Secrets and Plans

Two very modern-looking vehicles zoom into town, headed for the police station. One of those vehicles is red with an awesome flame-pattern on the front, and the other is pink. On the way back from that horrible zone known as the 'Dead End', Arcee's had time to discuss the situation with Hot Rod, as they return to Rodion to seek out Orion Pax.
Most bots would feel as if it's been a long cycle by this point. But for Orion Pax, having finished his third patrol, he's just getting warmed up. As he steps out onto the steps in front of the precinct, his blue glowing optics scan the vicinity. Looking for trouble more than likely. That is until his gaze locks in on two speeders heading his way. 
They are really, /really/ awesome flames. Just -- for the record. Trouble on approach in more ways than one, it's certainly reasonable that the pair would catch Orion's gaze. It's not until they are nearly at the steps that Hot Rod transforms back to root mode. He falls into an easy stride that carries him toward Orion Pax, Super Cop, while casting a look around -- possibly to make sure no one else is going to arrest him before he gets that far. He's not quite jumpy, but he is certainly very alert. He looks a little rough around the edges for all the flare of his paint: a little scuffed, a bit dirty. Despite that, he carries himself as though freshly waxed and buffed to a shine; his features carry the focus of determination and brightness of purpose. His smile has no excuse or explanation.
At the police station is an elderly bot and a much smaller one with him. Exiting the precint as well, the Archivist and his trainee had stopped by to collect the month's records for filing. Standing not far from Orion, Alpha Trion and Rewind are present to see the two speedy vehicles coming in fast.
Rewind stands besides Alpha Trion, his small gray and white form looking almost drab compared to Trion's sheer... purpleness. He glances up at the old mech, then turns to watch the newcomers arrive. Oh, hey, he's seen them before. That pink is hard to miss... and let's not even go into that flame pattern, shall we? Still- it's an awesome flame pattern, and looks great on video.....
Arcee transforms to her root mode when Hot Rod does, and she recognizes Orion Pax from that day she went to the police station to report the attack. "Hi! We have...something for you. I think you'll agree it's pretty important!" Noticing the archivist and -- oh, that camera bot from the bar! -- she keeps the details somewhat vague.
It is just slightly possible that, on spotting Rewind, Hot Rod angles to find the best possible lighting. He also totally gives him a brief -- and unusually serious -- nod of recognition, but there's definitely a shift of weight happening as he and Arcee show up to pass off really important data that they are completely mysterious about. All he says is, "It's critical. Please take a look." Then he gives Rewind and his friend a longer look.
Pax looks as if he's ready to find out what exactly this information is - when an alarm goes off inside the precint building. He apologizes hurriedly and rushes back inside to see what the emergency might be. A policemech's work is never done.
"Found something important, did you?" Trion asks Arcee gently. "There is no end of news these days... all bad it seems."
Rewind notes the effort Hot Rod puts into ...well, showing off. But the small mech isn't complaining. Heck no, videographers LOVE photogenic subjects, and Hot Rod is most definitely photogenic! His camera records it all, then he looks back up as the new Bots approach, giving them a small wave of greeting.
Arcee turns toward Alpha Trion, smiling kindly. "Actually...yes, sir, we did." She glances over toward Hot Rod as if to confirm this, and that's when she catches him...wait, was he just mugging for Rewind's camera?! She sighs to herself. He'd be so much more appealing if he wasn't so full of himself. "Do you and Rewind work together?"
All that work showing off, and it's all for nothing. Hot Rod sighs and slumps, right down to the dragging tips of his spoiler, before he turns to face Rewind and Alpha Trion. He smiles again, but it's a thin, tense thing and his attention pulls toward the sounds of the alarm before he looks back. Not them, right? "Hey, Rewind," he greets with a casual and presumptive ease. Friends? Friends! "Yeah, and this stuff gets pretty bad, too. Which is why it's so important."
"Rewind is my assistant, yes. He is an excellent archivist. I think one day he'll probably take my job!" Trion chuckles lightly. Stroking his beard his demeanor turns serious. "I think perhaps it's best if we went inside. Some truths are best not spoken out loud."
"We might actually be speaking the same truths, here," Arcee suddenly realizes. "Yes, let's...go inside and wait there..." As if suddenly realizing she'd make an easier target for her assassin out here, she leads the way into the police station.
Rewind grins under his faceplate at Hot Rod. It seems the videographer and his subject have already reached some natural understanding. He looks up at Alpha Trion again and gives him a slightly surprised, but happy look. He's almost afraid to ask if Alpha Trion is serious. Then, the small mech hurries along after the others.
Hot Rod glances from Alpha Trion to Rewind: not only is he quick to claim Rewind's friendship, but he's equally quick to trust Rewind's judgment. Whatever he sees, combined with Arcee's decisiveness, it's enough to send him along with mirrored speed. "You know, Rewind, you were here for the early part of this story, come to think of it."
Trion speaks with the officer occupying a front desk. The other mech nods with a friendly smile, and A3 moves to take a seat in the waiting station right in the front hall, inviting the others to do so. "There are also times when the truth is best hidden in the open," he muses wryly.
Rewind looks up at Hot Rod, small camera light flashing a little red glow across his own face and casting an even warmer tone to Hot Rod's already warm features. "Oh? You mean... back in the bar?" He blinks, then looks over at Alpha Trion. The older mech is a kindly sort, but he still feels compelled to add, "I... was on a break, and just wanted to see what Maccaddams was all about! It was curiosity, that's all."
"Hey Rewind, do you still...have footage of Kickback? That might be all I have left to remember him by, now..." Arcee's smile fades a bit, but she gives the little archivist a hopeful look.
"Mm-hmm." Hot Rod watches Alpha Trion, then glances back at Rewind. "You remember that missing femme? Well, we found her. And a lot more." He hesitates before pulling a data slug from his side and rolls it over his fingers. His voice is quiet and unusually serious as he says, "This isn't the kind of thing any archivist probably wants to see, but it's your call. Do you think you could make a copy? I have to tell you -- even just that is probably dangerous."
Rewind nods to Arcee, "Yes, I should." He tilts his head. "Why? What happened?" Then he looks over to Hot ROd and watches with interest as the bigger mech approaches. "REally?" Rewind reaches out a hand, almost touching the data slug. "Dangerous?" He lets out a small chuckle. ""Dangerous" makes good video."
"Actually, it's a long story," Arcee admits softly. "And probably not a very nice one. Let's discuss the dataslug instead. This is...a lot more consequential, I guess you could say. It might impact ALL of us."
As Orion Pax returns, and he seems to have a few more scratches in his chassis then before. With a hand on his shoulder he rotates his shoulder servos. "My apologies." his low and stern synthesized voice replies as. "I had to stop an incident from happening in the cell area." He so does hate to use violence, but it is a necessity when you re a peace keeper. 
"Then it is true," Trion says sadly. "There have been files coming into the Hall every so often, some of them sealed so that even I cannot access them, but enough has slipped through the cracks that I have been able to piece together a very dark puzzle."
He extends a hand to Hot Rod to take the slug that's been offered. With a note of gravity, he adds, "I have seen things in the course of my life, young mech, that would peel the paint from your frame."
"You might change your mind on that." Hot Rod leaves the data offered on the palm of his hand for them to take, or think better of it. He doesn't push it. He explicitly doesn't push it. When Trion takes the slug, he curls his now-empty hand to form a fist. When Orion Pax returns, he nods at Arcee. "We have a copy for you, as well."
Rewind looks a bit concerned, and he can't help but wonder what happened to Arcee and her bug friend... but then again, that WAS a walking, talking Insecticon so.... maybe he does have an idea after all. He nods, a little subdued now. The small mech watches Orion Pax enter, making sure to film this new guy. There's something... photogenic about him, too, but... he's just not sure what it is yet. He watches Trion talk and nods.
Trion pats Rewind on his shoulder pauldron. "I would enjoy the excuse to get out more. If there are places you want to see, kindly let me know."
"Completely understandable, Officer," Arcee says. "I think you might find what's on there of *considerably* interest."
"What do you have for me?" he says welcoming whatever it is they have for him. As he moves from the cell corridor entrance he moves over to a large desk and takes a seat. He earned it the hard way and it's his. 
Hot Rod forcibly stills himself before setting forth a simple explanation of the data: "This was recovered from a facility in the Dead End that was hiding behind a relinquishment clinic. The people there were held against their will. They didn't know what they were signing themselves over for. I think you should study the data yourself and draw your own conclusions."
"I...sort of arrived at the tail end of the operation," Arcee admits. She isn't quite ready to admit that she wasn't aware there even WAS an operation to begin with. She listens curiously to Hot Rod, and when he mentions it in fact WAS a 'relinquishment clinic', she feels herself go cold. Not that she didn't know what that was, she most certainly did know! But she didn't want to believe that they actually existed.
Rewind looks up at Alpha Trion and smiles under his faceplate. The small mech knows what it's like NOT to be treated kindly, and he is very glad he found a situation where he not only is, but is able to do the things he loves. Then he turns to listen to Arcee and Hot Rod and most definitely is NOT smiling anymore. "What?" He leans in, curious.
Alpha Trion takes the data slug, and opening a panel on his arm, slots it in, reading the data. As it crosses through his processor, he seems suddenly older and sadder, as if he were witnessing the decommissioning and disposal of the bodies of his own progeny.
"It is indeed as I feared. I had hoped we would not sink to such depths again."
Arcee suddenly realizes something, and she glances over in sudden, horrified realization toward Rewind. "....."
Pax stands up quickly behind his desk. "You said other bots were being held against their will?" he says a bit angered by this information. "No bot or species should be held as such." looking at the data he nods his head. "Dead End you said?"
Oo, operation. Hot Rod almost visibly burns that word into his memory banks. It's a way more dignified take on things than whatever a more accurate description would be. "Yes, although by now there's little there if what -- we heard is true," he says, eliding Jazz's name and working around it. "It's not the only place. I don't know how many there are. A lot, it sounds like. It might be in those files." He gives Alpha Trion a glance, and focuses on one word with rising incredulity and anger: "'Again'?"
"If the information I am reading is correct, the depths of this... /abomination/," Trion spits, disgusted, "go far beyond the outskirts of Polyhex. There is a list of names, organized by threat level. Most of them are decepticon registrants or sympathizers. There are also the names of those who have spoken out against the government, as well as a list of medical records and procedures..." He vents, frowning. "I am sorry, Pax. Senator Shockwave is on this list, along with the nature of his 'treatment'."
Looking up to Hot Rod as he places his hands on his knees, he answers the Nyonian's question. "There was a time, before Nova was Prime, that such oppression and barbarism took place across Cybertron. It required a planetary rebellion to escape."
Rewind looks up at Alpha Trion, taking this all in. He's heard some bits and pieces, having worked as an archivist, but not all of this. The mention of treatment for Shockwave makes him nervous, though, and he mutters, "Treatment?" Not sure he WANTS an answer.
Rewind also looks over at Arcee, blinking up in confusion. "...Something wrong?"
Arcee nods. "I think that's probably where Prowl had Kickback taken...it HAD to have been...because...because he won't tell me where he is, and I can't find him. He was put in the back of a transport and driven away, and foolish me thinking they were going to have him rehomed! Shame on me for having any faith at ALL in...in..." She gives up trying to make sense of it all, and just cries into her hands.
Pax sits back down and sinks into his seat. Shockwave was one of the good ones. He passed on information to him. Even had him rebuilt after the Senate incident. "We need more intelligence." he says softly to himself. He's listening, but he's processing all the information as well. Upon hearing the crying he looks up from thought and looks to all those in his precinct. "We will stop this and who ever is involved. We cant let them take our friend and use them as test subjects. We need to know more. We need to find these bots. It's the only way we can save those who've been taken. Even if it costs me my own spark."
Hot Rod looks a little nervous when Trion lays out the kind of people to be found on the list, but it is burnt away in a hot flash of outrage as he says, "Not a very successful rebellion. Not if we're right back to that kind of slag. That place was monstrous." He delivers the last in a flat tone, shorn of dramatics, as a bare recitation of fact. It's the same tone when he tells Arcee, "We'll find him." Glancing from Trion to Pax, Hot Rod says, "What's on there is a start on your intel." His attitude is almost defiant as he says, "People need to know the truth. Only way to really stop this is to drag it out into the light. Everyone deserves to know what is really going on."
"And what would the citizens of this planet do if they knew, Hot Rod?" Alpha Trion questions the impulsive young mech gently. "Those in control would monitor the media, filter the messages, pawn it off as the actions of someone else - perhaps even blame it upon the Decepticon movement, giving them an excuse to commit wholesale slaughter against those already taking a stand. We must have a plan of action before we act."
"I was part of a rebellion myself once," he adds with a mischievous glint to his optics. "Sentinel has assigned me to book keeping, hoping to sweep me aside as a relic of the past, forgotten and marginalized. But in doing so, he made a mistake. As an archivist, I have access to every piece of data flowing across Teletraan-1 itself. I believe I can be of assistance in gathering intelligence." He looks down at Rewind. "Would you be willing to assist me? I cannot force such a choice upon you, my friend."
Rewind looks concerned, and steps over to try and pat Arcee in a comforting manner. "You... don't know that. Maybe he's..." His voice trails off, since he's not really convinced of what he's saying. But he listens to Pax, and adds, "But he's right. No matter what happened, we'll set this right." 
Rewind looks up at Alpha Trion, a warm, proud light in his blue optics. "Of course!"
Arcee composes herself, but the thought of Kickback being a victim of the relinquishment clinic has definitely rattled her to the core. She had a special bond with that strange little mech, and it wasn't one she expected anyone else to understand. "All of you are right, the more mechs know about what's going on at these places, the better chance we'll have of bringing an end to them for good."
Pax sits listening to each of the other bots. "We must be careful though. One wrong move. Or the lost trust of someone we think is with us can be devastating." Pax says as his hand goes his the chin of his faceplate. "Never alone. Always with a group. And you shouldn't let them know your real purposes." 
"They can't control everything!" And yet -- Hot Rod sounds more like the kind of person who wants that to be true than the kind of person who believes it to be true. He studies Alpha Trion and Orion Pax in turn for a long moment before finally nodding sharply. He settles to a low simmer with obvious reluctance.
All this good sense around him. It's terrible!
"So what's our plan?" he asks, despite the fact that Alpha Trion had obviously laid out a first step with Rewind. It didn't involve HOT ROD. "Be careful, sure--" Sure. Whatever. Careful. Yep, totally. "--but can't we do something now to help?"
"...Count me in, because I'm helping too," Arcee decides resolutely. She smiles slightly at Rewind, because his unfailing optimism really is adorable. Then she looks over toward Pax, and Rod. "I won't even ask for an official invitation, I'm just going to crash the party. This IS what I want to be doing. Not pushing around papers for some cranky Senator."
Pax starts to shake his head. "No. You, we have to continue doing what we do. Keep up that facade. And as close as you are to the Senate you can find out information that we need. You have to be more than meets the optics to them." 
"The populace cannot be awakened all at once; the shock to the collective system of our civilization would be too great, and the reaction would be to turn away out of fear and pain. We must begin to wake up the planet polity by polity, not just with messages of doom, but of hope, and with a means of taking action. We must do everything we can to work -within- the system, in order to minimize the strain of such a shift in society. I tried ages ago to explain to Nova that Functionism was wrong, but he ignored me, feeling it would bring us all into unity. It has only divided us," Trion explains. "That division has carried on for so long that reunification will not be easy." He looks to Orion Pax. "Have you spoken with Megatron recently? There is word from Kaon that he has now become a gladiator, and that he is gaining a following of sympathizers. He will need a -friend-, Pax, to prevent him from turning down a dark path."
To Hot Rod, Arcee and Rewind, he has other suggestions. "We will need mechs and femmes of unusual talents. These facilities lay underground, but so do the ancient, unused tunnels that catacomb the entire planet. There are great dangers down there, but they will provide an immediate escape route for patients and prisoners of these facilities. We will also need to find someone on the inside, to monitor and report what they find within the walls of the Institute."
Rewind is already going through some of his own files, muttering, "No, no, no, maybe...not sure... Hmm," before he realizes he's doing that out loud and quiets down again. He glances back up at Arcee's smile and scratches behind his head with a chuckle, then listens to Orion... and Alpha. And once again, he's reminded why he holds the old mech in such esteem. 
The small 'Bot steps forward. "I'd be happy to help any way I can. Who knows... in these underground places, maybe my small size can actually be a blessing for once. I can slip into places most others can't. And of course, once we find these things... we need proof. We need records, and that's somewhere I can definitely be "value added"," he finishes, tapping at the camera on the side of his helmet.
For all his attitude -- and Hot Rod has a LOT of attitude -- he listens to Alpha Trion more closely than might be expected. He doesn't look remotely happy with the slow, methodical picture painted by this polity by polity turn, probably dreaming of a sweeping flame cleansing the planet of all corruption in an instant. That'd be great. "You better hope that system isn't irreparably broken," he mutters at least half to himself.
Hot Rod can't sulk for long when Alpha Trion goes on: "/Catacombs/?" His whoa-awesome short-circuits into solemnity as he says, "The need for an escape route was pretty obvious when we hit the Dead End. We also need people who can help -- really /help/ -- them on the other side. Mapping them and their dangers--" He nods at Rewind, particularly his value-added. "--sounds like a priority."
Arcee listens to Alpha Trion with interest, nodding as she realizes the sheer scope of the problem they're facing. (Just like turborats. If you see *one*...there's a hundred thousand hidden that you *don't* see,) she thinks. "I still have Senate Library access -- and in my new position assisting Elita, I'll probably continue to have it. I'll try and dig for some information that may have become declassified over time." She smiles slightly at Rewind's brave offer.
"Then, my friends, congratulations. We have all become co-conspirators," Alpha Trion chuckles. "The Hall of Records is almost completely vacant save for myself and Rewind, and there are many rooms of older records that have not seen the light of day since Delta Magnus. We can use it to meet and plan there."
Category:NC Institute