Cheetor
Cadet
Here he is, your little guy.
Posts: 67
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Post by Cheetor on Apr 23, 2011 17:38:00 GMT -5
Cheetor falls quiet and still as Sentinel poses questions back at him.
"I..." Should he tell them about what Rattrap did? Granted, Rattrap didn't necessarily hate being technorganic, just the limitations he had as one. Given the time difference, the Rattrap Cheetor knew back home and the one here may as well be two different people, but he doesn't want to betray Rattrap's trust, or cause people to have painted perceptions about the rat. Rattrap can give himself a questionable reputation without Cheetor's help, after all.
"I... don't know what I would do." He really doesn't - Tigatron wouldn't have gone over to Megatron's side in a million megacycles - but if something did cause him to do so... Cheetor would be at a loss for what to do.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Apr 24, 2011 12:57:11 GMT -5
Botanica's down, her concentration seemingly on her own bonsai when Sentinel asks Cheetor that poignant question. Her hands, her whole body, stills as she waits for the cat's answer.
Her eyes close and she breathes a deep sigh of thanks as Cheetor elects not to reveal Rattrap's lapse of judgment. The Rattrap here- he is not hers and likely never will be, but she still elected not to share that one transgression with him. As badly has he had taken the news of Rhinox, what would the rat have done had she told him he actually went to Megatron hat in hand?
Later, she'll thank Cheetor. But for now, she still has her strange role of ship's chaplain to fulfill.
"What if the Dinobots did not wish to go? They are children of Earth, not Cybertron, they owe it and its government no allegiance. Would you have no care for their feelings?"
"And if their refusal was in the typical Dinobot way- that is, aggressive and physical- would you have destroyed them rather than allow them the choice?"
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Apr 24, 2011 13:29:00 GMT -5
"So what's worse... doing nothing, because you can't figure out the right thing to do, or doing something imperfect because you don't have time for anything else?" Sentinel Prime presses, when Cheetor says he doesn't know what he'd do.
Sentinel Prime frowns and explains, "Actually... the Dinobots have attacked me. We left them alive and no worse for the wear, because we had better things to be doing."
Those barbarians were beneath his notice, unworthy of destruction, because that would have meant contemplating them long enough to kill them, and they weren't worth of that much thought.
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Post by Prowl on Apr 28, 2011 11:33:57 GMT -5
Prowl resumes merely listening, while working on his tree. He eventually sets his tools down to listen, but says nothing, thinking for a moment.
"The Dinobots seemed very happy to be on Earth, and I'm not sure how they would have reacted to being forcibly relocated," he says after thinking back. "Other than perhaps violence, of course. Perhaps some things, such as the Dinobots, are best left alone once they settle in."
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Cheetor
Cadet
Here he is, your little guy.
Posts: 67
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Post by Cheetor on May 3, 2011 19:38:02 GMT -5
Cheetor counts Rattrap as a friend, even if the one here doesn't know him as well as he's used to, so yeah, he's not gonna go and spill that incident to two 'bots he doesn't know that well, even if it was relevant to the conversation.
"I would have to say that doing nothing would be worse. If you do something that goes wrong, at least you can say you did what you could, y'know?"
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on May 5, 2011 22:39:28 GMT -5
"Choosing not to act is still a choice," Botanica says evenly, "There are some who feel that sitting by while wrongs are perpetuated is excusable. They are too weak, too unskilled; they lack courage or will to fight the status quo. So they claim no responsibility for the continued suffering of others."
"Or perhaps they are simply too comfortable in their pretended ingnorance."
She looks up and at each of the other mechs in turn. "The worst crimes in almost any history are those perpetuated by the populace's silence and inaction. The morally bankrupt leading the willfully ignorant."
"Would you not agree, Sentinel?"
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 6, 2011 11:59:42 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime argues to Prowl, "No one who was just protoformed wants to go to school. Except for nerds. But we make them do it anyway. Why should the Dinobots be any different? Should we just abandon all our remaining reserve of protoforms on random planets and let them grow up wild, because they might not want to go to school? That's ridiculous."
He harrumphs and looks to his bonsai for support. His bonsai agrees with him; he's sure of it. It's a good little tree now, straight and orderly.
As Botanica builds an avalanche out of Cheetor's point, Sentinel Prime, for a moment, wants to go hide under a rock, when Botanica is done. Then he sets his jaw. No, he's not going to be cowed. Sentinel Prime has courage and stubbornness, and it's time he used them. He sits up straight, sets down the shears, and looks right over at Botanica, replying, "With all due respect, I must disagree, ma'am. The worst crimes in history are committed by people who know exactly what they're doing and still don't care. Take Cosmic Rust. Oil Slick knew it was going to kill whole detachments. He knew that if the wind blew wrong that it would take out Decepticons, his own comrades. Oil Slick did it anyway, willfully and knowingly, and thereby perpetrated some of the worst atrocities of the Great War. Doing nothing out of cowardice or ignorance might be bad - it might even be wrong, but intentionally doing something evil will always be worse."
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Cheetor
Cadet
Here he is, your little guy.
Posts: 67
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Post by Cheetor on May 10, 2011 0:06:49 GMT -5
OOC: Skipping Prowl.
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Cheetor snips a bit more at his tree. "I'd have to say that both are equal - doing something evil willingly, and willingly ignoring bad things when you have some capacity to act against it are what I feel are two sides of the same coin."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on May 10, 2011 20:31:33 GMT -5
"Excellent responses, both," Botanica says, and indeed, she is smiling at both Sentinel and Cheetor.
"Point of view is really the key point in how one sees things."
Botanica works in silence for a bit on her tree, then sets it aside. She lays her tools off to one side as well.
"I believe your work time is up, Sentinel. Of course, you are welcome to stay and work on your tree as long as you like." Botanica nods at his bonsai, "I think you have done very well with it."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 10, 2011 20:47:28 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime argues back to Cheetor, "As I understand it, your Predacons were second-class citizens. Did you spend all your time out there campaigning for their plight and doing charity work in the energon kitchens to right that wrong of social injustice? No? Are you as evil as Megatron, who ran around yanking sparks out of people? I don't think so."
He didn't totally nuke things with Botanica? Well, lo and behold! Sentinel Prime doesn't think that her comment really means anything at all, though. It's one of those wise mystic aphorisms, some kind of ninja Zen jetslag.
Sentinel Prime starts to agree, "Yes, my tree is definitely the best... er... my tree?" He looks at it suspiciously and asks, "Is this thing going home with me? I usually like to wait until the third date, by the book and all."
Strangely, he finds himself not opposed to the idea, though. Sentinel Prime muses quietly, "I could set it up on a shelf with a full-spectrum bulb on a timer and a dimmer, and I could make a schedule up for when I need to water it..."
Yes, Sentinel Prime is already planning bureaucracy with his tree.
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Cheetor
Cadet
Here he is, your little guy.
Posts: 67
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Post by Cheetor on May 12, 2011 22:25:05 GMT -5
Cheetor sighs a bit at Sentinel's response. "That's comparing nuts and bolts. I'm talking about comparing Megatron's spark yanking to someone not doing anything during his rise to power, if they had the capability to help. How's that old phrase go... 'Evil flourishes when good 'bots stand by and do nothing'." Cheetor pauses, then holds out an open hand, as if weighing what Sentinel said. "However, you have a point - if we had treated the Predacons better, or did things to improve their sitation, Megatron might not have done what he did."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on May 12, 2011 22:40:32 GMT -5
Botanica folds one set of hands under her chin and looks at Sentinel Prime.
"Would you like it to go home with you? If so you certainly may take it. The provisions you suggested would be adequate."
She is pleased. More than pleased, really. If Sentinel has progressed to this point, perhaps he isn't hopeless after all.
Moving to a wrap, I think?
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 13, 2011 9:33:12 GMT -5
"Maybe you're so scared you can't think straight. Maybe you can't see that the option to help even exists. Maybe the evil doesn't seem evil, at the start. Maybe it's just inconvenient or not as exciting as whatever it you're doing," Sentinel Prime says, lips curling into a sneer that he wears as if he's worn it often. "But I won't call a civilian evil for holing up in a closet and crying when evil comes knocking on the door, instead of going out to fight. That's... part of the social contract. Some of us take these duties upon ourselves so that others don't have to, and in exchange, they learn how to do stuff like build buildings and make computers and keep the world running, so we don't have to." Wait, Botanica actually trust him with a tree? Sentinel Prime squints at her, wondering what the trick is. He huffs, "Well, of course, ma'am, I'm going to put fertilising it into the watering schedule, too!" - - - OOC: Fine with that, ma'am!
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Cheetor
Cadet
Here he is, your little guy.
Posts: 67
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Post by Cheetor on May 14, 2011 3:45:22 GMT -5
Cheetor sighs, setting his tree beside him. "I... I suppose I'm coming off as extreme in how I'm thinking about it. I've got things clouding my perceptions, giving me a bias." Megatron totally conquering your homeworld and keeping an aquarium full of souls can do that to a 'bot.
"I should go think some things over", he says, standing and transforming to feline mode, turning to head back into the depths of the biosphere. "I appreciate the discussion, though. Getting a different view on things is good, sometimes." Maybe he should've done that more back home.
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OOC: Fadey time is coo'.
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