Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 69 Make-up Lessons

I didn't sleep for very long this time.

When she opened her eyes again, the lights in the treatment room were still a bit glaring, and there wasn't much noise outside. She didn't move at first, lay quietly for two seconds, and looked down at the new armor covering her legs and shoulders.

It still hurts, but at least it doesn't feel like my body is being torn apart with every movement like before.

She sat up a little, tried to move her left leg, and after carefully confirming that it could still bear weight normally, she made an honest judgment.

OK! I'm alive, and not too badly.

After sitting for a while, she got off the counter herself.

The machines outside haven't been dismantled yet.

As soon as she came out of the inner room, several pairs of eyes immediately fell on her.

The ambulance driver was the first to frown: "What are you doing getting out?"

Yin Xiang paused for a moment, stood by the door, and leaned against the door frame: "Get down and stand for a bit."

"Stand up?" He knocked her down, his eyes sweeping over her legs. "Isn't your recovery speed a bit too dismissive of the medical staff?"

"I didn't run away." Vector casually pointed to his injury. "Besides, it's almost completely treated, isn't it?"

The ambulance driver scoffed, "I suggest you redefine that term."

Orion had already stood up and instinctively wanted to go over and help her, but he stopped himself after remembering that she probably didn't like being treated like a fragile machine. He asked softly, "Why don't you rest a little longer?"

"I'm taking a break," the vector replied honestly. "If I lie down any longer, I feel like I'll rust."

Red Spider rolled her eyes at her from the side: "You're quite energetic."

"Not bad." Yin Xiang turned to look at him. "At least I didn't die at your doorstep, so it shouldn't count as ruining your reputation."

Red Spider didn't even lift an eyelid: "If you really die at my doorstep, the first thing I'll do is drag you off the ground so you don't disturb my lab."

"That's a really heartwarming thing to say."

"Is this the first day you've met me?"

The atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably at this moment.

After standing still for a while to make sure she wasn't swaying, she slowly took two steps forward. She had originally intended to ease the tension, so these operators wouldn't give her those "you almost sent it" looks. But halfway there, she glanced at the machines and casually remarked:

"Don't stare at me like that, it's like I have to report to you before I go downstairs."

After those words were spoken, the room fell silent for half a second.

Then he knocked down and raised an eyebrow.

"Docking?"

The vector looked at him with a puzzled expression: "Yeah."

The corners of his mouth slowly turned up, and his expression suddenly became a little subtle.

"In your current state—" his tone changed, "you still want to connect? With whom?"

Vector: "?"

She paused for two seconds, her mind still trying to figure out what was wrong with the sentence, and she was even more confused.

"I just casually mentioned the need for reporting, and this is your reaction?"

This time it's not just a knockout.

The ambulance driver, whose hand was still adjusting the interface, turned to look at her. For the first time, his expression wasn't just disgust, but also a clear scrutiny.

Do you know what docking is?

The vector was even more confused.

"I know," she answered casually. "It's just docking, isn't it? Transmitting information, synchronizing interfaces, receiving signals, what else?"

The room was truly quiet this time, and the low hum of the instruments could be clearly heard.

Orion stood there, his eyes clearly dazed. Red Spider, who had been leaning against the wall, slowly turned his head when he heard this, his expression revealing a very straightforward "Really?" look.

Shockwave is more direct: "This does not conform to the usual socialization outcome."

The vector turned to look at him: "What are you talking about now?"

Shockwave looked at her, his tone as calm as ever: "Given your age and scope of exposure, you shouldn't be completely unaware of the specific meaning of that term."

Pointer vector: "..."

Why is she understanding less and less?

Immediately afterwards, a message from the sound wave popped up on the adjacent terminal.

【? 】

The vector stared at the question mark for two seconds, its mind module becoming even more confused.

"No." She turned and looked around. "What are you all so shocked about?"

Knockdown finally couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Really, girl?" He looked up at her. "You really didn't know anything?"

"Know what?"

Even Orian couldn't help but speak up, his usually composed and calm tone disrupted.

"Wait. You mean... no one has ever explained any other meaning to this word to you?"

The vector blinked the optical lens.

"Is there another meaning?"

The ambulance driver simply put the terminal aside, his expression shifting from surprise to "Okay, this is serious."

"Don't say anything yet."

"I didn't say much, did I?" Yin Xiang frowned.

"That's not what I meant." The ambulance driver stared at her. "What I meant was, from now on, you'd better sit down. We need to explain this to you in more detail."

Yin Xiang stood still, his expression gradually shifting from confusion to vigilance.

"...What do you mean by 'explain in detail'?"

Red Spider chuckled beside him, though his smile wasn't exactly serious.

"It means that you may have used a word that is not so ordinary without your knowledge."

The vector turned to look at him: "How unusual are you?"

He was knocked down to the side and quickly replied, "Very unusual."

"Then tell us!"

"Sit down first," the ambulance said again, its tone firm and decisive, already reaching out to cover its mouth. "And don't use that word again."

"No, why?"

This time, even Zhen Tianzun couldn't quite control his expression. His lips twitched slightly, revealing his shark teeth, as if he wanted to say something but then hesitated and stopped.

He had already vaguely sensed something was amiss, such as the fact that the vector sometimes completely ignored certain hints and default contexts, as if it hadn't even considered those things. But only now was he truly certain that she wasn't pretending not to understand; she genuinely didn't.

Thinking of this, the metal piece on his forehead twitched.

No wonder, no wonder many of her reactions were so... overly frank, and no wonder sometimes when he said something, she would give him a look that said, "What kind of rubbish are you talking about?"

She had absolutely no concept of this.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yin Vector glanced at Zhen Tianzun and inexplicably sensed something was off about his expression: "What do you mean by that?"

Zhen Tianzun looked at her, remained silent for two seconds, and only replied, "It's nothing."

Vector: "?"

What's wrong again?

Did she stir up a "nothing" problem today?

In the end, she was forced to sit down.

Then, the machine in the room gave her a complete refresher course on the fundamentals of intimate relationships in Cybertron.

From partner relationships to intimate relationships to spark couples, and then to "connection," what exactly does "connection" usually refer to in a specific context? As Yin Xiang listened, his expression grew increasingly blank, and finally he simply sat there holding his head, remaining silent for a long time.

After a long while, a few of those random messages like "Cybertronians actually fall in love," "They even have spark mates," and "They can actually dock" were finally managed to squeeze into the brain module.

But her expression remained blank and empty.

Red Spider glanced at her twice, finally unable to hold back: "What's wrong? Has your worldview collapsed?"

Yin Xiang looked up at him, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

"We are blocks of iron," she said earnestly. "Why do blocks of iron need to do all this?"

Red Spider: "..."

He was already struggling to hold back his laughter when he heard this, so he burst out laughing.

"Okay. It's not that she doesn't understand; it's that she simply hasn't thought about it in this direction at all."

The ambulance driver sighed, "Of course, otherwise why do you think she could just casually bring up 'docking' like that?"

Orian stood beside her, initially worried that she might get stuck on something because she didn't know these things, but after hearing what she said, his worries lessened a bit, and he almost laughed along with her.

The vector leaned against the wall and remained silent for two seconds before finally raising its hand to rub its face.

Cybertron is outrageous.

"Okay, give me some time first."

Knockout nodded cooperatively: "Makes sense. After all, suddenly knowing that the mechs around you can not only fight, transform, and go crazy, but also fall in love, find partners, and form spark bonds is quite a lot of information."

"Shut up," said Vector.

"Look," he said, shrugging, "you've recovered quite well, haven't you? You can even swear now."

Shockwave stood aside and added in a flat tone, "The cognitive shock has not been fully digested, but the language function has returned to normal."

Red Spider immediately chimed in, "Thank you for this very useful conclusion."

The shockwave ignored him.

A new message from Soundwave popped up on the terminal.

【…】

Yin Vector stared at the reappearing ellipsis, his lips twitching slightly: "What does he mean by this?"

Red Spider said lazily, "It means even he doesn't know which sentence to start his evaluation with."

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"That's the problem." The ambulance lane. "It would be even more outrageous if you didn't do it on purpose."

The vector closed its optical mirror and decided to pull the brain module out of this absurd topic.

"Okay." She looked up, her tone becoming serious again. "We'll talk about that later."

All the machines in the room were looking at her.

Vector sat up straighter and tapped the armor on his right arm: "I need to attach a ranged weapon."

The situation immediately returned to the main topic.

Zhen Tianzun looked at her first: "Have you thought it through?"

"I've thought it through." Vector nodded. "This time I'm short on resources. The field is blocked, and the other side is specifically targeting my weaknesses. I can't just use the walls and metal on the ground to force things out next time."

She paused here, then added more clarification.

"I need a mid-to-long-range suppressor. Not too bulky. Speed ​​is my advantage; it needs to be fast and accurate enough to allow me to cope when I'm being blocked."

The first to move this time were Red Spider and Shockwave.

The former raised an eyebrow, while the latter directly brought up a semi-transparent interface.

"Heavy artillery is unsuitable," Shockwave said. "The existing machine configuration is not strong enough to withstand the pressure, and it would significantly affect mobility."

"She's not the type to stand still and deal damage," Zhen Tianzun added. "Don't put too heavy things on her."

Red Spider snorted: "Do you even need to tell me that?"

As he spoke, he pulled out a set of compatible models: "What she lacks now is not coverage firepower, but rhythm interruption and mid-range counter-suppression. Ideally, we should be able to give her a sufficient muzzle without affecting her change of direction and burst speed."

Orion naturally joined in at this point. He looked down, opened the terminal, and quickly searched for some information using keywords.

"A medium-to-long-range pulse system might be more suitable. The suppression is sufficient, and the interface requirements are not as demanding as those of heavy artillery. If the weapon interface on the right arm is adapted for directional control, it should be able to handle it."

"Hmm." Shockwave glanced at the model list he pulled out, "Pulse energy cannon priority."

"I think so too," said the vector. "No need to exaggerate."

Knocked down, who had been standing by watching the commotion, chimed in, "Wait a minute. You just finished treating your injuries, and you're already thinking about getting a new weapon?"

"If I don't add it now, will I get messed with again next time?"

"That's true." Knockdown scratched his head, "but only if you don't break yourself."

The ambulance arrived and said, "Given her current physical condition, she's not suitable for major disassembly or modifications."

"But if it's just pre-installed contacts and basic adaptations, without touching the deeper main structure, it shouldn't be a big problem," Knockout said, snapping his fingers. "Especially since both of our great medical officers are here now."

The ambulance driver glanced at him and said, "When you're praising yourself, can you please not drag me into it?"

"cannot."

Red Spider glanced at them, his expression indescribable.

"Alright, stop acting. If you really want to pretend, just finalize the plan now while everyone's got the manpower. Otherwise, she'll keep dragging that 'I can handle anything with my positioning' brain module around."

"I've never said before that positioning is enough." Yin Xiang frowned.

"You didn't say that," Red Spider said slowly, "you just did it directly."

She couldn't really refute that, so she simply shut up.

The laser bird on the stand landed on her shoulder, and another message popped up on the terminal from the sound waves.

There are three suppliers available.

There are currently nine models available.

[Load mismatch items have been filtered out.]

Immediately, a complete compressed list was sent directly to the terminals of Vector, Thunder God, and Red Spider, and Orion also received it simultaneously.

Orion finished reading it quickly.

"These three are more suitable," he said, circling a few of them. "The interface load can be handled, the output is sufficient, and the recoil calibration is still within the range that her current configuration can bear."

Shockwave glanced at it and nodded: "Agreed."

After reading it, Zhen Tianzun left a comment: "Don't choose one that transforms too slowly."

Red Spider said, "I know. You think you're the only one here who can fight?"

Everyone worked together to narrow down the options, and soon only two models remained.

One type is more stable and has a more balanced output. The other is more suitable for temporary opening distances and forced suppression of highly mobile aircraft.

The vector stared at the two items for two seconds, then said directly, "The second one."

Red Spider looked up: "Reason."

"I'm not in it for a high-scoring shootout. Interruptions and speed of initiation are more important."

After listening, Shockwave commented, "Correct judgment."

Red Spider pushed the interface aside: "Okay, then let's go with the pulse energy cannon, Type II light-load press plate."

Orion glanced down at the specifications table: "What about inventory?"

This time, Shockwave switched to another interface: "Low probability of spot trading. The approval time for conventional channels is too long and not applicable to the current situation."

"Speak in machine language," Red Spider said.

"Going through the normal process now is too slow."

"This sentence is somewhat correct."

Shockwave didn't even glance at him, and switched to another contact interface.

Looking at the identification code, Yin Vector was somewhat surprised: "Who are you looking for?"

"jack."

Upon hearing the name, Red Spider snorted, "It wouldn't be surprising if he really had some in stock."

After the call was made, the other party answered quickly, and their first words had a somewhat cynical and arrogant tone.

"This frequency band is quite rare. You're never contacting me for anything good. So, what do you want?"

Shockwave sent the model number directly: "Pulse Energy Cannon, Type II Lightweight Press Plate. Do you have any in stock?"

There was a half-second silence on the other end, followed by an "Oh".

"This model isn't very common. What do you need it for?"

"There are necessary circumstances."

"Under what necessary circumstances?"

"Related to the current decaying structure."

The room was silent for two seconds.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the jack's side, and then the casualness in his voice faded a little.

"Okay. I understand now. We have one set in stock, along with the contact parts and calibration module. If you need it urgently, I can give it to you."

Red Spider chimed in abruptly, "It's rare to see you so cheerful today."

The jack recognized his voice and immediately chuckled.

"Who do we have here? Oh, it's you too. What, this time you don't think my model design is too wild?"

"Disgusting," Red Spider said bluntly, "but at least it's faster than some of those shoddy channels that go through proper approval processes."

"Just say you want to praise me."

Shockwave, too lazy to listen to their rambling, asked directly: "Resource exchange conditions."

"Normal price. But since you're going to use it for serious business, I can bring the tuning kit along."

After the communication was cut off, none of the machines in the room said anything more.

The model number is set, and the parts are almost here; all that's left is to assemble them.

The one who first frowned asked, "You guys aren't really planning to take her right now, are you?"

"The pre-installed contacts and basic compatibility are fine." The ambulance driver had already started looking down at the existing structural diagram of the right arm of the vectoring unit, "but she has to sit still. If she dares to push herself, we'll have to put her back on the treatment table first."

Yin Vector originally wanted to say that he wasn't that fragile, but when he looked up, the two medical officers' eyes were full of "You dare to mess around and see what happens."

She finally shut her mouth.

Red Spider looked at her and said quietly, "You'd better cherish the fact that you can still get a warning in advance."

"Was I treated badly before?"

"You didn't have long-range cannons before."

Okay, now she can't even finish that sentence.