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Post by Mayday/Maddox Wayne on Feb 22, 2011 23:49:41 GMT -5
Month 1, Week 1, Day 4, some hallway on the Event Horizon, semi-private.
Mayday's plasma torch cuts into the wall, carefully slicing free a damaged panel. Old panel goes on the cart, he checks the underlying structure for damage, gets a new shiny plate off the cart, and welds it into place. Move on to the next one...
He's doing repairs. He's been doing repairs since the ship was declared Decepticon-free and he was certain that any horrible, dangerous, contagious, lethal afflictions were well-contained. And he's been carefully avoiding any contact with other people while he works.
He hasn't even been by the medical bay. For several reasons, including the presence of the injured, sick, and Perceptor. It's not like he has anything more than superficial injuries. Just laser gouges in his shoulder and thigh, that haven't quite healed on their own. He could repair them, really, if he wanted, but for now he just has a bit of sealing tape wrapped over each wound. He has more important things to repair. He owes it to the Event Horizon.
He's trying to forget himself in his work, and he really hopes that everyone else forgets about him, too.
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Post by Kate Mason on Feb 23, 2011 15:41:03 GMT -5
Technically, Kup is getting all up in Botanica's pie in going after Mayday, but given the iron that little miss seems to be made out of, he won't be shocked if Botanica's already torn through the Mayday-pie and only left some crumbs for Kup to ream out. If Kup is actually first here in yelling at Mayday, he doesn't think that'll stop Botanica from just baking another pie of Mayday-whooping, anyway.
Either way, Kup tromps up behind Mayday in a rather unsubtle black mood and tries to grab him roughly by the shoulder. He says simply, "Kid, a word," and he makes it sound like a threat.
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Post by Mayday/Maddox Wayne on Feb 23, 2011 17:08:43 GMT -5
Mayday has a habit of focusing on his work to the exclusion of everything else. It might seem like an odd quality for someone as paranoid as he is, but it serves its purpose as his escape from outside worries. Usually. It's not working so well today.
As a result, he doesn't notice Kup's approach until fingers touch his shoulder. The moment he feels the pressure, he flings himself away and around with a scream, his back slamming against the wall he was just repairing. He doesn't even try brandishing his plasma torch against whatever foe he imagines is sneaking up on him.
The moment he calms down enough to recognize who's confronting him, he decides reality is worse than any threat he might have imagined.
Quickly averting his gaze, he squeaks out, "...'m busy."
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Post by Kate Mason on Feb 24, 2011 10:40:13 GMT -5
"Busy, huh?" Kup says flatly. "Let me do you a favour and get you un-busy, then."
He pulls out a datapad and calls up Botanica on Autobot skype. While the connecting is 'ringing', Kup adds, "Of course, if'n you just made a mistake and you ain't busy, there's no need for me to bother your boss, kid, and let me tell you, that woman's got some reasons to be cranky."
Kup is cranky, too, but getting double-teamed with cranky might be too much cranky to handle!
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Post by Mayday/Maddox Wayne on Feb 24, 2011 11:53:52 GMT -5
"Ghn," Mayday whimpers, pressing himself into the wall and wishing the ship would just swallow him up forever.
He doesn't want to talk to Kup. He wants to talk to Botanica even less, given that she's been on his Avoid list since well before the attack. It's not because she's techno-organic or anything! He can deal with that. The Avoid list is all about his own awkwardness, rather than his opinion of other people.
Mayday knows people are mad at him. He realizes that they have good reason to be mad at him, and he really wishes he hadn't done the thing that made them mad. Nevertheless, actually being confronted by one of said angry people, he glares at the space left of Kup's head and snaps, "Yeah, busy! Or haven't you noticed the gaping wounds in our ship!"
He regrets it the moment he says it, folding further in on himself, but Mayday feels trapped and this is his equivalent of a fight response. He really would prefer to flee.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Feb 24, 2011 17:45:13 GMT -5
It takes a bit, but at length a rather tired-sounding Botanica answers Kup's call. There's an odd tint to her face, almost reddish, and she looks... aged somehow.
"Ah Kup... I take it you found him?" she asks, giving the veteran a wan smile. She looks over at Mayday's cringing form, her displeasure very clear.
"Mayday. If you could do us the favor of explaining yourself?"
For now, it will be good cop, bad cop- unless Mayday says something really, really stupid.
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Post by Kate Mason on Feb 24, 2011 20:25:34 GMT -5
Kup leans over and props up the datapad on a ledge on the wall so that the camera on the datapad will give Botanica a good view of both Mayday and Kup. Kup crosses his arms and growls out, talking mostly to Botanica, "Well, I found the little lutetium louse, all right, but he says he's busy!"
Then he turns his glare over at Mayday and snaps, "Yeah, I noticed the damages to the ship, you numb node! I ain't blind. Sure, it needs fixin', but right now, I'm more concerned about fixin' what's wrong with your head."
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Post by Mayday/Maddox Wayne on Feb 24, 2011 22:09:51 GMT -5
Peeling himself off the wall, Mayday hunches up and crosses his arms protectively over his chest, glaring at the floor. He mutters, "I was trying to protect the crew from a serious threat."
It probably doesn't ring very honest. Oh sure, he wanted to prevent Cosmic Rust from spreading to anyone else on the ship, but mostly because he didn't want it finding its way to him. And maybe a few other individuals... not that he would wish Cosmic Rust on anyone, but the crew wasn't who he was thinking of when he locked the doors. Selfish, selfish, sel-
His head snaps up as Kup speaks, his optics wide and his mouth dropping open to let out a strangled squeak. Flight actually seems like an appropriate response now, because that sounds like all the fears he fostered over time until they drove him to leave Cybertron, brought to life.
He attempts to duck around Kup and run.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Feb 27, 2011 21:22:21 GMT -5
Botanica's lips thin out into a hard line.
"Forgive my language Mayday, but that is a steaming pile of unturned compost. You let your personal fears override your good sense and you almost cost us-"
She cuts off when Mayday tries to run.
"Kup, you have my full permission as his CO to show Mayday how the Caratids of Minas VIII dealt with internal threats to their military."
Torquing off Kup is bad. Torquing off Botanica is bad. Torquing off both of them? Dude, you should have stayed on Pz-Zazz.
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Post by Kate Mason on Feb 28, 2011 21:08:34 GMT -5
Duck and run, huh? Kup's seen that before, and he reaches for Mayday's shoulder as the engineer tries to slip past him, trying to grab him, spin him, and pin him against the wall all in one move.
Optics narrowed, Kup comments, "You're a hard woman. You know that, Botanica? But fair. See, I was thinkin' the Sliir. Much nastier. Maybe overkill. C'mon, Mayday. Calm down. Look at me like a bot."
Kup has a pretty strong... distaste for cowards, and he'll soon explain why, in terms Mayday can understand and even appreciate, if the kid will stop acting like he's overclocked and overdosed on syk for half a minute.
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Post by Mayday/Maddox Wayne on Feb 28, 2011 21:29:51 GMT -5
Mayday squeals like a busted dial-up modem as Kup gets a hold of him and pins him, flailing and struggling wildly, but with about as much force as kitten compared to Kup's strength.
"No no no! Let me go! Don't touch me! Leave my head alone! It's my head! You don't have the right-! You can't-! Don't- It's... it's my head..."
Trailing off, Mayday strops fighting and just quivers, staring straight at Kup with wide, pleading optics.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Mar 8, 2011 18:21:11 GMT -5
"Mmm, yes, the Sliir would certainly be overkill."
Botanica cradles her face in one palm and shakes her head as Mayday turns into a sobbing wreck.
"Mayday, we aren't going to mess with your head. We don't forcibly reprogram people here just because they have issues with subscriptions."
"But we do need you to calm down, because we need to understand what you were thinking beyond blind fear. We cannot have a repeat of what happened during the attack. Surely you understand this?"
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Post by Kate Mason on Mar 9, 2011 22:09:45 GMT -5
While Mayday simpers about his untouchable head, Kup winds back up and makes as if to clock Mayday squarely in the face with his fist, but then, at the last moment, his hand opens, and he attempt to ever so lightly clap Mayday on the side of his head - hard enough to ring but nothing worse.
He says harshly, "Lad, I can abide a lot. I ain't gonna ask that you be brave," though that is common in Autobots - sooner they are too brave for their own good than anything else, "We got plenty to do for Autobots what ain't brave. Look at Boondocker or so. But."
Kup leans in, looming. "A coward's nothing but a filthy parasite, getting his unit killed over and over again, sapping the life out of 'em, while he keeps on surviving. I won't abide that."
He glances over at Botanica.
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Post by Mayday/Maddox Wayne on Mar 10, 2011 12:39:18 GMT -5
Any derailing trains of panicked thought in his Mayday's head screech to a halt as Kup smacks him in the head, blanking out his mind to receive Botanica's assurances. It's tempting not to believe her, because then things would be simpler and he wouldn't have to deal with all this and he would be the one that was right and they would be wrong, because forcibly reprogramming people is always wrong. But he has no reason to distrust Botanica, and no-one has ever given him reason to believe his mind was at risk of tampering.
So he looks away from both of them in shame and grimaces, because part of him knows they're right. But another part of him refuses to back down, and Kup's final sentence lights a fire in him.
He glares up at Kup, though his head remains tilted down. "And what if I am a coward? You got me! I'm just a filthy, worthless parasite who's only good for getting other people killed! What are you going to do, throw me off the ship? Fine! I'll build my shuttle and go. Or next stop we make you can just kick me out and you'll never have to abide this coward again. I'm better off alone anyway! At least I won't have to deal with with people like you!"
Finally he jerks his head up to stare Kup straight in the face. "You put everyone at risk for one person! You had no idea if your cure would work on his Cosmic Rust! So you didn't show signs immediately, but what if it was just delayed? Or maybe the cure worked for you, but what if it didn't work for people from other universes, like, like Breakaway's. There's a million things that could have gone wrong! It could have killed everyone!"
That's said honestly enough. He may mostly have been looking after his own hide, but that's what he'd been thinking at the time - though 'thinking' might be strong of a word for half-mindless panic. That they were all going to die. And when he puts it that way, he can almost believe it, and that he was right to try and keep Rodimus outside the ship.
Then the fire snuffs out and he sags, trying to wrap his arms over his helmet. Weakly, he says, "Cosmic Rust isn't even contagious in my universe..."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Mar 10, 2011 13:03:13 GMT -5
Botanica meets Kup's look, shrugging slightly as Mayday talks. At points, the plantformer opens her mouth to interrupt, but thinks better of it. Let the boy finish, if it will make him feel better about himself.
His last words prompt her to sigh and shake her head.
"On that last point, I am afraid you are quite incorrect, Mayday," she says softly, "Whatever Oil Slick has done to the disease, it most certainly is contagious."
"Which is why I am not having this discussion with you in person," she finishes grimly. By now Mayday might be calm enough to notice Botanica's odd coloring. "You have very valid points about Kup's actions regarding Rodimus, but understand this- if we lose the Prime, if the Matrix he carries is damaged, we all are lost. I understand it is not this way in your reality, but it is in many. It was worth the risk."
Very softly she adds, "If you wish to leave, you may. We will not force you to remain. But I do not wish you to go, nor does anyone."
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