Wally Honeycutt to 555-BOTS

[Blurr]

OOC: Month 6 Week 4 Day 3.

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Wally has a very hectic life minding his roommate and keeping his job. Otherwise, he'd have tried this hotline thing sooner; as it is, he's really pushed to make this call. He's worried and scared.

"C'mon, pick up," he hisses under his breath as the line rings. He's on his lunch break here. The call will trace back to a very upscale Downtown restaurant.

[Bluestreak]

Assuming he wins the duel with the phone menu tree, Wally will eventually get through. "Hello, this is Bluestreak of the Autobots. How can I help you, uh, sir or ma'am?"

[Blurr]

"Bluestreak!" He never spoke much to the gunner, no, but Haywire is just so happy to hear an Autobot voice right now. Then he remembers to lower his voice so his coworkers don't look at him funny and his supervisors don't hush him off the phone. "Bluestreak," he goes on at a more sedate decibel level, "this is Haywire, Blurr's partner. And there's a big problem."

[Hellbender]

Oops, this is really supposed to be Bluestreak. Really!

"Um, Haywire--first things first. Is this a secure line? And can you confirm your pull point, timestamp and when you arrived at our original arrival point by way of confirming your identity? Also, do you or Blurr need immediate help?"

[Blurr]

"Secure? Uh… I dunno. It's the phone in the back at work. Maybe not?" And while he understands the need for security, he still makes an impatient, disgusted noise and rolls his eyes. Blurr would be proud of how quickly Haywire rattles off all the numbers Bluestreak wants.

He stays quiet on Blurr's condition for the moment just in case.

[Bluestreak]

Now that he's confirmed that Haywire is probably who he says he is, or else Soundwave has shown up and is handling 'Con infiltration attempts, he says, "No, probably not. Do you have a contact number, or should we set up a meet? And what's the big problem? Do you need emergency extraction? Do you want extraction, or do you want to hold on for orders and future developments? I can't really go into all the details on line that's not necessarily secure from Decepticons, but, uh, what's happened is pretty big and got both Bots and Cons."

[Blurr]

"Uh… I've got a cell phone," Wally says, "but it's in my locker until I leave." And maybe now he doesn't want to hang up just so he can hear a friendly voice a while longer. "The problem is… complicated. And weird." And he knows he sounds heartsick just talking about it. He misses his friend.

Bluestreak can probably hear the head waiter snapping at Wally in the background by now.

"Look," says Wally hurriedly, "I'll call back after work."

<click>

[Blurr]

A few hours later…

One advantage of taking the bus: it gives Haywire plenty of time to sit through all the stupid menus again. Will he get Bluestreak again, he wonders, or is somebody else on phone duty this shift?

"Hello?"

[Bluestreak]

"Bluestreak of the Autobots speaking--oh, heya, Haywire! Is this number a good contact number for you and is it secure right now? Can you tell me about Blurr now? He hasn't reported in yet, you're the first we've heard from either one of you."

[Blurr]

"I guess it's as secure as a cell phone can be," Haywire says quietly. All he needs are weird looks from his fellow night loop passengers – few though there may be – when he starts talking about secure lines. "And yeah, this is my number."

There's a long, long pause as he tries to put together the words he needs. Bluestreak sounds just enough like his partner that it sort of takes the Nebulan's breath away and makes tears smart in his eyes.

"He's…" Haywire starts to say, only to stop when his throat tries closing up. He clears it and tries again. "Blurr's… he doesn't know who I am. He's been turned into a human and – Bluestreak, he doesn't remember. He doesn't remember anything, but I do and I can still hear him in my head and feel him right there like always, and–" Haywire shuts up as another couple of passengers board and pass him.

[Bluestreak]

"Whoa, whoa, it's all right. I mean, I think it will be. Blurr isn't the only one this has happened to, it's happened to a whole bunch of people. We think it's hit the Cons as ha--uh, as much as it's hit us. Some people remember that they're us, and some folks think they're human, have got fake memories and everything, and some folks are sorta in-between.

"Listen, I got your number from CallerID, so I think maybe we can send someone around to talk to you and see how Blurr is? Can I call you back to set something up? If I can't set something up tonight, when is it safe to call you? I can't really name names and places on the cell phone, 'cause if the Cons find out, that's just painting a target on you and them."

[Blurr]

This might have happened to other Autobots, and that's no good, but those other Autobots aren't Haywire's partner. They aren't in his head and he isn't in theirs; he can't feel the lack of a connection with them.

"Yeah," Haywire says, sounding and feeling strangled, "yeah, sure. Um." Another pause just to breathe. "I, ah… I work evenings, so either really really late or any time during the day after about ten… those are fine."