Perceptor's Frequency: On Constructicons

[Long Haul]

This conversation follows from Reply #40 in the Zoo Arrival and Meetings thread.

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Long Haul inclines his head forward in a faint nod, then settles down, finding a spot near Perceptor to sit, and activates his radio on the frequency the scientist had just given him.

//Hnh.// he begins thoughtfully //I s'pose in the morning, won't be too bad an idea to make sure everyone knows everyone else's frequencies in addition to everything else. Prolly save a lot of hassle later on. But anyways...//

//I wouldn't be bothering you like this, 'cept... well, we don't know how we ent up here, or if we're just suddenly gonna end up back where we came from, and if that happens... if that happens I need to know. And even if it don't, I need to know.//

//You said we was reprogrammed by Megatron. Xaaron... he said where he was from, we was built Decepticons, but he called us, "Constructicons." I never heard that word before, but when I called out over the Crystal City defense and maintenance frequency, Hook got on my case, said I shoulda been using the "Constructicon" frequency. Never heard of a Constructicon before Xaaron said the word, and now there's Hook saying that's what I should be using.//

//When I asked him why I shouldn't use the Crystal City freq, he asked if remembered Crystal City, an' Omega Supreme.// Long Haul's radio voice takes on a strained, frightened tone. //'Course I remember 'em! Saw 'em both before I left on my run!//

//Perceptor,// the Transport finally brings himself to ask the questions he doesn't want to know the answer to, //Perceptor, just what went down?//

[Perceptor]

There's a long moment of pregnant silence before Perceptor transforms back to his robot mode; staying in his alt mode while they speak would be rude, and his work can wait. His whole posture is one of quiet regret and vague defeat as he shifts to sit beside Long Haul, leaning against the wall behind them.

// That is a wise suggestion, Long Haul. For safety sake, we should be able to communicate quickly and efficiently, // he replies, gathering his wits and his concentration for the rest of this, most likely, difficult conversation.

// First, I must explain that the information I share with you now came to me via the Autobot Prime, as it was told to him by Omega Supreme. I have little reason to doubt the veracity of Omega Supreme's claims, unpleasant though they are. This account, however, is not generally known, and, until I was told, I, too, had always assumed that you and your workmates had been created as Decepticons. //

// Sometime ago in my quite distant past, and... and your not very distant future, Megatron employed a device to reprogram you and your workmates. The device's effects are not reversible to my knowledge, and from that point on, your group became known as the Constructicons. Your work is well known, and you are also noted for the extreme skill of your efforts... however the Constructicons are more widely well known as a fighting force of extreme power and strength, who also form a gestalt being known as Devastator. Devastator is... quite vicious, and many Autobots have fallen to him. //

// Crystal City... // Perceptor's voice trails off, and he seems to hunch in just a fraction more before straightening up, turning to meet Long Haul's gaze with calm forthrightness.

// It was not known immediately that Megatron had managed to reprogram your group. Upon returning to Crystal City, you and yours were met by Omega Supreme, who you and yours then told that a neighboring city required assistance. Omega Supreme left immediately upon the recommendation of your group, leaving Crystal City in your care. Once Omega Supreme was at a sufficient distance, the Constructicons made their new allegiance known by razing Crystal City to the ground. Everything was destroyed, down to the last spire. //

[Long Haul]

Long Haul stares uncomprehendingly at Perceptor for several moments as the red Autobot tells him something he cannot accept, desperately does not want to accept. His hands twitch, and he looks for the words to deny it, but then Hook's radioed voice drifts back to him.

"Remember Crystal City?"

You don't ask that about places you're living in.

"Nnnngaaah-!" Long Haul makes a desperate, strangled noise out loud, strangely cut off as he tries to force himself to be quiet, and his drops his head to support it in both hands. He sits in silence for several minutes, now and then a limb spasms slightly as his instincts instruct him to do something, anything about what he's faced with, and his mind holds himself in check.

Finally, one of his hands lowers from its support of his head, and that fist clenches, even while the hand stays in place. Over the radio, by dint of supreme effort, he grounds out a signal that's more information than voice. //Anything. Else?//

[Perceptor]

Perceptor flinches at the vocalization, wishing that he'd lied, knowing that to do so would have made everything worse. As Long Haul finally replies to him, Perceptor nods reluctantly, dropping his gaze back to the rooftop between his legs.

// Omega Supreme returned to find the destruction of Crystal City, stirring his wrath. He pursued the Constructicons across the length and breadth of Cybertron until he was finally able to capture all six. That is, unfortunately, when Omega Supreme learned, first hand, that the work of Megatron's machine could not be undone, and that the Constructicons had been physically modified to create the Devastator gestalt. During the ensuing battle, the Constructicons and Megatron attempted to utilize the reprogramming device upon Omega Supreme. The device was destroyed before a complete reprogramming could be accomplished, however... Omega Supreme's emotive routines were severely damaged - detroyed - in the process. //

Perceptor turns to eye Long Haul from the corner of his optics, wishing that there were something, anything he could offer instead of this terrible knowledge.

// Though his emotive routines were destroyed by the device... he retains his rage. He vowed to destroy the Constructicons. //

[Long Haul]

This time Long Haul doesn't bother with his radio at all. "NO!" The hand that had been balled into a fist, the one farthest from Perceptor, slams against the ledge they had been leaning against, metal shattering at the blow.

So much for silence.

Long Haul stares at the broken wall, then shudders hard. He forces his fist open and studies his palm in silence, his optic band dimmed from the amount of current shunted to other processes. Finally he croaks out, alout but barely over a whisper, "With wiling cores and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once. The impossible takes a bit longer."

The transport looks Perceptor optic-to-optics, his band brightening fractionally as he brings his hands around to rest on his knees. He finally remembers his radio.

//I ain't accepting this, Perceptor,// he says with a death-still calm.

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OOC note: Those in the Zoo and Meetings may feel free to react to Long Haul's outburst when their turn comes up in that thread. Also, Perceptor: while I'll leave it your choice, I figure we can probably move this back to the thread proper (and the watch rotations). We can do that either now, after your next response, or after my next response. If it comes around to me again, I'll transfer it back then.

[Perceptor]

To some extent, Perceptor understands loss; he'd lost the only mechs he'd ever allowed to get truly close to him in the Decepticon attack immediately prior to Unicron's arrival. He'd only known those mechs a short time, however, having buried himself in work and study throughout the rest of his considerable lifespan until then. He hadn't known them from creation, lived with them, loved them as brothers throughout the long millennia.

He'd never been accused of trying to destroy them.

// Then I pray you come from a divergent reality. One where these events either do not occur, or you prevent their occurrence, // Perceptor replies gravely, somehow finding the fortitude to meet that terrible gaze squarely.

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OOC: I'm ready to move back to the main thread now. Thank you.