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Post by Victoria Raines on Jan 31, 2012 20:46:40 GMT -5
Raymond works for Victoria. It is just cruel fate that he was dropped into this life, and that she pays such close attention to her employees. Right now, all she wants from him is conversation. He could walk out if he wished, but that would not make for an interesting episode.
"I was caught in a space bridge malfunction that spun me through time and space. As for being a different Shockwave, to answer that question properly, I would have to know your reality set."
Victoria is maintaining her usual composure, but one does not lose as much blood as she did without suffering some ill effect. She rests her forehead against her head for a moment.
"Raymond, there is some orange juice in the small fridge under the bar. If you would please...?"
Yes, this is certainly the evil, diabolical Shockwave. First, she makes sure Pincher isn't going to die or have a hunger-induced psychotic break, then she very politely asks him to bring her some juice.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Jan 31, 2012 21:20:49 GMT -5
If he isn't actively trying to kill her, and he is still waffling on that point, she is still a living being, and if a living being comes to harm when he could have done something, it is, after a fashion, Raymond's fault. He gets her the juice, chattering, "It is actually absolutely fascinating, how they make modern orange juice. First, they extract all of the oxygen from the holding vats, so that they can preserve the juice for in excess of months. Then, when it comes time for bottling, the juice is subjected to a flavour pack of natural and synthetic fragrances to restore that 'fresh' taste so coveted by humans. Quite commonly, a flavour pack that mimics Valencia oranges is used. And then, well, here we are."
Raymond tries to hand off the orange juice. Talking is okay if it is just about absolutely banal things, right?
His main issue is that if he kills her, what if she uses it to frame the Autobots somehow? And what if (mostly) innocent guards get hurt in the process? What if he is just playing into her evil scheme? But what if not killing her is her evil scheme? This doublethink is giving him a headache.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jan 31, 2012 22:13:30 GMT -5
"Thank you," Victoria says as she takes the juice, "That will help."
"Raymond," she continues after several sips, "Of the two people in this room, one is more likely to commit a violent act. I think that you know that I am not that person. Yet, you act as if I am."
"This indicates that you seem to feel some more personal concerns in regards to me. Now, I do not recall ever being more than courteous to my own Pincher, so perhaps you are not from my timeline."
Victoria finishes her juice and looks over at the vampire, "Or you are, and have been convinced that of all the monsters in the dark, I am the most cruel."
"Which is it?"
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Jan 31, 2012 22:26:08 GMT -5
Or maybe Victoria only drinks evil orange juice harvested from her own blood orange grove at midnight. It could be that, too.
Raymond finally sits down where she told him to and replies, "Oh, I don't know. Did you not tweak your aggression routines, too? Because then you should be exactly as likely to commit an act of violence as I am. Or was that just for everyone else?"
This is stupid of him, and he knows it, but he has long been wondering what Shockwave's side of the story is, more the fool him.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jan 31, 2012 22:36:18 GMT -5
Victoria quirks a brow, "Ah, then you are not just from my reality, but one of mine. Perceptor must have worked for days to uncover that coding. I am surprised he did not call me up to rail at me, as he has in the past."
She settles back in her chair, propping her elbow on the chair arm and her chin on the back of her hand.
"I will not deny that I included that coding in the upgrades. I must assume that the conclusion drawn was that I did such with ill intent." Because really, if Shockwave saved a fluffy kitten from being run over by a car, certain persons would accuse him of doing so with ill intent.
"Tell me, Pincher, how did you find our world under my care?"
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Jan 31, 2012 23:02:12 GMT -5
The kitten was Ravage.
"I am not yours," Raymond says mulishly. As for Perceptor not calling... well, Pincher is just not that important. He gestures in the air, perhaps a little wildly, "You aren't saying that you didn't do it with ill intent. And really, what good reason could you have for it? Studies suggest that human aggression has been dropping through time, and they seem better off for it. They used to take small animals, throw them in the air, and dash them against rocks for entertainment." He makes a face. "They don't do that anymore."
Clearly an improvement!
How did he like Cybertron under her rule? He goes paler than he already is. To be perfectly honest, he loved it, but he can't say that. "I - hnk - didn't get out much." This is true.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 1, 2012 17:50:50 GMT -5
Victoria sips her evil orange juice while Pincher stumbles through his answer. She frowns at the Pretender.
"That is a rather evasive answer."
"I would argue your point in regards to lessened aggression. Surely, the humans no longer result to such base means of entertainment as you describe, but why is that? Religion perhaps, which forced a moral code upon them. Or perhaps, at some point someone decided that dashing the brains from an animal was a terrible thing, and prevailed upon someone of import to stop the practice, and so a law was passed. As more and more people upheld the law, it became socially unacceptable to break it. And so we have the creation of a forced morality."
"The humans are still violent of nature; they simply focus their violence elsewhere, or let it bubble and steep until they cannot hold it any longer, and they perform some truly reprehensible act."
"As to my motives- To what origin theory do you subscribe?" she asks, fixing Pincher with her steady gaze, "Do you know why we were created, Pincher?"
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Feb 1, 2012 19:34:18 GMT -5
Raymond rises from his seat to pick up the scattered papers from the medical file, lays them down flat on the table, and then sits himself back down neatly. The thing about DNA is that it is just a set of instructions to assemble certain molecules made out of amino acids. It's chemistry. He can handle chemistry. There was something he saw that has been nagging him. As he leafs through the papers, his fangs finally fold back up, out of sight.
He raises a finger and corrects, "Forced and external are not the same thing. Also, if the potential for an action remains the same but the action itself occurs less often, in many cases, the net result is the same as if the potential for the action is less. That is to say, it does not matter to my point at hand why they are expressing their aggression less often, only that it is so. Moreover, lessened is not the same thing as gone. I never said that they are not violent of nature."
This one gene complex is wigging him out. It is an extremely complex set of mutations that has an extremely low statistical probability of existing in nature. Moreover, it is an area that is usually shut down by other genes, but it isn't shut down here. It is active, when it isn't active in normal humans, and it doesn't even say what it would say in a normal human. What does it do, though? He tries to visualise what kind of chemicals would be assembled under these instructions and what effect they'd have on cellular processes.
"I generally favoured atechnogenesis, though I will confess that the alien intercession theory also has some appeal, especially now that I have had the chance to read about the reality of... some of my comrades. Created by Quintessons as products. Overthrew their creators due to emergent behaviour. Anyway, I would argue that even if we were created for some purpose - or multiple purposes, possibly to conflicting ends - it does not actually matter. Tools are often repurposed to new ends that their designers never anticipated. The only relevance I will have is the relevance I give myself. Why I was made is irrelevant."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 1, 2012 23:26:15 GMT -5
While Raymond speaks, Victoria leans forward and slides a file folder closer to him. In the file are three documents: DNA workups for a Random.Human K-tech Employee, Random.Metahuman K-tech Employee, and one for Victoria herself.
"We were created warriors, Pincher. Some with a bent toward conquest, more aggressive, explorative. Some with a bent toward defense, more idealistic, determined. But still warriors."
She crosses her legs and shifts her position slightly, "After the Shutdown, our people cried out for peace, tired of fighting each other to appease the madness of two mechanisms who I truly doubt remember why they hate each other, why the war started in the first place. I know that Megatron did not."
"So peace I gave."
"Do you remember The Fallen, Pincher, the havoc he wrought? Who he spoke for? I do. I will not lose my people to Chaos, Pincher. Be we at peace or at war, Unicron would come, by all indications sooner than later, and I could not risk it. We had to remain warriors."
Finishing her juice, Victoria finishes, "We were created cannon fodder for a war that a God could not decisively win, but I refused- still refuse- to see us sacrificed on the altar of Primus's failure."
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Feb 2, 2012 0:16:10 GMT -5
"Is this appropriate?" Raymond asks, looking over the offered information anyway. He has no idea about human medical care privacy laws - maybe he should look those up if he is still alive and at liberty the next time he has an internet connection. He immediately pages to where that funny gene group would be if it is there. The 'normal' human, predictably, doesn't have anything active going on there. The metahuman also doesn't have anything active there, but when he flips a few more pages to look at a different DNA segment, there are some abnormalities that he thinks code for - he squints - "Hmm, cuttlefish-like ability to consciously control pigment in skin?"
He looks at Victoria's file and remarks, "Oh, so that is what I tasted." She has the same DNA group as he does, at least the same framework. The details are different. The framework basically activates the contents. Raymond is going to tentatively conjecture that it is those contents that are responsible for any 'meta' powers he displays, though he does have other abnormalities in other places, beyond that one grouping, little tweaks on certain alleles, like the coding for low blood pressure...
"Mmm, speak for yourself. I'm a chemical engineer. You talk about like peace like you didn't want it yourself." Raymond is quite glad of the sunglasses that he found, and not just because the light in here would hurt his eyes, otherwise.
He laughs, showing those pearly whites, and says softly, "You know, there is at least one reality wherein what makes Unicron 'immortal' is hatred. Or do you know that? But to be honest, as far as I know, that... 'Fallen' was a deranged cultist playing with ancient superweapons. Primus may exist, but if he does, he's not a deity. I would even venture the theory that perhaps he was a Quintesson. Even if he made us for a purpose, that purpose has no meaning unless we willingly and in an informed fashion choose to take up that purpose as our own, and then, it only has the meaning that we ourselves create."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 2, 2012 23:41:14 GMT -5
Victoria shrugs, "You asked after my reasoning for my actions. I explained myself. I am not a religious zealot driven my blind faith. I am a scientist, like yourself, and have seen enough factual evidence to support my conclusions." Unfortunately, all that evidence is in an underground lab in another reality, so Raymond will just have to continue to think Victoria is nuts.
"Of course, you could just ask your Prime about the truths of Primus and Unicron. Once you can find the Prime again."
She leans back and settles her elbows on the arms of her chair, then laces her fingers together in front of her chin. She actually smiles at Raymond, something Shockwave would never do.
Inclining her head toward the paperwork, she says, "You see it then? The markers? Now, consider that until this day, I have never seen another human with that particular identifier, and trust that I have looked at many, many sets of DNA over the years."
Something, excitement perhaps, creeps into her voice. "Thirty years in this body, thirty years of working toward a way out of it, and I am no closer than I was the first day. But now there are comparison samples, a more reliable way to judge progress-," test subjects, "- more minds to work on the problem."
The smile fades. "Thirty years, Pincher. We are an immortal race, and while we do age, it is but slowly, and sometimes barely noticeable. I have been aging, dieing since the first day I woke in flesh. It is maddening, the ease with which time wears down these bodies. I envy any of you who were given lives like yourself, fully formed...."
"You can leave, if you wish to. Your employment will be ended, and you will be provided with more than adequate references to insure that you shall find suitable employment elsewhere. By staying, however, you may be in a better position to assist your friends, even as you assist me. You have my word that I will not attempt to harm you, or use you to harm your friends."
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Feb 3, 2012 11:59:22 GMT -5
Raymond does not think Victoria is crazy for being religious. He does not even think she is crazy for making the population overly aggressive in a non-consensual fashion, just evil in his ethical view of the world. If he thinks she is crazy for any reason, it is because she just fed a vampire with her own blood and then asked him for evil orange juice, but even that action was more likely calculated to make him feel like he owes her.
Victoria is crazy like a turbofox, and that is the truth.
He admits, "Which Prime? Anyway, one of them has spoken about Primus and Unicron. I just think that Primus and Unicron have sufficiently advanced technology as to be indistinguishable from magic at this given stage in our development. Plus, dogma keeps us from prying too closely. Who ever heard about taking the Matrix apart to see how it works? It is just not done. By the way, the Titans worship you as 'Chugway'. Or did. They are currently in the middle of a religious upheaval, I think."
"The thing about it is not so much that it is not found in other humans. Novel mutations arise all the time, though most of them are either negative or neutral. The thing is that it is a whole series of mutations, not just a codon deleted here or a codon replaced there or even one segment of DNA taken out and moved somewhere else. It is like opening up a copy of the Covenant of Primus and not finding a deleted passage, not a typographical error, not even the verses out of order, but finding, instead that some of the verses have been completely replaced with passages from Venus, Trans-Dimensional: For Decepti-Femmes."
He pauses and notes, "You know, if you look at this situation a certain way, something or someone has just had us all assassinated. It is only a matter of time now. I notice that you have not had any heavy cyborging done. Though human cyborg technology is admittedly crude, I am certain that you could manage better on your own if you so desired. You do not want to live forever as something of human extraction, do you? Because that would mean accepting that you will never be what you once were. No, only life as a Transformer again will satisfy you. Am I wrong?"
Her officer is generous, and Raymond is certain there is a trap within it.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 4, 2012 0:06:25 GMT -5
"I will not end my days like this, no, weak and frail like some insect! Nor will I see my people exterminated in such a manner, poisoned like some sort of vermin! I-"
Victoria stands abruptly, practically stalking over to the window. She looks out over the city as she takes deep breaths, trying to calm her body and her mind. She hates how easily she can lose control in this body.
"Autobots will fight Decepticons, and vice versa, because they can imagine no other life. Most have experienced no other life. Perhaps in this reality some of us may eventually kill some others. It is unfortunate, but unavoidable. But we shall not die like this, erased, lost...."
"I will not allow it."
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Feb 4, 2012 21:02:10 GMT -5
Raymond has hit a nerve, he sees. For a moment, he almost smiles. Then he reminds himself that it is not appropriate to take pleasure in the pain of others, whoever they may be. He says firmly, "You are being uncharitable with regards to the capacity for imagination of many of our species. But there are some matters that are beyond our control. Our existences as Transformers may have suffered information death already," which is to say that the data that described how those bodies were put together, to the last atom, has been lost and that it is literally impossible in this universe to ever put something back together that is what those bodies were. A shattered CD can be hypothetically reassembled and the data recovered, even if it is broken into several pieces. Information death would render that data unrecoverable.
"You cannot dry the waves and bind the tide," he adds gently, "but it is certainly a matter worthy of inquiry, as are so many other matters. Tell me, do humans have anything like... vacation days? If they do and if I do, I think that I shall take some."
It is not a hard 'no'. He needs to get in contact with the other Autobots and discuss the matter with them. Raymond might not even do what he is ordered to do, whatever it may be, but he thinks they at least ought to know what he has learned here.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 4, 2012 21:45:06 GMT -5
Victoria's hand is resting on the corner of the window inset. As Raymond posits that it may never be possible to recreate themselves as they are meant to be, her grip tightens, cracking the plaster.
"No," she murmurs, almost to herself, "I will not accept that."
Several minutes after Raymond has finished speaking, she finally turns back toward him. Her expression is back to careful neutrality.
"You have three weeks vacation, which you may certainly take. However, you may want to check in with your aide first to make sure any studies in progress are appropriately monitored. You were not scheduled to be away in the near future."
"Now that you know you nature, you should recognize the provisions made for your dietary needs. I do not believe you will need another meal for some time, if your records are any indication, but again, the provisions are there."
"Should you find either the Prime or the Emirate, you might inform them that I would not be opposed to a conversation."
Which is a very convoluted way for her to say "Have their people call my people and we'll do lunch." After all, she doubts the Prime will forget who she is. Primus is a trickster, and not in the habit of granting boons to the Decepticon faction.
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