A Matter of Trust

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---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 07:49PM CST >----------------------
Prowl is headed toward his office at the end of a rather busy solar cycle, going through reports of all kinds as he walks. News reports, intel reports, and reports from every division. One has to wonder how he manages to sift through it all. But maybe that's why he always seems to be one step ahead of the game.
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 07:52PM CST >----------------------
When Prowl nears his office, he'll see a very familiar pink femme already standing there waiting for him. She's trying very hard to wear the same neutral expression of mild indifference that seems to come as second nature to Prowl, but it's very difficult when the incident in Maccaddam's has her so upset. "Hi," she greets glumly.
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 07:58PM CST >----------------------
Prowl looks up at her glum greeting, brow ridges arching upward a little bit in mild surprise. She is certainly prompt. "Arcee." he responds, his tone reflecting the fact that this was somewhat unexpected, though of course not too severely unexpected. He probably considered it at least 20% likely that she'd be right there, standing and waiting for him with the results of the test. "You've completed the field test already?"
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 08:01PM CST >----------------------
"I did," Arcee answers, "And the results were pretty dramatic. You probably heard about what happened on the news already and from the field reports, but...I have the footage from what actually took place. It happened in Maccaddam's." She turns to follow Prowl into the office, because she's somewhat anxious to give the prototype back to him. It's way too freaky for her.
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 08:08PM CST >----------------------
The door opens as the two of them enter. Prowl nods as she continues. "Yes, I did hear about what happened on the news." He probably also is already aware that the impromptu 'performance' had something to do with the prototype...it's not in Blast Off's character to do such a thing. "But the field report is waiting on you." He says pointedly. "Of course, I shouldn't have to remind you to keep all information regarding the equipment test out of official correspondence. Blast Off's actions were unexpected and unprecedented. Perhaps he'd had a bit too much engex."
He moves over to his desk and sits down behind it. "Well, let's see that footage, then." he says, watching her expectantly.
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 08:17PM CST >----------------------
"Alright. Well I just wanted to report all of this to you directly, so I wouldn't inadvertantly forget to redact something in a public report," Arcee explains, as she places the prototype on Prowl's desk, then takes a moment to directly upload the timestamped feed to the main terminal, where it plays out like a movie taken from Arcee's point of view.
"I was in Maccaddam's...as you can see, the place offered a number of possible test subjects..." Arcee points out Starscream, then Swindle and finally Blast Off. "But Blast Off was distracted, overenergized and directly in my line of sight, so I decided to go for him."
On the feed, Arcee glances down at her lap, where she's priming the prototype to fire as she has casual conversation with Blurr and Wheeljack.
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 08:28PM CST >----------------------
Prowl watches the entire feed quietly, nodding in approval. "Excellent choice, Arcee. You never fail to exceed my expectations." he says, once the footage has run its course. He isn't smiling, as per usual, but she knows him well enough to tell that he's fairly pleased.
"Now that we know it works, we can modify it to fit our needs." He brings up the schematics once more.
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 08:33PM CST >----------------------
"Sorry for the mess that followed...Blurr didn't much feel like listening to me," Arcee says, sounding disappointed as she watches the feed during the time when Blast Off decides to begin entertaining the crowd. "I mean, it's interesting how Blast Off was affected, but it was never my intention to have the situation get out of hand like it did."
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 08:36PM CST >----------------------
"Of course it wasn't, you couldn't possibly have been expected to know what would happen." Prowl says, shaking his head. "Don't blame yourself for something that clearly isn't your fault. You did as you were ordered. Blurr acted...within reasonable expectation for someone of his caliber."
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 08:42PM CST >----------------------
Arcee sits there looking surprised for a long moment. She wasn't sure what she expected, but 'don't worry about it' was not one of the anticipated reactions. "Umm...okay," she says, trying not to think too much about the trampled and crushed mechs that were whisked away as part of the site cleanup. "By the way, all I did was what you see there. I didn't do or say anything to make Blast Off do those things in front of the crowd. It was very unlike him, but I suppose that was entirely the device's effect because no one else suggested to him that he should perform."
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 08:48PM CST >----------------------
Prowl nods. Yes, of course. Just as he expected. "I don't doubt it." He replies vaguely, apparently preoccupied with studying the weapon's schematics and replaying portions of the footage from Maccaddam's a number of times over.
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 08:51PM CST >----------------------
Arcee tilts her head slightly, watching Prowl watch the footage for a little while. Finally, she blurts out, "What are you thinking?"
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 08:55PM CST >----------------------
After a moment, Prowl pauses the footage and looks up at her. "I'm thinking that the signal you fired caused Blast Off to blindly obey the next 'order' he heard. Which happened to be the host's request for more participants in the show."
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 08:58PM CST >----------------------
"So...do you think it briefly hijacked his ability to resist suggestion?" Arcee asks. "Sounds kind of complicated and out of my league...however, it does make me wonder just how powerful the effect really is. Do you think if he was hit with that and then instructed to shoot Starscream or...or even his fellow Combaticon there, Swindle, do you think he would have gone that far?"
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 09:04PM CST >----------------------
"I don't know, but I intend to find out." Prowl replies evenly. Oh no, this isn't over. "I believe it is somewhat like that, but more along the lines of implanting a sort of 'irresistible thought' or suggestion that the individual is compelled to follow. In that particular case, the suggestion to follow whatever request or order was issued immediately following. The signal fired can be modified to suit the occasion."
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 09:09PM CST >----------------------
Arcee isn't so sure she likes what Prowl has in mind. She envisions the widespread use of such a device over entire city blocks, or perhaps across the entire planet, causing mass amounts of groupthink. It would be peaceful, indeed, but at what price??
She couldn't help but wonder if Optimus and Prowl would have serious disagreements over this technology, or whether they already had. "Well, glad I could be of assistance," Arcee says mildly. "Do you have anything else for me right now?"
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 09:14PM CST >----------------------
No, they haven't had any disagreements over this technology...because Optimus doesn't know about it. And Prowl intends to keep it that way. Prime has good intentions, but sometimes he lacks the cast iron manifolds to make the difficult decisions and do what is necessary to save as many people as possible.
"Yes, I want you to continue the field testing." He picks up the weapon and connects it to a socket in his workstation, beginning to upload new programming. "Doesn't have to be the same subject, but this time I want to see how it handles a specific command for a certain action or behavior instead of just a suggestion to obey."
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 09:16PM CST >----------------------
Arcee hmms. "A specific command, then? What exactly did you have in mind?" she asks a bit worriedly.
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 09:20PM CST >----------------------
"We'll start with a simple activation of the fight or flight response." Prowl answers. "Base-level signal, easy to detect." Once the upload is finished, he disconnects the socket and pushes the weapon back over toward her.
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 09:31PM CST >----------------------
Arcee seems less than enthused about this task, if her expression is any indication. She does appear to be on board with it, though, as she's gone this far so she might as well continue down this road. As sure as she's been about Prowl in the past, this idea is not sitting well with her. It reminds her too much of Sentinel. He meant well, too, and look what happened there.
Arcee looks at the prototype for a long moment, then reaches over and takes it, returning it to subspace.
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 09:32PM CST >----------------------
Prowl notices her uneasiness this time, or perhaps he had noticed it before, but hadn't said anything just yet. "Is there a problem?"
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 09:36PM CST >----------------------
"This technology raises a lot of ethical red flags, Prowl," Arcee says. "I don't see this being very beneficial if there's no checks and balances on the power imbalance this is going to create. The...potential for bad things to happen is there."
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 09:40PM CST >----------------------
"The potential for 'bad' things to happen is always there. Risks need to be taken in order for progress to take hold." Prowl sighs. "But this is an avenue worth exploring, you have to agree with -that- notion at the very least."
Yeah, remember the sacrifice question he asked before? There was a reason for it. He pauses for a beat. "Arcee, do you trust me?"
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 09:48PM CST >----------------------
"Of course I do," Arcee answers, and some old, undefined feelings well up within her spark. "I wouldn't have agreed to field-test the device if I didn't trust you. My concerns aren't about my personal feelings, I think they're valid concerns about power and control that should be considered."
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 09:55PM CST >----------------------
"Good." Prowl nods. "Of course, your concerns aren't unfounded, but if you do trust me, as you say, you ought to be confident that I -will- use this technology for the overall betterment of Cybertron. You yourself said that if you could save more lives by sacrificing a few, as opposed to letting everyone perish, you would. Is that right?"
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 09:59PM CST >----------------------
Arcee looks down at the floor, her expression melancholy. "Yes, that's correct."
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 10:02PM CST >----------------------
"Of course." Prowl stands up, because it's almost time to run some drills over at the academy. "And I'm glad you did, because that is the right thing to do. You're among the few, you know, whom I can trust with these things. Because I know that despite appearances sometimes, you know how to make the sorts of decisions the likes of Prime himself cannot. Which, as you know, is the reason you are not to speak of this to anyone else."
---------------------< Prowl Posed on Dec 05 10:06PM CST >----------------------
As he's leaving, he makes one last comment. "That's why people like us are needed, Arcee. Optimus doesn't have the struts to do these things himself...so he needs -us- to do them for him." Yeah, without his knowledge, too. That's just how it works.
---------------------< Arcee Posed on Dec 05 10:06PM CST >----------------------
Trust means a lot to Arcee. Prowl means a lot to Arcee as well. And things are going alright. So why does this whole situation give her a terribly bad pit in her spark?
She stands, then fumbles for words, but she isn't sure what to say or how to say it. Before he can stop her, she gives him a quick hug. "You're...you're right, of course. I'm sorry I had any doubt."
Then, she hurries off.
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