Swerve-3
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Post by Swerve-3 on Jan 20, 2008 2:08:36 GMT -5
Swerve doesn't bristle at Kup's "for now". He doesn't frown. Either gesture would be unwise in this situation; he does, however, tense just a bit more. "For now" is an unnerving modifier to those in Emirate Xaaron and Swerve's situation. But Swerve is an idealistic sort and he's always one to hope for the best while he prepares for the worst. He'll hold out and continue to trust Kup's word for now. Some might think him a gullible fool for it; Swerve can accept that.
He remains silent while his leader explains what brought them to this place, why they left. It's a more spare recount than Swerve would have given, but in a way, he's happier that Emirate Xaaron chose to speak. Better that than Swerve inadvertently saying too much, better that Emirate Xaaron felt up to speaking. It's an odd thing to make one happy, supposes Swerve, but he finds it heartening nonetheless.
"We had little other choice," he adds quietly, glancing after the departees, "as I hope you might understand." Run and live as long as Swerve could keep Emirate Xaaron safe, or stay and face an imminent, painful demise. Swerve knew full well when he bolted to Emirate Xaaron's side his life would be equally as forfeit as his leader's; that didn't matter. "The Autobots we know are…." But he trails off as first Mirage, then Arcee answer Emirate Xaaron's question. Close as the constable stands to his leader, Emirate Xaaron might well hear that faint stutter in the timing of his engine as he listens to them. The Autobots they describe… are they serious? These Autobots sound like Decepticons!
But that look Mirage gives him, bracketed by his words, sends a guilty pang through Swerve; he tries so hard to keep that part of him under control. If these Autobots are really so noble and good – he's almost afraid to hope for such a thing – what, then, is their Swerve like? Does he even want to contemplate that?
"The Autobots we know are… not like that. At all," he murmurs lamely. Tact, an effort toward it at least, trying to avoid setting off more trouble by being too honest.
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Emirate Xaaron-3
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Ate you alive since you were a child/That's when the monster first appeared in you
Posts: 162
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Post by Emirate Xaaron-3 on Jan 20, 2008 10:46:08 GMT -5
Kup's 'for now' is met with a twitch and twinge of fear but also an odd sort of victorious resignation. Of course it's just 'for now'. Kup can't manage to pull off anything without getting in a dig at someone, without seeing someone wince, can he? It's what Emirate Xaaron would expect of a Kup, it's familiar, and in a deeply self-destructive sort of way, it's even comfortable.
Emirate Xaaron seems to be marginally happier and less fearful when Perceptor and Bumblebee leave. He's still quite clearly not well at ease, but it would seem that the current company suits him slightly better.
Mirage and Arcee give interesting answers. There is no way they could have rehearsed that, unless they know more than they're letting on about his situation. If they do, he's dead. It's really that simple. He cannot help but asking of the female, "And how did you overthrow your creators? Force? What did you do with them once you had achieved your victory?" He does say 'victory', not 'freedom'.
These people really sound like Decepticons, if they are to be believed. Emirate Xaaron shoots an uncertain glance at Swerve. He says slowly, addressing the strange Autobots, "If you really are as you say you are, if anyone comes after us, you will, by nature, be forced to stop them. You might as well start planning how to stop your own selves now. I doubt that the... th-the Prime really cares that Swerve and I got away so much that he cares that there is a new universe to which he can lay waste."
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Post by Kup on Jan 20, 2008 12:03:39 GMT -5
Kup listen to the answers Arcee and Mirage give, a faint smile settling on his expression as he looks towards them. He doesn't seem to notice the twinge in Xaaron's reaction to his 'for now.' The fact is, the thought has already crept into his mind that the Autobots these guys describe sound like the Bad Guys. However, Swerve still wears the Autobrand himself. Therefore, he is not dealing with Good Guys fleeing from Bad Guys so much as Bad Guys fleeing from Worse Guys, and while his own Rodimus Prime has a history of offering refuge to Decepticons fleeing Galvatron's wrath, that doesn't mean Kup should be expected to drop all caution and welcome them with open arms.
He decides to answer Xaaron's question himself. It isn't Mirage's reality, and Arcee was pulled from early enough that she only even knows of the Quintessons through Kup himself. "The original victory was achieved by co-operation between those intended as military hardware and the ones intended as civilian services. Those were the days before the Decepticons' desire for conquest had really split us. Those days were also before my time, so the information I have is second hand, or third, or so on. The Quints fled Cybertron, and we hadn't heard from them in quite some time, but they're back now. No home world. They destroyed their own planet in an attempt to take out Rodimus Prime and the Matrix. But they cause plenty of trouble anyway."
Kup nods his head at mention of preparing to fight themselves. And unfortunately, he doesn't think to take into account that there could be differences in skill or ability between the worlds. One of Kup's big flaws, after all, is to rely a bit too much on what he already knows and what has gone before.
"It sounds like we'll have to be ready," Kup says, softly. Because goodness knows, dealing with just the Decepticons isn't enough - now they get to deal with evil versions of themselves. He frowns and looks at the ground between them, optics crunched up as he considers such an unpleasant prospect.
Finally, he shakes his head with a faint growling sigh. "Well, not like I ain't ever been outnumbered and outgunned before," he mutters.
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Post by Mirage on Jan 20, 2008 12:53:38 GMT -5
Mirage frowns slightly at Arcee's comment about them originally being trade goods. He's been told all that before, of course, but it still rankles a bit, the idea that they were not always free thinking beings. That was not the case in Mirage's reality of course1, but it still bothers him. Their sparks have to come from somewhere after all.
The Emirate's comment about his Prime draws a sharp hiss from the spy, though, and as soon as Kup finishes his explanations Mirage breaks in, "Is even the Matrix is corrupt in your realm, to have created such a Prime? How could Primus lend his strength to...," he breaks off, giving Kup an apologetic look. "Sorry, that...the idea of the Matrix being corrupted...is a bit of a sore spot with me."
1 As far he knows, anyway. Who knows what Dreamwave would have done with Quints. They did apparently create the females, or at least some of them.
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Arcee
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Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Jan 20, 2008 13:28:39 GMT -5
The idea of the Matrix being corrupted, to Arcee, is utter nonsense. There's nothing to it to corrupt. It's a repository of wisdom and the spirits of passed Autobot elders. Nothing in there suggests to her that it could be corrupted. Not like a Decepticon ghost could get in it or anything.
"Fighting ourselves?" she mutters. "Great. Just great. Like we don't have enough going on."
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Swerve-3
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Maintain the Light
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Post by Swerve-3 on Jan 21, 2008 0:14:50 GMT -5
"I… doubt it'll be like fighting yourselves," says Swerve, deeply apologetic, as he looks from Kup to Arcee. Loath he may be to contradict Emirate Xaaron, but as different as things already seem, how could anyone think that? Or are they really just as ruthless at their cores as their counterparts? "And Emirate Xaaron speaks the truth – they won't care very much about us once they realise what's happened." A pause, hesitant, and tinged darkly with fear. Even the ever composed and collected constable can't deny how much even the thought of the Prime fills him utterly with dread. "Rodimus Prime won't care."
Swerve casts a wary glance to Mirage. The Primus he has been told of all his life – the Primus who grants His children the power to protect themselves – would never loan His strength to a creature like Rodimus Prime.
"If the Prime's power comes from a Primus," Swerve quietly declares, "it's no Primus I want to know." And here, he does finally shiver in fear before turning back to Kup. "Sir, if I can help make preparations somehow…." He looks to Emirate Xaaron and gives a respectful nod. "Sir, if you'll permit me the liberty." Once more, he focuses his earnest gaze on Kup. "Please allow me to assist any way I can." Something, anything he can do to make up for the terrible things he and Emirate Xaaron have brought down on these Autobots' heads. "And… to say how very sorry I am for this."
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Emirate Xaaron-3
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Ate you alive since you were a child/That's when the monster first appeared in you
Posts: 162
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Post by Emirate Xaaron-3 on Jan 21, 2008 12:30:35 GMT -5
Can't a Devourist priest be just a little bit dramatic? Honestly, people. Of course it won't be exactly like fighting themselves. For one thing, the real Kup and Bumblebee are shinier. At Kup's explanation, Emirate Xaaron's lips draw together thinly, and he comments, "In other words, a violent resistance to deal with violent oppressors, leading inevitably to a chain of violence that destroyed worlds."
Of course, being oppressed magically makes violent resistance into something desirable, doesn't it? It's not as if they had other options, like nonviolent resistance. Oh wait, they did. What, was it not 'cool' enough?
Emirate Xaaron looks to Mirage, horror flickering in his optics, and he replies, voice shaky, "The Matrix is force of corruption and destruction. It always has been, since recorded history began. What that implies of Primus..." He trails off and shrugs. Emirate Xaaron is not entirely correct here. He does not have all the facts, so some of his assumptions are false. However, as far as he knows, he is telling the truth wholly and completely. Mirage's implication that the Matrix is meant to be good is a foreign concept to Emirate Xaaron.
He nods to Swerve, elaborating, "Just a generalized statement on my part. The forms will be similar – but not exactly the same. The Kup I know would be rather more polished, shall we say. Supposing that you are what you claim to be, you will find their methodologies completely different."
Emirate Xaaron really has to wonder why anyone would want to know a Primus, but he isn't about to put any more stress on Swerve by getting into a theological debate with the Velocitronian right now.
He considers. Perhaps these Autobots could do what the Decepticons cannot and wipe out the stain on the face of the universe that consists of the Autobots he knows. More than likely, though, they will not be hard enough to carry out the deed, and they will be slaughtered. If they are hard enough, they will become their own monsters and need to be put down. Emirate Xaaron sighs, clearly expecting ill of this development, and he agrees, "You may assist them," on the path to their own undoing, if his dismal predictions of the future are correct.
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Post by Kup on Jan 21, 2008 14:10:00 GMT -5
The nonviolent resistance got smelted and recycled, actually. In fact, the Quints being entirely too free with the smelter is part of what lead to there being a resistance in the first place.
To Mirage, Kup notes, "In my reality, even uncorrupted, the Matrix could be subverted. The Unicronian, Scourge, got ahold of it for a bit, and even managed to draw strength from it, but it poisoned him mind and body because of that, and I don't think he'd have been able to open it. 'Course, erm, we don't have a Primus."
Kup, for his part, is perfectly fine with being descended from trade goods. When you're divinely created for some grand, noble purpose, each screw up is a tragic fall from grace. When you're created to be the galaxy's latest, fanciest toaster oven or whatnot, even the most mundane of accomplishments exceeds expectations.
As for an out and out corrupted Matrix from an 'Autobots are good' reality with a Primus, there's always Xaaron's, but Kup's going to assume Mirage can look up those files when he wants to, and has no intention of going into details here and now. And he's certainly not mentioning Rodimus's situation.
At Xaaron's mention of a polished Kup, Kup snorts. "Polish? Who's got time for that? I work for a living." Then he sobers and shakes his head. "And it looks like I've got quite a job to get started on. Offers of assistance are appreciated, but it's not my place to decide if they'll be accepted." He crosses his arms and notes, "That's up to our Prime and our Xaaron."
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Post by Mirage on Jan 21, 2008 23:27:25 GMT -5
"Be that as it may, Kup, it is still bothersome." Mirage shrugs, shifting position a bit. "Knowing it is possible, that it has happened even in realities that might considered normal," another apologetic look, this time directed at Xaaron and Swerve, "from my perspective at least, doesn't make it any less disturbing an idea."
Mirage falls silent then, studying the two refugees and waiting for Kup's next order. There are things he would like to ask, such as what his own counterpart is like. But now is not the time or place. It chills him a bit, the idea of a him that would support such a Prime.
He absentmindedly brushes some dirt off his arm, sighing a bit at the long scuffs and scratches in his paint from his contact with the road. Kup may not think appearances mean anything but Mirage does, and he is long overdue for a good polish. The problem is that it is almost impossible to properly polish oneself. Unless one was very flexible, that is.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Jan 22, 2008 0:07:26 GMT -5
Arcee's got plenty of questions of her own, but knows that now's not really the time for it. "It's so weird. You guys know so much more than me. I feel like a babe in the woods."
Somewhere, Nightbeat laughs for no readily explainable reason.
Arcee's not too fastidious about her appearance, though she might just have the littles bit of feminine vanity to her. She's quite a bit trail worn from her recent jaunt on the obstacle course, and could probably use a wash.
"I just don't get it. At their core, all the realities here are basically the same. Us being the good guys, and them being the bad guys. How could it get so flipped?"
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Swerve-3
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Maintain the Light
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Post by Swerve-3 on Jan 23, 2008 20:49:49 GMT -5
It isn't so much that Swerve necessarily knows the Primus of his home reality; all they have left of Him on Velocitron are the Cyber Keys, but Swerve has heard and re-heard the tales of their creator and protector many times. Primus left them the Cyber Keys when He entered His sleep so that they might protect themselves in His absence. So, reasons Swerve, Primus would never intend His power be used to wage war. It's the Autobots who chose to abuse that precious gift, twisting it to their abhorrent purposes.
He can agree, then, with Mirage that the idea of something he reveres being used for evil is a disturbing thing, and in spite of his misgivings about the situation can't help feeling sympathy for the unsettled spy. That sympathy is, however, buried somewhere under the sudden swell of instinctive fear.
"Your Prime?" he echoes Kup, not stuttering but his voice abruptly thin and dry. "…Rodimus Prime?" he adds just to be certain. Other Autobots have mentioned Optimus Prime; for all Swerve knows, that's the Prime they have here. Maybe. He'd almost rather it be an Optimus Prime, even one he's never met (not a hard person to find, really) than a Rodimus Prime. Meeting a Rodimus Prime has never meant anything but strife and fear.
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Emirate Xaaron-3
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Ate you alive since you were a child/That's when the monster first appeared in you
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Post by Emirate Xaaron-3 on Jan 24, 2008 10:03:55 GMT -5
"Of course you work for a living," Emirate Xaaron agrees quickly, reassuringly, and perhaps a tad sycophantically, "You just appeal to a different group of constituents with a more rugged, 'everyman' look, that's all."
Emirate Xaaron is assuming that this Kup is still a politician but maybe one who is actually honest. It hasn't quite occurred to his terror-addled circuits that this Kup might not be a politician at all. He cannot hide a cringe at the idea of meeting himself. Any sane man would run when he met his duplicate. Of course, the greater portion of that cringe is devoted to the idea of meeting a Rodimus Prime. The boy is meant to destroy Emirate Xaaron's very deity! He honestly doesn't think he can handle even meeting a Rodimus Prime, not after what he's suffered at the hands of one. There was a time when he didn't jump at every shadow, when he didn't wince at the mere whisper of certain names. He was still afraid, then, but he had some form of self control. Now, he's a wreck.
Mirage's comment about normality washes over Emirate Xaaron, as does Arcee's chatter. Emirate Xaaron looks to Swerve imploringly, as if to ask him to make this Rodimus Prime go away.
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Post by Kup on Jan 24, 2008 12:06:12 GMT -5
At Xaaron's comment about constituents and rugged 'everyman' looks, Kup's expression goes blank with shock. "Constitu-" he cuts off. He's not even sure how to respond to that one. For all that he's done and experienced over his long lifetime, being mistaken for an Autobot politician is a new one.
The veteran shakes himself out of it and brings up his right hand to rub the bridge of his nose. Mirage and Arcee are going to laugh over that business, aren't they? No matter. Kup pushes on to something he does know how to deal with and explains, "We may be able to explain the situation without you folks directly meeting Rodimus, but he's still got a say in it. Problem is, if you folks are around here for any length of time, odds are you'll run into him eventually. May be best just to get the meeting out of the way." Kup lowers his hands and looks at the both of them, almost imploringly. "He's not... whatever you two are used to from a Rodimus Prime, he's not it."
Well, except for the 'meant to destroy Unicron' bit, but Kup doesn't know that Emirate Xaaron is a Devourist yet.
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Post by Mirage on Jan 25, 2008 12:50:31 GMT -5
Constituents? Their Kup is a politician?
Yes, Kup, that combination snicker/snort that just came from Mirage, the one he quickly turned into a cough, this smile he is now attempting to hide with his hand? This is Mirage laughing. The expression of good humor is still very obvious on the spy's face despite his attempts at covering it up, and finally he just gives up and lowers his hand. No more laughing, but the smile is still there, until a thought flits across his processor that makes that smile fade, a very unpleasant thought. He gives Kup a long, considering look, then turns to Arcee.
"I gather it is just as difficult for them to imagine us as the 'good guys,' Arcee. Different choices, different paths, different circumstances. All it takes is one spark to start a fire, after all. And we are not immune to temptation."
Mirage shakes his head, "It is disturbing on many levels, but not an improbability."
He sighs as he notes the effect Kup's mention of Rodimus has on Swerve and his Emirate. Especially his Emirate. How twisted is their Prime, that mere mention of the name prompts such a reaction?
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Arcee
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Post by Arcee on Jan 25, 2008 21:07:04 GMT -5
Arcee has the decency not to laugh. Kup may be a grumpy old man, but he's a grumpy old man who gets things done. If he ran for office, she'd vote for him. Heck, she had voted for him for leader of their little group of stranded Autobots.
Arcee considers what Mirage says, then nods. "What's the phrase... 'For want of a nail?'"
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