Cultural Exchange Part 3
The anxiety that wells up inside you whenever you’re due another meeting with Megatron is slightly less intense today. Yesterday was the first proper session and it was easier to get through than expected, maybe because you were allowed to take the lead and Megatron is clearly phoning it in? Can’t deny your curiosity for today either. Will he follow through? He did read Pride and Prejudice, so you figure he’d be fine with sharing some alien literature too.
“Hello again.” Megatron greets you as you take your usual place. You give a polite nod in response.
“Did you pick something out?”
“Yes. I found some poetry that might be of interest.” He taps at a datapad, sending you a copy. “It was fairly influential at the time of writing.”
“Hm. Interesting.” You murmur, scrolling through the text you’ve just received. A handful of glyphs you recognise, but the vast majority of it is incomprehensible. “I can’t understand Neocybex very well, though.”
“You’ve been living amongst cybertronians for several years and you lack even a basic grasp of our language?” He looks at you with contempt, as if you’ve never made an effort to learn.
“I-” You’re about to make a cutting remark in response, because he obviously doesn’t know about the obvious barriers to learning a mechanical language, but you stop yourself when you notice the ghost of a smirk gracing Megatron’s lips. He’s messing with you again. Refusing to be baited, you start over, more deliberate in your response. “Neocybex uses a wider range of pitch and frequencies than what humans are capable of hearing, so some of it is completely inaudible. You try reading a language when you physically cannot comprehend a third of the phonetics.”
“Maybe you should try harder.” He’s dismissive in tone, still trying to get a rise out of you.
“Maybe you should translate the poem? I can’t discuss something I can’t read. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Technically you’re here because Ultra Magnus ordered it. But if he’s going to be condescending, you want to see how far you can push being able to speak freely and take the lead.
“Very well.” Rolling his optics as he stands, you flinch on instinct, for a moment worried he’s going to approach you. Megatron lets out an amused vent at your reaction before clearing his intake, and then he begins to read aloud for you.
Upon finishing his translation, Megatron sits back down. It has to be said, his performance was impressive. Usually so lacking in expressiveness, this little poetry reading seemed to make him come alive. There was a passion and fury to his voice that almost made you feel something in turn. You can see how he could have easily amassed enough followers to kickstart a revolution, he can be practically oozing with charisma when he chooses. There was one issue, however. A glaring problem with the text he selected.
“Either whoever wrote this…” You trail off, thinking over how to continue. Can you get away with being honest? You figure since he’s been messing with you it’s only fair. It’s not like he wrote it, anyway. “Either they don’t know the first thing about what makes for good poetry or you’re a terrible translator.”
Megatron’s expression falters ever so slightly, if you weren’t already scrutinising him you’d have missed it. Evidently he was not expecting you to criticise something so influential. A heavy silence descends upon the room. He didn’t, did he?
“… Did you just read one of your own poems?”
“No? It is a bit weird though.” Is it an ego thing? Some attempt at asserting intellectual dominance? “I expected you to start with your influences rather than jumping straight into a Megatron original.”
“Surely you read other people’s work before writing anything yourself?”
“You think I had time to read for pleasure while being forced to work like a slave in those mines?”
Watching you open your mouth, only to think better of responding to him, Megatron feels a twist of emotions. On the one hand, he’s won the exchange in that he’s likely managed to make you feel ignorant, for failing to take into account his hardships. On the other, you just insulted his writing, or at the very least his attempt at translating into English. It shouldn’t bother him, you’re just a human. There may be a spark of intelligence behind those strange looking eyes of yours, but at the end of the day there’s only so much your kind can comprehend. Besides, it definitely sounds better in Neocybex. It’s not his problem your species has defective hearing. Resting his chin on his servos, he studies your diminutive form from across the room.
You’ve found the confidence to talk back, but always look like you’re ready to run away at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t understand why you’re making such an effort when he certainly isn’t. He’s playing along for now because you’re an amusement. A small distraction away from the lunacy that is daily life on this ship. Nothing more.
“Putting your shoddy translation aside, the message of your poem is clear.” It’s not worth engaging with his attempt at making you feel bad for him. Better to put your focus back on the writing itself for the brief moment you have left before you can go.
“You think you understand something you describe as badly translated?” He scoffs.
“Please, your performance gave it away. It was obviously written at a time when you were furious with your circumstances and wanted things to change for the better.” Your timer goes off, signalling the meeting’s end. “It was also about as subtle as a sledgehammer and very repetitive. I’ll see you tomorrow.”