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Post by Elita-1 on Apr 4, 2010 12:22:18 GMT -5
Elita frowns when Ramulus declares the scent lost. She doesn't quite understand how scent tracking works, so accepting that Clipper's scent has just grown too thin for the Ibex to follow is a bit difficult.
"But...but you were doing so well-!" she says, before she can think better of it, then she catches herself. Now isn't the time for belittling talk.
She sighs. "That isn't good. This place...it's huge, on scale with Cybertron's cities, but so much more crowded and chaotic." Under different circumstances she'd find it exciting. "Maybe we can try what appears to be the local custom?" Elita points at a pole with a various flyers on it, some ads, but some that read Missing: followed by various information and pictures.
Her optic cast skyward. She wonders how the jet boys are coming in their search for Sentinel.
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Post by Ramulus on Apr 6, 2010 14:43:28 GMT -5
Ramulus just shrugs, looking kinda down, "I wish the scent was still untainted but this place is so.... so nasty, it completely erases her print" He looks to were Elita is pointing out, reading and watching, then tilts his head curiously, "We ask...?-" He glances to Holi, "are you having any luck?"
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 6, 2010 17:06:05 GMT -5
"No!" Holi laments, throwing both hands into the air. "Nothing! Just – just commercials! And some lady complaining about Omega Supreme landing on her store!" Oh, he could just spit. He would if he had saliva. "Like it wasn't an accident!"
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Post by Elita-1 on Apr 8, 2010 13:59:09 GMT -5
Elita gives Holi a puzzled expression.
"We did flatten some lady's place. And some people died. Accident or not, it's not surprising they got her on a news feed." Elita looks uncomfortable. She isn't as innocent as Clipper, and after digging through the rubble, Elita is pretty sure she knows what profession the crying woman had practiced.
"But, it wasn't exactly a store."
"Holi," she starts, walking up to the Micromaster and trying to lightly touch his shoulder, "I know it's frustrating, but we've only just begun looking, and this is a really, really big and crowded place. We'll find her, but none of us are used to searching for people in this kind of environment."
"Now, we can check in with the local authorities, see about filing a missing persons report. See how much it costs to get some new feed press, maybe. The others will be here soon, and we'll have more optics to search."
OOC: um, I was thinking maybe we could hook up with the Ego in a Haystack thread, if we check in with the police. It would get Elita back in place to (maybe) find out where Sentinel is, would let Holi make a police contact if he wanted, and would allow for a timeskip or something, since....I think Clipper's thread is set almost a week after this one. Thoughts?
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Post by Ramulus on Apr 9, 2010 17:25:48 GMT -5
"She probably eats well from it, I'd imagine" Ramulus in the mean while looks around some more, looking slightly thoughtful, "I think getting at least more people aware that we're looking might get us somewhere...."
His thoughts ping into clue, and he raises a finger, "But if we go to the authorities.... er! If we go.... -anywhere- further, I, for one, will be in major need of organic clothes.... because right now I'm either 'naked' or 'undeclared foreign animal' to non-Cybertron standards" He grins deviously, "But I reckon that I could trade off several gemstones to get us to look pretty upperclass..."
Yes, he said us.
-------- Ramulus is okay with anything.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 13, 2010 12:16:23 GMT -5
Holi jerks out from under Elita-1's hand, face bunched up with a confused, angry scowl.
"Well, she said 'merchandise'!" he snaps, fists balled tightly near his waist, and stamps one foot as hard as he can. The road surface cracks along with his professional façade. He's never felt quite so useless and small than he feels right now; he should be able to do something. But he can't. He stands there, shoulders hunched, arms stiff at his sides, head down, and stares at the cracks leading away from the new pothole under his foot.
First his shoulders twitch. Then he can't stop the little hiccoughing noises. The embarrassment that comes with crying in front of others when he's supposed to keep a stiff upper lip like his commanders would just makes it worse.
Then the sobs come, one after the other, and Holi can't stop them. He even tries scrubbing his face with both hands, but that just gets his hands all wet, too.
OOC: A meet-up is fine. And yes, I know the crying (with tears) is weird and silly, but it's canon for Victory/Zone, I swear.
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Post by Elita-1 on Apr 14, 2010 17:43:07 GMT -5
Elita's optics flash in an approximation of a blink at Holi's outburst. She looks down at the mess he's made of the walk; she didn't realize the smaller bot was so strong.
And then Holi completely breaks down.
"Oh...!" Elita wraps her arms around the Micromaster and holds him close, giving him, if he wants, a body against which to hide his tears from the passersby who are giving the trio very worried looks indeed. As Holi sobs, Elita's expression grows hard.
"I'm sure she considered them merchandise; she dealt in people, Holi." Elita looks at Ramulus, and a hint of command (courtesy of Autobot Academy Leadership Training*) slips into her town. "If by clothes you mean those coverings people are wearing, we can see about that later. But we're robots, and not all the robots are covered up here. We can get that taken care of after we get things rolling on finding Clipper. Or grab something on the way, if it's that slagged important to our getting help."
OOC: Cuddling of Holi done with permission.
*I am assuming that some basic leadership training was included to try and determine who might needed to be fast tracked. Elita-1 does not have any leadership skill. She's just the type to try and take control of a situation when she's upset.
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Post by Ramulus on Apr 15, 2010 18:35:03 GMT -5
"Yes, slave trading, sentient traffic, using conscious beings as a trading means for financial wealth, exactly" Ramulus sounds pretty at ease, almost as if the concept is familiar enough for him not to be surprised. He does not, however, sound happy about it, far from it. He ignores Holi's bawling, instead of making a snippy remark to it. His tone of voice is tactical when he answers Elita-1:
"Despite the reason of having these organic-ish parts to append to the code of decency in this society, I am also thinking about more reasons to blend in..... our kind is all about camouflage, after all (he ignores the fact of his mega-fail on it). We can't expect anyone to help us out of charity, it doesn't go that way, it never will. You get helped if you show influence and superiority; have the most powerful weapons, the biggest and smartest vehicle, the highest amount of money to spend; people will want to be your friend" He never stops meeting Elita-1's gaze, "They don't care about you, us, our plight of a lost friend; they're only interested in personal gain. Does it look like we can dangle that in front of their noses? I know it sounds harsh and not what you want to hear, but as part of this team, I must make you aware of it."
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 19, 2010 15:35:18 GMT -5
By the time Holi has cried it all out, huddled against Elita-1without even thinking about how he tucks himself into her arms, he's missed most of the exchange between her and Ramulus. Quieting down is a drawn-out affair replete with only partially successful efforts to stop sniffling. The only good thing about all this is he knows he'll never look as bad as Jean did after his crying spells because Holi's face can't puff up the way his friend's could.
It's amid his sporadic sniffles that he catches snippets of the discussion on how to obtain help and, face still wet, lip still trembling now and again, he looks at both of them.
"I could… I could talk to the local authorities," he suggests tentatively. If he can get himself back into shape, anyway. Small he may be, but he's still an officer of the law on Micro, and at the very least he might be able to get somewhere with that since it's one of his own missing.
OOC: Looks like we can wrap up and go join the other thread soon, y/n?
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Post by Elita-1 on Apr 20, 2010 16:22:38 GMT -5
Elita-1 sighs.
"Look Ramulus, I get all that, really I do. I'm not oblivious to the fact that looks matter. But so does having something to dangle, and right now, we just don't. What's the point of looking spiffy if we don't have the cred to back up our looks?" She shakes her head. "I'm not saying it isn't important, but...I just don't think it's as important as touching base with the authorities ." She straightens up from Holi and rubs her hand over her face.
She murmurs, almost to herself, "Not to mention they still haven't found Sentinel...."
She turns back to Holi. "Your call, Rescue Captain."
er, well, linking up may not work now. But maybe who ever's sceneing it will scene the same precinct for us?
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Post by Ramulus on Apr 21, 2010 14:33:51 GMT -5
Ramulus scowls.
".... Heard" He answers curtly, crosses arms and looks away, tail twitching with annoyance. For him, depending on authorities is vulnerability. So no, he does not like what Elita-1 is saying.
But he will dislike arguing strategy out here even more.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 25, 2010 20:53:19 GMT -5
"M-me?" Holi squeaks, having again assumed someone larger would be in charge of this operation. "But… um…." Hesitantly, he turns to peer at Ramulus, who looks about as happy as Swerve. Holi dislikes the idea of making the Maximal even angrier.
OOC: Sounds as good an idea as any.
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Post by Elita-1 on Apr 26, 2010 11:43:35 GMT -5
"Yes, you, Holi. Because I have a feeling Ramulus and I could argue 'til til the city falls down," she gives the ibex a sheepish half-smile, "We are both stubborn and opinionated, it seems. So- be the voice of reason and make the decision."
While she's waiting for Holi to do just that, Elita attempts to flag down a passerby for directions to the nearest police station. It takes a few tries, but eventually an older lady does stop and give Elita the needed info, plus some unsolicited advice.
She turns back to the pair, "So- corner of Lottery and Broken Dreams, not too far from here. And, er, there's apparently a decently priced clothing store near it, too."
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Post by Ramulus on Apr 27, 2010 11:49:32 GMT -5
"...." Ramulus makes a reserved glance to the both of them, then snorts, "Darn right"
The grin that appears when Elita returns might be smug, but the Maximal seems in a bit of a better mood now.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 27, 2010 23:50:20 GMT -5
Briefly, Holi looks like he's about to crumble again, being so abruptly put on the spot after just having a grand crying tantrum. He even feels he's about to break down again and for a moment wishes someone bigger and more experienced and better than he were here to take charge because clearly that person would be a better captain than the bawling little wreck still wiping away the occasional trickle.
But with one last sniffle, he snaps to and if his voice cracks just a little when he starts speaking, he just forges right on through it.
"We should speak to the authorities," he says. "Clothes or not, since now we don't have anywhere to start from. Maybe we can coordinate with them."
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