Work Text:
Perceptor is a scientist considered of the highest regard, and on occasion he is a skilled sniper. These are not things he thinks about in terms of bragging to himself, but rather based on how others perceive him. His work has helped thousands during the war, and he continues to work just as hard going forward. Sad to say, he wishes that his intelligence would be the reason why he's making a quick march to one of the labs on the Lost Light.
His role on this ship should not be head Brainstorm babysitter.
Stopping outside of Brainstorm's lab, Perceptor brings up his scanner. "Rodimus, this is Perceptor," he speaks into his radio link. "I will inform you if the lab is safe to open. What kind of complaints were you receiving?"
"Look, ah -- just go in there! Don't worry about it!"
"That's incredibly vague and unhelpful," Perceptor remarks. The blunt statement seems to make Rodimus scoff. "In any case, nothing my scanners read implicate that it is currently dangerous to go inside. Whatever waves of energy were being emitted earlier, they seem to be over with now. I'm going in."
As soon as Perceptor presses his palm to the door, it slides open. Before he can properly step inside, Swerve bursts out and runs right by him, not waiting for Perceptor to get a word in. Aside from being incredibly rude, it's also incredibly suspicious. Worth noting to Rodimus later. For now, he supposes he should take the time to see if Brainstorm is at least functioning.
Bracing himself for what might come, Perceptor steps inside. He's quickly welcomed to a sight of a typical day in Brainstorm's laboratory: plumes of smoke rising, the smell of electrons, and weariness already starting to settle into Perceptor's frame. The only real difference is that he doesn't immediately see where Brainstorm even is. Usually this is about the time he comes out of the mess, proclaiming how everything is under control.
That's different. It's almost worrying, even.
"Brainstorm?" Perceptor calls out, waving a hand to fan away the smoke.
There's a noise that he hears piping up further back, something that sounds like a grumble. Taking some caution, Perceptor takes out his rifle, just to be sure as he inches closer. As he approaches, the more he can hear muttering behind one of the counters.
Perceptor peers over, then his optics widen. "Oh."
Who had once been close to five meters was now a much, much shorter one meter tall scientist named Brainstorm. Shorter than most Cybertronians, and certainly even shorter than someone like Rewind or Swerve. Perceptor frowns in consideration as Brainstorm looks up, looking put out.
"The mass displacement gun?" Perceptor suggests as a possible conclusion.
"The mass displacement gun and Swerve," Brainstorm clarifies, putting his hands on his hips. "Like anything else needs to be said! The kind of energy that came out--"
"Was noticeable enough. Rodimus told me to check on you," Perceptor says. The scowl already on his face deepens. "If the energy has dispersed like that..." Trailing off, Perceptor rubs his chin in thought for a moment before he sighs. "We should get to the bridge. Hurry it up."
Just as Perceptor turns away and starts to march out of the lab, Brainstorm huffs and scrambles after him. "In case you hadn't noticed, I've suddenly become vertically challenged! Keeping up is annoying!"
"Perhaps you shouldn't be leaving your inventions out so easily accessible by others on this ship," Perceptor scolds, not slowing down his pace.
There's an annoyed grumble from Brainstorm. Behind him, Perceptor can hear plating shift as Brainstorm transforms. He glances over his shoulder, seeing the much smaller jet zoom forward before transforming again, making sure he lands on Perceptor's shoulder and clings on tight.
"There! This is a more accessible pace," Brainstorm says, sounding immensely satisfied with himself.
"Get off," Perceptor tells him, fighting off the urge to shove the other scientist off of his person.
The order is completely ignored by Brainstorm who instead clings on much more tightly. Sighing irritably, Perceptor keeps going forward towards Rodimus's office. He doesn't have time to bicker with him right now, not when he has to look into this matter.
Barging in is not usually Perceptor's style, but he does open the door immediately to the captain's office and steps in.
"Oh, that's gotta be inconvenient," Brainstorm muses.
Standing on top of his desk is Rodimus, suffering from the same kind of mass displacement issue as Brainstorm. Despite his own shortness, he has his hands on his hips, his face looking positively furious as he seems to attempt to regard himself as just as tall as before.
"What the hell is going on?" Rodimus demands.
There's a momentary pause as Perceptor thinks to himself; it's briefly tempting to just toss Brainstorm at Rodimus and let the situation resolve itself, but that would be admittedly irresponsible. It's Brainstorm's mess to clean up, but Perceptor can't turn his back on the ship and return to his own studies. He does catch the other scientist trying to hide behind his shoulder.
Oh, that was so not happening. Perceptor reaches back and holds out Brainstorm to face Rodimus. "Explain," Perceptor instructs him.
Wings sulking, Brainstorm huffs and folds his arms. "Swerve came into my laboratory and was fooling around with some of my equipment. He got his dumb hands on my mass displacement gun and then this happened!"
"Well, that's just fantastic." Rodimus taps his foot for a moment, then holds up his wrist to activate his radio link. "Magnus! Let's get the crew to the bridge. I need to address the whole ship. And see if you can find Swerve."
"Is it really necessary to get the whole crew together for this? I mean, really, how many people could this have really affected?" Brainstorm asks.
-=-=-
"Well, how was I supposed to know?!" Brainstorm says, throwing his tiny arms into the air in exasperation.
Almost the entire crew is currently assembled onto the bridge, all in varying degrees of mass displacement or not at all. Ultra Magnus, for example, appears no different; he's just as tall as ever and Drift is still the same, whereas others like Ratchet, Chromedome, Whirl, and Trailcutter are quite smaller than usual. On the other hand, Tailgate and First Aid are unusually much taller, reaching Ultra Magnus's shoulder easily.
"You should have had some idea how badly the rest of the crew would be affected," Perceptor mutters to Brainstorm.
"I guess I should just blow up more guns than usual to figure out all of the effects!" Brainstorm says.
"I'd really rather you didn't."
Down below on the floor, Rodimus is waving his hands at Ultra Magnus. "So where's Swerve?"
"I couldn't locate him," Ultra Magnus answers, folding his arms. "He refuses to answer his commlink. I even have Skids checking the vents and there's been no sign yet."
"Great." Rodimus sighs. He turns to address the crew, then pauses as he finds that his new-found height difficulties actually make it too difficult for him to gain proper attention to himself. Impatiently, he taps Magnus's ankle. "Pick me up!"
Ultra Magnus squints at him.
"C'mon! That's an order!" Rodimus lifts up his hands. "Up!"
With some great reluctance, Ultra Magnus lifts up Rodimus in his hands and awkwardly holds him out to the crew so that he can properly make his announcement. It's not the most flattering method, but it works well enough.
"All right, listen up! There was a little accident that happened in one of the labs," Rodimus starts.
Perceptor peers to his shoulder where Brainstorm is clinging on. Brainstorm doesn't even flinch.
"As you can clearly see, some of us have been affected. I'm sure this will wear off in no time and everything will be just fine, so everyone has nothing to worry about! For now, just go about your daily lives as if nothing has happened. Til all are one!" Rodimus says, giving a thumbs up to the crew.
"Actually, Rodimus, could we have a word?" Brainstorm mutters, waving Rodimus over. The captain taps on Magnus's wrist so that the Duly Appointed Enforcer can sigh a little and bring Rodimus over to be at eye level with the scientist. "Yeah, uh. There's no telling if this will wear off. Without the mass displacement gun, we'll probably be stuck like this. Even worse, those who are mass displaced could find themselves with a fatal case of dispersed spark-itis."
Drift frowns. "Inflammation of the dispersed spark...?"
"No, it's a--" Brainstorm starts.
"Poorly timed joke," Perceptor offers, glaring at Brainstorm. "But he's right. Temporary mass displacement is generally harmless, but if your mass isn't returned to the proper default, then those affected might find their spark dispersing painfully and messily."
"Imagine exploding bodies from the chest. Not the best way to go," Brainstorm offers. "I mean, c'mon, if my mass displacement gun could just make people larger permanently, you'd think we'd have won the war way sooner!"
Ultra Magnus frowns a little more than usual. "Then it's imperative we get this resolved quickly. How long do we have?"
"Let me think." Brainstorm taps his chin thoughtfully. "Well, considering the amount of energy dispersed, on top of the length of time we've all generally been online, and including the spark types -- on average, we have about three days left until some of us start having some unfortunate spark aches."
"New plan," Rodimus says, narrowing his eyes. "Perceptor, Brainstorm. I need you both to fix that mass displacement gun, preferably in less than three days. Ultra Magnus, I need you to keep working on finding Swerve with me. Drift, check around the ship and see if anyone needs a hand since you haven't been affected."
Although less than happy to be forced to help clean up Brainstorm's mess, Perceptor knows there really isn't any choice. "We'll get to work immediately."
"Yeah, we're gonna have to use your lab. Since mine's still in the state of having been a bit blown up at this time," Brainstorm points out.
Perceptor gives an irritated grumble.
"All right! Everyone has their task." Rodimus lifts up a fist. "Let's get to work!"
-=-=-
It's not as if Perceptor considers Brainstorm to be an idiot or an incapable scientist. That's far from the truth; begrudgingly, he has some respect for some of his accomplishments, even if most of the time they tend to be destructive or ludicrous in some way. He is very intelligent, but he's also very much an impulsive fool, which is probably why Brainstorm and Rodimus can, at times, be on the level. It's hard to respect him as an individual sometimes, considering the ridiculous feats he performs, radically trying to impress people around him. At least, that's how it seems to come off to Perceptor.
He remembers observing Brainstorm's work from a distance, never really being involved but reading various reports or seeing some of his inventions in action. It's never really been to his tastes.
Perceptor told himself that he could never see himself working with Brainstorm on the same project before. Now, it seems as if they don't have a choice.
Pieces of the mass displacement gun have been placed into his laboratory. There isn't much left for them to work with, but with the two of them cooperating, they should finish before there are any signs of spark displacement among the crew before Perceptor ends up losing his patience being around Brainstorm so much.
"I need a lift to your third shelf on the west wall!" Brainstorm calls out, snapping his fingers. "C'mon!"
"You can just fly there," Perceptor reminds, peering at him from across the debris of the mass displacement device.
"Oh, sure, if I want to accelerate my spark dispersal," Brainstorm scoffs. "No thank you! Just give me a hand, Percy."
"Perceptor," is insisted coldly. "And fine. What are you looking for?"
Brainstorm points over towards the shelves. "You have some electron charged cables up there. I need some."
"You know what I keep stocked in my lab," Perceptor mentions with some wariness, slowly picking up Brainstorm up under the arms.
There's a small cough from Brainstorm. "Well, I spotted it sometime ago. That's all."
As Perceptor approaches the shelves, he holds up Brainstorm so that the currently smaller scientist can reach up and grab the supplies he needs. "You've snuck into my lab on more than one occasion before," Perceptor muses.
Brainstorm nearly drops the box of cables. "I don't go sneaking around like that!"
Interesting. Perceptor remembers coming into his own lab on some mornings and some objects were left in the wrong locations, that someone had gone snooping before. Nothing had ever really gone missing, and he'd suffered worse irritations when he was in the Wreckers. So, it wasn't something that was ever really worth bringing up to Rodimus and the others. It seemed obvious to him that it was Brainstorm, but perhaps he was wrong.
"No, that's what Atomizer is for," Brainstorm says.
Oh. Well then. Perceptor sighs and deposits him back to the work desk. "What is even the point of sneaking in? You don't take anything. You just have him look and report back?"
"I have my reasons," Brainstorm mutters, sitting down on the desk as he gets back to work.
"Hm. Care to voice them?"
"Not particularly. Now pass me the positron cables."
Perceptor hesitates before peering down at him. "You do realize that having those two charges close together--"
"Can cause a massive explosion. Of course I do. But it's why I have it arranged as it is; both charges together can make the mass displacement work by vibrating the molecules at an accelerated rate. Now, if my math was even just a bit off -- which it's not -- it could cause people to explode." Brainstorm looks quite proud of himself. "Fortunately, it doesn't come to that."
"Then if I may ask: why would Swerve touching your inventions cause the mass displacement gun to combust?" Perceptor asks.
Brainstorm gives a careless shrug. "Swerve being Swerve," he responds with indifference. "You do remember the time he shot off his own face, don't you?"
As much as Perceptor would rather not admit it, Brainstorm has a point. Maybe a certain mount of clumsiness caused all of this. Still, Brainstorm should be more careful with all of his equipment. Perceptor turns his head back down to attention to the parts in front of his person. "Perhaps you should consider locking up your inventions from now own? I lock my doors, not that it seems to matter to you, but at least I have less accidents that way."
"One! I have one accident!" Brainstorm grumbles. "I haven't had an issue up until now!"
"No, but it's a lesson in precaution," Perceptor informs him, holding up an index finger. "Which you have hardly any precaution!"
"Sorry, not all of us believe in fifty-two tests just to see if anything unexpected occurs. At least I have confidence in my work!"
"If that's the case, then why do you feel the need to have Atomizer come into my lab?!" Perceptor demands.
That seems to make Brainstorm frown, and he ducks his head. Silently, he returns his focus to their reassembling of the gun. The question remains unanswered, but at least he's quiet now.
Peceptor lets out a low exhale from his vents before going back to work.
-=-=-
Time seems to go by too soon. The day passes and their work only feels like it's halfway complete. After the brief reprimand, Brainstorm had become a bit quieter but still insisted on getting help to certain shelves and less effort on his jet engines. Perceptor had complied, relieved at the other scientist's increase in silence while they worked.
Eventually, they agreed on a ten minute break. It's not long, and Perceptor is used to pulling several all-night projects in a row, but it seems like an adequate suggestion so they can refuel at least. However, due to Brainstorm's current predicament, it means that going with Perceptor is the best time-saving break he can get, which means as Perceptor leaves the lab to grab fuel he has the other Autobot clinging to part of his back, hands on his shoulder.
Sadly by now, he's getting used to the extra weight there.
Traveling through the corridors brings some light as to the lingering effects left on the crew. As they pass by the open door to Chromedome and Rewind's hab suite, he can hear Rewind remarking on how the mass displacement is pretty convenient in making them more size compatible, while Chromedome laments and hopes that they can return to their proper size soon. Down the hallway not far from Swerve's, Perceptor recognizes Tailgate's voice saying how if this wasn't a life threatening condition it'd be the best thing ever.
On their way to fetch some fuel, Perceptor finds himself stopping at the doorway of the medibay; both he and Brainstorm stare inside, watching as Drift is holding up Ratchet towards a shelf.
Drift and Ratchet stare back at Perceptor and Brainstorm.
"Keep walking," Ratchet suggests darkly.
Wordlessly, Perceptor takes the advice.
Once the fuel is retrieved, Perceptor passes a glass to Brainstorm and they drink on their way back. For the most part, their break together has been quiet. It's almost suspicious that Brainstorm hasn't initiated any amount of conversation between the two of them. Perceptor doesn't think he was particularly harsh, but it could be that Brainstorm is just very focused on the job at hand. Who knows.
"Wait!" Brainstorm presses a hand to the side of Perceptor's head, earning a sour look. Ah, there it is. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear...?" Perceptor frowns, then goes quiet as he tries to listen.
Something is scratching. Something... behind the wall?
Crouching down by the wall, Perceptor presses the side of his head against the wall as Brainstorm shuffles close to listen as well. Something is definitely scratching there. It also sounds like several tiny noises, almost like a bunch of voices.
"Uh. Please tell me that you can hear that too," Brainstorm mutters.
Peceptor nods with a frown. "What could that be?"
Hopping down from Perceptor's shoulder, Brainstorm runs with his smaller legs down the hall a bit further. Bracing his hands against the wall, he listens closely. "It's louder over here!"
Warily, Perceptor goes to follow him; he crouches down and listens, finding that Brainstorm's correct: the noises here are louder. They're definitely originating somewhere in the wall. The several voices... where could they be from?
"Psst!"
Both scientists look up, seeing Skids peer out from the ventilation shaft above.
"Skids. Do you know where those sounds are coming from?" Perceptor asks, tapping on the wall.
"Yeah, and I know where Swerve is. Kind of," Skids says as he's leaping down from above. As he's giving the pair of them a few feet of space, he suggests, "You're both gonna want to stand back."
Initially, that seems like a strange thing to say, but once Perceptor feels some rumbling from the floor he decides to quickly follow Skids' advice. Wordlessly, he snatches Brainstorm from the floor and leaps back from the ventilation shaft.
Pouring out from above seems like a sea of red and white with tiny chirping sounds coming from it, making it clear that the noise they heard earlier was definitely whatever this is. It swarms out into the floor, occupying the floor in ceaseless movement. It takes Perceptor a moment, but eventually he's able to determine that the mass isn't liquid.
"Brainstorm," Perceptor says.
"What?" the jet responds, climbing from Perceptor's arms and back onto his shoulder.
"Can you tell me exactly why we're looking at hundreds of tiny Swerves?" Perceptor asks, giving Brainstorm yet another glare.
"Well, uh." Brainstorm coughs a little. "We should probably herd them into a secure place! Perceptor, do you have any proper containment for them?"
"I'm sorry if I'm a bit lacking in preparation for several tiny Swerves. I could have something in the next half hour."
"Fortunately, I had the foresight! Skids, get them to my lab! And make sure we have every single one, otherwise he's in a bit of trouble."
Skids nods. "All right. C'mon, Swerve -- all of you." He carefully starts shooing the mass down the hall.
As Perceptor starts to follow Skids, he peers at Brainstorm. "No. Really. Why are there several tiny Swerves? And why are you prepared for this?"
After clearing his throat, Brainstorm keeps his gaze averted from Perceptor. "I might not have been entirely forthcoming of some things."
"Mm-hmm." Perceptor scowls.
"Look. I made some... adjustments to the mass displacement gun. I thought to myself: Brainstorm, you're amazing and a genius. But imagine if you could divide yourself and work with yourself? That would be even more genius!"
"I cringe to think of the possibilities," Perceptor mutters.
Brainstorm sighs and says, "Me too! In the best way possible. Using the mass displacement gun, it could have divided my mass into equal parts. Imagine all of the projects that'd get done! The inventions! Oh, the ideas!"
"The rampant disregard for secure testing," Perceptor remarks in an incredibly flat tone that the floor would be envious.
"So I made adjustments to the mass displacement gun, and Swerve was willing to shoot me. I had the gun placed onto a secure stand and I had it aimed and everything. All he had to do was pull the trigger."
Perceptor squints. "But something else happened."
"Well, yes." Brainstorm gestures a little vaguely. "Somehow the aim off by a bit and he ended up shooting some of my korlonium crystal collection instead. That caused the explosion and energy dispersing from the mass displacement gun."
Which comes to this: some people taller than usual, some people shorter than usual, and the division of several tiny Swerves. Perceptor hesitates, then addresses Brainstorm: "I saw Swerve run out of your lab. Though I suppose that maybe the energy dispersal had a delayed response to him."
"Most likely. Disruption of molecules on that level wouldn't be an immediate reaction," Brainstorm muses.
Perceptor gives him a dirty look. "So. All of this, just so that you would be able to divide the workload to yourself."
"Look--"
"No, you listen to me." Perceptor grabs Brainstorm by the shoulders, able to keep him still and force him to listen as he keeps walking after Skids. "You had no set precautions. You used someone unqualified as a volunteer. You made too many assumptions and not enough thought to determine the possibilities! You lied to Rodimus and myself of the cause, which could have impeded upon our progress to resolve the issue at hand. This is your fault and you saw fit to shift the blame to Swerve. That is appalling!"
Brainstorm goes quiet and frowns to himself. Eventually, he struggles a little, pushing Perceptor's hands off of himself so he can get back to the floor and walk his own. It makes Perceptor snort and ignore him, increasing his stride to walk ahead of the other scientist.
-=-=-
The rest of the walk is generally silent, other than the swarm of Swerves consistently chattering to itself. Eventually, they make it back to the remains of Brainstorm's laboratory. With some instruction, both Perceptor and Skids manage to locate the containment vessel that Brainstorm had mentioned before. It takes coaxing from Skids, but they're able to capture the mass of Swerves inside.
"Hm," Brainstorm hums faintly in observation as he peers at the tiny Swerves inside. "That doesn't look good."
"What doesn't look good?" Skids echoes, confused.
Perceptor peers at the Swerves, noticing a little glow coming off of them, then he realizes, "They're going critical much faster than everyone else is expected to."
"Wait-- what? How long does he have?!" Skids demands.
"I'm gonna say probably no more than forty-five minutes," Brainstorm estimates, then points out the door dramatically. "Back to the lab!"
Despite his own angry feelings at Brainstorm's carelessness, Perceptor is quick to scoop up the other scientist into his arms and run back towards his own laboratory so that they can immediately get back to work.
On their way back, Brainstorm fidgets in his arms. It's a bit distracting, so Perceptor shifts his weight to his shoulder instead where Brainstorm can cling on instead like before. Yet, the shifting doesn't really stop.
Eventually, Brainstorm pipes up, "Let's say you aren't wrong."
That gets his attention. "Elaborate," Perceptor tells him.
"About my impulsiveness."
"I already know I'm not wrong about that," Perceptor says. "Please get to your point."
There's a moment of silence between the two of them, the only sound being Perceptor's feet against the floor as he keeps a consistent running pace. Brainstorm finally says, "You."
"I'm the point?" Perceptor responds with a frown.
"Yes! You're the point." Brainstorm sighs. "You can't even imagine, can you? All my career and you know what I've mostly gotten? Constant comparisons to you. If someone wanted an Autobot scientist, they usually went to you. They still do."
He isn't sure how to respond to that. Not with guilt, not after all this nonsense. Sympathy? Perceptor glances at Brainstorm curiously.
"And I can't even be mad at anyone for it. I don't blame them. It's why I ask Atomizer to observe your lab, you know." Out of some demented admiration? Perceptor can't tell, but he can feel Brainstorm curls his fingers into Perceptor's shoulder, clutching onto him. "I know I'm brilliant. Just as brilliant as you. Maybe even more."
"Not lacking in humbleness, I see," Perceptor says.
"But you're cautious. Sometimes maybe too catuious. Maybe I could... stand to have a little more of that. Caution."
"Did that hurt to admit?"
Brainstorm huffs. "I'm trying to make a connection with you here."
"Don't force it." Perceptor pauses, then tells him. "Listen. The problem is that everyone else will draw their comparisons. Sometimes when two things or two people are very different in their methods, the two simply shouldn't be compared. So give that some consideration."
That earns a curious look from Brainstorm, but eventually he nods quietly. That might be enough for both of them.
-=-=-
Once they reached Perceptor's lab, they immediately immersed themselves into their work. Yet, with only a short deadline now instead of the original three days, Perceptor is now admittedly concerned at their short amount of time that they have to complete the reconstruction of the mass displacement gun. It took them a good portion of the day to barely get halfway through their progress; how can they finish in time?
Two scientific minds could not complete this in time. It seems impossible.
The countdown comes too quickly and Perceptor almost hesitates. He can't ignore the ping coming from Skids.
"It's not looking good in here," Skids says over the radio link. "He's-- all of them have that glow."
"We have about ten minutes left," Brainstorm muses. "Huh. You know, a time machine sure would be useful."
"Don't joke. Not now," Perceptor says to him. "If Swerve seems like he's about to combust, we may have to consider our possibilities."
"There aren't any if we can't help him," Skids tells them firmly.
Perceptor braces his hands against the desk. If they can't help Swerve, then the colder option would be to eject the cargo of tiny Swerves out into space and let them explode out there. But that is admittedly the worse option that he'd rather not take.
What else can they do?
"Hang on." Brainstorm considers for a moment, then snaps his fingers. "My korlonium crystals. I should still have a few! This could be a long shot--"
"I don't like where this is going," Perceptor mutters.
"Oh c'mon! The worst that'll happen is that I cause sparks to explode. Which, mind you, is very unlikely! Like, a 30% chance."
Perceptor rubs his head. "We don't have time for your impulsive decisions."
"And we don't have time for caution! Not right now," Brainstorm tells him, waggling an index finger. "Skids! Get my crystals together. Perceptor, throw caution to the wind and help me get what we have down to my lab. We'll just have to make this work."
A wary glance is given to Brainstorm, but Perceptor decides that for now they don't have much of a choice. He'll just have to listen to Brainstorm for now, a concept that's surreal in itself. He gathers up their not-quite-completed mass displacement gun, and he finds himself shifting his weight so that Brainstorm can climb up to his shoulder and cling there. Once he's sure Brainstorm is secure, Perceptor immediately makes his way back down to Brainstorm's lab.
Once there, it's impossible to not notice the concerning glow coming off of the container of Swerves and a concerned Skids setting up the crystals on a rolling table.
"Now, we have one shot at this," Brainstorm says. "Perceptor, we need to set this up exactly to my specifications if we're going to make this work. You need to make the shot when we do this."
To Brainstorm's specifications. Instinctively, Perceptor wants to take his time and know for certain that this will work, but they don't have that kind of luxury. They're stuck with this instead, taking orders from Brainstorm.
So Perceptor steels himself and nods. "How do you need me to set this up?"
"Make the cables connect with a neutron filter. When the energy signals pass each other, they usually would cause a combustion, but with the filter, it just means we get one shot and the gun will burn out instead. Now, when the energy hits the crystals, well... that might be a different story." Brainstorm shrugs. "You can make a filter in less than ten minutes I hope?"
"Easily."
"Good! I haven't overestimated your capabilities then." Brainstorm smirks.
Perceptor squints at him, but gives no other remark. Arranging a filter takes minimal effort; he's made several neutron filters in the past, and arranging one out of scrap to fit the cabling isn't difficult for him. Any lesser skilled scientist might find their hands blown off considering the opposite charges, but this isn't horrendously difficult.
When he welds the cabling together with the filter, Perceptor nods once. "All right. Done."
"Then get ready to fire," Brainstorm instructs.
Perceptor pauses, then says, "Skids. Stand back. Brainstorm, if this doesn't work..."
"I'm terrible with good-byes."
"No. Not that. I just need you to know that if doesn't work, I blame you for all of this."
"Oh, well when you put it that way, I can just feel the love."
One deep cycle of venting air goes by, then Perceptor points the mass displacement gun at the crystals. With steady aim and a finger on the trigger, Perceptor can see the possibilities. All the testing in the world, though, could not give them enough time. It would not replace Swerve if he was lost.
So he'll have to take the Brainstorm method.
He fires.
-=-=-
The explosion coming from the crystals was not as damaging as Perceptor would have predicted. The end result was, surprisingly, not disastrous. It left Brainstorm's lab in more shambles, but it also caused an energy dispersal similar enough to before that people's sizes were returned to normal. Swerve was whole, complete, and didn't remember much about before or so he claims. No one's sparks were teetering on possibly exploding.
So it seemed that everything ended better than anticipated.
Brainstorm looks over his lab, and gives a heavy sigh. "This is going to take a lot of work to repair."
"You really only have one person to blame for that," Perceptor says.
"I know," Brainstorm shrugs.
"...But if you wanted, we could share a workspace, I suppose," Perceptor offers. "Assuming you have more restraint and caution than usual."
There's some hesitation on Brainstorm's part as he considers, then his optics squint, hinting that he's smiling. "Well, well! Perceptor, offering his space." He places his hands on his hips and he shakes his head. "No thanks. I think I'd better start rebuilding this place. Maybe, you know, give Swerve an apology gift or something that'll help his aim."
That's a bit more consideration of others than Perceptor was anticipating. Or maybe he judges Brainstorm too harshly; he always seems full of himself, but if he has Swerve in mind, perhaps he's not as selfish as Perceptor initially expected.
Perceptor nods. "I think that would be for the best."
Besides, they'd probably just get on each other's nerves if they shared the same space for too much longer. Still, maybe this was a good learning experience for both of them.
"A gun that'll help his aim," Brainstorm mutters to himself in thought.
Perceptor goes back to frowning. Maybe not learning enough.