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Post by Elita-1 on May 15, 2011 21:34:02 GMT -5
Month 1, Week 3, Day 4, Semi-private, Ultra Magnus has the cross-exam if he wants it, and he and Dinobot can interject with possible objections at any time. Optimus as judge can interject at any time.
If this were a TV trial, then certain key witness interviews would be focused on amid the montage of actual goings on. This is one of those key witnesses.
The prosecution has called Long Haul to the stand. This is being done before Omega Supreme is called, for various reasons. Once the required "state your name and occupation for the court" rote, Elita-1 smiles at the Constructibot.
"Now Long Haul, you are a member of a group of six individuals noted for your building skills on your Cybertron, is that correct?" Provided he answers in the affirmative, she will follow that question with, "Is there another member of that team present in this court at this time? If so, could you elaborate on your group relationship, and more specifically on your relationship with said member?"
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Post by Long Haul on May 16, 2011 20:05:54 GMT -5
Long Haul is exceedingly nervous, and he keeps using running the fingers of one hand over the other hand, back and forth, hand to hand. As he approaches the stand, his head is down, and it remains down when he sits down, but once the speaking starts, he lifts his head, and for all his nervousness, his gaze becomes steady when the actual questioning starts.
"Er, yeah, that's correct, I am. And... yeah, there's another of us here. Hook was also part of the group. We're... we're workmates. A crew, but more. We're not really... we ain't really whole if we're not all here," which suggests that Long Haul has not been whole since arriving in this new universe, and that he is unlikely to ever be whole again. "We're family."
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Post by Elita-1 on May 16, 2011 21:11:05 GMT -5
"And could you point out that individual to the court?" she asks. Once Long Haul complies*, she continues.
"Family," Elita-1 repeats as she paces slowly before the witness stand, "That must make this entire trial very difficult on you." Here she gives the jury a pained look that also shows sympathy for Long Haul as well.
"Could you describe for the court the Hook you know? The one you call family?"
*with player permission
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Post by Long Haul on May 18, 2011 17:57:23 GMT -5
Long Haul gives a faint nod as she states that the trial is difficult of him, and indeed, his shoulders are slumped more than usual.
"Well..." he starts, then rubs the back of his head. "He was... well, he was a perfectionist. And arrogant. And kind of a jerk, really. But don't get me wrong, he was a jerk for the right reasons! Like, cuttin' corners made him all kinds of angry, 'cos people got hurt when corners were cut. People were important to him back then," he finishes looking at Hook, optic band dimming a little.
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Post by Elita-1 on May 18, 2011 23:54:27 GMT -5
Without showing even a hint of a smirk, Elita-1 addresses the courtroom at large more than Long Haul. "'Was'," she repeats, before turning her attention back to Long Haul, "Interesting, that you would use the past tense to refer to your family member, especially since that family member appears to be sitting alive and well in this courtroom."
"If you could please tell the court if you have had any communication with the defendant since your displacement to this universe. If that answer is in the affirmative, could you also provide the dates and times of any such contact, and what if anything was discussed during such contacts"
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on May 19, 2011 10:56:33 GMT -5
From the defence table, Magnus scowls. He can see how the line of questioning is valid – establishing what, if any, change in character Long Haul might have noted in Hook – but that doesn't mean he has to like it.
OOC: Skippable for now.
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Post by Long Haul on May 19, 2011 21:12:16 GMT -5
"Yeah, uhm..." Long Haul looks down at his hands and seems to count off on his fingers as he works things through, though the number of fingers touched has nothing to do with the number he announces, which is, "Four times. Five, if you count the first bit where I thought I heard some static, but I'm pretty sure it was Hook, only the message didn't make it through. That happened [timestamp for the day of arrival, early that day].
"After that, uhm, first time was over the old Crystal City maintenance frequency. [Timestamp of arrival day, that night.[/i] Mostly it was, uhm, me finding out for sure that Hook's a Constructicon now.
"Second time was, uhm, he sounded overenergized. [Sometime midway through the stay on Gillanan.] He was makin' sure Omega Supreme ain't killed me yet, and he insulted me a bit, which is pretty normal, really, and we argued about Crystal City and reprogramming. Didn't end well.
"Third time was when he an' Mixmaster and Shockwave came to, erm, talk at me and Springer and Skid-Z. [Shortly after the crash on Pz-Zazz.] That mostly involved him telling me I was doing it wrong, which is pretty normal, too.
"Last time was just... just a couple of days ago. We talked about a lot of stuff. Like... why I'm an Autobot, and what I've been doing, and stuff. That mostly involved him telling me I was doing it wrong, too, but..." he rubs the back of his head and looks down. "The sorts of things he was telling me I was doing wrong ain't the things he told me wrong before. Kept saying I'd 'grow up' and realize other folks weren't 'worth it' and stuff."
Also, that thread is not yet complete, so Long Haul shall have to gloss over some segments of that conversation.
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Post by Elita-1 on May 19, 2011 22:42:53 GMT -5
"Thank you Long Haul," Elita says, giving the Constructabot a sympathetic smile. She steps away from the witness stand for a few moments, turning and taking in the judge and jury, then finishing facing the defendant's table.
"Please correct me if I am wrong, Long Haul, but from your explanation it sounds as if it were Hook who contacted you on almost every occasion, and that he expended some energy trying to convince you that your chosen path was wrong." Almost every, because for the last, Hook wouldn't have been able to make contact with Long Haul first. "He thinks you should 'grow up'."
She turns sharply on her heel to face the witness bench.
"Tell us about Crystal City please, Long Haul. What it was, and how you and your family felt about it."
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Post by Long Haul on May 22, 2011 22:45:12 GMT -5
Long Haul's optic band dims as he remembers, though perhaps it's not quite as dim as it would need to be had he been pulled from later. After all, it was only a couple of years since he was last there!
"It was... nice. Too nice, really, in some ways. I mean, don't get me wrong, for buildings and for craftmanship, it was our finest work, and I've never been prouder of any place as I was of my work for that city. But it was..." he waves a hand about. "Stuffy. Bit too many museums, not enough bars, you know? I went there often as part of my work, but that weren't the only city we built, and I've never been much of a museum type, so I tended to do my unwinding in other places."
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Post by Elita-1 on May 23, 2011 22:33:12 GMT -5
Hmmm, not the best answer. The "too stuffy" remark could be used against them. She needs to get off that subject.
Elita-1 nods, "But as you say, it was your finest work. Your family's finest work. Did you, any of you, actively work to maintain it? Did you ever desire to see it fall to ruin?"
Once Long Haul answers, she presses on, "You and your family were architects. Builders. You created things."
"Would the Hook you know- the family you know- destroy Crystal City? Destroy anything just for the sake of the act?"
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Post by Long Haul on May 23, 2011 23:08:27 GMT -5
Long Haul nods 'yes' when asked if they actively maintained Crystal City, 'no' when asked whether they desired to see it fall into ruins, and then he shakes his head in a far more emphatic 'no' when she asks if the Hook he knew would destroy Crystal City.
"No! Absolutely not! I mean... he might redo something if he figured it weren't right, if we let him, but just for doing it? Naw. Besides, was even more his sorta place than mine. He's, uhm, kinda stuffy, too."
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Post by Elita-1 on May 24, 2011 10:00:53 GMT -5
Elita nods and walks back to her table. She shuffles through some notes for a moment, then returns back to stand near the witness bench.
"Long Haul, during any of your talks with the defendant, did he admit to taking part in the destruction of Crystal City and/or attempted forcible reprogramming of Omega Supreme?"
This is the first time the Guardian has been brought into the discussion. But he will be the next witness called, most likely.
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Post by Long Haul on May 24, 2011 21:51:42 GMT -5
Long Haul nods. "Yeah, he-" then he hesitates and tilts his head, optic band narrowed. "Actually, uhm, never, you know, never exactly. It's more... first time, we was arguing about Omega Supreme, an' I told him how Omega's my friend an' used to be his friend before he broke Omega's mind, an' he said Omega stopped being his friend when, well, when Omega tried to reprogram him, an' I told him way I heard it, Omega was just trying to fix what someone else gone and done to him, an' he said he didn't need no fixing, an' I said he destroyed our city. And... and he asked if I thought he wanted to do it, like maybe he didn't want to."
He lifts his hand to rub the upper-side of his head, where the crest attaches to the rest of his said. "Only later on, like, just the other day, I was saying I won't ever become like him, where he thinks people aren't... aren't worth nothing, and about the City and all, and he called Crystal City an eyesore." Long Haul slumps at recalling those words coming from Hook.
"He... he never came flat out and said he did those things, but he came close, an' he didn't correct me when I said 'em."
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Post by Elita-1 on May 25, 2011 21:47:41 GMT -5
If Elita did not have to keep to her role as lawyer, she'd give Long Haul a hug and tell him she's sorry for making him talk about it. When this is done, she might do that anyway.
"At this time I would like to submit the following for consideration by the court." Elita inserts a disk into a viewer and the screen begins to play out a conversation between Hook and Long Haul.*
"As shown, the defendant spent some time attempting to convince Long Haul that his choice, the choice to remain an Autobot, was the incorrect choice. The defendant used several means of verbal coercion, including belittling Long Haul, appealing to his sense of family, and attempting to divide his loyalties."
"Long Haul, one further question: do you consider the defendant to be the Hook you know and love? Please think carefully on the question before you answer. We have plenty of time."
*This thread is not complete, hence the very broad summary given by Elita. However, for purposes of the Jury Thread (when/if) that happens) the jury will have full access to the contents of that thread. Unless the defense successfully argues to have it thrown out of consideration. >_<
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Post by Long Haul on Jun 7, 2011 12:49:59 GMT -5
In fact, it doesn't take that long for the answer.1 It's something he's already said several times to Hook himself in the recordings Elita-1 is now presenting as evidence. Long Haul shakes his head, not looking up at first, optic band very dim.
"No. No, he ain't the Hook I know. Our city meant something to that Hook." He lifts his head and looks Elita-1 in the eye, though his optic band remains dim. "People meant something to that Hook. This one... he's got some things in common. But he ain't the same."
1 Discounting delays for vacation that aren't a part of IC time, anyway. ¬_¬
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