Jaded Optics

++ Nyon ++
Nyon was the capital of Cybertron during the Golden Age, the rule of Nova  
Prime, when energon was plentiful and the planet's population was at peace.
Now, with nearby Iacon the capital of the planet, Nyon has become a ghetto,
and a shell of its former self.                                            
                                                                             
Temples, libraries, energon refineries and places of culture have been all 
but abandoned, left to corrode and rot away as their patrons moved to the  
newer, better capital city to the east. Left behind were the low caste and 
disposable laborers, who commute to Iacon to maintain and keep it, while   
being denied the privilege of its living quarters. Poverty and crime are   
rife here, with only minimal police presence to keep it at bay, making it a
fertile breeding ground for rebellion and dissent.                         
Work had been a little slow for the small courier, but not altogether absent. The femme had just finished the last delivery on her list and now is milling about the outskirts of Nyon, humming and idly shifting the off bit of debris or trash with her foot, as if looking for something.
As Swivel is footing through the dirty streets of Nyon, she does find something, or rather someone. It appears to be a minibot type, likely an Empty or someone low, also sifting through the trash on the ground and searching for something, or really anything of any value.
He looks up at her suddenly and scurries out of the way. "Oh sorry if I was in your way..." he apologizes timidly.
"There yoo.... oh..... sorry..." Swivel's anticipation on finding her querry momentarily caused her to perceive what she was searching for when she saw movement. But once her senses calibrated, revealing an unknown minibot. "Fer a mo' there I thought you's a rat," Swivel explains rather tactlessly, rubbing the side of her helmet and smiling sheepishly. However, upon making her remark she realises her optential error and puts her hands out, palms open in a placating manner. "Ah, no'tha I'm sayin ya'look like a rat... I was jus' lookin' f'one an' 'en I saw ya move I thought mebbe it wa'Stubs." She then realises this may also cause confusion and grins, adding even further explanation. "Stubs is th'name I gave it 'coz it lost most its tail."
The mech shrugs. "Nah, don't worry about it. I don't let that kind of slag get to me, you know." he replies, continuing to rifle through the debris on the ground. "Guess I'm used to it. Name's Turntable by the way."
Visible relief washes over Swivel as the little mech does not take any offense to her thoughtlessness, which happens a lot when her guard is down. Not the having one's guard down in a place such as this is necessarily wise, but the femme was never known for her common sense. "Turntable, eh? Lookin fer sumtin' specific 'er jus' scavangin' fer anythin' useful?"
"Just looking for anything with any kind of value, I guess." Turntable replies with a sigh. "Haven't been having as much luck lately, though. Times are gettin' harder, people aren't throwin' away as much any more." He pulls out a rusted piece of...something, then shakes his head and tosses it away. Never mind.
Swivel tilts her head to one side, and then the other, and then nods with an expression of sympathy upon her face. "Yup, times're gettin' preeetty rough 'n all. Work f'me been slowin' down. I sometimes gotter scavange 'n do odd jobs t'make up for... er, guess I dun got it bad as ya, so nuttin' fer me t'plain 'bout." Swivel offers up a gentle smile, "Bu'thins kin only get so bad 'fore th'get better, yeah?" Swivel edges closer, reaching out to give what she intends to be a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
    Turntable sighs. "Yeah, I guess." he keeps digging through the trash for a few more moments of silence...but then his optics seem to light up at the sight of something. Something glowing! That's always good! He quickly reaches for it, and it appears to be a full cube of a higher grade engex. "Well what do you know, guess you were right!" he holds it up, beaming.
While Swivel may be naive, there are some experiences she has learned from, and one of them is no one gives away free high grade without a string attached. Certainly, then, they would not throw it away either? Swivel immediately begins looking for signs of a recent struggle, or overturned cargo, or something. She also activates her infrared scanners, which she tries to use sparingly. "Yeeeeeah.... yer either reaaaal lucky'r very unlucky... 'cos tha's either sumtin dropped by summun, or a trap..."
As far as Swivel can tell, there's no evidence of a struggle, or anything else suspicious. Turntable just shrugs. "I'm not sure how it could be a trap, I mean it was just...wait.." he was looking back at the ground, and has spotted something -more-. He starts sifting through again, pusing away more dirt and grime--and lo and behold, there's an entire -crate- of it under a bunch of debris. The empty is predictably excited. "Holy Primus, are you a good luck charm? Hey," he grins. "Let's go celebrate, huh? I mean, I don't have much but, gotta enjoy the good moments you do get."
After confirming there is not some sort of ambush or other dangers, she shrugs her shoulders. She looks down at the crate that he uncovered and kneels close to it, her optics wide. "What a find!" Swivel exclaims, excitement also creeping into her voice. "Though, wonder 'ow it got 'ere...." Swivel looks upwards, as if the sky could help her come to some sort of answer to the mystery.
"Dunno, but it's ours now!" Turntable grins, and pulls it out of the ground. "Come on, let's get over to my place!" He starts to drag it away toward a very humble abode not far off, which seems to be little more than a hole in the side of an abandoned warehouse.
"Oh, uh, 'ow nice of ya t'offer," Swivel says, looking towards where the mech is dragging the crate. "But I can't lecha 'vite me in w'out me manners. Fergot t'tell ya m'name. It's Swivel," Swivel says, smiling. "Jus' a moment," she addsm kneeling down to where the crate was, digging around to see if there are any more hidden marvels.
"Oh," Turntable laughs, his mood significantly better. "Well nice to meet you, Swivel." He pulls the crate into the hole and sits down on a barren metal bench--one of the only furnishings inside. "Primus, this'll last me like ten metacycles!" he exclaims happily. "Go ahead, help yourself." The empty encourages, thinking she's just going in for her own share.
But as she's digging through, she does find something else in there. It's small and round, with a steady green LED on it. And...oh no, is that the First Face engraved into the front?
Swivel squints as she sees a green glow and hurriedly wipes away more of the grime... until she is confronted with th First Face. Swivel's hands freeze a moment. Then carefully, she scans the round object for materials deemed hazardous or volatile against her database, which has not been updated in several hundred-thousands of years.
All that Turntable would perceive is her going very quiet ad very still while squatting down by the spot he'd made his big discovery.
Well, there aren't any explosives, at least that she can detect. So perhaps they're safe? Or perhaps it's a tracker of some sort...which is the more likely scenario...
Swivel frowns and looks at Turntable. "There's a gov tracer in 'ere... I think," she informas, glad it wasn't a cleverly disguised explosive. "Ya jus' might get enforcers bearin' down on ya..." Swivel would LIKE to believe it was a care package, but it it were, it wouldn't be deposited and half buried in the outskirts of town. It would have been brought somewhere and handed out at some sort of event. But then, there wouldn't be a tracer if that were the case, now would there? Besides, the government doesn't really do care packages that she can recall. Still, it would be a nicer thought than the frightening government that Hot Rod describes.
Care packages...oh, well wouldn't -that- be nice. It's true though, why would a care package have a tracer in it? Just as she looks up to warn Turntable though, she spots a flash of something blue and white enter the poor mech's little hole in the wall. And there's a good chance that colored blur is the very person named for such a phenomenon...
Yeah. That Blurr guy. It doesn't take much more convincing than the blue and white streak for Swivel to suddenly feel really nervous. And what does Swivel do? Nothing. It's one of those situations where conflicting responses hold one in a near state of paralysis until said conflict can be resolve. Usually through some mental power struggle between self preservation and other urges, such as the urge to do what one perceives as right, curiousity, or even aggression. It would be difficult to tell which of these kept Swivel cemented to her spot.
     From where she's standing, Swivel can hear muffled voices from inside, and can certainly tell that Turntable is in distress.
"...I-I swear, I just found it on the ground I really did!" The empty is begging now, as Blurr can be seen forcing him out of his home.
"Uh-huh. Sure you did." The speedster says flatly, his weapon pressed up against the mech's back.
     "N-no I swear to Primus I'm telling you the truth!! I found it right over there!" he points desperately toward where Swivel is standing. "I-in't that right Swivel? You saw it!"
Swivel's optics narrow a bit and she frowns, looking discouraged. Sure, she would vouch for the mech. But would he believe her? She could say she saw nothing and extricate herself from the situation. But that thought doesn't even cross her mind. Instead she begins with a tentative nod. "Yeah, it was 'alf buried in debris 'bout 'ere. I watched 'im find it an boy did 'e look s'prised," Swivel varifies, looking levelly at Blurr. Swivel has reached that odd calm that comes from being so nervous or afraid that one is past feeling it anymore... sort of like the giddiness coming when one is over tired.
Blurr glares at Swivel when Turntable points over toward her. He scoffs at her. "Oh, and what am I supposed to do, believe -you-? I believed you before, and guess where -that- led." Unfortunately for Turntable, Blurr already tried trusting that one.
"I trusted you. You -promised- me..." The anger starts to give way to some hurt as well. "I should have detained you. Or better yet, killed you." he says spitefully.
Although Swivel expected this sort of response next time she saw Blurr, it still stung. She frowns at Blurr. "I felel bad 'nuff 'bout breaking m'promise. I 'ate that I did," Swivel says ruefully.
Although Swivel expected this sort of response next time she saw Blurr, it still stung. She frowns at Blurr. "I feel bad 'nuff 'bout breaking m'promise. I 'ate that I did," Swivel says woefully. "But... you say y'trusted me, but you didn't! There's nuttin' t'betray b'cause it wun trust you was givin', it was... it was threats. I been terrified of you, lookin' o'er m'shoulder, afraid o' talkin'... 'n yanno what? Felt good to fin'ly let it all out." Being drunk encouraged it, but she is not going to use a lame excuse like that. "I dun wanner live in fear. An' if y'din make me feel so vuln'able, I prolly woulna said en'thin 'coz 'en I woulda been able ta trust /you/." Poor Turntable is almost forgotten as Swivel just spills her feelings all over Blurr.
"I -knew- it. I don't care how bad you feel, none of it is going to fix -anything-." Blurr seethes. "You would've betrayed me either way." He accuses. "I never should have trusted you. I should have killed you on the spot, like I'm supposed to. This is what happens when I try to give people second chances! When I tell myself I can have confidence in even a -shred- of decency. Well I'm not going to let that happen -again-. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."
He jerks up on Turntable's arms, and slaps stasis cuffs on him.
The poor empty sobs pathetically. "N-no...please...I didn't do anything...I just fo--"
"Shut up!" He snaps angrily, striking him on the back of the head with the barrel of his stun weapon.
"Blurr!" Swivel shrieks in a tone he'd not yet heard from the small femme. It's hard to pin any one emotion to it, but it was loud, and it resounded with a strength of feeling, whatever it was. Anger? Fear? Concern? Frustration? Sadness? "Fix what? It doesn't fix what, Blurr? What'rethe consequences of telling my fears to a sympathetic listener?" Suddenly Swivel's speech is unerringly clear. Just as Blurr sometimes shifts to more difficult to understand way of speaking in times of stress - or is it clarity. "What is punishing this mech going to do? It isn't justice if that is what you are after. It's bullying. Just because you can't trust me? What do I have to gain to lie to you right now? If I was a liar, I would say, yeah, I dunno know the mech. I'd let him burn and save myself. Maybe I should have lied, because if I lie maybe that's the only way you'll believe the truth. Now leave him ALONE!"
"I'm not bullying him," Blurr retorts. "He was in possession of illegally obtained goods. I'm just doing my job, and you are far from my superior officer so hell if I have to listen to -you-. You'd better not interfere either, unless you'd like to end up like him, too."
He starts to drag Turntable away, the cuffed empty still sobbing pitifully.
Swivel balls her fists and stomps her foot... and then gets down on her knees and begins bawling. "You hit him! You hit him just for pleading. You hit him because you're mad at me. That' bullying. When you hurt others because you are hurt. He wasn't fighting. He's scared. I'm scared. A lot of us are scared, Blurr. And I'm lost and confused because I want to believe in justice and a government that protects me if I obey the laws, but since you showed up, everything hasn't been right." Swivel is going almost hysterical sounding, her vocoder glitching several times unable to fully translate the intensity of which she tries to speak. "One cycle I'm doing my job... suddenly I'm told to do other jobs when I was taught to only do what I was programmed for. And now people are telling and showing me where the law I always wanted to stay on the right side of isn't protecting me, it's protecting something else. I'm lost and confused. So tell me Blurr, what would you do if you were me? Would you have betrayed vorns of training and programming and changed your vocation because a celebrity athlete told you to? I didn't know then that you were working for the law... I thought you were a vija... a... vege... uh....." her magnificent and heartfelt speech is railroaded because she can't recall a word. "...taking the law into your own hands," she amends flatly and anti climatically. "I... I don't know if Turntable has never broken the law. I have only just met him, but in this he is innocent. I'm not sure of much, but this I am..." Swivel will not add that the mech didn't seem bright enough to pretend to be surprised.
"The law -does- protect us." Blurr insists. "That's why I have to do this. That's why people who steal or involve themselves in theft have to be apprehended, and detained so they can't keep on doing it and getting away with it."
He stares at her crazy overflow of emotions, as if unsure of how to react to it all. She was just...blabbering so much. Suddenly the stern wall of stone seems to falter a bit, and he turns away. "N-no! Stop...stopit...! Juststop..." He brushes past her, trying to ignore all her bawling. "I have to do this...it's right. I have to make the world right." Scared and confused describes -him-, actually.
It describes a lot of people on Cybertron, and fear and confusion make people do crazy things. Or just go downright crazy. "No, you stop it! He didn't steal it... it really was just left there..." Swivel lets out a few whimpers as she says this. She almost has an idea, but her mind is so muddled and emotions so raw she can't think clearly enough to suggest it. It was a good idea too!
"It's not right. What you are doing might be the law, but it's not right. Don't treat 'im like a criminal 'til you know 'e is one." She is starting to calm down a bit, at least, on the outside. This is evident by her droppiing her H's once more. "You feel you can't trust anyone? You push people t'betray you by puttin' them in situations where they're forced t'choose between you and what's right. Or what they were taught was right... and I was taught if I did ma job and din't expect too much, I'd be protected. But I 'aven't been. And I don't understand why..." Swivel is weepy, and she sounds tired and strained under the weight of heavy feelings. "I din't do anythin' wrong until you came along..."
"What are you trying to do, blame me??" Blurr stares incredulously at her. "For everything you've been through? Pff, yeah right! You brought all of this on -yourself-, whether you want to accept it or not! That might be what you've been taught is right, but -this- is what -I've- been taught is right. And I'm -sticking- to that." he insists stubbornly.
He sighs, turning away again as he dumps Turntable into the back of a ground transport. "But if you think I ruined your life, why don't you just -leave- me alone."
"I'm not blamin'... I'm sayin.... I don't know... like 'en you showed up was 'en suddenly... the rules changed behind the scenes..." Swivel gets to her feet, teetering a little as she does so. She tentatively follows him. "And I 'ent gunna leave you 'lone 'coz you wouldn't leave me alone. You followed me, tried to recruit me, and 'en made me feel like a bad person f'not betraying th'way o' life, like, stickin' t'yer assessed function. Now I'm betraying you an' ya speak as if we were friends or somethin'. Why d'ya feel so betrayed by a nothin' like me? An' why does 'e gotta suffer coz /you/ don't believe me? I told ya, gain and again, it really was just sittin' there. An ya showed up 'for we e'en saw it was gov property, so it's not like ya gave 'im the chance t'do the right thing 'fore comin' down on 'im like that. An' why'd it take ya so long to find this anyway? Yer Blurr, Cybertron's fastest." NOw the femme is just being irritating. REVENGE! Not really. "Seems t'me if yer really int'rested in justice, ya'd let the mech put it back where 'e found it and 'ave the spot watched in case the actual thief stashed it 'ere to get later. Yanno. Stake out. Could be fuuuuuuun~"
The femme can change moods like Quickswitch. Apparently.
"I didn't say we were friends, but at least we weren't -enemies-." Blurr says bitterly. "And it's not because I don't believe you. It's because he was found in possession of illegally obtained goods. Protocol says he has to be detained. That's it." He says coldly. "This happens to -anyone- caught with the same, okay? So it's as fair as possible."
He ignores the rest of her questions about him being fast and thus it was weird that it took him this long, because the real reason he's carting this guy off isn't the fact that he appears to have found himself on the wrong side of the law. The speedster opens the cockpit to the transport and climbs in. "So long, Swivel." He closes it, and starts to drive off. It's a fairly large vehicle, so it's not all that fast. Swivel -could- follow it if she wanted to.
Oh Swivel isn't dismissed so easily. Well. Yes she is. She begins running after the transport, yelling "Well 'en I spect 'e wunt be 'tained long since 'e dun nuttin' wrong, an' th'real thieves'll get caught!?" However, after yelling this, the question not really meant to be answered, Swivel stops and lets the transport go. Perhaps she overreacted. Perhaps Hot Rod has caused her to see things through overly jaded optics and things weren't so bad. "And... we don't need ta be enemies..." she mutters quietly with no hope of being heard.
Whether Turntable is detained for a long time or not isn't something Swivel will have the luxury of knowing...well, that is, unless she goes -looking- for him. Blurr doesn't hear her nor dignify her with a response as the transport continues down the road. Perhaps Hot Rod was just overreacting; perhaps it really wasn't as bad as she thought. Or maybe, it was far -worse-...