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Post by Mirage on Aug 23, 2009 16:23:34 GMT -5
"I did not say you enjoyed all your kills," he says softly, "I merely expressed an understanding of the fact, and attempted to offer a reasonably safe excuse for you to use if you so desired. It was not my intention to give offense, love."
He fold his arms upon the table. "I apologize. But chances are, I will continue to upset you. Though more insight into who you were versus who you are would help avoid that."
And with that, he neatly serves the ball back into her court.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 23, 2009 21:33:09 GMT -5
Studying Mirage intently, she nods slowly after a moment and some of the irritation subsides out of her frame. "Accepted. But Mirage, I don't need an excuse, though I suppose I appreciate the thought. I know exactly why I enjoyed those kills and it doesn't bother me at all." Other things about them do, but that part doesn't one bit.
Picking up her neglected drink she twists it between her fingers for a moment before taking a less cautious sip then has been her habit, then sighing. "Ask. Obviously I cannot, and will not, promise to answer you. But ask. I know you've been biting your tongue on questions." She paused and fixed him with a look that was weighing even with the interference of her visor. "Just be very sure you're willing to pay the cost of the answers you ask for if I'm willing to give them." And she wasn't talking about taking them out of his hide either.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 23, 2009 21:50:54 GMT -5
Mirage quirks a browridge. She is acquiescing much more easily than he expected her to do so. Of course, she has qualified her permission by saying she will not necessarily answer his questions.
"I would not ask, if I were not willing to pay, sweetheart," he says, quite seriously.
A waiter swings by and quietly refreshes their drinks.
"How hard was it, winning your freedom?"
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 23, 2009 22:05:26 GMT -5
For a moment Oracle goes stiff in rather surprised and pained shock, as though she had just seized a live power cable. Then she gives a harsh laugh. "You don't play around do you." She had made her own bold move by making the offer, and he was striking hard in turn apparently. She hadn't expected it to be pleasant but this...
She almost doesn't answer anyway, but some perverse impulse to test both of them makes her speak when she might have stayed silent.
"Do you mean what I did to them, or what I had to do to myself?" It sounds a little like she's dodging, but she actually does care about his answer. If he only cares about one or the other, she's going to skip over what he doesn't want to know about.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 23, 2009 22:12:56 GMT -5
Mirage shrugs when she comments on his question. It is a test of sorts, a test of her own willingness and resolve. For if she truly does not want him to know about her, she will not answer. But perhaps she does want a confident, someone who understands her. He shall see.
"Ah, but since you consider there to be a distinction, I must of course ask for both, my sweet." He smiles at her over the rim of the glass. Had she not asked for that clarification, had instead picked one or the other, he would have merely accepted, and not pressed further.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 23, 2009 22:33:46 GMT -5
The reasons for why Oracle is actually still talking to Mirage are considerably more complex than something like wanting a confidant. She's gone this long without anyone knowing her secrets, she would have been fine with that not changing.
Giving a bitter snort she shakes her head in response to his comment. "Of course there's a distinction. I couldn't have done one without doing the other, but what I did to them is a rather predictable bit of violence I would think, and I don't know that it requires much elaboration." A sudden sharp, and maybe not entirely balanced grin flashes across her face. "Unless you actually enjoy hearing about the details of a rather inventive and drawn out piece of revenge." Another quick shift to a more thoughtful mien. "After I got done clearing the building anyway."
Turning her attention back to Mirage her tone is a bit darker and haunted as she continues. "As for what I did to myself well, do you think they would create me, and arm me and train me, then leave control of me up to chance?" When they had sparred he'd called her someone's pet killer and seen how she reacted. "I broke the leash, it wasn't pleasant."
Understatement.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 24, 2009 22:18:45 GMT -5
Mirage had long ago adopted that neutral-yet-interested expression, the same one he'd used when he'd coaxed the alternate Emirate into giving up his secrets. Oracle could describe the most graphic an heinous of acts, and Mirage's feelings will not actually show upon his face.
"I do not desire to hear a graphic retelling of the particulars, no, but if you feel that such a telling will aid me in understanding you...," he says as he shrugs.
"Do how did you break that leash, Oracle? I can guess what was done to your makers once you did, but what made you want more than than the life of a pet?"
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 24, 2009 22:47:34 GMT -5
Mirage's controlled and neutral expression actually annoys Oracle, but she's honest enough with herself that she acknowledges any other expression would most likely do the same thing. She wants to have something to be upset at, to have a reason to lash out at him. She can even be honest with herself as to why, even if she can't quite admit it beyond that.
"A retelling would do nothing more than illustrate that I can be creative and determined should I have the right incentive. I'm sure that's not news." She isn't snarling, or haunted anymore, in fact she seems to be trying to almost project an unconcerned air, even if it's obvious that's anything but the case.
One finger tapped lightly on the table top to emphasize her point as she continued. "I never wanted the life of a pet. I just couldn't muster quite enough resources until then to break free." Her hand stilled on her table and after a moment she apparently changed the subject. "Have you ever seen what should have been your own death Mirage? Known that had you been just a moment slower, or they a bit luckier that might have been it? I have. Again, and again, and again... and I don't just know. I See."
After a short spell where Oracle seemed lost in thought, the finger that had been tapping before began tracing circles and she started speaking, though her attention was fixed on the spiraling shapes she was drawing. "Potential madness seemed a small price to pay for my life at that point, and like I said, I'm determined with the right incentive."
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Post by Mirage on Aug 25, 2009 10:29:49 GMT -5
"I cannot imagine seeing the world as you see it," he says once she is finished.
Mirage reaches out to try and clasp her hand in both of his, massage it lightly, as if trying to pull away some of her tension.
"So, your ability works by processing probabilities then, not actually reading the future? An odd quirk of programming that. I wonder that you are as balanced as you are."
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 25, 2009 11:40:53 GMT -5
That actually manages to pry a fleeting grin out of Oracle as she looks up at Mirage, letting him capture her hand at the same time. "I don't really think anyone can imagine honestly, but that's alright. I wouldn't expect you to." Since they would have to have her Sight to truly get it, she didn't think she would want them to either. She had paid one rather large price after all.
His further probing into how her abilities worked got an amused head shake before she answered him. "I don't know really. All testing pointed to that though so I assume so, and that is the likely basis considering what the actual intention of my creation was." She laughs briefly."Though admittedly that doesn't explain one of the little quirks that happens rarely, unless there's something about how it works that I'm missing." Getting a disturbed look on her face, she shakes her head again. "Thanks to that projection on Gillanan I've seen Unicron three times now. Once was enough, seriously." Though admittedly the first time had been enough to let her get to as much safety as could be found with a lot more warning than anyone else got. After she scraped herself off the ground anyway.
A faint smile twitched her lips and she shook her memories off as she focused on Mirage again. "Even if I saw the future in the sense of seeing it mystically somehow, I imagine I would see things the same way as I do now, and only the how might be different. That wouldn't effect that I see things, change them, and still remember the consequences of what might have happened had I not acted." Oracle doesn't make any commentary on his wondering about her state of mental balance. There wasn't much she could say really, she had pondered the same thing a time or two and come up with only speculation that maybe her processors had adapted. Not the sort of vague theories she wanted to share to be honest.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 25, 2009 13:44:14 GMT -5
Mirage is learning quite a bit about Oracle, and likely more than she intended. Her little ramble had given him a great deal of insight into not only her ability, but herself.
He tries to pull her hand up so that he can kiss her fingertips. For all her perceived nonchalance, she is uncomfortable with this topic. If he were more of a gentleman, he would drop the subject. But right now, his need for information is overriding his manners.
"And what were they actually intending to get, when they created you?"
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 25, 2009 13:58:52 GMT -5
Watching Mirage kiss her fingers with a wan smile, Oracle shrugs. "A more stable battle computer I think. They didn't exactly keep me informed." And she hadn't been that interested in finding out more than sketchy basics when she was collecting and then wiping files later on. What she hadn't ended up was considerably less important that what she had become as far as she was concerned.
As for how much he's finding out, while she's not aware of exactly how much he does know, she knows what she's openly disclosed and it's partially a calculated risk. After all, killing him and fleeing is still an option. A very, very poor one but not one she's forgotten. She's going to have to figure out that fleeing part though, this whole in space bit makes that even more complicated than being in another universe does. She would much rather it never come to that though, having one person she wasn't always wary of finding things out might be a nice change.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 25, 2009 22:13:59 GMT -5
Mirage continues to lightly kiss and nibble at Oracle's hand and fingers, and to hold her hand close. Mirage equates touch with comfort, and he is trying to provide her with something else to focus on, something to help her detach from her memories.
"And you became an Autobot why? You do not strike me as one who was built to be one, but I may be wrong."
He is quite curious as to this answer. It actually means quite a bit to him, you see.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Aug 25, 2009 22:50:26 GMT -5
While Oracle doesn't hold quite the same associations with touch, what Mirage is doing doesn't bother her even if it does seem a little odd. It is serving it's intended purpose of giving her something else to focus on though, as it's rather distracting. She would wonder if he had either a weapon or a danger fetish, but she's pretty sure by now he does have the second, and she's not so sure he's aware exactly where her weapons are hiding. It's not that important but it does make her smile a bit.
Which fades to a more thoughtful expression as she considers how to phrase the answer to his question. Not what the answer is, just how to say it exactly. "You are, and aren't wrong. When I was built Seekers weren't a purely Decepticon frame, that division came later." Which probably doesn't mean much to Mirage, but if she hadn't already said she was old, Oracle just dated herself should someone refer to her Cybertron's history. "On the other hand, I obviously wasn't built for peaceful activities." She gives an amused snort, as though that part wasn't beyond obvious all things considered.
Her amusement fading she looks searchingly at him. "I'll answer you, but I'm rather curious as to why the question. It's something of a departure from the previous topics of ancient history." It doesn't even occur to Oracle that Mirage might not know she's only a recent Autobot, he's been rather surprising at sussing things out until this point. "In any case I'm an Autobot because I refused to be a Decepticon, and I finally couldn't keep hiding in the shadows as a neutral." She gives him a vaguely wry grin. "I really didn't want to come out of the shadows. Far too much potential for attracting attention." Like this for instance, even if she had become rather resigned to the Spy's company and questions, and simply enjoyed the company as best she could.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 26, 2009 9:02:43 GMT -5
"Ah, but why refuse to be a Decepticon? What kept you from taking such an easy and obvious road?" Mirage quickly asks.
He continues his attentions to her hand while she answers, if she does, and then answers her own question.
"I asked be cause the 'ancient history' as you say was upsetting you greatly, and I thought to stray from that topic for awhile. I also ask because I consider it of some import to my attempt to sketch your character, sweetling."
And because it really does matter to him.
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