“The, ‘piano alt-mode’ i heard you referred to. It’s the Alternative form of my mech suit, makes it easier to store and handy for infiltrating bars and the like.”
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Ok. You can do this. Kitai takes a deep breath.
“Hello.I would like to know about the quintessons in the final war against them.”
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“You could ride with me,” Snowblind offers as she transforms.
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Nova was initially hesitant to accept her offer. She had only just started to trust Maximus, and even then only by a bit.
Then again, a snowmobile would probably give a more comfortable ride than a dragon. Or at least a more comfortable one.
“Sure. Sounds good.”
Nova replied. Maximus slowed down to allow the girl to hop off. She then quickly got on to Snowblind’s vehicle mode.
“Thanks.”
She said simply.
Axis nodded.
“Makes sense. So, what did you want to ask me?”
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“Hey, no problem,” she says, voice echoing without source through the cabin of her alt mode. She takes off after the others, hanging a bit behind them. The big rock rolling down the street was easy enough to follow.
“So, what brings a human to Cybertron? Here for the party last night?”
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“Uh, I guess?” Roaster was confused by the word choice of compassion, but she supposed it could work.
“Every builder has different thoughts on it. It just drives me through walls how outsiders label it, how so many of our own lose their way. And how, for some reason, we feel a constant need to hide and isolate ourselves. I mean, just take a look at this.”
Roaster had moved back to the head and finally freed it from the body. She points to different parts as she reworks the mechanisms to avoid snapping itself.
“See, here’s her adorable smile. Here’s what Primus wanted, not these neck snappers. All of us may have Primus inside, but not everyone is taught to listen to his voice, to hear his guidance in your spark. Sure, every builder has their own flare that gets added to Primus’ designs. Sometimes you need a form change. But the sheer ego of, ‘I can do better, I can make them a weapon to serve me. I-’”
Roaster just stops, perfectly frozen like a paused video. Seconds pass and then her animation resumes in a slow stutter. She sets the head down and brings up her hands, staring at down at herself. With hesitation, her hands slowly place themselves on her chest where her spark chamber hides.
I. . . I–I haven’t listen to you in a long time…have I?
The reality of it all revealed itself slowly. Caught up in the reminders of butchers and cancers like Facelift and Shockwave, her own words finally struck back at her. This time, there were no council demands, no project deadlines, or a show to take her attention away. Just a friend’s head on the table staring betrayed judgement.
“I don’t think that is wise. There is much to be learned from them, but this–”
“Come on, what could be wrong? Primus makes them all the time, so why can’t I? Imagine how much better our designs will be if they could restore themselves like Junkions. But with better parts and more purposeful.” Roaster argued.
“That right there,” Sandbag warned, pointing a rake finger at her. “Does not strike me as in pursuit of Primus’ design. Leave the Junkions to him, we’ll handle what we’re given.”
“. . .I’m going, they approved.” Roaster mutters in a whisper.
Roaster moves forward and grabs Headbite’s head, resuming work on it. Though her optics didn’t look focused, her hands work as if nothing unusual was going on. It wasn’t long until the head was ready and she reattaches it to the body.
“I take it we go inside and hang out in a waiting room of sorts?” Tokamak said uncertain.
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“I wanted to ask you about the Journal of Sentinel Prime, and what might be in it. It’s currently my last lead in regards to a motive, and I need to know if there’s anything in there that might lead to some sort of treasure, reward, or otherwise valuable object or information. I have my credentials, if you wish to verify before checking.”
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“No actually. I just needed to get a part to fix my mech. If I had known there was such a huge festival I would have found a different rock to get it from.”
Nova replied.
“I’m not exactly a big fan of parties, or crowds… or people. Anyway, one thing lead to another, and now I’m stuck here for a while.”
“Unfortunately I know just about as much as you. I searched through several passages and only found hints to why the journal would be so sought after. Given the lengths someone was willing to take in order to aquire it, I fear that Cybertron may be in jepordy once again.”
Axis abruptly stopped short as soon as she said that.
“Leave that out if you’d please. If you’re building a report of any kind, I don’t want to insight a panic. The less the public knows for now the better. At least until we have a better understanding of the situation. I currently have an expert thoroughly analyzing the journal to find what secrets may be kept within.”
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“You said it,” Snowblind grumbles. “Didn’t exactly come here on purpose either. Guess we both have bad timing, huh?”
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Nova chuckled a bit.
“I guess so.”
She fell quiet for moment, nervously fiddling with her rune pendant.
“So, what about you? What brought you here?”
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“A spaceship.” There’s a long pause.
“Didn’t take the time to check what ship I was jumping on. Just grabbed the first one I could find.”
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“No worries ma’am, I don’t write anything down until after the case is closed.” he said with a wink. “I would appreciate it if you kept me in the loop. Whoever is behind this, wanted something in the journal. They’re clearly not dumb either, if thier methods so far are any indication. I’ve got some notes here, if you’d like to cross-reference?”
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“I’ve been there before.”
Nova replied.
“So are you some sort of drifter then?”
She asked.
“It would seem we are of one mind on this situation. In that case I believe we could benefit one another. I would certainly be interested to see what other information you have gathered.”
Axis replied.
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“Well, let’s see.” He pulled a notebook out from his inner coat pocket and began flipping pages. “Well, for one this was not a terror attack, just a smash and grab, at least from what the human attacker told me. They weren’t ideologically motivated or otherwise had a motive for taking the journal, just mercenaries. They never met the employer or even talked to him directly, just messages with instructions. All in all, very intelligently and carefully done, the only hicupp was that you and the other fighters were there at the same time. Whoever orchestrated this was no dummy, or unfamiliar to this sort of operation.”
he flipped a page. “According to the librarian, it does hold some resell value, but I personally discount that as a motive.” he looked up from his Notebook to axis “It’s to prominent. If they wanted to resell it they wouldn’t hit it, in broad daylight, with such an… explosive, method of entry. That and because it’s a one-of-a-kind object, known to be stolen, finding a buyer would be near impossible. Which considering we’ve already established the mastermind here is no dummy, means they must have known this.”
He looked down to the notebook and turned another page. “So, that leaves us with two options, one, it was a false flag and it was a distraction from somethign else, which while not impossible, seems unlikely to me. Second, there’s something, some info, in that Journal that the mastermind needs. What that is, and how it would be applied, is what we’re both here for?”
He closed the notebook. “That’s what i’ve got so far. It’s not much, but there’s not a whole lot to go off of. They covered their tracks well. I do suspect however, you’ve got some much more useful information.”
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Another pause. “Yeah. Yeah I guess I am now. You?”
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Axis nodded.
“I suspected most of this, but I suppose it’s nice to have my suspicions supported.”
The Prime knelt down so she could got on a closer level with the detective. Though she was still significantly taller than him.
“In that case I suppose it’s only fair I share what little information I’ve gathered myself. However-”
She leaned down closer to Ivory, her eyes narrowed in a serious expression.
“If you betray my trust, I will be more than capable of hunting you down and making you regret it. Understand?”
“Yeah. I’ve been on my own for a few years now. I never stay anywhere for more than a couple days. Only stopping by different planets or stations to restock on food and supplies.”
Nova replied.
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“Wait, is that what being a drifter is like?” Snowblind asks with a hint of panic. “You just- go somewhere new? every two days?” I don’t think I’m cut out for this.
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“Ma’am, i’ve kept worse secrets than anything you could come up with, you don’t need to worry about it.”
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“Technically, any room can be a waiting room if you have to.” Conjoint replied.
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Nova shrugged.
“I mean it’s not like every two days exactly. But like I said, I don’t like people. So I don’t see much of a reason to spend time around them. I spend most of my time on my own in my mech, ship, home, er- thing.”
Axis leaned back.
“Very well. After reviewing a few of the later entries, Sentinel spoke of hiding terrible secrets. A power to destroy one’s enemies as he put it. He hid these secrets to keep them out of the hands of the decepticons at the dawn of the Great War. However after consulting Alpha Trion, I’ve realized that these secrets were in fact the locations of the Prike Colonies. But clearly that can’t be all. If that was the only thing hidden away in this journal then no one would go through so much trouble to get it. Which means that there must be more held within. Potentially dangerous information that has yet to be discovered.”
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