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This was the very pinnacle of embarrassment.
As he struggled against his bonds, Tracks reflected that he'd never guessed he would harbour that sentiment about anything that didn't involve being splattered with some kind of repugnant detritus in an important social situation. Hanging upside down from a cable-mesh trap was giving him a whole new perspective, in more ways than one.
"Are you sure you don't want me to climb up there and try to get you loose?" Raoul asked from below. Primus bless the boy; brave and loyal.
"I really don't think your pocketknife would work against Cybertronian alloy, but I thank you for offering."
Raoul sat at the base of a tree with a huff and watched as Tracks tried to free himself. Suddenly, the Autobot dropped about three feet -- and the mesh tightened around him, trapping his arms completely. Tracks stopped struggling, waiting for the swaying to stop and considering his options.
"So, why is this trap thing here?" Raoul asked. "I mean, we're really close to your base, and it's not like you guys hunt for food."
"Well, I see three possible explanations," Tracks said, keeping his voice light. "From best to worst case scenario: this is one of our own security measures of which I have run afoul, in which case some sort of alert should have been triggered in the Ark; this is a prank; or this is a trap set by our enemies, most likely the Decepticons, given the materials used, deliberately and boldly set closest to the most likely place to capture one of us. In all cases, either the persons responsible will come check soon, or a security patrol will come by eventually."
Raoul frowned. "Can't you send out a distress call? Like, 'Mayday' or something?"
"I've sent a databurst SOS to HQ, but I don't want to risk a continuous radio signal, in case it brought trouble on me sooner. In case this is a Decepticon trap," he said calmly, "I'd like you to hide." He saw Raoul start to bristle, and added, "that way once they collect me, you can go get help."
"Be too late, then," Raoul said with a snort, but he found a tree to climb all the same. Tracks watched him make his way up a trunk without benefit of branches; sheerly amazing what these humans could do, sometimes. Although watching his friend move so freely just made him all the more aware of the uncomfortable immobility of his self, and he sighed.
Raoul disappeared into a thick mass of foliage roughly parallel to Track's eye-level -- and then reappeared, swinging unexpectedly into view, upside down. He grinned, and Tracks laughed.
"I figure what the hell, right? But I can't stay this way too long, or my face'll look as red as yours."
"Well, we wouldn't want that. It's a difficult colour to pull off, you know." Raoul laughed, and Tracks felt a little better about his predicament.