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May 12, 2011 13:19:25 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 12, 2011 13:19:25 GMT -5
"Back then, was generally only to what needed to be clared away so's we could build the new stuff," Long Haul argues, and then his optic brightens as it occurs, even to him, just how Hook will use that line. He jabs his finger towards the Constructicon. "And don't even start! We aren't in the business of clearing away people!" He pauses. "I'm not, anyway. You weren't!"
"At the end of the day, Hook, what it comes down to is I still think people matter. You asked me why they're worth it, and..." he shrugs. "If people don't got worth, nothing in this universe has got worth, and taking it and owning it, like you suggest..." he shakes his head. "That'd just be owning a whole mess of worthless."
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May 12, 2011 14:13:51 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 12, 2011 14:13:51 GMT -5
"Oh but Long Haul, we could give it meaning together, you and I could," Hook says quickly, to assure Long Haul that it is well and fine to live in a universe without meaning, where lives are worthless. He drops the big one. "Don't I matter to you more than they do?"
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May 12, 2011 18:12:57 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 12, 2011 18:12:57 GMT -5
Long Haul winces, then looks up at Hook and spreads his hands, palms up.
"Hook," he says softly, "I'm not really sure I know who you are!"
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May 12, 2011 18:46:08 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 12, 2011 18:46:08 GMT -5
"I'm Hook!" Hook snaps, hands clenching. Why must Long Haul be so dense? Yes, it's Long Haul, but... then he adds, rather fiercely, like a vow, "And I'm yours, and I always will be."
Long Haul will wake up and want Hook again someday. He must. He's Long Haul.
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May 12, 2011 20:23:56 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 12, 2011 20:23:56 GMT -5
"But you ain't the Hook I knew!" Long Haul protests. "That H-" and then he stops and looks down.
That Hook was murdered. But admitting that is admitting he's gone for good, and Long Haul can't do that yet.
"Hook, I can't just turn my back on everything what I was, 'cos I still am that."
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May 12, 2011 20:52:39 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 12, 2011 20:52:39 GMT -5
"I'm him, Long Haul," Hook insists stubbornly, almost lecturing. "I'm the Hook you know. I'm just older. You'll be like this, too, when you... grow up."
And then Long Haul was Peter Pan, and Hook was Captain Hook.
Except that Long Haul is a much nicer person than Peter Pan.
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May 13, 2011 11:51:57 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 13, 2011 11:51:57 GMT -5
"After I get reprogrammed, y'mean," Long Haul snaps angrily. "Except it ain't happening! I'm never gonna be that Long Haul, and you may as well just get used to it!"
Long Haul can be pretty darned stubborn, too.
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May 13, 2011 15:23:23 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 13, 2011 15:23:23 GMT -5
Hook cringes and draws back. It... pains him to have what happened to him phrased that way, because it reminds him that, maybe, just maybe he doesn't have the same free will that everyone else does.
Hook draws himself back up, and he argues hotly, "I mean what I said! When you grow up. I would have chosen this anyway, eventually." He puts his hand over his Decepticon symbol, clutching at it. "And you will, too, someday."
Hook has to believe that. This choice that wasn't a choice is the choice he would have made anyway.
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May 13, 2011 19:49:05 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 13, 2011 19:49:05 GMT -5
Long Haul shakes his head. "I'm as grown up as I'm gonna get!" he insists stubbornly, right fist clenched. Then he sighs and slumps. "Look, if we're just going to go around in circles like this... I mean, ain't there anything else we can talk about?"
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May 13, 2011 20:01:57 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 13, 2011 20:01:57 GMT -5
It's bad when even Long Haul wants to change the subject.
Hook sighs. He wants to ask if Long Haul will build the death traps, when they come to execute him. Maybe he'll ask that later. But that reminds him.
"Oh, uhm... so they're putting me on trial?"
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May 14, 2011 13:44:08 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 14, 2011 13:44:08 GMT -5
Long Haul nods and scuffs a foot. "Yeah. What I'm hearin'. Not privy to too many of the details so far. I'm guessin' they're figuring I might be biased or somethin'. Jury's only gonna be from realities without, uhm, one of you. Judge, too."
Not strictly one without Constructicons, of course. But the 'Constructicon' Scrapper they have is a far cry from the Scrapper Long Haul and Hook know. For that matter, the Scrapper Long Haul knows is rather different from the Scrapper Hook knows, despite them being the same person, separated only by time.
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May 14, 2011 22:33:24 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 14, 2011 22:33:24 GMT -5
Hook isn't sure what to make of the care that the Autobots are taking. He sneers, "Did they find realities without Decepticons, too?"
But he has a more pointed question to ask. "What do you think of it all? What do you think should be done with me?"
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May 15, 2011 19:46:32 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 15, 2011 19:46:32 GMT -5
Long Haul rubs the back of his head. "Well, Holi calls 'em 'Destrons,' but I'm thinking that's just a case of same thing with different names," he allows.
At Hook's question, he shrugs. "I think you should be fixed," he answers honestly. It is, actually, the exact same thing that Hook things about Long Haul, though they both come at it from different directions.
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May 15, 2011 21:24:24 GMT -5
Post by Dr. James Hook on May 15, 2011 21:24:24 GMT -5
Hook sighs, long-suffering. He insists, almost hissing, "There's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing to be fixed. You just need to wake up and see that."
They're going to go around in circles about this.
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May 16, 2011 8:59:27 GMT -5
Post by Long Haul on May 16, 2011 8:59:27 GMT -5
Long Haul shakes his head and lifts shoulders and hands in a partial shrug, palms turned towards the ceiling. "I can't believe that, Hook. I can't believe that one morning we all just woke up and thought, 'Eh, I'm sick of this city, let's tear it down,' an' that's what you're asking me to believe here."
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