Goldbug's Plan

Goldbug steps slowly- quietly through the Ark. The old spaceship certainly has come a long way over the years, but it's still an empty shadow of what it once was. Well, for some, at least. And so, Goldbug briefly traces his fingers over the orange wall of the old ship before he steps further into the lab, glancing around curiously. "Anybody there?" he asks.

Fairway leaves his quarters, wiping his hands and face with a white rag. He's been drawn out by the sound of an unfamiliar voice. "Hello," he says, emerging into the lab cautiously. "Who's there?"

A squeal of tires heralds Bumblebee's entrance into the area, or at least into the hall outside of the lab. A quick tranformation sound can be heard, accompanied by some cheerful whistling. Soon enough, the small Autobot steps into the Lab. Twirling on the end of one of his small fingers is a datapad attached to some kind of lanyard. His whistling doesn't falter as he spots a pair of other Bots, instead it only changes pitch as his mouth forms a smile. "Evenin' boys!", he calls out happily.

Goldbug glances up at Fairway, and nods. "Oh, sorry- I'm Goldbug. New to earth." he tromps over and extends a hand to shake. "I just thought I'd stop by- I was looking for a lab to do some imaging work- figured it'd be easier than a trip over to Belgium or wherever it is that Metroplex is located." Bumblebee's entrance earns a glance from the golden minibot- and maybe, MAYBE just the smallest of pauses, but he shrugs it off nonetheless. Nothing to see here!

Fairway shakes Goldbug's hand. "Ah, pleased to meet you, friend." He staches his rag, which is now streaked with multicolored paint. "Welcome to Earth." He then turns to Bumblebee. "Evening, Bumblebee! Have you met Goldbug?"

"Hi there Fairway, how's it going?" Still smiling, Bumblebee places the datapad carefully amongst the clutter covering one of the many long lab tables. As if the pad itself were dirty, he rubs his hands on his legs ( a very human gesture ) and extends one of them to 'the new guy'. "Haven't had the plezh. I'm Bumblebee..", he leaves the conversational space open to allow Goldbug his own introduction.

Goldbug shakes Bumblebee's hand. "Goldbug." he says in reply, friendly as ever. "I've actually heard a lot about you, Bumblebee." he laughs a little, "Which...might not be the best thing to say about a spy, but you get the idea." This said, he glances back up at Fairway. "I don't suppose you guys have a image-projector laying around somewhere handy, do you? Maybe one you could link into an astrogational database?"

Fairway thinks about this for a nano. "A project I may be able to procure. I think there's a disused one in the stock room. An atrogational database? That I'm not sure about. There must be one on the bridge. Might I ask what for, friend?"

Bumblebee's smile does not falter, but there is a shimmer in his optics - a mischeivous twinkle, if you will allow. He gives Goldbug's hand a firm shake (a little like someone trying to put force behind a handshake so as to make a good impression). Bumblebee chuckles and takes a step back, "All good things, I hope?" He appraises the golden 'Bot quietly while Fairway shakes him down for information. (j/k)

Goldbug's own handshake is surprisingly strong for a 'bot of his size- perhaps that gold paintjob of his is electrum? "Mostly good. At least, those are the parts I tend to remember." he laughs. As Fairway speaks up, Goldbug steps over, and opens up a compartment in his forearm- producing the ragged remnants of a star-chart. "This is what we managed to get from the Libary World, Babel. Unfortunately, the Decepticons got the other half...I wanna see if we can fill in the blanks. It'll lead us to where that lense of yours came from." he nods at Fairway.

Ultra Magnus struts into the Ark's lab, carrying an armload of paper readouts and information tables. While one arm is cradling that workload, the other is browing a datapad for updates. He's quite surprised to see a trio here, usually this part of the Ark (and the base in general) is pretty desolate. "Oh, greetings." he politely states, giving Goldbug a double take.

Fairway strokes his wedge-beard. "Hmm...sadly, astrology is out of my field of expertise." He gives a wave to Ultra Magnus. "Here's just the mech to help. We shall need resources to do what you need."

Out of curiousity, Bumblebee cranes his head to get a look at the chart. This manuever is actually successful for once since the 'Bot handling the item is his size. He stands straight as Ultra Magnus enters, just in case it looked like he was snooping. "Good evening Magnus!", he says cheerfully before retrieving the datapad he had in his hands when he entered and begins to fiddle with it quietly.. occasionally sneaking looks at Goldbug..

Goldbug waves cheerily at Ultra Magnus. "Ah, good to see you, City Commander! I don't suppose you have access to a shuttle's astrogational charts?" And with that, Goldbug heads over towards a lightboard-table, laying out the torn half of the Babel star-chart. "I figure we can fill in what we DON'T have with some simple gravometric calculations." -ARE- there simple gravometric calculations? "We need to figure out the point of origin of the Lenses before the Decepticons do." he says by way of explanation.

Ultra Magnus waves back, still a bit offset by Goldbug's presence. It's not so much him, just the visual similarities between him and ... you know. "Uhh, I have access ... although actual translation of said information isn't my forte." he politely responds, setting the paperwork down. "Well I'll be." the City Commander gasps out, looking over the torn star-chart.

Fairway follows Goldbug to the lightboard and looks the starchart over. "You seem to be far more savvy about these lenses than others," he says. He's noticed the similarities between Goldbug and Bee, of course, but simply hasn't given them a second thought. Build brothers, perhaps? Like Ironhide and Ratchet? "I'm interested...why must we find the source of the lenses. I mean, beyond the obvious...if the Decepticons know where to get more, they could become infinitely more powerful than they are now. So to speak."

Slipping the datapad into a pocket of the subspace variety, Bumblebee sidles over to the other 'Bots as they examine the chart. Instead of focusing on the charts as much as his fellow Autobots, his attention is continuously drawn to Goldbug. As if he is sharing the same wavelengths as Fairway, he ponders the smilarities. He doesn't speak up however, not wanting ot interrupt their pow-wow. Bumblebee is not without intelligence, so he keeps quiet and immerses himself in the subject matter and their conversation.

"You know, I think you answered your own question, Fairway." Goldbug says. "I'm an archvist, myself- it's my job to know obscure stuff like this." he nods. "The lenses are weapons- psychically based weapons, that focus a sentient's being's latent traits. Will. Rage. Courage- each one's different." Goldbug shrugs. "If the Decepticons get ahold of any more, or even the means to recharge the ones they have..." he trails off. Goldbug goes back to poring over the star-charts, and hmms. "I'll just need the raw data, Ultra Magnus- I think I can run the numbers myself." he taps fingers on the lightboard, and begins filling in some arbitrary calculations. "And Bumblebee?" he says without looking up, "I know you're watching- so why don't you come over and help?"

"Consider it done, although I do advise you have Fairway or Crosscheck double run the numbers ... just for accuracy's sake." Ultra Magnus nods, looking over the datapad's screen.

"I'd be glad to undertake any mathematical problems we may encounter," Fairway says, "but I fear I'll be less than useless as a stellar cartographer." He frowns at the map. "Psychic weapons? How did the come to be in the presence of the Collector? You know...he may obtain the bulk of the objects he collect from a local source. We could start our search around his home planet. There's also the possibility that he acquires some collectibles online...through sites such as Ebay. If that is the case, he may have a profile that can be searched, and we may be able to find out who, if anyone, sold him the lenses."

Bumblebee gives a slight grin and steps up to the lightboard, "Sure, Goldbug." He eyes the charts but doesn't say anything, quite out of his element with all of this. He does however know a thing or two about the Decepticons, and anything 'psychic' or 'powerful' would best be kept out of their hands. That is a task quite within his sphere. He still keeps his mouth shut and looks to the other Bots for their opinions and input.

Goldbug shrugs to Fairway. "I'm not sure on that- I'm afraid they don't have full E-bay records at the galactic archive?" he shrugs, and goes back to his Astrometic calclations. "Mind checking my numbers? It's been awhile since I've had to crunch numbers like this..." For the record, Goldbug's calculations are spot-on. Almost like he already knew what he needed to find- does the shiny guy have a cheat sheet, perhaps?

Ultra Magnus takes a few steps back, growing quiet in their presence. Never one for tech talk, the City Commander prefers to spend his time debating on courses of action in and out of the battlefield. "Kinda get lost, in all that talk of cosigns and integers ... huh?" he laughs, giving Bumblebee a slight elbow nod. Well, not hard enough to knock him over.

"Gladly." Fairway looks over Goldbug's calculations. He nods, face blank, and it doesn't occur to him that Goldbug's math is suspiciously correct. "They look correct to me," he says, "good math, friend Goldbug." He gives a look at the astrometrics, feeling a bit lost himself. "Worry not, friend Magnus. When it comes to astronomy, I simply cannot keep myself afloat."

Unprepared for even the slightest jostle from the much, much larger mech, Bumblebee knocks into the light-board with enough force to jar it. He gives a chuckle and looks up at Ultra Magnus, "Aye.. I'm afraid this.." He gestures towards the charts and the hardcore caluclating going on with on hand, "It's beyond me. I do know that if there's anything out there the Decepticons want, it's our job to keep it from them." He straightens up a little as he says this, the transformer equivalent of 'puffing out his chest'. Such a brave little Bot.

Goldbug keeps on at the calculations, filling in with raw data provided from a shuttle's nav-systems. "Okay..." he says, finally leaning back. "-I studied astrogation as a hobby while I was posted out on the Rim. Not much else to do there, otherwise." "So the good news is, I think I have a rough idea of where the Foundry Planet is. The...bad news is, due to the movements of these nearby nebulae-" he points to the relevant bits of the map- "The planet is only acessible for a brief window of time."

"So, when we wade through all of your technical terms and fancy words ... what you're saying is you don't have an 'exact' set of coordinates for the planet, and that time is of the essence?" Ultra Magnus asks, rubbing his chin with the spare free-hand.

Fairway nods and puts his chin in his hand. "The mission will require precision then...how greatly does the window of time fluctuate? That would be necessary to know. Making it to the foundry planet and then being unable to return would be...undesirable."

Bumblebee also assumes a pensive pose, fingers tapping against his cheek. It's just a coincidence that Ultra Magnus is doing something similar.. *cough cough* Bumblebee leans in once more to check the maps and the calculations. "Are the .. nebulae.. moving in any discernable patterns or is it all random?" He looks at each of them, expecting an obvious answer to his less-than sophisticated question."

"Well, I'm basing my notes on how they SHOULD be moving, according to the movements of other celestial bodies in the sector." Goldbug explains to Bumblebee. This said, he glances up (and up, and up...) at Ultra Magnus and nods. "That's the long and short of it, yeah- I'll see what else I can come up with- but I think I'm gonna have to return to the base in San Fransisco so I can to into this in more detail. I'll be sure to keep you posted!" And with that, Goldbug types in a few last commands, saving his data, and he heads on out of the lab!