[ Well, of course. This was her timing, her luck, perfect. The day had began with a trip to the warehouse to collect samples of the city's Energon to compare it to the material that Starscream provided and no sooner had she gathered a cart full and headed back to town, but a new transformer should appear. ]
[ She quickly pulls her cart over to an alley, hoping she wasn't spotted or sensed. With how highly Starscream regarded the material, there was no telling how the new robot might react to a human just walking through the street with a large cart full of the stuff. ]
[The chances of Soundwave missing the energy signature of energon?
Yeah right. The faceless 'Con paused, and his head turned swiftly and smoothly in the direction of the alley, the screen pulsing softly with the readings.
A heat signal too. A familiar type, this thing was human. He was merely curious as to what a human was doing lugging around energon, and unlike Starscream, who might and thrown a fit, Soundwave was far less concerned. The stuff she was carting about was low grade, good for emergencies in his personal opinion... and little else.
There was a soft ping, the sound of radar being used, as he shifted towards the alley way, never once breaking his gaze from it.
How long are you just gonna hide in there, Caroline?]
[ Well, as far as she could tell she couldn't hear the warming up of lasers or anything, so that was good. Worse case scenario, she'd lose a few hours of work and end up at the well. Caroline takes a deep breath, brushes any wrinkles from her dress and calmly steps out. ]
Hello. [ Observation time. This one was sharp and angular shaped, closer to Starscream's design with the same sort of muted color scheme. ] I'm going to guess you're a Decepticon. Welcome to Ink City.
[The gold emblem welded onto his shoulders would be a pretty good indication too.
Having already spoke with Starscream earlier, the 'Con was not terribly surprised to hear this human was aware of what a Decepticon was. Carrying around energon, had knowledge, at least, of the factions... Maybe this was Starscream's supposed human helper.
The screen pulsed again, the image of raw energon appearing. He's less concerned about the city at the moment (Starscream had informed him to an extent of the nature of this place), and more focused on the energon itself. The spy tilted his head slightly, the image remaining.
Here we go, Caroline. Do you speak Soundwavenese?]
[ It takes her a second, but only because she was kinda of waiting for a booming voice. ]
You must be able to sense the energon. [ A quick glance back to it. ] It's just for an experiment. Nothing important really.
[ In her mind though, there's a little bit of worry about if residuals could be detected as well. In that case, the Lucky 38 would be on the list. She had used some to blow apart Cave's cell door. There would be the 38's basement where she had initially worked on it. GLaDOS' lab for sure. Trevor's compound, her device and a few other small things she had been tinkering with that involved the material in some way. All of it with the real stuff and not the cart full of stand-in behind her. ]
[Yep. You'd be right about that. And to clarify that point? There's another gentle ping, and an image of the city appears, constructed it seems by sonic imaging. Not a lot of details, but enough to identify roads and buildings. And that was with one sweep.
The second?
A few buildings were highlighted... Like... sssaaayyyy.... The Lucky 38. And a warehouse or two. And a certain compound and-
Oh dear, Caroline. The 'Con lowers himself slightly, the move a little less polite inquisition and a little more looming.
A few other experiments. I was given the energon by Starscream himself and earned the right to use it. I promise all of it is controlled and safe. Most of what you're picking up are residuals from explosions.
[ Caroline takes a small nervous step backwards at the reply of the explosion. She hadn't seen it from the outside and it was a little frightening. ]
That. That was an accident, the others were an attempt to free an ally and crush a weaker opponent. All within Decepticon beliefs. I'm well acquainted with the dangers and properties of energon and I find it far too valuable to just go sharing it with just anyone. [ Exaggeration a little. ] You can trust it's either in my care or spent.
[Yes, this shit is volatile and dangerous. Her reaction was proof enough that despite all the accidents, she'd never actually got to see anything of that scale. He supposed that was a good sign. At least there wasn't large amounts of energon going up in smoke.
And now she know of Decepticon ideals too, did she? That's pretty in depth for a human. Starscream really had been getting close to her. He still wasn't terribly keen on the trust matter though.
Speaking of Starscream, however... An image of his commander now cropped up on the visor, one of those long arms moving to point a skeletal finger at her. Just what was the relationship between the two anyway?]
[... Oh, so she was the one Starscream had turned to for holograms, was she? How impressive could human holograms even be, anyway? ... No, he was legitimately curious about this, head tilted as she mentioned it.
No, he didn't seem upset... Actually...
And the visor flashed a brilliant white, the 'Con taking a short step back.
An image is materializing on the ground in front of her, strings of light and data coming together and solidifying into...
This fine fellow, sans the lovely logo. A bit influenced by Kay's music? ... A little. The projection doesn't shimmer, nor does it appear to be transparent. In fact, he appears to be very solid indeed, assuming the same neutral and relaxed posture that Soundwave held.]
[Oh so Starscream has been talking about him, huh? He's touched. Really.
The hologram holds up a hand, beating Caroline to the punch and gently pressing its fingers to her shoulder.
... That was real pressure right there. This thing had an actual presence, and he even carefully pushed on her, if only to demonstrate just how physical this projection really was.
Information was scrolling across both the visors, one on the hologram, one on the actual 'Con himself. It was brief, but still obvious: Just how to create something this sophisticated. A simple task for himself, and in a heart beat the data was replaced with an image of Starscream once more, both hologram and 'Con moving to gesture to themselves. So, what has Starscream seen fit to say about him? He kind of has some catching up to do with invading his commanders privacy.]
Only good things. He mentioned you and your holograms specifically.
Oh, that reminds me, there's a wire in Starscream's neck, in the back that could use a much better repair. Since I was small enough I went in to do the best I could, but it was really just a temporary fix and it's been over a month. I'm sure you'll be able to do a better job.
[ She wondered if that piece of her dress would still be tied to the wire... ]
Ah. Well. At least he wasn't going around spouting off his other various abilities and functions. He could trust Starscream with that.
... Damage? On Starscream? Now how did he miss that? It must have been terribly minor, if not actually repaired by now. Nevertheless, the hologram (and by proxy, Soundwave), leaned forward slightly, the image of Starscream zooming in to the jets neck and jaw area.
Care to indicate just where this damage is? So he can do something about it the next time he has a chance?]
[ She quickly pulls her cart over to an alley, hoping she wasn't spotted or sensed. With how highly Starscream regarded the material, there was no telling how the new robot might react to a human just walking through the street with a large cart full of the stuff. ]
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Yeah right. The faceless 'Con paused, and his head turned swiftly and smoothly in the direction of the alley, the screen pulsing softly with the readings.
A heat signal too. A familiar type, this thing was human. He was merely curious as to what a human was doing lugging around energon, and unlike Starscream, who might and thrown a fit, Soundwave was far less concerned. The stuff she was carting about was low grade, good for emergencies in his personal opinion... and little else.
There was a soft ping, the sound of radar being used, as he shifted towards the alley way, never once breaking his gaze from it.
How long are you just gonna hide in there, Caroline?]
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Hello. [ Observation time. This one was sharp and angular shaped, closer to Starscream's design with the same sort of muted color scheme. ] I'm going to guess you're a Decepticon. Welcome to Ink City.
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Having already spoke with Starscream earlier, the 'Con was not terribly surprised to hear this human was aware of what a Decepticon was. Carrying around energon, had knowledge, at least, of the factions... Maybe this was Starscream's supposed human helper.
The screen pulsed again, the image of raw energon appearing. He's less concerned about the city at the moment (Starscream had informed him to an extent of the nature of this place), and more focused on the energon itself. The spy tilted his head slightly, the image remaining.
Here we go, Caroline. Do you speak Soundwavenese?]
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You must be able to sense the energon. [ A quick glance back to it. ] It's just for an experiment. Nothing important really.
[ In her mind though, there's a little bit of worry about if residuals could be detected as well. In that case, the Lucky 38 would be on the list. She had used some to blow apart Cave's cell door. There would be the 38's basement where she had initially worked on it. GLaDOS' lab for sure. Trevor's compound, her device and a few other small things she had been tinkering with that involved the material in some way. All of it with the real stuff and not the cart full of stand-in behind her. ]
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The second?
A few buildings were highlighted... Like... sssaaayyyy.... The Lucky 38. And a warehouse or two. And a certain compound and-
Oh dear, Caroline. The 'Con lowers himself slightly, the move a little less polite inquisition and a little more looming.
Now how did all of this happen?]
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... A massive one.
But it's really just to clarify the question. There's a click, and a heavily modulated voice breaks over the audio output.]
--how this could have happened--
[That many explosions does not point to controlled nor safe.]
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That. That was an accident, the others were an attempt to free an ally and crush a weaker opponent. All within Decepticon beliefs. I'm well acquainted with the dangers and properties of energon and I find it far too valuable to just go sharing it with just anyone. [ Exaggeration a little. ] You can trust it's either in my care or spent.
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And now she know of Decepticon ideals too, did she? That's pretty in depth for a human. Starscream really had been getting close to her. He still wasn't terribly keen on the trust matter though.
Speaking of Starscream, however... An image of his commander now cropped up on the visor, one of those long arms moving to point a skeletal finger at her. Just what was the relationship between the two anyway?]
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It's a working relationship. I do a little work for him. Repairs, research, hologram forms, favors.
[ Wait, should she have mentioned the hologram? Er, too late. Already out there... ]
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No, he didn't seem upset... Actually...
And the visor flashed a brilliant white, the 'Con taking a short step back.
An image is materializing on the ground in front of her, strings of light and data coming together and solidifying into...
This fine fellow, sans the lovely logo. A bit influenced by Kay's music? ... A little. The projection doesn't shimmer, nor does it appear to be transparent. In fact, he appears to be very solid indeed, assuming the same neutral and relaxed posture that Soundwave held.]
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The hologram holds up a hand, beating Caroline to the punch and gently pressing its fingers to her shoulder.
... That was real pressure right there. This thing had an actual presence, and he even carefully pushed on her, if only to demonstrate just how physical this projection really was.
Information was scrolling across both the visors, one on the hologram, one on the actual 'Con himself. It was brief, but still obvious: Just how to create something this sophisticated. A simple task for himself, and in a heart beat the data was replaced with an image of Starscream once more, both hologram and 'Con moving to gesture to themselves. So, what has Starscream seen fit to say about him? He kind of has some catching up to do with invading his commanders privacy.]
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Oh, that reminds me, there's a wire in Starscream's neck, in the back that could use a much better repair. Since I was small enough I went in to do the best I could, but it was really just a temporary fix and it's been over a month. I'm sure you'll be able to do a better job.
[ She wondered if that piece of her dress would still be tied to the wire... ]
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... Damage? On Starscream? Now how did he miss that? It must have been terribly minor, if not actually repaired by now. Nevertheless, the hologram (and by proxy, Soundwave), leaned forward slightly, the image of Starscream zooming in to the jets neck and jaw area.
Care to indicate just where this damage is? So he can do something about it the next time he has a chance?]
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