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Post by Raymond Stantz on Mar 9, 2012 12:40:04 GMT -5
M6W4D3, at a graveyard in Detroit, semi-private
Raymond is missing many of the social graces and cultural lore that a human would have. (He is also missing many of the social graces of a normal Transformer.) He does not understand why it is creepy to invite someone to a graveyard, after dark, with him (a vampire, albeit one dressed in a yellow raincoat). He just thinks it is a quiet place where people are not likely to go, so he is unlikely to be overheard, and he is unlikely to be overly distracted with thinking, 'Those people look so delicious.'
He checks his watch, which is not exactly a watch. Raymond's been tinkering. He has some access to one of his subspace pockets, and there are plenty of junkyards and parts shops around to supply him with materials. Work has materials, too, but he would never commandeer work supplies for his own personal projects, not one paperclip.
(What if Victoria has put hidden tracers into the paperclips?)
Needing to look at the watch at all is annoying. He wants to just be able to think and pull up what time it is. On the plus side, at least, it is dark, so Raymond was able to put his sunglasses away. He looks around, and he waits.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Mar 9, 2012 14:53:20 GMT -5
It is dark, and Hollister is staring at the entrance to a graveyard. This could only be worse if it was storming. He doesn't need his human memories to find this unnerving; he read enough human literature to be acutely aware of literary setups like this.
Men who follow creatures of the night to their own grounds rarely come out well. He checks his own watch. No, he's still early. Hollister shifts uneasily from one foot to the other and eyes the gate one more time before he takes a deep breath and marches on in to find Raymond. The sooner he gets this over with, the sooner he can leave.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Mar 9, 2012 16:01:43 GMT -5
Raymond smells and hears Hollister before he sees him. He's not actually sure if his senses of hearing and smell are any better than a normal human's; he wonders if he just filters his input differently. Most humans can hear their name said in a crowded room. Raymond hears heartbeats.
He sees Hollister soon enough and walks over towards him. Raymond is in no way being sneaky. If anything, he's a bit clumsy, at one point walking into a low tombstone and nearly tripping over it. Now his foot hurts, just great. Raymond smiles brightly - his dentition looking normal at the moment - and he holds out his hand to shake. He asks, "Det. Hollister?"
He is thinking about how he got a message to set up a meeting with this fellow and how, if things go well, this man might be his Earthside contact until they are returned to their proper forms. That makes sense to him; e-mail and snail mail are not always secure.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Mar 14, 2012 21:59:30 GMT -5
Raymond is rather more awkward-looking and less menacing than Hollister expected. And he certainly isn't thinking about anything that seems particularly sinister at first blush. Hollister smiles politely and adjusts his glasses, keeping his other hand in his coat pocket.
"That's right," he says, "and you're Mr. Stantz? Pleased to meet you." Though he might have liked some place cheerier and brighter. At least, going by what he hears that isn't said, Raymond is expecting him and seems to feel positive about the meeting. He doesn't get the impression that Raymond has ulterior motives – at least not right now. But he's still cautious in accepting that handshake.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Mar 14, 2012 22:22:04 GMT -5
Well, Raymond does think that Det. Hollister smells delicious, but he also feels guilty about thinking that. His hand is dead cold, but otherwise, his handshake is nothing unusual.
"That is what I appear to be going by at the moment, yes," Raymond confirms. He may have a doctorate in chemical engineering as a part of his human 'life', but if he does, he does not appear to have realised it yet, so he isn't going to ask to be called Dr. Stantz just yet. "So, what do you need out of me?"
His offer is genuine and under-laid by both curiosity and nervousness.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Mar 20, 2012 16:56:46 GMT -5
Hollister reminds himself to look into ways of being less delicious-smelling. Don't vampires hate garlic? Maybe he should eat more garlic. At least Raymond feels bad for thinking that. He seems like a nice enough fellow, urge to drink other people's blood aside.
"Just to talk a while," Hollister says. He can't be gauche enough to lean against any headstones, so he picks a convenient tree instead, trying to look confident and relaxed at the same time. "Ask a few questions, figure out how well we work. You're free to ask me a few things too, if you like." If he can avoid this feeling like an interrogation, hopefully, Raymond will be more at ease – and easier to hear. He's anxious enough as it is. "D'you want to go first, or should I?"
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Mar 20, 2012 20:04:10 GMT -5
Raymond is allergic to garlic, so that would work.
Raymond laughs a little, self-consciously, and he offers, "I would assume that you are here because of my employer, but I know well how dangerous assumptions can be. Go first, if you would, please?"
Indeed, he is assuming that his loyalty is considered somewhat questionable given that he is employed by Ms. Raines and has not yet terminated his employment. He does not blame the Autobots; they would be stupid not to question his actions. However, he is not so self-centred as to assume everything must be about him. Maybe they are here for some completely different reason.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Mar 26, 2012 20:23:50 GMT -5
With a chuckle, Hollister nods and tries to make himself a little more comfortable.
"Well," he ventures, "we'll start there then. How do you like working for Ms. Raines?" It's an innocent-sounding question. Hollister's very good at sounding innocent.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Mar 26, 2012 20:48:09 GMT -5
"You mean, how do I like working for someone who admits to up-regulating the aggression routines of every Transformer on Cybertron?" Raymond asks calmly enough, one eyebrow edging upward. There is a coiled tightness in the back of his head. "Me included? It is completely nerve-wracking, but I shall never let her have the satisfaction of knowing. Perhaps I should have just killed her when I had my fangs in her wrist," the mental image is vivid in his mind, "but what if she was a clone being puppeteered from an undisclosed location and she simply wanted to frame an Autobot for murder so as to ruin our public image?"
He paces around and sinks his fingers into his own hair.
"I could just leave, but what if that is what she wants me to do? Of course, maybe she just wants to paralyse me into inaction, worrying about what she might do."
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Mar 26, 2012 21:07:11 GMT -5
That's an odd feeling. It's like anger and fear and uncertainty all rolled into one knot, and it makes Hollister a little queasy in sympathy. He gets even more unsettled by that brief, brief flash of something – a hand, lips, blood and sharp teeth, the emotions that come with it – and grimaces, blinking away the shadows of it behind his eyelids. He's very clear on one important point: Raymond is not at all happy to be employed as he is, which is a good sign.
"You've given this a lot of thought," Hollister murmurs. He doesn't try to stop Raymond from talking if that's what Raymond wants to do, but the agitation makes thoughts and emotions jumble together in a tangled, wibbly-wobbly ball, so he adds in hopes it will help settle Raymond a little, "And it might be that she doesn't want you able to act. You're less likely to be a danger to her that way."
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Mar 26, 2012 21:26:43 GMT -5
Raymond is a mad engineer. He tends to ramble if not stopped, even if the only audience is an inanimate object. Rambling to Hollister is easy; he seems so friendly and non-threatening.
He laughs bitterly and waves a hand in the air. "Inaction might be the most dangerous thing of all to her. She has had decades to cure herself of this affliction and has not managed it as far as I can tell. All we need to do is wait out not a century longer, and human senescence will kill her - many of us, too, but I suppose some of us might agree to that price."
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 18, 2012 20:00:09 GMT -5
Now there's an interesting titbit; she hasn't found a way to reverse the sudden transformation? Hollister files that away, glad that Raymond seems at least somewhat less agitated – for the moment.
"Has she asked you for help with it, then?" he wonders.
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Apr 18, 2012 20:38:58 GMT -5
Of course, maybe Shockwave has already reversed it and is enjoying being a ray-gun as they speak and just has a puppet clone human body to confuse people.
Raymond admits, "She would like that, yes. I think perhaps I should help her, up to a point. You know what burden our Prime carries. If he dies... this whole universe may go with him. He must be returned to his robotic form, for the sake of life itself." He's serious, unshakably so. "She doesn't know about him. I have no intention of telling her. So yes, I wish to use her resources for my own gain. I suppose that makes me worse than her, from a certain point of view."
For the universe, he'll do it anyway.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Apr 24, 2012 9:21:11 GMT -5
"I don't think it does," Hollister says quietly. He recalls – not that he terribly wants to – that unsettling flash of memory, the torrent of emotions that came with it. Does she always do that to him? It's dismaying to consider the impact it had on a bot who's standing here, ready and willing to potentially sacrifice himself, his morals, his honesty to save Rodimus Prime by consorting with a Decepticon. It's a reminder of home in some ways and Hollister pales slightly, feeling a little ill at himself for hesitating where Raymond stands fast, all that frenetic fear and anger focused into a sort of tranquil fury.
He adds, worried, "Do you think you'll be all right? Working with her?"
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Post by Raymond Stantz on Apr 24, 2012 21:16:08 GMT -5
Raymond shakes his head and sighs. He's still very serious as he explains, "No, I don't think I'll be all right. I'm not all right at any given moment. I am, however, aware of my... condition, and I accept the eventuality that continued exposure to triggering stimuli may degrade my condition. There are things more important than my mental health on the line here."
He feels ill, like a sheen of grease on rainwater, but what else is there for him to do?
"Is that going to be a problem? If I am restored to my proper form, a spark in a box stores well."
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