Who Am I?

----
She can't remember anything at all.
She's wandering aimlessly through the streets of Iacon, towards the outer perimeter of the city, the back of her neck stained with dried energon. This is getting her noticed by others moving past her, who regard her with shock and dismay. She's causing just little bit of a spectacle.
Blast Off has heard a report from an Elite Guard source of his that one of his main targets, Shiftlock, has been spotted... walking down the street in Iacon. Well. *Finally* He's been searching for her for awhile- and she just disappeared. She's the One Who Got Away... and for a professional such as himself... that just won't do. He cannot allow it. So as soon as he heard, he acted. Flying in to Iacon, he lands near the coordinates given and begins his hunt... and he's certain that *this* time he will /finish/ it. For he does so HATE leaving a job unfinished.
"... Someone... anyone...?" Shiftlock searches the crowd with confused optics and a pleading voice. 
"C'mon, doesn't anyone recognize me?" The gentlefolk of the streets back away from her, some staring while others are trying to hurry past and not get involved.
"Ugh. Probably overdosed on syk," a high caste fembot snort as she turns up her nose and walks away with a curl of her lip.
"Can't someone get rid of this trash?" another high caste complains, gesturing at Shiftlock, who backs away, pulling in her arms and looking at the ground. What did she do? She doesn't know. She has no idea why she's being treated like this.
"Someone just call the police and have it picked up. It's a public nuisance."
Blast Off approaches the coordinates, and there... finally... THERE she is. He smirks under the faceplate as his trigger finger twitches. She couldn't escape him forever... no one CAN, after all. He ducks back into the shadows to observe, preparing to bring out his ionic blaster and get the job done. However... as he observes... he stops a moment to listen and... wait... what? His optics narrow some, dimming the violet light cast out from the shadows as he watches her odd behavior. 
Hmm. He watches a little longer as other citizens sneer and jeer at her, then begins walking parallel with the femme for awhile, trying to get a sense of what's going on here. What is this, a trick? It's got to be a trick. Yes, she's probably spotted him and is trying to throw him off. BUT... it won't work, ha! He debates a moment longer, then slips ahead to try and be where she's headed... BEFORE she gets there. And when she does? He's waiting there for her, hand on hip, sneer under faceplate. "Did you really think you could avoid me? It won't work."
Shiftlock rushes towards Blast Off as if he contained every ray of hope in the known universe. "You know who I am?!" she asks, sounding desperate as she tries to reach out to grab his arm. "Tell me! For the love of the allspark, please, you're the only one who seems to know who I am!"
Blast Off blinks. Wait, what?! He leaps back as she rushes towards him, instinctively reacting to what he perceives as an enemy getting far too close. "...Wh- what?" There's an annoyed huff. "Shiftlock, /please/. You can stop trying to trick me... like I said, it will not work! You cannot stay your fate forever! Try to show at least a /little/ dignity...."
"That's my name?" she asks, weary but overjoyed. "I'm Shiftlock? Tell me more, please, I don't remember anything!" She rubs the back of her neck as if irritated by it; feeling something amiss, she opens her hand, looking down. Gooey energon remains, having lost all of its glow, leaving only a sort of dull blue grease behind. She gasps.
Blast Off cannot help but notice that the trickle of energon look remarkably similar to that state Blurr was in earlier. When he had his unfortunate little... incident. Hmmm. Optics narrow as he regards her coldly... then they return to normal. Well, if SHE can act, so can HE. He'll soon find out if this is a trick or not. "...Yes. You're Shiftlock. You don't remember?" He looks around the street, where several mechs are still watching them. Then he actually steps towards her, looking more "friendly" in a way as he gestures to a side alley. "Very well... but come with me, I think we're being watched. And... you're not well." He starts walking into the side alley. A DARK side alley. Which, if she remembers he tried to kill her last time they met, would be a very foolish place to follow him into.
She apparently doesn't, because she follows him in like a trusting little sheepacron. "I don't remember a thing since I woke up," she explains to him as she walks along at his side into the alley. "My neck hurts and I don't know why; I don't know how I got this injury and whhyyy do have several hundred economic summit meeting transcriptions in my memory banks? That doesn't make sense at all."
Blast Off frowns under his faceplate as she does, indeed, follow him in. Once they're sufficiently in the alley, he turns to face her... and it would be very easy for someone of his speed and skill to instantly draw out his ionic blaster and fire it before she could make an escape. He even considers it for a moment. But somehow... this isn't *right*. This whole thing isn't right. He listens and his frown deepens, as it sounds even more as if she's fallen victim to the same mind wipe that Blurr suffered through. But.... why? He wants to know. Especially as Onslaught's words of warning ring through his head. So for now, the weapon remains in subspace. "So you remember absolutely *nothing*? You're a complete blank slate at this time? Except for... economic summit meeting transcriptions?" He tilts his head. "Why doesn't that make sense to you?" 
Then he reaches a hand towards her neck, as if wanting to inspect the injury. "...May I?"
"Well, you'd think that I wouldn't have a jumble of files in my head and no memory to go with it," she explains. "I mean, obviously I would have had to have been somewhere or do something to get these files and minutes and trade reports, but... there's nothing. Nothing at all."
At Blast Off's request, she nods and turns around, leaning her head down so the shuttle can see the injury. Self-repair systems are taking care of most of it, but there is a jagged scar and dried energon about where the middle cervical vertebrae would be.
Blast Off raises an optic ridge, and without having seen what he saw in Rung's office with Onslaught- and seeing what happened to Blurr- he might dismiss this as all an act and simply shoot her and be done with it. But when she turns and lets him inspect her wound- also making herself even more vulnerable in the process... that's the action of someone who is either *really* getting deep into their act (foolishly so) ... or someone who's truly had their memory wiped. Of course, he could still just shoot her anyway. He probably should. But... again, it doesn't seem right, somehow, and there's a deeper mystery to be solved now, anyway. So he looks, and yes, it appears to be the same sort of wound Blurr suffered. He pulls away again, and remarks, "I have seen that sort of injury before. In someone who was later seen going about his business as if nothing had happened... with no memory of what occurred earlier. I... do not understand it all, but... I know someone who might." He debates just what he should do. He could just lie to her and send her on her way, or he could send her to Rung... or even Onslaught. But... should he? "...So all you know are some files in your head. Do you remember where you woke up?"
"The alley near a residential tower. It's just a few kliks from here," Shiftlock replies, standing up straight to turn around to Blast Off and speak to him face to face. "That's it. I don't know how I got there or what I was doing before." She laughs a little. "Maybe I just had a really wild party or something."
Blast Off allows himself a small chuckle. "Perhaps." He glances around again, suddenly concerned that someone might have gone ahead and called the authorities... and that could be bad. Though he's not sure if it would be bad for just her, or him, too... or both. He motions to her to follow him again, and starts heading down the alley towards the next street on over. 
"Let's get away from that crowd from before... they might have called authorities, and that might not be who you want to get involved with right now. In fact, I am not entirely sure who you *can* trust right now."
She walks after Blast Off, trying to keep up with him. "Not even you?" she asks, sounding a little dismayed. She's clinging to the shuttle as her only lifeline to making sense of this.
Blast Off blinks again, then turns to look at her...not quite sure how to respond to that. "I..." Uh. "I'll just say that you're better off trusting me, than the others that might be looking for you." In a odd and backhanded sort of way... it's the truth, too... or at least he *thinks* it is. 
"I want to find out what happened to you... as I am sure you do, as well. So... that makes me your best bet right now." He smirks under the faceplate. "....Do I look trustworthy to you?" He asks, genuinely wondering what her answer will be.
She tilts her head to one side and examines Blast Off.
"Yes?" she asks.
Blast Off's smirk falters. Optics flicker as he processes that. He wasn't exactly expecting that answer... in fact, has *anyone* ever said he looks trustworthy? Hmm. Well, actually, Arcee seemed to trust him, too. He wasn't sure what that was all about, either. He stares at Shiftlock a moment, then clears his vocalizer. "Um, well. Uh, yes." He turns and his pace quickens as he leads her from the alleyway. But... where to? He turns to her once more, once they are standing near the next street. "...You probably don't remember where you live, either." He sighs, debating his next move. "You need to go... *somewhere*, after all."
"I ... yeah," Shiftlock thinks aloud. She begins to pat herself down. "Maybe I have some kind of identification on me. I don't know why it just occurred to me to look, but it did."
Blast Off pauses to watch. "That would be helpful, I'm sure." In the meantime, he continues to keep watch for anything- or anyone- suspicious.
Eventually Shiftlock finds a torso plate pocket, and opens it. Inside are three separate badges, which she takes out and looks at with some confusion: There's a purple one (Con), a red one (Bot), and a gold one (Senate). "... Is this supposed to mean something?" She rubs the side of her head absentmindedly.
Blast Off turns to look- and ...WHAT. He leans in, not even caring about close proximity, so as to get a closer look... then leans back again to gaze at Shiftlock. Whether it means anything to her, it certainly means something to HIM. In fact, he begins to wonder... is she a spy? Perhaps even one who works for the Senate, like him? And found something she shouldn't have, possibly? Suddenly Onslaught's warnings just seem all the more dire. His expression returns to a neutral one. "Perhaps you were doing some research? Tell me, what do you know of the Autobots and Decepticons?"
"Is that what this is all about?" she asks Blast Off. "Because I got nothing. Neither of those names are lighting an LED for me here."
Blast Off's head sags down a bit, and starts to slowly shake back and forth. Oi. Now... how to begin? What to say? This is where he could weave a grand tale of lies, deception, and downright foul play... and she'd probably eat up every word he said. But... outright deception- and then keeping track of all the lies- takes so much... *energy*. It's annoying. Besides, he far prefers a battle against a *worthy* opponent... and someone who's memory is wiped and naively buying everything he says isn't really a *worthy* opponent. It's more of a ...slaughter. He looks at her once more. 
"The Autobots are, basically, those in power. The Senate- that badge you have there- is full of Autobots, for instance, and they make the laws of this land. The Decepticons are rebelling against those powers that be. They assert that certain... injustices have occurred." He points a finger to himself. "*I* am an Autobot." He then points to her. "And *you*, at least as far as I knew until recently.... are a Decepticon." Ok, so he'll leave out the part where he once tried to kill her for that... for now.
Shiftlock looks at the purple badge. "... So I'm a rebel?" she asks Blast Off. "That doesn't ... that doesn't seem right. Why would I be rebelling against the government? Have they done something so wrong, and are so far beyond reason, that I would have no other choice but to turn against them?" These aren't words that should be said aloud. There are listening devices and spy cameras that frequent the streets these days.
Blast Off again considers what all he should tell her. To attempt to avoid those eavesdropping devices, he radios to her, <<You *appeared* to be a rebel, yes. However, now I think you may not have been what you seemed. And whoever you really are, it seems you discovered something you shouldn't have, and had your memory wiped. So perhaps you placed your trust in the... wrong people?>> Meanwhile, out loud, he merely replies, "I wouldn't know.... since I don't know you very well." 
 
On radio, he adds, <<As far as the government is concerned... I am not sure. I knew something was wrong as soon as they... well, I've known something was wrong now for quite a bit. However, I have seen certain things lately that indicate that much /more/ may be wrong than even I realized.>>
It's enough to make a fembot panic. << I don't know what to do now. If it's not safe even to talk, something is desperately wrong, and it's what you don't know that gets you killed... here I am, and I know *nothing*. >>
She steps closer to Blast Off. << Please, for spark's sake, you're all I have right now - just take me somewhere I can catch up on what I've missed. My head feels like it's full of puzzle pieces and I don't have the picture to put them all together. >>
Blast Off raises an optic ridge. <<Well, ignorance is NOT bliss, that is for certain... and yes, something is wrong, I just do not know the full extent of it yet. But what I do know is that someone I trust... perhaps the /only/ person I trust, believes something is wrong, and I've seen enough to think he's right.>> 
 
Then Shiftlock comes closer, and he tenses. He's still not completely certain this isn't a trick, though at this point he's thinking that's highly unlikely. But he's gone from coming in to kill Shiftlock- to pointing out facts and now.... what? She wants him to *help* her? He tilts his head uncertainly. <<You want ME to help you? Even after I pointed out that we were on the opposite sides? You don't even know our past history... for all you know, I was sent here to kill you.>>
Shift doesn't move. << Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. >>
Blast Off regards her a moment longer, then makes a decision. Both he and Shiftlock (not to mention others he knows) appear to be pawns in some game... and he wants to get to the bottom of this far more than he cares about making a hit for the manipulative Senator he works for. 
 
<<Very well. I could take you to an individual I know, one who has been studying cases like yours. Of course, you might have to wait in the meantime... though I only have my workplace... or... my habsuite. All these locations are outside this city, however.>>
<< It's not like I have anywhere else I can go. I'll repay you, I promise. If you want someone to clean or run errands for you or anything, I will. I don't care what what you want me to do -- I'll do *anything*. I just... thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my spark. >> Shiftlock's expression is a blend of desperation and gratitude, and that makes it pretty clear that she really does mean -anything-.
Try not to take advantage of her, big boy.
Blast Off finds himself blinking again. He looks over at the femme as she talks about doing *anything* and... why does he feel slightly flustered all the sudden? No idea, no idea.... Ahem, gentlemech, he's gentlemech... remember that. Ahem. The shuttleformer is quick to radio, <<Ah. Well, very well. I'm sure something agreeable and.. appropriate can be arranged.>> 
 
He turns to step out of the alley, then pauses to look back, <<Don't thank me quite yet. Let us get somewhere safe first... and find out just *what* is going on. We are both pawns in this.... and I don't LIKE being someone's pawn.>>
<< All right. You'll have to lead the way. I'll play it cool, like you're my boss or amica endurae or something, >> Shiftlock radios. She straighens up and puts on an air of complete calm and sophistication, as if she belongs perfectly to a high caste.
Blast Off nods, then as he turns he considers something... he *could* simply transport her in shuttle mode. But about as soon as he thinks of that, he decides against it. Not until he knows this isn't a trick, for absolute certain... either from her or from anyone else. He's alone, and can't afford having someone inside him who then turns out to be an enemy. So... for now, unless an emergency makes him reconsider- public transportation it is. 
 
<<Very well. You can be my assistant.>> We beckons her as he strides out into the street. "Come, we have work to do, and my research won't wait forever..." Soon, he's waved down a street shuttle to get them heading towards Vos.
"Oh, absolutely sir, right away," Shiftlock agrees pleasantly.
<< ... What's your name, by the way? It's going to look awfully suspicious if I don't even know my boss's name. >>
Blast Off stops to look back. ...Oh yeah. <<Blast Off. I am currently working as a scientist in Vos... and so are YOU, if you're going to act as my assistant. We are conducting astrophysical research, as well as various other experiments our sponsors want us to.>> The shuttle arrives, and he steps on.
<< Scientist huh? Well, you learn something new everyday. >> She follows him onto the transport, and the two are gone.