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Post by Perceptor on May 2, 2011 22:03:33 GMT -5
Perceptor nods toward Optimus in acceptance of the quiet apology, before turning his attention back to Pincher.
"It is my hope that your conscience will lead you to remain here as our ally, Pincher," he offers with ill concealed optimism. "But that is a choice that only you can make, and only after you have been given the full of the truth of the history from your reality. There is much that Shockwave has concealed. Even, perhaps, within your own self."
Pincher's arrival, in fact, will be the experiment which may prove or disprove his hypothesis about that aggression coding he'd found in Ultra Magnus. If Pincher will allow him to look for it, instead of deciding that they are all insane or traitors to the cause.
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Post by Springer on May 10, 2011 0:12:54 GMT -5
Springer lets out a quiet sigh. "Yeah... Shockwave is bad news, to say the very least. However, gonna let Magnus field that for now."
He'll save his own recent dealings for the end of it.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 11, 2011 20:54:11 GMT -5
Optimus lets out a quiet "Hm," and then falls silent. He's been around long enough to have heard a bit about Magnus's reality, and he doesn't think Pincher is going to like what he hears.
Skippable
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Post by Raymond Stantz on May 11, 2011 21:33:39 GMT -5
Pincher's optics cycle a blink, and his claws click together nervously. He says, laughing in a worried fashion, "Oh no, I'm sure you're all from different realities from mine. You see, my Shockwave is a great Cybertronian. He's - well, he's a he, not an it or a she or a they or some other pronoun set, and he turns into a purple ray gun. He was a Decepticon before the war, from Kaon originally, I believe - that's a city-state - and he was the first to awaken after Cybertron put us all to sleep to stop our squabbling. He brought the planet back to life and made it, well... not a paradise, but pretty close. I can understand that, in other realities, Shockwave might be different. Maybe he turns into a crane or he's not male or he's some kind of alien..."
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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 12, 2011 10:46:42 GMT -5
Magnus sighs heavily; much as he despises Shockwave, he takes no joy in having to explain the happenings of his near-recent past to another duped citizen. He doubts he'll be able to convince Pincher of anything given the scientist's already numerous doubts.
"Pincher," he says, "you and I know the same Shockwave. He was my commander, I'm sure you recall. I and the Wreckers handled security matters of the highest threat levels on Shockwave's behalf for a very long time." He grimaces as he says this, thinking back on many unpleasant encounters with rebel cells. "But things weren't as Iā" He pauses and pinches the bridge of his nose. Thinking about pounding Shockwave's head into a pile of broken circuit boards and silicon dust is not conducive to the conversation. "They weren't as any of us thought."
He goes on to explain Shockwave's duplicity in his disposition of the Decepticons and Autobots from Earth, how the Decepticons were reintroduced to society but the Autobots sentenced to deactivation with no satisfactory explanation. He recounting of the more personal betrayal that nearly ended in his own death is terse to say the very least. He tries to keep his opinion to himself and stick with facts. It's painfully difficult.
Last is the thing he admits he himself didn't know about until recently ā the code seeded deep in his core programming, designed to drive his aggression higher and higher over time. The code that infects every last Transformer willingly under Shockwave's rule, even Pincher.
"He did bring us peace," Magnus says quietly, more wounded and sad than bitter, "but only because it suited him."
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Post by Perceptor on May 13, 2011 21:01:30 GMT -5
Perceptor has little to add to Ultra Magnus' explanation; it is his own reality, after all, and Perceptor is nothing more than an observer to what Magnus has recorded. He does, however, add quietly, "I can supply you with key portions of the coding and equipment for you to perform your own scans, if you wish to see for yourself."
Not really and if, he expects; Pincher is a scientist. Proof will be required.
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Post by Springer on May 14, 2011 16:51:23 GMT -5
Springer, like Optimus, falls quiet. He may have things to input later, but that depends on Pincher's reactions. So for now, he will watch.
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OOC: Skippable.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on May 15, 2011 20:22:05 GMT -5
Pincher bridles when Ultra Magnus insists they know the same Shockwave. His claws click together with an anger that isn't entirely his own. At the same time, his spark goes out to Ultra Magnus. No one should be put through that! Pincher steps closer. He'd like to offer Ultra Magnus some comfort, but then he remember that he's just... Pincher, and Ultra Magnus is Ultra Magnus. He starts to say, "There is no way of knowing if we are from the same reality, however. You might have had a... less than sterling Shockwave, and I might have had a better Shockwave. That is the nature of alternate realities. The details change."
Then there's the bit about aggression coding. Pincher looks down, and there's a vial in his hand. It's very, very cold, and there's frost on his claws where he holds it. When did that vial get in his hand? He stares at it, perplexed.
Perceptor's offering him equipment, but Pincher shakes his head and insists, "I must respectfully decline. How I am I to trust your equipment? I might be a chemical engineer, but the day I don't have the tools for a software scan is the day I ought to pack up under a rock..."
The vial goes away, Pincher sits down, and he pries open his own helmet, expression - not that he ever has much of one, with that mask - oddly blank, though his optical ridges are furrowed with concern. He won't find anything, he's sure. Pincher pulls out some testing equipment, some of the old neural mappers that were so handy when he was mapping what syk does to the cyber cingulate. He works rather methodically, detached, almost dreaming. Maybe there's a metaphor here. His conscience is speaking to him, and he's opening up his head to check his aggression registers, but he can't grasp what the message might be.
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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 16, 2011 19:27:16 GMT -5
It's by the thickness of a layer of paint that Magnus keeps himself from snapping at Pincher for suggesting Shockwave might be anything but the backstabbing collection of lies and self-serving hauteur that Magnus knows him to be. He takes several steps back, retreating far from the barrier with clenched, shaking fists, while the chemist runs his scans.
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Post by Perceptor on May 23, 2011 15:49:34 GMT -5
Perceptor is preparing to do something rash and foolish when he notes the vial that seems to appear in Pincher's hand, but before he can, the chemical engineer clearly comes to his senses - at least, somewhat - and the vial is vanished once more. Hm. Perhaps he should look into some manner of electrical field to disturb the subspace interface to prevent future arrivals from being able to access their subspace at all if activated? After all, a force field around the arrival rocks is all well and good, but what if some future arrival has a bomb or some other substance tucked away in their subspace that can overwhelm such a field?
Yes, he will definitely have to look into that.
"Quite understandable," Perceptor replies, nodding. He steps back, though, and rests a soothing hand upon Ultra Magnus' arm for a moment, before withdrawing to allow the larger mech his space.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on May 27, 2011 21:22:16 GMT -5
Pincher acts progressively more agitated, claws clicking, as he looks through his own code. He doesn't do it often. There was the one time he got hit with some viral transposons, and that was just a mess, but code is really not his field.
Finally, he thinks he's done, and he taps the screen of his equipment, frustrated, and declares, "There's nothing wrong with me."
Right next to his pointing claw, there's a line of code that Perceptor's seen before - in Ultra Magnus. There's nothing wrong with it by itself. It's not fishy at first glance or second or even third, but the way it fits together with some other lines that would take some serious digging to dredge up...
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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 31, 2011 17:38:43 GMT -5
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Magnus mutters icily, more to himself than for the sake of conversation. He doesn't seem to have noticed Perceptor's attempt to soothe him beyond a reflexive stiffening of his shoulders that quickly passes. More audibly, he adds, looking at Pincher again, "I didn't think there was anything wrong with me, either."
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Post by Perceptor on Jun 8, 2011 20:06:45 GMT -5
Perceptor sighs and shakes his head. "If it were truly that simple to discover - with the use of a simple scan - then it would not have been so pernicious, nor would it be such a threat. Do you actually believe that not one single individual has performed a basic, or even in-depth scan of their own code in all the years of Shockwave's control?"
Perceptor stifles his frown, attempting to offer Pincher an understanding, sympathetic smile of encouragement. Then he rattles off a half-dozen standard code position placements. "Examine those in depth. Then consider the values of those positions combined with that," he instructs, pointing toward that so-innocuous line of code Pincher has singled out.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Jun 8, 2011 21:10:42 GMT -5
"You look fine to me, Commander," Pincher mutters to Ultra Magnus.
The cold vial is in Pincher's claws again. He doesn't seem to have noticed it's there. Bright though he is, Pincher doesn't quite follow what Perceptor's getting at, and frustrated, he protests, "Those lines are different, yes, but hardly malignant! Probably just tie-ins with the Cybertron core-tapping upgrades..."
Show him more, Perceptor. Show him everything until the denial goes away.
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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 Jun 15, 2011 21:10:33 GMT -5
Lately, Magnus has been touchy with the code patches working against the implanted coding and the conflicts that arise from this issue. Well, he has been more touchy than usual. His underlying insecurities and self-doubt are amplified tenfold by not knowing if it's really him responding, or if it's the code, and being doubted by others only exacerbates things further. One moment, he stands by the wall, unsettled but still as a statue. The next moment, he explodes.
"I look fine to you?" he demands, almost running headlong into the cell's barrier, perfectly ready to ram his way through it so he can grab Pincher by the neck and beat the truth into his thick little head. His voice cracks and he roars, "I LOOK FINE TO YOU?!" For an instant, he has one hand raised, ready to punch down whatever stands between him and Pincher, ready to pound sense into the obnoxious Pretender. He stops only because he realises he doesn't know if he's outraged because Pincher suggests he's fine with Shockwave's claws buried deep in his mind or if he's outraged because Shockwave wants him that way.
Only then does he stop, arm quivering. And only just.
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