Dinobot
Minor
Death Before Dishonor
Posts: 302
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Post by Dinobot on Apr 9, 2011 21:21:23 GMT -5
Month 1, Week 2, Day 1, Semi-private, Event Horizon brig
Dinobot stalks down the corridor, a riveted metal briefcase full of datapads and discs in one hand. It's entirely possible he and his companion are getting dirty looks as they walk down the hall, given the job they're doing.
When he comes to the door to the brig, he salutes the guard on duty, and enters the room.
The raptor pulls up a chair facing the one occupied cell and opens the briefcase on his lap. "You are to be tried for war crimes," he rasps to the occupant. "We are to defend you."
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Apr 11, 2011 11:52:42 GMT -5
Hook, as standard procedure for a prisoner, has no radio access, no subspace access, and can't transform. This means he's spending most of his time sitting and thinking about how, using only parts found in his own body, he can build a forcefield breacher in under a minute, or something thinking about how, using only parts found in his own body, he can restore his subspace access and then build said forcefield breacher, or maybe a death ray...
He has a lot of good plans. The main problem is that none of them are perfect.
Hook looks down at Dinobot dubiously when addressed, and he says, startled, "What?"
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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 Apr 11, 2011 22:03:40 GMT -5
"We're your defence team," Magnus reiterates on behalf of Dinobot, quite unintentionally looming behind the Maximal. He grew inured to dirty looks a very long time ago; his discomfort is entirely borne of his concerns that while he knows he will do his best in this capacity, he doubts his best will be adequate.
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Dinobot
Minor
Death Before Dishonor
Posts: 302
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Post by Dinobot on Apr 12, 2011 19:45:54 GMT -5
"If there's anything constructive you'd like to say to us to aid in our task, now is the time," Dinobot rasps. No, he's not making fun of Hook for being a Constructicon. He's just had too many conversations with Rattrap to ask a conversational unknown if there's anything he'd like to say without qualifying it.
"Your pull point would be helpful. We'll be able to make sure you aren't accused of things you haven't done yet." It would be silly to punish Hook for wrecking Grapple's tower if he's never met Grapple, for instance.
"The opposition will likely be expecting an insanity pleaa," he adds as an afterthought.
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Apr 12, 2011 20:36:35 GMT -5
Hook takes a moment to process this, and he sputters, "You're putting me on trial?"
That was unexpected. Slap a Dominator Disc on him, sure. trade him for something, sure. Trial? That is... weird.
Hook hunches his shoulders a bit and asks, "Is it trial by combat?" Megatron and Optimus Prime do that now and again. Maybe Dinobot and Ultra Magnus are here to give him advice on fighting... someone. Wow, he thought only Decepticons made their captives fight each other while bored.
He does not offer his pull point. For all they know, he could have been pulled from just after the robo-smasher got him! He may have done nothing but serve as a combat engineer under Shockwave's command here.
That's not true, but it is certainly possible, especially given that there is a Mixmaster here, and Hook could have gotten his future life story from Mixmaster. It's not like swapping memories with Mixmaster is hard for Hook!
Hook does, however, quibble, "I function as a normal member of my society. I can't deny that my code has been... altered," and it sort of hurts his head to think about it, and it sort of makes him existentially terrified if he thinks about it too hard, but... "...but change is not per se malignant."
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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 Apr 14, 2011 10:03:31 GMT -5
"Not trial by combat," Magnus assures Hook, choosing not to address Dinobot's comment on insanity pleas. "Trial by court and jury. Fortunately for you," and he actually sounds sincere in this regard, "we have plenty of people on board who wouldn't know you from Grapple." He does start to wonder if there's a trial like this in store for him. Why wasn't he put through a tribunal once he was well enough to stand, given what he's done?
He steps a little further forward and his face is grim. Change itself may not be malignant, but Magnus knows all too well it can be brought on for malignant reasons. His own head bears witness to that.
"Hook," he says tiredly, with a heavy sense of authority on the matter, "functioning as a normal member of your society may not count for much even if your code was altered." Magnus was a perfectly normal member of Cybertronian society, after all, and he hunted down Autobots like fugitives. He doubts having his mind tampered with will ever really excuse him since he was fully aware of his actions. "I'd like to think both Dinobot and I are in this to be certain you're tried on your merits, not the merits of your brand," he adds. There are enough members of the crew who might condemn him just for that emblem. Magnus trusts none of them made jury.
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Dinobot
Minor
Death Before Dishonor
Posts: 302
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Post by Dinobot on Apr 14, 2011 23:10:16 GMT -5
"No, change is not necessarily a bad thing," Dinobot agrees. "I used to be a Predacon, I should know. If it was up to me, you'd be interrogated and then executed swiftly before you had a chance to cause trouble. Sadly, I was not consulted in the matter." That's the problem with Maximals not having torture chambers. There's never one when you actually want one. And no, Dinobot seems nothing strange about acting as Hook's defense lawyer because he can't just kill him out of hand.
"The two of us happen to be on your side for the time being, Hook, strange though it may seem. Now are you going to cooperate with us or not?" he demands.
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Apr 14, 2011 23:42:59 GMT -5
"For one thing, I'm green," Hook observes wryly when Ultra Magnus says folks might not know him from Grapple.
He stretches out a bit and rubs his hands, working at a knot in the tensors. Stress.
"Hmm," he says. "If I am found guilty, might I not be interrogated and executed anyway? That would appear to be a conflict of interests, though I will confess, seeing a deathtrap from the inside might be interesting." He sits up a bit straighter. "Do you think Long Haul would do a classic vat of electric lava? That's very traditional."
Of course Hook expects that he would be executed by moronic plot device. That's just how these things work. Of course he expects Long Haul would be involved in the build work. When is Long Haul not? Grisly as the thought is, Hook would rather die by Long Haul's deathtrap than Omega Supreme's hand.
(Hook thinks Long Haul's deathtrap would be easier to escape.)
"What do I have to gain by cooperating? Will you really allow me to go free if I am found innocent? I am, after all, a combat engineer operating under orders. Back home, I answered to Scrapper, and he answered to Megatron."
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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 Apr 20, 2011 21:08:06 GMT -5
Magnus is not particularly eloquent. He tends to go for the point, and Hook seems to be sidestepping all the points Magnus tried to make. Magnus pinches the bridge of his nose between two fingers and rests his other hand on his hip.
"That isn't our decision to make," he mutters, indicating himself and Dinobot.
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Dinobot
Minor
Death Before Dishonor
Posts: 302
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Post by Dinobot on Apr 20, 2011 21:32:39 GMT -5
"Your termination is a likely outcome, yes. But will you not defend your honor? Will you go quietly into the cold night or will strike against your enemies in the one way left to you?" Dinobot snarls.
If it was him, he would already have tried to escape a few times. Once he realized escape was impossible (or at least so improbable that it wasn't worth pursuing) he'd throw all his efforts into making his captors ethics look questionable at the trial. Clearly Hook should do what Dinobot would do, as it is always the best way of doing things.
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Post by Dr. James Hook on Apr 22, 2011 20:35:29 GMT -5
"I suppose they don't pay you to speculate," Hook sniffs.
Hook totally is planning to escape. He just appears to have been doing nothing because the planning is all up in his head. When the time is there to strike, Hook will strike and strike most brutally. But he doesn't need to tell them that.
He says simply, "I will win, with or without you," because Hook doesn't need or care about an innocent verdict, "but what do you want of me?"
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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 Apr 29, 2011 13:07:02 GMT -5
"We've already told you the first thing," Magnus says in a neutral tone, fending off impatience with Hook's circuitous responses. "If you're anything like the Hook from my reality – and so far, I'm inclined to say yes – I won't insult your intelligence by repeating what Dinobot said."
He might be a very bad choice indeed for this duty if he can't stuff his temper. Perhaps it's time to see if Perceptor has any new code patches.
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Dinobot
Minor
Death Before Dishonor
Posts: 302
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Post by Dinobot on Apr 30, 2011 12:59:53 GMT -5
Ultra Magnus isn't the only one dangerously close to losing his patience. If this is the way Hook is going to act, Dinobot is more than happy to quit this job and let someone else act as the Constructicon's defense. Maybe Whirligig or Rattrap would want to do it.
"You know, you could simply defect," the raptor says in a vicious tone. "I'm sure Long Haul would be overjoyed to have you back. He misses you. Talks about you all the time."1 Because if Hook is going to be obstinate, Dinobot is going to be mean.
1. Dinobot is pulling this out of his subspace. He does not know if it is true or not.
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Post by Dr. James Hook on May 3, 2011 15:39:12 GMT -5
Hook debates whether or not he should just tell them his age. (Later, the prosecutors will find it out, but Hook doesn't know that yet.)
Then Dinobot says something, and Hook scoots a bit deeper into the cell, pushing himself into the corner, and he curls up a bit. Sounding part angry and part... frightened, Hook hisses out sharply, "No. I can't."
Hook means that literally. It's not something he likes to think about it, so he generally avoids the issue entirely. He cannot not be a Decepticon. Hook is Megatron's, whether or not Megatron is here, whether or not Megatron even lives, Megatron's forever in his mind.
Hook does not have the same free will that everyone else does. It's one part infuriating and one part terrifying. Maybe he really is just a machine executing some program, no more or less than their ancient Quintesson masters made them.
Maybe Hook's nothing more than a malfunctioning drone.
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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 6, 2011 9:05:32 GMT -5
"Defecting isn't that simple," Magnus mutters at Dinobot much at the same time that Hook withdraws. The reaction puzzles him; Hook mentioned his code having been altered. Magnus wonders if it could be some more severe form of what Shockwave's done to him. "Hook," he says quietly though his voice remains firm, "your timestamp." He won't ask the Constructicon why defection is an impossibility. That sort of reflexive terror, he doesn't know how to reason away.
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