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Elevator Woes; Open thread
Topic Started: 14 Apr 2016, 06:29 PM (252 Views)
Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Restocking the bar was generally something Swerve preferred to do while the majority of the crew were off recharging. The halls were usually pretty empty, and it made carrying crates back up to the bar a lot easier. Less bots to bump into or awkwardly shuffle past. Not that it was particularly difficult to move the crates while everyone was awake, but there was always that one jerk who would refuse to move out of the way.

Humming absently to himself, Swerve pressed the button to call the elevator down to the cargo bay, tapping the top of the crate next to him. It was always a bit dark down here, and just a bit too quiet, it gave him the creeps. Humming and tapping would generally help keep him from getting too antsy about being down there by himself. There wasn't really anything to be scared of, he knew that, but one could never be too sure. Not with Brainstorm on board, doing whatever it is he does in his lab all day.

There was a soft chime to signal the arrival of the elevator, and Swerve's visor brightened slightly as the doors opened. Letting out a sigh of relief, he picked up the crate and walked into the small room, setting the crate down again with a huff. With the press of a button, the elevator began to move up, and Swerve was on his way back to the floor the bar was on. However, things didn't have a tendency to work out well for the minibot, and after a few moments an ugly grinding sound and a sharp lurch signaled the early end of the elevator ride.

The lurch made Swerve stumble, but he managed to catch himself by pressing a hand to the elevator doors in front of him. It took a brief moment for him to process what had actually happened, and even so, he was in a state of disbelief.

"Oh this did not just happen to me."

One of the funniest things to happen in a sitcom? Getting stuck in an elevator.
One of the least enjoyable things to happen to you on any given day? Getting stuck in an elevator.

Swerve glanced at the control pad and pressed more buttons, hoping for something to happen, but all he got in return were several error noises and the elevator doors opening just a crack to show that the elevator was in fact jammed a few feet below some unknown floor level, just out of Swerve's reach.
Wonderful.

The minibot was silent for a few more moments, looking back and forth from the control panel to the elevator doors.

"Well, this is it," he said, resigning to his fate. "This is where I'm going to spend the rest of my life. At least I've got my booze."

He gave a light kick to the crate next to him as he sighed and leaned back against the wall of the elevator. There wasn't really anything he could do but wait and hope that someone somewhere would notice that this one particular elevator out of all the others on the entire ship was broken.
Best case scenario? Someone would come down the hallway and see the top part of the elevator just sitting there in the doorway to the elevator shaft.

"Maybe I should just suck it up and do this stuff while everyone's awake. That way, if I get stuck, someone would actually be able to help. Dealing with stubborn assholes sounds a lot better than being stuck in here for what could very well be hours on end."

Talking was really his only asset at this point.
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Skids
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try to teach me a thing or two
Skids wandered down the hallways of the ship, doing a patrol round that Magnus had assigned him after his recovery from Sunder's attack and the aftermath that had sent a handful of the crew to the infirmary for one reason or another. As soon as he was fit for duty, Magnus had asked the bored theoretician if he was up for patrols. Given that he didn't have much else to do, patrol wasn't really too bad.

At least it was something. And it usually didn't involve anything more than the occasional fight between hot-headed crew members. Boring, really, but after all the excitement lately, boring was fine with Skids for a change. Even a super-learner needed a break every once in a while. The most exciting thing on the ship right now was the gambling ring hiding out in one of the rooms of the lower decks and Skids wasn't intending on reporting that to Magnus; not when he occasionally indulged in a bet - he currently had a couple hundred shanix on who'd be the center of the ship's next big misadventure.

So far, his shift was relatively peaceful. At least there weren't any problems he'd have to report to Magnus.

Except, Skids noted, for the broken elevator. Frowning, he headed over to investigate. The doors were partially open and the lights of the elevator were activated, so he figured someone had to be stuck in there. As he approached, he caught the sound of a familiar voice speaking aloud inside.

"Swerve?" he called out his friend's name. "You alright in there?"
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Swerve started slightly at the sound of Skids' voice. He hadn't expected someone to actually find him so soon, but he wasn't about to complain about it. Looking up, he saw Skids through the gap in the doors and stood up a bit straighter. Of course it wasn't going to help him any, it was merely habit and generally considered polite.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine! The elevator just, you know, decided to kick the bucket in the most inconvenient position possible and I'm too short to get myself out," Swerve gave a pitiful half chuckle before continuing. "Story of my life. Hey, how'd you find me so quickly, anyway? Wait, never mind, that's a stupid question, you probably heard me talking to myself. Sorry about that."

A bad habit of his was talking fast when he was nervous, not so fast that he couldn't be understood, but fast enough. And how could he not be nervous? He'd gotten himself stuck in an elevator. There were plenty elevator disaster stories, a couple of which Swerve had heard of, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of potentially becoming another one.

It didn't seem like a particularly enjoyable way to go. He imagined it would be like being on one of those sudden-drop amusement rides, except it didn't actually stop once it neared the ground. Swerve felt himself shudder slightly at the thought and began to tap on the crate next to him. There wasn't much he could do aside from talking and tapping to keep himself calm, but it was something.
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Skids
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try to teach me a thing or two
Skids got down so he could see through the gap in the doors, just enough of the elevator raised for him to catch a glimpse of Swerve's helm from the angle he was at, if he tilted his head just so. Experimentally, cautiously, he stuck his hand through the cap, watching and listening for anything that suggested the elevator would start moving again, while he measured the gap and mentally compared its size to Swerve's build.

"Afraid you wouldn't fit through, even if you could reach it," he told the minibot. He frowned for a moment as he assessed the situation. By all means, he should probably fetch Nautica or Brainstorm to help fix the elevator, but he knew from his patrol that both of them were in recharge and Skids knew from experience that waking Brainstorm from recharge was not a good idea. Anyone else who could have fixed the elevator would be too far away to easily fetch. "You're lucky Magnus asked me to do patrol, otherwise it could be a while before you got out of there."

It could still be a while before Swerve got out, but Skids was going to try. If he could fix the transporter at Grindcore - at least, the memories Sunder had forced to surface led him to believe that's what he'd fixed; Chromedome had suppressed the rest of the memories after that, so Skids was suspicious of what it'd been that he'd fixed - he could fix the elevator. Besides, Swerve was his friend, he had to do what he could.

"Give me a few kliks," Skids told Swerve. He got up and started to pry the doors open further so he could get to the carriage. "I'll have you out in no time."
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Swerve shuffled uneasily and sighed as Skids told him he wouldn't fit. He should have known, if it wasn't his height stopping him, it was always something else. Sometimes he was really unlucky and it was both things, such as in his current situation. He really did have terrible luck. Usually with guns. And faces.

Yikes, he didn't want to think about any of those situations. Nothing but bad memories and guilt. Blinking and frowning a bit, Swerve stopped tapping on the crate and crossed his arms, only to begin tapping again on his arm. He wasn't sure why tapping helped keep him calm, but it was working, so he wasn't too curious. When Skids mentioned how Ultra Magnus had sent him out for patrol, Swerve perked up slightly and gave one of his grins.

"Ah, yeah, I know right? Lucky me. I mean, I enjoy my alone time as much as the next guy, but I'd rather not spend it in an elevator," he glanced around at the walls, becoming increasingly aware of just how little room there was. "Never really did like confined spaces much, either."

Swerve wouldn't call himself claustrophobic, and he wasn't always the most active of bots, but one could only spend so much time trapped in a small room before getting the need to just move. Especially if said-room could potentially fall without warning at any given moment.

He watched as the doors were pried open. Skids was a pretty smart guy, Swerve had no doubt that he was going to get him out one way or another.

"Well, hey, feel free to take your time. It's not like this thing is going anywhere, it seems pretty adamant about staying in its current position," another nervous chuckle. "For now, anyway. Let's, uh... Let's just hope it stays that way. Until you fix it, that is."
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Skids
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try to teach me a thing or two
"You won't, trust me." Skids was already going through options in his processor for the best way to get the elevator working again or, at least, for getting Swerve out of it. If he could get Swerve out, they could wait for Nautica, Brainstorm, or Perceptor to help fix the elevator. It shouldn't be all that difficult. "I've been all over this ship, I know how to get in and out of an elevator, even when it's not moving properly."

It took a bit of time to get the doors open enough for Skids to get through to the top of the elevator. The doors were extremely resistant to his attempts to open them, but he finally got them apart so he could see the top of the elevator. He waited for a moment, listening to the sounds in the shaft, testing the elevator itself to make sure it really wasn't going to go anywhere, then started to climb up. His biolights cast some glow in the elevator shaft, but not enough to see, so he flicked on his headlights as well, shifting his body so the light swept over the system of cables that ran along the shaft.

"Looks like we're going to have to shut this lift down for a while," he mused aloud. Even with his headlights on, he couldn't see what the problem was; it was either higher up than he could see or it was something below the car. Giving a shrug, he pried up the paneling of the elevator roof. Soon enough, Skids was able to remove enough paneling that he could see Swerve and the crate inside. "How important is that crate to you?"
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Swerve remembered how Skids used the vents to travel through the ship back during the Sparkeater incident, so he wasn't surprised to hear that Skids knew his way around elevators as well. In fact, after that incident, whenever he'd hear the odd bump in the ceiling, part of him would always assume Skids was traveling via vent again for whatever reason. It was actually pretty silly, and unlikely, now that he stopped and thought about it.

The doors made more ugly grinding sounds as they were forced open, and Swerve couldn't help but flinch slightly at the noise. The sound of grinding metal isn't the most calming of noises to hear when trapped in an elevator. Swerve continued to tap his fingers, listening and frowning as Skids climbed on top of the elevator. He found himself wondering if the elevator would fall from the extra weight, only to jump slightly and look up when Skids took the paneling off the roof of the elevator.
Well, if all that wasn't going to make the elevator fall, Swerve was sure he'd be fine.

Swerve blinked in mild surprise as Skids asked about the crate.

"What, this thing?" Swerve glanced down at the crate and gave it another light kick. "It's just stuff to restock the bar, it's not really that important. It won't kill anyone to go one day without a drink. If anyone did die from that, I'm- I'd be surprised, horrified, and vaguely impressed."
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Skids
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Skids was actually pretty certain this was the same elevator he'd used to get Rung to the engine room all those months ago, during the sparkeater incident. It had obviously been repaired, but he noticed the welded seals from the repairs. Such a big ship and Skids wound up coming back to this one. Huh.

Skids laughed at the thought of someone on the ship dying from, of all things, going one day without a stiff drink. "Pretty sure we don't have to worry about that," he said. He leaned in so he could offer Swerve a hand to pull the minibot up. However, the movement made the elevator car groan and shift suddenly and Skids pulled back, shifting his other hand to its grappling hook on instinct. The car steadied again and the groaning ceased, though Skids remained tense. "That's...not good."
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Swerve chuckled along with Skids and uncrossed his arms so he could reach up, and instead immediately pressed his palms back into the wall behind him as the elevator shifted and groaned. He stood statue-still until the movement stopped, and he could feel his chest start to tighten as he began to panic. Gripping the top of his helm, he slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position. Tapping wasn't going to calm him down from this.

"This is bad," Swerve slowly drew his knees up to his chest, worried that even the smallest movement would make the elevator shift again. "This is bad, this is so bad."

Given everything else he'd survived through, to die because of a faulty elevator almost seemed funny in comparison, Swerve felt he could laugh if he wasn't so terrified. All of this because he didn't want to deal with a crowded hallway. This was now officially the worst part of his day.

"It's going to fall. This is it. It's going to fall and I'm going to die," Swerve tried to force out a chuckle, only for it to sound more like a whimper than anything. "At least I've got my booze."
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Skids
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Skids shook his head as he heard Swerve's panicked words from the car underneath him. "It's not going to fall," he reassured the minibot. "Not with you in it. Not if I have anything to say about it."

He'd have to wing this. He'd always been good at that. One of the best things about being an outlier, especially with super-learning as his ability, was that he'd always been a top-notch improviser. It came on handy in the battle field and even in situations on the Lost Light. There was no way he was going to let Swerve get hurt or die when he knew he could do something about it

"You're not going to die, Swerve," he promised. He took a moment to figure out what to do. "You didn't survive the war, Legislators, the Shoomer, and the rust infection to die now. Just.." Skids trailed off for a moment, then changed his topic. "Listen to me, Swerve. Slowly move the crate to the other side of the car. We need to use it as a counterweight."
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
"I can't, I can't, it's going to make the elevator move again and it's going to fall," Move the crate? Like hell he was going to do that. Swerve could hardly bring himself to sit down, how was he going to work up the nerve to move the crate? Swerve shook his head and shut his eyes, curling in on himself more. "I can't."

The crate had to be moved, he knew that, but just thinking about the possibility of shifting the elevator again just made him nauseous. He mumbled to himself for a few moments before glancing over at the crate next to him. After a deep breath and a few more mumbled words, Swerve slowly and hesitantly reached out to start pushing the crate across the floor. He flinched with every creak the elevator made as the crate moved.

"What if it doesn't work?" Swerve realized his grip on the crate was starting to cause dents, and for a brief moment pulled his hands away from it. "What if putting the crate over there just makes the whole thing fall?"
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Skids
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try to teach me a thing or two
Skids wanted to get Swerve out of there as quickly as possible, especially since the minibot was now in a panic. The sooner he could get Swerve out of there, the better, but it was not going to be easy. Nor would it be quick as he thought it would be. The moment the elevator had shifted, the plan had changed and Skids was doing mental flips to try to figure out the best way to get his friend out without making Swerve's panicking worse.

"You can do this, Swerve." Skids wasn't sure how much he was helping, but he knew Swerve was a talker, so if he could keep the other mech talking, it might help calm him down. "You've survived everything else life's thrown at you. You're not going to let an elevator be the thing that takes you down."

As Swerve slowly moved to push the crate, Skids moved as slowly, to re-distribute his own weight. He kept his grappling hook at the ready, knowing he would probably need it soon to help get Swerve out. Listening to the elevator, Skids was able to make adjustments to figure out where weight should go.

"It'll work, trust me," Skids told his friend. He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile through the hole in the roof. "You trust me, don't you, Swerve? Just push the crate about another meter and a half. You got this."
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Swerve listened as Skids talked to him, looking down at his shaking hands and trying to calm down enough to work up the nerve to move the crate again. Skids did have a point, he had lived through much worse. But, still, the thought of plummeting all the way down to the bottom of the elevator shaft was horrifying nonetheless. He clenched and unclenched his hands, trying to get them to stop shaking.

"Okay," Swerve took another deep breath and hesitantly put his hands back on the crate, making sure not to make anymore dents. "Alright, I trust you. Another meter and a half."

He started to push the crate across the floor just as slowly as he had before, still wincing and closing his eyes briefly every time the elevator made noises in protest of the movement. The noises alone were one of the worst parts of this entire ordeal, and he wished he could talk more to drown out the noise, but the words just wouldn't come like they did before the elevator first shifted.

"I, um, I should have been back at the bar by now," Swerve struggled to think of something to talk about, paranoid that by talking he wouldn't be able to hear any noises that would signify the elevator beginning to move again. "I hope Ten isn't too worried. I- I mean, I told him I'd be right back, you know? Do you think he's worried?"
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Skids
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try to teach me a thing or two
"That's it." Skids kept listening to the sounds of the elevator as Swerve started moving the crate again. He had to make a few more adjustments, moving slowly and cautiously so that his weight and the crate, as well as Swerve, all balanced out. He was sure that the previous shift had been because there had been too much weight on one side of the car. "Just a little more."

As Swerve moved the crate into place, Skids got ready for the next stage of his plan. He turned carefully and took aim, shooting his grappling hook out the door of the elevator shaft so it could catch on a duct outside. If the elevator did fall once he got Swerve out, at least they wouldn't go plummeting down with it. He checked the hold - good and steady.

"Ten knows you tend to get yourself caught up sometimes," he replied. It was surprising how much Ten really seemed to care about the crew, considering his origins as one of Tyrest's Legislators. When Swerve had had Ten reprogrammed, most of them hadn't thought much about what was programmed into the former Legislator, but with the months that had passed and the time they'd spent learning about their new crewmate - and Ten was undeniably a crewmate - they'd been surprised by his sentience and the emotion he had. "He's probably worried, yeah, but you're in good hands. He'll just glad you're safe once I get you out of here."

Skids peeked into the car. "That's probably good. Climb up and reach for me. You're almost out."
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Swerve
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[ *  *  * ]
Swerve really did hope he wasn't worrying Ten too much with how long he'd been gone. He knew he wasn't always the best boss to begin with, and he felt bad enough for that already. Ten really did work hard at his job, and he was always so nice and gentle with everybody. Well, everybody who didn't try to bring weapons into the bar, that is. Still, Swerve didn't want to upset him.

Once the crate was roughly where Skids had told him to put it, Swerve carefully took his hands off of it. His hands were still somewhat shaking, and he was hoping that this could all finally be done and over with. Crate moved, check, now he just had to get out. As he slowly stood up, the elevator car was almost eerily quiet, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy about it.

"So, uh, you're sure this is going work, Skids?" Swerve glanced up at Skids for a moment before looking back down at the crate. He was still really iffy about this whole thing, but he trusted Skids. "Well, I mean, of course you're sure. You wouldn't go through with this if you weren't sure. I don't think you would, at least. I don't know."

Swerve clenched and unclenched his hands one more time in a final attempt to keep them from shaking. He tried not to think about what would happen if this didn't work out, but hey, it was Skids' plan, it had to work. Most of his plans had worked out so far, why would this one be the exception? Swerve steeled himself as best he could and looked back up at Skids, reaching out to grab his hand.
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