For Independence Day, on the Fourth of July.

[Listen to how enthusiastic she sounds all of a sudden. Independence Day is one of her favorite holidays.]

Just be careful if someone offers to direct you to a desert, then. Not all deserts are hot ones.

Deserts are characterized by their lack of precipitation, not their temperature. The Gobi Desert in Asia sees temperatures of as hot as a hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit, but also as cold as forty below zero.

[But enough about deserts, let's talk about the fireworks.]

What went wrong with your fireworks?

It must have been a blast.

[CARMEN, WHY DO YOU DO THIS.]

It's a pity you're forbidden from making more. I wouldn't mind having some fireworks for the Fourth.

What can I say? I enjoy a good pun.

[Shut up, it was beautiful.]

But if you had them, it'd be a different story?

What would you call a good one, then?

And if I hear of anyone willing to part with some, I'll make sure they get to you.

I think you're capable of a lot of things, Ironhide.

[And she would love them and you.]

It's not about the explosions themselves. It's the celebration of the tradition.

I don't like them as weapons, but I can appreciate them as tools. Especially the finesse of a particularly well-made firework.

I think there are better alternatives. Too many people are too quick to resort to brute force solutions, when the same outcome could be accomplished with a strategic one.

Then it's war, isn't it?

The problem is when people assume too quickly that there's really no other way, when they're simply not looking hard enough for one.

That's right. I'd rather pick a lock than smash the door down — and if either option is available to me, then why shouldn't I?

I wish more humans did. But too often we lack the maturity to realize it.

In my opinion, less violence is never a bad thing.

But I can appreciate the beauty of a weapon while still disapproving of the use its maker intended it for.