A Thousand Faces of Darkness

[SceneMod]

There are many things Mirage could do. He could try to wake up the other captives. He could try to crawl out. He could ransack the cabinets. He could try to get his radio working. Many, many options.

But in the stillness of lying in the dark, he just might hear heavy footfalls outside, pacing and restless.

Better decide something.

[Mirage]

The question Mirage asked of the wet darkness was really more rhetorical in nature. There really are many, many options available to him, too many. Mirage has never been in this type of situation before. He has always been too good to get caught. Add in the complication of having friends to rescue, and the spy is feeling despair threatening at the edges of his mind.

He can't allow himself to give in to that, though. He has to keep fighting, he has to get free and free those who depend upon him.

First thing, he has to get off this floor, figure out just how much movement is left him. He needs something he can use as a weapon, as he can't access any of his. He needs to see if there is a way to get a radio signal out, and he needs to see if he can free Bambi and Pyrite and if they can move. Pyrite... Mirage wants to save him, but... the fact that Rock Lord would be a liability can not be ignored. If he can only save one, he will save Bambi.

The footsteps outside the door have not gone unnoticed.

Carefully, Mirage reaches up and grasps the ring, using it to pull himself up to a standing position. Experimentally, he tries a step and finds that the best he can manage is shambling sort of slide. He can't actually pick his feet up or bend his knees, which means he can't move as quietly as he'd like. He still isn't making a truly audible noise, but it seems deafening to him in the silence.

Grabbing hold of the IV rig, Mirage uses that as a crutch, sliding with it toward the table that held his radio. Is it intact enough that it could be easily reseated or turned on to provide a sort of homing signal? Are there any tools which could make impromptu weapons?

[SceneMod]

There are lots of very horrid tools that Mirage might be able to use as weapons - all manners of scalpels, hacksaws, bandsaws, tools that seem rather dental, probes, violet wands, long hollow needles...

His radio has not been damaged further than it was previously; it has been removed with great care. If he could put it back in and redo all the connections, it would likely be usable... but didn't Mirage have servants to kiss away his scrapes and cuts, make his boo-boos all better?

[Mirage]

Mirage chooses a scalpel from the tray. The blade is shorter than he'd like, and the balance is off, but he thinks he can handle it well enough if need arises. His radio seems intact; this is good. Maybe, if he can get Bambi awake and free, she can do something with it.

Speaking of Bambi, Mirage turns and makes his way slowly over to the Dinobot. He leans in close, places a finger against her lips and murmurs quietly in an attempt to wake he.

"Bambi? Bambi, love, it's Mirage. The real Mirage. You probably don't believe that but please darling, don't make a lot of noise. There's someone in the hallway."

If she doesn't respond, he'll try to shake her shoulder, but lightly, still trying to keep a finger at her lips.

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi takes some shaking to awaken, and her optics go wide, the lighter blue slits nearly swallowing the darker blue in the darkness. She squirms, and her feet twitch, but eventually, her nose catches up with the rest of her.

Waking up in a weird, creepy, dark laboratory with a Mirage who smells rather fuel-splattered and a bit sickly and is that hydraulic fluid? What in the?

Bambi mutters quietly, "...this not where him Rodimus Prime tell me go."

[Mirage]

If Bambi's post is not in lieu of a Scenemod post, please let me know, and I'll delete until after a scene post.

---

"No," Mirage answers softly, shaking his head, "No it is not. Have you full range of motion, or have you been crippled as I have?"

As he waits for his answer, Mirage kneels down (crumples, really), about to start working on freeing one of Bambi's feet. Just before he touches the cuff, however, he looks up.

"I'm sorry love, but I need to make sure: what was going on when you first appeared among us back on Gillanan?"

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

"Uh, me Bambi show up in cage and yell at him Optimus Prime - him no good - then there big fight in city with zoo, and me smell him Mirage only me think him evil Mirage or something, and then me wandered off..." Bambi explains, trying herself. She feels pathetically weak, and it pisses her off. She can't even summon her hammer!

...but she can summon her lockpicks, and she does, twisting her fingers about to work on the shackle, like she's done something like this before.

[Mirage]

Mirage mutters to himself, "That will have to do. Hopefully, they haven't found a way to just assimilate memories along with forms."

Bambi will quite possibly have her hands free before Mirage is finished with her feet, as until a few moments ago Mirage had never done anything like this before. Once the Dinobot's bonds are loosened, he will try to help her down out of the ring.

"You have some repair skills, right? Think you can get me up and walking properly? Quickly and quietly?"

"Maybe get my radio hooked back up... I assume yours is also down?"

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi doesn't seem to be too bothered about getting herself out of the shackles. However, as soon as Mirage helps her down, she promptly tries to stand on her own and falls over flat on face.

"Gnn," she grunts, in a bit of pain, pushing herself up a bit and rolling over. Putting the lockpicks away, she tries to summon her soldering iron... and can't manage that much. Bambi snarls, but a small piece of her is glad that Mirage can't see how very ugly her face is when she's angry. "Need soldering iron. Or glue. Settle for tape? Who they, anyway?"

She might have to rethink this whole killing thing.

[Mirage]

Mirage tries to catch Bambi before she falls, but he can't quite manage it. He's as crippled as she is, and he simply can't move quickly.

He does, however, put another warning finger to her lips. He lowers himself a bit closer to her.

"There are some tools across the room. Maybe more in the cabinets, but we have to be quiet as we can. I don't know how long we have before those who were... examining me come back to check on the progress of their experimentation."

He pulls himself back up on the IV rig, then offers his hand to Bambi to help her up. If she accepts, he'll shuffle them both back over to the table where his radio is sitting. As he walks, he explains.

"We were both- as well as Pyrite- taken by some odd alien race, a technorganic mix, it seems. They seem to think we're not independent entities, some other being's creation." Mirage's voice hardens, "They think we have no souls. That we're just machines, trade goods."

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi grudgingly takes Mirage's hand and toddles over to the radio and the tools. She awkwardly climbs up on the table and rummages through the tools, trying to find something light enough that she can handle it. Hmm, this looks like a screwdriver, but... laser? Oh well. Bambi puts it to work, crudely repairing her motor and subspace lines - it's just clean cuts through wires, simple enough. They might break again there later, but she'll keep this screwdriver, just in case.

Then she tries to climb up onto Mirage's shoulder to work on him and put that radio back in. Hopefully he won't fall down!

All she says is, "Hnn."

[Mirage]

Mirage lets Bambi clamber over him and do repairs as needed. Oddly enough, he really does trust the little Dinobot.

Mirage will not try his radio immediately. He'd be surprised if radio transmissions weren't monitored, and he'd rather not risk calling attention until he has to do so.

He says softly, "If you could get my subspace routines back online too... I'd feel better with my rifle in my hands."

Once the repairs are done, hopefully, he will be able to walk. Once he can do that, Mirage has every intention of going to check on Pyrite. Mirage is feeling... quite a bit better now, actually. He looks inward for a moment. Looks like that new tech is integrated now.

Oh. Oh my. But this is a very nice upgrade, oh yes. Mirage still can't read the software, but he can tell what's been made better. Maybe he'll be able to keep it.

Mirage is considering his options. He wants to free Pyrite, but he also needs to get Bambi safe. Mirage also can't help but consider that the entire reason for this debacle, Pyrite's sister, could also be here.

And Mirage does so hate to leave a job unfinished.

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi doesn't try her radio, because at this point, she flat doesn't trust anyone that she can't smell in person. Maybe not even that. She does crudely fix Mirage's motor and subspace lines - she's not even sure which is which; she's just putting back together any wires that look cut. He'll need proper repairs by a competent medic later, but if he doesn't strain himself too hard, he should be okay for now.

Then, she looks over at Pyrite, quite unerringly, despite the dark, and asks softly, "Want me Bambi fix him, too?"

[Mirage]

Experimentally, Mirage tries to pull his rifle from subspace, and he is pleasantly surprised to find that it appears readily to his hand. The surprise doesn't show, but the satisfaction does. For now, he lets the rifle drop back into subspace, confident that he can have it again in an instant.

At Bambi's question, though, he sighs and stares at Pyrite in the darkness. Moving to stand just in front of the Rock Lord, his fingers hovering just barely above Pyrite's cheek.

"I'd like you to, yes," Mirage murmurs, "But... he's a liability. One of you I can watch. Both though... he has no inner strength."

His fingers touch Pyrite's cheek, his thumb over Pyrite's lips.

"Are you awake in there, Pyrite?"

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi pulls out her cloak and puts it on. Now she is ready for special operations! she watches Mirage closely. To leave Pyrite here would be the survivalist's choice, but is it the right one? A nagging voice in her head says it is not.

Pyrite weakly flinches at the touch, as if he expects ill of it. Darkness. Did they cut his optic lines? No, there's yellow and blue eyes glowing in the darkness, and the lights of the monitors. "Chalco?"

Another flinch, when he finally remembers what that yellow means.

"Oh. 'm sorry."