Unspoken Worry

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Training Simulators
This multi-purpose training room is large and oval, much like an auditorium, but that is where the similarity ends. This facility uses both transformation and holographic technology in order to provide cadets and officers with the most realistic and challenging battle simulations possible. Portions of the room can be sectioned off and programmed to provide target practice, melee simulations, or pretty much anything that's required. These programs can be implemented at a number of drop-down holographic menu stations within the room.
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 08:34PM CST >---------------------
Arcee has been here for a quite a while.
The simulation drone she's set up to assist her in learning Diffusion has already run through the entire Beginners-level course, and is partway through the Intermediate course. Arcee works through each exercise, again and again, over and over until she has mastered it. It's exhausting to watch, so many of the Autobots who have come through here to work on their Diffusion exercises have already arrived and then left for the day. Arcee doesn't seem to tire when she's learning something new. Her goal is mastery, and she'll stop for nothing in order to attain her goal.
Currently, Arcee is practicing blocking moves on an aggressive training drone, attempting to disarm and hinder or halt its progress.
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 08:49PM CST >---------------------
Blurr enters the simulator with the intention of starting up something to keep himself occupied. He probably shouldn't be up and about again so soon, given his latest scrape with Tankor. After all he's supposed to be 'dead', right? But, the speedster really hates waiting around. He gets restless very easily, to say the least.
Once again, he is sporting a lot of severe burns on most of his body, this time from charging right into a flamethrower. Still, he's pretty satisfied with himself, fairly confident that he's tricked Tankor into thinking he's dead. He glances at the readouts on Arcee's exercise. "Intermediate, huh? How long have you been at it?"
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 08:54PM CST >---------------------
It takes a moment for Arcee to even register that Blurr's there. So she blocks a few more shots until she finds herself distracted by Blurr's arrival. Then, Arcee stares at him until the drone gives her a hard nudge in the head. "Computer, pause program," she says hastily, taking a moment to destress and step over to Blurr. "A long time," she admits softly. "Took a while to get through Beginning levels, and I probably should have stopped there. Hey, when do you plan on getting fixed up, hm?"
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 08:59PM CST >---------------------
"That's determination, for sure." Blurr comments. "I'll bet Prime is proud of ya." He chuckles when the drone clocks her in the head. "Sorry to interrupt." Then he looks a bit defensive. "Hey, I did get fixed up, okay? At least the more urgent parts. Stop worrying so much, I'll be fine. Don't tell Tankor that, though!" he laughs.
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 09:05PM CST >---------------------
"Prime will probably be prouder when I can take what I've learned in here and apply it to a mission. That's the real test, yes? How valuable is it going to be outside of the Decagon? It's something we'll just need to find out." Arcee smirks a bit at Blurr. "You know I still worry," she says. "I can't help but worry. Especially since sometimes field agents leave, and they end up on the MIA or KIA list."
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 09:16PM CST >---------------------
"But -I'm- not like other field agents, Arcee." Blurr grins. "You know that better than most." Of course he thinks he can outrun anyone and anything. "They could send their best sniper after me and I'd still give 'em a run for their shanix. And I bet it isn't even Blast Off, ha."
He looks down at the simulator's control console, and starts scrolling through various scenarios. "The only reason I get into predicaments sometimes is because the task at hand or intel or whatever I'm after is more important than me leaving without a scratch. I can escape whenever I want. There's a reason they wanted me in the military."
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 09:24PM CST >---------------------
Arcee leans against Blurr's arm and peers down at the console with him. Why is she leaning against his arm? Hard to say; it isn't something she typically does. However, she's had a lot to contend with in recent days, including worries over the entire situation with Prowl. She's completely unable, or perhaps unwilling, to do anything to compromise him right now, but at the same time it's upsetting her a tremendous deal because she /can't talk about it/. To anyone. Not Impactor, not Jazz, not even Prime. She feels so alone. It's a lot of pressure to be under.
"I know you think you're infallible, but if you can get tagged, then you aren't, okay? Please don't...I don't want you to...."
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 09:28PM CST >---------------------
Blurr is a bit surprised by this leaning. He winces just a little bit, because he left the repair bay before they could get to replacing the scorched plating. But he tries to hide the pain. "Hey I didn't say I was infallible. It's just higly unlikely they'll ever be able to pin me down without me -letting- them do so."
He frowns. "What's the matter? You look--I don't know, you look like something is seriously bothering you."
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 09:38PM CST >---------------------
Arcee gives Blurr an uneasy look. She absolutely can't say a word about the nudge gun fiasco; if she does, she fails one way or another and there won't be a good outcome at all. Cornered by conflicting thoughts, she decides to pin the undeniable discomfort on another incident. It wouldn't be a lie, it would only be...shifting the blame, a bit. "One of the investigators in Sector 7 is MIA, his name's Safelight and he's a friend of mine. If he doesn't show back up soon, I'll be heading out to his last known coordinates to attempt a search and rescue...or a retrieval of remains."
The story is absolutely true, although in the wake of all she was enduring emotionally with Prowl's antics, it seemed very unimportant in the grand scope of things.
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 09:46PM CST >---------------------
"Look at it this way Arcee, this is war. These things are going to happen and keep happening. People like Safelight--people like -us- know the risks of the job. But we take it anyway, by our own choice. Because we know we're up to the task." Blurr says, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But if it makes you feel better I could try to get myself assigned to the search team. The way I see it though, we'll get all those dirty criminals carted off to Garrus-1 before long. Without Megatron they're just a bunch of thugs who have no idea what they even -want-."
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 09:55PM CST >---------------------
Arcee nods, giving Blurr a very genuinely sad and anxious look. The thoughts going through her mind, however, are not very much of Safelight's fate, but of the nightmarish prospect of an entire populace brainwashed into absolute submission and compliance.
(I know you can't read my mind, and I guess that's a good thing,) she thinks as she looks at Blurr. (But I'm scared to death. I put on a brave, brave face, but I'm absolutely petrified. And I can't even tell you. I can't tell /anyone/. As close as we are, and as long as I've known you, I have no choice but to keep quiet about a terrible, terrible thing.)
"Thanks for understanding," Arcee murmurs quietly, turning her gaze toward the floor.
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 10:05PM CST >---------------------
"Give or take a few meta-cycles, and it'll all be over." Blurr reassures her. "'Kay? We'll all be back to peace and prosperity and everything we always loved. After everyone saw what Megatron did, the way he betrayed us, the way he wrecked Iacon? No one's going to be joining the Decepticons or sympathizing with them any more. Pax--er, Prime. He's going to make things right. And we're going to help him make that happen. He hasn't always made the best decisions but I think he's on the right track this time."
He sighs at her expression. "Don't be sad, okay? Even if Safelight is dead, he won't have died for nothing. What we're doing, it's important. It's shaping the future of this planet. It's -making- a future for this planet. We have to win, and we -will- win, because it will make these sacrifices worth it in the end."
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 10:12PM CST >---------------------
"Okay. I see what you're saying," Arcee says, feeling slightly guilty that poor Safelight ended up taking second place in her anxiety closet. She tries to think more about the upcoming mission, which has about a 50/50 chance of being rescue or recovery. "Thanks for offering to be on the mission, by the way."
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 10:24PM CST >---------------------
"But do you feel better now?" Blurr asks. "I just--I hate seeing you sad like that." he admits. "You were always there for me when I wasn't at my best...the least I can do is do the same for you. Part of that thing you told me to do last time. You know, 'calling it even'. I'm not even sure if I could ever do enough to make it actually even, but I have to at least try, right?"
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 10:32PM CST >---------------------
Arcee glances back toward Blurr, then considers. His unfailing optimism is pretty contagious at times. But did he succeed in making her feel better? Admittedly, yes he did, although the original problem still exists. Blurr is reassuring to her, and that gives her a sense of relief. "You're sweet for trying. Can I get a hug?" she asks with a hopeful little smile.
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 10:47PM CST >---------------------
Yes, Blurr is optimistic to a fault. Especially about himself and his own causes. Such childish idealism is not always a good thing. But sometimes...
"I--right. Sure. Of course." he nods, though with the number of burns and scrapes on his body it'll probably hurt like slag. But of course he doesn't want her to know that.
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 10:58PM CST >---------------------
Arcee makes it mercifully brief, at least. Does she know Blurr's in a world of pain? Probably not, but at the same time, she realizes that a single moment must feel like an eternity to him, and she doesn't want to have him squirming uneasily when she just wants to give him a grateful embrace.
"Thanks," she says gratefully. She just wanted to scream in frustration, or run to Jazz, Sky Lynx, or even Prime with what she knew at times. The uncertainty was driving her mad. At times like these, she was glad she was unattatched in any way; even an amica would be suspicious of her moods. But not Blurr!
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 11:04PM CST >---------------------
Blurr clenches his jaw and does what he can to hide the grimace of pain and supress the urge to jerk away from the touch, but thankfully she doesn't squeeze for too long. Still, there's a small sigh of relief when she lets ago. "Any time. Like I said, it's the least I can do. To make up for--well, everything."
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 11:10PM CST >---------------------
"Hey, no worries, okay? And by the way, if you insist on staying here and trying to get through the Diffusion module...don't rush through the Beginner's. You're going to want to, but if you do...you'll miss the best stuff," Arcee says, seemingly in a better mood. "If it's kicking your aftplate, you need to repeat the module. OR...you need to go back to Medical. Silly."
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 11:18PM CST >---------------------
"Thanks." Blurr smiles as the pain spike fades. "Psh." He shakes his head. "You know me, I always have to rush through everything. The faster, the better." The speedster smirks. "And -I- don't get my aftplate kicked by drones."
--------------------< Arcee Posed on Jan 01 11:25PM CST >---------------------
"Mm-hmm. Rush rush rush, all the time," Arcee teases the speedster playfully. She knows in her spark that the sad and anxious feelings will eventually return, so she wants to head on her way before that happens. Blurr's kind of oblivious, but he isn't /completely/ clueless; he might pick up on the fact that all is still not well. "...I'm headed to the bath. Spent way too much time in here on Diffusion today. I'll see you later!"
--------------------< Blurr Posed on Jan 01 11:36PM CST >---------------------
"Th-that's right." Blurr replies, still smirking. Well, he might already suspect that something -else- is bothering her, but if she doesn't want to talk about it--well, he doesn't want to pressure her into doing so. "Yeah, I'll see you."
As soon as she turns away, he leans against the wall as the last of the pain ebbs away. Well it still is painful but less sharp and excruciating and more dull and throbbing. Hah, he doesn't get his aft kicked by -drones-...
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