milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Six fleethounds wander around a table hoping that their person is distracted enough to let them beg treats, the seventh has her head in the puppy basket, taking care of them. Lissar is ensconced at the table, hunched over a laptop. She's got a cup of cocoa gone cold, with a thick skin on it, and a sandwich with one bite taken out of it. The majority of the cover of the laptop is taken up by a sticker that says "Ironhide Guaranteed Sprite Free". Her hair is pulled up into a sloppy bun held by a pencil and a blade free Exacto knife, and she's glaring at the screen. Her frown is dark, her eyes intent, and she is muttering under her breath. Most often "Slag it!" and "Curse you, Shaka Zulu!" although occasionally she adds a particularly annoyed "Mine tailings!" to her repertoire.

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From up above there's a beep wheedle beep series of noises that Lissar may find familiar.

"Greetings, Bumblebee. How are...no I shall not give you the secrets of the wheel. ." Lissar says cheerfully enough.

Bumblebee makes a curious kazoo noise before dropping down from the rafters to land nearby. "I'm well enough," he says. "Who wants the wheel, now?"

"The Celts." Lissar says, pointing at the screen, "Ironhide showed me this, and it is fascinating. I catch up to him, and perhaps sometime soon we shall play as a pair, against each other."

Bumblebee leans in to peer at the screen. "Oh, the simulator game," he says. "Optimus gave him that. I don't know where he got it from. Is it very difficult?"

"Yes." Lissar says firmly, "Shaka Zulu is a pain. He keeps destroying my people so I must begin again. I shall defeat him someday." That last is said with a certain air; she is going to do it.

"Good luck," says Bumblebee. "That kind of governance is more complicated than I think I want to try to handle."

"You, my friend, do not inherit a kingdom." Lissar points out, looking up at him with a smile, "It is for Ironhide and I to learn; he to rule and I to assist."

"Better you than me," Bumblebee says fervently. "Either of you!"

"I suggested he give you title over several farmers." Lissar says cheerfully, "Just in case you tease him too badly. It is an option."

"... he wouldn't," Bumblebee says warily.

"The question becomes; would you risk it?" That, folks, would be Lissar's version of do you feel lucky, punk?

We're not gonna take it
No, we ain't gonna take it
Oh, we're not gonna take it any more...

Bumblebee shakes his head at the mere thought.

Even without the clearly labeled laptop, Bob would know who this woman is. It's not like Milliways has a lot of pure white golden-eyed women surrounded by packs of dogs milling around.

"Lissar?"

"Rivets!" Lissar informs the computer, before looking up, "Yes? Can I be of assistance?"

"I just thought I'd say hi, since I'm a friend of Ironhide and AndrAIa," says Bob. "I can come back when you're not busy, if you'd rather..."

A few clicks, slow as she's still learning, and Lissar has saved her game, "It is no problem. Any friend of Ironhide is owed my attention in full. I have been learning this, and I think that I do only very slightly better than he at this anyway."

"You're both probably way better at it than I would be," he says sheepishly. "Anyway... I'm Bob, Guardian 452 of System Mainframe. I'm the sprite who was stuck in Ironhide's systems before he got to Earth."

"He has mentioned you." Lissar says with a graceful nod, "I am once Lissla, now Lisa, Lissar. Lissar my preferred name, as you seem to have known. It is not so hard a thing to learn, simply very hard to succeed at. It is Shaka Zulu who kills me most often."

"Pleased to meet you." Bob nods in return, then peers at the screen curiously. "I'd offer to help, but I've never really seen a Game like this before. It's after my time, I think."

Even if it was a Game he was familiar with, it's questionable how much help Bob would be. All of his experience is from the other side of the screen.

"This and Halo are the only ones which I know." Lissar says cheerfully, "I am better at this than at Halo...although I cannot trust my skills there well; I play with Ironhide. I have the training packets, here." she carefully goes up to the menus to show them off. "I do not know if it will be that helpful for Ironhide, in the long run, but it calms his fears some to have it to practice on."

"Well, every little bit helps, I guess," says Bob with a shrug. "I'm just wondering how your people will take the news that a giant alien robot is going to be in charge for the forseeable future."

Lissar's smile is wry, and a little bitter, "I think it will be very good for them."

.

.

.

"Okay, there's some backstory I'm missing here, isn't there?"

"Yes." Lissar says, "There is." and she is regal, and proud, and her golden eyes are full of horror that she will not allow to swamp her again.