Leave Me Out of the Revolution

++ Kalis ++
Torque's previous visitor, Jazz, has given her a lot of food for thought, but she hasn't really had much time to think seriously on any of it. Not when she's got an entire business to convert.
Later in the day now, almost all her equipment for the bodyshop has either been put away or reconverted for medical use, while her clinic in back has been expanded to the front. It's a lot of work, but it needs to be done. And while she's doing that, any visitors will find her 'closed' sign up for the day and the doors locked, though she can still be heard working inside.
She will soon hear a *tap* *Tap* *tap* on the doorway. If she investigates further, she will see a large, blue mech standing at the doorway, knocking a finger calmly on the surface. She will recognize the mech as Soundwave, one of the Decepticons she will have seen in Kaon- at the Forge. He has a condor on his shoulder- and who knows how many other cassettes lurking about. In fact it was Ravage who let him know that the femme was here. And now, he has some questions all his own.
Ugh, another customer. Seriously, some mechs just can't get the hint, even when there's a big sign. Jazz was definitely a surprise when she opened the garage door the first time, but now that it's Soundwave standing in front of her all she can do is freeze on the spot. "S.. Soundwave.." An icy chill runs down her spine at the sight of the Decepticon, the avian tape on his shoulder making him all the more imposing.
Gripping tighter on the frame of the door, Torque's mind snaps back to reality and her stance becomes rigid, trying her best to not show her fear when glaring up at him now. "..What do you want? I'm closed."
Soundwave looks at her, expression unreadable through the optical visor and the faceplate. Laserbeak, the bird on his shoulder, watches her with a silent red gaze. "I had a few questions. You have given /much/ to the Decepticon cause... I simply ask for a little more of your time. Then I shall leave, should you wish."
That sentence alone is enough to ignite something within the femme, Torque's optics flashing bright like a roaring fire as she grits her dentals and jabs an accusatory finger at his chest. "I haven't given the Decepticon cause anything and you damn well know that! Megatron was.. He was.. ugh!"
With fury ratcheted up in a matter of seconds, the medic leaves the door and storms back into the shop, leaving it open to enter if he wishes. "He was.. wrong." She mutters out, hand to her forehead and pacing a little. "I told Clench he didn't own us, yes, but I didn't want anyone else to be killed. That isn't what I wanted at all.."
Soundwave's expression doesn't change, even as Torque storms over and jabs a finger at his chest. Laserbeak responds, though, wings flapping in indignation, beak clicking like he'd enjoy snapping that finger right off. But Soundwave raises a hand, gesturing to the bird to stop, and he does. The hand comes down and Soundwave walks inside. He is silent a moment, simply looking around the shop and taking it in. Then his focus returns to Torque.
"And yet you... have. You inspired Megatron to take action against a corrupt person. Someone who was willing to kill *you* for his own twisted amusement and to keep all in that arena under his heel as he ground them to dust. Megatron saved your life. Are you... not grateful for that?"
"Don't you twist my words." Torque snaps, glaring daggers at the larger mech. However it is Soundwave sees and senses things, Torque will appear as a chaotic mix of anger and confusion tinged with sadness. "I'm no less grateful for what he did for me, don't you forget that. But.. but if this is how he's going to handle the Senate, to start the war.."
She sits down heavily upon a stool and holds her head in her hands with her entirety sinkingunder some invisible weight, the anger draining out of her as fast as it arrived. "If he does something more drastic.. I don't want to be known as the one who helped him make his move. Don't you understand that? I don't want to be responsible for lost lives, no matter who they are.." She can't hide her emotion now, already on the edge of pouring over as her voice wavers.
Soundwave finds a seat and sits down, his bulk still managing to take up a good deal of space. His red optic visor keeps her in a steady gaze as Torque becomes awash in emotions. And indeed, he scans her with his mind, seeking out her thoughts and emotions. They are chaotic. This puzzles him still. If he were in HER place, he'd be flooded with pride and elation at having so favorably influenced the great Megatron. Her doubts don't all register clearly with him. They are... confusing.
"It is good to be grateful. Clench intended to kill you. How can you mourn him? Did you not see the kind of mech he was? How he saw all the rest of us as merely dirt to wipe under his foot? I understand desiring to give people a chance... to see if they will light or reason. But in order to prevent suffering of the innocents, some of the guilty must fall."
Torque remains quiet for several moments after Soundwave speaks before she can muster enough energy to answer, dropping her hands to stare at them in her lap and remembering the energon on them in the arena. "I don't think Clench would've changed. And maybe not the others either.. So maybe death was the only choice. But you don't seem to understand that I didn't want to be part of it, or with what's to come.. But I can't seem to do anything about that now."
Torque looks up to him now, her emotion like a raincloud above her. "No matter what I do or say, you're all just going to keep praising me. Primus.. I only met the mech once, and now all of this happens.." She just shakes her head and looks back down, her head almost hanging. "..So why are you here? What sort of questions did you want to ask me?"
Soundwave responds, "You are currently answering them." Head tilting slightly, he continues, "I do not understand your apparent... distress regarding Clench. Or your involvement. You are a medic- you understand that death is also a part of life. I take it... you wish to avoid any involvement with death? You wish to wipe your hands clean?"
"No, it's not like that, I just.." Torque grumbles softly to herself, annoyance creeping in as she rubs her face. "Of course I understand that. I just don't condone death being forced on someone by another. I'm.. not sure how I feel about Clench, honestly. He was vile and evil and likely deserved to die, but I don't know.. Something about all of that.. seeing it happen right in front of me, to see everyone else die and having their energon on me. I just.." Primus, just the thought has her shuddering. "I want to save lives.. not take them.."
Considering this, Soundwave asks her a question. "If a lone madmech was advancing on several innocent Cybertronians, threatening their lives, and the only way to save their lives was to kill the madmech- would you do it?"
Torque sees what he's doing and she doesn't like it, meeting the mech with a hard stare and thinly pressed lips. "..I would. Is this why you're here then? To spin my head around so much that I take up arms with you and Megatron? Tell me the truth."
Soundwave looks at her a long time, deliberating his answer. There are many he could give her. Ultimately, though... this time? He decides to tell the truth. "Affirmative. I came here originally to try and convince you to reconsider, to come back and join the cause. Confession: I would greatly enjoy being in your situation."
There's a flicker of something- is it disappointment? "I am... reconsidering that purpose, however. Your spark is not lit with the same... fire. You have doubts, colored cold and somber." He tilts his head again. "Do you have a question for me? Is there a way I can ease your mind, your doubts?"
"..If I could give it to you, then I'd do it in a sparkbeat. But there's nothing I can change now, so I just have to accept it, I guess.." Torque mutters and sighs deeply while listening to him speak of her. "Maybe Barricade was right when he said I was just a weak sparked medic.. Still, that doesn't mean I can't make my own decisions, and unfortunately I have to decline joining you. I just.. can't see myself doing what you do."
At the offer to answer questions instead, Torque looks up to Soundwave, uncertainty on her face when trying to search behind the crimson optic band. "..What made you decide to follow Megatron?"
This causes the outlier to glance down as he thinks upon Torque's question and how to respond. That crimson optic band turns to gaze at Laserbeak, who makes a soft, almost chirping sound. Soundwave reaches up and touches Laserbeak's head briefly, almost tenderly, before responding. "I came from the streets. I was an empty. Disposable, outcast. Struggling to make any sense of the world. And it was my fellow outcasts who recahed out to aid me in my hour of need. Laserbeak here, Buzzsaw, Ravage. Those whom society deems trash. THEY helped me where so-called superior mechs did not." He turns to look at Torque.
"I learned from my friends how to focus, yet I still had no true... purpose. I saw suffering all around me and yet no one had any answers on how to stop it. And then... then I read Megatron's words. They gave me hope. They gave me focus. They gave me purpose again." That band seems even more determined. "Megatron seeks equality, just as I do. He knew my friends were not underlings but fellow Cybertronians. That is why I follow him. I believe he will lead us to a better way. An EQUAL way."
Torque listens intently, taking note of all he says while optics remain on him. Though by the time he finishes they'll have moved to her lap, staring at her hands that ball up. "..I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. If I'd known of you back then I would have tried to help and.. maybe I wouldn't be declining your offer right now."
Lifting her head again, she meets Soundwave's gaze and is only able to offer a soft frown. "But maybe that's another reason why I wouldn't belong with the Decepticons. I want equality too, believe me, but.. I've never experienced what you mechs have. I've never had that sort of loss or struggle. I stepped down from my life as a medic by choice, not worked my way up from the bottom. This doesn't give me any right to say I'm above anyone, nor would I ever say such a thing, but I just.. don't think the Decepticon path is the right one for me despite wanting the same thing. Do you see what I mean..?"
Soundwave nods to her. "It is perhaps... unfortunate." He seems to sigh a little. "Your assistance has been... appreciated. Not just recently, but... your help as a medic. Repairing those who needed aid. It will be a shame to lose you." He contemplates this. "I... am not sure I totally understand. However... some are willing to fight, and some are not."
His mind reaches towards hers again. "You... mean well. And as a medic I understand your ...compassion to the living. But I believe there is a time to fight, so that the innocent do not suffer. As long as the guilty go unpunished, there will only be more suffering, more sorrow, more misery and death."
Torque's mind is more steady now, steadily returning to that soft warmth he felt in the medbay, though a streak pity runs through it. "I'll keep repairing who I can, don't you worry about that. And maybe in time I'll get enough courage to fight in my own way. But right now I just.. have a lot to think about." The hint of a smile curls her lips and she stands. "I don't really like kicking mechs outta my shop, but.. Well, I don't think I have much more to say."
Soundwave manages to look... a little bit disappointed. Somehow. But Torque seems to have made up her mind. A shame. She would have made a good ally... but he can read her doubt, her faltering... and he knows this would not be an ally who will remain true. And right now he seeks loyalty. For HE is loyal, and he cannot understand why anyone else would be anything different. Especially to a mech like Megatron.
The outlier stands and gives her a nod. "Very well. I will... thank you for your time, then." With that, he and his bird are on their way.
Maybe it's a good thing Torque doesn't join if she wouldn't be faithful. Better to save everyone the trouble. She wonders, though.. just what is the path for her? Maybe Orion Pax will know..
Seeing Soundwave out, she locks the door behind him and settles back on her stool, rubbing her forehead. What a day.. And she definitely won't be opening the door for anymore people. She's had enough for right now.