Everybody learns from *somebody*

[lordmegatron]

Passing the doors into the library, Megatron was pleased he had gotten the schedule correct as he saw who was sitting at the desk. If it had been completely necessary due to his own schedule, he'd have come here when he could. But since he didn't have to...

Ignoring the faint itch interfacing hadn't properly gotten rid off, Megatron approached the librarian at a lazy, casual walk. It was a pity he hadn't seen any signs at all that the surprisingly fine-lined truck-alted mech had the inclination he was looking for. Things would have been a lot easier (and, really, pleasing) if he had.

As it was, since there was no one left in the current arena circuit that he trusted with what he had to hand over, perhaps he would have to avail himself of one of the clubs. It made an irritable twitch slither down the treads on his shoulders, the thought that he'd have to do that.

It was ages since he'd had to go to an open venue like that to simply get his needs properly taken care of.

And he really would have preferred the librarian. Orion Pax - it hadn't taken anything to find out the designation when to found the schedule - was witty, somehow diplomatically argumentative and didn't give in if he knew he was right or wanted to stand for his opinion, actually had some smarts to go with said use of words and Megatron wanted to know more.

More, and more personally (most of the earlier he'd simply learned over the few times he'd been in the library when the mech was, but hadn't actually approached him). So this time, he decided to actually use the librarian's assistance in what he was looking for... and perhaps get something more out of it.

"Excuse me?"

Comments

[lordmegatron]

"I thought being special would've been anyone's dream," Megatron said with a smirk, patting Orion's shoulder and pointing back the way they'd come, "if we backtrack out, we can follow the hall outside... I'm sure we can find more interesting things."

Megatron was sure - even more so now with the entrance of these things, that there was at least one other door in this... display hall or whatever it was, but he had, so far, been unable to find it.

The corridor outside, where the winding walkway they'd taken down to get here ended, did have doors, both open and closed. Megatron was, privately, hoping that with Orion's optic and... what might be a coincidence, what might not, that he might be able to open the closed doors.

[ichooseboth]

"Hrmph. I just want to find special things, not be a special thing, thank you. Especially if it somehow involves being a magnet for...forgotten, underground hunter-creatures."

Orion huffed, nudging Megatron back with his pat shoulder.

"I'm not sure how much 'more interesting' we can survive," he teased, easing back into his study of their path. The corridor had obviously once been very grand; it's size and scale where undiminished, but the colors had long since been lost, and Orion could see signs of scraping damage. Where precious metal gilding had been forcibly pulled away, perhaps?

He paused at the doorways ahead, considering.

"Which way?" he asked, though he quickly had no intentions of heading forward immediately - the carvings and glyphs on said doors invited examination.

[lordmegatron]

"We don't always get to choose if we are or not, Orion," Megatron said, mock-seriously, and then shrugged, waving a hand at the doorways spread along the corridor.

"Any of them, for whatever reason, that attracts your interest?" If Orion chose one of the rooms he'd already explored, he could probably steer him away reasonably quickly. What he wanted was to see what Orion chose... if he was seeing something Megatron wasn't, or if, maybe, there'd be something down here that would pull him towards a particular door.

Much like Megatron had felt drawn to the golden disc the giant statues had been holding.

[ichooseboth]

Orion didn't bother to dignify that with a response, rolling his optics without turning from the doors.

"Oh, both of course," he said, hands tracing glyphs as he dispatched his scanner, recording the markings in glorious full-rendering. He peered down the corridor through the open doorway, naturall - curiosity and all that - but when the view proved to be more of the same worn-down halls... Well.

The still-closed and tempting door perked his audials more.

"Hmm, all of this is a good deal more worn down than the first rooms- pity, it must have been quite nice back when it was still in use. But that also makes it a bit more difficult to make out. Something about the hall with those statues. 'Doom-something'? No, no, 'Death,' perhaps? Something about a ceremony, in vague glowing terms." His engine snorted, and he continued fussing for several moments.

"I'm sure some of this is just supposed to contain directions, but it's all wrapped up in formal enough verbal-gilding to give a Towerling a headache- Hmm... Ah, here we go."

And Orion calmly stepped through the now open doorway, headlights guiding the way as he passed into unexplored territory.

[lordmegatron]

Optics brightening with pleasure as the door that had been locked for him opened up, Megatron hummed in quiet agreement. It did indeed seem like Orion had a particular... touch, down here.

Interesting.

It made him wonder what it meant.

"Directions in how to open the door, or directions for what's behind the door?" Megatron asked as he followed Orion through, but he didn't put his sword back into subspace.

Better to keep it out and ready in case they got jumped again. Not that they would get jumped again; Megatron was keeping a careful few scanners out for potential ambush.

[ichooseboth]

Orion made a flippant gesture, oblivious to the difficulty anyone might have had with the door before he came along.

"'To open-'..? What, no, it just probably hasn't been opened in a good long while- no, it's directions."

A pause.

"I think. Their methods aren't entirely obvious, and the syntax is just- well. Better left undisguised. But I think this should lead the way." He gestured excitedly as he walked, even though he was rapidly vanishing around the doorframe. "To a reliquary! Possibly Primal in nature."

[lordmegatron]

Keeping his face carefully blank of any particular expression as Orion fumbled through his reply, Megatron was... amused, at the way Orion was reasoning things away.

Unconscious self-protection to diffuse any attention? The thought was worth considering, but the moment Orion mentioned reliquary and Primal, Megatron put that aside and strode after Orion, all too eager to see this himself.

And if there was something to use? All the better.

"That... would be quite a find, wouldn't it? And I didn't take you for a picky linguist, Orion," Megatron said with a chuckle, eyeing the mirror-smooth gold-panelled walls of the corridor they were now walking through.

[ichooseboth]

"I've read 'commoner' glyphs from the exact same era about as complex as our own. Versus the ones down here, which can get to the point where they use about fifteen words in a place where three would work just as well? You would get picky too!"

Orion huffed back, headlights leading the way down a increasingly grand corridor. Compared to the halls and doors outside, the new area seemed far more pristine; at least, the gilding on the wall carvings seemed to still be there.

"But yes, finding an actual Primal reliquary would be a massive find. More so depending on what was actually contained within. If anything, of course."

The last was added reluctantly, but true. He fought to keep from raising his hopes too high. Finding something grand was not common in the least - grave robbers and scavengers were always more likely to have cleared locations free of their precious finds vorns ago.

[lordmegatron]

"Ah, even the learned mech complaining that fewer words could do in the place of more?" Megatron laughed, well-aware that Orion was hardly pretentious and was exactly the type to choose as few, but effective, words as possible to convey what he wanted.

If anything, Megatron was the sort of orator who liked words... but he was also perfectly capable of adjusting the level of his speech to the audience.

"I think..." he added after a moment, optics dimming in near-predatory anticipation, "that we will find something in here. Unless those who put whatever might be kept in the reliquary took those items away themselves."

Considering the way had been clear for him down to the statues and the golden disc had been there for unknown megavorns, Megatron didn't doubt something that was being kept behind a locked door would be far more likely to still be in place.

[ichooseboth]

"It happens," agreed Orion blandly, casting a brief, sly glance over his shoulder. "Except in my research papers, of course."

He shook his head. "Id' say don't get your hopes up too high just yet, Megatron...but I think so, too."

He'd rather not expect too much...but really, being optimistic was in his nature. He couldn't stay pessimistic, especially in the face of what wonders they had already found. The hallway was long - noticeably so, probably to create an aura of importance right before such an important room. There was another set of doors, more impressive and grander than the last. It was unknown if they were actually locked or not - Orion tried them, and they opened easily at his touch. He only spared Megatron a brief glance, excitement thrumming through his line and making his field brighten.

"Alright... Here we go."

He pushed the doors wide open.

[lordmegatron]

Megatron stared and then burst out laughing, shaking his helm.

"Of course."

Following along, Megatron didn't pay much attention to the increasingly grander surroundings; he could tell the reason for the design of the corridor, and while it was something he'd have used himself, it didn't really have an effect on him.

When the doors slid apart at Orion's touch, however, Megatron could admit to the low, buzzing anticipation that suddenly crawled along his circuits as they stepped through.

The room beyond was gold and crystal, circular with tiered stairs down into a depressed center.

Around the room, seemingly at random and within shimmering force fields, hovered thirteen... items.

Pure surprise and excitement made Megatron tighten his grip on Orion's arm, and his engine revved once before he ruthlessly squashed it.

[ichooseboth]

"Oh."

Orion froze in the doorway, blocking the way and unable to go on. Even barely felt Megatron clutching at his arm. Frozen, jaw dropping, his field collapsed into an stunned, excited jangle.

"Oh my god."

Even unable to bring himself to move, Orion's optics could see enough.

"...Thirteen? ...Thirteen."

He was almost afraid to step inside; afraid to wake the dream or dispel the illusions on the room.

[lordmegatron]

Megatron almost laughed at Orion's exclamation. It was very fitting, really.

"Indeed," he said instead after a moment of silent staring, optics glittering ruby within the crimson light. This find could mean everything. "Interesting that there's thirteen of them and not twelve..." he murmured, optics darting between them.

"Move, Orion," he added quietly, softly, but gave Orion a firm push to hopefully move him forward into the room and out of the doorway. He wanted to explore. See if those forcefields were merely to keep the items floating in the air, or if they were impenetrable and thus would leave the items inviolable.

can't rmemeber if he actually called Trion, Trion or A3 so. TRANSLATION ERRORS?? IF I;M WRONG LOL

[ichooseboth]

"You would think so," Orion murmured, voice lax with shock and awe. The significance of having thirteen shining displays - instead of the customary twelve - hinted at a answer to all sorts of rumors and legends...

Hinted. He'd have to examine them...

Breaking into a wide, blissful grin, Orion surged forward at last, brushing off Megatron's shrug and stumbling toward the nearest shielded display. Conveniently enough, it was a book of some sort; a positively ancient looking, yet nearly pristine notation pad. Ignoring the force field to all up press his face against the item as closely as he could get, Orion was forced to pause a moment, to translate the small plaque.

"...second age, differing style from the book itself; obviously added much later; 'The Causal Tome of...A3.'"

Orion nearly fell on the force field.

Let's go with A3 as a probably deliberate misdirection!

[lordmegatron]

Drawing up close to Orion and trying not to laugh at the way he was basically behaving like a newspark in front of something exciting, Megatron was certainly... ah, interested.

"So that means someone, probably several someones, have been down here, but everything has been kept untouched," Megatron said slowly, rubbing his chin as he eyed the book.

It didn't hold much interest to him, and while he certainly wanted to usher Orion onwards, he'd let him gush over this for a bit.

"Though maybe because no one has known how to get through the forcefields rather than anything else," he added with a dry grin.

Sounds good!

[ichooseboth]

"Undoubtedly," Orion agreed, voice still hushed from his remaining awe.

"This was clearly a fairly public display chamber; someone's way of bragging about their priceless collection. Though I'm not sure-" he paused, peering under and around the relic, perplexed when he didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "But I'm not sure where the power source for such a thing is even coming from."

He reached out, fingers reaching tantalizingly close to the field in yearning, but not yet daring to touch and risk the shock.

"Perhaps a small, localized power-warp within the field? I admit, I am not well-versed in security measures-"

A small twitch as he glanced back over his shoulder for Megatron's opinion was all it took; a fingertip passed close enough for the field for a small jolt of static to arc over and hit metal.

The field cut out, vanishing from around the book completely. Optics widening to almost comical proportions, Orion abruptly went silent.

"...um."

[lordmegatron]

Optic ridges rising up under the edge of his helm when Orion touched the thing and the forcefield disappeared, Megatron surged forward, catching the thing before it fell to the ground and held it out to Orion without looking it over.

He could be good.

"Or it's the room itself that's powering the forcefield, perhaps, though whatever you did doesn't seem to have disrupted any of the other ones," Megatron said, glancing around the room, wondering if it was Orion, and if he could open all of these, or if... maybe...

[ichooseboth]

Optics still wide, Orion accepted the book with careful fingers. He glanced between the book, Megatron, and the various other, untouched force fields.

"Ah. Right..."

He turned back to the book, a tentative, half-scared grin slipping over his face.

"...Honestly, I shouldn't even be touching it like this..." But he still turned it over in his hands. It appeared to still have power - powered by the force field, perhaps? But functional, after so long?

He couldn't help but attempt to page through it, immediately enthralled.

[lordmegatron]

Raising an optic ridge, Megatron cocked his helm.

"Why not? Just touching it is, obviously, not detrimental. If it had some sort of guards or locks, something would've happened by now," he pointed out dryly as he turned away, knowing that he wouldn't be able to read (if there was anything to read) and that Orion would let him know if he could.

Instead he walked a few steps to the left, behind them, to a forcefield within which a strange claw-looking weapon hovered, with part of the handle being constructed so that your own hand would be scraped by the backwards-pointing claws.

He couldn't read the plaque, but Orion could probably enlighten him when he could be torn away from the book. So Megatron reached a hand out, pressing it against the forcefield... nothing happened.

It was half expected, half disappointing. But that still left eleven others to try, and for Orion to do the same too.

"Anything interesting?" he asked as he slowly drifted towards another forcefield-encased item.

[ichooseboth]

"No, I mean... It's so old. Touching it could have damaged it."

Luckily, it had not, so far at least. The book was surprisingly sturdy, with little signs of wear or damage. If it weren't for the glyphs on the casing, and the fact that it simply...felt old. Well. Orion would have assumed it was a simple forgery.

"Aha... I can't even read it."

Contrary to the words, Orion was beaming>, unable to tear his gaze away from the book.

"The glyphs are the oldest I've ever seen. There are....roots of late first age in them, but... If this is really A3's book, well. Then this is the root language. We've only ever found scraps of it before now. I'll...have to work on a translation."

He was already looking forward to the challenge.

[lordmegatron]

"Too late, if so," Megatron said with a shrug, walking slowly around the next forcefield. Within it was a metalworking item - he was sure, by the looks of it, that it could be used for more than one task.

"Hmmm, I'm sure you'll figure it out shortly," he said with a grin from under the edge of his helm, trailing his fingers over the resistant energy field slowly. "What about that one?"

He pointed over to the one he'd first tried to touch, the strange, and impressively clawed, weapon.

[ichooseboth]

"Unfortunately true, but thankfully not an issue," Orion corrected, trying to fight the urge to be snippy. If it had been an issue...

He tore his gaze away from the holopages of the book. An ancient relic in his hands...or several others locked away nearby to focus on. Choices.

"Hmm... I can't be sure without examining it closer-" he didn't seem terribly inclined to move away from the book's previous resting place just yet- "But I would guess a weapon of Onyx Prime? It looks...brutal enough."

[lordmegatron]

Humming, Megatron looked back to it, nodding slowly. He'd had that thought, but been uncertain; while he'd certainly learned more about the Twelve (or Thirteen, in some accounts) when he started to dig into their past, he was hardly an expert.

"And you would need to sacrifice to wield it. Seems like that would fit Onyx," he said slowly, optics dimming. Wondering what that clawed weapon could do, what the necessary sacrifice would allow one to do with it.

But he couldn't get to it, despite that he certainly wanted to. And yet, he wasn't frustrated, not yet; some part of him was certain that he could get to at least one of the items in this room.

It was a... curious sensation.

[ichooseboth]

"It certainly does," Orion said, making a face. Reluctantly, he carefully tucked the precious book away at his side, rising up to follow after Megatron's path.

"Definitely Onyx," he confirmed quietly, giving the nameplate and the back-curving blades a lingering glance.

'...Well. Worth a shot, I suppose.' He thought. Then, steeling himself with a deep vent, Orion carefully pressed a fingertip to the field protecting it.

"Ow!"

And only got a shock for his trouble.

"...I'm not sure if I'm relieved or just confused." And slightly disappointed, but he wouldn't mention that part out loud.

[lordmegatron]

"I... am intrigued," Megatron said after a moment, optic ridge arched high up under the edge of his helm, "since it looks like you might only be able to open some of these... or only one."

Making a slow circuit of the room and not touching any of the other forefields, Megatron looked them over - they all looked the same, so he doubted that the first one had been malfunctioning in any way.

"The question is why... and which, if any further of these, you can open." And if he could open any of them as well. He had, by now, more than just a vague hope that maybe he could.

"I can't say I'm surprised you were capable of removing the forcefield around A3's artifact, however," Megatron added with a grin.