The Slate

"Swerve..."

"I've never met a real life human before! Wow, you're a lot smaller than I expected." Swerve said. "And that stuff on your head. That's hair, right? Can I touch it? Can I touch you? Sorry, that was rude. Of course you don't want to be touched by a stranger."

"Swerve." Ratchet tried again, more sternly. He was ignored.

"So, are you from Earth? Have you watched a lot of media? Which is your favourite? We have a movie night ever so often, if you have a suggestion for..."

"SWERVE!" The medic glared down at Swerve. "What are you doing here?" Ratchet hoped he was wrong in his assumption.

"Rodimus told me that I was to help the human get around and keep her company." Swerve replied. Ratchet hated that he had been right. There were so many other bots who would have been better at the job. Like Nautica, Velocity, Drift or even himself.

"Look, Swerve. How about you wait outside. I'll bring her out when I'm finished. There are still tests that I need to go through and..."

"Do you need help? I can totally help! I'd like to get to know her and..."

"You can help by standing outside!" Ratchet snapped.

"Right. Outside. I'll wait... outside." Swerve turned and walked back out of the medibay. Ratchet ex-vented.

"He seems nice!" Rin said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know when to stay quiet. He talks. A lot. It's annoying." The bot walked to her. "What do you know about yourself?" He asked. Rin thought for a minute.

"Everything is kind of hazy. I don't remember much of anything that happened before I got captured. I remember running, that's it. Then I was in a cage." Rin explained.

"I'll need to take another sample of your blood. After that I will hand you off to Swerve. However, if you need a break..."

"I'll be okay." Rin said. "I haven't really talked to anyone aside from you, Drift, and Rodimus."

"He won't let you do any of the talking." Ratchet warned.

"I don't mind." She watched Ratchet easily, carefully, and skillfully draw her blood before picking her up and walking to the door. Swerve was standing, trying to look serious.

"Do NOT do anything that could harm her, physically or mentally." Ratchet said. "She is a sentient being. Not a pet or a play thing."

"Got it!" Swerve saluted before rushing off with Rin in his arms like one would carry a growing protoform. "What was your name again?" He asked.

"Rin Hikari." She replied.

"Rin! I like that. It suits you!"

"Drift picked it out for me." Rin said.

"Right! You were found on that trading planet! Did you not have a name before?" Rin shook her head.

"Not that I can remember." She said. "I don't remember much. I'm a blank slate."

"Well, I hope we can fill that blank slate with happy memories and lots of friends!" Swerve smiled at her. "Can I be your friend? Is that a weird thing to ask? Am I talking to much? Sorry, I ramble when I'm excited, or nervous, or angry... I ramble all the time. At the academy, my nickname was 'shut the hell up'. Because I talked so much." Rin giggled.

"I'd love for you to be my friend." She paused. "What's a friend?"

"It's two or more people who are... close, trust each other, and can confide in each other." He explained. He hoped it was a good explanation. The human in his arms nodded.

"Confide in..." She thought for a moment. "Well... to be honest with you. I don't know what I am. I was being sold as a human. I was told I was taken from the planet Earth, but Ratchet says my DNA had been altered... he doesn't know what I am yet. I'm sorry I'm not entirely human like you hoped."

"Don't worry about it!" Swerve said. "I'm still excited to have you aboard! I get to teach you things about humans and maybe we can figure things out together!"

"I'd like that, very much." Rin said. "Thank you." The minibot grinned. He hoped he could be a good teacher. What if he wasn't? What if he taught her the wrong things? What if she didn't like the stuff he was showing her? So many 'what-if's swam through his processor. He quickly pushed his worries aside. Right now, she was a blank slate. She, too, was trying to figure out what she wanted to do, what she liked, and he was the one who could help her with that! It was like a dream come true.

Swerve took her to his bar. He gestured to the neon sign above the door.

"Welcome to Swerve's!" He said. "This is my bar. It's a place where I serve drinks to other bots."

"What kind of drinks do you serve?" Rin asked.

"Different forms of engex. It's... like an alcoholic beverage."

"I see!" Rin knew what alcohol was. She had seen the bug alien get drunk on multiple occasions. Swerve set her her down it was really then that Rin noticed that the top of her head was level with his mid thigh. It made her feel a little safer knowing that he didn't completely tower over her like all the other bots had.

"Want to try some?" He asked. "I don't really have a human sized glass... but..." he looked underneath the counter and pulled out a vial that he used to a free sample.

"This might work!" He put some normal engex into the vial and handed it to Rin. He watched as she drank it down. She blinked slightly.

"That's good!" She said. "Kinda sharp tasting and bubbly." She smiled at him and he beamed back. He did something right. A pair of footsteps made the two of them look up. A large tan bot followed after a smaller black one, about the same height as Swerve.

"That's Rewind, and his conjunx, Chromedome. Conjunx Endura is kinda like marriage. Like the romantic bond between two people." Swerve explained. Rin waved slightly.

"Wow, a real human!" Rewind said. Rin was about to correct him, when she saw a blinking red light on the side of his head.

"What's the light?" Rin asked.

"I'm recording. I hope you don't mind." Rewind said.

"He records everything." Chromedome said.

"I don't mind." Rin said. "I'm Rin Hikari. A probably human."

"A probably human?"

"We're still trying to figure it out." She explained. "I have human DNA, but... it's mixed with other things. I guess to make thing more simple, I'm fine with the term human."

"Tell me a bit about yourself!" Rewind said. "I want to document this moment! A human on a Cybertronian ship!"

"Well, there's not much to tell." Rin replied. "I don't know much about myself. I don't remember anything from before I was captured. Swerve is helping me figure things out." Rewind and Chromedome exchanged a strange glance.

"I'm an expert on humans!" Swerve said. "Well, the only expert on this ship."

"You've never met a human before." Rewind cut in. "Rodimus, Ratchet, and Drift would know more about humans than you do."

"I'm sure that Swerve knows plenty, too!" Rin said. "As I told Swerve, I'm a blank slate, and I'm happy with Swerve helping with filling it in."

"If you say so." Rewind said. The two sat at the bar and ordered drinks. Rin watched Swerve expertly make the drinks for the two as he talked about a show called 'Brooklyn 99', a comedy about Earth law enforcement. After serving the drinks, he turned to Rin.

"Thank you so much!" He said.

"For what?" Rin asked.

"For trusting me. It means a lot. Really. You have no idea how happy it makes me." Swerve said.

"You said it yourself, Swerve." Rin smiled up at him. "Friends trust each other."