Acid Rain headcanons
Dec. 4th, 2018 11:11 amThe Acid that rains down on Cybertron is damaging to Cybertronians, yes? It bites away at their paint or paint nanites, and when it gets under the armour it can de-grease the important greasy bits and damage any silicone or rubber wires.
It destroys tires, damages fragile sensory components, eliminates nanites, and it probably does unspeakable things to the energon in a mech’s frame.
What does this mean for the Cybertronian buildings?
Obviously, they are built to resist these acid rains. Windows and wall materials are capable of withstanding acid. But it would mean that any and all decoration would peel or slough off.
Imagine looking at a Cybertronian city on the horizon, when acid rain begins falling. And slowly but surely, all the colours of the buildings drain away, leaving only a gleaming grey surface.
After an acid storm the cities are quiet, as everyone waits for the acid to drain and for the disposables to get rid of any lingering pools.
I imagine that there are nooks and crannies built into every structure. Small sheltered places were nanites can bunch together and survive the onslaught of rain. After it has been dry and unclouded for long enough, the colour spreads back out over the city and all of its buildings.
And in the Dead End, where the buildings do not have nanite shelters, or even any nanites to speak of - the acid rain washes away the graffiti. Creating a new blank slate for streetmecha to paint.
Whenever there is a downpour and the nanites are taking shelter… there is also a mech in anti-corrosive gel trying to steal them away.
The nanites bunch and knot into a big ball of safety, where just a single good whack can land every single one of them into a bucket - much like how a beekeeper knocks a beehive from a branch.
Mostly, it is done for bragging rights - stealing a bucket of nanites from an important building or memorial is not very profitable. Sometimes it is used by mecha in the dead end to create souvenirs and baubles made with authentic pieces of the memorial, but oftentimes it is cheaper to simply bulk buy cheap nanites and lie about their origin.
To steal all the paint of a building would require more buckets and anti-acid gel than any mech would want to spend on it!