Where Fools Have Been Before

[Tasha Walker]

Blackarachnia smiles up at Scourge, polite and professional, but there's an edge of...something else. "Of course, sir."

She hands the tanker truck a clipboard holding a small stack of forms, as well as a pen. "Just fill out the forms, and we'll need to make a copy of your valid local ID or traveling pass. Information is a valuable thing, and we must protect it, you understand."

//Sorry, Scourge, but rule are rules, and right now I'd rather not lose this job. I'm doing my own research, and I need the access,// she radios the tanker privately. She doesn't sound particularly sorry, it might be noted.

//However, if you don't have the ID, I can set the books aside and check them out for you when I'm off shift.//

"Would you like me to hold those for you while you complete the paperwork?"

[Glyph]

Glyph glances over at Scourge for a moment. Why would a Decepticon be interested in language? In her experience, they're more keen on destroying history than studying it.

//Mostly just local language, but from what bit of history I've gleaned, the cultures of the planet seem to have a strange fascination with avians.// Rather curious, really.

[Rook]

"Ah, here we are. Finally. Honestly, this place is a maze," Rook tells no-one in particular as he steps into sector 928B, Ender's Wing. He flies up and starts taking books and discs off shelves, piling them onto a convenient nearby cart. It's a slow, laborious process due to his size, but he's not about to ask for Lugnut's help.

No, he's busy thinking of elaborate schemes to rise through the ranks, get Lugnut under his command, and have the big-mouthed fool painted pink. And maybe have his vocal synthesizer replaced with something high-pitched and chipmunky. Maybe give him a detail job that looks like an apron. Yes, that's grand. And then send him into battle against the Autobots.

The crow doesn't notice that there are missing volumes, but then he's not familiar with the local filing system.

[Lugnut]

Rook likes the sound of his own voice, apparently. Lugnut just growls in annoyance, before leaving the Predacon to his own devices. The zealot may not be particularly bright, but he learned long ago that the oldest data often contains the most valuable information.

Lugnut walks up to one of the consoles located on this floor. The buttons are a bit too small for him to properly type his request, so instead he selects the voice recognition tool. A hatch above the screen pops open and a microphone slides out, lowering itself until it's right in front of Lugnut's mouth, while a reminder to keep his voice low flashes across the screen.

"Computer, give me an oversight of all entries on this floor. Complete list, oldest first."

[Sable Conolly]

Maybe Scourge is checking out books on language to develop his pick-up lines for Minibot scientists! Probably not. But he could be.

Oh, Scourge has ID. The real question is which ID does he want to use today. He has several, with varying degrees of fakeness or not-fakeness, obtained from a few different sources. Makes it a bit easier when he wants to buy large amounts of controlled substances. He mentally flips through his subspace 'wallet', and he finally decides on something close to his actual ID, because he's not particularly sure that he wants the fellow who reads linguistics books to be connected to the completely different coughhackcough fellow who bought all those pallets of fertiliser yesterday for his... garden.

He slides the ID over to Blackarachnia on the counter, optics narrowed and antennae flicked back - what's that edge about her? Scourge doesn't understand. He replies smoothly, "I understand completely, and I would appreciate it if you did."

Scourge sets the books down on the counter and reaches for the forms. He sounds a bit amused, //Decepticons don't need to say they're sorry. Especially when they aren't. But I appreciate that, as well.//

[Arcee (RotF)]

//They've got birds on the processor, huh. Interesting, maybe it's some kind of idol. I'm sure I've heard about something like that, actually.// Arcee hasn't been to Pz-Zazz, but she has friends who have, and she's certain that it wasn't ever this bad.

//Seems like a bit of a weird choice to me, though.// Something felt off to her about it. Birds were often associated with freedom and happiness, and, well, those were things that seemed to run in terribly short supply, to say the least. That is, unless you were exploiting or denying others theirs for the sake of your own, anyway. Maybe she was looking at this the wrong way, though.

[Tasha Walker]

Blackarachnia sets the books on a cart marked Hold, then takes Scourge's ID. She can't help but smirk; she figured the big angry tanker had at least one. He's the sort not to overlook such details. She steps over to the copier, runs the ID through, and then tries to hand it back to Scourge.

"Thank you, sir. Just bring those back to me when you're done filling them out and I'll get that card for you."

//We don't have to, no, but old habits die hard, and I don't entirely not mean it.//

//What's with the sudden interest in languages?//

[Rook]

OOC: Skipping Glyph due to time-out.

The library cart has been filled with books and datadisks, precious information ready to be organized into usable form. Rook conscripts a staff member to wheel the too-big cart toward a computer terminal, then plugs in a datadisk and starts reading. Well, not reading, exactly. He looks at the screen, memorizes each page of text, then ejects the disk and starts on the next. Actual comprehension of the words on the screen and preparing the data to present to command can wait.

[Glyph]

//I'm not entirely sure yet - I've only started researching,// Glyph answers, turning a few pages. //Too early to draw proper conclusions...//

For now, Glyph is content to just read through her book unless addressed specifically.

---

OOC: Glyph is now officially skippable unless addressed by others.

[Lugnut]

Well, at least Lugnut is getting a decent list of all available books, files and data. Unfortunately, most of that is in languages that he does not understand. This makes the purple zealot growl in annoyance, but at least there are a few books in languages which he does know.

He makes a mental note of where to find those before he walks off, all five optics scanning the shelves as he moves away from Rook, hoping to find the oldest entries first. Would definately make things easier.

[Sable Conolly]

Scourge plucks his ID back and holds it up to his optic for a considering moment, and it vanishes. He stalks off to a wall and writes in his information, holding the sheet against the wall. Blah blah blah, pretty, pretty lies.

Then he paces back to hand her the completed forms, and he replies, //Shockwave,// as if that is an explanation.

[Arcee (RotF)]

Chromia goes back to reading her own book while keeping an optic on Scourge, but with Blitzwing still skulking about somewhere, she's wary of leaving Glyph on her own, public place or not.

Arcee continues to watch silently from her hiding place--if you could call it that--from the bookshelves. So far, it didn't look like they were looking for anything aside from information on the cultists, but she'll wait to find out if they're interested in anything else. Just in case.

----

OOC: Both Arcee and Chromia will be considered skippable unless the Decepticons get nearer or directly addressed, respectively.

[Tasha Walker]

Blackarachnia quirks one set of eyes up at Scourge as she takes his paperwork. //Fun times. Did you tick him off, or impress him?// Either is a viable reason to get given random tasks.

She process his paperwork swiftly, slides a blank into the machine and presto, Scourge has a newly minted library card. She hands it to him as another lady slips back behind the counter.

"Thanks for covering my lunch, 'Tasha. You breaking, or gonna hold off?"

Blackarachnia smiles and tells the girl she has someone who needs help upstairs, and will take her break later. She starts to move toward the elevator, graceful even in the confining clothes.

//Coming up, or heading out?//

[Rook]

The crow is still perched in front of a computer, memorizing data. The hardest part is just manipulating the objects that are scaled too big for him. (Stupid G1-sized planet.) All the rest is just staring at the screen. He's almost through with the discs, then he'll start on the books.


OOC: Skippable unless interacted with for a few rounds while he's busy with this.

[Lugnut]

This can't be right.

Lugnut arrived at the shelves where the list said the books would be, but instead there were missing entries. It was not that much of a shock though. After all, this IS a library. But then again, there didn't seem to be any other people on this floor save for Rook and himself...At least none that he had seen. How odd.

Still, Lugnut gathers the books he needs, pulling them off the shelf (his pincers actually being useful for once) and carefully holding them. Then he's on to the next section that has the books in known languages, briefly grumbling at just how few there were of those, and continuing to move from isle to isle, unaware that there is an Autobot on this floor.