Meanwhile, Back at Shockwave's Lab...

[Victoria Raines]

Shockwave does not expect it to take Scourge overlong to bring the minibot to him, so once he arrives at his lab, he busies himself with preparing for his "guest."

Shockwave has never considered himself an interrogator; he simply knows how to play a mech's systems, to twist them to his desires. He could simply break into the scout's mind, and he will, but it has been so long since he has been able to exercise such power over another. The Council would never have sanctioned such methods, after all. Alpha Trion had been the last to suffer Shockwave's full attentions. A sadistic thrill of pleasure runs through him at the memory of that ancient protector's current station- pinned to a wall in the lower levels beneath Iacon, a broken, half-dead thing, serving as both Shockwave's interface into Vector Sigma and a testament to the Decepticon's cruelty.¹

Shockwave pauses a moment, remembering. That violent reaction to his touch earlier...the little Autobot did not like to be touched. Not surprising, if he is half as tactile as his sensory nodes. Still, he had reacted to the touch of Shockwave's hand much more strongly than to that of Shockwave's needles. Curious, that.

Everything in its place, Shockwave sits down at one of his worktables, studying one of the nodes. He disabled only the visual feed; it must be quite disconcerting to the scout, to still be receiving pressure and pain stimuli as Shockwave carefully examines the node's surface. He opens that access panel again; are there ways to dial up the sensitivity from within them, he wonders?

---

¹OOC: Yet another example of DW Shox being one scary mother you don't want to meet in a dark alley.

[Sable Conolly]

Scourge arrives swiftly enough. A base built to accommodate Hellbender is a base that the tanker truck can simply drive through. Fleetwind has been dropped off in the vicinity of medical, and Synapse is the sole tenant on Scourge's trailer.

With a mutter of, "Scourge, transform," he does so, and he turns to regard his trailer. Scourge attempts to take a firm hold of Synapse with one hand and undo the knots with the other, that he might hand Synapse over to Shockwave.

He glances around laboratory with dark, intense curiosity, taking in the set-up. Scourge does not gawk; a farm-boy gawks. He is simply politely, professionally fascinated.

[Synapse-3]

The title as sole tenant of Scourge's trailer isn't something that Synapse holds with relish. Though, the drive through the base isn't spent mulling over this position. Instead, Synapse finds himself quaking and jerking as sensations are broadcast through his sensor receptors. There's a part of his rational thought that still remains in tact enough to hope that the rumble of the travel and Scourge's engines are enough to drown out his choked cries. Shockwave caught on quick enough with his nodes, then again, they're not very hard to figure out.

He may not be able to see where they're going, but with every stop or slow-down Scourge makes, Synapse feels as if the bottom of his fuel tanks are dropping out. See, he never pegged Shockwave as much of an interrogator either. But this is before meeting this Shockwave face-to-face.

Then comes another stop. Synapse strains at the sounds of a transformation. Scourge's hold is met with a sharp intake of breathe, but the scout is too occupied dealing with the flood of tactile data streaming into him to react any more. So once untied, Synapse stumbles in whatever direction the Decepticon pulls him in. The minibot tremoring and jerking still as he's quite literally in the dark. He's tense though, as if ready to bolt and run at the slightest opportunity. Not that he'd get very far.

[Victoria Raines]

Shockwave does not glance up as Scourge enters, as he is currently still fascinated with the sensory nodes. It is a puzzle really; why, why the need for such? Visual yes- Shockwave even understands the possible need for temperature or pressure sensors, if the scout is being used more for exploration than spying. But pain sensors, and of such a fine level? Shockwave would not mind meeting this minibot's creator; this seems a particularly cruel and unnecessary joke. No matter. There are more important questions which require answers.

He stands, walking over to take Synapse from Scourge. Carefully, almost gently, Shockwave guides the scout over to the wall, lifting him up, and as soon as Synapse is settled against the wall, restraints close and lock around him, wrists, ankles, thighs and arms, waist. This places the scout high enough so that Shockwave can do his work with ease, not having to bend constantly to accommodate the smaller mech's stature. He opens a panel at Synapse's neck, drawing wires out from a mini-terminal in the wall and splicing them into the scout's systems. Delicate work that, considering Synapse's size, and done entirely with those sharp delicate needles. One of the large panel screens on the other wall flickers to life, letting Shockwave read the scouts vitals at a glance. Also running in the background of that transfer is an encryption program, designed to break down firewalls and failsafes. Shockwave will have his answers, regardless of cooperation. But breaking through will take time.

Shockwave waves at a chair near the, worktable, indicating that Scourge can sit if he wishes. He studies the data streaming across the screen. "Hrm, too fragile," he says, no displeasure, just an observation. He moves to tilt Synapse's chin up, a seemingly idle gesture, considering the other's darkened optics, "You would not have survived, despite your usefulness, had you been built a Decepticon."

"Now, do you still wish to be difficult, or have you decided to be cooperative? I am more than willing to accommodate either desire, little Autobot."

---

Shockwave will be poking and prodding at Synapse-3 for the duration of the interrogation, and will have player permission to do so.

[Sable Conolly]

Scourge looks over Shockwave's method of securing Synapse. No expert in maintaining security, he finds it satisfactory. Scourge isn't at all disturbed by the laboratory set-up, although many might be. Of course, if Scourge had stayed in rightful timeline, there would have come a time when he would have had Cerebros laid out on a table, cables leading off to decryption machines aimed to crack and control the Headmaster's mind. Why would he find disturbing something that might have naturally occurred from his own thoughts?

A light flick of his antennae gives away his surprise at being offered a chair. Scourge would have been quite content to loom ominously in the darkest corner of the lab that maintained visibility and pretend that he is a support pillar for the remainder of his time here.

He takes the chair and sits down, replying quietly, "Thank you, sir." He says no more and merely watches.

There is another flick of his antennae at Shockwave's comment about Synapse's build. Scourge was an Autobot protoform. He's the last person here who could claim that the Autobots do bad work. Of course, Scourge's power does somewhat come down to what his protoform scanned. Had his protoform scanned an eagle, he would have been a biological hybrid, like Sky-Byte. Had his protoform scanned something useless like a toaster... well, Scourge might not be here today.

[Synapse-3]

Synapse attempts to pull away as he's exchanged into different hands (after all, each mech's palmer texture is quite a bit different from another's). But the exchange isn't jarring. If anything, the sudden careful handling has Synapse confused and on alert even more than rough jerking would have done. He's not expecting this--prepared for this. It isn't until the restraints click into place that the muddled confusion lifts from his mind. By then it's too late.

The feeling of something sharp prodding and peeling away at his cervical dermaplating has Synapse torquing his head back and forth. All movement stops though as the pulling of delicate wires from his neck suddenly registers. Fans quicken and Synapse's hands clench and unclench. Just what is going on here? Warnings pop up as file transfers initiate. Fear and realization would brighten Synapse's visor into a searing glow, but with his optic pathways cut, it remains dim. Shockwave probably receives a view of slightly bared dental plates as Synapse's chin is elevated.

That snarl disappears at Shockwave's next words though. What--what does that Decepticon mean? What brings up this subject? "You think that I am not familiar with what you are speaking of." Like Scourge, Synapse is thinking that the other is referring to his weak armor and perhaps build. Well, not all Autobots are made equal and they certainly don't all come with the tagline, "Autobots, built tough". But Decepticons? Well...at least the Decepticons that Synapse is familiar with. They don't seem so durable either.

Now, with Shockwave's next offer, Synapse is very tempted to throw his pride to the side and beg for mercy. But the part that gets in the way is his snatching for hope, the 'for now' in Skyfire's transmission. They'll come back for him. They need him...right? The Autobots won't have anything to do with him if he spills all their secrets now. What would they say? What would Rodimus Prime say? Kup? Goldbug? Perceptor? Synapse attempts to keep a placid face as he sorts through conflicting thoughts.

"I...I shall have to turn your offer down," he finally replies. Synapse's words are perhaps too full of bravado to fit his current state. "Th-they shall come after me. You will not get away with this."

[Victoria Raines]

"Will they?" Shockwave asks, pressing the tip of his needle against the corner of Synapse's dim optic-band . He draws it down, scoring a fine line in the scout's facial plating from optic to jawline. "Perhaps they will at that. But will there be anything of you left worth their trouble? Will you even still be theirs?"

Shockwave turns away, moving back to the nearby table on which the scout's nodes rested. Carefully, he picks up the one he had open for examination, reaching in with his needles and making adjustments to lock the camera lens in place, then restores the optical feed for that node. He places the node on a stand, focuses its camera on its owner. Synapse will be able to watch his own interrogation from a very odd angle. It should be...disconcerting for the scout, to say the least.

Picking up the other node, Shockwave settles himself against the edge of the table, almost lounging. Cradling the node against his cannon arm, he lightly, very lightly, traces a fingertip around a sensor bundle, watching the minibot all the while.

"As I was saying...too fragile, with your too tactile systems, systems too easily keyed up and over their tolerances. I shall have to be careful; time spent reviving you from shutdown is time lost." He slightly increases the pressure as he talks, "You do not seem to fear us as much as you should, and the reports I have received indicate that your companions display traits more suited to our faction then yours. Such as wantonly destroying an uninhabited city. Or," he flicks his fingertip hard against one of the sensors, "so easily abandoning a comrade to the enemy."

This all might seem very boring to Scourge, this delicate manipulation, but Shockwave prefers to bend, not to break, to coax betrayal rather then force it. Perhaps the tanker can garner what Shockwave is about from Synapse's reactions. Perhaps not. The only thing that matters at the moment is that Synapse understands the threat beneath Shockwave's careful touches, his cool, detached, slightly accented tone.

"It must have been very difficult to transfer so many of you to that city without our knowledge. How was that accomplished? How many came, and who?" he asks, now barely resting the point of a needle against the center of a pain receptor.

[Sable Conolly]

Scourge is not bored at all. He has seen Shockwave's destructive power, a small demo, when Scourge first arrived here. Now, Scourge is enthralled by the delicacy that Shockwave shows. He's doing that all with one hand, too.

Clearly, this experience is an education for Scourge, and there's nothing for it but to sit, watch, and learn.

---

OOC: Scourge is skippable. He'll chime in if addressed.

[Synapse-3]

A strangled wail accompanies the burning trail that Shockwave's needle makes down his face. "I--I am worth plenty!" Then Synapse parses the 'left of you' and gapes in the direction that his tormentor's voice is coming from. 'You would not dare,' barely has the chance to form on his lips before the minibot stops himself. It's a silly statement, Shockwave would dare--he does. There's something eerily familiar about the other's careful attentions that strikes a match in Synapse's memory banks.

There's that touch again on his nodes that sends Synapse shuddering, his plating making an audible clatter on the wall behind him. One third of his vision is suddenly restored and the scout immediately tries to get a bearing on his surroundings. The node hovers above its stand a few before suddenly dropping down as Synapse takes in the sight of himself, thoroughly secured meters off the ground and looking none too well as he's still damaged from his run with Fleetwind and Thundercracker.

The next wave of tactile feed floods in from the other node. Synapse hisses break into a wavering groan as his one visual briefly relays his own shivering and writhing attempts to pull free and break away from the touches. Quickly, the view changes as the free node rocks off its stand and zips around before spinning to the ground. In its movements, Synapse briefly catches sight of Shockwave and the black sphere in his hold. That node remains frozen.

"There should have been nothing to fear from you," Synapse grinds out with a yelp at Shockwave's flick. "There never was. The Pri--" Immediately, the scout bites down his words. He shouldn't be saying anything at all. But an odd sensation prickles at the needle point's close proximity. Oh he picks up the threat. But what's worse, a curious Shockwave or a vengeful Prime? "Ah...."

[Victoria Raines]

Shockwave watches the node zip and bounce, flailing where it's owner can not. That answers that question. The minibot must not be able to truly cut input from his nodes internally. He shakes his head, making small "Tsking" sounds, as he recovers the fallen node, carefully checking it for damage before returning to lounging on the tables edge. He once more opens up that node, disconnecting every wireless feed except the visual one, and replacing it on the stand. No more Cybertronian Jumping Bean impersonations today.

"Nothing to fear? How very interesting. Then why the shudders and groans, the flailing, that edge to your tone?" Shockwave moves again to stand in front of his captive. "'Nothing to fear' yet your fear is an almost tangible thing. Such a fine blend it is, and it would prompt a less patient mech to break you again and again just to hear you scream." Shockwave pulls a less delicate needle from subspace, thicker, heavier, wickedly sharp, resting it's point on Synapse's left shoulder seam. "Now, you did not answer my questions. I assure you, whatever your Prime might do to you later is nothing compared to what I will do to you now."

"However, there is the problem of your over-sensitivity to deal with first. I do not want you shutting down on me too soon."

Shockwave find the angle he wants, then swiftly slide the needle in, between cables and conduits, piercing a key juncture in Synapse's tactile network, sending feedback through those nets. Moving quickly,he does the same in the opposite elbow joint, checks Synapse's vitals, then adds pins in one hip joint and a knee. Shockwave watches the monitor for several minutes, noting first the spike as tactile relays register the invasion, still connecting, but at a much lower level of sensitivity, waiting till the scout's systems acclimate to the disruption. That should do it, hopefully; however, Shockwave has never worked on one with external sensors such as this.

He sits, turning and tilting the node on its stand so Synapse can watch what Shockwave is doing. A finely bladed laser scalpel flares to life, and Shockwave holds the blade so close to the surface of the node he has been holding that Synapse should be able to register the heat from the blade. He barely lets the blade bite into the node as he says, "Now, I would appreciate answers to my earlier questions, as well as your Prime's personal frequency, please."

[Synapse-3]

Synapse gasps and winces as the fallen node is retrieved and as wires are cut. The pain is quick and brief as all tactile data from that unit comes to an abrupt stop. His attempts to budge the node are met with no response. Though once again, Synapse finds his vision focused straight at himself--only to have Shockwave enter the picture. So now he has an image to correspond with the words sliding through his audios.

Instinctively, the scout stiffens at the flash of a needle in his tormentor's hand. His plan for attempting to reign in any reactions to Shockwave's further prodding backfires. There's a reason medics request for their patients to relax before giving them a little 'poke'. A staticky scream rips from Synapse's vocalizer as he discovers just why. The camera feed can't shut off like optics and won't be budged. Synapse watches himself heaving and straining from the wall, pinned and restrained like some little lab specimen. It's not a position he's used to seeing himself in at all. It's not a position he wants to get accustomed to.

The slight feeling of numbness washes through his limbs and then chassis. He has no time to ponder that as his view shifts to something new. Synapse whimpers and writhes first at the sight and then at the sharp pain that blooms through his systems. All his attention is on Shockwave and that hovering blade, the thoughts of his superiors are now just disapproving glares in the background. "P-Perceptor brought us here. He built a transport portal and we followed our Prime into the city through it."

Those disapproving glowers turn into something more sinister with each word that falls out of his mouth.

"You were not supposed to be here." 'You' meaning Decepticons and 'be here' meaning exist.

[Starscream]

Suddenly the door to Shockwave's lair opens, allowing Starscream in.

"Shockwave, I need to talk to you about these Autobot troop movements and--" Starscream cuts short as he sees an Autobot attached to the wall, Starscream's second-in-command poking about a sphere of some designation, and Scourge, sitting in a chair, observing the entire proceedings.

Starscream's voice goes cold as ice as he turns to Shockwave. "I wasn't aware you were entertaining guests, Shockwave, how rude of me to interrupt."

[Victoria Raines]

He does not look at the whimpering, quivering Autobot pinned to his wall. All of Shockwave's attention is focused on carefully, delicately, carving around a sensor bundle. Cut completed, he exchanges the the scalpel for a fine needle, slipping it under the thin plating and prying up, fine wires stretching almost to breaking point. Fascinating, really, how well integrated these are, as he clips the clinging wires.

"A portal? Certainly within Perceptor's abilities, something along the lines of a space bridge, or transwarp, perhaps but..." Shockwave traces the sensitive circuitry he's exposed, lets the needle point dig into a relay. "What do you mean 'not supposed to be here'?" Skyfire knew our location."

Shockwave shifts the node's position a bit, once more cutting carefully into its surface. He starts to phrase a question when Starscream barges in, his screechy voice cutting across Shockwave's audials. Starscream's displeasure is quite evident; yet Shockwave's own is restrained, buried, and the barest flicker of his optics is the only betrayal of the image that flickers through his processors.

If Starscream is half as intelligent as he professes to be, he will refrain from overusing the command override to enter Shockwave's lab too often.

"Yes, it is," is his only answer to Starscream. The scalpel bites deeper, Synpase paying for Starscream's interruption, and Shockwave looks directly into the camera on the nodes, "Your Prime's frequency, the Autobot frequency, now, or I will dismantle this into so many spare parts and keep you conscious throughout."

"Is your loyalty strong enough to sustain you through that, little Autobot?"

[Synapse-3]

Synapse's whimpers break into screams as the scalpel pierces through the node's sensor-ridden shell. He watches in horror as Shockwave levers the piece up, jerking with every wire that is cut. The minibot's straining in his bonds creates grooves and dents in his thin armor.

"Thi-this is a new dimension. We did not think--there was little chance that you all would be here," he babbled. Hoping that what information he can convey would be enough to just make the other let up. Instead, Synapse finds himself convulsing again, head banging roughly against the wall behind him compounding the sharp agony rides through him.

The only notice Synapse has about Strarscream's entrance is the blade digging deeper. Something was upsetting Shockwave. But it hurt. By now, Synapse's cries are surprisingly silent as they fall into fuzzy static. His voice isn't working, but his motor skills still are. What looks like "Pleasepleaseplease, no, stop!" forms over and over on his lips. The minibot continues in his attempt to thrash. Though Shockwave's following words bring a freezing chill that contrasts with his overheating systems.

Synapse is no longer so sure of the situation here. He doesn't know how this will end up. He's not sure if he wants to. Just as long as the pain stops. With these Decepticons, doesn't know if it will.

If Shockwave looks up, or if anyone glances over in Synapse's direction, they might notice that the minibot's mouthed protests turn into a stream of repeated numbers. Right now, all he cares about is making this all go away. Damn the consequences. Of course, he isn't looking far enough to realize that the consequences might just involve more suffering and lack of control. Finally, he gets his vocalizer to work, though his voice is burred. "P-Prime's frequency! <insert numbers here>!"

And to think that he's caved so early on. Shockwave was correct when he made his comments on delicacy.

[Starscream]

Starscream is about to snarl at Shockwave, when the Autobot drops a little nugget of info that he cannot ignore. "A new dimension? You and your fellow Autobots are from another dimension?" Just how many of them where there?

Starscream strides towards the wall, looking Synapse directly in his visor. "Autobot. Tell me who you are, and why your friend Rodimus has come here." He turned his head towards his subordinate. "Shockwave, stop your fun and games." For now... "I want answers from this one, and I need him coherent."