avoid the mess of early-90s RF communication and use infrared instead. But using infrared introduces its own cornucopia of complexities. Infrared is digital, but it can't send nearly as much information as fast. And because infrared waves work similarly to light waves (they're even produced by tiny almost-lightbulbs), they can be blocked by walls or objects. (If you've ever used a remote that you had to point at whatever you were controlling, that's a telltale sign the remote used infrared.)
Because an infrared signal can be easily blocked by an object and therefore missed or interrupted, infrared is best used for communications that don't last that long and can be repeated if necessary. When we listen to music with a Bluetooth speaker, our phone has the music and transmits it to the Bluetooth speaker. But imagine the remote commander trying to transmit AM/FM radio to the speakers over infrared. I genuinely don't think it would be possible to transmit that much data that fast over infrared. And if someone walked between the speakers and the remote commander, the radio would go out. And this design would run down the remote commander's batteries absurdly fast.
So Sony does something you might not expect. Even though they pulled the clock display and controls into the remote commander, the radio receiver itself lives in the left speaker unit. In the picture above of the backs of the speaker units, you can see a little wrapped-up wire poking out to the left of the left speaker. That's the FM radio antenna. And in the first photo of the ICF-IR7, you can see a display on the front of the left speaker. That shows the radio frequency. The left speaker even has a battery compartment for a battery backup, even though the left speaker has no clock, because the radio presets are stored in the left speaker, and this was an era when affordable memory chips needed electricity to store info. So the battery backup is just to retain radio presets in the event of a power outage!
The ICF-IR7 tries to limit the amount of infrared transmission between the left speaker unit and the remote commander, to avoid wasted batteries and missed signals. So the left speaker unit doesn't transmit the radio frequency back to the remote commander. This means that you can tune the radio or switch through presets from your nightstand, but if you want to check the exact radio frequency, you have to go read the tiny screen across the room. (Alas.) Also, rather than the left speaker transmitting the current time to the remote commander, or the remote commander transmitting alarm settings to the left speaker, the timekeeping circuitry and alarm times both live inside the remote commander. At the alarm time, the remote commander just sends a signal to the speakers to cut them on. (This means you can't have any objects between the remote commander and the left speaker unit when you go to sleep. But Sony was smart and included multiple infrared transmitters in the remote commander, pointing several directions, so it doesn't matter how you have the remote commander rotated. One of the transmitters is always pointed at the speaker.)
There's one more thing I have to mention! The ICF-IR7 does not have a built-in CD player. Which honestly seems like a huge omission for something that cost this much and was already this complicated! But Sony hadn't forgotten about CD fans. If you scroll back up and look at the back of the left speaker unit, you'll see white and red jacks, which are commonly used on older electronics for analog audio input or output. Sony designed the ICF-IR7 so you could connect one of Sony's Discman portable CD players. You use a cable that plugs into the Discman on one end, and plugs into the white-and-red jacks on the other end, and now you can hear your CDs through the speakers!
But Sony went even further. Discman players were often designed to support a remote. Not a wireless infrared remote or anything like that. This was a wired remote, sort of like the kind on wired earbuds nowadays that has buttons for volume and track. In the photo above, you can see a jack on the left speaker unit called "DISCMAN REMOTE." If you connect this to the remote jack on the Discman, the ICF-IR7 can send wired signals to the Discman to control it, such as by changing the track. (I've seen many clocks with auxiliary audio input jacks, and almost none can actually control the audio device like this!)
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So what this means is that you could press the previous/next track buttons on the remote commander. And the remote commander would send an infrared signal to the left speaker unit. Which would in turn send a signal out the "DISCMAN REMOTE" jack through a wire to the Discman. Which would cause the Discman to change the track, and then it would send the track audio back out through a wire to the red-and-white audio input jacks on the left speaker. Which would then play the left-channel audio, and send the right-channel audio through the gray-and-red wires to the right speaker, which would play it. That's at least four different connections happening to play one song. I cannot imagine anything more Rube Goldberg-ian, and yet, it works!
Panasonic RC-CD600 Twin Dreamer
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Phew. Okay. I promise nothing else we're going to discuss in this post is as complicated as the Sony ICF-IR7.
In fact, look at this Panasonic system from 2001. Even at a glance, it's way simpler. Ignoring the regular-looking remote control, it has just two pieces, rather than three. (And the device on the left doesn't look too complicated. Though that's a tiny bit deceiving.)
We've established that the ICF-IR7 is so complicated because it needs a way to bring the controls and clock display to your nightstand, even though the speakers are across the room. But this system, the Panasonic RC-CD600, doesn't need to do that because the whole system lives on your nightstand.
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See? The main unit resides on one nightstand, and the "sub unit" (as Panasonic calls it) resides on the other nightstand. This still results in great stereo separation, because the left unit produces sounds you hear from your left, and the right unit produces sounds you hear from your right. The main unit, which features tons of buttons and two different displays, plugs into a wall outlet, and a hardwired cable from the sub unit plugs into the back of the main unit to draw electricity and data. You can hide this cable behind your bed for a seamless-ish installation!
But imagine you share your bed with someone else. Wouldn't it be a hard sell to convince your partner to put a speaker on their nightstand too? They already have to find nightstand space for their alarm clock, after all.
Oh, but Panasonic thought of that.
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The RC-CD600 is designed to take the place of two alarm clocks. It has two alarms that can be set for different times, which is not in and of itself unusual. What is unusual is that one alarm can sound through the speaker on one side of the bed, and then the other alarm can sound through the speaker on the other side of the bed. The diagram above shows this quite elegantly. You can see the speaker on the husband's side of the bed waking him up at 6 so he can go off to work, and then the speaker on the wife's side of the bed waking her up at 8, a little later. (How deeply heteronormative!)
Let's dive a little deeper into how this system works. First, let's look at the main unit.
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The main unit is the brains of this system. It includes one speaker, two displays (one for the clock and one for the audio system), tons of buttons, the infrared receiver for the remote, the radio receiver, and the CD compartment. (Unlike Sony's system, this system has CD playback built-in.) The main unit has a pretty robust feature set, including CD playback modes, a radio with digital tuning and presets, equalizer presets, a headphone jack, and an alarm that (I think) has a programmable CD track or radio station, plus a programmable volume level.
Next, let's look at the sub unit.
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The sub unit also has one speaker. (This unit is a regular speaker, not a subwoofer, despite the name "sub.") It has a hardwired cable that plugs into the main unit, and thoughtfully hides in a compartment on the back where you can store excess length of cable. And, crucially, the sub unit includes two buttons: a snooze doze button, and a button to stop the alarm.
If you go back up to the main unit, you'll notice the side of that unit has a button called "Speaker Mode." This button is the magic of the entire system. It toggles between three playback modes: dual, main, and sub.
In dual mode, audio plays through both the main and sub units, with proper stereo separation. (You can actually put either unit on either side of the bed, then slide a switch on the back of the main unit to choose which unit is on the left, and which is on the right!)
But in main mode, audio plays through the main unit only. And in sub mode, audio plays through the sub unit only.
You can set the speaker mode in advance for each alarm. So let's say you and a partner share the bed, and the main unit is on your side, and the sub unit is on their side. You can set your alarm to main mode, and the alarm will sound only on your side of the bed, reducing (though obviously not eliminating) the chance that it will wake up your partner too. And you can shut the alarm off using the buttons on top of the main unit.
Then you can set your partner's alarm to sub mode, and the alarm will sound only on their side of the bed. And this is what's really cool: because the sub unit also has snooze and alarm stop buttons, your partner can snooze or stop their alarm from their side of the bed, as if they had their own alarm clock. They don't need to go to your side of the bed or use the remote. All the controls they need are right there!
You'd think it wouldn't get any cooler, and yet, it does! The speaker mode doesn't just apply to the alarms, it also applies to regular playback. You can listen in dual mode and enjoy full stereo sound from both units. Or, if you want to fall asleep to music without disrupting your partner, you can listen in main or sub mode, and the sound will only play on your side of the bed, not your partner's.
Isn't this awesome??? You get stereo sound with amazing separation, and it takes up less space in your room and is less complicated than the Sony ICF-IR7. And because the speakers are on your nightstands, Panasonic offers features that Sony can't match, like alarms and playback on just one side of your bed, to take the place of two separate alarm clocks.
There's just one little problem. The sub unit has a speaker, and it has controls for the alarm. But it has no clock display. So whoever is on the side of the bed with the sub unit has to crane their neck to read the time off the main unit. That makes the system a little worse to use than two separate alarm clocks on either side of the bed.
When I had posted about the RC-CD600 back in March (now archived on Google Drive), I thought this was the end of the story.
But it's not. I found an alarm clock that works like the RC-CD600, but with one huge improvement, despite being 13 years older.
Are you ready to see it?
Nakamichi TM-1 and TM-2
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This is the Nakamichi TM-1. It's an an alarm clock radio from 1988, made by a now-defunct manufacturer of high-end audio equipment. And let me tell you, this thing is high-end.
The TM-1 features digital radio tuning with 8 presets, the ability to select the radio preset and volume for the alarms independent of what you were last listening to, buzzer and radio alarms that gradually get louder over 5 seconds so as not to scare you out of bed, a headphone jack, and a sensor that adjusts the display brightness automatically based on the room's brightness. This would be fancy now, so the idea that there was a clock with all these features in 1988 is unheard of.
And apparently this clock radio had excellent sound quality. There are still folks talking about this device online: on online forums, on Reddit, on personal websites (replete with Nakamichi's marketing materials for this clock), and in the YouTube video below.
youtube
Let's take a brief tour of the TM-1.
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The front of the TM-1 has the radio controls. The top has the snooze button, alarm controls, and a few extra buttons like the radio on/off button (which also stops the alarm). The right has four big, chunky dials for volume, treble and bass (fancy), and stereo balance (foreshadowing...). The back has a mysterious port (again, foreshadowing...), a headphone jack, antenna connections, and switches for the FM mode and the alarm volume. (The alarm volume only having 3 settings is a point of contention, as one person notes here how even the lowest setting is way too loud. Alas. Weirdly, I think the alarm volume switch applies to the radio alarm too, so you can't fine-tune the radio alarm volume like you can the radio playback volume.)
Now, these features are all well and good. But you might be wondering, where is the stereo sound? The TM-1 actually only has one speaker, so it can't produce stereo sound on its own. But look again:
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OK, so we're looking at the same thing...wait. Where did the buttons on the front go?
Y'all, this is not the same device. We've been looking at the TM-1. This is the TM-2. The TM-2 Stereo Companion, to be exact.
Take a closer look:
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Nakamichi did almost exactly the same thing that Panasonic did with the RC-CD600, except 13 years earlier. The TM-2 is an additional speaker that plugs into the TM-1 and sits on the nightstand on the other side of your bed. That way, you get stereo sound with good separation between both channels!
Like the sub unit in the Panasonic RC-CD600, the Nakamichi TM-2 has just two buttons: one to snooze, and one to stop the alarm (doubling as radio on/off).
But the Nakamichi has one leg up over the Panasonic:
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Both units have clock displays!!!!!
This solves my biggest complaint about the Panasonic system. With the Nakamichi system, one person can have the main unit, and one person can have the TM-2 Stereo Companion. And the latter person has a speaker, controls to snooze or stop the alarm, and a time display to check in the night, making this a truly suitable alternative for a separate alarm clock.
Nakamichi even went to the trouble of including a second brightness sensor for the second clock display on the TM-2. They also include a switch on the TM-2's rear panel to disable the display, which could be handy if you don't have a partner and bought the TM-2 just for stereo sound.
The extra clock display isn't the only difference between the Nakamichi and Panasonic systems. The sub unit is included in the Panasonic system, but the Nakamichi TM-2 is sold separately from the TM-1, so some folks just have the TM-1 with no stereo sound. The Panasonic's sub unit draws power from the main unit, but the Nakamichi TM-2 has a second power cord that needs to be plugged in. The Panasonic's sub unit has four wires that plug into the main unit, but the Nakamichi TM-2 has a single multi-pin connector that plugs into the aforementioned mysterious port on the back of the TM-1. Panasonic includes a compartment to store the extra cable length of the sub unit if you don't need it, but with the Nakamichi TM-2, all that extra length just hangs out and creates a big tangling mess, as you can see in the photo up above.
Most importantly, the Nakamichi system doesn't allow you to set the speaker mode in exactly the same way as the Panasonic system. When you listen or wake up to radio, it is always played through both units in stereo. (Unfortunately, Nakamichi doesn't let you choose which unit plays the left or right channel. According to the YouTube video I embedded above, the main unit plays the left channel, which would mean it has to go on the left side of the bed.)
On the other hand, when you wake up to the buzzer alarm, alarm 1 plays through the TM-1 main unit only, and alarm 2 plays through the TM-2 Stereo Companion only, so that you and your partner can wake up separately. Neat! (When the TM-2 is not connected, both alarms sound through the TM-1.)
Nakamichi produced another set of alarm clocks, the Clock Radio 1 and Stereo Companion 1, that work similarly, but I can't find an instruction manual to draw information from, and they appear to be almost identical in functionality to the TM-1 and TM-2 anyway.
TL;DR
Stereo sound is more immersive when the left speaker is closer to your left ear, and the right speaker is closer to your right ear!
At least four alarm clocks have separate speaker units to facilitate exactly this!
The Sony ICF-IR7 jumps through wild hoops in order to connect its "remote commander" and its speaker units via infrared.
The Panasonic RC-CD600 and Nakamichi TM-1 / TM-2 let you put the speakers on nightstands on either side of your bed, allowing the systems to provide stereo sound and take the place of two different alarm clocks!
That's all!
I realize this was a very technical and very dense post, so if you made it this far, thank you for sticking with me and allowing me to introduce you to these truly one-of-a-kind clocks.
And remember, if I explained anything poorly, you can review the instruction manuals for these clocks by clicking the "Instruction Manuals" link at the top of my blog. I get all this info from the manuals anyway, so feel free to check those out!
See you soon!
Image credits:
Sangean WR-50P: Wirecutter, Sangean
Sangean website: Sangean
Sony ICF-IR7: eBay, eBay, Sony
Panasonic RC-CD600: ManualsLib, eBay, eBay, Craigslist
Nakamichi TM-1 and TM-2: eBay, eBay, eBay, eBay
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immersivetech21w · 1 month ago
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watthifi · 9 months ago
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Discover eight essential tips for choosing the perfect multi-room amplifier in India to enhance your home audio experience.
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bombdiggity666 · 1 year ago
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Here Comes Judgement Day Pt.2
A few years ago, I attempted to draw a fan comic to resolve the ambiguous ending of the MTMTE/LL Comic series. I managed to complete one panel, but lost the other three when my computer crashed.
Now, after some time has passed, I feel encouraged to try again. This time, I've written a multi-part story to better guide my comic.
It's worth noting that when I began this project, I was feeling edgy, so it's all based on the song posted below
A Summary:
Megatron faces his impending execution in Garrus 9. As he reflects on his fate, Ultra Magnus grapples with his role as a witness. Through introspection and discussions with Rodimus, Ultra Magnus ultimately decides to attend the execution as Minimus Ambus, embracing his true self and honouring Megatron's last request. Tensions mount as the time draws near, with Rodimus struggling to cope as Megatron's death approaches.
Was he in a different room now? He couldn’t activate his optics, but the environment felt colder than before. Prickling static sensations danced across his arms and chest. Surprisingly, he could feel another medical program running behind the overbearing corruption code that idled in his systems menacingly. Luckily, its suffocating presence was still dulled by the sedative. This new program, he recognized, was a standard vitals systems check. A quick yet inhibited jolt of his right servo revealed a second medical cable jacked into his wrist port, this one far more comfortable. He huffed a vent to test his surroundings.
"Take Me Away"
Megatron regained consciousness quickly, or so it felt. His heavy-duty engines metabolized narcotics swiftly, especially when deprived—a function that had aided him through many of Starscream’s assassination attempts. As he searched for his chrono, the inability to gauge time reminded him of his current situation. Stirring slightly, he realized he was restrained once again, but this time in a far more exposed position. He lay on a different berth now, a surgical one with arm boards. The hum of the stasis restraints felt stronger; testing them, he found he couldn’t even lift a finger. ‘Do they think they're immobilizing a titan?’ he pondered loosely, his head still spinning with disorientation.
“I know you’re awake,” came a confirmation, not an irritated remark. The muffled voice, unmistakably from Evac, gave his ringing audio receptors something to focus on.
“What-” He was cut short with a static cough, his vocalizer rebooting as slowly as his optics.
“Shh, right here.” He felt a light servo’s touch on his right shoulder, more haunting than comforting.
“You were out of it; I brought you the rest of the way.” The servo ran down his arm, stopping at his wrist to fiddle with the connection.
Unable to respond in a civilized fashion, Megatron's engine subconsciously revved low and primitive in a threat display. The frequency resonated throughout his frame, communicating his irritation efficiently.
“Stop that. It was just me. No one saw. You got here all on your own.” Evac brushed off his display with a smack to his forearm, as if such behavior from him didn’t bring opponents in the pits shaking to their knees.
Where was here? His frustration grew.
“Okay, just let me…” He could hear typing, “There, try now.”
His optics onlined with the assistance of Evac’s manual start-up code. The room slowly cleared into focus. His revving engines stalled.
The execution chamber.
He was bound at a slight incline, his frame fully exposed to a viewing window where live witnesses would soon be sitting. The room had a solemn feel, nowhere near the clinical setting as before. A dull light lit the immediate area around them, but Megatron couldn’t spot the source, just glad that it wasn’t above him like an interrogation or operating room. He glanced to his left; the uncomfortable cable was still spooled and strapped to his wrist. A loose end hung ominously, but still unconnected to whatever equipment held the kill code.
“Hey,” Evac tried to pull his attention softly, using her servo to redirect his optics.
Megatron groggily gazed up at her. She must work with sparkling’s with how effectively she corrals his attention away from unpleasantries.
She sat near the right of his helm, monitoring the large screen exhibiting his vitals. The displays left nothing to the imagination: spark pulse, processor activity, fuel consumption ratios, all of it on display for the viewers. He doubted any of it was legitimate medical monitoring.
Looking past her smile to the screen, he could see a diagram of his own frame. It was spinning slowly, with certain pieces of his armor colored red. ‘Strange,’ he thought. All bots of Tarnish origin exhibited some degree of leucism, him being mostly affected with the exception of red pigmentation of his upper arm plating and abdominal vents. This model was wrong; he didn’t have red wrist or chest plating. In fact, he didn’t have wrist armor at all at the moment…
Oh.
No.
He gawked, stunned, as the realization of what he had seen washed over him. Evac noticed his expression changing.
“No no no, don’t-“
But her warning came too late. He dropped his helm in a lightning-quick reflex which should have been inhibited. He nearly threw Evac out of her seat as she attempted to grab his faceplates.
His Spark was exposed, pulsing and spinning fast, it bathed the room in an ebb of twisting light. His chest plating gone. Removed entirely. He was utterly exposed, freezing cold, and completely vulnerable. A touch could kill him right now.
He heard Evac speaking, though neither words nor tone registered. Distantly, he felt the medibot pulling at him, trying to get him to lay back down. Despite both physical and chemical restraints, she didn’t have hope in the Pits of moving him. The glare of his spark lit his reflection in the field of the viewing window, catching him by surprise. Barely recognizing himself as he had never before been forced to examine his appearance; especially in such a position. In the mines, mirrors were nonexistent. Any Pit mech who glanced at the monitors for even a nanosecond in the arenas where slaughtered. He never paid any mind with Autobot propaganda…
It wasn't until the Necro world, standing before the statue of his youth that he truly understood the monstrosity he had become. A cold calloused war monger, hungry for control and blinded by it.
But now? He looked frail. Bare. Weak. Yet, he was closer to his true self than he had been in millions of years.
The hardest part wasn’t seeing his exposed lifeforce or his restrained frame. The hardest part was staring into his own optics and finally seeing that once youthful face. The face that once held the resolve and determination for a better world. The naive slave from Tarn who had once foolishly thought he could change the world with his rhetoric. He couldn’t see the monster anywhere, and with the clarity of it, he felt the urge to apologize for failing them both. A bitter smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. ‘I know you wanted to change the world,’ he mused.
‘And you did,’ he recalled his session with Rung on the Lost Light. ‘But not for the better.’
“No,” he murmured. “But now…” his optics softened, losing focus on his reflection before offlining as he slowly rested his helm back against the berth. “For the better.”
Evac remained silent, unsure of what to say. Words seemed inadequate in the face of Megatron's internalized closure. He seemed to be coping well. She reached out and placed a servo firmly on his clavicle plating, messaging her thumb along the unnatural coolness of the metal beneath her touch. Megatron didn’t flinch, so they stayed like that for as long as they could, the weight of their shared silence hanging heavily in the air.
She glazed over at the chrono on the monitor before sighing lightly, leaning in close to whisper into his audio receptor.
“It’s time”
A bell sounded, stirring them from the peaceful silence.
---
Cycles blurred together after Rodimus’ final conversation with Megatron, the weight of sleeplessness pressing down on him like a relentless burden. Though he was well aware there was never going to be an out between the two verdicts, he clung to a faint hope for some kind of miracle. Megatron always seemed to conjure those when backed into a corner. Downing the rest of his engeX, he slammed the container down to join the mounting pile at his side.
The oil house was bustling tonight, everywhere was, streets, parks, fragging libraries were ablaze with hollering, singing, and dancing in celebration and anticipation for the viewing of Megatron’s execution. The enormous monitors, typically reserved for sporting or political broadcasts, stood ready, awaiting the live transmission of the ‘event’ from Garrus 9. Rumor had it that the council would likely declare this day a new Cybertronian holiday. 'Sick,' he thought, sarcasm thick on his glossa. He could fix that. He waved down the bartender, gesturing towards his empty pile of Engex containers, indicating his displeasure with a circling motion of his finger. 'Keep them coming,' he thought, not trusting his voice right now after his conversation with Minimus resulted in a good sob-fest out in the back alley. It was hard to maintain his composure in a bar full of retired Autobots and neutrals; being on the verge of black-out drunk was somewhat helpful, or so he thought.
The bartender placed a glass down in front of him with a concerned look. “You wanna slow down there, kid? The slagging screening hasn’t even started yet, and you’re 12 deep.”
Rodimus scoffed in indignation, his servo rising to his chest in offense. “I can count, my guy.” Dodged that one like a pro. The bartender rolled their optics as they whisked away, too busy to babysit a drunkard on a day like today.
He swirled the liquid in the glass, unsure of what else to look at. He was too drunk to hide all his feelings and fought to avoid catching optics with anybot. He really shouldn’t have come here today, but he thought being around others might help him through the process. That their excitement might rub off on him. A true extrovert at spark. Honestly, he just didn’t want to be alone…
A soft servo landed gently on his back. ‘Or maybe I did,’ he deliberated.
“You’re hard to find when you want to be found.”
Rodimus paused, processing the vague and confusing attempt at a pick-up before slamming his servos to the countertop of the bar, nearly spilling his Engex, and knocking several empties over. Hopefully this display was enough to dissuade any other onlookers from approaching; he wasn’t in the mood for flirtatious conversation right now, too drunk and distraught. Spinning around in his seat, he attempted to address this bold bot directly.
“Who would fragging be looking in the first pl-“ He was caught off guard immediately.
Drift stood behind him with a soft, sorrow-filled smile and a consuming presence of warmth. He didn’t move his servo from Rodimus’s back kibble; instead, he applied more comforting pressure, sprawling his fingers to cover more area. Rodimus continued to stare, confounded, his intake opening and closing as he chewed over words. He had not spoken to anyone in person since the sentencing, purposely isolating himself in his pain until his dumbfounding decision to be here today. He had specifically hidden from Drift, as he didn’t think he would be able to understand his conflicting emotions over Megatron’s Verdict. He shrunk in on himself suddenly, and after a moment, he managed a shaky question.
“…Minimus?”
“Ratted you out, yes,” Drift soothed, moving to sit in the seat next to Rodimus’s hunched frame, nonchalantly pushing the empty Engex containers off the bar with his forearm, earning a scathing glare from the bartender across the counter. He seethed back with equal intensity momentarily, enough of a threat to make the bartender turn on his heels.
Rodimus stared down at his drink, optics spacing out in broken thought. “You didn’t…” he quickly brought the glass to his intake to shoot it down, conversation was difficult. “You don’t need to-”
“Yes, I do.” Drift hushed assertively, placing a servo over the glass of Engex Rodimus was preparing to down, easing it back to the countertop with little convincing.
Rodimus looked at him from the corner of his optics, unwilling to turn his whole body. A prickle of shame sprouted somewhere distantly in his mind, which was silly; Drift had definitely seen him in much more embarrassing states. However, being in such a drunk grief over a bot who murdered little over half the known galaxy, including himself at least once, probably came pretty close to ‘taking the cake’. Drift was Ex-Decepticon, he likely knew the spell Megatron casts on ones psyche. When their goals aligned, that is.
“We are still a team, you know,” Drift lightly shoulder checked him in camaraderie, hoping to capture Rodimus' full attention. It didn’t work, so he persisted. “Even without the Lost Light. Without a mission, without an adventure, I’m still on your team. Whatever happens today, tomorrow, cycles from now, I’m going to be on your team.”
A flicker of a grin flashed on Rodimus’s faceplates as he offlined his optics. After a moment, he scrunched his facial plates and dropped his helm to the bar counter with a resounding thunk. Drift looked up apologetically to the patrons it may have startled. After throwing his whole arm across Rodimus’s shoulders as he pulled himself closer and leaned into his audio receptor. “And teams are stronger together,” he said, placing his hand over Rodimus’s, squeezing it in a grounding manner. “So we are going to do this together, understand?”
A snort, or perhaps a strangled sob from Rodimus, was muffled by the metal of the counter, his shoulders jerking, concealed from onlookers by Drift’s supporting arm.
“…Thank you,” Rodimus murmured, rolling his head slightly towards Drift. “You're too good to me.”
-----
From across the oil house in a darkened hallway, Ratchet stood leaned against the wall as he watched Drift console the hot mess of his former captain. There on 'standby', he had no intentions of taking part in today's celebrations. Not that he didn’t agree with it, just done with the war and all of the remnants of it. To see a society so excitable over the death of another bot filled him further with pessimistic bitterness. To him, it was just another bot dying for nothing. No progress would be made of it.
Despite his bitter nihilism, Ratchet cared deeply for a select few and how this would affect them. Drift predominantly, and if Drift was worried about Rodimus, well then he was worried about Rodimus too.
There was a buzz of static and a flash of light which blared from the monitors, resulting in an uproar from the crowds gathered in both the oil house and throughout the streets. Bots flooded in closer to the screens as the voice of a council orator began to speak.
Ratchet cursed, swinging his head away in disdain. He had no interest in watching this garbage today; he had seen enough death in his lifetime, so watching a screening of it on his free-time would be absurd. He glanced back to where Drift was consoling Rodimus. His cold spark pinged slightly at the state of him. Such an impressionable bot, getting so unhealthily attached to anything that remotely resembled a parental figure. Disgusting that Megatron was ever given the chance in the first place. Optimus set the poor kid up to hurt before promptly dying there after. Idiot.
He looked back again towards the monitor, following Rodimus’ saucer-optics stare to find Megatron, restrained with spark exposed. He was slightly taken aback by it. He never imagined a day where he would see Megatron so tolerant of such ministrations to his frame. Than again, he never anticipated seeing the day Megatron renounced Decepticonism either. As a doctor, such imagery had little effect on him, he’d seen bots in such position of vulnerability millions of times; However, for Rodimus, it was likely quite distressing. ‘For the love of Primus,’ he thought, as if his scolding thoughts could reach Megatron’s processor. ‘Don’t you dare make this any worse for Rodimus.’
-----
The resonating ting of his pattering steps down the metal corridor was comically light. Minimus pressed on with speed and purpose, his frame devoid of Magnus armor now, though it wouldn't matter; they already had his spark signature on file. He marched towards the witness hall, attempting to subdue the pit in his tanks with a false air of superiority. Passing two guards, who stared for far too long with dumbfounded expressions, he noticed their perplexed glances shifting between him and their scanner before they yelled out after him.
“Hey, you! State your role and purpose-”
“That would be 'Excuse me, Sir'!” he chastised, spinning around aggressively.
Approaching him somewhat cautiously, the guards looked down at their spark scanner while also placing servos on their weapons. “These scanners are saying that you are Ultra Mag-“
“That is because I AM Ultra Magnus,” he declared, his servos landing on his hips as he leaned forward in a posturing position. “And you are keeping me from my assigned role as a witness to the execution. Which I better not miss.”
The two guards exchanged confused glances. One of them pressed a finger to their audial, undoubtedly sending out a com. Minimus realized this was not going to be as simple as he thought.
“Forgive us, uh, sir?” One of the guards began, patronizingly. “But you are going to need to step aside and-”
“WHAT?” Minimus roared, holding out his identifier tag now. “Two spark scans and an identifier code, and you still don’t accept-“
“You don’t look anything like Ultra Magnus,” one guard interrupted, moving around Minimus to box him in.
“Yeah,” the other guard accused bluntly. “You’re looking more like a Decepticon minibot to me.” He reached down quickly, snatching Minimus’s upper arm with a powerful jerk.
Really?! How astoundingly racist. Were his red optics enough to be considered a Decepticon? Three authentication procedures be damned?
“Release me this instant! This is a major violation under- URK!” A fist smashed into his left faceplate, sending him whirling to the floor, his frame skipping twice off the metal.
“Shut up, a MAJOR violation would be impersonating a senior officer. Pick him up.”
Dazed from the hit, Minimus struggled to prop himself up, his servo lifting to his olfactory sensors only to come away bloodied in fresh energon. Distantly, he heard a bell ringing, and with stark realization, he knew that it was the start of the Execution screening. He only had minutes now.
“No,” he coughed, attempting to move towards the noise. Rough servos clasped his shoulder plating hard enough to dent the metal, lifting him clean off the ground. “You’re making a mis-“ a punch to his abdominal plating had him keeled over, peds not even touching the floor.
“Let’s get him out of here quick, I wanna watch that fragger die in real-time,” one guard murmured to the other, dragging Minimus in the opposite direction of the Witness room.
“No… wait,” he pleaded weakly, unable to catch a vent as his bent fans kept stalling.
“At ease!” An approaching voice hollered from behind them. The two guards stopped immediately, standing tall and leaving Minimus dangling in the air, fans clicking and vents hitching. He knew that voice…
“What is all of this about, soldier? Explain.”
The smarter of the two began, stuttering over their words at first. “Sir! We found this Decepticon trying to infiltrate the witness hall, claiming to be Ultra Magnus, Sir!”
“Ultra Magnus, huh?” the voice began to round on him with the speaker almost in his line of view. “Definitely doesn’t seem to fit the build, now does he?” The bot stepped in front of him. Minimus cowered slightly. Prowl. He and Prowl haven’t exactly been seeing ‘optic to optic’ as of late. Their relationship had soured further with Minimus’ appointment to Megatron’s case. Now would be a perfect time for Prowl to do what he does best. Act out about it.
“…Prowl...please,” he wheezed.
“Would we know each other, little bot?” Prowl teased while leaning down, olfactory sensors remaining high and mighty. He smirked. Minimus's spark sank.
“I- I know we have never agreed on methods, Prowl,” he started, his voice still shaky. “I-”
“-Was just going to stroll into a live broadcast and shatter the legend for everyone on Cybertron, and on such a joyous, sought-after day? All to make your best friend happy? How incredibly selfish, Minimus,” Prowl spat venomously in a mocking sneer, leaning in close to minimize what his underlings heard.
“Magnus, the Armor, I’m done with it. Through,” Minimus continued, hissing through dentae at the effort. ”After today, we can go our separate ways.”
“I think we can do that right now, actually,” Prowl smirked, standing to his full height. “Brig this Decepticon sympathizer, I’ll deal with him after the show,” he ordered the two guards before turning back to the execution chamber. “I don’t want to miss Megatron’s face when he realizes you’re not coming.”
“NO, PROWL,” Minimus thrashed, kicking but unable to land anything substantial. No longer having might on his side, he had to think. He had to think of something fast. What would work on someone as cynical, calculating, and arrogant as Prowl?
Blackmail.
“Overlord!” Minimus shouted, craning his neck back towards the direction Prowl was walking. He stopped abruptly. Listening.
*I am aware of your involvement with the release of Overlord, Who is still out there! Don’t you think for a second that anyone has forgotten* Minimus commed, the blackmail would fall short if others listen in.
 *As I recall, your crew played an unmistakable role in that…Mishap* Prowl didn’t move, back stiff. Calculating.
*Under your direction, discretion, and trusted advisement. Overlord was a prisoner assigned to you and you foremost.* Minimus bit back, he was getting further and further away. He could hear the orator beginning to read out the jury’s sentencing.
*And?* Prowl spat back, turning his head to glance, a sliver of blue shining from his silhouette.
*Nobody needs to know* There was no reply. Minimus panicked briefly, knowing any further discussion or clarification would ruin the offer. He just needed Prowl to take the hook.
“Drop him,” Prowl commanded to his bots after careful consideration. Mimimus hit the ground hard, crumpling to his knees. He could hear Prowl approaching quickly. “Dismissed,” he hissed with a wave of his servo. The guards nodded, continuing their march down the hall. Before he could rise, a ped slammed into the crease of his back painfully, pinning him back down into a crouched position.
“You’re going to go in there, make googly optics at your genocidal BFF, watch him die, and then I am never going to see you again. Do you understand?” Prowl leaned down to whisper the threat directly into Minimus’ audio receptors.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way…” Minimus grunted, shrugging Prowl’s ped off his back. A rag fell to the floor in front of his face.
“You tripped on your way here, smashed your face into the bulkhead. You needed a minute to look presentable. That is why we are late,” Prowl hummed as he walked away.
Minimus took the rag, dabbing the drying energon from his faceplates as he rose shakingly to his peds. Perhaps he was a Decepticon sympathizer, he thought as he began to limp after Prowl’s steady steps.  Never has he ever thought so lowly of the Autobot peacetime they had created.
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