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Post by Needlenose on Jul 12, 2007 19:22:19 GMT -5
Needlenose just happens to call someone who's already on the planet, although the logic that leads him to do this, while entirely reasonable, is also entirely wrong.
//Spinister? You out there anywhere?//
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Post by Spinister on Jul 12, 2007 20:09:00 GMT -5
Spinister doesn't sound like the Spinister Needlenose last knew. He's not dazed from a blast of corrupted Matrix energy. He also doesn't sound like the Spinister who treated Needlenose as an equal. His tone is that of a teacher to a student, a teacher who suspects that the student may have erred and may need discipline.
//Situation is uncertain. Be advised to use caution. What's your location and last timestamp?//
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 12, 2007 20:21:26 GMT -5
Needlenose is pretty taken aback by Spinister's tone. It's not at all what he would have expected. And what was this about 'be advised to use caution'? No kidding! Who did Spinister think he was talking to, anyway?
He transmits his timestamp, which puts him a bit later than Spinister's. It puts him shortly after the end of the Matrix Quest, and most notably, after his 'death' at Carnivac's claws.
//What's all this about, anyway?// he adds, faintly annoyed with his treatment.
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Post by Spinister on Jul 12, 2007 20:27:04 GMT -5
Spinister is not liking that snippy tone of Needlenose's. He'd almost swear this was Needlenose from back during training, when he was 'too cool for school'. Maybe if he'd paid more attention, he wouldn't have di...
Spinister has Hairsplitter recheck the timestamp.
Spinister blurts, //That's impossible! You died!//
It takes a lot to rattle Spinister, but the ghost of his student haunting him does well enough.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 12, 2007 20:40:33 GMT -5
//What? Since when?// Needlenose is baffled. //It was just stasis! Really, I feel better than ever!//
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Post by Spinister on Jul 12, 2007 20:48:36 GMT -5
Spinister transmits his own timestamp, nearly on the verge of… something. Maybe it's not his Needlenose, but, but Needlenose called for him. He says, talking too quickly to be entirely well, //Carnivac killed you, just the other day. Are you... did you keep a copy of your personality files saved somewhere or something?//
Oh for slag's sake, the Nebulans just won't shut up. He adds, //Hairsplitter has to know if Sunbeam and Zigzag are operational.//
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 12, 2007 21:06:18 GMT -5
//Really, Spinister,// Needlenose sighs, a bit exasperated. //That was months ago. And he didn't kill me! He just ripped my fuel pump out!// Needlenose pauses, then adds, //You already know all this, Spinister!// There's another pause. //Oh, and the Nebulans are fine. Sunbeam says, 'Dude.'//
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Post by Spinister on Jul 12, 2007 21:16:52 GMT -5
Spinister actually knows engineering, although he doesn't tell people this. So he knows that fuel pump removal doesn't have to be lethal, but guh! Needlenose is talking about it so casually. Isn't Needlenose squeamish about stupidly trivial things, like fighting on the ground?
He transmits his timestamp again and forces out, //Needlenose, I am from months ago. I don't know all this. Why aren't you dead?//
Not that he's complaining. In fact, he's a bit proud.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 12, 2007 21:52:27 GMT -5
In the mine, Needlenose says a word. It's a word that can't be repeated here if the board wants to keep its PG-13 rating. Needlenose does, after all, know human swears. The Nebulans look up at him, startled, and Zigzag starts snickering a bit cruelly. Needlenose hushes him, then turns the radio back on. He sounds perhaps a bit more depressed than before. If Spinister is right, and he's from that time, or even if Spinister is wrong and the blast of corrupt Matrix energy just messed with Spinister's memories so he thought he was from that time, Needlenose would have to start all over again!
//I don't need my fuel pump. Well, okay. I need it if I want to fly. It's there for my turbojets. But I'm set up to look dead if my pump is taken off line. The whole undead thing used to be quite in, you know? Never bothered to fix it, figuring it might come back, or just come in handy sometime. And boy, did it!//
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Post by Spinister on Jul 13, 2007 8:27:15 GMT -5
Great, Spinister really needed to know that hybrid vehicles like Needlenose get to use the commuter lanes on Nebulos. Thanks, Hairsplitter. It's an interesting design. What's the other half? Battery? Fuel cell? He'll have to better review Needlenose's blueprints later. When Spinister reviewed Needlenose's application, he mainly considered the performance specifications, not what was under the hood.
Now, Needlenose's mechanism of survival gives Spinister's pause. Needlenose survived because of a fashion trend. That's so... Needlenose. Spinister wants to call the idea clever, but Needlenose did it because it looked cool, not because the idea of playing dead had any inherent value to him. Even a blind Neutralist finds an energon cube now and then.
Spinister seems unmoved by the depression in Needlenose's voice.
//Fine. You're not dead. Good. Now, where are you? Others have been brought here, from timelines that never knew a Mayhem Attack Squad. Be advised that you may run into Autobot resistance. Omega Supreme is on the planet and active.//
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 13, 2007 8:42:23 GMT -5
Needlenose goes back to cursing at Spinister's tone. This gets both of his Targetmaster's laughing, although Zigzag eventually offers to teach Needlenose some proper Nebulan swear words.
When he's done, he answers, //Omega Supreme? Scrap! Well, the good news is, he wouldn't even be able to fit down here. Looks like some sort of a mine shaft. I've been walking since I started talking, and I think I'm getting near the entrance. Air seems fresher. Can't regonize the language on any of the equipment, can't tell what they dug for. Looks like they used magnetic rails.// He observes all of this in an almost bored tone. //Different timelines? Really? And here I just thought we'd been dumped off by the Ark.//
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Post by Spinister on Jul 13, 2007 8:59:34 GMT -5
Spinister sounds a wee bit frustrated.
//Needlenose. I have never been on the Ark.// Officially speaking. Off the record... //It can't have dropped me off. Now, there's a hovercraft named Shortround from 2030, a Starscream from 1985 - and he's acting commander for now, and an Autobot named Wheelie from 2005. No idea when or where that Seeker Fleetwind, Omega Supreme, or Constructicon Hook came from, and Starscream says that there are more. Remember, Omega Supreme could just cave in the whole shaft on you. Don't get cocky.//
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 13, 2007 10:14:26 GMT -5
Spinister isn't the only one who sounds frustrated.
//Well, if he's up there right now, there's not much I can do about it,// Needlenose grates out. //I will. Check. Before I move out into the open. Okay?// He sighs, but not over the radio. //And you will be on the Ark. Erm. Would have been. If you had stayed put.// There's a pause. //Hold on a moment,// Needlenose hisses, a bit more quietly. //I'm seeing light up ahead.//
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Post by Spinister on Jul 13, 2007 10:54:27 GMT -5
Why is Needlenose being so snippy? That's not the way he should be addressing Spinister. He reminds, //See that you do, and don't talk to a superior officer that way. Lord Starscream would have your wings, for tone alone. //
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 13, 2007 11:33:12 GMT -5
Needlenose is fair to fuming at this point. He will not tolerate going back to being treated this way by Spinister. He just won't. He's already proven himself, damn it! Well, okay, it's obvious that he'll have to prove himself again, but when he does meet Spinister... well, that helicopter is in for a huge shock, that's all Needlenose has to say about the matter.
Now you know how I feel! taunts Zigzag.
I don't care how you feel! Needlenose snaps back angrily. It's probably not true, but Needlenose is in A Mood, and being in A Mood justifies all ill behavior, doesn't it?
Finally, Needlenose fair to bites out over the radio, //Yes. Si-// he cuts off suddenly. //Dead Seeker.// Needlenose's voice is suddenly calm and professional. //Looks like he crawled up here from further down, back where I came from. He's grayed, so it's hard to tell... I think his color scheme might have matched Thundercracker's? But there are a lot of Seekers with pretty similar paint jobs, and the colors are faded.// A lot of Seekers use a lot of blue in their scheme, but Thundercracker is probably the most prominent of them with the non-conehead design.
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