Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil

[Hellbender]

Said Decepticon back-up looms behind Shockwave, only a head shorter than Shockwave himself, and broader, if you count the span of his armor-shroud "wings". All dark blue-black, the color of night, save for three glowing red eyes--two optics in his face and one glowing reticule on his shoulder cannon. The cannon is pointed at Perceptor, in a mildly-threatening sort of way.

Hellbender stands a pace or two back and to one side, making sure Shockwave isn't in his line of fire if he has to deal with the Autobot. Fortunately, Perceptor isn't one of the Autobots that pushes Hellbender's hot buttons on sight; it's fairly easy for the worm-former to stand quietly with his arms folded, watching and waiting. The cutting heads lining his forearms whir periodically, spinning up and rotating every so often.

The boss's strategy is to let the Autobots get the blame for being the violent bad-guys here. Too many local witnesses to gank this 'Bot on sight, and Shockwave obviously has some special tactics for this one, so no overt provocation, either.

[Victoria Raines]

"It is," Shockwave agrees, "Though I would question its use to one of our kind, indulging idle curiosity is not so bad a thing. I imagine that wild plant-creature you have adopted will find your gathered information most enlightening."

Yes, Shockwave is fishing. He never did get to examine the evil Botanica, after all. He only knows that she was quite the troublemaker, and that her good counterpart was skilled enough to put Sky-Byte and Long Range out of play. Pretending to believe she is something other than a proper mechanism is sure to upset Perceptor's sensibilities. Whether the Autobot scientist will openly take the bait depends on how much Perceptor has grown since his last encounter with Shockwave.

Shockwave steps closer.

"You should not walk about this place unescorted, Perceptor. The planet is known for its unsavory element, and neither of our factions are particularly welcome here at the moment. And you," Shockwave's headfin flicks, "are too trusting an easily distracted."

[Perceptor]

Hellbender is not the only one with a weapon that can be unobtrusively trained onto a target, and Perceptor's light cannon is even less visually a "weapon" than Hellbender's shoulder cannon.

It's too bad that Perceptor is not confrontational enough for that to have occurred to him. He is not a coward, however, given the precarious position of the Autobots' presence, and his own pacific nature, "flight" is a far more likely option than "fight" for the scientist. Except that he probably cannot outrun either Shockwave or his body guard. He is outnumbered, outgunned, and outclassed by both of them, and not... exactly... where he should be at the moment.

Xaaron is going to be so very, very cross with him. If he manages to make it out of here with everything intact and under his own recognizance.

"Bio-fuels. Pharmaceuticals. Lubricants. All manner of compounds may be derived from organic materials, Shockwave," Perceptor chides, his scientific nature affronted by such a glaring oversight on the Decepticon's part. "Compounds which even mechanical lifeforms like ourselves may find useful, thank you, much less the inhabitants of worlds like these."

Shut up, Perceptor. Do not give too much away. Not that there is much to give away, but, still. Shockwave should need to scrounge for every mote of information, rather than simply goad Perceptor into babbling everything out.

And speaking of "goading"... Perceptor's features pinch into a scowl of irritation and suspicion. He will not rise to the bait. He will not. Even if it feels like a disservice to Botanica to allow such a slur to pass unchallenged. But he's already given himself away with his expression. Unless....

"I am capable of such curiosity for its own sake all on my own, thank you," he snorts, setting his jaw stubbornly. "What interest she may have is hardly my concern."

Sow disinformation. Attempt, at least. He doubts that Shockwave will actually buy such a ruse, but it is worth the attempt. He hopes.

"And why would you assume that I am entirely unescorted?" he challenges, although he cannot stop himself from backing another step or two away from Shockwave's advance, and his voice is not so sure as it was a moment ago.

Xaaron is going to be so angry with him. Probably Kup and Rodimus Prime, as well. And Rattrap thought that Holi had needed looking after!

[Hellbender]

Hellbender says nothing aloud, and merely continues to look ominous. His sensors are still driving near their limits, listening and feeling for any new intruders.

// Far as I can tell, he ain't got any escorts, unless they're some of the squishies in the bushes. Ah might miss some of the really small and sneaky guys, like Little 'Rachnia, in all this noise clutter. No full-grown bots close by, though, sir. //

Hellbender hopes they don't have anyone as sneaky as the Mayhems, because it would be really embarassing if a 'Bot popped up after telling his boss that there were none around. Mirage, he's pretty sure he'd hear and ping, but Spinister seems to be able to come and go without even Hellbender catching him.

[Victoria Raines]

Oh, Perceptor, a poker face you do not have.

"I did not say such items had no uses, merely that I question them, Perceptor," Shockwave says, voice light and even, "But I do thank you for enumerating their many uses and giving me insight as to why you yourself are so interested in them."

"But really, there's no shame in simply gathering such bits for your little pet, if that is the case. No need to be so defensive."

Shockwave tilts his head as Perceptor steps back. The Autobot is still wary of him, even after Shockwave helped him during that battle. Yet, not so wary as to flee, or attack. Good. A little fear is better than none at all.

He shrugs, "Because you are the type to wander off when something of interest calls to your intellect, and that regardless of the possible danger to your own safety."

//Thank you, Hellbender. I did not expect him to have company, but he might yet call for assistance. Continue to be on guard.//

Shockwave steps forward again, "Why so skittish, Perceptor? Surely you do not fear my doing you harm?"

[Perceptor]

The bulky Decepticon with the weird wing structures is making Perceptor nervous. He isn't familiar with Hellbender's new form, though he recognizes bits of the mining worm in that shell/wings, and Hellbender's continued silence is... nerve wracking. It speaks volumes for Hellbender's obedience to Shockwave, which, in turn, speaks volumes for Perceptor's chances of escape if this whole encounter goes poorly.

Which it inevitably will. Perceptor's luck just runs that way, and he has no one here to spur him into a fit of protective courage, which is generally what it takes for the bookish scientist to stand up to Shockwave - or, really, any opponent - in a confrontational manner. When confronted alone with Stunticons, he fled (like a wee girly girl, all flailing limbs and undignified wailing, in fact), and when confronted with Decepticons destroying Autobot City, he fought. Perceptor needs someone to protect besides himself to give his backbone a suitable injection of titanium.

Although, the slurs against Botanica are nearly enough to push him into that protective mien... Almost. He cringes internally at allowing Shockwave to continue to smear Botanica's professional abilities, however... Shockwave is goading him, and even Perceptor can see that. Besides, it is more than about time that Perceptor start attempting to learn how to prevent himself from divulging so much to the manipulative Decepticon at every encounter. And the less Shockwave learns about Botanica's unique physiology, the better.

"You may always easily outmaneuver me with that golden vocal processor of yours, and your circuitous, duplicitous logic circuits, Shockwave," Perceptor pronounces coolly, "however you will never match me in the sciences, much less best me." It isn't even boasting. Perceptor is not aware of anyone in any reality yet who can truly compare their scientific knowledge and skills to his own, in all the depth and breadth of the sciences which he is in command of. Which is, essentially, all of them.

"Those are merely a sampling of the various uses to which I could put such samples to, much less what curiosities I might indulge in their studies, which I am equally certain that you are more than well aware of. Even a bare microchip would deduce that, unlike you, I cannot manipulate my extrication from a damp cellulose container, but you know a version of me far too well to be unaware of what interests I would have for such an opportunity as this," he adds, indicating the gardens with a sweep of his hand.

He backs up another pace, then a second, maintaining that distance between them - provided that his unseen path does not become blocked by an obstacle, of course. "If it suits your purpose, you would feed your own watchdog there to the smelters," Perceptor retorts sharply, wondering idly if he can bait Hellbender into reacting, if only to annoy Shockwave. Not exactly the most brilliant plan, as said "reaction" would be aimed at him, but any distraction in a storm, so to speak.

"Or has it not yet deduced that you maintain only that which serves you and your grand plan without any regard for its own attachment to functionality? Everything is a tool to you, Shockwave, to be used and discarded at will when it no longer serves the purpose for which it was designed. Especially the mechs which you surround yourself with."

Why, it sounds as if someone might have been listening to a certain white Prime-esque mech with an axe to grind against old monocle here!

[Hellbender]

Hellbender's optics narrow ever-so-slightly, but he remains outwardly silent... though his cutters spin up to idle standby and stay that way, whirring continously.

// Ah thought this here Perceptor was the Autobot's genius, but he's actin' kinda dumb, sir. He's deliberately torquing me up, and he ain't got anyone here to back him up if Ah decide to take a few limbs off and bash his headcase in with 'em. Then he's goin' and tellin' me stuff Ah already know, like it's some big deal. Does he not know nothin' about us Decepticons? //

The targeting reticule is definitely tracking Perceptor now. Hellbender shifts, transferring his weight from one foot to the other. // Ah'm tryin' not to repeat mah mistakes from the last guys, but... permission to speak to this here Bot, sir? //

[Victoria Raines]

If Perceptor keeps backing up, he'll either fall into a hedgerow or stumble over an iron bench, depending on how he's angling his steps.

One of Shockwave's headfins twitches. Those last words had been familiar in tone, entirely too much so, and that makes the gunformer wary. That Ultra Magnus had made it to the Autobots before his systems failed had always been a possibility. Now Shockwave wonders if that possibility is fact.

//You may retort as you like, but do keep in mind that I am not quite ready for him to flee our presence yet. Perceptor can be a veritable fountain of information if handled properly.//

Plus, Shockwave simply enjoys tormenting the Autobot scientist.

He tilts his head. "It is merely the Decepticon way, Perceptor, what you so righteously preach against. We do not coddle that which cannot pull its own weight. We do not keep that which has outlived its usefulness." Shockwave steps back slightly, half turning to try and run his hand along the edge of one of Hellbender's "wings." "Though that which is salvageable, we may rebuild into something greater than the original sum."

Shockwave steps away from the worm, again attempting to close teh distance between himself and Perceptor. He softly adds, "It is much better to be my tool than my enemy, Perceptor, for I take the utmost care of those who I call mine."

Rise to the bait, Perceptor. You know you want to.

[Perceptor]

If anything, Hellbender's restraint intimidates Perceptor even more; not only physically capable, but smart enough not to be baited. Or under Shockwave's thumb enough to know better than to let Perceptor's goading get the best of him, and definitely not a drone, as those whirring bits attest to.

Perceptor shudders at Shockwave's words. "You speak of life as if it is merely a convenience," he breathes, shaking his head. "Your convenience. Your whim. To be... be recycled when it no longer pleases you!"

"You are a living, thinking being," Perceptor observes, addressing Hellbender directly for the first time. "You cannot tell me that you would happily lay that life down for no other reason than the fact that you no longer amuse Shockwave!" Can he?

Perceptor does, in fact, end up backing himself right into a rather sturdy hedge as Shockwave continues to press forward. It may only be a plant, however, he will have to cause considerable, and rather noticeable, damage to the park to blunder his way through the hedge to freedom - or at least brief escape. More bad press, however, is not something which the Autobots can really afford right now, and there might, perhaps, be another option-- provided that Shockwave's Perceptor had not had access or reason to utilize the same mass-shifting technology which Perceptor uses.

Of course, if he had... well, Perceptor is vulnerable as he transforms in such a manner, and how much simpler would it be for Shockwave to simply imprison and hide a tiny microscope in his own fist than an entire struggling, screeching, irate, full-sized Autobot scientist? Perceptor files the idea away as a method of last resort as he presses himself back into the hedge as far away from Shockwave as he can manage without damaging it.

"Is that why you repaired me, then? Do the other Decepticons know, does your guard there know how you assisted an Autobot in escaping the attack back on Gillanan III?" he hisses. "I do not belong to you! We are not your creatures to be taken apart for your amusement, or abandoned like refuse at your whim! Is that the 'utmost care' of which you speak, Decepticon?!"

Foolish Perceptor. He doesn't quite say, "Why, yes, Ultra Magnus did survive and is under our care, thank you kindly," but, then again, who else has Shockwave indulged himself with that he would have so irately referred to in such a blatant, yet oblique manner? And he didn't even manage to get Shockwave to actually ask him for the information as payment still owed for those repairs that Perceptor had just so conveniently mentioned. Xaaron is not going to be happy. At this rate, Perceptor will be lucky if Kup doesn't lock him on the Event Horizon until they all get sent back to their respective realities.

[Hellbender]

Hellbender shifts and folds his arms again, switching which arm is on top. // Understood, sir. Nothin' threatening. //

He lets Shockwave caress his wing-shroud, and if Perceptor is very alert, he might notice the extremely brief smile of almost-pleasure that flashes across Hellbender's face at the attention. The smile vanishes as he scowls at Perceptor.

"First you call me an 'it' like Ah'm some kinda drone, and now you're all worried about mah future well-being? Yeah, real consistent there, 'Bot," Hellbender rumbles. "Ah got a name--it's Hellbender. Hope you can remember big words like that."

He gives Perceptor a brief quizzical look as the red Autobots winds up wedged into the hedge, then continues, "'Usefulness' got a lot to do with willingness, Bot. It ain't physical damage that makes a 'Bot or Con useless. Me, Ah was toasted down to CPU, just about, and the boss rebuilt me--because he knows Ah'll do the job and not start flip-floppin' sides. The day Ah'm 'useless' to him is the day Ah deserve to get smelted down, 'cause it means Ah've turned traitor."

He laughs at Perceptor's attemped taunts. "You mean like your Skyfire done rescued me from the swamp and helped Hook rebuilt me?"

[Victoria Raines]

Hellbender, you may have just earned back some of the points lost when you spoke out of turn earlier.

Shockwave sighs, "Perceptor you continue to misunderstand. Your idealism, it colors your vision. Usefulness to me personally is immaterial. Usefulness to the betterment of our people is another matter. Do you forget that I succeeded in uniting our splintered factions in my time? Regardless of what some mechanisms might think of my methods, I regret nothing. I rebuilt my world and my people, brought us back from nothing, helped to prepare against the coming of Chaos which I knew was inevitable."

"It is so quintessentially Autobot to feign anger over the methods, when among you are leaders and warriors just as ruthless, just as focused on larger pictures."

"Deny that, and be caught in a lie, Perceptor." Look closely at your comrades, Perceptor, examine them under that precious lens of yours. Can beings such as Xaaron, Rodimus, even Ultra Magnus hold up under your scrutiny?

Shockwave inclines his head toward his pet guardian, "He understands, you see, better than most. You will not sway him with such paltry entreaties and sentimentalism. I still owe Skyfire a debt for his assistance in recovering him." Shockwave's gaze turns back toward Perceptor.

Just as you still owe me a debt. Words unspoken, yes, but Shockwave is certain the other scientist hears them well enough.

"Repaired and unfettered, the likelihood of your creating a method to remove or destroy the upstart Prime and his fellows was high, much higher than my own chances, so under his watch I was. Alive and unfettered, the likelihood of your discovering information which may assist us both in returning us all to our proper places is much higher than my working alone, or capturing you and forcing such cooperation."

Shockwave reaches out and tries to slip a finger under Perceptor's chin, tilt it up. "You still think me some sort of monster, Perceptor?"

[Perceptor]

"That was a different situation entirely," Perceptor snaps at Hellbender. "Skyfire assisted those whom he believed at the time were his allies. Skyfire also believes in assisting those in need, rather than attempting to dispose of them when they begin to think for themselves, instead of blindly accepting the rhetoric fed them by duplicitous, power-hungry pretenders."

"And I have only your own word for that, Shockwave," he retorts, leaning back into the hedge behind him,; it's much sturdier than it appears. He'll have to do more damage than he'd anticipated if he means to escape through it. "Easy enough to make such grandiose claims when there are none about to refute them." Of course, that's a bit of a fib, since he has spoken to Ultra Magnus during said mech's repairs about his own Cybertron, but any point of misdirection is useful, and Perceptor still cannot help but wonder at what cost that rebirth under Shockwave's direction had occurred? How many lives did Shockwave deem "unnecessary" or "counterproductive" to his vision of Cybertron, and thus, simply abandon? And if Shockwave had been so ready to attempt to destroy Magnus, who next, then?

Alas, Perceptor cannot refute Shockwave's observation about the leadership of the Autobots, and their own capabilities. Nor that he still owes Shockwave for those repairs. Neither fact pleases him in the least, but it is truth.

He tries to shrink back from that hand under his chin, but he hasn't any room left to retreat to, and isn't quite childish enough, yet, to resist that touch simply to be stubborn. Tempting as that is, it would serve only to amuse Shockwave and leave Perceptor open to unnecessary damage.

"You are dead inside," he replies softly, meeting that single gold optic. "There is no joy in you. There is more to existence than simple usefulness. Perhaps I am overly sentimental, but at least I am capable of feeling something beyond ambition."

So, in other words, yes.

[Hellbender]

Hellbender gives Perceptor a puzzled frown--then his shoulder gun slews sideways to point at something scuttling in the bushes. A few minutes later it returns to rest position, pointing somewhere at Perceptor's feet. Whatever inhabited the bushes is evidently not a threat.

"Ah don't see no one pretending here. 'Less you're talking about Starscream. It's always hazardous to call him on his slag 'less you're the big boss; he takes it badly," Hellbender says. "Skyfire should've kept his vocalizer quiet."

Hellbender heard the pride in Shockwave's voice when he talked about rebuilding Cybertron; he just gave Perceptor a knowing smirk over his comments. There was far more to Shockwave than mere ambition; the boss had a vision of a better Cybertron, and a better existence for all of them than just endless war, and it sounded like he'd achieved it, back home.

[Victoria Raines]

Shockwave tilts his head as Perceptor speaks, optic flickering slightly at that harsh accusation. He leans in a bit closer and murmurs, "You have more than my word as to my accomplishments, Perceptor. You have a witness to it." Shockwave's hand drops and he shrugs, "You do not lie so well as the Perceptor I know."

You should not play at misdirection against a master of it, Perceptor.

"'Dead inside' am I? Such a heinous label you give me," Shockwave says, "Does that belief comfort you, let you bask in your perceived moral superiority?" There's a slight edge to Shockwave's tone, one that could be easily interperted as anger, rather than the weariness it actually is.

Shockwave steps back, moving to stand by his faithful guardian. Again his hand comes up in an attempt to rest on the mining worm's shell. His looks at Hellbender as he continues to speak to Perceptor. "You have saved many lives in your time, I am sure Perceptor, perhaps as many as I. And perhaps you have come to regret saving some of them." That single optic swivels back toward the Autobot."

"I have not."

"I value life much more highly than you think, Perceptor."

The dead are not nearly so useful to him, after all.

[Perceptor]

Yes, Hellbender, a new vision of Cybertron. A vision of perfect order and compliance, of servitude to Shockwave's ideals. A life without conflict, not even so much as the conflict of dreaming, of disagreement. A life without a shadow of chaos, where every being knows its place and strives no further than that place in order to maintain such perfect. Stagnant. Order.

Such a life is a nightmare to Perceptor. He would rather serve in an endless war than die in a neatly, perfectly ordered prison.

"How many did you not revive?" Perceptor murmurs back stiffly. "How many did not suit your Cybertron?"

At last, though, a reaction. It does not really matter if it is weariness or whether it is the anger Perceptor assumes it to be, Shockwave reacts with something besides his cool, smug calculation. For that brief moment, Shockwave allows his emotions to flare. It is something Perceptor will have to ponder later. If there is a "later".

That tiny flicker of triumph is short lived, however, and Perceptor does not quite manage to stifle his wince at Shockwave's accusation. Yes. Yes, there have been lives that Perceptor regrets saving, and it hurts him to even admit to that regret, much less that Shockwave has guessed correctly.

"Only because dead tools do not manipulate so easily," he retorts, but his voice lacks conviction, still recovering from the sting of Shockwave's correct assertion.

How much better would things have fared, how much better would Earth and Cybertron have been, had Perceptor not treated the Decepticons for their Cosmic Rust? Wouldn't their deaths, even his own death, have been worth an end to the War? Is there possibly some small grain of truth to Shockwave's methods? Some small bit of... of worth... to such an ability to calculate?

Who is he, though, to determine who has value enough to live?

On the other hand... why are the very qualities which Perceptor finds so abhorrent in Shockwave tolerable in Xaaron? Distasteful, but tolerable. Is it merely because Xaaron has Rodimus Prime and Kup to temper his judgment with their own more compassionate stances?

Or are Perceptor's perceptions skewed by his own bias against a Shockwave? His glance flickers up to where the Decepticon sigil would rest upon his own Shockwave, a space which on this Shockwave even now remains... blank.