Survival of the Fittest

Welcome to the roach motel. In a manner of speaking, anyways.
The Insecticons have been quartered in their own wing of one of the subterranean laboratories, and each of them in their own individual cell. This is to make certain they can be monitored and contained, as well as keeping them from, oh, eating each other, like the savages everyone suspects they are.
Kickback, the youngest of the entire set - not even three lunations old - is now keeping to himself in the corner of his enclosure. He's been given books to read, and they are his only comfort. Isolation is beginning to take its toll, and at this point, pyschiatric disorders may yet follow. He stares at the wall for long periods of time between periods of sudden hyper-vigilant pacing and talking to himself.
Having lived in the wilderness her entire life, Buzzkill didn't realize how poorly her kind was treated in 'civilized' society and was more than a little surprised when she found herself forcibly restrained and hauled off to a place she didn't know existed until she walked through the doors. When she first arrived she was vicious, clawing at the walls of her cell until her fingers split at which point she began pounding with her fists until they to succumbed to the wear and tear she was subjecting them too. Now she sits in a corner, knees drawn up under her chin, arms wrapped tightly around her legs, making herself look as small as she feels on the inside.
The wasp has only been here for a few days, but it feels like years and every day it gets worse and worse. Every now and then she'll do something to show she's still alive, looking around, readjusting herself, or sighing, but other than that she is practically motionless and completely silent.
Which of the original trio is the holdest who can say? But Shrapnel can certainly be considered among the most aggressive. Yet for the moment he does nothing as he stares out from his cell towards the newcomer. Tilting his head he says nothing as he glances to where Bombshell is most likely sleeping then to Kickback. Optics narrow for a moment behind his visor at the databooks yet he says nothing.
Glancing around his cell there are several marks along with electrical burns. Yet none too new as for the moment the hunter seems to have tempered his rage.
Nautica has been fulfilling her orders from Pharma, to all outward appearances; she's taken apart the insecticons and taken notes before putting them back together, she's been working on a field generator that (one assumes) will, when complete, keep the insecticon digestive system functioning outside of an actual living insecticon. She's even followed her orders from the old spider, Tarantulas himself, and continued to bring books to Kickback. But for all that she's on the outside of the cages, there's little doubt she's nearly as much a prisoner as the bugs; even if she's allowed to walk free for the sake of appearances, the device in her head forces her to stay quiet about the Institute -- and always to return to the labs. And that's taking its toll on her, as well.
And so it is that the Camien outlier has become more quiet, more subdued, as time goes on; though she still treats the insecticons as fairly as she can in the circumstances she's forced into, her wavespeech conversations with them have become less frequent ever since she confirmed the lab was being surveilled on even that level, even as the neural merge with Tarantulas improved her fluency and eradicated her accent in that particular form of speech. Today is no exception to that rule; Nautica is seated on the floor with her back against the edge of one of the cages and a datapad in hand, trying to lose herself in records and research. If she's stuck here, apparently, she'll do her level best to learn as much as she can.
The research on the Insecticons has been coming along so nicely for Pharma. Nautica's been doing her part, though he is aware that Tarantulas wants to let her out eventually. Tarantulas is a crazy old fool, but whatever...it's his loss if he makes decisions that aren't to the Institute's benefit. Pharma couldn't care less. He'd better just take full advantage of her skills while he can. She's definitely good. Certainly far more useful in one piece than in many.
At any rate, they've managed to bring in yet another Insecticon specimen, this one a female. Fiesty one, too, it seems. Much more of what he'd expected from one of them, unlike Kickback. Today, he plans to find out a bit more about her, now that she's stopped clawing at the walls wildly. The winged doctor steps into the lab and peers down at Nautica. "I see you've been talking to Tarantulas." he comments, looking somewhat amused before glancing up at the bug enclosures.
As soon as Pharma opens his mouth it's like Buzzkill suddenly comes to life, the Insecticon lifting her head as if to make sure that voice was really his before launching into a rage. She throws herself against the front of the cell, lips curled back in a nasty sneer, a low growl rumbling past her clenched teeth. Besides the flunkies who forced her into the cell, Pharma was one of the first people she saw and as a result she's automatically associated him with the torment captivity has caused her. She's probably right about blaming him for her predicament, but there's no way she would know that.
"YOU," she snarls, slamming an already battered fist against the wall that seperates them. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! I WILL EAT YOUR FACE!" That's all she manages to say coherently before screaming at him in some bizarre language familiar only to Insecticons.
Shrapnel's head snaps back in the direction of Buzzkill as she yells out. He shifts his gaze to Nautica then to Pharma, "Where'd you catch her, her? Getting foolish and stirring up more hives, hives." He crosses his arms as he watches whats going on.
"So? I've talked to plenty of researchers and staff here," Nautica replies to Pharma, not bothering to look up from her datapad. "Does it matter if Tarantulas was one of them?" Still can't quite suppress the edge of unease that creeps into her tone, though it's unclear whether it might be at Pharma's attention, or whatever she might have seen in Tarantulas' head during that neural merge they performed.
And then Buzzkill's screaming draws her attention away from her captor; Pharma might not be able to hear the threats being leveled in the silent fluctuations of Kickback's inherent electromagnetic field, but at this point the Camien is effectively fluent. +You may have to wait your turn,+ Nautica answers in that same wavespeech, her tone somewhat wry. +I think when it comes to eating his face, removing his wings, or any other sort of reprisal, there's already a line.+
Pharma shrugs. "I was just making a comment. He seems to like you, but what's not like about you? You're just so brilliant." The doctor grins, then turns to the Insecticons. "Doesn't really matter where I got it, does it?" He walks up to the cage where Buzzkill is screaming at him, watching her with mild amusement. "Mmmm, perhaps she needs an opportunity to let out all that rage, would you agree? Looks like she needs a punching bag."
"There will come a day when I remove your head from your body and use your empty skull as a bowl!" Buzzkill hisses. She's not exaggerating either, she actually has a couple skull bowls she used on a daily basis, it was actually really useful. Pharma's comment about needing to release steam just makes her angrier, but at least she stopped yelling. Now she just shows her utter disdain for him with a steely glare and bared teeth.
"Heh, she seems more focused on you, you.", Shrapnel replies. He does take a moment to study Buzzkill. Looking back to Pharma he shifts himself to lean against one of the walls of his cell. Behind his visor his optics flash with a surge of electricity.
Nautica puts aside her datapad, watching Pharma and Buzzkill for a moment with her head tilted curiously. Shrapnel's comment earns something akin to a smirk -- a somewhat harsher expression than the Camien who first arrived would have been likely to wear -- before the femme adds 'helpfully' towards Pharma, "If you want to let her out of the cage, I don't think any of the rest of us will mind. I'm certain it would make for a very interesting bit of field research."
Pharma grins. "You know, you're right. I think it would be very interesting to let her out of her cage for a bit." He moves over to a terminal near the enclosure and begins inputting commands. "See what she does." Suddenly, the floor of Buzzkill'
Pharma grins. "You know, you're right. I think it would be very interesting to let her out of her cage for a bit." He moves over to a terminal near the enclosure and begins inputting commands. "See what she does." Suddenly, the floor of Buzzkill's cage folds downward, dropping her into a short tunnel that lands her in a small barren room with nothing in it but a single cube of some of the best eneergon out there in the center of the room. Only enough for one person, and she's likely starving, with the low quality and quantity of sustenance she's been given thus far.
Right about the time she lands inside, another panel opens, and someone else is dumped in there. They aren't familiar, perhaps another poor unfortunate Outlier who has been sent here to be experimented on, or maybe a dissenter, who knows? He looks terrible, much worse than she does...barely even conscious. He falls right in front of the energon, and as desperate as he is, he begins to reach for it. From above, Pharma and Nautica can see a live feed of the room, with the doctor waiting to see what the Insecticon will do.
Being dropped into a small room isn't exactly what Buzzkill meant when he mentioned letting her out, but all things considered she really shouldn't be surprised. The fall dazes her for a second, but the sight of delicious delicious energon just barely out of her reach revives her. For a moment that's all she can see... and then she notices she is not the only starving creature in the room. Fighting for survival is nothing new to the wasp except she usually has her weapons at her disposal. Unfortunately, they were confiscated when she was captured and placed into this hell so she'll have to do it the old fashioned way.
There is no banter, no verbal exchanges at all. Hell, she barely looks the other prisoner in the eye before she unleashes her assault. This is life and death right now and formalities are all but non-existant. The Insecticon launches herself at her competitor with the fury of a hundred warriors, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against the back wall with all of her strength over and over again, stopping only when his energon begins to stain the wall itself. Not satisfied until the threat has been neutralized completely, Buzzkill then throws him onto his back, looming over him for just a second before leaning down and clawing away at his lower abdomen, slowly but surely tearing the armor off and revealing the complicated wiring underneath. One of her hands disappears inside of his body, eventually emerging with a bundle of wires and mechanical hoses clutched tightly in her grip. She quite literally tears him apart.
It's a pretty gruesome display but not nearly gruesome as what happens next. After making sure he's dead (or close to it) she snatches up the energon, downs it in one gulp, and returns to her bleeding victim where she transforms into her wasp form and begins to devour him piece by piece.
"That's not what..." Nautica trails off, scowling at Pharma as she pushes herself back to her feet, collecting the datapad as she does so. There's no way she can think of that he could justify this as being in line with 'solving the energon crisis', not like with vivisecting the insecticons to study. She seems about to make her objection openly, but then simply shakes her head. "No, you know? Never mind, I no longer even care. Nothing I can say will change a thing around here, and I think you /enjoy/ watching me voice objections." Instead, she falls silent, forcing herself to watch Buzzkill's feeding.
Shrapnel watches the pair of hollows as Buzzkill disappears below. While Kickback most likely would object he just watches silently. He just nods as the wasp does what comes naturally.
Buzzkill begins shouting up towards the tunnel she fell through. "Is that all you have to offer me? A pathetic, half-starved prisoner!?" Her energon stained face twists into a smile and she laughs uproariously. "I am a warrior queen! I will kill anyone who stands in my way, and you are next!"
Pharma observes her behavior with interest, ignoring the beginnings of Nautica's protests. "Just look at that, survivial of the fittest at its best. She's definitely strong." he says, still grinning with fascination as Buzzkill tears her victim apart. I expect as much, from this one. But we'll just have to see what she'll do if it's one of her own, hm?" Another command is punched in, and while the wasp is busy devouring the other test subject, another cube comes out of the floor via a small elevator platform, again in the same spot in the center of the room.
Oh, she'll get someone else, for sure! Someone stronger. This time, instead of a stranger, it's Shrapnel whose cage opens and is sent into the testing area with Buzzkill.
Nautica watches the display with slightly more concern now; to Pharma, it might well make sense for the Camien to be concerned for someone who isn't a stranger -- even an insecticon -- but the simple truth of the matter is that she's worried that Shrapnel might give away something more than she wants revealed while Pharma is watching. Still, she makes no comment as she silently watches to see what happens next.
Not even emitting a hint of surprise, Shrapnel quickly transforms and braces for impact, using his wings for a moment. Glancing towards the cube he actually hesitates as he glances up saying, "So now we're to entertain you, you!?" He just stands there in his stag beetle form, sparks of electricity coursing cross his mandibles as he twitches before finally emitting in wavespeech. +What do you hate more, more? Being hungry or him, him?+
Buzzkill was all gung ho and ready to brutally murder another poor sap but when she realizes it's a fellow Insecticon she must face, well.. that's a completely different story. She hesitates, watching the other intently for a few moments before taking a few steps away from Shrapnel, and the energon. Yes, she did her fair share of Insecticon killing, but that was when she ruled her hive and it was only when her people were in danger. This is captivity, prison. torture, whatever you want to call it; the rules are different and she must adapt. "I do not wish to fight you, my brother. The energon is yours."
Shrapnel transforms before picking up the cube and eating it as he replies, "As I did not wish to fight you, sister, sister. Too many others I would rather want gone, gone." Glancing back up the tunnel he adds, "You I just met, met."
"I don't understand why we are here," Buzzkill says, also turning her gaze towards the tunnel. "I don't understand why we are treated so poorly, but I can feel inside that it will all change soon." She looks back to Shrapnel, watching him eat as she continues. "We will be free of this place someday and I want you to join me in breaking the bonds of all Insecticons."
Pharma watches the exchange with keen interest, then turns to Nautica, gesturing at the display. "Just look at them, Nautica. They may be sapient, but ask yourself, do they give a slag about -us-? The female just devoured the other subject without a single moment of hesitation, and yet when it comes to another Insecticon, they won't fight. Kickback is only unique because he was cared for by one of us. But the rest of them? Just listen to them. Listen to her! Bombshell, too. Do you seriously think they care about you? Do you think they wouldn't devour you alive just like that poor mech just now, if given the chance? So I'm asking you. -Why- do you want to help them? Why do you care about them, when they don't care about you? -I- care about our society, our people. A people that -you- are a part of."
"And can you /blame/ them?" Nautica retorts to Pharma. Gesturing to the cages, she says finally, "Look at how you -- how all of /Cybertron/ -- treats them! Anything with a beast altmode is considered the lowest you can be, disposable and worthless, and insecticons are treated even below /that/. And yet, those who become self-aware are just as capable as any other bot, except that they awaken /already/ with the knowledge that we 'Hollows' hunt them, we subjegate them as pets, we domesticate them and force them to serve us. Primus, wouldn't /you/ be angry? Wouldn't /you/ be ready to tear those who oppress you apart?"
The Camien shakes her head. "Don't get me wrong; I'm under no illusions that Bombshell or Shrapnel would just as soon tear /me/ apart, save for the fact that they hate you far worse. The difference is that I don't blame them for it. After all, we're the same way, aren't we? We see things that threaten us... an energon shortage, for instance... and we make ourselves into monsters, too."
"As Bombshell would put it, they want our secrets, secrets. By studying us they think they can process matter as food, food," Shrapnel replies. Glancing to the female insecticon he changes to wavespeech, +Things are changing, changing. The female wants to help us, us.+ He reaches up as if to touch where Nautica worked on him but stops, +Jet will die but I say she lives, lives. Then yes once free we go find others, others.+
This has become a private conversation, so Buzzkill also switches to wavespeak when she responds. +I know nothing of the female you speak of, but you have been here longer than me so I will take you on your word.+ She lifts an arm to wipe the energon off her face as her bloodlust has faded. +When the revolution comes, I will bring no harm to her for your sake, my brother.+
"Oh, I never claimed we were any -better-." Pharma shrugs. "Nor did I say I blame them for anything. However, -you- are not an Insecticon, you are one of -us- 'Hollows' or whatever it is they call us. Don't you see? It doesn't -matter- who is 'better' than who, or what we've done to them or what they'd do to us. It's only natural for us, whether we are Insecticons or Cybertronians to do what we see fit to ensure our species' continued survival. And sometimes, that means subjugating less developed species. Wouldn't they do the same to us, if they could? Of course they would. Survival of the fittest is a war, Nautica. Whoever wins, prospers, and whoever loses suffers. That's just the way life is, in this universe we live in, and the sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be. If you keep helping the enemy, you'll only be doing so to your -own- detriment."
He goes back monitoring the room where Buzzkill and Shrapnel are. He fully intends to simply leave them there, starve them to see how far they'll go. Would they rather both die, or or will one of them cave?
"Am I?" Nautica replies, glancing over at Pharma. "But I don't see them as the enemy. Maybe that's because I'm not /from/ here; I may be a 'Hollow', but I'm not Cybertronian. Not culturally. And on Caminus, they wouldn't have been our enemies." On the other hand, Caminus doesn't actually have any insecticons to judge how they'd react, so perhaps Nautica's drawing conclusions based on an idealism that hasn't been /entirely/ squashed yet. "You say it's only natural to do what we need to for our survival; maybe our chances of survival are better if we aren't fighting a war on two fronts."
+That would be wise, wise. While would not stop it, I feel I owe her that much, much.+ Shrapnel replies as he moves to study the walls of the makeshift arena. Glancing back up the tunnels he says, "Just like a hollow, hollow. What would the old arachnid think, think?"
Buzzkill moves to the battered and partially eaten body of her first opponent and drags it off to the corner. "I feel as though this might be our new 'home' for the forseeable future, in which case we will need to survive on the remains of this...." What was the word he used? "Hollow." Rationing the body might prove to be difficult though, considering how they have been kept hungry for so long.
Pharma laughs unpleasantly at Nautica's idealism. "Ha, you don't even have a single clue, do you? Caminus must have been -nice-." He continues watching the two Insecticons, taking note that they seem to have figured out that they'll be stuck in there for a while. "You've been observing these things for long enough now, haven't you? And you -still- think that helping them will somehow get you in their good graces? That you you can -trust- them to help you back when the time comes? Trust me, not everyone you're nice to will be nice back to you."
"Caminus /was/ nice." Nautica walks over to her workstation, putting the datapad down next to her terminal, and remains there for a moment as she stares at the screen. Whatever is there, she's not seeing it; she's almost certainly thinking back to her homeworld, the one the Clampdown's restrictions have denied her any return to. "As for the insecticons? Maybe they won't be nice back; if I have to, I'll fight. As long as I'm stuck on this planet, I can't pretend wars won't touch me; this place taught me that, if nothing else. But to believe there might be an intellectual solution to the problem rather than one based just on trying to wipe each other out. I'd like to believe diplomacy is still an option, and at least /try/ it first, rather than just writing it off to start with."
The Camien turns around, and spots that the insecticons are still down in the compartment below their cages. "Are you planning to just /leave/ them down there? Any sympathy aside, I ask because it /does/ affect my schedule for the studies you've had me doing for you. I can hardly study them when they're down there."
Shrapnel nods and watches Buzzkill move the body. Course he's been lucky with the energon Nautica has occasionally snuck him but he doesn't want to make that obvious. Glancing back to the wall he finally turns away from it before finding a place to sit. Cause unless the crazy doctor gains some form or conscience or agrees with Nautica, he's just going to have to wait. Yet that doesn't mean he won't attempt to test the walls when it seems he's not being watched.
In her head, Buzzkill is already making plans on how to ration out the body. There are still plenty of 'guts' to be had, the arms and legs are still there,the face, well, she's really not that fond of the face despite her earlier threats towards Pharma so that could easily be saved for last. She rubs her chin as she ponders.. perhaps when they are not being watched she could fashion some body parts into makeshift weapons. It's been done before, and she can do it again, just have to be stealthy about it. She sighs and turns her attention to Shrapnel. "Brother, what do you know of the Insecticon in the cell next to mine?"
"Oh, you want to try diplomacy, be my guest, that is, if you'd like to end up just like that poor empty right there." Pharma replies, pointing at the mech Buzzkill had just dismembered. "Like it or not, you're still a 'Hollow' to them. They may think you're useful as more than just a meal right now, but as soon as your usefulness ends, they'll devour you at the first chance they get." he shrugs. "As I said, it's to your own detriment."
"And yes, I am going to leave them down there..." Pharma smirks. "Until I decide to put them back. We'll have to see if their survivalist instincts override their companionship or not."
Nautica could reply that the best basis for alliance is someone being useful to you; her best chance at escape is, no doubt, with the insecticons at her side. Whether she remains useful to them, or they to her, once all are free? That's another matter entirely, and something to tackle another day. But she keeps those thoughts to herself, for now. Instead, the Camien femme turns back to Pharma and says simpl, "Fine, leave them down there. I'm sure the results will be fascinating. But understand that anything /else/ aside, you're delaying my results on /your/ project by doing that." She gestures now to Kickback and Bombshell's cages, and adds, "Two of them are hardly enough of to provide solid enough data to determine what's going on, especially when the one who's been the /least/ studied of all four is one of those you've dumped somewhere I won't be able to examine her."
Going silent for a moment Shrapnel glances towards Buzzkill before saying, "If you mean the swarmer, Kickback as I understand was taken from his hive while young. First raised by one hollow who didn't seem to care then another, a female he dubbed his Queen. As I understand she truly did care for him but was forced to give him up by the others when he transformed." He doesn't mention the warper in the final cell as Bombshell as she only mentioned wanting to know of one other.
Buzzkill frowns the frowniest frown she could possibly muster. Taken from his hive? Seeing a hollow as his Queen? What a heartbreaking story! Just looking at him gave her the impression that he was kind of messed up and knowing this, it's no wonder why! "I see... I would like for him to be emancipated from this place, but I worry he may go back to his former captor if what you tell me is true." It's at this moment that Buzzkill decides to make Kickback her personal 'project.' Maybe with her guidance he can reclaim his culture and become a fearsome warrior.
But thats something for another day, a day when she isn't trapped in a small room with one other person. "Tell me about yourself, brother. How did you find yourself in this place??
"Oh, I'm sure you'll manage. You're brilliant, remember?" Pharma grins, standing up. "I just hope you don't end up getting devoured, but if you're too naive to know what's good for you, then I can't help you."
"Why don't you monitor them for a while?" He heads for the door.
Shrapnel sitting down with his back against a wall, he looks to the mech corpse as the female works on the rations then to the remains of the energon. Finally the looks back to Buzzkill he frowns as he says, "As a hatchling I was taken from my hive with many others, others. Forced to work as slave yet also treated different, different."
Clenching his fist, electricity surges across his form as he says, "Left to eat nothing but scrap and ore, always hungry, hungry. Beaten if tried to eat energon, gon." Glancing about to wherever the camera is he adds, "After killing (and more likely eating) those that hurt me, I would have been killed, killed. If one had not come and called me outlier so sent here instead, instead."
Shrapnel's comment -- that he was called outlier -- perhaps strikes a chord with the Camien outlier in the lab above. But Nautica forces herself not to react, as she simply watches Pharma go. Oh, Nautica will find a way not to be devoured. And if Pharma doesn't think it's worth befriending the insecticons... well, perhaps he'll have reason to regret that when they all manage to make their escape.
Shrapnel's story just cements the fact that every Insecticon has some tragic background, Buzzkill included. It's expected though considering the world they live in and how little society knows about them. "Do not lose hope. There will come a day when our people can walk alongside the hollows as a free race."
Shrapnel just nods but says nothing else, slightly powering himself down, but leaving himself aware enough that he can move quickly if anyone tries anything.
Category:NC Institute